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5jq6g6 | why do reports use "mm" for million in the business world? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jq6g6/eli5_why_do_reports_use_mm_for_million_in_the/ | {
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"M is roman numeral for 1000 so MM is understood to be 1000 1000's. I assume they didn't use the M with line over it because of the limitations of typewriters."
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[]
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||
a4t95m | why does wine is used regularly in formal occasions? | So I've done some researchs but i can't find any page/document about this. Why it has to be wine but other kinds of alcohols? It's like why you can't drink vodka in a diplomatic party? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a4t95m/eli5_why_does_wine_is_used_regularly_in_formal/ | {
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" > Why can't you drink vodka in a diplomatic party\n\nYou kind of can.\n\nI'll explain what I mean.\n\nWine is pretty difficult to cultivate. It's a high effort product. Takes years to get a plant to produce enough grape. Knowing which plant species works best in certain conditions. There is a trick and a lot of science in barrel storage.\n\nTherefor, it has become something that different cultures and different countries \"compete\" in producing (I have no source to backup this claim, but I'm gonna guess that it's all the Romans fault. They spread a lot of their culture around when they were about and did their thing) and that noblemen started to collect produce from different parts of the world.\n\nThe idea that wine can taste different and have different characteristics must have come from a lot of...uh... *comparable analysis*. Someone literally had access to wine from a lot of different places and could compare.\n\nIn some climates it's difficult, if not impossible, to grow wine. And in those places, it's pretty common with distilleries of various kinds instead. Which has created all the other spirit products you find in the specialised stores.\n\nWhich leads me to my point. There are some very, very expensive vodkas out there too. The kind you can expect to be offered in a diplomatic meeting in one of those countries that take pride in their vodka.\n\nThe difference, I suppose, is that most people will be very, very drunk after sharing a bottle of vodka. But still able to stick to a serious conversation after sharing a bottle of wine.\n\nIf you look careful, you'll notice that there are very expensive beers, whiskey's, vodka's, cognac's and ciders out there. It's not strange that wine too has a posh tendency to some of its products."
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3ae84q | can someone explain how and why mark rothko's work is considered art and how i can appreciate them? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ae84q/eli5_can_someone_explain_how_and_why_mark_rothkos/ | {
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"Have you ever seen a Rothko in person? It makes a huge difference. First and foremost, they're BIG paintings. Second, he always wanted people to look at them up close. IIRC he said the ideal viewing distance as 18\" (45cm). When you're that close to a huge painting, you literally can't see anything else. Your entire field of vision is consumed by this intense color field. The color kind of radiates on to you. Rothko's work was important because it was a pretty big influence on this notion of \"pure expression\" or \"direct experience\". It doesn't operate through language, symbols, or cultural understands. It's mean to be just something you feel, free of associations with anything else. It's important to note that Rothko isn't just important for making this kind of work, but also for talking about it quite extensively. Rothko was a very famous painter even before he started making abstract paintings, and he was quite popular and well respected. His transitions from representational and abstract works, along with his public writing/teaching/lectures/etc. on the subject makes him an enormously important figure in the history of art and the development of contemporary art theory."
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8pw7y9 | why are there an abundance of fireworks stores around highways in rural areas? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8pw7y9/eli5_why_are_there_an_abundance_of_fireworks/ | {
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"Oftentimes firework sales are banned within city / suburban limits so people are restricted to selling them in rural areas. And people want to buy them, so putting them off of the highway makes them more available / quicker to get.",
"I can’t speak for other states, but here in Minnesota certain fireworks (specifically ones that go a certain distance into the air) are illegal to purchase, so in Wisconsin and Iowa (neighboring states) there are really remote fireworks stores along state borders so that Minnesotans can buy their fireworks and then go back home quickly. "
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a514v6 | how did people protect against forgeries in the past? | Before the telegraph/telephones, how could people trust any documents handed to them?
Like in the movie "A Knight's tale", wouldn't every scam artist just write his own nobility papers? Who is going to check for their veracity? And how?
I guess a letter could be sent to the noble's castle but it could take months/years to be answered, assuming it even gets there.
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a514v6/eli5_how_did_people_protect_against_forgeries_in/ | {
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"Kings, high nobles and government officials had signet rings for this purpose. A document was “signed” by pressing the ring into hot wax, transferring the image to the wax. This was done either to seal the document closed or to sign the bottom of the document, or both.\n\nThe ring was usually an image of the family crest, which was unique to that family. \n\nIn Japan and China, carved jade pieces were used similarly as stamps. \n\nAnother technique was to have a duplicate copy of the document - one public and one sealed. If there was ever a challenge to the public document, the sealed one would be opened and compared. ",
"By having trusted messengers, and by having everybody know everybody. If you're a nobleman, and you need to send a letter to the king, you think about whom to send to carry it, you first ask, *who among my family and inner circle, did I introduce to the king and his court, last time they visited this area?* I'll send him, so that people in court will be confident that the letter came from me, and not some impostor.\n\nThen you ask yourself, *is there anybody who **hasn't** been introduced? I'd better send him along, so he can meet some important people, and become a more useful messenger in the future.*"
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2d1b4j | what is the significance of the answer to isaac asimov's, the last question? | I've read the story a couple of times, and I feel like I'm just not getting it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2d1b4j/eli5_what_is_the_significance_of_the_answer_to/ | {
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"You mean, \"Let there be Light,\" the most iconic phrase from the Book of Genesis? \n\nThe implication is that the Multivac, through answering the last question, essentially became the Creator of a new universe.",
"Once that story ends, that marks the beginning of time as we know it from Genesis."
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1rwlet | are satellites stationary with the earth spinning underneath them, or are they rotating in addition to the earths rotation. | I was thinking about that movie Gravity, and its unclear to me why the debris field is moving so much faster than the shuttle. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rwlet/eli5_are_satellites_stationary_with_the_earth/ | {
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"Satellites are constantly falling around the earth. If their falling speed equals earths own surface rotation, that has some practical uses.",
"First of all, don't base your understanding of physics (or any subject really) on any movie. Gravity might be fairly accurate with some things and very unrealistic with others, so even that is a poor thing to learn from if you don't know which bits are realistic. \n\nAs for your actual question, the whole concept of orbit is based on the idea that you move so fast that you continuously miss the Earth despite falling towards it. I find [Newton's cannonball](_URL_0_) thought experiment to be the easiest way to think about it. Take a look at the first three animations. If you just drop an object at an orbital altitude, it'll simply fall down. If you shoot it with some speed, it'll make an arc before reaching the surface, just like a thrown ball does. If you shoot it even faster, it curves down at just the same rate as Earth curves away underneath it, that's a closed orbit.\n\nSo yes, satellites revolve around Earth much faster than Earth spins, at least those in low Earth orbit. They take about 90 minutes to go around Earth once. Satellites further up take longer. At geostationary altitude they take 24 hours (actually a bit less but that's a whole other story) so they appear to stay still as seen from Earth. At the altitude of the Moon, it takes about 28 days.\n\nThen remember that the orbits can go around the Earth in any direction. After all, there's a whole lot of ways to place a hula-hoop around a sphere. These different orbits cross each other at points at great velocities. Same way as two cars driving into an intersection going in different directions would collide badly even though both of them are going the same speed.\n\nBut the whole timed interval thing in Gravity doesn't really make much sense. "
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1ow230 | why lung cancer, the deadliest of them all, receives so little funding compared to other types of cancer | Shouldn't we focus on the diseases that are killing the most people, of both sexes and theoretically all ages, before we move into gender- and age-specific disease?
EDIT: [Found this](_URL_0_), for a little more fact-based analysis | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ow230/eli5_why_lung_cancer_the_deadliest_of_them_all/ | {
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"If I had to guess it's because most lung cancer cases are related to smoking while the others tend to be more natural. Lung cancer isn't necessarily the deadliest, it just affects the most people because of smoking, the thought process is, to help other cancers because those are harder to prevent and more natural, while smoking for the most part can stop lung cancer, though there are still cases of lung cancer in nonsmokers, the majority are smokers. ",
"First off, statistically speaking, Breast and Prostate cancers consist of the two highest rates of new cancer diagnosis, consisting of more than twice as many new cases per year as the next contender. One can argue that they are not 'the deadliest' forms of cancer because of the amount of money and research that has been poured into both of them. Nonetheless, they both consist of very large percentages of cancer-related deaths for their sexes.\n\nSecondly, lung cancer is predominately a smoker's disease. I realize that might sound a bit like a generalization but approximately 80-90% of lung cancer cases are from long-term smokers. It's not as 'marketable' as a disease because you can petition for donations, only to be met with 'well I don't smoke, so it's unlikely to affect me'. Not everybody smokes, but pretty much everybody has either breasts or a prostate.\n\nThirdly, early detection is the biggest factor in determining cancer survival rates. That's why things like pancreatic and esophogeal cancer have such poor survival rates. They typically do not cause excessive symptoms until they reach their late stages, at which point treatment options are extremely limited. Their survival rates are poorer, but their incident rates are also significantly lower.\n\nLastly, by your own posted source, Lung cancer research in 2012 received the second-highest amount of funding at the National Cancer Institute. If anything, why aren't prostate and colorectal cancer receiving more funding?\n\n[Source1](_URL_0_)\n[Source2](_URL_1_)"
]
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benbh0 | why does onion turn translucent when it's cooked? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/benbh0/eli5_why_does_onion_turn_translucent_when_its/ | {
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"Onions are made up of mostly colourless fluid. They appear white because of all The connective tissue in the onion. When you cook the onion the bonds holding the connective tissue break and they become more transparent.\n It's similar to why polar bears look white.\n\n\nEdit: I was wrong. Onions have air pockets which causes the light to refract. But the polar bear fact is still true.",
" \n\nWhen the onion turns translucent, the cell walls are breaking down. But more important to the difference in flavor between raw and cooked onions are sulfur compounds floating in the cell fluid and sulfur-reacting enzymes stored in vacuoles (basically closed storage compartments) inside the cells.\n\nWhen you cut or chew on a bit of raw onion, these vacuoles are ruptured, and the enzymes inside react with the sulfur in the cell fluid, creating strong, irritating compounds (intended, of course, to discourage animals from eating the plant). In particular, onions, shallots, and some related plants, when sliced, produce a compound called 'lacrimator', which is both light and volatile. It enters the air and first acts on the nerve endings in your eyes, causing some direct pain, and then breaks down into tiny amounts of sulfuric acid, both of which cause you to tear up in defense.\n\nThe process of cooking onions denatures these enzymes, stopping the process of converting the intracellular sulfur compounds into these defensive compounds, which removes the harsh flavors, leaving just the sweet, sort of meaty flavor that we all know and love.\n\nSweet or Vidalia onions, which are grown in particularly low-sulfur soil, don't have many of the sulfur precursors in their cells, which is why they're so much less harsh when used raw.\n\nYou can read all about the process in Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nSource: [_URL_0_](_URL_1_)",
"Because the cellular structure of the onion breaks down/fills with fats from whatever you're cooking them in. The outer layer of an onion is pigment-free and more rigid and dense (though thin/fine) so it stays intact and relatively unaffected, letting you see beyond that layer and into the softer stuff.",
"1. Onions cells (called vacuoles) are full of a concentrated solution of salts, nutrients, etc. This gives them a different refractive index (light bending power) from the cytoplasm that fills the space between the cells.\n2. When small drops of a liquid (= onion cells) are dispersed in a liquid of a different refractive index (= cytoplasm), the mixture looks white (e.g. oil and water whisked to become vinaigrette).\n3. When cooked, the onion cells burst and the two liquids mix, so their compositions become equal and the difference in refractive index that caused the whiteness disappears - the onion becomes transparent.",
"The water in the onion's cells boils and breaks the cell walls. The cell structure breakdown reduces its opacity & rigidity. They then turn brown as the sugar in the cells caramelizes and becomes super tasty.",
"Because when you cook it the structure collapses. Before this happens you have intersecting vessels of fluid and small pockets of air. These vessels(the structures of the onion), the fluid, and the air have different refractive indicies(the angle at which light changes direction as it passes through the substance). Once the structures are broken the gaps (air) collapse and/or flood with fluid. Now that only the structure of the onion and the fluid remains and they have very similar refractive indices it becomes clear. Its all about the way it interacts with light. \n\nAn easy example is water and air. Both independently transparent, but when jumbled together in say breaking waves or clouds they become white as they have different refractive indices and the light passing through gets refracted (bent) all around in and out of the 2 mediums and spat back out in all directions.\n\nTldr; The bubbles pop and let the light travel straight through the onion.",
"Because of air inside the onion. See a demonstration of vacuum sealing _URL_0_",
" In the early stage of cooking (white) onions you’ll heat them to the point where internal moisture evaporates and cell walls begin to burst. When the onion turns translucent, the cell walls are breaking down. In an intact, unheated (white) onion, light refracts frequently through the intact cell walls making the onion appear white…and that that breaking down the cell walls with heat allows moisture to push out into every crevice of the onion and allows light to pass through as it would through a glass of water, making the onion appear clear."
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a0bam7 | why aren’t babies born immune to every illness their mother is immune to? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a0bam7/eli5_why_arent_babies_born_immune_to_every/ | {
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"The mother's antibodies last until the baby is 3 months. That is when the baby start building their own. Read up on hematopoiesis. ",
"Basically just because that's not how it works. Everyone else so far has given good answers about the science of how we actually do develop our immune system, but the answer to your actual title is that we as a species just never mutated to have that trait",
"1) the mother can provide passive immunity in the form of antibodies during breastfeeding. Those are temporary and not lasting. \n\n2) the baby has its very own immune system that is separate from the mother's. The two do not interact or the mother's immune system would attack the developing baby and the baby would not survive. The immune system sees things as self or foreign. That's it really. The baby's system needs exposure and survival to develop immunity just like all other humans. Has to be taught how to be used. ",
"I guess a more general answer is that the immune system is not build into the DNA. The mothers immune system is sort of trained and not copied to DNA which gets to the baby. "
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29i2di | how does a computer processor know how to compute different boolean operations? | It is my understanding that processors have millions of transistors. I also know that you can make basic logic gates out of transistors by configuring them in different ways. I even know how to make basic gates like AND, NOT, OR, XOR, etc. My question is how does the processor carry out these different boolean operations since it cannot physically rewire its circuits every time it needs to do a different operation. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29i2di/eli5_how_does_a_computer_processor_know_how_to/ | {
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" > My question is how does the processor carry out these different boolean operations since it cannot physically rewire its circuits every time it needs to do a different operation.\n\nIt has different circuits for different operations. You said:\n\n > It is my understanding that processors have millions of transistors.\n\nThis is correct (though I think it's more like \"billions\" these days). So there are thousands of OR gates, thousands of AND gates, thousands of XOR gates, etc.\n\nThe machine code input of a program physically causes the data to be sent along different wires (by turning on/off different transistors), which correspond to different types of logic gates (and more complex things made up from those logic gates).",
"There are whole circuits that are physically wired into the processor. Each circuit is thus an instruction, and is assigned an index, an \"opcode\", that is fed into the instruction register. There is a circuit that reads that input register and causes the right circuit paths to open/close. The data registers are thus \"read\", and the output of the circuit is a consequence of it's inputs.\n\nOne example circuit is a [full adder](_URL_0_).\n\nThese opcodes are what makes up the binary executable data in an exe file.\n\n > since it cannot physically rewire its circuits every time it needs to do a different operation.\n\nWhile not at all efficient, an [FPGA](_URL_1_) can totally be reprogrammed on the fly. I'm hoping this basic concept becomes the way of the future. Now that memristors are under heavy research, programs as we know them may not necessarily be instructions fed into a register, but a blueprint to configure a processor. Your program could be conceptually indistinguishable from a physical processor. Instead of executing a sequence of instructions, imagine if your processor was physically arranged to be your video game?",
"You can build a *multiplexer* [1], which takes several inputs but only allows one of them to continue to the output. Which input goes to the output is determined by selection bits. If the selection bits are 000, then the first input will go to the output. If the selection bits are 001, then the second input will go to the output. If the selection bits are 010 then thie third input will go to the output. And so on.\n\nThe selection bits come from the opcode for each instruction. An instruction like ADD A,B may cause the circuitry to actually compute all possible operations on A and B: A+B, A-B, A AND B, A OR B...but a multiplexer will use selection bits from the opcode to pass A+B and block the other values.\n\nSo you're right, it doesn't physically re-wire its circuits for each instruction. Instead, circuits for all possible operations compute in parallel, but a multiplexer throws away all of the results except for the one the programmer wanted (as indicated by some bits in the instruction opcode).\n\nA great book with a complete ELI5 explanation of a simple CPU is \"But How Do It Know\" by J Clark Scott [2].\n\n[1] _URL_0_\n\n[2] _URL_1_\n"
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1k3dfp | how "economic hitmen" work | _URL_0_
I saw this documentary, and really wanted a description on exactly how these men work. Because i had a hard time understanding the step-for-step process. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1k3dfp/eli5how_economic_hitmen_work/ | {
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"I'm going to just make up an example:\n\nA private American firm, on behalf of the CIA/America goes down to Venezuela (or any poor/underdeveloped country with tons of non-renewable resources trapped in the ground). Its important the hit man is a civilian consultant so that should anyone blow the whistle on the guy, he can't be an immediate government employee; otherwise its an international incident. This guy goes to a few key political and business leader in Venezuela telling them that there is a FORTUNE just sitting under the ground, selling these individual people on the idea of personal wealth. America, out of the goodness of its heart and out of the spirit of globalization would LOVE to help your country get it out of the ground; but, obviously Venezuela is underdeveloped, poor, and does not have the infrastructure to get it out of the ground. Take out a loan from the IMF and pay American companies to \"get you started.\" Assuming the plan goes well, the leaders agree and Venezuela takes out a MASSIVE loan to pay American companies to extricate and sell the resource. \n\n*Side note:* The way a country pays back loans is through taxes from the citizens and profits from exports. If your entire country is poor and underdeveloped there is nothing with which to repay debts.\n\n\nSo now private American firms are down in Venezuela either drilling or shipping the oil. Well these companies are American, the money is not going to ANYONE in Venezuela, save for a few key politicians/businessmen that got the whole thing going in the first place. Those few are happy; but, now the first payment on the loan comes. All the profits from the resource are going back to American companies and these few Venezuelans that made it happen, the COUNTRY is not making anything; nor were any jobs created since the companies doing all the work are American. Venezuela runs to the Econ hitman, who was posing as a consultant, saying \"Holy shit we can't pay this.\" The hitman, on behalf of the U.S. government says \"Hey baby, its ok calm down, theres nothing we can' work out. Say why don't you let us build a military base here and let us run covert missions from your country. Let us do that and I'll talk to a few guys back in the states who work in the IMF, see what we can' do? Whadda ya say?\" Obviously Venezuela doesn't want to default on debts, so they reluctantly say \"Uh...ok, sure.\" The process continues, theres no money to repay the loan and the hit men, on behalf of the American government use things like: even CHEAPER resources (meaning we'd pay them almost nothing at that point), international-council votes (NATO/UN), and looking the other way during less than legal black-ops CIA missions. Finally we offer to help them refinance the loan which just elongates the process even further; so we have them for their foreseeable future. \n\nThe hiccups come when the process has been working; but, then a new guy who sees the bullshit thats going on gets elected. He has to disappear and the next leader has to be brought in line. \n"
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4d4krv | what is the difference between sample rate and bit rate? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4d4krv/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_sample_rate/ | {
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"The sample rate is how many times per second you capture the signal. The bit depth is the number of bits of information in each sample. The bit rate is the sample rate multiplied by the bit depth.",
"Digital signals are made up of samples. The \"sample rate\" is how many samples there are per unit time, space, distance in frequency, or any other dimension. \n\nEach sample has a number of bits to represent its value. Normally the bit rate is the sample rate multiplied by the number of bits per sample. \n\nThis is not always the case depending on what you're looking at. For example, you might have an mp3 and see its bit rate is 320 kb/s (around 320,000 bits per second) but it's sample rate is 44,100 samples per second and has 16 bits per sample. What I just said should tell you that the bit rate should be 704 kb/s or 1408 kb/s for a stereo file (two signals). So why does the file say you have a bitrate that is more than four times less?\n\nThe answer is that mp3 files don't store audio as samples per second where each sample represents a value of voltage at a point in time. It is an *encoded* signal where each sample represents a value in a different domain (it's like storing samples in that represent values in frequency, not values in time but not really just a bit more convoluted). By transforming the original audio signal to this new domain you can use a smaller sample rate, therefore fewer bits per second, to transmit most of the same audio information with the fewest bits possible. Along with this signal the mp3 tells the computer to *decode* the signal into a normal audio file at 44,100 samples per second and 16 bits per sample. So in transmission or storage, the bit rate is smaller and fewer bits are needed, but when decoded and sent to the listener it's the original sample rate and bit depth. ",
"Think of the wave as a line graph. The bit rate is how many increments there are on the Y-axis, and the sample rate is how many increments there are on the X-axis.",
"In order to accurately reproduce a frequency of sound you need twice the sampling rate. So if you want to reproduce a frequency of 20,000 hz you need to sample it at 40,000 hz (or 44.1 for CD). Higher sampling rates result in reproducing higher frequency sound. Since most people lose the ability to hear sounds above 18,000 hz by the time they are adults, the difference in sound between 44.1 khz and 96 khz and 192 khz is negligible but some people believe that higher harmonic frequencies can be perceived in other ways. \n\nThe number of bits that you use for each sample will affect how many levels of loudness each sample can reproduce. If you had a sine wave which looks like a squiggly line, or the peaks and valleys of a mountain, the sample size is how thinly you can slice the mountain vertically. The more slices, and the thinner the slices, the closer the curve of the original signal is preserved. If you have a smaller sample size, you tend to cut the signal thickly and end up with something more like stairs vs the smooth natural curves of peaks in an analog waveform. These are the soft and loud sounds and the difference between them is the dynamic range. \n\na 16 bit sample can reproduce 65,356 levels of sound. So if one sound is slightly louder or softer, the difference is mostly left intact. Low sample sizes like 8 bit can only reproduce 256 levels of sound, which sounds artificial with sounds jumping between two levels because there is no in between. \n\n24 bit samples are capable of 16 million levels which is generally more than a persons ear is capable of perceiving. But there are other uses for it. When you have a very quiet piece of music, if you are not maximizing the loudness of the audio sample, then a lot of that sample goes to waste. Like if you had a quiet track that never peaked above level 30,000 then the other 35,000 levels of detail go unused and the effect is like if you had a lower sample size. But 24 bit samples are so large that even if you only peak at half the sound level, that's still 8,000,000 levels, far more than the best 16 bit ones. \n\n\nTLDR, higher sampling rates give you higher frequencies without distortion, and larger sampling sizes give you smoother reproduction of loud and soft sounds, closer to the nice round wave forms of an analog signal, vs the stair stepped squarish wave forms of a poorly encoded digital one. "
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42myxx | why is it that children (and some adults) never hurt their own ear drums when they shriek but everyone elses hurts? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/42myxx/eli5why_is_it_that_children_and_some_adults_never/ | {
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"Do a silent scream. Make the motion but no noise and notice how your ears constrict. You're essentially closing them up when you scream.",
"If I could piggyback onto this, why is it that people who snore loudly don't wake themselves up?"
]
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[],
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16olsv | i'm scared of credit cards. how do you use one wisely and efficiently? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16olsv/eli5_im_scared_of_credit_cards_how_do_you_use_one/ | {
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"text": [
"Get one from the bank you have an account with.\n\nUse it only to pay for things you can afford (like your gas) and only if you have the money in your bank account to pay it off.\n\nGo pay it off now (once you use the credit card).\n\nOnly use it online on sites you trust.\n\nThis will help you build credit without spending a bunch of money on credit card interest, which is what hurts a lot of people."
]
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[]
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||
37dxs6 | does earth have a perfect rotation? | Does earth go always the exact same place in space when it does its eliptical orbitting around the sun? Or is it a bit random at times? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37dxs6/eli5does_earth_have_a_perfect_rotation/ | {
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"crlv6zi",
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"text": [
"Here's a video describing exactly what you asked.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIt's not exactly random, but there are a lot of variables. The effects aren't necessarily large, but in 2015, we are really good at detecting even tiny changes.",
"Nope! It's called \"apsidal precession.\" [Here](_URL_0_) is a gif that shows how it works, though this is wildly exaggerated for the sake of illustration. This gif shows a very large apsidal precession, ie the orbital pattern rotates drastically with each cycle.\n\nTo explain apsidal precession in a vacuum (ie ignoring the interactions of any other planets), we need to invoke General Relativity. More specifically, GR tells us that the \"signal\" that gravity is occuring can only travel at a certain speed, the speed of light. There's thus a sort of \"lag\" when the planet gets farther from the Sun in terms of when it \"realizes\" what forces are acting on it. That causes the orbit to precess because it doesn't experience *quite* the same forces as we would expect if gravity traveled \"instantly.\" A good example of this is the precession of Mercury, which was unexplained until Einstein came along with General Relativity.\n\nOther things that can cause precession are the interactions of other orbital bodies, like moons and planets. Since planets and moons interact with each other gravitationally, they can affect the orbits of other planets/moons. The general effect is that they cause other orbits to precess: the Sun, for example, causes the Moon's orbit around Earth to precess."
]
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],
[
"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Precessing_Kepler_orbit_280frames_e0.6_smaller.gif"
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sb6ug | tesseracts and spatial dimension? | * How do we know what a tesseracts like?
* Is it possible to visualize it in a 3rd dimensional world?
* Does the 4th dimension exist outside of theory?
* What practical applications do studying other dimensions have?
* Is there a 5th dimension? 6th?
I know it's a lot, but I find this endlessly interesting and completely confusing. Thank you! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/sb6ug/tesseracts_and_spatial_dimension/ | {
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"The kind of extra spatial dimensions you're talking about are mostly the subject of philosophical pondering and \"just for fun\" thought experiments. Scientists seriously debating the existence of higher dimensions are usually talking about ittybitty extra dimensions that help solve string theory. Anyway...\n\nTrying to visualize a tesseract in 3D is like trying to draw a cube on a 2D piece of paper. Possible, but not without some sacrifices. Additionally, you have the benefit of actually knowing what a cube looks like, where a tesseract is totally foreign. Drawings of tesseracts are based on patterns carried over from 2D and 3D situations: a square is a closed 2D shape with equal sides. A cube is a closed 3D shape with equal sides (which are themselves squares), and a tesseract is a closed 4D shape with equal \"sides\", but the sides are themselves cubes. \n\nThere's a book called \"Surfing Through Hyperspace\" which discusses the topic with a Science fiction story as its set up (every other chapter more directly discusses 4D topics). Sorry I don't have a link, I'm on my phone."
]
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62jiiu | why do big vehicles like buses and freightliners have flat front, while smaller cars (and some freightliners too!) have longer and wedge-formed front? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/62jiiu/eli5_why_do_big_vehicles_like_buses_and/ | {
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"Buses as a rule don't go all that fast, so aerodynamics isn't a big thing. Even on the highway, it more import to have more space than save gas, and a boxy shape does that. Also, in the city, having the driver that close to the front makes it easier for them to maneuver.\n\nAs for cargo trucks, in many countries there are maximum lengths allows, and have a shorter, flatter front means more cargo in the back.",
"Trucks used to always have a wedge shaped front. The flat front was developed to skirt around length restrictions which existed in some countries, allowing for heavier trucks without making them any longer. So they moved the engine underneath the driver's cab.\n\nThe increased drag from this isn't such a big deal due to the high mass of the vehicle: A fully loaded 40 ton truck is 20 times as heavy as a large passenger car, so it has to overcome 20 times as much rolling resistance. Its frontal area however, which determines the aerodynamic drag, isn't that much larger than that of a large car. Because of this, the majority of total resistance is rolling resistance, whereas aerodynamic drag only has a small impact. \n"
]
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24sip5 | why is everyone so up in arms about "drone warfare", whats the difference between a remote plane and a real one? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24sip5/eli5_why_is_everyone_so_up_in_arms_about_drone/ | {
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"Perception.\n\nThere's a perception that it's unfair play. There's no danger to the person operating the drone. Also, I think many people inaccurately believe that a pilot in a plane is less likely to hurt civilians than a fellow in a basement in Missouri looking at a computer screen.\n\nIt's like hunting with a machine gun. There's no sport. Not that hunting with a rifle makes things fair - the hunter clearly has the upper hand.",
"The only halfway plausible issue is that drones don't put a pilot in danger, so the people deciding to execute strikes might be more willing to do so because of the lower risk. Of course this same argument could be applied to body armor, and the decision makers already have zero personal risk."
]
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1ceuch | if a small child was to go into a coma for an extended period of time, how would they age? details inside. | Ok, let's say a 2 year old child goes in to a coma for 16 years, how exactly would their body age? Would they grow like a normal person? What would be different about them? How could he/she learn all the basic knowledge a small child learns in it's developing years?
Edit: Spelling, grammar | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ceuch/eli5_if_a_small_child_was_to_go_into_a_coma_for/ | {
"a_id": [
"c9ftbwd"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Yes, they would grow like a normal person. No, they would not learn any new knowledge during that time."
]
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|
95e6q6 | why is it that when we were younger, we could eat copious amounts of junk food, but when we're older it makes us sick? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/95e6q6/eli5_why_is_it_that_when_we_were_younger_we_could/ | {
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"When you were younger you would still get sick but i presume your parents limited you in some form. \nIf you mean why does it affect us harder at a greater age, our bodies slow down, it takes a bit longer for everything to be processed, in turn it makes it easier to get \"too much\". \n",
"A child has a demanding metabolism because of growth. Their brains and body are developing and the cells require a lot of energy. Older people do not experience this as secretion of growth hormones are minimal. Also, a younger child is more efficient at breaking down the fats and sugars than an adult. That's why an adult can get fat more easier. I can go into more specifics if you'd like."
]
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2lvhiz | when many people read, we see the story played out like a movie in our minds instead of the words on the page... what is the neurological explanation of this? how does it happen? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lvhiz/eli5_when_many_people_read_we_see_the_story/ | {
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"Our mind's eye is the connection between our conscious and subconscious thoughts. When we are told something we try to envision it to better understand it. When reading a well written story involving things that don't exist or have never seen before our internal process of understanding is working harder to create the visuals for it.",
"Are there any neurologists in the house? I was wondering more about the neural networks and cerebral activities involved. What exactly is going on in the ol' thinky-brain?",
"When we learn to read, we are memorizing associations. When we see the symbol for an apple, which looks like this: apple, we recognize it similarly (but not in the exact same way) as we do when we actually see an apple. As far as I understand it, neuron pathways are excited between those experiences, tying different \"inputs\" together so that when you see an apple, your brain recalls many things you've associated with it, including the shape of the word and other words you've seen near that one. Just like you might think \"tree\" and envision a tree even though it's a completely different object from an apple. Your brain has created that link and it's the same way we link words to objects, thoughts, and feelings.\n\nOr not, I don't know.",
"Neuroscientist here. The ELI5 of this one is that our brains love visual information, even if we have to create it ourselves. It's the same reason that I can just type the word \"elephant\" and you immediately have a visual representation of what an elephant is in your mind. When we read, creating visual representations help us become more engaged with the content and significantly improve our retention/memory.",
"I'm not a neurologist, but [this TED talk](_URL_0_) is very relevant, not to mention fascinating. When scanning the brain using fMRI, the difference between seeing an image and imagining seeing the image is next to nothing. Interestingly, in the last several years we've increased the spatiotemporal resolution of this brain scanning by a thousand-fold. The clear implication is that with another thousand-fold increase, it's very possible we could literally read mental images from your brain onto a computer screen. But don't take it from me, take it from the neurologist in the TED talk!"
]
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be0tuv | i understand the concept of how ray-tracing works, but what was changed to make it work in real-time on graphics cards? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/be0tuv/eli5_i_understand_the_concept_of_how_raytracing/ | {
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"I think they use much less rays than a regular ray tracing would and then denoise image with some kind of machine learning based algorithm.",
"Lots of parallelism. GPUs can do billions of math operations every second. Ray tracing is just a bunch of math operations. You can divide and conquer up parts of the screen to be operated on by different cores. Most GPUs don't really support real-time ray tracing though, relying on using some tricks to get 'good enough' realism.",
"New algorithms simplify the computations required. Also, building GPU chips for ray tracing means the hardware is better suited for the specific tasks that ray tracing demands.\n\nWe've heard for years that real-time ray tracing was decades away from being possible (or perhaps impossible), but that was assuming every single pixel was being ray traced. When you only ray trace a fraction of the pixels and then interpolate the results for nearby pixels, it becomes a lot more doable.",
"I hope I didn't misunderstand anything, but what I heard about the RTX cards by NVidia was basically that they only render a single sample. I don't know the specifics of what a sample for NVidia entails. It could already be more detailed than a single sample in Blender for example. If you did only render one sample in Blender, most of the image would be covered in grain. However, Nvidia uses some really amazing denoising function. I'm actually more amazed by the denoising than the ray tracing itself."
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2so2l6 | why do we have peppermint candy and ice cream but not spearmint? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2so2l6/eli5_why_do_we_have_peppermint_candy_and_ice/ | {
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"I see plenty of spearmint candy...not the ice cream though...but they make cheese flavored ice cream, so Im sure someone makes a spearmint flavor...maybe Italian gelato comes in that variety?",
"Because spearmint isn't as popular. There is spearmint candy (and probably ice cream too), it's just not sold everywhere because other flavors sell better.",
"Popularity is one, but there's another reason. Spearmint contains little to no menthol, which is very aromatic and gives the \"cool\" sensation of mint, which is usually the desired taste and effect sought with candy/ice cream/sweets."
]
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1sium4 | why do certain website stores require you to register before being allowed look at their items? how do they think this will attract more customers? | It boggles my mind that these stores even exist. What is the logic behind it? I'm sure more people simply leave the store because they are too lazy to sign up than customers becoming steady as a result of some membership. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sium4/eli5_why_do_certain_website_stores_require_you_to/ | {
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"text": [
"but the ones who do sign up are more likely to purchase something than the casual passerby. Plus you will then have their email address to spam them with offers",
"I would bet it is to prevent people from being able to scrape their pages for the purposes of comparison pricing.\n",
"There's a couple reasons.\n\nOne of the one's we had at our old website storefront was this though.\n\nIf you have a \"published\" website, then you have to adhere to the MSRP/MAPP pricing. Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price/Minimum Advertised Pricing Policy.\n\nLet's say you have a pair of pants with a $50 price tag. The manufacturer may dictate that you cannot \"advertise\" the price lower than $40.00 (20% off). This is to keep you from devaluing their product. However with a logon, you are no longer \"advertising\" which means you can reduce the price further ($35.00), which gives you a competitive advantage over others adhering to MAPP."
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37z13e | why am i supposed to use a different plate every time i go up to a buffet? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37z13e/eli5_why_am_i_supposed_to_use_a_different_plate/ | {
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"Its a food hygene and health issue. Not to say buffets are paragons of cleanliness, but the idea is that if you've been sneezing, drooling and spitting all over your plate, they don't want you exposing that crap back to the buffet. Also minimizes chances that some numbskull will just slide his half eaten chicken fried rice back into the big tray, rendering the whole tray unsanitary.",
"Because when you transfer buffet items to your plate with some sort of serving utensil (spoon, tongs, etc), it's very likely that the utensil will touch your plate. And for sanitary reasons, you don't want utensils to touch a used plate (which has also been touched by a fork that has been in your mouth), and then be returned to the main buffet line to be used by others, because it will potentially transfer your germs to every other person who subsequently gets the same items as you."
]
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4d6vff | why do movies/tv shows set in present time often use outdated technology/software? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4d6vff/eli5_why_do_moviestv_shows_set_in_present_time/ | {
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"Like...? I can't think of an example? ",
"* the screens you see are often mockups...instead of trying to set up real and often expensive software or dealing with the headaches of using brand names, they create some fake generic looking screens, and the generic part can make them look older\n* people often use outdated technology...it is a good way to show someone is poor, out of touch, or underground\n* burner devices are a common theme in movies and TV, and they are usually cheap and a few generations back\n* the creative types who make movies aren't always on the cutting edge of technology...often they are indifferent or misjudge when cool outweighs reality\n* sometimes your personal expertise can focus on details that most people would miss, because they are not that important to the story\n\nThe last two points are important. Making a movie/TV often comes down to smoke and mirrors, trying to figure out what details are important and what you can let slide. What makes it hard is those details will vary from person to person. I watched *Swordfish* with a friend who wasn't as into computers as I was. I absolutely detested the movie because of its technical incompetence, where he though it was ok. But when we watched *Backdraft*, I though it was fine, but being the son of a firefighter, the technical flaws ruined the movie for him."
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6bkvbh | why do molocules have such long and difficult names? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6bkvbh/eli5_why_do_molocules_have_such_long_and/ | {
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"text": [
"Depends on the molecule. However, organic molecules have long names because organic molecules are long.\n\nThe molecule CH3-CHCl-CHCl-CH2-COOH is named 3,4-Dichloro pentanoic acid. This is because of the atoms present in the molecule. There are 2 chlorine atoms bonded to to carbon atoms, so their location is named at carbon atoms 3 and 4. There is a carboxylic acid group at the end, hence the ending '-oic acid'. Finally, 5 carbons make up the molecule, hence 'pent-' meaning five.\n",
"Because they're descriptive!\n\nCarbon dioxide tells you there are two oxygens and one carbon\n\nEthylmethylamine tells you you have one ethyl group, one methyl group, and an amine in the middle\n\nFor many commonly used chemicals there are common names. Sodium bicarbonate is commonly known as baking soda. Potassium Chloride is commonly known as seasalt.\n\nThe long names are useful for people in the field because you know exactly which molecule a paper refers to. Most people don't need that level of detail but the names don't come up often enough to lead to the creation of a common name",
"The scientific name for a molecule is formulatic: derived from the type and arrangement of groups and atoms along molecule. With large and complex molecules, such as those seen in medicine, the name can get absurdly long, but still exists. Often, brand/common names for drugs are loosely derived from the molecule's full name.",
"The IUPAC systematic names are designed in such a way that any chemist from any country should be able to take a name and generate the structure of the molecule, or take the structure of a molecule and generate the name from it. \n\nAs such, the names of molecules need to describe every part of the molecule. If the molecule has many different functional groups the name of the molecule is going to be complex. \n\n----\n\nThat being said, many molecules have very simple names, eg. ethanoic acid or methylbenzene\n\nSome molecules also have a retained name that is preferred to use even though it isn't the systematic name, eg. acetic acid or toluene are the preferred names of the above 2 molecules. \n\nedit: changed the examples "
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2asude | district of columbia and the 50 states | Just saw something on the front page and I don't really understand, as a European, the situation with the district of columbia and the 50 states. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2asude/eli5_district_of_columbia_and_the_50_states/ | {
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"The District of Columbia was a compromise worked out by the framers of the Constitution. The location of the national capitol was a big deal in the eighteenth century. During a process where not too many compromises of principle were possible, the location of the capitol was a bargaining chip.\n\nIf the capitol had been situated in any State, that State might claim a variety of powers and authorities over the Federal government. If it was situated in the South or the North, the representatives from the other side of the country would have to make long trips by carriage to do the People's business.\n\nIn the end the decision was made to carve off a bit of territory from Virginia and Maryland and call it \"the District of Columbia\", and it would not be within any state. It was situated close to the middle of the east coast so it was reasonably equidistant from the other states. The agreement to make this all happen allowed some other key parts of the Constitution to be accepted by various factions in the Constitutional Congress so people accepted the odd nature of the arrangement as being an acceptable outcome for the larger compromises that it enabled.\n\nThe unique nature of this compromise means that people who live in the District don't have a Representative or any Senators. They do vote for President (as of 1961) and they do pay income taxes though. The Congress controls the District and the laws and administration of the District are ultimately managed by Congress.\n\nI don't know if there is any exact European parallel. Most of the time when there is a city-state in Europe like the Vatican it is a sovereign power, or it is co-equal to the other divisions of the nation like Paris. ",
"On a related note, why aren't Guam, Puerto Rico or Virgin Islands states?"
]
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euqqi8 | people crap in the restroom and others find it disgusting? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/euqqi8/eli5_people_crap_in_the_restroom_and_others_find/ | {
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"text": [
"Because society has taught us that we should be quiet, and that pooping is a disgusting thing. \n\nWe lose sight of what is natural, sometimes.\n\nAlthough, the other day, a guy in the stall next to me was so loud and pooping so hard, it really put me off my sandwich.",
"Normal, just mean that it happen to everybody, doesn't make it no disgusting. Poop is really bad for your health and so our body evolve to be disgusted by it so we stay away from it.\n\nWe can get used to pretty much anything. For example, people that take your trash or work in sewer get used to it a bit more and so wouldn't react as disgusted as someone that do that for the first. But we are not used to hear or smell someone else poop, we are just used to our, so the intinctive reaction is disgust. Even if intellectually, we know that it's something that happen all the time.\n\nJust like you feel really incomfortable seeing a dead boby, even if it's pretty normal since everybody die at some point and a lot of people on earth die everyday."
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9bd2lp | what does sport mode do to my car (2015 jeep grand cherokee, if you're familiar)? i just don't notice much difference... | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9bd2lp/eli5_what_does_sport_mode_do_to_my_car_2015_jeep/ | {
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"It changes the way your transmission and traction control are set up. Sport mode will let your engine rev higher in each gear to get more power down to the road instead of being set up for fuel efficiency and your traction control will most likely turn off. In some fancy cars the throttle (gas pedal) and suspension will change to harsher and harder settings, but that’s not likely with a Jeep unless you have the SRT model.\n\nIt’s just a slight change from regular mode because it’s not a sports car, but you should notice the Jeep accelerate easier in sport mode than in snow mode or auto mode."
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72ke3g | how does our nervous system work in regards to how we feel through the use of neurotransmitters and medication? | I know of someone on antidepressant medication and they have described the withdrawal as worse than your stereotypical hard drugs such as heroin or meth. He said because his nervous system is all out of wack he feels really cruddy and it takes forever to rebalance it all unlike a typical withdrawal that lasts 3-7 days. I understand dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and all these neurotransmitters work together and the result is how we feel? How does all it work in ELI5 terms? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/72ke3g/eli5_how_does_our_nervous_system_work_in_regards/ | {
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"Please note that a lot of our information about neurotransmitters (and how the brain works in general) is correlative, not causative. \n\nWe know certain neurotransmitters correspond with certain conditions. We know that the lack of them, or an excess of them can be correlated with certain disorders. \n\nFor example, dopamine is linked to movement, learning and motivation. Too little dopamine has correlations with jittery movement (think Parkinson's). Too *much* dopamine has correlations with schizophrenia. \n\nA lot of medications for mental disorders try to help by either reducing or increasing the amounts, rates or absorption of neurotransmitters. \n\nThe thing is, a lot of times this is guesswork, and a lot of times you have to really trial-and-error it. Say, for example, we have someone diagnosed with schizophrenia, and we want to treat it by reducing dopamine levels. Reduce it *too* much and the person's movement can be affected. Not enough, and you're not helping the patient. And possibly dopamine levels weren't at fault to begin with, so you have to try other things. \n\nAs for the withdrawal thing - that's pretty anecdotal, but imagine living with depression (and if you have not, it's pretty hard to imagine), and then *not* living with it for a while, perhaps an extended period. Feeling that all come back... that can be incredibly harsh. "
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4daomf | what is today xkcd (_url_0_) comic supposed to be? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4daomf/eli5_what_is_today_xkcd_httpxkcdcom1663_comic/ | {
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"It's a garden. You can add and remove lights, reposition them, change their orientation and the breadth of the beam and also its color. After some time, stuff will grow.",
"There is a neat little site useful for the more obscure posts:\n\n_URL_0_\n\n\n"
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e7cgi0 | what are the differences and similarities between personality (i.e. personality traits) and character (i.e. virtues and possibly vices)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e7cgi0/eli5_what_are_the_differences_and_similarities/ | {
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"You’re born with a personality that can change through experiences, but your character is based entirely on lessons and life experiences",
"Semantics and whether you care about morals, primarily.\n\nA quick Google for definitions gives: personality, the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character; character, the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. Two different ways of saying (roughly) the same thing.\n\nBoth are algamations of traits that make up a person, with character sometimes having moral judgement."
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133tw9 | why does the government pay farmers to limit how much they produce? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/133tw9/eli5_why_does_the_government_pay_farmers_to_limit/ | {
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"It could be for a number of reasons. \n\nOne being top soil depletion. If farmers are working their land to the max all the time because that's how they make their money then the soil can become \"exhausted\" and another dust bowl or famine would happen.\n\nIt's also good for smaller farms. By limiting production, it allows for more competition between growers and helps ensure that nobody gets run out of business."
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1jhzi7 | why do dogs and cats lift their paws really high when they have socks or booties on? | Example: [this video](_URL_0_)
Does it have something to do with perceived increased friction between paw and ground? Or perceived weight? Or something else? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jhzi7/eli5_why_do_dogs_and_cats_lift_their_paws_really/ | {
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"They feel as if something is grabbing their foot, and they need to pull away.",
"They feel as though they can lift their feet out of them. It's the same logic as when you put something on their head and they walk backwards trying to back out of it. It's the simplest most direct way to escape something so I'm assuming that's what they're trying to do.",
"I watched a video on youtube where a guy would put post it's on cats, different places and see how they reacted.\n\nIt was hilarious."
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vj4dx | why are vintage guitars considered to sound better than modern ones? | Since technology has improved over the last several decades, shouldn't modern guitars sound better as well? I understand the concept of limited supply = higher prices but that doesn't explain why so many people claim that their guitars from the 60s or 70s have a superior tone to their modern counterparts (Les Pauls, Stratocasters, White Falcons, etc). | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vj4dx/why_are_vintage_guitars_considered_to_sound/ | {
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"As the wood ages, the tone generated by the wood changes (usually in a desirable manner). Since the wood in older guitars has aged, the tone from that wood \"sounds better\". Also, when you are dealing with analog circuitry, there are quirky tones and characteristics generated by the components in those older guitars. Since some of those components (pots, caps, etc...) are not used on newer guitars, some ppl claim that the sound isn't as good. A lot of these nuances can be reproduced by digital modeling, but there will always be those who can \"tell the difference.\"",
"Guitars are like women. Some don't age very well, but some are total milfs. ",
"Because people don't know what they're talking about. Study after study have proven that even the most prolific musicians cannot tell the difference in blind tests.",
"I bet if you can't see which guitar being played, the differences between an old and new one are much smaller to even experienced listeners. Kind of how once you take the label off a bottle of wine, experienced wine-tasters are much less likely to label the more expensive wine as superior.",
"They really don't sound much better. Actually, from my experience vintage guitars tend to sounds a little worse, although there are always exceptions.\n\nHonestly, the whole vintage guitar hype is an industry made to sell overpriced guitars to old people who can hardly play but have more money than sense. If you want to sound better, you have to practice. That's the ONLY thing that will make you really sound better.",
"At least with certain manufacturers, build quality was better in certain eras. Les Pauls, for example, weren't cranked out in 1959 to the degree they are now. Less focus on mass production = more interest in making a quality product. \n\nMany argue, for example, that \"pre-CBS\" Fender products are suprerior to those built after the CBS takeover, same as with the \"Norlin\" era Gibson products. \n\nI still think it's absurd what some people will pay for a '59 Les Paul, though, cool as it would be to own one. You could own a hand-built, custom made guitar for a fraction of the price you'd pay for one of those and have a truly unique instrument. ",
"I would just like to add that some guitar players use vintage equipment in an attempt to emulate the sound of other players, the idea being that the electronics in a 1960s VOX amp and the 1950s Rickenbacker is exactly what the Beatles were playing (for example), so it's easier to recreate their sound. Whether or not it's any different from modern equipment is really up to the listener.",
"They don't, people are just snobs. ",
"Pick-up winding back in the day was done by hand, producing uneven or scatter windings. Today its all machine made, there for all the coils are even, no mistakes.\nIt creates the tone of modern machine made guitar. Hand wand pick-ups are still made today because of the tone produced. ",
" > shouldn't modern guitars sound better as well?\n\nThey very likely do. There has been a [study](_URL_0_) comparing old violins with new ones and people couldn't tell the difference, I bet it's the same with guitars.",
"Superiority is all subjective. In today's modern age, many musicians are looking for a more raw, or unrefined tone as a contrast to today's more precise, clean, and digital tones, hence why people are always looking for tube amps, and vintage guitars. While it's partially that the wood and analog circuit aging can have an effect on the sound, I feel like it's mostly that nothing can beat the classic sound of a signature era of guitar equipment that revolutionized music. You can use as many fancy modeling amps, pedals, and guitar mods as you want, but you'll still never be able to perfectly recreate that sound you get from a 70s LP or Strat or a vintage tube amp.",
"If an old guitar is still around and being played it is probably because it is a good instrument. The junk ones wear out and are tossed when no one bothers to repair them. If someone is playing a guitar that was made fifty years ago, there is a reason people kept putting money into it. But, don't buy an old guitar just because it is old. That would be foolish.",
"Better is maybe not the right word. Unique would fit. \n\nThe wear and tear, made the guitar sound unique from other guitars, which is where the charm comes from. Also it's simply a matter of preferences. There's no way to determine the \"best\" guitar sound. ",
"It is a guitaristic analogue of the 320 kb/s MP3 vs. FLAC controversy for audiophiles. During blind tests, people cannot find the difference, but they still argue that there is one.",
"Honestly a lot of it is marketing. The \"vintage market\" was something that appeared in 70s and 80s. Prior to that used guitars were viewed the same way as used sports equipment. \n\nPersonally I think market is inflated, and I'm sure it will crash. Compare the prices of golden age Fender guitars to Fender basses in the same era. Same woods and same workmanship but the prices between the two are drastically different. Electric guitars aren't violins and cellos, they really don't soften their tone when they get played. It's a solid block of wood. A lot of the \"tone\" talk is sometimes fanboyism and well as justifying such high end prices. Also a lot customers in the vintage guitar aren't players, sometimes they just want to own something to feel a little connected to their favorite musicians, youth, ect. \n\nThe vintage guitar market is looking to be a bit similar to lot of guy items such as Ford Model T's and vintage Jukeboxes. The prices at a point got exceedingly inflated to the point there were no buyers, interest faded and prices crashed. \n\nYou are right. Some of the best guitars are actually being made today thanks to technology. Take a look at PRS guitars. The thing is a vintage guitar has a certain \"tone\". It's not better or worst, its just different. Depending on the musician and genre, that \"tone\" might be more suited to his taste.\n\nI'm a bit of a guitar player and for a period in my life I wanted to build and design instruments. \n\n**TL;DR - Prices are inflated because of marketing.**\n\n",
"Not ALL vintage guitars sound better. There have been plenty of cheap guitars made that could be classified as \"vintage.\" At any rate:\n\n1) Like most things in this day and age, modern guitars are often made cheaply with many corners cut. Vintage guitars, especially Fenders & Gibsons tend to be very hefty = strong and a lot of resonance. There are plenty of exceptions to this.\n\n2) Back in the day, making pickups was not as controlled as it is now. The amount of copper being wrapped around the magnets was a lot of guesswork (gee, Phil, has it been five minutes yet? should we shut off the copper wrapping machine?) and therefore, every pickup was different. Because of this, there are some guitars that would have very high outputs and would sound better (louder = more betterer to most people). They would also drive old tube amps harder which means more distortion which means more betterer, again. There are plenty of exceptions to this.\n\n3) Most modern amplifiers are also cheaply made and/or are trying to replicate the sounds of vintage amps that shaped music today. Again, many exceptions. It's fair to assume that someone testing out a \"modern\" guitar did so on a \"modern\" amp.\n\nHype makes up much of it. Hype and people trying to make sense of huge price tags on vintage instruments. \nIn reality, there are many great vintage pieces of gear out there and plenty of junk. The same goes for modern equipment, but the sheer amount of new stuff being produced versus the amount of stuff that is quality is a smaller fraction, it seems.\n\n\n\n",
"It's all hype ",
"In This Thread:\n\n* speculation about the wood/coating changing over time, or from being played\n* speculation about build quality being better in the past\n* specific information about electrical components\n* assertions that's it's all hype\n* suggestions that it's natural selection -- the guitars which survived are the good ones -- ironically makes more sense if build quality was more *variable* in the old days\n* lots of links to an NPR article showing that the sound of supposedly amazing vintage violins isn't that amazing\n* apart from the NPR thing, almost no scientific or objective information at all",
"Actually most older electric guitars are not better. Very few of them are, they were very uneven by today's standards. It is a fallacy that they used to make them better, this is plain false. Modern build quality is exceedingly high. But with hand built, what you pay for in lack of overall quality you get a rare beauty where everything came together just right. You're not going to get that magic with something off the line. Most of these found their way into the hands of great players, it was commonly known that not all guitars of similar model were created equal. TLDR: modern build quality is superior, but eliminates randomness and birth of a rare exceptional instrument. ",
"Bias and misperception, basically the same reason identical foods seem to taste better from fancier packaging or presentation.\n\n_URL_0_\n\n",
"i honestly prefer them because in my expierence, i've been able to get more bang for my buck that way. I guess my personal taste comes into play quite a bit. I love shitty old department store guitars like Harmonys, Silvertones, Tiescos ect. I've got 4 old guitars like that and each has a totally unique tone. the most expensive one was $250 and the cheapest was $10. ",
"I've played dozens of guitars. Lots of vintage guitars and newer ones.\n\nThe differences are so subtle between a 60s or 70s era Strat/LP and their modern day counterparts. I've been playing for 10 years, and I can barely pick up on the differences, and I really have to play them side by side for a couple hours to really pick up the differences. I'd say it's similar to wine-tasting - just a lot of bullshit based on brand recognition. \n\nIt's a lot of hype. Big name guitarists play vintage guitars because they have the money. The guitar world has gotten so commercialized, and now everyone is snatching up the dwindling supply of vintage guitars, which obviously increases the price. ",
"People think they sound better, so they are perceived as sounding better. \n\nRealistically, its about rarity, just like any other commodity. If something is rare, people will pay more for it. \n\nAlso, many people can attest to the notion that aged wood sounds better. \n\nWhile I agree, I would still prefer that a well-acclaimed luthier build me a guitar with aged wood, than buy a vintage guitar . . . ",
"All of the above comments about hype is bullshit. Buy a guitar new or otherwise. String it with new strings. That guitar is going to sound like bambi's mum getting hit by a 4x4 until the strings are worn in.\n\nThis is especially true of brass strings, which will just sound tinny until they've been strummed a few hundred times and have been stretched.",
"Combination of factors, though there is no guarantee that older instruments sound \"better\", just that they're more likely to have a distinct sound with lots of character based on the age of the materials. There is some evidence that speaks to the idea of higher build quality in older instruments because they predate the mass-production levels of modern instruments. Other than that it's mostly luck and confirmation bias.",
"Late to the party, but hey - let me toss in some ideas.\n\nFirst of all, acoustics. It's really hard to get wood as fine-grained as the first-growth stuff that was used in all of the old guitars. You can get something as good as a '30s Martin D-18, but it won't be a modern D-18, it'll be a [Sawchyn](_URL_0_) or at least a [Composite Acoustics](_URL_1_).\n\nSolid-bodies are another story. One thing that is true universally is that a guitar is probably going to get easier to play with time. The frets wear down, the neck gloss softens, it turns from a thing to a musical extension of the guitarist.\n\nThen there are the electronics - old pickups often sounded WONDERFUL, but at the expense of high rejection and failure rates, inconsistent performance, and limited range. You can dial in modern pickups to an amazing degree, but if you're not Adrian Belew, who tunes his pole-piece heights as often as his strings, then the effort to get the music out of a modern pickup is never exerted.\n\nAmplifiers really *did* sound better, for the most part, for a number of very solid reasons:\n\n* discrete electronics\n* carbon resistors\n* end-of-their-life tubes (always sound better!)\n* end-of-their-life speakers (almost always sound better)\n\nBasically, modern materials are often 80% or 90% as good as the originals at 10% the price. Getting something that is actually as good as the originals costs as much as they did in their day, and that's damned expensive!\n\nPut another way: Modern technology has made VASTLY cheaper items possible, which are pretty damned good. If you want something as good as the originals, you'll have to pay as much for it, or buy used. Used is often cheaper.\n",
"They don't sound better. Vintage things are just highly collectible, and thus have an added value. ",
"So, Jonny. The guitar is an instrument made of wood.\n\nThe nicer the wood is, the better the guitar sounds. It will make pretty music for you to listen to.\n\nThere are certain kinds of wood that make good sounds and some that sound not so good.\n\nThis is because the sound actually moves through the wood. It vibrates as you play. \n\nNow the longer you play a guitar the better it vibrates, so Jonny, if you have a good guitar and you play it for a long time. It will sound better.\n\nA lot of older guitars used better wood, but they have also been played for much longer than new guitars. The wood vibrates a lot, and it makes very pretty sounds.",
"I have always heard the discussion of the wood used to be minimal in impact, in terms of sound. \n\n > Since some of those components (pots, caps, etc...) are not used on newer guitars\n\nThis is what I have always found to be correct, and it's the same reason for amps: old guitars have quirky electronics which inevitably produce distinct sounds. As the guitar has become increasingly mass produced, it has become increasingly more uniform in sound; played through digital formats, and stripped of a lot of desirable tonal richness (see the '80s, parts of the '70s, all the way through now).\n\nIf I have to find sources for these later, I will try:\n\nStevie Ray Vaughan was given his guitar by the store owner, who thought it sounded cheesy and stupid. \n\nPeter Green did strange things to his pickup polarity(reversed).\n\nJoe Walsh doesn't keep his pickups level.\n\nFor a while Jimmy Page strung his guitar with a banjo string in the high e, and moved everything else down. He didn't use the low e from the electric set. \n\nTony Iommi lost the tips of his fingers and played with caps on them.\n\nJack White and Kut Cobain, two artisits with \"rough\" sounds and generally not associated with giving a fuck, are/were each a notorious gear hound in his own right. They each used vintage and obscure equipment. \n\nDifferent is memorable.\n\nEach of these guitarists brought something unique to the signal heading from the pickups and into the amp. This is naturally easier to do if the instrument in your hands is a bit more unique, unpredictable, and not reliant on the pickups for the entire sound. This has also become an increasingly prevalent problem as alternate construction materials are explored. ",
"I've been told that it has to do with the uniqueness of the sound. Modern, mass produced guitars all sound alike. Whereas an older, hand crafted guitar will contain minor defects which give it a unique sound.",
"There are two answers to this question:\n\n1) Guitarists who associate a particular tone with being \"better\". Usually because they are fans of a particular player or style\n\n2) Acoustics and their wood mature and breathe. As they absorb the playing (frequencies) and age they take on a deeper, more elastic tone characteristic. Its 100% unique to the instrument with some vintage guitars not sounding very good while others sound insane. Usually has to do with the playing and storage condition of the guitar - of course it has to start off as a decent guitar...but the more a guitar is played the better it will sound... \n\nGeneral rule is that acoustics age and mature in tone where electrics sound like a certain tone. "
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3y08ep | difference between cars in nascar | I know different sponsorships have different cars, however, how are they allowed to manipulated their cars to be better than the next person's car? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3y08ep/eli5_difference_between_cars_in_nascar/ | {
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"Downforce settings, camber settings, fuel levels, etc. The cars are supposed to be carbon copies of each-other prior to the engineers \"tweaking\" several settings, giving the driver a different feel on the track. ",
"You also have different engine builders and different car frame builders based upon which manufacturer a team goes with ( ford chevy Toyota).\n\nSome guys and teams are also just better at that or have better test equipment and newer less worn stuff."
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7qu3qb | where do all the chromosomes “go” during mitosis? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7qu3qb/eli5_where_do_all_the_chromosomes_go_during/ | {
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"They're all there. It's just that in this case, it's usually described as 2 sets of 23 instead of 23 sets of two. 23 chromosomes (1 of each pair) will go into one of the new cells and the other set will go into the other.",
"They're all there, it's just easier to represent two sets of chromosome instead of 23.\n\nPlus, when you understand how mitosis and meiosis works for two sets of chromosomes, you understand how it works for 23.",
"The picture is simplified for the explanation. The size of two pairs in the pictures is about the size of 23 pairs irl. \n\nWhat happens is that chromosomes are much smaller than in the pictures (though still very big for cells). Everything that happens in the pictures to two pairs happens in real cells to all 23 pairs. It's one of the main reasons you can see them with a light microscope. It's so dense that they block the light!",
"All the chromosomes split like the 1 or 2 you see in the pictures. It's just so much easier to see what's going on and to fit a diagram on the page without drawing every single chromosome. For example, [here's what mitosis looks like in onion cells.](_URL_0_) The cells look really crowded and onions only have 8 chromosomes, so you can probably imagine how tough it would be to look at a picture with all 46 chromosomes in human cells. Additionally, the way mitosis works is the same for all the chromosomes, so a complete image wouldn't provide much useful information that couldn't be seen on a simplified diagram. \n\nWhen mitosis is not occuring, the chromosomes become less tightly packed, so they lose their distinctive shapes and just look like a single blob inside the nucleus. ",
"A chromosome is a single book in a series. There are 23 books in the series. Also, there are thousands and thousands of editions of each book, each edition having slightly different words that basically mean the same things (like someone went crazy with a thesaurus). \n\nEach cell has 2 editions of each of the 23 books for a total of 46 books (or 23 pairs of books). During mitosis, every single book is copied identically and those copies are used to make a second, identical cell. During meiosis, a new edition of each of the 23 books is made by taking page 1 from one edition, page 2 from the other, page 3 from the first again, page 4 from the second again, etc., then cells are made that only have 1 edition of each of the 23.",
"This isn't a simple infograph, but it's a great video describing mitosis. \n_URL_0_"
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|
4mki64 | why flies don't get sick from eating rotting flesh and feces? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4mki64/eli5_why_flies_dont_get_sick_from_eating_rotting/ | {
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"I'm fairly certain that flies don't directly eat flesh and feces. They spew us some kind of acid/enzyme that breaks the materials down into something they can digest safely."
]
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||
262m8r | what causes someone to not "come back" or "lose their mind" when they take psychedelics such as mushrooms or lsd? | I have heard of people taking psychedelics and they will be very strange for a long time if not permanently, having strange delusions and overall just not being right in the head anymore. What causes this or what exactly is going on in the brain that makes this happen? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/262m8r/eli5_what_causes_someone_to_not_come_back_or_lose/ | {
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"What I think you're referring to is [hallucinogen persisting perception disorder](_URL_1_), which no one knows the exact cause of unfortunately.\n\nMost hallucinogens act as agonists on the [5-HT2A receptor](_URL_2_), and I suspect HPPD is caused by some kind of lasting downstream effect of 5-HT2A agonism, but exactly what hasn't been confirmed.\n\n[Levetiracetam](_URL_0_) is one of the most effective known treatments.",
"If this ever happened, it was a case of that person being \"not right in head\" to begin with. Perhaps the use of psychedelic drugs would exacerbate these issues in someone with a form of psychosis. For example, I would imagine giving acid to a schizophrenic person would probably be a bad idea. Mushrooms and/or LSD have never turned a normal, mentally healthy person into a crazy person. At least not that I've ever heard of or seen in experimentation results. That sounds more like propaganda to me.",
"Explanation here is in reference to LSD. Drug-induced psychosis is what the OP is asking about IMO. HPPD is the theory behind LSD \"flashbacks,\" (hallucinations after the drug has left the body) and is more akin to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).\n\nThe problem with recognizing a drug-induced psychosis is that it is not always a sudden, defined break from reality, which is the popular belief. Most of the time, the descent into delusional thinking and hallucinations is gradual. So gradual in fact, that the person won't even realize that his thinking is corrupted until presented with an extremely stressful or traumatic event that has enough gravity to \"wake him up.\" That is the most frightening part about a drug-induced psychosis. \n\nAs far as the cause, like many people have mentioned, the factors are numerous. Pre-existing mental disorders, interactions with other drugs, stress level, individual personality, and dosage to name a few. \n\ntl;dr: Your brain is like a very fine broth. Add even a tiny pinch of a strong herb or spice and the taste changes dramatically. \n\nSource: Was hospitalized for a drug-induced psychosis in 2011. Thinking about doing an AMA on it btw. "
]
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levetiracetam",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen_persisting_perception_disorder",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5HT2A"
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d4m86v | how is it when our hands are wet things are very slippery, but if they’re slightly damp, things are extra grippy and when they’re bone dry things are slippery again? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d4m86v/eli5_how_is_it_when_our_hands_are_wet_things_are/ | {
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"Martha is in the grocery store buying some apples. She wants three, so she figures she needs one of those clear plastic bags from the tight rolls they have there and that require you to open the bag before you can use it. She pulls one off and uses her dry hands to try and open it, rubbing the end-that-should-open between her finger and thumb to try and get the bag started. But because her dry fingertips don't allow a whole lot of friction between their skin and the plastic, it's hard to get enough friction for the two parts of the plastic bag's opening to slide away from each other.\n\nSo Martha licks her finger to moisten its tip (and the produce clerk sees this and doubles down on his secret crush for her, but hey, that's a different type of story, let's not get distracted)... \n\n...and now there's a little tiny bit of moisture, sort of crack-fill, that increases the overall amount of surface area that's in contact between the fingertip and the plastic. She gets a greater level of friction that's enough to rub the bag open, and Martha puts her apples in.\n\nNow she just needs a couple small eggplants for her curry. Just as she goes to grab a couple small ones to put into a second plastic bag, the produce section's water sprayer turns on and soaks her fingertips. Now there's enough water on them for the water to *stop* acting as crack-fill that increases surface area and can assist friction, and *start* acting as a lubricant that fills the space between fingertip and bag with enough moisture so the two aren't really contacting each other and the fingertips just slide over the bag. \n\nSo she towels them off using her jeans, reducing their moisture count, and she's able to open the bag."
]
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||
21uo5m | how do sports fields make the dark/light patterns? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21uo5m/eli5how_do_sports_fields_make_the_darklight/ | {
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"They mow the grass in different directions, causing it to lay in different directions.",
"the grass is cut with a reel mower, which uses horizontal cutting drum versus a single rotor blade like your walk-behind mower that you normally use. It looks more like a cylinder with lots of blades that spin like a rolling pin and when cutting, it pushes the blades of grass so they lean down instead of sticking straight up. Your home lawnmower blade spins like a helicopter blade and the grass is left standing straight up.\n\nWhen you look in the same direction that the grass is laying down, it will look lighter, as it is reflecting sunlight off the surface of the blades of grass. When you look in the opposite direction that the grass is laying, you're effectively looking more into the tiny shadows the blades are creating, making it look darker. To create the patterns, they merely mow in different directions, with a bit of planning.\n\nIt's also important to note that the type of grass matters. Rye grass will lay down nicely but bermuda's blades will return to more or less a straight/chaotic position even after mowing with a reel or rolling with a heavy roller.\n\nYou can achieve stripes in your lawn at home even if you don't have a reel mower with [a striping kit such as this](_URL_0_)"
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"http://www.mowersdirect.com/Toro-20601/p8099.html"
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7gqku2 | why could people still beat chess programs up till 2006? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7gqku2/eli5_why_could_people_still_beat_chess_programs/ | {
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"text": [
"The computer could only examine so many moves per second, an there is a time limit in tournament chess. As computers have gotten faster, their ability per second has gone way up."
]
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[]
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||
2sokwy | what would happen if time ceased to exist? is this even a concept we can comprehend? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2sokwy/eli5_what_would_happen_if_time_ceased_to_exist_is/ | {
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"text": [
"have you ever done acid?"
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1u8vdd | regarding international flights, how do air traffic control towers deal with pilots coming in speaking all different languages? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1u8vdd/eli5_regarding_international_flights_how_do_air/ | {
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"text": [
"The international language of aviation is English. All pilots are required to be proficient in it.\n\nYou can listen to many international air traffic control feeds at _URL_0_."
]
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"http://www.liveatc.net/"
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79uq7g | how do they put the vitamins in vitamin pills? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/79uq7g/eli5_how_do_they_put_the_vitamins_in_vitamin_pills/ | {
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"You mix the binding agent with the vitamins and ground it to a fine powder. Then you press it into a pill. A bit lik how you mix ingrediens in a cake.\n\nYou can se a video of how it is done at _URL_0_",
"If you mean [pills like these](_URL_0_) then they're just little containers made of something that dissolves in your stomach. In a factory, the vitamin is just put inside in a machine, then the two halves are pushed together. That's all there is to it.\n\nMaybe you're wondering how vitamins are made. But each vitamin is a completely different chemical, and the answer is different for each. Some are extracted from natural sources, others are made in a factory. In the end they're turned into a powder and put inside a capsule (or pressed into a tablet).",
"Great responses. I will just add that in biochemistry terms, \"vitamin\" just means something that your body requires that it doesn't make itself, meaning you've got to get it from your diet. \nEdit: I am here referring to the types of dietary vitamins OP was asking about. Also note that vitamins are organic compounds, meaning they have carbon in them.",
"I used to work in Pill Encapsulation. There is a machine that makes pills. One barrel holds a batch of liquid vitamins. There is a second barrel that holds heated liquid gelatin. The gelatin flows over two cooled drums, this makes the two side of the pill. \n\nThe medicine/vitamins flow to heated wedge. The wedge is placed over two dies, that contain the form of the pill. The two ribbons (the cooled gelatin) are fed through the dies, underneath the wedge. \n\nThe wedge squirts the medicine/vitamins just as the die comes together, and heats the gelatin to seal it. And out pop some pills. \n\n_URL_0_",
"First they identify something high in what they're trying to extract. Let's say they're trying to extract vitamin c so they get a bunch of oranges. Then they grind the oranges up and mix them into something called a solvent. The solvent chemically dissolves everything in the orange and separates it all. The mixture is then spun around super fast, this further separates them. When it settles the vitamin C will be in one of these layers and it'll be extracted separately. Then you'll have (relatively) pure vitamin C. \n\nEdit: something something autocorrect",
"Vitamins can be made synthetically. Through a manufacturing process. They are identical to the vitamins you find in natural foods.\nAlso cheap vitamins are identical to the expensive ones so dont over pay for your pills.\nI wouldn't by the dirt cheap chinnese made ones because who knows what in them but for the most part vitamins are vitamins.",
"Apart from some of the other answers, there is also encapsulation meaning special coatings that can protect the compound from your stomach acid until it reaches your less harsh intestinal track. Theres lots of companies looking into this right now as a way to deliver chemicals to where they need to be in the body.",
"So I work for a vitamin and mineral distribution and premix company. We by raw bulk vitamins direct from china and then distribute or preblend those pure vitamins at ratio for other food and beverage manufacturers. \n\nThere are three types of vitamin pills. The capsules have been covered pretty well by other posters. What we also have done is premixes for tablets. That requires each raw vitamin to be coated or encapsulated in order for them to stick together when pressed into a tablet. Pure powered vitamins are free flowing powders and would just crumble if compressed. There are also gummy vitamins. Those require pure soluble raw materials that get dissolved in a tiny amount of water and added at the water addition state of the gummy making. \n\nAs for the pure vitamin powders we use? Those mostly come from China. All your ascorbic acid? China. No one in the US makes it because they extraction process is so bad for the environment. Each vitamin has a different source and process. So do your minerals. Some items like amino acids can be fermented. Your fat soluble vitamins (A,D, E,K) come as liquids or crystals and have to be spray dried onto a carrier to be used in a powdered for tableted form. ",
"Vitamins are usually created in a manufacturing environment, like laboratory that has been scaled up so that the batches are much bigger. Many vitamins can be created by organic synthesis which is, essentially, mixing several components in a specific order under specific conditions (like 100 degrees Celsius for ~4 hours, etc.). They will take commercially available building blocks and combine them in huge reaction vessels and take samples at given time periods. These samples are tested using analytical techniques such as gas and liquid chromatography as well as mass spectrometry. They also test pH to make sure it is in the proper range and once everything is tested they will put the reaction mixture through a purification process. This can be employed using a wide variety of methods such as extraction, fractional distillation, centrifugation, etc. Samples are again tested to ensure that they conform to USP standards (generally 99.8% purity as there will always be some residual water). Once the ultra-pure vitamin is attained in a powdered form it is then mixed with a binding agent and filler such as starch, along with heat, and pressed into pill form (sometimes the doses are very small and that tiny amount of powder is mixed with filler so the pills aren't the size of flea turds).\n\nSource: am chemist",
"There are many decent answers. But I think it should be pointed out: many companies don't. They make total placebos and they (tmk) can't be held very liable.\n\nBig CBS (?) expose about 2-3 years ago. Something like 85% had less than advertised, ~ 50% had NONE of advertised product found in their pills/tablets. \n\nBuyer beware.",
"One I can answer. I develop natural health supplements and supplementary foods for a living and have been doing it for over 10 years.\n\nYou can buy the vitamins and minerals easily. Companies like BASF or DSM manufacture them. You can buy cheaper vitamins out of China too.\n\nWe put together a formulation on paper and then calculate the requirements accordingly. For example Calcium pantothenate (vit B5) is 91.6% pantothenic acid, Calcium content of Calcium carbonate is 40%.\n\nOne I have calculated what the customer wants and what the final input will be I can determine whether it will fit into one tablet or capsule or two (or more).\n\nAt this point I may go back to the customer for their input. If the brief was for one-a-day but the total actives means I need to consider 2 tablets we may need to revise the formulation.\n\nOnce the active content has been approved I can either mix it with some excipients - magnesium stearate as a lubricant, silicon dioxide as a flow agent and microcrystalline cellulose as a disintigrant I can generally put it in a hard shell capsule with little more effort. I just need to check the blend flows easily and will fill a capsule to within +/-7.5%.\n\nTablets are harder. The excipients are partly the same as above. But it will depend on whether the tablet needs to by wet granulated or pressed with direct compression. Direct compression is less work but wet granulation gives better uniformity. The choice of excipient often is a choice of the formulator based on experience and what they know works. I tended to use a blend of microcrystalline cellulose and calcium hydrogen phosphate. The tablets are put onto a tablet machine for pressing. The choice of tooling for tablet shape will either be dictated by customer requirements or by our own tooling list.\n\nWe can do vitamins into softgels too. The active are mixed into oil with some viscosity modifiers mixed in to prevent separation during encapsulation.\n\nAll dosage forms are tested with destructive testing to ensure they break down and release their contents and to check the uniformity (what's claimed on the label vs what is actually there.\n\nThere are a few details I've omitted for clarity and simplification. But otherwise feel free to ask me anything you like.",
"Actually working in a factory with Vitamins(one product being Anavite) and a lot of other Supplements(Hi-Tech Nutraceuticals) I can tell of a few things, but we are shipped raw materials so all essential vitamins are added to each required product and mixed properly. \n\n**It’s really intriguing to watch how tablets/capsules are made. ",
"FUN FACT!!!\n\nMost of them DO NOT.\n\nThere is absolutely no law or regulation that says a vitamin must contain what it advertises it contains.\n\nIn fact one scientific study on what is in our multivitamins and dietary supplements discovered there is more floor dust, spider eggs, and rat poop inside those pills than pharmaceuticals.\n\nSelling \"dietary supplements\" in america allows you to sell absolutely anything you want to dumb people who will buy it and take it. There is no regulation.\n\nI am dead serious. This is why alex jones sells supplements contaminated with LEAD. There is no law stopping him.\n\n_URL_0_",
"\"Pills\" can be:\n\n* Two-part capsules\n* * Get vitamin powder; fill it into capsule and close it off. If the powder is sticky, you might need to add another powder to make it flow nicely into the capsules. There's a machine that does the filling and the closing.\n\n* Softgel capsules\n* * Suspend the vitamins in oil (maybe a vegetable oil, but some \"healthy\" oil like a fish oil is often used for this)\n* * Make two sheets of gelatine or a vegetable analog and use a complicated machine to inject the oil-vitamin suspension between the sheets and close it off into capsules \n* * Tumble the capsules and coat them with a thin layer of oil \n* * Dry them so that the gel hardens\n\n* Compressed tablets\n* * Make a powder mix containing the vitamins and stuff to make it stick together when compressed, but not while it's flowing into the tablet machine. Sometimes this is done by using ready-made powders (direct compression), and sometimes this is done by making a paste with the vitamins and the binders, and grinding this paste up (granulation).\n* * Stamp the powder into pill shape in a tablet press. This can be a very annoying process to get right: sometimes the tablets fall apart right after being pressed, sometimes a week later, and sometimes they don't even fall apart in the customer's digestive system - a good manufacturer will test this by using a simulated digestive system. Others don't care and will sell you little bricks of vitamins that will pass right through you.\n* * Maybe coat the tablet to make it taste better or last longer. This is done by spraying a coating on in a tumbling machine, and drying it with air. It can be a thin film coating or it can be a sugar-coating like they use for M & Ms.\n\nSource: I used to formulate vitamin supplements about a decade ago on a different continent.",
"So I actually do this-\n\nWe source all of the raw materials from other companies. Sometimes they come individually as pure powders or they can come as blends. For me this all depends on the contract im making this for. All of the raw materials get tested and approved for use (normal GMP stuff). Then you get a batch recipe, weigh out the excipients and API's, then blend them in a huge blender with a binding agent. Then you add it into a pill press hopper, and start pressing some pills out. This is simple but literally all thats done. \n\nEdit: Some vitamins can be made by bacteria, but most are chemically synthesized or purified from plants or animals. All depends on the complexity of the molecule."
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akd2dj | why is everyone bothered with overpopulation.. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/akd2dj/eli5_why_is_everyone_bothered_with_overpopulation/ | {
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"Look at population based on geography.\n\nMost of the problem is not an overpopulation of country, but overpopulated cities are an entirely different subject. ",
"The problem is the ratio of resources to population. In 1965 it was about 3.3 billion, it’s about double that now around 7.5-8 billion. That is a lot of food, textiles, construction materials, etc that needs to be created, used, and discarded for twice as many people.\n\nAs third world countries progress in their economies, they will demand more and better goods further increasing the demand, and therefore the strain on the planet to make ends meet. If we’re consuming almost everything we can make, what happens in a famine? Significant natural disaster? You can only produce so much and if part of the planet can no longer support its people, you will likely end up in a humanitarian crisis."
]
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1x8wzm | why are so many tests and other metrics not done "out of 100?" (ie, sat are out of 800 or 2400) | Examples:
GRE score is 130-180
SAT 890-2400
ACT 1-36
Transunion Credit Score 309-839
LSAT 120-180
Why are these things not simply 0-100? Why are the numbers seemingly so random, and why is the low often well above 1?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1x8wzm/eli5_why_are_so_many_tests_and_other_metrics_not/ | {
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"text": [
"So it deviates from the standard grading system everyone learns in school. 61/100 looks like a failure of a grade, yet 22/36 is pretty normal for the ACT. ",
"The reason they do it for the SATs is because it allows for minor corrections in the scaling. The difference between getting a 2100 and a 2400 on the SAT is 2 percentiles but its 300 \"points\". It allows for a bigger gap to be shown even as the percentile difference from score-to-score becomes smaller and smaller at opposite ends of the bell curve."
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1p3zwj | why do i get a hold on my card for more than the purchase when i buy gas? | Why can they just take out the amount I spent and let me use my money? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1p3zwj/eli5_why_do_i_get_a_hold_on_my_card_for_more_than/ | {
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"ccyinrf"
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"text": [
"Because the gas station does not know when you swipe your card how much gas you are going to pump.\n\nIn the case of credit cards, this may or may not happen, as the charge is usually guaranteed by the credit issuing company, but in the case of debit cards, the money must exist to be spent. The station puts a hold on an amount of money that is usually sufficient to fill up almost any vehicle, then replaces the hold with a charge for the exact amount when you are finished.\n\nConsequently, with a debit card, there is a maximum amount of gas you can pump, equal to the dollar amount of the hold.\n\nEdit: if you are that concerned with your balance, pay inside."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
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|
64esmm | why are the parts on the bottom of a car always exposed? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/64esmm/eli5_why_are_the_parts_on_the_bottom_of_a_car/ | {
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"text": [
"What would be the point of that?\n\nWhere it is needed (offroad vehicles mostly) there is a metal shield/skid plate that protects the more sensitive bits of the undercarriage. However on normal street cars it just isn't necessary. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
5s77f9 | the supposed 'island of stability' in chemistry/physics. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5s77f9/eli5_the_supposed_island_of_stability_in/ | {
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"text": [
"An atomic nucleus is essentially a balancing act between two different forces - the electrostatic force between positively charged protons, which pushes them away from each other; and the residual strong force between nucleons (the collective name for protons and neutrons), which (up to a point) pulls these particles together. The nature of these two forces are different, as well: the strong force, as its name may suggest is the stronger of the two, but it diminishes to pretty much nothing over the distance of about one nucleon. Meanwhile, the electrostatic force is weaker but its strength remains much more consistent with distance, dropping by a factor of one over the distance squared. This means that any nucleon will only feel the strong force from its nearest neighbours, whilst any proton will feel the electrostatic force from all the other protons in the nucleus. \n\nConsequently, as nuclei get larger, you must pack more neutrons than protons in to the nucleus to allow the strong force to keep them held together. However, at some point when your nucleus has a massive blob of neutrons inside it, it just becomes more energetically favourable for the nucleus to split up into smaller components, and you get things like spontaneous fission, alpha and beta decay. \n\nThis is why nuclei at high mass numbers tend to be unstable. But what about these *islands of stability*? Well, perhaps you might remember that electrons in atoms sit in shells, and that atoms with closed shells are extremely stable - the noble gases all have closed shells, and are extremely inert, undergoing chemical reactions with great difficulty. Nucleons in atomic nuclei sit in their own shells in a very similar way! And just like atoms, nuclei which have closed or near-closed shells (called magic number nuclei) are more stable than those which sit further from closed shells. The islands of stability are predicted to sit at these magic numbers, where the next set of shell closures are supposed to lie. Nuclear physicists think that there may be a set of superheavy elements at these magic numbers which have much longer lifetimes than those around them, due to their closed or near-closed shells. \n\nHope this helps! "
]
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45m94z | why are lead actors in tv shows, also their executive producers? | E.g. Luther, Breaking Bad, House of Cards.. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/45m94z/eli5_why_are_lead_actors_in_tv_shows_also_their/ | {
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"text": [
"Executive producer is a pretty vague title that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Some actors want the prestige of looking like an exec and negotiate to get themselves listed as an executive producer.\n\nOr maybe the actors are legitimately really involved with the filmmaking process. After all, actor input can really change how a story turns out. \"Executive producer\" can mean many different things depending on the show and whatnot.",
"They aren't always, but when they are it means they are involved on a management level with making the show happen either helping to find financing or making decisions about the business side of the production.\n\nAnd sometimes EP credits are just given out as a thankyou. "
]
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6u9sh0 | would we have to brush our teeth if we consumed no sugar? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6u9sh0/eli5_would_we_have_to_brush_our_teeth_if_we/ | {
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"text": [
"Yes, you would want to remove acids as well, as they also cause tooth problems. Brushing your teeth can also help remove pieces of food stuck in your teeth, which would otherwise rot. This is an area where flossing is helpful as well, which you should also do everyday."
]
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7lls16 | how does the satellite business work? how do the small telecom companies get access to satellites that costed millions to get into orbit? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7lls16/eli5_how_does_the_satellite_business_work_how_do/ | {
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"npr answered this question recently in a great 4 part podcast [here](_URL_0_). Essentially everyone and their mother is trying to put a satellite in space which creates lots of competing companies trying to do it with the best cost to risk ratio. That, combined with the development of \"small tech\" (think smart phones), made satellites compact and efficient rather then massive and expensive. Got a couple hundred thousand dollars lying around? You could have your own spy satellite.\n\nAlso any small telecom company is relatively large compared to most small business. They're bound to have at least a few million in capital. They could negotiate deals to use existing satellites or send their own.",
"So, now the real answer \n\nThere’s a lot of satellites up there with a lot of capacity. It’s a very mature industry and capacity is always available. There’s actually a lot more space than the sat owners can sell at market rates. \n\nSpace/capacity on the satellites are leased out to other companies. It’s actually not that expensive. In fact tons and tons of companies big and small lease space on the various satellites up there. This is standard procedure. You can even pay companies to do all your uplink and downlink too, and again, this is quite mature industry and totally normal and reasonably priced. Nearly every company that isn’t a satellite company just leases space and pays someone else to deal with the uplink and technical stuff. \n\nActually launching a satellite? Well, unless you’re literally a satellite company, you don’t need as much space as you put onto a satellite, so it’s kinda a waste, you’d just have to rent out the rest of it. Instead you just lease space on someone else’s sat. \n\nThink about it like you building an apartment building vs renting an apartment in the building \n\n\n",
"Imagine a stage surrounded by a huge stadium, with famous singers from several different countries all there on stage and singing to the audience. The audience, while all mixed together, can hear exactly who they want through magic earphones. \n\nThe stage is like a satellite chasis, and the singers are what we call the 'payload' (because it pays the bills har!). It's the part of the satellite that broadcasts down to earth some useful service.\nThe payload can service a HUGE number of people, several different countries or half the planet sometimes, and for decades in some cases, so it's like the stadium will constantly sell tickets to a lot of people for a long time to fund the initial cost of getting everyone together and singing. \n\nCompared to some other services like having a small party with all those singers (say, fiber optic internet to a small village), satellite service can be much cheaper than alternatives through economy of scale. \n\nSo small telcoms can be represented by just getting one or two singers into the show, and not having to set up the whole production.\n\nSource: I actually work with these types of satellites on a daily basis",
"\nThink of satellite access the same way you would power or internet. You don't need to own a nuclear generator or be an ISP to run a website.\n\nCompanies lease satellite bandwidth basically the same as they have power and internet bills. ",
"I'm assuming you're talking about the communication satellite industry. There are several other ways to make money with satellites, but comm sats seems to be your question.\n\nEvery satellite that launches contains a range of frequencies of RF energy they can broadcast pointed at the earth. If I'm a small telecom company, I talk to the satellite owner to lease some of that frequency space -- leasing bandwidth. That bandwidth correlates pretty closely to a data rate that can be passed through those frequencies. The higher the data rate the higher the bandwidth, but the more I can do with it. Low data rates might be something like satellite phones, higher data rates might be something like video conferencing.\n\nFor instance, Gogo Inflight Internet, available on many of the major US airlines, leases bandwidth from (I believe) Inmarsat to provide inflight Internet. They pay Inmarsat to use those frequencies, and make money by charging fliers to use the internet. Inmarsat spends a lot of money up front to do the launch, and a small amount of money per year later to maintain the service. So the longer a satellite is on orbit the more money they can make.\n\nRecently, satellite companies have been expanding their reach. Lower frequencies that have been in use for a while (think C-band), broadcast across the entire earth, so you can really only use those frequencies once. Higher frequencies have shaped footprints on the earth, allowing re-use. In the Inmarsat example above, Gogo leases Ku frequencies which are only broadcast onto North America (and in some cases, only the US). That allows them to use the same frequencies to service South America. Ka, even higher frequencies, result in even smaller footprints -- on the order of a couple states -- allowing much more re-use.",
"There were recently 4 episodes about this on the NPR [Planet Money](_URL_0_) podcast\n\nFirst episode dated 11-29-17\n",
"I can answer this question! Satellite companies that actually own the satellites sell space on their satellite to smaller companies. This way smaller companies have access to satellites.",
"The satellite compagny will make their satellite so it can handle a relativelly high amount of bandwidth, and the ability to share the bandwidth with more than one client. For example, let's say you make a satellite able to handle 1gigabit, you may split it in 1000 slices of 1Mbit, then assign one slice per client, and then make your 1000 client transmit one after the other (time division sharing). Of course, each client need to sync with the satellite, but that's kinda a detail.\n\nThen you can also oversell the capacity, because most client will not use all the speed, so you could have 10000 clients sharing those 1000 time slices. This result in congestion if too many try to transmit at once... But since that is not common, they can get away with it.\n\nSo, let's say that the satellite cost 20 millions to make and launch, and they expect to get back their money in 10 years (just random numbers to make things simpler), then you need 2 millions dollars in client revenue, which at 1000 clients would be only 2000$/year per client. If they oversell the capacity they could go 10k clients and charge 200$/year.\n\n\nAnd of course, a satellite can have multiple antennas and polarity (you can have one antenna vertical, the other horisontal. The ground antenna need to be aligned with one or the other. This, due to some radio frequency black magic, will cause I beleive 15db of signal difference, which is more than enought to differenciate between the two. So the same satellite can transmit on two antenna with the same frequency at the same time, and literally double the bandwidth. Dish network actually do that for tv, and is very common for tv satellite (this is why you will see for example 13V and 18V for the dish: the different voltage select the different antenna).\n\nAnd you can even have more than one frequency on the same antenna. \n\nAll that allow to have more bandwidth per satellite, thru more clients. The more they have, the cheaper it get to send one there, and the bigger the satellite they can afford, which lower their cost per client/capacity.",
"You’re right... as in “I costed the item at a 20% discount for our sale.” It’s not the right word here",
"Hello, I worked at a satellite operator for some years, so I should hopefully be able to answer this :)\n\nSatellite operators (people like Eutelsat, SES, etc.) are the people who will take a big loan of hundreds of millions of £s/$s and order a satellite from a satellite manufacturer (such as Airbus Defence and Space, Thales, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, etc.). The operators will also pay for the launch vehicle (provided by Arianespace, Krunichev, SpaceX, etc.)… depending on how big the satellite is they either have to buy the whole rocket, or maybe they can split the cost with another operator… but the big telecom satellites usually take up a whole rocket.\n\nFast-forward 2-3 years: the satellite the operator ordered has been manufactured, tested and launched into space. After launch there is a period of time where the satellite operators will manoeuvre the satellite to its correct position: for telecom satellites this is usually somewhere in the geostationary arc, an orbit with an altitude of 35,786 km, which allows the satellite to orbit with just the right velocity, such that from the POV of someone looking up at it from the Earth, it seems to stay stationary. Once the satellite arrives at its “slot” there will be a period of commissioning where they test all the various systems and ensure nothing broke during launch! Commissioning usually takes a couple of weeks.\n\nTHEN! They’re up and running! The satellite and the launch cost hundreds of millions, and GEO satellites usually only last 15-20 years before starting to malfunction / running out of fuel and requiring them to be “retired”. So the operators have got to sell the services and make their money back plus profit before this expensive asset fully depreciates.\n\nYou asked about telecom satellites, so I’m going to assume this satellite is one which can provide two-way data services, i.e. internet for Bob in Mount Everest, who has a special dish on his house. How do they do this? Well the satellite operator has not only gone and bought a satellite and a launch vehicle, but they also have a “gateway” (aka \"teleport\") – a massive dish on the Earth that is very close to an internet exchange / has fibre-optic lossless connections to an internet exchange. The gateway also has fancy modems called “hubs”. Using the TCP/IP protocol, desired data is routed from the web to the hub, but it must then be somehow sent to the satellite, for subsequent retransmission to Bob in Mount Everest who is waiting to receive his data via his small dish and modem. How is this done? Well the data is “modulated” onto RF spectrum! Don’t want to get too technical… but you basically encode 0s and 1s onto a RF wave by altering the “phase” and/or “amplitude” of the wave… There are actually rules for this (see DVB-S2 or DVB-S2X). Anyway, the data has been modulated onto a physical signal, and the big dish on the gateway transmits that towards the satellite.\n\nThe satellite receives the signal, sends it to some electronics that changes the frequency (because you can only use certain frequencies for Earth-to-Space link and different ones for Space-to-Earth links) then amplifies the signal and retransmits it. This chain of electronics on the spacecraft, this ability to receive a signal and retransmit… is called a “transponder”….. and this is where the operators make their money.\n\nThere is a relationship between how much data in a given time period is required to be sent (i.e. Mbps), and how much spectrum is required to achieve this. Transponders on the spacecraft are defined by chunks of spectrum (36 or 54 MHz wide chunks most commonly). What happens is small ISPs, usually dedicated to providing internet to rural areas, will lease a certain number of transponders (or a portion of a transponder), and when they do that, the operator will also ensure they sort out access for the ISP at their gateway (i.e. allow the ISP's router in the exchange to talk with their own routers in the exchange, which in turn link back to the hubs in the operator's gateway, and also configure their hubs to send the ISP's data to the spacecraft). Operators can also provide to the ISP the dishes that the ISP’s customer will need, acting as a wholesaler effectively.\n\nAnd that how it works! ISP sells Bob in Mount Everest a small dish and modem. Bob pays lots of money for a capped link (capped down and up) and gets pretty constant coverage (pending extreme weather.. maybe Mount Everest wasn’t such a good example!). The ISP has leased capacity (transponders) off a satellite which is owned by a satellite operator. The transponders have coverage over Mount Everst. The ISP pays $/MHz/month usually, and the more Mbps they need, the more MHz (i.e. transponders) they need to lease.\n\nThis explains the \"forward\" link, namely Bob downloading something. But the same thing happens for the \"return\" link (Bob uploading something / requesting data from a web page).. just in reserve.. Bob's computer requests data, this is sent to Bob's modem, which modulates the data onto an RF wave which is subsequently transmitted by Bob's dish. The satellite receives this, changes the frequency of the signal, amplifies and retransmits towards the gateway. Gateway receives, demodulates and hooks into the web at the internet exchange.. the satellite is almost transparent, except for the increase in latency.\n\nTLDR; satellite operators buy, own, launch and operate satellites. ISPs lease capacity on these satellites and use it to provide data to their own customers. ISPs make money from customers, operators make money from ISPs.\n\nEdit: corrected some rogue apostrophes.. and just wanted to say thanks for the Reddit gold!\n\nEdit2: added a final paragraph to talk about the return link, added a TLDR, and made minor edits/spelling corrections",
"In another life when I ran a satellite uplink truck for television news I paid around $175 per hour for a 6 mhz slice. The two main satellite groups that we would lease occasional use space are SES and Intelsat. I could lease space for as little as 5 minutes at a time and the price varies depending on whatever deal I could cut with the vendor reselling its space and however much bandwidth I'd need.\n\nLots of vendor uplink trucks are going away with the advent of high speed and reliable cellular connections. In my case I now keep something about a third of the size of a shoebox called a LiveU and can stream video to most broadcast clients. It's a really interesting technology and quite the game changer. I went live from a Blackhawk helicopter after one of the hurricanes this year.\n\nI have a feeling lots of these providers have been sweating for a number of years with how much fiber is around and many other alternative ways of moving data around. There will likely always be a demand for satellite services in mission critical applications and the military/government world.",
"I feel like you cursory heard about this and formed a question in your subconscious because Planet Money podcast from NPR just finished a four part story on exactly this question: _URL_0_\n\nDefinitely worth checking out and it answers your question pretty thoroughly.",
"[Planet Money](_URL_0_) just did a four part episode on launching a satellite. They even launched their own.",
"If you feel like having a listen the Planet Money podcast has a great 3 part series on how all of this works: _URL_0_",
"You might want to check NPR Planet Money podcast.\nThey did a 4 episode about space where they got a satellite and put it into orbit.\n\nGive it a try, this is great additional info!\n\n\n\n[Space 1: Planet Money](_URL_0_)",
"Obviously it's because of evil Ajit Pai. Amirite Reddit?",
"Small telecom employee here. \n\nAccess to satellite for video distribution can be accessed one of two ways: paying another company via a contract for access into their head-end and distribution via fiber backbone connections, or contacting the companies using the satellites and setting up your own facilities. \n\nDepending on your projected Investment returns will generally dictate which route you go. \n\nFor my company, we tried both and ended up being more cost effective to sign contracts with the major corporations and building our own facilities. \n\nAfter signing contracts with the various networks (renewed yearly or bi yearly) we were provided the dishes to communicate with the necessary satellites. The networks also shipped out all of the decryption receivers needed to convert those satellite signals to formats usable by cable boxes and televisions (mpeg2, h.264/5, etc). \n\nThe main cost for the company comes in building the facilities and maintaining distribution equipment and contract cost (the big one) which the consumer helps pay for with their monthly service charges. \n\nHope that helps answer the question. ",
"_URL_0_ check this company out. They are a matchmaking company for companies that need to communicate with other companies between any points on earth. Yet they don't own any satellites themselves ",
"As an example, SpaceX yesterday launched 10 Iridium satellites also carrying a hosted payload provided by another company. SpaceX has great videos, so check out yesterday's launch from 9m00s into the video, where Iridium explains what they did. \n\n_URL_0_ t=9m00s\n\nFor context, Iridium is a network of about 70 low orbit communication satellites that move around the Earth and combined always have vision of every single part of the Earth. These satellites are built by Iridium. SpaceX is a launch provider, meaning SpaceX is responsible for getting the satellite to the proper orbit. Basically Iridium provides the cargo while SpaceX provides the truck. SpaceX trucks only come in essentially one size right now, so each launch always has a max weight and max volume. Toward OP's question, Iridium realized the truck could carry more than the 10 satellites that they wanted in the same orbit, so Iridium partnered with another company who found hosted payloads. These are like Amazon add-on items that couldn't afford to go to space on their own but would love to ride along if someone else was sending a package to the same place.",
"Not sure if this has already been commented, but the Planet Money Podcast recently did a 4 part series on this topic. "
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628zjv | what happens to the old pavement when a road gets repaved? | I once heard someone say that there is a machine that melts the old pavement and repaves but I'm not entirely sure that's true.
Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/628zjv/eli5what_happens_to_the_old_pavement_when_a_road/ | {
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"The term you are looking for is asphalt recovery. Google has lots of very detailed information but in a nutshell yes there are machines and processes for recovering parts of asphalt roads.\n\nThere are also asphalt and concrete recycling facilities.",
"Sometimes they just grind it. At my job they replaced the road and gave us the grindings to spread about the yard, and half of my home driveway is ground asphalt"
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ak6pm0 | i'm seeing huawei pop up a lot in the news. can somebody please explain the drama? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ak6pm0/eli5_im_seeing_huawei_pop_up_a_lot_in_the_news/ | {
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"Huawei makes the equipment that runs telephone systems. Huawei is linked to the Chinese government. Security firms have found chips in Huawei equipment that have no reason to be there, possibly being a hardware hack from the factory that could give access to everything that passes through that equipment. "
]
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2hlht6 | what exactly is a private prison? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2hlht6/eli5what_exactly_is_a_private_prison/ | {
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"A prison run by a private organization. Almost always for-profit. They are generally paid per prisoner they keep by the state. "
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zml8r | why do nuclear reactions require uranium? | I get that nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors split atoms to create energy. But why do they need uranium to do so? Why don't other atoms work? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/zml8r/eli5_why_do_nuclear_reactions_require_uranium/ | {
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"Other atoms do work. Uranium-235 is a heavy atom that is almost unstable, and therefore easy to break apart to release energy. We use it because it is the easiest one to use.\n\nEdit - mixed up my 235 and 238. Kudos to Hiddencamper for the correction.",
"It doesn't have to be Uranium, any fissile material of a high enough purity to maintain a chain reaction will pretty much do. Traditionally the uranium was used as a tamper (surrounding case) around the main fission material.\nModern thermonuclear devices usually use hydrogen based fissile material such as tritium and deuterium. The uranium absorbs neutrons from the primary fission reaction and extends the chain reaction but it is by no means crucial to the reaction in general.",
"There are many atoms which can fission. Uranium 233, 235, and Plutonium 239 are all fissile elements. They are heavy and unstable and have an odd atomic number, and when they are hit with a thermal neutron they fission and produce more neutrons than were put into them to begin with. This is the big thing, that you are capable of producing more than 1 neutron for every neutron used to cause fission. ",
"It's not that uranium is the only one that works. It's just that uranium is one of the most common elements that works. [I quote](_URL_1_):\n\n > Uranium is a naturally occurring element that can be found in low levels within all rock, soil, and water. Uranium is the 51st element in order of abundance in the Earth's crust. Uranium is also the highest-numbered element to be found naturally in significant quantities on Earth and is almost (See \"naturally\" occurring large concentrations) always found combined with other elements. [...] Uranium's average concentration in the Earth's crust is (depending on the reference) 2 to 4 parts per million, or about 40 times as abundant as silver.\n\n > Uranium is more plentiful than antimony, tin, cadmium, mercury, or silver, and it is about as abundant as arsenic or molybdenum. Uranium is found in hundreds of minerals including uraninite (the most common uranium ore), carnotite, autunite, uranophane, torbernite, and coffinite. Significant concentrations of uranium occur in some substances such as phosphate rock deposits, and minerals such as lignite, and monazite sands in uranium-rich ores (it is recovered commercially from sources with as little as 0.1% uranium).\n\n[Now compare this with plutonium](_URL_0_):\n\n > Trace amounts of at least three plutonium isotopes (plutonium-238, 239, and 244) can be found in nature. Small traces of plutonium-239, a few parts per trillion, and its decay products are naturally found in some concentrated ores of uranium, such as the natural nuclear fission reactor in Oklo, Gabon.\n\nSo uranium is millions of times more abundant in natural than plutonium is. In fact, most plutonium for nuclear use is not extracted from nature; it's manufactured from uranium."
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3h4uv7 | why isn't italy called romania? | Romania means land of the Romans, so wouldn't it make more sense for Italy to be called it. Since that's where the Romans are from originally? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3h4uv7/eli5_why_isnt_italy_called_romania/ | {
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"The people who lived in what was parts of Transylvania, Walachia and Moldavia called themselves \"Romans\" because they were originally descended from Romans -- unlike the Slavs and Turks who were their neighbours. Ironically, it was 16th century Italian travellers who first documented this. Basically, some Romans had settled there and continued to call themselves \"Romans\" long after the Roman Empire had become a distant memory.\n\nItaly, however, was the name of Italy in Roman times. You have to distinguish between \"Rome\", which was a city (and still is) as well as the name of the empire ruled from Rome; and \"Italy\", which was the name of the peninsula south of the Alps that was a *part* of the Roman Empire.",
"Even the Romans called Italy *Italia*. Rome was the city and the empire, not the Italian Peninsula, which has had that name since before Rome even existed."
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3pbnut | what happens to all the parts of rockets that fall off as it's going to space? | I always see the stages of the rocket falling off as it's going to space. Where to they go? I'm assuming they launch in Florida so that stuff falls in the ocean, but I've never seen video of it splashing down. Do they clear a huge section of the ocean for it? Also, do they sink, or do they float there and get recovered? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3pbnut/eli5_what_happens_to_all_the_parts_of_rockets/ | {
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"Some of them burn up on re-entry if they are high enough in the atmosphere. The rest hit the earth where they (hopefully) won't hit people. This is why launch pads are in the middle of nowhere and tend to launch directly over the ocean. Generally, most of the things that land in the ocean are too heavy to float and will sink, or just be flat out destroyed by the impact (water is not very forgiving at high speeds)",
"That depends on the type of rocket. For the most part, they just fall back into the ocean and these parts are designed in such a way that they are thoroughly destroyed upon impact. This is what makes space travel so very expensive, and why efforts have been made to recover those stages.\n\nOne system was NASA's solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle. They used parachutes that allowed both of the boosters to land safely in the ocean where they were tracked and later recovered. SpaceX is trying to design a first stage that can land on a landing pad once it's done, that way seawater doesn't ruin the equipment, which can actually be more costly to clean out than just building a new first stage. So far they haven't been successful, but they're going to try this again in December.\n\nAs for the possibility of these stages hitting something, the Coast Guard does help to clear a range. Boats aren't allowed to go into these areas on the very slim chance they're hit with debris, and a launch can actually be scrapped if a boat wanders into the area. They try to be as mindful as they can about these launches."
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9jmeni | why do the first two or three pages of kids books all just say the title of the book? | Idk if this is true for novels because I don't care for them, but I read to my 8-month old girl. We read "Where the Wild Things Are" and that had a blank page followed by two title pages. It's weird.
E: I flaired this wrong, but my wife calls me uncultured swine for not reading. Probably. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9jmeni/eli5_why_do_the_first_two_or_three_pages_of_kids/ | {
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"All books are like that. I know that one page is for the publishing dates and copyrights. I don't know the others.",
"Some of these blank pages are for balance. If you have a 21 double sided page story you will need 11 pieces of paper folded in half to make your book, 21 of those pages will have words and one page will be blank . \n_URL_1_\n_URL_0_"
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1y0m0s | why does my period sync up with the full moon? | There is a lot of information online about how to do this, but can anyone actually explain why? Supposedly, all women's periods used to run on a 28 day cycle, before hormonal imbalance caused by modern technology, lighting, medicine, etc. My period goes on and off of this cycle, but when I used to teach sailing and be on the water all day I could almost predict it to the hour. Is the gravitational pull that causes tides also pulling at my ovaries? Has anyone actually studied this? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1y0m0s/eli5_why_does_my_period_sync_up_with_the_full_moon/ | {
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3axpa9 | why is there so much automatic opposition to hillary clinton? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3axpa9/eli5_why_is_there_so_much_automatic_opposition_to/ | {
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"We've had the chance to get to know about what kind of person she is since the early 90's. Enough time to know she doesn't have an honest or noble bone in her body. ",
"I think people imagine she stands for \"liberal values\". I want a candidate that stands for these liberal values but she was on the board of directors for walmart, not exactly a beacon of a better tomorrow for people who are being subjugated. She's just another candidate in the pocket of big banks and corporations. I like Bernie Sanders a lot though.",
"From the left, there is a considerable sentiment that Clinton isn't far left enough - thus the support for Sanders and Warren.\n\nFrom the right, there's the analysis that she's a known quantity - and what we know isn't impressive. She's the wife of a popular politician who was essentially handed high offices where she did nothing particularly noteworthy (and quite a bit questionable) - and is now being asked to be handed the highest office of all on the strength of being able to marry well.",
"Because I've been aware of her behavior for 23 years now. It's been very consistent: to her the rules apply to the little people, not the people in power. I don't care to have any more of that than we already do in government.\n\nAlso, she's a congenital liar and tends to lie even when she wouldn't stand to benefit.",
"There was that bit from Michael Moore's \"Sicko\" about her receiving more funding from the insurance industry than any other senator. \n \nFrom the conservative side of things, Rush Limbaugh in particular went after her more than Bill back in the day. He has/had a lot of influence on those people and he's had it out for her for decades.",
"Opportunist, carpetbagger, lawyer, career politician with an undistinguished record, coasting on her husband's name recognition. She's a powerful woman, which is half of it, let's be real. She has an abrasive honk of a voice and her laugh could kill houseplants. She shamelessly adopts the accent and shibboleths of whatever crowd she's speaking to. If you're on the right, there's Vince Foster and Benghazi and whatever else. If you're on the left, she's on the right, no matter what applause lines she's biting from Elizabeth Warren this week. \n\nThat said, I'm sure I'll vote for her.",
"The same reason there is automatic opposition to Jeb Bush, the family name. I don't know anyone clammoring for another Bush or Clinton in the presidential race.",
"I'd support just about any democrat over her because of her hawkishness. Obama ran as pretty strongly anti-war and look what we got. Clinton is responsible for most of what I don't like about the Obama administration."
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417v7h | if nurses have to be so careful not to oversedate patients, why is it so hard for executioners to overdose a prisoner? | What I mean is, why are there so many botched executions? Couldn't be the vein every time, could it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/417v7h/eli5if_nurses_have_to_be_so_careful_not_to/ | {
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"It's not, but the range of drugs allowed is small. Using different drugs would make the whole process much easier both on the condemned and on to executioners.",
"A conventional lethal injection protocol consists of thiopentone, pancuronium and potassium chloride. Either of those is pretty much guaranteed to be lethal on its own, as long as it is given intravenously. \n\nUnfortunately, both thiopentone and potassium chloride are extremely irritant and painful when injected into subcutaneous tissue. \n\nThey get into trouble in executions because executioners are terrible at obtaining intravenous access. They inject these drugs into an incorrectly placed cannula, so instead of killing the prisoner they give him an excruciatingly painful burn around the injection site.\n\n",
"Because if the drugs which can kill people through an accidental overdose were used to deliberately kill people, the drugs company would stop selling that drug anywhere in the US. If the drug company is European they would be legally required to do that, in other jurisdictions it may be more of a moral matter.\n\nBut either way, if a useful drug is suddenly no longer available to hospitals all across the USA, it's going to be a bad thing.",
"I'm confused by the question... The overdose part confuses me, an executioner gives the meds to an inmate in a certain order but the end result is always death, so \"overdosing\" is actually the intended action. In itself overdose means more than the safe dose which is what they do in lethal injections. The only hard part is having good access to veins. Nurses in hospitals deal with 100's of meds but they work to make patients better & therefore are very careful in all they do. Sorry, I'm curious what you feel is hard about it. ",
"A lot of drug companies will absolutely refuse to allow prisons to use their drug as a execution method. It causes bad publicity for them to show that an OD of their drug is used to kill.\n\nAn example would be the drugs they use for putting down animals. They work and don't hurt, but they won't let them be used for prison executions."
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l88y8 | why incest is bad | Ok, I'm not into incest, I'm just curious. What makes incest bad? I know that inbreeding can cause birth defects, mutation, etc... but why?
If birth control is used, what's wrong with incest? (Other than being really gross.) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/l88y8/eli5_why_incest_is_bad/ | {
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"Many of the bad things that can happen to a baby are the result of what are called *recessive traits.* A recessive trait is one you carry around with you, but which doesn't actually *do* anything, because you're also carrying around a trait that counteracts the recessive trait.\n\nWhenever two people make a baby, that baby ends up with some traits from the father and some traits from the mother. Most of the time — nearly always, in fact — this turns out just fine, because the mother and the father have completely different traits.\n\nBut people who are closely related to each other, like siblings for instance, have *similar* sets of traits. Meaning the odds are much higher that a child from closely related parents will end up inheriting a bad recessive trait *without* also getting a trait that counteracts it. So the incidence of bad-things-happening is a lot higher when parents are closely related than when parents come from widely separated branches of the family tree.\n\nBecause of this fact, even ancient cultures had taboos against incest. It was known thousands of years ago — long before anybody had a clue *why* it's true — that the children of incestuous marriages are much more likely to have health problems. So such marriages have been forbidden since before the dawn of recorded history. It's just too risky.",
"Apart from the genetic considerations which were probably a huge factor in shaping traditional opinions about this subject there are moral considerations. The kind of love brothers and sisters, mothers and sons have for each other is beautiful because it has nothing to do with wanting to have sex with them, to see that , for want of a better word \"sacred\" relationship perverted disgusts people. Also in a lot of cases of incest there's an element of abusing a position of power in order to get some ass. ",
"Picture this:\n\nYou and your sister have 4 lego blocks each, their colors are red-green-blue-yellow. \n\nMary, a friend you like, has 4 lego blocks too, their colors are purple-orange-pink-teal.\n\nSuzy, another friend, has 4 blocks, but they are **red**-brown-purple-teal. So Suzy has a block that is the same color as one of yours.\n\nYou like diversity, so 2 red blocks stacked together along with a blue one and a green one are not your cup of tea.\n\nYou want to create a new lego stack of 4 blocks, and for this, you can use two of yours, and two of someone else. But you can't choose which blocks you use, so you just have to blindly grab some.\n\nIf you and Mary both put 2 blocks at random on the new stack, you'll have 4 differently colored blocks, and you both are happy.\n\nIf you and your sister both put 2 blocks at random on the stack, chances are very high that 2 blocks of the same color go on there. It doesn't always happen, because you could have grabbed red and green, and your sister blue and yellow, but since you both can't choose which ones you take, you *could* end up with same color blocks.\n\nNow, Suzy has a red block too. If you and she both take 2 blocks, the chance of both grabbing the same color is smaller than it was with your sister, but it still exists. This is why there are still genetic defects, even with people who aren't related.",
"No one is mentioning the severe psychological damage incestuous relationships can have on a child?",
" > If birth control is used, what's wrong with incest?\n\nWell, if we talk about parents with their children it is kiiiiiinda (sorta) like why it is bad for teachers to be with their students (yeah.. maybe this is a bad comparison) in that they are in a very powerful position over their children and can easily manipulate them (so incest commonly becomes abuse, not love). The same thing can be said for siblings with an age difference, so that, and then the genetic issues (for when you're *not* using birth control) are most likely why there's legislation against incest.\n\nNow if, say siblings were having consensual, protected sex, a lot of people would say that that's really up to them (as weird and disgusting as they might find it), but it's very hard to make legislation for that. It's already hard enough to determine if some rape victims were actually raped, or just changed their mind after the sex, but imagine how hard it would be to find out whether, in a case of sibling sex, one was somehow in a position of power over the other, and abusing that position, which would definitely traumatize the other sibling.\n\nAnyway, I feel like I'm rambling. Don't know if that was at all useful, let me know if I'm just being stupid.",
"Two main reasons.\n\nFirst, within a family, one member has power over another, parents over their children, and to a lesser degree, older siblings over younger sibling. Not only is one of the participates likely underage, but when you are completely under someone else's authority, there is no such thing as consensual sex. For the same reason, if a prison guard has sex with a prisoner, it is considered rape even if the prisoner did so willingly.\n\nThe second problem is genetics. Everyone has a few bad genes, but it is only a problem if you have two bad genes of the same type. The person you have kids with also has a few bad genes, but they are different *types* of bad genes, so the chances of your kids getting two is low.\n\nBut when you have kids with a relative, they are likely to have the same bad genes as you, the closer the relative, the more likely. That greatly raises the chances of your gets getting two copies of the same bad gene, and having a problem. ",
"Many of the bad things that can happen to a baby are the result of what are called *recessive traits.* A recessive trait is one you carry around with you, but which doesn't actually *do* anything, because you're also carrying around a trait that counteracts the recessive trait.\n\nWhenever two people make a baby, that baby ends up with some traits from the father and some traits from the mother. Most of the time — nearly always, in fact — this turns out just fine, because the mother and the father have completely different traits.\n\nBut people who are closely related to each other, like siblings for instance, have *similar* sets of traits. Meaning the odds are much higher that a child from closely related parents will end up inheriting a bad recessive trait *without* also getting a trait that counteracts it. So the incidence of bad-things-happening is a lot higher when parents are closely related than when parents come from widely separated branches of the family tree.\n\nBecause of this fact, even ancient cultures had taboos against incest. It was known thousands of years ago — long before anybody had a clue *why* it's true — that the children of incestuous marriages are much more likely to have health problems. So such marriages have been forbidden since before the dawn of recorded history. It's just too risky.",
"Apart from the genetic considerations which were probably a huge factor in shaping traditional opinions about this subject there are moral considerations. The kind of love brothers and sisters, mothers and sons have for each other is beautiful because it has nothing to do with wanting to have sex with them, to see that , for want of a better word \"sacred\" relationship perverted disgusts people. Also in a lot of cases of incest there's an element of abusing a position of power in order to get some ass. ",
"Picture this:\n\nYou and your sister have 4 lego blocks each, their colors are red-green-blue-yellow. \n\nMary, a friend you like, has 4 lego blocks too, their colors are purple-orange-pink-teal.\n\nSuzy, another friend, has 4 blocks, but they are **red**-brown-purple-teal. So Suzy has a block that is the same color as one of yours.\n\nYou like diversity, so 2 red blocks stacked together along with a blue one and a green one are not your cup of tea.\n\nYou want to create a new lego stack of 4 blocks, and for this, you can use two of yours, and two of someone else. But you can't choose which blocks you use, so you just have to blindly grab some.\n\nIf you and Mary both put 2 blocks at random on the new stack, you'll have 4 differently colored blocks, and you both are happy.\n\nIf you and your sister both put 2 blocks at random on the stack, chances are very high that 2 blocks of the same color go on there. It doesn't always happen, because you could have grabbed red and green, and your sister blue and yellow, but since you both can't choose which ones you take, you *could* end up with same color blocks.\n\nNow, Suzy has a red block too. If you and she both take 2 blocks, the chance of both grabbing the same color is smaller than it was with your sister, but it still exists. This is why there are still genetic defects, even with people who aren't related.",
"No one is mentioning the severe psychological damage incestuous relationships can have on a child?",
" > If birth control is used, what's wrong with incest?\n\nWell, if we talk about parents with their children it is kiiiiiinda (sorta) like why it is bad for teachers to be with their students (yeah.. maybe this is a bad comparison) in that they are in a very powerful position over their children and can easily manipulate them (so incest commonly becomes abuse, not love). The same thing can be said for siblings with an age difference, so that, and then the genetic issues (for when you're *not* using birth control) are most likely why there's legislation against incest.\n\nNow if, say siblings were having consensual, protected sex, a lot of people would say that that's really up to them (as weird and disgusting as they might find it), but it's very hard to make legislation for that. It's already hard enough to determine if some rape victims were actually raped, or just changed their mind after the sex, but imagine how hard it would be to find out whether, in a case of sibling sex, one was somehow in a position of power over the other, and abusing that position, which would definitely traumatize the other sibling.\n\nAnyway, I feel like I'm rambling. Don't know if that was at all useful, let me know if I'm just being stupid.",
"Two main reasons.\n\nFirst, within a family, one member has power over another, parents over their children, and to a lesser degree, older siblings over younger sibling. Not only is one of the participates likely underage, but when you are completely under someone else's authority, there is no such thing as consensual sex. For the same reason, if a prison guard has sex with a prisoner, it is considered rape even if the prisoner did so willingly.\n\nThe second problem is genetics. Everyone has a few bad genes, but it is only a problem if you have two bad genes of the same type. The person you have kids with also has a few bad genes, but they are different *types* of bad genes, so the chances of your kids getting two is low.\n\nBut when you have kids with a relative, they are likely to have the same bad genes as you, the closer the relative, the more likely. That greatly raises the chances of your gets getting two copies of the same bad gene, and having a problem. "
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69cjd8 | why is psychopathy considered a personality disorder when a more natural and accurate definition of psychopathic behaviour is a higher "predatory instinct"? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69cjd8/eli5_why_is_psychopathy_considered_a_personality/ | {
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"Psychopaths are predators only in so much as house cats are: they both play with their food.",
"Why do you think the more accurate definition is a higher \"predatory instinct\"? That's not what it is. Humans are supposed to feel empathy for each other, and psychopaths don' so it's a disorder. They're no more predatory than anyone else, they just don't feel guilty about being such.",
"I assume you are referring to antisocial personality disorder by the term \"psychopathy\". The reason it is a personality disorder is because the disordered personality is what causes psychopaths to act the way they do. They do not show empathy or remorse, they are impulsive and deceitful and they have a reckless disregard for the safety of themselves and others. These traits relate to their personality and together they lead to the actions which psychopaths are known for. \n"
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32w5wz | what's the difference between the handbrake and pedal brake and why is the former used for drifting? | Note: I'm primarily getting this impression from racing video games, so if that's inaccurate feel free to correct me. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32w5wz/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_the_handbrake/ | {
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"The pedal activates all 4 brakes. The hand brake activates only the rear two. Breaking traction in the rear tires and initiating the drift",
"The pedal brake uses hydraulics (brake fluid) to engage both the front and rear brakes, with a specific braking force ratio. The hand brake usually only engages the rear brakes via a cable."
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2c8r9r | why is my id not required to vote in the us but is required to get into a bar? | I am amazed every time I vote how easy it was to get a ballot. I was asked my name, and then asked to confirm my address and birthdate, but the poll worker read off my birthdate and address and asked me to respond Yes or No! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2c8r9r/eli5_why_is_my_id_not_required_to_vote_in_the_us/ | {
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"Generally, some form of ID is required to vote in the US. Differences exist in what is considered an acceptable ID and what isn't. Because voting is considered a cornerstone part of the US governmental process, generally more effort is put forth to include as many potential voters as possible, so a wider variety of IDs are considered acceptable compared to entry into a bar, which is intended to be as restrictive as possible to excluded groups.",
"Because going to a bar is a privilege while voting is a right. So there is no super big conflict if bar attendance is mildly discriminatory. ",
"Because at a voting booth, the vast majority of people are legally exercising a fundamental right, and our biggest concern is not having enough citizens have easy access to exercise that right. So we want to make it easy to vote, and build a robust registration system.\n\nIn contrast, at a bar you are exercising a privilege, and there is a huge problem with people trying to illegally gain access to that privilege. Plus, the bar is potentially legally liable if they allow you to drink illegally. So they choose to demand ID, for their protection against the fairly common crime of underage drinking.",
"Here's a site that includes list of states and their voter ID laws --- some states definitely do require ID\n\n_URL_0_",
"* the harm of excluding someone from voting is considered greater than excluding them from drinking\n* people who cannot legally drink try to do it all the time...there is little evidence of people illegally voting\n* voter fraud is a serious crime, and that deterrent makes checking less necessary...underaged drinking is minor offense\n* bars can be held legally liable for underaged drinking, and are highly motivated to protect themselves, above and beyond what the law might require...letting someone vote illegally poses little risk to an election official "
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yxdgj | why are random youtube videos shot with a camcorder often deafeningly loud, but dvds, official music videos, mp3s, etc. only just *barely* loud enough to satisfy when the volume is at maximum? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yxdgj/why_are_random_youtube_videos_shot_with_a/ | {
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"Everything on TV must be broadcasted within \"broadcast safe\" limits. This includes audio (volume limits) and video (color limits). It's not that your receiver could broke or anything, it's just a standard. You may have noticed that they show all the series and movies with lower levels of volume and all the commercials are annoyingly loud, to be heard even when you're at your fridge.\n\nNow when you record with your camcorder and put it on youtube without any editing (which should be illegal), there aren't any limits for audio.",
"Essentially, you can have high quality, or you can have high volume, but you can't have both. An engineer mixing a dvd is usually making the assumption that it will be played back on a sound system with a relatively high dynamic range, and will set the levels so that, generally speaking, a whisper, a conversation, and an explosion are all different loudnesses. This is both a.) realistic and b.) maximizes sound quality. For a random youtube video quite often no thought is given to sound quality, and its quite easy to end up in a situation where *everything* is basically at \"explosion\" level. You'll note that this also generally causes the video to sound like complete ass, in addition to just being loud.\n\nOver the decades though, the so-called \"loudness war\" has affected the way music is mixed. If you go back to recordings from the 70's, you find a lot of albums with very wide dynamic ranges which, visually, looks like [this](_URL_0_), where the difference between a loud note and a quiet section might be 30+ dB. As time wore on it became desirable (for artistic, or more often for commercial reasons) to have your song play as loudly as possible which, visually, looks like [this]( _URL_1_). As you can see, the downside to being as loud as possible is that now your \"quiet\" sections are just as loud as the \"loud\" ones, and you have maybe 5dB of variation.\n\nEdit TL;DR: Whatever you're playing your videos on (I'm assuming a laptop), has underpowered speakers, and this is causing problems when listening to higher-quality but lower-overall-volume sources."
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8wbhdo | why neutron stars are so dense and hot? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8wbhdo/eli5_why_neutron_stars_are_so_dense_and_hot/ | {
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"Gravity, basically after a supernova what is left collapses so dramatically that all the matter gets squished together when everything is pushed together it then generates an enormous amount of heat."
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2cc92u | what makes us 'fancy' or 'go off' certain foods day-by-day? | Today I really fancy an Indian. Last week I was craving Feta cheese but I wouldn't want to eat some right now (though I am hungry). Why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2cc92u/eli5_what_makes_us_fancy_or_go_off_certain_foods/ | {
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"Your body is actually pretty good at determining what nutrients it needs and craves foods that contain those nutrients.\n\nFrom _URL_0_\n\n > The cravings for certain types of food are linked to their ingredients. Chocolate for example, contains the amino acid phenylethylamine, which is important for the regulation of the body’s release of endorphins. Endorphins are released following a stressor and result in a sense of relaxation. Exercise and sleep are two alternative ways to help facilitate the release of endorphins.\nChocolate also contains large quantities of iron, which can be depleted during the menstrual cycle. Another common craving is salt. Craving salt may be partly due to being dehydrated. When dehydrated the body loses water, electrolytes, and salt, and by ingesting salt, water retention can be increased. Craving salt can also be a sign of diabetes, heart disease, and sickle cell anemia.\nCarbohydrates, or sugars, are yet another common craving. These cravings occur often in the middle of the afternoon when energy is at its lowest.",
"Holding your pinkie out makes you fancy"
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1u7cf5 | what were jellyfish called before jelly? | My younger brother(10) pulled this question on me today at the beach and I have no idea. I figure that jelly has been around for a while but jellyfish have probably been known about for much longer. any ideas guys? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1u7cf5/eli5_what_were_jellyfish_called_before_jelly/ | {
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"Jellyfish used to be called medusa too, and were called that maybe 40-50 years before jellyfish was coined in 1796.\n\n I actually think the phrase jelly has been used for a very long time. Gelu (meaning frost) is a Latin word and has been around for over 2000 years. I'm not entirely sure, but it's probably older than the jellyfish name (at least in English.)",
"Looks like the name jellyfish goes back to 1796. Jelly goes back a couple of hundred years before that. They think jellies were brought to Europe from the Middle East by returning crusaders. "
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1s322u | why do ads use phrases like "one weird trick", "discovered by a mom", and "doctors hate her"? | These seem like such huge red flags that the ad is total BS. Does it really get people to click? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1s322u/eli5_why_do_ads_use_phrases_like_one_weird_trick/ | {
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"because people don't trust big corporations and hope there is some kind of loophole in life,\n\nbasically what you do is imply this person (not corporation) found this loophole and is willing to share ",
"Lazy people will look at these ads like some quick-fix they've always been looking for. The ads are just BS and only .001% of the people who see them will respond to them, however that's still money in the pockets of the ad owner."
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7fkvy5 | why are the pockets on brand new suits and some other types of clothing sewn shut? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7fkvy5/eli5_why_are_the_pockets_on_brand_new_suits_and/ | {
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"For several reasons. It helps make sure that the suit keeps it's correct shape during the final steps of manufacturing and the pressing (ironing). Also it is done to help the suit look better while it is on display in the store. And it keeps everyone else's grimy booger hooks out of the pockets until the proud new owner cuts open the pockets for the first time."
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69jnd6 | how do farmers keep up with all the food being grown for everyone on earth? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69jnd6/eli5_how_do_farmers_keep_up_with_all_the_food/ | {
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"so if we took the total agricultural output and measured it again the world's food needs. we surpassed that as a planet a long time ago. the problem is, food is not distributed for everyone on earth. some places have an abundance and have to dump them or turn them into other products in order to not crash the food market. "
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13nqrn | why do our teeth chatter when we are cold? | Why does the jaw move so rapidly when we are cold? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/13nqrn/eli5_why_do_our_teeth_chatter_when_we_are_cold/ | {
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"Not just your jaw starts shaking. If you pay attention you'll notice that many muscles are vibrating. They do this because it requires energy to move your muscles, which is gained from burning calories, which in turn generates heat.\n\nAnd heat is what you're after.\n\nYour teeth chatter because your jaw also is vibrating because of the same purpose. You won't chatter anymore if you keep your mouth open or jaws clenched to each other.",
"* Chattering is usually accompanied by shivering and happens when you are cold\n\n* All of this is just rapid contraction and relaxation of muscles\n\n* Contraction needs energy, thus calories are burned\n\n* Rapid (and thus \"superfluous\") contraction causes more calorie burn then at rest\n\n* More calorie burn = raised temperature\n\n* In short, shivering + chattering are mechanisms to keep you warm.\n\nEDIT: Spelling",
"To expand a bit, when the temperature is very low, I mean arctic cold, it depends on how you are made up to resist, if you are very strong with muscles and not much fat, your muscles will contract very fast to generate heat, if you are fat, the fat will isolate you from the cold. And if you are like a weak and thin bastard, well... You're dead. (sorry for my mistakes, english isn't my first language.)"
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5s43vn | why was the sr-71 retired, but the u2 still see service? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5s43vn/eli5_why_was_the_sr71_retired_but_the_u2_still/ | {
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"SR-71 is much more expensive to fly, both in fuel costs and in maintenance. Basically, you have to have an entire fleet of tanker aircraft dedicated to the SR-71, because they run on special fuel. \n\nIts responsibilities have largely been taken over by satellites, and these days anyone that can shoot a U2 down can probably also shoot down an SR-71. You still need the U2 because satellites don't have perfect coverage, and can't easily be moved to the unstable region of the week. "
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6g5qkg | united states congress vs english parliament. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6g5qkg/eli5_united_states_congress_vs_english_parliament/ | {
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"First things first, there is no \"English parliament\". It's the UK parliament, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also represented in it.\n\nLike th US Congress, it has two houses. The UK House of Commons is similar to the US House of Representatives. It's elected the same way, using the first past the post system. One difference is that in the UK it's all elected in one go, no midterm elections or anything like that (except the occasional by-election if a member dies or steps down).\n\nThe Upper House is very different though. The US has the Senate, the UK has the House of Lords. The House of Lords is mostly appointed, rather than elected (with a few hereditary members who are actually sort of elected. It's weird.). But unlike the US Senate, laws can be passed even if the Lords votes against them. The Lords is more like an advisory body, they can hold up bills and make suggestions, but ultimately the House of Commons can still pass those bills without their support.\n\nThe biggest difference is that the UK doesn't have the separation between the executive and legislative branches that the US does. There's no separate election for the Prime Minister, Parliament chooses them. Well technically the Queen chooses, but Parliament can reject her choice, so she always picks the person most likely to have Parliament's support. And by convention the PM and other government ministers are members of parliament themselves."
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24tmp1 | how they draw blood without going right through the vein? | Pretty straight forward. When getting blood drawn, how come the needle doesn't just go right through the small vein, how do they know, how does it work? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24tmp1/eli5_how_they_draw_blood_without_going_right/ | {
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"Lots of practice. And by going in at a very shallow angle it takes longer for the needle to leave the vein. ",
"that sometimes happens. the trick is to get the needle to enter the vein but not go entirely through the vein.\n\nimagine taking a straw and then a sewing needle, now use the sewing needle to penetrate the straw, but not go all the way through. now if the sewing needle was hollow (like medical needles), it could draw whatever liquids is passing through the straw (like your veins)\n\nhope this helps!",
"To add to everyone else, after they get the needle in the vein, especially for iv's, the needle actually comes back out, and a tube(or catheter) is left in the vein, so if you move it won't cause the needle to puncture the other side of the vein."
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1rxlnx | how does my iphone know where i work if there is no record in my phone? | If I pull down my menu in the morning it shows this: _URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rxlnx/eli5how_does_my_iphone_know_where_i_work_if_there/ | {
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"I use Android, but it does the same thing. I think it just uses GPS to figure out where you spend time everyday and makes an educated guess.",
"Because you go to work at 8 in the morning and hang out there until 4-5 at night. It sees that you've been at that location at a regular schedule for the last X weeks and guesses.",
"And exactly why I turn that shit off"
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4vo8nm | would drinking alcohol dehydrogenase make you sober quicker? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vo8nm/eli5_would_drinking_alcohol_dehydrogenase_make/ | {
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"Ingesting? No, your stomach would digest it pretty quickly, and even if it did survive I doubt it'll pass through the small intestine lining.\n\nInjecting? Maybe, but I wouldn't chance that since it probably has to stay in very specific conditions to work."
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3436am | & american: what is the bbc? | Referring to the British Broadcasting System. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3436am/eli5_american_what_is_the_bbc/ | {
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"British Broadcasting Corporation is the UK's public broadcaster (like PBS but substantially larger). ",
"Imagine if NPR or PBS were a full media company with TV programing and news in tv, radio, and print and had actual support from the government. "
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ayuscy | what are the not-so-obvious clues police look for in a field sobriety test? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ayuscy/eli5_what_are_the_notsoobvious_clues_police_look/ | {
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"Are you talking and moving at the same time? Drunks tend to do one or the other. Are you speaking more clearly answering simple questions than thinking ones (count by three or alphabet backwards).",
"I'm not a cop. But my brother took law enforcement classes in high school, they learned the field sobriety test, and of course we loved to use it whenever we were drinking. With that said, knowing how the test works could change your performance, so if you get in trouble that's on you.\n\nWe'll use an easy example off the top of my head. You tell them; \"Stand on one foot, arms out to your sides, count by threes until you reach twenty-one, then count down by sevens\".\n\nAt this point, he's trying to balance, maintain a pose, and count all at once. But we aren't really looking at those. They are useful, obviously. If he can't stand or his math is way off, he's drunk. But what we want to see is if he REMEMBERS the instructions. Does he stop counting at twenty-one, or keep going? Does ke count down by sevens, or does he count by threes again? These are things you will easily remember while sober, but could easily forget while impaired.\n\nLike I said, my brother learned it in law enforcement class in high school several years ago, then taught it to me. There's my disclaimer. ",
"when they ask you to repeat the alphabet backwards, they're not checking to see if you can recite it correctly, they're looking for you to slur your words/letters.\n\nif you're trying to act sober, you focus on not slurring. if you're concentrating on something else, like reciting the alphabet backwards, you forget about trying to speak clearly and you slur your words"
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2492eh | why does attending colleges at means necessary seem to be the norm? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2492eh/eli5_why_does_attending_colleges_at_means/ | {
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"Uhh... Yeah... I don't understand the question. ",
"Because sometimes at means necessary to be understand."
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10uvyn | why is jesus holding an orb and putting up two fingers in many of his portraits? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/10uvyn/why_is_jesus_holding_an_orb_and_putting_up_two/ | {
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"The orb is called a [globus cruciger](_URL_0_), and symbolizes Christ's sovereignty over the world (thus the cross on top of the globe). In an interesting side note, this is yet another thing pointing out that yes, people *did* know the world was spherical before Christopher Columbus."
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4elsag | what the difference between a democratic socialist and a "traditional" socialist is? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4elsag/eli5_what_the_difference_between_a_democratic/ | {
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"A traditional socialist believes the government should run businesses and directly manage the economy to to evenly distribute wealth and resources. \n\nA Democratic Socialist, more commonly referred to as a Social Democrat, believes in an underlying capitalist system, but one that is highly regulated to prevent monopolies and excessive corruption, with certain sectors related to the public good being run by the state. ",
"Socialism is system of government ( & economics) where certain programs and means are owned by the community.\n\nThis exists in the United States. For example, a public park. It's groundskeeping, maintenance, employees and services are all paid for by public tax dollars - for the public good - regardless of whether or not each individual in the community uses them. \n\nThe same can be said about roads, a fire department, social security, medicare, and schools. Even the military. None of these things are privately-held companies. We pay a tax because we decided it's better everyone has access to such services, rather than just those that can afford it. \n\nThere are various extremes of socialism. \nOn one end, we have Communism - in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. The government/communities own all the companies and will ration your needs for you. A major goal is to end classism through economic equality.\n\nOn a lesser extreme, we have Social Democracies. Note: this isn't to say that Communists cannot have democracies (free elections). Social Democracies are more of a 'hybrid' system, that exist within the framework of modern capitalism. \n\nAmerican Social Democrats not only support the socialist programs we already have in place in the United States, but would prefer to *expand* community services. This generally means Universal Healthcare and Tuition-Free University. This could also mean regulating the market in such a way that narrows income gaps between CEOs and lowest-paid-employees - or making sure all citizens have internet access.\n\nEdit: There are some comments here that are *also* correct. What people frequently misunderstand is that that these concepts have *several* generally accepted definitions. And they might not always 100% agree if it regards Marxist Theory or contemporary politics. \n\nTo add, I do not advocate or condemn socialism. This is a pretty straight-forward reply - any assumption is just a projection. In truth, every system of government and economics are ripe for abuse and corruption. \n\n\"It makes no difference which one you vote for. Either way, your planet is doomed. DOOMED!\" Kang & Kodos, 2016, baby!!\n\n",
"The differences between Democratic Socialism and Socialism are mostly nuances. They are essentially for the same goal, they just state their mission as being slightly more palatable for political reasons.\n\n_URL_0_\n\n > Democratic socialists do not want to create an all-powerful government bureaucracy. But we do not want big corporate bureaucracies to control our society either. Rather, we believe that social and economic decisions should be made by those whom they most affect.\n\n > Today, corporate executives who answer only to themselves and a few wealthy stockholders make basic economic decisions affecting millions of people. Resources are used to make money for capitalists rather than to meet human needs. **We believe that the workers and consumers who are affected by economic institutions should own and control them.**\n\n > Social ownership could take many forms, such as worker-owned cooperatives or publicly owned enterprises managed by workers and consumer representatives. Democratic socialists favor as much decentralization as possible. While the large concentrations of capital in industries such as energy and steel may necessitate some form of state ownership, many consumer-goods industries **might** be best run as cooperatives.\n\n > Democratic socialists have long rejected the belief that the whole economy should be centrally planned. While we believe that democratic planning can shape major social investments like mass transit, housing, and energy, market mechanisms are needed to determine the demand for many consumer goods.",
"**Socialism** \nSocialism is a big word that actually covers a VERY LARGE variety of political ideologies. Socialism can be ran by the state or anarchic, it can be national or a small community, it can be communist or have markets in it. \nThe IMPORTANT part, which frankly no \"socialist\" country has actually achieved, is that the Means of Production are owned not by any one individual, by by the communities themselves. Some forms of socialism are merely means to implement communism too, which is a very specific type of socialism. \nSo yeah, socialism is a huge over-arching term that covers a lot.\n \n \n**Democratic Socialism** \nSo one of the first fracturing points in the socialist ideologies is HOW a society is going to implement socialism. You have some camps (Leninists) who advocate violently wrenching control of the state from the capitalist overlords and using it to implement socialism, and eventually communism. \n \nIt is now that I would like to point out most socialists, and ALL communists, think this is stupid as hell. You will scarcely see any of us advocating for a recreation of the USSR.\n \nNow, Democratic Socialism is simply socialism that intends to implement itself by playing the governments rules. In the U.S.A. this would mean electing DemSoc politicians who will attempt to lay the groundwork for a socialist society. Democratic Socialism also likes to \"Band-Aid\" the current capitalist system by helping the disenfranchised and marginalized through welfare.\n \nHowever, this is still a socialism that is ran by the state, and you have whole armies of socialists who think this is absolutely silly and will just lead to more Authoritative State Socialist bullshit.\n \nAnd, for the record, \n**SOCIALISM =/= GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS** \nThat so completely misses the point that it hurts...",
"A few days ago I found an interview with Prof. Wolff posted on reddit [Marxism 101: How Capitalism is Killing Itself ](_URL_0_).\n\nAn in this lecture he explains the difference very well:\n\n[Socialism for Dummies](_URL_1_)\n\nBoth videos let me understand the concept of socialism better than reading articles about it.\n\nEdit: Formatting.",
"Socialism refers to an economic system where the workers control the means of production, and are compensated the FULL value of their labor. Let's use widgets as an example. Under a capitalist system, a business owner decides to build a factory that makes widgets. He hires people to work in his factory making widgets, and then pays them less than the value they produce, and he keeps the rest as profit. Conversely, under socialism, all the workers own the widget factory, and then split the revenue generated by widget sales between themselves according to how much labor each person contributed. Socialism is often thought of as a transitional stage to communism, which is where we simply produce and consume goods as we need them, and don't have money as a means of exchange.\n\nDemocratic socialism simply refers to a socialist society that has a democratic government, in contrast to ostensibly socialist societies (such as the USSR) that had a single party that wielded unchecked, total state power.",
"You would be better off asking this in /r/socialism101. \n\nIf you decide not to at least don't believe that socialism is the government owns and operates stuff. That is simply not true. ",
"Democratic socialism is one big tautology - there can be no socialism without democracy because socialism literally means replacing economic feudalism(aka capitalism) with economic democracy(aka worker self-management).\n\nWhat most people consider \"traditional Socialism\" was not even socialism,and no,this is not a No True Scotsman because socialism before Leninism meant worker control over the means of production. \n\nThe so-called \"traditional socialism\" was totalitarian state capitalism,because economic feudalism and the functions of the capital were not abolished. Instead of having many capitalists in competition,you had one huge capitalist - the state.\n\nA prominent anarchist,Mikhail Bakunin,even said,decades before the Russian Revolution,that if socialists attempted to use state power,nothing would change and in fact it will be even worse then capitalism. And he was right.",
"Socialism: A system where the workers democratically own and control the means of production e.g. the factories, machines etc.\n\nDemocratic Socialism: A ideology of socialism where socialism is achieved through small reforms to capitalism until eventually socialism is achieved, best described by the Fabian society as \"For the right moment you must wait, as Fabius did most patiently, when warring against Hannibal, though many censured his delays; but when the time comes you must strike hard, as Fabius did, or your waiting will be in vain, and fruitless.\"",
"I think there's really no difference between the two when it comes to their end goal. The only difference is \"democratic socialists\" still believes in the rules/law of the state while \"traditional socialists\" wants to achieve that goal through direct means like violence/uprising.\n\nWelfare, food programs, free education does not equal socialism. They are a social program that is meant to help the marginalized because the \"state\" understands that not everyone has a good standing in the community. Will \"socialist countries\" have social programs? Yes and no because it is not the end-goal of socialism. End goal of socialism is where the public/community controls the industry. So why does democratic countries have social programs? Because a democratic country is strong if everyone in that country is strong. A democratic country should be in essence, have everyone's voice in it so their needs and wants are heard and assessed by the community at large.\nCapitalism is just an unintended consequence of democracy. It should be not the end goal but because of how laws are implemented in democratic rule and because of people's drive to \"rise to the top\" capitalism is strong in democratic countries.\n\n\"Real socialism\" is a slippery slope to anything and everything. What will happen if a socialist is in power of a democratic country? Will he try to implement the end-goal of socialism? Will he punish \"top brass\" by giving their companies back to the community for them to control? Or will he make laws so nobody will be \"on top\" and everybody is in equal footing making everyone aka communism? Or maybe even make all necessary industry state-owned, giving people \"fake control\" by saying you voted for us but in reality it is for them to have all the power.\n\nSocialism might be good or might not be because there are really no \"socialist\" country in the world. All countries that they say are socialist are really totalitarian, one party rule or really just a more conservative form of democracy.",
"OP, this might get buried, but this is a loaded question. What do you think a traditional socialist is? Because Democratic Socialism can be seen as its current default. All socialists wish for the workers to control the means of production. Most people realise the only way this can happen in a liberal democracy and stay is by winning elections. You might notice the above definition pushes Sanders out of the definition. This is because he is a social democrat, he doesn't pursue communal ownership, simply he wants greater equality and higher standard of living. \n\nIf by traditional socialist you mean the USSR, then the difference is that they are 'Orthodox Communists'. They believe that the means of production can only be seized by force, and often most of the proletariat (workers) are to brainwashed (Engels describes this as a false consciousness) to realise they are getting ripped off by capitalism. The state assumes control of industry (this is the communal ownership aspect) and acts as a 'dictatorship of the proletariat' (basically they act in the interest of the workers). Eventually the state is supposed to 'wither away', as everything has been distributed according to needs. This last bit never happened.\n\nTLDR; USSR communists are revolutionary, democratic socialists implement socialism via standard government.",
"Many answers have been given already but let me add a European/historic take on the term socialist.\nIMHO and as I heard in a recent interview with a philosopher on Swiss TV the term \"socialist\" has been interpreted in a variety of ways in the past.\n\na) The first \"S\" in USSR stands for socialist while we would generally classify the USSR as communist.\n\nb) The other countries of the East Block (East Germany, Czechoslovakia, etc.) were also called socialist countries while allowing much more individual freedom and private property than the USSR.\n\nc) The \"leftist\"/working-class parties in Western Europe (Sweden, Austria, Denmark, etc.) used to be called \"socialist parties\" and during the 80's/90's changed their names to \"social-democratic\" parties. \n\nd) The leftist party in France (current president Hollande) is still called \"Socialist Party\" while not being anti-capitalist or pro socializing the Means of Production.\n\nSo you see, socialist has always meant different things in different times and places.\n\n\n\nI assume your original question refers to Bernie Sanders.\n\nHe appeared some 5 years ago on Bill Maher's show and called himself a social-democrat and frequently named the Skandinavian left parties as his political ideology. (I've been a fan of Bernie ever since.) Why Bernie now changed from social-democrat to democratic socialist, I don't know.\n\nTo clarify this again: None of the current social-democratic parties in Europe are anti-capitalist or want to take anyone's means of production and give them to the communities. They are in favor of capitalism and private ownership BUT also for high taxes on the rich and the (upper) middle class in order to \n\na) achieve redistribution of income and wealth from the top to the bottom\n\nb) pay for services provided by the government, e.g. public transport, public housing, free college, free pre-schools and kindergarten, free health care, etc. \n\n\nTo sum it up: I think Bernie does not want to fundamentally change the way American society and business function. He simply wants to make the US more European/Scandinavian by raising taxes on the well-to-do and in turn provide more public services that disproportionately benefit the poor and the lower middle class. Basically the stuff we do here in Europe.",
"Economist here. There are already some good answers here, but I thought I might add a different perspective on the issue and discuss one of the really important tradeoffs between socialism and capitalism. (It involves the relationship between competition and innovation, which is one of my research interests.)\n\nSocialism is, to one degree or another, a departure from pure capitalism, which we can define as meaning that markets are free, and commercial property is privately-owned by people acting in their own self interest. The hallmark of capitalism is competition, and the conscious reliance on competition to allocate goods and services in a (hopefully) efficient way. However, capitalism usually does not achieve perfect efficiency; it typically engenders some deadweight loss, or fails to allocate things perfectly for one reason or another. Although it is not usually described in precisely this way, socialism is aimed principally at diminishing the extent to which competition controls the allocation of goods and services (and the distribution of wealth, of course). \n\nThe direct result of socialism is either that there is no incentive to compete (this would be a strong form of socialism that abandons the market system entirely) or more commonly that the benefits of succeeding in the competitive landscape are diminished due to some kind of wealth redistribution that narrows the difference between winning and losing. \n\nThere are benefits to this, particularly when it is fine-tuned to specific markets where we can see that capitalism generates a market failure problem (e.g. health insurance). However, the downside of socialism, which almost never comes up in typical debates on the subject, is that the absence of competition diminishes the incentive to innovate or improve one's product/service (this could be something as simple as providing good customer service). For example, there is a famous example about a nail factory in Soviet Russia that was told simply that it had to make some number X of nails, and that its employees would be paid some fixed amount no matter how things turn out (note this is not at all how markets work.) So what did the nail factory do? It made really shitty, tiny nails. It had no incentive to do a better job, because it doesn't make more money when it produces better results. Similarly, it is generally accepted that Comcast is such a horrible piece of shit because it faces so little competition, which means it feels little pressure to make you happy. \n\nRecent economic research on the relationship between competition and innovation has come to a broad consensus that, in order to create the best incentives to innovate and improve, you want a healthy amount of competition, but not *too* much competition. This is the \"[inverted U hypothesis](_URL_0_).\" This has never been applied to the question of socialism vs capitalism (at least to my knowledge), but it embodies the same tradeoff between the bad aspects of competition and the good aspects of competition. It stands for the proposition that you want some rivalry, but not too much, which is a little like saying you want a \"light\" version of socialism that still relies predominantly on markets, but also spreads the wealth, so to speak. \n\nThis is how I think about the capitalism/socialism distinction, based on my experience as a micro/IO economist.\n",
"Socialism is an ideology. Democratic Socialist is a specific political party, which may be different in different countries.\n",
"If you're a Trump supporter or someone who thinks Olive Garden is \"fancy\", there is no difference. ",
"Not a lot of ELI5 here, so here:\n\nSocialism is a huge subject and people will often immediately think of dictatorships when hearing that word.\n\nDemocratic socialism is just a part. If the USA became that, they would be doing the same as pretty much all of Europe.\n\nTo describe it separately, it is this: redistribution of wealth and power from the top, down.\n\nThis means that there will be more money to the government from taxes, and the government promises to use it for the greater good. (Universal healthcare would be an example)\n\nMany people will also argue that socialism itself is not bad, but rather how people have tried to do it. *Democratic* in democratic socialism tells you how they want to do it.\n\nThink of it like hearing about Chlorine and liquid Chlorine after WWII and that they were using it in pools and drinking water. People would freak out because they know just how bad Chlorine *gas* is.",
"The effective difference is in leadership. Traditional Socialism has had a supreme leader and evolved or devolved (depending on perspective) into extreme socialism or communism. Whereas Democratic Socialism utilizes and maintains the republic to promote and enact socialistic programs.\n"
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3lo36o | the churches stance on evolution and the universe? | Just wondering what the official stance is on evolution and the universe being infinite.
Do they think God made it or??? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3lo36o/eli5_the_churches_stance_on_evolution_and_the/ | {
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"Which church? There's literally thousands of them. Assuming you're talking about the Catholic Church, they are on board with evolution, although I don't know the official stance on the size of the universe. ",
"The stance of most churches is that those two things exist. Most churches are happy to accept the discoveries of science. There's only really a few denominations who believe that God created the universe but then ignore any observable facts about that universe in favour of *their interpretation* of the first few chapters of Genesis."
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5ypqq1 | language dialects | Are different dialects of a foreign language as similar as the English language from New York to Alabama to England to Canada, or are they more different?
Also, as a secondary question, why does it always sound like Arabic speaking nations are yelling? Do English speakers sound loud to other language speakers? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ypqq1/eli5_language_dialects/ | {
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"The degree of variance amongst dialects depends on the language. For example, dialects of Spanish are like English- distinct, yet totally mutually intelligible. Someone from Bolivia can chat with someone from Spain, each in their own dialect, with little difficulty understanding one another. \n\nArabic, for example, is different. Arabic is a highly fractured language, with each country having its own distinct dialect which can vary so much as to be unintelligible to speakers of other dialects (this dialect of a given region is called *foos-ha*.) Someone speaking colloquial Morrocan Arabic would have a very difficult time making themselves understood to someone speaking Yemeni Arabic. However, a formal version of Arabic called *Modern Standard Arabic* is commonly understood throughout the Arab world. If a Yemeni and a Moroccan were to meet, they would not try to speak *foos-ha* to one another, instead they would communicate by speaking something close to MSA. \n\nAs far as Arabs seemingly yelling all the time...language and culture are inseparable. Language does not exist in a vacuum; the way we speak is intertwined with the culture we speak it in. "
]
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[]
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|
34y85b | why are the moans of women such strong sexual triggers in men, and is it the same for women or the same sex? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34y85b/eli5_why_are_the_moans_of_women_such_strong/ | {
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"I'm not sure what you mean. Could you post a link to some examples?",
"the book Sex at Dawn (a good read) postulates that humans developed from a nomadic society that pretty much reproduced through massive orgies, essentially. The moaning of women developed to be a trigger to get other men turned on and get them in on the action, so to speak. I'm not sure what evidence they offered up to support this claim (but if you google \"massive orgies\" you can find what I assume are videos of people trying to reenact these events for science or something).\n\nEdit- corrected name of book. I knew the title, not sure why my fingers typed \"and\" instead of \"at.\"",
"It's to encourage the male to ejaculate more quickly, which is a very primal evolutionary strategy for good reproduction. Conversely, if a woman is mounted by a man that doesn't appeal as much, she won't moan and so the man is less likely to pass on his genes.",
"I found an anecdotal answer to the second part of your question: Yes, many women like when men moan. I'm still looking for sources for same-sex opinions...\n\nSources: [\\[1\\]](_URL_1_) [\\[2\\]](_URL_0_)",
"Check out the book \"Sperm Wars\" for more information about this and other group/individual sexual reproduction theories. ",
"Okay, look. Have you ever heard Japanese porn? That's right, heard it. The vocalizations are significantly different and often times turn western men off because it sounds like the woman is crying. So we can establish that not all sexual vocalizations are the same across societies.\n\nYou've been socialized to associate certain tones with sexual situations, much like how your cat responds to a certain tone of voice. It's like your personal sexy cheering squad.\n\nIt's just social conditioning, like finding nipples erotic (not erogenous, erotic) or finding the back of the neck sexy.\n\nAnd, while I have not done a formal study, the topic has come up frequently on /r/askwomen and the general consensus seems to be that yes, women DO like it when you don't fuck them like a creepy mime and give them some level of vocal reinforcement.",
"Well, I'm gay, and I like it when my SO moans. It just shows he's enjoying it which turns me on I guess, the same way him smiling or pulling me closer would also turn me on.\n\nI don't think it's particularly complicated why moaning is sexy."
]
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"http://www.reddit.com/r/sex/comments/16qcql/men_moaning_oh_lawd/"
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||
5vs21e | why is it so challenging for developed nations to completely eliminate poverty? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5vs21e/eli5_why_is_it_so_challenging_for_developed/ | {
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"Poverty is a moving target. As a country's standard of living increases, the standard for what is considered poverty also increases.\n\nPoverty is often defined relative to national averages, which means mathematically it can never be eliminated.",
"Have you heard the expression \"give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day, but teach him how to fish and you'll feed him for a lifetime\"?\n\nMost anti-poverty programs are just giving people fish - in the form of money, donations, services, etc - but leave them incapable of fishing for themselves, so the next day there's even more people who need fish but still don't know how to get it.\n\nThe ideal anti-poverty program would transform hungry people into fisherman - in put another way, economically productive citizens who could earn, save, invest, etc - so that they could take care of themselves and help others.\n\nBut transferring skills and instilling a work ethic, values, etc is incredibly challenging in the best of circumstances. We all know kids from wealthy families who were given plenty of opportunities but never got their act together.\n\nNow add in all the chaos associated with poverty - crime, alcohol & drugs, poor transportation, poor health care, lack of education, unplanned pregnancy, etc and you start to wonder if its even possible to move large numbers of people off of welfare. Many people, and perhaps even the majority of people in developed countries, believe that it isn't, which makes them skeptical of any government program that attempts it.\n\nPersonally, I'm more of an optimist, but I do think you get the best results by setting up things like first-time home buyer programs or child care tax credits that are designed to help people that are on the right path but still need a little extra help. People still have to learn how to fish for themselves, but you're making it a little easier for them to get started.\n\n"
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a2kpq9 | why does bacteria grow more in moisture? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a2kpq9/eli5_why_does_bacteria_grow_more_in_moisture/ | {
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"text": [
"It's a medium that makes it easier to survive and move around.\n\nThe moisture allows them to break down food for absorption, thus providing energy for them to reproduce."
]
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[]
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||
1k3edh | why is the sapir-whorf hypothesis wrong? | Admittedly I haven't been looking too closely but every time I see something like "duh, Sapir-Whorf is stupid" I don't see a clear, easily understandable reason as to why.
Why is it wrong? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1k3edh/eli5_why_is_the_sapirwhorf_hypothesis_wrong/ | {
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"Who said it's wrong? I'm beginning to think there is a lot of truth in the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. \n\nI think the best way to understand this is by learning a new language yourself.\nI am learning a Semitic language now (Arabic) and am starting to learn certain concepts that could really shape the way people see the world differently from people who only know of non-Semitic languages.",
"There are strong and weak versions of the hypothesis. The **strong** form, often attributed to Sapir and Whorf themselves, says that the way a language is structured puts hard limits on the ways people can think. This is the concept behind things like George Orwell's Newspeak. It's also nearly universally dismissed as complete bunk.\n\nThe **weak** form says that language has a bit of an influence on cognition, even if it doesn't actually limit one's mental abilities. Under this model, instead of a language dictating what thoughts a person can have, it just influences the relationships they 'default' to. This is much more likely and a lot more widely accepted, although I don't know that everyone subscribes to it.\n\nOne experiment often cited to support the weak form involves the way English versus Italian or Spanish encodes verbs of motion: English verbs tend to encode the manner of motion, while Italian and Spanish tend to encode the paths taken. In experiments, when given *nonce* words (words that aren't actually words, like 'flib' or 'dran') and a video of someone moving, English speakers described the meaning of the nonce words in terms of their manner, while Italian and Spanish speakers did so in terms of paths (I'll add a comment with sources in a minute).\n\nOther experiments don't support this, though. For example, experiments that seemed to suggest that Mandarin speakers thought of time vertically while English speakers did so horizontally were shown not to actually be significant (again, sources in comments). Basically, the similarities across languages are usually drastically larger than the differences that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis can explain.\n\nThe overall answer is that the hypothesis probably isn't **completely** wrong, but it isn't a very powerful tool for explaining how humans think, and is limited to a handful of domains.\n\nSource: about to get a degree in Linguistics, and specifically did a project on this a while back.\n\n**EDIT** - got path and manner backwards, sorry."
]
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2j3d2m | why do tv and radio signals have an almost instantaneous transmission time, but internet signals have delay? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2j3d2m/eli5_why_do_tv_and_radio_signals_have_an_almost/ | {
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"TV and radio signals are one way, they send you data and you listen. The Internet is multi way, you send signals, your neighbor sends signals, you receive signals, your neighbor receives signals. You and your neighbor share a router at some point, and that router has to queue and handle all those signals in both directions. In order to have the flexibility to let all those signals go back and forth to and from multiple sources, the communication with a router is a bit more complex. Even if only you ever used the Internet, it would still be a bit slower then TV because the communication protocol is more complex. That being said, the Internet is way more flexible ad powerful.",
"TV is like having one very loud person talking to an entire room, you can all hear him pretty much instantly.\n\nThe Internet is more like trying to have a conversation with somebody on the other side of a room by asking everyone in the middle to pass the messages between you. Everyone (switches, routers, and so on) in the chain can communicate instantly, but there's a tiny delay introduced with each link.\n\nThat said, the Internet is incredibly fast. You can usually send a signal to another computer on the Internet and get a reply in less than a second.",
"Radio signals (which includes Over The Air [OTA] television broadcasts) travel at the speed of light from the transmission tower to the receiver because radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation (i.e. they are non-visible light). For digital signals, the signals have to be decoded, but this usually a relatively trivial operation that causes only a minimal delay.\n\nHere is the overly simplified version of what happens when you stream a video to your computer over the internet:\n\n1) Your browser generates a request for the webpage containing the video.\n\n2) Your browser tells the operating system to send the request to the specified IP address corresponding to the server hosting the web page with the video. If the IP address is unknown, a DNS request first has to be performed.\n\n3) Your operating system tells the network interface card to send the webpage request to the specified IP address\n\n4) The network interface card sends the request to your local router/gateway.\n\n5) The local router/gateway sends the request to your ISP's central router via the copper/coaxial or fiber cable coming into your home (or via a 3G/4G wireless connection).\n\n6) Along the way, the webpage request will likely be sent through another of other routing devices at various locations (e.g. at your local town/neighborhood exchange) before reaching the central ISP router.\n\n7) The webpage request will arrive at the ISP's central routing facility where the central router will redirect the webpage request to the appropriate network, often via an IP transit connection managed by a third-party network like Cogent, Level 3, Hurricane Electric etc.\n\n8) The webpage request will arrive at the destination network where the server hosting the webpage is located (with various network hops along the way) and will be redirected to the location/facility where the server is physically located.\n\n9) A router at the facility will redirect the traffic to the sever's network interface card which will receive the webpage request and pass it on to the operating system.\n\n10) The server's operating system will then pass on the webpage request to the server software listening for incoming requests on the given network port.\n\n11) The server software will then start to send back the webpage source code (HTML/CSS/JavaScript) to the client browser that requested the web page.\n\n12) The web page data must now be sent back using a route similar to the one described in steps 2 through 9, except in reverse. The data packets traverse the server's local network, the network of an IP Transit provider, the ISP's network of the client computer and finally arrive at the client computer's local router/gateway where the data is forwarded to the client computer network interface card, operating system and finally the browser.\n\n13) Once the client browser receives web page source code, it begins to make a request to download the video embedded in the web page.\n\n14) The request for the video gets sent to the server hosting the video (which may differ from the server hosting the webpage) in the same sort of way as described in steps 1 through 10.\n\n15) The server receives the request and begins sending the data for the video stream to the client browser similar to how the webpage data was sent back (see Step 12)\n\n\nAll these steps add more and more latency to the connection, delaying the time it takes for packets to arrive at their destination and be processed. Note that the process described above is simplified, the actual process is a million times more complicated and even further complicated if encryption is used."
]
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6pxbhd | during the 20 year patent period, does the pharmaceutical companies determine the price of the drug or is it regulated somehow? | Sources for the information provided would be much appreciated. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6pxbhd/eli5_during_the_20_year_patent_period_does_the/ | {
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"It is worth noting that drugs don't actually have 20 years of patent protected sales. Patents must be filed prior to initiation of clinical trials, which can take 8-15 years, and there are means in many countries to partially recoup time spent in trials or waiting for government approval. By the time a drug is approved, it may have 7-12 years of protected sales.\n\nI would have like to link to the BlueCross BlueShield Therapeutic Evaluation Criteria, but it appears to be behind a password wall. In brief, payers won't pay for drugs that a) have not been proven to be effective b) are not more effective than alternatives and c) are not less expensive than equivalent alternatives.\n\nYou can read more on reimbursement at [Accenture Article](_URL_1_) and [DIA article](_URL_0_).\n\nAbsent price gouging, there are many cases of drugs for rare diseases which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. To obtain reimbursement, the drug companies and payers need to agree that the drug costs less than the alternatives (e.g. extended hospital stays, surgery, etc.)",
"Unfortunately this basically comes down to free market economics. \n\nUltimately it comes down to what the market will bear. That's why you keep seeing reports of anesthetics costing thousands of dollars from a hospital, hundreds of dollars if purchased privately, and the equivalent of tens of dollars in a market with unionised/nationalized health care.\n",
"It's not regulated. It's basically whatever the company thinks they can get while the patent is in force. I was reading an article about a cholesterol drug. They were making over $1 billion per year from the drug before the patent expired. That dropped to under $10 million per year after generics became available. \n\nAs an aside, that's one reason why the health market is so broken. The people who make a cholesterol don't have to price it based on what the market can bear because the customers don't pay for it--the insurance company does. \n"
]
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"http://www1.diahome.org/~/media/FA0214BDF86B488FAB31255373CD5FE1.ashx",
"https://www.accenture.com/t20150523T060700__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/Conversion-Assets/Microsites/Documents2/Accenture-Life-Sciences-Why-Pharmaceutical-Companies-Need-a-Value-Management-Operating-Model.pdf"
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|
8yyon0 | what benefit are the zero g experiments on the iss to us on earth, where zero g is rarely (if ever) encountered? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8yyon0/eli5_what_benefit_are_the_zero_g_experiments_on/ | {
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"Eventually we will need to explore space. A mars colony would be at much lower gravity than earth and we don’t think that would be a good thing for development of baby anythings. \n\nAnother thing is we need to figure out what solar radiation will do to our food or other things we grow. ",
"We do lots of \"useless\" experiments with the goal of figuring out how the universe works. Well designed experiments should try to rule out extraneous factors. Gravity affects a lot of things so trying them in g can help us understand how they work more completely.",
"Structures can assume their true form when they are not squished down by gravity. \n\nImagine having a soft ball that's always squished, then you finally leave it alone and it becomes spherical. Mind blown."
]
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||
fhnxq3 | how can our bodies utilize gigantic meals, can't we overload the 'processing' systems? | How can the human body process such huge quantities of calories? Like, if I normally eat 2,200 calories a day and one day decide to eat 20,000 calories how could my body not be overloaded and let most of those calories get pooped out?
I think it would make sense if I slowly increased it or increased it for a long time, but if I went out tomorrow and slammed 15 candy bars and 5 burgers how could my body be like, "okay, 20k calories coming right up"? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fhnxq3/eli5_how_can_our_bodies_utilize_gigantic_meals/ | {
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"You can in fact eat so much your stomach explodes and you die. This has happened a few times, although it's extremely rare.\n\nAs long as you don't do that, your stomach will hold the food until the rest of the digestive system is ready for it. \n\n\nAnd no, you're bodies not going to throw away calories. It's made for survival in hunter gatherer days when long periods of famine were common. It needs to store every calorie it can possibly get so you can survive those starvation times. Modern food production is not something it is suited for.",
"We evolved through times when meals were sometimes not that easy to come by, so when a large animal was killed we had the adaptations to eat as much of it as we could because it might be a substantial time before the next one."
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2t1o29 | how would deflating a nfl football (ala the patriots) give you an advantage? | "The NFL is investigating whether the New England Patriots intentionally deflated footballs during their victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday's rain-soaked AFC Championship Game." [ESPN](_URL_0_) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2t1o29/eli5_how_would_deflating_a_nfl_football_ala_the/ | {
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" > An under-inflated football could be easier to grip and catch.\n\nIt's in the article",
"I doubt there is any tangible weight difference..\n\nit would make the ball easier to grip however, as the ball will deform more freely, and so you'd be able to get better purchase on it",
"Why are all you guys saying it would WEIGHT different - that is not the advantage!\n\nThe ball would be softer - a properly inflated ball lin cold temperature would be much harder as the ball is expanded more with more internal pressure pushing out. It would be like catching a rock thrown at you hard vs catching a sponge (exaggerated). ",
"Colts lost 45-7. I don't think this was the reason they lost or were at a disadvantage. ",
"The deflated ball, while easier to grab from a thrown pass, had no effect on how the Patriots offensive line manhandled the Colts D on running AND passing plays. Come on, even the Colts don't give a crap about this. It's a non story.",
"If the Patriots were practicing with a deflated ball and the Colts weren't, the Patriots would be at an advantage.",
"Someone should ELI5 how the pats blew the colts out with a deflated ball",
"Umm pullquotes from the NFL rulebook... The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications... In the event a home team ball does not conform to specifications, or its supply is exhausted, the Referee shall secure a proper ball from the visitors and, failing that, use the best available ball. Any such circumstances must be reported to the Commissioner... not to pass the blame, but the rule book implies \n\nA. It's a referee problem\n\nB. It's not that big of a deal if \"the best suitable ball\" is acceptable",
"What more people should look into is this\n\n_URL_0_"
]
} | [] | [
"http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12193345/nfl-investigating-whether-new-england-patriots-deflated-footballs-indianapolis-colts"
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|
1q363t | why smartphone makers keep increasing resolution of displays beyond what the eye can see? | Since Apple came out with iPhone equipped with so called 'retina' display, other manufacturers soon followed. I understand that Apple's 'retina' term is a marketing name for something that others have too. And it means that it has higher number of pixels than normal person's eye can distinguish. But since then Samsung and LG have announced plans for making phones with even higher pixel count, last i read was 500ppi. What is the point of this?
thanks | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1q363t/eli5_why_smartphone_makers_keep_increasing/ | {
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"If it makes more people buy their phones, why not?",
"Look at 300ppi display next to a 500 before you decide that you can't distinguish the difference."
]
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|
1dumrw | are there people that have 'advanced brain activity' like sherlock holmes? or is it possible for a human to function at the level? | I am really quite intrigued as to how Sherlock Holmes functions. Any insights would be amazing.
Thanks | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1dumrw/eli5_are_there_people_that_have_advanced_brain/ | {
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"Sherlock Holmes is fictional. There are people with unusual cognitive function, such as savants, who can process information in unusual ways (usually at the severe detriment of normal functioning) but aside from the variety in the range of general intellect, people like the fictional Sherlock Holmes who can see hundreds of interrelated, minute, connecting patterns don't really exist. \n\nYou can sort of tell from the writing of the various source materials if you stop and think about them: Usually there's more than one possible explanation for Holmes's brilliant deductions. ",
"Whether or not people can function on the same level of Sherlock Holmes is questionable. The salient attribute of Sherlock's intelligence is the speed with which he calls up and connects seemingly random facts. And that speed is what I believe is fictional. There are people out there, now and in the past, who have made crazy connections such as Sherlock Holmes can, it's just that it took them a little longer to do so. I think, to answer your question, that the only way a person could think at those speeds is with some form of mind-altering drugs (it's not just a coincidence Sherlock Holmes is a drug addict), and I highly doubt those thoughts would be intelligent at all.\n\nNot sure if it's exactly relevant, but with regard to \"advanced brain activity\", there are some people with weird brain issues that make them unusually intelligent. For example, Kim Peek, who was the inspiration for Rain Man, lacks a corpus callosum (the part of the brain that connects its two halves), and therefore has a ridiculous memory. There are other instances of stuff like this, but as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle recognized, these people generally have major social issues to compensate. "
]
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[],
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