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

[User]
[General Immortality] You can't die and you've been sunk to the bottom of the ocean. How hard is it for you to find dry land?

So you pissed someone off and they took you out to the middle of the Atlantic, shackled twenty or thirty pounds of weights to your legs and dunked you.  Once you finally hit bottom, it's pitch black and probably extremely cold.

How much of a problem is the pressure?  Are you able to move at least somewhat freely?  What about currents?  If you go with the 'pick a direction and go' strategy, will you have any chance of keeping your bearings in the dark or will the currents spin you around?  What about bouyancy if you try to swim upwards?  Do you have any chance of making it with the weights?

[Assistant]
Assuming you're completely unkillable by any mean being dropped into the ocean would be years or more to escape unless you got extremely lucky. Currents aren't a huge issue deep down but they will nudge you along their path at maybe a few millimeters with every step. The pressure will be extremely painful but assuming immortality you'll survive. It'll take a lot more effort to move along the sea floor than it does in a pool but the main concern is every empty cavity in your body will be collapsed. Lungs eyes ears blood vessels will burts under the strain and everything will be smashed down against itself and other organs. It'll be freezing cold so if you somehow aren't flattened by the pressure your body will freeze solid without regular movement breaking the ice crystals forming inside you.

Now for the biggest concern and the real reason it'll take so long to escape your fate. It's pitch black down there. No sunlight no stars no moon. Nothing to get your directions right. If one leg is slightly longer than the other in strides you'll walk in a massive circle. And you'll have no way of knowing this unless you pass by the same shipwrecks and undersea mountains that you'll have to identity by touch alone. Unless you can somehow see in some spectrum that's not dependent on light you'll be forced to wander for possibly eternity in the cold black until you manage to get above a few hundred feet to have sunlight faintly light your way.


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

[User]
How does Tony Stark not get concussions all the time?

As we've seen in American Football, having hard head protection does little if anything to prevent the brain from impacting on the inside of the skull.  Tony Stark is getting hit in the head by massive hammers and Hulk fists, yet he doesn't seem to ever have any issues with this.

[Assistant]
On an american footballer, the helmet sits freely on the head.  This means that if they get hit, the helmet and head either move laterally or rotate extremely quickly.  This has the effect of causing the brain inside to not keep up with the skull, causing internal bruising which is extremely dangerous.

The Iron Man suit from Mark II onward uses an articulated and powered helmet which is connected to the main body of the suit.  What this means is that when Tony gets hit on the chin, say, the head doesn't snap around the way it would if he had a free floating helmet.

Now if the Hulk were to hit him with a proper right hook, he'd still feel it.  But the rigid body in the Iron Man suit is going to translate a lot of that momentum into the chest, and limit the rate of head rotation to something safe.  The body will probably spin -- and Tony is going to go flying -- but flying is something he can recover from.


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

[User]
CMV: All religious authorities should be mandated to report child abuse or any other major crime when they become aware of or suspect it has or will occur, regardless of whether or not the information was obtained through confession

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory. I refer to the catholic church mostly, but it applies to all religions who are not legislated to report child abuse (as is the case in my jurisdiction). The catholic archbishop of Melbourne recently said he'd rather go to jail than break the seal of confession. To me, I can't comprehend that position. Even from a religious perspective, surely the forgiveness of jesus through confession can still be obtained whilst the priest reports the concerns to state authorities. If the offending party spends their mortal life in prison, that will be mitigated by eternity in heaven they get for confessing, right?

Edit: I woke up to a lot of responses, some of which criticised me for not offering a framework for the the application of my belief (this is my first interaction with the CMV community), so here goes. There would need to be prescribed definitions about that which will and won't need to be reported in any legislation amounting to what I have proposed. Without going into the precise scenarios, I will say that there is already a framework in place within my jurisdiction which could easily be transferred to those who are employed within a church setting. Mandated reporting is very much a thing in many places. I am a mandated reporter, so I know it well. I apologise for not suggesting that a framework be put in place in my initial post.

I woke this AM to lots of comments regarding my position. Many of them say exactly the same thing and don't offer any new or challenging points for consideration, namely that breaking the seal would be to dismantle the catholic church. I've also read that the church is in a better position to help offenders because under my system they wouldn't confess. These two lines of argument I find unconvincin, which I have document in responses already. Whilst I appreciate the time people have put in to respond, my view hasn't changed. I'm not sure if it's within the rules, but going forward I'll only respond to comments which offer different reasons as to why I should CMV.

[Assistant] If you arrest people at the confessional no one will confess, the real point is when you know of crimes you can prevent them, if people don't confess you won't know so won't prevent. Religions need the Right of Sanctuary, much like a doctor needs patient confidentiality or a lawyer needs client privilege, but even a doctor or lawyer are bound by oath to report the threat of imminent crime, short of that they use their judgement and resources to keep the person away from offending, that's what religions should do: use their resources to Prevent, not take the money and sell people down the river.


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

[User]
Mysterious battery re-charge when devices turn off.

I've noticed with the past few cell phones I've had that if I have a battery level of say, 6% and I turn the phone off, when I turn the phone on again in a few hours I'll have a battery level of 11% or something like that.

What is the electrical/chemical explanation for this? Do batteries regenerate energy just by being dormant for a short period of time?

[Assistant] Your phone measures the percent of power left in the battery by the voltage it produces. By letting the battery sit it might cool, thus outputting a larger voltage which the phone takes to be a higher charge level. In any case no additional energy is gained.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does visible light only penetrate a few millimetres, whilst both X-rays and radio waves can penetrate much further even though they're on opposite ends of the energy spectrum?

I was thinking about television signals, and it occurred to me that whilst radio waves and X-rays are both used because they penetrate through matter, visible light does not. Why is this the case, given that X-rays are much higher energy than visible light and radio waves are much lower? Surely that should mean that one penetrates even less that visible light.

[Assistant]
It's because the method for penetration is different for both x-ray and radio waves.

For radio waves, it has to do with the electron structure in the material - radio waves can pass very easily through some matter's electron configurations (like in plaster or wood), and not at all through others (like steel, or other metals), coupled with the wavelength of the radio waves - which is much, much longer than visible light.

Whereas x-rays just have so much energy that they can punch right through most things - they have so much energy that due to the inertia of electrons the electrons cannot "keep up" with them so they just bull-rush right through.

Visible light neither has the wavelength of radio nor the energy of x-ray, so it can't get through using either method.


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

[User] ELI5: What is hawking and why is it illegal in Hong Kong?

[Assistant] Unlicensed street vendors.  It's technically illegal everywhere, but in Hong Kong it's especially difficult to get a license (officially because food safety, unofficially because it's essentially a black market for food), and thus it is more prevalent.


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

[User]
Are Irrational Numbers Only Never Ending Because of Our Base 10 Number System.

Obviously in a base  system  could theoretically be simply shown as 1 right? And 2 would equal 2 etc. Is this just because I lack a fundamental understanding of irrational numbers? Also would changing to a base  system make  not irrational? Thanks in advance and if this makes sense please tell me.

[Assistant]
In base pi, pi would be 10, and 2pi would be 20.

However, in base pi, the sqrt(2) would still be a non-terminating, non-repeating series of digits.

Moreover, irrational doesn't "mean" that it's a non-terminating, non-repeating series of digits.  That's merely a consequence.

The meaning of irrational is that it cannot be expressed as a ratio of integers.  Changing bases to pi won't change the fact that it can't be expressed as a ratio of integers, it only changes which numbers we choose to privilege with the base.

Excellent question btw.


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

[User]
ELI5 How does fast charging work?

Qualcomm and numerous other manufacturers have announced some sort of quick charging technology to charge a battery up to 50% in 15 minutes etc. How does this work? Do they increase the amperage? Wouldn't that damage the battery?

[Assistant] A lot of wrong answers here. Quickcharging happens when the charging adapter communicates with the power management chip (pmic) about the current state of the battery. You see when a battery is empty its chemical state can absorb a lot more current than when the battery is almost full. Quick charging optimizes the electricity throughput with the state of the battery. It requires the charger and the phone pmic to communicate.


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

[User]
CMV: 75% of Students Should Not Be in College

I am only writing this because of something that happened very recently with the girl I am dating. She straight out of highschool got a slightly higher than minimum wage job at a small company (no networking just online applications), and 5 years later has received 2 promotions the most recent one paying a little over 50k with great benefits. No degree.

Last week she tells me her old position was filled by a female with a degree in psychology from my alma mater. That same position she had 2 years into her career with no degree. Idk this new employee's situation, but looking at my friends who went to college they are struggling to find a job that will allow them to make their monthly loan payments and afford a small apartment to move out of their parents' home.

Now I went to college and later to grad school but the only majors I know of who had job offers straight after graduating were nursing, accounting, engineering, business analytics and data science/cs. Even after I graduated with a bachelors in economics I was struggling to find a job, so I went and finished my masters in econ and the semester before I graduated landed a job at a government agency that pays 72k and uses my degree.

Having gone to college and seeing the repercussions to over 75% of my friends who are still living at home and working jobs that are unrelated to their degrees (they probably could've gotten these jobs without a degree) this is a view that I have been wrestling with as of recent.

I don't think we should be giving financial aid or feferal loans to any kid at 18 unless they major in a growing career field (according to the bureau of labor statistics website) as to not put them in similar situations. Or maybe allowing students to sue universities and colleges if they can't find a job to make them invest in more networking events for these students or completely disband majors that are not providing valuable skills according to the marketplace (maybe make them optional minors rather than full degrees).

Change my view.

[Assistant] All data and research would contradict the takeaway from your anecdote. Is there a cost to college? Yes, and it includes the opportunity cost of not spending those four years advancing a career. But once you zoom out to look at career earnings, college graduates (in all majors) just massively outearn those with only a HS diploma.


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

[User] What makes it possible for crustaceans to be larger than bugs?

[Assistant] Crustaceans use a modified gill as a lung, which allows for larger size than the trachea used by insects,probably since oxygen is actively circulated in the blood rather than passively diffused through a series of tubes.


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

[User]
CMV: I don't believe people are fundamentally good.

There is so much unnecessary suffering in the world. Hunger, violence, hate, war etc. The only thing stopping world peace is just for people to stop fighting each other. There is more then enough food to feed everybody, but still so many are hungry. In the western world, people will kill each other over matters that seem banal when contrasted to the fact that children are dying by the millions (six million per year).

There is absolutely no reason for this other then that people are only good as so far it's good for them to be good. Civilization is only skin deep. Once people are really challenged, so few pas the test. We praise those who do, these unlikely heroes, precisely because we know it's not in our nature to act unselfishly. We are just animals. Though evolved to be intelligent and social, still unable to create the paradise we can all imagine. And even though we may have, as Rousseau puts it, 'the softest of hearts', our heart is still so much blacker then we like to think it is.

Change my view.

Edit:
There seem to be a couple of returning points that i shall address here.

1. Saying people are not fundamentally good is not saying people are bad/evil.
2. If we can't define what is good or bad (or define what morality is), then people can't be fundamentally good.

[Assistant]
First of all, the world is in a far better state than ever before.  There is less war, less hunger, longer lifespans, less disease, and a higher standard of living than at any other point in human existence.  Much of this has been accomplished through goodness.

Second, the logistics of helping aren't always easy.  Many children starve in third world countries because of corrupt governments.  Food and medicine shipped their for aid gets confiscated and resold, or used by those without a need.  Should other countries go to war to depose those bad leaders?  How bad do they have to be?

Most people do act unselfishly.  If a starving African child went up to a well off person in a fancy restaurant, the vast majority of us would give up our food to help the child.  But there is a limit to how much misery we can conceive of at one time.  Should we help the starving children, or those dying of AIDS, or people dying of cancer, or the homeless or any of an endless list.  At some point, we'd be paralyzed by the enormity of the world's suffering, and curl up into a ball if we ever fully comprehended it.

But enjoying life while also helping others is not choosing evil.  If we withhold every pleasure until there is no pain in the world, we will all live very unhappy lives.  Being selfless part of the time is still a " fundamentally good" thing to do.


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

[User] [Batman] How would batman be affected if he caused a vehicle accident that killed a child while driving dangerously fast in a pursuit?

[Assistant]
At the very least he'd retire from being Batman forever and, as Bruce Wayne, start some sort of charity drive before disappearing into seclusion and cutting off contact with just about everyone who knows him in either identity. Pretty much what he did when he had to grab a gun to scare off a robber when he was suffering a heart attack as he got older.

He might even turn himself in to the authorities, though that would depend on whether or not there was a Robin in the picture since with the revelation of his identity that would follow his surrender, villains are likely to come crawling out of the woodwork for some revenge by proxy.


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

[User] ELI5: When faced with stress or danger, why do people soil themselves?

[Assistant]
Its due to our sympathetic nervous system. Its the one responsible for Flee or Fight.

While it sends all energy to your muscles and brain it puts a holt on your digestive system so it does not waste energy digesting things and sends that energy to be used for our reaction.

Everything in body that is not essential to the body in terms of quick reaction where its a matter of life and death is put on hold so you can survive.


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

[User]
ELI5 the physics of playground swings.

While I understand (intuitively, if not scientifically) how pulling on the chain might affect my movement, the fact that I can *just* move my legs in the traditional extended-when-moving-forward, bent-when-moving-backwards way and gain momentum makes no sense to me.

[Assistant] While you move your legs, you move your center of mass (thats a point where the gravity pulls you down) in front of or behind the seat. The center of mass "wants" to be as close to the the ground as possible and so by changing where the center of mass is you start moving.


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

[User] [LotR] Frodo chooses the Gap of Rohan instead of The Mines of Moria. What changes?

[Assistant] Saruman kills the majority of the Fellowship. If Gandalf survives he will still be the Grey without his power boost. King theoden remains under sarumans control and he either obtains the ring or sauron does.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] can a Jedi/light force user and a Sith/dark force user ever be friends, or at least on amicable terms?

Since there are Sith who have historically not hurt, or killed anyone, and since there have been maverick/more open minded Jedi, would it be possible for a Jedi and Sith, or Light force user and Dark force user to meet, agree to not kill each other, and be friendly?

[Assistant] Sith and Jedi would be difficult because it's not just dark side vs light side, their philosophies and very natures are diametrically opposed.  A sith makes a jedi feel uncomfortable just by existing, because sith twist the nature of the force while jedi feel it should be left to do as it wills.  It would be like a hippie and a lumberjack being on friendly terms, while the lumberjack is actively taking a chainsaw to a redwood.  More generally, light side and dark side users can be on amicable terms, and even friends.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Who could beat Squirrel Girl?

She has bested Doom, Thanos, MODOK, and Wolverine. Who even stands a chance against her?

[Assistant]
Frankly, nobody can beat Doreen Green.  Here's why.

Earth 616 is an iteration of Earth Prime, the first of all the pocket universes.  Earth Prime is, of course, the Earth that we're doomed to live in.  As various powerful minds on Earth Prime came up with concepts that we refer to as "fiction", the various Multiverse universes were created, due to Quantum Observational Theory, which states that the first great mind to define a concept forces that concept to become reality.

Earth 616 represents the basic human desire for Good to triumph over Evil, for the underdog to win, and for the pure and innocent to win out over the corrupt and evil.  This is why even Galactus has never been able to defeat the heroes of Earth 616.

...and of all the Heroes of 616, one stands alone as the *most* pure, the *most* innocent, and the *most* selfless.  Doreen Green, also known as Squirrel Girl.  She beats heroes and villains alike because the very fabric of the 616 universe insists that she must.  If she were to ever be beaten, the basic fabric of the 616 reality would be shattered.  A new Mutliverse pocket would form, and Doreen's defeat would cease to be part of the reality of 616.


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

[User] [Marvel] How did the first Wakandians manage to use vibranium if even modern day tools or the tool of a norse god are incapable of breaking or melting it?

[Assistant] Raw, unrefined Vibranium probably has very different properties than finished products like their spears or Cap's shield.  Ultron calls it the most versatile substance on the planet so it probably has other properties other than just hard.  So early Wakandans might have been capable of manipulating it until they finally learned to refine it.


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

[User]
ELI5: What are the differences between lumen, lux and candela and why do i need to know?

We were talking about it in school and i understood nothing.

[Assistant]
Lumens are how much light is emitted by a light source. Lux is how bright  a surface is (lux = lumens/m^(2)). Candela is how far you can be from a surface in order to light it up.

I shall try to explain this better. Take for example a 100mW green laser pointer. It emits about 10 lumens. A candle also emits about 10 lumens. This means that if you aimed both of them at a white ceiling, your room would be lit up about the same amount.

The laser, however has a much tighter beam (about 2.110^-6 steradians vs about 10 for the candle). This means that the candle has about 1 candela while the laser has about 5 million. This means that the laser would be as bright from 5 million metres away as the candle would be from 1.

To explain lux, imagine you're in a dark room and you're trying to read a book. If the pages aren't bright enough, you can't read very well. It doesn't matter how much total light you have (gigantic pages don't help you read if the text is the same size) but it does matter how much light you have per unit area. The minimum illuminance needed to read is about 2-3 lux.

Note: The numbers in this comment may be out by a factor of 2 or so.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can people without lisps, put on a lisp, but those with a lisp, cant get rid of it?

[Assistant]
Two possible reasons depending on whats causing the lisp.

1. it is physical i.e. enlarged tongue etc
2. It is functional and is caused by improper forming of sibilant sounds. The forming of sounds in this case is the same as an accent and can be difficult to rid oneself of in casual speech. In the same way that someone with a strong accent still drifts into their accent even when they don't want to and suppress it. Speech therapy helps to correct the problem but (as with accents) is more effective the younger the person is.

Interestingly, people with lisps frequently do not posses them when conversing in a foreign language, indicating that the defect is linked to the forming of sounds in the original language but not the forming of the sounds in general.


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

[User]
[ENDGAME] What if Thanos had help from the Avenger's enemies?

Thanos upon learning of his future demise decides not to take any risks and tells the 2014 version of their enemies of their would be fate as they all die. Promised a future free of their enemies, they help Thanos accomplish his goal of destroying the galaxy.

How the final showdown play out with Thanos getting the extra help?

Clarification: by 2014 I meant to say Thanos came and saw their enemies in 2014 and warn them of how they will die at the hands of these heroes and offer a chance at vengeance once they get the means to enact it by taking them all with him once they are ready.

[Assistant]
He finds Ulysses Klaue selling arms out of a derelict shipyard in Africa.  The two hit it off almost immediately.

Thanos is endeared by Klaue's psychotic lack of fear for his own safety and is surprised to discover that he likes the man's taste in music.  Klaue is impressed by Thanos' operation, especially his ship.

The Black Order becomes jealous at how quickly this human has supplanted their father's favor.  One by one they find excuses to take missions far away from the hollow halls of the *Sanctuary 2*, endlessly echoing various brands of Earth synth-pop.

After a while, it's only Thanos and Klaue.  But the two instinctively know that that's all they need in this crazy mixed-up Universe.  For the first time in each one's life they have found the ultimate treasure - a friend.

The final battle goes worse than before, since half the Black Order doesn't even bother to return, but the pair are inseparable on the battlefield.  After Tony's snap, Thanos looks around and finds Klaue lying broken in the mud, critically injured during the last desperate scramble.  He pulls off his helmet and drops to his knees next to his fallen friend.

Klaue feebly tries to reach up.  Thanos clasps the man's hand in his own.  The two nod at each other and Klaue cracks his toothy lopsided grin.  Thanos chuckles in spite of himself.  Then the two dissipate in a cloud of dust, both with smiles on their face.


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

[User]
[Batman] What would a world look like if Mr Freeze used his knowledge and skills legally?

Basically take "cut led Luther a check" but apply it to freeze and tell me how it would change him and the world of batman.

[Assistant] Not that much really. It depends on the version of the character you're looking at, but in most cases the issue with Freeze isn't that he doesn't have the resources to do what he needs to, but that bureaucratic red tape stops him doing it fast enough. No matter how much money he's given to work with, that doesn't change the fact he can't jump to human testing without resorting to illegal means. Given his main motivation is that ticking time clock of his wife's illness, speed is always going to matter more to him than ethical medicine.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40K] When did Earth and the Galaxy start to go to hell?

It followed our timeline (roughly) surely the universe wasn't always this bad.

[Assistant]
There's 2 events that mark the galaxy's fall to GRIMMDARKNESS, the War in Heaven, and the creation of Slaanesh.

It all started about 60 million years ago. At the time there were 2 species of note in the galaxy; the Old Ones, a race of psychic toadmen, and the Necrontyr, the precursors of the Necrons. The Old Ones had found a way to transcend their physical bodies and spent most of their time in the Realm of Souls, a psychic dimension created by the collective subconscious of sentient races. You could say that they had achieved the pinnacle of evolution. The Necrontyr were super jealous of the Old Ones power, so they attacked them. Obviously this was a terrible idea, so in desperation they took the C'tan, a bunch of space clouds that fed on radiation, and gave them physical bodies hoping to make superweapons. The C'tan developed a taste for souls and enslaved the Necrontyr, forging metallic bodies for them.  With the C'tan's power the Necrontyr, now the Necrons, were finally a threat to the Old Ones. Terrified of these massive soul sucking monstrosities the Necrontyr had unleashed, the Old Ones created their own monsters, the Orks. Around this point one of the C'tan named the Deceiver convinced the most powerful C'tan to start eating their weaker brethren to become more powerful. The resulting infighting weakened the C'tan so much that the Orks overwhelmed their empire. Those that remained went into hibernation hoping to wait out their enemies. With the C'tan and Necrons gone, the Orks turned their attention to the Old Ones and finished off most of those that remained. All of this destruction turned the Realm of Souls into a terrifying nightmare called the Warp.

At this time mammals were beginning to dominate earth.

The creation of the Warp wasn't great, but things weren't too bad until Slaanesh was created. With all of the most powerful races out of the picture, the Eldar began to dominate the galaxy. They had a long golden age, but unfortunately life started to get boring. They slowly became more hedonistic, indulging in some really fucked up shit. Eventually their obsession with sensual pleasures created a new Chaos god, Slaanesh. Slaanesh's birth completely destroyed the Eldar Empire, the center of which became overrun with warp energy creating the Eye of Terror. Only the Eldar living at the edge of their civilization and in the Webway were spared. This flood of chaotic energy completely threw off any semblance of balance the galaxy had left.

At this time humanity had developed its own interstellar civilization. Slaanesh's creation caused psykers to appear in massive numbers, beginning the Age of Strife. Humanity was plunged into a dark age until the Emperor appeared and went about uniting what was left of humanity.


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

[User]
Is the event horizon of a black hole actually a perfect sphere?

It just occurred to me that if the minute amounts of "gravity" from all the other mass in the universe would distort the shape of the event horizon, even if itis ever so slightly.

[Assistant] The most common presentation of a blackhole is as a vacuum solution: you have some amount of mass (which may be carrying charge and/or angular momentum) located at a single point and then *nothing else anywhere*. In the non-rotating case this predicts a spherical event horizon, but even in that case if you add in other effects (such as the contribution from matter in other regions of space), the shape of spacetime around the event horizon will be perturbed in such a way that it will not, in general, be *perfectly* spherically symmetric. However, except in rare cases such as black-hole collisions, the deviations from a perfect sphere will tend to be quite small.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does a pile of broken glass look blue?

[Assistant] Window glass is actually greenish. You don't notice when looking through a thin pane, but if you look through it edgewise or through a thick piece, you'll see it. When you look at a pile of glass, the light passes through many pieces and the color is more apparent.


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

[User]
What does the electric shock therapy do in a mental hospital?

I don't know the exact name for it, but an example of it is what happens to the old lady in Requiem for a Dream at the very end.

On that note, how does injecting painful liquids that make the patient squirm and scream help treat their mental illness?

[Assistant]
The proper name for that kind of therapy is *electroconvulsive therapy*, or *ECT*.

The way ECT is done in real life isn't exactly like in the movies. In real life, the first step is to first use medicine to make the patient fall asleep. Patients are never awake during ECT.

Then, they inject the patient with a different medicine that makes it so they can't move. It makes their muscles turn off and go limp. This is important because of the next step.

Then, they shock the patient's brain with electricity. The idea is to overpower the brain's own electrical circuitry and force it into a seizure. Usually seizures make people shake and flail wildly, which could hurt them. Because the patient's muscles are temporarily turned off, though, that part doesn't happen.

Nobody knows exactly why, but all that electricity kind of reboots the patient's brain. This can help the patient recover from bad mental illnesses that they haven't been able to treat in any other way. It causes other problems, though, like headaches, memory loss, and confusion. Sometimes patients and doctors decide it's worth it though.


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

[User] [SW/The Mandalorian] Why did Mandalorian groups such as the Tribe continue to hide after the Fall of the Empire, and is Mandalore still under Imperial Rule even with the rise of the New Republic?

[Assistant] Based on the interactions with Bo Katan and her folks it seems like Din comes from a weird cult of manalorian extremists. Them wanting to isolate their members from the rest of society is pretty textbook cult.


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

[User] ELI5: How can our ears differentiate between sounds that are really far away and sounds that are close, but quiet?

[Assistant]
Sound that is far away has a few characteristics that close sound does not:

1. the sound will have bounced off of things and will arrive at your ear through multiple avenues.  The close sound will not have done this.  We can discern this difference.

2. Certain undertones and overtones will have been lost traveling the distance - they'll be weaker, or won't survive the medium through which they travel at the same levels.

The TL;DR: on this is essentially that they sound different!


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

[User]
Are there physiological consequences to cannibalism?

I have no interest in eating a human, but I'm curious about what it does to the cannibal's body. Does he have negative physiological outcomes that would not come from eating, say, chicken?

[Assistant]
Nope.  Meat is meat (roughly speaking).  It'd be the same as eating any other apex omnivore, like bears.  People used to eat bear all the time.

You should balance your diet, of course, by also eating everything from a person's garden after you slaughter them.


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

[User]
[Star Trek Voyager] Why doesn't the crew appreciate Neelix more?

Yeah, he's a little annoying. However single handedly cooking for 120+ people 3 meals a day from ingredients they scavenge off of random planets (which he usually has to do since he's most familiar with edible plants in that quadrant) is no small feat.

[Assistant]
I think the crew in general are weary of their situation so they lose their patience when they have to eat things they don't think are appetizing on top of all their other inconveniences. Neelix may be a little stubborn in accepting feedback on his recipes.

He also effectively hitched a ride onto Voyager out of squalor. So he can come off as a bit of a wide-eyed opportunist. He is helping, but Voyager represents an opportunity for him so he's not totally selfless.

You're right though as an effective emissary of another race who has made a broad commitment to help Voyager some crew members could be more understanding.

But then also remember some of the crew were Marquis, or in Tom's case he is somewhat of an atypical Starfleet member.


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

[User] When does interbreeding fail? Can a human's sperm enter and fertilize a goat's egg? Will something start to grow, and die soon after, or will it not even get that far?

[Assistant]
Interbreeding fails when organisms are sufficiently different, the more closely related they are, the better chance they have. Typically the organisms have to be within 2 chromosomes of each other in terms of total chromosome count. Humans have 46 chromosomes, goats have 60. Also, if the animals are of different genera it is quite unlikely that they will interbreed successfully. Goats are most closely related to sheep, and sheep only have ~~56~~54 chromosomes, and are a different genus. Hybrids of these are stillborn usually.

The degree to which a potential offspring can grow in utero is quite different depending on how related the animals are. Some will be stillborn, others won't be able to conceive at all (such as humans and goats). There is no real way to broadly generalize the level of potential development.

Edit: lost a word.


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

[User] Why do banks lend at interest rates lower than inflation? Don't they lose money that way?

[Assistant]
If a bank sits on cash for a year and inflation is 5%, they lose 5% in real terms. But if they lend the money out at 2%, they lose 3% in real terms.

It's that simple.

If they insisted on flooring interest rates at inflation, they may be left with excess cash as few are willing to pay that much.

Rates are as low as they need to be to utilize their cash to the fullest extent they can, regardless of inflation rates.

One more thing to consider is that banks usually issue loans of 10 years or more, so while momentary inflation matters some, long term inflation expectations matter more for total loan profitablity.


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

[User] [Star Wars] If Boba Fett had killed Luke on Bespin before Luke had his fight with Vader, would anything have happened to Boba?

[Assistant] He'd probably be blacklisted from imperial contracts if he was lucky. More likely, Vader would kill him on the spot. Yes, he was a useful tool, but not more useful than a powerful apprentice who is also your son.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Can you make a lightsaber take on any shape?

So a lightsaber is contained with a magnetic loop right? My question is, could you form that loop into any shape? Could you, for example, make a lightsaber in the shape of a shield? What about a lightsaber pizza cutter? I know you wouldn't actually want to because they would be impractical (you can just use a shield emitter or a pizza cutter) but is it technically possible?

I know in Legends there were lightsaber whips but I'm talking about something like a lightsaber pitchfork with only one single emitter.

[Assistant] I think you'd be better off getting those electrified "billy-club" batons the First Order had for their specially trained infantry. I'd imagine that there are far more possibilities energizing tesla-coil style weapons as opposed to bending lightsaber plasma.


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

[User] ELI5:Why do butterflies and moths have such large wings relative to their body size compared to other insects?

[Assistant] Big wings means slower flapping to achieve flight - more surface area to push against the air. This decreases maneuverability but gives them more ability to glide/soar (fly without flapping). This makes sense for some butterflies as they're migratory. Also some large sea birds use this same strategy to soar for long distances.


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

[User]
Why do physical relationships tend to have small integer exponents?

Are these values just approximations, where a given phenomenon could be better modeled by a more complex relationship?  For example, could e=mc^2 actually be modeled more accurately e=m^1.02 *c^1.998, or some other such non-integer values?

[Assistant]
One strong constraint is that the units have to work out. Consider E = m^1.02 c^1.998 . E has units of kg m^2 / s^2 , while m^1.02 c^1.998 has units of kg^1.02 m^1.998 / s^1.998. Since the units don't match up, it is meaningless to equate these quantities and this equation could never be a physical law. However, this doesn't completely rule out weird exponents: you could imagine equations like E = (1/2) m v^3.168 / c^1.618, which does have the right units.

Some small integer exponents are the way they are because we live in an integer number of spatial dimensions. For example, in d spatial dimensions, gravitational and electric forces obey 1/r^(d-1) laws. For d=3, this gives the familiar 1/r^2 laws.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can a camera only focus on one distance at a time, and what occurs inside to change that focal distance? Does the same principle apply to our eyes?

[Assistant] When an image is formed by a lens, it's only sharp in a narrow range.  That range defines the focal point of the optical system.  Hold your finger an arm's length in front of your face and shift you focus from your finger to a distant object.  When you focus on one, the other becomes out of focus.


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

[User] [Animorphs] How much of a threat or nuisance were the Animorphs to the Yeerk invasion of Earth?

[Assistant]
Minimal threat, *massive* nuisance.

There was no chance the Animorphs alone could prevent the invasion.

But they prove time and again they could raise it's cost. Destroying the Kandrona, for example, was a massive blow. And raising the cost, causing delays... that mattered. It cost them...

It cost them a lot.

But it *mattered*. They saved the planet, prevented it from dying without a fight even occurring, and you could even argue that they saved the Andalites, too, because if the Yeerks had gained full control of Earth and all it's hosts, there may have been nothing the Andalites could do to stop them.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we zone out?

[Assistant] Our brain activates a particular set of brain regions when we are paying attention to something, or doing a complex task that uses our attention and memory stores. It activates a totally different set of brain regions (the default mode network) when we let our mind wander or zone out. Some researchers think this is because it gives our brain time to process things weve learned, store memories, think about ourselves and our emotions, and so on. The same thing is thought with dreaming, that it gives our brain time to process and store memories.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are vision problems so common in humans?

There are a ton of people who have to wear glasses or contacts in order to see, have humans as a species always had so much of a problem with vision? Are our eyes worse now than our ancestors were?

[Assistant] humans need glasses to see fine detail, like letters.  in a hunter gatherer sense, 99% of peoples vision is probably sufficient.  i suspect there are plenty of animals that would want glasses if they were intelligent enough to know they were missing out on something.  but since most land animals have a highly developed sense of smell compared to humans, they probably dont care.


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

[User]
[The Dark Knight] Why does Two-Face seek revenge on the GCPD rather than Joker?

It was Joker who killed Rachel and disfigured Harvey in the first place, yet Harvey took his anger out on the city and police force he once served with his life. What gives? Why not actually go after the man responsible for killing the love of your life?

[Assistant]
Not only did Joker convince him that the GCPD was at fault, but Dent repeatedly voiced concerns about crooked cops in Gordon's unit and Gordon ignored him every time. And then the exact cops Dent was worried about were the ones who kidnapped him and Rachel.

So on top of Joker's manipulation, he had legitimate reasons to be pissed at Gordon and the rest of the GCPD.


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

[User] ELI5: What are compressed and uncompressed files, how does it all work and why compressed files take less storage?

[Assistant]
File compression saves hard drive space by removing redundant data.

For example take a 500 page book and scan through it to find the 3 most commonly used words.

Then replace those words with place holders so 'the' becomes $, etc

Put an index at the front of the book that translates those symbols to words.

Now the book contains exactly the same information as before, but now it's a couple dozen pages shorter. This is the basics of how file compression works. You find duplicate data in a file and replace it with pointers.

The upside is reduced space usage, the downside is your processor has to work harder to *inflate* the file when it's needed.


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

[User]
If we stop traveling through space, would the flow of time be infinite?

I have seen that when you travel through space at the speed of light (assuming you were massless of course), the flow of time for you is paused. So if we take the reverse of the process and somehow stop moving through space completely, would you experience time flowing super fast / infinitely?

Sorry if my understanding of the principle is subpar.

[Assistant]
Nope. It doesn't work both ways. Think of it like this: roughly speaking, your total speed through spacetime is the speed of light. So when you move through space at the speed of light, time stops moving for you (though not according to an outside observer). And when you're at rest in space, you move through time at the speed of light.

What does that mean, "you move through time at the speed of light?" First of all, you can't measure passage of time in terms of a speed, which is distance per time. It has to be time per time (that is, how many seconds pass for you for every second passing for some other observer?). So how do we turn the speed of light, a distance per time, into a time per time? Well, we use the speed of light. It's the universal conversion factor between space and time units. So really this means that if you're at rest, time passes for you at the pedestrian rate of one second per second.

Second, this is a relative statement. You always perceive your motion through time as being one second per second. What we're asking is how time moves for you relative to some other observer. When we say you're at rest, we mean you're at rest relative to such an observer. And so all this "traveling through time at the speed of light" really means is that your clock ticks at the same rate as the clock of someone not moving with respect to you.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Does the existence of the Ghost Rider or Spirit of Vengeance alter world religion?

Ive seen posts talk about how Thor and Loki would make some re-examine their religious choices, but would Ghost Rider be able to confirm or deny is certain things are inherently sinful or wrong? Could Ghost Rider call out religious organizations as being wrong on occasion? Are there other characters that might be capable of pointing out things like that objectively or with proof?

[Assistant]
If anything, religion is messier in the Marvel Universe, not cleaner. Pretty much all religions can point to supernatural evidence in support of their views. The Norse, Greek, Egyptian and Hindu pantheons all coexist with angels and demons of the Abrahamic tradition. And thats not even including Celestials or abstract entities like Eternity.

The meaning of a one true God would likely have to change. While our religions tend to deny the existence of other gods, in the Marvel Universe a worshipper would say their god is superior to all other gods.


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

[User]
CMV: Third parties in The United States should not waste their time putting up candidates for the presidency. Rather, they should focus all their energy on local and state elections.

With the United States using first past the post and the electoral college, it is impossible for a third party candidate to get elected president. Under this system, people who vote third party are often voting against their own interests, as they are harming big party candidate they agree with more, and helping the big party candidate they agree with less. Third parties should devot all their money and energy to getting people elected in state and local elections, where they'll actually have a chance of winning, and slowly gaining a degree of power.

[Assistant] If a third party can attract a really good candidate and put that candidate out there then it's a LOT of press coverage that would advance their cause and give them some name recognition. Even in local and state elections getting past the two-party system is difficult. That's where a charismatic figurehead can play an important role.


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

[User]
The voyager1 mission has been traveling for almost 40 years. With current technology could a "voyager 3" be launched in the same path and catch up to it and exceed its distance and have better tech?  Also would it be worth doing for what we would get out of the mission?

Hi :)

[Assistant]
In space, as on an automotive raceway, the important insight is: speed costs money.  How fast are you willing to pay for?  Overtaking Voyager is "just" a matter of money, even with ordinary chemical rockets.

That said, nuclear-powered electrical ion rockets, developed in the last 15 years or so, could indeed allow a probe to overtake Voyager without going to heroic efforts (at least by the inflated standards of space exploration).  Political problems with putting nuclear materials in space make that very unlikely.

If controlled nuclear fusion ever becomes practical, it will open up the solar system in the way that jet engines did the planet Earth.  It is reasonably likely that in a couple of hundred years Voyager 1 will be Virginia, hanging in the Smithsonian air and space annex, rather than on its way through interstellar space.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why did Anakin go to 'Force Heaven' when he died but Jacen went to 'Force Hell'?

I'm still not entirely sure what afterlife in the force is and this was the closest way I could explain it.

[Assistant]
Did Jacen really go to "Force Hell", though? He self-described the situation as "damnation", but also achieved a sort of peace at the moment of his death - reestablishing his bond with Jaina, and not carrying his dark-side rage into the afterlife.

Arguably, it's possible that Jacen called it "damnation" because he was left objectively aware of all the evil he did in his life. Of course, Anakin Skywalker may have experienced the same - we don't really know.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] What's the level of xenophobia in the Federation and Starfleet?

Is it mostly directed toward enemy species like Klingons and Cardassians and Romulans or is there a consider fear or hatred of non-threats like say the Ferengi or even members of the Federation?

[Assistant]
Overall, it's extremely low, but not nonexistent. The Federation was literally founded on a basis of rejecting xenophobia and embracing the differences between individuals in order to make a stronger whole. In its early days, there were certainly problems as the various species worked with each other in ways they never had before. Part of the reason Earth was chosen as the capitol world was because it was neutral ground, and would solve many of the old animosities and xenophobic issues of some other founding members. For instance, the Andorians would have never joined the Federation if the Vulcans hosted the seat of power. But the longer it existed as a single entity, the less those issues mattered until they mostly disappeared.

Starfleet is slightly different. A lot of ships are crewed largely by a single species, probably for ease of environmental control and communications in light of a catastrophic technological failure. (if the universal translator fails, everyone can speak the same language and understand each other's social cues in order to solve the problem without incident) So a lot of cultural prejudices can spread through a ship through a handful of individuals. Consider Captain Solok's all-Vulcan crew supporting his odd racist vendetta against humans.

On the other hand, most everyone in Starfleet has been raised in the Federation's overall culture of open acceptance. So it's still overall quite low, and is mostly down to an individual level. Miles O'brien had problems with Cardassians, but it was because of his trauma surrounding a recent war, not an ingrained xenophobia against individual Cardassians.

On the other hand, there are a few notable examples of larger animosity. Humans still hold the Romulans in low regard centuries after the Earth/Romulan war. (and the later centuries of backstabbing/treaty dodging) And said tension was one of the reasons the Federation was so lax in its response to the supernova that destroyed Romulus and crippled the Empire.


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

[User] ELI5: Are UFC fighters encouraged to drags fight out in a title match or on PPV? Do the fighters or the league lose money when the "12 second" fight happens in a highly anticipated match up or event?

[Assistant]
No and No...  this is the reason they use a Pay per View funding format over a commercialized feed... They have no control over the timeline of bouts, be they 14 seconds or 25 minutes.

As UFC is actual, unscripted fighting, and the prize money for the winners is significantly larger than for the loser (not even counting sponsor opportunities/support), there is no way any fighter wouldn't be going for the fastest win they can accomplish vs. the opponent they face.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What if Jango Fett had survived the battle on Genosis?

Does he keep working with the Separatists? What happens to Boba?

[Assistant] If jango had survived geonosis he would be marked for death. He knew enough about palpatine to point any potential captors in the right direction and directly tied the clone wars to being a fabricated ruse by the sith. Dooku and palpatine only needed his DNA and training to start the clones and his bread crumb trail to lure a jedi to kamino. After that he was a liability rather than a asset. But given his pragmatic approach to life he probably would have fled the separatist cause not long after geonosis. He would then either head to nar shadda to find work with the hutts or possibly even work out an amnesty deal with another republic adjacent faction. And if the rumors of his association with the death watch are true maybe head to concordia to join them.


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

[User]
ELI5: How severe are "Lashes" as a punishment, like the ones given out in Saudi Arabia?

There was the recent story of the man sentenced to 2,000 lashes. How severe are these lashes; what are the typical effects they have on the criminal?

[Assistant]
A friend of mine was caught drunk driving in Jeddah.  He was removed from the public.  They didn't even tell his work he had been arrested.

4 months later he comes back into work and told his story.

He was lashed every day.  If i remember right he got between 60~90 lashes a day.  The guy whipping him held a Koran under his arm and so you can't really get a good swing or put your back into it.

He was shitting himself on day 1 when he was first sent for lashes.  When the first one hit he said he tried very hard not to laugh.

On the other hand Saudi prison sounds like a rape hole.  He slept in the toilet most days (some prison cells had an on suite, yeah go figure) after 3 guys tried to gang fuck him.  The guy was 5'5" and built like a bulldog.  They didn't make that mistake again.  At least that's what he said.


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

[User]
[Marvel] What Super - HEROES do not like Spiderman?

Spiderman seems to be universally liked by people. But there has to be people who arent villains but still dont like him.

Is there anyone like that?

[Assistant] In his early days, Spider-Man inadvertently stepped on a number of toes because A) people thought he was a showboater/cash-grabber and B) Jameson was a full time negative publicist. The public met "Aloof Celebrity Wrestler Spider-Man" well before they met "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man", and then he did shit like break into the Baxter Building to ask what the salary is for being one of the Fantastic Four (>!fuck-all, because it's just Reed paying all the bills and everyone doing it for the pleasure of doing it!<), and not knowing he was just a kid trying to help out his widowed aunt people thought he was kind of a dick. Then, any time he did something without another hero present, JJ would make it look like he was being a nefarious shit. Over time he's won many over, since it's hard to work with the dude and not pick up on his sincerity, but in the beginning he was no one's favorite.


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

[User]
How does evolutionary science explain how fresh water fish ended up in inland lakes?

EDIT: Thanks for all the responses. I'm not arguing against evolution (I believe in it), I'm wondering because I live in a glacial lakes area (with many lakes) and it kind of makes me wonder, where did all these sunfish, walleye, northern pike, etc come from? Are they all descendants (that have evolved) from ocean species, or did they end up in fresh water lakes some other way?

[Assistant]
There are a large variety of fish that can live in both freshwater and saltwater.  Some of these fish include salmon, bull sharks, and striped bass.  All three species mostly come into freshwater to spawn.  (There are other fish that leave freshwater to spawn in the ocean)

There are incidences where man-made dams prevented fish from returning to the ocean.  They are now 100% freshwater fish.  As Pangea became the continents, it trapped some species and that could explain how some fish went from saltwater fish to freshwater fish.

Another explanations would be flooding.  An area becoming flooded and previously barren lakes trapping fish when the flood waters dissipate.


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

[User]
[Star Wars]How much power did Darth Vader have over Imperial politics?

Provided he has an intrest in it. For example he has always hated slavery. If he put his mind to it, could he stop the Empire from using slave labour or not?

[Assistant] Vader wielded a lot of power over the Empire, but in the end the Emperor had final say over his decisions. He was, after all, the second most powerful person in charge.Even he answered to someone. As for stopping something like slavery, only if Sidious had some incentive to let him do so. He is a master manipulator above all and can probably convince Vader to abide by his rules and wishes, which is how he kept him in check all this time.


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

[User]
[Halo] Is immortality viable?

Could the average public potentially live thousands of years provided they don't get killed or sick? Or is human lifespan the same as it is today, for some reason?

[Assistant]
Are you asking if humans in 2552 are immortal? No, though the lifespan is likely a fair bit longer.

As for Prehistoric humanity. They weren't immortal either, though they did have a form of extreme longevity.


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

[User] [Starcraft hots] Izsha and Abathur, are they part of the leviathan, or are they just creatures crawling around in its flesh?

[Assistant]
If Abathur in Heroes of the Storm is any indication, he's not attached, he just hangs around inside of the Leviathan.

I'd assume that Izsha is the same way; she could totally leave the Leviathan if she wanted, but she attached herself to it for.... reasons.


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

[User]
What is the science behind isotretinoin commonly know as Accutane?

Just curious on how it gets rid of nodular acne. Bonus Points if you explain why the common side effects happen.

[Assistant]
Accutane belongs to a type of medicine known as retinoids. Accutane alters DNA transcription. This decreases the output and alters the size of the sebaceous glands. It also make cells near the sebaceous glands less sticky so they don't form black heads or whiteheads. And finally it reduces the number of bacteria on your skin.

Most of the side effects are cause by how isotretinoin, the active ingredient affects the body.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does mint make water so much colder?

Every time I chew mint gum or have a mint, water becomes almost painfully cold to my mouth. Why is this?

EDIT: Yes, I understand this has been asked before. I apologize.

[Assistant] You know when you eat a hot wing and it feels like burning?  Cold water helps a bit and hot food intensifies it.  It's a chemical and it works the opposite with mint.  Mint has menthol in it.  Menthol makes your brain think that the area is cold when it really isn't in the same way that capsaicin makes the brain think the area is burning.  So, when you drink water, the water pulls some real  heat from your mouth and the brain adds the real cooling effect of the water to the perceived cooling effect of the menthol and your brain gets a super cool sensation.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do Tetanus shots hurt so much more than other shots?

I dont think its just me but when I was a kid I felt like Tetanus shots were always the worst ones. Theyd hurt more the day of and for a few days after. Im due up again so I was thinking about that.

[Assistant] Tetanus is a disease that causes muscles to contract, and the vaccine contains just enough of the active substance to induce a slight but persistent (and luckily temporary) contraction at the site of injection. That's why the nurse or whomever is administering the vaccine asks which arm you want for the shot; it's generally easier to tolerate in the non-dominant arm.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can't you parallel park going forward?

Why can't you do the same steps, but just forward?

[Assistant]
I think it's because front wheels turn but rear wheels don't.

When you're parallel parking, you use your front wheels to point the back of your car at the curb, and your rear wheels end up parallel to it.

If you're driving in forward, the rear of your car is still pointed to the street, and it takes a lot more maneuvering to turn them toward the curb. By comparison, if you're pulling up next to a curb with no cars around you, you turn your front wheels to the curb, then turn them parallel to the curb, and your rear wheels follow and align. But you don't have nearly enough space to do that when parallel parking.


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

[User]
CMV: There is no good enough reason to let parents refuse medical treatment for their children.

Get a second opinion, fine, but if an Md tells you your kid needs something and theres no verified follow up made within a reasonable amount of time at that point its medical neglect and authorities should be required to step in.

My own parents refused to treat my adhd because of misinformation. Weve got antivaxers and faith healers coming out the woodworks. I understand parents think they know whats best but clearly thats not always true.

People feeling entitled to have this right over their offspring as if theyre property  is not healthy.

Gubment cant tell me how to raise my churn.

You bet your ass it can and it should!

Edit: so I still think fundamentally that just because a parent says I believe that should be irrelevant to any medical care for their child. Freedom of speech/religion/belief be dammed I dont give a fuck. However I have been shown that theres a lot of nuance which is what I was hoping to learn about in the first place.

The lack of universal healthcare is a massive barrier, and sometimes there are interesting cases that present complicated ethical issues.

I dont think the antivax crowd deserves the consideration or to be equivocated with Terri Schavo case, we seem to be worried about overstepping parental rights in this arena which is dumb imo

we also and there have CPS helping as someone said. This service is however underfunded and drowning.

[Assistant]
Some points for your consideration

1: At one point in time gay-conversion therapy was considered real science.

2: In America activities like circumcision are considered the norm and were (for a while) recommended by doctors for genital health of boys.

3: Forced medical procedures HAVE been used by the US government to sterilize minorities and native Americans.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do so many people have seafood/shellfish allergies, yet red meat/ poultry allergies are so unheard of?

[Assistant]
Most seafood allergies are a reaction to proteins in the fish or other seafood. We have much more in common with poultry and beef than we do with fish. We share a lot of the same proteins so an allergic reaction to one of those would have killed you because you're made of it. So we are more likely to have a reaction to fish than other meat because we have less in common with it so there are more things you could potentially react to.

Another factor is cooking. Heating breaks down protein that in its uncooked form could trigger a reaction. You wouldn't consider eating a raw burger or chicken breast but sushi is commonplace. This is also why you hear more red meat allergies than poultry. No one wants undercooked chicken but a rare steak is usually preferred.


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

[User] [All comics] Do superheroes still have adrenaline rush?

[Assistant] The true superpower is that, after facing hundreds or thousands of death-defying experiences, most heroes don't suffer from reduced cortisol levels like combat veterans and career police officers and firefighters.  They also seem to be immune to the problems of PTSD, depression, weight gain, substance abuse, and heart disease.


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

[User]
I was rejected by four universities in London in the last year - What to do?

Greetings, people of Reddit,
It is out of sadness and sorrow that I write to you today, and also with some kind of feeble desperation. I am a native Italian speaker with a 1st Honours degree in Communication, awarded in my town of birth (Palermo). My dream is to become a professional writer, and my plans involved doing a creative writing / screenwriting MA to at least develop my skills in the craft. However, I was first rejected by two private film schools last year for screenwriting, and by Goldsmiths and Birkbeck this year for Creative Writing. I found some more courses I could apply to, but its proving quite hard to believe in myself after what happened with the last two - and I definitely dont want to lose another year.

I now have been living in London for more than six months, I have some years of writing experience and I translated most of my written works into English so far, plus having worked on some projects entirely in English. I was the first in my class for my English skills, and everyone at my current job praises me for my communication and language skills. What might I be doing wrong?

Thanks, guys. Every comment will be hugely appreciated.

[Assistant]
Beyond your degree, what experience do you have that is relevant to screenwriting or creative writing?

A good friend of mine went to the London Film School, and got in with a 2.1, but he was an outstanding candidate due to having acted in half a dozen, directed several and written and directed his own play during his undergraduate career, including taking a show on tour in China and taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe every year.

Like the STEM subjects looking for lab experience, you need to build more experience than just your degree, which in your case isn't in itself particularly creatively focused.

Also, you don't really need an MA to become a professional writer. Join a writing group, practice writing creatively, do NaNoWriMo, enter some creative writing competitions for feedback - it's all perfectly possible without an expensive postgraduate degree.

Edit: ironically, spelling.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does "I'm on my way home" sound fine, but "I'm on my way work" sound weird?

and vice versa - "I'm on my way to work" sounds fine, but "I'm on my way to home" sounds weird.

[Assistant]
Because the adverb home (go home, be home) is derived from a germanic word in the accusative case (a grammatical thing that says the word is your goal or intended destination). The noun work meaning the location at which one works is simply a zero derivation from the verb work (like school the place was taken from school the action).

Like you're five: The word home originally meant "to home" or "at home" in old German, and we didn't translate it very well. The word work is just a short way of saying "the place where I/you work."


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

[User] ELI5: How does one arm of a snowflake know what to look like to match the others?

[Assistant] It doesnt, but the way the crystals grow is affected by a bunch of little factors that are shared more or less across the flake so they grow the same way. This isnt always the case, so many flakes grow asymmetrically or are deformed before they get to us.


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

[User]
CMV: lt is wrong that Dancing with the Stars actively avoids conversations about weight but calls extreme attention to other physical differences.

I'm overweight. That is my thing to deal with on my own. However, I see "stars" on Dancing with the Stars that have gained weight over the years and it goes unmentioned. However, in previous seasons physical and mental disabilities are constantly mentioned. Fine, I suppose. The most current season has a  triple crown jockey as a dancer. EVERYTIME he is on screen they mention his height! How is that fair? They even "jokingly" stood him on a glitter step stool to reach the height of host and dancer...then poked fun at it.

If we put one of those overweight celebrities on a glitter SCALE, I'm sure all hades would break loose. Why is this acceptable?

[Assistant] You're talking about "stars" that are on the show due to their celebrity, not their size - if they criticize those celebrities' weight, it's going to be a lot harder to get celebrities to continue to come on the show.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did chocolate, vanilla and strawberry become the "standard" icecream flavors?

By standard, I don't mean best flavors, but the most widely available flavors. Is there a historical reason?

[Assistant]
the flavors are very robust and easy to extract.

the easy comparisons are pear and banana. pear juice (also apple) is used as filler in many drinks specifically because other tastes over power it.

bananas on the other hand, have a very strong flavor but separating the the essence from the pulp is difficult. this is why natural banana icecream tends to have the consistency of concrete.

vanilla flavor comes from simply soaking the bean in alcohol. chocolate is a ground up bean. strawberries are obviously a watery fruit. you'll notice the pattern generally holds for other candies as well.

although today we have the technology to do basically whatever we want, icecream is also a milk product and dependent on aeration. many high-acidity fruits (oranges) would risk curdling the milk. mint is notable for destroying the property of dairy that allows it to form air bubbles.

these various factors made a lot of types of icecream unviable for long enough that the 3 primary flavors have simply become too well established.


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

[User] ELI5: What causes the audible electric 'buzzing' sound from high voltage power lines?

[Assistant]
It's oxygen molecules being charged with electricity. When the charged particles give back that energy they emit light and with a high enough charge the energy transformation of these particles can also be heard as a buzzing sound.

The extreme example would be lightning - particles charged up to a million volt that will make a big boom when discharging, that is the thunder you will hear accompanying the lightning bolt.


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

[User] ELI5: Pointers in programming.

[Assistant]
imagine you have a big store, like an amazon deposit. every shelf and box have a set of coordinates assigned (otherwise good luck finding the correct item there...)

a box is the data.

a set of coordinates (for example written on a piece of paper) is a pointer to the data.

So a supervisor could do 2 things:

1) give you a box and tell you "open this box and put a book inside it" (accessing a variable directly)

2) give you a piece of paper and tell you "open the box at these coordinates and put a book inside it" (via a pointer)


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

[User]
ELI5: How do electrons stay suspended in orbit?

Okay so I understand that electrons are orbiting the nucleus of an atom, but what keeps them from crashing into the protons in the middle like some wayward meteor striking earth? And why?
Also I searched for my question in ELI5 but didn't find an answer to what I was asking specifically. If it exists and I am simply a failure of a researcher, can I get a link to the post? Thank you so much!

[Assistant] They don't orbit. The notion that they do is a simplification used in very basic chemistry to make it a bit more manageable intuitively. The real description - and all serious chemistry - requires quantum mechanics to understand.


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

[User]
If we built a more powerful telescope, could we eventually see the Big Bang?

I know the Hubble can see into deep space, where we can already see these blurred formations at it's farthest reach. Would it be possible, with a powerful enough telescope, to see far enough back in time and space and prove the big bang?

[Assistant]
The CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background) is the earliest light we can detect.  The CMB was about 370,000 years after the Big Bang.

Prior to the CMB the temperatures and density of the universe was too great to allow photons to persist.  Once the universe cooled and inflated enough, photons could persist and that is what we see in the CMB (now red-shifted into the microwave spectrum).

It might be possible to probe prior to the CMB using non-photon based techniques.


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

[User]
Why do all stars almost look the same size when they are so far away and apart?

Follow up:
Should not the suns ratio to the stars be diffrent?

[Assistant]
The vast majority of stars are either so far away or so small (relative to their distance) that their light simply can't be resolved as more than a single point of light. Only stars which are large enough or close enough can be resolved to more than a single point, and even these stars have apparent diameters on the order of <60 milliarcseconds
(1 milliarcsecond = 1/3,600,000th of a degree; 1 arcsecond is 1/60th of an arcminute which is 1/60th of a degree).

As an example, Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, has 1/7th the radius of the sun, but is just over 4 light years away, which is pretty close in astronomical contexts. It has been resolved with a diameter of about 1 mas, whereas a star like Betelgeuse which has a radius 630 times that of the Sun but is around 650 light years away has only been resolved to a angular diameter of about 50 mas.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are there feminine/masculine words in many European languages?

[Assistant] The languages you are talking about are the Indo-European languages. Almost all languages in Europe are part of this language family. The original language that all of these descended from (Proto-Indo-European) had gendered words like that, so almost all of the languages that came from it also have it. Originally, there were three genders: feminine, masculine, and neuter. Some languages, like Russian and German, still have this. Some other languages, like Swedish, merged the feminine and masculine words to make a 'common' gender along with neuter. The Romance languages have gotten rid of the neuter gender and have the feminine/masculine words you were talking about. Funnily enough, English also used to have feminine, masculine, and neuter words, but over time people just kind of got rid of them, and now english is almost completely genderless.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that biking requires a lot less effort than walking, yet when the slope gets steeper, it's easier to get off the bike and push it?

[Assistant] Because you cant ride a bike as slowly as you can walk. There will be a maximum speed you can maintain up a hill depending on your fitness, you and your bikes combined weights and the steepness of the hill. If that speed is below a certain level (maybe 2mph) then you wont be able to balance your bike and will find cycling very hard. Obviously you dont have a minimum speed when walking so you can reduce your speed as much as you like.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is 2.71828183 so important it's known as e and not just 2.71828183?

Like, why 2.71828183 as opposed to 4.5549867549867837432?

[Assistant]
It so happens that **e** is very important in trigonometry, probability, statistics, and differential calculus.  It's also not 2.71828183 -- it's actually an irrational and transcendental number, like pi.

Why is **e** so important?  That's hard to explain in LI5 terms.  But it shows up everywhere, kind of like pi.

One of the more famous equations in mathematics is this one:

**e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0**

This relates the 5 most important constants (e, i, pi, 1, and 0) in a single equation.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that there are cases of people falling from INCREDIBLE heights and living, yet people getting hit by cars going ~30mph die?

[Assistant]
The force and location of the impact can be wildly variable in these cases. Generally speaking, if someone survives a fall from incredible heights, it is because they landed in something fantastically soft and/or otherwise had their fall broken before impact.

Most people who fall from incredible heights die.


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

[User]
Bayesian Texts - Rethinking (McElreath) vs Data Analysis (Gelman)

 A very basic question. Can any Bayesian Statisticians summarize the difference between McElreath's Statistical Rethinking and Gelman's Bayesian Data Analysis?

[Assistant]
They are nothing like each other.

Rethinking is a great introduction to practical Bayesian data analysis and thinking about statistical ideas, with heaps of worked examples and a sense of humour.

BDA is a dry math-intensive reference that goes deep into the details. Very thorough and rigorous, but IMO only something to consider if youre maths inclined and really want to get deep into Bayesian stats.

Get both!


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

[User]
[Indiana Jones] Legal/Political Ramifications of the events of 'The Last Crusade'

The Last Crusade takes place in 1939, and it seems obvious that it's pre-Poland Invasion.

However, given that the political situation between Nazi Germany and the rest of Europe, would travel to/from Germany have been as easy for Indy who was presumably carrying an American passport?

The US embassy in Germany had been closed since 1938, but when Indy, his dad and Marcus get back to the States, surely their revelations would be startling to the American leadership who would be debriefing them, right?

Speaking of, how did they get back to the US? The French ceded the port of Iskenderun (presumably near the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, given it was the city where Marcus was captured) to the Republic of Hatay in 1939, so did they just get aboard a French merchantman?

[Assistant]
Indy carries several different passports for traveling. Treasure hunting is a dangerous game, and Indy is not always doing it legally, so he often travels incognito to avoid undue attention. Plus there is the difficulty of trying to get treasure through customs, so he may avoid traditional commercial travel when it's convienent to do so.

As for "spying" on Germany we find out in The Crystal Skull that Indy joined the military during WW2, so it's likely he was recruited specifically because of his insider knowledge of the Nazi military and infrastructure.


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

[User]
CMV:Fearing death doesn't make any sense.

First of all, the "you" you identify with is probably the summation of biological activity in a complex and ordered fashion in such a way that produces consciousness.

Secondly, when speaking of self-centered or "selfish" fears, you can only rationally fear that which you may possibly experience. Further, It is only rational to fear possible experiences as they would be experienced by you *at the time they can or will occur*.

Thirdly, experience terminates before or when the biological integrity of your being terminates.  This is death.

Conclusion:  Since death requires an end to experience, you cannot rationally fear experiencing the absense of experience.  Fear of an end to experience is therefore irrational.

[Assistant]
I don't think death as you've defined it is the part that scares most people. It's fear of some combination of:

* uncertainty
* helplessness
* loss

I would say that 'fear of lack of experience' is a pretty convoluted fear to have, but fear of an uncertain future, an uncertain time until you die, or an uncertain ability to accomplish important things BEFORE you die is pretty reasonable. Fear of being helpless against aging or leaving your loved ones alone is also reasonable. Fear of losing things, people, and experiences that are important to you are also reasonable.

I would guess that most people who fear death fear the consequences it has for their life, not some ambiguous non-experience.


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

[User] [MARVEL 616] If I were Odin and playing a game of eugenics; what Race could I realistically I marry Thor to, to ensure his successor is even more powerful or has a wider skill set?

[Assistant] A mutant human. Humans are the most capable species and live in the center of the universe. A guy that can stretch and a woman that can make herself invisible created a god-like being equal to Galactus in strength. A guy that can read minds had a kid so powerful they literally had to prevent him from being born to stop him, and that was only because he was too delirious to stop them.


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

[User]
[Spider-Man] Why does Spidey pull his punches against Rhino?

So we know that Spidey pulls his punches because he could probably kill your general run of the mill criminal with a single punch, but when it comes to fighting villains who can take more punishment like Rhino or Tombstone or Kingpin why does he still pull his punches where it takes him so many hits to actually bring the guy down? The guy can stop a train, hold up buildings, etc. he must be able to use a little more of his strength against Rhino and be more efficient about it, right?

[Assistant]
Well whose to say he **isnt** pulling his punches against rhino? Its much harder to do something when youre actively trying to figure out the upper limit at the same time. Its possible with every punch hes judging whether he can go harder without hurting Rhino.

Also its quite possible Peter just doesnt like violence. He might accidentally let go. Or he just doesnt enjoy beating up people.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] What happens to muggles bitten by werewolves?

[Assistant] While Gilderoy Lockhart himself has been discredited, the experiences he plagiarized appear to be accurate-- his victims have all been positively identified in the last 21 years. According to *Wanderings with Werewolves*, Muggles bitten by werewolves generally lack the ability to reverse the transformation-- a notable case occurred in suburban Toronto in 2000 where a pair of Muggle sisters, Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald, were attacked by a werewolf. The younger sister managed to delay her own transformation using Aconite, the active ingredient found in the Wolfsbane Potion. Unfortunately, she too ultimately succumbed to her lycanthropy and had to be put down by officers of the Department of Magic and Wizardry, Canada.


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

[User]
If time slows down proportionally, the closer to the speed of light you travel, does that mean that time has no existence to a light wave in a perfect vacuum?

I've been getting WAAAAAAY into the cool parts of science lately. Rewatched every through the wormhole episode, currently halfway through "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku, watched tons of episodes of Nova, and one question I haven't seen answered(yet), is whether time exists at all for a light wave travelling in a perfect vacuum?

[Assistant]
Do you understand mathematical limits?

If you take the function, then yes the limit approaches "zero" or "no time".

**HOWEVER**, nothing moving at c can have a valid reference frame, because the equations are undefined at c.

So the answer is "light waves in a vacuum cannot have a reference frame", and also "as you get closer and closer to c, time slows down more and more to a complete standstill, but never gets there"


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

[User]
Why are gold and copper the only metals that, in their elemental form, have a different color from the rest of the silvery grey metals?

Gold has a yellow color and copper is reddish-orange, but why are they the only metals that aren't silver or grey?

[Assistant]
Usually, a metal has lots of freely moving electrons. If you try to pass an electromagnetic wave through it, the electrons will follow the electric field, unless the frequency is so high that the electrons can't respond fast enough. For basically all metals, change in behaviour happens somewhere in the UV. This is why basically all visible light is reflected, causing the silvery colour.

Copper and gold have their colour because in addition to being metallic, an electron needs fairly little energy to jump to a higher orbital (from 3d to 4s in copper, and 5d to 6s in gold). So their colour comes from the photon energy associated to these electronic transitions.


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

[User] Will the forces that is expanding the universe ever get strong enough to expand the space between atoms atoms?

[Assistant] There isn't a force expanding the Universe, there is a force making the expansion accelerate, and it's due to dark energy. This force acting between two objects a given distance apart (such as nucleus and electrons) is a constant in time, it does not get bigger. It's very small.


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

[User]
Could a Babel fish (Hitchhiker's Guide) translate Tamarian (Star Trek)?

The Babel fish supposedly translates by regurgitating pure thoughts into the brain of its host. Would that work with a language like Tamarian, which is entirely metaphorical? It seems like it would work, because the meaning would be converted into thoughts by the fish.

[Assistant]
I think the language itself might be immaterial right? It transmits its info brain to brain right?

It might be more interesting to wonder whether having a babel fish in your ear might even vastly improve communication in your native language because the fish could send meaning between two people without involving language.


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

[User]
What causes large crowds to move slower than the average individual in the crowd? e.g. traffic jams.

If everyone is trying to move in the same direction why is that everyone ends up moving slower?

[Assistant]
Crudely, cars and people can only go as fast as the cars and people in front of them.  This limits flow if there is a chokepoint.

Cars on roads are especially interesting because the throughput (measured in cars per second) past a particular piece of road is governed by how people drive (specifically, how close they drive to the car in front of them).  Experimentally, it peaks at about 30 mph in most places -- so road speed is unstable under heavy traffic conditions.

You can treat traffic as a flow of fluid, with the individual cars acting as molecules of the fluid.  If you do that, you get a bizarre version of hydrodynamics since the interactions between cars are so nonlinear.

Pedestrians have the same general issue: if you pack them too closely, they can't walk effectively (trip over each other), so there's a sort of side-to-side shuffling gait that people adopt in crowds.  It's much slower than free walking, and can cause similar jamming behavior in narrow walkways.


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

[User]
CMV: We should be calling for police reformation. Not defunding then.

I realize there are some people who mean reformation by chanting, defund the police. But its causing needless confusion on a matter that really should be as clear as possible.

I suppose you can argue that chanting, defund the police has a better ring than, reform the police, but to me, and a lot of other people, defunding something is not the same as reformation.

Reformation means to change something for the better, whereas defund means to take away money. Something that I would argue we need to keep so the police can actually get the training they need.

If you need to see proof, just look at whats happening. There are people calling the movement stupid and saying its a terrible idea. A lot of them are very progressive people. So why would they be calling police reformation a stupid idea if it clearly needs to and can happen?

Change my mind by telling me why shouting about taking money away from police is better than shouting about reallocating it.

[Assistant]
>whereas defund means to take away money

But that is what people are asking for.

They want to remove funding from the police departments and reallocate it to other social services.  Rather than have a cop deal with the homeless, send a social worker.  Rather than have a cop deal with a suicide, send a psychologist.  Rather than have a cop deal with a rape victim, send a counselor.  Take some police resources and send them to people in a better position to help.

We ask the police to do _so much_ and we can't expect them to be experts at every task put to them.  If we reallocate their funding _and_ reallocate their tasks, we won't need as many police officers.  We can then spend time training this smaller force for the tasks that _do_ need a police officer, which will make them more effective at their job.


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

[User]
[SW:TFA] Why hasn't Anakin appeared to Kylo Ren in Force Ghost form to set him straight? And what does Ren mean by "show me again" when taking to Vader's helmet?

In the scene where Kylo Ren is taking to Vader's helmet, what do you think he means by "show me again"?

We know from the end of ROTJ that Anakin returned to the light side and was/is capable of projecting himself in Force Ghost form. Since Kylo Ren seems to look up to his grandfather much, why hasn't Anakin appeared to him in Force Ghost form to set him straight on the fact that Ren is doing everything that he is doing for the exact OPPOSITE reasons that Anakin did? Anakin turned to the dark side and became Vader to protect his family (which as we know, failed) but never the less, that was hit motivation. Maybe we will get answers to this in the next 2 films.

[Assistant]
Communication through the living Force is a tenuous prospect at best, and likely temporary.
On the flip side, the cave on Dagobah shows us that dark side actions and influences can leave imprints on physical objects.
Given those two factors, it appears that Ren has tapped into the imprint of the helmet itself, and mistaken it for the presence of Vader/Anakin.  Meanwhile Anakin has become too absorbed into the living Force to have the ability or desire to reach out to Kylo in the form of a Force Ghost.


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

[User] ELI5: How did a phone connect to another phone overseas pre-1950's?

[Assistant] Major cities had a "long distance switchboard" which had access to overseas telecom lines (typically cables running under the ocean). You had to call the operator and ask for "long distance" and then talk the the "long distance operator" and tell them what country you wanted to call. They made the connection through very primitive means, sometimes literally by plugging a wire into a socket.


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

[User]
Is nuclear power safe?

Are thorium power plants safer and otherwise better?

And how far away are we from building fusion plants?

Just a mention; I obviously realize that there are certain risks involved, but when I ask if it's safe, I mean relative to the potentially damaging effects of other power sources, i.e. pollution, spills, environmental impact, other accidents.

[Assistant]
Yes. There have been three major accidents in the last fifty years, and only one of them was seriously major. Compare that to fossil fuels, where, for instance, the entire gulf of Mexico gets covered in oil, or just last week when 19 miners died in a coal explosion.

We're at least 20 years from fusion plants, probably a lot more. Maybe it'll be like SimCity2000 and we'll have them by 2050.


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

[User] [Pokemon] What are inside Pokeballs? What do captured Pokemon experience within them?

[Assistant]
Essentially they experience stasis. As they are converted to digital code, their consciousness becomes inactive. Simply put, their biological processes such as the ability to form conscious thought are impossible (their entire being becoming code after all).

So the last thing they see and experience is whatever they see before they get captured or returned to their Pokball, and then the next thing they see and experience is whatever is in front of them after the Pokball reconstructs their digital code into their biological form. Imagine it like the Transporters from Star Trek, but the travel time being inconsistent depending on how long it takes for the Trainer to send out that Pokmon again.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why didn't other Titans leave their homeworld or try to conquer other planets?

Why did the Titans stay on Titan if they knew they were on the brink of disaster? Thanos has become the scourge of the entire galaxy by himself, surely an army of Titans could have easily taken another survivable planet for themselves.

[Assistant]
I thought that was part of their downfall, they never expanded into the universe, became stagnant and ultimately ran out of resources.

It was a pradise for a while but not one that could be sustained.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why referring a pakistani 'paki' is a racial abuse?

Aussie, Brit, Indian, African is all okay but 'paki' is so wrong. Why?

[Assistant]
Slurs of any kind become wrong because of they way they are used. Once the word has been used in a hateful or derogatory manner enough times, the word itself can be used to imply hateful and derogatory things without them having to be explicitly mentioned. This makes the word itself offensive, and thus bad. Often, once it becomes taboo, the offensiveness creates a feedback cycle, making it worse and worse to use.

In case you're a literal 5 year old: If you call someone a name in a mean way long enough, that name will remind them of the mean things that go along with it, and so they might have their feelings hurt if you call them that.