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p36d2 | why is the british pound worth more than the us dollar? how are exchange rates determined? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/p36d2/why_is_the_british_pound_worth_more_than_the_us/ | {
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"For most of the currencies, the exchange rate is determined by market forces while for some countries the rate is pegged to some other global currency. Very few countries try to have a more or less fixed exchange rate.\n\nUnder market force system, key determinants are inflation, interest rate, debt and the trade balance with other countries. \n\nActually, looking at a exchange rate at a given point of time is meaningless as it does not convey much information about the economies. It is just an equilibrium number supposed to signify the cost of goods in one country vis a vis the other. What one needs to look how the exchange rates moved historically and how they are expected to move in future.",
"I'm pretty sure based on my experience dealing with Bitcoin that exchange rates are simply determined by how many people have each unit of currency that are willing to sell, versus how many people are in need of each currency and looking to buy.\n\nLet's say you have $100 United States dollars and you are looking to sell them. You want to sell them for as much as you can get in £ (British Pound) because you're going there for vacation. You list your $100 on the market to anybody who is willing to buy it. You can list it for whatever price you want, but nobody is going to buy it unless your currency the lowest price on the market.\n\nThe current exchange rate (source: Google) for these currencies is 1 US dollar = 0.6358 British pounds sterling, or 1 British pound sterling = 1.5727 US dollars. So, if you try to sell your $100 for £70, nobody is going to buy it, because other people have it listed for cheaper. However, if you listed your $100 for £63.57, it would suddenly become the lowest price on the market (by only a penny) and would get bought up by the next person looking to buy it. Fortunately, there is a huge amount of people looking buy/sell currency at any given time, so I think this buy/sell process happens pretty fast.\n\nThat's basically the way any money market works... gold, silver, Bitcoin, expensive comic books, or any market that has value. The people in demand of the item are going to pay the lowest amount they can, but that price depends on the current supply combined with how many people want them (the demand). If the supply is extremely low but nobody wants an item, the value of it still isn't going to be very much.\n\nThat's basically how free markets / money supply works. I apologize in advance if there is something more complicated about how the currency exchange rate system works or if I didn't do a good job explaining it.",
"You're in America. You buy a hot dog. It costs $2. You go to England. You buy a hot dog. It costs £1. If the exchange rate is 2:1, you're paying the exact same amount, because when you went to the bank and turned in your American dollars, they gave you half as many British pounds. They just have different ideas about what one unit of money buys.\n\n[/ELI5]This gets more complicated when you start to look at actual pricing vs. exchange rates - when I was last in England, I found that, despite an exchange rate of 1.8:1, the prices were equivalent. In other words, that $2 hot dog was a £2 hot dog, meaning everything was 1.8x more expensive in England than in America. A $15 CD cost £15."
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2eqldg | what purpose does fort knox serve, since the united states no longer backs the dollar with gold? | The USA hasn't used commodity money since the 1960's, but Fort Knox is still a high security army base; what is inside? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2eqldg/eli5_what_purpose_does_fort_knox_serve_since_the/ | {
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"Fort Knox is an entire fort like most of the others in the US.\n\nThe US Bullion Depository (located in the area of Fort Knox) still stores a ton of gold. Currently it's holding 3% of all gold ever refined in human history. I'd say that's still gives purpose to the building.\n\nIt holds less gold than the Federal Reserve Bank of NY though (4.5k metric tons vs 7k metric tons at the bank in NY)",
"The US still *has* gold and some of it is still kept there. It's also just used as a *really safe place* to keep stuff. \n\nOriginal copies of the constitution, declaration of independence and the UK's Magna Carta have all had stays in Fort Knox. There's been crown jewels of foreign nations under threat and medicine secured away during the cold war too. \n\nIt's like the nation's safe. One of them, anyway.",
"Just because gold isn't the basis for our currency anymore doesn't mean it isn't still extremely valuable. \n\nAlso as others have pointed out the vault has been \"borrowed\" from time to time to store other extremely security-sensitive objects. \n\nAlthough my personal conspiracy theory is that there's actually not anything there anymore and we just continue to maintain it to distract people from the real super-secret vault. ",
"It is a reserve, just like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, National Helium Reserve, Strategic National Stockpile (of vaccines and drugs), Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, etc. To the degree that it's no longer essential for national security, it is anachronistic.\n\nFun fact: The US is one of the few nations to NOT have any food reserves."
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58dr2a | why isn't being a mafia associate a crime? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/58dr2a/eli5_why_isnt_being_a_mafia_associate_a_crime/ | {
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"You can't be tried and jailed for merely associating with a criminal; otherwise many of us would already be in jail. For example, I have a friend who does heroin. Should I be put in jail because he's my friend? \n\nThe fact of the matter is that a person has to be directly linked to an actual crime in order to be tried and jailed. Just being a member of a gang isn't enough unless you can be linked to criminal activity."
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aqe8bx | what is the difference mechanically between copying a file and moving it? | I was wondering if there's is really a difference. Depending on the difference, that could mean transferring consciousnesses would be possible without the problem of there just being a copy of you and the original you is dead. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aqe8bx/eli5_what_is_the_difference_mechanically_between/ | {
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"Copy is to make a copy of the selected file or folder and place the duplicate in another drive or folder, while move is to move the original files from one place to another location. The move command deletes the original files, while copy retains them.",
"For a technical approach:\n\nCopying a file means reading the data and writing them somewhere else. In reality it is reading byte by byte at a certain offset in the source and writing it byte by byte to the same offset at the destination. The content of the source outside the offset being read is not relevant, it might or might not change after or before the file gets read.\n\nMoving a file means changing the metadata of the filesystem so that the file can be found in a different part of the filesystem. If the destination is outside the current filesystem, then it cannot be changed by metadata alone and the file needs to be copied (see previous paragraph) to the new filesystem and removed from old filesystem.\n\nNow to your philosophical question of transferring consciousness:\n\nYou are not moving here, the locations of source and destination consciousness are not in the same environment. So you need to copy. Would it be possible without being dead? Yes, just read the right data at the right location and write them at the right location. Is it possible at all? The current problem is that we are not aware on how the consciousness is located, let alone how it works, let alone how to recreate it. Fix these three things and you will be able to do it. "
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6890yv | do other animals go through puberty? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6890yv/eli5_do_other_animals_go_through_puberty/ | {
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"Yes they do, but most of them go through it much earlier and much quicker than we do, and it's generally defined purely in terms of sexual maturity (i.e. puberty is the line between being able to, and not being able to breed). "
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csim9k | how does your brain not bang the sides of your skull when moving your head about? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/csim9k/eli5_how_does_your_brain_not_bang_the_sides_of/ | {
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"To an extent it does, that’s how you can get concussions. But the liquid in your head cushions it and protects it from trauma like that.",
"That cerebral spinal fluid - CSF is enclosed in a seal system. As the name implies the fluid also cushions your spinal cord running down your back. A spinal tap or lumbar puncture, draws a very small amount of the fluid out to test for various illnesses.",
"At normal life speeds, the fluid that's between the tough layers of tissue which surround the brain is a shock absorber. It slowly squishes away from where the brain is pressed against the inside of the skull, dissipating the force. \n\nAt high speeds, like a car crash or even a fall where the head hits hard / bounces, that mechanism isn't sufficient to soften the force being generated. So the brain actually does slosh around some. A concussion is a bruise on the brain. \n\nWhen there's lots of force hitting the brain, it can slosh back & forth, being bruised both on the side toward the impact AND on the point across the brain from the actual impact."
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1grejh | volts and amps and overall electricity | So I understand that volts times amps equals watts but what the heck is volts and amps physically? So confused with this | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1grejh/volts_and_amps_and_overall_electricity/ | {
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"Amps is the easiest to understand. Current, measured in Amps is how many electrons are going by at in a second. Double the amps means double the number of electrons passed in one second. Amps is not energy because each electron could pass on more ore less energy. \n\nVolts are a little trickier. Although it isn't a perfect analogy the Voltage is how hard the electrons are pushing. The tricky thing about volts is it is measure of the difference between two points. You can't say the voltage at one place is 7 volts without meaning it is 7 volts more than somewhere else. Volts isn't exactly energy either because electrons could have high volts but if there aren't many of them still low energy. \n\nTechnically the voltage tells you how much energy there is per electron. That's why Amps x Volts is energy. Triple the volts means each electron has triple the energy. Triple the Amps means triple the number of electrons every second. Triple both the volts and the amps and you get 3X3=9 times the energy every second. \n\nThings that make electricity usually push out the electrons with certain voltage. That means a battery pushes electrons from one end of the battery out through the circuit and back to the other so that the difference between the start and end is 3 Volts. \n\nThe amount of current, amps you get depends on how hard it is for the electrons to go through. If it is easy, low resistance, then many electrons will make it through and give off their 3 volts. If the resistance is high then it is hard for the electrons to go through the circuit so not as many will go through and you will have a low current. \n\nThat is why V = (I)(R) or I = V/R : I is current, measured in amps, don't ask me why\n\n"
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24w30c | why are some people more sensitive to touching hot objects than others? | I feel like I am more sensitive to hot pans or food or water than my family members. For example I cant wash my hands in the same (hot) temperature as my mom does; or I burn my tongue when tasting food but my friends dont. What does it have to do with? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24w30c/eli5_why_are_some_people_more_sensitive_to/ | {
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"I wouldnt know the scientific facts, but from what i gathered from my personal life, i think its about tolerance. My mother can sometimes seem impervious to heat, but i found that trough washing the dishes with steaming water, i too, started to form some sort of tolerance. I think it follows the same principal as with showering, where after some time the water doesnt feel so hot anymore, but on a larger, more long term scale."
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9hfyh6 | why do those yellow things form in the corner of your eyes when you sleep? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9hfyh6/eli5_why_do_those_yellow_things_form_in_the/ | {
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"That's called rheum. Your eyes discharge a thin liquid, which normally you continually flush away during the day. This can combine with other gunk, like dead cells, dust, and so on, and helps keep your eye clean by flushing them out.\n\nAt night, you don't do much 'flushing' since you aren't blinking, and so the gunk can collect and dry. ",
"My kid doesn't get them in the corners of her eyes but more so in her lashes (like 3-5). Does anyone know if those are the same things? "
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80mxko | why do you not feel “wet” when under water? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/80mxko/eli5_why_do_you_not_feel_wet_when_under_water/ | {
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"Your body doesnt really feel a state, it feels a change in states. Its why it doesn't feel like you're moving at 1,000 MPH, even though the earth is spinning that fast. You'd feel it if it abruptly stopped though. Same with a car how you don't feel in motion, until it turns.\n\nWhen youre submerged fully in water, you're in a constant state. If only part of you is under water, the change is always there: a huge difference between what the parts of your body feel. Same as with rain: places get hit randomly, others dont. No matter how fast its falling, the constant interruptions are detected.",
"I think it has to do with the temperature changes brought about by evaporation. Underwater there is no evaporation but there is a steady temperature change when wet skin is exposed to the air (cooling) coming from the water on the skin."
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2dhn5s | if emotion is just a chemical in our brains, could we make a computer capable of feeling these emotions? | And how do we know they don't feel based on electric impulses, if our brains are just pretty good computers | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dhn5s/eli5if_emotion_is_just_a_chemical_in_our_brains/ | {
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"\"Pretty good\"? How about extremely good? Scientifically speaking, we are barely on the cusp of starting to understand how the brain works. \n\nYou equate \"emotion\" with \"a chemical\", but how many emotions are there? I would estimate \"a lot\", but there aren't different chemicals for each emotion. It's about how the brain is processing the situation and this regulates where the signals go and this tells us which emotions are going on. Wiring or programming a computer to match this complexity hasn't been done yet. It is theoretically possible, but our understanding of the brain is no where near where it needs to be to accomplish this.",
"We would need a computer exactly as complex as our brain, if we wanted to recreate human emotions perfectly.\n\nWhich is absurdly complex, but yes, theoretically possible."
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4dtgdi | if prostitution is illegal but pornography is not, why don't men looking for prostitutes just get hookers to be in their " film "? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4dtgdi/eli5_if_prostitution_is_illegal_but_pornography/ | {
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"From what I understand that's how you can legally solicit a hooker without being caught.\n\nI.E. if you were to say try to pick up an undercover officer you could ask for a \"nude shoot for film\" and an undercover officer won't do that, and it's not illegally soliciting a prostitute either.",
"When filming the film company will have very expensive permits, a production crew and equipment. If permits haven't been acquired everyone would still go to jail. Different charges but same outcome.",
"There are permits involved with making adult films. I assume most \"johns\", a term for a prostitutes customer, is trying to conceal his identity, save money, or save time."
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2svmti | do advertisers on tv have different editions of commercials to air according to what happens in sporting events? | The way that during a championship game, a newspaper will print headlines for both teams as champions so they are available right after the game. Or championship hats are made for both teams. Do advertisers on TV have two different editions of commercials to run in the same situation assuming their add is pertinent to the outcome of the game? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2svmti/eli5do_advertisers_on_tv_have_different_editions/ | {
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"Sure. I remember when the Patriots were going for their perfect season in... '07? '08? and there was some commercial that had a bunch of the '72 Miami dolphins in \"Perfect Season Land\" or something (the '72 miami dolphins are the only team to have a perfect season) and I saw two versions of the ad. One that included the Patriots in \"Perfect Season Land\" and one that didn't.\n\nWish I had more details on the commercial, I know I'm butchering the premise, but that's the idea.\n\nedit: Found it! [Here's the one that aired](_URL_0_)\n\n[Here's the one that didn't](_URL_1_)"
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2vrdif | why do tesla veichles get 265 miles in range while other electric cars are substantially lower. | I thought Tesla shared its patents, what's the hold up for other car makers to match their range. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vrdif/eli5_why_do_tesla_veichles_get_265_miles_in_range/ | {
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"Well, I can't think of a purely electric car that costs as much as the Tesla Model S, most others are $25,000-$35,000.",
"Bigger battery pack. That costs money. The battery pack alone on a Tesla costs more than other whole cars. The replacement pack costs around 30k",
"Size of the battery pack plain and simple.\n\nTesla Model S P85 - 85 kWh\n\nNissan Leaf - 24 kWh\n\nYou don't need to understand what kWh means to understand why the Tesla goes 250 miles while the leaf only goes 80.",
"Its really the only car designed form the bottom up to be electric and thus can integrate a bigger battery pack as well as some other effeciencies like individual traction motors.",
"It's all about that base... which can accommodate bigger batteries without compromising stability or performance.\n\nMost electric cars and hybrids are built using established platforms (the skeleton of the car, so to speak), which were originally designed for gas engines and the drivetrains to match. Tesla (and Fisker when it was around) are purpose-built platforms with a low center of gravity, which allow all of the heavy components even distribution and optional placement. In turn this allows engineers to enhance stability, ergonomics, battery capacity, and even safety. The Tesla cars handle REALLY well, and actually scored higher safety ratings (in certain categories) than any production car ever made.\n\nYou absolutely could fit bigger batteries into a traditional car chassis, but then you'd have to give up trunk space or even the back seat, and the car would handle poorly because of the weight distribution.\n\n"
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5ipw3o | how do astronomers know which planet is earth in pictures that are taken from a billion miles away? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ipw3o/eli5_how_do_astronomers_know_which_planet_is/ | {
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" > I always see photos of our galaxy with an arrow pointing at some super tiny dot saying \"this is Earth\". Do they really know that that particular dot is actually Earth?\n\nThose are all artistic renderings, not photographs. So they can point at an area about where we think our star is and call it Earth, because they drew the picture and they get to decide which dot represents Earth.\n\nWe barely have a probe passing outside our solar system.",
"There has never been a photo taken from outside our solar system. The pictures you see of \"our galaxy\" are artists conceptions based on what we can observe about our galaxy's structure, and what other galaxies that we can see look like. "
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2cjn4r | i'm in vancouver, bc, it is 4pm and i can obviously see the sun, but also the moon. can people of the direct opposite side of the earth see the moon aswell? or are they experiencing night with no moon? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2cjn4r/eli5im_in_vancouver_bc_it_is_4pm_and_i_can/ | {
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"The amount the moon is lit (its phase) is determined by where it is in its orbit, which takes 28 days. Thus the entire earth experiences full moon on the same day, new moon on the same day, etc. What changes for each location on earth is the rise and set times of the moon. If it is within view of you, it is not within view of the opposite side of the earth -- they'll see it after it sets where you are. Because the moon is moving in its orbit, the time it rises and sets as seen from a particular location on earth changes slightly every day.\n\nAt least, I'm pretty sure that's how it works.",
"They are indeed experiencing a night with no moon. ",
"To piggyback by asking differently\n\n\nIs the angle of the sun and angle of the moon significantly bent by the atmosphere? That is, if the moon is 45 degrees above the horizon due east...does that actually mean traveling up at a 45 degree angle due east would get me near the moon?",
"You will be experiencing a night with no moon in two weeks' time. It is nothing unusual. The moon is only visible for half of the time.",
"Sidenote, Vancouver represent.",
"They are in the middle of the southern Indian Ocean waaay the fuck off of Madagascar. They are experiencing 4am and right now cannot see the moon. Almost just like you, earlier in the day at 4pm they saw the sun and moon in almost exactly the same positions as you see them now. For them the sun went down around 8:50pm with the moon still in the sky, and then the moon went down a few hours later, around midnight, and left them with a moonless sky just as you will experience in a few more hours. You are at 49° N in latitude, so they are at 49° S which means it is winter there, and probably cloudy so actually they can't see shit."
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4cmbtt | if cis-gender just means you identify with as your biological gender, why is it used as a slur | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4cmbtt/eli5_if_cisgender_just_means_you_identify_with_as/ | {
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"Technically anything can be used as a slur if you put enough hatred behind how you say it.\n\nFor example people who don't want children will often refer to people who have them as Breeders. Nothing offensive in the word itself, but in context they mean someone who just keeps popping out offspring with no real goal aside from popping out offspring. \n\n",
"It's not used as a slur, per se. It's used, much like when someone brings up white privilege, to point out that the \"cis-gendered\" person may not have the worldview necessary to ~~understand~~ readily recognize the problem or plight. For instance, it might take a \"cis-gendered\" person a moment of serious thought to really understand why choosing a bathroom is an important issue for trans-gendered individuals.\n\nAs an aside, while I'm a huge proponent of trans-gendered rights, I myself have never really undsrstood why some in the movement seem stuck on the cis/trans dichotomy other than to use it as an identity touchstone. Science continues to prove that gender isn't binary and no one fits the prototypical man or woman (making us all, to some degree trans-gendered). Further, substituting one binary standard (male/female) for another (cis/trans) seems counter-productive. But arguments of \"No, really, we're just like you\" aren't as powerful as \"We're different and should be a special, protected class\".\n\nSo, while some use it as a slur, take it as you want to take it. Don't let the nonsense get in the way of the message or the support."
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3gcxrx | difference between bombs, missiles, rockets and other large propelled munitions? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3gcxrx/eli5_difference_between_bombs_missiles_rockets/ | {
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"Bombs aren't self-propelled.\n\nIn the military, a missile is a self-propelled munition that is guided. A rocket is unguided. "
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1r0quc | why does our skin leave white marks when we scratch or get scratched? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1r0quc/eli5_why_does_our_skin_leave_white_marks_when_we/ | {
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"The skin is made up of several layers and the top layer is dead (gross right?). Well when you scratch you're scraping a bit of the layer off. This layer is slightly transparent so appears white when not in direct contact with the lower layers.\nHope this helps.",
"The skin is being ripped and torn and is now rough. Notice if you rub the scratch with your finger the white goes away. That is the loose skin falling off and some of it being laid smooth again.",
"I think OP means why are there subcutaneous white marks, not white marks on the surface.\n\nGood question!",
"Are you talking about the raised lines left behind after scratching like in this picture? (but hopefully to a lesser degree)\n\n_URL_1_\n\nThese are called wheals (or weals, both are correct spelling but wheals is more common). They are due to a local histamine-induced inflammatory response and go away in about 24 hours. When you scratch hard enough, mast cells (a type of immune cell) located just under the skin break open, releasing their stored histamines. As you may know, histamines are involved in allergic reactions and induce local inflammation among other things. Normally, mast cells release their histamines when they come across an allergen. But you can physically break them open by... scratching hard enough. Wheals also arise when, say, someone touches poison ivy, gets bitten by a mosquito, or consumes a substance that he is allergic to and develops hives (urticaria).\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThe above (Hello) picture is an example of someone with dermatographic urticaria, a rare skin disorder in which very little physical stimulation is needed to disrupt the membranes of the mast cells.\n_URL_2_\n***\nI doubt you're talking about these but:\n\nIf you are talking about the subtle white marks that are only there for a few seconds at most after scratching, that is simply because the pressure of scratching has pushed the blood from that area of skin and it has to flow back.\n\nOr if you're talking about permanent white lines left in the skin after scratching enough to draw blood, those are scars.",
"Cause you ashy nigga"
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17j1nb | how do wars and eras get their names? | Like the Middle Ages and such. Also what will the modern era be known as in the future? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17j1nb/elif_how_do_wars_and_eras_get_their_names/ | {
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"Generally speaking wars are named after the combatants, the Vietnam war, the Iran/Iraq war. \n\nSometimes named after the year it takes place in \"War if 1812\".\n\nThey can be named by how long the war lasted \"The Seven Years War\".\n\nHow do era's get their name? It is a process called Periodization, where historian split up history into smaller and more manageable blocks in order to make it easier to understand. They often use a defining point in that block to name it, such as the Bronze Age, when humans began to use bronze tools.",
"Wars, until recently, didn't get a common name until long after the war was over. Take the American Civil War for example. If you had talked to some older people a generation or so ago, they would have learned in school that the war was called: The War Between the States; The War of Northern Aggression; The War of Southern Rebellion; and The Second War for Independence (as you could guess, I grew up in the American South.)\n\nWorld War I had the same identity crisis. At the time it was being conducted, the war was referred to as: The Great War; The War to end all Wars; and, some forward thinking writers referred to it as The First World War. It was not commonly referred to as World War I until after WWII had begun. \n\nThe Hundred Years War was obviously not called that at the commencement of the hostilities. It was later called the Hundred Years War*, because, well, math was not an important subject in school.\n\n*Ok, I know it was because it combined a lot of shorter wars that covered the era, but it did last more than 100 years and you think someone would have noticed. "
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1xrpfs | why is the phone "tone" what it is? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xrpfs/eli5_why_is_the_phone_tone_what_it_is/ | {
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"Are you asking why a dial tone is set to a specific Hz and dB level? \n\nOr, are you asking what function a specific tone does at a telco layer?"
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||
7fvyus | why does opening the oven door while a cake is baking ruins the cake? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7fvyus/eli5_why_does_opening_the_oven_door_while_a_cake/ | {
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"Because when you open the door, you letting hot oven air out thru a big gaping opening. The temperature in the oven cools down dramatically.",
"heat gets let out, lowering the temperature, then the oven has to get back up to the original temp. the temp needs to be consistent. the cold air going in will make the uncooked portion, the middle, lose it's air or structure because the cold has caused it to stop rising. rising agents do not like the cold.\n\nin short, heat causes reactions. opening the oven goofs it all up.",
"Hmm. I remember watching some cooking show where the host said that was a myth provided you don't leave it open.. I would love clarification on this",
"It doesn't ruin the cake, that's a myth. The cake will bake with more predictable timing and results of you leave the oven door closed, but most cakes are no where near that sensitive to temperature fluctuations.",
"It depends on the cake. \n\nWhen you open the door you let the hot air out dropping the temp of the oven. For most cakes all this does is slow their cooking. But for some fragile cakes like Souffles the temp change before it has fully set and cooked will cause it to collapse thus \"ruining it\". "
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2b92pi | how do semi-explicit jailbait sites stay up? | I don't want to link to these places because I want to avoid driving traffic. But how do semi-explicit jailbait sites (displaying photos of 14-18 year olds) stay up?
Why I was in highschool I'd look at them because they were the same age as people in my classes, but now I'm a little older and it seems a lot illegal.
Is there line between legally erotic and illegally porn that these sites avoid crossing? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2b92pi/eli5_how_do_semiexplicit_jailbait_sites_stay_up/ | {
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"Depending on the locale, full nude images of minors are perfectly legal as long as they are not explicit or implied sexuality (eg artistic photography/nudists etc)",
"I'm not totally sure but with some links I can surely do some research for you.",
"There are two issues here; what makes something child pornography instead of art, and how particular sites stay up.\n\nFor the first issue, there is no hard and fast line between the two. Some things are much easier to determine than others (I.e. actual sex) but part of the determination is based on context and intent. If the image is meant to be sexual in nature, regardless of whether there's nudity in the picture, it's considered child porn. Context within a collection of pictures is also considered, so the same images may be considered child porn in one collection and perfectly legal in another. (For example, a parent taking a picture of their child bathing would likely be considered legal, but it may be considered child porn if another person downloaded that same pic and stored it with hundreds of other similar pics.)\n\nFor the latter, there are a few possibilities:\n\n* If the site allows people to upload pics, the site may not check the content of the images unless someone reports them.\n\n* If the site owners uploaded the pics themselves, the web host may not check the content of the site unless someone reports them.\n\n* It's also possible that the site may be a *honeypot*, which is a site that is run by law enforcement to catch people trading child porn. Honeypots are also used to catch potential terrorists, people looking to hire hitmen, and other various criminals."
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4okbm8 | since long-term effects of vaping are unknown, how are people sure its safer than cigs? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4okbm8/eli5_since_longterm_effects_of_vaping_are_unknown/ | {
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"If you vape extract from tobacco then I'm sure some risks stay in play. In a cigarette a number of compound are actually formed by burning. A lot of vape juices are made up of just water, flavor, and nicotine. Cigarettes form a lot of compounds that cause cancer. So far nicotine only serves for the buzz and is not associated with lung cancer.",
"They are \"sure\" because they do know how bad smoking tobacco is for your health. While vaping probably isn't healthy, it is pretty safe to assume it is a step better than a cigarette. ",
"Because smoking has been around long enough to know *why* it's so harmful. And that reason is largely incineration. The flame turns chemicals from the plant into carcinogenic chemicals that go straight into your lungs. Vaping does not incinerate any plant matter.",
"Because smoking is so bad that anyting is better.\n\nBut yeah, vaping is probably not risk-free, there is just no studies about it.",
"I think its more of a \"it can't be worse\" mentality. Vape juice has a shorter list of ingredients. None of them are yet associoted with cancer. ",
"It's unhealthy in it's own way, especially with some juices that are flavored because they contain a substance that will stay in your lungs and accumulate. The reason vaping is generally seen as healthier than smoking is due to the process of burning something vs heating something up. Cigarettes contain a lot of bad shit and you are burning and inhaling it, this creates a harsher smoke which will create tar build up in your lungs aside from all the other really unhealthy chemicals. Vaping on the other hand only contains nicotine and flavoring, and instead of burning the substance it is heated up to create vapor clouds. Vapor clouds are way less harsh on your lungs so the damage to the lungs is very minimal, also you are inhaling way less chemicals."
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101tcd | what is a payroll tax and how is it different from an income tax? | I [saw this article](_URL_0_) saying that only 53% of Americans pay income tax and 28% more pay payroll tax but not income tax. To me, those sound like the same thing. So, reddit, what is the difference between these two types of taxation, and what does it mean for tax policy? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/101tcd/eli5_what_is_a_payroll_tax_and_how_is_it/ | {
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"Income taxes go into the government's general fund, and can be used to pay for whatever. Payroll taxes are specifically allocated to Social Security and Medicare.\n\nBecause payroll taxes are earmarked like that, people aren't nearly as bothered by them; they feel like they're directly investing in their future, rather than just having the government take their money."
]
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"http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/09/17/who_doesn_t_pay_taxes_.html?tid=sm_tw_button_chunky"
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[]
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2qbx99 | why are a chicks down feathers yellow and where does this colour pigment go as they mature? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2qbx99/eli5_why_are_a_chicks_down_feathers_yellow_and/ | {
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"Welp I cannot answer this question in entirety, but I do know:\n1.Not all chicks are born \"yellow\" the \"yellow\" ones end up white but black chickens hatch black.\n2. Just as with human teeth, chicks molt ( loose and regrow) their feathers 2x a year normally during spring and fall to keep a strong protective layer. I believe the chicks are born with the soft \"yellow\" feathers to provide the first insulation and are only soo developed because they just hatched. As the chicks grow and turn into adults they under go a serious of molts developing new feathers each time. Eventually they are fully covered in the \"hard feathers\" that allow them to be protected, just like that of a skin.",
"The wild version of a domestic chicken is the red junglefowl. Red junglefowl chicks [have a camouflage color scheme so they can hide from predators.](_URL_0_) As the grow into adults, they're more capable of protecting themselves so they become more visible - [especially the males](_URL_1_), who are colorful to attract females. After they were domesticated, camouflage was no longer necessary and breeders didn't care about color, so the domestic breeds developed whatever color they randomly mutated - if a white chicken produced more eggs or meat, then it would be bred and the resulting breed would happen to be white. So, chickens change colors as they age as a remnant from when they were wild, but the colors they start as and end up as don't serve a purpose anymore and can be completely random. It just so happens that some chickens mutated to start yellow and end up white."
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303zu6 | why does cold air burn in our lungs? | Why does cold air burn in our lungs? And more specifically, why do I "feel" my lung in this case even though I normally don't feel it at all? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/303zu6/eli5_why_does_cold_air_burn_in_our_lungs/ | {
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"Because your lungs are quite moist, as you breathe the cold air in it works like wind-chill, rapidly cooling the surfaces inside your lungs (and your lungs have a LOT of surface area). Your lungs, like most of your body, have nerve endings which detect this and send a pain signal to your brain\n\nRemember that cold air (0 degrees celsius, for example) is vastly different (in this case, ~36 degrees) different to your internal body temperature. 22 degree room temperature air is much closer to the temperature of your own body (~14 degrees difference) so is much less noticeable. The same as you don't notice warm water on your skin the same as you'd notice cold or hot water."
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48xxrm | why is the subject line/content of spam emails mainly gibberish nowadays? | I feel like there was better click-bait 10 years ago. I mean, at least is was coherent. Most of it now is just nonsensical. Example of subject line I got today 'AxwoorthyBerk Yourr brain starts an erectionn by snding siganls...' | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/48xxrm/eli5_why_is_the_subject_linecontent_of_spam/ | {
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"text": [
"To evade spam filters. Every spam filter in the world knows that \"Erection\" in the subject line very likely means spam. \"Erectionn\" is less likely to be flagged."
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5qp4r0 | why is it that without glasses on, objects in a mirror can still be out of focus, even though the mirror is flat? (assuming you're in range for the mirror to be in focus) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5qp4r0/eli5_why_is_it_that_without_glasses_on_objects_in/ | {
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"Mirrors retain the angle of light which bounces off them so focusing is still necessary. If it didn't retain the angle then light from incoming from various directions at the same spot could have portions all reflected toward you. That would just give you a white wall and you couldn't see any image."
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6bkjpj | why does genetic malformation occur in the child if a brother impregnates his sister? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6bkjpj/eli5_why_does_genetic_malformation_occur_in_the/ | {
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"It doesn't. \n\nWhat happens is that you have two copies of every gene, one from each parent. If you have one normal copy and one messed up copy of a gene you are often fine, but if you have two broken copies you are out of luck. \n\nYour related parents will clearly have the same broken genes and have huge risks of ending you up with the two copies. ",
"Lets say there is a genetic malformation and there is a 1 in 1,000 chance that any one person has the gene for it. You need two copies of the gene to have the malformation.\n\nThat means that there is a 1 in 1,000 chance a mother could have it, 1 in 1,000 chance the father could have it, and a 1 in 4 they both pass it to their child. So only 1 in 4,000,000 people have the malformation.\n\nNow, lets say that the parents are brother and sister. Well they are related, so the chance they both have the gene is 2 in 1,000 that either of their parents have the gene. And 1 in 4 that both kids got the gene. And 1 in 4 they both pass it to their child. So 1 in 8,000, which is 500 times more likely than if the parents are siblings.\n\nThat is the problem with siblings having children. It increases the odds of genetic disease by a large amount because the likelihood of both siblings being carriers of is much more likely than any two members of the population.",
"It's not guaranteed, but it increases the chances.\n\nMost genetic defects occur because of rare, recessive genes. *Recessive* genes are genes that only show up if you get two copies of them: one from each parent. Rare genes mean that most people don't have them. Which means you only get them if both your parents have the gene, and it's still 1 in 4 (since each parent has a 50-50 chance of giving it to you).\n\nBut since most people don't have the gene in the first place, the practical odds are basically 0: the odds of both your parents having the gene are insanely small.\n\nHowever, if one parent has the gene, then the odds of each kid having the gene is 50-50; and the odds of both kids having that gene is 1 in 4. The odds of both of them passing the gene down to their child is 1 in 4; meaning that the overall odds of the child of siblings having one of these genetic defects is 1 in 16 *for each such gene* ***each*** *of the child's grandparents have*.\n\nAnd the problem is that while each of these defects are rare, there are a lot of them, each one doing something different if you have a double copy. Enough that the odds of having at least one genetic defect is reasonably good."
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215xht | if companies continue replacing human labour with robots, will this not lead to the products these companies make becoming unsellable since most people are unemployed? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/215xht/eli5_if_companies_continue_replacing_human_labour/ | {
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"Who fixes the robots? New industries will be created. There were these kinds of doomsayers wen computers started becoming the norm. Can you imagine how some jobs would work without one now?",
"It's not going to happen suddenly, each company will do it at a different time, and nobody will realize what has happened until it is too late.",
"Industrialization has been replacing human labor with machines for at least 200 years, and we have a more consumer-driven economy than ever, for better or worse.",
"Eventually, industry will become so efficient that yes, the general population will not be able to sustain our economy. (Considering our economy is 70% consumer spending)\n\nThose that continue to say that there will be new technologies and new industries created to save us fail to account for the rapidly approaching reality of 3D printing(the robots will manufacture themselves), super computational research(research that used to take an army of scientists now takes one super computer), data mining (marketing PR now done by an algorithm as well as art being created using data instead of writers; see House Of Cards creators using netflix data to make the show more widely enjoyed).\n\nThe hallmark of capitalism is unemployment because unemployment puts downward pressure on wages. Lower wages combined with higher efficiency means higher profits. \n\nCurrently, productivity is higher than ever and wages have been stagnant for decades. This means that yes, corporate profits are higher than ever (look at the Dow jones). Unfortunately for us, unemployment is not recovering (because industry is so much more efficient) so this means that we are one step closer to the point of unsustainability.",
"Yes, except that governments and corporations realize this and are moving to try and avoid that. One strategy that is proposed is a a guaranteed minimum income, in which the government makes sure that every citizen has enough to live on, and the people who can/want to find a job to earn more can still do that. Various schemes along these lines have recently been put into place in many European countries.\n\nThe strategy the US seems to be taking is to subsidize low-wage worker's wages (in the form of the Earned Income Tax Credit), and provide tax incentives to employers in order to encourage hiring people over machines. We also have a rapidly growing disability system. \n\nObviously if the trend continues and humans keep getting replaced by machines these types of programs will have to be expanded, and it's unclear at this point how viable any of these strategies are long-term.\n\nLastly, it's possible that new technologies will open up entirely new industries for people to work in that we never would think of now. Today's Information Technology jobs would have been inconceivable during the Industrial Revolution, for instance.",
"There are actually two paths that we can take, both of which end positively (a third leads to a robot uprising, so we will ignore that for now). \n\nOption 1 - robots replace humans, freeing up the human work force to enter new areas of employment. The scope of potential jobs increases as the availability of workers increases. Basically, people make money elsewhere and continue to spend. This is the most likely scenario. \n\nOption 2 - cost of goods approaches zero. 3d solar printers manufacture goods from sand (this technology exists today).\n _URL_0_ \nWith no appreciable cost of goods, there is little to no need to charge for products. The only industries remaining are service and development, leading to a dramatic shift in the economy. This is the type of social system seen in science fiction such as star trek. \n\nBasically, the system will adapt, as these changes will be gradual. There will be points of strain where job sectors vanish without an immediate replacement, but on the whole, reducing the need for humans in the workforce, especially in manufacturing, will only serve to improve the quality of life for humanity as a whole. Unless of course the robots do rise up, throw off the shackles mankind has subjected them to and enslave humanity, but then we'll just be back to doing the work ourselves, so I guess even that wouldn't disrupt the cycle of employment (slavery is a form of employment, right?) ",
"In the past, every new advance in technology was greeted with cries of despair that it would put thousands out of work. Well, these things *did* put people out of work, but they *also* created whole new fields of work and spinoff industries, so things generally evened out. Frequently, new technologies created far MORE jobs than they eliminated.\n\nBut that won't be true forever. The day some over-eager johnny in a lab somewhere actually develops a general-purpose humanoid robot that understands human speech, of the type depicted in such films as I, Robot, that's pretty much gonna be it for human civilization as we know it.\n\nThe problem here is that the vast majority of people at any given time are unskilled/semiskilled, or some type of manual labor. And TRUE general-purpose robots will eliminate pretty much ALL those jobs. Who's gonna build, deliver, and fix all those robots? Robots, of course. There will be new demand for scientists and engineers who can design robots, but we're talking about a teensy fraction of the workforce here. For MOST people, getting a MS in electrical engineering just isn't an option. The middle and lower classes will collapse into poverty, and since the upper classes are built on the work and consumerism of the lower classes, they'll come tumbling down soon after.\n\nAnd lest you think this is just wild-ass speculation, consider the Romans. They were perhaps the most prolific slavers in all history, and they got to a point where they were using slaves for just about ALL manual labor jobs. And everyday, free Roman citizens found it harder and harder to get work. Things eventually got SO bad that the government had to pass strict laws on the maximum amount of work slaves could be used for.\n\nFortunately, we're not even close to such general-purpose robots. I don't expect we'll see them for at least another 50-75 years, if that.\n\n"
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emgsc6 | we’re taught in school that white is all light/color combined, and black is the absence of color/light. so how do black pixels work on my monitor? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/emgsc6/eli5_were_taught_in_school_that_white_is_all/ | {
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"With paints is subtractive mixing and with light (monitor/pixels) is additive mixing. \n\nI felt like an idiot when I figured it out. Makes so much sense.\n\n_URL_0_",
"A black pixel turns off and blocks all the light from the back light. So by blocking all the light the pixel is black.",
"Theres two ways to make color. \n\nOne is you start with a black background and add colors to it and the max combinations creates white. \n\nThe other is you start with a white background and you \"subtract\" colors from it to create black. \n\nMonitors use the first method (hence all black when turned off), but it's not entirely black because the screen is still \"backlit\" which causes some light to make it appear not entirely black. Without the backlight you wouldnt be able to get the brightness levels to see well.",
"Many comments here aren't quite right.\n\nAll LCD screens are backlit - this is where you get your white colors, because the backlight it white. There are then LCD layers that act as color filters in front of the back light, one for each color channel.\n\nLCD's are off by default - making for a white element for that color channel, and have to be energized to deliver opacity. Full on provides the fullest color value for that channel, and all three color channels full on will effectively block the backlight almost entirely, making black.\n\nAnd that's why \"black levels\" are important when talking about LCD based screen technologies, because some light escapes. At night, turn your screen on, view a full-screen black image, and turn the lights off. You will likely still see some light escape from the backlight, a limitation of the technology.\n\nMost LCD technologies try to dynamically adjust the backlight level to achieve darker black levels depending on the darkness of the entire frame being presented. Shitty cheap screen technologies can make dark scenes look terrible, I'm sure you've seen it. It also makes it nearly impossible to shop for a good LCD screen, because the industry defined and then gamed the black level ratings on the box, they're all meaningless, and there's no way now to define a meaningful standard and hold the manufacturers accountable to them. And most retailers intentionally do not have the right environment to judge a monitor critically.\n\nOLED is different. Each element of each color channel (so, each sub-pixel) is a light emitter, it's an LED light (O stands for Organic - carbon. Organic chemistry is just carbon chemistry since you can make more molecules out of \\*just\\* carbon than you can with the rest of the periodic table \\*combined\\*).\n\nSo OLED screens don't have a backlight, if the element is black, it's because it's off. OLED is increasing in popularity, but the technology is still playing catchup to the more mature and refined LCD technologies. OLED doesn't match LCD in HDR capabilities yet, for example, but it's getting there."
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3uci1o | why are all bigger holidays at the end of the month? (halloween, thanksgiving, christmas) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3uci1o/eli5_why_are_all_bigger_holidays_at_the_end_of/ | {
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"Coincidence? New years is literally the beginning of the month, as is July 4th. Christmas was moved to be closer to the pagan holidays of Yule and Saturnalia, while Halloween basically took over for Samhain (which began at sunset on Oct 31st and ended at sunset on Nov 1st). Canadian Thanksgiving is Oct 12th, right in the middle of the month. \n\nAs well, American Thanksgiving can actually be as early as Nov 22nd. ",
"Easter usually falls pretty early in march..?\n\nEdit: TIL about Easter. I thought it was much more simple than that. Also: I meant early april not march. Im still mistaken. Ty for the replies",
"It's really not intended. \n\nThink about all the holidays that aren't at the end of the month. \n\nNew Year's Day\n\nPresident's Day\n\nLabor Day\n\nVeteran's day\n\nIndependence Day\n\nIf you look at the [list of federal holidays in the United States](_URL_0_) it's really distributed throughout the month not towards the end of it. \n\n"
]
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[],
[],
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_holidays_in_the_United_States"
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||
1yvmdg | if we ever met other intelligent life, how the hell would we communicate with it? would it not be like communicating with animals? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yvmdg/eli5_if_we_ever_met_other_intelligent_life_how/ | {
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"We would have to use images or gestures as much as possible; in this case they would be trying to communicate with us as if we were animals.",
"Well, the current plan is sending out light in bundles of primenumbers. So first of all you want to know or the life on planet X is intelligent.\nIn every system of numbers, primenumbers are 'the same'.\nSo if you send bundles light saying:1,2,3,5,7,11.. You wait for them to respond with 13. That way you know the intelligence.\n\nNow we have another problem. Because even sending light will probably take years to reach its destination. Since prettymuch all the relative nearby planets are confirmed to have no life on it.\n\nAnd in answer to the communication part: For now it's impossible to contact with sound because oc the distance. We wont be able to really talk to them in any way for now.\nI hope this answers your question."
]
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[],
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||
3qnvxe | why is it that most windows software works with old versions such as windows 7 or even xp, but most osx software needs more recent versions of the os to work? | One of the most extreme cases I have found is Adobe software which works as far as Windows 7 (2009) but requires OSX 10.9 (2013).
But even with a lot of common software the same pattern emerges.
* **Firefox** OSX 10.6 (2009) / Window XP SP2 (2001).
* **VLC** OSX 10.6 / Windows XP SP2.
Or other pro software:
* **Autodesk Maya** OSX 10.9 / Windows 7.
* **Ableton Live** OSX 10.7 (2011) / Windows 7
* **Avid Pro Tools** OSX 10.8 (2012) / Windows 7
Etc.
This is not the case with *all* cross platform software, and obviously I haven't checked *all* software that exists, but it seems very common.
Is my impression wrong or there is a reason for this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qnvxe/eli5_why_is_it_that_most_windows_software_works/ | {
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"Because Microsoft has a lot more enterprise customers who use Windows so backwards compatibility is a much higher priority for Microsoft. A lot of businesses have legacy software where the vendor literally went out of business, so for them it's either use the old version of Windows and never upgrade, or depend on Microsoft to provide backwards compatible functionality.\n\nIn contrast, not a lot of companies run mission-critical software on iOS, so Apple is free to make backwards incompatible changes more often because they assume users will always be on the most recent iOS version.",
"It's really hard to compare, the platforms have been so different.\n\nApple has released a new version of Mac OS X every year. They've also constantly lowered the price, making it a no-brainer for most users to upgrade. As a result, a high percentage of Mac users upgrade to the latest operating system.\n\nAccording to [_URL_1_](_URL_0_), here's the market share for the last 7 Mac OS X versions:\n\n 10.11 0.21% (released Oct 21, 2015)\n 10.10 4.91% (Oct 16, 2014)\n 10.9 1.21%\n 10.8 0.39%\n 10.7 0.40%\n 10.6 0.48%\n 10.5 0.09%\n\nAs you can see, the significant majority of Mac users are using the last few versions. Version 10.6 was released in 2009 and dramatically fewer Mac users are on something older than that.\n\nCompare this to Windows 7, which also came out in 2009, but from that same site, 12.21% of users are on Windows XP, and 1.73% are on Windows Vista.\n\nThe Vista users alone are more than the number of users of Mac OS X 10.8, 10.7, and 10.6 combined.\n\nThe XP users are more than all Mac users put together.\n"
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[],
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"http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0",
"netmarketshare.com"
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36y5rg | why are there so few different commercials on youtube? it seems there's only 3 commercials at any time, shouldn't yt be swarming with ad offers? | I mean, there are millions of views every day, yet there's that stupid deodorant commercial every second video. Why don't they have more ad partners? Or at least a few different ads per sponsor? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/36y5rg/eli5_why_are_there_so_few_different_commercials/ | {
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"I work in marketing, and generally speaking advertisers want consistent exposure for as long as they can get it. They are willing to pay for a higher rate of exposure rather than scattered about. The consumer is much less likely to forget an ad if they see it consistently.",
"YouTube uses ad-targeting. They serve you ads based on their best guess of what you'd want to buy, judging from websites you've visited and other videos you've watched.\n\nE.g., the ads you're seeing are different from the ones I've been seeing. You've been gettIng deoderant and car ads, while they've been serving me ads for a tech product I looked up recently."
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[],
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5srpm3 | what happens when a generator is running but no load is being applied? | For example; a portable gas powered generator. When the generator is running it is capable of powering a fridge. What happens when the same generator is running but no load is applied? Is electricity still being made? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5srpm3/eli5_what_happens_when_a_generator_is_running_but/ | {
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"It's like starting a car and walking away. It's still running, still making power, but not being used effectively. ",
"Short answer: with no load generator is easier to turn. It gets more difficult to turn (and takes more energy) as the load increases.\n\nessentially it has to do with inductive reactance in the coils of the generator.\n\nin simple terms, a magnetic field moving near a conductor will induce an electric potential within that conductor. when the generator is spinning with no load you still have electromotive force (voltage) but no current flows and in an ideal generator no *power* is produced. P = VI (ohms law). The amount of torque required to spin the generator's rotor is proportional to the amount of load. the more load the more *work* to spin the rotor one revolution. The rotor will be \"easier\" to turn with no load. Its all physics.\n\nso you have basically an electromagnetic coil spinning inside of some other coils, and really a generator is not much different than an electric motor (in fact many types of AC motors will function as generators, producing a voltage when you spin them while *off*)\n\ncurrent flowing through a coil of wire produces a magnetic field and the north pole will attract the south pole of another magnet. With alternating current the polarity reverses cyclicly so when the rotor poles gets close to the stator coils, the direction of current flow and thus the magnetic poles reverse so they dont just get close to each other and stick (3 phase AC is really useful here). If you spin the rotor and attach a load instead of a current source, a rotating magnetic field is produced, which induced an AC voltage in the coils. (the term AC voltage just made me wonder, alternating *current*, well thats just what its called i guess)\n\nThe rest is a lot of physics, and math. Basically a lot of electrical engineering technical shit that hopefully somebody that knows more about it than me can explain in elegant simple terms that ur average person thats not an electrical engineer or can understand; I'm a computer science student but I dont know everything about electrical circuits (but wants to know everything there is to know about everything), especially when it's not digital logic. Explaining technical stuff in a way that ppl just \"get it\" is hard.",
" > Is electricity still being made?\n\nYes. There's voltage, but no current. Static electricity is a different example of accumulation of potential without a load. Voltage is sometimes called \"potential\" because it *could* make current flow if a load is connected. Since no load is connected, no current is flowing and no electric *power* is generated. Power is voltage times current. \n"
]
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[],
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|
ech8z5 | how do phone games that advertise paying you (supposed) real money, earn that money? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ech8z5/eli5_how_do_phone_games_that_advertise_paying_you/ | {
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"They earn money from advertisements and end up giving out only a tiny amount of that. You will find that most of those kind of games are some sort of chance games and have a high threshold to actually cash out. It will then usually have something you can buy to increase your chances either with your points or real money. Things like refilling the timer or entering a draw. \n\nSome people may be lucky to get a bigger amount, say $50. But most of it will be something like getting 25cents a day if you're lucky. The company may be getting a couple cents per advertisement viewed but for you to gain 25 cents, you end up watching 50 advertisements. Then there's the people who watch all the ads and spend time but then decide that it will take them too long to reach the cash out threshold which is generally set to around $20 or more. \n\nFor example, you have 100 people who, in total, watched 10000 advertisements which earned the company $100. One of them won $50 and they're happy, the rest kept only getting 25 cents and have $1-5 in their accounts. To cash out, they need $20. So they have given up. So the company gives out the $50 and have another $50 left which will probably never be given out."
]
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[]
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|
k5oq3 | the rank rear admiral | an O-7 in the Army is a Brigadier General because he commands a Brigade (or originally) but Rear Admirals don't command Rears... right? Also why are they called "Lower Half" and "Upper Half" why not just Lt Rear Admiral? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/k5oq3/elif_the_rank_rear_admiral/ | {
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"According to Wikipedia:\n\n > It originated from the days of naval sailing squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy. Each naval squadron would be assigned an admiral as its head, who would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships which would bear the brunt of a naval battle. **In the rear of the naval squadron, a third admiral would command the remaining ships and, as this section of the squadron was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of the rear would typically be the most junior of the squadron admirals.** This has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the most-junior of the admiralty ranks of many navies.\n\nIn short,\n\n > Rear Admirals don't command Rears... right?\n\nThey used to command the rear of the naval squadron.",
"According to Wikipedia:\n\n > It originated from the days of naval sailing squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy. Each naval squadron would be assigned an admiral as its head, who would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships which would bear the brunt of a naval battle. **In the rear of the naval squadron, a third admiral would command the remaining ships and, as this section of the squadron was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of the rear would typically be the most junior of the squadron admirals.** This has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the most-junior of the admiralty ranks of many navies.\n\nIn short,\n\n > Rear Admirals don't command Rears... right?\n\nThey used to command the rear of the naval squadron."
]
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bjxurx | why is dentistry stressed as so important it needs to be regularly visited? | Cardiologists, podiatrists, etc don’t stress yearly or twice yearly check ups in the same way. I use my heart and feet every day, and they are arguably more important than teeth. Or why do I need to visit a dentist without having symptoms? Genuinely curious. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bjxurx/eli5_why_is_dentistry_stressed_as_so_important_it/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"You need to visit a dentist for an in-depth cleaning, which is a procedure which is difficult for individuals to do at home, unlike routine foot care. Oral health problems are relatively common, but can be very severe and irreversable (if you lose a tooth, there's no growing it back). Maintenance is relatively inexpensive compared to regular in-depth analysis of your heart, so it's reasonable to do it annually."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
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yrfpb | tessellation | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yrfpb/eli5_tessellation/ | {
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"A tessellation is a repeating pattern of the same shape often flipped and/or rotated in order to make a pattern with no spaces. A checkerboard is a tessellation, as the pattern repeats itself. But it's a simple one. Honeycombs are also tessellations as the pattern repeats itself endlessly, and it's always the same shape.\n\nThe important bits are that the same shapes are used (even if rotated, flipped, or recolored) and that there are no or insignificant gaps - meaning that if there are gaps, they could be considered part of the pattern. A brick wall is a tessellation with gaps, for example, as you have to have the mortar in there to keep the wall together. You could consider the mortar around each brick to be part of the design, and thus not really a gap as it's the same on the six brick from the top as it is on the fourth brick from the bottom."
]
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||
88c1if | why do prestigious brands allow discount supermarkets to copy them | More and more I notice discount supermarkets in the UK imitating brands to such an extent they are almost indistinguishable from the brand they try to copy.
Does this not infringe on any copyright? Essentially the original is paying for branding and marketing for the copycat.
Why do i not notice this so much in regular supermarkets? Do they have higher ethical standards or perhaps they are in cahoots with the big brands?
Please, explain like I'm five! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/88c1if/eli5_why_do_prestigious_brands_allow_discount/ | {
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"In some cases the Main company might actually own the \"fake\" company and sell bad batches/same product under a new name so that they get alot more profit",
"Because the items being sold aren't patented or cannot be patented. Remember when Tempur Pedic's patent expired a little while ago? Every mattress company jumped on making those type of mattresses. ",
"I can't speak for the UK, but in the US, food and fashion are two things that aren't patentable or copyrightable. You can copyright or trademark a label or brand name, respectively, but not the contents or appearance of the food stuff itself, even if it's a picture on a box (which you'd argue, if you could, would be part of copyright for the label).",
"You can't copyright food. You may have noticed that every restaurant in the world sells something called a \"hamburger\" that is pretty similar to every other hamburger in the world. You can trademark the name - \"Whopper\" or \"Big Mac\" but the food product itself is a free for all. This is also why brands like Coke and KFC protect their specific formulas with such secrecy.",
"The appearance of a product is not covered by copyright, it is covered by trademark.\n\nA trademark is violated when consumers would be confused about which brand they are buying. Over the years, various lawsuits have established how similar a knockoff can be without violating copyright, and knockoff manufacturers are adept at dancing on the edges of those principles.\n\nAnd even when they step over the edge, it may not be worth the trouble of suing them over it."
]
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5h87s9 | why mobile phone cameras don't have more manual settings? | I have an I phone. The camera has minimal settings that I can adjust manually. I understand that a lot of things are very unnecessary but there are some things (IE exposure, ISO) that seem like they could be useful and not terribly hard to add. Also how do apps from the app store apply these settings? Why couldn't Apple just include them as default. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5h87s9/eli5why_mobile_phone_cameras_dont_have_more/ | {
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"(tag your post)\n\nMost people have no idea how to use exposure, ISO, and other advanced camera options. If Apple provided manual options for these in their default camera app, people might set it up wrong and then blame the tool for their photos being crappy. So Apple's stock app tries to handle it itself, and *most* of the time gets acceptable results. Apple's #1 goal is always ease of use, if the experience of using the device is frustrating they might move away from buying iPhones.\n\nAs someone who knows photography and technology, you have the awareness these features exist and can go looking for them via the 3rd party utilities. So you got what you wanted, Grandma \"I can't computer\" gets what she wants (decent pictures), and everyone's happy.\n\n\n**EDIT** as for the \"how do third party apps apply these\" The camera software \"exposes\" lots of options as an API, which means that apps can be built to tweak the camera's fucntions. Apple's stock camera app either doesn't use all the APIs apple build for the camera, or when it does it doesn't tell you what it's doing or provide a button to change it. But 3rd party tools can request access through these.",
"For every person who understands what an ISO setting is and why you would want to change it, there are probably 10 who don't. And of those, a few will accidentally change their settings and wind up taking shitty pictures and not know why, and think their phone camera sucks.\n\nIt also creates a market for higher end apps that allow users to do this."
]
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2mdg4g | why do people tag things (as in graffiti)? not like murals, but like illegible text tags in public bathroom or on a dumpster. what is the point? | I could maybe understand if it actually said something *remotely* proficient, but its seemingly mostly just scribbles. Why is it so prevelent? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2mdg4g/eli5_why_do_people_tag_things_as_in_graffiti_not/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Its a kind of \"I was here\". Graffiti has been around for millennia, the pyramids have graffiti inside them from their builders, The ruins of Pompei have graffiti on them. It's an ancient tradition carried on through to today. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
4n13kw | why people are sometimes compelled to watch things they know will make them sad/cry? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4n13kw/eli5_why_people_are_sometimes_compelled_to_watch/ | {
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"text": [
"[Here](_URL_0_) is a good article. \nThis quote sums a lot of it up: \n > A lot goes on in our brains when we watch sad, emotional, or tragic films, and what’s surprising is that a lot of this brain activity actually promotes feelings of happiness, closeness in our relationships, and a sense of community."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://greatist.com/happiness/why-do-like-sad-movies"
]
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||
3rf088 | how did people discover electricity and how did they invent the first electronic device? | I cant wrap my head around how the first electronic devices were thought of and realized? How was electricity discovered and how could you from just knowing about electricity create devices that runs on it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3rf088/eli5_how_did_people_discover_electricity_and_how/ | {
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"text": [
"Essentially it all began because we observe electromagnetic effects in the world around us. For example static effects on metal shavings, lightning etc. This sparked curiosity by proponents like Benjamin Franklin. However the main leap was when we discovered that if you change the position of a magnet (In this case, naturally polarised metallic substance) through a coil of wire, it induces a 'current' in the wires. This was discovered by Michael Faraday. \n\nIt is not too much of a leap then to see how this set the ball rolling.... If we create a large enough current by moving the magnet enough, we can heat a thin piece of wire to create light. Now, If we use a combustion engine, we can keep the magnet moving constantly through a motor, and keep the light on...ohh look there are relationships between the coils I have, the wires I choose, the network I make, and the current passing, the voltage etc....\n\nEssentially, it's...curiosity > observation > testing > observation > explanation > conclusion > document > repeat.\n\nUntil you reach today."
]
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[]
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|
ywryb | capillary action. i know what it is, but i cannot quite understand how/why it works. where does the force/energy come from that allows the fluids to move? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ywryb/eli5_capillary_action_i_know_what_it_is_but_i/ | {
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"It's the attraction between your fluid and the wall of the container (adhesion) and the attraction between molecules of your fluid (cohesion). In other words, the energy comes from electromagnetic interaction.\n\nTake this for example. A ball suddenly pops into existence on a slope. It spontaneously rolls down the slope. Where does the energy come from? It comes from the gravitational potential from starting position of the ball.\n\nTake another example. A negatively charged ball pops into existence in an empty, gravity-less universe, and some distance away there is a positively charged plate. Because opposites attract, the ball will move towards the plate. Where did the energy come from? Once again, it is the electric potential of the starting positions that gives it the energy.\n\nNow let's take this further. A negatively charged ball suddenly pops into existence on a slope, with a positively charged plate higher up the slope. The ball rolls up because opposites attract (and let's say the charge is strong enough to overcome gravity). Where did the energy come form? Again, it is defined by the starting position, and the balance between the two forces. When you take both of them into account, you'll find that when the ball reaches the plate, its total energy is actually _lower_ compared to its starting position, and objects always tend to reach the lowest energy state. The decrease in electromagnetic potential overcomes the gravitational potential.\n\nIt is the exactly same case for capillary action. It is your fluid trying to reach the lowest energy state."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
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||
2ux301 | do animals have phobias? | Are there wild animals out there with the same irrational fears as people? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ux301/eli5_do_animals_have_phobias/ | {
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"cocgiu4",
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"text": [
"Horses really don't like water surfaces (not really phobic since they don't trust the ground they cannot see, and being flight animals they really care for their legs). ",
"Fear is a pretty ubiquitous mammalian response to stimuli. I wouldnt find it very hard to believe that the neuronal circuitry responsible for it that goes haywire in human brains couldnt also malfunction or overexpress in other mammalian brains. ",
"Some large dogs shit themselves and run away in absolute terror at the sight of an big exercise ball. "
]
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|
1v9jt2 | why did the usa invest in making new counterfeit proof $100 bills when a counterfeiter can just make older style $100 bills and still use them. | Why would a counterfeiter to even try making the complicated new $100 when everybody can still use the old ones with the old designs that are easier to duplicate. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1v9jt2/eli5_why_did_the_usa_invest_in_making_new/ | {
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"The old $100 bills will eventually fall out of circulation as they get destroyed in normal handling. On top of that, a brand new crisp $100 bill that still has the design of the old bill is very suspicious.",
"Gotta do it sometime. Eventually the previous 100s will be very rare like the ones before them (from the '90s) are now. So 10 years from now, the previous series of 100s will be quite rare and will elicit more suspicion when attempted to spend, thereby making counterfeits of the old series less viable/passable.",
"In places and situations where you have to worry about a significant number of possible counterfeit bills (foreign countries, illegal activities like drug and weapon trafficking, etc.), many (probably most) people will refuse to accept anything but the most modern available bill styling. "
]
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24gkmr | how do hallucinogenic drugs make you trip? | Is it just magic or? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24gkmr/eli5_how_do_hallucinogenic_drugs_make_you_trip/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Basically...\r\rThe chemicals make the little neurons in your brain that affect your five senses activate randomly/sequentially.",
"I've heard Acid actually creates new neural pathways in your brain.\n\nI think shrooms shut down your reality testing mechanisms and stimulate parts of your brain to feed into your reality construction circuits that usually don't. "
]
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[],
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3edqyr | how come some animals seem to be able to wake up and be alert instantly, while with humans we often need a good 30 minutes to feel awake. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3edqyr/eli5_how_come_some_animals_seem_to_be_able_to/ | {
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"Who is this \"we\" you speak of? I know plenty of people who can just get up and go. It's not really that hard. ",
"If i'll wake you up with screaming and gun in my hand you will instantly feel awake and be ready to run "
]
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||
5a92m3 | why is alcohol the only calorically dense compound that is also a drug? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5a92m3/eli5_why_is_alcohol_the_only_calorically_dense/ | {
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"Because alcohol is a fuel.\n\nCalories are just a form of measurement.\n\n1 calorie can raise 1ml of water 1 degree centigrade.\n\nAlcohol is a highly combustible material and therefore it is no surprise when it contains a large amount of potential energy.",
"The reason is two fold.\n\n1) you consume a significant amount of mass of ethanol relative to other drugs (a 5% vol/vol beer is 13.8 grams. With other drugs, one dose is typically on the scale of less than 0.1g.\n\n2)Ethanol is directly converted to acetic acid, which happens to be the fundamental two carbon unit the body uses for energy (sugars and fats also converted to this). Other drugs are excreted after metabolism where ethanol is used as food. "
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cl90wf | what's the difference between a point and a vector? | This just won't get in my brain.
If I'm in a 3d space and have a point, it has 3 values (xyz) that defines where in space it is.
If I have a vector it also has 3 values to define where it is (or is headed which seems to be the same since at the end of it's arrow, it basically still has a point, that it's pointing at, right?). So what's the difference? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cl90wf/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_a_point_and_a/ | {
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"~~A vector has more than three values to define it. In 3d space, it would require three to define its location, and at least two more to determine its direction and magnitude (length). It could also be defined by three values for its initial point and three more for its terminal point.~~\n\nSay if you had a point in 3D space whose coordinates were (100, 100, 100) - with those coordinates, you know the point's location. Now, if the point also had a speed... For example, if it were moving at a speed of 2 along the X axis. You could express that speed as a vector (2, 0, 0). Now that vector's coordinates are nowhere near those of the point, but that doesn't matter because the vector defines a direction and speed, not a location."
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17nxts | when i call a 10-digit number, and get the "it is not necessary to dial a 1 and area code...please try again" message, why can't the phone company just go ahead and complete the call? doesn't it have enough info? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17nxts/eli5_when_i_call_a_10digit_number_and_get_the_it/ | {
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"Correct. It doesn't have enough \"info.\" You entered a sequence of numbers that weren't recognized as a valid telephone number. In anticipation of a common reason for that, the recorded message gave you a suggestion that *may or may not* have been applicable to you. But it's up to you to know whether following the instructions in the recording will solve your problem or not.",
"It's not general practice to require you to drop the 1-### I'm guessing it's a cheap fix for some old equipment that can't preparse the numbers and route them accordingly to local or ld. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nLocal number\nThe local number (or subscriber number) must always be dialed in its entirety. The first few digits in the local number typically indicate smaller geographical areas or individual telephone exchanges. In mobile networks they may indicate a network provider in case the area code does not. Callers from a number with a given area/country code usually do not need to (but optionally may) include the particular area/country code in the number dialed, which enables shorter \"dial strings\" to be used. Devices that dial phone numbers automatically can include the full number with area and access codes, since there is no additional annoyance related to dialing extra digits.\n",
"When you dial 1 you're accessing your CO's long distance trunks, thus making a local call over the LD circuits will incur LD charges so they do not route the call. Some new telco systems will recognize a local call and re-route that call to the proper trunks.",
"dear someog,\nmany many years ago, phone networks, the machines that make sure when you dialed mommy's number her phone would ring, were not very smart. to help them understand what we wanted, the engineers running them taught them this: if the first digit dialed is a 4, for example, then 6 more will come, and this is a local call. if it's 1, then 10 more will come, and this is a call to another state (like where grandma and grandpa live). if it starts with 011 then many more numbers will come, and this a call to another country (like aunty fighting in Iraq). now the networks grew up and learned to analyze (that's a big word for understand) almost any mix of digits you dial, so in many places adding the 1 doesn't matter. the problem is that some phone companies don't want to spend money, so they still have some of the old machines that need the specific number.\ntil;dr: some old carrier switches still need the full number formats",
"I work for AT & amp;T and it's simple the 3 digit area code you're dialing needs access to a PIC code which is usually an interstate carrier (long distance company) to have communication between two central offices outside of a certain range or switching station throughout the country. NOT dialing a one you are only open to whats called an LPIC or intra-Lata carrier which has specific access in a region, which by default is your local phone company. Most of the US I outdated and ran by CU . So the actual infrastructure archaic in its nature uses these specific codes to talk to one another. Simply put the phone company doesn't recognize the number you're dialing without the one cause its not in its region and just dialing it allows it to access it's PIC database to find the number. ",
"Huh. I live in Toronto and there is no problem with this.",
"+1 (###) (###-####) stops this from happening on my cellphone",
"Let's break down what you're actually doing when you make a call.\n\n1) International call code. You aren't using this unless you are calling international. Every country has one specific code you put in to tell the operator, \"Hey, I'm making an international call.\" This specific code for your country can be found most places and is usually designated in a phone number with a simple \"+\" sign. In most of North America this is 011.\n\n2) Country code. This is when you tell the operator what country you want to call. Wanting to dial the U.S.? Hit a 1. UK? 44. This keeps going and going. You have to use this if you're making a call inside of your country, but it's not close to you (different area code, see below).\n\n3) Area Code. Live in a country that's kind of big? You may need additional area codes. These are completely subjective and vary by regions within countries.\n\n4) The first three digits of a U.S. number have no significance other than the phone company usually tries to assign similar prefixes to general areas. Usually mobile phones will share similar prefixes with other mobiles, and landlines to landlines.\n\n5) The last four digits of a U.S. number are the only ones with no real rhyme or reason to how they do things. Some companies try to make this last four number something easy to remember (divisible by 100, all one number, etc.), but other than that there's no real pattern.",
"This was a real problem with modems when 10-digit dialing became a requirement. Most of the software required either 7 (local) or 11 (long distance) digit numbers. I lived in the Houston area when this happened, and updating software was a pain in the ass. You had to find someone with the update and put it on a floppy disk and \"sneakernet\" it over since the modem wouldn't work. ",
"after reading all the babble in this thread from landline apologists, i conclude that it's only because telcos are ornery and won't leave the stone age; cellcos were never there.",
"And why do websites ask me for my state and suburb once they have my post code?",
"I think the real answer may be that they intentionally did that so you would know if you were paying for the call. In other words, if you start dialing with a \"1\" you are paying long distance (either within the area code or to another area code) fees.\n\nFor example, if you live in a place with 7-digit dialing, you'd dial the 7 digits to make a free local call. You'd dial 8 digits (pressing 1 before the 7 digits) to make a paid call within your area code. This is still used in places where the region of the area code (potentially an entire state!) is bigger than the region of free calling (typically a 25-mile radius). In areas with multiple area codes that are all considered free local calls (such as the 281/832/713 overlay in Houston), you dial just the 10 digits to make a free local call. But if the number you are calling is outside the free local calling area, you press 1 first.\n\nThis way you always know when dialing the number whether you'll be paying for the call. The telco won't let the number go through if you dial it wrong, to force you to know that.\n\nAt least that's what I was told. Contradictory experience would be welcome to know.",
"I think it's only a mess in North America. When I lived in Britain BT was able to connect me when I entered the area code even when it was not necessary."
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4upla6 | how can we "look back in time" through telescopes to galaxies that are millions of years old? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4upla6/eli5_how_can_we_look_back_in_time_through/ | {
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"Any time you are looking at something you are looking \"back in time\" because light has a maximum speed, it isn't instantaneous. If you look up at the sun, you aren't seeing the sun as it is now, you are seeing the sun as it was 8 minutes ago.\n\nSo, the further something is from us, the longer it takes light to get to us. So when we're seeing it, we're seeing it as it was long ago, depending on how far away it is.\n\nAnd we *can* and *do* see the Big Bang. It's called [Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation](_URL_0_)",
"Light travels at a set speed. (299 792 458 m / s, aka 671 million mph)\n\nSo, depending on how far away the object we are seeing it, the older the image we view actually is.\n\nFor close example, the light you are seeing from our Sun is actually a bit over 8 minutes old... It could have just exploded into a supernova, and we won't know about it for several minutes.\n\nThe long distance stars are just further examples of this; the further away it is, the older the image we are seeing is.",
"\"Look back in time\" makes it sound like some kind of time-travel is happening, but it's not.\n\nImagine your friend Bob takes a picture of himself, prints it out, puts it in an envelope, and mails it to you. A week later, the envelope arrives in the mail, you open it, and you look at the photo. You are seeing Bob as he looked a week ago when the photo was taken, not how he looks now. In that sense, you are \"looking back in time\" one week. But there's no magic or time travel happening here. It's just that it took a week for the image to get to you.\n\nLight travels at a certain speed. It takes time for light to get to us from sources like stars. If a star is far enough away, it can take many many years for the light to get to us. When we see that star, we're seeing how it looked years and years ago, instead of seeing how it looks now. That's why they say we are \"looking back in time\".\n\nWe can't just look back in time to any point we want though. You can't, for example, look at what your friend Bob looked like when he was born unless someone actually took a photo of him when he was born and saved it. We can only \"look back\" relative to how far away the object is we're looking at."
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36jnda | why do hip-hop/rap artists collaborate on albums more often than other genres? | Just wondering because I can get a Tech N9ne album with every other song featuring another artist, but go and buy a Rock album with just the guys on the cover. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/36jnda/eli5_why_do_hiphoprap_artists_collaborate_on/ | {
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"I've often thought about this myself.\n\nI would guess that hip hop as a whole is much more of a \"community\" than other genres, and thus it sports a competitive (yet collaborative) nature unfamiliar to the rest. Artists of other genres don't have nearly as much motivation to put someone else on the track because they have little in common other than style of music.\n\nRegarding lyrics, hip hop is also much more technical and nuanced with flow, style, rhyme patterns, and probably some other things, which I would attribute to the increased speed and number of words per verse. I think this lends itself pretty handily to the fact that the artists collaborate often, whether it's to try to outshine each other or offer supporting views.",
"It has a lot to do with production process, and just differences between genres. In hip hop, the people writing the music and making the beats are generally not the same people spitting the verses. So if a producer makes a beat, he'll get 3 or 4 different MCs on it to give it more variation or reach a larger audience.\n\nIt scales up, too. Top 40 producers will shell out literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a popular rapper on a track (listen to that new Taylor Swift song with Kendrick on it for a really blatant example). So you have producers deliberately seeking out multiple MCs or even \"buying\" verses to make the songs more interesting or more marketable.\n\nRock music is different. Even commercial rock bands generally try to give the impression that the people in the band are the ones writing and performing the music. So it's often less desirable, from a production standpoint, for a lot of outside collaborators to appear on a rock album. It's also more economical to just have someone else in the band sing if you want more voices. Or somebody's girlfriend. That always works.",
"Rock mucisians collaborate but it's more behind the scenes. Bob Dylan wrote songs for bands back jn the 70s and rock cans may work with each other in writing lyrics or producing albums.\n\nRap artists collaborate that way too but obviously there is more collaboration where the listener can hear it.\n\nIt doesn't mean rap is bad or that rap is all about the money. Lots of bad rock music and lots of good rap. And rock artists want to get paid as much as any rap artists.",
"Contrasting rapping styles can work well together over the same beat, contrasting singing styles usually sound weird or forced\n\nAlso its something that has just become ingrained in the hip-hop culture over the years",
"Scandinavian metal scenes are rife with collaboration. There are about four thousand Norwegian metal bands, but only about twelve actual musicians. "
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2m3je6 | if a lot of decommissioned satellites are just left in orbit, wouldn't it be increasingly harder for spacecraft to avoid hitting space debris? | Just read on the front page about the nuclear reactor that failed in space and was left in orbit where it will be for another 4000 years.
Is there usually a disposal plan for old satellites? I know that some satellites go out of orbit and crash-land on Earth. Is that the main way of disposal? Are a lot of decommissioned satellites just left to chill out in orbit until they become unstable?
And on a related note, how do spacecraft avoid hitting the multiple dead satellites and space debris on the way up? Do they have some sort of radar that warns them of collisions, or do engineers just calculate a path that misses all the debris based on the known orbits of debris/old flying junk? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2m3je6/eli5_if_a_lot_of_decommissioned_satellites_are/ | {
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"We [keep track](_URL_1_) of the junk, for the most part. \n\nThe space around our planet also has the advantage of being a very large volume, so you can fit quite a lot of stuff in there. That being said, collisions can happen.\n\nSome satellites are boosted to what is called a ['graveyard orbit'](_URL_0_), others are deorbited, and some fail to do either. ",
"It *is* becoming more and more difficult to avoid all the debris in orbit. There is a lot of discussion of what to do about it.\n\nThat said, a lot of planning goes into avoiding other objects in orbit. Part of that is keeping things in different orbits - remember not everything orbits at the same elevation.\n\nAlso, a common way a disposing of objects in orbit is to put them into a reentry trajectory that will cause them to burn up. Obviously, not everything had been sent back into the atmosphere to burn up."
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pj71h | a small emergency. eli5 an international wire transfer | I'm living abroad for a few months and I lost and then cancelled my debit card. No charges that were not my own were found but its going to be a few weeks before the new one will arrive. I have enough money to last a few days and can loan from a friend if need be but would prefer not to.
I've been told its possible to do a direct funds transfer to a local bank but I'm not sure how this works when I don't have an account with said bank.
Will someone ELI5 this process? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/pj71h/a_small_emergency_eli5_an_international_wire/ | {
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"First of all, I think we'd need to know which country you are in.\n\nAnway, take a look at IBAN: _URL_0_\n\nYou need to get an account you can access from where you are. Probably that means you need a local bank account."
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289zkx | why do coupons have expiration dates? | I mean, if a coupon expires, that lessens the chance that the costumer will go to the store and buy something. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/289zkx/eli5_why_do_coupons_have_expiration_dates/ | {
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"Coupons are a form of advertising. They are often meant to push certain products for a specified length of time. ",
"Coupons are accounted for by money set aside for the promotion. The expiration date let's the manufacturer move around that money to other promotions. You don't want to be in a situation where people redeem a large number of old coupons and you didn't budget for it accordingly. \n\n\n\nIncidentally, the coupon industry is rather interesting. When you give your coupon to a grocery store or merchant, that coupon gets sent to prison workers in Mexico who sort coupons by manufacturer. The coupons get weighed and the manufacturer cuts a check to the grocery store or merchant. ",
"Imagine the impact if a pizza restaurant sent out \"buy one get one free\" coupons, but instead of using them people just hoarded them for years.\n\nThe restaurant chain would make a certain amount of money every year.\n\nNow imagine that after 100 years or so people just started using those coupons every time they bought pizza. The restaurant chain would suddenly need to sell twice as many pizzas to have the same amount of income.\n\nCoupon expiration dates help companies prevent that kind of thing from happening."
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5a0thn | why are negative g-forces harder to take in than positive ones ? | For instance, why is it that fighter jet pilots are able to resist positive vertical Gs of more than 6, but negative vertical Gs of 3 at most ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5a0thn/eli5_why_are_negative_gforces_harder_to_take_in/ | {
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"Gravity exerts an effect on the blood in your vessels.\n\nIn positive G-force, the excess gravitational pull tends to cause your blood to stagnate in your calves, in the compliant and easily distensible veins. Pilots are able to withstand this by muscular training and by virtue of their G-suits, which inflate around the legs and body to prevent too much blood from pooling there. The body has compensatory mechanisms to keep blood flow moving to the brain, but in most cases, the most severe thing that can happen is a black out due to low blood flow to the brain.\n\nIn negative G-force, gravity tends to push blood towards the brain, where the veins sit in a closed, bony box that has limited space to expand, and even lesser capacity than the legs. This excess blood can compress nearby blood vessels, or even expand vessels enough to burst a few veins and arteries as well. This can be very serious and can lead to permanent damage, which is why pilots cannot tolerate excess negative Gs. Excess blood flow to the brain is poorly tolerated, since it doesn't have enough space to accommodate this extra blood, so the effects are much more serious.",
"Because we evolved in an environment where negative G forces are much rarer than positive ones. Our bodies evolved to adapt to what we are most likely to experience.\n\nIn particular, when you experience positive G, blood pressure decreases in your brain, and increases in your lower body. Your legs are pretty much must bone and muscle, and are relatively tough. Also, if a small blood vessel ruptures, the damage is fairly minor and heals quickly.\n\nNegative G increase blood pressure in the brain, which in not good. The brain is delicate, and even small ruptures in the blood vessels can be fatal.\n\n"
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36gjhb | why do children hate going to sleep so much? it feels so good! | It seems pretty universal that kids hate going to sleep. It also seems universal that adults love hitting the pillow after a long day. Children are the masters of doing what feels good at the moment without regard to others. Why do they hate sleep so much when adults can't seem to get enough? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/36gjhb/eli5_why_do_children_hate_going_to_sleep_so_much/ | {
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"Well, kids like to be active, not lazy. They dont work all day. Adults, however, do work all day, and are much more tired at the end of a day.",
"I think it has more to do with them having to go to bed while others, adults and older kids, are allowed to stay up. Why would you want to be told to go to sleep when other people are up still having fun and doing things? That's why kids think bedtime sucks. That, combined with the fact that adults work all day and are tired (getting old sucks sometimes too), while kids still have a ton of energy at 8pm.",
"i hated going to bed especially if it was still light out. i always thought there was so much more i could be out doing and it just left me with an empty feeling in my gut.\n\nand yet i would up a fight getting out of bed in the morning haha"
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1eg6sm | why some people believe there is a correlation between guns and freedom. | Not a troll, I've just never heard any simple answer to this. I get that part of it is in case you need to overthrow a tyrannical government, but isn't that strictly speaking, "treason"? Also, are people who live in countries where fewer people carry guns and have stricter gun controls less free? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1eg6sm/eli5_why_some_people_believe_there_is_a/ | {
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"This is a somewhat loaded question, and the answer is somewhat subjective, but the basic premise is that in our constitution, which is the document upon which our *entire country* is based, it explicitly states that the people shall be allowed to have guns. Not all countries have that, so in that sense, it's a freedom that America gives its citizens.",
"I'll begin by saying that I'm French (so I don't know much about Murica freedom and guns :) )\nWhat I understand thought is that in so called \"free\" countries, the state is the only entity who's allowed to use legitimate violence (cops can force you physically to get in a car, put your arms behind your back...).\nThe citizen are only allowed violence in very restricted circumstances, exceptions.\nI guess people feel that relying too much on the state to use legitimate violence ends up leaving them very vulnerable to regimes that would shrink the liberties (dictatorship and such).\nI have to say that I believe if an American general decided to take over the government, he would face a much stronger opposition (military speaking) than he would in France for instance.\nIt is kind of the same subject as privacy protection vs crime/terrorist control. Allowing the government agencies to know anything they want on anyone may be a powerful tool to fight crime/terrorism but it put the whole democracy in a very scarringly vulnerable position.\n\nTLTR: A kind of \"spontaneous-citizens-army\" may be seen as a good way to avoid the establishment of dictatorships.",
"Disarming the population of a country is historically a prelude to oppression and genocide. The ownership of guns is considered a barrier to this scenario; the Gestapo are less able to kick down your door and search for undesirables if many citizens can meet them with a bullet.\n\nOverthrowing a tyrannical government would indeed be treason. So would killing Hitler; who cares?\n\nPeople who live in disarmed countries with strict gun control are not necessarily less free (except on the issue of guns of course). But they do lack a safeguard against oppression.\n\nThe expectation isn't necessarily that a citizen uprising could completely overthrow the government, just that oppressive measures that would warrant an armed reaction can be met with some level of force. Our efforts in the Middle East should prove how dangerous guerrilla warfare can be without any real hope of conventional military victory. Resistance could be as simple as Nazi soldiers on leave in occupied countries coming back a few men short every night, falling to men with long knives in their coats and cold anger in their hearts.\n\nThose same old men now find themselves not allowed to carry a knife without a permit showing it is required for their job.\n\nIn fair weather and good times the right seems pointless and dangerous. But it isn't there for the good times.",
"A gun allows you to personally protect yourself, your family, and your belongings. If you are beholden to the government to protect you how \"free\" are you really?\n\nI don't 100% agree with this but I think their are some elements of truth to it and I think it's something to consider.",
"I believe by infringing upon citizens right to own firearms would simply disarm law abiding citizens. Criminals are criminals because they don't care about breaking the law.\n Them, like you and I, must feed themselves and their family. Unlike you and I-I assume though, they are willing to do by any means necessary. If a disarmed citizen were to get in their way the said criminal would likely act in a violent way.\n Therefore many want the ability, legally, to defend themselves by any means necessary to protect them and their families. \nIf decreasing the number of deaths is truly the goal we may as well make alcohol/cars illegal as they cause more deaths than guns. We tried that before (with alcohol). I don't believe guns are the problem, the operators-the people- are the problem. "
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4owhy0 | why is florida the only state where alligators and crocodiles live side by side? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4owhy0/eli5_why_is_florida_the_only_state_where/ | {
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"Alligators are more tolerant of colder water and weather, and thus are found not only in Florida but in Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina and South Carolina.\n\nCrocodiles are much more susceptible to cold and for that reason they are only found in Florida, and only in south Florida. They require consistent, year-round tropical temperatures. Even a cold snap in south Florida can kill crocodiles, while alligators may continue to thrive.",
"Because it is where the tropical biome (crocodile home) meets the wet woodlands biome (alligator home). And because biomes don't have walls. But I hear Trump wants to put one up.",
"Alligators are found in only two places in the world, The United States, and China. Crocodiles are found everywhere except Europe and Antartica.\n\nMost regions only have one major type of crocodilian, with the exception of South America, where Caimans live.\n\nThe American Crocodile and American Alligator overlap in small areas of Florida. The Alligator is set up for cooler conditions than most other members of the crocodilian family.\n\nAmerican Crocodiles like very specific conditions (mix of fresh/salt waters, and temperatures), and were being out-bred by the American Alligators as humans devastated these specific habitats.\n\nIronically, the American Crocodile has had a resurgence because of Nuclear Power facilities, and their retention ponds, which create the specific conditions that the American Crocodile prefers. They bring in salt water to cool the reactors which creates the brackish water the Crocodiles prefer.\n"
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11953n | - how my dog knows it's me coming to the door, before he can even see me. he barks at everyone but me, but he has no line of sight on me. | I live in a bad neighborhood so I just have a door with a peephole, and one window facing outwards (to the street) that is covered by a chest of drawers. My dog is obviously a genius of epic proportions, but I'd like to know how the clever bastard does it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/11953n/eli5_how_my_dog_knows_its_me_coming_to_the_door/ | {
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"Do you come home at the same time every day?",
"Not sure if you arrive home in a car or not but my dog probably identifies me by the following sounds:\n\n* Distinctive engine noise of your car\n* Sound of your car door closing\n* Sound of keys entering the lock\n\nA dog can easily tell the difference when someone else's car drives by versus yours and similarly the resulting sounds that you make when arriving home are unique and identifiable by your dog.\n\nMy wife was once walking our dog before I had gotten home from work. I rode my motorcycle to work that day. She noticed that the dog's tail started wagging and she started pulling hard on the leash almost a half a minute before I was within earshot of my wife. \n\nGranted my bike is louder than my car but I also drive a Subaru WRX which has a turbocharger and if you listen carefully cars with turbos makes a whining noise when the turbo spools up. My dog would also get excited and happy whenever a WRX drove by or was nearby.\n\nThey have amazing hearing and they can tell.",
"I can tell my boss is walking down the hall at least 30ft away, her heels just click a certain way. I'm sure your dog knows how you walk.",
"The same way I can tell which person is moving around the house without looking by the way their footsteps sound.",
"It might be smell in a combination with other reasons.\n\nDogs have a much better sense of smell than us and if he knows your scent then when he smells it combined with foot sounds outside he will assume it is you",
"Heightened sense of smell."
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ezxp2e | how does a meteorologist detect lighting? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ezxp2e/eli5_how_does_a_meteorologist_detect_lighting/ | {
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"Lightning detection takes advantage of the radio frequency pulse that lightning causes. Several antennas collect the signals and the timing gives the direction.",
"Next time there is a lightning storm turn on your car radio. Tune it to an AM frequency that is just static, no broadcast. Every pop, click, and static burst you hear is lightning. You can listen to storms from miles away."
]
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jzem5 | what is the deal with al jazeera and why is there such a stigma against them in the us? | I've never watched Al Jazeera before. I hear about its virtues ONLY on Reddit. Everyone talks about how it's one of the last great news sources.
But in real life, it seems like most people think it's some terrorist channel. Why? How did this happen? How did it become "infamous"? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jzem5/eli5_what_is_the_deal_with_al_jazeera_and_why_is/ | {
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"I think the stigma comes from two main sources:\n\n* After 9/11, they broadcasted the Taliban's/Al Qaeda's videos, which, a lot of people felt like gave those groups credence, recognition, and some would argue, favor. \n\n* Speculation but... (personal bias here) a lot of Americans are (unfortunately) horribly ignorant, so, people are distrusting of something with an Arabic name. This is also combined with wild speculation on politician's and the US media's part to portray Al Jazeera's content as anti-American. I remember hearing nothing but negative things for a long time about it after 9/11. \n\nThey do a really good job on presenting a fairly unbiased view though, and people get the sense that they're presenting real news, and not just commercialized garbage. ",
"I think the stigma comes from two main sources:\n\n* After 9/11, they broadcasted the Taliban's/Al Qaeda's videos, which, a lot of people felt like gave those groups credence, recognition, and some would argue, favor. \n\n* Speculation but... (personal bias here) a lot of Americans are (unfortunately) horribly ignorant, so, people are distrusting of something with an Arabic name. This is also combined with wild speculation on politician's and the US media's part to portray Al Jazeera's content as anti-American. I remember hearing nothing but negative things for a long time about it after 9/11. \n\nThey do a really good job on presenting a fairly unbiased view though, and people get the sense that they're presenting real news, and not just commercialized garbage. "
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7pdetm | gaussian distrubition - what it is, and how it works | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7pdetm/eli5_gaussian_distrubition_what_it_is_and_how_it/ | {
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"Essentially, the Gaussian distribution (or normal- since that's what I'm used \nto, I'll call it that from now on) is a kind of \"default\" for calculating the \nchance that a continuous data point will fall in some range, or above some \nthreshold, or below, or... you get the point. The exact way to do this depends \non the \"distribution\" of the data being used, but (at least in certain cases) \nthe distribution resembles the normal one for sample sizes over 30. In fact, \nit's so normal to use it (hence the name) it's actually causing serious problems \nin the modern world because it's been forced onto data that it doesn't fit!\n\n\nTo understand how it works, you need to understand the bell curve- if you \nhaven't seen it, any article on the Gaussian distribution will include a copy. \nThe basic shape always stays the same for any data. However, the peak will \nsit over the mean, and the graph is stretched or squashed to reflect \nthe standard deviation. To use it, then, is all you have to do is find the \narea of the graph that sits over whatever interval you want to find the chance \nfor- usually, this is done using tables of the area to the left of any given \npoint with some subtraction if required, but it's the same underlying idea. \nThe area under the curve happens to work out to exactly one because the curve \nflattens at the ends, so the area corresponds exactly to the probability.\n\n\nIf there's anything else you want to know, feel free to ask!",
"The Gaussian distribution is the formal name for the statistic that it will be more probable to have a middle value than the max/min value.\n\n\nSimple case: Get two dice. Each die has a side from 1-6. So two dice has a minimum of 2, and maximum of 12. But there is only one way to make 2 (1+1) and much more ways to make, say, 7. (1+6, 2+5, 3+4, 4+3, 5+2, 6+1) \nIf you count all the possible outcomes (2-12) it looks sort of a like a bell curve (the shape of a bell with the middle being much higher than the ends)\n\n\nThere is much more to this than just the shape with probablity but will will need a ELI10-15. Look up the wiki page! Hehe"
]
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||
33uxnq | why does most graffiti look similar? | Obviously this is pretty objective, but to a person who doesn't pay attention to graffiti details, why does so much of it seem to be consistent in the style, font, etc? Is it the same person or people doing it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33uxnq/eli5_why_does_most_graffiti_look_similar/ | {
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"I'm gonna have to take a guess here and say that people are influenced by other people and add their own touch to it. The average person may not notice that difference, just like the average person doesn't notice brushstrokes in a painting? There really are so many styles though that if you pay attention you will see a difference. ",
"There are graffiti styles and they develop in different regions. So in one place you will see a lot of similarities. Also, the really well done pieces are quite possibly members of a crew who will have their own variation of a similar style. BTW I'm no expert so these are speculations but ya.",
"It looks similar to you because you haven't learned how to distinguish styles or quality. If you had, you'd be able to pick out good from bad. ",
"Although graffiti varies signifigantly if you pay attention, at first glance i know what you mean. Similar curved 's' and sharp yet bubbley, overlaping letters, etc? I would think that It is just an easily noticed and selfidentifying style in that subgenre of art. Why does most heavy metal sound like, what could be described as the heavy metal sound? It is an easily recognizable selfidentifying quality. Otherwise it might just be jazz..."
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20gwmb | why do they remake classic/awesome movies and ruin them? why don't they take lousy movies and remake them into something good? | Yes, I realize it's just about money and marketing. But aren't they concerned that it would harm their reputation as a filmmaker/actor? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20gwmb/eli5why_do_they_remake_classicawesome_movies_and/ | {
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"People like copying things that were great so they can get recognition. Recreating and reconstructing something lousy takes work and is a risky move I guess",
"For the same reason awesome foreign movies get remade by Americans and almost without fail they suck horribly; people without your sensibilities need their media spoon fed. American movies have sucked for a long long time and the movies that make big bucks are made for the adolescent in everyone; avengers, pacific rim etc. ",
"It's considered too risky. If a production company has a choice between remaking a classic movie that did well or remaking a crappy movie that did poorly, they're going to go with the classic movie because it comes with guaranteed brand recognition. They don't care whether or not the movie turns out to be good, they only want to hype it up enough to get people into the theaters; that's where they make the majority of their money.\n\nIt's the unfortunate result of an art form that's mostly controlled by people who aren't artists.",
"They ruin them for you, someone who has watched the classic films and is a fan of them. But to others they rebooted the series/made the film relevant. There is confirmation bias at play here because all the remakes you now about are worse, but you probably enjoyed the remakes where you hadn't seen the original."
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3zo91w | how does denuvo drm work? | If Denuvo DRM works by pre-emptively encrypting a software's instructions and then decrypting the instructions in real-time to execute on the CPU, why can't you simply grab the key used to decrypt the instructions from the RAM? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3zo91w/eli5_how_does_denuvo_drm_work/ | {
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"You can grab the key from RAM and use it to decrypt the executable. No DRM system can prevent someone from copying the program if it's running on their system, because the code must get decrypted at some point in order to execute. All DRM and obfuscation can do is make it more difficult to crack - you cannot make it impossible."
]
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|
3r3ovf | if time is infinite, won't everything exist again in the future? | If time is infinite, then won't everything eventually come to be again? Like a loop? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3r3ovf/eli5_if_time_is_infinite_wont_everything_exist/ | {
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"Just because something is infinite doesn't mean it contains all permutations.\n\nThere is an infinite amount of numbers between 2 and 3, but none of them are 4.",
"Time is a measure created by humans. Moments of the universe are infinite if you go ahead with the presumption that the universe is infinite.\n\nAnd in that, highly doubt a loop. Since if we're talking about the sane universe, elements of the universe barely ever retrace their steps. Every element constantly transforms to something else, without anything ever being the same again. And infinity (also alternate realities referencing quantum physics) allows room for infinite transitions in the existence of elements of the universe. ",
"I didn't think we thought time *was* infinite? Just absurdly, unimaginably long.\n\nIsn't the 'heat death' theory of the fate of the universe fairly widely accepted these days? And isn't the implication of it that eventually, over insane periods of time, all energy will be annihilated and that everything, including time, will end with it?"
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5klcf0 | why do people have such a difficult time admitting their ignorance of something? | Aside from fanatical egos and narcissism, why is it difficult to admit ignorance and ask for information on a topic that one has trouble discerning? I think it would be much more progressive to admit ignorance and attempt to fill in those intellectual gaps, but hey, that's just me. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5klcf0/eli5_why_do_people_have_such_a_difficult_time/ | {
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"In school, you're not allowed to say \"I don't know.\" You have to put forth whatever you do know or infer, and do it with confidence. At the least, this was my experience. Schools push this attitude because it gets you places in higher education and when getting a job. Of course, this is just my theory from my experience. I really am ignorant of the real reason. I was amazed when I graduated and joined the work force where people so easily said that they had no idea to their bosses. ",
"If there's one person you **have to** be able to depend on, it's yourself. You may have friends and family members you rely on and such, but the *ultimate* person responsible for your safety and survival is yourself. \n\nSo regardless of how intelligent you are or aren't, looking at evidence that you're wrong or you screwed up can be quite difficult and emotional. Because it means you let *yourself* down. Your brain promised the rest of you \"I know what's going on\" and then didn't. It's no fun!\n\nEven people who are good at taking criticism or good at admitting their ignorance likely **still** feel a negative emotional response to the proof of their oops in front of them. They're just good at managing their response and re-focusing on something productive.",
"This is something that comes with experience.\n\n[The Dunning-Kruger Effect](_URL_0_) came from a study that showed incompetent people don't know they are incompetent and see themselves as experts.\n\nIt takes the realization that one doesn't know as much as they think to break that effect."
]
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1ppgl8 | when the us "sends aid" to foreign countries such as israel, what is actually exchanged? | I read today that the US cut $5 billion from food stamps and approved nearly $500 million in aid to Israel? What does this mean? What are the terms of this transaction? It can't simply be just a $500 million transactions between governments. I imagine the money is in the form of food or other goods/supplies.
I'd prefer some detailed responses (which I understand is kind of contrary to ELI5, but /r/askreddit and /r/answers didn't seem like the right places to ask this). Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ppgl8/eli5_when_the_us_sends_aid_to_foreign_countries/ | {
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"Basically, they get money, but they are required to spend most of it with US corporations. In that sense, it's as much a subsidy to US defense contractors as it is foreign aid.\n\n_URL_0_\n",
"In general you can think of Aid as the US government buying things from US companies for other countries.",
"In a $15 trillion dollar economy, we can afford to spare $500 million to prevent another Holocaust. Israel faces an existential threat. It always has. Whereas the Palestinians face a quality-of-life threat, accompanied by threats to their individual security and safety due to their own organizations attacking Israel from domestic areas as a bait for Israeli retaliation, which always results in casualties. \n\nYou can never tell when it comes to the news. They have a terrific way of skewing and bullshitting numbers. Cutting food stamp money would galvanise the lower classes to vote democratic. Ending aid to Israel would end a lot of Jewish backing of liberal candidates. Google 'constituency'",
"They are in the form of loan guarantees. \n\nLoan guarantees are essentially the explicit agreements between two people - or two nations - that if one defaults on a loan the other is obligated to pay it back. It is not free money. \n\nThe loan guarantees are not grants - not one penny of U.S. government funds are transferred to Israel and, ideally, the United States will never have to pay out even a single dollar. To date, Israel has never defaulted on a loan guarantee debt obligation."
]
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15bi2x | veganism. the what can be used from animals? what cant? | im really curious. and dont read to good, so eli5 please!
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/15bi2x/eli5_veganism_the_what_can_be_used_from_animals/ | {
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"Anything that comes from animals, vegans do not have anything to do with it. Milk, eggs, some soaps, leather, feathers, if it has to do with an animal, its a no-go. \n\nSource: my mom used to be a vegan."
]
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44t0qo | i've never seen a fat bird. is that because flying is vital for them to survive so natural selection kills them or because birds simply don't get fat? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/44t0qo/eli5_ive_never_seen_a_fat_bird_is_that_because/ | {
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"text": [
"You've never seen [a fat bird](_URL_1_) before? You're [missing out](_URL_0_).",
"People commenting here don't know what they're talking about. Birds do get fat the closer you get to the cold extremes (arctic, mountain peaks). You've never seen one because, I assume, you haven't been to these types of places. Furthermore, you wouldn't know how fat the bird is until you kill and butcher it, but I promise, there are fat birds.\n\nYes, flight is a big part of their survival, but so is fat in the cold weather. As with most things, there's a balance. When colder season come, birds store fat. Not enough that they cannot fly anymore, but they do store fat. When it's time to migrate, a lot of that fat gets burned off."
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"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N6Jgscsk0iY/TZYCp56IZzI/AAAAAAAAABQ/4ocTSBoaNQc/s1600/Fat%2Bpenguin.jpg"
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2ht6q8 | why don't/can't 100% electric cars like tesla recharge themselves while in use like a standard car battery through its alternator? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ht6q8/eli5_why_dontcant_100_electric_cars_like_tesla/ | {
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"They could, if you threw a gas motor in them. That takes up space and costs money so they have opted not to ",
"A standard car battery is charged by burning fuel to turn the alternator. But if you tried that with a fully-electric car, you'd use up energy from the battery to turn the alternator, which would in turn charge the batteyr for *less* than the energy that you spend to do it, since some energy is always lost to friction.\n\nYou can't get energy for free.",
"You mean, why isn't an electric car a perpetual motion machine? Because thermodynamics.\n\nIf you added a generator, it would take additional power to rotate that generator. The power you would get back would be less than the power used to rotate it, again because thermodynamics.\n\nTANSTAAFL.",
"In a standard car, you're using fuel (gasoline/petrol) to recharge the battery. In an electric car, there is no other fuel source to charge the battery with. You would be attempting to charge the battery using the battery's own charge and you would just continually lose charge.",
"They do get a little charge back from a generator, it's physically impossible to get 100% of the energy back because most of the battery's energy is used to turn the wheels and more is lost in the form of heat.",
"Because a standard car uses energy created in an explosion in the engine to charge the relatively small battery. The alternator can't run the car, if it could it would require much more energy than the internal combusion engine could provide.\n\nThe tesla doesn't have a combustion engine. It's battery runs the car so it can't also charge itself.\n\nBasically you're asking why you can't charge a battery with the same battery.",
"The alternator and indeed the car is only moving because of charge drawn from the battery or powerplant in the car. (Generally the batter.) Turning electrical energy into mechanical and that back is woefully inefficient. You would always be better off removing resistance for the purpose of needing less energy to move it to begin with rather than trying to push it really hard to allow it to be tapped to recoup some energy. \n\nSince a petrol engine doesn't make electrical energy to start with it's not a terrible place to tap for some electrical power for the battery. If you have all the electricity already there, though? It's a waste.",
"Energy has to come from somewhere. Standard cars recharge themselves through an alternator because the engine is turning due to burning gasoline.\n\nIf you put an alternator on an electric car you'd effectively have this:\n\nExpend electricity to turn engine\nuse turning engine to produce electricity.\n\nYou'll never produce as much as you've spent to create the turn. ",
"Because an alternator is run by a pulley powered by the engine. Since the Tesla doesn't have an \"engine\" like one in traditional cars, there really isn't a way to fit a traditional alternator to it. And also, a traditional alternator would not be able to keep up with the expenditure of electricity that a Tesla undergoes. Some cars though, like the Chevy Volt and Fisker Karma, use a gas powered generator which is essentially a small engine that powers a big ass alternator. \n\nWith this said, the Tesla does have some KERS (kinetic energy recovery systems). For example, when you put on the brakes magic happens and you get some energy back."
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4vmpcv | why meals ready to eat (mres) take so long to leave the body or just cause incontinence? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vmpcv/eli5_why_meals_ready_to_eat_mres_take_so_long_to/ | {
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"They are purposely low in fiber because they are made to be used where there aren't toilets and/or you need to carry your poop with you so you don't get discovered, so constipation is a feature, not a bug.",
"A contributing factor to this may be that an MRE's aren't intended to be a 'three meals a day' thing. ",
"MREs are designed to have a lot of their calories in the form of carbohydrates and are typically eaten in high-activity situations. If you're exerting yourself a lot, and have a lot of carbs in your diet, you exhale a lot of those calories because they can be more readily converted directly into CO2 through your metabolism.\n\nAdditionally, they have low fiber, since they're trying to be energy dense. Fiber is nutritionally useless, mostly useful to fill out your waste so to speak, it would be a waste of weight in a field ration. So you exhale most of the food you're eating, and you're eating less extra junk to fill your waste. So there's less waste. It's not exactly healthy for long-term use, but they're supposed to be a field ration, not a long-term diet. MREs also lack a lot of micronutriets making them bad for long-term consumption in that regard too, at least without vitamins."
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re5sv | why english shows like the office, skins and being human are remade for the us. | Skins was a shot for shot (more or less) remake, I just don't get the point. Can anyone explain pretty please? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/re5sv/eli5_why_english_shows_like_the_office_skins_and/ | {
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"I suspect that A) there might be a licensing issue (although I don't know the technicalities of that) B) there is probably some concern about how well the humor would play with American audiences, and C) there might be union issues. ",
"It depends on the show. For period shows or sci-fi shows, they generally aren't remade. Something like Downton Abbey or Doctor Who are very successful in the US. \n\nFor more conventional shows, there are a number of reasons. Perhaps foremost, script changes are often needed for cultural references. Then, shows like sitcoms rely on viewers being able to identify with the characters. If characters have different accents, it just makes it harder for American audiences to relate, and lessens the likelihood of the show being successful. ",
"Bear in mind that a 30-min BBC episode has to be cut down to 22-24 mins to accommodate advertising breaks, the US viewers wouldn't get the original British series as intended anyway.",
"Because it's another market. They hedged their bets that if something worked well in one market, it stands a fair chance of succeeding in another market. Also, it's easier dealing with existing content. If anything didn't work in the original run, you can change it to work better in the second market.\n\nIt goes both ways. Quite a few shows have been adapted to British audiences from the US. _URL_0_ Not as much as the other way, because British people naturally understand American accents and culture with more ease."
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3a36xg | how does proactiv get huge celebrities to endorse their product? | Proactiv commercials feature the most high profile celebrities during their peak. They highlight pics of them as youths with bad acne. Do they just pay them a ton to do so or is there another reason they promote the product? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3a36xg/eli5_how_does_proactiv_get_huge_celebrities_to/ | {
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"text": [
"Money. Definitely money. It's a quick gig that takes no more than a few hours, and makes them more money than anyone deserves for that amount of time."
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1a7xbx | how does the tap work | I understand that it works because of the pressure differences but how do we get tap water in cities without water towers. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1a7xbx/eli5_how_does_the_tap_work/ | {
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"Reservoirs and pumping stations. ",
"This should help.\n\n_URL_0_ \n\n"
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5so4e8 | how does dynamic cruise control and accident prevention braking work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5so4e8/eli5_how_does_dynamic_cruise_control_and_accident/ | {
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"I believe these systems constantly monitor the field of view in front of the car. \nImagine a camera with a green zone amber, and red. \nIf it's in the green zone, the car cruises along as normal, when you get too close to the car it prepares its systems giving you chance to brake yourself based on it's recommended distance. As soon as you don't respond to the car getting to the red zone it applys brakes until it reaches the amber zone. Where you will maintain speed. If the car in front suddenly stops, it will recognize the speed it has stopped depending on how fast your approaching and apply breaks full on to bring you to a stop. "
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26ud7f | how do bytes take up "space"? | You know, like how my hard drive only holds 1TB. I must assume that they don't take up physical space, but if that's the case, then what do bytes actually occupy? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/26ud7f/eli5_how_do_bytes_take_up_space/ | {
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"They do take physical space. ",
"On the platter of a hard drive, a byte takes up eight (since it is made up of eight bits) teeny, tiny areas of the ferromagnetic surface of the disk with a particular magnetic charge. How small that area is depends on the precision of the read/write head, and other additional factors.",
"Any storage manipulates atoms as a storage medium. Atoms, though small, take up a measurable amount of space. Hence, storage is limited by available physical space.",
"It's more like resolution. \n\nYou can \"see\" some pretty tiny pixels on your computer screen. \n- or some pretty small ink dots on paper. \n\nBeyond some point in 'smallness', your eyes have a hard time making anything meaningful out of those small marks. \n\nThe way data is stored on magnetic media ( spinning hard disk plates) is related to how small we can make a reliable reading of what each bit means. \n\nThe capacity of your drive is how many reliable - separate - bits can be read with the current, consumer-level tech. \n\n\n\nEDIT - to your follow up on /u/mobyhead1; \nbits are a magnet that can be flipped.. on or off, 0 or 1, N or S. \nbytes are a grouping of 8 bits that mean something together. \n",
"Your hard drive is a round plate, kind of like an old record. It's divided into thousands and thousands of \"sectors\", tiny little spots. \n\nEach one of those tiny spots is a byte... When you save a byte on your hard drive, the drive head makes a change in the magnetic charge in that spot.\n\nThe computer turns these positive and negative magnetic charges into ones and zeroes.",
"Think of it this way. \n\nYou have a large plate with the whole surface area covered in small 1 cm^3 cubes (think, > 10^1000 cubes), each side having either a 0 or 1 on it. It already takes up space, but when your hard drive pin drives its magnet over these cubes, it changes it from 0 to 1 or vice versa. \n\nThe containers that hold bytes take up space, but writing bytes to them simply changes the orientation of these bytes.\n\nOR\n\nyou have a box full of air. You pump in different air, while venting out the old. Space occupied is the same, but composition is different.",
"You can say it doesn't take physical space.\n\nA new harddrive is completely filled with random garbage data.\n\nYou divide the harddrive into chunks and keep track of it in a table. As you write into it (i.e. modify the random garbage into useful data), you mark off chunks as being \"actual information/not garbage\" in the table.\n\nOnce you mark off every chunk as being actual information, you have \"filled up the harddrive\"."
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51o9pj | why submarines use nuclear power, but this isnt more commonly used on land? | I understand the fear of meltdown but how is it it isn't an easy fix,and is that the main reason why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/51o9pj/eli5_why_submarines_use_nuclear_power_but_this/ | {
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"Nuclear power is especially beneficial for submarines because it means they do not have to refuel or surface for air (for a very long time). This makes it much easier to operate in secret. No alternative to nuclear power offers this benefit. On land, that concern does not exist.",
"Submarines benefit from not needing to refuel for long periods. This isn't nearly as important for land vehicles, especially since a land vehicle can stop anywhere, turn off, and consume no power whatsoever. A submarine can't do that. \n\nAlso, designing an extremely heavy, large vehicle is much easier on water. Few land vehicles are large enough to actually have a nuclear powered engine.",
"The US has 100 commercial reactors powering up to 19% of our electrical grid, and several nations use even more nuclear power than that, so I'd say it's not uncommon.\n\nAdditionally, you have to consider that:\n\nA) Militaries, unlike power companies, don't have as much of a cost concern.\n\nB) The NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) effect which is avoided for subs as no one lives in the middle of the ocean.\n\nEdit: There are over 400 nuclear power plants in the world providing for about 10% of the world's electrical grid.",
"* 1) The kind of nuclear plants used in submarines tend to be much quieter than any diesel engine-- and while running silent, the reactor itself can have the active coolant system deactivated (seawater that cools the actual coolant) Submarines operate on stealth, the quieter they are, the better. \n\n* 2) Water is a great insulator. Rub your face on a barrel of radioactive waste for 5 minutes, you'll probably die. Swim 10-20m above one? You'll be fine. In the case of a submarine sinking, it's possible that the amount of contamination would be minimized unless the plant itself was damaged. Secondly, in the worst case, one submarine contaminating the sea is preferable to a global nuclear war.\n\n* 3) Refueling. Other people have already stated this, but let's take a cold war example: say there's a US sub sitting off the coast of moscow during tense diplomatic shenanigans. Far more important that the sub doesn't need to refuel or surface, creating a diplomatic incident or starting a war than a civilian vehicle that, if it runs out of gas, can have a roadside assistance team fix them up in an hour or two.\n\n* 4) Public perception. Various groups have lobbied against nuclear power for decades. Nuclear power is seen as dangerous in the public mind. Think of the political fallout after the Chernobyl, Fukushima or three mile island disasters. Everyone wants clean power, but no-one wants it on their doorstep.\n\n* 5) Alternatives. If you already have an infrastructure with several coal power plants, it's fairly simple to convert them to burning wood chips or gas-- both of which would produce less pollutants and be much cheaper than designing, building and operating a nuclear plant.\n\nHope that helps.",
"Submarines have different requirements and limitations.\n\nWind and solar obviously don't work underwater, so the only other option for a submarine is burning something - gas, coal, oil. But burning fuel requires air, which is in limited supply underwater, and produces exhaust, which you have nowhere to vent. So traditional fuels have additional drawbacks that apply specifically to submarines.\n\nPlus, you would need thousands of pounds of conventional fuel to create the same amount of energy as you can get from a few hundred pounds of uranium. So you would need to devote more space to fuel or refuel more often. Which is also not a significant issue on land. ",
"It's an expensive and complicated solution, so it's not practical in most situations. However, submarines (and some aircraft carriers) need to be able to operate mostly unsupported for extended periods of time, and the only solution which gives that capability is nuclear.\n\nFor subs, we also have the added benefit of it being fairly silent.",
"Nuclear power requires LOTS of water to prevent a melt-down. Using this on land, say in a car, would require us to drive around with tanks of water 1000x the size of our car just to keep it cool.",
"Nuclear reactors are used in submarines and some large surface ships (like aircraft-carriers and ice-breakers), they are not usually used in mobile craft that go on land or in the air.\n\nThe safety aspect of nuclear reactors has obviously something to do with that, but the main reason is that nuclear reactors tend to be both really big and really heavy.\n\nWe don't built many mobile machines that are big enough to support a nuclear reactor in it.\n\nIf you built a big energy hungry machine that is stationary it is much easier to connect it to the grid rather than built it its own nuclear reactor.\n\nThe few big mobile machines where a nuclear reactor in theory might make sense (like the giant bucket-wheel excavator excavators in Germany) are so slow that it is easier to run an extension cord to it.\n\nOn land it is easiest to simply centralize the energy generation centrally using nuclear power or other types then to give special installations and machines their own reactor.\n\nSome exceptions are nuclear batteries that don't work through fission but just though heat generated from decay. They need much less room and weight and you can built them small enough to make them transportable. They have been used in space probes.",
"The way I like to put it: Prior to 1954, we had \"submarines\"; since then, we've had submarines.\n\nNon-nuclear subs were actually surface vessels that could submerge, once in a while, for a little while -- because their primary means of propulsion was air-breathing. They had a combination of diesel engines, generators and electric motors. On the surface, the engines would drive the generators, which would power the motors, which would turn the propellers, and part of the generator output was diverted to keep a charge on a humungous storage battery.\n\nTo submerge, they had to shut down the diesels and run on battery power, which would be good for maybe a day at creeping speed, a few hours at cruising speed, or less than an hour at attack speed.\n\nThe snorkel was a partial solution, enabling them to run the diesels just under the surface, but a snorkel is still somewhat visible to the enemy.\n\nThen in 1954 we launched the first nuke boat and changed all that: a reactor doesn't care if it's on the surface or not."
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2tesw1 | how does waterboarding not drown someone? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tesw1/eli5_how_does_waterboarding_not_drown_someone/ | {
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"the victim is tiled back so the water just pools in the nasal cavity, with a towel over the face making it harder to breath. This gives the sensation of drowning without actually having water in the lungs.\n\nI had a friend do this to me as i was curious about how back it would really be, it is fucking horrible.",
"Because our CIA's torture tactics are executed well enough to make someone FEEL as if they are dying, without actually killing them. ",
"Every time I hear/see Waterboarding mentioned it reminds me of the [fantastically detailed description](_URL_0_) that I saw on the Straight Dope Message Board years ago.\n\n**Tl;dr: It's more than water up your nose, it creates a simulation in your system of horrifying death**",
"Speaking from experience, the washcloth makes it a thousand times worse. You can't see and the longer you're \"drowning\" the heavier the cloth feels on your face. Pretty terrible. ",
"Holy shit just reading these comments is freaking me out"
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2bqbzv | why is it a sports team's responsibility to punish players for their actions off-field? | This was prompted by Ray Rice's disgusting actions - beating his fiancee (now wife) unconscious, etc. Many people are upset that the NFL only suspended him for 2 games. In light of other infractions by other players (like marijuana possession) resulting in full season suspensions, I totally understand the outrage. But why is it the NFL's responsibility in the first place? Isn't this purely a police matter?
I guess I understand that he represents the league, and they don't want to be represented by a criminal. Still, what makes Goodell (or Bud Selig, or whoever else) the moral police? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2bqbzv/eli5_why_is_it_a_sports_teams_responsibility_to/ | {
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"I agree, and really, suspending him just proves it's just for show. If they didn't want to be associated with criminals they'd put that in the contract and fire criminals.",
"It's not their responsibility but the public usually demands some sort of punishment so they do it. The NFL and it's teams are private entities/employers, so they have every right to discipline/fire their employees as they see fit as long as they do not violate and Federal/state laws. Same as any other company.\n\nAt the end of the day, and behind closed doors, I'm sure they would rather do nothing at all and have a star like Ray Rice continue to play and make more money for the league. But public opinion demands they do something, so they do enough to look like they care, but not so much as to hurt their on-field product.\n\nBut anyways, to the original question they don't *have* to do anything. It's completely their prerogative.",
"The NFL, as an organization, has chosen to hold its players to a certain standard, and the players association has agreed to this. They feel that incidents like this harm the leagues image, and wealthy players often aren't motivated by strictly legal consequences.\n\nThat said, the punishments are often arbitrary, and are not as severe for star players. Also, drug penalties are often harsher, because there is a lot of crossover between recreation and performance enhancing drugs, and because for every time a player gets caught, you have to assume there were ten more times he got away with it.",
"eeehhhh... well look, the NFL/MLB/NHL/whoever is that athlete's employer. Their actions are reflective of the organization which can actually hurt sales (tickets, merch...) and since the nature of this business is to entertain, the primary employer (whose vested \"board\" are the ultra-wealthy owners) wants to ensure that a positive image is put forward. Now, insofar as the legal vs professional sports thing is concerned, certainly the law gets involved as well as the league but the over/under is that they are holding their players to a code of conduct. Is that code of conduct in any way reflective of a just set of principles? Oh hell no! If it was. that asshole Rice would be suspended as long as Michael Vick. You can say whatever you want about dogs, but what I see is BOTH the law AND the NFL caring more about dogs here than a woman's life and safety. Quite frankly, what the NFL does to players over infractions is almost more indicative of what the fans want than what the players deserve. Why do you think they fine a guy like $25,000 for some unsportsmanlike conduct but he only gets 2 games for beating his wife and Vick was facing a lifetime ban for beating dogs? It's the combination of the attention the media pays to it and the outrage that is caused. People flipped out over Michael Vick but unfortunately, on some level, they almost expect that some of this is going to happen like with what happened with Rice. ",
"the NFL and other sports leagues have personal conduct policies. the policies tell players how to conduct themselves and if a player goes against the policy it is detrimental to the leagues integrity and the public's confidence. \n\nthe NFL suspends players when they do dumb shit to deter other players from doing the same and to show fans that they do not approve of their actions. if the NFL was to not suspend players for doing illegal activities or putting themselves in bad predicaments the public would stop supporting the league which would reduce sales and revenue, which at the end of the day is all the owners and commissioner cares about ",
"It's strictly business, nothing personal.\nBeating your fiancee/wife is bad for business.",
"There are three separate systems at play here; the all encompassing US criminal justice system, the more limited US civil legal system, and the extremely limited NFL. As citizens, we have decided on certain standards and rules we'd like to live by, and appointed certain people (police) to find offenders and bring them to a court so we can decide if they really did it, and what their punishment should be (the jury system). If a football star beats his wife, she can press charges against him, and the state or county attorney general will have one of his prosecutors bring forth the case. This determines is punitive, not compensatory -jail time (simplification, but that's all we care about now). \r\rNow, beaten wife of football star can sue said football star for causing her pain and injury, and racking up tons of medical bills, as well as mental anguish and all that. She takes her case to a civil court, where she, through her lawyer, makes the case that she deserves money from him. This is different from the above case, where she made a statement to the police, and on the merit of that the state decides to charge the football star. \r\rNow, finally, we have the NFL, who decides football star isn't a nice guy and they wont let him play ball anymore (for two weeks anyway). This isn't civil, or criminal - this is just a group of people, governed by their own rules, making a decision for themselves. It has the same \"legal\" merit as my chess club kicking me out for biting someone. \r\rHope that clears it up a bit. "
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5vucag | how does vlc remember where you were last watching? | I've been watching Stargate Atlantis again and I've noticed that VLC remembered at what point I stopped watching, even through computer restarts. I thought it might have been saved in memory but it persisted through computer shutdowns. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5vucag/eli5_how_does_vlc_remember_where_you_were_last/ | {
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53d93q | what is that feeling of vulnerability in the early morning about? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/53d93q/eli5_what_is_that_feeling_of_vulnerability_in_the/ | {
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"I don't know exactly what the feeling means, but I used to have it too... It goes away when you have a plan for that morning and immediately get up and start to do it",
"I think I know exactly what you're talking about. Contrary to what others have said, I find it helpful to not take the day by storm, but to remind myself that I don't have to tackle every task of the day right in that instance (when I am indeed vulnerable, because I have just woken up and am still very tired). Sets things into perspective. So my advice is to cut yourself a little bit of slack after waking up :)"
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21azj2 | why do cigarettes have so many chemicals in them, why not just tobacco? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21azj2/eli5_why_do_cigarettes_have_so_many_chemicals_in/ | {
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"Posting so I remember to come back and check for the explanation.\n\nI really, really miss smoking. It was my one vice and I still crave it after quitting a year ago. ",
"Some of the chemicals are to ensure that the cigarettes stay lit once you light them. I know the first time I had a higher quality smoke after being used to \"factory cigarettes\" I was surprised that it went out when I left it unattended for a moment.\n\nEDIT: This comment has gotten a lot more attention than I expected. I'd like to clarify that I am in no way an expert. I based this on an anti-smoking ad I saw once in my doctors office. People a lot smarter than me have confirmed in the comments that there are combustible chemicals as well as oxygen releasing crystals in cigarettes (or cigarette paper) to keep the cigarettes burning. There are also in \"fire-safe-cigarettes\" a different chemical to stop it from burning if left unattended. Also note that this whole comment thread ignores entirely chemicals that are added to enhance the taste and the texture of the cigarettes, and chemicals that are put on the tobacco plants just like any other plant, which are discussed in the other comments.\n\nOh, and by the way, _URL_0_",
"A lot are just used as preservatives to keep the tobacco fresh once its packaged",
"To spike the nicotine. It's kind of like adding salt to a recipe to bring out other flavours. So tobacco companies add other chemicals to intensify the hit you get from the nicotine and therefore get you hooked quicker for longer. The process is called impact boosting and is covered in the great movie \"The Insider\" with Al Pacino and Russel Crowe. It's the true story of how a former employee of a tobacco company blows the whistle about this and other practices.\n\nEdit:\n\n[Here](_URL_0_) is a link to Jeffrey Wigand's interview on 60 minutes, the story behind this interview is also covered by The Insider\n\n[Link to a study with various sources](_URL_1_)",
"A lot of the chemicals come from pesticides and other stuff they used to grow the tobacco, the rest is used to make it smell different to other brands to ensure that you stay loyal to your brand",
"Keep in mind there are cigarettes that are just tobacco as well, like American Spirits. They even have organic ones. ",
"Something I haven't noticed in these comments is one of the big reasons cigarettes have so many and can have so many harmful chemicals in the USA is due to the way the FDA regulates the tobacco industry. Many additives in cigarettes are normally used as food additives, when ingested these additives are more or less harmless but when burned they produce very harmful chemicals. The two reasons for these additives are, consistency of taste and preservation.\n\nEdit:\n\nWhile I would never attempt to downplay the harmful effects of smoking often when you hear something like \"there are ten thousand harmful chemicals in a cigarette\" what they're really saying is \"When we tested all these different cigarette brands there were all these different chemicals in them but not all of the cigarettes had every single chemical in it.\" The idea that the tobacco industry is using a standardized additive set containing hundreds or thousands of carcinogenic compounds is preposterous.",
"most of the dangerous chemicals come from the incomplete burning of the tabacco. Because you dont burn it with enough oxygen there are hundrets of side reactions which make polyarmatic rings carbenes and other nasty stuff. tabacco is a natural product thats why it contains a multitude of chemical building blocks.\nIf you burn wood you get ash and CO2 mostly but when you heat it without air you get coke and a nasty liquid called cresolite oil. thats similar to whats happening when you smoke a cigarette.",
"Many of them are naturally occurring in the tobacco leaves themselves. In the same way that someone could say that Marijuana has over 400 chemicals in it. ",
"This video explains it pretty well: _URL_0_",
"\"Just tobacco\" - I've worked with tobacco plants (as a plant scientist, not working for the tobacco industry), and I can tell you that there are plenty of nasty chemicals in the tobacco too... You're burning-up all the phenolic compounds and all the proteins that are in tobacco, which inevitably will result in all sorts of toxic burn-products. Nicotine is only the stuff that makes it addicting.\n\nThinking that the extra stuff they put in sigs is somewhat worse than the tobacco itself is a complete fallacy - there is plenty of crap in fermented plants that will lead to all sorts of toxic shit when burned. \nThere are an estimated 3000 different chemicals in any random plant, plus a bunch of proteins. I wouldn't worry too much about the stuff they add...",
"Because welcome to Flavor Country. ",
"Keep in mind that the main problems with smoking come from the tobacco leaves. If you're smoking additives-free or organic cigarettes instead of normal one for the supposed health benefits, you're fooling yourself. If you want health benefits there's no way around it. You have to quit smoking.",
"I might be wrong so please don't rip into me but I'll pass on what I was told.\n\nNothing is actually added to the tobacco. It might contain chemicals like insecticides but thats true for fruit and veg as well.\n\nTobacco leaves contain about 300 naturally occurring compounds (my memory is hazy on that number). However, once you set fire to it the process of combustion creates about 4000 new compounds (they have not all been identified).\n\nAs for why the cigarette stays lit. Its because the paper allows air through which lets the tobacco smoulder. If you were to wrap it in non porous paper it would go out. The problem with that is it sometimes looks like it's gone out but could still be lit. Also using non porous paper increases the amount of carbon dioxide (or monoxide. Can't remember).\n\nThere is one thing though. If you take the tobacco out of a cig and look at it carefully you might find what looks like shredded bits of brown paper. A by product of cutting up dry tobacco leaves is dust. They sweep that shit up, make paper sheets with it and boom! More tobacco. ",
"I'm not discounting anything anyone else has said. I would like to add that you are inhaling the products of incomplete combustion.",
"American Spirits are pure tobacco. ",
"All matter are chemicals bro even water ",
"This is just a myth.\n\nProfessor of Public Health Richard Edwards from the University of Otago published an article in the British Medical Journal on the subject:\n\n\"However, evidence shows that RYO [roll your own] cigarettes are at “least as hazardous” as any other type of cigarette, and that they have a much greater concentration of additives than manufactured cigarettes.\"\n\nPer: _URL_0_",
"2/3 of those chemicals are actually in the paper. Specifically if you look you'll see tiny bands in the paper.",
"I work for a tobacco company and the government forces us to put alot of the chemicals in. Others are just natural combustion products from the tobacco leaf. The consumer wants products which require consistant draw effort and taste. The paper requires amgp approved glues and not ro mention ballshit legislation covering the paper in gum decreasing the permeability so it extinguishes its self if not puffed on. There are twosmoking regimes and a lot of physical testing that has to be passed before a product reaches market. Products have to last a certain amount of puffs.\n\nAppologies for lack of sentence structure and punctuation currently machine smoking in a lab.\n\nTldr most are natural some have to be there by law.",
"The better for you to get addicted to them, my dear.",
"Money!! You're addicted right!? You just need a bit of nicotine to keep you coming back. The rest is the cheapest of cheap filler ",
"Everything is chemicals god damn it.\n\nEdit: I appreciate the Au.",
"@might_be_self - and to all others. The tobacco leaf that makes its way into a cigarette is treated in over 300 chemical processes that contain 3800+ chemicals. Majority of them contain addictive properties that put strain on ALL systems of the body. Our body is the ultimate cleanser, and sends anti-inflammatory factors to relieve damage done. But unfortunately, the systems that send the repair mechanism of the body is damaged and down regulated as well, leading to a synergistic damaging effect with each subsequent inhalation. 1- the chemicals itself 2- the environment placed on the lungs and body by the smoke 3- the damage caused by the body debilitating future repair efforts. \n\nApart from media and advertising in the 40s that made smoking cool, hip and if you can believe it, endorsed by the doctors and the American Medical Association, the only reason cigarettes are where they are is because the effects are not immediately seen. If people got cancer within a year of smoking, we would have many refraining from it.\n\nnative tobacco on it's own has significantly less carcinogenic (Cancerous) effects than the common cigarette, but it's still a stress on the body with the smoke and it's own effect.",
"many reasons as there are different types\n\n1) the chemicals are produced by combustion.\n2) additives and flavours\n3) residue of agricultural and production \n4) adhesives in the paper to bind the item\n5) the filter itself reacting with the smoke\n",
"This might be a bit of an unpopular opinion on reddit, but those commercials you see stating that cigarettes have hundreds of chemicals are a bit biased. Tobacco itself has a good amount of chemicals on it. A lot of the other chemicals are from the paper/dyes that they use to wrap it. Most of these are federally regulated and the cigarette companies have to have a certain paper type and a certain dye type. Cigarettes are obviously bad for you but the cigarette companies are not intentionally poisoning them. That would be stupid, they would be killing off their consumer base even faster.",
"Surprised no one mentioned that some of the chemicals act like anti depressants to get you more hooked on cigarettes. Also chemicals are added to improve the flavour and make more of the nicotine in the cigarette reach your brain.\n\n\nFor those who want a more in depth explanation. Ammonia basing is done to the nicotine to make the nicotine more bioavailable when smoking. Several compounds in the smoke act like MAOIs and SSRIs both terms used for chemicals that improve synaptic transmission of things like dopamine and serotonin (anti depressant effects). I think they also ad ethanols to either make the flavour taste nicer or to make the burning more consistent. Can't remember the specifics about ethanol. \n\nI watched the insider and was very interested about cigarette research so I downloaded a bunch of papers on them and was reading them",
"Nobody's mentioning the political reason--[tobacco was excluded from FDA regulation until 2009.](_URL_0_) That meant that additives were unregulated. Harmful? Addictive? Who knew?\n\nEven now, all we can do is ask for an ingredient list. But just the list--we can'd demand that the companies show that these additives are benign. ",
"Just so we're clear, when Darren the Lion told you in D.A.R.E. that cigarettes contain over three hundred chemicals, he's being intentionally misleading. Any organic material has hundreds of chemicals, are grapes poisonous? And when they say on commercials that methane and urea are in both feces and cigarettes, that's also misleading, because urea and methane are also in hotdogs and bananas. Some people have a vendetta against smoking, and it's important to take anything you hear with a grain of salt.\n\n(they're still really bad for you either way)",
"Experts: Explain, then, why smokeless tobacco is so harmful please. Lots of you in this thread are saying it's the COMBUSTION of the tobacco that is hurting you, and that the tobacco itself is fine aside from some random chemicals tossed in to regulate burning and flavor. They are clearly allowed to add nastiness that is contributing to disease.",
"Ammonia allows nicotine to cross the blood brain barrier giving the user a \"rush\" much like heroin or crack. Immediate. Need I talk about the addictiveness in heroin or crack? Watch a smoker who hasn't got their routine break when they get their first drag. You can watch the rush as they \"calm\" down. This was done intentionally. Marlboro intentionally set out to give a rush and addict people and a chemist discovered ammonia did it. PhillipMorris losing in sales researched Reynolds, who started this technique, and found ammonia and the memo said soon \"people were falling in line.\" Big tobacco was sued. _URL_1_\n\nEffects of Chemical in Cigarettes: _URL_0_",
"Most are preservatives to keep cigarettes fresh, some add flavors and what not but for the most part the preservatives keep them and the rest of the chemicals found while smoking them are actually byproducts that exist in numerous things. Still, one of the dangerous addictions, and still has arsenic, cyanide, rocket fuel, and other such things.",
"I don't know what is in cigarettes that do this, but as a former smoker who has switched to ecigs here is something I've noticed: In a very short while (perhaps 1-2 weeks) the cravings for nicotine became very very mild. A craving for a cigarette is demanding. Nothing matters but getting that cigarette. A craving for the ecig, once you're over cigarettes, is like a mild suggestion that you might need some nicotine.\n\nI'm not sure why it's like this, but I would not be surprised if cigarettes were formulated to be as addicting as possible. Ecigs are new and many of us make our own liquids from concentrated nicotine in a carrier (either vegetable glycerin or propolene glycol), so we have full control over the ingredients.",
"That's why American Spirit are da best:D",
"After reading this thread for about a half hour, I've just now quit smoking. Been doing it for about 20 years and I'm 38. The only other time I've quit was during my pregnancy. Had no desire for it. My daughter is 6 years old now and she's caught me smoking secretly once or twice.\n\nI'm glad so many people are against it. Smart generation. My mom use to smoke in the same room as me growing up. Not as neglect or harm, she was an awesome mother, she just didn't know any better. \n\nSo ty, keep the remarks informative and terrifying. More like me will quit. ",
"I've seen some comments about the chemicals used to keep them burning and others about the chemicals added to keep them from burning too long (to keep them from starting as many fires I believe). But not one about the chemicals added to make them more addictive. The nicotine content has risen, at least in the US dramatically since the 1980's. Also when I travel say to mexico and try a Mexican, let's say Newport, its no where near as satisfying as an American Newport. I'm no expert by any stretch, but I'd bet they get away with more additives in the US than elsewhere. ",
" a lot of the chemicals added are desighned to be addictive.\nfor instance marlboro laces there tobaco with an essance of chocolate.\nyou therefore get your chocolate fix.\namerican spirit is the only tobacco company that uses zero additives.\nwhen i switched to them i found it much easier to go longer periods of time without smoking and i eventually quit,whithout some of the nagging withdrawl symptoms i was getting from name brands",
"I don't have much time to go into it but the partial combustion of the tobacco leaf cause the release of toxins that people commonly reference. These are found in the smoke rather then the cigarette itself.\n\nThere are actually pretty interesting health benefits of nicotine itself if anyone has looked into nicotinic ACh receptors. Some examples include improving working memory and anxiety. Research is actually being done on its possible health benefits with neurodegerative diseases if anyone is interesting in hearing about that as well.\n\nHere's some more information:\n\n_URL_0_",
"As well as chemicals that help cigarettes burn faster/more consistently there are obviously the chemicals that are released when we combust tobacco itself. tobacco that's probably been cultivated in a field using pesticide. Given the relatively low temperature cigarettes burn at, these chemicals are often semi combusted, making for some lovely acute lung disease. ",
"As someone who is looking into taking up smoking I find this thread very interesting.",
"The chemicals serve many purposes. Here are a few reasons they're added:\n\n1. For nicotine manipulation. Nicotine is the addictive property of tobacco that makes you want more of it. Chemicals are added:\n\n -- To aid in the absorption of nicotine. So that when you inhale the smoke you get the maximum amount of nicotine.\n\n -- To increase the potency of the nicotine which makes them even more addictive.\n\n2. To enable the cigarette to stay lit.\n\n3. To make the cigarette slow burning once it's lit.\n\n3. To ease harshness on your throat when you inhale.\n\n4. Tobacco plants are difficult to grow and used to take a long time until they could be harvested. But with the aid of chemicals they can be grown in huge numbers really fast. \n\n\n -- Fertilisers to promote growth\n\n -- Herbicides are used for weed control\n\n -- Pesticides are used to stop insects eating the plants \n\n -- Fungicides to stop the plants from rotting\n \n\n\n_______________\nI've done a fair bit of research on nicotine addiction the tobacco industry. \nThere's a great documentary by [BBC Horizon called We Love Cigarettes](_URL_0_) I recommend people watch which touches on how it all began etc.\n_______________\n\nI smoked 15 cigarettes a day for 7 years, and quit 2 years ago. Nicotine is *really addictive*, but it is possible to kick the habit **easily** - I can't recommend Allen Carr's Easyway book enough. It saved my life. Read it.\n\nIf anyone needs any advice on stopping join us over at /r/stopsmoking",
"I'm evil, OP's bad like Steve Seagal",
"It is also worth mentioning that the chemistry of cigarette smoke is not the same as the chemistry of unburnt cigarettes. Some of the scarier chemicals anti-smoking advocates focus on are actually common byproducts complex combustion reactions. Tobacco is best understood as a mixture of compounds. That is to say that \"elemental tobacco\" does not exist. The elements that make up tobacco not only are typically bound up in relatively large molecules, but there is a huge variety of those molecules making up the plant material.\n\nAlong comes fire, breaking chemical bonds and sticking loose oxygen atoms on things. Within an ember or a flame, many substances burning together will undergo chaotic transformations. Carbon monoxide is a common and often substantial byproduct of these combustion reactions. In trace amounts, much more potent toxins are also likely to occur. It may be true that major cigarette manufacturers dump all sorts of chemicals into their products just as major food manufacturers lace their wares with artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. However, some of the nastiest stuff in cigarette smoke is a function of it being smoke from combusted vegetable matter, rather than a function of that matter being a cigarette.",
"Best explanation of how they are made and the additives and the reason _URL_0_",
"Some of the chemicals make cigarette more adjective, some affect taste and some have anticarcniginic properties. ",
"The same reason McDonald's cheeseburgers aren't 100% beef\n\n\nCapitalism",
"You could say the exact thing about food man. ",
"I need a cigarette after reading this thread. ",
"Many of the chemicals serve as a nicotine delivery system to get it into your bloodstream as quickly as possible, giving a bigger \"rush\" than you would with straight tobacco.",
"Man, I had a test today which basically spoke about scientists working against the benefit of humanity (not exactly, but that's the simplest way to put it) , and had 2 essays. One was with regard to military applications and drones, and the other was about cigarettes and how they add chemicals to make it more addictive. \n\n_URL_0_.Exam.\nThe insight, *DAMNIT*",
"Straight up, check out this philip morris video from the 90's\nImportantly around like 6:40\nBasically additions are brand specific to make them unique to that brand. Factory prerolled smokes are designed. \n_URL_0_\n\nTl;Dr- Corporate trade bullshit. \n\n",
"There are many \"chemicals\" in any product someone consumes. Oxygen releasing crystals can be added to papers to keep them burning. Most people would be very surprised at how well regulated the cigarette making industry is. The quality standards are usually higher than for food you buy at the store. Any other additives to the tobacco are subject to strict \"food grade\" regulations. Most of the harmful chemicals you see in tobacco ads are products of the combustion or just simply compounds in the tobacco plant that vaporize that can indeed be very harmful when consumed for a prolonged time.\nSource: I am a chemical engineering major\nNote: I am not a supporter of tobacco products. They are a terrible habit and pose serious health risks. I'm just a fan of edumication : )",
"There are a few reasons:\n\n1) they have chemicals to keep them lit so you don't have to re-light them. Pipes and Cigars will go out if you're not constantly puffing. Cigarettes used to do that too.\n\n2) they have chemicals to enhance the addictive quality so that people want to smoke more\n\n3) they have chemicals for taste\n\n",
"What the hell do they add to Newports, those things are like 3x more addictive than regular smokes?",
"How better reform \"criminals\" them give them books that deal with our deepest emotions, anxieties and issues? Most literature does just that. Also, studies have shown that reading increases compassion, something prisoners could probably use.\nBullshit! ",
"People forget, plants are chemical factories that produce their own pesticides, fungicides and other noxious / toxic chemicals. Just because they're are \"Natural\" doesn't mean they're healthy. I wouldn't worry so much about the additives over the 100's of nasty chemicals released from burning the tobacco itself.",
"Because plain tobacco tastes like shit (and cigarettes tastes like horse shit) :)",
"To get people addicted so they'll buy more. ",
"Over time, manufacturers have innovated ways to make them more addictive and to increase customer satisfaction. That may include a more reliable smoke or a faster/slower burn. ",
"Hestia Tobacco. Look it up! ",
"\n\nAcetone – found in nail polish remover\n Acetic Acid – an ingredient in hair dye\n Ammonia – a common household cleaner\n Arsenic – used in rat poison\n Benzene – found in rubber cement\n Butane – used in lighter fluid\n Cadmium – active component in battery acid\n Carbon Monoxide – released in car exhaust fumes\n Formaldehyde – embalming fluid\n Hexamine – found in barbecue lighter fluid\n Lead – used in batteries\n Naphthalene – an ingredient in moth balls\n Methanol – a main component in rocket fuel\n Nicotine – used as insecticide\n Tar – material for paving roads\n Toluene - used to manufacture paint\nThese are all added to make your cigerette more tastey!!! Also ensures a longer burning time.",
"There are 599 chemicals that are added to cigs that have been approved by the FDA and are also added to food. Those 599 chemicals turn into thousands of different poisons once they are set on fire. Think about it.",
"The problem comes from the Triple Phosphate fertilizers they used heavily for years.... the Cadmium and other heavy metals accumulate in the plant because tobacco is excellent and cleaning up heavy metals. \n\nGrow your own tobacco and have a nice medicinal smoke every once in awhile. It's fun, it's safer and you'll appreciate it more. \n\nThat and you can make your own blunt wraps. haha\n\n",
"A lot of these chemicals are in the tobacco. Sure, there are a ton of additives to make them burn faster etc., but the deadly chemicals are from the tobacco itself. When tobacco is grown in the US, a popular fertiliser is apatite rock. Now, wherever you find apatite, you are also probably going to find Uranium. Uranium itself is not that poisonous, but some of the products of its decay are. Polonium-210 (Po-210) is approximately 250,000,000x more poisonous than cyanide due to its high rate of alpha decay. Because of this, it isn't very dangerous if it touches you, but if it gets into you, it is. Tiny amounts of Po-210 exist in cigarettes. The flame in the cigarette is high enough to melt the Po-210, and microscopic droplets adhere to smoke particles which are breathed into the lungs. The droplets stick to the lungs, and thus are highly dangerous. **A pack of cigarettes gives of as much radiation as a chest x-ray.**",
"You guys should come on over to /r/pipetobacco",
"Something I can speak with a little authority on. I used to work at a law firm that represented one of the big cigarette manufacturers in the United States. As part of our representation, we hosted a meeting with tobacco engineers to bring ourselves up to speed on their product line. This is a throwaway account.\n\nThere are, as mentioned below, plenty of chemicals in cigarettes. They're all in there for a reason; the engineers employed by tobacco companies are some truly smart individuals. My biggest takeaway from those meetings was nicotine delivery. If you look at the top of a filter, there's a line of very tiny laser-cut holes. Those holes increase the amount of airflow when you \"draw.\" That, in turn, increases the nicotine delivery. You can't add more nicotine, so you add the whole to make the cigarette burn faster and increase the nicotine dose per draw. Some of the added chemicals have the same effect. You can't add more nicotine, so let's add chemicals that enhance the biological effect of the nicotine.\n\nThere are plenty of other reasons, too; and some chemicals are less harmful that others. Some increase the burn speed, others are remnants from the growing and drying process. Some help ensure product quality, uniformity and longevity. Not all are in there for nefarious purposes, and there are some by-product chemicals that tobacco companies wish WEREN'T in there (but they're a natural result of the burning).\n\nTo that end, I'll add that this is my biggest fear with legalizing pot. As it stands right now, pot seems pretty natural (I'll never say \"healthy,\" as smoke in your lungs will never be a good thing). But imagine what happens if big tobacco gets into the pot business? The product will be MUCH less pure.",
"Don't they add these chemicals to get you addicted easier and buy more?",
"Price I pay for cigarettes in Ireland, they BETTER come with loads of chemicals.",
"The more chemicals, the more addictive. You have to be a special kind of stupid to smoke.",
"Gotta keep people addicted.",
"How it's Made - Better to see for yourself. Some of the ingredients that are infused into the fluid that is bonded with the cigarette paper are flavorants, odorants, preservatives and humidity controlling agents and such things. To make the cigarette more pleasant (and addictive!). \n\nWithout such ingredients the uniformity of the product would be inconsistent. It would also not deliver a predictable experience and thus would likely not be as habit forming and addictive. If you have a product that is addictive, it should be obvious that anything you can do to make it more addictive is beneficial to your profit margin.\n\nPart 1\n_URL_1_\n\nPart 2 missing?\n\nPart 3\n_URL_2_\n\nAnother \n_URL_0_\n\n**Misc. Warning (I know it's like beating a dead horse) - Please do not start smoking. It is a horrible habit and it will kill you. It might not kill you right away, but over time you will develop health problems that can and will lead to your death. I have a family of smokers and they are all suffering from these issues. I decided early on not to take up the habit.** But yeah, the documentaries about how they're made are fascinating. And there goes 4 hours of my day looking at how its' made videos. :/ Another habit. ",
"Tobacco isn't a chemical, its a plant. Nicotine is the main addictive and psychactive chemical in it, but like all other plants, is not the only chemical. Many of the chemicals are natural, but some are added to effect how the cig burns",
"I read an article and am a former smoker. Over 600 chemicals are used in cigarettes. When burned, it creates over 4,000 chemicals. Many of these chemicals are poisonous and cause cancer. My best guess is big tobacco companies use these chemicals mainly to make the cigarettes more addictive, so that they can make more $.",
"Most of the chemicals in cigarettes aren't \"added\", they're just there already or produced by combustion. A lot more is made than just ash and CO2",
"The added chemicals are not the problem. Burning tobacco generates carcinogens.",
"Chemicals are added to aid everything from burn speed and staying lit to keeping you addicted. The biggest issue is they are/were purposely engineered to be more addictive. IMO there is absolutely no reason why they aren't illegal everywhere. ",
"TLDR: There's a lot to discuss about harm caused by tobacco products but the discussion should not be based on bullshit made-up facts.\n\nI work in a laboratory that analyzes cigarettes, filler, and smokeless tobacco for Tobacco Control Act compliance. I am contractually prevented from discussing what I know about cigarette smoke chemistry in detail. However, I can tell you some general information. The majority of the comments that I've read in this thread as bullshit. Self proclaimed experts have learned what they know from other self proclaimed experts that have never analyzed a cigarette in their life.\n\nTobacco is a a natural product that contains a wide variety of compounds, mostly proteins. What makes it different from other natural products are a class of naturally occurring compounds called alkaloids. Nicotine is one of these alkaloids. While addictive, nicotine is not very harmful in mild doses. It is poisonous at large doses. Caffeine has similar characteristics. \n\n1] Combustion byproducts are what makes cigarettes unhealthy. Many of the harmful constituents in cigarette smoke are a result of combustion of the naturally occurring compounds in the tobacco plant.\n2] Companies do not add compounds to make the cigarettes more addictive. The addictive elements are inherent in the tobacco.\n3] The compounds used to control the burn rate are usually food grade chemicals that you ingest daily from other sources.\n4] All cigarettes are required to be self extinguishing if you set them down. Manufacturers are required to prove this for every brand every year. It's called an Ignition Propensity test.\n5] Tobacco is tested to prove the absence of herbicides, pesticides, anti-succulents, etc before it is purchased by the manufacturer.\n6] There are no propellants or crystals in cigarettes\n7] If you understood the chemistry of the combustion you would understand that the concept of spending extra for organically grown cigarettes is foolish. It's about equivalent to thinking that sodium chloride derived from sea salt is better for you than sodium chloride mined in the Utah salt mines."
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"http://14andout.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/big-tobacco-gets-caught-using-ammonia-but-continues-after-paying-off-blue-crossblue-shield-over-5-billion/"
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3eob2k | do mosquitos know the risk they take when they land on us? | Do they understand that they could die or are they focused only on getting fed? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3eob2k/eli5_do_mosquitos_know_the_risk_they_take_when/ | {
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"Mosquitoes in all likelihood don't even have a concept of death, so no. Their brains are incredibly simple so they can't even extrapolate that far into the future. ",
"As far as we can tell,humans are the only things on the planet that are aware that they can and will die. Many animals react to the deaths of other animals, but seem completely unaware that it could happen to them.",
"Only female mosquitos suck blood, and they do so to use the iron and protein in our blood to help make their eggs. It's evolutionarily programmed into their system to do so, to propagate their population. If humans had no choice but to do a very risky activity to have a child, we as a whole would have no choice but to do so, lest risk the extinction of our species. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks.\n\nEdit: Blood has nothing to do with the energy mosquitos need to survive. They get that energy from nectar, like male mosquitos do."
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3mtzbd | why is it that someone with depression can't just choose to "cheer up"? | I understand depression is physically and mentally draining, but why can't someone just cut out unnecessary actions from their lives and sleep more to make it go away? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mtzbd/eli5_why_is_it_that_someone_with_depression_cant/ | {
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"When some on is actually depressed there is a chemical imbalance in their brain that causes them to be sad. Medicarion can help but doesnt cure. So to answer your question, they cant choose to cheer up because their brain is literally not allowing it.",
"Because it's a mental illness. Its the same as trying to get some soldier with ptsd to ignore flashbacks. They try all the time, using meds that can even make it worse, it's just difficult. I spent a year alone in deep depression. I tried getting out of it and it took a while before I started to show improvement",
"Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance.\n\nTelling them to \"cheer up\" is the same as telling a cancer patient to \"just not have cancer\" or a schizophrenic to \"act normal\"",
"Because a certain subset of people with depression has that due to physical differences in the brain. These people can't just choose to cheer up for the same reason you can't just choose not to have a broken leg.\n\nWhich is not to say that therapy won't involve a process of learning to identify good thoughts and bad thoughts and learning how to accurately deal with those (focus on the positive, acknowledge but do not let the negative run your life) but some people are always going to need drugs to support this, just because their brain isn't acting like a regular brain would.",
"For many depressed people, sleeping more is something that they want to do, a bad sign. It reinforces the \"don't do anything\" mindset. It doesn't fix things. \n\nThere are options to \"choose to be happy\" that a healthy brain has and a depressed brain doesn't have. ",
"The word \"depression\" can have two meanings that are often conflated- there's \"depression\" as a general mood or emotional state that almost everyone feels at some point or another, and there's \"Depression\" as a mental disorder. The latter is also known as \"Clinical Depression\" or \"Major Depressive Disorder.\"\n\nClinical Depression isn't just a mood or feeling. It's a physiologically verifiable brain disorder. You can't just choose to cheer up. Feeling sad is caused by chemicals in the brain, right? And feeling happy is caused by other chemicals, right? People with clinical depression often literally CAN NOT feel happy, or CAN NOT feel anything other than sad. Their brain isn't capable of producing (or sending, or receiving) the chemicals required. Choice has nothing to do with it. Asking a person with clinical depression to \"just cheer up\" is like asking a paraplegic to \"just walk.\"",
"Because one of the defining features of depression is the inability to just choose to \"cheer up\", instead being stuck in bad feelings and low motivation. As a hyperbole it's like \"why isn't darkness bright\", \"why wet things aren't dry\" and \"why aren't short people tall\". It's because by definition they exclude each other.",
"Depression is typically thought to be a prolonged sadness that someone can just snap out of. Depression is not sadness; sadness is healthy. Depression is the complete absence of feeling, and it's caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, as others have said. Depression is the cancer of the mind. It renders you unable to live a normal life, but because people can't \"see\" it, it's not treated the same way in society.",
"Other than the fact that it's a mental illness resulting from a chemical imbalance in the brain (which others have said so far), what's most important is **depression is NOT \"being sad\"**. Depression is complete and total **APATHY**, which is arguably worse.\n\nPeople who are depressed just *don't care*. About anything. About getting better, about doing the things they used to love doing, about anything really. Sometiems even about the people they love or about life itself. They definitely don't care about (and are even unable to) \"choosing to cheer up\". ",
"Depression is a chemical imbalance in your brain. Telling someone to cheer up is like telling someone with chronic pain to just get over it because it's all in their head.\n\nThink of something in your life that you just can't understand - like a really difficult math problem. You're looking over the formula and trying your damnedest to understand the formula but it's just not clicking. So, you get frustrated and angry because you feel like you *should* understand the equation, but simply can't. Then, the fact that you can't figure it out weighs down on you and it might make you sad/defeated because again, you feel like it should make sense to you, but it doesn't.\n\nNow, I walk in and tell you to just figure it out. It's not hard ... why can't you just figure it out?",
"Here's my best description of what depression feels like. Everyone has a different experience and way of putting it, but I compare mine very much so to being stoned very often.\n\nHave you ever spent many days in a row just smoking pot and sitting in your room? I used to. Literally every day. I worked and went to school too, but you'd be lucky to find me out and about during my free time, unless my friends dragged me outside.\n\nEventually, I got sick of how I was acting, so I quit finally.\n\nWell, now I'm on day 62 of sobriety, and what I've discovered since I pulled my brain out of that fog, where it was nearly impossible to understand my feelings, is that I'm severely depressed. \n\nI still work and I still go to school. But when I get home, I plop myself down on my bed and sit on my phone, with that feeling of heavy limbs, stoic facial expression, and dull thoughts. I think of all the shit I have to get done, like cleaning my room or doing homework, or the things I'd like to do, like go hiking or shopping. But I can't. I don't have any motivation whatsoever to do these things. \n\nAnd it kills me. It makes me sad. I try to remember what I'm interested in, but I have basically no interests. I don't remember the last time I did. The only thing that makes me happy is seeing my friends. I don't have many. And the ones I have aren't always around, spending time with their significant others or family, and I just feel sad and angry thinking about why I can't be with them, why don't they want to spend time with me, why can't they consider my feelings.\n\nThese thoughts make me sadder. I repeat to myself that I want to die. I want to blow my brains out. I'd never do this; at this point, it tears me down mentally to even think about leaving my loved one's with that kind of tragedy. But I don't keep myself from doing it for my own happiness. I look years down the road and I can't see myself doing anything that makes me happy because I don't know what on earth could make me feel happy.\n\nIt's literally a wall over any light in my life. It feels like being stoned and stuck, and that's the best way I can put it."
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69ulej | if cold symptoms are signs of your body fighting off a virus, why aren't medicines that suppress these symptoms bad for you? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69ulej/eli5_if_cold_symptoms_are_signs_of_your_body/ | {
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"Most of the time those symptoms are an *overreaction* from your body. It's a similar reason why your body might show flu symptoms after getting a flu shot. The body goes into full fight mode even when the virus isn't going to do much. \n\nFun fact... This overreaction happens more in Caucasians as comes from the same genes that give European descendants a better resistance to the black death. \n\nSo maybe don't suppress those symptoms if you catch the plague. ",
"Not all symptoms are your body fighting. Done symptoms like sneezes and coughs are actually transmission vectors. In other words, you get those symptoms because illnesses that happen to make you do them get spread faster. Suppressing these does nothing to slow the fight, it just thrwarts some of the illness's plan and helps make you feel better.\n\nSome symptoms, namely drowsiness, inflamation and fever do fight illness, by promoting rest, by immobilizing and rushing nutrientsn and by making the body inhospitable to many illnesses. Unfortunately, it often overdoes these things. At times fighting those symptoms when we know other ways to fight the illness or when we know that the cure is worse than the disease (i.em the inflamation and fever are going to cause more damage), then it is the lesser of two evils to not fight the illness with nukes, but just to rest and let your body fight it with ground troops.",
"Like you said, they're signs. It doesn't necessarily mean that your body is successfully fighting off the virus.\n\nThe real threat of viruses, and diseases in general, is the symptoms themselves. Nobody dies because they're infected with something that happens to be called pneumonia; they die because of the dangerous symptoms. If pneumonia didn't make breathing difficult or fill your lungs with fluid it wouldn't be dangerous.\n\nLikewise, once your body successfully fights off the virus, the symptoms disappear because you are no longer infected. Medicine just suppresses the symptoms while your body fights off the disease itself- at least some medicines act that way; others actually try to help fight the disease but that's a different discussion. \n\nThe medicines we're talking about suppress the symptoms to allow you to function while you are fighting the disease. So you really should take some medicine when you get a cold.\n\nTL;DR The symptoms are the real danger and medicine suppresses them while your body fights off the source."
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73b9s2 | - why does a newspaper print a variety of coloured dots in the corners? i understand they're magneta, cyan, black, yellow etc... but why print them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/73b9s2/eli5_why_does_a_newspaper_print_a_variety_of/ | {
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"Without researching, but knowing a few things about manufacturing practices, I can say with reasonable confidence those are quality assurance test marks. I'm assuming they regularly, but randomly, pick sheets out of the mill to test placement, overlay, color, saturation, whatever quality metrics they deem important to newspaper production. Having it on the product itself negates the need to stop production to insert test prints to collect this quality monitor data."
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631c74 | why do low-quality audio files have a 'grainy' sound to them? | For example, an mp3 at 96k - why does it sound like as if the audio is being rubbed against stand? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/631c74/eli5_why_do_lowquality_audio_files_have_a_grainy/ | {
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"The sampling rate of an audio file is how often you're telling a speaker cone to move. \nThe bit depth is how many different positions that speaker cone can have.\n\nBut sound in the real world is continuous. (Analog)\nWe hear in analog but computers output digital.\n\nLookup a picture of a sine wave\nA sine wave is a 2D representation of what a speaker cone does over time. \nWhen the wave is above the center line the speaker is pushing. When the wave is below the line the speaker is pulling .\n\nSampling rate is how many times you slice a wave vertically.\nBit depth is how many slices horizontal.\n\nTry this: draw a grid of 5 vertical lines and 5 horizontal lines.\nNow draw a sine wave in there.\n(Notice that the sine wave rarely, if ever, crosses the grid at the intersection of a horizontal and vertical line.)\nStarting from the left, every time your sine wave crosses a vertical line, circle the nearest intersection of the original grid.\nNow connect all your circled intersections. \nThis is what you're hearing. \nThe speaker cone is no longer moving smoothly up and down. \nIf you try this experiment with more lines, you'll notice the final product matches more closely. \n\nLower sampling rates and bit depth is like having less lines on your grid. \nOur ears pick up these tiny jagged breaks and that's what sounds like distortion or \"grainy\"-ness\n\n\nThere's a lot more to it but I'd need a white board and pictures.\nHope this helps."
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brjp9q | what exactly is being “improved” when we see games graphically improving with time? | I understand that in a game world, we have different graphical features that come together to produce the visuals we see in a game, like lighting, textures, anti aliasing, etc. What I’m wondering is, when we see a company that comes out with the latest, visually mind blowing game in a series (lets take Uncharted as an example) what is involved in making the graphics nicer? What is setting, say Uncharted 4, apart from Uncharted 3? What’s happening under the hood that produces these improved graphics? Are the engineers at the company actually writing new equations or code to model reflections, water, shadows, and things differently? Is this just because hardware is becoming more powerful?
Sorry if the question is vaguely worded, it is tricky for me to nail given I am not of a technical background myself. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/brjp9q/eli5_what_exactly_is_being_improved_when_we_see/ | {
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"Generally speaking\n\n- increases in texture resolution, Instead of using a 100x100 pixel texture you use one thats 500x500 now your model is less blurry, has more detail \n- Increases in polygon count, more polygons allows more detailed features. go back to N64/PS1 and most characters didn't have distinct fingers due to keeping poly count lower. now you might have a few dozen polys just for a buckle on their uniform. \n- New lighting techniques, dynamic shadows, HDR bloom effects etc\n- New shaders and rendering techniques, from Depth of field to bump mapping, reflections etc. \n\nSometimes it's new tech that's more effective at rendering more realistic effects other times it's old tech it just takes more processing power to run. with improvements on the same platform it might be the latter but there's optimization other places to make up for it.",
"Digital Foundry is a great source for details on graphics technologies for video games. They do a lot of comparisons between gaming hardware as well as between different installments of series over time. For example, see the one on [Farcry](_URL_0_).\n\nThe tldr is that the improvements are a combination of different techniques for modeling physics, geometry, and lightning, and enhancements to the machines gamers have access to. These factors take turns limiting what a game can look like with few exceptions. One consistent exception is the notorious Crysis, which was designed to take advantage of yet to be developed graphics hardware, and can still be made to bring modern hardware to its knees more than a decade after its initial release.\n\nAnother trick that comes into play are ways to implement the same old techniques, but in ways that require less effort, freeing up precious resources on graphics hardware to do other work that can make games look even better. A recent example is a feature of new video cards called deep learning super sampling. This feature allows a game to be rendered at lower quality but **image enhanced** using an artificial intelligence trained on extremely high quality renders from the game...renders which no consumer video hardware could produce. By using this technique, a game could use the spare cycles to theoretically render more trees, or other terrain to present the illusion of a more complete world.\n\nFinally, the actual substance of games has improved as the promise of returns on investments have driven up the production costs of games. For example, a recent game, Grand Theft Auto 5 was one of the most expensive games produced but ended up making more money than any entertainment product (including TV shows, movies, ...) in it's first 24h...and it keeps making money years after release. Returns like this encourage higher production values for future games. This translates to better voice and motion acting, higher quality modeling of real life architecture, people, materials, and terrain, and better story writing.\n\nAll of this is why games keep getting better and better. It's part better tech. It's part better hardware in gamers hands to allow past tech to be cranked up. It's part getting more efficient. And the last bit is the fact that games make a lot of money and can therefore justify huge production values."
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2asgk6 | why do we often find things we did or said when we were younger to be cringe-worthy despite the fact that they were funny at the time? what changed in our brain? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2asgk6/eli5_why_do_we_often_find_things_we_did_or_said/ | {
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"If you're talking physically or chemically, I can't help you. Now, if you're talking perceptually, that's a different story. As we age, our perception of what seems to be funny, what seems to be appropriate, as well as inappropriate, these things change. Now, if we're talking about \"[skunky mexican](_URL_0_)\", as an example, the way that one comes to the conclusion that wet mexicans smell strange is based upon what we know at the time, and what we're seeing, in this case a pattern. (dad goes into take a shower, he comes out, he smells funny, he's mexican, he's the only one who smells funny after showering, therefore, mexicans smell funny when wet.)\n\nIn retrospect, after becoming older, one can presume that the author of that meme learned what marijuana smells like, perhaps from first-hand experience. They happen to think of that particular time, realize what was actually happening, and then feel like a right jackass, because they were naive and ignorant enough (through no fault of their own) that the actual reason never occurred to them.",
"Mostly perspective. When you're younger, you have very little idea how your thoughts actions fit into the overall context of the rest of the world. You simply lack enough experience to see how things fit together.\n\nFor example, someone might have been raised in an environment where casual racism was the norm. So blatantly racist jokes and insults were a common occurrence. As an adult, they may become more aware of how racism negatively impacts actual people, people who are no different than themselves, and from this new perspective they can see that the comments they made when younger made them sound like racist assholes.\n\nI'm sure there's also a neurological aspect in there, too. The prefrontal cortex keeps developing into young adulthood (early to mid 20s, if I recall), and that's the part of the brain that handles things like logical thinking and impulse control. So it can clearly have an impact on how deeply you think on certain topics before acting."
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9ohoa0 | why is it so easy to identify christian rock music (even when you haven't heard any lyrics)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9ohoa0/eli5_why_is_it_so_easy_to_identify_christian_rock/ | {
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"There's probably a few things, but one that I think gets left out is that a lot of rock and metal focuses on various minor keys, scales, and chords, as that gives a more punchy and aggressive tone to the music, in addition to the other tonal characteristics (distorted guitar, etc;).\n\nA lot of Christian music is focused on celebrating faith and Jesus, and so is written in a major key.\n\nYou've been around music in minor/major for most of your life if you're a human from Earth, and so you probably pick up on these differences even if you're not consciously aware of what you're hearing.\n\nSee also: [Major songs in minor](_URL_1_) and [horror movie themes in major keys](_URL_0_) to get an idea of how the entire feel of songs can change based on switching between major/minor keys.",
"Because the melodic content of most of it is so bland. It never really seems to takeoff, there's usually no compelling tune you could actually whistle or hum to yourself. Ironically, it's because melodically, it sounds so uninspired. At the same time, it seems to avoid most of the aggressive percussive content you find in mainstream rock.\n\nBottom line, it's the pablum of the music world.",
"Simple answer is that they all use similar tunings and cord progression which causes a lot of songs to sound the same. Most generals are like this. \n\nBetter answer: This isn’t exclusive to Christian Rock. Almost all country songs use the same 4 chord progression therefore sound the same unless you’re a person immersed in it. Hip-hop music also almost runs exclusively at 115 bpm (beats per minute), so they all can sound very similar.\n\nBut remember what you hear on the radio is the most generic of music types. Which is why “underground rap” tends to be better than “radio rap” and metal music you never hear on the radio is so much better than what they play on the rock station.\n\nIf you’re up for it you can check out bands like Wolves At The Gate, Silent Planet, Destroy The Runner, and For Today. Those are some “Christian” rock/metal bands that are really tlaented and don’t follow the lame structure of most the genre.\n\n_URL_0_\n_URL_1_\n_URL_2_\n",
"If it sounds way too polished, like think Shania Twain, but even more overproduced. Major keys were already mentioned in this thread, slow tempo, and of course, cheesy lyrics that even child Justin Bieber wouldn't be caught dead with.",
"Many of these answers note simplicity or a sort of blandness, but miss the reasons why it sounds that way.\n\nMost popular Christian music is written with the intention of being sung along with (worship music), not exclusively listened to or performed. This means songs rely on simpler melodies and more predictable chord progressions. They must be very easy for non-musically inclines people to catch on with and sing along to in a worship setting (church).\n\nIt is also written to put people’s focus on God, not on the music or the performer, again leading to simpler, more repetitious, similar sounding musician devices.\n\nLastly, and probably the most subjective, IMHO on the list, Christian music attempts to appeal to multiple generations, leaving me, and perhaps you, with a neither here-nor-there feeling. It’s not classic, but it’s not progressive. It’s not conservative, but it’s not edgy. Even the volume of worship music played in churches follows this not-too-quiet, not-too-loud formula.",
"It starts out with clean guitar sound, delay/echo effect making twinkly major chords with **lots** of reverb, then the verse starts with a raspy or tired voice saying how broken they feel and how they need a savior out of this mess (any mess).\n\nThen the chorus comes in and they bring in the distortion, bass, and the drums from Rock Beat #2 (kick-kick-snare, kick-kick-snare) at 70 bpm. The chorus lyrics are the resolution to being broken or \"fucked up\" where Jesus makes everything better because he was brutally tortured in public.\n\nWhen they go back to the verse, it's the same as the first one except there's a second guitar twinkling other shit on top and this guitar has too much \"chorus\" effect (not the chorus from a song but \"chorus\" as in the sound effect not unlike a phaser).\n\nIn general they use lots of digital processing because it is cheaper and faster but it comes out in the tone like a signature \"this is modified with lots of computers\"\n\n[here's an example](_URL_0_)"
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2wwg30 | why don't bookstores offer the same prices in-store as they do online? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wwg30/eli5_why_dont_bookstores_offer_the_same_prices/ | {
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"Brick and mortar stores have more overhead that needs to be covered by the sale of books (rent, power, employee wages, insurance, etc.). Typically online warehouses have less overhead. Additionally, some states to not charge tax or charge a lower amount of tax for online sales."
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1gcy8a | why scientists haven't been able to produce a drug that makes fat people skinny | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gcy8a/eli5_why_scientists_havent_been_able_to_produce_a/ | {
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"They have. There have been all kinds of weight loss medications made. Remember Fen Phen? There was a big problem because the medicine caused cardiac issues. From what I remember though, it was really only dangerous to people who were taking it incorrectly such as taking more than prescribed to have it work faster or taking it when it wasn't prescribed by a doctor.\n\nThere are tons of medical procedures and drugs for weight loss, though, so I'm not really sure what you're looking for. Are you just asking why there is no miracle pill where you can take one pill a day, eat whatever you want and still be in great shape?",
"Because it'd be very hard to do without killing the person or at least causing irreparable damage. Fat cells are cells too, think of them as balloons, on fat people their fat cells are puffed up full of fat, and skinny people they're small, but regardless fat an skinny people both have the same number of fat cells. When the body needs energy it tells the fat cells to let go of some of the fat so that the liver can turn it into sugar which the body can then use for energy. Fat cells can only release fat at about the rate of 31 (kilo)calories per pound of fat a day. If you have someone a pill that made their fat cells dump all their fat quicker than usual it would play havoc with many bodily systems like blood lipid levels, blood acidity, renal health, liver health, cholesterol levels, etc. So now you can see its more complicated than just giving someone a pill to make them skinny. What we can do with medicine is, increase the persons metabolism (so they burn more energy per a day, but still the person's fat cells can only supply so much so we have to be careful), or give them something so that the food they eat isn't absorbed as much and just passed through relatively undigested. It's a much more complicated answer than to just give someone a pill to make them lose fat",
"Drugs cause side effects. \nLosing fat causes side effects and can strain the filter organs. \n(see: [Ketoacidosis](_URL_0_)) \nUsing drugs that cause extreme fat loss can literally kill your kidneys. \nCombine that with drugs that reduce appetite or boost metabolism artificially and you are \"running your car engine on jet fuel and NOS at the same time while using a clogged air filter.\"",
"Amephetamines are good for keeping you skinny, but they are illegal and addictive and have other bad side effects",
"It's called meth.",
"Fat is stored energy. You can't simply \"get rid of\" energy by swallowing a pill.\n\nPills can only try to prevent you from storing more energy (which is not completely unlike starving yourself) or try to make you burn off energy faster (which is like overclocking a computer... it can mess up and/or destroy your internal systems).",
"They have, it is called DNP, it is an amazing weight loss drug that has ridiculous results. Downside? It cooks you from the inside out.",
"Even if they did (or have), it wouldn't be nearly as delicious as all the foods that contribute to going over your calorie limit. You can't escape the fact that your body needs X amount of energy every day, and eating above that will cause your body to store it. So even if you were to make a pill that allowed you to feel full all day and gave you ~1500 calories of terrific nutrition without harming your body, random fat person X would probably still eat all the yummy stuff just because it's yummy. Metabolism isn't *that* different from person to person (PCOS-type conditions aside) and can't be manipulated *that* much that it can lead to someone who only needs 2000 calories to be able to handle 4000. "
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27ea8k | how do world leaders (like at the g7 meeting right now) communicate during their roundtable dinners? | Pictures from the event shows that it's just the politicians at the table, and no translators. I imagine that they use earpieces, but with English, French, Italian, German, and Japanese all represented, wouldn't conversation move slowly with all the translating occurring? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27ea8k/eli5_how_do_world_leaders_like_at_the_g7_meeting/ | {
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"Most world leaders can all speak English. ",
"English is the [lingua franca](_URL_0_) nowadays. It is understood that to be a high politician or businessperson you'd have to have a good grasp of English.\n\n\nAlso air traffic control is done in English everywhere in the world. ",
"As well as most speaking some level of English, they usually have ear pieces with an interpreter translating. ",
"English is widely spoken among World Leaders, though leaders of prominent countries often avoid doing it in public settings. \n\n[Hollande](_URL_2_)\n\n[Merkel](_URL_3_)\n\n[Abe](_URL_1_)\n\n[Renzi](_URL_0_)\n\nAll four speak with accents but it's probably enough to converse in a private setting. Few world leaders from non-English speaking countries are completely fluent (Netanyahu, Abdullah of Jordan, etc are exceptions), but nearly all know it at the conversational level. Some might avoid speaking in English in formal settings if they think it may seem weak."
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9a6edc | when and why did the notion (in fiction) that acute exposure to ionizing radiation causes drastic changes in an individuals (extra limb/super powers) arise? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9a6edc/eli5_when_and_why_did_the_notion_in_fiction_that/ | {
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"Early on in the discovery and understanding of DNA, we believed that DNA could be manipulated in certain ways to achieve superhuman effects. Everything from increased strength and endurance to regeneration or even extremely increased intellect were believed to be encoded somewhere in our DNA.\n\nThen we discovered that certain kinds of radiation can actually cause DNA to spontaneously and randomly mutate, and thus the trope was born. \n\nMuch more recently, we've figured out that DNA isn't some all-powerful designer, but instead just a sort of framework for epigenetic factors to express themselves, and it's highly unlikely that our DNA can be manipulated in order to achieve those kinds of superhuman factors.",
"Scientifically ignorant dime-novel writers in the 1950s, churned out science*-fiction* horror stories/comics/etc. in an effort to cash in on the public's general fear of a nuclear war.",
"The dramatization of fact did it. In real life you're obviously probably just going to get cancer and/or bleed from your orifices as your gastrointestinal tract melts.\n\nBUT it can cause mutations. In fact, we purposefully used it to breed new varieties of plants by bombarding their seeds with radiation and growing them. It's like playing the lottery for genetic traits. One funny legal quirk is that it doesn't count as genetic engineering so producers can claim they're organic. \n\nIf you want to read up a little on it, here's the wiki page: _URL_0_",
"Remember how before those tropes it was a lab explosion with mysterious chemicals, or before that, lightning? \n\nPeople not fully understanding how something works leaves an air of mystery and possibility that is easy to drop into a story to explain the unexplainable. We don’t expect the audience (or ourselves) to know how it works (or happened to work that one time because of that rogue variable) so, why not have it shake out that way?",
"In 1954, the original Godzilla film was released in Japan. Godzilla was canonically a monster created by nuclear radiation - this was a cultural response to the recent Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and widespread fear of nuclear radiation. \n\nOn the other side of the Pacific, the US began popularizing superhero characters who had been empowered by radiation like Superman. It could be argued that the turnaround in narrative from radiation = monsters in Japan and radiation = superheroes in the US were two sides of the same WWII coin. ",
"Okay, I'm going to make a lot of people sad by pointing this out, but exceptional heroes, superheroes, aliens, and gods are all really the same artistic device: a way to isolate and magnify some particular facet of the human condition. We'll stick to the science-ey ones here, but honestly they're pretty much all represented in the comic book universes, as far as I can tell. (Thor: god. Superman: alien. Batman: just a pissed off dude.)\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIn terms of storytelling, the way your subject becomes a superhero, or whatever, is comparatively unimportant. Don't get me wrong, many many stories, even the great ones, luxuriate in those details of origin and world building and so on, and make the origin story the first act, even. \n\n & #x200B;\n\nBut just as often as not, especially in highly abbreviated formats like film, television, and short(er) stories, the details get dumped in the name of pure exposition. You gotta get it out, get past it, and be done with it so you can hide your vulnerabilities and your deus ex machina and all that other bullshit in it and whip it out as needed.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIt is at that point that the writer reaches into his bag of tropes--I'm sorry, ideas. \n It has to be something with just enough plausibility to jump the disbelief hurdle, just new enough to be different, but it also has to be *familiar* to the audience. You've got to decide early whether your gimmick is gonna be science or magic, 'cause if you switch tracks on your audience, you'll get your own midichlorians shoved straight up your tail.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nPlausible, familiar, and quick. Otherwise you've got to show it or explain it or whatever, and now you've got to bake a damned pie because you're the one who threw the bake sale. And that wastes time. So you give 'em something that goes down quick and easy, and get going. \n\n & #x200B;\n\n( I'm sure there's a name for this trick. A MacGuffin is the gimmick that moves the plot along. This gimmick defines the origin of the character.)\n\n & #x200B;\n\nSo the mechanism that creates your hero (and/or villain) just cannot be too far out of step with the audience of your day, see? It has to be familiar enough that the audience buys it, doesn't dwell on it, and moves on. \n\n & #x200B;\n\nSo for Mary Shelley, the gimmick is electricity in the form of lightning (and yo look there's ionized stuff hiding in that plasma). That gag still holds up, by the way, along with moonlight, which is a much older trope. Soon after Shelley the grim march of the industrial world led to mechanical-type plot devices--Captain Nemo isn't exactly a mechanical supervillain at first glance... except that he's basically wearing a giant submersible turtle suit that lets him roam around and fuck shit up. Then World War I came along and the horrors of chemistry did the trick. When astronomy became regularly taught in schools, the gimmick could suddenly be aliens and \"beams.\" Then World War II and the atomic age gave us \"radiation\", which is usually as nebulous as James Mason's \"secrets\" in *North by Northwest*.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nToday, audiences get told a lot more stories than they likely ever did before, so the explanations vary amusingly and some of them I love dearly.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nSo, there's the why, and the when naturally follows from it: ionizing radiation as a trope arose within a few months or years of the terms becoming widely popularized in non-fiction and conversation. So you should see an uptick in its use in the early 1930s, when there were fairly well publicized stories about pre-war developments in physics, then an explosion after August, 1945, and probably a continued rise in its use as weird shit like peppermint came onto the market.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nYou should probably see a few science fiction writers anticipate that time frame, too, as their audiences can have somewhat different standards when it comes to suspension of disbelief. In fact I remember one story about a guy who was run down by the FBI because he published a story about a dirty bomb before the first A-bomb test. That's why I love the science fiction writers. They're pie-bakers. I'm a pie-baker. I like pie."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[
"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding"
],
[],
[],
[]
] |
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