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72ismm
|
what does it mean to be "peer reviewed"? and are all peer reviewed sources credible?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/72ismm/eli5_what_does_it_mean_to_be_peer_reviewed_and/
|
{
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"text": [
"In the context of scientific journals, peer review is a process where a set of experts knowledgable in the field of a submitted paper review it for problems. They provide comments to the journal about what problems they had with the paper, and the journal passes them on to the authors for correction. The comments can be all sorts of things, from minor things like a suggestion for a paper they think should be added to the prior work section to major things like that they feel an alternative explanation is available for the data shown and that additional experiments need to be run to rule that explanation out. The authors make whatever changes they feel are warranted, send the paper back, it gets reviewed again, and so forth until there are either no comments left and the paper gets published or there's an impasse and the journal gets involved to resolve it (sometimes by rejecting the paper if they think the comments are legit).\n\nPeer review isn't magic, both because reviewers are humans and because the quality of the reviewers matters. It generally makes papers more credible, but only if both the journal and the reviewers take it seriously. There are plenty of \"peer reviewed\" journals where the peers don't actually do any real reviewing and the journal doesn't care, and in that case it doesn't add much."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
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||
6xl6n0
|
why are there five star officers in the us army, but not in the navy or air force?
|
The Army's highest position is 5-Star General.
The five star Navy position, Fleet Admiral, is wartime only.
I don't think there is a five star Air Force officer at all.
Can you explain?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6xl6n0/eli5why_are_there_five_star_officers_in_the_us/
|
{
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"text": [
"There was a five-star air-force officer:\n\n[Henry H. Arnold](_URL_0_)\n\nThe five star thing was only ever for world war II, because there was rank inflation and one-upmanship going on and because there simply were so many people involved that you needed a bigger rank pyramid.\n\nSince the ranks were to help coordinate with other countries military (it would be awkward to order around someone who in theory outranks you) these ranks were mostly given to officers who had to order high ranking foreign officers around. The US Navy had less problems with that sort of thing. The only countries who had such high naval ranks were the ones who the US was at war with. There were no allied Grand Admirals or Admirals of the Navies from other countries to boss around by a mere Admiral.\n\nCurrently 4 star ranks is as high it gets.",
"[Someone might want to tell Admiral Nimitz the Navy doesnt have 5 star rank!](_URL_0_).\n\n[Or Bill Halsey, but he might just punch you in the face](_URL_1_).\n\nAs others have pointed out all branches created a limited number of 5 star promotions for a select few of their most successful or politically connected and important officers. When they left active duty if the years after WW2 they were not replaced. Meaning all are on the books, along with the one off promotions for Pershing, Dewey, and Washington. But today 4 star is the top for all branches. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_H._Arnold"
],
[
"https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e1/80/e7/e180e7900f1b09cb821c43d25cddbd2e--naval-history-military-history.jpg",
"http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-ex-commander-of-the-third-american-fleet-during-most-of-news-photo/106503693?esource=SEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#the-excommander-of-the-third-american-fleet-during-most-of-the-war-picture-id106503693"
]
] |
|
jpgir
|
the plot of primer
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jpgir/eli5_the_plot_of_primer/
|
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"text": [
"\"there doesn't seem to be anything here\"\n\nlol",
"I don't have time to go into detail here, but the key to understanding primer is that there are future events that we never get to see, therefore we (and the protagonists) don't have any way to understand why certain things happened.\n\nI refer to Mr Granger, who somehow turns up from the future part way through the movie. We just don't know how or why he ended up travelling back in time.",
"This just gave me the goosebumps. I came here to make the exact same thread, trying to find out if people came here posting questions without text. I Scroll down and its the exact same line I wanted to write \"ELI5: The plot of primer\". ",
"Just have a look at [this](_URL_0_)!",
"Read through [this](_URL_0_). It does a better job on explaining the movie than I ever could. It is long, but everything will make sense after you read it.",
"\"there doesn't seem to be anything here\"\n\nlol",
"I don't have time to go into detail here, but the key to understanding primer is that there are future events that we never get to see, therefore we (and the protagonists) don't have any way to understand why certain things happened.\n\nI refer to Mr Granger, who somehow turns up from the future part way through the movie. We just don't know how or why he ended up travelling back in time.",
"This just gave me the goosebumps. I came here to make the exact same thread, trying to find out if people came here posting questions without text. I Scroll down and its the exact same line I wanted to write \"ELI5: The plot of primer\". ",
"Just have a look at [this](_URL_0_)!",
"Read through [this](_URL_0_). It does a better job on explaining the movie than I ever could. It is long, but everything will make sense after you read it."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.freeweb.hu/neuwanstein/primer_timeline.html"
],
[
"http://theprimeruniverse.blogspot.com/"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.freeweb.hu/neuwanstein/primer_timeline.html"
],
[
"http://theprimeruniverse.blogspot.com/"
]
] |
||
4v8fxa
|
do blinds or curtains make your cooling more energy efficient? how much does the type of window treatment (material, color, style) matter?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4v8fxa/eli5_do_blinds_or_curtains_make_your_cooling_more/
|
{
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"d5wd3ir"
],
"score": [
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],
"text": [
"It depends. Blinds will stop black body radiation. All things emit an infrared light based on their temperature. This infrared radiation will heat things up. If the outside is hotter then the inside then more radiation will come in your window then you let out. Having blinds will stop the radiation and heat up the blinds instead.\n\nThis is where it gets very situational. The sky is cool and does not emit much heat so it is quite possible that you are sending more radiation out then you receive even if the outside ground temperature is higher. It also depends on where your blinds or curtains are placed. If you have blinds on the outside they will obviously help cool your house by keeping the energy outside. And also if the heat from your curtains are better then heating your floor and walls then it is preferred to close them. In addition the curtains will also emit black body radiation so hot curtains will ensure more energy gets emitted out your windows.\n\nYou can get glass that is better at reflecting away infrared radiation. This will help you insulate better. However most people find it cheaper to ensure their house is not leaking any cool air outside and is properly isolated."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
55pojm
|
- why do us voters have a say in the candidate for president but no say in who is chosen as their vice presidential running mate?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/55pojm/eli5_why_do_us_voters_have_a_say_in_the_candidate/
|
{
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],
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],
"text": [
"it's a package deal. you are voting for both and you are trusting the candidates ability to select an appropriate running mate.\nsometimes it does have an effect. when McCain picked Palin and she turned out to be a moron it had an effect on his numbers.",
"In the early days of the republic, whoever came in second in the electoral college became vice president. This wasn't ideal, as it resulted in political rivals being in those two spots and prevented them from working closely together.\n\nAs a result, it was decided that the electors would vote separately for president and vice president (in the 12th Amendment). But it's the same electors who vote for president, so whatever process is used to select those electors is going to be how we choose who votes for VP. All 50 states choose their electors via a popular vote."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
d751t9
|
what exactly is the financial repo market?
|
There has been lots of talk on Wall Street about the repo market. My question is what exactly is the repo market and what are the impacts of the repo market on credit market+economy?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d751t9/eli5_what_exactly_is_the_financial_repo_market/
|
{
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"f0z55tl"
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"text": [
"Simply put, time is money - having cash sitting in your bank account, even for one night, is a lost opportunity.\n\nSo when the bank accounts of commercial banks exceed or are under their legally mandated reserves, they loan/borrow it out with a repurchase agreement - this is where the term repo comes from.\n\nBasically, Bank A has $50m extra at the end of Thursday, Bank B has a need to get $50m on its books to comply with regulations - Bank A will loan out their extra $50m for an agreed interest rate, and will repurchase the loan on Friday morning.\n\nThe agreed interest rate that banks charge each other for 1 day loans is just about the most fundamental metric in the entire financial system. Everything from government bonds, to commercial loans, to your mortgage is influenced by how much banks have to pay to square their books at the end of the day."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
4v7uks
|
why does the colour run from my iris?
|
This happens regularly to me and I have no idea why. Essentially the brown in my iris runs int the whites of my eyes. I've heard its benign but just curious as to what causes it/why it happens.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4v7uks/eli5_why_does_the_colour_run_from_my_iris/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d5wbnyp"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"It is better to get an eye Dr to check it out than take advice from Reddit. Here's a page from a professional. \n\n_URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://www.aao.org/eye-health/ask-ophthalmologist-q/brown-spots-on-eye"
]
] |
|
1zd8ak
|
why is it that some very intricate games run great on my lower-end pc but simple indie games will run at a terrible frame rate?
|
Like the title says, some games like WoW will run very smoothly but simple indie games like Octo-dad will barely run at 15fps even at the lowest graphics settings?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zd8ak/eli5_why_is_it_that_some_very_intricate_games_run/
|
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"text": [
"Some devs have the money and the skills to ensure that games will run ok across a wide variety of pcs, whereas smaller studios with less money and less coding skills are unable to make that happen so it requires a stronger PC",
"World of Warcraft is nearly **ten years old**. It ran poorly on low end hardware when it came out but today's hardware is many times faster. They've also spent millions of dollars on development over the last decade to make it perform well.",
"Imagine game programming like writing a book. The shorter and better worded the book the easier it is to read and the faster it can be read. A longer book could contain all the same thoughts, same scenes but be much harder to read and take much much longer.\n\nThis is how it is with programming. You can make a game quickly but it will be rough around the edges in the code, making it slow. The more time (and money) you throw at it the more streamlined you make it, the smaller and faster it becomes.\n\nAnd like others have said, old game compared to new game of different style and content."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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|
2ycdx8
|
how do geologists know there is a large amount of specific mineral (e.g. iron ore) in general area if they find a small amount of it few metres deep into soil?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ycdx8/eli5_how_do_geologists_know_there_is_a_large/
|
{
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"text": [
"Because rocks are laid down in beds, or 'strata' - layers of rock and sediment which over millions of years become warped and misshapen from events like continental drift and plate tectonics, when the ground from one place pushes into another and begins an orogeny or a mountain-building event. \nBecause of these events and scientists knowledge of them and how they happen we are able to accurately map these beds of rock under the surface, and pinpoint those that contain ore, metals, minerals etc",
"Chartered Geologist here! I'll do my best to detail how I go about assessing a potential mineral deposit.\n\nStep 1 - undertake a desk study of available geology data to get a basic understanding of the local geology and to help target where to undertake a site investigation. If no published geology data is available we will check the proposed site for outcrops of rock and make assumptions for where to investigate based upon our findings.\n\nStep 2) undertake a site investigation with the use of either geophysics, a drill rig or a digger (if it's a shallow deposit near the surface). If we use a drill rig or a digger, a geologist will be present and will keep a written record of the material encountered. Samples will also be retained for lab analysis.\n\nStep 3) the geologist will then make a reserve estimate based on the results of the site investigation / lab testing and determine the mineral vs waste material generated and whether it's worth pursuing the development."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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||
bp6o0k
|
why us college educated need to go to another school to have their chosen profession?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bp6o0k/eli5_why_us_college_educated_need_to_go_to/
|
{
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"text": [
"I don't think anyone has touched on this aspect of your question yet:\n\n4 years of college is not just a generic education unrelated to your profession. You declare a major, and you'll have a specific set of requirements you need to fulfill. *Some* of these classes are unrelated (gen eds), but you start taking classes related to your desired profession at the very beginning.\n\nFor example, my degree program requirements include:\n\n**Core** \n\nElement One—Communication (2 courses)\n\nElement Two—Mathematics (1 course)\n\nElement Three—Global Traditions (2 courses)\n\nElement Four—Arts/Humanities (1 course)\n\nElement Five—Social Science (2 courses)\n\nElement Six—Natural Science (2 courses)\n\nAdditional Core—choose 2 additional Core courses from the above elements.\n\nStudents in my university choose any class that would satisfy those requirements (and there are many options). \n\n**Then for the rest of my degree program:**\n\nOne specific English class\n\nOne specific chemistry class\n\n2 specific physics classes\n\n4 specific math classes\n\n16 specific engineering classes \n\n3 engineering tech electives (your choice)\n\n3 engineering courses that complete a \"track\" (there are 3 track options)\n\nSenior lab (2 options) & senior project (each project is unique)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
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||
6ph7t5
|
why do we use a.d./b.c. terminology to talk about years on earth? wouldn't it have been easier to go in numerical order of how old we think the earth is? if we did, what year would it be now instead of 2017 a.d.?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ph7t5/eli5_why_do_we_use_adbc_terminology_to_talk_about/
|
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"text": [
"It is somewhere between the Year 4,490,000,000 and 4,590,000,000 by that method. \n\nWhile this is an impressive level of precision for geological events, it's really not a great way to get to your appointments.",
"AD/BC gives us a reference point to work from that is common to a lot of the world, and even those non Christians.\n\nAs for the \"easier\" option, how old exactly is the earth; 4 billion years, or 4.5 bn, give or take a 100 million? not the most accurate measurement system, and who decides how old the earth is anyway ",
"It actually seems easier to use BC/AD as a marker, because its a set point people can agree on. \n\nSay we pick some year that we believe is the start of time. We want to make that Year 1. Ok does everyone else involved also agree to use that as year one?\n\nWhat happens later when some new scientific process suggests to us that earth is even older? That there are 200 years BEFORE \"year 1\". Where do we put those? \n\nBy going off a set point (BC/AD) it allows us expansion in either direction. We never run out of years to place an event. ",
"Current terminology is BCE and CE. Before Common Era and Common Era rather than Before Christ and Anno Domini. It's easier than writing eight billion and change.",
"Because for a long part of history, we didn't know how old earth was. Several systems did use a guess (like the hebrew calendar, it's currently the 2nd of Av, 5777), and now our knowledge would make that very unwieldy. Several other systems used an important date (like the foundation of the primary city) to count off of. Roman dating was...complicated, because while they did sometimes count from the foundation of Rome (ad urbe condita), they mostly referenced the current consuls (chief political officials). AD/BC was popularized by the Christians, because what better decision than to make the most important date the birth of Jesus (which probably actually happened around 6BC...oh well)",
"if we took the age of the earth as our date, we'd be roughly in the lear 4 Billion, as people above me have pointed out.\n\nwouldn't be very efficient, I'd say.\n\nHowever, there is a type of calendar that sets it's year zero at the first sign of human civilisation we've found, that was a temple 10.000 BC. it's called the \"Halocene Calendar\"\n\nit proposes adding ten thousand years to our current date and keeping everything together, whole also cathegorizing it into Eras.\n\nafter that calendar, we currently have the yeat 12.017 HE, the Human Era."
]
}
|
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[
[],
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||
qs9ca
|
what a nervous breakdown feels like
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/qs9ca/eli5_what_a_nervous_breakdown_feels_like/
|
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"text": [
"via wiki:an attack of depression or anxiety so severe that it prevents a person from continuing to function normally.\n\nit can be different for everyone. once i was in the ER because i swore i was having a heart attack, i had a wrenching pain in my chest. other times, i would feel unable to walk out of apartment, as if someone were waiting outside my door to kill me. \n",
"\"Nervous breakdown\" is not a technical term. It's just a lay term for a sudden onset of some sort of some sort of mental problem that goes away in a \"short\" period of time. It could feel like anything, it just means that something's going wrong inside your head and making life difficult.",
"Well, I had one last year. It was a gradual incline of anxiety that I let build up until one day, I just broke down. I was driving to work sobbing hysterically. When I got there, I dried my tears and tried to act normal, but I was shaking, breathing really rapidly, and really confused. I just kept pacing around, and I was just so afraid of nothing in particular. If I was asked, I didn't have any idea what was making me upset, I just was. And I was just panicking. There was no way I could focus on work and I eventually made it to the therapist. Then I was admitted to a day program at the hospital in which I was given medication and participated in group therapy for like 7hrs a day, 5 days a week. Things gradually got better from then. This was my experience that I guess one could consider a nervous breakdown. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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2c1gy2
|
why are subway staircases so windy?
|
Everyday on the way to work, my fellow commuters and I are always feebly trying to hold our shirts/dresses/hair etc. down as we walk up and down the subway stairs.
What causes this? Is it the air circulation system pumping in oxygen? Is it the constant repetition of trains rushing by causing high and low pressure areas combined with the change from being above ground to below ground?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2c1gy2/eli5_why_are_subway_staircases_so_windy/
|
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"text": [
"That wind is the subways operating in tunnels with little clearance and provide a \"plunger\" effect, drawing air in from the departure site and then expelling it at the destination. It more or less pushes it along with the train creating positive pressure ahead of the train and a negative pressure (vacuum) behind the train, pulling air into the tunnel.\n\nThere are other factors too, such as the thermal gradient, which, to a 5 year old means air moves relative to the temperature, and it's always colder under ground, so with air cycling in from the outside, it's always mixing. The effect is much greater when you have a limited access tunnel like a subway where one end is warm and in the sun, and the other end is cold in the shade. \n\nLastly, the outside wind will find its way in at terminals and exit points.\n\nYour guess was pretty good.\n\nFor reference, you'll have windy caves if there's more than one entrance that operate on the thermal and wind effects alone.\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3awg8q
|
how do the major mail deliver services (fedex, ups) handle people who don't pay for the faster shipping? do they literally sit on the packages?
|
I'm asking this because I bought something on eBay with the standard shipping. Guy lives in Minnesota, which is about an 18 hour drive to my house. The package went to one of their facilities, and just... stayed there from thursday of last week till now, when it arrived in New Jersey, a state away. I'm just wondering if they kept my package there a little longer because I didn't pay for faster shipping, in order to keep with their original delivery estimate.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3awg8q/eli5_how_do_the_major_mail_deliver_services_fedex/
|
{
"a_id": [
"csgldri"
],
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"text": [
"They ship it by truck, instead of by air. Much cheaper for them. If the truck's not full for a particular regional destination, then it doesn't go. So your package will sit in one hub until the truck is full enough to send to the hub near you."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
25tmuf
|
how do companies who make malware and bloatware (that come with other programs, for example) profit? what do they have to gain from tricking people into using free toolbars, etc.?
|
I understand redirect viruses and programs that steal information, but I don't get why there are so many shitty extra programs that come with most free software if you don't uncheck them. Things like conduit and others that make it difficult to uninstall, how do they profit from making it difficult to remove them?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/25tmuf/eli5_how_do_companies_who_make_malware_and/
|
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"text": [
"sweet sweet ad money. From redirects to their bullshit websites, and more frequently making random words on all websites into hyperlinks.",
"You mean like for exmaple when you are going to install uTorrent it gives you for example McAfee safe search toolbar option in installation ? \n\nHere's the deal : In this case , McAfee pays uTorrent for \"featuring\" it , Torrent earns lot of money because of lot of traffic and it uses iut for paying it's bills for server etc . \n\nAnd McAfee is in profit because of 50% won't uncheck it and people will use his toolbar and maybe consider it's future use .",
"Tracking data that can be sold to marketing firms. ",
"_URL_0_\n\nInteresting talk if you're interested in the subject."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2mdUcOXW6I"
]
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|
3apma0
|
why do baking soda and vinegar make my towels really clean?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3apma0/eli5_why_do_baking_soda_and_vinegar_make_my/
|
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"text": [
"Baking soda slightly softens the water making the detergents more effective. Baking soda and vinegar together are a pretty good stain remover. Additionally, the vinegar helps removes excess soap from the towel, making it feel softer.",
"From what I understand, the acid-based reaction dissolves dirt. In water though, they are both behaving as water softeners. Soft water helps to loosen up the fibers of your clothing which helps to get the grime out. ",
"baking soda makes water all cuddly, vinegar acts as a mild bleaching agent and also makes water slightly acidic. Dirt loves a cuddle in acidic water, so together, they make the dirt leave the towel and go into the water. ",
"Isn't that what you use to make the big foamy volcanoes? Is this ELI5 just a prank to make people explode their washers into big bubble geysers?",
"works well for freshening up a mattress too, if you haven't got a mattress protector on under your sheets. Vinegar in spray bottle + baking soda sprinkled on top + agitate with hands + let dry + vacuum it off = so fresh & so clean clean"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
9l35dp
|
why is apple's spellcheck so much worse then any other spell check?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9l35dp/eli5_why_is_apples_spellcheck_so_much_worse_then/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e73q5p0",
"e73qorm"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"What makes you think it's so much worse than the alternatives? Samsung's autocorrect is also legendarily awful. Unfortunately we're not very good at making these systems be both lightweight and smart enough not to get in our way.",
"If you are talking about the autocorrect function in the iPhone, it is not, most mobile spellchecks are bad, the reason is that most of them learn from the users and share that information to dynamic databases.\n\nIf you are comparing it to an alternative app, it could be that your app have a fixed static dictionary free from user input, ignoring slang, trends, abbreviations, etc."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
3dd4ky
|
how the data is transferred from over 3 billion miles - between new horizon and nasa.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3dd4ky/eli5_how_the_data_is_transferred_from_over_3/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ct3zmyq"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Power is the limitation. \n\nThe Pluto craft had ONE purpose that required a relatively high degree of energy output for a short period of its entire life. So it was designed to ensure it could capture and forward the data from its flyby in that concentrated period. It couldn't do that for a very long time without exhausting its batteries, so it sent still pictures in the form of converted radio signals to very very sensitive receivers here. But it couldn't send \"streaming video\" without running out of juice because movies are so data intensive.\n\nWhen designing probe missions, a key point is that power costs weight. The heavier a probe is, the longer it can last and the more data it can send, but that comes at a big pricetag to lift it out of the Earth's gravity and send it on its way, and then even more heavy propellant is required to steer it and make course corrections if it's heavier... so the cost keeps going up. So they go minimal instead, sending photos over time using low-mass batteries and hardware.\n\nOn your other point: streaming from Mars doesn't work well because half the time the probe is on the other side of the planet and half the time the solar batteries aren't being charged. And it's of limited value because not much changes on Mars so still pictures are just as good. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
3rcgpe
|
how do fog lamps on a car actually work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3rcgpe/eli5_how_do_fog_lamps_on_a_car_actually_work/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cwmsqxi"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"The problem with using main beams on your headlights in fog is that, rather than providing you with extra seeing power, they just light the fog up and if anything can make your forward visibility worse.\n\nFog lamps throw extra light forward, but at a lower angle (i.e. they're pointed down towards the road more) than headlights do. This means that although they might not give you the light that main beams do in clear situations, they can provide you with a bit of extra light to help you see and be seen in fog, without dazzling yourself."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
33rv3f
|
why does lightning branch out?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33rv3f/eli5_why_does_lightning_branch_out/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cqnsy21"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The charged particles within the lightning are trying to find the path of least resistance to the ground, where charges of the opposite polarity are building up. \nThis trying to find the most convenient way to reach the ground means that sometimes the stream of particles making up the lightning will split, causing branching."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
35xt4x
|
how does google cloud compute engine work in laymen terms??
|
I took an intro to computing class and it just seems like we're bombarded with terms we've heard for the first time - just seems so overwhelming. If someone can explain in a nutshell the components of it, that'd be super great, thanks!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35xt4x/eli5_how_does_google_cloud_compute_engine_work_in/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cr8uqtg",
"cr8ys4e"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Not too familiar with google's cloud, but it says it's IAAS. Infrastructure As A Service. \n\nWhat that means in basic terms is that they have servers scattered at different data centers which are running virtualization software.(VMWare is a popular example) \n\nYou deploy an instance of any type of server you want on their equipment, say Linux CentOs or Windows Server, etc. You can allocate whatever resources you need. (more ram, hard disk space, cores, etc) Then they charge you for exactly what you use according to whatever metric they have come up with.\n\nThe benefit of this sort of thing is reliability, convenience, and protection. You get to avoid the problems associated with running a rack yourself. (power, redundancy, hvac, and possible equipment costs or failures, cost of having a tech who can run to the data center or rack, cost of remote hands, to name a few)\n\nAlso, the security involved in the cloud will apply to your traffic as well for the most part. That is, an engineer will be around to sink an ip if you are getting DDoS'd.\n\nAdditionally, if your server gets corrupted you can switch to another instance and not lose uptime. \n\nThey also offer load balancing, which will divert traffic to another instance of your server or to another location entirely if it is closer to the bulk of the incoming traffic.\n\nThe cost is a bit higher at first, but it's cheaper in the long run and a more stable system, provided the cloud company maintains their gear.",
"in layman's terms: cloud computing is simply doing the actual tedious calculations and number crunching away from your physical device, then sending the results back to you. Cloud storage is similar but except doing computations, it holds your data somewhere else (think Dropbox or Google Drive).\n\nCloud 'anything' just means that the 'anything' is done somewhere away from your device and generally means you can access it from anywhere (security restrictions aside) and the idea is that the 'somewhere else' is much more powerful then your local machine.\n\nAn example of cloud computing is an app like soundhound or shazaam. You send them a clip of a song, then they use their massive computer farm to figure out which song it's from in a few seconds. If you tried to do that on your device it would take hours of crunching and possibly several Terabytes of data pulled from the internet, depending on how long the search went on. It's not feasable to have the algorithm on your phone and have your phone do the computation, it requires too many resources. With cloud computing you can offload the resource intensive work to a place which has those resources.\n\nGoogle Cloud Compute Engine is a general purpose workhorse for cloud computing. You can run your code on a google-hosted virtual machine and google's hardware will do the computation for you in a fraction of the time it would take your computer at home to do it. \n\nFor this service they charge by the minute of server time used (to give you an idea of how much faster it is). "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
8p8uou
|
how do high- and low-pressure areas "move"?
|
I understand that air (including clouds for example) moves from high\- to low\-pressure areas, but how do these areas themselves move?
I always see them moving in the weather forecast and such.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8p8uou/eli5_how_do_high_and_lowpressure_areas_move/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e09e3s5"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"If more air moves into the area of low pressure it's no longer low pressure, and since it's out of high pressure area it's no longer high pressure, and so the areas are now elsewhere as if they moved, but really it's the air that moves, not the pressure areas."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
bwoi65
|
why do movements in video games look so overly "smooth"?
|
I noticed this again recently when I was watching [this cyberpunk 2077](_URL_0_) trailer.
What is the reason for this unrealistic "smoothness" in the characters' movements?
Surely it should be possible to add more realistic jerky, abrupt elements?
Are there techological limits or are the reasons for not doing that artistic?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bwoi65/eli5_why_do_movements_in_video_games_look_so/
|
{
"a_id": [
"epzdtvi"
],
"score": [
7
],
"text": [
"Former game dev here,\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThere is actually a really big problem: the uncanny valley. In aesthetics, this refers to the degree of an object's resemblance to human appearance and your emotional response to it. In short, the closer we get to making something human, the more your mind and emotional response is aware that it's not real, and you have an adverse reaction.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIt's creepy as shit. Like touched by your uncle, who's made of spiders creepy.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nYou have to actually get it flawlessly perfect, or it's wrong. So it's easier to stop at 80-90% there rather then go up to 98-99%. Your mind knows that these images aren't real, and so it stops the uncanny valley.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nAnd in in video games, they're not aiming for realism anyway."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"https://youtu.be/UjxS9ciNlII?t=33"
] |
[
[]
] |
|
2ybrn4
|
why does my nose get dry and chafed from being wiped way more easily than my butt does?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ybrn4/eli5_why_does_my_nose_get_dry_and_chafed_from/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cp81tka",
"cp81xlv",
"cp83ow1",
"cp84ufg"
],
"score": [
3,
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Your ass is used to it and is built for it (tougher skin and more moisture)",
"Tl;Dr:\nYo ass hole is hard core as fu'k.\nOther holes ain't got shit.",
"Get drunk on tequila and take a tablespoon full of 3 million scovelle unit hot sauce on a dare. You will find that toilet paper hurts your asshole way worse than any tissue has hurt your nose in the next few days.\n\nHere is the deal. You wipe your ass what 3-4x a day (or 20x when you just can't get your ass clean and have to keep wiping). Your nose right now you have blown/wiped about 50x+ so you have done it way more times and more frequently. Now when you have the super shits (brought along by being a retarded drunk that equates the $20 bet with the tablespoon of black death to a free fifth for tomorrow) you shit a lot. Then when you think you are done and wipe you stand up and guess what you have to shit again which leads to more wiping. This occures throughout the next 5 days or so where you spend 30m-1 hour in the toilet think you are done then come back 15 minutes later. So now you have the 50x+ wipes of your ass. Just saying it is a hell of a lot worse. \n\nSeriously Tommy fuck you. You still owe me $20.\n\nTLDR; If you wiped your butthole as much as you are currently blowing your nose it would hurt way worse.",
"Because this is asking about a condition you suffer it qualifies as a personal problem according to the sidebar rules.\n\nI'm not sure what, if any, subreddit would be better for you, but if you find one that works for you, let me know and I'll edit it into this template so anyone in the future will know, too!\n\nAlternatively, *if* this really is a complex conceptual question about the human body and not a question about *you* specifically, you can rephrase and resubmit without reference to yourself and try again. (Body questions are pretty common though, so try a quick search!)\n\nGood luck! "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
111er4
|
what's bad about white bread?
|
What's so unhealthy about it compared to wholemeal?
And why do some people say 'the body isn't used to it?' despite eating it quite a lot?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/111er4/whats_bad_about_white_bread/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c6ihk9q",
"c6ihk9x"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"All of the nutrients in a grain of wheat are in the outer, brown-colored part (the bran). The inner, white part is just starch. White bread is fortified with vitamins to make up for this, but they can't cover every single last nutrient. Many subtle trace nutrients are missing from white bread. I believe it also has less fiber.",
"All carbohydrates are broken down by your body into glucose (\"blood sugar\") which is energy for your body. It doesn't matter if you eat a bowl of sugar or a bowl of oatmeal. They will both be broken down the same. The only difference is the amount of time it takes to do this. We have a scale called the \"glycemic index\" which ranks different carbs by this standard. The theory is that if you eat carbs that are high on the glycemic index such as sugar, your body will be flooded with more glucose than it will know what to do with and will be more prone to storing it as fat. They are also linked to Type 2 Diabetes, but I will not go into that.\n\nNow, to your question. There are three parts to a seed: the germ, bran, and endosperm. White bread has the germ and bran removed. This makes the carb significantly simpler chemically for your body to break down into glucose which is bad for the reasons stated above. Wheat bread still has all parts of the seed intact which makes it more complex for the body to break down into glucose which allows your body to better utilize it."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
6rgznl
|
why are juices that clearly state "contains 0% juice" still marketed as juice?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6rgznl/eli5_why_are_juices_that_clearly_state_contains_0/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dl4yg9u",
"dl4ypwr",
"dl4zvw8",
"dl54z1c"
],
"score": [
13,
2,
6,
2
],
"text": [
"Does it actually say anywhere on the label it's a juice or is it a \"punch\" or \"drink\"? Juices generally only get labelled as juice. ",
"Can you provide an example? I've seen 'lemonaide' with 0% juice content but never \"juice\"",
"I see a lot of \"juice drink\" or \"fruit beverage\" for near 0% natural flavoring. Drink companies are especially tricky with their words. Naked was sued because their product is advertised as natural but isn't, and all they did was subtly remove the word \"natural\" from the bottle and keep it all about real fruit and health.",
"Rules are also regional. One place may say 'drink must contain x% of fruit juice to be labelled as 'juice'. Another place may say 'drink must contain any amount of 'fruit' to be labelled 'juice'.\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
axhosi
|
how much more information does the typical human today have stored in their brain, compared to early man?
|
In terms of overall storage of the brain, how much more are we using nowadays with all of this superfluous information we are made available, when compared to the hunter gatherers of early times? How many gigabytes was the hunting and fire making file compared to driving a car and paying taxes file? If that makes sense?
Can that even be measured?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/axhosi/eli5_how_much_more_information_does_the_typical/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ehtp1h9"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"I'm not sure it can be measured, but your average hunter gatherer has to know a _lot_. Remember there's no writing, to start with, so everything the society knows has to be remembered by people. And that's a lot of information: hunter gatherers will normally have a good idea of pretty much all the animals and plants in their part of the world and know them by sight (and sound if applicable) and what they are good for. They also have to have a good mental map of the territory their group usually covers, including what food can be found where and when, environmental hazards, sources of water, etc. And how all this changes from season to season. Then you need the daily life skills of gathering food, making camp, making tools, etc. And then there's all the social stuff (that we still keep track of today, but requires more brainpower than you might think).\n\nOf course, this is talking about earlier modern humans, which were just as intelligent as you or I (and in some cases had larger brains). Earlier hominids had smaller brains and probably _didn't_ store as much information...for example, one of the outstanding things about modern humans is that they use a much wider variety of resources than other hominids, including aquatic things like fish and shellfish. Using more types of food means having to know a lot more...getting to be an expert in whole new types of ways of making tools (eg, fishhooks and fish spears vs land spears) and whole new species of prey and their behavior, and whole sets of hunting and gathering grounds to remember. It's probable that earlier species couldn't keep track of all this, and that's one reason their behavior patterns seem to have been more limited. They also showed less variety and diversity in their tool production."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
20lw62
|
why does it seem like the higher the pitch of a sound, the more difficult it is to pinpoint where it's coming from?
|
About an hour ago, a high-pitched hiss was driving me and my fiancée crazy and we couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Eventually, we realized that it was steam whistling out of a piece of wood in the fireplace, but I could have *sworn* the noise was coming from the other side of the room by our entertainment centre. This kind of thing has happened before with high-pitched "mystery noises" and I'm just wondering if someone can explain what causes this phenomenon. Thanks!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20lw62/eli5_why_does_it_seem_like_the_higher_the_pitch/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cg4jt1d"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"We use both ears to spatially locate via sound (much like we use two eyes to see in 3 dimensions).\n\nHigher pitched sounds have wavelengths that are so small that we (more or less) get the same exact information in both ears. Lower pitched sounds have bigger wavelengths so we hear two different - slightly \"out of phase\" - waves and this gives us a stereo/3d view.\n\nThere are a lot of other ways we gain minutia in terms of sound localization, but...this is the big one that creates the difference between low and high pitches. A search for \"sound localization\" should bring up a ton of more detailed information on the topic.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
pczk1
|
what is it about cellphones that causes speakers to do that morse code thing?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/pczk1/eli5_what_is_it_about_cellphones_that_causes/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c3odx7z",
"c3oi8gf"
],
"score": [
13,
2
],
"text": [
"The sound is sent to the speakers over wires as an electrical current with varying strength.\n\nAlmost all wires behaves as antennas to some degree and can send and receive radio signals, often unintentionally.\n\nSo what happens is that the radio signals from the phone antenna are picked up by the wires, and this changes the current that reaches the speaker (it can get stronger or weaker than it's supposed to be).\n\nThis leads to the noise you hear.",
"Cell phones talk with the surrounding cell towers by radio waves. The radio waves cause interference with surrounding electronics, because the electronics act like antennas and pick up the signal. If the electronics are close to the cell phone, the signal is *very strong* compared to the levels that radios need in order to work, and the signal can leak into sound amplifiers.\n\nAudio signals in a sound amplifier like your stereo are just A.C. with varying voltage (higher voltage = louder sound) and repetition rate (100 times per second = bass, 2,000 times per second = treble). Radio signals have higher repetition rates -- millions of times per second -- and, when they are weak enough, they don't make sound in your sound amplifier. But the *very strong* signal from a nearby cell phone can distort the way the amplifier works, so that the strength of the signal affects the speaker attached to the amplifier. This is how a normal AM radio receiver works. Basically, all sound amplifiers are cheesy radio receivers. \n\nThe cell phone doesn't just broadcast all the time, like a radio station. It send out short pulses of radio waves that contain digital information. That saves battery.\n\nMost phones in the U.S. use something called \"Time Domain Multiple Access\" (TDMA). That means the cell tower tells the cell phone to talk only during a certain block of time out of each second. It requires the cell phone to know *exactly* what time it is, so the towers have to tell each cell phone in range exactly what time it is (incidentally, that's why the clock in your cell phone is always accurate). The cell phone turns on its radio to transmit only during tiny blocks of time that are marked out of each second. During the time that it is *not* transmitting, other cell phones can turn on their transmitters -- that way, up to a handful of cell phones can all be talking \"at once\" on the same radio channel, without interfering with each other.\n\nWhen your amplifier sounds like \"bzbzbzbzbzbzzt\" near the phone, you're hearing the individual blocks of time when the phone is allowed to talk: it switches on its radio transmitter and sends some data, then switches it off again. The actual sound you pick up is related to the data it is sending, and the pauses are the times that it is not sending any data.\n\nHope that helps.\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
3m97tt
|
how certain small businesses make enough money to stay open despite not ever being busy
|
I live in corning, NY now and I was walking down market street recently and observing some of the stores. Many are very cosmetically appealing which attract people to come in, but they hardly ever seem to actually buy things. For example there are many antique stores, and even a store that sells only olive oil which have been there for awhile now. How can a store that sells only olive oil, which never seems to be super busy, generate enough profit to pay their personal bills, their workers, and their bills over the store? I seem to see this a lot in small town areas. Generate more business than I assume? Are they just retired people living their dream off extra cash? Maybe even trustfund money? Any other explanations guys?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3m97tt/eli5_how_certain_small_businesses_make_enough/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cvd3j94",
"cvd9gyx"
],
"score": [
5,
2
],
"text": [
"So many stores, like antique stores, have extremely high markups on things. Selling one thing a day will keep them in business.\n\nOther stores are essentially warehouses for a more commercially-focused form of business. For example, the antique store may be utilized by an architect or designer who places items in businesses or very rich people's houses. Since you have to store all that stuff, you might as well open your doors to the public to see if they buy, too. There's little additional cost, particularly if someone who's already involved in the business can operate the shop. Same with the olive oil store. They probably make their money selling to restaurants and specialty food stores, but might as well open to the public to get brand recognition out, or maybe hold the \"olive oil tasting\" for fun (and get people used to gourmet olive oil).\n\nDon't forget the power of the internet. Many businesses have strong internet sales, and, for the same reasons as above, open their \"warehouse\" to the public, because why not.\n\nThen there's always the nefarious option -- the business is a front for illicit activity. I swear there are some restaurants around me that have to fall in that category.",
"Sometimes a small business will have very low overheads. Let's say you're an older married couple, you own an antique shop because its your dream to run one. You have no other employees, you own your house free and clear with no mortgage. You don't need much personal income to survive, the business only needs to sell enough to pay the lease on the premises, which isn't too hard. \n\nIn that state, the business can survive almost indefinitely. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
9w5sv1
|
why can an electric stove coil, which generates heat by sending electricity directly through the coil, get wet without causing a short circuit?
|
And, better yet, why does it only burn you instead of both shocking and burning you if you touch it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9w5sv1/eli5_why_can_an_electric_stove_coil_which/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e9htsy6"
],
"score": [
9
],
"text": [
"Because the stove coil is not a bare electric wire. Stove coils are made by embedding an electric wire inside a ceramic or other insulating material inside a metal sheath. This image explains it better than words: _URL_0_\n "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-906aebb789abccda7dbe2afb616c2039"
]
] |
|
euurga
|
why are we so fixated on saving people who try to kill themselves?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/euurga/eli5_why_are_we_so_fixated_on_saving_people_who/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ffrmtuq"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"i believe this would fit a lot better in something like r/NoStupidQuestions because this is more of an opinion than you looking for actual facts."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
ehqdcv
|
if aspirin inhibits prostacyclin synthesis why is it used as an antiplatelet drug?
|
So obviously it also inhibits TXA2 which is probably overpowering the effect of PGI2 but I am not really sure why or if that is right or how that would be right, can someone tell me why aspirin's dominant effect is platelet aggregation if synthesis of both eicosanoids occurs? -
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ehqdcv/eli5_if_aspirin_inhibits_prostacyclin_synthesis/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fckvbex"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Aspirin's dominant effect is ***not*** platelet aggregation. \n\nAspirin inhibits cycloxygenase, which is involved in the pathway that generates *both* thromboxane A2 (platelet aggregator) and prostacyclin (inhibits platelet aggregation). The net effect is that platelet aggregation is inhibited. \n\nSorry if that's not the best ELI5 answer due to heavy use of terminology, but it doesn't really feel like an ELI5 question either."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
73bnp9
|
why do audio drivers need to get updated? it's not like audio formats or hardware changes
|
One of my friends has an old motherboard, and he has 'some' problem regarding audio devices. He wants to have headphones and his speakers to work at the same time, but apparently he can't do that anymore.
So I'm just wondering-
When Windows 10 updates, why/how does it prevent the motherboard from understanding what audio devices are connected to the computer?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/73bnp9/eli5_why_do_audio_drivers_need_to_get_updated_its/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dnp43a6"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text": [
"Drivers are kind of like a translator, that goes between the computer and whatever the hardware is. It takes the generic language of the computer and makes it so the hardware understands.\n\nDrivers can also be thought of kind of like a bridge between hardware and software. The manufacturer of a sound card, for example, offers drivers for it 'cause it's specifically made for that hardware. \n\nSo to answer your question (hopefully) drivers get updates as bug are corrected or things are enhanced. As problems are found or things that could be made better (in some cases) you'll get an update. You're right - the audio format doesn't change often. That's partly because of drivers! The audio standard can be generic and not change for a long while, and drivers will translate that standard so it works with new hardware as it comes out.\n\nAbout your friend's problem - can he see his sound card under the device manager? He might have 2 audio devices installed - I have had that, and it gets confusing. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
60f9jo
|
can you actually "see something" in a person's eyes ("he was charming, but his eyes were cold") or are you just erroneously attributing your interpretation of their general body language/facial expression/behavior to their eyes?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/60f9jo/eli5_can_you_actually_see_something_in_a_persons/
|
{
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"text": [
"It's a figure of speech called a [synecdoche](_URL_0_), where a specific part of something is used to represent a whole. When referring to a person's eyes, you're actually referring to his entire facial expression (and perhaps other body language). ",
"It would be hard to quantify the (possibly perceived) affective (read emotional) aspects to peoples eyes. We can measure pupal dilation, saccadic rhythms and movement. These have some emotional correlation, but nothing dramatic for softer \"mood\" style emotions.\n \nThat said people automatically \"hide\" their true intention/feelings by posing their face. Many facial/body posture muscles differ in neurological connection to autonomous and conscious parts of the brain. In fact the eyes are a good \"tell\" because they are more strongly wired to autonomous systems.\n \nA lot of the processing we do of the emotions displayed by others does happen subconsciously in parts of the brain separate from regular sight. So the possibility of miss-attribution is there.\n \nIts one of those questions we should gain insight into as fMRI studies of emotion and cognition advance. \n\nedit: spelling",
"Yes and no.\n\nThere is something called the [Duchenne Smile](_URL_0_), which is a smile that involves not only muscles around the mouth but also around the eyes. There is solid evidence that this kind of smile signifies that the person is genuinely happy, is hard to fake, and is something that people pick up unconsciously.\n\nBut of course it is not the actual eyeballs that conves this.",
"You can -- but it's not the eyes themselves, it's the tiny muscles surrounding the eye. Humans instinctively make facial expressions that use these muscles to convey emotions. Look very closely at the centimeter or two around the eyes, and you can see different muscles at work showing different emotions.\n\n[Angry, maybe resentful, eyes](_URL_0_)\n\n[Concerned, worried, slightly scared eyes](_URL_1_)\n\n[happy, friendly eyes](_URL_2_)",
"Sometimes I feel like people are looking straight through me when they're saying something that is emotionally heavy, and I feel like that puts me off.",
"It's a combination of muscle activity around the eyes, direction of gaze, how far the eyes are opened, pupil size compared to lighting conditions, etc. \"Reading\" expressions from just the eyes and the small area around them is something most people are quite good at, even without any further information.\n\nThere's even a test for that: _URL_0_ \n(or in many more languages under \"Eyes Test\" here: _URL_1_ )",
"Nobody here seemed to talk about nuanced emotions. For example, men about to have sex/in lust have a specific \"look\" in their eye (don't know about women; never slept with any). \n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhat would be the cause of that?",
"My brother got addicted to heroin, I could tell every time he started using again because the light would go out from his eyes. He would just look duller. Less alive. I've noticed that same kind of glint in some people eyes and I will say it didn't just correlate with healthy people. It's usually happy people with positive mindsets, run down people just don't have it. It almost looks like a glare from the sun reflected off there eyes. I don't know what it ultimately amounts to maybe more stress results in a less healthy system in general leads to less lubricant on the eyes therefore making them less shiny looking but idk that seems like reaching. I have no idea how it works but I can always see it clear as day.",
"When my friend has a big emotion in his body, the muscles his body follow a blueprint (written by a combo of genes and experience) to display it for others (pupil dilation, facial expression, body posture, breathing.)\n\nWhen my body notices the display, millions of tiny switches (called mirror neurons) attached to the same muscles in my body switch on and activate the same blueprint (mirroring his body even if I don't physically assume the same posture). \n\nMy brain then reads the display of my own executed blueprint and translates the picture back into an emotion which hopefully matches my friend's. My body is projecting my friends feeling onto itself, reading it, and intuitively responding back.\n\nThis whole process is called emotional attunement in the neuroscience and psychotherapy world. No interpretation is perfect, but research indicates that a vast majority of blueprints are universally recognizable across cultures.\n\nLike many great discoveries, mirror neurons were found by accident when a researcher left neural monitoring equipment on while he was eating a banana in view of a research monkey. The research monkey's neurons associated with eating started firing even though his body was completely still. _URL_0_\n\nInteresting side note...People who use Botox score much lower on measures of emotional attunement, meaning that they can't relate to others as effectively. _URL_1_\n\n\n\n",
"When I look at pictures of Killers all I see are dead eyes, like there is nothing going on in their mind.",
"The Japanese believe Sanpaku can tell you a lot about someone from the whites of their eyes. Mental wellbeing, drug use, thousand cock stare ect.\n\n_URL_0_",
"I suspect the truth behind that saying lies in the [Orbicularis oculi muscle](_URL_0_)\n\n[Dr. Paul Ekman](_URL_1_) is a pioneer in emotional study and facial reactions. And also known as \"the human lie detector.\"\n\nDr. Ekman suggests that there are 8 primary emotions that the standard human being feels regardless of culture, upbringing, genetics, etc.\n\nHis research also reveals direction correlation of emotion and facial muscles. The orbicularis oculi, is a very expressive muscle few people have mastered control of. While some can force their mouth into a smile or frown, it's much more difficult to simulate an accurate emotional response with the muscles around the eyes.\n\nThe \"truth of the eyes\" is very likely an acknowledgement that the eyes can convey hidden and true emotions (like an obviously fake smile with oblique eyebrows may indicate someone trying to hide fear or sadness).\n\nIf you want to to go even further into the research rabbit hole; you may have heard of \"micro expressions.\" Twitches\" or very quick facial expressions are involuntary when someone is trying to deceptively hide strong emotions.\n\nInteresting stuff, but it's not really the eyes. Its the muscles and expression around it. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche"
],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile#Duchenne_smile"
],
[
"https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3230/2911630549_c6c7514999_b.jpg",
"https://thumb1.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/2864452/466499720/stock-photo-beauty-woman-face-portrait-beautiful-spa-model-girl-with-perfect-fresh-clean-skin-brunette-female-466499720.jpg",
"https://us.123rf.com/450wm/alexis84/alexis841211/alexis84121100157/16335107-extreme-closeup-of-woman-eyes.jpg?ver=6"
],
[],
[
"https://www.questionwritertracker.com/quiz/61/Z4MK3TKB.html",
"https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc_tests/"
],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.gocognitive.net/interviews/discovery-mirror-neurons-1",
"https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yHq9AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT143&dq=Botox+and+emotional+attunement&ots=LpYfLHJ43B&sig=y_vhMyEzKLpCagNDmlyJIhMknD0#v=onepage&q&f=false"
],
[],
[
"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanpaku"
],
[
"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbicularis_oculi_muscle",
"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ekman"
]
] |
||
5685bg
|
when seasons change and certain insects die off, how is it that the following year the same species appear in the same areas?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5685bg/eli5_when_seasons_change_and_certain_insects_die/
|
{
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"d8h449h",
"d8h56vt"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"While the adults of the species may die off, the eggs or larva may continue to live, often hibernating until seasonal conditions are right for them to grow and emerge again.",
"Many insects include \"overwintering\" in their life cycle.\n\nFor example, many species lay eggs in the fall. The adults all die off in the frost, but the eggs survive and hatch in the spring. They grow to sexual maturity, lay eggs, and die before the next winter.\n\nOther species overwinter as larvae or as pupae (or nymphs, depending on the insect). Some insects actually hibernate; just because they disappear during the winter doesn't mean they necessarily die off."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2gzhk9
|
how do train drivers always stop at exactly the right "spot" at platforms?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gzhk9/eli5_how_do_train_drivers_always_stop_at_exactly/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cknx0s1",
"cknyv3h",
"cko0k7e",
"cko0meg",
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"cko9lzq"
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"score": [
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3,
2
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"text": [
"slow down ahead of time. then crawl until the right spot, then stop. ",
"Engineer here, usually we've practiced a couple of times before. ;)",
"There are markers along the platform, usually labelled with the number of cars a that various trains serving the station will have, or with the letter S, meaning that all trains are to stop at that spot. Look for signs like [this](_URL_0_) at a train station. Remember, train drivers are highly skilled and generally have extensive experience with the routes they drive. They know where to stop and when to slow down.",
"They don't: [photo 1](_URL_2_), [photo 2](_URL_0_), [photo 3](_URL_3_), [photo 4](_URL_1_).\n\nIn case of stations that are not terminals, it just isn't that noticeable if they don't...",
"There are usually stop markers. I can't speak for any other train systems, but in the NYC Subway system, there are markers hanging down from the ceiling (something like \"10\", or \"8\", black number on white or white number on black). That's to signify where the front of a train with that many number of cars should stop.\n\nThere might be multiple numbers at the same spot, or numbers at different spots (i.e. 8 and 10 together, or 8 and 10 in different spots). Depending on where it is and what subway line is coming into the station will depend on the stop point.",
"they don't. not *always* at least. particularly icy weather will sometimes leave trains partially overshooting the platform.\n\nbeyond that it's just a skill.",
"In NYC subway drivers have to stop between a space indicated by a checkered signpost. They also have to point out the window at it to acknowledge it officially. Look for the driver pointing next time you stand on the subway platform in the city.",
"Train engineer (former).. \n\npractice. \n.. We do the same stations, same stops, over and over and over and over. We called it 'the horizontal elevator' it was so boring after a bit.\n\nmarkers. \n..If I have a 6 car train, I stop at the sign that says '6'.. or 7 cars, 8 cars, 10 cars, or 4 cars.\n\nSlow down ahead, and coast in. \n.. We really aren't allowed to go too fast inside the stations - even if we aren't planning on stopping. After a few hundred hours on the job you get a feel for a smooth stop, like driving a truck or a car. ( Yeah, I've done that too.) \n\nand - we don't always stop at the right spot. Just most of the time. If we get too far off the mark, it had better be for a darn good reason. Most stations have a combination of ways ( video, track electronics, supervisors, riders who call...) to tell if the train stopped correctly or not. I've had grease on the rails, partial brake failures, and just plain 'I wasn't paying enough attention' as reasons where I went too far. \n-- If we stop early, we can move up a bit more. \n\nOn the trains I worked with, when we had passengers, conductors operate the doors - they also have markers to look at, and when things work correctly, the conductor is a second check to make sure the train is in the right spot before they open the doors. \n\nOn those few occasions where both me and the conductor were not paying attention ( because the job really does get *so* repetitively boring), I took the 'hit' and was suspended for a 3-5 day penalty. \n\n\n",
"Its like driving a car. How do you stop just in front of a stop?",
"In the UK, there are signs depending on how many cars are on the train, so you'll see signs that say \"4 car stop\", \"8-10 car stop\", etc. at every station."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://www.flickr.com/photos/29955347@N06/3557643342"
],
[
"http://static1.volkskrant.nl/static/photo/2012/17/9/6/20120319091932/media_xl_1151436.jpg",
"http://www.depers.nl/UserFiles/Image/2010/201007/20100727/ANP-13457467.jpg",
"http://henkbaron.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Trein_Nijmegen.jpg",
"http://treinfanaat.jouwweb.nl/upload/9/7/6/treinfanaat/sdhcompilatie.large.jpg"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
9gejzn
|
what is the difference between bison and bufflo?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9gejzn/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_bison_and/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e63k2c8",
"e63k2w4"
],
"score": [
2,
3
],
"text": [
"The critters you see on the American plains are bison. The ones in Asia and Africa are buffalo. Bison have that hump over their shoulders which buffalo don't. I'm not sure why bison are so commonly called buffalo...",
"Bison is the North American wild bovine species.\n\nBuffalo are various other species of wild bovine in other parts of the world. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
1dkm3i
|
how does adderall, vivans, and ritalin affect the brain?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1dkm3i/eli5_how_does_adderall_vivans_and_ritalin_affect/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c9ra3m7"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Unlike many medications, these actually cross the [blood/brain barrier](_URL_0_) which means they can actually manipulate things going on in the brain. When there, they tickle certain areas and make the brain release chemicals, which change your mood, etc."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood%E2%80%93brain_barrier"
]
] |
||
2gv5hn
|
what does the swollen bump of a bruise caused by a hit consist of? and why does it take a while for a bruise to turn purple?
|
I recently got a mega blow to my leg..at first it didn't hurt and it looked like a few busted vessels. But I immediately got a huge bump. You could see the 3D figure through my pants. What does this bump consist of? What is it that gets swollen? It's day 5 after the blow and my leg has a huge pinkish purplish 6 inch circle. Why did it take a while for the bruise to fully develop?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gv5hn/eli5_what_does_the_swollen_bump_of_a_bruise/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ckmsk5d"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"The swelling is inflammation, which is a side effect of damaged or infected tissue trying to repair itself.\n\nThe colouring is blood - bruises are a mild form of hematoma (internal bleeding), so that the injury site is inundated with red blood cells. As they are not oxygenated, they eventually die and turn purple and all sorts of lovely colours before they are reabsorbed and disposed of by the body."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
1c8fmc
|
what is so special about modern art?
|
Maybe modern isn't the right word, postmodern? or expressionist? Anyway, why is art like [this](_URL_0_) displayed in museums and admired by thousands of people, when it looks like a child's painting?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1c8fmc/eli5what_is_so_special_about_modern_art/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c9e34vi"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Art is subjective. There are 7 billion subjective people in the world.\n\nIf even 1% of them find some form of meaning in it, that's still *70 million* admirers."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://imgur.com/EFqxg8O"
] |
[
[]
] |
|
4j0dl0
|
why is it so hard to make an ai that has the ability to learn
|
Hello everyone,
first time poster here, but I have hope that some of you could answer it! It makes me wonder a lot, that with the database we now can access so easily, it is still very hard to make an AI that could learn from it (we give the AI the ability to learn and to access the internet).
Thanks a lot and have a good day everyone!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4j0dl0/eli5_why_is_it_so_hard_to_make_an_ai_that_has_the/
|
{
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"d32kvhz",
"d32rli5"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"It´s not just about data bases, storage capabilities and pure processing speeds.\n\nLearning is very different from what machines / computers have been doing forever, that is performing exactly what we told them to.\n\nA calculator doesn´t know math, he just processes numbers exactly according to the rules he was programmed by.\n\nNormal machines cannot react to new and unknown stimulus types, they cannot adapt their programs to new situations or improved efficiency.\n\nThat is the big challenge in developing adaptive AI, developing algorithms and logic that equal true learning.",
"Have you tried teaching something to someone?\n\nComputers are kinda like really stupid and dull kids. No imagination or initiative whatsoever. They however know two things really well. They can recite long sequences from remory, and they can do simple arithmetic really fast. To teach them, you can't leave any intermediary step out, you can't just go \"oh, you'll figure it out\". Computers don't figure it out, you need to tell them exactly what to do.\n\nWhich is why programming is essentially the art of explaining thing in terms of number sequences and simple arithmetic. Computers storing your pictures don't see colors, they see litanies of numbers. Text is just arrays of numbers. Videos, all numbers as well.\n\nTo make someone so stupid learn on their own, you'd need to tell what learning is, in terms of arithmetic and numbers. We don't know how to do that. In some cases we've managed to tell computers how to act in an intelligent manner, but these only apply to very limited problems. The frustrating part is, it feels so simple. We're all doing learning every day, all the time. Surely we should understand what it is well enough to explain it to a computer?\n\nAnd yet, despite 70 years of trying, we're not even sure if we're close to solving this one"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
38whzj
|
why are the larger berries/grapes always sweet, while the smaller ones are always sour?
|
Eating a bowl of blueberries and am wondering this.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/38whzj/eli5why_are_the_larger_berriesgrapes_always_sweet/
|
{
"a_id": [
"crydnjw"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"It's probably due to how ripe the fruit is. The longer a fruit stays attached the plant, the larger it will get. As it gets older/riper, the fruit changes its sugar/acid composition, to more sugar less acid, making it sweeter. The small less ripe ones have less sugar and more acid, making them sour."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3p28ah
|
are lobsters' and other sea creatures' organs removed before they are served as a meal? if so, how?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3p28ah/eli5_are_lobsters_and_other_sea_creatures_organs/
|
{
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76,
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35,
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2
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"text": [
"It's different for different sea creatures. Fish you gutt, for example. A lobster body is often not eaten at all in favor of the tail, claws, legs (if a large one). When you remove the tail you often see some of the guts - some people do enjoy eating the liver, but for the most part the guts/body of the lobster is ignored or used in soup stock, bisque etc.",
"in asian cuisines, the lobster head is usually served with the tail. however there isn't a lot of edible parts \nfor crabs, mainly king crabs. you can use the guts, or \"crab butter\" as some call it, to make a fried rice. otherwise you can just grab a spoon and go to town with it after cooking it.\nshrimps- you can deep fry the head and it will be edible. ",
"For oysters, clams, mussels, no, you're eating them whole, guts, gonads, and all. Scallop is serving just the huge abductor muscle and no other parts or organs.\n\nSquid/octopus can have the organ cleared out easily enough, not that different from cleaning a fish. \n\nFor lobster and shrimp, the organs are all up in near the head and are discarded (lobster liver and lobster roe can be eaten though). Shrimp is almost always served just as the meaty tail. For lobster, the big claws, tail, and legs are easily seperated from the head & thorax that contains the organs.\n\nLobster tail and shrimp may be served \"deveined\" but what they are removing is actually the poop chute that runs down the back of the tail (it should come out mostly as one piece)",
"Fish are filleted, meaning the strong muscles running along the side of the fish's body are sliced off leaving the organs and bones behind. \n\nFor shellfish, it depends on the critter. With oysters, I think you just swallow the whole thing, organs and all. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the only part of a clam that gets eaten is the muscular foot (which is the majority of what you see when you open a clam shell). Lobsters and crawfish have all their important organs in the head and thorax but the edible \"meat\" is all in the tail and claws so you mostly don't come in contact with the gross stuff (although you absolutely *see* some organs when you eat crawfish and some people like to eat the livers). You probably come in contact with the most organ tissue when eating boiled/steamed blue crabs. Unlike snow crabs, blue crabs have a lot of edible tissue inside the carapace so you have to literally tear the crab apart to get to it. In the process, you come across their reproductive organs, their \"lungs\", and all their various glands. Fortunately they taste so good that it's easy to ignore the gross stuff in your quest for that sweet delicious crab meat. Okay, now I'm hungry...",
"we blanch lobster for around six minutes in rapidly boiling water. Then the lobster is chilled, then we snip the thorax open , revealing the guts. The liver is usually reserved and referred to as \"tamale\" ,it has super dank lobster flavor. Then we pull and rinse out the lungs and gills and stomach goo. Then the claws and tails are peeled of their shells and that shit goes up in like a blood orange, arugula salad for like $20 or something.\n ",
"a lobster must be cooked while it's still alive (or it will taste horrible and potentially be poisonous, harmful bacteria naturally present in their flesh. Once the lobster is dead, these bacteria can rapidly multiply and release toxins. it's very risky to cook and eat a dead lobster...some people like to stab them in the eyes right before they drop them into the water, but it's probably more humane and easier to just fucking drop it in there...the water kills em pretty damn fast.)\n\nif you order a lobster at a restaurant (or cook one yourself), it's still alive in that kitchen, it get's dropped into boiling water until it turns red (they are usually black in the ocean, they turn red when cooked)...then they are taken out of the boiling pot of water, put directly onto a plate, and brought directly to you at your dinner table, with tools to break open the shell/body and some butter or something. it's not great to eat one for the first time by yourself without someone to teach you how to take it apart, and what parts are good meat, and what parts you are supposed to throw away. \n\nditto for crabs, crayfish, clams, etc. \n\nso that should answer your question. (no, they are not)\n\nfish are though, and do not need to be cooked alive. they are gutted, fileted, and kept on ice.\n\n**edit** when you drop a live lobster into the boiling water it sounds like they are screaming in pain. this is not true, it's actually just air escaping from their body/shell from the cooking pressure of the boiling water. lobsters don't have the ability to feel pain. they're dead almost immediately when they hit the boiling water..even if they're still moving, it's just like a dead body twitching basically. it's not screaming and trying to escape the torturous pain _URL_0_'s dead and had a pretty quick and painless one. \n\n\nalso they are canibals, you need to check your lobster pots every day or they will eat eachother if you wait too long. that's why a lot of lobsters in the supermarket only have one claw..it means he lost a fight to a bigger lobster at some point in it's life and came very close to being eaten by it. (probably in the lobster cage they both got stuck in together before a lobsterman pulled it up)\n\npregnant lobsters withe eggs and lobsters under a certain size must also be thrown back into the ocean to help keep populations up."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"lol.it"
]
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||
61sn1k
|
a major problem with renewable energy like wind and solar is storing energy when the source (wind or sunshine) is not available. why can't they just use water?
|
You could use excess electricity to power pumps to pump water to a higher elevation, and when there is less power than normal let it fall back down and power a turbine or something. Obviously this wouldn't work for something mobile like a car, but why couldn't it work for a stationary power plant? It seems a lot more practical for storing huge amounts of power than huge arrays of lithium or lead batteries. Hell, even if it's inefficient it's still probably cheaper and more environmentally friendly than mining all that lead and/or lithium.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/61sn1k/eli5_a_major_problem_with_renewable_energy_like/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dfgxb73",
"dfgxycg"
],
"score": [
10,
3
],
"text": [
"This is called pumped storage and it's commonly used wherever there is a good place to put a reservoir in. But there are many places in the world where there isn't a convenient large hill nearby, and because of the huge amount of water involved it's not possible to build something from scratch on flat ground. ",
"This is being done. If you look at the new additions to the high power grid of Europe a lot of the new lines are between mountainous regions in the alps and Scandinavia where they have a lot of hydroelectric power plants and flat areas where there is more wind and solar as well as more cities. This is in preparation to go away from coal and gas.\n\nBut even this might be enough. The problem is with high speed pickups. When you switch on a kettle that energy have to be already in the power grid. It is not enough to have it in form of water on top of a mountain. In traditional coal, hydro, gas or nuclear power plants there is a big heavy turbine that contains a lot of energy. When you switch on your kettle the turbines will move a tiny bit slower as you use their energy. To keep up the speed there is a need to change the flow of water to the turbine but this is a process that takes seconds. The turbine have lots of energy that is available in milliseconds to anywhere in the grid where it is needed. So to keep a pumping hydro plant working you would have to run the turbines all the time to keep them spinning. And the pumping is not going to be as efficient as you might think.\n\nNuclear power is a very good option and does complement the existing hydro plants and allows for more wind and solar as well. We have mastered the safety aspects of it and can make very safe reactors if we are able to respect it and manage it properly."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
19eap8
|
how does dial-up give you internet?
|
I was just thinking about this the other day, I know dial-up knocks out your phone line, I just was wondering what goes on when it makes all it's beeps and whirls and where it actually connects to.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/19eap8/eli5_how_does_dialup_give_you_internet/
|
{
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"c8n8emq",
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],
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],
"text": [
"Kinda like a traditional voice call. Except, these are computers we are talking about, so they talk *really* fast, and they talk in a foreign language that requires a translator to make that language mean something to the computer (the modems). ",
"Computers communicate in binary which is a string of 0's and 1's. A modem takes information or data and converts those 0's and 1's into information that can be transmitted over a phone line, which is analog sound. The sound travels into the other computer's modem (after making stops along the way of course) and that modem converts the sounds back into 0's and 1's which the receiving computer can then use.",
"Imagine you wanted to send a digital file to a friend of yours, but all you have is a telephone and the binary data contents of the file. \n\nYou tell your friend \"when I say beep you write down 1, when I say boop, you write down 0\", and then you read the contents of the file to him over the phone \"beep beep boop boop beep boop beep boop boop boop beep\" etc etc. It takes _weeks_ to do, but it works. So you invent a little box that can say the beeps and boops faster than your mouth can say them, and give your friend a little box that can hear the beeps and boops and write them down very fast. \n\nThis works pretty well, and you realize you can make it go so fast that the beeps and boops happen very very quickly, so quickly that to your human ear it just sounds like hissing. ",
"When you call a place like your bank, you are calling a room full of people and someone who happens to be available is the one you end up being connected to. Back in the day we had equipment called 'port concentrators', which were like a bank of many modems - 20 or so per box. The box was about the size of a shoebox. You'd have a cabinet with these boxes mounted in them, with say - for a local isp, 40 of these concentrators. When you call the dialup number, you are connected to one of these boxes to answer your call. If you got a busy signal, it was because there we no free ports to forward your call to.\n\nThe reason we can hear it is so if there is a problem, we can hear the problem first. Like if it never stops ringing, or is a busy tone, or no noise at all, or a person picks up and talks back to you. This noise would come out of your computer so you could go \"oh crap, I called the wrong number\" without the computer needing to identify these noises itself, it let you do the troubleshooting.\n\nThe noises themselves are the 2 modems (yours, and the box where you called) trying to figure out the best way to have a conversation. Like, can we handle 'full duplex' - which means, can we talk at the same time, or must we wait until the other stops talking before we can talk (half-duplex). That goes something like \"I'm going to make this tone for a short while, it means I'm asking you to talk at me while I'm making the tone. If I can hear you, I'll make this other tone which means I heard you and we can talk over each other, or, I'll send this other tone which means I did not hear you, in which case we must wait before until the other has stopped talking before we can talk\". A few of these types of negotiations happen before both modems go \"Okay, now we can stop talking about how to have a conversation, and just start talking\", which is when the speaker in the modem turns off so you don't hear the rest.\n\nIf you were to pick up another phone in your house, you'd likely hear a loud buzzing or hissing sound, which is the sound the modems use to talk to each other. The sound of you picking up the phone is also enough to disrupt their conversation and they may start negotiating again, or just hang up.",
" > I know dial-up knocks out your phone line, \n\nThis makes me feel old."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3hqipe
|
what would happen if my car uses regular gasoline but i put premium on it
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3hqipe/eli5what_would_happen_if_my_car_uses_regular/
|
{
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"cu9mjpk",
"cu9mstz",
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],
"score": [
11,
2,
14
],
"text": [
"Nothing bad will happen, but you are just wasting money, it doesnt offer you any benefits. To take advantage of premium gasolines your car engine needs to be built to operate at higher compression in the pistons, sports cars will be built like that, but a honda civic is not.",
"Nothing. Just be throwing money away on gas that does not benefit you. Your russian POS wont turn into a BMW with it. ",
"Petroleum is a cocktail of hydrocarbons. The stuff is refined by a process that is basically boiling it and then trapping the condensation as the evaporated products condense. The lighter hydrocarbons, like butane, condense near the top of the column, the bottom of the column gets pour off called asphalt or bunker fuel.\n\nSo refining isn't an exact science. Gasoline is actually a cocktail of a hundred or so different hydrocarbons, but the reference chemical is octane. When you see the \"octane\" rating of gasoline, it's a measure of how stable the gasoline is, under set conditions, compared to the reference chemical.\n\nPure octane is 100 on this scale, but additives and stabilizers can actually increase the rating of gasoline beyond - you see this in different blends of racing gas. Stability is important because the engine is trying to yield as much of the potential energy locked up in the hydrocarbons as possible, and in order to do that, it must be heated and compressed, go too far, and it will spontaneously combust at the wrong time, usually with catastrophic results.\n\nThe law requires 3 blends at the pump with minimum octane ratings for each. The gas station has two tanks, of high and low octane gas, and the pump will blend the two to make a mid grade.\n\nIn order to yield more of that potential energy, the engine has to be built for it. Otherwise, an econo engine designed for low grade gasoline will yield the same potential energy out of high grade as it does low.\n\nSo the ideal gas for your car is the lowest grade gasoline it can tolerate without spontaneous detonation, because less stable fuel is easier to yield energy, BUT NO LOWER. The practical advice is use whatever is recommended in your owners manual.\n\nModern cars have what are called knock sensors, and they will detect detonation and put your engine in a \"lag mode\" which will help protect against damage. You end up burning tons of gasoline, running rich, because converse to intuition, more gasoline will go into the engine, collect heat, evaporate, and take that heat out the exhaust with it. It can only try to protect your engine, you can still damage it. So if you put too low a grade fuel in an engine that requires higher, you'll probably start running in this mode and get bad fuel economy, or worse. But in the winter, you might get away with it! Not that I recommend trying it, but being so cold, it might keep the fuel stable enough to keep it from exploding."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
90xo1k
|
why is water so difficult for 3d animation?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/90xo1k/eli5_why_is_water_so_difficult_for_3d_animation/
|
{
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"e2twb5z",
"e2twtrx",
"e317sb9"
],
"score": [
3,
39,
2
],
"text": [
"Because there are so many elements which needs to be executed properly for the water to look realistic.",
"Water presents a number of challenges. First off, since it's a liquid it can move in a huge variety of ways, which means it's difficult to simulate well, and the more accurate you want to get, the more computational time it's probably going to take. If you're simulating something where the water is constantly moving (a river, or waves on a shore), that's a lot of work to be doing if you want it to look really good. A common method of doing this is having the computer represent the water as a whole bunch of spheres that collide with each other and with the surrounding geometry. This determines where the water is going, and then graphics shaders render it to look like a continuous liquid rather than separate spheres. The more spheres you add, the more fine grained and realistic your water moves, but the more you increase the computational requirements. \n\n\nSecond, water is mostly transparent, but not entirely. So for it to look good, you want to be able to see through it, but not have it be completely clear. If there's enough water, it eventually absorbs a significant amount of light, and not equally across all wavelengths. So you have to try to get that right. Also if you're looking into the water from above it, you get refraction, and if the surface of the water is moving and/or has waves/ripples/etc. then that's even more complicated. \n\nThird, while being transparent, water is also reflective. So there's another layer of complication, and again it gets even crazier if the surface of the water is in motion. \n\nNow, a lot of this stuff can actually be simulated pretty realistically, and we've figured out ways to make it look good. But the better of a job you want to do, the more work the computer needs to do, and if you're playing a game there's only so much processing time that the computer can spend on water for each frame. \n\nSo a lot of times various tricks/shortcuts/etc. are used to make something that looks good enough that we'll accept it as water, even though it's not a particularly accurate simulation. ",
"If you like videos, [this](_URL_0_) is a nice little one talking about the ways people have drawn water in video games. It's part one of two; this one goes from the 2d tricks people used in the 8-bit days to the PS2 era. Part two will presumably take us up to modern days."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4MMlKhJfGI&feature=youtu.be"
]
] |
||
3ewdqr
|
why does reddit have automated bots which delete your question to eli5, but they won't just add eli5 to the post and save you the time?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ewdqr/eli5_why_does_reddit_have_automated_bots_which/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ctiz1eh"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Reddit doesn't provide the ability to edit post titles after they have been posted. Even the mods can't change the titles. The only way to change a post title is to delete the post and post a new one with the correct title."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1nf9zu
|
knowing what we now know about the nsa, what power do we have to do something about it?
|
It seems like every day we hear something new and unbelievable about the ridiculous things the NSA has done, and is doing, to US citizens (and those outside the US as well). I think a lot of people feel very strongly against what the NSA is doing, however what power do we have to actually do anything about it? We can get mad and protest outside the capital, but we all know that does essentially no good. What would it take to really get a program like that eliminated from Government? Or at the very least, more regulated, law abiding, and transparent?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1nf9zu/eli5_knowing_what_we_now_know_about_the_nsa_what/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cci2484",
"cci2jpt",
"cci2xor"
],
"score": [
6,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"What aspects do you not like? You should be specific\n\nI like that the NSA protects military and government encryption codes on stuff like nukes and troop positions and strategies. I like that they can collect signals intel transmitted by foreign hostile nations to give NATO an unfair strategic advantage on the world scale.\n",
"The only way to change it is to get trustworthy people elected who are ideologically opposed to it. The problem is trying to differentiate between those people, and people who are justing claiming something to get votes.\n\nMy best advice is to do as much research as you can about candidates, spread that information around to as many people as you can, and then vote for the people you believe in.\n\nAlso, make sure you vote in every election, not just in presidential election years.",
"Nothing at all!"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3hed1z
|
i'm a straight man, but why does it put me off if the man in a porn video is ugly?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3hed1z/eli5_im_a_straight_man_but_why_does_it_put_me_off/
|
{
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"cu6nhdr",
"cu6nju4",
"cu6nyto",
"cu6o69f",
"cu6pvop",
"cu6q779",
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"cu6qghm",
"cu6syur",
"cu6vqqk",
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"score": [
60,
15,
8,
4,
3,
27,
3,
3,
4,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Because it's still astetically pleasing to see any attractive person. And unattractive people are distracting because you focus on their negatives.",
"Just because you're straight doesn't mean you can't appreciate the male aesthetic (even subconsciously). Having an ugly dude in the skin flick basically takes away from the chick, because while the chick is the focus, the dude is still in the shot. \n\nTl;dr - a negative cancels out a positive and that's why the male talent matters just as much as the female talent in a skin flick. ",
"I think you have built-in-your brain thinking or bias or prejudice or whatever...that only good looking guys get the hottest chicks and you feel upset or jealous that an ugly guy is doing it with the hot chick.\nThat's why you always carry a comb and putting on the best cologne to look good so that you can get the hot chick then you see a slob ramming a sexy broad while you go home with no one. It sucks..",
"Suspension of disbelief. \n\nWhen an amazingly attractive woman meets a plumber who's also amazingly attractive and wants to get some pipe laid a few moments later it's believable enough. \n\nWhen an amazingly attractive woman meets Ron Jeremy and doesn't recognize him, but still wants to perform intercourse, it's just coarse and irregular. ",
"One explanation is that ugly men are distracting whereas average or good looking men can be ignored easily.",
"Because you don't imagine yourself as ugly. The male star is you, or at least this is the fantasy that fuels the...uh...activity. Narcissism my dear Watson.",
"There was a Ted Talk about this. That tranny porn was one of the most heavily searched keywords on adult sites. \n\nSomething about it being beneficial for a male monkey to get aroused at the sight of another monkey's erection. The monkey that got aroused by it would be more likely to get those sloppy seconds when the 1st was through & impregnate her.\n\nWeird but they had a powerpoint presentation and everything. ",
"I think we find people physically attractive regardless of gender without any sexuality involved. \n\nI am straight. But when I see Matt Bomer, I still go \"Damn that is one good looking guy.\"",
"I think that while the other answers in this thread are good guesses, it's also a viable possibility that you aren't as straight as you think you are.",
"Completely unrelated to your point, but this is the reason why I hate most \"mainstream\" pron. There is ***so. much. focus.*** on the woman, while the man is completely faded into the background. As a straight woman, I would rather see an ***ugly*** guy having the time of his life than watch something that's 99% focused on a woman who's obviously faking for the camera (but you guys probably don't care/can't tell anyhow, because \\*fapfapfap*...).\n\nI've yet to find pron that's geared towards women, FOR women's interests.",
"For the same reason why they use a hot dude for Gillette commercials. We want to imagine ourselves as alpha-male in the video/commercial. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
de7sp4
|
if gravity accelerates you more and more, then how does having a constant side way speed keep you in orbit when you are falling faster and faster towards earth?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/de7sp4/eli5_if_gravity_accelerates_you_more_and_more/
|
{
"a_id": [
"f2t1sw5",
"f2t1u9e"
],
"score": [
3,
9
],
"text": [
"Basically you keep falling towards the Earth but missing each time, which is basically what an orbit is falling but missing - _URL_0_",
"It cancels itself out.\n\nIf you are in orbit, you are being pulled towards the Earth. If you orbit around to the exact opposite side, you are still being pulled towards Earth, but now \"towards Earth\" is the opposite direction that you were originally pulled. So the acceleration ends up cancelling out."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://youtu.be/Zu-Sp3I0c1Q"
],
[]
] |
||
5v0jg7
|
is there a limit on how large/how many merges a company can make? and if not, how plausible is it that in the future most business will be done by mega corps?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5v0jg7/eli5_is_there_a_limit_on_how_largehow_many_merges/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ddylqem"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"There is no limit on the number of mergers a company can participate in. Specific merges can be blocked by various government agencies throughout the world. The larger the resulting company would be, the more likely the merger would be blocked, but there is no hard and fast rule and no count limit.\n\n > And if not, how plausible is it that in the future most business will be done by mega corps?\n\nDepends on how you count it. If you look at raw transaction values/volumes, mergers could actually decrease the proportion done by mega-corporations. When one mega-corporation merges with its supplier, also a mega-corporation, the transactions that used to happen between the two of them no longer exist. \n\nOn the other hand, if you only count final sales to households, then households (which are not corporations) will have to always be at least half of all business, just from the way it is defined."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
84gzkc
|
why do q-tips feel so good?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/84gzkc/eli5_why_do_qtips_feel_so_good/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dvpg8mi"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"And why do I have the urge to cough when using them? "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1o6jgs
|
why is it that i never have dreams in places that i've been before?
|
Some people tell me they always dream of familiar places, but for some reason, my dreams take place in completely unknown environments. Sure, sometimes I wake up and think "that sure felt a lot like my school" or something, but it looked nothing like it. I'm the type of person that dreams vividly and usually remembers a good amount of each dream. I was just wondering why my brain works this way. I've never gotten or seen an answer for this. Is my subconscious just prone to recreating feelings of environments, but likes to change scenery? In general, I'm a person that pays a ton of attention to detail...if that helps. Anybody have some info they can throw my way? Much appreciated.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1o6jgs/eli5_why_is_it_that_i_never_have_dreams_in_places/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ccp7swr"
],
"score": [
7
],
"text": [
"I'd be interested to know. I've had dreams in locations and environments I've never been too. \n \nIt's like my brain is coming up with these environments. The freaky thing is that months or years later I'll have of a dream of that same fictional location again."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3iwj98
|
why are there reversible usb 2.0 chargers for phones, but not reversible usb 2.0 for any other purpose?
|
I imagine I shouldn't directly link a product here for spam reasons, so simply search for "reversible USB" on amazon to see what I'm referencing.
But my question is asking why there are a host of reversible usb connections for phone chargers, but none for *any* other uses. I bought a reversible micro USB cable the other day and it carries both data and power for my phone, it seems as if this should be a big deal.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3iwj98/eli5_why_are_there_reversible_usb_20_chargers_for/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cuk90nl",
"cukcr0r"
],
"score": [
2,
3
],
"text": [
"i did a search and i found\n\nmicro B = _URL_2_\n\nmini B = _URL_3_\n\nstandard B = _URL_1_\n\nstandard A = _URL_0_\n\nso there is reversible for all the connectors types. ",
"The organization that creates the standards for USB decides on a design that is a \"standard\"/legitimate connector, which will be compatible with ANY other device that uses that type of connection. Its electrical behavior is closely regulated, and it also has to meet certain standards of durability, usually measured in how many times you can plug and unplug it before it wears out. \n\nWhile custom made reversible connectors do exist and are good enough to work at first, they may not meet the *technical* requirements for how they are supposed to behave electrically. They may also be very poor when it comes to durability. So there are reasons they might not be perfect.\n\nBut even simpler than that, the reason is that \"they are not the official design, and the organization that creates official designs has not included them yet\". \n\nWhy not? They're just a bunch of people making decisions and who knows why they make them. But-- they have come out with a reversible connector, USB type C. Just not in the same general form factor as the old connectors "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Universal-Reversible-UR024-18N-RA/dp/B00ESZJEEG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1440894479&sr=8-5&keywords=reversible+usb",
"http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Universal-Reversible-UR022-003/dp/B00EIDU3V6/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1440894311&sr=8-17&keywords=reversible+USB",
"http://www.amazon.com/Charger-Cambond-Reversible-Charging-Connecting/dp/B00V3FRZPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440894425&sr=8-1&keywords=reversible+usb",
"http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Universal-Reversible-UR030-006-RA/dp/B00ESZIWBW/ref=sr_1_37?ie=UTF8&qid=1440894337&sr=8-37&keywords=reversible+USB"
],
[]
] |
|
3swhyy
|
why does our hearts sound fast but feels like it beats slow?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3swhyy/eli5_why_does_our_hearts_sound_fast_but_feels/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cx0yjew"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Each heartbeat has 2 separate sounds, each caused by the closing of 2 different valves that control blood flow. So your heart will *sound* twice as fast as it *feels,* since you can't feel the separate closure of the valves. All you feel is the pumping action."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
5fs0sx
|
why do we naturally yell when we stretch our backs in the morning?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5fs0sx/eli5why_do_we_naturally_yell_when_we_stretch_our/
|
{
"a_id": [
"damm3fe"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Because when you move your shoulders back and arch your back, you are applying a squeezing force to your diaphragm.\n\nThis accompanied by a deep breath and tensing of throat muscles will create a noise as the air exits your body.\n\nWith me, my stretches tend to be quite loud, but I wouldn't call it yelling."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
4y51kb
|
what is the purpose of "baby on board" sign?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4y51kb/eli5_what_is_the_purpose_of_baby_on_board_sign/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d6kzl98",
"d6kzp5y",
"d6l04ah",
"d6l1i7f",
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"d6lw9xd"
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"score": [
12,
13,
4,
25,
2,
3,
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"text": [
"* Telling people that you have a baby\n* Braging about having a baby\n* Hoping that they care enough to drive more careful around you",
"Theoretically the purpose is to alert rescue workers that there is likely a kid on board.\n\nPractically they use them to tell the *other* \"bad\" drivers to be careful around their precious.\n\nFrankly it's showy. I have a daughter and we don't have one. The rescue workers would see the car seat as soon as they look in the damn car.",
"It serves dual-purpose.\n\n1- It's a notification in terms of triage. Infants tend to rank fairly high on the \"try to keep this person alive\" index, so it helps let first responders know that there may be a child on board.\n\n2- Novelty/General brag. They are like bumper stickers or those stick figure families everyone had a couple years ago.",
"If you're a smart, defensive driver and you see a \"baby on board\" sticker, then it warns you that the driver in front of you is probably stupidly sleep deprived and/or dealing with a screaming shithead banshee in the back seat.",
"I used one when my daughter was a baby. It was purely for to hope others would be understanding when I drove carefully and also in hopes others would be maybe a little more careful driving near me. ",
"\"Oh, they have a baby on board. Good luck they have this sign, I was JUST about to crush into them.\"",
"Honestly? Its a fad that was started in the 1980s. \n_URL_0_ \nIt is literally just a decorative trinket that people think was fun, silly, cute, and it caught on like the Chia Pet."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/babysign.asp"
]
] |
||
3duzp6
|
how do they know that the asteroid has $5.4 trillion dollars of platinum in it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3duzp6/eli5_how_do_they_know_that_the_asteroid_has_54/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ct8xocv"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Humans are used to seeing in the visible wavelengths but some animals can see further out wavelengths and some cameras can see even more wavelengths. A wavelength is just a measure of how quickly the light is oscillating. Have you ever seen the purple glow of a remote control on your phone camera? That is because remote controls use infrared light. It oscillates too quickly for humans to see but a camera can pick it up. Well, turns out that all minerals oscillate and release some light at different frequencies. We cant see them in the visible spectrum, but they are visible in infrared. A huge camera that is made specifically to pick up infrared light can look at an asteroid that looks almost black in the visible spectrum and it will see a glowing colorful ball. \n\nScientists on earth can then look and say, \"hey remember a couple years ago when bob looked at platinum here on earth under this camera? It gave off the same light, so im pretty sure that asteroid has to have some platinum on it.\"\n\nThats if you cant get to the asteroids. Sometimes scientists send satellites to the asteroid and those have more sophisticated equipment that gets closer. One thing they have is a xray or gamma ray spectrometer. This is like when you break your bone and doctors can xray you to look \"through\" your skin. Except its doing with a whole planet. \n\nAnother thing that can be done is throw signals at the asteroids, like radar, and see what bounces back. You know those super cool spy planes that absorb radar to hide? Well, minerals try to do the same thing but arent all that good at it. They leave a distinct signature and we can compare that to the analysis of minerals on earth. This method is newer though. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
a62mdu
|
why do ads on paid subscriptions play better than the shows themselves?
|
To be more specific...I select a show to watch, I suffer through the ad, and then when the show I stayed to watch comes around, an error saying playback failure; cc hulu .
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a62mdu/eli5_why_do_ads_on_paid_subscriptions_play_better/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ebr6wq8"
],
"score": [
12
],
"text": [
"Everyone in a given area gets the same set of ads so they are kept handy by the servers. Not everyone watches the same shows so they might be stored in a more distant, slower location. An analogy is a hardware store with rows and rows of different parts you can order, with a stack of flyers at the front counter. The flyers are always faster to get than any arbitrary part because everyone gets a flyer."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3jdgyc
|
do companies like coke change their recipes without telling anyone?
|
I read the thing about them still using natural sugar in some areas rather than high fructose corn syrup or whatever, and a few questions came to mind:
1. Do they change their recipe? I remember I used to enjoy coke more
2. When was the last time they changed their recipe?
3. Do different areas actually have different recipes? I remember about 10 years ago I travelled to america and the coke tasted a bit different.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jdgyc/eli5_do_companies_like_coke_change_their_recipes/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cuo9yvi",
"cuoafds",
"cuoclbx",
"cuohj98"
],
"score": [
5,
4,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"I'm not an expert in this area, but I heard once that coke cans have the same recipe all over the world, coming from a factory in the USA, and coke bottles are produced locally, with things like locally sourced water. (Water which tastes different everywhere else)\n\nMaybe it has something to do with that?",
"You enjoying coke more previously is more to do with you, I read somewhere as you age your tongue changes the ratio of bitter/sweet taste receptors making you prefer things you used to hate (lager etc) and hate things you used to love (soda, candy) ",
"Not entirely helpful, but I have a friend who used to work for Coke and according to him, there are only seven people in the whole world who know the actual recipe. ",
"Don't they do that when their patent has ran out? Just a tiny bit to make another patent?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3jqtkm
|
black and white photographs
|
What's good about them? I would think it was a technical limitation from the past, but modern photographers choose to take black and white pictures. And it's specifically black and white, not just monochrome - you don't see [sepia photographs](_URL_0_) anymore (tacky filters aside). I reckon black and white is more artistic somehow I but would like to know the real reasons for it.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jqtkm/eli5_black_and_white_photographs/
|
{
"a_id": [
"curi7hw"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Black and white enhances contrast - the division between light and dark tones in the image. This tends to increase mood or atmosphere as the brain has no color to process so interprets the image purely in terms of positive and negative space. Perceived depth is increased. So black and white is really a photographers artistic choice when they want to emphasize lines and contrast and create a more sombre, stark, and majestic mood. "
]
}
|
[] |
[
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Photograph.sept1895.jpg"
] |
[
[]
] |
|
50oqv7
|
why do we continue smelling a skunk's odor a mile or two while driving even if we didn't hit the skunk?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/50oqv7/eli5_why_do_we_continue_smelling_a_skunks_odor_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d75q26a",
"d75qcix",
"d75qd3w",
"d75scc1"
],
"score": [
2,
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Ever smell a fart from across the room? Ya its kinda like that but worse",
"if you smell something, particles of that something have reached your nose. Most likely those particles enter your car and cycle around your car for a mile or two before they end up being replaced by new air. ",
"A skunks odor is extremely strong. The wind can carry it for miles and it can still be detectable by our noses. The smell can get stuck to your car even. \n\nA skunk sprays in this big cloud that gets everywhere and on everything, and is blown all over by the wind. Just because it didn't spray you or your car personally doesn't matter. It probably sprayed some predator or was surprised by a vehicle.",
"The particular sulfur-containing thiol compounds that comprise the skunk spray are extremely powerful. The human nose can detect concentrations of only 10 parts per billion and at a mile down road from the spray location. They were of course fashioned to be pungent and repugnant to repel predators. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
x65kj
|
why would legalizing casinos be bad for a city especially if there are already indian casinos in the same city.
|
Every once in a while they have a vote to create new casinos. What is so bad about casinos? Also what is the difference if you have casinos owned by indians in the same area already?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/x65kj/why_would_legalizing_casinos_be_bad_for_a_city/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c5jkuk5"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Casinos make money off of the poor choices of the people in the area. It's like a tax on the chronically misinformed. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
5jllus
|
if the universe is always expanding, how can entropy end it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jllus/eli5_if_the_universe_is_always_expanding_how_can/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dbh37rf",
"dbhczeh"
],
"score": [
6,
2
],
"text": [
"Well, entropy won't end the actual expansion, assuming the expansion continues as our calculations suggest it will.\n\nHowever, everything *else* in the universe will essentially end and make the universe a void of nothing.\n\nThe stars will run out fuel, but the universe will just keep expanding. White dwarfs will go dim, but the universe will just keep expanding. Even black holes will slowly evaporate, but the universe will just keep expanding. Eventually the universe will expand so much no particle will be able to interact with any other.",
"Regardless of whether the universe is expanding or not, or whether it is finite or infinite, or what kind of geometry it has, the fact remains that there is only a finite amount of energy within it available to do work. Every time a star burns a bit of hydrogen, or a gravitational interaction robs some celestial body of its momentum, or a living being consumes food, or when pretty much anything happens at all really, some of that energy is lost forever because no such process can ever be 100% efficient, and this loss will continue until there is no free energy left in the whole universe.\n\nThe expansion of the universe only exacerbates this problem. Even if the unimaginable happened and a large portion of the universe suddenly dropped to a lower entropy level, none of this new energy would be able to be shared with the rest of the universe because those places would be receding so quickly they would be causally disconnected from the higher energy zone."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
md2zb
|
ireland during the 1920's.
|
I've gotten into the HBO show Boardwalk Empire, and would like a better understanding of what this civil war was all about.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/md2zb/eli5_ireland_during_the_1920s/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c2zy1o4",
"c3043qo",
"c2zy1o4",
"c3043qo"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"So, for about 800 years England occupied Ireland. The English were bastards and did lots of bad shit. The Great Famine for example. Famine isn't caused by a lack of resources, but the misallocation of resources and the English intentionally allowed the Irish to starve to death. \n\nSo in 1916 the IRA, or Irish Republican Army, had the Easter Uprising, it was harshly put down and a number of high ranking IRA member were arrested and killed. \n\nOne such man was Eamon de Valera, the eventual president of Ireland that wasn't killed because he was actually an American citizen. The other was Michael Collins. \n\nCollins, along with a lot of other Irishmen decided to change their tactics following the Easter Uprising and instead of big armed conflicts started focusing on more covert work, bombings, and assassinations. \n\nThis continued throughout the late teens and early 20's primarily because the English were occupied with WW1. When they finished with that, they sent a new group of former soldiers to Ireland called the Black and Tans, known for their black jackets and tan pants. They slaughtered a shitload of innocent Irish people. \n\n\nSo anyway, the English eventually capitulated and agreed to talk. de Valera, who was the political head and had been broken out of jail, sent Collins, who was the military head, to England to negotiate. \n\nCollins returned with the option for Ireland to become a Free State, or semi autonomous. \n\nDe Valera then had Collins assassinated and took over. \n",
"1916's easter rising was a turning point in the structure of the 'conflict' before parties like the IPP had sought constitutional and political methods to separate or at least gain home rule from Britain. The Easter Rising was initially very unpopular with Dubliners and the majority of less radical Irish, however the British government rounded up most of the perpetrators and had a dozen of them shot. Their heavy handed dealing of the situation was what led to the rise of Sinn Fein, Irish men who wanted a more radical and aggressive approach to separation.\n\nThe British government however had granted the Home Rule Bill in 1914 but due to the outbreak of the first world war it was postponed until the war was over.\n\nThe aftermath of the Easter Rising led to the killing by the IRB and the newly formed IRA. For instance 13 British under cover operatives were shot in Dublin, whose names and addresses had been leaked from Dublin castle. These were countered by further killing by the British.\n\nThe 20's saw the darkest period in the Irish troubles, the death toll was through the roof, the Troubles in the 70's in Northern Ireland paled in comparison to the brutality that happened then. To cut a long story short, Michael Collins and Griffith were sent to London by De Valera to negotiate with the British Government and eventually they hammered out the Anglo-Irish treaty that gave Ireland a certain amount of self determination. It was only in the late 40's that the Republic of Ireland became a truly independant state.\n\nMichael Collins was murdered shortly after words, not by De Valera, but by his old comrades who thought he had betrayed them and went soft. ",
"So, for about 800 years England occupied Ireland. The English were bastards and did lots of bad shit. The Great Famine for example. Famine isn't caused by a lack of resources, but the misallocation of resources and the English intentionally allowed the Irish to starve to death. \n\nSo in 1916 the IRA, or Irish Republican Army, had the Easter Uprising, it was harshly put down and a number of high ranking IRA member were arrested and killed. \n\nOne such man was Eamon de Valera, the eventual president of Ireland that wasn't killed because he was actually an American citizen. The other was Michael Collins. \n\nCollins, along with a lot of other Irishmen decided to change their tactics following the Easter Uprising and instead of big armed conflicts started focusing on more covert work, bombings, and assassinations. \n\nThis continued throughout the late teens and early 20's primarily because the English were occupied with WW1. When they finished with that, they sent a new group of former soldiers to Ireland called the Black and Tans, known for their black jackets and tan pants. They slaughtered a shitload of innocent Irish people. \n\n\nSo anyway, the English eventually capitulated and agreed to talk. de Valera, who was the political head and had been broken out of jail, sent Collins, who was the military head, to England to negotiate. \n\nCollins returned with the option for Ireland to become a Free State, or semi autonomous. \n\nDe Valera then had Collins assassinated and took over. \n",
"1916's easter rising was a turning point in the structure of the 'conflict' before parties like the IPP had sought constitutional and political methods to separate or at least gain home rule from Britain. The Easter Rising was initially very unpopular with Dubliners and the majority of less radical Irish, however the British government rounded up most of the perpetrators and had a dozen of them shot. Their heavy handed dealing of the situation was what led to the rise of Sinn Fein, Irish men who wanted a more radical and aggressive approach to separation.\n\nThe British government however had granted the Home Rule Bill in 1914 but due to the outbreak of the first world war it was postponed until the war was over.\n\nThe aftermath of the Easter Rising led to the killing by the IRB and the newly formed IRA. For instance 13 British under cover operatives were shot in Dublin, whose names and addresses had been leaked from Dublin castle. These were countered by further killing by the British.\n\nThe 20's saw the darkest period in the Irish troubles, the death toll was through the roof, the Troubles in the 70's in Northern Ireland paled in comparison to the brutality that happened then. To cut a long story short, Michael Collins and Griffith were sent to London by De Valera to negotiate with the British Government and eventually they hammered out the Anglo-Irish treaty that gave Ireland a certain amount of self determination. It was only in the late 40's that the Republic of Ireland became a truly independant state.\n\nMichael Collins was murdered shortly after words, not by De Valera, but by his old comrades who thought he had betrayed them and went soft. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
bc5n6t
|
- why do people actually feel sick when feeling guilty?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bc5n6t/eli5_why_do_people_actually_feel_sick_when/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ekob8l7"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"It's the same sort of response that we get when we feel embarrassed. It means you did something wrong, something that others don't like, something that will get you rejected by the group, and deep in our caveman brain there's the instinct that tells you that means death. So when you're in a situation that causes that feeling, you respond in much the same way as you would to a physical threat."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
202pnr
|
why do investors buy collapsing companies debts?
|
So a company is about to bankrupt and has tons of debts. In comes a successful company and buys out the failing company, including that company's debts. Why? Why would you buy a sinking ship?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/202pnr/eli5_why_do_investors_buy_collapsing_companies/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cfz8acw",
"cfz8ehp"
],
"score": [
2,
4
],
"text": [
"The company might be dead, but its assets aren't.\n\nPatents, trademarks, copyrights, Intellectual Property, hard assets (computers, servers, etc.), not to mention the personnel.\n\nYou look at the failing company and look at the valuation of what it *does* have and pick that up for a song and a dance. The failing company takes what it can get since its on its way out anyways.\n\nThe successful company can buoy the failing company while it takes what it needs. The failing company is cleaned up, streamlined, and either placed back into service in some way, shape, or form, or is liquidated entirely for its assets and its copyrights/trademarks become a re-direct to the parent.\n\nFor example; Circuit City went to the kaput. Eventually it was bought out, and now going to _URL_0_ takes you to TigerDirect - so in the beginning, all of those circuitcity customers were now going to TigerDirect, which is a revenue increase to balance out the cost of acquiring the now dead company.\n\nValuation is a complicated game, but whenever someone spends money on < XYZ > , there is typically a good reason for it, and it almost always involves making more money down the line.",
"There are quite a few reasons they do this, and a lot depends on what the bankrupt company does and why it is bankrupt. Possible scenarios include but are not limited to: \n\n\n* A company is bankrupt but still has assets that can be of value to the purchaser such as a built-in customer base, a valuable brand name, physical assets like machinery or equipment, etc. \n\n* A company purchases a bankrupt competitor so that they cannot be resurrected by someone else and then compete for marketshare in whatever business they both operate.\n\n* A cash-rich company purchases a company that has gone bankrupt due to lack of capital, and believes it can revive the company with an influx of cash."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"circuitcity.com"
],
[]
] |
|
1mdiz5
|
what is ddns and how do we use it?
|
I have an Asus RT-AC66U router and i noticed in the WAN settings that it has a DDNS feature
Now im not a total noob, but other than local area networking, i have never really touched networking settings beyond that.
From the description it sounds like something to do with accessing my router network from externally (like from work)
This is something i am trying to achieve, but am unsure if its the right thing because the name (Dynamic Domain Name System) seems to have nothing to do with remote access
My Goal: to be able to access my home network from work/mobile/external connection
Reddit, please explain this to me like im 5
thanks!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mdiz5/eli5what_is_ddns_and_how_do_we_use_it/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cc8d3j7"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Your router will get an IP address assigned from your Internet service provider. The IP address assigned to your router will be assigned for a certain period of time, after which it can be renewed or a new IP address assigned. (see: DHCP, dynamic host configuration protocol)\n\nIn order to communicate from one computer to another, you need to know the IP address. IP address are hard to remember, so names are used instead, and a protocol to look up the IP address for a computer name (DNS) is used.\n\nTypically, DNS works with a name mapping to a static IP address. However, your router's IP address is dynamically assigned. So, the DDNS (dynamic DNS) configuration in your router along with support from your ISP lets you have a name that maps to your current dynamic IP address from your router, so you can access your router from the Internet using a constant name, even if the IP address has recently been changed by your ISP.\n\nThis all helps you communicate with your router from any computer on the Internet. Routing traffic from your router to your home computer on your home network \"behind\" your router securely is another step entirely."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
9tdy3c
|
if mandarin chinese is tonal, then how does a speaker convey tone of voice
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9tdy3c/eli5_if_mandarin_chinese_is_tonal_then_how_does_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e8voe1t"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"I'm not sure I fully understand what you mean, but as a learner of Mandarin Chinese I think I can explain some of the issue regarding tone.\n\nFirstly, when Chinese speak normally between each other, the fast way, you know, they don't really emphasize the tones that much. It's hard being able to speak fast and do tones precisely (which doesn't mean they ignore the tone completely, e.g. \"shí shì shí\" or \"10 is 10\", you can't avoid the tone and you'll emphasize it) ... and so they rely on context of the sentence or conversation a lot.\n\nWhich leads me to the second point - you can, with experience, know which word is being said even if you disregard or botch the tone of that word. To best understand this, simply think of an English example. Like this:\n\n > I can't *bear* to be without you.\n > \n > Look! A *bear*!\n\nIn both cases, the word \"bear\" sounds the same, is written the same, but is used differently and means different things. In Mandarin Chinese you'll even have a different character for both words and most often the tone will be different in pinyin even, so technically speaking it's even easier to differentiate same-sounding words in Chinese than in English.\n\nHope this helps.\n\n**EDIT:** on second thought, if you just mean how do they speak with emotion, like raise their voice or sth, ... they do that just like us + the above mentioned. The language being tonal doesn't prevent them from changing the tone of a whole sentence like we do. It's the same. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
a28s4g
|
what is it about a horse's brain that makes one so willing and able to be trained...while they could so easily dominate and are so powerful, they're willing to do what we want?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a28s4g/eli5_what_is_it_about_a_horses_brain_that_makes/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eaw3mbt",
"eaw49hy",
"eaw8ltz",
"eawip26",
"eawmn0i"
],
"score": [
14,
21,
6,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Any animal can be trained if you want to put in the time and effort. \n\nMost animals live in packs and there is usually a pack leader, and so animals naturally know to follow the pack leader. Horses are no different. \n\nSo they tend to see their human master as a substitute for their pack leader so it's not stretch for them to obey. ",
"Training isn't about fear or power. Do you pick your friends based on who you can beat up?\n\nTraining animals involves rewarding them, feeding them, sheltering them, and praising them selectively when they exhibit desirable behavior.\n\nAll that really determines an animal's trainability is its ability to associate behavior with reward (or punishment). ",
"With horses you basically play a mind game with them when they’re “broken”. They don’t wanna cooperate, so you ride them until they give. You kind of trick them into thinking you’re dominant. It’s called “breaking” a horse. And some can’t be broken and some even after breaking are just dicks and don’t want you on them, some can only be ridden by a certain person the horse likes. Not all horses can be ridden. Horses are a lot like people, they’re all different personalities and temperaments. And a horse will definitely fuck you up if it doesn’t like you. ",
"There's many elements that are needed for something to be trained or domesticated. \n\n1). They cannot be picky eaters \n\n2). They need to reach maturity fast. \n\n3). They need to be able to breed in captivity \n\n4). They have to be relatively docile \n\n5). They cannot have a tendency to be startled \n\n6). They have to have the tendency to follow a leader. \n\n\nFor example, Zebras.. are way too violent for us to domesticate them. Sure we can train a few, but it's not likely they'll ever by domesticated. There's many instances of Zebra being tamed on youtube, but there are also many failures due to their wild nature. \n\n",
"They live in herds with a distinct social structure that makes them responsive to authority, IIRC. \n\nAnd to look at it from a different angle, that's why they were domesticated. Out of all the animals in the world, only around 10 are totally domesticated (I forget the exact number, check out 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' by Jared Diamond). Zebras, for instance, don't respond well to training, so we don't ride Zebras."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
4b0xx2
|
why do a lot of children say they hate the other sex?
|
They also say "boys/girls are gross"
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4b0xx2/eli5_why_do_a_lot_of_children_say_they_hate_the/
|
{
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"d1569by",
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"d15rtqw"
],
"score": [
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11,
71,
3
],
"text": [
"A well suited sub reddit I suppose",
"At that age, they have no sexual tendencies. And usually, the other sex is interested in different things (girls might prefer barbies and boys like toy cars). That makes the other sex really boring. There isn't much more to it. Also personally I didn't find girls gross when I was young. That is because I had a few friends that were girls that I played with. So I couldn't have disliked them if I had fun playing with them.",
"It comes from a LOT of implicit social cues we adults don't even know we're giving them.\n\nDr. Rebecca Bigler at the University of Texas studied this very phenomenon for years. The experiment was conducted by running a summer camp for kids and giving the kids red shirts and blue shirts, and the idea was to figure out what it would take to get the red shirts and blue shirts to hate each other.\n\nSo they did a lot of different things to make this happen, from only praising one group's work, to filling the boards with sample work from one group, etc. And they found that none of it mattered. What triggered the red shirts and the blue shirts disliking each other was whenever the teacher would specifically mention the difference, as simple as \"let's line up, blue over here, red over here\" or \"line up blue/red blue/red.\"\n\nSo when you think about that, think about how many times teachers go \"hello, boys and girls\" or \"line up boy girl boy girl\" or even the fact that there are boy restrooms and girl restrooms. Think of how the world makes so clear that there are two groups - boys and girls, and boys do one thing and girls do another thing, boys like these things and girls like those things. Even when parents model non-sexist behavior and treat everyone the same their kids are still prejudiced, because they're soaking up an entire society's worth of gender norms and gender binary. Bigler said (I went to a training with her once for my company) that parents who want to eliminate racist and sexist prejudices from their children need to actively combat instances of racism and sexism in their worlds, not just model behavior, but stand up to and point out injustices they see and explain to children what it means to be sexist/racist, etc. It's pretty eye-opening.\n\nHere's a PRX piece about it: _URL_0_",
"They start noticing the other sex is different, in a immature mind different=bad.\n\nTake ten kids aged 4 years old , use face paint to make nine of them blue and one red.\n\nThe red one will be made fun of.\n\nI see a lot of people talking about \"implicit social cues\" and such , but its just a phase young children go through , they assume that everyone is the same and are disturbed by people who are different."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://beta.prx.org/stories/101312"
],
[]
] |
|
afc5yn
|
what does 0% apr mean? is it a good time to buy a car if the company provides it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/afc5yn/eli5_what_does_0_apr_mean_is_it_a_good_time_to/
|
{
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"edxbvfj"
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2
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"text": [
"You need to look at the time period of the 0% financing option, as well as the requirements to qualify for the 0%.\n\nUsually, buried in the fine print, one will find that if the vehicle is not paid off within the 0% financing term, all interest that would have accrued during said term is applied to the balance. \n\nLong story short, it's a sales gimmick.\n\nPay attention to holiday ads for most major manufacturers. Almost all of them offer \"0% financing for qualified buyers\" that turns out to be untrue (all accrued interest is applied unless paid off within the term) or so difficult to qualify for that nobody can get that rate."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1dbh37
|
intersectionality
|
I'm in a contemporary feminism course and my mind just isn't understanding this.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1dbh37/eli5_intersectionality/
|
{
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"c9opzgq"
],
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9
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"text": [
"If I'm a black woman, I have some disadvantages because I'm a woman and some disadvantages because I'm black. But I also have some disadvantages specifically because I'm black woman, which neither black men nor white women have to deal with. That's intersectionality; race, gender, and every other way to be disadvantaged interact with each other."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3azynr
|
why does any country in the world, even allies, act surprised when it's publicly revealed that the united states is spying on them?
|
Right or wrong, shouldn't it sort of be expected given history since the start of the Cold War?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3azynr/eli5_why_does_any_country_in_the_world_even/
|
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"text": [
"It's an unspoken truth. Everyone spies on everyone, but you have to react to show that you don't approve, otherwise they could say that since you didn't react last time, you didn't care. ",
" > since the start of the Cold War\n\nEspionage only started then? lol\n\nI mean, yeah, this is one thing where Putin was kind of on point when he said after the Snowden leak \"I envy Obama because he can get away with it\" (being former KGB counts for something). Everyone is spying on everyone. However, if you're a German citizen and you learned the NSA tapped Angela Merkel's phone and then she basically just said \"eh, whatever, everyone's doin' it\" that would probably piss you off. Her administration obviously wasn't supremely shocked that it was happening, but responding to it in the way they did is kind of the only choice politically.",
"Allied states are all taking part in a very elaborate show of *acting* like they trust each other and don't view each other as potential enemies, but it's false. Most scholars of international relations say that every country is only in it for themselves and only gets into alliances for selfish reasons. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
b884qc
|
if theres an equal and opposite reaction for everything, how does anything happen? isn't it balanced out by the opposite reaction?
|
I know it doesn't exactly work like that, but if there's an equal and opposite reaction, what exactly is that? If you're pushing a box, is the opposite reaction of your push an equal amount of force pushing back at you? I feel really stupid about this.
Also, how come there's immense air pressure all around us, yet we don't feel it? I know that it's because of air pushing on every surface, balancing it out, but doesn't that mean that the inside of a solid object is under a ton of pressure, because there's no gas inside?
Also where in the world does the energy for something to fall come from? What loses energy to apply kinetic energy to make something fall due to gravity?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b884qc/eli5_if_theres_an_equal_and_opposite_reaction_for/
|
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"text": [
"I don't think you are fully comprehending what \"equal\" means in this kind of situation. When I throw a baseball, the baseball resists the force I'm applying, essentially pushing back against my hand. But I have a lot more mass than the baseball, so that force doesn't do much to me. \n \nThe equivalence is in momentum, mass x velocity. So a thing with a lot of mass will have a much smaller velocity imparted to it. Which in the case of my arm is simply resisted and turned into heat. ",
"The opposite reaction can be *elsewhere* happening to *another object.* For example, you can walk north, but you subtly push Earth's surface a tiny amount south. Or you can throw a ball forward, but it pushes you a bit backward.",
"From the top:\n\nEqual and opposite is pretty much exactly as you understand it. When you push something, both you and it move away from each other proportional to how much mass (how much inertia) it has relative to you. If you're standing on roller skates and push a wall (which has basically infinite inertia, from your point of view), you go rolling back, but the wall doesn't move at all. If your standing on roller skates and throw a ping pong ball as hard as you can, the ball goes flying and you move (basically) not at all. You have much more inertia than the ping pong ball.\n\nWe don't feel the air pressure because we evolved to exist within it; it's normal to us. But yes, the inside of a solid object is under pressure - a bit more than 14 pounds per square inch at sea level (aka one atmosphere). But solids aren't compressible*, so it doesn't matter. Anything that has voids in it typically has air in those voids, so the air inside pushes out as the air outside pushes in; which is why sponges don't spontaneously smoosh up.\n\nThe energy for something to fall comes from whatever raised it up in the first place. Kinetic energy moving an object up is converted into the potential energy of the object. When it falls, that potential energy turns into kinetic energy as the object accelerates down.\n\n---\n\n\\* Under anything like conditions we consider normal, anyway\n\n",
"Equal and opposite force doesn't imply equal and opposite effect.\n\nIf you try to throw a ball, you push with X force on the ball, accelerating it. The ball pushes with the save force on you. This makes your feet push with X force on the Earth, and the Earth pushes back with X force on your feet.\n\nThe ball goes fast because X is a lot of force given the ball's mass. On the other hand, the Earth is \"unchanged\" to the limit of our ability to measure because X is essentially no force on an object with the mass of the Earth.\n\nStuff moves because it's accelerated. F=MA, small mass = lots of A; large mass = no A.",
"while the 3rd law is very much real, what often happens is that the reaction force on most motion amounts ot nothing since your effectively pushing against something that will not give due ot a huge difference in mass: \n\nie: you vs the planet when walking, your mass is irrelevant as far as \"pushing\" earth goes\n\nor when you fire a gun, there is a reaction there, its called recoil, but since your holding the gun in your hand, you are hopefully still holding on to it still since your mass is far greater than the bullet you just fired+gun\n\nyou must also account for losses of energy like friction tippnig the scales in your favor for motion."
]
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|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
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|
1hp0v7
|
why do ketchup and mustard have that watery bit if you don't shake it before you pour, but bbq sauce doesn't?
|
making a sandwich made me ask this question
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1hp0v7/eli5_why_do_ketchup_and_mustard_have_that_watery/
|
{
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"text": [
"I guess that barbeque sauce contains starch to bind the water into a thick sauce, where as ketchup and mustard don't. You should look into the ingredients.",
"Ketchup and mustard and so called \"suspensions\". That means that they contain ingredients that wont dissolve in water or oil that these sauces contain. Overtime these particles will separate from the fluid and sink to the bottom. Creating a watery layer on top "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
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|
54c77i
|
how does an spacecraft engine blast cause movement if there is nothing for the ship to push off from? like if space is nothing, what is the engine propelling from?
|
Inspired by the gif on the front page. Honestly would like to know.
gif: _URL_0_
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/54c77i/eli5_how_does_an_spacecraft_engine_blast_cause/
|
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"text": [
"It's from Newton's 3rd law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So if a spacecraft blasts mass out the back, then it (the spacecraft) will move forward. It doesn't have to push on anything.\n\n",
"Imagine you are standing on a skateboard carrying a bowling ball. Now, throw the bowling ball away from you with all your strength. \n\nWhat will happen? ",
"It needs mass to throw back in order to push itself forward. Since there's no mass UP there to use, it has to bring all of it's own mass.. in the form of rocket fuel.",
"The spacecraft sacrifices a part of itself to be pushed off of.\n\nThere are two principle differences between space travel and conventional travel.\n\n1.) In conventional travel, there is a medium to push off of. In a car, that's usually a road, or the Earth. In a plane, that's usually the air. In space travel there is (effectively) no medium that you can grab a hold of and push on to get movement. So instead, a spacecraft takes a piece of itself and throws it as fast as it can in the direction opposite that it wants to travel. Usually this piece of itself comes in the form of exhaust produced by an explosion (which makes the exhaust very fast). If you've ever shot a gun or a supersoaker from the CPS series, you might have experienced this effect of recoil before.\n\n2.) In conventional travel, there are powerful sources of friction. Air resistance and the friction between components in a car will cause it to eventually coast to a stop if the engine isn't running. In space travel, there is essentially no friction. Once you get the spacecraft to a certain speed by rockets, it will keep going at that speed.\n\nThese two differences are encompassed by Newton's second and first (I think) laws of motion."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://i.imgur.com/wwxuXOb.gifv"
] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3s7ljo
|
why don't we already know everything that's inside the pyramids?
|
In response to the news about temperature scans revealing "anomalies" in the pyramids that may be additional burial chambers etc. - why don't we already know exactly what's in there? These are some of the most famous buildings in the world, they are not new discoveries and I don't understand why they haven't been explored from top to bottom by now.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s7ljo/eli5_why_dont_we_already_know_everything_thats/
|
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"Also - why don't we know how these were built? they only took forever to make...shouldn't the story be chiseled on a wall somewhere? ",
"Two people ahve answered that the pyramids are \"incredibly complex\"- they aren't- they're giant piles of rocks, with narrow shafts and a few small rooms inside. We know about those because the shafts reach the surface. There may be other rooms, but it would require tunneling through tons of rock to access them, because there are no doors or hallways to these rooms, and millions of tons of rock on top of them.",
"Also, Egypt is very strict on access, so not many archeologists get a chance to do a comprehensive study. \n_URL_0_ ",
"The recent temperature anomalies in the news were in Tutenkamen's tomb which is located in the Valley of the Kings, not in a pyramid.",
"Luis Alvarez (best known for the asteroid impact explanation for the extinction of the dinosaurs) tried to probe the interior of a pyramid using cosmic rays back in the 1960's. His conclusion? Mostly solid with no chambers larger than those already discovered.\n\n_URL_0_",
"The rock is too absorptive, except for gamma-ray imaging. Here was an attempt from fifty years ago:\n\n[X-raying the Great Pyramid, 1967](_URL_1_) also [their research paper (pdf)](_URL_0_)\n\nThey did it with a cosmic ray telescope, looking for patterns after 8-weeks collecting spark-chamber data. Didn't work.\n",
"So since we're talking about pyramids... Do they actually contain booby traps or is that just in the movies?",
"The simplest, non-political answer is it has been physical difficult to explore the Great Pyramid quickly without destroying it. Many wish it but also believe they are tombs and misinterpret that from classic Hollywood and childhood stories.",
"Egypt limits discoveries and searches because they want a slow steady amount of new attractions. Touristism is their main economic industry so they are trying to milk and space out new discoveries. A guide in Egypt I befriended told me this.",
"The problem becomes self evident when you stand next to the great pyramid. \"You can study this as long as you don't damage or destroy any of the stones.\" Now, where to start? ",
"Having spent 5 years in Cairo and trudging through the Gizah complex innumerable times, I do see the pyramids at Gizah with awe and wonder. The vastness of the project, the logistics involved, and the mindset and belief structure to make it all happen, boggle my mind. What looks simple on the outside, becomes quite complex when you start digging into the details. Being an engineer and having been involved in many construction and mining projects, I am often amazed at how they managed to do it. Questions that come to mind are:\n\n1. What type of ramps did they use to get the stones up to the top. Were they internal or external? Many theories but little evidence. One giant ramp to the top of the pyramid would require more material than the pyramid itself. The engineer in me sees this as a bit of a puzzle.\n\n2. How long would a copper chisel last for cutting the channels into the quarry as well as shaping the blocks. Once the height of a particular course was decided upon, every block that was made and placed on the course would have to be at that exact height. The sides of the block could be left rough, but the top and bottom had to be smooth. A lot of chisel sharpening must have been going on since copper, a soft metal, was the only metal they had. Those familiar with Mohs hardness scale will scratch their heads,\n\n3. As the courses were raised, how did they maintain the shape of the pyramid. This is quite complex, This [site](_URL_0_) explains the complexity involved and why it was likely that that Tura outer casings were put in place as the pyramid was raised.\n\n4. How long on average would it take for an average block of stone to be cut, shaped, transported to the pyramids centroid and then put in its final resting place. This would give a rough idea of the average number of work parties involved since we are given a 25 year window to build the pyramid. With 2.3 million blocks this equates to 10.5 blocks every hour, assuming they work 24 hour days and never take a break. If it takes an average of 20 hours to get a block cut, shaped and transported, then in 20 hours, 210 blocks would have to be moved resulting in 210 work parties cutting and hauling stones at any given time. This is obviously a gross generalization, since there would be many more stones being moved at the beginning of the construction and fewer towards the end. Yet you can begin to understand the enormous scope of the work and the logistics of managing the work force. If we assume that laborers worked a 50 minute hour (lunch, bathroom breaks, unscheduled down time, etc.), we need even more workers involved. Additionally quarrying, transportation, and installation were most likely all done separately. Anyone involved in construction management is aware of the large discrepancies between theory and reality.\n\n5. If Senefru was willing to invade Libya and Nubia to bring in thousands of slaves to support his construction projects, why would Khufu suddenly decide not to use slaves.\n\n6. Why no hieroglyphs and paintings inside these pyramids. Even the solar boat buried next to it has no markings. Yet we see occasional hieroglyphs on some of the stones which refer to the gangs that dragged them up.\n\n7. With all the surveys done on the Pyramids of Gizah, why is it that the only raw data available publicly is from the 1800s by Flinders Petrie. If you wanted to model the construction of the pyramid at various stages, you need raw data concerning the heights of each course, where the rooms and openings are located, the dimensions and location of the mound of rock that the pyramid was built on, and a hundred other items. You'll need to be a detective to get that data. (This would make a great Blender project.)\n\n8. Flinders mentions and illustrates in his book, several of the many pieces of stone sculptures found in Djoser's pyramid (I believe), What intrigued Flanders so much with these [stone artifacts](_URL_2_) was how they were made and the tools used to make them. These pieces show an incredible ability to work with stone of all hardnesses. Figure 9A indicates some sort of drill device was used and the scoring on the sides of the various objects seems to support this hypothesis. As far as I know this has never been seriously investigated. You would have to read his descriptions in his [book](_URL_1_) to see what I'm talking about.",
"There's a robot on MARS right now... is it crazy to think we can send one into the pyramids?",
"I'm new but here goes anyway. \nCheck out this link _URL_1_\n\nSmyth and his co-author took the pyramid apart, so to speak and has some very good explanations of its size, shape and location. It was measured completely inside and out. Read his book if you can find it, (long time out of print)\nThe Great Pyramid: Its Secrets and Mysteries Revealed\n\nI do seem to remember some of the facts about it are baffling to engineers even today, like it is somehow sitting in the exact center of the land mass of earth. It is measured around the base to represent exactly one years time. There is a relationship of its height and the distance to the sun.\nIf the following is out of line with the rules or sensitivities of others I apologize in advance.\nThe youtube link below is biblical in nature but his information and questions about the pyramid are mind boggling to the engineer in all of us.\n_URL_0_\n",
"I'm not an archaeologist, but I did take a couple archaeology classes in college. One thing I remember is that archaeologists will often deliberately *not* excavate an entire site because our archaeological methods are always improving. If we always excavate everything all at once, we ruin our ability to excavate the site with better means or tech years (decades, centuries) later. I'm not sure if the Pyramids have been treated this way, but it would make sense that they would be given their size.",
"It's grain, ISNT IT!?",
"Three main reasons:\n-The pyramids were not designed to be re-opened. therefore, they are very hard to gain entrance to.\n-Once inside, you will find that while the layout is quite straight forward, it is plastered with complex booby-traps that can be described as \"cruel and unusual\".\n-When you actually get inside the burial chamber, you will find that most organic material (wood, cloth, food, etc) has probably decayed by this point, and cannot be accounted for.\n",
"The recent scans you're referring to are, I'm assuming, the ones of King Tutankhamen's tomb, which is actually an underground tomb in the Valley of Kings. The Egyptians realized rather quickly that the pyramids stood out reeeally well for graverobbers, and so most royalty were subsequently buried in underground tombs in the valley. Most of the tombs were hidden, again to foil grave robbers, and as a result we still have not found all of them. Due to time, decay, and intentional deception to protect the treasures intended to stay with the dead, these tombs are neither entirely structurally safe nor straightforward to explore, and thus as we develop new technologies we are able to make new discoveries previously impossible due to legal or just safety reasons. \n\nOne of the reasons the pyramids and the tombs haven't been very thoroughly explored yet, even though we've known about them for so long, is that in the early days when safety and legality were less important they didn't have the technology to find or document everything, and often as the aim was treasure-hunting once they had made a discovery the excavating party would take what they could and leave. More recently, the goal has been to learn about them for scientific/historical ends, which means that they are being excavated more slowly and thoroughly with all necessary precautions taken to document and preserve historical artifacts. This also means that the process is slower and even more expensive, and since it's for science and not treasure it's far less popular and the research parties have a harder time getting the necessary funding to finish excavations. \n\ntldr; the tombs haven't been thoroughly explored because 1. it's hard, 2. it's expensive, and 3. the government doesn't exactly want a bunch of random people poking around because that worked out SO WELL the last time (i.e the reason museums all over the world have a bunch of egyptian artifacts they didn't exactly pay for, and why it's such a cliche that old rich british guys have their homes filled with gilded egyptian paraphernalia and mummies and shit). ",
"I thought by now we would be able to create some sort of x-ray scan of whole structure.\nLike Tony Stark :)\n\nWill terahertz scanners would help with that ? I heard they would enable us to see through matter.",
"Because they're huge and they're old and discovery is the enemy of preservation. If we want them in the best possible condition we leave them as they are. If we want to find every nook and cranny and secret compartment we'd need to do serious damage to them.",
"Well, my last trip to the tombs and pyramids in Egypt, we saw a rough model of what the insides and ungerground structures of the pyramids looked like. and its not simple stairways and levels we have in modern day architecture. There are for example split pathways deliberately meant to deceive unwelcome visitors (as such many archaeologists have not bbeen successful and some even died shortly after excavating these sites) , and as you know these pyramids were filled with treasure and gold so there were many \"booby traps\" all over the site. Basically, these egyptian builders made it extremely hard for those who werent meant to get to the end of the tomb..So there are limits to these excavations and thus one of the reasons i would argue why they havent been explored from top to bottom...obvs there is more detail and conspiracy surrounding these but mainly this",
"(1) its hard to see through rock, and (2) Egyptians don't like it when you try to take it apart.",
"the sleeping prophet (Egdar Casey) stated that the pyramids and egyptians were key ancestors to the people of atlantis, and the map and key artifacts of atlantis is buried in the left foot chamber of the sphinx.\nhows that for some useless knowledge for you guys.",
"There's plenty going on with Tutankhamun's tomb as well though; the TL;DR is that in the 90s in Australia too... was also taught Pluto was classified as a planet To be fair, Pluto was a good idea not to go tunneling randomly through them anyways.",
" > These are some of the most famous buildings in the world, they are not new discoveries and I don't understand why they haven't been explored from top to bottom by now.\n\nThat's exactly the problem, they have. Not just \"grave robbers\" or anything like that, but whichever empire had control over Egypt throughout the centuries would generally ransack the pyramids. I think it was Napoleon who took all the limestone off of the great pyramids and took it back to Europe? maybe that was the Romans, I'm not sure. \n\nSo a big part of it is that anyone who looks in the pyramids, now, will only look at what they can without further destroying the pyramids. A lot of stuff has already been damaged by time, then add the damage from people who conquered them over the years and you're not sure if the pyramid was built like that of if someone just damaged it, but you sure as hell don't want to be the one who causes new damage. ",
"If we have the technology to find oil/gas pockets under miles of ocean and rock, seems like we could map out the rooms in the pyramids.",
"It would probably cost a lot of money to do all that work and could do a lot of damage to the actual pyramid.\n\nAlso, super spooky booby traps.",
"The actual answer is due to funding. I'm a graduate student and have realized that this is the answer for a lot of questions. The pyramids lost the publics interest years ago, and diverting millions more of dollars into research of the pyramids is pointless from an economical sense. Paying new graduate students/researchers and buying equipment has no economical sense since people will go and see the pyramids regardless of what's inside (tourists aren't even allowed near the pyramids).",
"Because they are unimaginably huge and it would like be looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack. The largest is about the height of a 50 story building and about 2.3 million gigantic blocks and, I suppose one could hide just about anything in something so large and with so many parts. The first time I walked up to the Great Pyramid, I realized that, before I saw it, I could not even imagine its mass. "
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[
[],
[],
[
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],
[],
[
"http://www3.nd.edu/~nsl/Lectures/phys178/pdf/alvarez.ppt"
],
[
"http://www2.lns.mit.edu/fisherp/AlvarezPyramids.pdf",
"https://books.google.com/books?id=4yADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88#v=onepage&q&f=false"
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"http://www.cheops-pyramide.ch/khufu-pyramid/pyramid-alignment.html#mistake",
"http://www.ronaldbirdsall.com/gizeh/petrie/index.htm",
"http://www.ronaldbirdsall.com/gizeh/petrie/photo/plate14.html"
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[
"https://youtu.be/qBffQOAUR8I",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Piazzi_Smyth"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
459sss
|
why are universities/healthcare etc in america for profit?
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/459sss/eli5_why_are_universitieshealthcare_etc_in/
|
{
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"Technically most universities are not \"for-profit.\" In America, \"for-profit\" universities (some well-known examples: DeVry, Strayer, University of Phoenix) are generally looked down upon for being of lesser quality and are highly controversial in America. In some cases these are actually *cheaper* than private non-profit universities, but are almost always more expensive than public ones.",
"Despite being very expensive, the vast majority of Universities/colleges in the United States are non-profits.\n\nUltimately, a large group of Americans prefer the \"devil they know,\" these huge costs, over the unknown (to them at least) impact of the tax increase(s) necessary to support public healthcare or tuition or whatever.",
"Politicians (you know....the people who can make or change things) are largely supported by corporations with vested interests in profits in all markets.....so there's that little wrinkle to overcome first.",
"About half ([source](_URL_0_)) of American hospitals are non-profit, and around half of the others are Government run. \n\nThis is not to suggest that visiting one is inexpensive, but only about 25% of all hospitals are \"for profit\".",
"The reason it's so expensive has more to do with the government than with a \"for profit\" or \"non profit\" designation. Think of it like credit card debt. In the US, universities which are non profit have to spend what they make, meaning the balance at the end of the year is zero. \n\nThe reason it's expensive is sort of like the credit limit. Universities can increase tuition costs, because the more they charge the more they can spend. Usually, if a product costs more than it ends up being worth, people stop buying it. But students in the US can get the entire cost of tuition covered by federal student loans, regardless of their credit or their likelihood of finishing the degree or eventually getting a job which would pay off those loans. \n\nUniversities increase the price, students pay tuition with money borrowed from the government, universities have more money to spend. If the government capped student loans at $5,000 a year per student, a lot of students wouldn't be able to afford college, wouldn't go, and universities would lose that amount of income, and would have to cut costs. That would lower tuition, allowing some but not all of those potential students to afford college, and on and on.\n\nProblem is, the US government makes a lot of money on the interest rates students pay on those loans. So they have no immediate interest in capping the amount students are allowed to borrow."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/50-things-to-know-about-the-hospital-industry.html"
],
[]
] |
|
1qjj2v
|
previous posts only helped me slightly with this: static electricity
|
I'm a teacher and we just started a unit on electricity. I want the students (8-10 year olds) to really be able to grasp this concept. [This](_URL_0_) was the most helpful one I've found so far.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qjj2v/eli5_previous_posts_only_helped_me_slightly_with/
|
{
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"cddfceb"
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"text": [
"All substances (matter) is made up of smaller bits (atoms). These smaller bits also are made up of even smaller bits: protons, electrons, neutrons. Protons produce a force that repels other protons, but also attracts electrons. Likewise, electrons repel other electrons but are attracted to protons. These forces are called charges, and the designation for protons' charge is positive, and electrons' charge is negative. Neutrons have a neutral charge.\n\nProtons and neutrons make of the inner portion of atoms, called the nucleus, while the electrons spin around the exterior in an electron cloud. The charges keep the atom held together, but sometimes, the electrons can get pulled away. A great example is with static electricity. If you take a glass rod and place it against a piece of paper, not much happens. Here's a simplified version of the charges:\n\nGlass rod: 10 atoms (10 protons, 10 electrons) - > net charge 0\n\nPaper: 10 atoms (10 protons, 10 electrons) - > net charge 0\n\nSome electrons may be attracted and some may be repelled, but for the most part since the net charge is 0 for both, there's not much exciting going on (yet).\n\nIf you take a glass rod and rub it against a silk cloth, the electrons in the glass rod can get passed onto the silk cloth, giving the glass rod a charge:\n\nGlass rod: 10 atoms (10 protons, 10 electrons) - > net charge 0\n\nSilk Cloth: 10 atoms (10 protons, 10 electrons) - > net charge 0\n\n < RUB CLOTH AGAINST ROD > \n\nGlass rod: 10 atoms (10 protons, 6 electrons) - > net charge +4\n\nsilk cloth: 10 atoms (10 protons, 14 electrons) - > net charge -4\n\nThe glass rod now is more positive because it lost a few electrons, and the silk rod is also more negative because it gained those electrons. \n\nIf you hold the glass rod against the paper:\n\nGlass rod: 10 atoms (10 protons, 6 electrons) - > net charge +4\n\nPaper: 10 atoms (10 protons, 10 electrons) - > net charge 0\n\nIt sticks! Even though the paper's net charge is 0, the glass rod's charge is more positive, so there's an attraction between the two. Notice that it doesn't work long though. The electrons in the glass rod will be attracted to the paper, so eventually both net charges are 0, and the paper no longer sticks.\n\nIf you rubbed the silk cloth against the glass rod again, and then [held](_URL_0_) the glass rod to a *metal* doorknob:\n\n < SPARK!! > \n\nGlass rod: (10 protons, 10 electrons) - > net charge 0\n\nDoorknob: (10 protons, 10 electrons) - > net charge 0\n\nSo what happened? Metal objects have the property that their electrons really like to flow away from them, meaning that most, but not all, metals are very good conductors of electricity. As you held the positively charged rod closer to the neutral-charged doorknob, *compared to the glass rod*, the doorknob was more negative. This caused the such a charge difference between the glass rod and the metal doorknob that the air became a conductor, and the spark appeared. The end result is both the doorknob and glass rod have neutral charges. Test this to make sure: after making a spark, place the glass rod against the paper, does it stick?"
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/qppwv/eli5_how_i_shock_peopleget_shocked_by_touching/"
] |
[
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_field"
]
] |
|
bshazk
|
what exactly happens when our throat gets dry and why does water almost always fix it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bshazk/eli5_what_exactly_happens_when_our_throat_gets/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eonaznn",
"eonlpou"
],
"score": [
14,
4
],
"text": [
"It's pretty much exactly as it sounds like. The cells in your body require moisture to perform all of their various actions and functions. When there isn't enough produced they can get dry and signal this to your brain. If you add more water back it helps keep things shiny and happy.",
"The air from your breathing/talking dried out the surface of your throat. I little splash of water moistens it back up. Like a sponge, but more meaty"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2p89wo
|
why do stove temperature knobs go from high to low/simmer?
|
Why not low to high?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2p89wo/eli5_why_do_stove_temperature_knobs_go_from_high/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cmubvfz"
],
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2
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"text": [
"Sort of related, but I've wondered why most fans (with a manual speed control knob) also work the same way...if you want to turn it on, it always starts at full blast. Is there a reason for this, or it is just so the fan parts burn out (purposely) slightly faster? \n\nEdit: A good answer for this here: _URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/comments/2bb41j/why_do_boxceiling_fans_start_on_the_highest/cj3jfyo"
]
] |
|
6uhfip
|
after watching my 3 year old play in her imaginary world, what changes in our brains as we move into adulthood that we lose this skill?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6uhfip/eli5_after_watching_my_3_year_old_play_in_her/
|
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"You simply stopped doing it. Not everyone does and those that continue it are still able to do this. They tend to use said skill to write books, write video games, make movies, make tv shows. And in the non-professional realm they write fanfic, picture books as they read them, play table top games, etc. ",
"Follow up question - what do you mean by *lose* this skill?\n\nI'm 22, do extensive worldbuilding in my head and have an imagination that can keep track or hundreds of personalities in one world I create in my head. When I commute or go to bed I go through the same thing your daughter does ",
"I would propose that you simply get smarter. The same idea might pop into your head \"man wouldn't it be cool if a dragon had machine guns mounted on it?\" But then the logical part of your brain would step up telling you how angry a dragon would be, how relatively useless machine guns would be attached to it, etc.\n\nIf you asked a child \"why does the dragon let you ride it\" the child might say \"We are friends\" but you would ask yourself \"well why are we friends, how could we possibly have met and developed a friendship.\" If you want to go around riding on a dragon doing crazy adventures you basically have to come up with the entire Game of Thrones world in order to satisfy the questions you would have.\n\nThat kind of thing takes a tremendous mental effort and commitment of time. You have to justify to yourself spending that time on it. \n\nHowever, when those answers are given to you, you will absolutely lose yourself in fantasy for hours at a time: look at video games, movies, or books. Those things really are just guided imaginings.",
"Hey, funnily enough I [answered this question for another person with a video a while back](_URL_0_) \n\nIf you dont want to watch the video I'll run over the points here too:\n\n- We are more in touch with reality as we grow older. The economy, and our limited time on this planet distract us. We need to make sure we can provide for our family and friends, we study and work to make sure we can live a comfortable life.\n\n- Social norms also take away from us, we understand we have a role in the world and as adults we believe we shouldn't be seen being \"childish\" and having a very active imagination can be seen as this. I personally dont agree with how people see this as childish at all, I think it's a great character to have. It's different depending on culture though, as we are brought up in a certain way to see adults as responsible, serious hard working individuals.\n\n- We care about what other people think, children do not. There have been studies to show that they dont care, they dont see the world the same as us. Kids are a bundle of joy (most of the time!), as we grow older we are much more worried about how people see us. This may be down to the fact that we are hardwired to find a partner and have children. If we dont act in an attractive way, then we may not find a mate. It's pretty blunt to say, but at the end of the day we are animals and our top priorities are survival and breeding.\n\n- We are much more busy as adults, as I stated before we are constantly working and our lives get swallowed by work. The majority of people don't live in the now. They live constantly thinking of the future, not paying attention to the here and now. Children are different, they live for the now. They try and enjoy themselves as much as possible. Playing and imagining cool scenarios are examples of this. For example, if a child was sat in a car they'd look out the window and see a blank canvas. They'd imagine a character running along side the car doing all sorts of cool stunts (that's what I used to do). However, an adult may not think like this, they'd think about people, work, debt, schedules etc etc.\n\nHope that helped, and I hope you enjoyed the joke at the end of the video. I usually answer peoples questions through this subreddit in the form of a video and I've been doing it for a year now. My drawing has got slightly better, along with my animation skills. This video is pretty old, but it targeted your question so I thought I'd try and help you out!\n\nHave a great day.",
"I think we all still create imaginary worlds and characters we just don't acknowledge them in our real lives. Maybe we just accepted the fact that imagination and reality are different from each other.",
"We do imagine stuff though don't we? Like I'm always imagining conversations, what I'll do when I get home, what is going on in the head of white nationalists, how many upvotes I will get for this post etc etc. It's an important part of how we plan for the future and understand one another. What I'm saying is our imagination doesn't disappear it just gets used differently.",
"In fact we still have that skill, we just don't use it anymore because as we grow older, we adapt to the reality and accept it as it is. As adults we have responsibilities and pressures such as making a living. Most of the adults find daydreaming as silly and distracting. But there are people who still do it as adults, they are writers, actors, movie directors, etc. There are a minority of other adults who do it compulsively, and that condition is called [Maladaptive daydreaming](_URL_0_). Most people are unaware of this, including mental health professionals. \n\n[BBC World News Aug.9.17 story on Maladaptive Daydreaming](_URL_1_) ",
"I have a feeling I will be downvoted for this, plus the username doesn't help.\n\nBut kids know reality much more than adults, because they aren't heavily influenced until adult-hood. They can take things in perspective. Where in adult-hood we are heavily groomed.",
"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!\n\n\n[Source](_URL_0_)",
"In my opinion there are a few things that change in our brains.\n\nFirst, the opportunity of and understanding of extensive free time. A child has what seems like infinite time (to them) to do what they like while playing. Without many (if any) distractions, or the hindrance of \"oh, it's now 9 o'clock, oh it's been 30 minutes\" a child will simply get into playing with something and let it absorb them. As we age, our minds frame much of what we do around how long it takes, what else has to be done, how long it's been, etc. Imagination requires suspension of our mind's constraints to some degree.\n\nConsider this - in a movie that you're way into, that absorbs you, how often do you check to see how long it's been? What time it is? Probably not at all. You also probably turn Actor or Actress A into that character in your mind. By which I mean, they are no longer the (probably good) actor playing someone, they ARE someone in that movie. That is your imagination at work. At play, children don't see a figurine or doll, that thing IS what they imagine it to be. When you aren't constrained by time or distractions, your mind is free to explore and accept what it otherwise won't.\n\nSecond, social cues and mores demonstrate repeatedly as we age that just constantly being imaginative and \"in another world\" is bad. Some retain this ability moreso than others, disregarding society's influence over them. Some abandon the concept of imagining as impractical or useless due to what is \"expected of them.\"\n\nThird, imaginative playtime is both a means of exploration, as well as processing what is around them. As we experience this world, we learn and remember the realities we are faced with. A child has far less of these experiences and thus more easily creates what can be, instead of what is known to be. ",
"We gain more ability to change our actual world, which is what kids are practicing with these games. \n\nI loved playing with dolls and toys and building elaborate homes and stories for them. As we grow up that energy goes to decorating the dorm room, the first apartment, and picking out the dishes for your own house (all the hours spent trying to find matching acorn shells so my barbies could have cereal bowls, lol.) We obsess over decorating the nursery, finding the cutest baby clothes, etc, etc. We go on Pinterest. We browse Zillow. We salvage and distress furniture. We plan elaborate birthday parties instead of tea parties. \n\nI argue that all of the imagination and world building is alive and well, it just looks different for adults. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfOduzia4A"
],
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maladaptive_daydreaming",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU8oozZKn04"
],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhE7xY6r9pM"
],
[],
[]
] |
||
1rcuny
|
why did members of the nation of islam assassinate malcolm x?
|
It would seem like they'd be on the same side. I know Malcolm left the Nation of Islam, but why assassinate him?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rcuny/eli5_why_did_members_of_the_nation_of_islam/
|
{
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"text": [
"The Nation of Islam resented him for being a media favorite and overshadowing in many ways their efforts. Malcom X also had a very bitter personal break from Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcom X was someone who needed to be shutup and they did just that. ",
"When the poster boy for your hate group starts preaching love instead of \"Kill whitey\" it makes your organization look bad. Being savage hatemongers, they did what comes natural to them, and responded with violence.",
"Malcolm X was their most charismatic/intelligent member. If he wasn't killed, the Nation of Islam wouldn't exist today because he would have attracted all of the \"black Muslims\" to mainstream Islam. \n\nAfter Malcolm X found out what Elijah (the leader/founder of the Nation of Islam) from the Nation of Islam was doing to his young secretary girls, he was outraged and left upon realizing that he was a fake and a liar. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca after that, and he became acquainted with mainstream Islam. When he returned, he posed a significant threat to the Nation of Islam since he was now just a mainstream, non-racist Muslim.\n\nIn any case, if you want to see how rapidly Malcolm X changed his views on things like his religion and race, [this short video explains it aptly.](_URL_0_)",
"I'd recommend the movie \"X\" starring Denzel Washington it's pretty good.",
"Gets yo hands out my pocket "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MqeSPF48tg"
],
[],
[]
] |
|
3hdp0n
|
how do those 'we'll buy your house with cash today' companies work?
|
I often see signs of businesses stating they will give you your full asking price for your house. Or willing to give you 'cash for your house today.' Is it a scam? Or pretty much a house flipping business?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3hdp0n/eli5_how_do_those_well_buy_your_house_with_cash/
|
{
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"text": [
"It is exactly a house flipping business. Generally, the only people who sell to those folks are people who are unable to sell their house on the market, because it's not in a closeable condition and they don't have the money needed to get it there.\n\nThese companies purchase homes at a discount, repair and renovate, and sell at a profit.",
"Some are flipping houses, some just buy them to turn around and relist. Basically they offer to buy your house, knowing that they'll resell it to someone that may not be able to get traditional financing. They'll almost never give you your full asking price...unless they have someone (investment property buyers, someone with a large cash down payment) ready to go.\n\nSometimes it's an agreement to let someone assume your mortgage. You get full asking price...if your full asking price was getting out of the house and letting someone take over your house payment so you don't suffer a foreclosure.",
"Family friend does it to rent out to college kids. Think he has something like 15 properties in a big college area so there's always demand for his mediocre homes. He makes good money. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1rspw8
|
how does my body differentiate between solids and liquids when i'm eating?
|
Like drinking milk at the end of a bowl of cereal, with cheerios being swallowed while.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rspw8/eli5_how_does_my_body_differentiate_between/
|
{
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6
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"text": [
"I believe the OP wants to know how the body knows where to send the waste products. I'm not qualified to ELI5, but can someone explain how liquids are extracted in the intestines; also, explain kidney function, etc. (as I said, I'm not qualified to explain this)",
"I'm confused why you think that your body needs to differentiate. It's all going down the same pipe... "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
12iiez
|
what are registry errors?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/12iiez/eli5_what_are_registry_errors/
|
{
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"c6vbhwm"
],
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],
"text": [
"There really is no such thing, in the context of \"Your computer has registry errors and you should download our crappy software to fix them\". \n\nYou can certainly have orphaned (unreferenced, unused) keys in your registry. They don't really hurt anything. Other than that, the registry is just a collection of settings and information used by Windows and by software running on the computer and any \"errors\" would be in relation to the applications referencing the data and would not be strictly categorized as \"registry errors\". \n\nHope that helps. Don't fall for crappy marketing. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
7021z2
|
why is it so difficult to be fired from a job working for the state (in us)?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7021z2/eli5_why_is_it_so_difficult_to_be_fired_from_a/
|
{
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"text": [
"* very strong, politically influential labor unions\n* to avoid undue political influence and corruption\n* lack of direct consequences for poor performance...the DMV isn't going to go out of business because clerks are slow",
"The Supreme Court has declared that a government employee has a property interest in their job. Accordingly the 5th and 14th Amendments give them a constitutional guarantee of due process, something that private sector workers do not have, in the absence of one created by a union contract or other law. ",
"State workers in the past were subject to unreasonable HR actions when the executive changed parties. They tended to fire everyone and replace them with cronies. This is highly disruptive and tends to lead to poor service for citizens.\n\nAs a result, very strong protections were put in place to make it hard to fire state workers.",
"There are 2 main reasons for the protections awarded to State Workers and public servants : \n1) To protect them from political interference. Since they can't be fired, they do not have to obey unlawful orders. Political power can't put too much pressure on them because ultimately, they will outlast the political power. \n\n2) To give an incentive against corruption. You got a lifelong-guaranteed job. You will not accept small amounts of money if getting caught means that you will loose that job if you're discovered. (That part did backfire a bit... It mostly lead to an increase of the money to corrupt public servants...) \n",
"It is quite easy to be fired from a state job for obvious offenses, crimes, not following protocol, not following safety rules. But generally there are safeguards, retraining, a series of write ups before termination, et cetera which may not exist in the private sector. They do exist almost exactly for large employers.\n\nMany state employees go to work, do their job, do it well, and continue to do it. There is no reason to fire them.\n\nOn the other hand, I was a state employee. I got fired three times. I understood what was happening each time. The first time a new boss thought he was promoted for firing people. He decided I was a candidate. I filed a grievance and won it. But by the time the grievance procedure was completed I was enrolled for another degree.\n\nThe second time was due to the action of a governor. He got tired of problems with juvenile delinquents. Juvenile delinquents will always give you problems, trying to kill themselves one day, threatening to kill you and your family the next. So the governor fired us all and had a private contractor hired. This gave him one more layer of insulation between the juvenile delinquents and himself. They have gone into a pattern of firing private contractors every few years now.\n\nThe third time I was fired was due to another new boss. She was new. She thought she had an evaluation system. She asked everyone about me. What she learned was that she should have put more effort into retraining.\n\nSo I assure you that state employees can be fired. Often it is not related to job performance. Evaluating if someone is really good at what they do is often difficult.\n\nOne thing about being a state employee who gets fired during their careers. It all contributes to the same retirement system. I bought two more years of retirement due to Federal service. I retired from the last state job I had.",
"* very strong, politically influential labor unions\n* to avoid undue political influence and corruption\n* lack of direct consequences for poor performance...the DMV isn't going to go out of business because clerks are slow",
"The Supreme Court has declared that a government employee has a property interest in their job. Accordingly the 5th and 14th Amendments give them a constitutional guarantee of due process, something that private sector workers do not have, in the absence of one created by a union contract or other law. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
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[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
7n0i8r
|
at roughly what point in history did medical science become "good"?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7n0i8r/eli5_at_roughly_what_point_in_history_did_medical/
|
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"text": [
"This is basically a judgement call and, not being a medical professional (just a low-level historian), I will probably be disagreed with. \n\nI'd say the advent of germ theory in the mid 1500s was a pretty big turning point. We'd isolated what was going on in a general sense, why some things worked and some didn't, and had started in-depth investigation of anatomy and just what all the squidgy bits inside us were actually doing.\n\nPersonally, however, I don't think I'd be terribly thrilled with going further back than the late 1800s. Earlier than that and you get issues with nothing being sterilized, and nothing that was really effective for fighting infection. ",
"Medical \"science\", with emphasis on the science, came to the scene in the 1700s with the Scientific Revolution. Before that, while doctors and barber-surgeons do exist, much of its underpinning is mixed with mysticism and the now-false 4 humors theory of the human body. As a science, with a focus on scientifically testable and debunkable practice, medicine really only took shape at this stage with the eventual formation of later medical societies. \n\nMy practice is in Surgery so my focus is more based on that but medical surgery based on science, really didn't take shape until the mid 1800s, with the advent of Antiseptic techniques, adequate analgesia and anesthesia, and proper control of pain. Even though the human anatomy has been scientifically studied since the 1500s, there simply isn't enough time, technique, and expertise in the field to properly test different styles, medicines, and equipments used in the field. It's really only when all 3 of the above were made a reality, did surgery as a \"science\" really took off with improvement in morbidity and mortality and with a much more diverse range of curative options beyond simple mass removals or incisions and drainage. ",
"The following all applies to the West. I know nothing about the history of Indian and Chinese medicine, other than some sweet plastic surgery techniques to come out of India.\n\nDuring the industrial revolution, all these great cures start being discovered. Cholera is proven to be a water-borne disease. The idea that diseases come from bacteria instead of the previous prevailing idea of spontaneous generation and miasma, is starting to win out. Pasteur uses heat to kill bacteria then is able to once and for all prove bacteria cause disease. Sterilization techniques start to appear in surgery thanks to Lister. Sanitation then translates to a public issue, out of the lab into the every day life.\n\nMeanwhile, doctors are still running on old botany cures, amputations, and blood letting. I remember reading Victorian literature and one of the go-to-cures was a month or so in the country. To be fair, some of the botany cures did work, like willow tree bark, but it was a very shotgun approach and the placebo phenomenon had not yet been full understood then. Even worse, large doses of mercury and reuseable laxative pills made of antimony were accepted treatments which are toxic.\n\nSome doctors embrace these changes. Start sterilizing their tools, look to organic chemistry for medicine rather than folk cures, yet they had this still had this unfortunate social stigma of being these deathlords with frightening concoctions and procedures. Dressed in black, because black was serious and formal, doctors would be up there with priests at your deathbed. You would really only go to the doctor if you were at death's door.\n\nIn order to get over this bad public opinion, doctors adopted the uniform of the scientist, wearing white jackets instead of black. Sort of as a visual new start to the profession, shedding away the mysticism and embracing science. This happens roughly around the turn of the century going from the 19th to the 20th.\n\nIf you want a clear visual for \"when did medical science get good\" I don't think you could find a better one. Here's some literature if you really want to get into the history of it from *[The doctor’s white coat—an historical perspective by Mark S. Hochberg, MD](_URL_0_)*\n\nOther further milestones include the discovery of antibiotics and radiology for fighting cancer.\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2007/04/pdf/mhst1-0704.pdf"
]
] |
||
3oazmw
|
what would the abolishment of net neutrality rules do to websites like popcorn time and pirate bay (if that's still around- i know nothing)?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3oazmw/eli5_what_would_the_abolishment_of_net_neutrality/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cvvlay9"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The abolishment of net neutrality would do the same to any site out there, regardless of the content. The ISP would be able to prioritize traffic from certain sites over others, causing some sites to move at blazing fast speeds while others slow to a crawl. \n\nSo if you're a company that wants priority on a specific ISP, you would have to pay them money for that. Or if your ISP doesn't want you to view too many high bandwidth sites (torrent sites, Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Twitch, etc) then they'll decrease the priority so you'll have to decrease the quality of the data stream, or wait much longer for a download."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
275ux4
|
why is it easier to stand up while riding a mountain bike when it's bumpy/steep compared to sitting?
|
Recently started mountain biking and it took me a while to realize that standing when going down steep/bumpy hills is much easier compared to sitting. I feel much more confident on the bike. Why is that?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/275ux4/eli5_why_is_it_easier_to_stand_up_while_riding_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"chxocbi"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Bumpy rides are mostly uncomfortable because your core, head, and spine are moving up and down really fast. When you're sitting on the seat, any energy from the bicycle is transferred directly to your body through your pelvis (or, as cyclists call it, your \"sit bones\"). By standing on the pedals, you're separating your core from the bicycle, putting your ankles, knees, and hips in between, and those joints will naturally absorb the shock and keep you stable. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
e5nkbk
|
why does the roof of my mouth sometimes ache/hurt when eating certain foods, even if it's not hot enough to burn me?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e5nkbk/eli5_why_does_the_roof_of_my_mouth_sometimes/
|
{
"a_id": [
"f9ksgwg",
"f9ku2nf",
"f9ly283"
],
"score": [
6,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Captain crunch? Hurts everyone.",
"Acidity perhaps? What foods specifically?",
"Toasted baguettes are mechanical damage, pineapple is chemical damage. (fill in your own examples)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
2lebfe
|
why are military formations disconnected e.g. 3rd infantry division followed by 7th - what happened to the numbers in between?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lebfe/eli5_why_are_military_formations_disconnected_eg/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cltyo5z",
"cltz298"
],
"score": [
4,
3
],
"text": [
"Confuse the enemy. If you named it sequentially, you would have a good idea of how many enemy forces the enemy has. By not going in order, the enemy has to do more work to figure the amount of forces you have. You never want to make the job of your enemy easier.",
"Most militaries peaked in size during WW2 and the early Cold War, when there were the most number of formations. Since then it has been an almost continual process of downsizing and consolidation. \n\nThe decision of who stays and who gets cut is very often as much a political decision as a strategic one. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
m4gd1
|
aberration of light
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/m4gd1/eli5_aberration_of_light/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c2y17i7",
"c2y17i7"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Do you mean aberration in an optical imaging system?",
"Do you mean aberration in an optical imaging system?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
22l2io
|
the recent supreme court decision on campaign finance and it's causes/implications
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22l2io/eli5_the_recent_supreme_court_decision_on/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cgnxdmt"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Don't watch TV to decide who to vote for."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
4dy1wn
|
why do people often wake up in a completely different mood, and with a completely different outlook on the day ahead, compared to when then went to sleep?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4dy1wn/eli5_why_do_people_often_wake_up_in_a_completely/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d1vdr90",
"d1vdrrg",
"d1vdu4q",
"d1vkina",
"d1vp1r6",
"d1vsion"
],
"score": [
13,
11,
89,
8,
6,
3
],
"text": [
"Lack of sleep causes grumpiness and pessismism. Having a full night sleep will generally make someone feel more optimistic, grateful, glad about a situation. Also I believe if you sleep on something its just more time to consider all sides and options. Maybe (not sure) dreams also help decide right from wrong.",
"Because continuity of consciousness isn't real. Sleeping interrupts the neural pathways which make you conscious, effectively turning \"you\" off. When you turn back on again, all the things which changed in your brain as a result of sleep and the boot up process change how you react to the world around you.",
"The mind is like the weather. Sunny one day, rainy the next. We think we control our thoughts, but we don't. The best way to understand this is not to think of your thoughts as \"your thoughts\". Just thoughts that happen to think in you, as in \"it thinks in here\" (as in \"it rains in here\"). Some theories say that because we cannot empirically observe where thoughts are coming from (we only become aware of them once they come into our field of awareness) , we cannot definitively say they are \"my thoughts\" or \"your thoughts\". They are thoughts that happen to \"think in you\", you are the one observing them. Of course, these thoughts are bundled into \"my personality\", \"your personality\" because they have an underlying theme, but not because they are \"yours\". This explanation might not sit well with many, but this is how I explain it to myself. ",
"It can be a simple blood chemistry effect. After a nights sleep your blood glucose level can be up or down. After breakfast or moving around or the morning coffee with sugar this can change.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nI am type 2 diabetic and before I was diagnosed, had those extreme mood swings.",
"I remember from my psych classes I leaned that while you sleep, your amygdala (the brain area that is chiefly associated with emotions), processes your emotions....somehow. I don't know exactly how; I can't recall the underlying mechanism. Of course, the amygdala alone isn't responsible for something so complex, the whole brain is involved, and sleep has a restorative effect on the brain. ",
"I don't know about other physiological effects that occur during sleep, and I'm sure there are many which affect your overall feeling of well-being. But your question might be answered by recognizing how dreams affect you physically.\n\nWhen we dream the emotional part of our brains gets turned \"up\" while the decision-making part of the brain is turned \"down\". This is possibly why dreams can often feel very intense and memorable (and also probably why many people associate them with precognition, clairvoyance, and other ESP). It's thought that \"dreams can help us rehearse for challenges or threats we anticipate—emotionally, cognitively and even physiologically. In our dreams we may try out different scenarios to deal with what’s coming up.\"\n\nYou might go to sleep with a lot on your mind, and stress by all the challenges/threats you encountered that day -- but in your dreams, if you resolve those things satisfactorily, you can wake up feeling positive about your ability to handle them *even though nothing changed in real life*. It doesn't even matter if you remember the dream, the experience itself might give you an unconscious boost to your confidence.\n\nOf course this works both ways. If you have an unpleasant dream where you failed to resolve something satisfactorily, you might wake up in a bad mood. Similarly, dreams that are too pleasant might make you sad when you wake up and have to face ordinary life.\n\nsource: _URL_0_\n\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://blog.joslin.org/2014/07/emotions-blood-sugar-levels-how-diabetes-can-affect-your-mood-2/"
],
[],
[
"http://time.com/1210/what-dreams-are-made-of-understanding-why-we-dream-about-sex-and-other-things/"
]
] |
||
6epel7
|
why are hypermetropia lenses so cheap compared to myopia lenses?
|
I see glasses for reading at the dollar store but I have to pay 50$+ whenever I need new lenses for my myopia.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6epel7/eli5_why_are_hypermetropia_lenses_so_cheap/
|
{
"a_id": [
"diclg62"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Reading glasses are basically magnifying glasses. Myopia lenses are the opposite. You can easily buy magnifying glasses because there are more people need those when they hit the age 40 and up. I don't think I have ever seen a minifying glasses out there that is over the counter "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2gt8ab
|
why american universities insist on students buying text books?
|
I have seen a number of posts about text books in the US being > $500 a book. Why do students buy these? Are the books not available in the Library?
I went to university in the UK and didn't buy a single text book for the whole course. All my research was completed using scientific journals or on the rare occasion where a text book was required this could be requested from the Library.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gt8ab/eli5_why_american_universities_insist_on_students/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ckma54p",
"ckmex8c"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"The Libraries often do have the textbook, just not enough for everyone in the class. If I understand it correctly, UK university is more focused on lectures and what we would call in the US independent research. US university is more like high school on steroids, textbooks included.\n\nAlso, many of the prices you're seeing are for brand new books from the bookstore, literally the worst deal you can find. It's usually easier and cheaper to order books online, rent them, or buy used (including off other students). It can still be expensive, but much less than bookstore prices.",
"I took a communications class once, and the \"textbook\" was written, printed, bound, and sold by the communications department. On the back cover was printed a chart that you had to fill out, rip off, and turn in.\n\nFailure to complete and turn in the chart would result in an automatic F, regardless of one's grades. Photocopying a blank chart to fill out would constitute falsification of academic records, which would mean an automatic F and additional penalties up to and including possible expulsion.\n\nSo that's why I paid $60 for a totally useless glorified note packet."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
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