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1awcmo
|
why does north korea hate the us so much?
|
Everyday it seems like North Korea rally's agains the United States, why do they despise the West so much?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1awcmo/eli5_why_does_north_korea_hate_the_us_so_much/
|
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"text": [
"A few reasons:\n\nFirst, and most importantly, the United States interrupted a civil war when we went into Korea. We in the US and most other places tend to think of Korea as having started as a proxy war between the US and China, but inside Korea, it was seen as a civil war. While the US didn't win the Korean War, we did manage to keep the South safe, and US military presence has been in South Korea ever since to prevent Northern aggression. I don't know about North Koreans in general, since they have little voice, but the North Korean government's position is that there should be a united Korea, and the US is preventing that. \n\nSecond, the US makes for a compelling bad-guy in North Korean propaganda. We have the most advanced and powerful military in the world, we're still the most powerful economic force in the world, and yet North Korea is still standing. They use the US as a bogeyman, central to propaganda used to intimidate and manipulate the North Korean population, much in the same way Middle Eastern 'terrorists' are used to scare and control people here in the US. If you ever get the opportunity, with your parents' permission, google North Korean propaganda posters. They make themselves out to be the scrappy underdog who is fighting the good fight against the evil, corrupt United States. \n\nAll that having been said, it's really hard to know what your average North Korean citizen thinks. Because of repressive policies about free speech and freedom of communication, combined with the third-world reality on the ground, it's anyone's guess as to what Joe Korean thinks. Perhaps they're savvy, understanding that the government is a joke and the US isn't so much the bad guys as we are just another player on the international stage. Or perhaps they buy the propaganda and think we eat babies. ",
"Ever read 1984? Totalitarian regimes are more effective when they have an enemy to focus their rhetoric against. For the North Korea, we (the US) are the obvious choice, for reasons that others have mentioned.",
"A general answer. It's not because everyone \"hates your freedoms\": \n\n_URL_0_ \n",
"It boils down to the United States trying diminish the sovereignty of N. Korea. The U.S. uses liberal institutions, such as the U.N., to inflict will on N. Korea. The most obvious example would be the use of sanctions. When you have one government that refuses to conform to the liberal agenda you might have problems.\n\nEvery state is rational. They do what is in the best interest for their country. N. Korea believes attaining nuclear weapons will be a deterrent for S. Korea and U.S. action. They think by doing this they will gain more power in the international system, however, liberal institutions such as the U.N. are keeping them down and we all know who runs the show in the U.N."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Program#Torture"
],
[]
] |
|
66hc4l
|
the mandlebrot set
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/66hc4l/eli5the_mandlebrot_set/
|
{
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"Start with the value 0. Then form a sequence where, at each step, you square the current value and then add 1. This sequence turns out to be 0, 0^(2)+1 = 1, 1^(2)+1 = 2, 2^(2)+1 = 5, 5^(2)+1 = 26, .... This is going to get bigger and bigger with each step, shooting off to infinity as you take more and more terms in the sequence. On the other hand, if your operation at each step were to square the current value and then add -1, the sequence would be 0, 0^(2)-1 = -1, (-1)^(2)-1 = 0, 0^(2)-1 = -1, (-1)^(2)-1 = 0, ..., which just alternates between 0 and -1 and clearly does not grow infinitely large.\n\nSo for what values of x does the sequence \"start with 0, then at each step square the current value and add x\" grow infinitely large, and for what values does it stay bounded within a finite range? One guess might be \"if x is positive, the sequence grows to infinity, and otherwise it stabilizes\". But this turns out to be wrong: if x = -3 you get the sequence 0, 0^(2)-3 = -3, (-3)^(2)-3 = 6, 6^(2)-3 = 33, ..., which grows without bound, while on the other hand if x = 0.1 the sequence ends up converging to a value approximately equal to 0.1127.\n\nIt turns out that when x is a real number, it turns out that the sequence grows without bound whenever x < -2 or x > 1/4. If you allow x to be a complex number (something of the form a+bi where i^2 = -1) it is much trickier to determine when the sequence grows to infinity. The Mandelbrot set is defined as the set of complex numbers that do *not* make the sequence grow to infinity. You can test this out yourself for various values of x; one convenient property for testing these sequences is that if the magnitude of any term in the sequence is ever greater than 2, the sequence is guaranteed to grow to infinity. In order to get an accurate picture of the entire Mandelbrot set, though, you'd probably want a computer to calculate the sequences for thousands or millions of different x-values.\n\nThe simplest way of [depicting the Mandelbrot set](_URL_0_) is just to color the points in the set black and leave the rest of the graph white. Some plots are [more colorful](_URL_1_); in this case black still means that the point stabilizes in a finite range, while the other points are colored based on how fast they make the sequence diverge to infinity."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Mandelset_hires.png",
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Mandel_zoom_00_mandelbrot_set.jpg"
]
] |
||
3rzfm3
|
why have we not yet automated parachute packing?
|
It blows my mind that all parachutes seem to be packed by hand, even when they're shipped out of the factory. I get there are some tricky logistical issues involved, but we've solved harder problems. With something that has to be done to a consistent standard every single time and with how much time/space it requires, how is this not a thing yet? I search Google and there is virtually 0 talk about this.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3rzfm3/eli5why_have_we_not_yet_automated_parachute/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cwsoj6x"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"I'd have to think that there's little to no demand for such a process, mostly because I think most people simply prefer putting their life in the hands of something they packed themself. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
aoviy2
|
are the x-ray machines in hospital dangerous and cause cancer, and if so why do they use it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aoviy2/eli5_are_the_xray_machines_in_hospital_dangerous/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eg3u9lv"
],
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],
"text": [
"High doses of xrays and gamma rays have been proven to increase cancer risks, but that's not the same as the exposure from an xray for diagnostic purposes. In those instances the exposures are very low power and the benefits of being able to accurately detect bone breakages far outweigh the risks."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
3jw7k3
|
relative atomic mass
|
I have been reading on Wikipedia about Relative atomic mass but sorry to say, I do not get it. Could someone please explain what is it and why we might use it in a way that I can understand. TIA
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jw7k3/eli5relative_atomic_mass/
|
{
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"cussl6q"
],
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"text": [
"The weight of some atoms varies. For instance, in the case of Hydrogen, there are two stable types: regular hydrogen-1, which has a nucleus with just a proton, and the much rarer hydrogen-2 (usually called 'deuterium') with a proton and a neutron. Both of them occur naturally, and they're chemically almost identical, but one weighs more than the other.\n\nWhat you do for the relative atomic mass is to take all the different stable (or so long-lived as to be effectively stable) forms of an element, and figure out what their *average* weight is based on their abundances in nature. For instance, if natural hydrogen were 50% hydrogen-1 and 50% hydrogen-2 (it isn't), then the average weight would be (50%)\\*1 + (50%)\\*2 = 1.5. As it happens, hydrogen-1 is the vast majority of natural hydrogen, so the average weight is actually very close to 1.\n\nThere are some finer details here (the mass isn't exactly [number of protons] + [number of neutrons], among other things) but that's the basic idea."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3s4qum
|
if our industries are now more productive than ever, why does everybody seem to need to work so hard for a living?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s4qum/eli5_if_our_industries_are_now_more_productive/
|
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"text": [
"Because almost all wealth from productivity gains goes to the top 1%. In other words, workers work harder but the owners/business makes all the newly generated income.",
"A few things have dramatically changed the price of goods over the last few decades. The first is technological progress and the second is the opening up of labor markets around the world. So your iphone can be made by extremely cheap Chinese (or whatever) labor using automated factories and this thing that seemed like futuristic technology only a decade ago now can cost next to nothing if you're willing to buy only a slightly older model.\n\nThis has a few effects, it makes most things cheaper for everyone, raises the wages of skilled workers, but also lowers the wages of unskilled workers. The people who design, program, etc. the machines in that factory get paid more, the demand for workers who are replaced by those machines decreases and thus so does their pay. I remember recently seeing an article on reddit about how growth jobs with a social aspect outpaced growth anywhere else because this is one of the few areas an unskilled human can do a better job than a machine.\n\nSo if your unskilled things are cheaper but you get paid less, but there's one more problem. Just as technology, new labor markets, etc. have a different effect on different workers, they also have a different effect on different goods. Physical goods tend to benefit tremendously, the things made in those Chinese factories, so its much easier to buy a fridge, microwave, iphone, etc. pretty much no matter where you fall in the economic spectrum. The problem is that some goods are either not tradeable and therefore don't benefit from new labor markets, and/or heavily rely on skilled labor and therefore can't benefit from either new labor markets or cheap technology as much. These unfortunately include a lot of essential big-ticket items like housing, education, and healthcare. Obviously they benefit somewhat from technology, but you can't really get them from China, and especially for healthcare and education you must hire skilled domestic workers, the ones whose wages have increased dramatically while unskilled workers' wages have been decreasing. So while a lot on little things are cheaper, the big essentials that eat into your budget and really can't be cut much are growing, and growing out of pace with the wages of unskilled workers.",
"In the simplest terms? Because trickle down economics is bull. CEOs tighten their belts on the employees while making 20 million a year themselves and wonder why they lose money. It's like they don't realise their employees buy things from OTHER companies. If nobody pays anybody any money no products will be bought. So because they are stupid they continue to raise prices and pay employees nothing, the company turns a profit because they take advantage of their employees add they suffer instead.",
"The simple answer is that no CEO is going to leave money on the table so will therefore work their workers hard to extract the last bit of work and profit. \n\nThe other question is why dont workers organize and assert their rights . A big part of the answer is that people/workers are lead to believe that if they organize in any way they will end up worse off or are being \"communist\". \n "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
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||
mkbo2
|
john rawls "the law of the people"
|
[This](_URL_1_) helped a bit, but I'm really struggling through this book. We're having a class discussion on the 6th or 8th of December, but I want to get it done before then.
Would anyone be able to explain it or point me to a resource that goes through each chapter in depth, or maybe a lecture on the book or Rawls?
I posted in [r/PoliticalDiscussion](_URL_2_) too.
Edit: [Here's](_URL_0_) a lecture from Academic Earth that touches on it.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/mkbo2/elif_john_rawls_the_law_of_the_people/
|
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"text": [
"You might get something out of this video, it helped me a lot:\n\n_URL_0_",
"You might get something out of this video, it helped me a lot:\n\n_URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://academicearth.org/lectures/constitutional-government-locke-second-treatise-13-19",
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/k5ng3/elif_a_theory_of_justice_by_john_rawls/",
"http://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalDiscussion/comments/mkay8/can_someone_help_me_understand_rawls_the_law_of/"
] |
[
[
"http://freevideolectures.com/Course/2878/The-Moral-Foundations-of-Politics/16"
],
[
"http://freevideolectures.com/Course/2878/The-Moral-Foundations-of-Politics/16"
]
] |
|
3dpwir
|
weyl fermions
|
I found this article in /r/science - _URL_0_
I was a physics major in college and I try to keep up, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this... how can these particles replace electrons?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3dpwir/eli5weyl_fermions/
|
{
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"text": [
"You might also try at /r/askscience"
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://phys.org/news/2015-07-year-massless-particle-next-generation-electronics.html"
] |
[
[]
] |
|
2impc0
|
if pregnant women used to do things that are now deemed harmful for the unborn, how were plenty of healthy babies produced?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2impc0/eli5_if_pregnant_women_used_to_do_things_that_are/
|
{
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"text": [
"Because there's only a potential to cause harm to the fetus. There's potential that it will be fine, as well.",
"Luck? Honestly, as a formerly pregnant woman, I have wondered this myself. Not the obvious ones, like excessive alcohol, but you aren't supposed to have caffeine or processed meats, or too much fish, etc. It all seems a bit like, we \"think\" this is bad, so stay away. I still drank a cup of coffee and ate lunch meat and even *gasp* had an occasional rare glass of wine while pregnant, and my kid turned out just fine. I did quit smoking though. ",
"Imagine it as a lottery. Each time you do something harmful for a baby, you get a ticket. Most people won't win the awful lottery, and their children won't die or end up disabled. But I'd sure rather have 7 tickets than 7,000. And we can look at infant mortality rates and see that they've dropped significantly. in 2010, there were 6 deaths per 1,000 births, in 1970, it was 20 per 1,000 births, and in 1850 it was 217 per 1,000 births. There were still healthy babies produced, but the percentage that were harmed was much greater."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
1qunr4
|
why are cars from the 80s and early 90s really boxy, while current cars have a rounded profile?
|
Whenever I see a car (a regular car, not a high-end sports car) from that time period, I always notice how ugly and boxy it is. But most cars that you see on the road now, even the cheapest ones, have a much more rounded and appealing profile.
I gather that it might be cheaper to make a car with angular parts than to give it a more rounded appearance, but then the same would go for today as it would then, wouldn't it? Has there been some big change in manufacturing to make this more affordable? Or is it just a change in fashion?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qunr4/eli5_why_are_cars_from_the_80s_and_early_90s/
|
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"text": [
"I don't like the way you say \"ugly and boxy\" as if they were synonymous. For me, there hasn't been an attractive car made since 1992 - all the new ones look like dropped ice-creams, and are nowhere near appealing as an old Mercedes W123 or BMW E30.\n\nWe had CAD back in the '70s for car design, so \"it's computers, man\" isn't the complete answer for the changing styles. But manufacturing costs are, and in the days of hand-welded shells and hand-beaten panels, curves cost more so designers were very economical with them. These days, manufacturing processes have become cheap enough to make a car any shape you want, within reason.",
"I have a '77 AMC Gremlin. It's a pure steel car. The hood feels 3x heavier than my Altima hood.\n\nNow cars are made more of plastic and lighter/stronger steel. Plus there is a huge space efficiency between cars then and no when it comes to under the hood. I can easily work on my Gremlin (plenty of room), but have to take my Altima to the shop for just about everything. I had a belt fall off on my Altima so I didn't have power steering, took me almost an hour to try to get it back on. It's right at the right fender and wheel and was not easy to see or feel.",
"There are plenty of factors, some of which have already been mentioned. \n\nFirst, styles change and evolve over time. Fashionable clothing was different in the 80s and early 90s too; car styling evolves similarly. Many of those boxy cars were quite attractive at the time, and some of them were cheap crap too. \n\nSecond, safety regulations. One reason modern cars have rounded noses and high hoods, trunks, and beltlines (the level the bottom of the windows are at) is because some countries have pedestrian safety laws that mandate cars be built this way--the pedestrian is more likely to survive being struck. Because cars are usually designed to be sold in every part of the world with minimal modification, cars everywhere have these features. Modern cars also have large, rounded fronts to conceal a steel bumper underneath. This is a little more attractive than bolting the bumper in front of the bodywork. Modern cars also have stronger roofs than older models, and thus all have thicker pillars. \n\nThird, manufacturing, materials, and design practices. It's gotten cheaper to build cars with complex body shapes, especially when large parts of the car are made of plastic. Headlights can be made in any shape and integrated with the rounded design of the car. Cars are all designed to be as aerodynamic as possible, and the body shapes that work well for that are repeated with slight variation across many models. \n\nThere's more to it than that, but I think those are probably the biggest ones. Regulations have the largest and most immediate impact because they are legally required, and everything else evolves over time. \n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
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|
1o0fgc
|
how does someone across the country get your credit card number if you never purchase anything online?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1o0fgc/eli5_how_does_someone_across_the_country_get_your/
|
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"text": [
"people can scan your credit card number using a fake card reader thats mounted over real card swipe machines. Then they sell your credit card number to people who can create a \"clone\" of your credit card. \n\nThis can also be done using a handheld device that would fit in your pocket. always be weary of any place that swipes your card out of your sight",
"People can get it from any machine that you use it on **if they installed a skimmer on it.** Basically, this is a machine that they put on the card slot on something like an ATM and use it to grab your card details.\n\nIf you have a chip card, then this can't do a whole lot - it can't replicate the chip, so all they'd get is the information on the magnetic strip. If you don't have a chip card, then they can basically clone your card.",
"Pull your credit report. Credit card numbers can be swiped with skimmers. These things can be mounted to ATMs and retrieved at a later time. Some business establishments also have shady business practices or one of their employees can be stealing credit card numbers. The information is usually. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
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||
7cx5jv
|
why animals don't do warm-up before hunting?
|
Won't they get injured?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7cx5jv/eli5why_animals_dont_do_warmup_before_hunting/
|
{
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"dptagmw",
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"text": [
"They do.\n\nCats and canines do some pretty obvious stretching upon waking. Then they walk, typically, to a site for hunting.\n\nEdit: there is also growing doubt about the real benefits of stretching immediately before heavy exercise. ",
"Many animals do, but for those that don't, we can assume it's because they haven't evolved to understand the benefits. Humans obviously can comprehend the basics of bio-mechanics, so we prepare our muscles for work."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
eg0kbh
|
how does holographic art make it look like there is an object on a sheet of shiny paper if you look at it from different angles
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eg0kbh/eli5_how_does_holographic_art_make_it_look_like/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fc3mnla"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"This is done by lenticular printing. To make a simple 3D holograph of an object, you take a center, left and right picture of the object, line them up and then slice them into thin strips and organize them sequentially (123123123123...) to create a single image containing all the slices. You then place a clear lenticular sheet over it with small ridges that will allow you to only see one image at a time depending on which angle you are viewing it. The left edge of the ridge will show you image 1, the center will show you image 2 and the right edge will show you image 3. The slight perspective differences in the three images when viewed from 3 different perspectives is what creates the illusion of 3 dimensional space on a 2 dimensional plane."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1dsj4n
|
vpns and anonymous browsing.
|
I have no clue how these work, being quite uneducated about information technology in general. But I'd really like to understand. What is a VPN? Does it really offer true privacy? Are there decent free ones, or should you purchase one?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1dsj4n/eli5_vpns_and_anonymous_browsing/
|
{
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"text": [
"VPN stands for virtual private network. What it basically does is allow your computer to connect to a server and connect to anything *through* that server. VPN's have many uses, one of them is offering some form of privacy.\n\nFrom a privacy perspective this is what you want it to do:\n\nYou connect to a vpn server, and encrypt all the traffic from you to the server and from the server back to you, which means that if you 'listen in' on what your computer is communicating with the server, you won't be able to tell what is send back and forth.\n\nWhat happens next is that the vpn server makes all the connections to the 'outside internet.' This means that the sites you visit 'see' the IP address of the vpn server connect to them, and have no way to tell that this is you. So in essence the vpn server stands between you and the internet.\n\nThe vpn server knows, of course, which connections it makes for you (since it has to send you the information) so that's a possible leak of your privacy (question is: is that information saved?) You could have a VPN server connect to another VPN server to solve this issue somewhat.\n\nNext is the fact that a website will have more information of you than just your IP address. You send the site your browser version, screen resolution, cookies you might have and maybe even your log in name.\n\nI don't actually know if there are good free vpn servers. Note that since all the traffic will go through the vpn server, your connection speed is limited by the vpn server.\n\nIf you want better privacy it's probably better to use [tor](_URL_0_). Which solves the problem of the vpn server knowing where you are going. (the exit node of tor knows which site to go to, but not who that information is going to.) But as soon as you log in to some site, that remote site will know that it's you.\n\nOther than that your computer saves what websites you visit in browser history (hence the private browsing feature in most browers).",
"When you browse the web, you send information to the site, and they send information back to you. This is accomplished using what are called IP addresses- a set of numbers that you're the only Internet connection on the web to use. So, you know their IP address, but that's not a big deal, because everyone has to know their IP address to use their site.\n\nThe bigger deal is that they know YOUR IP address, which can carry a lot of information about you. For example, it might reveal your general geographic location, your ISP, etc. Armed with a subpoena and your IP address, private companies can even go to your ISP and ask \"Who had this IP address at such and such a time?\" That's how they catch pirates- they find the IP addresses of people who downloaded their movies, and subpoena their ISPs to find real names to use in lawsuits.\n\nA VPN is a \"virtual private network\". You can dial into it from anywhere in the world. Lots of big companies use them so that people can work remotely but still be connected to the corporate network, but I think you're asking about a different type here.\n\nA VPN, in the way you're asking, still works the same way. You can still connect to it over the Internet and sign in with a username and password. The difference here is that you're not using it to connect to other computers that are on the VPN; you're using it to browse the Internet. Essentially, you stop using YOUR IP address to browse websites, and start using the VPN'S IP address. So a request goes from you in encrypted form into the VPN, the VPN forwards the request to the website that needs to fill the request, the website sends data back to the VPN, and the VPN passes that data back to you.\n\nThis is great, because websites don't know that it's \"you\" that they're talking to. All they see is the IP address of the VPN, which any number of people might be using at any given time. And, if it's a privacy-oriented VPN, they won't keep track of who's connected to the VPN at any given time, so they don't have any records that can be subpoenaed.\n\n**TL;DR: Using a VPN for your illegal torrents and downloads means that there's no way a content provider can tie a download back to you.**"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.torproject.org/"
],
[]
] |
|
3g5olt
|
unruh radiation.
|
Other explanations on this subreddit were overly convoluted, so I wondered if someone could simplify this difficult to understand idea.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3g5olt/eli5_unruh_radiation/
|
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"Unruh radiation is basically the same phenomenon as Hawking radiation: it represents pair-production at the event horizon.\n\nAn accelerating spaceship observes an event horizon behind it, called the Rindler Horizon. Obviously, the existence of the Rindler Horizon is a question of choice: as soon as the ship ceases to accelerate, the horizon disappears. But that doesn't mean that it's a false horizon; indeed, anything that falls through it can never contact the spacecraft again, it takes infinite time to fall through it from the spacecraft's perspective, etc. All of these properties should be familiar as the properties of a black hole's event horizon. The two are very similar, and you can (to first order, at least) consider the accelerating spacecraft to be the in the same situation as a spacecraft firing its engines to remain hovering above the event horizon of a black hole.\n\nOne of the properties the Rindler horizon shares with the Schwartzschild horizon is the property of Hawking radiation. A particle pair produced near the horizon can be split into one particle that falls inwards and another that is able to reach the ship. When this radiation is produced by a Rindler horizon, we call it Unruh radiation."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
1q5wp0
|
why am i better at one on one conversations than in groups?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1q5wp0/why_am_i_better_at_one_on_one_conversations_than/
|
{
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"I'm like this too, and it seems to grow exponentially with each additional person. I don't like being the center of attention, perhaps it's because of the judging eyes... most likely just due to illogical insecurities "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
2ups33
|
we make vitamin d in our skin, this is powered by sun energy. i am not a plant. how am i making energy from the sun?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ups33/eli5_we_make_vitamin_d_in_our_skin_this_is/
|
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"I don't think you're making energy from the sun. Basically what is happening is that as the sun light hits your body it is turning cholesterol into Vitamin D. Vitamin D doesn't really provide energy to you're body per say, that comes in majority from carbohydrates.",
"You aren't making energy from the sun; vitamins aren't energy.\n\nYour body uses UV light to synthesize vitamin D. Plants do something similar to synthesize glucose (NOT energy).",
"Vitamin D is photochemically produced when a precursor chemical breaks down in the presence of Ultra Violet rays, particularly UV B rays.\n\nVitamin D is produced from a particular form of cholestrol. Since we store cholestrol in the form of fat under our skin, exposure to sunlight triggers this reaction thus producing Vitamin D. \n",
"We don't get Vitamin D directly from the sun. Instead, Vitamin D (more specifically Vitamin D3, which is a variant of Vitamin D) is created when 7-dehydrocholesterol, a type of cholesterol found in our skin, is exposed to ultra-violet radiation.",
"The human body stores fat just under the skin, some of this stored fat is cholesterol, a really big molecule. The sun provides the energy required (UV rays) to change the cholesterol molecule to the vitamin D molecule. You ~~are~~ aren't \"making energy from the sun\", you are using the energy provided by the sun to get a chemical reaction done, changing the way matter is structured.",
"Plants harvest energy form the sun in two ways which are generally useful for a bunch of different things which need energy (called ATP and NADPH).\n\nFor vitamin D, the sunlight makes one specific transformation. This is of no general use outside of the one pathway it is a part of, and the product is not meaningfully different in energy than the starting point. The light energy is needed to make the change, but that energy is not stored away in the process.",
"You do not take in energy from the sun. The sun converts cholesterol that is in our skin into vitamin D. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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||
2clkcw
|
how do artificial voice programs speak?
|
Does the woman sit there and record something like the top 1000 syllables or individual phonemes or words? Furthermore how different are things like Garmin and Siri from the old Windows 95 guy?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2clkcw/eli5_how_do_artificial_voice_programs_speak/
|
{
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"Standard phrases are pre-recorded by a person. There are also software/hardware that convert a particular text into speech called text-to-speech synthesizers. These are used to read out a written text in a particular tone and is commonly used by people with disabilities."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
4a6p76
|
why is it that brail is a thing/that blind people don't just feel the abc's like those with site read them?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4a6p76/eli5_why_is_it_that_brail_is_a_thingthat_blind/
|
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"For most signs with braille (such as bathroom signs) tend to have bigger letters than can be read by a single finger. It would take the blind person a lot more time to trace each letter of the sign. Braille letters can be placed a lot more compactly, so it's quicker and easier to read.",
"Because normal letters are too close to each other in shape so it would take way to long to tell them apart",
" > Braille letters can be placed a lot more compactly, so it's quicker and easier to read.\n\nThere's more to it than that! \"Grade 2 English Braille\" has well over a hundred (I used to know this, but I've let my knowledge lapse -- 186?) multiple-letter combinations and abbreviations to cover common letter combinations. \"and\", \"for\", \"of\", \"the\", and \"with\" are all single-cell words; Some cells mean different things depending on whether they are leading, embedded, or trailing; there are two-cell codes for, for example, -ing, -ble, -tion, -sion, and -ation (the latter means that \"nation\" can be written with three cells). Next time you're in an elevator, look at the labels; OPEN is three cells because (EN) is a digraph, ALARM is four cells because (AR), etc.",
"I think a more prudent question is: how do the blind even learn Braile?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
3i854n
|
how do we know that the tsa hasn't stopped any terror attacks? isn't the point of the tsa to be a deterrent?
|
Kind of like a home security system. If nobody tries to break in, I couldn't say that my home security system is useless because probably the sign on the lawn is keeping people from even trying.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3i854n/eli5_how_do_we_know_that_the_tsa_hasnt_stopped/
|
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"The TSA is a huge failure. They recently missed 96% of undercover tests done to check effectiveness. It's a huge waste of time and money and doesn't work, but nobody wants to admit it. ",
"The point of the TSA is probably to keep the honest people honest. It is the same as locking a door. You want to prevent the easy opportunity. Someone who is going to want to steal will do so, but a smart thief wants a soft target, not a hard one. Using a deterrent will not solve the issue, but it will weed out many potential non-serious ones. \n\n",
"It's a fair point. It's a nature of what they do that their failures are public and their successes are often private because even they don't know about it.\n\nThe TSA has its issues, to be sure, but anyone using blanket statements like \"they've never prevented a terror attack\" clearly isn't speaking from a position of informed authority."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
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|
lg15k
|
. money laundering
|
After watching Breaking Bad I still have no idea how this works. How can you report finical gain in a company if it comes from nothing?How does one government not pick up on it? Halp :(
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/lg15k/eli5_money_laundering/
|
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"This is just my understanding of it, don't take it for fact.\n\nKindergarten:\nLets say you sell drugs, and get 10 pogs from them. But, if your parents see you with 10 pogs that they didn't buy, they will ask you where you got them. So what you do is, you trade your drugs for cupcakes, and then have a bake sale. You won't get as much pogs, but you can tell your mom and dad you got the pogs from your bake sale.\n\n\n4th grade:\n\nThe reason you need to do laundering is because if you start spending money you got from nowhere (no banking transactions/other methods) the IRS will start an investigation. Money laundering itself is when you buy a business, and you \"siphon\" your money through it, (as in, you give the business all your drug money, and then the business gives it back to you.) giving the IRS a source of all this money you are making, and also giving them a cut (taxes).",
"Nice try, Michael Bolton.",
"normally in a business to see profit you need customers spending money. at a business that launders they take the unaccounted money the drug lords give them and ring it up as fake customers. and so that money gets taxed and after that, the business owner takes a cut and hands the rest over to the drug lords, the government thinks you acquired it through the business' success. for laundering to work you need a business that(ideally) deals in many cash transactions",
"You have illegal income (say money from selling drugs) that you want to make legal (like a return on a legal investment). The process of turning the illegal money into legal money is money laundering.\n\nThe easiest way to do this is with a business that could potentially have lots of cash-paying customers. Like a restaurant, for example. Say your restaurant gets 500 customers a week and each customer typically pays $20 for a meal. That's $10000 per week (for real, legal). Now you've got another $2000 in illegal drug money that you want to launder. You simply make up another 100 customers and use your $2000 to pay for their pretend meals. You enter fake transactions into your restaurant's record-keeping system and add the illegal cash to the restaurant's revenue. Now your restaurant has the $2000, but since you own the restaurant, that money will eventually flow back to you as profit that the restaurant made. And, if you think about it, it really will be straight profit because the restaurant didn't actually have to spend any money (on food, etc.) to make that $2000.\n\nObviously, this still isn't fool-proof. If somebody really wanted to investigate you, they would eventually see that you didn't buy enough food for 600 customers or whatever, but if they just cursorily check *your* income compared to spending, they will see that you got all your money from your successful restaurant.",
"This is just my understanding of it, don't take it for fact.\n\nKindergarten:\nLets say you sell drugs, and get 10 pogs from them. But, if your parents see you with 10 pogs that they didn't buy, they will ask you where you got them. So what you do is, you trade your drugs for cupcakes, and then have a bake sale. You won't get as much pogs, but you can tell your mom and dad you got the pogs from your bake sale.\n\n\n4th grade:\n\nThe reason you need to do laundering is because if you start spending money you got from nowhere (no banking transactions/other methods) the IRS will start an investigation. Money laundering itself is when you buy a business, and you \"siphon\" your money through it, (as in, you give the business all your drug money, and then the business gives it back to you.) giving the IRS a source of all this money you are making, and also giving them a cut (taxes).",
"Nice try, Michael Bolton.",
"normally in a business to see profit you need customers spending money. at a business that launders they take the unaccounted money the drug lords give them and ring it up as fake customers. and so that money gets taxed and after that, the business owner takes a cut and hands the rest over to the drug lords, the government thinks you acquired it through the business' success. for laundering to work you need a business that(ideally) deals in many cash transactions",
"You have illegal income (say money from selling drugs) that you want to make legal (like a return on a legal investment). The process of turning the illegal money into legal money is money laundering.\n\nThe easiest way to do this is with a business that could potentially have lots of cash-paying customers. Like a restaurant, for example. Say your restaurant gets 500 customers a week and each customer typically pays $20 for a meal. That's $10000 per week (for real, legal). Now you've got another $2000 in illegal drug money that you want to launder. You simply make up another 100 customers and use your $2000 to pay for their pretend meals. You enter fake transactions into your restaurant's record-keeping system and add the illegal cash to the restaurant's revenue. Now your restaurant has the $2000, but since you own the restaurant, that money will eventually flow back to you as profit that the restaurant made. And, if you think about it, it really will be straight profit because the restaurant didn't actually have to spend any money (on food, etc.) to make that $2000.\n\nObviously, this still isn't fool-proof. If somebody really wanted to investigate you, they would eventually see that you didn't buy enough food for 600 customers or whatever, but if they just cursorily check *your* income compared to spending, they will see that you got all your money from your successful restaurant."
]
}
|
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|
20oldx
|
when i attempt to recall a piece of information from my memory and fail, why does that piece of information suddenly 'materialise' at a later time (often causing me to blurt it out involuntarily)?
|
e.g. A descriptive word for a biology thesis. I can't think of the term 'capillary action', and stop trying to recall it. Hours later, I'm talking to a friend, when suddenly: "Capillary action! That was it!" Does anybody have a explain that clarifies what's happening with mental processes in the meantime?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20oldx/eli5_when_i_attempt_to_recall_a_piece_of/
|
{
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"I don't know exactly what the neural process is and all my Google-fu led me to is \"fridge logic\" and \"staircase wit\", both of which I am already intimately familiar with (thank you Cracked and TVTropes) \n\nSuffice it to say, you're not alone. Maybe it just took your brain that long to dredge up the info from the archives ",
"They explained it in an Episode of vsauce: When you think of a word, your brain goes through all the words that could fit because they have a similar meaning or sound similar. \n\nBut when you can't remember a word, that you know you know, your brain has falsely ruled it out and it won't come to you anymore.\n\n\nIn this case, it usually helps to think of something completely different and restart your thinking process.",
"[NOTE: I am stepping outside of *ELI5* in this bracket set. let's go ahead and skip over basic perception and short-term memory structure (STM) and jump right into long-term memory, encoding, and retrieval. it will take too long to do so.]\n\n[also, we will disregard Atkinson and Shiffrin's inferior Modal Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) and consider the newer Working Memory developed by Baddeley and Hitch in 1974]\n\n[note: working memory - is a limited-capacity system for temporal storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks, e.g., comprehension, learning, and reasoning. unlike STM, WM is concerned with how information is manipulated through three action components: the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketch pad, and the central executive.] \n\nOk, so [we don't need to worry about STM/WM too much, since will consider you've encoded the information properly] you just experienced the tip-of-the-tongue effect? I can try to help explain it! \n\nIt's been awhile since I've touched on this subject, so I might be missing some information. \n\nConsidering you already know this word, as you've studied it before, the word \"capillary action\" has been encoded into your long-term memory (LTM) - the system responsible for storing information for long periods of time. What sort of information is stored in LTM? It's been generally accepted that any memory older than 30 seconds, not in WM, is considered encoded into LTM. Decay, which we can touch on later, has a great effect on the detail of information encoded. Do you remember where you were at 12:12PM, Sunday, March 17th, 2005? (not sure if this is a real date). Probably not. Which is perfectly normal!\n\nThere are two categories of LTM: Explicit (conscious) and Implicit (unconscious). Explicit memories are further broken down into: Episodic (personal events) and Semantic (facts, knowledge). Implicit memories are further broken down into Priming (two stimuli presented simultaneously), Procedural (skills, e.g., typing, walking, riding, swimming), and Conditioning (classical conditioning, e.g., Pavlov's dog). \n\nHere, we are concerned with your **Semantic** memory. *The memory of facts you are conscious of.* \n\n[there is a distinction between episodic and semantic memories and localized functioning in the brain (see DeRenzi et al., 1987; Rosenbaum et al., 2005; Squire & Zola-Morgan, 1998; Tulving & Markowitsch, 1998). i will not debate this in this post.]\n\nthe differences between episodic and semantic memories are not absolute - there are connections between the two. *how* we acquire knowledge can affect our semantic memory as the two types of memories occur simultaneously. when we learn facts (semantics), we are experiencing (episodic), such as sitting in a class room, eating, drinking, or with people studying their faces, voices, smells, etc. this being said, semantic memories can be enhanced if strongly associated with episodic memories! (Westmacott & Moscovitch, 2003). woot! \n\nprevious knowledge can also effect semantic retrieval (Chase & Simon, 1973). experts experience a situation with greater detail than non-experts [see *chunking*]. \n\nlet's *encode* some memories into your LTM: the word \"capillary action\" and its related facts. meta-fact! encoding is the process of transferring information from WM in LTM. let's *retrieve* capillary action, or the process of transferring information from LTM to WM. there is a strong relationship between encoding and retrieval, and how you encode can affect how you retrieve (Craik & Tulving, 1975). \n\nthere are a number of ways to get information from WM to LTM: maintenance and elaborative rehearsing, levels-of-processing, depths-of-processing, circular reasoning, paired-associative learning, self-reference effect, generation effect, retrieval cues. these are all eight factors that aid encoding I can find and safely say exist. a lot of these you have heard about from teachers giving out studying and testing advice. we can debate which method works the best! I'm open to any theories! I believe testing should also fit in there, but I can't find it referenced anywhere with the \"elite-eight\". \n\ntesting and incubation have been proven to work well (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). this phenomenon is known as the testing effect. \n\nok, so I've hopefully explained LTM, its components, and the relationship between encoding and retrieval well enough. \n\nthe best thing about encoding and studying is that encoding (by using retrieval cues technique, specifically) is more effective when the study cues are created by the person whose memory is in question. aka. pay attention and do your own homework!\n\nyour encoding process is most likely to blame for your loss of capillary action, but retrieval plays a roll to.\n\nIn 1975, Godden and Baddeley demonstrated that the best recall occurred when encoding and retrieval occurred in the same location! do you study and test in the same conditions? In Gooden and Baddeley's experiment, participants did better when testing conditions matched study conditions. \n\nIn 1989, Eich and Metcalfe tested the state-dependent learning theory, which states that learning is affected by internal states, or moods. Eich and Metcalfe found that participants did better on tests when their mood at retrieval matched their mood during encoding. \n\nIn 1977, Morris and coworkers tested the transfer-appropriate processing phenomenon - memory performance is enhanced if the type of task at encoding matches the type of task at retrieval. Morris et al. discovered that 1) deeper processing at encoding does not always result in better recall, and 2) matching encoding and retrieval tasks results in better retrieval. \n\nbreak!\n\naside from all of this, we should explain the effect you experienced in front of your friend. this a-ha moment (also known as eureka!) is actually known as **Insight**. insight is an interesting phenomenon, and its research peaked around the 50's then tapered off. in the past two decades, however, research on insight has picked up dramatically. \n\ninsight is the feeling you get when you solve a problem, any problem. the feeling's degree of effect depends on a lot of factors and are not so much important for the sake of my discussion. \n\nthere is a very bright man named Stellan Ohlsson who has dedicated a solid majority of his research efforts studying insight and problem solving. He and numerous other researchers play with the idea of aiding insight. [i don't want to get into representational change theory or spread of activation theory even if it might help you OP, my brain is fried from finals]. the three aids are as follows: incubation (a break), overcoming function fixedness (a hint), think of FF as \"writer's block,\" and heuristics (analogous transfer using rules-of-thumbs).\n\nok, so to sum up everything we've learned, your a-ha moment is probably a mixture of factors. your encoding process could have been skewed, the relationship between encoding and retrieval could have been off - affected recall, or you stepped into a situation that provided a cue that either triggered or enhanced recall. the time between testing and seeing your friend may have provided an incubation moment during which you solved your problem, or another cue from the environment may have spawned and provided a hint. \n\nI can't provide a tl;dr. \n\nalso, my brain is fried and my eyes are watering from typing all day. I can't guarantee the accuracy of my post, but I do hope it helps! \n\nedit: I'm not touching on decay. I need a break. \n\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
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|
2qzqv4
|
realistically, if i were to move to a country where i didn't speak the language, and they didn't speak mine, how long would it take me to become fluent in that language?
|
With or without available resources (language books, learning software, etc.)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2qzqv4/eli5_realistically_if_i_were_to_move_to_a_country/
|
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"at most a year to be functional. \n\na couple years to be really grammatically fluent. if ever at all.",
"Full time immersion can have you speaking it in as little as six weeks. It's largely a function of how much time you're being forced to depend on these growing language skills. If you're in some place where they're more than happy to speak your language, it might actually take longer.",
"Depends on what you're doing in that country. If you're going out and talking to people actively, it'll be a lot shorter, if you just stay home and don't interact, then you might as well have stayed in your native country.\n\nI spent two years in Japan actively talking to people all day, and I felt like I could hold a good conversation at 3 months, when I was a year in I didn't have many problems at all. I studied at home for one hour a day before starting work.",
"Depends heavily on languages. French speakers can learn Spanish much faster than they will learn Russian. English speakers can learn German or Afrikaans quickly but may struggle with Mandarin or Korean.\n\nIcelandic and other will probably take decades whereas similar structured languages may take only a year or two of total immersion to be fluent.\n\nThere is also a huge difference between fluency in passive skills (talking listening) vs fluency in reading writing vs fluency in specific subjects (career specific). Reading/writing usually lags heavily behind your passive skill when immersed heavily. You'll almost always fluently understand the language well before you can fluently speak it as well.",
"It depends on a great number of things, including how old you are, whether you have ever learned a foreign language before, how closely related the local language is to your own and tons of other things.\n\nA pre-school child can become fluent in a matter of months. After puberty, it gets harder. By the time you're an adult, you can expect to be able to communicate quite effectively inside, I would say, about a year on average, but total fluency would be unlikely. There is, however, a very big YMMV attached to all of this.\n\nOne thing that counts is motivation. In the scenario you describe, you would be forced to learn the local language pretty quickly just to be able to survive, which is a very powerful motivation. But if you don't *want* to the learn the language, you probably won't.\n\nI went to live in Germany, having learned German in school, and worked in an environment where I *had* to speak German all the time. I was 18 at the time, and after three months I had acquired a decent level of fluency and was even starting to pick up the local dialect (which I then had to unlearn when I went to university).",
"I did this, the first time was moving to an English speaking country, I only spoke my native language, it took me about 2 months to speak properly, about 6 get really good. And I'd say another 2 years to get fluent. \n\nThen I did the same again for French, took me about six months to learn enough vocabulary to do everything needed, then about a year to speak it properly. I still make some grammatical mistakes, but no more than the locals. \n\nAfrikaans took me about a month to get a good conversational level, and about 3 to get to a comfortable level, and 5-6 months for \"expert mode\" I can't write it though.\n\nGerman took about 2 weeks to get to a level where I can hold up short conversations about quite a few things, but no more. I should pursue that a bit.\n\nTL;DR: It depends on a lot of factors and each language is different. The more you learn, the easier it gets."
]
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[
[],
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|
amei8f
|
how does herpes work? why/how does it occasionally make wounds appear, and why cant we just kill it/won't it just die?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/amei8f/eli5_how_does_herpes_work_whyhow_does_it/
|
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"After the initial infection, the virus lives dormant in nerve cells and can periodically reactivate. \n\nIt does a few things to evade your immune system, like interfering with a process that normally allows virally infected cells to tell white blood cells, \"hey, I've got a virus inside me. Come kill me!\" It also interferes with other processes that would normally cause the infected cell to die.\n\nWhen it's hanging dormant inside your cells, it's just a little loop of DNA floating around inside them. Lots of viruses are very difficult to kill because of this. Most antivirals are designed to interfere with virus's ability to replicate in some way but destroying a segment of viral DNA or RNA without damaging your cells' DNA/RNA is pretty challenging to do.",
"(Not) fun fact: sores aren’t the only symptom of an outbreak! Nerve pain and influenza-like symptoms often occur just before the blisters. Personally I’d rather deal with the blisters. Once those show up it’s like, thank goodness the worst is almost over.",
"Little known but potentially hazardous and not officially recommended method of treating the actual sores is ether. If this is done at the first sign of a sore it will completely halt formation at whatever stage it is in. A dentist told my dad about this years ago, so now if I notice a tingle I just carefully spray a touch of starting fluid (ether) on a bit of paper towel being very careful not to inhale, dab it on, and that's it. Haven't had a visible sore for about 15 years. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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[]
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||
38havm
|
what's actually happening when you crack a whip?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/38havm/eli5_whats_actually_happening_when_you_crack_a/
|
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"crv1l39"
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"score": [
16
],
"text": [
"When you flick your whip, the tip of the whip snaps and actually reaches a speed faster than the speed of sound which makes a small 'sonic boom' and that's the *crack* that you hear."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
81d34p
|
china has been growing @ 7-10% for the last 40 years (give it or take). why is it that china needs to slow down to keep a healthy economy?
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/81d34p/eli5_china_has_been_growing_710_for_the_last_40/
|
{
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"dv2bcov",
"dv2butf",
"dv329yq",
"dv6xtxk"
],
"score": [
5,
4,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Part of the problem is that a growing economy means that the workers demand a higher salary, which makes production more expensive. Many companies produce in China because labour is so cheap there. But if it becomes more expensive, companies will start moving to countries that are still as cheap as China used to be.\nThis is the reason why the very cheapest clothing in stores now most of the time says \"made in Bangladesh\" on the label instead of \"made in China\".",
"A lot of growth came from the government going on construction overdrive which puts cement, steel and other industries into overproduction frenzy. Sometimes this makes for cities where people want to live and start businesses, sometimes it ends up as ghost cities of no use and wasted resources. \n\n & nbsp;\n\nThis also came at a time when some areas in China like Shenzhen were allowed to have considerably more economic freedom than before and foreign companies were encouraged to set up their businesses there considering cheap labour and other resources. Over a billion people moved out of poverty, could buy a house, and could actually afford to save money. Savings coupled with the freedom to trade meant many Chinese people could now tun their own businesses and do a much more cost-effective job at that (Xiaomi, Huawei). \n\n & nbsp;\n\nMany businesses could now sell higher priced goods and luxury items to the rising middle class. All this means that standard of living increases and as price of goods start to increase and newer expensive goods are introduced into the market, people start demanding higher wages or moving to higher wage jobs. Soon after, China doesn't seem so economical any more. \n\n & nbsp;\n\nChina's post-socialist government, perhaps because of the cash inflow or because of geopolitical reasons, wants to keep the production in China. At this growth rate (which might be dubious), companies might leave for India, Africa etc. Xiaomi, one of their largest smartphone manufacturers, already has plants and offices in India.\n\n---\n\n*(sorry for a long answer. sometimes i just like typing long answers for not much reason.)*",
"India is a +1 Billion nation with developing status that is growing with 7-8% annual growth based on domestic consumption mostly. China wants to gradually appreciate RMB yuan (thus increasing disposable income and purchasing power of wages) when it's domestic indigenous titans are mature enough to handle foreign competition for domestic market share. For example, in India, the top 5 cellphone brands is all foreign (Chinese or South Korean). In China, the top 5 cellphone brands are all Chinese except for Apple (#5). China wants to be domestic consumption -led growth like India, but also have it's indigenous titans dominate the domestic market space first.\n\n",
"One part is the danger of their economy becoming overly imbalanced. That 7% growth isn't being distributed evenly. There are problems with economic inequality, and if prices in an area spike, then the workers who don't get a part of that growth will be left behind. Look at what's happening in San Francisco as an example: the tech industry is growing so rapidly, people who run other services can't keep up, and can't afford the rents and prices in the city.\n\nThere's also the danger of growing so fast they ruin what they have. China is very reliant on manufacturing. As their economy grows, people want to tap into their markets. That could cause their currency to increase in value. If their currency is stronger, the products they export become more expensive for other countries to buy. If they grow too quickly, they could undermine their manufacturing sector and make it collapse, ruining the source of their growth.\n\nThe other danger is that their economy is being overvalued. They think their worth is growing by 7% a year, but is it really? A lot of their growth has been building millions of empty, shoddily built apartment complexes. If people realize those aren't worth what they're paying, the bubble will pop. And the bigger the gap in valuation, the more damaging it will be. Many people are looking at the bubble in China and being worried. They might be trying to take it a little easy to limit the potential damage a bubble could cause."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
29qwdw
|
with snowden leaks why has nothing changed in the usa
|
I am very confused with the state of the USA. Story after story of unethical wire tapping, spying on citizens, and worse is discovered to be carried out by the US government. Why is nothing being done? Why are people not outraged? I dont understand how this continues to happen?...
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29qwdw/eli5with_snowden_leaks_why_has_nothing_changed_in/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cinlg50",
"cinlha1",
"cinlr56",
"cinmofj"
],
"score": [
3,
3,
3,
3
],
"text": [
"Because as Americans we are as stupid as everyone thinks we are",
"Apathy, for the most part. Unless something has a palpable effect on us, we're liable to ignore it, or at least to prioritise those things which more directly impact our lives above it. There's also a great sense of impotence amongst the electorate, and with issues as large as 'the government agencies are out of control', there's no clear path to change.",
"Why has nothing changed in the whole world? \nWell, germanys chancellor, Angela Merkel, got a super encrypted phone that was produced secretly and is more expensive than an iPhone with 64gb and LTE, just to be secure that nobody, NOBODY, could spy on it. The NSA had no problems listening to her telephone calls and getting data from it. \n\nI. Dont. Trust. \n\nEspecially not the NSA and people who are related to it.",
"For popular outrage to have an effect on policy, the US of A would have to be a functioning democracy (of subtype *Republic*), which it isn't. It is an [oligarchy](_URL_0_) with only the cosmetic appearance of democracy. So do not expect change unless the rich and powerful require it."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/04/14"
]
] |
|
3ct668
|
why does it seem that clouds move in a completely different direction than the wind you feel?
|
I was working last night and I noticed that the thunderstorm I was hoping to watch, didn't match up with the wind I felt. It seemed as if the coulds were moving west, and the wind southeast. Why is that?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ct668/eli5_why_does_it_seem_that_clouds_move_in_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"csyomme",
"csyoozk"
],
"score": [
4,
2
],
"text": [
"They really can. The winds at different altitudes can be moving in different directions.\n\nIn fact this is how hot air balloon pilots attempt to steer: they change altitude seeking a wind that's going in the desired direction.",
"The wind you feel at sea level is not necessarily blowing in the same direction as the wind you experience at 5000 or 50,000 feet. Road house. Crazy wind."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
16vx8z
|
why are the penalties for murder less severe than those for assassination?
|
Shouldn't all people be considered equally valuable to society?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16vx8z/eli5_why_are_the_penalties_for_murder_less_severe/
|
{
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"c7zuf1g",
"c7zulnn",
"c7zv0w6",
"c7zxpat"
],
"score": [
5,
31,
28,
9
],
"text": [
"In what country is it considered a distinct crime?",
"Killing some random person has almost no affect on the masses, 150,000+ people die each day, killing a leader or important person can cause entire governments to fall apart causing billions of dollars in damage, deaths, and disruption of state and security. ",
"It is a cold hard fact that all people are not equally valuable to society, even if you desire to treat them that way.",
"because the people who make the laws are disproportionately targeted for assassination."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
15jgux
|
the differences between soy/whey protein and the protein in meats.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/15jgux/eli5_the_differences_between_soywhey_protein_and/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c7n14xg"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Proteins are made of chains of amino acids. While proteins may differ from source to source, they're generally made of the same amino acids.\n\nThink legos. Every lego construct looks different, but for the most part, if you smash them up, you get legos that are square, rectangular, different shapes and sizes, and you can use them to build what *you* want to build.\n\nThis is what your body does with protein. Obviously the proteins in a pig, your bicep, or soy beans aren't the same, but they're made of the same building blocks(amino acids), that your body can tear apart and rebuild into human proteins."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
34ohol
|
why is the coast guard considered a branch of the military?
|
They're technically a group that helps police waterways, and save people in the water, right? As in, the other 4 branches fight in wars, but what does the Coast Guard do to be considered part of the armed forces?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34ohol/eli5_why_is_the_coast_guard_considered_a_branch/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cqwkhfx",
"cqwkhti",
"cqwn1m7"
],
"score": [
8,
4,
2
],
"text": [
"In peacetime, they report to the Department of Homeland Security.\n\nIn wartime, they're subsumed into the Department of the Navy.",
"Because they are. \n\nThey were established for the defense of our coastline and waterways, not simply the policing of them. ",
"Coast Guard actually deploys overseas. PSU routinely protect US naval ports overseas in places like Bahrain, and the MSRT is a counterterrorism task force that routinely operates with Navy SEALs, EoD, and other special forces/elite units.\n\nAlso, as of 2008, members of the MSRT are able to apply to BUD/S, should they meet the requirements. IIRC there's currently 5-10 Coast Guardsmen currently serving under SOCOM, in SEAL teams.\n\nDuring times of peace, the USCG belongs to the DoHS to protect US waterways. During times of war, the USCG reports to the DoN, and would essentially operate as the USN's corvette/small boat fleet.\n\nDuring both World Wars, the USCG was transferred to the DoN, and the USCG operated almost 100 warships used for convoy escort and ASW (anti-submarine warfare). "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1oy8qp
|
how street sensors work at intersections with stoplights.
|
Is there like a giant pressure pad under the pavement or what?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1oy8qp/eli5_how_street_sensors_work_at_intersections/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ccwu1n7",
"ccwubrr",
"ccwwo89"
],
"score": [
4,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"They usually generate a field which bounces off of the vehicle which is then sensed by a detector, also located in the road, which then sets off a timer to change the light. ",
"There is something called an \"inductive-loop traffic detector\" that is basically like a metal detector, it detects any conductive metal (the frame of your car, for instance). It's a coiled wire in the road, when you drive over it, it sees that the induction in the wire changes, and knows you are there.",
"Besides inductive loops, sometimes there's video camera mounted on the poles. The computer can interpret the video to determine if there's a car waiting or not. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
44sd6d
|
what do people with lazy eyes see? is there a blind spot between them?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/44sd6d/eli5_what_do_people_with_lazy_eyes_see_is_there_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"czsi8uu"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Lazy eye more formally refers to amblyopia, although it is often colloquially used to refer to strabismus. I point this out because there is confusion in those terms.\n\nIn strabismus, the eyes do not align properly. This can result in a number of problems, such as double vision, loss of depth perception, persistent eye strain, and amblyopia. This condition is often referred to by terms like cross-eye or wall-eye.\n\n'Lazy eye' (amblyopia) refers not specifically to the eye not 'keeping up' with movement, but rather in that the brain does not properly interpret signals from it. The eye can appear perfectly normal, and be structurally fine, but essentially the brain ignores the input from it. This is sometimes, but not always, an adaptation of the brain to strabismus to prevent the doubling vision or other visual artifacts.\n\nAs a sufferer of amblyopia, but not strabismus, I can tell you that there is no perceptible 'hole' in my vision. However, signals received only by the lazy eye can be completely missed unless I concentrate on using that eye. For instance, during a vision test, head up against the lenses that show an image to only one eye at the time, i will \"see\" a blank white page \"with both eyes\" even if there is in fact an image presented to my lazy eye. But if I close my good eye, it pops into view."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
3o1v2z
|
how do sushi "all you can eat" restaurants make a profit?
|
sushi is relatively expensive but all you can eat restaurants seem to make the same quality but with a set price of usually around $20-25. They even offer appetizers. How do they make money?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3o1v2z/eli5_how_do_sushi_all_you_can_eat_restaurants/
|
{
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"cvte1wi",
"cvtgax8"
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20,
4,
8,
2
],
"text": [
"same as any other all you can eat. make sure the material and labor cost of the dinner for one person is less than $20-$25. \n\nmaterials wise, all you can eat sushi places load up on rice and skimp on the meat. and they offer free soda. water+rice = full stomach. \n\nlabor wise, they hire chinese and mexican cooks. cheap labor. ",
"More people will fill up on the cheaper stuff, than people who are as actually eating $25+ worth. So it balances that way. ",
"Alot of ayce restaurants will substitute a cheap fish in place of the real deal. People who don't eat sushi alot or don't know what sushi grade fish is won't be able to tell the difference. Many sushi restaurants have been shut down for this practice.",
"Every all you can eat sushi restaurant I've been to has the tiniest portions and shittiest selection. Even though sushi is very expensive (even in Japan), you will seldom ever eat $15-20 worth because of this. Most people like the novelty of it, but will only have a few pieces of this or that.\n\nYou'll note that there is often a limit on certain items, like sashimi, likely do to costs. Rice will fill you up; slabs of fish won't."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
f15x2v
|
what are the drawbacks to stem cell therapy?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f15x2v/eli5_what_are_the_drawbacks_to_stem_cell_therapy/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fh28b8r",
"fh4ot6p"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"It's mainly controversial because the main source of stem cells comes from fetal tissue, some of which comes from aborted fetuses. Stem cell tissue can also be harvested from umbilical cords which completely bypasses any moral concerns most prolife members would have. The Bush administration put a blanket ban on the research because of these concerns.",
"there is none as of yet, the issue is mostly ethical because of how we are sourcing these cells(Fetal tissue normally from the unbilical crods but for research purposes sometimes from aborted fetuses)\n\n\nsome govermenets really do not like the direction this research can take because it could potentially open a path for people sourcing embryos for nothnig but stem cell harvesting."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
1llku8
|
if you take a steak dinner and put it in a blender it tastes rubbish but having a bit of everything on your fork tastes amazing. why is this considering everything gets mushed up your mouth.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1llku8/eli5_if_you_take_a_steak_dinner_and_put_it_in_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cc0gs55",
"cc0hasc"
],
"score": [
2,
5
],
"text": [
"You know how sometimes you're predisposed to not liking some food because you think it smells weird? Well, smell is an important part of tasting something. So is texture. By mushing everything up, you ruin the individual textures, and you get something nasty. It's kinda like the difference between apple and applesauce.",
"Part of the enjoyment of steak is the texture, and how as you chew flavorful fats and oils are releases. Also, as a solid block, your steak retains its heat for longer.\n\nBut ones you pulverize it, all the texture is broken down, all the fats and oils are released and diluted, and it cools much more quickly.\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2w4lbj
|
what is the difference between reverends, priests, vicars, pastors etc. why are some allowed to get married and some aren't?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2w4lbj/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_reverends/
|
{
"a_id": [
"conj7gz",
"conjovq"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Different churches use different names.\n\nSome churches have a hierarchy of priests. A Catholic bishop outranks a priest *inside his organization* but you can't take that to mean anything if you compare them to a Baptist minister.",
"Reverend is a \"title\" of respect for someone who is revered, particularly a revered religious leader. Among the fastidious, it is not supposed to be used as a noun, but only an adjective. I.E. \"the Reverend John Smith\", not simply \"the reverend\". But most people are not fastidious. Basically, if you feel like you need to call a religious leader something respectable, but don't know what, then this is a good option.\n\nA pastor is someone who has pastoral duties. That is, listening to ordinary people's problems and giving them advice or encouragement (or chastisement). It is basically the religious equivalent of a secular counselor or therapist. In a large hierarchical church, the people near the top would not have direct pastoral duties.\n\nPriests and Vicars are specific offices, and the exact meaning and duties depend on which church, and which century."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
296ays
|
why don't multivitamins work?
|
Given recent attention by Congress and John Oliver, supplements have come under fire from many different people. I understand there may be no miracle cure for weight loss or memory or preventing cancer with a single pill. But what I don't get is why multivitamins specifically can't help someone who has a poor range in diet and lacks certain nutrients. If it turned out I ate 80% of Vitamin A, B, C, etc. naturally through my diet, why couldn't I take a pill that covered the other 20%?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/296ays/eli5_why_dont_multivitamins_work/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cihu34z"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Well, there's your problem. Your premise is wrong. They do work. They supplement your diet to ensure you're getting enough of those micronutients. That's what multivitamins are for."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2944zb
|
why is it legal for a cop to lie to you, but it's illegal to lie to a cop?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2944zb/eli5_why_is_it_legal_for_a_cop_to_lie_to_you_but/
|
{
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2,
2,
10,
3,
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10,
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5,
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"text": [
"That's not correct.\n\nIt's not inherently illegal to lie to a cop, for instance if the come up to you and go \"seen anything strange tonight?\" and you say no, but you just saw a dog riding a unicycle, that's not illegal. It's only illegal if it's an obstruction of justice. ie they pull you over ask if you have had anything to drink, you say no, when in reality you just polished off a fifth of Jack. Or if they ask \"who robbed the liquor store\" and you say \"Tony did it\" when you know that it was John. Then that's purposefully lying in order to aid the breaking of a law, which is obstruction of justice.\n\nAnd it's not inherently legal for a cop to lie to you. He can't come up and say \"Hey, we have surveillance tapes of you robbing the gas station\" unless they have tapes that they believe caught you. But if you ask \"are you a cop?\" they can answer \"no\" because while undercover, your identity is that of the person you are claiming to be, not a police officer.",
"It depends on the state, but most states have \"false reporting\" statutes; for example [Washington's State Code](_URL_0_). Basically, if you lied or withheld information which consequently lead to another's harm or inconvenience you can be charged with a misdemeanor. Of course they usually have to prove that you were doing this on purpose (mens rea), rather than just not knowing about the consequences. You can only be penalized for \"obstruction of justice\" when you are not allowing the police officer to do his job, which includes refusing to give your driver's license.\n\nOfficers can lie because it is often necessary to prevent more harm, but their actions can be reviewed by internal affairs they caused some kind of problem. There is also entrapment: where an officer coerced you to do something illegal, but it's really hard to prove \"coercion\" and cops are usually not stupid enough to fall into that scenario.\n\nTL;DR: Just don't lie to cops. There actually far more understanding for minor wrongdoings, but will lose patience when you make their lives difficult.",
"There are good and bad cops. You don't need to be biased with bad experiences or good experiences to realize this. You just have to realize they are humans too just because they have the title of a police officer does not mean they never break the rules in one way or another.",
"In California, cops can't lie to other cops they're investigating. They also have to give them a few days to \"cool down\" after an incident before questioning, and a lawyer has to be present. It's a big reason the cop who murdered Kelly Thomas got off.",
"Shorter answer - shut the fuck up! Only an idiot thinks explaining things to the police will get him or her out of trouble. Invoke the right to an attorney - then shot the fuck up.",
"Because they are above the law",
"Same reason why they can speed, look on their phones while driving and be on their computers while driving. \n\nBecause they're better than all of us. ",
"Obstruction of justice is not what you think it means. You can lie all day. In Maryland, it is not illegal to lie to a cop, UNLESS:\n\nYou have been lawfully detained and an officer requests your first and last name. \n\nOR\n\nYou're driving and have been lawfully detained. You must relinquish your license. \n\nYou can be charged with a false statement if you INITIATE A POLICE CALL and make up a false report. Keyword, you must initiate the call. Obstruction of justice applies to evidence tampering, running, etc. other than that , you can lie all day.\n\nExample: \"ma'am where are you headed to?\" Person : \"up your anus\" okay, well I know for a fact no one is going up my anus, so she's lying , but she didn't break the law. Now is I asked her what her name is, and told me \"Anus fucker\", and she's been lawfully detained, it's illegal. \n\nEDIT:\n\nAlso, one important note. Police can lie all day but not about your rights. For example, as a police officer if I see you walking around at night In a known crime area and I want to talk to you and get your info, I can say \"hey sir someone called us and reported you got beat up. Are you ok? Can I get your info so I can tell my supervisor we checked on you?\" I cannot, however, say \"someone called me and told me you got beat up. If you don't give me your name you're going to jail\". \n\nMost of the time we lie to avoid confrontation like the above scenario. If I know someone is dirty I'll lie and make them seem like the victim. ",
"If you have not seen it, please watch this [video](_URL_0_). It is an attorney speaking specifically about why you should never speak to LEOs. He even goes as far as to give half his time to a police interrogator for their opinion. It is also pretty funny and entertaining. ",
"\"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law\" - Remain silent, it's your right.",
"Well what you are really asking is two different questions. There are lots of reasons that different rules apply to police officers while they are executing their duties. Modern society has recently decided (and I do mean recently, police as we know them today are a fairly recent phenomenon, barely even a century old) that the police perform a very difficult and important job. In order for them to perform their jobs better, safer and more efficiently we relax certain rules that normally apply to most people in everyday life. (Speeding to catch a criminal is a good example). \n\n\n\"Why is it illegal to lie to a cop\"\nAs other have mentioned, it is not strictly speaking illegal to lie to a police officer. If your neighbor is a cop and you tell him that you were visiting your sick mother over the weekend when you were really out banging your mistress, you are probably not breaking the law. What is illegal is deliberately impeding or obstructing an investigation. When a police officer is asking you a question that is clearly part of an investigation, and you intentionally deceive him to prevent him from carrying out his duties, you are making his job harder. Our society has decided that the police officer does a tough, vitally important job and that he needs all the help he can get; therefore it has decided the make this deliberate obstruction illegal.\n\n\"Why is it legal for a cop to lie to you?\"\nThis is a tougher one. A more productive way to phrase it is \"Why isn't it illegal?\" Generally, things are legal until someone makes them illegal. Why hasn't anyone passed a law making it illegal for cops to lie to suspects/people under investigation? Well, generally people are pretty in favor of police and the jobs that they do, so they are reluctant to pass any laws that make those jobs harder. Why haven't the courts stepped in? Well, thats actually kinda controversial in some circles of legal academia. \n\nLong story short, letting the police lie is a bit of a Constitutional compromise. Police getting people to confess is pretty much their main investigative tool. The criminal justice system likes confessions, they are relatively easy and cheap to obtain and carry a pretty high amount of reliability (not perfect, but not bad either). Letting the police lie to suspects is a pretty good way for the police to get much needed leverage over a suspect when trying to illicit a confession. I'd be happy to go into more detail if you are curious, but this is already pretty long. ",
"When you're talking to a cop there's an assumption that YOU committed a crime or may know something about a crime. The cop is not being investigated. If cops had to tell the truth 24/7 then crimes would never be solved because undercover work would be illegal. ",
"Back in the day, I used to listen to a lot of trance (and for some reason, I started getting back into it again lately, too). E Nomine was my go-to, mainly because they were the first trance I ever really heard.\n\n[Schwarze Sonne](_URL_0_) isn't very \"trace\"-ish, but one of my favorite tracks they've done.",
"because for the cop the lie is a need to and end. he's supposed to tickle the truth out of you and he's allowed to use any tricks if that means that someone who's guilty will be helt responsible for his crime. when you lie to a cop you do so in order to NOT be helt responbsible for your crimes, and that is against the law. when you've done something wrong, you have to pay for it, that's how the world works. you're deceiving the law enforcement if you lie to a cop and makes it harder for them to do their job"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.84.040"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://youtu.be/6wXkI4t7nuc"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxTimWOT5bA"
],
[]
] |
||
46hy8e
|
what happens to a person's mobile # when they die?
|
I assume they give it to a new customer.. What's the family have to do? Can you get out of a contract?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/46hy8e/eli5_what_happens_to_a_persons_mobile_when_they/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d0599mf",
"d059ac2"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"When you die, most of your contractual agreements are null and void, including the phone line contract so the phone can be disconnected once the family provides proof of death to the company. After a while, the number itself is given to a new subscriber, just like any other expired number.",
"AT & T does not charge early termination fees for a phone number in the event of death. Other carriers typically do the same.\n\nThe number is then released back into the general availability pool. Most carriers do try to rotate through other numbers first; It's an imperfect system but they try never to assign numbers that were recently in use by another customer if avoidable."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
2sip04
|
why do youtube, facebook, etc. have a different domain to access their images and videos ?
|
For example _URL_0_ for Facebook or rxx---_URL_1_ for YouTube ?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2sip04/eli5_why_do_youtube_facebook_etc_have_a_different/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cnpuk93",
"cnpx164"
],
"score": [
4,
3
],
"text": [
"Those sites are their CDNs, or Content Delivery Systems. It allows them to take load off of the main site because you're being served an image or video from a different source. It also can make loading faster if the CDN is handing you an image from a closer server.",
"That's because they are using a CDN. A CDN is basically a library of books (files) that don't change often/ever. The main webpage does a lot of heavy lifting, dynamic loading, running scripts, etc. But a CDN can basically be told \"Get this file\" and be done with it. It also allows them to choose a closer location if available so you can get big content faster. \n \nThey do this because content can be loaded much quicker from a memory or a cache than it can be from a hard disk. CDNs have huge memory, cache, and hard disk, and only have to worry about serving content. \n \nThe naming is strange because they have many, many, many CDNs which are using some sort of serializing naming scheme. They may be running in different countries, states, jurisdictions, and possibly even under other companies who are providing the service for the main website."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"akamaihd.net",
"xxxx.googlevideo.com"
] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
7dhjux
|
since saliva has some acid in it, why doesn’t it dissolve plaque and food particles on and between teeth after you eat?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7dhjux/eli5_since_saliva_has_some_acid_in_it_why_doesnt/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dpxulny"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"The ph of Saliva is from 6.2 to 7.5. \n\nWhich means that it is either a weak base or a weak acid. \n\nThe acid simply isn't powerful enough to dissolve plague build up. \n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
a2rb5s
|
how do they make old tvs show recordings in movies and tv shows?
|
I understand that a newer tv could simply play a recording of an old program/event, whether through VHS, DVD, etc. But how do they show an old-looking TV displaying something obviously recorded when it (I'm assuming) doesnt have any way to input a video signal other than an old antenna?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a2rb5s/eli5_how_do_they_make_old_tvs_show_recordings_in/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eb0m7e7"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Back before TVs were made with separate video and audio inputs you would connect external devices with a radio frequency converter. You would connect the output of the device, such as a VCR, to the converter, and then you would connect the two wires from the converter to the same screws the antenna connected to on the TV. This converted the signal to a radio frequency, usually channel 3, and you would tune your TV to that channel to watch the video feed from your external device."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
5mr5d6
|
why are houses in older communities so spaced out in age, compared to newer neighborhoods?(us)
|
For example, you can see one house built in 1920, next door one built in 1950, and next to that one built in 1905. Nowadays every house in a neighborhood is usually built within 1-3 years of each other. Is it because people used to buy and build their houses independently, and not through a planned community?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5mr5d6/eli5_why_are_houses_in_older_communities_so/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dc5pymg",
"dc5uddk"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"Most neighborhoods built after the 1950s, ie subdivisions in the suburbs, are built all at once. Meaning they will all be built within a year of each other and use 1-5 building plans. Homes built in cities or on privately owned lots outside the city limits that are not a part of a subdivision are built as the owner wants them built so can vary decades from the homes around them. \n\nSo yes, it is because people buy and build their homes independently rather than through a planned neighborhood. And that is not a thing of the past. You still build independently when you are not buying through a subdivision. ",
"Many older neighborhoods started out with much larger lots for each house. As time went on the lots were divided up and newer houses built on the new, smaller lots."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
1vj734
|
why is it that there are so many people on reddit (not just visitors, but registered users), yet all top posts seem to plateau around 4 or 5k upvotes?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1vj734/eli5_why_is_it_that_there_are_so_many_people_on/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cest3ah",
"cest9ns",
"cestv1n",
"cesxvv8",
"cesxvy5",
"cesxxk0",
"cesxyxq",
"cesy5so",
"cesynob",
"ceszluu",
"ceszr0z",
"cet0544",
"cet09k3",
"cet1q41",
"cet23ze",
"cet3anl",
"cet3gae",
"cet3rlp",
"cet43to",
"cet4pim",
"cet71gn",
"cet77te",
"cet7p2v",
"cet99nh",
"ceta2x0",
"cetawdr",
"cetawx8",
"cetb3s8",
"cetb7h8",
"cetbbkv",
"cetccor",
"cetcpob",
"cetcr05",
"cetd78x",
"ceteo44"
],
"score": [
2301,
100,
505,
14,
25,
55,
22,
455,
9,
4,
5,
11,
2,
4,
5,
7,
2,
2,
2,
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3,
2,
2,
4,
2,
3,
3,
3,
2,
2,
2,
2,
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Each person upvote is not worth one post upvote. Initially, it is. For instance, the first 10 or so person upvotes = 1 post upvote. Once you get to around 100 post upvotes, each person upvote = 0.5 post upvotes. Around 1000 post upvotes, each person upvote = 0.01 post upvotes. These numbers are not exact. It's just to give you an idea of how the system works. There was a reddit blog post on this. I can't find it right now though.\n\nEdit. Seeing as how I'm the top post, I'll include some more basic info. As others have mentioned, how long the submission has been active matters. If I'm super popular, when I submit something, my 50 stalkers instantly upvote it. 10 hours later, someone else upvotes it. Those 50 stalkers upvotes are 10 hours old, so they count as 5 post upvotes. The newer person just upvoted it so their person upvote is 1 post upvote. This is why you'll see super hot stories slip off the front page. It's how reddit keeps it fresh.\n\nEdit 2: [source](_URL_0_)\n\nEdit 3: [Discussion](_URL_1_)",
"Note that this is *NOT* about vote fuzzing, people. In principle, vote fuzzing leaves the (upvotes-downvotes) difference intact.\n\nThis leaves the question: why do wildly-successful submissions only have around 3k in net upvotes, and consistently so?\n\n/u/Smipims is on the right track. This is speculation, but *most likely,* one vote does not equal +1 in score, especially as a submission gets more popular. The first ten points might reflect ten upvotes; the next ten might reflect 11 or 12, the next ten might reflect 15, and so on. The 3,000-upvote submissions might reflect many more thousand votes underneath. \n\nGoing from, say, 4k to 5k in score might take much more than one thousand net upvotes.",
"TIL reddit is much more complex than I ever imagined.\n\nAlso glad to know my up vote of this post was a actual full vote since I was in top 10.",
"_URL_0_\n\nA variant is the \"90–9–1 principle\" (sometimes also presented as the 89:10:1 ratio),[1] which states that in a collaborative website such as a wiki, 90% of the participants of a community only view content, 9% of the participants edit content, and 1% of the participants actively create new content.",
"Related: [1% rule](_URL_0_)",
"I remember the post where they finally opened the safe. It reached about 16k upvotes. I figured this one has got to break the \"test post\" vote record, but the number was cut in half immediately to about 8k. Eventually the number was cut in half once again. It's final count is a little over 5000. I can only imagine how many it really got. It got so many upvotes so quickly, it was easy to see the vote fuzzing in real time. ",
"How many people bother to upvote something that's already on the front page with a score in the thousands?",
"Came here to understand the upvote/downvote system, now I'm more confused.",
"It used to reach only 2-3k for top posts. Not an answer, but it helps show that as user count increases, vote scores do go up. I just don't know the algorithm they use.",
"The upvotes don't plateau at 4-5k, the upvotes minus downvotes, i.e. the difference between the two, plateaus at around 4-5k. It could be +15k and -11k for example.\n\n\ne.g. this post from the top voted submissions this month: _URL_0_\n\n\nA score of around 5k, with 16k upvotes and 11k downvotes.\n\n",
"In my experience, I had [one submission](_URL_0_) that rose to the top spot on the front page and over 5,000 karma within a couple hours of being submitted.\n\nThen as it stuck around the front page, more and more people began to down vote it and it until it was down to around 2,700 karma and fell off the front page. I assume Reddit has some kind of formula dealing with the ratio of up votes to down votes, where it keeps thing up until the ratio starts tipping more into the negative, with the age of the submission also being a factor. Because my post was pretty new, it stuck around the front page for a long time and really took a battering.\n\n\nI've had other submissions that took like ten hours to climb up to the front page, then stick around only briefly and leave with more of their karma intact.",
"Because a lot of people don't up or downvote.\n\nI only do either if a post pisses me off or really impresses me.\n\nOtherwise I read and don't click either.",
"I seen the Bill Murray AMA hit 7K+ upvotes yesterday, then a few hours later it was down to 5K...",
"Probably because a lot of people don't vote because once they see the post with 5K they realize their vote is meaningless, at least that's how I view it. Plus theirs such a large variety of things to vote on, so even the top posts don't receive everyone's votes because it's spread out. ",
"I got like 1,000 Karma for my post but got 500,000 views on imgur.",
"I'm too lazy to vote.",
"With regard to me: too lazy to sign in most of the time. ",
"Let's try and and break that record!",
"Dead users, some people are too lazy and a lot of people don't look at the front page.",
"This is such a great question. I never thought about the points system before, but reading through the answers, I realized all the stuff k took for granted had a whole sophisticated system behind it.",
"I don't vote on a post, usually. \n\nShit, I barely vote on anything.",
"If I had to guess, it's because the more popular something gets, the more people will tend to hate it. The difference between likes and dislikes always seems to be around 3K. So no matter how many people like something, it seems about half will still hate it, and there's nothing you can do about it.",
"Slightly off topic, but can someone explain karma? It's not the amount of upvotes a Redditor has but it's connected to it?",
"I asked this same question 8 months ago and got 0 karma for it, the reddit gods are fickle.",
"I am a registered user and rarely upvote or downvote posts.",
"Shit I always thought it was important and I only used it on posts that I actually like.",
"because not everyone has two dicks.",
"How often did you like a youtube video you liked.\nNormally people will tell if they disagree with something and just stay silent if they like something.\nHow often did you go back to a store and tell the salesman how you liked the product? And how often do you go back to tell him whats wrong?",
"Lurkers... *lurkers everywhere*...",
"not everyone votes on everything, some people don't vote at all.",
"We will never get a true answer on this, as the admins rely on obfuscation as one tool to combat abuse from those who wish to game the system.\n\nTesting the way scores work by coordinated voting tends to get you shadowbanned. So the admins won't talk, and we can't reverse-engineer it. ",
"I don't really upvote or downvote despite being an active community member, occasionally I do but for the most part I just browse. ",
"Seems like everyone's right with value of an upvote, but look at the actual numbers on some popular threads. _URL_0_ \nI noticed this due to this IAmA, cause i saw it at 6000 then drop to 4000 and wanted to look at the number of downvotes. 77,000 upvotes and 73,000 downvotes. Thats 160 000 people voting. So that coupled with the value of votes i think answers the question (sorry im 20 hours late) ",
"because even good posts get down voted to some extent\nand lurkers",
"I read reddit everyday, but to be honest I just don't enjoy partaking the the upvoting, commenting, or general social media aspects of the site. Not that I think anything negative them or anyone here, in fact reddit may be my favorite site. I guess I am just too antisocial over for this place :/"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://amix.dk/blog/post/19588",
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1vj734/eli5_why_is_it_that_there_are_so_many_people_on/cesyazy"
],
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_%28Internet_culture%29"
],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_%28Internet_culture%29"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1urhzg/til_the_longest_ever_recorded_sniper_kill_was/"
],
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1ubyzm/til_that_when_james_avery_auditioned_for_the_part/"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1vhjag/bill_murray_here_ok_ill_talk_ill_talk/"
],
[],
[]
] |
||
3mkiyf
|
i understand why it takes so long for our bodies to 'wake up' after we finish sleeping. how come it takes so long for our brains to be fully operational in the morning?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mkiyf/eli5_i_understand_why_it_takes_so_long_for_our/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cvfptig",
"cvfq5nq"
],
"score": [
2,
3
],
"text": [
"Mine's pretty well up and ready the moment I wake up. Always has been. I sit around and have breakfast and coffee, but that's more to be sociable with my wife than out of necessity.",
"If you wake up naturally - that is, you wake up without an alarm or an annoying parent, then your brain is pretty much ready to go. \n\nBut if you are in a deep sleep and something external wakes you, then your brain is still asleep and needs time to wake up. That is, unless you get the person to wake you with something loud and startling, that causes you do dump a tonne of adrenaline into your system!"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
ba0yzo
|
which country played the biggest part in wwii ending and why?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ba0yzo/eli5_which_country_played_the_biggest_part_in/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ek8botr",
"ek8bv74",
"ek8cjs8"
],
"score": [
2,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"I would say Russia. They lost the most people. They pushed the Nazi back where we met up and finished them off. With the Nazis surrender, that left japan to fend for themselves, and surrender or total destruction were inevitable. We expedited the surrender with massive fire bombings and two atomic bombs. \n\nI would say D-Day was crucial in helping the Russians push back the Nazis, but that involved several countries. ",
"WWII was a team effort on the part of the Allies, but it's generally recognized that the USSR played the largest part: \n\n* They had the most military and civilian deaths. \n* They handled the Eastern Front of the war essentially by themselves. The Battle of Stalingrad is the largest military confrontation in human history.\n* They fought Germany in the Battle of Berlin, which was the conflict in which Hitler killed himself.\n* They were the first to discover and liberate a concentration camp, specifically Majdanek followed by Auschwitz. \n\nThe Americans nuked Japan, which resulted in a Japanese surrender. But Russia caused the tipping point. Once they cut off Germany and took Berlin, the Japanese surrender was just a matter of time. This was especially the case because Russia was planning to attack Japan, and are technically Japan's closest neighbor.\n\nAgain, all the Allied countries worked together and faced significant casualties. But the British had a channel of distance from the rest of Europe. The Americans had an ocean. On the other hand, the USSR and Nazi Germany shared a border. By virtue of geography, the USSR was forced to play the biggest part.\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_",
"It was a war on two fronts, so every country was instrumental in ending the war, and you could make a case for every country turning the war. From a purely military might standpoint, it was the USSR. The USSR spilt more blood then any country. The eastern front was an absolute blood bath for all parties involved, and the amount of resources the nazis had to divest was beyond significant. Add in the fact that the USSR would be the country that would go on to capture Berlin, and its fair to say that the USSR had the most pivotal military force.\n\nThat said more goes into winning a war then just boots on the ground. The fact that the RAF would hold on to air superiority on the western front through the majority of the war was one of the big reasons the nazis where never able to cross the English channel. This combined with the strength of british intelligence as well as their importance during D-day. Its also should be noted that the British where one of the biggest fighters outside of Europe. The Nazis had a ton of forces in Africa and the middle East, and the British where right there with them.\n\nFinally there is the U.S role in the war. The amount of supplies that we shipped during the war was truly impressive. The united states industrial machine was a marvel. Food, tanks, guns, ammo, and clothes where sent over in numbers that had never been seen before. We also where fighting a war on two fronts as well. Japans impact was largely isolated to the pacific, but they where still a participant and their impact if they had been left alone should not be ignored. \n\nThe war was won with British intelligence, American steel, and Russian blood. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/the-soviet-union-helped-save-the-world-from-hitler-a7020926.html",
"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/05/08/dont-forget-how-the-soviet-union-saved-the-world-from-hitler/"
],
[]
] |
||
22g5qk
|
why is it easy to read something in my head, but reading the same text out loud is harder?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22g5qk/eli5_why_is_it_easy_to_read_something_in_my_head/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cgmh7tu",
"cgmiern"
],
"score": [
9,
3
],
"text": [
"Because they are different skills. I sound like Pavarotti when I sing in my head, but when I sing out loud I sound like a dying cat. Reading is the skill of reading. Reading-out-loud is the skill of reading-out-loud. It's like the difference between imagining physical coordination (I just thought of myself doing a triple backflip!) and actually being physically coordinated.\n\nThere is plenty of evidence for a different brain function of speaking and reading as well. There are people with injuries that prevent verbalizing who can indeed read just fine (or write). The opposite is true as well.",
"Bcuaese raeidng is jsut rzneiogcng ptatrens.\n\nWhile to read the text out loud, you have to comprehend the entire word so you can pronounce it properly. In addition, you may read faster than what you say out loud so what you say becomes unsynchronized from what you read, making you stumble."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
1rj04u
|
if you're knocked unconscious and thrown into a river, will you drown or will your bodies survival instincts kick in and wake you up?
|
Not a murdered, promise. ;)
Edit: not sure where to post this, this seemed like a five year old type of question so....
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rj04u/if_youre_knocked_unconscious_and_thrown_into_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cdnqlzw"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Drown. If youre unconcious your body wouldnt know what was going on around you enough to wake you up. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
40f07m
|
. why can't we create a wireless network using our existing mobile phones as the transmitters?
|
They can send and receive data. Why can't we just create a wireless network that relies one bouncing the data from one from to the next?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/40f07m/eli5_why_cant_we_create_a_wireless_network_using/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cytossa",
"cytoy82",
"cytp0xw"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
6
],
"text": [
"To what end? The only data available on that network would be whatever's shared by a currently connected phone. Even if somebody set their phone up to serve a web page it wouldn't be able to handle a whole lot of simultaneous requests.",
"There are a couple of issues with this. Mostly, it's because you would lose half of the available bandwidth on retransmission unless you were using two wireless chips to do it. Second is privacy concerns involving man in the middle attacks.\n\nThat said, there are projects that did this. A few examples that come to mind is WDS, B.A.T.M.A.N., and the Motorola HotZone product.",
"You could. It's called a \"mesh network\". If I remember correctly, it was done in some places during the Arab spring to get around government clampdown of networks. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
4bd0jc
|
membrane potential
|
I've been reading this same paragraph over and over and don't get it.
"An undisturbed cell has a cell membrane that is polarized because it separates an excess of positive charges on the outside from an excess of negative charges on the inside. When positive and negative charges are held apart, a potential difference is said to exist between them. Because the charges are separated by a cell membrane, this potential difference is called membrane potential or transmembrane potential."
I just don't understand it. Please help!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4bd0jc/eli5_membrane_potential/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d181rxj"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Imagine there's a wall separating the inside and outside of a room. The inside of the room has only white balls in it, and the outside has only red. This is polarization. Now imagine both the inside and the outside of this room has both red and white balls mixed together, except the outside has a few more red balls, and the inside has a few more white balls. The red balls are positive, white are negative. The more red balls the outside has, and the more white balls the inside has, the greater the difference is in charge between the two rooms. This is what happens in a cell, where the is a slight difference in distribution of coloured balls that creates an electrical difference between the inside and outside of the cell."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
pgtmx
|
what do grocery markets do with fresh items they don't sell?
|
Do they just toss it or let it go bad and take the loss? Ship it out? Where does it go? Explain like I'm five, please.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/pgtmx/eli5_what_do_grocery_markets_do_with_fresh_items/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c3p8x3w"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Some places mark them on sale if it's still edible but not looking their best, then toss them beyond that. Oftentimes in larger or more high-end supermarkets they will toss the produce even when they are still edible. So if you want free food, you can often find perfectly edible food in the dumpster at large grocery stores. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
13j6yn
|
the canadian oil sand and why there are concerns about it.
|
What is it? Why are people (especially environmentalists) concerned about them?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/13j6yn/eli5_the_canadian_oil_sand_and_why_there_are/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c74fc56",
"c74git9"
],
"score": [
2,
8
],
"text": [
"While the oil obtained from oil sands requires energy to extract it (e.g. natural gas to melt out the oil), the quality of the oil from oil sands in Canada is much better (it is \"sweet\" grade) than the quality found in other sources, like under the ground in Texas or off the Gulf Coast.\n\nBecause the oil from the oil sands is better quality, it requires less energy to refine, and is cleaner to refine (it has less sulfur content, etc.) This results in oil from the oil sands not being much more costly in C02, and other pollutants, compared with oil from \"traditional\" sources.",
"There's a list of problems that many environmentalists have with the oil sands.\n\n* It requires a boatload of energy to extract. In its natural form it's a sticky, gooey substance that's very much like cold molasses so it isn't too easy to transport. \n* This means that it has to get heated close to the extracting point so separate the bitumen from the clay and sand. This requires an enormous amount of energy. Think of it this way, a barrel of oil costs about $80. Extracting and transporting oil from from regular, conventional sources (i.e. oil wells) costs roughly $20. A barrel of oil from the tar sands costs about $60, and that $40 difference is all energy/transportation costs. More energy = more pollution. \n* The oil sands is a huge, open pit mining operation - meaning that it's a huge excavation site. This is environmentally disruptive, as any open pit mining operation is. (it should be noted that oil companies in Canada are involved in reclamation projects that try to restore the environment after they've mined in a certain place) \n* Tailing ponds made up of unusable excess from the extraction are unseemly, and they have to have a loud horn going off every 10 seconds or so to scare birds away from settling in the ponds. (Note: this is more aesthetic shock value than anything else. The environmental concerns for tailing ponds are usually not as bad as most environmentalists make then out to be. For instance, there's a shock value to having to scare birds away, but wind turbines in Alberta kill far more birds than the oil sands) \n* In a large part, the oil sands are viewed as evil because 1) it's oil and oil is bad mmmkay, and 2) because they are more environmentally dangerous than most other methods of fossil fuel extraction. \n* There's other things like toxic runoffs into adjacent streams and rivers from the mining operations and the upgrade centers which destroy the natural ecosystem of the area. I don't know that much about it, whether it's true or, if it is whether it's a large environmental concern. \n\n\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
1jb9az
|
how bandwidth gb correlate to storage gb.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jb9az/eli5_how_bandwidth_gb_correlate_to_storage_gb/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cbcxrop",
"cbcxxqa",
"cbd0tlr"
],
"score": [
2,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Just to clarify quickly, Gb means Gigabits, GB means Gigabytes. The B determines which is which.\n\nPeople already explained the difference, I am not positive on the why, the thing that immediately pops to mind for me is what a bit and byte mean for storage. In storage terms, a bit is the smallest form of storage, but by itself it's pretty useless. Storing a single 0 or 1 won't get you very far. A byte is really the smallest form of meaningful storage, it's large enough (It can store numbers 0-255 in binary) to actually store something useful. I imagine this is why storage systems evolved using the byte as their base unit, rather than bits.\n\nAgain, that's just my speculation, but it kinda makes sense in my mind. I could just be over thinking it and it's actually just ISP's trying to confuse people into thinking their connections are faster than they are. :P",
"Several have pointed out that the bandwidth convention of Gbps (gigabits per second) counts in bits, whereas the storage convention of GB (gigabytes) counts in bytes.\n\nThis accounts for a difference of 8:1 (bits to bytes)\n\n---\n\nHowever, there is an additional difference in convention going on as well. In storage, that \"giga\" usually is a binary prefix that means 2^30 or 1024^3. In bandwidth, \"giga\" is a decimal prefix meaning 10^9 or 1000^3.\n\nThis second difference *grows* as we use bigger prefixes. For kilo, this difference is [~2%](_URL_0_). Mega is [~5%](_URL_1_), giga is [~7%](_URL_2_), and tera is [~9%](_URL_4_).\n\nIn fact, when someone is selling storage, they almost always use the decimal prefix! For example a \"750 GB\" (decimal) hard drive has [698 GB](_URL_3_) (binary) of storage.",
"bandwidth is a rate (bytes per second). storage capacity is a scalar quantity without a time dimension (just bytes). "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://www.google.com/search?q=1024%2F1000-1+in+percent",
"https://www.google.com/search?q=1024^2%2F1000^2-1+in+percent",
"https://www.google.com/search?q=1024^3%2F1000^3-1+in+percent",
"https://www.google.com/search?q=750*1000^3+%2F+1024^3",
"https://www.google.com/search?q=1024^4%2F1000^4-1+in+percent"
],
[]
] |
||
329qfc
|
why is right turn on red permitted in most of north america but generally illegal in the rest of the world?
|
While I am aware of exceptions to the above (per Wikipedia at least), I have always wondered why it's specifically most of North America that allows this, while most of the rest of the world outlaws this (or the RHD equivalent).
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/329qfc/eli5_why_is_right_turn_on_red_permitted_in_most/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cq98l2z",
"cq997w4"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"There are traffic ligths in Germany were this is allowed. This will be signalised by a black square treffic sign with a green arrow pointing to the right next to the traffic light.",
"Not sure why you can't do it in other countries but in the US is helps move the flow of traffic along. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
4j1638
|
why when something is numb (either medically or from severed nerve) you can't feel much else but you can feel pressure
|
A few weeks ago I accidentally stabbed myself in the hand and caused some minor nerve damage. I can occasionally feel what I call a muted sense of touch because it is more dull but for the most part all I can feel is pressure and I was wondering why I can feel pressure when I can't feel anything else.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4j1638/eli5_why_when_something_is_numb_either_medically/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d32rp90"
],
"score": [
9
],
"text": [
"Because you might have damaged the nerves in the area where you stabbed it but that doesnt mean all of your nerves in your hands are dead. If you put enough pressure on it, nerves that arent damaged can feel the pressure. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
d3252c
|
what are peanut shells made of?
|
It looks like wood, but it has this tiny layers inside that feels like something else.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d3252c/eli5_what_are_peanut_shells_made_of/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ezy8h8h"
],
"score": [
10
],
"text": [
"It is made of cellulose, the same material wood is composed of. It isn't in the same configuration and density of course so it can have a different texture, but it is at root the same stuff."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
6avg0w
|
why do seeds grow even though they don't have access to sunlight?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6avg0w/eli5_why_do_seeds_grow_even_though_they_dont_have/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dhhqvcv"
],
"score": [
13
],
"text": [
"Plants need sunlight to create sugars, which they use as an energy source. Seeds are plant embryos packaged with some of those sugars in a protective shell. When the embryo begins to grow, it can feed on the sugars that it was packed with for a while, until it breaks through the soil and can start making them independently."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
3sjjod
|
how do motorbike riders tilt so far down to the track?
|
_URL_0_
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3sjjod/eli5_how_do_motorbike_riders_tilt_so_far_down_to/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cwxs9oj",
"cwxslo6",
"cwxuy2j"
],
"score": [
4,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"There are two forces acting on the bike in a turn: The force of gravity pointing down, and a force pointing sideways because the bike wants to go in a straight line, the centripetal force. \n\nWhen you're taking a turn, you have to lean the bike over just so much that you don't tip over in either direction. The tighter the turn you take, the stronger the sideways force, so the more you have to lean over to keep the bike stable.\n\nWhen you're on the road, you would be pretty insane taking a turn like that though. The smallest rock or a bit of oil on the road could kill you if you lean out that far.\n",
"it has to do with centripetal force. when you round a turn on a bicycle, the forces involved pull your body to the outside of the curve, which would cause you to fall. when you lean into the curve, you are using the force of gravity to create torque in the opposite direction of the force that wants to throw you to the outside.\n\nracers are moving faster and on tighter curves so they have to lean farther. they have special wheels that can grip even from way on their side\n\n",
"while the other posters are describing the physics behind the mechanics of a turning two-wheeled vehicle\n\nthe main reason an actual race bike can HOLD such an extreme angle is the construction/rubber compound of the tire and the quality of the road surface. These tires are not what you get at the store at your local Honda dealership.\n\na more civilian tire and city streets will not allow such extreme angles, the rider will wash out when attempting to turn at such speeds.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://i.imgur.com/ftNodX5.gifv"
] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
25oszj
|
if smoking during pregnancy causes lack of oxygen to babies brain resulting in defects what would happen if the mother breathed pure oxygen?
|
It seems that even a few cigs can disable your baby in many ways, would pure oxygen give them any benefits? Yes I know nine months of pure oxygen would be a lot.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/25oszj/eli5_if_smoking_during_pregnancy_causes_lack_of/
|
{
"a_id": [
"chj9zf8"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"If a mother breathed pure oxygen for 9 month it would kill the baby... also the mother.\n\nThe human body can't process pure oxygen, that's why we breath air which is mostly nitrogen. Oxygen only makes up 21% or so of the air. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
eqoayo
|
why can people understand what acronyms mean without context?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eqoayo/eli5_why_can_people_understand_what_acronyms_mean/
|
{
"a_id": [
"feuxcyp"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"It's about your knowledge base and any clues you can get about your surroundings. You might have heard this phrase before somewhere, or one similar to it. \n\nAlso, even though there might not have been any direct context, you could have subconsciously understood it. Like, if I go to a medical website, I'm expecting to hear abbreviations related to medicine, not sports, for example. So that could have helped contribute to it.\n\nOf course, there is also the option that you might have been lucky and guessed correctly too."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
42pujz
|
bruce lee's six inch punch
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/42pujz/eli5_bruce_lees_six_inch_punch/
|
{
"a_id": [
"czc77ds",
"czc990e"
],
"score": [
6,
4
],
"text": [
"Normally a punch is delivered using a combination of extensor muscles. Lee was able to use both extensor and retractor muscles to hold his arm/fist in a set position. Through training, he could relax his retractor muscles so quickly that his fist would accelerate at an extremely high rate. Pretty much the same way as a crossbow works - stored or \"potental\" energy released suddenly.",
"Martial artist here, it's not only he has very strong muscles, but also very strong muscle co-ordination. If you look at [this video](_URL_0_) you can see how he also is moving his entire body in the punch. The trick is to tighten your muscles in certain parts and relax your muscles in certain parts so your hind feet acts as a primary pushing force, which transmits power into your waist muscles.\n\nNext, some muscles in your waist has to tighten to transmit that power from your leg efficiently to your upper body, and some of your muscles need to relax and contract to spin your entire upper body to generate extra thrust in addition to thrust to your leg.\n\nThe thrust in your leg and the spinning of your upper body is combined into your arm. Your shoulder needs to be tense at the start of the punch in order to receive all that kinetic energy from the huge amount of thrust your leg and waist is generating, and relax the moment the energy is transmitted there to allow the a sudden and incredibly fast acceleration of your entire arm normally not capable to be done with tricepts/bicepts. If the power transmission is 100% efficient, being hit by this fist is no different than being hit with his leg.\n\ntl;dr Bruce has amazing muscles and control, allowing him to kick you with his fist."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vst9v6qvbJ0"
]
] |
|
48rwxx
|
why is feeling in your face/legs diminished when you shave them?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/48rwxx/eli5_why_is_feeling_in_your_facelegs_diminished/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d0m0g3s",
"d0m0h99",
"d0m0jij"
],
"score": [
5,
4,
21
],
"text": [
"I'm no expert but hairs help your sense of touch. Just like how animals have whiskers it helps them sense their surroundings more (mainly at night when they can't see as well). So with no/less hairs on your legs your sense of touch is less sensitive. \n\nA more example: if a spider crawled on your arm tickling your hairs you feel that more compared to if it was crawling lightly on a part of you that has no hair. ",
"Maybe you meant that you feel a temporary numbness just after shaving, that is just like numbness after an injury since the cells are treated roughly, or if you use shaving get it is made to make it hurt less.\n\nBut one of the purposes of hair is actually to extent the reach of your feeling/sensation of the skin. Just like the whiskers of the cat!",
"Hairs are part of your sensory system. When a hair is moved, you can feel it, due to nerves in the follicle. For proof, just try running your hand through your hair. Although hair itself is just nonliving protein and has no nervous system of its own, you can still feel a sensation on your head. This is because the movement of the hair pulls at the underlying skin slightly, and you do have nerves there that can detect that slight pulling.\n\nWhen hair is removed, that whole process isn't possible. You can still feel pressure and friction on the skin, but that sensitive pulling sensation from the hair is lost."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
991nnl
|
why exactly do we lose fat beneath our skin as we age?
|
We lose subcutaneous fat with age. Why is that? What exactly happens to the fat that was there?
THis may surprise some of you, but most people actually do. People still gain weight in their core, but their hands, ankles, and upper faces lose fat.
SOme of you might just say "hormones", but that's very vague.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/991nnl/eli5_why_exactly_do_we_lose_fat_beneath_our_skin/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e4k9b9w"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Can this phenomenon be explained to a hypothetical five year old without being vague? My best unreasearched answer is that it is part of the degeneration and slowing down (ageing) that all cell systems requiring fast cell replacement go through. \n\nLike hair, lightening in color, diminishing in overall volume, even texture changes to head and body hair. Also skin, which changes dramatically and relatively rapidly in most people as they progress forward through time, or Age, as we have come to call it.\n\nOn a detailed cellular level I do not know, but ageing seems anecdotally to be very \"outside in\" and my best guess is that visceral, or internal, fat is more stable. It does seem statistically harder to loose and thus may have cells that are more resistant or longer living.\n\n I do know that subcutaneous fat deposits are made of a different type of fat cells then the \"organ anchoring\" variety.\n\nIn short, and very vaguely, it is a part of the loss of vitality the whole organism experiences as it ages. So... Old Age. But this isn't a very good, nor ELI5 answer.\n\nI hope it can help until a better answer come along.\n\nEdit: added source - Have worked in geriatric and super geriatric populations for 10+years now"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
4hkm0q
|
people claim electric cars pollute more than gasoline cars, if true how ?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4hkm0q/eli5_people_claim_electric_cars_pollute_more_than/
|
{
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3124,
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2,
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"text": [
"The production, recycling, and disposal of batteries is hugely damaging to the environment if not handled very carefully.\n\nMost companies that do it in the US or Western Europe do alright, but companies that outsource to China and other places without effective environmental laws are causing huge problems.",
"It's not true, but the main claim is that swapping from gasoline-powered cars to electric cars in an area where electricity comes from coal-fired power plants is still producing pollution. While this is true, power plants are more efficient than internal combustion engines, are easier to modify or improve with filters etc, can be replaced by renewable electricity generation and are farther from population centers so fewer people are affected by the pollution.\n\nThere's also a claim the mining and manufacturing involved in battery production is considerably polluting, but every single study indicates that the mining and manufacturing of the rest of the car (the frame, doors, panels, windows etc) is far, far, far greater than the batteries. So adding a huge battery bank still doesn't really change the pollution from car manufacturing.\n\nEDIT: \n\nFor my claim that electric cars don't pollute more in general:\n > Figure 2 displays the results [...] As can be seen, all electrified vehicles have lower emissions than the reference case. [...] The reference vehicle corresponds to the 2012 EU fleet target for tailpipe emissions of sold cars. Source: [Nordelöf *et al* 2014](_URL_0_)\n\nFor my claim that batteries aren't the majority of the pollution from electric cars:\n\n > The share of the total environmental impact of E-mobility caused by the battery (measured in Ecoindicator 99 points) is 15%. The impact caused by the extraction of lithium for the components of the Li-ion battery is less than 2.3% (Ecoindicator 99 points) Source: [Notter *et al* 2010](_URL_1_)\n\nIn Notter *et al* 2010, look at Figure 2 to see how the battery isn't even the majority of the manufacturing impact, compared to the glider and drive-train. I'll admit to exaggerating when I said the rest of the car is \"far, far, far greater than the batteries\".\n\nSee also section 5.3.2 of [Nordelöf *et al* 2014](_URL_0_)",
"People have mentioned the disposal and manufacturing of batteries but the other part of it is the generation of electricity. Electricity is not an energy source like oil is, electricity is just a storage and delivery method. To generate electricity you need to do something like burn coal or gas and the US has a lot of coal plants. Using electric cars burns less gasoline but then drives up demand of coal and gas plants to burn more so you are just moving the problem somewhere else. \n\nOf course we have more methods of generating power like wind, solar, hydro electric and nuclear and even with out, it's better to maintain one large coal plant to burn as efficiently as possible opposed to 1 million small gas engines. ",
"It can be true, but it depends on the car and what type of fossil fuel you are talking about. \n\nIm going to just rip off wikipedia since I'm lazy... \"Typical thermal efficiency for utility-scale electrical generators is around 33% for coal and oil-fired plants, and 56 – 60% (LHV) for combined-cycle gas-fired plants.\" [Wikipedia](_URL_1_)\n\nSo if you had a old school coal power plant you are going to get about 33% of the energy out of that coal.\n\nModern combustion engines can reach higher efficiently levels, around 38%-40%. Again, stealing... \n\n \"Toyota has now developed a new gasoline engine which it claims has a maximum thermal efficiency of 38 percent--greater than any other mass-produced combustion engine.\", \"Diesels are typically higher--approaching 40 percent in some cases.\" [Link](_URL_0_)\n\nSo yes, internal combustion engines can be more efficient than electric vehicles, but it all depends on the power plant and the car. \n",
"This comment is pretty late, OP, but maybe you'll see it. The batteries in an electric car offer something new to our world: a battery bank that can be used to store energy from the power grid, a grid which had very little integrated storage designed into that system. By storing energy in your auto, you can help mitigate the use of VERY pollution-heavy sources of energy that are only used during peak hours of demand. Sell the energy you stored during low demand at peak times and you and your neighbors will reduce ground and GHG pollution. The grid in the USA is designed around these few hours of peak usage. Shaving those peaks is a really vital environmental goal: we can get rid of terrible, old polluting coal plants that are maintained simply for those few hours of extreme weather. The third corner of the triangle is renewable, sustainable power sources: wind, solar and to some extent tidal, nuclear and hydro. When you bring together clean energy, grid storage, and the tech for storing & using that energy based on market conditions (\"smart grid\"), you have a powerful triangular relationship that leads to a reduction in pollution compared to petrol AND a more stable grid that is less vulnerable.\n\nAssessing electric vs gas cars in isolation of the rest of our power story will make one blind to the incredible opportunity we have by having a diffused, robust system via battery banks. MOBILE GRID STORAGE FTW!\n\n",
"It's just BS. The claim is that most electrical energy is produced in powerplants using coal as energy source, and thus still being driven indirectly by fossile fuels the same as gasoline, but the reality is that the energy production in a powerplant is much more efficient than the power production in a car engine and therefore the electrical car is still much less polluting than a conventional combustion driven car. Also is worth noting that as more energy is harvested by windmills and solar plants the less will the pollution foot print of the electrical car be.",
"If we switch on a massive scale to electric cars a lot of people are going to be effected in the petroleum and car manufacturing industries. Despite the fact that it will be better for the environment. Man, as a collective has a hard time acting on abstract issues. Climate change, while most certainly happening is something that most people do not want to a) believe is happening and b) don't understand/want to understand how and why it is happening. \nTherefore it is easy for large corps and lobby groups to poison the minds of large swaths of society to maintain the status quo. \nThere are many examples of tech that would completely change society and the way in which we interact with our environment but the immediate effects would be unemployment and not a single politician is going to risk loosing an election suggesting the right thing. ",
"It's more just a soundbite that makes people question electric cars. It's hard to refute it because obviously it depends on:\n\n- Your particular model of car and battery system\n- Where you get your electricity from\n- How and where you drive\n\nProbably a particular model of electric vehicle could pollute more than a particular model of gasoline powered car, when charged by a particular source of electricity and driven in a certain way.\n\nSuch soundbites are just cheap shots that distract us from the fact that electric vehicles are the future in most cases and the sooner we switch to them and destroy the value of oil the better for _everyone_*\n\n*everyone except the Saudis",
"Ok people now there is no science in my answer, but its coming from an ethical standpoint. Say for arguments sake they do pollute more, in my mind its still a way better trade off than the continuation of funding the Saudi Arab regime and ather middle eastern countrys that use are money to supress there people further there regimes and fund terrorist. This is just my .02 cents ",
"I am late to the party. But, also, take in consideration that in many countries people do not maintain car properly. For example, it is many types cheaper to cut filter and continue to drive than buying a new one. Technical inspection in my country doesn't give any notice about this issue. In case of electricity, plant will be 100% properly maintained and in one place. ",
"I'm writing this because too many arguments here seem to ignore the parts of a gas car you no longer need. And like everything else, the facts are all part rubbish, part true, and part outdated. \n\nManufacturing engines and transmissions is a rather well defined process - neither tech has changed too much in the past century (yes, we've added afterteatment and other various efficiency improvements, but engine's are still suck-squeeze-bang-blow and transmissions are still a bunch of gears).\n\nManufacturing for electric motors has certainly been around for awhile, but the recent interest in electrification has driven significant development in motor technology. Different materials, different manufacturing processes, etc. It's had around 10 years of refinement. Similar story with battery tech - it's been around for awhile, but the recent surge in interest is pushing material scientists to find sustainable, high-efficiency battery techs. \n\nSo right now, it's possible. New electric cars probably do cause more pollution than gas cars. But that won't be the case for much longer (in fact, I'd be interested in seeing a comparative study after Tesla's model 3 plant has been running for a year or two). Battery recycling will get better as well (which I admittedly haven't looked at, and assumed was a 'green' process). \n\nBut all of that is the manufacturing process. After that's done, you can easily find studies that show the carbon emissions of running your electric car (even when sourced with energy from coal power) is far cleaner than a gas car. It's much easier handle emissions at a fixed site (things like weight don't matter), where you're producing large quantities of power, and load changes happen relatively slowly. \n\nIt's also significantly cheaper per mile than gasoline, even if your power costs are on the higher end. ",
"_URL_0_\n\nThis article (it's long but pretty effing amazing) does a really good job describing why, although it seems like you're just reassigning fossil fuel combustion to a different level of energy generation, you're actually shifting the entire system towards more efficient energy sources.\n\nIf you don't have time to read the whole thing, scroll down to An Angry Giant, then look for the Long Tailpipe Myth. Urban does an excellent job refuting this myth in a super accessible way. ",
"This claim began with hybrids, and is completely valid in that case, and is based mostly around energy expenditure of manufacturing. Since you have to produce 2 systems of locomotion, there is a large increase in energy expended to manufacture the vehicle, and the very marginal increases in efficiency never overtake that extra initial energy expenditure. Full electric cars are more efficient than internal combustion powered vehicles, as others have said because you can produce energy more efficiently in large scale in power plants. Your average IC engine is around 15%-20% efficient, while even the worst coal powerplants are in the 35%+ range and most are in the 40-45% range. So even with transmission losses, electric cars are more efficient, and since they only have one dedicated locomotion system, they are on par for energy of manufacture. ",
"It reminds me of cloth vs disposable diapers. We decided to use cloth (had kids about 5 years ago) and we went to a meeting at the local \"green\" baby store to learn about them.\n\nThe woman that owned the store was talking about how there is some debate, basically is it better for the environment to manufacture and fill landfills with disposables, or to use a lot of water washing the diapers.\n\nShe said there are studies proving each, if you want the ones saying cloth diapers are better you look at the studies paid for by the cloth companies, and if you want disposables to be better look at the studies paid for by disposable diapers.\n\nModern science in a nutshell.",
"\n\nElectric cars are not pollution free. The electricity has to come from somewhere, and in many cases it comes from power plants using fuel like coal which is highly destructive to the environment. The argument is that the lack of tailpipe emissions is offset by the increased load placed on the electrical grid. I'm not sure that there have been any reliable studies done to compare the impact of electrical cars versus gas cars in these terms. It's not a one to one comparison because the byproducts are different and electrical energy comes from a variety of sources including environmentally friendly sources. There is no environmentally friendly source of fossil fuels.\n\nThe other major argument is that lithium mining is highly destructive, and in some people's *opinion* it is more destructive than fossil fuel production. Lithium mines are environmental disasters, that is a fact, but again it's not a one to one comparison. Fossil fuels and lithium mines are both bad for the environment. \n\nFinally, many will argue that the manufacturing process still releases pollution and causes damage...which is 100% true. But, outside of the powertrain (which we already covered above), gas cars are built which the same processes and the same materials as electric cars for the most part so this point is all but nullified.\n\nNote: these are not necessarily my personal opinions, these are the points other people make when defending or condemning electric cars.\n\nThe important thing to remember is that while electric cars are a great step forward, they are not the final solution. They may pollute less, but they still pollute. Buying an electric car alone will not solve the problem. \n",
"somehow true, maybe because of the batteries. where and how to dispose these batteries specially if it contain harmful substances. ",
"Maybe the same idea as the recycling bin causes more harm than good. How many xtra trucks on the road now because of it? How much pollution do lithium mines produce? Where do all the old batteries go when technology creates new ones?",
"First of all: no, it's not true. [Electric cars do indeed produce less emissions than gas cars, no matter what electrical grid you plug them into to charge them up.](_URL_0_) \n\nThe _theory_ was that fossil-powered electric plants produce more CO_2 to generate that electricity than what would be given off by just putting gasoline into a conventional car. This theory sounds appealing to a lot of people invested in the current car industry who are clutching at any argument they can to avoid change, But, again, it's important to emphasize that this theory is bullshit.",
"There's a few ways to look at it:\n\nAir pollution:\n\nElectric cars have effectively zero point-of-use air emissions, but the electricity comes from somewhere, and depending on the area it may be coal or oil fired power plants. The logic is that \"they're burning stuff anyways, so it's got to be just as bad\".\n\nLets assume you're living in an area fueled purely by coal power.\n\nEfficiency of a traditional coal power is 33%. Some articles I looked up cited that new plants can hit 40%, but we're sticking with the 33% assumption. That's pretty low.\n\nA combined cycle gas fired power plant can hit 56 - 60%, and that's still burning fossil fuels.\n\nBetween 2005 and 2014, the US posted an average loss of 6% in power transmission. So the power lines can be estimated at 94% efficient.\n\nElectric cars themselves have an efficiency between 59 - 62% according to a few articles I found. That can get better though. Electric motors can hit about 88-90% efficiency easily, so the losses are coming from the batteries. Regenerative braking also helps quite a bit. We'll stick with 60% though.\n\nEfficiencies are multiplicative, so the efficiency of an electric car in this scenario is \n0.60 x 0.94 x 0.33 = 0.186 or 18.6%.\n\nThat's not great by any means, but it's also a worst case coal-burning scenario. I live in Ontario, where we've completely eliminated coal power plants. Most of our energy comes from nuclear, solar, wind, and hydro (Niagara Falls).\n\nSo what's the efficiency of an internal combustion engine? 18-20%, and that's at the car. It's also affected by driving habits. It's lower when not operating at a continuous load. They also require an idle load just to stay running. We leave our vehicles idling a lot too. Electric cars don't need to idle, they only need to power the peripherals. Electric cars can do away with transmissions well. Less moving parts = less losses.\n\nOverall, it's not far off to assume that from gas tank to wheels your combustion engine nets you 15-18% efficiency.\n\nThat's lower than the electric car that actually burns coal.\n\nIf you live in an area with wind or solar power, efficiency doesn't even compare anymore because it's bot based on fossil fuel burning. An electric car charged by solar power has zero fossil fuel related emissions.\n\n**Tl:dr**: Even with coal power, the electric car is more efficient.\n\nWhen it comes to materials of construction, that's where pollution can differ. Batteries aren't perfect, and they're not easy to produce and dispose of. That's an issue that the world is still researching.\n\nThe good news is that battery technology is still thriving and growing. There's lots of room for improvement still, whereas combustion motors have pretty well plateaued.",
"If the electricity to power those cars is all made using coal fired or oil fired power plants, then it basically trades one pollutant for the other. Even with nuclear power, which is technically pollutant free powers them, you still have radioactive waste and waste water to deal with. ",
"Here is key takeaway: \"Yes, in both cases the electric car is better, but only by a tiny bit. Avoiding 3 tons of CO2 would cost less than $27 onEurope's emissions trading market. The annual benefit is about the cost of a cup of coffee. Yet U.S. taxpayersspend up to $7,500 in tax breaks for less than $27 of climate benefits. That's a bad deal.\"\n\nSource : _URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11367-014-0788-0",
"http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es903729a"
],
[],
[
"http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1091436_toyota-gasoline-engine-achieves-thermal-efficiency-of-38-percent",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil-fuel_power_station"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/06/how-tesla-will-change-your-life.html"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/electric-car-global-warming-emissions-exec-summary.pdf"
],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/02/18/electric-car-benefits-air-myths-pollution-health-column/23641729/"
]
] |
||
c2lwbg
|
what is a watt per meter kelvin? also, what does a materials' thermal conductivity tell me?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c2lwbg/eli5_what_is_a_watt_per_meter_kelvin_also_what/
|
{
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"erl62tg",
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6
],
"text": [
"It tells you if the material is a good insulator or a bad one. Thermal conductivity is the ability of a material to transport thermal energy heat conduction. It just tells you how much energy a material is able to transfer from one side to the other.\n\nI'm currently on the road. I will try to explain it better when i get home.",
"Thermal conductivity tells you how well a material conducts heat.\n\nWatt per meter Kelvin is a little more difficult to visualize. If you have a large window versus a small window, the large window will let more watts of heat out in the winter, right? And if it's thinner, that will let more heat out, versus a thicker window. Also, if the temperature difference is big, more heat will be let out. So you combine all of these, and your number for thermal conductivity is in watts (energy transfer rate) per degree kelvin (difference in temperature between one side and the other) per meter (cross-sectional area of the material divided by the thickness of the material). W/mK."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2mboe6
|
how does apple/google/etc. route push messages to the correct cell phone? does each phone have a unique ip address?
|
Let's say you're using WhatsApp (or any app that sends you push notifications), and someone sends you a message. WhatsApp's servers contact Apple's servers (or Google, or whoever) and tell them to send you a push notification (e.g. saying you have a new message from someone).
How do Apple's servers know how to contact your phone? Does each phone have an IP address (or something similar)? Wouldn't all of the phones connecting to a cell tower share an IP address? If they do, then how is the push notification routed to your phone?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2mboe6/eli5_how_does_applegoogleetc_route_push_messages/
|
{
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"text": [
"The system works a little bit like NAT. Your phone does have an IP address (and several other ways of being identified by the cellular system). It is not unique just like the IP addresses in your home or office behind a NAT aren't unique. The cellular system has technology that lets the cells hand off the routing information as the phone moves between towers.",
"Note that 'push notifications' are something of a misnomer - it gives the impression that your phone is reachable from anywhere and anyone can push to it. This isn't the case, and your phone doesn't have a unique, public IP address, it's a bit like NAT as /u/rsdancey describes; And it is 'polling' certain channels of information, such as message buses or queues. \n\nThe 'polling' itself can occur in different ways. Your phone's app can keep making requests to a server every few seconds looking for new messages. Your phone can also have a persistent connection open with the server, which allows the server to simply publish information to that connection. For more information on this, you can look up long polling. ",
"Yes, your phone has an IP address. How it's getting that IP is determined by how you're connecting to the net. 3G, LTE, etc? The IP comes from your phone company. WiFi? The IP comes from your ISP (or the ISP of whatever coffee-shop you're guesting along at.) \n\nOnce you accept that your phone has an IP, \"push notifications\" work the same way they do for most any other protocol - you create an association between your IP address and the app's server on a particular port when your app checks in. Check-ins happen when you start your phone or app, and follow-up checks happen on a schedule. If the server needs to reach you in between the regular check intervals, it reaches out on your last known IP/port combo. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
4jfmjl
|
the changes made in the uk pensions market over the last 5 years
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4jfmjl/eli5the_changes_made_in_the_uk_pensions_market/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d36akja"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"This is an extremely wide-ranging question and to be properly answered will need to be narrowed down. However, there have been three very broad trends:\n\n* The simplification of the state pension\n* The almost complete withdrawal of defined-benefits schemes in the private sector and their strong curtailment in the public sector\n* Increasing government pressure (and, lately, legislation) for companies of all sizes to establish some kind of pension provision for their employees.\n\nBeyond that, there has also been significant liberalisation in how much of a defined-contributions pension can be withdrawn upon retirement and there are constant small changes around that sort of thing and the tax applied to pensions."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
54gnvz
|
why are islamic sites being demolished in saudi arabia?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/54gnvz/eli5_why_are_islamic_sites_being_demolished_in/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d81nqve",
"d81ojm0"
],
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2,
3
],
"text": [
"Some Muslims view any sort of depiction of their prophet or god as idolatry, so they tend to destroy historical sites as heretical monuments.\n\nThere is a lot of controversy but most people already know the Saudis and those Muslim sects have those flaws.",
"The Saudi state subscribes to a fairly extremist view of Sunni Islam, which holds that preserving historical sites is uncomfortably close to idolatry. Some sites are also being demolished to make room for continued expansion around the major holy sites (the Kaaba in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina) to support more pilgrims.\n\nIt is definitely controversial outside of Saudi Arabia, but there isn't really anything that can be done about it."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
8rn81v
|
why does meat become much more tender and taste better when cooked “low and slow” vs over higher heat?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8rn81v/eli5_why_does_meat_become_much_more_tender_and/
|
{
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"e0sn8gc",
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29,
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"text": [
"It gives all the fat and connective tissue in the meat time to melt and soak through the meat.\n\nObviously, this only works for things with lots of connective tissue. Something like a steak, well marbled with fat but not having connective tissue, is perfectly tender when cooked more quickly.",
"There are 3 main parts to a meat; protein, fat, and connective tissues. Then 3 key temperatures, 60, 90 and 100 degrees (celsius). 60 is the point to kill most bacteria, 90 is approximately the melting point for fats and connective tissue, 100 is the boiling point of water.\n\nIf we keep it below 60, you risk food poisoning so lets keep it above. Near 90, all that stuff connecting the proteins together disappears into juices, thats a sweet spot but we can't have it at 100 otherwise all the water starts evaporating. So we get it darn close to melting the stuff and making it tender, but not let it dry out.\n\nedit; a word"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2wfpnb
|
why can't we make a mini-usb cable two-sided, like the apple thunderbolt(?), so it attaches regardless of orientation?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wfpnb/eli5_why_cant_we_make_a_miniusb_cable_twosided/
|
{
"a_id": [
"coqdk1e"
],
"score": [
10
],
"text": [
"The upcoming standard USB Type C is reversible."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1d8mua
|
hypothesis testing, f-test, z-test, t-test etc
|
What do these tests mean? What do they show? How are they performed and what do you need to know in order to perform them?
How are they related to the idea of confidence intervals?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1d8mua/eli5_hypothesis_testing_ftest_ztest_ttest_etc/
|
{
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"text": [
"In statistics, you'll have a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis. The null hypothesis is what you would expect to see if everything is normal, while the alternative hypothesis is (generally) that the null hypothesis is wrong. \n\nEvery test in statistics does the same thing: based on the sample data you have, it gives you the probability (P-value) that you might observe that data in the real world, given that the null hypothesis is true. When you have a really low P-value, that means the sample data you have is very significant and it indicates that the null hypothesis is wrong. When you have a big P-value, it suggests that the data you collected is within the normal range. ",
"You can use F,Z, and T tests to create confidence intervals. Each of those tests is used for different samples. The T test is generally used when the total sample size is less than around 30. The Z test when it is above 30. The F test can be used for either, but this test is used to analyze the ratio of the variance of 2 samples.\n\nFor most events that can be described mathematically, there is always a margin of error. The measure of the margin of error is what a confidence interval describes. ",
"***NOTE: This may be a tad long, but I do keep it as simple as possible all the way through.\n***\n\n\nLet's look at an example, maybe it will be easier to understand this way.\n\nAssume you have two processes for a paint manufacturing business, and want to see if Method 2 yields a greater daily mean production than method 1 does.\n\nMethod 1: In a 100 day sample, the mean daily production was 625 tons and the standard deviation was 40 tons.\n\nMethod 2: In a 64 day sample, the mean production was 640 tons and the standard deviation was 50 tons. \n\nWe will use α = 0.05 (statistical significance rate, usually given in classroom problems.\n\nThe first thing we want to do is **set up our null hypothesis and our alternative hypothesis.** Your null hypotheses almost always has an \"=\" as the relation. This means that, in this case where we are testing our means, the mean of method 1 = the mean of method 2. Since we are testing to see if Method 2 has a higher daily mean, Method 1 < Method 2. Our hypothesis test will look as follows.\n\n**Ho: μ1 = μ2\n\nH1: μ1 < μ2**\n\n\nWhenever given a problem where you must conduct a hypothesis test, always look for what it is asking. Sometimes it may ask for variance, and when you move on to higher levels of stat you will get in to main effects, interaction effects, etc. Always make sure you get your hypotheses correct, because if we set it up wrong but solve the problem correctly, our answer will still be wrong.\n\nMoving on....\n\nWe know the following information from above.\n\nMethod 1: Xbar = 625, n1 = 100, and s1 = 40. \n\nMethod 2: Xbar = 640, n2 = 64, and s2 = 50\n\n\nSince the sample sizes are large in this case (625 and 640), it is best to use the Z test. T tests are used when sample sizes are less than 30. F tests are used for variance.\n\nThe first thing we want to do is [draw our distribution graph (looks like a bell curve)](_URL_0_).\n\nSince we are seeing if Method 1 < Method 2, we only need to focus on the left tail end of the bell curve. If it was > , use right tail end. If it is =/=, use both ends (you will need to divide alpha by 2 for the next part if your alternative has a =/= sign).\n\nWe need to find the Z distribution value where alpha = 0.05 in the Z probability charts. This corresponds to a value of -1.645. **So think of it like this: If, when we calculate what the test statistic value is, the value is to the right of that line, then we \"fail to reject Ho\". However, if it falls to the left of that line in the \"rejection region\", then we \"Reject Ho\", thereby \"accepting\" the alternative hypothesis.**\n\nEach test has equations to calculate the Test Statistic which will tell us where our comparison between the two methods will fall on the distribution graph.\n\nWhen we calculate out the Test Statistic for this problem, we get an answer of Z = -2.02, which we see falls to the left of our Z0.05 = -1.645. That is the rejection region. Therefore, **we reject Ho and \"accept\" H1, our alternative hypothesis. This tells us that yes, Method 2 does produce a higher daily mean production than Method 1 does. ** \n\n\nThere are other scenarios and problem types for each distribution. I just wrote out one example to maybe help wrap your head around what is going on."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"http://www.robertniles.com/stats/graphics/normal.gif"
]
] |
|
31mq4c
|
what are the armies fighting in syria and what are their goals?
|
a list of all the different factions fighting in syria and what they are fighting for or what their goals are. and maybe who they are against. . Strongest factions would also be appreciatedStrongest factions would also be appreciated.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/31mq4c/eli5_what_are_the_armies_fighting_in_syria_and/
|
{
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"- The Assad Regime (the Syrian Army): wants to restore itself to power. Allies: Hezbollah (to some extent), Iran, the US (only to the extent that both oppose ISIL), as well as most Syrian religious minority groups, who fear domination by a replacement regime ruled by a Sunni majority.\n\n- The Free Syrian Army: a rebel group made up primarily of former Syrian Army soldiers who defected when the civil war began. Their goals vary, but they want to remove the regime and build a new Syrian government. It's unclear whether that means a new constitution or just putting different people in power. Allies: the US (in principle, though real support is hard for them to secure)\n\n- ISIL (also known as ISIS, IS, or Da'esh): A Sunni Islamist extremist group. Wants to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and the Levant, and possibly to spread further outwards afterwards. Allies: very few, really, but they're good at recruiting fighters and finding enough private donors to stay funded.\n\n- Hezbollah: A Shia militant group affiliated with a political party of the same name. Movement originated and is most powerful in Lebanon. goals are unclear, but Hezbollah is strongly opposed to ISIL's Sunni-dominant regime. Allies: Iran, Syrian regime\n\n- The Peshmerga: Kurdish nationalist fighting forces in the North, Near or on the Turkish and Iraqi border. These are the forces that retook Kobane a few months ago. Goals: the removal of ISIL. The Kurds are native to the region and are fighting in the war mostly because it came to their hometown and they had no other options. In the long term, some of them are Kurdish nationalists and are pushing for an independent Kurdish state, while others are just protecting their homes.\n\n- The US and coalition forces: includes Western Countries, and more stable Arab states like Jordan. Only officially involved in an air campaign at the moment, though some countries have discussed ground forces. Goals: the defeat (or at least containment) of ISIL."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
1wmx9v
|
what is dogecoin mining and why do people need lots of graphics cards for it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wmx9v/what_is_dogecoin_mining_and_why_do_people_need/
|
{
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"text": [
"Dogecoin is a type of [cryptocurrency](_URL_1_) (like bitcoin, litecoin, etc) that is based on the [doge meme](_URL_0_).\n\n\nTo simplify things the way bitcoin mining basically works for example is that your computer is sent some sort of extremely complex mathematical problem, all the machines in the bitcoin network are sent the same problem, and the machine that solve said problem first is given some bitcoin as a reward. And to solve said mathematical problem quicker than anyone else requires a lot of computational power, which GPU's are quite good for.\n\nDogecoin is based on litecoin which works somewhat differently to bitcoin, but the same basic principles applies as far as needing strong GPU's to solve some sort of task sent to your machine.\n\nAnd of course the more GPU's you have the quicker you would be able to generate the cryptocurrency (at least in theory)\n",
"same concept as bitcoin.\n\ntransactions of bitcoin/dogecoin/whatevercoin (there's more out there) are encrypted. people like you or me perform calculations on our personal computers to resolve the functions created by dogecoin users (aka transactions). In return, your or I receive a small kickback, a tiny percentage included in the transfer fee's of the coin.\n\nGraphics cards, specifically AMD cards, are more power efficient at solving these functions than a CPU due to the architecture of the card. basically it's faster and uses less power to solve the same equation your cpu could solve. I don't know the in's and out's of why.\n\nthe factor in mining is power consumption. If you use enough power to solve these functions, it's possible to actually lose money. So many people were mining bitcoin with more and more efficient machines that payout drifted lower and lower, now only ASIC machines are viable. (application specific integrated circuits) (stuff made just for mining) Hence why there's a lot on the internet about dogecoin, it's still friendly to the guy with a couple graphics cards layin around.\n\nhaven't looked that far into it, this is what i've come to understand from lazy web searches a while ago, so correct me if i'm wrong anyone",
"If you want others to join in a group to invest in this activity, you can say a very simple version of everything others explained, which IMO is correct.\n\nYou're renting a machine's processor power to a network of cryptocurrencies' transactions. The amount of the rent paid is equivalent to how many people are doing the same thing as you are in the same network, the value of the cryptocurrency, the sheer value they are paying per processing unit (hashing blocks per second) and how good your machine is at processing based on their GPU models. In this operation, the only expenses are the electric bill and the rates of websites for exchanging currencies.",
"Also, it is not too late to begin mining Dogecoin. My humble system mines about 10,000/doge every 24hrs. Something that was not mentioned, is that Dogecoin is also traded on a few markets (like cryptsy) and you can trade Dogecoin for Litecoin, Bitcoin, USD, or whatever you are after.",
"Others have explained cpus, gpus, and mining in general fairly well. A good quwstion is why do you get \"paid\" to mine. Think of what happens when you pay your bills online through your bank. You provide name, address, phone number, routing number, account number, amount to transfer and where. The banks computers record all the details of the transactions. This recording of transactions takes many computers to maintain all the records and if somebody checks what the transactions are, the bank computers tell you. \nWhen mining, you are basically having your computer do complex math problems to show a transaction was made. You are then paid in \"coins\" for this proof of transaction. The way the transactions of cryptocurrency are recorded makes them un-tamperable (I.e. can't be hacked) and are very secure. \nThe other big benefit to cryptocurrency is anonymity. I send coins from my \"wallet\"(a series of numbers and letters that identify my account, without identifying me) to someone elses wallet in seconds (generally), without providing any personal information (name , phone, addess etc).. I don't even have to know the name of the person I'm paying (no who do I make this cgeck out to) just their wallet ID(called the address)",
"Also, if you visit the guys at /r/dogecoin they will gladly help you get started. Also there are smaller subs inside of those. If you aren't into the entire \"mining\" process you can just buy doge outright from /r/dogemarket but get ready for some hefty markups.\n\nedit: also, also this, also that. also, WOW. TO THE MOON",
"Dogecoin is a new type of \"cryptocurrency\", which is essentially some fun internet funny. \n\nAs people send money to each other, the ledger/log of each transaction doesn't exist on one central server, it actually exists on your machine, my machine, ... and everyone's machine that's running dogecoin stuff. (it's called a blockchain). \n\nThere's some complex math needed to create a digital signature of the ledger/log, to prevent people from adding a couple zeros to amounts they receive, etc. Everyone needs to trust this ledger. \n\nThe math requires a LOT of computing power. To get people to chip in their computing power (and electricity bill costs, too), the coin network has rules built in, that right now say \"Whoever solves each math problem will get a random amount of dogecoin, between 1 and 1,000,000 coins!\". \n\nSo mining involves attempting to be the person to solve these problems and win these coins. But since it's incredibly hard to do this with just your computer alone (you'd have to be realllly lucky since there are a lot of people doing this), most people create teams of people who mine together, and agree that whoever on the team solves the math problem, everyone will share the reward. (These are called \"mining pools\"). \n\nAs to why people want graphics cards - that's because the math problems being solved are similar to the same problems that you'd have to solve to draw 3D images and stuff. Your CPU could solve the same problems, but the graphics cards are _really_ fast at solving the same thing. Because of this, many people will buy more than one graphics card and put them in their computers, even though they only hook up one monitor to their system. \n\nAnd, because these dogecoins can be converted to real money (like US Dollars), ... a good graphics card doing these math problems (mining) can pay for itself in a month or two. So people will buy a lot of graphics cards, and after a few months, they are creating free money for you!\n ",
"Some further questions, who is submitting these problems and are they the ones paying the solver?\r\rWhat I gather is someone (company/research/bank etc.) is in need of some high computing power to solve something, so they put out a problem, and they rent other peoples processing power (singularly or collectively) to solve said problem.\r\rOr am I way off the mark here?",
"Eh, some of your answers are close, but not really clear *and* accurate. \n\nMining for a cryptocurrency (\"CC\") simply means you run a program on your computer to permit it to be used to authenticate transactions that other people make. That is *what* mining actually is; now *why* it has become a thing to use a ton of GPUs (and why some GPUs are on back order because of Doge / Litecoin mining). \n\nThere are two main kinds of CCs, Script and SHA 256 (explaining what those two terms mean would be far too much for this answer - just think, two languages, but that is a terrible analogy). \n\nBecause *reasons* (again, too much to get into) it is better to use a GPU to mine for a Script CC and a CPU to mine for SHA 256; Doge coin is a Script (BitCoin is a SHA 256). \n\n----\n\nIt really isn't very fun or interesting to mine, you just run a program on your computer, point it at a pool (a pool is simply a group of people mining the same coin), and wait for blocks to be solved (again, *reasons*, simply put, solving blocks are authenticating other persons' transactions). When your pool solves a block, you get your share of the reward in the relative CC. \n\nThe more people attempting to mine for a certain CC the quicker these transactions are. \n\n**The ___reason___ to do this is to have a secure and quick transaction, not to get the coin.** But getting new coins is an incentive to let people like me to lend you some of my computing power to ensure your transaction is legit. \n\n----\n\nAnother part of this tapestry of an answer is how to transact. I could, for example, send you a tip through Reddit by using the Doge Tip Bot: \n\n+/u/dogetipbot 100 doge verify\n\nThe Tip Bot has been having difficulty lately (it seems) but if that works, it would send you 100 Doge coin from me to you. You would have to register it with your Wallet's address in order to receive the tip. The address is simply a long string of numbers and letters which identifies you. For example, my address is: \n\nDH5E2MyQ8qBppHkAiAKJU4866S7LdLyxgt\n\nI registered with the Tip Bot and tried to send it a transfer to try to send people tips, but it hasn't worked yet. \n\n----\n\nBut there are other ways to *cash out*, send people money, etc. But this answer is already far too long. I'll end this by including a few helpful links. \n\n[This website gives you the profitability of mining for various coins](_URL_0_). \n\n[This site outlines and compares the various CCs out there](_URL_2_). \n\n[This is one of the pools I mine at](_URL_1_). ",
"can someone explain to me why this imaginary coins have worth and value? if a computer is just generating them and sending them to people to solve and handing them out, why are they valuable in any way. what are these codes used for that are encrypted to make them worth something?",
"For anyone that might listen to The Joe Rogan Experience, there was an amazing episode he just had about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. He interviewed a bitcoin entrepreneur, Andreas Antonopoulos. Give it a listen because there's some great information that answered a lot of questions I had about cryptocurrency. [Joe Rogan and Andreas Antonopoulos] (_URL_0_)",
"It's fairly simple. Doge is an evil emperor who accepts graphic cards in exchange for mining his secret mines. People mine for dogecoins so they can pay to live in Dogelandia. Such hard life. Many problem. Wow.",
"It's a fun new currency with a friendly vibe, unlike it older brothers.\n\nIf you are thinking to start, enter here a nice new pool, still looking for it's first block! Come and be part of history.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nEdit whoops link..",
"In simple principle, it's just like SETI@Home used to be. Yet don't search for other civilizations, but collect points that can be transferred into money.",
"explain this to me like i am a shibe\n\nwow",
"Are mods gonna delete every post that has got something to do with dogecoin? /r/worldnews /r/explainlikeimfive etc.",
"Dogecoin is a digital currency. It is essentially a copy of Bitcoin, except was given a new name/logo and rebranded with the doge meme.\n\nDogecoin, like Bitcoin, keeps an accounting ledger of every transaction ever done. This ledger is called the blockchain. When someone transfers Dogecoins to someone else, that transaction is recorded in the blockchain.\n\nThe purpose of mining is to confirm these transactions. When someone transfers Dogecoins to someone else, miners solve extremely complex mathematical problems which confirm the transfer. Once a transfer gets enough confirmations, it is added to the blockchain. \n\nAs a reward for confirming transactions, miners are given free Dogecoins, depending on how much computing power they are providing to the Dogecoin network.\n\nThe mathematical problems used to confirm transactions are specifically designed to be solved using graphics cards. The more graphics cards a person has, the faster he or she can mine. This is why people often connect many graphics cards into large \"mining rigs\".\n\nJust to give you an idea of how much money can be earned by mining, a single Radeon 280x graphics card, which costs about $450, can earn about $10 a day mining Dogecoin. In other words, it should pay itself back after about a month and a half. However, the amount of money earned per day depends on a number of variables, and will probably decrease significantly in the coming months.",
"Money is super important because it lets us save and buy and sell things easier. If I'm a farmer and all I have are chickens, I might be able to find a baker who will trade me bread in exchange for a chicken. But if he doesn't want my chicken, I have to find someone with milk (or candy, or something the Baker wants). I'd have to trade my chicken for that thing, *then* trade that thing for the bread. It gets really complicated when different people want different things, and if I can't work it all it, I'm stuck with my chickens.\n\nThat's why \"Money\" is so popular. We've all agreed to use it, and to give it the same value. I can sell my chickens for $100 when people want chickens, then save it or use it to buy what I need -- even if the grocery store wouldn't have wanted my chickens.\n\nAnything can be used as money if enough people agree to use it -- because the value of money is in the agreement everyone has made, not the worth of the paper itself. The problem is making sure that people don't just take a pen and some paper and \"make\" themselves new money without doing the work to earn it. That's why banks and and governments are usually in charge of money: they make it very detailed, on special paper, and hard to copy, so that it's easy to spot when someone has made their own fake money instead of working for it.\n\n\"Dogecoin\" is a special kind of money that some people have agreed to use. Instead of being printed on paper or coins, it's stored on computers in files, like music or movies. That makes it really easy to send to other people or receive from other people... but it has the same problem as paper money: How can we make sure that the \"Dogecoin\" someone has isn't just a file they made without doing the work for it?\n\nDogecoin (and other things like Bitcoin that are very similar) solve this in a weird way that works pretty well: Everyone who agrees to use Dogecoin also keeps track of everyone else's transactions. When I give 5 Dogecoin to my friend, I tell all the other Dogecoin users about it and they all agree to recognize the transaction. If someone announces, \"I'm rich! I have a million dogecoin!\" but there is no record of them *receiving* dogecoin from anyone, all the people who use Dogecoin know they're lying.\n\nDouble-checking those transactions takes a lot of complicated math -- it even takes computers a long time to do it. (Computer graphics cards are particularly good at this kind of math, so people usually use them for it.) Even though it's hard and takes time, it's very important, because without all that double-checking, would be no way to know whose Dogecoin is \"real.\" So, when people do those calculations to double-check everyone else's transactions, they get a little bit of Dogecoin to make it worth their time.\n\nThat means that people who want to get some Dogecoin can spend their time double-checking everyone else's transactions, and be paid for that work in Dogecoin. They call that \"mining,\" because they spend their time calculating numbers and getting \"coin\" for it, sort of like gold miners digging in the ground."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/doge",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.coinwarz.com/cryptocurrency/?sha256HashRate=2000.00&sha256Power=800.00&sha256PowerCost=0.1000&scryptHashRate=2000.00&scryptPower=800.00&scryptPowerCost=0.1000&sha256Check=false&scryptCheck=true&e=MtGox",
"https://dogehouse.org/",
"http://coinmarketcap.com/"
],
[],
[
"http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/andreas-antonopoulos"
],
[],
[
"http://dogestyle.org.uk/"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
5470gm
|
how computers know to use the gpu (or a gpu card) and not the cpu when doing machine learning/deep learning/ data analysis algorithms?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5470gm/eli5_how_computers_know_to_use_the_gpu_or_a_gpu/
|
{
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"d7zedin",
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3,
3,
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"text": [
"GPUs are programmed in a completely different way than CPUs.\n\nYour main CPU is what runs any software you install on your computer. To use the GPU, the software has to indirectly communicate with the GPU and tell it to do something.\n\nSoftware like TensorFlow detects if you have a compatible GPU, and if so, sends it the GPU program, then streams data to the GPU for computation and retrieves the results. If you don't have a GPU, it has an equivalent program that runs on your CPU instead (more slowly).\n\nGPUs aren't actually faster than your CPU in general - but for very repetitive tasks, especially things like multiplying large tensors, GPUs can work on a lot more data in parallel and give you much faster overall throughput.\n",
"The engineers who write the software decide what should run on the CPU and what should run on the GPU. It's very specific and intentional.",
"The cpu controls the gpu it's the reason a slow cpu can bottleneck a fast gpu. It's also not done automatically the software is programmed to send instructions to the gpu to do work so computer's don't \"know\" or dynamically choose when to use the gpu or cpu. Software is either coded to use the gpu or not."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
6d4kko
|
how are businesses able to hire employees and still make enough to pay the owners and employees and overhead costs?
|
Obviously this is possible since, well, the vast majority of companies has employees but how can they go from having no employees to hiring the fist one and then another one and then 10 and so on?
How are they able to pay benefits, payroll, rent, etc? Does the business need to be making crazy margins to afford this?
Thank you.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6d4kko/eli5_how_are_businesses_able_to_hire_employees/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dhztq6p"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Well, starting a business is after all a risk, you may go bankrupt. Keep in mind that a lot of businesses do go bankrupt.\n\nThere are essentialy to main ways to start and grow a business:\n\n**Starting on your own.**\n\nOne way to start a buisiness is by yourself. You start a very small business where only you (or maybe your family) are working. In the beginning you might be making just enought money to survive and employ yourself. However, after some time, your business is doing better and you start making ''a lot'' of money. With this extra money that you have made from your business, you figure that you have enough to hire one more guy. This would fit well under you assumption that they need to be making ''crazy margins'' to afford more employees.\n\n**Having a lot of money when starting the business**\n\nLets say you're already a billionare. Well, then you already have enough money to employ a lot of people if you want to start some sort of a business. \n\nAnother way of getting a lot of money when starting the business, is by launching it to the Stock market. Lets say you have a brilliant idea, you could present that idea to stock investors. If you are able to convince stock investors (or just a rich investor in general) you will get money right of the bat, and you can hire employees immediately.\n\n**TL;DR; Yes in order for a business to grow and thereby hire more employees, they need to be making a comfortable amount of money. However, if you already have the money from either beeing rich beforehand or having investors invest in your business, you can get the money needed to employ employees right away.**\n\nEDIT: GRAMMAR"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2lk3qa
|
what is happening when i jump start a car
|
I have a pretty simple question here... when i jump start a dead car I would like to know what is happening. When you connect the two batteries together, does it close a circuit and create one giant battery? And when dead car starts, is it just drawing power from the giant battery?
OR
Does the dead car start from the dead battery only, so the dead battery needs to "charge up" by drawing juice from the donor car first?
OR
am i connecting the dead battery to the alternator of the live car to charge up the dead battery?
Hope the question is clear.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lk3qa/eli5what_is_happening_when_i_jump_start_a_car/
|
{
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"text": [
" > When you connect the two batteries together, does it close a circuit and create one giant battery?\n\nEssentially, yes, although the dead battery doesn't contribute much, the live battery is doing all the work.\n\n > And when dead car starts, is it just drawing power from the giant battery?\n\nOn the car's motor is running, it is driving the alternator, which charges the battery. Let it run for 10, 15 minutes, and it should have enough juice to start up again. ",
"Sounds like someone is preparing for the Canadian winters.",
"When you connect the jumper cables between the batteries, you do indeed create one larger battery by connecting the batteries in parallel. But, the battery in the dead car is drained, so only the battery in the other car will contribute when starting.\n\nAs soon as you connect the cables, the generator in the running car will start to charge the battery in the dead car.\n\nDepending a lot on the quality of the jumper cables, you can either start the dead car straight off of the other cars battery. If that doesn't work, you're most likely using low quality cables that have too great of a resistance, which creates a voltage loss when a current is drawn, not being able to provide enough power to the starting car.\n\nIn that case, just let the \"other car\" run for 10 minutes (with elevated idling, around 1300-1500 rpm is good) while connected, and it's alternator will charge the battery in the dead car. It won't be fully charged in 10 minutes, but because it has charged a bit, less current has to be drawn through the jumper cables since the starter can now use current from that battery too. Less current also means less voltage drop over the cables, providing even more power. \n\nSo why won't low quality cables allow you to jump start a car directly without charging first? It's because the wires are so thin, and connected so poorly, that the cable has a quite high resistance. Since V=I*R, higher resistance equals higher voltage loss. When buying jumper cables, always buy the best quality you can find. You can also always double up cables. It's **much** better to have two pairs of low quality cables connected, than just one pair.\n\nAlso, when connecting jumper cables, always make sure the clamps get as good of a connection as possible! This is **very** important, this frequently makes the difference between a successful and unsuccessful jump start. This means, don't just clamp them on and leave them, but pry the handles apart (so the clamps clamp with more force) and rotate the clamp back and forth a bit so it \"digs in\" a little bit. Sometimes it's necessary to actually have someone holding the cables, he should then try to pry the handles on the jumper cables apart, so they exert more force and \"digs in\" harder in the metal. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1q8bjf
|
why you seem to move faster while closer to the ground than when you are higher in the air
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1q8bjf/eli5why_you_seem_to_move_faster_while_closer_to/
|
{
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"cda7qra",
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],
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3
],
"text": [
"You're closer to the objects that you interact with on a daily basis and can see how fast you're moving in relation to them better.",
"The farther an object is, the more time it must spend in your field of view at a given speed, but you can visualize how fast you're moving like this. Pick a flaw on the aircraft window. Line up your head with that flaw and the ground. Brace your head so it's stationary. During straight and level flight, watch the mark on the window cut through the objects on the ground at incredible speeds. You STILL appear to move very fast at 35,000 feet if you consider how many trees and houses your mark cuts through in a little amount of time. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2fjwf7
|
how are international flights regulated?
|
A combination of the air laws of the affected countries or treaties? Is there a body that regulates it, like the UN? Thank you!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fjwf7/eli5how_are_international_flights_regulated/
|
{
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"ck9wvof",
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],
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2
],
"text": [
"The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a UN agency that codifies principles of air navigation and adopts standards and recommendations for international air navigation. \n\nIndividual states and countries also have their own aviation laws and civil aviation councils that for the most part comply with ICAOs standards. \n\nThere's a lot more to it, but I recommend checking out ICAO (and IATA, which has some great training) if you're interested in learning more. \n\nEdit: spelling",
"The [\"freedoms of the air\"](_URL_0_) may also interest you."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedoms_of_the_air#Overview"
]
] |
|
6qylez
|
why do people get put in hospitals for starving themselves but not for over-eating
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6qylez/eli5_why_do_people_get_put_in_hospitals_for/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dl0zdkv"
],
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],
"text": [
"Well you only get \"put\" in a hospital if someone with power of attorney over you puts you in there or you call an ambulance or show that you are a danger to yourself and others due to mental psychosis. Nobody can force you to go to a hospital otherwise. That being said, people who starve themselves more often find that they end up in life threatening conditions like low blood sugar, fainting spells, etc. which prompts emergency responses and gets them in the hospital. Then when it is realized that the reason they are there is because of anorexia they may be committed to a mental facility in order to deal with the issue so that they don't end up in the ER again due to another starvation related physiological emergency. Similar to what happens when people tell their doctor they are seriously considering suicide. In the case of obesity, health issues come on more gradually. You don't suddenly faint out in public from being too fat like you might from not eating in two weeks. But obese people still do end up in the hospital and quite a bit actually. They just happen to end up there of their own free will more often. Usually due to long term complications of overeating. Sometimes morbidly obese people turn to the hospital as their only way to lose weight and are put on a strict low calorie diet until they are at a weight where they can actually get up and move for themselves then they have to go through rigorous physical rehabilitation and exercise and relearn how to eat healthy and maintain a healthy diet and weight.\n\nIn short, people who overeat do end up in the hospital. Nobody can force you to go to the hospital unless you are unresponsive or an immediate threat to yourself or in psychosis. Anorexic people due to lack of eating face more immediate health effects than people who overeat and end up in the hospital quicker. Overeaters face longer term health risks and end up in the hospital later."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
7dfjfq
|
why do people get disoriented and unbalanced after being spun around in a chair multiple times? is there a way to keep from getting disoriented?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7dfjfq/eli5_why_do_people_get_disoriented_and_unbalanced/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dpxe1cu"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The part of your body that gives your brain a sense of balance is some [semicircular liquid-filled tubes](_URL_0_) in your inner ear. When you are spun around very quickly, the liquid sloshes around fast, and your brain tries to catch up. This is what causes dizziness. \n\nI know there are techniques to avoid getting dizzy, such as for ballerinas when they twirl around, but I don't know how they work. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Blausen_0329_EarAnatomy_InternalEar.png/1200px-Blausen_0329_EarAnatomy_InternalEar.png"
]
] |
||
dz9ckp
|
whenever i get waves of nervousness, my pointer finger tingles. why is that?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dz9ckp/eli5_whenever_i_get_waves_of_nervousness_my/
|
{
"a_id": [
"f86568f"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Nervousness and stress causes your body to release hormones into your blood to activate fight or flight mode. One of the effects is that blood flow if restricted from your extremities and directed to your muscles and brain.\n\nWhen less blood flows to your fingers, one of the farthest parts of your body, your nerves will not be able to send signals property and will send signals wildly, causing the tingling feeling as if the limb fell asleep. You probably notice it in your pointer finger because there are more nerves in it since you use it more than your other fingers."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1xbfmd
|
why does sleeping after learning new information help in the process of memorizing it? additionally, why is brain downtime beneficial?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xbfmd/eli5_why_does_sleeping_after_learning_new/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cf9u75a"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"When you sleep your brain consolidates and makes sense of everything it has done that day. That's one of the reasons why sleep is important before a big exam. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
fuqdy0
|
if earth is getting heavier, why is the moon slowly going away from earth and not towards earth?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fuqdy0/eli5_if_earth_is_getting_heavier_why_is_the_moon/
|
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"text": [
"The tidal waves are caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon. But similarly the moon is attracted to the tidal waves. But the Earth is rotating faster then the moon and therefore also the tidal waves. So every time an island or continent overtakes a tidal wave it will push the tidal wave forward in the rotation. The tidal wave will then drag the moon forward with it slightly. So the moon is gaining orbital speed from the rotation of the Earth. And this orbital speed causes the moon to go further and further out in its orbit. The effect of the tidal waves on the moon is much greater then the slightly increasing mass of the Earth.",
"Since when was Earth getting heavier?"
]
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2ws2xo
|
why are we okay with euthanizing our pets to end their suffering of a terminal illness, but completely against helping our human loved ones in the same way?
|
I just don't get it. We put our dog down, but watched while my grandmother deteriorated. She went relatively quickly, but I can't imagine how tortured I'd feel if she went on and on like that.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ws2xo/eli5_why_are_we_okay_with_euthanizing_our_pets_to/
|
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"text": [
"Many religions have a prohibition on killing innocent others. This applies here. ",
"People feel humans are more worth the money to keep them hanging around. ",
"The way the law is written \"putting down\" your grandmother is murder. There are some laws about animal rights and animal abuse but it's easy to argue that to put an animal down is more humane than letting it suffer. \n\nWe can change the law but that requires people to be under a consensus that suicide should be condoned by the state in this circumstance. But that is very hard to do, particularly when many religions already have a stance on suicide. ",
"Many countries had physician assisted death, and Canada is moving closer to this right. I for one support it. The laws are written as such that only adults of consenting and sound mind can request physician assisted death. No one can request it for them, the patient must request it themselves. They must also be in intolerable pain/suffering or have a terminal illness, from which there is no recovery. This isn't an alternative to palliative care, its another tool in the tool box. There usually is also an assessment period, made by the doctor and other professionals to insure that this is really what the patient wants. This isn't a decision that is taken lightly. \n\nThe best thing here would be to improve access to palliative care, and of course in act laws that allow one to choose physician assisted death if they so wish. If their religion does not permit it, then fine they can opt for longer palliative care. Some people are concerned that it will end up with the killing of mentally/physically disabled individuals, but again remember that no one can request physician assisted death but the patient themselves, and they must be of sound mind in order to do so. \n\nIn regards to animal euthanasia it isn't all sunshine and rainbows, many animals are euthanized that might other wise live happy healthy lives simply because owners don't want them, or can't afford them. Veterinarians only have so much power in this regard. While it is of course very nice that we have the option between palliative care and euthanasia for our pets, it is a serious problem and moral stain when people use euthanasia not as a last resort but rather as a cop-out to proper [palliative] care.\n\n\n\n",
"Because animals can't speak a human language whereas people can. I don't get it either. \n\nMy boyfriends cousin is 18 and has been *completely* disabled since the day he was born. Can't feed himself, clothe himself, clean himself, he's literally a vegetable. He lays in a hospital bed in their cheap apartment all day and all night and a nurse will come in for a few hours while his parents are working their shitty jobs to barely support themselves+him to shove a tube down his throat to feed him, change diapers, give him sponge baths, and shove another tube down his throat to clean out mucous or saliva he can't swallow. I get it, but I don't. It's their son, I understand that, but he has done nothing but lie in a bed for *18 years.* He doesn't recognize people, if you asked him who his Mother was he wouldn't know nor would he even be able to tell you since he can't talk or move to point a finger at her. \n\nI get that they love him, but both me and my boyfriend think they'd all (cousin included) would be better off if they just let him go. And part of me feels like an asshole for believing that. ",
"Great question. When it comes to our pets, we are told that to euthanize is to do the \"humane\" thing.\nIf it is so \"humane\", why don't we find it acceptable when it comes to humans? I just don't understand.",
"I think it's because few of us want to face our own mortality. We want to believe that life is precious and that we should fight for every second of life that we can get. The idea that death is sometimes preferable to life disturbs many people.",
"People are also allowed to euthanize totally healthy pets because of inconvenience, because pets don't really have any rights. Thousands of healthy animals are destroyed in shelters all the time, not because there's anything wrong with them or that they aren't happy to be alive, but because no one wants to take care of them. People balk at the thought of making it easy to euthanize human beings for the same reasons and with similar ease, because being dependent, elderly, or mentally ill doesn't mean someone doesn't want or deserve to keep living. So it's very tricky."
]
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1y84rg
|
what happens if you commit a crime against a person from another country (in another country) from your own country?
|
The question is not as complicated as it sounds. I'll try to explain with an example:
What happens if subject A is an American, living in USA, and subject B is a Brazilian, living in Brazil. And subject B commits a virtual crime against subject A? (or vice-versa) Is subject B going to be judged under Brazil's laws or American laws? And what happens if the crime is considered a crime in USA but not in Brazil? (or vice-versa).
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1y84rg/eli5_what_happens_if_you_commit_a_crime_against_a/
|
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"Crimes are determined by territory and citizenship. Since the Brazilian is a Brazilian citizen living in Brazil, he will be judged under Brazilian laws, if it isn't a crime in Brazil, he's not breaking any laws at all.",
"What do you mean by \"virtual crime?\" Because that would probably involve authorities from both countries, and charges from both countries -- since the victim and the perp resided in both, and the crime happened in both.\n\nAs for where it's considered a crime... lots of Americans have been tried in America for traveling to Thailand to have sex with underage prostitutes; legal there, illegal here. Doesn't matter, since the perp crossed US borders in order to commit what's considered a crime in America.",
"Since you are talking about online crime that fully depends on what treaties the various involved nations have with each other and if the crime committed is of a national security nature or not. But generally speaking if you are physically in a country it is those laws that apply to you regardless of citizenship. "
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2r7hhm
|
didn't net neutrality already got voted on and failed? why is it that the us government can basically keep pushing bills until they get the required result?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2r7hhm/eli5didnt_net_neutrality_already_got_voted_on_and/
|
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"they change a small detail in that bill and that means its new bill, so they vote on it, its a common thing they do, people usualy care first few times untill it slips under every ones radar or people dont care and sudenly it gets voted in.",
"I'm only going to address part of this, but:\n\n > Why is it that the US government can basically keep pushing bills until they get the required result?\n\nBecause that's much better than the alternative. There are quite a few reasons that you might want to try to pass a bill that does the same things as (or has portions that do similar things to) a bill that has previously failed to pass. Forbidding this would result in a government that would paralyze itself over time and be completely unable to react to a changing world.\n\nBesides, an actual implementation would be nightmarishly complicated. How different does a section of a bill have to be to a section that has previously failed to pass for it to be acceptable? Does it apply to entire bills, or just specific parts? If a bill fails to pass because it contains something really unpopular, does that mean you can try again without the unpopular part, or is everything in that bill now verboten?\n\nImagine a bill that creates some program that receives $50,000,000/year in funding. If it fails to pass because nobody can agree on exactly how much money that program should receive, nobody can ever try it again -- even if everyone agrees that it should exist!\n\nWhat do you do about a bill that uses different methods to achieve the same effects as a bill that previously failed to pass?"
]
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5s0a1p
|
why is it that when something irritates you, you sometimes exacerbate it?
|
To elaborate, say for example you have a canker on the side of your tongue. And you rub it back and forth along the edge of your tooth, even though it hurts.
Or am I just nuts? Is this actually a thing everyone does? Is there a reason for it?
Right now one of my molars is sensitive, I noticed after a bite of food when something pressed hard into it and it hurt. Now when I drink ice water, the cold and ice makes the nerves sing in that spot a little bit. Yet for some reason instead of avoiding it, I target it on purpose.
Obviously this doesn't apply to serious levels of pain, just more bearable nuisance level pain. My best guess is the mind constantly checking the status of something that is wrong with the body, so it knows if it's getting worse or not.
Is this a dumb question?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5s0a1p/eli5_why_is_it_that_when_something_irritates_you/
|
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"Your mouth is one of those places where you have a muscle that can consciously do what it wants. The tongue (and rest of your mouth) is one of the most nerve rich and sensitive spots on a body. When you're injured, there is a subconscious impulse to feel the injury to assess (is it getting worse? How swollen is it?) But it's also a truly primal instinct...\n\nWhen animals injure themselves, they don't have the evolutionary luxury of hands to carefully clean a wound. The next best thing is to lick a wound so it can become cleaner. This is especially so for injuries in the mouth because an animal might not be able to paw INSIDE their mouth.\n\nI'm no expert, but I was in the dental field for a decade and I always thought it was a compulsory instinct. \n\nI also equate this with why if you cut your finger, a common human response is to suck on it really quick."
]
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3khg7r
|
why doesn't amazon have any real competition from similar sites?
|
I have had 10 orders messed up resulting from using criminals to deliver packages ($150 order stolen) to sending my son a right handed glove even though I ordered a left handed glove. He now can't play baseball tomorrow and his little heart is crushed. I continue to use them due to the large selection and easy to use website. Why hasn't anyone opened a competing website? I heard of one but they barely had 1/100 of the items amazon carries. I would switch immediately if another site carried toddler baseball gloves, evening gowns, tooth paste and laser printer ink.
edit: They "forgot" to send the replacement mitt and now not only dd we miss practice but unless I can find a lefty, tiny mitt tonight, we are missing his first game. Thanks Amazon!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3khg7r/eli5_why_doesnt_amazon_have_any_real_competition/
|
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"To start a company that can carry all of that, and have good service, easy to use website, etc. takes a big investment.",
"You should look at shop bots. They cross shop lots of sites including amazon for the best site. \n\nIt then comes down to specialty shops. \n\nIn Canada there is _URL_0_ that links to a ton of sites. \n\nRedflagdeals give you last minute deals.\n\nIf any one has other site please add some.",
"Amazon has created one of the most difficult models to duplicate because they are far more than just a website. The initial capital it would take to set up enough warehouses to hold all of the items that a company would need in order to truly compete would be astronomical, and that doesn't even take into account the number of employees and their salaries that would be needed. That's a huge investment in a startup that then has the task of convincing people to use it instead of Amazon. It will happen someday, but probably not while Amazon is at the top of their game, which they currently are. As far as your experiences with the stolen packages, I'm not quite sure what you mean by \"using criminals to deliver packages\", but if you ordered the items from Amazon (meaning Amazon was the actual seller or the one who fulfilled the item) then they should be willing to help you out as Amazon provides outstanding customer service. ",
"Exactly. You use Amazon because of the selection and ease of use. That is exactly why there isn't a similar competing site. One cannot simply fabricate a world spanning system of distribution. Businesses have to build up to that point, which is something that is becoming increasingly difficult. It's like asking why someone doesn't open a new kind of Walmart, only better.\n\nI live in a small Japanese town with very little economy. While I want to shop locally, it's difficult when so many kinds of products just aren't carried. So I can drive around town looking for this and that, or I can drive to the city and get everything there. It's the exact same problem. Why would anyone use a harder to use site with less products when they can just order from Amazon and know that they will have it?",
"It's a natural monopoly model of business. \n\nAmazons reached market dominace in it's main home market USA, biggest market in world. \n\nIt sells to it's American consumer market base products at cost. \n\nThis gives it a triple advantage. \n\n1. It was first to reach market dominace in US market (biggest in world) . \n\n2. It sells at cost, to maintain market dominance. \n\n3. It's usa market dominance, and minimal business model. Allows it to cut costs even more. And entrench the above 2 advantages even more. \n\nThe bigger it gets, the more it can reduce costs, meaning it gets even more bigger. \n\nbigger discounts from publishers, manufacturers, more sales, smaller profit margins etc.\n\nCausing a vicious cycle of dominance breeding more dominance. \n\n4. Its business model kills off all competitors who wish to do business to make profits. \n5. and kills those who wish to do business at cost. as they are undercut and bankrupted. \n\nNo one else can undercut them. \n\nOnly possibility would be some kind of business taking market share at a huge loss for years and years, till it catches up to amazon's same level of cost efficiency. \n\nAt which point both of them would be equal in size. unable to undercut each other in prices, causing a stalemate. \n\nA googe or a yahoo could do this. \n\nOther realistic option would be a chinese firm with market dominance in china. If chinas market overtakes USAs as biggest in world. That chinese company would be able to undercut out amazon, in it's own business model. \n\nThird realistic option for amazon getting beat and the most likely one is. They mess up internally running the business, end up becoming inefficient and unable to maintain their business model of cheapest prices, no profits. ",
"Amazon is the leader in what they do in the United States, according to some here even a monopoly (although I don't believe they have a enough control over the market for us to make that claim).\n\nDespite being number one they have never stopped enhancing their delivery of their service. Unless something at a basic level changes how business is done they'll continue to be a leader, especially if they continue to innovate. They're too advanced at this point to be easily caught.\n\nBy advanced I mean they appear to have the fastest, most technically sophisticated way of getting goods to people and continue to look for ways to make it even better. A couple examples of this from the news in the past few years that I can recall are things like the possibility of using quadcopters/drones for delivery and customer activity algorithms that try to predict what customers will buy that will leverage that data to position goods near the consumer and possibly even ship it before an order has been made.\n\nIt would be difficult for competitors of theirs develop these capabilities and be profitable in an acceptable time frame. So Amazon will likely not be going away anytime soon.\n\nThey've had their fair share of controversy as well...recently their system white collar employee management and culture has been criticized in the media; further in the past Amazon's treatment of workers in distributor warehouses has given them negative press as well."
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4hb8q4
|
why in most democratic countries the president can't stay for more than 2 terms. can't the people let them stay longer?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4hb8q4/eli5_why_in_most_democratic_countries_the/
|
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"Mostly it is to prevent a popular president from accumulating too much power in the government.\n\nA leader who stays too long tends to make the organization about himself whether he wants to or not. Things get structured around how he operates, and people defer to him based on his experience. When he leaves his post, especially if it's a sudden departure, the organization is crippled without him. Not something you want to happen to a government.",
"There didn't used to be a term limit for presidents in the early US, but most presidents voluntarily resigned after two terms."
]
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[] |
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er7fjy
|
how does the paparazzi work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/er7fjy/eli5_how_does_the_paparazzi_work/
|
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"I know a lot of celebrities actually hire photographers for marketing reasons, building hype for a new show/movie/product, or to influence their image. A common trick is for a celebrity to suddenly be 'spotted' with a new partner when there are rumors of them being gay.",
"Most western countries have exception for anyone who has a 'Public Relations' agent, in that they actively seek recognition, and are thereby \"public people\" and fair game.\n\nThere is also a very broad \"grey area\" for photos taken in the public domain, in that a person has no expectation of privacy.",
"If you take photos from a public area there is no expectation of privacy. This is why almost all paparazzi shots are on the street or maybe from the street looking through a window into something like a restaurant. \"Expectation of privacy\" applies in places like restrooms, changing rooms, locker rooms, doctor offices, etc. This is how street photography is allowed."
]
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mg1ti
|
why the 'security features' in currency notes make them difficult to counterfeit
|
Won't it just be a matter of time until counterfeiters figure out a way to make copies of the bills with the security features (like holograms, raised ink and stuff you can only see with a light source behind the bill)?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/mg1ti/eli5_why_the_security_features_in_currency_notes/
|
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"Think about it from a counterfeiter's point of view: What's easier? Printing a piece of paper in 1 color, or trying to figure out ways to cheaply and accurately\n\n• Print numbers backwards\n\n• Add super thin metal threads inside of bills\n\n• Make ink somehow feel 3-dimensional on a piece of paper\n\n• Make picture than can only be seen with a back light\n\n• Find a good source of ink that looks like different colors from different angles\n\nEssentially, all of those things are just ways to make making a bill harder and harder. The harder it is to make them, the fewer successful counterfeiters there will be.",
"It's not a question that the bills *can* be counterfeited, its that they are much more difficult, complicated, and time consuming to do so. The goal would be that they are so hard to counterfeit, it's not worth it.\n\nAnother goal is to make the security features easier to find, so it is more likely and easier to find counterfeit bills. You need a UV light to test some older bills, and many places wouldn't bother.",
"It doesn't have to impossible, just hard enough - hard enough that other ways to make money (even through crime) are easier, faster, and more tempting.",
"Think about it from a counterfeiter's point of view: What's easier? Printing a piece of paper in 1 color, or trying to figure out ways to cheaply and accurately\n\n• Print numbers backwards\n\n• Add super thin metal threads inside of bills\n\n• Make ink somehow feel 3-dimensional on a piece of paper\n\n• Make picture than can only be seen with a back light\n\n• Find a good source of ink that looks like different colors from different angles\n\nEssentially, all of those things are just ways to make making a bill harder and harder. The harder it is to make them, the fewer successful counterfeiters there will be.",
"It's not a question that the bills *can* be counterfeited, its that they are much more difficult, complicated, and time consuming to do so. The goal would be that they are so hard to counterfeit, it's not worth it.\n\nAnother goal is to make the security features easier to find, so it is more likely and easier to find counterfeit bills. You need a UV light to test some older bills, and many places wouldn't bother.",
"It doesn't have to impossible, just hard enough - hard enough that other ways to make money (even through crime) are easier, faster, and more tempting."
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acptow
|
how does the defrost lines on the rear window of my car work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/acptow/eli5_how_does_the_defrost_lines_on_the_rear/
|
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"They’re basically just very thin wires. Pass an electric current through them and they get hot. Presto, your window starts to heat up and defrost/deice. ",
"Every time energy changes form (or direction), some of it is lost to heat. This applies to electricity as much as any other form of energy.\n\nMost of the time, we search for ways to avoid losing our energy to heat, partly because we then have to come up with ways to deal with said heat, but mostly because that's energy we can't use.\n\nSometimes, heat is the entire point. Light bulbs are a good example - it's just a wire that's heated up so much it gives off light. The more energy you run through it, the more light it gives off. That's why they were measured in Watts... which is really just a fancy way of measuring generated heat.\n\nOne of the easiest (and most efficient) ways of generating heat, if that's your goal, is to resist the flow of electricity. How much a thing resists electricity is known by the term resistance. Perversely, the less resistance there is, the more heat is generated due to how Ohm's law works... but that's a bit beyond the scope of this comment.\n\nHeater strips on your back window are just lines of a paint that conducts electricity - with resistance. Just enough (lack of) resistance to get them nice and toasty.",
"Why doesn’t the front windshield have the same lines? It doesn’t seem like it would impact visibility too greatly."
]
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1ym7hf
|
why do cicadas not stop "chirping" at night
|
They're really starting to get to me and I just want to take a can of bug spray to them all
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ym7hf/eli5_why_do_cicadas_not_stop_chirping_at_night/
|
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"They are trying to get laid"
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|
6f2qq5
|
why do many businesses not post any pricing information on their website?
|
When I'm searching for a service, I find it difficult to get any ideas of prices. For example: Searching for martial arts classes and schedules in my area is easy. Getting prices is not easy. I would much rather choose the business that posted their prices and skip over the ones that makes me leave a call-back message.
I get why they would want you to call them or visit them, but wouldn't making the process easier be better for their business?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6f2qq5/eli5_why_do_many_businesses_not_post_any_pricing/
|
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" > I get why they would want you to call them or visit them, but wouldn't making the process easier be better for their business?\n\nNot necessarily. If I'm looking for martial arts classes for example, and I can price-check online, I'd be less likely to ever consider anyone but the cheapest. Once you're actually checking the place out, going in there, etc., you're more likely already to choose that place. They want you to come in to be convinced the price is reasonable, and not be openly outbid by their competition.\n\nUsually you see this in places where the \"going rate\" for the service isn't well-defined. If dude has a nice studio, took a lot of classes himself, and thinks his expertise is worth it, it's better for him to charge what he thinks is right and leave it to you to figure out if there's a better deal out there.\n\nEven if his studio really is better than others, it's easiest for him to actually show you that. If all you do is look online and get the price, he loses a chance to explain why his classes are actually better and worth a possibly-higher price.",
"Teaching a Ten year old martial arts is pretty easy, I could easily put an hourly price on that. I'd make a profit, and you would probably be ok with the cost.\n\nTeaching a Fifty year old, who has 40 years of martial arts training is a different story.\n\nGo to one of those car painting places that offer a fixed price. Then go to another that doesn't offer a fixed price, but gives you an estimate. Which company do you think will do a better job?",
"Prices for services are much more flexible than prices for products. So there's no competitive advantage to fixing prices long to post them."
]
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ezqnd1
|
why can the sentencing of the president be up to a vote?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ezqnd1/eli5_why_can_the_sentencing_of_the_president_be/
|
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"We don't want one branch to be able to rule over the other two. Rather, we want a majority rule. It stands to reason that the president thinks that they should not be sentenced. Thus, for a majority to condone sentencing, the other two branches must agree on it.",
"Impeachment doesn't lead to sentencing. It leads only to removal from office. When he's out of office for all the ordinary or extraordinary reasons, if criminal charges are advanced, it won't be Congress sentencing him.",
" > How is it possible that the President of the United States can't be prosecuted\n\nThis bit, sans the other stuff, comes from a Department of Justice memo from the Nixon administration that says you can't indict a sitting President, and that impeachment is the only recourse. A similar memo from the Clinton administration's DOJ came to the same conclusion."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
625tsc
|
why do grooves in tires provide more grip than those without?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/625tsc/eli5_why_do_grooves_in_tires_provide_more_grip/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dfjxhnj",
"dfjxivl"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"It depend on the circumstances. If you put groves in your tires it reduce the surface area so you get less grip. This is why racing cars often run slick tires without any groves at all. However if there is some rain the water will form a film on the surface and the tire is not running on tarmac but on water. Water is much slipper then tarmac so you get reduced grip. However even race cars will then switch to \"wet\" tires that have groves in them to give the water a place to flow to so that the rubber is again running on tarmac. It is a similar principle with gravel, mud and snow. It is important that you have the right number and the right size of groves in the tires depending on what conditions you face. This is why you often see people have a different set of tires for winter and for summer.",
"They make sure that if the road is wet the water can go between the grooves and the rest of the tire makes contact with dry bits of road. \n\nIn dry weather race cars often have tires without grooves that give them more grip. when it starts raining during a race they need to put on other tires with grooves. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
8039s9
|
why does it hurt to read green text on red background and vice versa? what happens to our eyes/brain?
|
[Example](_URL_0_)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8039s9/eli5_why_does_it_hurt_to_read_green_text_on_red/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dusqsoj",
"duszxcs",
"dut1mi7",
"dut60ji"
],
"score": [
11,
23,
4,
3
],
"text": [
"I think it does not \"hurt\" in general, while this might be anecdotal, it is not the word I'd pick.\n\nDepending on the brightness of each tone for green and red you might have a bad contrast and that lacking contrast makes it tireing or stressfull to read. But I doubt this is inherent to \"green on red\" or \"red on green\", i.e. you can read a dark red on a light green quite well, same goes for the other way around. But brighter green on brigher red or dark green on darker red has bad contrast (and probably similar grey values/brightness and as such is hard to read). ",
"The lens in your eye tries to focus the light on you retina but light of different wave lenght is bending differently (rainbowlike) so your eyes and brain will be confused about what color to make sharp and what to make blurry. You will get this effect with any color combination with large enough difference in wave lenght.\n\nIn optometry you use a similar test to adjust correction by looking at black text on green background next to black text on red background and see shat color is clearest. Red means you need more negative glasses, green more positive.",
"I don't know that it \"hurts\", but I'm getting a strange 3D effect on the text. Closing one eye at a time, I notice that the text looks very different to each eye. Darker and with more of an outline to my left eye, versus a solid clear red to my right eye. And now that I'm not looking at it anymore, I did get a quick eye strain sort of mini headache. Maybe it *does* hurt a little.\n\nSo maybe the hurting is simple eye strain due to the extremely high contrast causing the differences in your eyes to become much more prominent and obvious.",
"_URL_1_ is one example addressing recommendations against colors that \"visually vibrate\" when next to each other. They mention \"afterimage effects\".\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIf the green is causing a red-tinted afterimage, and the red is causing a green-tinted afterimage (due to fatiguing the photoreceptors) then, from what I understand, the green is looking more red and the red more green while you stare, which weakens already poor contrast.\n\nIt is specifically a problem with text because your brain automatically tries to read it, which affects the degree that your eye stays still and stares. Your eye would move across a red-green polka dotted plane differently than this image with text."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"https://www.tarleton.edu/accessibility/images/bad-example-green-bg-red-fg.jpg"
] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterimage",
"http://accessibility.psu.edu/color/brightcolors/"
]
] |
|
d9p14a
|
what’s the volume difference between a diamond and another pure carbon object of the same mass?
|
I was just wondering what volume of “raw” carbon it takes to make a diamond. So if a 5 karat diamond poofed in to graphite, what would the volume change be?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d9p14a/eli5_whats_the_volume_difference_between_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"f1jvupk"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"On average, diamond is about half again as dense as graphite. It depends on the graphite, though. Diamond has a uniform crystal structure while graphite can take on many different structures, so the density of graphite varies."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3r3z34
|
if viruses all but disappear during the summer, how do they reappear during the winter?
|
Viruses (cold, flu, etc.) only last up to 24 hours outside the body from what i understand. I don't every see a single soul sick with the flu or cold during the summer. One would think these virus would be extinct by the end of summer.
*I do understand the driving force behind the spread during the winter, so no need for an explanation about that.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3r3z34/eli5_if_viruses_all_but_disappear_during_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cwknk9q",
"cwko3q7",
"cwkvlmq"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Flu viruses are more stable in cold air, and low humidity also helps the virus particles remain in the air. That is because the viruses float in the air in little respiratory droplets.",
"Where do spring and summer go when they're over? To the southern hemisphere. Just because it's cold in the north doesn't mean it's not hot in the south. And viruses don't need us to get around, just to reproduce -- their size means that they can exploit the same updrafts and air currents that insects do to travel thousands of miles.",
"Influenza circulates in the tropics all year, so introductions can happen anytime, but they're more common in the winter."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
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