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egoo7j | how is the videogame skyrim seemingly endless? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/egoo7j/eli5_how_is_the_videogame_skyrim_seemingly_endless/ | {
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"A small portion of the quests are procedurally generated. This means that there are is technically an infinite amount of meaningless fetch quests that reset every \\~3-ish in-game days. Every gathering node is preset and finite, though, they just respawn."
]
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6amq92 | why is a long one hour walk (4 miles) as tiring as a hard workout, but the walk burns far, far less calories? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6amq92/eli5why_is_a_long_one_hour_walk_4_miles_as_tiring/ | {
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"Unless you're walking over rough terrain or up steep inclines a 4 mile walk should not be tiring on the level of a strenuous workout. In general your perceived exertion is a good guide for how fast you're burning calories "
]
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f6vyhv | scars | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f6vyhv/eli5_scars/ | {
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"They would and do exfoliate, eventually. The “lifespan” of a scar is dependent on how deep in the skin it is, and the size of the scar. As time passes, all or parts of the scar tissue will be pushed out. This is why some scars disappear over time, especially with proper skin care. However, if a scar is particularly deep, parts of it may take increasingly long amounts of time to ever reach the surface, and some parts never will. This is why some scars made fade in appearance, but will still be present even upon death."
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3kqqzl | major differences between eastern orthodox and catholicism besides religious leader's authority? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3kqqzl/eli5_major_differences_between_eastern_orthodox/ | {
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"Authority is the big one.\n\n* Catholics mostly^1 use the Roman Rite liturgy; Orthodox groups tend to have their own liturgies.\n\n* Catholics still say the Holy Spirit proceeds \"from the Father and the Son\"; Orthodox usually draw more subtle nuances and may say the Holy Spirit proceeds \"from the Father through the Son\". \n\n* Local groups of Catholics and Orthodox have their own saints most likely to be venerated.\n\n* There's a couple books in the Orthodox list of Bible books (canon) that aren't in the Catholic canon. \n\n* Orthodox ordain married men to become priests; Catholics don't^1 . \n\n\n\n^(1. There are \"Eastern Rites\", who are technically Catholic and not Orthodox, because they accept the authority of the pope... but the Eastern Rite Catholics otherwise \"look\" more Orthodox, with their own liturgies and ordaining married men and whatnot. They are Catholic but not \"Roman Rite\".) "
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||
1yizor | why do so many law enforcers/military personnel support their governments during popular uprising? | During the Ukraine and Venezuela protests we hear a lot about how civilians are clashing with police forces and the National Guard, etc. Government agencies committing atrocities.
Why is this? I can sort of understand "duty to country" but surely many of these people would conclude that their country is more than just its current government policies. I can understand the Venezuela bike gangs wanting to maintain the status quo and keep themselves fed and in power because a new government might crack down on them. But surely the success of an uprising would vindicate any military/police for what would have been dereliction of duty if the government did stay in power. Some of these people have got to be firing on their own family members.
Sorry if this sounds disjointed, very stream-of-consciousy. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yizor/eli5_why_do_so_many_law_enforcersmilitary/ | {
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"Paychecks and false security",
"The types of people who become cops and military also tend to be OK with authority and think serious disagreement with the government is inappropriate/misguided at best.\n\nSee also: the eternal debate between \"fix the system from the inside\" versus \"it's too broken, it needs to be replaced.\"",
"Milgram's experiment:\n\n_URL_0_",
"I'm 61 years old. I served for six years in the United States Marine Corps. (During the Viet Nam era, but not in country) At no time in my life, under any but the most absolute circumstances (i.e. committing murders) would I fire upon students in my own country. If I were ordered to shoot students for standing in the streets shouting, I'd throw down my rifle. I'd bet that it was actually very few of the police/military who actually pulled triggers in Kiev. It kills me to think otherwise. I've known some really bad hateful racist extremist people in my life, so I can see these atrocities happening, (remember Kent State) but I believe I would die before shooting into a crowd of students.",
"In Ukraine and Venezuela, a large share of the people support the government. It's not like North Korea. \n\n\nFurther, people employed in law enforcement or military are often biased towards stability and order rather than upheavals. Opposite for students/young people."
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1s76gj | free radicals, oxidative stress, and anti oxidants. | Always been curious about this.. and how it effects humans. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1s76gj/eli5_free_radicals_oxidative_stress_and_anti/ | {
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"Oxygen is a corrosive gas. It literally steals electrons from other atoms (ie oxidizes them). Our body uses oxygen this way to forcefully pull electrons through several chemical reactions, such as breaking down digested carbohydrates into biochemical energy. This is why you breathe.\n\nUnfortunately, oxygen doesn't care which atoms it steals electrons from. It may steal from a protein or chunk of DNA that causes the victim molecule to no longer function correctly. Worse, the victim molecule is now unstable - it wants to either gain an electron back, or it needs to lose a second electron to become stable again. So now the victim molecule has become the predator, looking to prey on yet another molecule, and this cycle of electron violence continues. Sooner or later, molecules will become so \"broken\" that they can't function... proteins can't do their job, DNA becomes corrupted, etc. Then the cell's functioning starts to break down. If you're lucky (and healthy), your body will recognize the disruption and safely dispose of the cell. If you're not lucky, the faltering cell may become cancerous.\n\nAntioxidants are various chemicals that can neutralize this effect to some extent, thereby preventing damage.\n\n"
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1szzhg | how do other websites use reddit's content without backlash? | There are tonnes of websites that use Reddit user content for posts i.e. Buzzfeed, _URL_0_, theChive etc. Does this mean Reddit is selling their content, or that employees of those websites constantly trawl Reddit for interesting posts? Isn't user content the OP's intellectual property? Is it ok as long as the website attributes the post to the OP? I'm confused. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1szzhg/eli5_how_do_other_websites_use_reddits_content/ | {
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"It depends on what kind of content you are talking about.\n\nFirst there is the question about what is and what isn't covered by copyright, and also who would own said copyright. Take something like memes. It could be argued that most memes do not reach the level of originality needed, and therefor is not covered by copyright. \n\nIn addition to that, it could be argued that the copyright actually belongs to the creator of the actual image (the producer of the movie, game or whatever it is taken from), and not the person who adds the text.\n\nWhen it comes to content that definitely is copyrighted (such as original images and stories) it largely comes down to the very small risk they take. Most people will not ask Buzzfeed for example to take down content. The few times that someone do send copyright claims to these websites, they simply remove the infringing content and everything tend to be fine. \n\nIt's generally not worth it for a copyright holder to pursue any kind of compensation, due to it taking more time, money and effort then you would actually receive in compensation."
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232en9 | why are steel surfaces relatively inhospitable to bacteria and other germs whereas stuff like acrylic are not? | I use an electronic cigarette which uses mouthpieces that can be swapped out. These come in a variety of materials, from acrylic to delrin to plastic to aluminium to steel to copper to wood.
The second-hand market for these are small to begin with, but it's almost unanimously understood you shouldn't buy acrylic, plastic, delrin, or wood second-hand, it poses a sanitary concern. Metal mouthpieces are fine, though.
Is this because bacteria cannot live on steel or other metals very long, and if so, why?
edit:
I wanted to add that I know copper is a natural antimicrobial. I work in a field preparing consumables, and copper plated steel tables are the norm, since they're very clean and remain clean. I know why copper is inhospitable to bacteria, but not why steel or other metals are. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/232en9/eli5_why_are_steel_surfaces_relatively/ | {
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"I believe it has to do with the surface and how porous it is/isn't. Bacteria need tiny holes to hang out in (which also traps stuff they feed on), otherwise they get brushed away easily and there is less available 'food' for them. Also some metals give off ions that apparently kill bacteria. I know silver does, not sure about other metals.",
"It's known that certain metals like silver and copper possess metal ions that are toxic to a wide range of organisms. This is called the [Oligodynamic effect](_URL_0_) which Wikipedia further defines as \"a toxic effect of metal ions on living cells, algae, molds, spores, fungi, viruses, prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, even in relatively low concentrations. This antimicrobial effect is shown by ions of mercury, silver, copper, iron, lead, zinc, bismuth, gold, aluminium, and other metals.\" \n\nAs far as I know the exact nature of this effect is not very well understood. There are some descriptions of specific interactions the ions have on metabolic functions that are disruptive however I'm no biologist so I'm afraid I can't ELI5. Here's another [source](_URL_1_) if you'd like to go into further detail on this phenomenon. \n\nHope this helps.\n\nEDIT: Just saw OP's edit. My bad. I guess you already knew that copper had this property. I guess my revised answer to you would be it appears that several other metals exhibit this antibacterial effect as well including iron and iron alloys like steel but not nearly as well as copper. "
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89yfpi | why does visible heat* have a shadow if it isn’t causing an absence of light? | *the kind of heat waves you see rising from a radiator or the ground on a hot day that seem to shimmer. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/89yfpi/eli5_why_does_visible_heat_have_a_shadow_if_it/ | {
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"When air gets hot, it changes the density so you have swirling patches of hotter & cooler air.\n\nAir of different densities passes light differently, creating those shadows.",
"Heat wave changes the density of its surrounding medium. Therefore refraction occurs as light passes through a medium going from 1 density into another.",
"Like others have said, its because the hot/cold air mixture distorts the image by bending transmitted light. \n\nFun side fact, mirages are also caused because of this phenomenon. Except that in mirages, air gets hotter and hotter as you get closer to the ground so the incoming light from a distance straight in front of you keeps bending as it gets closer to the ground until it becomes parabolic so you get the illusion of a reflection.\n\n",
"Nothing is blocking the light, rather the light is just being bent off-course by higher and lower densities of air, and is landing somewhere else."
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7lk6yo | why do car windows get a grid pattern on them | So what I mean is, I’ve noticed on some rear windscreens what looks like squares of condensation in between the heating elements of the back window. Naturally I assumed it was because of those heating elements, however I also get in on my side windows too when I’ve had the heating on. What cause it | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7lk6yo/eli5_why_do_car_windows_get_a_grid_pattern_on_them/ | {
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"text": [
"Whenever the glass is rapidly cooled during the tempering process there are these air jets that blow cool air on the glass. This creates distortions in the glass that are almost invisible, until you put on polarized glasses. Different automakers have different (patented) patterns or cooling methods to reduce this distortion. ",
"Tempered glass has stressors built-in. You can see them with polarized sunglasses. The built-in stress is what causes the window to completely shatter into small pieces when the window is damaged in any way. Even a scratch may cause enough damage to shatter the window."
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e3ti4b | how does opening new lines of credit *help* your credit score? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e3ti4b/eli5_how_does_opening_new_lines_of_credit_help/ | {
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"It increases your cap making it easier to maintain a lower percentage use of your overall credit. Lower overall use increases your score.",
"Your credit score is really, really important. It’s a measure of how worthy of credit you are considered, and you’re going to need a good score for a lot of different things. In order to have a good credit score, you’re going to need a credit history. A lot of people think if they have no credit cards or debt, they automatically have a good score but that’s not true. If there is no record of how you handle credit, no one knows if you deserve a good score or not. So, opening a line of credit—and handling it responsibly—will give you a good credit score. The more lines of credit you have the greater is your overall available credit. For instance, if you have three credit cards with a credit limit of $5,000 each you have $15,000 of available credit. If your total balance over all of these cards is $500.00, you are only utilizing 3% of your available credit. That’s a good percentage and it shows that you don’t overuse your lines of credit. Alternatively, if you have a total balance of $14,000 you are using 90% of your available credit, and that’s not good. It shows you are likely to just run up your balance, and makes you a risk for defaulting on your lines of credit.\n\nSo, the more lines of credit you have the more you have demonstrated how many creditors are willing to extend you credit. That’s good. And the more available credit you have, the greater your opportunity to NOT overuse it, which shows you are responsible. \n\nAlso, a big part of your credit score is the age of your oldest line of credit. That shows you have responsibly handled that available credit for a long time without defaulting or having the account closed."
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35vjio | can a communist economy work with a democratic system? | Through history we've seen most communist nations fail because they had shitty dictators and a shitty political system. Could a communist economic system work if the politics of that system were democratic(more or less)? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35vjio/eli5can_a_communist_economy_work_with_a/ | {
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"Ideally, all communist nations are democratic, since the idea is that everyone works towards a common goal and everyone is equal. Post- Stalin USSR and post- Mao China were/ are democratic, in that you can vote for the leader. There's only one party, however so this winds up being a choice between John Anderson and Anders Johnson. \n\nCommunism ultimately fails because the core idea is a group of people working their hardest for the betterment of all. This can work for a group of 20 people, but when you have 20 million (or even 20 thousand) that's just not going to happen.",
"yes it can, that's functionally what socialism is. Of course, not to extremes that \"communism\" entails, but, yknow.\n\nYou elect representatives democratically, to make the decisions you support, in terms of doling out \"public\" assets, which in many countries includes health care, or controlling banks and insurance, cars, other regulatory things that corporations shouldn't be allowed to control, because these things that are part of our everyday life should be governed by who the people say should govern.\n\nas opposed to capitalism, which results in the idea that that corporations shouldn't be controlled by regulations from the government, thus are \"privatized\", and controlled by themselves and that often results in them doing freely whatever earns them more money nomatter how much it fucks over other people- their interest is getting money, or \"capital\", and that is what drives their decisions. Privatizing things that are vital to everyday functional life in a first-world country, healthcare, insurance, banks etc, shouldn't be privatized. In capitalism, however, they're free to be, and therefore what ends up happening is that they are not controlled by people the citizens elect to represent them... they're controlled by whoever the hell is the CEO.\n\nSome people spin this as being good, because these corporations have 'freedom', or whatever, but I've never heard a good argument for it before... there's always some element missing. \n\nCapitalism can be very, very beneficial to growing economies, specifically third-world countries that need to establish an economy. But when you reach a level where your people aren't in danger of dying or starving and you can drift towards socialism, which is what virtually every superpower in the whole world has... except for the US. I could go into that, but... that's a different question. "
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1zdw6c | is there an easy explanation or visual for the organization of the us army? | All the sources I've looked at are hard to understand. My grandfather was in the army (Major General) and he always told me these stories with terminology I never understood so it'd be nice to have it explained simply. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zdw6c/eli5_is_there_an_easy_explanation_or_visual_for/ | {
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"Organisation of ranks? Organisations of armies, corps, divisions, battalions, etc? There's lots of things that fall under this question. ",
"*nice try, Russia*"
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2ucg1d | why do we not all adopt a race-nationality identification like african-american (ex. asian-australian)? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ucg1d/eli5_why_do_we_not_all_adopt_a_racenationality/ | {
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"what would be the purpose of this? except to further create race/ethnicity issues. ",
"It's too broad. Under that you could say I'm a European-American, but to be honest I don't really see myself as European at all despite my ancestry. I just wish we didn't classify race at all and just went by nationality. If you are a US citizen, you are an American. If you are an Australian citizen, you are Australian, etc. "
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664iv4 | why are hand dryers in public restrooms considered more hygienic than paper towels? having forced air blowing germs all over the place doesn't seem very hygienic at all. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/664iv4/eli5_why_are_hand_dryers_in_public_restrooms/ | {
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"It turns out that you are correct. Not only do they blow germs from outside the blower... What happens when someplace is dark, warm, and moist? Mold grows. So you're getting mold spores and waste from INSIDE the dryer on your hands, too.\n\n_URL_0_\n",
"I feel like they might do it because it's less of a hassle than switching out paper towels constantly. \nI'm probably wrong but, my first thought. "
]
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smlbo | the different divisions of the nervous system. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/smlbo/eli5_the_different_divisions_of_the_nervous_system/ | {
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"The Nervous System(NS) is composed of 2 major divisions which are: \n\n(1) **The Central NS**; which is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. They are *both enclosed in bony structure* (skull and vertebra) because of their importance. They control either voluntarily or involuntarily almost all body functions and interpret all sensory inputs of the body. That includes moving a single muscle or telling the difference between red or blue. The difference between the 2 is that the brain commands and monitors while the spinal cord is a \"brain tail\" which clumps all of the tracts(big bundled nerves) for the rest of the nervous system to connect to.\n\nThe brain can be likened to a central computer in a modern house, which controls and monitors everything from a single area. While the spinal cord is the main cable in which most cords are connected to. In this house every gadget or security monitors are linked to a single computer.\n\n(2)**The Peripheral NS**; this meanwhile *connects the rest of the body to the brain and spinal cord*. Unlike the CNS, they are made up mostly of **tracts of nerves** bundled together and so has no bony structure protecting it. They send signal both ways from the brain to an organ **or** from an sensory/organ up to the brain. This can be compared to the cables that connects all the gadgets, appliances, or monitors to the central computer of the house.\n\nThe nerves of the PNS has 2 types: \na. *the cranial nerves*, a nerve which connects the brain directly to an organ. An example would be the optic nerve, which sends visual signals directly to the brain. We all have 12 pairs of these. All our special senses (smell, hearing, taste) muscles of face are connected by cranial nerves.\nb. *the spinal nerve*, long nerve which connects the muscles of our arms to the spinal cord which relays the signal to the brain. We have 31 pairs of these, a pair sprouting from the junction of two vertebra(spinal bone). The rest of our body is connected to the brain this way.\n\nThe PNS also has 2 major types of Autonomous(NS) or involuntary body control, they are:\n1. Sympathetic NS; \"fight or flight\" response, responsible for taking over body functions during stressful situations. Makes your pupils bigger, to see better. Makes your heart pump faster, to cope with increase energy usage. Or slows digestion.\n2. Parasympathetic NS; \"rest and repair\", does the complete opposite of sympathetic NS. Increases rate of digestion, slows heartrate etc. \n\n "
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5wrtwd | why couldn't giant mirrors (like the entire industrialized world focusing on producing giant mirrors) eradicate global warming by reflecting the suns rays for a while? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5wrtwd/eli5_why_couldnt_giant_mirrors_like_the_entire/ | {
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"How would you make those mirrors?\n\nIn some kind of industrial plant, right?\n\nAnd to smelt all that glass you'll need some big natural gas burners.\n\nAnd you'll burn a lot of it which will produce an extraordinary amount of carbon in the atmosphere.\n\nWhen you're all done you'll have some great mirrors. But mirrors reflect light, not heat. In fact, those mirrors are going to get really hot because they are receiving all the radiation from the sun.\n\nSo, unfortunately, your solution compounds the problem. It would be far less difficult to simply conserve energy and reduce fossil fuel use."
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4y1uyc | what's going on in milwaukee ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4y1uyc/eli5_whats_going_on_in_milwaukee/ | {
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"A young African American man was being pursued by the Police. He displayed and aimed a weapon at the Officer. He was promptly shot. He passed away. The community rioted since their perspective is that any shooting under any condition is unlawful. As it turns out the young man has a record and the gun was stolen.\n\nThat's the facts. But there are many more opinions to go with those facts.",
"Copied from myself in another thread:\n\nThere is a lot of racial tension going on in America right now. This isn't a riot just because one guy got shot, it's the result of a lot of history of discrimination. Let me be perfectly clear: **I am not trying to justify or apologize for the rioters**. Everyone has a responsibility to search for the facts before reacting, especially before reacting violently. They didn't do that. I am not trying to justify the behavior, nor am I taking their side - I'm not trying to take any \"side\". I'm only trying to give insight into the mentality so that even if you disagree with their actions you can be aware of why it happened (and hopefully work to prevent it in the future).\n\nWhile this one instance, by all accounts, appears as though the officer was completely justified, that has not always been the case. Even with Mike Brown, although witnesses eventually demonstrated that there was a fight and that Brown was moving towards the officer, the whole thing was handled poorly. Police weren't very cooperative with the community to find the truth. And there have been a number of incidents where it's pretty clear that the police were out of line. There are also some disturbing statistics, like the fact that minorities are more likely to get jail time, and more likely to get *more* jail time for the same offense. Minorities are also overrepresented in fatal police interactions.\n\nThe overall picture is that racial discrimination absolutely happens, a lot. Some argue that the reason you hear so much about black kids fighting the police is that they don't have any particular reason to believe it'll work out any better for them if they don't. The logic (whether or not it's accurate) is that you'll get shot if you do nothing anyway, so why let them?\n\nThat creates a lot of fear and distrust between police and their communities. The police are afraid that they'll get attacked, so they're more aggressive. The people in the community are afraid they'll get attacked (because, yeah, they will, it keeps happening) so they get aggressive. Which of course confirms the fears of the police, and there's a vicious cycle.\n\nIn Milwaukee, the tension has built up a lot. It's been described as the country's most segregated city, and there's a lot of poverty that is largely along racial divides. The people there don't have a lot of good reasons to trust the police. So when the police shoot someone in that community, their immediate reaction is going to be contrary to law enforcement. They are not inclined to believe that he deserved to get shot because too often that's not the case. All the little interactions that have not been positive from either side finally came to a head and exploded because of the shooting.\n\nTL;DR: the riot isn't really over the shooting, that's just the excuse for the community there to vent decades of racial tension in a destructive way. ",
"Black officer shot black suspect after suspect pointed a gun at the officer. Riots ensue due to racial tension being pushed largely by the media and false ideas, as well as groups who want to use skin color as a reason to be able to commit violence without repercussion. Rioters are from both the area as well as from other communities. Some are even paid to cause disturbances. They burn down businesses having nothing to do with the shooting. Some groups are even targeting white people to attack. It's essentially collectivist tribalism, and racism, all rolled together with no real actual comprehensive change or goal in mind to address the REAL problems. And they are gaining ground because politicians and policies in government are starting to pander to such monsters. "
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a6j4c3 | why is a p/e ratio called price to earnings and not just price to profit? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a6j4c3/eli5_why_is_a_pe_ratio_called_price_to_earnings/ | {
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"Profit can vary wildly from one reporting period to another. So many aspects of business can impact it both positively and negatively. In addition some things might lower profits during only one quarter, which if you only tracked profits might make it seem the company had begun performing poorly. \n\nEarnings are simpler to track, much less subject to manipulation and a more consistent indicator of the direction of a company. "
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939pt1 | how does the internet’s wayback machine work? | Sidenote; How much data do the servers need to handle?
Context:
[The wayback machine](_URL_0_) is a website where you can visit previous versions of websites/ deleted threads. Type a site in the search bar, say of a youtube user, choose a time, and see what the page looked like on that day/time | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/939pt1/eli5_how_does_the_internets_wayback_machine_work/ | {
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"Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how previous projects that were similar worked. They have bots (automated software) that crawl the web looking at different webpages and archiving them. Every time it takes a snapshot of a webpage (usually including its source code and, if I remember right, copies of images as well), it stores it and you can view it later.\n\nMore trafficked websites will have visits from those boots quite a lot more often.",
"The wayback machine is absolute proof: The internet doesn't erase anything. \u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010\u0010Ever.",
"To answer the second part of your question it's currently about 9.6 petabytes, (a petabyte is 1000 terabytes which is 1000 gigabytes) and in 2009 was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month."
]
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198fu1 | what is "sequestration" in the context of current events? | I found two other questions pertaining to this on ELI5, but one wasn't answered and the other was rather vague. Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/198fu1/eli5_what_is_sequestration_in_the_context_of/ | {
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"Basically its been decided that the US has too much debt, were spending too much money. To fix the economy, many think that the US Government has to start paying off some of the debt that it has been racking up. There are two ways to do this, either increase the amount of money that it makes or cut money that it spends. Now there are many ways of making money, but the easiest is raising taxes. Many people dont like this because then they would loose more money from their paychecks (and as a person who is doing his taxes currently, even more once a year). Whichever party is currently in power, if they raised taxes a bunch, would not be in power again for a while come next election. \n\nSo that leaves spending. But what does the government cut? At every point in time somebody said \"This program were paying for? Its super important for X,Y, and Z reasons. Plus it helps employ people who voted for me!\". So its hard to cut some programs, and other programs (like Social Security) have become critical issues for some people. Imagine if you were 64, the minimum retirement age was 65 but then it went up to 72. That make you really mad right? So its hard to mess with that type of stuff. \n\nLastly there is a political reason that makes spending hard. See, Democrats like to have all these programs that help people from falling on bad times. But Republicans feel that people should fend for themselves, and shouldn't be the government's responsibility. So they want to cut all these social (welfare) programs that the Democrats like. BUT the Republicans want to spend money on defense, to make more tanks or whatever and they dont want the Democrats to cut that. So each side really wants to cut the thing that the other likes, but nobody is willing to cut a little out of both or come up with some other strategy. \n\nSo what happened last year was that the US's \"credit card\" hit it's limit (almost). We were about to run out of loaned cash, and Congress had to call up the debt company and ask for more. But some, like many Republicans, wanted to make a stink about it and demand that some money be cut from the budget. Then they would raise the cap. But for the above reasons, nobody could decide what to cut (even though the cap already went up) so it went into sudden death overtime. Basically a group of Republicans and Democrats made a deal and said \"We are going to cut all this stuff, stuff that neither side wants cut, if nobody makes a better deal. Further, we are going to cut deeply and really trim down the budget.\" The idea was that the cuts would be so deep, and cut things that nobody wanted cut (and also raise taxes and a bunch of other stuff), that both sides would finally make a deal. The problem was, it was an election year so nobody did **SHIT** to fix the problem. It was funner to just complain about how it was a problem somebody needed to fix. So the deadline has come and gone and nobody agreed on a better plan, so now these cuts will be applied unless some 11th hour drama gets a new deal passed. "
]
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7n4nn8 | how is the criterion collection able to restore movies that are 50 plus years old to blu ray quality? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7n4nn8/eli5_how_is_the_criterion_collection_able_to/ | {
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"35mm film still has more detail contained on it than any digital camera can capture. It captures far more texture and nuance, this is why some directors (Tarantino being a popular example) still use \"real\" film. This is comparable to the old records vs. digital format debate in audio recordings. \n\nCelluloid film does have a tendency to break down and degrade over time, but it can be \"remastered\" and digitized, often to considerably better quality than it would have been originally (as seen through an analogue projector). \n\nFor example, I was watching reruns of the original Star Trek run on the BBC yesterday. These episodes never looked better! Not just the remastered \"cgi,\" but every shot was crisper, cleaner, and better colored than I remember them being originally.\n\nEdit: 32-35mm (I was a projectionist for Pete's sake, I should know this!) ",
"Boils down to: \nHow many megapixels does film have? \nInfinitely many! \nIt’s because the image isn’t divided up into tiny squares (the pixels) and is perfectly smooth. \nFilm is far more detailed than digital as it’s analogue so it’s a good source for making better and better versions. "
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1g8exs | how can a judge make a decision without letting his own beliefs and opinions interfere with his decision? | I'm talking about the more subjective things that are mostly a judgement call. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1g8exs/eli5_how_can_a_judge_make_a_decision_without/ | {
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"A judge is allowed to use the wisdom picked up from her life. There is no bar against it. \n\nA judge is often called on to judge things like credibility--out of the two witnesses with conflicting testimony, which witness does the judge believe more? Usually, at the end of an evidentiary proceeding, the judge will give the reasoning for the decision (I found witness A's testimony more credible than witness B's testimony because . . . \"). As long as the reasoning is not completely arbitrary or based off an improper or prejudicial belief (i.e. men should always get the children in a custody dispute), the decision will typically stand because the judge is in the best position to observe and decide on these things.",
"I've been in front of some shitty judges. One example: Some jerk picked up undocumented day-laborers and worked them to the bone for a month, deliberately paying them in worthless checks. When they found out they were being used for free labor, they demanded pay and the dude threatened to call immigration. This was a crime. Many crimes actually. but the judge found him not guilty because the victims were \"illegals\", and in her stupid little racist mind, it was perfectly okay to use them as slaves. "
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5f8lp1 | why do we sometimes, out of the blue, have the urge to breath deeply? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5f8lp1/eli5_why_do_we_sometimes_out_of_the_blue_have_the/ | {
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"When at long periods of rest your body can start to breath less and less l. After a time your brain goes fuck I need air and tells your lungs to reset themselve l. This can also be the cause of yawning sometimes (not the only cause thow)",
"I believe it's something akin to \"stretching\" your diaphragm, much like you occasionally have the urge to strech random muscles."
]
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3qyblt | what would have happened in china if you got pregnant with a second child? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qyblt/eli5_what_would_have_happened_in_china_if_you_got/ | {
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"The one child policy wasn't as rigidly enforced as people may think.\n\nI don't know the exact number, but I think the average family size in China since the policy started is something like 1.5 children.",
"You would pay a one time fine at the birth of your child (or when it was discovered) and you would pay extra taxes. ",
"As others have noted, you had to pay a large but typically not impossible fine.\n\nThe large number of Chinese adoptees were more often first children who turned out to be girls. Under China's traditional culture, boys are expected to sustain their parents in old age, while girls marry and become part of the new family. Because China doesn't have much retirement security, it was very important to have a boy, and if you could on,y have one child, it became a matter of economic necessity.",
"It depends on where you lived and what your status was.\n\nLiving in rural areas, the enforcement was lax. But it ranged from forced abortions and sterilizations to paying fines (to corrupt officials). \n\nLiving in urban areas, the social enforcement with peer pressure was more than legal enforcement. Enforcement ranged from fines to limitations warnings. Well connected folks, like my parents, would get thru back channels to have a second child like myself. I only know of one other family growing up with 2 kids."
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4mgw1b | why is saying hello to people socially so important ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4mgw1b/eli5_why_is_saying_hello_to_people_socially_so/ | {
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"It isn't. But it's the most socially neutral equivalent of a greeting. Greetings or acknowledgement at first meets are important. If you don't acknowledge someone you are sending pretty much the opposite signal of a greeting, and depending on the person that can be a can of worms. There are tons other ways to greet someone through body language only (and more fancy ways through words), but what to use depends on your relationship to said person and social context. If you do not know which choice is appropriate saying \"Hello\" is your best option, and better than doing nothing. And that is why just saying hello is a good suggestion for everyone. "
]
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2lr1nm | how does the binary options scam work? | Can you really make money of it? Or is it just a clever scam as i suspect? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lr1nm/eli5how_does_the_binary_options_scam_work/ | {
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"After sifting through a few pages, it's just gambling, plain and simple."
]
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3m87fq | why do rock bands often have a carpet on the stage? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3m87fq/eli5why_do_rock_bands_often_have_a_carpet_on_the/ | {
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"Stages are very hard. The rugs provide a softer surface to stand on. There is usually an additional layer of padding under the rug as well. ",
"Drummers do it to keep their drums from 'walking' away. Even though all your hardware have little rubber feet on them, if you're banging on the drums hard enough and they're on a smooth surface, they'll start to spread out. Keith Moon from the Who actually had to tie his down to keep them in place.\n\nFor guitarists, bassists, singers, etc, it's more of a comfort thing as far as I know. It's way easier on your knees, feet and legs to be standing up on a thick carpet than on a stage. Especially if you're playing a multi-set multi-hour job, it can really get physically taxing. Having a bit of cushion underneath you makes it that much easier to stay on your feet that long. If you've never done it before, you'd be amazed at how much of an endurance event a long show can be, and, the older you get, the harder it is to get your body through it, so you'll take any help you can get."
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5mp9n4 | why can you hear the voices in the apartment above you so easily, but not the voices in the apartment below you? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5mp9n4/eli5_why_can_you_hear_the_voices_in_the_apartment/ | {
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"Because sound travels through the solid medium ( the floor slab). On the floor above, people are directly in contact with the surface; while on the floor below, you're only depending on the noise traveling through air and noise traveling in air is divided into reflected, absorbed and transferred, major percentage of which, is reflected. "
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2fozmj | if companies already know that most(if not all) people don't read terms of service, whats stopping them from hiding a hidden rule on page 500 of 3000 that makes you sign over all your possessions? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fozmj/eli5_if_companies_already_know_that_mostif_not/ | {
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"It would be considered an unconscionable term and thrown out in any reasonable court.",
"There's actually some precedent on EULA contracts, which are kinda similar to Terms of Service:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nFurthermore, it's not like this kind of legal situation just came about with computers; there have always been cases where a large corporation comes up with a very long contract that most customers sign without reading. There have long been legal protections for the \"small party\" in those cases.",
"Judges can throw out contracts or parts of contracts that they feel are unjust or unfair.",
"Because someone would find it and make it public knowledge. Then that company would be out of business or tied up in court for the rest of its existence. ",
"EULA are contracts of adhesion (it's dictated by one side, not the result of an equal negotiation). Contracts of adhesion will almost always be interpreted in favor of the side that didn't write it, and terms that aren't reasonably expected by the non-writing side are invalid.\n\nThis is partially why they are so long. They have to be VERY clear about the terms, because if something isn't clear, it will be read in favor of the consumer.",
"Aussie law student here! In all jurisdictions in Oz we have the Australian Consumer Law which contains provisions which, among other things, invalidate unfair terms in standard form consumer contracts. To determine whether a term is unfair, the court applies a three-pronged test: if the term would create a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties AND is not reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the advantaged party AND is detrimental to one of the parties it will be deemed unfair and severed from the contract. In analysing the term the court must consider the transparency of the term and the contract as a whole. It's also worth mentioning that this doesn't apply to terms which set out the subject matter of the transaction, determine an upfront price or are otherwise required under another statute.\n\nTL;DR: in Australia those terms would be invalidated in court per the Unfair Terms Laws, which are a part of the Australian Consumer Law statutory regime."
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27fpr9 | why do people like jesse jackson and al sharpton march for white on black crime but not black on black crime? | Being from the black community this pisses me off - why is it that they feel they can blow white on black crime out of proportion but they aren't anywhere to be seen when black on black crime is happening - especially in chicago right now. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27fpr9/eli5why_do_people_like_jesse_jackson_and_al/ | {
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"I recall Bill Cosby speaking out against black on black crime. The media called him racist and some members of the black community accused him of turning his back on the people who got his career started. ",
"Because the racist tag they put on everything doesn't apply to black on black crime.\n\nIn response to the question \"How do we get rid of racism forever?\" Morgan Freeman simply said \"We stop talking about it.\" Jesse Jackson doesn't want to get rid of racism, he wants to profit from it. Same with all the other blacktivists out there. Its sickening. They don't care about actual, terrible racism that happens everywhere everyday by every color person. They just see a way to make money off of white people's guilt and extorts the shit out of it.",
"From the first couple pages of Google results, here's Jesse Jackson and black on black crime in [1984](_URL_2_), [1994](_URL_0_), [2007](_URL_4_), and [2012](_URL_3_)\n\nHere's Al Sharpton---my understanding the more \"radical\" and less generally respected of the two---in [2008](_URL_1_). \n\nIt's a simple fact of life that certain things take on more importance for certain groups and actors then for others. Sharpton and Jackson are primarily civil rights activists and, as such, are more concerned with events that have an element of direct racism, rather than any violence that effects the communities they represent. That doesn't mean they focus on those issues exclusively, naturally, but it shouldn't be a surprise that issues in that vein occupy most of their time. They are not the kings of the black community, nor are they just generally concerned with the community's well being. They are activists for a particular aspect of a particular cause---whether you agree with the cause, how they define it, or how they seek to advance it---and it makes sense that this would lead them to be more focused on issues tied to that cause. \n\nI don't know enough to defend either person, especially Sharpton, but in addition to the more cynical answers already presented here, there's also the above, and the fact that what efforts they do take don't necessarily fit the media narrative, and so don't get reported as widely. ",
"Hi everyone! Just a quick reminder, top-level comments must **not be jokes** and must contain some sort of explanation, not just a short phrase. Please write as objectively as possible when making an explanation, or at least note your bias in the post. ",
"Because talking about black-on-black crime won't sell. I'm black and I've done my homework about this issue.\n\nWhat /u/obliterayte said below is right, although stupid people are downvoting him.\n\nThose two race-baiters, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, don't actually care about helping black people. They hurl the \"race card\" incessantly to make money. Most of the black people that support those race-baiters are poor and uneducated people who need to believe that someone actually cares about them, so they hurl money at them. But the thing is that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't actually care.\n\nTake a look at how they exploited the Trayvon Martin case. The way they made so much noise, you'd think that Trayvon was the first black boy to be murdered. Meanwhile, that same day, probably 100 black people were murdered in the state of Florida alone.\n\nThey are self-appointed \"leaders\" of nothing and they are quick to condemn racial injustice aimed at blacks. It doesn’t even matter if the prejudice is not real; those guys are on it. Sharpton is so skilled at ginning up crowds to protest injustice that his ability to pull together a rally of thousands in a matter of hours is called \"rent a demonstration.\" It is no secret that he uses his power as a tool of intimidation to encourage corporations to bend to his will.\n\n > Remarking on the only refuge in town, the New Orleans Superdome \"This looks like the hold of a slave ship\" -- Reverend Jesse Jackson asserted that the devastation inflicted on poor blacks by Hurricane Katrina proves America is a racist society. \"We don't see this kind of destruction in white or Jewish communities,\" said Jackson. \"Why is it always poor blacks who are hurt? It's because our racist society wants it that way.\" Jackson said 120,000 people in New Orleans make less than $8,000 a year. \"This is less than I charge for a single speech,\" Jackson pointed out. Jackson also criticized the role given to former presidents George Bush senior and Bill Clinton as coordinators for a fund raising effort following the disaster.\n\nThey __hardly__ talk about black-on-black crime because __*THEY DON'T CARE!*__\n\nThose two race-baiters have done more to set black people back than any modern non-black person ever could.\n\nThat slime-ball Jesse Jackson even attempted to shake down A & E over the whole Duck Dynasty fiasco by saying they had \"white priviledge\".\n\nThey don't deserve to be called \"civil rights leaders\" because _THEY ARE NOT_. They appointed themselves Judge, Jury, and Executioner; anyone who goes against them is called \"waycist waycist _WAYCIST!!1!!eleven!!!!1!_\".\n\nEDIT: I accidentally a word.",
"\nWhy do people use ELI5 to ask politically loaded questions?",
"two words. **race baiting**\n\nal sharpton and jesse jackson quite literally make money off of fueling hatred and racism between the masses. black on black crime just bring in the tv and book money that white on black crime does. \n\ndespite their previous anti-sematic remarks, tax evasion, and bigotry, many individuals blindly stand behind them.",
"Because that doesn't include their favorite card to play, the race card. Hard to say its the white man holding you down, when it was someone that looks real similar that did you wrong.",
"Because to extremist and race baiters like Al Sharpton the only civil rights that matters are those of the black community. Funnily enough he's doing absolutely NOTHING to further the black community in any positive ways. ",
"Because statistically, the percentage of crimes against black people that is committed by black people is the same as the percentage of crimes against white people committed by white people. \n\n\"Black on black crime\" is misdirection. Given that most violent crime is opportunistic, and that we live in a country that is highly de facto segregated, the racial split in crime makes sense. \"Black on black crime\" is not so much a problem as \"crime in black neighborhoods,\" and while that is a subtle distinction it is an important one. ",
"It's worth pointing out that \"black on black\" crime is most often a case of crime being committed relatively close to the criminals' home, and not racially based. Due to segregation throughout the USA, if a black person commits a crime, the victim will probably lives nearby, and the odds are the victim will be black as well. Same goes for white people. [Here's one (of many) articles that covers this](_URL_0_)",
"Do you all remember the racial slur Jesse Jackson said in his presidential campaign when he called New York Haimie-Town. Just saying. They both don't care about black on black crime it will not get their face on t.v. They are just here to stir the pot like fatty Rush Limbaugh and that fucking idiot Glen Beck. All of them serve no purpose other than to further polarize us as a people. Those four names are the face of racism. The way we beat racism is by not recognizing it. We should treat all people equal and hold everyone to the same standard. All violent crimes are crimes of hate therefore they are all hate crimes.\n",
"Because it advances the notion that there's a major race issue in America. And when you're in the \"civil rights\" business, if people don't need your product, you become irrelevant. ",
"this should be fun ",
"What we need to do is walk together against CRIME. If both communities join to fight racist crimes, then we can begin to see some progress.\n",
"They can't think of a way to get money out of white people for black on black crime.",
"because they are racist. I thought this was common knowledge ",
"Because they have made their reputation and money being poverty pimps and it's in their interest to ignore black on black crime because then they can't point the racist finger at anyone. They don't give a damn what happens in the hood because they can't use it to benefit themselves.",
"Because they both sold their soul to satan for wealth and fame, and now their duty to serve satan requires them to divide the humans with racism.",
"There are only 24 hrs in a day. \n\nPlus with white on black, you can take the time to learn the names of perp and victim. With black on black, you'd barely have the names documented before another new crime occurred. \n\n\\source: live in Richmond, VA - the Detroit of the south"
]
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[],
[],
[
"http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-01-18/news/1994018198_1_black-on-black-crime-jesse-jackson-black-and-white",
"http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/rev-al-sharpton-talk-violence-black-neighborhoods-article-1.292142",
"http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19841202&id=KUhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=shMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6992,432477",
"http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-06-12/jesse-jackson-gun-violence-marches/55527742/1",
"http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/28/3448"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.yourblackworld.net/2013/07/black-news/black-on-black-crime-you-say-white-people-kill-each-other-just-as-much-as-black-people-do/"
],
[],
[],
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1ka5ft | elon musk's/tesla's hyperloop... | I'm not sure that I understand too 100% how it work, so maybe someone can give a good explanation for it :)
_URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ka5ft/eli5_elon_musksteslas_hyperloop/ | {
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"Ooh, I understand it quite well :)\n\n[pdf link](_URL_0_)\n\nMultiple special vehicles ride through the tube. This tube, initially stretching from San Francisco to Los Angeles, has low air pressure so that the vehicles don't have to use so much power to go through it.\n\nThe vehicles have a big electric motor, a turbine and a battery. They use this to keep themselves at speed, but not to accelerate. To accelerate, [Linear induction motors](_URL_1_) are used. To decelerate, you can either hook up the turbine to a generator, slowing it and charging the battery, or use more Linear induction motors.\n\nThe vehicle has its battery pack in the back and a ~450hp electric motor in the front.\n\nThe tube will also be equipped with solar panels on its top, which will produce more power than the system needs.\n\nThe turbine not only sucks air in at the vehicle's front, but this air is pressed to the vehicle's bottom, giving it an air cushion.\n\nI did not go through many of the Hyperloop's safety considerations. Maybe somebody else will...\n\nTL;DR: Air cushioned vehicles go through a low pressure tube. They Accelerate, and maybe decelerate, using linear motors.",
"If you're familiar with Kerbal Space Program, you probably keep an eye on the atmosphere meter when you're doing a launch. The higher up you go, the thinner the air is. You don't need as much propulsion to change your velocity once you get out into space. But on land, when you're trudging through the thick atmosphere, it takes a lot of energy to accelerate.\n\nThis is the reasoning behind the *edit: near* vacuum tube idea. Less drag. Requires less energy to move a capsule of people. Less energy to keep a vehicle at cruise speed.",
"Passengers ride in capsules inside a tube.\n\nThe tube is kept at a low air pressure, but not nearly a hard vaccuum.\n\nEach capsule has a fan at the front that sucks in what little air there is in the tube.\n\nSome of the air gets pushed out the back as thrust, ~~but most~~ and some gets pushed out pads on the bottom called \"air bearings\". This lets the capsules float inside the tube, the way an air hockey puck floats on an air hockey table.\n\nThe capsules are powered by big onboard batteries like the ones in electric cars.\n\nIn order to travel at hundreds of miles per hour, the capsules basically get shot out of a rail gun. If you've ever ridden a roller coaster that shoots you up the hill quickly (for instance, [DCA's California Screamin](_URL_0_)), it's the same technology.\n\nIn order to power the rail guns, solar panels installed on top of the tube will generate electricity. These will generate more electricity than the system needs to run.",
"watch the monorail episode of the simpsons, your welcome",
"My question: what's the emergency plan? How do vehicles stop if the tunnel breaks (earthquake, terrorism, whatever)? How do they know they have to stop? How do they evacuate the pods?",
"Cheap tube. Expensive vehicle.\n\nVehicle sucks air from front, uses it to create air-like-skis. Goes fast. Brings people to places.\n\nBeats railway.",
"I have a supplemental question that I haven't seen answered so far: is the hyperloop comparable at all to traditional rail for movement of freight?",
"There will need to be a very well thought out Reliability Maintenance strategy. I can't think of an industry including space, nuclear, aviation, maritime, rail, and petro-chem that contains the same maintenance challenges as this project. I have some issues in mind and would like to hear your thoughts.",
"ITT this thread is full of non-engineers with no idea what they are talking about"
]
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"http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/hyperloop"
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_motor"
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3v3yes | why is most of the juice available in the supermarket a mix with cranberry juice? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3v3yes/eli5_why_is_most_of_the_juice_available_in_the/ | {
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"I also want to know this. I went to the store one day because I wanted juice that didn't taste like cranberry. So naturally I tried to find juice without cranberry in it. The only one I could find was cherry juice mixed with apple juice. Guess what. That mix tasted exactly like cranberry juice."
]
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[]
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||
21jj18 | is the buddha still 'alive'? | I've been interested in Buddhism, I've been trying to research what people believe the fate of Buddha is. Every source (mostly yahooanswers) says that he ended his eternal suffering, and that's about it. Is he still being reincarnated?
The popular epic ' Journey to the West' has him depicted as better than the Jade Emperor because the Buddha is the one only one that traps the Monkey King. So he is some-sort of super being in this case...
What do Buddhist believe happens after they die after they reach Enlightenment? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21jj18/eli5is_the_buddha_still_alive/ | {
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"There are different buddist schools. In Theravada buddhism, anyone that reaches nibanna is removed from circle of life and is never born again.",
"Interesting note, reincarnation was around before Buddhism was founded. Borrowed ideas?"
]
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2a84rc | what was the fault in brazil's defense ? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2a84rc/eli5_what_was_the_fault_in_brazils_defense/ | {
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"their strategy of panicking and running around in a state of confusion, while bold, was ultimately spectacularly unsuccessful "
]
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5dkc6d | is the world really round\spherical (exactly 360 degrees)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5dkc6d/eli5_is_the_world_really_roundspherical_exactly/ | {
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"It's not *exactly* spherical. If it were, there would be no variations in terrain like mountains or valleys.\n\nIn fact the Earth is slightly shaped like an oval. But it's mostly spherical."
]
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5vwj41 | special relativity says the mass of a moving body _url_0_ has the mass of the universe been increasing since the big bang? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5vwj41/eli5special_relativity_says_the_mass_of_a_moving/ | {
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"I'm assuming you think the mass of the universe is increasing because of expansion. You can't talk about 'the universe' as an object, even taking into account relativity, because the universe is the thing that all the objects are in. The expansion of the universe is talking about the space itself expanding, so it doesn't really make sense to talk about the mass of the universe itself. While objects are moving away from each other due to expansion, it's because it's like the space itself is moving, not the objects.\n\n(My first ELI5 answer, constructive criticism is welcome)"
]
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"increases.So"
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[]
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||
33awbu | do animals (especially those who mate for life) feel love like we do? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33awbu/eli5_do_animals_especially_those_who_mate_for/ | {
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"What happens when we die? Nobody can actually perceive the reality of a dead person just like nobody can perceive the reality of a swan. This question will only bring opinionated answers not factual ones.",
"Hard enough to prove love really exists in humans. But there have been instances of dogs weeping over dead relatives or partners. \nCrows attacking people who captured or killed other crows in their group. "
]
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3wgxrq | the height of the average american male has risen roughly 3 inches in the past 200 years. is this an example of evolution, coincidence, or something else? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3wgxrq/eli5_the_height_of_the_average_american_male_has/ | {
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"It is probably due to better nutrition. People are more likely to reach their genetic potential.",
"People are fed better. 200 years ago you were rich if you got to eat meat every day. Now, everybody does.",
"Mostly it is a result of nutrition. We have really only had a stable food supply as a species for the last 200 years. ",
"Nutrition and medicine mostly.\n\nUnderfed children who battle polio are going to wind up a little shorter."
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4vw5ts | how are we able to animate so much more realistically now than ten, fifteen, etc. years ago? | What about our technology is making it easier? Is it still people doing the animating? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vw5ts/eli5_how_are_we_able_to_animate_so_much_more/ | {
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"It's due to a combination of better software and better hardware.\n\nAs animation became more popular, newer and better methods were developed. For example, the way animators now move a person is through a inverse or forward kinematics rig. This basically lets the animator assign \"bones\" to different parts of a model, and have them all connected. So if the animator wants to move a hand, they just drag the hand, and the computer will automatically fill in all of the in between frames and automatically move the elbow and the shoulder and the arm to make it more realistic. Years ago before this was developed, an animator would have to move every joint individually, one frame at a time. Or earlier in 2d animation, draw every frame by hand.\n\nAlso, as computing technology developed, faster processors and graphics cards in computers allowed for more advancements in animation software. Trying to run modern animation software on an eight year old computer probably wouldn't work."
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30nks0 | why is toronto the only canadian city with sports teams in the mlb and nba? | Is the city considered more American? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30nks0/eli5why_is_toronto_the_only_canadian_city_with/ | {
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"Toronto is the biggest city in Canada. Big cities tend to have more diverse tastes and larger markets, so there are more people interested in American sports.\n\nAlso, it's on the Great Lakes, so it's very close to a number of major US cities.",
"Vancouver had an NBA team (the Grizzlies) but they didn't do so well. And Montreal had an MLB Team (Expos) but again, they didn't do well. Both teams ended up moving to the U.S. ",
"Other teams have been successful in Canada, but not in the long run. There's more money in the States. Montreal Expos in MLB and Vancouver Grizzlies in the NBA come to mind. Both teams were relocated to the States."
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2sj2g6 | what do boy/girl scout actually do? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2sj2g6/eli5_what_do_boygirl_scout_actually_do/ | {
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"In norway we try to have fun. Light fires, Cook Food on fire, build stuff with lumber. Also do some camoing,m in cabins, tents, under tarp or under gods sky.",
"we are just finishing up a 5 year run in Cub Scouts (ie, the junior level of Boy Scouts). They go camping. They earn merit badges and pins for all sorts of activities - cooking, science, photography, woodworking, and 100s of other things. They do field trips. They do community activities like food drives, picking up trash on the roads, etc. They do activities like Pinewood Derby (build a wooden race car and race against other boys).\n\nIt's basically a mix of fun social activities and character building activities and practical skill learning.",
"Eagle Scout here. \n\nAt the first few levels, the Scout learns the basics of surviving in the woods, making fire, and getting skills in self-discipline and motivation. At First class, the Scout begins learning about leadership skills and what it takes to run a group of peers and get them to do things together. \n\nStar is the step beyond first class, here, the Scout has shown his ability to lead a group for at least 6 months and has been in charge of some part of the troop. A good troop will be led entirely by Scouts 1st class and above with minimal input from adults whenever it's safe/legal to do so. \n\nLife comes after Star. If a Star scout is a great scout, a Life Scout is a Scout for life. He know leadership and can lead others when necessary. He embodies the ways of scouting and cheerfully serves his troop, his nation, and his communities. He is also halfway to being an Eagle Scout. \n\nThe Eagle Scout is a Scout who has taken the lessons from the other (not lower, other) ranks of scouting and pulled them together. He embodies all that Scouting is intended to build in young men. He is one of the less than 5% who make the cut and excel in the program. His stature is not given by the troop like all other ranks, it is awarded at the Council level which is the largest scouting body within each state typically. He has completed over a dozen required merit badges and perhaps twice as many elective ones. For all intents and purposes, he has received a college degree in Scouting and leadership. \n\nMerit badges are similar to courses or modules. Each one has a set of requirements for the Scout to show he has attempted and completed to the best of his ability (the merit of his work, not the quality earns the badge). There are numerous badges in a variety of disciplines that Scouts can attempt. Film, fishing, Hiking, camping, Art, Nuclear SCience, etc. Each one is different, but each lets the scout explore his interests. \n\nThere is also the Order of the Arrow (WWW, my brothers) which is an honor society for Scouts. It is fairly unique in that it is the only honor organization where non-members vote in members. Each Scout in the troop 1st class and above is eligible if he meets the requirements and is elected by the troop. The Order of the Arrow is a different topic though and not as widely known as the BSA, so I'll not digress further. \n\nThe camping aspect is generally only a portion of the time in the scouts. Perhaps 2-3 times a season a troop will go on a large trip. Patrols will typically go on a single night adventure once a month, and the entire troop will often go to camp for a week or more. The most lauded trip though is to Philmont Scout Ranch (Never got to go, want a son or Ventures daughter who will go with me). \n\nTypically, a scout troop meets once a week in their chartered organization. The troop will have a program that varies widely but typically involves some sort of news/updates/reminders, perhaps a lesson for the SCouts working on a merit badge will occur, and their will be a game for the Scouts who aren't taking a badge or working on requirements. Typically though, everyone does something during the meeting. Early ranks are taught by later ranks (Life scouts teach tenderfoots how to tie a square-hitch, etc.) and the later ranks concentrate on getting stuff done with the adults or Eagles who are merit badge counselors. \n\nAll-in-all, it's a pretty hefty, fun program where the SCouts don't realize the life skills they are learning until they've left.\n\nTl;Dr: Learn life skills and self-improvement while trying not to burn down the woods or get ated by bears. ",
"Eagle scout and Assistant Scoutmaster here! (Eagle is Americas highest boy scout rank)\n\nFor the most part it's all about developing ourselves to be good young men and eventually adults.\n\nEverything we do is geared to be fun and worthwhile . merit badges teach skills that a boy could want to know. Earning ranks require knowing skills, public service, teaching others, being a leader and developing one's character. Out door skills are a major part of the program but family values, Faith (any religion is supoorted) and pride in one's community and country are also big.\n\nThis is my understanding of the program after 8 years of experience. There is latitude to what different troops want to do but the experience is fairly regular from boy to boy."
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684kdo | were anatomically modern humans from 200,000 years ago exactly the same as us, except without language and culture? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/684kdo/eli5_were_anatomically_modern_humans_from_200000/ | {
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"They were close enough that we could bump junk with them and produce viable offspring.\n\nThere would be some differences (200,000 years is enough for SOME drift) but they would be pretty similar to us. They would be on the short side, and have a lot of injuries and scars that we don't have... but fundamentally they are us."
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8z44t1 | why can’t the panama canal just dig a deep canal and remove the locks? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8z44t1/eli5_why_cant_the_panama_canal_just_dig_a_deep/ | {
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"Oceans are in constant motion. This means that they surge up and down.\n\nBecause the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean aren't connected anywhere *but* the Panama Canal, you're channeling the entire difference in wave height at any given time through the canal.\n\nWithout the locks, that means you'd mostly get a fast running channel from the Pacific to the Atlantic... that reversed from time to time to run the other way. Navigating that channel would be an enormous effort.\n\nInstead, they install locks to prevent the water from flowing unchecked from one end to the other.",
"The tides on the pacific side are pretty extreme, varying by 7 meters between extreme high and extreme low tide. The result of this would be a very large wave pushing its way down the canal, this is not ideal and would likely destroy a lot of ships\n\nPlus, you'd have to dig the canal down another 26 meters and most of the canal is built to just 12 meters deep right now. Its a massive engineering effort when they want to support ships just a couple meters deeper, adding 10 or 20 or 30 meters would take decades of construction work and billions of dollars.",
"The middle part of the canal system is 85 feet above sea level.\n\nSo you'd need to dig the rest of the canal 85 feet deeper. For about 40 miles. So that would be an enormous amount of earth and rocks to dig and move, much more than was dug to place the locks as they currently are.\n\nThat's not even the biggest issue, though. Look at the map:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nSee all that water in the middle? The canal isn't a single cut across Panama, it's two canals, with locks, with **a huge ass lake in the middle**. Gatun Lake *is* the canal's middle, you enter the lake at one end and scoot across. Leveling the canal would be draining the entire lake (which itself was filled to create the canal) and drastically changing everything in the area, which now has created a large healthy rainforest area. That lake is the source of drinking water for Panama City.\n\nWeirdest part is, the mean sea level at the Pacific side is 20 feet higher than the Atlantic side owing to differences in tides. I have no idea what would happen exactly if you were to make a singe level clean cut across Panama but I wouldn't want to be standing in the middle of it when the Pacific Ocean decides it's time to be 20 feet higher than the water on the other end.",
"Because when it was built they took the easy route and had a big part or the channel go through a lake that was already there.\n\nIf they dug through land all the way without locks, it would triple the length and add extra 30-something meters of depth. That would probably be an impossible task 100 years ago(might even still be impossible)"
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6d24vd | as diseases like polio are eradicated why do we still need to vaccinate against them. | Note: I'm not an antivaxer troll. I had my kids blasted with vaccines Yosemite Sam style. Pew pew | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6d24vd/eli5_as_diseases_like_polio_are_eradicated_why_do/ | {
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"When a disease is considered eradicated, it is saying that we (\"we being whatever group(s) keeps these records) haven't heard of any recorded cases in ___ number of years. It's possible the disease is still out there and it's just not being reported. Vaccinations continue for a little while just in case.",
"The main reason is that the diseases we vaccinate against have not been eradicated. For example, while the incidence of polio has reduced by 99% since we began vaccination programs, there are still about 50 confirmed cases per year. While extremely unlikely, there is still a small chance that someone can be infected. If I remember correctly, smallpox is the only disease that has been 100% successfully eradicated through vaccination, with no reported cases since 1980. Which is why kids are often no longer vaccinated against smallpox.",
"also, in many less developed nations, they either don't have certain vaccines or they're not as accessible. so while something may be eradicated in the usa or europe, maybe a poor or underdeveloped nation is more common. ",
"Vaccines aren't perfect. Say a vaccine has an 85% effective rate. That means there's still 15% of people that are going to get that disease (people will still carry the disease, but it won't effect them). Well, since everyone around them has that vaccine, the disease doesn't have anywhere to go, so it burns out. \n\nNow, if there's a bunch of people that DIDN'T get vaccinated, then there's a higher chance of it spreading to those who did, and causing an outbreak.\n\nI know this isn't exactly what you asked, but I feel like it's a solid answer.",
"Many diseases that we vaccinate against are difficult to get rid of completely, because they can be carried by animals. Even if we vaccinate every human, the virus still could be kept alive in bat populations for example, and then passed back to humans if we stop vaccinating. \n\nSome viruses do only affect humans and are much easier to eradicate. Smallpox, for one. HPV for another, but a lot of people refuse that one because they can't stand the thought that their kids might have sex some day, so cervical cancer will linger far longer than it should even though we could conceivably eradicate it within a generation. ",
"Polio isn't eradicated, but we've mostly stopped vaccinating for it because it's extremely rare outside of a very few areas (a bit of Pakistan and a bit of Africa, iirc).\n\nSmallpox is eradicated, and we no longer vaccinate for that at all.\n\nOther diseases, the vaccine isn't perfect protection, or the disease has non-human reservoirs that make re-occurrence a risk forever."
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3kymzq | instead of melting, why do objects, such as paper, trees, and human bodies, turn to ash instead when lit on fire? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3kymzq/eli5_instead_of_melting_why_do_objects_such_as/ | {
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"They're composite materials, made of different stuffs basically. The temperature at which they would melt, is higher than the temperature at which the bonds that make them composites break down at. So before they have a chance to melt, you basically break them down into different substances. \n\nYou could heat the resulting products, which might further break down, and ultimately you'd get to materials that could melt, but by that point the 'stuff' isn't wood anymore. ",
"Melting is called a \"physical\" change, because it only involves one substance changing state. Burning is a \"chemical\" change, because it involves an actual chemical reaction, so that the end products are not the same as what you started with. It is that chemical reaction of combustion that makes something burn instead of melt.\n",
"Melting is a physical process. It's when a substance is sufficiently heated that it transforms from a solid to liquid state. It's *physically* changing, but it's *chemically* the same substance.\n\nBurning/combustion is a *chemical* reaction. Specifically, you're adding enough heat to that substance that it begins reacting with oxygen, changing the original substance into new substances. When you burn carbon-based material (such as paper, trees, and bodies), the resulting substances are mostly solid (ash, smoke particulate) and gas (CO2, water vapor). ",
"The hotter something gets, the more energy each molecule has. In a solid, this results in molecules vibrating. When the vibrations are strong enough to break the bonds between other molecules, the substance becomes a liquid.\n\nHowever, then the molecules are large, those vibrations make them break down and combine with gasses in the air before they detach from one another. Those substance burn instead of melt.",
"Melting and burning are fundamentally different processes. \n\nMelting is a physical change, which is reversible. Molecules just change from a state of high order, to a state of higher disorder.\n\nCombustion is a chemical change. It involves combining with oxygen and releasing heat. When a piece of paper burns, it consumes oxygen and uses it to generate carbon dioxide. The ash is a remainder of noncombustible residue.\n\nMore interesting is that because combustion requires oxegen, it's possible to raise the temperature of items that would normally burn to abnormal temperatures by doing it in an oxegen deprived area. As others have pointed out, as you heat it, the component molecules of the compound disassociate. You could boil out the water and other fluids of an object, and then various elements would sublimate (change directly from a solid to a gas) out.",
"If you put a cadaver into a room, sucked all the oxygen(hypothetically none in the body) out, pumped the room full of a noble gas, and heated up the room to say 2500 degrees F, chances are the cadaver would melt.\n\nWhat you see with ash is actually oxygen reacting with the body to chemically combine with the organics (oxidizing) creating, ash of non carbon compounds in some cases, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and incomplete oxidation(combustion) carbon ash.\n\nWhen you see wax melt from heat, this is because the temperature has gotten to a point where the wax reaches its melting point, but not yet hot enough to react with oxygen.\n\nSometimes the melting point of a compound is higher than the temperature to react with oxygen and burn.\n\nEDIT: Grammer"
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3283rn | how do we learn our first language? | Leaving nouns, how do we understand what the words means? And if it is something we learn from the womb, why is it that we have to relearn words as we grow and how do children of parents who are deaf learn a language? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3283rn/eli5_how_do_we_learn_our_first_language/ | {
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"We learn as a baby and toddler from our surroundings (parents, family etc.) If your parents repeatedly tell you \"kick the ball\" and react positively when you swing your foot against that round object on the floor, you have just learned what the words kick and ball mean.",
"The TLDR explanation for this is that babies are really, really good at learning their first language. \n\nBabies learn words through some pretty intense statistical analysis. Basically, they realize that certain words tend to be used around certain objects or in situation, and decide that's what they must mean. If the baby hears people saying \"dog\" a lot whenever a dog is in the room, they realize the word \"dog\" refers to that furry thing with big ears. \n\nObviously, more abstract things like verbs and prepositions and question words take more time for the child to work out. They figure out these words by closely monitoring which words tend to show up together: for example, they'll realize that the adults around them never just say \"Dog is in the room,\" but always add \"the\" or \"a\". \n\nI know, it seems unbelievably complicated. So complicated, it almost seems impossible. That's why many linguists believe babies are born with certain abilities to help them learn languages. Some even believe babies are born knowing what types of grammar systems are possible and which are impossible. That way, they don't have to learn grammar from scratch: they only have to figure out which of the possible grammars their parents are using, which is much easier. They may also be born knowing certain other basics like \"When people communicate, they're acutally talking about something, not just making funny noises,\" and \"When someone says a word like \"dog\", assume they're talking about the whole dog, not just its tail or something.\" Other linguists assume that babies come out knowing not very much at all, and they just really are excellent learners. This causes some pretty intense debates.\n\nWe do start learning language in the room, but we don't learn the whole thing there. Basically, the only thing we get done in the womb is learning to differentiate our parents' language from foreign languages. Newborn babies born to English parents can tell English apart from, say, Japanese. They still can't understand English, which is why we have to learn words as we grow. \n\nChildren of deaf parents learn language the exact same way as children of hearing parents. If the parents use sign language around the house, the child will grow up knowing sign language. They will also probably learn a spoken language from their teachers, friends, and the world around them. "
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1zliv9 | why doesn't russia want to be part of the eu? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zliv9/elif_why_doesnt_russia_want_to_be_part_of_the_eu/ | {
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"Thanks for the response ",
"Russia has a long history of being the head of empires, not being subjects of other nations. Taking back seat to other countries is not in their nature.\n\nRussia joining the EU as a member would go over about as well as having the US join a union of Canada, the US and Mexio that gave Canada and Mexico votes equal to the US.",
"More rules to abide by"
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6khwkd | india's new gst-tax | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6khwkd/eli5_indias_new_gsttax/ | {
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"It's a \"value add tax\" similar to the GST in Canada or the VAT in the UK. Many countries have a tax system like this because it's fairly simple to implement and compliance can be easy audited. \n\nThe easiest way to explain a VAT is to contrast it against a traditional sales tax.\n\nWith a normal sales tax, an additional tax is applied to a transaction when that item is sold TO THE END USER. So if I own a company that resells chairs, I don't pay the tax but I charge it to my customers when they buy the chairs. If the tax rate is 10% then and I sell a $100 chair then I charge $110. I keep $100 for myself and to pay my suppliers, and I give $10 to the government.\n\nThis is complex because it's hard to keep track of who is an \"end user\" and who's a re-seller. People tend to game the system by registering as a business and showing that business ID when they buy personal products. Keeping track of who's exempt and who's not is hard. Also stores often don't charge the tax and simply claim that all their customers are other businesses. It's a big administrative mess and it's hard for the government to audit. \n\nWith a value added tax, everyone pays the tax but businesses get credit for taxes that they pay. So it works like this.\n\nI buy a chair from my chair suppler for $50 and pay a 10% vat for a total of $55. I resell that chair for $100 to someone else, again charging a 10% tax. Now unlike in the last example, I don't send the full $10 to the government, because I paid $5 to my suppler already, so I get credit for that. I only send to the government the difference between the tax that I have charged vs the tax that I paid.\n\nNow, if the government comes along and audits me. I'm required to prove all of my GST credits by producing receipts for shit that I bought, and there's no exempt customers so there can be no cheating on that end either. \n\nThere's 2 main criticisms of a VAT. The first it shares with a sales tax. Both taxes are taxes on shit that you buy. The poorer a person is, the more likely it is that they are spending all of their income on things. Wealthy people tend to be able to save rather than spend everything. A theory in taxation is that wealthy people should pay a higher tax rate because they are better able to afford the basic necessity of life wheres poor people are not. All consumption taxes, like VAT and sales taxes violate this taxation principal. It increases the price of everything people buy, therefore poorer people are able to buy less. But wealthy people can absorb those higher prices without a lifestyle change. \n\nAn income tax is generally considered to be better in this regard, because you can just charge wealthy people more and give poor people a break. But India has a BIG compliance problem as people just lie about their income. So it gets prohibitively expensive to run an income tax system in countries like that. \n\nThe second issue with a VAT is that it's considered to be harder on businesses than a straight sales tax. The record keeping required is more extensive because you have to prove all of your credits should the government send around an auditor. While this is true, a VAT is less record keeping on the sales end of things because you are not required to track the tax exempt status of your customers as you are under a sales tax system. ",
"India's new General Services Taxation scheme, also known as the Goods and Services tax, is an indirect tax throughout India to replace most taxes levied by the Central and State Governments. \n \nAn indirect tax is a tax collected by an intermediary (such as a retail store) from the person who bears the ultimate economic burden of the tax. The end consumer generally bears the burden of a tax. An end consumer is a person that buys a good and uses the good. If you buy a good (such as cherries) and make that good into something else for sale (such as a cherry pie that you sell) then you are no longer the end consumer. \n \nIndia's GST is replacing a number of taxes that used to be collected in India, such as Central Excise Duty, Commercial Tax, Value Added Tax, and about a dozen more. \n \nEssentially, India is trying to move toward a tax system that is much easier to keep track of and easier to enforce as opposed to their old system, that had many individual taxes instead of one blanket tax like the new GST. \n \nCanada'a GST (as mentioned by u/Miliean) is only a Value Added Tax, whereas India's GST, is much more than that as is replaces their current Value Added Tax as well as many other taxes. India's GST is NOT a VAT because it is also replaces Food Tax, Sales Tax, Entertainment Tax, Luxury Tax, Advertisement Tax, and many others. \n \nTL;DR - It's a much simpler tax that applies to almost every kind of sales, instead of having different taxes for different kind of transactions. "
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biobk2 | what causes the pressure in our chest when we hold our breath? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/biobk2/eli5_what_causes_the_pressure_in_our_chest_when/ | {
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"The pressure doesn't actually increase as you hold your breath. What you are feeling is the psychological manifestation of your need to breathe. And what is ultimately driving that is increased carbonic acid in your blood.\n\nCarbon dioxide is a bit different from other gases in that it doesn't really dissolve in water, but rather almost completely breaks down and reforms into carbonic acid. That acidity of this causes the pH of your blood to lower while you hold your breath, and it is that change in pH that drives you to take another breath long before you actually need to to get more oxygen."
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43m34m | why doesn't a slinky expand like normal springs do? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/43m34m/eli5_why_doesnt_a_slinky_expand_like_normal/ | {
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"Springs are just coils of metal that try *really hard* to return back to their original shape. If you stretch a \"normal\" spring in your hands, it'll try to pull back to it's original shape just the same as it pushes against you when you compress it.\n\nSlinkies are just springs that are wound to be completely compressed when at rest."
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2na3yn | why do people continue posting threads here when 99% of the questions can be answered w/ a simple google search? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2na3yn/eli5_why_do_people_continue_posting_threads_here/ | {
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"The good questions tend involve either complicated concepts or little bits of trivia that aren't easy to find answers to. With the former, Google searches probably turn up something, but what does show up is hard to understand and the poster wants someone who understands the material to explain it more simply. With the latter, it can be very hard to find on a Google search (like why waterboys squirt water at NFL players).\n\nFor the rest of the questions, I assume the OP is either lazy (but patient) or wants someone to explain something in different words because it's homework and OP doesn't want to get caught plagiarizing.",
"Being able to word your question exactly how you want to, and getting answers from actual people (and being able to ask follow-up questions) is more satisfying and more educational.",
"how else do we afford people the opportunity to earn free internet points?",
"Your question itself is very common here, a Reddit search would have turned up many examples.\n\nAnyway, if you search on your own, you have to read through shit and come to your own conclusion. If you ask here, you'll get a couple paragraph summary and you don't have to think.",
"Certainly there are questions that are like that, but I like the ones where people struggle finding answers because they struggle with concepts that seem counter-intuitive but any search will be generally over complicated because the writers are way past that stage\n\nFoe example one I answered was to a person who couldn't understand why AC electricity worked if electrons only went back and forth and didnt 'go' anywhere \n\nAnother was to 'why does vacuum exert a force\". A concept which was so off base as to defy a simple search.\n\nThose are the ones I like, where EL5 comes into its own",
"Your question must be in the 1% then?",
"Because people aren't asking simple Google questions. If someone asked a simple factual question: (\"what are the ten most populous cities?\"), it would never get upvoted.\n\nWhat does get upvoted are questions that are more thought provoking and have more complex answers than can be answered in a simple Google search (just look at the [top questions](_URL_0_) and you can see what I mean).",
"I always post here because it inevitably catches the attention of someone working on a graduate project in the area i'm asking about that can help me out in a personal and also enjoyably conversational way. ",
"I'll be honest, I like the interaction.\n\n\nYes I'm rather lonely. ",
"Sometimes, it's more about the explanation than the answer.",
"In my experience, some of the questions are uncommon and so they're interesting. Uncommon questions do not have easily Googlable answers, either. The questions that are common (like this one) are easily answered with a search engine, and I ignore them.",
"I googled bitches, Where do I find them?",
"Why do students go to class when they can just read the book?",
"The answers posted here can be better than some random yahoo answers page.",
"My favorite is when assholes post rhetorical politically loaded questions. ",
"two words: Anus Rhythm\n\nGoogle ain't gonna help you with that.\n\nalso: \"Youth in Asia\" confused me a lot as a kid... I thought 'Euthanizing' a pet was sending it to China to be eaten by the starving kids my parents cited as a reason to eat my veggies)\n\nmany of the ELI5's don't realize they are asking the wrong questions.",
"because they also like human interaction and the feeling that someone is personally taking care of them. it's evolution.",
"I literally just posted a question, after considering google and deciding against it. For one, I posted in female fashion advice the other day and got like 250 comments and I just felt so special all day! So, google doesn't accomplish that. Also, what if others want my question explained easily too, but just haven't thought of the question yet? There are plenty of times when I am bored at work, and I just learn new stuff on eli5. But I wouldn't just google random stuff to learn about it.\n\nThat's just why I personally choose to (even still) not try google for an answer. Hopefully this doesn't discourage people from responding to it though! ",
"Google could have given you the answer to this question",
"I generally consider citations in this forum a bit pedantic unless you're genuinely being challenged or if it is a real niche question. Generally, things that are \"common knowledge\" to experts aren't cited in papers, and no one should have to spend hours putting together a lit cited for Reddit.",
"Sometimes the answers are easy to google, but the questions are not ones that I'd ever think to ask. ",
"People enjoy the social interaction that reddit gives them vs just googling something. Also it may connect them to a knowledgeable person that could answer further related questions."
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1gh0mf | branch davidians and the waco siege | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gh0mf/eli5_branch_davidians_and_the_waco_siege/ | {
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"The branch Davidians, an Adventist sect focused around David Koresh lived in a compound in Texas were stockpiling illegal weapons. The ATF got a warrant to investigate and approached the compound armed. The Davidians didn't take too kindly to this so fended them off. Siege ensues. \n\nATF have no understanding and training to deal with religious cults so they treat it like a stand off between terrorists. They shine bright light on the compound during the night, play loud sounds like heavy metal, babies crying, animals being slaughtered. Psychological warfare and that jazz.\nTrapped, David Koresh looks to scripture (especially revelations) for help (he thinks he's Jesus btw). The Branch Davidians like all adventist groups have a trend of apocalyptic beliefs (which makes them volatile and more likely to turn to violence). With the psychological warfare, being trapped, and extremist religious beliefs, David concludes that it is the beginning of apocalypse they've been expecting. The ATF are agents of Satan and they are fighting a cosmic battle.\n\nNot understanding this religious dimension the ATF continue to fulfil the Davidian world view through their aggression. FBI were concerned they all might try and kill themselves and that the children in the compound were being abused (David had many under age wives). \n\nSo they want to get the situation wrapped up. Two 'tanks' are sent to puncture the wall and shoot gas in so everyone can be rounded up. Somehow a fire starts (either caused by the breaking of the walls or started by the Davidians). Little attempt is made by the Davidians to escape. 75 people die in the fire.\nControversial because the ATF handled it so poorly. All they needed was a bit of understanding rather than force. The Davidians, although they had weapons, were no real danger to anyone other than themselves (although including the children). The ATF didn't consider the way in which the people inside would see the external aggression.\n\nCults and sects practice encapsulation - either social or physical (which is why they had a compound). This encapsulation is useful to create a safe space where no descenting opinions are tolerated, and the believers can re-enforce each others spirituality, the environment is completely controlled. The distancing themselves from society is crucial to maintain the religious atmosphere which is very important to members (otherwise they would realise how obscure what they are doing is and regain their sense of normality). If something threatens this boundary between the group and society it causes instability (and so more likely a chance of violence). Despite the tragedy the Davidians are considered as having very low group tension (it took a long siege and plenty of aggression on the part of the ATF to initiate a fatal response). This differs from Jonestown (Guyana cult suicide) which were a high tension group as the fatal response came about after a simple visit from a US senator.\n\n\n_URL_0_"
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ebs6ej | why can motorbike batteries sit on a shelf unused without losing charge but when sitting inside a motorbike for a few weeks that hasn't been turned on, go dead? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ebs6ej/eli5_why_can_motorbike_batteries_sit_on_a_shelf/ | {
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"When its on the shelf, there no where for the energy to go. In a motorbike, the battery is slowly and passively discharging. even if nothing is on. This is because the electrons in the battert have another place to go, the motor bike electrical system",
"Errr also. I'm not sure how much it's changed. But most of the boxed batteries we got at the shop for the bikes still had no fluid mixture in them on the shelf.\n\nOnce we cracked open the box we put the water in and pushed on the seal and then it was ready to go.\n\nThis was about 10 years ago though.",
"There are two things: \n\n\nFirst, some portions of your bike's electrical systems will often remain on when the bike is turned off, causing minimal, but noticeable drain. \n\n\nSecond, on the shelf the battery is in a climate controlled environment, while in the bike it is not. Repeated heating and cooling causes many types of battery to lose charge, especially if it is outside of the battery's ideal temperature range."
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ahy77n | why do some airports make transit passengers go through security again and others don’t? | For transit I mean your bag is already checked through to a final destination and you probably have boarding passes already. Is it a case of differing national regulations or dependent on your country of origin? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ahy77n/eli5_why_do_some_airports_make_transit_passengers/ | {
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"As /u/TehWildMan_ said, international flights can force you to go through security again. But, even within the same country you might have to pass through security when connecting between flights. The common reason for this is that many airports have multiple terminals which are physically separate buildings. Those terminals will have a secure and a non-secure side. When you land you are in the secure side. But, if you need to transfer to another terminal, there may not be a path that connects the secure sides of those two separate buildings. So, you are forced to leave the secure side, go outside and re-enter from the non-secure side of the new building. This is basically just a cost and space-savings move on the part of the airport when they added the new terminal."
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6s6gzf | why is yellow visually/functionally the least strong color? | Okay, I'm not entirely sure if I can express this very well, but out of all the different wavelengths of light, why does yellow seem to be weaker and lighter in shade/tone than other colors at their full intensity? Like, picking colors in Photoshop by RGB/HSL, it feels like yellow is a much lighter color than red even with both of them at medium lightness and full saturation.
Say you're drawing with colored pencils or markers, or painting with watercolors. If you have a fully intense yellow color and a fully intense red or blue, yellow always gets overpowered. You can draw over yellow with another color and that color is most of what's visible. But if you draw over another color with yellow, it's still pretty much the same color that was underneath, just smudged.
If I'm painting a model, I have to paint light colors before dark ones, starting with white and yellow before any other colors (ending with black) cause yellow can't cover over anything else.
I know there's different things at play here like colors of light (adds up to white) vs colors of pigment (adds up to black), but somehow it seems odd that one of the three primary colors seems so submissive to the others. Does that make sense or am I nuts? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6s6gzf/eli5_why_is_yellow_visuallyfunctionally_the_least/ | {
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"So there are a few things going on here. First...\n\n > it seems odd that one of the three primary colors seems so submissive to the others. \n\nYellow is not a primary color, at least not in the way you're thinking of it in. In additive color (e.g. adding light together) normally it's red, green, and blue (RGB), which roughly aligns with the 3 different color receptors in the eye to give you color vision.\n\nIn subtractive color (e.g. inks, pigments, paints, etc.), especially in printers, it's cyan, yellow, magenta, and black (CYMK).\n\nGoing back to your original question, if we're looking only at color response I don't think yellow is unusually special regarding how intense the color is - it's just most of the time the background on which you're viewing the color tends to be lighter, making bright colors seem washed out.\n\nYellow text? That's probably on a white background (either a monitor or paper). Looking at a painting with a sun? It's probably on a light blue background (and actual sunlight is more white than yellow, so the yellow used is going to be even brighter to try and reflect that).\n\nThere are also plenty of instances where you see yellow that doesn't seem washed out. I doubt you've ever looked at a banana and said \"man I can hardly see that, it's so washed out!\", and if you look at [this snake](_URL_0_) you'd probably say that the yellow helps it stand out (which is what it's meant to do, alert other animals it's dangerous).\n\nIt probably doesn't help that bright yellow is frequently used as a stand-in for sunlight, which as mentioned is actually white light and not yellow light. This means that stereotypical \"yellow\" is intentionally very bright and close to white. Also, generally when you start delving into the darker shades of yellow that might pop on a bright background it tends to look more like orange.\n\n > Say you're drawing with colored pencils or markers, or painting with watercolors.\n\nWith subtractive color, if you mix two colors the darker one almost always wins. If you took a real dark yellow and colored over a bright pink or green the yellow would win. Again, this goes back to the fact that stereotypical \"yellow\" is that super bright color that people associate with sunlight.",
"The reason is that there is no yellow sensitive cone in the eye so yellow light is additively visualized when green and red cells are activated but blue is not. Blue light is higher energy and when yellow is seen it is split across two receptors, neither of which are efficiently stimulated. Yellow isn't easily differentiated from white. "
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15dfyo | how does a flute produce sound? | sound is vibrations, so how can a steady stream of air suddenly start to vibrate as it passes through the end? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/15dfyo/how_does_a_flute_produce_sound/ | {
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"It helps to think of the air in the flute and around the mouthpiece as a squishy fluid, like Jello or jam. We usually think of air as flowing like water, but you can compress air (squish), and compressed air will push back, like when you squeeze a bike tire.\n\nWhen you blow over the flute, you have to hit just he right angle at just the right speed. With the correct configuration, the air in the flute is squished (compressed) and then rebounds and pushes back only to be squished again by the moving air. This squishing and rebounding of the air itself produces the vibrations that make sound. It's the same as when you blow over the top of a bottle."
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27g5ju | how does intuition or instinct work? | Have these ever been explained? Like what goes on in your brain and what exactly happens when you have a "gut feeling" about something? What does intuition only seem to occur in some instances and not others? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27g5ju/eli5how_does_intuition_or_instinct_work/ | {
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"This is an INCREDIBLY interesting topic... I don't know if this was just an 'idle-curiousity' ELI5 or one that touched on something you really are passionate about... if it is the latter, go to Amazon and purchase _URL_0_\n",
"We have senses, you are normally taught about the 5 cardinal senses, taste, touch, sight, sound and smell.\n\nBut in truth, depending on the definition, we have more. Including the sense of direction, the sense of pain, your sense of balance, and the sense that allows you to know where you limbs are without seeing them (close your eyes and clap your hands).\n\nBecause of this, we actually have other senses that are less descriptive, like a sense that allows us to perceive danger, or a sense that allows us to know when to go into \"flight or fight\".\n\nBut that's a bit of a tangent, instincts are preprogrammed muscle reactions in some cases. Like instinctively covering your stomach when being attacked, or instinctively covering your head when falling.\n\nInstincts are our natural reactions. Reactions that have become ingrained in our subconscious as \n\nIntuition is the conscious use of those instincts to know things. ie Instinct tells a person that a crying baby is a bad thing, but intuition is looking at the baby and knowing that it's not hungry, it needs a diaper change.\n\nIntuition only seems to occur in some instances, because it truly does only occur at certain times, it's an insight, and sometimes you just have no insight into a situation.",
"Klein, a research scientist and the founder of his own company, presents his thesis that intuition is an essential, powerful, and practical tool for decision making and not a special gift of perception or magic. Defining intuition as the way we translate our experience into action, he shows how anyone can build intuitive decision-making skills through a program of mental conditioning. The origin of this book is interesting: the U.S. Marine Corps sponsored Klein's initial research and asked his company to develop a training program that would strengthen marines' intuitive abilities"
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4ut8zb | is it possible to manipulate your voice? such as make it raspier, more hoarse or deeper? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ut8zb/eli5_is_it_possible_to_manipulate_your_voice_such/ | {
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"Permanently? Not without outside help. ",
"If you want to become hoarse, you can start screaming. Football coaches who have been screaming daily for two decades tend to be a bit hoarse."
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3uoqkm | indians: what is the deal with the train system in india? | Why do you think it's normal to sit on top of, or hang from moving trains? Did anyone ever think to add some extra trains, wagons, tracks? I really don't understand how this works. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3uoqkm/eli5_indians_what_is_the_deal_with_the_train/ | {
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"The main thing is the huge gap between the users and the providers of this service. \n\nAlso, indians love sitting on top of trains/buses. plus i think its cheaper to travel like that instead of INSIDE the bus. \n\nAnd trains, its basically 'last one in, first one out'. what with all the bustling, people want to get wherever they want to as fast as possible, and hanging out of trains is a prerequisite. ",
"South Indian here. In my 22 years of life I have never seen anyone sit on top of the train. But have seen people hanging on train and bus. Even I have hanged on to the door sometimes during some short distance bus travel. I never had fear of falling down. Its more like a positive attitude that I won't fall off the bus. Moreover at peak hours in metro cities no matter how much transport system is available there is simply too much demand. I don't think its ever possible at all by the government to meet such a huge demand especially in peak hours(Morning 8-10 A.M., Evening 5-8 P.M.). Ultimately its all down to overpopulation and government not simply being able to meet the demand.\n\nHowever there are some other kind of people(Mostly college students, teens) that do it for the fun and thrill. Its fun for them to hang on to the doors.\n\nAs for as the top of the trains is concerned its not prevailing in south India. I have only seen them in TVs. But the reasoning is the same. 1.) Not enough transport facilities due to overpopulation. 2.)Our mentality is not to fear for those things. 3.) There are people who do it for the fun and thrill of doing it 4.) For some people its the only way of transport.\n\nNow you might ask that even china is overpopulated but that is not an issue for them. Its because China have a better economy."
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1o263u | how do sinks work? | How does water just flow upwards with the movement of a handle? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1o263u/eli5_how_do_sinks_work/ | {
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"I think you mean how do _faucets_ work, or _water pipes_. Pressure. The utility supplier pumps potable water into the top of the system. Boost pumps along the system keep the pressure up throughout the underground mains. This supplies the pressure to your house. When you open a faucet you are creating a point for the water to escape, so the system begins to depressurize and is repressurized by the pumps.\n\nedit: speeling",
"Pressure differences. The water is pressurized in pipes under ground, when you turn on your faucet, it creates a \"low pressure area\" in the pipe system. Water from the \"high pressure area\" moves to the low pressure area and BAM, water in your sink.\n"
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9ia1rt | what is bearing in navigation and how is it different from heading? | More specifically, it would be great if you could relate this to aircraft. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9ia1rt/eli5_what_is_bearing_in_navigation_and_how_is_it/ | {
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"Bearing is the direction to any given point or object. Heading is the direction you are travelling in.",
"Bearing is the direction to some specific object or location, and heading is compass direction you are moving. For example, if you take off from an airport and fly due south, your heading is 180 degrees, and the bearing to the airport (which is now due north of you) is 0 degrees."
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35hsfp | why is it preferable to keep apps running on android lollipop instead of closing them frequently? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35hsfp/eli5_why_is_it_preferable_to_keep_apps_running_on/ | {
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"Force closing and re-opening them requires more power than to keep them open in the background. So to save battery, don't force close them.",
"It's true for all Android versions, not just Lollipop. [This article explains it.](_URL_0_)\n\nTL;DR Android keeps the recently used apps in memory. If you force closing an app then the next time you open it will be forced to reload into memory, which will just end up taking a longer time and requiring more processing power.",
"The phone is a high tech piece of equipment that is better at deciding at what to keep open and not in order to maximize battery life and performance. \n\nThe app is not actually running when it appears in the recent app list. It might not even be in the phones memory. The recent app list is there as a convenience feature to the end user.\n\nNow why might closing the app be bad? The operation of closing the app removes the app from memory which uses energy. Additionally next time you open the app it must be loaded back into the phones memory and must be reinitalized which too uses energy. The combination of these two operations may be more energy consuming than leaving the app in memory in the first place.\n\nDo you want to figure that out? Probably not. Hundereds of hardware and software engineers at Google and all the other companies that went into making your device have written algorithms to make the phone smart enough to make these types of decisions so you don't have to.\n\nTl;Dr: the phone is smarter than you",
"It's called context-switching.\n\nIf you're cooking dinner and suddenly a guest arrives and rings the bell, naturally, you have to stop your current activity. Also naturally, you do not put the meat back into the fridge, or the utensils into the cupboard.\n\nIf you know you are going to resume a suspended task, it is generally more beneficial to leave the resources alone.",
"Made account just for this, so lets try (and sorry for bad english):\n\nYou have 2 streets, one is windows second one is android. You have cars on both streets and different rules apply on each street. \nOn android street rules are:\n*driver can start car anytime. \n*driver has 2 parking places (one on the street and one on the parking lot)\n* you can tell driver to park car and where to park it\n* someone else can tell driver to park car and where to park it\n* driver is moody guy and likes boss around\n* its expensive to start car\n\nOn windows street rules are:\n* only you can tell driver when to start car\n* you and someone else can tell driver to park car (but in 99% cases its only you)\n* only 1 parking space\n* its cheap to start car whenever you want\n\nRules are more like guidelines and can be broken, but for this ELI lets say those are the rules.\n\nGoal is to start car, drive down the street, park car and spend as little resources as possible. \n\nWindows street: Tell driver to start car. Tell him to dive you to destination X. When you arrive, driver has to do everything he needs to do before you exit vehicle, as after that he is going straight to the parking. If he missed to do something, he will have to wait for you to call him again so he can do what he missed. Also, parking is kinda big and crowded, but its efficient and has plenty of space. But thats all okay, starting car again is cheap, as well as doing some things again..\n\nAndroid street: Tell driver to start car. Tell him to drive you to destination Y. When you arrive, you exit the car and driver parks car on the smaller parking, one near the street. So you go to finish what you have, while driver does some maintenance, cleaning car, stuff like that. If you need him he is just over there, just hop in and you are on your way.\n\nBUT, you decide that 4 more cars need to pass trough there, and you tell driver \"go to the big parking\".\nFirst, what you don't know is that there is police officer that checks if there is enough space for those 4 cars, and that he would send that driver to parking anyway if he needed to do that.\nThats okay, you are the boss, so you tell him go away. You can do that.\nDriver goes to big parking lot, but you sent him away while he was cleaning the car. Waits a little for a street to clears (those 4 cars could still be there, remember if policeman lets him, he can go out), and goes out. Starts cleaning the car all over again,since you stopped him in the middle of the work. So he does 50% more work. And going to the big parking lot is expensive and difficult.\n\nEach time while you send him away, everything seems better, street is clear, and you are like \" this will totally improve my battery life and my processor will not suffer at all, those pesky police officers dont know what they do, i am smarter than them\". But, you are not :)\n\nForget about task managers, go to the setting of your android device and find battery statistic. You should find cpu statistic on the same place. Analyze them and remove apps that you don't need, or find alternative for the ones that you do need. If you absolutely need certain app that bogs down your system, live with it or get better device...\n\nedit: why does my formatting doesn't work :/ ?"
]
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2styzr | how can different operating systems able to read programs written in different programming languages. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2styzr/eli5how_can_different_operating_systems_able_to/ | {
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"When you write a program in some programming language, you can't just run it. You need to pass the code through a *compiler*, a program that translates the code into binary code that the processor can understand.\n\nEven then, the executable binary code is platform specific. You can't run a program compiled for Windows on a Mac or a Linux, or on a different kind of CPU (for example running program for an x86 processor on an ARM processor). If you want to be able to run your program on multiple platforms, you have to compile it for each platform separately.\n\n*However*, some programming languages, such as Java, are compiled into an intermediate language. The computer still can't understand this language, but you run them using a special program called a Virtual Machine, which translated the intermediate code into the platform's actual binary code at runtime. There is a version of the Java Virtual Machine for each platform - one for Windows, one for Linux, and so on. If you want to run a java program, you just download the JVM for your operating system and then you can run."
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3apdtc | how come when i use "end task" programs that aren't responding close instantly but when i "x" out of them it takes a while | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3apdtc/eli5_how_come_when_i_use_end_task_programs_that/ | {
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"Pressing the X sends a message to the program asking it to close.\n\nIf the program isn't responding to other input, it's entirely possible it won't respond to that input.\n\nUsing End Task tells the operating system to kill the program.\n\nIt's the difference between using the key to move a broken car, and using a tow truck.",
"The X tells the program to close itself. It then goes through the steps necessary to cleanly close any network connections and flush any unsaved data back to the hard drive.\n\nChoosing \"end task\" tell the operating system to skip the step of telling the program to close itself, and just forcibly shut it down (potentially losing any data that you hadn't saved in the process, since the program will not go through its shutdown routine of prompting you to save your data).",
"Analogy:\n\nPressing the X is telling the program that it's fired and kindly ask it on clear its desk and be out of the building by close of business hours. \n\nUsing \"End Task\" is calling building security and having them tossed out immediately. "
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1viitx | why do me teeth feel loose? are they really loose, temporarily, or is my brain just playing tricks on me? | Hey,
My teeth certainly feel loose. And even though it is something that happens on rare occasions, and it always seems to pass, I always wondered why they feel like that.
Despite the fact that my teeth may or may not be loose, why do I feel this now? Assuming they are not loose, why is my brain telling me they are -- why this morning? I drank a couple of beers and smoked some cigarettes the night before, if that matters.
If they are actually loose, why does this symptom appear and then -- after a few hours, after a day -- leaves?
Thank you! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1viitx/eli5_why_do_me_teeth_feel_loose_are_they_really/ | {
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"Your teeth do move very slightly over time (they tend to crowd as wisdom teeth come in, for example), but they shouldn't be loose. If you tap on them while looking in the mirror, do you see any motion? Or is it just a feeling? If it's the former, see a dentist *immediately*, that shouldn't ever happen. If it's the latter, it's likely an issue with your gums rather than with your teeth. You should still see a dentist about it, though.",
"What might be happening is your gum and/or the root of the tooth is inflamed and swollen, so your tooth is not fitted right as the swelling is pushing the tooth out slightly. Swollen root is usually more serious and hurts more than swollen gum. I don't feel comfortable giving medical advice, so it's best to consult a dentist. ",
"They're supposed to move a very small amount, imperceptibly to the eye.\n\nThis happens because if they were perfectly rigid in the gums they would chip and break very easily.\n\nBelow the gumline they have a lot of what appears to be almost a furry coating to them which interfaces with the gum and keeps them anchored while allowing a small amount of give.\n\nIf this give changes with time, its likely a gum issue; as swelling to the gums can make them feel looser. This is normally caused by some sort of gum disease.",
"We have periodontal ligaments that hold our teeth to out alveolus(bone socket where our teeth fit). These periodontal ligaments can both contract and retract due to relieve direct pressure on your teeth. So if your teeth move slightly it's fine because of the slight give/flexibility of these ligaments. "
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5w1ldx | how did fungi develop antibiotics fast enough to kill bacteria? and why couldn't bacteria just develop faster to overcome the antibiotics fungi made, therefore becoming resistant? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5w1ldx/eli5_how_did_fungi_develop_antibiotics_fast/ | {
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"Many bacteria HAVE evolved to become resistant to penicillin due to its widespread use as an antibiotic when it was first discovered. \nFrom what I understand, it might be opposite of what you think. Bacteria have poor DNA repair mechanisms due to their rapid generation time, so they often accumulate mutations. A random mutation leading to antibiotic resistance and selection quickly allows a bacteria population to become resistant to an antibiotic. On the other hand, fungi are eukaryotes (like humans) with better DNA repair mechanisms than bacteria so they don't develop mutations as rapidly. Seeing as how bacteria are growing resistant to penicillin, it would probably take longer for the fungi to adapt to the situation and counteract. \n \n > Fungi and Bacteria are mortal enemies. \n \nIn many cases, that is not correct. There are various symbiotic relationships where bacteria live within fungi. In return, the bacteria aid with metabolism and help provide nutrients."
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7h1727 | why do truckers always pass other cars/truckers when going uphill? i seem to notice this mostly on the interstates and it always results (obviously) in the “fast lane” getting backed up. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7h1727/eli5_why_do_truckers_always_pass_other/ | {
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"They don't always pass when going uphill. Sometimes they pass going downhill and sometimes they pass on the level (source: I've seen them do it many times).\n\nYou probably notice it more when they do it going uphill because it inconveniences you most then. It's OK though: in all the jurisdictions I'm aware of, trucks are allowed to use the passing lane when passing, even if it takes a long time.\n\nFun fact: the Germans have a word for it: \"elefantenrennen\" which translates to \"elephant racing.\""
]
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68916f | how is it that although we don't know all of the words in the dictionary by heart, we can easily spot when something is not a word? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/68916f/eli5how_is_it_that_although_we_dont_know_all_of/ | {
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"1. Recognition is easier than recall, so if you see a real world you usually recognize it, even if it's not one you use.\n2. In a specific language, certain letter combinations are rare or completely unused. Here are some realistic non-words: famp, droom, pank. Here are some plainly unrealistic ones: qqaq, eoao, thethith, yfg.",
"If you try and write down every word you know, you can't possibly remember each one because your memory is limited. If however, you see one you didn't remember you'll still recognize it. Sort of like not remembering all the people you meet but recognizing a familiar face. \n\nThen there's ones which are real words which you didn't know about, but they look real because of their structure. That can be due to being in a family of words or the prefixes/suffixes involved. For example, someone might not know that precognition is a word but knows recognition is - they'll be able to figure out what precognition means based off the context. \n"
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4jrm6v | why black holes cause infinite curvature? | Why is it called infinite?
Why isn't the space called eg. *"curved so much that not even light cannot escape it" instead?*
Or *"curved so much that even photons cannot escape"?*
Is it the same thing?
I'm so confused. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4jrm6v/eli5_why_black_holes_cause_infinite_curvature/ | {
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"Black holes are only infinite right in the center. The curvature at the event horizon **is** \"curved so much that not even light can escape\", but that isn't infinite. You don't need infinite anything to stop light from escaping.",
"The \"curvature\" of space time can be determined, mathematically, based on the mass of the blackhole and your distance from its center.\n\nThat is, you have this equation. \"Mass\" and \"distance\" are variables. You enter values for those variables and get an answer that tells you the curvature of space time.\n\nThe \"Event Horizon\" is simply the distance from a black hole of a given mass where light cannot escape.\n\nBut you can get closer to a black hole than its event horizon. As you get closer and closer, as the distance from the black hole approaches zero, the curvature of space time approaches infinity.\n\nSince black holes are not considered to have any volume, the curvature of spacetime *at* the black hole is considered to be infinite.\n\nHowever, this is a mathematical answer and is considered to be a fallacious one indicating the limitations of general relativity, especially when used in combination with quantum mechanics (which is required here). A new theory is required in this arena which may give us a different answer, or place physical limitations on how \"close\" you can get to a black hole."
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bxzg85 | why do charley horses (the type of painful muscle cramp) seem to mostly happen while you're asleep? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bxzg85/eli5_why_do_charley_horses_the_type_of_painful/ | {
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"Because you sleep in weird positions and your muscles can't properly relax, or it's too cold and your body won't bother shivering, but the muscle still has to warm itself up,so it stays active and pulsates,and eventually it gets stuck"
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3792bg | why do gas stations offer mid grade gas | It seems like everyone uses either regular or premium gas so what's the purpose of having another grade in between the two? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3792bg/eli5_why_do_gas_stations_offer_mid_grade_gas/ | {
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"In my state (Montana) premium gas is 91 octane, but regular gas is 85.5 octane. From what I understand the low-octane gas is acceptable because of the altitude, at least for older cars without engine-management computers. So the mid-grade gas is 87 octane, which is what my engine requires. Thus, I buy mid-grade gas because it's the cheapest grade for my car.\n"
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35umfp | when people sing in a tonal language (like chinese), how do they keep the tones in their voice? | I would think it might be hard to sing in a tonal language because in trying to match the song's pitch, it would then be difficult to keep the tones of the language as well, wouldn't it? (Sorry, that's kind of strangely worded but its the only way I can think of to explain it.) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35umfp/eli5_when_people_sing_in_a_tonal_language_like/ | {
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"The short answer is, they don't. You can't really tell the tones when listening to a song. The meaning is usually pretty clear from context.\n\nThe tones are basically lost when whispering Chinese too. It's still understandable.\n",
"I'm not entirely sure, since I speak basic Cantonese but I don't know the full lyrics of most Cantonese songs, but from what I know a good song will take the tones of the words into account and reflect that in the melody. Eg. ascending lines/leaps match rising tones and descending lines match ending of sentences. I've heard of people mentioning hilariously bad songs because the melody doesn't match the tones and the meanings of the lyrics can sound like something entirely different or nonsensical.",
"I'm a Cantonese and Mandarin speaker. It is perfectly possible for us to just speak in one tone, just as English speakers can, say, pretend to be a robot and speak in a monotone. It will sound silly and might cause some confusing to meaning (though context helps) but it's not like tonal language speakers can't make themselves speak without the tones. Even little kids can do that for fun.\n\n\nSimilarly, we can fit the sounds into the pitch of the songs (instead of a monotone), meaning that we don't keep the tones of the language when we sing. But a good Cantonese song will make sure the melody more or less match the original tones of the lyrics. \n\n\nMandarin actually forgo tones completely when in music, and it can still make perfect sense (from context) without sounding off at all. The tone does not need to match the songs pitch at all. Cantonese, however, cannot do the same without sounding really strange or meaning something different. Most people can still guess what the correct words are meant to be (like we do from robot speech) but it just sounds ridiculous, so fitting the tone to the music is one of the first considerations when writing Cantonese songs.\n\nThat is why writing Cantonese lyrics is very challenging because taking tone into consideration greatly limits the choice of words you can use, but a good song needs that (actually, scratch that, it's actually a very basic requirement, a very challenging but minimal requirement).\n\n\nAs for why tones are important in Cantonese songs but not at all in Mandarin songs, my guess is that the former has 9 tones (or 6 depending on how you define a tone) and the latter only has 4. Hope that helps!"
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8jkmd5 | how can tv shows like south park and family guy still use the “all persons fictitious” disclaimer when they are clearly making fun of an actual person/celebrity? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8jkmd5/eli5_how_can_tv_shows_like_south_park_and_family/ | {
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"The disclaimer does not give them full protection from libel laws. It might offer them some protection in certain cases. However it is the overall perception that the viewer is left with that is important and not just a single disclaimer. It show however be noted that people who have chosen to become famous have less protection from libel laws then people who do not. For example Trump should expect people to make jokes about him being a fat dumb sick upper class snob with a small penis when he started his own reality show staring himself and then later joining politics. However if a writer met someone he did not like and then publicly portrayed him in a similar manner then the law would be much stricter. The disclaimer may have a grater impact on the ruling in those cases.",
"That disclaimer isn't protecting them from a celebrity suing them. \n\nWhat is protecting them from a celebrity suing them is the fact that the 1st Amendment has been held to allow you to use someone's name and likeness in certain limited ways when that person is a \"subject of public interest.\" The short of it is that celebrities are \"subjects of public interest\" and the manner in which they are being depicted in those tv shows is one of the limited ways in which the 1st Amendment permits someone else to use their likeness.\n\nThat phrase is just some generic legalese that has been stuck in the credits of every movie and tv show going back decades. It's designed to stop some random, non-celebrity from claiming that a non-celebrity character in the movie/show is so similar to them that the movie/show is using the random person's likeness. \n\nIn all likelihood that blurb of legalese doesn't actually do anything - if some random person could actually prove that their likeness was being used the phrase wouldn't protect the movie/show producers. And if the random person can't prove that their likeness was used, well, they can't win a case against the movie/show producers. \n\nBut it does protect the movie/show owners from the one in a billion case where a judge says \"well you didn't put that phrase in your credits so I'll let this go to trial.\" While the random person still won't win in that situation, going to trial costs money while putting that phrase in the credits does not, and so that phrase ends up in every movie/show's credits. \n\nThe reason its showed at the start of the intro for South Park, rather than in the credits, is as a joke.\n\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nedit: This is more in depth so feel free to skip it if you're just looking for a basic explanation on why South Park doesn't get sued, but I'll just add a bit in because I wasn't very clear on *why* that phrase keeps getting put in the credits of every movie and tv show despite not doing anything and I'm getting two general lines of comments. \n\nThe first line of comments is \"I'm a lawyer and its because it protects against defamation!\" I too, am a lawyer, though if you're making this comment I doubt you are. You cannot say \"I'm not defaming X but by the way X is a child molester\" and think that does not constitute defamation (which was one of the examples a \"lawyer\" used). But perhaps the best response is the fact that the phrase is usually put in the credits where no one sees it anyways. If no one sees it, it doesn't affect how they view the defaming material. \n\nThe second line of comments is \"but they put it in for other countries where they don't have the 1st Amendment!\" \n\nThe best response to this is just to be more clear why the phrase is put in the credits. As /u/ByeByeLiver and several others have stated there was a historical reason for putting it in the credits. \n\nBut modernly its put there solely because of inertia, that is to say, there is no one alive today that remembers a time when it wasn't in the credits. It also costs nothing to put it in the credits. But there is an extremely remote possibility that removing it from the credits might result in a situation that costs money - nobody knows how that situation could actually come about, but nobody can say *with absolute certainty* that it won't come about if that phrase is removed. So it gets put in the credits because the default position is that its in the credits, its free, and free is cheaper than a remote possibility of \"something bad happening.\"\n\nIn other words, its not being added because it contains some magical protection against non-US laws. Its largely being added in the US and just exported along with the rest of the movie/show. In countries where its being added domestically, the sole purpose for its addition is because people in that country are just assuming that it does *something* in the US or other English speaking countries and adding it, and again doing so is free.\n\n",
"Basically they put the message up front so they can say they did if they get sued. \n\nIt came about because a big movie studio got sued by a still-living princess for a movie that was found to be defaming her, back in the '30s.\n\nI wonder how \"making fun of\" somebody works legally in the context of modern entertainment where an animated cartoon can be about much more current events and where it can sometimes be hard to seperate fact from fiction at the base level leading people to seek validation of their views from comedians with no obligations towards journalism.\n\n",
"Trey Parker and Matt stone, creators of South Park, have been sued over 100 times. They just don’t care haha ",
"It all goes back to Mad Magazine running a satirical strip they called \"Stupidman,\" a guy in leotards and a cape with an \"S\" on his chest that did really stupid things shortly after the first issue of \"Superman\" was published.\n\nD.C. Comics immediately sued for copyright infringement on their Superman character and lost at the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that no reasonable person would confuse Mad's Supidman with D.C.'s Superman and satire has been the first amendment protected Free Speech ever since.\n\nNo one will confuse a Southpark send-up of any celebrity with the real person.",
"All persons ficticious doesn't cover celeberties - it covers everyone else.\n\nLet's say your name is 'Peter Griffin'. That is why the disclaimer is there, so you can't sue them for misrepresenting you.",
"The case of [New York Times v Sullivan](_URL_0_) protects South Park from any lawsuit. The \"these are just fictitious\" label isn't necessary but it frames the audience.\n\nNYT ran an advertisement that attacked Sullivan's decisions and had some major inaccuracies in it. The court decided that errors and mistakes are bound to happen in media because that is the nature of the debate. If the NYT has continued to spread misinformation then they would be liable for libel. However they did not.\n\nThe court ruled that all public figures are open to attacks on their reputation and it's just in being a public figure.\n\nSouth Park and Family Guy are also protected by fair use laws. South Park in particular is always hitting the boundaries of this. [Mel Gibson's face](_URL_1_) and [David Hasselhoff's face](_URL_2_) have been used directly on the show. Whereas most of their characters are animated and rarely look like what they're supposed to look like.\n\nI think most importantly the show focuses a lot on has-beens rather than big stars and so it would be a lot more difficult to prove damages.\n\nA lot of Republicans wanted Sarah Palin to sue SNL for their portrayal of Sarah Palin. Many of them argued that Tina Fey's impersonation was so close to actual Palin that people began believing that Palin actually said the things that Tina Fey was saying (like, \"I can see Russia from my home\"). But Sarah Palin's wealth has grown considerably since that election and she has actually gained a lot of her followers and contributors specifically because they are all aware that the 'even ultra left wing media' did a hit job on her.\n\nHad she sort of just went bankrupt after all that I think she might have had a case. But that didn't happen.",
"South Park actually gets pretty specific.\n\n > ALL CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN THIS SHOW--**EVEN THOSE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE--ARE ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. ALL CELEBRITY VOICES ARE IMPERSONATED.....POORLY.** THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM CONTAINS COARSE LANGUAGE AND DUE TO ITS CONTENT IT SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED BY ANYONE ",
"They're saying that they're using the character based on a real person in a fictional way \\(e.g. impersonated or spoofed on a comedy show\\), instead of claiming to be accurately representing that person like in a news report.\n\nThe disclaimer is to make it clear, even if it should be blindingly obvious, as in South Park.",
"It is used as a parody. If I remember correctly, parody is protected by free speech as well as satire. I could be wrong but I think that's why they disclaimer it beforehand so that people can get butthurt all they want but have no real legal discourse to follow to punish them for it. Aside from not watching it that is.",
"It goes back to a film that was made about the murder of Rasputin by fed up Russian royalty and aristocrats. One of the Princes carrying out the murder was still living in Paris and sued the studio. As as result that language became a boiler plate included in nearly every movie for the last 90 years.",
"They are satirizing actual people, but the actions of the people on the shows are not real. The show version characters are not real, and the show isn't claiming to depict real activities. That's the purpose of the disclaimer.",
"People use excess legalese in lots of situations where it has no real impact. Sometimes it's out of habit, sometimes an over abundance of caution, sometimes lawyers feel like they need to just do things to justify their existence, sometimes something that is totally ineffectual in most places might be meaningful in one jurisdiction, and if it would ever be helpful to protect their rights even in a limited circumstance, there's no reason not to do it.",
"Have you ever actually read that disclaimer?\n\n_URL_0_",
"What always bothered me is that Law and Order could advertise as \" ripped from the headlines!\" And then when you watch it reaffirms its fiction and any similarity to real events are strictly coincidental. ",
"Parody is protected under the First Amendment. Also why XXX versions of Star Wars, X-Files, Star Trek, etc also exist.",
"Satire is specially protected with a \"fair use\" exception to copyright laws. Meaning that, to a certain extent, they can use a celebrity's likeness or even copyrighted material for satirical purposes. There are limitations that it has to clearly be satire, etc. We 'muricans love to make fun of our celebrities and politicians and give special protection to do it."
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k1wp6 | how rainbow tables work and how they're used for password cracking. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/k1wp6/eli5_how_rainbow_tables_work_and_how_theyre_used/ | {
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"Passwords are stored by \"hashing\" -- to explain this intuitively, think of it like you give me your password, I run it through a machine, and the machine gives me an output that I store. The main point of this machine is\n\n1. The only thing that can cause the it to output what it just did is your password -- any other password outputs something else.\n2. You can't use this machine in reverse.\n\nHopefully, I don't actually have direct access to what goes in this machine, so now you can trust me to store your password and I can never actually use it (since I can't reverse what the machine gave me and I don't have your original password). On the other hand, if you ever want to use your password, you simply pass it through the machine and give me the output; I can check if that matches your username, and if it does, I know you had the right password (even though I don't know what that password is). \n\nSo I'm storing a bunch of people's passwords, which are actually just the transformed versions of their passwords by this machine. The thing is, lots of sites use the same machine to transform the passwords, so if your password was \"password\", the output that all these different sites are storing is the same. Someone can get their own version of this machine, and just start storing every pair of password and transformed password linked together (by testing a password, seeing the output, and joining them together so looking up one gives you the other). Now, if I steal some site's table of transformed passwords, any of those that I've already seen in my table of pairs I immediately know what password gives that transformed version, and now I have your password.\n\nThis table of pairs is a rainbow table.",
"Passwords are stored by \"hashing\" -- to explain this intuitively, think of it like you give me your password, I run it through a machine, and the machine gives me an output that I store. The main point of this machine is\n\n1. The only thing that can cause the it to output what it just did is your password -- any other password outputs something else.\n2. You can't use this machine in reverse.\n\nHopefully, I don't actually have direct access to what goes in this machine, so now you can trust me to store your password and I can never actually use it (since I can't reverse what the machine gave me and I don't have your original password). On the other hand, if you ever want to use your password, you simply pass it through the machine and give me the output; I can check if that matches your username, and if it does, I know you had the right password (even though I don't know what that password is). \n\nSo I'm storing a bunch of people's passwords, which are actually just the transformed versions of their passwords by this machine. The thing is, lots of sites use the same machine to transform the passwords, so if your password was \"password\", the output that all these different sites are storing is the same. Someone can get their own version of this machine, and just start storing every pair of password and transformed password linked together (by testing a password, seeing the output, and joining them together so looking up one gives you the other). Now, if I steal some site's table of transformed passwords, any of those that I've already seen in my table of pairs I immediately know what password gives that transformed version, and now I have your password.\n\nThis table of pairs is a rainbow table."
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233jod | how does a cvt(continuously variable transmission) work? | They're usually found in Nissans from what I know. Thanks. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/233jod/eli5_how_does_a_cvtcontinuously_variable/ | {
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"A normal geared transmission switches between larger and smaller gears to change speed to power or power to speed.\n\nA CVT uses pulleys that can move apart or back together. The inside of the pulley is inclined, so as it moves apart, the diameter that the belt rides on gets smaller, and then larger again as it moves back together - simulating different sized gears. This effectively gives a CVT an \"infinite\" number of gears if it can move the pulleys together and apart smoothly.\n\nEDIT: Grammar"
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5bs5u2 | how does a single firework explode more than once and every explosion all at once. | I saw this on r/gifs/ :_URL_0_
So how does this work. Is there something mechanically in the shell.
Every explosion is right in time.
* The first explosion is a big one. Thats not special.
* The second one, every single explosion at the same time.
* And the final explosion, all at once.
How is the timing so accurate?
Sorry for bad english | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5bs5u2/eli5_how_does_a_single_firework_explode_more_than/ | {
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"The first is just a rocket pretty much. it explodes and a bunch of shells are released (\"shells\". they're not hard like artillery ones.) with a fuse, of a very specific length and material that is lit by the initial one. this process repeats with the last ones.\n\nWe've been making these things for thousands of years. We've gotten very good at making fuses that burn for very specific amounts of time, in sequence."
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9mu8u2 | how does voluntary/involuntary breathing work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9mu8u2/eli5_how_does_voluntaryinvoluntary_breathing_work/ | {
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"When you go to a doctor's office and they tell you to take a deep breath, that is voluntary breathing. Most breathing falls under the involuntary category so that you don't have to occupy yourself with thinking about breathing all day. \n\nedited to add that voluntary blinking is sort of the same. You blink voluntarily by commanding yourself to do it, or thinking about it, essentially. A doctor tells you to blink your eyes a couple of times... that's voluntary. Most of the time it's involuntary.",
"From what I understand the nervous system doesn't really do anything differently per se. I think it's more a matter of which part/parts of the brain are sending the signal. I believe the Medulla is what normally controls things like breathing, but once you start doing it consciously, it may be that more frontal lobe parts of the brain that involve decision making and motor functions take control.",
"The trigger for involuntary breathing is a rising co2 level. The medulla can measure how acidic the blood is and triggers breathing. "
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34cjfd | how does fast charging work? | Qualcomm and numerous other manufacturers have announced some sort of quick charging technology to charge a battery up to 50% in 15 minutes etc. How does this work? Do they increase the amperage? Wouldn't that damage the battery? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34cjfd/eli5_how_does_fast_charging_work/ | {
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"You guessed right. They increase the amperage. With quick charge 1.0 the charger would deliver 2 amps and with quick charge 2.0 the charger delivers 3 amps. This doesn't damage the battery at all. Some lithium batteries are able to be charged in excess of 5 amps.\n\nEdit: as others pointed out I was only half right. Quick Charge does up the amperage to 3 amps, but also increases the voltage as well.",
"Op with the latest update of USB 3 and the push for faster charging times phone manufactures have improved the current load of there flagship smartphones. This improvement allows then to draw in more current which increases the power being supplied to the device (P=IE). This effect can be simulated with older devices if you buy a third party charger with a high current output. However you must be careful because some devices pull the full current while other phones restrict it.",
"Qualcomm's quick charging technology doesn't increase the amps past 2A like you would expect a faster charger to do.\n\n(Not sure if you know this already so I'll briefly explain) Think of volts and amps as a river. Amps are how wide the river is, and volts are how fast the river is flowing. Multiply them together to get watts, which is how quickly your charger can charge.\n\nThe fastest non-quick charge chargers I've found are 5V at 2.4A, or 12 watts. Qualcomm's quick charge technology can charge at three different rates: 5V at 1.6A (8 watts), 9V at 1.6A (14.4 watts), and 12V at 1.6A (19.2 watts). For comparison, wireless charging is usually at 5V and 1A, or just 5 watts.",
"The chargers your speaking of do not just \"input more amperage\" per say. Instead they tell the device's charging circuit to skip a specific, time consuming (but important!) part of the cycle. This allows the device to get to a \"usable\" state quicker but whether its good or bad is really up to the user.\n\n > Does it damage the battery?\n\n Depends how you look at it.\n\nThe battery is a collection \"cells\" daisy-chained (connected in series) together. So 6 2-volt cells produce a 12-volt battery. The first stage of charging a lithium-ion battery is to bring each cell up to at least 2-volts. This is done quick and dirty and the result is some cells are brought up to 2.1-volts and others maybe 2.3-volts. The 2nd stage (and the one these fast chargers skip) is to balance the cells so they're all exactly 2-volts as this insures rated performance and (more importantly) rated load (or wear) of cells. This results in certain cells doing more work than others, leading to quicker failures. And this effect in cumulative in nature. Every time you \"quick charge\" your effectively making it worse and worse. \n\n2nd issue (ignoring the more pressing matter I just mentioned) it would CERTAINLY age the battery faster. Every single time you drain and charge a battery it becomes progressively weaker. If you only charge your device to 50% then of course you will have to charge it more often and of course it will age faster. If your normal routine only requires you to \"normally\" charge your cell phone twice a week but your \"quick charge\" routine requires four charges a week then you will surely have to replace your battery sooner. It's up to the user to determine if this cost is worth the convenience.\n\nIf you really want to know more I encourage you to research the charging phases of lithium-ion batteries.\n\n**Edit: I should of noted all numbers I used were arbitrary numbers just to illustrate the purpose of the charging cycle.**",
"To understand this, you need to know a few basics:\n\n* Voltage (V for Volts) is the potential difference between two points. In this case, it's the difference from ground (0V) and your phone (5V) so there's a potential difference of 5V = Voltage.\n* Current (symbol is I, but unit is A for Amps) is the rate of electric charge going through the cable. Usually from 500mA (0.5A) to 3A.\n* Resistance (Capital Omega for Ohms). The resistance to current. There's more resistance if you have a thinner or longer wire.\n* Ohm's Law (Voltage = Current x Resistance). V=IR. The adapter will supply a voltage, based on the resistance, you have a current.\n\nThink of it as the ol' pipe analogy. Voltage is the water pressure (high voltage = high pressure), Current is the flow of water (high current = high flow), Resistance is the size of the hole (LOW resistance = BIG hole). If you have high pressure and a large hole, you'll have high flow. If you have high pressure and a small hole, you'll have a smaller current. This explains why you'll generally have slower charge from a shitty or a really long cable (big resistance = small current).\n\n* Power (W for Watts) = Current * Voltage. If I have a 5V 1A charger, I have a 5W charger.\n\nThe USB 2.0 spec calls for 5V at 500mA. This is what phones and things traditionally use. As things get more and more power hungry, things started to change. The USB 3.0 spec allows up to 900mA at 5V, and the new type C and Power Delivery specs allow for higher currents (up to 5A at 20V = 100W!). \n\nPhones also traditionally use 5V input. The norm used to be 500mA years ago, then 1A, then higher, higher, and higher, until we're around 2.4A at 5V for traditional chargers for tablets. This higher current at 5V is Fast Charge.\n\nThe problem with current is heat. If you send current through a wire, you'll get heat. One way to increase charging speeds is Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0 and other such terms. They use higher voltages to deliver higher power at lower current. This requires specialized power regulation circuitry. \n\nThe problem with quickly charging batteries is indeed, it can prematurely wear out the cells. However, modern batteries are still rated pretty well. You probably don't want to use the quicker charging methods overnight when you don't care if it takes 8 hours to charge, but rather when you're in the car for 15 minutes and your battery is low. Also, latest research shows that it's not as bad as we once thought to quickly charge when the charge is low. Similar to the concept of trickle charge (~90%, drop current very slow to hover between 90 and 100), these faster charging techniques will send higher power until the 50% or whatever, then scale it down.",
"If this helps clarify this is the quick charging rating on my Nexus 6's [charger](_URL_0_). In this case voltage is increased while amperage stays generally the same (except in case of turbo 2).",
"Not sure on the exact science of it, but I have one. My Galaxy 5 has 2 different shaped plugs for different charges to go into it. My charger is one big plug shaped in such a way that it plugs into both of the usb slots, so it charges the phone using both ports instead of one",
"A lot of wrong answers here. Quickcharging happens when the charging adapter communicates with the power management chip (pmic) about the current state of the battery. You see when a battery is empty its chemical state can absorb a lot more current than when the battery is almost full. Quick charging optimizes the electricity throughput with the state of the battery. It requires the charger and the phone pmic to communicate. ",
"The battery itself has an intrinsic voltage window which depends mostly on the material used as the negative and positive electrodes (between 3.0-4.2V for most layered oxide materials, around 3.4V for LFP, these potential are versus lithium metal). This is thermodynamic and you cannot change it. It is like the difference in altitude between two points. \nOne can increase the actual voltage of a battery pack by connecting in series multiple electrodes; but anyway the voltage window is always an intrinsic characteristic of the battery.\n\n\nTo charge faster a battery, you increase the rate at which you perform electrochemical reactions (chemical reactions that involve the transfer of an electron, what is actually happening in a battery) by increasing the electrical current that goes inside the battery. There is no other way to do it. It does damage the battery, mostly because of the rise of temperature involved by higher current (Joule effect). Basically, every side reactions happening in a battery (degradation of the electrolyte, corrosion of current collector...) is promoted by an increase in temperature.\n\n\nPeople here are talking about increasing the charging voltage. I think they are making a mistake between the charging technology (i.e. what you plug to the phone) and the battery itself. Basically you have the power that go out the charger (which is \"current_out*voltage_out\" as already said in other comments), there are some interests in changing both the voltage and the current but it is more a question of electronics than a battery issue. At the end of all the electrical components of the battery management, the voltage of the battery is the one of its two electrodes.\n\n\n\n",
"This one is tough. So there is a thing called power. It's called Watts. Increasing voltage or current is the only way to increase watts. When you increase current on a thin wire like a USB cable it gets hot. When you increase voltage it doesnt, but USB only allows five volts. So everyone has increased the current a long time ago for tablet charging. We found a limit any higher and we need bigger cables.\n\nSo quick charge is new because qualcomm and the like said let's do a secret handshake. If a usb quick charge phone plugs into a quick charge port. The phone will do the secret hand shake. If you get it right we will break the rules together and increase the voltage from five volts to twelve volts. If anyone else shows us and doesn't do the shake we just play it cool and only do five volts. The quick charge phone is able to adapt to twelve volts. \n",
"Lots of good responses and not a one I've seen that ELI5s. \n\nBatteries are akin to a swimming pool 100' above ground. To fill the pool, you need a pump (charger). To get water out you open a valve at the bottom and gravity helps out. Most pumps are relatively weak, taking their sweet time to fill the pool, mostly because the pipes are made of really thin plastic. If you put too much force into the pipes, they burst. This, it turns out is bad. \n\nQualcomm changes this paradigm by strengthening and enlarging the pipes and giving it a variable speed pump that can pump a LOT more water. So when the pool is mostly empty, the pump goes flat out and fills the pool as fast as possible. When it gets closer to being full, it slows down the filling so that water doesn't splash out of the pool. ",
"Made a reddit account because this is literally my job, and it's probably about time anyway.\n\n\nI work for General Motors in fast charging. Currently you can charge your car to about 80% in 40 min. so divide that by half and your pretty close to your numbers in the title. \n\n\nBasically its just the water hose analogy, we're allowing more current through (water) than before which will charge it faster. \n\n\nThere is a difference between AC and DC charging in that AC was the first technology and allows far less current through during a charge (dont ask me why). DC charging just came out recently, within the last 5 years and allows much higher current allowing for full charges to be possible within an hour. \n\n\nHope that answers your question.",
"On method is to use banks of supercaps (super capacitors). That charge up in a matter of seconds, and can hold their charge for a while (not as long as a battery), and as long as they are being immediately used (usually to slow charge the battery, while you use it), they wont degrade.",
" > Do they increase the amperage? \n\nYes. Fast charging uses a higher current (vs typ. 1A USB) AND a higher voltage (ie. 9v). Whichever battery chemistry they are using allows for this. Here's a quick video from Qualcomm that shows the voltage and current differences: _URL_0_\n\n > Wouldn't that damage the battery?\n\nYes to an extent. The ideal charging rate is .5-.7C as this is a good trade off between heat generation and charge time. Exposing LiPo/LiIon to high heat frequently causes the battery to lose durability. \n\nedit: Added link.",
"so in other words, if there is an error, kaboom?",
"A lot of misinformation. Lithium Polymer and Lithium Ion batteries charge very differently than traditional rechargeables. In a nutshell they can handle high amperage for the first half of the charging cycle, which goes much faster depending on the charging current. The second half of the charging cycle occurs once the cells reach 4.2 volts each at which point the charge must start cutting the charging current so that the voltage never exceeds 4.20 volts. \n\nWhat this means in practice is say you are charging a high current battery at 20amps. The first 10 minutes, it's getting a full 20 amps and the voltage slowly rises from 3.7 volts to 4.2. If it kept going at 20 amps then the voltage would go over 4.2 volts and the cell may be damaged or explode, so the charging controller begins cutting the charging current. It does this right on the edge, always keeping the voltage at 4.2volts a cell. As the cell gets more and more full, the charging current goes lower and lower until it is almost nothing, and at that point the battery is charged. \n\nIf you were to imagine a battery as a glass of water, you can fill the glass 80% full by pouring in a huge amount of water with a pitcher, but above 80% it would be too easy for the water to damage the glass so you have to start filling it slower and slower the more the glass is filled, until at the very end you are just adding a drop at a time. \n\n\nIf you were to stop charging the battery as soon as the voltage hit 4.2 volts a cell, the battery isn't fully charged, but that is the point where it will start charging slower and slower to get that last 20% capacity. This is what quick charging is, it just stops at this point instead of spending an additional hour getting that last 20%",
"I'm puzzled by the \"have announced\" part of OP's post. This technology is already here.\n\nMy Note 4 does this today. If I plug it in with 0% charge for 15 minutes, it will be charged 50% at least.\n\nIt is what sealed the deal for me when deciding Note 4 or 6 Plus. I am no longer tied to a outlet.\n\nI hear that the iPhone has this capability too, but the charger that does it does NOT come with the phone. I assume you get to pay Apple's Wheel of Fortune pricing after the fact. The Note 4 comes with the adaptive charger.\n\nBest decision ever! Samsung rules. ",
"I noticed with my Galaxy S5 that it has 2 USB ports on the charger plug, it charges fast but when I use a regular micro-USB port, it charges slowly so I assume it sends two power sources at once with the two USB ports.",
"Is amperage a common term in the US. It is laughed at in the UK. Voltage/ pd, current and resistance are the acceptable words. I think I have answered my own question now because my phone didn't spell check the word...",
"I just got a Galaxy S6 Edge and the fast charger is the most amazing thing ever. Phone is at 20% - > take shower - > phone is at 75%"
]
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3crqgu | "live within your means" as the saying goes. but why is austerity not a good thing when you are a debt stricken country in a deep recession? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3crqgu/eli5_live_within_your_means_as_the_saying_goes/ | {
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"Because the best way to earn money is to spend money, wisely, on good investments. By investing, the government can create work places and provide economical stability to people, this increases spending which in turn increases government income. The problem is when the government has to loan the money to invest, they have to find a creditor willing to run the risk of lending them money.",
"The analogy I can come up with is imagine you're a taxi driver, and you're in debt. Austerity (as far as I know) is akin to your debtors asking you to cut back on gas expenses by getting rid of your cab. Austerity (at least according to its opponents) is strangling the economy of countries already in a recession, making it more difficult for them to rebuild their economy, and move towards repaying their debt.",
"The reason it's good for you to save money as an individual is because you may need the safety net and because one day you may like to keep existing without working for an income. Saving, for an individual, is selfish but necessary. \n\nBut for an economy, everyone saving money is a bad deal, because borrowing makes growth. If I make you wait to open a pizza shop until you have the cash saved to finance it completely, you may never get to open it, and if you do, you'll probably be old and not run it for very long. You may even choose not to do it because keeping your stash is safer. But if I let you borrow money from me to do it, then I can charge you interest. And *you* can make even *more* money selling pizzas than the interest I charge you. And we both make money. Your shop may flop, but that's the bet. You're somewhat insulated by being able to default, and I'm somewhat insulated by charging you interest and making lots of other loans (bets). Of course, if I don't think you'll pay me back, I might charge you more interest or not offer the loan. \n\nIf you're a country, you don't want money hoarded. You want it out in the economy being lent out to people who use it to create more value, like by starting businesses or buying, maintaining , and improving homes. \n\nThese bets, over time and on average, have always worked out for the better. It's how the whole economy basically works. If you sum up all the people in a country's assets and subtract all the debts, you may be surprised to learn that the total is negative. We owe more than we have. And that's because we bet that, in the future, there will be more value because there will be more people and they will be more productive through innovation and technology. \n\nSo, if I'm Greece, I want to bet on my economy's growth and be able to spend at a deficit, but that only works if I make good bets. If I'm Germany, I want to bet on Greece's economy too, but I've been burned recently, and it's more important to me to ensure that my citizens are paid back. \n\n",
"Lack of investment in Greece is why the country has over 25% unemployment.\n\nWith that level of unemployment the wealthy don't want to invest there because they have so few customers.\n\nAusterity removes the ability of the government to invest, and other provisions in the Memorandum prevent the government compelling the private sector to invest and taxing profits (this was what the American government did during WW2, conscripting capital, offering reasonable payment and taxing profit considerably)."
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4h5a1x | why does rolling he windows down help car sickness, but the vent / air conditioner doesn't? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4h5a1x/eli5_why_does_rolling_he_windows_down_help_car/ | {
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"I have found that breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth helps with car sickness, is there a reason why?"
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2k55cu | what is the difference (if any) between medical grade nitroglycerin (like for angina) and "omg explosion" grade nitroglycerin? | I carry medical grade Nitroglycerin (GTN/Glyceryl Trinitrate) for Angina, and I have always wondered how come it can be used for medical treatment and carried around with you everywhere, without the volatility which comes with bog standard Nitro.
Are the two the same thing but in dilute quantities? Is the medical stuff treated in some way to reduce or dissipate its effects? Are there any changes in the general chemical structure which affects how volatile the substance is?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2k55cu/eli5_what_is_the_difference_if_any_between/ | {
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"They are exactly the same thing, except the medical grade is in the range of milligrans, while you need at least a few grams of the stuff to create any kind of noticeable explosion. The medical grade is also very pure due to the fact that you're putting it in your body, a constraint that the explosive doesn't need. "
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ajr8zh | how do airport codes work when there are 17,678 commercial airports but only 17,576 possible combinations of letters? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ajr8zh/eli5_how_do_airport_codes_work_when_there_are/ | {
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"IATA codes are only used for airports that have scheduled passenger service. Pilots use ICAO codes for airports. Ticket booking and baggage systems use IATA codes and there are only about 3000 airports that need those."
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1jdm16 | the entire plot of bioshock infinite. still haven't figured it out completley. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jdm16/eli5_the_entire_plot_of_bioshock_infinite_still/ | {
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"Spoilers obviously.\n\nBooker DeWitt fought in the battle at wounded knee, which was a very bad thing if you weren't aware. Afterwords he felt strong remorse for what he did and considered going to a baptism to try and absolve himself of his sins.\n\nNow in the universe of Bioshock there are an infinite amount of alternate dimensions where people made different choices and things went differently. So at the baptism two different universes where created. One in which Booker didn't get baptized and developed no coping mechanism for dealing with his guilt, and one where he coped with his crimes by convincing himself they where all just and noble actions, and in order to do this he became super racist.\n\nEvil booker became comstock and invented a flying city of racism, but discovered he was sterile, so in order to have a biological child he sent the Lutices into another dimension to buy good booker's kid. Elizabeth left a finger in one universe and as such got superpowers because whatever. Latter the lutices became pan dimensional omnipotent platonic life mates because whatever but felt very guilty so they gave good booker a chance to redeem himself by saving his magic daughter from another dimension.\n\nEdit: oh yeah. The ending. At the end Booker says he wants to kill Comstock when he was born and Elizabeth interprets this as meaning the moment he was baptized as that is the moment Comstock was created. So hella Elizabethans from hella dimensions get together and drown all of the Comstocks the second they're baptized, leaving all of the Bookers who didn't get baptised alive, which is why Booker still has Anna (elizabeth) at the end of the game."
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8r8h7k | if you melt a penny or rip up a dollar, are you combating inflation, since that cash is no longer in circulation? or is inflation less straightforward? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8r8h7k/eli5_if_you_melt_a_penny_or_rip_up_a_dollar_are/ | {
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"Yes, you are combatting inflation, but the amount of new currency that is added to the economy everyday is so massive that unless you were to orchestrate a huge money burn, you couldn’t make any sort of difference "
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2hgwhp | why do phone companies, like the iphone, focus on making smartphones thinner rather than putting in a bigger battery? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2hgwhp/eli5_why_do_phone_companies_like_the_iphone_focus/ | {
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"It would appear that the market doesn't demand it, or at least manufacturers don't think the market wants it. The fact that literally anyone could make an android phone using mostly off-the-shelf chips, (\"anyone\" being \"anyone with access to a PCB printing and assembly plant\"), but we have yet to see a real large-capacity battery option.\n\nI mean, companies like Huawei and ZTE churn out smartphone models like they're dim-sum, but not a single model is focused on long battery life.\n\nAlso, an external battery can be added to most phones without adding much more bulk than a larger internal battery would. Leaving it \"up to the customer\" to add battery capacity if desired.",
"Diminishing returns. The biggest concern when it comes to smartphones is heat, secondary is power draw. A thicker battery means a lower surface area to dissipate the additional heat generated by the chemical interactions generating electric power within the battery. This leads to inefficiency and dangers involving excess heat.\n\nIt isn't just for show",
"Look at sales. There have been quite a few smart phones that have focused on battery life being the number 1 priority. The problem was that they didn't sell as well as the new phone that's 1 mm thinner. ",
"Because a lot of people, (And people buying apple products especially) are not primarily interested in the item for being functionally better, but rather in buying a sleek status symbol. And you can't see a longer battery life.",
"Phone salesman here so Ill answer using what I know about the market.\n\nThings like the iPhone and Samsung have become popular for valuing things like function, power and style over just battery life. It really is a secondary value that the majority wants on their phone. People are overall content with something they only have to charge at night time and people will desk jobs can charge them there. \n\nWith the amount of people who drink of iPhones like it's a good beer they'll complain to no end about the phones battery life but often stick with it anyway simple for brand familiarity, usability and love of apple products in general. Now android phones do tend to have better battery life and do often use that as a selling feature but androids are generally more preferred by the more tech savvy or people who are more knowledgeable in general...not always at all, lots of people buy samsung just cause they think it's the \"cool android\" and many people buy iPhones know a lot about tech. It's just something that many don't focus on in their marketing. LG does quite a bit now and they're blooming a lot lately after the Nexus 4 and Optimus' success.\n\nFunny thing though, when the iphone 3G was first announced Blackberry was so sure that it would never catch on simply because of the poor battery life but because of that switched up their mobile phone model too late and are now on a slow bleed till they're gone for good. \n\ntl;dr people value style and brand familiarity over overall usefullness and function than a longer lasting battery for a less attractive device. ",
"Marketing. A \"sleek\", thin phone looks better on the picture than the text \"longer lasting battery\". Most people are just talking apes.",
"The Note has a much bigger battery, as well as processing power. Bigger, faster phones are emerging, over time",
"When given a choice between longer runtime from bigger batteries (smart), and thinner profile and lighter weight (sexy), consumers will go for sexy every time. The average consumer doesn't care about practical. They want bells and they want whistles. Glitz and glam. Image is everything."
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1lyrh7 | what really happens when you re-enter earth's atmosphere in a space shuttle (gravity wise)? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1lyrh7/eli5what_really_happens_when_you_reenter_earths/ | {
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"Nothing happens gravity wise. Gravity is the force that pulls 2 objects to each other. A space shuttle is pulled towards the earth, the closer it get's the harder the pull. But nothing significant happens gravity wise when it enters the atmosphere. ",
"Note that it is not as much 'friction', as in air molecules rubbing against the shuttle's surface. Of course, this happens, but it is not the major effect. Air behaves a bit differently at hypersonic speeds.\n\nThe air in front of the shuttle just can't get out of the way. It builds up in a shock wave, an area of extreme high pressure, into which the shuttle tries to move. This pressure pushes back on the craft, slowing it.\n\nHigh pressures create high temperatures, so those heat shields are still needed.\n\n",
"Force of gravity on the space station is about 90% of what it is on a surface. \n\nBecause everything is in a free-fall, no one really experiences it, but that doesn't mean that pull of the gravity doesn't exist."
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anv9b3 | are musicians brains "wired" differently than non-musicians? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/anv9b3/eli5_are_musicians_brains_wired_differently_than/ | {
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"A well-trained musician can hear notes and different types of instruments in pieces. They study music and can decipher music regularly. I would say anyone can learn music and be able to create a song if you learn the foundations of music. "
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1dbmc2 | why cant i smell or taste when i catch a cold? | Anytime I catch a cold, I find myself without a sense of taste or smell. Anyone know why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1dbmc2/why_cant_i_smell_or_taste_when_i_catch_a_cold/ | {
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"When you have a cold, phlegm blocks the passages to the olfactory receptors at the top of the nose meaning that less air is going to pass over them. Thus, fewer molecules are reaching the olfactory cells because they are being blocked by the phlegm. The taste of food is determined more by smell than taste, so the reason that food does not have as much flavor when you have a cold is because of the reduction in smell sensitivity not a reduction in taste sensitivity (taste can only indicate sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami)."
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3ysqv2 | how my neighbor's radon exhaust pipe is not a health concern for me. | My neighbors have a radon exhaust pipe that is pulling radon from beneath the slab of their home and exhausting it outside, about 15 feet from my home. These pipes are estimated to exhaust at 2000 pCi/L when the EPA says there is "no safe level" but you should mitigate your home if it is greater than 4 pCi/L.
Yes, the radon "dissipates" into the air but it has to go somewhere-- what's to stop it from coming in my windows and doors? So it's constantly coming into my home at a low concentration? No exposure is safe-- how is this not a threat to my health? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ysqv2/eli5_how_my_neighbors_radon_exhaust_pipe_is_not_a/ | {
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"We have a radon exhaust pipe as well. The way it was explained to me is that the rador is exhausted into the air above the level at which people normally live and breathe. Mine is about 15 feet up on the side of my garage and my nearest neighbor is about 30 feet from it. It dissipates in the air. Inside, there is typically not much fresh air, even if you have a fan, unless you specifically have an air exchanger. And even if you do an air exchanger exchanges WAY LESS air then you would have outside. Have you had your home checked for radon as well?\n\nEDIT -- The way it was explained to me was that a house becomes more of a gateway for radon because breaking into the ground to forms a foundation makes it easier (creates an opening) for the radon to come into the home at that point. It is better to put it into the air to dissipate than to leave it sit stagnant in a home. ",
"To dilute your neighbor's exhaust to safe levels, you need 500L of air for every L of exhaust. If you have 5m between your houses, and your houses are 10m tall, and the pipe is 10cm (3\") wide, then you have 5000L of air in the slice of air between your houses that's as wide as the pipe. If you have a breeze of 10% the speed of the air flowing out the pipe, even ignoring that the atmosphere extends up much higher than the roof of your house, you are fine.\n\nIt would be much more important to run a radon test in your basement. Radon is not a localized geologic problem. If your neighbor has a problem, you probably have a problem as well.",
" > Yes, the radon \"dissipates\" into the air but it has to go somewhere\n\nActually, it doesn't. :)\n\nRadon is radioactive gas. Its most common isotope has a half life of a little less than 4 days, and decays into a solid. It is also a very heavy gas, 7 times heavier than air, and is more likely to collect on the ground than fly into windows and doors.\n\n > No exposure is safe-- how is this not a threat to my health?\n\nYou have to put this in the proper perspective. By these standards, no exposure to UV radiation is safe, no automobile is safe, no [banana](_URL_0_) is safe. What is more important is \"acceptable levels\", which represent little increased risk compared to other sources of exposure. ",
"Umm for the same reason the exhaust pipes on cars and trucks aren't a health concern for you assuming you aren't shoving your face in the tail pipe?",
"If your neighbors basement has radon, what makes you think your site doesn't? Maybe you should worry about things worth worrying about.",
"I'm curious where you have your own radon exhaust if you feel your neighbor's is a bigger concern than your own.\n\nIf you don't have one (and even if you do, no system is 100 %), any amount of radon coming from your neighbor's exhaust will be negligible compared to what you already have.",
"I agree with you that your neighbours having a Radon exhaust pipe is absolutely a cause for concern. \n\nHowever, the concern is not that their exhaust may harm you, it is that they have one and you, right next door, do not. It's a sign your local geology means you should be watching out for it building up in your basement. ",
"There is very little radon gas in the exhaust. What they probably have is an active soil depressurization system. Its purpose is to lower the pressure in the soil beneath the house by pumping vapours in that soil to the outside. Normally, the pressure of gasses inside the soil is higher than the the air pressure in the house. This pressure differential allows some of the gasses in the soil, including radon, to seep into the house. So the purpose of the system isn’t to pump radon out of the house, but to lower the vapour pressure in the soil under the house. Of course, some of that vapour being pumped out will consist of radon gas.\n\nRadon is a naturally occurring gas and there is always some radon in the air we breath. The amount coming from your neighbour’s pipe is very unlikely to increase your exposure by any meaningful amount if at all. \n\nIt might be worthwhile to have your own house tested, although it is not uncommon to have two houses next to each other where one has a problem and the other doesn’t. It has to do with the construction and airtightness of the houses and the makeup soil of the soil directly underneath each house.",
"Huh. I have a radon mitigation system but it exhausts out the roof. Because radon is heavier than air I figured it would be bad to exhaust it at ground level. I guess I never thought a lot about it, but so long as it's not in my house I don't care where it goes. Most of the houses in this area have them because there was a big scare about radon in the 80s and everyone freaked and bought one from fly by night salesmen. (It came with the house)",
"Some perspective: Your neighbor's Radon mitigation is not affecting your health. You not having Radon mitigation is a much more significant risk to you and your family's health.\n\n**Before you start overreacting to something you don't understand and make your neighbor think you're an idiot**, Google Radon and Radon Mitigation.",
"How is it that your neighbor has a radon gas problem and you do not. That's what I would be worried about. "
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1lsrkc | why do homeless peoples dogs always seem so immaculately well trained? | And how do they do it?
Prompted by this [.gif](_URL_0_). I am not in any way implying the guy in the gif is homeless, but it reminded me of the kind of obedience you see in homeless dogs. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1lsrkc/eli5_why_do_homeless_peoples_dogs_always_seem_so/ | {
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"They don't exactly have very busy days, so they train their dogs in that time.",
"I think it's a combination of several things:\n\n1. They probably aren't fed well, so they may lack the energy to be as excitable as house-bred dogs. \n\n2. They're out in the open all day with a constant companion. This isn't a dog stuck inside a house while their master is at work all day. Nor is it a dog that is chained outside alone for the night. \n\n3. The dog may be one of the only things the homeless person feels they can \"control.\" Considering they have no other assets, they may put some extra care into their dog. In my experience, I've also noticed a high level of selflessness from the owner in these situations. "
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2qki5m | what the hell is windows updating all the time? | seriously windows installs updates almost every day but there are no changes at all | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2qki5m/eli5what_the_hell_is_windows_updating_all_the_time/ | {
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"A majority are security updates. Behind the scenes stuff. Necessary, but usually not cosmetic in nature.",
"Updates aren't really pushed \"every other day\" (unless it's a super duper important thing that needs to be sorted now), but rather every month or so. Some updates require others to be applied first, before they can be downloaded which might be why you see new ones a day or so when it checks again.\n\nBugs or exploits in code are found, they're patched for your sake. Things are being changed, but not at the Desktop level.",
"You know how your computer isn't constantly becoming part of a botnet?\n\nYou're welcome.",
"They don't. They almost never release more than one set of patch updates a week, and rarely even that often. They can release updates for the definitions for the built in anti malware more often.\n\nSometimes you will need to reboot more than once to fully install a patch set, but that is usually when you have waited many weeks between updates.\n\nOften after rebooting as part of an update some third party software (java, adobe) will realize it wants to update as well.",
"They are released on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. \nTake a note of the number for the updates being installed. Some updates extremely rarely have had a bug where they reinstall over and over again.\nIf this is the case you can normally Google a way to fix this. Generally however the day after patch day when they are released, you should install them all at once and have nothing until the next month.",
"Real question is \"why is it so long to download a 350 ko patch, why does it take 100 % cpu to do so, why does it requests several reboot and why does linux does it so much better\". Being unable to use my computer for 30 minutes in a row because of updates was the reason I switched to Linux 5 years ago... "
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3x5exg | would inflation exist if our money were backed by something? | My understanding is that inflation occurs when the cost of goods goes up. If the cost of grain goes up, the cost of bread goes up, which means people need to spend more money to get the same amount of goods.
If our money were backed by something, like gold (or better yet, silver) would inflation occur? If not, why?
Bonus question: How does one calculate inflation? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3x5exg/eli5_would_inflation_exist_if_our_money_were/ | {
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"Sure it would--but inflation would then be tied to the supply of the backing, rather than just the supply of notes themselves. For example, the Spanish imported so much gold from the New World that they experienced dreadful inflation that was really damaging to their economy. That's the downside of the gold standard--if somebody discovers an previously unknown vein of gold, suddenly you have inflation, even when your economists really don't think that's good for the economy right now.\n\nInflation is typically measured by looking at the increase in prices of a standard \"basket\" of goods and services. When you hear the word \"inflation\" without qualification, that usually means inflation on the kinds of things consumers buy, as measured by baskets like the U.S. Consumer Price Index."
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34e5a1 | how can there be so many different interpretations of a single religious text? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34e5a1/eli5_how_can_there_be_so_many_different/ | {
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"Because try as we might, words can be very imprecise. Even nonreligious, everyday phrases can be interpreted in many different ways. \n\nAnd then add to that the fact that it's been translated from language to language to language, then the original meanings can be lost very easily. \n\nAs an experiment, take a sentence from your favorite book and type it into google translate from English to Spanish. Now copy that and translate it from Spanish to Japanese. Now copy that and translate it from Japanese to German. Now copy that and translate it back to English. Do you think the original message of the sentence matches the new one?\n\n",
"Religions are old. So the languages used are old. Plus words often have multiple meaning. \nOften while translating text from scripture the original meaning gets lost. And the new meaning gets stuck. The language also changes overtime. So all of these factors add to that change. ",
"A big source of different interpretations is the question of descriptive (X happened) vs. prescriptive (go and do X) portions of scripture. \n\nSome parts of the Bible, for example, are clearly descriptive. The message in the story of Cain killing Abel is not \"Now go and kill your brother if you feel jealous of him\". Other parts are clearly prescriptive, like the Ten Commandments. Some are both, like the story of [Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego](_URL_0_) refusing to worship an idol in Babylon.\n\nThe question of whether various parts of the Bible are just descriptive of events, or prescriptive at the time, or prescriptive for all Christians at all times, leads to a lot of disagreement about a lot of things. But they're good conversations to have.",
"I often wonder about this too! It seems the basic tenets of all religions are the same - be kind to your neighbour, give to charity, have faith - but the difference in interpretations can be vast. How come some people who read the bible interpret that we should not drink alcohol but other people reading the same book interpret that it is ok?\nI think this comes about from using a text as a guide to life.\n\nHypothetically, if we used any other different text (Lord of the Rings, or Pride and Prejudice) as a \"Bible\", there would be just as many interpretations of these as well. There will be as many interpretations of a text as there are people reading it, as each person brings their background and past experiences to what they read. In theory, if you find enough people with the same interpretation as you, you could start an ongoing religion where others who join later don't even need to interpret the text as you can tell them what it means. And so various branches of religions came about!",
"The comments about translation miss the point.\n\nThe reason that different people read the same text, regardless of its history, and come up with different interpretations is that there is no external, objective, verifiable referent by which to measure accuracy.\n\nOur brains possess mirror neurons and have the ability to emulate and model the thoughts and opinions of others. These areas of the brain are distinct from the areas that govern our own thoughts and opinions.\n\nThey have done experiments in fMRI scanners: subjects were asked about social issues, and what they think the stances of \"an 'average American', Bill Gates (a celebrity with relatively unknown beliefs) and George Bush (a celebrity whose positions are well-known).\"\n\nDiscrete areas of the brain activate to emulate those persons' opinions. But when asked about what *God* thinks about those social issues, the areas that light up correspond to *one's own opinions about social issues.* Put simply, to any given individual, **God thinks like you.**\n\nAnd since no two people have the exact same opinions about complex or controversial issues, their interpretation of scripture will invariably correspond to their egocentric projection about the will of God.\n\nAnd since God doesn't seem inclined to bestir himself to settle various questions, there's no method to separate true beliefs from errors. And the different interpretations persist.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Let's start with two assumptions that aren't true, but will set up a baseline: (1) that everyone speaks the same langueage (and that the scriptures are written in that language), and (2) that everyone is interpreting in good faith.\n\nEven within that framework, there is a great deal of room for disagreement. So a star appears that tells some scholars that something special is happening and they decide to take a 12-day road trip to find out what it is. They find the birth of a child. Now, this point is trivia, but people can get very hung up on it: how old was Jesus when the magi got to the manger? Was he born that day (and the star had guided them in 12 days in advance), or was he 12 days old (the star having appeard on the day of his birth)? Maybe it's neither, and the star appeared some days prior or after, such that the magi still arrrived to see Jesus as an infant, but . . . that kind of detail isn't really clear.\n\nNow, I used that particular detail because it is of little significance, but people argue about more significant details *all the time*.\n\nNow, that all said, we now can introduce the idea of things getting lost in translation. Consider: \"Factum est, autem, in diebus illis, exiit edictum a Caesare Augusto ut describberentur universis orbis.\" Now, I grant that this may or may not have been originally in Latin, but let's take it from there as I speak Latin.\n\nThis is usually translated as, \"In those days, a decree came down from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.\" \n\nCan we trsnlate that differently? Yup! How about, \"However, as it was done in those days, a decree came out from Casear Augustus that the whole world should be counted.\" This actually picks up some nuances that are in the Latin translation but not typically carried forth, to wit, that this sort of decree was a common occurrance. It also avoids an archaic usage in English, by replacing \"enrolled\" with a more specific \"counted\" \n\nHow about \"However, Caesar Agustus had decreed that a census be taken.\" That's a very liberal translation, but probably closer to common contemporary English usage.\n\nAgain, it is a matter of little significance, which makes it a safe topic for discussion ;)\n\nFinally, we have the matter of good faith. In short, not every member of the clergy is a good person. Some are more interested in power than in leading their followers to salvation, and some will go so far as to mislead their followers for purposes of consolidating that power. Sad, but true.\n\n\n\n"
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ehjve2 | how are new variations of plants and fruits created? | I get that different "species" of them are combined, but how? It's not like the mating partner can be selected. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ehjve2/eli5_how_are_new_variations_of_plants_and_fruits/ | {
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"Lucky mutations or experiments, seeing what pollen you can mix and still get a fruit for example. Nowadays also gene editing",
"A mating partner IS selected. Nowadays, it's all done in sterile labs, where a biologist can take pollen from one plant and purposefully fertilize another plant with it. Assuming there were two different varieties to begin with, this creates a third variety. As already mentioned, direct gene editing is also sometimes used, to add properties from a different species."
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cvsy6i | why dont my stomach acids dissolve me from the inside? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cvsy6i/eli5_why_dont_my_stomach_acids_dissolve_me_from/ | {
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"Gastric mucosa. The inner surface of the stomach is lined by a mucous membrane known as the gastric mucosa. The mucosa is always covered by a layer of thick mucus that is secreted by tall columnar epithelial cells and protects the stomach itself from the acids contained within.",
"Two things:\n\n1) Stomach acid does not dissolve your food. The acid activates enzymes in your stomach that break down protein. These enzymes will 100% eat away at your stomach (that's what an ulcer is)\n\n2) Your stomach produces a mucus coating that prevents the enzymes from eating it.",
"Your stomach is lined with a thick layer of mucus that protects you from your stomach acid. This layer is constantly being produced by the stomach surface underneath it, and maintained to protect your stomach.\n\nAnd as you can guess, if there are any imbalances in that system, your stomach acids *can* dissolve your from the inside!\n\nGERD is one disease where that happens. There's a muscle that closes off the bottom of your throat from the stomach so acid doesn't spill back up. But sometimes it doesn't work properly, and acid flows back into your throat, causing burns and, long-term, a higher risk of oesophageal cancer.\n\nStomach ulcers are another problem. When the stomach acid gets through the mucus layer and starts attacking your stomach, it forms sores and can lead to further complications. In the worst case your stomach perforates, allowing undigested food and acid to leak out. This results in severe damage and infections, and requires immediate surgery.\n\n_URL_0_",
"In addition to all the lovely attention mucous has already gotten, I want to chime in and say this is why extreme cleanses can be dangerous. I've heard people talk about the \"gross mucous poops\" they have when they're in the midst of a \"really effective\" cleanse. --Yeah, that shit is stripping your GI tract of a really important protective layer, if you're actual to the point of pooping it out. And then they're like, \"ummagaw, I am SO much more sensitive to 'bad food' since I did that amazing cleanse.\" -Yeah, no shit Becky. You just disabled your entire GI tract from digesting hardly anything without making you sick as hell. It's there ON PURPOSE, to protect us. :)",
"What would happen if you were stabbed in the stomach and your stomach acid spilled out?"
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fxl068 | why does the charge in fully charged rechargeable batteries go down even if i don't use the batteries? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fxl068/eli5_why_does_the_charge_in_fully_charged/ | {
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"it's a property called self discharge. depending on the chemistry and purity of the electrolyte, it can vary from several years to a few % of total charge a month to as high as 30% a month."
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2kuqep | what's the difference between looney tunes and merrie melodies? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kuqep/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_looney_tunes/ | {
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"Silly Symphonies was Disney\n\nLooney Toons was Warner Brothers\n\nMerry Melodies was made by an independent studio until being purchased by Warner Brothers in 1944"
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dg7ncq | why did vhs tapes show a blue screen on the tv when they started up? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dg7ncq/eli5_why_did_vhs_tapes_show_a_blue_screen_on_the/ | {
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"That was the VCR, not the tape itself.\n\nIt's the precursor to the HDMI no signal screen. Used to be blue.",
"That's not the tape. That's either the TV or the VCR telling you, \"I don't have anything clear enough to show you right now.\"\n\nI remember when that was a new thing. Before that, we saw a black screen with white lines or scrambled black and white dots.",
"The blue screen was not from the VHS tape, but rather from the VCR. \n\nIn many cases, VCRs would be hooked up to the TV with a coaxial (RF) cable. The VCR would generate a NTSC video signal on channel 3 or 4, which you would view by turning the TV to channel 3 or 4. In most of the US channel 3 was reserved (no broadcast signal) for this reason. \n\nWhen the VCR turns on, there was a desire for it to send some kind of signal to the TV so you'd know it was hooked up right. Otherwise the TV would just show static (if using coax) or a black screen (if using composite). \n\nThus, the blue screen. Easy to generate without complex circuitry (remember, VCRs were mostly analog devices) and it let you know the VCR was on, you were tuned to the right channel, and things were hooked up correctly. \n\nLater VCRs would then overlay text onto that blue screen or the video image such as PLAY / STOP / etc so you could control the VCR using the screen."
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6yochg | why do events that have a negative effect on oil production cause immediate rises in prices of gas but when production is back to normal prices don't plummet back to where they started? | I notice this all the time with major weather events. is it simply gouging or is there a reason for this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6yochg/eli5_why_do_events_that_have_a_negative_effect_on/ | {
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"You have a lemonade stand. You sell it for 50 cents a cup. One day you find out it's going to be very hot outside and people are going to want more lemonade. You figure you can get away with selling it for a little more since the demand is there. So you start charging 80 cents. You notice that the number of people paying for lemonade hasn't gone down. So because people are comfortable with the new price you decide you won't bring prices down even when it's not that hot anymore. Now replace lemonade stand with gasoline stations. ",
"The events that cause gas prices to surge generally happen at a specific point in time (hurricanes, destruction of a refinery, a specific international incident). The events that cause the prices to go down (reconstruction after the hurricane, refineries coming back online, easing of international tensions) tend to be more spread out in time. Combine that with the general tendency for prices to rise and you don't notice the reduction as clearly as the increase.",
"The underlying factors behind the consumer price and the wholesale price for gasoline are very different.\n\nThe gasoline sitting at the pumps in your service station was paid for months ago. While the service station has to eventually average out its costs/expenses, the consumer price it charges isn't actually linked to what it paid.\n\nRather, the consumer price is based on what the market will bear. If a new gas station moves in across the street and tries to undercut them, they'll lower gas prices - despite the fact that their cost for gas hasn't changed.\n\nIn terms of events like a hurricane, the gas station ends up in a situation where it incurs a temporary shortage due a disruption of the supply chain. So the gas station knows that it will only be able to sell X gallons of gas over the next two weeks no matter what else happens because they're not getting resupplied before then.\n\nThe best way for them to accomplish this isn't to hold prices firm and sell out in an hour and a half. It's to raise prices to the point where X gallons lasts them the next two weeks because relatively few people are desperate enough to buy much gasoline.\n\nInterestingly enough, this is also the *socially* best outcome as it encourages a more equitable distribution of gasoline based on the perceived need of the consumer rather than hoarding.",
"Costs at wholesale go up. Price at the pump goes up immediately to pay for the next load of fuel at the new higher wholesale cost. Once the supply eases up the more expensive fuel is still in the tanks until the first post emergency load is delivered with reduced costs. So you have a delay in the price at the pump going down. There are stations that will gouge but most states have laws against gouging during an emergency."
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Subsets and Splits