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

[User]
(DC) What if Superman was raised by Batman?

Bruce Wayne still goes about his career as Batman. He still has Nightwing (Though obviously under a different name) and still has Red Hood, Red Robin and Damian. However as he travels for Batman Inc, Kal-El's ship crashes before him. Bruce raises the alien child as his own.

How different does Superman become?

[Assistant]
The most important thing to remember is that despite how ruthless he can be, Bruce Wayne is also compassionate. He knows what it's like to be an orphan, and has helped guide orphans to adulthood before.

Of course, an infant Kal-El is an entirely new ball game. Bruce probably brings him back to Gotham to get advice from Alfred. With Wayne Enterprises resources, they fabricate an adoption background and name him Clark Wayne. As they raise him in life of a "normal" billionaire, Lucius Fox is busy overseeing the reverse engineering of Kal-El's ship.

Clark is probably raised half the time by Bruce and Alfred, and half the time by Alfred alone, since Bruce will still be busy with Batman, Inc. As he gets older, his abilities begin to manifest, and Bruce devotes more attention to him.

By the time he's 10, Clark has remarkable superhuman abilities, but Bruce and Alfred have successfully trained him to manage them. He's also comfortable living two lives. Publicly, he's the well-known but camera-shy celebrity adoption child of Bruce Wayne, and every kid wishes they had his life. He goes to the best private schools, has incredible teachers, and everything a child could want.

But privately, he's being raised by the members of Batman, Inc. and is eager to join the family business. Knowing his father, a normal human, is Batman, he's excited to find out just what he can do to help people. He insists on being trained like his father.

Bruce develops unique forms of martial arts that will allow Clark to use his Kryptonian abilities to perfection. But having learned of Kryptonite from Fox's efforts with the ship, the two agree that he can't simply depend on being powerful. They develop a training regimen that involves periodic exposure to Kryptonite, so that young Clark knows how to fight as a human and as a Kryptonian. Clark also probably spends a lot of with Oracle learning intelligence gathering. With super-hearing and x-ray vision, he's the perfect intelligence asset.

I imagine that his debut as a crime fighter is a globally coordinated strike against organized crime. After years of investigation, Batman, Inc. strikes simultaneously around the planet against mobsters and supercriminals alike. Aryan Brotherhood, MS-13, the Yakuza, Italian and Russian Mafia, Chinese Triads, etc. all fold in a matter of hours.

Likewise, Batman's arch-enemies, if currently loose, are rounded up. Traditional powerhouses like Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, and Clayface don't pose the slightest challenge to Clark Wayne.


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

[User]
[Dragon Ball]Why did Piccolo decide to fight Goku through the tournament?

Why did Piccolo decide to join the tournament? To fight Goku? He would probably challenge Goku outside the tournament anyways.

Piccolo was portrayed as not being as dangerous as King Piccolo but he was still pretty evil. Its hard to think that hed limit himself with rules to fight.

Is there something Im forgetting?

[Assistant]
He wanted a spectacle.  To beat the man who killed his father in front of a crowd, revealing who he was (odd that he was 'hiding' his identity, as similar as he looked to King Piccolo) and declaring the start of his reign before an audience that included nearly anyone else that might have considered challenging him.

I'd say he was more dangerous than King Piccolo, as he was fighting a young adult Goku, nearly full grown and with several years more experience than the kid that killed his father.


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

[User] ELi5: Why is the wind so loud when you drive fast and have the windows open?

[Assistant]
The air in our atmosphere is made up of extremely small molecules of nitrogen (\~78%), oxygen (\~21%), and trace amounts of other gases like carbon dioxide, argon, water, etc. When you are driving fast, the car is hitting all these molecules and those collisions create many small vibrations which is what our ears sense and our brain interprets as sound.

Cars are fairly sound proof when the doors and windows are closed so you don't hear the collisions outside the car very well. When you open a window though, these millions and billions of molecules enter your car's interior and collide with things inside the car. With no sound barrier between you and the vibrations from collision, you can easily pick up the sound.

The loudness of this sound is also correlated to how fast you are driving. This is because the speed that your car hits the air molecules affects how strong the collisions are. That's why driving in a neighborhood is much more quiet than driving on the highway.

Now this isn't technically the same as "wind" because it's sort of the opposite cause, even if it still has the same effect. When wind hits you it is also loud for the same reason, the molecules hit your head and ears and you pick up the vibrations from these collisions. But in the case of wind, the air molecules are what's moving fast and hitting you whereas when you drive, you are the one moving fast and hitting the air. It's a small difference and depends on how you define wind, but they both sound the same cause it is just the vibrations from the collisions you hear.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Was Vader happy when he struck down Obi Wan?

[Assistant]
No, because he immediately realized he didn't actually strike him down. Obi Wan disappeared somehow, that's why Vader was poking the robe with his foot. He'd never seen anyone do it, it wasn't a common Jedi power.. at least not that he knew of.

It was pretty new. Qui Gon discovered it and taught Yoda and it spread from there.


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

[User]
[Human Body] Are 'fast twitch' muscle fibers anatomically larger in size than 'slow twitch' ones?

In my limited understanding of the human skeleto-muscular system I am aware there are 2 types of muscle fibers.

Fast twitch: Develop from sprint-like exercise such as running sprints, 50m swimming races, lifting heavy weights close to your maximum limit etc.

Slow twice: Develop from endurance exercise such as long distance running and swimming, lifting light weights for prolonged periods/repetitions.

My question is because in the gymming and weight lifting community there is a consensus that muscle growth (size) occurs when the muscles are put under duress and they fatigue. I am told that fatigue is essential in muscle growth because it generates muscular repair and rebuilds the muscle larger than before.

Therefore lifting heavy weights is advocated because it puts the muscles under more fatigue and subsequently more growth. Growth of which is that of fast twitch fibers.

But is there any scientific difference in the composition of fast twitch and slow twitch fibers that makes them larger?

If a weight lifter were to lift only <5kg but for prolonged periods of 50-100 reps, that then fatigued the muscle, would the developing slow twitch muscle fibers be smaller than compared to fast twitch ones?

If the answer is no, why do people not commonly build muscle size through slow twitch fibers?

The answer may be obvious but it eludes me. Thank you.

[Assistant] I actually just graduated with a degree in Kinesiology, so it's good to see it be somewhat useful. The shortest answer is yes, FT muscle cells that have been exercised will be larger than slow twitch. It's the whole idea that human muscle cells grow solely by hypertrophy (growing larger) than hyperplasia (growing in number). However most research shows that mid-high weight (roughly 75%-90% of your 1 rep max) shows the best increases in muscle size over lifting only very heavy weights. ST fibers will grow in size, but not as significantly. If you had someone lifting a 5 lb. weight 50-100 times, then the biggest physiological change will be in number of mitochondria within that cell.


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

[User]
[Zootopia] How common is violent crime in Zootopia?

Aside from the events of the movie (and the implication that Mr. Big "ices" his enemies), I get the impression that Zootopia is a pretty peaceful place overall.

Is this view accurate? Are violent crimes like murder/rape/assault/etc. not as big a problem as they might be in the real world?

[Assistant]
With the exception of Officer Hopps, the police force is exclusively made up of very large, powerful animals.  Each cadet needed to learn *and pass* hand-to-hand training.  It wouldn't be that way if all they ever faced was jaywalking and white collar crimes.

No one thought a rabbit could do the job.  It wasn't because she wasn't smart enough or fast enough.  They thought she wouldn't be able to handle taking down violent criminals who were resisting arrest.

For the most part it is a place of opportunity, but Zootopia does have a seamy underbelly.


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

[User]
LI5: The difference between AMD and Intel Processors

Can someone explain the difference between Intel and AMD processors?  I know about intel's hyper threading and turbo boost.  So can you put more focus on AMD?  Also if you are up to it the differences between Intel, AMD, and Nvidia graphics cards.

Thanks!!

[Assistant]
As for the technological differences, they do differ quite a bit. Intel and AMD design their cores and architectures very differently and the same goes for AMD and NVIDIA.

For example, AMD's new Bulldozer chips are advertised as having 8 cores, but this is not as simple as it used to be in the Pentium D days (no pun intended). Pentium D was in fact just a chip with two dies on it!  Most multi core chips now have their cores on a single die, though. What AMD has done, however, is that they have installed so called Bulldozer modules on their new CPU's. The FX8150 had four of these modules.

These modules have two integer processors (for calculations with whole numbers), but they share the FPU (which is like a huge office that do calculations using numbers with a decimal), so you could say it's a phony 8-core, but you would probably offend quite a few AMD users.

Another difference is the interconnect they use. AMD uses Hyper Transport (HT, not Hyper Threading which is actually HTT) while Intel uses Quick Path Interconnect. They fuction differently but it really doesnt matter much in day-to-day usage.

Then AMD and NVIDIA. An important difference is how they use and design their shader units. AMD AMD puts a whole lot of shaders on their cards. The mid-range cards from the previous series, like the 5850, had about 1400 unified shaders.

NVIDIA, on the other hand, uses slightly different CUDA cores, of which a graphics chip might have 400. They are a lot faster individually, but they are not much faster or slower than what AMD offers with their huge amounts of shaders.

In the end, it doesn't really matter all that much. AMD's hordes of shaders are faster at easy tasks, like cryptography and NVIDIA is faster at complex tasks like making a video.


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

[User] ELI5 the known different human species? I feel like a literal idiot for not knowing there have been different species of humans in the past.

[Assistant]
There are 6 well established different species that once shared our genus. All were upright walking, likely communicating, tool using, well, humans. Though they were substantially different from Sapiens.

Homo Habilis was the first, living from about 2.5 million years ago until about 1.5 million years ago. They probably looked more like other great apes (not walking quite as upright as the rest of the genus for example) but definitely used stone tools, which earned them their name (which means handy man).

Homo Erectus (upright man) looked a lot more like Sapiens than Habilis. They lived in Africa and the Middle East and were around from about 1.9 million years ago until about 70,000-40,000 years ago, totally coincidentally the time when Sapiens were expanding across the globe.

Homo Heidelbergensis is another species that lived about 600,000 to about 200,000 years ago. They had larger brains than Erectus but were otherwise highly similar and some people think they weren't distinct species (they also lived in the same regions).

Homo Floresiensis are a species that likely got to and then bred seperately from another species in the genus leading them to become a separate species. They are a great example of island dwarfism (species that evolve on relatively small islands tend to become smaller than continental counterparts). They were around 3.5 feet tall. They lived from about maybe (they were discovered relatively recently, so we're not too sure) 200,000 years ago until about 12,000 years ago...again, this likely has nothing to do with the fact that Sapiens was likely colonizing southeast Asia at the time.

Neanderthals lived in most of Europe the middle east, and central Asia, splitting off and migrating away from the African cousins somewhere around 600,000 years ago before...::cough::...mysteriously going extinct just as Sapiens were spreading out of Africa into those regions around 40,000 years ago. They were generally larger and had larger brains than modern humans.

Then there's us. What we likely had going for us was the ability to cooperate in large groups. Evidence suggests that groups of other human species rarely were larger than a few dozen while Sapiens learned how to communicate and cooperate in larger and more complex groups.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does increasing interest rates tame inflation?

How does increasing interest rates tame inflation? I was also intrigued by hearing this: The federal reserve is trying to decrease demand without tipping over the economy.

[Assistant]
The Federal Reserve controls the Federal-Funds-Rate. That is the interest rate at which banks lend to each other. A bank that wishes to lend but doesn't have the funds to do so must borrow at the Fed-Funds-Rate.

There are two mechanisms by which this can reduce inflation. Some economists emphasise one and some emphasise the other.

The costs of higher interest rates in the Fed-Funds-Rate market are passed on to borrowers. That increases interest rates charged on loans for normal people and for businesses. That means that borrowers pay more interest and lenders receive more interest. Often businesses expand by borrowing to fund new capital investment the increase in interest rates reduces this. This in turn reduces aggregate demand by reducing the demand for new capital goods. This is the interest-rate side of things.

Commercial banks create money when they create loans (and to lesser-extent at other times).  If more loans are made when interest rates are lower, then more money will also be created. As a result, raising interest rates reduces the rate-of-increase of the supply of money, and may cause the money supply to fall. The tools that Central Banks like the Fed use can directly affect the supply of money. Open-Market-Operations and Quantitative Easing can directly affect money supply because they involve buying (or selling) bonds for money balances. Though only some of the Central Bank's tools affect the money supply directly.

There is debate over which of these two effects is the largest. Some economists believe that the first is nearly irrelevant, some believe that the second is nearly irrelevant. But it is clear overall that raising interest rates decreases inflation.


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

[User]
Is it possible for a tectonic plate to break in half?

The main tectonic plates are enormous. What's stopping them from snapping in the middle to form two or three smaller plates?

[Assistant] Plates can and do get broken up, such as through the formation and widening of rifts. That's how the Pangea supercontinent was broken up into several new continets/tectonic plates. That's how Africa will eventually split off into two separate continents (the main part of Africa which will eventually drive into Europe and the Easternmost part of Africa which will drift farther into the Indian ocean).


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

[User]
What does it mean to embrace the absurdness in the philosophy of Absurdism?

Does it mean to acknowledge that this world is insane and that we should join in on the insanity, and become the joke?

[Assistant] Absurdism isnt about anything insane or funny, its about a contradiction between a desire we have (for an existence with a transcendental purpose) and an absence of evidence that there is such a thing.  Embracing this just means accepting that this desire will never be satisfied and giving up on the hope of satisfying it.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do butter bells work?

So I understand that the point of a butter bell is that your cup of butter is not exposed to the outside air because the water creates a seal. What I dont understand is that there is still some air trapped between the butter and this water seal because the water doesnt touch the butter. Is the reason why butter lasts longer because the amount of air and consequently bacteria the butter is exposed to less than if it was not in a seal? I wouldve thought that because the butter has the same surface area exposed to the air with or without the seal, the seal is unnecessary.

Please help, my girlfriend and I are fighting.

[Assistant] It's not bacteria, it's oxygen. Butter does not go rancid because of microorganisms, it goes rancid because fat naturally degrades over time. Exposure to light, heat, and oxygen makes fat degrade faster. So, even though the butter in butterbell might have some of its surface touching air in a bubble, that air is trapped and not getting new oxygen from the rest of the atmosphere like the air touching the surface of butter in a normal dish.


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

[User] [Black Panther] What is the crime rate in Wakanda? What are the most common crimes?

[Assistant] We don't really see a lot of the tech used by people in day to day life, but based on the level of tech we see in combat, if they've made similar advances elsewhere they may be close to post scarcity. If so, then the crime rate is probably far lower than comparable cities elsewhere, and most crimes would be crimes of passion.


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

[User]
[A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones] Would the Red Wedding still have happened regardless of who Robb Stark married?

Though Walder Frey's excuse for siding with the Lannisters and orchestrating the Red Wedding is the fact that Robb broke his promise to marry one of his daughters, it seems like Frey would have done it regardless. The Lannisters likely provided plenty of incentive for Frey to betray the Stark side of the war, and Robb's marrying another woman seems like just the excuse given to the Starks to justify his actions. Was the marriage insult to Frey an actual reason for the betrayal, or was it just the Lannister incentives that would have swayed Walder to their side regardless of Robb's marriage decision?

[Assistant] Robb marrying a Frey girl would have put a Frey on the throne. The lannisters don't have an incentive better than that. Walder Frey believed Robb was going to win, at least an independent North, if not the Iron Throne.


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

[User]
CMV: Being related by blood, does not mean you should be invited to blood related weddings

I can fully understand the concept of family and the importance of it. Trust me I am not saying family is bad. What I am arguing is that just because you are the daughter of my mother's brother, doesnt mean anything special. Everything outside of immediate family is a joke.

My parents are giving me shit because "oh you didn't invite your cousin's to your wedding" " your aunt you have never heard of is now mad at our family because we got an invite to her wedding but you cant invite them"

Honestly, if I spend more time communicating with the cashier's at tim Hortons for coffee, than I do with you, why would on earth would I invite you to the wedding.  Why am I not inviting tim Hortons employees.

I am a family man, I love and believe in the concept of family. Extended family on the other hand is forced and a waste of time and energy.

If I wouldn't hang out with you as a friend, why am I forced to hang out with you cause your blood related.

I get that it might be my mother's brother, but why is it expected to hang out and make their family our family? Because they share a blood line?

I have not talked to my extended family in over 5 years and I am considered the asshat of the extended family for not inviting any of them to my wedding.  Well guess what, it's not about you, it's my wedding and I want people who know me, who have experienced my life with me, the pains and joys over the years to attend it. I don't want people there to just fill chairs, because you like weddings and you think since we are family it's an automatic invite.

[Assistant] Are your parents contributing financially to the wedding? Yes its your wedding but its also a very important day in your parents lives as well. Even if your parents arent helping you out, its still the day they are presenting you as a full adult and giving you away, and it might be something they want their siblings for. If you love and believe in the concept of family you might not want to exclude your parents from having their immediate family there.


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

[User]
[The Purge] What's to stop a police/military force from enforcing the rule of law as it was before the purge took place?

Let's just say for the sake of argument that a local police force have all agreed that on purge night, they'll all go to work. They'll do their patrols and they'll enforce the law, albeit somewhat unforgiving in their methods by assuming that everybody is going to try to kill them if they give them an inch.

The Purge is a night where all crime is legal, so therefore punishing somebody for a crime would be illegal. But, illegal acts are legal on purge night, so punishing somebody for their non-crime should also be legal, right?

So, what happens if a police force decides to ignore Purge Night and continue to enforce the rule of law as it was the day before?

[Assistant]
If the police went out to punish people for crime on purge night it wouldn't be illegal for them to do so, it'd just be kind of pointless since they can't legally enforce their authority.

The police could go and 'arrest' people and pretend that it's a normal night, but they'd pretty much be limited to detaining people without truly arresting them. They could even go through the motion of paperwork, and processing them if they feel like it but they'd still effectively just be 'playing' cops.

What would probably be illegal is if they didn't release everyone they had rounded up by the following dawn, since after that point they would be holding a bunch of people who haven't broken any laws for any legally justifiable reason.


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

[User]
Would flying in the same direction as Earth's rotation be any different than flying against it?

Besides jet lag, flying east-west or west-east, is there any change in flight duration (are you flying faster or slower?)

[Assistant]
Yes.  While flying east, the plane feels a little bit more centrifugal force, which pushes the plane up.  While flying west, it feels a little less centrifugal force, which pushes the plane down.  However, these are very small forces, so you don't really notice them.

What is more important are prevailing air currents.  The jet stream goes from west to east, so planes take advantage of that to shave time off of their flights.  The reason why the jet stream goes from west to east is related to earth's rotation, but the rotation itself doesn't really make a huge difference on the flight time.


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

[User]
How do different anti particles interact? This post is going to have a bunch of different questions, so sorry for the confusion

1) is it possible for there to be, somewhere in the universe, planets made of antiparticles? I know that theoretically half matter half antimatter was created, but since our solar system exists, could there are ossicle be an inverse with antimatter?

2) I recently read an article about neutrinos which said  that neutrinos might be their own anti particles. If (hypothetically) that was the case, could you create energy by only making neutrinos and making them collide?

3) what are the unwanted emissions when matter and anti matter collide ( the equivalent of radiation for nuclear fusion, CO2 for fossil fuels, etc...)?

4) I saw a video about strange quarks and strange matter and how( in theory) everything it  comes in contact with also turns to strange matter. How does that process work?

Sorry that I have so many questions!

[Assistant]
1) Yes, but we don't believe that to be the case.  There is a fundamental matter/anti-matter asymmetry, which meant that slightly more matter than anti-matter was made in the early Universe, hence why we don't see equal parts anti-matter and matter.

2) When a particle and its anti-particle meet they annihilate to create energy, so yes, in that model, two neutrinos could annihilate to create energy.  However you wouldn't get any energy for free, since you'd still need energy to create the neutrinos.

3) Usually when particles and anti-particles collide and annihilate they will become photons.  At higher energy collisions they could also create other particles, according to the rules of the Standard Model.

4) This is a model where particles with large numbers of strange quarks are more stable than "normal" particles.  So when it impacts a normal atom, it will convert some of that atoms quarks to strange quarks and continue to grow.


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

[User]
[DC] Could Krypotinians have used the Phantom Zone to save their population?

Could they have sent everyone to the Phantom Zone with the hope that one day there could be a possibility that they escape instead of having everyone die? Maybe order Brainiac to retrieve them once he found a habitable planet?

[Assistant]
It could have been done, and in fact Jor-El did propose it, but frankly there's a bunch of really, *really* nasty monsters in there - taking the Kryptonian population to the Phantom Zone is like a last case resort, because frankly most of them wouldn't survive.

Also it turns out the Phantom Zone is in the same metaphysical "place" as the Greek underworld, so... taking a planet full of living people to the land of the dead might not exactly be a wise decision.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does sand stick to everything even though it doesn't feel sticky?

[Assistant]
Sand sticks to things in many ways just like flour does. Flour particles aren't sticky at all (while dry), but small enough to be caught in tangles of fabric fibers, attracted by even the slightest charges, or "grabbed" by microscopic droplets of water or oil (and the human body is literally covered with oil-drop and water-drop emitting organelles: sweat glands and sebaceous glands). Flour is many times smaller, so more sticks of course, but at the size level of a grain of sand a human body is covered in a rough shag of fibers, and sticky oil and water films.

None of these hold on very tightly, but tight enough to resist gravity and most movement, so the sand doesn't just fall off when you stand up. Brushing the area is more forceful, and tends to knock off every grain of sand hit - but again, sand is so small it can "hide" in the fabric or get missed by a rough hand brushing.


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

[User] Eli5 Imagine how much money and resource is spend shipping water around the world just part of everyday products. Why can we buy products then add the water at home?

[Assistant]
Many things containing water cannot be isolated from the water and have their desired properties simply by reconstitution. These could be complex solutions involving chemicals "dissolved" in oil plus chemicals "dissolved" in alcohol and the parts dissolved in water. Food products, for example, are a complex mixture of the above.

Another method would be concentration and dilution. But this is also very problematic because many things are simply too dangerous when concentrated. A dilute acid cleaning product cannot simply be concentrated and sold, for example. Highly concentrated acid is too dangerous to handle.

In general, technology and businesses are not silly. They recognize the issues involved and would definitely want to save costs. Examples are that most sodas are bottled locally - the local manufacturers buy a syrup, dilute and pack it locally to reduce costs.

If you want to know more, you have to be more specific. What particular "water" products are you thinking of?


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

[User]
[Fallout 4] What was Dogmeat doing before you found him after leaving the Vault?

Did he have a master? He seems too well trained for a stray.

[Assistant] I thought he hung out with the survivors from Quincy (i.e. The people you rescue from the Museum of Freedom) and went to find help when they were attacked, but maybe that was just me misunderstanding Mama Murphy.


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

[User]
Are Male and Female organs different in any way?

I'm talking more about heart, lungs, liver, spleen etc..

[Assistant] In general women's organs are smaller because women are smaller, and some of the large organs like the liver are constrained by body shape, so that a very good anatomist might be able to figure out if a liver was from a man or woman by slight differences in its contours, but in general there are almost no functional differences.  The brain is a bit of an exception to that rule, as there are some pretty significant differences in brain structure between women and men (mostly caused by hormonal and developmental differences).


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

[User]
What's the difference between lungs and gills that makes one liquid friendly and the other gas friendly?

aka Why can't i breathe water god damn it, what is stopping me? dumb question i know, just uneducated and curious.

[Assistant]
Lungs and gills are fundamentally similar on the very smallest scales.  Blood vessels run near to a fluid (either air or water) which contains oxygen.  O2 comes in, CO2 goes out.

But on large scale, there are important differences.  To minimize water losses, lungs are essentially bags (well clusters of many many tiny bags) which expand and contract, drawing air in and forcing it out.  This works because air has very low viscosity.  Water would get stuck down in the lungs, and would have a much harder time for new water to diffuse into all the nooks and crannies with each breath.  Also, mechanically you would need more muscle power to draw in and squeeze out the water.  Additionally, air contains much more oxygen than is dissolved in water.  There's just not enough oxygen in a lungful of water to meet your needs as an active mammal (I don't know this for sure but it's probable).

Gills, on the other hand are completely different.  Essentially they are rows of filaments which have water flowing over them constantly.  They can't work in air for two reasons.  First, if they are taken out of the water the filaments collapse like hair on a wet cat.  This dramatically drops the surface area available for gas exchange.  Second, the cells are unprotected in a chamber, and are thus vulnerable to dehydration.  Lung cells are always pretty humid thanks to their internal location, but gills will dry to a crisp and the cells will die.


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

[User]
[40k/All] What vehicle/weapon in your area of sci-fi/comic book knowledge comes close to having "enough dakka"? Is there ever such as thing as having enough of it?

What weapon or vehicle would make an ork go "Dis ere is enuf dakka"?

[Assistant]
There is no such thing as enough dakka. Any quantity of dakka can be improved by introducing more dakka.

Not even shooting every single point in the universe at the same time is enough dakka, because you could shoot every single point in the multiverse at the same time, or shoot in the past and future simultaneously. There is never enough dakka. ***No exceptions.***


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

[User]
ELI5: Gaslighting

I hear this getting thrown around a lot on reddit when discusses relationships/abuse. It sounds like something you couldn't pull off on an adult, so I need the ELI5 explanation...ha.

[Assistant]
"Gaslight" is an old film about a man who uses trickery to make his wife think she is going crazy.

The term "gaslighting" is used to refer to an emotionally abusive behavior in which the abuser attempts to convince the abused that it is the latter's fault.

Since the term is often used in feminist contexts, it often refers to labeling women as "hysterical" when they are having reasonable reactions given the circumstances. However, the concept of gaslighting is broad enough that the abuser/abused can be either sex.

For examples of the behavior, watch pretty much any episode of Mad Men which features the marital relationship of Don and Betty.


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

[User] ELI5: when they release a ps4 game on switch or xbox, how do they do it? What do they change program wise?

[Assistant]
It depends on the engine.

If the game is made in a game engine that already supports multiple platforms, then it might be as simple as registering a few new variables and formats.

For other games, it might require new chunks of code to support the different hardware. And if you're unlucky: rewriting large amounts of the game.

No matter how you do it, some of the games code will have to be rewritten to support the consoles format, it's just a question of "how much"


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

[User] Cleaning products can kill 99% of bacteria. What is that last 1% and why haven't we killed it yet?

[Assistant] I think a logical answer to this can be explained on the basis of statistics. No matter how poisonous a substance can be for germs/bacteria , the germs are capable of forming a cyst and save themselves. So this 1% is left out on the benefit of doubt. Survival of the fittest indeed!


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

[User]
What is the significance of Mochizuki's ABC Conjecture?

As someone who does not have a backing in hard mathematics, is there a wildly simplified version of what the abc conjecture is/and does for mathematics?

[Assistant]
It helps us understand a little bit about what happens to primes under addition.

If you have two numbers that you know the prime decomposition of, then you know the prime decomposition of their produce automatically. 5^(3)\*3\*2^(2) multiplied by 7^(2)\*5 is 7^(2)\*5^(4)\*3\*2^(2). Primes behave very well and predictably under multiplication.

Primes do not behave well under addition. If you know the decomposition of two numbers, then you know nothing about the prime decomposition of their sum. 13 and 3 are both prime, but 13+3=16=2^(4), is a relatively huge power of some unrelated prime, there was no way we could predict that just from 13 and 3. It seems like it is a lost cause trying to mix the ideas of primes with addition.

The ABC-Conjecture tells us otherwise. It tells us how the situation is biased. It can tell us that if A+B=C, and A and B have lots of bit exponents in their prime decomposition, then C will likely *not* have big exponents in its prime decomposition. It says much more than this, and it's statement is very precise, but this illustrates how it gives constraints and limitations on how primes can behave under addition, which is something we've never had before.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is used in Number Theory, because most of Number Theory can be boiled down to finding integer solutions to algebraic equations. For instance, can we find integer solutions to 5x+7y=1? A fundamental theorem says that we *can* (eg x=10,y=-7). The integer solutions to x^(2)+y^(2)=z^(2) are Pythagorean Triples (eg, x=3,y=4,z=5), and these have inspired a lot of math. The question of whether or not integer solutions exist to x^(n)+y^(n)=z^(n), for n>2, is Fermat's Last Theorem and it basically shaped the course of Number Theory for 350 years. Integer solutions on conics (ax^(2)+bxy+cy^(2)=d), elliptic curves (y^(2)=x^(3)+ax+b) and so many more, equations like these are the foundation to Number Theory.

Note how they all have a "+" in there. Because of this, there is a lot of machinery about primes, that we take for granted when it comes to just multiplication, that is unavailable to us. It is hard to solve these equation, hard to determine whether or not there can actually be solutions and even harder to figure out exactly how many solutions there are to them. Many deep theorems are partial answers to some of these questions. The ABC-Conjecture gives us a way to make these questions easier. If we have this way to work with primes and addition, it becomes easier to talk about what the solutions can look like. For instance, using it we can reduce the original monster proof of Fermat's Last Theorem to just a couple of lines.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the ABC-Conjecture is just a piece of a much larger framework in the field of "Arithmetic Geometry" which, roughly, tries to create a framework where geometry and arithmetic become indistinguishable and where you can use methods of one to solve problems in the other. It's a pretty deep field and has a lot of active research in it, but it's really ambitious and we're mostly guided by hints, feelings and analogies between arithmetic and geometry that we really want to be able to write down as solid theorems using solid definitions. This is the context in which Mochizuki really works. He takes ideas formulated by people throughout the 1900s about what arithmetic does, what geometry does and how they kinda interact, and turns the volume up to 11. So not only does Mochizuki's work promise a proof for the ABC-Conjecture, but it is quite possibly an arena for Arithmetic Geometry to really flourish and take footing in.


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

[User]
(StarWars) How do/did the Jedi recruit more members?

How do the Jedi find children that are force sensitive early enough to begin training and how do they get them to join the order? Also what about the parents? Can they refuse to hand over their kid or do the Jedi just recruit from the lower classes where the kids have a better future in the order then at home?

[Assistant]
The answer to whether Jedi can just take children from their parents is 'yes'. Jedi will usually seek parental permission, but they do have the legal authority to take custody of any force sensitive child they find below a certain age.

The process is done through the Acquisition Division, who mandate mandatory blood tests on all newborn children on Republic Worlds, and if their midichlorian count is higher than normal,  that information gets sent back to the temple on Coruscant, where the information is stored on the Kyber Memory Crystal. The Acquisition Division then uses that information to find force sensitive children and take them back to the temple to be trained.

If the child is old enough to have formed attachments, they aren't trained. If they are adults when they're found and they're using their powers irresponsibly, they have a choice of joining the order, stopping their use of the force, or being killed.

Once a child has been trained in the use of the force, they can never return to their families because it would be considered too dangerous.


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

[User] [MCU] Is the Marvel universe more utopian than our own, given all the fantasy technologies?

[Assistant]
Only places like Wakanda and (formerly) Asgard are really closer to utopias, because they have fantastic tech *and* are (or were) mostly untouched by horrible baddies. The rest of the earth seems mostly on par and there's clearly just as much bad shit (I mean look at any of the Netflix series).

And places like Xandar and other locations the guardians deal with are just as rife with crime and villains as us. They may be more advanced but really that just means they deal with issues and threats more advance than the ones in our world.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens when your mind drifts, and your eyes can't focus?

[Assistant]
You are employing more focus to a task (usually a mental one like daydreaming) and as a result less focus on the information around you, as your brain requires more processing power than what is required by the wasted effort of your senses.

This can happen during extreme focus as well, on an enjoyed or important task your vision can "narrow" (solving a puzzle but not realizing someone entered the room)

You can only really focus on one thing at a time, but to counter this our brains sift through the data and bring the important shit to our attention: it's hot->drink water, she's frowning->what's wrong, etc.

This informs our conscious actions, we take the "relevant" data and act on it. Waking up and brushing your teeth in the morning is nothing more than a series of many small steps all informed by what you process. When processing power is diverted to thinking, other systems have to be side-lined.


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

[User] Whats stopping countries from starting a new currency after hyperinflation hits?

[Assistant]
Nothing is stopping them at all. It's important to remember that currency values are relative, no absolute. So you can start a new currency, but it has little value if people outside of the country are willing to accept it.

For instance, Zimbabwe essentially tried to start new currencies several times in the past 40 years by removing a bunch of zeroes from their dollar and re-baselining it. Nobody was buying it because the underlying economy that supported the Zimbabwean dollar was still wildly unstable. Instead of using the new currency, business owners would deal in US Dollars. The government has pretty much abandoned having a currency altogether at this point, and people deal in USD, yuan, or rand instead.


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

[User]
[Star Wars/Halo] Should I choose a 4 man team of Clone Commandos or a single Spartan II?

I am just finishing up some paperwork before my ship pulls out of spacedock, and I have been ordered to take on additional manpower to supplement my ships complement of marines and security forces. I have the option to choose a 4 man team of Clone Commandos on loan from the Galactic Republic, consisting of a sniper, an engineer, a demolitions expert, and a commander. Or a single Spartan II on loan from the UNSC in Mark VI Mjolnir Armor. So what are some of the pros and cons of these two groups and which should I choose?

[Assistant]
I'd choose the commandos.  Four men hit harder than one, even if he is better than any one of them, or even any two of them. Two men can do things one man can't, and four men can do more than either. That and there are plenty of things that'll kill any man, no matter how good or tough he is. A big enough gun or your average AT weapon will kill most any infantryman, and a big gun doesn't care who it kills.

The two are comparable in terms of training and expertise. Both are raised for combat, and trained to an extremely high standard; war is their sole purpose. The Clones were trained by the best Mandalorian mercenaries in the galaxy, the Spartans were trained by the UNSC's best. The clone commando's trained for the first 10 years of their lives before deployment, the Spartans were trained from childhood. In terms of training, they're comparable.

The Spartan has an major advantage in his alterations. The Spartan has heightened reflexes, increased muscle growth, sharper eyesight, hardened skeleton, and enhanced muscle function. The clones are genetically superior to most human soldiers, being cloned from an excellent soldier, and gene-tweaked to emphasize a personality ideal to a soldier, but they are physically inferior to a Spartan. The Spartan is tougher, stronger, and faster than the clones, but no less loyal, brave, or aggressive. This is what makes the Spartan a better soldier than a clone commando.

The commando's armor system is comparable to the Mjolnir in durability, and also incorporates a personal shield. However, the Mjolnir armor gives the Spartan a further advantage in strength, as it is powered, while the clone's armor is not. Both armors are effective against the weapons commonly used against them, solid slug and energy based, and offer great protection against the elements. They are also spaceworthy, and incorporate a zero gee maneuvering system. The two armor's systems are otherwise fairly similar. It is worth noting that although the clone's armor system incorporates a medical system that brings his survivability up a bit, this does not give him an advantage over the physically tougher Spartan.

Their weaponry is similar as well, although the clone commando's weapon is more versatile; he carries only one, but it uses attachments to serve as both an assault rifle, a sniper rifle, and an light anti-tank weapon. The Spartan uses any weapons from the UNSC, but he's limited in what he can carry to about 2 guns and a sidearm. The clone can carry 3 and a sidearm.

The Spartan is an augmented elite soldier, the commandos are elite soldiers. Their weapons and equipment are mostly similar, although the clones are more flexible. You don't need to worry about either one fucking up or breaking in combat. The Spartan is a superior soldier to any one of the clones, but together they're superior both in force flexibility and combat effectiveness, and if one dies you aren't fucked. Take the clones, unless you've got a job that no human, or small group of humans, can hope to do, no matter how highly trained. If so, you'll need a superhuman soldier, and the Spartan II fits the bill.


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

[User] How come liquid hydrocarbons, e.g. hexane, are poisonous but not solid, waxy ones, e.g. paraffin?

[Assistant] It is very likely that the longer chain hydrocarbons that comprise paraffin wax and mineral oils(Often used as a laxative) are unable to be effectively absorbed by systems we have in place to deal with hydrophobic substances (Such as triglycerides and hydrophobic drugs). The very large size of these hydrocarbons prevents effective transport across the cell membrane, and likely interfere with micelle formation in the intestine, preventing absorption by this system.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do credit card scanners have to ask "credit or debit" instead of figuring it out automatically from your card?

I guess a follow up question is: why do some machines ask you, and other machines don't ask you?

[Assistant]
It's a network routing thing.  If you're using a debit card (tied to a checking account) and select "Credit", it routes through Visa/Mastercard/Whatever and ask for a preauthorization from the issuing band or credit union that will be settled/posted to your account later.  If you select "debit", it'll route through a network like STAR/AFFN/Plus/etc and most likely require a PIN and will be settled/posted to your account immediately.

(I work in the industry)


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

[User] [DC] Did Lex Luthor and The Joker ever cross paths? If so, what was their mutual opinions of each other?

[Assistant] Sure. At certain points when Luthor was running his own Legion of Doom, he made a point of inviting Joker in, since he knows that it's better to have a psychopath on his team instead of having a psychopath miffed at you for not inviting him.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can pro gamers stream music while playing without getting in trouble?

I've searched around the Internet and still don't really have a clear picture on this. I've seen plenty of well-known gamers who play what I assume is copyrighted music while streaming a game.  Are they just tempting fate and haven't gotten in trouble? Do they have a special agreement? Is it okay as long as you don't re-broadcast? If you don't make money? I'm really not clear on this.

[Assistant]
IT would take the copyright holder of the music to go through the effort of trying to sue them or take legal action, etc. And that would be only if they didn't think it was a good thing for their music (they may like the publicity and not care about charging mere pennies to broadcast it)

So you can go through a massive legal effort to deal with this, for pennies in return and bad PR, or just enjoy that people may find your music and possibly buy the albums etc.

No copyright holder is going to bother with these niche people streaming a videogame. They have better things to do with their lives.


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

[User] How to deal with a person who has a pacemaker and needs to do an fMRI?

[Assistant] depends on the model of the pacemaker. many newer generation devices are MRI compatible. in more extreme casesif the device is not compatible and the MRI is absolutely critical, the patient may require a lead and/or generator exchange.


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

[User]
ELI5: Patents vs. copyrights vs. trademarks vs. servicemarks

What's the difference between them, and why are all of them necessary as distinct concepts?

I'm from the US, if there's any significant variation between countries.

[Assistant]
Patents:  You invent something new that no one else has invented and in exchange for releasing the technical details about how the invention works to the public you get exclusive right granted to you by the state to disallow would be competitors from stealing your exact idea and selling it as their own invention.

Copyright:  Simply put it is "a right to control the copying" of various works; a way for an author/creator of books, music, photographs, architectural drawings, etc. to prevent the plagiarism of their works.  In most countries obtaining copyright status for any work is automatic and assumed, however while registration isn't needed to exercise copyright in all countries, in jurisdictions where the laws provide for registration, it serves as prima facie evidence of a valid copyright.  Any author/producer can release their works under a wide array of various copyright licenses, including so called "copy-left" licenses which allow people to copy said material without asking permission so long as they attribute credit to the original creator.

Trademark:  A name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements that identify a business or legal entity.  Infringement of trademark means that someone is taking the logo/symbol, etc. of another business and using it without permission.

Servicemarks:  Same as a trademark but for identifying services instead of products.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Mutants with a healing factor vs zombie bites.  Infected or no?  (First post here)

Pretend Marvel Zombies never happened.  What would happen in the different universes of the books?

[Assistant]
Zombie virus doesn't become fully effective until the infectee is killed by it. Because an infected mutant could regenerate the internal bleeding and nerve degeneration caused by the virus, the virus alone could never kill him.

So if a mutant gets infected he wouldn't die. His healing factor might be weakened because of the load the virus puts on his system, but he wouldn't die or suffer many virus symptoms. He *might* also start to suffer memory loss as the virus attacks his brain cells, but most mutants with a healing factor are resistant to brain damage so it might be so slow that it would be unnoticeable.

Anything able to kill the mutant or shut down his immune system (like extreme heat or acid) would also kill the virus, so he wouldn't ever be at risk of becoming a zombie. However he would still be a carrier and could infect others through the same channels as STDs (saliva, blood, etc).


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

[User] ELI5: Why was Richard Nixon pardoned?

[Assistant]
To put it very simply, president Ford said he wanted to put "this long national nightmare behind us" by pardoning Nixon. Basically he didn't want the country to get bogged down in all the trials and endless continuing investigations into Nixon and staff post-WH.
However, many Americans wanted to see Nixon and his co-conspirators publically brought to justice for so betraying the trust of the American people. They believed the pardon to be a cop-out, especially since many of Nixon's staff had had to face the music.
As a result, Ford handily lost the next election for this very reason.


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

[User] ELI5: You know the arrow on the car signaling your next turn? Where does the sound come from and how does it make it?

[Assistant]
Originally it came from a solenoid switch, a switch activated by an electromagnet. The current would make a magnetic field to close the circuit and light the signal, creating a clicking noise behind the dashboard.

These days the sound is expected as feedback that the signal is activated and it is produced by a speaker or in some cases a solenoid switch that isn't connected to anything.


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

[User]
CMV: It is generally unnecessary to censor swear words.

 The context I'm concerned with in this post is the use of swear words in online and printed media, but this can be interpreted more generally as well.

Sometimes swear words are partially censored (for example, with one or more asterisks replacing letters in the word) in articles and web pages. Some people are offended by the use of profanity or vulgar language, and this is one of the reasons why some words are censored.

However, it is not the word itself (read: letters on a page) that actually causes offence or upset, but the connotations that the word has and the context in which it is used. There are plenty of situations in which a swear word can be used in a completely non-offensive context. If a racist slur is quoted in a news article (assuming that it is necessary to mention the word in the first place), replacing a letter with an asterisk doesn't really lessen the emotional impact of the word at all. People will still know what the word is even though it's partially censored. I understand that for some particularly offensive words, censoring can be an indication from the author of the article that they don't endorse the use of the word, or indicate that they find it shocking enough that they don't want to show the word in full. However, this is rarely the case, and disapproval can usually be shown through other means.

Another reason for censoring swear words is to protect children from being exposed to "inappropriate" language. Although this isn't strictly speaking censoring, one thing I have noticed is that movie and video game age ratings are rather strict on how much bad language can be included before the rating is increased; in the UK if the word "fuck" is used once in a movie, it might get a 12+ rating, but use the word 3 times and it gets a 15+ rating.

Children are inevitably going to come across all these words at some point, and even if they come across them at a young age, it shouldn't be difficult to teach them not to go around saying them in inappropriate situations. Complete shielding and protection of children would be impossible and there are certainly better ways to approach this subject than go to extreme efforts to prevent them from seeing any swear words for as long as possible.

[Assistant]
Consider the following options for expressing disagreement:

1. Fuck that!
2. F\*\*\* that!
3. F that!
4. Fudge that!
5. To heck with that!
6. That's the worst, it displeases me.

Each of these choices above represent a slightly different meaning and intention.

The "Fuck that!" people are angry, and don't care about *the man.*

The "F\*\*\* that!" people are showing that they wanted to cuss, but toned it down because *the man* is forcing them to.

The "F that!" people are showing that they didn't, in fact, want to cuss at all, but they wanted to signal a similar level of frustration as the full "fuck that!" would have.

The "Fudge that!" and below people are each trying to show that they're respectful, smart, funny, or some combination.

Note that any level of censorship - below "Fuck that!" - actually serves just as much purpose as any other word choice or style of communication.  Subtlety is important.


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

[User] [General Fantasy] I recently became an ordained minister via the Internet. If I bless weapons or other items will they have any effect on supernatural creatures?

[Assistant] There are two ways this could work. Either faith-based magic requires true belief, and you truly believe, or else there's an actual god behind the online church, just giving out power for shits and giggles.


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

[User] eli5 why organs like liver, kidney, heart, lung require rejection meds, but blood transfusions apparently don't.

[Assistant]
Your white blood cells don't have eyes, so they use a secret handshake with your body to recognize all the bits that are your body (that way, they know they're friends and don't attack it). The jargon for this is your HLA type.

When you're looking for an organ donor, you want someone whose immune system has a similar secret handshake (HLA/tissue compatibility). It's nearly impossible to find an exact matching handshake (it's really complex), so doctors go with "close enough".  Otherwise, you'd never get a new organ.

Because it's not an exact match, doctors have to give you medicine to make your immune system chill out (immunosuppressants) so that it doesn't attack the transplanted organ for having a slightly incorrect handshake.

Red blood cells don't even have "hands", so they can't do a wrong handshake. As such, they don't get rejected by the immune system for that. They do have ABO/rH antigens (and a bunch of minor ones), and those can cause other problems, but in a completely different way. That's why blood typing is a thing.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why doesnt Mando seek out...

Why does no one know about Luke Skywalker, the show clearly make a point that it comes post second Death Star which means Luke is out there somewhere training younglings like kylo.

And is it possible Ahsoka knows about Luke? She lived through the rebellion and is now just chilling out, couldnt she seek out Luke for no other reason than to contact him?

[Assistant]
The flash backs from the sequel trilogy are still 5-10 years in the future iirc.

Luke might be well known in some circles, especially in the government of the new republic, former rebels, etc. But most people have got their own stuff going on, and Luke isn't interested in being a celebrity.

We still don't really know what happened to Ashoka between Rebels and Mandalorian, why she wasn't a part of Luke's training, or didn't seem to know him. It might be that she simply had her own things to do in that time.

Her relationship with the Jedi was a bit fraught before order 66, so training a new generation of Jedi may not have seemed like a great idea to her. After all, even Yoda hadn't believed she was innocent of murder.

Presumably she went through at least some questioning of her ideals, the role of the jedi, and what her personal goals were.


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

[User]
[Mass Effect]Can aliens become citizens of the System Alliance or other alien governments that are not their species' traditional government?

Say I am a turian and I do not wish to serve in the military, can I renounce my citizenship and apply to become a citizen of the Asari republics or Salarian Union?

[Assistant] The Systems Alliance isn't something that offers citizenship. It is simply a unified front that the independent nations of Earth contribute to and that represents humanity and its colonies in the Council. Think of it as the United Nations in space. You would have to petition for citizenship to one of the individual human nations. Your ability to do so would probably depend greatly on the particular nation you choose: certain nations are certainly more likely to be open to immigration than others, given historical evidence. A Turian would likely have a bit more difficulty than a Salarian or Asari given the First Contact War and mankind's predilection for jingoistic xenophobia (among those humans still living on Earth).


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it so difficult to type (i.e. move your fingers quickly and precisely, or even at all) when your hands are very cold?

[Assistant] When cold, your body reduces blood flow to extremities such as the fingers to conserve heat. This makes the nerves in the fingers less responsive, thus the numb feeling you get as well as the difficulty in making them move with the same agility as when warm.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why magnet attracts lighter object faster, but earths gravity attracts all objects at same speed?

If you have 2 iron spheres and a magnet, the lighter sphere will move first to the magnet. But with earths gravity fall tests we know that every object falls with the same speed when dropped no matter theirs weight. What makes it different?

[Assistant]
Gravity and magnetism are very different forces. (This is an ELI5 so this is a very simplified explanation).

The force of gravity is proportional to the mass of both objects. In the case of the earth, a high mass object "feels" a higher force and a low mass object "feels" a lower force. The result is that the acceleration is identical since the effects of mass difference essentially "cancel out". (Since acceleration is proportional to the force).

The force of magnetism is NOT governed by an object's mass. A high mass object might feel the same magnetic force as a small mass object (operating in the same magnetic field). So this results in greater acceleration for the smaller mass than the high mass object.


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

[User] ELI5: How could a senior executive of a company sell any of that company's stock without it being insider trading?

[Assistant]
There are two primary ways:

1) They have transactions arranged to sell at pre-determined times well in advance, for example they want to sell $250k worth of shares on the last day of every quarter.

2) There are "blackout" periods where insiders are advised that they are not able to trade. These are typically at the end of a fiscal quarter when executives become aware of financial performance, or ad hoc when there is a material event being discussed like an acquisition. The company's legal department will advise those "in the know" when they can/can't sell because the executive meets the criteria of having "material, non-public" information about the company.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does bathroom sink water seem to taste different than kitchen sink water?

[Assistant]
Measure the temperature difference of the first 20 seconds of water. That can make a huge difference to taste. Ground water is often cooler than the extra house piping needed to reach the bathroom.

Aerators often found in bathroom taps to prevent splashing change the taste too (and get gross, they need removing & cleaning).

Your kitchen faucet probably cost twice as much as the bathroom fitting, and is more likely to use ceramic valves and noble metals that don't impart a bad taste. As the most frequently used faucet it will hold fresher water too.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do they use starboard and port on boats instead of left and right?

[Assistant] People use left and right with reference to their own bodies. If you tell someone facing the back of the boat to watch out to port, they will know exactly what you mean. If you said left, it would be totally ambiguous...


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

[User]
ELI5: The Glass-Steagall Act

I've seen some reports in the news in the past week that Elizabeth Warren and John McCain want to bring back The Glass-Steagall Act.

Can somebody explain to me like I'm five what the act included, what it did, and what effects it would have today?

Thanks a ton.

[Assistant]
The Glass-Steagall Act prohibited commercial banks from engaging in investment banking and securities activities. To understand what this means, you need to understand the three core activities that banks engage in: commercial banking, investment banking, and securities brokerage and dealership.

They are as follows:

* **Commercial banking** is the taking of deposits and the making of loans. A traditional commercial bank borrows money in the form of deposits that pay a lower interest rate and lends the money to consumers and businesses at a higher interest rate. It makes money on the spread between the two rates.

* **Investment banking** is the underwriting of securities. Consider when a big company does an initial public offering. It wants to sell $1 billion of stock to the public. An investment bank agrees with the company that the investment bank will buy the shares from the company and market them to the public.

* **Securities brokerage and dealership** is the facilitation of the trade of securities in the secondary market. After the company in the above example does its IPO, its shares will trade on the open market. Securities houses facilitate these trades by acting as brokers and by holding an inventory of the securities for sale.

The latter two activities, call them "securities activities," are generally considered more risky than traditional commercial banking. The idea behind the Glass-Steagall Act was that commercial banks, the holders of America's savings, needed to be kept separate from those risky securities activities. Some people think the repeal of the Act contributed to the financial crisis.


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

[User] ELI5: Is it better for your eyes if a screen is too bright or too dim, and why?

[Assistant]
It's best if the screen matches the surroundings.

A bright screen in bright light means it's easier to see, and less work for your eyes.

A dim screen in low light prevents too much light harming your eyes from a directed source.


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

[User]
ELI5: why isn't the US dollar the most valuable currency?

So as my fianc and I are planning our honeymoon trip to Europe, the topic of conversion rates came up and she asked me why the Euro and the British Pound are worth more than the dollar and i didnt really have a good answer. Now, the Euro I kinda get, because its a multi-national currency backed by the entire EU rather than one country, but the British Pound is where I get stuck.

So reddit: How can a small country with a GDP that is ~1/5th the US have a currency that is more valuable (at the time of this posting $1 = .64) than the dollar?

EDIT: a common thing I'm reading is the confusion between value/purchasing power and exchange rate, and clearing that up helps quite a bit. Thanks everyone!

[Assistant]
Think of it like this. You have 10 bananas, your fianc has 10 apples. They are different, but tastes aside, you agree that that they are equal in terms of fruit "value". Now you want to trade fruit, but not whole fruit. You want a complicated system where you can trade a part of a fruit for basically an IOU-note so the significant other can get fruit back when he/she feels like eating some.

You decide you will divide each banana into 10 pieces. You now have 100 bananaslices. Your fianc just splits her apples in 4, and has 40 appleslices. You then represent each slice with an IOU-note you can trade back and forth and cash in for the corresponding fruit type when you feel like it. This would make the exchange rate 2.5 bananaslice notes for 1 appleslice note, or if going the other way 0.4 appleslice notes for 1 bananaslice note.

This doesn't change the fact that your resp. wealth is equal. It's just that 1 unit (one note) of your currencies represent different amounts of your total wealth.

What Alikont talked about is more about what can make those exchange rates change over time.

You may both get a craving for apples and start to dislike bananas, making the banana notes more sought after. This would make you both more willing to give more than the previous exchange rate to get the other to agree to trade.

You might decide to cut each bananaslice in two and in a dictatorial manner say that each bananaslice note now represents one of the new smaller slices. This means you just got a bunch of banana notes richer, while any banana notes in your spouces possession suddenly lose half it's worth. She'd likely be pissed about this, and start requiring twice as much bananaslice notes for each appleslice note. Voila, the exchange rate changed without any actual change in total fruit "value" in play.

Hope that helped. :)


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

[User]
[Starcraft] What's the point of sticking a squishy human in a mech suit?

I'm talking about the terran marines, it makes no sense to spend all those lifes and money/resources in not so effective frontline infantry.

A suit that has to provide life support to a human can't be as effective as a fully automated drone. Also, drones don't feel fear and can fight until they are destroyed.

The human soldiers only need a good shot at an arm or leg to be taken out of combat.

Human technology is advanced enough to install some automated factories that produce an endless stream of drones, making terrans the true masters of mass attacks.

Not even the zerg could compete when even a lowly zergling has two or three expendable drones going after it.

[Assistant]
There are a few reasons

1. Many terran marines are simply conscripted prisoners being roided out on Stims so......who cares if "their" lives are wasted. It reduces the cost of prisons and thus is probably cheaper than making A.I.

2. Terran A.I. technology is not good enough or cheap enough. Humans can think for themselves and adapt at a moments notice. Rigid programing is actually really bad for something as chaotic as a battlefield.

3. Humans are plentiful, and cheap to reproduce.

4. Human soldier is more comforting to the mind than robot soldiers.  Even the prison scum conscripts are still human beings and thus at some level have human interests at heart.  Cold calculating robots might turn on all of humanity someday.


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

[User] Why do urinary tract infections sometimes cause psychosis in the elderly?

[Assistant]
A Bacteria causing a urinary tract infection can tract up through the bladder and up the ureter and to the kidneys. This infection is called pyelonephritis. Two things can happen: sepsis and kidney failure. Sepsis is when this bacteria gets into the blood and the toxins produced by the bacteria allow fluids to leak out of blood vessels causing extremely low blood pressures and altered mental status, fever, and ultimately death without intervention quickly. The other possibility is kidney failure. The kidney filters BUN (Blood urea nitrogen). When BUN can't be filtered out these toxins can build up and cause altered mental status as well. BUN/Creatinine ratio (a blood test calculation derived from looking at amounts of nitrogen and creatinine in the blood) can be used to test a kidney's filter function.

Hope this helps, Im a 3rd year medical student in the US.


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

[User]
CMV: The LGBT+ community is managing to harm themselves greatly by using seemingly endless labels, creating a separate community, and being (often but not always) unforgiving in demanding representation

(View now changed to an extent - see edit)

Tl:dr - putting yourself in a separate bubble only results in others not liking you. If conservative views are now the minority can we please just merge with general society where no one needs to give a fuck who youre with, as there is legal representation, and far more accepting views, and we can still carry on pushing for rights, just not from a far away place, but with the support of the general public too.

Please note: Gay guy here before Im called a homophobe or not understanding of many of the issues (though I will say this isnt a request for absolution in my argument, just something to note). Also, on mobile so please forgive formatting

I will first say this:
1. I am in complete support of the full and legally recognised equality of all minorities in this area, and I see that there is still a significant way to go to get to this point, especially on some trans issues.
2. I believe I understand the extent to which society has rallied against the community in the past and understand the need for a bubble of safety and support then.
3. I in no way attempt to devalue or disrespect anyone who chooses a particular label. My attitude is that I dont give a fuck (in the sense that I couldnt give less of a fuck how you define yourself so long as you are happy doing so, and if you want me to call you x Ill call you x. If you want me to give a fuck I can, but I cant see it as necessary in general society and interaction). I give a fuck about the person because its the person that matters, not who they want to be with, or whether they feel like Piers Morgans two spirited penguin.
4. In this, I am referring more to the west, where pride is so much more prominent, and not to countries where activism is undeniably necessary, and where I can feel nothing but compassion and great admiration for those standing up for a right to exist for themselves and those alike to them. I feel its probably easier to assume that I am talking about countries and societies that have many companies that dump the rainbow as soon as pride is over, as that seems quite a good benchmark to me.

I simply feel that its getting to a point where the community risks turning people against them who wouldnt have been against them before. In almost any situation, if you take a minority, put them in a bubble, and move them away from what the normal is, its likely that theyre going to have stones thrown at them. Its human nature that means that if something new and foreign turns up, we are going to be unsure and scrutinising of what it is and what its implications are upon society. This is necessary for most change, and is an often uncomfortable (probably an understatement) but unavoidable part of new concepts or groups joining or being recognised by society.

This is how the LGBT community seems to have formed. They needed to step back and be seen, so that society could see they existed in public and not in myth (or prison). As a result, we see the legalisation of homosexuality begin to occur in different countries and states, and the inevitable, if slow, progression of society. As a result of their heroics, they got very little else than hate and confusion. Whilst some accepted them the loudest voices were against them. Its fair enough to go and find others facing the same issues.

Now, it seems like in the US and the UK, and probably lots elsewhere but I dont know enough of there to speak about it, that legal protection has come such a long way, that it might be time to contemplate whether the new minority is those who are against the community and whether as a result it can now merge with general society. The rule stands strong that intertwining different characteristics creates a far stronger bond between each other, and if we could come to society asking that whilst we might be x, y, or somewhere in between, that they just dont care about it and love us for who we are as people, not for who we are described as.

Labels seem to do nothing else but create early and often unhelpful prejudices. In the situation where someone is describing to their friend someone else at their work perhaps, if he says oh hes gay, the general concept is going to be overly camp, talking a certain way etc, which is going to be deeply unhelpful. Need I not mention the gay best friend thing. I give the gay example as its the one I know most of, but Id expect the same for many in the community. So can we please not use these labels.

A few years ago, when at school, a non binary speaker came and outlined around 75 different genders. This was unfortunately had a comical effect on nearly all of the students, admittedly myself included, and many spent the rest of the day asking others to call themselves what they thought the most ridiculous genders were. It shouldnt be so complicated, or so seemingly much to adjust to that teenagers find it funny or ridiculous, because whilst they may be tenuous, they can often be expressive of a general gut reaction of society, without a hidden veil. Whilst this was admittedly a more conservative leaning demographic, when I came out a few years later I felt nothing but support, had no issues at all, and I felt like no one saw the need to give a fuck. Pretty perfect realistically.

Finally, in terms of those who demand for representation in the media and entertainment, this just seems so exasperating. Its a fairly obvious catch 22. Shows like Love Victor and love Simon have faced strong criticism saying they havent shown enough lgbt characters. This is so deeply annoying as the obvious goal is to have the sexuality hopefully insignificant, and for it to be a romcom, or coming of age etc. If lgbt characters are followed up with criticism asking for more of them, its a losing situation. It then dissuades any writers from using characters. And everyone loses. Which is just great.

So I think thats it. Please change my view.

Edit: This is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I was lying in bed when I wrote this hence the lack of articulation in some areas. This has given me quite a bit to think about. I thank everyone for giving some time to change my view and its definitely offered up a reasonable and clear viewpoint that Ive got to say is changing my view. Also Ive just figured out how to give deltas so dont feel I didnt see them as Ive read through as many as I can right now.

I guess my overarching feeling was that it was a bit difficult and irritating to be pinned as the gay one in some situations, and whilst I still stand by major elements of my argument (a strong belief that labels are unnecessary and potentially harmful), I do concede that a united front is still necessary to aid the progression of all minorities in this area.

I also apologise as i now realise I slightly disregarded the very real and extreme dangers that some face within the lgbt community.

However, as said before I stand by what I said about labels both in the post and comments that labels are ideally unnecessary and that if someone wants to be someone then they shouldnt be pinned. Having said that, I now am beginning to see greater benefit in individuals choosing how they want to define themselves. However I do just ask they be kind and not expect us to know all of this, and that if others slip up they are forgiving (to an extent of course).

Anyway, Ill give out a few more deltas, and thank you all for your engagement.

Thanks. (View changed a bit and Im all the better for it)

Edit 2: I realise I said normal - wrong word - general or average I mean

Also, I didn't say before but thanks for all the awards! Whatever your viewpoint thanks for engaging.

[Assistant]
Unfortunately there is still a large percentage of people who are against lgbt+. Look at the lesbian couple who got beaten on a bus in London, or the fact that being disowned by family is not uncommon. You've got shops refusing service for gay weddings, the church refusing to accept gay weddings. Lgbt+ kids are at higher risk of bully and suicide is still higher for lgbt+ than other groups. The US is passing laws to stop transgender kids getting treatment, stopping them from being in sports, and so on.

Unfortunately there is still work to be done for lgbt+ to be the norm, it has come a long way tho. A lot of people have had to hide their sexuality for years so currently, being able to say they aren't straight is still something new and having a community where they are accepted is huge for a lot of people.

Lgbt+ needs to be loud and vocal about being a separated group because out there are a lot of people who feel alone and don't know that there are a place for them to be who they are.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are cinnamon-flavored candy/liquors flavors usually "hot" or "spicy" (like Big Red gum, Fireballs, cinnamon liquor) when actual cinnamon is not?

Thanks for your answers!

[Assistant] Cinnamon is a spice.. and similar to garlic or chili powder - if u use too much or add too much it can be spicey. With that said low levels of cinnamon can run bland so they bump it up for taste and / or they are marketing towards those that like da spicey spicey heat.


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

[User]
[Transformers] When and why did the Decepticons and Autobots split apart?

Why are there two separate factions of transformers? Have there always been, were they made/born separate or did they have a schism. Why do they have each of their philosophies? Why does Prime value all life, and why doesn't Megatron?

[Assistant]
> Why are there two separate factions of transformers? Have there always been, were they made/born separate or did they have a schism.

They were created as two separate classes of robots- general retail services and military/security.

>  Why do they have each of their philosophies?

One set was created to cooperate, emulate the needs of their customers, and provide for their safety and happiness. The other set was designed to follow mission parameters, respect rank and power, and to guarantee survival of their creators, whatever means necessary.

Autobots, the descendants of the retail class, seek to cooperate and protect creatures under their care. They want a peaceful happy interaction with any creature they meet and, if given a choice, will only act defensively.

Decepticons, the other class, are not concerned with any other creatures other than fellow Cybertronians, and not even those if they refuse to respect rank, orders and the superior ability of the most powerful of their class. The mission is simple: Create a peaceful, orderly, and secure existence for all Cybertronians under Decepticon rule.

> Why does Prime value all life, and why doesn't Megatron?

Prime is an Autobot and therefore is programmed with the duty to cooperate, serve and protect. He seeks a voluntarily led society where every robot has a voice and a purpose, and none are disenfranchised. Other species are considered potential allies and peers to be respected and defended. To him, every life is valuable.

Megatron cares not for lesser lifeforms, being only concerned with how their exploitation can best serve Cybertronians. If it serves Cybertron and his rule for any being to live, then live they shall. If the alternative is the most effective path, then it is a necessary task that they die. Being inferior, their opinion in the matter is neither desired or even relevant. Only Cybertron and its future matters, and he is Cybertron's only hope at a future.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why was the flaw with the Death Star so weak?

There was a video I watched a while back that explained the significance of Luke turning off his targeting computer. Shortly before he went in Garven Dreis, one of the most veteran fighter pilots in the Rebel fleet made an approach on the thermal exhaust port and did everything right with his targeting computer on and still missed the shot. The perfect man with the perfect opportunity took his shot and whiffed; which is why Luke had to be the one to trust in the force and let it guide him to landing the shot on the thermal exhaust port.

However this begs the question if the thermal exhaust port was this purposely planted weakness in the Death Star intended by it's designer to be a kill switch why couldn't even a veteran pilot nail the shot? I know he can't just make it a big unguarded vulnerability and just hope nobody notices but if the weakness was only exploitable by a Jedi he didn't even know would be there why not make it just a little more doable?

[Assistant]
Making it more doable would increase the likelihood that the flaw would be discovered, and then easily corrected.

It had to be *almost* impossible, or it would be found and made *totally* impossible.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is the idea of a president "running it like a business" so controversial?

[Assistant]
Because government is not a business. Business exists to make a profit for owners or investors, government exists (at least in the US) to protect the rights and interests of the people.

These are fundamentally different aims. If the government were to run like a business, it would not be able to fulfill its duties under the Constitution or the most basic ethical framework.


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

[User]
Is suicide morally wrong? Why or why not?

According to Kant:
>Firstly, under the head of necessary duty to oneself: He who contemplates suicide should ask himself whether his action can be consistent with the idea of humanity as an end in itself. If he destroys himself in order to escape from painful circumstances, he uses a person merely as a mean to maintain a tolerable condition up to the end of life. But a man is not a thing, that is to say, something which can be used merely as means, but must in all his actions be always considered as an end in himself. I cannot, therefore, dispose in any way of a man in my own person so as to mutilate him, to damage or kill him.
...

He also speaks of suicide as a "breach of holy trust", that treats the value of the man as a beast.

[Assistant] Yes, it is, according to Camus as a previous person commented. Camus states that each man is conflicted because man has an innate desire to rationalize the world, yet this world is so irrational and this creates an Absurd feeling. Camus states that most people are displeased by this Absurd feeling and elude it either via religion or suicide  both of which are illogical or wrong. He states that we must instead live with the Absurd and sort of come to peace with it. Hope that explanation was sufficient. All of this is in The Myth of Sisyphus btw.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Why the hell didn't the wizards tell us there was a Dark Lord hellbent on world domination?

We have cruise missiles and tanks and shit.  We could've bombed Voldemort from a hundred thousand miles away and then everyone could've rested easy.

I mean, as far as I'm aware it's generally accepted that Gun beats Wand, so wouldn't an air strike on Voldemort's castle of evil(Or wherever he was chillin'.) wrap the whole thing up in a tight little bow?

[Assistant] "Hey, Muggles. We've been living under your noses since the dawn of time. We can make money, gold, bring back the dead, make you fall in love with us, warp your minds and bodies, travel through time, and our children use nightmarish spells as childhood pranks. Oh, and a guy who can kill you by farting green lightning is tearing shit up. If you could just take care of that..."


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

[User]
[FNAF] Could an M18 Claymore mine offer reasonable defense against the animatronics?

A simple m18 with laser tripwire, or in a pinch traditional tripwire setup in each of the halls?

Would the shrapnel or concussive force be able to take on out?

How much damage could one take before it decided to fuck off?

[Assistant]
Unlikely.

Animatronics are made of lightweight plastic and aluminium. An ordinary human being should, under normal circumstances, be able to dismantle them easily. The fact that they're able to easily overpower the human player characters is proof that these are *not* normal circumstances.


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

[User]
[Brave New World] What is Soma exactly?

It makes people pass out and lose track of time. Seems to have no side effects. No bad or unpleasant trips. Imaginably doesn't cause much tolerance as its given out in the same dosage everyday to the workers at the dispensary place. We know its both orally and sublingually available (the gum.) Nobody seems to go through Soma withdrawal.

So on this note, any GABA, serotonin or opioid agonists are probably out, though Soma could also be a mixture of drugs concocted to reverse the unpleasantness that'd otherwise be there. Any thoughts?

[Assistant] I can't answer your question directly, but given that most of the population is artificially generated, it could also suggest genetic engineering to develop sensitivity to a certain drug or combination of drugs while altering the pathways involved in withdrawal/desensitization.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter (films)] When Hermione, disguised as Bellatrix, tried to break into the bank, the goblin asked to see her wand as identification.

They used an Imperious spell to bypass this requirement. But, I thought that they *had* Bellatrix's wand. Didn't they show it to Ollivander and get his assessment of it earlier? Why didn't they bring it with them and show it?

[Assistant]
Hermione Granger was, in fact, using Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, and thought it would make the disguise all the more convincing. What Hermione, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley did not factor into their planning was that the news of Bellatrix losing her wand would be spread among the forces loyal to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; You-Know-Who encouraged that kind of thing, since shaming those who had failed him was part of their punishments. The Gringott's goblins, who were answering to You-Know-Who at that time, were also aware of this.

The goblin Griphook, who is far more adept at reading goblin body language than any human could be, realized that the Gringot's goblins were aware of this, and that showing them Bellatrix Lestrange's wand would actually confirm them to be impostors.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do trees have such long life spans compared to other wild life?

[Assistant]
Their evolutionary niche is in being large and durable. They're the biggest things in the forest, so they get to hog all the sunlight they want. It takes a long time for trees to grow to be so big and tough, so they need to make use of it by living long enough to produce tons of seeds.

Trees are most vulnerable as saplings. If they don't get eaten or trampled when they're young, they don't have much to worry about for a long time. A strong, healthy tree is quite tough to take down by anything found in nature. A long life span allows the tree to produce many seeds and maximize its chances at reproduction.

Insects are on the other end of the spectrum. They're small, not terribly durable, and are often food for tons of other animals. Insects also tend to have quite short lives, but that's fine since their strategy is to reproduce like crazy and survive through sheer numbers. It doesn't matter if a million ants die if there are billions more ready to replace them.


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

[User]
ELI5 what my dog could possibly be looking for before finally doing his business?

And why the eye contact??

[Assistant]
asking the *really* important questions!

i think they are looking for a "unmasked" or unscented location to mark.
and the eye contact i think comes from more of a curiosity at why you are watching them.


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

[User]
[Star Trek: Voyager] Why couldn't Harry have done a better job at re-creating Holodoc when he was on Prometheus?

I get it, Holodoc was the result of years of research and programming by Lewis Zimmerman, combined with the unexpected emergent properties of having been left on for 3-4 years with experiences that couldn't easily be replicated by simple programming. Harry Kim could not possibly have recreated Holodoc perfectly. Granted.

But, what he came up with was a Holodoc-lookalike that was incapable of anything more than reciting Grey's Anatomy. The crew of various Starfleet vessels, in cooperation with the ship's computer, create better characters than this all the time.

- Geordi, with little effort, created a Leah Brahms that was able to help him figure out a technical problem, and was so realistic he started to fall in love with her.
- Geordi created Moriarity simply by saying "Computer, create an opponent capable of defeating Data" or something to that effect.
- Voyager's crew created that Cardassian doctor exobiologist a year or two after the event.
- Voyager already had in its database extremely smart holographic figures like Leonardo da Vinci.

I'm not saying Kim could've wholesale brought back the Doctor, but surely he could have come up with *something* that'd be a lot better than shoving a hypospray into Tom Paris's hands and leaving it at that. What gives? Is Kim just really, really bad at holo-character programming, or what?

[Assistant]
(The "holodoc" is called an EMH, by the way.)

Voyager's computer wasnt at the crazy-high levels of the experimental upgraded Enterprise-D systems. They probably didn't have any pre-made systems with real medical capabilities to draw on, just the equivelent of actors who know how to spout medical-sounding technobabble. And medicine is largely based on skill; just feeding a hologram the relevant text files wasn't enough, because they needed *experience*, not just knowledge (which is available to anyone who knows how to operate a computer terminal properly., these days)

Still, it *is* odd, and I'd be suspicious that Ensign Kim may have simply been incompetent at the task.


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

[User]
Why do Space Shuttles burn up on re-entry, but not when they are leaving the Earth?

I know it has something to do with the friction of the shuttle against the air particles, but how come the Shuttle burns up only on re-entry? Shouldn't the phenomenon work in both directions? Why should the Earth prefer things to leave but melt down anything that comes in?

[Assistant] The outbound trajectory is designed to minimize air resistance to get maximum efficiency from the fuel. The inbound trajectory is designed to create much more air resistance, in order to bleed off energy to get from orbital velocity to landing velocity.


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

[User] ELI5: How come when I stretch, I'm not able to hear things as well?

[Assistant]
There is a tube (Eustachian tube) connecting the inside of your ear and your nose. Its purpose is to drain excess fluid and to relieve pressure in the ear. Normally the tube is held closed. When you swallow, yawn, or stretch your muscles, the tube is temporarily opened allowing pressure to equalize. An example of a time this is necessary is on an airplane when your ears pop due to the pressure change, and you need to swallow or chew gum to fix it.

Normally your hear noises around you by the sound traveling through air into your ear and hitting the eardrum. While the tube is held open, it messes up your hearing because you're getting extra sounds coming up through your nose. As well, the movement of the eardrum is affected by this extra opening. The result is that it's hard to hear noises around you.

But for noises coming from within (your own voice, breathing, etc.) it's a different story. Noises from within do not travel through the air; they travel through your bones going straight to your inner ear. These noises are not affected by the tube being open, so you hear them louder than you normally do.