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

[User]
ELI5: What is a torrent?

I use them fairly often, but have no idea what is actually going on.

[Assistant]
Screw these answers. Like you're five:

Imagine you want a copy of a book. You get online and say "Hey, anyone have this book?"

A conventional download would be like one person saying "I've got that book. Let me give it to you.", and then giving you the whole book.

A torrent is more like 200 people saying "Hey. We've each got pages of this book. Let us give you the pages and you can put the book together yourself."


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

[User]
[Star Wars] In "A New Hope," why didn't the rebel fighters fly straight down at the exposed vent instead of navigating a long trench?

EDIT: I guess part of my confusion is this: The Death Star, being a spherical object could be approached from practically any direction, but was covered with laser turrets throughout its surface. No matter which entry path was chosen, the fighter had to fly directly down towards the station's surface. Per the movie plans, it was to skim the trench to approach the vent.

If the entire surface was covered in those turrets, then didn't they actually INCREASE the amount of danger (and likelihood of failure) by increasing the distance flown and prolonging the fighters' time close to the station and near the turrets?

[Assistant]
They'd be exposed to more turbolaser fire increasing the chances of getting hit and destroyed.

They weren't anti-fighter weapons, but with enough pointed towards them, they'd eventually start to hit stuff.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do restaurant salads taste so much better than any salad I try to make at home, even if I use the restaurant's dressing?

[Assistant] Frankly a lot of times salt is the answer. Use it liberally if you want your food to taste good. Also, just because you're using their bottled dressing doesn't mean it's actually the same thing they use in house. They might, for instance, be making essentially the same dressing fresh everyday or every week. There are also often preparation techniques that can take a dish to the next level. Like with a salad, we used to mix the croutons in the dressing to get them drenched before mixing the rest of the salad, which would give the croutons a muuuch better texture.


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

[User]
I don't think climate change is anything to worry about. CMV

A bit of a disclaimer first. I do believe climate change exists, and I do believe that it can be caused by human activity. That's not what I'm doubting. What I doubt, however, is the notion that it's this scary apocalyptic thing we should be worried about. The human race survived the end of the Ice Age with technology that even the most primitive modern societies would laugh at. With climate change being a relatively gradual thing, we'll be even more advanced than we are right now when the real changes start to take effect. With the technology we'll have then, we'll be able to weather any change in our environment (no pun intended). So I don't get why everyone's freaking out.

[Assistant] When the last ice age ended the world's population wasn't over 7 billion.  People ate what they could find.  They were hunter gatherers.  Changing climate could mean farmland vanishes, gets washed away, rainfall drops, or increases too much, or moves somewhere else, etc.  7 billion people can't just pick up their houses and move to where the buffalo moved to.


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

[User] Is there a difference between hitting a concrete wall at 100mph and being hit by a concrete wall at 100mph?

[Assistant]
In an idealised case no. In reality there will be small differences due to things which aren't really mentioned in your question.

For instance if you drive into a wall at 100mph the fact that your wheels are spinning (for example) makes the situation different from if the wall is launched towards the car at 100mph.


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

[User] [HP] According to a really weird tweet from Pottermore, wizards didn't use plumbing until the 18th century. So why did Salazar Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets in a bathroom, so much earlier than that ?

[Assistant] It was originally a hidden trapdoor and tunnel in some corner of the castle. The plumbing renovations risked revealing the Chamber, however a descendant of Slytherin was present at Hogwarts at the time, and was able to not only ensure the entrance stayed hidden, but linked it into the new bathrooms and plumbing system.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do the gas giants not have a rocky core if theyre credited with protecting Earth by sucking in hazardous asteroids for billions of years?

Surely over the course of billions of years of sucking in rocks, comets, asteroids, dust, etc. and breaking apart moons, the gas giants would have a rocky core?

Not to mention that any gas that succumbs to the immense heat and pressure inside the core of a gas giant would likely turn into a solid metal-esque state?

[Assistant] You are correct, gas giants like Saturn and Jupiter do indeed have solid cores. They simply do not have a hard surface/crust like Earth does, usually made of gas or compressed gas in the form of liquid. The vast majority of their mass does come from gas, which is why we call them gas giants.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why did walking machines become a preference over wheeled vehicles?

With exception to the Clone Juggernaut and the CIS Hailfire Droid Tank, why did people choose slower, lumbering vehicles that can be tripped and overbalanced? Surely this is more impractical in warfare?

[Assistant]
Because wheeled vehicles are only practical on roads (which don't exist) and in the open fields, and legs are good for forests, swamps, sandy deserts and basically all kinds of terrain.

The real question must be, considering the ubiquity of repulsor lifts in civilian vehicles, why have ground vehicles at all?


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

[User] ELI5: how a penis can get erect, maintain proper circulation without increasing the blood pressure appreciably in the rest of the circulatory system?

[Assistant] The arteries leading into the penis dilate, resulting in an increased profusion of blood. The veins leading out of the penis are constricted by muscular action, restricting the ability of the blood to flow back out of the system into the body at large. This also explains in part how a priapism can be dangerous, as you can get oxygen-starved tissues.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why can't I decalare my own properties as independent and make my own country?

Isn't this exactly what the founding fathers did? A small bunch of people decided to write and lay down a law that affected everyone in America at that time (even if you didn't agree with it, you are now part of it and is required to follow the laws they wrote).

Likewise, can't I and a bunch of my friends declare independence on a small farm land we own and make our own laws?

EDIT: Holy crap I didn't expect this to explode into the front page. Thanks for all the answers, I wish to further discuss how to start your own country, but I'll find the appropriate subreddit for that.

[Assistant]
Go ahead and stop paying your property taxes and everything else. When the government attempts to seize your property defend it with your army. Then declare your property an independent state. Then write laws on your property and enforce them. Then have other states recognize your sovereignty.

In essence, in order to be considered a state you need:

**PHYSICAL SPACE**

*Territory: The land you have

*Population: People that live there

**GOVERNMENT**

*Internal sovereignty/Legitimacy/Physical Control: Population must obey your laws and you must enforce them.

*External sovereignty/Legitimacy: Other states must recognize your state as such and you must be recognized by the world (Golden Rule: You have this if the UN recognizes your state as legitimate).


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

[User] Difference between a principled person and close-minded?

[Assistant] One could say that a principled person is one that has considered other viewpoints, rationally come to the conclusion that certain viewpoints are ethically sound, and then refuses to shift from them, while a close-minded person doesn't do step one. But more realistically, a principled person is someone you agree with, and a close-minded person someone you don't.


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

[User]
[Marvel Comics] Does Wolverine kill while on teams like Avengers?

Say an Avengers team with Logan on the roster is fighting powerless human henchmen.  Do the Avengers allow him to kill? And if not what does he really bring to the table if he can't slice n dice them?

[Assistant] What does he bring to the table? How about superhuman strength and reflexes, enhanced senses, incredible durability and an absurd healing factor? Not to mention his martial arts and weapon skills. And even if he's not killing, claws that can cut through nearly anything are incredibly useful.


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

[User]
Do animals benefit from cooked food the same way we do?

Since eating cooked food is regarded as one of the important events that lead to us developing higher intelligence through better digestion and extraction of nutrients, does this effect also extend to other animals in any shape?

[Assistant]
The short answer is - yes. Cooking food makes it easier to digest and absorb nutrients, which is why human ancestors began doing it. As a result of cooked food you don't need massive stomachs like the bovines have, or have to eat large quantities of meat like carnivores. Animals also benefit from the increase digestibility of cooked foods.

The long answer is - too long for me to get into, but basically there is a complex interaction on what animals have adapated to eat and cooking food. A cow can't eat boiled grass for instance and a lion will have problems with chared and burnt meats, birds which eat fruit, seeds, nuts and fish will also have problems with any of these being cooked. And while it's easier for the body to absorb nutrients froom cooked food, some nutrients are lost in cooking and need to be made up via a varied diet or supplements. Omnivores are best suited for cooked food but not all cooked food is the same and animals that aren't adapted to eating it cooked or have very specific food requirments (as opposed to humans who will eat most of everything) will not benefit.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does my dog go absolutely insane over people food, even though I feel her plenty?

She acts like she's never eaten before in her life if I have food, but it's not like I starve her or anything. How can she want so much food all the time?

Edit: FEED. I *FEED* MY DOG.

[Assistant]
It is because you are the master and you are sharing *your* food.
It's one thing for you to feed the dog, but getting some of the leader's food with the leader's permission is heaven! In the dog's mind, you must think that they are great and you really care about them.


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

[User] Did Darth Vader ever learn how to prevent people from dyeing through the dark side or did he just give up after Padme died?

[Assistant]
He found that he already knew how to prevent people from dyeing as long as he was right there in front of them. Or had a clear view of them.

However, when he wasn't around, people were free to dye as they pleased. However, due to the knowledge that Vader himself didn't appreciate people dyeing in the Empire, especially the military, most citizens kept to their natural hair colors.


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

[User]
ELI5: What has been Greece been doing economically to become stable again since last year?

Has the nation had a strong return, or has it been worse, or is it really just to early to tell?

[Assistant]
Greece's economic instability stems from the fact that its a borrowing based economy.  In other words, a substantial portion of the Greek economy is either directly or indirectly caused by Greeks borrowing money from foreigners (primarily other EU countries) and then spending that money on imports.  If Greece was cut off from its foreign loans it would very quickly collapse into a sort of Venezuela Lite.

Greece's economic instability since 2008 is a reflection of the fact that it has become more and more apparent that Greece will never pay back most of the money being loaned to it, which has caused the people loaning it money to consistently reduce the amount of money they are willing to loan.  As it stands right now, the overwhelming majority of Greece's loans come from the EU and are viewed as a sort of foreign aid as no one seriously expects the money to be paid back.

Due to how its economy functions, Greece's banks are also chronically on the verge of going bankrupt.  This has caused further instability because every time there has been talk of reducing loans to Greece, Greeks get afraid that the banks will go bankrupt and as a result there have been numerous bank runs as people try to pull their cash out and stash it overseas.

So, to answer your question, Greece is not economically stable.  It is entirely dependent upon convincing the EU to continue to provide it with loans, which again are little more than foreign aid.  However, it currently has a deal in place that will provide it with a consistent amount of money through the end of 2018 *so long as Greece meets certain terms*.  This isn't different from prior bailouts that Greece has received, and Greece has a very poor history of meeting the terms that it has agreed upon with its lenders.

However, this time Greece at least appears to be making an effort to keep up with the terms, and so for the moment is "stable" in the sense that so long as it continues to meet those terms it will continue to get its agreed upon money from the current bailout for at least the next two years.


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

[User]
[MCU] How does Tony Stark control his nano suit?

How did Stark control his nano suit to make all these things with nano particles on Titan, since there was no Friday to help him?

[Assistant] The same as he controls any of his suits. A mix of gestures, voice, automated by the built in AI, and sensors that read his thoughts. It varies greatly depending on what he's doing and which armor it is but it's always one of the above. He usually uses all of them in some way, such as flying being a common quick function which requires his hands to be positioned in a certain way, but the nano suit is capable of upping his thrust power by voice command.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do some companies file bankruptcy but keep operating, while others dont?

They always say in the news that a company filed for chapter x bankruptcy, but what do they mean?

[Assistant]
The act of filing bankruptcy serves many purposes, including protection from debtors. The "default position" is that the company is going under, but then the argument goes that if you can get it back and running then you can return _something more than zero_ to those who are owed money by said organization.  So...thats better than going under to all parties (employees, lenders, suppliers, etc...).  So...as long as you can demonstrate that you're fucked and that without bankruptcy relief you'd cease to exist then you can get bankruptcy.

The ones that don't continue to operate are the ones where there is no clear path out of bankruptcy.  For example, if the company filing bankruptcy had no customers then it would seem unlikely that a restructuring of debt would result in a healthy company capable of returning at least something to lenders or suppliers, or one that could pay its employees.


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

[User]
[X-Men] After witnessing Kitty Pryde send people's consciousness back in time in DOFP, what's stopping her from doing that for every sticky situation X-Men find themselves in?

Also, does the existence of Apocalypse (soon) possibly mean that in contrast to the terrifying future ahead (80s) the original timeline with sentinels may possibly have been actually better than that of the new changed one? (Disregarding the obvious outcome that the X-Men conquer and overcome Apocalypse)

[Assistant] Because there's only a handful of mutants who can withstand the physically taxing process of having their mind jettisoned into the past, and Wolverine struggled with it despite his ridiculously active healing factor.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can a geothermal system heat my house when it's 10 below zero and the system is 55 degrees?

I just can't wrap my head around how Geothermal Heat Pumps can create hotter air than the source fluid temperature without supplemental heat sources.

[Assistant]
The answers here are wrong. The temperature a heat pump can warm a space is not limited to the temperature of the ground (55, in your example) or the outside air in the case of a traditional heat pump.

As long as the medium you're running through the ground (water, glycol, whatever) is a lower temp than  ground itself, you'll transfer heat energy to the system. The compressor and refrigeration components of the system then essentially concentrates the heat you've transferred and uses it to warm your space.


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

[User]
[Ant-Man] How the hell do Pim particles work?

They shrink the space between atoms, sure, but do they also alter mass? Is Hank Pim carrying around a full-weight tank in his pocket? How is Scott Lang not weighing down the barrel of the gun hes running on as though a full-grown man had jumped on the front of a couple pounds of metal and plastic? How does he exert so much force upon hitting the weapons wielder? In Civil War, when he grows to Iron Giant size, why does he have so much more impact than a normal-sized man, and why is he slower?

[Assistant]
He has some control over things like the square-cube law. Normally he does reduce his mass, but he can bring it back if he feels the need to punch someone hard enough to knock them out. He can even extend the increased strength from the square-cube law to the skin and jaw of the person he's punching so he doesn't just poke a hole with his needle-sized fist.

The reason stuff seems to happen in slow motion when it's bigger is that gravity doesn't scale. If you drop a one-centimeter marble five meters it will take about one second to hit the ground, but if you drop a four-centimeter ball twenty meters it will take two seconds instead of one second. So it looks like it's happening at half speed. Hank Pym figured out how to make it reduce gravity when shrinking so that he can walk normally, but he was only just beginning to work with growing things and it seems he hadn't figured out how to reverse that and increase gravity.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is the difference between annual percentage return (APR) and annual percentage yield (APY)?

How does APR and APY affect interest rate calculation?

[Assistant]
APR is the percentage return on your money, and yield shows the actual amount your money will increase in a year, based on how often the APR is calculated.

For example, say your savings account pays 12% per annum, calculated monthly.  You invest $10,000 on January 1, 2022.  On January 31 (approximately) they add interest of 1%, so you have $10,100.  On February 28 (approximately) they calculate interest again, only this time you make 1% on $10,100  making interest on your interest  so they add $101 rather than $100.  And so on, like this:

Month - Interest - Balance
Jan $100.00 $10,100.00
Feb $101.00 $10,201.00
Mar $102.01 $10,303.01
Apr $103.03 $10,406.04
May $104.06 $10,510.10
Jun $105.10 $10,615.20
Jul $106.15 $10,721.35
Aug $107.21 $10,828.56
Sep $108.29 $10,936.85
Oct $109.37 $11,046.22
Nov $110.46 $11,156.68
Dec $111.57 $11,268.25

So the stated APR of 12% implies that in a year you would make $1,200 in interest, but with monthly compounding you actually made $1,268.25, which means theres an annual yield of 12.682%.


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

[User]
ELI5: Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation

The title says all.

[Assistant]
The amount of fuel for a change in velocity goes up exponentially with the size of the change. What that means is that every time you want to *add* a bit more to your speed, you *multiply* your fuel requirements, which makes them get rapidly out of hand.

The reason for it is that when you add more fuel to your ship, you also have to *lift* more fuel at first. And if you add more fuel to lift that, you have to lift that extra fuel, too. And so on and so forth.


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

[User]
[The Matrix] Why do The Machines have infrastructure? Are they developing or is the entire machine city dedicated towards energy production via humans?

When Neo goes to the machine city in matrix 3, it has the human farms then a metropolitan-esque area. Are the machines developing technologies and expanding?  Or is everything dedicated towards energy production?  They have a society, but what are they advancing?

[Assistant]
The Machines took over the human mega-cities after the War ended, so that explains the metropolitan-esque area. Machine society isn't really expanded upon much, but from what we can tell, a lot of it seems to be dedicated to running and upkeeping the Matrix/Zion illusion. Likely billions of programs trawl the Matrix daily to keep it bug-free and there are Machines that patrol the wastelands in-case some Zionite decides to brave the surface.

>what are they advancing?

They were always looking for ways to improve the Matrix and hope to live along side humans one day without having to blow each other up.


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

[User]
Orbital mechanics question: can you burn for a direct capture of mars orbit as you leave earth orbit?

A friend and I got into a discussion about this.  He says its impossible to do without a significant retro burn.  I say its just requires a lot of precision and is impractical but possible.  What say you?

[Assistant]
The only way to be captured into the orbit of a massive body when you are starting from outside the sphere of influence is either:
A: you do a retroburn after getting there to stabilize the orbit.

B: you slow down with an aerocapture, and the do a prograde burn at apoapsis to circularize (otherwise you would eventually crash into the planet)

C: You use a gravitational interaction with a second massive object orbiting the planet to alter your trajectory. This is how rogue planets get captured by stars. The problem is it is exceptionally rare if the orbiting massive object is exceptionally small (like for instance, Mars' only moon.)

Without one of these things happening, then if you are starting from outside a planet's gravitational influence, then your velocity will by definition always be enough to escape its gravitational influence on the other side (discounting relativity, which would only really come into play with black holes) because of the concept of conservation of energy.


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

[User] How do bacteria become resistant to drugs?

[Assistant]
Basically, since bacteria are relatively simple organisms, with small genomes, they tend to mutate easily. Additionally, bacteria are able to divide and multiply very quickly.

As a result, as a population of bacteria grows, sub-populations of bacteria with various genetic mutations will arise, and these sub-populations will grow quickly in number. Some of these sub-populations will carry genes that protect them against the effects of antibiotics and other drugs. When the entire bacteria population is exposed to the antibiotic, bacteria without the protective gene will die, while bacteria with the gene survive, and continue to divide.

This is related to the growing problem of he increasing number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, due to an overuse of antibiotics. As antibiotic use rises, antibiotic-resistant strains are becoming more prevalent. Soon it will be difficult to combat these new strains of bacteria.


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

[User]
Is there a smallest unit of time, in the same way the planck length is the smallest possible length, and a photon is the smallest possible amount of energy?

Do any of the current models and of the universe explore this? And what is the explanation of why we have this minimum quanta of energy, length etc. ?

[Assistant]
The Planck length is not the smallest possible length. It's the characteristic length scale at which gravitational effects are comparable to quantum effects, where our current understanding stops making sense. Maybe there will be meaningful lengths all the way down to zero, but we can't say for sure.

The Planck time is the Planck length divided by *c*, the speed of light, it served a similar purpose to the Planck length.

The photon is not "the smallest possible amount of energy". Energy can be arbitrarily small; a photon has an energy *E* = *h f* where *h* is Planck's constant and *f* is the frequency, so a sufficiently low frequency photon would have an arbitrarily small energy.

It's better to think of the photon as being a smallest possible wave that can exist in the electromagnetic field, like a tiny little ripple. The best understanding we have of the universe is called quantum field theory, the key idea is that *everything* (forces and matter) is made up of *fields*, and these obey the laws of quantum mechanics. What we normally call particles are *quanta* of these fields, which means the smallest possible ripples that can exist.

As to *why* we have this quantization, that's really a philosophical question and it depends what type of answer you want; it's basically just the way the universe is.


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

[User]
[GoT] Who is allowed into the Godswood at Winterfell?

Are only the Starks allowed into the Godswood? Or are anyone allowed into the Godswood?

[Assistant] Per the books, in the north weirwood trees are maintained everywhere in the wilderness.  Believers of the old gods don't need to go to winterfell to worship.  The godswood at winterfell is largely for the royal family's household's convenience. Anyone with access to the keep would not be denied access to the godswood, but someone without access to the castle would not be given access in the request to visit the godswood. It just isn't particularly unique.


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

[User] Why are the bottoms of clouds, specifically Cumulus and Cumulonimbus, flat while the tops are fluffy?

[Assistant] It's about the dewpoint. warm, moist air rises, and as pressure drops, the relative humidity goes up. air pressure gradient is, of course, level. so while the air can hold the moisture in vapor at higher pressures, once it reaches the tipping point, the vapor begins to form droplets. and this happens all about the same altitude. the warm column still pushes up, giving you the billowing fluffy tops.


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

[User]
[General Science Fiction] So uh, we're a 100,000,000 million year old intergalactic civilization. We're constructing intergalactic bridges to allow our people easy travel between galaxies. But these primitive locals are trying to get in our way. How do we solve this issue short of galactic genocide?

Seriously, in one of these galaxies, this 'Galactic Empire' keeps trying to shoot at our bridges with their death moon thing.

In another galaxy, an organization called the Federation keeps trying to contact our construction ships, but our Prime Directive prevents us from talking to them.

And in another galaxy, these blue-colored females analogues, birds, and reptiles keep asking us to join their Council.

And don't get me started on this one galaxy, one that seems to be in perpetual war, filled with all manners of weird things, from giant armored humans, to ugly evolving insects, and demons and elves. We should probably stay away from this one, but they're so close to the other clusters.

We've tried making the bridges invisible, but as primitive as they are, these galactic societies are still advanced enough to detect them.

[Assistant]
Fake your own extinction, go into hiding, and pretend it never happened.

Bonus points if you take bits of your miraculous technology and use them to leave the greatest scavenger hunt in the universe.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does the extra copy of Pair 21 cause down syndrome

wouldnt the extra chromosome help by providing extra dominant genes?

[Assistant]
Aww shit son, buckle your gene belt.

So an extra chromosome equals an extra chunk of genetic material that gets expressed.

So that genetic material is getting processed and coding for a bunch of proteins that are already being produced by the other two copies.

And chromosome 21 doesn't have the inactivation ability like the X chromosome, so these proteins just keep getting pumped out, which has an effect on the developing child.

Tl;dr - extra chromosome makes too many proteins. Too many proteins make abnormal baby.


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

[User]
CMV: If a US Police Officer detains/arrests someone for simply flipping the middle finger at them/showing contempt of officers, they should immediately lose qualified immunity and removed from duty until further training is completed.

I have personally experienced, and have seen a vast amount of incidents where citizens are detained/arrested for simply showing contempt of police. From flipping their middle finger at them, to wearing a shirt that says F the Police, to even just calling them a waste of taxpayer dollars. This is an egregious violation of everyone's first amendment right to protest in a non violent format.

Whether you are a fan of the police or not, showing contempt of officers is not illegal, even when done in front of them/at them. It is a form of non violent protesting and so long as it's done in a public format (or if done on private property, they have permission from the owner/s of said property), it is a constitutionally protected act.

I believe that the moment an Officer ignores the constitution and uses their authority and power granted to them to quell their emotions after being offended by that, there should absolutely be a third party investigation into the incident, a trial, and said trial should not grant any qualified immunity. The officer in question, if found guilty, should also immediately be removed from duty and be required to take a remedial training course. They should not be allowed back into their official capacity until they demonstrate that they thoroughly understand any civilians constitutional rights.

[Assistant] How would this work in practice? Say that a cop detains/arrests someone and says that they have done so for some reason X. During their interaction with the cop, the person swore at/flipped off/expressed contempt for police. Does this automatically trigger the 3rd party investigation (which wouldn't otherwise be triggered if the person arrested/detained did not express contempt for police)? If not, what _would_ be required to trigger that investigation?


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

[User]
[Naruto] What if Sasuke had inherited the same level of genius as Itachi?

It was clear as day in the show, that even though Sasuke was a prodigy, Itachi was on a whole different level. He developed Hokage level thinking by the age of 6/7, and he could have been a good candidate for the position by 13! It was a big shadow and high expectations were placed upon Sasuke. But what would have happened if Sasuke was just as strong and wise as Itachi?

**SCENARIO:** Sasuke Uchiha is born. However , it had became clear that Sasuke was the "second coming" of the Uchiha Clan. Born an extraordinary genius, with his potential and combat-wisdom mirroring  exactly that of his older brother. The only differences being is that Itachi is a pacifist , with the drive to train and fight for peace, but Sasuke uses his Itachi-esque potential to become the best ninja he could be and relishes a fight.

(Itachi still lets Sasuke live from the massacre)

How would this change their relationship? What changes in the world of Naruto?

[Assistant]
Sasuke is way stronger than Itachi ever was.

The only kick is that Itachi was brilliant by 10, whereas it took Sasuke a bit longer. But end of series Sasuke is way stronger than Itachi. ( sasuke is about 17, Itachi was in his 20s )

>He developed Hokage level thinking by the age of 6/7

That's just empty hype.

>and he could have been a good candidate for the position by 13

Itachi could never be Hokage. He couldn't even convince his own kinsmen not to start a civil war. How would he be the pillar of the community? Itachi is not a leader.


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

[User] Why the same thermos can keep the drink cold for 24 hrs but the hot drink for only 6 hrs?

[Assistant]
The rate of heat flow between an object and its environment depends on the temperature difference between the two. If the temperature difference is twice as large, the flow will also be twice as big.

A cold drink tends to be around 5 C. A hot drink may be anywhere between 60 C and 100 C (boiling point), so lets say 80 C. Room temperature will be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20 C.

So what do we see? A cold drink is quite a bit closer in temperature to room temperature than a hot drink. That means that a cool drink will have absorbed less heat from its environment than a hot drink will have shedded to the environment in the same time.

That means that a cold drink will see its temperature increase more slowly than the hot drink will see its temperature decrease. The difference in change in temperature can be quite large, because the difference in temperature between drink and environment is quite different for cold and hot drinks.


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

[User]
[FMA] Could someone create organic limbs with alchemy to replace Ed's prosthetics?

Roy created a whole artificial body, at one point, and we know that the physical altering of human bodies is possible. Is there any method of creating and attaching an arm to Ed?

[Assistant]
The only successful (non-chimera) limb transplant we know of is Scar's, and that was done by the single best alkahestry expert in Amestris. The donor and recipient were also brothers, so there was naturally no organ rejection. In Xing he might have been able to find someone to do it, since Xing is known for having superior medical alchemy.

However, to pull it off successfully, you're probably going to need a live donor. Ed would rather have automail than force someone to go through that. Yeah, he could do the whole "make a corpse from pig meat" thing that Roy did, but even with the best alkahestry that would probably result in an inferior arm.

Obviously you could do this in a heartbeat with no loss of quality by using a philosopher's stone. Ed would never do that.


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

[User] How do cells know their 3D position, in order to make the correct shaped organism?

[Assistant]
There are multiple mechanisms at play at different times in different tissues, and I'll just list a few.

One common mechanism is a gradient of a secreted factor. In the developing spinal cord, for example, the cells at the ventral side (bottom) secrete a signaling molecule called sonic hedgehog (shh). Shh diffuses away from the cells that secrete it, so the area closest to the ventral side has the highest concentration of shh, and the area farthest from the ventral side has the lowest concentration. A developing cell just needs to sense how much shh is in its environment to identify its position. As you can imagine, if there were multiple gradients along different axes, a cell would be able to define its 3D location with more precision, and this happens in other parts of the nervous system.

Another common mechanism is through cell-cell contact, where cells migrate to be with other cells that express complementary proteins on their surfaces. It's as if some cells have the sticky part of velcro and some have the fuzzy part, and the sticky cells find the fuzzy cells and stick to them.

A third mechanism might be considered the "just keep swimming" mechanism. In the developing cerebral cortex of the brain, newborn cells migrate out past their earlier-born cousins until they reach the outer limits of the previously-born cells, and then they stop. They don't "know" that they're supposed to be at any particular level, but they keep migrating until they see a "stop" signal (which is provided by another layer of cells on the surface of the brain).


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

[User] Is it possible for an entire era of fossil records to be lost due to subduction of a plate and erosion? And could this skew our understanding of the age of life on Earth?

[Assistant]
No. Subduction happens along tectonic plate lines, so you're not going to lose fossils in the center of a plate for billions of years. Plates move slowly.

Our understanding of the age of the Earth is based on tons of evidence, including radiometric dating and what we know about the formation of the solar system. Even if we had subduction and loss of fossil records ten orders of magnitude more than we do today, we would still have far more evidence than is needed to show the age of the earth as ~4.4 billion years old.


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

[User]
Could the Big Bang be a local phenomenon?

I know little about M-Theory, but I recall that it explains the big bang as two branes colliding, and the apparent expansion of the (visible, aka local) universe via the ripples in the brane smoothing back out (like pulling flat a crumpled napkin). Wouldn't this mean that the Big Bang was a local phenomenon that did not create the universe, but simply added energy (and therefore matter) to it? And that there could be other "Big Bangs" elsewhere, and at other times? Or am I misunderstanding?

[Assistant]
The big bang was inherently local, but in a way that's perhaps different from what you're thinking. All of space and time came into existence at the big bang, and all points in space were infinitesimally close to each other. If you were to stand still and rewind time backwards, the big bang would appear to happen from exactly where you are, no matter where you are, since all points in space were at essentially the same place at the time of the "bang."

M-theory seeks to explain this with higher dimensional branes, which complicate your notion of "local." In a 3D sense, the big bang happened everywhere, but in a higher dimensional case that may not be strictly true.


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

[User]
ELI5: how does water evaporate if it doesn't boil?

How does evaporation occur when the temperature of the water never exceeds boiling point (aka where liquid water becomes a gas)?

[Assistant]
Ooh this ones fun!

Think about how you can add salt to water, but after a certain point no more will dissolve. Its the same with water in air. Air likes to have up to some water in it, and if theres less then water can evaporate to make the air happy.

The technical term is partial pressure (pp). The pp of water in air is dependent on temperature, and the colder it gets the lower the pp which is why youll see your breath when its extremely cold out.


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

[User] [The Martian] Were potatoes the only kind of food crop that Mark Watney could grow and survive on in his situation or could something else have been substituted in their place if he had them?

[Assistant]
He could have done. The key though was maximum calories per unit area. He had vitamins in tablet form. Potatoes worked well there.

In the book he mentioned there were a few other vegetables, but went for potatoes for space efficiency.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are we told the universe is expanding and that the galaxies are moving away from us and also told our galaxy will collide with andromeda?

[Assistant]
We are told this because the universe is expanding and that galaxies BEYOND a certain distance are all moving away from us and that because the Andromeda galaxy is much closer than this distance AND that we're both moving towards each other that we'll collide.

The universe is expanding.  However, at "close" enough distances forces such as gravity can overcome the expansion.  It's how even though the universe is expanding you can still clap your hands together.  There's just not enough expansion between your hands to prevent you from doing that.


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

[User] ELI5: Too much cortisol in the body is bad for you, but exercise, especially strenuous workouts, increase it too. Shouldnt be exercise be bad for you then?

[Assistant] Cortisol levels do rise during exercise, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. This helps regulate things like blood sugar in order to maintain energy levels and blood pressure to maintain adequate blood flow. The higher levels of cortisol do return back to normal after exercise, so it's not entirely bad.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do new age technologies (e.g. Xbox and PS3) break so easily when my Nintendo Game Boy from 1992 still works?

[Assistant]
You know those things that break on your Xbox and Playstation? Your Gameboy didn't have any.

Specifically, reading data from a cartridge requires no moving parts, only electrical signals. Reading from a CD and writing to a hard drive means many many very tiny moving parts that break a lot.


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

[User]
Before the Riemann Sum was devised, how did people understand/visualize the integral?

If differentiation and integration were practically invented/discovered together, how is it that the Newton Quotient was thought of but not the Riemann Sum? What did it even mean to integrate without the limit of the Riemann Sum?

[Assistant]
Mathematicians had been doing *de facto* Reimann sums for centuries before Reimann came on the scene. In fact, Archimedes had found the area of a section of a parabola using an infinite series of triangles milennia before Reimann sums were invented.

As far as integration goes, Newton had done something similar to Reimann sums in his calculus, but it wasn't mathematically rigorous. Reimann made it rigorous. What that meant for Newton was while his method was superbly useful and arrived at the correct results, it didn't do so in a rigorously logical fashion.


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

[User]
What are the current limitations for Nuclear Fusion?

What stops us from developing an efficient Nuclear Fusion reactor and how long do you think until we actually do it?

[Assistant]
The most common method is the Tokamak (magnetic confinement plasma torus) and the reason those aren't energy efficient yet is because we haven't built one big enough. There's a project called ITER which hopes to have one running by the 2020s, but it's for research rather than energy production.

There's also a project in the US called the National Ignition Facility which fires a giant laser at a tiny target in order to get it to fuse, but the problem is also that it hasn't got enough energy yet.


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

[User]
What would happen if the west tried to decouple entirely from China?

So, the US, EU, and allies say that over the next 5 or 10 years, we will be entirely self-sufficient and stop all trade with China, and that we would refuse to trade with anyone that trades with them. What would happen?

[Assistant]
It probably would create a lot of economic shocks in the short term especially as so much of the world economy is integrated... But in the long run it probably would be like Brexit, people on all sides would begin adapting to the new world order....

You could also expect certain economic alliances to form and or change.. and maybe not what your expecting... China would most certainly reach out to South America , Africa and India to strengthen its economic trading partners..

The reality is there's too much money  be made by both China and the West to have any decoupling... All the talk about unfair trade practices and humanitarian concerns is more political theater , global mega corporatations benefit greatly from the current world order so each zones economies have much more benefits from the current system than its disadvantages.


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

[User]
[Event Horizon/40k] So what kind of demon(Khornate, Nurgulite, or Tzeentchian) took over the ship Event Horizon?

(Background: Many 40k fans think that the movie Event Horizon fits very well into 40k lore. Event Horizon (the ship) is humanity's first attempt at Warp travel. They did so without a Gellar Field that keeps the demons out. The ship was possessed, and killed its crew etc.)

[Assistant]
None. What happened to EH is basicaly what happens every time a ship makes a jump into the warp without a gellar field. General warp fuckery happened and no specific Chaos god had that much infuence on it.

TL, DR: Chaos udivided did it.


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

[User] ELI5: When I'm hungover why do I always crave greasy foods like pizza rather than foods that are better for me?

[Assistant] Your body is depleted of various electrolytes and calories since alcohol zaps your blood sugar levels, and dehydrates you, fatty salty food is an efficient albeit unhealthy way to replenish those stores.


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

[User] If contact area has no effect on friction force, why do racecars have wide wheels, and not narrow ones like on racing bicycles?

[Assistant] Contact area has no effect on friction force for two relatively hard surfaces.  If one surface starts to 'dig in' to another surface (as asphalt digs into rubber), then the maximum frictional force does depend on surface area.


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

[User] If we could somehow build a "space elevator" as depicted in sci-fi, would the piece at the top up in orbit have "Earth Gravity" or would it be similar to what one would experience on the ISS in terms of weightlessness?

[Assistant]
Actually, the space elevators "top" part would have to be beyond the geosynchronous orbit, and being held down by the space elevators cable. If it was on or below said orbit, it would simply fall down. The weight of the cable is counterbalanced by the centrifugal force that the upper station "generates".

So anyone at the top station would feel a gravity-like centrifugal force pointing outwards, i.e. they would have the feet/floor spaceward and the head/ceiling earthward.

How big that force would be is another question. This largely depends on how far beyond the geosynchronous orbit the top station would be installed. Which would primarily depend on the weight, makeup, and other properties of the cable.


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

[User]
How does being a soldier effect criminals?

I was wondering if there have been any studies about criminals that have gone to war.

At the moment the media in Denmark is in an uproar, because gang members are going to Syria, to join the civil war. The media seems to believe that it will escalate their crime when they get back. So I'd like to know if there is any foundation for this concern.

[Assistant]
Effects of war may vary. Definitions of the word Soldier may vary too. Are they joining well regulated, regimented, paid modern military forces to perform the services of a Soldier or are they mobbing up into undisciplined militias to wage guerilla warfare?  Does the returning criminal return to a country with veterans benefits and programs to help integrate them back into society or will he be returning to the same criminality and low-opportunity he left to enter the war?

Military life has turned MANY teenage delinquents into upstanding citizens, but it has a lot to do with learning a regimented lifestyle and access to resources upon reintegration into society.  People waging a guerilla campaign with loosely affiliated militias in a region of anarchy will likely not benefit from those aspects of the soldier experience.


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

[User] [MCU] Did the general public fully know and understand the involvement of Thanos and his motivations behind the Snap? If so, how is he regarded and would there have been supporters and/or cults formed around him in the wake of what he did?

[Assistant] Yes, Thanos was known as the one who killed half of all life by the general public after the Snap. When Steve Rogers is counseling people grieving from losing loved ones, he says, "You gotta move on. Gotta to move on. The world is in our hands. It's left to us, guys, and we got to do something with it. Otherwise... **Thanos** should have killed all of us." Also, when Clint Barton (as Ronin) is battling the Yakuza faction in Tokyo, he states (in Japanese) "You survived... Half the planet didn't. They got **Thanos**. You get me..." It seems that the identity of the individual who caused the Snap is common knowledge, though it is uncertain if his motivation of bringing balance to the universe was known. As far as supporters go, The Flag Smashers saw the world as far better off and more united when the population was halved.


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

[User]
[Back to the future] how did Marty a kid and Doc an old man become friends

I dont know if its just the 80,s being diffrent times but how did those 2 meet they are so diffrent from each other and i dont see them having any mutual connections.

[Assistant] According to co-creator of the movie, Doc had a reputation around the town as a dangerous and unstable lunatic. So being a curious teenager, Marty broke into his lab and then got fascinated by all the cool stuff there. He was caught by Doc, but when he realized Marty is fascinated by what he is doing, they became friends.


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

[User]
[The Matrix]in Reloaded one of the ZIon councillors mentions having spent the first 11 years of his life asleep. How does liberating someone from the matrix work when youre dealing with a child?

So like what happened with Neo, being contacted by computer then being encouraged to go to a specific location so they can do the finder\wake up program. How does all that stuff work if youre dealing with someone who doesnt have unlimited computer access or the ability to go out at night because theyre 11 years old?

[Assistant]
Don't forget that Neo was an outlier because he was believed to be "the one." Morpheus says they have a rule against recruiting people Neos' age. Neo is either 37 or 28 years old, depending on which in-Matrix document is valid so the typical recruit is younger than this.

We also see a cadre of children in the Oracle's apartment that seem to understand what the Matrix is. So it would seem they find/recruit children and educate them on their situation "freeing their mind" without actually physically liberating them from the Matrix.

As to their methods, the scene in the Oracle's apartment comes across like an X-Men situation. Maybe she runs a school or day care, selecting children they think are amenable to being freed.


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

[User] ELI5 why we cringe/experience discomfort when we hear certain sounds? E.g. Fork scraping on plates, nails on a black board.

[Assistant] I believe that at least the reaction to nails on a chalkboard is a primal instinct that we didn't lose yet: Our ancestors would screech in the face of danger to warn others, which must have sounded somewhat similar.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are American police officers allowed to "bait" people into committing crimes (ex: bait cars, sting operations)?

[Assistant]
The police are not allowed to "bait" people into committing crimes they would not otherwise perform, such as through coercion. They *can* set traps for people who are trying to commit crimes of their own accord.

For example a plainclothes police officer standing on the corner apparently selling drugs isn't going to make anyone purchase drugs if they weren't going to buy them from a legitimate criminal. A bait car sitting on the side of the road isn't any more likely to be stolen by someone who doesn't normally steal cars.

The key point here is that the police are not making people commit those crimes when otherwise they wouldn't have, they are just influencing them to commit the crime where the police can catch them.


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

[User]
CMV: Sour Cream should be the first fixin to be applied to a soft taco.

I think one of the major problems of our time is that there's an assumption that sour cream goes on LAST on tacos. Why do I feel that this assumption exists? One reason is based in fact that most of the soft tacos posted on Google images have sour cream on top. Maybe this is just because of the food beauty industry emphasizing that the taco has sour cream, or maybe it's a stereotype. My next reason that the stereotype exists is anecdotal. I have been to a few buffets. Be it with family with home cooking, or at a chain restaurant such as chipotle. Usually, sour cream is at the end of the buffet. This suggests that there exists an universal idea that sour cream is meant to be applied last. Now that we have shown how society views sour cream to be a fixin applied last, I will continue about why I think this is a bad thing.

I think sour cream being applied last is a problem because it makes for an extremely messy spoon. You have two options of putting on sour cream (assuming you're not using a squeeze bag).

1) You can flick the sour cream with the spoon. The problem with this method is that it is nearly impossible to get your preferred amount of sour cream on. It usually comes off as one blob.

2) You can rub the spoon straight onto the taco. The problem with this method is that the spoon will carry all of the schlop with it. It will collect loose lettuce, onions, beef, and sauce/grease. This makes it so that the next time the spoon is put into the sour cream container, the container collects the schlop.

Both of these methods have a compromise. I believe the no-compromise method is to apply the sour cream to the fresh tortilla before anything is added. This is done similar to how sauce is spread on a pizza. This method avoids all messiness, and it also allows you to put on a precise amount. I do not see a downside to this method.

[Assistant] Heat changes sour cream to be less enjoyable. You don't want it to be in contact with *hot ingredients for too long, preferably not at all. Sitting on top of cooler ingredients(such as lettuce or avocado) makes sense. It's also arguably a more pleasing mouth feel to have the sour cream neatly on top instead of in the middle, it's less muddled when it's more isolated at the top.


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

[User]
Is 20 C twice as hot as 10 C or is 466 C twice as hot as 10 C? Or how does this work?

Because I'm confused since everything below 0 C isn't warmth but cold, but with Kelvin it doesn't matter since there are no negative values there. I wasn't able to find an answer to this.

EDIT: I slept through all the answers, but ignoring the fact I forgot how to math, I got some great answers, thanks!

[Assistant]
Temperature is a measure of energy, but they don't always correspond exactly.

Like you said, in C 0 isn't actually 0, so doubling the degrees isn't the same as doubling the energy.

But in K 0 degrees = 0 energy. That doesn't mean 10K = 10 energy, because there are different units you can use to measure energy, and some units are bigger than others. But it does mean multiplying one will multiply the other by the same (I think), so 20K is exactly twice as hot as 10K.


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

[User]
Does free will exist according to quantum physics?

I am a complete newbie to philosophy, but I'm genuinely curious as to whether or not free will exists. I guess it comes down to whether there is such a thing as true randomness, and how this ties into quantum physics. I know practically nothing but the basics about quantum physics, so what I'm wondering is: 1) do theories about it make true randomness possible? and 2) how is consciousness affected by quantum physics? Based on the answers to these questions, could you conclude that free will exists, or is everything absolutely predetermined?

[Assistant] Inherently true randomness has nothing to do with free will. Proving true randomness would simply put another hurdle in the determinists argument for hard determinism. As well as quantums randomness has yet to be understood to a comfortable level, so that bridge hasnt gotten much traffic yet. But even if quantum randomness does boot out hard determinism, soft determinists will probably find a work around as well as it does nothing to inherently forward the argument for free will.


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

[User]
[Dune] How deep is the sand in the great deserts on Arrakis?

Im thinking it must very deep in order to allow the largest sandworms to move through without massively disturbing the surface.

What prevents it from solidifying into sandstone?

[Assistant]
Lack of moisture is what keeps sandstone from forming, you have to be able to acquire water then hold it in some fashion below the surface for long periods of time.

As for the depth? Who knows, Up to a mile, two or more with any rocks above the surface being equivalent to tall mountains in seas of sand.


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

[User]
Why are interest payments tax deductable?

Not in the literal accounting sense, I understand how it is deductable, but what is the motivation/logic behind it? Why shouldnt interest payments be treated as any other expenses? To me it seems that deductability is just another motivator for companies to take on debt they otherwise wouldnt need.

[Assistant]
There is no good economic reason for it to be tax deductible. Its very bad, and its one of the many ways our tax code gives implicit subsidies to debt financiers over equity financiers (eg we tax dividends but not interest on corporate debt).

If you're asking for a historical explanation here's the Tldr: Its an artifact from really old anti-usury laws. We used to be able to deduct ALL (or most) forms of debt, including credit card debt. Congress wanted to get rid of that law in the 80s, but an army of special interest groups lobbied the shit out of the senate. This why a lot of seemingly random kinds of debt are tax deductible like mortgages, margin loans, and so on. These are the special interest groups that won the bidding war.


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

[User]
Does listening to a sound through a speaker have all the same frequencies as listening to it live, or is it just an approximation?

If it does contain all the same frequncies, how to the diaphragms in the speaker replicate dozens or so instruments and singers simultaneously?

[Assistant]
There is always distortion.

A perfect speaker connected via perfect wires to a perfect amplifier playing a perfect recording will still distort because air itself is not perfect.

Your speaker is not perfect. Top quality speakers are extremely good, and the average person would require significant training to tell the difference, but there is distortion.

The amplifier is not perfect. Today these are probably the closest to perfect of all the parts involved. A $250 receiver is generally incredibly good as an amplifier. However there is always distortion.

The recording playback is not perfect, assuming digital media, the digital to analog converter is not perfect, even cheap ones are surprisingly good, but they are not perfect.

The playback-amplifier pair will very often have far below 1% distortion, and for even modest systems like your phone  you will likely see numbers that look like 0.003% in testing. That is not perfect but it is really really good. We typically measure this in decibels. 96 dB SNR (signal to noise ratio) is common, and it is almost difficult to find phones that are less capable.

The speaker-air pair is a different matter. Unless you have spent a phenomenal amount of money to run very high power amplifier into absolutely absurd speakers (we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars here) you will see relatively speaking massive distortion. They are often in the neighborhood of a thousand times worse than the amplifier. No really it is that bad. Speakers in a typical room you are likely to see roughly 40 dB SNR. That doesn't sound so bad, but dB is an exponential measurement, making them in neighborhood of a thousand times worse.

So there is always some distortion. The total amount of distortion can vary widely. Certain speaker types and enclosures have different response characteristics that can interact with the room.

You can, with enough money, get close enough that it takes a well educated set of ears to tell the difference. You probably haven't spent anywhere near that much money.


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

[User] ELI5: why do tongues get weird bumps when burnt or after eating something really sweet or really salty?

[Assistant]
Shortest answer:
your tongue always had those bumps, but they are usually very small. If something is to hot/sweet/salty than it's prepared for, it will swell. This brings in white blood cells faster than usual since your body isn't certain if it's an infection or not, and it also circulates the blood more so the temperature is regulated and the cells have the resources to repair any damage.

More detailed answer:
Your tongue is always made up of these little bumps called "Lingual papillae" (unless you have a certain health condition that causes the tongue to have a smooth and irritated area.)
When they are burned or come in contact with something that is extremely sweet or salty beyond what it can tolerate, the area gets irritated by the extreme exposure and will swell, making them more visible than usual as a side effect

The area swells as a side effect of increased blood flow which helps regulate temperature, deliver nutrients to repair any damaged cells, and deliver an increased amount of white blood cells in case there is an infection. The body tends to respond to negative stimulus by sending in all the available methods of treatment so even if your tongue is just burnt you will get the automatic responses intended for temperature, physical trauma, and infection all at once just to be safe.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What are AT-ATs really good for?

Theyre slower than every other vehicle, have a whole lot of wasted space for the two measly cannons they fire, and cant even stand on three legs. The only advantage I can think of is that their legs make them good on uneven terrain, but theyre always seen on flat ground anyway.

[Assistant] Intimidation mostly.  They are tall enough to fire over most barricades and heavy and strong enough to walk through defensive lines.  They carry a fairly large compliment of stormtroopers as well. Basically they scare anyone they walk up on and can stomp through your defenses and deploy a bunch of soldiers in the middle of your forces with very few rebel weapons able to stop them short of lucky shots to their necks or something that can disable their legs.  As far as the tarkin doctrine goes its perfectly designed.


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

[User]
[Batman]How did Gotham become so corrupt?

With some sort of timeline, when did crime become such a main part of Gotham City? Who started it? When did it escalate? And how much changed when Batman began his crusade?

[Assistant] Apparently it has always been corrupt. The court of owls has been around and running things for centuries. Since Gotham's founding. They are the ones who made it corrupt and who make sure it stays corrupt.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that when my computer is doing something, the "time remaining" estimate fluctuates so much and is rarely accurate?

[Assistant]
Determining accurately how long the task would take would take a while in itself, so the programmers estimate the length of the task using methods which may not be accurate but which don't risk significantly increasing the length of the actual task.  Additionally, there may be circumstances which simply cannot be known.  An example of that would be network speeds that are fluctuating.  You obviously can't know during a download that half way through the network bandwidth is going to go to crap.

An example of a cheap but inaccurate estimate would be to use the number of files but not their sizes when copying files.  If all the files are similar in size, then this is an acceptable estimate, but if you have lots of small files and a few very large ones, then the estimate is going to be way off.


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

[User] [Doctor Who] Why doesn't The Doctor ever take along a companion who is a big science fiction geek and is savvy to genre tropes?

[Assistant] Because then he couldn't act smugly superior all the time. He needs someone around so he can show off how smart he is, so the companion can't be that smart themselves. Why do you think it didn't work out with Martha?


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

[User]
[DC] If Batman and Superman had grown up in each other's respective cities, what would happen to Lex and The Joker?

Would they still be villains? Would Lex and Bruce be business partners? Supes could easily handle The Joker, if he had even existed in Supes Gotham timeline.

[Assistant]
When it comes to Lex and Bruce you probably aren't going to see much of a change, Lex would still be largely xenophobic where Superman was concerned and simply changing his geographical base of operation isn't going to change much about what he is. You would probably see a greater rivalry between Bruce and Lex due to their both sharing the same home turf and with Lex being a competent and significant business threat you might actually see Bruce spending less time as the Bat and more visible as Bruce Wayne, CEO.

Now the Joker, true to his name, has always proven himself to be a wild card. If the Joker had been fixated on Superman from the beginning he would have evolved into an opponent to equally match him. Recalling that *chaos* is the Joker's hallmark, his M.O. with Superman would be to keep constantly one step ahead of him and just out of reach rarely engaging in a direct confrontation. He would delight in trying to show Superman that despite his great powers he can't fix everything and quite likely driving Superman down a darker (but not as dark as the Batman) path than he otherwise would have gone.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is exercise that increases my heart rate considered good, but medication and narcotics that increase my heart rate are considered bad?

[Assistant]
Doctor here.  Narcotics (opiates) do not typically increase the heart rate, but drugs like cocaine and meth do, as they cause a sympathetic surge (adrenaline rush).  Regarding cocaine, it not only causes an increased heart rate but it can cause your coronary arteries (the blood vessels to your heart) to constrict (squeeze), resulting in heart attacks due to not enough blood and oxygen getting to the cardiac tissue.  Additionally, cocaine has been shown to accelerate the process of atherosclerosis (plaque build-up inside arteries) which can lead to heart attacks as well.  In other words, you can make your 20 year old arteries look like those of a 60 year old.

Additionally, with this surge comes an elevation in blood pressure, which can cause things like intracranial bleeding (head bleeds), aortic dissections (tears) and other not so fun things.

Regarding exercise, a temporary elevation is okay, to a degree, but you're increasing your heart rate while your blood pressure stays the same, or increases slightly.  You do not get the squeezing and constriction that cocaine can cause.  Additionally, over time, with exercise, your resting heart rate will decrease as the heart molds itself and becomes more efficient.  Your heart is essentially stronger as a result of exercise, so it needs to beat less frequently.

If anything, cocaine will make your heart weaker for the above mentioned reasons, which is the big difference.  Along with all the other bad stuff drugs can do.


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

[User]
Why can human embryos be frozen and thawed but fully grown humans cannot survive the thawing process? (or can they?)

Why can human embryos be frozen and thawed but fully grown humans cannot survive the thawing process? (or can they?)

[Assistant]
As you know, a chunk of ice occupies more volume than the water that froze to create it. If you fill a bottle with water and put it in a freezer, the bottle will burst when the water freezes.

Human cells are mostly water, and if you freeze one, the ice will crystallize, increasing in volume, damaging components of the cell and potentially rupturing it. If you want to freeze a cell, or group of cells like an embryo, without damaging it, you need to prevent the formation of ice crystals. This can be achieved by either adding a cryoprotectant, a chemical that prevents the formation of ice crystals, or flash freezing. Flash freezing requires that the water be frozen so quickly that there is no time for crystallization to occur. Instead, the water simply "stops" in place, forming an amorphous solid, like glass, without increasing in volume the way ice crystallization does.

Modern cryopreservation of embryos uses a combination of cryoprotectants and flash freezing, or vitrification. In order for flash freezing to be effective, the entire cell needs to be cooled very quickly. This means it only works on a small volume of water, such as the tiny amounts present in an embryo. If you tried to flash freeze a large quantity of water, say a gallon jug by submerging it in a vat of liquid nitrogen, you'd find that only the outer layers would cool quickly enough to vitrify, and the water at the centre of the jug would cool more gradually, forming ice crystals. This is part of why the process can't work on a fully-grown human. We're too big to be cooled fast enough.

Another way of preserving embryos is to cool them so slowly that water is able to escape the cell as ice forms. This prevents bursting of the cell by preserving the volume as it freezes. Again, this would be impossible to achieve in a human body, since our body regulates its own temperature. Were you able to cool an entire human uniformly, it would still be impossible for water to escape from every cell in the body.


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

[User]
Im reading Will Durants The Story of Philosophy. What should I be aware of?

Im new to philosophy and was recommended lots of starting points. I went with Will Durants book. Ive been told there are flaws and biases in every history of philosophy book, be it Russell or Kenny, so Im wondering if there are any glaring problems with it that I should know of. Or anything it doesnt cover that I should look into myself?

[Assistant]
The Story of Philosophy is quite an accessible introduction to the discipline. Just know that Durant wrote in the early 20th century, so obviously, a lot of philosophers who came after the book was written are not mentioned. In addition, one can question the philosophers that he picks. There's no mention of the earliest Greek philosophers prior to Socratics, and while the inclusion of Francis Bacon is commendable, he leaves out Descartes, the father of modern philosophy! He also leaves out Hobbes, Locke, Hume, and Rousseau, while Hegel is reduced to a critical footnote at the end of the chapter on Kant. There's an entire chapter on Herbert Spencer (who is neither a good nor an important philosopher), which could have been replaced by one on either John Stuart Mill or on Kierkegaard.

That said, it's unreasonable to expect an introductory book to have everything on everyone; such a book would be a massive and unreadable tome. Durant's book is as good a starting point as any other. It's good that you are aware of the biases of different authors. The more books you read, the more you will get a better picture of the different philosophers and schools of philosophy, and how they are characterized.


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

[User] How does 'finding your balance' while learning to ride a bicycle actually work?

[Assistant] The cerebellum region of the brain is responsible for muscle memory. This allows your brain to quickly recall the muscle pathways involved in a given activity. Riding a bike feels awkward at first because you have to focus on the specific motions that are new to you. Over time the cerebellum will be able to adapt to the activity and it becomes more subconscious by automatically triggering the previous muscle pathways without as much conscious effort.


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

[User]
Can you pop popcorn with sound?

Or vibrations?

[Assistant]
In theory yes.

To get a kernel of popcorn to pop all we have to do is supply enough energy to the kernel to increase the temperature and pressure to the point that it explodes. This is most commonly done by directly heating the kernels, or by microwaving them, which uses radiation easily absorbed by the water molecules in the kernel to heat it.

Now for sound waves and other vibrations are capable of delivering energy as they propagate, the difficult thing is delivering enough energy to the kernels to heat them to the point of popping faster than they cool.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does the advert play perfectly, but the video takes an eternity to buffer?

I understand the ad is usually considerably shorter than the video, but the buffer times are often not relative. It feels like they have two totally separate sources. I notice this less on YouTube, but more so on VoD services (namely 4oD and BBCiPlayer)

Edit: two

Edit 2: So I got a PM telling me a comment from this thread had been Best Of'd. So I think to myself someone must have the perfect answer that people are finding really useful.

Nope

Just Aunt Marjorie's Honey Baked Possum recipe :)

[Assistant] Ads are generally served from a separate server or Content Delivery Network (CDN), as you guessed. Content providers contract with ad providers like Doubleclick or Freewheel to fill ad slots. When you play a video, the player makes a call to the ad provider, which serves an ad from their own network.


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

[User]
[DC Universe] I'm an ordinary Gotham criminal who did some time in prison, just got out and now I want to join the Joker's crime syndicate. What "qualifications" will he ask of me, and what can I expect from being one of Joker's henchmen - besides running into Batman?

What the title implies.

What kind of stuff do Joker's henchmen usually do, how can one be sure that Joker is not gonna blow my head off over the most inane detail, or how do I earn his trust to be a *consigliere* to him?

And above all, is it even worth it?

[Assistant]
You can't be sure that the Joker won't just kill you. In Arkham City, for some time he has a sign for new recruits that leads to a factory, and told his current members to snipe anyone who showed up. Your chances of dying with the Joker are 60-40.

But there's great dental. And the cred that comes with working for the Clown Prince of Crime. You're gonna freeze your ass off with Penguin's Iceburg Lounge, and Dent's just as likely to help the Bat as he is to kill him.

See, these other guys are never going to win against the Batman. But the Joker.... eh, he just might. And you're gonna wanna be on his team when he does.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What would've happened if Darth Vader hadn't gotten burned?

Say he only lost his arm, and I guess both of his legs.  But he never caught fire, and thus, never needed a respirator.  How would things have been different?

[Assistant] Being less robotic would have made him able to access the force better- a creature of mostly metal is going to have trouble accessing the power of life. The Emperor would have then considered him a much better choice for future Sith Lord, and by the time the Rebellion started up he would be able to crush it before it snowballs out of control.


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

[User]
ELI5 how do black holes have space to suck in big objects?

Btw thank you for all answers!

[Assistant] The gravity is so strong that everything inside is compressed. In classical physics the force is so strong that everything would be compressed into a point (the singularity). We don't know what really happens as this involves quantum physics and gravity wich are incompatible in our current models (quantum gravity is basically the holy grail of theoretical phyiscs)


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

[User]
Is a man with XYY Syndrome more likely to have sons?

It is my understanding that a man has a 50/50 chance of having a son or a daughter depending on if the sperm that reaches his partners egg is "male or female" (carrying the X chromosome or the Y chromosome). If a man has an abnormal XYY sex chromosome are his sperm cells more likely to carry the Y chromosome as well?

[Assistant] Yes, during meiosis his sex chromosomes will split to two in one gamete and one on the other gamete. so, 1/4 of his gametes will have a single X and produce girls. 1/4 will have a single Y and produce normal boys. 1/4 will have YY and produces his same genotype and 1/4 of his gametes will be XY and produce XXY males with Klinefelters syndrome.


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

[User] [W40K] Why can seemingly every intelligent creature in the galaxy speak Gothic?

[Assistant]
They can't.

Orks don't speak gothic, except for a few of the smartest ones.

Tyranids don't speak full stop.

Eldar speak their own language, and while it would be trivial for one to learn gothic most would consider the primitive language beneath them.

T'au also have their own language, but their diplomats can learn to speak gothic.

Chaos, daemons are warp creatures, and generally don't follow the same rules for communication that mortals have to. As to the human followers of chaos, most of them learned gothic as children before they fell.


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

[User] ELI5: How are we able to build oil rigs and other infrastructure under the ocean?

[Assistant]
There are a number of different types of 'oil rigs' in the ocean. In relatively shallow water (less than 200 feet, or so) we can use 'jack up rigs'. These are triangular shaped floating vessels with long legs on the three corners. When the rig is where we want it to be, we jack the legs down to the bottom of the ocean and lift the vessel above the water 25 to 50 feet. We then drill wells from that platform. When we are finished we jack the legs back up, lowering the vessel back to the water where it can be floated to a new location.
Drill ships are ships that have drilling rigs on them. They can work in very deep water. The ship is floated to the location where the wells are to be drilled then anchors are taken out from it in all directions and dropped. The anchor cables are attached to machines that pull or slack the cables as necessary to keep the ship in one place, even in high winds or heavy seas (big waves). This is called dynamically positioning.
Some wells are drilled from platforms that are giant structures that are floated out to the spot where the wells are to be drilled and then stood up and anchored to the sea floor. These can be as tall or taller than the largest buildings on earth.
There are other methods that are a hybrid of these or similar in some ways. All of them are very expensive and require lots of engineering.


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

[User]
How does the human body pick the right antibody to fight a virus?

I was reading about how the immune system and vaccines work to fight viruses that enter the body. When the body isn't vaccinated to a particular virus, you get sick because the T cells are searching for the correct antibody to lock on to the virus's proteins. A vaccine triggers the immune system to start producing those antibodies without exposing the body to the real sickness.

My question is- when the body picks the antibody to generate from the "menu" of a trillion (?) unique antibodies, how does it know which antibody to pick? What if the body does not have an existing mapping of the antibody that combats the virus?

[Assistant]
Antibodies are made by B cell. Antibodies recognize microbes through antigens (certain microbial sequences) present.

First things is that B cells need to have a wide range of diversity in order to have many B cell types (idiotypes) one for each antigen. B cells rearrange their genes producing many B cell idiotypes. At this stage they would recognize a wide range of antigens (perfect match is not acquired yet).

Second thing is B cells need to be specific with a very good match to the antigen. When you get infected, certain populations of B cell recognize the antigen. Here T cells come and order B cell to make mutations in their DNA. Many mutated cells are produced.. the one closest to match the antigen will be stimulated by the antigen more than the others so it thrives on their expense and they die. This is called somatic hypermutation and affinity maturation where only the B cell closest to match the antigen survives.


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

[User]
Can erbium be used to stop a nuclear reaction?

I saw on periodicvideos that erbium is a nuclear poison. It was described as killing any nuclear fission dead. If that is true, at what scale can it do this. Is it possible to produce a sort of safety kill switch for nuclear reactors? Or is the amount of erbium required just too massive? Or is there a reaction that makes this unfeasible? I had never heard of a nuclear poison before.

[Assistant]
The particular situations you're referring to (fission reactors or weapons) rely on chain reactions involving neutron-induced fission. Neutron-induced fission reactions often release more neutrons, which can further cause more fission, and so on.

If you are able to remove neutrons from the system, for example by absorption, you can "poison" the chain reaction and stop it from continuing.

Certain materials have very high probabilities to capture neutrons, and once those neutrons have been captured, they no longer contribute to the fission chain reaction.


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

[User] ELI5: When somewhere on our body got injured like cut or bruised, why cant our brain just switch off and keep the nerves idle on the injured area temporarily so that the person wont feel any pain?

[Assistant]
That would just increase your chances to injure yourself again.
Pain serves a very important function: **"There is something seriously wrong here!"**, and, by extension via operant conditioning: **Better not do that again!/Better stop doing that!"**.

From an evolutionary perspective you could say that pain responses increase fitness, as they have a higher change of getting passed to the next generation. A human without pain responses will quickly leave the gene pool.


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

[User] CRT displays show weird colors in presence of a magnet due to deflection of electrons. Why does the effect last even when the external magnet is removed?

[Assistant]
Colour CRTs have three electron guns which are directed using magnets. There is also a metal plate with holes just in front of the phosphor screen that prevents electrons from hitting the wrong colours. When you place a magnet near a CRT, you are redirecting the electrons, producing weird images. If you use a strong enough magnet, you can magnetize the metal plate, which will continue to deflect the electrons even after removing the magnet.

This is why CRTs will usually have a degaussing circuit which is designed to demagnetize the plate by producing a rapidly oscillating magnetic field that decreases in amplitude leaving the metal plate with a small, randomized field.


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

[User]
CMV: Claiming that "working hard," or making changes in your community is not a viable solution to improving your life is reprehensible. You should not be accused of "boot strapping" when you suggest it is good to try to do the best by yourself/children/family/community.

Far too often, I see people immediately reject the idea of self-improvement by claiming it is suggesting "bootstrapping." I am well aware of the bogus origins of the word. As Martin Luther King once put it(to paraphrase), telling a man with no boots to lift himself up by his bootstraps is a cruel thing.

However, the needless absolutism that people use, by rejecting the idea that people can improve their own lives and dismissing it as bootstrapping is absurd, deceptive, and destructive. (One hypothesis I have is that people want to be saviors, and suggesting that to *some* end, even a small one, people can save themselves would remove their role as the hero, savior, etc.)

Do therapists tell a depressed person that there is absolutely nothing in the world that they can do to get through dark stages in their life?

Do doctors tell someone overweight that there is *literally nothing* someone can do to manage their weight?

Do you tell a kid struggling in college from a rough background that there is no way to succeed because he was born into poverty?

So yes, while there are many injustices in the world, which I could write multiple essays on, I don't see why in almost all conversations, people suggest you can EITHER have policy reform or you are advocating bootstrapping. It is a fake argument in my opinion:

You can and should do everything in your power to succeed, even if you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You can want the world to change for the better and still not be resigned to the fate of your ancestors, and people drawing a line in the sand between the two are being irresponsible and reprehensible.

\_\_\_

Real-world examples:

1. I recently read the article: The Case For Reparations, and the author claims that slavery wasn't just a brutal southern thing, but was more deeply entrenched in our society than people realize(to include the north). The author suggests that after nearly 400 years of wrong doing, as a nation we should look into ways we can right the wrongs of the past that still affect us to this day(which is very reasonable and I am surprised it hasn't happened already). At the same time, he drops a small sub-point that there is nothing the African American community can do to help themselves, which I found quite insulting. Under no circumstances is suggesting that you should give up on life because you weren't born into privilege acceptable(feel free to CMV)
2. I personally did not grow up rich (to say the least haha), and am the child of immigrants. Quite a few people in my immediate family were illiterate until the late stages in their lives, and they emphasized the importance of education to me. While many people were dropping out of high school in my area, getting GED's, etc, I, at the bare minimum, graduated high school thanks to the emphasis and help along the way. Later in life, when I now suggest that a potential solution to kids doing bad and dropping out of high school is the parent's emphasizing education in a meaningful way(among my college educated friends), I am accused of advocating "boot strapping." While maybe there is blame to go around, if there are things in your power to change, you should do it.

[Assistant]
The issue with the boot-straps argument as a response to poverty is that it predisposes that *people are not already doing all they can to elevate themselves out of poverty.* It implies that the reason for poverty is *poor people are just not trying hard enough.* So, it often elicits an emotional response.

The bootstraps approach is fine when youre dealing with issues like mental or physical health, but people generally are referring to bootstraps in the context of poverty. In reality, most of the time theres nothing an impoverished person can do to escape the cyclical nature of poverty.

I mean this makes sense when you think about it - impoverished people often cannot afford attending expensive private universities that would give them a leg-up in job hunting, and sometimes they cannot attend community college due to the immense time commitment required. So they dont have access to higher education to elevate themselves or invest in their skills. They cannot accrue the wealth required to purchase property, so they also do not have access to the intergenerational wealth that owning property creates. Minimum-wage jobs are often their only options, because theres expenses involved in building up the kinds of marketable skills that yield higher earning positions. And on top of this, they also face expenses that middle or upper class people do not - out of pocket medical expenses, the cost of public transportation, etc. Due to the nature of their poverty, theyre more susceptible to the financial impact of things like medical issues and legal troubles.

The bootstraps argument, while not completely invalid (theres always things that people can do to make their lives better), isnt useful in addressing poverty because it doesnt deal with the cyclical nature of poverty. In order to address poverty, we need to examine the issue systematically.


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

[User] What does '98% genetically identical' mean? If something were 100% genetically identical to humans would it also be a human or would it just act and work like we do?

[Assistant]
There's a pretty huge issue in the common nomenclature of "genetically identical" or how "related" things are. There are *many* ways to measure relatedness, and not all of them are the same. I'll explain it right here because it's awesome, if you want a direct answer then just skip to the bottom.

When you're talking about relatedness between species, generally the entirety of the genome is being analyzed. So you have billions upon billions of little bases on the DNA, letters in code of ATCG, and relatedness is simply "number of bases in common divided by total number of bases." This has huge issues, however, because genes are always changing. They don't stay put, and it can be difficult (and subjective) to decide what the relatedness is in situations where genes have moved, changed, or duplicated. What if a chimpanzee has ATCGATCG in a certain part of the genome but a human only has ATCG? Does that the species 50% related or 100% related? What if the chimpanzee has AAAAATCG while the human has only ATCG? They could be considered closely related if you realize that the ATCG at the end is the same thing and "realign" the genome, or they could be considered poorly related if you don't realign.

Those are issues with relatedness between species, which is what your question is getting it. There is also relatedness *within* species. This is an even hairier issue. You've heard people say that you're 50% related to your sister, right? How could you be only 50% related to your sister and also be 98% related to a chimpanzee? That's because when we talk about relatedness within species, we're usually looking at relatedness along variable genes, not just overall. So your mom and dad might have different genes for skin tone, hair color, height, and whatever else: half of these will be inherited by each child. Each child is halfway related to each of their parents and, thus, halfway related to each other, but *only for variable genes.* You will certainly be 100% for the vast majority of the genome, because lots of that stuff doesn't change. Many crucial genes, like those which cause cells to form and hearts to beat, often will have no variation (because any change would be fatal). Relatedness between species takes this into account and gets very high values while relatedness within species only looks at a small chunk of genes, which are the variable ones.

So, now you should know that your question is most definitely aimed at the broader, species-level designation of relatedness. 98% genetically identical means that 98% of DNA bases (A, T, C, or G) are shared are shared between the two species. If something were 100% genetically identical to humans, that would mean that 100% of the genes found in its body are also found in the human population. It would necessarily be human if that were the case; it would contain no non-human information in its genome.


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

[User] [Simpsons] It's been over 21 years since Bart introduced the bullfrog to Australia, what's happened there since the Simpsons left? Also, how are relations between the US and Australia now?

[Assistant]
The small area in far North Queensland that had succeeded from the rest of Australia (The Republic of Australia), has since reintegrated back into the rest of the Commonwealth following the destruction of all their crops and livelihood.

The Australian Defense Force where forced to carpet bomb much of the area to contain the bullfrog menace - known as the Bullfrog War, it is often considered the ADFs finest hour, redeeming the military for the catastrophe that was the Great Emu War.

Unfortunately, this also lead to the reintegration of certain... undesirable peoples.

Like Pauline Hanson.

EDIT: In terms of relations, while the Commonwealth of Australia has pardoned Bart Simpson for his snubbing of the Republicans, due to his criminal negligence regarding quarantine Bart Simpson, along with Johnny Deep, is on a "kill on sight" list.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are water fountains designed so we have to bend down to drink when we drink upright?

[Assistant] You see, humans come in various heights. Some can be 7 feet tall. Others can finish growing in the 4 foot range. Some humans are even said to come in child, ~~midget~~ little person, and baby forms. Still other humans require "wheeled-chairs" in order to be mobile, and are unable to stand. By placing fountains of drinking water at lower heights a greater number of humans are able to drink from them.