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2ep88q | why does alcohol not make us full like water does? | I've been completely truffled about this one for a long time. Why can a person drink as much beer/alcohol as they want until they become too intoxicated to drink more; while you can only drink so much fluid, or eat so much food before your stomach feels like it is going to detonate? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ep88q/eli5_why_does_alcohol_not_make_us_full_like_water/ | {
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"To make it short, alcohol induces the body to flush out your system of water, which is why you pee frequently when drunk (fluids are also expelled by sweat with alcohol), this is also why it is easy to get dehydrated from alcohol. The more of it that leaves your system the more you can consume. ",
"Alcohol has a lot of water, but it also has alcohol. Alcohol has an interesting effect of blocking a hormone called vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone).\n\nVasopressin is responsible for telling your kidneys to keep water in your body and keep your urine as concentrated with garbage as possible. When you block that, your kidneys think it's taking a vacation, so you lose both the garbage and the water.\n\nSo yes, you take in a lot of water when you drink beer. However, the alcohol in your drink is telling you to piss out that water immediately.",
"Alcohol is a diuretic.\n\nIt makes you pee."
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a4kzs8 | how do fish survive at the bottom of the deep ocean? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a4kzs8/eli5_how_do_fish_survive_at_the_bottom_of_the/ | {
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"Fish don’t have air cavities like us. Their bodies compress and expand with depth changes just like the water around them (relatively little). Deep water species do mostly die if brought to the surface but, lacking air inside, they don’t spectacularly explode."
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3iw8z6 | why is arizona so damn hot? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3iw8z6/eli5_why_is_arizona_so_damn_hot/ | {
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"Well, she's at the gym every morning working on cardio and toning.\nShe also follows a strict skin regime which has really paid off.\nProbably the biggest reason though is that Arizona can work that pole like a champ. Every time I hear \"pour some sugar on me\" I can't stop dreaming of her."
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48gujy | why is fictional writing included in education even for non-english majors? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/48gujy/eli5_why_is_fictional_writing_included_in/ | {
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"For the same reason that writing English papers is included for non-English majors. Writing practice is writing practice, and creative thinking is creative thinking, regardless of which field you'll end up in.",
"I'm not sure if *fictional* writing is a common required course (I've never heard of any school requiring fictional writing courses), but *expository* writing (including technical writing, for STEM majors) is an important skill no matter what field you're in.",
"The short answer is that everyone is pushed to think outside of their own box. To imagine things that are outside of themselves. Ultimately, to imagine someone else's point of view.",
"Because literacy and effective communication are important. Just about any person can benefit from those skills.\n\nSome educational programs, such as trade schools, do focus solely on the skills that are directly related to a specific profession. Other programs strive to produce a more balanced result.",
"It isn't in all countries. In the UK you won't do any non-scientific writing in a science degree.",
"Writing is a method of communicating your ideas to someone. I feel that for non-English majors focusing more on technical writing and business writing is worth more.\n\nBusiness writing is particularly important because it focuses on how to effectively communicate your idea without adding a bunch of extras.\n\nSo what practical use is this?\n\nLets say you are trying to justify something to your boss, maybe its to use a new Point of Sale system. You will learn how you can frame your proposal in order to get results. Being able to communicate this allows you to get more done. ",
"Literature can shed light on social, economic, political themes and ideas in evocative ways that might not be conveyed via historical descriptions alone",
"The ability to formulate new sentences from one's own mind, particularly one that thinks in a different language and grammar, can best be judged by asking the tested individual to devise a novel creation out of their own mind and set it down in such a way that it is no longer subject to it's original formulation. Simples !"
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6l3g19 | how did sleep deprivation/lack of proper sleep leads to face acne or pimple? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6l3g19/eli5_how_did_sleep_deprivationlack_of_proper/ | {
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"The only reason that lack of sleep could be connected to pimples is from stress.\n\nStress can cause a person not to sleep, and it can increase breakouts. They are both symptoms of the stress. "
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a5d2xq | why does eating certain foods make your cheeks stick out on the inside and and then you can’t stop biting them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a5d2xq/eli5_why_does_eating_certain_foods_make_your/ | {
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"Food allergy? And I have the same issue but it is from anxiety. My dentist told me I have to stop or it can cause cancer",
"Thank you guys so much for saying it might be a food allergy. This could save me in the future",
"Seconding the possible allergy, sensitivity or other issue. It is not common for cheeks to swell after eating.\n\nI would suggest following up with an allergist. If you can't afford health care, you can keep a food diary (write down what you eat, amount not required) and try to find a pattern.\n\nIf you find that certain dishes (like not individual foods such as bananas, but things made of other things like banana bread) are the issue, look at the ingredients online and see what the common issue may be.\n\nGood luck! Your issue sounds painful."
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fz6aun | why do you get that weird feeling in your genital region when you look over the edge of a cliff/building? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fz6aun/eli5_why_do_you_get_that_weird_feeling_in_your/ | {
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"It's your reproductive organs telling you you have no business with the cliff now back off and go Jack off",
"It’s your adrenal glands firing. Adrenaline as a hormone is secreted from two glands that sit directly above your kidneys. They act as a stimulant in your nervous system. Since a good amount of the adrenaline ends up interacting with your renal system (kidneys) as it enters through the renal arteries, it stimulates the sensation of having to pee as it enters your bloodstream.",
"I experience this all the time. It happens if I see something gross or when someone gets hurt like a on a fail video i literally cant watch them. Not heights though I never put to much thought into good to know ! Thanks",
"Is it the same sensation as when your in a car and the road suddenly started going down. Or when airplanes hit air pockets?\n\nEdit: I was testing an hypothesis and it seems many are answering yes (but not all, so there may be multiple mechanisms at play here too) so here's it is: \n*the brain may be anticipating falling and that triggers the sensation of falling. Kind of like when you think of a freshly baked tart and suddenly you can smell it*",
"I experience this, and always assumed it's because as someone who rock climbs, that's were you'd expect to feel the security of your climbing harness - almost like your body warning you it isn't there so to be careful.\n\nI've asked friends, and it seems more common in climbers than non-climbers, but this thread would suggest that isn't the true reason.",
"Did you discover a new kink?",
"Dude. I feel it in my balls. Even watching a video of someone doing something scary on the side of a roof, my balls tingle.",
"Even if I'm playing a game and start to fall the boys pull on up to get out of harms way pretty quick.",
"Does this happen for anyone else when jumping down big distances in video games and You know its going to hurt? My stomach feels like it wanna turn itself outside in.\n\nNever happens in real life moments",
"Also, your pelvic floor, as it is the main support at the bottom of your torso (holding in your organs from falling through your pelvis) contracts in an automous effort to brace yourself for impact.\nIt is sometimes endearingly referred to as the fear induced puckering butthole effect. Your body inherently strives to keep its internal organs internal, fascinatingly enough.",
"I get this when I see wounds of some types (stitches, broken bones). Watching Dr. Shows is a tingle fest.",
"I get this in my feet. Was I supposed to be getting it in my genitals?\n\nIs this why other people like roller coasters more than me?",
"....i beg your pardon??"
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1lmev5 | tides... | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1lmev5/eli5_tides/ | {
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"Gravity. Mass of the moon attracts the oceans towards it, raising and lowering the water level as it rotates the earth.",
"I think the best way to describe tides is simply with a visual...\n[_URL_0_](_URL_0_)"
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j4sqh | - > big o notation | No matter what i read or how many people explain it to me I still don't quite get what on earth this is! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j4sqh/eli5_big_o_notation/ | {
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"An algorithm is a way to solve a problem.One problem could be to find the number with the lowest value in a list of numbers.\n\nThe big-O notation tells you how the time taken *O()* by the algoritm relates to the size *n* of the problem :\n\n* Lets say our algoritm (method) of finding the lowest value in a list, is by going through each element in the list, comparing it to the previous smallest number. If a value is smaller than the previous number, we remember it. And so on.\n\nSo we use this algorithm on a list of numbers that is 50 numbers long.\nAfterwards we use the algorithm on a list of numbers that is twice as long. How much more time will it take to use the algorithm? *This algorithm will take twice as long.*\n\nWe can see that:\n(size of problem x 2) will take (time of solution x 2)\n\nIn general for this algorithm: If we make the problem n times larger, **the time to solve will become *n* times larger**. The bold text here translates to a big-O notation of O(***n***).",
"Here's an example I stole from another thread. Imagine you are mowing one strip of a lawn and you always mow at the same speed. If we double the length of the strip, it takes twice as long to mow it, right?\n\nIn big O notation this is referred to as linear time, because for any input (the size of the strip of grass to mow), the output is directly (lying on a straight line) related to the input. This is written as O(n). So pretend it takes you 10 minutes to mow a lawn 1 meter long. Then if the strip of grass is 2 m, it will take twice as long, or 20 minutes. There are also things like O(n^2), O(n log n), O(n!), in fact any mathematical function can be simplified in a certain way to be expressed like this.\n\nIf this still is confusing, just say so and I'll take another shot at it. I'm not a great explainer though, but I hope this helped.\n\nEDIT: Fxided the spleelling.",
"Hey, pal, I heard you wanted to know about Big O notation? Not really for your age, but I'll explain.\n\nImagine there is some function F (you know what a function and a graph is, right, pal?), another function G, and someone said that F=O(G).\n\nThat means that there exists such number (let's call it *c*) that for **every** *x* greater than certain *x0* (actual values of *c* and *x0* are not important; only their existence is) F(*x*) is less or equal to *c* * G(x).\n\nStill don't understand? Imagine graphs of F drawn in red and G drawn in blue on top of each other, so their horizontal axes are overlapping, but vertical axes are in different scale. You also have a book you can slide onto the graph from the left side, so you can't see everything to the left of it.\n\nIf you can find such combination of book position and vertical scales that the blue line (G graph) is always higher (or equal) than red one (F graph), then you can say that F=O(G).\n\nFor example: you can say F=O(G) if F(x) = 2x, and G(x) = x: if we take X0=0 and C=2, then every 2*G(x)=2x is greater of equal (equal always in this case) than F(x)=2x.\n\nSorry, I could not take your mommy and daddy into the story, because math doesn't like people. I hope that was not too mathematical.",
"Let's try an intuitive, rather than mathematical explanation. Generalizations, sweeping statements and oversimplifications will be made:\n\nImagine you want to alphabetize your baseball card collection. It should be easy to see that if you only have 3 cards, you can solve this problem a lot quicker than if you have 3000 of them.\n\nNow imagine you still haven't organized your collection and you want to check if you have Albert Pujols somewhere in your pile of cards. Again, if you only have 3 cards, you can find the answer to this problem quickly; but if you have 3000, it might take you all afternoon.\n\nA lot of problems, the interesting ones that mathematicians like to study, are like that - the bigger the set of things that you have to look at to solve a particular problem (let's call this the \"input\" to the problem), the longer it will take to solve. **Big-O notation aims to give you an idea of how much longer it will take to solve a problem as the input gets bigger and bigger.** Notice I didn't say \"how long\" it takes, but *how much longer it takes* for every extra element you add to the input. Big-O notation says \"as the input gets bigger, the time it takes to solve the problem will grow by **no more** than this factor here.\"\n\nGoing back to the Pujols problem, the only way to solve it is to look at every card in the pile. Sure, we might get lucky and find the card we're looking for in the first try, but in the worst-case scenario we'll find it dead last or not find it at all; we'll just have to look at every card to be sure we've got the right answer. If looking at one card takes 1 second, looking at three cards will take 3 seconds, but looking at three thousand cards will take 3000 seconds. So to solve the Pujols problem it will take some constant amount of time (e.g., 1 second) for every element of the input (e.g., 3000 cards). Conventionally, we call the size of the input *n*, so the total amount of time to find Pujols in an unsorted pile of cards is *n\\*1sec*. Since the 1 second is constant, the only thing really affecting how much longer it takes to solve the problem as *n* gets larger, is *n* itself, so we say that the Pujols problem is *O(n)* (pronounced \"Big-O of *n*\" or alternatively \"Order *n*.\")\n\nNow let's imagine I asked you to find the Pujols card **after** you alphabetized all 3000 cards in your collection. This is a much quicker problem to solve! Just turn to the \"P\" section of your card binder and look at every card. If turning to the right page takes 5 seconds and every section in the binder holds at most 200 cards (remember, looking at a card takes 1 second) then the worst-case scenario for finding Pujols will take *5sec + (200\\*1sec) = ***205 seconds** (you can actually make this quicker, but I'm not going to get into that. Google \"binary search\"). You could have 200 cards, or you could have 5000 cards and it would still take 205 seconds in the worst case, usually a lot quicker. So by alphabetizing and indexing (computer scientists would call this \"hashing\") your collection, you essentially made the size of the input irrelevant, we can now solve the Pujols problem in constant worst-case time. In Big-O notation, we denote this *O(1)*, which is like saying \"adding elements to the input multiplies the time it takes to solve the problem by a factor of *1*\" - no time increase at all.\n\nOther problems can respond differently to increasing *n*, so you'll see things like *O(log n), O(n log n), O(n^2 ), O(2^n )* and many other variations. The important thing to remember is that the function between the parenthesis gives you an upper limit to how fast the time to solve a problem grows as the size of the input grows. The time could always grow slower than what the Big-O notation says, but never faster.",
"If a 5 year old were actually to ask me I would reply with this sort of an answer. Big O notation is a way of writing the number of steps a program has to take to solve a problem.\n\nMaybe if I wanted to explain it a little more in depth I would say it is how the number of steps needed to solve a problem grows in relation to the size of the input you give to the problem. ",
"To say a function F is O(G) means that F grows only as fast as G grows (or slower). Think of it as \"F is *dominated* by G.\" Visually, it means that given a big enough multiplier (constant in front of G) on G, then the graph of G is always lying above the graph of F."
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37osyw | how images shared through social media like facebook become so pixelated and full of artifacts? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37osyw/eli5_how_images_shared_through_social_media_like/ | {
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"Social media site tend to downgrade images to save themselves on bandwidth. If someone uploads their 5mb images from a 16 megapixel camera, Facebook is going to shrink it.\n\nFor sharing memes and such, someone probably saw it somewhere, saved it, and uploaded it *again* to a different social media, where it might get shrunk all over again, or someone may have edited it and not saved it to a lossless format, rinse repeat."
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4u3p7f | what would happen if a presidential candidate won the election but decided not to take the job? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4u3p7f/eli5_what_would_happen_if_a_presidential/ | {
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"If they resigned after being sworn in the VP becomes president until the term is completed. The former VP could run for their own term or simply allow others to run and not opt to take the office again.\n\nIf the person quit after the election but prior to being sworn in it's not clear what would happen. ",
"When the presidential candidate wins the election but hasn't been sworn in yet, they're known as the President Elect.\n\nWhat happens when the President Elect is unable or unwilling to assume the role of president is covered by [the 20th amendment, Section 3.](_URL_0_)\n\nThe Vice-President Elect becomes president.\n\n\n\n"
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1s3gv7 | the hubble telescope was launched in 1990. since our technology has advanced tremendously since then, wouldn't it be advantageous to send a more advanced telescope up there? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1s3gv7/eli5the_hubble_telescope_was_launched_in_1990/ | {
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" > wouldn't it be advantageous to send a more advanced telescope up there?\n\nNASA is working on it. The [James Webb Space telesope](_URL_0_) is slated to launch in 2018.",
"We have. The Chandra X-Ray telescope has been in orbit for a decade or so.\n\nAs for the Hubble, it's been repeatedly serviced and upgraded, with the most recent service mission in 2009. Indeed, many if not most of the major instruments on the Hubble are from the past decade."
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3gpu3m | what would happen if china just said "ok, the yuan is worth whatever you say it is, market." | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3gpu3m/eli5_what_would_happen_if_china_just_said_ok_the/ | {
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"Disclaimer: Not an economist or anything related to it but here's my understanding.\n\nTheir exports and hence their economy would go to shit. Its worth a lot more than what it is, which means that they can manufacture for cheap and ship the products across the world. With a strong Yuan, they cannot compete on pricing, which means manufacturing will move elsewhere.\n\nAlso, it will impact US economy as well because, we borrowed a shit ton from them and we get most of our goods from there. So more to expensive stuff at the stores until our companies adjust.\n\nedit: words.",
"I have been through both AP Micro and AP Macro Economics.\n\nBasically, China is devaluing their currency because it makes their foreign products cheaper than they already are. If it was allowed to bounce back to what it should be under a deregulated system, their products would be much more expensive internationally.\n\nThink of it this way. Imagine it costs .5 Y (for yuan) to produce a toy in China. They then sell it for the equivalent value of 2 Y in USD (United States Dollars) in the United States. If the value of the yuan goes up (AKA appreciates) compared to the US dollar, then the equivalent price in dollars for 2 Y will be larger, and sales will decrease due to the law of demand. China would much rather sell more at a lower price, because it makes them almost impossible to compete with in other countries. This is why some countries enforce tariffs, which force the price of foreign products up, or enact quotas which limit the amount of goods from a country or multiple countries from being imported.\n\nTL;DR: China wants cheap foreign products that are hard to compete with.",
"First of all there is a misconception amongst laypeople that *any country* truly lets their currency float with the daily whims of the market. The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and as far as I know most of their equivalents for other currencies, all set currency value targets that they try to maintain to keep currency values relatively stable. Is it good or not? People disagree.\n\nWhat happens when a country \"devalues its currency\" is that country's central bank starts *buying* foreign currency with their own currency to depreciate the value of their own currencies relative to the others (in buying foreign currencies with chinese yuan, they increase the supply of yuan on the global currency market and reduce the supply of foreign currencies. Supply and demand).\n\nMaking your currency cheaper relative to other currencies makes purchasing things denominated in your currency cheaper, in the short run at least. It essentially acts as a discount on the entire chinese economy. China is giving out their currency on the cheap to encourage foreigners to buy products from their country.\n\nIf China eases their capital controls and \"floats\" their currency on the free market, their currency will become more expensive and buying chinese products will become more expensive. There is this \"conventional wisdom\" out there that the Chinese Communist Party **needs** to keep economic growth moving at a fast pace so that they can continue to keep up with the demand amongst the rural peasantry to move to cities and get higher-paying jobs and a higher quality of life. The conventional wisdom holds that a pause in Chinese economic development could lead to major political upheaval in China because the communist government of a no-longer-ideologically-communist-country derives its authority and legitimacy from its argument that it provides the most efficient and effective means of modernizing the country and addressing the wants and needs of the people, and that if they started failing to deliver on that promise that there would start to be a lot of questions. However, I don't know if I believe in this \"conventional wisdom\", I think that it may overstate frustration with the chinese government. Most chinese people are pretty patriotic. "
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10g22v | - what ad and bc mean in terms of time. also, is there a difference between bc and bce? | I have never really understood this I don't think. Thank you fellow redditors! :) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/10g22v/eli5_what_ad_and_bc_mean_in_terms_of_time_also_is/ | {
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"well, firstly there is no year 0 in AD or BC (which is why people say the years ending in 0 belong in the previous decade/century/millennia)\n\nit is an epoch point so years in AD count up starting with 1AD towards today and years in BC count up starting with 1BC away from today\n\nwhile it was (and still is) called Before Christ and Anno Domini meant to differentiate based on the birth of Christ, no-one is quite sure when that was. new terms BCE and CE were made (before common era and common era) so we could keep the same numbering without worrying about ambiguities of when it would have to start. also it is a secular system that could be used by someone of any faith (assuming they had a problem with time based on one specific religion)\n\nBCE and BC are equivalent",
"BC stands for \"Before Christ\". For example, if an event took place in 150 BC, that means that event happened 150 years before Christ was born.\n\nAD stands for \"Anno Domini\". This is use for dates after Christ was born. (Note that in the use of these systems, there is no \"year zero\".)\n\nBCE and CE are actually the same things as BC and AD (respectively). BCE stands for \"Before common era\" and CE stands for \"Common era\". More historians are trying to use BCE and CE so as to keep religion out.\n\nHope I was able to answer your question. :)",
"AD means Anno Domini - \"In the year of our Lord.\" AD 0 is meant to indicate the year of birth for Jesus of Nazareth, and counts upwards from that point. \n\nBC means \"Before Christ\" - years before the birth of Jesus. \n\n(Fun fact: Most historians now think that Jesus was not born in 0 AD, but 4 BC.) \n\nCE and BCE mean \"Common Era\" and \"Before the Common Era.\" \n\n\n* CE = AD\n\n* BCE = BC\n\nThey are exactly the same as their counterparts, but with the Jesus/religious stuff taken out of it. ",
"BC and AD are, respectively, before the birth of Jesus and after. BC actually means \"before Christ\", AD is \"anno Domini\", Latin for \"in the year of the Lord\". So these two terms, BC and AD, are clearly Christianity-related and also fairly arbitrary. Looking at Biblical sources, estimates of when Jesus was born range from roughly 18 BC - 7 BC. So yes, Jesus was born \"before Christ\" if you accept the Biblical story.\n\nBCE and CE, that is, \"before common era\" and \"common era\" mean, in terms of actual time passage, the exact same thing as BC and AD. So now is 2012 AD or 2012 CE, and 150 BC is the same as 150 BCE. Since the terms CE and BCE do not include any reference to Christianity or other specific religion, it's usually preferred by historians and others who wish to make statements about dates without implicitly mentioning religion."
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4o6xhf | how do courses work in university? [uk] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4o6xhf/eli5_how_do_courses_work_in_university_uk/ | {
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"University was quite a long time ago for me, but I doubt the structure has changed that much... you'll probably have a core component of classes (which are mandatory) and a series of optional routes to take depending on how you want to specialize within your discipline.\n\n You might get a taster of all of these options early in the year before deciding which route to take and you can usually change if you pick something you later decide you don't want (but it will be up to you to catch up on anything you missed). \n\nTimetables probably set out one term at a time. \n\nP.S. apart from the debt, University is fucking great.\n",
"It largely depends on the university, but here's an overview.\n\nYou'll get a timetable with your lectures and tutorials / study sessions.\n\nUsually for computer science, a mandatory module is given, which typically involves employment tips and / or business related issues in Computing.\n\nThe rest of your classes/modules are of your choice, but you usually have to do a 'core module' which could be Software Development, Networking or Databases for example.\n\nUsually these modules have a part A and B system, where A is required to do B. You'll do Software Development A in the first semester and B in the second.\n\nAll of this will be explained on your first day, or before it where the Lecturers will explain how each module will work and how the course as a whole will run for that academic year.\n\nDon't worry too much about it.",
"Most likely you will have *all* obligatory classes for first and possibly the second year. In the third year you will be able to pick some and in the fourth the classes you can choose will be dependent on what you studied before.\n\nTL;DR - you probably won't have any choice in the first year."
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36lok0 | central banks, and why some people think they are bad | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/36lok0/eli5_central_banks_and_why_some_people_think_they/ | {
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"Central Banks job is to manage a nations money supply. In this way they can effect things like inflation/deflation, interest rates, set reserve rates and be a lender of last resort.\n\nSome people think they are bad because they don't understand how it works and how every other system used throughout history has been worse. A well run central bank is the best method we have come up with (so far) for a well functioning capitalist economy. ",
"We first need to start at what a normal bank does.\n\nLet's say you've saved up $100. You're very proud of yourself, and you should be! You've done a great job saving money. However, you need a place to keep it. You'd *also* like to see this money grow over time.\n\nMeanwhile, your friend Bob just came up with a great idea for a business, but doesn't have enough money saved up to start it. \n\nNow, you're not very close to Bob, and as he's telling you his idea, you're a little suspicious and worried. What if Bob is lying, and just wants to go on a cruise to Fiji? Or what if his idea is flawed? \n\nAs a result, your problem (I need to store and grow my savings) and Bob's problem (I need funds for my idea) go unsolved, and nobody is happy.\n\nThis is where a bank comes in. The bank promises to you that it will safeguard your funds, make them grow, and your *entire* balance is will be available to you on demand. This is great for you! The bank also promises to Bob that it will give him a loan, with set terms and conditions, with the funds it's taken on from you (and others). Now Bob is happy, too.\n\nThis goes great for a long time. The bank takes on a lot of risk, and yourself and Bob get the rewards. However, there's a problem hidden beneath the surface.\n\nFor example, what if Bob doesn't pay back his loan? Or, what if a lot of people try taking out their funds, and the bank doesn't have enough cash on hand to give to you when you ask?\n\nThis causes a **run on the bank,** and historically in the U.S. they happened quite often. \n\nThis is where the central bank of the U.S., the Federal Reserve, steps in.\n\nThe Fed tells banks that they MUST have a certain amount of cash on hand *every day,* in order to be able to pay you, *the depositor* back. This is great, because now it means banks can't just spend your money recklessly, and must also be ready to give you your funds back. \n\nHowever, this is very hard for banks to accomplish. They've got money coming in, money going out, debt issues, etc. all day, every day. So, to be in compliance with the law from the Fed, banks can borrow money from the Fed or from each other. If they borrow from each other, they use what's called the **\"overnight rate,\"** because these loans are only for a day. If they borrow from the Fed directly, then they borrow at the **\"Fed rate.\"** These rates are interest rates, just like any other loan.\n\nThe Fed also has the unique ability to print money. This gives the Fed a **lot** of power. If the Fed thinks inflation is going crazy, they can **raise** the interest rate and stop printing money, which then **reduces the money supply.** If they think the economy needs a boost, it can **lower the interest rate** and **print more money,** increasing the money supply. When rates are lower, banks have cheaper access to funds, and can give loans out at lower rates, which makes it easier for businesses to get funding. If rates go up, then loans to businesses also go up (but so do interest rates on your checking and savings accounts).\n\nSome people believe, however, that this is a **lot** of power in the hands of just a few people. Others believe the free-market can handle this responsibility on its own, and don't like government interference. Lastly, because it's a human institution, **it can make mistakes.** If a central bank makes a mistake, **it causes huge issues across the entire country's economy.** \n\nPart of the reason for the most recent recession was because the Fed kept rates low for a long time, and banks were able to borrow crazy amounts and loan it out to **everyone** without actually looking into them very much. A whole lot of Bobs couldn't afford their loans, and it caused a lot of issues. There were many other things that went into the Great Recession, but they're beyond the scope of this ELI5. ",
"A central bank is a bank of banks. Huge banks put their \"gold\" deposits in the central bank and the central bank lends them money. The problem, i think is related with money distribution and inflation. A Central Bank has the ability to increase the money supply in a country. An increased supply of cash produces inflation once the market levels things. The problem comes with the way this money is distributed. If inflation is a process that happens over time we can assume that the people/institutions that get the money first can buy more stuff than the next recipient in the chain. The current ladder of distribution is like this central banks > banks > business > people. So when the money gets to the people it has less value than when it first is given from the central bank to the other banks. Thus making corporations richer and people poorer. ",
"One way I think of banking is like how gyms sell memberships. Gyms sell more memberships than the gym can physically hold at one time because they know that not all people go at the same time. In fact a lot of people buy a membership and go only a few times. It's the same idea as how an ISP sells Internet access. They oversubscribe and assume it will work out. \n\nA bank does the same thing but with deposits and loans. The loan out more money than they actually have (literally create money out of thin air). It usually works pretty well because banks have become smarter about how to run a sustainable business. However the implicit government guarantee creates a moral hazard which may cause banks to take on more risk then they otherwise would. "
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1p4nee | when a macro-object breaks, such as a wooden board chopped by a karate student, what is happening to the object at a molecular level as it is breaking? | Been wondering this for a while and I can't seem to find a straight-cut answer. Are chemical bonds being broken? Are dispersion forces being intruded upon? and if so, wouldn't this change the chemical composition of the object? thanks reddit | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1p4nee/when_a_macroobject_breaks_such_as_a_wooden_board/ | {
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qusel | why dick cheney is a "war criminal", and worse than other bush-admin politicians who also pushed for war. | Yeah. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/qusel/eli5_why_dick_cheney_is_a_war_criminal_and_worse/ | {
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"People consider Dick Cheney a war criminal, because there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This was the whole basis for entering and bombing Iraq. Also, Dick Cheney was the Chair and CEO of [Halliburton](_URL_0_) which is the largest US military defense contractor. No conflict of interest there "
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2b6liz | the half-life game series | Missed out on it somehow. I want to play it, but don't want to research it and get spoilers, so I am requesting an ELI5. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2b6liz/eli5_the_halflife_game_series/ | {
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"Step 1: buy the first game on Steam. \n\nStep 2: play the first game on Steam. \n\nStep 3: repeat for the second game and subsequent episodes\n\nStep 4: join the HL3 circlejerk",
"Very fun game. Highly suggest it. ",
"The core Half-Life games are a must. Don't play Black Mesa: Source as a substitute for Half-Life 1. It's a fan remake with some content and puzzles changed. It's a cool game, but make sure you play the original Half-Life first. Ultimately, however, you don't have to play Black Mesa: Source at all to enjoy the series.\n\nIf you don't want to deal with the old graphics, which have actually aged very well, you can play Half-Life: Source. Valve did a pretty much 1:1 port of the game in the Source engine.\n\nValved teamed with Gearbox to make Blue Shift. It retells the events of Half-Life 1 from the perspective of Barney Calhoun, a security guard in Black Mesa. You're not missing out on anything important by not playing it, but there's not really a reason not to.\n\nOpposing Force was also made by Gearbox and Valve. It retells the events of Half-Life 1 but from the perspective of Adrian Shephard, a U.S. Marine Corporal sent to silence all witnesses and quell the alien threat. Again, not necessary to enjoy the series, but no reason not to play.\n\nAfter that, it's pretty straightforward. Play Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and Episode 2. Then join the rest of us waiting for Half-Life 3.\n",
"Do you remember when Halo came out, how it was considered revolutionary? Do you know what made it revolutionary? It certainly didn't have any real technological features that hadn't been used in shooter video games before. In reality, what made it revolutionary was the fact that the game was built around a story instead of a story built around or crammed into an unrelated game. It wasn't the first game to do this, just the first console game to really go there.\n\nThere was a time when the FPS genre of video games was one of mindless violence. Literally the only point was violence. Duke Nuke 'Em, Quake, Quake 2, Quake III, Wolfenstein, Doom... all of the classics, and not a one of them has a story worth a damn. They were designed for and meant for the enjoyment of evisceral violence. You play for the sole purpose of destroying shit.\n\nHalf Life was the first game that I remember where the game was built around a story. Killing things was important, but you had to be clever about it. Ammunition didn't randomly respawn when you were running low - if you wasted your ammo, you were stuck with a crowbar trying to beat things that wanted to eat you. Making progress didn't mean making it to the next level of the dungeon, it meant unlocking a vast and vibrant story. People loved it.\n\nPeople loved it so much they made a second one. And this is hard to do well if you weren't planning on it from the beginning. Half Life certainly left things open for a sequel, and I got distracted by something shiny before I could finish the 2nd one, but there's literally a universe's worth of stories to tell. You know the game Portal? They've tied together the two series with a few comments and secret locations here and there, so they could go full on Half-Life 3/Portal 3 in the same game.\n\nDefinitely check it out. It will seem old and clunky compared to what games do today, but it literally changed the way we see shooter games when it was released in 1998.",
"[Here you go OP.] (_URL_0_) \nIt's only ten bucks for all of the half life series. Plus if you use a voucher it's only eight bucks. Voucher is p36eya-k5jykt-abo7x9",
"It's Halo for adults. Seriously though, the Half-Life series are my favorite game(s) ever.\n\nThe core story is fantastic and if you get as invested in it as many others have you will be craving Half-Life 3 like crack.\n\nThe initial games did something awesome and different that I've not seen anywhere else. In Half-Life the original you play as Gordon Freeman. In Blue Shift you play as Barney Calhoun and in Opposing Force you play as Adrian Shepard - each of these characters cross paths and you end up witnessing each other at certain points - it's so cool! \n\nGood example of this is that is not very spoliery, is right at the start. As Gordon you are on the tram and you pass Barney banging on a door. When you play Blueshift, you can turn around (As Barney) and watch Gordon pass you on the tram."
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1iwgh5 | why are humans so prone to creating and following routines? | What benefit do we get from sitting on the same seat on the train every day? Or walking the same path to work? What purpose does it serve? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1iwgh5/eli5why_are_humans_so_prone_to_creating_and/ | {
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"In general, if you find a way to solve a problem, repeating the steps to solve that problem again will often end up in similar results. If you are satisfied with the results, then there is no good reason to pick an alternative method for solving that problem. This is valuable for highly important tasks, and it doesn't hurt us much when we apply the same logic to trivial tasks, so it's evolutionarily advantageous for us to follow routines.",
"I think its a trait for all intelligence. I know that at least dogs do the same things. My dogs have their schedule down tight. They do the exact same things everyday at the same time. In regards things involving us, if we don't pull our end on time they panic. Like my oldest dog will sit on our laps and pick at our face with her paw while whining if dinner is an hour late. But if its an hour early she just stares at her food and eventually walks away.",
"routines make us feel safe, because we know what to expect.",
"Do something, your brain remembers how to do it... do that thing enough the brain literally builds pathways increasing your ability to do that thing without thinking about it. ",
"I grew up in a military family and was unfortunately bereft of routine. As an adult, I love routine. I love going to the same job every day and seeing the same people and being in the same environment allows me a certain safety to be myself over time. I think that people with more secure childhoods than mine are the ones who grow up wanting to rock climb in Tibet, etc... ",
"A routine that somebody follows is really just a string of decisions your brain makes that it knows will usually work. These memories are imprinted on the cortex of your brain, particularly the frontal cortex - the cortex being the main, outer body of the brain. It chooses whether an action will be good or bad, and which action will provide the best outcome. The 'best outcome' is dictated by satisfying certain drives; the most dominant drive is generally the drive that is aimed to be completed.\n\nFor example, lets say you wake up. You have a basic idea of what you plan to do now based on memory and experience. You know you need to get dressed because if you don't this will not be the best outcome. You know you need to eat because if you don't you will be hungry before long, and this too is a negative outcome. You know you need to get to work by 9am otherwise you will be fired, which is a very negative outcome. Three pieces of information that your brain orders by importance; put on clothes first. If you get to the breakfast stage and realise it is 8:45, then your brain may push aside the immediate drive for food now that getting to work has become more of an issue.\n\nThese routines are formed mostly based on memory (temporal lobe stores memory based on experience, relating to visual and physical stimuli), but are influenced by events occurring around you. For instance, it is now 8:50, you are hungry and rushing to work in your car, when suddenly and inexplicably you and your car appear on the moon. This sudden, shocking development becomes the main drive of your conscious mind, overriding hunger and the need to keep your job. As a result, you no longer recognise that you are hungry, and it is unlikely the first thought through your head will be, \"Oh no, how will I get to work on time now?\" The routine had become interrupted.\n\nIn summary; routines are cemented in the cortex of your brain based on experience, memory and drives. The drives motivate the routine, and memory/experience derive the best course of action to satiate the dominant drive. Outside influence may interrupt this routine. Routines occur not only in humans, but in many animals.",
"In addition to what most other people here have said, I think routines are also there to basically be easier for your brain. It's like a macro on a computer. You can record a general set of actions and apply it multiple times so that you don't personally have to operate the computer to do it each time, instead it does it itself based off \"memory\" of what you did before.\n\nIn a non-routine situation there's a lot more calculations your brain is performing. A lot more logic in play. In a routine situation your brain can essentially \"macro\" or \"autopilot\" the whole thing. Sure you're still aware of what's going on and your mind still is fully active, and will respond if something is wrong, but I feel that the brain really goes into more of a mode of running the routine and simply observing, as opposed to having to think about everything more. "
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ca3yqw | why does the taste and texture of whiskey changes when you keep a shot in your mouth for some time ie 30 seconds, before you swallow it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ca3yqw/eli5_why_does_the_taste_and_texture_of_whiskey/ | {
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"I would imagine its not whiskey that changes texture but delicate skin in your mouth and tongue react to being bathed in strong alcohol.",
"I have no idea (i'm no expert), but i think i've heard something about introducing air into the mixture. I think it' the same with wine.\n\n... So doing a little information seeking. Basically people gurgle their wine to introduce air, and by that extent get aromatic they can smell. So smell is a big part of it.\n\nI suggest you watch this:\n\n[_URL_0_](_URL_0_)\n\nShe tells a bit about how she 'gurgles' to get all the flavors!\n\nI hope you learn something. Thank you!"
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1iauu0 | why do we have to eat and sleep? | It seems like one input or "recharge" of energy should be enough. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1iauu0/why_do_we_have_to_eat_and_sleep/ | {
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"I don't know but, I really wish:\n\n- we didn't have to sleep \n- we didn't have to poop\n\nSadly, if we didn't have to sleep, asshole bosses of the world would expect us to work 18 hours a day. So, the truthiness is:\n\n- I wish *I* didn't have to sleep"
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6ozuyj | if i want to gain weight, is eating late at night bad for you? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ozuyj/eli5_if_i_want_to_gain_weight_is_eating_late_at/ | {
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"No. The time you eat is not relevant. If you are looking to gain weight then you need to consume more calories than you burn each day. Hopefully you supplement that with exercise so that you put at least some of the weight on as muscle instead of just fat. "
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8vwq1z | how can it be proven that a piece of intellectual property belongs to its owner? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8vwq1z/eli5_how_can_it_be_proven_that_a_piece_of/ | {
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"Write the idea down and mail it to yourself. Don't open the envelope. That's a written document with a timestamp: proof that you had that idea at that time.\n\nA patent is a government-sponsored version of the same concept.",
"If its a copyrightable work you can register it with the US Copyright Office. If its a patentable invention you *need* to register it with the US Patent Office.\n\nOther methods, like mailing it to yourself or having it notarized are trivial to fake and do absolutely nothing to prove ownership."
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2r7dfu | why doesn't reddit have its own image sharing option? why are most images posted from _url_0_? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2r7dfu/eli5_why_doesnt_reddit_have_its_own_image_sharing/ | {
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"Why do they need it? Less work for Reddit. Plus, some guy from Reddit made imgur and it's kind of a Reddit thing already.",
"technicaly it does, imgur was created by a redditor for easy sharing on reddit.",
"Imgur was created to be Reddit's image hosting site, and, for the most part, it still is. Today, some people just only go on Imgur and some people only post to Imgur.",
"Because reddit was originally a link sharing website. It didn't even have the option to comment on links or post text posts. If you wanted to share an image, you just posted an external link to that image.\n\nText takes much less disk space and bandwidth than images, so reddit can keep it database relatively small and cut costs."
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8okynk | why does salt turn 'invisible' once dissolved in water? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8okynk/eli5_why_does_salt_turn_invisible_once_dissolved/ | {
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"You stated it in your question. The salt dissolves. The color of \\(most\\) salt is caused by the air trapped between the grains of salt, a single salt crystal is mostly clear, so when you remove the air in between them they become almost invisible. The crystals will dissolve, and the molecules spread out in the liquid, also the refraction of the light from the salt crystals will disappear as well the more they dissolve",
"When you say salt, I'm assuming you mean common table salt? That's Sodium Chloride.\n\nThe Sodium has given up and electron and the Chlorine has accepted one. In the visible spectrum of light (our rainbow), these ions do not reflect light.\n\nOther salts, however, do. Especially those salts of the middle of the periodic table - like Iron (rust colored). Or Chromium (many colors depending on which ion is formed). Copper salts can be blue or green.\n\nSo, the reason common table salt (sodium chloride) is clear in water is because those ions of sodium and chloride don't interact with light from the visible spectrum.\n",
"Table salt is made of individual atoms of Sodium (Na) and Chlorine (Cl) that have opposite charge (the Na is positive while the Chlorine is negative). Since opposite charges attract, they normally stick together into solid salt crystals. Water is also made of different charges, with the Oxygen part of the H2O being slightly more negative and the Hydrogen ends being more positive. When you drop ionic compounds like salt into water, the water molecules surround each atom of the salt with the opposite charged end, in this case a ring of the negative Oxygen sides surrounding each Sodium atom (like this: _URL_0_ ) and the Hydrogen sides around each Chlorine atom. This process breaks the solid crystal of salt into individual atoms and thus, the opaque crystal dissolves into clear (now slightly salty) water.",
"The bonds between the Na and Cl in the salt crystals are broken, the Na and Cl become + and - ions which get surrounded by water ( H2O). These ions are so very small that they don’t interact with light passing through the water so the water remains clear. \nSome things dissolve in water but actually if you looked really closely with a powerful microscope - you would see it was not dissolved at all but a very fine suspension ( called a colloid) These particles are big enough to interact with light and cause diffraction which creates a shift in the wavelength of light and results in some pretty interesting colours. \n"
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645o3i | why is it that when we do something, we have to tell someone about it? | For example: I was driving in the rain, and it was crazy so i had to tell someone. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/645o3i/eli5_why_is_it_that_when_we_do_something_we_have/ | {
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"While I'm no psychologist, I would have to guess that the event of a new (or irregular) experience is always something that sits on the top of your mind. If you feel the need or desire to talk to someone you begin to talk about the first thing that comes to mind. For me, I just changed calipers, rotors and pads on my wifes vehicle. Sure it's not that big of a deal, but it's something worth of conversation, and you bet your ass everyone I talked to that day heard about it."
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32r7jk | why are marvel comics based in real world locations and dc comics based in fictional ones based on real world locations? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32r7jk/eli5_why_are_marvel_comics_based_in_real_world/ | {
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"It's just the tradition of each company and it's continued until today. \nMarvel is often known for having more \"relatable\" heroes and perhaps having them in real cities adds to that. \n\nDC is known for more god-like heroes, hence fictional cities. \n\n",
"DC started the tradition in 1938 with Superman and Metropolis. Superman was originally going to be a newspaper strip, and there was concern that if they set it in a specific city (Cleveland was their first attempt), it wouldn't sell as well elsewhere. From there, the tradition that DC Superheroes had fictional cities arose, like Batman having Gotham. Superman set a standard, and everyone tried copying what his series established.\n\nIn 1961, Stan Lee made the idea that he'd do his own take on Superheroes, and having them be set in New York would not only allow all the heroes and villains to interact with each other, but would stand out in comparison to DC and make it seem more \"real\" because you have never seen the Daily Planet building, but you have seen the George Washington Bridge. \n\nBoth companies have used the other tactic on occasion. Wonder Woman is traditionally based in real world cities, usually Washington DC or New York. Marvel invents locations like Genosha or Latveria or Wakanda. But in short, it's because Stan Lee wanted Marvel to make something different than how DC did. And it seemed to work."
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o0vfp | the process of digestion and how stuff goes from tummy to liver to kidneys to colon. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/o0vfp/eli5_the_process_of_digestion_and_how_stuff_goes/ | {
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"im not an expert, but i think i can throw out a very basic idea of it...\n\nwhen you eat food, it takes a pretty straightforward path from your mouth down your throat into your stomach. It sits in the stomach for a while digesting, and at some point is pushed into and through your small intestines. After approx 23 feet of traveling, the food will then enter your large intestine, then the colon and finally the solid waste will exit your body. This path is what makes up the Digestive Tract.\n\nThe liver is somewhat attached to the system in that it produces bile fluids, which aid in digestion (as far as I recall, the bile is transported from the liver into the digestive tract via bile ducts). The liver also functions to filter out and break down toxins in your blood stream (alcohol, chemicals, etc)\n\nThe kidneys handle the liquid waste that is absorbed by your body. They are not attached to the digestive tract. The kidneys filter impurities and excess liquids from your blood; this filtered things make up your urine. Urine is transported from the kidneys as it is filtered out, to your bladder where it stays until you urinate.\n\n\ni think that should do it for a simple explanation of how the stuff does and doesnt interact. if you want more specific info on digestion, that's out of my general knowledge area of the topic so someone else would need to chime in.",
"You bite food with your teeth to increase surface area. Enzymes (little biological machines) in your spit start breaking it down into mush. The mush travels down your throat into your stomach.\n\nYour stomach acid kills all living things in the mush that survived the mouth, like bacteria. It's then pushed through to the beginning of the small intestine. The liver produces this stuff called 'bile' The bile neutralises the acid so it doesn't kill the enzymes and damage your small intestine. \n\nThe food travels through your small intestine. More enzymes break the mush down even further. The walls of the small intestine 'absorb' the good stuff, and send it to the relevent parts of your body. By the time it reaches your large intestine, the food is basically wet poop. All the nice bits have been absorbed by the small intestine walls. The large intestine absorbs all the water from this resuting mess, and compacts it. Then it gets sent to the rectum.\n\nYou get a familiar feeling just below your stomach, and voila: Poop."
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641hkr | how does terahertz radiation work? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/641hkr/eli5how_does_terahertz_radiation_work/ | {
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"It works just like any other form of radiation, like microwaves or radio waves, just a different frequency/wavelength.\n\nThe issue with treahertz (the treahertz gap) is that there aren't any cost effective technologies to use the band as optics aren't sensitive enough and electronics aren't fast enough. It's very power-intensive to generate THz waves or to power a detector to receive them."
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2wpkb9 | why do we frequently end words with 'y' when we're talking with children, i.e. mommy, daddy, doggy, kitty? also, is this just an english language thing, or are there similar instances of this in other languages? | Edit: Thank you all for my most successful post ever. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wpkb9/eli5_why_do_we_frequently_end_words_with_y_when/ | {
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"So I'm not sure about the first part but I do in Spanish, if you're talking to a little kid, you might say \"Quiere mimi?\". Instead of the proper \"Quiere dormir?\". Translation: do you want to go to sleep?\n\nThey make words cutesy all the time",
"each lang has it's own way of making words cuter, in polish we can even grade the \"cutness\"",
"I heard somewhere that words ending with y cause you to raise the octave of your voice and that sound is more pleasant, in some way or other. Not a good explanation, but it's something like that... maybe.",
"In linguistics, that's called a diminutive. In English, it's typically done with an \"ee\" sound (usually spelled with a y or ie).\n\nIn Spanish, for instance, the diminutive is represented with the suffix \"ito\" or \"ita\" (so señorita literally means \"little miss\").",
"I can't for the life of me remember the reasoning why but I remember reading somewhere that it had to do with our voice naturally rising in pitch when we produce those sounds. I think it was also correlated to why there is a natural inclination for many people's voice to rise in pitch at the end of a question.",
"These sorts of words are called [diminutives](_URL_0_). They are variations on words that imply some sort of smallness, often with the sense of cuteness or affection. There are lots of different sorts in English, in other languages, and borrowed from other languages into English. You will find a section i the article on the \"-ey/-ie/-y\" suffix.",
"In dutch you add \"-je\" to make a word smaller/cuter. Like hond/hondje (dog/little dog), bed/bedje (bed/little bed), etc. A lot of languages have it's own way of making a word less big or cuter.",
"Yes, in German you would add \"chen\" to the end of something, or \"l\" to make it a diminutive. So Greta becomes Gretchen or Gretl, as in the fairy tale. You also do get the \"y\" sound for some words, only in German it is an \"i\", so Mutter (mother) becomes Mutti (mommy) and Vater (father) becomes Vati (daddy).",
"Also, in Russian, you can add a \"chik\" sound (masculine) or a \"chka\" sound (feminine) at the end of a word to make it \"cuter\". Usually used when talking to children.",
"Also, why do the British use more of these than say Americans? Words like telly, bevvy, bicky, bobby, etc. ",
"In mandarin, you repeat the word to make it seem cutesy. E.g. Dog is gou, \"cute\" form is gou gou. ",
"This kind of thing is where we get the word vodka. The Russian word for water is вода, or voda. \"Cute\" water is vodka. I always imagine a large Russian woman telling someone she's drinking \"water\" and winking. ",
"Diminution, or cutifying/smallifying things is made differently in different languages. \n\nIn English, and ee ending (horse, horsee) or even the prefix mini, but that's better suited for the Chinese who usually put a diminutive prefix, 小 xiǎo- meaning little, on names and other words.\n\nSpanish does the same thing as English but instead of ee, it's ito for boy things and ita for girl things.\n\nThere are some languages that do this with what's called an infix, or adding to the middle of a word. Arabic, for instance, adds an ee sound before the last letter or names (second to last if the word is denoted as feminine with a ة) and such to make it diminutive. كمال (Kamal) but كمايل (Kamayil) means little Kamal.\n\nHebrew uses repetition to to this. כלב (kélev) is a dog כלבלב (klavláv ) would be a doggie. That's for things, for names, they replace the last syllable with \"-ik\", \"-i\" or \"-le\" depending on what sounds better. \n\nLastly, languages like Esperanto have diminution, however, the new word is a new thing, not like dog and doggie. Esperanto uses the \"-et\" ending with \"o\" or \"a\" after it to denote boy or girl thing. but if domo is house, dometo means cottage (little house). Names are shortened to the root of the word and \"-nj-\" for girls and \"-ĉj-\" for boys are used. So Aleksandra (Alexandria) becomes Alenja (Sandy, Sandra)\n\nI tried my best to make my words easy to understand so that a five year old could follow along. I hope this helps!",
"In Japanese you add chan to the end of someone's name, or an animals name...",
"It is also popular to use diminuatives with children because children develop them early on. Syllables (or words) that end in a consonant (CVC) are developmentally more difficult than syllables (or words) that end in a vowel, so it is easier for a child to say \"doggy\" than \"dog\".",
"Well, it also happens in Portuguese. But it happens in many different forms.\n\nLike, if I was gonna say \"doggy\", I could say:\n\n* cachorrinho (means \"little dog\")\n\n* cãozinho (also means \"little dog\" [dog = cão = cachorro])\n\n* auau (sound of their barks in Portuguese, usually used because it's way easier to say than \"cachorrinho\", for example)\n\n* totó (common generic name for dogs, also used as a synonym and easier to say)\n\nThey're usually used to induce the children to learn how to speak easier, to associate an object with one of its characteristics (like \"auau\" associates the dog bark), or to make it sound cuter. A cat isn't as cute as a kitty, as well as a \"cão\" isn't as cute as a \"cãozinho\".\n",
"Females do this frequently as well.\nCami, Pedi, Panty, the list goes on.\nAlmost every feminine article ends in an \"i\"",
"Goddamn, this is a great question. This is the reason i keep coming back to reddit during times of peak 'jerkiness.",
"Australians don't use the sound as a diminutive.\nThey all go to Uni. Have their mail delivered by the Posti. Like real men, they drink their Stubbie while cooking on the barby and afterwards throw the trash out for the Garby. Everything has a nickname with the ee sound. Even dust devils are a willy-willy. \n\nI do not suggest pointing out to Australians that this sounds like baby talk.\n\nEdit: Alright, all you two-headed bogans. I get it! Its garbo not garby. I made a mistake. Now quit your bloody whinging.",
"_URL_0_\n\nDiminutive, but also endearing. It can be affectionate or humiliating. \n\nLook the the article- MANY languages have hypocorisms. Even Esperanto, which was engineered, not native to any speakers- someone decided the feature needed to be there.\n\nIn English, most are either the first syllable (Gregory → Greg) or the first syllable+repeat of the last consonant+ -y or -ie (Tim → Timmie). But not all follow that. William → Bill is an exception. Franklin → Frankie isn't even a lower syllable count.",
"yeah, other languages have this! In russian, the \"cute/little\" thing to add to words is the phrase \"ka\"\n\nfor example, \"Kot(кот)\" is cat, and \"Koshka(кошка)\" is kitty.\n\nInterestingly, this is also where the term vodka comes from. \"Voda (вода)\" is water, and \"Vodka (водка)\" is, well, you know.",
"We do it because we think it's cute, but it's actually harder to process for the children.\n\nIt's not just English, it's likely universal.",
"Urdu and Hindi both have this too, pet names often ended in -u. ",
"I make it a point to speak with kids in the same language I speak with adults. I remember when I was a kid I thought I was all grown up and I remember liking it when I was being treated the same as an adult... unless it came to me being sick or faking being sick so I could get out of school or when I wanted attention. ",
"Russian has a pretty complex system of diminutives to express not only smallness, affection and youth but also irony and disparagement. ",
"Coz it's rhythmic, rhyming, and easy sound. I wish people would still talk to me like that ",
"Babies hear at higher decibels so that high eee sound stimulates them. It also forms the speaker's mouth into a smile which elicits a conditioned positive response in babies. The higher inflection at the end of questions does the same thing: \"What is that? Is that a doggie?\" OMGKIDZRSOMUCHFUN!!! ",
"In Mandarin, the diminutive is 子 (zi: pronounced like zuh, but with more of a short nasal intonation). A good example is 包 (bao: pronounced bow like the bow of a ship with a long intonation), literally means \"to wrap\" but also means bread (the function of a word, verb or noun depends on a number of factors, including adjacent character and if they're compound). If you ad the diminutive to it as in 包子, it *could* be translated as \"little bread\", but is more accurately translated as \"bun\"",
"In Macedonian we use the ending \"che\". It denotes something being little and/or cutesy. ",
"Im afghan and in our language we add 'gak' to the end of each word, which is the equivalent of 'y' in english. Same meaning. ",
"A lot of languages have diminutives; I like that Spanish also has suffixes to make things bigger. An *animal* becomes an *animalote* when it's large, also implying that it's dangerous and threatening. A *mujeron* is a big, solid, strong woman. And my personal favorite is *nalgona*. (*Nalgas* are buttocks.)",
"In Macedonian and other eastern European languages we have a similar concept.\n\nDirectly translated the term is 'babied', as in, the words used are given a slight twist to make them 'cute' and baby like.\n\nE.g - чорап and чорапче (sock and err.. Socky?) \"Where are your sockies\" .. Hope this makes sense ",
"(Linguist here.) There's a concept called phonetic symbolism where it turns out that the particular sounds we use in language may not be totally arbitrary. There's at least arguable evidence of a correlation between small/cute things and high/front vowels like the \"ee\" in \"kitty\" on the one hand and large/powerful things and low/back vowels like the \"ah\" in \"large\" on the other. In theory, the high frequency components of that \"ee\" vowel (regardless of the overall deepness of the speaker's voice) remind us on some psychological level of small things, which tend to make higher pitch noises in nature (which is just physics: small resonance chambers make low wavelength / high frequency sounds). Vowels like \"ah\" have low frequency components so remind us of bigger things. You could even think of us as imitating small things when we make our vocal cavity small and narrow, bringing our tongue close to the roof of our mouth, to create a small resonance chamber for the \"ee\" vowel.\n\nThe correlation is far from perfect, but it's possible that this is at play here.\n\nEDIT: Some have asked for references. You can read some good ones by going on _URL_0_ and searching for phonetic symbolism, including work by the infamous Sapir (google Sapir-Whorf hypothesis for a controversial but interesting read). The concept of phonetic symbolism is quite old now and I'm not up to speed on recent research regarding it. I know that the marketing industry takes advantage of phonetic symbolism, naming products partially based on what the sounds themselves evoke. I'm not sure to what degree this phenomenon exists in non-English languages, and to what degree it's something that's learned and societal, not innate. But it's fun to think about.\n\nEDIT: Woo, my first gold! Thanks!",
"In Afrikaans we use \"tjie\" or \"kie\"\nDog = Hond\nDoggy = Hondtjie\nCat = Kat\nKitty = Katjie\nChair = Stoel\nSmall Chair = Stoeltjie\n\netc",
"The German form of diminutive is adding \"ling\"\n\nLike Meine Liebling. The \"ling\" literally means \"little\". In the case of the example, in english it says \"My little love\" literally. ",
"In Polish it is \"ki\" (or it's variations depending on the word)...as in german it makes it diminutive and makes the word mean \"little\"",
"This is common in English when we are speaking with children...and speaking adult Australian.",
"It's a result of parentese (look it up). Babies respond to high frequency pitches of voice. Adding a \"y\" to the end of a word adds a high pitch finish which gets the attention of the child. ",
"Greeks use the suffix -aki.\nSpoon = goudali\nLittle spoon = goudalaki\nGirl = koritsi\nLittle girl = koritsaki\n:)",
"I'm under the impression that we do diminutives for children, meaning the \"y\" on Mommy, Daddy, Auntie to show more than just affection. We do it to show the kid this person or thing is safe or good for the child to interact with. \"Pat the good doggie!\" Yes, we say that. \"Snuggle the rabid wolfie!\" Not so much. ",
"In Korean adding the consonant \"ㅇ\" \"ng\" or the vowel \"ㅜ\" \"u\" + consonant \"ㅇ\" can be \"cute speak.\" \n\nFor example if I wanted to text yes informally to my friends I would use 응 (eung) or just ㅇ for short. If I want to text yes informally but in a cute I'd write 웅 (Ung).\n\nWhen you answer the phone it's normal to say \"여보세요\" \"Yeoboseyo.\" I heard a guy answer his phone \"여보세용\" \"Yeoboseyong\" and cringed a little bit.",
"In Chinese, repeating a character twice is usually used when speaking with children. \n\ne.g. Dog, which is “狗” (gou), would instead be referred to as “狗狗” (gou gou); “妈” (ma - mother) turns into “妈妈”.",
"I have a one a half year old girl. I have noticed that she struggles with short sounds and tends to extend them, so 'head' becomes 'hea-duh'. Similarly 'dog' becomes 'dog-gi'. I wonder if this issue with short sounds at a young age isn't part of the cause.",
"This is all really interesting, can someone recommend a book where I can learn more linguistics?",
"In Chinese (which aren't alphabet-based language), we duplicate single worded nouns. E.g. 車(car) would become 車車(car car).\n\nThis is usually done so that children can learn that noun easier",
"In Mandarin, the word is repeated. \n\nIf we're referring to a small cute dog, instead of saying \"small cute dog\", we would say \"small cute dog dog\"",
"Perhaps it's just a child speech thing. My 16-month-old says a lot of words ending in a sort of 'y' sound e.g. 'bappy' (baby) 'mi' (mummy) 'ninny' (dinner) 'numi' (also dinner).",
"Dutch adds '-je' to create diminutives, and we do it a lot more than most European languages. We use it for three reasons:\n\n1. To indicate that something is small (the standard function of a diminutive)\n2. To speak to children, just like in English\n3. To modify a sentence to make it seem more casual and friendly. For example:\n\n\"Wil je bier?\" (\"Do you want beer?\") sounds a little curt and unfriendly or distant. However, when you change this phrase to \"Wil je een biertje?\" (\"Would you like a small beer?\"), it suddenly sounds like a friendly offer, a kind gesture, even though very little has changed about the sentence structure. It's not dissimilar to how Japanese has gender differences with words and grammatical constructions unique to girls, which make them sound \"softer\".\n\nSo in a sense, you could say that the excessive use of the diminutive in Dutch is a way of making language more friendly, intimate or casual between people who know each other well. And yes, you'll get a full-sized glass of beer :)\n\nSource: I have a PhD in Germanic languages",
"If you include dialectical variation, German has maybe a dozen different diminutive forms. But the cute and affectionate diminutive added to names is exactly the same as English, except spelled with i instead of y. Michael becomes an affectionate Michi for example. Or Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei becomes Nazi, those lovable mischievous rascals.",
"You should see australia. Brissy rocky Sydney ",
"In French the general rule is to add \"-ette\" at the end of the word. Like \"Maison\" (house) becomes \"Maisonette\", but like all French-rules there's million of exceptions.\n\n\nSome words uses repetition of all or some syllables: \" Dormir\" = \"Dodo\"; \" Rot\" becomes \"Rototo\".\n\n\nThey also might add \"-ou\" to amplify the cuteness status: \"Bise\" = \"Bisou\".\n\nOften you'll combine those rules to create new words.\n\nAnd finally, many words completely change, especially for animals: \"Chien\" = \"Toutou\", \"Chat\" = \"Minou\". Notice the added -ou and repetition in Toutou...\n\n",
"I don't think we have an ending like that in danish but we often put the sound associated with an animal in front of the animals name when talking about them with kids\n\nExamples: vovhund (woof dog), pruhhest (neigh horse), muhko (moo cow).",
"I'm definitely not a linguist, but it was fascinating to me when I took classes in Quechua, the language spoken by many indigenous communities in South America, that the words for mother and father were \"mamay\" and \"taytay.\" They also counted in base ten. So I think there is some transcendental part of human nature and development that makes us gravitate toward certain phonemes because they sound comforting or pleasing to the ear. It's applied differently in different languages, but it does seem like there's some substantial cross-over.",
"Similarily, when speaking Chinese we say 啊，(ah) to soften the overall tone of the sentence for speaking to small children or friends. \n",
"The (French) Basque language uses \"tx\" variations for diminutives. Amatxi is grandma, Aitatxi is grandpa. Txiki is literally little. The Basque language, and diminutives, of course change depending on region. I even have family members who use \"ch\" instead of \"tx,\" they're pronounced the same way, but they imply regional and generational differences. \n\nEdit: from what I've read, [other Basques](_URL_0_) use \"txo,\" \"txu,\" \"~~ttu~~ tto,\" and \"ño.\"\n\nEdit again: I should mention that ama and aita mean mother and father, so grandmother and grandfather are literally little mother, little father. \n\nEditx3: thank you /u/redditalari for pointing out that silly mistake and adding to the list of fantastic diminutive forms!",
"In Afrikaans the diminutive (in that it is cute or small) suffix is ~tjie, pronounced 'key' ",
"Super common in Yiddish. Bubba = bubby, zeda = zaydy, challah = chally (really). And you know the wedding canopy? The chuppa? There is an old saying: \"No chuppy, no shtuppy!\" :-) ",
"Specifically in the case of children, doing this is an example of reduplication or possibly vocalization.\n\nIn general, the words you provided have 3 sounds in terms of phonetics in their base forms. A consonant, followed by a vowel, follwed by another consonant. CVC.\n\nFor children, CVCs are moderately difficult to produce when acquiring language, and as such they have a tendency to tack on an extra vocalic syllable to the end of them. This means, for example, that \"mommy\" [ma.mi] is easier for a developing child to articulate than \"mom\" [mam]. This concept is near universal when talking about language acquisition.\n\nSource: studying language acquisition and linguistics.",
"'Motherese' is the linguistics term to describe the way adults tend to talk to children by using diminutives and a high pitch voice. Apparently, it is a universal phenomenom.",
"This is a genuinely interesting question with some genuinely interesting answers. Awesome work. ",
"my guess would be a human instinct to induce smiling!?!?!?!\n",
"In Japanese we use -chan an example would be nekochan which essentially means kitty. -chan is also used after the name it a person to make it \"cute\" I suppose, an example you'll be robertchan.",
"Same reason you *should* give dogs \"____-ee\" names. As everyone says, diminutive.",
"In Spanish we do the same thing. When we're talking to little children we often end words in -i (the 'ee' sound, in Spanish). Daddy translates into papi, mommy translates into mami (/ma-mee/), and a lot of words change for no reason. When I was little, my parents used to call birds (in Spanish, pájaros) 'pipis' (/pee-pees/), and things like that. I don't know why people do that, but it seems to be something very common all around the world.",
"Hah. No one here gets it. When babies are very small, their brains are basically supercomputers, picking up all the information available and discriminating/discerning what's important/what's not. Why we frequently talk to babies in 'motherese' (_URL_0_), is for a few different reasons, but here's my best approximation of it: the baby's mind is trying it's best to figure out what phonetic sounds are most common in the language it's being spoken to in, so it can start to discriminate and pay more attention to those sounds and start to apply signification/meaning to them. We elongate & enunciate these sounds for babies (and it's the same in every language) to make it easier for their little sponge-brains to figure out what sounds they should be paying attention to. ",
"In Slovak you end works in ko or ka. Example my name is Gina so my husband calls me ginka\n\nSource' husband is slovak",
"In linguistics...is one thing. But as an amateur dog trainer, who's read a few books and owned 5 super awesome dogs in my life- I know that puppies respond better to names that end in the ee sound. When you excitedly call a puppy named, well, \"puppy!!!!\", he'll come bouncing over so happily. But if you call him Fred, it just seems like it takes them longer to \"get it.\"",
"Spanish for example has both diminutives and augmentives, noted by the ending.\n\n*Casa* = house\n\n*Casita* = diminutive house. Could be actually small, or just really cute, or just flowery words when speaking affectionately.\n\n\n*Panza* = belly/tummy\n\n*Pancita* = diminutive belly, like when talking to a child or loved one. It can imply that it is a small tummy, or just be affectionate to make it sound smaller. \"Oh honey, don't be so harsh on yourself, I love your *pancita*, it's adorable\" \n\n*Panzota* = augmentive belly. The \"-ota\" makes it sound larger. Could be actually very large or just exaggerated for effect or the impression it caused. \"He really shouldn't wear clothes like that, with his *panzota* hanging out for all the world to see.\"\n\nYou can stack these endings for even more effect. \n\n*Chico* = small\n\n*Chiquito* = even smaller\n\n*Chiquititito* = teeny tiny\n\n*Grande* = big\n\n*Grandote* = very big\n\n*Grandotote* = huge\n\n\n\"He hadn't seen me in so long, he missed me so much that he planted an enormous kiss (beso) right on me.\"\n\n*Me extrañó tanto que me dio un besototote, ¡Muah!*\n\n\n\nBoth diminutive and augmentive words are used in everyday conversation, but to OP's point- the diminutives are used all the time when talking to or about children, for practical reasons (when something is actually smaller) and for pure affection and \"cutesy\" reasons.\n\n**Edited to add:** Depending on country/region, the diminutive endings are *-ito/-ita, -ico/-ica, and -illo/-illa* so in Mexico *momento* becomes *momentito* and in Costa Rica it becomes *momentico*.",
"There are tons of people sharing examples of diminutives in other languages, but I'm not sure if anyone's answered your first question. There has been a fair amount of research into size-sound symbolism – basically, we perceive words with closed vowels (i.e. *i* and *e* sounds) as denoting smaller things, while we perceive words with open vowels (i.e. *a* and *o* sounds) as denoting larger things. The background information at the beginning of [this paper](_URL_0_) gives some more insight into this. This perception (which does appear to be cross-linguistic and not exclusive to English speakers) is influenced by a few generalities, namely that in order to produce closed vowel sounds, the cavity of your mouth must literally be made smaller than for open vowel sounds.",
"We're just used to talk to children using the diminutive. In Portuguese, for example, we use -inho or -inha depending on the gender, like in \"gatinho\" ou \"gatinha.\"",
"Depends. I know in German, mother and father is mutter and vater, but a lot of kids call their parents mutti and vati",
"In Dutch we use -je which is weird because when saying small house: \"klein huisje\" we are basically saying that it is a small version of an already small house. But it has become so normal for people to use -je that we just ignore it.",
"Children who are just learning how to speak often have trouble hearing and pronouncing final consonants. Adding a vowel to the end of the word makes the consonant more distinct and easier for them to say/understand."
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6k3bhj | how does the measuring of electricity work? | I understand that voltage=total power output and watts=electricity "pressure". Why are some electrical systems much more dangerous than others? For example you can safely (or with minimal repercussions) touch the positive and negative terminals on a DC vehicle battery, but not for an AC power outlet in your home? Which matters more, the voltage, the wattage, or the amps? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6k3bhj/eli5_how_does_the_measuring_of_electricity_work/ | {
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"Voltage is the electric potential. Thats more like the pressure than anything else. Voltage hurts but doesn't really harm you. This is because our nerves are quite literally run with electricity.\n\nAmps is the current, the speed of flow of electricity. A small current into your heart will kill you, but you need a good amount of voltage to get there, and be unlucky to have that be the path of least resistance.\n\nWatts is the power, the current multiplied by the voltage. No pressure in high speed is no power. Tons of pressure with no movement is no power. Lots of pressure and lots of speed is high power. \n\nAn electrical component typically has a voltage and current requirement to turn on. The adapter (wall plug part) of a typical usb phone charger will set the voltage and allow for up to an amount of current to flow in.\n\nA wall outlet is 120v ac in the us. The current is very high but depends on what you plug into it. A dc battery has MUCH less power because the current and voltage are nowhere near what the wall outlet can allow.\n\nWhat matters most if you can feel electricity is the voltage. 120v outlets can be felt very easily. 9v battery, not so much. However the voltage doesn't matter if the resistance of the connecto pulls the current down too much. Rubber gloves have an insanely high resistance, so basically no current can flow causing little power to be provided.\n\nI am not exactly an expert but I have an engineering degree if you have any questions.",
"The answer is like a lot of things: it depends. Ultimately current is the killer, but voltage and resistance play a role in how much current is passing through.\n\nConsider Ohm's law: I = V/R (current is voltage divided by resistance) and check out [this bulletin](_URL_0_) in an electrical contractors publication.\n\nThe human body acts as a resistor, but that resistance value changes based on different conditions, one of them being the amount of moisture in or on your skin. Dry, the body might act as a 100k ohm resistor, which does not pass much current (Ohms Law: I = V/R). So when you're touching both terminals of a 12V car battery with dry fingers, there's only I = 12VDC / 100kOhm = 0.12mA or 120 micro amps of current passing through your body. You'll barely feel it.\n\nHowever, if you touch the same battery terminals with wet fingers or exposed flesh...could be as little as 500 ohms, and give you a 12VDC / 500Ohm = 24mA of current. That's well into the threshold of pain.\n\nNow take a wall socket - 120VAC. Dry, you're a 100kOhm resistor and seeing 120VAC / 100kOhm = 1.2mA, that's a nice tickle. But holding those terminals with wet hands, you'll see 120VAC / 500ohms = 240mA of current and could be fatal.\n\nThe reason for high voltage warnings is that at a certain voltage, it doesn't so much matter whether your body is dry: a wire with 10kV divided by your 100k dry body resistance will send 100mA of current through your body and could kill you."
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a5hvxo | why is the rhetoric surrounding pro-choice focused on “woman’s body, woman’s choice”? shouldn’t the arguments be on whether a fetus constitutes a life or not? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a5hvxo/eli5_why_is_the_rhetoric_surrounding_prochoice/ | {
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"Focusing on the fetus as \"a life\" allows people not directly involved an opportunity to compel a woman to do what they think is best rather than what she thinks is best. That's not a good thing, compelling people to obey your will is how the whole slavery thing worked and that's pretty broadly seen as not a good thing.\n\nCertainly, a woman might use that sort of rationale to decide for herself, or some other rationale if she prefers. If you want to tell her how to make the decision, that's the path to badness discussed previously. There is also the whole \"if you take the fetus out of the woman, is it still going to live?\" test for being \"really alive\".",
"Whether the fetus constitutes a life or not, I actually agree with the bodily autonomy argument.\n\nFor the same reason that a living person cannot and should not be forced to donate organs/blood/tissue to save another person, the fetus being considered \"alive\" still wouldn't be entitled to the use of a woman's body against her will. ",
"Arguing when a fetus becomes a human life is full of pot holes and gray areas. It's entirely subjective and open to interpretation. \n\nArguing that a person should have the right to choose what happens to their body does not have gray areas, and that allows for objective and adamant arguments. \n\nTo avoid polarizing people to either side of the subject, we want to eliminate any gray area from an argument. If there is a gray area, people can waffle around in it and avoid actually coming to a conclusion. "
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3prgcu | is justin trudeau good for canada | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3prgcu/eli5_is_justin_trudeau_good_for_canada/ | {
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"That's not really a question with an answer. \n\n He made quite a few promises about restoring the openness of canadian government and improving the tone of our political discourse, he's already taken some encouraging steps in that regard (like holding one of the first real Prime Ministerial press conferences in years), so that's good. Electoral reform was also a key component of his party's platform, if he follows through that would be very good for Canada.\n\nThe environment is another area where he has promised more action than the Conservative government. This is good in a general sense, but there are no details yet so it all depends on execution.\n\nWhen you start getting into economics and foreign affairs, things get much less clear. He's promised moderate deficit spending to invest in infrastructure and hopefully jump start the economy. This is fairly common wisdom, but can be a tricky precedent if you dont keep it under control - every economist is going to give you a slightly different answer on whether this is \"good for Canada\" with different \"if's\" and various \"but's\".\n\nForeign policy, he's stated a desire to restore Canada to a peacekeeping, largely neutral role and to end our involvement in the bombing campaign against ISIS. These are generally rather vague sentiments, and their theoretical benefits largely come down to your political alignment.\n\nThere is much more to his party's platform than I can do justice to here, but the general sense is a quite liberal, progressive agenda with a focus on walking back a lot of the broader governmental changes that occurred under the CPC. As a liberal myself, these are changes I'm excited about, but people further right disagree and people further left may feel he isnt going far enough.\n\nFar and away the most important thing to remember, however, is that he hasn't even formed his government yet so this is all extremely theoretical. Even if his platform was universally agreed to be uniformly amazing, we still dont know how effective he will be at implementing it, or how the specific application of different promises will break down.\n\nLike many progressives, I'm cautiously optimistic and keeping it at that for the time being."
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b7jjhx | whats the difference between shaving your face and shaving your head? | so i just noticed on a brand of cartridge style razors i use, it says on the box "not intended for shaving head". what’s the difference in using a razor on your face vs your head? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b7jjhx/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_shaving_your/ | {
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"The head is hard and bumpy. The face is not very flat, but the fat and muscle underneath allow it to conform to the razor better.\n\nThe razor probably works for both, but by marketing for separate parts they can sell more razors.",
"Another question, \n\nDo bald people use shampoo or body wash for their scalp / head?",
"Having recently cut my scalp to ribbons using a \"for face\" razor, I believe the ones for your head flex to conform to the curvature of the skull. The one I used did not flex. And it hurts. And I'm sad. "
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5rscca | - what's happening when you can see the emotion in someone's eyes? | When someone dies, it has been said you can see the "light leave their eyes." In this case, I assume it's some biological explanation like the reflectivity of their eye jelly or something.
What about when someone is very sad or hurt or shocked and you can see the physical reaction in their eyes. I have a friend who was very sad yesterday and when I looked in his eyes, they just looked void and empty. I don't mean facial expressions, I mean you can see the eyes' reaction. Is this just perception, empathy or a real thing? And if it real, what's going on? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5rscca/eli5_whats_happening_when_you_can_see_the_emotion/ | {
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"Part of it is that our eyes are pretty constantly moving even in very tiny ways. When you're dead, they stop. Also, for some people, when they're thinking heavily, or lost in thought, their eyes unfocus and they're not actively looking at anything. So when someone has their eyes open, but not actively using them (which we are the vast majority of the time), it can look disconcerting.",
"It also has a lot to do not with the eyes themselves, but the area around the eye as well. Your face has tons of small muscles that allow you to make all kinds of expressions. Humans are very perceptive to faces, and different emotions makes almost unnoticeable differences on your face that we have learned to detect and recognize.\n\nMake a sad face. Smile. Make a confused face. Make a surprised face.\n\nYou probably can easily do all of that without thinking about what you're specifically changing about your face. These expressions are just exaggerations of what our faces do when we naturally feel those emotions."
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2ovqlr | why do young earth creationists cite the lack of transitional fossils as a reason to doubt evolution even though there are plenty of transitional fossils in the fossil record? | Why do so many creationists say things like "you can't even show just one transitional fossil between a human and a monkey." Is Lucy not a transitional fossil? What about Ardipithecus? Do they not know about those things or are they just pretending they don't exist? Please explain this nonsense to me. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ovqlr/eli5_why_do_young_earth_creationists_cite_the/ | {
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"They don't care that they exist. \n\nThe most important concept here is that you cannot logic someone out of a position that they did not logic their way into. These kinds of people have an idea of what they want the fossil record to say before they even start investigating. Then they only see evidence that supports their preexisting opinions.\n\nWhile they may know of these fossils they may be discounting them for some reason, like Lucy is not really between human and monkey, or that it was fabricated in order to discredit YEC people.\n\nBut the most important thing here is that you cannot use evidence based logic to reason with these people because that kind of evidence holds no sway with them. They did not use it when forming an opinion, after all, so why should it be enough to change their opinion. ",
"They believe those examples are fakes, or \"don't count\" simply because its evidence contrary to what they *want* to be true.",
"Part of it is that because these people aren't scientists and don't believe in evolution, they don't really pay attention to the state of the science and have been repeating the same talking points and arguments for decades, some of which might have been true, or at least more true, when they were first used.\n\nAlso, there's an idea stemming from a misunderstanding of what evolution is and how it works that a transitional form is supposed to be something like a creature whose front half is a fish and back half is a lizard. And indeed, we have not found one of those.",
"The whole \"young earth\" thing is an entire belief system centered around denying scientific truths. \nYou cannot use logic to persuade a person who has arrived at their conclusion without the aid of logic.",
"Evolution is a relatively nuanced and complex subject. As well, there is general lack of understanding and common misunderstandings that are fairly powerful in the public mind in places, such as the US. \n\nYou are correct in that there are many transitional fossils, but I'd be reluctant to suggest that it's always a result of willful ignorance, but often instead represents a lack of information further hindered by public perception. We often don't think to question information we are presented with. Especially on topics that don't necessarily impact us to a greatly noticeable extent. ",
"their argumentations goes as followed often times : \"you can't be 100% sure what was 2000 years ago, since you were not there and your scientific methods have a chance of turning out wrong, but I on the other hand have this book written at that time from people who were around, so I have evidence\".\n\n_URL_0_\n\nHere is a long debate where you can see roughly the argumentation of both sides ",
"The thing about fossils is this: Fossils are rare. Yes they exist in large quantities in certain areas of the world, as well as certain rock layers (time periods), that being said...for something to fossilize, a lot of very specific conditions have to coincide with each other in order for fossilization to occur. \n\nSo while stating that the lack of transition fossils creates problems with the theory of evolution to a small degree can make sense, it is a very weak argument at the end of the day once you gain understanding on how special fossils actually are. ",
"The problem is that many of their arguments are old. I remember reading creationist stuff like this back in the 70s and the fossil record was a bit thinner then and the instant tools we have to look things up just didn't exist. The argument looked much better then and if the only books on Palaeontology you read are creationist ones you don't get the updates.",
"Religious people have many motives for clinging tenaciously to their religious beliefs. Many people believe and have stated vociferously that religion holds back the tide of moral anarchy, and if people did not fear that God would punish them for their sins, they would become monstrous immoral creatures, beyond any means of social control, stealing and murdering and raping at will. Note that this concern has nothing to do with the question of whether God actually exists or not; it is thought by many people that it is necessary for people to believe in God even if God does not exist. It becomes a necessary lie. God functions as the Great Boogeyman In The Sky. Once you adopt that kind of attitude then it becomes necessary to refute all challenges to religion, by any means possible. When it comes to transitional fossils people just claim that there are not enough of them, that there are still transitions which are not sufficiently evident in the fossil record. As paleontologists discover ever more fossils and have an ever more detailed picture of how evolutionary change took place, creationists continue to insist that it is not enough, even though a more objective assessment would be that the evidence for Darwinian evolution is vastly more than enough, easily a thousand times more than we would actually need in order to reasonably conclude that it correctly explains the basis of biology. But some people won't admit it because they think they are holding back the flood of moral anarchy (or for various other delusional reasons).\n\nThere is a vast wealth of explanation available on youtube, by the way. Look for lectures by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett (sometimes known as the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse). They have done an amazing job of clarifying the whole theological debate.",
"One of the problems is that every time we discover a transitional fossil, it creates another gap in the fossil record. Here's an example.\n\nSuppose you have two fossils, one for species A and one for species Z. We suspect that A is an ancestor of Z, but there's a huge gap between them. One day, we find transitional fossil M, which appears to bridge that gap. However, we now have \"missing links\" in the fossil record, one between A and M and another between M and Z. Later one, we find fossil T, which bridges the latter gap. The produces another \"missing link\" so that we now have three gaps.\n\nThis continues every time we find another transitional fossil. The only way to completely \"prove\" to young-earth creationists that these gaps don't exist would be to find fossils for every single species between A and Z. In real life, that could consist of thousands of species, and considering how rare fossilization occurs, it's unlikely that we'll find that many of them.\n\nScientists can look at these transitional fossils and see them as evidence that species A and Z are related based on the similarities between them and the environments in which they were found. However, young-earth creationists begin with the assumption that the species could not be related, so they accept nothing less than absolute proof, which doesn't exist in science."
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9g9qil | what's happening with the eu banning memes? will it pass, has it already? what does it mean for the internet as a whole? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9g9qil/eli5_whats_happening_with_the_eu_banning_memes/ | {
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"They are not directly banning memes.\n\nThey are creating a law that will have lots of negative effects if it is put into force, and the people who wanted to campaign against the bad law had to come up with some catchy way to convicne the general public how bad this would be.\n\nThey went though the long list of potentially negative consequences and somebody happened on the ne thing that would hopefully mobilize the internet against it: Memes.\n\nThe law supposedly should help protect the interests of copyright holders on the net. Since most memes are just words on top of pictures that the poster doesn't hold the copyright to, this would catch them.\n\nNormally nobody would care if you post a still frame of a Star Wars prequel movie with a pun emblazoned at the bottom. Not even notoriously lawsuit happy Disney will come after you for this or try to have it taken down. Mostly because many people argue that this falls under one of the categories of legal derivative works.\n\nHowever with automatic upload filter that they want internet companies to implement won't care about any of that. It won't be able to tell the difference between legal and illegal derivative works and simply stop them all. In theory at least. Wether it would come to that in practice is another matter, but as a sort of negative scenario to prevent it is something most of the net can get behind.",
"\"Banning memes\" is not what the law is directly about, that would probably end up being a side effect however. What the EU suggests is for social media platforms to scan user uploads for copyrighted content and block anything that might contain it, a la YouTube's Content ID. Since \"memes\" are often based on sceenshots of movies, etc, some people have spun the law into \"banning memes\". The law in itself is highly problematic however (as are most Internet laws that governments try to push through) as it could be abused for implementing censorship of *legal* content and it would require quite a lot of computational power which smaller websites may simply not have. ",
"I’ll go a little simple than the other 2 excellent explanations.\n\nMost memes are text that is typed over a funny picture. The problem is, in most cases the person creating the meme didn’t create the picture. Rather they’ve taken someone else’s copyrighted material. Like this [picture of drake liking disliking something, and liking something](_URL_0_). You didn’t take that picture. You didn’t get the photographers permission to use it. You didn’t get drakes permission to use his likeness. Using someone else’s intellectual property in most cases is a copyright violation. \n\nWhat if you’re not a meme maker, but a meme sharer? Well, you are still unlawfully distributing someone else’s material. \n\nSo the new law will let companies choose to have their copyrighted content filtered out of the internet. So if drake wanted this copyrighted image filtered out of the internet, the law says that companies would have to comply. \n\nSo the new law isn’t about memes. It’s about copyrights and intellectual property. But the *side effect* is that some memes could be auto filtered out of view if they are using someone else’s material. If you made a meme from scratch by taking your own funny picture this law would have absolutely no effect on you. If someone allows their material to be freely redistributed, this law would also have no effect on it. \n\nIt works basically the same as YouTube’s content filter, that filters out copyrighted music and videos. The law would basically apply that filter across he board. \n\n*Final sidenote: in the USA we have something called “fair use” as part of our copyright law that allows for personal use and parodies, among other things. ",
"It's not nearly as bad as the internet is making it out to be. The changes made to the original are significant and provide improvements and safeguards to a lot of what is being fear mongered. An that's not even counting that this is merely a framework that will then be used to create laws so those laws can be worked so that the internet is not ruined. This still needs your attention but it doesn't need any panicking or rumor spreading. I suggest reading the actual words of what was passed.",
"No. It has not yet passed. It must still be approved by each member state individually before returning to the European Parliament for a final vote, which is likely to take place early next year.",
"Do we have any idea what this will do for news / freedom of information? People could copyright or filter out pictures they are in because it contains their creative license? Or something along those lines? Something like this image being leaked might have gone down a whole different, darker way with these laws. \n_URL_0_"
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2sl9ox | why is voltage used as opposed to current to warn people away from electric hazards? | As far as I know amperage determines lethality when electricity is introduced to people, so why do we label transformers with "Warning x volts?" | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2sl9ox/eli5_why_is_voltage_used_as_opposed_to_current_to/ | {
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"because the adage \"it's amps that kill not volts\" is a stupid one. You could grab the posts of a 12V car battery *capable* of pushing out 1,000 amps and it won't do anything because it's only 12V. The amount of amps pushed across your body is directly related to how many volts are behind it. Amps = Voltage/Resistance. Your skin has a certain amount of resistance, if you want to pass 1 amp across it you need *a lot* of volts.",
"Because the volts are what the transformer provides, if you short it out it will provide an unfathomably large amount of current, but if you attach a large enough load you'll end up with a low current.\n\nUnfortunately, where electrocution is a concern, humans on their own aren't enough load to reduce the current to a safe level.",
"The amps that are currently going through a line have nothing to do with how dangerous it is. I could straddle a 1500 amp line bare naked and not even get a tingle if it was 0.5 volts, because most all that current would keep going through the line, and the tiniest of smidgens would go through my nether regions.\n\nWhat is dangerous is the amount of electricity that will go through you. The amount of electricity that will go through you is determined by the voltage of the line and the resistance of the path through you to ground. Notice the current that's in the line when you touch it isn't in that equation."
]
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[],
[],
[]
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|
4vz85c | why do most cosmetics/lotions etc have a shelf life? | What's the worst that could happen if using some shaving cream that's 6 months out of date for example? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vz85c/eli5_why_do_most_cosmeticslotions_etc_have_a/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"In general the \"shelf life\" is the period during which a producer is confident that, provided proper handling, the product will perform to the standard they expect.\n\nThis doesn't mean that something like bottled water will instantly spoil beyond that date or shampoo will suddenly melt your head off. It just means that the guarantee has expired and it might begin to degrade in performance. The shampoo might start to settle or separate, or more likely the manufacturer just doesn't want to be taking returns from any longer ago than that.\n\nConsider the liability issues. If a company thinks that maybe 0.5% of their products can deserve a return, they really don't want to worry about products sold *forever*. Just putting a reasonable time period on it makes sense."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
6l76xn | if oj simpson was found not guilty of murder, how was ron goldman's family able to sue him for $20 million? | It says he was charged with wrongful death, but if he was found not guilty, wouldn't this absolve him of anything? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6l76xn/eli5if_oj_simpson_was_found_not_guilty_of_murder/ | {
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"He was found [liable](_URL_0_) for the deaths, but he wasn't found guilty of committing it. Very good explanation in the link. Basically there's a different standard for evidence in a criminal court vs a civil suit, where there's more pressure for the evidence to substantiate the specific charges being brought in a criminal court in full for you to be sent to prison, as opposed to how you can basically be found *mostly* at fault in a civil suit and have to pay up.",
"In most western judicial systems, there are two major \"tracks,\" for lack of a better term, that courts handle: criminal matters, and civil matters. \n\nCriminal matters are where you've committed a crime, and the government wants to punish you for it. Let's say you drove drunk, and you hit me. The government is trying to send you to jail for driving drunk. The name of the case is *The State v. OP*. To send you to jail, the government needs to convince a jury that you drove drunk, and they need to prove it to that jury **beyond a reasonable doubt.** If the jury thinks that you probably did it, but they're not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, then they will find you not guilty.\n\nCivil matters are separate from crimes. They're where you've damaged somebody in some way, and the person who was damaged wants to be paid back for it so they file a lawsuit. This is where I was hit by the car when you were driving drunk and I want you to pay my medical bills and fix my car. I can't send you to jail, I just want my money. The name of the case is *Pxalt v. OP*. To get my money, I need to prove to a jury that you injured me because of your negligence, and I need to prove it to that jury **by a preponderance of the evidence** -- a fancy way of saying that I need to prove that you *probably* did it, or that you most likely did it. If the jury is convinced that far, then they'll find that you have to pay me. \n\nSo as you can see, these are separate matters with separate parties, separate goals, and separate burdens of proof. But by committing the one act (driving drunk), you opened yourself up to liability on both tracks. In the case of OJ Simpson, the criminal jury found him not guilty because they weren't convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it. However, the civil jury was satisfied that he *probably* did it. And so for the civil jury, that was enough to impose liability on him. ",
"In a criminal court, the prosecution needs to prove beyond a \"reasonable doubt\" that the defendant was guilty. In the eyes of a juror, that's like 99%+.\n\nIn a civil court the plaintiff, or person bringing the suit against the defendant, only needs to get to that 51% mark in the eyes of the juror. If they can show that it was more likely than not that the defendant was responsible then they win."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://www.bustle.com/articles/152048-what-does-oj-simpsons-civil-trial-verdict-mean-liable-does-not-mean-guilty"
],
[],
[]
] |
|
aiwoap | why do kids hate naps while adults seem to love them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aiwoap/eli5_why_do_kids_hate_naps_while_adults_seem_to/ | {
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"text": [
"Kids are more interested in playing/learning than they are in resting. It it was the other way around they'd rest all the time and never learn anything ",
"I'm an adult, and I think I'd hate it if someone kept telling me I *have to* take a nap, *right now*, every day."
]
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[],
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||
6nw3g3 | what exactly is happening when you "pinch a nerve?" | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6nw3g3/eli5_what_exactly_is_happening_when_you_pinch_a/ | {
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"dkcp9jw"
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"text": [
"It's exactly what its name suggests. A pinched nerve happens when a nerve is compressed too much by the surrounding tissue. This can be done by something external, like something else physically pinching you. But it can also happen internally, with tissue around a nerve swelling or constricting. The pressure pinches the nerve and causes pain."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
abhq31 | why modern games lack loading bars? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/abhq31/eli5_why_modern_games_lack_loading_bars/ | {
"a_id": [
"ed0c4kc",
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"text": [
"Because they try to be creative, like instead of a loading bar they put a ship flying into wherever you go or they just put the emblem and animate it.",
"Because loading bars don't actually tell you anything. \n\nIt's very hard (from a programmer perspective) to estimate how long loading will take, so most loading bars just display a guess. That's why they often progress irregularly or get stuck at a given percentage.\n\nMost users like the loading bar because it tells them that the game is doing something and isn't frozen or crashed. A spinning wheel/logo does this a lot better than a loading bar, without displaying a meaningless value. (And that's why most games have a spiny thing) "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
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||
62cpg2 | what are the benefits of distributed computing compared to a single large supercomputer, and vice-versa? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/62cpg2/eli5_what_are_the_benefits_of_distributed/ | {
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"Most distributed computing projects rely on people donating their computer time to working on your problem. This means that, outside of the software development & a little bit of server space to run the system, all your computing power is \"free\". It also serves to drum up good publicity for the work you're doing. The downsides are that it's slow & difficult to guarantee that you'll get any regular computing resources.\n\nSupercomputers are expensive to build, house & operate but you you get consistent results from them. They're also superior for jobs where there needs to be a high degree of communication between nodes.",
"The difference between a supercomputer, high power computing and distributed computing is largely in the different interconnections between the different computers. This of course have a huge impact on price as well. A distributed computing system will have the lowest cost per compute operation and a supercomputer will have the highest cost per operation. However for some tasks a distributed system can be limited by the network latency and bandwidth where a supercomputer will have no problems. For example if you were to simulate colliding galaxies with hundreds of millions of stars that is interacting with each other then a supercomputer will be able to handle all interactions between the different objects. However a distributed system would get limited by having to send the full data set between all computer for every \"tick\" in the simulation. However if you were to do protein folding simulations this is a task that depends a lot on trial and error so you can have each computer simulate one scenario at a time and just report back the results of each simulation. In that case the network is not the bottleneck and a distributed system of the same price would be much faster then a supercomputer."
]
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[],
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1k8wcp | how the north and south poles can switch polarity periodically, and its implications. | I know that it is called geomagnetic reversal, and from [the Wikipedia article](_URL_0_) I can gather how often it happens, but I can't make heads or tails of the causes.
If anyone wants to pitch in any explication of theories on how it affects life on the planet, that'd be appreciated too! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1k8wcp/eli5_how_the_north_and_south_poles_can_switch/ | {
"a_id": [
"cbmlpgx"
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"The problem is that we don't know exactly how it works, for two main reasons:\n\n1. We don't have direct observation of Earth's interior, what with it being deep underground.\n\n2. Earth has not undergone a geomagnetic reversal during the very short time span that humans have been able to detect magnetism (about 2000 years).\n\nSo it's mostly just very educated guesses and models based on things that we *can* observe and have experienced.\n\nThe basic idea though, is that Earth's magnetism is **not** stable, and is in constant flux.\n\n***\n\nFrom the experiments we have done on animals with magnetoception (sense of magnetic orientation), it does call disorientation if we reverse the polarity of the local magnetic field. From this, we can probably guess that animals that use magnetoception to find breeding grounds will fly in the reverse direction (i.e. if they are in their northern area they will travel further north, if they are in their southern area they will travel further south). But it's very difficult for the experimental environment to fully simulate things like the open airs and long distances that the animals travel. At the same time, we don't know how exactly animals prioritize their senses, i.e. whether they will continue to follow what they sense as being magnetically correct but what they sense visually as incorrect. However, we can conclude that the less precise the animal's other senses are, the more they will be affected by magnetic distortion. Insects that have poor vision will probably behave much more erratically than birds. However, it's also possible that it will cause confusion for a generation or so but then the animals will eventually adapt to the reverse polarity (after all, that's what animals do).\n\nIf you want more information, feel free to go to university and triple major in ornithology/entomology, geology, and electromagnetism. This might sound facetious but it's just the reality of our gaps in knowledge at the moment, usually right at the intersections of various established fields of study. This is a very new field of study that ties in with [cognitive science](_URL_0_) as well so there's not a lot of data available. Good luck!"
]
} | [] | [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal"
] | [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science"
]
] |
|
42a6fr | how come there aren't vitamins named after every letter in the alphabet? and why did they name vitamins after letters anyway? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/42a6fr/eli5_how_come_there_arent_vitamins_named_after/ | {
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"text": [
"This [video](_URL_0_) explains it very well. It comes down to being historic, the people who discovered the vitamin named it, but some vitamins were actually two substances and some were the same substance with two names. This lead to this confusing system of vitamin names.",
"part of the issue is that some \"vitamins\" are demoted over time or renamed (the former vitamin H, biotin, is now B7 or 8). e.g. inositol used to be a B vitamin (B8), but has now been demoted to a micronutrient. same with something like choline. In the case of B vitamins, there are still other compounds that are still considered vitamins, which is why we still have a vitamin B, but vitamin H is no more, since it has been renamed",
"IIRC vitamins were once considered \"vital amines\" (constituent parts of proteins). Doesn't answer your question directly but I suspect they named them with the idea they would find vitamins in the same family"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://youtu.be/NnmgM_Lz3o0"
],
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|
cbv9rs | what is the process that enables our eyeballs to move in synchronisation? | Is there a physical connection between the eye muscles or is it more of a neural connection that allows our eyes to move in the same direction, at the same time, the same amount? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cbv9rs/eli5_what_is_the_process_that_enables_our/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Well i can, with a lil bit of strain move my right eye independantly of my left.... i cant move my left by itself, but i can hold it in place and move the other eye, feels very achey when i do though!",
"It's a neural connection. In ophthalmology there are two rules: Hering's law and Sherrington's law. Basically together these two laws describe the way the eyes can work together.\n\nWhenever your brain tells you to look right, for example, it sends a signal to both eyes to tell them to turn right. It sends the same strength of signal to both eyes, simultaneously. \n\nThis can cause problems if, for example, the muscles on one eye are weaker than the other. Since the signal strength is the same, but the muscle on one eye is weaker, one eye will move a lot more than the other. The brain doesn't like this so it increases the strength of the signal. This causes the \"good\" eye to turn too much, and makes the problem worse. \n\n[here's a good YouTube video on it.](_URL_0_)",
"Sometimes my eyes twitch back and forth really quickly. It only lasts a second. Does anyone know why this may be???"
]
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[],
[
"https://youtu.be/YrCk-LxJ77A"
],
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] |
|
1qxujq | how do i tell if my computer has a powerful enough graphics card to run certain games? | I've been browsing Steam lately, and in the system requirements I see things like "NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT" under graphics. How do I read these specifications and know what they mean? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qxujq/eli5_how_do_i_tell_if_my_computer_has_a_powerful/ | {
"a_id": [
"cdhlgao"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"The best way to tell if you can run a game is to use the web site _URL_0_\nThis web site will analyze your computer to figure out if you can run a particular game (you can just select the game from the search box). Keep in mind that you will need to authorize the website to access your computer so that it can scan your hardware."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri"
]
] |
|
185n2c | what exactly are your rights when a cop wants to search you. | What are your rights when you are
A: in your house
B: In your car
C: on the street.
Which one needs a warrant? Which just needs probable cause? And how does one justify "resisting arrest" when there is no probable cause | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/185n2c/eli5_what_exactly_are_your_rights_when_a_cop/ | {
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"This varies by region. Generally, you have the right to refuse consent to a search, but you never have the right to resist a search with violence (unless you want to risk going to prison for a very long time). \"Resisting arrest\" is a very vague charge that a cop can throw your way as a punitive measure with just about any flimsy pretext. ",
"Never ever,ever ever talk to the police. Nothing good will ever come from it\nWatch this video\n_URL_0_",
"From the [ACLU](_URL_1_)\n\n\n\nWe rely on the police to keep us safe and treat us all fairly, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin or religion. This card provides tips for interacting with police and understanding your rights. \n\nNote: Some state laws may vary. Separate rules apply at checkpoints and when entering the U.S. (including at airports).\n\nWHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE STOPPED BY POLICE, IMMIGRATION AGENTS OR THE FBI\n\nYOUR RIGHTS \n- You have the right to remain silent. If you wish to exercise that right, say so out loud. \n- You have the right to refuse to consent to a search of yourself, your car or your home. \n- If you are not under arrest, you have the right to calmly leave. \n- You have the right to a lawyer if you are arrested. Ask for one immediately. \n- Regardless of your immigration or citizenship status, you have constitutional rights.\n\nYOUR RESPONSIBILITIES \n- Do stay calm and be polite. \n- Do not interfere with or obstruct the police. \n- Do not lie or give false documents. \n- Do prepare yourself and your family in case you are arrested. \n- Do remember the details of the encounter. \n- Do file a written complaint or call your local ACLU if you feel your rights have been violated.\n\n\nIf You Are\n...Stopped For Questioning\n...Stopped In Your Car\n...Questioned About Your Immigration Status\n...Approached By Police Or Immigration Agents at Home\n...Contacted By The FBI\n...Arrested\n...Taken Into Immigration (Or \"ICE\") Custody\nIf You Feel Your Rights Have Been Violated\n\n\nIF YOU ARE STOPPED FOR QUESTIONING \nStay calm. Don't run. Don't argue, resist or obstruct the police, even if you are innocent or police are violating your rights. Keep your hands where police can see them. \nAsk if you are free to leave. If the officer says yes, calmly and silently walk away. If you are under arrest, you have a right to know why. \nYou have the right to remain silent and cannot be punished for refusing to answer questions. If you wish to remain silent, tell the officer out loud. In some states, you must give your name if asked to identify yourself. \nYou do not have to consent to a search of yourself or your belongings, but police may \"pat down\" your clothing if they suspect a weapon. You should not physically resist, but you have the right to refuse consent for any further search. If you do consent, it can affect you later in court. \n\nIF YOU ARE STOPPED IN YOUR CAR \nStop the car in a safe place as quickly as possible. Turn off the car, turn on the internal light, open the window part way and place your hands on the wheel. \nUpon request, show police your driver's license, registration and proof of insurance. \nIf an officer or immigration agent asks to look inside your car, you can refuse to consent to the search. But if police believe your car contains evidence of a crime, your car can be searched without your consent. \nBoth drivers and passengers have the right to remain silent. If you are a passenger, you can ask if you are free to leave. If the officer says yes, sit silently or calmly leave. Even if the officer says no, you have the right to remain silent. \n\nIF YOU ARE QUESTIONED ABOUT YOUR IMMIGRATION STATUS \nYou have the right to remain silent and do not have to discuss your immigration or citizenship status with police, immigration agents or any other officials. You do not have to answer questions about where you were born, whether you are a U.S. citizen, or how you entered the country. (Separate rules apply at international borders and airports, and for individuals on certain nonimmigrant visas, including tourists and business travelers.) \nIf you are not a U.S. citizen and an immigration agent requests your immigration papers, you must show them if you have them with you. If you are over 18, carry your immigration documents with you at all times. If you do not have immigration papers, say you want to remain silent. \nDo not lie about your citizenship status or provide fake documents. \n\nIF THE POLICE OR IMMIGRATION AGENTS COME TO YOUR HOME \nIf the police or immigration agents come to your home, you do not have to let them in unless they have certain kinds of warrants. \nAsk the officer to slip the warrant under the door or hold it up to the window so you can inspect it. A search warrant allows police to enter the address listed on the warrant, but officers can only search the areas and for the items listed. An arrest warrant allows police to enter the home of the person listed on the warrant if they believe the person is inside. A warrant of removal/deportation (ICE warrant) does not allow officers to enter a home without consent. \nEven if officers have a warrant, you have the right to remain silent. If you choose to speak to the officers, step outside and close the door. \n\nIF YOU ARE CONTACTED BY THE FBI \nIf an FBI agent comes to your home or workplace, you do not have to answer any questions. Tell the agent you want to speak to a lawyer first. \nIf you are asked to meet with FBI agents for an interview, you have the right to say you do not want to be interviewed. If you agree to an interview, have a lawyer present. You do not have to answer any questions you feel uncomfortable answering, and can say that you will only answer questions on a specific topic. \n\nIF YOU ARE ARRESTED \nDo not resist arrest, even if you believe the arrest is unfair. \nSay you wish to remain silent and ask for a lawyer immediately. Don't give any explanations or excuses. If you can't pay for a lawyer, you have the right to a free one. Don't say anything, sign anything or make any decisions without a lawyer. \nYou have the right to make a local phone call. The police cannot listen if you call a lawyer. \nPrepare yourself and your family in case you are arrested. Memorize the phone numbers of your family and your lawyer. Make emergency plans if you have children or take medication. \nSpecial considerations for non-citizens: \n- Ask your lawyer about the effect of a criminal conviction or plea on your immigration status. \n- Don't discuss your immigration status with anyone but your lawyer. \n- While you are in jail, an immigration agent may visit you. Do not answer questions or sign anything before talking to a lawyer. \n- Read all papers fully. If you do not understand or cannot read the papers, tell the officer you need an interpreter. \n\nIF YOU ARE TAKEN INTO IMMIGRATION (OR \"ICE\") CUSTODY \nYou have the right to a lawyer, but the government does not have to provide one for you. If you do not have a lawyer, ask for a list of free or low-cost legal services. \nYou have the right to contact your consulate or have an officer inform the consulate of your arrest. \nTell the ICE agent you wish to remain silent. Do not discuss your immigration status with anyone but your lawyer. \nDo not sign anything, such as a voluntary departure or stipulated removal, without talking to a lawyer. If you sign, you may be giving up your opportunity to try to stay in the U.S. \nRemember your immigration number (\"A\" number) and give it to your family. It will help family members locate you. \nKeep a copy of your immigration documents with someone you trust. \n\nIF YOU FEEL YOUR RIGHTS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED \nRemember: police misconduct cannot be challenged on the street. Don't physically resist officers or threaten to file a complaint. \nWrite down everything you remember, including officers' badge and patrol car numbers, which agency the officers were from, and any other details. Get contact information for witnesses. If you are injured, take photographs of your injuries (but seek medical attention first). \nFile a written complaint with the agency's internal affairs division or civilian complaint board. In most cases, you can file a complaint anonymously if you wish. \nCall your local ACLU or visit _URL_0_. \n\nThis information is not intended as legal advice. \nProduced by the American Civil Liberties Union 6/2010\n\n \n\n",
"Search:\n\nHome. Not allowed without consent, a warrant or a reasonable reason (they hear fighting, gunshots, see a something through a window, etc). Even with a warrant or a reason they can't search everything. If they have a warrant to search for a stolen car, they can't check under the sofa (if they do, a good lawyer might get what they discover thrown out). \n\nCar: Same as the house. \n\nPerson: They can do a light pat down looking for weapons. And as others have said, at checkpoints or airports there are other laws. ",
"It tends to vary based on jurisdiction, but there are some basic similarities. I'm going to use New York as a reference point (thats where I live and work so it's what I am most familiar with), but I imagine that lots of the basic points are the same.\n\nI am going to address the issue of police encounters and searches on the street first, because those rules establish the basic rules of almost every police search. There are essentially four different \"levels\" that determine what kinds of questions a cop can ask you and how invasive of a search he can perform. What level your encounter is depends on a whole bunch of different factors, but the big one is how much suspicion the cop has that you have committed (or are about to commit) a crime. The easiest way to know which level you may be at is the kinds of questions you are being asked.\n\nIf a cop does not have any reason at all to suspect that you are doing something illegal, you are at level one. The cop can approach you on the street and ask you basic questions. They can ask you for your name and other basic identifying information. They can also ask make basic inquiries, such as asking you if you have seen a missing child, whether you witnessed a crime or accident, etc. However they cannot ask you any questions that are accusatory in nature and that would lead you to believe that you are suspected of a crime. They also cannot ask you for permission to search you.\n\nTo get from level 1 to level 2, a cop needs to be able to articulate that he had some sort of suspicion that it was POSSIBLE that you were committing a crime, even if that suspicion is incredibly vague. For example, if you are loitering at a corner without having any reason to stay there, if you are carrying an object that looks suspicious or unusual, etc. At this point a cop can ask you more accusatory questions. He can ask you where you are going and what you are doing at a particular location. He can ask you if you have any illegal items on you, such as weapons or drugs. He can also ask for permission to search you or any item you are carrying. However, you do not have to answer any of his questions and you do not have to give permission for a search. You can walk away without talking to the cop and he cannot follow you or chase you.\n\nAt level 3, a cop needs to have reasonable suspicion that you are committing or about to commit a crime, beyond more then just a vague speculation. For example, if a cop sees you looking into several parked cars while holding a screwdriver or a crowbar, or if a cop sees you in an area that is known for drug sales and sees you give someone money in exchange for something. At this point a cop is allowed to stop you and temporarily detain you (in other words, you cannot just simply walk away). He can also chase after you if you try to run away. If a cop feels threatened he can also place you in handcuffs, on the ground, or up against a wall. At this point, a cop can give you a basic pat down without your permission. However, they still cannot perform a more invasive search, such as a strip search.\n\nLevel four is when a cop can actually place you under arrest - he has probable cause that you have committed a crime, not just a suspicion. For example if a cop sees you breaking into a car or holding drugs out in public or assaulting somebody, he automatically has probable cause. At this point, a cop can perform a thorough and invasive search to find any contraband you may have.\n\nIn a car the rules are more or less the same. A cop cannot perform a through and invasive search of your car without probable cause, a warrant or your permission. And once again, if a cop asks for your permission, you do not have to consent. One important thing to know about cars, though, is that if a cop pulls you over for a traffic infraction, such as speeding or running a stop sign, a cop can look at anything that is open to plain view within the car without needing permission - anything that is on a seat or the floor, etc. But he needs permission or probable cause to search closed compartments like the trunk, glove box, etc.\n\nFinally, when if comes to your home, generally the police are not allowed to enter a private residence or building without permission (although there are exceptions, such as if they believe someone is in danger). If you do give the police permission to enter, like with a car, they can look at anything that is open to plain view - things you leave on the floor, on a desk or table, etc. But to do a more invasive search, such as into cabinets, closets, rooms that are closed off, etc. they need your permission, a warrant, or probable cause."
]
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[],
[
"https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=never%20talk%20to%20theolice&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDQQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6wXkI4t7nuc&ei=s4AVUb-BG-W40gHs_IHIBw&usg=AFQjCNFCoazxrnNtO6N2bs_yG_tfpcl_vQ&bvm=bv.42080656,d.dmQ"
],
[
"www.aclu.org/profiling",
"http://www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform-immigrants-rights-racial-justice/know-your-rights-what-do-if-you"
],
[],
[]
] |
|
6bq20a | why does your body have trouble swallowing food that hasn't been chewed even when it's small enough to swallow whole? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6bq20a/eli5why_does_your_body_have_trouble_swallowing/ | {
"a_id": [
"dholimi"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Saliva moistens food as well as breaking it down. Easier for the body to handle if you already chewed it."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
19ix9j | 'stacking' blankets doesn't make me warm. | Every night I go to bed with one sheet and two blankets. I feel freezing under all this.
In the morning, I wake up to realize I only have on one single blanket, and feel very comfortable, much more than I did when I had on the two blankets and the sheet. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/19ix9j/eli5_stacking_blankets_doesnt_make_me_warm/ | {
"a_id": [
"c8og8we"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"You have to be in bed long enough for your body heat to be trapped by the blankets. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
n75ra | . how can a law passed by congress supersede the constitution? | I thought the [supremacy clause](_URL_0_) meant that only a constitutional amendment could overrule the constitution. Like how the new NDAA can override the bill of rights. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/n75ra/eli5_how_can_a_law_passed_by_congress_supersede/ | {
"a_id": [
"c36s0yl",
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"text": [
"It isn't an issue until it's made an issue. Technically, every law is constitutional until one of the branches steps in or the people rise up.",
"It doesn't. The NDAA contains two sections (1031 and 1032 if you want to look it up), that specifically makes clear that it is unlawful to detain US citizens under any authority otherwise granted in the act. Don't believe all the left-wing hype. It's just as full of shit as the right-wing hype. This is the equivalent of telling people that Health Care Reform will lead to Death Panels.\n\nTo answer your question more generally, if Congress passes a statute, a person who is affected by it can challenge the constitutionality of the statute in federal court, and the court decides whether it does or does not violate the Constitution. If it does, the law is invalid.",
"It can't in principle, but it can be done in practice, and it's very easy.\n\nUnconstitutional laws are overturned by courts when people are charged with breaking that law in court. So you make a law that says people aren't allowed to have a trial -- aren't allowed to go to court.\n\nSo, under the law, you detain that person indefinitely, and it's all perfectly legal, and the checks and balances system is working perfectly, because that law will go up to the Supreme Court once the person is given a lawyer and brought to trial, and that person will never be brought to trial, and that law will never be overturned.\n\nYeah but in practice though, (I'd think) the ACLU will sue, and then we'll see what happens.",
"It isn't an issue until it's made an issue. Technically, every law is constitutional until one of the branches steps in or the people rise up.",
"It doesn't. The NDAA contains two sections (1031 and 1032 if you want to look it up), that specifically makes clear that it is unlawful to detain US citizens under any authority otherwise granted in the act. Don't believe all the left-wing hype. It's just as full of shit as the right-wing hype. This is the equivalent of telling people that Health Care Reform will lead to Death Panels.\n\nTo answer your question more generally, if Congress passes a statute, a person who is affected by it can challenge the constitutionality of the statute in federal court, and the court decides whether it does or does not violate the Constitution. If it does, the law is invalid.",
"It can't in principle, but it can be done in practice, and it's very easy.\n\nUnconstitutional laws are overturned by courts when people are charged with breaking that law in court. So you make a law that says people aren't allowed to have a trial -- aren't allowed to go to court.\n\nSo, under the law, you detain that person indefinitely, and it's all perfectly legal, and the checks and balances system is working perfectly, because that law will go up to the Supreme Court once the person is given a lawyer and brought to trial, and that person will never be brought to trial, and that law will never be overturned.\n\nYeah but in practice though, (I'd think) the ACLU will sue, and then we'll see what happens."
]
} | [] | [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supremacy_Clause"
] | [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
59ghxr | why are calculators the only common solar powered gadgets? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/59ghxr/eli5_why_are_calculators_the_only_common_solar/ | {
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5,
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],
"text": [
"A small solar panel isn't the most efficient or reliable energy source, so for a portable device to be able to be solar powered, it has to consume very little power and suffer no ill effects if the source is suddenly cut off.\n\nThere simply aren't a lot of devices that fulfill both of these criteria. As it happens, school calculators fit the bill.",
"Because the power generated by that solar cell is microscopic, it won't be sufficient to power anything but the simplest electronic devices.\n\nThere are portable solar panels to charge gadgets during hikes, but those are about A4 paper size.",
"Calculators require very little power to operate.\n\nThe power demands for lights, motors, speakers, and radios are relatively high, and that covers a lot of devices.\n\nWristwatches are one of the other things that can be solar powered, but it’s still rare because the surface area of a watch is small, it limits the æsthetic options of the watch, and batteries last ten years anyway so what’s the point?\n\nSolar powered digital calipers and dial indicators are not uncommon in machine shops, but there are totally analogue alternatives there and that limits their appeal. And again, battery‐powered versions operate for years on a single battery.",
"They provide little energy. Aside from calculators, many watches are solar powered. Now I think of it, both gadgets utilize button batteries. There isnt a lot else that uses button batteries.\n",
"Many Citizen watches are solar powered. The panel is in the glass and they do not need battery replacements. Ecodrive.\n\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
4it523 | how is the brain active after someone has been decapitated? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4it523/elif_how_is_the_brain_active_after_someone_has/ | {
"a_id": [
"d30wq9y",
"d30xkgw"
],
"score": [
72,
21
],
"text": [
"Your brain (like everything else in your body) runs on oxygen. That oxygen is carried by your blood, which picks it up in the lungs before being pumped around the body by the heart.\n\nObviously when someone is decapitated that connection is severed, but what oxygen is still in the blood in their head will continue to be used until it is depleted. This typically takes a few seconds, after which comes unconsciousness and later irreversible brain damage. Reflexive twitching can also be mistaken for brain activity.",
"It's true that the brain is still alive when it is separated from the body, but it needs ~1 liter of blood (which carries oxygen) every minute to stay alive and functioning. When the head is severed, the extreme drop in blood pressure incapacitates the brain – renders the brain unconscious – within seconds. Within those few seconds, facial twitches have been reported to occur, which are simply the peripheral nervous system automatically reacting without input from the brain; the same thing happens when your doctor taps your knee to get a reaction. Beyond this, all reports of locking eyes, mouthing words, or other deliberate movement are purely anecdotal, and have no scientific basis."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
8hkrwt | why didn't people see "the dress" in the original colors of the photograph? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8hkrwt/eli5_why_didnt_people_see_the_dress_in_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"dykjmcy",
"dykl34l"
],
"score": [
5,
3
],
"text": [
"The lighting had a lot to do with it. Our perception of colors are based not only on the actual color of the object itself, but also on the object's visual environment (e.g adjacent colors and lighting). The dress in question appeared back-lit in the photo, so instead of merely perceiving the actual colors a lot of us automatically (and erroneously) color-corrected and subconsciously assumed that the colors were in deep shadow. ",
"I just googled it. The dress is actually blue and black. You see light blue and bronze, I do too, but it looks more like a wash of blue over a white dress. You're seeing it wrong too"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
67nxjh | why won't china allow south korea to defend itself and why are south koreans angry at usa for defending their country? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/67nxjh/eli5_why_wont_china_allow_south_korea_to_defend/ | {
"a_id": [
"dgrtm2b",
"dgryv9c"
],
"score": [
4,
5
],
"text": [
"If you prepare weapons it looks like you are planning to use them. If you prepare defenses it looks like you are planning to be attacked. Both are signs of impending conflict.\n\nSomeone putting a weapon in your hand would be unwelcome, and similarly putting armor on you may be unwelcome provocation.",
"China has recently claimed more expansive territorial rights than is commonly accepted internationally.\n\nRight now they're saying that \"THAAD radar can't watch our airspace. It makes us less safe if South Korea, the US, and Japan can see us.\" \n\nGenerally, countries agree to share regulation of radio spectrum through the ITU - International Telecommunications Union. Both China and US allies use radar systems that go beyond their borders - it's required for safe air travel because *nobody* owns the international airspace over the \"high seas\", but aircraft still need radar service.\n\nSo, THAAD follows ITU regulations, but that's not good enough for China. They're claiming a kind of international privacy right that *never existed before.* Sure, you can catch spies in your own country, but you can't reach across the border and stop people from looking. THAAD does send radio signals into China, but it follows the rules that China agreed to.\n\nLet's take a step back and compare this to an older air-defense radar system.\n\nDuring the Cold War, the US and Canada invented a new set of rules about flying *near* their airspace. Justifications:\n\n- we won't stop anyone from using international airspace. These new regulations only apply strictly to flights that pass through our actual airspace\n\n- until an airspace violation occurs, we will only watch\n\nSo, they set up radar and a zone called the ADIZ - Air Defense Identification Zone. If you fly there without a flight plan, you can't enter the US or Canada. You'll be called on the radio (but only asked what your intentions are). And there may be armed radar and interceptor planes coming to see what you're doing.\n\nRemember, this was the 50s. Early Cold War.\n\nSo what did the Soviet Union do? They flew patrols in the ADIZ, US and Canadian patrols watched them closely, *fortunately there were no accidents*. Tense, but international airspace remained open. USSR responded by setting up their own zone, same rules.\n\nRecently, China has done the same thing, *but tells military pilots to turn back.* So far the US response has been 'lol, no.' (you can hear an example [here](_URL_0_))\n\nThe difference is that the US ADIZ says \"we will do this\" and China says \"you must do this.\"\n\nWith THAAD, the US is saying, \"we need to watch for missile launches in North Korea.\"\n\nAnd China is saying \"no, you can't look at Heilongjian or Jilin provinces, it might make us unsafe.\"\n\nUS: lol, seriously?\n\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"https://youtu.be/Uh0CzIyg2Lc"
]
] |
|
2ctgpz | how certain groups in the us became "model minorities" | To me, this might include groups such as Asian-Americans, but could include others.
**Full disclosure:** I'm of east Asian descent. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ctgpz/eli5_how_certain_groups_in_the_us_became_model/ | {
"a_id": [
"cjitq63",
"cjivg1b",
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"score": [
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"text": [
"It's all based on stereotypes. When you think of Asian Americans, you largely think of book smart Asians who study hard and go on to college to become doctors and laywers, and become successful in life. Because of all the good things you see and hear about Asian Americans, they are the \"model minority\" because they do things that result in positive outcome. \n\nIf other ethnic groups were known for their stereotypically positive outcomes, then you could call them model minorities as well.",
"It's worth noting that many aspects of the model minority stereotype are actually supported by statistics. There is a somewhat recent [Pew study](_URL_0_) about Asian-Americans. Compared to other races, they are statistically more likely to be academically successful, have higher incomes by at least one measure, and various other things. Even more than white people. So in one sense, Asians are seen as model minorities because it's slightly true.\n\nThe standard criticism of that is that not all Asians fit image--it applies to Northeast Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) and Indians more than others: Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese-Americans show lower-than-average statistics. Why? Part of it is that the people who immigrate from Northeast Asia and India to the US happen to be the cream of the crop--educated, motivated, smart people. They come because they want to and can. On the other hand, many from Laos and Cambodia refugees or desperate people. They come because they must. The reasons for this difference have to do with conditions in the origin countries; I don't know enough about that to answer.",
"There are two types of immigrants. People that are typically educated and of their upper class in their respective countries - They come here and are successful. Then there are people that are poor, working class, and have lower education outcomes - they remain poor or are worse off once reaching America. There are plenty of poor people in China, India, Nigeria, and places that make \"model\" minorities...but if you can afford to move your entire life and family to the US your probably a few steps ahead than most."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/06/19/the-rise-of-asian-americans/"
],
[]
] |
|
63m7fx | what goes on mechanically in a speaker when you turn down the volume of music? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63m7fx/eli5_what_goes_on_mechanically_in_a_speaker_when/ | {
"a_id": [
"dfv6h98"
],
"score": [
11
],
"text": [
"A speaker pretty much consists of a cone, an electromagnet, and a permanent magnet. You can see the cone, usually, although sometimes it's covered in fabric or metal mesh.\n\nTo produce music, an electronic signal is sent to the electromagnet, telling it what direction to produce an electric field. So it either moves closer to the permanent magnet, or it moves farther away, and this causes the cone to vibrate. As the cone vibrates, it causes vibrations in the air around the cone - and that's how sound travels. Sound is just vibrations in the air. The frequency of the vibrations (how fast the cone is wiggling back and forth) dictates the pitch - higher frequency, higher pitch.\n\nWhen you turn the volume down, the electromagnet is still causing the cone to wiggle, but it causes it to wiggle less. The amplitude of the wiggling goes down when you turn the volume down. So the sound isn't as loud, but it's still the same pitch.\n\nIf you have the kind of speaker where you can see the cone, and you turn it up really loud, you can actually see the cone moving."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
6v7o5l | why do books about things that couldn't possibility ever happen need a "any similarities to real persons is purely coincidental" disclaimer? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6v7o5l/eli5why_do_books_about_things_that_couldnt/ | {
"a_id": [
"dly84h9",
"dly9a1x",
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],
"score": [
48,
3,
6
],
"text": [
"Ass covering.\n\nThat said, just because events in a book cannot ever happen doesn't mean there can't be a similarity to actual people. i can write a book and include a werewolf called... say Drump, who incompently leads a pack of werewolves, oh and he had a tiff with a weird hag called... Billary. Meanwhile there is also a good wizard Ibama who combines both black and white magics... okay, my point is, obviously the fantasy elements are never going to happen, but clearly there is resemblance to real people in what I am writing. A great number of fantasy books have contained references to real people and events, usually historic. ",
"The act of self protection in the eyes of the law is needed in many cases. As you write acts of \"fiction\" many people in history have claimed to be the \"Source\" or \"muse\" of this fiction and have been harmed by it in some way.\n\nThink if... Adolf Hitler had not become the Tyrant he was, however was painted as so in The Diary of Anne Frank or other texts as if he was? This would be slander in the form of print, which is Libel.\n\nNow we know, Adolf Hitler was a Tyrant and Dictator, so those statements would hardly be detrimental to his image, however if he was not, he could have claimed that they were.\n\nFor someone more mundane, say... Abraham Lincoln and he was a vampire slayer, this would no doubt be a fictional story using the likeness and image of a living or previously living person. By including that statement, it covers the author in a layer of protection to allow them artistic freedoms to \"change\" things about someone and make them a character in a story without the threat of being prosecuted for defaming the target of their story or the antagonist created.\n\nThis has been done many times through history, one of the gaming equivalents is Rockstar Entertainment, who has survived several litigations of this very nature. This time it was [Lindsey Lohan](_URL_1_) who claimed that the character of Lacey Jones was based on her likeness. There were similar lawsuits regarding [Call of Duty's portrayal of Manuel Noriega](_URL_2_) and even stretching the other way for likenesses used for promotional reasons without compensation like the NCAA's licencing of College Athletes [Seen Here](_URL_0_).\n\nThe difference between COD and the NCAA games however is that COD and Rockstar claimed that similarities are purely coincidental, where the NCAA games specifically bank on the namesake and marketability of the players that are being portrayed. Thats why Lindsey Lohan and Noriega's family got kicked to the curb, where the NCAA had to bite the bullet.\n\nFiction, is only fiction, until someone else believes it is fact. Then it's as real as anything else written on paper, and is only worth the belief that it is true regardless of evidence to the contrary.",
"Ass covering as people have mentioned - but theres a specific case which gave rise to all these various instances of people being afraid of being sued for the content of a fictitious work.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThis film is basically the reason they exist - certainly for films, and I'd bet that the disclaimer migrated from films to books as a result of the exact same fear. There's legal precedent, and that makes it much easier for future cases to get through the legal system, hence why disclaimers are smart"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-athletes-react-on-twitter-after-receiving-ea-sports-lawsuit-checks/",
"http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-09-01-lindsay-lohans-grand-theft-auto-lawsuit-rules-in-rockstars-favour",
"http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/28/tech/gaming-gadgets/manuel-noriega-call-of-duty-lawsuit/index.html"
],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputin_and_the_Empress"
]
] |
||
3iz5q1 | is all black coloured face/skin paint considered blackface | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3iz5q1/eli5_is_all_black_coloured_faceskin_paint/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Blackface is usually an attempt to mock black people, so it would depend on your intent, who is looking at it (how easily offended they are), and your paint job.\n\nIf you painted your face black and dressed in camouflage for a paintball outing people might not say anything. If you did it in such a way that you intentionally or accidentally made your lips look bigger that might be taken as offensive. What's offensive and what isn't is really a matter of opinion.",
"No. Only if you're portraying / parodying black people. The phrase came from white actors using makeup to play black (or Asian etc.) characters and from the Black & White Minstrels who parodied the stereotypes of black culture. \n\nSimply wearing black on your face isn't considered 'blackface' as there are other reasons for it. An actor playing a coal miner for instance, certain groups of Morrismen, LARPers playing drow elves etc.\n",
"It depends on the person you're talking to. Wearing it to portray a white person as someone of african descent is pretty much always considered blackface, but say cosplaying as a Drow many people consider ok, but some people still think it's racist, even though its a fictional race. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
6ylfkx | how do obviously fake facebook profiles sending me a friend request end up making money for the people who make them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ylfkx/eli5how_do_obviously_fake_facebook_profiles/ | {
"a_id": [
"dmoalbr"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"I assume you're talking about the fake \"super attractive girl in revealing clothing\" profile. Most of the time these are run either by webcam girls as advertisement for their own show, or by bots run by the webcam site itself, as advertisement for the site. The girl makes money from you entering a private show with her, and the site gets a cut. The girls prey on younger or technologically illiterate people. It makes it seem more legitimate to have someone on FB send you a friend request, rather than a spam email from Jazmine. They chat you up, get you hooked, give you the link, and take it from there."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
14gf42 | how can you tell the chemical nomenclature when naming compounds? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/14gf42/eli5_how_can_you_tell_the_chemical_nomenclature/ | {
"a_id": [
"c7ctgth"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"_URL_0_\n\nIt's a little late in the semester to start thinking about this."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUPAC_nomenclature_of_organic_chemistry"
]
] |
||
1ct59s | why would an "a" list actor get paid $20mil on one movie and $3mil on the next? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ct59s/eli5_why_would_an_a_list_actor_get_paid_20mil_on/ | {
"a_id": [
"c9jpyj3"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text": [
"A lot of it comes down to the budget of the movie and what movie the actor wants to do.\n\nLets say Bob is an A-List actor. There is a huge Hollywood blockbuster coming out this summer, and it isn't going to be a \"good\" movie, it isn't going to have a whole lot of artistic merit, but it will be popular and it will be fun. The movie also has a giant budget. Bob signs on and knows that he can negotiate a high salary because the studio has the money for it.\n\nBob also does a smaller, more independent movie. It isn't going to be seen nearly as widely as the blockbuster, but it is being done by a director he really admires, it is a brilliant script, and he thinks it may finally get him that Oscar he craves. The budget is a lot smaller so he negotiates a smaller salary for himself because he really wants to do the movie."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
9g3yg6 | scientifically speaking, why are “complementary colors” complementary? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9g3yg6/eli5_scientifically_speaking_why_are/ | {
"a_id": [
"e619g6d",
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"text": [
"Complementary colors are at opposite ends of the color wheel. Each color contains every pigment that the other color lacks, so they provide maximum contrast.\n\nThe primary colors are Red/Yellow/Blue. So complementary pairs are:\n\n* Red and Yellow+Blue --- Red & Green\n* Yellow and Red+Blue --- Yellow & Purple\n* Blue and Red+Yellow --- Blue & Orange\n\n\nClarification - By colors, we're talking *pigments* here which behave differently than colors of light. ",
"We mean opposite end of the color wheel, but it's important to understand what that wheel comes from, because all the colors of the rainbow does not include all colors, and those colors are [laid out in a line](_URL_1_), not a wheel.\n\nThe color wheel are the sets of color we appear to see, it is defined by how the human eye interprets colors. We interpret colors using our three types of cones, red, green, and blue. Our eye interpretes the relative ratios of these three cones, so there are all the colors in the visible spectrum, red, those between red and green, green, those between green and blue, blue, and additionally, those between blue and red that do not include green. This is always at least two wavelengths, and it is not part of the visual spectrum and it is not a color of the rainbow, but it is a color we can see. These are the purple colors.\n\nThe complementary colors are the colors that are opposite on the color wheel, they are also the colors that excite the cones in our eyes in the opposite way. You would think therefore that the opposite of green is purple because purple is everything but green, but in reality there is a lot of [overlap between cones](_URL_0_) and the overlap is not even, thus green is typically replaced with yellow because of the overlap which results in a color wheel that is actually round.\n\nIf you do the real human eye wheel, you see it's more of a warped triangle, and the color wheel is the exterior edge of the triangle. [This is the real eye response](_URL_2_), the exterior line is the \"color wheel colors\", the grey area is all the colors you can see, and the small triangle is all the colors your monitor can display."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/colcon.html",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_spectrum#Spectral_colors",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamut#/media/File:CIExy1931_srgb_gamut.png"
]
] |
||
3ns0v2 | what is petrification? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ns0v2/eli5what_is_petrification/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Petrification, as in fossilization, is when the wood is buried and minerals in the ground water seep into the cracks in the wood, while at the same time the wood slowly rots out. By the time the wood is gone, there is stone left in the shape of the wood.\n\nOrgans, like your heart, can also be petrified if your body deposits minerals on them when it's not supposed to. It's not the same type of petrification as the wood, but it does result in an organ that's too hard to function.",
"Hey there!\n\nPetrification in the simplest sense of the term is the replacement of organic material with minerals. How exactly does this work? According to wikipedia, there are two specific processes that may or may not work in tandem.\n\nThe first is permineralization. Essentially, when water laden with minerals flow through organic material (especially soft tissue), it will leave behind these minerals. The minerals will crystallize like a third grade candy crystal project, and fill up whatever cavities are present. Thus, permineralization produces fossils with a lot of organic material. According to wikipedia, two types of permineralization are silicification and pyritization - these are related to the type of mineral deposited.\n\nThe second is replacement. In this process, water containing minerals doesn't just fill the cavities. It dissolves the original tissue matter, and replaces it with its own mineral content. This process is slower than permineralization, and as a result will have a finer structure. Usually, this process will occur in tandem with permineralization. Because the process is so slow and produces a fine structure, paleontologists value these fossils more because the structure of the organism can be better studied. Calcite, silica, pyrite, and hematite are frequently the minerals in solution here.\n\nIt appears that in both cases, the organism needs to be covered by sediment (to prevent decay) and permeated with mineral water.\n\nSource: Got curious and then carried away on the [wikipedia article](_URL_0_)"
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6ht1jz | why does the united states still choose to retain imperial units? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ht1jz/eli5_why_does_the_united_states_still_choose_to/ | {
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"I'd point out that in some cases a lot of the world still does use the imperial system - nautical miles / knots and feet are still used on a globally widespread and systematic basis in the aviation industry for example.\n\nThe reason why we haven't switched is because it is currently easier to just stick to convention. As the world gets more and more connected however, reasons for not switching to metric dwindle.",
"It's a legacy system thats been in place for hundreds of years and covers over 300 million people across 3.8 million square miles (6.1 million square kilometers). \nIt's not something you just flip a switch on. It would be like suggesting that countries switch what side of the road they are driving on. Logistically it's just not worth it. \nMany things in the US like consumer products are either based on the metric system or have both metric and imperial measurements on the package. \nYes I agree that the metric system makes much more sense from a pure logic standpoint, but being 55 years old, my brain just doesn't think metric as a first response. Like many, I can roughly convert most measurements in my head, and when that doesn't work, it's easy enough just to Google the conversion. \n\nAs /u/platoprime said in an earlier response, we don't just get together and vote on it every July. \n\nHope that helps"
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6jkfq5 | why does universal studios theme parks have "the wizarding world of harry potter" when harry potter is produced by warner brothers? what kind of deals had to happen here to deal with trademarks etc? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6jkfq5/eli5_why_does_universal_studios_theme_parks_have/ | {
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"WB owns the film rights. The IP belongs to JK Rowling. Rowling originally went to Disney to add the Harry Potter park to Disney's parks. But Disney didn't want to give Rowling as much say in the park creation as she wanted. Universal did, so they got the park.",
"Universal has always negotiated with other companies for their theme park attractions. The park in Orlando originally had a Nickelodeon section (with Nicelodeon owned by Viacom). Though Universal distributed Jaws and Back to the Future, it didn't own them. It contracted some (not all) theme park rights for Marvel characters before Disney bought Marvel. Fox owns the Simpsons. Etc., etc.\n\nIn the case of Harry Potter, the negotiations are no doubt complicated. Rowling owns the underlying copyrights, but Warner Brothers owns the visual depictions in the movies and many of the trademarks. So both were no doubt involved. The lawyers undoubtedly earned their keep nailing down the issues, while Warner and Rowling are earning licensing fees from the park. \n\nYou can read a [long list of intellectual property rights](_URL_0_) from Universal Orlando's web site. This includes both franchises contracted to operate on their property (such as Moe's, which presumably pays rent to Universal for their restaurant), IP where Univerasal contracted the rights for a ride (such as The Simpsons, with Universal paying Fox), and items owned outright by Universal. And these just list the rights that get mentioned on the website for that resort. "
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7zxhkc | if you get fit at high altitudes does that mean you are even fitter at a lower altitude? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7zxhkc/eli5_if_you_get_fit_at_high_altitudes_does_that/ | {
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"I'm not sure about overall fitness, but if you do cardio training/exercise and increase your heart rate and rate of breathing at higher altitudes, you'll be more efficient at a lower altitude for a while. Higher altitudes have \"less\" air (it's less dense/more spread out) so when you get used to breathing the thinner air, you find it much easier to breathe at lower altitudes, making you more efficient at breathing for a while. \n\nI had a friend train in Colorado for a summer before joining ROTC. His mile time (which was already impressive; like mid-7 minute mile) cut down into the mid/upper 6-minute span. "
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f2l86n | what is aliasing? | Basically I was wondering what is aliasing and how does changing the sampling rate of the signal effect aliasing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f2l86n/eli5_what_is_aliasing/ | {
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"Most simply, aliasing is when your sampling rate (+filter) makes a higher frequency masquerade as a lower frequency.\n\nAs you might know, you need at least 2+ samples per cycle to accurately capture a wave. You can think about this in terms of weather. Say you were trying to figure out the weather in Ohio the 1800s, and all you had were a farmer's diaries. If the farmer only ever recorded the weather once per year (1 sample per cycle), on June 21st every year, it would give the impression that Ohio is just warm all-year round:\n\n1. June 21st, 1850: 80 degrees\n2. June 21st, 1851: 80 degrees\n3. June 21st, 1852 (and so on): 80 degrees\n\nConnect the dots, and you have a straight line at 80 degrees---you have no evidence that there is a cold winter at all, so you haven't accurately captured this weather cycle. In contrast, if the farmer tells us about the weather on June 21st and also December 21st of every year, you at least have a coarse idea of the fact that Ohio weather goes up and down over the course of a year. Preferably you would have more samples than that, partially to avoid consistently sampling at the midpoint (spring and fall, which would be pretty similar, and so you would guess that the weather is always in the mid 50s and you wouldn't know that Ohio gets both hot and cold), and partially to have a more detailed picture of the cycle.\n\nSo that's basic sampling constraints, which you might already know. Aliasing is when you don't hit that 2+ samples per cycle criterion and you get a different wave when you connect all the samples. This can happen like with the \"always summer\" example from above, but that's just a flat line, so it's not quite as bad; but you end up getting a different wave if you have anything above/below exactly 1 sample per cycle, and also below 2+. So picture this: the farmer for some reason only writes down the weather every 9 months. This is more than one sample per cycle (year), but less than 2+.\n\n1. June 21st, 1850. 80 degrees\n2. March 21st, 1851. 40 degrees.\n3. December 21st, 1851. 0 degrees.\n4. September 21st, 1852. 40 degrees.\n5. June 21st, 1853. 80 degrees.\n\nWoohoo! We hit a full cycle! Now we know that the weather in Ohio repeats every 3 years. Except... you know, as a resident of Earth, that it doesn't. This is aliasing---a cycle that is actually 1 year long is showing up in your recording as 3 years long (a higher frequency is being recorded as if it were a lower frequency).\n\nSo the moral of the story is that if you know you're trying to capture a cycle that lasts one year (one minute, one second, one millisecond, whatever unit of time), you need to take a sample at least TWICE in that time period. Anything less will give you a false wave frequency.\n\nNow obviously when you are making a sound recording, even if you decide that you only care about frequencies up to 5,000 Hz (thus requiring a 10,000+ Hz sampling rate), the world still HAS frequencies above that. So microphones come with anti-aliasing filters that block frequencies above the ones you're interested in. However, filters aren't perfect and can't make a hard line between \"yes, 5,000 is okay, but 5,000.1 is not\"; instead, they have a gentle slope of blocking that lets through frequencies that close to your limit but ultimately blocks the really high ones. So in reality if you want to capture up to 5,000 Hz accurately, you'll probably want a sampling rate closer to 11,000 Hz just to account for that little squish zone.",
"I'm not an expert on this, but I'll try to explain it. Aliasing is when you misidentify a signal and get distortion. When your sample rate is to low, you don't get a complete picture of what the signal looks like. Let's look at a sine wave to make it easy. You need to measure the signal several time per cycle to be able to identify it (i believe you need at least two points). If you don't measure fast enough, you can miss the peak (or even several) and catch other parts of the wave thinking it's before a peak. [Here's what that looks like](_URL_0_). The end result in this case is that the frequency you see is slower than what you actually have. There's a special case where your sample frequency is the exact same as the signal frequency. You always see the same part of the wave so it doesn't actually look like there's a signal at all.",
"Aliasing is when you record a video of a wheel turning, and it appears to run backwards and forwards as it gets faster. It happens because the wheel was able to begin returning to its starting position before even the next frame could be recorded.\n\nThe aliasing problem can be fixed if you record more frames per second (increase sampling rate), if you disallow the wheel from turning too quickly (block too-high frequencies), or if you take a smeared image of the wheel over the course of the frame (downsample filter)."
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1xz3gv | why is the xbox one so much more expensive in the uk than the us? | In the UK the XB1 is £429 but in the US it is $499. When converted to £, this is far less than £429. What causes this price gap? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xz3gv/eli5_why_is_the_xbox_one_so_much_more_expensive/ | {
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"The dollar price will exclude sales taxes which differ state to state IIRC. $499 is about £298, +20% VAT is about £357. The remaining £72 is mostly accounted for by inefficiencies of shipping to a smaller market (e.g. less spread of cost per unit), market specific hardware changes (i.e. the bundling of UK compliant power supplies), regulatory compliance costs, any import duties and probably a little mix of good old profiteering - products will be sold at whatever the company feels is the maximum price to achieve their sales/profit targets in any given market. If they don't think more would sell at ~£359 then they won't reduce the price."
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4l2uqx | how do zero gravity flights work and why do they make people sick? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4l2uqx/eli5_how_do_zero_gravity_flights_work_and_why_do/ | {
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"What we call \"zero gravity\" in space isn't actually zero gravity. Rather, it's a constant freefall around the earth. Gravity is pulling the space station down, it's just also moving so fast sideways that you fall towards the earth without actually hitting it. Everything in the station is moving together, so there is no relative motion between them (or at least, very little). Farther out in space, you might be pulled by the gravity of a thing (like the sun), but everything around you is also being pulled with the same force so you move together.\n\nSo, yeah, Douglas Adams was right about the secret to flying.\n\nIn any case, zero G flights take you up really high, then plummet back down so you, the plane, the air in the plane, and everything else involved are all falling at the same rate. This is basically what's going on in space, except that you're not going to miss the earth. Instead, the plane pulls up safely, climbs back up again, and then noses back down again...\n\nIt makes you sick because your brain is very good at orienting up and down when you're standing on the ground. Not so much when you're falling. There is liquid in special semi-circular canals in your ears, and gravity pulls them down, which tells your brain which way is down, which by extension tells you which way your head is tilted. If you're in freefall, you're going down just as fast as gravity is pulling the liquid in your ears down, which means your brain can't know which way is down (and which way is up). This is *really* confusing for your brain. Even more confusing is that if you're sitting in the plane, you don't have any good visual cues for up and down, either.\n\nThis makes you *sick* because many poisons have the effect of making you dizzy and upsetting your sense of balance. Over time, we evolved to get violently nauseous when we're dizzy because thousands and millions of years ago, that *probably* meant you ate something poisonous and your best bet for survival was to throw it up before more was absorbed into your system."
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bv7pyr | why do people in the western world see alcohol as fine, but other, objectively less harmfull drugs as extremely dangerous? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bv7pyr/eli5_why_do_people_in_the_western_world_see/ | {
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"Propaganda from the govt in the past so they could get the people on their side and a lot of it people still believe",
"Nancy Reagan introduced the DARE program to public education in the 80s which was essentially an anti-pot propaganda program for children that drummed up support from suburban Christian white parents for the “War on Drugs” that believed it to be a return to wholesome white Christian values.",
"Alongside the negative effects taking longer and being less severe than most hard drugs, for most of western civilization’s development alcohol was a constant in life. Before we knew about sanitation and germs alcohol was often safer to drink than water. It’s also much more of a social drug than most, not only in its consumption but also in its effects on people. These developments over time changed the public’s perception of alcohol from a drug, closer to simply a part of life that has its up/downsides like anything else."
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27n3ml | is it possible to improve your eyesight without surgeries? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27n3ml/eli5is_it_possible_to_improve_your_eyesight/ | {
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"When I was in college, I lost my glasses and couldn't afford to replace them for almost a year. I'm nearsighted, but not dangerously so, so I just squinted and struggled until I had a bit of extra money and could get a new pair. The eye doctor was happy to tell me that my previous prescription would no longer work, because my vision had IMPROVED. I still need glasses, but my eyes are better.",
"There's very little peer-reviewed [evidence](_URL_0_) for vision therapy, but certainly many people are claiming anecdotal evidence. I'd be very wary of anybody charging you money for such a program, though.",
"Optometrist here, I get this question often. \n\n(1) Regarding eye exercises (vision therapy, basically physical therapy for the eye muscles), that is more for restoring abnormal focusing (accommodative) systems (sometimes treated by giving kids bifocals) or restoring abnormal eye teaming (binocularity) systems (like when one eye points forward and the other points to the side). If your eyes are normal (and they probably are), vision therapy exercises probably won't do much for you. And they have not been shown to affect your vision clarity, again unless you have accommodative problems or amblyopia (reduced vision even with glasses on). \n\n(2) If you are nearsighted (myopic), all kinds of studies have tried to discover a way of slowing down myopia progression, meaning your glasses Rx getting stronger. Any relation to computer work? No. Any relation to reading too much? Only a correlation, nothing to show causation. Would bifocals help? No. Would being undercorrected in your glasses help? No, in fact that worsens it! There are only 2 things that studies have shown to slow down the worsening of nearsightedness - laser refractive surgery (like LASIK), and orthokeratology (hard contact lenses you sleep in that temporarily reshape the front surface of your eye so you can not wear any correction during the day). Note, I said they slow the worsening of nearsightedness. They don't make your eyes get better.\n\n(3) What about those apps? They are vision-therapy-like, but they assume a normal or near-normal starting point for your vision system and work on improving things a little. Sure, it might help your eye focusing system get a little better, but there's only so much you can do. Your eye focusing muscles are more like digestive muscles than arm muscles -- they can't bulk up and get extra strong, they are just there to do what they are designed to do. By doing exercises you may get them in tip-top shape, but it's not going to be anything super human. I would caution against anyone thinking those apps are a substitute for real vision therapy for someone with an actual eye problem, though, as vision therapy programs (like physical therapy programs) are tailored to help the person gradually work on the weak areas.\n\n(4) As for anecdotal stories of people not wearing glasses for a year or more then wearing them again and finding their eyes got \"better\", sure that happens. They may have been given too strong of a Rx beforehand, or their eyes may have just shifted. We don't understand why Rx'es change so frequently, just that they do. They may get \"better\" or \"worse\" from year to year, without much rhyme or reason. It's really hard to do a good scientific study on this type of thing, there are so many confounding factors that can't be controlled for.\n\n(edit - formatting, added paragraph breaks instead of wall-of-text :)",
"They have these contact lens you wear while you're sleeping and they change the shape of your eyes so you have better vision during the day. I don't know how well they work, never tried them.",
"Follow up question if anyone is willing to answer: I've been doing an experiment since about 3rd grade where I close my left eye whenever its bright out, and use my right eye for vision. Am I messing up or changing my vision in any way? ",
"_URL_0_\n\nI work for an optometry and one of the doctors practices ortho-k. It is an expensive method of vision correction but it can work depending on your prescription. \n",
"i'm practically blind in my left eye, and from the time i was 3 years old to about 8 they put a patch on my left eye so that my right would become stronger and pick up the slack. i can confidently say if i lost my left eye, i probably wouldn't notice much of a difference, but when i started the patching, my parents said it was like i couldn't see anything. i bumped into walls, held my hands out in front of me wherever i walked, etc.\n\nHowever, all of my Optometrists have told me past 8 years old, there's not much you can do, because you're past that critical period of brain development in relation to the eye, so i don't believe you can.",
"LASIK is totally worth it and life changing. Just make sure you get someone who knows what they are doing - if they don't check and verify your prescription three times before surgery day, run, don't walk away.",
"No, you cannot improve visual acuity, study after study has shown that. Sport/vision therapy can improve your visual efficiency, visual information processing ability (interpreting visual data), and hand-eye coordination. They cannot make things look less blurry however.",
"Read up on the use of pinhole glasses. There is some controversy about whether they can help train an eye to regain visual acuity. I Googled it and saw a wide variety of articles. You will have to make your own assessment about permanent corrections.\n\nI know from personal experience that using a set of pinhole glasses will allow me to read normal type if my regular glasses are not available. Without glasses I cannot make out the words of Explain Like I am Five on the top right corner of this page. I can be corrected to 20/20. With pinhole glasses I can cope with reading the screen and most computer stuff. I am not sure it works for distance vision- I have not tried it.",
"Unsatisfied customer here. I had laser surgery in one eye, and my vision in the untouched eye with a contact is better than the vision in the surgery eye. This is even more enormously true years later.\n\nI'm a special case because, well, camera 1, camera 2. Surgery eye, focus takes time. Contact lens eye, immediate focus and 20/15 vision.\n\nIf I could do it all again, I would suggest contacts for your life rather than surgery with further changes needed in a few years.\n\nOr maybe ask this specific question of the folks doing the laser surgery: what will give me the best absolute vision day and night: laser surgery or contacts. And after 10 years?\n",
"This made front page a few months ago.\n\nAn Optometrist discovered a method to improve vision permanently by %30 percent for people who used his software for hours a day for 3 months.\n\nA commenter put together a mockup of the program, I have kept a tab open on it since then. You are supposed to stare at the center while spotting the spots that appear and clicking on them as fast as possible. _URL_0_",
"Carrots, people. Everybody knows that. \n\nSource: my grandma",
"Has anyone tried the hard contact lenses ? That sounds a lot better than wearing them in the day"
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6cox5d | why do most people start to enjoy the taste of beer as they get older? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6cox5d/eli5_why_do_most_people_start_to_enjoy_the_taste/ | {
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"It doesn't necessarily have to do with age. The legal drinking age is higher in some countries, so this may contribute. Beer is an acquired taste, drink it enough and you will enjoy it more and more. Whether 15 or 45, it doesn't matter. ",
"Children are predisposed to prefer sweet, as it indicates sugar and therefore high energy to volume ratio. As we get older, we lose some of this drive for fast, powerful energy sources. We can tolerate more complex flavors, especially bitter like coffee or alcohol. \n\nPersonally, I think it also has to do with suffering hardship. A child may expend a lot of energy running around, but it is nothing like working a long day, sweating and hating the experience, and being acutely aware that putting yourself through such torture is necessary to not starve to death. A cold, bitter drink is refreshing in these circumstances.\n\nEdit- Jesus, this one got popular. \n\n1- I do not have a background in science, but my first statement is from memory on child psychology and anatomy/physiology courses in school. I was an art major and excellent at selecting classes that dropped my GPA while providing very little to my actual skill set. \n\n2- It has been mentioned below that children also love sour- I think it's the same reason- in nature, sour tends to be fruit, and fruit tends to have sugar and vitamins children crave. \n\n3- It has also been mentioned that bitter usually means poison in nature, and children tend to experience it more intensely to dissuade eating poison.\n\n4- I am not depressed, but I have been. I have been over educated and working in some deep hell pits. Double edit- this is not to brag. I have a degree. I have also worked in a place where my coworkers literally could not spell their two-letter gang sign. It was grim. I know that there are many in worse positions, and that made it worse to feel like a egotistical wuss FOR feeling that way on top of feeling that way. However, in that situation, cold bitter drinks helped \"shock\" the system, embracing the bitter and embracing my situation and being able to calm down. \n\n5- Some kids do manual labor. Some kids have a shitty lot. They don't like beer either. However, I don't think most children have the faculties to understand the gravity of many situations. Humans tend to have difficulty thinking to the future until their mid 20's. It's not just the labor itself, it's the \"oh my god, I might be doing this for the rest of my life. I might die here. I might never get to fulfill the dreams I have\" kind of thoughts that struggling adults have and children don't.\n\nFinal edit- this was not intended to be an all-inclusive answer. I don't think hardship is the ONLY reason to enjoy beer or other bitter drinks, but I do believe it is a factor. As mentioned, we have the physiological change to tastebuds, social pressure and the chemical aspect of alcohol as well.",
"When does this begin? I am twenty and I still dislike beer.",
"Read this article:\n_URL_0_\n\nBasically your taste buds, especially the ones which taste bitterness become less effective as you age. You can taste less and less of the bitterness of beer as you age. This is also the same reason that adults like the taste of brussel sprouts and broccoli while kids hate it.",
"Taste/smell are substantially about figuring out whether food and drink are good and full of energy, or bad and poisonous. From birth, sweet=calories=good, but infants in their first few months are pretty open to any flavor. Soon enough, though, they become more cautious, especially disliking bitter flavors. This persists for a long time, and varies genetically a bit, but sensitivity to bitterness seems to decrease in adulthood.\n\nRepeated exposure helps a lot. If it hasn't caused nausea or death after a few times, it's probably not poison. Initially, beer tastes bitter and alcoholic. With repeated consumption, both the alcohol and bitter hops become less prominent, while more pleasing sensations like yeast, sweet malt, or hop aroma become more apparent.\n\nFinally, there's probably some conditioning taking place. The first time one drinks beer, it tastes unpleasant. If one keeps drinking, however, it becomes associated with hydration, nutrition, and intoxication. A similar process may lead to coffee, initially quite strong and bitter-tasting, becoming associated with mild stimulation and therefore more pleasant.",
"I've heard children experience a keener since of bitterness that fades with age. perhaps that has something to do with it? also the side effect of getting wasted will tempt lots of people to suffer through many seemingly unpleasant things. ",
"As a kid grows older, he learns the euphoric feeling of a buzz through experimenting with beer, booze etc. It's not the taste they grow to like. It's the anticipation of the buzz which the brain translates into a pleasant taste. if there was no buzz involved, few people would pick beer, or any alcohol for that matter, to satisfy a thirst. That being said, I love beer for the reason stated. But if I'm extremely thirsty, a beer is the last thing I'd reach for.",
"Yes taste buds change as we age. But beer is classical conditioning, it's aquiried taste. We learn to associate the bitter taste with pleasant feelings. And thus we start to enjoy the bitter taste.\nSame with food poisoning, we associate whatever food we ate with unpleasant feelings, and people often tend to avoid whatever it is that they ate.",
"I've met several families that allow their kids a sip to simply satisfy the childrens' desire to do what the grownups are doing. Kids love it. Hardly an empirical review of taste impression paired to age but hey.",
"It's just prolonged exposure. I remember as kids we were all smoking and drinking beer trying to be more like adults and we all hated it, even though we would not admit so publicly.\nI gave up pretty soon and still can't stand beer, while most others learned to love it.\nEveryone probably has similar experiences. I also remember I hated coffee, but I loved the buzz it was giving me so bit by bit I started liking the taste as well.\n",
"Your tastes buds change, and because you drink beer because you want to get drunk, so if you drink it enough then eventually you'll start to like the taste because you'll associate the taste with the drunk feeling that you seek.",
"As you become more tolerant of the drug it has less of an unpleasant taste. People who associate drinking with fun are more likely to enjoy the taste. ",
"Young palates don’t like the bitterness of the hops.\n\nIf you want to go in further depth, bitter flavors are associated with chemicals called alkaloids. These occur in many plants and are often harmful if you eat enough of them so, naturally, we find the taste unpleasant. I am aware of two suggested evolutionary reasons why this aversion to bitterness is stronger in children than in adults.\n\nThe first is that alkaloids may be especially harmful to growing children. (This may also explain changes in the palate of pregnant mothers, as well as some of the features of morning sickness.)\n\nThe second is that, for children who lack the experience to know which vegetables are harmful and which are good to eat, an aversion to bitter flavours offers some measure of protection. But for adults, who already know which foods to avoid, it is better if they can eat bitter-tasting foods which they know are not harmful.",
"Because it gets you fucked up. The more you drink, the less you care about the flavor and that seems to go with most alcohols. At least that's how I feel. Beer used to make me gag almost every sip I took and now I throw em back like they're going to stop making them.",
"Because it tastes like forgetting about how your damn ingrate of a kid is asking for money again and you know he's just going to spend it on dope while your wife nags you to take her out on a date when all you want to do is read up on your god damn sports news and play some games because I'VE FUCKING EARNED IT!\n\n\n\n(And yes, if you're wondering, I'm just doing a bit)",
"Because as you get older, life gets harder. As life gets harder, you begin to appreciate the little things that make it temporarily easier. Beer is one of these things. When you are younger beer tastes gross, but then later on when life sucks more, your mind just ignores the taste, and even convinces you that it tastes good, because alcohol makes life a little better.",
"I can only speak for myself. For me, it was certainly an accustomed taste. The older you get, the more beer you drink so naturally your pallet will start to identify what beer taste good to you and what doesn't. I still hate IPA though and I don't think I'll ever like it.\n\nThat being said, I would say wine is the same way. I'm still working on making myself like it. Having a hard time with this one though.",
"People drink watered down beer that tastes \"sweet and wheat\" until it gets boring. They haven't had it before and the flavors are all different and very apparent, it seems strong. \n\nAfter a while they are conditioned to it, the same way many people first get into coffee with cream and lots of sugar, but progress to unsweetened black coffee. People willing to try find other beers that help them work their way to a pale ale or stout.",
"Well as most kids in the US are fed overly sugary drinks and so the taste preference starts there. Most beer does not have that taste and basically requires the individual to break with previous taste preferences. Quality beer is brewed with only natural ingredients that forego the sugars and the individual either gets enjoyment out of the blend of natural flavors or they stick to wine coolers and the such. Mostly it's an exposure to the new flavors that takes getting used to, just like the first time you had sour cream or something spicy.",
"Most people don't like it; it is an acquired taste. Just like I didn't like spinach when I was little, through repeated exposure you learn that its flavor is what it is supposed to taste like, and it stops tasting weird.\n\nHaving said that, I'm 53; I don't like beer. When I was in college and all my friends were drinking beer, I tried it too. The first few sips were OK, but then the taste was unpleasant and the only way to finish a bottle was through willpower.\n\nI realized that if I stuck with it and kept trying it over and over, I'd be likely to acquire a taste for it. But why? It has a large number of low quality calories, costs significant money, inhibits what activities I can do after drinking, and consuming it causes health risks.\n\nI was never a joiner so it didn't bother me go my own way, and I had cool friends who never pressured me into drinking.",
"I think it's a kind of Stockholm syndrome. I was never a fan of beer until I started taking the short tour everyday at the Coors Brewery while going to Colorado School of Mines. I didn't like the beer at first but it was free. Now I drink beer everyday",
"We would enjoy the taste of piss if it made life more bearable. Especially if you have teenage daughters. ",
"as my mom would always say, at least with coffee, \"it's an *acquired* taste.\"\n\ni'm personally meh on beer (and alcohol in general, tbh). i prefer cider. the older i get, it doesn't taste any better.\n\nsometimes on a hot day i think of a cold one and think, man that sounds refreshing. but i almost guarantee it's just tv ads subliminally destroying my brain, because say i end up getting an ice cold, fresh pilsner, from a frosty mug, poured ever so perfectly with a golden tinge of freshness and a frothy, creamy head....\n\nerrr where was i going there",
"B.A. in psychology with a study in neuroscience \n\nHere is an official scientific explanation, keeping it simple:\n\nThe taste of beer is not the only taste that becomes more enjoyable with growth. First of all, the gustatory cells that make up the tongue regenerate at a noticeably reduced rate in comparison to superficial damage to our epithelial skin. Thus, damage to the tongue can last a long time and has a good chance of being permanent. An example of someone who lost their taste as a result of cancer to the tongue is the famous cook Grant Achatz. If you look into his story, you will see he regained his taste, but it only came back after months.\n\nNow, with that in mind, consider the presence of taste receptors on the tongue. The distribution for every human being is going to be unique, but a common factor among children is that they have a larger amount of taste receptors that have been exposed to fewer toxins or damage. As a result, they can taste more intensely, and thus prefer sweets to bitterness. \n\nSo why do old people acquire a taste for beer? There's an old Slavic joke - Why does Vodka taste better the more you drink it? Because it burns your taste buds off. Joke aside, that is indeed what can happen. As we age, our taste receptors work less well and we taste certain flavors, such as bitterness, with reduced sensitivity. Of course, these changes are not generalized and there are many outliers, which is why some individuals may never acquire a taste for beer. Keep in mind though that taste is never pure and is always a complex sensation of mixed taste receptors being activated.\n\nSo, as we age, our tongue receptors change, and the way they change results in less sensitivity to bitterness, which enables us to appreciate the complexity in the flavors of beers more than being overloaded with the initial bitter taste. ",
"There was an /r/AskReddit question along the lines of \"How much beer would you drink if it had no effect on you?\" Answer: none. The taste isn't worth it. Other things are going on.",
"As you get older you realise life is pretty bitter so the beer tastes much sweeter in contrast; where as when your young you still have hope and see the world sweetly so the beer tastes bitter in comparison. ",
"People don't like beer. They drink it for the alcohol and the associated nostalgia. Period.\n\nProof: if beer tasted so fucking awesome, non-alcoholic beer would be served everywhere, and it would be consumed in at least the same quantities as decaf coffee. But it's not.\n",
"Tastes better once you've absolutely slaughtered (exhausted) yourself at work, psychoanalyse that?\n",
"Anecdotal, but a lot of comments seem to talk of this happening like it was to be expected for everyone. But I know a lot of people past their 20s who don't like or drink beer, but might still drink alcoholic beverages.\n\nI suppose that the theories about losing taste buds/starting to appreciate sweet edibles less might be the overriding reason in a fraction of cases, but I'd really be tempted to assume that beer is an acquired taste and intoxication is a huge part of it. You get drunk, you have fun, you had beer, your brain simplifies this all to beer - > fun.\n\nAs you drink more and more beer - be it because of social pressure or just because you like being drunk - you get used to the taste and start finding various more specific flavors from it.",
"I am reading Gulp by Mary Roach and in the book she describes how our taste in food is not our own. It is influenced by society just like everything else in life. If you are told this thing is so so bad, you will find it tastes bad. Same with good. You are bombarded with \"bear is good, bear is good, especially if you are a man, you love the taste of bear\" so you like it. \n\nPlus what other people have said about our taste changing with age and things.",
"It tasted quite disgusting to me when I was 9, but with every year passing by I became imune to the bad taste. It is a God's juice to me now. The potion of warriors. The water of a plantman. Liquid love. A glass of gold. Can of laugh. A barrel of friendship"
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1zlqhe | if you were to die in space, would you decompose or stay the same? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zlqhe/eli5_if_you_were_to_die_in_space_would_you/ | {
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"You would stay the same, because there are no microbes to make that process occur. The same is true for the people who will eventually go to Mars.\n\n",
"Decomposition occurs mostly due to microbes digesting your body. Reactions not coming from other organisms are minor and slow compared to active consumption.\n\nMicrobes used to Earth conditions will not survive in space very long. Very cold, lots of radiation, no oxygen. They'll be able to salvage a few joules and a few breaths from your body before you pass, but it won't last them very long.\n\nNow, there are extremophile bacteria that can survive radiation and low oxygen and crushing cold and all that. But, those won't be the ones that are living under your nails. Also, they likely won't have evolved to break down human flesh since human flesh doesn't usually exist under such extreme conditions.\n\nHere's what will happen: Very quickly, the gases in your body will evacuate through your not-sealed orfices (mouth, nose), and your not-quite-sealed orfices (tear ducts, etc). Fluids will follow shortly afterwards, because in a vacuum they will quickly evaporate and then go the same way as gases. Your remains will therefore be a dehydrated mummy. I don't think you'll shrivel up because there won't be air pressure to force you into a smaller configuration.\n\nYour body will retain heat for a while because vacuum does not conduct heat very well. You will lose it mostly to black-body radiation (like what you see with infrared goggles). By the time you're frozen, you'll have already lost your water so there won't be ice crystals or anything. Once you're cold, non-bacterial decay will be slowed down as well.\n\nSo basically you'll be preserved as a non-shriveled mummy.",
"Alright then here's a follow up question. If I managed to tie a metal string anchored to the earth with the other end holding my dead corpse in space, what would happen first: Would the earths rotation keep me spinning in orbit, or would the weight of the metal wire drag me back down to earth as it overpowers the outward speed of my velocity.\n\nJust asking so I can leave my corpse in space, but you know in the vicinity of our home planet so it stays safeish.",
"Apparently I'm the only one who is going to point this out......\n\nYes, everyone here is right that microbes will not be digesting you (for long), and yes, because all of your gases will evaporate off, you will become a space mummy.\n\nBut.\n\nYou will still, over a very long span of time, break down. Because of the constant bombardment by both locally produced radiation from the sun as well as cosmic rays, the proteins that hold your body together will be denatured and you will slowly, molecules and amino acids at a time, break down and be dispersed. ",
"And just for the record, if by \"space\" you mean a LEO like the ISS is in, your orbit will decay and you will be vaporized.\n\nThe gut bacteria and yeast thing has been explained; a little decomposing until the required oxygen, water and heat are gone from your body and thus the environment has killed those little critters as well.",
"The answer is likely you'd be freeze dried over the course of several weeks, and nearly all biological activity would cease. Freeze drying happens in high vacuum at low temperatures. If you died someplace in direct sunlight, the dessication process would be much faster, just a day or two. Your freeze dried corpse would be a mummy and would last a very very long time in orbit. If you were freeze dried slowly, your corpse wouldn't shrivel as the frozen structure of your body would stay the same. If the drying process goes too quickly though, the crystalline structure of your frozen corpse would collapse, and you'd end up looking shriveled like beef jerkey. Source: chemical engineer, done a lot of work with freeze drying.",
"you would turn into frozen beef jerky and last like that for a while. UV radiation will slowly decompose you and all plastics. around you into crumbling black dust. that dust cloud will mostly follow your tajectory.",
"You would desiccate and then be pulverized by micrometers, assuming you did not fall into an atmosphere and burn up from friction, or collide with something bigger that tore you apart. Essentially you would eventually turn to dust. ",
"I need a ELI5 just for the vacuum of space. Can't even comprehend it.",
"You would still decompose to an extent. Your body, particularly your gut, already has bacteria inside of it. \"Anaerobic\" bacteria (that is, bacteria that doesn't need oxygen to survive) can continue the process. However that will really only continue until the bacteria itself gets killed, either from the extremely freezing temps or the lack of pressure in space. ",
"Vsauce has a great video on this subject: \n\n_URL_0_\n\nEDIT: Skip to 8:42",
"It depends if your space suit had been breached. If you still had air you would be consumed by your own bacteria inside your suit. Kind of like a terrarium. But the radiation would probably kill most of the species except for the ones that could mutate quickly. Similar to what happened on Mir, it would grow super mold.\n\n If the suit had had a hole in it you would be rapidly dessicated by all your blood boiling away and then all the water in your body. You would be freeze dried and remain perfectly preserved forever except for the fact that your eyeballs, body, etc had previously exploded and had holes in them from the fluids which had suddenly become gases escaping. It all depends on how fast it occurred how much damage it would do to the shape,",
"You watched Gravity too? I had the same question during the movie.",
"Ama request George Clooney? He should know.\n",
"You ever see freeze-dried fruit?",
"gosh darn it, this shit is so fucking metal",
"Now I'm imagining creepy space mummies from people wanting to have their dead corpses shot into orbit as a kind of rich dude immortality. ",
"What happened here this got way way off topic",
"Dear scientists, you can shoot my body into space and monitor it's decomposition. \n\nEdit: MY DEAD BODY! MY DEAD BODY! ",
"Why did two people ask this exact same question in different subreddits at the same time?? ",
"wow......really interesting. i wonder if there's any dead people floating around out there that we don't know about? like secret government projects gone wrong?",
"Realistically, you'd probably just float around until a discreet and powerful multi-planetary enterprise picks up your corpse and painstakingly restores you to life, just in time to experience the worst video game ending of your entire life",
"Personally, I'd stay the same. I know its traditional to decompose, but I'm afraid of change.",
"Obligatory qoute from \"Gravity\"\n.\n.\n.\nHave not seen it just imagine a good one in the empty space I left.",
"Theoretically, you'd stay the same - seeing as how there's no oxygen or carbondioxide, you wouldn't be able to decompose.",
"You would freeze solid after a few minutes as most of space is closer to absolute zero than say, a warm day at the beach ",
"You'd be freeze dried frozen",
"You'd become a meat popcicle",
"Actual answer:\rAll your matter would stay together but eventually decompose by cosmic and electromagnetic rays. And I have no idea how exactly that kind of decomposing would leave you.",
"You would become an incubator for radiated microbes to become ever more powerful.\n\nKinda like the NASA experiemnt aboard the Atlantis, salmonella exposed to space radiation became more virulent.\n\nThen there was the problem in 2001 with Mir, they had a mould that after 15 years of cosmic radiation it had gotten so out of control that it is believed to be one of the main reason they crashed it back to earth.\n\nEDIT: So there is a chance you may be devoured by mould or bacteria if you were hosting any at the time."
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ccnn90 | how does an alternating current flow? if the electrons are constantly moving equidistantly forward and back, how is it travelling? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ccnn90/eli5_how_does_an_alternating_current_flow_if_the/ | {
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"Conceptually it is easier to think of current as \"flowing\" and use the analogy of water flowing in pipes to visualize what is going on. But, as you say, there is nothing truly analogous to a \"flow\". \n\nThink of throwing a rock into a pond, you see ripples forming and spreading on the surface but there is no actual water flowing in those ripples. It is the wave that is propagating through the pond surface, the individual water molecules are mostly moving up and down.\n\nSound is another example. When you hear a sound, it isn't a flowing of some \"sound particle\" or air molecules from the source to your ear. The sound energy is transmitted via a compression wave in the air with the air molecules mostly vibrating back and forth carrying energy to your ear.",
"They do, but they don't really 'flow' in the way you think, the water flowing is a fairly poor analogy because it sets up our minds to think of electrons as if they are H20 molecules, but at the scale we are talking about electrons act nothing like liquid water. \n\n [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) \n\nThey 'move' at about 1.2 inches a minute! So precious little of the actual power is done by the 'flow' of electrons. It is probably more accurate to think of the flow of electrons as a gradiant where when voltage applies the free electrons tend to move in the direction the voltage has been applied. Importantly, this is 'free' electrons, not the electrons that actually comprise the atoms of the conductor. The atoms in a metallic structure are packed closely enough that free electrons can gradiate through them, as they move along the medium they bump into the atoms of the metal constantly."
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72vo1t | why can't customer service go directly to a person? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/72vo1t/eli5_why_cant_customer_service_go_directly_to_a/ | {
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"It's not difficult, but it's really expensive. Humans require a wage, require office space in a populated area, require benefits and so on and computers don't. So having a computer route you to the right place to begin with and leaving the human for the parts that only a human can do saves the company a lot of money."
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33zfta | why is korea's english name korea if its korean name is hanguk? (in other words, where did the name come from?) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33zfta/eli5_why_is_koreas_english_name_korea_if_its/ | {
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"It came from the country that predated modern Korea, which is \"Goryeo\". Western explorers transcribed the name from the Chinese.\n\nGoryeo to the western ear sounds exactly like Korea.\n\nedit: Also, hanguk is *south* Korea, and entirely new. Korea in the 1900's was \"Joseon\", which is what North Korea calls itself today.",
"Why do we call deutschland \"germany,\" hindustan \"india,\" or nippon \"japan?\" It's called an exonym.\n\nThere are many examples at _URL_0_"
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9npns5 | what is yeast and how do we use it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9npns5/eli5_what_is_yeast_and_how_do_we_use_it/ | {
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"Yeast is a single celled organism that eats sugar and excretes alcohol and carbon dioxide. The CO2 is useful for making bread dough rise, and the booze is useful for getting drunk. "
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fslpiq | what causes that buzz sound when a mic is close to it's speaker? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fslpiq/eli5_what_causes_that_buzz_sound_when_a_mic_is/ | {
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"The sound coming out of the speakers is fed back into the microphone, then out of the speakers again and so on.",
"Why is it so high pitched?"
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3tsvmi | do smarter people have deeper morals, or the opposite? | As I am half-ass following the upcoming elections, I wonder if a study has ever been conducted... | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tsvmi/eli5_do_smarter_people_have_deeper_morals_or_the/ | {
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"More intelligent people may think more about their morals, rather than take someone else's word for it. That might make them deeper, or not, depending on how and what they think.",
"No study has been conducted to your exact topic as it is very difficult to define morals in the first place.\n\nI do not have an exact answer to this, but maybe I can offer some insights.\n\nBut there is a general correlation of intelligence and lies. A more intelligent person can use lies to effectively control the actions or thoughts of others.\n\nPeople who have very rigid sense of morality are usually less intelligent than those who can adapt to changing moral environment. \n\nIf we were to explain this evolutionarily then we may surmise that if a person is immoral(or at loggerheads with the society), then he needs to be of higher intelligence to be able to survive. Because as it is, the society is against him and he needs some kind of a decisive advantage to get ahead of the game.",
"There isn't much of a correlation between intelligence and morals. Someone who has never learned to read or count can be moral, and a highly educated person can have no morals whatsoever.\nAn educated person can probably do a good job of convincing you that they are moral, but that doesn't make it true.",
"I move around highly intelligent people very often and the rule is that generally every intelligent person questions morals, but it doesn't mean that all of them have deeper morals. You usually encounter 2 polar opposites - some people believe that morals are just a bullshit created by society that shouldn't be followed and that everyone should act out of selfishness. Then there's the other group that thinks it's important for everyone to have strong morals and send out only positive energy. I speak from experience, don't know if there were any studies done on this subject.",
"I personally find it helpful to separate Morals from Ethics. The two topics are strongly interconnected, to the point where definitions become confused. The way I understand it, Morals are imposed from \"above\" (however you define \"above\"), which Ethics evolved naturally from human experience, \"bottom-up\". \n\nFor example, medical ethics were not imposed by any government: Hippocrates was a doctor and his \"Hippocratic Oath\" codified what was already felt by doctors in general. Ditto for legal ethics, which are by lawyers and for lawyers. Contrast that with religious morals, which are always imposed by religious leaders, who aren't always as conscientious about observing those morals themselves. ",
"The hard part about answering this question is trying to quantify morals.\n\nWhen you are dumb being moral is easy enough. You do what you are told is the right and good thing to do by someone you trust to know more about that sort of thing than you do.\n\nSmarter people often have to come up with their own ideas of what is right and wrong and they can be different from what everyone else thinks is right.\n\nThere do not appear universally applicable concepts of good and evil and right or wrong. So morals are hard to measure.\n\nIt also depends a lot on how much emphasis you have on doing the right thing for the right reason.\n\nEveryone can get this whole 'right thing to do' right by accident and everyone can get it wrong by mistake, but to really come across the right thing to do for the right reason takes someone who successfully has given the business a bit of thought.\n\nFor a normal person who follows the laws being smart might not be a big advantage, but for someone who is supposed to be a leader who makes the laws being smart might be a better choice."
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2gria3 | why does feeling lonely make you want to spend more time alone? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gria3/eli5_why_does_feeling_lonely_make_you_want_to/ | {
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"When I am lonely I get really sad. And when I am sad I feel worthless. When I feel worthless I believe that I actually am worthless and do not want to bother others with my time. \n\nAlso when I am sad I feel numb and that results reckless behavior to feel anything at all. But that's a whole different can of worms. ",
"Different reasons for different people. It's often related to the relationship between feeling \"lonely\" and feeling \"down\", and the latter skewing with rational thought.\n\nSome could be convincing themselves that it's the normal state of affairs and is to be strived for. They would rather accept the loneliness and want it to continue by staying alone than they would invest in trying to change it. \n\nSome are actually depressed, either temporarily or clinically, and are in a spiral. In the same way people can get wound up thinking about problems until those problems are huge to them and they're in a tizzy, people can wind themselves around the concept of being lonely to the point where they actively pursue the emotion, deliberately or not. \n\nSometimes there's a self-pity or masochistic element to it, not kidding. Some people just *want* to feel bad. \n\nAnd some can't either work up the courage to change it, or are just afraid of the alternative. \"I might get rejected. I better stay here. Yes, this is better. Less potential pain when the relationship goes south like the last one did.\" \n\nAnd I'm sure there's other reasons but this is a starting inventory of some of 'em.",
"I'd rephrase your question, because this is the case for you. But it doesn't make \"you\", as in everyone else, want to spend more time alone. For me it's the complete opposite - I just want to get out and talk to people.",
"The mind tends to work in positive feedback. When you are in a mood, you tend to get more into the mood. It takes conscious effort or something new taking your attention to change moods.",
"Maybe it's the subconscious brain trying to protect the conscious brain. By putting yourself in the situation where you are alone, you have somewhat controlled the situation therefore, are less likely to feel like a third party has declined your company for something negative to do with you.\n\nI'm no psychologist but I have experienced depression from both sides of the coin. Judging from numerous documentaries I have learned that our brain does a lot of work behind the scenes to try and protect our waking mental state. Maybe that has something to do with it?\n\nEDIT: Grammar, as always.",
"Its an evolutionary trait. When we're feeling lonely, we experience a heightened sensitivity to danger and threats in a social context. \n\nThe reaction that makes us want to spend extended time alone is called \"preventative rejection\", and in theory is protecting us from further rejection and negative interactions with others. \n\nThis allows us to minimize the damage from any negative interactions that might have caused the loneliness to begin with, but in the long term leads to potentially self-defeating feelings of hostility, fault finding, and self blame (as seen in almost every other comment on your post!)\n\nEDIT: grammar\nEDIT 2: WOW! Thank you beautiful strangers for the gold - I'm glad that my response was helpful to so many; I've received a ton of messages asking further questions, please feel free to keep it up!",
"I think loneliness stems from sadness. You can have your friends around, but if you are sad, you still feel lonely. \n \nwhen Im sad, I don't want to see anyone. \n when I don't see anyone, I start to get lonely. \nwhen I'm lonely, I'm sad. \nrepeat. ",
"Loneliness makes you feel bad. In a lot of ways, your body treats emotional distress similarly to actual physical injury. The obvious strategy for injured animals is to take shelter in a safe place and hide out as much as is feasible until you feel better. Feedback loop ensues.",
"right now is the loneliest i've ever been. my former really good friend went behind my back and started fucking my ex only a month after we broke up… they waited another month to tell me. it's been three weeks since then and i'm stuck in the worst rut of my entire life. he doesn't give a fuck about our friendship at all, and told me there was no hesitation in what he did. she's \"the happiest she's ever been.\" feel like a prisoner serving time for a crime i didn't even commit.\n\ni wish i had a way to feel better, but my mind just won't let me try anything. i can think of a thousand things i should be doing, but i just physically can't do any of them. i force myself to put them off and just give in to feeling like shit, and i sit in my bedroom all day when i should be working and fucking living my life. it's depressing. idek why i'm tying this, but i guess i'll just leave it here. surely some of you know what it's like… right?",
"Because you start believing lies about yourself when you're in a state like that. \n\nIn my opinion this is totally similar to depression. People feel lonely. People have this desire inside (i believe all of us) to be loved, felt loved and appreciated and valued. Purpose. When we don't receive that, or we feel sad, our minds start throwing things at us. Almost like our mind kicks us when we are down. You start having thoughts like \"I am worthless\", or \"No body cares about me\", and \"I will never be better\". The problem is that we sometimes will actually *believe* those things. When those thoughts become solidified as a belief, then it can manifest in various forms, even physically with sickness. \n\nSo I believe when you're in the mental state where you are feeling sad and blue, your mind comes up with all the reasons you are not loved, not special, and due to us being in a vulnerable mental state, we believe all the negative things, making us spiral even deeper into it. \n\nMaybe. ",
"With me, it is embracing my own company. If no one wanna fuck wit you, you ain't wanna fuck wit em either.",
"Nothing confirms my feelings of alienation like being somewhere and seeing people connecting Or rather, I do but it requires so much effort. And it sucks to try to connect without feeling apart at best or judged at worst.\n\nSo it's easier to be alone.\n",
"/u/Causes_arguments pretty much knocks it out of the park. So just some encouragement from me.\n\nAll sad people in this thread... I give you internet *hugs*! The cycle can be broken, it's really hard but the first step is believing in you! Start small, set seemingly insignificant goals. Even if it's just showering daily or doing 10 pushups in the morning and/or evening. Play with your dog for 30 minutes a day or w/e. Do it **everyday**! Then after a few weeks make a slightly harder goal and do it, do it no matter what. There is no \"too tired\" or \"too sad\" or any other variation. In the end it falls to you, if you can't believe in yourself then no one else is going to be able to. Stay strong my fellow Redditors. You CAN do it!",
"Cycle of depression. You know you need to get out and stop drinking alone, but that's way too much work. And fuck it. People don't like you anyway. ",
"**Fear of rejection**. When you feel lonely you subconsciously assume it's because no one wants to be around you. So in order to protect yourself from further rejection you disengage from the people you care about. \n\nNow this fear of rejection isn't like the fear of asking someone out and they say no, it's the absolute dread that after someone gets to know you on an intimate level they'll realize they hate your true self and reject you as a person, which results in your own self loathing. \n\nDepression's a bitch...\n\n(Source: Diagnosed depression and social-anxiety)",
"Well I think it's because most human beings are shit. Why do you think you are lonely in the first place? Because you are shy? No it's because people have fucked with you and made you wary of them. And you should be wary of them. The human being is the most dangerous thing on planet earth to another human being. \n\nYour feelings do you credit. I hope you can find the 1 or 2 decent humans in your area and form some friendships. But in reality, most of the people who live near you will be shit and not worth knowing in the first place.",
"When we feel \"depressed\" or \"down\" we are at a point where we simply do not have the energy to fake a cheerful or happy personality. We know that in the presence of friends, we will still be focused on the depression (whether it be temporary or not), and constantly distracted by it. For me, if I find myself at a place where I believe everything is going wrong I imagine the worst and take the negative feeling to the extreme. Instead of trying to close off that path from my mind, I take it to the end (only mentally) and this is a easy way to minimize the importance of my situation or recent events. ",
"For people who struggle with long term depression, which can accompany loneliness, your brain can actually undergo physical changes that inhibit your ability to feel normal. In a BBC Documentary (linked below), the hippocampus actually shrinks in people who are depressed, making it harder to feel happy and positive about yourself. Only after some sort of therapy or serious commitment to giving yourself a chance to be positive or invest yourself into people/hobbies/work/etc for a long period of time, does the size of the hippocampus restore itself to normal size and function.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Currently on the down-side of the cycle of life right now. I haven't wanted to go out or do anything for weeks. Doesn't help that I just lost my job, but as it stands, going out and having \"fun\" seems like it would be anything but.\n\nI've been here before, feeling worthless that is. It'll pass. Things seem to suck less over time. The best thing you can do is just throw it away. You're a human being, and as such, you are capable of brilliant and amazing things. If we are all candles, you are hogging your light for yourself. We burn brighter together, and nobody on Earth is truly alone.\n\nDo whatever it is you love until it kills you. We're all gonna' die anyway.",
"I always read this when I feel lonely! It never fails to help!! (At least read the last 3 paragraphs about laughter)\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThat being said I do the exact same thing- I'll be lonely, so I then make big life decisions that make me even more isolated...ah well! ",
"I feel lonley because I dont like like being around people who are fake how happy they are but show their real selves when they get angry or are involved in any argument. \n\nI also dont like being around groups of people where one person is an exreme asshole and for some reason becomes acceptable for people to follow suit and go along with the douchebaggery. Maybe in hopes to be accepted by the the asshole . ",
"what i want to know is when i am feeling sad and alone, i feel like listening to sad and depressing music. ",
"When I'm alone I find myself more engaged with the things I'm interested in. As an introvert the cycle is far more forgiving.\n\nYou spend some time alone, you get a bit lonely, then you realise you're enjoying what you're doing and not putting on any kind of facade to fit in or feel comfortable so you've got a lot more energy to get on with things.\n\nLoneliness always breeds a desire to be alone, one way or another, for some it's a positive but I would guess the majority don't much care for it.",
"This thread has been locked because many of the comments were breaking the rules. Specifically, many comments were anecdotes of how the commenter dealt with their loneliness; while relevant, these types of comments that do not answer the question are not suitable for ELI5."
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49qsmi | why do some people get numerous jury summons, while others don't? what's the system exactly? | I'm on my 4th jury summons. My husband has never even had one. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/49qsmi/eli5_why_do_some_people_get_numerous_jury_summons/ | {
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"It's pretty much random though it varies a bit from place to place. Sounds like he has just lucked out and never been selected.",
"It is essentially a random selection from the local population of eligible jurors. This list is built from various sources of information (it varies by jurisdiction), such as driver's license records and voting rolls.",
"I did an article on that very subject after going to jury duty and meeting many people who, like you, were there for the 4th, 5th and 6th time. The jury pool on that day was also glaringly white in a county that has a 40% minority population. \n\nSo I did some digging and discovered that, in our county, we have a 66% no show rate. And further discovered that our county clerk doesn't understand the difference between a random sample and a representative sample. What it means is the same people keep getting called because the county has to summon hundreds more than they need to account for the no show rate. And the responsible people, the ones who bother to show up, are appearing statistically more often than random chance can explain. \n\nWhen it comes to you and your husband, it depends on what criteria your county uses for its \"random\" selection. It's probably just luck of the draw and, eventually, the odds will catch up to him. Or maybe the county skews their \"random\" sample in such a way that your number comes up more often. \n\nMy conclusion in the article was that the jury selection process is hopelessly archaic and in desperate need of reform. The whole concept of a \"jury of your peers\" is pretty much a joke. ",
"In Oklahoma, it is triggered by getting a driver's license. After mine was suspended, when I got a new one, jury summons in less than 6 months.",
"In my state, they use drivers licenses and state tax returns as the basis for the pool. If you have a license and a tax return on file, you may get a summons as often as once per year. ",
"I got one when I was 18 - and didn't get one again till last year when I was 33. \n\nI was working out of state at the time and only home once every 2 months basically, so I called and told them, and they said they would reschedule it.... of course I was out of town for work again. \n\nI feel kinda bad - but seriously when I was 1200 miles away from home, wtf do they expect me to do? I don't have someone to check my mail. \n\nI've heard the horror stories about ignoring it, but it's been almost a year since I said \"Fuck it\" and nothing bad has happened. \n\n"
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4vvjqv | why do world records get broken more often at the olympic games? shouldn't they have a roughly equal chance of being broken during any of the events in between? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vvjqv/eli5_why_do_world_records_get_broken_more_often/ | {
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"I assume it's due to the athletes basing their training/drug routines around being at peak performance for the olympics, being as it's the pinnacle of sport (allegedly) and as such everything else is just getting too the olympics, less risks taken, less 'desire' however you want to quantify it.",
"One way isn't actually by breaking the record, it's by presenting an alternate set of records as \"Olympic Records\". This artificially increases the importance of events where you can break the actual \"World Record\", but also the \"Olympic Record\", if it's weaker.\n\nThis gives the impression that there are more record-setting performances than there actually are.\n\nAnd yes, since the Olympics are considered the biggest competition in many sports, athletes would prepare to be in top fitness for that competition. So an athlete may train with the intent to 'peak' at the Olympics, rather than saving their best effort for a sparsely promoted 'tune up' competition.\n",
"I seem to recall an interview with a track and field athlete, saying the track felt 'faster' because it was new and in pristine condition. Running racks that have been down longer develop slight undulations, wear and tear. For elite athletes, I suppose this could mean a difference of a couple of tenths/sec, which given all other things being equal would make the difference between a new track laid specifically for the olympics and a older one.",
"* all the top athletes will try to make the Olympics...they make skip events in between\n* some of those events are used to qualify for the games, so top athletes are more conservative to ensure they get in\n* some athletes, like Usain Bolt, want the prestige of setting the record in the Olympics, and hold back a little\n* make athletes have training cycles designed to peak during a big competition...they push their bodies a little harder before, and recover after...this is especially true for events with weight classes\n* some use lesser events to experiment with new techniques\n"
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a0uoko | how do antibiotics know where to specifically target? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a0uoko/eli5_how_do_antibiotics_know_where_to/ | {
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"they don’t... antibiotics kill ALL the bacteria in your body which is how they fight off infections. they’re awful for you bc they kill the good bacteria too. \n\nsince an infection is usually what you’re treating which has a lot of bad bacteria, you will be prescribed antibiotics which kill everything in their path and therefore also the bacteria causing whatever infection you have.",
"The antibiotics is not targeting anything. However it is the bacteria which is affected by the antibiotics. Similar to how a virus does not target unvaccinated people but targets everyone however vaccinated people are immune. Antibiotics is poisons for bacteria but not for humans. So if you take antibiotics it will target all cells it gets in contact with but only the bacteria will be affected by it. There are also different antibiotics which can be more or less effective against certain strands of bacteria. It is also possible to somewhat target the antibiotics to a physical area of your body through the different ways to administer it. This is why you might apply antibiotic creams directly to an infected area instead of taking a pill or a shot.",
"Heads up; bit longer response. I think it's worth reading. Adding to the other comments (which nail it; antibiotics don't target, they just \"randomly\" work), let me offer a metaphor: a key and a hallway of locked doors.\n\nYou walk down the hallway, trying to put the key into every lock. Most of them don't work. Some may get close (fit into the lock but can't turn it) and some don't (can't even get into the keyhole). But that key eventually opens ONE of those doors and you walk in. You wouldn't say you \"targeted\" that door; you merely found through trial and error where that key fit. But to an outside observer who is only watching the \"inside\" of the doors, you open the right door and walk in. Sure seems like you targeted that door because the observer didn't see you try all the others. That's like us with watching antibiotics work: we only see the door opening (the bacteria and symptoms going away) without seeing the process.\n\nBack to the real example, the key and lock metaphor is actually pretty relevant. Protein chemistry works in a similar way: proteins interact by fitting together JUUUUST right. When they do, this combined protein changes its shape a little bit. This change lets it interact with OTHER proteins, and so on and so forth. So the antibiotic molecules are inside your body, bouncing around and bumping into every cell there. But the antibiotic's \"key\" isn't the right shape for human cells' \"locks\" so it doesn't do anything. But it DOES fit the bacteria's locks. \n\nNote: sometimes the \"locks\" on some human cells are close enough that antibiotics, like Penicillin, can react. Penicillin causes the breakdown of \"cell walls\" leading to cell death. Since human cells don't have \"cell walls\" (a specific structure, different from cell membranes), penicillin doesn't outright kill these human cells like bacteria. But it can cause allergies and other side effects because it is \"opening a door\" that isn't supposed to be opened at that moment. Going back to the analogy from above, it'd be like opening a door while you're running an air conditioner: all the cool air leaks out, the AC has to run harder, the room feels warmer, you use up more power that you pay for, etc.\n\nI hope this answered your question! If if did (or didn't!) let me know if something was helpful or unhelpful so I can improve the answers I give on this sub. Feel free to ask more questions by reply or direct message.",
"There's a netional geography documentry on how penicillin was invented,i recommend you to watch it"
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1qidia | the path to amd's failure and success throughout the years. | I read on another thread in another subreddit that AMD used to be considered one of the most powerful processor manufacturer and has developed the most innovations yet now they are significantly slower than comparable priced intel processors. I already searched this subreddit and I could only find AMD vs. Intel not really a path for what AMD's successes and failures have contributed to this problem. I have decent understanding of cpu technologies so I want to hear the whole story if possible. Thank you! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qidia/eli5_the_path_to_amds_failure_and_success/ | {
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"Im going to make this super simple, not because i think you wouldn't understand if i wouldn't simplify it, but rather so that people that don't know a lot about cpu's can read it as well,\n\nTo explain why AMD is failing to keep up i first need to explain the basics of processors, you may have heard of the term CPU die, you may have seen a processor, it is a slab of plastic with a little square chip on it, the little chip is the cpu, if you were to take the cover off the cpu you would see a tiny computer circuit, this circuit is know as the die and is what all the cpu parts are attached to, this is where all cpu cores, integrated graphics card, and cpu cache is, how all these parts are arranged and how the insides of all of those things are arranged and how everything is connected on the die is know as an CPU architecture\n\nthen there are cpu cores, data is sent to cpu via the little pins on the bottom of the cpu, the cpu then takes the data and splits into a few parts, sometimes they don't split it , and sometimes they split it into parts that are equal to the number of cores you have, after the data has been split or not split it is sent to the cores, the core is where data is processed, it is basically a factory, taking raw materials and making something out of them,\n\nThe raw processing power of a cpu is measured in clock speed, or how many Ticks a processor takes, processors don't work non stop, rather that work in Ticks, you can think of them like how humans walk, we don't float forward in exactly the same speed all the time, instead we take steps, and when we step forward we move forward, and after we finish a step we then have there is a tiny delay before we take another step, How many steps a processor takes is measured in Hertz, nowadays our processors are running in giga hertz, for example my old i3 is running at 2.9 giga hertz that is, it takes 2900000000 steps every second, increasing the amount of steps a processor takes is known as over clocking\n\nBack in the day we only had single core processor, this is where AMD really shined, although intel was still selling more processors, AMD was kicking Intel's ass when it came to gaming performance, AMD did it better, and they did it cheaper, they were able to run their processor on far higher clock speeds, however we eventually reached a point where we started struggling to get more performance out of single core processors, Intel and AMD both realised that the future lies in Multi core processors, What we started doing is that we were putting more cores on the die, This is where AMD started going downhill\n\nIntel's dual core processors were a smash hit, Running efficiently and fast, Intel quickly became the go to for all hard core computing,\nMeanwhile AMD's processor cores were still running on higher clock speeds, which they still do to this day, however, AMD wasn't able to get that same efficiency as intel was able to get, Intel's superior efficiency is why Intel processors can process data faster than AMD, even though Most Intel processors run half the cores of there AMD counterparts and at significantly slower clock speeds\n\nwhere AMD fails is how much there processors core can do in each tick, although they can take more steps than intel, intel takes far bigger steps, AMD banked on high clock speeds and more cores to win the fight against intel, while intel banked on better architecture to process data more efficiently then AMD, And as it turned out, efficiency is where better performance lies, AMD still hasn't tried anything major to try to make there architecture's more efficient, they are still relying on brute force to try to win the fight, this tactic may very well work out in the future, but right now, Intel is the king of Processing power,\n\nWe may very well see AMD drop out of the processor race and focus exclusively on there graphics cards, for AMD has been losing money for a while, although they have recently started profiting again, which is a great thing, some Intel fanboys seem to WANT AMD to go bankrupt, which would be devastating, since AMD is Intel and Nvidia's only compition,\n\nWhat ever happens, I'm exited to see what AMD and Intel have in store for us, whatever it is, Computers are getting more and more powerful, and the futures of computing is looking brighter than ever"
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29ylfg | why is the tour de france in yorkshire? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29ylfg/eli5_why_is_the_tour_de_france_in_yorkshire/ | {
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"They always like to start in a different place. The tour will progress to France later and finishes in Paris ",
"To keep things interesting.",
"Money. Places bid to host the start of the tour, they get tourism and the tour gets paid + exposure and interest.",
"The Tour de France is the most important cycling race of the year. It initially became that by paying out a lot of prize money. Starting in other countries has become a way to keep that position and increase awareness of the race. It's their way of solidifying their position of the de facto world championship of cycling. They'd probably have starts all around the world if transportation wasn't an issue. "
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8waol5 | how are grass and plants able to stand on their own? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8waol5/eli5_how_are_grass_and_plants_able_to_stand_on/ | {
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"Root systems! Aside from collecting water and nutrients from the soil, roots also act as an anchor holding the plant in place so it won't fall over. ",
"It’s called Turgor pressure. It’s the natural “hydraulics” of the plant world. That’s why plants wilt without water but once you water them they straighten up."
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83bdgj | what are the differences between the voyager spacecraft and other spacecraft? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/83bdgj/eli5_what_are_the_differences_between_the_voyager/ | {
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"None, they are old but robustly built. Their capabilities equivalent to today’s satellite probes as a Model T is to a Prius. As it is some of the instruments have stopped functioning and others have been shut off to save power. ",
"This is really way too broad of a question to answer. What other spacecraft? They're all different. Are you asking about spacecraft made in the same era or recent ones? Are you asking about comparing the Voyagers to Earth-orbiting satellites to planetary exploration satellites? Or both? We really need more to go on."
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2qxsaa | why does heat take just seconds to damage your body, but cool takes minutes/hours to damage your body? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2qxsaa/eli5_why_does_heat_take_just_seconds_to_damage/ | {
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"Look at it like a phone and charger. If you put a load of energy into the phone (more than it's rated for), it'll do serious damage almost immediately. If you use an underrated charger, it'll put only a little energy in, but the phone will use more than it's getting and eventually die. \n\nHeat is just a form of energy, and your body needs just a certain amount. Too much and it'll damage you, quickly. Too little and eventually, when demand outstrips supply, it'll start to die.",
"You don't usually come in contact with anything dangerously cold. If you get very cold substance like liquid nitrogen on your skin you can get equally serious burn. ",
"You're talking about 2 completely different things. The \"cool\" you are referring to is freezing temperatures(around 32 degrees fahrenheit or 0 degrees Celsius). You have to keep in mind that burns come from touching something that is EXTREMELEY hot (I mean hundreds of degrees fahrenheit). This heat, relative to room temperature, is much higher than the cold is relative to room temperature. \n\nIf you took something like liquid nitrogen (-346 degrees fahrenheit) and poured it on your hand, you would actually get a frost burn. ",
"Both can be equally damaging equally quickly, the only difference is the direction energy is flowing.\n\nIn the case of extreme heat (i.e. a red-hot piece of metal on your skin), energy is entering your body at a single point very quickly. This spike in energy causes proteins to denature and matter in your skin at that point to change phases (i.e. solid - > liquid - > gas). This disrupts biological processes and kills your cells. The spike in energy can also catalyze chemical reactions with the air around your body such as oxidation (burning).\n\nIn the case of extreme cold (i.e. liquid nitrogen on your skin), energy is leaving your body at a single point very quickly. This negative spike in energy causes matter in your skin at that point to change phases (i.e. gas - > liquid - > solid) which disrupts biological processes and kills your cells.",
"When we think of something hot like boiling water damaging our body, it's 212 F. Ice isn't the opposite of boiling water temperature wise (not -212 F). So the kind of cold we think about, ice, winter wind, isn't as extreme as boiling water. We're just not exposed to stuff that cold on a day to day basis. Even the most extreme cold temperatures on Earth aren't -212 F. But if you do come into contact with something that cold, it will definitely damage your body quickly. \n\n",
"Touch something 150degrees ovrr your body temp, and something 150 under. Both will harm you, probably equally fast if it's the same material."
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||
1p7ye5 | why do video games require more gpu power to to display at higher resolutions? | From my understanding, geometry, textures, lighting, and post-processing are the biggest factors when it comes to framerate performance in games. Because geometry is rendered as vectors, why does rendering at higher resolutions require so much GPU power?
Shouldn't it just be a limitation of the throughput between the video card and the display? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1p7ye5/eli5_why_do_video_games_require_more_gpu_power_to/ | {
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"You are half right. Some of the initial work carried out by the GPU, specifically the geometry transformations, are in vector form and these are largely resolution agnostic.\n\nHowever, the main bulk of the work carried out by the GPU is *rasterization*. Rasterization is the process of taking the 3-d geometry and turning it into a format that can be displayed on a computer monitor - a bunch of little dots (pixels). Specifically it is the process by which the exact color of each pixel is determined. This is slower for higher resolutions because there are more pixels, all of which have to be processed. \n\nSmall computer programs that run on the GPU, called pixel shaders, are responsible for augmenting the rasterization process in games. As these operate on the pixels directly (and a modern title can utilize hundreds of shaders) more pixels equals more processing power required to execute the shaders.\n\nHope that helps.",
"Your GPU is doing two kinds of work - per-vertex work, and per-pixel work.\n\nPer-vertex work is something that it does for, well, every vertex. These days it pretty much amounts to taking position of the vertex in 3d and determining where it ends up on screen based on the shape of the model, the position of the camera, the current frame of the animation, etc. So, per-vertex work is pretty much just this plus some extra minor stuff.\n\nPer-pixel work is something you do for every pixel. Like you correctly said in your question, in modern games, this involves figuring out the color with which to paint the pixel based on lighting, textures, and things like this. Given how visually rich and complex modern video games are, this is actually a lot of work (way more than the amount of per-vertex work), and the GPU is doing it for a lot of pixels! On top of this, most games have so called full-screen effects, such as blur, depth of field, etc., and shadows, which are calculated per-pixel as well. Multi-sampled antialiasing, a.k.a. MSAA, which makes edges look less jagged, works by painting, say, 4 tiny pixels (subpixels) and then blurring them out to show just one displayed pixel.\n\nSo, more pixels = more hard work. More vertices = also more work, but it is not as hard.\n\nOlder computers and graphics cards had hardware dedicated specifically to vertex or pixel work. For instance, PlayStation 2 has VU1 that does the per-vertex work, and GS that does per-pixel work. VU1 can't really do per-pixel work, and GS can't do per-vertex work. This was a less than ideal situation, because game developers had to be very careful and watch out for multiple bottlenecks. If you had too many vertices in the game, you couldn't really compensate for it by lowering the resolution or having less lights. So, if you have a very old videocard, increasing or lowering the screen resolution won't matter at all up until a certain point if the slowest part is the per-vertex work.\n\nModern graphics video cards (as well as PS3 and X360) have something that's called unified shaders. This means that there's only one kind of hardware that can do both per-pixel or per-vertex work, and it can auto-balance itself. This helps a little bit with running at high resolutions because more resources will get allocated to drawing pixels, but still, eventually, when your resolution and MSAA settings get high enough so that the hardware needs to do more per-pixel work than it can handle, the FPS will drop.\n\nYou're right to mention the throughput between the videocard and the display. There's hardware that scans the entire framebuffer and sends it to the display. However, it is a special and stand-alone piece of hardware that works in the background, and it adds very little load on GPU compared to calculating the lighting and doing all that other per-pixel work.\n\nI hope this helps!\n"
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5ydc8g | if metals don't form molecular bonds, how do alloys work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ydc8g/eli5_if_metals_dont_form_molecular_bonds_how_do/ | {
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"Alloys work when the metals fill in the gaps between each other. There won't be a copper/iron bond in copper/iron alloy, but there will be copper and iron mixed around very thoroughly in a copper/iron alloy.",
"Metals absolutely form molecular bonds. They have their own category of bond called [metallic bonds](_URL_0_). Basically the positive metallic ions arrange in a crystal lattice, and all the electrons flow freely between all the nuclei in what's known as a \"sea of electrons\".\n\nThe lattice of cations can be made of a single metal, or it can be multiple. An alloy can be a mixture of two different metal lattices smushed, sandwiched, or otherwise mixed together. Or it can be a legitimate solution, with cations from both metals forming one continuous lattice."
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c2m3ds | what's the difference between rj-45, cat5, cat6, and ethernet cables? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c2m3ds/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_rj45_cat5_cat6/ | {
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"Ethernet cables are just a catch all term for eight-wire cables. They can be CAT5, CAT5e, CAT6, even CAT7.\n\nCAT5/CAT5e/CAT6/etc. is a designation for the type of wire used in the cable, with higher numbers capable of handling higher speed with less interference issues at longer distances.\n\nRJ45 is the designation of the jack at the end of the cable.",
"RJ45 is the name of the port\nCat 5/6/7 that's the type of cable every type supports different max length and speed\nEthernet cable is a cat 5/6/7 with an rj45 heads",
"Ethernet is a networking standard. It defines what the cables should look like, and what happens on the individual wires in the cable.\n\nRJ-45 is the type of plug on the end of most Ethernet cables. It looks like the plug on the end of a phone wire, but where phones only have four wires, RJ-45 have eight.\n\nCat5 and Cat6 are kinds of Ethernet cable. Cat6 are better than Cat5, but in most applications the differences won't be significant. Cat6 cables are compatible with Cat5, though the opposite is not true. If you are running a wire between two devices and the devices say \"Use Cat6\", you should do that. If the devices say \"Use Cat5\", you can use Cat6 as well, but the wires are generally more expensive and you won't notice any difference.",
"RJ-45 is a connector. Category 5 or 6 or whatever will indicate a particular standard of cable (x number of wires, x number of twists per inch etc) . Also the connector on the end should properly be refered to as an 8P8C. Just for fun, there are also two standards as to how you should put the connector on the end of the cable. Called EIA/TIA 568A and 568B. It's just a different wiring method, but as long as it's the same at both ends it barely matters. (Most cables are 568B)"
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2r074i | how come photons have no mass (0.000...), don't interact with the higgs field, but are caught by black holes? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2r074i/eli5_how_come_photons_have_no_mass_0000_dont/ | {
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"Gravity isn't just an attraction between masses. it's also a bending of the fabric of space. So even though a massless photon is traveling in a straight line, gravity's effects redefine what \"straight line\" means.\n\nIn the case of a black hole, if that straight line path takes it past a black hole's event horizon, the path is so bent that it never comes back out.",
"Black holes curve the spacetime while higgs field doesn't.",
"As others have said, black holes bend space, imagine drawing a straight line on a piece of plastic, if you bend the plastic the line would curve but it's still a straight line when viewed from the reference frame of the plastic.",
"Gravity is often called a force, but it's really just acceleration produced by the bending of space. You can tell because a bowling ball and a feather have the same acceleration in a vacuum. A force is only produced if you try to counter the accelerating mass. A hypothetical massless particle (ignoring special relativity!) would do the same, simply accelerating but taking no force to counter.\n\nBy the way, photons only have zero _rest_ mass. Momentum adds to the mass of anything that's moving, including photons. This is what 'massless' particles actually do in special relativity. It's how photons contribute to the mass of a black hole.",
"This video does an amazing job of explaining how gravity affects space-time: _URL_0_\n\nAs demonstrated, it's not just an attraction between masses, but a warping of space itself. This is why light is affected by gravitational fields. ",
"Not an answer, but a question. Is a black hole a sphere? ",
"Photons follow a geodesic (which is the shortest distance between two points) this is not a straight line when spacetime itself is curved. Mass and energy distort the actual geometry of spacetime. This is why photons get sucked into black holes."
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284brl | why is it so controversial to display rape in media (movies, television, etc.) moreso than equally horrific crimes such as murder or torture? | There was a rape scene in Game of Thrones that caused a pretty big controversy a while ago. The scene was extremely unpleasant, as a rape scene should be, (she's being *raped*, you're not supposed to like it) and didn't show rape as being exciting or sexy.
Game of Thrones is a show which portrays characters who the audiences see as "good guys" (a few of whom are children) participating in warfare, murder as a means of revenge, and summary execution. Dark comedy has been derived from murder, sexual blackmail, and torture. Why has the single rape scene caused so much more controversy than any of these? (for the record, I honestly don't give a shit about how the show portrays any of these, I'm not offended by much of anything)
The latest Metal Gear Solid game portrayed two characters, one a young woman and one a teenage boy, being sexually violated by the main villain. The consensus is that the scenes were extremely disturbing but handled the subject of war rape in a tasteful manner. However, a few people argued that showing a character committing rape is a cheap way to demonstrate that they're evil. How is that more "cheap" than showing them murdering or torturing people? Why is it wrong to show an evil character doing evil things?
I can't think of any work of fiction in any form of media which showed rape as something other than awful. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/284brl/eli5_why_is_it_so_controversial_to_display_rape/ | {
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"Because showing boobs is worse than showing people's heads get blown off.\n\nThink of the children. They can't know about sex. Ever.",
"The easy answer is that TV viewers have long been de-sensitized to violence, but not so with rape. Furthermore, we've long idolized the violent (war heroes, superheroes, etc.), but we don't lionize rapists (although Genghis Khan was pretty impressive on both fronts).\n\nLikely, the root of this comes from the fact that violence has a practical, sometimes beneficial function for society as a whole, as in the defeat of the Nazis, or in the countless tribal skirmishes that resulted in new hunting grounds for the victors. Rape, conversely, whether on a small or large scale, doesn't bring many social benefits.\n",
"Murder victims cannot be traumatised by being forced to relive their experience on tv or in a video game.\nRape and torture victims can, which is why scenes involving either might cause controversy.",
"It's not controversial to display rape in media - it's controversial to display shittily handled rape scenes though, because it's taking a serious subject and down playing it, using it as a cheat plot device, or (fucked up) sexual titillation. \nI can speak directly about the reason why people were upset about the Game of Thrones rape you mention, but I know nothing about MGS5 yet, so what I am saying may have a general application, but specifically applies to that Game of Thrones episode: it didn't make sense. It was completely out of character for Jaime, and he pushed a child out of a window - he would never hurt Cersei like that. Not only does it not make sense for Jaime's character, but the show doesn't ever do anything to address it - and the reason is because the director didn't consider it rape; to him it was a consensual sex scene (_URL_0_). Now, not many people agree with his point of view, but this shows that, according to the director it was a regular sex scene. So nothing is ever done in the show to address that Jaime just committed a horrible crime against his love - it is just shrugged off and ignored. Now, take that in the context of real life where rape is a serious problem that is often ignored, quite often within the confines of a relationship, yes, it becomes a controversy. But not all rape in media is controversial. Depending on the piece of media it might be lauded as powerful - terrible, but powerful, maybe even a learning experience. Not this though. This was trite. People have come to expect more from Game of Thrones, due to it's strong and very human characterization of the characters in the show, and the way it handles other dark subject.\nI hope that helps to provide some insight.",
"Because it is linked to sex, and sex is much more taboo than violence in our society.",
"I don't think the GoT rape scene was controversial simply because it was a rape--lord knows we've seen plenty of rape on that show before. But that particular scene between Jaime and Cersei was controversial for a few reasons that I can see. \n\nFirst of all, Jaime does not rape Cersei in the book. She's hesitant at first--mostly because she's afraid they'll get caught--but is eventually a willing participant. In the book, she actually guides him inside her with her hand, but in the show, she's struggling and protesting the whole time. It was a massive departure from the way the creator of these characters chose to show them interacting with one another.\n\nFurthermore, the act of raping a woman--particularly Cersei, who he really does love--was inconsistent with what we'd seen from Jaime up to that point, even if you just stick to the show. After all, Jaime saved Brienne from being raped, and there are times where he doesn't even like Brienne. And even Jaime's most monstrous act--pushing a little boy out a window--was something he did to protect Cersei and her children (and himself, of course) by preventing Robert from finding out about them. \n\nAlso, there was that whole \"raping your sister next to your (mutual) dead son's corpse\" that a lot of people found squicky, but that probably would have been true even if Cersei had consented.",
"To answer your larger question, rape--at least to me--is a particularly heinous way to strip someone of his or her power, dignity, and autonomy, and after the rapist is finished, the victim is still alive to deal with having to overcome the massive violation he or she has just endured. A murder victim doesn't have to deal with what happened to him or her, because a murder victim is dead. It's terrible for his or her family, obviously, but the murder victim's suffering is over. \n\nAs a storytelling device, you *generally* aren't going to murder one of your lead characters (obviously, there are some exceptions, such as GRRM's books and *The Lovely Bones*, which is narrated by a murdered teenager), because then you've lost that person as a character. You can show the other characters dealing with the murder, but the dead one is just gone. If the character is raped or otherwise brutally violated, however, then you can develop that character by showing how he or she deals with the aftermath. \n\nFurthermore, this question really only comes up with regard to main or otherwise \"important\" characters. No one blinks an eye about the random murdered henchman or redshirt, and no one blinks an eye about random slave girls being raped in the background. For example, with GoT in particular, I don't remember any uproar about the women raped at Daenerys's wedding, nor the men who were murdered during that wedding. And even the \"main character\" point I've presented above doesn't really apply to that scene, because I don't remember any uproar about *Daenerys herself* being raped after that wedding, even though she was not raped in the book, and even though that rape is the first step toward Daenerys falling madly in love with her husband/rapist (see also Luke and Laura from General Hospital). \n",
"Well with murder your victum is dead. with torture you WANT the sympathy that comes from showing something.\n\nsexual crimes are extremely humiliating to the victum and the victum survives.",
"There is one big difference between murder/torture and rape: personal distance.\n\nA murderer is, to most people, very alien in psychology. It's an unimaginable crime for an orderly citizen. So when we see a murder, we are horrified but in a way that asks, 'How could anyone do that?' It is a shock of disbelief. \n\nA rape, on the other hand, is so uncomfortably close to home. It's a crime many adults have been very intimately involved with to some degree. Victims, almost victims, those living in perpetual fear of becoming victims, perpetrators, almost perpetrators, those living in fear of being accused of perpetrating rape... It's so close to everyone that it makes people very sensitive to it. Women may find a scene terrifying because it's too real, or because it seems to be romanticizing or downplaying the significance of sexual assault. Men may find a scene terrifying because it challenges them not to find rape sexually appealing, or throws their peaceful worldview into chaos as they are faced with the hitherto silenced reality that women get raped and traumatized by sexual assault all the time. \n\nWitnessing something so intimately broken can also have a way of reframing current, past, and future sexual interactions in a way that destroys the viewer's previous innocence about rape. Instead of the horrified, 'How?' of murder, we ask the toxic, 'Is that me?'\n\nAm I a rapist? Are my people rapists?\n\nAm I a victim? Are my people victims?\n\nIs such a horrifying crime really an institutionally hidden part of every single day on this planet?",
"I think part of the problem is that a rape scene takes a while. Like the murder of an actual murder scene (e.g., firing a gun, stabbing someone) might take a few seconds. The scene might include a long build-up, but the actual killing is quick. A rape requires a couple of minutes: someone is restrained, clothes are torn off, the act is committed... I think if there were a murder scene that took that long, like instead of a quick stabbing, the killer pushed the knife in slowly for several minutes, the producers would stir up some consternation from the public. "
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|
4fosay | the process of selecting what face goes on the us dollar | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4fosay/eli5_the_process_of_selecting_what_face_goes_on/ | {
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"By law, the person appearing on any U.S. Currency has to be dead. That's literally all I know on the subject. \n\n_URL_0_\n\n\nEdit: just found a link that might be of some use to you. ",
"Treasury department picks the designs including who's on the bill. There was demand for a woman to be put on a bill and Hamilton has had a surge of popularity due to the play while Jackson is disliked my many for ethnic cleansing Native Americans despite supreme court order, also he would have arguably disliked our current monetary system making it sort of weird to have his face on the $20."
]
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[
"https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/edu_faq_currency_portraits.aspx"
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[]
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||
6bbffn | how do all these spam emails make it into my inbox even with filters and blocking? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6bbffn/eli5_how_do_all_these_spam_emails_make_it_into_my/ | {
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"Spam filters are usually looking for specific key words, and spam can get around this fairly easily. You may want to try keeping a white list (only addresses in the white list get through). You occasionally check your spam box for things you want to white list.",
"Many spammers have hundreds of 'legit mail accounts' to white-wash the emails in the first place. After that they spam it to you. ",
"The spammers are clever and can write programs which defeat almost all blocking attempts by your email program and your ISP. I think it will not be stopped until we return to hanging the perpetrators.\n\nA lot of the spam emailers supposedly do not know you do not want their emails. Bu law in the US they must provide an opt out link. I use that and delete their email once. After that my email program allows me to block their address. After a few weeks of diligently opting out I see a decrease in spam email.",
"You can evade those filters fairly easy. Usually they're looking for key-words or key-phrases that are typical for spam mails. Things like *\"you are the 1000000^th visitor of our website\"*. Change a few letters, re-arrange the words a bit, look some synonyms up, and the spam filters can't do anything against it anymore.",
"Not all spam filters are created equal. Some are dead simple and just look at from addresses, subject lines and type of content. Others are a lot more sophisticated and take many more factors into account, things like the reputation of the sending server, and other more complex criteria. \nGetting it right is hard. My setup at work uses 2 different packages to net just about all incoming spam with few false positives. If one does get through, the filter learns very quickly once you do flag it as spam. But it took my department months to get this right. "
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1srm5y | how is it warm enough to sleep in an ice hotel without it melting? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1srm5y/eli5how_is_it_warm_enough_to_sleep_in_an_ice/ | {
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"The ice that makes the walls of a hotel acts as insulation. Because the ice is packed so tightly it allows little air to enter or leave. It works in the same way a wet suit works. If you are ever in the woods and need shelter from the snow make a fort out of heavily packed snow and seal yourself in. It is incredibly warm, not to mention fantastically fun!",
"\"The inside wall of the igloo blocks does melt, to some extent. But the outside air is so cold and the building blocks of snow so thick that the blocks continually refreeze.\"\nSource _URL_0_"
]
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[],
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"http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_Scientific_reason_why_igloos_don't_melt"
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||
2jkgvv | what is so profound in lockheed's new fusion discovery? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jkgvv/eli5_what_is_so_profound_in_lockheeds_new_fusion/ | {
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"They haven't quite told us that part. In specifics. The CEO of Lockheed was recently quoted stating they are looking for partners (investors) so it appears we've all gotten excited about a very uplifting commercial about a technology we could very possibly master in one decade or less, if we had more money because Lockheed has probably reached a point of fully operational/staffed division that probably solved some stabilization mathematics and engineering obstacles but without fully funding thier fusion R & D dept. They wont have enough to produce a working prototype to prove thier concept. \n\nIf fusion exists in 10 years, according to some recently proposed economic models it could be that profound of a paradigm shift in our civilization, we could stop uding currency! With ubiquitous free green energy we would become a type 1 civilization in 25 years. So fusion is pretty big.",
"Nuclear reactors are currently our most effecient, practical source of energy we have. Unfortunately, they are very expensive and massive. The new discovery would allow for the same amount of power for one tenth of the size. It is supposed to be much safer as well. So ultimately, the applications could be having smaller, better dispersed power plants throughout the world, but more importantly planes that could travel without refueling for a very long time, but MOST importantly IMO is the application for long term space travel.",
"Now all we need is someone to perfect the concept of creating matter from energy, then we'll really be onto something :D",
"Holy shit. Don't ever come to ELI5 about fusion reactors as they have no idea what they are talking about?",
"Fusion occurs at extreme temperatures. Literally center of the sun temperatures. Containing that heat requires materials we have not discovered and technology that does not exist. Lockheed claims to have found a way to not only contain that heat, but to do so in far less space than anyone else working on fusion has imagined possible. \n\nIf Lockheed’s fusion technology is for real than a reactor the size of a small office in a skyscraper could power the entire building. This is not just a big deal because of fusion being viable, but because at that size, fusion reactors could be installed in places where huge reactors are not viable. These small reactors could be safely installed in coastal southeast Asian cities that have unreliable electricity, powering desalination plants. It’s a big deal for everyone everywhere. If it’s true.",
"All nuclear reactor up to this point have employed fission to produce power. They use elements such as uranium, thorium, and plutonium in their design. These elements are relatively expensive to mine (or produce, in the case of plutonium), and produce long lived radioactive waste. Uranium and plutonium pose the risk of falling into the wrong hands and becoming weapons.\n\nFusion, if solved, will reduce a number of the problems we currently have nuclear power. "
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