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

[User] ELI5 why is the lowest button hole on a dress shirt horizontal, while all the others are vertical?

[Assistant]
Out bodies tend to twist when we walk, even moreso down near the waist, where that bottom button is.  A horizontal button hole is able to handle more stress from that twisting motion, and since it's (usually) hidden inside pants anyway, it is made horizontal, so that the button is less likely to break off.

The rest of the button slits are vertical, because they simple end up looking better.  Despite all of that twisting motion of our bodies, the buttons always end up generally centered over the slits, rather than always sliding to one side or the other and looking "off."  Also, it's generally easier to fasten buttons in vertical holes.


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

[User]
If I put my hands together from the moment I was born and held them there until I was an adult, would they fuse together and become inseparable??

If I didn't separate my hands even ONCE while growing up, or had them stitched together, would they kind of grow together into one, like two trees that are planted too close to eachother?

[Assistant] Assuming it is physically possible to not have any separation just by pushing your hands together, yes, it most certainly is possible for them to fuse together given enough time. Heck, there was a lady that didn't get off her couch for several years and had to be surgically removed from it after her body started fusing to it..a *couch*.


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

[User] Disregarding big leaks, what is the main mechanisms for tires to lose pressure over time? Is it the valve? Or does air permeate through the rubber?

[Assistant] The air permeates through the rubber. Permeability is a property of solids, and it can vary depending on the liquid/gas it's interacting with. Oxygen permeates through rubber faster than nitrogen, which is why you sometimes see garages offering nitrogen inflation, because 100% nitrogen will stay inflated longer than 80% N2 and 20% O2.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do software installation or updates always go very fast up to 90% complete, then the last 5-10% takes so much longer?

[Assistant]
You shouldn't really listen to anyone here. The answer is that it's implementation dependent. Maybe the engineer wrote it so that there are four steps of 25% each. Copying files is maybe step 1 and is super fast. Step 2 is a big database operation and is slow... etc.
Maybe the steps are totally fake. Maybe there is a simple timer that moves the progress up 10% every second until 99% where the last percent is actually dependent on something.

Its completely unique to the person who programmed it or a commonly used installation software.


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

[User]
[General] Are there any super-powered beings who don't wish to fight crime nor commit crime?

Like, say someone who gets powers, but chooses not to be a hero or a villain, and if their powers are used at all, it's only for mundane, everyday tasks.

[Assistant]
The Marvel universe has millions of mutants, most of whom are just living their lives as best they can in a world that hates and fears them.

Of course, when the government makes it a crime to be a mutant, not committing crime becomes a lot harder.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is "Z" called "Zee" in America and "Zed" in the rest of the English speaking countries?

It is the same letter and used the same everywhere, but we call it by a different name. Why did this happen to only one letter?

[Assistant]
Different manners of speaking are natural in a language, England is home to a great many dialects, which were exported to the Americas. It happened to be that some forms of speaking prevailed in each place as English came to be more standardized, and these often differ between North America (and between regions in North America) and England. For example, although "diaper" is universally used in America over the English "nappy," the word "diaper" was first used as such in England. The non-American colonies, having close ties to the United Kingdom for much longer than the U.S., tended to emulate the U.K. speaking habits, which is why their national varieties don't differ quite so much as American and British English do.

In this particular case, we know that "zee" is first known from the 1670s, but it may have been in use earlier. It likely comes from the way the letter is pronounced in many words, whereas "zed" comes from the French name "zede."

It's worth noting there is no objectively correct way to pronounce words, and there is particularly no standardization for letters.


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

[User] [Marvel] Wakanda is said to be rich because of its supply of vibranium. Why doesn't it suffer from the "resource curse"?

[Assistant]
Mainly, Wakanda only recently began exploiting the potential of vibranium for export and technological development. Before that happened, King T'Chaka was wise and researched economic trends and had his son, Prince T'Challa attend prestigious foreign universities so that he would be able to properly lead his nation to success in the modern day.

The answer was diversification and investment in education. The initial funds from their first vibranium sales were put into raising an entire generation of Wakandans to excel academically, creating tech experts and artisans that are competitive with other nations. The actual sale of Vibranium is less of a factor in the Wakandan economy than most expect, as they heavily regulate the sale and mining of the precious metal. Instead, Wakanda has used the vibranium as the basis to start industries and businesses that are competitive in other fields. The Quinjets used by the Avengers are in fact designed and produced by Wakandan firms, beating a proposal by Stark.

This diversification allowed them to avoid the economic troubles that many of Wakanda's neighbors have run into.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why build a Death Star from scratch instead of hollowing out an actual moon/asteroid and placing all the necessary equipment inside?

Why bother building your own metallic superstructure when you can just hollow out an existing moon or asteroid?

[Assistant]
The long and short of it is that naturally-occurring rock isn't strong enough for what they needed the Death Star to do.

Durasteel (the material from which both Death Stars were constructed) is highly resistant to blaster fire even when it's not shielded and can better withstand the immense forces of moving through hyperspace. Non-synthesized materials would be more likely to fall apart under a terrorist bombing run or if they needed to relocate the Death Star to another system.

With the massive amount of digging that would be required to give this hypothetical moon a new "skeleton" and enough mounting points for a synthesized hull in addition to all the internal architecture necessary for that scale of a military base, it's actually not that much harder to just build the structure they need from scratch. Besides, with the entire station constructed from synthesized materials, there's much less chance of any of the internal levels collapsing, in addition to many other benefits.


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

[User] [ The Incredibles ] How fast is Dash? Whats his top speed? Can he be compared to sonic?

[Assistant]
IIRC he was able to put a pin on a teacher's desk while on camera, and not get caught by the camera.  That means he was able to cover something like 10 meters of distance in a single frame, which is maybe a tenth of a second of a low quality security camera.

That's a minimum speed of 230 miles per hour, with instantaneous acceleration and deceleration.


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

[User] ELI5: How do gas station pumps know when to stop?

[Assistant]
Taken straight from Wikipedia - "Most modern pumps have an auto cut-off feature that stops the flow when the tank is full. This is done with a second tube, the sensing tube, that runs from just inside the mouth of the nozzle up to a Venturi pump in the pump handle. A mechanical valve in the pump handle detects this change of pressure and closes, preventing the flow of fuel."

I think that's a fairly basic explanation.. Unless someone else wants to take a crack at simplifying it further.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is the 4 X 100m world record time less than 4 times the individual 100m world record?

The world record for 100m is 9.58sec. Which, I assume, means this is the fastest recorded time a person a has run a 100m distance.

With that line of thought, you'd assume that the 4X100m would be at most as fast as the 100m record which would imply a minimum time of at least 4 X 9.58, which is 38.32 sec. However, the world record for the 4 X 100m is 36.84sec which would mean an average of 9.21sec per 100m, which is way faster than the 100m record. How is this explained?

[Assistant]
The 4x is a relay. You have 4 different people running each lap. They carry a baton, run their 100 m then hand it off. However, when they hand it off the other person can be moving. If you watch the person taking the baton will start running with the person handing it off. Their 100 m doesn't start until the baton is handed off.

What this all means is that only the first runner in the relay has to speed up. The other runners start their 100 m already running at or near full speed. This cuts down on the time.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do animals in eggs know when to hatch?

The egg doesn't just dissolve, they actively break out. But why? Is it just their size in relation to the egg? Hormones? Something external to the egg?

[Assistant]
Genetic programming.

Remember how you latched onto your mom's boob for your first meal? OF COURSE NOT. But you did, because it was genetically programmed that you had an instinctual latching-on process to get that milk into you (or, alternately, from a bottle if you weren't breast fed).

Animals are the same. They bust out of the egg when their genetics tells them it's time to based on their level of development, whether or not they have a yolk sac still attached (like many fish do) or they're pretty much 100% complete and ready to go.


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

[User]
Stupid question, but I'd still like to know the answer: Why doesn't the pancreas digest itself?

So, we're meat-eaters (vegetarians and vegans excluded), and we're made out of meat, so why don't we digest ourselves? For instance, the pancreas is the body's factory for manufacturing digestive juices. If I eat a pancreas (most vertebrates have one), my pancreas will secrete digestive juices to digest the pancreas I've eaten while my own pancreas stays safe. How does that work? It's kind of like the logical paradox, "If you invent an acid that will dissolve anything, what do you make its container out of?"

[Assistant]
Several of the enzymes the are released from the pancreas are secreted in an inactive form. i.e. Trypsin is released as the inactive trypsinogen. Trypsinogen is activated by being cleaved by the enzyme enterokinase, which is present in the duodenum.

edit: stupid iphone autocorrect...


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are trailer tractors so boxy and non-aerodynamic?

So, first of all, there's a shape difference between tractors in Europe and the ones in the US. EU ones are pretty much a flat surface slamming against the wind at 100+km/h. US tractors have a front mounted engine, which gives them a seemingly more aerodynamic shape. However, when brought together together in the same plane, the engine and the windshield have roughly about the same surface area, with both surfaces being mostly flat. I don't know if the US trucks are more aerodynamic or not, so some input on this would be nice, as well.

The overall question, however, remains: how come aerodynamics doesn't play a role in truck development? Considering the fuel costs, the large front surface area and the speed they cruise at, you'd think aerodynamics would be something truck manufacturers should be all over.

[Assistant] EU tractors generally have their passenger cabins mounted on top of the engine instead of having the engine be in front of the cab. This makes the tractor look much boxier than American styles but it also makes them shorter. Being shorter is much more important in Europe because many cities have small roads with tight corners that aren't as common as in America.


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

[User] [King of the Hill]did Hank vote for Trump last year?

[Assistant]
No.

Hank Hill had second thoughts about George W. Bush because of his weak handshake. The second Bobby shows him the Trump "grab 'em by the pussy" tape, Bobby would be grounded and Hank would go looking for another candidate.

He learned to accept a woman as his minister, he can learn to accept a woman as his President. He also might vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson. But there is no way that Hank could vote for Trump after being so obviously lacking in decency. Plus, Trump likes his steak well-done, which Hank finds to be an abomination.


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

[User] ELI5: How do musicians know that a certain radio station is playing their music and consequently, collect royalties? Or how do even royalties work?

[Assistant] A musician or song writer would usually sign up with a royalty collection society, such as PRS in the UK. When they join the society they register their works, so long as they are the songwriters, performer on the recorded work or are a publisher of the work. The collection society will then collect the royalties on their behalf. A radio station will submit what they have played over a certain period of time to the collection society who will work out how many plays the song had. The radio station pays a license fee to the collection society for the use of copyright music on the station and the royalties for the artists will be taken from this license fee and distributed to the musician, performer, publisher or copyright holder depending on plays.


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

[User] [Pokemon] how do single sex species breed in the wild? How do Tauros, etc, maintain their population?

[Assistant]
Tauros is the *only* pokemon without a female counterpart.  This is because their female counterpart went extinct recently.

This would have been a massive problem, but for the fact that a few remaining Tauros existed until Ditto was ~~created in a lab accident~~ discovered just outside of a secret pokemon research facility.  Very fortunate.


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

[User]
[Dragon Ball] what do Energy attacks feel like when you use it and when you get hit by one?

Whenever we see Goku does a kamehameha, Vegeta does a final flash, and Ten shinhan does a Tri beam, what does it feel like when they release that attack?

And what does it feel like from the receiving end? Like when Cell got by the Neo Tri beam, or when he got hit by the Final Flash.

[Assistant]
It likely burns, like superheated plasma. Anyone strong enough to use ki attacks also uses ki to protect themselves from damage, so when this ki barrier is strong enough to keep the attack from harming them it just feels like a strong force hitting you.

Thats why sometimes people are simply pushed away by blasts (like when trunks blasted vegeta miles away when fighting semi-perfect cell, or when Tien is keeping Cell held down with Neo tribeam)

When the blast is too strong or your remaining ki is too weak, the blast burns through you, like Friezas precision beams or Cell being disintegrated by Gohan.


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

[User]
Do humans inherit their voices, or is our voice a "learned" skill?

I got to thinking about how some people in families sound similar, not accent, but tone, range, etc. Then I wondered if its a genetic component to how the vocal chords and diaphragm develop, or maybe its a learned behavior/skill from listening to adults as kids, and imitating those voices.

Thoughts?

[Assistant]
Individual family members share similar physical qualities, such as size and shape of the nose for example (*"she has her father's nose"*) so the sounds produced by the vocal folds resonate in a similar manner through the sinuses/skull/nose/mouth, so in some regards, the way a person sounds can be considered inherited.

Speech patterns/colloquialisms/language/dialects/accents are learned behaviors.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why can't we divide by zero?

If mathematicians invented the imaginary number system to make it possible to find the square root of a negative number, why haven't they figured out something similar for dividing by zero?

[Assistant] Think of division as putting something into groups.  If we have 10 blocks, and we divide them into 5 groups, there are 2 blocks in each group.  If we wanted to do 10 / 0, that would be taking 10 blocks and putting them into zero groups.


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

[User] [Fallout] If there was no minimization of computers then why are there robots?

[Assistant] All the robots in Fallout are ugly chunky things. A modern smartphone has far more power than necessary to run a simple robot, so an upscaled computer with the same processing power would do just fine if stuffed into the spacious carapace of a robot.


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

[User]
What does Wittgenstein mean by this quote?

"Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present.

[Assistant]
It's initially a bit unclear what the two sentences have to do with each other. It helps to read them in the surrounding context of *TLP*. They are the first two sentences of 6.4311.

> 6.431 So too at death the world does not alter, but comes to an end.

> 6.4311 *Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death.
If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present.*
Our life has no end in just the way in which our visual field has no limits.

Death isn't the sort of thing we can experience, just like we can't see the limits of our visual field. We might relate this to the central theme of the *Tractatus*, that the limits of language/the limits of the expression of thought can't be expressed.

If eternity means timelessness, and eternal life is living in the present, then living in the present is a sort of timelessness. Connecting this with the first sentence of your quote, living to experience death is a way of not living in the present.

I don't think the second sentence is trying to explain the relation in the first sentence between life and death. He's instead making a point about the metaphysical and theological conception of life after death. (About why "this assumption completely fails to accomplish the purpose for which it has always been intended." 6.4312) The eternal life that some philosophers attempted to prove by arguing for the immortality of the soul (and thereby the world) after death is fundamentally misguided. Eternal life doesn't consist in the soul existing past death; it consists in living in the present.

We are thus misguided when we think that death is an event in the world, or that "the world alters" (6.431) at death. The world comes to an end at death. If recognizing this point is connected the possibility of eternal life, one achievable by living in the present, then this brings out why it's so important to understand his point in 6.431 that the world comes to an end at death (as well as this point's connection to 6.43 and his larger discussion of the "happy man").


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

[User] ELI5: Why is some produce like avocados and limes sold by the count instead of by weight?

[Assistant]
They are very similar sized. This takes the guesswork out of the purchase as the customer knows their total commitment before they have it weighed. That encourages more purchases.

Items that have more of a variance in weight would be scrounged though for the heavy ones. Its a good idea to discourage people scrounging, not because they take all the large fruit but mainly because they damage the leavings.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can South Korea make it illegal for its citizens to smoke weed outside of South Korea?

EDIT: My question isn't "how can they make such a law how dare they", it's more "how is it enforceable in any way".

[Assistant]
They make a law saying they can't smoke weed outside of South Korea, and then they punish the offender upon their return.

FWIW, this is called extraterritorial jurisdiction, and many countries have it.  Most often it is used for things like piracy or terrorism, although sometimes you see it used for other things like sex tourism.  The intent is that if something is illegal, you shouldn't be able to get away with it just because you stepped over an imaginary line on the ground.  Whether these ideas can effectively be enforced is another matter entirely.


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

[User]
Why does Sagittarius A* have the * in it's title?

Always wondered why the \* appears in the title. Whenever I see it I keep searching for a footnote at the bottom of the article!

[Assistant] Sagittarius A was discovered as a radio source in 1931. It was later discovered that Sgr A is itself comprised of multiple components. The bright and compact central component was named Sagittarius A*, there's also Sgr A East which appears to be an unusually large supernova remnant and Sgr A West which may be associated with material moving towards the black hole.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why does light instantly disappear and not linger.

We all know that light are like small waves or particles in a stream, so if I were to turn off the lights in a room, why do they all suddenly disappear and make the room dark instantly instead of the room going darker and darker until it's pitch black?

Like a fade from light to dark. Is it happening so quick that we can't see it or is my understanding of this wrong.

Edit: sorry if this is kinda long winded.

Edit 2: Thank you to all the replies. I now understand why, seems as though it IS too quick of a process to be seen by naked eye  :)

[Assistant] Cause you don't really see the light itself, you see what light reflects off of.  That, and the fact that light is pretty much the fastest moving thing in the universe.  Cut the source of light and it appears to be instantly gone but there really would be a period that light phases out, it's just the transition is too fast to be detected by our eyes.


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

[User]
[Fantasic Beasts/Harry Potter] Why does Newt still have a wand? He was expelled!

Why does Newt Scamanger still have a wand when he was expelled from Hogwarts? Shouldn't his wand have been broken?

Also, in the book Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, it also says that he graduated from Hogwarts. What gives? Why would he lie in that book?

[Assistant]
Maybe snapping the wand is a newer thing, it may not have been a traditional punishment back in the day.  Standards may have been a little different back then.  Or maybe he bought a new one, the rules on that aren't exactly clear.

It's also possible that Hagrid wasn't the typical case.  His want was snapped when he was expelled, but he was expelled under suspicion of unleashing the Basilisk, what we'd consider manslaughter basically.  Maybe his wand was snapped because of that, but he equates it with being expelled because it was at the same time (or because they didn't explain manslaughter to a 13 year old)


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

[User] ELI5: If banks currently make transactions digitally, what prevents hackers from creating counterfeit digital currency? In other words how are banks kept accountable for the amount of money they actually have?

[Assistant]
Banks *owe* the amount of money that's in each account  the depositors are free to withdraw it. So they have every incentive to prevent someone fraudulently raising the balance.

In addition to normal computer security they use *audit trails*  complete records of every deposit and where it came from  so that you can't just raise a balance without having a deposit.


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

[User]
ELI5: What makes a cloud a very bright white or turn gray?

I was just looking up at the sky and I saw 2 big fluffy clouds right next to each other. One was a very bright white and the one right next to it was a solid grey color. What makes the difference in color? Please ELI5 cause my English is not that good. Thanks a lot.

[Assistant] Very simple. If you take a ball of cotton and pull it apart a little, it will let through alot more light. If you hold it in front of a light, you will see it appears very white. But if you put it in your hand and squeeze it together, it will be much more compact. This means that less light is let through, and it will appear much darker.


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

[User]
What sort of moral example does superman set anyway?

I mean Luthor is a nobel laureate, olympian, ex-president; he's the obvious example to follow.

[Assistant] Which is why the vast majority of people are unaware of Luthor and Superman's rivalry. Luthor is regarded something like our Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, the idea of him secretly attempting to take over the world and fighting superheroes would be ridiculous to the average citizen.


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

[User] [Marvel/DC] If it was possible to create a Lantern Corps based around each of the different Infinity Gems what would they be like and who would use them?

[Assistant]
Power Gem - enhances strength, durability and has energy powers-- given to those who come from weak backgrounds, deep with insecurities, those who want power for control or to never have fear. Given to? Legionnaires: Bruce Banner, Cain Marko, Jessica Jones.

Time Gem - Time Travel, slow or accelerate time, clairvoyance; draw to people too obsessed to live in the present moment, those prone to distraction by the past or future. Legionnaires: Drax the Destroyer, Cable, Steve Rogers.

Space Gem - Teleportation. Drawn to outsiders, those who feel they fit no place; wanderers. Legionnaires: Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner, Logan Hewlett, Amadeous Cho.

Soul Gem - Omniscience for souls, ability to steal souls; given to the spiritual and spiritually tormented. Legionnaires: Johnny Blaze, Doctor Strange, Frank Castle, Matt Murdock, Adam Warlock.

Reality Gem - Reality alteration. Given to the mad and the utterly sane- those who live in their own realities and those with deep understanding of reality itself, as a counter balance. Legionnaires: Scarlet Witch, Reed Richards. Science and humanities, madness and super sanity, objective remove and subjective passion- there can only be two wielders, as any less would leave one in control of reality and any more would destroy it in the resultant confusion.

Mind Gem - Telekinesis, telepathy, with limitless power. Drawn to empaths. Legionnaires: Charles Xavier, Jean Grey.


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

[User]
Can a black hole support a solar system?

Lets assume that the black hole had the same mass as our sun, and was "somehow" suddenly swapped in place of our sun.

Given the same mass, would the gravity, and thus the stability of the solar system remain the same?

And as a fun aside, would it be at all possible for this new solar system to support any type of life?

[Assistant]
So, unless you're really close to the black hole, it still acts exactly like a classic newtonian source of gravity, which means that the gravity only depends on mass and distance, and you don't really need to worry about time dilation or anything like that. So if you replaced the Sun with a black hole of the same mass, everything would continue in its orbit just like it did before. General Relativity would have a small effect on the orbit of Mercury, but that's exactly what it already does with the Sun's gravity. You'd have to be well *inside* the radius of the real Sun to really notice the effects of the black hole as unusual.

Of course, it wouldn't give out any light and heat, so it's unlikely you'd have any liquid water to support life. Often black holes have superhot accretion discs that produce a lot of light, but for stellar-mass black holes these give off a lot of very high-energy radiation that would be pretty hostile for life.


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

[User] ELI5: How to recycling companies filter out any organic or unsafe residue from recycled items?

[Assistant]
Plastic and metals are melted, plastic are typically not reused for food packaging anymore anyway.

Glass bottles that are reused go through vigorous scrubbing with extremely hot water and detergent, and since glass is nonporous there won't be anything left after it's cleaned.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do vegetables with antimicrobial properties, such as onions or garlic, go bad after some time? Shouldn't their antimicrobial property prevent digestion by microorganisms?

[Assistant]
Well they arent purely antimicrobial. They have those properties but they are still a vegetable prone to organic decomposition.

You are a human with waterproof properties (i.e your skin) but that doesnt prevent your hair getting wet.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is there always a seemingly ready and plentiful supply of sperm

If sperm cells take over two months to mature, why can someone masturbate multiple times a day consistently without running out of sperm?

[Assistant]
Because men make several million sperm cells per day, and there are always sperm cells in various stages of production. It's not like after an ejaculation you need 2 months to make more. Today, you (if you have testicles) will finish making, let's say 30 million sperm cells. There are also 30 million more sperm cells at "99%" that will be ready tomorrow, 30 million more at  98% that will be ready the following day...etc. You also have a bunch of surplus sperm cells ,so you have multiple rounds in the chamber, so to speak.

Also, it's important to note that sperm is not the same is semen, sperm is a component of semen. Semen is almost entirely fluids from your seminal vesicles and prostate gland. An ejaculation with 50 million sperm cells is identical to one without except under a microscope. That's why men who have had vasectomies or men who are infertile can still ejaculate.

Fun extra fact: The reason testicles are external and not inside the body is because the ideal temperature for sperm production is a few degrees cooler than our core body temperature. Keeping the testicles in an external sac keeps them cooler for optimal sperm production. That's also why the scrotum can tighten and sag. If it's too cold, your scrotum will contract to bring your testicles closer to your body to keep them warm. Too warm, and it'll relax and let them hang low away from your excess body heat.


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

[User]
ELI5:how old ships could see each other at night

how old ships could see each other at night?

[Assistant] Like today ships were required to have lanterns with different colors around the ship to allow nearby ships to see them better. Ships also used lookouts who were not exposed to light so they are accustomed to the dark and can see objects using the stars and moon as lighting. Also a lantern would stick out quite much in a dark environment.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] How are wizard deaths recorded in the muggle world?

Wizards born into the muggle world would have a muggle passport and muggle birth records so to the muggles they exist (but obviously arent known to be wizards). When they die by magical means, how is this then relayed to muggles so they can be officially pronounced dead on record?

[Assistant] This is likely part of the role of the Muggle Liason Office in the Ministry of Magic. They would likely have a team whose job it is to show up, modify some memories, maybe fake a bit of paperwork (or leave it to the Muggles who have modified memories), and then check back in every so often to make sure no one is asking too many questions. However this would be for low-level stuff that is too magical to stay out of but not magical/problematic enough to he handled by the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.


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

[User] ELI5: How do people determine how fires start? Wouldn't all the evidence of the cause of the fire be destroyed in the fire?

[Assistant]
If you use a chemical, something that burns easily (an "accelerant"), like gasoline or acetone or something like that, it can leave behind traces in the remains of whatever was burned, like in the soot or charred remains. Those remains can be analysed in the lab and traces of accelerants discovered that way.

Also, fires that are deliberately lit can be distinguished  by their starting place. For instance it might be quite suspicious if a warehouse fire started in all four corners of the warehouse simultaneously. You can determine where a fire started by looking at the damage it did, for instance Light bulbs tend to melt toward the heat source, so the "direction of melt" can indicate the direction the fire took.

As for the cause of an accidental fire, electrical problems are the most common cause. By examining a cord, or a fusebox, or an electric outlet, an expert can usually determine whether it was burned BY the fire, or was the SOURCE of the fire. Consider an electric outlet. The metal parts, for instance, probably don't burn but are charred, the plastic parts may melt from the heat, and the pattern of charring and melting can indicate whether the fire started inside the outlet or outside. The way the copper wiring melted or "splattered" could indicate an overheated circuit or an electrical short.


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

[User]
How do anxiety disorders affect our brains on a neuro level?

I wanted to know what happens inside our brains when we feel anxious for long periods of time.

Does it damage our brain or is it more like a passing headache?

[Assistant]
Well, for one, your amygdala grows larger.
The bigger it gets the more sensitive it gets and sends more signals to the hypothalamus for a flight/fight response. Even when there's no real threat, you're constantly under pressure to defend yourself or get away.


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

[User]
ELI5: why are phone speakers still terrible, despite other parts of phones becoming better and better with time?

The speakers you get on phones still sound like shit, but the tiny camera or tiny fingerprint reader is really good. Why is this?

[Assistant]
When it comes to speakers, size and power are the easiest way to get great sound.

Phone speakers are actually incredibly amazing feats of engineering when you consider how tiny they are and how little power they use.


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

[User]
What guides actions or decisions in moral error theory?

If anything is neither right nor wrong, then why should one action be chosen over the other? Error theory seems pretty plausible but also very destructive because of this. Is there just nothing that guides towards an action? In a decision if there's multiple options, none of which right or wrong, then what makes the deciding factor? Can a decision be made?

[Assistant] The vast majority of moral error theorists believe that there are normative facts, and so they think that what counts in favor of doing one thing or another is that we have reason to do one this or another. And when we have the most reason to do one thing rather than another thing, we ought to do that thing, or are obligated by practical rationality to do that thing.


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

[User]
When the sun "bleaches" a pigment, where does it go?

Does some portion of the pigment evaporate? Is it a chemical change in the molecules to reflect more white light?

[Assistant] It's a chemical change. Photobleaching occurs when the energy imparted by light breaks chemical bonds in the pigment molecules, turning them into other molecules that reflect different portions of the spectrum. This can happen with any light source, not just the sun, provided it imparts enough energy (which is dependent both on intensity and wavelength).


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

[User] ELI5: Why does water seem so cold in my mouth while i chew gum?

[Assistant]
When you have "cool" water (say, 10C or 50F) in your mouth, it is draining heat out of your body at a certain rate. If you have ice water in your mouth (0C or 32F), it is draining heat out of your body much faster.

Menthol (what makes things smell minty) is an irritant that increases blood flow. More blood flow means a faster exchange of heat. So the cool water is now draining heat out of you much faster, and your brain interprets that as meaning that you've actually got ice water in your mouth.


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

[User] eli5: During an extreme sitatuation (Country dissolves while on seas) What happens if a Vessels flag nation becomes invalid? Is there a merchant flag used in these types of sitatuations?

[Assistant]
If your country of registry ceases to exist while you are at sea, you are now a stateless vessel until you register with another country

As a stateless vessel you are subject to all countries laws and can be boarded by any country.


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

[User]
cmv: We should still do social events, even if they are not accessible to everyone.

Bottom Line Up Front:
If it isnt accessible to everyone, it isnt accessible to anyone. is a really good tagline, and a really good idealistic goal, but the fact that something isnt accessible to everyone shouldnt stop us from doing things.

Context: I tend to be at the table, or at least in the room, for event planninga lot.  Usually I either started the thing because it was an event i was looking for and it didnt exist (I.e. local gaming group or celebration) or something someone felt I could help with (I.e. planning a local parade or community party).

I believe I understand that how these things are setup or run can be exclusive.  For example when we setup our local gaming group we eliminated game shops where the game room was only accessible via stairs.  We found places that have elevators or game rooms on a main floor.

What I struggle with is the idea that we shouldnt even have these in-person gaming events because we dont have an audio-visual system setup to allow people who (tragically) are home-bound to attend virtuallyand we dont have spaces set aside for folks who have sensory issuesand we dont have an ASL interpreter for folks who cant hearand a narrator for folks who cant see

I would LOVE to be able to ensure everyone can take full enjoyment and participation at every event Im a part of, but that simply isnt within my capabilities.  Many people, from experts to everyday people are saying we shouldnt do it at all, because if it isnt accessible to everyone, it isnt accessible to anyone.

Obviously it IS accessible to some folks, but I fully admit it isnt fair or equitable.

But what is the solution?

This feels like a false dichotomy:
Since not everyone can go to game night, nobody should go to game night.
Since not everyone can hike, nobody should join hiking clubs.
Since not everyone is comfortable around animals, nobody should have pets.

Obviously there are differing levels of ridiculous and understandable points here.

For example, I do think tax money should not be spent directly on things that arent able to be enjoyed by a majority of the taxpayers (e.g. if a city builds a stadium, they should make sure it is accessible; if a township wants to host a picnic, they should make sure the members of their township are able to attend).

I feel like Im missing something and I REALLY want to understand where reality meets ideology.  I would absolutely love to have a game night where everyone can participatebut I dont have that abilityshould I really NOT do any game nights at all?  I dont think thats reasonable.

[Assistant]
Tax funded events should certainly be accessible to everyone who helped pay those taxes.
If you contributed, you should be allowed to participate.

For personal events that aren't tax funded, do what you conveniently can. If you want to set up a game night because there isn't one locally, DO IT. Doesn't matter if it's accessible to everyone.

Accessibility is nice, but should only be required for people who contributed imo.

If a bunch of people pull money from their own pockets to set up a game night, you cannot expect them to dish out more out of pocket money to make sure it is accessible.

"We have $1000, we can make it happen for $1000, but to make it accessible would cost $1500."
That doesn't mean it shouldn't happen, that just means they can't make it accessible.
But if one of those people contributing to that $1000 is in a wheelchair, it would be very wrong to not make it accessible to him, as it only happened because of him.


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

[User] ELI5:If Water is just H2O, how come we can't just create a bunch of water in a lab from the abundant elements of Hydrogen and Oxygen?

[Assistant]
We can but hydrogen isn't abundant. Its abundant in the universe. Its very hard to just find here on earth.

Edit: wanted to clarify. Pure Hydrogen is rare on earth. Obviously there is a ton of hydrogen here in things like Water. Thought that was obvious.


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

[User]
CMV:Americas diversity should NOT be a reason for not implementing certain systems (i.e. nationalized healthcare, better workers laws, etc,.).

When it comes to a lot of Euro/Asian/Canadian-styled economic & political systems- including nationalized healthcare, free/cheap higher education, mandatory parental/sick leave, general social democracy, etc,. -a lot of arguments I hear against this in a US context tend to be ones that, while Ill still disagree with, I could at least understand.

One common argument that *does* irk me, however, tends to be Americas vast ethnic, social, religious and sexual diversity. Many people whove followed this argument believe that because of our vast diversity, things like healthcare and cheaper higher education are either very difficult or even impossible to

Of course, this is CMV, so I do expect to see what I may or may not be wrong with. This argument, however,

Lets list some general arguments and what I believe are wrong with them:

- Other countries are very homogenous and, because of this, its impossible to implement their systems in this vastly diverse country, especially with our ethnic diversity! First off: Yikes! Second, it ignores the realities of both said countries today and the genetics vs. social realities of different ethnicities. In the past 5-15 years, many previously-homogenous countries (especially European ones) have seen vast increases in ethnic diversity. Although this has revealed big problems, the issues revolving around things like healthcare, their worker laws, their education systems, etc,., havent changed or been threatened simply due to increased diversity. Poor political decisions unrelated to minorities (i.e. the Finnish healthcare debacle last year) and general issues not inherent in a socialized system have played a big part in the recent decline in quality of systems such as the NHS (like poor funding measures performed by shitty politicians). These issues just so happened to coincide with recent mass immigration measures. Also, dont you think its at least a *little* racist/fucked up to suggest that physical differences between the ethnic majority and minority will play a part in this? What, so youre saying that a black man or a Hispanic woman cant inherently have the same quality healthcare and treatment as a white man? It sounds so 1890s and wrong. Never mind the many studies in the past 30-40 years that suggest that, despite obvious differences (hair, skin tone, etc,.), most of us are pretty much genetically and physically the same, thus proving no issue with how one should get treatment and their general quality. Oh, and the studies that claim increased health issues in certain ethnic populations? Yeah, Id imagine it being pretty hard to keep your health up when youre stressing over your job, your life standards, your finances, etc,., due to a system and society that treats you like a fucking savage 24/7 for the past 400+ years... especially when your healthcare costs more than what youre both able to pay for and what youre shitty insurance system will allow you to get. This goes for both America and the rest of the world (with the exception of costs for the latter, of course). Maybe if we *stopped* doing this shit, we wouldnt be here, now would we? Race is a social construct, and therefore, we must tear that construct down if we want equal ethnic health standards in our country. This partially includes the introduction of a socialized (or generally cheaper) healthcare system.
- Our cultural differences throughout the country will make it very hard to implement these systems. Will it be hard? Sure. But that doesnt mean this is impossible. For one, while our country has been divided throughout the past 10+ years, this isnt inevitable. America in the 50s-early 60s, despite its issues, at least had a government that was much more together and less divisive. Democrats and Republicans were, indeed, more willing to work together and stop fucking around. If the past American government/culture could do it, so can todays. And even in todays horse shit political culture, it doesnt mean we are completely incapable of putting these systems into place. Recent studies have shown that American citizens are increasingly *begging* for a nationalized healthcare system in recent years, with some of the support even reaching between political lines!

Of course, I could be missing certain arguments relating to this topic, and maybe I *am* wrong on at least some of my claims. Still, I feel like the whole our country is too diverse for these systems argument is both false and full of falacies (if not straight up harmful).

[Assistant]
>Our cultural differences throughout the country will make it very hard to implement these systems.

There's another layer to it which is federalism in relation to these differences.  Nearly all US social programs other than those for the elderly (Social Security and Medicare) are run by the states, even when they're federally funded.  We're not really operating as a country, we're operating as 50 separate jurisdictions.  Medicaid is (mostly) federally funded but fully stated operated.  States operate food stamps, temporary assistance to needy families, unemployment, and on and on.  In areas like education, states operate with near-total autonomy.  And in many of these cases there are constitutional impediments to the federal government taking on a direct role.

So when you combine federalism with those cultural/political differences, you end up in a situation where in some states, the people operating the programs are actively working to undermine them.  Just look at the red states that refused to accept the **federally funded** expansion of Medicaid to provide healthcare to their populations out of pure ideological spite.  When you have a very diverse country, and part of that is opposition to these policies, it's never going to work out quite as well.

It's not just the refusal to expand Medicaid.  You also see ideologically-averse state imposing onerous requirements on recipients of public assistance that frustrate the aims of the programs or even forcing couples to get married in order to access benefits.  You also have states like Wisconsin deliberately running higher education into the ground out of pure animus towards it.

So that just doesn't work as well as a European system where the national government is implementing whatever program you care to name directly, rather than being forced to leave implementation in the hands of a diverse group of state officials, some proportion of whom oppose said program.


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

[User]
Why are US store prices exclusive of tax?

I went to Canada the other day and was impressed (sadly) by the convenience of having in-store prices inclusive of tax. The same thing happened when I was in Europe. Which raises the question: why do US store prices exclude tax? Its inconvenient for the consumer, who has to know and calculate sales tax when picking up the item/at the register instead of just purchasing an item and paying sticker price with no costly mental calculation.

I am aware that part of this answer may be because other countries have VAT and US taxes also shift from state to state (meaning that a $207 book in NJ may cost $210 in Illinois w tax, for example). At the same time though, its literally costless to print tax inclusive price tags, and prices can vary across states.

[Assistant]
It's a combination of the first law of demand (people buy more when prices are lower) and the behavioral fact that people tend to make decisions based on the reported price rather than the full (including tax) price. Companies are able to sell more by not reporting the tax in the price.

As for the legal history of why it isn't included, perhaps someone else can add. I'd guess that companies lobbied against it (from fear of losing sales).


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

[User]
ELI5: How come being sad makes me choose to partake in unhealthy lifestyles?

For the most part I try to be a healthy person. I do some moderate exercise regularly, try not to be sedentary for too long without getting up and moving around, and I watch what I eat. But once I get sad or depressed for various reasons, all I'll want to do is sit at my computer all day eating junkfood. Why does being sad cause me to want to be unhealthy?

[Assistant] Those unhealthy things are easy to go to because they offer immediate gratification. You don't get the same instant reward from running on a treadmill for an hour than you do eating a bag of Doritos (despite the fact that you'll probably feel better if you do the former regularly instead of the latter) . When you're sad, you're looking for ways to fix that negative emotion, so naturally you gravitate towards things that will fix it quickly. The problem is just that most of those things are bad for you in the long run, and the things that are good for you in the long run aren't usually immediately gratifying.


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

[User]
What does p=np problem mean, and why is it so hard to solve?

Wikipedia assumes I have prior knowledge in "computer resource management".

[Assistant]
*P* and *NP* are classes of decision problems. That is, problems for which the answer is yes or no.

A problem is in *P* if it is easy to solve.

A problem is in *NP* if it is easy to verify whether a proposed solution is correct.

Of course, *P* must be a subclass of *NP*. If it is easy to solve, you can solve it yourself to verify a proposed solution.

It's not known whether *P* is a strict subclass of *NP*. In other words: do there exist problems that are easy to verify but difficult to solve? The consensus belief seems to be that this is the case, but a proof is elusive.

The particular notions of easy and hard is that the runtime of an algorithm solving the problem should not scale too poorly with the size of the input. To be precise, it should be polynomial. This is a notion of difficulty that does not necessarily translate well to the realm of practice.

There is a class of *NP*-problems called the *NP*-complete problems. These have proven to be at least as hard to solve as every other *NP*-problem. In that sense they are the ones least likely to be in *P*, and if any of them were proven to be in *P* that would necessarily imply that *P* is *NP*.


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

[User] [SW] Is there in explanation how it is that most of life supportig planets in galaxy are suitable for human life without any help from tech and that most of beings share same basic enviromental needs? Also how it is that there are so many monoclimatic planets with homogenous biotop?

[Assistant] Likely this is because the galaxy is big, and many of these worlds have been colonized for a *very* long time. It stands to reason that they were initially terraformed upon first colonization, and have long since not needed that. Remember, by the time Order 66 happened and the Old Republic became the Galactic Empire, the Old Republic had stood for over 20,000 years (and the various races that formed it were already capable of interstellar travel). Put simply, there are few true "frontier" worlds. Even a "backwater" like Tantooine has multiple spaceports and bustling cities.


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

[User]
To what extent is Trump responsible for the American economy today?

The strong economy in America today is often used as an example by Republicans to point out how their economic policies are successful and that they are responsible for this upturn in the economy. However, pundits have rightly pointed out that the economy today is merely following a trend started during the Obama Administration. Yet, I feel that it is unlikely that Trump and his policies had nothing to do with the economy today, and thus I would like to ask how has his policies impacted the US economy so far, and to what extent are they responsible for this economy relative to the Obama Administration.

[Assistant] Generally the economy going up or down, outside of some exceptional examples, is outside of the control of any president. However that doesn't stop president's from claiming their policies as the reason for the success.


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

[User]
ELI5: Other than efficiency, what does pumping premium gas instead of regular do?

I started pumping premium about a week ago and so far noticed better gas mileage and the response time almost feels better but I know absolutely nothing about gas and its effects. Thanks!

[Assistant]
It doesn't improve any of that. You are probably imagining it.

Basically, it's possible to do more aggressive engine design if you only use premium. If your car doesn't say it uses premium (usually sports cars) there is no benefit.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do credit scores start at 300 instead of zero?

[Assistant] FICO already developed a credit scoring system in the 1950s that ranged from 0-300. In 1989, they developed a more accurate system that was on a scale from 0 to 550 points. However, some banks still relied on the old system to determine credit worthiness. In order to stop any possible confusion, FICO decided to start the new credit scoring system at 300 points. That way whenever a bank looked at a credit score, they immediately knew which scoring system was being used.


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

[User]
ELI5: Hypothetically what would remain if a black hole loses enough mass to where it cannot capture light anymore?

For instance, black hole A is moving near black hole B. Black hole B is much larger, and siphons off half of the mass of black hole A. Black hole B passes, and what remains of black hole A isn't enough to still capture light. What would black hole A turn in to? It would obviously become visible again, but *what* exactly would be visible? A giant solid orb? A cloud of gas? New elements?

[Assistant]
If two black holes come close enough to start siphoning, there is little chance of one escaping due to the massive of amount of gravity between the two.

If a blackhole loses enough mass to hawking radiation it is theorized that it violently explodes in a large burst of radiation that tears it apart, almost like a supernova.

Nobody really knows!


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

[User]
ELI5 : Why do movie theaters still use projectors?

They aren't shooting movies on reels, movies are edited digitally, so wouldn't a cable display to a large screen provide a better resolution?

[Assistant]
No, Projectors can be just as high resolution as Screens. Also, sitting from far away the resolution doesnt matter as much as you would think.

Making a screen that large is also incredibly difficult, there is a reason you cant buy a 600 inch screen yet.


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

[User] ELI5: What is happening in my brain when I get embarrassed? Does it serve an evolutionary purpose?

[Assistant] From a evolutionary psychology standpoint, yes, it does serve a purpose.  It was essential for survival that we "fit in" within our tribes, and when we sense that we did something that ostracized us from the rest of the tribe, our brain tells us so by making us feel embarrassed, thereby telling us to not do it again.  It's essentially a survival instinct; failing to fit in could lead to expulsion from the tribe.  Of course now, what causes us to be embarrassed is different, and a "tribe" isn't really needed as much for survival, we still desire to be accepted in a social group.  As to what is going on in your brain, it's your brain releasing the appropriate chemicals after analyzing its environment, like any other emotional response.


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

[User]
Invited talk among big shots, Nobel Lauerates

Post-doc in a STEM field. My advisor (and another faculty member) arranged a symposium in a big conference and put me  to give an invited talk in the middle of Nobel Laureates and near-miss Nobel Laureates ..  ( I know, I have the best bosses)

The talk is months away, but I can't shake the awkwardness of being the underdog in such a reputable selection.

I am supposed to write an abstract for my talk but whatever I put down seems to be trivial and comical when I think about what the gods of the field will say.

Feeling very insecure, any advice is appreciated.

[Assistant] Have you ever seen a talk by a Laureate? They are usually a combination of old glories and mostly middling stuff that they are doing right now. Just present something new and exciting and you will look good.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] Why don't wizards explore space?

[Assistant]
Wizards don't have the scientific method. Pretty much everything they do is based on copying something that a smarter or luckier wizard came up with a thousand years ago. They're also deeply separated from muggles, so they are *way* behind on scientific knowledge.

Muggles figured out how to land on the moon based on centuries of observation and research. It required knowledge of astronomy, gravity, chemistry, and geology to know that we could put people on the moon, that they wouldn't sink into a quicksand pocket of moon dust, that they wouldn't be able to breathe on their own, etc.

Now, could wizards even go to the Moon? Maybe, although the only plausible method would be to apparate, but that spell is more difficult with greater distances. Chances are any wizard making the attempt would end up wildly off-target somewhere in space, spinning randomly before expiring swiftly.

Of course, they might prepare a bubble-head charm to bring have some air - but what about extreme temperatures or radiation? What about dealing with tumbling in space and not even being able to tell where the Earth or Moon is once a jump has missed?

But even more, how could wizards even know what to prepare? The only time in his life a wizard is likely to have been unable to breathe is if they've been underwater. They might not even be familiar with the concept of vacuum, let alone radiation or reduced gravity. Since they don't have the scientific method, the only way for them to discover this stuff is for wizards to voluntarily apparate into space (or command house elves to do it), die in horrible ways, and then study the cause of death.

The biggest reason, though: Wizards don't know there's anything interesting up there. With their primitive telescopes they can barely make out features on the Moon, let alone Mars or Europa or Saturn. To wizards, the planets and stars are just tools for predicting the future. Wizards probably don't think of planets as being even the same kind of thing as the Earth - they're just floating colorful circles on a black canvas.


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

[User]
ELI5: Is human perception the same as reality?

Is what I see, feel, hear, etc. reality? Is there any way that we can prove that we can perceive the reality of the universe? I suppose this is a more philosophical question, but I'm damn curious.

[Assistant]
No not at all. Sounds are your brains interpretations of vibrations of pressure in a medium (air). Light is your brain's interpretations of certain wavelengths of radiation striking receptor cells clustered in your eyeballs. There are things you don't see, don't hear, and what you do see and hear is your brain's description of it, not the actual literal thing. You are not 'directly connected' to any sense which discerns 'reality', all of your senses are interpreted through your brain.

This also leads to the interesting thought problem of the brain in the vat. In short, there isn't a way to prove you aren't a brain in a vat and something is simply manipulating the parts of you that discern sensations.


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

[User] ELI5: How does adding adding mayonnaise to certain foods make them a salad (potatoes, chicken, eggs, etc).

[Assistant] According to Wikipedia a salad is a dish consisting of small pieces of food, which may be mixed with a sauce or salad dressing. It seems that a salad being things such as the traditional leafy greens and dressing is something of a convention.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are clothing brands like: Ralph Lauren, Kenzo, michael Kors So expensive?

i just looked at some online stores and found out that most of their clothes costs above 200 euro's/dollars for just sweaters!, even the polo's from ralph lauren are like 60 bucks or more, why is it like this?

[Assistant]
It's a combination of perceived quality, a certain amount of actual better quality, and status.
People are willing to pay a premium price for shirts with logos to show that they have lots of money to spend on wearing "status" logos.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Would Luke have fallen to the Dark side at the end of Jedi if the Emperor had just kept his mouth shut?

Something that's always bothered me about the end of Jedi, it seems like the Emperor comes so close to turning Luke, but keeps sabotaging himself. Both he and Vader manage to goad Luke into negative emotions, fuelling the dark side within him, but each time it looks like Luke's about to act on it, the Emperor speaks again, and it snaps Luke out of it. He realises what's happening, and calms himself.

Does it not matter, and Luke would not have turned regardless? Would Luke have given into his anger and fear, or even killed Vader, if the Emperor had stayed silent in those moments? Was that the whole point, that the biggest enemy of the Emperor was himself and his overconfidence?

[Assistant]
The emperor didn't realize that he had a time limit to his ploy. As far as he knew it didn't matter whether Luke realized what he was doing and "snapped back" to the light side. If not for some surprisingly threatening teddy bears, Luke would have watched the rebel fleet burn in space while the emperor goaded and gloated about his victory, eventually turning Luke to the dark side.

Now, that's not the answer to the question you asked, but it's important to remember when answering your question "would Luke have turned quicker if the emperor had stayed quiet?"

The answer to that is no. Taunting Luke is still the best way to turn him to the dark side because it keeps him off-balance. Luke might realize right before giving in that he's succumbing and regain control, but some small part of him is going to say "but what if we hadn't given in? We could be saving our friends right now, you felt the raw power of the dark side, we could *use* that." And each time he gets closer to the dark side that voice gets stronger.

If the emperor, Vader, and Luke had just sat in silence watching the fleet, Luke would have taken a lot longer to turn. For one thing he'd be able to notice that the rebel fleet isn't being dashed upon the rocks like the emperor is telling him. For another thing, he'd be able to keep himself much more balanced in the light side of the force with nobody constantly nudging him over to the dark side.

What the emperor didn't count on was Luke's (and Vader's) strong connection to family and the light side. He didn't expect Luke to come back from the brink of the dark side after subduing Vader, but he figured that enough torture would either push him fully to the dark side or kill him. It might well have turned him to the dark side too if Vader hadn't suddenly felt compassion for Luke and if the DS2 hadn't been destroyed.


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

[User] ELI5: How do broken bones heal?

[Assistant] Bone healing occurs in three stages. The first is the inflammation stage, where clot forms between the fracture. The next is the repairing stage, where the clot is replaced with cartilaginous and fibrous tissues to stabilize the fracture, which are then gradually replaced by  bony tissue to form an immature spongy bone mortar. The final stage is the remodeling stage, where the marginal spongy bone is replaced with the harder compact bone, leaving the bone basically as good as it was before fracture.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do our eyes have color? Is there a role that the iris having a color plays?

[Assistant] If the iris wasnt coloured, the amount of light entering our pupil would actually be increased due to the thinness of the membrane. Everyone technically has blue eyes (afaik) and then additional melanin deposits on top, adding to the brown colour. The darker it is, the more light it absorbs and the less light enters the eye. This acts in addition to the standard dilation and contraction.


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

[User] ELI5: How do we know that there isn't anything faster than light?

[Assistant]
We don't know that, there could be something that is faster than light.

But we have an extremely well tested and accurate model (special relativity) that says that there isn't. And we haven't found any evidence that there would be.


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

[User] ELI5: What causes the American South and Midwest to have so many tornadoes, and why are they so relatively rare everywhere else in the world?

[Assistant] The American Midwest is a flat steppe that runs from the Artic of Northern Canada, to the deserts of Northern Mexico. The lack of natural barriers(mountains) for such a long stretch allows cold Artic air to mix with hot tropic air which creates the conditions necessary for tornadoes to form.


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

[User]
[Marvel] What is the strongest, yet also mass-producible, metal in the Marvel Universe?

Title. Thank you in advance, folks.

[Assistant]
Secondary Adamantium.

The Doylist history behind this is interesting. Writers realized that they couldn't keep giving villains adamantium weapons/armor/robots then subsequently have the heroes destroy them if adamantium was supposed to be invincible. Thus, they came up with secondary adamantium. This stuff was easier to mass-produce (hence why villains/mercenaries were constantly showing up with the stuff) but easier to damage. Still, adamantium is adamantium, superior to any other conventional metal/alloy on Earth.


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

[User]
[X-Men] If Rogue absorbed the memories from someone, would Professor X be able to probe her mind and discover secrets hidden in the person's subconscious?

How much does she get when she touches a person?

[Assistant] Outside of Carol Danvers Rogue never touches someone long enough to get more than a small portion of their mind. Recent emotions and memories It fade quickly though, so that would complicate things for retrieval, Subconscious would only get absorbed if she held on for a very long time and due to her experience with Carol she would not do that.


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

[User] The university that I teach at (NYU) has gone remote because of the coronivirus. I teach two classes of over 100 students and give multiple choice exams. Is there any possible way to stop them from cheating on the exams?

[Assistant]
You can't stop it but you can minimize it. Assuming you will offer exams on your LMS (e.g. Blackboard):

1. Set the time for the exam in such way that it is 35-45 seconds per question. This makes it harder to Google or look up the answers. Advanced: Google your questions to make sure the answers are not readily available. If they are, restructure the question.
2. Make questions appear one at a time (not the entire exam). This makes it harder for one student to print out the exam and have others work on it.
3. Randomize the order of how questions appear so there is no way to create a solutions key with question numbers.
4. Make the exam available only at the same time as the on-campus exam time so everyone takes it at the same time.
5. Do not provide the correct answers or the student score immediately, you can release those after everyone has taken the exam.

Hope this helps, good luck!


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

[User]
[Dragonball Xenoverse]If the Time Patrol is supposed to stop people from meddling with history, why didn't they sabotage Trunks' time machine or prevented him from ever meeting the Z fighters in the past?

That would have also eliminated the threat of Cell coming back due to the time machine never being available to him.

[Assistant]
Maybe Trunks' interference leads to the formation of the time patrol, so they can't undo it or else they won't exist do undo it. He's like a universal constant that has to happen, it's other aberrations that must be stopped.

Like in Dragon Ball Super with the additional time travel shenanigans, maybe those things are supposed to happen for some reason only the Supreme Kai of Time knows. She helps guide the Time Patrol and prevents them from undoing anything that HAS to happen. Fixed points in time and whatnot.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the difference between DNA and RNA, and how do the work in biology?

[Assistant]
DNA is like a book in the reserve section of the library. Its the full complete section of your entire genetic information that cant leave the nucleus.

RNA are the photocopies/notes of the book. You can take those anywhere and use them to study, and they are only going to be the pages that you actually need at that moment.

Edit: Thanks everybody for the gold and the karma.


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

[User]
what does a "chipset" do?

Whenever someone leaves the company I wipe their computer by putting a fresh copy of XP on.  Then I re-do all the drivers.  I get that you need the audio driver to make the audio work, the network driver for the wireless to work, etc, but I've never been able to figure out what the chipset does.  I just install them anyway.  Maybe this isn't the right subreddit for this, but I'm honestly curious, and the explanation on wikipedia is way to technical for me to understand.

Anyone care to explain this to me as if I were five?

EDIT: This was a great way to get my question answered and I really appreciate the responses - I wish the best for this new subreddit and will try to answer a question on a topic I am knowledgeable about in return - thanks!!!

[Assistant] Chipset refers to the north and southbridge. Think of them as a cop directing traffic. The northbridge deals with the processor, graphics card, and memory. While the southbridge deals mainly with USB, SATA and other peripherals. As you can imagine, the northbridge has a heavier load which is usually why the heatsink on it is much larger then that of a southbridge. Anyway back to the cop, all the components send their signals to the appropriate chipset and then the chipset decides where they should go. If you look on a motherboard, the northbridge is right in the middle of all 3 main components to make the trip shorter for all of them. Flipping the motherboard over will reveal the traces of the board, and you will notice a ton of them leading to the northbridge.


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

[User]
CMV: Cussing (cursing, swearing) needs more utilization in todays society, rather than being frequenty shunned.

I understand that in todays society, cussing is seen as something that is not orthodox and approved. Its heavily looked down upon by many demographics.

Children in particular, are shunned away from cuss words due to the parent fearing that the child will learn these words and get in trouble at school or a similar place. When a child grows up, maybe around the middle school (age 11-12) phase, they will start to hear these words being used more frequently by their peers. This can result in issues - because their whole life, they were taught that they can not say these words, or that they are bad and will result in some form of punishment, be it societal, religious, etc.

Now I also realize that some religious groups prohibit certain vanities. In Christianity, a person can not use Gods name in vain. This is because they are cursing God himself, rather than saying a simple word.

I understand that many people do not cuss around certain people out of respect, for example not throwing around F words around their grandmother. But this is because its an established behavior - that they absolutely cannot use a cuss word because someone put a label on that specific word. Origins of language aside-who is to say that saying shit is a bad thing? Its just a simple word. Its no different than using any other word in the same way.

Take damn and dang for example. The only thing that separates these two words is a couple of simple letters. But people have no problem saying dang it, yet theyll be very hesitant to say damn it. Thats just one very minor example.

At the end of the day, I wish cussing was more accepted today. Theres a label on it as being established as a bad thing, when in reality its just a grouping of letters to convey a thought.

[Assistant]
If cursing was acceptable it would not be cursing. This is why dang isnt cursing. Its acceptable. The whole point of cursing is to show that you are so frustrated/angry/scared/hurt/annoyed etc, that you are willing to flout societys rules on what is acceptable language.

This happens to all curse words eventually and then we invent new ones. There was a time when damn was a serious curse word.


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

[User] [BTTF] Why didn't Marty McFly's parents recognise him?

[Assistant]
The guys up at temporal control reviewed this one and although there is some mild distortion of the original time line to be fixed, there's nothing really to get your shorts in a twist about. As for Lorraine or George connecting Martin to Calvin, it was found to be highly unlikely for several reasons.

Firstly, the contact between Martin and his parents occurred over a six day period. Keep in mind that Martin was not with his parents for the entire six day period. Most of the time he was with Emmett Lathrop Brown (Yes, that ELB!), who showed remarkable foresight in trying to keep the temporal contamination limited.

Second, all of the contact between teenage "Calvin" and his parents ended 12 years, 6 months, 29 days before Martin was born. As baby Martin likely bore little resemblance to his teenage self, they would be unlikely to make the connection at his birth.

Furthermore, they would assume that Calvin had continued to age normally after he left Hill Valley in November of 1955 when he had been roughly similar in age to themselves. That means by the time Martin began to show similarities to Calvin they would assume that Calvin was in his mid to late forties, not their teenage son.

Finally, due to the amount of time passed and the relative brevity of their contact together it was decided intervention was not needed in this case.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do some computer mice cost as much as $120?

[Assistant] Because money goes into design, research of technology, parts, marketing and ofg course lots of profits. When people spend a lot of time playing games, they want their connection the the computer, of  which a mouse is one, to be the best.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it important for a nation to have some debt?

I read somewhere that it is healthy for nations to run on a little bit of debt. What is the reasoning for this?

[Assistant] The "debt" ends up being invested in the economy which stimulates growth.  .... e.g. the Government borrows "100 million pounds" to buy some tanks.  That means someone will form a company to build tanks, and employ people to build tanks.  Those entrepreneurs and employees will spend their money on other goods and services, and people in those businesses will spend their extra income on goods and ..... and so on and so forth.


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

[User] [DC] How did Kryptonians evolve to become superhuman in yellow sunlight, lacking a yellow sun?

[Assistant]
Kryptonians are photonucleic, in that they absorb solar radiation as part of their biological processes. Different colors of solar energy create different effects in Kryptonians.

Red solar radiation gives no extraordinary powers, but may aid in surviving Krypton's atmosphere, which is rather poisonous to most beings.

Yellow solar radiation makes them Superman

Blue solar radiation is a supercharger for Kryptonians. They devolop some enhanced powers, like being able to grant superpowers to humans.

Apparently, he was once in the presence of a violet sun and soon began to create counterfeit currency for some reason. Prolonged exposure may allow matter manipulation.


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

[User]
[Spider-Verse] Why couldn't Gwen tell Miles had spider powers?

The first times Miles and Peter Parker / B. Parker met they had moments where they sensed each other's spider powers. Why didn't this happen when he ran into Gwen after being bitten?

[Assistant]
We dont see her sense it but when Miles literally runs into her after gaining the powers and hes stuck on her hair what shes telling him to do to unstick is the same advice that Peter B gives Miles when he cant unstick later.

I think she knows or at least suspects at that point. Then she sees him on the building walls later and knows.

We might not see the sense go off because Miles spider sense hasnt kicked in yet. He doesnt get a warning until just before Green Goblin shows up. As the person were seeing the universe through he wouldnt see her sense so we dont.

Or perhaps its the two senses interacting that lets them know. We always see both go off at once. If Miles danger sense hasnt kicked in yet then there was nothing for Gwens to hit.


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

[User]
[The Boys] Could Homelander have saved that passenger jet?

Spoiler:

In Season One, Queen Maeve asks Homelander if he could push the jet to Safety. Homelander says he couldnt because he couldnt stand on anything.

Maybe Im remembering wrong but Im pretty sure Superman was able to carry a jet to safety.

Assuming Homelander has the strength and abilities of Superman do you think he could have saved the plane if he wanted to?

(Yes I know Homelander said he couldnt but Homelander is also a selfish dick, a true hero would have at least tried.)

[Assistant]
Nope.

He has incredible strength, is virtually indestructible, flight, speed (not a ton, but fast), some heightened senses, and laser eyes.

What he doesn't have is everything amped up and the ability to 'share' in the odd ways Superman does his abilities (the only way he can fly people around at supersonic speeds and not kill them) or to lift planes.

Think of it this way: a guy with JUST strength and invulnerability somehow gets in position to lift a car or an elephant. Where do you lift it to not damage or hurt it? Superman kinda... spreads his Thing and this allows him to do it. In some versions his 'field' of some sort does this. It's logical within him because it's always worked that way. That's why he can do crazy stuff.

Homelander is closer to but *far* below adult Viltrumites, except they don't have laser eyes. No Viltrumite could just pick up a cargo ship. It would split in half from all that concentrated pressure. He *could* drag it by a giant chain if the chain was secured right and its force distributed properly.

So overall, no. Homelander had one chance to save the flight: save the pilot(s) and kill the bad guy without nuking the entire cockpit. He hesitated, the pilots were dead, and then there's a chance he could have with help brought the plane down. Once the cockpit was obliterated, no chance.


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

[User] ELI5: I've heard pirates drank rum because the water would go rancid. How does water go bad?

[Assistant] Water unless it has been distilled and is stored in a sterile container that is sealed air tight it is contaminated with various kinds of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. These will grow in a stagnant water supply (such as in the water barrels of a ship) and it will eventually get to toxic levels.


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

[User] ELI5:What is a CVT transmission? Is it really that bad despite it being the "latest" transmission?

[Assistant]
CVT or continuously variable transmission essentially removes the slight jerking movement of the car while shifting gears, known as shift shock. It works by dynamically adjusting a belt, which corresponds to a gear in a regular automatic. Imagine the CVT like a bicycles gear system. Its made up of a pulley system, with cones at each pulley, all connected by a chain belt. These cones move closer together or further apart to increase or decrease the diameter at which the belt operates. These ratios are always changing in order to find the perfect combination for speed, fuel efficiency or both.

CVT has many advantages and drawbacks. Its good on fuel economy, gives a relatively smooth ride, and is versatile enough for daily driving. CVT is much better at travelling uphill because where traditional automatics can struggle, a CVT can seamlessly provide power without shifting. Even-speed hill driving can prove to be a tough endeavour for novice manual transmission drivers.

But, car enthusiasts will say that its nowhere near as fun or engaging as a dual clutch automatic or manual transmission. CVT also tends to make quite a racket when accelerating hard, and isn't very good at towing in some cars. .


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

[User] ELI5: Why is Sigma such a pervasive word in business? Six Sigma, Two Sigma, lean sigma...

[Assistant]
Let's use a manufacturing business as an example...

Everything you make has a target specification range. This could be width, weight, etc.  For example the product should be between 2mm and 4mm thick.

In a perfect process, your mean would be exactly in the middle and never shift.  That never happens though. Variation is inevitable. More variation means more products you have to scrap.

How much variation you have can be measured and plotted on a curve. We can then see how many standard deviations exist between our mean and our spec limits.

Sigma is the mathematical notation for standard deviation. Six sigma is having 6 std deviations between the mean and spec limits.

If we can achieve 6 sigma, then we'll only have 3.4 defects per million opportunities.


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

[User]
[MCU] Assuming Thanos plan went off without a hitch and all of his minions miraculously survived, what were they gonna do post-snap?

The farm is a little small.

[Assistant]
They'd do what their boss did:  Retire.  Thanos intended to create a paradise across the universe, with lower population planets and no starvation or lack of resources.  Once he created that, each minion would go back to their home world and enjoy the paradise it would have become.

Of course, Thanos was friggen insane, and the minions that did go back to their home worlds found them traumatized and mourning, and if it was revealed that they helped Thanos exterminate half the world then those minions would have gotten the alien equivalent of pitchforks and torches.  Retirement was the plan; many of them instead got justice.


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

[User]
Can someone please explain some aspects of E=MC^2?

Sorry in advance if these are dumb questions, just trying to understand Einsteins equation better.

I understand E represents energy, usually potential energy, but what unit is E measured in? Is it dependent on what units are used in the case of M and C (i.e. using grams or kilograms etc, meters per second or kilometer per second etc) or are all of the variables associated constant units? If its constant, what is the correct unit to use for each variable?

For example, take a 5 kg object. Multiply by the speed of light (defined in this case as 299,792,458 m/s), squared, (8.987551787368e16 m/s), which gives us 4.493775893684e17. What unit is this number measured in?

What makes the speed of light relavent to measuring energy in objects with mass? If light is made up of photons, and photons have a mass of 0, that would make the energy of photons equal to 0 according to this equation. Wouldnt that mean light contains no energy, and therefore isnt a form of energy like we know it to be? If its not a form of energy, why is light warm? How would solar panels work? How would photosynthesis work? How are lasers powerful enough to cut through metal? These are just examples to explain my thought process, not necessarily other questions that need to be answered.

Thanks yall, Ive tried googling (albeit not as hard as I couldve) but I found nothing that answers these questions, and figured it would be easier to ask.

[Assistant]
> For example, take a 5 kg object. Multiply by the speed of light (defined in this case as 299,792,458 m/s), squared, (8.987551787368e16 m/s), which gives us 4.493775893684e17. What unit is this number measured in?

Joule.

>  If light is made up of photons, and photons have a mass of 0, that would make the energy of photons equal to 0 according to this equation.

E = m c^2 relates the mass to the energy of a particle at rest. A photon is never at rest and therefore has 0 rest energy.

The equation is a special case of a more comprehensive relation between energy, mass and momentum. This relation is expressed by the following equation:

E^2 = (p c)^2 + (m c^(2))^2

When a particle is at rest, p = 0 and this equation simplifies to E = m c^(2).

But for photons, which are massless particles, the second part of the equation disappears and you're left with E = p c, which expresses a relation between the energy and momentum of a photon.


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

[User]
Why does reverse osmosis take so much energy, why can't we just use gravity to push the water through?

Why do we lay the membranes sideways instead of straight up and down so that gravity can push and move the water through them, separating them through each layer?

[Assistant] You have to spend energy to push the water through the membrane. It doesn't really matter how you do it or how much pressure you use (as long as you sufficiently exceed the osmotic pressure). More pressure just means more flow. More flow means you need less membrane area. So you could have 1000 m^2 of membrane with 1 liter per minute flow and a tiny amount of pressure or 10 m^2 of membrane with 1 liter per minute flow and a large pressure. Either way you still have to provide the pressure increase for the same flow rate. To provide that pressure using gravity you'd have to pump the water up. Instead, you can just use a closed vessel and increase the pressure hydrostatically.


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

[User]
[ELI5] How is Linux more "stable" than other OS's?

I don't know a thing about Linux, but this is just what I've heard.

Edit: Wow, thanks for all the answers!  Definitely have a better understanding of Linux :)  I might give it a shot for a bit, as a dual boot so I don't lose my Windows stuff.

Thanks!

[Assistant]
Imagine you have 3 bags of treats. One is Oreos (Apple OSX), the other is Skittles (Windows), and finally Nutella (Linux). All of these treats are absolutely delicious.  With Oreos, it is what you get. Simple and clean, what you see is what you eat. With Skittles they come in different colors, but ultimately are the same.  Nutella, on the other hand, is defined by what you put it in/on. You can eat it like it is and it would be called Nutella, you could add it to a sandwich and it would taste different. This trend caught on very quickly and then a lot of people started making their own recipes of Nutella. And with time, and the help of a lot of people also loved Nutella, helped make it taste better.

With the other two, you don't really have room to interfere with how you eat your treat.


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

[User]
Since mountains are changing elevation due to plate tectonics is it possible to know what the highest mountain to ever have existed was?

For example the Appalachians are older then the Rockies and I've been told that at some point in history they were taller. Is it possible that the tallest mountain on earth was at one time in that mountain chain and if so is it possible for us to know what they highest peak ever was?

[Assistant]
I don't see how you could possibly figure out when and where the tallest individual peak in Earth's history was, but you CAN calculate a rough estimate for what the tallest *possible* peak is, based on the structural properties of rock, and the buoyancy of the continental plates.

Build a local mountain too high and it collapses under its own weight. Build a whole continent too high and it sinks into the mantle. The end result no matter how you figure it is that you can't have a mountain on Earth taller than, very roughly, 10 km.

Mt. Everest is 8.8 km. So the tallest mountain ever was probably only marginally taller than Everest, and in fact it's possible (though unlikely, considering all mountain ranges there have been) that Everest IS the tallest ever.


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

[User]
ELI5: Are Humans Omnivores? Why do so many vegans argue we are herbivores?

I am getting assaulted on facebook by OMNI deniers. Pls. Help.

" Lions are natural meat eaters. People are herbivores. Look at our teeth. We don't kill with our physical bodies. We inclose animals and kill them with machinery. People are physically killing themselves eating meat. It is scientifically proven to cause 90% of diseases. Cancer, heart disease, depression, asthma, allergies, diabetes"

What?

[Assistant] Yes, humans are omnivores. However, vegans would argue that because of our intelligence we now have the ability to find ways to meet our nutritional requirements without eating meat, and that we should avoid eating animal products because it's the moral thing to do now that we've reached a point where we don't NEED to eat meat, even though we naturally would and obviously could.


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

[User] ELI5: If I dropped a pillow from 14,000 feet, what would the impact be like?

[Assistant]
The impact wouldn't be bad at all. I'd happily stand under it.

BUT... it's weather dependent. If the pillow dropped through storm or snow clouds there's a fair chance it would absorb a lot of water and freeze, in which case it would come down like a massive hailstone and possibly punch a hole through a car roof.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why speeding up the video on youtube doesn't change the pitch but when the same thing is done using some other software the audio starts sounding like an alien?

Edit : Its how instead of why.

[Assistant] Sound is in the form of waves. Lower pitch is longer waves and higher pitch is shorter waves. When you speed up a piece of sound the time between the waves gets smaller and you end up with a higher pitch sound. It is possible to change the pitch of sound without altering the speed but this is expensive to process and hard to get right. The YouTube playback is able to do this but note that the playback speed is limited to a few select values and not too fast or slow and that there are sound artifacts in the result. This is because they are taking shortcuts to improve processing time and still have a problem with the quality. A lot of software is able to do similar processing with different limits on the processing. A common thing is to drop the sound at over 4x speedup as it just sounds terrible. Even TV stations with top of the line equipment for this processes the sound separately and either plays the sound at normal speed making cuts where logical or replace the sound entirely with folly or music.


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

[User]
ELI5: When you take antibiotics, do they also kill the healthy bacteria in your gut?

I'm currently on a course of antibiotics to treat Tonsillitis and it got me thinking, do antibiotics kill all bacteria indiscriminately, or can they target the specific bacteria causing the infection?

If they do kill all bacteria including healthy gut bacteria, is there any foods I could eat to regain my healthy gut bacteria after I've finished the course of antibiotics?

Thanks!

[Assistant] Yeah they do, that's why you're usually prescribed probiotics with them, like yeast. Loss of gut bacteria is also what causes you to be diarrheic when you're under antibiotics, since you can't process food correctly anymore: it just "goes straight"


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

[User] [WH40K] I am an average psyker, and all I want is power. How can I become as great as the gods themselves?

[Assistant]
Those psykers wishing for power merely need to sign up for one of the Imperium's fabulous Black Ship cruises where you will find rest, relaxation and informative seminars about how you too can one day become powerful.

^^^Terms ^^^and ^^^conditions ^^^apply.  ^^^Not ^^^valid ^^^in ^^^Utah. ^^^Xenos ^^^need ^^^not ^^^apply.