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9sulri | how does esp and crystal ball psychic readings work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9sulri/eli5_how_does_esp_and_crystal_ball_psychic/ | {
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"I read in a book on body language that they're experts at it. They start with very vague assumptions that could fit anyone and then read your body language to find out what you is lighting bulbs for you. For example, they they'll act like they're getting something and say guess some relatives until your eyes widen or eye brows raise, even if it's just a little, and then they'll say oh yes it's that! ",
"Psychics use a technique known as cold reading. They watch to see how the mark reacts as they make vague pronouncements, then they get more specific as they discover what the mark wants to hear. The mark wants to be fooled which makes the process easier. ",
"They don't.\n\nPsychics just say vague things until they hit on something.\n\nCrystal balls are just spheres of glass. Same thing. ",
"I haven't read a book on psychics in particular (as u/aimswithglitter mentioned), but I am just about done my BSc in psychology, and was fortunate enough to take courses focusing on nonverbal communication. Some things I learned, however, are quite similar to what others have posted. Obviously (sorry for those who are offended) psychics aren't real, as you stated, but that doesn't negate the 'science' behind what they're actually doing. As others had stated, people are quite predictable in reactions they give, consciously or subconsciously. \n\n*Macro*expressions are something we see in someone's entire face and will last anywhere from half a second to four seconds. In contrast *micro*expressions last less than half a second and normally come as a response for something we are trying to hide. Building from this, subtle or partial expressions are a \"low-intensity\" emotional expression, which means it arises when someone is just started to feel an emotion, or it's some emotion they're actively trying to hide. All of this is essentially what physicians (such as psychiatrists), police, or even someone such as a psychic will use. If I'm talking with you (let's ignore the audience example where people could scream out, and the odds of finding someone with an uncle whose name starts with a J is quite high), I'll start with something like a death because it's just not logical to talk about someone who is alive. From here, I've already created a flawed environment because I've initiated an emotional response before you've even realized it. So, I say I'm hearing something from someone's name starting with probably D, J, M, or S which are the most common first letter found in first names - I believe there's another letter, maybe an A, but I can't quite remember. Starting with these will give me the highest chance to peak some interest or pertinent name for you. From there, when I start rambling off letters I'll look at \"tells\" (the microexpressions or subtle expressions mentioned above), where you may twitch something as simple as your cheek, hands, or entire head. From there you'd like respond with you have an uncle or an aunt (let's assume you didn't say \"yes, an uncle named James\"), to which I'll just start going off of what could be a common name \"Jack, Jah Jay James\" etc. where I half mention words until you again interrupt saying \"Yes, James!\". This will essentially continue until you've heard precisely what you want to hear. \"Your uncle, James, whom you loved dearly misses you and he just wants you to be happy in life.\" It's reasons like this you don't see anyone say \"I hid half a million dollars under the 4th step in my house\" it's always just \"I miss you and love you\". Assuming someone is using a crystal ball, this would serve the same function as a magicians assistant where you focus on them while the magician does something; while you are focusing on the ball, this gives the psychic free rein to examine your behaviour without you even realizing it.\n\nOn an unrelated, but interesting note, [James Randi](_URL_1_) had a challenge that he started in 1964 where he originally offered $1,000 to anyone who could demonstrate that they were psychic (ie had paranormal abilities). In 2015 he retired, and the funds for this were ultimately allocated elsewhere; this means, over 51 years and 1 million USD tax free dollars could be yours if you simply proved you were psychic; seems an easy million dollars for those who are \"truly psychic\" :P There is also a website we looked at in class that allows people to work on [\"reading people\"](_URL_0_) that you may find interesting.",
"The basically read your body language (they're fucking good at it) and ask vague questions to try and get you to tell them what you want to hear without you realizing you told them.\n\nTl;dr psychological manipulation"
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2l9r2w | the phrase 'uncle' meaning 'i give up' | This always confused me, especially after watching west side story and the one guy doesn't just say 'uncle' he says 'i'm an uncle'. How the heck did this phrase originate? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2l9r2w/eli5_the_phrase_uncle_meaning_i_give_up/ | {
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"It's not really known. But, the romans said a similar phrase, also of an origin that is not known. The best theory i've seen as that you're just calling out - in weakness - for an adult."
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dsiyvj | why is it whenever someone is watching me do something, or if i'm doing something with someone, i suddenly get worse at that thing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dsiyvj/eli5_why_is_it_whenever_someone_is_watching_me_do/ | {
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"Even if the person watching us is totally cool, a part of us still worries that we'll be judged for the little mistakes we might make. That anxiety in turn causes us to lose some focus and make mistakes that we wouldn't otherwise make.",
"If you put 100% of your attention on something you do it better than if you are putting some of your attention on thinking about, noticing and generally caring about the person who is looking at you or what they think about you're doing or how you're doing while doing it. Depending on how much anxiety this causes it can be substantial enough to affect \"performance\".\n\nTLDR; you're less focused",
"In some skills, we \"automatize\" the task we are doing. We stop thinking about it step-wise, and simply think \n\n\"Open the browser!\" and our body does it automatically. Any computer user with a few weeks' experience won't go \"move mouse x cm to y direction, double click LMB on icon.\" \n\nHowever, when someone is watching us or we're helping them do something, what we internalized as what is essentially muscle memory, we suddenly try to itemize (break down step-wise) again. This confuses us.\n\nI've a C2 english language certificate, but whenever I check out grammar rules or \"expected phrasing\", I will invariably wind up unable to form genuine english sentences."
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1diuyk | where do fake twitter accounts come from, and why do they keep following then unfollowing me? | I fluctuate between 285-295 followers on twitter, and I track who unfollows me. Nearly all of these new follows/unfollows are fake spam accounts. What do they gain by following me, and how do they keep finding my account where all of my friends I ask don't have this same problem? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1diuyk/eli5_where_do_fake_twitter_accounts_come_from_and/ | {
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"They want you to refollow them. Once followed, they hope that you are more likely to click on their malicious links. Alternatively, if they gain enough followers they can sell the account to some dodgy PR company.\n\nAs for why they find you. Could be keywords in your tweets, or maybe at some point you followed one and you got added to a \"likely to refollow\" database (kind of like how replying to a spam email may increase the spam you get)"
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4aze6b | the exsecant and excosecant in trigonometry. | Particularly, I'm wondering if the *exsecant* might be explained in simple terms, thus making the tangent function easier to explain than as the "slope-iness of a line," since the two seem to be [directly related](_URL_0_). | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4aze6b/eli5_the_exsecant_and_excosecant_in_trigonometry/ | {
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"If you're trying to use exsecant to simplify the explanation of tangent, I think you'd be better off with secant instead. Exsecant is just (secant - 1), so it takes one more step to explain. It's also barely ever used.\n\nA *tangent line* to a circle is a line that touches it at just one point (*tangent* means \"touching\" in Latin, while *secant* means \"cutting\"). The tangent and secant functions create a second right triangle with the unit circle, as you can see in your linked diagram. One leg of the triangle touches the circle (*tangit*) at the specified angle, the other leg of the triangle is the radius of the circle, and the hypotenuse cuts through the circle (*secat*) to the center.\n\nIt's also very important to stress the identity that tan(x)=sin(x)/cos(x). This comes in very handy."
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2xm65n | how do previously prescription-only medications become over-the-counter medications? | Ex: Claritin | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2xm65n/eli5_how_do_previously_prescriptiononly/ | {
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"After they've been on the market for many years, and proven to be effective and not having any major serious side effects, the drug maker can apply to the FDA to sell the product over the counter. If and when the FDA approves their application, that's all there is to it. ",
"What generally happens is that the patent expires, meaning anyone can make generic versions of the drug. In some cases, the drug company will petition the FDA to approve some dosage of the drug for over the counter use, so that they can take advantage of two decades worth of marketing and brand awareness for the drug, and have a big step up over any competitors making chemically identical products.",
"Claritin (as well as Zyrtec and Allegra) is an interesting case. An insurance company petitioned the FDA to switch it to from prescription to OTC (where it not be covered by drug insurance benefit, and where it would not encourage otherwise-unneeded doctor's appointments in order to get those Rx), while the manufacturer wanted to keep it Rx (where the consumer would get it for much less due to insurance coverage, and perhaps where the manufacturer would have less liability). The FDA sided with the insurer.\n\nThe way it more usually works is that the manufacturer petitions the FDA to make something OTC because that will expand the market. The reason it would expand that market is that some things treat annoying symptoms which are not severe enough for someone to schedule a special trip to the doctor, and so they would just leave it untreated otherwise.\n\nAlthough more common than either of those scenarios is for the Rx drug just to remain Rx. Rx to OTC switch is quite rare, especially in the last couple decades. Most OTC drugs were simply grandfathered in from before the modern regulatory system was created."
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6dg2oo | why is it some people can naturally throw a ball (like a tennis ball or a baseball) whilst others seemingly can't? | i'm just using empirical evidence from having played cricket here. Some people seem to have very strong throwing arms with no effort whilst others seem to try as hard as they can without any success. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6dg2oo/eli5_why_is_it_some_people_can_naturally_throw_a/ | {
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"Form most likely. As in most things, proper form outpaces brute force. \n\nSome people either don't know there is a technique to throwing a ball, or do it badly. I used to basically just go with 'fling my arm as fast as possible and the ball will go farther', and could never understand why other people could manage the same distance with much less apparent effort. "
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1wl2jv | how does the boston bomber face the death penalty if the death penalty itself was abolished in massachusetts | I'm curious as to why the Boston Bomber can face the death penalty if the crime he committed was in Boston, Massachusetts, where the death penalty no longer exists | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wl2jv/eli5_how_does_the_boston_bomber_face_the_death/ | {
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"He is being tried in a Federal court. Because the bombing is considered an Act of Terrorism, it gets bumped up above the state level.",
"He also committed federal offences which can carry the death penalty. In the US, geography isn't the sole determiner of jurisdiction, in that certain crimes are inherently federal in nature, and get prosecuted by the federal government as opposed to the state in which the offence happened. ",
"He is being charged in federal court not state court. Federal court reserves the right to use the death penalty.",
"He's not being tried under Massachusetts law. He's being tried under federal law, in a federal court.",
"Although the Boston Bomber committed the crime in a state which does not allow the death penalty, he also committed a federal crime (terrorism), which means he can now be charged by the federal government as opposed to the state government."
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jhaac | why do onions make me cry? | There's no emotional attachment, and I don't feel bad for cutting it to pieces, so why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jhaac/eli5_why_do_onions_make_me_cry/ | {
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"Your eyes produce tears to wash away any irritants, such as smoke. Onions absorb chemicals from the ground when they grow, which are released as gas when you cut the onion open. This gas, like smoke, irritates your eyes, leading to the production of tears.\n\nEdit: I do not know what I am talking about!",
"Follow up question: Why *don't* onions make me cry?",
"Your eyes produce tears to wash away any irritants, such as smoke. Onions absorb chemicals from the ground when they grow, which are released as gas when you cut the onion open. This gas, like smoke, irritates your eyes, leading to the production of tears.\n\nEdit: I do not know what I am talking about!",
"Follow up question: Why *don't* onions make me cry?"
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3bmujd | why is the sea clearer on beaches in spain and italy for example rather than england | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bmujd/eli5_why_is_the_sea_clearer_on_beaches_in_spain/ | {
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"In warmer climates the top layer of water is much warmer than the deeper water. This results in a more pronounced layer of warm water over the cold, which reduces mixing.\n\nAt least, that’s the explanation I’ve read before. Here’s a [detailed explanation](_URL_0_).",
"Because England can't have any nice things as punishment for trying to conquer the world. That's why we have cold and cloudy seas, and cold and cloudy weather, and when things get really bad, someone makes you cold and cloudy tea...\n\nSource: Am English."
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9v37kw | politicians forced to resign instead of getting fired? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9v37kw/eli5_politicians_forced_to_resign_instead_of/ | {
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"It's extending a kindness to allow them to resign with dignity. The implication exists that if they don't, then they'll be fired. In those cases, if someone refuses, it's to take a stance and attempt to become a martyr. ",
"Not just politics. In many high profile positions it is beneficial to be able to say you resigned rather than getting fired. So most organizations will give you the option of resigning before they fire you. If you stay, they will fire you. When looking for your next position, a prior resignation means you either did not want to continue there, or left for a better opportunity, or other reasonable purpose. Getting fired implies you messed up so bad they had to get rid of you, which can make it harder to find another job. "
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6wejr0 | what determines when water is too deep to drive through? | I live in Houston, and the news coverage is of course all about the flooding and weather due to Harvey. There are dozens of stories daily about people needing to be rescued from cars when they drove into flooded sections of road.
My question - in situations like this, what exactly determines when it's "too deep" to drive through?
Is it a mechanical/electrical problem, where exposure to water prevents the car's engine from running?
Or is it a physics issue, where at a certain depth you can't maintain enough traction to push the mass of the car through the mass of the water?
Or something else completely? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6wejr0/eli5_what_determines_when_water_is_too_deep_to/ | {
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"Physics issue, vehicle becomes buoyant and drag from the water exceeds friction from the tires, usually when the water gets several inches above the floorboards.",
"Mostly it's electromechanical & air related.\n\nIf air can't get into or out of your car because the intake / exhaust is under water you will stop pretty quickly.\n\nDirty water can cause a short so electrical systems are a problem also.\n\nMany cars don't have waterproof seals, so driving through water that goes above the bottom of the door / above chassis level is just a messy idea.\n\nUnless you know for sure how deep the water is, and it's no more than a splash, don't risk it - there can be ground damage and deep potholes after a storm.\n\nStay safe.",
"I'm from Arizona, where rain is uncommon, but flash floods are when it does rain. \n\nTo my understanding, there's a point you reach where the car loses traction / becomes buoyant and can be easily washed away by the current. \n\nLots of people die this way. Don't drive through anything flooded if you don't know for certain that it's only a few inches, and even that can be too much, depending on what type of car you have. ",
"Mostly, it's the level of your air intake and the weight of your car. Serious off-roaders (and people that want to look like serious off-roaders) will install a snorkel that effectively puts their intake somewhere around the level of the roofline. Hard to figure exactly how long you would be able to hold your breath while trying to pilot a car under water, but maybe... you also have to think about buoyancy, friction, and current. With the snorkel, the engine may still run. If the tires don't have traction, and the current is noticeable, does any of this matter?",
"A lot of these responses cover the possible failures of the car, but miss another important aspect, that of the road. Floods frequently wash out the ground underneath roads, causing them to collapse when a car drives over them. The surface can appear solid, but is actually unsupported. If there's more than a couple of inches of flowing water, inspect the road first.",
"There's a few ways water can harm / stop a car from running. If it gets into the fuel it won't burn properly and eventually stall. It could mess with electrical system such as the engine control unit - the computer that monitors and controls critical engine functions. In particular, the high-voltage ignition system is particularly sensitive. Car makers try to seal these systems from moisture, but all bets are off if water fills up above the engine. Water can also get into the air intake system, and the engine could take a gulp of water. This causes two big problems - the fuel doesn't burn properly, but also water is far less compressible than air. The piston in an engine compacts the air into a tight pocket of air and fuel - when it instead tries to squish the water down, it's like running into a brick wall. This will cause internal damage to the engine and the car will not be usable.\n\nOut of all that, I would say your biggest two concerns are the engine breathing in water, and getting the ignition system wet. I am not an expert, but I think a rough guide is if the water is more than half way above the wheels, I would be worried. If you were in that situation and had to do it, if possible I would check how high off the ground the air intake is, under the hood. You certainly can't go deeper than that.\n\nedit: as other have mentioned - don't risk driving in deep water if you can avoid it. If you misjudge the depth, or are surprised by a deep spot, you could be stranded. Please be careful! ",
"It only takes a few inches to completely destroy an engine. It's called hydrolocking an engine.\n\n_URL_0_"
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4wjlql | why is the ocean sometimes really dark, like in the north atlantic yet in some places a turquoise colour like in the caribbean or south pacific? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4wjlql/eli5_why_is_the_ocean_sometimes_really_dark_like/ | {
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"It’s because dead animals and plants sink in water. That might seem obvious, but it means that any nutrients in sea water are rapidly used up by animals and plants and when those organisms die they sink to the bottom taking the nutrients with them. The only way those lost nutrients can be replaced is if water from the ocean bottom, where all those dead organisms go, can be moved to the surface again. \n\nThat cycling can’t happen in warmer regions because the surface water is warm and warm water floats on the cold water of the ocean bottom. As a result warmer waters very rapidly become nutrient deficient. \n\nBecause they are nutrient deficient very little actually lives in tropical waters. Very few algae, very little plankton and so forth. And because nothing much lives in tropical waters they remain clear. That means that light can get go waayyy down into the depths, and as light passes through the water the blue wavelengths get scattered. That produces a vivid turquoise blue ocean. \n\nIn contrast cold waters are dirty and full of life due to the upwelling of water from the ocean bottom. All that dirt and all the life it supports absorbs sunlight very fast. Light will only penetrate a few meters in cold waters. With very little penetration the light also doesn’t have much chance to scatter. That produces an ocean that is very dark colored, and where the blue wavelengths are muted by the reds and greens to produce a muddy blue-gray. \n\nSo what it all comes down to is that tropical waters are clear, and they are clear because they are sterile and nutrient deficient. Coral reefs thrive in tropical waters precisely because they are clear and sterile and that allows enough sunlight for the photosynthetic symbiotic algae that live in the coral and that provide most of their food.",
"It's because colder water actually holds more oxygen than warm water, allowing more things to grow and cloud up the water. Cold water has lots of algae, plankton, etc, while warm tropical waters do not.",
"It's to do with the depth, floor makeup and life in the ocean. The north Atlantic has more life and nutrients in the water and this absorbs more light than the Caribbean sea for example. This higher absorption of light results in darker and lighter oceans.",
"It has to do with several factors. \n\n1) the amount of light hitting the ocean. The closer to the equator you are the more light per square km you get in general (variances for time of year and what hemisphere). This is why the equator is warmer than the poles. \n\n2) cloud cover can cause variances also\n\n3) depth of the seabed. Shallow water, especially around islands or where the seabed doesn't drop off quickly. Shallow water means more light reflection off the seabed\n\n4) composition of the seabed. Light colored sand reflects more light versus rock and plant matter. Seaweed vs sand. \n\n5) amount of organic matter in the water due to temperature, oxygen content, nutrients, etc. \n ",
"OK, then what about areas like the Gulf of Mexico, particularly the Gulf Coast of the U.S.? Areas like near Bay St. Louis have relatively warm, shallow water, but it's all murky and muddy and brown. Explain me please!",
"Optical oceanographer here!\n\nThere's really two things that light does in the water once it hits anything floating in it (or even the water itself!). When light gets absorbed, it effectively \"colors\" the water. You see all the other colors that don't get absorbed. The other thing is scattering, which makes the water seem more turbid/less clear.\n\nYou can sum up everything that colors the ocean into five groups:\n\nWater: changes in the saltiness or the temperature will affect the scattering of light (and absorption if you could see in the infrared). \n\nBubbles: these highly scatter light and make the water seem white on windy days. \n\nAlgal particles: these are the phytoplankton! All combined, they equal primary production of every land plant. There are many many species, ranging in size from bacteria all the way up to visible diatoms. They absorb light like plants on land do, and, depending on their size, will scatter light as well. \n\nNon-algal particles: this is the category for living or non-living particles that don't do photosynthesis. This can include sediment from rivers, dead plankton, fish, etc. They mostly just scatter light, and absorb higher in the blue than in the red. \n\nCDOM: this stands for colored dissolved organic matter. Dissolved to us means that it goes through a 0.2 micron sized filter (1/5000th millimeter). I like to think of this as tea basically (technically tea is CDOM). You have this yellowish fluid leftover from leaves dissolving in the water (in the ocean's case, it comes from the algal particles above). \n\nThese five things interact to color the ocean in many different ways. We actually can model these to see how the biology, chemistry, and physics of the global ocean are changing! Then we apply them to ocean color satellites like Modis-Aqua or VIIRS to get a sense for how our oceans are changing over time!",
"On a side note, the COLD waters of the Great lakes,(IE ferry to Washington Island) the water too is very light blue Aqua colored.Bizarre.",
"It's called Turbitidy, which relates to the amount of dead phytoplankton and other animals/dirt and what not in the water resulting in cloudier or clearer water. Pretty interesting stuff. ",
"New Jersey had clearish turquoise water this year because we had a surge in the amount of plankton or bacteria, or something, that are more typically found in the warmer regions. Whatever these things are, they eat all figurative crap that's in the water and make it clear. \n\nMaybe that's why? Thats the super layman's terms of what the news told us, about why we had nice water in the southern half this year."
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3vn11s | how can a corporation know how much will it gain by naming a stadium in sports? | If some company decides to name a sports arena how can they measure how much profitable it will be? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3vn11s/eli5how_can_a_corporation_know_how_much_will_it/ | {
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"Tons and tons of market research, such as comparison of how much sales figures of other companies have risen when they have named a sports arena after their company/a product."
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4gam65 | antibiotic resistance? does dosage time matter? | I'm being treated for tuberculosis with four anti-biotics.
If I take them an hour late - will that effect the bacteria and cause resistance? Or is it aslong as its taken morning or night? Just would like the understand the science. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4gam65/eli5_antibiotic_resistance_does_dosage_time_matter/ | {
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"I'm definitely not a healthcare professional, but I do have a double major in bio and micro bio.\n\nThe general question of duration seems straightforward.\n\nHypothetically, yes increasing the time between antibiotics could allow resistance to develop.\n\nYou can imagine that the first mutation that confers resistance is imperfect, so it may only be effective when the amount of antibiotics is small. To example one form of antibiotic resistance is to make a protein that breaks down the antibiotic. The more of this protein is made the more antibiotic it can break down.\n\nRealistically though, it seems likely that there is margin for error on your dosage.\n\nThere are many factors that determine how long the antibiotics exist and function in your body. It's always a good idea to take drugs as directed.",
"Pharmacy student graduating in August. An hour late won't make much of a difference with most antibiotics. The thing you have to know is that antibiotics kill in a few different ways.\n\nOne of the methods is time dependent. This usually means time above a certain concentration required to kill the bug. An example of this type of drug would be amoxicillin. These drugs are the most likely to develop resistance if you forget to take them due to time being an important factor.\n\nAnother method is concentration dependent. For this the only thing that matters is that the concentration of the drug reaches a certain threshold in your body. Time doesn't matter as much so for these drugs we can dose them once per day.\n\nWith any antibiotic if you wait long enough the concentration will drop low enough for antibiotic resistance to form. An hour or 2 won't make that much of a difference but what is significant will be different for each antibiotic."
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5nq3fy | from a tap, why is a low-pressure stream clear, and a high-pressure stream white? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5nq3fy/eli5_from_a_tap_why_is_a_lowpressure_stream_clear/ | {
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"I'm going to go out on a limb here, not sure how correct this is going to be...\n\nLow pressure streams would be clear as they are a solid stream of water, whereas high pressure streams would create cavitation (tiny air bubbles) from the water moving quicker out of the faucet. These tiny air bubbles reflect light in such a manner that the stream seems to be white rather than clear.",
"There is an aerator on the end of the tap that only works when there is good enough water pressure. It looks like a little mesh screen and the water will just flow around it and become a constant stream again at lower water pressures",
"Bubbles. Pressure causes turbulence, which causes tiny bubbles to form, which interfere with light. ",
"It depends on what's called the Reynolds Number, which can roughly tell us whether the flow of water will be laminar (clear, glass looking) or turbulent (white stream). There's a few factors involved with it, like the velocity of the liquid, the density, the diameter of the pipe, and the liquids viscosity. \r\n\r\nAt a Reynolds number below approx. 2300, the water will leave the tap clear, above about 4000 it will be turbulent, and between that it's called transition flows. So when the waters velocity, or pressure, is low, it's more likely to be a clear stream, higher velocity it'll be white "
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3nkhwg | questions about dinosaur size. | My two questions are this.
I have read before that the largest animals on earth are in the sea because an animal any larger than an elephant would collapse under it's own weight. If this is so, how were dinosaurs able to be so much bigger?
Part 2. What made dinosaurs bigger than animals are now? What was the cause for these massive creatures to be this big while the biggest animals we have are elephants? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3nkhwg/eli5_questions_about_dinosaur_size/ | {
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" > because an animal any larger than an elephant would collapse under it's own weight.\n\nThis is incorrect. Check your source, or stop reading that source if this is what it is saying. \n\nPart 2: A couple of theories are out there. The levels of CO2 (carbon dioxide, the gas plants breathe) was a lot higher, and it was warmer. So plants grew very lush and dinosaurs could eat HUGE amounts of them easily. Another one is that when dinosaurs got big enough they were really hard to kill, so giant plant-eaters grew huge as a self-defense strategy. A third is they had really efficient lungs and laid lots of eggs so the many survivors of the various clutches could grow to enormous size. There's others too that are under debate.\n\n"
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2ssis0 | will we gradually max-out the internet speed? | Are there diminishing returns on how fast we can actually make the internet go | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ssis0/eli5_will_we_gradually_maxout_the_internet_speed/ | {
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"What you think of as \"internet speed\" is really more about \"how much data can you get per unit time?\" It's not like a car where you can look at it and say \"it's going 60mph.\" In that sense, we can't really do all that much to make the internet go faster except lay more point-to-point fiber connections to physically shorten routing paths, since we're already pushing up against speed-of-light limits. Data is more like \"how much traffic can go through that highway?\" And we can always make the highway wider. There are diminishing returns, however, it's not quite as bad as all that.\n\n(makin' up numbers, here) Say you have a fiber optic cable with 2 fibers, one for send, one for receive. Using this cable, the maximum theoretical speed would be 500 mb/s. Now, take a similar fiber optic cable, and put 4 fibers in it. Now the maximum theoretical speed would be 1 tb/s. Now lay two of those 4 fiber lines next to each other. Now the maximum theoretical speed would be 2 tb/s!\n\nWell, not quite, because there's still the time it takes to re-integrate the signal paths and whatnot, but you get the picture.\n\nA given line can only carry so much data, though improvements in data transmission protocols can up that. At some point, you have to upgrade the line. If you don't have a better line lying around, you have to just lay more lines.\n\nUltimately, the biggest issue isn't the transmission lines, but the devices attached to them. Your computers network card can only handle so much data, your home router can only handle so much data, your ISP's switches and the data center's switches can only handle so much data. It's pretty big business to improve the data throughput of a data center."
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oldlt | how was the united states able to win the 1991 gulf war so quickly? | I understand that Iraq had an enormous army, was highly entrenched in Kuwait, and was essentially ready to fight hard against the US. How was it that the US was able to destroy Saddam Hussein's army so easily?
Does it essentially boil down to air superiority? If that was a big factor, what was it about the US aircraft inventory that made it able to rule the skies? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/oldlt/eli5_how_was_the_united_states_able_to_win_the/ | {
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"I'll try and go against my nature and be brief. \n\n1). Air power is the only power-You have your army sit still though a 6 month bombing campaign (the first to use revolutionary guided missiles) and see if they can put up a fight after wards. Also it's a freaking desert and Saddam was using conventional, tank battle tactics and maneuvers, which in the open desert is a field day for the Air Force. \n\n2). Land power- We did a fake out with Saddam, tricking him into thinking we where going to launch a marine invasion into Kuwait and a naval landing though the East in the gulf. He didn't expect to have the entire army swing in a wide circle though the west. In less than 72 hours the vast majority of Saddam's army found itself trapped with the U.S. Army camped out between them and Baghdad. \n\n3). Morale power- Tired already from a long and disastrous war with Iran, the mostly conscripted army was ok with surrendering for a hot meal or two and not being killed. \n\nI guess that's not that short, but I could talk forever about the brilliance that was Operation Desert Shield/Storm. ",
" > was highly entrenched in Kuwait, and was essentially ready to fight hard against the US.was highly entrenched in Kuwait, and was essentially ready to fight hard against the US.\n\nWe knew this, and decided to say \"well fuck all that\" and fought on our own terms, very, **very** well.\n\nHow?\n\nManeuver warfare and combined arms. The Gulf War is, quite literally, the textbook example of both of these:\n\n**Maneuver war**: Coalition forces, in various ways, were able to exploit and neutralize what Marine doctrine calls the Iraqi's \"critical vulnerabilities\", that is, those elements of their ability to wage a war that they could not do without. Think of their military as a house of cards; coalition forces very quickly took out singular cards from the bottom, rather than assaulting each head on. How did they do this? Air superiority, like you said, was a huge factor, but the *blitzkrieg* of the Marines in the southwest and Army in the south circumvented main Iraqi lines of defenses very quickly and exposed the soft underbellies behind. Iraqi forces were used to a protracted war of attrition with Iran, so their experience didn't count for much when fighting a fast, mechanized military like America's.\n\n**Combined arms**: superior technology and implementation of that technology essentially put the Iraqi military in a no-win situation; they could fight head on, but be exposed to superior armor, infantry, and air power - or run, and be exposed to superior airpower anyway (see the controversial \"Highway of Death\"). Many commanders realized this and saw surrender as the only option.\n\nThe combination of maneuver warfare and expert usage of combined arms either neutralized Iraqi defenses all together or coerced them into surrender, which forced Saddam to capitulate very quickly."
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32cjue | how come my wireless mouse works with one battery? | I have a Logitech m705 wireless mouse, and like most others it requires two double A batteries. I recently found out that removing one of the batteries does not hinder the device's performance. Out of curiosity, I ask why this is so. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32cjue/eli5_how_come_my_wireless_mouse_works_with_one/ | {
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"Because the device has a low enough voltage requirement that the batteries are wired in parallel rather than in series. This gives a longer run time, and since people are used to putting two batteries in mic, and there's room enough, they just continued doing that rather than using only one cell but getting half of the life."
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9zmbty | what is docker and docker-compose | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9zmbty/eli5_what_is_docker_and_dockercompose/ | {
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"Docker is a Tool for container virtualization, it is like running a virtual machine but multiple container can use one operation system, making docker more scalable, faster and smaller.\n\nDocker compose is the file with the commands which are getting executed. In there you are using Docker Images.\n\nImagine images like a receipe, and the container like the cake. You can find these receipes in the Docker Registry, which is basically like the AppStore on your Smartphone. ",
"Imagine you throw a party. To party like ELI5 you need soft drinks, popcorn and music.\n\nYou could buy *Magical Party Maker 2000* (MPM2k) which does all this stuff and more. Or you could buy soda machine, popcorn popper and bluetooth speaker.\n\nProblem with MPM2k is that\n\n* It's kinda complicated and it does some unnecessary things.\n* If for the next day you go to the beach and just need the music, you still have to carry this heavy thing with all these unnecessary features with you.\n* If you just want to practice your party dance beforehand, you need to fire up the huge machine instead of just small speaker.\n* If your guests eat more popcorn than drink soft drinks, with MPM2k you'd still would need to buy another huge machine instead of just extra popcorn popper.\n* If soda machine breaks guests might not even notice it, but if the MPM2k breaks, there is no party anymore. Unacceptable. The party must go on.\n\nSo it's better to have these small lightweight machines that are specialized in doing one job really well. You can change them, add more and fix them more easily than to do all this with one huge machine.\n\nDocker containers are just like the popcorn machine. Docker is a platform for your party. Docker Compose is this super awesome girl who can use all of the party equipment together to host a party of a century or tool for defining and running these containers.\n\nE: Oh, one more:You make awesome mixtape and copy that to CD and send it to your friend for their party. Next week you get a note that your friend didn't get the CD to work as their CD player is just tiny bit different than yours. Imagine if instead of sending just the CD you could copy your *CD player* and send it to your friend.\n\nDocker enables you to run exactly same stuff on your development computer and production server. No more \"this works on local machine but not our production server\" type of problems!"
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3hrl4h | why can someone's teeth feel fine yet they can go to the dentist and have multiple cavities? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3hrl4h/eli5_why_can_someones_teeth_feel_fine_yet_they/ | {
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"Only the very inside of teeth have nerves in them, the rest is just specialized bones. You can't feel if the hard calcium parts have holes in them, you only feel when the nerves start being damaged. "
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||
3tmaf4 | why is the last minute on a washing machine always like 2.5 minutes? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tmaf4/eli5_why_is_the_last_minute_on_a_washing_machine/ | {
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"I don't know about yours, but my front loader has an automatic balancing mechanism which sometimes takes several tries to get up to high speed without wobbling. They don't factor this time into the estimate. (But it's a lot better than our top-loader, which would sound a loud buzzer to tell us we had to rebalance the laod by hand.)\n\n"
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kqxbj | continuously variable transmissions | I tried to Googling this, but it went above my head. Can someone explain it in big boy words? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/kqxbj/eli5_continuously_variable_transmissions/ | {
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"I'll give it a go. There are a few different ways of making a CVT, so I'll just stick to the basic principles for now--the idea behind the CVT.\n\nBecause this ended up being pretty long, I'm breaking it up into sections, commenting on my own comment, and linking to them to let you more easily skip over the parts you already know. Since you are currently five, I have explained this from the very top, but if you already know most of this, you can skip over it.\n\nTo understand why the CVT is a neat thing, you have to first have a basic understanding of what a \"normal\" (\"multi-ratio\") transmission does and why we have them. For this answer, I will be talking about cars and trucks and so on, but do remember that lots of machines that have some sort of engine have a use for a transmission as well.\n\n[What an engine does: heat, RPMs and torque](_URL_2_)\n\n[Why a transmission is necessary](_URL_0_)\n\n[principle behind a transmission gear ratio: mechanical advantage (probably my most poorly worded section)](_URL_1_)\n\n[What a normal transmission does](_URL_3_)\n\n...And here is where we come to the difference between a continuously variable and normal transmission. A normal transmission has a certain, fixed number of gear ratios that it can use. The engine has to adjust its RPM to do the fine-tuning of power and speed output within the different gears. Since the engine works best a certain speed, this means there is a little bit of inefficiency in this system, because even though you change gears, the engine is still changing speeds a little bit, and only one speed is the most effective speed for what you want. (\"Most effective\" can mean either the speed at which it most efficiently turns fuel into energy, or just the speed at which it produces its maximum possible horsepower, which is a combination of RPM and torque.) When you hear an engine rev up between gear changes while accelerating--when the sound of the engine rises to a higher pitch, then drops back down when the transmission changes gears--you're hearing that adjustment.\n\nWith a continuously variable transmission, there are no set gear ratios. The transmission doesn't have to choose from a set number of gears--it can smoothly and constantly adjust its gear ratio to precisely the most effective gear ratio, which is to say the one that allows the engine to turn at its most effective speed. So you won't hear the engine rev up and down as much, because that fine-tuning is done by the transmission instead of the engine. Since the engine can stay at its most effective speed the whole time, the CVT (in a perfect world) would get the maximum possible performance out of an engine, without the wasted energy used by an engine that has to rev up and down within a set gear.\n\n**So, grown-up tl;dr: A CVT can (ideally) increase the efficiency or output of an engine by allowing it to remain it its most efficient or most effective (read: powerful) speed. It can do this because, unlike normal transmissions, which have a set number of gear ratios, it can adjust smoothly and with (practically) infinite customizability to any gear ratio within its operating range. This means the engine does not have to rev up or down within a gear before it changes to the next gear, which would mean turning at speeds that are not its most efficient or most effective. The need for fine-tuning speed by changing the engine RPMs is eliminated because that fine-tuning is now done by the transmission, and there are no gaps in gear ratio between gears that have to be jumped by revving up or down.**\n\nedit: creating links to commented subsections\n\nedit 2: This was kind of hammered out in a rush after an eleven-hour workday. I hope it's useful and I'm sorry if it's just confusing. I'd be glad to go through this again some other time if need be.",
"I'll give it a go. There are a few different ways of making a CVT, so I'll just stick to the basic principles for now--the idea behind the CVT.\n\nBecause this ended up being pretty long, I'm breaking it up into sections, commenting on my own comment, and linking to them to let you more easily skip over the parts you already know. Since you are currently five, I have explained this from the very top, but if you already know most of this, you can skip over it.\n\nTo understand why the CVT is a neat thing, you have to first have a basic understanding of what a \"normal\" (\"multi-ratio\") transmission does and why we have them. For this answer, I will be talking about cars and trucks and so on, but do remember that lots of machines that have some sort of engine have a use for a transmission as well.\n\n[What an engine does: heat, RPMs and torque](_URL_2_)\n\n[Why a transmission is necessary](_URL_0_)\n\n[principle behind a transmission gear ratio: mechanical advantage (probably my most poorly worded section)](_URL_1_)\n\n[What a normal transmission does](_URL_3_)\n\n...And here is where we come to the difference between a continuously variable and normal transmission. A normal transmission has a certain, fixed number of gear ratios that it can use. The engine has to adjust its RPM to do the fine-tuning of power and speed output within the different gears. Since the engine works best a certain speed, this means there is a little bit of inefficiency in this system, because even though you change gears, the engine is still changing speeds a little bit, and only one speed is the most effective speed for what you want. (\"Most effective\" can mean either the speed at which it most efficiently turns fuel into energy, or just the speed at which it produces its maximum possible horsepower, which is a combination of RPM and torque.) When you hear an engine rev up between gear changes while accelerating--when the sound of the engine rises to a higher pitch, then drops back down when the transmission changes gears--you're hearing that adjustment.\n\nWith a continuously variable transmission, there are no set gear ratios. The transmission doesn't have to choose from a set number of gears--it can smoothly and constantly adjust its gear ratio to precisely the most effective gear ratio, which is to say the one that allows the engine to turn at its most effective speed. So you won't hear the engine rev up and down as much, because that fine-tuning is done by the transmission instead of the engine. Since the engine can stay at its most effective speed the whole time, the CVT (in a perfect world) would get the maximum possible performance out of an engine, without the wasted energy used by an engine that has to rev up and down within a set gear.\n\n**So, grown-up tl;dr: A CVT can (ideally) increase the efficiency or output of an engine by allowing it to remain it its most efficient or most effective (read: powerful) speed. It can do this because, unlike normal transmissions, which have a set number of gear ratios, it can adjust smoothly and with (practically) infinite customizability to any gear ratio within its operating range. This means the engine does not have to rev up or down within a gear before it changes to the next gear, which would mean turning at speeds that are not its most efficient or most effective. The need for fine-tuning speed by changing the engine RPMs is eliminated because that fine-tuning is now done by the transmission, and there are no gaps in gear ratio between gears that have to be jumped by revving up or down.**\n\nedit: creating links to commented subsections\n\nedit 2: This was kind of hammered out in a rush after an eleven-hour workday. I hope it's useful and I'm sorry if it's just confusing. I'd be glad to go through this again some other time if need be."
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1sxgnq | hi reddit. what is privatization and why is it bad for a country? | I am a Mexican living abroad and have got all those privatization news about Gas and Oil. Everybody back in my Country are in a state of panic and disappointment and most people speak of what a terrible outcome this will have, but I am not so sure why and how bad can it be. I feel I cannot formulate an opinion because I honestly have no idea how privatization works.
Thank you Reddit... ! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sxgnq/eli5hi_reddit_what_is_privatization_and_why_is_it/ | {
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"Privatization is where the company is sold off by the government to private shareholders. This means that the government is no longer in control of the company. This is bad for energy and service companies, because they can now charge what they want for their services, instead of having the government tell them what to do. Also, privatization means that companies can do what is best for themselves, not what is best for the country. So they can hire 1000 immigrants for a lower fee, just because it makes better business sense to do so. Also, the government may accidentally under-value the company, meaning that the taxpayer is not given a fair price for the company that they owned, because they paid their taxes into it.",
"As it stands the Mexican government maintains all the pipes and electric wires / power stations etc.... using money from tax and bills.\n\nIt costs so much to run the system (buy in fuel, build new power stations etc...) and then any profit that is made is either invested back into the system or put back into the government for other public services.\n\nWhen things are privatised one or more companies own everything. \n\nNow naturally they should do everything the government did, but they will also have share holders who expect profit. To ensure their business is making profit they either cut corners or increase bills.\n\nThere are also local concerns. If it costs $400000 to upgrade an area with only 15 customers the government will if it is needed, the private company won't unless it is forced to.\n\nBusinesses will only make decisions that profit them in some way in the future. \n\nGovernment run systems are for the people.\n\nSimply put:\n\nPrivatisation delivers the same but costs end users more because they have to make profit\n\nPrivatisation can increase efficiency because the company will want to try and deliver the same for less and will look to work smarter\n\nPrivatisation hurts the little guy often because its hard to justify spend if its not going to give a good enough profit.\n\nMany people argue that if something is essential to a country's infrastructure it should remain owned by the people (government). \n\n\n\nBoth systems have there ups and downs and to be honest if i had the call to make i would outsource things from time to time rather than privatise (outsourcing means that the government still owns everything but pays outsiders to manage it all, the profit/terms of the agreement is set by both parties in advance, but importantly the government retains ownership and once the contract is up (say 10 years) it can do what it wants.)",
"In Mexico it has happened before, you have to go back to Lazaro Cardenas. I think he had something to do with building PEMEX, the now inefficient publicly owned company. what I know is that the reason PEMEX is inefficient is due to UNIONS. Unions have created so much fat for so little meat, meaning they created many jobs not essential to the core product. By privatizing oil it hopes to make the production of OIL more efficient but like finmk and Theemospeed666 stated, these private and international corporation will owe its allegiance to its shareholders and not the country and its people. Worst yet the core money will not be invested in Mexico but sent through international tax loopholes and make that money disappear, no revenue for Mexico. Even worst yet it will change laws to favor these corporations and put the people aside. Hence people will vote to nationalize its OIL just like Lazaro Cardenas did. "
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6xjrkm | how do we see the full moon? | According to [Wikipedia](_URL_0_),
A full moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is completely illuminated as seen from Earth. This occurs when Earth is located directly between the Sun and the Moon.
But I was under the impression that a Lunar Eclipse occurs when that happens, since the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon...
So where am I going wrong? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6xjrkm/eli5_how_do_we_see_the_full_moon/ | {
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"The moon doesnt orbit the earth at the same angle that the earth orbits the sun. This means that the shadow of the earth will usually land below where the moon is located. ",
"It explains that in the same article:\n\n > Lunar eclipses do not occur every month because the Moon usually passes above or below Earth's shadow, which is mostly restricted to the ecliptic plane. ",
"Where you're going wrong is the following:\n\nConsider a line drawn between the sun and the earth.\n\nA lunar eclipse happens when the moon is on that line (more precisely, when the moon happens to pass through earth's shadow).\n\nUsually, this doesn't happen because the moon is either above or below Earth's shadow.",
"The moon's orbit is at about a 5^o with respect to the earth's orbit around the sun. That means most of the time, it is above or below the earth's shadow.\n\nAbout 2 or 3 times a year, it does line up and there is an eclipse. In fact, there will be a lunar eclipse during the next full moon.",
"The moon is not normally directly in line with the earth so the sun is shinning past the earth and lighting up the moon.\n\nIt's a perspective trick that makes it seem like moon is always over earth but it's not. Most of the time it's off to the side. The lack of visual context makes this illusion happen.",
"Think of all the times the moon passes between the sun and earth without an eclipse. It goes around the other side too without being vertically lined up, so no lunar eclipse."
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dl3mi6 | why are astronaut's movements in space seemingly slow motion when there's no air/water resistance to slow them down? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dl3mi6/eli5_why_are_astronauts_movements_in_space/ | {
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"There are a few reasons. Their suits are pressurized. The joints of these suits want to fully extend due to this pressure. This makes it difficult to move and do things, and reduces precision substantially. Not only this, but the suits are quite heavy, and have inertia to slow movements. Lastly, the astronauts do not have anything to stand on. Fast movements will make their bodies start to rotate and further reduce the precision of their motions.",
"Since there is no resistance there is no way to slow down. It allows them to move around with that huge spacesuit. Fast moves can cause a big response. Any bump in the wrong direction may cause them to lose control. Therefore everything is in slow motion.",
"It's precisely because there is nothing to slow them down. They move deliberately because if you flip something it's not going to be slowed down by air. Move your arm too fast, and you'll rap your wrist on something. \"Every action has an equal an opposite reaction\" said Newton, and without gravity to stick you to the ground that reaction has to come from your other hand or some Velcro gizmo.",
"Even if you have not air/water resistance the suites sill have mass that you need to accelerate. The suites used on the moon had a total mass of 200 lb (91 kg) so the movement is a bit like if you would push the same amount of mass in forn of you in a cart on wheels with no friction like a shopping cart that you put a adult human in. It is a lot harder to move if you push a cart like that even if there is not wheel friction.\n\nOn the moon the gravity is 1/6 of earth if you look at a lot of videos the do not exactly waling but more skipping a long and the rate that they fall toward the surface is 1/6 of what we are used to and it look like slow motion.\n\nThere might no be any external resistance but the astronauts are in a pressure suite and bending it require force. Look at a apollo space suite without any protective outer layer [_URL_3_](_URL_1_) and at the joint you bend. It is a bit like bending a balloon or a water pipe that is pressurized and it require a force. The skipping around on the moon instead of walking have a lot to do with the fact that thee suites are hard to bend.\n\nThe space suite that is used today on ISS for the US is the [Extravehicular\\_Mobility\\_Unit](_URL_2_) that have a total mass of 319 lb (145 kg) When you are weightless the lesgs are almost useless on the outside of the space station so the astronaut move around by pulling themselves with the hand. So lay on a low friction shopping cart that have a the same mass and pull yourself along with you hand. You also need to move safety line along because you what to be attached to the station all the time. You do also need to avoid bumping stuff to protect your self and the space station slow and safe way is user.\n\nIf you look at videos of EVAs on ISS you notice that the might move around quite slowly but arm movement can be faster because today there is rotation pressure joint is the suites. You can see them on the future models at [_URL_0_](_URL_0_). The current have similar joints in the shoulder, waist, elbow and wrist that the Apollo suited did not have.",
"Your actions on earth are made safe by gravity keeping you anchored and effectively eating most of the energy your muscles produce. \n\nYour muscles are incredibly powerful. They can lift your entire body from a sitting to standing position with very little effort, a dead lift of 80lbs is so easy that it does not even register to you as a meaningful expenditure of energy. \n\nIn micro-gravity standing up with that same force would send you painfully crashing into the surface directly above you.\n\nAny movement of your arms would add rotational energy that you wouldn't be able to counteract without holding on to something that would anchor you and eat that energy. When you throw a ball if you lean into the throw then you might have to extend a leg behind you to act as an anchor and keep you from falling forward. In microgravity you'd just start spinning, possibly with a leg extended in a goofy way.",
"Two other considerations are consumables and training. \n\nIf they work hard (starting/stopping/rapid motions) they will breathe out more carbon dioxide as a result of the extra effort. The life support system on the EMU has a finite ability per spacewalk to scrub CO2 out of the breathing gas. Harder work = shorter spacewalk. \n\nThe other reason is that a good deal of in-the-suit spacewalk training is performed underwater where there is definitely is a lot of drag. This results in the normalization of slower motions during training that carries over to the actual spacewalks.\n\nEdit: autocorrect",
"Because if you drop something in space, its gone forever,so they try to be extra careful. The first spacewalk was almost a total disaster due to the pressure difference turning the astronaut into a giant balloon man. Aleksey Leonov was almost unable to bend his joints at all and get back into the capsule.",
"Good answers, but one factor hasn't been mentioned yet that has nothing to do with reality: in movies and TV, it's really difficult to capture the look of low- or zero-gravity on Earth, So many TV shows and movies will literally film the astronauts in slow motion to make things look a bit more \"floaty\". This was especially true for older and cheaper stuff that didn't have access to good CGI or a \"vomit comet\" aircraft.",
"Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but one of the reasons is a lack of gravity and sudden movements can make your inner ear freak out and the last thing you wanna do is vomit in space."
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8qvoti | why is it not possible that dinosaurs had beaks that didn’t fossilize? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8qvoti/eli5_why_is_it_not_possible_that_dinosaurs_had/ | {
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"Many dinos did have beaks, and those beaks fossilized with them. That said, even if no part of the beak remained, it would still be obvious that the had a beak, as we'd be able to see it in the skull structure, the same way we find feather and muscle attachment points on the other bones in the body.",
"Beaks are hard material that usually gets fossilized along with the bones. Finding many specimens without fossilized beaks is telling"
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4kfj6f | how does gps work by just asking a satellite what its time is? | I understand it works we use triangulation via asking 3 or 4 satellites information. But if I know I'm:
*X metres away from point 1
*Y metres away from point 2
*Z metres away from point 3
I can work out my location with triangulation...... but how do satellites sending out time signals equate to distance?
Also, are all the satellites working on the same time? if so who's time? Are they all ticking that atomic clock in unison? Or are they are different? if so are they using the current time zone of where they are? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4kfj6f/eli5_how_does_gps_work_by_just_asking_a_satellite/ | {
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"Yes - all the satellites have the same time, as they each have an atomic clock on board.\n\nNow, the signal takes an amount of time to travel from the satellite to the GPS receiver.\n\nWhen you look at the times you're receiving from all of the satellites, due to the fact that it takes a certain amount of time to get to your receiver, you'll see ever-so-slightly different times from each of the satellites.\n\nBy comparing these times, you can work out where you are in relation to those satellites.",
"The satellites all have the same time, and have high precision. Also, the satellites are in a regular orbit so their positions are known. By receiving the time from several satellites, the GPS receiver can measure the delay.\n\nIf you know the position of the satellites, and they all transmit a time code at the same instant, those signals will arrive at different times. Since we know the speed of light, it's just basic triangulation,",
"TIL: GPS satellites don't beam your coordinates to your device, they just tell you the time (or GPS satellites are extremely accurate timepieces orbiting the earth)",
"GNSS(generic name for GPS) don't use triangulation there is no angle to measure. GPS use trilateration.\n\nYour GPS already have a good idea what time it is with is own clock so when it receive the time from a satellite it can create a sphere around the GPS satellite of possible location based on the speed of light. With a second satellite your receiver can create a second sphere and now your possible location correspond to intersection of two sphere: a circle. Add a third satellite and a third sphere and your possible position is down to 2 points. One of which you can discard because it's in space. You now have your position on earth.\n\nBut the time your receiver have is not as good as those of the GPS sat so your first guess as to when the satellite send the signal can be a little off. By adding a fourth satellites you can reduce this error and get a better position.\n",
"Just to be absolutely clear:\n\nGPS satellites are transmit only. Your device doesn't send anything to them, doesn't ask them any questions, nothing at all.\n\nThat also means that the satellites don't know where you are, don't even know that you exist. They just send time signals out and your device works out from those signals where it is.\n\nFor anyone to 'track you by GPS' your device has to work out its own location then send that information on by some other means, or store it so it can be retrieved later. The GPS satellites play no part in that end of it. \n\n"
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6tsf7m | how come so many electronic devices can run the old doom so easily, and can other games like mega man or mario be played on the same devices | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6tsf7m/eli5_how_come_so_many_electronic_devices_can_run/ | {
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"Doom was originally programmed for multiple platforms (e.g. PC, Mac...) and pretty much had multi-platform support from the get-go. Nowadays Doom's source code is open, which makes it even easier to make it run on different platforms.\n\nOther games from the same era might not run on other platforms as easily. For instance, NES games were programmed just for the single platform with its own CPU and other hardware. In the end there's very little stuff that could be used between the platforms in those cases. However, emulating these old systems makes it easier to run these old games on other platforms (emulation being kind of an intermediate layer between the game and the host platform).\n\nHowever, some platforms are more compatible with each other - it all depends on the hardware and software of the device. It's not enough that two devices have the same architecture (e.g. ARM is powering both Gameboy Advance and your smartphone), they have to be compatible in other ways as well (which is why you can't just plug in your GBA cartridge to your Android phone). In such cases, emulation is still an option (although it might sound wasteful to translate ARM instructions to ARM instructions)."
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7typo4 | why is there so much innovation & improvement with cellular technologies & speed(3g, 4g, 4g lte, 5g), but not with wired speeds? | Over the past 10 years, there has been tremendous improvement with cellular speeds. It used to be that cellular internet was good for text-based webpages, and that was about it. Nowadays, in many cases people have cellular internet that's faster than broadband available to them.
What are some of the reasons why cellular internet makes such huge strides while wired internet speeds have hardly budged in most regions? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7typo4/eli5_why_is_there_so_much_innovation_improvement/ | {
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"You would be referring to the US I suppose? Because the cable companies have a monopoly and don't have an incentive to upgrade their service.",
" > What are some of the reasons why cellular internet makes such huge strides while wired internet speeds have hardly budged in most regions?\n\nBecause with cellular internet, you have to wire a few cell towers with high-speed wired Internet, and then the rest is wireless.\n\nFor wired to-the-home Internet, you have to run high-speed cable *to every single house*. The infrastructure cost is orders of magnitude more expensive. And in areas without a large population density, companies don't think that they can recoup the cost.\n\nSo long story short, wired Internet is much faster than cellular Internet, but it's just too expensive to replace all of the cables in many areas.",
"I think there may be more going on than you may give the wired world credit for. At the time people were on 2G flip phones, their wired internet was, what, 10 meg down, with tons of people still on 1.5 meg DSL?\n\nNowadays wired lines are getting gigabit speeds in some areas, with 100 meg not that uncommon. That's a pretty big jump.\n\nSo perhaps the better question is--why is it not as obvious? The monopoly/duopoly mentioned is a part of it. There's more competition in the wireless space, so those companies blast advertisements all over the place about how much faster/more advanced they are. The cable internet company? They may well have speed upgrades available, but they don't have to constantly pound you with the option, so you may not notice it.\n\nAlso, to use a driving analogy, going from 20 to 60 mph on a freeway will often seem like much more of a speed change than going from 60 to 100, even though its the same amount of change. ",
"I love a good anti-ISP circlejerk as much as the next guy, but this really isn't true. If we are looking at coax/cable speeds, [DOCSIS](_URL_0_) (the 'language' that your modem uses to send data) has seen *massive* jumps in speed. \n\n > Nowadays, in many cases people have cellular internet that's faster than broadband available to them.\n\nThis is really more a question of what people are willing to pay. I'm a little bit of an 'old' here, but in the late 90s, my first employer paid ~$500/mo to have a dedicated T1 (old tech / pre-cable) put into the study at my apartment. It reliably got me 4-5mbps up/down. Today I can get 1GB for $149/mo and higher speeds are coming in the not too distant future. And if you *really* want it, you can get a dedicated fiber link to your house for ~$500-$1500/mo (plus equipment) that can see speeds of up to 10GB.\n\n\n\n ",
"- Cheaper and easier to deploy. To upgrade the network, you pretty much just have to go around and stick new hardware on your existing cellular towers. The infrastructure is largely already there and the consumer is expected to keep up with new hardware that can tap into it so you dont have to handle that half. To upgrade your wired network, you are going to have to dig up thousands of miles of suburban streets to install fiber or whatever and then likely have to give the consumer hardware which can interface with it.\n\n- More a function of the above than anything else, but you reach a far larger market for that money spent. One tower can service an area that could represent a million people, you get far better return on wireless services than wired.\n\n- Its an area where there is innovation to be had. Wired technology is pretty set right now, there isn't much more that can be done until we hit something big that revolutionizes everything. Right now achieving greater bandwidth isn't a question of figuring out new technology, its just laying a beefier cable. With fiber optics we already have data moving at the speed of light after all.",
"Long haul optical rates have increased at a rate FASTER than Moore’s law would have predicted. Today, individual optical wavelength channels have rates that can exceed 400gbps. These line rates are available to your town or cities central office. \n\nThe issue is the last mile to consumer residences. That infrastructure was never designed with high data rates in mind and so has been undergoing limited upgrades where it is cost effective for a telecom company to do so. "
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buafu8 | how can certain camouflaging octopi and squid emulate their surroundings as close as they do? | I tried to look around this sub for a similar question and cannot see one, but I’m really curious how it works. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/buafu8/eli5_how_can_certain_camouflaging_octopi_and/ | {
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"I can only answer on a cellular level: the skin cells of the octopus/squid have little packets of pigment stored within the cells. When the squid wants to change color, its brain sends a signal to these cells, which directs some proteins to transport these packets from the interior of the cell to the exterior (cell plasma membrane). \nThe packets fuse with the membrane and the pigments are exposed to the outside. As cells across the skin perform the process together, the squid appears to change color. \n\nTo change back, the process is reversed and the pigments are pinched back into their packets and stored away to be reused.",
"This is what I want to know. How does a flounder, which doesn’t even have any freakin eyes on one side, know what the surface under its blind side looks like to match it? Does it feel differences in color as heat or wavelengths or something?",
"Cant ELI5 it as im not ocean expert, but my best guess is simply eye sight. I remember reading that octopi/similar can see in a few more wavelengths and ways than we can, so its entirely possible they \"see\" things that we cant yet that help them form their camouflage correctly. I'd also add that genetic and evolutionary memory is entirely possible, where as the body retains what patterns worked with what, and what didnt. Kind of similar the way they can open complex items like jars etc, once its learnt, the cephalopod can re-use that \"memory bank\" information to recreate it anytime it needs to.",
"[This](_URL_0_). Seems to suggest that their skin has light receptors as well as in their eyes. After skimming the article, I think it says that they likely gather most info about the light, colour, pattern, etc from their eyes, but their skin is also used in conjunction to also sense and add to the picture of their surroundings. It also says relatives like clams and muscles also sense light with their skin."
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2a211k | -why do we get darker in the sun but if we leave something outside it gets bleached white? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2a211k/eli5why_do_we_get_darker_in_the_sun_but_if_we/ | {
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"We get darker in the sun because our body is reacting to the sun damage, making us darker to try to protect us.\n\nRandom objects don't have any such defenses, so the colors are bleached out."
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29vvm0 | why when i kick a basketball hard enough it creates a lump? | Even as a kid we knew not to kick a basketball because youd ruin. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29vvm0/eli5_why_when_i_kick_a_basketball_hard_enough_it/ | {
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"Basketballs are made of a rubberised (elastic) material. Every elastic material stretches and returns to its original length unless you stretch it past what is called 'the permanent stretching point' then the structure of the material is altered too much to go back to its original form. \nBasically, kicking a basketball hard pushes the wall of the basketball in too far, pushes the material past that point and it doesn't return to the spherical shape it started as. "
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b48bq4 | what are yield curves in finance | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b48bq4/eli5_what_are_yield_curves_in_finance/ | {
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"A yield curve is a graphical representation of a bunch of different bonds with the same credit quality, but different maturity dates. It helps you visualize how overall yield (money you will earn) changes as the length of the bond goes up or down.\n\nNormally, as time increases, so does yield. This makes sense, as if you are going to tie up your money in a longer term investment, you demand more money in exchange for doing so. However, inverted yield curves do happen - when yields go _down_ the longer the term on the bond. This is typically a very bad indicator, as it often predicts recessions.",
"A government bond is you lending money to the government for a set period of time in exchange for a guaranteed interest rate in profit. These bonds are available for different amounts of time before they get paid back (\"time to maturity\"), and the interest they pay is different depending on these different amounts of time. A yield curve is just a graph of time time to maturity vs. interest. "
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6bhwj7 | why are radio waves preferred for long distance communication? | From my understanding, most communication sources from Wifi to long distance radio uses radio what. What properties of radio waves make them suitable? It you can link a more technical explanation, that'd also he great! (AskScience never accepts my question, but I'm also looking for a somewhat technical explanation) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6bhwj7/eli5_why_are_radio_waves_preferred_for_long/ | {
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"Nice properties of radio waves:\n\n1) The go through walls, unless they are made of metal.\n\n2) They are bent by the upper layers of the atmosphere, so a radio message can go from the US to Europe.\n\n3) Very sensitive receivers are mass produced at very low cost, so that only a very small part of the signal is needed to produce long distance communications.",
"Cable is preferred for long distance communication if you don't have to move around. Are you asking why radio instead of x-rays or infrared?",
"The main alternative, unless you have built a cable to your destination, is to use light. But light has some bad properties: it is very directional (doesn't go around corners well), and it is blocked by walls, trees, fog, and rain.\n\nAnother option is to use sound, but a powerful enough sound to be detected at a great distance would deafen anyone near the sender.\n\n",
" > Why are radio waves preferred for long distance communication?\n\nThey aren't. The preferred method is trans-continental fiber-optic cable. At $50-400m (not including launch insurance or the cost of the launch itself), 288 strand fiber is cheaper per mile at ~$6/ft than a satellite, it doesn't suffer from interference, the signals are extremely difficult to intercept, since it's terrestrial it's relatively easily maintained, and latency is much shorter. Satellites have a typical theoretical maximum bandwidth of 155 Mbps, but in practice they get much less than that, whereas single mode fiber can achieve 10 Gbps per strand, and multi-mode is regarded as effectively near limitless at distances less than 100m. DWDM can achieve up to 16 Tbps, or more bandwidth on a single fiber than all operational communications satellites.\n\nMicrowaves are used for point to point communication between two towers, using directional horns or parabolas, and have some specific application, enough that you still see them in use often enough, I suppose. From personal experience, I can tell you you're not supposed to stand in front of a horn because you can get yourself cooked from the inside out at those radio frequencies and amplitudes. For broadcast public radio, certain frequency bands have desirable propagation properties that make them cheap to operate and achieve wide coverage.\n\nRadio is typically the preferred method of communication when you don't have access to a physical line. A single satellite can provide line of sight coverage as far as to the horizon of it's purview from it's orbit. Antenna towers are preferred to be as high as possible for a similar reason, line of sight coverage. Different frequencies have different propagation characteristics. It's not an arbitrary decision that WiFi is in the 2.4 GHz band, those frequencies at typically 100 mW will scatter and be absorbed within a few hundred feet, perfect for local area coverage. These properties have helped dictate aspects of FCC regulation regarding things like tower height, maximum output, and frequency allocations."
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170k1e | why do current comedy t.v shows, like 2-1/2 men, still use background audience laughter | I don't understand why they have to use it after every joke made on these shows. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/170k1e/eli5_why_do_current_comedy_tv_shows_like_212_men/ | {
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"Because audiences are used to it.\n\nTV shows were largely adapted from stage performances, where the performers had to account for audience reaction. When those same viewers watched TV shows, they seemed *off* until someone got the idea of adding the laughter back in.\n\nThe practice has continued, and sit-coms seems weird without it.",
"Because humans empathize. That is, they feel a little bit of the same emotions of the other people they experience. You are more likely to be sad when you see other people cry, and you are more likely to think something is funny when other people laugh. You are also more likely to yawn when other people yawn. It has to do with mirror neurons. _URL_0_\n\nI was actually part of the live studio audience for Two and a Half Men a couple years ago, for the third episode of the season when Aston joined. Don't judge--we went to that show because my sister liked it, not anyone else. It was really fun, though. Very fun and *free* way to experience Hollywood. They purposely try to keep the energy as high as possible between scenes with a comedian/magician host that really loved to make fun of the various producers and staff on the floor filming things while we were supposed to be quieting down. (\"Everyone quiet down, quiet down, we're filming again, quiet down. *whispers* Oh, see that guy in the hawaiin shirt? He isn't sure if its normal if his third testicle hasn't dropped yet.\") It was a horrible episode but it was fun experience.\n\nIn the kissing scene of that episode everyone in the audience went \"oooh\", but when it went to air they changed it to laughs. Or vice versa...can't quite remember.",
"There's a need for a pause in the action to allow for audience laughter (otherwise the audience would miss part of the next line), but dead air didn't work well. So, they laugh track it.\n\nWhat many shows do is that they'll tape it in front of an audience, and then use the laugh track where the audience actually laughed.",
"However not all laugh tracks are part if the filming, HIMYM for example films on a normal TV set then the episodes are played infront of an audience for laugh tracks\n( this is to accommodate for all the flash backs and quick cuts used in himym so audiences are not left waiting for too long, and they dont have to worry about filming in sequence hence why you'll find the show plays around a lot with timeline in episodes)"
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2lqao7 | what is the difference between a soft taco and a burrito? | Seriously, if you use a tortilla isn't it a burrito? Why does something wrapped in a tortilla sometimes get called a soft taco? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lqao7/eli5what_is_the_difference_between_a_soft_taco/ | {
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"a soft taco is open like a hard taco, a burrito is wrapped, and usually has a sauce of some sort on top of it.",
"it really depends on if you wrap it up entirely or not. if you leave it open, it's a soft taco. if it's wrapped up then it's a burrito. ",
"Authentic Mexican tacos are usually a small tortilla, with some kind of meat as the primary ingredient, and a small amount of other ingredients (lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, etc.) for garnish. Crispy tacos are a Tex-Mex invention.\n\nA burrito is a much larger item, with rice and beans inside. It's basically the whole meal in one."
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ki9sq | what does "creative destruction" mean (economics)? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ki9sq/eli5_what_does_creative_destruction_mean_economics/ | {
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"When Apple started selling the iPhone, everyone bought one and said: \"Hey, this is awesome! It does so much more, and looks so much better, than my Blackberry.\" Everyone was happy... except RIM, who makes Blackberries.\n\nThat was an act of creative destruction on Apple's part. They created something better, and it destroyed a competitor's product. RIM might whine about how it isn't fair... and they might even be right. Never the less, they're screwed now.",
"ModernRonin's explanation is pretty spot on IMO.\n\nSometimes in order for a person to be more productive or to benefit more from something, they need to destroy or renovate previous investments. eg. If a company has 30 year old machines in their factory that are unreliable or simply not as good as modern machines, they may choose to throw out the old machines and buy new ones. Now, the old machines may have still functioned, but in the opinion of the business owner, throwing away that previous investment + the cost to buy new more modern and more productive machines, was a cost that was less than the additional benefit that comes from being able to produce new/better goods in the future. (alternatively, even if newer/better machines exist a business owner may choose to keep going with the machines he has already, which, even though they are not as good, are not worth throwing away yet).\n\nAnother example of this is when a factory closes down and a whole bunch of people get fired. It's actually often a good thing for the economy. (it sucks for the people who got fired, especially in the short term) These people who got fired eventually go off to work in newer industries. eg. (and I just made up the following example, but it's probably pretty close to the truth) When automobiles were invented, I'm sure it absolutely sucked to be a blacksmith that made horse shoes. All the blacksmiths closed down and there were a whole bunch of blacksmiths out of work. Hopefully though, these guys all retrained to instead weld car parts together and got new jobs in the car industry. In this way, they are now more useful than making horse shoes when nobody rides horses around anymore.\n\nTL;DR It's destructive, because you throw old stuff out, but creative because you replace it with better stuff",
"When Apple started selling the iPhone, everyone bought one and said: \"Hey, this is awesome! It does so much more, and looks so much better, than my Blackberry.\" Everyone was happy... except RIM, who makes Blackberries.\n\nThat was an act of creative destruction on Apple's part. They created something better, and it destroyed a competitor's product. RIM might whine about how it isn't fair... and they might even be right. Never the less, they're screwed now.",
"ModernRonin's explanation is pretty spot on IMO.\n\nSometimes in order for a person to be more productive or to benefit more from something, they need to destroy or renovate previous investments. eg. If a company has 30 year old machines in their factory that are unreliable or simply not as good as modern machines, they may choose to throw out the old machines and buy new ones. Now, the old machines may have still functioned, but in the opinion of the business owner, throwing away that previous investment + the cost to buy new more modern and more productive machines, was a cost that was less than the additional benefit that comes from being able to produce new/better goods in the future. (alternatively, even if newer/better machines exist a business owner may choose to keep going with the machines he has already, which, even though they are not as good, are not worth throwing away yet).\n\nAnother example of this is when a factory closes down and a whole bunch of people get fired. It's actually often a good thing for the economy. (it sucks for the people who got fired, especially in the short term) These people who got fired eventually go off to work in newer industries. eg. (and I just made up the following example, but it's probably pretty close to the truth) When automobiles were invented, I'm sure it absolutely sucked to be a blacksmith that made horse shoes. All the blacksmiths closed down and there were a whole bunch of blacksmiths out of work. Hopefully though, these guys all retrained to instead weld car parts together and got new jobs in the car industry. In this way, they are now more useful than making horse shoes when nobody rides horses around anymore.\n\nTL;DR It's destructive, because you throw old stuff out, but creative because you replace it with better stuff"
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3mk95x | if the world trade centers were destroyed by the government what would be the benifit? | There is a lot of conspiracies surrounding this but if it was plotted by the government what would they stand to gain? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mk95x/eli5if_the_world_trade_centers_were_destroyed_by/ | {
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"THEORETICALLY: It would cause a public uproar that would lead to a uniting of patriotism and a outcry for war. War means a lot of money for a lot of businesses, and up to a point, increases favor and confidence in the government who is responding. They said the same thing about FDR and Pearl Harbor."
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9dt3rc | how does chromatography work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9dt3rc/eli5_how_does_chromatography_work/ | {
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"You pass a mixture through a column which is made of some sort of medium. The parts of the mixture which are attracted to the medium will go through at a slower rate. The parts that don't like the medium will speed through. When the mixture comes out of the column it will be separated. The faster-moving parts come out before the slower-moving parts.\n\nIt is a lot like telling people to walk down the aisle of store. If the aisle is filled with toys, then the children will stop every so often and look at the toys while others may walk straight through without stopping. Or it could be an aisle filled with books. The more literary types will stop and look at the books while other will walk straight through. Or it could be an aisle filled with shoes. You can analyze and separate people by making them walk though different aisles in a store. That's what is happening in chromatography at the molecular level."
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3cn60j | why can't you be paralyzed from only the waist up? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3cn60j/eli5_why_cant_you_be_paralyzed_from_only_the/ | {
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"You're paralyzed based on where the nerve is severed on the spine. Basically, everything below that spot is paralyzed. It doesn't work the opposite way.",
"The nerves go down from your brain. Everything below the break in the nerve stops responding to input from the brain because it can't communicate with the brain anymore. \n\nIf things *above* the break have stopped working, that means your brain has stopped working, which means you're dead. This does happen sometimes, such as if the break is right below your brain (e.g. a properly performed hanging that snaps the neck). ",
"You become paralysed when your brain is no longer in contact with a part of your body. If the nerve in your spine are damaged you will be paralysed from that point and down. So there is no real way for your upper body to be paralysed (through a broken neck for example) which wouldn't also parlays your legs.",
"Because that'd be kinda like chopping a string of christmas lights and expecting the end that isn't connected to the wall outlet to stay lit and the wall outlet end to go out. \n\n"
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4o5pz8 | why is organic food called 'organic'? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4o5pz8/eli5_why_is_organic_food_called_organic/ | {
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"The word stems from a 1940 book suggesting that the whole farm is a living organism. [Details.](_URL_0_)\n\nThis is as opposed to an industrial and synthetic-chemical-based approach to farming, which treats the farm more like a factory or a machine."
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534ke6 | why do musicians and bodyguards use that hollow earpiece from the neck to ear instead of just regular earpiece? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/534ke6/eli5_why_do_musicians_and_bodyguards_use_that/ | {
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"Musicians often wear a custom molded ear piece that both offers hearing protection and plays music into their ear so they get feedback of the music or singing. A lot of old rockers have significant hearing loss because they didn't wear hearing protection on tour.\n\nAs for protective details like body guard or secret service, they wear small ear pieces so they can discreetly talk to each other while still be able to hear the crowd. For example if they had a cop style microphone/speaker clipped to their shoulders everyone would hear them call out..the guy with the blue sweater looks like he has something on his waistband.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nWith an ear piece, only those on the team need to know.\n"
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6dfaqo | if oil is hydrophobic, then why are you supposed to apply body oil when your skin is damp? wouldn't absorption rates increase if your skin was dry? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6dfaqo/eli5_if_oil_is_hydrophobic_then_why_are_you/ | {
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"It's more to prevent moisture from leaving your body while it is warm and your pores are open. You don't really absorb the body lotion, it sits on top of the skin and helps prevent dryness.\n\nAlso, they are formulated to help blend in with the skin (which is a bunch of cells surrounded by a hydrophobic layer..you know...to keep the moisture in), even if you aren't hot. "
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9iyxk7 | why is cosby's sentence 3-10 years? why isn't it a definitive number? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9iyxk7/eli5_why_is_cosbys_sentence_310_years_why_isnt_it/ | {
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"I've never seen an actual sentence carry a range like that. Ordinarily, sentences are indeed definite numbers of years or months and each particular crime will carry a sentence range within which the sentence will fall. For instance conviction of a particular crime carries a sentemce of 3 to 10 years but the judge (or jury depending on state) can say the sentence will be 5 years. Then at some point before theb5 years you can be eligible for parole. If you recieve that, then whatever remains of the original sentence will be served as parole.\n\nIn this case I think the sentencing is such that he will serve a minimum of 3 years before being eligible for parole but was essential sentenced for the maximum tern of 10 years.",
"Because the law in PA stipulates that there must be a minimum and a maximum sentence, with the minimum being no more than half of the maximum.\n\nThis means that Cosby has to serve 3 years before being eligible for parole, and no more than 10 years if parole is denied.",
"Parole. In many states, the judge gets to decide how long you have to serve before you’re eligible for parole in addition to your ultimate sentence (which is the maximum you can be made to serve if you never get parole and get no time off for good behavior). This is generally reported as “X to Y years,” where Y is the maximum sentence and you’re eligible for parole after X years.",
"His sentencing is essentially 10 years, but everyone is generally eligible for parole to get out earlier. The 3 years is a safety to make sure he serves at least that much before a parole board can potentially decide to grant him parole."
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39z9vn | if bernie sanders' political positions reflect what americans think, why is he such an underdog for the presidency? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/39z9vn/eli5_if_bernie_sanders_political_positions/ | {
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"Many Americans share the same *ideals*, such as low-cost college, affordable healthcare, expanded social security. But Sanders position is extremely deficient in ways to *pay* for this that would be agreeable to all but a very slim minority on the political left.",
"The MSM is owned by the same people that finance HRC's campaign, They have been stuffing her down America's throat for so long that some people even think they like her."
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650u6g | why do humans not sneeze in high pressure situations, such as sports? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/650u6g/eli5_why_do_humans_not_sneeze_in_high_pressure/ | {
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"I used to play on a sports team. I sneezed back then. Your premise is incorrect. Can you offer more information, such as where you got this idea?\n\nUpdate: I just sneezed at work, despite being under a lot of pressure from my boss. "
]
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3cwsey | why a company like nestlè can take water out of a state/province for $2.25 per million litres, only to sell it back at a profit. who is letting this happen? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3cwsey/eli5_why_a_company_like_nestlè_can_take_water_out/ | {
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"This is an explanation not just for this specific case but for large companies in general. These companies create jobs, and will also be paying taxes on a myriad of things. Sometimes the government will therefore sweeten the pot by reducing certain costs, knowing full well that overall they and the community will benefit from the implementation. This can end up being tax breaks, public utility rate break, favorable loans, etc. \n\n**There are often a lot of benefits of having a large company implemented in the region, and as such local or state governments will often try to create incentives for that to happen.**\n\n**Edit:** -Just thought I should add a couple of things based on some of the replies I've been getting. I replied to the OP in very general terms about why businesses might be given incentives because I assumed that was what was happening in this case, without looking up the specific example of Nestle in BC. I've now taken five minutes to look things up. This cost is associated with the Water Sustainabilty Act coming into effect in 2016. The 2.25$ is the current maximum cost in the province, so Nestle are not getting any special favors.\n\nI also want to mention that a lot of people have been talking about corruption etc. Honestly that's completely off topic. Yes in general corruption in the world does exist, but assuming that everyone and everything is corrupt just makes you sound like a conspiracy theorist in an RV with a tin foil hat (that sounds like it's straight out of a game of clue).",
"How much do you think your local water district pays for it's water?",
"Nestle is getting un processed water and they have to process it themselves. \n\nyour questions seems to be asking, why does minnesota sell its iron ore for pennies on the dollar of steel costs. \n\nnestle adds value to the water they put it in an easy to carry bottle, they truck it hundreds of miles to a store. they put a bar code making it easy for one to purchase and track, they buy insurance in the event there is a contaminated bottle and someone gets sick. they buy the plastic to put the water in. \n\nor maybe i am missing something? ",
"The state is the one selling them the water. Therefore, it is the State that is letting it happen.\n\nIf your question is *why* they are doing it, that is simple...money.",
"They also spent money to buy the land, to build and maintain the facility. That facility pays city taxes, employs operator and people involved in moving the product. \n \nIt's like a mine. Even if the state gets 0$ from the ore, they still collect several other revenue streams like sales and income tax. The local jurisdiction gets property tax.",
"If you buy either land or leasing rights, you can do what you want with water that passes through that land. In some cases they simply buy large patches of land and then pump the water running through it. In other cases, it isn't just the state selling them the water, they seek out leaseholders and buy from them. For example, they buy Poland Spring from the Fryeburg Water Company. \n\nYou might be interested in the documentary [Bottled Life](_URL_0_). ",
"When a state/province allows a bottled water company to operate, they are getting a little bit of profit from water that would otherwise run off to the ocean. It's not that they are \"letting\" this happen, they are fleecing the bottled water companies for as much as they can. $2.25 per million liters is just how much the marketing value of calling it \"pure mountain spring water\" is worth.\n\nThe price you pay for the bottled water at the grocery store is for the \"bottled\", not the water. If you think $2.25 per million liters is cheap, you should see the prices farmers pay, which is usually $0 per ~~million~~ ~~billion~~ ~~trillion~~ quadrillion liters. Yet, even if it grows in trees, it doesn't mean fruit costs nothing at the grocery store.\n\n\n",
"Your adding too much value to the water. Typically the most expensive component in any consumer product, is the container. At industrial volumes and running through DI/RO beds you're looking at .001 cents of water vs a $0.10 plastic bottle. Blow molding, labeling, and high speed fillers (typically in the 300-500 unit per minute) are way more expensive than the water utility. Add power, admin, and other fixed costs and you have to sell a lot of water. Plus, water is the most expensive thing to ship, because it's cheap and weighs a lot. \n\nIf they make 5% net on a bottle of water I'd be surprised. ",
"It's a resource that can be exploited for economic gain. That gives you a couple of options.\n\n\n\n1) Leave it alone and don't benefit from it.\n\n2) Have individuals inefficiently exploit it.\n\n3) Have the government set up a system to exploit it.\n\n4) Have a corporation/business set up a system and exploit it.\n\n\n\nWe had a bottled water company that wanted to set up in my local area. You'd be astonished about how many people bitched and complained and opposed it. It was in Michigan. People were worried about running out of water. In Michigan. Keep in mind this was an area in which the economy wasn't exactly booming.\n\nSome of the people were concerned about the environmental impact and the water table. The company did its best to address those concerns by offering to drill wells deeper for residents and things of that nature. Ultimately they ended up building a plant and as far as I can tell it's been quite beneficial to the area. I don't hear anybody complaining about it anyway.\n\nPretty much everything you do is going to have some sort of impact on something. You just have to balance the benefits vs the costs. We like jobs, money, and resources, so we tend to not leave untapped resources alone unless there's VERY good reason to do so. Sometimes it doesn't make sense for a resource to get developed on a large scale but individuals can still benefit from it. Sometimes we have the government step in and set things up for the benefit of the community, sometimes we rely on the private sector to do so.\n\nWho specifically lets it happen? Whichever group of people gets together a cohesive vision that they can execute economically and legally(ish).",
"In this specific case, the water is bottled in the town of Hope, British Columbia. The water bottling plant is one of the only stable employers in town; if it were to become uneconomical to operate there due to a sudden regulatory or pricing change, the entire town's economy would go under.\n\nUp until recently, the cost to take the water out was zero. If they left it the way it was, the urban residents would be upset. If they changed it too high, the rural blue-collar workers would get upset. They opted for a smaller increase to try to avoid political fallout.\n\nThe other reason is The Province wants to avoid putting a price on water ($2.25 covers the 'regulatory costs', the water itself is free). The second they do that, it could be argued by US companies that the North America Free Trade Act (NAFTA) could allow the wholesale purchase and export of mass quantities of water from Canada to California. NAFTA considers water a \"commodity\". One company is already suing Canada over it.\n\nAlso see _URL_1_ and _URL_0_ for a bit more information.",
"so this water is being consumed for human consumption..we pay the premium but its being used effectively..\n\nthey are not watering golf courses .. that is causing most of the damage\n",
"\"In Sacramento, Nestlé Waters North America purchases and pays the standard metered rate for municipal water, which is delivered through the municipal pipe system. We are not ranked among the top 10 water users in Sacramento as we use about two thousandths of one percent (0.0016%) of Sacramento’s total water demand. Our company is subject to any restrictions, drought or otherwise, imposed on all light industrial or business customers by the city of Sacramento and we comply with those restrictions.\" (_URL_0_...)",
"Consumers. If you don't want a company like Nestle profiting from public water supplies, don't buy bottled water. ",
"The purchasers of these products are letting this happen, just like with most every product. People don't do any research on the products they are buying and keep paying these companies money. It's called positive reinforcement. You go outside and sell twigs off your lawn and people buy them, guess what? You're going to find more and keep selling them. Nestle goes and gets water from one place because it tastes a little better, and then goes around selling it to everyone for an exorbitant percent increase than what they paid, people buy it, so they keep doing it. ",
"The same people letting Exxon/miners/farmers pull oil/copper/gold/zinc/wheat/coal/lumber/soy/etc out of the ground for less than they sell it for.",
"None of you get it. Nestle is not stealing water, they're pumping it out of aquifers, which they have a right to do, and selling it to people *because they will buy it.* And it doesn't *go* anywhere, it's still going to the same people who would have bought it in the first place, it's being used for human consumption, people are just paying a premium to get it in a bottle from a store rather than pay the city utility. No one charges the city for pumping water out of the ground and selling it to people because that would be just as ridiculous and knee jerk as charging nestle.",
"Oh noes, another Nestle twit.\n\nHere's a copy pasta from my post on /r/canada\n\nThere's nothing wrong with bottling spring water and selling it. The water that Nestle is bottling comes from an aquafir that feeds in to Kawkawa Lake near Hope BC. That lake drains in to the Fraser River and then out in to the Pacific Ocean. It is not used to run hydro dams, agriculture or even civic drinking water. It's completely 'wasted.' Nestle claims to only be using 2% of the available ground water. I believe it, as I've been to Kawkawa lake and know it's deep and full of water. Kawkawa lake is over full of water, and is never going to dry up because it is fed with rainwater and snowmelt.\nIn Hope, there is very little industry outside of tourism. By building this bottling plant, I'm sure many people in town have jobs. Those people live in town, pay municipal taxes, income taxes and sales taxes. Their children live in the town and go to school. They help keep the town alive and a nice place to live.\nNestle pays an industrial license fee for the water. The same fees that would be charged to Joe the Apple Farmer, the Hipster Brewering Company or the Tree Munching Chemical Puking Pulp Mill Inc. All these are industrial users of water. None of them are entitled to favouritism or preferred pricing for their water licenses.\nPeople that think this is some kind of screw job to the province from Nestle really are quite ignorant as to how the world turns. This is not an issue. This is a company bringing jobs to a community by bottling off a big surplus of a natural renewable resource.",
"Most of what you pay for water is the cost to get \"ready to drink\" water to your house. Dig a well and you can have it for free if you don't mind treating it yourself. Nestle does this on an industrial scale, employs many people, pays taxes (probably), and creates a product that people can easily transport and drink. Just like a mining company doesn't pay much for the ore that they take out of the ground, Nestle doesn't pay much for the water because without a lot of processing both are essentially worthless.",
"A rich businessman goes into a poor country, finds a greedy politician there, and gives the greedy politician a lot of money. The politician says, \"OK, this water is yours now, Rich Man!\" Even though it wasn't really the politician's water to give away, the politician shares some of that money with enough other important people in the poor country that everyone agrees that, yes, the water belongs to the rich businessman, who can sell it to anyone, anywhere. \n\nLesson: Even if it's wrong, rich people can usually do whatever they want if they give enough money to the right people.",
"Now you get how capitalism works. Someone decides that if they can get something cheap enough they can make a pile of money. They convince politicians (via lobbying and campaign contributions (how this latter part is different from a bribe is beyond me) and whatever else works) to give them a monopoly on the commodity in question at a ridiculously low price. Another water example is that some states prevent you from collecting rain water because they sold the rights to it to some company or another. In short the answer is greed and collusion. If you think that somehow I am being extreme then think on this: In Canada (pretty sure this happens everywhere else) people occasionally sue a politician for lying, they always lose and the court usually states that it is foolish to expect a politician to tell the truth, as in Bill Clinton's 'that depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. That's the short answer. The long answer is that we the people do not pay enough attention to the people we elect.",
"There are two ways to get water. You can acquire it directly, from a well or a spring on your property, or you can get it pumped to you from a municipal source. \n\nIn the first example, the company is a producer of water. They are no more guilty of taking water out of a state any more than farmers and miners are guilty of taking food and ore. Using and improving raw goods is the basis for any economy, and water is a good, just like corn and iron and cotton.\n\nIn the second example, the company is just packaging water and reselling it. They still have to pay for the water from the municipality. They're adding a bottle and distributing it, so they are adding value. \n\nThe question you should be asking, is why are people willing to pay several dollars for something they could get out of their tap for several cents.",
"I'm getting so annoyed that everyone focuses on the wrong details when discussing these things!\n\nIn this specific example of BC, Nestle is using 230 million litres of water in that operation, so the government gets $517.50 ??\n\nAnd then on CBC I hear that out east provinces charge $70! or even $140 per million litres! Now people will focus on this and demand the same without even thinking it through ... $140 per million litres... Who gives a shit, that would only be $32,200 dollars raised on the 230 million liters they use. Better than $500, but absolutely insignificant compared to how much they can sell 230 million litres of bottled water for. \n\nedit: when you consider how huge such a volume of water is ... 230 million 1-litre bottles, or 460 million half-litre bottles... it is insane to think that some company just sets up this operation and just milks endless cash-cow money from everyone, to peddle a precious resource through polluting 18-wheeler distribution across continents.",
"You know those election things that happen every few years? The guys you picked sold you out for a campaign contribution."
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binkxl | why do songs sometimes sound at a different pitch when the volume is low? | This can happen even with very famous songs, or songs that you know very well. As a musician, I feel confident to know the pitch of those songs I know well yet when the volume is too low I can’t make out the exact pitch for 1-2 minutes. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/binkxl/eli5_why_do_songs_sometimes_sound_at_a_different/ | {
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"Something harmonically important is not loud enough to establish the tonal center. Likely the bass. Without the bass notes (the chord roots), the tonal center can easily become ambiguous. Sometimes the remaining musical parts, such as guitar, piano, melody, etc., can still define the key and tonal center, but often in pop music, a lack of strong harmonic instruments isn't always present."
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27rvor | the simulation theory. | All the reading I have done so far has been laden with technical terms, I just want to wrap my head around the basic theory and any evidence that has been found to support it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27rvor/eli5the_simulation_theory/ | {
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"Well, really simply explained The Simulation Theory states that we (as in the whole universe) is just a simulation in someone’s supercomputer, like the Sims or the Matrix. The idea is that somewhere outside this supercomputer there is a person/entity that perhaps wanted to know how the universe would have looked like if, for example, there were no water on earth or perhaps if the gravitational constant was different. \n\nAnd because of the supercomputer a whole universe could be created as a simulation, in which we live, to test some sick idea that this person/entity came up with. Perhaps water is poisonous for them and they wanted to test what would happen if it actually were essential to life.\n\nThen we are simply a process running in the computer to reach a final answer that would satisfy the person/entity and nothing else. \n\n\nAs far as I know there is no real evidence to prove that we are a simulation but the theory states three possible futures for us: \n\n1. We go extinct within a near future before we manage to create enough computer power to run such a simulations ourselves.\n\n2. We basically stop running simulations because we don’t need to make them more accurate\n\n3. We manage to make a supercomputer that can simulate a whole universe in which we can make changes to the fundamental constants like gravity or such.\n\n\nIf we manage to reach alternative nr 3 there is no reason to expect that we are not a simulation from someone else. \n",
"I'm guessing you mean Bostrom's simulation theory?\n\nEssentially, it goes like this: we have computers that simulate physical things in detail, like how air passes over a plane wing, or water flows along a channel, or whatever. We can even simulate brains of certain creatures. As computers become more powerful, we will use them to simulate larger things in more detail.\n\nEventually, assuming we don't hit an insummountable limit or die out, we will likely build simulations of whole planet or more, going right back to the earliest stages of planet formation or even further, because we can learn a lot. We can try out different laws of physics and different starting circumstances. We will likely do a lot of these, because once you have the hardware, why not?\n\nIn some of those cases, the simulated reactions will wind up creating simulated life. Some of those will have that simulated life evolve and propogate, and some of those will have a simulated species emerge that create technologically sophisticated societies, have self-awareness etc. (There is obvious room for debate on whether they would be truly aware, alive etc, but the point is the same physical processes from which our sense of self arises would be simulated here.) Those simulated lifeforms may be very different from those in the actual reality, and may live in a world with very different rules as to what is possible.\n\nThe trick, then, is that if there is one true reality with a bunch of technologically advanced self-aware life, and multiple simulated realities with simukations of technologically advanced self-aware life in, it's more likely that we are in one of the simulations than in the true real world. If this worries you, consider the likely alternative: that all societies end before they become advanced enough to do this. Personally, I'll take \"living\" in a computer.\n\nThere are experiments ongoing to test this, but currently this is all theoretical!"
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44j34u | why can't some, but not all, people with spinal cord injuries walk? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/44j34u/eli5why_cant_some_but_not_all_people_with_spinal/ | {
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"The New Yorker did a pretty good article recently on spinal injuries [here.](_URL_0_)\n\nTL;DR: It depends where the injury occurs, generally the higher the injury, the more severe. That's why if you \"break your neck\" it's usually going to paralyze you, if not kill you outright. \n\nAdditionally, we've yet to see anyone regain motor function after becoming a paraplegic because those nerves just won't regrow. This article explores a guy that just had a procedure that might change that. "
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"http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/25/one-small-step-annals-of-medicine-d-t-max"
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||
2wu1en | why do local commercials appear to always have something go wrong with them while big corporation commercials don't? | By local, I mean the commercials shot for like a carpet store that have very little money put into them. They have issues like audio going out of sync or being cut early by the next commercial. The ones for Mcdonals or CocaCola almost never have this problem. Why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wu1en/eli5why_do_local_commercials_appear_to_always/ | {
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"It takes money to make things look perfect. Most of the local businesses buy commercial air-time and the local broadcasting does the filming and editing. \n\nPrime example, my boss (local business owner) was offered a 15 second spot during the superbowl for around $5000. It would only be aired locally and it would be the same commercial they had previously recorded and were already playing during regular programming (no fancy editing to make it look professional). Most of the major corporations can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make sure their commercials are perfect and aired in the perfect time slot. Most small businesses don't have that budget available.",
"The part where the commercial is cut off at the beginning or end is what amazes me. Companies are paying for 30 seconds of airtime, the get their address, catchphrase, or phone number cut off at the 28 second mark. Theoretically, the station owes them for that time and money. On some stations it happens so frequently I don't see why the businesses keep doing business with them.",
"Budget and production values. \nWhich is why porn doesn't look like Avatar."
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4k77mt | why do you insist on seeing people suffer? dares, pranks, jackass movies.. why do we love seeing people do difficult and painful tasks? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4k77mt/elif_why_do_you_insist_on_seeing_people_suffer/ | {
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"May not be the actual answer, just thought about it for a bit.\n\nWe don't like to see other people suffer. Would you go to a 3rd world country and laugh at every starving kid you see? Would you kick a physically-handicapped old man? Would you shoot someone and then laugh about it the next day?\n\nI think we enjoy those dares, pranks, scenes in Jackass because it's dramatic irony. We know that they didn't mean it, but to the victim they know little else. So we laugh as a result, which is why dramatic irony is so powerful in stories and plays (etc.). We know that we meant little harm, but we got a big reaction of it and some find it funny. On the same token, I think this is also why some people find trolling pleasurable."
]
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||
g27971 | why is it recommended that we wait a little bit after turning something off to turn it back on? | Also why can we restart PCs since this contradicts this recommendation? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/g27971/eli5_why_is_it_recommended_that_we_wait_a_little/ | {
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"When you restart a pc it doesn't immediately turn back on again. The waiting is to let lingering electricity dissipate.",
"Most electronics contain capacitors. Capacitors act like little buffers to even out current in a system. A bit like having a header tank in a plumbing system. Think of them like tiny batteries that are constantly charging and discharging.\n\nWhen you turn off an item, the charge in the capacitors doesn't go away straight away. You have to wait for a few seconds to allow it yo dissipate. The charge can be enough to mean that certain buffers or bits of memory aren't properly reset, so without waiting, the restart alone doesn't always fix it.",
"You can think of electronics having some energy still in the circuits. Imaging letting off the gas in your car, it doesn't stop immediately. You the to the the circuit come to a \"complete stop\" before turning it back on or some of the messy settings that you are trying to wipe clean could still be saved.",
"Nobody really addressed the restarting a PC part. When you tell Windows to restart, the computer itself never really shuts down. The hardware stays powered up, and just goes through the boot process again. All of the physical components are still on. That's why sometimes a tech, or that computer savvy family member, will tell you to specifically do one or the other. Turning it off and waiting a few seconds does exactly the same as what the others have said: allows the capacitors to discharge.",
"Two different answers depending on device. \n\n\n1) For a modem, or something you want to \"reset\", you need to wait for the internal electrical charge stored in something called capacitors to go away. These capacitors hold the charge that causes the lights on some devices to stay on after you turn it off. Just like those lights didn't turn off, the buggy part of the device might not be off yet. \n\n\n2) For many devices rapidly \"power cycling\" the device will damage it. When a device is turned on, the inrush of electricity (called the \"inrush current\") is difficult to manage from a circuit design perspective. The inrush typically always causes wear to electrical components. \n\n\nBut for a quick off/on cycle things are more complex. Many circuit components want heaps of power while starting up, and compete with other parts to get the electricity. Parts of the device supplying and regulating the power struggle to keep up with the demand at startup. It comes together in a orchestrated sequence that the electrical engineer planned. If however not everything was discharged from the previous cycle, the startup orchestration is off because something was not draining as much power as expected, when expected. Leaving the device of for say 20 seconds is a good way to avoid this. \n\n\nNB:There are some other niche factors as well that make rapid on off cycles bad for specific types of devices, including cooling concerns for parts that should not start warm and moving parts to return to a 'home position' before the next run."
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24hiqy | how come people like bruce lee have such a small body, but are incredibly strong when athletes bigger than them are weaker even though they work out consistently? | Does the size of your muscles have anything to do with genes? I know DNA sets the baseline muscle size and strength, but how does that affect the size of the muscles, and how big they can get? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24hiqy/eli5_how_come_people_like_bruce_lee_have_such_a/ | {
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"To begin with, there aren't many athletes like Bruce Lee! He was an outlier. ",
"Muscle size and muscle strength have a bit of an odd relationship. Bodybuilders, for example, aren't terribly strong despite being literally living displays of muscle tone. Strongmen, who participate in actual strength competitions, generally don't have so much muscle tone or agility and look more like big farmboys than bodybuilders.\n\nBruce Lee is a bit of an unfair comparison, because we're still not quite sure how he accomplished some of the crap he was capable of. For his size he probably was not actually tremendously strong, in the lifting/carrying sense, but he had a profound understanding of how to *apply* his strength, and his body was trained to an incredible level of *explosive* strength, giving him the ability to perform extreme feats of agility and dexterity and strike quickly and brutally."
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ynrqf | what motivation to hackers/pirates have to share pirated media with the masses? | Is there some financial gain? Just cred? Genuine good will towards others?
It's gotta be difficult to find/make pirated material are probably even more difficult to set up the logistics to spread it (e.g. actually make the torrent, host it on a site, etc). Why don't the people who originally get the content just keep it for themselves? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ynrqf/eli5_what_motivation_to_hackerspirates_have_to/ | {
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"As someone who's pirated over 30 gigs of comic books, I've often wondered this myself. ",
"They are smart enough to realize that if everyone leeches but no one seeds, there won't be anything there. \n \nSomeone who has a history of providing content is more likely to get a good response if they request something they don't have. \n \nStreet cred. \n \nSticking it to the man. ",
"If I share something I have access to, then others will share things they have access to that I do not. Only a small amount of people contribute, most just download, but it's really as simple as that.",
"I read this comment once on here a few days ago, It is now my favorite and I think it applies: Because Fuck The Police."
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4ezwib | how do space shuttle engines work in space if there is no atmosphere to push against? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ezwib/eli5how_do_space_shuttle_engines_work_in_space_if/ | {
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" > III. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.\n\nNewton really nailed this one. Grab a 10 pound bowling ball, a bag of flour, your child (no, I'm kidding), and hold it up against your chest. Now push it away from you as hard as you can. You should feel the ball moving away from you, but also, yourself moving away from the ball/bag/child. This is the \"opposite reaction\" he's talking about. The thing you're pushing is exerting force backwards into you, propelling you backwards. Same idea applies here. A force is applied (in space, often it's air jets for small motions), and the object reacts in the opposite direction.",
"Ah! Rockets don't work by pushing against something. Imagine this. You're in a wheeled office chair and you're rolling around a smooth floor. And your buddy is too. You push off him. He goes one way, and you go the other. That's how rocket engines work. They throw hot gasses away from the rocket, and that pushes against the rocket the other way. \n\nThe outer engines are solid. They burn an explosive material. It gets hot and vaporizes and sprays out the back, pushing the rocket forward. The main engines burn hydrogen and oxygen. \n\nHere an animation showing how much fuel is thrown out of the back of a Saturn V rocket (Apollo moon missions) by using elephants of the same weight. Think of if you on that office chair throwing an elephant on wheels away from you that fast. You'd fly away!\n\n_URL_0_",
"Rockets don't work by \"pushing against\" something.\n\nThey work on the principle of \"equal but opposite reactions\".\n\nImagine your stand on some slippery ice with a bowling ball. You lock your legs and throw the ball. What will happen? You'll slide in the direction opposite the way the ball went.\n\nWhy? You imparted *momentum* on the ball. So by Newton's Third Law, the ball must impart an equal but opposite amount of momentum on you. The amount of momentum is a function of the mass of what you threw and how fast you threw it.\n\nHow does this apply to rockets? Rockets carry tons and tons of propellant with them. When the rocket ignites, this propellant starts going out the nozzle of the rocket very, very, very, very fast. It's like the rocket is throwing tons of bowling balls out the nozzle. So, as a result of \"equal but opposite reactions\", the rocket will go up as a result of it throwing lots of propellant down very quickly.\n\nIf you want an idea of how much mass we're talking, [here's a fun (if gruesome) visualization](_URL_0_) of just how much propellant the rocket is consuming.",
"That's not at all how rocket engines work. They work on the principle of Newton's 3rd law, \"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.\" In this case, the action is propellant being expelled from the engine at high velocity. Exhaust goes down (action), rocket goes up (opposite reaction.)",
"Think of a garden hose with a nozzle attached.\n\nWhen you let go, it has a lot of force that whips the hose around. This isn't because the water is pushing against the air, but rather because of Newtons third law.\n\nIf you were in space, the garden hose would whip around exactly the same way.",
"They don't push against space, they push against themselves.\n\nImagine an ordinary rubber balloon. You blow it up, let it go, and it flies around the room.\n\nThe air is pressing equally all around the balloon EXCEPT the one spot at the neck where it is open. At this point there is no pressure, but the spot OPPOSITE has pressure. This pressure spot pushes the balloon around.\n\nJet engines and rockets work the same way. The internal pressure pushes them forward, because there is nothing stopping the gasses shooting out the back."
]
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1kazwp | will cash ever become abolished in favor of debit/credit cards? | I know there's no way to know for sure, but I'm wondering if it's likely cash will become obsolete at some point because of [benefits of technology X] or countries will likely always have hard cash being printed because of [thing that would go horribly wrong if there was no hard cash being printed Y]. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1kazwp/eli5_will_cash_ever_become_abolished_in_favor_of/ | {
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"Countries will have hard cash for the forseeable future. The black market runs on cash. Cash also works when the power is out / when there's no internet signal.",
"I doubt it will ever go away completely. It's too convenient and reliable. It works when the power is out, it works when your smartphone can't get a signal, it works when the utility company doesn't get a line connected to your restaurant in time for your grand opening, etc. \n\nPlus a huge number of people don't actually have bank accounts/debit cards/credit cards/etc. A significant part of the population/economy still runs pretty much entirely on cash.\n\nI'd never say never, but it seems very unlikely anytime soon.\n"
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31pw2t | how do you best explain 4d to someone in a 3d world? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/31pw2t/eli5_how_do_you_best_explain_4d_to_someone_in_a/ | {
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"Draw a line perpendicular to all three axis we currently use to view the world.",
"We are 3D creatures. Our shadows are 2D.\n\nAn n-dimension casts an n-1 dimension shadow.\n\nThink about what could create a 3D shadow."
]
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c18ldh | why dont speakers make the characteristic intereference sound anymore when there is an incoming call? | _URL_0_
This is the sound I am describing. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c18ldh/eli5_why_dont_speakers_make_the_characteristic/ | {
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"Ha yes, I remember that. You used to be able to hear that even before the phone rang.\n\nThe reason why it happened is a bit too complicated for me, but the reason why it doesn't happen anymore is that we don't (or barely) use 2G (GSM) networks anymore. These networks were on the 800-900 MHZ frequencies."
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2ncrlo | why do most of the tv series that use apple (or something else) as their primary technology change the os or make it look fake? | For example in Californication they clearly mentioned iPhone multiple times, but when they showed the lock screen of it, it was definitely fake (multiple widgets missing). Also the main character used a non-Apple computer which had OSX, when he was in a Skype-call there was the watermark but the time stamp changed all the time and the actual Skype-software looked more fake than I could ever imagine.
Why do they do that? Is it because of some legal issues or something?
I searched for this tread and a similar one came up but it didn't really answer this question. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ncrlo/eli5_why_do_most_of_the_tv_series_that_use_apple/ | {
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"It's similar to how they blur out logos on reality shows, they don't want to alienate potential advertisers. If they just show off an iPhone in their show, Samsung is not going to want to associate with them. Plus they're not being paid by Apple, so there's really no point to give someone free advertising.",
"because it's easier to use CGI to put images on the screens than to actually use the apks",
"They usually fake up the screen so it will behave exactly the way the script says it should and will be easy to reset between takes. They don't want to deal with the issues of loading an actual app where even something as simple as the timing can be variable and throw off the flow of a scene. The important priority is that the computer does whatever thing is needed to prompt the jokes or have the hero learn more about the mcguffin."
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brqi1n | why do remote controls use infrared light instead of other wavelengths? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/brqi1n/eli5_why_do_remote_controls_use_infrared_light/ | {
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"Very low wavelength bands are already occupied by radios and microwaves and have a lot of noise.\n\nVisible light is visible of course.\n\nUltraviolet is too energy intensive to generate, and you definitely don't want to be shooting x-rays around the living room.\n\nSo the near-IR it is.",
"It is cheap to make and have the advantage that is it line of sight so without adding any complex pair system is it limited to the room and will not control stuff in different room or apartments or even houses that would be the case it you just transmitted for example radio wave. \n\nIt had the drawback that it is line of sight so stuff like game consoles uses radio waves. But then you need to pair the device and the remote. That add user complexity and radio is a bit more expensive to use.\n\nYou use IR and not visible light so you can't see the blinking like you can with many digital cameras.",
"LEDs are the only practical light source for cheap, everyday remote controls. Red and particularly infrared LEDs were available long before other colours.",
"IR sensors are cheap and easy to manufacturer and do not require approval from the FCC. Since you'll always be facing the TV, there's no need for an RF remote, as the IR sensor will always be facing you. Also, since IR is mostly limited to line of sight, it's highly unlikely that if your neighbor has the same make and model of TV, that their remote will be able to control your TV if they're very close. Where as with RF, this could be possible, which would make the system more complicated as special encoding methods would be necessary.",
"IR is cheap and energy-efficient. \nAlso, the waves attenuate very quickly and can’t penetrate through material, which is actually very beneficial for TVs. \nIf the waves could over-penetrate, you would have to worry about your neighbor changing your channel. Generally speaking, you’re only going to be using the remote in front of the actual TV, so LOS isn’t an issue. \nNot only that, but the lack of interference from other TVs makes it easier to program the remote itself, because you don’t need as many complex ID mechanisms to make sure the right remote is interacting with the right TV. \nYou can use much more generic signals because of this, which makes everything cheaper and simpler.",
"fun fact, if you point your phone camera at the tip of your remote and push a button you will see the light turn on in your phone camera but not with your eyes",
"The [top answer](_URL_0_) already covered this a bit, but I want to expand upon one thing.\n\nSome early remote controls, like the \"Flashmatic\", worked by having a photosensitive receiver at each corner of the TV screen. You would control volume or channel, respectively, by shining a light on one of these.\n\nThe problem here may be pretty obvious: a stray sunbeam, a reflection off a watch/glass/mirror, or just some asshole with a flashlight can now flip through your channels or max your volume and there's nothing you can do."
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6m1r5v | why do some dead leaves tend to turn brown and others yellow/red/orange? what causes the difference in colours when they are dead if they were all green while on a tree? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6m1r5v/eli5_why_do_some_dead_leaves_tend_to_turn_brown/ | {
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"Chlorophyll is the reason they are green. When fall hits, the change in temperatures and decline in sun exposure causes leaves to break down the chlorophyll. Depending on the type of tree and chemical reactions you get different colors. \nThis is what I've learned from Google basically. \n\"Chlorophyll? More like Borophyll\""
]
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||
63w0dz | how do farmers milk almonds? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63w0dz/eli5_how_do_farmers_milk_almonds/ | {
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"Almond milk is not actual milk. It is made by soaking almonds in water, then rinsing them and blending and grinding them well with water. Then the almond meal is filtered out and usually the remaining \"milk\" is sweetened slightly.\n\nIt is called milk because it is similar to dairy milk in appearance and texture.",
"Almond milk is called milk because it's white and tastes kinda like milk. It's just almonds blended with water."
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1f4ltx | how does the "tuner" on a radio work? | i think it's called tuner (the thing you change radio station with) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1f4ltx/eli5_how_does_the_tuner_on_a_radio_work/ | {
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"There are two components in a radio that work kinda opposite of each other. They are the *inductor* and the *capacitor*. \n\nAn *inductor* is a coil of wire. When we pass electricity through a coil of wire, it stores some of that energy in a magnetic field. That's how electromagnets are made.\n\nA *capacitor* is a \"conductor sandwich.\" When electricity is applied to a capacitor, it stores some of that energy in an electric field.\n\nThey both store energy, but they do it in different ways. The higher the frequency of the electricity, the more power is allowed to pass through an inductor--but conversely, the higher the frequency, the less a capacitor allows through. \n\nBy matching a capacitor with an inductor in a circuit, we get a resonant frequency--a frequency where the capacitor and the inductor sort of reach a compromise. That frequency passes through the circuit, and any other frequency gets gobbled up by either the capacitor's electric field, or the inductor's magnetic field. In that way, we've selected a frequency on the radio dial.\n\nThe fun part: we know how to make variable capacitors and inductors; in other words, we can change the storage capacity of capacitors and inductors. In doing that, we can vary the resonant frequency of matched circuits; we change the frequency we allow through our circuit, allowing the radio to tune to different frequencies.\n\n",
"You ever notice how when someone has really loud base, there's that note that seems to rattle the trunk?\n\nThat's because the materials of the car resonate at a certain pitch/note/frequency. Basically, the physical properties of the trunk cause it to resonate at certain frequencies. A tuner is similar to a rattling trunk of a car, except you can change at what frequency the trunk rattles at.\n\nSo the rattling trunk is analogous to energy from radio waves(a type of electromagnetic wave). One is mechanical energy and the other is electromagnetic. Both can be amplified at a frequency, and in the case of a tuner allows one frequency to be picked up much greater than all of the others.\n\nIt's sort of like two people jumping on a trampoline in how a person can add to the amplitude of your jump (by jumping in sync), or almost completely cancel it out. With sound, the material vibrates in sync with changes in air pressure, caused by the subwoofer. With a tuner electrons are sloshed around in sync with the electromagnetic waves of the radio station you want to listen to. The electromagnetic waves store information on them, with is then deciphered by your radio and played through the speakers.\n\nThis is coming from a pre med whose only taken a year of physics..so hopefully I didn't completely kill the part where I explain how a tuner actually works. I remember how confusing inductors and capacitors in circuits were when I first started learning them, so I would never describe them in an ELI5."
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1ev02s | what's going on with the irs right now? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ev02s/eli5_whats_going_on_with_the_irs_right_now/ | {
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"Some groups can apply for tax-exempt status if they are primarily involved in social welfare. Some political groups want to get in on this tax exemption, and not have to disclose donor names. It was found that when the words \"tea party\" or \"patriot\" were in the name of a group applying for tax exemption, their applications would be labeled for extra examination, so it appears that conservatives are being targeted by the IRS. This is understandably threatening not only to conservatives, but to anyone who expects the IRS to wield its power responsibly, so the gov't is trying to find who is responsible and stop this from happening again."
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18r5n6 | why do your emotions come in 'waves' after something very emotional occurs? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18r5n6/eli5_why_do_your_emotions_come_in_waves_after/ | {
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"most emotions come from chemicals in the brain such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenalin, serotonin, etc. When your brain starts to release these chemicals, it doesn't happen all at once. It begins to secrete them as if opening a valve. The flow starts slow until you get enough of the chemicals and your brain is filled with what it needs. So it feels like a wave because it starts slow and builds up until you're full.",
"true, but there is also the element of you trying to wrap your head around the emotional event. Your thoughts can go one way and you stop crying; then all of the sudden, someone says something and it's back to sadness and crying. The neurotransmitters (sorry, chemicals in your brain that effect your mood, strength, resilience etc) go up and down depending on what you need at that time."
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6cdjhf | why do some people look "good" fat, and others look "bad" fat? | Kind of a strange question, but I feel like some people get fat and look okay, whereas other people get fat and look terrible.
Does it have to do with the allocation of where the fat is stored? Does it have to do with the person's natural looks?
I'm asking because I'm a decent looking person, but I feel like when I gain a little weight I look terrible. Then when I see people who are visibly fatter than me they don't look too bad. Is this all in my head?
Thanks in advance.
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6cdjhf/eli5why_do_some_people_look_good_fat_and_others/ | {
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"Confidence goes a long way in this respect. If you feel less confident when you gain weight, you'll feel like you look less attractive. As for others, the ones that look good to you are likely not only confident but also dress for their body in a way that is flattering. Personal grooming goes a long way, too.\n\nDifferent people have different body shapes, too, and society has deemed some more attractive than others. For example, there's the classic female hour glass that is largely considered the sexiest of female shapes because bigger hips are a sign of fertility. For men, even if they have a heavier midsection, having muscular arms and shoulders tend to make them more attractive because it is a sign of strength. That attraction is partly influenced human nature (the desire to survive and reproduce) and partly by traditional gender roles, but still very present today in determining what society deems attrative. \n\nIn the end, it's all about working with what you've got. ",
"I know exactly what you mean. I can't offer a scientific explanation, only opinion. As a guy who likes a fuller figure on a woman, there are attractive full figured shapes - think 50's style/Marilyn Monroe. And confidence goes a long way. Confidence itself can create an attractive aura around a full figured woman not lucky enough to possess the 'right' kind of shape - think Melissa Mcarthy. Personally I think dresses provide the most flattering outline for a larger woman. Had a quick look on Pinterest for dress types I'm thinking of, came back with A-line, sun dress and apron dress as the closest. Hope this is helpful.",
"If you're talking about women, genetics determine where women deposit fat. That may make certain women look more attractive when they gain weight. And the clothes they wear can be another factor. I'm not attracted to men so I'm not qualified to talk about men's attractiveness.",
"It has to do with body type and where the fat is stored.\nI have an \"apple\" body shape, all of my fat is located along my midsection and so as a female I have to build my legs with muscle to look even remotely normal in comparison to my torso even at my thinnest or else I look like an emaciated 3rd world child with bloated gut and twig limbs, whereas a \"pear\" shaped woman who stores fat on her legs will have a very slim/defined waist even when fairly fat with shapely legs. It's a very feminine look and is really pretty."
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1yfq36 | we often hear about first world and third world countries/problems ect. but why do we never hear about second world? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yfq36/eli5_we_often_hear_about_first_world_and_third/ | {
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"This was an old term not used for poverty or whatever but in the cold war places like america and the uk where the first world russia ect the 2nd world and places that had nothing to do with it where the 3rd world which just happened to be all the poor places with no nukes",
"Because the \"Second\" world doesn't really exist anymore.\n\nSome definitions:\n\nThe \"First\" World - The United States and its Allies, Capitalists countries\n\nThe \"Second\" World - The USSR and its Allies, Communist countries\n\nThe \"Third\" World - Developing countries that the 1st and 2nd world fight over.\n\nSo the end of the Cold War essentially ended the \"Second\" world. The original definitions have nothing to do with economics (like they do today) but with where you were positioned in the Cold War. ",
"There is a common misunderstanding that this is something to do with a country stage of development, i.e. Wealth and Infrastructure. \n \nThe term actually comes from the Cold War, in which countries chose to be aligned with either The United States (First World), The Soviet Union (Second World) or stay neutral (Third World). \n\n",
"The wikipedia entry for this is really not very complicated.",
"My understanding of this came more from cultural anthropology, so it's somewhat different from the original Wikipedia/Cold War explanation. There's more focus on how people live.\n\n* 1st World: Major powers with the most wealth and infrastructure. e.g. US, Britain, Australia, Japan.\n* 2nd World: Developing nations, some wealth and infrastructure but not on the scale of the above. e.g. Iran, Mexico, Turkey, Thailand.\n* 3rd World: The most impoverished nations. e.g. Somalia, Liberia, Belize, Nepal.\n* 4th World: Nomadic/indigenous/pastoral/hunter-gatherer groups. e.g. Kurds, Romani, Aboriginals, Inuit.\n\nExamples may not be perfect but I tried to spread them out across continents. Third world is hardest since most of those are African.\n\nYou don't hear much about the \"second world\" nations *as a group* because aside from the wide economic categorization they don't necessarily have anything in common. Whereas \"third world\" implies general poverty, the developing second-world nations can have both rich and poor regions or they can be changing rapidly.\n\nNews also doesn't cover those \"fourth world\" groups much because they can be \"nationless\" or cross multiple borders, they may not be centrally organized, they may not be recognized by the UN or World Bank or IMF, or they may simply not be players on the world political stage.\n\nOf course this is a crude concept overall, leaving a lot of grey area. Is Brazil a first-world nation now? Where will China be in the near future? Indonesia is pretty low in terms of per-capita GDP but they have a major metropolis in Singapore. Hopefully you get the idea.",
"We can better understand the world in more granular detail today, there are a myriad of terms which are more useful than the old cold war references. EU trade bloc, EEA members, various free trade groupings, Mercosur and Unasur in Lat Am. The new pacific trade pact countries, when agreed. Internationally we have terms like BRIC's and MINTs for emerging market countries with greater potential. \n\nOld generalisatons become irrelevant and more granular and specific terms are used to better group countries together. It's tricky keeping up, but you can pretty much cast away these old terms of reference and understand the world is a much more fluid place. Global movement of capital and logistics & technology advances provides both the ability for countries to break free of their traditional restraints and also a heightened risk of failure when they become less competitive. \n\nTLDR - the world changes, or has the potential to change, too quickly these days for such outdated terms to be applicable.",
"\"third world\" was a political term from the Cold War to reference countries that were neither aligned with NATO nor the Communist Bloc. It included the majority of Africa, so people just got used to referring to Africa as the third world and at some point the term was conflated with \"developing countries\"",
"After World War 2 there were two great powers left in the world. The USA and their friends were the first great power. The USSR and their friends were the second great power.\n\nThe two great powers disagreed about how people should get the things they need to live and be happy. The first great power, USA and friends, thought it was best to let people buy and sell things freely to make the best life for themselves and their families. The second great power, USSR and friends, thought it would be better if everybody worked together and shared so that everybody would have what they needed to be happy. \n\nThe first great power, USA and friends, became known as the First World while the second great power, USSR and friends, became known as the second world. The countries who didn't support either great power were known as the Third World.\n\nEventually the Second World, USSR and friends, decided it really is too difficult to make everyone work together and share and that it would be best to let everyone buy and sell freely to make the best lives for them and their families. When that happened the Second world basically went away and nobody really talks about it anymore.\n\nNow people sometimes still refer to USA and friends as the First World and refer to poor countries as the Third World but it is not a good way to think about the world anymore because there many different kinds of countries and most of them agree that the best way for people to get the things they need ti live and be happy is to let them buy and sell freely. ",
"Actually I believe these terms derive from way before the Cold War.\n You had the: \n \"Old World\" - Europe and the Empires within. \n The New World - The America's - The first wave of international colonisation \n Third World - Africa / Asia - The last continents to be conquered by the Imperial powers",
"First: US + Allies\nSecond: USSR + allies\nThird: nonaligned/neutral countries\n\nTo everyone talking about alternatives to the use of third world (which is beyond outdated and no one legitimate uses), in my experience the preferred terms are \"Global South\" and \"Global North\". They are by no means perfect but the word \"developed\" and related terms have a variety of connotations, hence the move to Global South and Global North.\n",
"The wikipedia entry for this is really not very complicated[.](_URL_0_)",
"that is, in itself, a 'second world problem'",
"Check out some posts about athletes conditions in Russia... Second world problems! ",
"The terms were created during the Cold War.\n\n\"First World\" countries were allies of the US and NATO.\n\n\"Second World\" countries were allies of the Soviet Union.\n\n\"Third World\" countries were undecided.\n\nAfter the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Second World ceased to exist. Because most countries allied with the US and NATO at the time had high standards of living, as opposed to the undecided Third World and some of the former Second World states, the term morphed into describing countries with high standards of living (first world) versus countries with low standards of living (third world).",
"Cause they're damn Commies and 'Murican's don't care 'bout no damn Commies"
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y5zbl | how do the companies behind linux distros such as ubuntu and opensuse make money if their os is free and open-source? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/y5zbl/eli5_how_do_the_companies_behind_linux_distros/ | {
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"They offer the OS for free but charge for some kind of services (that can be modifications or support and they know their \"free\" product the best).\n\nIf you don't need any support or modifications then it's easy to buy into. And when you need extra services you can buy it from them but at the same time you know that if someone could offer the same thing cheaper/more reliably they would because there isn't much \"secret knowledge\" in what they offer.",
"My boyfriend just told me that \"they give you the car because they're the best know mechanics in town\". "
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4wjjxo | why when someone records the cinema screen using a camera, the video becomes ugly and not the same as the screen? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4wjjxo/eli5why_when_someone_records_the_cinema_screen/ | {
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"A few things. \n\n1) Most cameras record at 30fps, where as most films are 24fps. This leads to weird things happening due to the timing of the frames such as flashing and flickering. \n\n2) Cameras, especially cheap ones, struggle in low light. Also, movies are constantly changing between bright and dark meaning that cameras have to adjust often and they struggle at this. \n\nThere are more reasons, but that's the basics. ",
"Also from a data perspective, look at what happens when you Xerox a copy of a piece of paper. It never contains more information than your copy. Furthermore it usually contains less and never looks as good as the original because not all of the information is perfectly transferred to the copy. \n\nThis isn't much different than a video because the external copy simply never can pick up 100% of the light and information from the cinema screen so you will always have a diluted image of lesser quality. Other guys discussed other factors but in general it's difficult to copy 100% information which is why bootleg movies usually look so much poorer than the original. "
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a7gpt4 | why do people open their own mouth when spoon-feeding a baby? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a7gpt4/eli5_why_do_people_open_their_own_mouth_when/ | {
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"To give the baby a visual cue of what to do and hope they mimic the movement. ",
"Trying to model the behaviour. If the baby sees them opening their mouth, the baby might open their own mouth so they can be fed.",
"Because babies imitate what they see. So when you open your mouth at them, they copy you and open theirs. It helps them understand that it’s time to feed."
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1sv1bc | why can adults get diseases only by touching grabpoles on public transport while children's immune system profit from eating dirt/playing in dirt? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sv1bc/why_can_adults_get_diseases_only_by_touching/ | {
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"Children do not benefit from eating dirt. Children are more exposed to germs and therefore slowly build up immunities to common viruses. Not diseases, by the way.\n\nAdults do not get diseases only by touching public transport poles. Adults are more segregated than children, who are in schools all day with hundreds of other kids. Therefore, it is more likely that they would contract a virus when squashed into a small area with lots of people."
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1iwj7l | how do you calculate the 20th percentile of a cumulative frequency? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1iwj7l/eli5how_do_you_calculate_the_20th_percentile_of_a/ | {
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"ELI5 isn't for walkthroughs. Try /r/learnmath or /r/cheatatmathhomework.\nThanks. removing."
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3g08t6 | what's the deal with movie theater shootings? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3g08t6/eli5_whats_the_deal_with_movie_theater_shootings/ | {
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"Like any mass shooting, they get tons of Media attention, inspiring the next round of mentally unwell individuals to become copycats. Combine that with virtually non existent security in movie theaters, and you've got an easy target full of people."
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2ekquf | why is there so much abuse in the foster system? shouldn't there be more extensive background checks? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ekquf/eli5_why_is_there_so_much_abuse_in_the_foster/ | {
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"I work in a related field. Honestly, there should be several changes. There aren't enough workers or enough of a budget to do enough. Also, who says that these abusers have done it in the past? A background check wouldn't help there.",
"Contrary to popular belief, the government does not know everything about everyone. \n\nBackground checks are an inherently flawed system. If someone is abusive as hell but has never been arrested and convicted, for one reason or another, their legal background will be clear. Just like how the various murderers at recent, high profile mass killings were able to legally purchase firearms and pass a NICS check. They simply never entered into the system, and never in any way serious enough so as to appear on a permanent record. [[note: this is not about gun control, I'm just using that as an example for background checks being incomplete and little more than security theater ]]\n\nThere's not enough, time, manpower, or funding to enforce the laws we already have, much less build up a truly comprehensive background database on the entirety of any one country's population. Not to mention the loss in personal privacy and freedom that such a thing would require, or the disgusting amount of government abuse that could arise from such a database.\n\nFreedom has a huge price and sometimes it's not pretty.\n\n\nOn another note, I'm sure individual case workers care about the foster kids they oversee but the system as a whole doesn't. It's a revolving door and they just want the door to spin as quickly as possible so as to maintain the funding, with little regard for what comes in or out.",
"Background checks only catch people who've already been caught once already. "
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f606et | why is it that i’m some cases of people being stabbed/impaled, the removal of the item that did the stabbing/impaling (not the initial puncture itself) causes them to bleed out and die? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f606et/eli5_why_is_it_that_im_some_cases_of_people_being/ | {
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"Because the object basically acts like a plug when someone is impaled, as soon as you pull it out then the blood has nothing to even try and stop it from flowing freely out of the wound , that’s my guess",
"If the object has punctured an artery (a blood vessel that carries pressurized blood pumped from the heart), the object may be filling in its own puncture-wound in the artery wall while it is in place, thereby preventing the blood from spilling out. \n\nBut as soon as the object is removed, the puncture-wound is opened, the blood gushes out, and the person dies very quickly.",
"Remember that old story about the Dutch boy putting his finger in the dam wall and stopping the flood ...like that but with blood"
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60fy5a | how can a single cpu core run multiple threads and how is that beneficial? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/60fy5a/eli5_how_can_a_single_cpu_core_run_multiple/ | {
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"Well, a single core can't directly run several threads. What happens is your operating system (windows) switches between these threads when it needs to, with only one ever active at a time. \n\nThe prime benefit is that it lets you do multiple things in time that otherwise would be wasted. For example when you press a button to do something, like submit a post to reddit, one thread will handle the posting to reddit while another does the animation of the button and shows the little spinner. Meanwhile another thread is making sure your clock is showing the current time. Without threads every time you press a button everything would grind to a halt while that button did what it needed to. ",
"Single CPU core running a single thread can be idle very often. It can wait for user interaction, wait for data from network, wait for data from disk etc.\n\nSwitching this core to different task incurs small penalty (so called contex switch, that is saving state of CPU to memory, and restoring from memory to CPU state relevant of other task).\nBut allows to perform calculations needed for other task while waiting.\n\nHyperthreading means that single CPU core has internal space to store additional state internally, so context switch penalty for switching to that task is much smaller.",
"The problem is that when people talk about this subject, they cut out so many technicalities that they miss the entire point (like other threads about the same subject in this sub). I'll try to cut as much of the technical stuff that I can. \n\nSo think of it this way: a core has 2 parts. One deals with integer operations and one deals with floating point operations (decimal numbers). \n\n & nbsp;\n\nThe first situation where 2 threads per core can help: \n**The integer part of the core is used, but not the floating point part.** That means that if conditions are right, the second thread is ready to be executed in the floating point part. \nHowever this _rarely_ happens, because data from a thread has to be executed serially, instruction by instruction. You cannot cherry pick floating point operations to perform, you will have to perform whatever comes next from the thread. This makes the likelihood of a floating point operation coming from one thread while an integer operation is coming from the other thread quite unlikely. Especially because these threads have differing priorities. As a result, this does not give a very good performance increase. \n\nThe second situation: \n**The CPU core is stalled, doing nothing because of other bottlenecks.** One good example is when the CPU is waiting for the RAM to give it data. \nThe CPU has a very fast memory, called cache memory. When an instruction comes the core searches for the necessary data in cache. If it doesn't find the data, it asks the RAM for the data. RAM is very slow compared to cache, so the core is just waiting for the RAM to return with the data it needs. During this waiting period the core can execute the second thread, thus negating the performance penalty. \n\n & nbsp;\n\nSo practically simultaneous multithreading makes the processor work closer to 100% over a given period of time. Without a second thread the processor has more 'breaks' between its operations. \nDo note that these breaks happen extremely fast and you can't see them in task manager's CPU usage for example. \n\nIt's a very complicated piece of tech and I've only scratched the general idea. There's _a lot_ more to explain, like other types of core stalls, but I think that's more than just the general idea. \nI hope my answer was clear enough. If you have any questions ask. ",
"The same way that a human can do things with both hands at once! The CPU does different things with different parts of itself, and sometimes it can do multiple threads with one part concurrently (like both hands) while sometimes it can only do one thread at a time with a part (like swallowing)."
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461gal | why does the doubling your money strategy not work in gambling? | The idea where you will keep doubling your money whenever you lose a bet.
For example if a player starts at $1 and loses four bets in a row, winning on the fifth, he will have lost $1+$2+$4+$8 = $15 on the four losing bets and won $16 on the fifth bet. The losses were covered and he had a profit of $1. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/461gal/eli5_why_does_the_doubling_your_money_strategy/ | {
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"The house pretty much always has the advantage. You also don't have infinite funds and losing streaks happen. You are basically guaranteed to eventually lose everything. ",
"In theory it works, but in practice eventually you'll lose enough bets in a row that you either run out of money or the casino won't take your bet. Your 20th bet in a losing streak would be over $1m.",
"The main problem is that if you have a bad streak, you can quickly run out of money to gamble with.\n\nA 20 loss streak, and you have got a loss of 524,288, and you need over a million to keep doubling.\n\nEdit: added the sequence. it increases pretty fast.\n\n| Sequence |\n|:-----------:|\n|1 |\n|2 |\n|4 |\n|8 |\n|16 |\n|32 |\n|64 |\n|128 |\n|256 |\n|512 |\n|1024 |\n|2048 |\n|4096 |\n|8192 |\n|16384 |\n|32768 | \n|65536 |\n|131072 |\n|262144 | \n|524288 |\n|1048576 |\n|2097152 |\n|4194304 |\n|8388608 |\n|16777216 |\n|33554432 |\n|67108864 |\n|134217728 |\n|268435456 |\n|536870912 |\n|1073741824 |\n|2147483648 |\n",
"Because you're not the first person to think of this, casinos hire lots of highly educated mathematicians and statisticians to design gaming rules. \n\nOne of them is table limits. If you bet in your doubling sequence, starting with a $5 minimum bet, within 5 bets, you'll exceed the $100 table limit. ",
"This technique would work if you were guaranteed a win before you run out of money, but you are not. On a $1 bet, it would take eight losses to lose more than $100, and eleven loses to lose more than $1000. According to legend, a roulette table in Monte Carlo once had a 26 black in a row. If you kept betting on red, you would have lost $3.3 million before winning your money back. If you don't have that much money to bet with, you can't win your money back.\n\nAnother thing to keep in mind are table limits. The prevent people from doing this and getting away with it, the casino places a limit on how much you can bet per game. So, if the table limit is $100, and you lose 8 games in a row, you will not be able to double up anymore and will lose money."
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cioo2l | how the us lost the ability/technology to land on the moon, after 50 years of industry advancement | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cioo2l/eli5_how_the_us_lost_the_abilitytechnology_to/ | {
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"We haven't. In fact Nasa plans on putting a man on the moon in 2024. Planning missions like these takes a long time in advaced, because literally every contingency needs to be planned for. Not to mention we plan to use it as a test for a new rocket design. These things have to be built, people need to be trained to fly them, Experiments need to be decided for the launch, etc. These things take time.",
"We’ve learned a thing or two about space travel in 50 years, so you’d hope to include some improvements. Also, unless they were required to deliver design documents and procedures, NASA likely has no idea precisely how most of the stuff was built by the many contractors involved in the original Apollo missions. And manned space flight designs must be *exact*, or they must be requalified through test.\n\nSo you might as well just redesign and retest everything, and build in all the advancements we’ve learned in the last 50 years.\n\nThe problem these days is space isn’t sexy anymore. It’s hard to get sustained funding, because it’s easy to ask “why are we spending all this money on space when I could spend it on XYZ project which is *clearly* more important” (whatever it is). So projects start and stop and it’s difficult to get momentum going."
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2aalj0 | if most youtube ads can be skipped after 5 seconds, why don't advertisers start making 5 second ads? | This goes for all online ads really.
It has been shown that less intrusive ads (Google text ads, for example) are often more effective than large annoying things that will just get adblocked anyways. I understand that it's not widespread, but why don't I see this at all? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2aalj0/eli5if_most_youtube_ads_can_be_skipped_after_5/ | {
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"It's incredibly hard to make an ad that actually works in five seconds - even if you manage to cram your logo, product, slogan and some positive remark into that, the average person won't remember it.\nBut lots of people just leave the ad running - not the majority, but enough to work better than five second ads.",
"Advertising people get payed for ads. They really wouldn't like the idea. \n\nIt would pretty much be a 5 second screen of a. Logo the product and the website for it. \n\nSquarespace logo | (picture of someone on the square space) | website URL.",
"Sometimes I watch the rest of the ad because the first five seconds caught my attention. \n\nSo I don't know, but if you utilize your 5 seconds wisely you can drag people into your 30-second spot. Also, I've seen 4-minute ads. That's really…",
"Google's primary source of income is advertising, so much of what they do is research and test what types of ads get the most attention. If text ads were more profitable on YouTube than video ads it's safe to say they would have figured that out by now.\n\nAs for why advertisers don't make ads, I'm not sure, but if they only made 5 second advertisements, they would still only have 5 seconds of your time. With a longer ad they can at least attempt to grab your attention in 5 seconds and then if you're interested you'll watch the rest.",
"You are ignoring the purpose of an ad. To advertise. Yes most people ignore, block or skip ads but some people do actually watch and see them. If they didn't, advertisers wouldn't pay for them so they must be working. \n\nSkipping an ad is not a fault in the advertising system, it's an advantage. If I skip your ad after 5 seconds, I was never interested in your product or service to begin with. I am not the target for that ad. Forcing me to watch a full 30 seconds is not going to change my mind. The few people that actually see an ad are the people that are interested. Those are there people that ad is targeting. \n\n",
"Many ads have incorporated the skip button into their ads in a funny way to make people either more interested in the watching the full ad and/or to remember the brand from the first few seconds.",
"A lot already made the ad for other forms of media, like TV.",
"I dislike ads but I wonder how payment works if users have ad bloc. If ad bloc is on, and I am watching a youtube video, no ad comes up, does the host still get money?",
"Where I live, there are some small youtube ads that are 5 seconds long. Or at least I have seen one mcdonalds ad about hiring students for summerjobs. Also there was some pastry ad where a floating hand pointed out the skip button on time and told not to click the skip button, but the ad instead.",
"It is such a waste if they don't get their name on the scree within those 5 seconds. I don't see anything after that, they should at least get the name on the screen before they begin with the commercial.",
"Actually. All YouTube ads can be skipped, permanently with AdBlock Plus and AdBlock. ",
"I work in online advertising and the answer is annoyingly simple: Creating ads costs money. \n\nEven changing a creative (what we call the specific motive of the ad) from a 160x600px size to a 120x600px size costs the advertising agency a comparably stupid amount of money. \n\nSo in most cases, when an advertiser decides to book a preroll (that's what we call video ads which are shown before the video you wanted to see), they mostly just use the 25, 30sec video they already have for their TV campaign (still the media channel where most money is spent, so a well made tv spot has a certain priority). \n\nAd planners aren't dumb. They know that an ad where the necessary message is delivered before the skip possibility appears would be better. But changing the message of a creative, the storytelling aspect, to do this would be quite time consuming i.e. expensive, so it's rarely done. ",
"Call Mr Plow, cuz that's my name! That name again is Mr Plow!",
"You actually only pay once someone watches past the five second mark, which isolates those that actually show interest.\n\nIf you paid for every five second play, rather than plays longer than five seconds, you'd pay significantly more and for viewers that are on average less interested.\n\nAlso the simplest answer: there is a minimum video length for this ad format, though I don't know what it is.\n",
"It's also really annoying that I cant FF in the ad. It might interest me, but still I don't want to waste time watching the whole thing. But I cant check what product it is or whatever, so I rather skip the whole ad.",
"I remember the most fail ad I saw on youtube had a 5 second count down.",
"[You mean like this?](_URL_0_)",
"I used to do youtube etc. media buying for one of the largest advertisers in the world. \n\nThey found through their surveys etc. that 15 second unskippable ads had the best effect for brand recognition. It was one big, huge formula. Also, the way unskippable vs. skippable ads are charged means that unskippable ads, despite being more expensive per unit, needed less volume to get the same number of viewers to watch the whole thing, thus getting the brand recognition effect that they desired for their campaign.\n\nThat's about it.",
"The ad product is called TruView In Stream. The advertiser is charged if the user watches (30 seconds of a longer video OR the entire video) OR clicks. A 5 second ad would be the entire ad, so you would be charged for the full play, which in many cases you are getting for free. \n\nFirst post!",
"The fastest thing I do is tap 'skip ad.'\n\nI'm pretty sure i'm a record holder for it. No I don't to fucking buy your scented toilet paper. And now I REALLY don't want to buy it, and will never buy it again, because you fucking interrupted me with a 30 second ad to watch a 10 second vine video you shit piss fuckwad. You should be able to opt out of ads. In an ideal world... in an ideal world.",
"There are ads on YouTube?!\n\n- Adblock user",
"Because they'd be like [_URL_0_](www._URL_0_)",
"Unless the commercial gets posted to /r/videos I'm not ever going to watch it.\n\nWhat would a [vinemercial](/s \"this is mine, I made this, copyright, trademark, America\") even consist of? \n\n > This [thing] is good, buy it now!\n\nand a 2 second jingle?",
"you're probably smarter than the people in charge of advertising in a lot of companies",
"Good question. YouTube has a program called True View that only charges the advertiser when a user watches at least 15 seconds. In this model, if a user skips the ad after 5 seconds the advertiser is not charged. 15 or 30 second spots, if watched, show significantly better recall and brand lift. \n\nAs for Google text ads, they are the most efficient because users are at the \"bottom of the sales funnel\" actively searching for a product. The advertisers bid on the search query depending on how relevant it is for their product... Highest bidder wins. \n\nSource: I work in advertising (and don't hate you for using Adblock). Have been on Reddit for years and created an account because this was the first answer I've ever known confidently. ",
"the Evil Dead movie did make a 35 second ad with a 5 second plea in the beginning to not skip it\n\n_URL_0_\n\nbtw, it's terrifying",
"Use ad blocker u will forget about ads trust me ",
"Because you can't say much in ",
"Doesn't matter Ad block is built into my brain, so fuck you ads. ",
"Actually Audi did this with their Audi R8 youtube commercial. Also Youtube doesn't charge advertisers when you skip after 5 seconds. Check this case study with actual R8 ad _URL_0_ ",
"Digital Advertising guy here. I've been in the industry for 5 years now.\n\nOur YouTube account reps always preach that when using TrueView Ads (the skipable kind) to try and make the first five seconds as catchy as possible. But the client doesn't always listen, for good reason...money. \n\nGenerally a client will use an existing ad made for TV, since it's not worth spending the extra $200k to make an online specific on-brand ad. \n\nAnd when a company runs a pre-roll video ad they very rarely run it only on YouTube. So if a client sprung for an online specific ad, they would want to be able to run it everywhere. Not just websites with a skip button.\n\nSo why not just make a TV ad where some awesome happens in the first 5 seconds? Well, you could, but you don't want to make such huge decisions on a $2 million TV ad in order to make people not skip it on YouTube. In the end a person skipping / not skipping the ad is a bit of a rounding error in terms of analytics compared to TV. \n\nIf you're a small company looking for a viral hit, you probably can't afford any impactful amount of impressions on YouTube. \n\nto;dr Commercials are expensive, not worth making a specific one for YT. \n",
"5 second commercials:\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_9_\n\n_URL_8_\n\n_URL_10_\n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_4_\n\n_URL_3_\n\n_URL_7_\n\n_URL_2_\n\n_URL_5_\n\nOne second commercials:\n\n_URL_6_\n",
"FYI there is these plug ins available for chrome and firefox that make it so you never have to watch an ad again. If you use internet explorer you're stuck in the 90s and deserve to watch ads. ",
"Miller High Life 1 Second Ad Super Bowl Ad 2009: _URL_0_",
"You can't have ads in 5 seconds. It takes at least 7 seconds to get a sweat going. ",
"The ideal length of ads is still a mystery to advertisers, but because TV mostly works in 15, 30 and 60 second spots, advertisers like to repurpose or re-cut ads to save money. \n\nIn the cutdowns, for example, they can show the same 25 seconds of action, with a different end card, or reduce excess dialogue to a 15-second spot. Having shorter spots typically work better with shorter-form content (nobody wants to watch a 30 second ad for a 1 minute video, but a 60 second pre-roll ad might be acceptable if that's all you have to watch for a full episode on _URL_2_. \n\nIn the case of YouTube, they run what are called [TrueView](_URL_0_) ads. TrueView ads only charge the user when the ad is completed. In this case, when you skip an ad, it doesn't charge the advertiser, so it's cheaper for them to *not* create a cutdown and just serve an incomplete already-produced ad for free.\n\nGoogle always stresses that everybody (User, Advertiser, Google) wins in its ecosystem, \"Viewers choose ads that are relevant to them, and you reach people who are interested in your message. As your video count goes up, you know you're reaching truly engaged viewers.\" Users are happy, Advertiser is happy, so both will return, and therefore Google is happy.\n\nFor AdBlocking, the industry is seeing increasing focus on [viewability](_URL_1_), as an effort to pressure publishers to have more quality traffic and request makegoods if many users are adblocking or if the ads are hidden below the fold.\n\nSource: Some websites / this is my job\n\nTL;DR: Money.",
"It's been done by a South African agency for Audi\n\n_URL_0_",
"Similarly, now that people fast forward all ads on TV, advertisers should show static readable text or images that look good as I speed past at 30x normal speed.",
"I work in a digital ad agency. What most of us are trying to do is to hook you in during that 5 seconds. You know it works for you when you didn't skip after 5 seconds.",
"[I asked this a few months ago.](_URL_0_)",
"Here us how it works for an advertiser (from someone who has been pitched to advertise by google many times):\n\nYou only pay for the view if one of these things happen:\n1- the viewer watches the ad all the way to the end\n2- the viewer watches the ad for 30 seconds\n\nBecause of this system you would be crazy to have an ad less than 30 seconds long. In fact I've often though a winning strategy might be to have a 10 second long ad followed by 20 seconds of blank air giving the viewer time to skip it (so then you pay nothing)\n\nExcept for.... Google's algorithm decides when to show your ad. I don't know how the algorithm works, but you can bet that ads that get 100% skip rates stop getting shown with any real frequency. ",
"I always skip ads after the 5 seconds, I dont think any advert has ever made me watch the whole thing. There was an advert there that I seen probably 30 times where in the first five seconds I guy leaves a bar, lights a cigarette and has a deep satisfying draw od his cigarette. Skip it after 5 seconds and it's a wonderful advert for smoking being awesome. I'm assuming the full advert doesn't have a happy ending but I've never seen the end.",
"As an advertiser I can tell you that we are very well aware of the tendency for our audiences to click the skip button at first glance. While it is entirely possibly to create a 5 second ad, 5 seconds isn't nearly enough time to properly be able to convey a message properly, unless the context is simple and we can engage with a high enough frequency.\n\nWhat you'll see, rather, is a :30 or :60 spot that outlines the brand and message within the first 5 seconds. That way those who are engaged can continue on, if interested, and those who are not can skip it while still maintaining a positive brand image and still receive the message effectively.",
"I love how movie ads spend the *entire* of the 5 seconds with the 'This preview is approved for XYZ audiences' message. I end up with no ad.",
"A lot are changing the ad to make the first 5 seconds capture the viewers attention. This one did an amazing job-- it actually worked on me and I watched the entire ad.\n\n[_URL_0_](_URL_0_)",
"I think what you are referring to are [Blipverts](_URL_0_)",
"Shorter ads work better for me, my attention span isn't that great for watching something I don't really want to watch.\n\nA good example is Hulu. I think the normal commercial break is somewhere around 150 seconds or so. Because it's that long, I just refresh the page and get a 15 or 30 second commercial break. I watch those and then keep on watching the show. But if I didn't have the ability to do that, I'd just browse something in another window for 150 seconds.",
"I keep forgetting Youtube has ads. How has everyone not heard of Adblock Plus yet?",
"I'm gonna blow that right out of the water. Listen to this!\n\n\nFOUR. SECOND. ADS",
"it's a product called Trueview that Google released a couple of years back, more here: _URL_0_. The advertiser actually doesn't get charged till you have completed at least 30 seconds of watching that ad, or if their video is shorter than 30 seconds then to completion of the video. Essentially Google created a product with Trueview where users are self selecting which ads they like and making the advertiser only pay for those views... ",
"I see this has already been marked as answered, and I see some people that work in advertising commenting about the expense of creating new content (which is no laughing matter). Here's a bit more info on how the longer format ads work with the 5-second skip.\n\nAdvertisers don't just blindly throw there 30 second ads up, and hope people watch them. There's a huge amount of tracking every time an ad loads up. There are 2 pretty popular video ad standards, VPAID, and VAST (I've implemented both) [More information here].(_URL_0_).\n\nAdvertisers will go into an ad agreement with an expectation that not everybody will watch the full length of an ad, but they won't typically pay you as much if their ad doesn't show for long enough. For advertisers with large budgets, the terms of each deal are negotiated, and you'd be shocked at the disparity between deals.\n\nAs a random example, lets say \"Acme\" has a 30 second video ad they want to show on youtube. Acme might pay $15.00 CPM (Cost per thousand impressions) to youtube, but only for ads that play for at least 20 seconds, and then only pay $2.00 CPM on ads that only play for 5 seconds. Anything less than 5 seconds playback (closed browser window, navigate away etc) would pay nothing.\n\nFurther to this, some advertisers might completely pull their ad if your viewers fail to meet their expectations.\n\nI could likely go on for an hour about video advertising, though my experience doesn't stem from youtube specifically.\n\nSource: Job experience",
"YouTube has ads? Oh right, I forgot what life was like before adblock plus.",
"Because ads usually aren't developed specifically for youtube. An existing advertisement - typically developed as a trailer or tv spot - will usually serve double duty as a youtube ad.",
"I'm amazed by how many people gloat about using Adblock. I literally saw someone said \"image the web with no ads, that's the dream Adblock is trying to make into a reality.\" Uhh, what? The web without ads would be a really shitty thing because no one would get paid to do what they do so there would be content-lockers, paid subscription only access, and for the stuff that wants to remain free an insane decrease in quality because of no incentive. The idiocy of some people truly amazes me.",
"People keep talking about AdBlock, but does it eliminate the pre-roll ads?\n\nI couldn't care less about the banners. It's the stupid ones that play on every video before you can watch it.",
"Personally, I'm a little biased on ad's. I personally don't like people trying to tell me what to like. Modern advertising is based on cognitive behavioral conditioning techniques similar to the ones that Igor Pavlov used on dogs, and one of his students, Nikolai Krasnogorsky used on orphans in Russia. Krasnogorsky's techniques led the way to new methods of advertising in Russia, which ended up being used in just about all modern advertising. Incidentally, Krasnoforsky used to have a Wikipedia page that mentioned all of this. Strangely, his wiki page seems to be missing now as I haven't been able to find it. Instead, I keep finding something about Russian science fiction and fantasy. It seems that advertising agencies don't want you to know they are using Russian and CIA mind control techniques to try and influence and control you in advertising. ",
"Advertising agency employee here!\n\nMy company does these. The 5 second mark is used as somewhat of a tracker for viewing.\n\nThat way, we can see how many people are actually watching them/clicking on them (the video ads), and how many are skipping.\n\nAlso, when the video appears, it is counted as an \"impression\". Advertisers/businesses buy 1000s of these per month; so when a handful of 1000s are skipped, you're still able to see how effective/eye catching/interest catching your ad is.\n\nAlso, 5 seconds is too short a time to make a solid impression or call to action to buy. Got to be able to at least make a pitch on benefit and/or feature.",
"TrueView ads need to be min. 7 seconds long.\nA view is counted if the user watches till the end of the ad or past the 30 seconds mark - whatever comes first.\n\nRegarding your point about text ads vs. video ads - the message you can communicate in a video is much deeper than in 3 lines of text. Also, text ads are shown when you actively search for something. You can't search for something you don't know yet.",
"Every time something regarding ads online comes up there are people talking about how they don't like the ads.... Why not just start using adblock and experience the internet the way it was meant to be",
"Advertisers are not typically the most innovative bunch.",
"Let there be AD-Block!!!!!",
"Adblock plus that shit ",
"\"BUY THIS! BUY THIS, FUCKER!\"",
"What I don't understand are the movie trailers. The green screen with the warning message is 5 seconds long. ",
"PROTIP:\nADBLOCK PLUS",
"All youtube ads can be skipped in zero seconds. It's called adblock.",
"totally. We're so used to quick entertainment that a quick commercial would probably sit better with us.\n\nim sick of seeing these actors pretending to be the happiest family in the world because they use a certain kind of dish liquid.\n\n\nit should be\"dawn dish soap. we wash ducks. it washes your dishes. its pretty cheap\" scene.",
"I work in advertising (I know I'm a terrible person) - I've actually tried selling this idea to clients numerous times but YouTube has a policy that if a user clicks skip on a :30 ad the advertiser doesn't have to pay for the \"impression\" or view of that ad. If someone doesn't click the skip button on an ad then the advertiser would have to pay a few cents for someone to watch the ad.\n\nSo there's no real incentive for companies to make an ad that is only 5 seconds because they would have to pay each time someone watched it. But what I have seen is a 5 second ad followed by a different 25 second clip afterwards. That way if you click skip you've already seen the 5 second ad in it's entirety and the advertiser doesn't pay for the view.\n\nBMW did make some great advertising that were 5 second clips on YouTube, which played directly into how fast the car is. Pretty clever.\n\nAll terribly interesting stuff."
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"http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/open-video-ads/13046/about-the-iab-video-advertising-standards/"
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2cxyj6 | why websites using cookies to better target your ads is considered such a bad thing. | I'm all about my privacy as much as the next person, but I also realize that the Internet is literally funded by ads. If I can at least see some ads that are not totally off the wall, why is it such a terribly offensive thing to some people? I have actually found some interesting deals via targeted ads. I found the "Wish" app that way, which I actually enjoy using for my clothing purchases. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2cxyj6/eli5_why_websites_using_cookies_to_better_target/ | {
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"Because I don't want family visiting sites on my laptop and seeing penis pump ads on sites just because I clicked on an ad last night.\n\nEdit: er umm... not that I need one :("
]
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[]
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|
b6zvtm | in computer architecture, what is the difference between core and a microarchitecture? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b6zvtm/eli5_in_computer_architecture_what_is_the/ | {
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"A multi-core processor is a way to say that you have multiple independent processing unit on the same physical chip. Each is called a core and they will be identical in the chip for computers but in a cellphones the might have 4 energy efficient but slower cores and 4 faster that use more energy to give you both long battery life and high performance when it is needed. Even if they are independent that can share some stuff lime memory controllers.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThe architecture the design of that processing unit. All PC processors can execute the same code wit the same result but how it it done will change and the manufacturer come upp with new way to do it faster. So the architecture is just a name for that design. \n\nIt is a bit like year models for cars where they make improvement and changes and designate. But a bit difference since you can have a cheap processors with 2 core and a more expensive with 16 but the core are and only the number is different. "
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||
2s8v2n | how do astronomers know a black hole has the mass of 20 billion suns? | My wife and I just watched the video that was front page earlier about how massive black holes really are. She asked how do they know that? She then said I guess I'll just trust them because they are so much smarter than we are. I said that's what eli5 is for. Thanks in advance! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2s8v2n/eli5how_do_astronomers_know_a_black_hole_has_the/ | {
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"A black hole is basically just a star that's collapsed in on itself, becoming very, very dense. Our Sun has a lot of gravity because it's so massive, but the only stars that can become black holes are hundreds of times bigger than our sun. So every black hole that's born has a similar mass to the star that it was \"born\" from.\n\nI haven't seen the video you're talking about, but a black hole with a mass equal to 20 billion suns would be a supermassive black hole, thousands of times stronger than the one at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. We can pretty easily tell its mass by studying the things that orbit it. The speeds and distances at which objects orbit a body tell us how much of a gravitational force it's putting out; the more gravity, the more mass.",
"There is a physics equation for the force of gravity between two masses at a given distance. Observe the motion of the hole and a nearby star and measure the distance between them. This lets you estimate the force of gravity between them. Estimate the star's mass, and the only unknown is the black holes mass. Solve for that and you get your black hole mass."
]
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24hj5w | gas stations often have signs on the pump to turn off your phone and pager while using the pump. i doubt that anyone does this. what's the concern and is it a valid one? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24hj5w/eli5_gas_stations_often_have_signs_on_the_pump_to/ | {
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"The concern is about the possibility of an electrical spark igniting the fumes of fuel. The source comes from an investigation of a fire at a gas station where they could not determine a cause many years ago. One difference was the car owner had a cell phone, (relatively new at the time. Hardly anyone had a cell phone) There was a theory that the phone was the source of the spark and caused the fire. Highly unlikely but potentially possible for the technology of the time. It was never proven and never has been shown a normally operating phone can start a fire but it kinda stuck as a precautionary measure. \n\nMythbusters did cover this but could not ignite gas under any normal circumstances. Only with modifying the phone to create a spark could they ignite the gas. I think they called it plausible as a damaged phone may cause a spark but odds are so slim of all the conditions to be right for a fire to occur it would be near impossible to happen. If it was true, gas stations would be burning down left and right with all the phones people have now a days."
]
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5ja2ym | what do all the parts of a url mean? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ja2ym/eli5_what_do_all_the_parts_of_a_url_mean/ | {
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"The first bit before the colon (http, https etc) refers to the protocol in use. Http is the only common one but you can use others like ftp:// - which will use file transfer protocol. The next bit after the // is the address of the website - _URL_0_. After than, comes the file/script you are loading. Eg fubar.html is an html page. It might be in a directory, like tarfu/fubar.html. If there's a ? And some characters after the page, they are parameters and options being passed in. So you might see the total look something like:- \nHttp://www._URL_0_/tarfu/fubar.htm?some & options & here. ",
" < protocol > :// < servername > . < domainname > . < toplevel-domain > / < directory on server > / < filename > . < file ending/format > ? < parametername > = < parameter value > & < next parametername > = < parameter value > \n\nif there is no filename given and the protocol is http or https a default filename is requested. the default is configured on the server but is mostly named index.html or index.php",
"Http://_URL_0_/r/explainlikeimfive\n\nFirst is protocol. Nowdays I think it's always http or https, where https is encrypted version of http, making it impossible to someone to eavesdrop. Ftp used to be a popular way of sharing files, standing for file transfer protocol, but chances are, you haven't used that protocol ever. Http stands for hypertext transfer protocol, hypertext referring to basically .html type files that are to be displayed.\n\nNext up is _URL_0_. This actually makes more sense if you read it backwards, like this: com.reddit.www. Here, .com is a top-level domain. There are certain number of these top level domains, and you basically buy your own domain name, such as reddit, from one or more of these top level domains. First part of resolving url is figuring out top level domain, and then connecting there to ask about how to find the domain, in this case reddit.\n\nNext is domain name, in this case its reddit. Fairly straighforward.\n\nThen you have subdomain, in this case www. Www stands for world wide web, and it's very, very, very common choice of subdomain. How a server reacts to different types of subdomains is up to them. Reddit for example allows you to browse within subdomain np, which prevents voting and commenting. Other sites may structure themselves into separate logical sections, like _URL_3_ and _URL_1_.\n\nThen you have actual page address. Starting with '/', on our url it reads '/r/explainlikeimfive'. Here it's more or less completely arbitrary, and while you usually try to have some logic in these, such as descending abstractness, it's varying widely how the sites are structured. Descending abstractness means, on our url, first we have /r, standing for \"I want to view a subreddit\", then /explainlikeimfive, standing for \"name of that subreddit is explainlikeimfive. Next you could have /comments, standing for \"i want to see discussion related to a particular thread, and then you have something like /5ja2ym, standing for the unique identifier of this thread.\n\nAfter this, you may encounter ? symbol, which stands for \"options begin here\". For example, if you do a google search for potatoe, you'll have url that starts with _URL_5_ where q refers to \"what we are searching for\" parameter. How these options are parsed, if they are used at all, depends on the server. In a way it's kinda redundant. While reddit has unique page name for each thread, youtube for example has just a single view videos page, which is customized by options to have your requested video. So _URL_4_ to watch that one particular video whose unique identifier is idnsjdniji. The actual logic the server uses for both of these cases is likely similar."
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"google.com/search?q=potatoe"
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4fm4jr | how do some vehicles drive nearly submerged without stalling or breaking down? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4fm4jr/eli5_how_do_some_vehicles_drive_nearly_submerged/ | {
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"This is much easier with a diesel engine, particularly older ones which don't have masses of electronics. They're nearly all mechanical and don't much care if they're under water.\n\nMore modern diesels have to have more attention paid to waterproofing connectors and sensors and things, but provided you can keep the water out there's not much problem. Just make sure the air intake isn't awash. The exhaust, provided you're not too deep, can just take care of itself.\n\nPetrol engines are harder because the high voltage ignition system is harder to waterproof, but in principle it's the same - keep the water out of the electrics and air intake and it'll do fine.",
"So for an engine to work you need fuel and air mix right? Well an engine can run completely under water (not good for it but doable) as long as the pistons get the mix. When an engine shuts down from being water logged it's because water gets in the air intake, removing the air-fuel mix. So to take advantage of this they make things called snorkels, like in snorkeling it brings air from above water to be \"breathed\" by the Engine.\n\n_URL_0_",
"/u/skipweasel has a good answer, but I'll try to make it a bit more ELI5 appropriate:\n\nFirst thing you need to know is that an internal combustion engine produces power by igniting fuel in the presence of oxygen (combustion) inside a chamber (internal) with a piston (which turns a shaft, which turns a transmission, which turns the wheels).\n\nSecond thing: this system can be (fairly easily) sealed, apart from the air intake and exhaust (and in most cases is, in order to maintain proper air-fuel mixture and capture as much power as possible). Because the system is sealed, so long as the air intake can supply enough oxygen, the engine can keep running.\n\nThere are a number of ways to do this, the most common being to give the vehicle a snorkel, so that the air intake is always above the water. Additionally, we could reasonably compress oxygen, and store it in a tank for brief underwater excursions.\n\nYou may also be worried about the shock of submerging a hot engine block into cool water. This really shouldn't be a problem, because engine temperatures should be running between 100 and 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and with water at say, 40 degrees (pretty darn cold), that's only a change of roughly 100 degrees, which I doubt would cause enough stresses to damage the engine.\n\nTL;DR: You really only need fuel and air to run the engine-think old diesel-powered submarines."
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2tjpis | how do wills get invalidated by a court? | I was just reading an askreddit thread about that funniest things lawyers read out loud during a will reading and was wondering how does/can a will be invalidated? How can a court decide whether to honor or invalidate a will? How can someones last wishes for THEIR belongings not be honored and simply cast aside because the family is angry? If you could have a few examples that would be great. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tjpis/eli5how_do_wills_get_invalidated_by_a_court/ | {
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" > How can a court decide whether to honor or invalidate a will?\n\nOne way that a will can be invalidated is if it's deemed to be incomplete. For instance, a will that was first drafted 30 years ago, and doesn't mention children who are 25 years old, would be invalidated, because it's assumed that the children were *supposed* to have inherited something, and only didn't because the will was out of date. \n\nThis can also happen when the will is current, but doesn't mention a close relative (like a child or sibling), because it's argued that the deceased simply neglected to mention them, and they're actually supposed to be included.\n\nThis is why, if you don't want to leave anything to a close family member, the will typically states *explicitly* that they get nothing, so they can't argue that they were simply overlooked.\n\nAnother way that a will can be invalidated is if it specifies that the estate be used to do something illegal. For instance, if a will said, \"I leave nothing to my children. Instead, all of my money shall be used to hire a hitman to kill my ex wife\", the will would be invalidated, and the money would instead be distributed to the person's children.",
"* the deceased was not of sound mind when they wrote it\n* they were being coerced\n* the will is fraudulent\n* the will is clearly out of date\n* the will is unclear\n* the will is impossible to execute as written\n* the will cannot be legally fulfilled\n* one of the beneficiaries was involved in the deceased's death\n* the will does not match the deceased clearly expressed wishes\n\nFor example, my dad's will put set aside money for each of his grandchildren, but he died while my sister-in-law was still pregnant. As executor, if I wanted to be a dick, I could have excluded that child. My brother could have challenged it, say my dad told him that was his intent. That's where the lawyers would come in."
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[],
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323oxs | what is it about riding in a car that makes babies fall asleep? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/323oxs/eli5_what_is_it_about_riding_in_a_car_that_makes/ | {
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"Vibration, warmth, hum of the engine all come into play. I wish I could find a link to a study, but if the cars are moving at a relatively good speed, children can't focus on objects outside of the vehicle. Without anything to pay attention to they lose interest and their bodies choose rest instead. ",
"Because babys are lazy, if i didnt have to do anything for myself, id sleep in all car rides",
"Why can't I stay awake when being a passenger in a car?",
"The same things that make them fall asleep at home when you're putting them to sleep.\n\n1. Steady background noise(substitution for quietness)\n2. Music\n3. Rocking\n4. No one is directly interacting with it.",
"Riding in a car makes me fall asleep too. Same with long bus rides. I think its the aircon, light vibrations and a comfortable seat.",
"Creates similar consistent movement and sound associated with being in utero (the womb). The mother walking all day with general ambient noise muffled through her belly - that's why fetuses are most active when mom tries to sleep, she lays down and it gets quiet they \"wake up.\"",
"Mild motion sickness can cause drowsiness. The conflicting signals from your visual system and your inner ear makes you sleepy. If the motion sickness is really bad, you get nausea and vomiting, but with just a little, the theory is your brain decides to sleep it off and see if that fixes the conflicting sensory input problem. \n\nRocking babies has the same effect. "
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6wtnqa | why are different parts of the world more prone to extreme weather? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6wtnqa/eli5_why_are_different_parts_of_the_world_more/ | {
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"There's a few factors that are happening. The big ones are:\n\n* the middle of the planet is warm\n* the poles of the planet are cold\n* warm air expands (pushing other air) and rises\n* warm water evaporates\n* cold water condenses and falls\n* the rotation of the planet produces some pretty predictable ocean currents and winds, too\n\nAdd all those consistent factors up, and it means there's major patterns to how weather works. \n\nSo what ends up happening is, warm tropical oceans develop storm systems pretty often. Then, winds tend to push them in the same general directions. We see this with the Atlantic ocean and the eastern side of the USA, hurricanes form in the tropics and are drawn north. Over in the Pacific? Similar land & sea setup, similar formations: Pacific typhoons get pushed to China, Korea and Japan."
]
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||
1q8nwg | if colds are caused by viruses and bacteria, why do i often feel like i get a cold from just staying at low temperatures without proper clothing? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1q8nwg/eli5_if_colds_are_caused_by_viruses_and_bacteria/ | {
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"They're not caused by any bacteria. They're both caused by viruses.\n\nAnd to answer the question, coincidence or you're just remembering the times the two coincided. ",
"When the weather is cold, people spend more time inside. The close proximity of people and lack of air circulation (Due to lack of open windows or doors) causes any contagious illness - Like a cough or a cold - to be spread much easier."
]
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[],
[]
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||
4y8uzo | how do services such as 'bongo' in the uk know any details about a person, and are they even real? | At least in the UK there are services you text your name to and they respond with multiple facts about you, details only people close to you should know. I know for a fact a lot of people simply receive a reply saying the service won't work for them. But, are they real? And if so how do they work??
Thanks in advance! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4y8uzo/eli5how_do_services_such_as_bongo_in_the_uk_know/ | {
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"From their FAQ:\n\n > HOW DOES BONGO WORK?\n\n > BONGO works thanks to a number of intelligent human researchers and a very sophisticated software application with a huge database.\n\nSo officially, they say it's a mixture of human researchers and a software application. Presumably they are collecting info from social media, publications, etc\n\nYou'd be shocked how much info the average person puts out there. I'm sure they're looking at who you have Liked on facebook and then tracking if that person has Liked your photos and that kind of stuff.",
"information from terms and conditions\n\n\"we assume that you will only use the service for entertainment purposes\"\n\n\"Frequently our answer is neither correct nor accurate and may in fact be entirely wrong and without any intention on our part, possibly even offensive to you.\""
]
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[],
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e7guez | why do all legitimate streams run almost half a minute behind their television counterparts? | You could be watching a 100m final but they've already finished on your TV stream where they're still in the blocks on your internet stream | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e7guez/eli5_why_do_all_legitimate_streams_run_almost/ | {
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"i'll give you a placeholder answer that you can hold onto until someone who's worked with this technology at a lower level can speak on it.\n\n\n\nThere is a lot of preprocessing that goes on with video, sending it too. You don't get sent raw video data of every pixel at every frame - which is why you can select the quality at any one point. This preprocessing didn't really exist for TV since the bandwidth is always there to send pretty much whatever the camera and microphone read from the world as-is into the air for your TV to pick up.\n\nThis preprocessing can be put into analogy if you've ever worked on project based office jobs. You tell your manager what you think you can do according to a relatively conservative estimate, and in that you factor in many things which might not be related to you (in this case, it would be latency or server load from twitch or anything else that would consistently slow down packets from being sent, read, processed and spat out to consumers). \n\n\nWe can deduce from this that the shortest common stream delay is probably that conservative estimate that most streaming services recommend (or sometimes, enforce).",
"Modern video streaming protocols (e.g., Apple's HLS) require the player, when starting playback, to accumulate the video stream without actually playing it for about 18-30 seconds. This is needed for two reasons: first, player needs time to measure the speed of the network connection in order to choose the suitable quality of the stream. E.g., if the network connection is bad, the video will be streamed in a low resolution like 420p, while for a good connection an HD or even 4k stream will be selected. The second reason is that the player needs to make sure that the amount of buffering (\"the spinner\") will be minimal. So the player wants to have some of the video in it's buffer ready in anticipation that network connection can go off in the next 10 or 20 seconds. This is based on the assumption that people psychologically prefer to wait 10 seconds for the video to start rather than to watch a video that is stopping for \"the spinner\" and resumes again all the time. As a result of these precautions, live digital stream are usually behind the TV to allow this 20-30 seconds buffer."
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ej72gj | why you’re told to wait 30 seconds when unplugging a modem or dvr. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ej72gj/eli5_why_youre_told_to_wait_30_seconds_when/ | {
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"When you unplug it, there is still electricity in the device. Think of it like a sink, and electricity is water. Pull the plug and let it drain.",
"Electric circuits have parts called capacitors which can hold on to electric charge for a bit.\n\nIn order for the modem to get a fresh start, you are told to wait a “longer than necessary just to be safe” amount of time, so all the capacitors will discharge.",
"There are things in the electronics called capacitors that take wall power and trickle it in to parts that don't want full wall power like a funnel under a kitchen faucet. The capacitors will continue to discharge into the parts just like it takes a little bit for the funnel to empty after you turn off the faucet. During this time, the parts may still have enough power to remember their previous, possibly messed up settings. Leaving the device off for a longer period lets everything drain out and ensures the device starts with a clean slate."
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2wdqan | how is it that i remember hundreds of lyrics when i sing along to songs, but i mix them up or forget parts when i try to sing a capella or to instrumental song versions? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wdqan/eli5_how_is_it_that_i_remember_hundreds_of_lyrics/ | {
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"text": [
"Because you are actually singing with a very very small delay to the actual lyrics, at least the beginning of each line or so, because you can probably finish the lyrics if you have he beginning."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
6jcvy9 | why do humans get headaches? is there a sole reason or is it a combination of factors? and does the factor(s) also cause migraines? | I realize when I am dehydrated, I get headaches, but also over stimulation may also cause it for Me? I'm extremely curious and any help/ answers would be greatly appreciated. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6jcvy9/eli5_why_do_humans_get_headaches_is_there_a_sole/ | {
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"The exact mechanism that causes headaches isn't/aren't yet fully understood. All we know is that there are many known factors that can trigger it. Like blood vessel constriction/dilation, and a change in hormone levels. (And that's also why more women suffer headaches than men.)\n\n\nCertain patterns of brain activity have been found to trigger blood vessel constrictions, which will reduce the oxygen supplied to the brain. Consequently, the blood vessels dilate and some chemicals that cause inflammation are released. The nerves nearby have pain sensitive endings and these can be triggered by that, activating the pain centres in return.\n\n\nAs for migraines, we are less familiar wih how they work but apparently have something to do with the constriction and dilation of blood vessels too.",
"One of the major causes of headaches in someone who get's them a lot for no obvious reason is an Undiagnosed eye condition. Basically the person is a little bit short sighted/ long sighted etc. and doesn't realize it. This means their eye muscles have to really strain beyond their normal capacity to bring certain things into focus. This causes them to start aching in a similar way that any other muscles does when overworked and bingo suddenly you have a headache.\n\n"
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63z1m2 | the assad regime | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63z1m2/eli5_the_assad_regime/ | {
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"Heads up, there are serious conspiracy theorists on both sides of this issue right now from T_D and Trump/Putin truthers.\nIf you want to learn about geopolitics, this NOT the place. If you want an ELI5 you WILL get garbage. Even if it is a long explanation or seems to make a lot of sense, you need to understand geopolitics is extremely messy. If you actually want to understand situation,\n you need to put in the effort. Read from news sources on all sides, Europe, US, Russia. Take note of which actors they use for information, every media outlet has a bias to support their countries interests. \n\nRemember, this isn't rocket science. Rocket science can deliver concrete answers using provable theorems.\nThis is History in the making. Nobody agrees on history until it is long gone.",
"Going to go for the most neutral answer possible here. But to state my biases for the record: I oppose his government and also oppose foreign intervention into the country, be it American or Russian, whether this intervention is aimed at cowing or overthrowing him, or at propping him up.\n\n______________\n\nAssad runs a strongman-style government that rules with an iron fist and has won the fierce loyalty of a large section (possibly a majority) of Allawites by favoring them. The closest equivalent I can think of is the Sri Lankan government, which strongly favors the Sinhalese and in doing so has won the loyalty of many Sinhalese people.\n\nTo his supporters he is a bulwark against chaos and has presided over increased living standards. To his opponents he is a dictator willing to burn the country and everyone in it to protect his family's privileges. \n\nHe's not a Sunni supremacist like ISIS, nor a Shia supremacist like the post invasion Iraqi government. He's a more classical dictator, albeit one who might win an election if a free and fair election were possible in Syria today.",
"Alright, I'll start by laying out defined facts that we can all agree on. Bashar Al-Assad is the current president of Syria, and has been since 2000. He is the head of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. He was elected in 2000, 2007, and 2014. The election of 2014 was contentious because many international media outlets accused the elections of being tightly controlled and not independently monitored. Up until about 2011, Assad was seen as a reformer by much of the international community up until his crackdown on reformist protestors during the Arab Spring. These protestors called for reforms and the reinstatement of civil rights. The Syrian government responded with violence to quell protests. In response to this and other acts, sanctions were gradually imposed on Syria, however, larger sanctions from the UN were prevented by the veto of Russia, a security council member. Eventually protests turned into armed revolts, and it became a civil war. During the war, Assad and his government have been accused of war crimes and human rights offenses. From the outright and purposeful killing of children and civilians, to shelling civilian areas, to sexual crimes committed by government forces, to gassing civilians. Assad has claimed at different times that these were the rebels doing, not his, or just denying it. "
]
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[],
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||
18kjh2 | what this tesla model s thing is about? | I think I started reading the articles a little too late and to be quite honest I don't get it. Its always on the front page and just makes no sense to me | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18kjh2/eli5_what_this_tesla_model_s_thing_is_about/ | {
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"text": [
"Journalist smears Tesla.\n\nTesla responds with telemetry showing journalist lied about events in article.",
"A New York Times journalist wrote an [unflattering article](_URL_1_[AttTgt,LbIcsa,1])\nabout the Model S. The gist of his claim was that most likely due to the cold weather during the drive, the Model S had battery life issues during the drive and inevitably died on the last length of the journey. Tesla [fired back with some telemetry data](_URL_0_) supposedly contradicting the Times article, and the Times journalist [shot back as well](_URL_2_).\n\nIt's largely a \"he said, she said\" where both sides are fudging things. [According to Wired](_URL_3_), Tesla won't release the raw data so it's hard to get to the bottom of it for certain.",
"1. A New York Times reviewer wrote up a description of a trip he took in a Tesla car. He described instances where the car didn't get as much mileage as Tesla claimed, and that at one point the car ran out of power and he had to have the car towed.\n\n2. The head of Tesla called him a god damn liar (I'm paraphrasing here)\n\n3. The reviewer published a blog post and stood by his claims\n\n4. The head of Tesla published the log data from the reviewers trip. In it, they were able to demostrate clear discrepancies with what the reporter said (e.g. \"I never drove the car over 65 MPH\") and what actually happened (e.g. \"he drove the car at 80MPH for at least 10 minutes). They produced data that appears to indicate that the reviewer may have intentionally tried to drain the battery, and may have removed the car from the charging station before the car was ready to travel the distance he intended.\n\n5. The Reviewer has responded again, but so far he's blamed the Tesla PR group for giving him false information about what he could/couldn't do with the car.\n\n6. Someone from CNN drove the same car on the same trip as the NYT Reviewer without any significant issues.",
"ELI5 should actually be ITFLTGI (I'm Too Fucking Lazy To Google It)."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/most-peculiar-test-drive",
"http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/automobiles/stalled-on-the-ev-highway.html?ref=business&_r=2&pagewanted=all&#h",
"http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/that-tesla-data-what-it-says-and-what-it-doesnt/",
"http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/02/tesla-logs-nytimes/"
],
[],
[]
] |
|
2o8eao | if the french helped us with the american revolution, gifted us the statue of liberty, and we liberated them from the nazi's, why is there a mutual dislike of eachother? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2o8eao/eli5_if_the_french_helped_us_with_the_american/ | {
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"text": [
"1. Americans invent the insult \"cheese eating surrender monkeys\", to describe the French.\n\n2. The term was used by Jonah Goldberg, a conservative American National Review journalist in April 1999 as the title of a column called \"Top Ten Reasons to Hate the French\".\n\n3. In the run-up to and during the Iraq War, Goldberg reprised the phrase to criticize European nations and France in particular for not joining the United States in its invasion and occupation of Iraq.\n\n4. French people think \"wow, Americans are such assholes.\"\n",
"I'm not exactly a representative sample, but I'm French and I can give you my two cents on the subject. \n\nI don't think Americans and French people hate each other, at least not the individuals. I don't know many people in France who hate Americans, and I've been to Minnesota twice and have always been very well received. I've also met quite a few Americans from other states and they have always shown a lot of interest for my country.\n\nHowever, it seems French people dislike Americans politics as they are very different from theirs and the same is true from an American point of view. So each country seems to loath the other's leaders and general population behavior, but appreciate the individuals.\n\nWhat do you think?",
"It is based on the stereotypes of the different countries.\nFrench people are milquetoast pompous douches and Americans are stupid loud assholes.\n\nThese are just stereotypes of course."
]
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[],
[],
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