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59xx0i | how can somebody be allergic to water? | I have heard about people suffering from a water allergy & having to take special pills to be able to tolerate it. How can this even be possible considering the human body is mainly water? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/59xx0i/eli5_how_can_somebody_be_allergic_to_water/ | {
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"Very little is known about it but it's characterized by hives breaking out on the skin when it comes in contact with water. So it's not really an allergy in that your immune cells are overreacting to water molecules. It's more likely some kind of adverse skin condition that involves a reaction with water molecules.",
"It isn't an allergy to drinking water but to water making contact with the skin, aquagenic urticarial is like getting stung by nettles every time the skin makes contact with water.",
"It's not the water, but likely some sort of skin secretion that gets dissolved and soaks back into the skin, causing the reaction.\n\n[More info!](_URL_0_)"
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38jxe1 | how do services like apple pay and android pay benefit apple and google? | ELI5:How do services like apple pay and android pay benefit apple and google? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/38jxe1/eli5how_do_services_like_apple_pay_and_android/ | {
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"Banks charge merchants a transaction fee for using credit cards. Apple has negotiated to get a small sliver of this fee for transactions done using Apple Pay (which is beneficial to the bank because it encourages more use of the cards and also is more secure, ultimately reducing expensive fraud costs). This really will probably never add up to much money at Apple's scale though.\n\nThe real reason is that it's a nice feature for consumers to have, and that makes it a selling point for the phone itself (or watch, as the case may be). Buy a new iPhone and you can start using Apple Pay! The iPhone itself is where the money is.\n\nFor Google: They're an advertising company (~90% of their income). On one hand, they need some level of feature parity to encourage people with money to buy an Android phone over an iPhone. On the other hand, I think their implementation may give them more insight into your purchases than Apple's does (Apple has no idea when, how, or even if you use Apple Pay), which they can use to target ads better. The ads are where the money is, and just getting you to use an Android phone is a good way for them to learn more about you, even if they have to get the information from other sources (such as your email, etc.)."
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8r8i0l | how does saturn maintain such uniform patterns on its disks? | I never could comprehend how the rings stay so uniform. The disk formation I get, Gravity and orbit will do that, but having the rings form completely uniform from each side like that just feels impossible.. Saturn has all the time in the world and with enough time anything is possible but there must either be a few physical laws in this world i'm overlooking or this really is just a product of exposure.
Galaxies form into disks but they don't look this clean nor controlled.
How can a single ring of endless debris stay the same all the way around? The ring of Haumea further shows my confusion, why only in this line like this?
_URL_1_
Picture that ***broke*** me.
_URL_0_
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8r8i0l/eli5_how_does_saturn_maintain_such_uniform/ | {
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"Saturn's rings are inside the Roche limit. That's the minimum distance a moon can orbit a body without being torn apart by tidal forces. Once a.moon gets closer than that it will break up and form a ring system. Initially it will be chunky and have lots of rocks of different sizes, but over time the larler rocks will get broken down by collisions with smaller rocks in nearby orbits, until the all the rocks are roughly the same size and aren't likely to keep bumping into one another.\n\nAlso bear in mind that we've only been looking at Saturn's rings for a very small amount of time . If you could make a time lapse video of the rings over thousands or millions of years, it probably wouldn't look so unchanging.",
"You know when there is sand on a paved road, it tends to pile up in the middle and between where the car tires are? How does that happen? Sand gets bounced around randomly, the grains certainly don't know where they are supposed to go. Why isn't the pattern more random?\n\nThe answer is that sand that winds up where car tires are is more likely to get run over and moved, whereas sand in other places is more likely to stay put. Over time, the sand gets moved from one place to another, even though get movement is random.\n\nThe rings of Saturn work the same way. Some orbits are more stable than others, and the particles that comprise the rings are going to be drawn to those orbits. A particle that is not in that kind of orbit will be bounced around until it is, or it will be ejected or collides with the planet. What is left are the well-behaved particles in circular orbits around Saturns equator."
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"https://d1o50x50snmhul.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/11170731/haumea.jpg"
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1cxwnu | why does pubic hair end at a relatively convenient length, while head hair seems to have no limit? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1cxwnu/eli5_why_does_pubic_hair_end_at_a_relatively/ | {
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"both grow and fall out continuously. The average at any given time for head hair is just longer than body hair.\n\nThis doesn't completely answer your question, because \"why does head hair seem to fall out less frequently?\" is the next question, which someone else will need to pick up.",
"its not convenient. do everyone a favor and trim your bush. ",
"Same reason your eyelashes and eyebrows don't get long enough to braid, but instead land frequently on your cheek or in your eye -- they fall out more frequently. \n\nNatures way of making sure your eyelashes don't block your vision. In the case of pubic hair, nature's way of making sure you don't trip.",
"Also, there IS an actual limit to how long your head hair will grow, and it varies genetically by individual from what I understand.",
"The people that grew absurdly long pubic hair tripped while being chased by lions, were eaten, and did not reproduce.\n\nAs for head hair, more hair up top is an advantage in cold climates, such as the ice age in which we evolved. The people whose hair grew so fast that they tripped on it were eaten by sabertooths.",
"Hair has two phases in its life cycle. Growing phase and resting phase. Each hair has a specific length that it will grow to during its growing phase. Then it rests for a certain amount of time and then dies and falls out. \n\nThe lengths are predetermined based on location on your body. But not perfectly, so sometimes you get one crazy long hair on your ear or whatever.\n\nAlso, side note, this growing phase/resting phase thing is what goes wrong in male pattern baldness. The hairs aren't actually gone, its just that the growing phase is so short that the hairs never breach the surface of the skin. ",
"I call bullshit on the convenient length part of that"
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2q6d5g | why do stray cats bolt away like lightning when they see a human approaching from 10 feet away, yet show no fear when a 2 ton car barrels toward them? | Doesn't the noise and relative size scare them at all? Or are their sensory organs not equipped to recognize danger from a modern creation? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2q6d5g/eli5_why_do_stray_cats_bolt_away_like_lightning/ | {
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"Cats primarily rely on their sense of smell. But there's more to your question. How long does a cat have to perceive a human walking towards them at 2 miles an hour? How long a car traveling at 35?"
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a6n8pi | why when you're deep in thought or thinking about a memory, you seem to completely zone out of your current surroundings and feel as if you're almost reliving the memory or thought? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a6n8pi/eli5_why_when_youre_deep_in_thought_or_thinking/ | {
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"This is an excellent question. In fact, this question may actually be about what makes humans unique.\n\nFirst, let's consider something all organisms share: the need to understand their environment. While we may not look alike, our nervous systems have a lot in common with those of lobsters (and most other organisms; I just like the idea of comparing us to lobsters). We need to survey our environment and find out where we can expect to find resources, and where we can expect to meet threats.\n\nSo lobsters scour the bottom of the sea, constantly on the lookout. What they are doing can in fact be called cartography. Their nervous systems are similar to ours, in a sense. When new information (regarding resources or threats) is discovered, it adapts. It changes in such a way that it becomes a representation of their environment. A map, if you will.\n\nNow, there's something different about us. Yet this thing is not unique to humans. The same thing goes for, say, mice. But that's not the point.\n\nWe explore not only our physical environments. We explore our models of our environments.\n\nThis is an idea that is gaining headway in neuroscience. It's a refreshing perspective that is of quite some use.\n\nWe have this thing called the 'Default Mode Network'. It doesn't sound very interesting. Yet, you will find that some neuroscientists start drooling at the mention of the subject. Why? Because this network truly is very interesting.\n\nWell, we've got to compare it to another network to see why it's interesting: the Task Positive Network. When you're actively engaged in some task, this is the network that's active. You can say that this is the network responsible for the charting of your physical environment.\n\nThe Default Mode Network, however, is active when you're exploring your mental model of your environment. It's the network that's active when you're 'zoning out'.\n\nResearchers first became aware of this network when they noticed that the brains of their participants were active even when they weren't doing anything. Their minds were wandering. And their brains still managed to spend a lot of fuel.\n\nThis is important. The brains uses 20 percent of your energy budget. It's very, very expensive. You'd think that it would limit its consumption when you're not actively engaged in a task. So the fact that it's operating at the same level when your mind is wandering can only mean one thing: 'zoning out' is important to your survival.\n\nNow, the question is: why is it so important? To answer this, we might consider what people are usually thinking about when they are zoning out. They are thinking about people they know, goals they are striving for; things they want and need. What is happening when they are doing so, is that they are investing energy right now so that their odds of experiencing good things in the future increases.\n\nThey are making investments. You've got to spend money to make money. And you've got to spend energy to earn energy. Like a clever economist, they are putting their assets to good use.\n\nNow, there's another part of this. This relates to the second half of your question. The 'almost meditative' state.\n\nThe Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmilahalyi (pronounced chick-sent-me-high) is famous for having described the 'flow' state. This is a state where people lose the sense of their surroundings because of their focus on a task. It feels good. It's also very simple to explain.\n\nA task can range from easy to difficult. Your skill level related to the task can range form novice to expert. When your skill level matches the task difficulty, you experience the flow state. If the task is too easy (compared to your skill level) you experience boredom. If it's too hard, you experience anxiety.\n\nWhen you are 'zoning out', you are in a way engaged in a task. And that means you can reach the flow state.\n\nThe reason I stated at the beginning of this that this may be what makes humans unique, is that we are spending a lot of our time in this state.\n\nThe sub-cortical parts of our brains are tasked with automating actions that are 'beneath us'--like riding your bicycle. The basal ganglia takes the wheel and drives. This allows you to enter your Default Mode Network. If something very unexpected happens, your locus coeruleus will fire a blast of noradrenaline, and this will shift your attention to what is before you immediately. Your Default Mode Network will switch to your Task Positive Network.\n\nNow, if you were actually talking about blissful unawareness, I might have missed the bar entirely. Yet, I hope this has been useful somehow.\n\n-u/pianobutter",
"To add to the excellent explanation you already got, it's also important to note that the brain is not very good at telling the difference between imagination and reality when it comes to its physical and emotional responses. It experiences the imagination as if it's really happening, and this is more pronounced in some people than others (people who have vivid imaginations feel more).\n\nSo if you imagine food, you will salivate. If you imagine sex, you'll get horny. Etc. The body reacts similarly to as if it's happening in real time. This is part of the reason why you have the sense of 'reliving' - your body is physically and emotionally reacting to the memory in much the same way it did when it first happened, so in a way, you are literally 'reliving' it."
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9v8hz9 | where do the blood vessels go after a chicken is cooked? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9v8hz9/eli5_where_do_the_blood_vessels_go_after_a/ | {
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"They're much easier to find in the thigh and drumstick. The vessels are still there, but a chicken simply doesn't USE it's breast muscles much so it doesn't have a huge blood supply, the cuts of meat we eat exclude as much \"yucky stuff\" as possible, and the animal is drained of as much blood as possible during processing. ",
"Blood vessels are held open by the blood pressure inside them. When the chicken is drained of blood, the blood vessels will collapse, like a small stretched rubber band springing back.\n\nThe blood vessels are still in the chicken meat, but far too small for you to notice. Only large vessels like major arteries are visible."
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730h8u | why are people banned from living "off the grid"? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/730h8u/eli5_why_are_people_banned_from_living_off_the/ | {
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"You're not banned from it. You just can't live on property you aren't authorized to be on, whether private property or gov owned property.\nIf you own private property or have permission to be on someone else's private property, you're perfectly fine living off the grid.",
"There isn't a law about people living without access to water, electricity, or public sanitation. Anyone can buy land and live there regardless of the ammenoties on the land.\n\nOff the grid is just a term to describe lacking lines of power or fresh water from/to the city.\n\nIf you have a energy source and access to a well on your own property, so long as the lines don't run onto someone elses property, you are off the grid",
"They're not banned from living off the grid, if off the grid means not connected to networked utilities. Providing the utilities themselves or forgoing them. \n\nPeople living off the grid still need to follow applicable zoning rules and permitting requirements (generally rural counties tend to be relatively lenient) wherever they build. ",
"What do you mean by \"living off the grid?\"\n\nYou can live off the grid in the sense that you can live out on your land in the middle of nowhere with minimal connection to the outside world, provided local building codes and zoning laws allow it.\n\nYou can't live off the grid in the sense that you ignore the government and don't pay taxes. All land in the world has been claimed by some state. The state is supposed to keep you safe from external threats, like enemy armies. Doing that requires resources, which are usually gained from taxes. If you try to avoid interacting with the government so you don't have to pay taxes, the government won't be happy that you're not paying. The government also wants to make sure you have things like an address and social security number so they can collect taxes (and for other things like locating you if you commit a crime).\n\nTo live off of the grid in the sense of not having a connection with a nation, you would have to get all nations to agree to leave you alone. Otherwise it just takes a couple guys from whatever army to say \"you belong to this nation now.\"",
"You can live off the grid as much as you like, but you can't live on public land (government will have a problem with you), you can't live on private land without permission from the landowner (if the landowner grants you permission, that's another thing, but you now have a link back to the 'grid'), and if you are the landowner you're going to be paying property tax or you'll have some interesting visitors coming by.\n\nThe only places you can really do this are places where the government figures its too much of a hassle to mess with you, or the government is weak enough to not care, so out on the open ocean, antarctica, certain parts of central africa, etc, are good places to go and 'disappear'.",
"Nobody seems to realize that it is indeed illegal to live with no utilities connections in some places.\n\nIt most likely comes from building codes and other housing laws intended to keep people 'safe' from slum owning landlords and such, but in the rare situation that someone chooses to live that way it also effects them. "
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bbb7xa | why are there no smartphones with e-ink displays? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bbb7xa/eli5_why_are_there_no_smartphones_with_eink/ | {
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"Phone companies have tried prototypes but nothing really gained traction. OLEDs today can do practically the same and still give you the color when you want it.",
"If you have an android, you can change your screen to black and white. Try it and see if it makes a difference. It probably won't though. Brightness is the biggest factor in regards to battery life.",
"e-ink doesn't come in full color, and is extremely slow to update.\n\nThat's fine for reading a book. Absolutely unusable for scrolling through a webpage, contact list or anything else.\n\nNow one could have a second e-ink display for things like the time and a list of notifications. But that takes work to create, and if people don't think it's an awesome idea and rush to buy it, it might not be a winning proposition.",
"It's not just Black/White, it's also 1 FPS update. While that's great for text and phone, you couldn't control the camera that way, not to mention watch cat videos.\n\nWhat's awesome in an ebook, from a power consumption perspective, is that there is almost nothing else going on while it waits for you to signal \"next page\". Alas, in a phone there is all that radio/Internet work that would still mean you have to charge every day. The charge once per month phone isn't in your future, unless your future looks like the DynaTAC."
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fxyyof | why does your scalp produce more dandruff as more flakes come off? | How do you not run out of itchy scalp flakes to have fall off | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fxyyof/eli5_why_does_your_scalp_produce_more_dandruff_as/ | {
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"dandruff is just dead skin. scalp is word we use to call skin on top of your head. your body regularly sheds skin all over. the thing with scalp skin is that it's easily trapped by hair instead of falling off your body where you don't notice it.",
"You can imagine your skin as a sort of jigsaw puzzle, with microscopic cells all connected together to form a stretchy covering for your insides. It’s important that the cells adhere to each other so that they form a complete barrier as they are meant to. Now imagine you take one piece of the puzzle out from the center, leaving the adjacent four pieces with exposed edges. You’ve just made it much easier for these pieces to be pulled out as well, and once they do, they leave 3 more pieces each exposed. And so on.\n\nEach time you remove cells from the layer of dead skin on your scalp, you’re leaving the surrounding cells more vulnerable to being removed as well, just because the barrier is now incomplete and more prone to being torn through things like friction."
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30x901 | what is wahhabi/salafist islam? what is the shiite equivalent? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30x901/eli5_what_is_wahhabisalafist_islam_what_is_the/ | {
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"They are schools of thought in Sunni Islam founded by Mohammed bin Abd al Wahhab. Both are about returning to the practices of early 7th century Islam (as the name Salaf refers to \"ancestors\") and discarding tradition/innovation/philosophy that has been built up since then. They take a very literal and strict reading of the Quran and Hadith, which are stories of Mohammed's life. The most infamous of these literal readings would be the application of Mohammed's commands to wage war on unbelievers to the modern day - physical jihad. \n\nHistorically, Mohammed bin Abd al Wahhab had a deal with the founder of a unified Saudi Arabia. This is how this school of thought has come to dominate the country. It is also spread to the rest of the world because Saudi Arabia's oil wealth gives it the ability to send aid to other countries for the building of mosques. Naturally these mosques teach the Saudi-preferred version of Islam. "
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8dlsi6 | why do certain types of noise enhance our abilities to focus and study whereas others don't? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8dlsi6/eli5_why_do_certain_types_of_noise_enhance_our/ | {
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"A constant (background) noise gives your brain time to shut it out, while when it is quiet, any sudden sounds alert your brain something's up"
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2vlz4a | if i give someone $1 million, why do i have to pay a gift tax? | Assuming I have already paid taxes on the $1 million dollars, why does the act of giving it to someone subject me to even more taxes? What is the reasoning behind the gift tax? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vlz4a/eli5_if_i_give_someone_1_million_why_do_i_have_to/ | {
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"~~You don't pay a gift tax. The recipient pays the tax on the gift.~~\n\nTIL.",
"In what jurisdiction? There're a lot of them.\n\nOne justification for it would be that it's an exorbitant amount of money to just receive for no real point of merit so it's acceptable to take a cut to help subsidize various government services and reduce the tax burden on people that came across their income themselves.\n\nAn argument against is that the income was taxed when whoever was gifting it made it, therefore it's not fair to tax it twice. ",
"In the US, You (not the recipient) pay gift tax in order to prevent you from avoiding the inheritance (estate) tax when you die. \n\nIn other words, if you were not liable for taxes on large gifts, then old or dying people would simply give their heirs all their possessions before they died, so that their estate wouldn't have to pay tax on the inheritance. "
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41sfb8 | there seem to be significantly fewer contradictions in the quran than in the bible. is this simply because of a lack of research, or is it objectively less contradictory? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/41sfb8/eli5_there_seem_to_be_significantly_fewer/ | {
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"unless I am mistaken the Koran was written by one man, while the Bible was written by many across several centuries.",
"The Bible is a compilation of many different works written over the span of centuries. It has also been translated over and over and things always get lost in translation. The Quran was ostensibly written by one man and is generally only acceptable to believers when written in the original Arabic.",
"Koran - all written by Muhammad (as he noted, at the direction of angels), over a relatively short timespan. Also done in one language, Arabic, and without much updating. \n\nBible: Old testament: written by many over thousands of years.\nNew testament: written by many over about 100-150 years, with various tinkerings and modifications through the years. There is no \"Book of Jesus\" - as in a section that Jesus actually wrote. Instead there is the book of Mark, John, Luke, and Matthew as actual disciples who said \" I knew and followed Jesus, and this is what I remember\", and the rest is a collection of letters and sermons from some of the early apostles and quite a bit from Paul, who never even met Jesus. It was also mostly written in Hebrew (old), then Greek (new) and then translated into other languages, with the original writings generally lost (so lots of disagreements on particular translations of old greek manuscripts). \n\nSo when you look at that big jumble, the Quran is going to be less contradictory. "
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35b1im | what causes certain people to constantly tap or have their hands busy? | I've always tapped to a certain beat (or to no beat in particular), or felt the need to have my hands occupied. And I know I'm not the only one.. is it determined by a certain characteristic of the mind? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35b1im/eli5_what_causes_certain_people_to_constantly_tap/ | {
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"Not really sure but maybe it's to keep the brain occupied?",
"I am sure that you're not the only person to ask this question and the drug company that delivered us respite from our merciless affliction of 'Restless Leg Syndrome', may well be positioned to bring a new drug to market that will be a godsend to those suffering from \"fidgety fingers complex\". \n\nIf you enjoy comprehensive health insurance, then hold on, keep tapping, and know the drug companies are working against the clock to help you.\n\nMaybe you can type, massage, manicure, mix an awesome cocktail, come, use that need to occupy your the fingers on those hands seeking work to make your partner come; go crazy with your out-of-control hand's corresponding itchy-trigger-finger and let loose on the local gun range"
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18o8ek | why is photography equipment so expensive? | What causes cameras and lenses to be so expensive?
How are +$6,000 bodies and $2,000 lenses justified? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18o8ek/why_is_photography_equipment_so_expensive/ | {
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"So much goes into making a lens. The kind of glass used, aperture blades, image stabilization, and autofocus mechanisms are a few of numerous things you have to think about. If you're a photographer at the superbowl, would you want a lens that takes 5 seconds to focus? Game changing moments happen in split seconds. As far as bodies go, there is some similar stuff, but now you have to add image processing software- are you shooting in JPEG or RAW? Once again, a camera with a weak processor can take several seconds to process and save those images- seconds in which you could have taken 3/4 shots. There are the image sensors which are the bulk of the money. Better sensor=better colors, better brightness, better contrast. ALSO, you have cameras with crop factors. Full frame cameras cost more (this is hard to explain and I'm on an iPod so I'll provide a link explaining crop factors later)\n\nThat being said, I shoot with a canon 600D and a 50mm lens, a set of 6 filters, and a spare 18-55mm lens all of which cost me 600$. The photographer is equally, if not more, important than the equipment."
]
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1w20r5 | the rice experiment | I know this seems like it shouldn't even belong in any respectable scientific discussion, but I still have to ask. Please do not just downvote and ignore this simply because the premise is so ridiculous.
Basically, the rice experiment involves taking three glass jars, filling them all with rice and water, then leaving them alone for 30+ days.
Well, not quite leaving them alone...
One jar you say 'thank you' to every day.
One jar you say 'I hate you' to every day.
And one jar you simply ignore the entire time.
After the 30+ days, the results show less rot and mold forming on the 'thank you' jar, and the other two look pretty nasty.
Right away it sounds like absolute hogwash, and I would have already dismissed it, but it appears that many people have attempted this experiment with very interesting results. Example: _URL_0_
What is your take on the matter? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1w20r5/eli5_the_rice_experiment/ | {
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" > but it appears that many people have attempted this experiment with very interesting results. Example: _URL_0_\n\nAnd a lot of people have tried it, gotten an unfavorable result and not posted a video about it. Selection bias at it's finest."
]
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"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sbzCaEsHfw"
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f8h84o | how does a man without the bottom part of his body pee? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f8h84o/eli5how_does_a_man_without_the_bottom_part_of_his/ | {
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"It depends?\nIf he still has his kidneys: he can either have a catheter in his bladder OR (if he looses his bladder) you can have a catheter in your kindeys as well.\n\nIf he also doesn't have his kidneys: he doesn't pee. It all works with dialysis, which will filter anything out of your system what would be filtered by your kidneys"
]
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||
5awips | why do religious leaders wear funny hats? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5awips/eli5_why_do_religious_leaders_wear_funny_hats/ | {
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"text": [
"For the same reason that the [Peaked Cap](_URL_0_) is worn in many military forces: it can be a potent and easy to recognise symbol of authority.\n\n "
]
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaked_cap"
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||
3f83bt | what is the difference between williams syndrome and down's syndrome? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3f83bt/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_williams/ | {
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"Williams Syndrome (WS) and Down Syndrome (DS) are discrete disorders with many differences. WS is caused by deletion of genetic material, while DS is caused by an additional chromosome 21. DS is much more common. WS and DS both have distinct facial features. Both involve learning difficulties and developmental delays. WS has many more medical problems, especially with the heart, kidneys, and muscles. Individuals with WS are prone to hernias and dental problems. They are also likely to be excessively friendly."
]
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||
6sdydm | why is it that your arm can lose blood, fall asleep for 20 minutes, and be fine when blood is restored, but cutting blood off to your brain for even a minute (e.g. having a stroke) can have irreversible damage? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6sdydm/eli5_why_is_it_that_your_arm_can_lose_blood_fall/ | {
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"1) Falling asleep on your arm doesn't block all bloodflow. Even the brain can survive significant amounts of time in low-oxygen (aka: Hypoxia), though it should still be avoided.\n\n2) Muscles, especially when not in use, use far less oxygen than nerve cells (by a factor of 10, IIRC). This means that they will starve faster when the circulatory system suddenly stops delivering oxygen.\n\n3) Muscles are built to deal with significant fluctuations in growth and repair due to normal use, where nerve-cells are generally not going to get damaged and rebuilt without sustaining a significant injury.",
"Your arm falls asleep because you have put pressure on a nerve, not blood. This disrupts communication between your brain and the limb. "
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4tncx5 | blue light filter glasses and why they're good for people who stare at screens for long times | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4tncx5/eli5_blue_light_filter_glasses_and_why_theyre/ | {
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"Part of your brain is responsible for telling you when to sleep and when to not sleep. It uses a chemical you may have heard of, melatonin. When your eyes perceive blue light, nerves send a signal to this region of the brain and aid in destroying melatonin. This all comes from sunlight. During the day, sunlight is raining down on you and you see a lot of blue, so your brain destroys melatonin and you stay awake. But as the sun goes down, blue light signals should naturally decrease, and melatonin should build up, causing an increase in drowsiness. Large amounts of blue light, such as what comes out of your computer screen, can therefore disrupt the amount of melatonin in your brain at night, causing trouble sleeping. So either using blue light filters, or a computer program which \"warms\" the color temperature (shifts the colors towards the red end of the spectrum) can aid in preventing this. This is the basis of dark mode (which just limits the amount of light entering your eyes) as well as pieces of software such as Apple's Night Shift [f.lux](_URL_0_)\n\nEDIT: Replaced melanin w/ melatonin"
]
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26xvle | why are most blockbuster movies/films first released outside of north america? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/26xvle/eli5_why_are_most_blockbuster_moviesfilms_first/ | {
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"i.e. _URL_0_ and countless others. In fact almost every movie I wanted to see this year was first released abroad. Why? I mean it's not like they need extra time for dubbing. ",
"We've reached the point now where a blockbuster film can make as much as 80 percent of its overall box office gross outside of the United States.\n\nBasically, it makes NA jealous, and more hype which generates better profits. So, because money.\n\nEdit: Also, it actually helps to cut down on pirating as it makes the movies less of a commodity (which also helps make money).\n\n[Source](_URL_0_)"
]
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"http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-more-and-more-blockbusters-are-premiering-abroad/"
]
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||
26yerc | how many years of memories can the brain support? | Lets say you lived with a healthy brain for 1000 or 10000 years. Would you be able to remember anything from when you were 20? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/26yerc/eli5how_many_years_of_memories_can_the_brain/ | {
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"There's no way to know because we don't live that long, but probably not. As you get old, time starts moving a lot faster and your perspective can get warped. If a regular person spends 50 years married to a person, that's the most important relationship in their life. If a 10,000 year old person spends 50 years with someone, that's effectively a one night stand.",
"The question should be could you remember things accurately from when you were 20. And that answer is no. You would think that you could remember your old girlfriend from when you were 20 or maybe your awesome 20th birthday party, but the human brain changes so much over the course of life, that memories would become skewed. The problem is, in order to keep memories, you have to continuously remember them. But, the more you recall a memory, the more your brain will subtly change the memory. Your not actually remembering an event; you're remembering the time you remembered the time you... and so on. It's a vicious circle that affects us daily that would only become more of a problem on a larger time scale. But, if you could keep your brain alive and active for 10,000 years, you would be able to inaccurately remember things from way back in your 20's."
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mw5r2 | why will wearing somebody's glasses ruin my eyes? | I tried on my dad's gasses and he got mad at me, telling me that wearing them will ruin my eyes. Why, reddit? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/mw5r2/eli5_why_will_wearing_somebodys_glasses_ruin_my/ | {
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"Sounds more like a urban myth if you ask me. I think he just didn't want you wearing his glasses, but I'm not an eye-doctor, I just wear glasses.",
"Glasses with the wrong prescription, or poorly fitted glasses, cause eye strain, which will give you a headache. I don't know that it will cause long term harm, but it will feel terrible.\n\nFitting glasses is an art, while determining the prescription is more of a science. The prescription includes an exact distance that the lens should be placed from the eye, but people's heads are all shaped differently, choosing and adjusting the frames is an art. That is what you (often) miss out on by going to one hour glasses places.",
"It won't, for the same reason that reading in the dark doesn't make you go blind. \n\nBoth of these acts can be stressful on the eyes - but there's no evidence showing lasting effects. ",
"It forces them to try and focus through a lens that distorts the image they're seeing, straining your eyes. It hurts a lot, which is a good sign that it's bad for you!\n\nWearing them for a few seconds won't affect them one bit, but all the time will strain them somewhat.",
"Wearing SOMEONE else's glasses won't ruin your eyes, but wearing YOUR DAD's will....because if you fuck 'em up he'll gouge out your eyes with a spoon!",
"Eye strain! Forcing your eyes to attempt to focus on things through an improper lens is similar to what it is like to go without corrective lenses when you really need them. One of the first signs that someone needs glasses is headaches (due to eye strain.) You are basically forcing muscles to continuously strain and work too hard. Doing it once probably isn't going to cause lasting problems but it's unnecessary.",
"Sounds more like a urban myth if you ask me. I think he just didn't want you wearing his glasses, but I'm not an eye-doctor, I just wear glasses.",
"Glasses with the wrong prescription, or poorly fitted glasses, cause eye strain, which will give you a headache. I don't know that it will cause long term harm, but it will feel terrible.\n\nFitting glasses is an art, while determining the prescription is more of a science. The prescription includes an exact distance that the lens should be placed from the eye, but people's heads are all shaped differently, choosing and adjusting the frames is an art. That is what you (often) miss out on by going to one hour glasses places.",
"It won't, for the same reason that reading in the dark doesn't make you go blind. \n\nBoth of these acts can be stressful on the eyes - but there's no evidence showing lasting effects. ",
"It forces them to try and focus through a lens that distorts the image they're seeing, straining your eyes. It hurts a lot, which is a good sign that it's bad for you!\n\nWearing them for a few seconds won't affect them one bit, but all the time will strain them somewhat.",
"Wearing SOMEONE else's glasses won't ruin your eyes, but wearing YOUR DAD's will....because if you fuck 'em up he'll gouge out your eyes with a spoon!",
"Eye strain! Forcing your eyes to attempt to focus on things through an improper lens is similar to what it is like to go without corrective lenses when you really need them. One of the first signs that someone needs glasses is headaches (due to eye strain.) You are basically forcing muscles to continuously strain and work too hard. Doing it once probably isn't going to cause lasting problems but it's unnecessary."
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395rxd | how do the nations that are rescuing the migrants in the mediterranean deal with the migrants after they have saved them? | Do they send them back to there home country? Or do they process them as you would if the migrants came to the country a conventional way? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/395rxd/eli5_how_do_the_nations_that_are_rescuing_the/ | {
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"They take them to Italy, and Italy processes them. Whether Italy is helped in any way with the costs and logistics....",
"They get sent to processing centers where they could easily stay for months on end while the Italian/Spanish government deals with the red tape to send them back. "
]
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1qw49v | why is it that drugs like marijuana & cocaine are banned in most countries, yet alcohol isn't? | Does alcohol not have as bad (if not worse) mind altering properties? Is it not as addictive as other drugs, and costs the health industry millions every year? Is it a money thing when it comes to governments, or because it's more socially acceptable? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qw49v/eli5_why_is_it_that_drugs_like_marijuana_cocaine/ | {
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"Around the same time someone came up with the *fantastic* idea of prohibition in the US, people started about thinking about banning all the other intoxicants. Primarily, this was because blacks and Mexicans were still quite aware of the other methods of getting intoxicated at a lower cost/alternative to alcohol, which was the primary drug of the day. \n\nKeep in mind, at this point, marijuana would have a rural pejorative attitude, it wasn't a 'classy' drug like alcohol, though I doubt the use of these words is entirely valid. The key here is that marijuana back then was very, very weak, so it would have been seen...I can't quite find an analogy, but it would be considered a drug of the lower class, like homeless people drinking mouth wash.\n\nBy the 1930s, the majority of drug laws [the opiates and marijuana] were peddled across the States successfully, primarily with fear mongering like the Reefer Madness film. It was eventually added as a requirement to join the UN, which explains how it was exported world wide.",
"Because alcohol is much more engrained into our culture than marijuana or cocaine. The government would love to take it away but they can't due to the severe impacts on society. Plus, it's so easy to make alcohol yourself that all it would mean is that people weren't paying tax on their alcohol, but they would still drink it.",
"That's an extremely interesting question that I would love to hear some opinions on. \n\nDuring the prohibition they banned the sale of alcohol, but obviously failed. If it makes sense to ban drugs, it makes sense to ban alcohol. \n\nMy guess is there was enough people using alcohol (and supporting legalization) that it was too tough to keep in law while other drugs have fewer users...\n\nThis is my only thought but please, lets hear more!\n",
"Because Christ turned his blood into wine and not delicious bud.",
"Because of culture + tax. \n\nAlcohol is deeply ingrained into the culture of western and many other societies. People always drank alcohol socially so it's a part of their life and when you take this away, there usually are large repercussions such as what happened during the Probation period. People who have been drinking their whole life and have been bought up in a culture where alcohol is consumed regularly wont give up alcohol easily. \n\nWeed has been a lot less ingrained in society. Most people didn't grow up smoking weed or around people smoking weed. There are a few places where marijuana is more widely consumed but in the majority of places not many people smoke it. So a ban on weed doesn't affect as many people as a ban on alcohol would affect. \n\nSecondly it's taxes. Alcohol is heavily taxed so governments get a nice revenue from sales of alcohol. As others have mentioned most people can grow weed in their backyard (although I'ld reckon not anyone can grow good quality weed) while you need a brewery and distillery to make alcoholic drinks which is a more expensive and time consuming affair so the governments can regulate alcohol production by licensing and taxing large breweries which adds to the revenue. \n\nIf you look at countries where alcohol isn't ingrained in their culture, such as middle eastern countries, they do fairly well with banning alcohol. There isn't any large scale social backlash and no large crime rings bootlegging alcoholic drinks because majority of the people in those societies don't drink alcohol so they don't care if it's banned just like how majority of people in the west don't smoke marijuana or do cocaine and hence don't care if it's banned. ",
"To me, there are two categories of alcohol- Beer/Wine and Spirits/Liquor. \n\nBeer and Wine have been an essential part of most societies. Most civilizations have survived because of beer and wine. That is due to the fact that the liquid itself must be sterile in order for the yeast to survive. This also means that no harmful bacteria can enter into the beer. So when we drink beer and wine, we are drinking something that is pure and won't cause disease. They didn't know at the time, or to the extent we do now, that the boiling process that beer has makes it free of pathogens. Wine is usually taken from the juice of grapes, and again, it must be sterile before introducing the yeast. \n\nWhy is this important? Well, because it also allowed for the storage of nutrients during long winters. Grains and fruit spoil, but beer and wine can keep for months and months. This means that the people of the town can keep going on a liquid rather then rely on food for the winter. Here is an interesting timeline on the history of beer: _URL_0_\n\nI also recommend \"How Beer Saved the World\" on Netflix.\n\n\nSpirits and Liquor are simply the distilled form of beer, wine, or any other alcoholic mash. They too also served a purpose. They provided a purpose for leftover sugar cane/molasses (rum), could be used as a fuel source, if needed, and acted as a make shift sterile solution if needed. They could also be added to water to keep it sterile as well, if needed.\n\nHere is another interesting and more detailed read on alcohol: _URL_1_\n\n\nSo, now on to drugs. The argument that most law enforcement officers have against drugs is that they do not serve a useful purpose. Now that being said, there is medical testing being done (mainly outside of the US) to disprove the usefulness of Marijuana as a valid medical treatment plan. They are turning heads, and thus we are seeing some governments (mostly state governments) state to legalize the recreational use. As more and more research is done to help provide that marijuana is a valid drug, then I think we will see it become legalized. Cocaine, too, in the eyes of law enforcement serves no other purpose than to get high. Some studies have been done as well, see here: _URL_2_ . \n\nAnother issue is the political side of it. We have already seen how the public reacted to prohibition. We have also created this circle of violence as well. We outlaw a substance, organized crime controls that substance, we spend money to fight the cartel/organized crime division. It is easy to say \"Marijuana and Cocaine have caused X amount of damage\" from a politicians mouth. While studies are proving that different methods are more useful in fighting the war on drugs, the public still favors an anti-drug policy. \n\nLastly, and what I think is the biggest reason, is that alcohol has roots in America. Most founding fathers were brewers and/or distillers. Our country was founded on alcohol, and a tax on molasses was a huge part of the revolutionary war. We fought again during Prohibition to reclaim. It goes back to People do not like having something that was once legal turned illegal. Illegal drugs never had that foothold, so it is hard to make a claim to legalize/de-criminalize them.",
"I think it is interesting, that caffeine was seriously considered amongst the other drugs to be legalized.",
"The beer, wine and distilled spirits industry has a better lobby.",
"In the US, there WAS a prohibition of alcohol, which was repealed. Alcohol is very easy to make, so after it was made illegal, it's illegal production sky-rocketed leading to the first foothold of organized crime the US (well….the second foothold since the government itself apparently doesn't count). There is a thriving illegal market for pot and coke in this country just like there was for alcohol when it was illegal. It's a little silly, and it would probably be better for everyone if the government just let people do what they wanted to themselves."
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"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17687926"
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43dj2s | why don't more websites host their downloads via torrents? | I don't see a drawback to it.
You wouldn't have to pay for a server to host your file.
Higher download speeds for your clients.
More availability with 200 seeders compared to hosting it on one single server that could be down for a day.
Ubuntu hosts their image file via torrent. Why haven't other people followed in their steps? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/43dj2s/eli5_why_dont_more_websites_host_their_downloads/ | {
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"Torrenting requires people to already have a properly configured client. For a lot of people that's an intimidating requirement, and the current Internet culture is (understandably) such that most people would rather accommodate ignorance than try to correct it. For downloading a Linux distribution, if you've already decided to run Linux, you're probably able to learn how to torrent to do so.\n\nThough it's worth noting that the download clients for some major software, like World of Warcraft, actually uses peer-to-peer transfers as well. It's just without any interaction from the user.",
"Since torrents are distributed platform, it makes it difficult to apply patches and update the system, unless the program is designed with this in mind. \n\nAs such, if the program is in constant development, it may make more sense to just host it yourself to save the trouble of pushing a new file and hoping people seed it properly. \n\nAlso, its pretty difficult to charge for a torrent, so most software companies try to stay away from it and there's an association with illegal files which makes businesses even more wary. \n\nThe second fact is probably more relevant in most cases. ",
"this would only work if I ( and lots of others) was to store their files on my computer and then use up my bandwidth to let others download it off me. Why should I help a commercial site do its work?",
"You need a number of people seeding your download for this to work. If there aren't enough seeders no one will be able to download the file. It also makes pushing out new versions harder. Now all the seeders have to stop with the old and start with the new and you can't make them do that. If you somehow managed that then it makes it impossible to serve older versions. Everyone's moved on to the latest and greatest and there are no seeders for old versions.\n"
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767ns5 | how are cell and landline calls almost instanteous when talking with someone (most the time)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/767ns5/eli5_how_are_cell_and_landline_calls_almost/ | {
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"Electricity flows through copper (and laser light through fiber optic cables) at over 100,000 km/sec. Your voice actually travels *faster* on a wire than it does through the air!"
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3g7w7d | how do we know voter fraud does not occur in the u.s.? is it possible that it occurs undetected? what evidence should voter fraud theoretically leave behind? | I've been wondering about this for a while and want to get a straight answer. One of the reasons people condemn voter ID laws in the U.S. is because they claim voter fraud is a non-existent problem. Apparently, we know that voter fraud does not happen, and I'm not sure how.
To me, it seems like voter fraud is the kind of crime that would leave behind no evidence if performed successfully. That's the whole point; nobody is supposed to know you voted illegally.
Based on my understanding, there is no evidence for widespread cases of voter fraud, but do we apparently know that nobody gets away with it undetected? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3g7w7d/eli5_how_do_we_know_voter_fraud_does_not_occur_in/ | {
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"I suppose that there is no way to \"know\" that people don't commit voter fraud undetected. However, several organizations and government entities have looked into it, and have found that the rate of in-person voter fraud is ridiculously low.\n\nTypically in-person fraud occurs when someone goes to the polls and says that they are someone else. This is very rare. The reason is simple, there is no benefit for the fraud committing party to do it. Persons who want to commit fraud are typically politicians or those directly connected to them. In-person fraud would be a slow and time-consuming process which would leave a lot of witnesses.",
"My favorite part about the Texas voter ID law is that college ID's are not accepted but CCW permits are. Suck it nerds!",
"It would only go undetected for a while. People have always thought the same about UK voting, but we had a mayor of one of the London areas who was kicked out due to voting fraud. He and his pals had been intimidating people to vote for him. He scared people. Eventually, two people in the town stood up and reported him, despite his threats and eventually got him out.",
"There is a mathematical method known as Zipf's Law that is very good at detecting things like voting fraud. I would expect that US elections are scrutinised by many analysts who would be using this Law to detect irregularities.\n\n\nI have tried searching for a ELI5 friendly explanation of this in more detail but all the pages I could see were at an academic level of discussion.",
"I'm a campaign operative who has worked politics for 10 years. Voter fraud is pervasive in the US, I see it constantly, just not in the way people assume.\n\nShort version: People innocently vote by mail for their spouses ALL THE TIME... All. The. Time. Past residents and roommates as well. Having faith in the integrity and legitimacy of the system is crucial for democracy, registrations and ID requirements ensure that type of faith (especially for fraud that would otherwise be difficult to see). Past voter suppression is real, but most current voting integrity advocates are very well meaning, as are their opponents. Access to voting is essential and we need to do everything possible to ensure that for everyone. When it comes to voting assume every concern is valid and creative critical thinking can create balanced solutions.\n\nLong version, part 1:\n\nThe way people think that fraud happens is that a coordinated group changes the outcome of an election, or at least has a measurable impact, by casting a large number of fraudulent votes. That means creating fake registrations and voting, \"stuffing a ballot box” with votes, or voting for other people. The first two types of fraud are much much more easily detectable and preventable than the third type, which is why so much controversy surrounds that third issue. No case, for or against, any of these issues or solutions is perfect, but they are generally all legitimate concerns - those worried about integrity and those worried about access all have valid points and aren’t acting as nefariously as the media (or each opposition) portrays.\n\nThe first way, fake registrations and votes, is the classic “dead people voting”. It involves taking information from someone ineligible to vote, such as a minor, a non-citizen, or someone deceased, and casting a ballot in their name. This is preventable through diligence in the registration process. Having to put your drivers license number or last four digits of your social security number on your voter registration card allows the local registrar or elections department to confirm your identity. That means that only eligible voters will be permitted to vote and deceased voters are more easily trackable to remove from voter eligibility. That is why you’ll hear certain groups argue against “same day registrations” where you register and vote all on election day since there is less time and opportunity to truly validate a registration, or argue against drivers licenses for people not in the country legally (because their registration could be more easily mistakenly accepted with a valid license). Protecting voter anonymity means that if one of these mistakenly approved illegitimate votes is cast there is no way to distinguish it from the rest. This fraud is likely not very common anymore since we can so easily track and validate data, although it would be hard for the public to catch this type of fraud since it would require the local election authority to audit their registrants to see if everyone is valid and then see if anyone who was mistakenly registered voted.\n\nThe second way, injecting bulk votes into the results, is much harder today than it was in the past. One thing that I must emphasize is that personally identifiable information and the actual content of your vote are intentionally separated to ensure anonymous voting. In the classic “drop your ballot into the box of paper” model your vote is now completely anonymous in the pile of other valid and anonymous votes. If someone were to come in and shove a stack of filled out ballots into that pile there would be no way to distinguish the valid votes from the frauds. That sort of thing, either from an outside group or from within the institution itself, really does not happen any more because of advances in data and transparency. A reporter, a political professional, or an average citizen can easily obtain the raw voter data, precinct by precinct, and see “hey, wait, there were more ballots counted in this precinct than there were people who voted, something is very wrong.” Sure, it wouldn’t automatically correct the problem created, but it is so easily detectable it isn’t an effective way to change the outcome of an election. It would spur an investigation and things would end poorly, so people probably don’t do this.\n\nThe third way, voting for someone else (or registering someone eligible to vote and then voting for them), is the type of possible fraud most commonly discussed. It is pretty straightforward, who you vote for is private, the fact that you showed up and voted in any given election is public. This data helps campaigns target certain voters for specific elections and ensures transparency in the election process. A political professional could, with a high degree of mathematical certainty, determine who is very unlikely to show up to vote and go cast a ballot in their name. If someone looking to criminally impact an election were to build a universe of low propensity voters based on past voting history with regard to specific elections, appended with commercially available consumer data, and crossed against polling information they could build an exact model of who is not voting and go vote for them in a coordinated way. That is where the question of identification comes in. If you don’t have identification to match the name or other information on the registration records then you can’t vote under that name. You can always cast a provisional ballot, which remains in a separate space from the pre-validated legitimate votes that enter the system anonymously and undergoes much deeper personal scrutiny by elections officials before being counted. This does pose a higher barrier to voting than not having identification, but so does someone walking into a polling booth and saying “yeah, come’on, I’m this guy” - the question is how much is too much or too little when it comes to voting security. I’m sure the next question will be “well, can’t people make fake IDs” and the answer is yes, but that involves a much more complicated layer of sophistication, production, and coordination. It isn’t impossible, but more unlikely. Nothing is certain, everything is just probability.\n\nIt is not known how often this type of fraud takes place because it is much more difficult to track. There are often estimates, but they are, at least in my opinion, hard to accurately produce. It could be way more or way less. All of the registrations are valid so no pattern in data can easily see widespread fraud. The only way to truly know if this is happening is to survey large portions of low propensity voters to see if they remember registering and/or voting in a specific election. If you’re thinking “wait, you have to ask people to remember if or when they registered to vote and then if they remember voting in the April Local Primary Election in 2015, the June Local General Election in 2015, the August Special Election in 2015, the September Runoff Special Election in 2015, the March Presidential Primary in 2016, the Primary Election in August of 2016, or the General Election in November 2016, or just some some specific combination of those elections? Aren’t they just going to look at you with disdain and give you wildly inaccurate information like every scientist understands most people who answer simple surveys do? Especially since these are low propensity, likely low information voters to begin with?” Well...absolutely. Welcome to the wonderful world of *actual* professional politics, it is 2% fox/msnbc arguing and 98% data, policy, critical thinking, and anxiety. \n\nMy educated guess? This type of fraud does not happen very often because of the enormous risk someone is taking by doing it, should they be caught. If it were to happen it would be on a very small scale (which is why fake IDs are less likely) and only impact low volume local elections that are decided by less than 50 votes (often less than 5 votes). Yes, that happens ALL THE TIME! Not the fraud, the razer close local elections. Google it. I don’t care where you live, at some point in the last 20 years your town councilwoman, school board member, county supervisor, possibly state assemblyman, or some other small scale elected official has been sworn in after winning by less than a dozen or so votes - and yes, these are the people that most directly impact your roads, schools, trash, police, taxes, zoning, and day-to-day life. This is why the question of voter fraud is twofold, is it happening and do I have trust in the system even if it isn’t.\n\nWhat about electronic voting you might ask? Couldn’t someone hack the machines and take over the world? Yes, but unlikely, for now. There are always stories about some malfunction here or there, but most voting machines keep a paper back up (that you, the voter, can see and approve). So if there is any question about the results the electronic results can be compared to the paper printouts. If an area should have more votes for one party, a lower turnout, or some other marker and the problem is widespread then we can compare the electronic results to the paper ones to match up if something was wrong. It would take a very sophisticated targeted operation to switch just enough votes to make a difference while not switching too many to raise suspicion in the people, like me, who look at the data like our careers depend on it.",
"Long version, part 2:\n\nThe way voter fraud usually happens is less nefarious, but still egregious. The most common case I see all the time is a husband or wife voting for their spouse by mail. Or a roommate voting for everyone in the house. Or someone just getting a ballot in the mail for a previous resident and casting it because “hey, why the hell not.” Take my state of California for example, when you vote by mail the county registrar sends everyone in that household who is registered as a VBM(voter by mail)/PAV(permanent absentee voter) a ballot that they fill out and place in an envelope. The outside of the envelope is signed by the voter and the ballot mailed. When the ROV (registrar of voters) receives the ballot they examine the signature to match it to the one(s) on file before separating it from the ballot within, thereby anonymizing that vote from that moment forward. If there is serious suspicion that the signatures don’t match then it is placed aside for further examination. There isn’t two step verification like online banking, there are not fraud alerts like on your credit card, there is just a government worker eyeballing signature after signature for hours a day. I’m not saying they aren’t good, well meaning people who are very good at their jobs, God bless them, I couldn’t do it, but that is it, that is a big part of what determines which votes are counted and which aren’t. \n\nIf you’re thinking “well I’m sure that doesn’t happen a lot” you are wrong, and you’ve never been more wrong about anything. If you’re 30 to 60 you know this, if not go ask your parents how often they sign each other’s names on things like annoying paperwork, school notes, mail ballots, doctors appointments, financial stuff, bills, etc. The answer? All the time. And see how mail ballots just slipped in there? My mom used to sign my dad’s name so much she did a perfect version of his signature. Nothing about this was malicious or conniving, she was just busy doing all the things a parent/wife does. He knew she did it and wanted her to, and he did the same thing. When you work in politics you talk to a lot of voters, a lot. Your anecdotes start to form valid data pools, not samples, but pools of hundreds or thousands of data points. This happens, people politely admit to it all the time, not realizing that their spouse might not have wanted to vote that way. Maybe they did, but the point of anonymous voting is to eliminate that pressure, even in the home. It happens when we do ballot integrity after an election. It is almost exactly like that scene in Recount when they are sitting there challenging ballots. A signature that was flagged as problematic comes across the table, everyone looks at it, it doesn’t match at all, then we look up the spouse's signature and it looks just like it. We catch a few hundred of these every election and probably miss thousands. Same thing goes for college students who register and then move after a year or two, but being young probably don’t re-register at their new address (so the ROV can track them to that new address and send their ballot there). The next resident gets a pile of ballots in the mail from all the previous residents, possibly their own, and just decides “well, these all need to get mailed in, I don’t want to get anyone in trouble for not doing it, I’ll just mark them all this way” - then when it gets to us on the suspicious ballot/challenge area we see a pile of 4 or 5 that have identical signatures, perhaps missing one person from the household whose ballot was accepted because it was his actual signature. Again, see hundreds, probably miss thousands. These aren’t bad people who know they’re breaking state and federal laws that could (theoretically, but unlikely) land them in jail for years, they’re all just unaware of what they are doing, going about their day trying to do good. Almost everyone I run into who has done this is proud when they say “oh, my husband has been out of town all week and forgot to fill out his ballot, don’t worry, I did it for him and mailed it.”\n\nThis is just one of the many ways voting is much more complicated than most people or the pundits with an agenda realize it is. Access to voting can also be a big problem. In the past, those in power have specifically and institutionally disenfranchised groups of people from voting. That is absolutely unacceptable and we need to be doing everything we possibly can to make sure that every person who is eligible to vote is allowed to. Faith is essential for democracy to succeed. If you don’t have faith in the process and faith that the system is legitimate then the democracy collapses. That means faith that there aren’t dead people voting, that there aren’t piles of fake votes, and that someone else isn’t voting for you, but it also means that when you show up to vote that you aren’t turned away, worried that you won’t be able to vote, or worried it won’t count. \n\nThe important thing in approaching this problem is not to be dismissive of either side or concern. Sure, there is some old racist who doesn’t want someone to vote and there is some corrupt union boss who wants to bus people in, but those extreme and rare examples don’t invalidate the larger points about ensuring a fair, transparent, and legitimate voting process. Concerned about the problem? Try to argue the other side. If you don’t have an ID because you are old and live in a rural place, well can you vote provisional and check to see it was counted? Do you only have a student ID, maybe we can make those count if they are secure. I’m not saying these are the right answers, just that putting animosity aside to ask the right questions is important to solving the problem."
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4gntmu | why do ingrown hairs end up 2-4 times the length of other hairs? | I've heard that hairs will grow to a certain point and stop, yet there was one time I pulled out an ingrown hair that was more than twice the length as the rest of the hairs within that area.
Did the moist environment/irritated skin cause that ingrown hair to miss the memo to stop growing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4gntmu/eli5_why_do_ingrown_hairs_end_up_24_times_the/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Hair doesn't stop growing, it just falls out. It might look the same length in an area because the hairs fall out at about that length. Maybe an ingrown hair doesn't fall out because it has a better anchor?"
]
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[]
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|
4is49v | how did the cavemen draw on the cave wall? and how did the paintings survive for so long? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4is49v/eli5_how_did_the_cavemen_draw_on_the_cave_wall/ | {
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"They used natural pigments made from plants and animal parts, and probably painted with their fingers.\n\nA dry cave is a very peaceful place, especially if it's been sealed off by a rock slide or something similar. Without animals or water to rub the color off the stone it can stay for thousands of years, especially if the cave has a low oxygen environment.",
"They painted with anything they could. The type of paint they used determined, along with other things, what stayed on the wall. There was fresco and fresco seco and I'm rusty but one was painted on wet and out dried more permanently. The other was a dry type that wasnt as durable. \n\nAlso many of their caves went undisturbed for very long periods of time. Many of the most famous cave paintings are in hard to reach areas. Visited for special occasions and such"
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1tk8td | why doesn't the brain adjust to a shaky video like it adjusts when our heads are tilted/rotated/shaken? | Especially for GoPro cameras. The person wearing the helmet can see just fine and make sense of the sights but the person watching the video is objected to a whole lot of shaking. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1tk8td/eli5why_doesnt_the_brain_adjust_to_a_shaky_video/ | {
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"Your brain uses a lot more information to perceive the world around you than just light. So even though your eyes are bouncing around as you ride down a mountain on your vehicle of choice, your brain knows that that's not the whole story. We also use sound and touch to figure out how we're moving.\n\nOne reason people get dizzy a lot when they're sick is because with their sinuses clogged up, their brain has a hard time figuring out how they're balanced.\n\nWhen you're watching someone else's video, you don't have all of that information available to you, just the site of the video and some audio, but even with surround sound audio it's not the same as if you were actually there to hear everything the same way the cameraman was hearing it.",
"When it's you seeing it for real, your brain can respond to the movements and make adjustments to make it look more stable. A wobbly video is essentially just flashing colours, your brain doesn't know to move your head around to compensate for it. \n\nI reckon you'd look pretty goofy thrashing your head around to fix it anyway. \n\nRegarding the GoPro on a helmet, you'd probably find the placement of the camera would amplify the wobbles too; further to the detriment of image stability. ",
"We call this stabilization the \"vestibulo-ocular reflex.\" It's controlled by a very specific circuit in the brain.\n\nThere's something we call \"multi-modal input,\" which just means you're receiving information through multiple senses at once. The two big senses for this ability are *visual* input (what you see) and *vestibular* input (balance/orientation in space). The vestibular system is centered in the inner ear. There are a few chambers filled with fluid, and it works because this fluid moves around as you move your head (due to change in speed or direction) and as you change orientation (as you tilt in different directions).\n\nWhen you turn your head (or go over bumps on your mountain bike), the vestibular system senses that movement and your brain automatically combines that information with what your eyes are seeing to adjust the muscles that control your eye movement such that the retina (the part of the eye that is taking in light) stays stable."
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53i7ml | how do ponzi schemes make money if they constantly owe investors? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/53i7ml/eli5_how_do_ponzi_schemes_make_money_if_they/ | {
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"The person running the ponzi scheme doesn't pay out all the money to \"investors.\" For example, they say, Give me $1000 and I'll return $1500 (a 50% return) in 2 months. They keep drawing in \"investors\" and pocket half, pay out half. At some point they can't keep pulling in enough money to keep making the payouts and they just up and vanish with what they've got.",
"You give me $1000. Next week, I give you $100 back and call it \"profit\". You tell all your friends how great I am and *they* give me $1000. I give everyone $100 next week and they tell more people who give me *another* $1000.\n\n...and then I take all the money and run.\n\nThe scam here is that the system *isn't* sustainable and you're not going to be around forever. You're going to cash out & skip town when you think it's peaked."
]
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b9pmgn | how was audio/music in pre modern computers edited and had post sfx added? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b9pmgn/eli5_how_was_audiomusic_in_pre_modern_computers/ | {
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"Video editing was done with an editing machine/desk. Which is a large workstation for using scissors on the reels. where there is a physical film you can cut frames and replace them and glue the film back together.\n\npost SFX for film was just regular filmed with all the tricks you can imagine. Overlaying images, cutting together mutliple angles and so on and so forth.\n\nI don't exactly know about audio but audio mixing has been around for a long time. Before that it was recorded and distributed as is. However long that perfect take may have taken."
]
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[]
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||
59kp6a | how did aleppo become a central point for war in the middle-east? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/59kp6a/eli5_how_did_aleppo_become_a_central_point_for/ | {
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"Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and has been a battleground since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. Because it is so densely urbanized it is excellent defensive ground, and none of the sides in the war have been able to completely take the city. This has resulted in constant fighting in the city, including indiscriminate use of artillery by everyone involved, aerial bombing of civilian areas by Syrian and Russian air forces, and repeated use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government."
]
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asd706 | about 17%-35% of the population experience photic sneeze reflex (sneezing when exposed to bright light). what causes this? | The **photic sneeze reflex** (also [backronymed](_URL_4_) as, **Autosomal Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst** (**ACHOO**) **syndrome**[\[1\]](_URL_0_) and colloquially **sun sneezing**) is a condition that causes [sneezing](_URL_2_) in response to numerous stimuli, such as looking at bright lights or periocular (surrounding the eyeball) injection.
& #x200B;
[_URL_3_](_URL_1_) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/asd706/eli5_about_1735_of_the_population_experience/ | {
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"Cross-talk between nerves from the nose and eyes. When a sudden and sufficient increase in light hits the eyes, the signals get interpreted as an irritation in the nose and a sneeze is triggered. \n\nI have it and it's fucking annoying."
]
} | [] | [
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex#cite_note-Laura_Dean,_MD-1",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneeze",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic\\_sneeze\\_reflex",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym"
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cats55 | what causes someone to think something and a second later when they are about to share it, the thought is gone? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cats55/eli5_what_causes_someone_to_think_something_and_a/ | {
"a_id": [
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"The things that you're currently thinking of are stored in working memory and aren't immediately turned into long term memories.\n\nWhen you forget what you were just thinking of a minute ago, it's because your brain didn't store that information as a memory."
]
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[]
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||
3bphd2 | why is the state department releasing hillary clinton's e-mails in batches? i don't understand why it's happening or why it's okay? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bphd2/eli5_why_is_the_state_department_releasing/ | {
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"text": [
"As a public official her emails are part of public record the same as every President, Secretary of State, Attorney General, etc before her. Any emails that relate to her official work belong to the government. \n\n"
]
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[]
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||
rnuv5 | woodstock | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/rnuv5/eli5_woodstock/ | {
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"Woodstock was a bigass music festival where a SHITLOAD of counterculturalists :hippies: got together and smoked dope and dropped acid and listened to music for 2-3 days. The Who was there, Hendrix was there, shit went DOWN man"
]
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23qwkv | quantum memory | In [this thread from /r/technology](_URL_0_) it was mentioned that scientists have managed to "freeze" light, and to quote the article
> "The reason for wanting to hold light in its place (aside from the sheer awesomeness of it) is to ensure that it retains its quantum coherence properties (i.e. its information state), thus making it possible to build light-based quantum memory."
What does this mean and why is it important for us? (I can't quite understand it) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/23qwkv/eli5_quantum_memory/ | {
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"In simple terms, things get very funny on the very small scale. The best model to predict behavior on those scales is probabilistic. This has lead many (a vast majority?) of partial physicists to believe that the very nature of matter is probabilistic.\n\nThey would say that electrons don't orbit the nucleus, but rather that they exist as clouds of possibility. One knows that an electron is there, but where it is, is merely a statistical likelihood. It isn't really anywhere, but is sort of smeared out into *probably* being in a particular space.\n\nNow, whether reality behaves that way or only appears to because of our inaccurate measuring tools is open for debate\\*. But *if it does*, then it opens up the possibility for some really crazy types of computers. Being able to hold several bits of data in a quantum superposition all at the same time would make certain calculations much, much easier to compute.\n\n\\*(Yes, I'm aware that there is at least some experimental data that suggests that it does.)",
"Light travels at the speed of light always. It has no rest mass. It only exists as a travelling wave front at the speed of .. well light. \n\nI'd like to look at this. Its probably sometype of vibrational thing with low entropy. Its not frozen light.",
"You're used to what we call classical information. This is things like words on a page, bits on a harddrive or even soundwaves as someone talks to you. All these things have the same nature that we call classical information. \n\nQuantum information, on the other hand, is a very different and counter intuitive concept. The strange properties of quantum mechanics actually allow for a different definition of information. As you might have heard, in quantum mechanics things can be in several different states at the same time. For information this means that bits can be 0 and 1 *at the same time*. The concept is known as a qubit. A letter in a 'quantum book' can be several different letters at the same time. \n\nThese strange properties of quantum information allows us to do things that would be impossible with classical information. Quantum computing is probably the most well known example. There's also different types of quantum communication where we can do interesting things like quantum key distribution, which allow for unbreakable encryption. \n\nThe problem is that quantum information is extremely volatile. It turns into classical information extremely easy and thereby loses all its interesting properties. Being able to store quantum information for a full minute is impressive and brings us a step closer to quantum computing and related applications becoming a reality. "
]
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yfk0l | - how the eyes of a portrait can follow you around, always staring at you regardless of where you're standing | Either a photograph or a painting - you know, when the eyes are following you around. Always staring at you. I was always mesmerizer by this effect as a child. Is there an intentional method that produces this effect? How come it's only *some* portraits and not all of them? I'd also like an explanation of what exactly is happening, how it works. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yfk0l/eli5_how_the_eyes_of_a_portrait_can_follow_you/ | {
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"If you take a picture of someone looking directly at the camera, their eyes will forever be staring directly at the camera; and if you look at a picture you're in the same position that the camera man was in. So the subject is staring at you. Think of it this way, If the subject were to look away when you move then they would have to look away from the camera, and since the picture was already taken, that can't happen. So as long as you're looking at the picture the subject will be looking at you, same goes for paintings",
"It's possible to create a similar effect by making the eyes (or the entire face) concave.\n\n_URL_0_",
"I used to be a guard at an art museum, and we had a piece that did this. The way it was explained to me, and the way I explained it to our guests, was that the eyes looked straight forward, and were very close to perfectly round. Whenever you moved to an angle from the painting, your brain was, for lack of a proper psychological term, minimizing the whitespace between the pupil and the skin around the eye, but only the side of the eye between you and the painting, the brain leaves the far side alone. I was told this has to do with several things. Including color theory, redshift, and the human tendency to try to make eye contact with other humans. I don't know how reliable this information is, but I hope helps. ",
"This is actually a pretty interesting topic. When we look at someone, we visual clues based on perspective in 3D space. The reason someone looks like they're facing the same way when we go around them is because these perspective ques are changing accordingly. With paintings (and pictures) all of these ques *do not* change when we move around, so the way we *think* they are facing doesn't change. Does that make sense?",
"The way it works is the same way it's done with photos: You're looking at a flat image. If the subject was looking at the painter or photographer, that's the image that's captured. Without depth, you can't escape the subject's line of view.\n\nSorry, I couldn't think of an answer a 5 year old would understand.",
"Because it's a flat image. The subject's eyes are not looking at a specific place in the physical space of the museum; they're either looking at the camera or *not* looking at the camera. That doesn't change depending on where you are standing in the room. Your perspective of the scene in the painting/photograph is *always* from the perspective of the camera. Hence, no matter where you stand, it seems the eyes are looking at you if they were painted/photographed looking into the camera.\n\nNot to be condescending, but the top comments in this thread are all BS, I am very surprised they are all upvoted so highly."
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95z197 | why do diving masks fog up underwater? | Why do they fog up underwater, even if you put your saliva on the mask or keep water in there? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/95z197/eli5_why_do_diving_masks_fog_up_underwater/ | {
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"because of the temperature difference between your hot face, and the cold water.\n\nNot to mention theres the moisture from the small amount of air that does go out your nose.\n\nall that moist air inside the mask is going to condense on the cold plastic that touches the water.",
"Water is relatively cold compared to the air inside of the mask, you still leak some warm moist air from your nose as you breath. Some of that moist air will condense against the cold glass of the mask. \n\nInstead of using spit, use dish soap or baby soap/shampoo or the dive anti-fog for hygiene reasons. \n"
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f9g0iz | what are those small coloured circles near the barcode on packaging for candy bars etc.? something to do with what dyes or colours are used during printing? why are they only on certain packaging and not all? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f9g0iz/eli5_what_are_those_small_coloured_circles_near/ | {
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"They will be marks to do with the printing. Colour marks and register marks.\n\nThey will be on some packages and not others depending on the size of the print, how the package is cut and folded.\n\nIf you pull most colour printed boxes apart, like cereal boxes, you will find the same marks.",
"I think you’re thinking of printers registration marks. They’re used to line up the different colors of ink as they’re printed onto the wrapper to make sure everything looks right.",
"They're there to easily check that colours have printed correctly. The dots are away from the main printing, at the edge and all next to each other so the colours can quickly be compared to a colour standard."
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3yequf | why do cell phone signals deteriorate in mountainous areas? | Is it just proximity to cell towers or something else? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3yequf/eli5_why_do_cell_phone_signals_deteriorate_in/ | {
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"Cell phones are basically a radio. They need a clear line of sight to get the proper data transfer. If a building or mountains are in the way.. No service! Also the phone companies need to put more towers in and they have to pay for every one they put in. If the customer base is not available they don't want to spend the money.",
"Firstly, there is a misconception that our phone's signals go to a tower and are transferred to a satellite which are then collected by another tower and then back to the receiver's phone. Nope. The towers are connected by fibre optic cables which allow really fast transmission. The satellite connection only happens in special satellite phones. Setting up such towers are really difficult in mountainous areas as the topological complexities are quite challenging for such sophisticated construction. Hence, the signals deteriorate."
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2dxnev | if continents drift a couple of inches each year, how are some ancient structures still aligned with certain stars/planets? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dxnev/eli5if_continents_drift_a_couple_of_inches_each/ | {
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"I'm not qualified at all to answer this question but we're talking inches in comparison to so many millions of miles to other planets and so unimaginably further to other stars on a giant rock that has an elliptical orbit anyway. Something tells me that those inches don't matter in the grand scheme of things.",
"because over very very many millions of miles, a few inches change in the two points on earth changes the angle at which the star is \"aiming\" by a statistically insignificant amount",
"For the same reason you can drive 10 miles on Earth and the Moon and stars don't appear to change their position: you've only changed your relative position to even the Moon by a gazillionth of one percent of the total distance.\n\nAnd one should should be careful with that whole \"ancient structures aligned to the stars\" thing. Quite often, that's just straight-up bullshit, and even when it isn't, the precision of the alignment is only as precise as ancient people with crude surveying tools could make them.\n",
"Different tectonic plates move at different speeds from 0 to 10 cm/yr. And [in addition to just sliding, the plates also rotate](_URL_0_).\n\nOn the scale of the Earth, a small difference in position can be difficult to notice. The circumference of the Earth is just over 40,000 km, so you'd have to move something over 100km for it to be even 1 degree off in alignment, so that would take at least 100,000 years.\n\nRotation is also a problem, because that would throw off alignment regardless of where the plate moved. Fortunately most plates rotate quite slowly. Even something like the Philipino plate, which is small and rotating quite quickly (about 4,000 km long, with the bottom moving ~10cm/yr relative to the top) it would still take almost a million years to rotate 1 degree.\n\nOf course any time a plate moves north or south, most of it will change in longitude. Near the poles that effect can be very large, but most of the ancient structures are tropical so this isn't a concern.\n\nThe reality is that the ancient structures were never perfectly aligned. The Great Pyramid of Giza is ~[2.5 degrees off from perfectly north-south](_URL_1_). Stonehenge is even further off -- most of the star alignments reported assume +/- 2 degrees, and things like aligning with the rising sun work for a few weeks around the solstice, not just on the day.\n\nIn short, ancient isn't old enough for continental drift to have made a noticeable difference yet."
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2o5gh9 | zipper merging | Talking about cars and traffic etiquette/efficiency.
When to zipper merge?
How?
Why is it better? (is it?)
Diagrams would be super useful too. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2o5gh9/eli5_zipper_merging/ | {
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"1. It prevents parts of the road from being unused, as illustrated [here](_URL_0_).\n\n2. Because both lanes will be moving at all times, this prevents a lot of stop-and-go, which reduces fuel waste as well as pollution.\n\n3. It's fair.",
"moderate to full on gridlock traffic.\nlet one car merge in front of you. the merging traffic should only expect one vehicle per gap.\nboth lanes of traffic can keep moving this way. \n",
"Generally its faster because both lanes of traffic can continue moving, albeit at a reduced rate. However, if three or four cars in lane A refuse to let a car out approaching from lane B, then lane B has to stop. Stop-starting takes far longer than slowing/merging; so both lanes are effected. "
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17mmhc | why is leather considered more ethical than fur? | is it just because we use the meat too? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17mmhc/why_is_leather_considered_more_ethical_than_fur/ | {
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"I don't think it is considered 'more' ethical per say...... but at least with leather, I believe you cure it and handle it in a way that stretches it out. So in that way more leather can be used for various items, whereas with fur the size you get... is the size you get. Hope this helps. ",
"Here's what I believe: \n\nWe live in a culture where furry animals are valued more and we generally think they are cuter and easier to relate to. We've also been culturally conditioned to not think of \"farm animals\" as individuals in the way we think of dogs, cats or even foxes. Why? Because for the majority of people it's not very pleasant to think of meat as something that comes from (and necessitates the killing of) an animal that had friends, had favourite activities, had a personality, memories etc. So we think of them in terms of abstract groups: All pigs, all cows, all chickens are alike.\n\n\nThat said, there definitely are [people who *don't* think it's ethical with leather](_URL_0_!). \n\nThe argument is the same: We need meat just as little as we need fur. We can both eat and wear other things and be perfectly fine. Therefore it's misleading to say that leather is just a by-product of a cow that would've been killed anyway. (Because the animal wouldn't have been killed if we didn't insist on eating the meat of the animal.)\n\nMost people wouldn't refuse to eat meat if they knew the skin of the animal was not used, so it's unclear why they would then refuse to take the skin unless the meat was used. ",
"Because people eat cows and pigs so no sense letting the hides go to waste. They don't generally eat fox, rabbit, mink, beavers, ermine, otters, sable, seals, or chinchilla.",
"It's because leather serves an important purpose, and would be difficult to replace as a material. Leather is used as a strong, very flexible protective material in gloves, boots, jackets, pants, anything you wear really. It resists tears very well but it's still possible to cut into manageable pieces. It's thin, but it still holds heat very well. It's entirely waterproof, as well as resistant to most corrosive chemicals. And, it's cheap to boot. We're slaughtering all these cows anyway, why not tan their hides.\n\nFur on the other hand, is very expensive, very difficult to make, and doesn't even do it's supposed job (keeping you warm) better then other more \"ethical\" materials like cotton or wool. \n\nThough leather is much more useful, it's probably mainly that leather is made from cows that we're slaughtering anyway, but one fur coat is made from a dozen wild foxes (or whatever)",
"It's not more ethical, but I would guess because cattle are used almost exclusively for meat, etc. This makes it more efficient to use that leather instead of wasting the animal, though (correct me if I'm wrong) I think it often still is thrown away at slaughter. It is more common, and a waste to *not* use in a sense.\n\nMore ethical? It depends on what is ethical to you. Cattle have a pretty sturdy population, unlike say the Arctic Fox or Mink, so by using leather products you aren't decimating any populations, etc. etc. etc. ",
"People seem to accept it as a normal fabric. People put it on couches, in their cars, boots, jackets, gloves, PANTS (*shudder* ugly), etc. Most people don't think twice. It's an acceptable fabric that doesn't get a second thought any more than cotton, poly, etc. In a lot of cases it's more desirable since it's perceived as luxurious.\n\nLady Gaga was making a statement about that in interviews after she wore that meat dress. She would wear leather outfits in interviews following the meat dress and asked why no one was asking about the leather outfit she had on (and had her boobs awkwardly fall out of too).\n\nSaying that, there are also a lot of people who do refuse leather in products. I will refuse to buy anything leather - it is gross.",
"I think by more ethical you mean \"more culturally accepted,\" which is definitely true. The same stigma that fur has doesn't apply to leather most of the time, and yet they're not all that different.\n\nI don't believe that cows used for meat are used for leather as well. I think they're raised separately for separate purposes, though I'm not sure why.\n\nEither way, the fact that we DO eat cows probably makes us more adjusted to it. If a cow dies so I can eat a hamburger, then who cares if a cow dies and I get a belt?\n\nWith fur, it has an association with hunting and trapping, rather than farming. Most furs are \"cute\" things that we think look innocent, as opposed to cows who look... not very intelligent.\n\nSo from a logical, ethical standpoint, there isn't much of a difference. But from a cultural, emotional standpoint, fur is considered cruel, while leather is nothing new or surprising. ",
"Because it's safer to throw buckets of paint on rich women than bikers.",
"You can get a lot of leather from one cow that was going to be killed anyway. And leather has a lot of practical uses that are hard to replace with other materials.\n\nYou have to kill 50 minks for a fancy coat someone might wear a few times a year.",
"Because animals with fur rate higher on the strokability scale. ",
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also think that fur coat are unethical because those animals are kills JUST for their fur. Perhaps, we as a society, if we make full use of an animal for our benefits, it's okay. But to kill them for just one reason, that will cry unethical..",
"Leather is usually used because it's practical (best available material, long lasting etc), fur is mostly used for vanity, there are better materials, you don't wear a chinchilla coat because it's the warmest you could get, you wear it because of vanity. \nFor me it's the same difference of animal testing for medicine or for cosmetics.",
"Because bunnies are cuter than cows. \n\nIt's the same reason that North Americans are outraged that other countries consider cats/dogs food animals, but happily eat all kinds of other animals. ",
"It isn't, necessarily, but as PETA recently found out, it's easier to harass rich white women than it is to preach BS to a bunch of bikers.",
"cute fur = cute animal,\nugly fur = leather"
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1slv9g | why do people 'reach for the sky' when they get knocked out? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1slv9g/eli5_why_do_people_reach_for_the_sky_when_they/ | {
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"It is called the \"fencing response\" and from what I can tell just has to do with the arrangement of the lateral vestibular nucleus and that injury to the head will stretch the cerebellar peduncles and activate the LVN. Basically, hitting your head whacks motor nerves that make you take a fencing stance."
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8dceax | lab grown meat, does it take as long to grow as the animal? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8dceax/eli5_lab_grown_meat_does_it_take_as_long_to_grow/ | {
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"This is a little bit like asking the Wright brothers whether security checks at airports are going to be inconvenient.\n\nWe are still trying to figure out how to create lab grown meat. While I think it is almost certain that in 50 years most meat will be lab grown the technologies and processes they are going to be using then will look unlike anything we are doing today. \n\nIn theory however no, lab grown meat could be grown in significantly less time than it takes to grow the animal. Today it takes a massively, massively, longer time."
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1hs0ql | why is it that humans have favorites? such as favorite colors, numbers and many other things favorited. | My girlfriend and I were discussing favorite numbers and I had the question of why is your favorite number your favorite instead of what is your favorite number, and she had no clue but just 'because'. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1hs0ql/eli5_why_is_it_that_humans_have_favorites_such_as/ | {
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"I'm not sure I understand your sentence \"why is your favorite number your favorite instead of what is your favorite number\"...\n\nBut as to why humans *have* favorites, this seems to be how animals work in general - we evaluate things and facts as good or bad, or better or worse, important or unimportant. These are evaluations of what the facts *mean* to you, it's an evaluation of the relationship between that fact and yourself. At the most basic level, this might be determined by how much destruction/growth or pleasure/pain that thing/fact causes. At a more complex level, this might be determined by what associations and/or experiences you have with that fact.\n\nYou can call these evaluations our \"values\", and favourites (such as \"blue\" or \"spaghetti bolognese\") as the top value in a set of similar values with shared characteristics (such as \"colours\" or \"foods\"). According to some philosophies, an animal's values determine it's behaviour - what it does when presented with different options. \n\n"
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6tip10 | how come an usb-c 85w apple charger can charge a phone or a tablet without blowing it up? how does the power supply know how much power to feed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6tip10/eli5_how_come_an_usbc_85w_apple_charger_can/ | {
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"The charger senses what its charging and adjusts the voltage to 5 or 15 volts. 15 volts for pc and 5 volts for phone. Lets say the charger supports 3 amps then the phone would get 15W but the pc (Mac) would get 45W",
"The same reason your 1800W wall outlet doesn't blow the crap out of your laptop charger\n\n**The charger doesn't provide power**\n\nThe charger provides a fixed voltage, the load draws as much current as needs at that voltage. The wattage rating on the power supply is how much power it *can* supply without lowering the voltage or turning off to protect itself, not how much power it *will* supply. The power draw is determined by the load, not the source"
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1s7sl6 | what would happen if the minimum wage was $22/hr and it had to increase at the same rate as inflation? | Basically, I'm asking about the economic consequences. Would it be an overall positive/negative thing to occur, or would it be somewhere in the middle? Would it help get rid of income inequality? Share your thoughts everyone. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1s7sl6/what_would_happen_if_the_minimum_wage_was_22hr/ | {
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"You are probably going to get quite a few different answers on this based on people's economic and political views. I'm still really early in to my economics schooling, but IIRC raising minimum wage will create a labor surplus aka higher unemployment. This is due employers being forced to pay workers more than they see fit and a lot of people willing to work for those wages. So, a company is going to hire less people, even though more people are willing to work, to keep up profits; thus increasing unemployment.\n\nThis is based on my rudimentary understanding of microeconomics so please correct me if I'm wrong!\n\nEdit: [Here is a simple graph to illustrate what I'm saying.](_URL_0_)",
"Either a rise in prices, ie. a whopper becoming $10+ or major job cuts leading to a single person running an entire McDonalds until his replacement comes in to run the night shift. ",
"It's nigh impossible to say what the long term net effect would be, because the economy has a LOT of moving parts. You can say what some of the effects would probably be, but if anyone tells you they KNOW what ALL of the effects would be, they either have a nobel prize in economics or they're an a-hole know-it-all and probably a card-carrying party loyalist too (both sides are guilty!). \n\nSource: I majored in econ in undergrad... not the best source available but at least I've read a book or two. \n\nThat said, here is an abbreviated list of things that might be likely to happen: \n\n-More Unemployment: $22 is about 3x the current federal minimum wage. Could Wal-Mart and McDonalds do with fewer people or shorter hours if their labor costs suddenly went up 300%? You bet they could. Layoffs would probably come into play immediately. Some small businesses might even shut down. In fact, if a business is only marginally profitable or losing money, a wage hike might be the last straw. Keep in mind that even if they're paying $15/hr, this would represent a 50% wage increase for them. Not every place could handle that. You might even see more people axed from small businesses than large.\n\nON THE OTHER HAND: businesses can jack up prices because (some) people have more money to spend. So, it's an ambiguous effect. Will employment go up? Probably not. Will it go down? Probably, hard to say how much. \n\nHowever, the cuts might not be as bad as some people say. Companies don't tend to employ a lot more people than they need in the first place. They would have to be mighty clever or mighty stupid to try and start operating with 1/3 of their employees over night. \n\n-Even more unemployment: With labor costs permanently increased, firms have an incentive to look for alternatives to labor over time. At first you might see more self-check-out lanes. But firms like BK or McDonalds might also put more effort into robotic fry cooks. Call centers would pour more money into automated phone systems. People might not get laid off overnight, but as soon as companies can find a robotic replacement that costs less than $22 per hour over the lifetime of the machine, they'll go with that. This is also the case now, but the minimum wage being $22 puts 3x more pressure on that process, speeding it up. Ultimately this technology will build on itself and (in my opinion) machines will start pushing people out of the workforce en masse, ultimately resulting in 90% unemployment, sometime in the early 2100s. (okay, that's a bit off-topic but it's my pet topic) \n\n-Fewer people pursuing higher education? With minimum wage that high, there's less incentive to take out debt to go to school. So, you might see people on the fence about school taking up service work or trade jobs. Then again, you might not. There is still significant social pressure to pursue higher education regardless of wage outcomes. \n\n-Increased pressure on immigration: With that high of a minimum wage, who wouldn't want to get a job in the US? People have that much more incentive to come here - legally or not. \n\n-Increased labor law violations, black market activity, etc: When paying less than $22/hr is outlawed, only outlaws will pay less than $22/hr. It's impossible to say how much of this would go on, but let's just say the aforementioned illegal immigrants (as today) will occasionally get stiffed and not be able to complain about it. Businesses that can't really afford to pay that much will also find a way around the law. So you'd see some increase in illegal or off-the-books employment. Don't forget that payroll tax will also go up 3x. This means employers are more likely to try and keep employees unofficial, pay them the $22, and avoid the tax. More strict rules means more rule-breaking. Would be interesting to see the outcome here. \n\n-Higher-priced goods: Even though wages are keyed to inflation (which would probably go up too), companies can now charge more for stuff. Which means that anything you could consider a premium good would get marked up. Your $500 TV is now $750. \n\n-Less obesity?: Although some consumer goods could be marked up in price, basic foodstuffs would still have some downward price pressure because they are commodities and typically compete with each other on price (e.g. grocery store A will try to beat grocery store B by selling stuff cheaper). So people may be able to afford higher quality food. Low food quality is strongly implicated in the rampant obesity among impoverished people... with $22/hr (for those lucky enough to have a job), you can buy a lot more produce and less processed crap. \n\n-Income inequality: same? Income inequality comes from inequality in ownership of capital, not wages. Most of the very, very rich don't get paid in wages, they get paid in dividends, stock options, equities, etc. They make their money through investments. The minimum wage has no effect on that ownership of capital. The super-rich will continue to own the things that make them rich. It would only help superficial income inequality, by bringing the $15,000/year guy closer to the $100,000/year guy... but they're both ridiculously poor compared to the $10,000,000/year guy, who had a salary of $1 but made millions by selling equities and commodities futures. ",
"Employeers raise prices/slash work force.\n"
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c005k4 | why does coke push diet coke so hard? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c005k4/eli5why_does_coke_push_diet_coke_so_hard/ | {
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"Coke sells really well. Diet Coke sells less, so they're trying to increase sales and drive brand awareness. Also it's a company image thing. Diet Coke is falsely sold and percieved as being \"healthy\" so they want to make you think they care about your health."
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ag1cjw | how much of a financial strain the u.s. prison system is on the economy (if any at all) and what could fix it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ag1cjw/eli5_how_much_of_a_financial_strain_the_us_prison/ | {
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"Not a huge strain. The total cost to the country is about $182 Billion per year, a bit under 1% of our annual productivity.",
"Putting a precise number on how much the US spends on prison systems each year would be difficult. There is a money flow problem that can, and likely is, lead to abuse. Law reform to change drug felonies for marijuana to a misdemeanor or sentenced with a probationary period would help, but then you’ve got to pay probation officers. You can really go in circles thinking through this, but regardless - getting rid of for profit / private prisons would be the beginning.",
"So the place to start with this is not what it \"costs\" us in terms of what states (and it is primarily states) budget for their prisons. That money goes to guards and contractors and food services, who then spend it on other things, etc. \n\nThe real question is: What do prisons \"produce\" for us, and would we be better off taking some of the people/buildings we currently dedicate to prisons and having them make something else instead? \n\nThis is a relatively easy calculation if we're talking about, say, a state-owned electricity company. It makes electricity. People pay for the electricity. The total amount they pay is roughly the value that state enterprise produces. \n\nPrisons are tricky because you can say they produce 3 things, all relatively abstract:\n\n1) Incapacitation: Prisons take certain people \"out of society\". At one extreme end of this, you have, like, sociopathic serial killers, and there's probably some concrete value in keeping them locked up. At the other extreme, you have nonviolent drug offenders, and there's probably some economic losses from keeping those people locked up rather than encouraging them to get a job and produce something else for society. \n\n2) Rehabilitation: In theory, prisons can take a person who is a drain on society and turn them into a net positive. This is technically the logic behind all \"modern\" incarceration systems. However, most people agree the US has gone pretty far astray from it and returned to an old-school \"punitive\" mindset. That said, prisons DO typically provide resources like GED programs, job training, and counseling that can *potentially* help make people more productive coming out than they were going in. \n\n3) Deterrence: We as a society spare ourselves some \"unproductive\" behaviors by locking up the people who are known to engage in them, but just the *threat* of incarceration likely spares us even more. As an extreme example, if the US announced tomorrow that \"The prison system is a drain on society and will be abolished immediately\", you could probably expect crime rates to go up because the consequences of being caught would be far less severe. That said, we could probably accomplish this goal with a much smaller prison system than we currently have. \n\nThe main conclusion you can reach from these points is that prisons do produce something, and just straight out abolishing them would be a bad idea. However, it's very likely that they produce less than they could, which motivates prison *reform. I*n particular: shorter sentences for non-violent offenders, returning to a mindset of rehabilitation over punishment, and thinking carefully about the deterrence value of things like long mandatory minimum sentences. ",
"Questions like this are better in r/askanamerican."
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v314u | "http," "https," "www," and what purpose they serve if i can still reach my intended online destination without typing them in. | This has confused me since the third grade or so, when I realized that my librarian was full of shit and that, no, "_URL_2_." didn't need to be typed in for me to reach my intended online site, be it _URL_1_ or, more likely (then, at least), _URL_0_.
But that's a tangent. I just want to know - like a five-year-old, because in most things internet, I still am - what purpose these url intros serve.
P.S. I know that "https" is the secure version, but save for the fact that "security" begins with the letter "s," I don't understand why. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/v314u/eli5_http_https_www_and_what_purpose_they_serve/ | {
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"There are a bunch of different *protocols* your computer uses to figure out how to interact with the internet. HTTP is what you use to transfer webpages; there's also SMTP (used for sending emails), POP (used for recieving emails), FTP (used for transfering files), and a bunch of others. But all that browsers *do* is transfer webpages, so they can safely assume that you mean to use HTTP.\n\nNow, the www. prefix *is* technically necessary; it's just part of the domain name, same as \"neopets\" or \".com\". The thing is, it's become a standard for *every* website to begin its domain name with www. So if you just type in \"_URL_1_\", many websites will redirect you to \"_URL_0_\", and many browsers will automatically try to add in the prefix if needed.",
"The http is the protocol your browser (or other application) will use to communicate with the server. Http means that you use the http protocol to retrieve files. ftp:// means you use the ftp protocol, it might give you the exact same files but behind the scenes it's a different protocol. There are others too but http is by far the most common for web browsers which is why they'll add it there automatically if you don't specify anything else. Browsers still often support ftp and you occasionally still see it in download links. Not too long ago Internet Explorer and Firefox also supported [gopher://](_URL_1_), a kind of a predecessor of http but support for that has been dropped now since it was hardly ever used. Sometimes you also see links starting with mailto: which are opened with your email client and other similar ones like irc: for irc and so on.\n\nMaybe you didn't even know but there's another part in the address that is implied. That is the port number used to communicate with the server. Each of the protocols has an associated standard port which is used if you don't specify anything else. Standard port for http is 80 and if you want to explicitly specify it you do it like so _URL_0_ . For https the standard port is 443, for ftp 20 and so on. Hardly ever will you see anything else than the standard port on production systems but in development it isn't uncommon to use non-standard ports.\n\nThe www is part of the subdomain. It's completely up to the server to decide what to do if you use it or not or if you use something else in its place. It is common for webservers to redirect you to the www version if you omit it, but by no means is it required. Sometimes you might get an error page, or it is technically possible for the webserver to give you a completely different page for the www version and www-less version. Also, if the www-less version returns an error, then your web browser might automatically add the www in front and try that instead."
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1r4fxw | how do physical evolutionary changes occur? | You hear things like an animal has adapted to its environment (skin colour change etc) through evolutionary changes throughout thousands of years. But if a human was to stay in a corn field for thousands of years would their skin become the colour of the field? How does an animals skin colour change to that certain environment where its been in for ages. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1r4fxw/eli5_how_do_physical_evolutionary_changes_occur/ | {
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"You can't predict evolution like that. It doesn't have set goals. \n\nHowever, you can predict after a mutation arises. If humans had to hide in cornfields all the time because we were being hunted then yes, those who had a genetic mutation that made their skin look more like corn would most likely be the ones not hunted down and killed and thus would have more corn skin looking babies. However, a mutation could arise that instead made us faster and so we just outrun whatever was hunting us. ",
"This is a horribly horrible metaphor:\n\nSay aliens have come, and they cant see the color yellow. They start eating people. They see white guys fine. Eat em. Black guys, no problem. Eat em right up. Hispanics. Italians. Eat em all no problem. \n\nBut they have problems with Asians. They cant see em as well. They can hide better. \n\nSome asians are less yellow than others, so those get eaten, but the more yellow you are the more likely you are to survive. And have babies. \n\nAnd who do those yellow asia babies have left to breed with? The only people left alive are other yellow asians. And the more yellow your spouse the better, that means your kids will probably be more yellow than you, and will have a begter chance of hiding from the aliens. \n\nSo eventually the whole world becomes very yellow asians. ",
"Individuals don't change over the span of their life through evolution. Even if I lived for 2000 years I would not evolve. However if I have a gene or a mutation that helps me survive long enough to reproduce, then I have a chance of passing that gene or mutation on to my children and them to their children. That is evolution, it happens over generation.\n\nTo follow your question, I would not change colors from laying in a corn field. However if there were a group of people in the field and the corn field were hostile enough that survival was not guaranteed. Any trait that aided in survival would eventually spread amongst the group over generations, because people without those genes would die, and only those with them would be left to reproduce. ",
"Let's assume we have a population of butterflies.\n\n1) there's lots of variation in the population - some are more white-ish, some are more gray-ish. (Some have tints of other colors entirely!)\n\n2) birds try to eat the butterflies\n\n3) let's pretend we're in the city, filled with grey buildings... the white butterflies are gonna be easier to see, so the birds will catch them easier. The grey butterflies blend in - not many of them get eaten.\n\n4) Color - whether white or grey or whatever - is caused by genes. Genes are passed from parent to child. Only the butterflies that live can pass on their genes - so grey butterflies pass on way more genes than other-colored butterflies.\n\n5) Over time, the population gets more and more grey.\n\nIt works for any color. Or any trait, really. Basically, whoever is best at surviving and having kids will be responsible for a bigger chunk of the next generation. Over time, that leads to really big changes. Because everybody else died!"
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1xjv3j | what are the pros and cons of tar sand oil? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xjv3j/eli5what_are_the_pros_and_cons_of_tar_sand_oil/ | {
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"As a western Canadian, I suppose it falls on me to answer.\n\nThe pros: It's a viable oil option from a stable country (Canada is doesn't have some of the instability issues that some Middle East countries do), it produces jobs in Canada (production side) and the US (refinement side).\n\nThe cons: It's horribly 'dirty' for the environment (creates toxic tailing ponds for water used in the process, massive land displacement issues despite guarantees to 'reclaim' land used in the process) and uses more oil to collect than traditional methods. \n\nTL;DR: Pros are purely economic, Cons are purely environmental."
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5ike4c | why can't humans look in separate directions (like chameleons) | Is it a paired muscle/tendon type deal, like with your fingers?
Or is it something our body just doesn't do, like sneezing with your eyes open? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ike4c/eli5_why_cant_humans_look_in_separate_directions/ | {
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"We have all the neuron connections do to it, and there are no physical barriers. Our brain just doesn't really know how. Some people have trained themselves to be able to move their eyes independently.\n",
"It's not really something that would be very beneficial to us.\n\nBecause our eyes point mostly forward, even looking in opposite directions wouldn't drastically improve our field of view. (A chameleon, by comparison, has eyes on the sides of it's head, so moving independently it can look almost 360 degrees.)\n\nForward facing eyes, meanwhile, are great for us - they improve binocular and precision vision, making us better hunters, tool users, etc."
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1hm6l9 | how do 'sports tricks' videos work? | I didn't really know what to call them. I'm talking about when you see footage of amazing feats by professional (or otherwise) athletes. like [this](_URL_0_) and [this](_URL_1_). It always really seems like those videos were taken in one take? Are these athletes actually that amazing. Do they take a ton of takes that all just genuinely seem like the first try? Or do they take the pre and post shots of the crew/athlete and then edit them to make it seem like it wasn't multiple takes? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1hm6l9/eli5_how_do_sports_tricks_videos_work/ | {
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"Videos are really just pictures shown really really fast.\n\nRemember that [flipbook](_URL_0_) Bobby showed you one time?\n\nImagine if Bobby took a pen and drew on every single page of the flip book. It'd be a lot of work, but if he did it, he could make the book look like something totally different!\n\nMaybe he can add a shark to the background, or maybe he can add a football. Who knows! If he can draw well enough, it'd look even real and even a part of the original flip book.\n\nSo don't believe everything you see... in those flip books."
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"http://youtu.be/WQ_tHqMVRzw"
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21343p | why do some phone cases or watches say water proof up to a certain amount of feet (like 6ft)? is it the water pressure difference? is the water pressure difference that significant? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21343p/eli5_why_do_some_phone_cases_or_watches_say_water/ | {
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"Yes, it is the water pressure difference, and yes, the water pressure difference is that significant.",
"One thing to consider: When you jump in the water, swim etc. the pressure can exceed the ones on the label. Most watches are water proof for at least 3 atm (30m) - but that doesn't mean that you should use them if you go swimming. Dive watches on the other hand are usually at least water proof 300 m or deeper. It is measured in the laboratory, with a still pressure head (water column).",
"yes on both counts.\n\nthe pressure in a body of water is directly proportional to depth. since water's density is (generally) 1000kg/m^3, it exerts a pressure of 9810pa for every meter down you go or about .5 psi per foot.\n\natmospheric pressure is about 15 psi \n\ngoing down 6 feet into water, the pressure increases by nearly 20%",
"Diver here. The structure of the case can handle the pressure - especially if they are metal. It's the buttons that don't work. The pressure on the case isn't the issue, but the buttons just stop working or freak out like every button on the thing being pressed at once. Water seeping in is a secondary issue to the button issue."
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6g0g9r | why many pms symptoms and early pregnancy symptoms are similar or the same | freaks me out every month for like 2 days because i'll think i'm pregnant but then i'm not | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6g0g9r/eli5_why_many_pms_symptoms_and_early_pregnancy/ | {
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"Because your body is preparing for a pregnancy. Every single month, your body is like \"maybe this time we're *really* pregnant\" \nSo until your body realises \"aw hell, no baby again\" the hormones are the same. ",
"There are several hormones related to reproduction in women. One is estrogen and another is progesterone. They naturally fluctuate throughout the month and are catalysts to the events in the uterus. The fluctuation is completely normal, but these constant changes in hormones drastically affect the entire body.\n\nEstrogen gradually rises during the first two weeks after you've started your period. During this time, your uterus builds up a nice lining to fertilize an egg.\n\nAfter you've released an egg, your progesterone levels will rise, along with your estrogen levels. If pregnancy occurs because the egg is fertilized, the progesterone levels will continue being high. Progesterone is needed to sustain a pregnancy. \n\nHowever, if your body does not detect the presence of a fertilized egg, the progesterone will sharply decline and your period will start at about that time.\n\nAs you can see, up until that point, everything is the same in the period vs pregnancy scenarios. Progesterone is the \"problem\" hormone, and having a large amount of it will cause your fatigue, breast pain, etc right before the period, or during the early pregnancy. When your period starts however and the progesterone sharply declines, you feel much better.\n\n"
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3qcnub | why doesn't reddit have their own app instead of reddit is fun or baconreader? wouldn't they make more money from having a self-made universal app for ios and android? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qcnub/eli5_why_doesnt_reddit_have_their_own_app_instead/ | {
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"They're working on the mobile version of the site rather than making an app: _URL_0_",
"Reddit is partnered with 'Alien Blue - The most popular reddit browsing app by downloads and use' and may have even bought them. "
]
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1vxsm1 | how does st jude hospital continue to operate while remaining free to patients and families? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1vxsm1/eli5_how_does_st_jude_hospital_continue_to/ | {
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"text": [
"Heavy donations of not only money, but time from the workers. Alk of the research they do they share freely with anyone who it could help, so people gladly donate. "
]
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||
46098r | what's the point of non-alcoholic beer? | If beer is beer with alcohol, what's the point of Non-alcoholic beer? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/46098r/eli5whats_the_point_of_nonalcoholic_beer/ | {
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"some people have dietary restrictions/are recovering alcoholics/don't want to drink alcohol for whatever reason but still like the taste.",
"Some people like the taste of beer but don't like the alcohol. It's also similar enough to a beer to pass as one at a party. That way you don't have to worry as much about drunk guys giving you shit. It may not taste exactly like beer, but it's close enough. Like diet soda and regular soda.",
"It's for those people who choose not to drink for religious purposes or can't drink for medical reasons.\n\nI haven't tried non-alcoholic beer, but as a pregnant woman craving wine, I have tried a couple non-alcoholic wines. They're okay. Not quite the same as the regular stuff, but if you can't have the regular stuff, the non-alcoholic versions will hit the spot."
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35h158 | how do pop-up blockers work? how do sites get around them? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35h158/eli5_how_do_popup_blockers_work_how_do_sites_get/ | {
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"The original pop-ups would open a new page in a new window, and give that window a size and position to open to, so it would show up in front of the web page.\n\nPop-up blockers would see that call \"hey, this page wants to open a new window, should I let it?\" and decide that it's probably not a useful page to open.\n\nLately, pages have been doing more fancy stuff like javascript calls to open windows, or screen elements that LOOK like windows but really aren't. It's a game of cat and mouse for pop up blocker makers to be able to see when a pop-up is happening, and recode their software to prevent it."
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613r2l | why is security clearance not required for potus and many other "powerful" politicians? | Edit: Clarification -- I want to know why POTUS ( & others) do not need to undergo investigation for security clearance. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/613r2l/eli5why_is_security_clearance_not_required_for/ | {
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"POTUS is granted a security clearance as part of their position, allowing that millions of citizens trust then enough to vote for them as President. Almost all other folks have normal security investigations, and it's not uncommon for a couple of a president's nominees to be rejected (mostly low level folks because the candidate's transition team does a similar process in their vetting).",
"The Executive branch is the branch in charged of giving out security clearances. \n\nThe President is the head of this branch, and therefor he sets the rules on how it works. If it was required that the President have a sc then he can just give it to himself. ",
"Security Clearances were created by Federal Law, they are not a Constitutional provision. Elected and appointed Constitutional Officers(President, Senators, Congressman, Judges, Cabinent members, agency heads etc) receive their Security Clearances by virtue of being elected or appointed to their position. Non elected or appointed employees of the Federal Government receive security clearances by way of a background investigation.",
"The position of POTUS comes, automatically with the highest clearance rating. It is necessary for the functioning of the position. All other positions are vetted for clearance, including politicians. ",
"If there were such a requirement, it would effectively mean that the military or the government can restrict who can be elected president. That doesn't sound like a good idea.",
"The president will have a need to know whatever information is available. There is no organization that can say \"you can't elect this person because we won't give them a security clearance\". You'd have to have some organization be \"blessed\" to be the arbiter of who could or could not be elected president to have this.\n\nThat organization would clearly be a HUGE target for political capture. If you could get your people in charge of that organization, you'd have effective veto power over presidential elections.\n\nThat has to be not possible in order to have a democracy. You can't have an elite group with power to veto elections and still call yourself democratic. Well, I guess N. Korea does it, but that's not really democracy."
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ako2qp | how is it that large buildings don't sink overtime? | I get you have to set foundations before starting to building large apartments and skyscrapers but how does the soil/earth not start sinking or compressing over time with all that weight? Is earth that tightly packed? Every time I dig it seems the soil is fairly loose. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ako2qp/eli5how_is_it_that_large_buildings_dont_sink/ | {
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"The type of foundation depends on the type of soils and rock the building is sitting on. \n\nSpread footings are adequate on heavy compressed soils and rock. Their size will vary with soil and rock type.\n\nShoring systems like caissons also contribute to stability. "
]
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e7dxcd | how do single propeller planes counter the torque from the propeller. | I was playing kerbal space program last night and my single prop planes kept flipping over. I understand that having a second propeller spinning the opposite way can counteract this, but how do single propeller planes do this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e7dxcd/eli5_how_do_single_propeller_planes_counter_the/ | {
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"The only way to stop the plane veering up and to the left is actively steering against it. Modern single-prop aircraft have automatic systems to counteract this issue in a manner relative to the speed the propeller/plane is moving, so the pilot doesn’t have to correct it. It most often can be felt during changes in speed (i.e. during takeoff/landing), due to the larger difference between the speed of the propeller and the speed of the aircraft.\n\nThis also means that in many light aircraft - particularly older fighter planes - it’s actually quicker and easier to turn left than it is to turn right. This is called a ‘rotary turn’.",
"One way is to offset the angle of the propeller shaft. As the propeller's torque rolls the plane to the left, the increased offset traction pulls the plane to the right.\n\nOr it can be left to the pilot to adjust, by trimming the ailerons and rudder depending on the throttle. The effect of propeller torque is usually small enough for a pilot to counter by feel and instinct without a problem.\n\nOther planes use other outputs of the engines. For instance, the engine's exhaust comes out of the engine enough to create some thrust, so you can adjust the locations of the exhaust to exert a force that counters the propeller's torque.",
"In WWII several RAF Spitfire pilots died when their squadrons ungraded to Griffon engines from the original Merlins. Great care was needed applying throttle to allow for the massive torque, and the new engines turned in the opposite direction. They simply forgot."
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16obvb | do women's bodies retract dramatically after giving birth? | I know about losing pregnancy weight and what not, but women's bellies are huge at the end of pregnancy, the day after giving birth what do their mid-sections look like? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16obvb/do_womens_bodies_retract_dramatically_after/ | {
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"Skin is an amazing organ, and in a healthy person, surprisingly stretchy.\n\nStraight after the birth and for many months, it will be saggy, but not as much as you might think. It does spring back into shape a bit. It's a bit like the difference between a balloon that's never been blown up versus one that's been blown up for quite a while and then deflated. It takes a little while, but eventually the tummy skin will go pretty much back to it's original shape, more or less. \n\nBut as you'd expect from something that is stretched a lot, sometimes there will be stretch marks. You know how if you bend something made of clear plastic the bend goes white? That's kind of what stretch marks on skin can look like.\n\nEdit: added balloon analogy",
"Most of the weight a woman gains in pregnancy is water and some fat. When the baby is born, she will lose 10-15 lbs of weight (baby + amniotic fluid, placenta). But the remaining normal extra 15-20 lbs come off more gradually when hormones go back to normal and stop telling the body to store extra water. This is why most women's bellies are still large right after birth; swelling from trauma and bloating from hormone water-weight.\n\nMost women's stretched bellies will go back to normal after 2-12 months of healthy eating and a little exercise. The sagging skin takes longer to retract the older the mother is, so a 19 year old mom will usually retract her baby skin faster than a 40 year old mom. \n\nAny fat gained around the waist can be lost the same way anyone else loses fat: by eating a little less than you burn per day. Some women gain a lot more body fat than others, so it makes sense that some women would look fatter post birth.\n\n"
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2gzkq6 | why do so many people who emigrate from the middle east open convenience stores? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gzkq6/eli5_why_do_so_many_people_who_emigrate_from_the/ | {
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"text": [
"I would think it would be a way to work independently, if one has the start up money.\n\n\nMany immigrants start this way. Asians did or do own many of these stores.",
"Each culture has an 'in' to a particular business in each area. So, one Korean family will come and open a dry cleaning business. When their cousins come, they will tell them the tricks of the trade and the regulations and have the business model set, so their cousins open up another cleaning business one town over - repeat for friends and family. Same with Indian people and small grocery stores or liquor shops, middle eastern immigrants and convenience stores. They share the business model within the culture and are immensely successful this way.",
"To get into a country you need qualifications. If you don't have qualifications, you need investment capital. Convenience stores are relatively easy start ups as all of the product in it are bought on credit.",
"In many cultures you are seen as a much lower worth person unless you start or own a business.",
"Not an answer to your question. But I feel like this is mostly a stereotype. I know tons and tons of Indians who have absolutely nothing to do with convenience stores. I think a lot of convenience stores are owned by Indians. But not a lot of Indians own convenience stores. \n\nIt's like saying \"why do so many black people play in the NFL\". The vast majority don't. ",
"The dunkin donuts by me won't franchise to you unless you are originally from Asia (especially the subcontinent) family. They assume the whole family will work to keep the store open 24x7.",
"It's something to do w/ immigration and the problems concerning the immigrants once they arrive in the US. I recently studied this.\n\nSo, for example, a guy from Poland/Greece would arrive in the US, when he had a theoretical $5-per day paycheck, and when he would arrive in the US, he could open a convenience store in NYC, San Jose, i.e.\nThen he could make ^up to $30 per hour, rivaling the measly $5 per week salary.\n\nConvenience stores don't cost much on the scale of building it, the immigrant could just get a loan and start up his business."
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16alxu | why do basketball games look slower on tv then they do in person? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16alxu/eli5_why_do_basketball_games_look_slower_on_tv/ | {
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"I don't think they look any slower, but rather the camera view that most games are shot from is the ideal angle where you can see the entire half court and every player moving. You can therefore anticipate where players are going to be and cannot see their subtle quick movements as well. If you were to sit at a live game right next to the camera then it would look just like it does on TV. The closer you get the quicker the game would appear.",
"The reason they look slower is because the camera shooting the game is farther away from the court than you would be if you sat in the seats. Things that are farther away appear smaller because of perspective, and it also means that the distances traveled by those things appears smaller. The time it takes to travel those distances is not affected, which means that things farther away appear to be traveling slower than things up close. This can also be observed by riding in a car beside a wooded area. The trees up close zip by, but the ones closer to the horizon hardly appear to move at all."
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6umuic | why is it that when you take a nap you almost always wake up super sweaty and disoriented but when you wake up from sleeping over night you feel rested and aren't sweaty? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6umuic/eli5_why_is_it_that_when_you_take_a_nap_you/ | {
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"I believe it's because when you bed down for a night's sleep, you're typically going to bed around the same time and indulging your circadian rythym. Your body releases hormones that help you sleep, and you go through several REM cycles allowing your body and brain to \"recharge.\" (This is all assuming you don't have children) With a nap however, you're going to sleep with the expectation that you'll wake soon and you don't experience as many REM cycles. If you're napping and exposed to blue light before and during sleep, you're likely not releasing sleepy feel-good hormones such as melatonin. As for the nap-sweats? I don't know.",
"Long naps (over an hour) mean you're waking up during a long REM cycle. As you sleep you have several dream cycles the most intense being around 1-3 hours after you fall asleep. These are usually when \"bad\" dreams occur that cause your body temperature to rise. During a normal nights sleep these cycles get less intense and you feel rested if you wake up at the end of the light cycles. \n\n[Here's a chart of the sleep cycles ](_URL_0_) \n\nFun tip: if you'd like to wake up refreshed from a nap trying sleeping for only 20 minutes. ",
"*Some* people get hot/sweaty when napping. Yo ho ho! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [ELI5- Why do you sometimes wake up from naps extremely sweaty, when this has never happened when I wake up in the morning? ](_URL_4_)\n1. [ELI5: Why do we sweat so much when we nap? ](_URL_3_)\n1. [ELI5: Why do you sweat so much when you take a nap but not at all when you get a full nights sleep? ](_URL_0_)\n1. [Why do I feel hot after waking up from a nap? ](_URL_5_)\n1. [ELI5: Why do we get hotter when we sleep? ](_URL_1_)\n1. [ELI5: When I take nap during the day, why do I wake up way too hot, while I can sleep fine during the night under similar conditions? ](_URL_2_)\n"
]
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"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3gs1rp/eli5_why_do_you_sweat_so_much_when_you_take_a_nap/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5gnm8y/eli5_why_do_we_get_hotter_when_we_sleep/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fnxde/eli5_when_i_take_nap_during_the_day_why_do_i_wake/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2753gy/eli5_why_do_we_sweat_so_much_when_we_nap/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37jrxl/eli5_why_do_you_sometimes_wake_up_from_naps/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1y3n51/why_do_i_feel_hot_after_waking_up_from_a_nap/"
]
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||
2y99uc | why can i not just walk up to a drive-thru window & order food? | It just doesn't make sense to me. I see a lot of places that have security cameras in their drive-thru lane, so if it's the threat of being robbed that's an issue, it seems like it'd be much easier to catch someone whose face isn't hidden by a darkened vehicle & who clearly isn't going to be able to be 5-10 miles away within a few minutes of fleeing the scene. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2y99uc/eli5_why_can_i_not_just_walk_up_to_a_drivethru/ | {
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"It would be a liability to have pedestrians in a lane built for cars to travel through. If they allowed people to do it they would be responsible when someone got run over.",
"Probably easier to stab someone through the open window if you're on foot, that's why you see signs that say 'for the safety of our employees, no walk-ups in the drive thru.'",
"Not walking, but as kids on hot summer nights we would always drive our bicycles through the drive through. Everyone thought is was weird at first but it caught on pretty quick.",
"* there is a safety issue, having pedestrians in a lane intended for cars\n* there is a pranking issue, as it is pretty easy to order then run off...with a car, you are pretty much stuck",
"Some fast food chains will let you do this after their lobby is closed but the drive-thru is open. I know the BK in my hometown allows truck drivers to walk up since their truck is too big to fit in the actual lane. Depending on your frequency of visits if they know who you are they will be more likely to allow it, especially if there are no vehicular based orders to be filled."
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6hlb1d | what is that little hangy thing in the back of our mouths? what does it do? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6hlb1d/eli5_what_is_that_little_hangy_thing_in_the_back/ | {
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"The palatine uvula works in conjunction with the soft palette to close off the nasopharnyx preventing food from entering the sinuses. Its also integral to the formation of certain phonemes. Not to mention it produces a significant amount of thin saliva to keep the throat lubricious. ",
"[It's called the uvula](_URL_0_).\n\n > During swallowing, the soft palate and the uvula move together to close off the nasopharynx, and prevent food from entering the nasal cavity.\n > \n > It has also been proposed that the large amounts of thin saliva produced by the uvula serves to keep the throat well lubricated.[3]\n > \n > It has a function in speech as well. In many languages, the uvula is used to articulate a range of consonant sounds, known as uvular consonants. The voiced uvular trill, written [ʀ] in the International Phonetic Alphabet, is one example; it is used in French, Arabic and Hebrew, among other languages. Due to the large amount of saliva produced from glands in the uvula that are not present in other mammals it has been suggested that the uvula is an accessory speech organ.[10]",
"That's called the uvula! It contains a muscle that helps you swallow. When you're eating or drinking, the uvula tightens up, which forces your palate (the upper, back part of your mouth by your throat) to move back and keep food from going up into your nose. Some languages use that muscle to pronounce certain words, though not English."
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5rfgyq | why is local control of schools seen as superior to national government control? | We always hear about the states fighting about getting "local control" but why is the mindset that this is better? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5rfgyq/eli5_why_is_local_control_of_schools_seen_as/ | {
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"People care about their children. When national criteria differ from their own criteria of what's important for their children to know, people start demanding local control.\n\nI see it as part of a widening gap between urban and rural areas, but that's probably going a bit further than what you asked.",
"I think, whether this is ever stated explicitly as a goal of \"local control\" or not, that it is also about laying groundwork for future voters. If you have control of school boards, textbook adoption committees, and the like, you can educate/indoctrinate whole generations of people. For example, you can push abstinence-only sex education, propagate myths about homosexuality being linked to mental illness, misrepresent American history, promote the values of one religious group over another, marginalize Evolution, equate socialism with fascism, teach consumerist values and behaviors, etc. With all this training in place for children, one group or another can home-grow their voter base.",
"Funding and organization is a big part of it. In the US, most schools are organized into districts. These districts are typically run by school boards, which are elected from the people who live in the district. \n\nThen there is funding. The majority of school district funding comes directly from property taxes. Also, bond measures (selling future property tax revenue to people in exchange for a hunk of cash up front, typically used for major capital improvements) have to be approved by the voters in a district.\n\n"
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ado889 | why do gaming companies forbid pirating their outdated products (90s and 00s consoles emulators and roms, for example), if it doesn't hurt them, and they can't realistically make money off of it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ado889/eli5_why_do_gaming_companies_forbid_pirating/ | {
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"I can think of 2 reasons: protecting company ip but more so anticipating the future revenue generated from rereleasing said old games (ie Nintendo).",
"I’ve used pirated games. Watched free movies on line etc. So I don’t care. But, the truth is, they still own the rights to those games. Just because it’s old doesn’t mean ownership is void. Monetarily, if emulators or game pirates didn’t exist, these companies or investors would still be making money off the games they made. Same thing for musicians. What if you created something? You had an idea and hired people and spent time and effort crafting this thing. People loved it and bought it. In fact, people still love it, but now people are ripping it off the internet. It would be like investing a huge part of your life to something. Not necessarily for the money, but because you love your work. You worked really fucking hard to make this thing and as a reward you revolutionize gaming, or music or movies etc. years later, people just do it for free. People figured out how to steal your idea, and now you’re losing money. That would really suck. ",
"Cause with PSN, e-shop, Xbox live, newer consoles over time, etc. there's always the possibility that the companies can remake or port the original games over to the console and make a buck on that title. Look at Nintendo: NES Classic, SNES Classic, e-shop, Nintendo online. Sold like hotcakes. There will always be the \"authentic hardware or go home\" crowd but people who didn't have the original hardware don't notice the difference between emulators and hardware unless the emulating result is shit (see: PS1 Classic). Some people will buy the same title 3x over. There's no guarantee of a buy if people can just get it for free.",
"It's more to do with legal precedent. If they don't defend less valuable intellectual property, a judge might consider that it weakens their claim to their main titles. ",
"Legally if you do not defend a copyright or trademark when you find out that it has been violated you can lose said right. So if they have an IP that they want to profit from in the future they have to fight over these things from the past or lose the IP and their potential future gains. \n\nNintendo has also proven with their classic console line of releases that they can make a lot of money off of outdated products by re-releasing them. "
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3klu2m | why you need to drive in a high gear on ice? | Technical details are very welcome (as long as they aren't too advanced) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3klu2m/eli5_why_you_need_to_drive_in_a_high_gear_on_ice/ | {
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"The idea is to prevent the wheels from spinning out.\n\nIf you apply too much torque to your wheels (on or off ice), they will end up spinning out. However, on ice this can be achieved with far less torque than it would take to make them spin out on asphalt.\n\nLower gears will create more torque - that's why you use them to accelerate quicker. However, this also makes you more likely to spin out, which on ice can be very dangerous. One way to prevent this is to switch to a higher gear.",
"I have literally driven millions of miles on winter roads hauling heavy loads (80-100 tonnes gvw) and will never put my truck in a higher gear when driving on ice. Here's my own humble and biased opinion why. \n\n\nUsing a higher gear while traveling at a lower speed will make it harder for you to spin your tires and lose traction because it puts your engine below its peak torque. But by doing so you can lose the feel of where and how your engine is running and its responsiveness will become sluggish. At some point in time you will end up applying too much throttle which will cause your engine to rev up quickly. When this happens it happens fast, and since you already have too much pressure on your gas pedal you wiont be able to lift your foot in time to stop your wheels from spinning. Not only will they spin on you, they will spin up to a faster speed and take longer to slow down enough for you to regain traction. The longer your wheels have no traction, the greater the chances become of you losing control and hitting the ditch. \n\n\nWhen I am driving on icy roads I prefer to keep my engine running at its peak power for the speed I am traveling. It takes a tender foot to keep from spinning your tires at first but it becomes easier with a bit of practice. The advantage of doing this is that if your tires do lose traction and spin out on you, they will only speed up a little bit, hence they will slow down quickly for you. So now your wheels will only be slipping for a fraction of a second instead of a full second or longer, which leaves less time for your vehicle to start sliding out of control. \n\n\n\n An added advantage is that you will have the full power of your engine immediately available to you in the event that you need it, instead of having to downshift to get more power from your engine. And there will be times when you need that extra power because the real driving begins when you leave the road. "
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e3k2np | what's the difference between energy and power? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e3k2np/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_energy_and_power/ | {
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"In super easy term, energy is endurance and power is strength. For example a lamp working at 100 Watts (power) will illuminate more than a similar lamp working at 60 Watts. The 100 Watts will consume more energy per second, than the 60 Watts, so if you plug both of them a similar battery, the 100 Watts will shut down first, because it will have consume the energy of the battery faster.",
"Power is energy transfer over time\n\nfor example: Watt is a unit of power and is equal to 1 Joule / second",
"Power is the rate of energy transmission/consumption; it describes how fast energy is flowing or being used. The unit of energy is called a Joule, the unit of power is called a Watt, and one Watt equals one Joule-per-second.",
"There's an analogy with distance and speed.\n\nA distance of 1000 miles can be travelled at 100 miles an hour, which is high speed, or 1 mile an hour, which is a lower speed.\n\nIts similar with energy - you can use energy quickly or slowly. Power is the speed at which you use energy. 100,000 Joules of energy can be spent at 1 Joule per second, which is low power, or 3000 Joules per second, which is what an electric kettle might use.\n\nThe technical term for Joules per second is watts. 1 Watt is defined as 1 Joule per second, and 3000 Joules per second is 3000 Watts, or 3Kilowatts."
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41suf5 | how does something like an hdmi port become near universal? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/41suf5/eli5_how_does_something_like_an_hdmi_port_become/ | {
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"The short answer is: Companies don't want to bother with spending money on competing formats by introducing 17 different different ports, 15 of which will inevitable fail. There is some history here, such as the Apple 'Firewire' prior to the eventual USB conversion. \n\nIt still exists in some capacity, but ultimately its not really worth the time and effort it takes, especially when the majority is already using one format.",
"VESA was originally trying to float the standard of DVI and DisplayPort, although it was mostly intended as a standard for computer monitors, and lacked features like content control to prevent copying. \n\nHDMI was created by a collaboration of some content companies and consumer electronics companies who wanted a standard they could accept, with built-in content controls. So that helped influence that adoption of HDMI over DisplayPort, which at the time was a better technology. \n\nSee also: _URL_0_"
]
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23lp1o | explain like i'm 5 what is beyond the 3rd dimension. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/23lp1o/eli5_explain_like_im_5_what_is_beyond_the_3rd/ | {
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"The easiest way (for me) to conceptualize the fourth dimension is to consider time as the fourth dimension. Unlike the other three dimensions where we are free to move about, we are being forced forward through the forth dimension at a fixed speed (one second per second).",
"I assume you're talking about spatial dimensions, time as a temporal dimension is usually thought to be the 4th.\n\nWe live in 3 dimensions so a 4th can't be demonstrated. [Flatland](_URL_0_) is written from the perspective of a 2D creature, which demonstrates the inability to comprehend additional dimensions. They don't have concepts of up and down, only left/right and towards/away. If you're moving in another dimension (up/down for flatlanders) *ana* and *kata* are used as substitutes.\n\n[Tesseracts](_URL_1_) are 4-dimensional cubes, much like cubes are 3d squares. In both cases the higher dimension is achieved by moving the whole shape towards a new dimension (*Ana* and upwards, respectively) and connecting the corners with lines."
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||
11gn86 | why doesn't the redbull skydiver who is jumping from the stratosphere burn up? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/11gn86/eli5_why_doesnt_the_redbull_skydiver_who_is/ | {
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"text": [
"Because he won't reach enough speed to do it. Imagine a space shuttle coming down from space, they do it at such high speed (17.000 mp/h) that the friction from the air itself burns the underside. Theres no chance he will reach those numbers :)"
]
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2blnyi | tuna. how can one tuna fish be worth over a £million? what stops you from simply catching a tuna and becoming very rich? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2blnyi/eli5_tuna_how_can_one_tuna_fish_be_worth_over_a/ | {
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"text": [
"Source on that value please.",
"It's worth what it is because someone is willing to pay that much. They really want it.\n\nNothing stops you except the difficulty of catching such a valuable fish. (If it were easy to catch them nobody would pay that much for them.)"
]
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40bgs5 | phone batteries and charges vs laptop batteries and chargers | Recently I was shopping for a laptop and a phone. The phone I got has 3400 mAh of capacity and my whole phone is smaller than the battery of my laptop, which has a capacity of 4450 mAh.
Is a different technology used for these batteries?
Also, I can charge my phone in 1:30 minutes from 0-100 and my phone's charger is really small compared to my laptop's charger, which takes just under three hours to fully charge the laptop.
I can also work on my computer doing office tasks and it will last me anywhere from 6-8 hours while my phone isn't nearly as powerful or big and lasts just about the same if used without stopping. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/40bgs5/eli5phone_batteries_and_charges_vs_laptop/ | {
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"text": [
"Milliamp-hours are not a unit of energy storage. They are a unit of charge storage, but they don't say how much energy that charge has. Voltage tells you how much energy the charge has. You can only compare mAh to mAh *if* both batteries are the same voltage. \n\n\nIn the case of the phone versus the laptop, the phone is going to be somewhere around 3.7 V while the laptop will probably be 10-12 V. \n\n\nIf you want to compare apples to apples, you need the watt-hours. That is how much energy it has, or how long it can output a certain power. The batteries might say on them their Wh, but if not you can pretty easily calculate it. Your phone is 3400 mAh, and I'd bet 3.7 V. Multiply them and you have 12.6 Wh (remember the milli). Your laptop on the other hand is 4400 mAh and I'll go with 10.5 V, so 46.2 Wh which is almost 4x the energy storage. \n\n\nFrom the difference in voltage and energy storage, I'm sure you can see where the different battery sizes, charger sizes, and charging times come from. They aren't nearly as similar as the mAh would lead you to believe. "
]
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|
abiblg | how does the human body which had a cold stop sneezing when asleep, but keep sneezing when awake ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/abiblg/eli5_how_does_the_human_body_which_had_a_cold/ | {
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"text": [
"When we’re awake, particles, allergies or an illness can stimulate the nerve cells in the nose. The nerves then send signals to the brain in order to initiate a sneeze to get rid of whatever is irritating it. But during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, certain neurotransmitters shut down. This means that the motor neurons are not being stimulated, so they aren’t sending these signals to the brain.\n\nTLDR: Your brain shuts down information sharing from the nose so you won't wake yourself up. \n\n & #x200B;\n\n & #x200B;",
"Chemicals. \n\nBrain releases chemicals that shut down those functions while you’re asleep. Different chemicals, but same idea as how you don’t pee your bed when you sleep.",
"Does this apply with yawns as well?",
"The ventrolateral preoptic nucleus inhibits forebrain and brainstem arousal systems when asleep, preventing them from waking the body. One of these arousal systems is the sneezing reflex of the medulla. Thus, no sneezing when asleep. \n\n\nEdit of actual ELI5: Parts of the brain that keep the body awake during the day are turned off at night, one of those parts is also the home of the brain part of the reflex that turns that itchy feeling from irritants in your nose into a sneeze. "
]
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1u4t7x | why is it that reddit only displays some of my subreddits in the drop down at one time? | When I click the 'My Subreddits' drop down in the top left, it varies between which of my subreddits are actually showing on any given visit to the site. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1u4t7x/eli5_why_is_it_that_reddit_only_displays_some_of/ | {
"a_id": [
"ceek206",
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2,
3
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"text": [
"Is there a maximum number it can display?",
"The maximum number of subreddits for the drop down list is 50."
]
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8z87k2 | why do homonyms and homophones exist? | I mean, there are so many different possible combinations of letters that haven't been used, yet we have so many words that sound the same/are spelled the same but have different meanings. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8z87k2/eli5_why_do_homonyms_and_homophones_exist/ | {
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"Homonymes (as did homophones) started out being written/pronounced differently. It's actually a common fallacy to assume that the current state of a language is the 'right one' (you can see a lot of it in the word literally) but this isn't the case.\n\nEspecially in language the lazy and volatile nature of humans shows itself very often. We tend to drop syllables, combine hiats (vowels that are pronounced as two separate vowels) to diphtongs (two vowels pronounced connected), the quality of vowels changes (that's the reason many English words are written different from how they are spoken. The writting was fixed before changes. There was a time when you really pronounced colour with that U), etc. \n\nHowever, there's one thing that should be mentioned: besides homonymes there are also polysemes. These are words that are written and pronounced the same but didn't start out as different words. These are mostly extended and conferred meanings of words like the word \"star\". Because celebrities \"shine so bright\" they get the same word as our sun... \n\n^edit So, in summary, because often times homonymes startes out different and are only now the same word ^end"
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7b7s32 | how is it possible for us to know if a sound comes from the top or the bottom given that we only have two ears aligned horizontally? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7b7s32/eli5_how_is_it_possible_for_us_to_know_if_a_sound/ | {
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"It's difficult for human to determine the height of a sound. Owls for example have an ear higher that the other to better be able to locate sounds",
"The shape of your ears directs sound into your ear canals difforently based on the angle it comes in at. If you change the shape of your ears with something like play dough you lose this ablilty all togeather. Other animals like dogs aren't as good st this and so tilt their heads to get a better idea of what virtical angle the sound is coming from. Here is a great video by Smarter Every Day all about it: _URL_0_"
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4wob3k | why do our minds switch around beginning and ends of words when speaking? example, the jox fumped over the log. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4wob3k/eli5_why_do_our_minds_switch_around_beginning_and/ | {
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"This is because in the process of thinking and preparing for the next word you're going to say, you mix the order up.\n\nIn your example, when you say \"the\", your brain gets ready to say fox but also prepared for \"jumped\". And while its thinking of the next word \"jumped\", it accidentally puts part of it in your mouth.\n\n\np.s. sounded much more easy to explain in my head. it's much harder to explain than I thought. Basically, while preparing for the next word, your brain forgets that it's the NEXT word, not the current one.",
"This is called a spoonerism, and has been asked and answered here:\n\n_URL_0_",
"It's called the priming effect. The human brain is evolved to recognize patterns, and increasingly so. I'm sort of exaggerating to make a point but only marginally so: Your cave ancestors who recognized patterns of good hunting and gathering grounds had an advantage over the ones that didn't. Your horticulture ancestors that recognized best planting and harvest crop rotations and timing had an advantage. Etc and so forth.\n\nAfter thousands of years of pattern recognition being important the human brain is wired to fill in patterns it expects to see even if they aren't there...e.g. Your brain is primed to patterns it has seen before...e.g. \"priming effect.\" It's what causes people to see in image of the virgin Mary on some random piece of toast, or hear \"ghost\" voices in random static sounds. If your brain believes a pattern is being followed it will contact the doors for you even if the connection isn't there.\n\nIn your example the brain is primed to see the pattern of some words that make sense in context, so it sees that even if that's not what's there."
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l1dsk | why does a sound sound different after you've heard it more than once in a row? | Pretty much just curious why I perceive a sound differently hearing it just once, compared to what the same exact sound sounds like played over and over in repetition. I also find the sound never to sound the same again even if I do something else for a while, forget about it, then play the sound just once again.
(sorry if this is confusing, I don't know how else to word it) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/l1dsk/eli5_why_does_a_sound_sound_different_after_youve/ | {
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"When your brain notices repetition, it filters out what stays the same so it can better notice what changes."
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7ugi2d | can biological cells only divide or can they also be create/assembled? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7ugi2d/eli5_can_biological_cells_only_divide_or_can_they/ | {
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"That's a great and exciting question. According to the [abiotic hypothesis of the origin of life](_URL_1_), the first living organisms came to be from the \"assembling\" of biomolecules that came to be due the primordial environment in Earth. With that idea in mind, a branch of biology known as [synthetic biology](_URL_0_), is trying to do exactly that: Synthesize life.\n\nThey're making cutting-edge research to know which are the minimal components required to create life. If they ever get to solve that problem, you'll hear about it in the news because it will mean one thing: We have created life from scratch.",
"All cells come from other cells. However some cells can produce cells that are not exactly identical to the original cell. For example type two pneumocytes can become type one pneumocytes. Even though they have similar names these cells look and function very differently from each other. Another example, Stem cells can “create” other types of cells as well. Though the word create isn’t quite right - it is probably more accurate to say that cells with this ability differentiate, or change, into other cell types. \n\nHope that helps."
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e9v7zi | how do mri and fmri work, are they used simultaneously? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e9v7zi/eli5_how_do_mri_and_fmri_work_are_they_used/ | {
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"Your body is exposed to a strong magnetic field, it forces all the protons to align with it. You are then exposed to a radio pulse which knocks the protons out of alignment. Sensors then measure things like how long the protons take to realign and how much energy they give off when they do so. Different body tissues respond differently and were able to differentiate between them and draw a picture of the body.\n\nAn fMRI (functional MRI). Is a special type of MRI that tracks blood flow in the brain. This allows us to learn which parts of the brain are used to do stuff and find brain damage. So you might be asked to write a sentence while getting an fMRI and that will tell us which parts of the brain are working really hard to do this.",
"Hello!\nMRI is the umbrella term for many types of imaging. fMRI is functional MRI which tries to indirectly image brain activity by measuring (most commonly) the amount of oxygen in the blood vessels of the brain. \n\nThe rationale is: the more active a neuron is, the more oxygenated blood is transported to that particular area. The true relationship between blood oxygen and neural activity is more complicated than that but this is the main idea. However, this immediately shows how people should be careful in interpreting fMRI data: we're indirectly measuring brain activity, and there are actually many more things that can influence the amount of oxygen in the blood.\n\nApart from fMRI there is also sMRI, or structural MRI. This type of measurement doesn't measure brain activity over time (like fMRI) but instead measures and maps the structural anatomy of the brain. This way you can visualise with a relatively high resolution where the different types of matter (gray, white and spinal fluid) are located. Extremely useful for source localization of brain damage for example.\n\nIf you're interested in how the actual machine measures this stuff let me know, but that goes into a lot more detail. In short it measures the strength of the spins (resonance) of hydrogen protons after they get excited (energized) by applying various different magnetic fields. I'd have to think about how to make it ELI5 compatible.",
"Allright, here is my ELI5 attempt!\n\n* Every single cell (and smaller) in your body is a little bit magnetic.\n* Because they are so weak they all point in random directions, and it looks like [this](_URL_1_)\n* Now we place you in a magnet, and every mini-cell-magnets aligns to the magnetic field (like [this](_URL_3_) or [that](_URL_2_))\n* When we turn the magnet off, all the mini-cell-magnets return to random directions.\n * BUT some cells do it slower than others!\n* If you quickly take a photo in that time, you see something like [this](_URL_0_)!\n\n^(note: I took a lot of shortcuts, e.g. its isotopic atoms not cells. But I think my 5 year old nephew would be able to understand this while staying close to the principle.)"
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257sjl | why do company's sponsor the pga when it seems like pro golf doesn't make much money? | And how can golfers make so much money from just one tournament? It seems like they don't get high ratings on TV, or many fans that go to the tournaments. So where is the revenue generated? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/257sjl/eli5_why_do_companys_sponsor_the_pga_when_it/ | {
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"Golfers and golf fans are rich, relatively speaking. The value of the eyeball of a golf watcher is more valuable than the eyeball of a nascar watcher or an NFL watcher. Advertising cost is about the value of the audience, not just the size of it.\n\nEven further, people _play_ golf much more than they play, for example, football. They do it, and they do it for year after year after year.",
"Money comes from TV contracts, sponsorship deals, tournament attendance... more people are spectators than you may see on TV because they are spread across a giant course. TV deals and sponsor deals are more lucrative relative to number of viewers because golf fans are wealthy and more highly targetable."
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2tbbxr | as far as the oscars are concerned, what is the difference between cinematography and film editing in a film? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tbbxr/eli5_as_far_as_the_oscars_are_concerned_what_is/ | {
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"Cinematography is the setting up of and framing of shots, while editing is how those shots are strung together. Hope this helps. ",
"Cinematographers operate cameras and lenses using a combination of artistic interpretation and technical knowledge to document the director's vision, or at least to get as close to the general idea as possible (also known as \"recording actors doing their thing in various environments\"). The end result of cinematography is raw footage that, regardless of whether it's gorgeous or awful, still needs to be edited. This is where the editors come in. They're the ones who take the raw material from cinematographers and arrange various bits of footage into sequences that, when they play out in their entirety, move the film along (hopefully) effectively from the intro to the closing credits. Whenever a film feels \"jumpy\" (think Requiem For A Dream or Snatch, among many others) or peaceful (transitioning from chaos to wheat fields in Gladiator, or the famous scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey where the ape, having mastered the use of tools, tosses the bone into the air, segueing into the scene of the space station), that subconscious feeling you get is from the editing, while the visual aspect is all cinematography. \n\nGranted, effects departments help out too along the way, but the question was about editors and cinematographers. Basically, both (everyone on a film set, actually) work in different ways and at different pursuits to help the director convey whatever it is they're trying to convey. Sometimes it's a team effort as to whether or not the film fails or succeeds, but just as often it isn't. It mainly depends on the film/director/producer.\n\nHope that helps. "
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4q6co2 | how do interpreters hear the next line while interpreting what was just said? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4q6co2/eli5_how_do_interpreters_hear_the_next_line_while/ | {
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"Not an interpreter, but I'm guessing it's just a lot of practice to where it becomes as easy as you reading subtitles while watching a movie. My wife's second language is English (came to the US 25 years ago when she was 10, so had to learn and is now completely fluent), and she can almost interpret in real time when someone is speaking her native language in a movie.\n\nI also spend a lot of time in court in an area that requires interpreters a lot (South Florida). They can do it almost instantaneously but it's their full time job so I imagine it's just from doing it so much. I'll talk to one next time I'm in court and ask them this.",
"My mother is an interpreter and has been for about 8 years now. She does her work via telephone and does medical, law and travel calls. They generally speak in a few short phrases/sentences at a time. \nEx. Doctor says \" how are you feeling today? Have you been taking the medication I prescribed to you?\n Interpreter \" Como te sientes hoy? Te estás tomando el medicamento que te recete?\" \nPatient/customer/etc will answer and interpreter will translate. Simple effective and on a side note EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. The company my mother works for chargers upwards of $40 dollars a minute! ",
"People who are speaking with an interpreter typically slow and pace their own speech well enough, but ultimately it comes with practice. Simple as that. ",
"When I interpret, I get in a zone and don't even think about what I am saying, I just speak. Usually, people slow down and pause. Those that don't are jerks.",
"I saw this thing on TV back in high school in the 80's where these two guys could repeat everything you said with like a 1 or 2 tenth of a second delay. So I started doing it out of boredom at bandcamp one day. Now, mine was more like a one half to one second delay - but I found I could pull it off on the very first try. You just kind of turn your brain off and go.\n\nNow, that's in one language - you'd have to be pretty fluent to pull that off listening in one and speaking in another. But if 16 year old me could do it monolingual on the first try, I gotta think it;'s not that outside the pale for a trained, determined adult.",
"Have you ever ordered pizza while someone was telling you what to order? Bad example, but it gets the idea across. If you practice a language enough, its really not that hard to repeat what another is saying with your mouth on auto, so to speak. (Sure its a bit harder language-to-language, but similar principle)",
"There was just a post about this on /r/languagelearning! The answer is practice, practice, practice. Simultaneous interpreters train rigorously over a number of years. They start by listening to something and repeating it word for word. Then they close the gap between repetitions until that they're speaking and listening at the same time. Then they start translating and listening at the same time. Not rocket science, but certainly not easy.",
"Interpreter here! You're talking about simultaneous interpretation. Basically you have to train yourself, and there are various methods. I'm a sign language interpreter, so my favorite method is the Gish model. Basically it breaks down information to basic > moderate detail > every detail. Depending on the register (aka what kind of situation you're in), you can use different levels of detail. Example: talking about cars. The source language says, \"there are many types of sports cars on the market, with different sized engines (insert actual info about car engines here), as well as body type (insert info about car body types here)\" Basic: there are many types of sports cars. Moderate: there are many different types of sports cars on the market, varied in types of engine and body style\" Detailed: there are many different times of sports cars on the market, with engine types such as (list all types) as well as different body types such as (list all body types).\n\nIt takes a lot of practice and usually in sign language interpretation, interpreters tend to work in teams, so if you miss something, you can cue your team to feed you that information. \n\nSpoken language interpreters, to my knowledge, often use paper and pen and write notes on what they're hearing (especially if they're doing consecutive, or turn taking, interpreting)\n\nDoes that kind of answer your question?",
"Years and years of training and they work in pairs. Real time interpreters like in the UN will have one person translating speech to speech in real time, and another taking notes, preparing relevant slides and such to help the active interpreter and they switch off back and forth to get a rest due to the intense mental concentration. The people who do this aren't just fluent in multiple languages, they have studied years just to translate well, additional years to translate on the fly, and they also spend weeks or days preparing for upcoming sessions by familiarizing themselves with the material to be discussed, and any unfamiliar words. \n\nThey also practice when they aren't working by watching speeches on similar subject matter as they need to practice, and translating in private. \n\nIt is a very demanding job especially when diplomacy is at risk. Remember \"We will bury you\"? It was actually \"We will live to see you buried\" but nobody is perfect, even experts. It's just very demanding. \n\nMy post is derived from personal experience with conference translators and several sources in the industry including [AIIC](_URL_2_) and [CIT](_URL_3_) which helps train for ASL conference translation. \n\n[Information on UN translators from the UN](_URL_1_)\n\nSomebody mentioned a TED video which I linked to below. \n\n[TED ED Conference Interpreter explanation](_URL_0_)",
"I have worked as an interpreter. (English/Spanish) During simultaneous interpretation I do not hear myself talk. I am focusing so much on what they are saying I don't need to pay attention to my speech. Where I live, If you want to serve as a Court interpreter you have to get tested. During the test you are wearing headphones and you speak in the target language and cant hear yourself anyways. You have to practice so you don't get hung up on a word trying to think of the equivalent in the other language while the person is talking. You have to practice idioms, sayings and cultural expressions because you cant pause the speaker to think about it. If you interpret only in a few areas of business, like medical offices or Courts you become familiar with the clientele, and the jargon of that business. \nTL/DR: Practice and focus only on the person talking. Never listen to yourself. ",
"i've noticed myself accidentally doing this while reading books to my children, in two ways.\n\n1. the obvious way: you're reading aloud, and reading ahead so that you don't stumble on your words as you read. you end up a sentence ahead but speaking a sentence behind\n\n2. the not obvious way: i've read entire childrens books to my children while having an entire daydream go through my head about whatever i am about to go do after i can finally stop reading this book. \n\nevery time i catch myself doing #2, it stops happening and i can't force it (like sleeping). It feels like auto pilot, like i wasn't even looking at the words.\n\nmuch like when you drive 5 miles and can't remember driving it because you were on auto pilot.",
"I've done a lot of interpreting on and off, and experience and practice really count. When I haven't done it for a while, I really feel rusty and it takes longer to get into the zone. But once I start doing it regularly again, it comes naturally. When we're working with simultaneous interpretation, we work in teams of two, and although we alternate, we stay on the ball and help each other out. \nIt's very important to translate the meaning and not get stuck with an individual term, as that can make you lose track completely. ",
"Judiciary interpreter here. If you're really good at focusing on one single thing with the intensity of a dog eyeing a burger you'll have a natural advantage, but it is definitely a skill that can be developed (neuroplasticity says so). The lag behind the speaker in the Source Language is called \"decolage\" and a lag of 7 words is pretty darn good.\n\nI can go as fast as virtually everyone I've interpreted for, but going into Spanish or back into English, word order must be rearranged so that the syntax in the Target Language doesn't sound awkward. Interpreting too closely behind the speaker is counter-productive as it can get you into grammatical corners that aren't pretty to get out of.\n\nHaving said that I've had many other sounds regularly interrupt my clear hearing of Source Language: coughing, squeaky conference room chairs, air conditioning, farts, traffic, construction, sirens and at that point you have to try for clarification.\n\nThe brain can do some pretty cool things, but I still marvel that the mind can do what my colleague's and mine can do. It's not until you've done it (20 years here) for a while that you realize how vast the landscape is. What's really neat is how beautifully some interpreters artfully resolve difficult to translate concepts!",
"I did a master's in interpreting. As others have pointed out, you don't hear yourself speak at all when you are doing simultaneous interpreting in a booth. I could be babbling nonsense for all i know. I'm so focused on listening, that i do not register myself speaking. I mean, i can feel my lips moving and the strain in my throat, but i don't really associate that with my own voice speaking, because i'm 1000% focused on listening. Although apparently i wasn't babbling, and i was actually making sense in target language, considering i got really good grades ;D I didn't really train for this, it kinda came naturally.. ",
"Here's one that explains how interpreters juggle two languages at once.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nReally informative and it is animated too!",
"Annoying person here. I think it's the same as something I got quite good at which is standing next to someone who's on the phone and repeating everything they say just after they say it. It's just like speach jammer. It just takes practice which you can do whike watching tv or listening to the radio",
"I would compare it to note taking in class. I have never worked as an interpreter, but I recently realised that I am able to to simultaneous translation between Norwegian/Swedish/Danish and English.\n\nThe act is very similar to when you hear a lecturer or teacher explain something in a class, and then you note down the important parts while the lecturer continues speaking.\n\nIf you are quick enough at the translation part, it is easier to fully translate a sentence out loud than it is to write the whole sentence down. Most people are capable of speaking and listening at the same time, and in friend groups it is actually quite common, and you might not even realise you are doing it.\n\nAs a side note I am terrible at taking notes...\n\nEDIT: Formatting",
"I live in a home where more Spanish is spoken than English. However, English is my first language. I often hear Spanish interpretations and think, \" That's not what he or she said.\" It's funny to listen to. It's like tell them what they need to hear and not what was said.",
"Musician here. My band was playing an event and got an email a few weeks in advance from an interpreter. She worked with a deaf girl who was going to be attending and wanted to know if she could get our set list. We happily obliged. \n\nKnowing that our songs were being signed to the girl gave literally everything we did different meaning. The lyrics were suddenly incredibly important; every motion on stage magnified a hundred times. The deaf girl stood stage left right in front of one of the short-throw subwoofers and just had an absolute ball. \n\n",
"I see lots of \"they\" in the comments with people who haven't done it explaining there is some big secret. It really isn't that hard. To learn a foreign language takes years of work, but to be able to talk while we listen is a natural trait.\n\nHave you ever been in an argument where you are shouting and someone else is at the same time? Although you are shouting, you also hear what the other party says, right? \n\nHave you ever been watching TV and your significant other or mother comes and gives you a chore? You don't want to miss the plot of your favorite show so you still listen to it, but you hear someone tell you to come clean the kitchen.\n\nHave you ever been talking to someone and thinking about leaving the iron plugged in at home?\n\nHave you ever heard something unexpected in a conversation or lecture and think\"what did they just say?\" You are able to replay what they said a few seconds after it is said, right?\n\nOur brain does more than one thing at a time. Practicing does help, but it isn't hard to learn to control. Like anything, it is easier for some people than other. And like trying to recall what you've heard, mistakes are possible.",
"I used to do this. During conferences I had headphones on which fed me the speaker and I could only just hear myself speaking over him. So no problem with hearing the next line.\n\nTranslating one on one is more tricky but usually in that situation the speaker is not a total a-hole and will let you finish translating a section of what he just said before he continues speaking.",
"I translate Japanese/English/Spanish simultaneously. Spanish is complicated but has all elements (Subject/nouns/verbs) in order so it can be simultaneously translated to English but not to Japanese. \nJapanese has no subject so it requires to understand whom is the main character in order to make sense when referring to a situation with a main participant.\nJapanese also has no plural which a sometimes can confuse. \nSometimes when talking in Japanese, often people suddenly stop and ask who is the conversation about. Sometimes the speaker also makes an brief explanation of amounts. \nNevermind the language, interpreters we tend to imagine where is the conversation leading to and tend to literally lie a little about the original topic in order to be able to continue thinking while translating. \nFeelings are the hardest to translate because the cultural differences. \nMy biggest issue is the positive or negative conclusion of a topic. In Spanish there is \"no/not\" directional about a conclusion/decision/action as so in English \"no/can't/wouldn't\" etc but in Japanese sometimes is very hard to understand the decision because if the explanation that leads to a conclusion. \nSometimes I just stop and ask the locutor\"did?/didn't?\" To make sure I won't give the wrong translation. \nPoliteness on Japanese is also troublesome so sometimes I just warn the speaker not to be polite because the translation will just be complicated for me and it will mean the same to the listener. Japanese people are thou very polite so they continue talking politely and making me tiresome. \nSpanish speakers use feelings as part of their conversation but it has no literal meaning to Japanese and English speakers. \n\nI work as volunteer for legal consultation for foreigners in Japan. ",
"I used to do simultaneous translation from english into spanish at my church.\n\nBasically, pastor is preaching - translator is in a booth in the back with a microphone and headsets. English comes into headsets, spanish goes into microphone, spanish speakers are wearing headsets to hear me.\n\nWhen you first start out, it's a little weird to get used to. Once you become good at it, it's second nature. You're only hearing and speaking in Spanish - the English that comes in your ears gets processed by your brain without you knowing. You don't become \"cognizant\" of what you're saying until it becomes spanish in your head and out of your mouth.\n\nIt's actually pretty trippy - and if something would interrupt me, it would take a few seconds to get back started again, like my brain needed to get a little ahead on the English so it could start producing the Spanish in real time.",
"This might get buried, but Mike Rowe doing voice over might provide some insight. Sorry the comment isn't formatted properly but here is the link. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nBasically, your brains language center(s) have this area called the arcuate fasciculous that connects the two main areas of language within the brain. These ares are Broca's and Wernicke's which, to put simply, control the motor and comprehension parts of speech, respectively. All this to say that comprehension and output overlap, but are also partly separate. \n\nThat arcuate fasciculous is needed for repeating what you just heard. So from a purely scientific standpoint, I would predict that you listen in, the brain processes what you just heard into a different language and you repeat it back. Years of training are probably required (I don't know I have no experience). At this point I am just rambling. Just watch the Mike Rowe clip. Sorry for the tailing off. \n\nAll this to say, the brain is amazing",
"Once an interpreter was translating from German to English. The speaker started talking, and talked on and on, but the interpreter remained silent. After a while a member of the audience asked the interpreter why he wasn't translating, and he replied - \"I'm waiting for the verb.\"",
"I've lived half my life in Brazil and half in the US back and forth. I've done all three types of translation work: 1) written documents, manuals, interviews, newspaper articles 2) sequential live interpretation and 3) simultaneous live interpretation. \n\nThey are quite different. \n\n\nWRITTEN \nWritten doesn't have the pressure of a live audience but it sucks because everything is due yesterday and you pull all-nighters to get that expedited fee. Also I'm a perfectionist and you can always improve the translation just like any writing proof reading and multiple revisions. \nI'm an engineer and those are the easiest most straight forward. The legal documents are the worse. A lot of judges like to write things to make them sound astute and smart when same could be said much more simply. I gave those to the British translator to figure out. \n\nSEQUENTIAL\nThis one is all about cadence. When you have a speaker that goes one or two or three sentences at a time and pauses for you it's great. When you get some that ramble on and you have to remind them that you need to interpret what they said and you are having to memorize entire paragraphs at a time it gets taxing. \n\nSIMULTANEOUS\nI liked this the most. You don't have to memorize what they are saying. You just have to keep up and speed comes with practice. The key thing is if possible you want to be in a quiet room or bring a portable booth and have good headphones so you can hear what they are saying while you are talking at the same time. You have to talk softly so you can still hear them. The listeners can raise their volumes as needed on their headphones. Good equipment is key. \n\nUnlike written work when the speech/lecture is done your work is done. No going back to proof read and edit needed. \n\nLITERAL VERSUS CULTURAL TRANSLATIONS\nHaving lived back and forth I tend to do a \"Cultural translation\" where I think about what, for example, an American would say in the same setting. So in Portuguese you could say, \"Vamos conversar.\" Some would translate using the same Latin based word to \"Let's converse\" but that is too formal and sophisticated of a word and not good except for legal documents. A less formal translation would be \"Let's have a conversation.\" It sounds more natural but uses twice as many words. So what I call the cultural translation would simply be \"Let's talk.\" \n\nUFC TRANSLATIONS\nI like UFC and their main Brazilian translator does a good job. Those fighters are not the easiest to translate sequentially and the interviews are too short to establish a good cadence compared to a two hour talk. A lot gets missed. \n\nThe Anderson Silva doping trial was terrible (different translator). A lot of what Anderson was saying was either not being conveyed or being translated incorrectly and eventually the panel was talking to the translator instead of talking to Anderson through the translator (who at this point was another person who stepped in to try to help). \n\nABOUT ME\nI did most of my translation work while in college in Brazil. I could have made a career and was really good at it (started young, lots of practice, and lived back and forth between Brazil and the USA). However I love computers and engineering so that's my current job. It was great though to meet people and learn about so many topics. I helped people move to Brazil and visitors and missionaries and business men and it was a joy. I used to concentrate so much doing live events that I could tell you for three days almost every sentence that was said. \n\nTopics that you are familiar are much easier. If the talk was gardening I would struggle. Sometimes I would have a backup translator that could jump in if I missed a word or could look things up on the fly but that was rare. I was mostly on my own. \n\nNewspaper articles were interesting because some would be translated into multiple languages and it would be interesting to see how the lengths varied. I don't even recall (this was 15 plus years ago) but I think the French versions grew in size while the English ones shortened so the graphics designer had to rework the layout for the different versions. \n\nIt was a fun time and paid very well for a poor college student in Brazil. \n\n\n\n",
"The same way you take notes, you lag behind the teacher but you can keep track of the next thing they said and write it down when you get to it. ",
"I used to do formal translation and you're right that simultaneous translation is tough. When doing smaller projects where you stand right by the speaker who's addressing less than a couple hundred people or things where the flow (emotion, motivation, etc...) wasn't as critical it was actually common to do consecutive translation. I think the speakers liked the pauses sometimes to watch what was happening. However, it turns out that you don't want to do consecutive translation for people who haven't done it before because they can pretty easily get timing wrong and keep talking through thoughts when they get excited and you'll end up 4-5 sentences behind. I've noticed that amateurs at being translated like this are also more likely to tell jokes or use metaphors that just won't translate well since they're not used to considering what they say in the context of a foreign language audience. \n\nFor larger jobs it would almost always be simultaneous to maintain the tempo and pace and I've done this both from the shoulder (i.e. standing near the speaker and just speaking into a different microphone) and its up to you to focus on his/her voice and separate it from yours so that it doesn't interfere or from translation booths with a partner so that we can trade off every half hour or so. In that case you've got headphones that feed in what is being said and a microphone for your translation. Some setups let you feed your own voice through one of the cups and others are only the speaker so you can pull one to the side if it helps you with pace, volume and voice. In these cases sometimes you're lucky enough to get a draft of the speech beforehand but I never had people really stick to them. This is still really useful though because it gives you something to read through to become familiar with phrases or stories that they might use or to look up specific, technical vocabulary that you might not know (in either language). To reiterate though, in my limited experience you could never translate these in advance because you never knew how close the final speech would be so they were more like Cliffs Notes than anything else.\n\nIn terms of the physical experience consecutive translation isn't too bad unless there's a lot of interaction. I did an academic conference abroad once where I translated for a speech being given that was pretty easy, but then there was 6 hours of questions and answer or small group meetings afterwards that were much more challenging because there was no good pacing and were multiple people speaking at once frequently. Simultaneous translation, on the other hand, has always been quite draining for me. It feels like a high-energy trance state at times where you've got to let things unfocus a bit so that you can focus on what you're hearing an decouple it from what you're saying, which has to be automatic enough that it doesn't usually enter into you thoughts formally. It's a lot of fun, but it's challenging and, at times, scary as hell when you're translating something, a half sentence or sentence behind the speaker and you hear him say something that either you don't understand the meaning of (to topical, folksy, whatever...) or something that you understand but don't know how to say (technical or trade words or even common phrase that you know there's no analog for in the target language \"the cheddar was nutty and had a sharp taste\" into Ukrainian for example) that you've got about 5 seconds to figure out.",
"I'm no interpreter, but growing up learning two languages allows me to do this in \"real time\", from English to Spanish and vice-versa. To describe it, it just flows through without really breaking a sweat. As you are currently processing and speaking the translated words, the brain just semi-consciously queues up what is coming in through the ears. The brain is a magnificent machine."
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"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXNTArhA0Jg",
"https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=LCEFD&FId=7",
"http://aiic.net/interpreting-explained",
"http://www.cit-asl.org"
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999mbu | why news organizations don’t sue for libel when a truthful article is called ‘fake news’? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/999mbu/eli5_why_news_organizations_dont_sue_for_libel/ | {
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"That's not what libel is. Libel means that the information in the article itself is harmful or false. Saying an article is “fake news” after the fact simply because it might hurt someone's feelings is not libel as long as the article is factually correct.",
"Because \"fake\" is a value judgment. If a CNN article about refugees getting deported fails to mention the relevant fact that they're repeat offender illegal immigrants (you see this every day), some would call that a lie by omission. When people call stuff fake news, they're not saying reporters are literally passing off fiction as fact, it's more subtle and insidious.",
"CNN would have to show that Trumps insults hurt the network, financially. In America, celebrities and companies can't just sue people who insult them. The price of being famous is people can insult you.\n\nThe President has fairly broad immunity to commit...crime basically. It would be strange for a news organization to sue the President for insulting its integrity. \n\nThis is just weird. Not really a legal issue."
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35mv7h | why do we find "sweet" things so pleasurable? even other animals really seem to enjoy sweet things. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35mv7h/eli5_why_do_we_find_sweet_things_so_pleasurable/ | {
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"Sweet implies calories, and animals need calories to survive. Animals evolved not knowing where their next meal was coming from, so it benefits them to eat as many calories as possible while they can. By making calories pleasurable, it creates a desire to eat them. "
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1ogxd4 | how did the military phonetic alphabet get its letter/word combinations? and why is "f" fox-trot and not just "fox"? and why is 9 "nin-er"? | How did we get the letter and word combinations of the phoenetic alphabet, and more importantly, why did they not choose easier to understand and remember words for the letters? For example:
Just FOX for F and not trot on the end, it sounds like two words and could confuse people.
Why is 9 NINER with an ER on the end?
Edit: Just so everybody knows, I did search google "Why is F foxtrot and not just fox" but did not yield any results so I came here. Thanks!
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ogxd4/eli5_how_did_the_military_phonetic_alphabet_get/ | {
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"Verbal communications, particularly over radio, are subject to noise. Ambiguity needs to be avoided as much as possible. \"Nine\" and \"five\" sound too similar, saying \"nine-er\" and \"five\" is clearer. Foxtrot is two syllables, so it's harder to confuse it with something else of one syllable that might sound similar to fox.\n\nConsidering how much confusion occurs in cell phone calls, it would be helpful if more people knew how to speak this way.",
"Nine is phonetically identical to the German word for No, nein, so using it over the radio with our NATO allies could cause confusion.",
"You're referring to the [NATO phonetic alphabet.](_URL_0_)\n\nThe reason it's set up this way is because its designed for communication among all nations in NATO. As you can expect, a number of words/syllables are not pronounceable in every language, and some words/syllables might have a completely different meaning in another language.\n\nThat's why, if you look down the pronunciations, many if not most of them are words that exist in and are pronounced the same in most countries. (E.g., Yankee, India, Zulu.)",
"In addition to all of these answers, radio garble tends to make short words, like fox, easily missed.",
"In the pre-1957 version of the phonetic alphabet used by the US military, F was designated by Fox. Although in reality there were several versions of the phonetic alphabet in use, which could cause confusion at times.\n\nWhen the current version was adopted by NATO, some adjustments were made to reduce ambiguity over radio and to ensure non-native English speakers can pronounce them. Thus Fox became Foxtrot, Roger became Romeo (although the former lives on as a transmission acknowledgement)."
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8mofbr | why is it so difficult to stop crying once you start? any sad thought and the tears will burst again | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8mofbr/eli5_why_is_it_so_difficult_to_stop_crying_once/ | {
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"Because your moods tend to follow thought. Your state of mind is likely to shift to the thoughts you are having. Saying that, the catharsis felt after releasing emotions is good for you and once you've been through the things you need to process, you can start to heal and feel better.\n\nMore simply - Your state of mind and emotions are often irrational and uncontrollable. It's harder to get out of a state of mind than putting yourself in one. That's another reason athletes, performers or actors use techniques to 'psyche themselves up' and get in the zone. Emotional states are difficult to switch on and off."
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ekr4mu | is the universe actually expanding and getting bigger? or is light from farther away just now reaching us and allowing us to see what was already there? and how would we tell the difference? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ekr4mu/eli5_is_the_universe_actually_expanding_and/ | {
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"The universe is expanding in the sense that everything we've already seen is getting more distant. The rate at which it is getting more distant roughly corresponds to how far away it already is.",
"Not only is the distance between us and other galaxies growing in every direction, but the rate at which we distance is increasing. It's not only true for our galaxy - but all galaxies. (Some galaxies get closer to each other, but still they together distance from yet other galaxies.)\n\nIf there is stuff outside the observable universe and everything is expanding in all directions from a previous middle - how would they have outpaced the speed of light?",
"The expansion of the universe is actually quite logical if you consider the big bang blowing everything in all directions. What is interesting is that the universe is not only expanding, but the expansion is accelerating. \n\nWe know the universe is expanding because every galaxy we look at (nearly all of them) are moving *away* from us, in every direction. The light that is just reaching us from the edge of the observable universe is so faint that we have no way of measuring it. \n\nFor the sake of argument let’s say we can measure this light from the edge of the observable universe. We would know if the object emitting the light is moving away from us by looking at redshift and blueshift. In the same way you hear a change in sound when a car is passing, light can be shifted. If an object is moving away from us, the lines in the spectrum of the light (caused by the composition of the star) will be shifted to the red end of the spectrum. If the object is moving towards us the lines will be shifted to the blue end of the spectrum. \n\nIf the light came from a source that wasn’t moving when it was emitted, the lines wouldn’t be shifted at all. So even if we could observe this light, it would still tell us that the star was moving away from us.",
"Both. Light has a finite speed, and as a consequence of that, it takes light time to reach us. Because of the age of the universe, there are objects so far away that their light hasn't had time to reach us yet. As time passes, this light will have more time to travel, and will eventually reach us. This is called the observable universe, i.e., the part of the universe that we can see because light has had time to reach us.\n\nThe *entire* universe is also actually expanding, although it's not really correct to say it's getting bigger. In fact, not only is the entire universe expanding, but the rate of expansion is increasing. We can measure the rate at which galaxies are receding from us and each other, and the further away we look, the faster the expansion is happening. There are several ways we know the expansion is real, but one of the principle methods is by measuring the redshift of the light emitted from other galaxies. As space expands it stretches out light, causing it to appear more red than it did when it was emitted. We can see this light and compare it to what it it should be if there was no expansion, and thus confirm the rate of expansion.",
"Space itself is expanding, dragging galaxies with it. The further something is from use the faster it's going away, but it's not because we are special, this is what happen to any point in the universe. How to tell the difference? You know when you hear a race car or an ambulance go by, the sound is changing? Well that's the doppler effect, when a wave is travelling toward you or away of you, it's frequency will seem different to you. The actual wavelenght won't be different, but it will appear different to you, making that weird changing sound as the ambulance first go toward you, then away from you. Same thing happen with light, if will be blue shifted (mean it goes toward the blue side of the electromagnetic spectrum) if the source approach you, or red shifted when it go away from you.\n\nWhen light go through matter, different atoms will absorb very specific wavelenght of light. It's like a unique fingerprint for the atom. When we look at the spectrum of that light, they appear as little black lines in the spectrum and we call them spectrum or absorption lines. If we look at the spectrum of stars and galaxies we can see those spectrum lines slowly red shifting as we look at stars and galaxies that are further and further away. This show that they are moving away from us, but also that the further away they are, the faster they are going away."
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