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21it7j | how does a galaxy s4 cellphone cost $450 when a decent laptop costs $300? | Sure, it's basically a laptop in your pocket, but to make a Galaxy S4 (or the like) would use significantly less resources than making a laptop would. Plus it's 1/16 the size. Why does a little cellphone cost more than an actual computer laptop? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21it7j/eli5_how_does_a_galaxy_s4_cellphone_cost_450_when/ | {
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"It's for the same reason a decent laptop costs $300 and a desktop with those same specs costs $200. Miniaturization is *expensive*. You not only have to figure out how to cram all of those same components in a smaller space, but you now also have to deal with heat dissipation. And in the case of a phone, you can't really have a cooling fan so you need to find a way to use less energy while also having both cellular and wifi transmitter/receivers. Additionally, phones have touchscreens, which are a fairly expensive component as well.",
"The two answers so far have hit the nail on the head.\n\n1) Miniaturization is expensive. Squishing all of that stuff into a tiny package costs money - especially when you have to dissipate heat. Also, consider that a cell phone has tilt sensors, cellular circuitry and a transmitter, a touch screen, GPS, and other things. They're full of cool. \n2) Demand. This can't be stated strongly enough, but most people don't realise it: **the price of an item does not necessarily bear any relationship to the cost of manufacturing that item.** A company will generally sell their items for the most money they possibly can get from them. Competition is supposed to drive down prices, but most big industries tend towards an implicitly colluding oligopoly. (ELI5: A few big companies manufacture everything, and informally agree not to drive down prices too far). It's illegal, but usually impossible to prosecute.\n",
"In addition to the two posts below, there's also a perspective issue. When you compare an S4 to a $300 laptop, you're comparing the highest-end phone to a lower-end laptop. The top-end laptops are even more expensive than the top-end smartphones. Phones also aren't exactly mini laptops, there are a few differences (however minor). For example, phones have a cellular radio (which connects your phone to the cell network) and some have a sim card slot, which $300 laptops probably don't have. $300 laptops also don't usually have a touch screen, or even a screen with resolution as high as the S4. $300 laptops also may not have bluetooth, GPS, or NFC. So even though they're very similar devices, at the price points you listed they can also be relatively different.",
"Here's a good breakdown _URL_0_",
"Miniaturization is expensive. \n\nMain reason why portable devices are more expensive than their static counterparts. ",
"Your laptop doesn't have countless patents worth of LTE RF technology (not to mention the fallbacks of 2G and 3G) to integrate nor GPS nor the demanding constraints of something that fits in your pocket and must be somewhat resistant to vibration and nature's elements, oh and runs on a battery the size of a Triscuit.",
"Because the call quality on your laptop sucks.",
"A decent laptop for 300 really can't do anything big. Also the Galaxy S4 potentially is as fast as your laptop, with its parts being MUCH smaller.",
"came here for the $300 decent laptops. Left disappointed. ",
"There is no such thing as a 'decent' $300 laptop; when that cheap, they're shitty.",
"If you find a laptop with multi-touch, Bluetooth, a compass, accelerometers, Gyroscope, Barometer, Infrared, gsm radio, 10+megapixal camera, and a screen with 1080x1920...\n\nPlease share a link!",
"A cellphone has a higher R & D cost and a shorter market life, so manufacturers have less time to recover costs. ",
"What you consider a \"decent\" laptop priced at $300 is akin to a basic freebie flip phone in the phone world. A galaxy s4 is $450 and a decent laptop starts at ~$900-$1000.",
"Correction. A piece of shit laptop cost $300.",
"Where in the **FUCK** are you finding the galaxy s4 for $450?? ... i had to pay full price of $700 only to get it stolen about a month ago",
"I don't know much about how my Galaxy Note 3 works, but i do know i can watch hd porn on it pretty flawlessly. "
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2skt81 | why isn't japan popular for esports? | There have been some articles about Japan such as this one:
[A NEW KIND OF GAMER: JAPAN AIMS FOR THE PROS](_URL_0_)
However, this article was published on December 1, 2014. South Korea has been into esports for over a decade, starting in 2000.
It would make sense if Japan was popular for esports, since they have a big gaming industry. Why are they starting to get known now and not sometime like 2005? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2skt81/eli5_why_isnt_japan_popular_for_esports/ | {
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"the gaming industry is consoles and hand helds only recently pc gaming started geting more popular in japan, before it was seen pc gamer = playing porn/eroge games.",
"I just did an essay on this exact topic actually.\n\nThere are a few reasons.\n\n1. As others have stated, PC gaming is not popular in Japan, for various reasons. They tend to lean towards smartphones and consoles (if you call them that) such as the Nintendo DS. Often this is because of the structure of esports games, for League of Legends for example, when you press play, you have to sit there and play for 40 minutes, until the game ends, and usually you wouldn't just play 1 game in one sitting, maybe you would play 3 or 4. This is a damn long time, considering it takes many games to actually achieve a decent level of skill at the game. People in Japan prefer to play games on the train, after finishing homework, and so on. You have to remember that the typical Japanese child and Japanese businessman typically has less free time than their Western counterparts. Afterschool classes are common. Japanese businessmen are often expected to go out to dinner or drinking with their workmates after work. As a result of this, a game that you would usually sit down and play for maybe 3 or 4 hours simply doesn't fit well into their lifestyle.\n\n2. Japanese gamers prefer to play games that are made in Japan, and their video game industry is extremely good at keeping the Japanese video game market this way. The highest selling games in Japan are games like Mario, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter etc etc. Apart from a few notable exceptions, these games tend to follow a certain format. Either a) there is a famous, lead character (Mario) or b) you collect monsters and battle / trade with them (Pokemon, Monster Hunter). But the best selling games in America? GTA, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed etc. You can clearly see a difference in the style of game that is popular among gamers in both societies. Popular Western games tend to have a more \"mature\" theme.\n\n3. The way Japanese society is set up, taking a year (or 2 or 3) off of study to be a professional gamer is often a massive risk. Good universities are competitive, and things such as gap years are uncommon among students. On top of this, they don't have the esports structure that Korea has.\n\nOne thing that is important to note about Korea and China, the reason they have big esports scenes is because they heavily imported video gaming from the West. Japanese video game imports were banned, so their video game scene, without a strong basis for their own industry, was heavily influenced by the West. When video games first started becoming popular, the two biggest markets were America and Japan. Japan has stayed quite reclusive, America has branched into esports, and together with Korea and China (well the strength of China and Korea in esports is another topic) has made it into a huge industry."
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67amdw | why do people still believe in god? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/67amdw/eli5_why_do_people_still_believe_in_god/ | {
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" > Don't post to argue a point of view.\n\nThis post has been removed. You want /r/changemyview. Or you want to survey people in which case you want a sub that allows that."
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3bs0gw | why do deli meats like turkey and roast beef taste so much different when thickly sliced vs. thinly sliced? | A quarter inch of thinly sliced turkey tastes completely different than one quarter inch thick slice of turkey. What's up with that? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bs0gw/eli5why_do_deli_meats_like_turkey_and_roast_beef/ | {
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"Because they *are* different!\n\nIn essence, texture is a major part of taste (along with flavor, aroma, etc). Since the thinly-sliced turkey shifts differently when exposed to the forces of your tongue, you can sense a different texture. That makes your brain interpret them differently, so you get a different taste sensation!\n\nYou can equate it to other food form differences (corn on the cob vs corn kernels vs creamed corn) or, more abstractly, other aesthetic differences (people feel different levels of attraction to thick men and women than thin ones, even if it's the same person).",
"I'd love to hear a scientific explanation for it.\n\nOne time, we decided to make Reuben sandwiches and I accidentally bought thicker sliced corned beef once. Hubby (who worked in a deli many moons ago) declared it unsuitable and I had to go back for the thinly shaved kind. I couldn't understand why we couldn't just use the thicker cut, fewer slices. *NO. Back to the store.*\n\nAnd honestly, the sandwiches made with the thinly shaved batch were 10 times better than the thick. (They came from the same source at deli, absolutely the same beef.)\n\nI was amazed -- never would have guessed it would have made that much difference. ",
"Deli meats generally are quite processed. A slice of turkey deli meat isn't just a thinner version of carved turkey breast; it's a different product. ",
"The more surface area to mass, the more air hits it. The more air \"mixed\" with the product, the better the taste. Hence the slurping when tasting wine \"properly\".\n\nEdit: Clarification\n\nCorrection: *more* surface area to mass",
"Two words; surface area. Scent is a huge part of the eating experience, and the more surface area there is, the stronger the scent is going to be. \n\n",
"In the Basque Country surrounded by hams, there is no doubt of the benefits of thin slicing, especially with top quality iberico, it just melts on your tongue. The only time I would slice a Bayonne ham thicker was if I was going to cube the slice and put it an omelet. Although a lot of the time they use mechanical slicers, you still see the odd artisan butcher or tapas bar owner hand slicing it paper thin. There is just less chew more of a gentle mastication, less effort is good, hence the heightened feeling of reward",
"If you really want to taste a difference, try super-thin deli-sliced ham. It comes out almost shredded, and WOW is it good.",
"Slightly on topic most deli meats are basicly SAUSAGE right? \n\nI mean that butterball deli turkey ..is basicly just ...a BALL of mechanically seperated turkey ..pressed together into a shape ..and then sliced. \n\nSo its cheaper to do it that way right and I am correct? because if you COOK A TURKEY ...Slice it ....and put it on a sandwich ..it has a very dry texture and the grains of the meat are obvious and it has a very strong taste. \n\nWhy are all deli meats so WATERY and \"slimey\" \n\nIs it just a perception due to the thinness of the slices? If I got SUPER THICK SLICED turkey ..would it be more like \"Actual\" turkey to my pallate? ",
"As someone who worked at a sandwich shop for a few years, I can't stand when lazy people slice the meat thick. It's pure laziness. The meat can tend to shred apart at very thin settings, but its the best thin. Lazy people increase the thickness cuz it doesn't shred apart and you have to do less passes in general to cut the round.",
"As I understand it, the surface-to-mass ratio does have an impact on taste. The thinner the slice, the more surface to mass, the more flavour. The thicker the slice, the lower surface to mass, not quite as flavourful.",
"Important to note that if you were to take those thin slices and arrange them flat they won't taste as good either. You need to have air and the rolled texture to get the best taste ",
"Most deli meat is injected with spices and preservatives when being prepared. A thinner slice exposes more surface area, thus more spice. A thick piece usually goes down in chunks. We all don't chew very well. Thinner slices alleviates that. ",
"Same as a solo violin sounds quite different than a group of 20. They are different. Texture is a major part.",
"also, howcome when they're packaged in those weird giant-plastic-blister-packs they smell like diarrhea? (but still taste fine)",
"My time to shine.\n\nUnexperienced Deli-Clerk working for the Atlantic and Pacfic Tea Company.\n\nFrom my three months of working here I've encountered many people who both enjoy eating thickly sliced deli meats and thinly sliced. The average customer is surprisingly unscathed on how you cut it, so we default to some numbers on our slicer or just eyeball it.\n\nSure there is science behind the taste/texture/feel in mouth, but when they explain it's more like, \"I enjoy using one piece of ham on my sandwich rather than picking apart exactly 6 pieces that end up ripping anyway.\" While the latter tends to enjoy going piece by piece, usually older women or babies. \n\nPREFERENCE and psychologically would be my guess.\n\n",
"I have always preferred deli meats shaved as opposed to a couple of thick slices but assumed the difference was in texture, not taste. The \"more surface area for exposure to oxygen\" aspect is very interesting however.....",
"Former deli clerk here, a large part of it is how much we unknowingly confuse taste with texture. Also all of our products (boars head) came soaked in a certain amount of \"flavoring\" a wet, gelatinous substance that i might one day be force fed in hell. The meats are soaked so that only at the smaller cuts/amounts is this flavoring good-tasting , after about 3 quarters of a centimeter thick they all start to taste overwhelming. Also to the poor fucker who got a part of my finger in his 1 and a half pounds of thin sliced maple glazed honey turkey, im moderatly sorry.",
"The thinner the slices...The better the taste. This is because said surface area exposure allows for maximum escape of the real flavor enhancer: soul of dead animal",
"In meats like salami, the thinner the slice, the faster the fat melts on your tongue. Fat is flavor. In thicker slices, the fat doesn't melt, so you're robbed of that flavor.\n\n....Thanks to Guy Fieri and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives for this. He was at a deli, and they explained it all."
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5jc3z3 | why does us congress block the creation of a searchable gun registry? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jc3z3/eli5_why_does_us_congress_block_the_creation_of_a/ | {
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"Many think they guard their freedom by having a secret weapons cache. If TSHTF they will have an arsenal to restore democracy, or set up their own little gang turf.\n\nIf their weapons cache was public knowledge they would be targeted by, (criminals looking for guns, the communist invaders, sort of outdated now, the IRS looking for the wealth they wasted on weapons, How did they earn it? Did they report the earnings?, ) A data base is a search. We are protected against unreasonable searches.",
"Both the Senate and the House Majority are Republican, so they have little interest in instating any more gun control measures - even non-restrictive ones like a registry.\n\nSetting up such a registry would not only cost the taxpayer millions and be a logistic and bureaucratic nightmare in both creation and upkeep, it'd also unfairly profile law-abiding citizens in the same way that, say, a Muslim registry would. The registry would still only contain legally owned guns, severely limiting its use in combatting gun crime (which is mostly committed with illegally owned ones).\n\nThere's also the issue of a registry being a prerequisite for confiscation further down the line. This particular argument relies on the slippery slope fallacy, but is still part of the given reasons."
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2mnupu | why can't i feel the digestion? | Why can't I feel the process of digestion on my stomach since its happening inside me? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2mnupu/eli5_why_cant_i_feel_the_digestion/ | {
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"The primary purpose of perceiving stimuli is for you to respond to it in some way. There really is no point in \"feeling\" your digestive process, so there is no reason your brain would process that as at feeling for you to perceive. We do this for our other senses to. For example, right now your nose is in your field of vision, you are tasting your mouth, and you are probably smelling a number of things. But you don't actively perceive these things (unless you are deliberately doing so) because they're basically just background \"noise.\" There is no utility in always being conscious of your nose, the taste of your mouth, etc.\n\nThat said, when there is something for you to respond to, your body makes that abundantly clear: for example, indigestion, heartburn, gas, or anything else out of the ordinary."
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3n86mb | why bipartisanship has seemed to disappear in american politics | There never seems to be republicans and democrats working together anymore, and it seemed to be a common thing before the last 10-15 years | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3n86mb/eli5_why_bipartisanship_has_seemed_to_disappear/ | {
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"The citizens have become more polarized due to the media becoming more politically biased on both sides, catering to elements of viewers that are either liberal or conservative, which caused each side to elect less moderate members to congress, culminating in what we have today. Each side is now leaning too far from the center to talk to the other.",
"Since about the 80s, the Republican party has been shifting to the far right, the loon right. That really began in earnest in the 90s, when the neocons started to grab power, and that was about the last time there was any amount of compromise in politics. Before then, Republicans and Democrats might spend all day impugning each other's ancestry on the floor of Congress, but after hours, they'd get together over drinks and horse trade, and things got done.\n\nThe \"election\" of Dubya was a turning point. The neocons were now firmly in charge, and began to tear down the scaffolding of compromise in favor of \"our way or nothing.\" It is traditional for a newly-elected President to give a speech saying \"the time for politics is over and now we must all work together, blah blah,\" but Dubya changed that. He said he was happy to work with anyone *who supported his policies.* He was publicly announcing that he was ONLY the President of those who had voted for him, and everyone else could go screw themselves.\n\nAll during the Bush administration, the Republicans shifted further and further to the right. Eventually, the Koch brothers created the Tea Party as a berserker for the Republicans, a group that could go around and smash shit up, but still leave the Republican party with plausible deniability. Of course, it got out of their control, and eventually muscled aside the neocons.\n\nBy the time Obama was elected, non-cooperation was the official party policy. Republican leaders said things publicly like their MAIN priority was to ensure Obama was a one-term president. If they had to drag the country down in flames to accomplish that, so be it.\n\nWhen they shut the government down the first time, there was still enough of the old power structure in place to fix it. Nobody much cared when the shutdown was only hurting the common rabble, but when the deadline for government loan default approached, the old school stepped in and the shutdown evaporated overnight. Rich people invest in government bonds, and so a government default would inconvenience them, and we CAN'T have that, now can we? Whether there is still enough of the old guard in power now to prevent a default in a new shutdown remains to be seen. They might just drive the country right off a cliff.\n\nAnd now, John Boehner has been forced out of office for being *too willing to compromise.* This is fairly horrifying, since he was pretty much the face of the Republican \"our way or nothing\" policy for the last several years. The notion that we might soon be looking fondly back on him as \"the voice of conservative reason\" should send a cold chill down your spine.\n\n\n"
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38futx | why is it when we are at school the majority of tests are memory based when in the real world we can look formulas and definitions up? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/38futx/eli5_why_is_it_when_we_are_at_school_the_majority/ | {
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"You went to a bad school, or at least had bad teachers? I had plenty of those myself, but also had some great teachers with classes in which everything up to and including my final exams were entirely open-book. Just about anything short of the internet. I'm not saying they were easy, I'm saying some teachers do teach that way.",
"First, being able to easily call to mind a particular formula or fact or whatever can be of great use. Say you're looking at a particular formula that you've come across for one thing, and it sparks your mind that it looks a lot like another formula that you've committed to memory for some related topic - that recollection could be very useful or revealing, and it certainly wouldn't have happened unless you had committed it to memory. Having these concepts at the tips of your fingers makes it much easier and faster to quickly deploy them practically in the real world. It makes it barely even conscious eventually.\n\nA second and important consideration is that non-memory based tests are very hard to write. Often they're far too easy or far too hard. Normally tests contain a mixture of 'recall' questions that people can pick up marks on, and then stretch questions that require application of knowledge to new areas. Stretch questions are often much harder to write in a balanced way."
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528qxg | why do calories in food not translate to fullness from eating? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/528qxg/eli5why_do_calories_in_food_not_translate_to/ | {
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"Each food has a different amount of calories per volume. Your stomach volume defines when you feel full. You can fill your stomach with small high calorie food, or large low calorie food, and about 10 minutes after you fill your stomach(or get very close to full) is when you actually feel full. ",
"Calorie density. Just like an object's density - it is related to mass and volume. A food that is mostly water - say a cucumber - is going to be fewer calories as water does not contain calories. However, water does have a volume associated to it. As such, you have a less calorie dense food than say, peanut butter.\n\nSecond, some calories themselves are more \"filling\". A food source that takes longer for your body to break down like proteins, will remain in your stomach longer keeping you full.\n\nBut lastly, all of this has to fit in your body. So if you cram it with low calorie dense foods, you will feel fuller while eating fewer calories.",
"I am going to take a different approach than the other answers this far, because I don't believe they are the answers you are looking for. That would apply to feeling stuffed or overly full.\n\n\nThe reason you don't feel satisfied based on calorie count alone is because you don't eat for calorie count alone. You eat for calories, plus various nutrients your body needs to function properly. \"Empty calories\" may fill your caloric needs, but don't give you the other nutrients your body needs. Thus, your body still wants those nutrients and still tells you to eat more.\n\n\nEdit: This has some potential for negative effects now, due to how the food industry works. Making things taste good with high calorie low nutrient ingredients (sugar\nand fat, basically) is cheap and sells, but doesn't satiate you. But evolutionarily, empty calories weren't really a major factor (plus you were generally more active), so there was never strong pressure to figure out that you were eating too many empty calories."
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1gedlx | why does heat melt some things, but harden or cure others? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gedlx/eli5_why_does_heat_melt_some_things_but_harden_or/ | {
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"Well, everything is made of tiny molecules and these molecules are always moving around, and go faster and faster as they get hotter. When they get really fast they turn into a liquid and when they get even faster they shoot off away from the rest of the molecules and turn into a gas. Solid, liquid, and gas are the three main stages of matter, and for most material how hot they are determines what stage they are in. \n\nThe trick comes when you realize that these three phases come at different temperatures depending on the material. So clay has phyllosilicates and water, phyllosilicates are like a kind of rock, and when you have it mixed with water it's kinda like really good oatmeal, and it's like both a liquid and a solid. You can shape it around when it's like that and make whatever you want. When you heat it up the water, which is already a liquid, turns into a gas and flies away, leaving the rock in whatever form you shaped it into. The rock only turns into liquid when it gets crazy-super-hot, and the oven doesn't go up that high, so only the water evaporates and the clay is left hard.",
"Generally speaking, heat will melt anything. The only things that heat doesn't *seem* to melt are exceptions. Here are some exceptions:\n\n* **Combustibles** (eg, paper, wood) - these are actually really, really complicated compounds with lots of different stuff in them. The water will evaporate, and the 'lighter' things like starches *could* melt, but typically they'll tend to catch fire before they get that hot. There is also a TON of carbon in wood. That also has a tendency to catch fire, but it can melt if you get it REALLY hot, like 6000 degrees F\n\n* **Thermosets** - these are not naturally occurring, and don't just \"exist\" - they're engineered and mixed specifically for this purpose. Theoretically, even these things will melt (say one at 300 degrees and one at 350 degrees). BUT, you just happen to pick two chemicals that chemically react at maybe 250 degrees, before they have a chance to melt. And they form this new compound that melts at 500 degrees. But, you take either one of those ingredients, and it'll melt just like everything else\n\n**tl;dr** - everything melts, some things just happen to react chemically before they hit their melting points.\n\n"
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70dxz7 | does led burn out faster similar to how light bulb burn out faster from 'strobe lighting' them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/70dxz7/eli5_does_led_burn_out_faster_similar_to_how/ | {
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"No. LEDs generate light differently from incandescent bulbs. They don't get nearly as hot and so they don't suffer from the damage that comes with rapid heat/cool cycles. ",
"The answer is yes, depending upon the wattage of the LED and how rapidly it's cycled (some LEDs are targeted specifically for strobe applications). For a lot of applications, however, there will be negligible impact.\n\nIncandescent bulbs rely on a piece of metal heating up to a high temperature in order to provide light. LEDs basically allow for electrons to flow, and this creates light. There is still heat produced, but it's not the primary mode of light being created."
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bu69xx | for people that have been exposed to high level of radiation, after the initial bouts of symptoms why does it look like they seem to be in recovery but in reality are not. the next stage with the symptoms coming back worst and eventually dying? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bu69xx/eli5_for_people_that_have_been_exposed_to_high/ | {
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"Many of the symptoms of illness are products of the body's attempts to fight off the problem. For example if someone gets a viral or bacterial infection they will develop a fever, an increase in body temperature which is uncomfortable and can even be life-threatening. This response though is evolved as it usually helps reduce the growth rate of the invaders and gives the body crucial time to develop a defensive response.\n\nIf the body is losing the fight it will at some point be unable to mount an effective defense. Failure of various systems of the body will mean that those responses that would serve to fight the illness no longer take place; someone who is still infected might stop having a fever but that doesn't mean they are recovered.",
"It depends on the dose. At high enough doses, there is no latency period because your cells have been completely destroyed. At lower doses that are still fatal, what's happening is that the radiation has destroyed the DNA of cells, making them unable to replicate. These cells will continue to live for some time, but once they start dying, there's nothing to replace them. This becomes apparent as rapidly diving cells begin to die. For example, damaged bone marrow is unable to make new blood cells, which results in profound anemia, low white cell count, and low platelet count as new cells are not made to replace ones that have died. This can lead to rapid onset of major infections and uncontrollable bleeding as there are no white cells to fight infections and no platelets to clot wounds.\n\nCells of the gastrointestinal system also divide rapidly, so gastrointestinal symptoms are usually early and severe. As the cells that line the digestive tract die, they slough off and are expelled as vomit and diarrhea. The body is then unable to absorb any nutrients as the digestive system is essentially dead. This also allows the bacteria that live in our digestive tracts to enter our bloodstream and cause sepsis.\n\nEssentially, it's that at certain doses, the radiation exposure isn't enough to kill cells right away but is enough to make them unable to replicate. Once they die, which can take days or weeks, the latent phase ends and profound illness begins."
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99t9mw | why can't you reuse needles on yourself? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/99t9mw/eli5_why_cant_you_reuse_needles_on_yourself/ | {
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"Needles are sterile when you open them, if you use them at least ones, one way or another you will get some germs, re using them you will introduce them in your blood stream and if you got a serious health problem you may end up with a lot of problems.",
"It may not look like it but the tip gets significantly blunted the first time it penetrates the skin, and successive use of the same needle can cause scarring and damage to your veins.\n\nAlso, proteins in blood form clots when exposed to air. If you pull a needle out, any blood on/in it will coagulate. If you reuse the needle you risk injecting a small blood clot into your circulatory system which could in theory kill you if it blocks off the right blood vessel in the right spot.",
"Because once you remove the sterile seal from the needle it slowly becomes contaminated with germs in the air. You could sterilize the needle and re-use it but after 2 or three insertions the needle will be significantly dull and develop metal spurs.\n"
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cgdjbw | how do animals in the wild know what’s safe to eat? | Animals in the wild at some point must come in contact with plants that are not safe to eat (like poisonous mushrooms). How do they know not to eat those? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cgdjbw/eli5_how_do_animals_in_the_wild_know_whats_safe/ | {
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"Some level of smell/taste (bitter for humans, for example, tends to be toxic) is in play, and probably some instinct, however many, say, dogs do occasionally eat very toxic organisms that either kill them or seriously make them ill. How much that happens in the wild is difficult to measure, but there are plenty of cases of pet dogs eating toxic mushrooms/plants.",
"Some animals don't learn preferences, they just have the instinct to eat grass or leaves or meat. Many will have natural instincts to avoid rotting food based on smell and taste.\n\nBut other species (including humans) learn some of their preferences. This is done partly by trial and error, and also by social learning. There are cool experiments in rats where they smell the breath of conspecifics who have been fed a particular food. The rat is then given a choice of foods. They tend to pick the one they smelled on their friends' breath.",
"The same way we do, taste and experience. The plant wants to avoid being eaten. Most arent so toxic that one bite will kill so they make themselves bitter. When it's toxic, the herbivore wont continue consumption because its gross. Plant is spared extra damage and herbivore likely has an unpleasant night ahead of it. It may take just 1 or several times before they make the link \"eat this and get sick\" but once the lesson is learned, they dont keep at it. \n\n[You ever seen a bird vomit?](_URL_0_) : > This is the bare version. This jay was often fed Vice Roy butterflies. Then they gave him a monarch. Monarchs are toxic so he vomited and stopped accepting Vice Roys. Toxic animals often give that visual cue but predators cant discern minute changes in mimicry and just leave everything alone that reminds them of \"that night\".",
"There are two main mechanisms, and both usually coexist, each providing a certain portion of the picture: (a) what I'll call \"instinct\" and (b) learned preferences.\n\nFirst, I'll talk about the \"instinct\" part. You might be familiar with natural selection and what it can achieve. Amongst all the things it can achieve, there's the selection of chemical and physical cell receptors that react to certain stimuli. For example, have you ever smelled rotten meat? Most likely you had a particular reaction where you almost vomited and it made you cry a little. Those are mechanisms that have been selected during generations. Those organisms that smelled rotten or toxic food and had a bad reaction were more likely to not consume it. On the other hand, those that did consume it, were more likely to get sick or straightforward die.\n\nSomething important to keep in mind while thinking about this is that selection occurs mainly with things with which we interact frequently. So, if you're a type or organisms that consumes meat, you'll be more likely to know for sure if certain meat is bad than, say, some berries being toxic. That's why even though some plants or other edible things might seem appetising, even though they can be deadly.\n\nThen, we have the learned preferences. A set of organisms acquires a particular knowledge and passes it to the next generation or neighbour organisms. For example, if you live in certain parts of the US were deadly berries grow, it's likely that they've told you \"beware, those are deadly berries, don't eat them\". But, if you were someone from somewhere else, saw those same berries, you would find them appetising, you would consume and you'll either get sick or die.\n\nSomething similar happens in the wild. Other animals besides humans are capable of transmitting this type of knowledge to their offspring or group mates. I don't remember right now the specifics, but there's some types of apes that know that the root of a certain plant is safe to eat, but the leaves will cause a stomachache. [There's even some Japanese monkeys that have learnt to wash their potatoes on salty water for enhanced flavour](_URL_0_). This leads us to believe that if they ever were to discover that a certain type of food is dangerous, they would be able to pass that knowledge from one another.\n\nFinally, there's an evolutive dynamic going on called \"[arms race](_URL_1_)\". It happens when species A, let's say, a certain leafy plant is consumed by species B, let's say, a gorilla. The gorilla lives its life happily eating the plant. The plant begins to produce a chemical that deters the herbivore behaviour by causing a stomach ache or diarrhea if consumed. Some gorillas stop eating it but some evolve resistance to the chemical. After a few generations, the plant evolves a stronger chemical to stop the second group of gorillas from eating it. Some gorillas stop consuming it but some evolve resistance. This process repeats indefinitely. That's why you might find that some people and some other animals consume a particular food and they don't have any problem with it, but others avoid it altogether.",
"When animals arent sure they will do the same as humans, let one eat whatever and watch if it dies"
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yif8u | what is social security, how does it work in the u.s, and why is it deemed unsustainable? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yif8u/what_is_social_security_how_does_it_work_in_the/ | {
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"SS is a government program which collects money from working people and then passes it out to retired people.\n\nThis requires the working people to produce enough wealth to provide not only their own families, but also all the retired people. \n\nWhen the the economy is growing, this might not appear to be a problem since there is more wealth to go around each year than the year before. However, if productivity declines, then suddenly the working people can't support all the retired people any more. You also have a problem if there are more retired people to support, i.e. due to medical advances making them live longer.\n\nThe nature of economic decline is beyond the scope of this question, but that's the underlying cause.",
"Social Security was instituted during the Great Depression to do two things. First, it was to give retired people who had lost everything in the crash income to survive. Second, it was in incentive to get many old people to retire to open jobs up for unemployed youth. So they come up with a plan to take a little bit out of everyone's paycheck, and give it to retirees so they can survive.\n\nFast forward 20 years and we get the Baby Boom. Now with a good economy and a TON of workers Social Security is making more money than they're paying out. So we decide to invest it like any other financially savvy person. In a rare case of actually getting out AHEAD of the problem, we realized we're going to need this money when all these Baby Boomers RETIRE. Well what do we invest it in? Has to be low risk! Low risk = US Government Debt.\n\nFast forward to present day, the Boomers are starting to reach Social Security age and the US Government owes Social Security an IMPERIAL SHITLOAD of money it doesn't have. So Social Security will be needing this money over the coming decades and the federal government is broke. Due to changes in birth rate and advances in medicine that couldn't have been forseen in the 1930s, there are very fewer workers now per retiree. Nobody knows where the money is going to come from to handle all the payments.",
"Discussions been pretty good so far but the two most common talking points may not be clear\n\n1) Often times politicians and the media will paint it as a welfare program that costs the government. This is a lie. It's not welfare because the retiree pays into it his/her whole career. By the time he/she turns 65 and goes to collect, what they're actually collecting is all that money they've put in. The one exception to this is the very first people who collected back in 1930's. As of today though SS is 100% solvent and has (with the exception of a brief time in the 1970s) always collected more money than it's returned to retirees. The tipping point though is soon coming and is estimated to be within 10 years at which point it will be paying out more than it's collected. This is why its become more of an issue lately. However this was predicted ahead of time (baby boomers retiring) and was planned for back in the 1980's. The solution was to invest the money (the securities that others talked about) and collect on it when we needed it in the years that are soon to come.\n\n2) The Baby Boomers are often blamed for breaking SS or some such thing. Not true. The problem was seen way ahead of time and the system reformed in the 1980s to account for the Baby Boomers retiring. When somebody compares the modern demand SS has become to the it's initial purpose or scope in the 1930's they're being misleading (whether intentional or unintentional). "
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22cfog | if special relativity allows one observer to observe event a as occurring before event b and another to oberve event b as occurring before event a, how casuality can be preserved if event a caused event b? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22cfog/eli5_if_special_relativity_allows_one_observer_to/ | {
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"If A causes B, both observers will see A before B. These two events can only be observed differently if they are not related to each other.",
"Because *if* A caused B, then A will occur before B in all reference frames.",
"Imagine observer A is near to event A, and observer B is near to event B. Event A and event B are 1 light hour apart from each other.\n\nNow, the two events occur. Event A occurs, and observer A sees it happening in almost real time. Observer B sees it happening an hour later.\n\nLikewise, event B occurs, and observer B sees it happening in almost real time *before event A*. But observer A sees it happening an hour later *after even A*.\n\nEvent A could not have influenced event B, because, from the point of view of observer B, it happened after event B.\n\nLikewise, event B could not have influenced event A, because, from the point of view of observer A, it happened after event A.\n\nBecause of this, it's not possible to say in which order the two events happened. What's more, there is no possible way the two events could have influenced or caused each other. But this is only true because the distance between the events in space is further than light can travel in the time between the events.\n\nNow, imagine that two hours after event A, event X occurs at the same location. Both observer A and observer B will see event X occur after both even A and event B, so it's order in time is fixed relative to these two events. Not only did it happen after the two other events, it may even have been caused by one or both of the other two events.",
"In order for A to cause B there has to be a time delay since A's effect travels at light speed. Assuming that A's effect can be seen, any observer would see it at B before (or at the same instance) that event B occurred."
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3e2ymf | is there any way to reverse what humans have done to the earth since the industrial revolution? | Is there anyway to get rid of the CO2 we've emitted? I know we can use solar energy but is there actually anyway to get rid of the CO2? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3e2ymf/eli5_is_there_any_way_to_reverse_what_humans_have/ | {
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"Carbon moves around between various reservoirs (e.g. CO2 in the atmosphere) in what is called [the carbon cycle](_URL_0_). Humans have increased the rate at which CO2 is going into the atmosphere and decreased the rate at which it leaves, causing more to build up in the atmosphere over time.\n\nIn the absence of further human meddling the processes underlying the carbon cycle will slowly (by human standards) adjust and likely begin to bring down the amount of carbon locked up in the atmosphere/dissolved in the oceans.\n\nOn any timescale relevant to humans, though, that CO2 is there to stay.",
"As of today, no, there's no way to scrub the environment which won't itself emit more CO2. The best thing we can do is go forward with greener energy production methods that produce no CO2, and retire coal, oil, and natural gas from means of energy production; those alternatives would be nuclear, wind, thermal, hydro, and solar. And in order to manufacture these energy sources, you have to consider where the energy comes from. Making solar panels requires energy, if you get that energy from coal, you likely won't offset the carbon emissions in the lifetime of the panel.\n\nAnd renewable energy doesn't solve the problem, either. Sure, you pull carbon out of the environment, but then you burn it again, reintroducing it. The only win here is that at least we're not adding to the net total.\n\nWe've experimented, sometimes some have done so illegally, with means of accelerating the environment's ability to absorb carbon. One illegal method was a couple years back, some rich guy had a few hundred tons of iron oxide dumped off the Pacific coast. This caused a huge chemical reaction and an algae bloom that used up a lot of carbon, alright, but also all the oxygen in the effected waters, creating an oxygen free dead zone to all living things in those waters. The consequences were worse than the results."
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5ctxhi | if a closed room has a 100w fan running inside, is the room being heated by 100w? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ctxhi/eli5_if_a_closed_room_has_a_100w_fan_running/ | {
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"Yes. \n\nNo other answer is correct. Yes. 100w fan or a 100w heater in an insulated room is the same. \n\nA heater adds thermal energy directly. A fan adds mechanical energy that becomes kinetic energy in the air that eventually dissipates to thermal energy. Yes, each step is inefficient, which just helps the energy convert to heat more quickly. \n\nSure, you can try to confuse things with evaporation or convection or localized heating. It doesn't matter. 100w is 100w no matter if it's a heater, a lightbulb, a fan, a speaker, or whatever. ",
"Yes. If the room was perfectly insulated so no heat could get in or out, the room would heat up a rate of 100W. The effect would be the same as if you used a 100W heater, light bulb (of any kind), computer or even fridge*. Part of the power is converted directly to waste heat, the rest is converted to kinetic energy of moving air, which becomes heat later on, as the moving air is slowed by friction with other air molecules as well as surfaces.\n\nHowever, in real life, the room would not be perfectly insulated, and 100W isn't much spread out throughout a whole room. Way more than 100W of heat would get conducted in or out, through the walls, floor, roof, as well as any windows.\n\n\\* - this is assuming the inside of the fridge is already cold. The fridge will output more than the 100W power input while it is cooling the fridge, as it is also pumping heat from inside to outside. Once in a steady state, the extra heat given out is matched by the heat seeping from outside into the cooled interior.",
"The answer to this depends very much on if you are asking an engineer or a physicist. \n \nThere are many types of electrical motors, efficiency varies from about 85% - 95%. Let's say 90% on average. Most of the 10% loss will be lost as heat due to electrical resistance, some other weird stuff, friction and the rest will be noise.\n \nIf you are an engineer, a closed room means closing the door on a bedroom in a real world building. In this case the heat is approximately equal to the 10% loss, except for noise, so say around 8%. So for a 100W motor that is 8W of heat. \n \nIf you are a physicist, the closed room is a perfectly sealed and perfectly insulated space. In this case the noise also becomes heat due to molecules banging into each other. But also the work of the fan eventually becomes heat too in the same way. The fan is just moving air molecules, which collide with each other and the fan blades and the wall, producing heat. So in this case a 100W fan is converting 100% of the energy into 100W of heat. \n\ntl;dr - yes and no, depending on how spherical cows are in your universe."
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2x7djr | why do crabs have to be boiled alive? why can't they be killed before boiling? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2x7djr/eli5_why_do_crabs_have_to_be_boiled_alive_why/ | {
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"[The standard method for cooking crab is to kill them first](_URL_0_). You might be thinking of Lobster, which is another thing entirely. Lobsters aren't particularly clean, and they need to be cooked immediately after death, before bacteria colonies can grow. ",
"I assume you mean Lobster....\n\nLobsters/crab will continue to move after death, so while you can kill them via knife before cooking it isn't necessarily less awful.\n\nThe \"best\" way to cook lobster is to freeze it for 10-30 minutes first. This puts the animal to sleep and seems to result in a more humane kill.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThere is no reason you have to boil them alive, its just that most people don't want to knife their lobsters only to have them twitch about anyways and create extra cleaning of knives and surfaces. Boiling alive is the cleanest and ensures safe and tasty lobster.\n\nYou DO want to cook shellfish ASAP after killing, since just like fish they go bad extremely quickly if not gutted.",
"It's common to freeze them then boil them. Apparently they just 'go to sleep' in the freezer.. ",
"Lobsters release toxins into their body when they die. You can kill them before boiling, but it must be immediately prior to cooking."
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2f6uo8 | how large should a cult be to be considered a religion? | I mean if both a cult and a religion have the same population size... | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2f6uo8/eli5_how_large_should_a_cult_be_to_be_considered/ | {
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"Those 2 terms aren't really mutually exclussive. \n\nOne man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. \n\nBeing a cult, isn't about size though. It's about how you behave: \n\n+ Messianic leader. \n\n+ Require members to cut off contact with \"outsiders\"\n\n+ Strict enforcing of morals\n\n+ etc... \n\nI mean JW and scientology are huge, and they are still cults. And they will be forever. Unless you are one of them of course, then it's your religion. ",
"They are not totally synonymous but the best way to describe it is thus:\n\nCult: A religion that you pay for.",
"Cults differ from religions in their methods, not number of members. Cults are more recently-begun, usually by a charismatic leader who manages to convince a number of people, be it 5 or 5 million, that they have received messages from God or are themselves God. Cults also first encourage, then force, members to cut themselves off from non-cult members, seeing the influence of the outside world as distracting and contaminating members with their \"false teachings.\" Most cults also require members to give a large proportion, or all, of their money and assets as donations to the cult to give the cult operating money and supplies. Cults also usually target psychologically-vulnerable people and run them through intensive brainwashing. Not all cults share all of these characteristics.\n\n\"Real\" religions do a lot of the same things (\"All Shia are to be shunned\"), but cults take this to the extreme. One is expected to give complete faith and trust in cult leadership and completely isolate themselves. \n\nI'd argue that a group could go from being a cult to a religion and vice-versa. IS being a good example of a religious movement (albeit extreme) becoming a cult, indeed a huge one.\n\nJehovah's Witnesses, on the other hand, while still considered \"fringe\" Christianity by many Christians, has become a \"real\" religion; JWs are often encouraged to interact with unbelievers, with the goal of bringing them into the fold, but to my knowledge do not use brainwashing techniques to keep members from hearing other perspectives, they just rebut those other perspectives.\n\nedit: \"W,\" not \"H\"\n\nFeel free to correct anything in this; written totally off the top of my head and based on my own biases and misconceptions."
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21niin | why can we "develop a taste" for things we originally dislike, such as beer or certain foods? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21niin/eli5_why_can_we_develop_a_taste_for_things_we/ | {
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"My first reddit contribution, here goes nothin! \n\nThe human brain changes the way it perceives certain flavors as a survival mechanism. For instance, we develop a tolerance for the spiciness of peppers after the brain becomes aware of the good nutrients they contain. \nAnother example is a dude lost on a raft at sea for months but has a steady supply of fish he can easily catch. He just eats the meat at first, but after a time he gets cravings for the parts he originally found repulsive-organs and eyes- which contained vitamins he had become deficient in. His brain's innate ability to adjust his flavor perception kept him in good health by making him want to eat nasty stuff. \n\nSource: _URL_0_\n\nEdit: thanks to Roscoj for the vid link. Putting it here at the top. Skip to 8:10ish for the part relevant to this topic.",
"That fish analogy clears up some questions I had during The Two Towers",
"Some good comments here, especially about the brain adapting to 'like' highly nutritious foods in times of need that it would otherwise find repulsive.\n\nI think that in every day life though that it has a lot to do with two things: operant conditioning and social learning.\n\nSo take beer: beer is gross. It's bitter and has a nasty aftertaste. However, I love beer. Why is this? Well, I'm sure everyone would agree that your first beer definitely isn't your most enjoyed beer. However, you begin to associate that taste with the feeling of getting drunk, as well as having good times with friends. Eventually your brain learns that the taste of beer means a good time, so you start to enjoy it.\n\nSame with foods: kids are born with an innate preference for sweet foods. The rest, veggies and such, they get a taste for by watching others eat them and enjoy them. Similarly, if they eat something and then later throw up (even if it's nothing to do with the food) then they'll most likely grow up disliking that particular food. \n\nHope that helps.",
"sewer or landfill workers will eventually get used to the bad smell, and not sense it as much when exposed to it often. it must be something similar for people getting used to weed too, that stuff is terrible but they must no longer smell the bad in it",
"[This short comic explains things pretty well.](_URL_0_)",
"Wow. For some reason, I think a lot of people here are overthinking it with their \"the body is intelligently seeking a source of nutrition\" stance. I don't think this is a necessary component in the explanation of how people learn to like, for example, beer or salted licorice. Not every idea needs to be forced into an evolutionary framework to make sense, as intuitive and catchy as it may seem. (It's like people suddenly learned that evolution is true, and now the trend is, \"Explain all the things with evolution!\" No... just, chill out.)\n\nMaybe it's really as simple as this: you give it another chance, and learn to like it for the exact same typical reasons you learned to like anything at all, which is because you can appreciate the flavour. Your palette develops over time. Perhaps pickles were overwhelming before: repugnant, with their sour saltiness and icky brine. But now that you've had a lifetime of trying different foods and flavour combinations, you can appreciate the complexities of capers without becoming overwhelmed by their immediate gustatory strength.\n\nJust because it provides nutrition doesn't mean it tastes good. Just because you like the taste of something doesn't mean it's nutritious, and your body, in all of its innate wisdom, has led you to discover this wonderful flavour, which is really just a guise to get you to consume what it secretly knows is nutritious, and has known all along... naw man; Occam's razor. Keep it simple.",
"As you mature your sensitivity to bitterness drops. Young children are exceptionally sensitive to bitter flavors, which is likely an [evolutionary adaptation](_URL_0_) which prevents youngsters from eating poisonous plants since they put stuff in their mouth all the time. This is why many toddlers despise green leafy vegetables but start tolerating a few by teenagerhood and are fine with them as adults.",
"I've heard that as children your taste buds are hyper sensitive. My mother would always cringe at my sugar drinks saying they were too sweet, which I didn't understand for a long time. Now I drink a lot of flavored seltzer and if I have real soda, I cringe. Same goes for bitter foods like spinach and brussel sprouts.",
"And why do I seem to be completely unable to do this?\n\nNo matter how many times I drink coffee, it still tastes just as bitter and disgusting as the last time I tried to drink it.",
"Many of the things we call 'acquired taste' is just a nice way of saying 'it tastes nicer to old people', because the way we perceive taste changes as we age. For example, a 4 year old can taste bitter things much, much more acutely than an older person - so things like beer and coffee are things an adult is biologically predisposed to like more than their younger self. \n\nAnother point to consider is operant conditioning - If you repeatedly try a food or drink, and then get a positive result, you're being conditioned to like that food or drink (e.g. you drink coffee and get a buzz, you learn to like coffee). ",
"Peer pressure. Everyone else likes it, so I should too.\n\nAt least, that's how I started drinking beer.",
"I think a lot of it may simply be enjoying it once and the taste kind of normalizes. Like if you drink a really high quality coffee and enjoy it and maybe drink it for a while, you're more likely to partake in or even enjoy a lesser quality down the road. Same with peppers or tomatoes, if you get used to them in sandwiches or subs where the flavor fits in nicely. As for beer, nobody wants to be called a pussy, finish your beer bitch. ",
"Things that are poisonous tend to have bitter, pungent, and sour flavors, which is one of the reasons we have an aversion to things like bitter greens and sour fruits and fermented/cultured things like beer or aged cheese. These *tend* to be the things people need to develop a taste for. People rarely talk about having to develop a taste for meat or apple pie.\n\nOur ancestral diet was more focused on savory, salty, and (when we could get it) sweet flavors. Our diets have changed dramatically since then, but we're still the same animal.\n\nAlso, the brain is averse to just about *anything* different. It's just instinct. Different might be bad, we have no way of knowing, so all of our internal mechanisms compel us to avoid it until we know better. This is why unfamiliar faces (either different races or simply people who look like they might be from a different \"tribe\", like a Kalahari bushman or a London punk with nails in his ears), unfamiliar styles of music, unfamiliar smells, and unfamiliar flavors are a source of varying degrees of repulsion for us.\n\nThere's not a lot we can do about the initial jump of aversion, but since we're not eating possibly-poisonous berries off of bushes or dealing with lions possibly hiding behind every street corner, we have the luxury of actually taking the time to look and taste and think before making a judgment.\n\n**TL;DR:** developing a taste for something is like your tongue deciding not to be racist anymore.",
"You can trick your mind into doing/believing almost anything. ",
"As far as alcohol and coffee go, I'm pretty sure we learn to like the effects a whole lot more than the actual taste of the thing..",
"It's not just food: It's also art, music, etc. You develop tastes for these things because you begin to notice subtleties that went way over your head before.\n If you play a heavily left-of-mainstream genre of music like metal or bebob to someone who's never heard it before, it's going to sound to them like incoherent noise. But if they've previously been listening to hard rock (or hot jazz), their brain will recognize the patterns in the music from prior experience and can then make sense of it.\n",
"Not an expert here, but I've read a couple things that seem relevant.\n\nFirst, kids tastes a very sensitive. Apparently your tastes become more dull as you get older, so harsh/bitter tastes aren't as harsh and bitter. I don't actually know that this is true, but it's something I've read.\n\nAlso, kids like simple and repetitive experiences in general. They can watch the same movie 3 times a day without getting tired of it, and they can eat hot dogs every day for a month. They don't get tired of it. They like that it's simple and safe and predictable. This probably plays a role.\n\nAnother thing that I've read is that, even as an adult, if you eat something that you find 'disgusting' several times in a certain time span (I think it was 5 times in 2 months?) without getting sick at all, then your brain will probably decide it's not so disgusting anymore. It seems to be a natural response that keeps you from ignoring perfectly good sources of nutrition just because it's weird.\n\nFinally, I think that food and music and movies and cultural experiences all seem a little off-putting when it's unfamiliar and you're unused to it. If you spent your whole life listening to classical romantic music and were suddenly exposed to Radiohead, you wouldn't quite know what to do with it and it might sound like noise. However, if you listened to it a few more times, you might start to recognize the patterns. Once you understand the patterns and can hear what's going on, it might sound much prettier and more interesting. Complex flavors can work the same way.",
"Just personal experience, I started eating \"certain foods\" I didn't like such as; most vegetables, simply because I came to the realization that my diet was very poor. The older I got the more I realized how important nutrient dense foods are for the body, and all the positive benefits of consuming more healthy foods. So I began to sort of discipline myself to start liking them, or at least tolerating them. Where I used to not even be able to place a carrot in my mouth without gagging, I now cook them up with a good portion of my meals and eat them without a problem. Same with tomatoes, bell peppers, and green beans. In short, I think it just became a matter of wanting to not only survive, but thrive. You can eat foods nearly void of all nutrients; i.e. McDonalds, but you will have plenty of complications along the way with such a poor diet. However, providing your body with the proper substances it needs will not only sustain you but help your body perform to it's best ability. Sure it sounds boring and dull, but veggie tacos can be quite tasty, and they don't give you the runs like Taco Bell. ",
"Just to add to many of the comments here, expectations also play a great part in your perceptions and what you like. There's a lot of well-known science about this in regards to things like wine.\n\nI'm a Chinese tea enthusiast, and one of the things that you hear from Chinese folk is lamenting the fact that English (and western people) only have one word and concept for bitterness (negative), while they have several. \n\nOnce I accepted that there are different kinds of bitterness, and that they're not all bad, it really opened up a lot for me. Things that seemed terrible the day before were suddenly quite good (it was something of an epiphany, so it was literally with the next time I tasted it).\n\nChanging your expectations and preconceptions can do quite a lot for your perception of what is good. This is something that is probably easier to do as you get older and gain a wider range of experience. Some things will happen slowly and organically, and it can also happen suddenly when you decide that something is worth setting aside your preconceptions.",
"Every 5-7 years our taste buds change. So as we grow foods we used to love don't taste as good and foods we dislike seem to taste better.\n",
"Best way I can think to describe it is this: (yes this is distasteful but it explains it)\n\nOur brains for the most part can't hold a dissenting opinion about something. Wether it is peer pressure or realizing that it doesn't hurt/helps you alters the way you perceive something. \n\nLet's take a drug addict for example. I would submit that very few rational people would suck a dirty dick for a few dollars. \n\nWhen you've exhausted all other options and all that is left is to suck a dirty dick for a few dollars to get a high, it doesn't seem so bad after all. \n\nThe first time may be bad, but your brain will alter its perception since the reward is something that you want. \n\nNow in no way does brussels sprouts equate to sucking a random mans dirty penis, but you become accustomed to it. \n"
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39qbbb | used car pricing. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/39qbbb/eli5_used_car_pricing/ | {
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"1. people highball their car because potential buyers will haggle down the price. that is a near guarantee, so they list the car higher. \n\n2. people wildly overestimate the value of their car. it might have 200k+ miles and there might be a crack in the manifold... but it drives like a dream!\n\n3. dealerships generally price used cars higher\n\n4. people don't understand used car pricing. not just #2, they might have had work done on the car recently or there are aftermarket parts that they are including in the price of the car when in reality none of that matters."
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29jsou | how do doctors get prescription medication? can they prescribe them to themselves or do they need to go to another doctor? | Just curious as to what doctors do when they need medication. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29jsou/eli5_how_do_doctors_get_prescription_medication/ | {
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"They could prescribe for themselves, but they probably go to other doctors for a neutral point of view. Most doctors also are rich enough to go to another doctor when they're sick.\n\nSource: My grandfather was/is (he's like part time at the age of 73) a doctor.",
"It probably depends on the country in question. Different countries and healthcare systems probably have their own rules.\n\nDon't quote me on this, but I heard that in Britain, you can't have an official gp visit (of course they could unofficially diagnose you, perhaps tell you if you do need prescription medicines or not to bother going to the doctors) or be prescribed medicine by a close relative. ",
"They can prescribe themselves medication, but very few are willing to prescribe meds for their own use anymore for ethical reasons and because it can be a slippery slope, prescribing/taking things that may not be necessary from a medical standpoint can result in loss of medical license. One of my friends step-dad was a doctor that lost his license for providing his wife with strong pain pills that her own doctor deemed she did not need over the course of a few years",
"It is considered unethical for doctors to prescribed medicine for their own personal use.\n\nThe can, however, obtain prescription medicine for their own professional use. An ER doctor might want to have a painkillers and other meds handy on a moment's notice, and get some from a pharmacy ahead of time. This makes it pretty easy for an unethical doctor to treat themselves if they wanted to.",
"Doctors just write the prescription they want and get one of their doctor buddies to sign it. We do it all the time for simple prescriptions (like to treat a cold or birth control pills.) For more complicated matters, like narcotics or ones that need specific diagnoses to be covered by insurance companies, it is usually best to actually see another doctor to have the proper documentation for ethical reasons. \n"
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1tw434 | why do stadiums have such a short lifespan relative to other buildings? | Sports stadiums are very expensive and seem to have a lifespan of around 30 years. Why aren't they built to last longer and what causes them to die so quickly relative to some other structures? I.e. the Empire State Building has been around a long time.. I would assume a sports stadium would draw a longer term investment as a key piece of infrastructure for the city. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1tw434/eli5_why_do_stadiums_have_such_a_short_lifespan/ | {
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"Stadiums are basically concrete and aluminum seats. All the glitz goes in the boxes and high dollar seating. Then you have the dick measuring going on between owners over who has the best stadium. When they can find a government, local or state, to pay for it they want a bigger dick so they cut the maintenance and it goes to shit faster.",
"League rules change, owners of teams change, and fans change. I'll give an example. Football and baseball used to both be played in the same stadium. The heads of the Leagues didn't like that because it messed up scheduling. So a lot of new stadiums were created, often right in the parking lot of another stadium so you could have separated facilities for football and baseball. \n\nSome team owner comes up with the idea the team is losing because he can't get enough money to hire good players. You can't charge the average fan $2,000 a ticket, but you can sell 20 \"luxury boxes\" for $50,000 each with seating for 25 in each one. Can't generally remodel the existing stadium, so you got to raze the one you just built to get away from the baseball team. \n\nFans want their city to host a Superbowl or hate rain delays in baseball. They want a retractable roof stadium. The owner agrees because he will have fewer seats to fill, and petitions the League. Once again, the old stadium can't be refitted, and must be leveled. Again, a perfectly good stadium unused after an unneeded one is built. ",
"They don't. They last just as long but as mentioned before the owners just want new stadiums like a spoiled brat teenager who wants the newest iPad each year.\nRFK stadium was built many decades ago for the Redskins. It's still standing today and is still used for the local soccer team.\n"
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3mcnpi | why is fried food crispy? | It would seem more natural for it to be soggy with all that oil. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mcnpi/eli5_why_is_fried_food_crispy/ | {
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"Water is absorbed from the molecules surrounding the food items. When the h2o is freed the intermolecular bonds weaken and the item becomes crispy."
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1i1rev | 1440p, 2k, 4k resolutions; what are they and why would i ever need these? | I noticed these resolutions popping up recently and am not sure why they exist or why i would ever need them. 1080p seems very detailed, would my eyes even notice a difference, compared to say traditional 480i vs 1080p?
**edit:** extra s | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1i1rev/eli5_1440p_2k_4k_resolutions_what_are_they_and/ | {
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"Yes, your eyes would tell a difference. \n\nAs good as 1080p is, there is still more information that could be displayed on screen with a higher resolution. \n\nThis information would likely be crisper edges, better definition of features, and most importantly, less aliasing. \n\nAliasing is when an object creates a stuttered line, due to pieces of the line being displayed by lines of pixels. There are current technologies in your TV and computer which help *blend* the edges to have the lines perceived by the eye as a straight line, and not stuttered. \n\nHigher resolutions would fill the lines on screen at a rate closer to what the human eye can perceive, and therefore make everything look closer to real life. Apple calls this \"retina\" screens, as the resolution is so high, the eye cannot distinguish between the pixels. \n\nThe key is going to be getting media to catch up and create 4000k quality movies and TV shows. In the meantime, it's likely that gaming will lead the way, just as it did in the last generation. \n\nTL:DR: Yes. You'll notice a difference. "
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3uxb0b | how is your brain able to recreate the sound of, for example, a song, perfectly in your head so it seems like you can hear it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3uxb0b/eli5_how_is_your_brain_able_to_recreate_the_sound/ | {
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"technically speaking, your brain is not recreating the sound of that song, it's only recalling its experience of it just like most other experiences it recalls, so your question is really a far more general one about how memories are stored. \n \nHowever in the case of music there are probably a lot of areas of the brain triggered depending on the qualities of the music itself (does it have lyrics, is it more strongly melodic or rhythmic) or the context in which you heard it, i.e. where were you when you heard it, who were you with, etc.\n"
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2olkez | why are american doctors so willing to prescribe strong painkillers when doctors in every other country aren't? | I know there's a simple legal answer to this -- the drugs are legal here and they aren't in many other countries. But you'd think that at least some American doctors would be reluctant to give Vicodin out like candy, yet I've never encountered one before. On the other hand, I understand that most European doctors are strongly against prescribing these drugs. Is this a cultural difference or is something else going on? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2olkez/eli5_why_are_american_doctors_so_willing_to/ | {
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"**Tl;dr: It all boils down to different medical training and different laws.** \n\nAmerican doctors prescribe pain medication to prevent chronic pain, which is much more difficult to treat. Also, it is much more difficult for Americans to buy strong pain medications over the counter. In many Asian countries, prescription pain killers could be bought over the counter, so I have met many people who have self-medicated and taken tranquilizers (which don't do a good job at relieving pain) for minor jaw aches related to TMJ. Also, in my understanding, ~~lidocaine~~ codeine could be purchased fairly easily in European countries due to more lax regulations. \n\nEDIT: Thanks /u/shlogan!",
"As a physician in the US, there has been a schizophrenic approach to pain medication over the years. Currently, hospitals and physicians are graded (and reimbursed) by patient satisfaction and pain is utilized as the \"fifth vital sign\". Most know this is bullshit. Not only are policies and practices stacked in favor of prescribing medications but patients (at least in my experience) hound physicians every day to prescribe narcotics. I have at least 3 patients each day calling in to further discuss (i.e. yell at nurses and myself) what I already told them during their appointment which is I am not going to prescribe medications. When you see an 80 yo do fine with tylenol after a hip fracture or a sickle cell child do fine with ibuprofen it really puts pain into perspective.",
"TIL: American doctors willingly prescribe strong painkillers.\n\nSeriously, this is not as universal in America as you might think."
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15vvim | why do fish float upside down when dead or dying? | I've only seen goldfish do this but sometimes they did it and they were still alive and they'd swim around upside down, why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/15vvim/eli5_why_do_fish_float_upside_down_when_dead_or/ | {
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"Fish have a pocket of air called a \"swim bladder\" that they use to help themselves swim up and down. \n\nWhen a fish is healthy, they usually use chemical reactions to add or remove gas to the pocket, or just gulp in air and burp it out. \n\nWhen a fish is dying, it starts to lose control of the pocket and may wind up overfilling it and becoming unable to remain upright."
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6iqlgj | how do doctors determine if a sickness (specifically, topical) is caused by a bacteria, virus, or fungus? | Are there any tests or questions that make it pretty obvious? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6iqlgj/eli5_how_do_doctors_determine_if_a_sickness/ | {
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"They can either swab it and see what grows on media suited for microbial growth or through an immunoassay which uses antibodies and color indicators to identify specific probable species."
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f6bvzb | they said "the water doesn't have an expiration date, the plastic bottle does" so how come honey that comes in a plastic bottle doesn't expire? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f6bvzb/eli5_they_said_the_water_doesnt_have_an/ | {
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"I used to work in regulatory compliance in a honey processing plant.\n\nHoney does not expire. IIRC there is evidence of 500+ years old honey found in clay pots that is perfectly safe to eat.\n\nThe date is a best before date.\nThis is because the Codex Alimentarius (from the WHO) ((on which the FDA and CFIA base their regulations) define honey as \"liquid\".\nEventually honey will crystallise. The time it takes to start crystallisation can vary between 2 to 4 years depending on a multitude of factors (temp a bottling, quality of seals, amount in container, floral origin, etc).",
"I was always told that bottled water gets stored in direct sunlight quite often and that the sunlight causes the plastic to break down and release BPA and other toxins into the water.",
"Well as a honey producer I can’t tell you shit about water expiring, I’m sure it varies drastically. Honey doesn’t expire. It does have different flavors or colors, and it will crystallize. (Heat it up). Our plastic bottles sell better for now just because they have a nice handle on them I think. We have tried to convert a portion (basically at our expense) to glass and it doesn’t sell as well. We are beekeepers, and I personally think that has something with trying to do the right thing in a way. My grandpa used to sell to people who would come in with their own pails or jars of sorts and I’d like to reinstate that a little bit as well. But on the shelf, yeah way she goes. People seriously should consider what they are buying even or just so it isn’t the lowest tier. You could probably buy China/Argentina/Canadian honey for less. Because it’s probably mixed with corn syrup. Loopholes in the laws bro I fucking hate it. I’m pretty sure the law says it only has to be certain % honey to be labeled pure. Bullshit, and it makes the company I work for have to dive into that level of bullshit to an extent by importing much cheaper honey and mixing it, thus losing any proper pollination resistance or other health benefits you might have received at a local level. I’m not on the board of Sue Bee but I do sent a lot of my PURE honey to them, and I wish this was a bigger issue with the popular contest, but price wins at the end of the day. I’d still recommend it above others because it’s definitely more pure, it’s just the price comparison is impossible without tariffs or changes. \n\nWoof sorry about that. It’s my job and apparently I’m a little passionate about what’s fucked up about it.",
"Is it true honey never goes out of date? If so, why aren’t we using honey to preserve foods longer?",
"Plastic is air permeable to a degree, so water in it can pick up scents and some chemicals from the environment, so that may be a factor.",
"There’s two concepts of foods “expiring” One is how long can you guarantee it doesn’t go bad, and the other is how long can you guarantee it doesn’t change at all. For example, milk will spoil and be undrinkable within a few days of the expiry date. Honey in itself will never rot or go bad per se, but eventually itll crystallize and you won’t be able to use it anymore. Or the water in your bottle will taste bad due to the bottle or otherwise, even though it’s technically just the same water. \n\nCompanies will put an expiration date because they prefer you throw out their product than to use something that isn’t the best that it can be. If you drank water that was past it’s “expiry date” and it tasted bad, you probably wouldn’t buy it again. If they scared you off from drinking it you might just go and buy more.\n\nEDIT: Yeah ok, so apparently crystallized honey is still usable TIL, but the point still stands. Eventually, it will become something that they did not originally intend to sell in one way or another. My bottle of honey I have at home has a best before date, its in about 2 years. In 2 years it will still be honey, just maybe not in a form that someone would find appealing to grab off a shelf.",
"Whoever said that is wrong.\n\nThe FDA and IWBA can't find any evidence that age matters to plastic water bottles. The FDA has ruled that there is no limit to the shelf life of bottled water, and no company has even insinuated that the expiration is related to the plastic.\n\nIn 1987, New Jersey passed a law requiring all bottles of water to be stamped with an expiration date 2 years after the bottling date. Since you can't identify which bottles will wind up shipped to NJ, companies just stamped all bottles with a 2-year expiration to ensure compliance.\n\nThey never passed that law for Honey, which is why plastic honey bottles don't have an expiration.\n\nAlthough the law was repealed in 2006, companies had figured out people will throw out \"expired\" water and buy more, it actually increases sales, so they kept printing it \"voluntarily\".",
"Took a tour of a Pepsi plant where they bottle Aquafina. It's more for quality control. It's difficult to eliminate 100% of bacteria and other things that can grow over time. Part of the testing is to put some of the water into a petri dish and accelerate growth, to see if there is anything nasty is in there. The water will most likely be fine after expiry but, in case there is something in there, the expiration date will provide a good idea of how long it will be safe to drink and to safeguard the company from liability.",
"Honey is a super saturated sugar solution. The reason it's so resistant to spoiling is that it is so saturated that it draws all the water out of any bacteria effectively killing it. The only real exception is botulinum, which can live dormant as a spore which is resistant to those forces. This is why you can't give honey to babies under 1 year old, they are not immune to it yet",
"It's my understanding that the reason they really have expiration dates is a law made in New Jersey that made all edibles/potables have expiration dates. Regardless if they actually expired in that time or not. \n\n & #x200B;\n\nGenerally speaking though, the plastic is porous to air so your water can get smelly or \"stale\" depending on how it's stored.",
"It may depend on the plastic. The plastic used for single use bottled water are single use plastic (generally PET) and although it has good durability, it does not age well, especially when heated. \n\nThere are some rumors that it release carcinogens to the water when heated (or apparently freezed according to [this](_URL_0_)). The research on this subject is controversial but if the honey is in a different version of plastic container (probable because lower quantity and higher price may mean higher margin for container cost), the producer may be more confident with the plastic not releasing chemicals with health effects.\n\nGeneraly plastic containers have some sort of marking (on the bottom with a number inside a mark) stating the material. You may compare the properties of these materials if they are different. \n\nIn addition to that, water is a good solvent and may help if there is a possible chemical reaction with the walls of the bottle. \n\nLastly, a water bottle is more prone to be used after refilled, as plastic containers are generally a welcoming place for bacteria, the producer may discourage the users from refilling and reusing the bottle for a long time.",
"They can only guarantee freshness for the amount of time tested. Many canned goods are usable well past the date on the package.",
"I can understand why bottles that sit full of water might be harmful, but why do soda stream bottles have expiration dates? Mine generally sit empty in a dark cabinet.",
"In Denmark we have a “best before often good after” expiration date to tell consumers not to stress about the date, but use their senses in stead.\n\nEdit:Yes yes, I spelled senses wrongly. Thanks for the great scrip!",
"The plastic doesn't expire.\n\nThe water doesn't expire.\n\nThe integrity of the caps seal is guaranteed for said period of time under normal conditions. \n\nWhat after this date it will leak? no it will not.\n\nIt's how long they're willing to say it will keep most off tastes out under normal storage conditions. \n\nWhat does that mean? The bottles are not hermetically sealed ;) so you can migrate quite a few disgusting flavors into them if stored improperly. Keep a bottle of water near say kitty litter and you'll end up with kitty litter flavored water.... mmm dank and musty... which is due to an abnormal storage condition.\n\nso why the date? regulation - depending on where you live either current or expired. They needed something so they oft chose the seal which is the source of this confusion additionally some companies chose to just put the maximum possible date as per regulations. \n\nThey kept it for assorted reasons if the regulation has been lifted, one being that people will chuck it and another being it's cheaper and faster to produce with one set of bottles than multiple. Additionally it's easier to track production and so forth... \n\nWhat about plastic taste in water if the bottle is left in the hot sun.\n\nThat's from prolonged exposure to direct UV light via sunlight which is not a normal storage condition. \n\nWhy doesn't honey expire? \n\nlow water content vs high sugar content. It basically exist in a state where what would decompose it can't live. Decomposition is merely something else eating it.",
"Any food or drink sold within EU has an expiration date. Yes, even honey, sugar, oil and water.",
"The reason most shit has an expiration date is because otherwise, old people will try to return that shit 10 years later. And no, I'm not joking",
"There is a bit of psychology to this employed by food manufacturers. The ones I worked with intentionally labelled products with much shorter expiry dates than the product actually has. This is to subtly communicate that the product is high quality and to stop big retailers buying years of product at once at cripplingly low discounts . There are other reasons for it like legal requirements from state or country level causing blanket labelling procedures as well however.",
"Plastic that is in sunlight does have a relatively fast \"expiration date\". What happens is sunlight hits the plastic, destabilizes it and causes what are called plasticizers to leach into the water which will give it the plastic taste, as you are likely drinking minute amounts of microplastics. If properly stored, the shelf life of water bottles is likely extremely long. \nThis does not happen which thick walled plastic bottles such as reusable nalgene bottles as they are made of a different type of plastic that is not nearly as likely to emit the plasticizers.",
"Water will often grow things in it if exposed to light, even in a sealed bottle. Honey doesn't grow things in it (because there isn't enough water in it).",
"Unless the water has been sterilised, it can start growing things in it. In Finland we stamp dates on it because over time the microbes have grown to a level that there is a health risk. The problem is not water, but microbes. \n\nHoney is actively anti-microbial, also it is basically just sugar, to the point basically nothing will grow on it."
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4mw4av | how are new domain extensions (such as .tech, .xyz, ect) created? | I've always wondered this but I've never found a clear answer, thanks!
Edit: Found a list of TLDs here - _URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4mw4av/eli5_how_are_new_domain_extensions_such_as_tech/ | {
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"What you are describing is called a Top Level Domain, or TLD.\n\nThe organization reasonable is known as ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Basically, they decide what TLDs should be made, which often makes some... weird ones (like .blackfriday).",
"ICANN originally had domains for countries as well as the ones for organizations (com/org/net etc). Recently, though, ICANN opened it up and allowed anyone with too much money to register a top level domain.",
"As mentioned, you're talking about Top-Level Domains.\n\nTo break down the nature of what these TLDs are, you first have to understand that computers don't really have a way of making sense of what \"_URL_0_\" means. Where is it? What is it?\n\nWhen you connect to a website, you're connecting to an IP Address, basically a set of bits that more-or-less describe where that website is, that may look either like \"198.41.209.137\" or even like \"[2607:f8b0:4000:80d::200e]\" (if you're connecting with IPv6). There's a bit of complicated stuff when it comes to locating that IP Address as well, but that's mostly handled by ISPs.\n\nYour browser on the other hand needs to figure out what \"_URL_0_\" means. So, it looks up DNS servers, and asks about \"_URL_0_\", and asks what IP Address it is. You can think of an IP Address as a literal address to a home, while a domain name is a PO. Box, with ICANN being the Post Office of the Internet.\n\nSo how do new extensions get created? Simple; ICANN decides to let people make them.\n\nCreating Domain extensions isn't really hard. If you wanted to, you could have your company work under a private internet (dubbed \"intranets\") with your own TLDs and domain names. Your computer probably already has a build-in \"reserved\" domain host, \"localhost\", which always points to your own computer (assuming that there's even a website there)\n\nBefore ICANN, the TLDs and management of domains was all handled by [some guy](_URL_1_). Now ICANN handles the creation of TLDs, and gives companies called \"registrars\" the right to create and sell domains under available TLDs.\n\nFor example, [Google Domains](_URL_2_)... something you might notice about that link; Google has it's own TLD ."
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2we6ox | what makes vlc able to play virtually any format and others players can’t? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2we6ox/eli5what_makes_vlc_able_to_play_virtually_any/ | {
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"Some media formats require licensing fees that developers aren't willing or interested in paying. VLC either sidesteps these fees, or is exempt from them, or... maybe pays them, but I'd be surprised if that was the case. \n\nAlso, many developers and companies are more interested in pushing their own self interests- for instance, Apple wants to push MOV and H.264, so they're not motivated to support other formats as much.",
"Sheer force of will and engineering. The VLC devs have put a lot of time and effort into making sure they use the right codecs at the right time for the right reasons. The result is a good media player.",
"VLC's hardly unique in being able to play anything. The only thing that's unique about VLC is that it has all the various codecs, filters, renderers, splitters, etc built directly into it wheres other players utilize a modular architecture that can sometimes be a little bit complex and confusing.\n\nIf you install a codec pack like KCP, K-lite, or CCCP, you'll find you actually have much better compatibility and performance than with VLC.\n\nVLC actually has a lot of problems and tend to struggle with things like modern anime fansubs that use 10-bit video, complex subtitle styling, etc.\n\nBesides VLC that takes an \"all-in-one\" approach, there's usually a modular chain of interlocking components that looks something like this:\n\nPlayer < - > Splitter < - > Decoder < - > Renderer\n(and also subtitle renderer is in there somewhere but I don't know exactly where to put it).\n\nBasically all you need for perfect playback of everything is MPC-HC as your player, madVR as your renderer, LAV as your splitter and your decoder, and (for anime fansubs or anything else with fancy subtitles) xy-VSFilter or XySubFilter as your subtitle renderer. Or just use KCP which has everything included: _URL_0_\n\nMadVR may cause lower-end computers to explode, but there are other renderer options that are less resource intensive (although you won't get the same level of quality).\n\nNot included in KCP, but I also use SVP (Smooth Video Project) to upgrade 24fps files to 60fps. SVP + madVR requires a fairly high-end computer.",
"I have a lot of videos which VLC cannot play or cannot play without stutter (like AVCHD videos). MPC plays everything.",
"I'm well happy with VLC - only used MP-HC because VLVLC doesn't handle Wmv well (based on my own experience) ",
"Open source. VLC owes its ability to play just about everything mainly to a project called FFmpeg that developed two code pieces of software: libavcodec and libavformat. Together, they provide a foundation for building software that can read / write / translate audio and video. FFmpeg built in various formats based on information the authors could find online, and whenever they found someone that wrote software for a new format, they added support for that in FFmpeg.\n\nSome of that software that FFmpeg (and VLC as a result) is in kind of a legal grey area. A lot of video software is covered by patents in the USA. So people outside the USA, where the laws don't cover it, have worked out how to support the various formats and published software for it - which then can be used as optional bits and pieces in things like FFmpeg and VLC.\n\nVLC isn't the only software that uses ffmpeg. Things like Handbrake, Mplayer, Xine, Plex, Blender, YouTube (the back-end), MPC-HC, Avanti, Xmedia Recode, and a bunch of others use the same software to provide the same abilities."
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b6wdcg | why are records still made of vinyl? i know they're more of a collector's item nowadays, but haven't we invented any materials that are more durable or would otherwise be better for the job? | My boyfriend is really into records and he's tired of me pestering him about this. I've heard that records used to be made of something called shellac and then it turned into vinyl around the 1930s. But that only caught on when they started using lighter needles that didn't damage the record. It's almost 90 years later now, haven't they made a material better suited for the job? Maybe something that's more durable so they don't scratch as easily, for example.
Edit: I'm adding this because it seems to be coming up in the comments a lot: I am well aware that CDs and other digital media (mp3s, Spotify etc) exist. What I'm curious about it the reason why vinyl is being used for the big black records my hipster boyfriend likes. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b6wdcg/eli5_why_are_records_still_made_of_vinyl_i_know/ | {
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"Vinyl is another name for PVC (Polyvinyl chloride). PVC is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer, after polyethylene and polypropylene.",
"Due to the biggest advantage of Vinyl being that it is an analogue recording of the sound, the biggest issue is any record material needs to be light enough so that the recording needle can actually scratch down all the fine nuances and details of an audio recording yet also be durable for multiple playback. I'm no expert but I would imagine that there are few materials that can fulfill both criteria, too heavy of a material (like an ultra durable composite polymer) would not be able to adequately be abraded to capture the fine details while something light like Shellac has obvious disadvantages. \n\nIf RnD persevered, I would imagine they would've refined the medium to some kind of composite polymer in the end but with the advent of CDs, it was not financially viable to keep refining analogue records so Vinyl kinda stuck.",
"\nAudio for records is recorded to a surface that is scratched, then a mold is made, then a metal cast is made, called a master, then that metal mold is used to press vinyl into the shape of the recording. \nVinyl is used because it is easier to get a good copy of the mold without sticking to the metal. \nIt's just cheaper and easier, and lasts long enough that most people don't notice the quality degrading. \nEdit: a couple of people have objected to me leaving out an electroplating step. I will say, my explanation is basically correct. I am not an expert, this is ELI5, one part of the casting step used is electroplating, the terms used vary widely. The part I called a master, is also called a couple of other things at the same step. Enjoy the ELI5 it is technically correct, the best kind of correct, and terms differ in use.\n",
"Also, you want a material that doesn't damage the needle, so something soft but stiff. Vinyl does that well. Shellac is actually brittle, and flakes off easily. The very first records were was, which has obvious problems. If you made aluminum records, the needle would flake and chip, and wear out quickly.",
"So people are talking about the quality of vinyl's sound, but I don't think that is the main factor at play really, as audiophiles are too busy spending money on daft cables to rebirth the vinyl industry.\n\nThe reality is that vinyl still exists because it faded from popularity, this meant it was cheaper for underground scenes like punk or techno to press records and sell their music because the pressing plants weren't being used by the major labels any more. So no one invested any money (or progressed the tech) because no one was making any real profit or seeing any real market interest outside of tiny niche scenes. Fast forward a few years and vinyl is now super cool again and getting money invested in it, i'm sure in the next few years there will be alternatives, especially as needle-less turntables get better. \n\n\nSimilar things happened/happening with cassettes but on a much smaller scale.",
"I can't quote any of it well enough, but look up \"Adam Savage Third man records\". Adam goes to Jack White's record printing shop, and they explain why vinyl is still used. Super interesting watch.\n\n & #x200B;\n\n[I'm feeling generous](_URL_0_)",
"No, they haven't made any materials better suited.\n\nMainly because the market has mostly moved to digital storage, so there is not a high enough financial incentive to do the research and development it would take to find such a material much less the cost to rebuild the infrastructure to make records in the new materials. \n\nSecondly PVC is still one of the mostly widely used materials on earth that has gained more uses over the years rather than being replaced, so its not like the material is in trouble of raising in cost due to lower demand for mass manufacturing.\n\n",
"Even though there is a resurgence of interest, all the present recording equipment is designed for use with vinyl plastic. You have a material that has a specific melting point, and specific viscosity (runnyness) when hot to flow into the grooves on the master.\n\nA new material would require a new setup for stamping the disks. I doubt there is sufficient demand for this.",
"There really can't be because there's no real scientific criteria by which one can assign a set of objective \"wants\" or \"goals\" where vinyl is ideal in the first place. In other words, if you want to say \"this would be better if...\" then it's always been true that the way to address that \"want\" would be simply to not use vinyl at all.\n\nSide-stepping the obvious digital-analog debate, not only is vinyl not the ideal analog format for audio, but vinyl records aren't even the highest fidelity point in the analog CHAIN that leads/led to making a vinyl album. When a band used to record a song in the studio, (before the digital age) the sound WASN'T laid down on a vinyl as they sang, it was laid down on analog TAPES, like these:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIt was from these tapes that editing and such was done and tracks overlapped and then a final master tape made and then, finally, was it mass produced onto vinyl. So a vinyl recording can never be better than the quality of these tapes to begin with. Because THEY are the \"original\" sound \"as it was intended\". And of course, the reason for such tapes is that, as analog formats go, their fidelity is much HIGHER than vinyl. They more faithfully capture the sound (that and one can do multi-tracking). And in that case there is a down-grade when pressing to vinyl and of course an uncompressed digital format could produce higher quality reproductions of the contents of these original tapes than vinyl can.\n\nBut people want vinyl BECAUSE it's a kinda nonsensical status item. From an engineering perspective there's no rationale. Like I said, if people wanted as exactly close to the original recording as possible, they'd ask for direct copies of the studio tapes. Sure, they're deeply impractical for consumer use, but in the modern day so is vinyl, so it's a meaningless point. But people don't want that.\n\nSo could we make a vinyl with a different resin or what have you that would scratch less? Sure. But to what end, assuming vinyl lovers would even accept them as \"authentic\"? What is one trying to accomplish? If one tries to get specific then the answer is going to be \"oh, yeah, sure, we can fix that, just use this \\* non-vinyl \\* format\".\n\nEDIT: Another way of putting it is, despite the rhetoric that vinyl-lovers say, what they are really looking to purchase is a historical replica. Is a historical replica \"improved\" by using a new modern-age resin? (I mean, new vinyls are undoubtedly made using non-historically authentic polymers, but crucially vinyl-lovers don't really know that or, because they haven't really internalized their like for the product in that way, haven't really thought about it in that way for it to diminish their enjoyment of the product).\n",
"CDs are the \"new vinyl\" and there likely won't be any physical technology that will top that one, because most music is going digital now. People like the \"velvet sound\" of records (caused by the physicality of the grooves), but it's not a part of the original sound that was produced, so it's definitely more of a hipster thing in that regard.\n\nWhere vinyl can be better than digital formats (including CDs) is with the \"Loudness Wars\" (Wikipedia that...very interesting research for audiophiles). Records can't be \"maxed out\" on volume like CDs and online formats can, so they tend to maintain the sound profile that was originally mixed for a piece of music. ",
"I haven't seen a good response that actually talks about the properties of vinyl, so I'll give it a shot...\n\nThe reason vinyl is still used is because it is really perfectly suited to this task. It's cheap, readily available, very consistent, easy to mold, and most importantly - it's very quiet as a medium. We have stronger plastics, sure. But getting that clean impression from the stamper is important and vital for getting a record that sounds good. Old shellac records were noisy - lots of hiss, the surface was as good as it could have been for the time - but it's still not great. Not to mention, heavy, brittle... shellac was a lousy material for records.\n\nEnter vinyl - it's soft, flexible, and durable. Vinyl, as a material, is incredibly stable. It does not break down, and it's immune to most chemicals. I remember a forum post years ago where a guy tested various cleaning products on a Milli Vanilli album, in an attempt to see what could dissolve it. He eventually did find something - but he did find just how hard it is to chemically damage vinyl. This is also why records pressed in the 60's still sound perfect (assuming well cared for) - the plastic is long term stable.\n\nVinyl is very durable. Despite the fact that it can be easily scratched, it stands up to the weight of the stylus well, and an album can be played thousands of times on properly set up equipment without degrading. It's also very flexible - you can hold a vinyl record and \"wobble\" it back and forth and it won't damage it. Sure, you can break a vinyl record, but it's kind of hard to do this accidentally. It survives shipping well.\n\nThe surface of a vinyl record is very quiet, because the material is so smooth and soft. Making a record out of something like polycarbonate - the stuff they make CD's out of - would function, but the hard, brittle plastic would likely be very noisy, and it would probably be susceptible to the grooves chipping and breaking. Despite the fact that the stylus tracks at only about 2 grams, it's very tiny, and a diamond. The pressure at the tip is actually pretty high.\n\nShellac and vinyl are NOT the only materials that were used for records. Polystyrene was also widely used. This is what they made most 45 RPM records out of, back in the 60's and 70's. Hold one up to the light - if you can see reddish through it, it's polystyrene, not vinyl. This is a hard, brittle plastic somewhat like polycarbonate. These records perform poorly, and wear out quickly. The surface is noisier than vinyl, and the grooves don't hold up to the stylus like vinyl does. This material was used for 45's not because it was cheaper - but because polystyrene can be liquefied and injection molded. This meant that the stampers didn't wear out as fast, so they could crank out more records with less overall costs. They wore out quickly, but - 45 RPM singles were viewed as disposable, and sold cheaply. The wear problem was known at the time, and sometimes they would make vinyl runs of the same single for jukebox and DJ use.",
"Would anyone be able to download a 3d model of a vinyl and 3d print it? Or are the grooves too fine for a 3d printer to replicate?",
"When I was around 8 years old I had a toy record player that came with mini records (a little smaller than a 45rpm). They were made out of hard plastic, thicker than a nickel. They were hard, you could use them as a frisbee. They played songs like \"twinkle twinkle little star\". That's the only one I really remember atm.\n\nu/rhodesc answered your question (cause vinyl is cheaper), but I thought I would add this memory since you brought it up for me, and as an example of how they can be made out of other materials.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nNow I'm sure these little plastic records worked a bit differently. They were designed to work like a music box. If you've ever taken one of those apart, you'll find a metal cylinder with raised dots on it, like braille, and they play a song. But all of these things work on a similar theory of using bumps in the material to decode the melody.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThe album we sent into space (1977) was made of Gold plated copper so it could withstand some extreme elements.",
"This is just an opinion on my part but I think it makes sense...\n\nThe biggest reason that vinyl records still exist is because of nostalgia and audio purists think the sound of vinyl is the best. If you change the material, you'd be taking away the core reason why vinyl records are still made to begin with. If you take that away, you take away the market and there's no need for records anymore anyway.",
"They've made records out of all sorts of stuff. Coated aluminum, wax, shellac, etc. Most dried out and became brittle quickly. Vinyl is more sturdy, easier to pour and recycle, and more space efficient. I'm sure you could formulate something else now but it would be some other derivative plastic and wouldn't really fill a need.",
"You can and many plastics are much harder and would do much better absolutely. But to keep the mass production costs as low as possible, and the molding process as simple as possible while making the record as durable as it needs to be is a fine balance. While new records are being pressed the machines used to press them are many decades old and switching materials would require a different and certainly more complex chain of machinery. And lets not get started on stylus wear",
"So, fun fact: CDs are a lot more similar to vinyl than you’d realize - there is a waveform burnt into the physical media of the disk in a series of bumps and grooves (1s and 0s) which are then read by a laser in the same manner that the needle on a record player reads the waveform on a vinyl. \n\n\nThe digital/analog differentiation can be made by seeing what happens when a signal is pushed past 0; digital signals clip and data is lost - analog signals distort and take on new characteristics.",
"Vinyl is a generic term. There are many many formulations. Red \"vinyl\" from Japan (Toshiba) is considered superior to black \"vinyl\" of any kind from anywhere. I have a couple. There is a semi opaque brown vinyl from Japan that is supposed to be even better. I've never seen one. \n\nvi·nyl\n\n/ˈvīnl/ noun\n\n1. synthetic resin or plastic consisting of polyvinyl chloride or a related polymer, used especially for wallpapers and other covering materials and for phonograph records.\n\n\"light-reflecting vinyls can be hung in the usual way\"\n\n2. CHEMISTRY\n\nof or denoting the unsaturated hydrocarbon radical —CH=CH2, derived from ethylene by removal of a hydrogen atom.\n",
"Probably get buried, however vinyl is really good for music because of fundamental limitations. \nMusic cannot be pushed too loud, inconsistent bass is difficult and seldom cut in stereo, digital top end is somewhat softer.\nIn my opinion the flaws and limitations of the material directly contribute to the positives of the medium. ",
"I am going to come off as a bit pretentious, so fair warning.\n\nThat being said, here we go.\n\n1. They did invent a more durable material. Plastic. The CD and DVD were far denser and could fit higher quality audio. A vinyl does not have the same quality audio as a digital file. That is impossible given that a needle record player is an analog player and a CD player is digital with a laser. Vinyl was replaced by a cheaper, volume alternative.\n2. Vinyl is experiencing a resurgence, however, because of what I am about explain below:\n 1. That being said, people like Vinyl because of the AESTHETIC of the needle brushing on the imperfect nooks and crannies of ever valley in the record. Because of Vinyl's imperfect method of being made, no two records will sound 100% alike and this gives a uniqueness that CDs or DVDs can't come close to. 100 CDs will all sound the same. 100 Records will have unique imperfections in sound that make it your record. You notice certain parts of the track because of the way the needle rubs your vinyl.\n\nVinyl was never improved because CDs were so cheap to make, the music industry moved on to higher profits. And as I said above, Vinyl's imperfections give a distinctly different sound that audiophiles love for its uniqueness and special properties (scratching noise).",
"Seems like you think vinyl isn’t a good material because it’s “old”\n\nBut it is a good material and the appropriate one for this purpose \n\nIn fact vinyl products of all kinds get shit on a lot when people are comparing different kinds, but it’s a pretty awesome material depending on how it’s treated/what grade it is ",
"We still make houses out of wood and brick. And knives out of steel. Tires have been rubber since they’ve existed. And we still drink out of glass. \n\nIt’s hard to improve on some materials. ",
"Why is vinyl used?\n\nease of pressing, comparative durability, single materials used, cost effectiveness, shelf life and the fact it doesn't harbor mold. \n\nA wax cylinders often became unreadable due to mold.\n\nShellac records broke and required fillers.\n\nHas more durable materials been invented? yes.\n\nWhy haven't they been applied.\n\n1) Cost - they're more expensive. You can use assorted resins to make records but they're quite expensive and would require a lot more steps and you would require a vacuum chamber. There is a video on the most expensive way to steal music where a youtuber makes a crude casting of a record using modern resins and a silicon mold.\n\n2) difficulty of production - production of a record is stamping a puck of soft vinyl on a master which is simple, cheap and fast whereas say a polyester resin casting would require multiple molds, degassing chambers, curing racks to product a single record and time for curing in mold.\n\n3) this is a revived technology. It has been revived skipping over it's digital replacement, which was more durable, in part due to a desire to interact with a physical medium instead of a blinking screen. People want it so companies make it.\n\n\n",
" > haven't we invented any materials that are more durable or would otherwise be better for the job?\n\nInasmuch as this could be asked about anything, from rubber gloves to dentures, the answer is nope, not yet. Once we find a cost-effective material/process that makes some kind of remarkable improvement -- even though it's not clear what that would mean since the concept of vinyl records isn't even broken -- you can rest assured that you'll notice the substitution taking place rather quickly.",
"Because vinyl is good and vinyl is cheap:\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIn the old-old days record were made of shellac and paper. This worked ok, but it took a lot of work and it was not cheap. Record makers had to pay many workers and buy a lot of shellac. As time went buy new things got invented and one of them was vinyl. Vinyl records need less work to make then shellac and are tougher. Also vinyl is a lot cheaper then shellac. The people who made records wanted to make more money, so they had the record factory try to find a cheaper material. The record factory found vinyl and it worked great. Like really great. At the same time vinyl was a new invention and everyone loved it, so records got a new name: vinyl.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nSince then, new things have been invented that might work better then vinyl. But vinyl is made of salt, dirt, ash, metal, and oil. All of those ingredients make vinyl cheap. The new materials all are mostly made of oil, so they are much more expensive then vinyl and the record makers don't want to use them. The newer materials are not easy or cheap to press into records. Finally the people who love records like listening to a song recorded on vinyl. They are experiencing the history of vinyl; what it was when its name was new. So that's another reason we still make records of vinyl.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nAlso vinyl is cheap, like dirt cheap, cheaper then some of the more expensive dirt.",
"Can we get one answer that does not talk about why vinyl is good?\n\nCan someone speak about a a better material without comparing it to vinyl?\n\nWe know vinyl is good, but what is better?"
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86bo5e | what is a "confirmed kill"? is this a real military term or more a hollywood myth? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/86bo5e/eli5_what_is_a_confirmed_kill_is_this_a_real/ | {
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"It's real. The military keeps records of sniper kills, the range, the weapon used...etc. Traditionally it wasn't publicly discussed and was sort of a \"don't talk about fight club\" rule among snipers, but Hollywood has popularized the term.",
"To add to what others have said. A confirmed Kill is a kill that has been witnessed or verified in some manner. Be it a sniper spotter, other soldiers, video footage, etc. If there is no way verify that it happened or no witnesses it is not a confirmed kill as the person could be making it up. "
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9cfqgj | would a gallon of water weigh the sams as a gallon of ice? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9cfqgj/eli5_would_a_gallon_of_water_weigh_the_sams_as_a/ | {
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"No because a gallon is a measure of volume and weight in a constant gravitational field is related to mass not volume (force of gravity, or weight = mass*gravitational acceleration). \n\nImagine if you melted that gallon of ice so it decreased in volume. You would have less than a gallon of water. A gallon of water does not weigh the same as less than a gallon of water. ",
"Water in its liquid state occupies less space than in its solid state. This is why if you freeze a water bottle it can burst. \n\nIf you have a gallon container filled with ice, and let it melt, it will no longer fill the container. The same volume of ice will always weigh less because it is less dense. \n\nThe why of this is that water molecules are bent, so they form structures that brace against each other.\n\nThe answer to this question also explains why ice floats.",
"no. when water turns into ice it expands. a gallon is a measure of space, not weight. so that little bit of expansion would have to be shaved off of the ice to make it take up the same amount of space as the water, making it a little lighter.",
"Your subject and the text in the post ask two difference questions,\n\n\n > Would a gallon of water weigh the sams as a gallon of ice?\n\n > I mean if you take a gallon of water and weigh it, then take that same gallon of water and freeze it.\n\nThe subject is a gallon of water and a gallon of ice, That is not the same as if you freeze a gallon of water because water expand when it freezes. So when you freeze a gallon of water the ice volume is larger then a gallon.\n\nA gallon of ice and a gallon of water does not weigh the same because ice float. If the weight per volume ie density was the same ice would not float but could be suspended in the water at any depth.\n\n ",
"It depends on precisely what you mean.\n\nIf you took one gallon of water and froze it, then it would weigh the same.\n\nHowever, if you took one gallon of water and compared it to one gallon of ice, then it gets more complicated, and ultimately depends on the temperature of each; it's quite possible that the gallon of water may weigh more than the gallon of ice.\n\nThe reason for this is because the density of substances changes with temperature, and water has a kind of strange set of changes as it actually expands when it freezes."
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a6uvqt | the newly discovered state of matter, "time crystals." what are it's properties, and what does it mean for scientific advancements? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a6uvqt/eli5_the_newly_discovered_state_of_matter_time/ | {
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"I'm far from an expert on this, but this is what I understood when I read about them.\n\nA regular crystal is a physical structure that does not change through time. A time crystal is a structure that does change through time, but does so predictably, on a cycle. If you have one that is on a 3 second loop, then at every time the cycle hits 1 second the crystal looks exactly the same as every other time it hits one second. The same for 2 seconds and 3 seconds.",
"I’m not specifically in this field but I am in a related field. A “time crystal” is a physical state where an object loses “time translation symmetry”. That means that a the object no longer randomly moves about, but can be used as a clock, ie it has a periodic motion. \n\nNow one might ask, “How come a regular old clock is not a time crystal?”\n\nThat is a very delicate issue which is still being sorted out. The problem is historical. The first time the word “time crystal” was used it was discussed in terms of thermal equilibrium. That means that this state could arise without external energy being put in. This nicely separates clocks from time crystals. However, it was later shown that time crystals cannot exist in equilibrium.\n\nWhat does work is if you input energy, ie time crystals can exist as a nonequilibrium state. So the line between clock and time crystals is a little blurry. ",
"While I don’t have expert level depth, from the top level this is what I can provide:\n\nCrystals are physical structures that have patterns repeating over space, i.e. diamond is a set, repeating, structure of carbon atoms. \n\nTime Crystals have patterns that repeat over time, on a loop. This means that instead of having the same pattern at two points in space, it will have the same pattern at two moments in time. This means for a time crystal, at the start of its loop it will always have the same structure, and two seconds after the start of one loop it will have an identical structure to two seconds after the start of any other loop by that same crystal.\n\nAs far as what it means for science, I honestly have no idea and hope someone can respond to this to shed more light on that.",
"Ever seen Conway’s Game of Life? It’s a computer simulation with a grid of squares that can be “on” or “off” and then the on/off state of squares mutates according to a set of rules based on the current state of a cell and its neighbors. It produces some very interesting patterns. I found a browser-based version [here](_URL_0_).\n\nThe interesting parts for purposes of this ELI5 is that some clusters of cells are completely stable. The rules don’t require them to change at all, so you just have a little blob of pixels sitting there, permanently unchanging (unless another, more variable blob ends up changing an adjacent cell). That’s like a regular crystal.\n\nThen there are other blob arrangements such that the rules make them cycle through a set of states. A becomes B, B becomes C, and then C becomes A again, so (again, unless interrupted from outside) the pattern will cycle through these three (or more or less) states forever. That’s like a time crystal. It’s still stable, but you have to consider its stability over time, not as a fixed arrangement from one moment to the next.",
"Does this count as \"newly discovered\" still? ",
"A crystal is a repeating structure through 3 dimensions. A time crystal repeats that structure through 4 dimensions. So think of how you can paint a wave, but an actual wave (think in a stadium, THE WAVE) repeats through time",
"Could one entangle a time crystal system with an atom or molecule with quantum mechanics? If so, what would happen to the entangled object?",
"Where the hell are time crystals? We got some shape-shifting diamonds floating around in space? How long before I can buy one off Amazon prime? Which soundcloud rapper will be the first to have a chain made with time crystals? ",
"Would this be a 4 dimensional object, the crystal is stable over set units of time just like regular crystals are stable over units of space? ",
"Now I just need somebody to explain what this does for us. What's the use? ",
"Usually the structure of a crystal cant be the same its always unique and the only way to change it is to destroy part of the structure, but time crystals change forth and back without destroying its structure therefore being several unique crystals that dont define themself as new ones",
"I don’t work in condensed matter physics, but I am a graduate student, so here is an attempt to explain.\n\nA crystal as such means it has a periodic nature.\nIn a “normal” crystal we see that atoms repeat themselves after a fixed distance.\nIn a time crystal one would expect the spacing to repeat itself in time as well. This I believe has been said.\n\nNow the thing is, you could take a “normal” crystal and drive it periodically, meaning move it back and forth (with say a spring) that does not make it a time crystal.\n\nA time crystal is not driven, it is an unstable state, meaning it does not settle into an equilibrium state.\n\nHope this helps.",
"Follow up question. Do we know how long loops can be with time crystals?",
"Ok so it's not a crystal if you look at it now, or 5 minutes from now, or 20 minutes from now, but when you look at all of those times together, you see there is a crystalline structure.\n\nImagine a gas that moved in a repeating pattern. At any given moment it just looks like gas, but over time you realize there's an actual structure it's moving in, in recognizable shapes, that repeat in a uniform pattern over time.\n\nEdit for all those wanting to make sure this is accurate, here's a direct quote from the wiki to confirm:\n\n\"A time crystal or space-time crystal is a structure that repeats in time, as well as in space. Normal three-dimensional crystals have a repeating pattern in space, but remain unchanged as time passes. Time crystals repeat themselves in time as well, leading the crystal to change from moment to moment.\"\n\nDouble edit: Holy crap I got a gold! So thanks. Such wow.",
"Coming from my friend who worked on the project at UMUC under the professor who conducted the experiments:\n\n\"It is a neat little thing. Effectivly it's just a weird quantum system. Normal ones are easy and simple enough, they follow a pattern, you do something to them and they change their pattern. Eventually they will return to the original pattern, and you can alter them again. It's how we are able to run our experiments. But he [the professor] somehow managed to disassociate the time element of the system. I won't even pretend I understand the math behind it, it is WAY veyond me. But the thing [time crystal] is still effectivly just a cool trick. I AM interested to see what becomes of the math though.\"\n\nEdit: I said UMUC... but that might be incorrect. I should specify it was University of Maryland College Park",
"OKay, let's say you're looking at an empty hourglass. There's nothing weird about it, it is just sitting there doing nothing. You can recognize the shape of it, you can see that it is not moving, or alive, or anthing weird like that. \n\nNow, imagine that you have some kind of weird vision problem so that you can only see one thin horizontal slice of the hourglass at a time. So I show you the hourglass but you only see the slice right near the bottom. You don't see an hourglass shape, you just see this ring made out of glass. But still, nothing special, nothing magical. \n\nBut then, I start to slowly move the hourglass, and you start to see the slices that are higher up on the glass. Except again, you can't see the whole thing, you just see one thin slice. But to you, it now looks like that ring made out of glass is shrinking. It's getting smaller and smaller. And then, for no reason at all, it starts getting bigger again. You're freaked out, because you've seen glass before, and you've never seen it do something like that before. \n\nThese \"time crystals\" are basically like that. They look like they are moving or changing over time, and then changing back again. But we think what's really going on is that they just have this one static shape, but it exists in more dimensions than we can see. These crystals have a shape that stretches across the time dimension. And since we can only see one \"thin slice\" of time in any given moment, we only see one slice of this crystal at a time and those slices are not all the same. In fact, they repeat in a pattern.\n\nWhat is weird here is that everything you see is actually stretched out through time too: you, me, that pencil, this cup of coffee; and we are always only seeing one thin \"time slice\" of them in any given moment. The difference is that these other objects seem to either have the same structure through time, or they only change in one direction - the coffee gradually gets cold, it doesn't get cold for a little while and then start heating back up again. \n\nIn nature when we do see some kind of material that has a repeating pattern to its structure, we call that a crystal - like a sugar crystal or a diamond. Since this \"time repeating\" material has a repeating pattern to what it is made out of, and it is repeating across time, we are calling it a \"time crystal.\"\n\nEDIT: Thanks for the gold, kind stranger!!! ",
"The time crystals. Change but on a loop. This new discovery will allow the avengers to combat Thanos."
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7ms57j | why aren't there symptoms of high blood pressure? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7ms57j/eli5_why_arent_there_symptoms_of_high_blood/ | {
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"High blood pressure can cause symptoms, which may include:\n\n* Severe headache (tension in capillary walls in the head).\n* Fatigue or confusion.\n* Vision problems (pressure on the retina).\n* Chest pain (tension in capillary walls of the heart).\n* Difficulty breathing (edema in the chest).\n* Irregular heartbeat.\n* Blood in the urine (burst capillaries in the kidneys).\n* Pounding in your chest, neck, or ears.\n\nThe problem is when blood pressure is high enough to cause chronic health problems, but not so high as to cause acute symptoms. That's why checking your blood pressure regularly is very important."
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2lxynj | why are most computer related numbers even? | OS : 16 bit, 32bit, 64bit etc
RAM: 2GB, 4GB, 8GB etc
Or doubles?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lxynj/eli5_why_are_most_computer_related_numbers_even/ | {
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"Computers use binary numbers. We use decimal numbers.\n\n Binary Decimal\n 1 1\n 10 2\n 100 4\n 1000 8\n 10000 16\n 100000 32\n 1000000 64\n\nSo in computer-ese, numbers like 64 and 16 are round numbers."
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1bj5ya | why do i have to manually select "heat" or "cool" when choosing thermostat temperature? | Why is my thermostat a moron and why can't it figure out what the hell to do (heat or cool) to stay at the temp it's human wants? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1bj5ya/eli5_why_do_i_have_to_manually_select_heat_or/ | {
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"Because it's really expensive to switch constantly between heating and cooling to maintain a specific temperature, so normally only one is set up to work at a time, so that during the summer you set cool down to 60, it cools slightly past it, then waits for the outside to heat it up, then it cools again.\n\nThe alternative would be the AC turning on to cool down to 60, then when the sun goes behind the cloud and it drops it 59 it turns on your heater, which heats to 61, then the AC kicks on, then the heater, and so on.\n\nMore expensive systems could resolve this by allowing you to set a range, but most houses aren't set up with this.",
"The amount of energy you would eat up by having your system keep your home at a constant temperature wouldn't be worth it. When you set your system to Cool, it runs your AC until your thermostat registers your desired temperature. If your home goes lower than that, it's ok, because you want your house cold. If you set your system to heat, it runs your heater in the same way, until your thermostat reaches the temperature you set it at. If it goes over that, who cares, your house is still warm.\n\nIf you were to just set a temperature, your house would constantly be switching from heat to AC trying to keep your home at the desired temperature."
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50wno9 | are organs allergic? | I'm severely allergic to a particular painkiller (and probably others in the same group). I know it's immune related but would any transplanted organs be allergic in their new host? And if so why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/50wno9/eli5_are_organs_allergic/ | {
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"Allergies are when the host is incorrectly identifying allergens as foreign invaders. If your receive an organ, you aren't allergic to it; rather, your body detects that it is foreign and attacks it. I guess it's similar to an allergy, but not really. "
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4h26vp | is there a species of animals or plants that have no native habitat? | I read the Venus Fly Trap's native home is North Carolina, and was wondering if a species didn't belong anywhere, and could exist anywhere. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4h26vp/eli5is_there_a_species_of_animals_or_plants_that/ | {
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"Well, there are some crop and livestock species whose wild ancestors are either extinct or not identified. Cows are descended from aurochs, which have been extinct since the 1600s; it's hard to say what, if anything, is the native range of the domesticated cow. Silkworms are in a similar situation. Maize (corn) seems to be descended from a family of grassy plants called teosinte, but it's not clear which species it came from, or even if that species is still around."
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2gjs28 | how does downloading data/files work? | I was on my computer, and I wondered since a computer can store so much data, how does the data/file get to your computer from the original uploaded through thin air to the computer?
(Edit) Explained ty | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gjs28/eli5_how_does_downloading_datafiles_work/ | {
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"Data travels across the internet in packets. Each packet can carry a maximum of 1,500 bytes. Around these packets is a wrapper with a header and a footer. The information contained in the wrapper tells computers what kind of data is in the packet, how it fits together with other data, where the data came from and the data's final destination.\n\nWhen you send an e-mail to someone, the message breaks up into packets that travel across the network. Different packets from the same message don't have to follow the same path. That's part of what makes the Internet so robust and fast. Packets will travel from one machine to another until they reach their destination. As the packets arrive, the computer receiving the data assembles the packets like a puzzle, recreating the message.\n\nAll data transfers across the Internet work on this principle. It helps networks manage traffic -- if one pathway becomes clogged with traffic, packets can go through a different route. This is different from the traditional phone system, which creates a dedicated circuit through a series of switches. All information through the old analog phone system would pass back and forth between a dedicated connection. If something happened to that connection, the call would end.\n\nThat's not the case with traffic across IP networks. If one connection should fail, data can travel across an alternate route. This works for individual networks and the Internet as a whole. For instance, even if a packet doesn't make it to the destination, the machine receiving the data can determine which packet is missing by referencing the other packets. It can send a message to the machine sending the data to send it again, creating redundancy. This all happens in the span of just a few milliseconds.\n\nSrc:\n_URL_0_\n\nEdit: removed useless information",
" > I was on my computer\n\nLets pretend for a moment you are the computer...\n\n > and I wondered since a computer can store so much data\n\n... paper is this storage (Called a harddrive) ...\n\n > how does the data/file get to your computer\n\n... this torch is your modem (The box that connects you to the internet) ...\n\n > from the original uploaded through thin air to the computer? \n\n... and you both have this setup.\n\nSo lets start by creating a code:\n\nA = 1 flash\n\nB = 2 Flashes\n\nC = 3 flashes\n\n...\n\nZ = 26 flashes.\n\nSpace = 27 flashes\n\nI know its in efficient but I am keeping it simple.\n\nYou both know this code and stand on 2 hills, plenty of air between you with line of sight of each other. (This is like the optic cables between your modem and theirs)\n\nYou want to send a message to them so you start making flashes, you can replace letters in your message with the number of flashes. So \"HELLO\" would be 8,5,12,12,15. The person on the other hill knows what those flashes mean so will write down on their piece of paper '8,5,12,12,15' and then swap them for \"HELLO\"\n\nComputers do the same thing just a lot more efficiently.\n\nYou want to get a file from them so you form a message that is like \"SEND FILE CAT VIDEO PLZ\". \nyour computer takes your user input, converts them to signals which is passed to your modem which then sends pulses of light to the other person. Their computer notices these pulses of lights, automatically reads in the message \"SEND FILE CAT VIDEO PLZ\" takes that file converts it into this code we mentioned and sends it back in the same way.\n\nYou get the signal and your computer starts to write it to your harddrive.",
"Let's say the file is a sandwich. I'm sitting at my table and I say to you, \"get me a sandwich\". You reach into your fridge or \"hard drive\" and get one. Now if you can imagine that we have been talking over two cans with string stretched between them, that would be the broadband connection. Now zip line my sandwich to me on the tin can phane wire and I'll place it on my table, or \"hard drive\". Corrupted files and packet loss is if my sandwich falls off and hits the ground, in which case, I'll be asking for another sandwich.",
"The easiest way to explain this is to compare it to the mail-service.\n\n'Data' travels between computers through wires like broadband-fiber, telephone-cables or wireless-radio-signals in bundles we call *data-packets*. \n\nJust as we use internet for many different things, like Video/chatting/youtube/facebook/paypal(banking) all the data-packets and their way to be transported wary just as much. We call the different types of packets and they way they are transported through the computers *protocol's*. \n\nFor example if you are using something important like paypal which is a bank-service, it will be protocols that resemble certified mail. (TCP-protocol) And if you are skyping and it doesn't matter if you lose a microsecond of sound or video; the communication are more like postcards. (UDP-protocol)\n\nThe most popular protocol is for websites and called: 'http' which you can see in the beginning of website addresses. Http stands for *Hyper Text Transport protocol* and is a datatpacket which are sent from the webserver (where the original programmer made and stored the website) and it's sent to your computer like a http-letter that contains the website, just like reddit for example. \n\nWhen you download a movie it becomes very important that you should receive the whole movie, and there is a 'count' in the packets to make sure you get everything. When when it is delivered, the packets are counted to make sure you aren't missing anything and the video-file is written to your disk in strings of zero's and one's through a function we call *Computer data storage* on your computers physical *hard disk drive* which is [kinda looks like a CD] (_URL_0_) but has a lot more room than a regular CD.\n\nHow 'good' your computer is are determined by both the other components in your computer, like the component for RAM-memory which is the multitask-memory or the CPU which is the process-memory and these components together determine how much room you have on your computer to save files, and how fast it works.\n",
"What if you want to put a skateboard together, but don't have the components or know how? Someone could send you the pieces one at a time along with a list of instructions and tools and you could assemble it pretty easily.\n\nNow, instead of physical components, think of 1s and 0s, and instead of an instruction booklet, think of the order in which those 1s and 0s are put together. All files and programs on your computer are, at their most basic level, a specific combination of 1s and 0s. That patch you just downloaded for Skyrim or the porn video you're watching, all 1s and 0s. Now, your computer doesn't know how to create those things out of thin air using just 1s and 0s, but it can create them if it's given the instructions by another computer that already knows how. Essentially when you download a file, what you're really getting from the other server is the proper order (instructions) of 1s and 0s (the components) needed to reassemble the file on your computer."
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4y8xo7 | what the heck is an 'open source platform' for website building? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4y8xo7/eli5_what_the_heck_is_an_open_source_platform_for/ | {
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"Open Source is a phrase used to describe a methodology of software development. Instead of keeping the code closed and only allowing people use the software when it's assembled, they share the base code with everyone so they can work with it as well.\n\nThis inspires people to find bugs, security flaws, and bad features, then develop and submit their own fixes and improvements. Open Source software, if we'll used and popular, can be very security and full-featured, as well as kept up to date and modern.",
"First, Open Source means the code used to build something is available for download or viewing. Usually it implies that improvements and fixes to said application may come from the community, but not necessarily. I won't go further so it's not confusing. \n\nA platform for website building would be a set of tools used to create websites from scratch, but in a way you get some help automating processes that are repetitive or general. \n\nNow the advantage of a platform being open source, and uniting the two concepts, and now we have an Open Source platform for website building, is so you can see how the tool works internally, and in some cases, depending on the End User License Agreement (EULA for besties), you can even fine-tune it to suit your needs even better. It also guarantees it's not putting extra stuff you don't want, or sending your info somewhere without your consent.\n\nEdit: Platfome is not a word. Can you believe it? So yeah."
]
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4t5yyg | why is sport such a significant part of our society? | Why does the majority of the population seem to be drawn to sport? Every football match is the same as the last, why do people find it so interesting? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4t5yyg/eli5_why_is_sport_such_a_significant_part_of_our/ | {
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"My theory for the prevalence of sport in nearly every culture is that this acts as an outlet for our innate competitive instincts. In terms of an evolutionary advantage, communities that had this outlet perhaps had less internal violence which gave that community a better shot at survival. \n\nIn the modern world, the popularity of any one sport over another is largely a matter of how well it can be depicted by the media. A professor of mine, who did some research in this field discussed this phenomenon. \n\nLastly, in answer to how every football (or any other sport) match is the same, that is only true in the extremely primitive sense that all books are just ink and paper, and all music is simply vibration. While not untrue, the fans presumably find the complexities and intricacies that invariably differ from match to match to be very different.",
"Vanity, and the sense of 'achievement'. Being \"the best\" at something has always been the goal of humans who strive to make a mark on Humanity. It allows someone who otherwise may go through a life without a hope of achieving anything significant to become World famous in things that are respected by all.\n\nSports, like everything else in life, is a platform for an individual or team to show their talents and skills and be able to stand out from the crowd. A Navy Seal doesn't have to go through all that pain and struggle to go to war, he could have just gone into the infantry a lot easier. No, he wants to be \"the best of the best\" for whatever personal reasons, but it boils down to 'vanity' and personal achievement.\n\nSo it is for sports. Nobody strives to become 2nd best, it's \"all or nothing\", because anything else is just a pointless exercise!\n\n\"Team sports\"? Besides what r/ElCommento wrote, they're just a bunch of individuals with their own levels of talent that a coach/manager decides are the ones with the best chance of winning. Team sports are about 'domination', not just winning.\nIn short, when a college football team beats another, they don't just beat that team, they've beaten the whole other teams college. So it is when a National team beats another. Canada beat USA in Hockey?...It opens the door for every Canuck to give every American shit! (for example).\n\nSports are twofold. They elevate a person/team to high status,World recognition or even 'Immortality', but they also instill pride and admiration within their own community and/or Nation.\n\nPurely my own honest opinion!\n\n\n"
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3lsn72 | what is the difference between pro-life and pro-choice abortion? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3lsn72/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_prolife_and/ | {
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"Pro-Life puts the life of the fetus as the most important factor in the choice to have an abortion or not, and is therefore the position where you are against letting women have the option of an abortion.\n\nPro-Choice puts the woman's right to choose what to do with her own body as the most important factor, and is therefore the position of letting women have the option of having an abortion if necessary. \n\nIn other words, while being pro-life makes you anti-abortion, being pro-choice does NOT make you \"pro-abortion\", its just the position of letting women make their own choices. "
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||
49kzbk | how is it possible that my girlfriend is able to fall asleep within a minute or less? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/49kzbk/eli5_how_is_it_possible_that_my_girlfriend_is/ | {
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"It's difficult to speak authoritatively without knowing your girlfriend, but it could be that she's just really good at unwinding before bed.\n\nIf you can take time to relax before turning in, it'll make it far easier to fall asleep. If someone's mulling over the state of the world, finances, job stress and so on before bed then it's not conducive to falling asleep easily.",
"Personally, it was a learned behavior. I never used to be able to fall asleep quickly. In my teenage years, I would often lie awake for at least an hour before falling asleep. \n\n\nAfter having children, though, I learned to sleep when I could get it. I taught my body to recognize my intentional signals for sleepytime, and I can now fall asleep in about 1-2 minutes. It also probably helps that I now take anti-anxiety meds so my brain isn't going 100mph. "
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9ilyvy | why an object such as a piece of china won't stick back together on it's own after breaking | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9ilyvy/eli5_why_an_object_such_as_a_piece_of_china_wont/ | {
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"So explaining this in actual ELI5 terms might be a little hard, so to keep things simple we'll just talk about failure of brittle materials which is what you're talking about in your example with a ceramic like a piece of china. My materials professor used to say that if you don't know the answer for why a physical phenomena happens, just say lower energy, and you've got a 50% chance of being right.\n\nIt's important to understand that atoms like to arrange themselves into stable, low energy configurations. You could think of it as them wanting to fall into the easiest arrangement for them. Now through imparting energy using heat and pressure, we can force atoms arrange themselves in ways that require more effort than they would normally put in on their own. Once they are set, they tend to be very stable and seemingly content staying there. However, they are always waiting for an opportunity get back down to a lower energy configuration. When you break a piece of china, you are imparting enough energy to disrupt the bonds in the material at a specific location. This is where the crack occurs. You've basically released the atoms in that area from the configuration they were stuck in, and they settle into a lower energy configuration, namely not being attached to their partner on the other side of the crack. Now they are in a happier, lazier arrangement. So when you try to put them back together, they have no incentive to rebond with their neighbors. Hence why you can slap two pieces of china together and nothing happens. Both halves are happier the way they are now.",
"Most of the substances that break or shatter like you describe have a fairly ordered structure. Think of a metal chain. A chain can be really strong, but if one link breaks, it will fall apart into two pieces. \n\nThe links between molecules (mulecular bonds) are essentially like little links on a chain. They usually need to be formed when the material is liquid and maliable. As the material is hardened, the bonds between atoms/molecules form. \n\nWhen the links break, they need to be reformed to make it stick together. This usually requires energy of some sort. Additionally for things like metal, when a piece is broken, the exposed material gets a thin layer of oxidation that makes a sort of coating that prevents the bonds from reforming. Interestingly, in a vacuum, it is possible to weld perfectly clean sheets of metal together by just touching them. [Here is a video explaining that](_URL_0_). "
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dfdc1e | why do leaves turn yellow (and other colors )? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dfdc1e/eli5_why_do_leaves_turn_yellow_and_other_colors/ | {
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"short answer, time of year changes amount of sun. Leaves are full of colors, we usually see green cause theres a bunch of chlorophyll being activated by sun. When theres less sun the plant cuts off supply of sugars to the leaf. Chlorophyll leaves, the other colors show. Theres also other factors that make the colors red or yellow but that's the gist",
"Maintaining green leaves costs resources. In the summer, it's worth it, because those leaves provide energy via photosynthesis. In the autumn and winter, it's no longer worth it to maintain them, so they stop water and nutrients getting to the leaves, and the leaves die.",
"Usually called chlorosis or anthocyanescence (when going red or purple). It's a stress reaction usually, but some plants are just yellow or red. Plants use this reaction to all sorts of problems."
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4nzhub | how do political parties besides the republicans and democrats enter the presidential race? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4nzhub/eli5_how_do_political_parties_besides_the/ | {
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"The same way that republicans and democrats do. The only difference is that republicans and democrats have more money and more supporters. So it's easier for an independent to just choose the side they more closely resemble. Or, people like Ron Paul, choose to run as a republican when they're actually libertarians. ",
"The way that the presidential election works is this: each state gets a certain number of electoral votes, based (mostly) on their population. Each state gets to decide how they will cast their votes, which includes the power to decide who can appear on the ballot. Each state has a list of requirements that a candidate or party has to meet to be included on the ballot.",
"In order to get on the ballot, a candidate for president of the United States must meet a variety of complex, state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether a candidate or party will appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level. A presidential candidate must prepare to meet ballot access requirements well in advance of primaries, caucuses and the general election.\nThere are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for president of the United States.\n\nAn individual can seek the nomination of a political party. Presidential nominees are selected by delegates at national nominating conventions. Individual states conduct caucuses or primary elections to determine which delegates will be sent to the national convention.\n\nAn individual can run as an independent. Independent presidential candidates typically must petition each state to have their names printed on the general election ballot. For the 2016 presidential contest, it was estimated that an independent candidate would need to collect in excess of 900,000 signatures in order to appear on the general election ballot in every state.\n\nAn individual can run as a write-in candidate. In 35 states, a write-in candidate must file some paperwork in advance of the election. In seven states, write-in voting for presidential candidates is not permitted. The remaining states do not require write-in candidates to file paperwork in advance of the election.\n\nCopy Pasta from first link on googling How to get on presidential ballot"
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2mfxha | how do guitar frets work? | I haven't taken a single piano lesson in my life, yet over the past four years, Iv'e taught myself and can play almost anything once I hear it. This is because I understand the patterns of the keys on the keyboard and its no puzzle figuring out and visualizing the music theory behind it all. However, when it comes to guitar, I'm absolutely lost. All the dots and frets and strings; its like I'm reading a Chinese instruction manual! I can't seem to crack the code. Is there any quick explanation for how the dots, strings, etc are laid out?
Edit: Okay, obviously the notes get higher as you slide your finger forward and okay, obviously the strings are tuned a certain way. But how does the layout help you develop a scale or chord? How would one figure out chords on their own? Is there some pattern I could find that resembles that of a keyboard? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2mfxha/eli5_how_do_guitar_frets_work/ | {
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"Each string is a base note (eg E). Every time you move up a fret, you're moving up a step. As you get closer to your picking hand, the notes get higher. As you go down towards the floor, the notes also get higher. As for identifying notes, chords etc songs generally are written in tabulatre, which shows a diagram of where each note is on the neck. If there's a simple way to understand where the notes are other than practice, I haven't heard of it. But then again I'm a novice so I don't know much.",
"As noted buy others, each string has its own \"open\" note and every fret goes up one semitone. That's all the pattern there is. Obviously its possible to work out ways to play whatever notes and chords you want based on this information. The thing is, you can't possibly work it out as you play. You just have to learn the combinations for each chord or note you want to play. In that sense it is harder than piano but, as you practise, you'll find you learn the basics fairly quickly. If you come across an unfamiliar chord or two you might have to fudge it the first time and the look them up or work them out later. There are patterns of a kind in how chords are formed but finding them for yourself as you go is probably the best way to learn."
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6guddo | just because pr votes for statehood doesn't make them a state right? wouldn't congress have to vote to approve such a move? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6guddo/eli5_just_because_pr_votes_for_statehood_doesnt/ | {
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"Yes, statehood can only be granted if Congress votes for it. In fact, Congress doesn't even need the consent of the people in the territory to give them statehood (although that would be unlikely).\n\nBottom line, it's 100% the US Congress's decision. The vote is just an expression of interest."
]
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||
64wi82 | why do goats totally freeze and lock up their bodies in times of stress or fear? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/64wi82/eli5_why_do_goats_totally_freeze_and_lock_up/ | {
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"Not all goats do this, just myotonic goats. It's a neurological disorder. It can be fatal. This happens in other species as well. ",
"It's only a certain type of goat that does that. They're generally bred that way then included in herds so that if a predator comes, that one collapses and distracts it while the others can get away.",
"There is a breed of goat that does this, no one knows 100% why but the running theory is that they have deficiency in an ion channel. This prevents the \"go\" signal in neurones connected to muscles from reducing during times of stress. so when the animals are frightened they have constant active muscle neurones and so their muscles all contract at the same time and they seize and fall over.\n\nThere are other theories about their muscles not clearing calcium properly however I think there was some group studies showing a link to ion channels in the nerve cells.\n\nEdit: spelling (some dayum hot clearing;)"
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29kfm8 | elis: why are we so fascinated with scandinavian countries? | By "we", I mean economists, politicians, social activists, etc..
Quote from Bill Gates's AMA: "It would be nice if all governments were as rational as the Nordic governments - reaching compromise and providing services broadly."
Reddit seems to like Scandinavian countries a lot! Are they as rosy pink as they seem, or is there a specific reason why so many people are obsessed? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29kfm8/elis_why_are_we_so_fascinated_with_scandinavian/ | {
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"Because economically, politically, and socially... many of them are the best humanity has provided. Mostly stable economies, education, and lack of crime.\n\nNot everyone agrees with that of course, but one must admit they ams gots a real sweets gigs."
]
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2p53ub | what happens when i swallow my mucus. | Mainly, I am curious what happens to the mucus. Does it get stuck in the esophagus, go into the stomach, or blend with your saliva? People always say it's bad to swallow your mucus, so blow your nose, but I'm lazy sometimes. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2p53ub/eli5_what_happens_when_i_swallow_my_mucus/ | {
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"text": [
"It's not bad to swallow your mucous. Your body is designed to swallow your mucous. Your stomach is very acidic and is designed to kill microorganisms. Your stomach naturally produces mucous, so it's not like there's going to be a massive accumulation of mucous there. "
]
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7k8mo2 | why do ants and insects get trapped in pen circles? | [Example](_URL_0_)
[Another example](_URL_1_) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7k8mo2/eli5_why_do_ants_and_insects_get_trapped_in_pen/ | {
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"The ink has a solvent in it and the ant doesn't want to get solvent on itself. It's feelers detect it is getting close to the solvent, so it turns.",
"There are a few different explanations for this, depending on what the circle is made of. Ants will get trapped in chalk and baking soda circles, as well. A big contender is that ants travel largely by a scent trail left behind by other ants. If you watch ants coming for pieces of food left on the floor or the sidewalk, you'll see that they take the same route. A circle made of something like ink or sodium bicarbonate or chalk can disrupt this scent trail and cause almost a wall of sorts. ",
"Red inked pens and termites is a good example of the ink having a chemical in it that mimics termite follow pheramones. Its really cool to make termites do figure eights...not that i have ever done this.....noooooo (/s)",
"Ants are not smart. Not even close. Imagine they're like toy robots.\n\nThey follow smells. The first workers to find food bring some back to the colony. They lay down a trail of smell. The next workers follow that smell trail and lay down their own. That's how mistakes like this happen. _URL_0_\n\nA pen's ink is a mixture of chemicals. Some evaporate very quickly and also can dissolve other chemicals. If you were an ant, that line of pen would smell very strongly. Possibly strong enough to hide or break the smell of the correct trail.\n\nBy the way, chalk can have a different effect. Diatomaceous powder can kill insects. Chalks are similar. And many 'ant' chalks from China have real insecticides in them. So with chalk, and especially ant chalks, the insects might be avoiding something really noxious. "
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fyoa9n | why are ligers typically much larger and heavier than both lions and tigers? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fyoa9n/eli5_why_are_ligers_typically_much_larger_and/ | {
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"Built into your genes is code to *stop* growing. That's important because, for example, just making your heart *bigger* does not make it *better* at pumping blood. It takes additional muscle and different structure to be efficient. So if you get too big, your heart can't keep up with the need to pump blood farther and farther away from your lungs, and it gives out.\n\nAs a result, humans with gigantism tend to die in their 30s and 40s to heart failure. Similarly, ligers tend to die young relative to their parent species due to heart failure.\n\nAnyway, it just so happens that the gene to stop growing in lions is found in genes that come from the mother, while gene to stop growing in tigers comes from the father. (More accurately, they are *activated* based on the parent's sex.)\n\nLigers have lion fathers and tiger mothers. So they get neither of the species' genes to stop growing, so they don't stop growing. Tigons - hybrids with a tiger father and a lion mother - grow to be about as big as, well, lions and tigers. They don't get like, *extra* stopping genes, they just have two sets that turn on about when they're supposed to so they get as big as either of their parents should be.\n\nSide note, the portmanteau word for a hybrid depends on which is the mother and which is the father. Fathers form the first part of the word, mothers the second. For example, a Zorse is a hybrid male zebra and female horse; a hebra is a hybrid male horse and female zebra."
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aaoyz3 | this was posted about 4 years, but i was wondering if there was updated information. are monster energy zero ultra drinks bad for me? if so, why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aaoyz3/eli5_this_was_posted_about_4_years_but_i_was/ | {
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"If you're not experiencing side effects like high blood pressure or heart palpations, if you're not shaky and your decisions aren't impaired, and if you're not interfering with any medication, you're probably just fine. Are you having one, or several each day? Are you otherwise hydrating? Sleeping ok on average? Again, you're probably ok. \n\n There are tons of studies about caffeine and long term effects. But in my 36 years I have seen those studies contradict each other a dozen times. Everyone is different. If you feel gross, switch to something with less caffeine. "
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assnux | how long does your body take to stsrt using the carbohydrates you consume for energy? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/assnux/eli5_how_long_does_your_body_take_to_stsrt_using/ | {
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"What exactly do you mean? You are constantly using carbohydrates for energy, there is no start up time/period where you don't use carbohydrates.\n\nIs your question about the time it takes from ingesting food to using the carbohydrates contained in it specifically?"
]
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82ok9o | how does a trade war work? what are the local and global repercussions? | What does a trade war involve? What steps are taken? How does one side 'win' the war?
I'm not looking for a commentary specific to current events, I'm curious about the concept of a trade war and some historical examples would be grear.
Thank you, this is my first ELI5, I look forward to this thread being locked for breaching some kind of esoteric formatting rule. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/82ok9o/eli5_how_does_a_trade_war_work_what_are_the_local/ | {
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"A trade war is when countries begin placing tariffs on imports that specifically target certain countries.\n\nSo, imagine Country A exports loads of imaginarium at a low price. Country B also produces a lot of imaginarium too, but it's used domestically rather than being exported and it costs the domestic producers more to produce a tonne of imaginarium than it does to import a tonne of it from Country A. The imaginarium producers in Country B don't like this, as it threatens their livelihoods.\n\nSo, in response, Country B could place a tariff (a tax) on imports of imaginarium. This will raise the price, making Country A no longer competitive. Country B's domestic imaginarium producers will get a boost, but it will hurt Country A's economy. Country A responds by placing a tariff on something that Country B exports. This process then goes on and on until one side backs down.\n\nThe problem with trade wars is that, theoretically, they lead to inefficient markets. If you don't face any serious competition, then why bother innovating? Your industry is always going to be protected by your government. Ultimately, consumers are the ones who are affected. In my hypothetical, it will lead to poor quality, expensive imaginarium.\n\nWhat's important to remember is that trade wars are just rounds of tariffs placed on certain commodities and items. In the end, nobody really wins, except for the people whose jobs are saved."
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1i7o74 | unicellular to multicellular evolution | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1i7o74/eli5_unicellular_to_multicellular_evolution/ | {
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"Bacteria are single-celled, but even so they can behave together in groups in complex ways. If you have the time, look up \"biofilms\" in Wikipedia, as an example. Bacterial cells can communicate to each other in ways like: \"dude, bra, this space here is totally awesome to lay down and chill\" and other bacteria will get that message and join. This is an example of group behaviours in bacteria.\n\nThe organisms that are still single-celled but aren't bacteria, such yeast for example, can have groups behaviours as well, very similar to bacteria.\n\nMy thought is, is that these group behaviours flourished and developed so well in eukaryotic organisms (like yeast) until they behaved in compartmentalized groups like tissues.",
"There are a few theories on how this happened.\n\nOne is that two different species of bacteria started helping each other in some way, kind of like clownfish and anemones. Over time they evolved dependent on each other to the point where they would never survive on their own.\n\nAnother theory is that unicellular organisms with multiple nuclei happened, kind of like slime mold has.\n\nThird theory is that there were colonies of bacteria of a single species where parts of the colony evolved specialisations to benefit the colony as a whole."
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3qbmc4 | what caused that "crackling" background sound when you played music on old gramophones? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qbmc4/eli5_what_caused_that_crackling_background_sound/ | {
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"Those records encoded the music in the shape of a spiral groove which covered one whole side of the disc. A stylus was dragged the length of the groove to get the sound that it encoded. \n\nIf the disc was dirty or the groove was damaged, there would be a crackling sound.\n\nI called it 'campfire music' because it sounded like a crackling campfire.\n\nactual name: \"Surface noise\""
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24b13d | what was the point of nuclear torpedoes? | I was reading some history about the Cuban Missile Crisis and the idea of a nuclear torpedo just seemed like an awful tactical weapon. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24b13d/eli5_what_was_the_point_of_nuclear_torpedoes/ | {
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"Why does it seem bad? A nuclear torpedo seems very effective at blowing up its target...",
"Nuclear torpedoes are designed for use against (according to wiki) High speed deep diving subs.",
"It's a great way to ensure a kill in certain particular scenarios where the other party can otherwise out range you. \n\nAnd if you love the Nuke torpedo, you're going to find the nuke MORTAR even more interesting: _URL_0_",
"I think that many are missing the OPs point. Yes, the torpedo would be effective as a tactical weapon to sink 1 ship...but at what cost? the elevation of a conflict into a nuclear war over the sinking of 1 ship? I don't see how it would be worth it.",
"I believe they were made to counter nuclear armed ships and submarines. Standard torpedoes weren't reliable enough for preventing a potential nuclear attack, they needed to make sure they could wipe out the target with a single shot. \n\n",
"A modern torpedo like the Mk 48 ADCAP has a 50km range so there's not much danger self destruction with a limited yield like .01kt while greatly increasing the chance of a killing hit on the target."
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380ftc | how parent animals can carry their young and not inflict pain/wounds. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/380ftc/eli5_how_parent_animals_can_carry_their_young_and/ | {
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"Animals that practice such behaviour have evolved to have abundant layers of skin around the top of their neck when they are young so that their parents can carry them to safety, food, etc. As they get older, the fat and the skin becomes less prominent in comparison to the size of their neck (or entire body for that matter)."
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5dzpqd | why do apartments keep raising rents every year until you leave, if they're just going to rent it out to someone new and unknown at a lower rent afterwards? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5dzpqd/eli5_why_do_apartments_keep_raising_rents_every/ | {
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"They aren't. Your rent is being increased to keep up with inflation, and rental prices in your market. Any new tenet will be paying a comparable amount to you. "
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5p9u02 | if some letters are silent in certain words then why include then at all? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5p9u02/eli5_if_some_letters_are_silent_in_certain_words/ | {
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"Often just tradition. When they began printing books in English, there weren't many typesetters in England, so they imported Dutch typesetters who often spelled English words in a Dutch way. So that's how we got the 'h' in 'ghost' and 'ghastly.'\n\nOther times the silent letter actually serves a purpose. The difference between 'can' and 'cane' is the silent letter 'e.' That 'e' lets the reader know that they should pronounce the 'a' as a long vowel.\n\nEdit:\n\n[A much more eloquent source](_URL_0_) ",
"Because the way we pronounce words changes over time/location.\n\nSpellings tend to be fixed. So the 'silent' were not always silent."
]
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1kq69h | how does it work in america when someone doesn't have health insurance? | For example, someone gets a heart attack when out on the street. People call 911 and the ambulance arrives. Do they help this person and does he get a big check afterwards or does someone check if he's in the system and if not, do the paramedics refuse to help? Never understood this, it might be simple but I would appreciate it if someone explained it to me.
Edit: thanks so much for all the responses! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1kq69h/how_does_it_work_in_america_when_someone_doesnt/ | {
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"A lot of doctors will put you on a payment plan, hospital/office permitting. Family friend needed to have a \"minor\" surgery, major enough that if left untreated it would lead to death within a year. They didn't have insurance, nor the money, so the doctor paid for a portion of it, and worked out a reasonable payment plan for the next 10 year's. Good guy Doctor.",
"I'm an \"uninsured\" Californian who was recently run over by a truck. Ambulance, 2 operations, countless MRIs and X-rays, 9 day stay in the ICU, lots of pills, physical therapy, follow ups, and outpatient gear (back brace, cane, etc). Ballpark estimate was a half million dollars, roughly $30 of which will be out-of-pocket. Being low income I qualified for a free government \"insurance\" that pays pretty close to 100% of any scenario. My only expense was 30% of my wheelchair rental. \n\nIf I didn't have that program my hospital bill would be written off as a charity case. I was not eligible for walking assistance device coverage, so the hospital donated a cane to me because I needed it to leave. This was supplied to them by the cane company the hospital pimps out to patients (heh, pimp cane... I'm still on pain killers). The hospital itself had a program to offer free medication to patients, but because I was enrolled in a program I had to fill it at the local free clinic. They didn't carry one of the prescriptions, so they wrote a referral to another pharmacy, so they were also free. They also write referrals for free glasses, hearing aids, birth control, fillings, crowns, etc.\n\nHospitals have someone on staff who's job it is to find a way for a sick or injured patient to get he necessary care regardless of ability to pay. It isn't always ideal, One uninsured friend's hospital would only operate on his herniated disc if he came in to the ER 3 times... Otherwise they sent him home with painkillers and an order to rest. But by simply asking the social services worker how to fix the problem when he had no insurance or money, he got the answer and made it work. \n\nFor more information on health care options for low income or uninsured call 311 or 211, or look up your local Department of Public Social Services office. ",
"Obviously there are a lot of different experiences that people have had. In my experience, they stabilize you then GTFO. They're not going to go the extra mile, try out lengthy treatments, or run you through a bunch of recovery therapy or follow up with you. Understand it's not a personal thing. The system is set up in such a way that it just doesn't make sense for them to go out of their way to help someone when they probably aren't even going to be paid enough to cover the cost of the equipment and supplies they used.\n\nSo the answer is, if you don't have health insurance you pretty much have the following choices:\n\n1. Don't go to the doctor/hospital in the first place - you'd be shocked how many people choose this option.\n2. Apply for government assistance as is available in your state, a process which is extremely stressful, difficult, and lengthy. Generally the people at the hospital who help you understand your bill will get the ball rolling on that with you. One of the struggles with this option is that there are a large number of people in the country who cannot afford private health insurance but whose income is too high to qualify for this government assistance - you have to prove that you're below a certain level of poor before they'll start paying for stuff. Also there are some things they simply won't cover because their resources are stretched very thin.\n3. Go to the doctor/hospital and hope that someone will pull some strings for you.\n4. Go to the doctor/hospital and spend the rest of your life paying for it.\n5. Go to the doctor/hospital with no intention of paying for it. If you don't pay for it, they don't come after you or throw bricks through your window. It just shows up on your credit report and the hospital has to eat the cost. That's one of the reasons they try to keep their costs as low as possible when dealing with uninsured individuals.\n\nNow, to be fair, having health insurance isn't some magical fairy-land of hospital doors flinging open and doctors fighting over who gets the privilege of treating you first. After years of not being insured, I now am, and it is wildly expensive. I also have a very high deductible, which in the interest of explaining like you're five, is the amount of money that you have to cover before the health insurance company will start picking up the tab. They'll help you reduce your cost for some basic health maintenance (for example, when I go for my yearly well-woman it only costs me $45 instead of $150). But if I were in a car accident, I would have to pay for the first $5,000 of treatment before I could rely on the health insurance company to help me out. If I paid more per month on my health insurance coverage, I could have a lower deductible (say, $1,000 or even $500), but by \"more per month\" I am talking about hundreds more per month.\n\nTo answer your question more specifically, no, the paramedics will not just leave. It's not their job to check for insurance. Medical professionals have to take care of you, even if they only do it minimally.",
"If you have a heart attack in the middle of the street the paramedics will still come and try to save your life, take you to the hospital, and the doctors there will treat you until you are well enough to leave.\n\nSo basically the only difference between being insured and uninsured is that after you get out of the hospital they send the bill to you instead of the insurance company. It's expensive but it's not like they won't treat you. People who support free healthcare just like to use hyperbole.\n\nNow lets look at what happens in America when the government provides you free healthcare. At the VA for example: I have a neighbor who is a Vietnam vet. He wasn't feeling well so he went to the VA to get checked out. He waited there for 8 hours and was told to come back the next day because they didn't have time that day. My neighbor had a stroke. I think I would rather have a big hospital bill than a stroke.",
"Why do people still live in America? As a doctor in Australia, money has never come into the conversation when treating patients, you give people the best available care at all times. Reading about what happens in america makes me feel ill.",
"In virtually all situations that an ambulance arrives on a scene an authoritative medical decision is made, usually after some form of check on the patient. The system strongly encourages erring on the safe side and administration of initial treatment regardless of ability to pay. What happens after you hit the hospital varies by jurisdiction.\n\nThe only ways a patient can get out of this to my knowledge is through either a standing \"Do Not Resuscitate\" order widely publicized to the medical community or through a request to be released \"Against Medical Advice\", which is a legal document you sign acknowledging the circumstances and absolving the rescue people and hospital of legal accountability for your actions in avoiding treatment.\n\n(This is the case in the state where I live, your mileage may vary in other jurisdictions.)",
"Emergency rooms and hospitals are required to provide treatment regardless of ability to pay. This means that an uninsured person will often end up with a massive bill at the end of treatment. This is usually noncollectable - so ends up as a write off by the hospital. In the case that the hospitals do collect - it becomes the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US - something around 65% at this point.",
"In the USA, an ambulance crew or an emergency room has a duty to \"stabilize\" your condition, and nothing more. The hospital and ambulance service will send a bill to either you, the government, or an insurance company to pay for it. You may not have to pay anything. You may have to pay thousands of dollars. ",
"You are treated until stable/responsive. At which point the planning begins on if you want additional care and the bill is either sent to you or the insurance company.\n\nIf you're uninsured/under-insured then the hospital will work with you via either charity or payment plans.\n\nI know a lot of people like to make hyperbolic claims of \"Oh if you lost your arm and were bleeding profusely they'd make you sit there and fill out insurance and if you didn't have any you'd just die!\" They're full of crap. They'll treat anyone with a serious injury and talk payments later which is part of why our healthcare is so expensive. A lot of people take advantage of this, such as illegal immigrants, and then skip out on the bill. ",
"As has been answered, the paramedics will pick up anybody and take them to the hospital. They don't check anything related to coverage. Ambulance companies have contracts with cities. The person with a heart attack may get a bill from the city. Many of these go unpaid, so the prices you observe are not reflective of the cost of driving a sick person to the hospital.\n\nAt the hospital, treatment is pretty much controlled by a law/provision called EMLATA. It defines the way hospitals have to treat people that come in, regardless of ability to pay or insurance coverage. EMLATA directly deals with any hospital that participates in Medicare (the old age medical (insurance) all old folks are eligible for). Which pretty much means all hospitals. It gets specific. If a person in need shows up within 250 yards of a hospital, its that hospital's responsibility to address the problem.",
"I hope this isn't pedantic.\n Most people I know don't understand the difference between Healthcare and Health insurance. You can have all the heath insurance in the world and still be screwed by billing, paperwork, bad diagnosis codes, or just plain incompetence and end up paying out the ass. conversely at the same time you can have no insurance, great healthcare and end up paying nothing. \nHeath insurance company's, medicare, and medicaid are in the business of NOT paying for services. \nThere can be billing fees for everything. Every person that touches you is getting paid somehow as is everyone you don't see, often quite a large staff. The staff is often much larger than most non healthcare people understand. Between Materials, Supplies, IT, Cleaning, Grounds, Environmental services, Nursing, Lab, Radiology, Radiologists, Pathology, Pathologist, Microbiology, Surgery, Surgeon, Transcription, Coding, Billing, Inpatient Pharmacy, Outpatient Pharmacy, Cardio pulmonary Services, Respiratory services, Utilization review, Compliance, Hospitality, Hospitalist, Medical records(HIM), ICU, OB, and Outside Doctors you can have one screw up and have a bad bill. \n\nTL/DR Having insurance is not the same thing as healthcare, much less Good healthcare. \n\nSource - I work in healthcare IT on the Billing and EMR software. ",
"Any emergency, they HAVE to help you, regardless of ability to pay.\n > \n\nOur biggest problem is the amount the Doctors/Hospitals are charging for everything. Way more than in many other countries. Their prices are not realistic in any way. It is total price gouging.",
"Go to hospital, get treated. Declare bankruptcy. ",
"You can not be denied medical treatment during an emergency. EMS has to treat and transport you and the emergency room can not turn you away- even if it ends up not being very serious of a medical issue. They bill you for the expenses incurred later. \n\nIf you want to seek treatment at a regular doctor or an urgent care clinic, payment is due at the time of service. If you can't pay the non-emergency doctor then, they will generally not even see you. You get turned away at the admission desk.\n\nThis leads to a great quantity of people abusing emergency services and the emergency room for non-emergencies. If you have a simple sinus infection but no insurance and no money to pay the upfront cost of a medical visit (usually around $180 where I live in North Carolina), you might go to the emergency room instead. Your bill there will be a lot more expensive (often thousands of dollars) but you can make payments on it over time. You will still have to pay the costs for any prescriptions you are given out of pocket. \n\n",
"The uninsured or under-insured are often treated just as if they are fully insured. Responsible people that are uninsured will work out long term payment plans to pay back the debt for their care. Irresponsible people that are often \"judgment-proof\" such as illegal aliens will simply walk away from the bill.",
"It's not simple, it's an incredible fucking complicated mess.\n\nIf it's life threatening, generally they operate regardless. Hospitals get in huge trouble if they deny care and someone dies or is permanently harmed because of it. So they generally do their best to keep you alive but get uou out the door ASAP. \n\nAfterwards, depending on the care you received, you get a second job or declare bankruptcy. I'm seriously not joking, it's crazy how things work over here.",
"EVERYONE WHO HAS TROUBLE PAYING FOR PRESCRIPTIONS READ THIS!!\n\nI lacked prescription insurance for years and my birth control and anti-anxiety medications were almost $200/month. The **Walgreens Prescription Savings Plan** is $20 a year ($35 for a family), and made my meds $20/month. It covers a lot of meds, though not all, and is literally just $20 a year, you give them your name and info. If you lose your card they just save the plan with your pharmacy profile and automatically give you the discounts. You save money the day you sign up, and it kicks in immediately.\n\nAlso, shop at walgreens. They actually help people.\n\n_URL_0_",
"My uncle was told he needed bypass surgery. He had the free part of Medicare, but not the part you pay for. He couldn't afford the surgery, and he died. \n\nI'm sure that happens all the time. \n\nA few years back there was a story in PA about a young single mother who worked as a waitress, hand to mouth each week, and no insurance. Her 6 year old daughter got sick with a sore throat. Mother had the choice of going to the doctor or having food for a week, so she hesitated. When the girl got very ill, the mother put the girl in the car to go to the doctor, but the girl died on the way. It was a strep infection.\n\nMy brother and his wife took in an infant whose mother was just 16 years old. They helped the mother, too, but mostly the baby, paying out of pocket for health care, nursery school, etc. Doctors told them that they see kids die all the time from lack of medical care.\n\nThe whole system is really messed up.\n",
"I pull my own teeth, suffer when I get something and hope if I miss a day without a doctors note I can't afford that I don't lose my job, and if something requires medical I can't hardly afford to eat or pay rent so I just don't pay it and they eventually write it off or pass it to a collection agency. Insurance was so common for everyone virtually when I first started working but nowadays unless you work for a really good company or have a college diploma or a high tech skill there's a good chance you are just living on the roll of the dice and are careful as possible not to get hurt. For me that means no exercising or sports since you could easily hurt yourself so sitting in front of the tv getting fat is safer than being fit in the US without insurance. BTW I used to be into body building just for myself but since I lost my insurance I just gave up since it's to easy to pull/strain a muscle or worse if the bench breaks or the weights slip, running sprained ankle, swimming ear infection, skiing broken leg or worse, rollerskating many injuries possible. Hell you're better off financially sitting around and smoking pot than exercising since you're unlikely to hurt yourself and lose your job.\n\nSo without insurance I don't even like leaving the house without a reason since anything can happen even stepping on a nail.",
"The fact is that in America, despite what the bat-shit-crazy lefty loonies want everyone to believe, no one is turned down for emergency medical assistance.",
"What you're about to hear is as crazy and stupid as it sounds.\n\nIt depends where you are, how much you make, and other factors such as who you live with, how much *they* make, how all of you file your taxes, your real and liquid assets, and more. And it keeps depending, on a fairly regular cycle, though it's not necessarily the same cycle everywhere or all the time, and if you move from one place to another, or someone else does, it might all change again. And if something relevant changes and you don't report it, you might be liable, or even in trouble.\n\nOkay, now let's look at your hypothetical.\n\nThe law everywhere in the U.S. is that you cannot be denied lifesaving care based on your ability to pay (proven or otherwise). However, you can be billed later for it, and that's where the real insanity starts.\n\nThe way we do it now, taxpayers who won't consider 'sochulizt' single-payer or the like bankroll poor people's heart attacks, when it would have been much cheaper for everyone to prevent it in the first place. This is one of the two biggest reasons our healthcare costs are through the roof. The other is that we mostly operate even emergency care on a capitalist model, often with scandalous profits for shareholders and executives, while nurses work forced overtime on pay freeze.\n\nThe way it falls out, then, is that if you're rich you have good coverage and mostly don't worry. If you're middle class, you probably have pretty good coverage, and worry a little, and might lose your nest egg and your home before you die. (I see these foreclosures in my work all the time.) If you're working class, you likely have no coverage or shitty coverage, and you can easily go into lifelong debt and have your entire life just freeze at whatever point you get seriously sick or injured and never move forward. The reason is that most states figure your 'share' as a pretty significant portion of your income. (In my case, in my state, right now, it's somewhere in the 70-85% range. Meaning, every penny I don't need to actually survive, I can supposedly afford to pay. Which would be fine if I didn't need toilet paper, toothpaste, clean clothes, etc.) If you're jobless, and not sitting on a recent large inheritance or the like, your care is effectively free, though not *hassle*-free, since you still have to endure the regular cycle of 'financial evaluation'. This provides a pretty good incentive for sick people who are currently jobless to *stay* jobless, at least on paper, since any reported work will send you to brokesville right quick. (Ironically, this means that many of our drug dealers get free care -- since they can't report their income -- while may of our addicts often don't.) The practical upshot is that people in the lowest tiers can't afford preventive care, but can afford a heart attack or tooth extraction. And those in the higher tiers pay for it, while arguing against known solutions to this dipshittery.\n\nWe are not a smart country.\n"
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2b9jv0 | why do people hate the .gif file format? | I've seen redditors comment about the .gif file format and how it should be phased out. What is it that is so bad about it? What alternatives are there and why don't we use those alternatives instead? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2b9jv0/eli5_why_do_people_hate_the_gif_file_format/ | {
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"It's old and terribly inefficient, meaning that a small number of frames make a file that is much larger and slower to load than modern file formats.",
"It was never designed for short looping sequences. It's heavy and it has a very low quality/resolution.",
"[This video](_URL_0_) by Computerphile goes over in an excellent ELI5 manner what the problem is with GIFs.\n\nText version: GIFs display a sequence of images - literally a sequence of images. That means every frame is a full image, like a JPEG, PNG or whatever standard image format. As you can imagine, that racks up a lot of storage space quickly. That's why GIFs are usually short and of low quality - to save space. \n\nVideos are different. They also transmit sequences of images (along with audio, but that's besides the point). Videos use a codec that can analyze the sequence of images and figure out what changes from frame to frame. The codec can remove the repeated sections of a series of images to save space. Modern codecs are more advanced and can compress videos even more. \n\nSo, why don't we switch to compression? Well, codecs aren't very standardized and a GIF is a sequence of images - very easy for just about any computer to read. Some computers may not have a given codec, so just making sequences of images in GIFs means practically every computer can read the format.\n\nTL;DW & TL;DR: GIFs take up space but are simplistic. Other forms of animation are more efficient, but aren't necessarily universal. GIFs will reach everyone capable of playing animations, codecs aren't guaranteed.\n\nAlso, a good alternative is HTML5. Universal adoption is slow because anything less than a smartphone can't play them (and the majority of PCs with modern browsers can, too).",
"GIFs are only 256-colors (8-bit), and as such look grainier. There's a PNG animation alternative called APNG, but it hasn't been well-received; even the maintainers of the PNG standard rejected it!\n\nThe only real alternative has been AVI/MP4/FLV through YouTube and/or media player applications. Too bad it doesn't sit in a document like a GIF (though YT has made a workaround through embedding)."
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dxhqg8 | explain to me the difference between something as a nuclear reactor and something like a nuclear weapon, how are they different, and how are they the same? | Sorry, I don’t know if this belongs under the flair, “chemistry”, “engineering”, or “physics”. I would think all three but it only allows me to choose one. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dxhqg8/eli5_explain_to_me_the_difference_between/ | {
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"In short, weapons are constructed to release the stored energy in the fuel all at once whereas reactors are designed to do so slowly over the course of decades. Technically a reactor can never explode like a bomb can and movies really exaggerate. It can explode but it’s more so because of intense pressures than a nuclear reaction.",
"Basically the difference between a nuclear reactor ans weapon is in the speed and level of control. A reactor carefully controls the rate of the reaction to maintain safe levels of operation in order to produce energy. A weapon doesn't need to be as controlled and so the materials can release the same amount of energy but over the course of seconds rather than weeks or months.\n\nAnalogy. Stare at a lightbulb for 1 second. See how that affects your vision? Now imagine how much light/energy that bulb would put out if left on for an entire week. Now imagine that same amount of light/energy is built up and released in 1 second and you happen to be looking at the bulb during that second. Imagine what that would do to your vision.\n\nNow imagine a similar thing, except with enough heat energy to produce enough electricity to power a neighborhood. Imagine what that release of heat energy would do.\n\nEdit: I'm not a nuclear engineer, so the exact scale of things are likely off, but the concept should be accurate."
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3fp7kc | how exactly gps works? who owns the satellites? why i don't have to pay a fee to use them? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fp7kc/eli5_how_exactly_gps_works_who_owns_the/ | {
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"GPS satellites are basically big clocks in the sky that broadcast what time it is and what time they sent the signal. Your device \"hears\" from 4 satellites, and can do some cool equations using the difference in time from each satellite to determine where you exactly are. (This is the very simplified version)\n\nThe US Air Force owns the satellites, the offer it to the world free of charge."
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5k9t25 | in american football, other than the quarterback, why do most players never pass the ball? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5k9t25/eli5_in_american_football_other_than_the/ | {
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"Well it's not their job or position. Each individual position has a specific job. The quarterback's is to pass. The running back's is to carry the ball. The wide receiver and tight end's is to catch. The Offensive Line is to block. It's like asking why the shortstop doesn't pitch in baseball."
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1sy58s | why isn't caffeine dependency considered a 'drug addiction'? | Are we all just functional drug addicts walking around hopped up on coffee? When people wake up grumpy 'without their morning coffee' are they essentially waking up dope sick? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sy58s/eli5_why_isnt_caffeine_dependency_considered_a/ | {
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"I think it has to do with the stigma associated with users of other drugs. And the personality changes a lot of them induce. ",
"Because with few exceptions, caffeine doesn't disrupt your life in any meaningful way. It's cheap and legal, which means people don't go broke or get in trouble for doing it. Not getting it can make people grumpy but it's not life-threatening. It's not especially bad for you. In many cases, it's also quite useful for increasing productivity and focus.\n\nI'm absolutely a caffeine addict. I drink it nearly every single day, multiple times a day. When I don't have any, yes I'm grumpy and yes sometimes it gives me a bit of a headache, but otherwise it really doesn't affect my life. I can and will operate without it, but I'd really rather have it.",
"The real answer is that for the most part a caffeine addiction doesn't keep you from doing your normal activities. Mental disorders are a tricky thing they can be severe or nonexistent and still technically be the same disease. So instead mental disorders are classified by how they disrupt a persons daily activities. Being a heroin addict messes up your ability to go to work and live your live. Drinking coffee does not. It really is as simple as that.",
"It should be. It's literally an addiction to a stimulant. \n\nI'd guess it's due to the view of \"drugs\" in the eyes of the general public. Drugs are seen as evil substances purchased through shady dealers, and an addiction to \"drugs\" is extreme and extremely harmful. The media in general propagates this view, along side anti-drug propaganda that many of us have been hearing since grade school. \n\nAs a result, people don't see caffeine as a \"drug\". It's available everywhere, generally safe, and used by nearly everyone; the exact opposite of the \"drug\" stereotype. \n\nAs a side note, I feel that this view on drugs is the main reason why marijuana legalization hasn't progressed very far (except for a few states). As pot is generally illegal, it gets lumped in with \"drugs\", and people are not able to look past the negative stigma, and evaluate it individually. ",
"It absolutely is a drug addiction but the debate on whether caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee is better for you hasn't been settled, so for now, there's no particular reason to recommend that people avoid caffeine despite how awful withdrawal from it feels.",
"My guess is that, in the past, it's because it didn't impair a person's life. However, the new diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM-5) does have a category for caffeine use, dependence, and withdrawal. ",
"Social norms. There are a lot of addictive substances that aren't considered or are only recently considered a 'addictive drug'. Just so happens that the majority of the world got on the caffeine train, before addiction was considered a thing. What is considered a 'drug' and what isn't has more to do with economics than addictive qualities and health benefits. ",
"Caffeine can and does produce physical dependence as withdrawal symptoms have been clearly noted. However, drinking coffee isn't termed substance abuse because that would require more than just addictive qualities. Coffee doesn't produce any impairment in social or occupational functioning, it's not associated with risky use or behaviour, and it does not have any significantly harmful health effects. People may be somewhat dependent on caffeine (ie addicted) but it isn't considered drug abuse.",
"ITT: A few good answers, and a lot of tin foil hats.",
"You ever robbed/stole from someone for money to buy a coca cola/coffee? ",
"I honestly wish it was not allowed for a few weeks just so people would realise how addictive it is and how crap some jobs are without it. ",
"Propaganda and double standards. "
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1eo0jg | what is the big deal with the movie "the breakfast club"? | I've never seen it, know nothing about it (except it's from the 1980's) and that it's supposed to be highly regarded.
So what's the big deal about it? Can anyone give me an ELI5 explanation?
thanks | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1eo0jg/eli5_what_is_the_big_deal_with_the_movie_the/ | {
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"It was one if the first teen angst/teen problems that portrayed teens in more of an adult manner. Plus, the music and directing was good. I'm 36 so it has plenty of nostalgia for me. ",
"It shows why all the stereotypical clique activity that occurs in high school is complete bullshit. Everyone can identify with someone in the movie and their experiences in this social situation. It makes kids feel that life is not hopeless.",
"The Breakfast Club was directed by John Hughes who specialised in the 1980s in making movies about teens/young adults. In particular he looked past the normal stereotypes and made films that were engaging, witty, and often connected on quite a deep level with the hopes and fears of people in that age group. Up until he came along teenagers were usually represented in quite a superficial way on film and on TV, so to have someone making movies about this age group which were neither patronising nor unrealistic was like a breath of fresh air.\n\nWhile making these films he also found and encouraged a group of talented young actors, many of whom have gone on to great Hollywood careers (e.g Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore and others).\n\nSo The Breakfast Club is admired for firstly being a well-scripted, well-acted film that managed to accurately portray the dreams and worries of millions of young Americans in the 1980s. On top of that it now benefits from the nostalgia effect, as many people who are now in their 30s or 40s look back to their teenage years and the movies they enjoyed with great fondness.",
"just watch it. wtf is up with the questions here? \n"
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5070fa | how does the combined birth control pill work and how likely is pregnancy if directions are not followed precisely? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5070fa/eli5_how_does_the_combined_birth_control_pill/ | {
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"The pill is designed to allow occasional missed doses, but its effectiveness definitely plummets if you don't use it correctly. You will not get your period if you're pregnant on the pill, since that's how pregnancy works (you may get implantation bleeding, but that's not everybody and is relatively mild). You need to educate yourself a lot on what you're doing to your body if you don't know the answer to that so that you know if something's off or not. There are no symptoms of pregnancy that early - first you'd miss a period, then you'd start getting tenderness in your breasts and nausea in the morning (though this doesn't happen to everyone).\n\nHow difficult it is to take a pill every day if it means the difference between pregnancy and not? Keep it in your purse and set a freaking alarm. Also, I hope the unprotected sex was with a faithful partner who you know is clean."
]
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dyxh7k | where does the name of the game “duck duck goose” come from? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dyxh7k/eli5_where_does_the_name_of_the_game_duck_duck/ | {
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"(just speculation) Ducks and geese are kinda alike, but geese are scary bastards that chase after you, maybe that.",
"Do you mean \"duck, duck, grey duck\"?"
]
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[],
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3rgmeg | takata airbags has been given a $70 million fine with the possibility of a $200 million fine for non-compliance by the nhtsa. how are the fine amounts determined in large cases such as this? | Where does the $70 million and additional $130 million figure come from? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3rgmeg/eli5takata_airbags_has_been_given_a_70_million/ | {
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"The law states what the maximum possible fine can be per X thing. For example VW can have a maximum possible fine of $35,000 per car for what they did.\n\nWhether or not the maximum fine is sought depends on how the error came to be, what the company did to address it, if there was a criminal element involved (e.g. VW intentionally breaking the law, Takata trying to cover up the issue) etc.\n\nIn practice the number is determined by the prosecution pulling the biggest, baddest number out of their ass that they can. And then hoping they can get 1% of that. As the well funded lawyers fight like hell, and the jury pulls more numbers out of their ass.\n\nTypically a lot of discretion is involved."
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56y9cf | how does the weatherman/woman know where to look on the chroma key when reporting? | I'm confused, i know that a super imposed image is broadcast for viewers, which is what we see and from some behinds the scenes footage I've seen they usually have a live feed on the side of the set, on a monitor somewhere. But i feel if the weatherman/woman was using this monitor as reference they would be making a bunch of awkward glances between the monitor way off the side and the camera. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/56y9cf/eli5_how_does_the_weathermanwoman_know_where_to/ | {
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"Well in addition to the monitor, it´s all practice. They aren´t doing this for the first time and the map is usually the same anyway.",
"They do look off camera to see the things the viewer is seeing. How awkward/smoothly they can pull it off depends on their expertise and experience.\n\nTake a look at [this random example](_URL_0_) from youtube. He spends most of the time looking off to the side as he is gesturing to the map. It doesn't come off as awkward because our attention is drawn to where his hands are on the map.",
"The monitor is usually near the camera so they can see it pretty easily without looking too awkward.\n\nIf you watch for it, you can see when they are looking at that monitor instead of the camera.",
"In addition to the other answers, some studios are under funded and literally just use a big TV for their weather segments.",
"I worked in news for a while, as a video editor + digital content producer. (writing the web articles) \nThe meteorologist usually has 2-3 TVs showing him what the audience is seeing. He never looks at the Chroma key, but instead is watching himself + the map on little TVs to each side, or directly beside the camera. \nThey usually make sure to keep their body angled partially to the side, so it looks more natural to sneak glances at their TV reflection\n\nIt's actually pretty difficult to match up your movements to a flipped reflection, since we're used to mirrors, but I'm told it gets easier with practice. \n\nThe Meteorologist (or one of the other weather guys offscreen) is the one who changes the maps and makes the animations roll. They're the ones who create the animations + decide where they're going to focus on for the upcoming show, so they know exactly what's coming up and what they planned to say. \n\n\nEDIT: \"2-3 TVs\" not \"2-3 cameras\""
]
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dikjlt | i have ulcerative colitis. it’s extremely painful. but if there are no pain-sensing nerves in the colon... what is actually hurting? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dikjlt/eli5_i_have_ulcerative_colitis_its_extremely/ | {
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"Where did you read that there are no pain sensing nerves in the colon?\nYou have pain receptors in pretty much every part of the body, safe for the brain itself.\n\nThe pain is caused by ulcers and subsequent inflammation, both triggering your pain receptors.",
"It's a bit of a myth that there are no pain-sensing nerves in our internal organs, although it IS different in nature to pain from our skin and bones. Anyone who has felt badly bloated can attest to that. Pain from the internal organs is called visceral pain and the most common causes are distension (i.e. bloating), loss of blood supply, and inflammation."
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34wz6o | why music or albums aren't released worldwide the same day | Just to enlist one recent example is the song "Pretty Girls" (Britney ft. Iggy Azalea) was almost worldwide released on 05/04/2015, but the UK release date is set on June 14.
I dont get the benefits of the delay. And obviously it seems to promote piracy among those who dont have any legal access to it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34wz6o/eli5why_music_or_albums_arent_released_worldwide/ | {
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"text": [
"I can't speak as to why it started out that way, they are changing it to Fridays globally this summer\n\n_URL_0_"
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"http://m.billboard.com/entry/view/id/116926"
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1jn8cs | what would happen if you sprayed a mosquito with mosquito repellent? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jn8cs/eli5_what_would_happen_if_you_sprayed_a_mosquito/ | {
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"It will die, never knowing what it means to love."
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5pzc8b | - if pi is in between the number 3 and 4 how can it be infinite? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5pzc8b/eli5_if_pi_is_in_between_the_number_3_and_4_how/ | {
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"It is *not* an infinite amount. It is less than 4.\n\nIn *does* take an infinite amount of digits to explain precisely what the amount is, but that's about being precise, not about being huge.",
"Pi isn't infinite - it's more than 3 and less than 4.\n\nHowever, pi can't be expressed as a decimal or fraction because it's irrational, so it *does* take an infinite number of digits to accurately measure pi. \n\nSort of like how there are an infinite number of numbers between 0 and 1. \"Infinite\" can mean a few different things, based on context."
]
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3tf1r7 | how do shops during the week still attract so many customers. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tf1r7/eli5_how_do_shops_during_the_week_still_attract/ | {
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"text": [
"Not everyone one works, you have families were the husband or the wife don't work and can shop. People leave work before shops closes, it's often in the end of the afternoon that they make most of their sales.",
"There will always be:\n\n- people with weekdays off that work a weekend day\n- part time workers\n- retirees\n- people who work flexible hours\n- housewives/husbands\n- people using their breaks\n- people on annual leave/holiday\n\nNaturally they generally add up to less than the usual weekend numbers, but it is evidently enough to have been financially viable since shops were first 'invented'.",
"Not everyone's days off are during the weekend. Not everyone works during the day. Not everyone works a full 8 hours a day. Some are home makers and do not work at all. ",
"Not everyone works normal schedules with weekends off. It's simple as that. \n\nI work away from home for 4 weeks at a time and then I get 4 weeks off at home. I do all my errands during the week in the middle of the workday. It makes it really easy to get everything done. "
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2oetg0 | why does beer taste so different on nitro? | Draft beer on nitro tastes very different than the same beer on regular draft or from a can. How does it work, and why does it taste different? (Bonus question: Is there any reason to put a beer on nitro other than the different taste?) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2oetg0/eli5_why_does_beer_taste_so_different_on_nitro/ | {
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"Beer on nitro - either on nitrokeg or draughtflow cans - has very little carbonation, which makes the mouthfeel very smooth. Carbonation is dissolved carbon dioxide, which actually adds a small amount of acid to the beer, and makes the mouthfeel prickly.\n\nThe faucet for nitrokeg is different because it's a special type specifically for making that dense, creamy foam that Guinness is famous for. A number of other beers (not just stouts) are served that way also.\n\nNitrokeg is really an imitation of beer served by hand pump (aka beer engine). Beer served through a pump passes through a \"sparkler,\" which is a cap on the end of the faucet with tiny holes in it. In order to emulate that, beer on nitrokeg is pushed through a restrictor plate, a piece of steel with only a few pinholes in it. This restrictor plate is what makes the characteristic head. Because the holes are rather small, you have to push the beer harder at the keg to get a decent flow rate. If you used all CO2 for that level of pressure, the beer would be massively overcarbonated (because CO2 dissolves in beer much more readily than nitrogen does), and would gush in the glass. In short, nitrogen is used to push the beer because high pressures are required to pour the beer through the equipment that makes the foam, not because the nitrogen causes the foam itself.\n\nYou can give any beer a creamy head by pushing it through fine holes. I've done this myself, by building an ersatz beer engine. This uses a hand pump to push beer through fine holes I drilled in a brass fitting. I've also heard of it being done by just drawing up beer in a syringe and squirting a needle-stream back into the glass. Both of these are done without dissolving nitrogen in the beer; it's the turbulence that makes the dense, creamy foam.\n"
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a3o40k | why are people / country's banning or heavily against huawei from using 5g? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a3o40k/eli5_why_are_people_countrys_banning_or_heavily/ | {
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"It's not because of 5G, but because of Huawei themselves. They have close ties to Chinese goverment, and other countries see that as a major threat. Huawei phones were even banned from being used in USA senate and other important places due to suspicions of Huawei installing spyware on their phones etc.",
"They’re not banning Huawei from 5g, they’re banning Huawei. \n\n_URL_0_",
"Huawei is a Chinese company, not just that it is based in China but that it is manipulated by the Chinese government. The problem with this is that the Chinese intelligence services use the products made by Huawei to do things like track down dissidents, steal information, and potentially sabotage the national infrastructure of countries which employ their products.\n\nFor example suppose Huawei started to sell 5G phones in Australia and unknowingly Chinese dissidents started to purchase and use them within Australia. Their calls get tracked and recorded by China which then arrests and imprisons/kills those they contacted. Or perhaps a private company starts to use Huawei devices for their employees and China steals their secret product blueprints so their factories can make them instead.\n\nAll of those concerns underlie not using Huawei or allowing the company to become involved in foreign industries."
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"https://tech.co/huawei-genuine-security-threat-2018-09"
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3arx9t | if the average surface temperature on mars is below freezing, how is colonization a possibility? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3arx9t/eli5_if_the_average_surface_temperature_on_mars/ | {
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"Actually, the technology to protect us from such harsh conditions already exists for the most part, except that Mars has not atmosphere compared to the Earth, which is actually why it is so darn cold on the surface.\n\nIdeally, any colony we establish will actually have an atmosphere, as in air and whatnot. If we can do that, hospitable temperatures will come included.",
"I dunno-- the average low temperature of Fairbanks Alaska is 17 degree Fahrenheit, but people still live there...\n\nSure, plants won't grow naturally, but if we're colonizing, we'd probably use some sort of energy source to live inside and grow food in a greenhouse.",
"You wear a coat.\n\nBut seriously. At least initially all the structures will be enclosed since the pressure is way too low, so those could easily be heated. They could use greenhouses or energy to keep plants warm. Later on during terraforming they could add greenhouse gases (more potent than CO2) to the Martian atmosphere which could get the temperature above freezing. ",
"Problem with going to Mars is that its way harder than anything we've done so far. When Europeans came to North America they had air to breath, water to drink and food to hunt. Mars has none of those basic things. \n\nThe temperature on Mars isn't a problem its the low air pressure, things like helicopters, drones or airplanes won't work on Mars.\n\nColonization is possible but at this point its kinda REALLY HARD and would cost trillions of dollars. We need to change the atmosphere which isn't going to happen for a few hundred years so lets not get our hopes up so fast. \n\nOh and /r/marsone is dellusional in that they think they will get to Mars within the next decade or so. "
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elzcfn | why does glitter stick to everything even if it isnt really sticky? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/elzcfn/eli5_why_does_glitter_stick_to_everything_even_if/ | {
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"Glitter is made of a plastic that can easily create **\"static electricity\"**. \n\nIn short, the **\"static electricity\"** makes the glitter more easily able to be stuck on surfaces. And as they're very small, they can go everywhere and be very hard to take care of.\n\n#For more details on static electricity, read more below;\n\nAll electricity is made up of two different types of energy; **Positive** and **Negative**.\n\n**Positive Energy** pushes things away.\n\n**Negative Energy** pulls things in.\n\nSo what is Static Electricity?\n\n**Static Electricity** occurs when an object is charged with too much **Negative Energy** or too much **Positive Energy**.\n\nWhen this happens, the energy in that object cannot move (in other words, becomes **static**) until it becomes attached to another object that can take that \"overload\" of energy.\n\nSo, when an object is charged with a lot of negative energy, it can easily become stuck to things since the negative energy is making the object \"stuck\" to the other."
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fgff4q | how do magnified mirrors work? and why do they seem blurry if you look into them from a distance? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fgff4q/eli5_how_do_magnified_mirrors_work_and_why_do/ | {
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"A lens is a piece of glass that bends light so that the rays converge to a single point. If you bend a mirror it will make all the beams converge in the same pint, so it’s the same as a lens, only instead of passing light through, it reflects it, so both the observer and the object are on the same side, or in this case both are your face\n\nJust like a magnifying glass you need to be in the right place for everything to be in focus",
"A normal mirror is flat, reflecting light at the same angle thus the reflected image is in the same proportions. However, if you curve the mirror, light reflecting off it will bounce off in different directions depending on the part of the mirror light hits. \n\nFor example, you can buy a mirror to help apply makeup that is concave. This takes light coming in and focuses it to a smaller point. If your eye is at the focal point, you'll see everything magnified. But if you back up beyond the focal point, the light inverts and becomes blurry.\n\nSome diagrams may help. Found some simple ones here: _URL_0_"
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6xt0z7 | why does the female body need less calories than the male? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6xt0z7/eli5_why_does_the_female_body_need_less_calories/ | {
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"Women are generally smaller and have less muscle mass than men, so they don't burn/require as many calories to perform the same metabolic functions. It's sort of similar to a smaller car needing a smaller gas tank and engine when compared to a larger car. A Mini Cooper and a Semi truck can both go 60 mph, but it takes a lot more fuel to move the truck than the car. ",
"It's just an average.\n\nCalories are consumed by cellular respiration. Each cell needs a certain small amount of glucose to store as ATP. When you have big muscles, you actually have more cells. Fat cells only get bigger, not more numerous, so they don't produce the same effect. So more muscular people burn more calories.\n\nMen are, on average, more muscular than women, so, on average, burn more calories. But if you're a non-muscular man you'll burn much less, and if you're a buff woman you'll burn much more."
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yy4ze | the ongoing lawsuits between apple and google. why are they suing each other, and who is winning? | I understand they're arguing over patents, but what specifically? Is Apple cheating Google? Or vice versa? I hear that Google stole from Apple, and I also hear that Apple stole from Google. But how would one even know which is which at this point? Can someone explain this to me a bit? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yy4ze/the_ongoing_lawsuits_between_apple_and_google_why/ | {
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"I too am interested in this but am not very qualified to answer your question. But from what I gather here are two of some of the main points (and most of what I know is from articles I have found on Reddit).\n\n1) Apple just won a patent suit against Samsung and it points to their pinch to zoom technology, some of which is available through technology that Samsung manufacturers for Apple. And this win for Apple is somehow bad for customers. \n\n2) Google has stayed out of it for a while but with their recent acquisition of Motorola has some plans to file multiple suits.\n\nAnd to answer what seems like the main question of your post they all steal from each other. ",
"It's kind of like if McDonalds came out with a new sandwich called the McMushroom Burger, and it's an angus beef burger with mushrooms, gruyere cheese, a smokey chipotle BBQ sauce on a whole wheat bun. They release it, people go nuts and love it, and McDonalds is raking in the money. Then a month later Burger King comes out with their Angus Mushroom Swiss Burger, which is a an angus beef burger with mushrooms, swiss cheese, a smokey chipotle BBQ sauce on a kaiser roll. Now that starts selling really well and Burger King is selling even more of their burgers than McDonalds is.\n\n\nSo McDonalds calls up Burger King and goes \"You totally just copied my idea\", and Burger King goes \"What, you invented the concept of putting mushrooms on a hamburger?\" To which McDonalds replies \"No, but I invented that particular burger, and you blatantly copied the idea\", and Burger King finishes with \"It's not a copy, it's not our fault that mushrooms and swiss go together, and people like our version better anyway, so screw off\". McDonalds shakes his fist in the air and says \"I'll get you for this\".\n\n\nIn the meantime one of the big Burger King franchise owners decides he actually likes his Angus Mushroom Swiss Burger with gruyere, and he prefers a whole wheat bun to a kaiser roll, and he also doesn't like the name so he starts calling it \"Mac's Mushroom Burger\". Now McDonald's finds out about this and he is seriously pissed, he calls up the Burger King owner and says \"take that off your menu right now, I'm not kidding\", and the owner says \"make me\", and McDonalds says \"I will\" and calls the FDA to come mediate the dispute, and they just recently decided that McDonalds is right about the Mac's Mushroom Burger, and BK needs to pay up and possibly stop selling their product.\n\n\nBasically the state of intellectual property law is pretty fuzzy right now. The rules aren't always clear on exactly what people are allowed to own, and how new, unique, and unobvious an idea has to be before someone is allowed to own it, and even if they own it, how different someone else's idea has to be before it's considered theft. So Apple says they own some of the basic features of a touch based phone interface, and they say Android copied some of those ideas, and specifically Samsung went out of their way to blatantly copy not only those ideas, but also the look and feel of the product to such a degree that it's confusable to end users who's product is who's. The most recent court case came down very heavily in apple's favor. Samsung was fined $1 Billion, and will likely have to remove some functionality from it's new phones, and possibly stop selling some of it's older models. Now we are left with an open question of whether Apple goes on to sue other manufacturers, or even Google itself. Samsung was the easy target, it might be harder to extend their legal success further, so we'll see where it goes.",
"As for who is winning, I think that'd be Gibson, Dunn and Morrison & Foerster (Apple's legal team) and Quinn Emanuel (Samsung's). Pretty sure those guys are all laughing their way to the bank, win or lose your legal team gets their fee. As for who is losing? I'd say the consumer in the short term but hopefully this may drive innovation through necessity to break away from established design and processes. \nBetween Apple and Samsung, technically I think Apple is 'winning' the judgements but the general feeling I am getting is that the public see it as Apply trying to bully Samsung out of the market because they're afraid of strong competition so in terms of PR it could be argued Samsung are doing okay out of all this. (Just my opinion.)",
"The idea that design can be copyrighted is a new one. \n\nthese cases are silly because there is no way this benefits the consumer. \n\nIt might bite apple in the ass in the long run too. "
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l4a9m | could someone please explain to me like i'm 5 what an insurance deductible is? metaphors are always good. | While we're at it, what about a roth (?) 401k? Thanks in advance. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/l4a9m/could_someone_please_explain_to_me_like_im_5_what/ | {
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"The deductable is the amount deducted from what the insurance company gives you when you file a claim.\n\nEXAMPLE: You wreck your car. It's insured value is $10,000 and it's a complete loss. You have a $1000 deductible. The insurance company therefore pays you $9000.\n\nAs for the Roth thing, maybe you mean Roth IRA.\n\nIn a Roth IRA, you put money into the account and cannot deduct this contribution from your income taxes, as you can with certain other retirement accounts. BUT! When the time comes to cash out a Roth IRA, nothing is taxed. \n\nSo if you put $100,000 in there in the course of a lifetime, and it grows in value to $500,000, then you have access to $500,000 tax free.",
"The deductible is a portion of the total cost that you pay before the insurance pays. This is to prevent, for example, people making insurance claims for oil changes or going to the doctor every time they bump their knee.\n\nThere are two main retirement types: Roth IRA and 401(k). The difference is that the money you put into the Roth is taxed when you put it in, but not when you take it out. The 401(k) is not taxed when you put it in but it is taxed when you take it out. Basically, you gamble on what you think tax policy is going to be like now vs when you are taking your money out.",
"The deductable is the amount deducted from what the insurance company gives you when you file a claim.\n\nEXAMPLE: You wreck your car. It's insured value is $10,000 and it's a complete loss. You have a $1000 deductible. The insurance company therefore pays you $9000.\n\nAs for the Roth thing, maybe you mean Roth IRA.\n\nIn a Roth IRA, you put money into the account and cannot deduct this contribution from your income taxes, as you can with certain other retirement accounts. BUT! When the time comes to cash out a Roth IRA, nothing is taxed. \n\nSo if you put $100,000 in there in the course of a lifetime, and it grows in value to $500,000, then you have access to $500,000 tax free.",
"The deductible is a portion of the total cost that you pay before the insurance pays. This is to prevent, for example, people making insurance claims for oil changes or going to the doctor every time they bump their knee.\n\nThere are two main retirement types: Roth IRA and 401(k). The difference is that the money you put into the Roth is taxed when you put it in, but not when you take it out. The 401(k) is not taxed when you put it in but it is taxed when you take it out. Basically, you gamble on what you think tax policy is going to be like now vs when you are taking your money out."
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43cey2 | why are the american presidential primary elections not riddled with voters registering with the opposite party and voting against the candidate most likely to beat their favorite? | That's poorly worded, but it's my understanding that in the American presidential primaries, you are required to register for a party if you want to vote--you can't vote on both party's primaries.
If that's the case, what--if anything-- stops Americans from registering for the opposite party and voting for a candidate that is not the one most likely to beat the candidate they'd prefer to win the actual presidential election? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/43cey2/eli5_why_are_the_american_presidential_primary/ | {
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"Rules depends on the state. For example, New Hampshire is not closed.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Nothing stops it, and registering for the opposing party in order to vote for the candidate that you think will win a nomination, but lose an election is not an unheard of thing.\n\n\nThe major downside is that you remove your ability to vote for the candidate that you think is best suited to lead your own party's bid for the presidency.",
"Nothing, and that does happen. At the same time the parties themselves put some sanity checking in so the party wouldn't even put forward someone that they didn't want at all to win. ",
"It does happen, but if I remember correctly you cannot be registered to multiple parties.\n\nThis means that you couldn't vote in your actual primary.\n\nThis election is divided on all fronts, the Republicans have several major candidates and the Democrats have two and it's a rare case where if the party gets a particular candidate then people might vote defensively for the other party in the actual election.\n\n",
"That is why many states are \"Closed\" primaries, where only declared party members vote in each parties balloting. \n\n26 states either have fully closed, or semi closed (you can declare party on the day of). \n\nSo in an Open Primary state it could happen, but in a Closed State by joining one you have already removed yourself from being able to vote in the other party's primary that day, to prevent that from happening. ",
"One of the factors against this is that the primary is more than just the Presidential election. You have President, Congress, possibly a Senate election depending on the 6-year cycle. At a State level you may have State legislators, possibly Governors, probably various other State posts. Then you have local offices--County Commissioners and the like. And some areas elect various levels of Judges. \n\nI fully expect somewhere on the order of 30 positions on the ballot in November, so when the primary comes, if my party's Presidential candidate is decided, do I flip over in an iffy attempt to \"sabotage\" the competition, or do I make sure I get the strongest candidates in all of the others? Because, quite frankly, the guys who decide what roads get build where and how late bars can be open actually have more influence on people's day to day lives than the President."
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2efztq | why all the censorship on reddit in relation to the whole zoe quin thing | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2efztq/eli5why_all_the_censorship_on_reddit_in_relation/ | {
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"Mods claim it was due to the thread being \"out of control\" which I find laughable. Many legitimate posts were banned while other ones, supporting Quinn, remained. People have also been banned for upvoting posts that are anti-Zoe, speaking out about Zoe or questioning prettyy much anything at all. \n\nEach and every silly excuse I have read from mods doesn't justify the actions they have taken to silence people. If you don't believe me go look at the circlejerk Zoe Quinn AMA. Notice a lack of proper questions pertaining to what is going on? \n\nTl;Dr Mods/Reddit are(is) once again trying to pull the wool over your eyes. ",
"Doxxing. Most of the videos and the like include serious levels of personal information of Zoe Quinn and other people involved in the issue. So it's getting censored, because disclosure of personal information is against Reddit's rules.",
"Also, what started the whole Quinn controversy was the rantings of a jilted lover; not exactly an unbiased source with credible verisimilitude.\n\nQuinn's game got publicity because of her public complaints about sexual harassment, the game got mostly good reviews from journalists, but far worse reviews from gamers. So the elements of the story pre-existed. The ex-boyfriend's exposition combined those points together in a salicious and compelling manner.\n\nIf Quinn would not have publicly complained about sexual harassment, then a story about who she sleeps with would be far less salient. If the allegations are accurate, then it leads us to ask if the 'harassment' she cited was from men who perceived/knew her as someone willing to use sex to get ahead."
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m08r9 | why the body can kill some viruses like the common cold but not others like hiv. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/m08r9/eli5_why_the_body_can_kill_some_viruses_like_the/ | {
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"Rhetorical question for a 5 year old:\nWhy can a gun kill the mortal man but not superman?\n\nCause they're different. Superman is a badass, common cold is not.\n\naddendum:\nHIV has proteins and functions inherent in the DNA makeup of the virus which allow it certain functions not available to the separately evolved common cold virus. HIV is able to evade the immune system and actually uses white blood cells to replicate.\n\nAlso, it is a bit off to say the common cold virus is \"killed\". Many viruses are integrated into your body permanently. Herpes for instance never goes away, it lingers in the periphery of your nervous system. The common cold \"virus\" probably never goes away fully either. Rather your immune system flares up in response to the presnece of it, then as the infection is under control your symptoms go away (runny nose, headaches, muscle aches etc). I really don't know wheter a cold virus is fully eradicated since your immune system maintains \"awareness\" of how to fight a particular infection and that's where immunization comes from. (totally totally dumbed down, I know, from reality)\n\nsomeone better can come along and offer more technically correct answers, but that's my try at it.",
"T-cells are the Alarms of our body. The T-cell attaches itself to the invading virus such as the RhinoVirus, also knows as the common cold, sends off chemical signals letting passing white blood cells know to attack. \n\nHowever, in the case of HIV, It infects the T-cells themselves. In essence, the body doesn't even know its there. The T-cell attaches itself to the HIV virus and becomes infected in the process.\n\nThen the normal process of the virus turning the infected cell into a virus producing plant continues, the cell produces so many viruses that it explodes and then the cycle repeats.",
"HIV is like a Blue Spy in Tf2. It takes the \"skin\" (cell membrane) of your cells and uses it to hide from your body's Red Team(immune T-cells). It also has a hack(reverse transcriptase) to infiltrate your spawn point(DNA) and stay there killing the entire Red Team at a rate faster then they can respawn. Eventually the rest of the Blue Team classes (opportunistic infections) go on to capture the flag(kill you).",
"* The body kills huge numbers of HIV\n* There is a mechanical reason why HIV is difficult to attack - it is particularly simple. More parts means the body has more different targets; HIV has few targets.\n* It mutates extremely rapidly. The body builds immunity for one variant, then another proliferates. All HIV patients retain all variants and have many variants over time, all starting from the first.\n* It so happens that HIV targets the immune system, but that does not come into play except at advanced stages.",
"Your body is like a house and your immune system is like Macaulay Culkin. It sets lots of booby traps for where the burgalars might enter. These will get most viruses, even if they get past a few, just like in Home Alone. Some viruses, like HIV, have learned where the traps are and figured out ways to avoid them. \n\nIn this scenario, the traps are Pattern Recognition Receptors, Antibodies, MHC Class I, TRIM5alpha, APOBEC3G, complement, NK cells, T cells, IFN-gamma, apoptotic pathways, etc. \n\nTrap evasion strategies differ by virus, some of HIV's are it's envelope, gp120, gp41, Vif, cyclophilin A binding, etc.",
"Rhetorical question for a 5 year old:\nWhy can a gun kill the mortal man but not superman?\n\nCause they're different. Superman is a badass, common cold is not.\n\naddendum:\nHIV has proteins and functions inherent in the DNA makeup of the virus which allow it certain functions not available to the separately evolved common cold virus. HIV is able to evade the immune system and actually uses white blood cells to replicate.\n\nAlso, it is a bit off to say the common cold virus is \"killed\". Many viruses are integrated into your body permanently. Herpes for instance never goes away, it lingers in the periphery of your nervous system. The common cold \"virus\" probably never goes away fully either. Rather your immune system flares up in response to the presnece of it, then as the infection is under control your symptoms go away (runny nose, headaches, muscle aches etc). I really don't know wheter a cold virus is fully eradicated since your immune system maintains \"awareness\" of how to fight a particular infection and that's where immunization comes from. (totally totally dumbed down, I know, from reality)\n\nsomeone better can come along and offer more technically correct answers, but that's my try at it.",
"T-cells are the Alarms of our body. The T-cell attaches itself to the invading virus such as the RhinoVirus, also knows as the common cold, sends off chemical signals letting passing white blood cells know to attack. \n\nHowever, in the case of HIV, It infects the T-cells themselves. In essence, the body doesn't even know its there. The T-cell attaches itself to the HIV virus and becomes infected in the process.\n\nThen the normal process of the virus turning the infected cell into a virus producing plant continues, the cell produces so many viruses that it explodes and then the cycle repeats.",
"HIV is like a Blue Spy in Tf2. It takes the \"skin\" (cell membrane) of your cells and uses it to hide from your body's Red Team(immune T-cells). It also has a hack(reverse transcriptase) to infiltrate your spawn point(DNA) and stay there killing the entire Red Team at a rate faster then they can respawn. Eventually the rest of the Blue Team classes (opportunistic infections) go on to capture the flag(kill you).",
"* The body kills huge numbers of HIV\n* There is a mechanical reason why HIV is difficult to attack - it is particularly simple. More parts means the body has more different targets; HIV has few targets.\n* It mutates extremely rapidly. The body builds immunity for one variant, then another proliferates. All HIV patients retain all variants and have many variants over time, all starting from the first.\n* It so happens that HIV targets the immune system, but that does not come into play except at advanced stages.",
"Your body is like a house and your immune system is like Macaulay Culkin. It sets lots of booby traps for where the burgalars might enter. These will get most viruses, even if they get past a few, just like in Home Alone. Some viruses, like HIV, have learned where the traps are and figured out ways to avoid them. \n\nIn this scenario, the traps are Pattern Recognition Receptors, Antibodies, MHC Class I, TRIM5alpha, APOBEC3G, complement, NK cells, T cells, IFN-gamma, apoptotic pathways, etc. \n\nTrap evasion strategies differ by virus, some of HIV's are it's envelope, gp120, gp41, Vif, cyclophilin A binding, etc."
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cz3wi7 | how is weather so unpredictable? why can you have 0% chance of rain when you go to sleep and wake up to hours of thunderstorms.? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cz3wi7/eli5_how_is_weather_so_unpredictable_why_can_you/ | {
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"Weather is really complicated issue, there are many many inputs you have to know to predict weather (like temperature, wind speed, humidity, clouds etc). What is more weather is phenomenon we can describe as highly sensitive to initial conditions. So let say you make two weather simulations, and the only difference between those simulations is let say 1 degree temperature difference. You will find that this tiny difference will make huge difference in results, and this difference grows very quickly over time. So at beginning simulations result would be similar, but over time differences will grow very quickly. In reality many phenomenons are sensitive to initial condition, think about throwing a dice. You try to throw dice twice in the same way, but in both cases result is basically random, small differences in initial conditions make huge difference in the result.\n\nTo add to this you cannot know every variable (temp, wind etc.) in every point in space, so you have to make some approximations. So connect those two, we cannot know every variable with perfect accuracy, and weather is highly dependent on initial conditions. Result: we cannot predict weather perfectly."
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24cxtq | how can data travel at the speed of light while electrons travel at a speed of 1 meter per day through a wire? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24cxtq/eli5_how_can_data_travel_at_the_speed_of_light/ | {
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"Most data is transferred via optic fibre, so it travels literally at the speed of light.\n\nStill, even normal wires (obviously) move data faster than 1 metre per day. The individual electrons move back and forth, but they bump into each other so the chain reaction travels much easier than the electrons themselves can manage.",
"The energy is stored in the electromagnetic wave around the wire. The wave propagates at the speed of light.\n\nThe electrons merely allow the electro magnetic field to be created.\n\nFor simple proof that the energy is all 'outside' the wire, think about how a transformer works. You have two coils - that don't touch - yet the electrical energy moves from one to the other.",
"Whilst the electrons themselves move slowly, the \"shockwave\" of the charge wave front moves at lightspeed. cf. sound travells at around 350 m/s, but the air itself doesn't move (except for a small amount back/forth as vibrations).",
"I'm not sure where you are getting that speed from. But the speed at which energy or signals travel down a cable is actually the speed of the electromagnetic wave, not the movement of electrons.\n\nData transmission is simply machines looking for changes in energy along a cable. In the case of electrical signalling over copper cables you're looking at changes in the electromagnetic field, the intensity of that field and perhaps the phase of the wave being sent down a wire. But electrical signaling is much more susceptible to electromagnetic interference and attenuation. So sometimes the signal needs to be resent. That can affect the speed of transmission.\n\nWith fiber optics, a transmitter converts electronic information into pulses of light. A pulse equates to a one, while no pulse is zero. Fiber does not have these limitations and thus can transmit at a faster speed. \n\nEither way as your data travels across the internet your signal will be change from electrical to optical and optical to electrical many times. All of this will have an effect on your transmission rate.\n\nJust in case wanted to see how quickly your PC can reach different hops along the internet you can try this.\n\n\nIf you are using a Windows machine click on the start button. Then type \"CMD\" into the search text box and hit enter. This will open a black window.\n \nType the command \"tracert 4.2.2.2\" this will run a trace route to 4.2.2.2 which is a public DNS server hosted by LEVEL 3.\n\nAs the program runs you'll see each hop on your packets path to 4.2.2.2. (Don't worry about any \"Request time out\" messages. Not all machines respond to ICMP) Here is a sample output:\n\n\n > Tracing route to _URL_1_ [4.2.2.2]\n\n > over a maximum of 30 hops:\n\n > 1 < 1 ms < 1 ms < 1 ms 192.168.0.1\n\n > 2 * * * Request timed out.\n\n > 3 6 ms 5 ms 6 ms 68.85.162.74\n\n > 4 13 ms 8 ms 9 ms _URL_2_ [68.86.90.57]\n\n > 5 95 ms 100 ms 90 ms _URL_4_ [10.1.169.45]\n\n > 6 10 ms 8 ms 9 ms _URL_0_ [10.2.16.133]\n\n > 7 11 ms 13 ms 12 ms _URL_3_ [4.31.16.153]\n\n > 8 11 ms 11 ms 12 ms _URL_5_ [4.69.155.80]\n\n > 9 12 ms 10 ms 10 ms _URL_1_ [4.2.2.2]\n\n\nEach of those numbers first three numbers represents a RTT or Round Trip Time in milliseconds. The tracert command sends three packets to check this to give you a rough idea of network conditions.",
"If you imagine wires like long tubes and electrons like small beads. Lets say this long tube was full of beads crammed really tight. Now if you were to push one bead in at one end, a bead will fall out of the other at almost the exact same time.\n\nObviously whats going on is alot more complex than this, but visualizing electricity in this way always helped me to understand it better."
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2wqk69 | why are standard home lightbulb sockets shaped the way they are? | The standard socket and corresponding shape of a lightbulb base seem far too large, and honestly downright strange. I was curious if there was some historical reason for it, or perhaps some design element that I did not know about. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wqk69/eli5_why_are_standard_home_lightbulb_sockets/ | {
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"I guess to answer this we'd have to know what exactly you find weird about them. \n\nTo me it makes perfect sense to have a threaded cylinder that secures the bulbs and make it easy to replace."
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3zt7yi | if video games require more use of the brain than something like reading, why are they considered to "rot your brain?" | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3zt7yi/eli5_if_video_games_require_more_use_of_the_brain/ | {
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"They don't. This is just something moms tell their kids so they won't sit on their asses all day.",
"Video games don't \"rot your brain\". If anything they force you to think and bring out creativity. Some games more than others. People that say that 1: Don't know what they're talking about. Or 2: Don't want his or her kid playing video games all day."
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b1un02 | why is it that the slower i go in a car, the tighter the turn is? even though my wheels are at the exact same angle. | Sorry if this is the wrong flair, I was stuck between maths and physics. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b1un02/eli5_why_is_it_that_the_slower_i_go_in_a_car_the/ | {
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"That would be due to slippage, and is called understeer. It happens because, when the wheels have to push very hard to change your car's direction, they start to lose traction. At lower speeds they don't have to push as hard, so they slip less.",
"I'm not science savvy, but from what I know it's not necessarily that you are going slower, but that your are not excellerating; when you're turning you're essentially redirecting your momentum, so that momentum is still trying to push straight ahead while your wheels are cut to make a turn. Thus, it affects how sharp the turn will be."
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a81kor | how do steroids cure illnesses? | I have bronchitis and a sinus infection and they prescribed me steroids, how does something like that cure mucus build up and infections? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a81kor/eli5_how_do_steroids_cure_illnesses/ | {
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"Steroids are a whole class of medications. They're not all muscle builders/recovery minimizers. The steroid you were likely prescribed was prednisone, and it serves as an anti-inflammatory which is going to assist your lungs in dealing with the bronchitis.",
"The bronchioles secrete excess mucous when inflammed. The anti-inflammatory properties of steroids reduce this. They do nothing to treat the infection that caused the imflammation, they only treat the symptoms. You don't always need to medications to fight the infection. Sometimes it's enough to treat the effects the infections is causing and let the body fight the infection.",
"\"Steroid\" is a class of organic molecules. Most people hear steroid and think of people shooting up in the gym, but that isn't the whole story. Steroids serve two main purposes: structural and signaling. The drug that you were given serves the second purpose. \n\nThink of your body as a massive work shop/factory. It builds and maintains all kinds of things, and has teams of workers setting on the sideline just waiting to go to work if something breaks. Steroids (whether naturally produced or taken via a drug) act as a messenger from management running from the office down to the workshop floor to tell the workers of a particular area of the shop to go to work. If the in-house messengers are slacking, then you can hire third party messengers to come in and pick up the slack.\n\nAnalogy aside: Steroids are, in this case, signaling molecules that activate your existing building/repair systems. Taking steroid medication can speed up the rate at which your body gears up these systems to fix your problem. Exactly how the problem gets fixed depends on what the problem is, and what type of steroid you take. "
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2jr9st | why does depression rebound so hard, the happier you were? | I'm scared of good things happening to me cause the sadness will hit me that much harder when my depression kicks in again. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jr9st/eli5_why_does_depression_rebound_so_hard_the/ | {
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"Because you had the taste in your mouth and you were just that close...\n\nBut here you are again. Crying quietly to yourself about how you screwed up all your chances for love and happiness years ago. But here you are again. Wishing you could change the past. But here you are again. Trying to sleep in mom's drafty basement. But here you are again. You worthless fuck.\n\n\nThat being said: \"If you want something you've never had, you've got to do something you've never done.\" \n\nStew on it.",
"Because depression worsens with each episode, regardless of how you were feeling in the interstitial periods. \n\nWhile there's still a lot of discussion about whether depression causes any actual neurological damage. We do know that it does cause cognitive and emotional damage. And that damage is just as hard to overcome as neurological effects.",
"As someone who suffers from depression, I understand the feeling you describe. The simple answer is it's because you have further to fall.\n\nImagine this. You pick a ball up off of level ground. The act of you picking up that ball and holding it in your hand gives it *potential energy* because you're resisting gravity to keep that ball in the air. The ball is storing the gravitational energy. You drop the ball at your feet and it falls until it hits the ground. Once it stops, it's at it's lowest state of energy.\n\nNow imagine the same situation but instead of dropping the ball at your feet, you drop it off a cliff. The ball has a lot further to go before it hits the ground. If you want to get that ball, you have to expend more energy to go get it, then fight gravity to bring it back up the cliff.\n\nWhen your depression kicks in again, your baseline mood level is at the bottom of that cliff. It now takes more intense events to affect your mood for the greater because it not only has to bring you to the top of the cliff, but it has to first bring you to the top of that cliff, then above it.\n\nIf you seem to notice a pattern with your depression, such as it comes along around this time of the year, you might have S.A.D, which is Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is characterized by periods of depression towards the fall and winter months as the days get shorter and it is definitely a real and shitty thing to deal with. You're not only battling the world, you're battling your own mind and body.\n\nI know how hard it is to stay positive when you're feeling worse than shit...when things feel so bad that it seems you just don't fit in - you're a square peg in a world for round holes. You see hundreds of people around you and you still feel alone. Your brain is your own worst enemy. It is betraying you..reminding you how much you suck...how much of a piece of shit you are, how no one likes you. It keeps you awake and torturing you with the lack of sleep. You're always tired...exhausted - both physically and mentally, even if you didn't do anything. It kills your appetite or even makes it insatiable..you can't resist that bag of candy or chips. You begin to push away from things that you once enjoyed as if they were ebola. You're now left with nothing except the dark thoughts that haunt your mind. But it's not true...it's a facade...it's your mind playing tricks on you. It's not real.\n\nAt some point you have to realize that the only thing that can begin to make you feel better is *you.* You are an incredible person. You have made it this far in life and you're still going. Not only that, you're asking the right questions - *why do I feel this way?*. Good question. *Why?*\n\n Fuck everything in the past...it's called the past for a reason because you found a way to push forward, through whatever suck got in your way. You're now in the *present* - it's called that because it's a gift...it's a blank check for your future and you're the one holding the pen.\n\nThe next question you need to ask yourself is, *How?* As in, *How do I make myself happy?* and, *How can I make myself a better person?*\n\nAs much as your friends and family care about you and want to see you successful, *you* have to find what motivates you to be successful. *You* need to find something to get your momentum going towards reaching positive goals and keep pushing forward until it hurts...I had to force myself to be positive to the point where it literally physically hurt because it was just so mentally exhausting. Once you get to that point, things become easier as time goes by. You learn more positive ways to cope with your depression and anxiety.\n\nStart with something small - clean your room even if it's one small thing at a time...\nDo a few pushups, perhaps run around the block. Stay hydrated and eat right. Maintain proper hygiene and just treat your body right. If you at least treat your body right, your mind and mood will treat you right.\n\nNow here's the other thing. There's nothing wrong with seeking help. In fact, it's important to know when you should. Of course you can *always* seek professional help, there are times when you *need* to seek it such as if you feel thoughts of hurting or killing yourself or someone else. With that in mind, it's important to go see a doctor if you're feeling depressed to help face your troubles head on. \n\nHere's something for you: At the end of the day, write down 5 positive things that made you feel happy that day. Even something that put a small smirk on your face...no matter how silly you think it is. At the end of each week, read the list of the past 7 days.\nSee? There are things that still made you happy. Reach towards those positive events and make them more plentiful. I know how hard it might seem at the time, but you have to force yourself to make the best of the worst situations; Find the positive in the negative *until it hurts.*\n\nAt the end of the day, there's only one person that matters most in your life and that is you. Get moving."
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