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5jkasz | how does a website like _url_0_ have access to statistics for every player? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jkasz/eli5_how_does_a_website_like_masteroverwatchcom/ | {
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"Blizzard has statistics pages for each tag - there are now open APIs which go, based off the data you entered, and scrape the page of that player, since all of the info is there, and presents it in a friendly format.",
"Blizzard exposes the data via an API that can be called from the web. Think of it as a method for querying a huge database using only a url endpoint to make the interrogations of their data. ",
"Sites like that can work in two different ways,\n\nA, the games owner provides an API, which is basically an url you can go to, and then if you provide the correct settings, it returns all the data you request. (That is exposed by the API)\n\nB, If there is no API, the alternative is to scrape, scraping is basically navigating to every players profile, reading the data, and storing it in your own DB, this is naturally automated.\n\nboth sides generally dislike scraping as it places a heavy load on their servers."
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3fljhb | how do astronauts & cosmonauts avoid motion sickness when they are in the international space station and it is moving at 17,100 mph? | EDIT: Seems like the feeling of weightlessness is a feeling of motion sickness. And they do feel it but they are also accustomed to it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fljhb/eli5_how_do_astronauts_cosmonauts_avoid_motion/ | {
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"Motion sickness is caused by acceleration (a CHANGE in speed) in random directions over a brief period of time. Your inner ear detects this acceleration but your brain struggles to match that with what you are seeing and responds by making you feel sick. For when you are in a car, there is the obvious forward acceleration from the engine,but there is the left and right movements of turning and the up and down movements from bumps in the road. However your brain sees the seats, steering wheel and other passengers moving at the same speed in relation to you and so is tricked in to thinking something is wrong. While the international space station is traveling very quickly, this speed is constant because space doesn't hinder its progress around our planet. So their inner ear doesn't detect any movement matching the experience they perceive through their eyes which also says that the walls are moving in relation to themselves. \nHope this helps. Done on a phone so didn't format.",
"They are moving at the same speed as the ISS, so to them it feels like they are not moving at all. We're sitting in rooms that are in all sorts of motion - the rotation of the earth around its own axis, the rotation of the earth around the sun - but if you look around and everything is moving the same speed as you, there's no way to tell that you are moving.\n\nBoth they and the ISS are in free-fall... that 17000mph velocity is what keeps them in free-fall, they basically 'miss' hitting the earth because of it. But their surroundings are doing the same thing, so they don't experience any relative motion.\n\n*Acceleration* is something we do notice, and changes in acceleration - a car speeding up, a plane taking off, a boat rocking on the water - can induce motion sickness. The people in the ISS experience none of these. They *do* have to get accustomed to free-fall, something they train for by riding the 'Vomit Comet', a big plane that flies in a parabolic arc so it, like the ISS, is falling out from under you at the exact same speed you are falling.\n\nI've done this, it was very unnerving at first but then it was fun. People who are susceptible to motion sickness didn't describe it as fun, and some of them demonstrated why it is called the 'Vomit Comet'.\n"
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2d9dp9 | doctors and prescription kickbacks? | A lot gets made from time to time about MD's pushing various medications on you because of XYZ.
Umm... Do doctors actually get paid by those pharmaceutical companies? Do they have quotas to fill if they want to be able to prescribe the product?
It seems like there's outrage, and I don't know enough about why. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2d9dp9/eli5_doctors_and_prescription_kickbacks/ | {
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"It is now illegal for doctors to accept money or gifts from pharmaceutical companies (although it still does happen). A good doctor will actually pay attention to what a drug actually does (based on scientific research) rather than what the pharmaceutical company says the drug does. It's a very sticky and precarious situation, and pharmaceutical companies have EXCELLENT marketing departments. \n\nOverall though, different doctors have various opinions of different drugs, and they may recommend different drugs based on this. Some of their opinion does come from whether or not it works for the patient, and the side effects that it causes. It varies depending on the drug. ",
"Doctors can't prescribe you a drug that doesn't work. However, when there are several different kinds of medicine that might work for one condition, pharmaceutical companies will aggressively market their own medicine in favour of another.\n\nThere's a void in this which is that it's the doctor's decision on which medicine you should choose. Now ethically, doctors should pick the best one - and the most affordable. But now and then they can be \"persuaded\" to push a more expensive, or even unneeded, treatment. \n\nDoctors aren't usually paid off in cash, like a bribe, but there is plenty of gifts that are commonplace. They can be \"gifted\" paid trips + lodging + entrance fees at major conferences that are sponsored by said pharmaceutical companies, for example. It's shady stuff and the line that separates normal market competition from unlawful medicine is blurry at most times."
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2ug46u | why is there a surcharge on tickets? | I don't understand how the government justifies ticketing you and charging a surcharge on top of that. Is it a processing fee for your ticket? Why isn't this covered in the ticket/taxes? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ug46u/eli5why_is_there_a_surcharge_on_tickets/ | {
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"what kind of ticket are you talking about? like a speeding ticket? the surcharge is only for certain payment types like credit cards. the gov't charges you, because the credit card processing company charges them. so it costs them money to accept credit cards. "
]
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5ygfsj | why are commercials for coca cola before movies so damn awful? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ygfsj/eli5_why_are_commercials_for_coca_cola_before/ | {
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"I haven't been to the movies in a while, but AFAIK those shorts are all created by novice film enthusiasts. Coke has a contest, and chooses which one(s) to play.",
"And yet you know this commercial's content so clearly AND you know it is Coke. To a marketer that's over and above mission accomplished.\n\nSometimes we see interesting commercials and we don't even remember what they were for.\n\nThe fact you have a memorable coke commercial that sticks with you keeps the brand in your head, and that's what matters. You don't stop drinking Coke because of an annoying commercial if you enjoy Coke.",
"Almost all advertising is awful. It used to bother me so much because I figured, since it was one of the biggest industries in the world, that their output just seemed lazy and trite. It's all by design, though. Lowest common denominator. And it won't be getting better. \n\nAlso, just a quick message from Mr. Bill Hicks: _URL_0_"
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3rqmmw | why cats eat mice? | I am just curious, why cats have an instinct to eat mice even they can eat small rabbit? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3rqmmw/eli5_why_cats_eat_mice/ | {
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"They have an instinct to eat *any* small animal (or, any animal they think they can kill), they're not going to be picky, they take whatever food they can find. \n\nThey're not going to pass up a mouse on the chance they might find and catch a rabbit, and I doubt they taste significantly different to the cat anyway.",
"Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they must eat meat. They are also generally solitary hunters and so hunt any prey smaller than them. They will eat mice, rats, squirrels, birds, lizards, snake, rabbits, etc. ",
"Cats eat anything small enough for them to eat. Carnivorous predators tend to be opportunistic; if they see food they don't think \"Nah, I'm not in the mood for mouse today, lets see if I can get a rabbit or something\". ",
"I have a pretty good amount of experience with cat. Based on my experience, they actually didn't eat mice. Most of them just attracted by their movement (especially kitten), just like when you swing or move something strange in front of cat, they are most likely to be curious and trying to catch it or even bite it to make it stop moving. So basically they see mice as a toy and try to stop it from moving.\n\nTLDR: From my experience, cat didn't eat mice, they just play with it (a bit too far) and try to make it stop moving cause they see mice as a strange moving thing"
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504stt | how do chia seeds jellify liquid? | Everywhere I read about chia seeds absorbing liquid but they don't, they stay the same size and the liquid around them become like gel/jelly. What is happening? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/504stt/eli5_how_do_chia_seeds_jellify_liquid/ | {
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"The ELI5 answer s - The seeds have a shell on them that, when exposed to water, turns to a gel and absorbs the water. The benefit of this is that the gel keeps water in contact with the seeds, instead of running off, so it has \"fuel\" to germinate and become a chia plant. (Also allows it to stick to terra cotta for chia pets)",
"I have been mixing these with my smoothies for a year now. It never dawned on me that these seeds are the same ones used in the chia pet. TIL"
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2dgexl | if you are about to drive on a bridge that's rather shaky and seems weak, should you drive fast or slow on it to avoid it from breaking? | I've been watching top gear the Birma special and this just came to my mind, i was really curious and couldn't find any answers on google | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dgexl/eli5_if_you_are_about_to_drive_on_a_bridge_thats/ | {
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"If you go too fast you are increasing the dynamic loading on the bridge because you have more momentum, which is transferred to the bridge. If you spend a lot of time in one area, the structural parts would be under stress for a longer time, which will only cause an issue if it is about to break (i.e. if you applied just a bit more force it would break immediately).\n\nTherefore I would recommend to drive slowly, but without stopping"
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3s1gwt | why does it make your balls tingle when watching videos of people walking on high-up, dangerous places? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s1gwt/eli5_why_does_it_make_your_balls_tingle_when/ | {
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"Have you seen a doctor?",
"Like you're five? Hmmm. Let me take my first go at one of these. \n\nYou have different kinds of muscles in your body, some you move on purpose some move almost by themselves without you thinking about it. \n\nStrong emotions and things that cause strong reactions can make muscles move without you thinking about it, there's whole parts of your body that control these muscles that move without you thinking. \n\nWhen you see something scary or thrilling your body reacts by getting ready to cope with the scary situation, as if you were up on that wall and walking about in the scary video. \n\nThe reaction is tugging on a muscle down between your legs, probably pulling your balls up a bit, changing the way blood flows and nerves feel. And as your balls are sensitive things this is enough to make them tingle.",
"Its your autonomic nervous system \"fight or flight\" senses kicking in. You are watching something that kicks on your sympathetic nervous system and your gonads (balls) are connected to it. ",
"Your body is entering a stressful situation because you are human and capable of empathizing with the man on the screen. Part of stress is to prepare your body for conflict, and one of the most potentially debilitating targets on your body is your testicles. If you are in a fight, an easy debilitating target is the gonads. So they might retract in response to conflict.\n\nAlso interesting is what your body does with your blood flow during times of stress. For instance - when your body is cold, blood is drawn away from your extremities and toward your heart. You might notice at these times that your testicles exhibit [shrinkage](_URL_0_). This is indeed a stressful time for your body, but the retraction of your testicles is more likely due to the fact that your body wants to keep your testicles at the optimum temperature for creating and maintaining sperm. Your body retracting your testicles in this instance has less to do with their potential injury by an adversary and more to do with the climate. But it's still stress, and you can notice the crossover for the functionality of the reaction.\n\nSo in conclusion, your balls are simply reacting to stress in a natural, defensive way."
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ecs7qe | what happens when an atom has no electrons? | Does the atom stop to exist or does it explode. I have no idea | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ecs7qe/eli5_what_happens_when_an_atom_has_no_electrons/ | {
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"Yes, this occurs when an atom has been completely ionized (all electrons stripped away); however, because this creates a positive charge, this is an unstable situation in a place like earth's surface, where there's plenty of electrons nearby to recombine with, and not a lot of energy to break them up (ionize) them again. However, the matter in the sun is entirely ionized; there is too much energy among each electron and nucleus for any one electron to associate with any one nucleus for any length of time before they're broken up again.",
"Then it becomes a positive ion. \n\nFor hydrogen this is a pretty common condition - it has just one electron that has a tendency to wander off, leaving an exposed proton all alone.\n\nHeavier atoms produce increasingly powerful electromagnetic attraction and it's harder to strip off all the electrons. If you do manage it, the highly charged nucleus aggressively attacks other materials to steal their electrons and stabilize itself.",
"Chemistry happens. \n\nTaking, giving, and sharing of electrons is what atoms do when they don't have \"full sets\" on their orbitals (which is when they have the most stable / lowest energy configuration), which translates into substances reacting chemically (ion bonds, covalent bonds, etc.). Basically, the field of Chemistry and chemical reactions."
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2figu9 | fafsa/ financial aid / federal student aid: is it a loan? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2figu9/eli5fafsa_financial_aid_federal_student_aid_is_it/ | {
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"FAFSA is an application to get a government loan. Financial Aid is the combination of loans, scholarships and grants you receive. In most cases if you have no money and your parents aren't helping, the bulk of the cost of college is going to be funded by taking out loans and you'll likely be in serious debt after you graduate.",
"When you fill out your FAFSA, you're applying for two things: grants and subsidized loans. Grants are free, you don't have to pay them back. Subsidized loans are provided through the Department of Education, and have lower interest rates than a loan you'd get through a private company like Sallie Mae. You do have to pay those back, typically you start 6 months after you drop below full time (presumably, when you graduate). Deferments are available if you have a hard time paying.",
"Filing the FAFSA opens all forms of federal student aid, including gift aid (such as Pell grants) and loan aid (such as Perkins, Stafford and PLUS loans). The FAFSA is also used by many schools to determine their own aid packages, which will generally consist of gift aid and work studies but could also consist of loans.",
"Because your post isn't asking a simplified conceptual explanation, but rather for an answer, it has been removed. \n\nYou should try /r/answers, /r/askreddit or even one of the more specialized answers subreddits like /r/askhistorians, /r/askscience or others too numerous and varied to mention. \n\nRest assured this doesn't make your question *bad*, it just makes it more appropriate for another subreddit. Good luck! "
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68di9c | why haven't we been able to make leafblowers, etc silent / much quieter? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/68di9c/eli5_why_havent_we_been_able_to_make_leafblowers/ | {
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"The noise occurs where the high speed exhaust starts mixing with the low-speed ambient air. Basically, the jet of air coming out of the blower needs to puncture through and rub against all the rest of the air. That causes friction and turbulence, which causes noise.\n\nThere are some things you can do to improve the noise *quality* (see the [chevrons](_URL_0_) on new aircraft engines), but reducing the overall noise level is generally only possible by reducing the speed difference between the exhaust and the ambient air; that is to say, turn the leaf blower off.",
"Actually the noise of leaf blowers and lawn mowers comes from the motor or engine, and whether electrical or gasoline-powered, they need to concentrate a lot of power into a generally small engine or motor. Power generates heat, so the motor or engine needs quite a bit of air flow to cool it down, and this makes it somewhat difficult to add padding or insulation that would absorb and lower the noise.\n\nYou CAN find quieter devices, but you have to specifically look for noise ratings rather than performance ratings, so they're both more expensive and under-performing.",
"It's not that we *can't*, it's that it *drastically* increases the price without largely impacting the ability to do the job.\n\nPeople who are leafblowing would rather spend $200 for a loud cheap one than spend $450 on a silent one."
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d4pokm | edible gold leaf has become a regular thing in high-end restaurants. why is this type of gold edible, as opposed to just regular gold? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d4pokm/edible_gold_leaf_has_become_a_regular_thing_in/ | {
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"Gold leave is just hammered thin gold. It's no different than any other gold. It's \"edible\" in the sense lots of things are: it's not toxic and it won't kill you.\n\nIt is not, however, digestible. You won't absorb it or gain any nutritional benefit. It's really just a flex on your wealth than you can literally afford to shit gold."
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adxoz5 | role of different governments in flint | I don't live in Michigan so much of the political discussion I hear about Flint's water problem is centered around the federal government. I'm wondering what responsibility both the government of Michigan as well as the government of Flint have in addressing this. Is the federal government able to do something that these more local governments cannot do? I'm just wondering how responsibility is assigned. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/adxoz5/eli5_role_of_different_governments_in_flint/ | {
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"Not the Federal government, the State government. Flint was being run under an Emergency Manager appointed by the Governor. Basically the State sets aside the authority of the local government due to financial problems it can't seem to address and appoints someone to run the local government. However that isn't really why it happened (despite not having the power to stop it, the mayor and City Council both agreed to the switch-over), though it is the State's fault more than the local government's. State responsibility comes primary through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which did a piss poor job of ensuring the switch-over wouldn't result in lead contamination. They \"determined\" that corrosion control treatment wouldn't be necessary for at least one year after the switch over, and it was on that basis that Flint's water treatment plant didn't use corrosion control chemicals. ",
"The Federal government has nothing to do with the issues in Flint other than giving emergency money. Which it has given a lot already. \n\nThe Responsibility for the problem happening falls with the city who tried to save money by switching their water source, which in turn required changing how they treated the water for bacteria, which in turn eroded the pipes and caused the lead contamination. \n\nResponsibility for fixing the problem falls on the city and the State. "
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1i7q0p | what is the difference between atheism and secular humanism? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1i7q0p/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_atheism_and/ | {
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"Atheism is non-belief in god, secular humanism is a belief in the inherent dignity of human beings. It's essentially religious moral principles sans religion.\n\nI had a friend who died who was too much of an atheist for it to make sense to have a religious preacher at his funeral. His family got a humanist speaker instead who did speeches about coming to terms with mortality but without the \"god\" or \"heaven\" part.",
"Atheist merely means one of two things: either a lack of belief in any god(s), or the positive belief that no god(s) exist. Beyond that, atheists can follow pretty much any philosophical or ethical system, or none at all. Atheists are a hugely diverse bunch, because all that defines one as an atheist is one's position on the existence of god(s).\n\nSecular humanism, on the other hand, is a more specific set of philosophical and ethical positions to which a small portion of the world's atheists belong. As an example, here's the [manifesto of the Council for Secular Humanism.](_URL_0_)\n\nTo put it in terms that religious people might relate to a bit better, the relationship between 'atheism' and 'secular humanism' is akin to the relationship between 'religion' and 'Roman Catholicism'.",
"I personally define one as labeling what I don't believe in, and the other as what I do believe in. Ideally, in a world long without gods the label \"Atheist\" would no longer exist. \n\nAs for the \"what humanists believe\", for me personally I choose to believe that it accredits humanity for things like morality, achievement, and the courage to withstand hardship and tragedy. I think a significant part of Humanism is that the ideals of right & wrong come from people. Good and evil come from the good and evil choices people make, not from a god of any kind.\n\n\nIf you are interested in learning what company Humanists keep I recommend reading \"Who's Who in Hell\". It is a collection of well known people that were Humanist or otherwise free thinkers not subscribed to religion. It is a refreshingly thick book."
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7ro3yi | can data from my laptop be recovered by ram if i sold it? someone told me data can be recovered by using ram even if i wiped the hard drive? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7ro3yi/eli5_can_data_from_my_laptop_be_recovered_by_ram/ | {
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"For all intents and purposes: no.\n\nThere are some very specialized ways of maintaining data in unpowered RAM but it would require you to take steps immediately upon cutting off the power.\n\nYour hard drive is a different story, however. Simply deleting (or even formatting) a drive can result in data being recoverable with specialized tools. Using a secure deletion tool (like DBAN, for example) would take care of that."
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5gfuk9 | why is american lumber a half inch smaller than the stated dimensions? i.e. a 2x4 is actually 1.5x3.5 | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5gfuk9/eli5_why_is_american_lumber_a_half_inch_smaller/ | {
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"The dimensions are the nominal measurement before the piece is finished. It's like 1/4 pounder hamburgers,. You don't get a 1/4lb patty in the burger. It was 1/4lb before cooking/finishing",
"The mill will run a rough cut 2x4 through a planer to make the sides flat. The result is a smooth 1.5x3.5.",
"Gradually happened over time where at one point you bought a finished piece of wood with dimensions of 2x4, now the sawmill is selling you a 2x4 in rough lumber size and you buy it after they then plane it down to that half inch less dimension.\n Was also contributed to by advances in building sciences that showed the smaller dimension to remain suitable for the purpose of framing.\n\n Learned while working for a lumber yard and explaining this every weekend to homeowners.",
"Yep it's cause they are planed down. They didn't always do it though. Go back maybe to the 60s and earlier 2X4 were actually 2 inches by 4 inches. I do home Reno for a living and I've torn many houses opened, gutted the bastards. The old 2X4 were much rougher also not nearly as smooth as todays boards.",
"Do you really plane off a quarter inch on each side?\nOur (Norwegian) 2x4, which we actually call a 2x4, even though we're on the correct (metric) system, measures 48x98 mm. 2x4 inches equals roughly 51x102 mm, so it loses 1,5mm on each side. (Abt 1/16 inch.)\n\nI envy the variety in easily obtainable materials in the US, but removing so much seems wasteful. \n\nMaybe the rough cut is smaller now, to give the same end result as before modern machining?",
"2x4 is the timber dimensions. They have to make everything uniform, and in doing so they shear off .25 of an inch off each side, normally.",
"Like other have said it is the dimension after finish cutting and plaining. \nYou can get true dimension lumber at most bigger lumber yards as many old homes used this and for renovations and such it works better.\n\nWidth sizes get even more confusing in the larger sizes. A 2x14 is really about 13.25\" as example. ",
"Like others have said, it's a nominal measurement. It also makes it annoying building orders (I'm an Order Maker at a lumber yard). \n\nSay I get an order of lumber for a construction company, they want 2x4s and 2x6s, I'll make the order **52\"** (nominal) wide. Building the stack up from 10ft to 16ft+ lumber to make it look nice. (Think like an upside down triangle)\n\nSo, **52\"** can be 8 2x6s + 1 2x4 across, or 13 2x4s across, of course with many variations in between. Think that would be peachy and line up perfectly row after row, right?\n\nNope. Because of nominal measurement. 2x6 is actually 1.5x5.5 and 2x4 is actually 1.5 by 3.5. So that means,\n\n(5.5x8) + 3.5 = 47.5\"\n\n\n3.5x13 = 45.5\"\n\nThe front of my order will be perfectly flush and look nice, but the back side will look ugly, could look like this:\n\n|----------\n\n |---------\n\n|----------\n\n|----------\n\n |---------\n\n |---------\n\n|---------- \n\nThat's not even including 2x8s, 10s, 12s, LVL, 4x4 CANT strip, bridging, 2x2, 1x2, 1x4, LSL, that can be included in the lumber order as well\n\nEdit: I could get an order that has, say,\n\nQuantity/Feet\n\n2x4 - 11/10, 52/12, 20/14, 33/16\n\n2x6 - 13/10, 32/14, 25/16\n\n2x8 - 3/10, 1/12, 1/16\n\n2x10 - 1/14\n\n2x12 - 2/10\n\nIt's like a giant puzzle, gotta start with the 10s first, and work my way up to the 16s. And try and finish it in a way that it's completely, or almost flat on the top (can't be just 2 2x4s on the top row for example) so we can put bundles of plywood, drywall, etc on top of it that's included in the order when it gets sent off on a truck. \n\nEDIT: Pictures [here](_URL_0_) and [here](_URL_1_) ",
"My house is from 1860 using actual 2x4's. Actually caused some difficulty reinforcing with brackets because today's brackets assume the planed down size. House is solid anyway. ",
"Why cant it simply be cut larger (say.. 2.5x4.5) and then planed down to 2x4?",
"One added reason that I haven't seen here, the mill will cut the lumber to actual 2 x 4, and then leave the lumber spread out on racks to lose a lot of the moisture content it had when it was alive. Losing all this moisture will cause some shrinkage, they mill down to finished dimension after the drying process because that gives them much more reliable sizing. ",
"It blows my mind that you guys still use the Imperial System. I work in construction and i honestly don't think i could remember all of those fractions\n",
"Interestingly enough, plywood is exact. 4x8 is actually 48 by 96. However, MDF is usually 1/2 and inch over. I don't know why that is, just know its true (or was in 93).",
"What really happens in most family home stick builds though, and it drove me nuts, is that you'll get a big shipment of 2x4's and 1/2 of the bundles were planed incorrectly when the mill had changed the blade or ran the old one down...and of course they'd sneak them in to larger buys. Eventually you'd get some contractors that would still want to put them up instead of going through the hassle of refunding, yeah framing and then 4+ other crews following behind would often deal with some wacky walls as a result. What that actually meant was all the \"time and money\" saved by not refunding those boards really just cost the next 3 crews an extra 1+hrs each trying to fir out or run electrical in a couple of wonky walls.\n\n/rant",
"I took a class on architecture and building design. We learned there that it was instituted during the war. It has basically the same strength as a 2x4, but they could get more per tree. All part of the rationing mentality. The kept calling it a 2x4 for ease of communication. The uses were still the same.",
"It's only that way when you buy retail. If you go to a wholesale lumber yard, many of which sell to the public, they will charge you by board foot. ",
"I've seen some partially correct answers, but nothing exactly correct. \nIt is rough cut at the mill to full 2\"x4\", it is then kiln dried, where it loses about 5% in width and height due to shrinkage (it shrinks?) \nThen it is either sold as rough sawn, or further milled down to actual dimension of 1-1/2\"x 3-1/2\". \nI saw a comment about wastage, but there isn't much of that. What there is goes into paper, cardboard, osb, mdf, cellulose, etc. ",
"very good answers so far; and completely correct. \n\nAnother thing to consider is that lumber also expands and contracts with moisture content, and so will change dimensions even more when really dry vs really wet. So if you're building something in the rain, keep in mind, the boards will shrink when they dry out. or vice-versa. measure accordingly. \n\nMore info:\n\nboards expand more adjacent to the grain, than parallel to it....which gets confusing, i guess. If you have a 2x4 that's 8 feet long, and it gets really wet, it will more or less stay 8 feet, while the width and height will swell maybe an 8th of an inch or more - depending on the wood. \n\n that's why most wooden decks have spaces in between the boards - so they have room to swell and shrink without compromising the structural integrity at the connections.",
"What I didn't see in the tread (forgive me if I have missed it) is the influence of industry standards on the size of dimensional lumber. This link (_URL_0_ to the wiki) to the wiki on dimensional lumber does a good job of explaining the numerous influences. \nAs a kid, I grew up in a house that had 2\"x 4\" actual sized studs. The lumber yard was in the process of switching from 1 5/8\" thick to 1 1/2\" thick 2 by lumber. Uncle Virgil and dad had many a discussion when renovating...",
"The question has been answered, but as a carpenter I'm gonna tell you right now, don't take those dimensions for granted, they can be off by as much as 1/4\" in any dimension these days. And the larger the board the more likely it is to be short. A 2x12 is usually 1 1/2 x 11 1/4 and sometimes the 1 1/2 side will be short too like 1 3/8 but that's less common. ",
"You're talking about an industry that uses measurements like 11/64 and 15/32 - and you want things to make sense?",
"So did people use to use actual 2x4 boards for years before they took to using the shaved down 1.5x3.5 versions? Are we using inferior wood by having it be thinner like that or does it not really matter? Not that it's inferior exactly but, less strong? Less stable?",
"What chaps my ass even more is buying rough cut lumber for building furniture. 2\" is really 1 ⅞\" but you pay for 2\" rough cut. You end up paying for the wood cut out by the saw. ",
"They're not?... Now I want to go to Home Depot and go measure one.",
"To save on cost. 2x4 was standard to build with at first, then \"studies\" suggested that a 1.5x3.5 is just as effective. Helped milling company to make more $ on bottom line",
"Taken directly from this Home Depot Outdoor Project book that I found...\n\n\"The lumber dimensions that are most commonly used refer to its nominal size--its size when it was cut from the log. By the time the wood is available for you to buy, it usually has been dried and planed (surfaced dry), reducing it to its actual size. Wood that has been planed with a moisture content of more than 19 percent (surfaced green) will tend to shrink, making its dimensions less accurate. Most of the lumber you'll come across has been surfaced on four sides, designated as S4S. Some lumber is sold rough, or without being surfaced, so its actual dimensions are closer to its nominal dimensions.\"",
"Wood is calculated oddly all around. Try to figure out what board foot is for exotics without some serious instruction...",
"I'm not going to restate what everyone else has already said, but what's interesting to me is that Lowes got sued in California for having \"2x4\" instead of \"1.5x3.5\" on their lumber and lost a $1.6 million lawsuit. They and other distributors now have the exact dimensions on lumber listed next to the traditional size (if they have the traditional size listed at all)",
"The common answer is that your material WAS 2\"x4\" but then it was \"finished.\" The truth is that it's one more way for a building company to screw you and line their pockets.\n\nSource: I'm a finish carpenter. ",
"As someone mentioned, a fair amount of boards can even be out from their intended 1-1/2\" X 3-1/2\" dimensions due to wayne, warpage etc. I'm not sure about lumber from the US but here in Canada I've heard the \"best\" 80% of lumber is exported out of country, leaving us with heaping piles of shit most of the time. Some hardware stores lumber piles are 90% garbage boards which, intern, is why north american carpenters are some of the most versatile/ skilled on the planet. Having to build with garbage lumber so frequently = larger skill set. ",
"Just about all the top answers are flat out wrong.\n\nShrink a piece of wood 25% and it will shatter.\n\nIt is 1.5\" so that 1/2\" drywall on top give a 4\" wall.\n\nThe wood sizes and standard wall construction methods have been figured out to carry the correct ranges of loads for structures. 2x4 wall with 16\" OC spacing gives a specific load capacity for a 2 story building in most rood load conditions. 24\" OC for a single story, etc. etc. ",
"It's because the lumber industry figured out that you make more money using rough cut estimates when selling in bulk.\n\nShit, half the 2x8s I've seen are all fucking twisted and goofy because apparently nobody even has the time to dry or treat wood anymore.\n\nI wouldn't even build a house anymore unless I had access to 100 year old boards.",
"My father was a long time Weyerhaeuser employee, and he attributes it to one guy. \n\nThe pitch was: \"Hey our wood is so good that 1.5x3.5 is just as good as 2x4\"\n\nWeyerhaueser ran with this and realized massive savings. Soon everyone in the industry followed suit.\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_\n",
"Ok I've read a bunch of this and still haven't gotten the complete answer. I'll try to best of what I know. Original measurements were in standard dimensions ie 2x4. These products were not kiln dried. Kiln drying makes lumber harder and also shrinks it slightly. So today's lumber being kiln dried is the same strength as the original 2x4 lumber. Also with the smaller dimensions they get more lumber from a single tree. Not much but it adds up. I hope this helps and is understandable. ",
"Because mills can make more money if they do the measurements before milling instead of after and can get more pieces out of a single log. ",
"Even better question. Why is American Subway sandwiches a FULL INCH smaller than the stated dimensions. I.E. a footlong is actually 11 inches.",
"Most 2×4's are kiln dried. the wood is cut to dimension before it is dried in the kiln. Therefore there is some shrinkage so it may be cut at 2×4 but It might end up 3/8\" smaller in each dimension ",
"It has a lot of history, but in general you should look at the Hoover Administration in 1924:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nLook up the 1924 American Lumber Standards. You will find it on page 10.",
"Don't try to make sense of anything involving units of measurement when it comes to the US. \nSource : the rest of the world. ",
"The number is the measurement before it is dried and treated. Places call them 2x4s because that's easier to say than 1.5x3.5.\n\nAlso, it's not always a half inch. When using 1x4s, the actual measurement is .75x3.5, but we call them 1x4s or just 1 by's in most cases since usually lumber is \"X\"x4.\n\nSource: was a stage carpenter for about a year.",
"Here is the real answer:\n\n2x4 is not the stated dimension. In the 1920's when they were changing the lumber standards they decided that although the lumber was undersized, it still made more sense to call it a 2by4, and similarly a 1by4 etc. When we talk about 2x4's today we are using the accepted colloquial term.\n\nIf you go to your lumber yard it should be labeled as 1.5\"x3.5\" however that is too clumsy to say. \n\nThere are many other good answers here about shinkage, planing etc. but it would be possible to the lumber industry to produce proper 2x4's.\n\nThe better question is why is lumber undersized instead of full size? They traditionally cut to full dimensions and you could get lumber either green or dried. As kiln dried lumber became standard fare at retail stores they had to decide on a standard dry lumber size. There was much arguing with only a few members arguing for full size retail lumber (probably because of consumer perception of what a 2x4 should be). They settled on 1 3/4 x 3 3/4 (with tolerances allowed). Since then it has been reduced to 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 (you can find 1 5/8 in some houses) probably for profit reasons after it was proved that the size of the member doesn't affect the strength of the wall nearly as much as the assembly and sheeting.\n\nEdit: Lumber has been reduced through several steps from 2x4 to 1.5x3.5. Each increment has been through arguing between mills sawing different types of lumber and retailers wanting a certain product as well as the setting of freight fees (different lumbers used to be shipped with different moisture content so some mills had to pay more for shipping the same 2x4 used for framing). It's a really complicated history all layed out [here](_URL_0_)",
"It wasn't always this way. And, no, you don't have to plane 1/4\" from each side of rough-cut lumber to yield a smooth stud or joist. When I was growing up, a 2x4 measured 1 5/8\" x 3 5/8\", and I'm sure it was bigger than that in years prior. The shrinkage is nothing more than the lumber industry scrimping on size to get the most yield (i.e. profit) from a log. It's no different than a former 6 1/2 oz. can of tuna that now contains 6 1/8 oz. ",
"Subway sandwiches are like 11.25 at best, and lumber tends to actually be longer than advertised. Crazy world. "
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"http://i.imgur.com/iPPuxk7.jpg"
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"http://www.standard-freeholder.com/2013/11/10/handyman-hints-once-a-true-2x4"
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4ok5gw | knighting, and why are actors and entertainers becoming knighted? | Has the knighting process always been the case that anyone the royal family wants to be knighted can be knighted? Does being knighted mean anything anymore? Does Kevin Spacey now have awesome knight skills?
edit: If he is called upon to serve the Queen will Kevin Spacey dawn armor and fight? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ok5gw/eli5knighting_and_why_are_actors_and_entertainers/ | {
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"Actors and entertainers are primarily (maybe always?) knighted under [The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire](_URL_1_) which is one of [the many orders of chivalry](_URL_0_) that exist today. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire rewards contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the Civil Service. Kevin Space is an Honorary Knight Commander (KBE) due to his services to culture and British theater.\n\nEdit: Also, it's \"don\" armor. Dawn is when the sun comes up. Or a dish soap.",
"The tradition developed in Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries of awarding honors not just for services to the Crown, but more general merits like extraordinary cultural contributions. The U.K. has different orders of chivalry intended for different purposes, so as /u/blackmagemasta points out entertainers normally tend to become members in the Order of the British Empire, whereas there are other orders for long military service, civil service, foreign heads of state and so on.\n\nIt mostly \"means\" something in terms of the social customs surrounding it. It is considered a great honor, and has certain benefits. For example, at formal events in the U.K., seating priority favors knights over ordinary people. (And barons over knights, earls over barons, etc.)"
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders,_decorations,_and_medals_of_the_United_Kingdom#Current_orders_of_chivalry",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_British_Empire"
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3g1w9h | why is it smarter to eat fruits and veggies than to instead take a multivitamin and fiber supplement? | It'd be cheaper for me and I'm about to start a cut phase for lifting, and I'm assuming it's smarter to eat fruits and veggies than... Well I assume you read the title. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3g1w9h/eli5_why_is_it_smarter_to_eat_fruits_and_veggies/ | {
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"While we've discovered and studied a number of compounds that are important to our bodies and classified them as \"vitamins\" and estimated how much you should eat, the reality is that our bodies and our diets are much more complex. A vegetable contains thousands of different compounds, and we still don't understand what sorts of benefits our bodies might get from many of them. Basically, edible plants are more than just the list of vitamins and minerals you might read on a nutritional label. There's a ton of other stuff in there that our biology evolved along side of. ",
"Medically when you hardline a vitamin you're prone to absorbing much MUCH MUCH less of it than you'd expect. So you're paying a premium to make expensive piss.\n\nAdditionally since most vitamin/health companies aren't overseen by the FDA there is no accounting for what is in your pills. ",
"I took a course in nutrition. Eat five different fruits and vegetables a day. No, you will not die if you do not do this.",
"Taking care of your gut bacteria is incredibly important and fresh fruits & veggies will be more beneficial to them than synthesized vitamins and fiber. It's more efficient and has greater variety of other beneficial organisms. It's all one big ecosystem "
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14wb9k | if earth was hit with an emp, could we ever restore electricity? if not, why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/14wb9k/elif_if_earth_was_hit_with_an_emp_could_we_ever/ | {
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"Could we? Yes. Could it be done before civilization collapsed? Probably not. \n\nI'm going to use a solar flare as an example here. We get hit by a solar flare every transformer, telephone pole, etc would be fried. Any spare ones we had sitting in storage to replace them wouldn't work. We would have to create new ones right? Well seeing as most manufacturing Is done using electricity and machines, our factories which produce them wouldn't function. \n\nCould we recover, possibly. It would most likely change our world forever though, through mass panic and rioting."
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6flhlh | why do japanese and korean manufacturers seem to make such a wide variety of products from a given company? | I just noticed that my office microwave was made by Daewoo. This got me thinking about some of the Japanese companies that make an oddly diverse number of products. I know America has companies like GE which make a wide variety of things but this phenomenon seems to occur most often from the Orient. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6flhlh/eli5why_do_japanese_and_korean_manufacturers_seem/ | {
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" \"Companies that make an oddly diverse number of products\" are known as [conglomerates](_URL_1_). Just like different countries have different social cultures, different countries have different business cultures, and conglomerates happen to be very popular in Asia.\n\nAnother thing to understand is that 'business styles' go in and out of fashion just like clothes or any other trend. During the 70s in the US there was a *massive* movement towards 'conglomerating' where different US businesses got into a wide variety of different businesses. There's hundreds of US examples I could give you, but for example during the 80s, [General Mills](_URL_3_) (the cereal company) owned [Talbot's](_URL_2_) (the women's clothing store) and they started [The Olive Garden](_URL_0_) (the restaurant). Again, I could list another dozen that are just as weird. But the point is that \"companies that make an oddly diverse number of products\" isn't just an asian phenomenon.\n\nBut your question is *why*? I don't exactly know how to ELI5 this, but the exact reason they fell out of favor in the US (and Europe to a lesser extent) was that the US seriously changed the way conglomerates are taxed (in 1986, 1991, 1993 and 1998) and it became a big disadvantage to be a conglomerate, so most of them split up or became 'specialist' companies (eg, Olive Garden is now owned by Darden who is a company that owns several brands of restaurants). Asian countries still have favorable 'conglomerate taxation' and therefore conglomerates are still popular. \n\n",
"I think you would be surprised to see what some American companies make that you simply just don't know about. \n\nNot quite as diverse as Daewoo making cars and microwaves, but a good example is Nortek, Inc. The company (which you have probably never heard of) makes vinyl siding and fencing, sit to stand desks and device charging systems, Infrared remote control systems for VCRs and TVs, HVAC systems, bathroom fans and cooking ranges, and windows/doors/sunrooms. \n\nPretty diverse group of items here and its just a minor company in Rhode Island that you've never heard of"
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Garden",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conglomerate_\\(company\\)",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talbots",
"https://www.generalmills.com/"
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9b9efv | are only two animals required to bring a species back out of endangerment? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9b9efv/eli5_are_only_two_animals_required_to_bring_a/ | {
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"Many animals can be interbred without consequences. You can breed mother or father with offspring. You usually can not breed littermates.",
"According to the Jurassic Park documentary series, you can bring a species out of endangerment without any living animals.",
"Well, if you are starting with only two, you are definitely going to have breeding with close relatives. This certainly represents a genetic bottleneck, which means less genetic diversity between any succeeding offspring. This could potentially be fatal to the species if there are problematic genes. If they did survive, mutations over generations would gradually restore diversity to the population, but being down to two would be pretty risky. ",
"If neither of the two is harboring a faulty recessive gene, then there's not a huge concern with the inbreeding.\n\nThere are other issues related to contagious disease susceptibility, but genetic defects won't spontaneously arise any faster than usual just because the first generation was closely related.\n\nThe dangers of inbreeding are greatly overstated.\n\n"
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5nirjf | why does it seem like people are predisposed to avoid prolonged interaction with people who have depression? | Just curious because it seems that, anecdotally, people I have interacted with that have depression (myself included) all seem to lose friends/family members/significant others to it. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5nirjf/eli5_why_does_it_seem_like_people_are_predisposed/ | {
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"People with depression can be depressing themselves, sometimes. They tend to display a constant stream of apathy and negativity that makes it difficult to continue relationships with.\n\nUsually in the short term this isn't a problem, but if it stretches on for long periods of time, you'll start to see a combination of friends actively leaving and others who have simply learned that if they try to do something with the depressed person, that person will either say \"no\" or tend to just go through the motions with no enthusiasm.\n\nIt's a little bit of a touchy subject because that makes it sound like the blame is on the depressed person, when it's really not on anyone in particular. Depressed people frequently can't help it (beyond getting treatment, which doesn't always work right away), but at the same time others won't set themselves on fire to keep someone else warm in the long term.",
"Depressed people tend not to be able to do the work required to maintain relationships. They are not \"fun to be around\" and are often consumed with their own issues rather than engaged with others. People who understand what's going on can sometimes weather the neglect and remain friends. Others accept the distance."
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3op70b | how do hedge investments work and what are the financial risks? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3op70b/eli5_how_do_hedge_investments_work_and_what_are/ | {
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"A \"hedge\" is essentially insurance. Imagine you own a bakery, and that a huge part of your costs of business go to buying wheat. Wheat is a commodity, and its price goes up and down. But bread is a consumer staple and people would be irate if one day bread cost $2 and the next day it cost $6, so you have to charge a stable price. This combination meaning sometimes your business is very profitable (when wheat is cheap) and very unprofitable (when wheat is expensive).\n\nRather than ride the roller coaster of wheat prices, you might decided to \"hedge\" your exposure to wheat by buying forwards contracts--an agreement that in 6 months you will buy wheat at a price agreed now, regardless of what the market price of wheat is in 6 months. Maybe you overpay, maybe you get a good deal, but the main advantage to you is that you know exactly what your costs will be so you can better plan your business.\n\nThere are all kinds of much more complex hedging strategies, but they are all basically that same theory: you take a financial position that reduces reduces your potential profits, but also limits your potential losses.\n"
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3b0zdf | why doesn't it hurt to scratch mosquito bites until i bleed? | It shouldn't feel like ecstasy to scratch at my skin until it breaks. What is going on? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3b0zdf/eli5_why_doesnt_it_hurt_to_scratch_mosquito_bites/ | {
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"Mosquitoes inject a local anesthetic when they bite to keep their meal from detecting their presence. The actual act of them sucking your blood is not painful due to this. However, their saliva does cause an allergic reaction at the site of the bite. Your body produces an localized histamine reaction to fight against the saliva. The histamine response causes you to become itchy at the spot, which at the same time is anesthetized.",
"On a tangent:\n\n[What a mosquito bite looks like under a microscope.](_URL_0_)\n\nInterestingly, mosquitoes carrying malaria are less likely to find blood vessels quickly, which is suspected to contribute to disease transmission.",
"Another tangent:\n\nWhat's the best remedy for not itching the bite?\n\nEdit. Thank you for all of the ideas. Glad to know I'm not the only mosquito magnet, I too can be in a crowd of people and seem to be the only one bit. It's not laziness, if I don't scratch the bite for a day, the resulting welt just gets bigger and ultimately when I do scratch it, there's just a break in the skin. Also, this happens with fleas. It must be something in my blood. I don't know if being B- has anything to do with it."
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3zpb9w | why is it so difficult for the united states to believe that north korea is capable of successfully producing the hydrogen bomb? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3zpb9w/eli5why_is_it_so_difficult_for_the_united_states/ | {
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"Kim Jong Un holds more bluffs than a casino, and because their entire country is held under such strict security measures, as such it becomes harder for the outsiders (the rest of the world) to determine whether or not they are doing what they say they are. \n\nIt's difficult for us to know whether or not they really are capable of producing this successful Hydrogen Bomb, as we know how inconclusive their statements turn out to be in the end from past experiences and situations which they claim to have dealt with.",
"It is a lot harder technically to build a hydrogen bomb than a normal nuclear bomb. A hydrogen bomb is set of by a normal nuclear bomb, so if it doesn't work correctly there will still be an explosion. \n\nI read somewhere here on reddit (so it has to be true) that North Korea reported that they detonated a miniaturized hydrogen bomb, that could be another way to say that they failed in setting it of correctly,\n\nAlso it might just be a boosted fission bomb, where you have a normal nuclear bomb with tritium in its core. IIRC those typically have a yield of 700-800 KT, compared to < 100 KT for non boosted. That kind of bomb gets some of its energy from fusion. They might have built one of those and called a hydrogen bomb.\n\nAnyway, I'm a layman when it comes to this, so take this information with a grain of salt, and take anything that has been processed by a journalist by several dozens grains of salt.",
"Because a hydrogen bomb makes a bigger boom - the sismec (spelling) energy released in todays test is about the same as the last, 10kt - when it should be 1 - 10mt"
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4is5hb | why aren't the mlb leagues divided by eastern and western conferences like the nba and nhl? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4is5hb/eli5why_arent_the_mlb_leagues_divided_by_eastern/ | {
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"Because they started as 2 completely separate leagues, the American League and the National League.\n\nThey were completely separate except or the All Star Game and World Series for most of their existence. Regular season games between AL and NL teams didn't start until 1997, and both leagues even had their own umpires, offices, and presidents until 1999/2000.\n\nalso, the fact that they have different rules (DH) would make realignment take a little more work than the snap of a finger."
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|
||
2cr7d4 | how come every song/music piece sounds different/unique to us? | I don't know If I can word this right.
Music has been invented since forever. I just find it incredibly amazing that people can keep finding "new" sound and composition.
I am no musician but from I understand we have, though large, but limited selection of key notes or something?
I guess my question is How come every song/music piece sounds different/unique to us? Is it like DNA? unlimited combinations? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2cr7d4/eli5how_come_every_songmusic_piece_sounds/ | {
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"[Vsauce](_URL_0_) actually does a great video on this that would probably answer your question pretty well",
"Well, there are 12 note values that are commonly used. There are 5 or 6 common scales. There are 8 notes, all with variations. Then, you have many different intervals. Then, you have...uhh...probably tens of thousands of different instruments to play those on.\n\n\nCombine all of those together and you get trillions, if not many times more, of possible combinations. ",
"If everything was played via a midi processor then we would have tons of songs that would sound almost identical - a lot of pop music uses the same 3/4/5 chord progression (transposed sometimes). It's not just about the notes/chords, but the massive variation and interaction available via the modulation of each individual sound.\n\nTry singing a note \"laaa\" then without changing the pitch change the shape of your mouth and the 'word' you are singing to \"oooh\" or \"eee\" or something. Now imagine that variation across all the voices and instruments and time signatures and chord structures and blah blah blah. Infinite possibilities. "
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rpl6e | who do computer processors need to have hundreds of tiny, easily bent pins? | I work in a computer store and will often see customers trying to return or repair a processor with bent pins. Do all these pins really have a use? Can we not come up with a better, less easily damageable way to plug these connect a processor to the mother board? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/rpl6e/eli5_who_do_computer_processors_need_to_have/ | {
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"Dammit. Title is supposed to say \"Why\"",
"Doesn't entirely answer your question, but newer processors [dont.](_URL_0_)",
"They're not meant for regular human manipulation. They're meant to be plugged into a socket exactly once.",
" > Do all these pins really have a use? \n\nYes. Processors are designed to extremely high quality standards. They are not manufactured to be sturdy, but to stretch the limits of engineering and perform calculations as fast as possible. \n\nProcessor design is more or less an arms race of computing speed. There is little or no benefit to marketing a sturdier processor, as the vast majority of customers will never even see the pins. ",
"[Other ways to do it.](_URL_0_)\n\nIts more convenient to have lots of pins under the proc though for packaging purposes, and its a part that most end users don't mess around with so the manufacturer does not need to make it more robust. Just be happy you still have a removable processor, unlike on some laptops where it's soldered in."
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6x2ecd | are there any circumstances in which a computer virus could be used constructively, rather than destructively? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6x2ecd/eli5_are_there_any_circumstances_in_which_a/ | {
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"Yes. There was once a virus that took advantage of a security flaw in Windows to forcefully install a patch that fixed the flaw that it exploited. Needless to say, this is frowned upon and rare. If you're trying to do good, it's better to do it with consent. And if you're making a virus, you can make money much more easily by doing bad.",
"It depends on what you mean by constructive.\n\nPeople generally don't like having their devices infected with software without their permission. Even if the software does good things, it's still unethical to spread it without permission.\n\nThat said, there are examples where the virus doesn't seriously harm the infected computer. One I'm aware of is the [Carna botnet](_URL_0_) or the 2012 census of internet address space. It also revealed security holes that should be patched up.",
"Stuxnet!\n\nThis virus was specially built to attack Iran's nuclear program. It could infect various types of industrial controller computers used for lots of factories and machinery. However, other than spreading, it only \"kicked in\" it's naughty purpose in a specific scenario.\n\nWhen running on computers connected to centrifuges meant to refine uranium, the stuxnet virus would make the machine spin incorrectly, damaging it and ruining the uranium as well. \n\nIt's creator has never been confirmed, but it's believed to be a joint project between the Israeli(edit: said iranian here at first oops) and American governments.\n\nAs to whether that's \"constructive\" depends on how you feel about Iran having nuclear weapons.\n\n\n\n & nbsp;\n\nOverall, the problem with using viruses constructively is \n\n**They're very hard to control.** Once it's out you cannot bring it back in. Systems to mass-deploy patches, software tweaks, give out something etc usually need \"undo\" buttons of some sort.\n\n**Other people might see how your bug works and develop a naughty version.** Viruses almost always take advantage of vulnerabilities in software, exploiting a glitch to gain access. And people are AWFUL about updating software to apply patches. So if you release a \"good\" virus, someone would dissect it to see how it works and built one with a jerk payload pretty quickly."
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4owun8 | how does freedom of information act force agencies to release *the* requested information that can possibly incriminate them. what is stopping them from releasing selective information that doesn't show the complete picture? | An example would be the release of documents revealing how CIA abused and tortured prisoners. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4owun8/eli5_how_does_freedom_of_information_act_force/ | {
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"Nothing except the risk of getting caught. Elaborate conspiracies are extremely difficult to pull off because all it takes is one individual to blow it open. \n\nAlso, what makes you think this isn't just happening? I know there's a wife of a former president that's under investigation ",
"If you are seriously pursuing a FoIA based request then you must expect that this is exactly what is happening. To catch it you have to very carefully investigate the information you do receive, and FoIA additional information surrounding that information. You'll be looking for discrepancies and inconsistencies and when you find some you will follow them up with further FoIAs or stronger means (lawsuits, public shaming, whatever).",
"Short answer is \"they have to.\" Also, federal FOIA programs are usually not run by the same people who are managing their respective agencies. Agency FOIA Offices don't operate independently of their leadership. However, Agency leadership tends to leave them alone, for fear of someone claiming that they're asserting an undue influence. \n\nFOIA releases are authorized by the FOIA Officer, not an agency head.\n\nMoreover, requesters can and do sue agencies to get documents that they think were excluded from their request. \n\nSometimes, requesters think that the document they are looking for is one of the ones collected as responsive to the request, but withheld from disclosure under one of the nine FOIA disclosure exemptions. \n\nSo, they'll first file an administrative appeal which forces an agency review of the withheld documents. If the requester still doesn't get what they're looking for, they may file a suit in a Federal District Court, where the court can require agencies to create a so-called *Vaughn* Index. The Index is a listing of the entire body of documents withheld from a FOIA request, and is prepared so that the District Court judge can conduct an *in camera* review of the documents (only the judge can see the withheld documents - not the requester), to see if the agency improperly withheld anything.\n\nIf the judge finds that the agency improperly withheld any document (usually through error or misjudgement), the document is released. \n\nIf the judge finds that some kind of misconduct or intentional mischaracterization of the withholding occurred, the agency can be sanctioned by the court. Bad press follows. \n\nSo there's a real legal and PR risk in improperly withholding documents under the FOIA. \n\nSource: used to handle FOIA requests. \n\nEdit: grammar and stuff",
"Nobody seems to have mentioned redactions. An agency can release documents with some of the information redacted -- taken out, usually by way of a black bar/magic marker -- if it's considered too sensitive or illegal to release. I've certainly seen FOIA-requested documents with all but one or two words redacted and yes, it looks as ridiculous as it sounds. The agency \"complied\" with the FOIA, but the information/data was worthless ... reduced to the words \"of\" \"and\" and \"the,\" but not consistently, so you'd get an entire page with the word \"of\" in the middle surrounded by black. You know there had to be more \"of's\" in there, but they're covered in black."
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3tlnre | how do medical establishments justify charging for inadequate services such as a doctor appointment where their only answer is "i don't know." | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tlnre/eli5_how_do_medical_establishments_justify/ | {
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"If a doctor examines his patient to the best of his ability and according to the standards of his profession, then he has provided a service, even if he is ultimately unable to diagnose the problem. You pay for the expertise, not the diagnosis.\n\nIf you feel the doctor has not acted within the standards of their profession, you could refuse to pay, and make a complaint to their professional association or state licensing board. If you're worried about a dispute over the bill, in many states you can sue for a declaratory judgment yourself, and don't have to wait to be sued--so you can have a court examine the legal question, if you like."
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2stykp | car engines simplified | Hello ELI5, I'd like to get a little knowledge about engines.
How does a car engine work?
And terms such as cylinders, liters and horsepowers! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2stykp/eli5_car_engines_simplified/ | {
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"Maybe this [gif](_URL_0_) can help you. Oh and this [one](_URL_1_) as well. ",
"It's a somewhat overwhelming process but bare with me..\n\nA car engine (technically known as an internal combustion engine) goes through a simple four-step process known as the four-stroke cycle. You have the Intake stroke, compression stroke, power stroke, and exhaust stroke. This is a very rapid process that your cars engine goes through to operate. This process involves engine pistons, which draw in and push out air and fuel from the combustion chamber. Also another thing, these pistons move in a set order known as firing order, and varies depending on how many cylinders your car has, and whether the engine is an inline or v-type. You can learn more about firing order here: _URL_0_ but that's not the objective here. The pistons in the cylinder are all connected to a crankshaft which sends power to your transmission, which sends that power to the wheels.\n\nAside from pistons, valves also play a crucial role in the four-stroke cycle. These sit inside of the engine head and are virtually 'doors' for allowing air/fuel in and out of the combustion chamber.\n\nIntake stroke: A car engine 'breathes' in air via the air filter (in modern engines it's usually inside of a plastic box to the left/right of your engine, or in a cone filter shape), while at the same time fuel is being sent from the fuel tank to fuel injectors (or carburetor if you have a very old vehicle) to the combustion chamber. As the piston inside the engine block goes down, the intake valve in the engine head opens up while the exhaust valve remains closed, allowing the air/fuel mixture to access the combustion chamber until the piston cannot go down any further.\n\nCompression stroke: With both intake and exhaust valves closed, the air/fuel inside of the combustion chamber is compressed (thus giving it the name Compression stroke) until the piston is at the top and cannot go up and further.\n\nPower stroke: This is where the magic happens! Just as the compressed air is sitting at the top of the piston near the engine head, the air/fuel mixture is ignited via spark plugs (Diesel engines do not have spark plugs because they can withstand more compression, but they go through nearly the same process as regular gasoline engines do) and the piston goes back down to its lowest point.\n\nExhaust stroke: Intake valve close, exhaust valve opens, piston goes up and pushes the air/fuel mixture out of ouf the combustion chamber to make room for more air and fuel. \n\n*note: This applies mainly to a piston engine, I'm not very sure how this would work on a rotary engine like in a newer Mazda, but it should be relatively similar.\n\nThat wasn't so bad, was it? There are gif images around that visually explain how a four-stroke process to prove that what I just explained isn't just crazy-talk.\n\nIn terms of liters, they just simply determine the displacement for your car's engine. Simply put, the higher the engine displacement, the more power that engine is willing to put out. This depends on the number of cylinders your car has. A four-cylinder engine can have a displacement from as low as 1.5 to just above 2.0 liters. Six-cylinder engines can have from 2.5 to 3.5. Rule of thumb, engines usually have half a liter per each cylinder the car has. \n\nHorsepower is simply a measurement of how much power an engine puts out. So ya wanna go fast? To increase horsepower, a proper aftermarket intake and exhaust setup is crucial to promote more air-flow to and from the engine and reduce pressure. Aftermarket camshafts known as simply 'cams' (which extend the period in which the valves in the engine head move up) which also promote more air-flow. Lightweight engine parts such as brakes, suspension, wheels, pulleys, clutch, flywheel (if you have a manual transmission) free up some extra rotating and static mass which might not make your car's horsepower increase, but it will definitely feel a lot faster. A proper turbocharger or supercharger is also one of the best bang-for-your-buck way to increase horsepower, but can be veeeery costly and dangerous if not done 100% properly. Of course, ecu tuning helps, which optimizes your engines Engine Control Unit to suit other aftermarket parts. A stock car (such as your grandmother's 1992 Camry) has veeery little (if any) benefits from only an ecu tune. \n\nWoo, that was a doozer!\n\nWell, there goes my two cents on car engines and horsepower. Feel free to ask any questions or prove me wrong on something I was not correct about. I'm only an 18-year old kid and I am not a mechanic. Well, not yet lol.",
"Liters - This and cubic inches are measures of displacement, the amount of room inside the cylinder if all the pistons were at the bottom. All things being equal, more displacement means more fuel and air going into the engine which means more power.\n\nCylinders - These are the holes in the engine block that the pistons move up and down in. Explaining engine configureations is well beyond the scope of ELI5, but basically fewer pistions = less friction = more power. However, bigger pistons mean more vibration, so several smaller pistons are better than a bunch of big ones. Packaging is also a consideration: a straight 8 is a lot longer than a V8, so designers moved from straight 8s to V8s once they figured out how to control vibrations in the early 50s. \n\nHorsepower - Torque is power, and horsepower is power over time. Think of it this way: a high torque, low hp engine is like a strongman and a low torque, high hp engine is like a sprinter. In a footrace, the sprinter will handily beat the strongman, but if you gave each of them a huge weight to move, the strongman would handily beat the sprinter. That's why high torque engines are used in trucks and high hp engines are used in sports cars with passenger cars motors falling somewhere in between."
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2j1af1 | besides being a social issue, why is it a huge problem to pick your nose, and a bigger problem to eat it as well? are there any real negative effects? | I'm aware it's gross, but I came to the realization that no one has really established why it's so wrong. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2j1af1/eli5_besides_being_a_social_issue_why_is_it_a/ | {
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"You have the possibility of damaging your nose, causing it to bleed. \n\nAlso you touch millions of things a day, which may have bad germs on it, you then put your fingers up your nose. Allowing the bad germs inside your body easier, you would then have a higher risk to illnesses. ",
"I read an article once that said \"children who pick and eat their boogers have less allergies and a better immune systems\", I'm to lazy to search for it though. ",
"I've actually read eating mucus is good for your immune system. \n\n\n_URL_0_\n\n",
"I've found that my car will not drive or even start unless my finger is up my nose. It's weird",
"MRSA can colonize the nasal mucus. It usually doesn't cause any effects there AFAIK, but it can be spread from there.\n\nIt's possible that infection in the nasal lining may stimulate immunity in that individual... but that's very very speculative.",
"If you're ill then picking or wiping the nose before shaking hands or something is going to spread the disease. Its just a health and courtesy thing.\n\nSaying that, health wise it doesn't really affect you. The mucous is there to catch dust and things from the air to pre ent it entering your lungs. If you don't pick it or blow it out on a tissue, the microcilia on the cells inside your nose will slowly push it to the back of your throat where it is swallowed anyway, and the acid in your stomach should be able to deal with most things. Picking and eating just speeds up natures work!\n\nHowever, like many other \"natural\" bodily functions, it is frowned upon to do it in public, so follow the fart rule: just do it when alone or with people who don't care.",
"My ex - fiancee used to do that pick and eat, didn't mind when he did it at home, did mind in public he didn't care where. Also cared because the way I found out was by him kissing me after he did it when I wasn't looking and could taste it. ",
"The doctor said I wouldn't have so many nose bleeds if I kept my finger outta there....\n"
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49ozc9 | why do black tattoos turn blue eventually? | EDIT: I know it's due to sun exposure/ink interactions, but what physically makes it happen? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/49ozc9/eli5_why_do_black_tattoos_turn_blue_eventually/ | {
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"Cheap ink and Sun Exposure.\nNot all black inks fade to blue.\nMy grandfather's 35yr old tattoo is still black, mind you it's blurry due to 30 years of aging.",
"Tattoos fade because your cells try to get rid of the ink particles. \n\nHowever, they are very large, so cells must break them into smaller particles before being carried away (Laser removal helps break up particles). \n\nJust like black pen ink is actually purple, but when seen in a big thing like a letter appears black, it wouldn't be too far to imagine something similar happening to tattoos. \n"
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7i56ec | why can’t indian states get divided into separate countries like the eu? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7i56ec/eli5_why_cant_indian_states_get_divided_into/ | {
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"Because the EU is not a country that divided. The EU is a trade union of independent countries that have chosen to group together. It is reaching a crux point though where it will either unify further to make a single country, or it will break apart with more countries withdrawing like the UK is. \n\nSplitting into different countries means that they will have less money gathered in taxes, less military defense, and less economic power. Even staying in an economic union will have less economic power than a unified country will. "
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5fy87b | why did popular music become increasingly simple since the classical era? | I get the sense why, class and money gave way to folk/jazz for people who couldn't afford to see performances or own recordings -- I'm just looking for a really thorough anthropological/historical take on this and why this dilution seems to increasingly happen even now in the information age. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5fy87b/eli5_why_did_popular_music_become_increasingly/ | {
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"It's only the great, complex works that remain. Nobody bothered writing down the popular songs of some minstrel playing a tavern in 1762, only the \"great works\" of famous composers were written down & reproduced through the ages.\n\nIn the modern era, radio & recording have made it so that simpler popular music (which is simpler & less expensive to produce than an orchestral piece) is widely recorded and shared."
]
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1j4ovn | why aren't there more automotive bridges/tunnels onto manhattan | There are over eight million people in this city and it has less bridges than Pittsburgh for godssakes. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1j4ovn/eli5_why_arent_there_more_automotive/ | {
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"The east river and Hudson River are both very wide. Building bridges over them or tunnels under them is very expensive. Also wherever they make landfall they require considerable real estate. Displacing all that property would also be expensive.",
"Manhattan is already highly congested. An extra bridge won't do much good if it still takes an 2 hours to drive from Harlem to Battery Park."
]
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2hq6tx | why are my cats terribly scared of thunders but don't seem to care about other loud noises coming from the tv for example? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2hq6tx/eli5_why_are_my_cats_terribly_scared_of_thunders/ | {
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"Cats get used to hearing the TV. Many cats are scared of them as kittens, but get over it as they grow older.\n\nLightning is much louder and is unexpected.",
"Your TV might seem pretty loud to you, but it probably isn't putting out a lot of low tones (ie, bass). Cats are particularly afraid of thunder because of the low, ground-shaking force of it."
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6pxgz3 | amazon's jeff bezos is now the richest person on earth because amazon's stock went up and he owns 80 million shares. how does someone rich from a company's stock actually obtain and spend money? do they have to sell shares constantly? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6pxgz3/eli5_amazons_jeff_bezos_is_now_the_richest_person/ | {
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"If someone hypothetically had 100% of their assets tied up in stocks, then yes, they'd need to sell shares in order to access their money. I'm guessing he has plenty of money in other forms though. ",
"It depends on how much liquidity he needs. Bill Gates gets $180 million every 3 months from quarterly dividends from Microsoft stock, so he doesn't have to sell shares. Amazon doesn't pay dividends, so if he is paid in stock, he would have to sell it. Apple works the same way.\n\nIf Jeff Bezos has holdings in other companies that do pay dividends, he could use that instead of having to mess with Amazon stock.",
"Yes, he would have to sell his Amazon shares in order to actually have that money in cash. \"Richest person\" is based on net worth, not how much money in your bank account. \n\n",
"If he ever needs cash on hand he can always borrow against his stock. The interest rate on the loan would likely be less the the gains on the stocks so it's probably more efficient to do this then to sell his shares.",
"Doesn't he collect a salary as CEO of Amazon? \n\nHe probably doesn't have to sell any shares unless he wants to donate some money to someone.",
"There is rich in assets and there is rich in cash. Cash slowly erodes in value due to inflation, so it doesn't make sense for people just to have a billion in cash sitting around. So all very rich people generally have lots of assets. Even when they get cash, they buy assets with it (bonds / Treasury bills if they want to be conservative). \n\nHe's rich in assets, but he has cash too - the company pays his salary. But Amazon doesn't pay dividends. \n\nSo he either has to borrow based on the shares or sell some to cover anything that his company salary doesn't cover. ",
"Founders of companies who have huge numbers of shares typically set up automated liquidation of shares to fund their living expenses and to free up capital for diversification purposes. By automating the trading, it makes it easier to avoid perception or accusation of insider trading, nor signal anything about company prospects. So somebody like Bezos might sell 10k shares every month on the last trading day of the month, or something along those lines. They might also make other sales, too, but have to ensure they follow trading \"quiet periods\" and such when they do.",
"The rich don't necessarily have to sell stock to get money. Bill Gates gets hundreds of millions in dividends every year. And founders of other companies that don't pay dividends may not need to sell stock either...\n\nOne thing that the super rich do that you and I can't is they borrow against their money to finance their lifestyles, often for their entire lives and only settling when they die. This allows them to keep 100% of their money invested earning a greater return than the interest rate on their loans....this is free money in their pockets.\n\nI only have some millions but I have taken advantage of similar things to a much smaller extent. I can't borrow to pay everyday bills against my investments, but I was able to borrow to finance a house in a way that would make most people think I was being financially insane. In 2010 I got a balloon ARM at 1.8%. This was on a house I could have paid cash for without problem. \n\nIt's paid off - leaving my money in the market and making the minimum payments until the time when the interest rate exceeded the market returns (and it hasn't happened yet). If the market turns bear or the interest rate goes too high I simply pay the thing off. I'm up about 150k on this transaction.\n\nThat's how the rich pay for things. They borrow money they don't need to borrow at terms you and I could never get. They settle up when they die (or lose all their money). Or they just sell stock.",
"Stock broker here. So, a lot of companies offer employee stock (and there are different categories of this depending on a few different factors and sometimes certain employees have to wait up until a specified time to redeem them). Once the stock is eligible though, you literally just place a sell order and it typically settles in T+3= trade date+3 days. At that point, your cash is in the account and you can withdraw it however you choose. You don't have to sell shares constantly, it's just based off of the value of your total portfolio. So, if your stock portfolio is down, your net worth is down. Does that make sense?",
"If you look at Amazon's insider sales (yahoo finance, Morningstar, etc) he sells nearly 50million worth of stock every few months. Some of it is for him, some of it is for tax benefits, some of it is for charity (also tax benefits)",
"This site shows you all the times someone sells stock and how much of it. Insiders are required to schedule this ahead of time. \n\nHere are all of Bezos's [sales](_URL_1_). \n\nIt's really fun to look at [Bill Gates.](_URL_0_) "
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2bggzt | the difference between various evangelical american protestant denominations such as pentacostal, baptist megachurch? etc. | Do they have their own archbishops or cardinals? Who decides if a preacher is being too Pentecostal and not Baptist enough for example. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2bggzt/eli5_the_difference_between_various_evangelical/ | {
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"most evangelical churches are congregational, meaning the members vote on who's pastor/bishop. Being a Baptist, or Assembly of God, or United Pentecostal, or any number of different denominations, usually means that certain core beliefs are shared among the various congregations. Depending on the denomination, this could be tightly regulated, or loosely.\n\nThe mega-churches are usually independent and have no other authority then the God they serve. Though many share the vast majority of beliefs, there's differences in the details. But again, these are usually congregational, where the members of the congregation vote on who's in what office. \n\nHope that answers your question. :)",
"There are two models of churches within the protestants here in the US. \n\n1) Have a hierarchy that govern all congregations of that denomination. \nThese also break down further into those that follow the model of the Catholic Church with a Single head Bishop and a governing body that assigns the pastors/preachers (Episcopal Church, etc) or they have a governing council model that loosely governs all churches in the denomination but allow the churches to choose their own preachers from a pool of ordained ministers (Baptist) \n\n2) Congregational set up. With these each congregation chooses an Elders council from within the congregation. The Elders then appoint deacons to be in charge of specific things, and hire the preacher/minister. They may or may not involve the congregation in these decisions. They also may or may not have any association with other churches of the same denomination. \n\nMega Churches is simply a term used to describe congregations with very large numbers. They can occur with any denomination but most occur with the congregational denominations most often. Where the line for a Mega Church begins varies but generally it is around 1000+ in regular attendance. "
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bk17rn | why dont you get zapped with electrecity when putting your body between a wireless charger and whatever its charging? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bk17rn/eli5_why_dont_you_get_zapped_with_electrecity/ | {
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"The charger work by magnetic induction. You have a magnetic field that changes direction thousands of time per second. It is a transformer with a air core where you have one coil in the charger and the other in the device you charge,\n\nSo because humans are not magnetic and you can't induce a electrical current by a changing magnetically field.\n\nIf it did not contain a system to detect if there is some other conductive object on it that is not the correct type of receiver you would be able to hear up metallic objects on it.\n\nA wireless charger is a lot like a induction stove top where you heat up pans with a alternating magnetic field but it do not heat up humans or the glass on the stove. The power level on a induction stove top is many times higher then a wireless charger."
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4d80et | is working out for 5-10 minutes every hour as effective as taking a solid hour every day to workout? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4d80et/eli5_is_working_out_for_510_minutes_every_hour_as/ | {
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"There are benefits to both ideas. \n\nWorking out broken up by chunks, sometimes referred to as \"greasing the groove\" is shown to have good gains, but you do have to dedicate more time overall because you will have to warmup before each set. \n\nSome people claim, however, that working out in one big chunk burns more calories and adds a more cardio element to it since you keep your heart-rate elevated for longer. "
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2nj4i6 | why is the first letter in most older books larger and drawn fancy? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nj4i6/eli5_why_is_the_first_letter_in_most_older_books/ | {
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"It might have to do with why they're so ornate in the first place. Books used to be hand copied and were expensive as shit. Only the wealthy could afford books and were somewhat status symbols. If you're paying a lot for something they better look good on the shelf and the pages itself.",
"It is called the INITIAL and [here is a brief history](_URL_0_) of it. And shows how hard it was to read text before capitol letters or spacing was used."
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1rhqwm | how do ruler/length-measurement instruments manufacturers use a standard 'length', i.e. how is 1cm the same everywhere around the world? | Is there some Master Ruler or something? Since the length of a unit of length is (was?) defined by us, how does everyone manage to keep lengths the same everywhere? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rhqwm/eli5_how_do_rulerlengthmeasurement_instruments/ | {
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"To quote wikipedia:\n\nOriginally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole (at sea level), its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology. Since 1983, it has been defined as \"the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second.\"",
"The creation of the standard is one of the most important inventions in human history - it is the reason why we can have global networks and infrastructures, because they all rely on there being a universally agreed concept of a thing - this universally agreed thing is called a standard. There are a number of different standards, and sometimes we don't have a single one. Consider something like transferring data between devices. The USB port is a standard port that is used in data transfer, but it isn't the only one - however, because it is so popular, most devices will have a USB port.\n\nIn terms of distance, these measurements are absolutely crucial to a huge amount of what we do - basically, if we didn't have a standard system of measurement for length, then mass production of components couldn't exist, which would mean that we wouldn't be able to build things on such a mass scale in a uniform way.\n\nThe meter was designed to try and use some natural phenomenon as the referent for its length. This is similar to the celsius system of temperature, which was intentionally designed to use the boiling and freezing point of pure water at sea level as its referent system. However, the systems proposed to serve as the definition of a length of a meter were not accurate enough, or constant enough, to be fully acceptable. So, part of the work the organisations responsible for setting standards had to do was try and find some universal constant. To measure time, a second has a precise definition of a certain number of periods of radiation of a caesium atom - I can't remember details off the top of my head. For distance, the length of a meter is defined by the distance light will travel in a vacuum in a certain (incredibly tiny) period of time.\n\nAs for whether there is some Master Ruler somewhere, yes, there is! There is a prototype meter (kept in France, I believe), and a number of almost identical (with the tiniest, tiniest variations, and the variations of which are recorded) meter rods were given to various nations to use as standards. So basically, precision measuring equipment uses the lengths of these rods as their basis for the length of a meter. Other measuring devices are then calibrated from these, and so on, and so on. \n\nSo, a cheap ruler that you buy to use in class will not be precisely accurate, but the accuracy is good enough for the job that you are doing. However, if you are doing a job that requires a very, very, very high degree of accuracy (such as precision engineering), then you basically have to buy a far more expensive tool that has a far more accurate calibration. And that is how we are able to use a standard length across the world.\n\nIf you are interested in reading the history of the meter, the Wikipedia article can be found [here](_URL_0_)",
"Are 12\" records in Europe 12\"?\n\nThis is a serious question."
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4tgt8t | is it true some people can control their own heart rate and other body functions with their mind? how could this be possible? can it be learned? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4tgt8t/eli5_is_it_true_some_people_can_control_their_own/ | {
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"It is certainly true. Many body functions are controlled by hormones and/or neurotransmitters which are released in response to mental processes such as mood. For example:\n\n- Meditation can lead to relaxation and a slower pulse.\n- Thinking about something scary can lead to fear, tension, and a higher pulse.\n- Thinking about something *really* scary can lead to a release of adrenaline (a hormone) and extreme tension and racing pulse. ",
"It's more than thinking about it. It's thinking only about it. Meditation is the work of removing all your idle thoughts. Once you can sit still and think of nothing, then you can then begin to focus on things like temp, heart rate etc. But to answer you, yes it's very possible. I've done it in surgeries with no anesthetic.",
"It is definitely true. There are extreme examples, such as the monks who defy cold and minimize metabolism, able to survive icy cold conditions or diving athletes who are able to stay underwater for quite a long time. There are also everyday examples. People with asthma or heart conditions are often trained to relax when faced with an exacerbation.\n\nThere are two ways you can achieve this in real life. The first would be meditation. There are several types, most of which lead to temporary reduction of body functions and provide benefits to the brain in the long run.\n\nThe most technical way would be EEG biofeedback. In short, you are trying to play a simple game controlled by electrodes with your mind. The game can be set so that you are focusing to achieve the result you want, such as focus. Until recently, this was a method used only by therapists, but these days there are consumer options costing around $200. ",
"I can give you a real world example of how this works. \n\n\nSo I, and many people around the world, have a heart rhythm called sinus arrhythmia. Essentially what this means is that the heart beats *kinda* normally. The difference between someone with a regular heartbeat and those with sinus arrhythmia is that your heart rate is controlled a lot more by your breathing. \n\n\nHow does it feel? Well if I take a biiig deep breath in, my heart actually feels like it stops for a second or two and then slows down. If I breath shallow and rapidly my heart speeds up for a bit. The effects are instant, but go away once breathing returns to normal.\n\n",
"This idea is similar to that of biofeedback therapy. Individuals are shown their vitals i.e heart rate etc. and are then trained to control them",
"When i was a kid i was in the hospital a lot. I spend a lot of time hooked up to a heart monitor with that constant loud beep. I learned over time i could adjust my heart rate a bit and even make it skip a beat. I would do it for fun because there wasn't anything else to do. Its been 20 years since ive tried, but i used to think it was really cool."
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7fbbl6 | how exactly could a boat be driven ashore by ice? | Edit: Say a boat traveling in the Arctic ocean | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7fbbl6/eli5_how_exactly_could_a_boat_be_driven_ashore_by/ | {
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" > How exactly could a boat be driven ashore by ice?\n\nIce covers a very large surface area of the ocean and wind can blow it around. If you have several square miles of ice being blown on by the wind that is a very large force and an enormous weight of ice which has been caused to move in a given direction. When a boat encounters that ice it is unlikely it will be able to do anything but be carried away by its force.\n\nEven when that ice encounters land the momentum and wind pressure on the ice behind it can push it up onto the shore. Any boat between the ice and shore will be carried along for the ride, potentially ending up a significant distance inland.\n\n[Here is an example of this sort of thing happening with a relatively thin sheet of ice.](_URL_0_)"
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5s43nt | how are farms that have a winter season able to afford staying in business year round? | How can farms in areas where there's a cold winter season stay in business?? I'm in the Northeast (US) and there are farms EVERYWHERE.
***
1. How can these farms afford to feed their animals all winter long? (Do they just have a set number of livestock they keep year round and slaughter all the offspring once a year, before winter hits? And/or just buy new livestock every year from auctions and then slaughter them before winter?)
2. How are these farms able to offer "grass-fed" (NOT grass-finished) beef when there's snow on the ground/not grass available for a few months out of the year, every year? (Do they just always buy new calves every year once spring hits and/or buy grass hay for the cattle if they keep them through winter?)
3. How are they able to compete financially with farms in warmer climates when they can not only farm year round, but also can't leave their animals on pasture year round?
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5s43nt/eli5_how_are_farms_that_have_a_winter_season_able/ | {
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"For cattle winter state farmers need twice as much grain field and they stock up for the winter. If they cant afford that much land they need to buy feed and have it brought in. For produce farmers some things grow better in the north or dont grow well in the south. They make their money in the before winter."
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ff2mmb | where does the phrase ‘seeing red’ come from? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ff2mmb/eli5_where_does_the_phrase_seeing_red_come_from/ | {
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"If this means the same as it means in my language, it comes from the corrida, as red color is used to anger bulls.",
"You normally can't see the blood that supplies the retinas in your eyes because there isn't much blood and your brain filters out the visual data from blood that you might otherwise see.\n\nIf you want to see that blood then just go outside and look at a clear sky - you'll see a bunch of faint little dots moving rapidly around. That's the blood in your retina. \n\nWhen you enter an extreme emotional state blood flow to your eye increases dramatically. Your brain is less able to filter out the visual data from the blood, and your vision will take on a slightly red tint to it.\n\nThis is most associated with anger because other emotional states that result in this phenomenon also involve crying, which makes its difficult to see. When you're angry your vision is crystal clear and so the effect is more noticeable."
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294ghh | without human intervention, is it possible for animals to become overweight through diet? | As the title suggests, however I mean more along the lines of obese or at least an 'unhealthy' weight | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/294ghh/eli5_without_human_intervention_is_it_possible/ | {
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"Sure. If the animal takes in more energy than it uses for an extended period, it will eventually become obese. This might happen in the wild if a solitary predator finds an area with an overabundance of prey, or an herbivore discovers a large supply of food. Eventually, the animal's poor individual health will probably come back to bite it, as the herbivore will be unable to run away from predators, and the predator may be unable to hunt more. I don't think you'll be able to find any examples of large populations of obese animals, though.",
"Absolutely, if there is plenty of food, animals can become fat. This translates eventually into lots of breeding and a large population, which gives predators many targets. The second generation will be much larger in number and so the food won't be so plentiful anymore; also the second generation of predators will be larger and so more animals will be eaten. So, the situation stabilizes itself.",
"Bears do it every year. Build up stores of fat and sleep off the winter."
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5y0fh2 | why are there never paddle shifters on an average car? | I only ever "see" the no-clutch paddle shifters on sports cars, and average cars always seem to be fully automatic or fully manual. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5y0fh2/eli5_why_are_there_never_paddle_shifters_on_an/ | {
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"Mazda offers flappy paddle shifting on their six series. Regardless, shifting is percieved as something most people don't want to deal with, and so we get automatic transmissions across the board.",
"There are various ways to make the paddle shifters work, but all of them involve greater mechanical complexity than a regular manual transmission which makes them more expensive, so they tend to only be installed on cars where they're seen as needed."
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705zeh | back in the 90s there were a few vehicles that came out with 4 wheel steering. why didn't this become a thing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/705zeh/eli5_back_in_the_90s_there_were_a_few_vehicles/ | {
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"4-wheel steering is still around. They were a bit more accessible during the Japan techo-fest heydays of the late 80s. Where you can have 4WS Honda Prelude, etc.\n\nUnfortunately, the system is complex and the advantages aren't enough to justify the expanse. They are costly to produce and costly to maintain. Look up Honda forums and there would be various threads about how to disable and bypass 4WS for older models.\n\nBut there is a return to 4WS on high end exoticas. With Porsche GT3 having such a system. Where people are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the ultimate performance, such system make sense again. ",
"I know the GM trucks that had Quadrasteer (iirc that's the name) weren't that popular. It was an expensive option and most people who tow trailers have learned how to back up with normal steering. \n\nI would assume the cost and potential breakage were problems in other cars. ",
"Low demand had it disappear for most regular passenger vehicles, it did exist in cars from the early 1900's and just became more popular from car manufacturers in the 80-90's. It's still used for larger vehicles like farming and busses, and I believe the BMW 7 series still uses a form of it, along with some other luxury / higher end automobiles",
"4-wheel steering is still around. They were a bit more accessible during the Japan techo-fest heydays of the late 80s. Where you can have 4WS Honda Prelude, etc.\n\nUnfortunately, the system is complex and the advantages aren't enough to justify the expanse. They are costly to produce and costly to maintain. Look up Honda forums and there would be various threads about how to disable and bypass 4WS for older models.\n\nBut there is a return to 4WS on high end exoticas. With Porsche GT3 having such a system. Where people are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the ultimate performance, such system make sense again. ",
"I know the GM trucks that had Quadrasteer (iirc that's the name) weren't that popular. It was an expensive option and most people who tow trailers have learned how to back up with normal steering. \n\nI would assume the cost and potential breakage were problems in other cars. ",
"Low demand had it disappear for most regular passenger vehicles, it did exist in cars from the early 1900's and just became more popular from car manufacturers in the 80-90's. It's still used for larger vehicles like farming and busses, and I believe the BMW 7 series still uses a form of it, along with some other luxury / higher end automobiles"
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4gqhn6 | why is it so difficult to set up internet access in very rural areas? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4gqhn6/eli5_why_is_it_so_difficult_to_set_up_internet/ | {
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"because running miles of fiber optic cable for a few houses is not cost efficient.\n\nDSL may work if you arent too far from the hub still.",
"You either need to run wires, or do it wireless.\n\nWired has the obvious problem that you have to run wires, which means poles and way-leaves and stuff. If it's several dozen km then it's going to be expensive - and to some extent vulnerable.\n\nWireless means someone has to put up a tower with a microwave dish on it pointed at a matching one the other end at your rural home. That's OK except it has to be line-of-sight. If there's a hill in the way you'll need another tower on the hill to relay the signal, and so on. They have to be powered and paid for.\n\nEDIT - by wires I'm including fibre, obviously. ",
"Because it's expensive.\n\nWhen you run a mile worth of cable in a city, it might service a thousand people. In a rural area, it might serve 20 people. So, it's far, far more expensive to get Internet service in sparsely populated areas.",
"Telco companies don't like the expense of laying kilometers of new cable for a small village where there's only a handful of users. there's no profit in it. Let's say you've got 200 people in the village who'd pay a £30 subscription. \n\nLet's say we need 10k of cable to connect them and it costs £40 per meter-- that's £400,000 already. Now, 200 people paying a £30 sub per month would be £6000 the telco makes per month--\n\n400,000/6,000 = it'd take 66.666 years recurring for the village to pay off the cost of the cable before the company begins to make a profit."
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4yh139 | why is corn starch used so extensively as a food additive and what is exactly so harmful about it? | Edit: Sorry Reddit, I totally meant High Fructose Corn Syrup | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4yh139/eli5_why_is_corn_starch_used_so_extensively_as_a/ | {
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"Cornstarch isn't harmful at all; it's basically just raw carbohydrates. Are you thinking of high fructose corn syrup?",
"Cornstarch is not harmful in food. It is the carbohydrate portion of corn. It is a good thickener in sauces and a good stabilizer in baked goods. Where are you hearing that it is harmful? ",
"Corn starch forms a non-newtonian fluid when emulsed in liquid and has great properties in altering the texture of many foods, like stews, gravy, soups, sauces, and dressings. It is not bad for you, it is pure starch and most foods have a couple g of it anyway. It also isn't really as ubiquitous as you think. Flour is used more often for some reason. \n\nCorn starch is a lifesaving tool as a cook. I love it. ",
"Adding on a bit late: cornstarch isn't bad at all, but you may be thinking of high fructose corn syrup, a common replacement for straight sugar (glucose). It gets a bad rep because the syrup causes one to slightly crave sweet foods after ingesting, but doesn't contain any greater health issues than sugar!",
"You're thinking of high-fructose corn syrup, mate.\n\nCorn starch is just a binding/thickening agent.",
"Probably thinking of high fructose corn syrup like everyone says and the reason why it's so extensively used is because of government subsidies growing corn is dirt cheap which makes it dirt cheap to buy and use it in food"
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2lhzgh | modern phone touchscreens. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lhzgh/eli5modern_phone_touchscreens/ | {
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"There is a glass panel on top of the lcd/leds which emit the light creating the picture. On top of that there is a layer of thin material made of a specific metal which is see through. This layer detects the electrical signature given by human skin and as a result is able to detect where you are touching the screen. Generally there are two of these layers, one for the x(left-right) direction and one for y(top-bottom) direction. On top of that is another layer of glass/plastic."
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2146n7 | what makes the orbits of so many satellites find the same plane and form a ring? examples: milky way, saturn. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2146n7/eli5_what_makes_the_orbits_of_so_many_satellites/ | {
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"[Here watch this video] (_URL_0_)\n\nBasically... after a long length of time and everything circling in every direction eventually things collide into each other. This eventually leads to only things going a certain direction. Really, watch the video. It is already queued up and it really explains it visually.\n\nIn the video he also states this explains the vertical plane as well (though his demonstration can't show that)."
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acvjdr | what are the purpose(s) of coloured lenses in military flashlights? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/acvjdr/eli5_what_are_the_purposes_of_coloured_lenses_in/ | {
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"Red light doesn’t travel far. So if you needing light for maps, etc...but don’t want to give away your location to anyone around you, use red light. It can be seen from a distance. Plus, red light doesn’t take away your “night vision” once your eyes have adjusted to the dark. UV (purple) is similar. It puts out light that is difficult to see with the human eye (plus you can see blood and scorpions with a UV light)",
"Greetings from /r/flashlight. We get people asking for colored light often, most commonly red. It's usually one of two reasons:\n\n* Red light has less impact on dark adaptation than white light at the same level. A chemical in the human eye (rhodopsin) that increases sensitivity to light gets destroyed by exposure to bright light, and the effect is not as strong with red. For most uses, hobbyists have found that very low levels of white light work better, because much less white is required to see clearly.\n* Military doctrine usually says that red light is less likely to attract the attention of the enemy. I'm not sure whether that's true because **any** point source is pretty easy to notice in an area with minimal light pollution. People smoking cigarettes get spotted easily, for example, and that's a very dim red/orange light.\n\nWhen there isn't an external mandate to use red like there would be in the military, we usually try to talk people out of this.\n\nI'm not sure about purple. These are usually incandescent lights that don't produce enough UV to be useful, so I don't think it's that."
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3fkaq2 | why do sone jobs require women to do the equivalent of men in terms of training and not other jobs? | If you're a cop you don't need to meet the men's requirements for physicality but to be a fireman you do | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fkaq2/eli5_why_do_sone_jobs_require_women_to_do_the/ | {
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"In some jobs, the physical tests are just there to show that employees have a certain level of general fitness. Females are biologically weaker in some things, and so a woman will not be able to perform as strongly as a man in some tests even though they have the same level of general fitness. A police officer will never have to do push-ups or run 2 miles on the job. Those tests just show how fit they are. \n\nOther jobs will require employees to perform physical tasks. In those cases, the tests are there to ensure that employees are capable of performing them. A firefighter needs to be able to carry certain kinds of equipment, and rescue a person by carrying them. The task is the same whether the firefighter is male or female, and so the test has the same requirement for men and women. "
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aaoggt | the concept of a statute of limitations on violent crimes, why? shouldn’t they always be eligible for persecution? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aaoggt/eli5_the_concept_of_a_statute_of_limitations_on/ | {
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"The main reason is to ensure the best evidence is presented in any case.\nThe longer a case goes on the more unreliable the evidence becomes, ie witness statements become warped with memory, digital data gets lost, files get misplaced.\n\nIt depends on the country as well, mostly minor and civil cases here in the UK have limitations to ensure defendants have an accurate case bought against them. ",
"Here’s the problem with that: You get in a heated argument that turns into a fight. The other person doesn’t report an assault. Years down the line you are on the verge if a great job, accomplishment, marriage, etc... The person you got in a fight with finds out and gets you arrested.\n\nIf it wasn’t a big enough deal when it happened to report it, it shouldn’t be investigated years down the line. Murder is the exception as it does not have a statute of limitations.",
"In addition to what others have said, this can also be explained by the fact that the DA's office often doesn't have enough manpower to sort though thousands of cases, let alone ones that happened possibly decades ago. Different offenses have different SOL's in many states, so things like murder could be sought after for far far longer than something like hooking up with a sex-worker.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIf the District Attorney's office is trying to sort through 1000 cases that the local police departments have sent them, they really can't be bothered to look over a case of a random guy that *might* have solicited a sex-worker 3 years ago. Or a guy that shoplifted an orange in 2013. If they organized those cases, they would never get around to the important newer cases that were coming in. So generally, non-violent crimes are typically let go or told to not be investigated after a year or so. This is the DA's way of keeping cases to the essentials and not having their office completely bogged down and burned out.",
"Some are giving reasons like it's difficult to retain evidence or beaureucratic etc. But doesn't answer for \"but what if we do have evidence\" or \"what if we do have resources?\"\n\nStatute of limitations are part of the rights of a defendant. In the same vein as double jeopardy or right to speedy trial.\n\nIt forces the state to gather evidence and quickly bring things to trial. Otherwise the state can indefinitely hold a threat of a trial over an defendants head. It gives the state an incentive to investigate crimes immediately and not later, and also prevents the state from randomly accusing people of old crimes where the defendant will not be able to build an adequate defense. \n\nStatute of limitations is a civil right (if not constitutional)) and not a policy of effective crime control or victim protection or an issue of memory. "
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cj8x7p | why do gunshots sound so different at distance? | When you shoot or are in close proximity to a gun shot, it has a low frequency sound. When you're further away, gun shots have a distinct 'snap' sound that is much higher. I assume this is how sound waves travel, but know no more than that. Any takers? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cj8x7p/eli5_why_do_gunshots_sound_so_different_at/ | {
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"The bang at the gun is from the explosion of propellant. \n\nThe snap downrange is the shockwave from the bullet going faster than sound. This sound is drowned out by the bang when you're closer to the gun. \n\nThere is also a whizzing sound as the bullet destabilizes or ricochets and starts to tumble. This is caused by the rapid change in air pressure as the bullet goes from aerodynamic point first to sideways into the air and back."
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1kyxqa | why is civil war re-enactment a thing? | I don't understand why people would re-enact and romanticize the deadliest war in American history? Why is this so popular? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1kyxqa/eli5_why_is_civil_war_reenactment_a_thing/ | {
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"Because some people want to LARP without being elves.",
"It's a hobby, and a study of history. Why are video games re-enacting battles of WWII so popular? There are also groups that re-enact battles from the Roman Empire and other points of history.",
"The American Civil War is a HUGELY defining moment in US history. If you never study it, you never understand how deeply it affected US policy and progress. When you do study it, and understand how big it was, how devastating it was, and how formative it was, then you might get into re-enacting like many people do who understand it.\n\nThis might give you some idea-- BEFORE the civil war, everyone said 'The United STates ARE....' --plural---because the 'country' before that, was always a group of strong individual states with some power held by the federal government. AFTER the civil war, everyone said 'the United States IS' because 'the country' became a strong federal government after removing powers from the individual states. The US became a single country with a single strong federal government overseeing the states due to the civil war. And before the civil war..the states oversaw themselves.",
"Its just non-fiction cosplay. "
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58o1ls | when you have the last male/female of a species and use it to save the species, how do you get around the genetic defects from inbreeding? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/58o1ls/eli5_when_you_have_the_last_malefemale_of_a/ | {
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"Inbreeding doesn't *create* genetic defects. It just makes already-existing genetic defects much more likely to pop up.\n\nSo basically, if you have the last male/female of a species, all you can do is hope that they aren't carrying a hidden genetic defect.",
"First, you don't really care. The species is going to die, so try to save it! If there are some small defects, it's not the most important: it means that you have saved a species because there are still animals where you can observe that defect, so you got a good point and a cookie.\n\nThen, inbreeding occurs generally in several generation. A way to avoid that is to vary as much as possible the genetic diversity of the male/female that are not alone. \nLike if you have one female (F) and 4 males (A, B, C, D) for example, try to do:\n\n1st gen: FA and FB\n\nThen on the resulting females, marry them with C and D, so you can maximize the diversity!\n\nEdit: OrToGrAf",
"Create as many offspring as possible. Interbreed those as diversely as possible. Cull the unfit. Repeat as necessary. Playing God means getting your hands dirty..",
"This scenario is ~~similar to the~~ a [founder effect](_URL_0_) or a [population bottleneck](_URL_1_). Basically there are two outcomes: 1) Extinction - The population cannot successfully reproduce and increase its numbers 2) Recovery - The population reproduces albeit with a significant loss in genetic diversity. Elephant seals had numbers down to the double digits in the 80s but have since recovered. Since the genetic diversity is limited, they are more prone to diseases.\n\ne: formatting",
"Try to breed the population out with the pairs you have & pray that the pool gets big enough some genetic diversity shows up while you're very carefully pairing up specific offspring to minimize gene duplication.",
"You don't.\n\nAn example of this is cheetahs. They got so low in population that a huge inbreeding event had to happen to save the species. Now they are plagued by a range of genetic disorders. The phenomenon is referred to as \"genetic bottlenecks\" and it's estimated the near extinction for cheetahs was approximately 10,000 years ago which is relatively recently in genetic diversity terms (which takes millennia to diversify)\n\nOn the front page is a post about the Chatham island Black Robin in New Zealand which got down to a single breeding female, a serious genetic bottleneck, which is likely to lead to generic defects through the population as the population recovers.",
"Btw: Inbreeding is not a killer. It is not THAT bad as you might think. It CAN make defects pop up, but it doesn't have to.",
"You claim the defects are part of the animal's \"pedigree\" and display the offspring in fancy pet shows.",
"One thing people have not mentioned is the concept of mutational load. Inbreeding is only bad if you have accumulated deleterious mutations in the breeding population. There are a number of species that inbreed naturally, and as a result, they don't carry large mutational loads in the species. However, inbreeding is an evolutionary strategy usually of non-animal organisms. Plants, specifically, that generally do not travel to reproduce, often have low mutational loads.\n\nIf you only have two individuals left of an animal species, though, that species is not expected to survive more than a few generations. Genetic bottlenecks others are talking about generally occur at much higher number of individuals in the population (like on the order of 10k).",
"for that generation you breed as much as you can. with the offspring, breed as much as you can. if genetic weakness shows up in some offspring, use the healthy ones to breed. \n\noften inbreeding is from recessive genes, so you can breed those away in subsequent generations after the initial bottleneck. hopefully the 1st generation has enough offspring that non-defective variants of the parents genes are passed though. ",
"You have as many children as possible and make sure the children are doing the same. Statistically, the more the better. If you can get a decent population going before everyone dies, evolution will take control after that and start diversifying everyone.\n\nMore children means more mutations, and more mutations means more good mutations. It also wouldn't hurt to kill off the ones who are showing bad physical signs so they can't breed.",
"The problem with incest is that many of us carry mutations that can cause problems, but we also have a correct allele of the gene which prevails in the phenotype. In two genetically diverse individuals, it's very rare that they will both have the same mutation of the same gene, however two related individuals carry a higher chance of them both having the same mutated allele. It increases the chance of mutations but doesn't make them a certainty. You just have to hope that these two don't carry the same alleles despite being related.\nSource: I'm a biology A level student\nSource 2: I live in Norfolk.",
"Outbreeding has been successfully used to add genetic diversity, although naturally that is forcing evolution of a species. Przewalski's Horse is an example of this, saved from 7 remaining founders and outbred with 2 hybrids.",
"Bio nerd here, it would be important to consider what are called deleterious recessives. \n\nInbreeding is a problem because typically you want to have as many mixed up genes as possible. To explain - some basic genetics- you can either have two recessive, two dominant, or one recessive and one dominant gene. Any individual carrying a deleterious recessive allele will be healthy if they have another dominant allele in that pair, because the recessive alleles characteristics won't be expressed. Taking the example of Cheetahs, which had their numbers reduced significantly, they managed to get rid of all or at least most of their recessive genes that result in serious defects because those animals died off and didnt breed and thus (due to natural selection), those genes were not passed on. Thus now, many cheetahs are homozygous recessive but can function totally fine. \n\nAnimals that interbreed typically encounter problems because they are more likely to be genetically similar and thus the probability of two recessive alleles being expressed is increased. As a result disorders like sickle cell anemia will express. \n\nI suppose my thoughts are that you would hope that the last man or woman on earth was very genetically different to you in the first place, hopefully a different race, and go from there. ",
"Generally you can't avoid this, but one way you actually can avoid it is to introduce genetic diversity by creating hybrids. Genetic diversity increases the health of a species by providing gene variants which may compete with disease variants which might crop up at increased rates due to inbreeding. Creating a hybrid means taking the last animals of the endangered species and breeding them with a closely related species that can produce viable offspring. One great example is [Florida panthers](_URL_0_). These cats suffer many health problems due to inbreeding, so scientists have started to breed them with Texas pumas, a closely related subspecies.",
"As far as I understand, you breed as many as you can, take the best of them and breed more. There's a lot of chance of failure, so you go with sheer numbers until you can create a wide enough population/gene pool. Hopefully no horrifically terrible mutation in dominant state. \n\nFeel free to append or correct. ",
"Let's say Dave, Sarah, Josh and Mandy are the last four people left. Far as they know they are all healthy. Dave actually has a genetic heart condition he doesn't know about.\n\nBecause there's no other people to breed with, Dave's condition gets passed down and the number of people that have it increases with every generation as long as the population grows. Even if they eventually are distantly related enough, the damage is done and most of the population could end up with a heart condition. With no other genetic material available it keeps getting shared around with a lower chance of not occurring\n",
"To add to what everyone has said, a huge factor in survival of bottlenecked species is geographic spread I.e. The kakapo population is spread to a wide range of preaditor free islands around New Zealand so that if a storm hits and wipes out one group you have a sort of insurance. The birds will be rotated for breeding/eggs will be transferred to different islands for genetic diversity",
"In the absence of any glaring genetic defects, most of the time inbreeding is not as much of a problem as we make it out to be. You can read more [here](_URL_0_)\n",
"This isn't all that strange and occurs naturally at times All humans alive today can be traced back to a single genetic \"Eve\" _URL_0_ and it doesn't appear to have screwed us up too bad. ",
"Looks like someone else wondered the same thing from the TIL about [black robins](_URL_0_). ",
"You don't. Animals and birds used to be smarter before the flood. Now they can't even speak anymore :)",
"You have a LOT of babies. The negative genetic effects of inbreeding have a % chance per birth to kick in. \n\nSo if, say, there's a 75% chance of that defect occuring, you have 100 babies so that at least 25 can go on to make babies of their own. (not really a high enough number to assume an even distribution of that statistical spread, you'd need closer to the order of hundreds of thousands before it really started to even out to exactly 25% viable)\n\nAnd so on.\n\nEventually, random mutation starts to diversify the gene pool again.",
"Aside from what's been said, the genetic defects only show up in a relatively small minority of the total population. They won't get wiped from genetic defects.\n\nIn the long run, offsprings with severely inhibiting genetic defects will naturally die off. By process of natural selection, these genetic defects will slowly become less and less common.",
"So you're saying there's a chance?",
"I would say that once you have the last pair of a species, any \"genetic defects\" present in all their children are not defects, but are now characteristics of that species. ",
"You may have heard of Diego the Galapagos tortoise by now -- the legendary Casanova that did God's work and single-handledly saved his species from extinction by fathering more than 800 offspring.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nI wondered about this, now his kids are going to do each other, or maybe he will do his kids even. Or his kids will do their moms. Thats insane and it drove me nuts. Would they even be regular tortoises??? Or mutants with super powers? ",
"The concern of inbreeding is often overstated. The short answer is that if the population collapse only lasts for say 1 generation, before quickly expanding, then the effects of inbreeding are very small, and any negative traits that result are quickly weeded out through natural selection. Only if the inbreeding lasts for many generations with a population staying relatively constant and small do you start seeing funky things. \n"
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2tifze | how does sea life drink sea water without problems but we can't? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tifze/eli5_how_does_sea_life_drink_sea_water_without/ | {
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"They have very powerful kidneys. Ours aren't effective enough to remove high levels of sodium from our bodies.",
"Depends on the sea creature. They have evolved many ways to deal with the amount of salt in seawater.\n\nSeagulls, for example, have special salt glands just behind their eyes. These glands will filter out the excess amount of salt. Some fish and sea mammals basically have specialised kidneys that are far more capable of filtering out salt than ours are. These creature pee out the salt they don't need. A lot of sea mammals don't actually even drink sea water. Instead they get water from the food they eat.\n\nNow sharks. Sharks are really interesting. Sharks don't drink sea water, instead they get water through a process called osmoregulation. Osmoregulation means that when you have two liquid of uneven concentration separated by a penetrable membrane, those liquids will try to equalise. What sharks do is they actually make their body fluids as salty as the water surrounding them using a chemical called urea (the same stuff we find in our urine). This means that whenever the shark is thirsty, i.e. there is not enough water in the bodily fluids of the shark, water molecules from the sea water will flow into the shark via the membranes to equalise the water content of the shark back to the same level of that as the sea water. Bull sharks are even able to change the amount of salt in their bodily fluids which is how they can live in both seawater and regular water."
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du2yda | antioxidants in foods | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/du2yda/eli5_antioxidants_in_foods/ | {
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"In the body, a certain type of chemical can form called a *free radical.* This refers to any atom, molecule, or ion with an unpaired electron in its outer shell. These unpaired electrons can produce oxidizing damage due to their interactions with other parts of your body.\n\n*Anti-oxidants* work to sequester and convert free radicals back to non-radical forms, and thus help prevent this damage.",
"The reason it's \"hocus pocus\" is because free radicals, though harmful, dont stay free radicals for long. Being charged they get snatched up very quickly. And due to the frequency of free radical generation the anti-oxidants that capture free radicals tend to do so very quickly, on the order of seconds or less, and then is no longer an anti-oxidant.\n\nDevelopment of massive amounts of free radicals is why radiation is dangerous. One may try to argue that taking a lot of antioxidants could capture those free radicals preventing damage. But to be effective in any way you'd have to flood your system with anti-oxidants at the same time as exposure. If it's a few minutes later, it's already too late.\n\nIt was found that tardigrades produce an anti-oxidant protein that coats their DNA. This protein gobbles up new free radicals produced by radiation, therefore preventing damage.\n\nEating food or drinking fluids with \"anti-oxidant\" on the label isn't bad for you, but also is not going to be some superfood."
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fsmvtv | how do prisms work? | I get (or think I do) that different frequencies (or colors) of visible light refract differently i.e. move at different speeds through a piece of glass. But then why do they need to enter at an angle? Wouldn't simply passing through any refractive substance do the trick? And please... like I'm 5.... | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fsmvtv/eli5_how_do_prisms_work/ | {
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"If they hit straight on (at 90 degrees) they might slow down differently but you can't see any difference in the beam because they all follow the same track. The red light may be a few wave crests behind the blue but you still have a mix of red and blue together. When they hit at an angle, the different rates of slowing mean they bend through different angles and so follow different paths and you get separate beams of red and blue (and the other colours)"
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3tm0yl | what exactly is negative time? such as in a parabola, how can we interpret that into real life? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tm0yl/eli5what_exactly_is_negative_time_such_as_in_a/ | {
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"t=0 is just a reference point. Anything that happened before that would happen at t < 0, or negative values for t. ",
"Negative integers in general denote opposites of quantities. If were talking about money, 50 dollars would generally mean you have a credit of 50 dollars while -50 would mean youre in debt 50 dollars. If 10 describes how far you need to go the right, -10 describes how far you need to get to the left.\n\nMore correctly negative numbers are the additive inverses of the positive integers. Additive inverse is defined as follows: A number plus its additive inverse is 0. That is given, a number, a, a plus the additive inverse of a is 0. What do we call the additive inverse of a? We just denote it by -a. So a + (-a) = 0\n\nYoull also note that given the same definition ( -a + a = 0) the additive inverse of -a (denoted by -(-a)) is a!\n\nHow you choose to intrerpret this in real life scenarios depends on how you model it. Youre right that some negative values dont really make sense. Negative length doesnt real make sense, negative time in a sense doesnt but it does it you model it as /u/mostly-void did\n\nAlso realize generally that how we choose the coordinate system is pretty arbitrary. The math works out so long as we keep the same frame of ference. For example, for the specific example of the parabola where time goes into the negative, just imagine shifting the parabola over to the right side of the graph (assuming parabola is bounded).\n\nOr imagine if I had a rectangle in the 3rd quadrant of the graph that I wanted to get the sides of. Its lepoints would be defined at negatives, yet I could still do a negative - negative and get positive lengths. Answer would be the same as if I were to define that rectangle on the 1st quadrant.\n"
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cr9ekk | are there any alternatives to growth-based economy? | Our economical system is based on constant growth and I was wondering what would happen if human population stopped growing.
Could we adopt a different "system" to keep our current lifestyles? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cr9ekk/eli5_are_there_any_alternatives_to_growthbased/ | {
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"Economic growth isn't solely tied to (or even primarily tied to) population growth. Yes, there are always new babies being born and those babies need shoes, but even in a completely stable population the economy would still grow. The biggest driver of growth would be the creation of new goods and services and the opening of new markets. Sometimes new goods and services replace old ones, shutting down old markets — compare the current market for horse-drawn carriages to the market for cars — but this happens specifically BECAUSE the new goods and services are more valuable to people than the old ones were. If the new goods and services weren't more valuable to people, they never would've displaced the old goods and services. So that's a type of economic growth that would still happen if the total population never changed.\n\nThe other thing to remember is that, like I said, babies are constantly being born and those babies need shoes. Even in a steady-state population, we're not talking about a bunch of immortals who never change or age. Babies are born, grow into children, become adults, enter old age and die. Along the way, those people need different things at different stages of their lives. Even if the population never grew or shrank, there'd still be a booming market for diapers and legos.",
"One of the alternatives could simply be to add to the measurement of growth, how we define it. We are currently, in simplified terms, basically measuring \"are we selling more and producing more than last quarter/year\" (GDP growth). However, there are many proposed alternatives to this, for example taking in measures of improved health care, standard of living, wage gap between socio-economic classes etc. If you are curious I will look up the names I have now forgotten for some of the most viable ones.",
"Yes! The alternative is known as a *steady-state* economy, where the economy keeps its present form and does not grow any larger. \n\nHowever, there is a quite important condition that must be met for a steady-state economy to exist without declining standards of living, and that is the population must stop growing. Otherwise, if the population were growing but the economy was not, then the finite goods of the economy would essentially have to be shared wider and wider among more and more people. 1000 pairs of boots to be distributed among 1000 people is fine. But if the population grows to 1500 people, but the economy remains at its old state of only producing 1000 pairs of boots, then you've got a problem."
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3xcvvm | why is the european union under so much criticism and skepticism? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3xcvvm/eli5why_is_the_european_union_under_so_much/ | {
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"Democratic defecit. Most of the institutions opporate without public opinion (The Commission, Council of Ministers, etc.) Only the European Parliament has the true say of the people, but even then it's muddied down by politics. Most of the EU is designed to be Supranational so it more or less disregards popular opinion and does \"what is best for Europe\" but when that legislation ends up emplimenting policies that people don't like, the people get mad and it causes Euroskeptics.",
"From a european point of view :\n-It prevent us to close our borders to counter immigration -It guive a lot of restrictions that come above your national restrictions. - We got nothing to say in what to do what to not - 99% of european don't even know the name of the president of the corporation. - Finally it's politic and when things become bad (unemployement immigration ..) people wants change. - Just to finish, when help is expected from EU they don't do anything (immigration in Germany)",
"In addition to what has already been written :\n\n- the EU started with 6 members, and was supposed to be limited to very specific stuffs (open market).\n\nThey made rules accordingly : some decisions must be taken unanimously, and others by majority.\n\n- Now we have more than 25 countries. And the UE rules a lot more than just custom fees. \n\nThe problem is simple : all countries don't have the same needs and the same issues. But they're supposed to function under the same rules. And those rules are everywhere ! We don't have a national bank, we can't decide freely on our taxes, on our debt etc. We're in a shitty situation, and the EU doesn't allow its member to try something.\n\nIt makes people sick to see that their country (in which they live and pay taxes) can't do anything to help them because of EU rules (which most of the time they didn't vote for, neither EU nor the rule in question)."
]
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2jy56r | why is it that, unlike artificial light indoors, under sunlight it's hard to see screens? | Why is it difficult to see what's on my phone screen under direct sunlight, yet easy to see while I'm indoors, under artificial light? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jy56r/eli5_why_is_it_that_unlike_artificial_light/ | {
"a_id": [
"clg50wu"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Sunlight is much, much brighter than even the brightest indoor lighting."
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[]
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1fdixx | what is a osi model? | I have a tiny bit of understanding of network framing and things like that but a explanation would be awesome! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1fdixx/eli5_what_is_a_osi_model/ | {
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"Not \"a OSI model\", it's \"the OSI model\". OSI was an international group that decided on a \"model\" for how network standards should be designed.\n\nActually, they came up with network standards, and this \"model\" is really a description of how they designed their stuff. But at the same time, different groups of people were working on some other network standards, TCP/IP, and those caught on. So eventually everyone stopped trying to actually use the network standards from OSI and they faded away... but this \"model\", a description of how they designed theirs, lived on. It has some useful names for talking about things and it was widely published so people keep using those words when they talk about things, even though the actual software and protocols those words were supposed to describe aren't being used.\n\nSo, there are really two questions here:\n\n1. What is \"layering\" in networks?\n\n2. What's the \"OSI model\", which describes a particular way of layering.\n\n----------\n\nLayering...\n\nHere's how I usually describe layering to people who don't know much about software and network protocols and so on: I talk about postal mail.\n\nYou write a letter to your friend. You fold the letter up and put it in an envelope and seal it. On the outside of the envelope you put a stamp on the top right, your friend's address in the middle, and your return address on the top left. Then you take this letter to the post office and put it in.\n\nLater, a postal worker drives a truck over to that mailbox and gets all the letters that are waiting there, and takes them back to the post office. At the post office, they sort all the letters based on which post office they need to go to next. Your letter goes in a box with a bunch of other letters all going to the city your friend lives in, and they put that box on a truck going to that city. The mail truck drives over to the post office there, and leaves the box with them. Later, they sort those letters out and give yours to the postal worker who'll be walking the route that goes by your friend's house, to put in your friend's mailbox.\n\nYour friend gets the letter and tears open the envelope. She looks at the letter inside... and finds out you've written \"FGWTRTER83BSHHERH275\" and goes WTF?? She's very confused.\n\nOkay, lets's describe this using a \"model\" of \"layers\":\n\n* Top layer: Letter. It's from you, a person. It's to your friend, a person. It has something written on it, that you write and your friend reads.\n\n* Middle layer: Postal mail. Something goes inside an envelope, with stamp and addresses. It's from some fixed location with an address, and will be delivered to another fixed location - a house or apartment or PO box - that has an address.\n\n* Bottom layer: Walking and driving and moving things around. People pick up objects and take them somewhere else, sometimes in a truck.\n\nHere's the important things about layers: They insulate you from having to know the details of how other layers work, and they allow people to completely change how other layers work without messing anything up for you as long as they fulfill the same goals. All you need to know is the \"interface\" between your layer and the next one - which is, the rules for how to hand something down to the layer below you, or up to the layer above you, or how to receive something from either of them.\n\nFor example, to use the postal system, you need to know that they expect your letter to be in an envelope with a stamp, destination address, and return address in very specific places. You need to know how to put that envelope somewhere they'll pick it up, such as a mailbox. They don't care what's inside the envelope as long as it's light enough and fits inside. They're not even going to see it. You, on the other hand, don't need to know anything about what they do after you put the envelope in a mailbox. All you need to care about is that it'll get to your friend's house somehow.\n\nOn the other hand, you and your friend do have a protocol about the letter itself: Both of you expect it to be words, in English. That's why your friend is so confused by this crazy letter you sent her: you completely violated the protocol of letter writing. It's not words in English and she doesn't know what to make of it. But the postal system didn't even *notice* that. It had no effect at all on their work. They delivered it the same way they would've delivered a sensible letter in English. That's what I mean by \"isolation\".\n\nNow think about the driver who collected the mail from the mailbox where you put the letter: She's working at the bottom layer. She's not responsible for getting your letter to your friend's house, and she doesn't even look at the envelope. Instead, her job is to drive around to a bunch of mailboxes around town, get everything that's in them, and take all that stuff to the local post office. She's got to follow rules about how to pack the boxes, and how fast to drive, and stopping at red lights, and all sorts of stuff like that that have nothing to do with the address on your envelope or routing it to your friend. Sort of like the guy who drives the truck from your local post office to the one in your friend's town - he also never looks at the envelopes. People at the post office have given him some boxes and he knows which other post office to drive to to deliver those boxes.\n\nWhat I've just described here is a *3 layer model*.\n\n----------\n\nLet's add more layers on top...\n\nLet's say you're voting by mail. You've got your absentee ballot, and you need to fill it out and send it to your government's elections department so they can count your votes. They also gave you some instructions, rules for how to fill out your ballot. For example, the rules say that you're only allowed to make marks in specific places on the ballot, and your marks must be made using black ink. To preserve anonymity, you have to put your ballot inside an envelope they gave you, and sign it on the outside, then put that inside a larger postal mail envelope.\n\nWhen it gets to them, they'll take the inner envelope out and put it in a pile with lots of other absentee ballot envelopes. Some people will check all those signatures and see that they match the ID numbers printed on those inner envelopes (the outer, postal mail envelope, has been discarded by now), to make sure this ballot came from a valid voter. Then they'll open it, take the ballot out, and put it in a box of ballots known to come from valid registered voters. The ballot itself of course doesn't have your signature or ID number on it.\n\nNext, other people will take all those ballots and feed them into vote counting machines. If you followed all the rules about how to mark the ballot, the machine will be able to read it, and count your votes.\n\nWe're still using the same lower layers as we used with the letter to your friend, because you're still sending this through the postal system. However, instead of the \"letter to a friend\" protocol we had at the top layer before, we've now replaced it with two new ones:\n\n* Ballot marking for a voting machine\n\n* Absentee voting procedure\n\n* Postal system\n\n* People moving physical objects from place to place\n\n... but the postal system, and the people moving stuff around, have no idea that you're using two new protocols up above there. It makes no difference to them at all whether you sent a letter to a friend, or an absentee ballot.\n\nIsolation between layers is great because it lets you invent brand new protocols, without changing the other layers. As long as you interact with the layer above or below you using the same *interface*, you can come up with all sorts of new ideas and try them out at one layer, while still using everything that's already in place for the other layers.\n\nWhat if the truck broke down a block away from the post office with those boxes of letters, and they didn't have another truck nearby so they decided to just have some people walk those boxes over? Different way of getting stuff from one place to another, but you'd never know it. It achieves the same goal. And the way the overall postal system routes your letter or ballot wouldn't change, either.\n\nAnd you know what? You could go to the polling place in person, where you'd get exactly the same ballot, mark it using exactly the same rules, and feed it to exactly the same ballot counting machine. Same protocol as the \"top layer\" of this particular \"stack\". When you're marking the ballot you do the same thing whether you're going to walk it over to the machine or stuff it in an absentee envelope and then send it by mail, and the voting machine doesn't need to know or care whether you walked your own ballot over, or whether it got mailed in and signature-verified by other people.\n\n----------\n\nOSI model vs. reality\n\nSo now that I know you know all about layering, I can answer \"what is the OSI model\".\n\nVery simple: It's a description of the layers in the OSI network protocols. The ones that aren't being used anymore. But, they were real, and they had 7 layers, and they published what those 7 layers were and what each one of them was responsible for doing, and gave each one a name. That's the \"model\".\n\nIn the OSI model, it doesn't say in detail *how* each layer does what it does. It just describes *what* each layer is supposed to accomplish, and what it's intended to be used for. So, the model is more general than the actual OSI protocols - you can use those layer descriptions to talk about networking layers in other systems.\n\nIt's a bit clumsy, though, because in reality we ended up with a 4 layer world, more or less, on the Internet. The people who designed the Internet were working from a simpler model, and also, they weren't trying to make up the rules for *everything*. They weren't trying to create a complete top to bottom system, they were trying to come up with a glue that lets lots of very different systems talk to each other.\n\nTCP/IP, the networking protocols they came up with for the Internet, basically divide networking into four layers like this:\n\n- IP is the \"networking layer\", which matches OSI's layer 3\n\n- On top of IP is TCP, the transport layer, which matches OSI's layer 4\n\n- Anything below IP is up to whoever's setting up a network. Basic internet standards don't care what you put below IP, as long as it knows how to interface with IP. Lots of different standards got created for running IP on top of all sorts of different things, like IP on top of ethernet, or on top of 802.11 aka \"wifi\", or on top of a telephone modem call, or even on [carrier pigeons](_URL_0_). Sometimes the stuff under IP may be more than one layer, or sometimes not.\n\n- Same goes for whatever's on top of TCP. Internet standards call whatever's on top of TCP the \"application\", and the Internet designers came up with a bunch of \"application layer\" protocols for things like file transfer and email and later on web pages and other things. In reality, there can be multiple layers on top of TCP, but each different use of TCP gets to decide how to do that. Some uses of TCP have only one layer, some have a bunch.\n\nOSI's model puts 2 layers underneath \"network\" and 3 more above \"transport\". On the Internet, the model is \"whatever's below network layer\", \"network layer\", \"transport layer\", and \"whatever's above transport layer\". It's like that example I gave with the postal system, where for writing a letter you only need one super-simple protocol above the postal system, but for absentee voting you need two layers and both of them are significantly more complex and less freeform.\n\nSo, the OSI model is a way of talking about how you split up your network protocol layers, but on the Internet we're dealing with a lot of things that weren't designed using that model, so it doesn't always fit cleanly.",
"OSI is a 7 layer breakdown of different levels of networking.... like a computer parfait. "
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3up96k | what's going on with syria, turkey, and russia? | I know a Russian plane was shot down near Turkey, and I know there's some proxy war going on in Syria, I just don't know the details (why, what, how?). | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3up96k/eli5_whats_going_on_with_syria_turkey_and_russia/ | {
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"A pissing match, really.\n\nTurkey was looking for reason to flex some muscles. Russian jets (who are supporting Syrian President Assad's troops) have most likely been attacking Turkish backed-Syrian-rebels. A Russian jet flies into Turkish airspace for ten seconds; the Turkish President apparently gives the command to shoot it down. They do.\n\nPutin gets upset, because that is what you do when you are the President of a country that wants to look strong.\n\nThe Turks don't back down from protecting their airspace.\n\nSabres get rattled.\n\nNo actual war ever breaks out directly between the two nations, because they have mutual economic interests they want to protect.\n\nFighting between Russia and Turkey will continue through proxy-wars (backing different sides) and the use of intelligence services.\n\nUnless something far, far stupider is done in the near future. In that case, please disregard everything above.",
"Syria is split into several warring factions. You have the Assad government, which the UK doesn't recognise because of their brutality, in the south West. You have the Syrian freedom army, who oppose Assad in the North West. You have the Kurds fighting in the North on the Turkish border and the remaining land central and East is ISIS. \n\nThe Americans are bombing ISIS and arming the Syrian freedom army. The Russians are bombing the Syrian Freedom Army and arming Assad. The Turks are bombing the Kurds, the Kurds are armed by the US and fighting ISIS, ISIS are not really figuring anyone but internally are brutalised the local inhabitants and France is bombing ISIS. \n\nThe UK isn't involved because we don't recognise Assad's government and won't go in without an invitation. Battle mad Cameron just wants to bomb Syria, not sure he knows who, just the country as a whole. \n\nI think that explains it"
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5idsvp | why do people feel brain drained after a full day of learning/exposure to new experiences? do our brains have a limited to the amount of work they can do in a day? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5idsvp/eli5_why_do_people_feel_brain_drained_after_a/ | {
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"Just as physical exertion takes more energy, as does mental exertion. When you are processing a lot of new information and stimuli, it requires more mental exertion and more exchanges between neurons over a shorter period of time using more energy.\n\nYou feel tired because you ARE tired. "
]
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5nuu8z | why are the planets so bright? | I understand they reflect light, because, well, they are matter, but why do they seem so much brighter than the stars? The light from the stars are farther away, of course, but once they get here, they're here? Is it merely an illusion due to the distance difference? Is it possible some of the "stars" I see are actually super-huge planets? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5nuu8z/eli5_why_are_the_planets_so_bright/ | {
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"text": [
"No the star you see are not super-huge planets. But you might have mistaken on of the our 5 planets that we can see with nake eyes for a star.\n\nIt's really only the difference in distance. Take venus for exemple. At it's closest to earth it's only at 38 million km. The closest star is at 4.24 light years away. That's 10.5 millions times farther aways.\n\n",
"So as you know, light radiates out in all directions from a star.\n\nThis means that the energy a star puts out is spread out across a sphere with a radius equal to the distance from the observer to the center of that star.\n\nFor the Sun, even with the added distance of traveling to a planet and then traveling back, is much, much, much, **much** less than the distance even to the closest star.\n\nSince the entirety of the energy spreads out over this entire sphere surface, the amount of light intensity that reaches us from other stars is much less than what reaches us reflected from planets.",
"Astronomy is full of numbers that are, well, astronomical. Stars are unimaginably bright and they're also unimaginably far away. The numbers involved are so large that your intuition is of no use in working out how bright they should appear to us in the sky; you have to use a calculator.\n\nOn the other hand the planets are sunlit objects and the brightest of them are almost large enough to be resolved by the human eye (i.e., for us to see something of their shape rather than that they are just points of light).",
"You have it mostly figured out. The thing about light, like many other equations, is that it changes value by the square of the distance. Say you measure the light 1 foot away from a candle and then you re-measure it 2 feet away. You'd think the amount of light would drop by half, but it doesn't, it drops by 3/4. Move twice as far, lose 4 times the light. Move twice as close, gain 4 times the light. \n\nWhat this means to us is that a dim object that is very close, can appear much brighter than a very bright object that is far away. In the case of planets and moons the apparent magnitude or brightness is a function of their reflectivity or albedo, and the brightness of our sun. Very large, very reflective or white planets and moons, have a very high albedo and so they appear much brighter than smaller and darker planets. \n\nEven the closest stars are several orders of magnitude farther away from us, than the farthest planets in our solar system. So the amount of light lost in the distance is considerable. So even though Proxima Centauri is a sun, much brighter than any planet, it's 4 light years away. And our moon, which is much smaller and dimmer than a sun, appears very bright to us because it is so close. "
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am6e3q | how do phone mics filter audio based on source (like youtube vs me talking using the loudspeaker) | My girlfriend and I video call each other every day (long distance fml). When I have her on speaker and also have a YouTube video playing on my phone at the same time, she can hear everything I say but nothing from the YouTube video. While this is perfect for me, how does the phone do it? Is it software specific because I've only tried it with Google Duo and Hangouts? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/am6e3q/eli5_how_do_phone_mics_filter_audio_based_on/ | {
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"Assuming you're playing the YouTube video on the same phone you're using for the video call, it's relatively easy: the phone knows what sound it's outputting from the speakers, so it can simply subtract that sound from what it's receiving through the microphone before sending it.\n\nAny phone that can be used as a speakerphone needs to do this to some extent, or you'd get feedback.",
"It's called phase inversion. Your phone knows the shape of the audio wave that YouTube is sending out and flips it upside down. This makes the peaks into troughs and vice versa, cancelling out those particular sounds it picks up through the mic, but allowing your voice to be singled out. It's the same principle used in Alexa so it can hear you more easily even when it's playing music."
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ain94x | why sound speakers make a little popping noise when turned off? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ain94x/eli5_why_sound_speakers_make_a_little_popping/ | {
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"It will be the electrical circuits powering off and the energy in the amplifier going to the speakers. This is also dependant on the design, it doesn’t have to happen.\n\nThink of it like an elastic band stretched between your fingers, when you relax your fingers the band will pop and shoot off."
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3r631f | how come when politicians talk about "jobs" they almost invariably mean manufacturing jobs? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3r631f/eli5_how_come_when_politicians_talk_about_jobs/ | {
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"Because the easiest way to bring a large number of jobs into an area is to get a factory to open up in the area. With that comes other good jobs too but factory work is low skilled, good paying labour that people need. ",
"Because manufacturing jobs have a very high economic multiplier effect. For example for every job at a car assembly plant it is estimated that 8-9 jobs are created as a result. Be this from supplier factories, to local businesses, to union management. Service, trades, and IT industries have comparably very low economic multipliers. Also they are a very simple and practical way to communicate the concept of \"jobs\" to the majority of voters."
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2swb46 | how does eating food stop one from feeling the effects of cannabis? | Why does giving in to the munchies sober you up? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2swb46/eli5_how_does_eating_food_stop_one_from_feeling/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"It doesn't. It just gives a burst of energy, but it in NO WAY sobers you."
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aqjxwv | markov chains and where people use them | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aqjxwv/eli5_markov_chains_and_where_people_use_them/ | {
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"So, a Markov chain is a series of random numbers which satisfies the following condition:\n\nMy beliefs about the next number in the series only depend on the immediately previous number. Knowing any additional information provides me with no additional information.\n\nSo, a purely independent series of random numbers is said to be memoryless. Such a series of numbers might be obtained by rolling a die repeatedly. Knowing what numbers have come up before provides me with no information about what numbers will come up in the future.\n\nA Markov Chain will satisfy the property that there's one unit of memory involved. The process can look back in time to see what happened immediately before, but can't look back at what happened 2, 3, 4, and so rolls back.\n\nOne example of where a Markov chain might be used is with the subreddit simulator bots. Here, the 'states' are the words being used, with the bot learning what words seem to follow after another by training with lots of previous posts and comments made by the subreddit. Then, the bot uses a Markov-chain Monte Carlo simulation (that is, it randomly simulates a post based on the process it has 'learned') to start posting comments that look - to some extent - like they came from that subreddit's users, or an amalgamation thereof.\n\nIn any case, this is a fairly complex topic to explain easily, so I can try to clarify questions or anything I explained too technically.",
"Markov Chains are used often in probabilistic modelling. For complex multi-step models they can be used to simulate how aggregate behavior interacts sequentially so that one may forecast from a null state to a final state, that may have multiple probabilistic steps. \n\n",
"Markov Chains are often used in customer lifecycles and can be applied to pretty much any kind of step by step process which doesn't have to follow a set path.\n\nFor example, a customer with a loan can have their behaviour and the companies response represented as a Markov Chain. \n\nA customer who is up to date with their Loan payments can be considered as state 0, and if they miss a single monthly payment they move to State 1 and the company would no longer give them a bonus product and would note internally that they have missed a payment. from there the customer could repay, moving back to State 0 or miss another payment to hit State 2.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nSo you have **S0** \\- > S1 and S0 < - **S1** \\- > S2 and S1 < - **S2**, but it is impossible for a customer to migrate from S2 to S0 so this would have a probability of 0.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nnow imagine you offer the customer the ability to repay their whole loan early and close, but they can only do this is they are UTD (state 0). so now we add another branch to the Markov Chain where **S0 - > ** S4 with a non zero probability.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThis is very useful in forecasting bucket movements as you can generate a Markov chain matrix and simulate what would happen by adding 1000 customers and applying this model 12 times. giving you a pattern of what state you would expect your customers to be in after a year of behaviour.",
"Let me try an ELI5 explanation.\n\nSuppose you have a device that fails if part A fails then part B fails, but not vice-versa. You can model the different combinations in which A and B are either operational or failed, but the state where they are both failed is actually two states, depending on the failure order.\n\nA Markov chain is a sequence of states that represent each of these situations, with connections between the states representing the failure (or repair!) of the parts. Each connection has an associated probability based on how likely the part is to fail.\n\nOnce you've constructed your Markov chain, you can convert it to a set of differential equations that can be solved to answer the question of what the overall probability is for the overall system to be failed.\n\nSource: worked on software to convert dynamic fault trees to Markov models. "
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925eq4 | why do a few of my iphone apps say they are ‘cleaning’ sometimes? what does that mean? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/925eq4/eli5_why_do_a_few_of_my_iphone_apps_say_they_are/ | {
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"They say that?? I’ve used iPhones since, well, a while now and have never seen that. Now I’m curious if it’s something up w/your phone or I’m just lucky. Just out of curiosity, which apps? All or the same ones? ",
"In order to speed up operation, your phone saves relevant information for each app in caches and temporary files. \n\nIf you're low on memory, your phone will go through all your apps and start cleaning out those caches and temporary files to reclaim some room.",
"Removing files that are no longer needed or reorganizing smaller files into larger files for less system overhead."
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fm8jb4 | how does liquid sand work? | I know you need to put air in the bottom in a certain way but
i want to know what is happening, is the air going between
the sand grains or what? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fm8jb4/eli5_how_does_liquid_sand_work/ | {
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"text": [
"Yes, the air is going between the sand grains.\n\nA liquid is made of atoms or molecules that are close together (like sand grains) but also [vibrate](_URL_0_) and thus don't \"clump together\" like (still) sand grains. Blowing air through sand grains dislodges them so they can move around more like the molecules in a liquid would, and the sand gains \"liquid\" properties."
]
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| []
| [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion"
]
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|
|
4edixd | with voting machines being widely seen as unreliable, expensive and easy to manipulate, why does the us still use them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4edixd/eli5_with_voting_machines_being_widely_seen_as/ | {
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"Voting machines are *highly* accurate.\n\nUnless your state cheaps out and gets the touch-screen types. But optical scan ballots are quite accurate and have ways to independently validate the count, which touch-screen machines lack."
]
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1t9w3z | what is the universe like outside of the boundaries of galaxies? is it just empty space? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1t9w3z/eli5_what_is_the_universe_like_outside_of_the/ | {
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"No there's still the occasional particle. There's also light if you want to count that. There's also going to be the occasional rogue star that has escaped its parent galaxy due to gravitational interactions. ",
"More or less. There is the occasional piece of matter, ranging in size from an atom to a rogue star or planet that was chucked out of its parent system, but the space between galaxies is mostly an empty void.",
"Vacuum, random particles of matter and antimatter, and shit tons of dark matter...and very, very, VERY cold.\n\nEDIT: Oh, there are random stars, dust, and HII regions floating around too.",
"Intergalactic space (the space between galaxies) is pretty much empty, yes. In any case a lot more empty than interplanetary space. It is not strictly \"emtpy\" as such, and not going to discuss if something like \"nothing\" even exists, but short of the occasional rogue star that got kicked out of its galaxy, particly density is very very low there. Galaxies string up a bit like soap foam: they accumulate along a bubble edge while the bubbles itself basically consist of emptiness inside.\n\nEXCEPT, and this is a big except, there are huge amounts of Dark Matter and Dark Energy out there, much more than, \"normal\" matter, which play a vital role in galaxy, cluster and supercluster formation (i.e. galaxy clusters and clusters of galaxy clusters). Unfortunately we have no real clue what either of them are, except that we can't detect them (hence \"dark\") and that they must be quite different from the stuff that e.g. you and me are made of (i.e. baryonic matter).\n\nOh yeah, and besides \"cold\", it's also a heck of a lot darker out there than e.g. your typical starry night sky is. The stars you see at night when you look up are mostly in our more or less immediate neighbourhood from a few dozen to within a few thousand lightyears at best. Our own galactic center tends to be barely visible, our own neighbouring galaxies are so faint to us at their distance that most people have probably never noticed them. Now imagine you'd be situated in an intergalactic bubble where there is nothing but emptiness around you and the next visible galaxies are millions of lightyears away. Not much to see there except for some oddly faint smudges.",
"The craziest part to think about beyond the absolutely vast emptiness of space, in my opinion, is just how empty *everything* actually is. Even inside the densest parts of the hardest bones in your body, it is nearly entirely empty. From the space between molecules, to the space between even atoms, inside those to the space between the nucleus and the electrons and even within the electron itself... it's almost not there at all. It just barely counts as stuff. And that's what the entire Universe is made up of, when there is stuff. (This, of course, doesn't refer to dark matter at all, but still, it's a crazy thought.)",
"Just to clarify, if there is space then that's not empty!"
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jn952 | how the hell does the checkerboard optical illusion work? | Y'know, [this one](_URL_0_). | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jn952/eli5_how_the_hell_does_the_checkerboard_optical/ | {
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"Because your brain does a lot of automatic adjustments to how you see things, so that you can still recognize things even if the light is different, or it's covered in shadows. These adjustments rely heavily on context, so if you put the same color in two different contexts, the adjustments will make them look completely different. ",
"Your brain makes sense of things using two types of methods, called top-down and bottom-up. Bottom-up is the process that lets you recognize things. For instance, you know an object is a car because you can see that it has 4 wheels, a windshield, doors, and everything else you would expect to be on a car and not on some other similar thing (like a lawn mower). This is the bottom-up process. But lets say that the car is missing a door. You still know its a car because you can see that there SHOULD be a door instead of a door shaped hole. This is the top-down process which fills in information that is either missing or doesn't go along with what you expect to see.\n\nNow, these two processes are occurring when you look at this optical illusion. The bottom-up process sees the checkerboard pattern, that there is an area where all of the tiles are darker than the others (the \"shadow\"), and an object that appears to have light shining on it from the right hand side. The top-down process then refines these pieces into what you think you see which is a checkerboard pattern with only two colors (\"black\" and \"white\") with a shadow cast on it by the object. So your brain makes the rule that all of the \"black\" tiles must be darker than all of the \"white\" tiles so that the pattern still makes sense even with the shadow. So applying this rule to blocks A and B says that A must be darker than B because A is a \"black\" tile and B is a \"white\" tile based on the checkerboard pattern.\n\nYou can see this process in action by trying two things with the first image on that page:\n\n1) Simply cover the cylinder and look away from the image for 5 seconds. With the cylinder still covered look back at the image. Blocks A and B will now be the same color. This works by stopping the top-down process that assumes there should be a shadow over that part of the checkerboard accounting for the slight changes in the colors of the \"black\" and \"white\" tiles.\n\n2) Use your left hand to cover the checkerboard and cover the area next to the cylinder with your right. You should only be able to see the cylinder. Move both hands to the left so that as more of the checkerboard becomes visible less of the cylinder can be seen. Stop when you can see the entire checkerboard, but none of the cylinder. You will likely see that A and B look to be different colors even though you can't see the cylinder. This is because even though you never saw the cylinder and blocks A and B together, your top-down process saw the the cylinder's \"shadow\" and assumes that it continues across the checkerboard.",
"Because your brain does a lot of automatic adjustments to how you see things, so that you can still recognize things even if the light is different, or it's covered in shadows. These adjustments rely heavily on context, so if you put the same color in two different contexts, the adjustments will make them look completely different. ",
"Your brain makes sense of things using two types of methods, called top-down and bottom-up. Bottom-up is the process that lets you recognize things. For instance, you know an object is a car because you can see that it has 4 wheels, a windshield, doors, and everything else you would expect to be on a car and not on some other similar thing (like a lawn mower). This is the bottom-up process. But lets say that the car is missing a door. You still know its a car because you can see that there SHOULD be a door instead of a door shaped hole. This is the top-down process which fills in information that is either missing or doesn't go along with what you expect to see.\n\nNow, these two processes are occurring when you look at this optical illusion. The bottom-up process sees the checkerboard pattern, that there is an area where all of the tiles are darker than the others (the \"shadow\"), and an object that appears to have light shining on it from the right hand side. The top-down process then refines these pieces into what you think you see which is a checkerboard pattern with only two colors (\"black\" and \"white\") with a shadow cast on it by the object. So your brain makes the rule that all of the \"black\" tiles must be darker than all of the \"white\" tiles so that the pattern still makes sense even with the shadow. So applying this rule to blocks A and B says that A must be darker than B because A is a \"black\" tile and B is a \"white\" tile based on the checkerboard pattern.\n\nYou can see this process in action by trying two things with the first image on that page:\n\n1) Simply cover the cylinder and look away from the image for 5 seconds. With the cylinder still covered look back at the image. Blocks A and B will now be the same color. This works by stopping the top-down process that assumes there should be a shadow over that part of the checkerboard accounting for the slight changes in the colors of the \"black\" and \"white\" tiles.\n\n2) Use your left hand to cover the checkerboard and cover the area next to the cylinder with your right. You should only be able to see the cylinder. Move both hands to the left so that as more of the checkerboard becomes visible less of the cylinder can be seen. Stop when you can see the entire checkerboard, but none of the cylinder. You will likely see that A and B look to be different colors even though you can't see the cylinder. This is because even though you never saw the cylinder and blocks A and B together, your top-down process saw the the cylinder's \"shadow\" and assumes that it continues across the checkerboard."
]
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18m2ck | whats stopping every senate minority from just filibustering every bill they don't like ever? | I was under the impression that you have to stay up and talk the whole time to filibuster, but if you can just claim filibuster to get a vote on cloture because you know it won't get 60 votes, why doesn't every opponent of every bill do that? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18m2ck/eli5_whats_stopping_every_senate_minority_from/ | {
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"text": [
"They do. This is why [the most recent Congressional session was the most unproductive for decades](_URL_0_); it's become accepted that you can just filibuster things whenever you disagree with them.",
"They often do. Cloture is now filed on just about every bill, requiring a 60-vote threshold. But since there are 55 Democrats, it only takes 5 Republicans to support the bill as well to overcome the filibuster. "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/congress-unproductive_n_2371387.html"
],
[]
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|
389m3t | what is actually happening when scissors are run really fast against a ribbon? | Why does the ribbon curl? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/389m3t/eli5_what_is_actually_happening_when_scissors_are/ | {
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"Someone may know for sure but I imagine that the heat from the friction of the blade against the ribbon causes that side of the ribbon to contract (becoming shorter) making the other side of the ribbon longer, hence the curling. \nI suppose you could try applying heat to the ribbon to see if it shrinks. (if you are actually five maybe get an adult to help with this, before you go holding it over a flame.) ",
"Because you are making the ribbon asymmetrical, which causes it to curl. \n\nThe same concept applies to curly hair\n\n_URL_0_"
]
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| []
| [
[],
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"http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-11/fyi-what-maks-hair-curly"
]
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|
9wqgj5 | how surveyors know where they're at on a property and where that property begins and ends? what points of reference do they use and how do they know theyre accurate? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9wqgj5/eli5_how_surveyors_know_where_theyre_at_on_a/ | {
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"They pick established reference point of sets. Things that are relatively static. And they regularly verify the reference points are static in relation to each other. And if they're not, they update new reference points.\n\nAnd most of all, they accept that things move and there is error. And they build error into their survey.",
"Pre-measured reference points. Usually metal stakes driven into the ground. Measuring from these points gives them an accurate reference to how your property is located relative to the geomatics benchmarks. On the property map, it will list the reference points that the lines are measured from, IRC.\nIt's been a while since I had anything to do with surveying, but that's what I recall.",
"Titles or deeds in the US are typically recorded in a registry. In this registry there is a record of the property's history which should include it's original boundaries, any easements or change of ownership. The original boundaries are established by posting \"pins\" which are three feet long iron bars that are hammered into the ground. Property boundaries are only 2D and they ignore elevation to make things a little easier. When surveyors start to survey a property they will start by trying to locate these pins as reference. The pins coordinates should be published and apart of the deed/title. If these pins or other adjacent ones can't be found there is a heiarchy of what to use to define boundaries ( this is a continuous point of debate that gets brought up in many lawsuits involving property boundaries). As others mentioned GPS receivers (or total stations) are then used to survey the property accurately (sub cm/inch) and compare coordinates to the reference. Typically two pins are desired for a good control reference. One pin to set up on and another to \"check\" to. If the new surveyed coordinates are close enough to the old published ones then you can say the survey is within a certain accuracy.",
"There are a few different ways to do this. In terms of elevations, typically they will get an elevation from a certified elevation marker placed by USGS and work their way towards the property they are measuring. If the exact elevation is not important, they will set the finished floor elevation as 'zero' and measure everything relative to that finished floor. In terms of distances, the machines generally calculate that information for you. The older ones will be set up in one spot and someone will level it and set it's elevation and someone with another device with a mirror on it will place it and the main machine sends out a laser at a certain speed and however long it takes to reflect back to the main machine can be used to back track the distance."
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7vrc8q | how come the lobe of the brain controlling vision is in the back? | I am studying brain anatomy right now in anatomy and cases like this keep popping up. Is there a simple explanation? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7vrc8q/eli5_how_come_the_lobe_of_the_brain_controlling/ | {
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"I would think it have to be with the evolutionary history of the vision, it was one of the more recent developed senses. In fact, retina is part of the nervous system and some people say that the eyes are a part of the brain out to see the world.\n\nIn fact the optical nerve goes throught the brain surface until the mid of the brain, on the hypothalamus, and some nerves go to the optical coliculi, right there, and some go to the cerebral cortex in the back of the brain. \n\nWaiting for an answer as well ;)",
"It just is. It's not a satisfying answer, but it's the right one. It might seem logical that the visual cortex would be as close to the eyes as possible, but if there was an evolutionary disadvantage to having the visual cortex at the back of the brain instead of near the eyes, it wouldn't be that way. The fact that the visual cortex is where it is shows that there's no disadvantage to having it in the back of the brain.\n\nIn addition, it is not the case that fibers are not \"just\" running from the eyes all the way back to the visual cortex - there are additional targets for the signals from the retina besides the visual cortex. And even for signals that end up a the visual cortex, there is quite a bit of processing that happens along they way in other parts of the brain before reaching the visual cortex.",
"IMO, evolution of the brain across species: sight and other sensory functions, motor functions etc, are basic functions that are/were present even in primitive animals, and in general those areas of the brain would be closer to the brain stem / spinal cord, i.e. at the back. The frontal lobes, controlling abstract thought and reasoning, basically developed \"later\" in evolution terms."
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46f08r | why is it okay to criticize anti gay and other questionable christian beliefs without much reprisal, but when similar beliefs are criticized in islam by someone they are shutdown immediately as islamaphobic or racist? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/46f08r/eli5_why_is_it_okay_to_criticize_anti_gay_and/ | {
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"Mostly because christianophoby and racism against \"the typical race a Christian would be\" aren't a thing. They are a very real and very omnipresent thing when applied to Islam though.\n\nPeople interested in shutting other people up are milking these facts for all their worth."
]
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| []
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2wdi58 | why does it seem like the tendency to do drugs/drink alcohol at a young age is genetic? | I am in high school, and obviously certain people make the choice to do things like smoke pot and drink. However, I've noticed a trend: it seems like everyone who smokes pot has an older sibling that does so, and my older friends who smoke pot have a younger sibling who recently started. This is all without intervention from the older sibling (sibling doesn't 'introduce' other sibling to said drug). I'm just curious if there is a genetic trait or something hereditary, or if it has to do with upbringing. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wdi58/eli5_why_does_it_seem_like_the_tendency_to_do/ | {
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"There are certainly some genetic factors that relate to drug/alcohol use (I believe that Native Americans, for example, are genetically more prone to alcoholism), but I wouldn't put this on nature as much as nurture.\n\nMaybe these people look up to their sibling and want to copy them. Maybe the sibling didn't have any negative consequences to drug/alcohol use, so the younger one is more willing to try. Maybe the household is casual about drug use, or the parents do it. There are about a gazillion factors that could explain it better than genetics could.",
"As /u/stairway2evan said, I don't think it has too much to do with genetics as it does with the parents views and experiences with drugs an alcohol. I grew up in an odd environment where my mother and stepfather had completely different views on drugs and alcohol entirely based on previous experiences. My mother drank and smoked weed/dropped acid/shrooms etc when she was younger so she didn't care too much if I did these things (as long as I was being responsible), *however* my stepfather was raised in a very strict christian home and had never done any illegal drugs of any sort (he enjoyed his first beer at 21 years old. Legal drinking age is 19 in Canada), however his brother was the complete opposite; he was heavily into all sorts of drugs and was eventually killed when he swerved into oncoming traffic on his motorbike while going 200+ km/h, high on cocaine."
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1wca3v | why do we get tiny shocks from light switches, laptops etc. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wca3v/eli5_why_do_we_get_tiny_shocks_from_light/ | {
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"Your body has collected static electricity, and you touch something that allows it to be discharged.",
"You get shocks from those items because they're (mainly) made of metal. Since metal is a fantastic conductor, the static electricity generated in your body by carpets, beds, blankets, etc. rushes out of your body and into the object, creating the tiny zap you feel."
]
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byi02s | why did older languages in general have more complicated, multisyllabic words, when most other things increase in complexity as they develop further? | Doesn't it make sense to start with simple noises to represent the everyday things? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/byi02s/eli5_why_did_older_languages_in_general_have_more/ | {
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"Language is one of those things that is rarely designed and created intelligently (by which I mean languages don't tend to be created at all). They develop organically which means there's a lot of room for nonsense. Nobody decided what makes sense, they just communicated.\n\nOlder languages have tons of simple words as well, it's just hard for us to parse what we're actually hearing so it seems complex. Plus there's also a difference between complexity in vocabulary and complexity in grammar.",
"I have wondered the same thing. Ancient languages like classical Greek and Latin have 6 grammatical cases for example. But their descendants are much simpler. I wonder if is because, when population and mobility increased, intercommunication made it necessary to simplify. Likewise the internet.\n\nSo 2-day u r like, whatever.",
"There may be multiple reasons. \n1. Some of the complexity you see in older languages was deliberately introduced to maintain their status as the language of aristocracy. I know that was the case with Sanskrit (very similar to Latin with 8 cases and singular, plural and \"dual\" forms). The masses often spoke a very simple version which had shorter more simple words.\n2. Assimilation of new languages (invasion, migration etc...) often introduced new words foreign to both native populations. What was simple to one became complex for the other due to different speech patterns. These often became simplified as time went on as the languages met in the middle.\n3. This is my own take so no clue if it is widely held: I think when languages were written down they quickly evolved a complex grammar like any system that \"just works\" in practice but is difficult to put down in rules when you define them. Then scribes started using that grammar to create complex words. Which maybe why in written literature you see words that no one uses in practice. E g. In old English poems people could just throw together two different words together to create a new word (e.g. whale-road for sea) for artistic effect but that doesn't mean people were using that word in practice. As time goes on most of those words fell away due to disuse.\n4. New complexity is always being introduced, it just doesn't seem complex to us. We routinely use new complex words without issues because we have become familiar to them (e.g. decentralization, multiculturalism)."
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5n58ob | why do we find cockroaches so disgusting ? | I'm really curious, since they don't sting or pose danger as other insects or animals. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5n58ob/eli5_why_do_we_find_cockroaches_so_disgusting/ | {
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"They're associated with being dirty and there because the area isn't clean. \n\nIt's the same way we find lice disgusting. Yes it's kinda yucky that little bugs are living in your hair, but they're associated with unclean people as well. Lice actually prefer clean hair to dirty hair. And they can infest anyone, regardless of their cleanliness. Just like cockroaches. \n\nI think ultimately, it comes down to the fact that as children we are *told* cockroaches are disgusting so we grow up having this belief and passing it on to other people. ",
"I think it also has a lot to do with their \"ick\" factor. They are very fast, get very large, are hard to kill, and make a really grody crunch/splat combination when you step on them. I think most people around where I live don't necessarily associate them with filth, because in a city with a high population density, some insects are inevitable. But we do know that they thrive in unsanitary, dark, humid conditions, where food supply is open and available and caustic chemicals (such as Clorox or Lysol or other sanitary disinfectants) aren't present to ward them off. So even if my house is spotless, if my neighbor is gross, I could end up with her roaches. I think a lot of it is that we know roaches *prefer* filth, so seeing them in your home (even if they're just seeking warmth because the season is changing) gives everyone the shock of feeling like their house is dirty. \n\nI think another thing that makes people hate them and think they're unsanitary (at least in the southern United States) is their tendency to end up in places that other pests don't invade. \n\nExample: yes, mice may chew into your dry goods, but the odds of you waking up to one being in the bed with you are slim to none. Flies are gross, but they don't end up desperately flapping into your hair, getting entangled. Spiders are cool (except when they're inconveniently located), but they don't tend to spaz out at you when you open a cabinet or closet. \n\nI lived in a nightmare rental property once and we had roaches so badly that you had to shake out the bedsheets before going to bed. Or the time one ran down my naked back because it was chilling in the folds of my hung up bathrobe. Or the time that I woke up in the nude and one was preening his antennae while resting on my bare chest. Fucking A. \n\nThe worst was when one had decided to take a nap inside of my hairdryer. I did not become aware of this until the fan blades chopped him into tiny pieces and the heating element fried his guts into crispy chunks and shot them all into my freshly washed, wet hair. So glad I don't live there anymore. \n\nBut I'll be damned, I'll still take cockroaches over spider crickets. Any day. Fuck those things. \n\nEdit: missing word",
"That metallic smell is unnerving.\n\nI do not like how they show by their very existence what you thought your clean house was is not.\n\nMy dad used to tell me stories about how he watched a roach crawl on a toothbrush and shit on it. Makes you wonder what they do to your face when you are sleeping.\n\nBut the worst aspect in my mind is sometimes you know it is only going to get worse. Lived in an apartment once where the idiots there only sprayed the specific rooms with roaches. I saw a single roach on the first night. By the end of my lease, they were in my freezer and there was no place safe from them, and if I called the landlord or bombed the place, they were just going to come back. That sucks. Properly run complexes annually spray top to bottom the entire building.",
"Do not underestimate the power of the Raid commercial. Millions of us have been indoctrinated with that message for a life time.",
"I would guess that they're highly unsanitary creatures, given their affinity for eating shit, etc. It would make a great deal of sense for us to be revulsed by an indicator of unsanitary conditions--meaning we leave quickly and don't eat anything.",
"What your are referring to are West German Cock Roaches. There are many species of roaches some are pests and the majority you would never see in our life. I have kept dubia roaches to feed my spider collection. They don't stink, they can't live in your house if they escape, can't fly, can't climb glass. you would never I kept them unless I showed you them because they don't even have a smell. Some roaches are called litter bugs due to the fact they only eat decaying vegetation and if you saw one, you would think it was a beetle. \n\nTL/DR it depends on the species of roach, not all of them are pests.\n\nFun fact. Crickets are more closely related to cockroaches than they are to a grasshopper. I hate crickets. They are gross assholes. ",
"well they have no problem wading through the most disgusting filth. and then they head right over to you.\n\nflies are also gross but generally try to avoid you. roaches don't give a shit.",
"Well people find them disgusting because they tend to love filth and thrive in garbage so they're associated with said filth. For me though I just have an irrational fear of them. Their large size, erratic and almost unnatural movement and speed and their capability to fly (clumsily and usually right into your face) is what I cannot stand. But this is just the American roach. Those small german ones don't bother me and the ones without wings even less. \n\nIn general though I really dislike all flying insects. I have the same fear of large moths.\n",
"roaches are more than just unpleasant to look at, they also have the potential to spread diseases through cross-contamination as well as cause some significant allergic reactions.\n\n\nA cockroach’s typical diet consists of feces, trash, and uncovered food, giving them ample opportunity to come into contact with dangerous bacteria and then spread it all over your next meal. It’s believed that roaches can transmit a wide variety of diseases in this manner, including gastroenteritis, dysentery, cholera, leprosy, typhoid fever, and salmonella, as well as also carrying parasitic worm larvae on their bodies. Even if food is kept well covered, the mere presence of roaches in your house means that they still could be tracking their tiny germ-ridden footprints throughout your home and kitchen, across counter tops, and all over plates and glassware.\n\n\nAn equally serious problem with cockroach infestations is their potential to cause allergic reactions and worsen existing cases of asthma. Certain people are allergic to proteins found in cockroach feces and saliva, the exposure to which can result in skin rashes, coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. These same roach allergens can also trigger serious asthma attacks, especially in children. Asthma alone can be a life-threatening disease, and a large portion of asthmatics are also allergic to cockroaches, leading to much worse symptoms when they are in prolonged proximity with theses insects.",
"I'm in pest control and I always enjoy the fact that people are disgusted by roaches. It's humorous to me since roaches are disgusted by us. If you touch one it will run away and start cleaning the oil from your skin off of itself. ",
"It's for the same instinctual reaction someone might get upset or defensive for being called a racist or sexist. In modern households, when you see a cockroach, deep down you know it's because you did something wrong. Maybe you weren't on top of your pest prevention procedures, maybe you forgot to spray, maybe you left that cardboard box from the grocery store in your house too long, maybe you were a little tardy in washing your dishes. Whatever the reason, a cockroach is a sign that your house isn't as clean or as well-tended for as it should be, and is a reproach and reminder that you should have done better. ",
"As someone who isn't really anti-bug, but has dealt with a recent infestation, it's because they are filthy and spread filth. They eat garbage and poop from the cat box. They then crawl on everything and leave their own poop everywhere. If you've ever opened your silverware drawer, seen a few scuttle away, then notice the little black poops on your previously clean knifes & spoons, you would know.",
"Roaches live in nasty places (like the sewer and the poop pipes leading to a home). They like to walk across your food, and they poop while doing it. \n\nSo yeah, they're gross. Also they are ugly af. ",
"I raise Dubia roaches for my bearded dragon. They've actually really grown on me this last year. They bumble around like idiots, can't fly, hardly smell unless you've left food in there and have actually grown used to me so that when I give them food, they come running for it, some riding on the backs of larger ones, no fucks given for the giant hand in the sky that brings delicious bananas. I'm not sure how id feel about, say, german roaches, but I've found Dubia to be quite endearing in their own way. I've totally gotten over the ick factor and will handle my full grown adults and check out their internal egg sacks to see if they're pregnant and let the males run across my hands or pick up nymphs and sex them. When they get scared they freeze in place and some will even roll up like rollie pollies, which is actually pretty cute.",
"I'm personally petrified of roaches, call it a phobia. If it's a bee, spider etc I'm okay if I run into one but put a roach in front of me and I'm sprinting like Usain Bolt. My apartment is locked down with roach traps and pesticides just to be on the safe side but I can't even stand to see a dead one let alone one that's crawling and alive.\n\nIt probably goes back to when I was a kid, spent the night at a friends house. I guess his house wasn't very clean because in the middle of the night I felt a lot of tickling movement in my sleeping back that woke me up. I got up, turned on the light and open my sleeping bag only to find about 6 huge roaches just crawling inside. It was the nastiest feeling in the world and scared the shit out of me for the rest of my life. The feeling of having them all over me was beyond disgusting. ",
"I have a MASSIVE phobia against roaches. Especially palmetto bugs. Like to the point where even I realize it's irrational. I attribute it to the fact that when I was little I'd see my mom freak out and scream when she saw them, so in turn I learned to freak out and scream when I saw one. Ugh. Hate. Them. Especially the flying ones. I think Satan himself handcrafted flying cockroaches to torment those who already are scared of wingless roaches.... ",
"I have a paralyzing fear of roaches, and I've never fully understood why. And I'm not exaggerating this either. My college dorm building was infested with them, and seeing them was a fairly common occurrence. Other people would just step on them or even pick them and take them outside (I just shivered typing that). I, on the other hand, would literally freeze until someone near me would take care of it. I'm not proud of it, but them's the facts. \n\nI think, like others have said, it's that they're so associated with uncleanliness. My mom hates them almost as much as I do, because she was forced to live in some pretty nasty places while on welfare. I'm sure that's where I picked it up. \n\nThere's also the fact that they freakin adapt to our methods of killing. \n\nGuillotine? Fuck it, I'll live without a head for a while. \n\nAtom bomb? Eh, I'll probably survive. \n\nNo food? I'll eat literally anything, including the paper in your books. \n\nAnd they fight back. They can carry hepatitis and other diseases and can actually transmit them. Chemical warfare, I tell ya. \n\nPlus the stories of them crawling in people's ears. I read enough Animorphs as a kid to know their real plan there. ",
"I dated a guy in high school whose guardians' house (his grandparents) was INFESTED with German roaches. I am not a squeamish girl by any means, but this was bad. You'd walk in the front door to a dark house, and roaches would scatter up the walls, across the floor, and across the ceiling away from the light from the open door. They were inside the dishwasher, the oven, the fridge and the freezer. The house just had this... *smell* to it. And it stuck to him, his hair, his skin, his clothes.\n\nThe house was a mobile home and had a built-in radio/speaker system, with the tuning dial mounted on the wall in the living room. Inside the plastic covering of the tuning dial was absolutely filled with discarded egg cases. When I realized that I just recoiled.\n\nI came over one night to have taco salad with him and his grandparents. I had ingredients spread out on the kitchen table and was having to flick roaches away from them because they kept crawling toward the food. I was paranoid that I would find one in my taco salad and so it was hard to be hungry...\n\nThe ex ended up finding one in the sour cream on top of his salad in the bowl... he picked it out (still alive) and just tossed it away... and kept eating. Yeah I was full after that.\n\nI didn't stay with him much longer. I started to worry I would bring home hitch hikers to my own house... somehow his grandmother's car also had roaches in it.\n\nBut despite all that, roaches don't gross me out or make me freak out. The place I moved into last year had a residual minor infestation (German) from the previous tenant. I used a gel bait and an insect growth regulator, and within a month they were totally gone.",
"**German roach** infestations are physically gross. They have a tell tale smell and heavily infested areas are covered with droppings and corpses. I'm in a... mixed income, high density neighborhood (gentrifying inner city). My neighbors house is literally 3 ft from mine and was a breeding ground for German Roaches, termites, and mice. I had to ensure I always had a pesticide barrier and every year had to combat German roaches infesting at least one location (dishwasher, fancy trash can, under the sink, behind/under fridge, wall behind shower, etc). \n\nThe first time I actually disassembled and cleaned my dishwasher outside in freezing temperatures to clear the infestation (which I repeated the next year for the trash can). It was so gross and smelly. The next time I smelled that smell a day before I saw a roach and I just threw that fucking dishwasher out. Clearing the other spots was a lot easier and usually involved just spraying with RAID once a day until a whole life cycle had elapsed. Luckily that neighbor is gone and the house is being flipped. At first, it sent a plague of roaches and mice my way, but they were defeated (RAID and cat).\n\n**Palmetto Bugs** are just really big, fast, strong, and can fly. Imagine an insect the size of your thumb just runs at you then flies at your face. You knock it away and it runs away to some unknown location in your home. At night, you can hear them scratching things. It's all a creepy big bug thing. If **stink bugs** (which infest in a similar way in Appalachia as Palmettos do farther south) were fast and occasionally flew at your face, people would be pretty grossed out by them too. They aren't though, so people don't seem to mind them.\n\n\n**Ants...** I grew up in fire ant territory and if you got ants in your house, that was a dangerous thing. When I moved north to go to college and my roommate's candy got ants, I freaked out. Then I realized they were tiny black ants and didn't bite at all and was so relieved that I was totally fine with them. To this day, I don't care about non-biting ants in my house if they aren't chewing on it or getting in electronics. It's very rare and only happens if there is a big rain in the spring. However, to my wife, ants are no better than roaches."
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6rb13g | why some pills need to be put under the tongue? | There are some pills that need to be disolved under the tongue. Why is that? Is it just so you dont feel the bad flavour so much or there's a medical explanation to it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6rb13g/eli5_why_some_pills_need_to_be_put_under_the/ | {
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"There are plenty of blood vessels near the surface of the mucous membranes of the mouth, especially under the tongue. For some substances (ones that can cross mucous membranes), therefore, dissolving them under the tongue is a fast and reliable way to get them into the bloodstream without injections.\n\nThe tongue also holds the pill in place while it dissolves, which is convenient for the process."
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71vx58 | why does the second day after an ankle sprain feel worse than immediately after i sprain it | I was playing football yesterday, after a really bad ankle sprain I was able to continue 5 minutes after I was tackled. Today, I can't even take a step with it. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/71vx58/eli5_why_does_the_second_day_after_an_ankle/ | {
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"text": [
"Simply put, the tissue surrounding the sprain has become engorged with fluid and is pressing hard against the sprain in an effort to prevent the oncoming possibility of infection. This is the reason why, after an injury you're told to keep your injured area above your heart if possible and to ice it (to prevent fluid from accumulating) ",
"Because it begins to swell after the initial sprain in order to help it heal. The swelling can cause a lot of pain. Just like how your body will start an uncomfortable fever to fight a biological threat.",
"When you're first injured, there's some shock and your brain releases pain killers like adrenaline. By the next day, the shock is worn off so your body is realizing \"holy shit, I took damage\" Also, your body is actively repairing the damage and trying to prevent more so you'll be more stiff from the swelling.\n\nThe pain is part of the healing process, it's basically your nerves telling you to stop doing whatever it is you're doing to cause the pain because it's causing more damage.",
"I'm nowhere near a professional but I'm guessing it has something to do with the amount of time you leave it resting. Things get relaxed unlike when you're playing football where your entire body is essentially overworking itself.",
"Swelling and inflammation aren't instant responses, and take time to fully take effect. After about 24hrs, you've got some pretty heavy swelling and inflammation which will press on nerves cause pain. That's why RICE is so important after an injury as it can prevent the swelling and inflammation from getting too bad."
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2nam2e | why are there riots in ferguson that involve acts of vandalism that don't have anything to do with the actual issue? | So i don't really get how people vandalizing and looting random stores have anything to do with the actual issue of the shooting.
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nam2e/eli5_why_are_there_riots_in_ferguson_that_involve/ | {
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"text": [
"It's ignorant people taking advantage of the situation. If anyone points out how this is the dumbest way to handle it, they use the current events/race card to defend their actions.",
"There are protests happening, when there are protests some people take advantage of the situation and loot/vandalize. The looting doesn't have anything to do with the actual issue, it's just opportunistic terrible people, just like with every other large grouping of people.",
"Rioters and protesters aren't the same thing. In any large protest situation (or really any situation where there are huge crowds that the police can't control, such as celebrations after a big sports win), there will always be people who are drawn to this simply because they want the opportunity to vandalize/loot/burn. \n\nThe problem is that American police now use the actions of these few individuals as a pretext to violently attack the entire crowd of protesters, most of whom are peaceful. This has the effect of stifling all protest and eliminating one of the most basic rights in the First Amendment. ",
"People take advantage of the fact that large groups of people diminish their chances of getting caught. It's the same reason there's rioting and looting after sports games."
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566mat | if your heart instantly and inexplicably stopped beating altogether, how long would you continue to live? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/566mat/eli5_if_your_heart_instantly_and_inexplicably/ | {
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"Reversible brain damage after a min or two. Permanent brain damage after 4 minutes without oxygen. You would be completely dead by 6 ",
"You would lose consciousness and die very, very fast. If your heart stops pumping then your brain stops receiving oxygenated blood. This is quite obviously bad. After 1 minute without oxygen brain cells start to die, and after 10 minutes the damage is essentially irreversible. "
]
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3s2g79 | why are some chicken wings flat while others are more like drumsticks? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s2g79/eli5_why_are_some_chicken_wings_flat_while_others/ | {
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"text": [
"Those are two different parts of the wing, comparable to your arm if it was chopped in half at the elbow. Two of those different pieces together makes up a \"whole\" wing.",
"There are two different parts of the wing. The drumstick is the upper \"arm\" that makes up the chickens shoulder, pretty much. The other piece is jointed off the end of the drumstick piece.",
"They're both parts of the actual wing!\n\nA chicken's wing comes with three \"parts\":\n\n1. The \"drumette\" (drumstick looking one) is the parts of the wing that connects to the body of the chicken.\n\n2. The \"winglette\" (flat looking one) is connected to the drumette by a joint. This joint is usually cut through to create the two types of wing you're referring to.\n\n3. The 'tip' - literally the tip of the wing. There's little or no meat on this, so it's cut from the winglette and discarded.\n"
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1y5ijd | with the geneva convention and the u.s. frowning upon use of chemical warfare, why did the military use napalm in the vietnam war? | A lot about that war is controversial to begin with, including the fact that it was started for no legitimate reason, but I'm just curious as to why this was overlooked in their hypocritical history. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1y5ijd/with_the_geneva_convention_and_the_us_frowning/ | {
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"Napalm is not a chemical weapon. It's an incendiary bomb. You are probably thinking of agent orange, which is also not a chemical weapon, but the chemicals used in it may have caused some side-effects on people affected by it. It's still debated whether agent orange was actually the specific reason for these issues though, the science isn't conclusive on it. ",
"Napalm doesn't really fit the traditional definition of a chemical weapon. Chemical weapons work more or less by poisonoing people. Napalm, by contrast, works by incinerating its targets, and in that regard is similar to a lot of conventional weapons.\n\nI'm not saying one is more justifiable/\"better\" than the other. I'm just pointing out a technical distinction.",
"To explain what others already said: A weapon is considered a chemical weapon not because chemicals are involved in its method of action because all weapons necessarily are chemical in nature. (Except maybe psychological weapons like propaganda.) A chemical weapon is considered as much because it relies exlusively on its reaction with humans to be dangerous, like how mustard gas causes choking and all.\n\nNapalm uses a chemical reaction to basically become fire you can throw around, and therefore its dangerous element isn't chemical but incendiary - it burns things due to its own heat.\n\nThe better argument you're looking for would be asking if napalm should be grouped with flamethrowers as an unduly cruel means of waging war. "
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8h837n | why has twitter had the shittiest possible video playback system ever for so long? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8h837n/eli5_why_has_twitter_had_the_shittiest_possible/ | {
"a_id": [
"dyhqy4p"
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"text": [
"Because it wasn't designed to do streaming they added streaming as a secondary service not primal service. Is like asking why this sandwich can hold the soup very well."
]
} | []
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[]
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||
a0sfv7 | how does uv get through even on a cloudy day, yet we're safe under shade? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a0sfv7/eli5_how_does_uv_get_through_even_on_a_cloudy_day/ | {
"a_id": [
"eak1ygm"
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"text": [
" Clouds aren’t really good at blocking light. They are just water vapor so they refract a lot of it back but they are still somewhat transparent so a lot gets through. Under shade you are under something solid that blocks 100% of the direct us rays"
]
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[]
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