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218twx | why are sites displaying "pre-teen modeling" not taken down for child pornography? | I found out that these exist through a local news article and I wanted to know why these sites are still up? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/218twx/eli5_why_are_sites_displaying_preteen_modeling/ | {
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"Child pornography and pre-teen modeling aren't the same thing....\n\nLittle kids in pageants are pre-teen models -- they're not naked or having sex, so it's not child pornography.",
"Because they're not pornography. Creepy, yes; pornographic, no.\n\nThe US federal government defines child pornography as:\n\n > any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct\n\n...and further defines sexually explicit conduct as:\n\n > sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex; bestiality; masturbation; sadistic or masochistic abuse; or lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person;\n\nMost states have a very similiar description.\n\nIn short, unless the child is participating in a sex act, OR they're displaying their genitals in a lewd manner, it's not child pornography. You can even have a picture of a totally nude child, and if the display isn't 'lewd', it's not child pornography.\n\nThe modeling sites aren't child pornography, because the child's genitals aren't showing, and they're not otherwise participating in a sex act."
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eaznzk | what is the difference between a breed and species? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eaznzk/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_a_breed_and/ | {
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"A breed is like 2 different dogs,(husky and German shepherd) a species is like a human and a dog.",
"Different species can't produce fertile offspring. Different breeds can make freak babies until the end of time.",
"Breeds are subsets of Species. \n\nBeagles, Poodles, Huskies, are all different breeds, but they are all DOGS.",
"Technically, two breeds can marry each other and produce a hybrid. Two species can't.\n\nSo a husky and a shepherd are two breeds because if they fuck they'll get a hybrid dog *that can give birth*. But a cat and a dog .. not so much.\n\nThe giving birth distinction is important because a horse and a donkey will always produce a female mule that can't give birth, so they're different species, not breeds. Arabic and Roman horses produce horses that can give birth.\n\nSource: my junior high school textbook.",
"Breeds are a fairly arbitrary term we use for animals cuz with humans we aren’t being selectively reproduced for certain traits. \n\nAll house dogs are of the same genus and species. We just bred certain qualities. Chihuahuas and Great Danes deep down are of the same genus and species.\n\nWhile most people don’t use the term breed with humans as it sounds hella racist, you could imagine that if we classified human breeds the same we classify dog breeds, we’d probably do it by ethnicity. Or idk. Really saying “this breed” means nothing in a human sense. I’d go with ethnicity though as it’s one of the main ways we categorize people.\n\nOr desirable qualities, idk the only thing I could really think of would be Hitler and his Aryan race. Or a 5 eyed Austrian Duke who has a monopoly on all his family’s chromosomes."
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260bpp | why cant certain mentally disabled people pick up on social cues through classical conditioning? | With classical conditioning when an animal does something bad he is punished and begins to relate that action with punishment and stops. So why cant this same concept be used on disabled humans? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/260bpp/eli5_why_cant_certain_mentally_disabled_people/ | {
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"Sometimes it is.\n\nIt depends on how disabled the person is.\n\nFor instance, in the movie \"I am Sam\" with Sean Penn, Sam is mildly retarded. He would be able to learn this way.\n\nMy nephew Kyle has Asperger's, which is a mild form of Autism. He has learned similar to most children.\n\nThe problem is when you start to reach more severe forms of retardation, these not only stunt how much a person can learn, but often stop them from learning in general. They can learn to speak, they can learn extremely basic math, their colours, etc. But the complex network of facial movements, vocal tones and language in general that make up social cues is often lost on them, because it's too complex.",
"Mentally disabled person here!\n\nI have Aspergers (not bullshit Facebook Aspergers, serious psychologist diagnosed Aspergers). Many people say that they can detect peoples emotions, they could feel that something hurt someones feeling or if something was nice to say. I couldn't. This made me super awkward, I got so paranoid that I thought everything I said was inappropriate. I then went and studied the shit out of [Paul Ekman's FACS](_URL_0_). After that I could pick up on every emotion and It made me a much more social person. I almost fixed my Aspergers, not with punishment, but with learning."
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9etu62 | even with their increased speed, how do planes get places so much faster when their altitude means they have so much more distance to travel? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9etu62/eli5_even_with_their_increased_speed_how_do/ | {
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"Their altitude typically adds less than 1% to the distance they have to travel. By contrast, they are about 700% as fast as a car on a freeway. And they can fly pretty straight, while a car must follow the road.",
"so much more is a far far stretch. it's marginal, sort of the extra that you can ignore. \n\ncheck [here](_URL_0_). for detailed replies. "
]
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"https://www.quora.com/Since-the-earth-is-round-would-a-plane-flying-at-38-000-have-a-longer-distance-to-travel-than-a-vehicle-would-taking-the-same-path-on-the-ground"
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|
||
dfteul | what exactly does “cash back” mean on credit cards, car purchases, etc? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dfteul/eli5_what_exactly_does_cash_back_mean_on_credit/ | {
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"Spend $10,000 and we’ll give you $500 cash. You finance a car and get cash in your hand. Some might find it helpful to cover expenses on their car, but your paying for it in the end., plus interest.",
"The cynical answer is: you get a very small percentage of any item spend transferred back into your account/balance. This tiny amount is usually more than offset by the crappy interest rate and charges you are suffering with, but it supplies a \"feelgood\" factor to the customer."
]
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502wu9 | how are gift card codes endlessly generated? | You see a fat stack of about 100 gift cards sitting on a rack at the store, each with it's own unique code. If most cards just have a 16 digit numeric and alphabetic code, how do they never run out of combinations, especially with the billions of cards they produce? How do they make sure they don't accidentally make the same code as some other company's card? It seems impossible to me. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/502wu9/eli5_how_are_gift_card_codes_endlessly_generated/ | {
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"There are at least like 100 combinations of letters and numbers you can make with 16 characters",
"Let's see.\n\nThey are 26 letters, double that because these gift codes are often case sensitive, so 52, and add another 10 for numbers, so 62 possible characters.\n\nFor a 16 digit code, that means there are a total possible 62^16 possible codes. We have 62 choices for the first digit, 62 for the second, and so on, so we multiply 62 16 times, or do 62^16.\n\nThis is equivalent to 47672401706823533450263330816 possible codes.\n\nWe aren't running out soon."
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3wm7v9 | if overpopulation is such a major issue, why aren't there more laws globally to prevent or control the number of children being produced? wouldn't the sustainability of the planet and our race be more important than freedom to have children in this case? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3wm7v9/eli5_if_overpopulation_is_such_a_major_issue_why/ | {
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"The places which have the society and civil structure to enact such laws are also the places in the world which don't have population growth issues. \n\nWhen you have stability and medicine and progress in a society, the number of children had by an individual falls towards (or even under) 2 which results in a zero gain to the system. The substantial amount of population growth estimated to happen in the next thirty years will come from Africa and the Asian subcontinent where governments can't adequately exercise power enough to keep their citizens healthy much less impose strict limits on reproduction. ",
"1) There is no global government. \n\n2) The right to reproduce is seen as a basic human right by most countries, and even those that do have limits such as China do not kill infants or parents who violate the law they make them pay extra taxes. \n\n3) Over population is not really a major issue. For most countries birth rates are plateauing or turning to the negative for maintaining their populations. ",
" > If overpopulation is such a major issue\n\nIt's really not. The more developed a country becomes, the lower its birth rate drops. For instance, the United States has a birth rate of about 1.88 children per woman, which is lower than is needed to even sustain a fixed population size (2.10 births per woman, to account for people who die young). So if there were no immigration, the population of the US would be *falling*, not increasing.\n\nAnd that trend is seen all across the developed world. The problem is in developing countries, and that will be solved (slowly) by developing their economies and increasing education levels. No need for draconian childbirth laws.",
"World population will plateau at about 10 billion, according to Hans Rosling, the noted statistician. He does a [TEDTalk on the data](_URL_0_) that explains why."
]
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1mmz2a | why does salty water come poring out your eyes when you hurt yourself physically/emotionally ? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mmz2a/eli5why_does_salty_water_come_poring_out_your/ | {
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"The salty water reflects light which can be seen from short distances. It is a way to communicate to comrades close to you that you are injured and require protection, but not big and dramatic enough so that predators can see from far away.",
"I believe this scene from the Terminator will explain it to you:\n\n > The Terminator: Why do you cry?\n > \n > John Connor: You mean people?\n > \n > The Terminator: Yes.\n > \n > John Connor: I don't know. We just cry. You know, when it hurts.\n > \n > The Terminator: Pain causes it?\n > \n > John Connor: No, it's when there's nothing wrong with you, but you hurt anyway. You get it?\n > \n > The Terminator: No. "
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3stzrs | with the widespread use of encrypted protocols, such as https, how is the nsa still able to intercept and decipher internet traffic? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3stzrs/eli5with_the_widespread_use_of_encrypted/ | {
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"It really depends on the type of encryption that is being used. In the case of protocols like HTTPS, SSH, and VPN they've been exploiting vulnerabilities in the way Diffie-Hellman key exchange is implemented. Diffie-Hellman uses large sets of prime numbers agreed upon by the client and the server. In many poor implementations of this you'll see standardized or hard-coded primes being used.\nUnfortunately though, when someone wants to crack this type of encryption all they need to do is throw lots of money and computing power at it. Considering that lots of applications use standard primes in their implementation the pay off when you break a commonly used prime is very very high. \n\nThere is a good write up on it here if you need an \"explain it like I'm 25\": \n_URL_0_"
]
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| []
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"https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/haldermanheninger/how-is-nsa-breaking-so-much-crypto/"
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35yi69 | why are youtube recommendations so awful? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35yi69/eli5_why_are_youtube_recommendations_so_awful/ | {
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"So awful in what sense?\n\nYouTube tries to guess what you might be interested in, but the problem is that this is done by a complex computer program. It is, crucially, not human and thus unable to actually think. The exact algorithms used are not publicly known and are tweaked continually anyhow, but YouTube doesn't have much to go on.\n\nYouTube can't \"know\" what is actually in a video, but does know about text. So it tries to guess what a video might be about based on that video's metadata, and this includes:\n\n* the video title\n* the video description\n* the tags\n* any closed captions that may be available\n* other user settings, such as category, location, etc.\n\nThis has no chance of working properly if video uploaders are dishonest, which is one reason why videos can be taken down for \"spam, scams and misleading content\" if the metadata is designed to try to game the system (never put tags in your video descriptions, that's a common reason for video takedowns).\n\nIt also stands no chance of working at all if people don't bother with descriptions and tags, and if they use vague non-descriptive titles.\n\nEven if the metadata is good, there's no guarantee a computer program will understand it. For example, given a title like *Maria and Sandra Make Up*, would a computer program recognise this as a beauty tutorial or an episode in a drama series?\n\nSo, already we have lots of metadata that may be incomplete, unreliable or ambiguous, and YouTube has to use that to figure out how all those videos relate to each other.\n\nThat's not the only thing YouTube uses, of course. There are other things: other videos you have watched, other videos you have commented on, liked or favourited, what kind of videos your subscribers watch, what kind of videos people you subscribe to watch, and so on and so forth ad infinitum.\n\nAt best, it's hit-and-miss.",
"1- SO clicks on a Dr. Phill Episode on my YT account\n2 - Dr. Phill all over my devices for the end of eternity, won't matter the fact I am watching (death metal festivals, Shark Tank,etc) I will always see that stupid Dr. Phill face in thumbnails. "
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9zk4p5 | when shooting a projectile at extremely long range, how does the earth's curvature matter and how to calculate the path? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9zk4p5/eli5_when_shooting_a_projectile_at_extremely_long/ | {
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"Yes. That is for artillery and missile systems.\n\nThe main effect of the curvature is that the the target will have a lower elevation then if you assumed flat. If you fire at at target at long range like 40 km the altitude will be 126m lower then if you assume flat. So the projectile with hit farther away because it have a bit longer flighttime.\n\n\nYou also need to take the rotation of earth into consideration, Firing north and south you will have Coriolis effect. East and west you have the [Eötvös effect](_URL_0_).\n\n\nLook at the wikipage [External_ballistics](_URL_2_) for more factors. \n\nYou can read a US Navy Range table for 16 inch guns on battleship from 1944. The instruction say that you have to that it in consideration if you gun director is stabilized compared to the horizon but not you look directly at the target. The instruction is to move the target down according to the drop\n\n_URL_1_\n\n\nSo you need to consider it if you aim for a coordinate on a map from a spotter on the front line but not if you aim directly with a optical sight because you have compensated for it but turning the sight. So it is for indirect fire not for direct fire depending how you get the target.\n"
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C3%B6tv%C3%B6s_effect",
"https://eugeneleeslover.com/USN-GUNS-AND-RANGE-TABLES/OP-770-1.html",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_ballistics"
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2of63t | why do kids need a permission slip to watch r-rated movies in most classes in school, but in health they can show us graphic videos with no permission of any kind? | So this might be specific to my school, but I have a feeling it's not-
Today in my health class we had to watch a video of a woman giving birth, my health teacher said they watched the same one when he was he in high school at a different school, and I have cousins and friends who watched it at their various schools, so it's clearly very common.
We saw her vagina etc., while she was in labor. It was disgusting to say the least and I don't think I ever want to have babies after seeing that video.
But we didn't need any kind of parental permission to watch that video. We just showed up and the teacher played it. However, this week in my Spanish class we watched the movie Volver. There's no nudity or violence and very little swearing. It's rated R for 'adult themes' because the protagonist gets raped. We needed permission to watch that.
Also bare in mind, even the adult themes thing makes no sense. We talk about rape is History, read about it in English, and talk about it in Health. Why is it okay in some contexts, but not others? Why can schools let people freely talk about and show topics in some classes, but get in trouble for it in others? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2of63t/eli5_why_do_kids_need_a_permission_slip_to_watch/ | {
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"text": [
"Kids can opt out of them and parents can request that they are not allowed to be in the classes.",
"Because giving birth isn't violent or profane. It's life. "
]
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47vxff | why does a box of chocolate mints make everything else that's near it minty? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/47vxff/eli5_why_does_a_box_of_chocolate_mints_make/ | {
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"Menthol, the (natural or synthetic) essential oil that gives mint its minty flavor is volatile (it evaporates easily).\n\nSo in a closed box where some of the contents has Menthol, the Menthol scent will end up bathing everything in the box, specially if closed for some time, and exposed to temperature variations.\n\nIt's sort of like if you stay close to a person with a strong perfume (which also has volatile essential oils). Even if you do not touch the person, you'll end up catching the scent and have some explaining to do. "
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3mox1k | what does nasa have to gain by waiting to release its newly found discovery? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mox1k/eli5_what_does_nasa_have_to_gain_by_waiting_to/ | {
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"Usually you want to double check everything and then double check it again. You dont want to go saying you discovered something new and then it be a math error or whatever else. ",
" > What does NASA have to gain by waiting to release its newly found discovery?\n\nTime to doublecheck their findings, and prepare a presentation. I mean, you wouldn't want to think you spot an alien on a picture of Mars and have Bob go \"FIRE UP THE CAMERAS, YOU'RE ON LIVE TO THE WHOLE WORLD SAM!\" thanks Bob, you dick. "
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4yqevo | how do hackers get caught? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4yqevo/eli5_how_do_hackers_get_caught/ | {
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"First of all, catching a hacker is quiet difficult. Of course, if a hacker uses his own ip address, or if he leaves other traces, you have a good chance. But if a hacker uses tor, for example, it becomes very quickly extremely difficult to trace the hacker.\n\nBut it's not impossible. The more significant breaches require often a lot of time. If a hacker uses a command an control server for his malware, you might be able to find the server. Who did connect to the server? Who paid the server? One minor mistake can put him behind bars.",
"Well i would say the most common reason for getting caught is a combination of laziness and human errors.\n\nThere are a plenty of ways to be anonymous online and make it very difficult to be tracked. Using a vpn, the tor network, burner laptops and live bootable linux usb's are some things that you might use to protect yourself, but being consistent and never letting your guard down is hard. \n\nThere was a case recently where the owner of the website kickasstorrents was arrested and charged with criminal copyright infringement and money laundering. One of the mistakes he made was not being behind a vpn when accessing the sites facebook page, which led to facebook handing over ip addresses to the authorities.\nThese ip addresses was then cross referenced with ip addresses obtained from apple from when he bought something on itunes. Apple also handed over private emails which discussed things related to the operation of kickasstorrents.\nIp addresses was also crossreferenced with the US based company coinbase which handles bitcoin transactions.\nThey also obtianed data used when creating the website dating back to 2009 in which the owners name as well as address was present. This isn't the whole story, and there are some more mistakes i haven't outlined, but i think it gives a decent picture of how someone might get caught online. Much of it boils down to him not using a vpn and trusting US based companies with any sort of personal data because they will hand it over upon request.\n\nTL;DR: Don't be lazy, use a vpn and don't trust US based companies. ",
"Basically, everything you do online involves sending and requesting information. When this information is sent, data goes along with it that contains information known as metadata, which consists of stuff like your IP address, your screen resolution, your browser, and other things necessary to properly display the information being sent back. \n\nThis information is recorded by the receiving server, and can be used to back track people through various means, ranging from geolocation data on mobile to IP tables. While much of this can be hidden, if someone forgets do to so, they can be tracked down. \n\nAdditionally, hackers will often use certain tools, which leave their own distinctive signatures. With multiple attacks, investigators can follow those tools and aggregate the metadata to find out more about hackers, such as they use a specific service to hide their IP address. They can then request a warrant to look at the records kept at that service for more information. \n\nIf investigators are looking for a specific hacker, they may create something called a honeypot. This is data that the hacker generally looks for and is insecure in a way that will encourage the hacker to attack it. However, it contains a piece of malware that will broadcast more metadata about the hacker's computer or the hacker's actual location if possible. If the hacker takes the information, they have a very high chance to be caught. ",
"From what I've read, it's often not hacking mistakes that reveal the person's identity. People often overshare information about themselves. For example, the owner of Silk Road (an illegal drug market) was identified because he discussed on some public forum creating the market, when he'd already shared information about himself on that forum. If I remember correctly, he'd also registered a related website to his actual name.\n\nOr the hacker can't resist telling the guys at the bar.",
"Human error. As the cops say, they only have to get lucky once, while the criminal has to get lucky every time. Eventually maths catch up to them. \n\nMost of the time, they're just idiots that want to profit from the fame. However, note that many are actually good at what they do and never let a shred of info out which includes separating the hacker life from the personal life. Or they're Russians if you're a liberal.",
"Hackers get caught like any other criminal would. \n\n \n \nThe first step in apprehending a suspect is locating them. Hardcore and lifelong hackers use VPN ( a method to make your ip address registered to different countries than where your actual physical location is ). \n \n \nIf you are behind a VPN then authorities will monitor other things as they identify it as connected to their suspect. Most hackers do not change their online identity for various reasons, and thus that becomes their weakness. Even though they may maintain anonymity via a VPN, once authorities identify these key identities the hacker is compromised. \n \n \nAuthorities then acquire net logs and personal info about the suspects from the agencies that service these identities (like Google for a Gmail account). \n \n \nAfter they get this information though they still have to prove it was their suspect and nobody else who used it for the illicit purposes they assume their suspect committed. It's important to note that the actual computer used in these acts is not possible to identify by net logs or ip alone. Every electronic device on that connects to the web uses a mac address and the only place/time a mac address is used is when negotiating with a router. All the routers in the world drop information about the Mac addresses they encounter after a period of time.\n \n \nWhen an arrest is made police confiscate the computer they used, and usually prior to an arrest authorities have knowledge of where the suspect used that computer and the confiscate that router too. By showing the suspect used their computer there and proof that computer was connected on the router and cross referencing the web identity of the suspect along with any other logs authorities then prosecute the suspect."
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6rsxd6 | often times when we pay via a credit/debit card for a service that desires a tip, we later do not see the added tip amount reflected on our bank statements. why is this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6rsxd6/eli5_often_times_when_we_pay_via_a_creditdebit/ | {
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"text": [
"To collect the tip takes extra steps by the people who process your slip. If that's a back-office person (not the server who gets the money) sometimes it doesn't happen. You win, the server loses.",
"When you pay for something in that way (where the card is swiped/entered first, you sign, and maybe add more tip afterwards), the first swipe is just pre-approving the amount with the bank. That is probably what you see when you look at your bank statement soonish after the transaction.\n\nIt's not until later (typically daily at closing) that the slips are adjusted with any tip amounts, and finalized. After that, it can take a couple days (maybe more on weekends) for the adjusted amount with tip to show up on your statement, when the transaction is no longer pending.\n\nSo, if you check a week later, it should be reflected on your bank statement. If it's not, someone made a mistake and didn't enter the tip in."
]
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otfsv | how does the nervous system work? | How are messages sent from the brain to the muscles, and from the skin to the brain? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/otfsv/how_does_the_nervous_system_work/ | {
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"Nerves. They're like wires carrying electricity. More like fiber-optic cables carrying information, actually.",
"Ok, we've got a neuron (a nerve cell), this has got a cell body bit, with lots of little tentacles things coming out of it (dendrites), and one really long tentacle coming out (axon). \n\nHundreds of other neurons have got the end of their axons touching the dendrites/cell body of our neuron. They sometimes send chemicals out of the end of their axon, and these affect the voltage of our neuron.\n\nIf enough signals that raise the voltage (depolarize) come through at the same time, then the neuron fires an 'action potential' down its axon, an electric pulse. This firing is what has caused the neurons to release the chemicals into our neurons cell body.\n\nIt's a very complicated system, but it all relies on the simple all-or-nothing principle of the action potential, an action potential is always the same voltage, like a computer I/O. \n\nSo briefly to send a signal to move your arm muscle, enough chemicals are released into the neuron for that muscle, it fires a AP, this probably goes somewhere in your spine, releases a chemical into another neuron, another AP which'll go to your muscle, and then releases a chemical which causes it to contact.\n\nI can go into more detail, ask away"
]
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eh0zhh | how come bleach will ruin solid colors in the washer but you can put something mostly white with a little color and it won’t ruin it? | For example I’ve accidentally splashed some bleach on an all red shirt I had and it stained but my girlfriend has socks that are all white with pink tips on the toes and when those get washed with bleach the pink doesn’t stain or spot. Why ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eh0zhh/eli5_how_come_bleach_will_ruin_solid_colors_in/ | {
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"Because dyes and stains are a chemical bond to the fabric. Bleach is good at tearing bonds apart. Your shirt would get holes in it if you left undiluted bleach pooled in one section.",
"Some washers (such as mine) have a separate container for bleach. Water is mixed with the bleach and mixed into the washing water, so that it doesn't attack one part of the (shirt, in this case). I don't use bleach, but were I to do so, I'd use that method rather than pour it right onto my clothes. You might ask your gf if she pours the bleach right onto her socks or dilutes it first, before adding it to the wash water."
]
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47xj2z | are subs really healthier than burgers if so how? | Had this shower thought occur to me today and now I'm curious. A burger and a sub are basically the same thing with bread, meat, cheese, and lettuce with other toppings. Only real difference is a sub is a larger portion of this bread, meat, cheese, and toppings. Yet there are restaurants like subway that advertise their food as fresh, healthy, and for training and fitness. Is there something I'm missing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/47xj2z/eli5_are_subs_really_healthier_than_burgers_if_so/ | {
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"Well, being fried or grilled makes a big difference.\n\nBoth of these can lead to compounds which may be carcinogenic.\n\nOf course, depending on what meats are in the sub, they can have their own issues.\n\nIt's really just advertising, and you should be a bit skeptical about it all...informed, and skeptical.",
"If you are getting a footlong Italian with cheese, a lot of dressing and whatnot, then that is not healthy at all, your sandwhich can easily be 1000 calories, whereas a double cheeseburger from Wendy's is 790, though more fat due to having much more meat. SUBWAY isn't healthly at all unless you get something like a salad with low-fat dressing. If you wanted a chicken sandwich, eating the chicken by itself with a little rice is much better.",
"You're right, subs and burgers have very similar ingredients. Subway sandwiches are low-ish calorie because they give you like 3 paper thin slices of meat, much less than in a burger patty. The \"healthy\" claim is simply an advertising strategy. The only thing \"fresh\" is the children their spokesman molests.\n\n"
]
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7wfhf1 | am i building a tolerance to spicy foods/seasonings or am i just frying my taste buds? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7wfhf1/eli5_am_i_building_a_tolerance_to_spicy/ | {
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"Spicy food doesn't fry your taste buds, that's a myth.\n\nThey're perfectly fine and intact, but may be temporarily overwhelmed by something very spicy, which results in your brain numbing the response. This makes it feel less hot, but has the side effect of making everything have less taste in general.\n\nThe effect subsides pretty quickly, usually no more than a few hours for something very spicy.\n\nBut, you do build a tolerance. Your brain will re-calibrate for the new heat level, and will have less and less of a reaction over time. It's still just as hot, you're just responding differently. ",
"Just a note on the 'frying my taste buds' comment. Capsaicin (the active ingredient in chillies) binds to a certain receptor (VR1) in the mouth. However, the VR1 receptor actually exists to indicate heat (thus their large presence on your tongue/mouth/skin), the fact that capsaicin also binds to this receptor is more by chance. The purpose of this is to protect your flesh from excess heat - such as trying to drink 200 degree water. That's why when you eat spicy food, your body kicks into overdrive with heat/sweating/pain etc, it's trying to protect you from the \"excess heat\" that it's detecting, even though chillies aren't actually causing you any damage. "
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1pjit9 | why do criminal trials often occur years after the crime (in the us), if the us constitution guarantees a "right to a speedy trial"? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1pjit9/eli5_why_do_criminal_trials_often_occur_years/ | {
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"Dedendents frequently waive their right to a speedy trial, because a large portion of trials end in a guilty verdict--anything the prosecuter can't win gets settled long before, and the longer the delay the more likely something will come out to make the outcome less clear (meaning the defense wins). As well as if one is out on bail, it's preferrable to being in prison post trial (presuming a loss). ",
"The right to a speedy trial language in the constitution is very vague. I think the currently accepted definition is that this precludes the government from actively putting off a trial to keep someone locked up. Meaning the government is required to move as fast as it's caseload and resources allow it to but it does not necessarily mean that you are guaranteed a trial by a certain amount of time after you are charged.\n\nThat is why some people are saying that practivce of capturing a terrorist and interrogating him before charging him violates this. Because the government is essentially purposefully delaying a trial for the purposes of interrogation, this could be in violation of the speedy trial language of the constitution.",
"A lot of reasons. It takes time for both sides to review the evidence, interview witnesses, and generally investigate the case. And a lot of this process moves at the speed of beurocracy. Often, both sides will also employ experts, and bringing them up to speed, waiting for them to deliver an opinion, deposing them, etc. takes a good bit of time. Not to mention there's a lot of pretrial stuff to take into account - both sides will file and argue over motions in limine (motions to limit or exclude evidence), Daubert challenges to experts (challenging experts' qualifications), jury instructions (the guidelines - so to speak - that the judge provides to the jury to help them come to a verdict). And then some witness or evidence may come out of the woodwork and you have to push back all your deadlines.\n\nTo be sure, every defendant has a *right* to a speedy trial, but it's not exercised by default. In every jurisdiction, the defendant can file a motion for a speedy trial, which accelerates the whole case. But often times defendants decline to exercise this right for a number of reasons. Maybe they're trying to run out the clock to get a favorable plea bargain, maybe they're waiting for the witness testimony to degrade, maybe their attorneys need more time, or maybe there's a case pending in the Supreme Court which might give you some favorable precedent.\n\nSo, bottom line: there are a lot of reasons.",
"* Speedy means is that you can't throw someone in jail indefinitely awaiting trial. The wheels of justice must be turning the whole time, and if that take years, so long as there is continual progress, that is speedy enough.\n* The right to a speedy trial obligates the prosecution, not the defense. Defendants will often waive this right if they feel it is to their advantage. "
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4gjlvp | how do gopros stabilize the image? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4gjlvp/eli5_how_do_gopros_stabilize_the_image/ | {
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"The raw video actually has extra pixels on the edge that you can't see. Internal gyroscopes apply drift compensation and process the stability correction in real time by sacrificing the buffer pixel edges accordingly to keep the image as stable as possible.",
"The big difference between a GoPro and a Flip is nothing fancy, it's just a difference in the lens. Most older video cameras have a pretty narrow field of view, while GoPro and other action cams have a very wide, almost fish-eye view. That means that any shakes move objects on screen proportionally less, and they're less noticeable.\n\nDepending on the video you're watching, it's also possible the editor has applied some kind of stabilization. When the camera shakes to the left, the editor can slightly pan the view to the right to keep things centered in the frame. Doing this makes the edges of the video move around some, so when they're done the editor will crop the picture slightly to hide those edges. Some cameras can even do this process internally (called digital image stabilization), but GoPro is aiming for simple, tough designs and has never used the technique.",
"As far as I know, GoPro doesn't have any built-in stabilization, it's a combination of two things you're seeing in videos:\n\n1. GoPros use wide-angle lenses\n2. Most high quality GoPro videos on youtube have professional mounts and stabilizers to make the video better",
"Like a 5 year old:\n\nMotion Stabilizer cameras take an extra large picture and only show a portion of it.\n\nThe portion that it shows moves around to match whatever is in the middle. This makes it look like the middle isn't moving, but it's just the smaller picture moving with it within the \"frame\" of the larger picture."
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ceno1f | when you are having joint pain and you spray pain relief on it, what actually happens? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ceno1f/eli5_when_you_are_having_joint_pain_and_you_spray/ | {
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"text": [
"Generally, it's a topical anesthetic, like menthol. All it does is penetrate the skin to the nerves and deaden the nerve's pain signals for a small amount of time."
]
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tse6h | - biologically, how to vine plant tendrils "sense" when they are in contact with something, and how they generate the mechanical force to coil themselves around it? | No one in AskScience either knew or cared enough to answer, hoping someone here might... | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/tse6h/eli5_biologically_how_to_vine_plant_tendrils/ | {
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"The vine twines because the cells on one side grow faster than the cells on the opposite side. When the growing tip of the vine touches an obstacle, such as a twig, this stimulates the cells of the vine on the side opposite the twig to grow faster than those next to the twig.\n\nAs the side of the vine opposite the twig gets longer, and the side touching the twig grows very little, the vine is pushed around the twig. Most vines are not particular about which way they twine. If the outside of the vine’s tip touches an obstacle the vine will change direction.\n\n[source](_URL_0_)"
]
} | []
| []
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[
"http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/how-do-vines-twist-and-turn/"
]
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1xbfao | why is it that sometimes i can feel my heart beat so strongly that it almost hurts but my blood pressure is always normal when i check it? | This always bothers me and sometimes I lose sleep because of it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xbfao/why_is_it_that_sometimes_i_can_feel_my_heart_beat/ | {
"a_id": [
"cf9u89a"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Are you feeling just a strong heartbeat, or a fast heartbeat? The latter can be some form of tachycardia (assuming you are not talking about when you are exercising)."
]
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21je1z | why does the us have mailboxes instead of letter boxes? | I would say most houses in the world simply have a letter box on the door to put letters / small parcels through.
Why does America (and some other country's) instead have a box with a flap on a stick? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21je1z/eli5_why_does_the_us_have_mailboxes_instead_of/ | {
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"So the mail carriers don't have to get out of their vehicles.",
"My house does have a letter box in the door. But it's an older house.\n\nFor many newer houses, the USPS will require the \"box on a stick\" so that the mail can be delivered without getting out of the delivery vehicle. This substantially increases the number of addresses a single letter carrier can service in a day, bringing the operating costs of the postal service down.",
"It varies by location. It tends to be that in more rural areas or where the houses are set back from the road and would require a ton of walking for the carrier, that the \"mailbox\" is used. Where I live everyone has letter flappy thingies.",
"Box on a stick = American suburbs \nMail slot in door, or metal box attached next to front door = American Cities\n"
]
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joze1 | why do you need to make two holes in a can for liquid to pour properly? | If I only make one hole in a can, the liquid just gets stuck. Once I popped open another hole with the can opener, it came out easily. What gives?
P.S. if it makes any difference, I was opening a can of carnation milk. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/joze1/eli5_why_do_you_need_to_make_two_holes_in_a_can/ | {
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"When you pour something out of a can, and you're standing there holding the empty can, guess what? It's not empty!\n\nReally. It's not. Instead of being full of milk, or whatever you poured out, now it's full of air.\n\nHere on earth there's air everywhere around us. Good thing too, or we'd suffocate.\n\nSo air fills up empty spaces whenever it can. Because it gets pushed into those empty spaces by all the air around it.\n\nThat's called air pressure.\n\nWhen you pour your milk out of the can, the air around you pushed more air into the empty space now in the can.\n\nIf the hole in the can is only big enough for milk to come out, but not for air to come in to replace it, you have a problem. Since the air around you can't push air into the can, it tries the next best thing.\n\nIt tries to push the milk back into the can.\n\nThat's why you can't pour it out easily. Because the air around you is keeping it pushed into the can.\n\nBut, if you put another hole in the can, then as you pour the milk out, air can replace it by being pushed into the other hole at the exact same time that milk is being poured out. So it can pour nice and smooth.\n",
"The can has two things in it: liquid and air.\n\nThe air inside the can is pushing against the liquid from inside while the air outside is pushing against the liquid from the outside. If there's only one hole, and the liquid is coming out fast enough to block it, then the amount of air inside starts to get thinner and so the pressure becomes less. This means that the pressure from the air outside can hold the liquid in against gravity. If there's a second hole, then air is able to get in that hole and keep the pressure balanced. Then gravity can do its thing and pull the liquid out.\n\nThis is why a bigger hole also works: the air can go in while the liquid comes out, as long as the liquid isn't blocking the hole.",
"When you pour something out of a can, and you're standing there holding the empty can, guess what? It's not empty!\n\nReally. It's not. Instead of being full of milk, or whatever you poured out, now it's full of air.\n\nHere on earth there's air everywhere around us. Good thing too, or we'd suffocate.\n\nSo air fills up empty spaces whenever it can. Because it gets pushed into those empty spaces by all the air around it.\n\nThat's called air pressure.\n\nWhen you pour your milk out of the can, the air around you pushed more air into the empty space now in the can.\n\nIf the hole in the can is only big enough for milk to come out, but not for air to come in to replace it, you have a problem. Since the air around you can't push air into the can, it tries the next best thing.\n\nIt tries to push the milk back into the can.\n\nThat's why you can't pour it out easily. Because the air around you is keeping it pushed into the can.\n\nBut, if you put another hole in the can, then as you pour the milk out, air can replace it by being pushed into the other hole at the exact same time that milk is being poured out. So it can pour nice and smooth.\n",
"The can has two things in it: liquid and air.\n\nThe air inside the can is pushing against the liquid from inside while the air outside is pushing against the liquid from the outside. If there's only one hole, and the liquid is coming out fast enough to block it, then the amount of air inside starts to get thinner and so the pressure becomes less. This means that the pressure from the air outside can hold the liquid in against gravity. If there's a second hole, then air is able to get in that hole and keep the pressure balanced. Then gravity can do its thing and pull the liquid out.\n\nThis is why a bigger hole also works: the air can go in while the liquid comes out, as long as the liquid isn't blocking the hole."
]
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829dwc | blockchain | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/829dwc/eli5_blockchain/ | {
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"Blockchain is just a ledger that everyone in the world uses for a single currency. Different people (miners) add to the ledger when a transaction occurs. If you send money from your account X to your friend Y, than a miner would be notified and add this change from X -Y to the ledger in the next block(i.e. the name blockchain). Most blocks get processed every from 2-30 mins, which is how long it takes to show your friend that the currency is now in account Y.",
"u/mastermind_63 gave a good answer to the primary question.\n\nAs for what other uses blockchain technology has outside of crypto-currency, the jury is still out on that.\n\nAs with any \"new cool tech\" that is always a lot of breathless hype about where it can be applied. The truth ends up being somewhere short of the hype.\n\nIt is quite possible (probable) that the the idea of a distributed, tamper-proof ledger could find a variety of uses in corporate workflow type applications where audit-ability and tracking are paramount.",
"A blockchain is an incorruptible ledger of transactions.\n\nThe most fundamental underlying concept is that of the Merkel Chain. This is a hash of a hash of a hash of a...\n\nLet's talk about what a hash is for a moment. This is when you take an arbitrary number and map it into a finite number space. An example would be taking the remainder of integer division. 10 / 6 = 1 remainder 4. 33 / 6 = 5 remainder 3. The whole number of divisions isn't important, the remainder is always going to be in a number space between 0 and 5. One fundamental property of a hash is it isn't reversible. There are an infinite number of integers that have a remainder X. Likewise with hashes, there are an infinite number of inputs that share that same hash. Since we're talking about computers, all your data can be reinterpreted in terms of arbitrarily sized integers. How convenient.\n\nBack to a blockchain, in the simplest form, you have data, and the hash of that data if it were interpreted as a big digital integer, plus the hash of the previous block. This forms a single block in the chain.\n\n {\n data: \"How now brown cow.\",\n hash: \"0x12ab97cccd1\",\n prev: \"0x0\"\n }\n\nThere is one block. To form a chain, you need another block of data, and the previous hash points to the hash of the previous block.\n\n {\n data: \"Ice-cream has no bones.\"\n hash: \"0xdc9873276a\",\n prev: \"0x12ab97cccd1\"\n }\n\nHow the hash is generated is thusly, with some pseudo-code:\n\n hash_a_block\n do\n arbitrary_integer = convert_to_integer(data)\n arbitrary_integer = arbitrary_integer + prev\n hash = hash_fn(arbitrary_integer)\n done\n\nYou can trace the chain from the most recent block all the way back to the first though the hashes, since the block hash is unique to each block, identifying it.\n\nWe have an interesting property. If you modify the data of any prior block, you invalidate the hash of that block, because the two will almost certainly not match up. If you invalidate a prior block, you invalidate all blocks that came after it, since they all rely on the previous hash value in their own block hashes. This makes forging a block increasingly difficult the older it is.\n\nMining is the task of finding a hash that solves a puzzle. Bitcoin uses the HashCash puzzle, and that is, you need to find a hash for the next block that has an appropriate number of leading zeros. So if the current difficulty is 4, then you need to find a hash like 0x**0000**abcdef123. How do you do that? The block has a new field, called a *nonce*. This is just an integer, and so you hash your data + the previous hash + the nonce and compare it to the difficulty. If it doesn't pass, you try nonce + 1, then nonce +2, then nonce + 3... Until you succeed.\n\nBlockchain includes in each block a timestamp of when the block was created. If too many blocks are being found in a certain window of time, the difficulty is increased. This is a self regulating inflation control. So you can throw all the worlds super computers at computing bitcoin, you'll still only find blocks at a fixed rate over real-world time. What you do, though, is muscle your competition out of the market by greatly reducing their chances of finding the next valid hash.\n\nAnd all this works because blockchain is a protocol. Malicious actors need buy-in with the rest of the participants, or all their work is for nothing. One property of a hash is its hard to find, hard to predict, but easy to verify. So with all the block data out in the open, I can trivially recompute the whole chain, verifying all the work that has ever been done since day 1.\n\nIncluded in each block is a crypto signature, think public-key encryption like you can do with email. This signature and your public key uniquely identifies you, while keeping you anonymous. No one has to know your key and signature is tied to your real world person. But with it, you sign your block, and it proves you created it and own it, and again, it's trivial to compute your signature so anyone can verify authenticity. So when there is a transaction block that says you transferred or received a coin, it's only valid because it can be proven from the creation of that block forward that you owned it or now own it and have the authority to/have reassign(ed) ownership.\n\nBlockchain is an important technology for the future. It represents the Web 3.0, that intellectual authorship and ownership can be traced to it's genesis, that supply chains are legitimate - that conflict free diamonds and fair trade cocoa come from the mines and farms people claim they do, that contracts once agreed upon are upheld and executed without any participation necessary from any parties, and that intellectual property and rights are transferred as appropriate. Spam will disappear, because it can't enter the chain legitimately - the bad actor will be discovered immediately and purged from the network instantly. It's going to change everything, and unethical yet legal practices today can be extinguished, because no company will want to be caught with their pants down in the open like that, and those who choose not to play at all will get zero business, because they can't be forthwith about honesty and legitimacy."
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6u9xp1 | why can't you really jump after you've been on a trampoline? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6u9xp1/eli5_why_cant_you_really_jump_after_youve_been_on/ | {
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"The same reason you feel like you're flying after you get off a treadmill, just the opposite. On a treadmill, you put in a great deal of effort with essentially zero physical movement, and when you're on a trampoline you get used to putting in relatively little work for a huge physical effect. After you're back on the ground, reality catches up with you and you realize you're not a super hero, essentially.",
"Before you move your brain calculates how strong each muscle needs to contract.\nSo if you want want to jump a certain height you brain tells your muscles how much the muscles in your legs need to contract to reach the height you aim for.\nBut after spending some time on a trampoline your brain adapts to it and thinks less work is required to reach a certain height.\nSo if you jump after you've been in a trampoline your brain tells you need to to move less powerful than you actuelly do.",
"Haven't experienced this myself so I don't really know how big of a difference there is. But... shouldn't there be something to make your brain call for more power after a session on some sort of reversed trampoline? I'm way too tall to not be able to dunk so I'm hoping that sort of machinery could give me a shot at redeeming myself in front of my friends...\n"
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6h48kn | why is oatmeal so hard to clean from eating surfaces? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6h48kn/eli5_why_is_oatmeal_so_hard_to_clean_from_eating/ | {
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"As oatmeal cooks, it develops a very sticky glutinous consistency. If that's allowed to dry on a dish, it's very hard to get off. (Dried oatmeal with milk in it is even worse, and dried oatmeal with milk *and* sugar is as bad as dried-on food ever gets.) That's why oatmeal bowls and cooking vessels should be, if not washed, at least set to soak immediately after use. "
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||
2c5i0z | why does it feel like you actually produce more poop with a high fiber diet, rather than just pooping more regularly? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2c5i0z/eli5_why_does_it_feel_like_you_actually_produce/ | {
"a_id": [
"cjc3vg2"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Partly because you do. Fiber isn't digested so you poop it out \"minimally transformed\". This makes it more voluminous than non-fibrous poop."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
6pppd7 | why are there different variants of the same phone model for different countries? | Why is that you can only use a particular phone in one country and the company exclusively produces variants of the same model for different countries? Wouldn't it make more sense to manufacture a standardized variant that can be sold anywhere? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6pppd7/eli5_why_are_there_different_variants_of_the_same/ | {
"a_id": [
"dkr7b52"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Exclusive varients and other version of region locking prevents the people of one country buying up a product where it's cheapest.\n\nMany products have variable prices in different countries. This depends on the particular nation's currency exchange rates, customer base demand for a product, and the average per capita income. \n\nLet's say there is two nations, nation X and nation Y, and a new phone with these three scenarios.\n\n1) Let's say 200 of X's currency equals 220 of Y's currency. However, the new phone producers don't want to charge above 200 in Y for marketting purposes. So, if both phones are priced at 200 of the local currency, Y's phone is cheaper.\n\n2) Next, let's say the phone company had a giant PR disaster in nation Y. This PR disaster sliced the demand for their new phone in half, so they need to charge a lot less to get anyone to buy the new phone in Y.\n\n3) Let's say your average person in Y is a lot poorer than the very rich country of X. The price of the phone has to be brought down in Y because that is all Y's people can afford to spend on the phone. Also, remember all these factors, plus plenty of others such as government price regulations, product tariffs, or shipping fees, are not mutually exclusive so can combine together and make pricing between nations/regions vary wildly. For example, the PS4 cost the equivilant of $1,800 in Brazil because of the government's massive importation taxes.\n\nIn all cases, the phone in Y is cheaper than the phone in X. If the varient was completely standarized people from X could go to Y and get the phone on the cheap. \n\nEverything from phones to DVD players to televisions to vidoe game consoles put region restrictions/release region variations of the same product so customers from one nation can't just go buy the product where it's cheapest."
]
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| []
| [
[]
]
|
|
6wp6s8 | intel's core processor differences and what is skylake and kaby lake | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6wp6s8/eli5_intels_core_processor_differences_and_what/ | {
"a_id": [
"dm9q8oy"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Those are \"code names\" for different processor generations. Kaby Lake was released in 2016, Sky Lake in 2015. \n\nIntel produced processors on a \"tick-tock\" cycle. That means every tick of the clock (12-18 months) they change the architecture, trying to get a faster processor without changing the size of it. Every \"tock\" of the cycle they shrink the die, making it smaller. \n\nPractically this means that if you buy a processor during a \"tick\" there's one more generation before you need a different motherboard that has a smaller socket. If you buy on a \"tock\" then the next generation will fit on the same motherboard, but will consume less power and/or run faster. \n\nI may have confused which cycle was the tick or tock, someone correct me if I'm wrong. \n"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
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|
||
2f5k33 | why is self-destructive behaviour so much fun? | Why do humans get such a thrill out of doing things that severely damage the body? Why do we feel the need to drink, destroying our livers and making us age faster? Why do we love to fight and get hurt, and why does it give us such a rush? Why do some of us feel the need to do drugs in order to feel good? Why do some of us enjoy S & M?
Why do we get such a kick out of destroying ourselves? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2f5k33/eli5_why_is_selfdestructive_behaviour_so_much_fun/ | {
"a_id": [
"ck648ra",
"ck65q3f"
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"score": [
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3
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"text": [
"As someone who is Straight Edge I am also curious about the answer to this.",
"It is related to the chemicals being released when self-destructive behavior occurs.\n\nExamples:\n\n- Mostly: adrenaline. Doing something exciting (basejumping, S & M, fighting, sex) releases a lot of adrenaline and it can be addictive.\n\n- Almost all drugs release [dopamine](_URL_0_). I don't know exactly how dopamine works, but it is a neurotransmitter and a substance that naturally occurs in your body."
]
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| []
| [
[],
[
"http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/addiction-science/why-do-people-abuse-drugs/nearly-all-drugs-abuse-increase-dopamine-neurotransmission"
]
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|
|
3lvs17 | why does killing 124 people like gm did end up with a smaller fine than circumventing emission laws? | GM continued to put faulty ignition in cars after knowing they were dangerous netting 124 deaths, a few hundred injured resulting in a $900,000,000 fine. VW cheated on their emissions test killing no one, resulting in a possible $18,000,000,000. I understand emission laws are important to everyone's health, but I read the 8 largest ships in the ocean create more pollution than all the cars in the US combined. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3lvs17/eli5_why_does_killing_124_people_like_gm_did_end/ | {
"a_id": [
"cv9sx4z"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"There's not a whole lot enforcing the consistency of fines. On its own, neither of those fines is obviously unreasonable. It's just that when they're next to each other it looks wrong.\n\nAlso, personally I don't think GM should have been fined at all. They recalled 8.45 million cars, which works out to 14.6 micromorts per car (one one millionth of a death; it's a nice way to express small dangers). From what I can find, driving has 6.75 micromorts per mile. Their cars were dangerous and they knew that, but it wasn't because of faulty ignition. It was because they were *cars*. And if they wanted to improve the safety, there are probably better things they could do than fix the ignition."
]
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| []
| [
[]
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k18dv | how does an elisa kit for antibody and antigen detection work/how do you do it? | _URL_0_ (wikipedia explains it complicatedly) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/k18dv/eli5_how_does_an_elisa_kit_for_antibody_and/ | {
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"You have an antibody - a molecule that has a very specific binding to a particular molecule - fixed to the bottom of your well. You throw in your sample to be analyzed, and your target analyte will be caught by the antibodies, even when you dump the sample solution out.\n\nThen, you add a primary antibody - this is one that also have preferential binding to your analyte. The only difference is that this antibody has a special region in its tail, and it's not affixed to the well. The primary antibody will bind to your analyte.\n\nNow you add a secondary antibody, which loves to bind to that special region of the primary antibody. The thing about this secondary antibody is that it has an enzyme at its tail. This enzyme is specialized in converting one molecule to another (let's call them molecule A and molecule B).\n\nFinally, you wash the well with a solution of molecule A. If the well has your analyte, it will have that train of primary and secondary antibodes, which means it will have the enzyme. Those wells will be converting molecule A into molecule B - except molecule B is fluorescent! This is how we detect the presence of our analyte.\n\nSummary: The analyte we want to detect is stuck onto the bottom of the well. Then we add an enzyme to the well - and this enzyme only sticks if the analyte is present. Then we throw in some substrate for that enzyme. If the enzyme is present, it will convert the substrate into a fluorescent molecule, which is detected.",
"You have an antibody - a molecule that has a very specific binding to a particular molecule - fixed to the bottom of your well. You throw in your sample to be analyzed, and your target analyte will be caught by the antibodies, even when you dump the sample solution out.\n\nThen, you add a primary antibody - this is one that also have preferential binding to your analyte. The only difference is that this antibody has a special region in its tail, and it's not affixed to the well. The primary antibody will bind to your analyte.\n\nNow you add a secondary antibody, which loves to bind to that special region of the primary antibody. The thing about this secondary antibody is that it has an enzyme at its tail. This enzyme is specialized in converting one molecule to another (let's call them molecule A and molecule B).\n\nFinally, you wash the well with a solution of molecule A. If the well has your analyte, it will have that train of primary and secondary antibodes, which means it will have the enzyme. Those wells will be converting molecule A into molecule B - except molecule B is fluorescent! This is how we detect the presence of our analyte.\n\nSummary: The analyte we want to detect is stuck onto the bottom of the well. Then we add an enzyme to the well - and this enzyme only sticks if the analyte is present. Then we throw in some substrate for that enzyme. If the enzyme is present, it will convert the substrate into a fluorescent molecule, which is detected."
]
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| [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELISA"
]
| [
[],
[]
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|
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bwlued | if a gigantic tsunami is coming at you, why can't you just dive into it like a normal wave and swim to the top? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bwlued/eli5_if_a_gigantic_tsunami_is_coming_at_you_why/ | {
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"text": [
"1) you cant swim to the top. 2) even if you did, it would then proceed to hurl you against the street or beach or building. 3) tsunamis arent typically waves, more like swells.",
"Tsunamis tend to have a lot of debris in them that will probably smack you unconscious",
"If you see video of the Tsunami that hit Phuket , Thailand you’ll notice that it wasn’t even a wave that “hit” land just a torrent of rushing water, like a huge river just showing up and washing everything away.",
"Think of the difference between swimming in a slow river and trying to swim in a raging whitewater river. Rapidly moving water contains a LOT of energy. No human could possibly overcome the strength of the movement of a lot of water moving quickly and chaotically.",
"It would be like having a wall of thousands of pounds worth of liquid and debris slam into you at 30-40 miles per hour.",
"Because it's not a normal wave, but rather a massive swell of water that could be likened to an extremely high tide that comes in extremely fast. It isn't going to crash on top of you and move past you, it's going to bowl you over and carry you along until you either drown or get dashed against against some obstacle or debris."
]
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2simo8 | how can companies like zipcar and enterprise car share buy permanent street parking spots? | I'm not talking about spots in private lots, but actual city street parking spaces. I've always wondered how they can legally buy them from the city when this option clearly isn't open to individuals. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2simo8/eli5_how_can_companies_like_zipcar_and_enterprise/ | {
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"text": [
"Business, especially large ones, can negotiate with cities a lot better than individuals can. In the case for something like Zipcar or Enterprise Car Share, they could (and probably do) make a case of why allowing them this exclusive spot is something that the city stands to gain from. You'd have a much harder time convincing them to allocate space for personal use and how it is beneficial for the city.\n\nAlso, they pay large sums of money for those allocations of spots. ",
"You can buy anything that somebody is willing to sell you.\n\nAlso, it is common for disabled people to get a section of street near their home declared as a handicap-only parking space. Not quite the same thing as a reserved personal space, but almost."
]
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[],
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c6lcz4 | how does the negative photo illusion work? | look 30 seconds to negative color photo and when you look at the wall it is in full color | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c6lcz4/eli5_how_does_the_negative_photo_illusion_work/ | {
"a_id": [
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"I'm not sure but I'll try to answer, your eyes has three types of cone cell, red, green and blue. negative of any image is just the complement of the three primary Colors (RGB). so when you state at any image long enough, the cones get fatigued where the light concentration is highest \n\nlet's say you're looking at a negative image of a face if a person. the skin area will be darker compared to the outline of the face and the details in the face. so when this image is formed in your retina, there is more active cone cells in the region if the bare skin, the outline part will have inactive/fatigued cone cells, now when you quickly look at a white background which just gives you white color everywhere, the unfatigued part of the retina will just fill out the white color from the wall and form the skin part, similarly the fatigued part will be the outline and the darker areas etc.",
"This is a result of the way vision works in humans (and many other animals)\n\nOn the back of your eyes are cells called rod, and cone cells. Rod cells are more sensitive, so they work in low light, but they have no ability to see different colors (this is why you loose your color vision in the dark). Cone cells are less sensitive, but they can see in three different colors, red, green and blue.\n\nWhen a photon hits one of these cells, it is absorbed by some photo sensing proteins in the cells, and the cells detect this change, and relay it to your brain over the optic nerve. After a protein is used, it changes to a different shape, and stops functioning until it is changed back, or replaced (I'm not sure which, I don't quite understand the chemistry involved). So, if you stimulate a rod or cone cell a lot, all of it's proteins will be depleted\\*, and you'll loose vision in that cell. This is why if you stare at a bright light, after a few moments you will get a dark spot in your vision where the light was.\n\nIf you stare at a negative photo for a while, you'll deplete the photo sensing proteins in those cells, and those cells will stop responding to light. Then, when you look at a white wall, the cells that haven't been depleted are able to respond to the white (allowing them to \"see\" it), but the ones that have been depleted aren't. As a result, you see a color version of the negative.\n\n\\*The word depleted may have a different meaning in chemistry or biology, so I'm not certain the use of the word here is correct."
]
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3vbq45 | when searching for jobs online, i almost never see an amount (whether hourly or salaried) of how much a company will pay an individual who actually gets the job. why is that so? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3vbq45/eli5_when_searching_for_jobs_online_i_almost/ | {
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"text": [
"they want to get away with paying the minimum amount they can, so they usually ask you for your past salary info and make a slightly better or similar offer. \n\nthey don't want to start the salary listing higher than they need to.",
"The less information you have,the less bargaining power you have.\n\nThey want to minimize costs.one of the ways to do that is to lowball you.you can only negotiate so much,so some % of hires are going to leave money on the table.\n\nIt's pretty risky to go back and forth too much. \n\nSo let's say they want to pay you $100k.\n\nThey offer you the job for $75k.you know it's too low,but you don't want to risk asking for too much,so maybe you counter with $110k.they day final offer is $95.\n\nYou'll probably take it,and they just saved $5k a year.\n\n-\n\nAnother side effect is it makes it harder for you to shop around for a better deal. If everyone in town is paying $100k,they don't want you to know there's a guy in town paying g $110k,because they have to pay it or risk losing you",
"It allows flexibility, and while negotiating it typically works in favor of the employer, it can work both ways.\n\nGenerally an employer has a range they're willing to pay. They don't want to list the high end, because then that's what everyone would take. They don't want to list the low end, because if there's a good candidate that isn't willing to accept the low end but are within the overall range, they might not apply at all. If there's someone that's super awesome and they may be able to get an exception to pay above the original high end.\n\n",
"It's a negotiated item and depends on your skills experience knowledge and know how. Usually a range is given. Many employers have a fixed range for each position, they will want you to start at the lower end so there is room for increases over the next few years.",
"Try _URL_0_ \nThere won't be much for smaller companies, but larger firms will often have the amount"
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khs5y | (if there is another way to explain it) why we have silent letters? why is 'doubt' pronounced 'dout'? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/khs5y/eli5_if_there_is_another_way_to_explain_it_why_we/ | {
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"A long, long time ago, people spoke differently. They said words in ways that might seem really funny now. They also used lots of other words from other languages, and the way we say these also got changed, because sometimes it's hard to say words in other languages (and sometimes we spelled them differently, too). At first, there were no dictionaries, either, so people spelled words however they wanted to. That's why you see that Shakespeare spelled his name in lots of different ways -- there were no rules! It was like when you were five and just learning how to write, but you didn't know how the words were spelled, so you just made it up. Eventually, though, we started to choose ways to spell words, and the ways we chose made more sense with the way we said the word at the time than with the way we say words now. Over a long time, people started to talk differently, and the letters they used to spell the old words stopped making as much sense. But English didn't change the spellings very much, which is why we have silent letters. Other languages, like German, have actually changed their dictionaries and the way they spell words so that it makes more sense!\n\nThis is one of the reasons we say English is hard to learn: the spelling is very tricky. In some languages, if you can say the word, it's easy to guess how it is spelled. But English is different. Think about how 'word', 'bird', and 'heard' all rhyme, even though we write the vowel sound in very different ways.\n\n(Bit of a partial explanation -- I took a Linguistics course and we briefly discussed this aspect of English spelling/pronounciation.)",
"Languages are always changing, like everything else. The correct way to spell and write are dictated by the majority of the language's speakers. There can be a governing body that sets the standards, but their rules are only a reflection of how the majority in that region has spoken up until the creation of the standard version of the language.\n\nWhat this means is that as people start saying things differently, for whatever reason, they start omitting parts of words and changing them, just because they are initially mispronouncing the word, which leads others to start saying it this way, and before you know it, aluminium turns into aluminum. \nBut in some places, the establishment is valued, and people are like \"we have this set of rules and it's old and it can't be changed, blah blah.\" Well this mostly applies to scholarly folk who study languages. \n\nLanguages are subject to evolution just like everything else. The language, whether it's English, HTML, or the genetic code, will adapt to its surrounding circumstances in order to continue existing, or fade into obscurity. \nI just realized no 5 year old would pay attention to any of that. Oh well. ",
"A long, long time ago, people spoke differently. They said words in ways that might seem really funny now. They also used lots of other words from other languages, and the way we say these also got changed, because sometimes it's hard to say words in other languages (and sometimes we spelled them differently, too). At first, there were no dictionaries, either, so people spelled words however they wanted to. That's why you see that Shakespeare spelled his name in lots of different ways -- there were no rules! It was like when you were five and just learning how to write, but you didn't know how the words were spelled, so you just made it up. Eventually, though, we started to choose ways to spell words, and the ways we chose made more sense with the way we said the word at the time than with the way we say words now. Over a long time, people started to talk differently, and the letters they used to spell the old words stopped making as much sense. But English didn't change the spellings very much, which is why we have silent letters. Other languages, like German, have actually changed their dictionaries and the way they spell words so that it makes more sense!\n\nThis is one of the reasons we say English is hard to learn: the spelling is very tricky. In some languages, if you can say the word, it's easy to guess how it is spelled. But English is different. Think about how 'word', 'bird', and 'heard' all rhyme, even though we write the vowel sound in very different ways.\n\n(Bit of a partial explanation -- I took a Linguistics course and we briefly discussed this aspect of English spelling/pronounciation.)",
"Languages are always changing, like everything else. The correct way to spell and write are dictated by the majority of the language's speakers. There can be a governing body that sets the standards, but their rules are only a reflection of how the majority in that region has spoken up until the creation of the standard version of the language.\n\nWhat this means is that as people start saying things differently, for whatever reason, they start omitting parts of words and changing them, just because they are initially mispronouncing the word, which leads others to start saying it this way, and before you know it, aluminium turns into aluminum. \nBut in some places, the establishment is valued, and people are like \"we have this set of rules and it's old and it can't be changed, blah blah.\" Well this mostly applies to scholarly folk who study languages. \n\nLanguages are subject to evolution just like everything else. The language, whether it's English, HTML, or the genetic code, will adapt to its surrounding circumstances in order to continue existing, or fade into obscurity. \nI just realized no 5 year old would pay attention to any of that. Oh well. "
]
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755cka | why do you feel rejuvenated if you take a 15 minute power nap when feeling sleepy during the day, but if you hit the snooze button in the morning, you still feel so sleepy afterwards? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/755cka/eli5_why_do_you_feel_rejuvenated_if_you_take_a_15/ | {
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"Simply because you enter the state of [REM (Rapid eye movement) sleep](_URL_1_).\n\nWe don't know everything about REM sleep yet and there are a lot of contradictory hypotheses about it. This is the phase in your sleep where most of your dreams happen and also the brain sorts memories in this phase. In a sense, your brain is \"regenerating\". Scientists also believe that that REM sleep has something to do with the process of learning and remembering things. Almost all mammals (except [Echidna](_URL_0_) and [dolphins](_URL_2_) ) have some sort of REM sleep.\n\nBut why is a nap different from snoozing then? Well the thing is that when you power nap for long enough, you will eventually enter REM sleep. However, snoozing after your alarm clock waked you up won't allow you to enter REM sleep again, hence why it doesn't help with sleepiness.",
"It's because you don't reach the stage 3/4 of your sleep cycle. It takes up to 30 minutes to begin cycle 3/4 of your sleep cycle. Think of your sleep cycles as a wave. You go to sleep cycle 1 (Light sleep, easy to wake up) then cycle 2 (Same thing, but its the entrance to deep sleep) Then cycle 3 (Which is starting to the deep sleep, you're less responsive, and you don't wake up to noises that are subtle) you then end up in cycle 4 (Deep sleep) and it will climb back up to cycle 3 and can end up in REM mode (Dreaming phase, it helps your mind process things you learned today, which causes you to be paralyzed, which if you wake up during REM you might have experienced not being able to move.) If you wake up during Deep sleep or REM mode, your body isn't fully woken up yet and it causes you to feel drowsy after you wake up. When you are woken up by the alarm and you're in deep sleep, your body didn't start its preparations to waking up and it causes the body to have to jump start everything which won't give you the wake up that makes you feel great, it instead makes you feel drowsy. However, for a 15 minute power nap, you never reach the deep sleep, you're in light sleep which the body is more prepared to wake up.\n\nI am not a student of bio or anatomy, so if I got any of this wrong, please correct me!\n\nEdit: Wording\n\n\nEdit 2: if my explanation didn't make sense or you're still confused look at this diagram and it might help you.\n_URL_0_"
]
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement_sleep",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_dolphin"
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49btdk | why are nuclear weapon states modernising their nuclear weaponry when they have already committed to the npt? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/49btdk/eli5_why_are_nuclear_weapon_states_modernising/ | {
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"text": [
"Mostly as a safety measure. To let the world know that, yes we will not use them but if need be we will",
"NPT is Non Proliferation - meaning the intention is to prevent the spread of weapons to states which do not already have them. Modernising existing systems does not affect this.",
"the NPT is just so that some countries have them and others dont, tbh if a country wants to have them, they just will.\nexample NORTH KOREA, ISRAEL( UNDECLARED ) INDIA AND PAKISTAN ",
"Country might want to modify / update its arsenal because of many things, some of those are:\n\nFirst, many nuclear devices need \"refueling\" of sorts - i.e. it might be dependent on an isotope that quickly decays and needs to be replenished in order for device to work as predicted / at all - like tritium in certain designs of fusion boosted fission designs.\n\nSecond, there is no ban on developing countermeasure systems, which could i.e. target reentering warheads - thus you need to modify your warheads / design new ones in order to preserve chance of successful use.\n\nThird, you might need to service the weapon due to radiation related effects, like neutron enbrittlement (which basically causes usually malleable metals (that i.e. are used in your weapon's casing or structural elements) to become very brittle due to atomic nucleus vs energetic neutron radiation interaction)\n\nFourth: safety systems update / redesign"
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5uv390 | how did having light breakfasts and heavy dinners become a common practice, when logically it should be reversed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5uv390/eli5_how_did_having_light_breakfasts_and_heavy/ | {
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"I can't explain breakfast not being the biggest meal but this may help.\n\nIn short, as machines replaced farm workers around the time of the US Civil War, those workers needed somewhere to go so they moved towards cities and worked in factories. In farming life, it makes sense to have a nice lunch at the hottest part of the day. In factories, it makes sense for your workers to have a quick lunch and get back to work, so factory workers waited until dinner to have a big meal.\n\nnot exactly ELI5 but currently I'm writing a paper for a history class (was due yesterday, oops.) This is in one of my sources:\n\nAndrew Smith, Eating History: 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), p78.\n\nThe mechanization of agriculture, which had accelerated during the war, progressed at an even faster pace during the century's final years, further expanding the national food supply and shifting American eating habits. Mechanization meant that fewer laborers were needed on farms, and after the Civil War came an exodus from rural to urban areas. In the city, new and unfamiliar foods were available, and city life necessitated different food distribution systems, such as chain grocery stores, street vendors, cafes, and restaurants. Different dining schedules also evolved: In rural America, dinner, the heaviest meal of the day was eaten at two o'clock, forming a break in the workday, and a light supper was served before bedtime. The urban and industrial lifestyle converted dinner into lunch, a smaller meal usually eaten at midday and dinner became a substantial evening meal. Mechanization also decreased the cost of staples, such as wheat and com, making them generally available to most Americans.\n\nThis timing on your questions vs my paper is just amazing to me.\n",
"Why do you say that it's logical that breakfast be the heaviest meal of the day?",
"Heavy breakfasts such as the full English breakfast, which is around 1000 calories depending on the portion size, are still a common practice among manual workers who will need that food energy to do their work during the day. Light breakfasts are more popular among office workers who are physically inactive for most of the day, but may be short on time in the morning and don't want to cook and eat a big meal.\n\nSo the declining popularity of big breakfasts is in part due to the changes in the workforce - more service jobs, less physical labour.",
"Having to move very quickly when waking up means having no time to eat a heavy breakfast and no time to digest. This is normal : most people lived a rushed lifestyle in the past and now from the morning on, having only rest time at the end of the day, where it is now safe to be slow and sleepy and digesting a larger meal",
"In other countries dinner isn't such a heavy meal. I went to Israel and there lunch is the biggest meal and dinner is just a quick bite.",
"Many people have 1+ hour commutes to and from work, so spending 30 mins cooking a real breakfast cuts into sleeping time. If they have kids they have to drop off at school, time is even more compressed. \n\nBy contrast, the evenings feature 4+ hours of available time to cook and eat. \n\nAlso, eating heavy in the evening isn't that bad as long as you're not also eating heavy for breakfast and lunch. Your metabolism doesn't slow down that much overnight. Weight gain from eating late normally corresponds with an overall sedentary lifestyle. \n",
"Simple explanation. In the morning your body just woke up, you move more slowly, still asleep and your body doesn't need that much energy so you end up having a light breakfast or no breakfast at all. Then throughout the day you move more, you do something, even watching TV, your body is functioning more, you observe, you move, you think and that takes energy and needs calories and that's why after a long day in the evening people tend to be more hungry.",
"There is no such practise or anything, people just do what they want - some eat breakfast, some dont. You also dont want spending hour or so cooking in the morning while you are still asleep."
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cupsqe | how does wind passing over an opening make noise? (i.e; whistling or a howling wind) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cupsqe/eli5_how_does_wind_passing_over_an_opening_make/ | {
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"Noise or sound is basically just pressure waves in the air, which causes the air molecules to squish and stretch really fast at certain *frequencies* or pitches. \nYou know how when you rub a wet finger around a wine glass it makes a sound? That's because the wine glass vibrates when you do that, causing the air around it to squish and stretch, which is what we hear as sound. \n\nWhen air passes over a hole or crack really really fast, a similar thing happens, but instead of the object vibrating like in the case of the wine glass, the air itself vibrates inside the opening as it bounces off of the walls of it. That's why small holes will make a higher pitched sound (like blowing over a thimble), and bigger ones will make a lower pitched sound (like blowing over a soda bottle), and it is also why the pitch will go up and down as the wind gets stronger or weaker"
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5vnos5 | how do frogs just suddenly appear in areas that experience heavy rain where there wasn't any water before? | I'm from California, and we've obviously been in a drought lately. After the heavy rainstorms, I've been walking to a park near my house when the sun sets, and the croaking of what sounds like hundreds and hundreds of frogs can be heard all throughout the park. There are no bodies of water in the park, so how can the frogs just appear where there wasn't any water before? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5vnos5/eli5_how_do_frogs_just_suddenly_appear_in_areas/ | {
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"text": [
"While there are possible explanations such as meteorological events like waterspouts that could cause it to \"rain frogs\", the more likely answer is these frogs are actually toads.\n\nToads typically don't live near bodies of water, however they still prefer darker/wet climates to prevent their skin from drying out, so post rainfall is the perfect opportunity for them to come out and eat/mate.",
"On a mobile, so I apologize if this is choppy. \n\nThis does happen in arid climates like the Southwest more than you might think. There are special native frogs and toads (like the New Mexico Spadefoot) that will sit underground for a long time, sometimes years*, until a heavy rain hits the area. They can stay underground for so long because they coat themselves in mucus and enter a torpor (very deep sleep) state. Once that perfect rain hits, they'll come up to mate and spawn. This whole process is very quick (on the order of a week or so!). They need to mate, spawn, and the tadpoles need to grow up quickly enough to be independent of standing water. After the mating-fest, the adults will dig back down several feet and wait again.\n\nEDIT: Decades might be a bit of an embellishment here...more likely just a few years."
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11k4e1 | how to convert black and white photos to colour | How does it work? Do the black and white shades have coloured counter parts? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/11k4e1/eli5_how_to_convert_black_and_white_photos_to/ | {
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"Sometimes you can understand what color it is via the shade of gray. But most of the time you need to make educated guesses. A lot of it is a guessing game, and playing with the hues and saturation and stuff.",
"You colour it in by hand (usually in photoshop) by adding colour on top of the black and white shading.\n\nIt's like painting over a pencil sketch with watercolour paint, you still see the pencil shading underneath but the watercolour adds colour on top.\n\nTo get it looking realistic you sometimes have to lighten or darken bits too as some colours in B & W photos are too light or dark, and the whole thing takes time and skill to do right."
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1bwhej | how do flaming arrows do anything to attackers that regular arrows don't? | I feel like flaming arrows are in every battle scene, used to hit charging warriors. I can see how they'd be used against ships, walls, structures, etc, but what the hell do they do extra to flesh? burn their guts? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1bwhej/eli5_how_do_flaming_arrows_do_anything_to/ | {
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"Movies like to exaggerate for effect. Flaming arrows look cool so people use them. I'm aware of no instance in the historical record where they were used deliberately against people.",
"I doubt they were ever used in real battles, and only for psychological purposes if they were at all. \n\nIn movies they are used to make sure the audience can see the arrows and well, they look cool. "
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urr6i | what was the impact of the patriot act on civil rights? | Revising for my politics exam on monday, I often reference the patriot act as an example of civil rights and liberties being suspended but am unsure as to what specifically it suspended | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/urr6i/eli5_what_was_the_impact_of_the_patriot_act_on/ | {
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"text": [
"google it to get more specific examples, but it essentially gives the Govt the ability to more closely monitor certain individuals or transactions that may previously have been protected by confidentiality laws or 4th amend and related laws. "
]
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24iwbs | this picture (circuit diagram) about how keyboards work. | _URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24iwbs/eli5_this_picture_circuit_diagram_about_how/ | {
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"The switches (S) represent the keys, and the rows and columns refer to the rows and columns of the keyboard. Each switch localizes to a unique coordinate on the keyboard. When you depress the key, it closes the circuit between a particular row and a particular column, which together signals for a unique keystroke.",
"None of the explanations so far are really complete, so I'll try.\n\nThe \"obvious\" way to design a keypad would be to have one wire from each key to the microcontroller. The microcontroller could then easily detect which keys are pressed. That is not how it's usually done because it would need a lot of wires and separate pins on the microcontroller.\n\nSo what's done instead is this: the keys are placed on a grid. Each key connects a \"row\" and a \"column\" when pressed. Each row and column gets connected to the microcontroller. So a 10x10 keypad would have 100 keys, but only 20 wires to the controller.\n\nThe controller switches through the 10x10 row/column combinations at a high frequency, and tests whether each row is connected to each column. Since this is done very quickly (typically thousands of times per second), it will \"catch\" you whenever you press a key.\n\nThe switches moving on the left side of the animation show the controller switching through the combinations. The colored wires show which row/column is being tested at any point."
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2nweef | how is it impossible to counterfeit digital money (or bitcoins)? if it isn't impossible, why hasn't it been done before? | Couldn't a skilled hacker or corrupt bank teller have a transfer of $1 million from Bank 'X', which is a fabricated bank which only exists on paper? It just seems mind boggling to me that there's so much digital currency being moved all around the world, and that no one has figured out a way to make a computer artificially add more money to that system in the chaos. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nweef/eli5_how_is_it_impossible_to_counterfeit_digital/ | {
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"No. That's the beauty of Bitcoin (and [Cryptocurrencies in general](_URL_0_)).\n\nAt the heart of this type of currency is the blockchain, which is just a list of transactions that anyone can view--you can take a look at this page to see an example of what a page from this register looks like. This works off of a pretty simple principle: If I know that you have 5 Bitcoins and I see that you give 3 Bitcoins to Sally then I know that Sally now has 3 Bitcoins (assuming she had none before hand) and you have only 2 Bitcoins. It is this type of accounting that is done in the blockchain. You can literally follow any Bitcoin back through its entire history (it gets kind of complicated since coins can be split and merged, but the principle is still valid).\n\nSo, who keeps track of that public register? I do. But I don't do it alone--I have thousands if not millions of people helping me. The blockchain is kept by the collective work of all of the computers in the network. Whenever you decide to spend some Bitcoins your computer announces that fact to its friends. Those computers check to make sure that you aren't trying to spend money you don't have (which they can do because they can see how many coins you have received and how many you've spent) and if the transaction checks out then it sends the transaction to more computers, and so on. Eventually every computer in the world knows about the transaction.\n"
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1mbdrj | why do republicans desperately want to repeal obamacare? | With as little slant as possible, please | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mbdrj/eli5_why_do_republicans_desperately_want_to/ | {
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"Republican voters don't like President Obama and don't trust that Obamacare is a good thing. Republican politicians want to be re-elected so they try to repeal/defund Obamacare to please their constituents.\n",
"Basically politics.\n\nThe best explanation of this I can give is given in Battle Star Galatica.\n\nWhen the crew finally find a half decent planet one of the president candidates looks at it and says, \"Could you imagine living on that piece of shit?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes I can. And so will you if you want to win this election.\"\n\n\"But only 22% of its surface is habitable we'll have a hard life if we do live there.\"\n\n\"But its an issue. An issue we can be on the winning side of. An Issue we can use to drum up support and win this election.\"\n\n\"Well, I guess that planet wouldn't be so bad after all.\"\n\nIt's just about causing as much Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (or FUD) about what the other side is doing to fear monger people into coming to your camp and voting for you.\n\n:.:.:\n\nHopefully I'm not coming off as anti-GOP, I am a member :X",
"I'd say that the biggest objections are (a) mandating that individuals get healthcare coverage or face fines, going against the principles of freedom and personal responsibility;(b) potential growth of the size of the federal government; (c) not letting the private market take care of all problems; (d) effectively acting as a \"tax\"; (e) government will now intrude more in peoples healthcare decisions (\"death panels\"); and (f) it came from Obama/Democrats so it must be bad. ",
"[Here is how Republicans in congress tend to make decisions](_URL_0_) \nWhile Obamacare is questionable and has various problems, Republicans have also opposed Obama on bombing Muslims, and on lowering taxes (yes really, it was a proposal to lower the payroll tax and said nothing else, and Republicans fought it and defeated it.) John McCain started campaigning against a bill he himself proposed after Obama expressed his support for it. Mitch McConnel filibustered a bill he proposed after Harry Reid agreed with it and called for a vote. For most Republicans (especially those in Congress) it really does just come down to \"Because Obama supports it.\"",
"If you want an answer from a conservative (Note, I'm not a republican):\n\nMy biggest beef with Obamacare is the individual mandate. Why are people being forced to purchase health insurance? For example, I'm a healthy male in my 20's have shave never been to a doctor in my life. Now all of a sudden I'm spending $150+ /mo for health insurance that I don't feel I *Need*. I have quite a bit of money saved for emergencies (breaking bones, emergency surgeries, etc), so I really don't see a need. The government is telling me that it knows how to handle my finances better than I do.\n\nAnother interesting thing about it is that members of congress get a pass (they don't need to purchase health insurance - they are exempt. The mandate is so wonderful that congress felt it would be nice to have the option of avoiding it).\n\nThe other sides of it are:\n\n1) Government's role (Note: the constitution does not give the federal gov't authorization for this)\n\n2) Size of Gov't (Where do we draw the line on how invasive/powerful the gov't is - just a thought)\n\n3) The root problem is the high cost of healthcare - not that people aren't being properly insured. Obamacare is simply placing a large band-aid on an infected wound. The infection is still going to grow - we will just see excuses for a larger band-aid in 10 years.\n\n\n(Note: these are just my opinions, which OP so kindly asked for. I'm not looking for a debate for those of you with differing ones - I'm aware my opinion is not universal on this haha)"
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2weqma | why are nearly all popular fantasy worlds (westeros, middle earth, narnia f.e.) in the middle age? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2weqma/eli5_why_are_nearly_all_popular_fantasy_worlds/ | {
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"text": [
"Because of the romantic nature of the age of chivalry. We idealize the era and the stories and the mythical aspects of the traditional stories of the time. \n\ntl;dr it was a cool time with cool stories. ",
"The Lord of the Rings is pretty much the first fantasy novel and set the standard.\n\nTolkien was critical of technological progress, and wanted to provide a contrast between the nature-loving people (elves and halflings) and those destroying it by using technology (Mordor and especially Isengard).\n\nNow if you're writing a book in a genre (Narnia, Westeros) you have a) an easier time sticking to established standards and b) don't want to alienate people's expectations within the genre. Middle age fantasy works, so why deviate from it?\n\nNote that there are some fantasy settings in more modern time, but those are usually considered in another genre; Dracula for instance, or the Shadowrun canon.",
"I think it's because the middle ages are just modern enough that we might want to live in an idealized version of it, but not modern enough that the protagonists' freedom can be significantly limited. Let me try to illustrate it with an example: Avatar the Last Airbender, vs Korra.\n\nIn Avatar there's a medieval-ish society. Aang and his friends can come to a small town, run from the Fire Nation while causing minor chaos in their pass, and move on, leaving disgruntled cabbage merchants in their wake.\n\nIn Korra it's much more modern. There are large cities. There is effective law enforcement. There is far reaching communication and reporters. Every time Korra screws something up she can't just skip town, and it comes back to haunt her. If she breaks something, somebody is going to demand repayment. There are politics and PR to deal with. And it's repeatedly demonstrated that society adapted to benders, and even Korra and Tenzin can be dealt with quite easily.\n\nAnd I think that accounts in a good part for the colder reception Korra got -- the series just too uncomfortably tends to remind us of all the crap we have to deal with in modern society, and doesn't make for very good escapism.",
"These modern mythologies you mentioned were all written by western authors for western audiences. The mythological roots of western civilization could be claimed to be found in Greece or Rome, but roman times were actually well documented compared to the centuries of disorder and technological decay that followed in much of Europe. Ancient/Classical times are also a little alien for modern readers.\n\nThe so called \"dark ages\" allowed for the development of local mythologies (king Arthur for example) and were a time where paganism and Christianity mixed in a way that made for some good mythos. But once the renaissance hits, you have rationality slowly replacing superstition from then on. \n\nIn short, knights and dragons are more familiar than togas and harpies, and we all know that Napoleonic calvalry never teamed up with cowboys to fight some ancient evil. I never thought about it before, but the middle ages are the logical home of western fantasy.\n\nsources: Civ V"
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77ki0k | how the sun "bleach" the color out of things? why does it effect some things (like signs) and not others (like cars)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/77ki0k/eli5_how_the_sun_bleach_the_color_out_of_things/ | {
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"It *does* affect cars. It just takes longer. \nThe radiation from the sun gradually breaks down the chemicals that make “color”. The time varies depending on the particular surface/chemical being affected.",
"It's mostly just Ultraviolet light that causes colors to fade. UV radiation destroys chemical bonds in paint (well.. not just paint, there's a reason our skin contains melanin, a substance meant to block UV, which can otherwise destroy chemical bonds in DNA), causing them to fade. A more reflective surface will degrade slower since some of the radiation gets bounced back.\n\nAlso, cars are coated with a clear, protective layer which I'm pretty certain has decently high UV reflection / absorption just for the purpose of protecting the underlying paint. Those coatings can get pretty damn expensive.\n\nYou wouldn't want to spend too much on a simple traffic sign, likely cheaper to replace it (especially since it doesn't matter THAT much if it's a little faded.. .aesthetics aren't a big concern, readability is)"
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dups6d | how do predators like lions and tigers become pets for humans? how come they don't just kill the humans? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dups6d/eli5_how_do_predators_like_lions_and_tigers/ | {
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"After thousands of years, the common house cat became domesticated. Tigers and lions are not meant to be pets for humans, and given the opportunity, could potentially harm a human. You see videos of them in captivity being sweet and all, which is cool, but that potential is always there. That’s another reason big cats in private captivity typically don’t live as long as those in the wild or in a zoo.",
"They're predators, not murderers. Keep them well fed and cared for, they *generally* won't have any reason to attack you. Animals typically don't kill for pleasure, especially not the person who keeps bringing them thick steaks every day.\n\nThat being said, they still do attack their owners time to time. Sometimes it just happens. Dogs and cats still attack their owners. Hell, even let hamsters will bite you if you're not careful.",
"Saw a video of a big cat rescue group. They had a farm full of them, tigers, lions, panthers. They would not go into the cages with them though. You would think that if a lion nuzzles a cage and lets you pet it you two are buddies right? Or at least have some sort of keeper/cat bond. I would at least. While watching the video the guy in charge said something that rung a bell (while petting a lioness through a cage). He said, \"If I go into that cage she probably wouldn't attack me. Problem is she could injure me by being affectionate. She would break me because she loves me.\"\n\nFood and time got the wolves to work with us. Now we have dogs that are extremely loyal and often highly specialized many, many years down the road. So a dog is an easy companion to deal with. However, if you were to put a wolf on a leash you would never be able to get that wild out of them. \n\nLions are the same way. Keep them fed and content and you're mostly good (they are wild after all). That wild will never leave unless you take the lions and breed them in captivity for decades, maybe longer, until that instinct is a distant genetic memory."
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2tkm6p | what determines which cables have ferrite beads and which don't | [Ferrite Beads](_URL_0_) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tkm6p/eli5what_determines_which_cables_have_ferrite/ | {
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"Ferrite beads are used to help control induced high frequency noise. If there are other inductors elsewhere in the circuit, it may not be needed.",
"The purpose of ferrite beads on cables is to suppress high frequencies going through the cable. Typically cables which are connected to devices which are either very sensitive to high frequency noise, or which would otherwise emit high frequency noise.\n\nExample of cables which typically have ferrite beads are the (now obsolete) VGA cables connecting computers to CRT (tube-type) monitors. The reason is that CRT monitors are susceptible to high frequency interference (shows up as \"snow\" in the image) and also emit a fair bit of noise, which would disturb the electronics in the computer."
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"https://www.google.ca/search?q=ferrite+beads&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=rkXEVO_yH8yzggTZtYCwAQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1155&bih=894"
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3dhlqu | did those duracell batteries with the little "press here to see power remaining" function actually work? if so, how? | [Link](_URL_0_) for those who need visual context. They were Duracell batteries with the little white circles. I remember, as a kid, trying to press super hard on them but nothing ever changed on the little strip. Did it actually work, and if it did, how would it show it and what did me pressing have to do with it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3dhlqu/eli5_did_those_duracell_batteries_with_the_little/ | {
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"They did. \n\nYou'd have to press really hard though, and then the line would fill up/ turn transparent indicating how full the battery was.\n\nAccording to an older ELI5 threat, pressing on the circle's would close a circuit within the battery, which would heat up a resistor. This heat is then detected by the little strip, changing it's color.\n\n_URL_0_"
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8sirzw | why does the water behind a boat or other watercraft become lighter in colour? | I always see boats, jet skis and other craft on the water and as the move along the trailing water becomes lighter and sometimes clearer. Why is this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8sirzw/eli5_why_does_the_water_behind_a_boat_or_other/ | {
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"text": [
"Air bubbles. When the water is churned up like that, air gets mixed in, making it appear lighter in color."
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4zk9uq | how do manufacturers imprint the letter on m & ms, smarties etc? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4zk9uq/eli5_how_do_manufacturers_imprint_the_letter_on/ | {
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"They use a process called \"Offset printing\". First, you get a metal plate made with the imprint of the design you want, let's say the famous m on M & M's, which is then transferred onto a rubber cylinder (called a blanket). This acts an intermediary between the hard metal and the soft candy shell. \nThe candies travel down a special conveyor belt that is designed so each candy will lay flat, and they pass through a machine that presses the blanket down onto the candies, leaving behind the imprinted \"m\". \n"
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6cr1td | what is the medical cause of that awful sour alcoholic body smell? i don't mean that boozy smell off someone who did a one-night binge, i mean that horrific chemical deathly aroma that radiates off the stranger in the public place, who you instantly know is an alcoholic from ten feet away. | Just got off jury duty and there was a guy like this in the group of potential jurors. I've encountered this in various public places, from young(ish) adults to older folks. What is physically going on with that distinct odor? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6cr1td/eli5_what_is_the_medical_cause_of_that_awful_sour/ | {
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"What she is smelling is not just ethanol. Pure ethanol has little smell. If you were on jury duty it is safe to assume that he was not drinking the process so what you were smelling the body's breakdown products of alcohol. Acetaldehyde is produced first and the body tried to get rid of it (you smell it). Then it continues to be broken down to other molecules which all have a distinctive smell."
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9wwn8i | why dont bones melt? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9wwn8i/eli5_why_dont_bones_melt/ | {
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"Bones, like many other things, have a really high melting temperature... The problem is that the temperature required to overcome the oxidation activation energy is well below the melting point meaning if you were to try to melt it it would oxidize and burn.\n\n",
"Don’t know if this is a shitpost or not but here is something of an explanation. The components that comprise bones breakdown at “relatively low” temperatures. So they turn to ash before they can reach there melting point. Basically two elements that are bounded (or molecules that are bounded) come apart into smaller components. If the heat continues to increase all bounds can be broken. (Any element that reaches a plasma state will not keep any bond I think.)\n\nI’m sure if you got the ash together in a big pile and blasted it in a industrial furnace the elements would either melt or turn directly into vapour once they hit the melting point. \n\nCarbon for example, has a melting point of 5,530 C"
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17j49q | what these math gifs are actually representing | I found this post [(link)](_URL_0_) on /r/funmath and found myself thinking, 'These are really cool. I wish I knew what they actually meant.'
Please can someone ELI5 what is being shown in any of them?
_URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17j49q/eli5_what_these_math_gifs_are_actually/ | {
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"I think you're going to have to chose just one at a time if you want to be explained to like you're 5. Which one's the most intriguing for you, and I'll give it a shot. ",
"A lot of those diagrams are visual representations of sine and cosine. When you move around the circle sine represents the vertical component and cosine represents the horizontal component. "
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bnbb8i | why are sounds louder on one side of your ear when you cover the other ear? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bnbb8i/eli5_why_are_sounds_louder_on_one_side_of_your/ | {
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"They're not actually louder - there's not suddenly an increase in the ambient sound coming into the ear canal - however, with one ear covered, your conscious awareness of what you're hearing increases."
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2tglhf | why don't they make white tattoo ink so tattoos show up better on black skin? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tglhf/eli5_why_dont_they_make_white_tattoo_ink_so/ | {
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"I know they have really bright colors but I don't recall a white",
"Long story short, they do, but they don't always show up very well.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Well, they do make white tattoo ink, but it's mainly used as an accent or highlight for other colors. I have white ink in various spots on both of my sleeves (I'm not black). However, most artists won't use it as a primary color unless the client specifically requests it that way since white ink will fade away quickly on pale skin. (Side note: some light-skinned people will get all-white tattoos so that the tattoo isn't very visible until they stand under a black-light, like at a dance club, where it stands out. You lose all the detail, but hey, personal choices.)\n\nOn dark skin, white ink ends up looking more light-brown instead of white. Since the ink obviously goes deep into the dermis layer of your skin, what happens is the white ink gets tinted by the upper layers of dark skin and the tattoo ends up looking light-brown in color, not white, once it heals. While it will definitely stand out more than a solid black tattoo on dark skin, light-brown might not be what the person wants.\n\nThink of it like this: if you put on a pair of regular glasses and look at a piece of black paper, the paper will appear black. But if you put on a pair of black sunglasses and look at a piece of white paper, the paper will appear brown and tinted, not a true white. The same thing happens with the skin."
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1qgh7v | why is the google+ integration so bad for youtube? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qgh7v/eli5_why_is_the_google_integration_so_bad_for/ | {
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"ELI5 isn't really for \"why is x bad\" questions, as they're subjective by nature, so this has been removed. Try /r/askreddit instead."
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cogbko | does faster metabolism shorten our lives? | So, the studies say that turtles have slower metabolism than other Animals, and that means the metabolism correlates with their high lifespans ? And If water accelerates the metabolism, Does that mean that we are shortening our lives?
Edit -: Pretty interesting
Quite Glad to ask, thx a Lot guys , have a good day | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cogbko/eli5_does_faster_metabolism_shorten_our_lives/ | {
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"No. Turtles don't use a lot of energy, therefore their metabolism is slow. A high metabolism does not directly correlate to a lower lifespan, there are generally many other factors that contribute to the shortening of life such as disease,natural predators,etc. \nThink of it from a human perspective, a higher metabolism is deemed healthy and linked with a healthy lifestyle,in turn increasing quality of life and overall lifespan.",
"Actually, cellular metabolic rate, or how much energy our cells consume, definitely correlates with lifespan. One interesting factoid about mammals is that they have roughly the same number of heartbeats in their lives; mice with a short life and rapid heart beat compares pretty well with elephants and their slower heart beat.\n\nA big contributor to life span is the cellular aging process - telomere shortening. This is where the ends of DNA segments, which help maintain DNA stability, shorten a little bit every time they are copied. After so many cell divisions, DNA becomes unstable and errors build up, reducing tissue and organ effectiveness and contributing to organism death. High rates of cellular division mean a more rapid reduction in telomeres, and when cells need large amounts of energy to multiply, heart beat, respiration, and metabolism increases to support this.\n\nIn addition, internal temperature regulation plays a big role. The surface area to volume ratio determines how rapidly an organism loses body heat. Small organisms lose heat rapidly compared to large ones; mammals, being warm blooded, compensate by increasing metabolism to produce more heat while reptiles, cold blooded, supplement with external temperatures - \"sunning\" - and their lifespans reflect this difference in metabolism.",
"Differences in metabolism between different animals do, in fact, correlate with average lifespan. Animals with faster metabolisms have shorter lifespans. Many people explain this by saying that faster metabolism = more oxygen demand = more oxidative stress = more DNA damage, faster. However, this argument ignores the fact that the mechanisms that handle reactive oxygen species responsible for oxidative damage are also metabolic! So if metabolism moves faster, it causes more oxidative stress, but also has greater capacity to handle that stress. As far as I know, we don't have a full understanding of the causal mechanism between metabolic rate and longevity, and it is an active area of research.\n\nWith that said, it sounds like you think that if an individual speeds up their metabolism, they will shorten their life. In fact, the opposite is quite true: those who exercise well and have fast metabolisms tend to live longer. The correlation between metabolic rate and longevity is for different animals, not for an individual over time. For humans, the reality is that metabolic decline begins at 25 and is pretty much unstoppable no matter what a person does.\n\nAlso, where did you hear that water speeds up metabolism? It does not."
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fhfmd5 | why vaginal toys aren't shaped like buttplugs. [nsfw] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fhfmd5/eli5_why_vaginal_toys_arent_shaped_like_buttplugs/ | {
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"Vaginal walls can stretch. Anal walls? Not much I know",
"Vaginal walls are designed to stretch and open and force out large objects, and they’re also well lubricated. Anal walls are designed to force out pliable and cylindrical poo, which has been mashed and squished to be the right shape by the colon. Your anus is not designed to push out large objects that you shove in there.",
"Vaginas don’t have a sphincter muscle that will suck things in and make you go to the emergency room to have them removed.",
"If you shove something up your butt it will disappear deep into your digestive tract and need removal by a Dr.\n\nA vagina is at most around 6 inches deep so even if a toy gets lost up there most people can get it out easily. \n\nPlus you can bear down and push things out of your vagina. But that doesnt work for anything more than an inch or two inside the intestine. The way the intestinal walls move is like a constant undulation not a directional movement downwards so something with a rounded end can actually be pulled upwards through the digestive tract.",
"You can put balls up your butt if you know what you’re doing. Butt plugs are designed to be held in place by your anus which is a passive action. Your vagina isn’t meant to close that same way, so trying to hold something in there would be an active choice. Some vaginal/multipurpose toys are built like butt plugs and are meant to be held in the vagina long term (like those remote vibrators you see in cam shows) but most people with vaginas don’t get much from just having something up there."
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7imu06 | if influenza is always mutating, why does getting a flu shot help? doesn't the shot only prevent attacks from a certain strain? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7imu06/eli5_if_influenza_is_always_mutating_why_does/ | {
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"Yeah, but those strains are somewhat yearly. The flu shot immunizes you against the strains that they're seeing that year. Next year they'll be different; that's why you have to get one every year. ",
"Every year the world health organization researches which variation of the flu is going to be most common. After they come to a decision, the flu shot is made specifically for that virus. The flu shot contains a dead part of the virus that your body can identify and recognize when you actually come in contact with the virus later on. ",
"Yes, the flu shot is only good for certain strains based on the past year research. They are often better than 50% but sometimes are lower. I believe two years ago it was only a 36% efficacy. ",
"You get the flu vaccine during the flu season (winter), because that is when you are most likely to contract it and suffer the symptoms. Once the peak season is over, the virus continues to exist and mutate, and even infect people, but to a much lesser degree, and the symptoms are reduced. So by the summer, the past winter's vaccine would be no longer effective, but few people get sick. So they don't make a new vaccine until the next peak season. ",
"Yes, only for certain strains. \n\nBut last year, on one of my trips to the ER for my death flu, and resulting pneumonia, and 103 degree fever for 10 days, I got to see all the nurses and doctors treating me and saying \"we got the flu shot, it's for this flu, and we've been treating dozens of people for it this last month, and none of got sick. Why didn't you get the flu shot? It's free, you know.\"\n\nDecided I'll get the flu shot for now on. ",
"Yep! Sometimes multiple strains (i.e., the shot contains the material to make you immune to multiple strains). Think of different strains like different breeds of dog - all flu, but all different.\n\nBasically, what happens is that a bunch of people look at distributions of where different strains are common, and decide which they think will be the primary strains the following year. Once they figure this out, it's a race against time to figure out how to make the proper vaccine. This is why the flu shot comes out at different times each year. This is also why people talk about it being less effective some years - that means they 'missed' in their guess of which strains would be more common.\n\nBriefly, in case anyone was wondering - the reason that each vaccine only works against a single strain. Every cell basically has a label on it - your cells have labels that tell your other cells not to attack, etc. Your immune system then comes and reads these labels, and checks to see if each cell belongs there or if it should be killed. If the cell should be killed, your immune system then takes a bunch of time to prepare itself to attack. This time is a problem - it gives the chance for your flu to spread, which makes the fight much more painful and drawn out. The way vaccines work is they come in with some labels and tell your immune system 'watch out for things with this label', and your immune system gets ready in advance to fight that thing. That's why you sometimes feel a bit sick after a vaccine- your immune system is busy.",
"They try to guess which strains are going to be most common in the upcoming year and immunise you against these.",
"The flu is not exactly mutating constantly. Rather, it mutates frequently enough that we can expect a different selection of strains every year, but once those strains show up they tend to stick around for a while. It's not like I get sick, it mutates in me, and then you get a different version when I pass it to you. Rather, one strain will pass through our community this year a slightly different strain will pass through. \n\nIn any given year there are a handful of strains that outbreak across the world. Researchers try to track the various strains as they move from country to country and try to predict which strains will be most common. Sometimes they pick the wrong strains, and sometimes one of the strains will have a mid-season mutation that causes a fork in the virus strains, both of which reduce the effectiveness of the virus. \n\nThe standard flu shot contains the 4 most important predicted strains, though there are version of the flu shot with only 3 strains. In most years, the accuracy of the flu shot is about 60%, though sometimes it can vary. For instance, this year in Australia the accuracy was only about 10%, and researchers are watching carefully to see if this means the flu shot will be less effective in the Americas this year too. That being said, even if the flu shot is not accurate, you do get some cross-protection, and the flu shot is thought to make the flu milder if you do manage to catch it from another strain. ",
"If you're a particularly clever 5 this NEJM article might help explain: \"Chasing Seasonal Influenza — The Need for a Universal Influenza Vaccine\" _URL_0_"
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1k4msp | how do universities catch people torrenting on their network, and how are comapnies able to identify what files are being torrented? | Just a matter of curiosity, how are universities/companies able to differentiate between torrents and and high speed direct downloads? How are they able to tell if someone is torrenting a movie or a large library of work files from another computer, or if they are using p2p to download legal copies of games like StarCraft or League of Legends? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1k4msp/eli5_how_do_universities_catch_people_torrenting/ | {
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"They are able to view packet headers and see what port they are on, among other things. If you are using the default port of your client then it is pretty easy to tell that you are torrenting. If you are communicating with an IP of TPB or some other tracker, it's probably not Ubuntu you are after, but there is no proof of infringement either. \n\nThe proof of infringement comes from the companies themselves. They intentionally become a peer on the p2p network to communicate with you and get your IP address when doing so. They then look up your IP address, which given a specific time links to one subscriber. They give this info to your ISP who knows it is you specifically, and they send an email to the account you made when they first set your up. You get a strike on your infringement count. No biggie, unless your ISP is University of Nofun, then they don't do any of that and just try hard to fuck up your life. You have to deal with them, and although they are in no way compelled, they may even give away your name to the companies. "
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4dzkr3 | how do people running for presidential office keep up with their current political office while spending a seemingly full-time job campaigning? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4dzkr3/eli5_how_do_people_running_for_presidential/ | {
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"Many of them have separate staff for their office and campaign. So they have one set of staff running the office, doing everything they usually do except they have to get answers by phone instead of in person. If there is an important vote, or a bill that needs signing, they can schedule a few hours back where they actually work, and then they are back on the campaign trail.",
"They don't...and that's one of the things Marco Rubio was attacked for...his record as an absentee while he was out campaigning.",
"There is very little work that one must actually do as a politician. You don't have to propose bills. You don't have to show up to committee. You don't have to vote unless it's close. If you're a governor, all you really need to do is sign them.\n\nStaff can take care of the negotiations on your behalf. You lose clout and influence if you don't reach out to some people directly, but that's the price of being on the road campaigning.\n\nAnd really, as a politician, you are constantly campaigning anyhow. You are fundraising, meeting with donors, and showing up at ceremonial events. Now you're just doing that for your Presidential campaign.",
"Fundraising is their job. Duh! You think they actually do stuff?",
"They don't. Which is one of the criticisms of letting campaign seasons get longer and longer. Rubio got hit hard by this when he got called out on not voting on anything.",
"Well depends on how much they actually work while even in their current position. Most of the time they are just raising more money. _URL_0_",
"They often don't. Many candidates are Congressmen, and they were never expected to work full time. They went to Washington when a vote relevant to their state came up. If they knew they would either definitely win or lose, or the issues didn't concern their electorate, they often didn't show up at all. Our politicians weren't supposed to be professional politicians, they were supposed to be ordinary citizens who were paid a small salary to occasionally come to Washington to cast a vote. Their salary was mostly lost wages and travel expenses. Congressional meetings are actually timed in summer when most farmers (our former politicians) weren't busy. I consider professional politicians the worst decision the US made as a nation. ",
"What a waste. \n\nIn Canada, we literally pause the representative portion of the government during elections. However, this works because our elections are usually only around a month long. ",
"John Oliver did a segment about fundraising which quoted a few sources explaining how 2/3s of a congressman's time can go towards fundraising and campaigning during their election year. Fundraising is generally year round. It's a lot of time. ",
"You don't have to spend $66 more in taxes every four years for exclusively publicly funded elections with strict limits on how much he hated making fundraising calls as a climber rather than having them read the entire thing.",
"They barely work anyway, so what's a little extra time off?",
"Well, since campaigning in and of itself is a full time job, perhaps their the demands of their current political office are not particularly rigorous...",
"Secret is, their current job is 50% personal marketing already. Voting takes maybe 15% of the time. Going into analytical mode together with your staff to develop new legislation is time-consuming, but not necessary for every politician to do all the time.",
"They don't. Hell, your state representatives are barely even working so no new bills to look at and sign.",
"That's easy, they never were doing any work to begin with. At least that's the way it looks, based on what gets done.... ",
"Job number one is fundraising and campaigning for reelection. There's a lot of synergy when you are campaigning for a promotion. It almost guaranties reelection for the current post.",
"It's because Senators and Congressman really don't do shit. At least most don't. A lot of them like Marco Rubio don't even show up to vote for bills, those that do get told by the party how to vote. Congress is in session for a minuscule amount of time throughout the year. they really don't do shit except take handouts and go to dinner with lobbyists and special interest groups",
"They don't. Its a very real trade-off, and a big downside of the US system as it exists today"
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2ffjhy | why are aircraft winglets only on the top and not to bottom? | Why are aircraft winglets only on the top and not to bottom? Wouldn't winglets extending past the bottom of the wing increase the amount of high pressure air there? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ffjhy/eli5_why_are_aircraft_winglets_only_on_the_top/ | {
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"_URL_0_ they do ",
"The winglets are there to disrupt wing-end vortices that can\n cause smaller planes to crash if they use the same runway\nwithin minutes of larger jets.",
"For a plane to fly the wing needs to provide lift. This happens because there is lower air pressure above the wing, which lifts the plane. One side effect of this is that, at the tip of the wings, air from below the wing rushing upwards gets caught by the lower pressure and creates a vortice.\n\nIf the wing ends suddenly the effect is quite powerful because it's happening very suddenly. With winglets you make the wing follow this motion of air a bit, with a longer wing following the flow of air, thus lessening the effect by making it more smooth. Another, newer, design like the ones on the new Boeing 747-8i and Airbus A350 is based on the idea of making the area where air rushing upwards smaller by making the wingtip more pointy and curved. \n\n\nWinglets are not used to provide more lift, but to reduce vortices and ,equally important, to reduce drag when in flight. While \"not making other planes crash\" is a good argument (reducing the distance needed between planes at a busy airport) the main reason for winglets is to reduce fuel costs by making the planes fly more efficient. That's why they mostly have an upwards design.\n\n\n\ntl;dr They are on top because that's the way the air moves. "
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262hft | what kind of technological breakthrough(s) would be needed for militaries to field an airborne aircraft carrier? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/262hft/eli5what_kind_of_technological_breakthroughs/ | {
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"What would be the point of an airborne aircraft carrier? It seems like it would be crazy expensive and really easy to shoot down.",
"The energy required to lift that kind of mass for any prolonged period of time is staggering. You would need some technology that puts matter in a bubble unaffected by gravity, and if they did that, airborne aircraft carriers is at the bottom of the list of applications for it. Also, what's the strategic value of an airborne aircraft carrier?",
"1) Weight\n\nAircraft carriers are about the heaviest things in the world. Lifting one 10,000 feet in the air? We're on a whole 'nother level of heavy.\n\nSo whatever engines we have lifting this thing are going to have to be fucking powerful as hell.\n\nThis brings us to number 2\n\n2) Power\n\nHow the hell are we going to power this thing? Nuclear reactors are probably the only option but putting them on a flying ship seems risky. What happens if it crashes? At best we are scattering radioactive stuff all over the place.\n\n3) Structural integrity\n\nThe stress and strain on the ship, particularly along its keel/spine, will be massive. The Avengers ship has to have some incredible reinforcements to keep those engines attached to the ship and to keep the ship from tearing itself to pieces under its own weight.\n\n4) Cost\n\nDear god this thing will be expensive. Does it do anything that a normal carrier can't do? Yes, but not something that is really called for. Looking badass is not enough of a reason to justify a multi-billion dollar price tag.\n\nThere are probably more but those are the ones I thought up in 60 seconds.",
"While I agree with the other posters regarding the limitations arising from the amount of energy need to keep such a craft airborne, for the sake of argument I will prose a different approach.\n\nWhat about a \"blimp\" derived craft that used a gas chamber enveloped in a very light, very strong composite material. The shape could then be altered into a more aerodynamic form (maybe?) to create a more maneuverable airship. The aerodynamic, rigid structure of the gas chamber might allow for significantly more powerful maneuvering thrusters (think jet engines instead of propellers). \n\nThe material surrounding the gas chamber would have to be very, very strong. It would need to be able to withstand large caliber bullets and shrapnel from anti-aircraft rounds. Because it seems unlikely this material could survive missile strikes, the ship would require very effect point defense weapons and anti-missile weapons. \n\nYou could also take this design and use it to create much smaller aircraft carrying systems. Think of a squadron of 12 jets attached to a stealth \"blimp wing.\" The materials tech to create a shell that did not return radar signals already exists. Crucially, very high quality infrared sensors are now coming online that can detect heat sources from hundreds of miles. This craft could carry the squadron in silently and allow for a mission to be completed without the risk of refueling or being detected on the way in. They would then be able to drop from the blimp wing, strike their target, and then get back to base. A system like this would essentially double the combat radius of an aircraft.\n\nAdditionally, using the small \"blimp wing\" you could have a CAP up in the air and following and carrier battle group. They could launch much faster than if they had to scramble from the carrier.\n\nHmmm... maybe I need to patent this idea... :)"
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||
1gu3fb | what happened after my mom had a hysterectomy? | So after I was born my mom had her uterus removed and I'm confused about a few things. What happened to the space where her uterus was? Is it still empty? Also, where do her eggs from her ovaries go now? Do they just float around in her?
EDIT: Answered, thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gu3fb/eli5_what_happened_after_my_mom_had_a_hysterectomy/ | {
"a_id": [
"canuf12",
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"score": [
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3,
3
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"text": [
"The eggs, which are very tiny, are just released into the fallopian tubes and then when they can not go anywhere they are broken down and absorbed by her body.\n\nThe uterus is quite small when there is no child growing in it. The other organs and internal body fat move around and fill the space the uterus once occupied. ",
"The rest of her internal organs will move around and fill that space. She probably isn't ovulating anymore since she likely has gone through menopause but if so the eggs will be released into her abdomen and will be absorbed. ",
"Am I the only one who would love to see the /r/shittyaskscience version of this answer?"
]
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| []
| [
[],
[],
[]
]
|
|
3k4yo5 | do bodybuilders get stretch marks on their skin similarly to overweight people? | Logically speaking, the skin is being stretched in both instances so do bodybuilders also get stretch marks? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3k4yo5/eli5_do_bodybuilders_get_stretch_marks_on_their/ | {
"a_id": [
"cuut1pj"
],
"score": [
9
],
"text": [
"Absolutely\n\n [google image search for weigh lifting stretch marks](_URL_0_)"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"https://www.google.com/search?q=weight+lifting+stretch+marks&tbm=isch"
]
]
|
|
ed2oow | how do probe thermometers accurately read the temp. at the probe and not the temp of the wire? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ed2oow/eli5_how_do_probe_thermometers_accurately_read/ | {
"a_id": [
"fbf8vsx",
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"text": [
"The wires are insulated. You have three thin wires with high-temperature insulation going to a temperature sensor, and these three wires have a layer of braided stainless steel sleeving around both of them. So you're not seeing the actual uninsulated wire, just the outside sleeve that happens to be metallic for better heat resistance.",
"There is a thermistor inside the tip of the probe. it is a resistor that changes are resistance to the temperature. It is made of a material that changes resistance a lot more than the copper wire.\n\nSo what you measure the resistance for the whole probe. The temperature change of 1 degree of the probe will be less hen the resistance change for the whole wire that gets 100 degrees warmer. So the temperature of the wire is not relevant for the accuracy level you need in cooking.\n\nIn a way, it is like how an incandescent lamp gets hot and glow but the power cable do not. It is because you have a wire there with a lot of higher resistance in the lamp than in the power cable.\n\nIf you like numbers:\n\nIt is likely a Pt100 thermistor. At 0C it has a resistor of 100 ohms. at 100C at 138.5 ohms and at 200C 175.84 ohms.\n\nThe electrical conductor might be an AWG 24 copper wire it has a resistance of 10.15 ohms / 1000 feet. If the wire is 3 feet you need 6 feet of wire. So the wire resistance is 0.0609 ohms at 20C. Copper increas resistance by 0.00393% per degree C. So 100 C wire resistance increase by 80\\*0.00393= 32%\n\nSo the copper wire resistance will increase to 0.0609\\*1.32=0.080388 ohm. This is a lot less than the change for the thermistor.\n\nThe PT100 thermistor will if you heat it up from 100C to 101C increase the resistance by 0.38 ohm or 8x more the copper wire did when increasing by 80C.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThere are other sensors that work a bit different but the general idea is that you use something electrical that changes a lot with temperature on the probe and a lot less in the wire"
]
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| []
| [
[],
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33gdps | why can't we fast charge our phones to 100%? | Devices and chargers nowadays increasingly boast about "Fast Charge" capability where they are able to say, charge 50% of the battery in 15 minutes by drawing a larger current.
However, they then stop, and proceed to a usual "slow charge" which carries on for a few hours. Why is that so? What stops them from fast charging all the way such that we will have a 100% charge within half an hour? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33gdps/eli5_why_cant_we_fast_charge_our_phones_to_100/ | {
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"text": [
"Fast charging uses either more current (as you mentioned) or higher voltage to charge the batter more rapidly. Both of these methods result in higher temperatures while charging. Heat is the absolute worst enemy of today's batteries, so allowing a battery to fast charge for too long will result in decreased lifespan. As a battery reaches closer to full charge capacity, the temperatures rise even more. To combat this, manufacturers program phones to only fast charge up to a certain percentage and then reduce the voltage and/or current to allow the battery to cool down and stop it from generating more heat too quickly. The idea here, is that if your phone is almost dead, you are much more likely to need it to charge quickly than if it is at say 50% capacity when you start charging. Basically, if you're at 2% you probably won't make it home from work with a charge left if you only have 15 minutes to charge your phone since that would only be another 1-2% at normal charging speed, but someone who already has 50% would likely make it all the way home and that extra 2% from regular charging would just be a bonus. With fast charging you can get close to 50% in that same 15 minutes so the person starting at 2% would likely make it home.",
"The charge algorithm for, and chemistry of lithium ion batteries makes it impossible to fast charge them fully without damaging them. Lithium cells get damaged if the voltage gets too low, too high, they get hot, or have too much current pulled from them. The charge algorithm puts a constant current to them until they reach full voltage, than the amperage tapers off slowly while the voltage stays at the max, when the charge current is below a certain point and the battery is at max voltage, the battery is fully charged (look up CC/CV charging) Fast charging to a point where they are full after the charge is complete would need them to be higher than max voltage when charging, and settle down after current is switched off. This unfortunately shortens their lifespan immensely because a chemical change occurs inside the cell when the voltage is too high. There are chemistries out there that can take overvoltage and survive, but they don't have the energy density and would be much larger and heavier for the same capacity."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
|
2m1v68 | why is my wifi slower than my phone? (frontier fios vs. 4g lte) | Could someone please, "help me understand", why the speed on my mobile device is so dramatically reduced when using WiFi, (the second result), versus the naitive receiver it is packaged with?
This explains why, when attempting to view Netflix videos using WiFi, playback frequently stutters and or freezes. While tethered to 4G LTE however, it not only plays near flawlessly, but more esoteric features such and pause, fwd and rwd actually work as expected, at will.
4G LTE:
_URL_0_
WiFi in airplane mode:
_URL_1_ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2m1v68/eli5_why_is_my_wifi_slower_than_my_phone_frontier/ | {
"a_id": [
"cm06q23",
"cm06v5b"
],
"score": [
3,
6
],
"text": [
"What's the actual speed of your internet connection? Your WiFi router might be limiting it quite badly for a reason or another.",
"Do you live in a high-density area? How many Wi-Fi networks are visible from your phone? If it's more than 3, you likely are getting interference from other networks, which causes packet loss which causes slowdowns.\n\nYour Galaxy S5 supports dual-band Wi-Fi, so if you get a dual-band router, you can set up a network on the less-busy 5GHz channels instead of the normal 2.4GHz channels. You should get better speeds connecting to that. \n\nEdit: For reference [here](_URL_1_) is the connection from my apartment on a 2.4GHz network. [This](_URL_0_) is me connecting to the exact same router on the exact same Internet connection using a 5GHz channel instead of a 2.4GHz channel. "
]
} | []
| [
"http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1041007916",
"http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1041006808"
]
| [
[],
[
"http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3902836316",
"http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3902838140"
]
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|
|
2kianx | how does a space rocket dock with the international space station? | I'm watching the Antares Rocket launch that is sending supplies to the ISS, and wondered how they manage to 'park' a rocket.
Link for the stream [here](_URL_0_) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kianx/eli5how_does_a_space_rocket_dock_with_the/ | {
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"cllkqzb",
"cllnpyc"
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3
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"text": [
"The rendezvous is all about matching the orbital plane and velocity of the target. Even though the ISS is moving at about 17,500 MPH, once the craft intending to dock is moving at the same speed then you need only be concerned with the relative velocity between them. Kind of like two people walking down the aisle of a commercial jet to shake hands, even though the jet is moving several hundred MPH.\n\nThe mechanics of rendezvous are a little more involved and often non-intuitive. You can try it yourself with the demo of [Kerbal Space Program](_URL_0_). Visit /r/kerbalspaceprogram and you'll find loads of friendly people that will help you do it.",
"They aren't parking it. Both are whizzing by at orbital velocities relative to the planet. But they are moving only a very small amount relative to each other - centimetres per second, once they get close enough to dock.\n\nDocking two spacecraft together is much like driving two cars right next to each other on a road and trying to link them together, except a little easier because you're not subject to varying levels of road surfaces and atmospheric conditions.\n\nThe actual rendezvous, getting close enough to do this, is a little trickier, but basically involves a lot of orbital maths to get the right altitude and speed."
]
} | []
| [
"http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv"
]
| [
[
"https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/demo.php"
],
[]
]
|
|
3ezmq0 | how do animals, such as deer, in wooded areas with no nearby lakes or rivers obtain water? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ezmq0/eli5_how_do_animals_such_as_deer_in_wooded_areas/ | {
"a_id": [
"ctjwji0"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"They obtain water from the food they eat. I.e. grass, leaves, the dew found on plants in the early morning. Also a lot of animals can survive without water for awhile, they've evolved that way. "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
2nctnv | how come with all our technology we still have to fill in a bubble on a piece of paper every 4 years to tell a guy to go to a building to hopefully vote the way we wanted him to on issues we wanted to vote for in the first place? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nctnv/eli5_how_come_with_all_our_technology_we_still/ | {
"a_id": [
"cmcghbv"
],
"score": [
2
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"text": [
"Direct democracy isn't necessarily better we want minorities to have a say in how things are run. We also want to avoid \"Lynch mob\" - esk rallies from actually having power "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
1pon6l | how can a lawyer talk with the judge/police officer to lower my driving ticket when i am clearly guilty of the ticket i got? | When I was 17 I was screwing around really bad on the road, sliding through intersections, and just being an idiot because the road was empty and it was the middle of the night. Anyway, two cops saw me, I got handcuffed and they called my dad. I got a reckless driving ticket which in VA is a pretty bad ticket. I hired a lawyer, and during the court my ticket got tremendously lowered. It was pretty obvious that if I didn't have a lawyer that wouldn't of happened. All my crazy driver friends swear by this lawyer, and people say hes friends with all the cops. I'm happy my ticket got lowered, but I'm just curious how does a lawyer pull this arrangement off? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1pon6l/eli5_how_can_a_lawyer_talk_with_the_judgepolice/ | {
"a_id": [
"cd4dzcn",
"cd4goz2"
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"score": [
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5
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"text": [
"Because he can make things a *total* pain in the ass for the judges and cops in court. You have all sorts of rights to due process that they're obligated to uphold, so a lawyer can flex those rights on them and make them do a lot of work.\n\nIt's better for them to just settle out of court on a reduced ticket and save the time/money that would be spent in court.",
"A good traffic lawyer can:\n\n* look for inconsistencies in the paperwork and get you off on a technicality\n* knows the DA's and what sort of deals they would be willing to make\n* knows the various police departments and even individual offers, and can just things like the chances of them not showing up for court\n* knows how to be a pain in the ass to everyone involved so it is easier just to talk the deal"
]
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| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
|
1qyp2e | why do most people not like what they sound like? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qyp2e/eli5_why_do_most_people_not_like_what_they_sound/ | {
"a_id": [
"cdhuskf"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"The voice you hear is typically different to how it actually sounds due to a variety of factors. One is the vibrations it produces causing the voice to deepen. Furthermore you have this opinion of what your voice sounds like in your mind. \n\nWhen you actually hear your voice, it isn't what you're accustomed to, you've spent your whole life believing your voice is deeper than it is, and that you are far more eloquent than you are. So to hear yourself speak, you're struck with a different voice, and you instinctively don't like it because it conflicts with your preformed notion on what your voice sounds like."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
x4ysn | why does computer duster (such as dust-off) become an anti-freeze spray when you flip it over? | Please actually ELI5. There were way too many explanations online that were very scientific, and unfortunately I'm not exactly versed in that stuff. Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/x4ysn/eli5_why_does_computer_duster_such_as_dustoff/ | {
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"text": [
"The can doesn't contained pressurized air. Rather, it contains a volatile liquid (such as a petroleum derivative) that can vaporize very easily - that's why you can hear liquid sloshing around when you shake the can a little.\n\nNormally when you spray, you're releasing the gas in the headspace above the liquid. When you turn it upside down, the liquid covers the exit port so liquid comes out instead.\n\nIt works as anti-freeze because a mixture of water and another liquid (or solute) leads to a lower melting point. It works off the same principle as spreading road salt on ice (called [colligative properties](_URL_0_)).",
"Trying to put the 5 in ELI5 at the necessary expense of technical accuracy:\n\n1. The can has fizzy liquid inside it, and the fizz is what usually pushes out the air out the top. Sort of like when you open a can of soda and it makes a noise.\n2. It's so incredibly fizzy that--unlike soda--it wants to *entirely* turn into bubbles and disappear into the air. The only reason it is a liquid is because the metal can keeps it trapped and squeezed together.\n3. When you turn it upside-down, it shoots out the fizzy stuff instead. (Please don't do that, it can hurt you and your toys.)\n4. Have you ever gotten out of the pool, and then felt even colder when the wind blows and the water on your skin disappears into the air? It's sort of like that, but much stronger because it bubbles into the air much faster, pulling warmth along with it.\n\nAlternately, you're released swarms of frost spirits from the metal trap forged by the gods, loosing wintery doom upon the land. Stop at once, and tell your parents so that they might send for a hero who will take the cursed relic to a safer place.",
" > Please actually ELI5. There were way too many explanations online that were very scientific, and unfortunately I'm not exactly versed in that stuff. \n\nI will try. Take a big bottle of soda and drink half. Now, shake it up as hard as you can. If you open up it, the soda will push all of the air at the top out. If you quickly slip your thumb over the opening you will feel the soda trying to push the air out past your thumb. However, if you flipped the bottle up side down after shaking it but before opening it, the soda would pour out.\n\nIt is the same with Dust-Off. Except instead of soda, it uses a form of anti-freeze."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colligative_properties"
],
[],
[]
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|
|
bnnvsi | why are plastic waste from developed countries shipped off to poor and developing countries ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bnnvsi/eli5_why_are_plastic_waste_from_developed/ | {
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"en7gxz0"
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"text": [
"Because it is/was cheaper to let it be someone else's problem than to deal with it themselves\n\nAlso, the plastic in question wasn't forced on them. A company or government offers to take care of it, for a fee. Unfortunately, in a lot of countries where this offer was made, they did not ave regulation in place to prevent it from becoming the problem it has"
]
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| []
| [
[]
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|
||
6okh5v | why do "knock-off" and "dollar-store" brands try to imitate some better-known product's packaging rather than establish a brand of their own? | Wouldn't it make more sense in the long run to have a unique identity, instead of being ridiculed as [one of hundreds of Dr Pepper wannabes](_URL_0_)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6okh5v/eli5_why_do_knockoff_and_dollarstore_brands_try/ | {
"a_id": [
"dki27y1",
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"text": [
"Making a brand for yourself takes money and time, but piggybacking on an existing brand lets the consumer know what sort of product you are selling without very much investment involved. Making their own brand is a bigger goal than they are looking to achieve.",
"Because the original product's branding has already been ingrained into the consciousness of the consumer through it's use of design such as color and typography. A consumer who sees a Red soda can with white lettering is going to connect it with Coke and that will pull them to buy it because they now have a general idea of what they're getting.\n\nCreating a new visual branding would just make it significantly more difficult to attract a consumer to a knockoff product, so it's just easier to mimmick the branding that Coke has spent a century cultivating.",
"Making the syrup and bottling it is incredibly cheap. Your typical 20oz soda has perhaps 10 cents of product, the rest of the cost is in distribution and marketing. \n\nConsider how often you hear or see a coca cola ad. Coke spends millions a year on advertising, and millions more on hiring celebs and sports stars to endorse their products or be seen holding/near/drinking it.\n\nIs there a market for a budget brand that can sell a product that tastes similar to Coke, and therefore have a parasitic relationship with Coke's advertising and name recognition? And that budget brand can be cheaper by not spending a lot on ads. "
]
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"http://imgur.com/a/ePgmq"
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[],
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23c9iy | why is genetically engineering embryos so that children aren't born with genetic diseases illegal? | I've been researching the laws around genetic engineering of humans, and I don't think I can find a single country where modifying an embryo to get rid of a horrible genetic illness is legal. It's all classified as "heritable modification", and therefore banned. Why isn't there an exception for recognised diseases like haemophilia? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/23c9iy/eli5_why_is_genetically_engineering_embryos_so/ | {
"a_id": [
"cgvkxvu",
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2
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"text": [
"Ethics and morals are not black and white. \nIve heard someone explain it to me as... \n\nModifying embryos will have may benefits and many consequences ethically. Your affecting a future person's body against their will. It's an argument of rights. How would you feel if your parents deliberately chose your gender, hair colour, or eye colour for you? not letting nature take it's course per se. Of course, that question only regards the phenotype of someone. \n\nId like to see the negative traits removed from the genome without upsetting the ethical side of the argument. Traits that are undeniably, no way possibly desirable. \nI don't know too much but I think that is one of the few reasons why it is illegal. \n ",
"We also can't modify specific genes that well yet.. especially if a child is being conceived naturally.. maybe with IVF they could try it (no guarantee it would work).. but we aren't at the point where that could just be a regular thing."
]
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[],
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|
186x65 | charge on atoms. | What does it even mean for an electon to be 'charged' negatively and a proton to be 'charged' positively?
Say we have an atom here, an O2 atom with a charge of 0, right? Because the charge of the protons cancel out that from the electrons. Now we have 2 meters further a Chlorine atom (diatomic) how much do the electrons affect the chlorine atoms charge? Shouldn't it mean the charge is not 0, but 0,00000000000005 or something? Is Charge like an aura? How come opposite charges attract, and why would there only be two kinds of charges, then?
Also, a proton is made of different Quarks, would that mean that until say the whole 3 quarks come together the Proton has only a 2/3rd positive charge? I'm just wondering.
Obviously this won't be done like I'm five, but make it ELI16. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/186x65/eli5_charge_on_atoms/ | {
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"OK, your questions are quite dense. Let me try to answer part of it.\n\n > Now we have 2 meters further a Chlorine atom (diatomic) how much do the electrons affect the chlorine atoms charge? Shouldn't it mean the charge is not 0, but 0,00000000000005 or something?\n\nSo when we say that an atom is neutral, the positive and negative charges don't really 'cancel out' each other. They interact and as a whole the entire thing is neutral. But then **locally** the different parts of an atom still carry positive (proton) or negative (electron) charges. Hence if you bring something else to the system (in your case the Chlorine molecule), the parts of the atom are still able to react to the parts of the Chlorine molecule.\n\n > Is Charge like an aura?\n\nYes, but perhaps not like what you are thinking. Look up Quantum Mechanics for more details, basically anything can be described by a non-local wavefunction (in layman's term, the location of an electron is fuzzy).\n\n > Also, a proton is made of different Quarks, would that mean that until say the whole 3 quarks come together the Proton has only a 2/3rd positive charge? \n\nIt's more complicated than that. First of all, [not all quarks have the same charge](_URL_1_). Secondly, there are rules governing how groups of quarks can exist. [You cannot just have any random number of quarks sticking together](_URL_0_). ",
"Like most of the descriptions in physics before the 20th century, the name was picked way, way before the phenomenon was actually understood (in the case of charge, the word 'charge' originates with a greek guy 3000 years ago rubbing amber with beaver pelts). When we say something is 'charged' we mean that it has an electric potential; that is, it has a potential energy associated with the electromagnetic force. (Analogous to gravity: if something is 'gravitationally charged' (which isn't a thing, but if it were) it would be on the top of a hill, ready to be dropped off it. The electric charge is like the potential of a gravitational charge). The 'positive' and 'negative' parts just refer to the direction the potential points - inward, or outward. (As it happens, charge moves from the negative to positive direction, so \"inward\" is + and outward is -). This isn't analogous to gravity, obviously (because there is no 'outward' gravitation) but it's intuitive enough. \n\nThere are two interperetations of the electromagnetic force in question, and both are valid \"enough\" in their own scale. The quantum interperetation, which says that the force is discrete (so the force on one charge from another is made of pulses from one charge to the other - like someone exerting a force on your forehead by shooting ping pong balls at it) and the classical interperetation, which says that the force is continuous (so the force from a to b is made of a continuous stream like someone pointing a hose at your forhead). \n\nIn your example, there's kind of a problem. You're right about what you say about neutrality, but then you go on to add numbers to your though experiment. The force law for electric charge is\n\n > F = kq1q2/r^2 \n\nWhere q is the unit charge (the amount of charge in an electron; 1 and 2 represent the two charges being examined), k is a constant relating to the way the EM force can propagate through a medium and r is the distance between the objects. \n\nq is on the order of 10^-19 (so to square it you get 10^-38), k is on the order of 10^10 and r is on the order of 10^1, so you get a force of 10^-29. This is unimaginably small, and for physical purposes we say it's zero. So your intuition is correct, the force is non-zero. It's tiny, but it's non-zero. \n\nCharge is associated with electric potential, as I said before. Much like gravity, that potential takes the form of a field that diminishes as the distance from the charge increases. That \"aura\" is called an \"Electric Field.\" \n\nOpposite charges attract because the directions of their field amplitudes are opposite. The force comes from the equation I've shown above; the force resulting from a positive charge has a positive field amplitude (so a positive force) and the force from a negative charge has a negative field amplitude (and so a negative force). The opposite sign forces point towards each other. It seems revelatory and amazing, but really it's just simple math. They point towards each other because they have opposite directions. If they had same directions, they would point away from each other. \n\nWhy are there only two kinds of charges? That starts getting into a philosophical area, but some of the answer has to do with mathematical formalism and the underlying phenomenon from which the properties derive. It's less \"cosmic accident\" and more \"consequence of the physical arrangement of forces and particles at the subatomic level.\" \n\n > Also, a proton is made of different Quarks, would that mean that until say the whole 3 quarks come together the Proton has only a 2/3rd positive charge? I'm just wondering.\n\nIt's difficult to speculate on the way quarks behave, because they don't separate. But a proton *is* composed of three quarks, two ups and a down. The ups have charge +2/3 and the down has charge -1/3 - so the proton has a net charge of 1. I am not a quantum chromodynamicist so I can't really answer your question about how quarks come together or not, except to say that is what a quark is and conceptually anyways you are correct to say that the quark has unit charges in it (it actually has a charge gradient, as well - ie, like a water molecule it has regions of higher charge and lower charge). \n\nEDIT: I wrote something stupid about Coulomb's Law. The first form a charge is indeed the charge over the distance, but then I went into application where you need another charge to interaction, so the product of the charges is used, not just one - this changes the result from 10^-10 (which is small but not ludicrous) to 10^-29 (which is ludicrous in every sense of the word). Very sorry for the error. "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_confinement",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark#Classification"
],
[]
]
|
|
5gbxu5 | why aren't claw machines and other similar arcade games considered gambling? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5gbxu5/eli5why_arent_claw_machines_and_other_similar/ | {
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"In THEORY, those games involve skill. Now we all know the computer is a cheating bastard, but you do have to have skill with the machine to get the prize. Gambling is mostly or entirely down to luck.\n\nAlso, gambling laws usually refer directly to money, not goods as prizes. Japanese pachinko parlors spent DECADES skirting the \"no gambling\" laws by only offering prizes....which you could then conveniently sell right across the street in exchange for cash.",
"Apparently you can skirt around alcohol laws by 'selling' beer mats & 'giving/gifting' you the beverage. Went to a bar in Surrey, UK that did this years ago",
"Legally there's a tiny bit of skill, but they are rigged to only allow winners every so many tries. Some places have specific regulations for them iirc",
"It's the 'game' aspect. \n\nIt's the same reason that giveaways on TV tend to be represented as 'competitions' where you have to answer a ridiculously simple question to enter. Because the call or text is usually a premium rate line, if there's no question, then I'm paying for a chance to win a prize and that's gambling. If I'm answering a question, then it's a competition and that's not gambling.",
"I imagine it's because those games work on a prize schedule. Most of them are actually rigged. If there's a prize that's worth say $100 in the machine, then the machine will not let someone actually win it until it has raked in say $150. It's more about catching it at the right time."
]
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[],
[],
[],
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||
2fl42f | why are metals like bronze harder than the metals used to create them. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fl42f/eli5_why_are_metals_like_bronze_harder_than_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"ckac23g",
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"score": [
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"text": [
"It has to do with the different phases that form in alloys. Basically two materials form a matrix that creates a hybrid grain structure that is stronger than the homogeneous materials themselves. It is a bit complex, but think about it like concrete. Concrete is really made up of sand, pebbles, and rocks. Each on their own isn't very structurally sound, but together they all interfere with each other's movements, making the whole much stronger than any one part. \n\nTried to keep it high level, but I can elaborate if anyone likes. ",
"In the Nova documentary titled *Hunting the Elements* there is a really good part discussing exactly this. They cover it in pretty good detail. It's also just a pretty awesome documentary and I recommend checking it out."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
||
57ama0 | why is tylenol effective at lessening/curing a hangover when taken before going to sleep? | Typical Tylenol lasts for 4 hours, so why do I feel better in the morning when I take Tylenol *before* going to bed after a night of drinking? It seems it would be effective at pain relief during my 4 hours of unconsciousness, but why do I feel better when I wake up? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/57ama0/eli5_why_is_tylenol_effective_at_lesseningcuring/ | {
"a_id": [
"d8qaxlq"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Tylenol should only last about 4 - 8 hours, so it shouldn't really have a noticeable effect on any hangover when you wake up. If you only sleep 5 or 6 hours, you might catch the tail end of the general pain relief effect, but it's probably better to either wake up an hour before you really have to be up to pop a pill or just do it when you wake up.\n\nAlso, DO NOT take acetaminophen (Tylenol is acetaminophen) when or after drinking. The liver breaks down acetaminophen, but if you've been drinking then your liver is too occupied dealing with the booze to properly take care of the acetaminophen. As a result, it will deal with the acetaminophen in a different manner that releases toxic compounds which are harmful to your liver.\n\nIf you need to take something to help with the hangover, try ibuprofen (Advil) instead. It might upset your stomach some, so it's best to take it with food if possible, but it's not as hard on the liver."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
|
2nx08g | how did twitter use marketing when they first started? i'm interested in knowing how twitter got so big so fast, and what the company did to spread word about it? | I've always wondered how they got so popular so quick | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nx08g/eli5_how_did_twitter_use_marketing_when_they/ | {
"a_id": [
"cmhotpy"
],
"score": [
3
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"text": [
"The tipping point for Twitter's popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference. During the event, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000.\n\nThe Twitter team cleverly placed two 60-inch plasma screens in the conference hallways, exclusively streaming Twitter messages. Hundreds of conference-goers kept tabs on each other via constant tweets. Panelists and speakers mentioned the service, and the bloggers in attendance touted it.\n\nTwitter staff received the festival's Web Award prize with the remark \"we'd like to thank you in 140 characters or less. And we just did!\".\n\n"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
|
c2emcl | how can a wound infection get chronic? | I mean, I'm aware bacteria can get/be resistant to some or most antibiotics. I'm also aware they can make biofilm to protect themselves.
But I can only understand this if it was inside the body, in a hard to reach place.
But if it's on your leg for example, why can't you just put antibiotics or sanitizer (which basically works like an sledgehammer on bacteria. I can understand you can't use this inside the body) directly on the wound or scrape into the wound until all the bacteria are off.
I might be missing something, so thanks in advance for explaining. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c2emcl/eli5_how_can_a_wound_infection_get_chronic/ | {
"a_id": [
"erkkh0n"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"It could be an issue of an infection that doesn’t respond fully to antibiotics, like MRSA. Some\nOf the bacteria are killed, but not all. It could also be an area that has poor circulation, like certain people have, such as diabetics. The body can’t get the stuff needed to heal you there fast enough. So it’s a battle where the enemy has more resources and your own supply lines have been cut."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
|
4xp3e7 | what exact leagues are covered by the champions league? | Where can I find a list of the leagues and how many teams qualify from said league? I can't find anything about this even though I would think this is one of the most important things to put on the Champions League website. All I know from googling, reading other eli5's, the Champions League website/wiki is that the top leagues in each country have a specific number of teams they can qualify for the champions league based on the strength of that country/league. The only leagues I know are La Liga and the Premier League. But that only covers 8 teams. What about the 24 other teams? Where do they come from. I need a specific list.
On a side note, Leicester City won the premier league last year. Then I look at the teams in each group on the Champions League wiki and Leicester City is no where to be found. What? They didn't compete in the Champions League? But they were the best team in the Premier League. European soccer is BEYOND confusing :/ | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4xp3e7/eli5what_exact_leagues_are_covered_by_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"d6h9p5s"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"So there are currently a total of 54 European nations or associations that participate in European tournaments (Liechtenstein only participates in the Europa League as it doesn't have a proper league, so that leaves 53 nations to participate in the Champions League).\n\nThese 54 nations are ranked every year according to their clubs' performance in European football. Each of the first 3 nations (currently Spain, Germany and England) are given 4 spots for the Champions League, 3 enter directly into the group stage while 1 enters the qualification stage. The next 3 nations are given 3 spots, the next 9 are given 2 spots, while all others are given just 1. Most of the clubs, especially those from lower ranked nations, enter into the qualification phase and not directly into the group stage.\n\nFor the upcoming Champions League here's a nice tabulated list of all participating clubs: _URL_1_\n\nAs for your second question, I don't know where you looked but Leicester City are definitely going to be in the group stage of the upcoming Champions League! Maybe you looked at the 2015-16 one instead?\n\nHere's another nice list: _URL_0_ (this is the current ranking of the nations as explained above)\n\nSource: I've always found the format of football/soccer tournaments very interestinng. Also I'm from Malta, who rank very badly in Europe, so I'm pretty experienced in what goes on in the early qualification rounds.\n\nEdit: Some advice for the future, if you ever want to get detailed information about the format of any soccer tournament, look at Wikipedia and not the official UEFA or FIFA websites, Wikipedia always has more information."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient#Current_ranking",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016%E2%80%9317_UEFA_Champions_League#Teams"
]
]
|
|
coqxva | how does amazon have almost instantaneous access to so many different things? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/coqxva/eli5_how_does_amazon_have_almost_instantaneous/ | {
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"text": [
"Basically, they built an absolutely huge infrastructure over many years, and got agreements with many vendors to sell their wares. In this respect they are not unlike the mail-order Sears Roebuck company in its days of glory. \n\nOnce they were established as one of the most popular stores, more and more vendors were interested in having their products sold on amazon.",
"Amazon offers free guided tours of some of their fulfilment centers. You'll get an inside look at how merchandise arrives at the warehouse, gets sorted and stored, and ultimately retrieved and shipped out to customers.\n\nHere's the URL to book an appointment: _URL_0_"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[
"https://www.aboutamazon.com/amazon-fulfillment-center-tours/"
]
]
|
||
1w9hvq | how come subreddits like r/teenmodels and r/cutegirls were banned, but r/starlets is basically the same thing but considered okay? | I'm not bothered at all by photos of cute girls, some of which are underage. I understand why jailbait was banned, due to its blatant sexualization, but why were the others taken down, but not r/starlets? Is the content really that different?
I'm glad r/starlets is allowed to exist, but I don't understand the logic of the moderators. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1w9hvq/eli5_how_come_subreddits_like_rteenmodels_and/ | {
"a_id": [
"cf01kd6"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Likely because they are all famous, mostly clothed, and the subreddit is fairly small and unknown."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
|
fba9ww | why is social isolation bad for your health? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fba9ww/eli5_why_is_social_isolation_bad_for_your_health/ | {
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"It has many components but to eli5 psyhological witdrawal from social circles makes you depressed which leads to inhibitor systems activating and your boddy not functioning optimal, when you get sick you cant find medical help and social help (whether talking nor care) early or sufficient enough. All these are minor step stones but make a skyscraper that will let you fall eventually",
"We're tribal & social creatures going back millions of years, which is why we tend to function best being in regular contact with small, compatible groups. If that basic need gets messed with too much, a sense of dis-ease is created. Not unlike a zoo animal placed in an artificial environment which doesn't suit it well, causing the animal's health and emotional state to degrade.",
"It is a “psychological need” \n\nWe evolved as social bonding mammals. It’s how we know to feel safe and secure. If the tribe stopped liking you, ostracized you, you’d die. As such, our brains evolved to notice our social standing. Whether people like us and care about us. It was crucial for our survival. \n\nYour brain is wry good at being able to tell if people like you or not, how much social interaction you are getting, etc. \n\nSo when other people aren’t around, when we don’t have anyone to connect or bond with, to form a secure attachment with, our body notices, and freaks out a little. It knows it’s dangerous to be isolated. This can begin with feeling lonely or anxious. In my mind these are signals that you need to reach out to someone. Essentially your are having a low grade fight or flight response. This causes a lot of physical reactions, quickened heart rate and inflammation for example. This is a really good response, if you are like, about to be attacked by a lion. But to constantly have that stresss response, is extremely unhealthy. It stops your body from taking care of itself as it is focused on the “threat” of social isolation. \n\nThis stress, in not properly addressed, then accumulates. It can be harder to sleep., which makes it harder to deal with the stress. You can start to feel neurotic/ anxious and yes, even depressed. This is not the only cause of depression, but it is certainly a factor. \n\nOften times the best cure for this type of stress is to be around someone who loves you. Someone who you feel safe around. Someone you can make eye contact with. Someone you can open up to and talk to about your problems/ experiences. This allows you to actually process your emotions and not keep them bottled up. \n\nFurthermore Skin to skin contact releases oxytocin/ Vasopressin and generally makes us feel good. Oxytocin is in Many ways the opposite of cortisol. It is relaxation. It counteracts the negative effects that cortisol has on your body."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[],
[]
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|
||
24askr | if telcos own all the fiber for internet, why can't we just route internet through powerlines? | If telcos own all the fiber for internet, why can't we just route internet through powerlines, ultimately providing internet for everyone on the grid? It works small scale in homes, with powerline networking. What are the pros and cons of this approach? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24askr/eli5_if_telcos_own_all_the_fiber_for_internet_why/ | {
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"text": [
"1. too much interference - can't really crossing over transformer stations. Further, power is not \"targeted\" - it goes where it is drawn. It works in your house because all your outlets are on our circuits. \n2. someone also owns those power lines.\n\n",
"Interefence reduces the signal quality and most likely transformers will destroy any data that was on it. If you manage create a powerline that is both stable in voltage and data quality you could use it as a shared medium up to the transformer. This means that the more user are served over a line the worse the bandwidth will get. But this method could be used to bridge the \"last mile\". from there you could lay fiber to hook it up to the net.",
"They do. It's called \"Broadband over Powerlines\" (BPL)\n\nResidential BPL-based internet is present in Europe... I don't think it ever made it past the testing phase in North America, although some power companies do transmit data/telemetry through the powerlines.\n\nOne drawback that a lot of my friends in the ham radio community are concerned about is RF interference. \n\nEven in the limited trials and testing of BPL in the United States raised the noise floor in the HF and VHF radio bands, in the lower frequency HF bands to the point where it was unusable in many spots. \n\nAside from ham radio nerds talking to each other around the world, it could also potentially interfere with commercial/government users of HF, including military, aviation, shipping and broadcasting users. It also has the potential to disrupt commercial users in the VHF bands (railways, emergency services, businesses, etc.)\n\nThe biggest drawback is that step-down transformers tend to attenuate the data subcarriers out of the electricity -- requiring some sort of bypass to be installed at every transformer down the line... as the power gets closer to the consumer that becomes an increasingly expensive proposition. "
]
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| []
| [
[],
[],
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|
|
2fci9b | why does anyone go on tabloid talk shows such as the jeremy kyle show, maury, jerry springer, etc? | What possesses people to submit themselves for this modern bear baiting? Do they get paid? Do they just go for the free DNA and lie tests? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fci9b/eli5_why_does_anyone_go_on_tabloid_talk_shows/ | {
"a_id": [
"ck7wva2",
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"text": [
"I think it's largely the free testing. There's also a certain thinking that, if you get someone in front of a group of people, you can tell them things that they wouldn't normally accept otherwise.",
"I think they do it to be on TV. Look at the idiots who jump up behind a newscaster and yell, \"WOOOOO!\" You see that all the time. Why would they do something so stupid, so pointless, and which makes them look like an illiterate idiot? Because they can tell everyone they know *I'm gonna be on the news tonight*! It doesn't really matter why they were on TV, just that they were on TV. It's the same with those trashy shows. The fame and respect they get from being on TV far outweighs whatever disrespect they might get from having their dirty laundry aired in public."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
|
2k01wg | why do we use the term transgendered instead of the more-accurate transsexual? | Tried searching for an answer to this (mostly etymological) question. [This](_URL_0_) is the only entry that came close, but it didn't get at the essence of my question, which is more about the word itself.
It is more or less acknowledged that a trans* person could be defined as one whose gender and biological sex do not align. The narrative usually runs along the lines of "I have a Y chromosome and male genitalia; however my internal identity is female" or vice versa. So far, so good.
Moreover, the party line seems to be that gender is fluid. There aren't really two discrete, inviolable categories of gender (i.e. male and female), but in fact a complicated gradient that seems to encompass every behavior and proclivity imaginable.
If this is true, then no one really transcends their gender. A person's gender is what their gender is. In the case of a trans* person, it is never argued that their gender changes. In fact, it is the outward/inward manifestations of their (incorrect) biological sex that is changing. In those cases where surgery is used to amend one's body, it is merely the biological sex that is changing, not the person's personality or desires.
In other words, it is the biological sex that is being transcended. To the born-male who feels like a woman and therefore lives out her life as a woman, the "feeling like a woman" part (i.e. the gender) actually remains constant, and it is the limitations unfairly imposed on them by nature (i.e., being born a biological male) that is changing. So why, in the last 10 years or so, has the word "transgender" come to replace what was a perfectly logical and operable word?
**tl;dr: Why do we use the word "transgender" when it is the sex, and not the gender, that is being transcended?** | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2k01wg/eli5_why_do_we_use_the_term_transgendered_instead/ | {
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"text": [
"Because not every transgender person is male to female or female to male. Some are gender fluid, some are androgynous. Transgender covers a wider spectrum than transsexual, which refers to a more specific type of person. For example, a transvestite is transgender, but they aren't transsexual. ",
"You have a point, but the reason gender gets used is because it allows for a meaningful distinction between those who have and have not biologically switched sex. If we used transsexual for both categories, we'd lose easy access to the distinction and we'd have to resort to kludgy language to compensate.\n\nThis allows us to say that someone identifies as transgender (e.g. their outward sex characteristics are male, but their gender is female). The trans here refers to the disjunction between given sex and internal gender, not the person transcending their own gender. A transsexual is what it always has been, someone who has changed biological sex. The trans in these phrases does not imply transcend. They imply two things at a cross, in a different gender/sex normative orientation.",
"\"Trans\" as a prefix doesn't mean something is being transcended. It means \"across\" or \"on the other side\". For example, Transalpine Gaul was the region of Gaul across the Alps from the Romans, while Cisalpine Gaul on the near side of the Alps. \"Transport\" is when you carry (*porto*) something across (*trans*) a distance.\n\nSo \"transgender\" and \"transsexual\" both mean, etymologically, pretty much the same thing: that ones gender and sex are \"across\" from each other. The differences in meaning that have developed between the two words are related to their common usage now, not to their etymology. So you can't really call one \"more accurate\" than the other."
]
} | []
| [
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2e5e31/eli5_difference_between_transgender_and/"
]
| [
[],
[],
[]
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|
|
2gnb4x | i have never had a headache before. why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gnb4x/eli5_i_have_never_had_a_headache_before_why/ | {
"a_id": [
"ckkppay"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"That is quite amazing. I'd love to know the reason why."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
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