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

[User]
[Harry Potter] What happened to Freds hand on the Weasley clock?

Mrs. Weasleys clock showed everyones current status; (Home, Traveling, etc). after he died during the Battle of Hogwarts, did the  hand disappear?  Did it stick around as a grim reminder until it was fixed to be removed?

[Assistant] There is no canon answer for this. Presumably the hand is still stuck on school or mortal peril. There is an argument for the hand moving to home because we know that the afterlife is a definitive thing in the Harry Potter universe (although we don't know what form it takes, we do know that it exists). However such an argument is not particularly strong given the lack of evidence.


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

[User] [Fairly Oddparents] The fairies had all the magic in the universe, and can turn into anything. Why can't they change their color to others besides magenta and green?

[Assistant]
They can!

In fact their most recognizable form are two gold fish who look completely normal except for the eyes.

Cosmo and Wanda probably just turn into colour coded objects for their godparents to make it easier for them to find them.


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

[User]
[Game of Thrones] Had Robb been informed of House Bolton or House Frey's treason, could he have won the war?

Assuming of course that either:

A) At Harrenhal, Brienne decides to warn the Starks of Roose's new friendship with Tywin and refusal to send Jaime back to Robb (via undetected raven)

B) Messages between Tywin and Walder Frey reassuring recompense for the Red Wedding plot are intercepted by someone loyal to the North (or say, Littlefinger who wants to save Cat)

Do either of these play out better for Robb than the established plot?

[Assistant]
Probably not. We're told that the Stark army is running on fumes through the show and it's only Robb's (and Roose's) tactical genius that is allowing them to punch above their expected weight (and also that the North is like *really* hard to invade). Roose flips because he sees the writing on the wall and doesn't like that Robb won't play politics to win the war. Here is probably what happens

A) Robb gets the letter warning of Roose's betrayal. Robb confronts Roose. Roose either convinces Robb that the letter is a trap designed by the Lannisters (and then the story plays out as usual) or Robb kills Roose. Roose's Bannermen go home and Robb is left with even fewer troops and the loss of a good general (this doesn't even take into account Ramsey). Robb doesn't have the army to march South. The Lannisters use their perceived wealth and the Tyrell's food surplus to marshal their forces and eventually crush the North. Only caveat is that if this takes too long and Tywin is killed then maybe the Cersei's invasion goes poorly. Robb isn't going to bend the knee to either Dany or Stannis, meaning neither are as willing to support the North's defense against the dead.

B) Different path, same results. Robb was allying with the Frey's to get access to their lands (a huge strategic point) and their troops (who, IIRC, were the only neutral power of note left). Even if they dodge the Red Wedding, they still don't have the troops needed to take the fight to King's landing. Frey allies with the Tyrells. Above plays out as before.


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

[User]
How do almost extinct species revive without the damaging effects of inbreeding?

I've heard a few stories about how some species have been brought back to vibrancy despite the population of the species being very low, sometimes down to the double digits. If the number of remaining animals in a species decreases to these dramatically low numbers, how do scientists prevent the very small remaining gene pool from being damaged by inbreeding when revitalizing the population?

[Assistant] Inbreeding makes the passing on of deleterious genes more likely, not a certainty. The subsequent generations are still under the same evolutionary pressure, where genes with a net negative result are still selected against.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why don't video games come out when they're finished?

Fallout 4 and every other game I want makes me ask this question everytime.

-When I mean "finished" I'm referring to the content on the game copies sent to stores and what is pre-downloaded through steam or xbox live. Not day 1 patches. The stores have the copies. The marketing for Fallout 4 or Halo 5 was well completed before these games hit the shelves. Is it common courtesy to come out on Tuesday and never any other day or is it due to some places wont be shipped the game until "launch" day so they have it fair for everyone?

[Assistant]
It is impossible to make any software absolutely perfect.  Development is a very long process and releases are timed with an estimate on when it will be done and coordinated with marketting.

  Would you rather every game be delayed at the last minute because a clipboard animates like a shield?


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

[User] ELI5: why are people upset over red starbucks cup?

[Assistant] It's part of a larger "War on Christmas" argument that get's brought up every year.  Over the last several years, companies have done different things to make the holiday season more inclusive for everyone.  The big one was getting workers to say "Happy Holidays" to customers instead of "Merry Christmas" since not everyone celebrates Christmas.  This pissed a lot of people off who viewed this change as trying to get rid of Christmas.  The red Starbucks cup is seen as another example of that.  Usually, Starbucks changes their white cups to red around this time of year and it usually has some sort of wintery or Christmasy design on it.  This year, it's just solid red and Starbucks has been accused of taking Christmas off of their cups.


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

[User]
[Batman] How does Batman feel when a police officer is forced to use deadly force?

Does he blame himself for not being there? What does he say to the cop?

[Assistant]
Batman only holds killing against those who are powerful enough to do it as an option. A scared police officer fighting for his life is not abusing his power, his authority, or going beyond the justice system.

Superman killing a criminal is a very different thing, as he was under no threat whatsoever and the killing was completely optional.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does it feel so good to "crack" my neck?

It doesn't just feel good physically, but also makes me feel relaxed and almost like I've taken a very short lasting drug.

[Assistant] It's likely that you've gotten used to the feeling of air bubbles within but it feels better if they aren't present (ie. They would cause discomfort if you weren't already desensitized). That's why it feels better when you pop them ("cracking" your neck).


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

[User]
Native American Philosophy

Hello, if there is one definitive text in Native American philosophy, what is it? And if no such choice exists, are there any legitimate contenders? Thank you.

[Assistant]
I always recommend " The Stones Shall Cry Out" by George Tinker as a first step. It highlights the issue of even starting to compare Indian philosophy with "Western" philosophy rather clearly.

From there, I'd recommend reading *God is Red* and *American Indian Literary Nationalism* before moving on to actual Indian stories, like the collection by Zitkla-.

Edit to add: There is no definitive text, largely because Indians are not a single unified entity despite colonial propaganda to the contrary.


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

[User]
Why are free neutrons unstable?

Neutrons that are not part of a nucleus but just kind of floating around by themselves are unstable and undergo beta decay with a half life around 15 minutes.  Do we know why they are unstable?  What is making them decay?

What keeps them from decaying when they are in the nucleus of an atom?  Why are free protons, by contrast, (essentially) stable?

Thanks.

[Assistant]
Protons are slightly less massive (and therefore, energetic) then neutrons, and a neutron can turn into a proton by beta decay. Because the higher energy neutron can turn into the lower energy proton, it eventually does.

A proton can't spontaneously decay into a neutron by inverse beta decay because the neutron has higher mass. In an atom, however, the mass is also determined by the energy that binds the protons and neutrons together, so in this case neutrons can be stable or protons unstable.


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

[User]
How to get better at Asking Questions?

I am a PhD student in the computer science field. And I've just been wondering... What's a good way at getting better at asking questions? Or better at formulating them?

I've noticed one thing that really sets apart an academic is the questions and type of questions they ask during a guest lecturer or seminar.
I can't help but marvel at the eloquence, structure, and delivery from some of the senior profs.
It's one thing to ask insightful questions, but another on the delivery of it.

Sometimes I find myself having the same questions for a speaker, but the way I formulated it might be off or I am not quite getting the response I was looking for.. and someone else asks it and immediately I recognize it to be much better...

Others with thoughts on this?

[Assistant]
Practice and experience. Usually, the people who sound "eloquent" are just using the precise terminology for their field, which is something that comes from spending a lot of time working in that field and becoming very familiar with it. Once you have a strong working vocabulary it becomes much easier to be more concise and precise with your questions.

Also... don't worry about it too much. Focus on asking good questions that help you learn something about the subject at hand, and don't worry about how it comes out. If you're lucky, you can get the real prize which is a topic for a follow-up discussion with that presenter after their talk, in other words a networking opportunity.


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

[User] ELI5: What exactly happens when an animal imprints on a human? Does it understand that its new "mother" is not the same species?

[Assistant] For true imprinting, they won't recognize their own species later on. You'll run into this a lot of rehab facilities where human-raised wildlife imprinted as babies and then can't integrate into a flock/herd/whatever. They won't be successful at breeding or parenting. There are other animals that become socialized and tamed so they don't see humans as a threat, but still recognize fellow animals. A local wildlife rehab has a kestrel that was very socialized to humans and caught because he kept hanging around parks and visiting people who were picnicking. However, when they put baby kestrels in with him, he recognized them as familiar and began to feed and preen them, so he isn't considered imprinted.


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

[User]
[Star Wars ROTS] Why didn't Grievous just let the hundreds of Battle Droids in the hanger all pointing their weapons at Obi Wan shoot him when he jumped down and made his big grandstanding entrance in front of him?

It would have been the logical thing to do and Obi Wan was an arsehole for thinking anything else other than that would happen.

[Assistant] Yeah, sure, then Obi-Wan jumps back up into the rafters while Grievous' army shreds itself (and *him*, since he was standing there too) to pieces. He knows the quality of his droids, and he does *not* trust them to fire their blasters in any direction that includes him.


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

[User]
Whats special about hypersonic speeds?

I understand that characteristics of airflow change when it becomes super sonic (Mach 1), but what is special about specifically 5 times that speed? Is it just that just a human label or is there a physical phenomenon at Mach 5?

[Assistant]
Hypersonics are conveniently defined as any speed above Mach 5, because around Mach 5 a lot of engineering problems change their form.

At supersonic speeds, you can quite easily maintain subsonic combustion (a shock cone or ramp intake will do much of this, check Concorde's intakes which are well documented) for a conventional turbine-based engine.

Your airframe will experience drag heating from skin friction, but this again can be solved using titanium, ceramics, carbon, etc.

Flight controls can be conventional control surfaces, so long as you take into account things like aileron reversal.

As we approach hypersonic velocities, all this starts to change. Subsonic combustion becomes impractical, it causes too much drag, so you need to either not intake oxygen (e.g. a rocket) or do your combustion supersonic (e.g. scramjet).

Airframe heating is more intense, but that's manageable (orbital craft re-enter way, way faster than mach 5), what changes is that the leading edge is now exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS), oxygen plasmas, atomic oxygen, ionised oxygen. Oxygen attacks metal just sat in the open, ROS are types of oxygen turned up to 11: Atomic oxygen can oxidise fluorides. Coming back from orbit, we can use disposable ablative heat shields, and large blunt-bodies to push the shock back. In flight we can't do this if we want to remain flying very long.

Flight controls are different too. If you actuate an elevator, you lose your elevator and empennage, so your turn radius is extremely large. Hypersonic craft get their lift from inertia (ballistics) as much as from the air, and from the air it's less wings as much as lifting bodies.

This is partly the sheer speed of oncoming air, and partly your enormous inertial momentum. You go in a straight line, which becomes a ballistic trajectory at hypersonic speeds, aerodynamic flight is a secondary concern.

So in summary, hypersonics are where the engineering challenges change substantially, and it's conventionally accepted to be around mach 5 where those challenges are the primary ones.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the sweat from the armpit smell worse than sweat from any other part of the body?

[Assistant] Armpits have **apocrine sweat glands**. These differ from sweat glands elsewhere on the body because they secrete oils in addition to sweat. The oils are then broken down for energy by bacteria on the skin, and the byproducts produce body odor. It's also thought that armpit hair helps spread the odorous chemicals into the air.


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

[User]
Why do people pace back and forth when they're thinking really hard about something?

I know I do this, and I start doing it without even thinking about it. Does it help you concentrate somehow?

[Assistant]
I don't know if there is any literature on the subject out there, but one possible reason may be less about thinking and more of a physiological response to the stress or anxiety that comes along with it. We tend to use rocking or rhythmic patterns when trying to regulate. (You can look into research on stress regulation methods)

So it's not you think better, it helps you calm down which lets you think better.


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

[User] [X-Men] Why is the X-gene responsible for so many wildly different powers?

[Assistant] I don't believe this is ever explored in a canon way, but there is a fan theory that explains this. It says that the X gene really gives everyone the same power - reality warping. Its how this reality warping *manifests* that gives them their power. Wolverine subconsciously warps reality so that he regenerates, Storm warps it to create weather, etc.


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

[User]
[Werewolves] Sometimes the moon is visible during the day. Does this effect werewolves?

During a new moon, the moon can be seen during the day as a full moon.

[Assistant]
It depends on the series context. Werewolves traditionally only roam at full moon. The moon can only be full when it is opposite to the position of the sun comparative to the position of the Earth. Therefore, full moons can only rise after sunset, and so the werewolf only roams at night. Since the moon cannot be 100% full if seen in the daytime sky, classic werewolves have less or no power at this time and humans typically take advantage to capture or kill them.

Whether a non-full moon affects the person depends on the author's choice.

For example, the film *An American Werewolf in London* shows that between full moons there are limited effects like hair growth and enhanced senses, but not enough for a full transformation that mostly exchanges human reason for animal killer instinct.

A series like Twilight separates the "Children of the Moon," who are like classic werewolves on full moon nights only, from "Shapeshifters" who can transform at any time and aren't dependent on the phase or time of day.


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

[User] ELI5: if the earth is spinning around, while also circling the sun, while also flying through the milk way, while also jetting through the galaxyHow can we know with such precision EXACTLY where stars are/were/will be?

[Assistant]
Picture an anthill in your front yard.  The ants are moving around all the time, right?  How far are they from the moon?  Well, we'd say they're 238,855 miles from the moon.  It doesn't really matter whether they're on top of the anthill or a few inches underground, because those distances are meaningless on the scale of earth to moon.

Earth goes around the sun at around 18 miles *per second*.  To us, that seems really fast, but the next closest star is about 24,984,000,000,000 miles away.  That makes our 18 miles per second seem pretty insignificant.  On the scale of the galaxy, we might as well not be moving at all.

Also, when we talk about the positions of stars, we're not all that precise.  We could easily be off by thousands of miles, and it wouldn't matter, because stars are really, really big.


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

[User]
Do whales experience holding their breath the same as us?

I was watching a video on blue whales just now and found out they surface to breathe once every half hour normally and I wondered how it must feel to them to hold their breath for that long. I can hold my breath for only 30 seconds before I start to feel a little uncomfortable.

Do whales have the same system as us that governs that automatic urge to breathe or is breathing and overall more conscious process for them?

[Assistant] No, whales experience holding their breath differently than us. Whales have a different breathing system than humans that allows them to remain underwater for extended periods of time. Whales have evolved a set of physiological adaptations that enable them to hold their breath for long periods of time without feeling the urge to breathe. These adaptations include an enlarged volume of oxygen-rich blood, an increased ability to store oxygen in their muscles, and an increased efficiency of oxygen utilization throughout their body. Additionally, whales have a conscious control over their breathing, which allows them to regulate their oxygen uptake and hold their breath for extended periods of time.


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

[User]
ELI5: What do steak grades mean?

For e.g MB3+, what does this mean when referring to a steak?

[Assistant]
From USDA website on beef grades:

* Prime Grade is produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. It has abundant marbling and is generally sold in restaurants and hotels. Prime roasts and steaks are excellent for dry-heat cooking (broiling, roasting, or grilling).

* Choice Grade is high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be very tender, juicy, and flavorful and are, like Prime, suited to dry-heat cooking. Many of the less tender cuts, such as those from the rump, round, and blade chuck, can also be cooked with dry heat if not overcooked. Such cuts will be most tender if "braised"  roasted, or simmered with a small amount of liquid in a tightly covered pan.

* Select Grade is very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades. It is fairly tender, but, because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades. Only the tender cuts (loin, rib, sirloin) should be cooked with dry heat. Other cuts should be marinated before cooking or braised to obtain maximum tenderness and flavor.

* Standard and Commercial grades are frequently sold as ungraded or as "store brand" meat.

* Utility, Cutter, and Canner grades are seldom, if ever, sold at retail but are used instead to make ground beef and processed products.


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

[User]
"Every polynomial of degree n has exactly n roots"

We learned this in class the other day, but what about say f(X)=x?, There is only one root, but shouldn't there be two according to the prior statement?

[Assistant]
The statement is really more like 'every polynomial of degree n can be factored into the form a(x-c1)(x-c2)...(x-cn)' for constants a,c1,...,cn.' The ci don't have to be distinct.

For convenience, we say that c1,...,cn are the n roots *counted with multiplicity*. That is, in the case if x^(2), it can be said to have two roots: 0, 0.

Why do we do this? Well, nice statements that would be false now become true. For example, consider the following statement:

If p is a monic polynomial of degree n, then the constant term of the polynomial is (-1)^(n) times the product of the roots of p.

(Monic just means the leading x^n coefficient is 1.)

For that statement to be true, you have to count the roots with multiplicity. For example, if p(x) = (x-2)^2 = x^2 - 4x + 4, then the roots of p are 2,2, and indeed the constant term is 4=(-1)^(2)\*2\*2.


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

[User] [Dark Souls] Assuming the PC embraces the Dark ending and brings about the age of Dark, is there a reverse apocalyptic scenario when the age of fire inevitably emerges?

[Assistant]
Exactly that. If the Chosen Undead were to link the fire, it would eventually begin to fade again. Unless powerful souls are reclaimed and used to fuel the First Flame, it will burn so low that an age of Dark begins.

Similarly, if the Chosen Undead chooses to *not* link the fire, they withhold those powerful souls and deprive the First Flame of fuel. However, the flame will continue to burn, ever so weakly. If it burns down low enough, previous beings that have linked the fire will be reborn as Lords of Cinder, supposedly to relive their original task of gathering souls and linking the fire yet again.

Essentially, neither ending is an ending at all. The Chosen Undead can only make a temporary impact on the state of the world. Whether they reinvigorate the Age of Fire or begin an Age of Dark, the cycle will continue. However, if the risen Lords of Cinder refuse to link the fire, an Ashen One can rise to the task, either linking the fire in their place, or letting it fade yet again.

Perhaps there is another option. Perhaps a Champion of Ash could claim the fire's strength for themselves and begin a new age. One not of disparity (fire) or of darkness...


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

[User]
What is the biochemical origin of caffeine dependence?

There's a joke that if you've been drinking coffee for a long time, when you wake up you'll need a coffee to get you back to the point where you were before you started regularly drinking coffee. But, if you stop for a week or two, your baseline goes back up. What happens to regular coffee drinkers to lower their baseline wakefullness, and is it chiefly neurological or psychological?

[Assistant]
Caffeine is a nonselective adenosine receptor antagonist, acting at A1, A2a, A2b, and A3 receptors (it also binds to a few other receptors, but well ignore those for simplicitys sake). From knockout studies in mice, it appears A2a is critical for the stimulating effect of caffeine. In the brain, Adenosine levels fluctuate as the day passes with the highest levels at night. Higher levels of adenosine produce a drowsiness effect. When you consistently apply an antagonist to a cell, a common response is the cell will upregulate the particular receptor that is being antagonized. As such, consistent caffeine intake can result in an upregulation of adenosine receptors [1]. When you do not intake caffeine, you thus experience a heightened response, or a sensitization, to adenosine, and thus feel an increase in drowsiness.

1. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 1993 Jun; 13(3): 247261.


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

[User]
[Hitchhiker's Guide] In Mostly Harmless why is the Earth still destroyed even though the dolphin's had a new one built?

In addition, why is there a random planet at the same coordinates as Earth and why is Ford's section on Earth in the Guide still say, "Mostly Harmless"

[Assistant]
The earth sits on a multiverse nexus destroying it just gives you access to an alternate version.

This was inconvenient to the Vogons who wanted a motorway there so they created the second version of the guide to ensure Earths destruction.

The guide manipulates others into destroying the Earth every time -including the reconstructed earth- and it decides the Grebulons are tenacious enough to keep trying to remove earth even if it takes forever.

The series main characters deaths are painted as meaningless and the earth itself is just a weird blip in the universe that needs to be erased for a mild convenience.  (Adams had been having a bad year and later regretted writing the book).


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

[User]
I believe that punishment should be based on the action taken alone, and the consequences should have absolutely no bearing on it. CMV.

First and foremost, my apologies if this is a repost- it seems like a somewhat obvious CMV candidate. I could find no post like it though, so please delete this and redirect me if this view has been expressed before.

It is hard to significantly expand on the view as presented in the title; I believe simply that, in accordance with any account of punishment I am familiar with, it is both more productive and fairer to disregard the consequences of the action. For example, I believe that the penalty for causing death by drunken driving should be the same as that for simply being caught drunkenly driving. Whether that is achieved by raising the latter or lessening the former is a difficult problem to consider, but a separate one.

The aforementioned consequence of my position is the main reason why I would like to have my view changed; it is uncomfortable to have to defend the position that someone who recklessly causes the death of a child should receive what many would consider no more than a slap on the wrist. I have yet to be convinced, however, that the driver in such a case is any more deserving of punishment than a driver who makes it home without incident at the same level of intoxication. So please, my good redditors, CMV.

[Assistant]
This idea gets a little bit messy in practice, because luck and circumstances play a role in virtually all actions. In your drunk driving example, how would you punish someone who *intends* to drive drunk but passes out before they start the car? Or what about someone who *intends* to drive drunk, but then is offered a ride by a good samaritan? Are they as bad as the person who managed to drive drunk? If not, it seems like you are giving them the benefit of the doubt due to consequences outside of their control, which goes against your guiding principle. If we knew with certainty that they were going to drive drunk before they got lucky, should we still punish them?

We generally stick to consequences rather than intent and potential consequences because there's such a massive disparity in action and consequences based on events outside of our control.


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

[User]
Has anyone had their PhD thesis defense rejected?

Hello reddit, I've been reading up on people's PhD defenses recently and I've been wondering - has anyone actually had their PhD thesis rejected? Is the defense more of a conversation/formality than a "final exam"? Can one redo their defense?

Hope this isn't an ignorant question, I am just curious. Seems as if you put forth a genuine and considerable effort you will be able to be able to get by, no problem.

[Assistant]
As has already been said, a good advisor won't allow you to schedule the defense if he or she doesn't believe you're pretty likely to pass.

However, if you've been in  the program and you're almost out of time (most programs say if you don't have PhD in hand in X years, you're thrown out) then occasionally you'll be allowed to schedule a defense even if you're going to fail it, because it gives you another month/semester/whatever on the clock for revisions.  However, if your work is still crap at the end of that time, few committees will pass it.

So yes- it's totally possible to fail, although it's rare because care is taken not to let it get that far if it isn't a solid piece of scholarship done by a solid scholar.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are some frogs, etc., poisonous? Unless the poison is so lethal that any predators die on contact, the frog still gets eaten. How does this help survival?

[Assistant]
Its not just poison, the bright coloration, instead of camouflage, alerts predators to the poison, and predators who survive then learn that those tiny frogs with bright blue markings are not safe to eat, and so poison dart frogs go uneaten, save those unlucky martyrs of frogkind.

Incidentally, poison dart frogs arent naturally poisonous, either, they get that from the poisonous insects in their normal diet, and secrete the toxin through the skin; this is why poison dart frogs born in captivity or long kept are safe to touch, theyre fed nontoxic insects.

EDIT: small correction, thanks.


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

[User] ELI5: why does plastic turn white when bent?

[Assistant]
I can answer this!!

So plastic is made up of microscopic spaghetti (it's actually made up of long chains of some form of carbon molecule, but we will pretend it's spaghetti). There are two main types of plastic; plastic where the spaghetti is completely random and all over the place, and plastic where the spaghetti is somewhat ordered (like your little sister has decided to put all the spaghetti in lines rather than eat it but because she is four, the lines are a bit wibbly and there are a few pieces that aren't in lines at all). When plastic is in lines, it doesn't bend very easily and is quite easy to break (ie, brittle). The not ordered spaghetti is easier to bend as the spaghetti can move to line up into lines.

The plastic turns white when bent as all the spaghetti lines up and stretches, and doesn't take any dye with it. The dye isn't affected by the force you are putting on the plastic, only the spaghetti.

Also, plastic can only be clear when the spaghetti isn't ordered so when clear plastic turns white, it means the spaghetti has lined up and light can no longer easily find it's way through the material and it turns opaque.


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

[User] [Werewolves] Would a werewolf die if they ate chocolate?

[Assistant]
Probably not. Dogs and wolves' stomachs can't process it,  but werewolves still have physical characteristics of humans, which are omnivorous.

There was a show that pointed out werewolves take painful s***s after a full moon, with human bones and whatnot coming out.


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

[User]
[DC] Can the Yellow ring/lantern be used as a force of good? E.g. fear of losing your loved ones so you fight and be empowered by it

Or does this translate to a Darth Vader-esque route?

[Assistant]
It's more or less goes full Dark Side.  Sinestro himself was motivated by a desire to accomplish what he believed was the Green Lantern Corps' actual directive, bring peace, when he felt they weren't capable.  Except "bring peace" rapidly became "impose order" which gave way to "accumulate power" towards the end.  He was, after all, motivated by the fear of what would happen when his stabilizing authority was removed, fear of losing another friend to evil, and never mind what he had to do or become to prevent it.

It's not that you can't use a Yellow Lantern ring to produce positive outcomes, but doing so takes a toll on you and, bit by bit, you'll lose those good intentions.  When the desire to do good becomes the fear of others doing evil, the need for control is never far behind.


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

[User]
CMV: The concept of "doing your own research" is prone to bad understanding when you are a non-expert

This is NOT an argument on doing any research at all, I highly recommend people seek to learn things.

Rather I am pointing out there is a very large potential for bad science when laymen tries to do research.

I don't mean just youtube videos. I mean when a layman reads actual research they often make poor assumptions and conclusions.

There are two major issues when a layman does personal research

First is scientific literacy, you must know what the terms mean, how to read the research paper, check credibility ect.

Secondly an understanding of the subject matter. Even if you are well versed in scientific literacy, not understanding the subject matter leads to vastly different conclusions. A foundation in the subject must be needed.

This is how we end up with non-experts taking a paper on vaccine and concluding that it causes autism.

This isn't to say doing research is bad, just that people need to be wary. If you, a non-expert reach a conclusion that contradicts the consensus of millions of experts, you probably need to do some self-evaluation.

[Assistant]
Are we assuming an "expert" Is void of subjective bias?  Even Science bases research on agreed upon Theory.

Self discovery is based on individual observations, and as a Social Science researcher,  I'd recommend researching to understand, not to prove a point.

"The truth is rarely pure, and never simple"!


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

[User] ELI5: Would a vacuum cleaner work in space?

[Assistant] Despite their name, vacuum cleaners do not create a vacuum. They create a pressure difference by pumping air out through the filter chamber. But since there would be no air in open space they won't create a pressure difference.


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

[User]
Why is/was there a tendency for like minerals to collect together on earth?

It seems that the original source for minerals was random and that they should be randomly, and relatively homogeneously spread over the surface of the earth.  Yet minerals like iron oxide, sodium chloride, gold, silver, (and most others it seems) have had a significant tendency to be found concentrated in various areas, making mining them and collecting them a practical endeavor.

What has caused that to occur?

[Assistant]
2 parts to this (admittedly insufficient) answer.

Sodium chloride stands out on this list. Sodium chloride build up is often due to sea water being trapped or secluded from fresh water. Over time the water will evaporate leaving the salt concentrated in that area.

As for concentration of other elements, despite starting out mixed, density will cause elements to separate out. Much in the same way a copper will sink in water, in a molten state iron will sink in silica.

A volcanic eruption can take some of the molten minerals in the magma nearer to the surface causing similar density of materials to appear near each other near the surface as they originated from a similar area/density.


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

[User]
Standing on a rock at the absolute edge of the Milky Way, facing away from the galaxy. What do I see above me?

*For the naked eye.*

Is the sky filled with stars? Do I only see light from the local cluster, or is it mostly pitch black?

Also, if you have any material on this Id love a link.

[Assistant]
It would be mostly pitch black.

There is no absolute edge of the Milky Way - there's just fewer and fewer stars as you go further out. So once you're far enough out that there's no stars close enough to be visible as individual stars "in front" of you, you're in a region that's so lacking in stars that there's there's no stars close enough to be visible as individual stars "behind" you either.

With the naked eye, you can only see stars (as individual points of light) within 2000 light years or so, but most of what we see is much closer than that - it's only the most extremely bright stars that are visible at that distance. The Milky Way is like 100,000 light years across, so all the stars you see as individual points of light are stars just in the neighbourhood of our Sun.

If you take away those stars, you can still see *something* though. You can see the Milky Way galaxy, and some other galaxies too. However, galaxies are dim. As they are mostly empty space, the surface brightness is low - and the surface brightness of a resolved object doesn't depend on distance (a wall doesn't get brighter as you walk towards it!). So nearby galaxies are pretty faint cloudy patches. You'll also only see nearby galaxies - if a galaxy is small enough to be a point, it's no longer resolved, and its brightness does depend on distance. As they aren't very bright to start with, you're not going to see those distant galaxies with the naked eye.

So the main thing you'll see is the big band of the Milky Way behind you - you might make out the bulge, and dust lanes, depending on where you are. You'll also see three other galaxies. There's the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, which are two massive dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, and Andromeda, which is about as massive as the milky way, but looks smaller because it's much further away. Personally I've found the LMC is the nicest to see from Earth, but you do have to see it from the Southern Hemisphere. Our hypothetical astronaut won't have a planet in the way and shouldn't have this issue!

But that's about it. All you'll see is the Milky Way behind you, and a few faint cloudy patches for other nearby galaxies, and that's it. Mostly black. And this is still within the Local Group - if you get away from our little family of galaxies into the void between clusters & groups, you'll quite likely see nothing at all.


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

[User]
CMV: TV Shows Are HANDS DOWN Way Better Than Movies.

Movies are dope but I think tv shows are so much better for a couple of reasons. Firstly TV shows have the time to build your love for a character, like Sons Of Anarchy for example. Their are 7 seasons in that show and the way they introduce the characters and make the characters feel like a part of your family is AMAZING! In a movie the character generally feels kind of generic and not that loveable because they only have 2-3 hours to build a character. Dont get me wrong some movies build characters perfectly like Poetic Justice, Goodfellas, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Bronx Tale etc. But TV Shows just have so much more time to do it. My second point is that tv shows are a lot more convenient, lets say you come home from a hard day of school/work and you have half an hour to chill before having to do your homework or clean. It makes so much more sense to put on a twenty minute show like F.R.I.E.N.D.S and watch thru fully, instead of watching 1/4th of a movie.

Im pretty new to Reddit and young so sorry if this post is kind of irrelevant lol just wanna know your thoughts.

[Assistant]
The distinction we should make is not show vs not show. It's serialized content vs non-serialized content.

You are right that some content is definitely better to convey over a serialized show format. But not all ideas/themes/content are. Not in every case is a show a better format than a movie.

You might really enjoy serialized content, there's nothing wrong with that, but some stories are meant to be short and fleeting.

Let me give you an example. Every seen "the shining"?

In your opinion, would a consistent serialized format of a the shining give you a different feeling than the movie?

Would you learn to expect certain things from the next episode? How would that affect your surprise?

I don't always think the movie is going to be better than the show, but i think it clear that there are *show* good reasons for a movie format.


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

[User]
[40k lore] So, how does a planetary militia deal with the overpowered forces of Chaos?

For that matter, what sort of equipment does your local Imperial militia carry, and how does it deal with obscenely nightmarish forces such as Plague/Noise/Rubric Marines, rotting virus demons, etc.
It seems that every time chaos is brought up, there's no chance unless pitted against Ultramarines or titans. I'm persistently left with the idea that humans have literally no chance against their chaos counterparts.

[Assistant]
The Imperium is vast, with uncounted worlds.  The attacks of Chaos are beyond number, as well.  But fortunately for humanity, not all those attacks are Black Crusades.  Let me elaborate.

Chaos attacks can first be divided into two categories: attacks from within and attacks from without.

The examples you mentioned all fall into the latter category: attacks from without.  And what can the pdf do against these outer threats?  Very little.  An attack by the accursed Chaos Space Marines, or demons, or any of the greater threats of Chaos, are going to be overwhelming--otherwise the Chaos force would not bother to attack.  In those situations the PDF is almost always routed and destroyed, left to form underground resistances if they are lucky enough to survive at all.  That is, unless, they are fortunate enough to be joined by the forces of the Imperium; usually the Imperial Guard.  When the Imperium forces join the battle then the pdf becomes invaluable, as they know the planetary environment and battlefields the best, and fight with great fervor to defend their homes and families.

The other type of Chaos attack is attacks from within.  These are rogue psykers possessed by Warp beings, or cultists given over to the worship of Chaos.  For small occurrences, local arbites and church forces are enough to deal with the problem; but for larger insurgencies, the pdf is great at isolating and destroying the Chaos element.

To sum up, Planetary Defense Forces are valuable for aiding Imperial Forces in defending their planets from external threats, and good at suppressing Chaos insurgents on their own planets; but faced with an external threat without aid of Imperial Forces, the PDF is likely doomed.


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

[User] ELI5: Why, when on a low calorie diet, does your body consume muscle as well as fat? Why not just fat?

[Assistant] Extra muscle is a luxury.  Your body wants to be strong, but the more muscle it has, the more food it requires.  If it thinks there isn't enough food available, it reduces the amount of muscle you have so you will use less in the long run.


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

[User]
[avatar] why was the avatar, the only one who could defeat the fire lord?

 throughout the series, it was said that only the avatar could defeat the fire lord, but why? what is so special about the avatar that he was the only one who could do that? what would have happened if someone else had done this?

[Assistant]
The Avatar was probably the only person powerful enough to take the Fire Lord in single combat. And of the others that *may* have been able to do it... none were likely to end the war by doing so.

The Avatar, however, stands apart from the nations of the world, and keeps peace between them.

Add to that, the Avatar had *vanished* before the war began. Of *course* people thought their return would lead to it's end.


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

[User]
ELI5: How snails form their shells

I have a pet snail. Is its shell built by the snail as it grows and needs more space? Or does it grow like a toe nail? How is it attached?

Bonus question: how different are snails and slugs?

[Assistant]
The shell is attached by the inner surface, and it grows a bit like a toenail. Snails and slugs are not exactly taxonomic terms, but in general they're actually pretty far apart.

Assuming you're talking about just land ones, snails are generally herbivores while slugs will eat anything. Dead animals, insects, plants, mushrooms, worms, and all sorts of things will get eaten by slugs while snails will *usually* stay away from most of that. There are carnivorous land snails though and many water snails also eat meat.


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

[User]
[Mad Max: The Road Warrior] Where is everybody else getting their gasoline?

Theres just no way mutual scavenging is how everybody gets gas. There has to be a source of fresh gasoline somewhere in the wastelands, somewhere other than Pappagallos oil compound. Max has gotta be running through a tank a day because all he does is drive. Humongous and all his marauders, too, from their constant siege of the compound. Theres tremendous amounts of fuel being used every day, where is it coming from?

[Assistant]
Mutual scavenging isn't getting *everyone* gas.  Gangs like Humungus' one kill or leave for dead the people they rob.  Humungus gang has a bunch of fuel to burn driving around because they presumably do this full time, and just finished up murdering some *other* poor bastards and stealing their fuel.

Max presumably travels from one relatively peaceful settlement to another, making deals for more gas.  Almost nobody is thinking about the long term at this point, they know its unsustainable, they just want to go as long as possible before they're the one at the wrong end of the murderstick.


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

[User] ELI5: How does the heart make its own electricity?

[Assistant]
The explanation by frommerman is incorrect, it is electricity and the sinoatrial node is not a cluster of nerves. The cells of the heart have the ability to pump ions across the membrane such that the inside is usually negatively charged compared to the outside.  When the cell gets hit by the action potential, there are voltage gated ion channels in the membrane that open, and then the cell becomes depolarized.  This opens other channels and makes the heart contract.  The cells then reset themselves to restore the normal negative resting membrane potential.

The sinoatrial node is composed of specialized heart cells that have special channels such that they are leakier than the normal channels, so it sets itself off every once in a while (aka every heartbeat). If the sinoatrial node is broken for some reason, the atrioventricular node also goes off but more slowly than the SA node, and if the av node breaks there's the his-purkinje branches.

People who have had heart transplants do not have nerves that connect to the heart, but the heart will still fire on its own.  The vagus nerve tells the heart to slow down usually, but a transplanted heart doesn't receive nerve signals from the brain/spinal cord.  So it usually beats at about 100 bpm, which is what the SA node would do without external regulation.

We measure electrical activity in the heart via an ecg, an electrocardiogram.

Edited to include the part about heart transplants not needing nerve innervation to beat.


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

[User]
Why do some vaccines leave scars?

I recently got my BCG vaccine as I work in a lab but when they informed me of the blistering and scaring phase I was a little perplexed.
What makes the site blister and scar only after several weeks/months? I know its to do with your immune system reacting but what is specifically involved / whats the processes involved and why does sometimes it cause such a prolonged severe reaction at the site of injection? ( How come its only with live vaccines too?)

[Assistant] For the smallpox vaccination, "leaving a mark" is the sign that the vaccine worked. The vaccine requires multiple punctures giving multiple infection start sites, so it becomes very inflammatory - leaving behind the scar tissue. The TB vaccine is different, in that it is a single injection, but BCG is extremely immunogenic and causes severe local inflammation, which can cause a long-lasting scar.


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

[User]
[DC] How could the Joker overpower Batman?

Batman, having trained and learned many martial arts, and pushed himself to near human perfection, was overpowered by a lunatic who has only unpredictability as a serious fighting advantage.

[Assistant]
Not just unpredictability, but his mind is as strong laterally as Batman's is deductively. The Joker would find ways to strike through every system of reality that depends on some form of logic. Language, art, sociology, economics can all be perverted and weaponized against Batman since his strength is in having such deep connections into any system relating to Gotham's infrastructure.

"But what does this have to do with combat?" Everything. When they fight, they aren't fighting like boxers with punches for the sake of breaking their opponent physically. They fight like chessmasters with any overpowering of Batman, to a layman, looking like he was put into check. The thing is that they are playing a game of chess by moving each piece in inhuman ways, representing every citizen of Gotham, with rules that they create and neither could ever win.

 **-----Edit** For comparison, this is how someone as intelligent and strong as Bane can only assume breaking Batman's back would break *him* as if he was merely someone pushed near human perfection. Bane's mind is savage, but austerely rational. Reality to him is as much of a prison as the one he was raised in.  For the Joker, reality is just another Arkham he can break through by sneezing.

His opponent is Batman-the-Symbol. It would be a joke to think you can benchpress/venom/artificially scare/freeze/riddle your way into Gotham's embrace.


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

[User] [MCU] What is the Iron Man mk.84 or whatever made from nowadays? I ask because sometimes they withstand a lot of battle damage, and others they get ripped apart like tin.

[Assistant]
I assume you're talking about ironman 3 when you talk about the Ines being ripped apart:

It seems like in that movie, most of the suits weren't really being destroyed so much as falling apart, which was also the first instance of them flying and assembling onto Tony on the fly; it seems that the sort of force field holding the suit together failed rather than the materials. (Avengers two had them fly to him as well, but maybe the bracelets helped?)

By the next avengers movie Tony has solved that problem and they're nice and sturdy.

(In the third ironman, Tony was also pretty mentally messed up, so he also seemed to be going for quantity over quality)


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

[User] ELI5: why are most top fuel dragsters V8 why not use V10 and V12 to go faster?.

[Assistant] The NHRA regulations constrain the engine used to power a Top Fuel drag racing car to the basic layout found in the second generation Chrysler 426 Hemi made from 1964-71. Although the Top Fuel engine is built exclusively of specialist parts, it retains the basic configuration with two valves per cylinder activated by pushrods from a centrally-placed camshaft. The engine has hemispherical combustion chambers, a 90 degree valve stem angle; 120 millimetres (4.8 in) bore pitch. The configuration is identical to the overhead valve, single camshaft-in-block "Hemi" V-8 engine which became available for sale to the public in selected Chrysler automotive products in model year 1951. The engine displacement is limited to 8,190 cubic centimeters (500 cu in). A 106-millimetre (4.1875 in) bore with a 114-millimetre (4.5 in) stroke are customary dimensions. Larger bores have been shown to weaken the cylinder block. Compression ratio is about 6.5:1 .


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

[User] ELI5 How my modded xbox 360 controller can remember what mode it was last in, even if I take the battery pack out and put it back in. Why can't an alarm clock do the same?

[Assistant]
> Why can't an alarm clock do the same?

It is not a technical issue, it's a social and economical issue.

If you need to change the mode every time the controller has powered down, you will need to do it a couple of times a day. A couple of times per day is making it annoying enough that you want it to get away. Enough annoying that you are willing to pay for having such a feature.

Replacing the battery is something you do every year once. Not enough to annoy you and pay for a clock which doesn't need to do this.

Because you are not willing to pay for it, the shops aren't interested in stocking them. The suppliers aren't interesting in making them. The chip manufacturers realize that they can save 1 cent on their chip by removing this "let it remember the time" feature, meaning their product is cheaper to make and thus more profit for them.

And that is why crowd funded projects like on kickstarter are such a hit for niche products which make sense for a small group of people who are willing to pay for the extra features.


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

[User] ELI5: If someone drilled a hole completely through the Earth (through the crust, mantle, outer and inner core), and disregarding the heat and pressure, I were to drop a object through said hole, would the object "fall" to the other side or would it stay in the middle of the Earth due to gravity?

[Assistant]
It would fall to the other side of the earth, if there was no air resistance. It fall down until it reached the center, where it would be at maximum speed, then it would continue to "fall" up until until is reached the surface. At which point it would turn to fall back again.

If you also conciser air resistance it would not reach the other side, but go back and forth until it eventually come to rest at the center of the earth.


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

[User] ELI5:If by definition an invasive species is a 'plant or animal that is not native to a specific location, and tends to spread and cause damage to the environment', then why humans aren't considered an invasive species? Do we not perfectly fit that definition as a species?

[Assistant] Yeah, we pretty much are, though we tend to think of "not native" as "humans brought it here and it didn't spread here on its own". You could look at things like National Parks or the Antarctic Treaties as being similar to trying to control an invasive species - "this is one of the few places that humans haven't invaded and destroyed yet, so let's put controls in place to try to keep it that way".


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

[User] [Avatar: TLA] Can a non-firebender challenge a firebender to an Agni Kai?

[Assistant] It would appear to be a form of ritualized combat that requires firebending, as evidenced when Azula, in her role as Fire Lord under Phoenix King Ozai, commanded Lo and Li to engage in Agni Kai.  Their response was "But we're not firebenders," which seemed to indicate that Agni Kai would be impossible for them.


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

[User]
ELI5:What exactly happens in your body when you drink water?

I get solid food, but what specifically happens when water enters the stomach and then afterwards.

[Assistant] Your body balances the water in the blood, the cells, and the spaces in between. A small amount stays in the intestines to help digestion while most is absorbed into the body across tiny pores. When the water crosses the pores it also helps transport vital electrolytes into your body. Then the water enters the blood stream and quickly reaches a balance with the other spaces: the insides of cells and in between the cells. The kidneys use the water in your blood to filter the waste products into urine. Some water even goes back into the lower intestines to help make stool.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are curved stretches of highway tilted?

[Assistant]
This is called banking, and it's done to prevent cars from sliding off the road at high speeds.

When you're driving in a straight line, all the energy of the vehicle is aligned with the direction of travel. If you were to slam on the brakes, you'd decelerate in a straight line.

However, when you're going around a curve, your energy becomes compound. It's not just in a straight line in front of you, but also away from the center of the curve. If you were going around a curve, and the road suddenly turned to ice, you'd continue moving forward, but also *outward* along the radius of the curve.

The banking is done to offset this outward energy and help cars stay on the road - without the banking, taking even a large turn will run the risk of the vehicle sliding left or right, since the amount of friction between the road and the tires is finite, and can be overwhelmed by sufficient speeds.


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

[User] Was always warned to stay away from windows and off/away from electronic devices (television, computer) during a thunderstorm. How valid is this claim, and how dangerous is it really?

[Assistant]
Mythbusters tested this. If you have Netflix then you can watch it. It's the episode "Son of a Gun" (s01e11).

The phone did allow the current to go through (if the fuse wasn't grounded) and it would have killed someone.

They also tested if someone was in the shower "as if they were standing on a drain, and the drain was grounded," and it also was "plausible" to kill someone.

Both of these happened in a "best case" scenario.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Will Wizards eventually adopt muggle tech as national surveillance states increase in number?

I can imagine why wizards would not want to use 1990s tech, but in todays world when litteraly everyone has a cellphone? Where China's government can observe your every move? If wizards don't adopt muggle tech, they will be discovered.

[Assistant]
They seem to be doing fine. While your average wizard is as dumb or dumber than their magic stick, they got staying hidden and ereasing muggle memories basically perfected.

Magic also fucks with electronics. Very simple devices like radios seem to work if powered by magic, but a wizard with a regular cellphone probably would not.


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

[User]
[Rick and Morty] How did Rick _____ if ________?

How did Rick fabricate the details of his backstory in season 3 if, as revealed at the end of season 5, it ended up being his real backstory?

[Assistant]
Rick used his actual backstory to build his illusion in the Shoneys; the bug didn't see the real memory, just a brutally accurate simulation of it, up until the moment when Past Rick writes the code for the malicious upload.

As far as telling the bug it was *all* a lie, Rick is an asshole, hates authority figures, and has an especially big chip on his shoulder towards the Gromflomites and the Federation. He knew it didn't matter what the big knew or didn't know, his information was safe, *he just wanted to twist the dagger in the dying bug's guts a little more before leaving*.


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

[User]
[Naruto] How the hell is chidori/lightning blade an assassins technology? it's way more flashy than the rasegan and it's loud as shit so loud that it's named by the loud high pitched sound it makes

"technique"

[Assistant]
Chidori is an assassination technique in the same way old school Hashashin had a technique where they would get drugged up and charge straight at their target with a knife.

The idea is if someone charges straight at their target with no regard for their own safety, it is very difficult for their target to survive.  Indeed, Chidori is criticized for being a reckless technique to teach when Sasuke first uses it.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] By the time Ep.IV takes place, did Darth Vader know Obi Wan had survived all this time?

After being healed up by the Emperor in Ep.III, it seems likely Vader would have known that Obi Wan was still roaming around somewhere, but is there anything to suggest Vader ever tried to find him or confirm whether he was dead or alive over the next 30 years?  I guess the same question would apply to Yoda.

[Assistant]
I think Anakin/Vader would've known if Obi Wan had died, so he had to assume he was still alive. As for seeking him out, I'd imagine after he recuperated (as best as someone dipped in lava then shoved in a mobile respirator can), the Emperor kept him too busy quashing rebellions and executing his will. That being said, it's also likely that he was specifically being sent to places where remnants of the Jedi order might happen to pop up. It would make sense for them to join the rebellion if they decided to come out of hiding.

The problem is that even with force sensitivity and the tracking power that offers, the galaxy is still a big place. It would be easy enough to keep one's head down, keep out of sight, and stay mobile. Life's hard outside of the core worlds, but certainly not impossible for someone with Jedi skills.


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

[User] Many supermassive Black Holes emit relativistic jets. Would a White Hole be expected to have similar in-falling jets?

[Assistant]
Hey, astronomer here:
I don't really think this would happen, primarily for two reasons:

1.- Jets observed from black holes are not "emissions" from the blackhole itself , blackholes' only known emission method is Hawking's radiation. Jet streams are result of  gravitational interaction with the dust surrounding them with lots of relativistic velocities and angular momentum equations, that end sending up matter in the rotation axes of the bh. Having said that, you can think of jets as gravitational pull consequences.

2.- If white holes would be like the exact opposite of black holes, this meaning "massive sources of matter emission in every direction" i don't see any reason why this type of emission would generate a pulling force on the rotation axes of the object.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did they get, and keep, the footage of the atomic bomb tests?

You've seen the footage: those orange-red tinged shots of the car and bus being blasted across the desert, the shockwave hitting the trees and making a "forest" shimmy, and the house blistering into ashes.

So with all these thermonuclear torments, how the the camera stay trained on the spot, and how did the film not vaporize?  What about retrieval?  Don't get me wrong, I'm not some truther who's trying to say it wasn't real or the Freemasons did it (we had a pancake breakfast that day so we're good on alibis), or any such nonsene.  Just curious.

Was camera tech good enough back then to have super long-range zoom?  With the terrible force and energy, the shockwave pushing out and the negative pressure return wave what was used to stabilize the image?  How was the recording possible with the presence of EMP?

[Assistant]
First of all: for most shots of the blasts themselves, the camera was with the human observers i.e. sufficiently far enough away to be safe from massive shockwaves. Zoom lenses did not need to be super zooms, given the sizes of the explosions. Some cameras were put in massively heavy enclosures to survive being closer e.g. to capture the shock wave effects on structures and animals. You can design such things if you have an estimate of the conditions, which they did.

Plus: who's claiming that no cameras or film were ever destroyed? I'd be very surprised if that never happened!


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

[User] ELI5: Why can we only see so many stars in our own galaxy, but we can see the Andromeda Galaxy billions of light-years away with the naked eye?

[Assistant]
That's kind of like asking why you can see the moon, but why can't you see a grain of sand 100 yards away. The sand is much closer, but the moon is much bigger.

Andromeda Galaxy is 220,000 light years across and contains a trillion stars. A typical star is 1.4 million kilometers across. That means a star is 0.00000000006726% as big as a galaxy. Also, Andromeda is "only" 2.5 million light years away - not billions of light years.


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

[User]
What do you recommend me?

Hey I'm 16 years old and I know C and a little html. A lot of people recommended me to learn python and stick with it.

  What do you guys think? Should I learn python and work with it? If so, what are some good courses that you can learn python?

Thanks in advance!

[Assistant]
Python is an easy to use tool for nearly everything. It's good to know Python.
On the other hand, if you are good with C, stick with it for a little bit, just to become even better.  There is almost no language that you cannot understand if you are a decent C programmer. It's literally a 70's language that survived that long. There is a reason for it.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do streaming services analyze the success of their shows/movies?

With the strong influx of movies being created by streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, how exactly do they know if their movie was a success?

For example, if a studio like Warner Bros created a movie with a final budget of $10m, they can analyze their success based on the revenues. If they made >$10m...it was a success, right?

So how can streaming services deem their movie a success if they simply only provide revenues through subscriptions?

[Assistant]
They look at details like:

- How many people watched it?
- How many people watched it right after signing up? (Assuming that the show is what motivated people to join)
- Did signup rates spike when the show was announced or became available?
- How many people watched it as soon as possible?
- How many people, after watching episode 1, went on to complete the season?
- How quickly did people binge the whole season?
- What did people rate it?
- Did the enthusiastic viewers (completed entire season, rated highly, and/or watched quickly) fit into a neat demographic (18-29 year old men who watch lots of scifi) or a broad one?

There's one kind of surprising detail that Netflix and streaming services are looking for that traditional TV networks aren't: *enthusiasm*.

With a traditional TV network, supported by ads, the only thing that matters is the number of viewers. The more viewers there are, the more valuable the ad slots are. 1000 viewers who say "eh it was mediocre" are preferable to 500 who say "I *loved* it."

With Netflix, enthusiasm can matter more than overall viewership. 500 people who *love* a show are better than 1000 people who watched it without really caring. Because they're not selling adtime, they're selling subscriptions, and people won't pay for a service that has ten mediocre shows but they *will* pay for a service that has their one alltime favourite. So Netflix's metrics aren't simple viewership rates (although obviously overall viewership matters) but also enthusiasm rates.

One area enthusiasm really matters is in demographic divide. In the TV industry, the goal is to have each show appeal as much as possible to the five key demographics (Males, Females, Teens, 18-49s, Seniors). When you pitch a show to a network you're expected to identify the two you're strong with (Breaking Bad: men 18-49, Pretty Little Liars: female teens) and then there are meetings on how to cater to the other 3. If you pitch an action series about street racing spies they'll want you to add romance for female viewers, tone down the violence for teen viewers, put some 60s/70s rock in the soundtrack for older viewers, for example. The aim is for the show to be tolerable to everyone, even if those changes make it less appealing to the core demo. This is less about drawing old/teen/female viewers to the show and more about making sure that nothing in the TV schedule is so unappealing to anyone that they'll turn it off, since people usually watch TV in multi-show blocks with other people.

Netflix's goal is very different. It's better for their business model to have shows that only appeal to individual demographics, but which evoke intense "I would pay $9/month for this show alone" enthusiasm. You create these shows by doing the *opposite* of what the TV networks do -- you pick a demographic and focus solely on them.


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

[User] [eli5] What actually is food poisoning and what is happening in our bodies that make them respond so violently to it?

[Assistant]
Food poisoning happens when you eat some bad bacteria living on/in your food. These bacteria (commonly staphylococcus aureus and bacillus cereus) make a toxin and spread that toxin all in your food. When you eat that toxin, your guts are like this is a bad thing so lets get rid of it and your guts get rid of it with vomiting and diarrhea. The vomiting and diarrhea get rid of the bacteria and essentially clean you out.

Some bacterial diarrheas last longer but thats because those bacteria can live in your guts and make their toxin instead of these food poisoning ones that make their toxin before you eat it.


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

[User] [The Matrix] When a program for something like martial-arts or piloting a helicopter is uploaded into your brain, it's in your brain... right? So technically can you still utilize those skills outside of the matrix?

[Assistant] Yes and no. You can't use the program, that's a part of your avatar inside the matrix. However, if you got the chance to actually pilot a helicopter, you would remember doing so, and while your muscle memory might not be up to scratch, you'd at least know what switches to switch, what the helicopter should feel and sound like, which are all things that people usually need practice to learn. You might also have some instinctual responses if you got enough practice. It's different from a simulator because your body doesn't know what to do, but your mind does.


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

[User] Will turbulence experienced through flight ever be a thing of the past? How will it be avoided if so?

[Assistant]
Turbulence is a result of flying through unstable air and the best way to avoid it is to fly higher. One day we might have sub orbital space planes which fly very fast and 40-60km up which would experience very little turbulence while at cruising altitude. There would still always be a chance of turbulence when travelling through the stratosphere and troposphere during accent and decent phases.

In short, no there is no way to avoid turbulence as long as you fly through something inherently unstable like our lower atmosphere.


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

[User]
Advice for Programming Birthday-Suprise for my Fiance

Hi All! I'm (M33) a non-native English speaker, on a throwaway account because I don't want my fiance (F30) to find out.

I have an idea for her birthday gift but would like your input on it because I don't even know how to code. (She does it for a living). My idea was to create a self-designed apron for the kitchen, we both love to cook and I think it would be a great idea to give her a (high-quality, etc.) personal apron.

I researched some programming 'rules' and created the following code (see below). I wonder if you could all give me some input, tips and tricks, and creativity for this code and tell me if it is funny or not:

    /Define Hunger
             {Lonely Mouth,
              Growling Stomach}
    /If Lonely Mouth is
                       TRUE
    /If Growling Stomach is
                       TRUE
    /Then it is time to
                       COOK

The format is partially done this way because of the size of the apron :) Thank you so much for your advice!

[Assistant]
How about making it a bit more so that it looks like code syntax?

    void Hunger (Mood, Stomach)
    {
        if (Mood=="Grumpy")
        {
            if (Stomach=="Growling")
            {
                Food = TimeToCook() ;
                Eat (Food) ;
                Mood = "Happy" ;
                Stomach = "Full" ;
                //TODO later CleanKitchen()
            }
        }
    }

This is supposed to be code(function) that takes your "mood" and "stomach". It checks if your mood is grumpy and if your stomach is growling. If they are true, you make "Food" since it's TimeToCook and then you "Eat" it. Then, we change your mood and stomach to "Happy" and "Full". The last part is like a side note in the code called a comment, saying that the code to clean the kitchen hasn't been written, maybe we can do that later ;)

Never thought I'd write code for someone's apron, but here we are. Cheers!


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

[User]
CMV: corporations should be required to pay for the disposal of their products.

If companies were explicitly responsible for the disposal costs associated with their products it would incentivize the production of items that are more reusable and less costly to dispose of. It would also help ensure products are correctly disposed of, since there would be dedicated funds.

The current system unfairly shifts the blame the the consumer, is much less effective. The debate about plastic straws is a great example. It puts extra pressure on people with disabilities, addresses such a small part of the problem of plastic waste, and has turned into a status symbol in many ways.

Yes, this would increase the cost to consumers, but consumers already pay this cost indirectly through taxes and degraded resources.

Edit: logistically, I'm thinking something similar to the the carbon cap and trade market. Disposal cost would be set aside at the beginning of the product's life, regardless of when our where it gets disposed of.
I'm not saying you should mail your garbage back to whoever you bought it from. That's dumb. The money might not even go directly to disposal of that type of product, but pubic public outreach, or research, or clean up.

[Assistant]
If you want to use cost to incentivize the correct disposal of waste (I good idea IMHO) shouldnt that cost be applied to the ones who make the choice of disposal (ie the consumer)?

The problem with charging the producer for waste disposal is that the cost of disposal depends on how the consumer handles the waste they produce. It makes the determination of the cost of disposal at the manufacture level completely arbitrary. The manufacturer can contribute, eg by using recyclable materials, but the consumer needs to have an incentive to play their role in the cycle.

To make this work you need to put some cost incentive on the consumer.  An example of this is the deposit refund scheme for drink bottles.  The consumer pays for the waste they produce in the bottle deposit added to the price of the drink and can get it back by doing the right thing by returning the bottle to a recycler.


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

[User] [DC] Does the Green Lantern Corps have the equivalent of a non-interference protocol or Prime Directive? Would the Guardians recognise the sovereignty of civilizations whose leaders ask they be left alone no matter how evil or unjust they might be?

[Assistant] Pretty sure those those guys are all about interfering whenever the heck the feel like it.  After all their three powers are being super-condescendingly arrogant, being almost always wrong, and Making IT Worse.


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

[User] ELI5:Why do firefighters "make it rain" on a fire instead of pointing the hose at the ground or directly into the fire?

[Assistant]
What they are trying to do is prevent the area immediately next to where the fire is from catching fire. By doing this (in theory) the fire will have nowhere to go and eventually use up the fuel that is currently on fire and extinguish itself.

The "make it rain" approach is common because it starves the fire of both heat and oxygen (the water vapour displaces the oxygen in the air)


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

[User]
CMV: Developing space infrastructure should be a higher priority than trying to colonize Mars

There seems to be a lot of romance around the idea of colonizing Mars and I hope that someday there is a Martian colony. But first we need better space infrastructure. That means more efficient ways to launch and reuse rockets like SpaceX is developing.  More needs to be done to develop Earth orbit capabilities, and perhaps a Moon base to develop the the first off world manufacturing and intermediate base for exploring further out. We also need to develop the infrastructure that will enable us to start doing asteroid mining. Thats primarily so that we dont need to launch as much material into orbit to build things in space. What do you think?

[Assistant]
I work in the software development industry, and there is a recurring debate on this very issue.

On the one hand, new projects are sexy. They attract investors and customers. They have goals that are easy to define and market.

On the other hand, infrastructure projects can help the "sexy" projects move faster in the future. They provide a network of support that, in theory, should make all future goals cheaper and easier to achieve.

There is a hidden downside of infrastructure projects, however. First, humans aren't good at predicting the future. We often build infrastructure to address problems that never materialize. Second, we often build infrastructure and then discover that other technology has advanced in ways that render our infrastructure irrelevant.

In software development, as in space technology and most other pursuits, it is often most efficient to develop infrastructure *alongside* the sexy projects on an as-needed basis to ensure that no waste is produced.


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

[User] If I keep my chapped and cracked lips shut, will they heal together?

[Assistant] Yes. Skin cells are dumb. Cell adhesion complexes in general are dumb. If you managed to hold them together close enough while they healed, you could get them to grow together. But the contacts would likely not be very strong, and you could probably pull them apart with very little force. Incidentally, the same phenomenon is at work when your unused muscles get "stiff" and "knotted" - this is from overlapping muscles that should move smoothly across each other forming cell adhesion contacts through proximity. These may be worked out mechanically by massaging, etc.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do movies usually take 2-3 years to produce while similar quality shows like House of Cards can be produced annually?

[Assistant]
House of Cards *did* take 2-3 years to produce from writing to casting to shooting. It is important to note that Netflix ordered two seasons of 13 episodes each from the get-go. They didn't film one season, leave, and then suddenly get the call for another season and then scramble and put it together all in one year, it was already planned that way, which makes it far more efficient. Filming for Season 2 was literally a few weeks after Season 1's release.

Occasionally even movies with similar cast and crew have a similar trend. Lord of the Rings had a yearly release due to knowing how many films they were going to make but the infrastructure to bring about the first one took far longer (and even then, the filming process for the trilogy was insane logistically).


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

[User]
CMV: The notion that you would be able to defend yourself from a corrupt government is irrational.

Like the title says, many pro-gun advocates make the argument that they own firearms to defend themselves from a corrupt government (in this case, the U.S.), but don't realize they would be far from threatening to an organized fighting force with military equipment (national guard, army, etc.) This argument would be applicable in colonial America where most fighting forces were still in development and consisted mainly of militias. The point is that your 9mm won't be able to defend against coordination, a chain of command, and fully automatic weapons.

[Assistant]
It's largely a matter of what you're willing to give up.

If a dissident guerilla group of terrorists decides to wage a long campaign against the government, hitting soft targets and retreating into sewers and basically waging a campaign of assassination and murder - well, most of them are going to die. They're going to get killed by soldiers.

But these campaigns, over the long term, have a tendency to destabilize a government and cause it, if not to fall entirely, than to come to the table ready to negotiate.

If you're willing to die in the hopes that your grandchildren might have a better future (because your children sure as fuck won't), an armed insurrection can indeed be effective.


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

[User]
[The Boys] Is Billy Butcher actually English?

As an English person his accent to me is such a caricature of a cockney it's insane. As far as I remember he never mentions anything about his English past. Did some trauma from his past make him snap into this cockney character?

[Assistant]
He might have learned to exadgerate his accent in the english military, or he might have spent so much time in one intelligence program or another under a cover that he lost his natural accent. He is from Britain, but time spent in the melting pot of the military industrial complex can warp someone's language pretty strongly.

that said, his accent is a tool to make people underestimate him, and he wields itas he wields anything - violently and with as much force as he thinks is necessary.


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

[User] ELI5: How does eating high fibre food prevent us from getting constipation?

[Assistant] You can't digest/break down fibre. It stays in your gut. When things stay in your gut, it tends to pull water in because the water can't be absorbed into your intestinal wall. That water acts to soften up your poop, making it pass along easier.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why don't Federal programs have a small trial-run like "America Works" had in 'House of Cards'?

You'd think with all the fighting in Washington, you'd think any idea could be trial run on a small scale to collect data on whether or not to unroll the programs nationwide.

[Assistant]
They frequently do.  Either the government will run a pilot program to test it out, or the program will have been tested in a state (or states) prior to national adoption.

For example the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") tried in Massachusetts for years before it was adopted at the Federal level (and the success of that program on the state level is part of why it was adopted at the national level).   As an example of national pilot programs, you can look to Head Start - which is constantly running pilot programs to expand services or test new ways of providing services prior to national roll-out.


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

[User] ELI5: why do bats hang upside down.

[Assistant]
Hanging from the ceiling provides a more optimal position to escape harm should a predator or some other danger come along, as they can simply drop and spread their wings to be airborne instead of needing time to take off from the ground.

Also, the ceiling of a cave is less likely to encounter predators than the floor, so sleeping while hanging from the ceiling keeps them safer.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Are snowtroopers, sandtroopers etc specialised infantry divisions that are only deployed to planets with specific conditions or are they regular stormtroopers who are fitted for whatever the conditions demand?

Side question. If they are specialised divisions are they considered more elite and harder to be accepted into?

[Assistant]
They're normal troopers in specialised armours. The sandtroopers deployed searching for R2-D2 and C-3PO were dispatched from the Devastator. It'd be fairly silly for Star Destroyers to carry specialised divisions of troops for every possible environment as most of them would rarely see action and be useless. Much better to have an adaptable fighting force in far greater numbers.

The 501st lead the assault on Echo base, as well as the Tantive IV, they were the same soldiers in different equipment.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do people claim to know how many illegal immigrants are in the United States?

If someone is illegal, there's no documentation on them, right?  I realize the numbers are estimates, but I can't imagine how these estimations are even close if there isn't any hard data.

[Assistant]
There are multiple ways to estimate the illegal population. These include economic impact, public service usage, population samples, the census, and migration tracking.

Economic impact looks at levels of spending and the flow of money to determine the population involved in the economy. We can compare this to the documentation we do have to find who is missing. We can also use this method to determine the black market size and under the table economy sizes, these are how illegal immigrants are paid.

We can also use data on public service usage to estimate size. Hospital visits, public school enrollment, and arrests all alow use to sample the population.

Population samples, the census, and migration tracking are forms of mass and local data collection taken on by the government. The data collected can be compared to know populations and communities to adjust for errors such as non-reporting by the population themselves.


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

[User]
[generic or classical sci-fi] How to describe dimensionality in other terms?

A popular way to reference other universes in less technical terms is to call them other dimensions, but this term has its own peculiarities that logicians love to make hay about.

"A dimension is just length, width, depth, or time," they may say. "How can you visit a whole other dimension like it was a separate universe?"

But if we start redefining things, the apparent contradictions will go away.

So what if a different term was used for the different axes of three-space?

A point in space simply exists, a singularity. A ray can emanate from it, but can only describe direction or length. Add a turn, and you define a flat two-space, length multiplied by width. Add a second turn, and you have a volume or three-space, length multiplied by width multiplied by depth. This plus time makes a spacetime, or a complete dimension. So how many turns? Technically three: length is the zeroth turn. A dimension has three turns emanating from a singularity. With a time arrow that three-space is allowed to have a past and a future, not simply a singularity of an eternal present. It is allowed to change and to experience entropy.

Most dimensions seem to share the same time arrow. You start in one diemsnion, travel to another and spend one hour there, then come back--one hour has also passed in the first. There are dimensions where time goes faster or slower, but these are rare.

Finally, some dimensions have a "3rd turn": hyperspace or subspace, an ethereal or shadow realm that corresponds to multiple frequencies or vibrations or energy levels of existence. Objects and creatures existing at different frequencies may slide through each other or be invisible to each other, but they are still existing in the same dimension of spacetime. And perhaps there are even more turns than these than we can dream of in this philosophy.

Thus: whenever a character or a narrator talks about dimensions as universes, they are talking about universes made of three (or more) turns plus a time arrow, might they not?

[Assistant]
Take a potato and slice it thinly.  Each thin slice would have a slightly different shape, different feel.  You could take a thin slice and cut a hole in it, and the slices next to it would be unaffected.  Now take all the slices and stack them back up so they're in the shape of the original potato.  You can travel between the slices just by moving down the potato.

All you're doing is stepping between slices of the potato.


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

[User] [Star Trek]it's 2147 and you're a 24 yr old with an associate degree in engineering, your goal in life is to see as many planets as possible. Are you better off applying to star fleet and hoping you eventually end up on an NX ship, or are your chances better if you just sign onto a freighter crew?

[Assistant]
At that time-prior to the Romulan War-United Earth Starfleet (UES) was still relatively small compared to its potential allies (Vulcans and Andorians). However, because it was small, most of its development was in line ships, rather than support ships.

The merchant fleet was far larger (though not nearly the size of the same Tellarite industry), but the boomer fleet was far slower than most of the UES line ships (including the NX Enterprise class). It could take many months and even years between ports of call, and if you served on a corporate ship, you probably found yourself on a pendulum or triangle route, limiting the scope of planets youd be exposed to within say a 10 year period.

Id say your best shot is Starfleet. Your drive to see new destinations mirrors that of the fleet. Even if you start off on a NV Triton/Intrepid class ship (limited in range), with stalwart career management, you should end up on one of the handful NX explorers by your 2nd or 3rd tour, with the leadership experience to be on landing parties.


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

[User]
ELI5: If Communism promotes social equality, why is there such a big poverty gap in China?

Recently learning about different economic systems and this question came to mind.

[Assistant] The People's Republic of China has been most communist in name only.  It is communist only in the sense of how the political party functions, and has had no responsibility to redistribute wealth since the 1990's. China has a capitalist economy that is state-driven, as opposed to the market-driven economies of the West.


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

[User]
Are living fossils like the Horseshoe Crab evolutionary dead ends?

Since they haven't changed in millions of years does that mean their's no room for improvement or is it their mating practices that keep them the same?

[Assistant]
This question stems from a misunderstanding of what evolution is. Evolution is not a journey, a ladder or a race - there is no end goal or pre-destined 'better' point which beings are evolving into. Every species which isn't endangered or extinct is perfectly suited to its own niche.

Evolution is a reaction to changing pressures in the environment. If there is nothing that requires a different trait (for example if a horseshoe crab with longer legs survives no better than one with regular legs) then there is no evolutionary pressure on the species as a whole, as the regular individuals are just as likely to survive and procreate.

Basically, the horseshoe crab is by its very existence evidence that it doesn't need to change. It's survived in its ecological niche for millions of years and that's it.


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

[User] [General] So I found a genie in a bottle and he said I can have three wishes. My first wish was for unlimited wishes. How does the genie handle this?

[Assistant]
Genies as depicted in the Arabian Nights aren't wish factories, they are immortal semi-demonic giants that may grant wishes if the circumstances are correct.  The OG legend of a genie being freed and offering wishes is that the genie was so happy about being freed that he offered his savior the wishes.

If he was giving you these wishes because he was happy you freed him from the bottle, and then you take advantage of the boon by wishing for more wishes, a traditional genie will probably just kill you for trying to take advantage of his kindness.


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

[User]
ELI5:In our dreams, how are the people we have never seen or interacted with before conjured up?

I feel like I interact with humanoids when I remember a dream with someone I have never met before.

[Assistant] If you walk down a typical shopping street or visit a cinema or restaurant, you see hundreds of faces in the space of an hour that you'll never remember you saw. If you go to a music festival or sports event you'll see thousands that you'll never remember you saw. Even if you never leave your house and only watch TV, over the course of a few shows you'll see hundreds of extras whom you'll not consciously remember. Your eyes are pulling in unfathomable amounts of data all the time, your brain only selectively recalls some because if it recalled all you would be overstimulated to the point of not being able to function normally, but in dreams those bits and pieces can surface.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] How would things go if Voldemort and the Death-eaters chose to conquer the muggle world before laying siege to the Wizarding world?

[Assistant]
Conquering the Muggle world would be a relatively simple matter for the Dark Lord.  Apparating into the bedchambers of world leaders and Imperiusing them in their sleep would be a fairly trivial task for someone like Voldemort.

The thing is, though, Voldemort has no desire to conquer the Muggle world.  To Voldemort and his followers, Muggles are a lesser form of life, one that is to be used when convenient, ignored when unneded, and slaughtered when the whim strikes.  He has no more desire to take over the Muggle world than a human would want to take over a forest and rule over the woodland creatures as their king.  Conquer the Muggles?  What's the point?


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

[User]
[Star Wars] I understand that the rebels are battling the Empire, but why? What was the issue with the Empire running the universe? High taxes, too conservative, too authoritarian?

Maybe its explained in one of the movies, but I must have missed it. Its clear they are pretty brutal and authoritarian, but so are most countries when dealing with violent rebels.

[Assistant]
Well, there are a few little things. Just minor quibbles, you know.

The dismantling of all forms of democratic representation. The government being under the control of a ruthless dictator-for-life. The use of tactics like orbital bombardment on civilian populations. The strip-mining of worlds down to the mantle to fuel the galactic war machine. The reduction of non-human populations to second-class citizens on their own homeworlds. The mass use of slavery. The Lasan massacre. The Geonosian genocide. The replacement of traditional bureaucracy with the constant threat of planetary annihilation.

They aren't just brutal to the rebels, they're brutal to everyone.