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a2uuu6 | how do football clubs know who in a stadium has committed an offence in order to ban them? | As in [the man being banned from Tottenham games for throwing a banana at a black player on the pitch](_URL_0_), and numerous other incidents of people being banned from football grounds for offences including shouting racist/homophobic abuse and throwing things on the pitch, how are the clubs able to find and identify who amongst the tens of thousands of spectators committed the abuse in order to ban them? They can't have cameras pointed at all areas of the stadium in enough detail to know who did what, or be able to hear who shouted what, surely? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a2uuu6/eli5_how_do_football_clubs_know_who_in_a_stadium/ | {
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"CCTV surveillance and a security staff.\n\nThere is usually at least one guard per section watching the crowd."
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"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46422171"
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3rh2ny | why does draining a large body of water cause it to form a vortex? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3rh2ny/eli5_why_does_draining_a_large_body_of_water/ | {
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"You know how a dancer or skater spins fast when they pull their arms close to their bodies? Or how you can spin faster or slower on a rotating chair by adjusting your arms and legs? Well, it is the same story with a draining container.\n\nThere will be some rotation in the body of water. As the water moves towards the drain, that rotation will be concentrated, creating a vortex.",
"The vortex that forms is caused by the physical principle called angular momentum. Let us assume a straight walled circular pond, with a drain at the center bottom. As the water begins to drain, the flow of water comes from the edges towards the center. This creates momentum at an angle from the direction the water is actually being allowed to move - straight down. The further (and thus faster) the water travels on the way towards the drain point, the more angular momentum it has.\n\nYou can envision this as a golf ball just barely hitting the hole - it skirts around the edge of the cup before dropping in (Or if you're really unlucky, skirts the edge and changes direction before not going in). More or less the same is happening to the water. It has speed in a direction that isn't straight down the drain.\n\nThis is what forms the vortex. A common misconception is that the direction (and the cause of the vortex) is the Coriolis effect, which is caused by the earth's rotation. This is actually not true. Although you can create conditions where you can observe the coriolis force creating vortexes that always go in the same direction (Depending on your hemisphere), most times the direction of the vortex is random, if the shape of the vessel or the drain doesn't affect the direction the vortex would form.",
"Drill a hole in a table. Attach a ball to a string, and thread the string through the hole. Roll the ball in a random direction on the table, and start pulling the string. The closer you pull the ball toward the hole, the faster it will spin around the hole. Depending on the starting random direction, the spin will either be clockwise or counter clockwise. If you did this with a large number of balls, each with a different starting direction, the balls spinning in opposite directions would bounce into each each and cancel their spin. If the clockwise spinning balls exactly balanced the counterclockwise spinning balls, then all the spinning would stop. But this is unlikely. In most cases, there would be slightly more of one kind of spin, and that would dominate as the balls reached the center to form a vortex.\n\nThis is the same process that causes the planets to spin around the sun, and the Saturn’s rings to spin. Only in space, there is no friction, so they keep spinning and don’t spiral to the center. The solar system and Saturn’s rings stay mostly in one plane because the collisions cancel all motion out of the plane, but not the spinning motion once everything is spinning in the same direction.\n"
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yoaa5 | why is the us national debt/spending preventing businesses from creating jobs? | I live in a swing state and every ad/billboard points out spending is preventing job growth. I don't understand what government spending has to do with private business and job creation. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yoaa5/eli5_why_is_the_us_national_debtspending/ | {
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"Yeah, it's kind of convoluted.\n\nThe argument is that if federal spending goes unchecked, then people will have less faith in the government's ability to repay its debts. If that's the case, then people will be less willing to buy treasury bonds, and so the interest rates will go up. Since every other interest rate (in particular, commercial loans) is more or less based on the yield of treasury bills, that will make it harder for companies to borrow money to expand and hire more people.\n\nIt's a tenuous connection at best, especially as, despite our mounting debt and then continual log jam in D.C., interest rates are at historical lows. Not to mention that the private sector has plenty of capital, but are not hiring anyway.",
"The truth is that had we reduced spending (and accumulating more debt), we would have even higher unemployment. \n\nThat spending has gone toward paying people who are government employees, buying goods (that people are paid to make), services (provided by people), extended unemployment benefits to people who lost their jobs, etc.\n\nThen come the 'multipliers': each person who was directly or indirectly paid by governmental expenditures then turned around and spent much of their money to landlords, grocers, mechanics, plumbers, entertainers, etc. And then *those* people turned around and spent money. Cutting governmental spending would have rippled outwards to, well, practically everyone... either as reduced income or more lost jobs.\n\nWe do need to stop spending more money than is coming in... but trying that during a recession is a very dangerous thing to do. Shutting down ongoing spending is guaranteed to throw more people into dire straits. A less dangerous approach is to keep spending but try to restructure how & where the money is spent, aiming for greater efficiencies and savings over time. This is one of the economic justifications for ObamaCare, and it (or something similar, or even more drastic) is essential for controlling the growth of greatly-increased anticipated healthcare expenses in the future.\n\nThe political & ideological challenges to fixing our problems come largely from vastly different worldviews. Some believe *'Government is the problem'* and *'Free markets are more efficient than central planning'*. Some believe *'Government should help those who cannot help themselves'* and *'Corporate greed is syphoning huge amounts of wealth out of our economy'*. The truth is probably somewhere in between (and even at the extremes supporters' positions are more nuanced, of course). There has always been such polarization in politics and policy-making... but currently the polarization is so intense that compromise and cross-party cooperation is more the exception than the rule.\n\nI *personnally* lean to the left, and am more supportive of Democratic over Republican approaches for four main reasons: \n\n* Democrats are more sympathetic to avoiding drastic cuts during the economic downturn, while Republicans emphasize such an approach despite having been mostly silent about fiscal prudence during the previous administration, \n\n* Despite all the hostile rhetoric Democrats have *at least* as good an overall economic record as Republicans, \n\n* The GOP doesn't seem to be doing much more than talking about the economy and the 'need' for reducing high-margin taxes, while giving lip-service to small government *at the very same time they vigorously push for greater theology-based social control*, and\n\n* After decades of moving ever-further to the right, I simply believe it's time for the pendulum to swing back the other way. \n\nThere are no perfect answers. Ideology is not going to solve anything; what we need is a return to an environment where it's okay to compromise and cooperate across the aisle. Perhaps it's confirmation-bias on my own part, but I do see the GOP as being the bigger obstructionists these days. I respect conservatives, and I think we need more of them, instead of the neo-con theocrats we are mostly stuck with.\n\n(The contorted efforts to fix 'Voter Fraud'--a practically nonexistent problem--by making it more difficult for large numbers of citizens to vote... while 'Election Fraud' is much more widespread, but unfortunately mostly ignored, and happening mostly to the benefit of one particular party... umm, let me just say that such efforts would be better directed toward ensuring the integrity of voting machines and methods.)\n\nSorry for turning an answer into a speech. But the question is tied up with literally everything we are doing at policy levels. We are soon unavoidably going to be faced with either a return to political comity... or the need for a hopefully-amicable divorce. In the extreme case, we can legally have secession, if we handle it through Constitutional Convention. That would probably be very damaging to us in many ways, but might be the best possible thing we could do for the rest of the world.\n\n**TL;DR:** Much of the 20th century was about the struggle between Capitalism and Communism. A successful 21st century will require a synthesis between them, or at least between their professed goals."
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tbhxn | austerity | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/tbhxn/eli5_austerity/ | {
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"Kids, when you were small, Daddy took some money from Mr. Jones. Daddy gambled the money away. Mr. Jones wants his money back. Daddy has no money to pay him. Daddy is going to take you kids out of school on Monday. You will now go to a new place. In this new place you don't need teachers any more. You can instead make shoes! Isn't that exciting?! You get to make shoes all day! Daddy will take that money to pay Mr. Jones. Daddy might even have some left over to go gambling again.",
"Austerity as in, \"austerity measures\" is the general idea of cutting government spending on benefits and public spending.\n\nThis can include everything from social security to unemployment to (government) pensions. \n\nSo the basic idea behind austerity is to reign in spending. If your government spends more than it makes (in taxes and other revenue), you end up with a growing deficit -- like if a person paid for a bunch of stuff they can't afford with a credit card instead of living within how much they actually make. \n\nLets look at a fairly common government benefit: social security. So you work, you pay your taxes, and you retire. When you retire you get a monthly check to help pay for your living expenses.\n\nNow lets say the country isn't doing well so they start to talk about cutting spending on social security or maybe bumping the age at which you're eligible for it.\n\nNow this bothers a lot of people because of many different reasons, but one is typically that they feel that it's an issue of fairness -- haven't they been paying the same amount of taxes as previous beneficiary? Shouldn't they get same benefits? or not have to wait 5 more years to retire? \n\nHowever this extends to more than just social security. Technically, any public benefit from the government could be under scrutiny or even government jobs in general.\n\nOn the other hand, if a government spends a lot on those sorts of things, it's not necessarily a crazy idea to make cuts there. The issue is that no one (in politics) can really agree on if they should happen nor where to draw the line if they (the cuts) do.\n",
"Don't forget to [use the search function](_URL_0_)",
"Austerity generally means that social services (retirement, tax rates, government salaries) are reduced so that the government has more money on hand to pay back it's debts.\n\nThere is a counter argument that says that austerity is bad and doesn't produce the desired results. Those folks believe additional spending and \"public works\" projects help to stimulate economies and will actually produce the revenue needed to pay back debt.",
"fewer social services for the people, because rich, incompetent, greedy jerks have messed up things up for everybody.",
"The government has realized they have spent too much money and they are in too much debt to pay off. \n\nGovernment's make money by taxing. They can't just tax more becuase people are already hurting from their government's poor decisions in the past. So they decide to cut what they are spending from these taxes, but it's too late so the cuts are too drastic in such a small time frame. People get mad because they pay tax but don't get anything in return.\n\nThe easiest way to prevent this austerity problem is for governments to realize earlier on they are spending too much so that they can do smaller cutbacks instead of big drastic ones which hurt.\n\n",
"Austerity is a big word for the rules that a person follows when they're being responsible. \n\nIt comes in all shapes and sizes. For example, it could be as easy as telling the truth about how much is in your piggy bank when people ask, or as hard as keeping ALL your promises when you make them. ESPECIALLY the ones where you promise your friends cookies once your mom is done baking them. \n\nUsually the rules are forced on someone who hasn't followed them very well recently. The adults hope that by forcing the rules on them, they'll be more trustworthy, because now they can be sure they'll play nice with other kids.\n\nIt's a good plan, but lately it hasn't quite worked out so well. It runs out, most of the other kids on the playground don't want to play with someone who has extra rules on them. They wonder if that means the kid is *bad*. So, even though the adults put more rules around a kid precisely s he would play more nicely with others, it backfires a lot.",
"In a private household, austerity means spending less and saving more. In a nation, austerity means shifting the tax burden to those least able to pay taxes by cutting employment and reducing taxes to the highest earners.\nUsually, austerity is a near-death experience for an economy."
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ytsu6 | why do products that have a yearly title use the next year instead of the current one (e.g. ncaa football 2013, ford 2013 models)? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ytsu6/eli5_why_do_products_that_have_a_yearly_title_use/ | {
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"They're designed for the next year."
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2wkpgf | what does it mean when energy drinks say 300% vitamin b6? | Hey guys I wanted to know what it means to have 300% vitamin B-12 or B-6 like it is written on certain energy drinks. For example:
_URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wkpgf/eli5_what_does_it_mean_when_energy_drinks_say_300/ | {
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"It contains 300% of you daily recommended intake of vitamin B6.",
"It's the recommended daily dose. How much of a substance you need in a day in order to have the theoretically perfect nutrition as calculated by a governmental agency based on clinical research.\n\nEating less than the recommended dose will lead you to have deficiencies, which can be bad, and eating too much can lead to overdoses, possibly toxic effects.\n\nSome people mistakenly believe that megadosing on vitamins (taking much more than your body needs) helps \"boost\" the immune system and give you \"more energy\" and all kinds of crap, but in reality the excess is filtered out by your kidneys and ends up as very expensive pee.\n\nFor vitamin B6, the recommended dose is around 1.3mg/day and it's considered to be in toxic doses around 50mg/day."
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7nw6np | how does half sodium salt work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7nw6np/eli5_how_does_half_sodium_salt_work/ | {
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"It's something that is trying to approximate the taste of salt, but has less sodium chloride in it. \n\nThe LoSalt product uses potassium chloride. Potassium is right below sodium on the periodic table of elements, so it will bond to chlorine in the same way. It has a salt like taste, but no sodium."
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1jdjpm | the impeachment of bill clinton | I've never really understood how having an extramarital affair is a constitutional reason to impeach the President. Can someone clarify as to why Clinton was impeached? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jdjpm/eli5_the_impeachment_of_bill_clinton/ | {
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"First of all, I don't believe there needs to be any real reason to impeach the president. To remove from office it requires a serious offense, but he wasn't removed from office.\n\nThat being said the impeachment wasn't that he had an affair, it was that he lied under oath, which is kind of a big deal."
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3ucsrq | why south american countries are not and don't want to get involved in world politics? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ucsrq/eli5why_south_american_countries_are_not_and_dont/ | {
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"Some South American countries are very involved in world politics. Brazil for example is a pretty big player, and Venezuela is heavily involved, if not particularly influential, in global politics.\n\nSome of the smaller countries though have made the same decision that small countries all over the world have made. That they are better served focusing on local and regional issues and that getting involved in big international slap-fights can only hurt them."
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3dohqj | what is the difference between renting to own a home and purchasing a home, and what are the requirements for home-buying? | Please...
ELI5: what is the difference between renting to own a home and purchasing a home, and what are the requirements for home-buying? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3dohqj/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_renting_to/ | {
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"rent-to-own is an agreement between you and the real owner to transfer ownership after certain criteria are met.\n\nIf you get a mortgage from the bank, your home is yours (but it is also collateral for the home loan).",
"When you have a mortgage (in the US)\n\n- the interest you pay is tax deductible\n- the property taxes you pay are tax deductible (off your federal income tax)\n- the principal you pay goes towards YOUR equity in the house\n\nthese things do not apply if you are renting-to-own\n\nThe \"requirements\" for buying a house are having enough money to buy the house you want, or having good enough credit to convince the bank to loan you the money. That's about it."
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80zhf5 | how does gas compression work? highschool chemistry taught me that various states of matter are the same thing just molecularly tighter. why is a compressed gas not just liquid? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/80zhf5/eli5_how_does_gas_compression_work_highschool/ | {
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"Only because it has not been compressed *enough* or is too hot. Keep compressing and cooling it, you get liquid.",
"Super compressed gas *does* become a liquid for most gasses (though I think a few gasses like hydrogen get kinda funky there instead). Compressing gasses brings the molecules closer together, but most gasses need to be compressed quite a bit (or cooled down a lot, or some combination of both) before they actually transition to a liquid phase.\n\nCheck out \"phase diagrams\" when you get a chance, they show the combinations of temperature and pressure for a given material where the material is a gas, liquid, or solid and can help you to see where things will switch from one to another.",
"It does become a liquid if you keep compressing it without changing the temperature externally. You can even do the reverse which is change from liquid to vapor by decreasing pressure. Look at videos of hypobaric chambers activating, there is a sudden mist that accumulates in the room because of pressure change."
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3k73vd | is it still solicitation for sex if i ask a hooker to make me a sandwich for what ever she charges then we both consent to have sex afterwards? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3k73vd/eli5is_it_still_solicitation_for_sex_if_i_ask_a/ | {
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"I am fairly sure this is how a lot of escort services work without getting into too much trouble. You pay for the \"date\" and if sex happens, well that's between two consenting adults!\n\nI think you may need an actual lawyer to answer this question as it is probably incredibly complex and would vary based on states/countries.",
"If you can convince a jury that all you paid for was the sandwich then yes. That would be a pretty weak defense, but you're more then welcome to try it."
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6zmosr | how hushing came to be the sound we use when we want people to be quiet. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6zmosr/eli5_how_hushing_came_to_be_the_sound_we_use_when/ | {
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"I always wondered about the same thing and quite recently I discovered that the hushing sound is the most common sound you can make with your mouth to calm down a newborn baby: they naturally calm down when they hear vibrations and white noises.\n\nI wouldn't be surprised it just came out from this: a lot of pèarents who are used to hush to silence and calm their babies and simply go on doing that when they grow up, and, bang, you create the international conventional sound for silencing.\n\n^there ^is ^nothing ^scientific ^about ^this, ^only ^personal ^observation",
"Seems like if you want someone to be quiet, and you want to let them know that using a sound, you'd choose the quietest sound possible. I mean, shouting \"HEY BE QUIET!!!\" sort of defeats the purpose if quiet is what you want. Can you think of any quieter sound you could make than shhh?",
"Harsh hushing is really abrupt. It works on animals too. It shuts everyone up/breaks their focus ",
"Going \"shhhhhh\" makes broadband (white) noise. It's (1) very audible, even when done quietly, and (2) clearly distinct from voices. I think we made a good choice assigning it as the \"be quiet\" sound.\nI bet it doesn't work very well nearby waterfalls or steam valves.",
"One of the reasons it might be so common and effective is that the white noise generated by shushing might sound similar to the flow of blood through arteries which an infant would have experienced while gestating.",
"The Shhhh noise is calming to babies. It's similar to the noises in the womb. So we say Shhhh to sooth a crying/noisy baby. Then the idea that Shhh is a noise that indicates people should be quiet is embedded from birth.\n\nAnd we do that because our parents did it. The cycle continues.",
"When I was in France people would pour a cup of water from their balcony while we were being noisy walking home from the club. This happened on a few occasions.\n\nI was told by locals that this wasn't to try and hit us but to tell us to shut the fuck up. \n\nCould \"Hush\" and \"Shhh\" be linked to flowing water and the calming noise it makes?",
"We make 2 basic sounds, \"hiss\" and \"grunt\", with different mouth shapes. Probably since the first of what you would call intelligent homosapien, if u needed someone around you to be quiet, you would choose the quieter \"hiss\" sound.",
"Unrelated, but me and my friends in middle school used to shhhhh the school cafeteria to a lull. It was kind of a fun social experiment. Pissed off the teachers for some reason. ",
"It might just be that \"Shhhhh!\" is the quickest way to get people to stop whatever it is they're doing and pay attention because primate brains have a strong hard-wired response to a snake's \"hiss\". \n\nFor instance, it's thought that cats hiss and spit and lay their ears flat in order to sound/look more like a snake since so many animals have a strong fear response to them and perhaps without quite realizing why \"hush\" worked so well, humans started using it as a \"Stop! Be quiet/pay attention/danger!\"",
"I was told by a nurse in the birthing center that the \"husssh\" sound mimics the sound a mothers \"white-noise\" that is generated by her digestive tract and circulation system and then transmitted through the amniotic fluid to the childs ear.\n\nI don't know how true this is... but it works.\n\nI think it is probably something similar or it could just be a \"sensory overload\" for the child and a distraction from whatever is bothering them. \nMom: Shhhhhhhhhh\n\nBaby:\"Woah!... what's all this information coming from my ears into my brain... wait... I HAVE ears!?... when was someone going to tell me about this...and why am I thinking in English... I can't even talk or comprehend language yet... now... what was I whining about again?\"\n\nFrom there it just becomes a universal human communication pattern to \"hush\" regardless of age. "
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2z8tbr | why isn't the universe filled with light... or is it? | So let's say a star is 10 light years away. Light is escaping the surface and traveling through space until it hits your eyes, where you see it as a tiny little dot in space. While looking at the star, you move a few feet to the right or left. You still see the same star. You move up or down, you still see the same star. So does that mean the space between your starting and ending position has unbroken streams of photons hitting your eyes? Since photos are particles, wouldn't there have to be an infinite amount being emitted from the star so that the light you see is unbroken as you move around? And since there are immeasurable numbers of stars doing the same thing, wouldn't that mean that every available bit of the universe is filled with photons? But what if there was just one star, wouldn't it alone fill the universe with photons? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2z8tbr/eli5_why_isnt_the_universe_filled_with_light_or/ | {
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"Since the universe only began a finite amount of time ago, not all the light from all stars has had enough time to reach us. And, given the expansion of the universe, some of that light will never reach us.",
"This is known as Olber's paradox. Part of the resolution is that light travels at finite speeds, and the universe is not infinitely old. Thus, there can be objects at such distances that their light has not yet reached us. \n\nAnother part of this is that as the universe expands, distant light we receive is increasingly redshifted. Once it is redshifted enough, that light is no longer visible, such as the cosmic microwave background radiation which we can detect in all directions, but which is invisible to our eyes.\n\n",
"You're on to something that puzzled scientists for a long time. It's known as [Olbers' paradox](_URL_0_) or the \"dark night sky paradox\".\n\nThere are two reasons the night sky isn't bright. The first reason is that the (edit: observable) universe isn't infinite. An infinite observable universe would have an infinite number of stars, so the sky would be filled with light. But a finite observable universe has only a certain number of stars, so the sky has some measurable level of brightness, which ends up being not *that* bright.\n\nThe second reason is that the universe is expanding. All the stars at great distances are accelerating away from one another. So their light gets red-shifted by the Doppler effect. The farther away, the greater the red shift. Much of this light gets red-shifted so far that it's no longer visible to the human eye. However, we can still see it with instruments like radio telescopes. The universe *is* filled with photons, known as the [cosmic microwave background](_URL_1_).",
"Well, everyone here has talked about the Olbers Paradox, but I'd like to point out that the universe *is* actually filled up with light in all regions in all directions.\n\nThis light is called the Cosmic Microwave Background. It is a relic of the last scattering surface, when all photons decoupled from other matter and started streaming freely. \n\nIf you point a radio telescope between galaxies into seemingly empty space, you can see a faint signal of photons, as if released from a perfect blackbody at the temperature 2.725 K. This is the CMB. In fact, photons are the most abundant particles in our universe by this logic. \n\nThis relic bath of thermal radiation pervades our universe. I know this doesn't directly answer your question, as in the way you explained your doubt, but this is just a technical little point. "
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5l9d6y | aren't "gambler's fallacy" and "the rule of averages" at odds with each other? | Aren't they talking about the same thing? So why do they contradict each other? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5l9d6y/eli5_arent_gamblers_fallacy_and_the_rule_of/ | {
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"In the short term, yes. But you're making a mistake if you apply law of average in the short term. Eg, if you flip a coin 5 times and get all heads and assume that will average out over the next 20 flips. Applying it to the short term is essentially the gambler's fallacy.\n\n If you do flip 5 heads in a row, the expected value from that point will be 5 heads more than tails. However, averages are about, well, the average value. An absolute number of 5 heads becomes less and less significant as you continue to flip the coin. ",
"Gambler's fallacy: \"I flipped tails four times. THE NEXT flip MUST be heads because of this.\"\nRule of averages: \"If I flipped the coin a million times, I would have around 500.000 occurances of heads and tails each. So always betting on the same one (either heads or tails) will have the same outcome - me not getting (much) richer or poorer.\"\nDoesn't seem at odds to me.",
"The gambler's fallacy is a common misunderstanding of the rule of averages where people believe that previous rolls give clues about future rolls. So if I were to roll ten dice, and the first five came up even, someone who believes in the gambler's fallacy would believe that the next five will probably be odd, to bring it back towards the average.\n\nIn reality, the rule of averages doesn't include previous rolls. Of the next five dice, we'd expect half to come out even and half to come out odd. The first five rolls were an outlier, an unusual string that happens only very rarely. In the very long term, there'll be another outlier eventually, but there's no reason to think that the outliers will be close together in the lifespan of our dice, or even happen to the same dice we're rolling.\n\nIn essence, the fallacy is to believe that you will personally experience perfectly average results in any sample just because the sum of all data is average.",
"the gambler's fallacy is thinking that the rule of averages applies to one game/day/small time period.\n\nIf a coin lands on heads 5 times in a row, the next flip still has a 50% chance of landing on heads. The law of averages says that over time 50% of the time a coin will land on tails. The gambler's fallacy is that tails is more likely than heads to get back to 50/50, the law of averages is the fact that if the coin lands on 50% heads for the next million flips the total result will be 50/50."
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2n4dop | what causes the giant noise that airplanes make when going over you? | Why the hell are they so loud? Is it their turbines that make the noise or is it the air pressure? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2n4dop/eli5_what_causes_the_giant_noise_that_airplanes/ | {
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"It takes very powerful engines to lift and propel tons of metal and people and luggage through open air. Powerful engines tend to be loud, and this is why most people prefer not to live near a major airport."
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4vhnc9 | why do we bother with antihistamines that make us drowsy when non-drowsy ones exist? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vhnc9/eli5_why_do_we_bother_with_antihistamines_that/ | {
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"Newer antihistamines tend to cause less drowsiness than older ones, though drowsiness is no indicator of effectiveness. My guess for why there are still drowsy and non-drowsy varieties is that some people find it easier to sleep with assistance when they're sick.",
"Take drowsy ones when you go to bed and want to sleep well?",
"Certain drugs work better for different people. The newer generation antihistamines while not causing drowsiness, may not work for some people. Different people have different genomes (the complete set of genes of one person) which affects the way they react to and metabolise certain compounds. \n\nWe still use these drowsy types as they are an alternative to people who do not get the same effect from the newer generations of antihistamines. \n\nIn an ideal world, the latest antihistamine will work perfectly on everyone who takes it, alas this is not the case in reality. Hence why it is good to have many alternative compounds that do the same/similar things. \n\nThis variation is mostly caused by polymorphisms (different versions of genes) in the cytochrome p450s, a fundamentally important series of liver enzymes responsible for metabolising xenobiotics which are any chemical substance that is considered foreign to the body (ie, an antihistamine drug). ",
"Older antihistamines like Benadryl penetrate the blood brain barrier, which is what causes drowsiness. Benadryl also works better than the newer drugs (claritin, allegra, zyrtec). And because they work in different ways, you can take them together. Essentially, folks take Benadryl because it works really well. Some folks only have mild allergies so taking Claritin (which doesn't really work at all for me but works great for my hubby) or Zyrtec (which works great for me but my husband has some minor side effects he dislikes) to avoid the drowsiness, but some folks need something stronger so they continue to take Benadryl. \n\nI am literally allergic to Seattle, so I take Flonase, Zyrtec, Benadryl, Singulair, Pataday, and an albuterol inhaler. It sucks, but the alternative is bronchitis and chronic sinus infections. And, yes, I am working on leaving this city and moving back to a place where 1 Zyrtec a day completely handles my allergies. ",
"The ones that make you drowsy are older, cheaper, possibly more effective, and have a not-insignificant antianxiety effect. If you're trying to fall asleep anyway, why not use them?\n\nThe mental effects of antihistamines are often the reason for taking them.\n\nThe default, middle-of-the-road antihistamine is Benadryl (diphenhydramine). Combine it with caffeine (slightly chemically modified to last longer) and that's Dramamine. A close relative of Benadryl that affects the body less and the brain more is Atarax (hydroxyzine).\n\nAtarax is changed in the body to Zyrtec (cetirizine), so it's useable for chronic and seasonal allergies - you have to take it the night before - but mostly it is prescribed for anxiety, insomnia. Benadryl is commonly used over the counter for the same conditions.\n\nAtarax is nicer, in my experience, since it doesn't make your nose and throat as dry. But, it's prescription only.\n",
"Pseudoephedrine is is why I will shy away from non drowsy antihistamines. Sometimes the side effects are worse then the symptoms. Unfortunately it is getting harder and harder to find basic over the counter, non drowsy, cold and allergy medicine that does not contain this cheap and easy drug.",
"How else are we supposed to get the kids to bed?",
"Some people are allergic to certain antihistamines, but not others. Some people find certain antihistamines less effective than others. It's kind of like pain relievers: I know someone whose body rejects acetaminophen (via vomiting) but not ibuprofen."
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chibyp | how do both eyes move in the exact same way? and why does it cause strain when they don’t (e.g crossing your eyes for too long) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/chibyp/eli5_how_do_both_eyes_move_in_the_exact_same_way/ | {
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"When the nerve going to one eye is stimulated, somewhere along the way that same nerve stimulates the nerve of the opposite eye. So essentially both nerves for each eye are stimulated at the same time when your brain decides to look a certain way.",
"I can answer the first part. There's a pathway of nerves that control our eyes that cross the midline of the brainstem in various areas. The right and left eyes are connected by this pathway and it is responsible for reflexes that control the lateral and medial (to the side and to the middle) muscles of our eyes. This keeps the eyes moving in the same directions. (For more info search Edinger Westphal Nucleus and superior colliculus)\nI'm not sure about crossing the eyes. I'm sure it's extra work for the brain to process the images, so that's probably why it causes headaches after extended periods.\n\nI'm also 3 jack and cokes in though..."
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2dh1f0 | why do some spam email subjects look so obviously fake? | P-H..A_R-M..A-C-E_U-T..I-C-A-L_S --N_O-W!!!
Do they actually believe people will click that? What happens if people DO click it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dh1f0/eli5why_do_some_spam_email_subjects_look_so/ | {
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"For efficiency. To weed out all the smart people that won't fall for the scam so that personnel efforts are only spent on the few that are likely to fall for it.",
"It looks so obviously fake that there is no way it is fake. You should respond. NOW!",
"For the same reason that they contain bright colors, multiple font sizes, lots of exclamation marks, excessive use of caps and italics, and intentional spelling errors.\n\nCost reduction. It all helps filter the clientele, so to speak.\n\nIf a spam message is sent to a million people, and 1% of people answer it, and 1% of those are actually gullible enough to go through with it -- the spammer still has to wade through 990 false positives before he can get to the scammable population. These cost him time and energy but bring in no income.\n\nBut if he introduces obvious red flags into his messages, he can reduce the intelligent population of respondents without turning away the ignorant minority, meaning less manual work for him on the back end.\n\nIt all plays into the ruse. Scammers are not, as is commonly portrayed, stupid. To do what they do, and successfully, they actually have to be incredibly cunning and savvy."
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d19gir | how can a musician be sure that what he wrote is not similar to something that already exists? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d19gir/eli5_how_can_a_musician_be_sure_that_what_he/ | {
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"As I understand it, it's the plaintiff's job to prove that it's very similar (one standard was that more than six consecutive notes have to be identical) and that the person who is supposed to have copied has heard the original.\n\nA good case example would be when the Chiffons sued George Harrison. I believe Queen and Vanilla Ice had a similar suit.( A really *strange* one was when the rights holder to older John Fogerty material sued John Fogerty for writing a song that sounded too much like a John Fogerty song. )\n\nThis doesn't mean the artist doesn't have a responsibility to cover their asses. For example, the morning after they wrote \"Walk This Way\", members of Aerosmith double checked that they didn't accidentally cover a James Brown song.",
"You can't be sure, pop songs in particular are all very similar. It used to be that having identical melody and lyrics was considered copying. Now especially in the US copyright holders are trying to sue based on weaker similarities. See the Gaye vs Thicke case for a ridiculous case. Its also common for obscure musicians to sue artists that have a number one hit because they wrote a similar sounding 4 chord love song. \n\nArt, and especially music, is extremely derivative and you could accuse almost any pop song of 'copying' thousands of songs that have come before it.",
"Generally the onus is on whoever believes they’ve been copied to show that the musician could have copied their work. You’re never sure though, most songs are based on some level on work that came before.",
"You can't be sure. Paul McCartney composed \"Yesterday\" in a dream, and spent a month playing it for anyone he could, to see if they recognized it. But there is no sure way to tell, other than to put the song out and see if anyone complains.",
"Shout-out to Spider Robinson's [Melancholy Elephants](_URL_0_).\n\nIt's a short story drawing parallels between environmental pollution and the impact of copyright on creativity. A short, but interesting read.",
"in all honest I'm surprised there hasn't been a computer to auto-generate every combination of beat yet.",
"No one mentioned that if people wait long enough, copyrights expire, what, 50 years after composer’s passing?",
"In my own experience as a musician I can tell you that while I was still figuring out my own style, composing felt more like trying to solve a puzzle and focusing on avoiding make something that sounded too familiar rather than what happens to me since I found my own way, which feels more like I’m describing something, like I’m trying to put into words -with music- a feeling or an image that hasn’t been articulated more explicitly before. \n\nThat said, no artist knows exactly what it is they’re trying to model or articulate with their music, so assuming it’s a fragment of ‘objective’ reality, two musicians could compose something similar without having interacted with each other because they both are trying to model the same fragment of reality, kinda like Newton and Leibniz discovered calculus simultaneously.",
"Primo Levi tells us of someone he met in a concentration camp, who was there because one note too many in his composition was identical to something someone else wrote. I guess it wasn’t just about plagiarism, but the Nazis' embarrassment.",
"There is software u can upload ur sound/words into and it will google any sound/words that are similar",
"Can't.\n\nThat's why so many songs have passages that sound similar. It's not copying, it's just that a lot of modern songwriting is based around the same patterns and has the same historical origin.\n\n[For example...](_URL_0_) (Rob Paravonian's rant about the pervasiveness of the chord progression used in Pachelbel's *Canon in D* in modern popular music.)\n\nThe Foo Fighters song *Best of You* intro uses the same basic chords as Dave Matthews Band's *Crash Into Me*. To my knowledge no one has tried a lawsuit.\n\nWhere you usually get successful suits these days is where the influence is very obvious. Despite his protestations to the contrary, [it was pretty obvious that Sam Smith borrowed the melody and song structure of Tom Petty's *Won't Back Down* for his song *Stay With Me*.](_URL_1_) Maybe unintentionally (subconscious after hearing it at some point), but the similarity is beyond coincidence.\n\nAnd that's why Petty was awarded royalties for that song. It's not just a minor similarity, the more recent song is obviously a slower-tempo ripoff of Petty's song.\n\nBut the standard of proof is pretty high in cases like this precisely because when you have 100 years of popular music based around blues chords in a musical framework that consists of 12 notes (in different octaves), certain patterns are going to emerge over and over again.",
"They can't. And it probably is similar to something already written. It's all been done before.",
"I'm by no mean a professionnal musician myself, but I've been playing guitar for about 12 years. To keep it simple it's not so much about not putting the same chord progression (per example) as another song that is important. What is important is how you incorporate that chord progression with the whole song. How did you transition? How does it sound when played after these notes or these other notes? (we tend to ear the same notes in another way/colour when they're played with a certain kind of style of progression or technique, it can be like a optical illusion for the ears.). What is the rythm of the song? Etc. To keep it short its more about the layout than utilising ''different notes/chords''. French dude sorry for bad english if I made mistakes",
"I think a lot of times people have trouble setting boundaries with their parents. Tell her, in front of witnesses, that her comments are inappropriate and unwanted. If she cannot keep them to herself, she is not welcome in your house and you don’t want to go to hers. \n\nWhen you do see her if she starts anything, just stand up and say, ‘I have to leave, because you won’t behave.’ Fee times and she will reel her shit in. \n\nIt’s up to you to set boundaries.",
"Don't music publisher's now have AI software to see if a song composed is too similar to something else? That way they can go after the artist for \"theft\" ... Or not release something that could be considered \"theft\"",
"The way I understand it, drums, chord progressions, and scales can't be copyrighted. So the thing that mostly gets people in trouble is melodies and lyrics.",
"You can’t really, and unless you’ve never heard any music ever in your life everything you ever compose will be derivative to some degree.",
"It's more of a how you put YOUR feel and signature to iy. Look on Andrew Wong. Him and 3 other producers take the same track sampling and make completely different songs out of literally the same sound",
"Western music is only made up of 12 tones. There are only 24 key signatures and so many time signatures, chords, and modes you can play in. There is no such thing as an original arpeggio. Original lyrics, original composition of how long each chord is played and changes in time, original expression and artistry sure, that can exist. Most mainstream pop songs and rock songs use the same I-IV-V chord progression or some variation of this progression, it just may be in a different key signature to best suit the singers voice. Additionally, most of these songs follow a verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus format. In fact, here's 73 songs you can play just using the same 4 chords: [_URL_0_](_URL_0_). What's original in composing new music is the combination of the composition (length of the song, where the changes occur, time sigs, repetition of verse/chorus), lyrics, and performance of it. If you pick up playing instrument you'll start to notice how many popular songs are actually very, very similar with very minor nuances or melody differences. So, the point is, most musicians are putting out music that is similar to music that already exists which isn't actually a bad thing if you look at music as an individual artistic expression.",
"There was a documentary I saw years ago about music ,creativity etc. In one section it mentioned this very subject, and how, as western music has a set number of notes and a set of \"rules\" (for what is melodious, upbeat, atonal, ominous etc) there really are only so many ways \"catchy\" melodies can go.\n\nThen they interviewed Billy Joel who said that years after he wrote \"Uptown Girl\", he was listening to a classical music radio station playing various mozart pieces (cant remember which). While listening, he heard a long section in one these mozart pieces that was almost the exact tune for Uptown Girl. The melody broke off and went in a different direction, but he said it was the same beginning melody. He then joked Mozart wrote \"Uptown Girl\".",
"An interesting case study in this issue is that all four of the Beatles separately got caught up in this problem from time to time. Ringo would often hum a new tune he'd \"invented\" to his bandmates, who would delight in simultaneously singing the lyrics to the tune he had unconsciously copied. He would see the resemblance straight away when pointed out to him. \n\nWith this problem in mind, when Paul woke to the tune of Yesterday in his head, he checked with all the other musicians he knew that it wasn't an old tune. He later said it was like taking something to Lost Property, if no-one else claimed it he could have it.\n\nJohn had more trouble when, during a casual rehearsal he started singing Chuck Berry's song \"You Can't Catch Me\", riffing with it and eventually turning it into a new song, \"Come Together\". He left enough of Berry's song in the final mix that a lawsuit ensued, in the end they settled for Lennon recording covers of three Berry songs to give him publicity. These appeared on his album \"Rock and Roll\".\n\nAlthough Lennon should have known better, George Harrison accidentally made a similar mistake when he unconsciously copied part of the tune of \"He's So Fine\" for his song \"My Sweet Lord\". The rights holders declined to settle and went straight for the money, and the situation was complicated further when the Beatles sacked their shyster of a manager and that manager then bought the rights to that song wholesale for leverage. A sensible judge realised what was going on, and the manager had to hand over the rights to both songs to Harrison in exchange for what he had paid for them.",
"I’ve done it. It was only a small part, just a little intro riff. Heard it a couple of years later from another band. Exact same thing, they definitely recorded it first and there’s no way they heard my local band, and I know I hadn’t heard theirs when I wrote mine. Sucked to hear it, but it was an interesting experience.",
"My old band unknowingly ripped off Metallica's Dirty Window and played it live for years. None of us were Metallica fans, none of our fans ever recognized it, hell most metal fans never listened to enough St Anger to recognize it, I wrote all the guitar parts and I had no idea. I was just in the mood to write a fun punk'n'roll number. We were never big enough to get into trouble (our shirt designs would have gotten us sued long before) and honestly, for a small band from South Florida, the attention of getting sued would have been fantastic.\n\n(Honestly I think our song was hella better overall)\n\nSnicklefritz \"Gibberous\"\n_URL_1_\n\nMetallica \"Dirty Windows\"\n_URL_0_",
"There's actually a pretty good video on YouTube by vsauce on the reason we subconsciously choose to stick to the same broad range of notes and chords in music. Sorry I don't have the link..",
"The real question is, do they give a crap.\n\nThe good ones borrow, the great ones steal.\n\nIs sweet that you think like this though",
"It only even comes into play when the $$ starts coming in...\n\nCreate your stuff, if you accidentally \"borrowed\" some of it just pay the fee. \n\nAt least you're getting enough plays to even show up on the radar...",
"Composer here. Sorry for formatting in advance, I’m on mobile. Nothing is original. Let me repeat that: NOTHING IS ORIGINAL! Whether it’s subliminal or intentional, we often are writing music that sounds similar to other music out there. Music is made of notes as you know, and in our current system there’s 12 unique notes to choose from (unless you’re Ben Johnston, in which case... yeah...) which isn’t a lot. Although there’s countless ways to arrange these notes, most pop musicians these days are using the same few generic chords as everyone else. Look at the Katy Perry lawsuit: one simple motif that isn’t even the melody being borrowed (and unintentionally borrowed at that) was the basis for a lawsuit worth over 2 million. So can we really be sure we aren’t plagiarizing 100% of the time? No, we can’t. Humans have always been connected to music, and it’s likely that someone at some point had an idea similar to yours in some way. But by trying to creatively combine your own ideas, even if you borrowed musical ideas from many other people, you can create something that sounds new. And if you’re like Ben Johnston, congratulations, because no one wants to write music that original.",
"Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, but check out the video for Four Chords by Axis of Awesome...it will show you that, minus various recognizable riffs, WAY more songs than you think actually use the exact same four chord progression. Also, it's hilarious. \n\nWatch \"4 Chords | Music Videos | The Axis Of Awesome\" on YouTube\n_URL_0_",
"As others have said you can't really know and proving that someone has copied a song is difficult at best. A great example that no one else seems to have mentioned so far is [the similarity that Led Zeppelin's iconic Stairway To Heaven has to Spirit's Taurus.](_URL_1_) Zeppelin was at the venues at the same time as Spirit and likely heard this tune at some point. Despite this [Zeppelin won a lawsuit](_URL_0_) over it.",
"Musician here. I don't write lyrics but I can talk about sounds. Apologies in advance for the essay. \n\n\nThe reality is you can't be sure and you probably aren't the first person to come up with those sounds. Most \"songs\" as we know them only use 12 notes and there will almost certainly be something similar to your idea already out there unless you're doing microtonal, noise, or other modern art music sounds. You mentioned the idea of an \"original arpeggio\" and honestly, there aren't going to be arpeggios that you are the first person to perform. None of this to say that people can't write something cool, and original sounding because it happens every day; but orginality does not mean all of the component parts of the song are brand new - that would not be possible without venturing into some seriously weird plays both philosophically and with audio. \n\n\nYou should check out Axis of Awesome's 4 Chord Song for an idea for how similar some components of modern pop music are, that one specifically parodies how harmony is reused. \n\nAxis of Awesome: [_URL_1_](_URL_1_) \n\n\nAnother example that is actually probably the biggest music meme out there is called \"the lick\" or \"the licc\". It is a simple 5 note melody that jazz improvisers have reused over and over again over the course of decades.\n\nthe licc: [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) \n\n\n If you're wondering about these recent lawsuits regarding copyright infringement, those are a little odd because what they amount too is lawyers (who are not musicians) trying to claim that a certain artist owns certain sounds. They submit pages of music theory to try to prove this point. Like, seriously their court documents are bizarre to read because their attempts to convert art analysis (music theory) into legal arguments does not make sense to me. It seems like an arbitrary dump of jargon to convince a jury they're correct and to create a case that people can't really argue. \n\n\ntl/dr; nobody is writing brand new stuff, the lawsuits are bizarre.",
"Not long ago I started writing some quartet music. I brought it to my professor and he said it sounded exactly like the Psycho theme.\n\nHe played the music from YouTube and sure enough, what I had written COMPLETELY and UTTERLY matched the psycho theme for the first several bars. It was frustrating to me.\n\nEven worse, I had never heard the music, never heard of the composer until that day.",
"Wait. Ain't that why Richard created Pied Piper?",
"Former pro-musician here (touring bands, studio musician, commercial work, etc). In other words, I've written a lot of music, and sometimes it has turned out to be a ripoff. \n\n\nI'll avoid legal stuff, because I barely understand it and it's been thoroughly covered elsewhere. From a songwriting perspective, it's sort of a mix of being unknowable, incidental, avoidable and inevitable. Creativity comes from inspiration, memory, experience and interpretation. There are only so many notes on a given instrument's scale - even when you get into modified and microtonal instruments and whatnot. You will almost definitely, occasionally, write someone else's song. There were times in old bands where I would come with an idea, and another member would say \"Hey, that sounds like \\[REDACTED DUE TO ONGOING LEGAL DISPUTE\\]\". Then I'd say \"What?\" and we'd listen and then re-approach the song. Even still, you could go back and listen to some of my work and, depending on your random taste-history, catch a riff that was lifted from somewhere else. Did I do that on purpose? Probably not. Did I get into music because I loved it and listened and explored obsessively and learned how to play by playing other people's work? Yes. Did I develop an understanding of styles and traditions by absorbing a lexicon developed over sometimes hundreds of years of craft? Definitely. Does even the most experimental, weirdest, non-traditional music follow trends, tropes and traditions? FER FRIKKIN SURE IT DOES, ALVIN LUCIER. \n\n\nSo like, uhh... **TLDR DOWN HERE** \n\n\nYou probably will do it, and you probably won't find out unless you become super-super famous, to the point where suing you would be worth the money. Just don't do it on purpose and nobody gets hurt.",
"I make music. many times i’ll go down the path of writing a really cool melody only to find out i was subconsciously copying something i had heard a couple days prior. it’s inevitable. there are so many ways to vary your song though (sound design, tempo, style, etc) that you can navigate this phenomenon without issue",
"I think that in cases that have been brought to court, it has to be demonstrated that those accused of plagiarism had to have had the opportunity to hear the original tune. For example, Spirit opened for Led Zeppelin on an early tour, so it was easy to prove that Zep stole the riff for Stairway to Heaven from them. Or the riff from Nirvana’s song Come As you Are was taken from a Killing Joke number. It was easy to prove that Kurt Cobain was familiar with this band since he’d sent them a Christmas card one year.",
"Remember one time i was working on this chord progression. It was so moody and it was just calling to me i played it over and over enjoying it and just waiting for something to click. I was really excited. \n\n My buddy started singing celion dions heart will go on, and i realized i had literally but accidentally stumbled on the same progression. \n\nAt first I was mad. Five minutes later we got the flute intro part down too and we were singing it at the top of our lungs :)",
"This reminds me of the time I wrote Modest Mouse’s Tiny City Made of Ashes except I didn’t and Modest Mouse wrote it first, who knew?!",
"You can be absolutely sure what you're doing is completely similar to something that already exists.",
"There's this guy at Hooli that has been telling people that he has developed a website that compares your music with a ton of other music in the web. He's kind of a loser so no one really pays attention."
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"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye7hCIWwhGE"
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1siu10 | why is flashing headlights to warn others on the road about a speed trap illegal? | Is there any other reason besides it hurts "profits"?
I've heard of the argument that it's for children's safety to not defer a vehicle with an abducted child from passing the cop. But to me that argument seemed a bit too outrageous.
Edit:
_URL_0_
Here's a link. Apparently it can get you a ticket.
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1siu10/why_is_flashing_headlights_to_warn_others_on_the/ | {
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"It is? Shit... News to me. ",
"Depends on local law and the DGAS factor.\n\nIn our Department, traffic safety is considered a city priority. So every work week we get assigned an hour of traffic detail, typically speed enforcement. Whenever someone does the ol' high beam flash, it just keeps me out of traffic court. In other words, the DGAS factor is high.\n\nI actually forget the name of the charge for doing this here. It's something like, failing to dim beam or something like that. Not worth my time to write it. ",
"Let's set aside the whole part about warning others of a speed trap.\n\nIt's actually illegal (at least in some states - I can't speak for everywhere) just to drive with your high beams on when there's a car coming at you from the other direction (you have to turn them off so as to not blind them).\n\nSo, I'd imagine the police officer could just write you up for that if nothing else (if he saw you).\n\nOh, and if you mean turn your actual headlights off and on, then that's a ticket, too (driving at night without your lights on). And if you're talking about during the day, then it'd be hard for the other car to notice you turn your lights on and off anyway.",
"Just a guess but maybe obstruction of justice, the police officer is investigating a crime and you are helping the suspect by tipping him off.",
"The explanation I was always told (in Georgia) was that it was \"obstruction of justice,\" since you're assisting others in escaping punishment for a crime.",
"When you flash your lights to warn another driver of a speed-trap, you would be charged with interfering with government operations. Basically, you're trying to prevent law enforcement officials from doing their job when some departments depend on speed trap tickets for revenue for the department.",
"Reading through these responses, I'm seeing a lot of answers saying stuff about flashing the headlights could cause an accident/blind the driver. First of, I think that premise is a little silly because t's being exaggerated. But regardless, I have a similar question.\n\nI often flash my high-beams at other drivers who have forgotten to turn on their own headlights after dusk. I don't do this primarily to save them from getting a ticket, because I don't know where the next cop they might come across might be. I do it for the safety of everyone on the road because a vehicle driving without their lights on in the dark can be very dangerous. But according to the responses in this thread, I could get a ticket for this?",
"The only reason to enforce this is revenue. Presumably, everybody who has a clue will slow down when they see the flash. So it actually encourages people to drive the speed limit. The only reason to punish that is that it is in the cops' interest that people break the law in order to get caught.",
"FYI: It's legal to warn others about police in Florida. ",
"ex-cop here.\n\nIn Alabama it would be \"improper lights\" charge because of the high beam or flashing them off. I always thought this was bullshit. I actually wanted people to flash their lights and warn others. The whole purpose of the \"speed trap\", as it were, was to get people to slow the fuck down....not to write tickets.\n\nSo, if others flashed their lights and got people to slow down...then I say mission accomplished.",
"It's legal in Florida (one of the best things after Disney Planet!) and sometimes in Commiefornia. _URL_0_",
"I had a whole thing written out about this potentially being a violation of the First Amendment. Then, I read the article in your edit.\n\nObviously, states have different laws, but why is this not figured out? Courts have ruled differently, but why isn't hasn't a higher court just \"settled\" this already? I'm not talking Supreme Court, but is this just something where neither party would care enough to take it there? I guess that's another ELI5.",
"Highly unconstitutional imo. I can't imagine a hypothetical case reaching the Supreme Court and not ruling for the drivers. Freedom of expression or some such crap. Of course the SC has much better things to consider, so nothing we can do on a national scale.",
" > Is there any other reason besides it hurts \"profits\"?\n\nNo. There are many excuses but no other reason. \n\nThe only other real consequence of flashing headlights near speedtraps is that drivers will slow down, which is the official reason for implementing speed traps to begin with. Also - supposedly - speed traps are placed before dangerous parts of roads to protect drivers from themselves, so not being able to warn other drivers increases the likelyhood of accidents.\n\ntl;dr:\n\n-Enforces speed limts\n\n-Helps prevent accidents\n\n-Hurts profits\n\nTherefore, illegal.",
"I thought this was actually a court case at one point except someone was using a sign to warn drivers of a speed trap. The court ruling said it was an infringement of free speech. Here's an [article] (_URL_0_)\n\nEDIT: changed \"the\" article to \"an\" article",
"It depends on where you live. In Quebec, flashing your lights to warn others of a speed trap is *not* a crime, because any attempt at justifying that it should be has rightfully been shot down in jurisprudence.\n\n\"Obstruction of justice\" or \"Interfering with government operations\" - Bullshit. If you warn a friend not to drink and drive, is that obstruction of justice for preventing him from being caught by the police? Same principle - if you warn a fellow citizen to stop an illegal act *before* he is caught by the police, that's not obstruction of justice, it's responsible citizenship.\n\n\"Improper light\" - Also bullshit. So long as your high beams are within local regulations (which they should be), you are entirely within your rights to use them to signal information to other drivers. This is the same as using your hazard lights to signal something on the road ahead of you, for instance.",
"It's not illegal in my state. [Wikipedia has a good rundown on the legality](_URL_0_). I think it's legal in most states, and in my opinion, it should be legal in all of them."
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1j31id | why can't i see millions of stars from the airplane window? | There isn't a ton of light pollution up at 30,000 feet. Why can I only see a couple stars when I'm flying?
Edit: On a night flight, I mean. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1j31id/eli5_why_cant_i_see_millions_of_stars_from_the/ | {
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"Well to be honest, During the daytime the sun provides plenty of light pollution.\n\nduring the night you should see more stars from that altitude then from the ground.\n\nOf course if your cabin is lighted, that's it's own pollution right there. ",
"The internal sources of light inside the cabin are interfering and also perhaps your perspective, as you are panning mostly horizontally out the window and not vertically. It would probably work better if it was pitch black in the cabin, and the top of the aircraft was translucent. ",
"Everybody else is wrong and should feel wrong. This is the main reason, and though atmosphere/light pollution does play into it, they wouldn't see that many more stars even if they were on the moon!\n\nLet's take it a step further and say you were out in space - no atmosphere, no light pollution. You should see millions of stars, right? The entire sky should be a vast oasis of light, as blinding as the sun?\n\nYou might think, \"Oh, there must be some sort of matter inbetween.\" While this can be true, this isn't the reason. The light is **red shifted**. Let me explain:\n\nLet's say you're a planet, and you got a lamp shining light at you. Light is made from waves, they have a length. The shorter they are, the closer they get to violet. The longer they are, the closer they get to red. However, they can get longer than red, and they will no longer be visible.\n\nRed shift is an effect that causes the light to become beyond-red invisible, by making the wavelengths longer. This happens when the light source (the stars, in this case) is moving away from us. If you have people running towards you at 6 miles per hour, and then you place them on a treadmill going the opposite direction at 5 miles per hour, they would effectively be approaching you at 1 mile per hour.\n\nBut how could all the stars be moving away from us at once? Simple - the universe is expanding.\n\n(If the object was moving toward you, it would appear more and more blue - this is called blue shift!)\n\nHere is a picture explaining it:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIn this case, you're the observer on the left.",
"Even if you were put into space, you wouldn't be able to see millions of stars with the naked eye. Astronomer Phil Plait [explains it rather well](_URL_0_), as he often does.\n\nIf you could see the entire sky at once, there are only about 6000 stars bright enough for your unaided eye to see. That's if you had full 360 degree vision and the earth itself wasn't blocking your view."
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9nk9c2 | how do you know when someone is gaslighting vs. when the person is just stupid/has a selective memory? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9nk9c2/eli5_how_do_you_know_when_someone_is_gaslighting/ | {
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"This is basically asking how you know when someone is doing something wrong maliciously and purposefully vs. accidentally and innocently. The truth of the matter exists only within their own mind, which no one else can ever really know.\n\nFor such actions, we can only go off of their actions and responses. Look at the consistency of the errors, how they respond when faced with evidence of their mistakes. Look for things not dependent on simply their memory. Look for deliberate actions they may be taking to maintain the deception or illusion.",
"My ex used to gas light me. And for the longest time I believed it was due to his bad memory etc etc. But truthfully, if someone really cares about how they are making you feel it shouldn't take more than 3 times for them to correct the mistake within different contexts. \n\nIt's not fair to assume perfect change overnight, sometimes a unique situation has to happen in order for someone to understand the magnitude of their actions or words etc. \n\nTlDR: if you feel like you're beating a dead horse when it comes to asking people to not do certain things or treat you a certain way because \"they forget\" then it's more than likely gas lighting. ",
"This isn't how you approach them on any given question. This is how I would broach the \"Are you gaslighting me?\" question.\n\n1. Ask them.\n2. Ask them if there is a reason they wouldn't tell you the truth about whatever.\n3. Ask them again.\n4. Are you aware of any physiological reason they would have memory issues?\n5. Ask them if there is any physiological reason they would have memory issues.\n6. Ask them again.\n7. Ask them one more time.\n\nYou get that far, you have probably determined the nature of your communication and either have a better relationship or decided not to have a relationship.\n\nLPT: Do it all in one conversation at an appropriate time and \"safe\" place where vulnerability is acceptable and they trust you are who you say you are."
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5xkpn9 | why do people not realize how dependent their life is on oil? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5xkpn9/eli5why_do_people_not_realize_how_dependent_their/ | {
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"People don't consider things like plastics and rubber. Or how we use oil in so many more ways than just vehicles. ",
"Many people know, but want it to change, and believe that an abundance of oil will lead to complacency in terms of finding a replacement, at the expense of the environment, whereas lowered supply and the associated costs will encourage research and development of something much more nature friendly. ",
"I don't know about people who say that things should be banned outright, but I can certainly agree that we have some limited resources on this planet and we should be carefully managing them.",
"I think the people who want to ban pipelines or want to limit the amount of oil produced are concerned deeply with oil's effects on the environment and the culture of people who inhabit those environments. Also, there are alternatives to plastics and polyester clothes which would be better for the environment. That said, it would be a huge lifestyle change for most Americans. ",
"You know what we're even more dependent on than oil? The environment. Which climate change is destroying at an accelerating rate. At least in part due to burning oil.\n\nWe can survive without oil. We can't survive without fish and trees.",
"They're quite aware of that for the most part. It's a little unclear what you're proposing here; you've obviously given the matter a lot of thought and know better than everyone else, what exactly ought we to do?"
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f6c2dc | how come an alarm wont wake me up, but someone walking around outside my room will? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f6c2dc/eli5_how_come_an_alarm_wont_wake_me_up_but/ | {
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"To me it’s familiarity. I get accustomed to the sound of the alarm so I tune it out. Someone walking however is not familiar so it wakes me up. For that reason I change the tune on my alarm about once a week",
"An evolution-based answer might work here. Basically, the human footsteps signify a potential threat or danger. The alarm and TV, in contrast, don't. So the footsteps are a way of \"your body telling you\" that there's possible danger in the vicinity. \n\nThis is a very primal thing. When you're awake, you *know* it's just your mom (etc) walking on the stairs; you know there's no good reason to be alert to danger. But when sleeping, this conscious rational part of you largely shuts down, and the more primal stuff takes over."
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309py4 | what's the difference between 'ebitda' and just 'profit' that a business makes? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/309py4/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_ebitda_and_just/ | {
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"EBITDA is earnings before income tax depreciation and amortization. Basically the difference is EBITDA doesn't take into consideration what happened in the past. It looks at how you would have done this year if you didn't have the burden or benefit of what you did in the past. ",
"\"Profit\" is a pretty general term in business as there are many different kinds of profit:\n\nGross Profit = Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). This is the largest number and reflects how much money you make on your goods after you take into account the cost of purchasing materials and manufacturing/distribution\n\nEBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) = Revenue - COGS - Selling, General, Administrative Expenses (SGA) - Other Business Expenses. This is the next level of profit. It takes into account not only COGS, but any corporate overhead or costs of selling.\n\nEBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) = Revenue - COGS - Selling, General, Administrative Expenses (SGA) - Other Business Expenses - Depreciation - Amortization. This level of profit takes into account everything from EBITDA as well as depreciation and amortization expenses. Depreciation is annualized cost of any major equipment you use in your business (If you buy a machine that costs 10K and you use it for 10 years, you can say that you \"use up\" 10%, or 1K of that machines value every year. You need to account for that in profit, as in 10 years you will need to buy a new machine. Amoritization is similar, except for business loans.\n\nNet Profit = Revenue - COGS - Selling, General, Administrative Expenses (SGA) - Other Business Expenses - Depreciation - Amortization - Interest - Taxes. This is what you are probably thinking of when you think \"profit.\" This is the final amount of money the business \"makes\" after all costs are taken into account.\n\nEach one of these terms tells you different things about a business, so each one have value in evaluating a businesses health."
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2lkblf | why are all computers used by clerks in the service industry (retail, airline, car rental, etc.) extremely outdated? | It seems all the computers used by clerks in stores and airports are at least 15 years old, or is it just me?
EDIT: Thanks for the explanation, guys! Everything in life all comes back to money. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lkblf/eli5_why_are_all_computers_used_by_clerks_in_the/ | {
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"Because they work!\n\nIt's not worth the cost of updating something that works, if it's not going to actually allow the company to make more money.\n\nIn fact, in many cases, introducing new technology creates risks of things going wrong, so the company would view it even more severely than simply the expense of the upgrade. They view it as a possibility of everything going horribly wrong with the upgrade, with a benefit of pretty much nothing at all if everything goes right."
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9osli4 | what prevents people from ripping cash and having the bank give them back a whole bill for the half? | I’m aware that if you have cash that has been damaged it can be turned in for a fresh or normal bill. I’m also aware that this normally takes place at a bank. Is there something that prevents a person from ripping one bill into two halves, and then taking each half to a bank at different times to receive two whole bills afterwards? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9osli4/eli5_what_prevents_people_from_ripping_cash_and/ | {
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"Well the note has serial numbers and other identifying markers on it.\nThere's nothing stopping you except that you could be prosecuted for fraud.",
"Most bills require certain portions of the bill to be delivered to the bank to receive a new version, not just a \"half\". Often this is a security measure/security strip in the bill and/or serial number.\n\nAs there is generally only one per bill, that means only the half of the bill with the \"necessary information\" could be exchanged, on the other half rejected.",
"I just checked laws in my country and you can have € bill replaced only:\n\n1. if you have more than 50% of it, or \n2. less than 50% if you have official confirmation that the bigger half was destroyed (I have no idea how can be that official confirmation obtained...)"
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3c7go8 | if annual inflation in the united states has averaged 3.3% over the past 100 years, how is it possible to have low prices today? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3c7go8/eli5_if_annual_inflation_in_the_united_states_has/ | {
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"First of all, this may only makes a tiny difference in the answer, but until 1857 there was a [half penny](_URL_0_) coin.\n\nHave you ever been to a Farmer's market? While there are exceptions, most of the merchant at my local market try to sell everything in whole dollars to keep things simple. A basket of strawberries in the summer is $3, etc. - when things are by the pound, they just round - so if peaches are $2/pound and I end up with 3.2 pounds of peaches, they just ask for $6. The profit margin is built in, they can afford to round in the customer's favor. So that's part of the answer: some things did just cost one penny or a couple of pennies, and without calculators or computers, that was a simple way to handle it.\n\nAnother part of the answer is that even though one cent 250 years ago is the equivalent of $32 today, that doesn't mean that something that costs only a dollar today would have cost much less than a penny back then. Without machinery, nearly everything was made by hand and things took more labor. Today you can buy a loaf of bread for a dollar because a single baker can bake dozens of loaves of bread an hour, so it's still profitable. 250 years ago, a baker wouldn't have been nearly as efficient, so the baker would have charged a lot more.\n",
"The average over 100 doesn't apply over 250 years. There was little net inflation until the last 80 years or so.\n\nSo a US penny of 1787 (the first year they were made) was more like 30 cents in today's money if measured by prices. That is much more manageable.\n\nAlso, most people were much more self sufficient back then. They engaged in fewer transactions, and in bulk rather than prepackaged. If you are buying a sack of flour, it is pretty easy to keep adding more flour to the sack until it comes up to an even penny."
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2q3x9w | how is it possible for the hadron collider to reach a temperature of close to 1 trillion degrees without burning a hole through our planet? | Just saw the TIL about this and have no idea what it means | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2q3x9w/eli5_how_is_it_possible_for_the_hadron_collider/ | {
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"Well the particles that reach that temperature are extraordinarily small, and only exist for the tiniest fraction of a second. Not only that there are extremely strong magnetic fields set up within the collider to prevent such things from happening.",
"A very very very small volume of space in the collision reaches that temperature. It is not as if the whole tube of the collider reaches that temperature. I am not sure of the actual dimensions of the space reaching that temperature, but I think it is safe to assume that it is on the order of a cubic micrometer (about the volume of a small prokaryote).\n\nEdit: Volume = cubic, area = square",
"ELI20: Does temperature even apply to the LHC? To me it would seem like the system is definitly not anywhere near the kind of pseudo-steady state in which temperature is a propperly defined quantity."
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1ujrgw | why do we like the taste of cola so much? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ujrgw/eli5why_do_we_like_the_taste_of_cola_so_much/ | {
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"Sugar sugar sugar. It's like candy without the hassle of chewing. \n ",
"Because of Sugar.\n\nOur bodies have evolved to be VERY attracted to sugar, because it is very high in calories and when you're wandering the forests or plains trying to keep from dying, eating some condensed calories is a great way to stay alive.\n\nCola and other sweet drinks/foods just take advantage of our desire for calorie rich food. It's also why we like fats, because of how good they are at keeping us alive when we're near starving.",
"Yeah, yeah, we get it, cuz of the sugar.\n\nBut why COLA?? -- vs. any of dozens of other sweek drinks out there?? What is it about the taste of COLA that makes it the most popular flavor of drink (or soda/pop type drink)??"
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52wsh7 | why do people still die of lack of food & water? are there not the super rich and down to 1st world folks who even throw away tons of food? no way to solve it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/52wsh7/eli5_why_do_people_still_die_of_lack_of_food/ | {
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"Famine is not a function of lack of food in general, it's a political and logistic issue caused by food not getting to the right places.",
"One major issue is logistics.\n\nSure, rich people might be throwing away plenty of completely edible food... But how are you going to get that food over to Africa or another part of the world before it actually does spoil? And who is paying for that transport and distribution?"
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6cwn79 | during ww2 how was post made possible between the uk and germany? | I'm currently watching a history documentary on spies during WW2.
One of the spies called Bronx was a double agent pretending to be spying for the nazis in the UK, she sent letters from the UK to her German superiors, some of these letters were sent briefly before D-Day.
How was it possible that post was able to be delivered to mainland Europe when almost all the west coast was controlled by the Nazis?
Would they really allow a boat to just sail up from the UK during such a tense time of war? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6cwn79/eli5_during_ww2_how_was_post_made_possible/ | {
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"You go through a neutral 3rd country. \nFor Europe popular choices were Switzerland (usually involving the International Red Cross for sending mail to POWs and civilian internees) and Portugal (for everything else). \nThe British Mail service, in order to avoid appearing to colaborate with the enemy, enlisted the help of Thomas Cook & Son. You would send your letter to a Thomas Cook & Son office in Amsterdam (or later when Amsterdam was occupied Lisbon, Portugal). They would then forward your letter into occupied territories. Strict limits were placed on what could be discussed in the letters (for example, if your mail was going through Lisbon no location other than Lisbon could be mentioned) the length of the letters (two pages), and the way the letters were written (\"clearly written\", no erasing, only topics of \"personal interest\", etc.). "
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238qgb | how do clicky pens work, and what is the mechanism called?! | Pretty self explanatory, I was wondering why I don't know what the mechanism in a retractable pen is called. Do they sell "buttons" like that? What practical applications do they have? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/238qgb/eli5_how_do_clicky_pens_work_and_what_is_the/ | {
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"Here is a great animation: _URL_0_\nAs you can see from the animation, the inner surface of the pen is grooved. The button has a \"holder\", which holds the pen shaft in place and slides back and forth on the grooves. The shaft has a complementary part that fits into the holder. The holder is designed such that the shaft's part always wants to be one section over (it's hard to explain, but if you take apart one of the clicky pens you must have, you can infer from there). The shape of the holder, however, is such that the shaft has to fit in one of the spots in the holder. The spring forces the shaft into these spots. Once you push the button, however, you lift the shaft out of the spot, allowing it to go one spot over. These spots are elevated differently so that the pen has two modes: out and in. The difference in elevation is also why you have to push the button further to open the pen than to close it.\nAs for what it's called, I have no idea."
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3ou04b | what is hawking's radiation, what exactly are these pairs of "virtual" particles? and how exactly are they formed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ou04b/eli5what_is_hawkings_radiation_what_exactly_are/ | {
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"According to quantum mechanics, particle-antiparticle pairs can spontaneously come into existence. Since their combined energy is zero, the universe allows such particle pairs. Usually, they annihilate each other after a short time; however, if they form near a black hole one part of the pair can fall into the black hole. To someone observing the black hole, it will look as if a particle has been emitted. Since the emitted particle has energy, the particle that fell into the black hole must have exactly negative energy of the emitted particle. Thus, the black hole loses a bit of energy, and particles appear to be radiating from the black hole (Hawking Radiation). \n\nTo understand what these \"virtual\" particles are, you must think of them as not particles at all. Normal everyday particles are ripples in a field. For example, an electron is an excitation of the electron field. These \"real\" particles can travel through space, and we can interact with them. In contrast, virtual particles are a disturbance in a field, this disturbance is caused the presence of other particles, often in other fields. The disturbance is usually short lived because as soon as the cause of the disturbance cease to exist, the disturbance goes with it. An example of a disturbance is having two electrons pass close to each other, due to their electric charge, they will create a disturbance in the electromagnetic field."
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3d18oc | how do my cats understand when i'm calling them? | My cats don't know their names but if I say nonsense words in a "calling voice" they come running. How do they understand they are being summoned? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3d18oc/eli5_how_do_my_cats_understand_when_im_calling/ | {
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"Most cat owners put on a different voice than normal when calling their pets. \nThink about animals, they make different sounds based on the general point they're trying to put across. A cat for example makes different types of sounds depending on when they want something from you (food, need to go inside/outside/inside/outside/inside again...) or if they're squaring up to another cat or if they're generally in a foul mood.\nYou don't know exactly what your cat is trying to put across but you get the general idea.\n\nSame situation in the cat's case, if you talk to other people it's generally a normal talking tone; the cat will probably ignore this and go to sleep. But if you stub your toe and scream bloody nora the cat will probably bolt away thinking you're being aggressive. However if you call the cat it doesn't matter what you say, as long as the tone is the same as normal they will get the general idea of what you're trying to say: which is to summon them.\n\nAlso on a side note, some animals do know their name, but only take into account the last 1-2 syllables, so you could call them without any tone of voice and they may still arrive."
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3s7nzx | do massive fires contribute to climate change like emissions and pollution? | With all the smoke coming from fires, is it as harmful as other sources of pollution? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s7nzx/eli5_do_massive_fires_contribute_to_climate/ | {
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"a small percentage of overall pollution, but it is only a very small fraction of the overall scale of pollution. In contrast Human pollution is much much larger. \n\nEDIT: This guy below sounds smarter than me, listen to him my answer isnt as detailed (/u/Tokyojokeyo)\n",
"They can significantly contribute to pollution and reduced air quality. Their effect on climate change is not as big as you'd think, however--when cellulose (the main molecule in wood) burns, it releases CO2, but the trees fixed CO2 from the air to grow that cellulose in the first place. Big forest fires can cause short-term spikes in greenhouse gas emissions, but if the forest regrows, much of that harm is reversed."
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2ariw9 | is it bad to sleep with wet hair? i been hearing from everyone that it is bad. if so why? | I am going to dry my hair and off to bed.
Will check it tomorrow! :) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ariw9/eli5_is_it_bad_to_sleep_with_wet_hair_i_been/ | {
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"As someone who sleeps with wet hair almost every night and has been doing so for decades I can debunk this is a old wives tale. Wet hair does not make you prone to bacterial or fungal infection. Its just allowing your hair to air dry while you're laying down. Air drying hair does not require \"additional blood\" to the scalp, unless you are in some kind of extreme weather. \n\nThe idea that it's bad comes from the antiquated notion that you can \"catch cold\" or become more cold from wet hair. Which of course can happen if you live in a place without proper heating during the winter. However, for a modern home with proper air/heating/ventilation there's nothing bad or wrong about falling asleep with wet hair. \n\nIn fact, allowing hair to air dry is much better for hair. Blow drying is very harsh, causes dullness, split ends and overall damage. \n\n",
"Fine for your body, probably not great for your pillows to get moist. Pillows are huge breeding grounds for mites, mold, and bacteria, if you sleep with wet hair some of that moisture is bound to seep in, and once it's in there, it may or may not dry completely the whole way through (this is why I dry my pillows twice when I wash them, they feel dry on the surface, but they could still be wet in the center). That being said, I still sleep with wet hair sometimes haha. "
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2agn9t | do caterpillars turn into liquid and then reform into a butterfly in the cocoon? or do they keep some of the same parts? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2agn9t/eli5do_caterpillars_turn_into_liquid_and_then/ | {
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"Here's an interesting podcast about that very thing:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThe upshot is that yes, they turn into goo. But also, it's been proven that memories persist through the goo stage. So somehow, something carries through the chrysalis. It seems like there may be more to memory than we currently understand."
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1zel0w | how can bad moonshine cause blindness? | I've heard that tainted moonshine can cause blindness and many people have died due to "moonshine intoxication" | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zel0w/eli5_how_can_bad_moonshine_cause_blindness/ | {
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"\"Alcohol\" is a fairly broad family of chemicals. Some alcohols you are probably familiar with include isopropyl alcohol (i.e. rubbing alcohol) and ethyl alcohol (\"drinking alcohol\").\n\nWhen you are making moonshine you get a mixture of several different types of alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is there, obviously, since that's the whole point--you want the ethyl alcohol so you can get drunk. However, another alcohol is also present: methyl alcohol, or \"wood alcohol.\" When consumed wood alcohol starts out behaving pretty similarly to drinking alcohol--it goes to your stomach, can make you puke if you drink too much too fast, and gets absorbed into the blood stream. In fact, it has a lot of the same effects as drinking alcohol--wood alcohol would get you drunk.\n\nHowever, once the body starts trying to process the wood alcohol everything goes down hill fast. Your body doesn't directly remove methanol with the kidneys very fast, so it breaks it down into other things with the liver. One of these things is methanoic acid (looks just like Methanol except two of the hydrogen atoms are popped off in favor of one oxygen). Methanoic acid is also known as \"formic acid\" and is the substance in a fire ant bite that makes it hurt so much. This chemical is *incredibly* toxic and is responsible for causing the blindness.\n\nThe classic treatment for this is actually kind of cool: you just liquor up the patient (carefully). When you pump enough drinking alcohol into the system it distracts the liver long enough for the kidneys to remove the methanol.\n\nMethanol is dangerous in un-carefully-made moonshine because it's a challenge to separate methanol from ethanol. The process involves distillation--you hold the initial liquid at a given temperature and evaporate it, then condense the gas. However, ethanol and methanol boil at similar temperatures--if the process is done wrong or in a not-careful manner then you can wind up completely failing to remove the methanol from the mixture. "
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32muhx | how are vpns legal with things like the patriot act in place? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32muhx/eli5_how_are_vpns_legal_with_things_like_the/ | {
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"VPNs are perfectly legal ways of segregating data from a public network. There is no law that says that using a VPN is illegal for general use.\n\nVirtual Private Networks are essentially small \"pocket internet\" sites, containing special logins that prevent outside access. Many companies use VPN networks to transmit data securely from location to location across the world and their worksites. Without a VPN, this data would be free for the taking and also corruption.\n\nWhat has to be worried about is not the existence of VPNs, but the existence of the information contained on that VPN. if you know how to use them, VPNs are very difficult tot rack, and hard to trace ways of deciminating information from a classified or protected source, to prvent someone from knowing where it came from or who sent it.",
"Because the patriot act didn't make them illegal. What did you think the answer would be?"
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8ri9yn | how does the ocean go through two tide cycles in a day, where the moon only passes 'overhead' once every 24 hours? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8ri9yn/eli5_how_does_the_ocean_go_through_two_tide/ | {
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"To grossly oversimplify, one tide is caused by the gravity of the Moon, the other is caused by the centrifugal force of Earth orbiting the shared centre of gravity of the Earth-Moon system. \n\nBoth are delayed from when you'd expect them to happen by the friction with the bottom of the ocean. ",
"The moon has a stronger pull on objects close to it and a weaker pull on objects farther from it.\n\n* The water between the earth and moon is closest to the moon\n* The Earth's body is at a moderate distance from the moon\n* And the water on the opposite side is farthest from the moon.\n\nThe moon pulls these three parts at different strengths and cause them to separate from each other.\n\nThe moon pulls the body of water close to it, causing high tide where the moon is. The moon also pulls the earth toward it, but not as much. And since the earth is being pulled towards the moon, it leaves behind a body of water on the opposite side where the moons pull is weakest.\n\nSo there is a high tide on the area close to the moon and another high tide on the opposite side of the earth. As the moon orbits the earth we experience these two high tides.\n\n---\n\n**Edit:** Help me improve this answer by discussing below and upvoting good explanations! There are a few issues with this answer and there are several excellent details in the comments below that I'd like to give visibility to\n\n* Is there a good illustration of this explanation?\n* What about moon phases? is there a difference in tide height when there's a full moon vs a new moon? (hint: Syzygy)\n* Is the moon being pulled by the earth? Or is the earth being pulled by the moon? Upvote the best explanation below.\n* The two high tides on each end of the earth are not the same height - why?\n* There are some areas where the tides barely rise and fall. What are these areas and why? (hint: tilt, geography)\n* Other than water, are there other stuff that is affected by the moon's gravity? (hint: fluids other than water)\n* Sometimes there's only one high tide in a day - why?\n* If tides are caused by gravity, what about other stuff that has gravity? Do they affect the tides at all?\n* My answer implies that the earth is moving towards the moon which is not the case. Can someone help me clarify this?\n\n\nComment your clarification and additional information below and upvote those that you like! Have a nice day everyone!\n\nEdit2: added more hints",
"Imagine a baby that likes to collect toys but can't crawl yet, put in the middle of a room with a lot of toys spread evenly about. The baby grabs all the toys it can reach and has them with them.\n\nHow are the toys distributed? There is the highest concentration of toys right near the baby, then a patch of fewer toys where the baby has been collecting and then a middle amount of toys further away where the baby can't reach. \n\nThe moon is like the baby, and the water in the oceans is like the toys. Gravity acts with less force the further away the two things are, so the moon can pull the water on its side of the earth more than the water elsewhere.\n\nThe low tide in between is where water is pulled away to the moon's side, and the high tide at the other side is water that's too far away to be pulled by the moon.",
"I'll add, in addition to the useful replies already given, that there are some parts of Earth that do in fact only have a single tide per day (one high, one low). For example, according to the NOAA, some parts of the Gulf of Mexico (_URL_0_)",
"The earth and the moon constantly attract each other. This means that, in a way, the earth is constantly falling towards the moon. \n\nNow the closer to an attracting body you are, the more you get attracted to it and thus the faster you fall towards it. The water that is on the side of the earth that is closest to the moon gets attracted the most and thus creates tide there. The ground right underneath the water however gets held back by the part of the earth that is further away from the moon and thus falls slower than the water above it. \n\nOn the other side of the planet, we have the opposite: the ground right underneath the water gets pulled more by the part that is _closer_ to the moon than the water above it. So earth \"falls away\" from to water on it, and thus a tide gets created on that side as well. As a result, we see the tide twice. ",
"The Moon also pulls the Earth away from the water on the opposite side, so that water gets deeper. \n\nOther answers here are more comprehensive but I thought this was a good literal eli5.",
"Just skip all of the comments that mention centrifugal force: they are not correct.\n\nI have to leave for work, so I'll have to add more later, but even if the Earth and moon were not orbiting each other (they could be moving in any fashion whatsoever), there would still be 2 tidal bulges on either side of the Earth (and moon, for that matter). \n\nTides are a purely gravitational effect: a relative stretching across an object, due to the differential of gravitational force caused as the strength of gravity falls off with increasing distance.\n\nEDIT: At work and trying to answer when it's slow.\n\nFirst: a [visual](_URL_0_).\n\nThe bright smudges are two galaxies which are in the early stages of a galaxy collision and merger. Between them, a bridge of stars is forming, as each galaxy gravitationally rips stars off of the nearby edge of the other galaxy. On the outer edges of each galaxy, there are streamers of stars ( called tidal tails) that look like they're being ejected *away* from the centers of the galaxies, as well. This is what tidal forces look like on large scales.\n\nThe galaxies used to look like this (\"A\" and \"B\" for the centers, \"s\" for stars at the edges):\n\nsssAsss .......... sssBsss\n\n\nNow, they look like this:\n\n s s s A s s s s s s B s s s\n\nThe strength of gravity weakens with distance, so stars on the near edge of galaxy B are accelerated towards galaxy A more than the center of galaxy B is accelerated towards galaxy A. The near-side stars, then, are pulled away from the center of the galaxy.\n\nThis is also true for the center of the galaxy and the stars on the *far* side, but in reverse. The center of galaxy B is accelerated towards galaxy A more than the stars on the *far* side of galaxy B are accelerated towards galaxy A. The center of galaxy B, then, is pulled away from the stars on the far edge of galaxy B.\n\nFrom the perspective of the center of galaxy B, then, it looks like the stars on either side are being pushed *away* from you in opposite directions.\n\nTides in the Earth-moon system work the same way. In this case, though, it's the water on the surface of the Earth that's being pushed away from the center of the Earth (the moon is also stretched into a slight potato-shape because of this effect). \n\nThe easiest way to see why the centrifugal-force explanation doesn't work is to notice that the sun contributes to the tidal forces the Earth feels as well. When the sun and moon are aligned with the Earth ( new moon and full moon) their effect add, and we experience *spring tides*. These tidal forces are the same, whether it's new moon:\n\nS-M-E\n\nor full moon:\n\nS-E-M\n\nFor the new moon configuration, the centrifugal-force thing kinda works: the bulge on the near side of the Earth is a result of the addition of the gravity of the Earth and moon (they're on the same side). The far-side bulge is similarly the result of the addition of the centrifugal forces from the earth-moon and earth-sun orbits. \n\nNothing obviously wrong so far, but this reasoning falls apart when you look at the full moon configuration, when the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the Earth. Now, the centrifugal-force contributions from the Earth-sun and Earth-moon orbits are pointing in *opposite* directions, partially cancelling each other out. You would predict that tides would be much *lower* in the S-E-M configuration than the S-M-E configuration, but that's not what we observe.\n\n",
"There is another tide on the far side of the earth. This is because the moon attracts all the water on earth. The water closest to the moon is attracted more than the water on the far side of the earth. In effect, the water \"stretches\".\n\nSo you have two bulges of water, directly in line with the moon. The bulge on the near side of the earth to the moon is bigger than the one on the far side.\n\nThe low tides are simply the two areas that don't have a bulge (halfway between the bulges).\n\nThe sun also affects the tides (somewhere around 30% of tidal effects are from the sun). When the sun and the moon are in line with one another, the suns tidal effects and moon tidal effects add. This is called a spring or a King tide. It doesn't matter if it's Sun-Moon-Earth or Sub-Earth-Moon, as long as they are in a line.\n\nWhen the sun and moon make a 90 degree angle with the earth, the effects of the sun and moon don't work with each other, and the tides are lower. This is called a neap ride. The earth bulges the water along one axis and the sun pulls the water along an axis at an angle of 90 degrees, and this rounds out the bulges so the low tide is higher and the high tide is lower (less extreme).\n\nSpring and neap tides occur twice a month (remember a month is about how long it takes the moon to rotate about the earth). So every 7 days you get a neap or spring tide. \n\nAdding to all this is the fact that the earth is rotating, and because a day is shorter than a month, we rotate into the tides. This cause the earth's rotation to slightly slow, making our days longer, very slowly.",
"Gravity pulls less and less hard the farther away things are. There’s a bulge of water that’s directly under the moon because it’s closer than the earth is sits on and is thus pulled harder. Likewise, the entire earth is pulled harder than the water exactly on the opposing side of the earth from where the moon is. Therefore there are two bulges of water on exact opposite sides caused by the moon. These two bulges cause the high tides. ",
"This is the simplification that made it click for me... Imagine the Earth is completely surrounded by water and the moon is pulling on that water forming it into an ellipse with the long axis along the Earth-Moon line, like in [this schematic.](_URL_0_)\n\nNow imagine the moon and the ellipse are stationary, and the Earth (land only, without the water) is rotating beneath the water. Focus on a single point and count the number of cycles it would go through in one full revolution.\n\n",
"You have two tides a day, because you have a tide when the moon is overhead and one when the moon is on the opposite site.\n\nThis is because the moon pulls different points on the earth's surface in different directions in relation to earth's center, [like in this picture.](_URL_0_)\n\nThe forces are tiny, but added up over a whole ocean, the forces **on the top and bottom** bulge out the ocean towards (and away from) the moon. That is also the reason why you don't have tides in smaller things full of water - because the forces are tiny and you need to have enough surface area to create them. [It's explained in greater detail in this video](_URL_1_) .",
"I see a lot of explanations in here that I feel only cover half the story. \n\nSo the first part is this:\nThere are 2 bulges of water (high tides). One on the side where the moon is, and one on the opposite side of the earth. The opposite side happens because of the fact that the earth is pulled towards the moon. The entire earth is made into an oval. Water is more affected by this than landmass, so you'll notice the tides in the water, but you need scientific instruments to measure the tides in the crust.\n\nThe second part:\nThe moon only rotates around the earth once every month or so, but the earth is spinning around it's own axis. So the bulge of water, pointing both towards and away from the moon, stays kind of the same, whilst the earth is 'spinning through' the water. This is why you have roughly 2 times high tide per day. If the moon would always be on the same spot in the sky, you'd have exactly 2 tides. However, the moon is also revolving around the earth. So every day, the position of the moon relative to the earth moves a tiny bit, and that's why you don't have exactly two high and low tides per day. \n\nNow you can also understand why there is an extra strong high tide when it's full moon or new moon! When it's full moon, the moon is as far away from the earth as ever, so the 'force of the moon' doesn't increase, but when it's full or new moon, the moon and the sun are aligned! So now both the moon and the sun are 'forming' the bulge in the same direction! Even though the sun is really far away and pulls on the water a lot less, it's effect can still be noticed! Hope you found this explanation informative!",
"If I leave a half full glass of water outside why doesn't the moon pull the water closer to the top of the glass?",
"Is one tide higher than the other?",
"Marine Biologist here\n\nTide are quite a bit more complicated than the simple textbook diagram will tell you. \n\nThe simple illustration of tides looks like[this](_URL_3_)...the moon pulls at the earth, and causes a bulge of water to face the moon, but also a bulge on the far side of the moon. Why isn't there just a bulge on the near side of the earth? That's what you'd get if the earth was, eg, stuck on an immovable rod and the moon was just pulling the loose stuff on the surface toward it. But that's not how it works. Instead, it pulls the whole earth. It pulls the near part a lot, the center a middle amount, and the far part a less amount. Basically the furthest bit of the planet is bulged out because the rest of the earth is pulled away from it.\n\nBut it's more complicated than that. For starters, there is also a substantial pull from the sun, which means there are actually [two sets of bulges](_URL_5_). When they line up, we get bigger tides, when they cancel out, we get smaller ones. The bulges also [don't point directly](_URL_0_) at the moon. Because the earth spins faster than the moon goes around the earth, the tidal bulge is drug \"ahead\" of the moon due to friction. As a result, the spin of the earth is slowed and the moon gets a little bit further away. In the early days of the planet the moon was closer and the days were shorter.\n\n\n**BUT**...the biggest, most important caveat is that all the stuff I just mentioned is a description of what goes on at the planetary scale. What happens with the actual tides at the actual seashore is another story entirely. For example, London in the UK, Valencia in Spain, and Lagos in Nigeria are all at about the same longitude (0.13W, 0.37W, 3.37W). But the [high tide in London](_URL_2_) today occurs at UTC 3:22pm. In [Valencia](_URL_1_) it occurs at UTC 10:26 PM. And in [Lagos](_URL_4_) it occurs at UTC 5:35PM.\n\nOr consider Chile, which is stretched out along the same latitude but where the tides vary by more than four hours.\n\nAnd note that the height of the tides varies drastically from place to place too. In the Bay of Fundy the tides vary by 16+ meters, in the Mediterranean they can vary by centimeters. So what happened to that nice neat picture with two uniform bulges going around the earth?\n\n[This](_URL_6_) is a map of the actual movements of tides in the ocean. What's going on here? Well, first, an explanation of the map. The lines labeled \"tidal delay\" reflect lines along which tides are delayed by that many hours from the theoretical lunar tide. Notice how they radiate out from the center of the ocean. You can think of real life oceanic tides as bulges of water washing around the ocean, with the \"Crest\" of the bulge along each line at a different hour. \n\nIn short, the actual planetary scale tides caused by the moon set the water sloshing around in the ocean. And that sloshing leads to the actual tides at the seashore. Imagine getting a cake pan and filling it halfway with water, then adding a few rocks (to simulate the continents). The planetary scale tidal forces are simulated by you shaking the pan back and forth slowly at regular intervals. The observed tides are simulated by the way the water sloshes around in the pan in response. ",
"There's a large part about the tidal bulge that isn't being discussed, here. It is *not* simply that the side of the of the Earth facing the moon experiences more gravity and the side furthest experiences less. If it were, tidal forces would be able to lift any arbitrary object the 0.6 meters or so that we see waters rise or fall. Similarly, we don't see tides in rivers or lakes, so it's not just gravity at work. \n\nGravity, itself, is not that strong. If you work the math, the presence of the moon has a virtually unmeasurable contribution to the local gravity on Earth.\n\nThat said, that virtually unmeasurable change in gravity adds up to create a gradient of water pressure that's lowest on the sides facing and opposing the moon's position and highest on the sides orthogonal to the moon's position. In order to balance that change in pressure, the higher-pressure water sinks and the lower-pressure water rises until the forces acting on the water as a whole are in equilibrium--kind of like a tube manometer, but on a planetary scale.\n\nAddendum: Hydrostatic forces being at the core of the tides also explains why you don't see tides in cups of coffee, rivers, or lakes. At small scales, the variation in gravity and hydrostatic pressure are too small to notice; I think even Lake Superior's tides would be measured in millimeters at best. It takes having a body of water that encompasses the planet itself (as the oceans do) to make that variation noticeable.",
"Short answer: It passes overhead once, which means it passes under once as well. High tide both times. ",
"What happens when you pull on a sphere? Recognize the symmetry? ",
"Here's an amazing youtube video about it, with some great graphics, that also addresses a lot of very common misconceptions: [_URL_0_](_URL_0_)\n\nThe essence of the reason has to do with a \"gravity difference\" I've seen mentioned in a lot of different comments here, but none of them are actually complete. We need to look at more points around Earths surface. We use the moon's gravitational pull on the center of the earth as a baseline, and subtract that vector from the gravity vector on the surface. Directly under the moon, the gravity is in the same direction and stronger, so our resulting vector is directly up from the earths surface. Directly opposite the moon, the gravity is in the same direction and weaker, so again the result is directly up from the earths surface. Since its gravity, everything is pulled on exactly the same way, and the earth is flexible enough to be pulled up as much as the water from just this effect.\n\nOther points on the earth surface get more interesting. Imagine a globe, with a point on it directly under the moon. At 90 degrees in any direction from that point, the gravity from the moon pulls about as strongly as as the center, but slightly angled toward the center of the earth. The resulting gravity difference points at the center of the earth. Now, at every other point on earth this gravity difference changes smoothly between the straight up at points under/opposite the moon, and straight down at 90 degrees to those points. For most of the earth's surface, that gives a gravity difference that points sideways across the surface, exactly toward the point under the moon or opposite it. With all the sideways pulls across the huge surface area of the ocean, the oceans basically flow to the points under/opposite the moon, creating the tidal bulges.\n\nThis also helps explain (partly) the variation in tides at different places. At a given place, the strength of the tide will be related to the amount of ocean that can be pushed there.",
"Omg, so many wrong explanations... It's not that the water is pulled. The earth is not exactly solid, it stretches like an oval to the direction of the moon, leaving the sea to \"fall\" from the two points to the shorter sides. ",
"The simplest I can put it: The moon squeezes the water on both sides of the earth, so there's two bulges. One facing the moon, and one away from the moon.",
"The top answer on this this is part of the answer, but it isn't fully correct. I'll tell you where you can find a full answer just because explaining it with text would make this a very long comment.\n\n[This 9 minute video](_URL_1_) explains how the tides work without using any math, relying only on visuals and intuition, although this description is fully informed by mathematical rigor. The guy doing the presentation has a degree in physics and so really does understand what he's talking about. The style of description, avoiding all math and such, is done to make the video accessible to a general audience, but the only thing that would needed to be added to make this video *entirely* correct is math calculations. The video is actually 15 minutes but the last 6 are responding to comments from a previous video. [This video](_URL_0_) has comment responses to the first video I linked to starting at 11:54. The comment response here is only ~2 minutes long.",
"Bc moon is always pulling water on one side the opposite side has to experience tide too so 2 tides at all times and both are passing in 24h",
"So does the atmosphere bulge more toward the moon/where the moon is overheard too?",
"Sit in a bath, with your legs outtretched, and push the water down the bath with your hands. The water level will rise at your feet and sink at your torso, then rise at your feet and sink at your torso. Now after that happens, pull your hands back. The water will sink at your feet and rise at your torso, then sink at your torso and rise at your feet. With one cyclic motion of your hands, you have made two tidal motions. This is the same for the moon as water is completely connected, and tidal motion is due to a variation in gravitational forces. So when the moon is furthest, and closest to your location, some time after that you get tidal peaks, and 2 for every one cycle of the moon."
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"https://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/London-Bridge-England/tides/latest",
"https://i.stack.imgur.com/9oenG.jpg",
"https://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Lagos-Bar-Nigeria/tides/latest",
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1i489l | cookies...and that's not the kind you eat | Ohkay so I really have no clue what "Clear Cookies" on any computer mean...will anyone care to educate me? :D | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1i489l/eli5_cookiesand_thats_not_the_kind_you_eat/ | {
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"Billy, pretend you own a deli. You make some pretty sweet sandwiches and lots of people in town come to your place for lunch. Over time, there's a ton of people coming to your deli! So many that you can't even keep track of them any more. What are you gonna do Billy? What are you gonna do! The line is going out the door!\n\nJohnny comes in for lunch one day. He goes to the counter and says, \"Turkey on rye, extra mayo.\" The next day he comes in, he says, \"Turkey on rye, extra mayo.\" The third day, he says the same thing. This ordering process is what is taking so long! You decide to get smart about it ...\n\nSally comes in and says, \"Ham sandwich on a bun, no tomatoes.\" So you write that down on a blue index card and staple it to her forehead. You make her sandwich, she eats it, and she leaves. The next day she comes in, you can see quite plainly what you stapled to her forehead: \"Ham sandwich on a bun, no tomatoes\" on a blue index card. She walks in, you see the index card, you make her sandwich and then chuck her sandwich at her. She eats and leaves.\n\nOver time, you keep doing this for everyone who comes into your deli. Clyde has a blue index card stapled to his forehead that says, \"Grilled cheese on sourdough.\" and Pam has a blue index card stapled to her forehead that says, \"Roast beef on pumpernickel.\" Everyone comes into your deli with blue index cards stapled to their head and as long as they've ordered their sandwich once ... they can waltz right in and you'll know exactly how to serve them quickly and easily.\n\nThe next day, Sally comes into your deli. She has an orange index card stapled to her shoulder. It's in a language you can't understand. She must have gone to a different deli for lunch yesterday! But you can still read your blue index card you put on her that says \"Ham sandwich on a bun, no tomatoes.\" so it's all good.\n\nOver time, you notice that people keep walking into your deli with tons of different colored index cards stapled to them. Your blue one, the oranges ones, plaid ones, green ones, silver ones, ... all different kinds of colors. They are the index cards that other restaurants have placed on their customer to help them make their ordering process quick and easy.\n\nBut Sally goes home one day and says, \"What the hell! I don't want all these index cards on me any more!\" She clears all the cards from herself and feels new and refreshed. The problem with that is that when she comes into your deli the next day, she doesn't have her index card on her, so you say, \"I'm sorry, who are you? You look familiar, but I need your name and choice of sandwich again.\" You write that on your blue index card and restaple it to her forehead, as long as she lets you do it this time.\n\n****\n\nIn more specific terms, let's say your deli was Facebook. You go to _URL_0_ and the facebook servers will say, \"I'm sorry, who are you?\" and then you type in your email and password. Facebook will drop a cookie onto your computer that says \n\n EMAIL: [email protected]\n PASSWORD: 1234wxyz\n\nso that the next time you go to _URL_0_, you don't have to sign in anymore. Facebook just sees the cookie it stored on your computer and says, \"Oh yeah! You're ChasingKhaos, come right in, I already know your password is good!\"\n\nThey can store other things like site preferences and the like on their cookie as well. And \"Clearing your cookies\" (or ripping off all the index cards, in the story above) is when you delete all those little bits of information that all those websites have on your computer, at the cost of you having to go through and re-enter all your information all over again. \n\n****\n\nNow Billy, stop going to all those shady delis. You're covered in index cards and you're going to get food poisoning, no doubt about it."
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265sbw | : why is my computer downloading 36 mb/s, but my game is only downloading at a 4 mb/s speed ? | What is really happening ? Is there really 36 mb/s of information coming into my ethernet port, but only 4 mb/s is game data ?
It was the only download running, nothing else was updating/downloading.
EDIT : [Screenshot](_URL_0_) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/265sbw/eli5_why_is_my_computer_downloading_36_mbs_but_my/ | {
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"Your computer is reporting the transmission speed in Mbps (megabits per second). Steam, or whatever you're using to download your game is reporting the transmission speed in MBps (megabytes per second). One megabyte is eight megabits. That doesn't account for it exactly, but I'd wager you've done some rounding.",
"Network monitor tells the speed in megabits per second, steam measures it in megabYtes per second. 1 byte = 8 bits, so there's the difference.\n\nAlso happens with internet connections, \"24 megs download speed\" is just 3 megabytes per second. Not so impressive. ",
"Your computer says that it's downloading at 36 mega**bits** per second (mbps), but Steam is saying it's downloading 4 mega**bytes** per second (MB/s or MBps). The capitalization is a pretty big difference. One byte is equal to 8 bits. When downloading pretty much anywhere, megabytes (MB/s) is used, but for connection speeds megabits (mbps) is used. In the future, if you see mbps, just divide that number by 8 and you'll get the speed in MB/s, which should give you a better reference."
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5wjciu | how to work out percentages (help!) | i am trying to brush up on my maths prior to going back to school (adult school) however i am struggling learning percentages, in all the wonderful ways in comes in.
I have books that are like "maths for dummies" and i still cant get my head round it and get it to sink in. could someone please help me | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5wjciu/eli5_how_to_work_out_percentages_help/ | {
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"What do you mean by work them out?\n\n Like if 68 people out of 212 tested positive, how to figure out what percent that is?",
"All a percent is is just a number over 100 in a different form.\n\nFor example: 2/100 will be 2%, as it is 2 out of 100. (You could also right it as .02 will be 2%) (as a side note, 2/100 or .02 reads as 2 hundredths) I say will be as you have to do some work to convert to percents.\n\nIf you have a decimal or a fraction and want to put it into a percentage form, just multiply by 100.\n\n.02*100= 2 % < also you could have .025*100= 2.5%\n\n2/100*100= 2% (note that the 100 is divided by the 100, resulting in 2*1)\n\nBut what if you have a whole that is not 100? If I for instance have 50 people in a class and I want to find the percentage of people that are present, and 47 people are there and only 3 are absent I'd do as follows:\n\nYou have the fraction 47/50, as only 47 of the whole is there. Since percents are just #/100 in a different form, all you do is change the denominator to 100 then multiply by 100. Since we can only multiply something by 1 and have it be the same value as before, and any number over itself is equal to one, we can do as follows:\n\ntake the fraction 2/2, as it equals one, and multiply it by 47/50. This results in the fraction 94/100, multiply by 100, and we can 94%\n\nAlternatively, you could've just divided 47 by 50 and multiplied by 100 and gotten the same result. This is a good idea to use when you have something like 1/15 which is a mess to turn into #/100.\n\nEventually you might start getting questions that ask you, \"If there are 30 kids in a class, and 70% of them are there, how many kids are present\"\n\nIn cases like this you could use #/30 = 70/100. This is because percents can be written as fractions and because the fractions in the word problem must be equal. (we proved this when we said that 47/50 is equal to 94/100, if you want more proof, but them into a calculator and they both spit out .94)\n\nSo to recap.\n\n% is just a form of a number over 100.\n\nThis means that:\n\nYou can multiply a fraction or decimal to get the corresponding percent\n\n5/100 (*100)= 5%\n\n.05*100=5 %\n\nYou can also find the percentage of a fraction which is not a denominator of 100 in 2 ways.\n\n1) convert the denominator to a hundred:\n\n 47/50 * 2/2 = 94/100 = 94%\n\n2) 47/50= .94, .94*100 = 94%"
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4fk4ov | how do animals actually get put down at the vet? what happens biologically? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4fk4ov/eli5_how_do_animals_actually_get_put_down_at_the/ | {
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"Yes the dosage matters. Dogs are bigger than cats. The Vet can choose a number of options, all of them are painless. An IV is started and an overdose of something is introduced into the bloodstream. The animal goes to sleep and does not wake up.",
"Typically, they are given 2 intraveinous shots: the first is a deep sedative which puts them into a deep unconscious state, similar to the first step of anesthesia. The second step is to give them an overdose of anesthetic, similar to the second step of anesthesia.\n\nThe long and short of it is that it's typically the same procedure as anesthesia, except with a significantly higher dose. This, usually, causes the actual cause of death to be cardiac arrest: the animal's heart simply stops, but it's way under anesthesia at the time, so there's no pain or suffering.\n\nAs you might suspect, dose does matter: it's an overdose of (the type of) fairly normal drugs used in veterinary practice.\n\nSource: Father was a veterinarian, have had pets, and did some quick research like [this](_URL_0_).",
"The same method is used for cats and dogs, yes. If your pet is very ill or infirm, they may not need a sedative, but if they're visibly distressed or nervous, they may be given a sedative before the euthanasia drugs are given. The sedatives themselves can cause pain, so they're usually only used if there is good reason. \n\nThe drug typically used for the actual euthanasia is pentobarbitol. Many times, this drug is combined with another that will stop nerve transmission, so there is no thought, no movement, no pain. It will quickly render your pet unconscious, and within minutes, the pentobarbitol will stop the functions of the brain and heart. "
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3i0cbr | why dogs never seem to get dizzy? | Like for example, my dog can chase his tail for five minutes straight and be completely fine whereas I can barely spin in a circle for thirty seconds before falling on the floor and vomiting. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3i0cbr/eli5_why_dogs_never_seem_to_get_dizzy/ | {
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"Maybe because your a pussy...but try spinning a dog in an office chair or something of that sort and you will see a dizzy dog.",
"It's possible for dogs to get dizzy, but it's more common in older dogs. Both humans and dogs have a vestibular system in the inner ear that helps prevent dizziness. Individuals have wide ranges of sensitivity to balance issues. My best guess is you are relatively more sensitive to positioning stimuli than your dog is. "
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ebf6r2 | why does adding white vinegar to the laundry take care of bad smells and why don't laundry detergents already contain these properties? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ebf6r2/eli5_why_does_adding_white_vinegar_to_the_laundry/ | {
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"Vinegar helps break down protein and minerals, like salt and calcium. \nSo vinegar will help remove smell from dirt, sweat, etc. \nBecause vinegar also breaks down calcium, it softens your clothes and helps clean your washing machine in good shape by preventing scale. \n\nCommercial laundry detergents are designed to make your clothes very fluffy and scented and to make you, as a consumer think that scent is a necessary part of cleanliness and therefor keep you buying the product.",
"How much vinegar should you add?",
"We used vinegar in our front load washer for about a year before it broke. Turns out the vinegar caused some kind of reaction between the aluminum and stainless steel used in the drum, and caused the aluminum to basically dissolve. Electrolysis of some kind. The repair shop said that happens often when people use vinegar in some washers. It was actually in the manual not to use vinegar in the machine. So our bad. And not covered by the warranty. \n\nOur new washer actually says you can use vinegar to clean it when using the tub cleaning cycle. So we use vinegar in the laundry too.",
"Use it for all your cleaning needs. Super Cheap. Kills all the bad kitchen stuff. Effective. And doesn’t contain a bunch of chemicals that are probably not great for you.",
"I only use vinegar for washing, no detergents. I also use baking soda/water and vinegar/water to wash my hair. I learned both of these tricks from my MIL and I think they work much better than more expensive options. I’ve been doing both for a couple years now and with the money I’ve saved on shampoo/ conditioner and detergent I’m happy.",
"My mom has always sworn by a bit of vanilla essence to neutralize smells.\n\nWe've always had dogs in the house and this works really well for their bedding. Maybe 10 or 20mil of cheap-ish vanilla essence (usually for baking) in the rinse cycle makes a huge difference!\n\nI think it masks more than destroys the smell, but it's effective! Also works great when window curtains with a cigarette smoke smell...",
"General rule of thumb, most of the stains you're trying to remove require a high pH(more basic/alkaline). Vinegar, being an acid, actually lowers the pH making commercial laundry detergents less effective. The smell is likely coming from your washer itself, which the vinegar helps to remove odors from.\n\nSource: I work for company that supplies raw materials for making Laundry Detergents.\n\nEdit: Whoa, my first silver! Thanks Anonymous Redditors! Finally putting my chemistry degree to good use.\n\nSecond Edit: Platinum! You guys are too kind!",
"\"Adding\" used here is confusing. You do not add vinegar, you use it instead of detergent, or use it in the rinse cycle. \n\nCleaning clothes requires a ph of about 11. Most water is a ph of 7. So borax or washing soda will help your detergent clean better, because the ph is raised (by the soda or borax). Deodorizes as well. \n\nDetergent works by having two heads. One head is sticky and picks up dirt and grease and the other head is water soluble and is washed away, carrying the grease with it. \n\nWhen either too much or too little detergent is used, the sticky heads remain in the laundry with the smelly smells. The vinegar carries these away. \n\nUnderstanding the process makes it easier to remember, for me at least. \n\n(Please forgive bad sentence structure and spelling, I have a broken finger.)",
"Acid and alkaline things neutralize each other. \n\nThe detergent is alkaline on purpose. It puffs up the fibers in whatever your washing to help allow surfactants (also in laundry soap) remove the soils. \n\nOnce your washer rinses the detergent out you can add softeners and vinegar. Commercial laundries do just that. They call it sour, and it neutralizes whatever detergent is left as well as help keep bacteria from taking hold.",
"Modern washers can stink because, unlike the olden days, a lot less water is used so a lot of stuff gets left behind when the water is drained away. Dead skin, hairs, oils, dirts, even detergent leftovers stay behind and start to decay and get smelly. \n\nLess water also means that you can not use a lot of detergent, because it does not always breakdown all of the soap, which gets left behind. \n\nFront load washers are the bane of my existence because that seal around the door retains water and gets funky. You must always dry that entire seal, even behind it, when you are done using the machine. If you pull back the seal at the bottom you will see some holes made to drain out excess water. Those drain holes are usually clogged with hair, socks, coins etc and the water will puddle there and get funky. \n\nIf you buy a front loader be prepared to do a lot of cleaning chores. Front loaders get the funk. \n\nOnce the funk takes hold it is hard to get rid of and it smells like low-tide at the marsh. \n\nI work on these machines as part of my job.",
"EDIT: Don't upvote this any more! It is seriously flawed and largely incorrect. \n\nVinegar is a mild acid, so it helps the water and detergents to do their job in two ways:\n\n1) Makes things dissolve more easily\n2) Changes pH slightly to denature some proteins\n\nMOST persistent bad smells in laundry are from proteins and rancid fats. So regular detergents are designed to MOSTLY break up the water-resistant properties of fats and similar non-polar chemicals so that they will dissolve. Some proteins (e.g. cat piss proteins) are a bit more difficult to denature and/or dissolve without changing the pH. So some additional acid is helpful, and vinegar is a common, mild acid that is usually available.\n\nBut acid isn't necessary for every, or even most washes - detergents and water are usually sufficient. Also, some laundry systems could deteriorate with regular, repeated acidic washes, simply because of the materials used in the machines (e.g. aluminum and plastics in the pump and valve mechanisms).\n\nSo, a detergent that was marketed and packaged with a vinegar equivalent already in it would probably earn a poor reputation from uninformed consumers who used it too often and messed up their machines. Conversely, for a \"normal\" non-stinky load of wash, people would notice no difference.",
"Adding vinegar (acid) to laundry detergent (generally caustic) would reduce the alkalinity and overall effectiveness of the laundry detergent. I feel it would make more sense to add the vinegar to the final rinse cycle vs the wash cycle. This would help to neutralize any residual alkalinity from the wash and still aid in reducing washing machine odor.",
"I've been told vinegar breaks down soap/detergent so I use it at the start or end of my wash but never at the same time as the detergent.",
"Pro Tip: I had a huge problem lately of my towels not absorbing water and smelling musty. I looked online and it seems commercial detergents and fabric softener coats your fabrics with a wax like covering. Making towels less absorbant and harder to dry. Now I do 1 cup vinegar and hot water. If they're really bad do a second cycle with 1 cup baking powder and hot water. Haven't had a problem since! I'm seriously thinking of ditching detergent all together and going with vinegar and wool dryer balls.\n\nVinegar is also better at killing mold in absorbant surfaces like clothes and towels. Bleach is better for killing mold on hard surfaces like tile.",
"I had an ex bf with the smelliest feet I've ever ugh. I used to wash his socks by themselves first with vinegar then another time with regular laundry soap. I was told not to use them together for what ever reason. I didnt care it worked. Man I do not miss dealing with that shit",
"The vast majority of bad smells are:\n- ammonia based\n- thiol based\n- purine based\n\nAcetic acid reacts with all of those very fast, and the products are highly soluble in water and effectively odourless.\n\nThe downside is that acetic acid makes most detergents less effective, can cause accelerated corrosion in washing machines, has a rather strong smell of its own, and can damage many fabrics.\n\n_URL_0_",
"I know this comment will be buried and won't be seen but I bought a hoodie from my university gift shop for myself and it had a weird smell. It's been washed in 3 different machines and I even took it to dry cleaning, but the smell stayed. I could never once wear it. I took it back and got it replaced. Same problem with this one, it's been washed 3 times but the smell is still there. Is this a chemical used in the fabric, how do I get rid of it? I don't have a laundry machine myself but I use public ones if that's something to keep in mind for some things I shouldn't do.",
"Does anyone have any suggestions for getting yellow armpit stains out of white t-shirts? I bleached them and it didn’t completely work. I’m ready to give up and tie-dye all of my SO’s shirts.",
"Since there seems to be educated people in this thread, could i theortically add vingear to my detergent for the occasional stain removal or would that be a no-no-chemical-reaction",
"Vinegar breaks down and deactivates soap, making it incompatible with grease and oil clean-up. Historically adding perfume to cover up smells is the main way people get rid of bad scents. New inventions like the chemicals in fabreeze haven't been around for very long.",
"Also, vinegar reduces surface tension, so the surfactant in your detergent will make more and larger bubbles...filling up front-loading washers with foam, messing up the cycle/ process some. So, one generally needs to use less detergent, which reduces cleaning ability. Ideally, do a rinse/ \"wash\" cycle with a couple cups of vinegar in the washer and then a regular wash cycle with detergent. Best of both worlds, but takes time.\n\nFurther, vinegar is cheap but heavy, so in addition to the above point, it reduces elements of the detergent's cleaning power per unit volume/ weight, and if the consumer really wants to use it, they can do it themselves.",
"I found a detergent that does a really good job removing odors and not covering up. It’s called Hex. Came by it by chance at Safeway (Kroger), which seems to be one of the only places to buy it from a brick and mortar place, but you can order from their website and/or Amazon. They have a bunch of products but I’ve only been able to try the detergent so far.",
"tldr;\n\nRubber can deteriorate over time when exposed to vinegar repeatedly.\n\nLong Version\n\nI had this question a while back.. there are some very informed opinions here concerning (vinegar actually cleans your washing machine, lowering the ph, etc). But, I have a friend who has been an aquarium owner for most of his life and he mentioned that you want to use vinegar sparingly as it can ruin rubber seals. This is probably more of a concern for front loaders than top loaders, but keep in mind all washers have a rubber hose for flushing the water.\n\nI still use vinegar occasionally for stubborn smells - but generally I try without first.",
"Lots of athletic apparel is an extruded polyester. This allows a capillary action with your sweat and helps \"wick\" the sweat away. This extruded star shape unfortunately has crevices that oils build up into and create what scientists call \"permi-stink.\" This vinegar helps break down said oils and will rejuvenate your funky athletic gear. On a side note avoid using any detergents that have scents or fabric softeners in them as they will also have oil build-up clog the pores in your technical apparel.",
"I use a Downey ball to disinfect my laundry with vinegar. It releases the vinegar after the wash cycle and in the rinse cycle.",
"White vinegar is the nectar to the cleaning God's. From tile to dandruff and back it is my go to must have household items. Buy it in bulk at Costco.",
"Many smells in the laundry are caused by bacteria; especially that funky smell front loading washers get because they never truly dry out and can mold or mildew on the inside. Vinegar is a natural antibacterial so it will improve the smell by killing the bacteria. The downside is, the washer can't handle the pH of vinegar if you use it too often. It will eat away some of the tubing and cause leaks.",
"I now use only vinegar in the rinse, no fabric softeners. My towels are thick and fluffy and absorbent. My clothes smell clean. When your laundry is dry, there will be no vinegar smell. Fabric softeners are only chemicals with oil that coat your clothes. So gross. The difference is amazing.",
"If you are using vinegar to get rid of a moldy smell, chances are you've never ran a decon cycle in your washer life. Run a normal cycle empty with a cup of bleach.",
"Make sure to wash at the highest temperature from time to time to get rid of the bacteria. Many machines say they are washing at 60°C/140°F but they are only reaching around 40C/104F, and that's not enough.",
"Hold up. My washing machine water smells like a goat took a wet shit in a hat made of old cabbage on a hot day on the sun.\n\nAre you telling me white vinegar will help that?",
"And how does one remove the yellow stains? Asking for a friend."
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o0zug | karat markings on gold | I know if gold is real you look for the karat markings on it, and for silver the sterling marking, etc. What keeps a counterfeiter from just punching a stamp on it when it is being made? They can't cost that much can they? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/o0zug/eli5_karat_markings_on_gold/ | {
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"There are other ways to test the purity, mostly used by jewelers. You can submerge the item to get a measure of its volume and compare to its weight, thus getting the density; golds of different purities will have different densities. You can also test the metal against known-purity samples in a jeweler's shop, how they scratch or rub off for example. Or you can melt down the object and really see what's inside, but that's not always useful, of course.\n\nBasically the karat numbers are just a quick reference; any piece you are buying or selling will be verified by the jeweler. Thieves aren't going to scam reputable shops with lesser quality gold just by forging (if you'll pardon the pun) the karat markings.",
"Karat markings are for quick reference when you know your gold is real.\n\nJewelers have other ways to see if the gold is real. They don't just look at the stamp, because like you said, it's easy to put one on a fake piece.",
"You can't legally (per US Federal Trade Commission rules) stamp karat markings without a hallmark, identifying the maker. Naturally, it is illegal to sell jewelry with a precious metal content different than what is advertised. \n\nMy wife is a silversmith, family members have given several unwanted pieces of silver jewelry from discount stores like walmart or Target, as scrap. About half have been fake, despite the .925 stamp. She works with silver all day, she has a pretty good eye for it. She looked at the Target jewelry display this Christmas season, she estimated about a quarter of the silver jewelry was fake.\n\nShe has also melted several cheap items marked as ten karat gold that were lead with gold plating.\n\n\n",
"Gold is one of the heaviest \"common\" materials around - a lot heavier than lead, even. That alone (weight vs volume) will be a quick indication of the upper bound.\n\nOn the counter side to that, uranium is heavier still. "
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1r6q06 | what is nash equilibrium? | Lets say this is the case for the prisoners dilemma/game theory:
B
Strategy | Left | Right |
A .... Up....... | . (10),[20] .| .(15),8 . |
Down | -10,7 | 10,[10] |
Please ignore the dots. Would the Nash Equilibrium in this case be Up-Left? Is it as simple as having two values in the same box being ideal for that certain case? Also, if both Up-Left and Down-Right boxes each had the best values, could there be two Nash Equilibrium?
Edit: pic of the diagram if you can not see it: _URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1r6q06/eli5_what_is_nash_equilibrium/ | {
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"The Nash Equilibrium is a point where neither player can unilaterally improve their position by changing strategy (if their opponent stays the same). This is not the same as the best outcome.\n\nIn the prisoner's dilemma, both confess is the Nash Equilibrium - neither player benefits by changing from confession to silence if their opponent stays on confession.\n\nBoth staying silent is NOT a Nash Equilibrium, because one player can confess (with his opponent staying silent) and get a better deal for himself.\n\nIt is possible to have multiple (or no) Nash Equilibrium in a given situation, depending on the parameters.\n\nI can't display your ASCII picture to explain it, however."
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1kcuhx | why is texting and driving not illegal? | Everyone knows it's dangerous, but everyone keeps doing it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1kcuhx/eli5_why_is_texting_and_driving_not_illegal/ | {
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"It's illegal in a huge number of jurisdictions already. Where do you live?",
"it is in ontario, canada. you can get a ticket for even muting an incoming call. ",
"I think it's an issue that has been delegated to state governments. It's illegal within the entire state of Delaware",
"It's illegal in 41 states in the US.\n\n_URL_0_"
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2d89dz | why do women develop stretch marks on their breasts when gaining weight, but not when getting breast implants? | I have a friend who just had breast augmentation surgery, and her breasts are completely free of any stretch marks. She went about three sizes bigger than what they were before. However, I gain weight and immediately have stretch marks. Why is that? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2d89dz/eli5_why_do_women_develop_stretch_marks_on_their/ | {
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"i dont know if they do this for everyone, but i've seen cases where they install something to stretch out the skin weeks or months before the actual surgery.",
"Her skin was elastic enough to be stretched that much without risking her skin getting completely torn or getting stretch marks from the surgery. ",
"I have implants. Went from a small B to a DD...I have stretch marks from it. Only a few small ones, but they are there. It just depends on your body.",
"Stretch marks are a tearing of the dermis(specific layer of skin) cause by stretching it more than it can handle. This happens commonly with pregnancy, weight gain and implants. There are a few reasons that breast implants are less likely to result in stretch marks. 2 and 4 you can use to avoid future issues, the others are mostly environmental: \n\nFirst, stretch marks are generally more visible if the area of skin that expanded contracts at a later date. With weight gain most of us boomerang, gaining and losing the same ten to twenty pounds. With breast implants size from that point is generally consistent, so you might notice them less. \n\nSecond, weight gain is often due to a diet that has more calories than nutrients, ie things like wheat and sugar or cairn based products. When your body doesn't have the necessary amount of nutrition it doesn't heal as well, that is, it can not make the same level of new cells or repair damage as well, and so scars are more common and more long lasting. The group of women that get implants are generally neurotic about their appearance and are more likely to have nutrient dense diets. So their bodies may heal better thus fewer marks. \n\nThird, a good surgeon has an idea of how much stretching the skin can take, and will advise his patients of that. So with implants there is an authority actively working to avoid that imbalance. Your brain doesn't care. It wants to survive and historically that means storing as much fat as possible as quickly as possible. There is no one looking to prevent stretch marks when you gain weight. \n\nFourth, she knows she just had skin surgery, and that she needs to be hydrated. Few people gat are gaining weight are hydrating properly, and proper hydration is one if the most important factors of skin health. \n\nFinally, there are certain genetic factors that determine how well your skin recovers, how \"elastic\" it is is determined by how much of a certain chemical you were born with. That chemical degrades over time based on factors like nutrition, radiation exposure etc, and there isn't a well known way to get more of it. If the other factors mentioned are all the same, there is a very good chance that she was simply born with more than you. ",
"they can, but preventing them is part of a skilled plastic surgeon's job."
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devunx | how do scientists know what a person's face looks like when reconstructing it form a skull? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/devunx/eli5_how_do_scientists_know_what_a_persons_face/ | {
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"Your skull helps define your facial structure. Then layer on things such a muscle, fat, et cetera as appropriate until it looks right. There's a level of guesswork associated with it, but it's still more accurate than not.",
"It's part science and part art. It's never an exact replica, but more of an educated guess. The scientific side is knowing that the musculature of the face and how the muscles and connective tissue of the face determine the shape of the shape. Scientists can use averages from groups of people from the same ethnicity if that information is available. They can either physically using clay, or digitally using computers, model the skull with the muscles and connective tissue over the skull. Then they have to start guessing about fat amount and fat distribution, skin color and characteristics, eye color, and hair. Some of these things can be educated guesses. For example, they can usually determine the rough age of the person when they died to give them some information about what their skin might have lookd like (wrinkles, sagging...etc) and their ethnicity could give them an idea of skin color. Eye color is almost always a guess, as is hair color, cut, and shape, as well as facial hair.",
"The muscles in the face have attachment points, the size and depth of which demonstrates the size of the muscle. They work backwards from this and guess at the fat the body would contain, I believe they run a ‘skinny’ average and ‘fat’ model if they have no other data to work with (archaeological examinations run all three)."
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6ew8wq | how difficult would it be to intentionally build an immunity to a lethal poison, a la the princess bride? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ew8wq/eli5_how_difficult_would_it_be_to_intentionally/ | {
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"There isn't a blanket answer to this. Some poisons you simply cannot develop an immunity to, and they will end you no matter how hard you try. If you were curious, the practice itself is named Mithridatism. "
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3m2oa1 | how does the naming of marijuana strains work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3m2oa1/eli5_how_does_the_naming_of_marijuana_strains_work/ | {
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"You make a new strain and name it whatever you want. If you want your strain to be called Dildofuck Dogshit, that's what it is.",
"somebody makes a strain...and then names it, hence the sometimes rather silly names. theres no organized \"Marijuana Naming Committee\"",
"Some names may refer to a specific feeling when you smoke it, but most of the time they're just names to help differentiate what you're smoking. Call it Super Smash Buds or Munchies Monster if you want."
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3i45rp | why does dinner usually cost so much more than other meals i.e: breakfast | I went to breakfast this morning and was $26 for 3 people. If I went to dinner with 3 people it would probably be around $40. Why is this? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3i45rp/eli5_why_does_dinner_usually_cost_so_much_more/ | {
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"The general response is that patrons have a higher tolerance to paying more at dinner time. Culturally, dinner is often seen as the most important meal. Because of this, you can add in more expensive ingredients, different flavors and go way beyond for dinner. Breakfast, however, this isn't a whole lot of wiggle room...most breakfasts are going to have some variation and use eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit and pancake or crepe....none of these are incredibly expensive ingredients or requires a disproportionate level of cooking skill to create meals for.\n\nThat said, it can be easy to get an expensive breakfast, either in a brunch setting and with alcohol like mimosas and bloody Mary's",
"It is generally more expensive food items, and more of them. A normal dinner is around 2-4 times the size of a breakfast. "
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4hzj0k | how saudi arabia, venezuela and other oil export depending countries are dealing so differently with low oil prices. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4hzj0k/eli5how_saudi_arabia_venezuela_and_other_oil/ | {
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"Imagine you have several households, and all of them have one family member with a pretty decent income as salesmen (oil revenue in this metaphor). However, some of them have to commute further than others, and have other expenses that mean they get to keep less of their total pay. If sales drop low enough, it actually costs them more to sell their goods than to do nothing.\n\nSome families deal with the problem by taking out payday loans, or second mortgages on their house. A bad long term strategy, but so long as sales eventually recover, they will probably be ok.\n\nSome of these families have been throwing extra money into savings for years, so when sales go down, they can tap into their savings (Saudi Arabia for example). Additionally, some of these countries have been using their extra money to diversify their income sources (such as paying for other members of the family to attend college), so they are not as dependent on the sales revenue (Such as the United Arab Emirates). They can also look into selling off assets, like a second car (Saudi is looking into this option).\n\nOn the other hand, some countries spent nearly every dime as they earned it so they have no savings, and failed to perform maintenance on the car they use for their sales job, so it doesn't travel as fast anymore, which impacts their sales (Venezuela). Also, they defaulted on the loan for the car and have terrible credit, so no one wants to loan them anymore money."
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5ht42y | why do we gag when we push ourselves too hard when exercising? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ht42y/eli5_why_do_we_gag_when_we_push_ourselves_too/ | {
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"Well there could be many possible reasons as to why you would gag. \n\nFor your situation, exercising hard for an extended period of time will draw blood away from the stomach, which is why you feel nauseous. This nausea can induce a reflex depending on how your brain interprets the stimuli as a threat or not which is different for everyone (ex. \"weak\"stomached people). If your brain interprets the nausea as a threat you will gag. \n\nAlso if you are dehydrated and have a dry throat, dust particles in you throat can induce the reflex involuntarily. \n\nAnother possibility is when you are exercising and have too much mucous build up in your throat. This will also induce the reaction to try to clear up the throat. ",
"Too much lactic acid in the blood-stream. It is essentially a short-term poisoning and the reaction to feeling poisoned is to vomit out the poison. Unfortunately this primitive reflex won't work for every kind of poisoning or for this situation."
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1pe9l7 | why do we censor things like nudity and swears to children when eventually, they'll be predisposed to it and consider it "normal"? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1pe9l7/eli5_why_do_we_censor_things_like_nudity_and/ | {
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"You're question is completely contradictory. You cant \"eventually\" become \"predisposed\" to something. If you are predisposed, then it is either genetic or ingrained at a very young age, and it is outside your control.\n\nAlso, your assertion that nudity and swearing are considered \"normal\" is wrong. There are millions and billions of people who do not consider such things normal or appropriate. Just because they're normal to you, and those around you, does not mean that it is \"normal\". \"Normal\" is an illusion. It is composed of your own brain's biases you've learned over the years.\n\nAnd finally (to actually answer your question), children are not emotionally prepared for some experiences. Many people disagree about where that line should be, but I think its safe to say that most people agree that children shouldn't see pornography or violence because they don't understand the context. Porn is fake sex. They do things that most people don't do. Adults understand this, and they use it to explore fantasies. Children don't understand this, and make incorrect assumtions about relationships, sex, and the people they're attracted to. Violent media has a similar effect. When you are young you create ideas that you will carry with you for the rest of your life. We don't want a child's foundational psychology to be based on the fringe of adult experience. ",
" > ELI5: Why do we censor things like nudity and swears to children when eventually, they'll be predisposed to it and consider it \"normal\"?\n\nThis is sort of an open-ended question, but I'll give it a shot.\n\nPeople are certainly not *predisposed* to swearing, and in many circles it is not considered \"normal\". And while you could argue that people aren't *predisposed* to nudity (with others, which is what I presume you meant) it certainly is considered normal to some extent during certain periods of a human's life. I don't think however you meant to use the word \"predisposed\", but rather \"subject to\".\n\nThe issue isn't whether or not a person will be subject to these things at some point in their lives, but rather that being exposed to these things *too early* in a person's development could cause them to internalize or interpret the place of these things in our society incorrectly, thereby causing children to develop in a way that harms their ability to integrate in to our society effectively."
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2jcea5 | what purpose does the wingdings font serve? | Aside from creating little symbols out of a font, what practical purpose is it used for? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jcea5/eli5_what_purpose_does_the_wingdings_font_serve/ | {
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"Those fonts were made to provide computers a method of displaying basic graphics when graphics were limited."
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2jbep3 | why does music, or even television seemingly get quieter the longer i listen? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jbep3/eli5_why_does_music_or_even_television_seemingly/ | {
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"Best ELI5 answer I can come up with: Compare it to how a dark room seems brighter the longer you're in it. That's your eyes adjusting to a low level of light.\n\nThe opposite happens when you listen to a t.v. loud for a while, your ears try to adjust to a high level of sound.",
"Because this is asking about a condition you suffer it qualifies as a personal problem according to the sidebar rules.\n\nI'm not sure what, if any, subreddit would be better for you, but if you find one that works for you, let me know and I'll edit it into this template so anyone in the future will know, too!\n\nAlternatively, *if* this really is a complex conceptual question about the human body and not a question about *you* specifically, you can rephrase and resubmit without reference to yourself and try again. (Body questions are pretty common though, so try a quick search!)\n\nGood luck! "
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2l86gg | why does anything that takes multiple batteries require them to be alternated? | After putting so many batteries in my son's toys, I stopped and thought about this.
Most battery operated objects have you alternate which way the batteries are put in and I was wondering if it is done out of necessity or if it was maybe an aesthetic reason. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2l86gg/eli5_why_does_anything_that_takes_multiple/ | {
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"clschvk",
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5
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"text": [
"batteries are DC or direct current meaning the current goes one way which goes from + terminal to - terminal. alternating just makes it easier to connect the two battery terminals\n\nedit: current goes from positive to negative but electrons flow the other way.",
"The batteries are connected together in series with each positive end being connected to the negative end of the next battery in the sequence. It's much easier and cheaper to design a battery pack where you alternate the batteries (whereby the positive end of one battery is very close to negative end of the next battery)."
]
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[],
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] |
|
3kt1uz | why would someone want to/ need to use tor? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3kt1uz/eli5_why_would_someone_want_to_need_to_use_tor/ | {
"a_id": [
"cv07phj"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"There are many reasons why people would want to hide their activity or be anonymous. A lot are legitimate, a lot are not, and a whole lot are in between.\n\nSay you live in a country with a repressive regime that blocks access to, say, pro-democracy websites. You can get around that with Tor. \n\nSay you're a privacy advocate and don't want your data logged on general principle. Tor is one of the tools you can use to mitigate that. \n\nTor is one of the simplest/easiest ways to achieve privacy/anonymity on the web. It's not perfect, but it helps. Anyone who wants that, Tor is probably their first stop. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
17v499 | how cease and desist letters are not blackmail. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17v499/eli5_how_cease_and_desist_letters_are_not/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Cease and desist does not threaten anything illegal (such as violence), all it threatens is a lawsuit which is the accepted way to settle a dispute, and there's no guarantee that it will go either way, the plaintiff may lose. \n\nBlackmail: \"If you don't give me your lunch money I'm going to beat you up.\"\n\nCease and Desist: \"If you don't give me your lunch money I'm going to tell the teacher that you should give it to me.\"",
"A cease and desist letter is:\n\n\"Stop causing me harm or I will sue you.\"\n\nBlackmail/extortion is:\n\n\"Pay me or I will cause you harm.\""
]
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[],
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] |
||
a6qtw4 | why does a lack of genetic diversity cause deformities? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a6qtw4/eli5_why_does_a_lack_of_genetic_diversity_cause/ | {
"a_id": [
"ebx4nis",
"ebx56wc"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Imagine a machine that makes bricks that you make a house with but machine needs a sample brick to make more bricks like it.\n\nImagine you only have a few types of bricks. One of em gets chipped and goes into the machine. \n\nIf there are many bricks the machine will see the difference between a chipped brick and OK brick and use the OK brick to make more bricks. \n\nIf all chipped bricks go in eventually you have all broken and chipped bricks coming out of the machine. \n\nHouse is human. Brick is the chromosomes. \n",
"Each gene has different forms, called alleles. This is massively oversimplified, but imagine as an example for hair color, you have alleles for brown hair and alleles for blonde hair. One allele is dominant and one is recessive, and each parent gives you a random combination of alleles. You can calculate the percentage likelihood of certain characteristics through a Punnett Chart like this [one](_URL_0_). \n\nNow, if two siblings inherited recessive alleles for a certain genetic disease or deformity, that's okay because the dominant allele will take over and be shown in the phenotype, which is what we call the outer characteristics, as opposed to the genotype. But if those two siblings have children together, the kids are more likely to inherit both recessive alleles and have that disease or deformity in their phenotype. The more inbreeding and less outer mating and diversity, the more likely two recessive alleles will appear in the phenotype.\n\nObviously this is very simplified but that's the gist."
]
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[],
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"https://i.imgur.com/aFKxKix.png"
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||
2ersaw | how do coin counting machines work? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ersaw/eli5_how_do_coin_counting_machines_work/ | {
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"They have various holes of increasing size, separating the individual coins. After being separated, each coin pushes a trigger bar as it falls, incrementing a counter which keeps tally of that kind of coin. From there, it's all multiplication and addition to come up with the value of all the coins.\n\nEdit: my brain short-circuited",
"The coins roll into a slot and down a shaft. As they roll down the shaft they split off to other shafts based on their size. They are then counted.",
"It will separate the coins by size, then count how many of each coin there is."
]
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[],
[],
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] |
||
mi9rc | eil5: what was the conflict between edison and tesla about? | Was it the emergence / fight over the standard for electrical grids; AC v. DC? What's the difference, and what are the pluses and minuses? What would life be like if we had gone the other way? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/mi9rc/eil5_what_was_the_conflict_between_edison_and/ | {
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"**While Tesla and Edison:** When Tesla moved to America, he began to work for Edison. He quickly started to climb Edison's corporate ladder, until Edison wanted him to redesign generators/motors using A/C. He offered Tesla lots of money for them. However, once Tesla went to give Edison the designs, he basically told him that he misunderstood him and he wasn't going to get a single cent. Tesla rage'd and made his own company.\n\n**AC vs DC:** Imagine that AC and DC are like types of roads and that currents are types of cars. AC allows a lot more cars to be moved and in both directions over a huge distance, where as DC is a one lane road that only allows a small amount of volume and can't go very far.\n\n**A world with no A/C:** When Edison created D/C, he imagined that he would have power stations everywhere, due to how short distance D/C was. Moreover, there would be ~~huge~~ [oh-god-I-can't-see-outside huge power-lines](_URL_0_) (note: that image is drawn in 1890, imagine how congested it would be now)\n\nIf you have any other questions, I'll be happy to answer them.\n\n",
"The power market was just emerging and Edison wanted to go with his DC current and Tesla with AC current. AC stands for Alternating Current and means that it is actually a sinusoidal function with respect to time. DC current is a constant current. Due to some mathematical properties of AC current, it is much easier to supply over a large distance. Power stations will step up voltage to 10's of thousands of volts, send the current over the big power lines you see, and then a transformer will step the voltage down for consumer use. This would be very hard to do with DC current and would require many more power stations compared to AC current. I think Edison envisioned a power station every few blocks or so. Anyways, Edison realized he would soon lose the battle against the logical choice of AC current and actually tried to scare people into using DC by torturing and killing animals with AC to show that it's unsafe. Don't get the impression that DC is useless; it's used extensively in small devices and electronics.",
"Tesla's patent package was for a 3-phase AC power grid which operates clean, almost silent brushless AC motors shaped like compact cylinders.\n\nEdison's motors were tall horseshoe-shapes with carbon brushes which spewed black grime and needed frequent replacing. His big industrial motors had a shape we don't see anymore since Tesla won: enormous towering field magnets designed because of an 1880s widespread incorrect belief that longer iron circuits were better than short compact ones.\n\n_URL_4_\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_3_\n\n_URL_1_\n\n\nCompare the above motors with the ones from the Westinghouse factory:\n\n_URL_2_ \n\nBesides everything else mentioned below, this also was a fight between the pristine sterile laboratory versus the grimy dirt-floor workshop. If Edison had won, then everything in modern factories would probably be coated with greasy black powder from the big motors' carbon brushes.\n",
"**While Tesla and Edison:** When Tesla moved to America, he began to work for Edison. He quickly started to climb Edison's corporate ladder, until Edison wanted him to redesign generators/motors using A/C. He offered Tesla lots of money for them. However, once Tesla went to give Edison the designs, he basically told him that he misunderstood him and he wasn't going to get a single cent. Tesla rage'd and made his own company.\n\n**AC vs DC:** Imagine that AC and DC are like types of roads and that currents are types of cars. AC allows a lot more cars to be moved and in both directions over a huge distance, where as DC is a one lane road that only allows a small amount of volume and can't go very far.\n\n**A world with no A/C:** When Edison created D/C, he imagined that he would have power stations everywhere, due to how short distance D/C was. Moreover, there would be ~~huge~~ [oh-god-I-can't-see-outside huge power-lines](_URL_0_) (note: that image is drawn in 1890, imagine how congested it would be now)\n\nIf you have any other questions, I'll be happy to answer them.\n\n",
"The power market was just emerging and Edison wanted to go with his DC current and Tesla with AC current. AC stands for Alternating Current and means that it is actually a sinusoidal function with respect to time. DC current is a constant current. Due to some mathematical properties of AC current, it is much easier to supply over a large distance. Power stations will step up voltage to 10's of thousands of volts, send the current over the big power lines you see, and then a transformer will step the voltage down for consumer use. This would be very hard to do with DC current and would require many more power stations compared to AC current. I think Edison envisioned a power station every few blocks or so. Anyways, Edison realized he would soon lose the battle against the logical choice of AC current and actually tried to scare people into using DC by torturing and killing animals with AC to show that it's unsafe. Don't get the impression that DC is useless; it's used extensively in small devices and electronics.",
"Tesla's patent package was for a 3-phase AC power grid which operates clean, almost silent brushless AC motors shaped like compact cylinders.\n\nEdison's motors were tall horseshoe-shapes with carbon brushes which spewed black grime and needed frequent replacing. His big industrial motors had a shape we don't see anymore since Tesla won: enormous towering field magnets designed because of an 1880s widespread incorrect belief that longer iron circuits were better than short compact ones.\n\n_URL_4_\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_3_\n\n_URL_1_\n\n\nCompare the above motors with the ones from the Westinghouse factory:\n\n_URL_2_ \n\nBesides everything else mentioned below, this also was a fight between the pristine sterile laboratory versus the grimy dirt-floor workshop. If Edison had won, then everything in modern factories would probably be coated with greasy black powder from the big motors' carbon brushes.\n"
]
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"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP4aIUeQnt4",
"http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSM3ii_6nIlEvbkIvf3IJQhD3Mk5wU0Bra8s9DUVnqVGXG46ux1",
"http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/download_lo_res.html?id=865100017"
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"http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/edisonz.jpg",
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"http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSM3ii_6nIlEvbkIvf3IJQhD3Mk5wU0Bra8s9DUVnqVGXG46ux1",
"http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/download_lo_res.html?id=865100017"
]
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|
24uiuo | how do tv/any screens actually work, like how do each pixels show different colours? | This has always made me curious, I understand that they are mostly LED's but how are there so many individual pixels without having that many individual LEDs? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24uiuo/eli5how_do_tvany_screens_actually_work_like_how/ | {
"a_id": [
"chasuev",
"chaycb8"
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2,
3
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"text": [
"Good explanation here:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThe LED lights are just used for backlighting, not for each individual pixel.",
"In LCD/LED TV's, each pixel has a red, green and blue element that can recreate a range of shades of that color. When combined you can create any color you need. Standard HDTV has 1920 pixels across and 1080 up and down. \n\nThe pixels work by passing light through a color filter (Red,Green and Blue) and then through a LCD which polarizes the light. Then the light is sent through a outer screen that only allows the polarized light to pass. So the more the LCD polarizes the light, the brighter the pixel becomes for the color needed. \n\n\nThe LED monitors use LED arrays to provide that initial light source. They are beneficial because of better color temperature and you can dim the individual LED segments to allow for deeper blacks in regions. Non-LED monitors use a fluorescent bulb to provide the backlight. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jdm4u/eli5_lcd_vs_led_vs_plasma/c2b8psw"
],
[]
] |
|
d4v06i | if the sun is constantly adding heat/energy to earth, then why has the temperature always stayed the same? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d4v06i/eli5_if_the_sun_is_constantly_adding_heatenergy/ | {
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"text": [
"The Earth radiates heat away into space. Radiation does not require a medium to move through.\n\nA certain amount of heat is also lost with gases that escape the atmosphere, or consumed in chemical reactions.",
"heat leaves via radiation = the same way heat gets to Earth from the Sun, despite no air between them.",
"The Sun only heats 1/2 of the Earth, at a time. The warmed part rotates out of the sunlight and radiates the heat out into space during what is called \"night\". This doesn't work as well if there are heat-trapping gasses in the air like methane or CO2. While there is no gas in space for convection, radiation uses photons, which travel perfectly happily in a vacuum.",
"Everything radiates energy depending on its temperature, the hotter it is, the more energy is radiated. This is called black body radiation. At the temperatures typically found on earth, this is usually in the infrared range so that you can make it visible with IR cameras."
]
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|
2hnpae | how is it safe to consume smoked meats? | I'm really leary about eating pork products, I always avoid eating smoked sausage, my buddies were assuring that the smoking process kills everything but how? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2hnpae/eli5_how_is_it_safe_to_consume_smoked_meats/ | {
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"text": [
"Same way cooking does, by getting the meat hot enough to kill bacteria. Even a \"low-temp\" smoker is at about 200 F.",
"Smoke meats are high in salt and also may have sodium nitrate or nitrites. \nHigh salt make a tough environment for bacteria to survive. \n\nAlso the actual smoke leaves particles on the meat that also inhibit the growth of bacteria. \n\nSmoking at high temps also kill any bacteria. \n\nSome smoking is done at cold temperatures like with ham, bacon, and lox. The high salt and smoke is enough to kill and limit bacteria growth. \n\n"
]
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[],
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|
frwyzx | why isn't water vapor considered worse than carbon in climate issues? | ELI5: Why do I only hear about carbon emissions? I thought that, as far as greenhouse gasses are concerned, water vapor is stronger than carbon. I would imagine the warmer it gets on Earth, more water vapor is created and traps even more of our star's energy in Earth's atmosphere. No? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/frwyzx/eli5_why_isnt_water_vapor_considered_worse_than/ | {
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"text": [
"Mostly because we can't control it. Average water content of air is directly related to the temperature of the air for the most part. There's nothing we can do about it, aside from reducing the amount of other gasses (mostly CO2), which will reduce temperatures.",
"The reason why Carbon is the element to track is because of the lifecycle of the elements involved.\n\nWater will evaporate from oceans, float over land masses, and condense into rain. It does this fairly cyclically. There is no net new water being added to the system.\n\nWith Carbon Dioxide, there's a cycle of plants breathing in CO2, turning that into sugars. Animals eat the plants, and when we breath in Oxygen, we combine the sugar and oxygen and make CO2 as a biproduct. That forms a natural cycle.\n\nHowever, there's also a big cache of carbon under the ground from a hundreds of millions of years ago. Back then, there weren't any bacteria that ate up trees when they died. They just eventually toppled and kept all their carbon inside of them, and eventually got buried.\n\nAll that carbon is what we dig up as fossil fuels. We're introducing it back into this cycle, but there isn't any carbon sinks to hold it out of the atmosphere for any serious length of time. Thus, the CO2 builds up in the atmosphere, and increases the planets retained energy from the sun, causing the average temperature to go up.",
"Water vapor is part of the water cycle. Water evaporates, rains down as water, and evaporates as well.\n\nThere is a carbon cycle, too. Humans and animals exhale CO2, which plants inhale. Plants inhale CO2 and exhale O2 which animals inhale. \n\nThe real problem with CO2 is we're releasing a whole lot extra CO2 by burning fossil fuels outside of this cycle, and the natural cycle can't keep up with it. \n\nAnd to make matters worse, the largest player in the CO2 cycle is the ocean (or more specifically, ocean life like algae) and the warmer the water is, the less effective the ocean is at absorbing CO2. This means that as our climate warms due to higher CO2, we're going to end up with even higher CO2, which means things will get even warmer, which means we'll have even higher CO2, and we may end up with runaway global warming."
]
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|
3qkm4i | how do you properly use the paper toilet seat covers provided in public restrooms? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qkm4i/eli5_how_do_you_properly_use_the_paper_toilet/ | {
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"text": [
"The fully-cut side goes to the back; the flap side should fall down from the front. It's supposedly for men when they sit, so their penis doesn't touch the porcelain. But it's also the only orientation where the paper cover doesn't just slide into the water before you ever manage to sit down.\n\nDon't feel weird about not knowing. ",
"Okay, so you take it out of the dispenser and then fold it up as small as you can get it. Then put it in the trash and just sit down on the toilet like a grown up who has even a vague idea about how germs actually work. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
404nl3 | why doesn't everyone capitalize the word "internet?" there is only one internet and the chicago manual of style capitalizes it, so why would anyone spell it in lowercase? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/404nl3/eli5_why_doesnt_everyone_capitalize_the_word/ | {
"a_id": [
"cyrg912"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Because it's inconvenient to hit the shift key any more than necessary. And by necessary, I mean that most people won't notice is it's casually omitted."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
7dm7pi | why do some coins tinkle with a metallic sound when you flick them but some coins don't sound much like anything? | I saw a 2017 American nickel on the ground today and flicked it up. To my shock it actually made that *shing!* sound you hear in sound effects in animated films or whatever. Never heard it before.
In fact, even as it pick it up about an inch high and drop it to the ground it still makes that sound like a bell. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7dm7pi/eli5why_do_some_coins_tinkle_with_a_metallic/ | {
"a_id": [
"dpyrm39"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"The speed of sound and resonant frequency in a coin changes with size and composition.\n\nSome coins are made of the right metals in the right shape that will reverberate with that characteristic ring, others aren't.\n\nA US nickel is 5g of 75% copper and 25% nickel, and will ring when flicked. A dime (92% copper) will as well.\n\nA penny (97.5% zinc) wont."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
1nlhcn | the fcc is closed... does that mean pirate radio can not be stopped? | If the FCC is closed due to government shut down, does that mean no one is monitoring the radio waves for lawfulness? Not "obscenity", but for things like pirated radio, Ham radio use without license, power and volume regulations, even old wireless systems used by musicians (like the old 700 Mghz Band)?
Case in point: Auto redirected - _URL_0_
Edit: added link | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1nlhcn/eli5the_fcc_is_closed_does_that_mean_pirate_radio/ | {
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"text": [
"More or less. However, if something can fall in a local police jurisdiction, you're out of luck, because they're still on the job. However, since it usually takes a decent bit of equipment to start a serious pirate radio station, and historically these Government shutdowns are incredibly long, it isn't likely to be a big issue. The current pirates get a short reprieve, but the shutdown isn't long enough to really entice any new pirates.\nIf the FCC can prove later that you made pirate broadcasts during this period, you're still in trouble.",
"I'm more interested in obscenity from broadcasters. My assumption however is the FCC will just work through the backlog of complaints once back to work.\n\nWhich is a shame because I would love to hear Brian Williams report that congress is \"behaving like a group of juvenile fucktards\"."
]
} | [] | [
"http://www.fcc.gov/shutdown-page.html"
] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
b3yjq3 | why are acl injuries so difficult to repair properly? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b3yjq3/eli5_why_are_acl_injuries_so_difficult_to_repair/ | {
"a_id": [
"ej32ojn"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Most injuries cause the entire thing to tear, with the ends not connected at all anymore. That will never heal without surgery, because the ligament has no mechanisms that allow it to fix itself when fully torn apart."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
9cdq5b | why wouldn't this troll comic work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9cdq5b/eli5_why_wouldnt_this_troll_comic_work/ | {
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"text": [
"Because water only gets sucked up a vacuum by about 10 meters/32 feet.\n\nThe reason things move in a vacuum is because there is a pressure differential. The water is being pushed \"upwards\", opposing the force of the atmosphere pushing down on it, enough to rise about 32 feet, and so removing the pressure of the atmosphere on the water causes it to rise to that level and then stop.",
"Vacuum's don't suck, they just don't push back\n\nIf you have a tube with one end in water and draw a vacuum on the other end, the water is *pushed* up the tube by the air pushing down on the surrounding water, since there is no air in the tube that is pushing back the water rises until its own weight pushes back enough\n\nIf you have a tube with a perfect vacuum you can only draw water up about 10 meters before the pressure from its own weight balances out the pressure from the air which is trying to force it up the tube. If you want water to go higher than 10 meters you have to *pump* it which takes power."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
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] |
||
286ac4 | why do people discover partial fossils, not complete ones? | Why is it that complete sets of fossils aren't always discovered and where do the rest of the bones go?
Surely all of the bones should always be present, especially with larger animals?
_URL_0_
Above it describes how only jaws and teeth have been discovered, where is the rest of it?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/286ac4/eli5_why_do_people_discover_partial_fossils_not/ | {
"a_id": [
"ci7t9uy"
],
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"text": [
"Well, it takes a very specific set of circumstances for fossils to form. The specimen needs to be covered up completely, rapidly, and permanently. Those conditions are often met in violent and turbulent environments such as mudslides, floods, volcanic eruptions, etc... So, very often you end up with the specimen in a moving and changing mass of mud, silt, or ash, and it can relocate different parts of the specimen to different areas altogether.\n\nAdd on to this situations where scavengers may tear apart the carcass before it's covered up, carry pieces away, etc...\n\nIt's a rare treasure to find nicely preserved fossils in one piece, with all the violence and chaos they are often associated with."
]
} | [] | [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gigantopithecus#Fossils"
] | [
[]
] |
|
16k06b | if it takes years of study to become a lawyer and practice law, and many more to potentially ever become a judge, how can regular people be expected to know what any of the laws are so as not to break them? | If the laws are so complex, how can any non-legal professional be be holden to it?
Isn't there even a saying, "ignorance is no excuse to the law", but even some one who has been a lawyer for 20 years wouldn't claim they know all the law? I don't get how this can make any sense?
Also, if it takes years to practice law, why does it take relatively very little to enforce the law at gunpoint as a police officer?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16k06b/eli5_if_it_takes_years_of_study_to_become_a/ | {
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" > Isn't there even a saying, \"ignorance is no excuse to the law\", but even some one who has been a lawyer for 20 years wouldn't claim they know all the law? I don't get how this can make any sense?\n\nKnowing \"all the law\" isn't the same as committing obvious crimes. In order to drive you ought to know driving laws, in order to trade company stock you ought to know what you can and can't do. If you're writing contracts you should know what you can and can't put in.\n\nThe average non-driving person doesn't need to know much more than \"don't take things that don't belong to you\" and \"don't hurt anyone\". If there is a strange situation and you took something that you THOUGHT was yours you could probably get off with an apology, even if the reason it wasn't actually yours was really complicated and it was a mistake most people could make.\n\n > why does it take relatively very little to enforce the law at gunpoint as a police officer?\n\nBecause there aren't a lot of laws that require a gun to enforce, mostly violent ones, and those don't require much knowledge to enforce, at least not very much to stop dangerous things from happening and getting the situation under control, which is their primary function.",
"It's for this very reason that you should not under any circumstances speak to the police, assuming you live in a country where you are free to do so. Exercising your right to avoid self-incrimination is extremely important, since in the process of attempting to exculpate yourself from one crime you my implicate yourself in another.\n\nIt's also probably a good idea not to be very vocal or obvious about behaviors which may be legally sketchy, which is why I am always floored at people openly flouting their drug use on /r/trees. Whether or not you believe the law is wrong, you are still providing concrete evidence of your illegal activity.\n\n > Also, if it takes years to practice law, why does it take relatively very little to enforce the law at gunpoint as a police officer?\n\nI assume you are asking: \"Given the breadth of legal code, how is a shallow understanding of it sufficient to become a police officer?\"\n\nAlthough police are required to have a fairly good understanding of the law (particularly laws which govern the behavior of the police!) the average cop stopping you in traffic is highly unlikely to, for example, arrest you for violating the [Lacey Act](_URL_0_) and transporting certain species of fish or wildlife across state lines. So cops are likely to prosecute you for illegal behaviors they are aware of. However, a DA or other prosecutor may determine that they can prosecute someone using a more obscure law, and they will direct the police officer to arrest that person.",
"Laws are complex because they regulate virtually all aspects of personal and professional conduct. They must apply and adapt to virtually every relevant situation in modern human existence. Laws could in theory be simple. We could have a single statute that says \"don't do bad things.\" Applying it would be awfully difficult in reality. Complexity and nuance makes law generally adaptable, just, and well balanced.\n\nWe can be beholden to such laws because most laws that ordinary people follow are typically commiserate with social norms. No one needs to consult a statute to know that rape is illegal, for example. Other ordinary laws are communicated to you through street signs, warning labels, or other disclosures. People also learn law on their own. Numerous people plan their own wills and estates for example, and do their own taxes. People who function in certain fields or trades learn the laws of their area of business.\n\nWhen behavior becomes uncommon or unusually complex, that's when legal advice is necessary. The key is not knowing every law, but understanding when the time is necessary to seek further advice from an expert. Ignorance is no excuse, and people have a responsibility to know when they are unaware.\n\nPolice officers know a narrow slice of law very well. They become micro-specialists in criminal law and criminal procedure specifically related to police procedure.\n\nThe best analogy I can give for police versus lawyers is that, in terms of criminal legal knowledge, police officers are like EMT's and lawyers are like doctors. Both are important in criminal enforcement. Like an EMT at a severe accident who must make snap decisions about treatment, so a police office makes snap decisions about searches and traffic stops. The EMT leaves the difficult diagnoses, surgery, and long-term treatment to others. The police officer leaves the interpretation of legal nuance, the appropriateness of difficult legal choices, and the deep understanding of the attorneys. Each has their role.\n\nBy the way, there is a deeper and more exciting universe of legal rules and complexity than what reddit apparently places emphasis on. Medical marijuana, SOPA/PIPA, and traffic stops are important, but they represent a tiny, tiny slice of the fascinating discipline of legal study. Virtually anyone can benefit from a legal education no matter what your career focus.\n\nI hope this helps.",
"That's what I always thought when I was little! I thought, oh, adults know everything, so something happens when you become an adult to get that knowledge. I just thought you got a pamplet/booklet of laws and what you're supposed to do in the mail when you turned 18. I mean....how are you supposed to know you're not supposed to be drunk in public unless someone has told you (not a cop)"
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vrt9o | hypothetically, if the trillion dollar deficit were paid off, who would be getting paid off? | And how did someone let someone else owe them a trillion dollars? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vrt9o/hypothetically_if_the_trillion_dollar_deficit/ | {
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"Everyone holding US Treasury securities would be getting paid off. The thing is, *they get paid off anyway*. All that reducing the debt to 0 would mean is that new securities are not going out. The government may owe a trillion dollars in total debt right now, but they have always paid every individual debt on time, and will continue to do that for the forseeable future.\n",
"I assume you're talking about the federal debt.\n\nA lot is owed to American people and companies (including banks), basically anyone who has bought a US Treasury bond.\n\nA lot is owed to foreign governments, again, people who have bought US Treasuries.\n\nA lot is owed to the Federal Reserve, which sometimes \"creates\" money and loans it to the US government, again by buying US Treasuries.\n\nYou might have noticed a pattern there - US Treasury Bonds. Why do people buy those things anyway? The reason is that they are considered to be *extremely* safe investments, better even, in some cases, than putting your money into a bank. Even foreign governments, such as China, will buy US Treasuries because they are so safe.",
"Your mommy bought you a U.S. Savings Bond when you were born. \n\nThat means she gave the U.S. government $1,000 back then. In exchange they will give her $1,104 later. \n\nThat $1,000+interest is the *debt* that the government owes. They owe that money to your mommy, and anyone else who bought U.S. Savings Bonds. \n\nSome other people who bought U.S. Savings Bonds:\n\n- my mommy\n- daddy's work\n- China\n\n**Edit** i a word",
"The government makes money mostly by two ways: taxes and selling debt.\n\nA tax is when the government just takes your money, and if you don't like it, tough. Pay or go to jail. But we won't talk about taxes right now.\n\nThe government can also sell debt. How does it do this? It creates a piece of paper called a **Bond**. And on this bond it says, \"Whoever buys this piece of paper and waits ten years will get his money back plus a little extra\"\n\nAnyone can buy treasury bonds. American citizens, corporations, banks, foreign people, and even foreign governments can buy these bonds. These are the people who own America's debt.\n\nWhy would you want to buy a bond? Well, buying United States Treasury Bonds is considered an extremely safe investment. The United States has been paying back bonds since the 1770's and it has never missed a payment. You asked why these people would let the government owe them money. The answer is that, so far, the United States has been faithfully repaying people for over 200 years. Oh, and remember that \"little extra money\" you get after waiting ten years? People enjoy that part, too. There are a lot of ways to invest your money, and not all of them are safe or wise. But when you buy debt from the United States, you can be almost certain that you'll see your money again.\n\nOh, and by the way, you don't even need to wait ten years to get your money back. Like a bicycle or a car, bonds can either be bought new, or used. In fact there's a huge market for \"second-hand\" bonds. Let's say you buy a $100 bond that promises to pay you back, say, $105 in ten years. If you get tired of waiting, well, here, I'll buy that bond from you right now for $98. Or maybe Bob down the street will offer you $99. Who knows. You won't get the full $105 but you won't have to wait to get money.\n\nAnd that's the other thing: we think of debt as a bad thing, and the US probably has too much right now, but no smart person wants the US to pay off ALL of its debt. Treasury bonds are just too useful to go away, so it's considered a good thing for the government to have a little debt. ",
"You're confused about the difference between debt and deficit.\n\nSuppose you earn $50,000 a year. However, you borrow money and end up spending $55,000 each year. That's a $5,000 deficit—you're spending $5,000 more than what you earned. You're also now $5,000 in debt.\n\nSo you do the same next year, paying only the interest on last year's debt. Your deficit on this second year was also $5,000—but your debt is now $10,000."
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cvv89f | what happens if an individual can’t pay a large fine? | I was listening to the radio in the car and the ABC (Australian) was doing a bit about money laundering and unregistered money transferors. In the case that someone is unregistered, they receive a fine up to $500,000 AUD.
What happens if the individual can’t pay that, simply due to a lack of money? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cvv89f/eli5_what_happens_if_an_individual_cant_pay_a/ | {
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"They probably cant.. theyll set u up w a payment plan or they can garnish wages, put a lien on your house, even put u in jail.. theyll get their money"
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[]
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|
1sx2fb | why do current tv's still play static sound if there is no channel? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sx2fb/eli5_why_do_current_tvs_still_play_static_sound/ | {
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"It's fake static. On many TV models if you look closely enough you can see that the \"static\" is a looped animation with just a few frames showing a simple white and black geometric pattern.\n\nIt's a great example of [skeumorphism](_URL_0_)."
]
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeumorphism"
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bgj54c | why do you experience withdrawal from opiates but not from orgasms? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bgj54c/eli5_why_do_you_experience_withdrawal_from/ | {
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"Opiates hack the brain's normal chemistry, forcing the brain to do things it's not designed to do. Chemical addictions trick the brain into thinking the drug is necessary to continue to live, whereas orgasms are a normal bodily process. Opiates and amphetamines and cocaine are also much more intense than an 8 second orgasm, flooding the brain with more chemicals than usual. Upsetting this balance has consequences."
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1mrcnd | what is the purpose of a dentist teeth cleaning appointment? what do they do that i can't do at home brushing my own teeth. | Is it really worth the money spent? They brush my teeth with a weird substance then floss them. Then I leave. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mrcnd/eli5_what_is_the_purpose_of_a_dentist_teeth/ | {
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"Clean a lot more thoroughly, get rid of plaque, tartar and the sort. Generally flossing once a day and brushing once a day PROPERLY will prevent these build-ups and prevent gingivitis and other forms of gum disease, but for most people they aren't perfectly thorough. Also, it's good for the to check the health of your teeth and gums, since a lot of people are probably unaware of what most abnormalities may look like."
]
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|
2t81gf | why do gummy candies become stale? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2t81gf/eli5_why_do_gummy_candies_become_stale/ | {
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"The same reason anything else becomes stale. \n\nIt starts to break down chemically. \n\nAll the little bonds holding something together will start to break down.\n\nTypically, there is something breaking down those bonds. It's sometimes bacteria, and sometimes sunlight. \n\nIn the case of gummies, what happens is bacteria start to eat the sugar in the gummies, and produce their own waste. As they eat the sugar, they are also breaking down the bonds around them, either through eating them, or putting out waste that chemically breaks those bonds. \n\nWhat you get, in effect, is a gummy that tastes stale because the sugar has been eaten, and the waste products which are present taste different. \n\nPS: waste products aren't always bad. Alcohol is technically a waste product, but one that everyone enjoys. "
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6i844r | does mars (and any other planets for that matter) have plate tectonics like earth? | I think my understanding of plate tectonics is a bit lacking at best. I always thought it was something unique to earth due to the water. Do other planets act similarly? Mars for instance. I just thought it would be crazy if stuff was moving about on Mars causing earthquakes and what not the way things happen here on Earth. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6i844r/eli5_does_mars_and_any_other_planets_for_that/ | {
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" > I always thought it was something unique to earth due to the water.\n\nNo, it is due to having an active molten core. Some moons of the gas giants have molten cores, and basically any planet with volcanoes has tectonic activity.",
"Mars is solid. It has no liquid core, so no plate tectonics there.",
"Having a liquid filling is not enough to cause plate tectonics. Venus, for example, has plenty of volcanoes and molten rock, but doesn't appear to have tectonic plates.\n\n\nA lot is still unknown about the whole process. One theory is that plates are pushed up by magma that rises up through cracks between plates, and slide away as their centre of gravity is tipped out of balance. Compare it to broken sea ice that moves about on the waves. The initial break could have been caused by massive meteor impacts on weak spots in the earths crust. Small cracks become big cracks, and they have been here ever since.\n\nBecause most water on earth came here by meteor, you could argue that water did play a role. But not in the way you might think. \n\nCurrently, earth is the only place in the universe with confirmed plate tectonics.",
"Your main question has been answered, so I'll just add something else in response to your comment:\n\n\n > it would be crazy if stuff was moving about on Mars causing earthquakes and what not \n\n\nPlate tectonics aren't needed to cause earthquakes, see [this article on Moonquakes and Marsquakes](_URL_0_), which can be triggered by gravitational forces, meteor impacts, and thermal fluctuations. "
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[],
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4cvolb | why does vision in one eye get worse than the other? | Many people I know, including myself, have vision worse in one eye in comparison to the other. What causes this and why is it so common? Shouldn't eyesight be the same in both eyes? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4cvolb/eli5_why_does_vision_in_one_eye_get_worse_than/ | {
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"It would be amazing if two bits of your body which aren't connected managed to stay the same. Almost none of your symmetrical bits are actually like one another when you look closely, and it doesn't take much for an eyeball to be out of focus.\n\n[Anisometropia](_URL_0_) is quite common to a small degree, but it takes quite a difference before it's considered a problem.",
"If I punch you in the right eye, does the left eye get swollen and puffy? No. Both eyes are under different circumstances, and these affect them individually.",
"Ben and Tom are identical twins.\n\nDue to the odd number of children in their group, a coin flip was done to decide which twin was chosen to play in a game of basketball. Since the coin landed heads, Ben was chosen to play.\n\nThe next day, the group decided to play basketball again and started picking people for teams. Because children are dicks, the last pick was between Ben and Tom. Some of the children wanted to resolve the pick with a coin flip again but others argued that since Ben already played before, he'd be more useful. The second group won and Ben was chosen.\n\nOver time, Ben got better while Tom was excluded and was never able to develop any basketball skills.\n\nThis can happen to your eyes as well. When one eye becomes slightly worse, your brain will start relying on information from the \"better\" eye more and more. Over time, the eyesight of your worse eye will degrade due to lack of stimulation. This is why it is good for children to wear corrective glasses early to correct their vision so that they use both eyes.\n\nThis is also why lazy eye should be treated early. When one eye is not pointing in the correct direction, the brain will start ignoring it. If the brain ignores the information for too long, eventually, it won't be able to figure out how to give or receive nerve signals from the eye.\n\nIn addition, injury or disease can affect one eye and cause that one eye to get worse than the other. "
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1nbm8m | what causes the white substance to form in your mouth when you wake up? | Is it bad? Why does it form? Sorry in advance if this grosses anyone out, I just always wondered what it is. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1nbm8m/eli5_what_causes_the_white_substance_to_form_in/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"It is dried saliva and mucus."
]
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|
6a8hua | when birds tear into the dirt looking for worms, are they just blindly excavating, or do they have some reason to believe a worm is right there? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6a8hua/eli5_when_birds_tear_into_the_dirt_looking_for/ | {
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"Birds can see movement on the ground easily from the air. Now if you're specifically talking about chickens they're probably just randomly scratching eating any bug or seed they can find. ",
"If they're sitting on the ground pecking away, theyre listening for movement under the dirt. They can hear movement just under the surface and then take a jab at the location. Source - I am a Sys admin but I did listen in school. ",
"Aviary expert here. Birds can tell the sensation of creatures moving beneath their feet. Earth is one of the best conduits of movement, so the vibrations of animals such as worms can be felt through their claws and talons, travelling through their legs and into their bones, eventually vibrating into their skulls. This sensation allows them to pinpoint the movement of any animal, so they can then aim their beaks to strike at the exact moment any creature comes closest to the surface.\n\nTLDR: Yes birds know what they're doing, it's not down to chance.",
"In an experiment Birds were placed in aviaries where they could be given buried mealworms in trays of dirt.\n\nTo test if they were using scent to locate their prey, birds were offered trays with buried live, moving worms and dead ones. Robins found the live worms more often, suggesting they were not using scent.\n\nIn the next test, they were given hanging food trays to keep them from touching the soil with their feet and detecting the worm’s vibrations. The trays did not affect their ability to find the worms, suggesting they do not use tactile cues.\n\nWhen cardboard was used as a barrier to block visual cues, the birds could still find the worms. That meant they were using another sense. A last experiment used white noise to block sound cues and the birds had more difficulty finding the worms.\n\nThe research concluded that robins could use either visual or auditory cues alone, but probably use both. \nI think this is also likely true for Starlings/Blackbirds.",
"Absolutely they know what they're doing. They tear apart my compost pile and leave the rest of the yard alone. Really slows down my composting..."
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3beph3 | why can phone battery-bars act so erratic? | My girlfriend frequently complains about how the battery on her iPhone will drop from 50% to 8% in an instant without any clear cause. I've seen this issue on my Android as well, though it was 100% to 96% in an instant from browsing reddit this morning.
Perhaps it's just based on a measured update-cycle instead of constantly looking for a new status? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3beph3/eli5_why_can_phone_batterybars_act_so_erratic/ | {
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"Can't speak for Android, but for iPhone, you should take it to the Apple Store so that they can replace the battery, usually for free.",
"For the 100%-90% drop, that's an easy answer. Your phone lies to you when it says it's at 100%. Phones can't charge to 100% without damaging the battery. So the phone *says* it's at 100%, but it's not. It just pretends to be for a few minutes, and then artificially drops to where it actually is.\n\nFor the other example, it could be a multitude of reasons. Temperature changes, networks dropping and reconnecting, or constantly looking for WiFi signals. It could be apps in the background sucking the life out. Location services also drop the battery."
]
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[],
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2gmjzy | what would happen if you brought a really strong telescope to space and pointed it at earth? | Would the telescope function properly? If so, would it be possible to see buildings and humans if the telescope is strong enough? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gmjzy/eli5_what_would_happen_if_you_brought_a_really/ | {
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"text": [
"Yes to both your questions. See: Spy satellites."
]
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|
32rmpm | when did the idea of gym begin? | (Gym as in for muscle building) Did they have a similar concept back in the middle ages or anything like that? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32rmpm/eli5_when_did_the_idea_of_gym_begin/ | {
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"“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” -Socrates\n\nThe idea goes back a while... ",
"The root of the word is Gymnos - the Ancient Greek for naked. \n\nYes, the Greeks used to exercise naked, as well as many other things like debating, eating etc.\n\nThe Gymnasiums in Ancient Greece were set up primarily to train athletes for the Olympics. These athletes were revered with a similar (if not more so) awe that modern professional athletes are.\n\nAthletes were also expected to study as well as train, and later on 'lesser' Greeks were allowed in to train and socialise.\n\nMusicians were often employed by Gymnasiums to help motivate and entertain the athletes"
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1me3sf | why is it so hard for smokers to stop smoking? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1me3sf/eli5_why_is_it_so_hard_for_smokers_to_stop_smoking/ | {
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"For starters, nicotine is extremely addictive. The withdrawal symptoms affect both body and mind, with cravings and mood swings quite frequent.\n\nAnd another factor is that smoking is largely a thoughtless habit ... you don't think about each individual cigarette, you tend to just light one up out of habit. So finding something else to do with your hands is a big factor in successfully kicking the habit.",
"There is a lot of ritual involved in smoking and a lot of nostolgia for most people that goes beyond the physical addiction. \n\nMany people have their work tied in mentally to cigarette breaks. The stress is the stress of that ritual being disrupted. For a smoker the smoke break is like waiting for Christmas and Christmas comes every two hours. Take that away and it becomes hard to tolerate previously tolerable things. \n\nThere is also a sort of fraternity among smokers that you loose. Many people met lots of friend over bumming, giving away cigarettes to others. Smoke breakers usually move in crowds, whether in work or in bars and it is a social network that can get you laid or advance your career (if your boss smokes, if a hot friend of a friend smokes, you get new ways too talk to them.)\n\nSmoking is like a little present you get every day with all sorts of great memories and people attached to it. It's not just raw addiction to the drug that makes people miserable, it is loosing the habit itself. \n\nAt least for me anyway. For chain smokers it is probably different or people who can still light up when ever it is probably different."
]
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1fr6wg | why can american porn websites sell porn by simply asking if people are over 18, when store owners have to ask for id. | Just wondering if there is a legal reason or if it's just a practicality issue. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1fr6wg/eli5_why_can_american_porn_websites_sell_porn_by/ | {
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"Websites \"sell porn\" by asking for a Credit Card, that is their age verification measure. \n\nIf you are asking why you only have to click \"I am over 18\" to view a porn site, it comes down to business vs burden. \n\nFirst of all, by requiring you to click to verify you are over 18, the responsibility shifts from the website to the individual, if you are not 18 and you click it, then YOU are the one breaking the law, not the website.\n\nSecondly, it next becomes a question of \"how much burden does this place on the producer/seller vs how much it affects their business.\" For a store owner, simply asking for an ID before purchase does not place much of a burden on that store owner, nor on the individual. Whereas checking an ID online usually involves a Credit Card, which means the site needs to have a secure method to do so, and ultimately having a CC check just to VIEW their products has a negative effect on their overall business (some people would simply look elsewhere to purchase something if they were required to enter a CC just to view the products for sale). \n\n"
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wt3wx | losing your voice. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/wt3wx/eli5_losing_your_voice/ | {
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"Your throat has a \"voice box\" made up of bands of muscle called vocal cords. When you talk, the air that passes through your vocal cords sets off vibrations that make the sound of your voice. So if your vocal cords are swollen, they block a lot of the air that would normally vibrate and produce your voice, turning it raspy, or not producing anything at all.\n\nDifferent causes are\n\nInfection - if you get sick, your vocal cords can swell. Also, if you have asthma, always remember to rinse your mouth out after using your inhaler\n\nVoice strain - too much yelling and screaming can irritate the vocal cords. Use your indoor voice.\n\nSmoking - smoking is bad for more than just your lungs\n\nAcid reflux - stomach acid can wreak havoc on your voice box.\n\nWhen you get older, it's likely that your vocal cords will start to loosen a get thinner. So, you have that to look forward to, too."
]
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||
70ks2q | how do missile defense systems like thaad and aegis work, and are they adequate against missile attacks? | Specifically, how successful can they be in defending SK, Japan, Hawaii, or the US mainland from missiles? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/70ks2q/eli5how_do_missile_defense_systems_like_thaad_and/ | {
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"No one really knows they're effectiveness because they've never truly been tested in a real world attack, and any secret tests aren't going to be released because releasing that information publicly would reveal any weaknesses the systems have, and open up them for exploitation."
]
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[]
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|
5i08bg | how do organisms without brains (starfish, trees, jellyfish, etc) know how to "do" things like mate, flip over, swim, etc? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5i08bg/eli5_how_do_organisms_without_brains_starfish/ | {
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"db4ckji",
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"text": [
"Stimuli lead to certain responses which cause changes in the organism's behavior, kind of like how a complicated machine can react in different ways to different switches and levers because they cause a different cascade of actions in the internal mechanism. For example, plants can grow towards a light source because the light stimulates growth on the side of the plant away from the light source, which causes it to bend from that increased growth towards the source. It's very complicated series of events at the biomolecular level that trigger multiple actions and reactions that culminate in some final result.",
"In essence they don't *know* anything. Arguably the same is true for organisms with a brain. It's open to debate precisely what *knowing* is. After all, how does wood know to burn when you set it alight? How does a stone know to fall when you drop it? How does your heart know to beat? \n\nAt a basic level, what we call consciousness is simply a complex chain of chemical reactions. What appears to be deliberate action could just as easily be seen as simply cause and effect. \n\nBut I would say that. My neurones are arranged that way! "
]
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[],
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||
4dr62d | how come ads on my computer are based on what kinds of websites i go on, but in cell phone apps all i get are clash of clans ads? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4dr62d/eli5_how_come_ads_on_my_computer_are_based_on/ | {
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"text": [
"If you are asking because you want to know how to turn it off, and you have Windows 10 here's how; Click the start menu icon, go to settings, go to privacy, go through each option turning off what you don't want the computer to track and data you don't want it to collect from you. After that you can grab some privacy programs for whatever browser you use and or check the privacy options in the browser.",
"They're two different ad networks with two different marketing demographics. You're a lot less likely to end whatever you're doing in an app because you see an ad to buy shoes than you are if you're shopping on a website on your computer. On the same coin, you're much more likely to download Clash of Clans when using your mobile phone than if you saw an advertisement on your computer. Finally, as others have pointed out, it has to do with how much a company pays for advertisement. Clash of Clans has a giant advertising budget and cell phones are their primary market. Therefore, you see more ads for Clash of Clans on mobile.",
"Clash of Clans dumps a metric fuckton of money into advertising for mobile devices, because that's their main platform, and the primary demographic on phones and their target demographic are pretty similar.",
"There are a few factors at play here. \n\n* There are many ways ad inventory is monetized. To take an extremely simplistic approach, some ads are placed based on the environment and some ads are placed based on the user viewing the content. A portion of ad inventory is sold up front (ie when you go to _URL_0_ and every ad on the page is from a single advertiser). 'Leftover' inventory goes onto exchanges where advertisers have the ability to bid on the chance to show their ad to you. (ie when you go to an article on espn and get an ad for a pair of shoes you just looked at on amazon). There is a good chance that clash of clans is buying this in-app inventory up front, whereas you are getting ads targeted to you in the browser. Or, if they aren't buying it up front, clash of clans may be bidding very high for this inventory and beating out other advertisers.\n\n* Some people have mentioned the issues with cookies on mobile devices, which plays a role. However, for the most part this is no longer much of a hindrance due to the ability to tie device ids, IP addresses...etc to create a unique identifier.",
"forget phones, I only see those dumb ads on tv too, how the hell can a app afford to hire Arnold, they'll never make that 1M back, I totally dont get this, gonna search panama papers for clash of clans",
"A lot of bad information in here. The first and foremost reason is that on Mobile Web, cookies can be dropped onto your device to track your behaviour. In app, cookies cannot be dropped and as such your behaviour cannot be tracked. This results in less targeted and less relevant advertising. Source: work for the 4th largest Ad Network in the world. "
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31xplk | why is that many people (incluiding myself) feel extra motivated to make a big change during night time? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/31xplk/eli5_why_is_that_many_people_incluiding_myself/ | {
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"text": [
"You know you don't have to do it. You know you're about to go to bed and you can put it off for several hours. In the morning you will actually have to face doing the task you set for yourself, and the physical or mental exertion required to do it will outweigh the benefit your late night brain found. A lot of people do it, and the only way I have found of getting over it is to figure out what I really want to treat myself with, go to sleep with these thoughts, and hopefully wake up pumped to get that thing",
"I always feel like the nighttime is when I can think about my day and go through what went wrong and right. This makes me want to fix things that I did and come up with awesome plans about how I should get up early and work out and make a healthy breakfast and read that book that's been lying around. When there's nothing to do besides fall asleep, its easy to relax by thinking about things like that because the stress from the day is over and it's nice to think about happy things. This is just my take. ",
"There was this great quote from the show Boardwalk Empire, where the wife was asking her friend some pretty deep heavy stuff. He responds \"Those are questions best left for the morning\" to which she replies \"Then why do we ask them at night?\" \n\nI think most of the replies here are spot on and I know you were really talking about those late night motivation spurts. But it is interesting how its not just plans that come to light at night. Sometimes it seems like life just starts to make a little too much sense at night. Like when all of the day to day mental activity stops we are left alone with ourselves. A \"self\" we almost don't even know because our minds/us are always in the midst of living life. Its almost like a job for our minds. But when we lay down to go to sleep, its like our mind clocks out and just starts \"being himself\". And all of a sudden you feel like you are only now starting to truly think.",
"I dont think its as lazy as people make it out to be.\n\nFor me personally, night time is when the world stops. I think i get the motivation at night because my mind takes a break from the busy regimen of everyday living. I get a new perspective on things because night feels like \"extra\" time.\n\nIts almost like a low form of meditation. I am more in the \"now\" at night. So its easier to plan and see things for how they are. \n\nI dont think it has to do with not being committed because sometimes i look forward to doing work at night. Its not just my mind making empty promises because its about to go to sleep."
]
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||
btiy9s | how knockoff or off brand toys/items are manufactured and actually end up in stores in the west | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/btiy9s/eli5_how_knockoff_or_off_brand_toysitems_are/ | {
"a_id": [
"ep1492o"
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"text": [
"Most items are made in China. Usually the factory that makes them have all the tools to make more and sometimes after the brands order has been filled they're left with raw resources so they'll make their own batch and sell it to make more money then the brand paid.\n\nStores are all about making money so if a similar product that consumers want is cheaper cause China was able to spend less making them then the brand did then the store might decide to pick up that product so they can sell it at similar price to the brand name product or even cheaper and make more profit off it than they do for the branded item.\n\nMost products come from the east. China doesn't honor trademarks or copyrights. They can produce similar items cheaper and sell them to stores cheaper who end up making more money."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
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