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

[User]
ELI5: Humans need oxygen to survive, but air isnt 100 percent oxygen so what happens to all the other chemicals we breath in?

Ive always known air isnt pure oxygen, that theres a lot of chemicals that make up the air around us but another post sparked this question in me when explaining there is nitrogen and argon and other stuff in the air around us.

What is happening for our bodies to breath in this soup of chemicals and only use oxygen, then exhale Carbon dioxide? Or monoxide? Im not even sure what it is we exhale..  but are these other chemicals harmful in any way?

Do we use the nitrogen and other stuff we inhale? Or does or body filter out just oxygen and lets everything else go when we exhale?

[Assistant]
The nitrogen does form an interesting function. It doesnt get absorbed and basically just gets exhaled out again. However this means that the nitrogen serves to splint open the little air sacs in the lungs (alveoli) and prevent them from collapsing.

Very sick patients in intensive care requiring very high amounts of oxygen on a ventilator can experience what is known as absorption atelectasis. If someone is on very high amounts of oxygen (especially in the 90-100% range) the air they are breathing will therefore have little or no nitrogen. This means when they absorb oxygen from the air, the total volume of gas in the air sacs will reduce, meaning they shrink a little bit. This is problematic when people are difficult to ventilate and senior ICU drs will be extremely reluctant to leave patients on 100% oxygen, partially for that reason. Perversely, by the air sacs collapsing a bit the patients ability to absorb oxygen from the air will get worse.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do cats love Cat-Nip so much and what exactly does it do with them?

[Assistant]
When they scratch and nibble on it it releases a chemical known as nepetalactone.

If they inhale it, it's a simulator but if they eat it it's a sedative.

Just like people and drugs/alcohol, different cats have different reactions.


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

[User] [The Dark Knight] When Bruce Wayne sets things up with the Skyhook crew, how do they not know he's Batman?

[Assistant]
They were smugglers. They don't give a shit about *what* they're transporting. If they're getting paid, that's all that matters.

If Bruce was worried about them talking, then all he'd have to do is pay them more generously.

If that fails, there's very little the smugglers could gain from know who Batman was because:

1. Batman was still very new on the scene during the events of Dark Knight. At most a few years and even then, up until his trip to Hong Kong, he never left Gotham.

2. They're smugglers. There's no honor among thieves, but if they willingly spill the beans on Batman, then it's only a matter of time before the rest of the underworld learns this group can't keep a secret. And there are bigger secrets than a Batman. Much bigger.

3. Do they even know who or what the hell Batman is? Alfred's exact words were "*South Korean smugglers operating out of Pyongyang*", implying their modus operandi was exclusive to the Korean peninsula. During the entire *Dark Knight* franchise, Batman's importance only affected Gotham. Essentially, if you're not from Gotham, who gives a shit?


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

[User] Is there maximum as to how loud a sound can be?

[Assistant]
Sound is a pressure wave. You have a region of high pressure followed by low pressure, high, low, high, low.

You can make an arbitrarily high pressure, but you can't have a low pressure zone that's lower than vacuum. This caps the loudest true sound at about 194 decibels. Anything louder is more like a blast wave, with a substantial region of near-vacuum behind it.


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

[User]
How does radiation make other objects radioactive?

And is it always happen regardless of dosage?

[Assistant]
The primary way that ionizing radiation makes things radioactive is by inducing nuclear reactions in the material, and transmuting its nuclei into different, radioactive species.

This is primarily only a concern with neutron radiation, although very high-intensity, high-energy charged particles or gamma rays can activate things too.

>And is it always happen regardless of dosage?

The total amount of induced radioactivity will be proportional to the dose. At small doses, the induced radioactivity will be small but nonzero.


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

[User]
ELI5: why do some ice pops crystallize while others just become rock solid?

Hello,

So recently Ive fallen back in love with ice pops but noticed that some of them are solid through and through while others are almost as if they have developed crystal structures within it.

I thought it was because of sugar but the amount is comparable between the 2 with them having about the same sugar content.

What could be causing it to form into those crystalline consistency and is there a way to replicate it?

[Assistant]
theres 3 factors here.

First is the rate of frezing.

A slow freezing process will produce larger crystals, while a faster freezing will produce smaller crystals with a smoother texture, thats why its recommended that you cool down food to pre freezing temperatures (especially meat) so the freezing process is shorter.

The second is Agitation.
Ice cream is churned, meaning its moved constantly and mixed to make sure ice crystals are distributed uniformly over the the mass of the liquid being frozen and breaking crystals that are growing too big, mantaining a smooth tecture.

The third is impurities.
Icecream has several things mixed in to it which modify the texutre, fats, sugars, air, the air bubbles give it a smoother texture, the sugars interrupt the size of the ice crystals and the fats give you a different texture which limits the packing of the ice crystals.

Also an interesting thing about this is that in the making of many soft candies these 3 factors come in to play, the amount of water in a sugar mixture defines how hard a piece of candy will get, in toffee the mixture is agitated to put air in to it as to soften it and in many mashmellow recipies, the addition of a different sugar type (fructose) is added to disrupt the sugar crystal formation allowing a softer texture.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Gandalf says "the world is gnawed by nameless things. I will bring no report to darken the light of day." Were all the nameless things so evil and scary that people couldn't handle knowing about them?

Wouldn't it be a good idea to inform the world about potential threats?

[Assistant] I always thought that to mean Gandalf knew of lots of evil creatures hidden in the dark, but they would never come out to threaten Man so there was no reason to get everyone worked up regaling them with horror stories, especially in light of the current conflict.


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

[User]
[The Matrix] How can the machines feed all the humans

According to the films the dead are reprocessed to feed living.

However i am asking if an adult dead bodys biomass would produce enough energy to feed one person for his livetime.

I highly doubt that. And if this is not the case and the earth surface is destroyed wouldnt that mean that the machines would have to grow and harvest something with artifical light.

Would that not mean that the power output of a human far outweights the power to sustain him.

[Assistant]
One of the best fanfic excerpts I've seen:

>Neo: "Doesn't harvesting human body heat for energy, violate the laws of thermodynamics?"
Morpheus:  "Where'd you learn about thermodynamics, Neo?"
Neo:  "In school."
Morpheus:  "Where'd you go to school, Neo?"
Neo:  "Oh."
Morpheus:  "The machines tell elegant lies."


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

[User]
ELI5:How does healthcare in the US work?

If a person of their family can't pay for their medical bill what happens? Does the hospital just pull the plug and just let the person die?

[Assistant] No. Hospitals are not allowed to turn people away or stop treating because they can't pay. Instead, the patient gets a bill that they cannot afford to pay. They then go into bankruptcy and have a slew of financial problems due to the unfortunate circumstances of getting sick. Sadly, even with insurance, many Americans face bankruptcy after serious illness due to high deductible plans.


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

[User] ELI5: Why, when you buy cakes from the Costco, Market Basket, etc. bakeries, they have ingredients like propylene glycol, caramel color, xantham gum, etc., that I would never use in a cake? Do they have vats of that stuff to bake cakes with?

[Assistant]
Most of those additives are to preserve the cake so it can sit out for several days without tasting too stale, or to keep it from drying out. Artificial colors have obvious uses.

Vats? No, just bottles/cans like you would expect other ingredients to come in.


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

[User] Why is it believed black holes preserve mass, charge and angular momentum, but not baryon number, weak isospin and lepton number?

[Assistant]
Basically nobody has a fully quantum mechanically sound theory that relates to black holes,  so people don't know whether they expect these things to be conserved or not.

I would say these quantities probably are conserved but don't affect the properties of a black hole.  To an outside observer matter never even reaches the singularity of a black hole, or even cross the event horizon if the black hole is not growing. As such there is no time (to an outside observer) for any weird physics to break conservation of these quantities.
The particles don't actually need to enter the event horizon to contribute to the black holes mass via the holographic principle.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does whole grain food cost more if it presumably requires less processing?

[Assistant]
When you have a production line optimized for one product, it takes extra effort to make it do something else, even if it involves doing less.

In the case of whole grains, it is not just less processing.  Whole grains have different textures, tastes, and baking properties, so you have to change ingredients, mixing procedures, baking times and temperatures, and other parts of the production process.


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

[User]
[Tolkien] So do the Dwarves get the short end (no pun) of the eschatological stick?

So I get that The Gift of Men (mortality, being free to forge their own path, being independent of the world and going someplace "else" upon death) applies to Men and Hobbits. I get that Elves are tied to Arda and to the Music of the Ainur such that they are effectively bound to both until the world ends and the music ceases. What I don't get is... just how shafted are the Dwarves by all this?

Like, Dwarves are not immortal as the Elves are (living for a few hundred years tops). In this respect, they share the concept of mortality with Men. However, Dwarven souls also don't go someplace "else" upon death (the halls of Eru Illuvatar?) as those of Men do; likewise, they don't enjoy the power to forge their own destinies as Men do, and are just as bound to the fate of nature as the Elves. So just what exactly happens to a Dwarf soul when the body dies? Does it just cease to exist? Do Dwarves get the negatives of both Elven and Human fates while enjoying the benefits of neither?

Or is it simply the case that Dwarves don't have souls of their own, despite being gifted with true life by Eru Illuvatar?

[Assistant]
No body knows, the Dwarves werent planned like elves and men but Eru gave them life anyway.

The Dwarves have their own beliefs about the nature of their souls and their afterlives. Good luck getting them to tell you their religion, they dont even tell outsiders their actual names.


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

[User]
[Star Wars]What's the reasoning behind putting an astromech droid in an x-wing?

The scene in A new Hope where R2D2 winds up fixing a small part of Luke's ship is pretty iconic, but it got me wondering, an astromech is only going to have access to a very small part of the ship for in-flight repairs.
What else does the AM unit do that makes it valuable enough to add so much weight to the ship.

[Assistant] They're used to calculate jumps to hyperspace, getting to a distant area takes many jumps requiring accurate calculations to prevent crashes into planetary bodies etc. The X Wing isn't big enough for a computer for this without sacrificing its ability as a fighter so astromechs are used.


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

[User] ELI5: What makes "ice-breaker" ships so different than regular ships that allows even the smallest ice-breaker ship to easily get through ice-covered waters that would pose a giant risk to a regular ship?

[Assistant]
An ice breaker is built much stronger than a large ship. You might think that a large ship is unbreakable, but that is not so. It really doesn't take much to damage a ship beyond repair. A simple beaching onto sand in rough weather can do it!

They also have different shaped hulls. The main idea is that the hull is rounded, so it rides up on top of ice instead of trying to push through it. When the ship is on top of the ice, its huge weight breaks the ice. This shape of hull is not as good for normal water - it is less stable, so rocks more, and less efficient.

Riding up on top of the ice is basically pushing the ship out of the water. This requires enormous force. So an icebreaker has much more powerful engines.


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

[User]
How do underground caverns support their weight?

It seems strange to me that caverns can form miles underground, and are able to withstand the immense pressure of all the Earth above them. How do they manage to stand under this pressure, and how did porous areas in the Earth form in the first place?

[Assistant] That appearence of stability is an ephemeral transient phenomenon. Caverns usually form through progressive dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, from the infiltration of slightly acidic surface water. As dissolution progresses, they indeed become progressively less stable and frequently collapse. Ultimately, the larger caves of most mature karst systems finish off as sinkholes (dolines).


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

[User] Why did penicillin replace sulfa drugs that were used prior to its discovery? What was so great about penicillin in comparison to them?

[Assistant]
Efficacy and toxicity.

Penicillin actually kills bacteria in addition to inhibiting their growth by interfering with their ongoing activity of remodeling their cells walls.  Sulfa drugs do not kill bacteria, they only inhibit bacterial growth by inhibiting cell division by inhibiting folate synthesis - folate being necessary for nucleic acid synthesis.  This makes penicillin more effective under many circumstances.

The sulfa drugs have a substantially higher rate of adverse reactions, many of which are comparatively much more severe than with penicillin.  ~3% of people have adverse reactions to sulfa drugs, most commonly rashes or hives, but there are a variety of severe and potentially life threatening reactions.  Because these drugs are meant to be so widely used, 3% ends up being a large number of people.  ~1% of people experience potentially significant adverse reactions to penicillin, with a very small fraction of these being potentially life threatening.

If you were treat a million sick people with different infections at different levels of progression with either type of drug, more of them would be effectively cured with penicillin than sulfa drugs, and more of them would experience adverse reactions - especially life threatening adverse reactions - with sulfa drugs.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Could Yoda and Mace Windu have overpowered Palpatine?

If Yoda had been on Coruscant when the Jedi went to arrest Palpatine and he had gone with them, would they have been able to arrest him? Would he have let Windu kill Palpatine?

Would the "coup" even had happened if Yoda was on Coruscant?

[Assistant]
Mace Windu alone overpowered him. Mace and Yoda together could have defeated him, but alas it was not to be.

[This is straight from the RotS creator commentary track that Mace overpowered Palpatine.]


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

[User] ELI5: Why can you charge Nintendo Switch using a laptop but if you connect it to a MacBook you actually charge the MacBook instead of the console?

[Assistant]
USB-C negotiates bi-directional power control and communication on a per device basis. If the MacBook USB-C controller determines that the Switch is a valid recipient for power, it will reverse the power direction and provide output power from the charging port.

This was intentionally part of the design to lead to greater flexibility for systems.


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

[User] [Soylent Green] Is humanity doomed to extinction?

[Assistant] They obviously can't support themselves on just Soylent Green, But in the worst case scenario if there's mass starvation that would leave plenty of farmland for them to grow food to feed whoever is left.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are some people so eager for the Baby Boomer generation to die off?

[Assistant] You know how when you are constipated, and you spend a lot of time pushing that first big block out? The job market and economy are constipated, and once we squeeze all the baby boomers out of our economic rectum, the younger turds will have room to breathe.


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

[User]
[Batman] Does Bruce Wayne know what it is like being a poor person?

Bruce has faced numerous tragedies in his life, but it seems like in general he grew up in a very pampered household. Parties, sports cars, yeah sure he became the Batman, but does he know what it is to be a destitute, or a person with no money? Can he sympathize? The dude lives in a mansion and has his own butler and is a billionaire who has friends in high places.

As a superhero, isn't he a bit disconnected from say, a homeless joe who is on the streets? Can Batman relate?

[Assistant] In some continuities he spent a lot of his youth bumming around the world picking up skills. Most of those skills came from places where one simply couldn't live like a rich person; getting trained in a temple in Japan or leaning escape artistry in a circus means living the life of a temple student or a carny. He's lived among a lot of different types of people, and while he always had his cash as a sort of "emergency parachute" he did share their day to day life and bear witness to their struggles.


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

[User] From personal observation, a majority of mothers over 35 years old appear to be on some form of antidepressant/anti-anxiety. Is this observation accurate? Why is this? Is the rate similar in men as well? Why or why not?

[Assistant] Are you talking about women who give birth after the age of 35? Or are you talking about every woman who had a child at any age being depressed after age 35? You may want to clarify that in your post.


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

[User]
I saw an intensely green meteor shoot across the sky. Why was it green, and how common are they?

Additionally it had a very flat trajectory and flew slightly slower and farther than most other meteors I've seen. Color reminiscent of bioluminescent plankton, or the green hues of an aurora.

First time I've ever seen one, it was very beautiful.

Thank you!

[Assistant]
It's green for the same reason that auroras are green mostly. Oxygen is excited by the passage of the meteor and release green light to get back to its rest-state.

It does happen quite often, the only thing necessary for the green light to be seen is that the meteor stays mostly in one piece down through the lower stratas of the atmosphere.


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

[User] ELI5: The process for remastering old games (PS1 etc) for new consoles (PS4/XBoxOne)

[Assistant]
The first and primary thing done is porting the game. For these consoles that usually means there are different graphic APIs, and you need to update the game engine to use the newer APIs. Going from something like PS3 to PS4 shouldn't be a lot of work, Sony wants to make it easy for you. But stuff like PS4 to XBoxOne isn't necessarily easy, PS4 uses GNM and XBoxOne uses DirectX, there are other system APIs that change and everything in your game using them needs to be changed to match. Then you need to account for differences in CPUs and how your code interacts with it. On older/slower CPUs it was very common to use non-portable cpu-specific code to speed stuff up, it's less common with newer systems. Anyways, all that stuff needs to be updated to work on the new processor.

After doing all that, the game should mostly run as is on the newer system. Re-mastering additionally includes things like updating textures because the faster system can handle it and making a few improvement to the graphics engine. That is all normal game development stuff, and they do it as much as they want really.


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

[User]
[Half life 2] What's the difference between humans and trans-human overwatch soldiers?

The combine are supposed to heavily modify humans to turn them into Overwatch soldiers, but they don't seem to have any special abilities. They can only carry a normal amount of weaponry, and go down when hit about the head with a crowbar, same as regular humans

What is the point of all that modification?

[Assistant]
The transhuman modification process physically rebuilds the person to be both wholly reliant on Combine tech (the suit and mask are environmentally sealed so the transhuman inside can survive) and utterly brainwashed to be loyal to the Combine. The Overwatch uses them as disposable grunts since they're unfailingly loyal to the Combine, despite being mentally crippled to the point of being automatons. There have been cases where they won't get out of the way of a speeding car or falling objects so they can keep shooting at their assigned target.

There's regular humans in the Overwatch as well, race traitors who've sold out to the oppressors in order to secure a slightly better standard of living and better food rations. Barney is one of these - no transhuman modifications and the suit/mask can be removed.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are faces the biggest factor in attractiveness? Is this consistent through cultures? through time?

faces are the most important part of initial attraction, at least in the developed world. What does the face convey that drives sexual selection to favor facial features even more than muscle mass or height? Is this consistent through cultures and time? What about other primates? do they also value facial features more than the other typical selection markers?

[Assistant] A lot of genetic abnormalities express partially as craniofacial abnormalities, and these same abnormalities can indicate abnormalities with brain development or systemic abnormalities that reduce survival and general fitness.


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

[User]
[Gravity Falls] What did the kid in pool solitary do to warrant such a sentence?

Like, if we take the after credits scenes as fact, he was in for a long, *long* time, well after the current summer ended. What could he have done that wouldn't get the *actual* police involved(inept as they may appear)?

[Assistant]
At the very end, you can see the boy raise a flag that's very similar to Chile's (it's actually a super-simplified US flag, but go with me here), along with a cryptogram that comes out to: "VIVAN LOS PATOS DE LA PISCINA".

This leads me to believe that Soos was not the first to want an inflatable duck revolution, and Poolcheck's first response was to confine the initial collaborators rather than violently eject them from the pool.


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

[User]
[The Orville] Why is pop culture from the 21st century so important in the 25th century?

Every Earth based member of the crew, including and especially the captain, make references to 21st century pop culture, music, and art.  Did culture stop producing humour? Why the emphasis? The oldest cultural references I can think of all reflect geniuses like Shakespeare, Leonardo, Mozart, etc. so is it implied that the 21st century was the peak of pop culture?  If so, why do their references stop in the earlier 21st century and don't bring up events in the late 21st century?

[Assistant]
You would be surprised at what informs our pop cultural references, and use of phrases in everyday language, from the Bible, to Aesop's fables, and various Greek plays.

We also have things like the SCA which actively work to promote older skills and art forms.

Finally, we have way more video references of current popular culture than we do of past works, which means things will likely last longer in public awareness.


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

[User]
Are there any papers showing that privatization reduces corruption?

I'm trying to come up with a BA thesis topic, and one thing I considered was that privatization can reduce corruption, but increase inequality. So it may be a good policy to have temporary privatization in government agencies during a transitional stage of democratization.

[Assistant] I feel like (from your description and title) like you're seeking to show that "privatization -> reduced corruption". A better way to phrase this (since you're doing it for a BA thesis) would probably be "what is the relationship between privatization and corruption"


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

[User] ELI5: How does glue not stick to the inside of the bottle ?

[Assistant]
The glue is dissolved in a solvent. When the glue is exposed to air, the solvent evaporates, leaving the glue to harden (and glue things together!).

Think of a bowl of salty water. The salt is our 'glue' and the water is our 'solvent'. Once the water evaporates, the salt will be left behind (and it will be in a different form, instead of dissolved in water, it will be crystalline. Similar to the glue!).


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

[User]
Can fetuses heal?

I was thinking about this today, and I legitimately have no idea. If there was a fetus in a womb, and a doctor scraped part of it's skin with a knife/scapel, would said fetus heal, or would it grow with a skin defect in that area?

[Assistant] They can heal. Fetal surgery is actually performed to treat a birth defects before birth. After the surgery the fetus continues to develop and heal from the procedure until it is delivered as close to full term as possible.


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

[User] [D&D] Is Chaotic Evil character capable of love?

[Assistant]
Of course. Alignment doesn't say much about personality and emotions, just morality. And it is not restrictions, but tendencies.

For example, The Joker is one of the most iconic CE characters and he loves Harley Quinn.


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

[User]
CMV: South African farm murders are racial attacks.

Had a debate with a relative who told me that they're not.

For some explanation (other than what Google can offer): some Africans in SA say the farmers' land belongs to them. I have no idea if it actually does. But there are hundreds of brutal farm attacks and murders, and this happens daily. Sometimes nothing is stolen, it's just brutal murder.

I'll add that from what I have seen, farmers being murdered are white people, I genuinely do not know if other races are targeted too.

There is also a song by a well known political party called "Kill the Boer (farmer)".

So my relative says they are not racially motivated, and I disagree.

I looove a good debate, and I'd enjoy hearing some different viewpoints!

[Assistant]
There are basically no farmers that are not white, so it would be impossible for farm attacks to not appear racially based.

The problem is that because of the way South Africa is (I live here) anything that can be attributed to race can just as easily be attributed to class.


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

[User] How do we know the actual wavelength of light originating from the cluster of galaxies that are receding away from us when all we observe is red shifted light because of expansion?

[Assistant]
Every element has its own characteristic spectrum of light, so we can look for this fingerprint in the light we receive. Since hydrogen is by far the most abundant element, we expect the spectrum of hydrogen to feature prominently. However, the features of the hydrogen spectrum won't appear at the same wavelengths as they do when we measure hydrogen in the lab, because of the red shift.

Instead, the spectrum is shifted by a certain amount. But despite the shift, the structure remains unchanged, so we can identify the spectral lines of hydrogen in the light we collect. And by the amount it has shifted from what we measure in the lab, we can obtain an estimate for the speed with which the source is moving away from us.


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

[User] ELI5: how do ceiling fans collect dust while the fan is on?

[Assistant]
The surface of the blades isn't entirely without friction, and dust comes in different sizes and forms. As the blades turn, dust small enough to fit gets trapped onto small cavities, ridges and hooks of this surface. The more dust that gets stuck this way the easier it becomes for other bits of dust to get stuck to the existing bits, creating layers. Everything that moves also build up a charge of static electricity, which makes matter such as dust cling to it easier.

The compact layers of dust that forms on them is why it appears so dark when wiping fan-blades.


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

[User] [MCU] What was stopping Thor from tearing his way out of that "freaky circle" jail cell on Sakaar?

[Assistant]
Well, for starters it was built to contain superhumanly strong creatures such as Korg - fighters powerful enough to survive against the Hulk long enough for the fight to be considered entertaining.

But more importantly, Thor was at an absolute low point, psychologically speaking. His father had died, his hammer was broken, his brother had betrayed him yet again (okay, that one really shouldn't be having so much of an effect these days), and on top of everything else his beautiful hair had been lost to him. Is it any wonder that he could not muster the energy to even attempt to shatter the walls?


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

[User] ELI5: Why aren't we (the people) presented with the evidence (which Obama clearly stated that they have) that the Syrian Government were the ones who used the chemical weapons on the people of Syria ? And why aren't more people asking to see the evidence?

[Assistant] Because in America, it's not the people's job to decide to go to war. It's Congress's job, and Congress was given long presentations about Syria and Obama's reasons for wanting to attack. They were given the evidence.


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

[User]
CMV: Mandated reporting is a terrible idea

I understand the principle behind mandated reporting. If someone, especially a kid or a teen, is planning on doing something that would hurt themselves or others, the person they are talking to should notify people who can help.

The problem is, this eliminates any trust between the patient and counselor, and eliminates the counselor as any sort is serious confidante. If the patient is having suicidal thoughts, they would be much more likely to withhold them if they knew the person they are talking to would be required to report them. We need to encourage discussions like these, not discourage them.

It seems infinitely better to develop trust between the counselor and patient instead of discouraging difficult discussions. The counselor could get help as they see fit.

You can change my view by showing that my understanding of mandated reporting is flawed, demonstrating why the reporting needs to be required, or by showing benefits of mandated reporting that arent initially obvious.

[Assistant]
I don't think mandatory reporters have to report suicidal thoughts. They have to report child abuse.

> A mandated reporter is a person who, because of his or her profession, is legally required to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to the relevant authorities.

The above quote was from some generic social worker website, but even the California specific site only mentions abuse. Not sucide.


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

[User]
ELI5: If calories are just a unit of energy then how can things like Redbull have 0 calories but still give you energy?

I feel like there's some crucial bit of understanding that I'm missing here.

[Assistant]
Energy is an odd word when it comes to food. You derive energy only from foods containing calories.  However, there are substances that for various reasons give you the perception of being energetic, or awake, or whatever. Consider that a pound of fat has approximately 3,500 calories worth of energy within it to use. That's enough to run for several hours. What things like Red Bull do is introduce chemicals into you that block receptors that tell you that you are tired. There are also other chemicals with no value, or little value, or that aren't really understood very well. Generally, it's the Caffeine and Guarana that are assisting in making you feel less tired.

The rest is likely psychology, and later on psychological addiction. You'd be better served drinking a cup of coffee and avoiding the rest. Better safe than sorry.


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

[User] If theres no treatment for Coronavirus, how do people recover once hospitalized in critical condition?

[Assistant]
Essentially, people hospitalized for COVID-19 are not being treated for COVID-19, they are being treated for its symptoms, which are what kills the most people.

Namely, respiratory difficulties caused by the virus can kill, but can also be alleviated with assisted respiration equipment.

If done right and without too many complications, these band-aids on the lethal symptoms can keep the person alive long enough for their body to develop effective antibodies and, eventually, beat the virus down and become immune through their own immune system.

For this, a functional immune system is still required. If the immune system is too slow, or too weak, it's possible the body might never be able to defeat the virus, or may end up having to deploy its biggest guns because there's too much of the virus everywhere in the body, at which point the immune system can simply kill the person. This is why older victims and those with immune system preconditions are more at risk.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Did the Empire pick up stranded TIE fighters after a battle?

Say a Rebel attack destroys the capital ship carrying the TIEs but the already scrambled TIEs manage to kill or drive away all of the Rebel forces. Given that TIE fighters do not have hyperdrives, will the Empire pick up these remaining TIE fighters or let them die of starvation or asphyxiation when the life support runs out?

[Assistant]
The Empire does view TIEs and their pilots as expendable, but that doesn't mean they're wasteful with them.

Yes, they will send a ship to pick up the stranded TIES, if possible.  Depending on how many there are, you're looking at a Gozanti or up to a Quasar Fire if there's a lot left.  In the case that the pilots are low on life support, they'll send anything nearby to get the pilots, then come pick up the ships later.


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

[User]
After billions spent on HIV research, it became more profitable to sell meds for the infected than it would be to sell a vaccine to everyone, so we'll only see a vaccine when this scenario invert. CMV.

In short, I believe that only when the number of HIV infected people drop below profitable scale, we'll see a vaccine, mostly because for now, companies have to get the research invested money back by selling other drugs to control the symptoms.

When this number shift, it will become more profitable to sell the vaccine to the world.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 60 million people have contracted HIV and nearly 30 million have died of HIV-related causes. Today, more than 34 million people now live with HIV/AIDS.

If the infected people number drop below 15~10 million, it may be more profitable to just sell a vaccine. Let's say this would take place from 10 to 20 years from now.

Many can say: "Hey, there's thousands of good scientists working on a vaccine right now", but then I'll say: "Yes, but how the big pharma is going to get it's research money back if a vaccine becomes available before their research ROI?".

In the end, money has a voice on this matter, and I wanna talk about how important it really is, when we're talking about it instead of the product of it (the vaccine).

And I wanna stress that I'm not a conspiratard or anything like it, but money is VERY important and I just wanna talk about this vaccine from this perspective.

Change my view.

[Assistant] Unless a mutual conspiracy was agreed upon by the big pharma companies, capitalism would solve the problem. Say we have three companies: X Y Z. They all sell HIV medication. X actually finds a vaccine for HIV.  It only costs $400, much less than HIV medication, and the current situation is much more profitable. But he knows that eventually patterns will wear off and Y and Z will get the vaccine too. But X could have a monopoly for while and sell all of the $400 vaccines.


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

[User] ELI5: When you buy software, the source code usually is not made public, but doesnt your computer still have to run the code to use the software? How can it run the code without allowing the user to see the code?

[Assistant]
Say you have some source code... in your source code is the line "if playerhealth<0, gameover = true."  Seems pretty easy to understand.

Now the compiler will convert that into binary.  It will look something like this "010111000101010010."

You can decompile it, but the compiler through out all of the variable names and just gave them numbers, so now you're left with
"If AE0<0, 0F1=1"

Now maybe you can play around with the game and the code, and eventually you'll figure out that AE0 means playerhealth and 0F1 means gameover... but you'll have to do this with hundreds or thousands of variables.  It would be a daunting task for any modern software, to say the least.


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

[User] Why does sexual fetishism exist and, moreover, why are some fetishes more common than others?

[Assistant]
I just finished a Human Sexuality class, and our professor showed us studies in which fetishism developed due to early sexual experiences, many times including trauma, stress, or punishment. However, fetishism varies case by case.

In one case, a man with a shoe fetish described how as a child, his parents were hyper vigilant about knowing where he was and what he was doing every second of the day. He was caught masturbating a couple of times and punished harshly. From there on out, every time he wanted to masturbate, he would hide under his bed and do it as quickly as possible. From under the bed, all he could see were shoes. Every time he masturbated under the threat of being caught and severely punished, he would get under the bed, and his view was always shoes.

Thus was born his shoe fetish.


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

[User]
ELI5: why do so many people run for president when it's obvious they aren't going to win?

Cruz and Sanders must know they aren't going to win, right? What's the point of running?

[Assistant] To boost their own credibility. Sure they won't win, but they're making a name for themselves and making themselves known. It's what they say and how they say that generally drives people to see what they're capable of and what they want enacted if (but very unlikely) they become President. If they can't be elected (and they won't), they can at least say they ran for President and will try to use their influence on a smaller level before they ran.


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

[User]
[Terminator] What is a Terminator's plan for living out the rest of its life in the past, assuming its assassination mission is completed?

In T2 Arnold S. said he could not self terminate, so we know they won't commit suicide.  So what's the plan for after the target is eliminated? Live quietly until the war starts, then link up with Skynet? That's gonna be difficult (for a non-shapeshifter) who is a murderer being hunted by law enforcement.

[Assistant]
He is not a human, he doesn't have needs like humans do and doesn't act like one. It's very hard to find such a thing.

He just has to find a hole to hibernate in until Skynet has enough influence to use him in war effort.


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

[User]
[MCU] How was Red Skull appointed as guardian of the Soul Stone?

We know that the Tesseract sent the Red Skull to Vormir, but what I'm confused about is how exactly did he get the job of protecting the Soul Stone. Who approached him when he came to Vormir, gave him his robe and knowledge of the Stone, and said "this thing's your problem now."?

[Assistant]
He seems to have some degree of super knowledge or awareness now, hence his little trick with naming the parents of everyone he meets (and he's available for birthday parties!).

Possibly he has some connection with the Soul Stone now that's feeding him this information, and also tells him what he must do.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why wouldn't a flat tax work for the United States?

Like Herman Cain had proposed with his 9/9/9 stance. A flat tax for income, state, and federal.

[Assistant]
The reason is that it would actually increase taxes on the poor.
Sales taxes are the same for rich people and poor people, but they hit poor people harder.
The reason is this:

Let's say the sales tax is 10%
Suppose you are a rich person making $1,000,000 a month.
There is no way you are going to spend that much money in the month.
Maybe you spend $200,000 that month and save the rest.
That mean the sales tax is $20,000 or 2% of your income.

Suppose you are a poor person making $1,000 a month.
When your pay check comes in your are likely to spend almost all of it, on rent, bills or food. Many do not have left over to save.
Say you spend all $950, you pay $95 in taxes
That means the sales tax is 9.5% of your income.

9.5% is a lot bigger than 2%, which is why income tax seeks to equalize it.

As to why it makes sense economically. Again you give a rich people a dollar they'll save most of it, maybe they'll invest a small part of it. Give a poor person a dollar they'll immediately put it back into the economy.


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

[User] If I'm flying by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, would I see them bright and colorful or would they be somewhat dark because they're so far away from the sun?

[Assistant]
The fact is, you can see Jupiter and Saturn here on Earth without trouble.

Which means they are reflecting PLENTY of light for you to see them up close just fine.

Y'all can take your math and cram it up your bung holes.


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

[User] ELI5:How can a small amount of medicine (like a pill) affect my whole body?

[Assistant]
It's not unreasonable that small amounts of things can have a dramatic effect on the body.  A tiny thorn only effects a very small number of nerves (compared to your entire body) which sends a small number of signals to your brain. Yet it can overwhelm your senses.  A small amount of poison from a sting can effect your body.  Also consider that your body produces minute amounts of hormones to control your body functions.

This is the only way that your body can function.  It has to be designed so that small amounts of substances can produce large changes.  This is true for any effective system.  A large company is controlled by a few people at the top.  An airport is controlled by a few people in a tower.  An army is controlled by a few generals.

Similarly, your body is controlled by *signals* in the form of chemicals.  That's what many medications are.  They are signals.  Those chemical signals end up creating various larger changes in the body.


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

[User]
When asked for cookies on a website, is it taking information on you already before asking and hoping you click accept? How can one tell if the cookies are being used before approving it on the website?

I guess I'm just wondering, are cookie requests really just asking for forgiveness when prompting? Or are they really not collecting information until you say "I accept."

[Assistant]
Cookies  are one of the most reliable way of tracking you, but there are others. Like a combination of up address and browser information.  There are sites that will display all the information your browser will leak.

Dont be fooled into thinking that refusing cookies protects you. They are just the low hanging fruit of monitoring.

They can  can be used for good, like keeping preferences etc. but like any good thing  they were  turned bad.


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

[User] [MCU] If the US government was able to successfully mass produce and weaponize the Yellow Jacket program, how would it fare against another alien invasion?

[Assistant]
Fielding an army of super-soldiers that the enemy can't even *see* would be great. It's probably better than either of Tony Stark's mechanized army ideas.

Of course, the Avengers have a Hulk, and that's hard to top.


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

[User]
[Musicals: Tangled, Frozen, Hairspray, et al.] How do people know all of the words to spontaneous outbursts of song?

So, I was walking through the grocery store the other day minding my own business and this young couple was singing to each other. It was super adorable and stuff, but then all of a sudden they hit the chorus and a bunch of people around me started dancing and singing along with them out of freakin no where man. And I'm standing there in the middle with no clue what is going on.

Like what the hell? Was this practiced? Did they all share some weird mass delusion? Are they all psychically linked? Should I move before I become part of some mindless musical performing hive mind?

Any info would be much appreciated.

[Assistant]
Musical-Universes are parallel universes which have several roving hive minds. These hive minds are pseudo intelligent, but they lack bodies or emotions (and therefore free will). Therefore, a hive mind's goal (in the same sense that an electron has a "goal" to take the path of least resistance) is to find a group of people experiencing strong emotions. Once it has found such a group, it wants to use it as a body of sorts.

The hive mind is controlled by the emotions of those who are experiencing strong emotions. Emotions of humans and beings with thought-patterns resembling humans associate music (and therefore dance) with emotions. The result is that it becomes the will of the hive mind to coordinate the persons within it's sphere of influence in a dance. The persons at the heart of the emotional tempest have the greatest degree of impact on the dance hive mind. As a result, a few important people in the dance will take on special roles.


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

[User]
Could you beat a magnetized piece of iron until it loses it's magnetism?

Is a magnetic field subject to shock-induced interference? If I rubbed an iron rod with a magnet and magnetized it, could I then pound that piece of iron until it loses it's magnetism?

[Assistant]
It is possible to demagnetize a ferromagnetic material with high pressure or force but for iron the stress needs to be similar to hearing to 1000 Kelvin.

A way easier way to do it is using electricity  specifically high frequency alternating current. The magnet will try to align with the direction of the field but if the frequency is high enough it will be switching faster than the material can align so when the current is turned off everything will end up aligned randomly, making it non magnetic.


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

[User]
[Jupiter Legacy] Is the Jupiter Legacy world another kitchen sink world like Marvel, DC, and Invincible?

So far recent superhero worlds have been stand-alone versus where only one power system exists and only one genre exists. The big 3 are MHA, The Boys, and Worm. MHA only has Quirks, The Boys only has compound V, and Worm only has shards. Aliens, demons, vampires, werewolves, wizards, dragons, etc are not really things that exist in The Boys or MHA world. Not in a separate power system sense at least. Because im sure a lot of Quirks and Compound V or Parahuman abilities powers can mimic most of the beings I mentioned. Maybe Aliens might exist in Worm if you count shards. But Worm is still a strong standalone verse and not a kitchen sink world like Marvel or DC

In the show Jupiter Legacy it seems like all the powers come from the island. But it still seems like heroes can get powers from different sources in the Jupiter Legacy verse. For starters, super technology can easily be another source. I.E. the teleport stick. And it's stated maybe as a joke. That the Union has been fighting Robot and Wizards for a century. Even though this could possibly be a joke.

So that makes me wonder. Is Jupiter Legacy a kitchen sink world like Marvel/DC/Invincible?

[Assistant]
The island released an unknown energy source into the world. The main characters all got their powers from this energy source or from those directly connected to the source as their offspring. Others became infected by the power source as well later on creating supervillains and lesser heroes who had no connection to the island. Super technology does exist but it either captures a piece of the island power by itself or was created specifically to counter or mimic the islands power.

You don't have wizards and demons and aliens and robots running around. You have people who are mutating and evolving with a new power that's randomly choosing them. They adopt personas to hide their identities for various reasons or just develop technology specifically to counter the new powered people. So it's just one power system with some drama club trappings and DARPA level interference.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why do your gums bleed/hurt more if you don't floss regularly?

After flossing for the first time in a few months, it hurts a lot more and might also bleed. Why does this happen?

[Assistant]
They're being deteriorated and broken down by sugars and acids in the plaque hiding between your teeth.

Floss. Bleed. Rinse. Heal. Repeat. You'll be happier for it and so will whoever you talk to every day.


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

[User]
[Zombies] Why are animals usually unaffected in zombie apocalypses?

I know for a few universes (Red Dead Redemption for example) animals are turned into zombies, however it seems like the majority of zombie apocalypses leave animals unaffected. Is there a reason zombies only go after other humans? Maybe the virus only transmits between humans but wouldn't their craving for brains still have them seek out other animals for food as well?

[Assistant]
Viruses rarely jump from one species to another, which is why it's big news whenever it happens. As for why we don't see zombies going after animals as often, it's probably because most animals have better senses and better survival instincts. They also tend to be faster runners. Basically, for a setting to have a lot of zombie animals several things need to happen:

- The virus (or magic) needs to affect animals as much as it does humans.
- Zombies need to be fairly omnivorous. They don't just go after humans.
- Human zombies need to be fast enough to catch animals. Alternatively, animal zombies need to retain their speed in order to infect other animals.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do abandoned houses fall apart structurally?

[Assistant]
Basically, because abandoned houses lack residents/caretakers to maintain and protect them. When an occupied house develops a leak, or a tree branch falls through the roof, or termites infest it, or it suffers minor fire damage, the owners fix it. An abandoned property, conversely, is simply victim to the vagaries of time and nature.

Similarly, homeless people, vandals, and thieves are less likely to intrude and damage/take from a house with residents. If someone lives there, youd worry about getting shot/arrested/etc. if you broke in.


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

[User] ELI5: How do solar sails/photonic propulsion work if light is massless?

[Assistant]
Light is massless but not momentum-less. You know that whole E = mc^2 equation? Well, that isn't the entire thing, actually. The actual equation is

E^2 = (mc^2 )^2 + (pc)^2

where p is the momentum of the object in question. Photons have energy, and even with zero mass, they still have momentum, and so they can impart that momentum into something else.


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

[User] ELI5 how does a search engine search the entire internet in a couple of seconds?

[Assistant] It doesnt. It searches an optimized index that the search engine company has carefully built over a long time. Instead of driving around the neighborhood making a list of all the businesses, it just looks in the phone book.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does the destruction of thousands of tons of illegal ivory help fight poachers and the black market?

Wouldn't that make them that much more valuable?

[Assistant]
In order to make money on poaching, there's two steps. First, kill the rhino. Second, sell the horn. (or whatever animal.) If you only complete step one, you wasted a lot of time and effort.

By destroying confiscated ivory, you ensure that step two doesn't ever happen for a LOT of poachers. Yes, a few who didn't get caught will make a lot of money. But it means that *most* poachers will be frustrated out of their profits and hopefully discouraged from trying again.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can we discover planets that are so far away?

I always wondered how can we find those planets that are light years from Earth.

[Assistant]
Usually exoplanets are discovered by looking for a characteristic wobble of stars in a telescope.

Because gravity from planets will affect the spin of their star, stars with planets will appear to wobble back and forth compared to other, naked stars.

Then, by calculating the expected size of the star and the size and frequency of the wobble, they can make an educated guess as to the size and distance of the exoplanet from their star, or even if there are multiple exoplanets.


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

[User]
[Dune/WH40k] A survey team has stumbled about the planet with the spice. What is the quickest, fastest way to commercialize the drug and get it into the greedy, grasping hands of the IoM?

***NOTE:*** None of the houses or imperial shit from Dune exists. Only the planet Arrakis is there, and nothing else. WH40k remains the same, except with the inclusion of Arrakis, and of course, the spice. Nobody in the IoM knows just what the spice is, or how it even works, or even how to farm it. But people do know the spice is highly addictive and they want more of it. Lots more.

How do we commercialize the sale of the drug for consumption by the IoM?

[Assistant] I'd guess the Inquisition would come down on that like a ton of bricks. They probably wouldn't glass the place, but they'd definitely put a lockdown on the spice. Anything that will let you see the future like spice can has got to be touched by the warp and must be kept from the public, but the spice itself would be seen as too useful to completely destroy. There would definitely be some black market smuggling, though, so the richer, less moral citizens could still get ahold of it.


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

[User]
[Codename: Kids Next Door] What would happen if some who knows about the KND but not apart of them turned 13?

We know that when a KND operative turns 13 they get  decommissioned. But how would the KND react to someone who knows about them but isn't one of them turning 13?

(Edit: Also on a related note... how would they handle kids who are related to people who know about the kids next door?)

[Assistant]
It depends. If they've been super loyal, they get to join the top secret wing of the KND called the "Teens Next Door," which consists of teenagers who were not actually decommissioned.

Other times they join an anti KND group and are issued their Battle Ready Armor.

And other times they simply don't care as long as they don't use their knowledge for evil.

As for your edit question, Nigel's dad knows about his adventures, but they don't really do anything because he mostly just thinks they're silly games of pretend.


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

[User] How infected does the body have to be in order to trigger an immune response that you notice? I. E. Fever, congestion, cough, etc.

[Assistant]
It's not such a simple equation.  But in general, all it takes is one and your body will start responding to the threat.  The response might be all out war, or it might be to just encapsulate it.  That depends on other things.  Some general categories are:
1.) The type of invader. (Bacterial, Viral, Allergen, etc.)

2.) Where the invader, invades your body.  (E. Coli is fine in some parts and not in other parts.)

3.) How aggressive the invader is. (Take the strain of nora-virus that has hit many of the states really hard the past 12 months.  It has taken as few as breathing in 3 of the virus to infect you.)

4.) The individuals sensitivity to the invader.

5.) The current strength or health of the immune system.


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

[User]
ELI5: If you have a pile of mulch/woodchips/etc and leave it long enough it can start to smoke. How?

I understand that it's the breaking down of the organic material that's generating the heat, but how in the world does it generate enough heat to start to smolder?

[Assistant] A large enough pile will be generating heat all through it, and the stuff in the middle has nowhere for the heat to go, so it builds up. Eventually, you'll hit the smoke point for something in the pile (the wood, the resins in the sap, small children, you know) and voila! Smoke!


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

[User]
Can a psychologist cure her-/himself if he/she has a mental illness?

Sorry, this might be a stupid question. But medical doctors for example could cure themselves if they have a disease.

[Assistant] Not really. You can for example come up with a behavioral excercise to help yourself somehow but it's not anything somebody with a good self-help book couldn't do as well. We're also kinda trained in introspection which should theoretically help us getting an insight on our conditition. However, if we're talking about "curing", a crucial part of therapy is therapeutic relationship and alliance which is hard to establish by yourself.


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

[User]
ELI5: Can I "build" a server and give it whatever ip I want?

By server I mean a website, but without registered domain. I mean you type the ip in your browser and there is your site. If you can, then what would happen if I have the same ip as google? And what if the site is temporary down? Thanks!

[Assistant]
IP addresses are a lot like ZIP (aka postal) codes.  If you want to declare your ZIP code to be 60601-2015, that's certainly your choice, but don't expect the US Postal Service to deliver your mail to that address unless you just happen to live in the right block in Chicago.

You don't need a name -- a web site will work just fine with simply an IP address.  But you have to get the IP address assigned to you by somebody who acknowledges that the IP address is within their management realm.


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

[User] ELI5: why are there weight limits on suitcases but not the people on the plane?

[Assistant] It's worth noting there may be weight limits depending on the size of the plane. A large airliner doesn't really matter, but a small passenger plane has to know the weight of the passengers and make sure they're evenly distributed around the plane. You can't have a 500lb person in the right side and a 30lb person in the left, the balance of the plane will be too far off.


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

[User]
My chi-square analysis indicates a significant association but my logistic regression indicates no significant association. What does this mean?

Im fairly new to statistics so I apologize if this is an easy answer.  Right now, Im just playing with some public health data.

I have a dichotomous exposure and a dichotomous outcome.

My chi square analysis indicates statistical significance between the exposure and outcome.

When I run a logistic regression in R, the adjusted odds ratio is 1.2 but the p value is 0.059 which indicates it is not significant.  In the logistic regression, I controlled for 5 other variables (two of which have a p value of less than 0.001).

What does this mean?  Should I not be comparing chi square outcome with logistic regression outcome?

Thank you!

[Assistant]
You did different analyses. You shouldn't expect the same result.

If controlling for variables didn't change the p-value, you wouldn't do it.

Run a logistic regression in R, without the control variables and you should get the same result.


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

[User]
Eli5 - What is a DJ like Tiesto actually doing when performing a live show?

I dont really know much about the process of remixing a song but I can imagine it is a process that is like editing a video - layering tracks, adding beats, etc. They are clearly not doing that kind of editing live so they are basically playing something thats already had some amount of that already done.

So what are they doing live besides maybe mixing between songs?

I just dont understand what all the knob fiddling is about.

[Assistant]
In order to get a basic understanding, imagine a DJ standing in front of actual turntables. They start playing a song, and it has a downbeat (imagine if you're bobbing your head to a groovy song, when you bob down, that's the downbeat). As that song nears it's end, the DJ doesn't want dead air, so they choose a song that has the same beat. They put the record on the other turntable, and listen to it with their headphones. They listen and slow down/speed up the second song until the beat lines up perfectly, then fade the volume of the first song down while fading the second up. That way you're listening to a new song, but the transition was so seamless, your head bobbing hasn't stopped, or even been noticeably altered.

A skilled DJ can fade back and forth between two or more songs, do things like slip the hook from one song into the place where the hook would have been in a different song, and all sorts of other tomfoolery. The more sources of songs, samples, and sounds, the more knobs they need for volume, tempo and effects.

Then imagine someone mixing the sound for a live band. They have a slider for how loud the drums are in the house speakers, how loud the vocals are in the speakers playing back to the band. The DJ needs these too, so they can alter what they are hearing and what the house is hearing separately.


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

[User]
[House] Morally speaking who's the most good character?

House is out for obvious reasons.

Wilson is a genuinely great guy with a few flaws.

Same goes for Cuddy (although she's arguably got more issues than Wilson).

Foreman's a sob.

Chase is just neutral; leaning good. Give him major props for killing that dictator. Sic semper and all that.

Cameron is good with a flawed reliance on emotion that means she often does bad in the name of good.

Taub isn't evil but he is a weasel.

Kutner is as nice as you can be and still interact with House.

Thirteen is a hedonist (but for understandable reasons) and other wise seems like a decent person.

CB; yeah she's a dick.

I'm saying Kutner; what do you guys think?

[Assistant]
via the **Theory of Moral Value (Moral objectivism)** and the **Rational-Egoist Theory of Morality**, House is the most moral person, since he has the most objective value as a doctor, and recognises that value in himself, acting accordingly.

via the **Pragmatic Moral Theory** (Moral Pragmatism/Consequentialism/Utilitarianism) House is also most likely the most moral person, since consequences of his actions saved the most lives (though it would take a difficult calculation to be certain of that).

via **Deontological Theory of Morality** (Rules Based Morality) and **Social Contract Morality**, Wilson is the most moral one, since he is least likely to break social, legal and corporate rules he agreed to uphold.

Via **Divine Command Theory of Morality** all of them are sinners one way or another, and none of them is good enough to qualify as a moral person.

Via **Ethics of Care Theory of Morality,** again, probably Wilson, though after so many seasons, it is hard to say.

In other words, if we were to divide the whole problem into two problems: **Moral Actions vs Moral Stance**, then House performs the most moral actions while Wilson has the best Moral Stance. Or to put it another way: House is a bad person who does good deeds for bad reasons, and these good deeds have good consequences. Wilson is a good person who does (usually ) good deeds that sometimes have bad consequences.
The difference comes from the fact that House, regardless of his morality, is a much better doctor and a brilliant man, and thus can see the consequences of his actions several steps ahead, so even when he acts immorally (from Rules Based perspective) it is for the greater good in the end. Wilson is not so brilliant, so he acts morally NOW, on the problem at hand, even if it has bad consequences down the road.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly stops our bodies from defecating and urinating as we sleep? What acts as an "alarm" that jolts us awake when we do need to do these things?

Edit: Jesus, this blew up. Instead of replying to everything (of course I'm going to try to get to a lot), I'd just like to say thank you to the massive knowledge drop I've received. I did not expect so much information about how my body is basically an automaton. Super cool!! Thank you guys!

[Assistant] So your body has these muscles called internal and external sphincters. They act like these rubber bands around your rectum and your urethra (where pee comes out). You can control the external sphincters but cant control the internal sphincters. The feeling that you need to pee or poop comes from the internal sphincters saying hey we need to go to your brain and then they relax/open to let said pee or poop out. The clinching feeling when youre trying to hold it in is your external sphincters, which you can control. When youre sleeping/awake these sphincters are constantly contracted/closed but if the internal sphincters relax/open, then your brain will wake you up because you have to go.


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

[User]
[General] Vampires and religious symbols

I'm worried about defending myself against vampires and need to know if only crosses work, or should I also carry around other symbols, like a star of david, or a star and crescent.

[Assistant]
Different rules for different universes. The possibilities run the spectrum from:

* Only crosses
* Only blessed holy symbols
* Any holy symbols
* Only holy symbols that the vampire believes in
* Some other unique-in-universe symbol
* Any of the above but with varying effects (ie. some hold vampires at bay, others can burn them)
* Symbols don't do anything at all (usually when vampirism is classified as a virus or parasite.)

So first, you need to provide some information about which of the above universes you are calling from.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do large and complex projects - e.g. the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - keep pace with, and accommodate, technological changes over extended design and build periods?

For example, JWST's control systems originally designed in 1992 would, I'm sure, look very different to control systems designed today. Will they have been updated multiple times along the way?

[Assistant] Systems might be updated during multiple rounds of the design process, but at some point the technology is locked in, which is essentially the same as a freeze in software engineering. At that point, no further changes or updates are made even if new technology becomes available unless it's to fix some problem that comes up in testing. Things that go into space are very expensive and once they're up there, there's no way to swap parts or change or fix things, so you want something that as reliable as possible, which pretty much always means something that's been around longer and has time to have been extensively tested and have had all the bugs worked out. Reliability is what's most important, not what's newest.


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

[User]
Why does adding an acid to egg whites help stiffen it?

When banking things like chiffon or sponge cake, egg whites are usually beaten with some acid to help stabilise it and ultimately get stiffer peaks. I can only think of acids creating an unfavourable environment for enzymes but that doesn't seem relevant here :)

[Assistant] Egg whites are made of proteins, which you can imagine as little tangled balls of fuzzy threads. Both heat and acid can *denature* these proteins, or untangle them into long threads of basically velcro. This allows them to stick to each other, stiffening the whole mix.


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

[User]
[LotR] Would Sauron still have been able to eventually regain power if Isildur had succesfully delivered the One Ring to the Keepers of the Three rather than dying at Gladden Fields?

Normally I dislike nebulous "what-if" questions, but I intend this to be a question of the elves' capabilities more so than what would happen in the aftermath. I would think the answer would be yes, considering time was on Sauron's side given his growing forces and the continued decline of the kingdoms of Man. However, would there have been something Gandalf, Galadriel, and Elrond could have done to keep Sauron in check in the long term if they had been given the One Ring by Isildur, or would they have only.managed to further delay Sauron's rise? Alternatively, at the time of the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, could elves and man have returned to Mordor to destroy the One Ring?

[Assistant]
>would there have been something Gandalf, Galadriel, and Elrond could have done to keep Sauron in check in the long term if they had been given the One Ring by Isildur, or would they have only.managed to further delay Sauron's rise?

Yes. Gandalf could have taken the Ring for himself and claimed it. This would have the same effect on Sauron as the Ring's destruction did. The end result wouldn't be any better though - Gandalf would have been an even worse Ring-lord than Sauron, turning good into evil. In any case, he wasn't even in Middle-Earth yet at this point. When Isildur died, the Three were held by Elrond, Galadriel, and Crdan. Gandalf was still in Valinor.

>Alternatively, at the time of the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, could elves and man have returned to Mordor to destroy the One Ring?

They could have returned, but it's unlikely they'd have been able to successfully destroy it. They'd have gotten to Mount Doom and given in to temptation, either by claiming the Ring as Frodo did or else failing in some other way.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Where are all the dragon's besides smaug? What do we know about there powers?

I have read anything outside of the 3 books and the hobbit and not for a very long time. So where are all the dragon's? And what could they do (power wise) and where did/do they come from?

[Assistant]
Many of them simply died out over time. They were bred by Morgoth for the War of Wrath.

The largest and most powerful dragon of all was Ancalagon the Black (Briefly mentioned by Gandalf in LOTR), his death at the hands of Erendil and the eagles (Specifically his bulk hitting the ground) destroyed Thangorodrim (The tallest mountains in Middle Earth) and reduced them to rubble.

Dragons are very smart, very deadly, can hypnotize you with their gaze, and the greatest of them had fire that could melt Sauron's rings (But NOT the One Ring), which is what happened to a few of the Dwarven rings.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do dollar stores work?

I sometimes see name brand stuff in the dollar stores and they aren't expired or near the expiration date so how can dollar stores get away with selling things for so cheap whereas other store sell them much higher?

[Assistant]
Usually dollar stores will sell smaller sizes of that item, i.e. 1.5oz of deodorant vs 3oz, which is the 'regular' size.

But you wouldn't notice that because you see the '$1' sign, whereas you might be paying around $2 anyways, or even less, on the 3oz deodorant.

Other reasons could be that the items are second-grade, meaning that they have been deemed not to sell as well in grocery/department stores in that condition. The items are still perfectly usable, but their packaging may have suffered.

Or possibly the dollar store companies will take a hit on their profits in order to maximize revenue/market share.


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

[User] What is a fool-proof way to remember the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning?

[Assistant] In deductive reasoning, the truth of the conclusion is *necessitated* given the truth of the premises  - you cannot mantain that the premises are true and the conclusion is false without contradicting yourself. In inductive reasoning, the premises provide *support* for the conclusion, but not to the degree of logical necessity. Even in the most convincing inductive argument, you can imagine a case, however unlikely and contrived, where the premises are true but the conclusion turns out false.


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

[User]
ELI5: why do people weigh less first thing in the morning (or, presumably, directly after sleeping) than they did immediately before sleeping?

This is without any excretions.

[Assistant]
You constantly lose mass in two ways. One is that water evaporates from the damp insides of your lungs, and unless you are very cold, you will still sweat by a small amount.

The other is that living involves losing mass. You breathe in oxygen, and breathe out CO. For every two atoms of oxygen you take in from breathing, you breath them out with an attached atom of carbon. That carbon comes from stored sugars, fats or proteins in your body, and it leaves you - completely - as a gas.

It's like how the majority of the mass of a tree comes from thin air.


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

[User]
What's the noise a formula 1 makes when it changes gears?

I've just came back from the F1 Belgian GP and was thinking about what makes the noise (kind of a small explosion) when a F1 (also GP2 and GP3) car changes gears. What is the reason and why it sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't?

EDIT: Thanks for the responses, guys!

[Assistant]
It's most likely a backfire. When the car is accelerating its at full throttle/load, and the engine runs out of power, so it's time to change gears. imagine going from full throttle to no throttle (changing gears) then back to full throttle.
The bang u hear is unburnt fuel exploding in the exhaust after its left the combustion chamber, which is after engine has gone off full throttle to change gears.
It's excess fuel that was needed to sustain full power, but is no longer needed when off throttle.


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

[User] Why do some vaccines only need to be given once, while others such as the flu jab need to be done yearly?

[Assistant]
The flu virus is highly unstable, anytime a person have two types of virus at the same time, he can create a third hybrid type that wouldnt respond as well to the vaccine.

That is why it is given yearly, of the several hundred subtypes, each year your get the ones most likely to affect the next year. If it is a match, great you dont get the disease, but usually you get a slightly different version, in which case the vaccine works but not fully, you get a milder flu than an unvaccinated person.


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

[User]
ELI5: If you have internal bleeding how does the blood that has leaked into areas outside of your veins get flushed out of your body?

If it cant get back into veins or into your digestive system how does it get out of the open spaces between your organs?

[Assistant]
Your body does reabsorb the blood over time.

The risk of internal bleeding isn't because the blood in your body doesn't ever go away, it's because it may go unnoticed for too long or may not be stoppable without proper medical intervention.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why wax occurs in our ear canals and should ears be cleaned?

My dad has an ear wax problem at the moment from to much wax.  The doctor says he needs to regularly clean his ears but many people say not to. I am confused.

[Assistant]
They say not to only because a lot of people don't do it right.  There are specific ways you're supposed to do it, as well as specific tools.  If you have a mild wax problem, like just a little buildup around the canal, a q-tip is fine if used safely.  If you have a bad problem, all a q-tip is doing is packing it back further into the ear canal.  They actually make soft little ear "scoops" exactly for this.  There are also ear cleaning fluids; you pour a couple of drops in, let it sit, then tilt your head with a tissue under your ear, and all the wax pours out.

He really should ask his doctor what he thinks the best method for cleaning is.


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

[User]
[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers] How on earth did Gimli beat Legolas's kill count?

The first 5 minutes into the battle Glimi only had 2 kills while Legolas had 17. Legolas has a major advantage here being with a bow, and his elvish eyes, he can get far more kills form a distance while Glimi is forced to fight up close. Legolas is also able to get many multi-kills, such as shooting the latter down which cripples a dozen, if not more at once. Not to mention his epic shield slide move. I just don't see how he could have lost by one point.

[Assistant] once things got to close combat a big axe is more effective on that thick uruk hai armor than knives and bow. Also Legolas would have had to stop to refill his quiver with arrows. An English Longbow man during the 100 years war was expected to fire about 15-20 arrows a minuite. Legolas is well an Elf so he is probably better at archery than real life humans. So lets say 25 arrows a minuite. He only had the one quiver it seemed so he would be going to refill it every few minutes probably.


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

[User] When we are sick why do we feel worse at night?

[Assistant]
Cortisol is a steroid hormone that curbs white blood cell activity. More cortisol is in your blood during the day, so your white blood cells are less active in fighting infections.

At night, there is less cortisol in your blood, your white blood cells will detect and fight infections more readily, and you will experience more of symptoms of infection (i.e. fevers, sweating).


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

[User]
How did Aristotle know bees are deaf?

Right at the start of the Metaphysics Aristotle says bees cannot hear. How did he know this?

[Assistant]
Aristotle has tons of discussions of bees in his works on animal biology. He gained basically none of that knowledge first-hand. He asked bee-keepers for their knowledge of bee anatomy, physiology, reproduction, etc. That's how he came to know these facts about bees.

It's the same way that he came to know about how dolphins feed, for example, which is an important subject in *Parts of Animals* IV. It isn't like he stuck his head in the water to see how they feed. He's relying on a set of received knowledge from fishermen. (This was during the phase of Aristotle's life that he spent studying a lot of marine biology.)


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

[User]
CMV: There is no logical reason for God to exist

I understand that many people turn to faith in God as a source of comfort, even though that faith is not backed by evidence (like they think there is no evidence of God but the idea of a supreme being looking out for them is comforting and so they are faithful). There doesn't seem to be any proof or explanation for the existence of God, beyond the God is used to explain ideas we don't currently understand with science. It doesn't seem to me that a supreme being really exists beyond our imaginations because it seems like a placeholder for what we don't understand. I am totally open to the possibility, though. What I am asking is if there is any type of proof or reason to believe a supreme being or creator exists beyond blind faith. Any scientific/metaphysical/logical/whatever theories that might explain the need for a Creator?

[Assistant] Theres a compelling scientific theory why humans believe god exists. Its because evolution has hard-wired us to detect agency everywhere. Our ancestors who saw the rustling bush and concluded there was some agent (that wanted to eat them) rustling the bush survived longer than our ancestors who brushed it off as just the wind. So when we see a thunderstorm, human instinct is to assume that some being must be causing it, and next thing you know, weve created Thor.


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

[User] ELI5: When sleeping why do some people move so much like kids, but others can stay in the same position for hours?

[Assistant]
The simplest answer is that the people who move around lots usually have one or more of the upwards of 80 sleep disorders. The people without sleep problems are the ones sleeping still.

Source: 15 years working in sleep medicine.


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

[User]
Why do we stretch and why does it feel good when we do?

It doesn't seem to be something we do instinctively. Yet other animals do it too.

^(I actually sound like I'm 5)

[Assistant] When your at rest your body slows down and your blood flow decreases. Stretching gets things moving along by causing your heart to beat a bit faster for a few moments. This increases oxygen, blood flow, and waste removal. Making you feel awake and fresh with new energy.  Similarly water at rest can become bland and boring but once it ripples or moves it becomes more alive as do the beings within.


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

[User] ELI5: That feeling you get when someone is behind you but no one is actually around.

[Assistant]
Evolution and pattern recognition!

The reason you know nobody is there is you turned around, which was a cost-free event. Had there been someone there deserving of the feeling of fear etc, and you didn't turn around, that could have been a costly event. This is the primal parts of your brain playing safe hands of cards for your benefit.

At the end of the day, the apes that overreacted to strange sensations as though they were danger to be avoided, avoided more dangerous scenarios which could otherwise stop their participation in the gene pool.


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

[User] [The Martian by Andy Weir] in the aftermath of the events of the book. What policy/ methodology changes would be introduced?

[Assistant]
(1) A secondary communication system able to reach the orbiter to relay to Earth buried on the site as an emergency backup.

(2) Enough food cached to keep the crew alive until a rescue mission could get there.  Probably sent with the MAV but you could also keep it in orbit so you only have to send teh cache once and its an emergency supply for multiple missions.  MMM high density nutritional gel.

(3) Better weather satellites to detect dust storms earlier.

(4) Bigger media library to keep the disco from driving you mad.

(5) If someone is presumed dead after an escape attempt stay in orbit for a while to make sure they are dead before heading back to Earth.


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

[User]
CMV: Politics is a good reason to end a relationship

I remember there being a small rash of news stories about couples, some married for years, breaking up in the wake up of the Trump election as a result of who people voted for. A similar thing happened on a smaller level with Brexit in the UK.

This was met with a lot of comments from people in news sites saying that was a stupid reason to break up, but I disagree. ' Politics' isn't just a game politicians play, or something that happens away from the world. Political views reveal a lot about beliefs on society, rights, justice, and basically political views are very intertwined with personal morality.

Having a partner who challenges you is good, but wide differences are a legitimate break in a relationship. I would argue the couple who broke up after years of marriage in the wake of the American election didn't break up trivially because political parties  suddenly became important, but that they'd ignored that aspect of their relationship if neither was interested in politics, and the election revealed some very deep personal divides which were irreconcilable.

So, political differences can be a make or break aspect of a relationship, and justifiably so.

[Assistant] A genuinely healthy, happy relationship shouldnt end because of politics  and they dont.  But fraught political issues can reveal deeper problems and incompatibilities  like a lack of respect, opposing world views, etc.  The 2016 presidential race and Brexit were breaking points for relationships that were already badly fractured.


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

[User]
CMV: Harshly criticizing your competitor by name would make for quality advertising.

Commercials are generally sanguine or annoying. How many times can we hear "I was born free!" Chevy commercials? Just once I'd like to see Chevy say "The F150 is a poor choice and here are some complaints from real Ford owners." Why is it so taboo for one business to pick on or pick apart their competitors by name?

* This kind of tactic is almost never used in TV/Radio campaigns. Why not?
* Is there a fear of backlash or starting a war they can't win?
* Sometimes danced around by saying 'the other guys' or 'brand x'
* We mostly hear about what's fun, new, delicious, improved, on sale, etc.
* Why is dissing exclusive to hiphop and political campaigns?
* I don't see this is as the "low-road", but a different tactic.
* What's wrong with a commercial for XYZ Widgets where people give reasons why "ABC and LMNOP's widgets really suck!" ?
* I'm sure someone can find a few good examples of this, but why should it be uncommon?

[Assistant]
Negative advertising is pretty common, but it is mostly relegated to markets where there are only two options (like political campaigns).  Coke and Pepsi have gotten into negative advertising over the years as well (aka the Pepsi Challenge)

If Chevy makes a commercial about how crappy Ford is, they aren't necessarily convincing you to buy a Chevy.  You could take the message to heart, then buy a Dodge, or a Honda, or any other brand of car.  From Chevy's perspective it makes more sense to talk up a Chevy, rather than try to talk down on all the other possible choices.


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

[User] With all the variations of dog sizes, from a poodle to a dane... If we were to find these bones (say they were millions of years old), would we conclude these are different species? What conclusions would a paleontologist make?

[Assistant]
Initially, yes. Single species never have the type of variation found in domesticated species where breeding takes place, and dogs breeds have a huge amount of diversity.
  Eventually however, future scientists would find morphological constants that would tie them together. Then they would try to hypothesize about why there was so much diversity, although it would be very hard to pin it down unless they realized it was done deliberately by our species.


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

[User] How might one go about learning deleuze?

[Assistant]
You might want to start with his Dialogues, a collection of short exchanges that gives some good insights into his thought, his article on "Societies of control", and also his books on Nietzsche, Kant, Spinoza and Bergson if you are already familiar with those authors, as Deleuze uses them to expand on his own philosophy. In general, of you want to understand his project, it is good to have some notion of those authors, as well as some Hegel and Marx.

Then, if you want to learn more about his own metaphysical thought, you can read Difference and Repetition and Empirism and Subjectivity.

If you want to learn about his work with Guattari, I'd argue it'd be best to read a little bit of Marx and Freud before delving into Capitalism and Schizophrenia. You can also read their book on Kafka or What is philosophy?

Hope this helps!


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

[User]
If you were teaching philosophy to first year college students, what's a short (10 page -ish) piece of writing to start with on day 1? Something fairly easy, but thought provoking.

Something that elicits wonder and interest. A classic choice (pun intended) would be a Socratic dialogue. I'm struggling to find one right now. Maybe something where Socrates is talking about the value of arguments and knowledge.

Or perhaps part of a book or some article that introduces some of the most basic issues at the center of academic philosophy. I'm leaning towards this. I don't want to confuse them with difficult prose.

Just trying to fill a small hole in my syllabus. Cheers and thanks.

[Assistant] Plato's *Euthyphro*, Carroll's "What the Tortoise Said to Achilles," Midgley's "On Trying Out One's New Sword," Gettier's "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?", Sorensen's "Faking Munchausen's Syndrome," Dennett's "Where Am I?", Singer's "Famine, Affluence, and Morality."


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

[User] How many times can a piece of plastic be recycled?

[Assistant]
This is highly dependent on how you want to recycle the plastic and the plastic material itself.

A thermoset plastic is a non-reversible process, so it can't be used as re-grind in an injection molding process, whereas a thermoplastic may be able to be used depending on the performance required. Each time to process a thermoplastic it loses some of its properties, as well as potential effects on fillers.

You can also recycle plastic as an aggregate such as in products like extruded plastic lumber. Plastic isn't fully melted in the process, and the performance isn't as critical, so you can theoretically recycle the plastic more times.


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

[User] ELI5: if earth does a full rotation of its axis in 24 hours in an eastward direction, what (theoretically) prevents a transport system from being built which would go straight up, and then straight back down again in a place west of your origin, taking advantage of the earths rotation?

[Assistant] If you go straight up, you will still retain your momentum you had from being grounded. So going straight up means you keep rotating relatively parralel to Earths surface. You would need to decrease your relative momentum by accelerating against the rotation. There is nothing that can break your rotaion for you, since Earth Athmosphere is rotating too and outside of athmosphere there is nothing to friction against.


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

[User]
[StarTrek] Do other races in the Federation still fly their own ships?

One thing I liked about Enterprise was how other races like Vulcans, Andorians, Telerites, and so on had their own style of space ships. I would like to know, do the other races in the Federation as of the 24th century still fly their own style of ships or do they just use Starfleet vessels now?

[Assistant]
They do use their own ships. A notable example is when the Romulans stole a Vulcan ship in an attempt to launch an invasion under the guise of reunification.

Generally speaking, the "Federation" is not as centralized an organization as it is often portrayed. Most member worlds are pretty much left to run their own affairs. They retain their local governments, local militaries, local economies, and conduct their own political affairs. So long as they don't run afoul of Federation law, they are allowed to operate as they see fit.

The Federation is more like a loosely held together *Con*federation. Most of the members are more than happy to let the humans do all of the cheerleading and heavy lifting, which is why you most often see the boons of the Federation touted by humans, with the political and military headquarters being on Earth, and the main military army being founded, manned, and run primarily by humans.


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

[User]
Has there ever been a recorded pandemic for marine life?

Hi everyone, pandemics seem to be a hot topic right now, and rightfully so, but I was wondering if there have ever been any devastating marine viruses, pandemics, or plagues? Humans have a long history with plagues but Ive never heard of marine life being effected by that.  Thanks for your time!

[Assistant]
Sea star wasting disease has been a big one the last few years in the PNW, *Pycnopodia helianthoides* (Sunflower star) have been especially hard hit, becoming functionally eliminated in many areas; other species (ie. *Pisaster ochraceous* and *brevispinus*) have also been significantly impacted, but to a lesser degreee.

Similar name, there is also a Seagrass wasting disease. It caused large scale die-offs of *Zostera marina*  beds on the Atlantic coast of the US in the early 1900s.

Im sure there are many more, these are just the two Im personally familiar with.