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

[User]
ELI5: How are my unripe bananas (or any fruit that has been cut off the tree/bush already) less sweet and tastier than my ripe bananas?

If it is no longer getting water and nutrients from the actual plant, how does it continue to get sweeter and tastier by just sitting on my counter?

[Assistant] A particular hormone called ethylene it causes a chain reaction that breaks complex carbs down into simple sugars, which makes fruits sweeter.  Basically, the pre-existing material is just breaking into sugar.


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

[User]
Why can't we have jets that travel faster?

I was wondering what are the physical limitations that make the passenger carrying planes travel only as fast as they do?
EDIT:  Thank you all for the response. Reddit really comes through when answers are both accessible to novices and authentic at the same time! Thank you all!

[Assistant]
Aerospace Engineer Here.

It's really all about efficiency. Once you start going faster than Mach .8-.85, small shock waves begin to form on your wings (this is why most passenger jets have wings that sweep back towards the tail; to reduce the airspeed perpendicular to the wing itself, allowing you to fly faster). These shock waves cause large total pressure losses, which can decrease the lift force of the wing while increasing the drag force it experiences.

Another problem here is that jet engines don't really work too well when the air coming into them is supersonic. If the air is traveling too fast, the blades of the compressor will experience small shock waves, not only causing pressure losses (which are bad in a compressor, whose objective is to *increase* the pressure), but also causing material issues, as shocks cause the air behind them to get very, very hot, which can really do a number on small, thin metal sheets (such as compressor blades).

Modern jet engine intakes are designed to slow down the air coming into them, to allow them to operate at higher speeds. Most engines in fighter aircraft are designed like this.

More viable supersonic engine options include the ramjet and the scramjet, which feature no moving parts, but are extremely inefficient up until around Mach 3. These engines use shock waves to compress the air coming into them instead of the standard rotary compressors found in traditional jet engines.

In short, traveling supersonic means increased ticket costs and heavier aircraft that need to carry more fuel. It's a really inefficient way to go.


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

[User]
If Governments print more money and pays off debts, or use it to convert to forex and import, will inflation remain the same?

Since the circulation of domestic currency will be more or less the same, the demand should stay the same right? I'm an engineer and i just started reading economics so this intrigued me. I recognise we cannot infinitely print money but what about in emergency situations like COVID or any other situation.

[Assistant]
Western governments generally don't do that. It would be straight up illegal for the federal reserve to print money with the goal of paying off government debt.

If they *would* do that, well the thing with domestic currency is that it by and large can only be spend domestically. You're not going yo pay a worker in the US with Euros, at worst they are going to tell you to fuck off, at best they would just exchange it for US dollars. They can't pay their mortgage or fill up their cars with Euros.

Point being, US dollars might float around internationally for a bit, but ultimately they will be exchanged and spend in the US, so they still constitute an increase in the money supply and still lead to inflation, even if you initially used them to pay off foreign debt.


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

[User]
[Loki] Why does Loki call himself 'young'?

e1: "I was young and I lost a bet to Thor."

DB Cooper was 50 years ago. (40, technically, since loki's set right after avengers).  Loki is like a thousand years old, right? Four decades is like going from 25 to 26. Does he just age really slowly at first?

[Assistant] Probably referring more to mental/experience/innocence; since that time he has staged a coup, discovered he was not Asgardian, killed his biological father, attempted genocide, betrayed his family, exiled himself, pledged his allegiance to a galactic genocidal maniac, faced off against his brother and an assortment of super powered individuals, attempted to conquer a planet, suffered two great defeats, and was in the middle of trying to explain himself curtly to Mobius.


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

[User] [Star Trek] When I enter the Mirror Universe, am I always destined to meet my counterparts and the counterparts of the my crewmates? Isn't it possible to enter the Mirror Universe and not bump into anyone I know from the Prime Universe?

[Assistant]
No, you are not destined.

* Neither Kirk, Spock, nor McCoy met their own doubles.

* Bashir never met his own double.

* Sisko never met his own double.

* Jake didn't have a double.

* Quark and Rom didn't meet their own doubles (their doubles having died already).

In fact, only really Kira met and interacted with her own double.

In crossing over into our universe, Smiley didn't meet his double, nor did Bareil (Our Bareil having died already).


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

[User] ELI5: Would a fish from the Marianas Trench explode if brought to the surface since we would be crushed if we went down there?

[Assistant]
Some fish have swim bladders filled with air. They would rapidly expand and create an "explosion" and kill the fish because the insides (and organs) of the fish can get pushed through its mouth.

The fish doesn't explode, but it looks like that if the swim bladder expanded.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we laugh when being tickled but we don't like being tickled?

[Assistant]
Laughter when being tickled is a reflexive response, and primarily a defense mechanism. It's no coincidence that the most ticklish parts of the average human are also the most vulnerable spots (neck, etc).

People don't laugh when they're tickled because they find it funny, it's more of a submissive gesture as part of the defense mechanism. Scientists have done studies on tickling and when they scanned the brains of people being tickled, they saw that the hypothalamus-- the part of the brain governing more primal functions like breathing, heartbeat, and the fight-of-flight response-- is what really lit up.

This coincidentally explains why it's not possible to really tickle yourself-- if you're doing it to yourself, there's no reason to have the typical defensive response.


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

[User]
[Dark Souls]What is really happening when the Fire fades?

Ive played all 3 games, and all the DLC for each one, but Im still a little confused by the ending to the Ringed City story. Best I can tell, at the very end, when I fight the Slave Knight, the world around me is made up of Ash from an unimaginable number of Fire Linkings, and the Slave Knight and I are the only things left living in the world.

But why does Linking the Fire or letting it die create such disastrous consequences, no matter which option you choose? Link the Fire, and new civilizations rise, and then fall when Undeath starts spreading. Let the Fire fade, and the sun itself literally goes out, plunging the world into darkness, man reverts back to its primal, insane nature. Is there no good middle ground, besides creating new painted worlds?

[Assistant]
IIRC the fire Fading represents the end of the age of gods and the beginning of the Age of dark, which means the age of humanity.

Probably can be interpreted as humanity loosing its contact with the gods and having to fend off by ourselves (which works pretty well considering the properties of the Dark Soul) But is disastrous for the gods.


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

[User] If the higgs boson is not found, what does it mean for the standard model? Does it mean it is flawed?

[Assistant]
It means that the Higgs hypothesis for electroweak symmetry breaking is incorrect, and other avenues (like Technicolor) must be examined. Those searches are being done in parallel at the LHC but haven't come up with anything yet.

We know the standard model isn't complete. It doesn't describe gravity, or explain how the strong and electroweak interactions are unified.


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

[User] When authenticating a password, why does it take a computer much longer to return the password as incorrect than it does to verify it?

[Assistant] That is typically part of the security measure preventing brute force attacks from being effective. If you put a limit on the maximum rate of how frequently you can try a password, you reduce the risk somebody could practically brute force their way in by automatically trying password combinations. The delay that enables such a limit has to go somewhere in the authentication flow, and putting it right after an incorrect login attempt is a fairly reasonable place to put it.


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

[User]
[Halo Universe] Why did Captain Keyes personally led the Marine squad to capture a suspected Covenant "weapons cache" on Halo?

Their actions eventually led to the accidental release of the Flood on Installation 04.

Keyes was a navy captain and had minimal ground combat experience, and he was already captured by the enemy twice before:
1) by Insurrectionists during the events of Halo: Cole Protocol and
2) by the Covenant after landing on Installation 04.

Ultimately he was captured for the third time, this time by the Flood.

He could've just let Sergeant Johnson lead the Marine squad, knowing that the Sarge is the most experienced Marine under his command during that time.

And I also remembered that in Halo: The Flood (novelization of the first game), the surviving Marines and ODSTs established a base of operations on Halo. ODST leader Major Silva even had enough manpower to capture and repair the Truth and Reconciliation while the Master Chief was off doing his own thing.

Keyes had lots of people under his command and knew that his original mission before the fall of Reach was to capture a Covenant ship and find their homeworld. Repairing the Truth and Reconciliation would've done the job.

TL:DR Why risk his life to capture a cache of Covenant weapons when he could've just stayed in in the human base and direct the mission from there?

[Assistant]
Gung-ho attitudes that believe it's best to lead from the front and on the ground with his forces serving under him.

That being said, still doesn't explain why a ship's captain has to be the one doing it juxtaposed to the CO of the Marines aboard the ship.

Curious, but speaking in present day terms does the commander of a ship even have jurisdiction over the marines aboard the ship? Let alone oversight relating to the operational aspect of the Marines once they disembark from his ship?


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

[User] ELI5: why can you sometimes hear very clearly when you yawn? Is this something that doctors can work with to perhaps fix gearing issues?

[Assistant] It opens the Eustachian (auditory) tube, part of the middle ear. Normally this isn't open to air, but yawning allows it to exchange air with the outside world and equalize to outside pressure. So yawning when changing altitudes will clear your hearing.


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

[User]
[Doctor who] how powerful were the timelords?

How powerful were the timelords at their peak?

[Assistant]
" *The Time Lords were* ***the*** *Type 4 civilization. We had no equals. We controlled the fundamental forces of the entire universe. Nothing could communicate with us on our level. Most races pray to lesser beings than the Time Lords."*

They could instantly travel anywhere in space and time, draw on the energy of all space and tie, create black holes for energy, destroy galaxies, create near-infinite pocket dimensions, edit the past at will...They are, for all the silly hats and obscure laws, probably one of the few fictional cultures that could fight the culture as equals. They were incredibly powerful.


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

[User]
[MCU] How did Tony figured out Peter's secret identity ?

Did he used Security Cameras to track him or his drones ?

[Assistant]
Tony saw him in a YouTube video, right? It wouldnt have been hard for someone as intelligent and tech savvy as him to figure out who that masked guy is in the video.

Im guessing theres more than one video, so Tony figured out that the masked guy is local, and identified the various street locations to zero in on which neighborhood to find him. He probably asked Happy or someone else to talk to  residents who may have seen this masked stranger as well. And knowing Tony, he may have even set a trap to lure him (e.g. a fake mugging) and somehow put a tracking device on Peter.


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

[User]
[The Shining] How does the Overlook Hotel stay in business?

It's an extremely isolated hotel that only opens in the summertime. Is it really possible to make a profit on such a resort? Operating costs for supplies and power and the like must be a nightmare.

[Assistant] Its located in a really scenic location in Boulder, has a fantastic chef, has eye-catching topiary animals, roque courts, and a reputation for attracting big, wealthy crowds which incentivizes others to go out of their way to stay there.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is white rice cheaper than red, brown or black rice even if the other varients require less milling?

[Assistant] White rice is much easier to store and transport, as without the bran (outer layer) it lasts several times longer at room temperature. Whole rice (brown etc.) can go rancid in a few months on the shelf.


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

[User]
[Mad Max Fury Road] Would a civilisation like Mad Max's have the technology to find someone's blood type?

In the opening scene they seem to use people of certain blood types as donors as a regular process. How sophisticated is the technology required to get a blood type?

[Assistant]
It's not really.  The test itself is relatively simple.  The big innovation of blood types was understanding that *they existed at all* after that it was just a matter of creating a test that indicates whether its A, B or neither (since AB will just double positive) and then check the RH factor.

The world may have gone all to shit, but pieces still remain and simpler medical tests are likely to have made it.


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

[User]
[Cars] Deep questions about the world of Cars...

So disclaimer, I have seen the three Cars movies but not Planes or anything else.

-The world goes through a timeline that mirrors real history except for with sentient vehicles instead of people. The 1950s, based on appearances are portrayed as a golden age for Radiator Springs. The automobile itself, however, was invented less than a century before, and the airplane only 50 years before. What was the world like before cars and planes existed? Were cars and planes invented at the same time as our universe?

-Are cars and planes living organisms or machines. Based on the way they are portrayed, they appear to be machines, yet they have sexes and tongues. How are new cars or planes made then?

-Is the cars universe a reimagining of our world or an alternate, future timeline a la the Pixar theory? How would its history work then (1950s again)?

-We see elegant landscaping and human-like buildings in the universe. How and why are these things created? How do cars that lack hands maintain gardens, and why are buildings not designed differently to be optimal for cars?

-The cars now use oil as food. Given that oil is a nonrenewable resource and the world population appears to be around 7 billion cars like our world, is the cars world headed to disaster? Will they run out of oil soon? How to they even drill for oil being, you know, cars?

-Burning gasoline creates pollution and greenhouse gases. Based on the huge number of cars and consumption of fossil fuels, is the world doomed to become a toxic greenhouse in the near future as all that CO2 creates rapid climate change?

-Finally, is racing for cars akin to running for humans? McQueen doesnt seem that winded when hes training or racing, yet it is treated as such. Does a cars speed depend on its birth as a faster, sportier model, or are these upgrades like surgery? Could McQueen get faster with training or is his engine just not as good as the next generations in Cars 3?

[Assistant]
>-The world goes through a timeline that mirrors real history except for with sentient vehicles instead of people. The 1950s, based on appearances are portrayed as a golden age for Radiator Springs. The automobile itself, however, was invented less than a century before, and the airplane only 50 years before. What was the world like before cars and planes existed? Were cars and planes invented at the same time as our universe?

- Cars and parallel races such as Planes, Blimps, and Trains have been evolving for a long time via natural selection, mutation, and Car-invented modifications.  Some religions, such as the more evangelical cartholics (worshipers of Jesus Chrysler) don't believe that Cars are descended from *Auto Primus*, early stone wheels that gained sentience some ten to fifteen thousand years ago, but science supports that they did.  From there they evolved larger brains in parallel with more wheels and a simple chassis to become *Auto Currus*, the chariot, which they remained until the relatively recent Gendustrial Revolution, when arose modern *Auto Sapiens*, *Auto Locomotia*, and *Auto Caelum*.

>-Are cars and planes living organisms or machines. Based on the way they are portrayed, they appear to be machines, yet they have sexes and tongues. How are new cars or planes made then?

- When a Mommy Car and a Daddy Car love each other very much, they reassemble their parts together to make a new chassis, which pops out of the mommy's trunk after a couple months of having its paint and rust treatment applied.

>-The cars now use oil as food. Given that oil is a nonrenewable resource and the world population appears to be around 7 billion cars like our world, is the cars world headed to disaster? Will they run out of oil soon? How to they even drill for oil being, you know, cars?

- Yes, peak oil is a major concern, which is why scientists are working on alternative fuel sources like solar and hydrogen.  Most cars don't drill.  Boring vehicles do.

>-Burning gasoline creates pollution and greenhouse gases. Based on the huge number of cars and consumption of fossil fuels, is the world doomed to become a toxic greenhouse in the near future as all that CO2 creates rapid climate change?

- This isn't even a question about the Cars universe, the answer is yes anyways.

>-Finally, is racing for cars akin to running for humans? McQueen doesnt seem that winded when hes training or racing, yet it is treated as such. Does a cars speed depend on its birth as a faster, sportier model, or are these upgrades like surgery?

Yes, and both.


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

[User]
CMV Just as women have the right to have an abortion or give up the baby for adoption, men should have the right to give up all custody at birth, without any continuing financial obligation

Women currently do and should continue to have the sole authority over their bodies - especially related to pregnancy. Abortion is very safe, but it is a medical procedure. Keeping a baby is also on the whole safe, but comes with a boatload of hardships throughout the pregnancy - spmething that I'd never want to go through. After birth there is again a decision, with adoption of new borns being very easy in the US - demand far outstrips the number of babies up for adoption, and the standards for adoption r very high (maybe too much so).

Legally in most states however if the woman chooses to keep the baby the man is expected and obligated to atleast help financially support the child. Here on Reddit especially I have seen the argument that its just not the same, and after the mother has decided to raise the baby the father has a responsibility to the child. I agree that the kid's life is worse off with an absent father.

With multiple options open to the mother to forgo the hardship of raising a child though, why is there no option for the father to relinquish any and all custody and rights to the baby at birth, if the mother is knowingly taking on the physical and financial responsibility to raise them?

Note that I do believe whether a woman choses to abort or carry the baby to term the man should help with atleast 50% of the costs involved either way, as the risk of pregnancy is

Edit: I made some inherently sexist assumptions when I wrote this, unfortunately can't change the title. To clarify my view - I think that it is unfair for either parent to be unable to give up their parental rights at birth. I understand that plenty of fathers have full custody as the mothers did not want to be a part of the baby's life - those mothers should also be able to relinquish parental obligations. The fairly robust adoption system present should mean that if a single parent does not believe they can raise the child all on their own they have the option to pht the baby up for adoption at birth. If they think they can do it, then the other partner should be able to walk away from the numerous physical and financial burdens of a child.

[Assistant] Do you think that women should also have the right to do this (i.e. to relinquish all financial obligations and place them on the father of the child, who then has the option to place the child for adoption or to raise the child with no support from her), or do you think that only men should have this right?


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does bumping your shins or stubbing your toe have a worse pain a few seconds after?

Hurts. Send help.

[Assistant]
Your nerves are taking a second to tell your brain that you've been hurt.

Each one is composed of different fibers that send messages back to your brain in real time.

A delta fibers are like the messenger on the bicycle that can get there really fast and are usually the response to things like a burn or contact with chemicals.

C fibers are the messenger that has to go on foot and are the ones that respond to pain caused by blunt hits like stubbing your toe so they need an extra second.


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

[User] [Alien] Once the Xenomorph species infests an entire ship/colony/etc and there are no more organisms to use for gestation, how long do the drones live before starving to death? Can they eat meat in order to sustain themselves?

[Assistant] The Nostromo incident on LV 426 suggests drones may die off lacking suitable habitat and/or food. The crew discovered the large "pilots" body ravaged from the birth of a drone, but no active drone was encountered - only eggs.


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

[User] ELI5 - Why do our eyes become bloodshot when we're tired?

[Assistant] The whites of our eyes are filled with blood vessels that swell up and become noticeable when the surrounding cornea and eye tissue are lacking in oxygen. If you have a lack of sleep you're body is in need of rest, especially your eyes. Sleeping also protects the eyes from becoming dry and irritated which will result in redness as well. Additionally, being awake for long periods of time means there is more time that you are actively using your eyes, generally the more strain put on your eyes means more pressure resulting in the inflammation of the blood vessels in the eye.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Does the Cerebro operate both ways, as in if you're being mind intruded by Prof X, for the sake of arguement, could a telepath of power level Prof X + 1, via Prof X using Cerebro turn the tables and control Cerebro remotely via the Prof X initiated connection?

Whilst we've seen other telepaths simply block out Prof X's mind reading/control, could one (of higher power), sense his connection and then start controlling Prof X, and then start controlling Cerebro and make Prof X destroy the world or something remotely?

[Assistant]
Cerebro is simply an amplifier of psychic ability. It does not confer any special ability on behalf of the user or allow anything to happen on a a large scale that the original psychic couldn't do on a smaller scale.

So the scenario is Professor X is telepathically intruding into someone's mind with the assistance of Cerebro, he is using his own power, amplified. The Shadow King comes along and senses the connection, could he then take over Professor X's mind via the connection?

Well, would the Shadow King have been able to do it anyways? Then yes. If not? then no. It's not like there's an artificial circuit made that one can hack into and use. If Charles is telepathing to someone 2000 miles away and the Farouk comes by that person, Xavier's actual mind  is still 2000 miles away in a shielded room underneath an armored building surrounded by the world's best trained mutants, and that's what one has to get through to do anything to him.

Now if the Shadow King is sensitive enough, he can recognize Xavier's telepathy and track it to the source, then and perhaps attack his mind from within range, but pretty much any mutant psychic on the planet knows about Cerebro and where it is, so it's not like that would be tough to do if one was sufficiently motivated.

But no. Using Cerebro doesn't create a new way of attacking Xavier's mind or make him any more or less vulnerable than he was before.


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

[User]
cmv: English is the best language for cussing

Obviously as an English speaker, I'm biased, but the English words "Fuck" "shit", and "ass" are so punchy and versetile, its hard to imagine a better system of profane interjection.

English curses are flexible. Merde, scheie, and  (kuso), are all well and good in certain contexts, sure but "shit" works every time, its just so flexible.

"oh shit" "thats the shit" "fuck this shit" "whats this shit" "look at that shit" "listen up shitbird"

Similarly, "fuck" can replace every part of speech, except maybe  prepositions and conjunctions, and even then its just a matter a time before someone figures out how to use it.

And most importantly, English cussing just sounds obscene. If you shout "Fuck off Cunt!!" at someone, it doesn't matter what language they speak, they know what you mean. You can make these words drip with emotion.

Like I said, I'm biased, and its obvious I have a strong opinion about this, but im open to debate. Afterall, I'm not a native speaker in any other languages, and my exposure to foreign cursing is very limited. If you have an argument to make for another language, I would love to hear it, not just because I'm ready to change mind (although I am), but also because learning about curse words is really fun. So if anyone is willing to educate me about their language's profanity, I would truly love to hear it.

Honestly I'm sure I'm wrong, and there's a better language for cussing out there somewhere, but if thats true, I haven't found it yet.

So try it. Change my fucking mind you shitbird cocksuckers.

edit: forgot to add a few bits at the end there.

[Assistant]
if really depends what you're looking for in profanity. English speakers, particularly western anglophones have reasonably de-stigmatised attitudes towards swearing and profanity (the only infix in English is - fucking- as in abso-fucking-lutely), and often use profanity pretty casually with no intent to cause shock or distress in the person/people they're swearing at. there's no immediate sense of malicious intent with English swearing; English profanity is kind of domesticated.

if you take, say, Chinese profanity, it still has fangs. People more often swear and use profanity in order to cause offence and direct crude language at people to indicate disrespect. it's intrinsically more personal-  (t mde) literally means "his mother's" and is basically the most common swear, but unlike English it's pretty always abusive or hurtful. most swears are personal and directed at the person in some way, attacking mothers, grandmothers, other relatives, the "legitimacy" of people's births. in terms of specific utility, i think that's more interesting and more intense.

so, if you just want words that sound nice to you, maybe English works for your personal preferences. if  someone likes swearing for what it does, they might prefer a more specific and directed utility, like you can get in Chinese.


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

[User] [Dungeons and Dragons] A party of seemingly god-tier adventurers is heading toward the town i'm currently located at, how do I decipher whether their decent folk or murder folk before its too late?

[Assistant]
Take a cart out onto the road they're coming along, smash the wheels, and have someone you don't care about very much lie beside it, groaning pathetically, while you watch from afar.

If the first thing they do is offer him healing magic/potions while their meatshields try to repair the cart (possibly using a skill that's only tangentially related to cart repair, but which works anyway because if you talk fast enough the ~~GM~~ gods will let you get away with it), they're fine; just put a 300 per cent markup on all goods and services in the town, and wait for them to roll in and barely even notice because they've somehow got enough gold to finance a medium-sized war in their backpacks.

If the first thing they do is go through his pockets and search the cart, they're dangerous. Evacuate your town (except for the mad old prophet who rants in the market square), taking most but not quite all of your valuables, and hide in the woods until they go away.

If the first thing they do is cut his throat, or set him on fire, or cut his throat and set him on fire and then raise him as an undead minion, you're proper fucked. Don't waste time gathering your valuables, just head for the coast and then get on a boat and keep going. If you know of a wizard who might be able to get you tickets to another plane of reality, go there.


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

[User] [Star Wars] What assassination attempt(s) - in Canon & Legend - was closest to killing Emperor Palpatine?

[Assistant]
[*Legends/Expanded Universe* canon]

* In the first year of the Empire; a coup on Coruscant lead by headmaster Gentis of the Imperial Academy managed to critically wound the Emperor with an airborne toxin. (*Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison*)

* About two years before the Battle of Yavin; Galen Marek aka Starkiller, Lord Vader's "secret apprentice" turned rebel seemingly got the best of Palpatine in a fight.  But Marek chose mercy rather than striking down a defenseless foe.  But considering the Emperor never even drew a lightsaber in that encounter, it's unclear if he was truly defeated or just faking it. (*The Force Unleashed*)

* Several weeks before the Battle of Yavin; in a coup attempt orchestrated by Grand Moff Tracta, Moff Kadir rushed Palpatine's throne room with a contingent of secretly conditioned Stormtroopers. A few Royal Guards died and Palpatine suffered a minor injury from Kadir himself. (*Empire vol 1: Betrayal*)

* About three years after the Battle of Yavin; Grand Admiral Zaarin waged a military insurrection. At one point the Emperor was taken captive by Arden Lyn a Force-nullifying transport. (*Tie Fighter*.  *The Emperor's Pawns*)

* At the Battle of Endor; Darth Vader chooses to save his son and throws the Emperor down a reactor shaft, destroying his body.  But Palpatine's spirit endures in a harrowing ordeal, his essence is carried for a time by an Emperor's Hand agent and then is ritually transferred into a clone of Palpatine's original body. (*Return of the Jedi*.  *The Emperor's Pawns*.  *Dark Empire*)


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

[User]
Knowing what you know now about your specific field, how far do you think a person could go following a self-learning path?

Are there things self-learners will have a difficult time compensating for even when you consider the wealth of resources we have today?

[Assistant]
If you're going to succeed in academia (past a masters or so), you NEED to be able to teach yourself things. By the time you're done with your PhD, you should be the world expert on the topic of your thesis. That means that during your PhD, you've had to learn things that other people just don't know (and thus teach yourself).

Every step of the way after that, you're expected to learn new techniques, keep up on the latest literature, and think critically about everything. Tests are essentially meaningless after a masters - even your phd defense is going to be determined by how well you answer questions about the underlying science of your thesis, not about how well you can recall biochemical pathways.


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

[User]
How fast would I have to travel around the world to have a perpetual sunset?

While admiring the sunset last night, this odd question popped into my head.

(I live near Chicago since latitude is probably a factor)

[Assistant]
Sunset will travel around earth once every ~24h. The circumfence of earth is about 40,000 kilometres; so near the equator (where the fastest speed is required), you'll need to go 40,000 km /24 h = 1,666 km/h or about 1036 mph. Since it is rather expensive to even reach such a speed, you'll want to try it closer to one of the poles.

If nobody else does, I'll probably be back later to calculate it for your latitude.


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

[User]
If every vehicle on the road were a hydrogen-fueled vehicle, would the climate impact of those water vapor emissions be significant?

This is obviously assuming the water was released as vapor and not cooled and disposed of as a liquid or something like that. I've heard that water vapor is a much stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but a lot of information out there acts as though hydrogen vehicle emissions are better for the environment because they're water vapor and not CO2.

[Assistant]
To answer your question, you must first understand that most combustion reactions produce water. For an example, lets take a look at one of the most basic combustion reactions, the combustion of methane to water and CO2. Were going to assume that we have complete combustion, and that we dont make any carbon monoxide.

CH4 + 2O2 = CO2 + 2H2O

As you can see, for every mole of methane we burn, we produce 2 moles of water. We can take this 1 step further and look at the combustion of Octane, which is an acceptable gasoline substitute.

C8H18 + (12.5)O2 = 8CO2 + 9H2O

So for every mole of octane we burn, we produce 9 moles of H2O. The density of octane is roughly 0.38 lbmole/ft3, or 0.051 lbmole/gallon, so 1 gallon of octane produces roughly 0.46 moles of water (MW 18 lbs/lbmole) which is (drumroll) 8.3 lbs of water.

So every gallon of gas you burn produces 8.3 pounds of water.

To answer your question: If adding this much water to the atmosphere was a problem, then we have the problem with or without hydrogen powered cars.

I have a feeling a few of you are going to jump in and say that a gallon of octane only weights 5.83 lb, so how are we producing 8.3 pounds of water per gallon? The answer is that all of the mass comes from the oxygen we're adding to the reaction. We're burning roughly 20 lb of oxygen with every gallon of octane that we burn. The remainder goes directly into carbon dioxide.

[Fun fact] Air is only 20% oxygen. So when you burn 1 gallon of gasoline using 20-lb of oxygen, you're really pulling 100 pounds of air through your engine, of which 80% passes through mostly unchanged (Shakes old man fist at nitrogen).[/Fun fact]


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

[User]
Can someone explain how Jupiter has no "surface," but has a rocky core?

What I mean is, wouldn't that rocky core be considered Jupiter's "surface," and would Jupiter then be considered to just have a really large atmosphere?

[Assistant] As you get deeper and deeper into Jupiter's gas envelope, the gas gets denser and hotter. The transition from gas to fluid to solid is not as well-defined as high school chemistry would have you believe. Gases and fluids in particular are basically the same thing (i.e. gas behaves according to fluid equations). At some point within Jupiter it is thought that hydrogen reaches such a density that it becomes "solid", for lack of a better term, but we don't know exactly where that boundary is or what exactly it looks like.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] How are Hogwarts students kept from going postal?

Every single student is carrying the ultimate multitool: The wand. It is also the universal weapon, and anyone motivated and creative enough could kill and maim their fellow student with the use of ordinary spells, no Unforgivable Curses needed. How do Hogwarts stop the kids from going postal on each other in fits of rage or heartbreak or depression or a thousand other moments of emotional instability that are much too common with teenagers?

[Assistant]
Well, literally every other student *also* has a wand. As do all the teachers. And Hogwarts has a hospital wing with basically miraculous medical care available 24/7. So unless you *do* outright kill someone, whatever happens is probably reversible.

Heck, they can regrow all your arm bones in a single night. So unless you're maiming them worse than *that*, it's not even enough to get the kid out of class the next day.

And any spell that does *real* damage also requires a lot of *real* power. The younger kids haven't grown into that yet, and the older ones typically learn a thing or two about responsibility in the intervening years. After all, a single bad mistake at Hogwarts can be grounds for you *never* becoming a proper wizard. They could snap your wand and that's that.

Now, that's not to say kids won't be kids. But typically, they'll be using simpler hexes or jinxes. Distracting, potentially hilarious, but usually not *dangerous*, and certainly not life-threatening.


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

[User] Did John Nash really disprove Adam Smith as shown in the movie 'A Beautiful Mind'?

[Assistant]
So in that scene he was describing a concept in game theory.

Adam Smith's idea was: individual market agents acting in their rational self interest will lead to an efficient allocation of resources.

The guys at the bar or whatever all wanted the blonde girl. If they all acted in their rational self interest, they would all go for the blonde girl. But that's kinda creepy and weird so they'd all get rejected. So then, they'd each try their second choice of woman. But no girl wants to be the second choice, so they'd all get rejected. No one goes home with anyone.

On the other hand, If the guys all colluded, that is acted as a group and coordinated which guy would go for which girl, each of the men would go home with a girl. The plan was that each of the men would only choose their second choice. That way they're not fighting over each other, and non of the girls think they're a second choice.

The second situation is clearly the more optimal situation (for the men anyway. Tbh breaking it down like this feels super sexist and weird). But the men were not acting in their rational self interest because none of them went home with the blonde. The second situation would be called the "socially optimal equilibrium".

The first situation is the "Nash equilibrium" , which is kinda defined as what rational self interested agents would do if they could not collude.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why was Stephen Strange on the Project INSIGHT target list?

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we see the Hydra agents who are responsible for the Project INSIGHT helicarriers discussing targets, one of the people mentioned was Stephen Strange. At the time this happens(2014), Dr. Strange has not actually been introduced to the MCU, so the idea that he's already Sorc Supreme wasn't off the table, but his own movie two years later is an origin story in which he doesn't have his powers yet.

If Stephen Strange wasn't a powered individual at the time, what reasons would SHIELD/Hydra have had for targeting him?

[Assistant]
Zola's algorithm was meant to identify _potential_ threats and take them out before they became a problem. And apparently it was pretty good, because Steven Strange did actually go on to become someone who would be a huge threat to Hydra, even if he wasn't at the time. There would have been loads of people flagged with no powers and no obvious anti-Hydra activities.

As for why Sitwell would have chosen Dr. Strange as an example - he must have been moderately famous as a brilliant doctor, and he needed another example of someone _without_ superpowers.


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

[User] If an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Device disrupts electrical interactions, why is the human body/nervous system unaffected? Or, if it is affected, in what way?

[Assistant]
There's a bit of a misconception when people talk about electrochemical reactions in an organism.  These are not electrical as we think of them in wires.  They are dependent on differences in concentrations of sodium and potassium.  Since these are ions, there is a voltage difference across the membrane of a neuron.  However, the propagation of the signals is not a stream of electrons like in a wire.  Rather, the electrochemical difference of sodium and potassium inside and outside of the neuron causes adjacent sodium channels to be activated down the neuron.

I am drunk and on mobile, so hopefully someone jumps in with more specifics.


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

[User] ELI5: How does getting the wind knocked out of you work?

[Assistant] Ok, you know how when that fourth grader with the moustache punches you really hard and gives you a dead arm. This is because the muscles in your arm get very angry when they are hit like that and because of this don't work great for a little while. Well you can imagine that getting the wind knocked out of you is like getting a dead arm in the muscle that makes it so you can breath in and out.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40.000] Could I kill a bunch of Orks with a thrown rock, if I convinced them it was a grenade?

So, they have a sort of psychic field that distorts reality according to what they believe. That's why their rickety garbage technology works: Because they believe it works. They've also, apparently, been known to steal vehicles with no gas in the tank, simply because they believed it was functional.

So if I was facing a whole horde of Orks, could I just shout "Grenade!" while throwing a rock, and it would do something, as long as they heard me?

[Assistant]
No.

Thats not how their Gestalt field works. It kind of does, but not to that extent. Basically, their belief system and warp-capable brains act more like oil in a machine. It *bends* reality, it doesnt outright change and break it.

They can make crude machines run and act like they're supposed to because they still on instinct know *how* to make them work but their belief system just adds that extra bit of spit and shine to their items thats boosts it a bit further. Classic examples of this are the "Red 'uns go fasta'!" thing, or that Blue is lucky or purple is *sneeky*.

A gun made by an Ork will be a crude jumble of parts but it will still *work*, except in the hands of an Ork it just works *that little extra better*. For example it wont jam as much, it might be more accurate or any other example of mild performance. It wont however suddenly transform a normal slugga into a grenade launcher because someone decided it is. Keep in mind however, that in a freak accident, if a Boy hits the fuel tank of a vehicle and it bursts into a fireball they *might* consider their gun more killy, but it wont be suddenly firing explosive rounds, it'll just be that slightly more probable to hit weak parts of armor, fuel tanks or ammo reserves.

Overall, think of it like Marvel Domino's superpower to affect luck. Things just kind of flow and work better the more Orkz believe in something, but it wont physically alter the material plane to the extent where a box of scrap parts is suddenly a plasma generator or a burnt out, destroyed tank can suddenly repair itself and work again. Your rock is still just a rock. If you're lucky and they believe it to be dangerous, it might just accidentally kill a Grot that was hiding nearby when you threw it.


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

[User] ELI5:Why does roast beef sometimes have shiny rainbow colors in it?

[Assistant] When light hits a slice of meat, it splits into colors like a rainbow. This is something called a "diffraction grating," essentially what happens when light waves bend or spread around a slightly pitted surface and create a pattern. It's the same thing that happens to make rainbows on the surface of a DVD.  It is somewhat unique to roast beef meat because the sliced muscle fibers are the right size.


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

[User] [Addams Family/Harry Potter] How would Wednesday Addams fare at Hogwarts?

[Assistant]
Depends on which version of Wednesday Addams.

1960s show was a sweet little girl. She'd go to Hufflepuff and would do well. Most likely excel in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures.

The 1990s cartoon was a smart girl who while an Addams understood how different her family was from everyone else and could exist in either world. Most like Ravenclaw with Hufflepuff as a close second followed by Gryffindor. She would basically be another Hermione in her classes.

1990s early 2000s life action was an evil little brat an about as thin on characterization as a piece of paper. Slytherin and expelled very soon for murdering a student. Life sentence in Azkaban or commitment for life at St. Mungo's.


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

[User] [MCU] Why doesn't War Machine have a suit AI? And should it?

[Assistant]
He probably has a very basic one, just to control the passive systems.

Rhodey isn't the type of guy who would want a voice in his head all the time and he is also a trained pilot and marksman so he doesn't need a helping hand either.


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

[User]
If there were only two objects in the universe, how would we know which is moving away from which? Or would we know?

Let's say in the whole universe there are only 2 stars and they are moving away from each other at different velocities.  Would we know each star's velocity without the reference point of a 3rd object?  If they are rotating around each other to the point where they are always the same exact distance from each other would we even know, or as far as we knew they would be considered to not be moving/not have any velocity?

If there were only one object in the universe, let's say me, am I effectively not moving, or would there be any way to tell I'm moving and in what direction?

[Assistant]
The math works out the same no matter what reference frame you use, so there is no basis in physics for having a preferred reference frame.  They are all equally correct and there is no such thing as a reference frame thats wrong.  Usually people just pick whatever one makes the math easier.

To answer your question simply: all of the above.


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

[User] If bacteria have evolved penicillin resistance, why cant we help penicillin to evolve new antibiotics?

[Assistant]
We haven't helped it "evolve" *per se*, but we have done a few things to increase its effectiveness!

One mechanism of bacterial resistance to penicillins is the evolution of beta-lactamase, which destroys the beta-lactam ring that is the structural cornerstone of penicillins and cephalosporins. We've created "companion drugs" to penicillins that inhibit beta-lactamase, protecting the penicillin and letting it continue to kill bacteria.

The one you've most likely seen is amoxicillin paired with clavulanic acid, sold under the trade name Augmentin (augmented amoxicillin).


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

[User]
[DC] Do the fictional cities replace real cities, or add to them?

I always thought that:

Metropolis = New York (Statue of Liberty is there)

Gotham = Boston (a seaside metropolis near Metropolis--Batman often fights at "the docks" and can get to Supes quickly)

Central City = Chicago (central, but also not southern (only because CC is portrayed has having a more northern culture), and also has sea ports--Flash has run bombs into the ocean--Lake Michigan?*)

Star City = San Francisco (the closest metropolis to San Jose aka Silicon Valley where you'd expect Star Labs to be)

Then I read that Metropolis is in Delaware somewhere. Now I'm second guessing myself.

* In both TV series**, Flash's top speed is about than Mach 1 (much less than comic book or animated Flash speed). You'd have to be already near a body of water to run a bomb there and escape the blast.

** Never watched season 2 of the newest Flash show.

[Assistant]
Add to them. DC Earth is explicitly larger than our Earth to accommodate for the extra cities. Gotham is in Jersey and shares a bay with Metropolis near New York, and IIRC Star City is slightly south of San Francisco, with Central City and Keystone City being somewhere between Pennsylvania and Missouri (depends on the continuity) separated by a river. Interesting to note is that the real cities in the DC universe are also quite different from their real world counterparts. For example, New York, "the Cinderella City", never got quite as big as its two "stepsisters", Gotham and Metropolis. As such, the history of the city is slightly different, and a bunch of architectural stuff that was planned but never executed in real life has already happened in DC's New York.

[This is only true for the comics and, presumably, the DCEU, since they've already shown Gotam and Metropolis to be in the same location as their comic counterparts. The Arrowverse cities might be in different locations.]


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

[User]
[X-men] When Nightcrawler Teleports, does his momentum carry with him?

So lets say Nightcrawler teleports from a moving car going 80 MPH to the side of the road, does he stick is landing or does he slide until he comes to a stop because he was just moving 80 MPH in the car?

[Assistant]
I can't remember the issue but storm is trapped as a statue in Latveria, when Doom was hosting Arcade. The X-Men go to her rescue. Anyway, Kurt is high up in the air and thinks that he can't just teleport to ground because he would be smashed. He has to try to ride thermals to bleed off momentum before landing in a lake.

It's sometime earlier in the Claremont years.


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

[User]
ELI5: Voice Cracks

Voice cracks, voice breaks, you name it.

[Assistant]
If you mean why, then it's a one-word answer: tension.

Your vocal cords aren't "cords" at all, they're actually folds. It's a lot like the double reed system you see on instruments like oboes. In order to produce speech, muscles tension and relax the vocal folds as air is blown through them from the lungs. The air causes the folds to vibrate, giving you sound.

This system is easily upset. If the vocal folds are inflamed (say from yelling a lot or because you're sick), if there's excess mucus in the larynx (where the vocal folds are), or if you're nervous, the ability to properly tension the vocal folds and getting them to vibrate correctly can be impaired. Too much tension or vocal folds that are too inflamed won't vibrate correctly and can stop vibrating altogether as air passes through. When the vocal folds have an interruption of vibration, you get a break. If the muscles spasm and suddenly put the vocal folds under too much tension, you get a crack.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40K] What happens in the end?

Is there a end to all the wars in Warhammer, is there a prophecy or something like that which foreshadows the end?

Sorry if the question is a vague, I was just wondering about it and this seems like the best place to ask.

[Assistant]
40k is explicitly designed to be so big that it can exist in a permanent state of apocalypse.

It's full of villains so evil, so horrendous that they can destroy entire star systems, wipe out billions of humans and even threaten human souls in the after life. But the imperium is so unimaginably big that this can happen continuously without actually threatening it's existence.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do different species have different life spans? For example we live to a maximum length of years, yet a giant tortoise can live to like 170 years old? What determines this?

[Assistant]
Genetic programming, basically.

First, take all other causes of death - accident, predation, suicide, and so on - out of the picture so you're only dealing with creatures dying "of old age".

What happens as most creatures age (there are some exceptions) is their cells eventually can only replicate so often and repair or replace components within their body so many times. Eventually more and more of those cells run out of times that they can duplicate and replace themselves. They die, the organ or body part their in dies or becomes critically damaged when enough cells within them die, and of course so does the organism.

Different animals duplicate their cells at different rates, and there's a decent correlation between size of the creature and length of its natural lifespan. Mice grow much faster (and breed much faster) than men, and run through their cells' "max refresh count" a lot faster as a result. So they live a shorter life. Galapagos tortoises run their counter a lot slower, however, and so they can live a lot longer.

It's also correlated to how fast the animal goes (hummingbirds live a lot fewer years than giant pandas), but not perfectly so.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do HD photos and videos seem to look better than our own naked eyes?

HD photos and videos seem to look better than the pictures formed by our own eyes. How is it so? I didn't know which flair would fit so I chose biology.

[Assistant]
The eye is really good at some things but not so good at others.

Meanwhile, cameras can be good at what ours eyes are bad at, and thats what really stands out.

For instance, really high dynamic range. Seeing pitch black right next to bright white.

In our eyes, this is weird because of the way light bounces and reflects. Plus our eyes are constantly adjusting to what were looking at.

A camera can capture the highs and lows all at once without those adjustments. Then, when we see it as a reproduction instead of actual light, our eyes are able to see it in that static state.

Its not that its better, its just different from the way we normally see, and that makes it pleasant.


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

[User] If gravity is the weakest of the fundamental forces, why aren't celestial bodies movement, especially those with magnetic properties, governed by electromagnetism rather than gravity?

[Assistant]
Celestial bodies (and our universe in general) are electrical neutral. That's because electrical charge is a conserved quantity, meaning you can't create an negative electrical charge without also creating an positive charge, as the total sum has to stay the same. As we understand it now, this holds true for the entire history of the universe.

Any significant charge imbalance will quickly neutralize itself, by attracting the opposite charge. That's why the earth is electrical neutral even though it's permanently bombarded with charged particles from the solar wind: If it had accumulated a positive charge, it would then draw more negative charges from the solar wind, and vice versa.

Any objects will find enough charges from ions, interstellar particles and so on to neutralize eventually. Therefore, electrical forces do not play any significan role on large scales in our universe.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens to an uninsured patient with catastrophic injuries in the U.S.?

For example: I can't afford health insurance - I make too much to qualify for assistance and too little to afford to pay out of pocket - and I get in a massive accident on my way home from work. Broken back and neck, internal injuries requiring a hospital stay, multiple surgeries and months of rehab therapy. What happens to me? What kind of care do I receive and how am I expected to pay hundreds of thousands in hospital bills?

[Assistant]
Everyone receives emergency care, regardless of their insurance. If you can't pay it, eventually the hospital will write it off. So ultimately the taxpayers pay for it, indirectly.

Once you're stable, don't expect stellar care, but hospitals don't typically kick people to the curb to die.


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

[User] Why does the Ozone deplete over antarctica and not other places? Has it depleted over other places?

[Assistant]
Ozone in the ozone layer has gone down globally, but a particular set of circumstances create the famous "ozone hole" over Antarctica every spring.

First, let me explain a little ozone chemistry. The major problem is CFCs, aka chlorofluorocarbons. These are extremely stable molecules, so they survive in the atmosphere a long time. Long enough to be transported up to the stratosphere where UV light will knock of a Cl atom. The Cl atom then reacts with ozone like so:

* Cl + O3 --> ClO + O2
* ClO + O3 --> Cl + O2 + O2

The net reaction destroys 2 ozone molecules and preserves the Cl atom, so this cycle can repeat until the Cl atom reacts to form a reservoir species that prevents it from destroying more ozone. Two such reactions are:

* Cl + CH4 --> HCl + CH3
* ClO + NO2 --> ClONO2

Now, all these reactions are happening all over the world. What is special about Antarctica is how cold it gets. Because it is at a pole, it gets cold. But because there is a continent over the pole, which prevents heat transport by ocean currents, Antarctica gets even colder than the North Pole. And when it gets so ridiculously cold, a unique phenomenon occurs: the formation of clouds in the stratosphere. These clouds are made up of frozen water, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid. But the important thing is that they provide surfaces. Chemical reactions that normally take a really long time in the gas phase can occur much more quickly when they have surfaces to react on. This allows for this reaction to happen:

* ClONO2 + HCl --> HNO3 + Cl2

Reactions like this happen all through the polar winter. When the sun eventually comes up in spring. the Cl2 is released, UV light breaks it into 2 Cl atoms, the concentration of Cl skyrockets, and then the concentration of ozone plummets, leading to the ozone hole.


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

[User]
[LOTR] How many in-movie days did it take Frodo to destroy the ring?

From when Frodo left The Shire did it take days, weeks, months or even a year?

[Assistant] The timeline of the films is a bit more up in the air, but in the books, from the time the Hobbits leave Bag End to when the ring was destroyed is a little over six months. However, that's *seventeen years* after Bilbo's eleventy-first birthday party.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are the chips in debit cards a thing?

I've always heard they're "more secure" and "faster payment", but half the time the chip readers at stores I go to are down or take three times as long as just swiping. And I dont understand how it increases security?

[Assistant] When you swipe the magnetic stripe on your card, the exact same information is transmitted each time, including a static security code. If someone copies this information, they can just put it on another card and use it. The chip sends most of the same information, but instead of a static security code generates a dynamic security code. A thief can't just easily copy the same information onto a magnetic stripe either because they won't have the static code that goes on the stripe either. Without the right security code, the payment network will reject the transaction.


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

[User] ELI5, how do rice cookers know when the rice is done?

[Assistant] As the water/rice mixture is heated, that heat energy increases the temperature of the mixture until it reaches 100 C. At that point, the additional energy will convert the water to steam and the temperature will remain at 100 C. Once all the water boils away (which is when the rice is done), the energy will then start to raise the temperature of the cooked rice above 100 C. So the rice cooker just needs to sense when the temperature goes above 100 C and shut off. This is usually done with a metal strip that expands/bends as it heats, and when it reaches a temperature a little over 100 C, the metal strip bends enough to close a circuit and shut off the heat.


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

[User] [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] After Willow activates all of the potential Slayers, is it ever established (in comics, novels, etc.) how it affects future generations being chosen?

[Assistant]
SPOILERS

Don't read further if you don't want spoilers.

WARNING!

... Why are you still reading?

ok. guess you want spoilers.

Towards the end of the comic arc, various Slayers are dying in battle. As this happens, their strength goes to Buffy, making her Super~~Saiyan~~Slayer. She kills lots of bad guys this way. Eventually she's the only Slayer left, full of concentrated Slayerpowers.

Then she fucks Angel and ends all demons forever after rejecting an opportunity to play Adam and Eve and create a new reality.

Shortly thereafter, Earth-that-wascould no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many. We found a new solar system - dozens of planets and hundreds of... oh, wait, wrong franchise.


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

[User]
Why are wages earned between members of different countries only measured in how much you earn in Dollars/ Pounds/ Euros, while not accounting for the purchasing power in those countries?

This has perplexed me for a while... why do some economists or statisticians compare the salaries of certain fields only in a single currency?

I mean... if you earn $10 000 each year in South Africa, you'll be one of the top 10% of the country's earners... and you can comfortably live off $4000 per year anyway...

My question is... why compare the earnings in countries when not accounting for the Purchasing Power Parity in each country? One sixpack of beers in SA cost the same as half a beer in Europe, so in beer terms earning half as much in SA makes no difference...

[Assistant]
Well, the answer to that is, you don't, you usually take differences in purchasing power into account, unless it makes sense not to.

Could you provide some examples where you think this has been done wrong?


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

[User]
[WH40K] Would it be possible to deliberately combine Chaos gods?

So I've been putting some thought into the Chaos gods.  We know they are the impressions of dominant emotions upon the warp, and are continuously fed by these emotions.

But what happens if a large body of people, highly psychic and deliberately trying, focuses on combined emotions of two or more of these gods? By this, I mean what if a cult (and it would have to be huge, I know, as in galaxy-spanning huge) that celebrated elaborate plans to sustain perverse pleasures? Or a cult devoted to spreading a virus which causes victims to build their rage and eventually rupture in a shower of blood?

Would it be possible for this to draw a bridge in the warp between Chaos gods, and cause them to combine?

[Assistant]
Unless they are directly controlling the flow of energies in the Warp, the relative 'parts' of their efforts are going to splinter in the Warp and go to their respective patron.

If you CAN maintain the cohesion of emotion, it typically developts into a minor Warp Entity. Depending on their strength and usefulness, they are then either torn appart by their more powerful counterparts and absorbed, or left to he their own thing.

They CAN in turn absorb other entities, if they become powerful enough... A entity of Indulgent-Rage could become powerful enough to absorb both Khorne and Slaanesh, but there is no way to merge the two.


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

[User] ELI5: So there are waterfalls, right, and rivers that move downstream from higher places. My question is, how do mountains keep that much water supply for the waterfalls and rivers to continuously flow downstream? Is it possible that it all just comes from rain?

[Assistant] Yes it comes from rain, and seasonally from melting snow. You have to keep in mind that large rivers are draining rainwater from areas tends of thousands of square miles in area. Most of the continental U.S.drains into the Mississippi, for example.


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

[User]
Things to ask post-doc advisor/PI regarding offer letter?

I am currently a PhD student in my final year. I recently got an offer letter for a post-doc position in a lab that I want to join. I have been satisfied with my interactions with the PI and members of the lab. The offer letter looks great to me. The pay is competitive and the benefits are good. The position is in the US. I am really leaning towards accepting it.

Is there anything that I should ask the PI about the position, offer letter or any other administrative aspect of the position before accepting?

Is negotiation on a post-doc offer possible? If yes, how would one go about having that conversation?

[Assistant]
Does the offer letter have a fixed term or end date? Is funding secured for that term, or contingent on existing/future funding? Are you expected to bring work, or join the labs projects? Will you supervise others?

Is the PI a good and fair mentor to postdocs and students? Its easy to look cool for students, but a cool person can be a total monster as a work supervisor. How secure in their career is the PI? If theyre tenured, good. If theyre not, you can expect them to squeeze you like a juicy grape to advance their own career, quite possibly at the expense of your own. Also, untenured PIs are usually too busy to be solid mentors to fresh postdocs.


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

[User] ELI5: How come accents go away when people sing.

[Assistant]
They don't.
What you may be hearing is someone imitating a singer with a differing accent. You will note that in certain cultures you'll detect very strong accents in singing. Country music usually has a very Southern United States accent attached.
British rock music can sometimes be detected because of how it's common for British people to sometimes add an intrusive "r" sound to the end of some words.
Think *"idear"* instead of idea, or *"sawr"* instead of saw.


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

[User]
[General Sci-fi]Do planets keep two calanders?

So you set up a colony outside your sol system, its got vastly different solar calender and seasonal lengths. Maybe it switches between multiple summer and springs between each fall and winter due to a stable axis wobble.

Does it make sense to keep two calanders? A legal one so there is no debates or confusions like "they are 18" because the colony they are from takes half the time to complete a solar revolution. And a calander that follows the new planets seasons?

[Assistant]
Definitely. You would have a standardised calendar based on your home/captial/other standard world and a calendar for your own world.

The Standard would be used for bureaucracy and interplanetary dealings, and the local calendar for farmers and local day-to-day things.

Star Wars had Galactic Standard Time based off the time at the Imperial Palace back in Coruscant, and official documentation would be dated under the Coruscant calendar.


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

[User]
ELI5 why the moon is moving 1.5 inches away each year

As a layperson, Id expect that it would get closer to earth each year but Ive just seen that it is moving away. How come?

[Assistant]
It is because of the tides.

The moon is tidally locked to the Earth, but the earth isn't tidally locked to the moon.

The moon always shows the same side to the Earth, but not the other way round.

This means that the tides actually transfer some energy from earth to the moon.

The extra energy pushes the moon into a higher and higher orbit.

In theory this will continue until Earth and moon are mutually tidally locked to each other at which point the Moons orbit around Earth will decay and the moon will move closer and closer again until it gets too close, gets pulled apart by tidal forces and smeared into a ring.

However this process is all so slow that the will become a red giant and destroy the earth and the moon long before that.


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

[User] ELI5: We get Internet from ISP. From where does ISP get Internet and how?

[Assistant]
Your ISP likely gets its internet connection from another ISP. That ISP may also get its internet connection from another ISP.  ISPs are generally considered  Tier 1, 2, or 3.

Your ISP is likely what is considered a Tier 3 ISP meaning they focus on providing the last mile to internet users. They then likely connect to another much larger provider who also connects other Tier 3 providers.  This provider is generally considered a Tier 2 and then connects to a Tier 1 which are your backbone Internet providers.

Tier 1 providers don't actually pay for service. They have invested so much into their infrastructure and are so large that they enter into agreements with other Tier 1 providers to form the backbone of the internet. Tier 2 providers may blur the line between 1 and 2 and enter into similar agreements or may pay for service from a Tier 1 provider.

Edit: 1 exception to this is Comcast which blurs the line between all 3. Also ATT, Sprint, and Verizon are considered Tier 1.


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

[User]
Why do we need to cool down from a workout? (Like after running for 2 miles it's important to walk it off as opposed to sitting down right away)

Is it something to do with the lymph system?

[Assistant]
It's not overly important to walk after running 2 miles, your body will return to homeostasis shortly after you stop the activity one way or another.

For running specifically, your calves have veins in them that are capped by one-way valves that are only opened when the foot and calf flex in tandem.  The pressure from the muscle contraction drives blood from your legs back into circulation more quickly.

During workouts, lactate and other metabolites accumulate as a natural byproduct of muscular contraction.  There are hypotheses that exist that suggest these metabolites are functional for extended performance during difficult workouts (muscles work better with some lactate ion around them to facilitate contraction dynamics pre-failure).

There are others that suggest that their presence over time encourages gene transcription factors that drive adaptation to difficult exercise (junk around the muscles tells the muscles they aren't strong/enduring enough, which makes them adapt to become stronger/more enduring)

Unfortunately, lactate and metabolite accumulation can sometimes be quite painful, or if you exercise to the muscle's failure point, prevent you from continuing to challenge the muscle later in the workout.  In this case, walking will take advantage of your calves' second function of driving blood back into circulation.  This blood flow helps to clear metabolites, which alleviates pain and can allow you to return to intense exercise more quickly than otherwise.

There is some evidence to suggest that clearing metabolites too early can actually cause a smaller hypertrophic response to the same exercise.  So it's something to take into consideration if you don't have another intense set planned within the next few minutes; it could actually be advantageous to NOT walk afterward.  This would allow the muscle a greater exposure window to the generated metabolites.


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

[User] [Mcu] What's stark industries stock looking like right now?

[Assistant]
Endgame spoliers:

>!It'll take a quick hit due to its very public face being dead, but that won't last for long. Pepper has been the CEO for years now, and Tony was mostly hands-off. All of their renewable energy research is still happening, and will be even more important now that Thanos' victims have been brought back.!<


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

[User]
Is there -i ?

If i squared is -1, shouldn't -i squared be -1 as well?

[Assistant]
Yes. It is commonly said that i is "the" square root of -1, but this isn't entirely true.

In the same way that (-1)^2 = (1)^2 = 1, we also have (-i)^2 = i^2 = -1. However, it is certainly not the case that -i=i.


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

[User] Why does the hair on our heads and faces continue to grow unabated, while our body hair essentially grows to a certain length and then stops?

[Assistant] Facial hair does not actually grow forever. Every male has a terminal length of facial hair. For some it may only be a quarter inch, for others it may be many feet. But eventually, it stops and will not grow any longer.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do many tires come manufactured with hairs?

I've noticed it since I was young, but I guess I never questioned it until now -- most tires come with bits of rubber sticking off that look like tiny hairs and I'm wondering what the purpose of those hairs are.

[Assistant]
When you're injecting rubber into the mold you're going to have air that's going to need to be displaced, right? And you can't exactly purge air from every nook and cranny easily. You can keep pushing rubber in but air compresses really well so you might end up with pockets that cause deformed tires.

So instead you put little extra vents for the air to go into at regular intervals all over the mold. The air will compress within these vents instead, a little rubber will go up these little vents as well, et voila, hairs on your tires when they come out of the mold.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Been a Jedi for centuries, Yoda has, and grew up with him, many generations of younglings did. Why speak like him, they do not?

[Assistant]
Speak like that, only Yoda does mhm!
Speak like that, the other Jedi Masters do not!

Speak with same accent as one relative, you do not.  Like your parents, your accent usually is. A parent, Yoda is not.


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

[User] [Marvel] What happens to Moon Knight when there is a blood moon? Something cool has to happen, right?

[Assistant] Not really, if anything, he should become weaker. Lunar Eclipses tend to be associated with a weaker moon god since the moon is disappearing from the sky. Don't think it turning red resolves the disappearing issue for Khonshu.


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

[User] [ELI5] Why do probiotics sometimes cause diarrhea, gas, or other symptoms of IBS?

[Assistant]
Probiotics and antibiotics can both affect the amount of 'flora' (helpful bacteria) that live naturally inside your gut. Part of what those bacteria do is help digest things and create important chemicals that the body uses. Bacteria can act almost act like an organ in our body. Cows, for example need gut bacteria to be able to eat grass. We have different bacteria than cows, so we don't get the luxury of eating grass as food.

Gut bacteria unsurprisingly have some interaction with our immune system, whose favorite pastime is inflammation. Changes in flora can coincide with changes in inflammation, such that flora can ultimately decrease gut inflammation. But since the body keeps things in a delicate balance, periods of transition can be irritating.

Regarding gas, bacteria utilize a process called fermentation, which chemically results in gas bi-products (carbon dioxide, methane).

Ultimately, increasing or decreasing the amount and/or balance of natural bacteria in the gut can cause other changes in response while a balance is being achieved.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do some people's joints crack more easily than others'?

[Assistant]
Well some people just aren't as adept at rolling, perhaps they do not imbue their joints with enough durability (the roach is the weak point).

The more pertinent question is why are you bending your joint in the first place? Just smoke that shit son.


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

[User]
[Total Recall] How can i tell if i am inside a simulation?

Do i get a totem like in Inception?

[Assistant]
The best method is to test the limits of the simulation and look for things that would be the result of optimizations or rounding errors. You can either use very large distances (travel really far away from your current location, or use a telescope to look for details like variable stars) or very small ones to do this (use a microscope to look for microorganisms, use an electron microscope to look at individual atoms).

Notably, all of these methods are currently beings used by scientists to learn more about the laws of physics that govern our universe.


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

[User]
[Generic Superhero] I just gained the power to jump really high after a freak lab accident. Am I doomed to become a superhero/villain?

I have a pretty nice life, and like to think my lab work helps a lot of people already. I know "with great power comes great responsibility," but I can't really see many applications for this power. Will I be able to keep living normally if I just never use it?

EDIT: theres a guy trapped on the roof of a burning building and the fire truck wont get here in time is there any way to save him w/o using my powers PLEASE HELP

EDIT II: I was able to get him off the roof, but he was passed out and nobody else saw me. Am I a superhero now because I saved someone even though nobody's aware of it?

[Assistant]
It depends on a few things. What colors do you primarily wear? Is your first initial the same as your last? Are you parents alive and well? Does your last name rhyme with anything?

Without some of this information we can't really tell you anything concrete.


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

[User]
CMV: Hijab is not just a piece of cloth

If you look to things superficially, then sure Hijab is just a piece of cloth but why do you think everytime a Muslim woman stop wearing hijab she faces backlash from her family and other Muslims, if it's just a piece of cloth why theirs this much of pressure on women to wear it? Why women who don't wear it get shamed and pressured/encouraged to do so? Hijab is part of wider purity culture that connects women value to her clothing choice. Not to mention that young girls get indoctrinated to wear the hijab because god/allah wants this, I don't think you need to indoctrinate young children to wear a piece of cloth or else some god will be mad at them right?

[Assistant]
I think we see this in every culture. A hijab is no different than an Amish womans kapp, for example, or a nuns habit, or a Jewish womans tichel, or a Jewish mans yamulke or, a Hellenic pagans veil. Its also not always religious. A Romani woman can come from any religion, many of them Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Paganand Romani women will usually wear a diklo headscarf to cover their hair.

Why is there pressure on women to wear bras? There are literally jokes about women getting home from work and taking their bras off.

Why is there pressure to wear high heels? There are multiple jobs where that is a requirement.

How about makeup? Why do we have pressure as women to wear makeup? There are many jobs that require that. Good luck getting a job without a full face of makeup in most places.


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

[User]
CMV: The Rittenhouse verdict was correct, but self-defense laws are too broad and risk turning the US into the wild west

There was a phrase popular in the Trump era that "Facts don't care about your feelings", but the only standard for self-defense is that you "feel" your life was in danger. If two people both threaten each other, both their lives are in danger and both are privy to self-defense from one another.

National CC across state lines is a popular push for firearms enthusiasts, but it further endangers the lives of all, because anyone could be conceal carrying, and anyone could be a threat, and if someone feels they are threatened they can legally take *any action* to feel less threatened.

Do I know how to prove someone's life is actually in danger? No, I don't. But right now the law seems to be *If you live, you were right. And if you die, you were wrong.*

**Outcome View:** The law changes based on whether the jury believes the defense in each situation was reasonable. That's why it seems so broad.

[Assistant]
Self defense laws havent changed recently, yet the US hasnt turned into the Wild West. Why do you think that will change now?

People seem to assume all gun owners are psychos that want to go around killing everyone. Right now anyone could be a threat regardless of legal concealed carry. The third guy KR shot was illegally carrying a concealed gun. Legal conceal carry across state lines means that the people carrying have passed background checks to do so. Random criminals carrying guns wont change just because legal conceal carry is removed.


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

[User] ELI5: In most machines and appliances, why does an engineer choose, for example, a Philips head screw for one component but a flathead or hex for another? One would think that what matters are the specs of the screw itself rather than the head.

[Assistant]
The philips head is designed so the screwdriver slips out if you put too much torque (twisting force) on it. So you can safely screw it on full speed with an electric screwdriver, with no risk of breaking anything.

The hex bolt doesn't slip out, so it's useful if you need to screw it really, really tight, or if there is no easy access to the screw, and you can't push against the screwdriver.

The torx head (star shape) is like the hex, but allows even more torque. It doesn't slip, but you have to be really careful or use screwdriver with torque limiter.


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

[User] Is math only a human construct; that is to say, do humans discover math, or do we invent it?

[Assistant]
There are some intermediate positions here, namely that it is constructed in a non-arbitrary way due to constraints on how we experience the world.  The idea that mathematics is a way our minds structure reality is called *intuitionism*.

The most popular position in philosophy, including among philosophers of mathematics, however is that it is discovered in a more robust sense.  That is, the objects that are discussed in math exist as abstract objects.  This position is called *Platonism*.


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

[User]
Anti-electrons exist, right? Does this mean that anti-electricity, anti-electrostatic fields, and anti-magnetism also exist?

If so what would these phenomenon be like?

How would they interact with their normal counterparts and with normal matter?

[Assistant]
> Anti-electrons exist, right?

Yes, they are called positrons. They are created naturally in beta-plus radioactive decay.

> Does this mean that anti-electricity, anti-electrostatic fields, and anti-magnetism also exist?

No. Positrons have regular positive charge just like protons. When positrons move, they form a regular electric current, not an anti-electric current. A stream of positrons creates an electric current that forms electomagnetic fields exactly like a stream of any other positively charged does, such as a stream of protons. Furthermore, in terms of electric current, a steam of positive electric charges acts exactly like a stream of negative electric charges traveling in the opposite direction. Therefore, a stream of positrons going North acts exactly like a stream of electrons going South. They both create the exact same, regular electromagnetic fields.

In your mind, what is "anti-magnetism" supposed to mean? Mathematically, the opposite of a certain magnetic field is just a different magnetic field pointed in the opposite direction. It is not something exotic.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does water affect electronics in a negative way?

[Assistant] Electronic devices have energy stored in a battery that's restricted in where it can go by the location of wires.  When you add water, electric current can take other paths.  Some paths go through components that were designed to be protected from direct battery current by resistors.  When those protections are bypassed, the components can be exposed to more current than they can carry, causing permanent damage to them.


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

[User] ELI5: Is there an expiration to the memory stored in our brain? Do memories get completely "lost" if remained un-recalled for certain period of time?

[Assistant]
There is no definite answer.

When you remember something, it's much less that you are remembering the actual event, and more likely you are remembering you remembering it. Kind of like a picture of a picture. This is why you tend to remember very specific things after a long time. When remembering a party, you remember a few specific details (a person, a place, an activity) but you don't remember everything.

So it would depend on how often you remember something. And how often you remember it might destroy some details.

But aside from that, there is also Alzheimer's, a degenerative disorder where connections in the brain start to not work due to tangles and plaque build up in the brain.

As for if there is an actual limit on how long a memory is stored before the brain says "he doesn't need this anymore, chuck it". We don't know.

There are many elderly people who can remember their childhood with great detail. Leading to a conclusion of "no", but at the same time, they might remember these memories often, and therefore keep bringing them back up to the top of the pile.


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

[User]
ELI5: how does saline mix (salt and water) helps with healing sores such as wisdom tooth extractions or episiotomy?

I have had wisdom tooth extraction, navel piercing and episiotomy. In all instances my doctor/administrators said to soak the area with a saline mix. What's the benifit of doing that?

[Assistant]
At the cellular level, concentration gradients are critical for cellular function. Saline is isotonic with human blood, meaning that it has roughly the same concentration of salt and water in solution as blood does- so there is effectively no difference between the two.

This means saline doesn't disrupt those concentration gradients by sucking water or electrolytes out of your cells or forcing them in. This is great for wound irrigation, since you can wash away dirt and bacteria without damaging your cells as they heal.


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

[User]
ELI5: if technology and medicine is so advanced, why is childbirth still extremely painful?

of course it has gotten better than it was in the past, and expecting people are provided with the most comfort they can get. but why is it so painful like why can't they just numb the body in a way that doesn't interfere with the baby. in the future can it ever be painless?

[Assistant] Epidural exists and is in use. Every anesthetic use increases the risk of procedure; and you cant have natural birth if fully put under. The pain exists wellbecause we evolved walking upright which narrowed human pelvis, and our brains are almost too big for it; so human babies get born much earlier than other primate babies because if they were any more developed, the birth would become even more hazardous and deadly. So were contending with our anatomy not being great for giving birth.


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

[User] ELI5 How did they marinate meat before the refrigerator became widely available? Are all the recipes with marinated meat post refrigerator?

[Assistant]
There were ice boxes and cold rooms. So it was still possible. They would also primarily season meats during the curing process to preserve them. If the meat was consumed fairly quickly the primary concern was preservation via salting/smoking/whathaveyou.

Keep in mind that food doesn't go bad quite as fast as we think of today, but its much safer to consider it that way. You can have raw meat at room temp for a decent period of time before it becomes really dangerous. Also, death from disease caught from eating contaminated food wasn't exactly uncommon either. Before modern microbiology food had to be noticeably off to our sense before people would consider it bad.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do people need to vote if only the delegates' votes matter in the end?

I'm not exactly sure of how the election process works, but I hear everywhere that the votes of delegates matter in the end and not the people.

[Assistant]
Primaries are run by the parties, not by any formal government process. They are used to determine the best candidates to elect to run for their party in the general election. There's no legal requirement to do it this way and many people run in the general election who never went through a primary.

It's worth noting that the American system for electing a president is not a direct vote either. The system is a representative system when a smaller body of people vote as representative of the broader populace. That's the electoral college. You directly vote for congress, indirectly vote for the president, and representatively appoint Supreme Court justices via the President. It's all intentionally different.


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

[User]
[Frozen & Marvel] is Elsa an Omega level mutant?

She can do so much, including creating sentient life.  And as of Frozen 2 she apparently has access to all of the world's memories. She's incredibly OP and may even have more powers that we haven't seen. I know Iceman can do pretty much what she can do, and he's considered Omega level.

[Assistant] Iceman is way more powerful than Elsa and has no known limit. To be an omega level mutant, your power has to either be limitless or the most powerful of any other mutations with that same power. Elsa's powers very clearly have limits, and she's not more powerful than Iceman, so she isn't an omega level mutant.


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

[User] ELI5: If the US unemployment rate is less than 10%, why do i keep hearing that every job posting gets hundreds of applicants?

[Assistant] Unemployment rates are only one metric and it doesn't paint the full picture.  For example, it doesn't take into consideration underemployment.  If you've got an electrical engineering degree and are waiting tables you are underemployed; if a job posting comes up that pays better and can take advantage of your skills you will apply for it even if you are currently employed.


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

[User]
ELI5: From a movie business standpoint, what exactly are the repercussions when a film "bombs at the box office"?

Whether it's due to bad reviews, people not just showing up to watch, or other factors, what happens afterwards behind the scenes when a film tanks?

[Assistant]
By the time a movie appears in theaters, almost all the money has already been spent.  Poor performance would lead to cutting future advertising, but that's a small figure.  If it doesn't make enough, then the investors lose money.

The business impact is that future movie decisions will be colored by "{Title} bombed at the box office".  Ideas get pitched, like a DC comics universe parallel to the MCU, and then get shelved when a movie does poorly.  Ideas that seemed unlikely, like a Venom movie family, get green-lit when a movie over performs.  Both of these effects are business effects, as investors use past performance to gauge future risk.

Sayings like "Get woke, go broke" are coined to label patterns in this profit landscape, and directly impact future investment decisions.


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

[User]
[Fate GO/Fate series] Given that the older a hero/heroine the stronger they get, how strong would the Caveman who first discovered how to make Fire be?

He is the first Wizard if you look at things since fire would have been magical at prehistoric times.

[Assistant] Its not that they are stronger cause they are older, they are stronger because the legend is stronger. Older legends have been around for longer, and only the strongest of them remain. Think of how many people have hear the legend of a dude 50 years ago, vs how many have heard the legend of a guy that died 500 years ago. Many many more people have heard and told the legend of the older hero. Its not the age, its the legend. The guy who first discovered fire is not that legendary, and isn't remembered by anyone.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does the "shuffle" feature on my iPod work?

Sometimes I get chunks of songs from the same artists or same albums too.  Does this have something to do with how the shuffle works?

[Assistant]
If it's actually shuffle, it should just be random. However, just because it's random doesn't mean you won't get chunks of songs from the same artists/albums. Actually it means the opposite.

I won't go into the math behind this, but statisticians sometimes do what's called a runs test to figure out if a set of data is random or not. Take for example a situation where someone claims to have flipped a coin 100 times, and wrote down the results. If he didn't flip the same side twice in a row anywhere in those 100 times, it's likely he's lying and just wrote down the numbers systematically, without flipping any coin. It's just as likely as if he had written down 50 heads in a row, then 50 tails.

The same holds true for the shuffle feature on an iPod. Getting the same artist several times in a row every so often is actually evidence that it *is* truly random.

Now, one more point, something called confirmation bias. It might seem like you get the same artist a lot more often than you should, but this is because that's what's called an event, while when it works properly it's a non-event, because that's just normal operation. The human brain is wired to recognize and distinctly remember events, while non-events aren't even noticed, let alone remembered. For this reason, even if the runs only happen a few times a week, you might say it happens "constantly" or "all the time", even though it obviously doesn't.


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

[User] What is the absolute fastest that sound can travel, and in what medium can it obtain that speed?

[Assistant] It is generally thought that the upper limit on the speed of sound is 57% the speed of light, which is the speed that sound waves travelled through the primordial plasma of the universe leading to baryon acoustic oscillations. However it may be the case that inside neutron stars there is sound faster than this.