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99gqlp
|
what’s the difference between a neanderthal and a denisovan? did they exist at the same time?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/99gqlp/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_a_neanderthal/
|
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"They are both a subspecies of Homo sapiens. They overlapped in time and interbred. Only a finger bone and some teeth have been discovered from the Denisovans, so not much can be said about how they looked. But DNA shows a bit more differences from humans than between Neanderthals and humans. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
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||
9ijpgv
|
how does "natural" fear works (eg. fear of snakes, spiders, the dark, heights)? i understand it has to do with natural selection, but i don't get how the mechanism functions on the brain and how it passes forward from parents to children. is that dna related somehow?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9ijpgv/eli5_how_does_natural_fear_works_eg_fear_of/
|
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"There is no evidence that every human is born with a laundry list of fears. There is incredible variation in what people fear and how that fear affects them. Many, many people aren't scared of spiders or snakes or heights or the dark. \n\nAlmost all fear is learned. It's not a universal.\n\nChildren are very, very adept at picking up social cues from parents/caregivers, their peers, even messaging in movies, TV shows, and other media. A kid sees a snake on the ground and points it out to their parent. The parent recoils and tells the child that snakes are dangerous and should be avoided. Or the kid hears someone else say that snakes are dangerous and reacts with fear when they see a snake in real life.\n\nChildren are also very good at generalizing. A kid is a little over-enthusiastic in greeting a stranger's dog. The dog barks or snaps at the child. Many children leave situations like that thinking that all dogs are scary and mean."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
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||
d0zw85
|
how do fire vents help prevent/reduce fire damage in buildings?
|
My old freshman dorm had fire vents which connected 3 floors of rooms. They were extremely unpopular because they were designed in such a way as to amplify noise from the rooms connected to them. Someone on the 3rd-floor could hear someone sneeze on the 1st-floor directly below them. Do these vents actually help prevent serious fires, and if so how?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d0zw85/eli5_how_do_fire_vents_help_preventreduce_fire/
|
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"Ventilation serves two purposes in firefighting. Firstly, fires cannot survive without oxygen. One of the first things to do in a fire is shut down the ventilation so that no more oxygen enters the area. This starves the fire. Secondly, smoke can be as dangerous as fire. Smoke is un-burnt fuel, which means that even though you might extinguish a fire, the smoke has the potential to re-ignite. When the fire is extinguished, the ventilation system removes the smoke from the heat so to eliminate that risk. Also, smoke on its own is dangerous the humans, so removing it also prevents respiratory damage.",
"There are not primary there to prevent/reduce fire damage but to vent the smoke for human safety. \nThe smoke is a problem for humans in evacuation and in in fire fighting/searching if someone if left on the building.\n\nThey can also reduce fire risk of a flashover. If enough partial burns gas is trapped and get hot enough you can explosion when they ignite.\n\nVentilation can result in a fire that get more oxygen and burn and spread faster. But it is important to remember that is is primary the smoke the kill people and saving people it prioritized before saving the building."
]
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[] |
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[
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|
1466ax
|
uses of capacitors
|
So I've done a little bit of research (including in this subreddit), and I think I understand what capacitors do. From what I've read, they build up charge when they receive voltage and discharge when not given a voltage. If this is an incorrect definition, please help me understand!
Anyway, I want to know what the practical uses of capacitors, particularly in simple DC circuits that I could create on my own, would be. I know they can be used to convert AC to DC, but I've also seen them across motors and in some other situations. Please explain these to me. Thanks for any responses!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1466ax/eli5_uses_of_capacitors/
|
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"Simple AC to DC conversion works like this:\n\n* Use a transform to convert the AC voltage down to another AC voltage near the voltage you want to get DC\n* Use diodes (they allow current to flow one way but not the other) to make ac go from [this](_URL_1_) to [this](_URL_0_). It's called [full bridge rectification](_URL_3_). This is technically DC now, as the current only flows in one direction, but its problematic because it drops out so much. \n* Then use a capacitor to smooth it out into a constant voltage. The rectified AC powers up the capacitor, and when the rectified AC voltage drops the capacitor takes over powering the circuit, and is then recharged when the voltage comes back up. [This](_URL_2_) is a good video on the subject.\n\n\nCapacitors are also used in circuits in much the same way. For example, a lot of electronic components are very sensitive to voltage and current changes, like the processor in your computer. When the processor does something new, say it starts working harder, it draws more current. Power supplies aren't perfect though, and when the processor needs more current it will take the power supply a very brief second to deliver, and the voltage will drop a bit until it does. Putting capacitors near the processor keeps the voltage from dropping by temporarily propping up the voltage until the power supply takes over. \n\nThey are also used in audio and radio circuits to make filters. Using a capacitor and a resistor or inductor, you can create high and low pass filters, which cut out high or low sounds or frequencies.\n\nThey can also be used as temporary power sources. One of the benefits of capacitors is that they can discharge all of their charge VERY quickly. Batteries and power supplies have much lower current limits. Camera flashes work by charging a capacitor for a few seconds and then discharging it all at once to get a really bright flash. \n\nFinally, in certain situations they can be used as batteries. This is still mostly a theoretical idea, as so far capacitors are much less efficient than batteries in terms of cost and volume.",
"Single phase induction motors often use a capacitor to phase shift the current in one of the windings. Many single phase induction motors have 2 windings. A cap is placed in series with one of the windings to phase shift it. This allows the motor to start on its own.",
"Dsampson92 has a really good explanation, but I'll add just a couple things.\n\nFirst of all, a capacitor only passes current when the voltage changes, so a capacitor can be used to prevent DC current from passing through a particular path in a circuit.\n\nAnother interesting application of capacitance is the [condenser microphone.](_URL_0_) These are common in recording and are actually used in most cell phones, although cell phones use a subset of condenser microphones known as electret microphones. A condenser microphone biases two plates with a given voltage, and fixes the plates parallel to each other. One of the plates, known as the diaphragm is allowed to move in response to pressure fluctuations in the air (sound). As the diaphragm plate moves, the distance between it and the fixed plate changes, hence the capacitance changes. As the capacitance changes, current flows in and out of the plates. The waveform of this current is used as an electrical analog of the acoustic wave."
]
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"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Acigraph.png",
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyhzpFqXwdA",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode_bridge"
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[],
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|
74e4hw
|
how is the geographical location of wifi access points (wifi routers..?) determined?
|
I was reading an [ELI5 thread](_URL_0_) about how turning on WiFi improves a device's location accuracy, even if it's *not connected* to any WiFi network. I read in another blog that the geographical location of WiFi "access points" (I guess that means "wifi routers"?) is collected by Google StreetView cars.
So, is street view cars the only way to determine geographical locations of Wireless access points? Are there other methods which could help pin point the location of an access point?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/74e4hw/eli5how_is_the_geographical_location_of_wifi/
|
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"Theoretically, anything that knows its location and could look for Wi-Fi access points can get you your map data. The street view cars are just a convenient way to get a lot of that data at once. You could have someone stand on a street corner with a tablet, mark their location on a map, and scan the wi-fi hotspots at that location and then move on to the next corner but that will take way more time and be way less accurate. \n\n (A Wi-Fi access point is not technically the same thing as a router by the way. The router directs traffic on the network and the access point lets wireless devices connect to the network. For home use, you usually buy a single device that serves both roles, but for a larger network like a hotel or business, you might have separate access points and routers)"
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[] |
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8155oh
|
why rich countries have a higher cancer rater than poor ones ?
|
[source](_URL_0_)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8155oh/eli5why_rich_countries_have_a_higher_cancer_rater/
|
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"In poor countries people die young. In rich countries they don't die young nearly as often. The number one risk factor to developing cancer is age. More people die of cancer in rich countries because they aren't dying from malnutrition, preventable diseases, lack of access to clean water etc. They live to ripe old ages, where the odds of getting cancer skyrocket.\n\nEDIT * Didn't catch that the stats were age-standardized. No idea now. ",
"Survivor(ship) bias.\n\nEven with age correction, one of the most likely explanations is that survivor bias spans all age groups. In a less developed country with limited access to healthcare, everyday infections, diseases, and ailments in general become much more severe. \n\nStill, there are other factors that contribute to differences in cancer incidence rate. These are, but are not limited to, regional diet (particularly diets that are high in anti-oxidants and micronutrients), genetics and epigenetics, lifestyle, and the prevalence/absence of certain occupational hazards.\n\nAlso it should be mentioned that the method and frequency of detection of said cancers may not be on equal footing.\n\nI will also mention that some people believe the higher incidence rate is linked with obesity, diets with copious amounts of processed food, and higher substance abuse.",
"I don't know this for sure, but I would guess access to diagnosis. I'll use my own story for example. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer two years ago (caught early, total thyroidectomy, and didnt even have to do radioactive iodine. Booyah). Had I not had access to health care, that thyroid nodule probably would have grown until it impacted the function of my thyroid, which could either straight up kill me on its own (if my thyroid stopped functioning entirely) or increase my risk of death otherwise. I would still have had cancer, but it could possibly never be known. \n\nIn richer countries (like the US), cancer rates are higher among those who are poor, because of decreased access to health care and other increased risk factors (those in poverty are more exposed to pollution, for example). Chances are, a big factor is diagnosis access. ",
"Rich countries tend to diagnose them more often. \n\nMore doctors- more diagnosis. In many poor countries there are not enough doctors, or the doctors are not trusted enough to be used. \n\nThere are a lot of places where witchcraft is still considered a thing.\n\nThat being said:\nCancer is the random mutation of cells into an adverse form. There are several things that cause this too happen. Ionizing radiation, many mutagenic chemicals, many types of viruses, and probably several others. \n\nThe Ionizing radiation one is tricky since most people are not exposed to more than background. However in more advanced counties they are a lot more diagnostic X-rays, CT scans, and other medical diagnostic that do in some ways raise the background to the entire population slightly.\n\nNotice this is ionizing radiation. Not radio, microwave, or the lower energy stuff. \n\nAs far as chemicals. The western advanced countries are exposed to significantly more chemicals. While most of them are not mutagenic themselves, the vast combinations and simple fact that exposure is so constant can cause some changes. \n\nSo i think it is a combination of the statistics being driven by diagnoses and a lot of the very poor countries not getting diagnosed and the fact that there is a slightly higher actual prevalence due ot the fact that people in more advanced cultures are exposed to more mutagenic causes. \n\nThe last one I am a little on the fence about. A few years ago they did some work on how mental state and worrying about cancer can actually be a causal factor. The studies done were small and I have not seen followup or if they can be recreated, but they showed that stress and being overly worried about cancer can be a trigger for cancer. Basically the people who are freaked out and constantly focused on trying to not get cancer get cancer at a higher rate than people who just dont worry about it. Meh. Not sure about that one, but in much of the developing world they dont worry about getting cancer as much as other things, like how to get food, how to not get shot by the secret or not so secret police. \n\n\nAnd the last one. There have been several studies that show that obesity and having a higher BMI leads to having a higher overall chance of all types of cancer. So well fed, western people (okay mostly the US but some others are catching up) have more of chance of getting cancer. Poor developing nations don't usually have high obesity rates. ",
"I wonder if it’s as simple as the food supply.\n\nMy family is from Nicaragua. People down there live a really long time, even though healthcare sucks. However, they eat super healthy foods. Mostly beans and rice, fruits and veg, with just a little meat here and there,\n\nI’ve got 3 members of my family in their late 90’s and early 100’s living there.\n\nNow, almost all the food you eat in Nicaragua comes from a farm that is literally walking distance from where you’re eating it. \n\nOutside of Managua, and the other touristy areas, you’ll find no processed foods. No fast food. No frozen dinners, etc...\n\nPretty much everything you eat is organic. Farm animals are not given growth hormones and vegetables are not GMO. This is simply because farmers can’t afford this technology. They’re still farming like they did 100 years ago, for the most part. \n\nHere in America, the bulk of everyone’s diet consists of foods drenched in chemicals, which are also full of additives and fillers.\n\nI imagine this is true for all industrialized counties, since obesity rates are skyrocketing within these nations.\n\nThere’s a strong correlation between obesity and cancer.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThis is why my wife and I literally remodeled our kitchen into a full on commercial kitchen, so we’d have the technology to make all our own foods from scratch. \n\nWe cure our own meats - bacon, pancetta, corned beef, pastrami, deli turkey loafs, etc...we grind our own meats, stuff our own sausages, we grind our own flour, etc... pretty much anything at a grocery store that’s processed in a factory, we make at home now.\n\nWe buy all of our veg from local farmers, only when the vegetables are in season, and we pickle and can them for the rest of the year. Additionally, we buy all our meats from the local slaughter house that only takes animals from local farmers.\n\nWe’ve taken control of our food supply and not only do we feel healthier, the quality is profoundly better.\n\nConsidering my acid reflux has totally disappeared and my wife and I have lost weight, without changing our diets, proved to me that most food at the grocery store is tainted and probably should be avoided.",
"My guess would be that we live old enough to get cancer and we are rich enough to have it diagnosed.",
"As said above, there are lots of reasons.\n\n1. Rich countries are better at detecting cancer. Rates of incidence and prevalence require detection.\n\n2. People in rich countries live long enough to actually get cancer in many cases. People in poorer countries live shorter lives on average.\n\nAs the saying goes for guys, you either die the hero or live long enough to get prostate cancer.",
"I work in cancer therapy.\n\nThe difference is not in the real rate of cancer - it's in the diagnosed rate. \n\nIn poor countries, people die first of other reasons - malnutrition, infectious diseases, warfare, etc... in the rich world they grow old to die of degenerative diseases, like cancer.\n\nIn poor countries, people get sick and die without ever seeing a doctor. In rich countries, you bring grandma to the hospital, so they know to write \"metastasized breast cancer to the brain\" as the cause of death.\n\nIn poor countries, there is no screening tests to detect the cancer ahead of time. In rich countries, we do it for breast, prostate, rectum, probably lung at some point. Note that this is a big reason why the survival stats look better in the rich countries. Even if the rich person lives not one day longer, if we've known about their cancer for 7 years we'll jot that down as \"7 year survival\", while the person from the poor country who walks in with half their face covered by a tumor and dies the next day, will not.\n\nThen there's lack of access to easy treatments. Pap tests allow for us to discover the pre-cancer disease which is very easy to treat. As a result (also the HPV vaccine), cervical cancer is pretty much eradicated in the rich countries. The only people to get it, are essentially those who don't get their pap tests done for mental/social (outside US) or financial (inside US) reasons, with very rare exceptions. However, it's the third most common cancer worldwide.",
"Rich countries do not have a higher cancer rate than poor ones.\n\nAustria has a gdp per capita of $44176.52 with 254.1 rate and Barbados has a gdp per capita of $16096.89 with 263.1 rate.\n\n2.75 times the GDP per capita nets you less cancer cases.\n\nYou need the information (GDP per capita) and split them into two groups and test of a significant difference, effect size etc.\n\nAlso you need to correct for differences in reporting. Death of cancer in one country might be just a death of old age in another.\n\nScience done properly is hard, very hard.",
"Access to diagnosis is huge.\n\nWhen I was 7, I got sick with pneumonia and screwy blood count, got on antibiotics and got better - never had a follow up blood count.\n\nThree months later, I got really sick and they looked deeper and I had Leukemia, got treated and over 30 years later I'm still kicking.\n\nIn an underdeveloped country/region...I might have died from that initial pneumonia or from the follow on onset and while I would have died from cancer...it wouldn't have been diagnosed and not recorded as cause of death."
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"https://www.wcrf.org/int/cancer-facts-figures/data-cancer-frequency-country"
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|
3fksjz
|
why people don't tell the truth.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fksjz/eli5_why_people_dont_tell_the_truth/
|
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"Why someone lies always depends on the context. Near the end of my last relationship, I was lying on a daily basis just to keep the peace, because my fiancee thought video games were childish (I played when she was at work) and that all debt is 100% bad and I should work to pay for everything in cash (I took student loans anyway). \n\nYour friend, however, seems to be a more problematic case. He seems to be lying about the life he has to make it sound like he has the life he wants. He is insecure, and unhappy, and he is trying to make himself happy by making other people think that he is happy (and maybe also hoping that things will change and his lie will become true)"
]
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[] |
[] |
[
[]
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7jmsyt
|
what is it that the is microwave 'sensing' when you choose sensor reheat?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7jmsyt/eli5_what_is_it_that_the_is_microwave_sensing/
|
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"Humidity. See _URL_0_",
"That link covers most of it. The most common sensor in a microwave is simply a moisture sensor. Some higher end microwaves do have types of temperature sensors and there are even a couple out there with noise sensors to tell when the popcorn is done popping. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1715qu/how_does_the_sensor_reheat_button_on_the/"
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||
2d1lji
|
how do they determine how far a baseball was hit?
|
ESPN always show how far a player's home run was. I'm wondering if they measure by literal distance or the distance it would have gone if there were no stands and it continued till it hit ground level.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2d1lji/eli5_how_do_they_determine_how_far_a_baseball_was/
|
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"Nowadays they have a computer with a map of the stadium. They just point to where the ball landed and the computer will spit out the distance from home plate. Before the computer they knew the wall was 347ft from home plate and the first seats are 10ft behind the wall, and each row is 5ft and it landed in the 3rd row back so you just add up the distances.\n\nThere are 3 types of distance calculations. Normal distance is just the distances from Stadium seat B12(or wherever) to Home plate and is what my first paragraph was about. Actual Distance or True Distance or Projected Distance is how far the ball would have traveled had the ball's flight been uninterrupted and it had landed on field level. Then you have Standard Distance which is projected distance that tries to compensate for wind speed and direction, altitude and temperature. At higher altitudes a ball will fly farther, warmer air the ball with fly farther and wind can increase or decrease distance depending on direction. They generally know how much these things affect the ball(I don't) and when these factors are taken into account they can compare 2 home runs that were made in different environments."
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[] |
[] |
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[]
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|
3s7z79
|
why is biodiesel available in so many places, but biogasoline almost unheard of?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s7z79/eli5_why_is_biodiesel_available_in_so_many_places/
|
{
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"text": [
"Biodiesel fuel can be made from waste food oils simply. While Biogasoline can be synthesized it is more complicated.\n\nBy simply I mean it can be produced at home with a few steps. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
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||
1wd84y
|
why doesn't the ioc just buy an island somewhere and hold the olympics there every time.
|
It seems to me that the countries that participate in the Olympics should just get together and buy an island somewhere, build the necessary structures and hold the Olympics there every four years. It would save a lot of money, the buildings wouldn't just be used once and abandoned. Countries could still bid to "host" the Olympics, they would just be in charge of the theme and opening and closing ceremonies, and whatever else is involved beyond building the actual structures required. Why is this not a viable option?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wd84y/eli5_why_doesnt_the_ioc_just_buy_an_island/
|
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"For one, the Olympics are about international community, and isolating the games goes against that. The Olympics are also a huge draw for tourists. Cities that host the games are counting on the idea that the tourist revenue they make will offset the cost of building. Also, anyone traveling to see the Olympics would want to have restaurants, night clubs, etc. to go to while they're there. A secluded island wouldn't have that.",
"In turn having to create infrastructure that would only be used for specific events, and would decay after a while with the increases of modern technology.\r\rAlso you need to think of who would work there? If there was a local host country it brings in millions of tourist dollars coming in, but on an island you would have to recruit workers to fly/boat over.\r\rIt would be a bigger logistical nightmare than ever",
"* Cities want to host the Olympics not just for money, but for prestige. For example, Rio hosting the games isn't just about bringing in more tourist dollars - it's about showing the world that Brazil is an up-and-coming power\n* The Olympic Island would have to reside in one particular country, and that country would be de-facto holders of the Olympics every year.\n* Any island with the facilities to host an Olympic Games, or on which it would be possible to build the facilities, is not something that any state would want to hand over to the IOC.\n* The logistics involved in developing the Olympic Island would be horrendous. You'd need an international airport, stadiums, enough accommodation for the athletes, visitors, and all the thousands of workers there. How much would everyone pay towards construction (obviously Tuvalu cannot be expected to pay as much as Russia, but then why should Russia pay more if the Olympic Island is off the coast of Borneo and will only benefit the Malay economy?, etc)",
"Logistically, it would be a nightmare. You'd have to build the infrastructure (airport, road, power plant, power lines, drainage, sewage, telecommunications, etc.) to handle the influx of participants, media, and visitors. This infrastructure would probably remain unused in the off years as no one would want to vacation in an Olympic village.\n\nAnd all of this would be built by craft labor brought onto the island. The cost to mobilize these works would be astronomically high.\n\nAlso, the appeal of having host cities is that visitors and athletes can see different parts of the world. It gets stale if you visit the same venue every four years. ",
"That utterly defeats the point of the Olympics.",
"Isolated island for Olympics gives the impression for a recipe to the Hunger Games.",
"/r/crazyideas would welcome you",
"I vote New Zealand. Make them the World Host for both Olympics? Why not?\n\nThey don't go to war, and it could add to their tourism. They could be the sole pride holder of allowing all countries to come visit for the Olympics! The island is big enough to support these things, and they could implement what ever they wanted on immigration things.",
"1. It is simply too expensive. You are funding the construction of stadium(s), transportation networks, residential regions and commercial regions. You are essentially building a small country based solely on a sport event that happens once every 2/4 years. \n\n2. When one country hosts the Olympics, it brings in tourists and money. Yes, it does generally fall short of the budget of hosting it but this isn't the only reason people host it. It is also for global attention - for example, the Olympics of 1988 in Seoul was to showcase the development of South Korea to the world and it did. It was an up and coming country that up until that point, didn't receive too much attention but once the Olympics happened, it helped establish the ROK as a developed country. \n\n3. Adding to the last post. Let's say that the Winter Olympics are located on Baffin Island, Canada and the Summer Olympics are located in an island off the coast of Malaysia. That would mean that all the attention goes to Canada and Malaysia every year and those two countries would be the only ones getting the money every 4 years. This could discourage other countries to participate. \n\n4. Related to previous; buy from who? Buy from where? Who chooses and what justifies their choice? Who's gonna fund this? It's never going to be enough money and it would seem unfair. Moreover, it would all have to get renewed every so often and is logistically impossible. And where's the fun in that? When I watched the Beijing Olympics, I watched it for the sports yes but I also watched it to see how China was, how the Bird's Nest Stadium looked etc. If every Olympics, I saw the same stadium, it would be boring and I'll have less motivation to watch the events.\n\nTL;DR - Expensive to fund and maintain; not that beneficial for anyone except for the country the stadium is located near; troubles aren't worth making such strong decisions over."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1721rz
|
why does psychological stress increases the risk of a heart attack?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1721rz/eli5_why_does_psychological_stress_increases_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c81gtzu",
"c81hj54",
"c81p51j"
],
"score": [
7,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Psychological stress raises blood pressure.\n\nFun Fact: psychosomatic illness (illness caused by the mind) is a real thing and can cause many different type of maladies, including heart attack.",
"When we are under stress, our body enables our fight or flight response and raises our adrenaline level. As we get adrenaline our heart rate goes up and having this constant increased blood pressure, leads to heart attack. ",
"The heart is a big muscle acting as a pump to push blood through your body. When the fuel supply to this muscle isn't enough to match the demand for fuel, the heart muscle stops to work - a heart attack.\n\nStress increases certain chemicals in your blood that cause a person to increase the work of the heart muscle, which of course would cause an increased demand for fuel; thus, a heart attack happens."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
yviwc
|
why humans can learn speech and languages but no other animal (exception of maybe parrots) can
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yviwc/eli5_why_humans_can_learn_speech_and_languages/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c5z6ilc",
"c5z95vf",
"c5z9o9e"
],
"score": [
15,
3,
3
],
"text": [
"Because our brain has evolved to have far more advanced communication skills than any other animal.\n\nOther intelligent animals, such as gorillas, can use *basic* \"human language\" by being taught sign language. And in fact, ALL animals can communicate on some level - just not at anywhere near the same complexity as humans.\n\nOh, and as for parrots... they can't learn languages! They can learn to *copy sounds*; nothing more. They have no idea what the words they're saying mean.",
"Parrots and other birds may be great a mimicking sounds but [clearly whales make sounds to communicate](_URL_0_).",
"It's not clear that that's true; whether and to what degree other animals might have something like language is a new frontier in science right now. \n\nFor instance, [prairie dogs](_URL_1_) have different calls for different predators, and those call contain descriptive information (the call for man in yellow shirt is different from man in blue shirt. That was only discovered in the 1990s. The guy [who studies them](_URL_0_) just founded an institute for research into animal language a couple years back. Also, it's been shown that monkeys not only have distinct alarm calls but understand the alarm calls of other species. Sue Savage Rumbaugh claims that the bonobos she studies have invented their own sign language words and even dogs have recently been found to be able to figure out that a previously unknown object is the one names by a new word. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_sounds"
],
[
"http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Slobodchikoff#section_3",
"http://m.io9.com/5904555/what-do-prairie-dogs-have-words-for"
]
] |
||
2gqlm0
|
most human body parts can heal/restore themselves when damaged, but why does the body not fix myopia?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gqlm0/eli5_most_human_body_parts_can_healrestore/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ckllu9k",
"cklm26f"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"well, fix is a loaded term here. the body can repair some damage, yes, as in the case of bones and cuts healing. however, myopia isn't like a trauma that activates a healing response. also, myopia is often genetic, and when that is the case there is no restore to restore to, its just how that person was made. ",
"myopia isn't damage. it's growing wrong. the genetics of someone with a vision problem are telling the body to build eyes wrong. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
e4isrx
|
how does "modified-release"medication capsules work?
|
I have modified release meds, I noticed there are two coloured balls as the filling. I wonder if the white ones are non coated immediate release, and the blue coated are slow? Is it simply a delay due to a coating taking time to digest to release the medication?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e4isrx/eli5_how_does_modifiedreleasemedication_capsules/
|
{
"a_id": [
"f9bomdu",
"f9ch208",
"f9e1b0q"
],
"score": [
9,
5,
5
],
"text": [
"It depends on the medication, but that's pretty much it exactly. Instead of taking more than one dose a day, your medicine has some that starts working right away, and some that dissolves slowly over time so the drug stays in your system for a longer stretch of time.",
"[controlled release ](_URL_0_) \n\n[Three Phase Tablet](_URL_1_) \n\nBasically the pills are designed to dissolve into a bioavailable form (that can be used by your body) at different rates. Depending on the drug, some even are timed to release in the intestines instead of the stomach. \n\nOne real world example of a drug I think can of is Concerta. It has a coating of methylphenidate for immediate release, and an inner core of methylphenidate for moderately slow release, and finally a digestible matrix that releases the remainder of the mediation much more slowly. There’s also versions closely resembling the 3-phase tablet posted.",
"A genious non \"mechanical\" example is Vyvance Which is l-dex and r-dex ... r-dex gets metabolized into l-dex which then is absorbed. so without a coating it achieves an extended release. The L-dex first immediately being absorbed then as your body changes the r-dex to l-dex it gets absorbed. (L and R describe an angle on the molecule. Left or right leaning)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://youtu.be/yNX0FuXEFWw",
"https://youtu.be/uojwMhQpjq8"
],
[]
] |
|
9ovg15
|
won't it be easier to compete with uber once drivers are replaced by self-driving cars?
|
I don't understand how Uber's plan to replace their drivers by self-driving cars is good. Having a large fleet of drivers is a lot harder than buying a large fleet of self-driving cars. Humans need to be convinced and trained to work for Uber but cars are goods anyone can buy.
My question is, once Uber replaces humans by machines, isn't it easier for competitors to earn market share?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9ovg15/eli5_wont_it_be_easier_to_compete_with_uber_once/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e7x26k6",
"e7x9r26",
"e7yq1cd"
],
"score": [
6,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Uber is already so big that can potentially drive out competition in most locations by taking temporal losses. Any other company would need to have more cars on the road at a lower cost to compete. ",
"The biggest challenge is getting the app on everybodies phones. And uber already achieved that. \n\nWhen selfdriving cars come around, it will lower the operating cost for uber significantly (no more driver pay), while the new competition needs to get all the marketing/advertising/promotions in place to be recognised as a ‘trusted’ taxi brand.",
"The theory behind uber's self-driving push is that their proprietary self-driving system will be better than the competition. However this idea looks like fantasy because waymo, telsa, and cruze are way ahead of them (and thats only the US companies).\n\nUber is a massive con. They have huge losses and no viable plan to turn a profit. The investors are praying they can keep the con going until the IPO and cash out. Don't fall for it."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
5jwm1e
|
why do reflections still have 'depth' so that our eyes have to focus on objects near and far, even though the reflective surface is flat?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jwm1e/eli5_why_do_reflections_still_have_depth_so_that/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dbjigbn"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Reflection is caused by light bouncing off of a surface. So you're not focusing on the surface itself, but on the things being reflected off that surface, which can be varying distances away."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
3ulm82
|
how do those in authority locate someone from their internet activity?
|
According to the movies and urban myth, no sooner than I type in 'ricin recipes for jihad' I'll have my door kicked in by MI5 / FBI. What can really be traced?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ulm82/eli5_how_do_those_in_authority_locate_someone/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cxftku8",
"cxfultw"
],
"score": [
2,
3
],
"text": [
"Not a CS guy, but as far as I know your IP address is tied to your geographic location with respect to your ISP. \n\nAlso certain webpages and especially Google can request location info from your computer for advertising and other purposes",
"You post an unsavoury picture on the internet \"anonymously\". Police go to wherever you posted the photo with a warrant (in the UK we don't need one) and say \"what was the ip address of the account that posted the picture. They then take that ip address to your isp and say \"what is the name and address of the person using this ip address\". If you're on a mobile phone they will get your phone details as well. If you're using an internet cafe they can examine the router logs and get the mac address of your device. From the router they can also get details of sites you visited etc which could eventually lead them back to your door."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
fiwktv
|
if you have microscopic tearing in the anal canal, why doesn’t your own faeces poison you?
|
Very small tears in the delicate anal tissue are apparently a common problem in humans, obviously more so in certain groups than others. Whether they’re microscopic or severe enough to cause bleeding, why doesn’t the faecal matter enter the blood stream and make you very ill? If you ate faeces you’d get gastroenteritis I assume, so wouldn’t faecal matter in the blood be really dangerous?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fiwktv/eli5_if_you_have_microscopic_tearing_in_the_anal/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fkjn5ly",
"fkjp1cr",
"fkjso82"
],
"score": [
92,
17,
6
],
"text": [
"Large amounts of faecal matter in the blood can be very dangerous, but remember, the tear is microscopic, so only very small amounts get through. The body has a number of defense mechanisms once it detects disruption to blood vessels to prevent them from becoming contaminated.\n\nClots don't just help to stop bleeding, but also provide an extra boost of immune defense to help immediately shutdown any bugs that can get in.",
"Every time you brush your teeth, bacteria get into your blood stream. Every time you have a bowel movement, bacterial translocation through the colonic mucosa does the same. But you have a mighty fine immune system capable of wiping out those small bacterial incursions. Additionally, mucosal tears don’t violate large enough blood vessels to allow large amounts of fecal matter into circulation.",
"It's because your immune system attacks any small numbers of bacteria that enter. If someone is severely neutropenic (very very low immune system usually because of chemotherapy), then avoiding constipation is important not only for comfort but also for prevention of bloodstream infection."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
dbe4i4
|
why do storms make ocean waves crazy and dangerous?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dbe4i4/eli5_why_do_storms_make_ocean_waves_crazy_and/
|
{
"a_id": [
"f20mh7o",
"f20yzuz",
"f210sw1"
],
"score": [
8,
18,
5
],
"text": [
"Mostly it’s the fast moving wind that causes big ocean waves. The gravity of the moon will create a small wave and the wind will make it much bigger. Even the Great Lakes will have bigger waves on windy days.",
"Storms make wind. Wind makes waves. Big wind makes big waves. Big waves are bigger than small ships.",
"Imagine a huge low-pressure zone. Big. Now imagine that same low-pressure zone is dumping water in the form of rain into the ocean. Its a literal hill of water forming on top of other water. This is going to cause a storm surge or a big wall of water that will eventually hit the shore. \n\nCombine that with the wind. Wind will push the top layer of water more than what is underneath, causing it to fold over itself. The faster the wind the faster the water, the more waves. Waves add to each other, causing lower trenches and higher peaks. So waves will keep adding and getting bigger and bigger. \n\n\nSo a big wall of water, and then lots of waves. The bigger and longer the storm lasts, the more turbulence you get."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
ceaxpb
|
how does one word end up meaning several, completely different things?
|
Synonyms make sense, but a word like "match" have at least three different meanings that have nothing on common.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ceaxpb/eli5_how_does_one_word_end_up_meaning_several/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eu12tz3",
"eu18m3m",
"eu1gjgw"
],
"score": [
12,
19,
3
],
"text": [
"Coincidence.\n\nThe word \"match\" is basically two words with the same spelling and pronunciation: \n\n* A pairing\n* A small wooden stick used to start a fire\n\nIt's a coincidence because the origin of these words are completely different: the first comes form the middle English words \"macche\" while the second comes from the old French \"meiche\". The words just happen to be similar.\n\nMost of the other meanings of the word \"match\" come from the first meaning.",
"The borrowing of a related word from another language which becomes the original word's main meaning. A good example is the English word \"magazine\", originally a French word meaning something like \"warehouse\" or \"storehouse\" and retaining that meaning when talking about a ship's powder magazine. Then in the late 1700's in France there appeared a new regularly published literary anthology called \"Magasin des Histoires\" or warehouse of stories. The format proved hugely popular both inside and outside of France and spawned many imitations, which in English became known by their French name, \"magazine\".",
"In some ways it's very old slang when you have two words with opposite meaning. Similar to Sick nowadays"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
6zpaoj
|
why on tv, do the voices and characters lips become out of sync and what fixes it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6zpaoj/eli5_why_on_tv_do_the_voices_and_characters_lips/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dmx1l22"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Not usually an issue with reliable feeds. Can I assume you're streaming?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
fw04tt
|
why do people use ssds when they are just lower storage then a hard drive, most of the time
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fw04tt/eli5_why_do_people_use_ssds_when_they_are_just/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fmlexys"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"1. they are faster, generally speaking and better and multi-tasking if that is needed.\n2. they have significantly less power consumption - for a battery powered device this means a lot longer battery life of the device since a spinning (non-sd) drive and the display screen are the big battery consumers).\n3. it is a better user experience - a spinning drive creates vibration in the device."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
4vcfie
|
why do political pollsters like bloomberg and rasmussen apparently release their polls to the public for free? how do they make money?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vcfie/eli5_why_do_political_pollsters_like_bloomberg/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d5x8jkk",
"d5x91k8",
"d5x997o"
],
"score": [
11,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"First, polls are occasionally commissioned. so they *are* paid. \n\nOther times they're created by foundations/think-tanks/etc - these organisations are also funded. \n\nSometimes they use the polls as advertisement for the kind of data generation they are capable of, a commercial service they offer for a fee. ",
"Someone, often a media outlet or public interest group, pays them to perform the poll.\n\nSometimes political parties and candidate commission polls, and their results are not always released.",
"Free to you to read does not mean free. If you want permission to publish the poll in your online or newspaper publication, then you must pay."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
8pedl3
|
is it actually possible for a sound wave to travel around the entire world and be heard?
|
Edit: So what is the furthest actual distance an actual sound wave had traveled as recorded?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8pedl3/eli5_is_it_actually_possible_for_a_sound_wave_to/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e0aknjq"
],
"score": [
14
],
"text": [
"Yes, the explosion sound of the volcano Krakatoa went around the world *more than once.*\n\n_URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://kottke.org/14/10/the-worlds-loudest-sound"
]
] |
|
av04gh
|
where do the air from the hairdryer comes from?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/av04gh/eli5_where_do_the_air_from_the_hairdryer_comes/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ehblkk8",
"ehblm26"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"There’s a fan in it. The air comes from around you. It’s sucks air in, heats it up and blows it out the other end.",
"On the sides of it, there are holes I which the air enters. There is a fan inside, blowing it towards the opening.\n\nThe heat comes from a resistance inside."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2l0yo2
|
why do knife throwers hold the knife by the blade?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2l0yo2/eli5_why_do_knife_throwers_hold_the_knife_by_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"clqf99f",
"clqfg5u",
"clqfwl2",
"clqknwi",
"clqlj53",
"clqlno2",
"clqsan4",
"clquacr",
"clqxjtj",
"clqz8yp"
],
"score": [
116,
29,
29,
13,
3,
63,
3,
3,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Knife throwing works by controlling the spin of the knife and that is easier to do if you swing the heavy side (the handle) around the lighter side (the blade) \n\n",
"And how do they always make it so the blade hits target and not the handle?",
"No. It's all because a throwing knife is balanced so it spins regularly. There's only 1 tip though...so you hold the blade or handle based on the range to your target. If it needs to spin half, a full turn, one and a half, two...so on and so forth. ",
"There are certain [styles](_URL_0_) that allow for throwing by the handle with no spin.",
"It really depends on how far away the target is, because you're supposed to calculate how many times the blade will turn/spin as it passes through the air to ensure that the blade tip is the end that makes first contact with whatever you're hitting.\nSo it's not always held by the blade, it's whatever the skilled handler should consider most effective for achieving their circumstantial goal, ie the distance they are from their target and how hard they intend to throw or force spin in the blade.",
"Most of these answers are wrong if not only partially correct. There are different techniques to throwing knives. The technique you see in movies causes the blade to rotate a half turn every few feet.\n Where you hold the knife depends on the target distance and how much spin you put on the blade. For me its in increments of about 7 feet.\n For every 7 feet added to the distance I alternate the side of the knife held. i.e. Target is 7 feet away, hold by the blade. 14 feet away, hold the handle etc.\n\nEdit: I should add that this is just one of many techniques.\n",
"You do not necessarily hold the blade by the sharp end. It depends where the balance of the blade is. You want to throw it at the point where it will rotate the least amount of times through the air. That way it is easier to calculate the final position of the the knife in relation to your target.\n\nSource: I learned how to throw knives a few years ago. ",
"Please be aware that knife throwing is a trick. Not a combat skill.",
"They don't. Well not all the time. The only reason it is portrayed like this in most movies and T.V. shows is because it looks cooler like this. In real life, people judge the distance, and for every 3-5 meters or so from the target (I could be very wrong on this), they flip the knife in their hand. So from Very close (less than a meter) you would hold it by the handle, then from further away, you would hold it by the blade so that it would spin half a turn while covering distance. From even further, you would again hold it by the handle so that it would make a full spin before hitting the target.\n\nI hope this makes sense, as I have seen many sketchy answers in this thread.",
"I used to throw knives as a hobby and was good enough to get it to stick pretty much every time. I would always mix up the way I held my knives. If the knife is well balanced or has a heavy handle, then I'd probably do a \"hammer throw\", which is just throwing the knife by it's handle. If the knife is heavier on the blade, like a kitchen knife, then it's easier for me to throw it by the blade. \n\nOne thing I remember reading about knife throwing is that it doesn't matter how hard you throw the knife, it will always do the same amount of revolutions to the target, so hitting the target is a matter of judging the distance between you and what you're trying to hit. Once I started thinking along those lines, the knife started sticking every time. I started setting up multiple targets at different distances for fun. \n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://youtu.be/ji1nBmcKuoo"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
35im4v
|
- uk nhs privatisation
|
Hey all. I've got a couple of questions about the NHS being privatised in wake of today's record deal.
I understand the basics of privatisation - that the jobs and treatments become outsourced from the government run NHS in to the private sector. I understand that this creates a market system that means that private companies will be competing against each other. I understand the concept of post code preference. What I don't understand is where this is paid from? I believe the Conservatives have said that they want to keep the NHS free at the point of delivery. How is this possible with jobs being given to private companies?
I'm just a bit lost with the financial workings that follow the creeping privatisation of the NHS.
Thanks.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35im4v/eli5_uk_nhs_privatisation/
|
{
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"cr4tph6",
"cr4v5ph",
"cr4vuky",
"cr52df7"
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2,
8,
2,
2,
3
],
"text": [
"I'm probably wrong but the way I see it if they want to keep the NHS free. Companies will compete against each other to provide services, government will pay them. They will probably reduce their costs by giving away good quality service. The money will go straight to these private companies where their goal is to make money. Hence the bad quality service.\n\nEdit: I don't like Cameron but you can see how the problem can be according to the Authors of \"Think like a freak\"\n\"Don't let emotion get in the way\nShortly after the publication of Superfreakonomics, while on a book tour in England, we were invited to meet David Cameron, who would soon become prime minister of the UK. Mr Cameron burst through the door. \"All right,\" he boomed, \"where are the clever people?\" He wore crisp white shirtsleeves, his trademark purple tie, and an air of irrepressible optimism. As we chatted, it became instantly clear why he was projected to become the next prime minister. Everything about him radiated competence and confidence. He looked to be exactly the sort of man whom deans at Eton and Oxford envision when they are first handed the boy.\n\nCameron said the biggest problem he would inherit as prime minister was a gravely ill economy. The UK, along with the rest of the world, was still in the grip of a crushing recession. The mood, from pensioners to students to industry titans, was morose; the national debt was enormous and climbing. Upon taking office, Cameron told us, he would need to make broad and deep cuts. But, he added, there were a few precious rights that he would protect at any cost.\n\nLike what? we asked. \"Well, the National Health Service,\" he said, eyes alight with pride. This made sense. The NHS provides cradle-to-grave health care for every Briton, most of it free at point of use. One former chancellor of the exchequer called the NHS \"the closest thing the English have to a religion\", which is doubly interesting since England does have an actual religion. There was just one problem: UK healthcare costs had more than doubled over the previous 10 years and were expected to keep rising.\n\nAlthough we didn't know it at the time, Cameron's devotion to the NHS was based in part on an intense personal experience. His eldest child, Ivan, was born with a rare neurological disorder called Ohtahara syndrome. It is marked by frequent, violent seizures. As a result, the Cameron family had become all too familiar with NHS nurses, doctors, ambulances and hospitals. \"When your family relies on the NHS all the time, day after day, night after night, you really know just how precious it is,\" he once told the Conservative party's annual conference. Ivan died in early 2009, a few months short of his 7th birthday.\n\nSo perhaps it was no surprise that Cameron, even as head of a party that embraced fiscal austerity, should view the NHS as sacrosanct. To monkey with the system, even during an economic crisis, would make as much political sense as drop-kicking one of the Queen's corgis.\n\nBut that didn't mean it made practical sense. While the goal of free, unlimited, lifetime health care is laudable, the economics are tricky. We now pointed this out, as respectfully as possible, to the presumptive prime minister.\n\nBecause there is so much emotion attached to healthcare, it can be hard to see that it is, by and large, like any other part of the economy. But under a set-up like the UK's, healthcare is virtually the only part of the economy where individuals can go out and get nearly any service they need and pay close to zero, whether the actual cost of the procedure is £100 or £100,000.\n\nWhat's wrong with that? When people don't pay the true cost of something, they tend to consume it inefficiently.\n\nThink of the last time you sat down at an all-you-can-eat restaurant. How likely were you to eat a bit more than normal? The same thing happens if healthcare is distributed in a similar fashion: people consume more of it than if they were charged the sticker price. This means the \"worried well\" crowd out the truly sick, waiting times increase for everyone and a massive share of the costs goes to the final months of elderly patients' lives, often without much real advantage.\n\nThis sort of overconsumption can be more easily tolerated when healthcare is only a small part of the economy. But with healthcare costs approaching 10% of GDP in the UK – and nearly double that in the United States – you have to seriously rethink how it is provided and paid for.\n\nWe tried to make our point with a thought experiment. We suggested to Mr Cameron that he consider a similar policy in a different arena. What if, for instance, every Briton were also entitled to a free, unlimited, lifetime supply of transportation? That is, what if everyone were allowed to go down to the car dealership whenever they wanted and pick out any new model, free of charge, and drive it home?\n\nWe expected him to light up and say: \"Well, yes, that'd be patently absurd – there'd be no reason to maintain your old car, and everyone's incentives would be skewed. I see your point about all this free healthcare we're doling out!\" But he said no such thing. In fact, he didn't say anything at all. The smile did not leave David Cameron's face, but it did leave his eyes. Maybe our story hadn't come out as we'd intended. Or maybe it did and that was the problem. In any case, he offered a quick handshake and hurried off.\"",
"Hi there\n\nWith privatisation, the money is still all coming from the same place. Just as the government funds NHS trusts it allocates funding for services provided by private healthcare groups. As I understand it, NHS practices get allocated money from the funding trusts according to the services they provide. Often, \"privatisation\" involves a patient being referred to a private hospital who gets treated by that private hospital, using their spare capacity. Either the government or the NHS trust will then pay the private healthcare group for this service in the same way it would the NHS practice.\n\nInstead of money from the taxpayer going straight into NHS trusts, whenever a private healthcare group provides the same service to a patient on referral from the NHS, the private healthcare group gets paid for it. \n\nPrivate healthcare groups are run as businesses, so they are much more likely to be efficient with the money. NHS trusts are run by doctors, who, while being brilliant about healthcare, are not necessarily the best placed to make economically-efficient decisions. Subsequently there usually ends up with a lot of waste in the NHS as they often pay through the nose for even basic equipment.\n\nPrivate healthcare groups are often slated for poor quality healthcare. This unfortunately can be true, as it can with any NHS hospital. From a personal perspective, my SO recently had to have an operation. She went through the NHS who referred her to a private hospital for the operation and after-care. It was an incredibly quick referral for a relatively minor operation and she received the best care I think I've seen. The staff were incredibly friendly and cared for her every need. She even had a TV in her own room!\n\nIf the burden on the over-stretched NHS services can be eased by allocating patients into private-run care like this where there is capacity to do so, and represents good value to the taxpayer, I wouldn't complain!!",
"Going from what ive read here, parts get sold off to competing companies but the government still subsidises the cost of treatment so the oublic dont have to pay?",
"Before you read anything on Reddit about British politics, especially in regard to the NHS, I would highly recommend you actually do your research away from Reddit as it is nearly impossible to get an answer that's entirely free of bias or implication.\n\nThere are a few ways in which 'privatisation' can be achieved. The simplest method is to sell off, in bulk, components of the NHS to companies that will completely take over the running of individual hospitals etc. This would mean that virtually everyone in Britain would have to pay for their own health insurance, however they would no longer be paying National Insurance from their wages. The money in this case comes from healthcare insurance providers who will pay for treatment from their collective pot. This is the system in the US and it is a system that actually already exists in the UK in the form of private healthcare.\n\nThe next option is to simply outsource the services to private companies who will have to compete for contracts, but the government will pay those companies to provide the service and the money would still come from a combination of National Insurance contributions and general taxation.\n\nAnother option is a sort of hybrid between the two options above and that is to separate the required services into urgent/emergency and non-emergency. What this would entail is immediate 'free' service for people who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses like cancer or HIV, but people who develop certain illnesses due to a complete disregard for their own health, for example adult onset diabetes developed from eating unhealthily, would have to contribute more into the system in the way of charges or an increased health insurance premium. This would potentially mean that National Insurance could be lowered, just enough to make sure that emergency treatment is available for everybody, where the rest of the money is coming from increased premiums for people who do not look after themselves.\n\nI've tried to be as neutral as possible and to answer your question about where the money would come from.",
"There have been some good explanations below already so I won't over-explain...\n\n\"Free at the point of use\" has of course always been a fallacy, you pay tax so you pay indirectly for the service you get. Ultimately if everything goes private tomorrow it's likely we'd adopt the US system and you'd have to get your own health insurance with private health companies... but in theory, you wouldn't have to pay the tax (So in theory, the government can lower tax... let's not hold our breath)\n\nWhat is actually happening with backdoor privatisation is that many services are being put out to tender and being contracted to the existing allocated budgets that we would normally just chuck into the different fields of the NHS. Many people distrust this, the argument being that when you privatise something the areas that are less profitable begin to see financial neglect.\n\nI work in the NHS and think there are some things (like estates, digital, logistics etc) that should be outsourced privately, but I can only lament the blanket privatisation that the government are opening the NHS up to. It's a one-way street, the Social Care Act coupled with things like TTIP will be almost impossible to repeal once services have been tendered to contractors."
]
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|
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[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
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|
djkhkn
|
what are the practical applications of calculating numbers to powers of e.g. -3…
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/djkhkn/eli5_what_are_the_practical_applications_of/
|
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"I think the only \"practical\" usage of, say the power of -3, is that you need to know what that means and be able to calculate it as it might show up in equations. \n\nIf you go to collage or university and study any math related subjects or programs like engineering or physics you need to be able to calculate all powers, not just squares and cubes as there are many equations that have other powers. These equations can be models of, for example, a bridge and if you can't calculate it properly your bridge will collapse.",
"Calculating 8 to the power of a third, is simply asking: which number cubed would give 8?\n\nCalculating 2 to the power of -3 is like asking: what do I get by diving 1 by 2 cubed?",
" & #x200B;\n\nI'll cover examples/applications of fraction power 1/3 a little later. but basically where power of 1/2 is the same as squareroot, power of 1/3 is the same as cube root\n\n2\\^-3 is the same as (1/2)\\^3 or 1/(2\\^3).. just depends on the way you write it, and depending on the situation you may want to rewrite it in a way thats you understand better or is more convenient. This is called an inverse power. and describes all sorts of things such as gravity (Fg = -G\\*m1\\*m2/R\\^2)..., electrostostatic force(very similar equation to gravity), light intensity from a source (such as the sun) as a function of distance from the source, etc. There are of course important relationships with other powers, but we won't go into them.\n\nThere are also things called infinite series and sequence. An infinite series is basically a sum of an infinitely many terms that follow a patter. One such patterin is ofof the form n\\^-p (or alternatively (1/n\\^p), ie (1/1\\^2 +(1/2\\^2) + (1/2\\^3) .... In this particular situation if p > 1, the series will converge to a value as n goes to infinity, meaning that as you add infinitely more of these negative powers where p > 1, eventually equals a number. the sum(from n=1 to n=inifinity) of n\\^-2 for example is (pi\\^2)/6. as opposed to like infinity or something. Meanwhile p < 1 will \"diverge\" meaning it will go to infinity, because the terms keep getting bigger and bigger because n\\^p is on the bottom of the fraction and p is small. p=1 will also diverge but its a little hard to explain.\n\nThis type of infinite series is one of many, many other series, and these things have so many applications in math, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science its kinda crazy, because they are basically really good at calculating approximate values. for example when you tell a calculator to find e\\^x or sin(theta) it will probably be using infinite series approximations as opposed to their more typical definitions. Speaking of which, if you watched the movie \"hidden figures\", or are familiar with the idea that people were employed to be \"human computers\" before digital computers were a thing, they also did similar calculations for things that were as complicated or even more complicated than trigonometry, like orbital mechanics.\n\ntheres just so many things going on with special powers and such. If your daughter asks what class this is taught in, its taught extensively in college calculus (or AP Calculus BC, and maybe AB?) as well as sometimes pre-calculus and such.",
"Raising something to the power of a fraction is the same as finding the root of it (i.e. 4^1/2 = 2 = root(4)) so the ability to invert something is pretty useful in a lot of cases. \n\nRaising something to a negative is the same as raising it to a positive, and then dividing one by it (i.e. 4^-2 = 1/4^2 = 1/16). This can make it a nice tool for combining long strings of powers, since once you have everything in a common base, you can just use the rules of exponents to calculate things. It is also vital for calculus - understanding negative exponents lets us apply the same rules for x^2 and 1/(x^3), which simplifies things massively.\n\nMore generally, building a definition of powers that includes negative and fractional numbers (and eventually imaginary numbers) makes powers a lot smoother to use. Once it can be applied to everything, we can create smooth inverse (log) functions, define probability distributions, solve second order differential equations, and so on.",
"Real life equations that model complex physical, biological, and chemical processes do not always involve simple mathematical relationships like in area or volume. Sometimes you have things like X to the power of 2.6 or X. To truly understand how to compute such operations a student needs to fully understand the math of exponents. It is the concept that is important, because once you grasp what an exponent really is, you can go on to solve more complex things involving them (e.g. In some equations you may even have imaginary and complex numbers). In most higher education contexts, you don't actually write 1/(X^4) for example, it is far simpler visually and for calculations to write X^-4. And for fraction exponents, it is easiest to write the cube root of 5 squared as 5^(2/3). Learning these complicated forms also helps the student later calculate arithmetic operations with two numbers that have exponents. And even if the student grows up to never even pursue a natural science degree, having learned such things develops the brain's capacity to complex concepts and helps them learn other things in life more easily.",
"Lots of physical laws are described by [power-law relationships](_URL_1_). For example, Kepler's law states that the time it takes for a planet to orbit the Sun is proportional to the 3/2 power of its distance from the Sun.\n\nExponents also come up frequently in mathematics. For example, many functions can be represented as a [power series](_URL_0_), and by truncating the series you can obtain an approximation of the function.\n\nKnowing how to actually calculate exponents by hand is probably not going to be useful since we have calculators to do that (unless it's being used as an example to demonstrate a more general concept like iterative methods). But if you want to study mathematics or a field that uses it, you definitely need to know their basic properties."
]
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[] |
[] |
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[],
[],
[],
[],
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_series",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law#Examples"
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||
19j2rk
|
el15: why is it so hard for a woman to have a natural delivery after a c-section?
|
Basically the title. I had to have a C-section and it's been made clear to me that I'd have to have another if I ever had another child. It hasn't been made clear why, and I don't understand. My vagina's still there, it still works, so why can't I push a baby out still?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/19j2rk/el15_why_is_it_so_hard_for_a_woman_to_have_a/
|
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"It depends on individual cases and it will also depend on what the reason was for your first C-section. For example, if you had an infection and that was the reason for your first C section, and you don't get an infection this time, there might be no need. \n\n\nThe main reason would be that your uterus has already been cut open and this gives a higher chance of the uterus tearing/rupturing along the scar this time. If the first C-section was done with a 'low-transverse incision' - a cut low and horizontal - the chance is lower, but if the incision is vertical or T shaped it can increase the chance of the uterus rupturing with a vaginal birth. The low-transverse incision makes stronger scars and bleeds less.\n\n\nThere might also be other problems that would prevent you from giving birth vaginally - certain health conditions like diabetes, problems with the placenta, etc. It's best to discuss your options with your doctor/obstetrician. Some women do have successful vaginal births after C sections but it's not suitable for all. :)",
"Couple of factors to consider:\n\nYour vagina isn't doing the pushing, your uterus is. It's basically a large muscle and the prior C-section put a fair sized scar in it. That's not to say it doesn't work. But think about tearing a hamstring: it will generally heal, but sometimes it's never quite the same, especially when a lot of stress it placed on it. Which leads to the most important point...\n\nVaginal delivery after C-Section carries a small but nontrivial risk (about 1/200) of uterine rupture. That's pretty much what it sounds like, and it is an emergency that carries a 6% risk of perinatal death for the baby and about a 25% chance of hysterectomy for the mother. Or to put it another way, around one out of every 3500 VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarian) will result in death of the baby. Even without rupture if an emergency C-section is needed due to failure of vaginal delivery, the complication rate is somewhat higher. \n\nNone of the above means you can not have a vaginal delivery after a C-section. There's a difference between one prior C-section with a favorable scar vs someone who has had literally half a dozen prior C-sections in an unfavorable orientation, as well as many, many other factors. But reddit is not a place for medical advice. Talk to your OB and they should be more than willing to discuss the details with you.\n",
"You've gotten some good answers here already, but the short answer to your question is: it's not. \n\nDo your research, read up on VBAC's (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) and evaluate your personal situation to decide if attempting a VBAC is right for you. Talk to your doctor about it. If s/he is dismissive of the idea and completely unwilling to listen and discuss the pros/cons of VBAC vs repeat cesearian, run, don't walk, to another doctor for a second opinion.\n\nEvery birth carries certain risk factors, and cesearian births have their own inherent dangers and potential complications - it is a major surgical procedure, albeit a common one, but anyone who tries to tell to tell you it is in some way safer or better doesnt understand statistics.\n\nI personally know several woman who have gone on to have multiple VBAC's, including some who have done it at home with midwives. It's not for everybody, but the decision to try or not should ultimately be up to you - just do your research, evaluate your personal risk factors and find a supportive doctor who is willing to have an informed discussion with you.\n\n A VBAC is not some radical hippy thing - you shouldn't be made to feel like you're taking unnecessary risks if you decide to try for one. Despite the outcome of your first pregnancy, your body is not broken, and there is a lot you can do in your subsequent labours to avoid unnecessary interventions (induction, pitocin, to name just a few) that would greatly increase your chances for a normal, healthy, vaginal birth.\n\nBest of luck with any future pregnancies!"
]
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[] |
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[],
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[]
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|
2e55ke
|
why does israel have difficulty with attaks in the gaza strip? it seems to be a small area that israel could invade quickly and easily
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2e55ke/eli5_why_does_israel_have_difficulty_with_attaks/
|
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"It's not as though there's a Gaza military that they need to deal with. The problem when fighting terrorists is that you don't know *who* is a terrorist until they start shooting at you. So, your options are to go in heavy and kill a lot of people who aren't actually threats, go in cautious and sacrifice your own men to cut down on the amount of civilians you hit (but you'll still hit some), or just put up with the constant rocket attacks. \n\nIn addition, the mere presence of the Israeli military in Gaza is going to create more opposition. For every person they shoot, two more will pop up. It's a no win scenario. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
9axvc1
|
how come there can be many patents for the same thing?
|
I don't know where this would fit, so I'm throwing this here.
I have an idea for an invention that is good enough that it is getting attention from friends and family who want to pursue it with me.
I finally did a Google patent search for this type of item, and to my dismay, I see that there is already a patent for it from about 12 years ago.
But, I also see several other different patents also for the same type of item. This gives me hope.
But, before I go any further, am I wasting my time?
How can there be several patents for the same thing?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9axvc1/eli5_how_come_there_can_be_many_patents_for_the/
|
{
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"e4yypwl"
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"text": [
"Imagine you invented donuts. You went to the patent office and got a patent for donuts, so now only you can make donuts, defined as a pastry made from flour which is toroidal in shape and fried.\n\nSomeone (let’s say Jared) can file a patent for jelly-filled donuts, since it is not obvious that you (the inventor) claimed the idea of jelly-filled donuts. If you have never thought of the idea, or are unable to produce evidence that you ever thought of that idea, Jared is the original inventor of Jelly filled donuts. This system rewards him for coming up with an original idea, but because it is a subset of donuts he is unable to produce jelly filled donuts, and neither are you.\n\nThe solution is for cross-licensing between you and Jared. You both agree that Jared can make donuts (or only jelly filled donuts) and you can make jelly filled donuts. Now both of you can benefit from the new invention.\n\nThis gets really complicated when you add sugared donuts, jelly filled hamburgers etc. Is jelly filled donuts a subset of sugared donuts? Does the jelly filled donut inventor get claims to all jelly filled food?\n\nAll of this depends on what you write in the patent, what is approved by the patent agency and what your patent Lawyers can secure for you in court. That’s why a large industry exists just to help you write patents (eg companies like Morrison Foerster).\n\nMissing out a patent on cream filled donuts or icing sugared donuts can result in billions in “lost revenue”, so it’s really important to claim as many scenerios as feasibly possible."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
1p50uc
|
what makes a soundtrack ''beautiful'' and how come music can make people cry (easily)?
|
Just as the title says.
There is this one soundtrack that makes me cry for no reason, even if I am in my most happiest state.
Which is this; _URL_0_
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1p50uc/eli5_what_makes_a_soundtrack_beautiful_and_how/
|
{
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"text": [
"I think you'll enjoy [this](_URL_1_)! \n\nBasically music seems to stimulate very primal parts of the brain and is a way of communicating emotion. Certain melodic creations send messages, [here's a famous example](_URL_0_). "
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iPlfsJ0mno"
] |
[
[
"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/adeles-songs-science-make-you-cry_n_1277174.html",
"http://www.radiolab.org/story/91512-musical-language/"
]
] |
|
k7ap4
|
how do scientists know that the earth has an unmet core and outer core if we have never dug that deep into earth? eli5.
|
That should say inner not unmet. Stupid swype.
Also, how did scientists figure out that the inner core is made of iron and the outer core has iron and nickle?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/k7ap4/how_do_scientists_know_that_the_earth_has_an/
|
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"There are a few clues that let scientists make good guesses about the earth's core.\n\nWe know the earth's mass, based on it gravitational interaction with the moon and other objects. The rules out a lot of substances...lead would be too heavy, aluminum too light.\n\nWe know the earth has a magnetic field, and how strong it is, and that is it a little irregular. Spinner magnetic substances, like iron and nickle, can behave the same way.\n\nAnd finally, when there is an earthquake, the impulse travels at different velocities, depending on whether it travels through the crust, mantle, inner or outer cores. My comparing measurements from many seismographs, after many earthquakes, sciences have been able to map out the structure of the earth's interior.",
"Imagine an earthquake is a drop of water and the earth is a pond. When an earthquake strikes it will send ripples out in all directions and anything they touch will change the shape. Now while we can't directly go to the core and see it with our own eyes, by looking at the ripples and how they change we can work out what the earth is made of.",
"There are a few clues that let scientists make good guesses about the earth's core.\n\nWe know the earth's mass, based on it gravitational interaction with the moon and other objects. The rules out a lot of substances...lead would be too heavy, aluminum too light.\n\nWe know the earth has a magnetic field, and how strong it is, and that is it a little irregular. Spinner magnetic substances, like iron and nickle, can behave the same way.\n\nAnd finally, when there is an earthquake, the impulse travels at different velocities, depending on whether it travels through the crust, mantle, inner or outer cores. My comparing measurements from many seismographs, after many earthquakes, sciences have been able to map out the structure of the earth's interior.",
"Imagine an earthquake is a drop of water and the earth is a pond. When an earthquake strikes it will send ripples out in all directions and anything they touch will change the shape. Now while we can't directly go to the core and see it with our own eyes, by looking at the ripples and how they change we can work out what the earth is made of."
]
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[],
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|
49pxf3
|
how do cells know what in what shape the should arrange when healing a wound?
|
I underwent surgery a few months ago in order to get a pilonidal cyst removed. It was basically a deep cavity where my butt crack ends. They had to take some tissue during the surgery, leaving an open wound that would close over the next few months. My question is, how do the cells in my body know what shape should they make? In my case, why do they not form a longer crack, but instead know when to stop?
Thanks!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/49pxf3/eli5_how_do_cells_know_what_in_what_shape_the/
|
{
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"d0tyh53"
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"text": [
"The answer is [contact inhibition](_URL_0_). The cells in your body divide until they squeeze up against other cells, then stop. \n\nSometimes, cells will lose this inhibition. That's when you get cancer. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_inhibition"
]
] |
|
76sxu8
|
why do boobs lose their volume after nursing?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/76sxu8/eli5_why_do_boobs_lose_their_volume_after_nursing/
|
{
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"It's kind of the same thing as when you lose weight: the boobs have gotten stretched out from their pregnancy and breastfeeding growth, and then having lost that extra weight, you now have loose skin.",
"Milk producing glands grow due to hormones released during a woman's pregnancy. Nursing by babies stimulates milk production and a woman will keep producing milk as long as she is feeding her baby. Once babies start weening off of the mother's milk the hormones reduce, causing the milk to stop producing. The milk gland will then reduce as well causing the breasts to shrink. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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] |
||
2k1gv3
|
if terrorism by muslim extremists is caused by too much western intervention, why was a country like canada a target?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2k1gv3/eli5_if_terrorism_by_muslim_extremists_is_caused/
|
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"text": [
"First, it's *possibly* the most recent event was due to muslim extremists who have the same concerns of those who have made those statements in the past, but it could be for completely different reasons, not all people who are muslim and use violence have the same concerns or motives for doing so.\n\nBut if that is their motive, they would likely point to the fact that Canada started moving towards supporting strikes against ISIS/ISIL in Iraq.",
"Because Canada is surprisingly present around the world.\n\nHumanitarian efforts often have many Canadians, Canadian travelers go the world over, and most noticeable is the presence of Canadian soldiers around the Globe.\n\nEven though we rarely go to war, we are involved in almost every conflict, whether we are sending food, supplies and money, or if we are sending troops to act as peacekeepers in wartorn areas.\n\nPeople who dislike intervention from other nations don't care what kind of intervention it is, they just dislike any nations that perform it. And like to send a clear message that they will take action."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2unf2d
|
how can three people have a baby?
|
Three-parent babies have just been made legal in the UK, but I'm wondering how it actually works? I've read the articles, but I still don't understand.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2unf2d/eli5how_can_three_people_have_a_baby/
|
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"text": [
" > I've read the articles\n\nLinking to the articles would help people understand the context of your question.",
"Woman one... Take egg and remove inside of cell, woman two, take cell and extract dna from neculus, add dna to inside of woman ones egg then fertilise as normal.",
"You actually get 3 sets of DNA when you are conceived: 23 chromosomes from your father, 23 chromosomes from your mother, and your mitochondrial DNA from your mother as well. All of that DNA can cause various diseases. The mitochondrial DNA from your mother can be replaced with modern techniques. The UK made those legal. ",
"Imagine the fertilised egg cells are actually just two regular chicken eggs. The yolk is the nucleus of the cell, this contains the combined DNA of the mother and father of the child. The vast majority of the child's DNA is in this yolk, but there is some DNA in the egg white. This is called mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are the powerplants of cells that provide them with the energy they need for their various processes.\n\nIf there's a problem with this mitochondrial DNA this can cause all sorts of horrible birth defects, including severe brain damage. So all they are doing is scooping up the egg yolk (nucleus) and putting it in the egg white from a different egg (which has healthy mitochondrial DNA). This donated egg comes from a separate woman all together, which is where the third person comes from. But only a tiny amount of this persons DNA will wind up in the child.\n\nThe great thing about this kind of treatment is that once the child is born, there's no chance of them passing on the mitochondrial problems to their children. This technology has the potential to wipe out this horrifically tragic illness and i'm incredibly proud my country is the first to allow this to become a reality."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
nphu0
|
why doesn't the us or any other country use napalm/chemical warfare in modern day wars like in vietnam?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/nphu0/eli5_why_doesnt_the_us_or_any_other_country_use/
|
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"text": [
"188 countries have signed the Chemical Weapons Convention which is an arms control agreement that outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.",
"Napalm got a lot of bad press during vietnam, so now the army uses [white phosphorus](_URL_0_)",
"188 countries have signed the Chemical Weapons Convention which is an arms control agreement that outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.",
"Napalm got a lot of bad press during vietnam, so now the army uses [white phosphorus](_URL_0_)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_phosphorus"
],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_phosphorus"
]
] |
||
45s8dc
|
why can't the human brain be kept alive (and conscious) artificially?
|
Has it not been tried for ethical reasons or does it need the body and rejects anything but it's original host similar to an incompatible implant?
Or maybe the trauma of being desected from the body would kill it?
I understand this probably sounds incredibly stupid but with the way modern science is advancing it just doesn't seem completely unthinkable to me anymore.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/45s8dc/eli5_why_cant_the_human_brain_be_kept_alive_and/
|
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"text": [
"There's a lot of reasons, but the biggest one is \"We don't really know how\". The concept is there, it's great and all, but we don't know how to do it. Then there's ethical reasons and what not. ",
"It would be possible to keep a brain alive on artificial machinery alone. However, it would likely be prohibitively expensive. It would also likely be unethical because we currently lack the capacity to reconnect nerves without damaging the connection and our ability to wire technology to the nervous system is still in its infancy. Thus, a brain kept alive in such a fashion would be bereft of its senses (save for, perhaps, eyes) and what consciousness would want to live in (near) total sensory deprivation?\n\nHere's a related reddit thread from 4 years ago, if it may serve any educational purpose: _URL_0_",
"I always thought you CAN keep it alive, via an outside blood and oxygen source, but it would be unconscious. Can someone correct me or confirm?",
"I think this sort of thing has been attempted, but it's really hard to identify and provide everything a brain needs to survive. I'm reminded of efforts to grow neurons into brain-like structures and how they discovered the necessity of sensory input to stimulate neural processing for them to grow/survive. \nAlso, it's not just nutrients and oxygen necessary in the blood but a whole soup of compounds produced by various glands and such throughout the body. The nervous system is wired into basically everything to such a degree that you could just as well consider the body to to be \"motion and feeding lobes\" that're part of the brain instead of considering the brain as the \"thinking organ\" part of the body. \nThe brain's made to basically depend on and expect the whole system, so you've got a lot you'd need to reimplement to support it adequately.",
"Supposedly some Russian scientists were able to keep decapitated dog heads alive...... I don't have a link or remember the details",
"It would be unethical obviously with a human brain, but we have had the tech for 50 years and have kept monkey brains living outside of the skull indefinitely. \n\nEdit: _URL_0_",
"Does the brain age like the rest of the body? Or (barring diseases like Alzheimer's) could we maintain a consciousness indefinitely?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/i3meo/would_it_be_possible_to_keep_a_severed_human_head/"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://youtu.be/zwkkmsoo4a4"
],
[]
] |
|
9iymfs
|
why isn’t there a rover equivalent on the bottom of the ocean?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9iymfs/eli5_why_isnt_there_a_rover_equivalent_on_the/
|
{
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"text": [
"Exploring the bottom of the ocean is basically as hard as exploring space. The water is really heavy and the further you go down the more it pushes on your body, or the submarine or rover or whatever. The first problem is making the rover sturdy enough to survive that environment while still transmitting signals and data and whatever. The second problem is that if anything were to malfunction, it would likely be unrecoverable, or prohibitively expensive to do so. Also, the ocean is really really big and really really deep. It has about as diverse a terrain as the surface. Mountains, cave networks, currents, crazy hot magma vents. It’s probably not feasible to make a machine that can traverse all that, while remaining strong enough to withstand the pressure. ",
"They exist but not that common and not overwhelmingly useful.\n\nControlling them is harder because you can't wirelessly control it. Electromagnetic radiation, specifically radio waves that we use to control things wirelessly, don't travel through water very well. so it'd have to be tethered directly with a cord. So if you want to explore something very deep, you need either a VERY long cord, or you need a submarine. (But if you have a submarine, might as well use that to explore the ocean floor, or use an unmanned underwater drone tethered to it. Both things are more common than seafloor rovers).\n\nOr you can have a fully autonomous system. That's what these people did: _URL_0_",
"In addition to the previous correct answers, power supply is a big issue. Rovers on Mars are solar powered, but the ocean bottom gets no sun, and there's no fuel supply or electric supply down there. Atomic power would be your best bet (as on deep space probes), and that's expensive and hazardous.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://www.wired.com/2009/09/benthicrover/"
],
[]
] |
||
9o8jqw
|
will increasing the volume of a media player (tv, radio etc) affect power consumption?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9o8jqw/eli5_will_increasing_the_volume_of_a_media_player/
|
{
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"e7s92sw"
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"text": [
"Yes, because speakers are motors. They push and pull the cone inside the speaker that creates sound pressure waves. The louder a speaker gets, the more voltage is used to create a louder sound."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
4nxeqa
|
why does friction make shampoo foam?
|
Whereas when it lies dormant, it does not foam.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4nxeqa/eli5why_does_friction_make_shampoo_foam/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d47rhfq"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text": [
"It's not the friction, it's the water!\n\nSoap molecules have two sides: one that's attracted to water, and one that isn't. So when you introduce water, the soap molecules start to separate and rearrange to align the way they want to.\n\nFriction _appears_ to do this, but actually, you're mixing the water with the soap."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2rluuy
|
how does "volume" work exactly? is it precreated in the programming? are sound files preprogrammed with set volume levels allowed?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2rluuy/eli5_how_does_volume_work_exactly_is_it/
|
{
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"text": [
"The audio signal has a base amplification from when it was recorded and mastered. Usually the are leveled or normalised to a nice -0.1 db level (0 means clipping on the signal). The volume of the audio is regulated by the software in the same way you would divide in math. `volume=audioAmp*0.0` for 0% and `volume=audioAmp*1.0` for 100%. \n \nI'm pretty sure someone else can explain this even better, but here you go.",
"A music file, disregarding compression, is a list of how much the speaker should move and when, to recreate the original sound wave.\n\n\"Move 10% of your range at the start, then 0.000227 seconds later move another 10%, then 0.000227 seconds later move another 10%, then 0.000227 seconds later don't move, then 0.000227 seconds move 10% back\", etc.\n\nThe time steps are generally constant, because then the file only needs to store the number of time steps per second (44100), and the sequence of movement amounts (10, 10, 0, -10, ...).\n\n[There are other ELI5 answers that go into this in more detail](_URL_0_).\n\nAt 50% volume, the software (usually the operating system) just multiplies each amount by 0.5 before sending it to the speakers. So then the speakers move by 5%, 5%, 0%, -5%, ... - half as much as they would at full volume - and it sounds half as loud.\n\nAt 10% volume it would multiply them by 0.1, so it would send 1%, 1%, 0%, -1%, ... to the speakers, and they'd move 1/10 as much as at full volume.\n\n(This is an ELI5 answer. Actually, 50% of the movement doesn't sound half as loud to human ears - so the formula to convert \"volume\" into \"amount to multiply by\" is more complicated. Also the file stores absolute positions of the speaker, rather than changes. Also they go from 0-255, or 0-65535, not 0-100.)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jbxcw/eli5_how_does_a_speaker_turn_a_digital_music_file/"
]
] |
||
1xwlf1
|
why is the orion spacecraft better than the space shuttle
|
Besides the obvious like better technology on it why is it better than the Space Shuttle? It seems like having something you can land like a plane is a way better way to do it. Please tell me why I'm wrong.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xwlf1/eli5_why_is_the_orion_spacecraft_better_than_the/
|
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"text": [
"Safety at launch and cost. A lot can go wrong with the shuttle and escaping during launch problems is difficult. ",
"Besides safety and cost, the Shuttle was also much older, and technologically behind compared to what we could build now.",
"There are two large issues to do with safety.\n\n1 - The shuttle had no launch escape system. In the event of an emergency on the pad the crew were expected to scramble out the shuttle, run to the tower, get in a basket and then slide down into a bunker. Between liftoff and SRB seperation there is no abort scenario. With orion they just need to fire the escape tower to have the capsule flown clear of an explosion - an orion capsule may have survived a challenger type scenario.\n\n2 - The shuttle was not the highest point on the launch stack, meaning any debris or ice from higher up on the main tank could damage the orbiter. This is what caused the columbia disaster",
"In many ways it isn't. It isn't designed to get large payloads into orbit, just small crews and small amounts of cargo.\n\nFurther, nobody really seems clear on just how reusable it will be. The thing is essentially a scaled-up version of the Apollo vehicles, which means that the only part of it that goes into space that will actually return will be the small crew module, everything else will be ditched during takeoff or before return.\n\nThen again, the reusability of the Space Shuttle was not quite what was claimed, either. After a mission, you couldn't just vacuum the carpets, refill the tanks and launch, the thing pretty much had to be torn apart and rebuilt. NASA never really liked to talk about that much. But at least most of the parts that launched made it back down to the ground in one piece. The same will apparently not be true for Orion.\n\nBut ultimately, you're just comparing one insane waste of money to another. Aside from the gee-whiz factor, manned spaceflight serves no purpose other than to suck *staggering* amounts of money from limited space science budgets. Without the millstone of the Shuttle and ISS around its neck, NASA could have had multiple probes and rovers all throughout the solar system by now, and space science would be much more advanced. When you send people up, at least 90% of your money, mass, and energy budgets have to be spent on JUST keeping them alive and returning them safely.\n\nThe Orion won't even be capable of the few arguably-useful things the Shuttle *could* do, like retrieving malfunctioning satellites and returning them to Earth to be fixed. Even any mission requiring an EVA (like fixing the Hubble telescope) will be MUCH harder, because the entire capsule will have to be depressurized, and all the astronauts will have to wear space suits for the duration.\n\nI'm an *enormous* space science enthusiast (and to be fair, if somebody offered me a ticket on a spacecraft to ANYwhere, I'd take it in a cold second), but I think the best thing that could happen for science would be for NASA to abandon human spaceflight entirely. Sell the ISS to Richard Branson or somebody, let him turn it into a hotel for billionaires. I hope the Orion dies a swift death.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n",
"Because most of the shuttle was dead weight. The wings, the heat shield on everything, the payload bay. All that had to be rocketed up and down the gravity well. Space is a punishing place for every gram of extra mass.\n\nThe Orion only needs to send the part that matters, the astronauts. By travelling light we can go much farther then 400 kilometers up, we could go millions in any direction we want with the same technology."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
4iwaik
|
how does youtube's auto-generated subtitles work?
|
I remember when it first came out, it was quite terrible but now it's very decent. To the point where it can differentiate between "cause" and "cuz". Is there some kind of program that can 'hear' the sounds? Also, if it's good enough to know the difference between "because", "cause", and "cuz", how is it that it can still mistake "saying" for "single"? (these are actual examples from a video)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4iwaik/eli5_how_does_youtubes_autogenerated_subtitles/
|
{
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"text": [
"Google took hundreds of hours of accurately subtitled video and fed it to a machine learning program that linked sound snippets to written words statistically. Then they had it run through YouTube matching sounds in videos to words, creating subtitles. They then flagged incorrect subtitles and fed that information back into the program. They continue to do this, refining and improving the program over time. I didn't actually look any of this up. But I'm familiar with the technology, and it's kind of what Google does.",
"Just like how auto-dictate works and how Siri and other personal digital assistants can understand what you tell them. Every word is made up of syllables. The program is made so that it can recognize syllables, and then it does its own version of autocorrect where it sees what similar syllables might be correct and that also fit in the context of the sentence it is being used in. \n \nOne major disadvantage is that it's done after the fact. Your phone uses two microphones, one listening to you and another listening to the background, it then tries to do noise isolation to get your voice by itself with no background noise, making it easier to work with. \n \nGoogle has the benefit of millions of hours of video as well as user-subtitles videos, that it can analyze to see what the voice sounds like compared to what the program things it should sound like (very helpful with regional dialects/accents).",
" > it was quite terrible but now it's very decent\n\nBasically, it learns and improves itself. As well as auto-generated subtitles, there are people who write their own subtitles (myself included), or who edit and correct YouTube's auto-generated subtitles. Using this information, the system can \"learn\" from its mistakes.\n\n > how is it that it can still mistake \"saying\" for \"single\"?\n\nThe problem here is that people are trying to get number-crunching machines (which is what computers basically are) to do things that humans can do, which are incredibly complex. Language is about the most complex thing of all.\n\nThe human brain quite simply doesn't work anything like the way a computer works. It would be great to replicate the human brain, but nobody really knows how the human brain works. So we're stuck with machines that can do little more than look at two numbers and decide whether or not they're equal, and trying to make them do something we don't completely understand ourselves.\n\nWhen a computer \"listens\" to somebody speaking, they're in fact looking at a lot of numbers and trying to figure out what sounds those numbers represent. But there are so many factors to take into account, and the slightest thing can completely mess up the numbers.\n\nFirst of all, what is the speaker's accent? To an American, a British accent sounds different, but is usually perfectly understandable. To a computer, an American accent and a British accent produce completely different numbers.\n\nDifferent numbers can be produced depending on: how quickly the speaker is speaking, how clearly they are speaking, the pitch of their voice, their emotional state, and so on and so forth. Then there's the question of how good the microphone and recording equipment are, whether there is any background noise or music, how the video was rendered, and more besides.\n\nIf you speak very deliberately and clearly in a General American accent (that's the \"I don't have an accent\" accent, the one Walter Conkrite used) with no other sounds in the video at all, YouTube will have a very good chance of getting the subtitles right. Anything else has a good chance of defeating YouTube's speech recognition."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
dsao8c
|
almond milk and cookies
|
When I dunk my oreos in regular milk they tend to get softer/soggier within 30 seconds. I can leave an Oreo (from the same pack) in almond milk for like 5 minutes and it barely makes it any softer. WHY
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dsao8c/eli5_almond_milk_and_cookies/
|
{
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"f6odp3s"
],
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4
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"text": [
"Almond milk is honestly more like almond water. Cow milk have higher content of fat and sugar whereas almond \"milk\" does not."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
95vq2x
|
- why do countries export a good to one country while they import the same exact good from another country?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/95vq2x/eli5_why_do_countries_export_a_good_to_one/
|
{
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"text": [
"It's called wheeling and dealing. Read Walt Clyde Frazier's Wikipedia page if you need more help understanding",
"From my understanding and i could be wrong they buy it from countries that sell it for less than they are selling it so they make a profit from it this profit then goes to funding things like military and more oil",
"Reason 1: It might be profitable, you could sell it for higher than you buy it and earn a net profit for the economy. This mainly happens if the stuff you make is of higher quality than what you import or if the local market can't afford the \"better\" product. \n\nReason 2: It might be logistically easier. It's much easier for a company in Texas to sell goods to Mexico than it is for that same company to sell and transport the good to inland Alaska. Many nations are huge, and those that are near the border just have to ship it over an imaginary line drawn in the sand. \n\n\nReason 3: Remember: countries don't import or export anything, companies do. Maybe the best deal an importing company could get was foreign made. Maybe the exporting company is trying to break into a foreign market. \"Countries\" don't do anything, the people inside the country do. there are a lot of reasons you might want to trade with a foreign company rather than a domestic one. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
57f5hg
|
why aren't clothing sizes universal?
|
Why aren't clothing sizes based off of the same measurements instead of varying among brands? Is there a reason for this?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/57f5hg/eli5_why_arent_clothing_sizes_universal/
|
{
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"text": [
"Clothing comes in different cuts and fabrics, so the measurements for the same sizes would mean different things anyway.",
"I guess it's to do with the country of origin of the brand, a large in china won't be the same as a large in America, and some people won't want to buy XXL so they just adapt the sizes ",
"A small part of the problem is \"vanity sizing\" where retailers will size their clothes slightly larger than others so people feel better about themselves and therefore the clothes. You then tend to get into sizing wars with retailers trying to outsize each other, meaning sizes drift over time. This tends to be worse in women's clothes because they often have non-measurement based sizing. \n\nThis is only one tiny contribution to the problem.",
"For some things, sizing *does* work the right way. Namely, men's pants sizes in the US are just the measurements in inches. Women's clothing sizes are different entirely, mostly to go along with the magazine and TV trope of telling all women they're the wrong size, and adjusting the sizes to make them feel bad and somehow sell more.",
"I have no idea why this is the case, but I've also always wondered why men's and women's clothing is sized differently. For example, a man can buy jeans in his waist and leg length, and a woman has to buy them in a number like 10 or 12? Why?!",
"Men's sizing is the best about this, but women's sizing is all about what retailers think women will buy. Ann Taylor used to (not sure if they do anymore) purposefully size their clothes down a full size intentionally. I knew a textile science professor who said that her students literally brought Ann Taylor garments into the lab and measured them against industry standards and Ann Taylor was a size smaller in ever appreciable dimension. I guess they only wanted skinny people wearing their clothes? Who knows why you would do that.\n\nSome places have odd \"whole number\" sizing, I think so as not to intimidate women who are plus size.\n\nAnd as has already been said, some stores \"vanity size\" or basically do the opposite of Ann Taylor, so if you are actually a 16, you walk out in a 14.\n\nIt's just marketing and merchandising at that point.\n\nBut from a quality control standpoint, part of the issue is processing too. I learned from a friend of mine who worked as a buyer that in order to save money/time, cuts to fabric were made by many layers of cloth being stacked on top of each other and then cut almost like with a giant cookie cutter to get the pieces for sewing. You end up with (if I'm remembering correctly) smaller pieces on the bottom of the pile than on the top. Not by a whole lot, but by enough to be noticeable. That's how you sometimes can have the same size and the same garment but a different fit, depending on which one you try on. So if you're a woman, you leave grumbling about how you wore a 10 last week and this week a 12.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3y97q5
|
is kwanzaa really celeberated? i've always heard of it growing up but have never seen people actually celebrating kwanzaa. i grew up in southern california. thanks
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3y97q5/eli5_is_kwanzaa_really_celeberated_ive_always/
|
{
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"cybkwy0"
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"text": [
"It is, but not by a huge number of people. One poll I found said that about 1.6% of Americans planned to celebrate it. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
40n28c
|
why has the price spread between 87 and premium (higher octane) gasoline widened so much lately?
|
About 5+ years ago I could get 87 octane, or I could spend about 10-20 more cents and get 89 or 91 octane, or I could spend 10-20 additional cents and get 93 octane. Now it is $1.99 for 87 octane and $2.99 for premium. The spread between 87 and 93 octane has more than doubled. I am in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, if that information helps. What explains this price spread getting wider?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/40n28c/eli5_why_has_the_price_spread_between_87_and/
|
{
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"text": [
"Creating premium gasoline involves more of a refining process. This is work/labor and in addition to the cost of the crude that goes into it. So, when the cost for that \"work\" doesn't drop but the raw material does the difference will become exaggerated."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
5jsa2u
|
what happens to massive amounts of money donated to hospitals?
|
We hear about money raised for hospitals through various charities or athletes donating money, but what happens to the money? New equipment? Facilities? Payment assist? How much do hospitals rely on this money?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jsa2u/eli5_what_happens_to_massive_amounts_of_money/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dbik676"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"It is spent on all the things you name. As to how much hospitals rely on donations, it depends on the hospital. Every hospital with \"St.\" or \"Saint\" at the beginning of it, or an affiliation with a church or religious group is highly dependent on donations as the building and land they are on is literally donated by the religious group they are affiliated with, or is primarily paid for by the group they are affiliated with. But those affiliated with the State or County tend to be more dependent on tax money than donations. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
e8ymsx
|
how do food charities take my $1 and provide 10 meals from it?
|
I just saw a commercial on TV for a charity to end Childhood Hunger. It said that if I donated 1 dollar that they would be able to provide 10 meals. That’s only 10 cents per meal! How do they do this?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e8ymsx/eli5_how_do_food_charities_take_my_1_and_provide/
|
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"text": [
"People who do things like that tend to buy in bulk. Very large bulk. Things are a lot cheaper that way, and when you're serving recommended serving sizes as opposed to what most people eat then it's much easier than you'd think. You could feed yourself off of bulk items like rice and beans pretty cheaply as well, if you wanted.",
"Rice is really cheap and goes a long way. It is one of the most widely used sources of food given by numerous charitable organizations, if not all.",
"If you for cample look at [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) you can see the cost of rice at $424 per tonne wheat on the same site is at $199 per tonne \n\nIf you look up energy need for children I found for 4-8 years old females need 1200kcal/day and males need 1400kcal/day so let's use 1400kcal/day\n\nDry rice contains 374 kcal/100gram so you need 1400/374=3.74 so you need 374 grams=0.374 kg\n\nWith 1 tonne =1000kg of rice, you can feed 1000/0.374= 25673 children for one day. This result in a rice cost per person per day of 424/2673=$0.1786\n\nFor what you get 199/(1000/(1400/339/10))=0.082 cents per child and day. \n\nThe number will be halved per meal for 8.93 cents and 4.1 cents. \n\nThere is, of course, the cost of transiting the food but it cost less then you would guess when you handle large bulk transport of goods. You can only eat this but it can form the base caloric intake.\n\nI suspect that the charities only deliver the food and uses that the people locally cook it for themself so that has no cost.",
"A charity isn't exactly going to a grocery store and paying full retail. They're buying directly from major food companies, not a grocery store, that's way cheaper. You get bulk discounts and cut out middle men. They're also a charity. The tax and cost structure is different and a company that gives them an extra discount can get a tax write off and good PR. They also might work with companies to reduce food waste. Perfectly edible food gets thrown out all the time and a food charity may be able to get some of it (in fact in some countries they can't just through it out). A farmer may donate veggies that don't look nice instead of tossing them. So your money might not be buying the food, it might pay someone to go pick up dozens of crates of free veggies."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=rice&months=60"
],
[]
] |
|
89yiaj
|
how do un inspectors find chemical weapons in suspect nations?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/89yiaj/eli5_how_do_un_inspectors_find_chemical_weapons/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dwugcci",
"dwut9tp"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"They give notice of where they want to go and inspect. Normally after months of delay or blocking tactics and some strongly worded letters from the UN the country in question allows them in, by which time all trace of the weapons has been moved on.",
"Generally it isn't just \"hey, we want to check...I don't know....THAT building\". If there is sufficient cause for the UN to check a country then there's probably a known history, or strong suspicion, of chemical weapons production. Accompanying that would be intelligence reports about where they're likely to be produced.\n\nAt national scale, you need a lot of resources brought to bear which are identifiable from things like satellite/plane recon photos such as large amount of water, electricity, tanker trucks coming and going, etc that would give some clues as to where to look.\n\nOn top of that, you have human assets that may be telling you to look here or there.\n\nTo give a nuclear example, Iran had a few thousand centerfuges operating as part of a uranium refinement process (which to be fair, they claimed was for nuclear reactors, not weapons). You can't exactly put those in a basement and power it off of a power strip. Since a country may try to hide something in plain sight, claiming that you're doing something for a legitimate purpose may negate the need to actually hide locations like that."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
dm833r
|
how does 'fuel efficiency' work with electric cars? i keep seeing wh/mi, but what does that mean? is a high wh/mi better than a low, or is it the other way around?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dm833r/eli5_how_does_fuel_efficiency_work_with_electric/
|
{
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"f4ydl1i",
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],
"score": [
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"text": [
"Watt hours are like gas. \n\nIf you had a battery with 100Wh then you could hook a 100 Watt light bulb to it and the bulb would run for 1 hour.\n\n200 Wh battery would last 2 hours in the same setup.\n\n100Wh/mi means that you can drive 1 mile on that 100Wh battery.\n\n200Wh/mi means that you can only drive half a mile on that same battery. (Or 1 mile on a 200Wh battery)\n\nLower Wh/mi is better.",
"Lower is better. Wh/mi means \"how many Watt-hours (energy unit) were used to go 1 mile.\" Less energy is better.",
"A watt*hour is a measurement of energy that is convenient when considering battery capacity. \n\nNote that a gallon of gasoline produces roughly 30,000-35,000 Watt*hours of heat energy when burned, depending on it's composition. Additionally it takes a comparable amount of energy to refine 1 gal of gasoline from crude oil, usually this energy comes from natural gas.\n\nThis should give you an idea of how ineffecient gasoline engines are.\n\nFor example, if you have a battery cell that has a capacity of 1.5 amp hour and supplies 1.5 volts on average, a stack of 8 will produce 12 volts. \n\n12 volts * 1.5 Ah = 18 Watt*hours.\n\nHope this helps.\n\nA car that consumes fewer watt*hours per mile is more efficient. This is the opposite of gas mileage where a higher miles per gallon is desirable.\n\nLastly, as I said earlier, a gallon of gasoline has about 30,000 W*h so if a car gets 32 miles/gallon, this gives:\n\n(30,000 W*h / ~~1 gal~~) * ( ~~1gal~~ / 30 miles ) \n\n= 30,000/30 = 937.5 W*h / mile. \n\n(Note that this figure could easily double if you account for the amount of energy used to refine a gallon of gasoline in the first place.)\n\nAlso note that electric cars tend to be on the order of 300 W*h / mi or about 3x more efficient."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
ar50c6
|
why aren't smart stop lights more prevalent in the us?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ar50c6/eli5_why_arent_smart_stop_lights_more_prevalent/
|
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"text": [
"Smart stop light what’s that?",
"Lights don't have to be 'smart' but it would either be abused abuse or be problematic. In michigan, the lights are very well synched. Telegraph road can be driven 50 miles without ever stopping - at least it was some 20 years ago. Vegas, in comparison, you can't even time the next light no matter what you do. \n\n Im not sure if it's due to funding, a different thinking or some other aspect. Speed limits for instance is crazy in Vegas particularly in a state that is known for drinking...and now marijuana. On top of these crazy speed limits, they have pedestrian road kill crosswalks, and they have the right of way on basically expressway speeds... Just cross the highway. Also,the buttons for crosswalks do nothing except warn the pedestrian..\n\nIn Florida, they are actually smarter. They have actual pedestrian street lights that forces cars to stop. But it can only be activated once per street/crossroad cycle as to not slow traffic. You rarely hear about Florida Man getting run over crossing the roads",
"Depending on the sensors, they don’t trigger for motorcycles and bicycles which is pretty dangerous because at so e point you are forced to run a red light",
"One reason is that cities increase income by stopping you more often. You might get hungry or need a bathroom, now you visit a store, etc."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
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||
46tu2v
|
why does vinegar remove rust?
|
For [example](_URL_0_)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/46tu2v/eli5why_does_vinegar_remove_rust/
|
{
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"d07tm8r",
"d07v13b"
],
"score": [
2,
4
],
"text": [
"Rust is oxidized metal. Vinegar is an acid (acetic acid) which can dissolve this oxidation. Stronger acids would dissolve the rust *and* the metal.",
"Rust contains iron oxide, but it's actually generally iron hydroxide (which is why it forms more rapidly under water, even without access to air). Iron hydroxide is not very water-soluble, but the hydroxide group can probably react with the acetic acid in vinegar, producing iron acetate and water. I would guess that the iron acetate is then more soluble. \n\nNotably, this will not actually restore the metal; it will instead simply strip the rust away. Once the acetate has been consumed, the metal will likely continue to rust. "
]
}
|
[] |
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQb9Gki-1fM&feature=share"
] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
96w1c3
|
when the sun was first formed, did it explode first? or did it just light up and start going?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/96w1c3/eli5_when_the_sun_was_first_formed_did_it_explode/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e43nxoo"
],
"score": [
9
],
"text": [
"No, it formed from an accretion disk comprised of gas and other materials. Once the disk was moving fast enough and became denser and denser nuclear fusion started and our star was born. Bit of a quick answer sorry!"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
b6bgun
|
why do companies forbid employees from talking about salaries/pay with each other? and why at some companies it’s even a fireable offense?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b6bgun/eli5_why_do_companies_forbid_employees_from/
|
{
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"text": [
"There's an Adam Ruins Everything about it. Essentially its so companies can pay employees different wages for doing the same job.",
"It makes it easier for companies to pay people different amounts for similar 'grade' jobs. For example, if I've worked somewhere for years and got good at the job, only to find the new guy I'm training up earns more than me I might start asking for more money, look for a new job elsewhere, or simply get resentful.\n\nEasier for the company to keep their employees ignorant.\n\nI'm not entirely sure it would be an enforceable contract term in the UK - if it happens here I can't think of examples.",
"Other people have given good answers, but I'd like to point out that in America you cannot be disciplined at work for discussing pay or wages. It is specifically legally protected.",
"A wage is a negotiation between an employer and employee, whether you realize it or not. And in a negotiation, the party with more information has the upper hand. Which is why employers want to keep employees as uninformed as possible about their co-workers' pay\n\n & #x200B;\n\n > **And why at some companies it’s even a fireable offense?**\n\nJust FYI: firing someone (or retaliating against them in any way) for talking about pay is illegal in the United States and, I assume, other developed countries. \n\nIf you're American and this has happened to you, or you have proof that a company has this policy, I'd encourage you to make a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board.\n\n [_URL_0_](_URL_0_)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/what-we-do/investigate-charges"
]
] |
||
8k4hrh
|
whats the difference between 1% 2% and skimmed milk?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8k4hrh/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_1_2_and_skimmed/
|
{
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"dz4ppfm"
],
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3
],
"text": [
"Pasteurization is heating the milk just high enough to kill all the bacteria without ruining the milk.\n\n1%, 2%, whole and skim milk refer to the fat content of the milk. Originally whole milk was non-reduced, but the exact percentage depends on the cow. Nowadays whole milk means 4%. Skim means 0%.\n\nOnce you've skimmed the fat out, make sure it's 50% and call it half-and-half. You can sell that stuff, too."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
7thcj7
|
why haven't we agreed on a standard shoe size measurement (and other clothing articles) for the whole world when we have the metric or imperial system of measurement?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7thcj7/eli5why_havent_we_agreed_on_a_standard_shoe_size/
|
{
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"text": [
"The main reason is switching cost. This doesn’t necessarily need to be monetary, though that can certainly be a factor. People are set in there ways and are resistant to changing a system they are familiar with. This is why people on iPhones don’t like switching to Android, and vice versa.\n\nThat being said, there are some shoes/boots that do have a (mostly) universal sizing system. Ski boots! They have an identical system across the board because they need to fit into bindings a certain way, and if ski techs had to memorize a thousand different systems, people would be breaking legs all up and down the mountain(more so than they currently do).",
"In addition to what's been said: units of measurement (inches, meters and so on) have existed for centuries and are used for a variety of applications. They aren't \"owned\" by anyone and can be used by anyone. Sure, there's a lab in France somewhere that says exactly what a kilo is, but they don't own the idea of kilos. It's kind of like they're in the public domain.\n\nClothing sizes are a relatively new invention, imposed by clothing companies. If the clothing companies wanted to make sizes universal, or not have sizes at all, they could do that, since they \"own\" the idea of sizing: you don't measure anything else in clothing sizes except clothing. \n\nAdditionally, a \"standard\" clothing size would be much harder than a \"standard\" inch or centimeter for a couple of reasons:\n\n1. Clothing sizes are relative. If I order from an American brand, I'm usually a S/M or a size 4/6 (I forget what I am in European sizes). In Asian brands I'm an L or even an XL. I'm 5'2.5\" regardless, but I'm short when compared against the average American and tall compared to the average Chinese woman.\n\n2. Different articles of clothing fit differently. For skirts and dresses, the waist size is usually the most important and the inside leg isn't that important at all; for pants, both waist and inside leg are important, but bust size is irrelevant. This universal sizing would have to account for that. Say I have two pairs of shoes, otherwise identical in length and width, except one has narrow toes and one has round toes. Should they be sized the same or differently?\n\n3. People have different body proportions, and it is inefficient and not cost-effective to have a ton of the same thing in slightly different sizes. Even when sizes are universal and easy to understand (men's pants are always measured by waist/inside leg, for example), that doesn't guarantee that the company will make clothes that will fit you perfectly. Most companies instead either pick a range of sizes (Abercrombie has picked \"people with skinny legs of varying heights\") or hyperfocus on one particular clothing article (Levi's does all their pants sizing based on measurements, but they *only* do jeans). ",
"Not every brand does this, but the mondo or jpn size tag in your sneakers is centimeters (metric) im a 26,5 in mondo but that could be a nike 9 or an adidas 8 for example not taking into account uk/us sizing etc. \n\nEdit, i think the ski sizing works this way aswel snowboard boots have these for as far as i know always"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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[]
] |
||
1ojotj
|
what exactly is a virus and how does medicine rid it from our bodies?
|
I've always been confused as to what a virus actually is. Since it isn't "alive" like bacteria, how does medicine kill it or cure us from viral sickness?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ojotj/eli5_what_exactly_is_a_virus_and_how_does/
|
{
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"ccsl51f",
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"text": [
"A virus is a piece of DNA or RNA covered in protein that has to infect a living cell so that cell can make copies of the virus. \n\nThe most effective treatment for a virus is to be vaccinated against it which gets the body's immune system ramped up before a \"live\" virus infects it. Treatments for viruses after they infect you is usually managing the symptoms and letting the body do its own thing in the meantime. There are various antiviral drugs for treatment after infection, they don't kill the virus but instead have different ways of inhibiting cell mechanisms that allow the virus to replicate. They can be dangerous to use. ",
"Antiviral drugs exist to inhibit the virus from replicating at various stages in its life cycle. There are drugs that help to stop the virus from attaching to the host cell. There are drugs that prevent virus assembly within the cell or release from the cell. Tamiflu blocks influenza virus from leaving the cell to infect more cells by blocking a surface molecule on the virus. Acyclovir, which I believe is used against herpes, stops the viral genome from being replicated.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
1zpqfh
|
why do companies use that plastic packaging that is near impossible to open?
|
Pic for reference: _URL_0_
I mean I don't think consumers wants this, so there has got be some explanation for it.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zpqfh/eli5_why_do_companies_use_that_plastic_packaging/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cfvsf75",
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],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"To prevent small items from being shoplifted.",
"Ok, im gonna mark this as explained since you all agree, but still don't get why its gotta be so damn hard to open."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://i.imgur.com/rrSTljq.jpg"
] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
5saol6
|
why exactly are countries like japan who explicitly say no to refugees not receiving the same criticism as their western counterparts?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5saol6/eli5_why_exactly_are_countries_like_japan_who/
|
{
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"text": [
"From my understanding this happens because Japan doesn't feel as responsible as other western countries like Europe and the US since it has had historically less influence, contact, physical proximity and economic interest in the area. This does not mean that Japan and similar countries don't get criticized by this, but they generally stray away from international politics too far from home (i.e. they did not send troops to the Middle East like the US).",
"Because;\n* Western involvement, directly or indirectly is a result of these refugees.\n* Japanese have a very different culture to adjust to and also the language might be harder to learn than English, so immigrants don't exactly think to move there in the first place. So nobody cares if they say no to immigrants.\n*Japan's involvement in middle east is non existent.\n",
"The United States in particular is a nation that was built and founded upon the very principle of immigration. We are a nation of immigrants, it goes against our values to prevent other people from coming here.",
"Japan doesn't allow anybody to get in, and that includes refugees, they don't allow any immigrants in, whether you're black(unless you're a baseball player or a jazz performer), white, Hispanic, Indian--They do allow some Chinese in--PM said recently, in response to criticism about only accepting only 1% of refugee requests, \"We take care of our own people first\"--Actually, its xenophobia, and Korea, Taiwan, and China are the same",
"Japan is already an extremely densely populated nation. It may be #40 on the list of countries by population density, but almost all the nations ahead of it are city-states or very small islands. The only country with both a higher density and more land area is India."
]
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|
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||
2xhdis
|
why is human cloning research illegal in so many countries including all in the eu, russia and australia?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2xhdis/eli5_why_is_human_cloning_research_illegal_in_so/
|
{
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"cp03v5g",
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"text": [
"It's a huge ethical issue.\n\nObviously a cloned human was created for research, but does that mean that experiments may be done on them without their express consent? What experiments?\n\nObviously the details are far more complex than I'm describing here, but that just adds to the ethical issues, so countries decided that it's best to simply not allow it.",
"A high failure rate mostly in order to clone an organism (a la dolly) it can takes dozens of fetueses many of hich die before coming to term and the process can cause complications in the young and people dont want kids dying after they turn twenty becuase of acculamted dna damage."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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||
9xxfh7
|
where do all the wasps and bees go, when it gets cold, do they hibernate?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9xxfh7/eli5_where_do_all_the_wasps_and_bees_go_when_it/
|
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"text": [
"Some species of bee seal and hibernate the entire hive, but a lot have mass die-offs in the fall and overwinter only the queen or a small number of young/eggs.\n\nNon-social parasitic wasps die in the fall and the larvae overwinter underground.",
"The bees go back home and sleep but because there’s too many of them, most of them die. Only the Queen, some of her eggs and fellow bees survive the winter in their home. \n\nBefore the wasps go night night, they put their babies under the ground and that’s how they survive the winter. ",
"What would happen if bees were kept in warm environments to survive vs dying every season ?\n\nWhat's their lifespan like anyway ?\n\nWould they be able to continue life despite kind of.. base level knowledge they should be dead now seasonal awareness ?",
"In honeybees, all the worker bees (the females) will pick up the drones (the males) and drop them outside the hive to die so they don’t eat all the food during the winter! Then, they all get in a big cluster (like a basketball) around the queen bee, and they vibrate to keep warm. The bees all trade spots in the ball so no one gets to cold, and they travel in formation around the hive really slowly throughout the winter to eat the food they’ve stored. Once it gets warm enough, they break cluster and complete an elimination flight (which means they all fly outside and poop for the first time since fall!) ",
"Wasps try to find someplace at least a bit warm to hibernate. I have found them in circuit boxes, under vents in a roof anywhere some warm air escapes.",
"In the same vein. How do mosquitos keep coming back in areas where lakes and ponds freeze over?",
"What about those bees of Black Mirror??",
"In a lot of species the young queens born that summer hide in sheltered cracks, behind bark, or even holes in the ground and wait out the winter. Warming weather will wake them up again and you'll those huge bumble bees and oversized hornets poking their heads into any spot that could look like a good nesting site. Once they have one, they take care of the first generation of workers, and only then quit outside work in favor of laying eggs and keeping the hive together. \n\nA lot of others winter as eggs. Often the small, solitary bees that fill up bore holes or hollow branches with clay. It's a line of little cells with an egg in each. Awesomely enough, even though the egg right at the entrance was laid last, that young bee will hatch first, and the one in the very back last, so they can come out neatly one after the other.\n\nThe one big exception are honey bees. They're the only ones who stay awake and active as a full hive. Even in the depth of winter the interior of the cluster they build around the queen is at least 25°C warm. It means they're ready to go and collect nectar when the queens of other species are still looking for a nesting site. But it's also the reason why they have to store so much honey. Their little bodies need sugar to keep on heating the hive. Too few bees in a hive in winter and they die because they can't keep up the temperature. \n\nIt all has benefits and downsides. Honey bees are pretty extreme in their survival strategy. ",
"I find sleeping wasps everywhere and accidentally wake them up, they look like they have just been woken up",
"Depends on the species. There are tens of thousands of species of both groups of animal. But for the most part the just hibernate. Some do it as eggs, some as pupae (red mason bees) and some as adults (bumblebee queens).\n\nHoney bees just hang out in their nest eating honey and trying not to die.",
"A few winters ago we were having a party in a barn. There was no heater in the barn and on the windows there were wasps that weren’t moving at all. I just always assumed they just became less active so you don’t see them as often. ",
"Bee keeper here. ~~I see that the top comment is actually quite wrong.~~ *Edit: The new top comment isn't!* \n\nFirst, you need to understand the function of the bees in a hive. We all know the importance of the queen, but what many don't know is that *all* of the worker bees are females. \n\nThe males (or \"drones) literally have only one function: To spread the DNA of the queen to other hives by mating to other queens. That's it. They don't guard, they don't work, they don't collect pollen, they don't even have stingers. In other words, they're like (insert whatever opposing political party suits you to make it relevant here.) \n\nSo we all know that bees collect honey. But they also collect pollen, and both are kept in the comb in vast quantities. These stores are specifically to get them through the winter. \n\nAs late autumn hits, it's time to kick out the dudes that don't do any work. The drones are killed, and booted out, but they only make up about 15% of the population in a healthy colony. Everyone else gets geared up for winter.\n\nThe bees make sure any small air gaps are closed off by sealing them with propolis. The larger entrances in a \"good\" hive location are at the bottom of the hive, and the bees build their comb above this. This is to take advantage of the fact that heat rises.\n\nWhen winter hits, the entire hive gathers into a ball. In a healthy hive, this ball of bees can be the size of a basketball. The queen is at the center of this ball. The workers then vibrate their wing muscles to produce heat. All of this work requires a small amount of \"fuel\" to keep them going, so as the winter goes on, the whole ball moves around the hive, consuming their winter stores slowly as they go. \n\nThe interior of the ball is kept at a balmy 95 degrees Fahrenheit to keep the queen comfortable, and as the bees on the \"outside\" of the ball get too cold, they'll move to the inside of the ball, allowing the \"warmed up\" bees to then go to the outside. And they do this all... winter... long.\n\nIf a bee keeper takes too much of the honey from the bees, the entire hive will literally starve to death. This isn't my blog, but [another bee keeper had some great, though very sad pictures](_URL_0_) of what a starve-out looks like. When you open your hive in spring and see that, it's gut wrenching. \n\nSo while I can't talk for wasps, THIS is how bees survive the winter!",
"I know about yellowjackets. They don't winter in the nest. All of the workers starve and die off in the fall. Only queens and drones hatch and fly away. They mate and hibernate under things, like loose bark, over winter. In the spring, the queen will wake up, create a new home in a hole somewhere and brood a new clutch of workers. An empty nest might get found and used, but they aren't like bees.\n\nI know this because I had a colony in my wall. I found the entrance but never found the nest. Exterminator said to save my money and just wait until winter, then plug the outside hole and vacuum up the ones that enter the home. \"don't plug the outside too soon or you'll have thousands in your house.\"",
"I’m my chuffing house inside the walls. Well not anymore but last year they created a nest inside the bricks and starting flying inside the house. Not goodie when you’re terrified of wasps haha",
"A lot of bees will be shipped out to California for the winter where it is warmer and they still have crops needing to be pollinated. (Dated a girl who's dad stored bees for the winter) come spring time they will be shipped back out to where ever they're needed. ",
"Oh! This is my time! Bee Biologist (Beeologist?) here, finishing a Masters on what Hymenoptera like bees and wasps do over winter.\n\nSo it really depends on which critter you're talking about first of all, the method to survive winter in each family, genus, and even species can vary greatly, often tying in with the life cycle of individual bees. In the wasp and yellow jacket family (Vespidae), we see most of the workers dying off as temperatures cool down and food becomes scarce. New queens and drones are born late midsummer and eat as much as possible to put on fat to live off of once they fly away from the hive, usually seeking out a quiet area with good insulation that is protected from the elements, like a pile of wood. There they hunker down, often clustering together in 'aggregates' with other unrelated wasps and go into a sort of hibernation called 'diapause'. Now, I gotta take a moment to describe diapause because it's not hibernation and mainly differs in that during diapause the actual rate of metabolism slows down at the cellular level. Cell processes slow down, breathing drops to almost nothing, barely any energy is being produced, whereas hibernation is more like an extended sleep, cells are still doing stuff as normal. \n\nAlso diapause can occur during summer.\n\nNow, the really cool part about diapause is that it can be done in both adult, pupae as well as egg life stages in insects! So, stuff like the wasps I mentioned earlier, bumblebees, are free-flying adults waiting out the winter someplace safe, and then there are the cute little blue bees I work with called Osmia lignaria, which spend their winters as a fully formed adult, but still living inside the original egg chamber they were laid in the previous spring by their mother. Then you have bees like the leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata) which is laid as an egg in summer, grows into a fat larva off the pollen stores in its egg chamber, pupates and then spends winter in its cocoon! I'm sure there are members of the bee & wasp family which overwinter as an egg but at the moment they elude me.\n\nAlternatively, you can spend winter alive and active, as the European honeybee (Apis melliferra) does. With honeybees, they cluster together in their hives, the current queen stops laying eggs and many of the workers die off. The remaining bees cluster around the queen and the eggs to help keep them warm. As temperatures change, the cluster tightens or loosens up to keep the queen and the brood at the best temperature. Meanwhile, the bees are living off of the honey they made and stored away in the hive. As spring approaches the old queen and half of the remaining workers will swarm and leave the old hive to make a new hive elsewhere, leaving behind a new queen to take over the old hive.\n\nELI4 version: they either hang out in woody debris piles, or are still sleeping inside the nest they were laid in and wait for warm temps to come in spring to tell them to wake up. Or, if they are honeybees, they simply cluster together in their hive\n\nedit: I just woke up and this comment has exploded! And I've been gilded! And platinumed!!! Oh wow! Thank you kind redditors! All of you! I will make my best effort to reply to each of you who have asked follow-up questions, and if anyone thinks of more questions later please feel free to pm me! I am always happy to help!",
"Southeast Tennessee here. The wasps get under the clapboards and eaves in the Fall and Winter. In Spring they all come out the first warm days and hang around for while until it warms up. Then they vanish and come back the next year. We don't mess with the wasps and they don't mess with _URL_0_'s like an equilibrium.",
"If i may add, what about stray bees/wasps? I have a wood fire at home and the odd time when I bring in some wood, a bee/wasp will end up flying around the Living room. Is this simply because the heat/warmth knocks them out of their \"hibernation\"?",
"The yellow jackets fly into my wood pile, find a piece, and stay dormant until I bring them in. Then they fly around and panic the family. If I'm lucky I'll toss the log into the fire before then and they'll burn.",
" < < Beekeeper here.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nBees retreat to their hive. The queen has already been busy laying eggs to make bees sufficient to overwinter. These bees cluster, or \"ball up,\" to protect the queen and the existing brood (unhatched bees). If it gets too cold, they will vibrate their bodies to maintain an adequate temperature for survival. If it gets too warm they fan their wings to cool the hive. If the bees are sick, or if it gets too cold to get to the existing honey stores, they die.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIn the early spring, when it gets warm enough to move around the hive safely, the queen starts laying eggs. In about 21 (workers) to 25 (drones) days they hatch and take up their various duties.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nAs for wasps and such, that's a different department, and I haven't studied them.",
"there’s a lot of different kinds of wasps and bees, and different kinds do stuff differently. \n\nHoneybee workers (the bee most ppl think of first) huddle together in their hive with the queen and wait out the winter. They can vibrate/shiver to increase the hive warmth, and they survive on their honey stores for food. so they kind of hibernate.\n\nBumblebee workers (the second bee most ppl think of) all die off, and the queens that were born that summer find a hole, tunnel or other safe place at ground level or slightly underground, and hibernate until spring, where they start a new colony from scratch. I believe many colonial wasps do this same thing too.\n\nMost solitary bee species and most solitary wasp species overwinter in the nest cells their mother built for them, often as a pupa, waiting to emerge as an adult in the spring. all adults from the previous year die, and the newly emerged generation in the spring starts it all over again.\n\nso it depends!",
"I wondered this years ago about spiders. I was told they go between the bark and the tree. Since they're cold blooded they don't feel the cold like we do, but their body will slow down as the temperature drops. If it gets too cold their body shuts down and they die. I remember hearing growing up \"It's a cold winter so there will be less insects next year.\", and it finally made sense.",
"Yes. One such place is in dry areas of water towers and other elevated structures. \n\nSource: I maintained and repaired water towers for over a decade. \n\nIn the case of wasps at least, and lady bugs (not usually together), when it gets cold they can be found in dry areas of water towers by the thousands. Mostly in pedestal type towers, but also in and around the vents and indicator systems of the towers. \n\nIn the pedestals they will carpet the landings in a layer a few inches thick even. All huddle together and unmoving. \n\nIn the fall and spring they will be dormant during the cold night and as the day warms up start moving again. \n\nSide note, they aren’t aggressive when they aren’t on a nest. They will not sting unless they are inadvertently pressed against you like in a shirt or harness collar. They also swarm around the cell antennae on top presumably attracted to the electric field coming from them. They will fight each other but us workers can walk right through them. \n\nThey do though build nests up there and in those cases we have to be careful. They will raise their wings and posture before they attack. We kinda know it’s coming most of the time haha. ",
"Honeybees throw the boys out and vibrate all winter eating honey in their hive and when spring comes they poop and then the population explodes ",
"Was on a roof painting a house before it got too cold and the customer asked that I remove their shutters. Every shutter had about 30+ wasps behind it and no nests. They were pretty dormant at first then got stirred up. ",
"Wasps like yellowjackets or Hornets, well most die, but new queens and drones (males) find places to hibernate. They like to hide in between the bark on trees or underground. Then spring comes, they do their thing and make mew nests.",
"so how does the species survive if they kill the males? They keep one good looking male or what?",
"I'll tell you where they go.. they go into the leaves of my front yard so that when I'm stringing lights under a tree on Halloween they can attack me when I step on their underground hive. That's where they go. Thank the good heavens above that I am only mildly allergic to bee stings and that two 2 antihistamine pills that I took were able to keep the elephantiasis swelling that I get down to that of a small pachyderm. ",
"I learned this in my Arthropods class like a couple weeks ago. In some species, the queen will hibernate over winter and build the hive population by herself again in the spring until she births enough workers to assist her in taking care of the eggs. During that season there will be a new queen born as well that will be the one designated to hibernate the next winter. All the other wasps die. ",
"Most of the bees and wasps you see out and about are sterile females. They die.\n\nA few males are created to breed with a few fertile females that are created. These new queens hibernate over the winter and wake up to create new nests in the spring.\n\nActually what happens with wasps is, when the workers have stuff to do they generally just fly out looking for insects to catch to feed to larvae. The payback from feeding larvae is, the lavae produce a sweet substance that feeds the wasps.\n\nWhen the new queens piss off to hibernate typically around later summer/ early Autumn the remaining queen stops laying. Now the wasps have nothing to do and no larvae feeding them. They don't just drop dead. This is when they start hassling people having picnics and flying around looking for sugary things etc.\n\nWasps become assholes because they lose their purpose in life - another aspect is apparently caused by them being attracted to fermenting fruit which can make them intoxicated.\n\nSo, perhaps contrary to my initial point, if you see a wasp around March/April/May in the Northern hemisphere, typically flying around the edge of the roof on sheds, outbuildings etc. They are looking for nooks and crannies, holes etc, these are queens fresh out of hibernation looking for suitable nesting sites. You can see the wasps are typically much bigger than the average wasp you'll see later in the year (when the queens will remain in the nest)\n\nThere are differences between bees and wasps though. e.g Bumblebees, the big fat generally gentle bees breed by having males seeking out the nests and flying around outside them until a queen emerges and they fly off and breed. Their nests tend to only last a few months too before the new queens flying off. Whereas a wasp nest tends to get bigger and bigger until the end of the year (assuming it's successful, of course, many wasps nests in our garden never get pasts the initial stage, presumably the queen has been killed or trapped in a window somewhere. Others have had wasps flying in and out but they all disappear mid summer without explanation. Others go 'full term' so to speak and we end up with thousands and thousands of wasps flying in and out, and nests that we've walked past for months suddenly become aggressive around September/October and they start stinging."
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6f931s
|
why do the vast majority of 8-bit (and some 16-bit) video games use the same font?
|
Referring to this: _URL_0_
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6f931s/eli5_why_do_the_vast_majority_of_8bit_and_some/
|
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"It's because your fonts can only get so complex on such a low pixel count. It's a font with good thickness, visible curved corners, good contrast, and getting kerning to work will be a hassle.\n\nIt's a good font, that's been on some good games, so it's a sort of accepted standard.\n\nWhat kind of font would YOU design for it?"
]
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[
"http://orig09.deviantart.net/ac17/f/2016/291/e/5/super_mario_bros__nes_font_by_thewolfbunny-dali1ju.png"
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[
[]
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|
bk3s4t
|
if alcohol is a cns depressant, then why does it raise blood pressure and heart rate?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bk3s4t/eli5_if_alcohol_is_a_cns_depressant_then_why_does/
|
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"We don't know the exact mechanism, but theories include impairment of baroreceptors (receptors that detect blood pressure) and effects of the angiotensin system (which affects blood pressure directly). \n\nSo basicly, even though it relaxes the cns, its thought to cause mixed signals on some systems specific to blood pressure and heart rate, causing that to raise instead of lower.",
"I haven't seen anything that says that alcohol can cause increased blood pressure during the acute phase (aka: when you're drunk). It is associated with cardiovascular issues with consistent and long-term use, but not in the acute phase. Can you find a source that says that acute phase use causes high blood pressure or increased heart rate? The only thing I can think of is that it is situational (i.e. you're at a club).",
" > Benzos and Opiates lower blood pressure and heart rate temporarily while you are on them, so why is alcohol sort of an outlier downer in this\n\nBenzos lower vitals by attaching to the Gaba2 receptor. Alcohol also attaches itself to this(which is where the potential for death comes from)\n\nBut alcohol being essentially gasoline, revs up the vitals as they process all that ethanol."
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4j8g2n
|
why is the "wo" in "woman" pronounced differently than the same letters in "women"?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4j8g2n/eli5_why_is_the_wo_in_woman_pronounced/
|
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"Here's what an article from Mental floss has to say about it. \n\n\"Before the printing press came along, there was a lot of flexibility in English spelling. Look at some of the ways beauty used to be spelled: bealte, buute, beuaute, bewtee, bewte, beaute, beaultye. People did their own thing, trying their best to match up tradition with current pronunciation. But after the printing press came to England in the late 1400s, texts could be spread more widely, and printers started to standardize spelling. The unlucky thing for English spelling is that during the very same time, huge changes in pronunciation were happening. Middle English was becoming Modern English. When this period was over people had stopped pronouncing thek in knee, the g in gnaw, the w in write, the l in talk, and the b in lamb. They had also stopped using the back-of-the-throat-sound (represented by the ch in German words like ach!) that had been spelled by scribes with gh and had been pronounced in words like night, laugh, thought, and eight. But by the time all those sound changes were widespread and complete, the spellings for those words had been established.\"\n\n\"There was also a massive change to the vowel system during that period. This change is called the Great Vowel Shift, and by the time it was over we had settled on spellings that reflected a mix of the old system and the new. So we get one spelling for many vowel sounds—ea in knead, bread, wear, and great—and multiple spellings for one vowel sound—due and dew, so and sew.\"",
"It's a really weird one, this.\n\nThe plural pronunciation is actually the \"correct\" one: the word \"woman\" comes from the Old English \"wifman\", which means \"female human\". This is, incidentally, where the word \"wife\" comes from, and also \"midwife\" (which is a person who helps a woman, so it's possible to have a male midwife).\n\nOver time, the \"f\" became weaker and then stopped being pronounced completely, leaving \"wiman\" (or \"wimman\", as it could be spelled). But then the \"w\" started affecting the \"i\": the \"w\" is pronounced with rounded lips, so the \"i\" came to be also pronounced with rounded lips and turned into an \"o\" sound.\n\nBut this only happened in the singular: the plural \"wimmen\" continued to be pronounced the original way.\n\nMuch later, English spelling became standardized; and in that process, writers and printers settled on the \"woman\" spelling for the singular -- and because the singular was spelled with an \"o\", the plural was also spelled with an \"o\" to match.\n\nEDIT: I suspect one reason the plural *didn't* change is because of the \"e\" in \"men\". It's what phoneticists call a front vowel, and the \"i\" is also a front vowel; that might have prevented the first vowel from being pulled back to \"o\".\n\ncc /u/ImNotTheZodiacKiller who managed to find an interesting article that got halfway to the truth, although this has nothing to do with Great Vowel Shift.",
"Whoa...strange how when something is a first language, you don't really question anything and kinda take it for granted"
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8k3nnh
|
do alcoholics metabolize alcohol differently from average drinkers? how so?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8k3nnh/eli5_do_alcoholics_metabolize_alcohol_differently/
|
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"There are 2 methods for the body to metabolize alcohol. Light, occasional drinkers mostly only use one, the \"alcohol dehydrogenase pathway.\" When this pathway is overwhelmed, the \"microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system\" starts. This pathway is also why stronger drinks are linked with a warm feeling, this pathway wastes some energy as heat. Someone who drinks heavily and regularly will have more enzymes for MEOS, speeding their breakdown of alcohol.",
"Is two drinks a night seriously considered alcoholism?",
"I've heard that certain Native American peoples have trouble breaking down alcohol- as opposed to say, European peoples. Any truth to that? ",
"There are a couple of effects in your post:\n\n1) BAC: Blood alcohol content, a physical test of how much of your blood is alcohol. \n\n2) how your various systems are affected by a BAC, aka \"drunkenness\" or alcohol tolerance. Two people with BAC of 0.05 might behave much more differently.\n\n3) Alcohol metabolism, aka how quickly does your body process alcohol and turn it into less dangerous stuff (acetaldehyde and then acetate).\n\nAlcohol is absorbed in about ~30-90 minutes (generally 30 min though). At that point, it is in your blood and shows up in BAC tests.\n\nWhile alcohol is in your stomach, it isn't causing any drunken effects. Imagine having a propane tank. It isn't doing anything in the tank. But as it leaks out into their air (bloodstream) it spreads and affects our brains. That is why vomiting shortly after drinking is an effective defence by your body. A lot of alcohol is removed from the body and won't make it to the bloodstream.\n\nAbout ~20% of alcohol can be converted in the stomach through a process called MEOS. So if you have 10 ml of pure alcohol, only 8 ml might make it into your blood stream.\n\nInteresting as you drink more often and in high quantities, your body produces more of the stuff needed for the MEOS process. This leads to more alcohol being broken down in the stomach before it ever reaches your blood. Less alcohol in blood means less BAC and less drunk.\n\nAs well, some people have almost no enzymes needed for MEOS, which means that almost all alcohol they consume makes it to the bloodstream unconverted.\n\nVolume of blood increases with weight. For a 200-pound, six-foot male, the blood volume is estimated at 7 liters, For a 100-pound, five-foot female, the estimate is 3.5 litres. bigger bathtub = more water.\n\nAssuming the same volume of ethanol is absorbed into the blood, a 200 pound person will have roughly half the BAC of a 100 pound person. Put 5 drops of dark food colouring into 1 litre, and 5 drops of dye into 2 litres. Obviously the amount of dye is the same, but the effect of the dye is greatly reduced and the two litres is less dark.\n\nOnce it gets into your bloodstream, it can get into your brain and start screwing stuff up. This leads to alcohol symptoms such as balance issues, mood changes, etc. Visible drunkenness \n\nAs you drink more and more often, your brain gets better at functioning normally despite the alcohol. Imagine getting on a boat and trying to walk around on rough seas with the captain. He is much more stable than you, and appears unaffected by the waves. By being at sea a long time, they have gotten better at compensating for the boats movements. The brain learns to function and adapts to work with alcohol present. This is why chronic drinkers are able to perform tasks normally with high BACs whereas occasional drinkers \"appear\" more drunk. This is also why chronic drinkers may suffer from mood changes and problems when they aren't drunk, like that sea captain coming back to land and struggling to regain his \"land-legs\".\n\nLastly, alcoholics seem to break down alcohol in the bloodstream differently. While they convert alcohol to acetaldehyde at similar speeds to non-alcoholics, they don't convert that into the less harmful acetate (which gets converted into water and CO2 and removed).\n\nThat slower breakdown means that there is much more acetaldehyde in their system. That chemical is pretty bad, and does things like create special opioid like chemicals in the brain (addiction), wrecks organs, etc.\n\n > I am wondering if one of the reasons alcoholics end up as alcoholics is because they don’t feel as sick and uncomfortable as nonalcoholics tend to be after a number of drinks.\n\nThat was long considered a strong possibility. Recently however things like the rising number of Japanese alcoholics (who can get drunk after 1-2 drinks because of missing enzymes), the discovery of alcohol allergies in alcoholics (wheat/rye allergies) and alcoholics perseverance through reverse tolerance suggest this isn't the case.\n\nIt seems the dominant reason alcoholics end up as such is that the way their body breaks down alcohol creates addictive compounds in their brain and makes them crave them.\n",
"ELI5: What does a 'blood alcohol level of 40-45' mean? I'm used to measurements in ‰ (w/w or w/v) and the Wikipedia article only confuses me more. \n\nEdit: mix-up w/v",
"As a follow up, why is it a light drinker like me gets terrible hangovers, but a heavy drinker like someone I knew used to never get them?"
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r04ek
|
the sopranos final scene.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/r04ek/eli5_the_sopranos_final_scene/
|
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"What don't you understand? \n",
"An incredibly deep analysis can be found [here](_URL_0_).\n\nSimplified:\n\nTony Soprano is dead. Its actually quite a brilliant scene and is a fitting end for such a fantastic series. Basically, a pattern is created by the director as characters enter the restaurant. Tony's family member approaches the diner, the bell rings, and we get a shot from Tony's perspective as they enter the door. When Meadow opens the door, the bell rings, the music cuts, and we get several of seconds of blackness, which as the pattern as indicated, is from Tony's perspective (he's dead).\n\nHis death is also heavily foreshadowed in the previous episodes, Bobby in particular comments on how \"you'd never see it coming\" if you were suddenly shot in the head. Phil Leotardo also dies in a similar manner (never seeing it coming...).\n\nLastly, the suspicious looking man going to the bathroom is a clear reference to The Godfather, where in the protagonist retrieves a gun from a restaurant bathroom, walks out and kills a rival mob boss.\n\n",
"In one episode there was a scene with Tony and his son A.J. I think they were on Tony's boat. At some point Tony says what he thinks happens when you die. I can't recall the quote, but he said something to the effect of \"everything just goes black and there is nothing else.\" Based on that scene, and the abruptness of the cut to black, some people theorize that the restaurant was blown up and they all died instantly. \n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/"
],
[]
] |
||
aov3ge
|
how do they measure your muscle to fat ratio?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aov3ge/eli5_how_do_they_measure_your_muscle_to_fat_ratio/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eg3qxi4"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"The most common method is to use a tool called calipers, which basically look like a small set of pliers that have numbers written on them to measure. They use the calipers to pitch someone's skin, and subcutaneous fat will limit how far the calipers can clamp. From there they refer to a chart that shows how this measurement usually correlates to a person's level of body fat.\n\nWhen getting more accurate measurement is necessary, like maybe the case with an athlete, they weigh the person both on land and in water. Since fat is less dense than water and floats, the difference between the two measurements can allow for a very precise measurement of body fat."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
5dm62f
|
movies used to show people dialing numbers like 555-1212. why couldn't film producers secure ordinary phone numbers from the phone companies by buying them outright?
|
This goes for television too. Buy a number like 734-2322 forever so no one in the future could use it except the movie/tv company.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5dm62f/eli5_movies_used_to_show_people_dialing_numbers/
|
{
"a_id": [
"da5ka3t",
"da5lcvf",
"da5mot0",
"da5mst5",
"da5p3v8",
"da69p7c"
],
"score": [
20,
7,
6,
2,
8,
2
],
"text": [
"They can, and have. But why pay money when you don't have to? Also, they might not have that number forever, so whoever gets it after them will still get harassed. No point.",
"Why do something that costs money when 555 numbers are free?",
"7 digit numbers are local. 734-2322 will get you a different person depending on the place where you dial it. So you'd need to buy and reserve that number in potentially hundreds of localities, not just nationally but internationally. It's much easier to just use 555, which most phone companies had reserved for fictional use.",
"The number you gave isn't a complete number, because it's missing the area code. There could be several hundred instances of that number, they'd have the buy them all, and even finding a number not in use could be tricky. \n\nIt's only been in the last couple of decades that it became the norm to includee area codes. Before then it would have been very unnatural to give the area code with the number, so they couldn't have worked around it by always using the ten digit number in he movies. ",
"Because it ends badly. Remeber [867-5309](_URL_0_)?",
"The problem is that there is more than one 734-2322, in fact there is potentially one in every area code in the country...so 1) they would need to find a currently unused number and 2) purchase the rights to it in every area code. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/867-5309/Jenny"
],
[]
] |
|
4m5c4b
|
how a death metal frontman is vocally capable of performing more than one song at one show
|
It seems like most of those songs would instantly destroy your vocal cords. Yet there are artists that not only perform long shows, they tour and perform multiple shows.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4m5c4b/eli5_how_a_death_metal_frontman_is_vocally/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d3soyaw",
"d3sp2jb",
"d3stcyw",
"d3suhxw",
"d3suvux",
"d3swclw",
"d3t178x"
],
"score": [
13,
4,
3,
6,
2,
8,
2
],
"text": [
"It's really just a vocal technique. The vocalists sound like they are screaming, but they aren't especially.\n\n_URL_0_",
"It's all to do with using the diaphragm and not tensing the throat muscles any more than necessary. Most people will tense up when trying to growl and end up hurting themselves without getting much volume at all, but the trick is to back the muscles off to the point where they're only just engaged and use more air to project.\n\nIt takes a long time to find the balance. If you listen to a lot of Death metal vocalists who've had longer careers (Like Glenn Benton from Deicide) you'll hear their earlier vocals sound more like a \"harsh shout\" and gradually evolve into the more guttural vocal style that most people associate with death metal.",
"Because the screaming in metal doesnt equal shouting. Shouting witha voice like that would pretty much destroy your vocal chords, but its the technique that comes from the back of the throat that doesnt hurt at all once you get it right",
"Its a technique. They aren't actually shouting, they do it super close to the microphone so it's loud. It uses the diaphragm, not the throat like most people do when they scream too loud and hurt their voice.",
"Most metal vocalists that use harsh vocals have a singing technique where they sing from the diaphragm rather than putting stress on the throat. They're basically exhaling a load of air and only using their vocal chords to add that low guttural sound that characterises the genre. Metal vocalists that don't use this technique (and a few that do) often develop throat problems that hinder their ability to sing/talk.\n\nThe technique is called a \"death growl\" and there are loads of YouTube tutorial videos on how to do it. If you listen to lots of heavy music, you'll eventually develop an ear for telling the difference between a vocalist singing from the throat and a vocalist using a death growl.",
"Ok... only half responses here.\nI'll try be brief about it.\n\nDiaphragm support its essential for singing, don't matter what technique you're using. From Opera to Death Metal.\n(But while screaming you kinda have to overcompensate so you don't hurt yourself)\n\n\nYou're not using your vocal chords to produce this kind of sound. While you're producing the note with the vocal chords, it is the false chords (Vestibular folds) that take action to produce any kind of distortion in the voice.\n\n\nThere is a few types of screams that differs from one another.\nLow-medium-high screams. (There's also others, but lets try to be simple)\n\n\n[Randy Blythe from Lamb of God](_URL_4_) it's a example of proper technique and you can hear from low to high screams in this song.\nHe mostly sings in the medium to high screams.\n\n\n[Maria Brink](_URL_2_) It's a singer who uses mostly the high scream. And has a really nice technique too.\n\n\n[Loic Rosseti](_URL_0_) It's more of a medium-low guy.\n\n\n[Johan Hegg from Amon Amarth](_URL_1_) Has a deeper voice and sings in the medium-low range too. In this music you can clearly see the diference between the [low scream](_URL_3_) and the mid scream in the rest of the song.\n\n\nThat said, it's also valid to point out that your voice range kinda limits your use of high or low screams.\nIt is easier for a bass/baritone to sing in the low scream range than it is for a tenor. And the opposite too, it's easier for a tenor to sing in the high scream range than it is for a baritone or bass singer. But lets be clear!!! It's EASIER, but that won't limit you to sing only low or only high scream, for the voice of everyone has it's particularities.\n\n\nAnd it's really really important that you rest your voice after using it. Even while there's proper technique for you to not hurt yourself, you're still stressing the muscles and membranes. And stay hydrated (drinking lots of water before singing won't work. The last thing your body will try to hydrate it's your throath... so you have to stay hydrataded all the time... not too much, not too little though)\n\n\n\nSooooo tl;dr time:\n\n* Diaphragm overcompensating.\n\n* False Chords(Vestibular Folds) is that produces the distortion, not the vocal chords.\n\n* There are diferent kinds of screams with different techniques.\n\n* Rest your voice after heavy use and stay hydrateded.\n\n\n(Source: 10 years of singing studies + 1 year of lyrical singing)\n(English it's not my mother tongue... so any mistakes must be forgiven)\n(Edit: Typo)",
"As many others have said, it is a technique. If they were to actually shout the chances are they would seriously damage their vocal chords. If you sing, you know that it doesn't hurt. Death metal growling is much the same way. Disengage your throat muscles and rely purely on your larynx to get the growl in the same way that you don't use your muscles to hold a note in a pop song.\n\nIt takes practice but it's seriously cool once you learn how to do it."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4jJS9-WMrA"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_uMOWvYni0",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6-krHfdmGg",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwTv45OW5Yw",
"https://youtu.be/h6-krHfdmGg?t=2m52s",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFm9v0wvEnw"
],
[]
] |
|
1rnbkp
|
why is africa so accurately represented in old world maps?
|
I've been looking at old World maps, and I noticed how well Africa was drawn on all of them Here are some examples:
_URL_0_
_URL_1_
While many other regions are really misrepresented. Does anyone know why?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rnbkp/eli5_why_is_africa_so_accurately_represented_in/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cdoxnx5"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Africa was very well mapped because those trade routes were important. Navigating by ship from western Europe around Africa and into India was extremely important and significantly easier compared than hauling cargo by land.\n\nCartographers didn't completely map North America right away because it wasn't important for their trade routes."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://2ndcitystudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/old-world-map-copy2.jpeg",
"http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p2KqxkFzn6A/S_ul-EIE8UI/AAAAAAAAAI0/nXc0GLsqSkA/s1600/old-world-map.jpg"
] |
[
[]
] |
|
224mka
|
what are the differences between business, economics, and finance?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/224mka/eli5_what_are_the_differences_between_business/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cgjacca"
],
"score": [
7
],
"text": [
"Entirely different (but related) fields of study.\n\nEconomics is ultimately about studying how people make decisions. The focus is primarly on how people, companies and countries make decisions to employ resources (which are scarce) to maximize their value.\n\nBusiness is a broad field which includes Finance and covers the operation, management and study of companies in all of their forms and practices.\n\nFinance is a subset of Business and focuses on how companies fund themselves through means *other than selling goods/services*. This includes dealing with both debt and equity (stocks and that sort of business)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
20x6d3
|
how does my car know when something is wrong with it and why can't it tell me what it is more specifically?
|
My check tire pressure light came on, first of all, what is the sensor that sends this information to the computer, and second of all, if it's that smart, why isn't it smart enough to tell me something more specific about the problem, like which tire, is the tire pressure to low or too high?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20x6d3/eli5_how_does_my_car_know_when_something_is_wrong/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cg7jvim",
"cg7k9so"
],
"score": [
4,
3
],
"text": [
"The sensors vary based on what they measure -- some are pressure sensors, some are flow sensors, some are temperature sensors, some are combinations of many sensors.\n\nIt's a deliberate design decision to only show you that there's a problem, not tell you what the problem is. Why is that?\n\nSimply put, money. There's money in you taking your car to someone who has a computer to read codes. If you could do it yourself, the manufacturer couldn't also make money training and selling technicians.",
"Specifically, each of your tires has a bluetooth device inside the rim on the bottom of the valve stem. That device monitors the tire pressure, and sends kind of a red flag to your car's computer when the pressure gets dangerously low (or when it malfunctions - cold weather will mess with a tire pressure sensor). \n\nWhy doesn't it give you more information? Well, because it's a very simple safety device. While it would be possible to send real-time pressure info to the computer, the sensor would have to act as more than just a warning - it would have to be programmed to communicate the real-time data. The computer would also have to be programmed to accept that real-time data, and your car would need some method of displaying that data - and in a safe way, too. That translates into extra expense / higher sticker price on the car.\n\nAs it is, the sensor throws a flag when the pressure is way too low. When it does that, you can get out of the car and be able to see which one is low, without ever putting a gauge on the valve stem.\n\nBesides... is there real value in knowing the exact PSI in each individual tire in real time? It's simply not worth the added expense to the vast majority of people.\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
40ksvd
|
how do stereo-blind people see in 3d?
|
Can they see in 3D using 3D-glasses like the ones in movie cinemas for 3D movies or do they need to wear some sort of special kind of glasses? or contacts?
I'm curious because I'm planning to write a story about a character who usually wears red and blue glasses akin to the ones you see in the cinema and suddenly decided to google and see if only being able to see in 2D vision was a real thing and found out yes it was indeed a real thing but I am not sure if wearing red and blue lens would help stereo-blind people see that well at all and I tried googling but they don't seem to touch on the matter at all...so yeah.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/40ksvd/eli5_how_do_stereoblind_people_see_in_3d/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cyuzm86",
"cyv00rd"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"The red and blue lenses in 3-D glasses work because the film itself, all the objects and visuals, are outlined with red and blue colors. For the eye with the blue lens, all blue colors are filtered out. For the eye with the red lens, all red colors are filtered out. Therefore, this gives you two perspectives on the objects. Meanwhile, in real life, all these glasses do is make the world's colors seem weird, offering no 3D visual aid.",
"As someone who is stereoblind...\n\nShort answer: We don't, but it can be corrected. And once it's corrected, we can see in 3D just like anyone else.\n\nLonger answer: People see in 3D using \"stereoscopic vision,\" which means that your brain automatically takes the two slightly different inputs from both of your eyes, and \"combines\" them to make a composite, three dimensional image.\n\nStereoblindness usually comes about due to the eyes being misaligned (usually a genetic condition, as with me), so the images they send to the brain are too different to form a coherent single picture. So our brain will say \"Hey, only send me one at a time.\" Some people, if they have good vision in both eyes, will \"switch\" between their eyes, depending on context. Others, like me, who don't have good vision in both eyes, will have one dominant eye, and their brain will basically \"ignore\" any input coming from the other eye, all the time.\n\nI'm 20 years old, and I have never seen in 3D. There aren't any glasses that will help with stereoblindness, as it often becomes more a problem with the brain than with the eyes. With me, despite having surgery to correct my esotropia (eye turning out) at a young age, I wasn't taught afterward how to use both my eyes to see things, so my brain continued to ignore input from my right eye.\n\nOne thing that has been shown to help some stereoblind folks is Vision Therapy, which you can think of as \"physical therapy for the eyes.\" The goal with vision therapy is to teach the eyes to \"work together.\" It started gaining in popilarity once a woman named Susan Barry shared her experience with stereoblindness, and gaining stereoscopic vision in her book \"Fixing My Gaze.\" She also did a [TEDx presentation](_URL_0_), which for me, being stereoblind, was a super interesting watch. (and I've honestly yet to read her book...)\n\nThat said, there has been at least [one case] of someone gaining real 3D vision through seeing a 3D movie with the special glasses.\n\nI hope this helps!\n\nThe funny thing is, I'm going to be starting my own vision therapy on Wednesday, after a suggestion from an eye doctor back in July. So my stereoblindness has been on my mind a lot."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://youtu.be/XCCtphdXhq8"
]
] |
|
34l28d
|
why does singing/rhyming help you memorize? secondly, why does it seem to help motivate younger children to do things they normally wouldn't?
|
I could never get my 2yo daughter to help me clean up her toys, but once i started singing 'putting your toys in the box, putting your toys in the box' it's much easier to get her to go along.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34l28d/eli5_why_does_singingrhyming_help_you_memorize/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cqvow9j",
"cqvtjdr"
],
"score": [
10,
3
],
"text": [
"The human brain is hard wired to see patterns and repetition, it's how we hunt, gather, communicate, judge, problem solve. Patterns put our minds at ease, and make things easier to comprehend. It's actually why conspiracy theorists manage to convince themselves and others that conspiracies exist, because we look for patterns, even where their are none. \n\nRhyming is patterned thought in itself. When you rhyme words together to remember something, each one is connected in a very simplistic and easy way, and it puts the storage part of our thought process at ease. ",
"It is evolved as a result of tribal cultures. If memory serves, anthropologists figure that inmportant lessons and i formation was passed down through generations in the songs and dances of various tribes. Those who were predisposed to learning in this manner held a critical advantage.\n\nMuch later our winging would turn into story telling via fables, which lead to the greek myths and even the bible. Logical, systematic education is a relatively new practice, especially at a societal level."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
366l19
|
if we all know that seaworld abuses their animals, how are they still allowed to continue? shouldn't they be charged and closed forever?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/366l19/eli5_if_we_all_know_that_seaworld_abuses_their/
|
{
"a_id": [
"crb6xfi",
"crb7rtb"
],
"score": [
14,
3
],
"text": [
"Who said we all know this?",
"New Zealand recently passed a law declaring animals Sentient.\n\nThe reason I say that is because it's still widely believed among the human animal that they are different, special, and unique, and they vastly overestimate their own intelligence and underestimate that of our animal peers. \n\nThe point is, people are simply ignorant about animals, and prefer to remain so either because of their religion, or their own need to feel like they aren't an animal with an essentially pointless life, no different from a whale locked in a small cage in seaworld. Until the public better understands the science and can become more empathetic, the sad reality is: no one cares enough to actually do anything about it. Or more accurately, not enough people do, and until there's enough people who care, they have no reason to change their business practices, and certainly don't want to do spend the money to do so, especially when it'd essentially be admitting they mistreated animals, which many of their employees don't want to admit to themselves.\n\nThere's forces working for it and not enough against it. Hopefully that'll change."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
d7thig
|
how a comum eraser can erase graphite, but not colour pencils?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d7thig/eli5_how_a_comum_eraser_can_erase_graphite_but/
|
{
"a_id": [
"f14drsa",
"f19gzfb"
],
"score": [
6,
2
],
"text": [
"Because they use wax rather than Graphite, Charcoal or Lead. \n\nHence why most of the world actually calls them Pencil Crayons.",
"Graphite is a very powdery type of material when it is written with a pencil. The eraser is slightly sticky, so the graphite can just stick to the eraser more than it sticks to the paper. \n\n & #x200B;\n\nColor pencils are a bit more like a crayon, made of a gummy, sticky wax. They are much harder and less waxy than actual crayons, but still much more so than graphite pencils. Since they stick to the paper like that, and aren't so powdery, they don't erase."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
1rgi0r
|
why is chicken the only meat that you cannot eat raw?
|
You can go to sushi restaurants and eat salmon, tuna, eel.. you can go to a steak house and eat an almost-raw steak, but why can't a person eat raw chicken? I understand that chicken has elevated risk for salmonella, but don't the other meats also have risks for their own bacterias?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rgi0r/eli5_why_is_chicken_the_only_meat_that_you_cannot/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cdmzyvd",
"cdn00x2"
],
"score": [
3,
5
],
"text": [
"You can eat it raw and in many places they will serve it to you raw, or at least rare.\n\nIn the US, past outbreaks of salmonella in chicken and trichinosis in pork have led to powerful and effective public health campaigns encouraging thorough cooking and this has resulted in a general public perception of the need to cook these meats more than others. Fish, generally, have less liklihood of containing pathogens harmful to humans, but most comercially available meat has a low chance of causing illness in healthy adults, particularly slab meats (as opposed to ground) where the surface has been sufficiently cooked.",
"Chicken is *not* the only meat you can't eat raw.\n\nPork has trichinosis. Beef also can have parasites. You never truly eat raw, fresh salmon - it's always flash frozen first to kill off parasites. Other raw fish is not without its risk."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
2kr883
|
why do i feel more confident, powerful, and forceful while i am menstruating?
|
What hormones make me feel like this and how do they work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kr883/eli5_why_do_i_feel_more_confident_powerful_and/
|
{
"a_id": [
"clnzpzs"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"This made me really curious so i found some answers [here](_URL_0_) \n\nBut i suppose to sum it up, mainly the rise in estrogen levels causes you to have an increased memory and energy, optimism and stuff like that which would obviously make you feel more confident and powerful as you would have more of an emotional control over everything. \n\nReally it should be when your ovulating (so say your period is the first week) in the second where the levels reach their peak, but i guess you must feel more of them in the first week because they were so down in the last week (PMS) where all the levels hit bottom, that as they rise up its more noticable. \n\nhope this helped and was easy to understand :)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://hormonehoroscope.com/the-female-hormone-cycle/"
]
] |
|
3pkjgq
|
how did white and black skin tones start?
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3pkjgq/eli5how_did_white_and_black_skin_tones_start/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cw73f3g",
"cw74r7s",
"cw75skw",
"cw77xtj"
],
"score": [
3,
6,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Skin color comes from melanin concentration. More melanin=darker skin. Darker skin blocks out UV rays, which can be both positive and negative. The positive aspect is that dark skin shields from sunburns and skin cancer. However, you need some UV rays to get through for vitamin D production. So, mutations for darker skin (increased melanin production) are selected for in sunny areas and lighter skin for darker areas. As people traveled those that went towards darker areas had mutations for less melanin production selected for and so got white skin tones over time.",
"Probably humans started out black and as they moved into areas with less sun light, natural selection favored mutations for lighter skin color to allow vitamin D production in climates where people had to cover up and the sun was less intense. ",
"Near the equator, humans get a lot of direct UV radiation from the sun. A skin pigment called melanin can protect you from the sun's UV radiation. So people living near the equator evolved to have more melanin, which makes the skin darker. But we do need *some* of that UV radiation, because it makes our bodies produce vitamin D. So humans who moved to areas far away from the equator evolved lighter skin with less melanin, because they needed to soak up as much of that radiation as possible to ensure they have enough vitamin D. ",
"Some people have mentioned vitamin D. Some research shows that blacks need less vitamin D than whites -- or more to the point more of the vitamin D in the blood is bio-available since blacks have less of a protein that bind to vitamin D. This is why blacks frequently appear to be low in vitamin D on blood tests, but have greater bone density than whites.\n\nIt's possible that a defect in whites caused an increased need for vitamin D, so their skin became pale to compensate. Rather than it being a result of where people lived."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3pd5a4
|
why do basketball players wear such long shorts? why are they passed their knees? shouldn't they be shorter since it would be easier to run with shorter shorts.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3pd5a4/eli5_why_do_basketball_players_wear_such_long/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cw596gx",
"cw5amia"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"It's merely a fashion decision; speed in basketball is more a function of reaction time than wind resistance (unlike, say, sprinting). The league has some office that decides how the uniforms are going to be styled each year (in terms of length, fit, etc.), and then each club designs the aesthetics of its kit to match. \n\nBack in the '70's and early '80's NBA players wore those tiny shorts like you suggest. I think they look pretty goofy. ",
"It's purely aesthetic. Uniforms have changed throughout the history of the game, and for whatever reason, longer shorts and heavier jerseys are what players wear now. The bagginess isn't going to make a difference with the type of movement involved in basketball, wind resistance is almost meaningless. Though obviously there are reasonable parameters - future players likely won't wear wedding dresses into the court (unless they are Dennis Rodman)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
1it1yh
|
why are microsoft windows' time estimates for moving/transferring data so ridiculously inaccurate?
|
I just had a 350 MB file transferring at 1.5 Mb/s (should take about 3.8 mins) which was predicted to finish moving in 5 hours. Why is this?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1it1yh/eli5_why_are_microsoft_windows_time_estimates_for/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cb7rd2w",
"cb7rkr8"
],
"score": [
3,
7
],
"text": [
"To be fair to Microsoft (a first for me), they're not the only ones who have trouble with this.",
"Phage0070 gave a great response to this last month in [this](_URL_0_) thread:\n\n\"Disk drives have on-board memory or \"cache\" with which to smooth out data transfers. Data is often at various places on the disk, and there needs to be time to swing the reading arm and head around to find the right place to read it from the disk. There is also the matter of when the data is read the disk is spinning by at great speed; the computer isn't always ready to accept the data from the disk, so it needs a buffer area (the cache) to put it in the meantime.\n\nThis means that drives exhibit \"burst\" speeds when reading and writing. If you wanted to save a file your computer could say \"save these memory addresses!\" and dump them directly from your computer's random-access memory into the drive's cache very quickly. Slightly later the drive actually gets around to positioning the heads and writing what is in the cache to the platters of the disk itself. However, if you have a lot of data to save it will eventually overwhelm the drive's cache and it will be forced to stop just storing it in the cache until it can work through the backlog.\n\nWhat this means is that when Windows looks at how quickly a file is being written by the drive it gets confusing results. The first few bits of the file are being accepted extremely quickly so it thinks it will finish the transfer very quickly, but after a little while the drive seems to slow down significantly. Now something it looked like would take 10 seconds is taking a minute. If you tell that drive to do other things too that minute could be come two, or even three!\n\nUltimately, the timer included in the box by Windows isn't going to be very smart. It only compares the clock to the rate of data transfer, which often doesn't consider the whole picture at all.\"\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gsh3z/eli5_why_cant_windows_accurately_predict_file/cancxw3"
]
] |
|
9k9ys6
|
why are moles most prevalent on the shoulders than anywhere else on the body?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9k9ys6/eli5_why_are_moles_most_prevalent_on_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e6xj0kc"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"While this would be highly subjective, I can tell you why it's likely the case for you/other people:\n\n & #x200B;\n\nYour shoulders are the most likely area on your body to be exposed to the sun consistently aside from your face. This makes them more damaged by UV rays, and sun damage is a key factor in determining where moles grow. It also has to do with your genetics, there could just be a gene in you that grows moles on your shoulders more than other places. If you have a lot of moles in this area, and if new moles appear frequently, it is a good idea to go to a skin clinic and get checked if they are atypical(potentially cancerous)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
2avvkc
|
why does dasani and aquafina water taste different from normal water and odd to many people?
|
Dasani and Aquafina water, made by the Coca Cola and Pepsi companies respectively, have long been known to taste different from normal water. Many people complain and disdain this taste and a small minority, (which includes myself) enjoys and tolerates this different tasting water. Why does this water taste "different"? What causes it to do so?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2avvkc/eli5_why_does_dasani_and_aquafina_water_taste/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ciza7on"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Aquafina (my favorite bottled water) and Dasani, are **PURIFIED** tap water, as opposed to spring water, like Ice Mountain. They come from a municipal water source (local utility) and then go through a purification process that differs between companies. This results in very clean, very sanitary, water, that doesn't have any of the elements that give \"normal water\" its taste, such as naturally occuring minerals. Because these waters are so \"clean\" they leave an almost chemical taste in the mouth. I find this desirable. Municipal water sources undergo far more stringent testing for bacteria, and must meet strict criteria, and go through filtration and purification process before reaching the tap. This processed water is then put through **another** batch of purification and filtration before being bottled up and shipped out. Personally, I prefer bottled purified water over bottled spring water, because I know it's been tested safe. There is no real criteria for testing of spring waters, and no evidence to suggest that they are any better for you than tap water. \n\nTL;DR They're purified water instead of spring water."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
yqn7u
|
why that, even if i just peed, getting in the shower makes me pee more, no matter how much or what i try to do to empty my bladder before i got in?
|
Also with getting in the pool or the bath, does the warm or cold water actually affect you physically? Or is it completely psychological?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yqn7u/eli5_why_that_even_if_i_just_peed_getting_in_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c5xyhl0",
"c5xzslf",
"c5y0esh",
"c5y169k",
"c5y17g8"
],
"score": [
7,
4,
3,
2,
26
],
"text": [
"There are a bunch of reasons, but one I know of is that peeing is a way to cool down, like sweating. So when you are warmed you tend to want to pee. Running water also makes people want to pee -- though I don't know why -- and probably contributes to the warm shower effect.",
"I think if you peed in the shower often enough, the act of stepping into one could become a conditioned stimulus to pee (like Pavlov's dog and the bell that caused him to salivate).\n\nYou add in the cooling effect that idontremembernames talked about and you've got a real possibility of conditioning (since there's already a biological bias towards peeing in the shower).\n\nBut that's just my guess.",
"I experience the same thing. \nI can add that pouring warm water on my penis (usually standing at the sink) can have the same effect. Tickling my lower back / upper butt-cheeks can also sometimes do it. Sounds weird, I know, but there you have it.",
"Also, I found that if you scratch the top of your butt crack you pee out the remainder pee left.",
"Running water makes you pee due to hard coded evolution. \nIf you hear running water it means you have a source of water to drink so the body is willing to dump the extra with wastes. \nBasically, it tries to ensure that you have adequate water available before getting rid of some. \n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
9jt6v4
|
how does a stock broker borrow stocks for you to short-sell
|
I understand the concept of shorting a stock but exactly how does a stock broker borrow stocks for you to short, who do they borrow from? As a further question, most stocks are traded online without a real broker so how would I borrow stocks to sell online?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9jt6v4/eli5_how_does_a_stock_broker_borrow_stocks_for/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e6u2t67",
"e6u2zw7"
],
"score": [
8,
4
],
"text": [
"A broker like a person? That’s old school. Basically they work for a bank or an investment house (eg investors group). Those banks or investor houses have millions of stocks of thousands of companies held in trust. That is, they usually have investment management arms that run mutual funds or ETFs so they hold billions of dollars worth of stock. But they don’t actually need to hold all that stock that they own since there’s an extremely small possibility of it all needing to be sold at the same time. \n\nSo they hold all this stock but it doesn’t have to actually be held. One great way to profit from that is by lending it to people who want to short the stock. So let’s say you bank with Wells Fargo and trade through a WF broker. If you want to short a stock, he has a system that will find that stock being held for the investment management arm of wells and they will transfer that stock to the broker so he can give it to you to sell it on the market. You pay interest on the value of the short sale which goes to wells so they can profit. \n\nOtherwise there’s also entities called Prime Brokers which are basically a set of services offered usually by an investment bank whose sold purpose is so lend out securities and cash so if you’re a stock broker who is independent (not affiliated with a bank) you can go to your Prime to get a borrow on a stock to short. ",
"TLDR: It’s purely a high-speed accounting exercise until you go to your broker and ask for stock certificates.\n\nIn modern stock trading, it’s more of a game of accounting than actual matchmaking. The original answer would have been borrow the stock from institutions and guaranteed holders - like index and sector funds. \n\nIn modern times, the volume of stock that is actually traded is a trickle, compared to the volume of stock that is leveraged through options. A broker that has clients with short positions can always go to the option market through puts or calls to satisfy the actual stock requirements at any given time. This allows brokers to simply declare a trade has occurred without ever actually transacting stock to balance out that position until the need is declared - which rarely happens. The market simply places trust in the brokers that they would satisfy any actual request and doesn’t require that these trades are balanced.\n\nEdit: Added TLDR"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
4soazs
|
how do firefighters decide when to stop fighting fire on any building or structure?
|
What exactly do they look for, besides "Oh, well, it looks like all the fire has been put out."?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4soazs/eli5_how_do_firefighters_decide_when_to_stop/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d5au9mr",
"d5avuqf"
],
"score": [
8,
118
],
"text": [
"Even if there is no more flames or smoke there could still be hot spots hidden inside walls or in other places. They go through the structure piece by piece and try to find the hot spots, tearing down walls if they suspect a hot spot. Even after they have looked though the structure they will usually remain on the scene to monitor the situation for a while. They may tell the owner to keep an eye for the next hours or they place a policeman or fireman as guard. If nothing happens for some time then they assume the fire is out. It does happen that they have to return to a site because they did not put out the fire properly the first time.",
"Firefighter here! We do a lot of 'explaining like I'm five'...usually to each other...so I'll give it a go...\n\nThere are a lot of decisions made during a fire. One of the first decisions that gets made is whether to enter the building and try to stop the fire from spreading or stay outside the building because the fire is too big to save it. Firefighters will first look for evidence of people inside....like info from the 911 call, family or neighbors on scene, or even cars in the driveway outside of business hours. If there's a possibility of someone inside, the firefighters are usually going in. They'll first protect the occupants from the fire then stop the fire from spreading to other parts of the building. If there's no one inside but they decide there's enough of the building worth saving without risking the firefighters too much they'll also go in. \n\nOnce all the visible fire is out two things start:\n\n1. Teams begin the \"salvage and overhaul\" phase. This is meant to save as much valuable items and property as possible while looking for hidden fire behind walls or in floors. They'll cover and move furniture around, try to drain as much water as possible, and use cameras that can see heat to find hidden fire. They'll rip up walls and hidden places to put out the hidden fire. \n\n2. The Fire Marshall investigation begins. They will find where and why the fire started and recreate how it spread around the building. \n\nThese two things will help firefighters determine when it is safe to stop what they're doing and leave. Sometimes a crew is assigned to watch the building for many hours after the fire appears to be out, just to make sure. \n\nIf the firefighters determine there's no saving the building, it's too dangerous to send people in, or there's no places that are survivable for occupants they'll stay outside. This is sometimes called, \"surround and drown.\" The main focus will be on the buildings surrounding the one that's on fire while pouring as much water on the fire as possible. They'll use their biggest hoses and will also pour water on the nearby buildings so they don't catch fire too. \n\nThe Fire Marshall will also come by to investigate. Crews may be on scene for several days as rubble is cleared to make sure there's no hidden fire. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
at23fi
|
how do shotgun ammo not shred the inside of the shotgun barrel?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/at23fi/eli5_how_do_shotgun_ammo_not_shred_the_inside_of/
|
{
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"egy3wx5",
"egy3x2x",
"egy9jsz"
],
"score": [
7,
2,
3
],
"text": [
"Because the barrel is made out of a material that is strong enough to endure the pressure. In late-medieval times, when the first guns were used, a whole lot of them did blow up. Nowadays they are just designed to withstand the forces at play. And the payload is placed in a casing, not as a cluster of random debris in the barrel, which makes it easier to apply a controlled force within the barrel.",
"The projectiles are made of softer metal, usually lead, than the barrel itself. Also, they really don’t spend much time in the barrel",
"Within the shotgun shell, the pellets sit inside of a plastic \"shot cup\". You can see [here](_URL_0_) how it works.\n\nWhen the gun is fired, the whole shot cup is propelled down the barrel with the pellets still inside. Once it leaves the barrel, it falls away and the pellets continue flying by themselves.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThe metal shot never actually touches the barrel, so it would be impossible for it to \"shred\" the barrel."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjEhp-N9szgAhVjmK0KHfsuD_YQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F436708495105749402%2F&psig=AOvVaw3BrgDtgMYrHrYQjJLDUb1T&ust=1550841799546444"
]
] |
||
ftj2mn
|
what do natural logs represent?
|
I'm aware that e is a number and I know how to do math with logs, but I've never understood what their graphs are used for. For example, exponential graphs are used for pratical reasons in a lot of careers to show growth and decay along with interest. I'm wondering if the graph of ln or logs in general has a similar purpose.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ftj2mn/eli5_what_do_natural_logs_represent/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fm7l0zl"
],
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4
],
"text": [
"So 'exponentiation' is the mathmatical process that involves a base and an exponent: a^x = c, for example. The base 'a' raised to the power of 'x', equals a final answer 'c'. that's simple stuff. \n \nA logarithm is the exact opposite of that process. You start with the answer, and work backwards. So if you have the base, you work out the exponent, or if you have the exponent, you work out the base. \n \nEasy example: if you have the base and exponent of 3^2, you can work out the final answer is 9. 3^2 = 9. \n \nThe exact opposite is, as you're probably well aware, Log₃(9) = 2. Which in plain English is 'the base 3 is made into the answer 9 with an exponent of 2' \n \n*Natural* logs are logarithms that use the natural exponent, e, as the base. So Logₑ(a) = b, which means e^b = a. \n \nLog graphs can be used to represent types of growth, just like exponential graphs can. So if you take a look at [this](_URL_0_), you can see what a logarithmic line looks like compared to an exponential line. The exponential line is, well, exponential, but the logarithmic line plateaus and levels off. \n \n**now for the actual answer:** \n-\n \nWhile an exponential graph can tell you the rate at which something *increases* with time, the logarithmic graph will tell you how the rate at which something *decreases* with time. So for example, log graphs show how the charge on a battery increases with time; the increase in charge starts fast, but as time goes on, the rate of charge slows down and eventually hits a maximum, like the log line. Logarithmic graphs also govern things like radioactive decay: the rate at which stable decay products are produced starts fast but levels off as less and less of the unstable radioactive isotope remain, etc. Logarithmic graphs are just as important as exponential graphs when it comes to tracking the rates at which a massive amount of very important things happen. \n \nHope this helped!"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://dj1hlxw0wr920.cloudfront.net/userfiles/wyzfiles/554c4b84-b3a0-4d4c-98f7-6ef5633a0d34.gif"
]
] |
|
4kxbu4
|
why can't we have a strong wi-fi range?
|
I was wondering, DJI Phantom products have LightBridge technology that allows live HD video streaming of their drones which could stretch up to 5km.
Is it possible to tap into such technology to give us a significantly better wi-fi range?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4kxbu4/eli5_why_cant_we_have_a_strong_wifi_range/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d3ijplc"
],
"score": [
13
],
"text": [
"Technically, we could turn up the power to increase range. Practically, that won't help. The problem is that every thing that broadcasts on the same frequency will interfere with each other. Think of it like people trying to be heard. Increasing the range is equivalent to shouting louder. If you are shouting to your router, then the people (devices) trying to have a quiet conversation next door can't hear each other unless they start shouting even louder than you. And then you don't get very much distance at all, even with a high-powered conversation. \n\nTo avoid interference problems, most governments regulate how strong you can broadcast on unlicensed spectrum (like what Wi-Fi uses). These limits, combined with the interference from other Wi-Fi networks around you, as well as things that get in the way like walls. If you were in an area with no other radio traffic and a direct line of sight between the device and router, you'd be able to get pretty decent range with standard Wi-Fi. But most people don't use their computers in that sort of environment."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2i62i3
|
what exactly is rest (representational state transfer) and restful api?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2i62i3/eli5_what_exactly_is_rest_representational_state/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ckza136"
],
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"text": [
"I always have trouble explaining this.\n\nREST itself in general is a fairly simple protocol of exchanging data. It's not a thing - It's not a programming language, and it's not a piece of software, it's just an idea/method/architecture.\n\nImagine this: You have a film and your friend wants to watch it. You live in different cities.\n\n- In a non-REST way, your friend would have to come over to you, borrow that DVD and go home and watch it and return it, or create a physical copy of that DVD for himself/herself.\n\n- The REST way would be that your friend sends you a text message saying \"Send me that film\", and then you allow them to stream the film.\n\nThe idea is that if I'm trying to get some data from somewhere else (A document that isn't stored on my server, for example), I shouldn't have to do a lot of hard work to get it/copy it - Instead, I can just 'access' it where it currently is. A bit like an open-door policy.\n\nRESTful APIs are how we apply REST concepts into web requests. RESTful APIs are quite awesome because they're simple and easy to implement, yet powerful. \n\nThey use really straightforward technologies like HTTP and JSON (Stuff that are easy to understand, basically) to accomplish the task of accessing huge chunks of data, or extracting a single piece of data in a complicated storage area.\n\nThis is very useful for mediating between servers too (Machine-Machine interaction) - You'll find this methodology implemented in mobile apps and social networks because it's simply easier to pull a piece of data from somewhere else than it is to maintain two copies of it or host it locally.\n\nIn a nutshell, REST is about convenience. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
28nf2h
|
why do sounds like "ch", "sh", and "th" not have letters of their own?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28nf2h/eli5_why_do_sounds_like_ch_sh_and_th_not_have/
|
{
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"text": [
"Latin didn't need them, and the many languages that have adapted their alphabet to write with afterward haven't made any that stuck around consistently. The \"th\" sounds used to be written with [Ð/ð (eth)](_URL_2_) and [Þ/þ (thorn)](_URL_1_) in several Germanic languages but they fell out of use in most of them. \n\nThey do have symbols of their own in things like the [International Phonetic Alphabet](_URL_0_), but these are used mainly by linguists describing language itself rather than people writing language down as a way to communicate other information.",
"It's just the way the language was formed. Spanish, for instance has the 'ch' sound as a letter, and also has 'll' (sounds like a y) and 'rr' (the tongue rolled r). They also only use 'w' for names.",
"\"th\" did - it was called \"thorn\" and looked like a \"y\" in early typography. So the \"ye\" we think of in olden times English for signs was really \"the\". _URL_0_\n",
"Choral Music Major here! \n\nIf this question is applying to English only:\n\nThe first thing we need to realize is that written English does not tend to follow rules that make it easy to read it phonetically. Which is why the IPA or International Phonetic Alphabet is a great tool for learning languages.\n\nFor example, the word \"think\" and \"their\" are both spelled with \"th\", but both have different \"th\" sounds. (Which blows my mind since I'm a native English speaker and I never realized this until a few months ago.)\n\nThink in IPA = θɪŋk ( This is an unvoiced \"th\" meaning to produce it we don't use our vocal chords. Try it yourself)\n\nTheir in IPA = ðɛr ( This is the voiced \"th\" meaning we use our vocal chords to produce the sound)\n\nTry translating some English words in IPA using this website if you wanna see more examples:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIn English, when we borrow or assimilate words from other languages, we sometimes keep the spelling from the native language which follows rules that sometimes don't work in English.\n\nFor example:\n\nSpaghetti in Italian = spagɛtti (In Italian gh makes the g soft and the double t means that we \"double\" the t in our pronunciation.)\n\nSpaghetti in English (the way it usually gets pronounced) = spəgɛti or sometimes spəgɛdi.\n\nWe can't underestimate the value of Noah Webster's dictionary in thinking about this as well, because during his time many words in English varied in their spellings because some people spelled them \"properly\" while others spelled them the way they actually sounded, or more or less phonetically.\n\nGo here for some examples:\n_URL_1_\n\nIn other languages they do have symbols for these sounds, but sometimes even those symbols will make several different sounds when placed by other letters.",
"They do, in other languages.",
"They do, we just don't use them anymore. ",
"Here is some for you ć Ć which sounds like ch in cheese and č Č which sounds like ch in change and š Š in shut up, and đ Đ for the j in jenny and djungle, đž, well english doenst have that sound.\n\n Anyway, there is too many sounds/phonems to make a nice alphabet, its easier to have fewer letters and combine those to richness.",
"Aside from what everybody else has said, it's because the English alphabet is more the product of accidental historical forces, rather than being the product of an even remotely intentional, well-reasoned process.\n\nIt's not like someone with a proper grasp of phonetics sat down and said, \"Well. I suppose it's time to make a complete list of all the sounds used in English, and assign distinct symbols to each one so as to create a fully regular orthographical system with no potential for confusion.\"\n\nThat would have been nice, but instead, people just used what was already around. The Romans had their alphabet. Hundreds of years later, Emperor Charlemagne recognized that it would be helpful to his empire if there was a standard writing system across all of it, assigned the job of producing such a thing to [Alcuin of York](_URL_0_), which tl;dr, is pretty much where lowercase letters came from.\n\nThe \"Carolingian script\", enforced by the emperor across pretty much all of Europe, was thus already in use *before* English was really even a language. And since people are lazy, when it came to writing down English, they pretty much just used what was available, regardless of the fact that it didn't match English's actual phonetics very well. (Especially in the vowels. Oh, lordy...)\n\nSure, attempts were made to address some problems, such as the eth and thorn (for voiced and voiceless \"th\"), but for whatever historical reasons this a) wasn't done for all the consonantal sounds not captured well by Carolingian script, and b) didn't catch on well enough to last down through the ages.\n\nIt's pretty much just a hot mess of historical accidents at this point...",
"TIL: th used to be called þorn",
"They do in Russian.\n\nWell, ch/sh do.",
"They do, you're just using the wrong alphabet",
"Fun fact: there are two th sounds. (Think thy and thigh or ether and either.)",
"That's how it is in Russian. Makes more sense that way in my opinion.",
"Because then you'd have to have new letters for literally every digraph.",
"While on the subject, have you ever noticed that the letter C is completely useless in English? Either it's pronounced like a K or like an S. Cat could easily be spelled kat, and circle could easily be spelled sircle. ",
"In Croatian there is Ch - Č and Sh - Š but not Th."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorn_(letter\\)",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ð"
],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorn_(letter)"
],
[
"http://upodn.com/phon.php",
"http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/spelling-reform.htm"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcuin_of_York"
],
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3hrbn2
|
why do stimulants (cocaine, methamphetamine, ritalin) cause erectile dysfunction?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3hrbn2/eli5_why_do_stimulants_cocaine_methamphetamine/
|
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"The involuntary nervous system controls sexual response, and that system is a two-part system: Parasympathetic (\"point\" i.e., erection) and Sympathetic (\"shoot\" i.e., ejaculation).\n\nCoke, meth and Ritalin all stimulate the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system. So the parasympathetic nervous system is not being activated, so it's harder to get harder, so to speak."
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[
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4v9mae
|
what actually happens that can cause women to die during childbirth?
|
In ancient times child birth was quite dangerous and it's still a danger today. I know that blood loss is a major factor but very few sites go into details about what actually happens that causes the bleeding or complications. Even though it says explain like I'm five, I'd prefer a nsfw or not safe for five year old answer to get the actual truth if necessary.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4v9mae/eli5_what_actually_happens_that_can_cause_women/
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"One cause of death can be hemorrhaging. When you give birth, it's not just to a baby - it's also to the entire lining of your uterus. First comes your gooey little bundle of joy and next comes the worst period you've ever had in your life, that can last 3-5 days. Sometimes the bleeding is excessive and/or doesn't stop. \n\nWhen you're bleeding from something like a cut, you can put pressure on it to stop the bleeding or even use a tourniquet. But you can't put a tourniquet on your uterus very easily, so uncontrolled bleeding can be really hard to stop. Some women die of blood loss. ",
"If the afterbirth separates at the wrong time, or comes apart, she can lose a LOT of blood. Afterbirth is kind of an adapter for blood vessels. Mom's body is already so busy that it's nearly impossible for her to deal with on her own.",
"Sepsis, also called blood poisoning or childbed fever, is when an infection sets into to blood (often from a genital or uninary tract infection related to the trauma of childbirth, or wound infections from cesarean surgery) and causes blood pressure to fall (septic shock) and organs to fail (and in the most severe cases, death)\n\nI had a friend who not only died in childbirth from sepsis (she presented at the hospital at her due date with a high fever and was dead within a couple of hours), but the fetus contracted sepsis and died too. THAT was a hard funeral. ",
"Another thing that can potentially happen that doesn't necessarily involve bleeding (per-se) is eclampsia. It's a pregnancy disorder that causes seizures, high blood pressure, and organ failure. It's caused by the placenta making the rest of the body incredibly sensitive to vaso-constrictors- what your body uses to raise its blood pressure. When the blood vessels in the brain are affected, it causes convulsions due to loss of blood flow to the brain. Very nasty. (**Spoilers**) Downton Abbey fans will remember that the character Sybil died from it after having her daughter.\n\nEdit: Apologies for not putting a spoilers alert earlier. Since it's not Star Wars of Game of Thrones, I thought it'd been long enough that it didn't need it.",
"Although it doesn't happen very often, the leading cause of death is called an Amniotic Fluid Embolism. It generally happens during the delivery or shortly after. The amniotic fluid that the baby lives in during the pregnancy can get into the mom's bloodstream through the placenta. This causes a reaction in blood called Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) where the blood loses all the clotting factor, or can cause systemic clotting which stops the oxygenation of vital organs. Cardiac Arrest is the most common symptom which usually occurs within an hour of the onset of DIC. The mortality rate worldwide was around 80%",
"Puerperal fever, although it is extremely rare now, was the leading cause of death during childbirth throughout history. King Henry VIII lost his mother and third wife to the disease. After his death, his sixth wife ultimately succumbed to the disease as well. ",
"Women bleed for up to 6 weeks after birth. if the uterus doesn't clamp down properly.. or is \"boggy\" as they call it then ti can cause hemorrhaging. Sometimes it can be sudden as well. Or if the placenta is pulled from the uterine wall before the baby is out it can all so cause severe bleeding. Sometimes they have to remove the uterus to stop it. Also blood pressure can spike can causing seizures and even death. There is also the risk of infection after birth. There are a lot of problems that can arise.",
"Placental abruption, failure of the uterus to contract back down and hemorrhaging, pulmonary embolism, amniotic embolism, pre-eclampsia (which can also happen post partum), sepsis...all of these things can be deadly. \n\nSome of this stuff we are trained to look for signs of, especially when a new mom returns to an ER with abnormal vital signs immediately post partum--especially within the first 10 days. You pray it doesn't happen. It's crushing when it does. ",
"Another complication that I didn't see mentioned yet is that the woman's uterus can literally tear and rupture. This can cause massive internal bleeding and quickly become fatal. This is more of a risk in women who have had previous c-section(s) or other uterine surgery because of the scar tissue weakening the muscle. ",
"Bleeding is a huge problem, you can also get what's called eclampsia where the shift in hormones causes your blood pressure to sky rocket and you can have a stroke. Also all the stress of having a baby can exacerbate other health problems not previously diagnosed, such as a heart condition which could lead to death. There are also other terrifying things like amniotic fluid embolisms that can kill you during childbirth too. Many ways to die when you have a baby",
"The child can get stuck. Literally. \n\nThis is more of a third world/ancient world problem but if the babies shoulders/head gets stuck in the womans hip bones... either 1) you break the pelvis 2) kill the baby to get it out in smaller peices or 3) it never comes out and mother dies of shock and infection. Or you try 1 and 2 and wind up killing the mother anyway. \n\nOf course in a modern hospital you'd just do a c section and odds are everyone goes home happy. \n\nBut not everyone has the benefit of modern hospitals and the good genes for \"wide birthing hips\". \n\nSo yeah. ",
"There are several conditions pre-delivery that could cause issues. The placenta can attach to the cervix and before sonograms you couldn't tell. The placenta can cover and attach over the cord. Delivering babies to moms that have health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure etc.... can create dangerous situations as well. I was a midwife assistant for two years helped deliver 7 babies. A truly amazing job. A woman doing her thing delivering a her child in comfortable surroundings is far different but a bit more dangerous than in a medical center. It's a really unique experience. I even caught my youngest brother at his birth there's a 20 year age difference. It's a beautiful and gory thing.",
"I'm going to copy this from a post I made a while back in /r/asoiaf to someone asking what killed Lyanna Stark.\n\n > [Puerpural fever,](_URL_0_) also known as \"childbed fever.\" It's what killed most women who died from childbirth in the days before modern medicine. Childbirth is traumatic to a woman's body, particularly the first birth, and presents a large number of opportunities for the bacteria normally present on/in the human body to gain abnormal access to the bloodstream and become deadly via septicemia or peritonitis. The entire uterine lining is susceptible to infection after the separation of the placenta. This is particularly likely if the birth is difficult and non-sterile hands or instruments are used to try and bring the baby out.\n\n > Add in that a woman's immune system is thoroughly stressed after nine months of pregnancy, and you have a chance for a lot of deadly infections to take hold. And they can take up to ten days to show symptoms.\n\nAs a final note for this new post, I'll mention that childbed fever was directly responsible for people figuring out that doctors should have sterile hands and instruments when attending to patients. Thanks, [Ignaz Semmelweis.](_URL_1_) ",
"I almost died in late pregnancy. I had placenta previa, where the placenta is covering the cervix. It is supposed to be around the sides of the uterus, or even on top. With placenta previa, should the cervix dilate (as it does in late pregnancy and childbirth) the placenta comes out first, leaving the baby no means to get oxygen and mom bleeding, a lot. I knew I had placenta previa because of modern medicine - specifically ultrasound. I was on bed rest for 5 months, as I started having issues at about three months. I had a c-section planned for about 8 months along, and had been taking meds to speed up development of the baby's lungs and the last week, meds to keep me pregnant. \r\rThings didn't go as planned and the placenta started to shift - I got up from the dining table to go back to bed after a meal, and there was an enormous gush of blood. I think I went into shock pretty quickly, because my next memory is being in a wheelchair racing down a hospital hallway, blood dripping down the legs of the chair. I got a warm blanket, a bed and was put under for the emergency c-section. I needed two transfusions and my son was born at exactly 8 months, pretty darn healthy, considering. We stayed in the hospital together for a week and a half, then went home. \r\rIf this had been 30 years earlier, I think we probably would have both died. The car that drove me to the hospital that night needed a new passenger seat - blood dripped thru the seat to the floor. My (now ex) husband didn't realize for some reason the seriousness of what was going on, and drove me rather than calling 911. He still says everyone told him this might happen, but no-one told him it was an emergency. I guess he thought that was normal labor. He's a super smart man, so I have never understood this, and sometimes wonder if he was trying to kill me off.\rEdit - I should have said I jokingly wonder. He admits it was boneheaded. He drove me past two other hospitals to get me to the one we had been planning on using. He said he was surprised at the response of the dr's when I showed up in that state, and he was surprised when he was told he should have called 911 etc. I'm not hating on him. It's just a good part of the story that he tells too.",
"After giving birth, the placenta was fused to my sister's vaginal wall. The way she tells it, the doctor was pulling as hard as he could to get the thing out but it wouldn't budge. They had to perform surgery to remove it. Apparently if this had happened in the olden days, she would have bled out. ",
"After you give birth to the baby you deliver \"the after birth\". This is the placenta. While the fetus is inside the womb, the placenta is attached to the uterine wall. When the woman goes through labor she has contractions to deliver the baby and then contractions to deliver the placenta. These contractions help pinch off blood supply between the mother and the placenta. Sometimes the placenta doesn't make a clean break from the uterine wall and instead is ripped away. The exposed vessels then massively bleed and the mother dies from hemorrhage. ",
"Here's one I haven't seen yet is all the c-section stuff. About a third of births are via c-section and that comes with it's own set of potential complications. Most aren't deadly luckily. The ones I've seen kill are bowel obstructions and embolisms. \n\nC-sections involve having to remove your intestines and then shove them back in. When I had mine I asked the doctor how they know which way to put them back in, apparently they don't. They just stuff them in there. Well they can get a bad stuff and cause a blockage. If a portion of bowel loses blood supply and dies that can cause sepsis and kill surprisingly quickly. Part of why you have to poop before you leave the hospital is to make sure your gut is working.\n\nEmbolisms are shit in your blood that shouldn't be there (excessively large clots, globs of fat, air). These can go to the heart or brain and cause heart attacks and strokes. They give you leg compressor sock things to help with this after surgery but apparently those aren't fool proof. This one is particularly scary because you can just suddenly stroke out and drop dead.\n\nEdit: Apparently my OB trolled me hard with the intestines thing. Maybe when I asked that question she assumed I was joking so she gave me a joking answer. Didn't know doctors did that. Anyways thanks for setting it straight guys. \n\nShe definitely took my whole uterus out of my abdomen and then shoved it back in, I have a picture of it, maybe that's when the \"bad stuffing\" can occur.",
"If the baby is breech & isn't turned properly. In a modern hospital setting they should know & just do a section. I've had 2 friends go into labor with breech babies, one footling breech delivered successfully. They only found out because a foot came out first. Second was transverse breech. That baby had zero ways to come out alive except by section. Mother labored for 30+ hours before they realized & did a c-section. In both cases if the baby is breech there's a huge increase in the 'baby gets stuck' sepsis & death senerios. ",
"Omg I found out at last minute with my daughter that she was frank breech (she was upside down and bum first), so I had to have an emergency c-section and they gave me an epidural and the freezing didn't take on one side so I could feel them cutting me. I freaked about pain and they decided to put me out and so my last memory is my doc sayin...whatever you are gonna do, do it now or I'm gonna loose them both...to my anesthesiologist as I was bleeding out. They put in my intubation tube and it was kinked resulting in a large hole in my lung and me not being able to breathe. I got air-lifed to the nearest city and woke up in disbelief as they tell me how close I was to death and not remembering anything except that I had a baby. And none of it was my fault, and it all could have been prevented. Also I should mention that prior to having my daughter I hadn't even had stitches or any been to the hospital for anything.",
"[This post goes into the tug-of-war between fetus/mother very well](_URL_0_)",
"Since you asked what actually happens to cause death during child birth I have a list. And it's not only hemorrhage ^^.\n\n\n1.Rupture of previous cesarean section scar.\n\n2. Fetus dies inside the uterus and the mother doesn't notice for a few weeks she can develop major clotting problems.\n\n3. Mothers with heart problems may die during natural birth because it's very stressful and the heart simply can't keep up.\n\n4. Placenta doesn't detach from the uterus after giving birth and pulls the uterus along with it so the uterus is inside out. This is get rare but it can cause the mother to go in to shock and die.\n\n5. Obstructed labour in itself is not a cause of death but it can lead to complications like ruptured uterus or infection.\n\n6. Infection within about two weeks of an abortion, done without proper aseptic technique, or a traumatic birth can also be considered cause of death for mothers. \n\nHope it helps. Just adding to u/wishyouamerry's comprehensive list \n\nEdit: idk what's up with the numbering",
"I almost died during childbirth twice. The first time I went into premature labor when my twins were 30 weeks gestation. Their combined size was too large for my body. My uterus started to tear and I bled internally. They did an emergency c-section and scooped the babies out just in time. They told me I lost almost half my blood volume bleeding internally and I was apparently hours away from bleeding out. I delivered two healthy preemies, and after hanging out on the hospital for 9 weeks they went home with me. \n\nTwo years later I had the exact same experience with my son. The interesting thing is that his birth weight was exactly to the ounce the same as the combined weight of the twins. My doctor said, \"well now that we know your exact uterine capacity, I strongly suggest making this your last pregnancy.\"\n\nMy kids are now 17, 17 and 15 years old. It was a stressful experience going through two traumatic and life-threatening births, but nothing compared to nursing three babies simultaneously, which was nothing compared to having three teenagers at once. ",
"My wife hemorrhaged with our first child after about 12 hours of labor. She was being induced because her blood pressure spiked the last few days of her pregnancy and the swelling got out of control. They were very concerned about pre-eclampsia.\n\nMy wife is only 4'11 very petite and my daughter came out weighing nearly 9lbs. She had no pain medication at all, simply refused it. My daughter had shoulder dystocia which required the doctor to basically put all of his weight on her stomach, and a lot of pulling to get her out. While that was scary, the moments that followed were terrifying.\n\nThe placenta came, and then the blood... It started as a trickle, and then like you turned a faucet on. The doctor was screaming at the nurses for them to inject something (not sure what) and he was talking to my wife as she was losing consciousness. He made mention that what he had to do was pretty painful but it happened incredibly quick. He proceeded to shove his entire fist into my wife's funzone and nearly stood on her stomach with his entire weight as she screamed.\n\nLuckily he got the bleeding under control but my wife did have a week stay in the hospital and required multiple transfusions as she was already severely anemic. ",
"Whatever turned my wife's placenta green and splotchy this past summer, culminating in an emergency c-section. They said it was a tear in the placenta that got infected.\n\nWife and baby are fine, but it was a little terrifying to see \"delivery room resuscitation\" as a line item on our bill.",
"My sister is in labor as we speak. She has what is called pre-eclampsia. Her liver is swollen, there is protein in her urine, her feet are swollen and her blood pressure has been really high for a week. They finally induced her today and if the pain in her liver is too much they are going to do a cesarean. She is luckily in the best NICU in the state and the surgeons are awesome, but because of the eclampsia if she didn't have modern medicine her liver could be damaged from the pushing and her condition could lead to seizures.",
"My cousin had placental abruption. The placenta completely tore away from the uterus, before her baby was born. She thought she was in labor, but she was actually delivering the placenta first. Luckily, she lives like half a block from a hospital and she was able to deliver her child, with minor birth defects.",
"I am a doctor, an anaesthetist. I regularly do obstetric anaesthesia - epidurals and caesars both awake and asleep.\n** In a developed country, pregnancy and childbirth is very safe.** \nHowever, things can go wrong, much like everything in life. There is simply not enough time or space to provide an accurate explanation for all these here.\n\nHere is a short list:\n\n* Bleeding\n* Infection\n* Amniotic fluid embolism\n* Peripartum cardiomyopathy\n* Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and associated diagnoses of PIH with proteinuria (often referred to as preeclampsia), eclampsia\n* Abnormal placental lie (vasa praevia, placenta praevia)\n* Abnormal placental inplantation (placenta accreta, placenta increta, placenta percreta)\n* Umbilical cord prolapse\n* Uterine rupture\n* Placental abruption\n* Cephalopelvic disproportion\n* Dystocia\n* Haemorrhage\n\nBlood loss during delivery is **normal**. The female body has an increased red cell mass and copes quite well with up to a litre of blood loss. Usual blood loss from a vaginal delivery is 500mL. This amount is higher with caesarians as there is blood loss from the incision.\n\n\nObstetricians are highly trained individuals who work with a team which includes anaesthetists, midwives and oftentimes neonatologists or paediatricians.\n\n\nI'll add here that maternal mortality in the USA is quite high and [increased from 12 to 28 per 100000 between 1990 and 2013](_URL_0_). Pretty shocking when you consider, for example, that in Australia (a similarly-developed country) this figure is around 7.1 per 100000 on average and in 2012 it was 4.4 per 100000.\n\nEdit: formatting.\n\nEdit 2: I am not educated enough to be able to answer every question posed. I am sorry for that but if you want an answer you deserve an accurate answer. Perhaps I will do an AMA regarding anaesthesia, although there are others out there with more subspecialty knowledge than I.",
"Might I recommend a short, but extremely interesting read? \n\nGoogle \"Ten Teachers Obstetrics PDF\" and see if you can find it. It's a very short obstetrics review, even if you only read the headings, you'll learn everything you've asked for in this question. \n\n[Here's a link that I found in case you can't find the pdf.](_URL_0_) I own a few editions of the book, including this one. I'd love to elaborate on anything that you might find confusing.\n\nP.S. be sure to read the section on obstetric emergencies. Even if only the headings.",
"When my wife gave birth to my son, he had something called Neonatal hemachromatosis. This is due to iron mismanagement and and manifests itself as something called hydrops. That is to say that hydrops is one symptom of Neonatal hemachromatosis. Hydrops is basically fluid collection and bruising, and fluid buildup. He was born all swollen and covered in bruises. Thing is, her placenta was ALSO hydropic, so they had to twist and cut this massively swollen placenta out of her. Cut, twist, cut. The site where her placenta was connected then started to hemorrhage within her; she was bleeding out internally. They wouldn't let me in NICU to see my son, they wouldn't let me in the Urgent Care to see my wife. I found the closest thing I could find to a half way point between them, turned on Pokemon ruby, and cried helpless. This is one of literally hundreds of things you have never heard of that can kill a birthing mother. \n\nEdit: Two words, not one.",
"Infection is quite common to if you give birth on your own? My aunt had to deliver in a car, and afterwards she ended up in hospital bed for almost 1 month",
"There are a quite a few complications that can arise before/during/after birth. A few off the top of my head: \n\n1. Abruptio Placentae - this is when the placenta (sac inside the abdomen where your baby lives) detaches from the uterus (area where the placenta resides) and a large amount of blood loss can come about. Happens about 1 in 120 births. Happens prior to delivery. Small blood vessels in between the placenta and uterus can rupture and this blood begins to pool and collect and it essentially forces the placenta and uterus to tear apart from each other. Very painful. Baby doesn't make it. \n\n2. Placenta previa - this is when the placenta implants itself in an abnormal position over the cervix instead of around the uterine wall. The cervix is the area that is past the vagina and if you keep going you'll hit the uterus. When the baby moves about or the cervix dilates, the placenta again tears away from its plant site. Happens about 1 in 250 births. Lots of blood loss can happen. Usually not painful. I don't think the baby makes it. \n\n3. Ruptured uterus - the uterus will expand as baby grows up in the placenta and this thins it. Like a rubber band when you stretch it. Sometimes it gets so thin it ruptures and the placenta falls into the abdominal cavity. Mother mortality is anywhere from 5-20% and baby fatality is around 50%. Requires surgery. \n\n4. Ectopic pregnancies. This is when the egg gets implanted outside the uterus. It should be planted inside the uterus. Usually it gets put into a Fallopian tube. The placenta will invade the surrounding tissue but won't be able to accommodate for the incorrectly positioned embryo and so it will rupture. This is the 3rd leading cause of death in maternity cases. \n\nOther - seizures or coma (eclampsia) not sure why this happens on a biological level. Supine Hypotensive Syndrome - when the fetus puts pressure on the inferior vena cava (vein returning blood to heart) this decreasing the amount of blood coming back to the heart for pumping and decreasing perfusion. Although I don't think this one is too fatal because it will get noticed. Left unchecked it could be. \n\nSource: I'm an EMT so with my knowledge and a little rummaging through my textbook I got these answers. I'm sorry if I don't know the specifics on a biological level, but I thought I could give some explanation. \n\nEdit: spelling ",
"It's not just bleeding. Childbirth can be very stressful on the mother's heart, and a pre-existing condition could cause her heart to fail under the additional stress.",
"Childbirth can severely injure you too. One of my kids got stuck inside me (shoulder dystocia) - they had to reach inside me to break his collarbone to get him out. Then they performed the Macrobertson's manouvre - two nurses on each of my knees ramming my knees behind my ears. In doing so I endured total rupture of the symphsis pubis ligament in my pelvis and couldn't walk without a walking frame for months. Because of the broken collarbone, my son was born with brachial plexus palsy (which thankfully corrected itself - the nerves were only bruised, not severed). Because he was in distress, he pooed inside me so there was a danger of him inhaling the meconium and he had to be suctioned at birth. It was a total nightmare. I still have pelvic pain from time to time 13 years later. ",
"My aunt's mother died wile giving birth to her younger brother due to having \"multiple heart attacks\". Granted that was in the 1960s, and that is what her father told her, so so it could have been something else.\n\nA woman whose children I babysat for (classmates of my brother and her younger sister) died while in labor with her third child. She had an aneurysm (brain). \n\nI spoke to her the night before and she said \"you will watch my girls, right? You know they love you, right?\" The next afternoon, when my mother told me, I was in shock. In a strange way it was like she knew she wasn't going to be around, but I HIGHLY doubt it. That was 24 years ago, and I can almost still hear her. Sorry for the weird tangent...\n\n...aneurysm. ",
"The problem from bleeding often arises from how our placenta is set up. There are three types epithelialchorial, endothelialchorial, and hemochorial. Epi has the most amount of cell layers, it has the blood vessel cells, the conective tissue cells, and the epithelial cells (the layer that forms the limit of what is mom and what is baby). For animals like these, i.e. horses, this means a cleaner delivery (so it attracts less predators) but the babies don't get as a direct access to nutrients and the like.\n\nHumans are on the other end, the hemochorial end. This means the mother's epithelial (border) cells are gone, their conective tissue is gone, even the walls of their blood vessels are gone at the site of the placenta. Because of this, after delivery those vessels have nothing to prevent blood loss. This means a woman must squeeze hard enough after delivery of the baby to pinch those blood vessels off. And that is why I'm not ready to have a baby yet.\n\n_URL_0_",
"One of many ways is a placenta previa. \n\nEssentially, the placenta (a thing attached to the mother that feeds the baby and the umbilical chord is attached to) is in between the baby and the cervix (hole where baby comes out), blocking the baby's path. It's normally on the other (upper) side of the baby.\n\nIt's filled with blood and is fused to the uterus. If the baby is delivered naturally, the placenta may rupture and the mother hemorrhages. Bleeding to death. \n\n",
"I had a c-section with my first and wanted a vbac with my second. There is only a 0.02% of problems with vbacs and I was one of the lucky 0.02% /s \n\nMy son kicked open my first c-section and I was hemorrhaging. We were rushed to an emergency c-section and as the Dr's took out my son they told my husband that they, \"got us just in time.\"\n\n ",
"Lot of answers on here that are close to right but often not answering the question. I'm an obstetrician in the UK and hopefully can help a bit.\n\nFirst, childbirth in developed countries is pretty safe. Major complications are rare and things that kill women in developing countries tend to make you sick in developed countries rather than dead. Overall worldwide childbirth is getting safer though. More information on worldwide mortality here: _URL_0_\n\nHaemorrhage (bleeding) is the main cause of death in developing countries and the main cause of morbidity (illness) in developed countries. The main causes of bleeding are:\n1. Atonic uterus: the big vessels which supply the uterus carry about 500ml a minute by the end of pregnancy. After the baby and placenta are delivered the uterus needs to contract (it is essentially a big muscle) to stop these vessels pumping all that blood out of the body. If that doesn't happen it's bad. Most women don't bleed at 500ml/min but less than that is still pretty quick. Treatment is drugs to make uterus contract or surgical options which I'm not going to detail here. \n2. Retained placenta: if all or part of the placenta is left inside then the uterus can't contract properly. See above. Removal of the retained tissue will sort this.\n3. Trauma: squeezing a baby out of a vagina can be very traumatic depending on relative sizes of the parties involved and how the baby comes out. Chopping open an abdomen and then cutting open a very vascular uterus (see above) can also lead to bleeding. Repairing the trauma is the solution.\n4. Clotting disorders: this is unlikely to be a primary cause of bleeding but after heavy blood loss clotting can become abnormal which worsens the situation. Replacing clotting factors and blood will help this.\n\nOther causes include infection and eclampsia although the mechanism for eclampsia is swelling of the brain rather than the uncontrolled blood pressure that some people are suggesting. It's a complex disease that isn't completely understood but we do know it's potentially very dangerous if not treated.\n\nTL;DR bleeding a major cause of death and illness, uterus needs to be empty and contracted, injury from birth and abnormal clotting can also cause problems.",
"I am not a doctor, but one of the seminal works in the history of medicine is Ignaz Semmelweis' study of puerperal fever, which is basically sepsis. I would imagine most deaths from at least the Industrial Era (of maternity wards, etc.) if not earlier were the cause of this. There's a lot of things that can cause death during childbirth but lack of proper hygiene is definitely the largest before it was discovered.\n\nHow he discovered this was interesting. There were two clinics that rotated on opposite days, women were for some reason begging to be let into one clinic over the other due to one clinic's bad reputation. The problem was (and this is a good case study into professional hubris as well), the techniques between the two clinics were nearly identical. The practices were the same, the wards were the same, etc. Except one had an usually high mortality rate.\n\nThe only thing that was different between the two clinics, was that the first taught medical classes and cut up cadavers before they went to the maternity shift. Germ theory was not invented yet, but there was no other difference between the two clinics that could explain the significantly significant higher mortality rates. He instituted hand washing and mortality rates were within the same tolerances of the other clinics. This is an amazing example of using statistical analysis to come up with a solution even if the underlying problem (bacteria), were not understood.\n\nThe irony is that even though he could prove statistically that hand washing significantly lower mortality rates (not even a little bit but over 90% I believe), doctors at other hospitals did not institute it as he had no underlying reason for hand washing to work and for some reason were insulted that they needed to wash hands.\n\nThe more you know!",
"Actually it comes down to two things: bleeding and infection (there are also other causes, like embolism, but they happen rarely). The bleeding can come from anywhere around the birth passage (vagina, cervix, uterus), due to tear of the tissue, or in some cases lost of muscle tones of the uterus.\n\nWhen the uterus cannot contract, then place where the placenta attached would produce much blood. When the placenta loss it's attachments to the uterus, the blood vessels that provided the placenta blood supply needs to be closed in some way so that no bleeding would come. And the most important mechanism for that is the contraction of the uterus. The muscle contraction would close the blood vessels, and it happens usually physiologically. If there are any prolongation of the process of giving birth (breech, or something \"stuck\" , which we call dystopia), then the risk of the loss of muscle tone of the uterus is higher, because of the muscle fatigue. During prolonged birth process, the uterus' muscle would contract much longer than it should have, and after sometime the muscle would not be able to contract anymore because of fatigue. Prolonged birth process may also increase the rate of uterine rupture, which would cause a very bad case of profuse bleeding. In both cases, sometimes it's not possible to stop the bleeding with medications to produce muscle contractions or to repair the uterus, so that a hysterectomy, which is taking to uterus out, might be necessary. \n\nAnd about the infection, it might be interesting for you to read about Ignaz Semmelweis. There are things called puerperal fever, which is uterine infection caused during childbirth. While the bleeding would cause death usually during or directly after childbirth, this infection would kick in a couple of days later. In old times we didn't know the concept of germ (germ theory of disease). So when people are helping to give birth, they introduce bacteria inside the uterus in some way. The bacteria would go inside the uterus, through the opened blood vessels, and would infect it. After some days the bacteria would go in the blood, and would cause blood poisoning (sepsis), and cause multiple organ failure and deaths. At times when antibiotics haven't been invented yet, it is a fatal disease. \n\nThe presence of placenta remnants can cause both problems, bleeding and infection. In physiological situation the size of the uterus would normalize, from the enlarged state of pregnancy, in a couple of days. If this doesn't happen, the blood vessels around the placenta might still bleed. The presence of placenta remnants might also provide medium for bacteria for infection. \n\nI hope it is simple enough to understand. Sorry for bad English, not my first language. \n\nTL;DR Infection and bleeding!",
"I hemorrhaged about 3 hours after giving birth. I've never seen so much blood in my life! Luckily, we were at a great hospital with an incredible postpartum team that reacted quickly. Within 30 seconds there were 12 people at my side, performing what felt like CPR on my uterus, shoving suppositories in my bum, starting another IV of pitocin to induce contractions and telling me to stay with them. That's when shit got real. The issue ended up being a full bladder (pumped with fluids during 32 hour labor and hadn't had a cath in a while to empty my bladder) that was taking up too much space in my abdomen. My uterus couldn't contract back into its normal area so it just filled up with blood. Apparently, if they are unable to stop the bleeding they do an emergency hysterectomy in an attempt to save your life. I had two blood transfusions and was anemic for a while but I'm still rockin my uterus so I consider myself one of the lucky ones! Also, it made me completely forget about any other shitty thing that happens when you give birth, like tearing and stitches and wtf a vacuum assisted birth means. We have one child and I'm not exactly convinced we need to have another. ",
"\"...the worst period you've ever had in your life, and that can last 3-5 days.\"\n\nTry a whole month!\nI delivered a healthy baby naturally a little over 7 weeks ago, I had that worst period ever that you speak of for the first 4 of those weeks. The whole four fucking weeks.\nPlus losing a bit more blood from the wound (tearing).\nAlso, I had an epidural which took two attempts. I lost spinal fluid from that first failed attempt, I think they called it a \"wet tap\", then they moved further down my back to try again...thank God that one went smoothly!\nKeep in mind, a pregnancy normally results in 35-40lb weight gain and, on average, 4-5lb of that is extra blood. When you're pregnant, you're just bursting at the seams with blood that is waiting to explode out of you (and then trickle out slightly slower for a fucking month).\n\nTL;dr you will lose a LOT of blood and bodily fluids.",
"Toxemia, while being rare happens to about 5% of women during their pregnancy. About the last trimester or last three months is when it most likely occurs to those who it may concern, which is relevant because its chances of occurring are higher on 20s something women who are pregnant for the first time. Your chances are even higher if you are diabetic, have heart disease, renal(kidney) problems, and high blood pressure(very common) and it can be problematic if it's too late to go to a hospital because of crowning (baby's head is somewhat outside already) because going to a hospital asap is what I suggest is the best way to go and is the way to go IMHO which is hard because there's an immobile mom and then you start with 1 patient which may end up being 2 patients anytime.",
"I had a baby 7 weeks ago - she was born a week past my due date and was nearly 9 lbs which is bordering on [macrosomia](_URL_0_) (I was 10lbs when I was born so just have a genetic predisposition for large babies). She was also in the 95th percentile for length and head circumference so even after 18 hrs of induction and 2.5 hrs of active labor she hadn't moved an inch. I had to get an emergency c-section as I spiked a fever after pushing for that long - thankfully it went very well but I'd imagine that in a less developed country or lower access to quality medical care I could've easily gone into a septic shock and died from labor.",
"A friend of mine died in childbirth two years ago - she had a stroke. She also had pre-existing medical conditions that made this more likely to happen. ",
"I know many people have answered you already. But this is based only on my experience with my wife's pregnancy.\n\nMy wife had placenta praevia, an extreme case of it along with other complications. Here's the eli5 version as best as I can give based on our experience.\n\nImagine you have a bottle of bubbles. Now imagine a baby growing in a bubble you just blew. When it's time for birth the baby has to go back through the ring that made the bubble. Now, the source of life and blood is between that bubble and the ring. If the baby passes through, it'll pop the bubble and it'll have to tear through its source of blood. This will cause the baby to lose its blood supply, and the mom to bleed to death. Neither make it out alive without modern medicine.\n\nWe were lucky, after a severe tear in the barrier between the bubble and ring, bed rest and medical care saved them both.",
"One very ELI5 explanation that I recently found out (to my dismay) is that the importance of washing one's hands in the medical community didn't become established until after the 1850s or so. If you get the chance, look up [Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis](_URL_0_). Before his sanitary practices became commonplace, doctors may very well have been delivering babies with unwashed hands, after having performed an untold number of procedures beforehand, with any amount of other patients' bodily fluid and diseases present on their hands. Now imagine these hands being placed *inside* a mother's birth canal during childbirth. I have to imagine that this was a major cause of infections in mothers during childbirth for a large amount of history prior to the 1850s, at least in the western world.",
"Well, my wife lost 2 quarts of blood in the process. She's fine, because we delivered in a hospital and a trained medical team was there to stitch her up in real time.\n\nIf we wanted to do something kooky like home birth, she'd have bled out.\n\n¯\\\\\\_(ツ)_/¯",
"So, I'm 100% shitty at pregnancy and birth. But, in my own experience:\n\n1) Retained placenta. You don't always actually get the whole damn thing out after giving birth. If you retain some chunk of the placenta, you keep bleeding. And keep bleeding. And can develop all sorts of nasty infections.\n\n2) Maternal heart defects. In my case, I had a hole between chambers that prevented my blood from getting thoroughly oxygenated. During pregnancy, oxygen consumption increases, and I didn't realize why I felt dizzy and loopy all the time. I would up having a relatively early stillbirth because my oxygen levels couldn't sustain either of us, but full-term would have been almost-definitely fatal for us both.",
"There are 3 main causes, 2 of which are almost nonexistent in modernized countries\n\n1: the placenta tears away and the mother bleeds out. This is the one you'll see in \"modernized countries\"\n\n2: the baby is breach. Simply put the baby is backwards and the mother dies trying to get it out. This is the reason most women have a c-section\n\n3: the most tragic. The baby died and rotted. This starts a septic (system wide) infection that when the mother goes into labor her body can't handle the stress. \n\nEdit: I forgot one that only occurs if you don't get proper treatment brought pregnancy. \n\nPre-eclampsia leads to the mothers blood pressure spiking and her having a heart attack or seizure. This is rare though (200000 cases per year). \n\nBut most usually women die of complications AFTER the birth. ",
"Oh nobody else almost died of HELLP syndrome? Because that was super fun! Stands for Hemolysis, Elevated Liver (enzymes), Low Platelets and it can kill you dead! As I understand it it may or may not be a variant of pre-eclampsia. \n\nSo what happens, roughly, is that for some reason your red blood cells and your platelets get destroyed - they get smashed in this stuff that forms in your little blood vessels. It can also damage your liver, because that's the main place this is happening, and all sorts of stuff downstream. \n\nSo you know all that bleeding stuff everybody else is talking about? Platelets are how you'd normally stop bleeding. Whoops!\n\nWhen they finally caught mine my platelets were almost so low as to make surgery really dangerous - we had to do a C-section under general in the first open OR, and btw it really sucks to wake up after that general anesthesia section. I was extremely lucky, didn't need a transfusion. \n\nWouldn't have been so lucky if, for example, after I went to the doctor three days earlier complaining of all the symptoms that indicated I had a life threatening complication and they sent me home telling me everything was normal, I'd had a bloody car wreck on my way home or something. My platelets were down into IIRC the mid 60's and nobody knew it. \n\n(Tater was fine, born 35 weeks but bigger than expected. Never really did breastfeed effectively though, so if HELLP would like to send me a reimbursement check for formula...)\n\nIt's not a super uncommon complication but for some reason people haven't heard of it. ",
"Doctor, and current trainee in Obstetrics and Gynecology here. \n\n I actually answered this for a friend yesterday oddly enough. \n\n As the anesthetist has said there are multiple causes for death during pregnancy, and I'm assuming the higher rate in the USA is due to weight more than anything. \n\n You can put these deaths in to several categories.\n\n Early pregnancy deaths - Mainly ectopic pregnancies, where the gestational sac, including the foetus is outside of the uterine cavity (such as in the fallopian tube which leads to the ovary). These cause pain, and then haemorrhage at about 5 - 8 weeks as grow larger. This leads to bleeding, pain (usually left or right sided), and sometimes shoulder pain or bowel/bladder irritation. These can be quickly resolved with surgery and there is no way a foetus in an ectopic can be saved. \n\n Then there are the later pregnancy deaths - some of these can be related to the overall condition of the patient prior to pregnancy, such as severe cardiac or respiratory problems. These however are rare as we follow these patients up very closely. \n\nOther risks in the early to late period include placenta praevia - this is where the placenta covers the opening to the uterus (the cervix), and can bleed into it. Usually this is mild and gets better over time (like a balloon expanding, the uterus expands bring the placenta up stopping this). But massive bleeds can occur.\n \n Then there is the risk of deep vein thrombosis which dislodges and goes up to the lungs blocking the blood supply to them. These can be on multiple levels, from mild to utterly severe. Due to the foetus's mass, it can impinge the blood supply back from the legs leading to the blood slowing down which can cause a clot to form (usually a single swollen and painful leg - both legs swelling and not tender is relatively normal in pregnancy)\n\n Moving towards to third trimester we have the big one. Pre-eclampsia - raised blood pressure with protein in the urine (symptoms are a frontal headache with flashing lights/blurred vision - with a raised blood pressure from baseline). This is due to an insufficiency in the placental vessels that invade the uterus (but is still relatively unknown). It may be mild/moderate/severe or fulminant. We treat with blood pressure medication for most.If blood pressure starts creeping up then we will usually induce the pregnancy earlier (the only real cure). However, if the patient has a blood pressure over 160/90 then they have a risk of a pre-eclamptic seizure. If this is the case, or they are seizing there and then we will c-section them.\n\nOthers during this time can include placental abruption, where a burst vessel due to either trauma, the patient being a smoker or cocaine user, or previous abruptions can occur. In the worst case this separates the placenta from the womb, killing the foetus and making the mother bleed to death if medical attention isn't found quickly. Once again, moderate to major ones of these are rare-ish.\n\n Then during pregnancy there is the risk of blood clots in the legs again (7 in 100,000 or so deaths in the UK). Blood loss is also a big thing, c-sections can cause quite severe blood loss (the uterus gets 800ml of blood a minute to lose if it wants). The worst blood loss I've seen is from tears, occurring when the baby exists the vagina. Mild tears can be common, big tears at about 2-4% of vaginal births. I've seen some tears that move into the vaginal walls that have caused approximately 7 litres of blood loss, but I've heard of more being lost - patient survived. \n\n There is also amniotic embolisms - ball of amniotic fluid going from the uterus to the lungs - incredibly rare. \n\n Then there are the anaesthetic risks, and anaphylactic shock from drugs that can kill - once again in a hospital things are pretty safe, an anaethetist is always on site.\n\n Post delivery the risk of clots is still high. The risk of post operative complications is there (but mortality is low in developed countries due to good monitoring and decent aftercare). It is infection which is the big killer here. Group A Streptococcus kills 11 per 100,000. Women are generally anaemic (low in iron), recovering from a traumatic experience for the body, and have a raw uterus post placenta coming away. Any bacteria in the vagina can take advantage of this and cause a very quick and severe septic shock (bacterial toxins causing shut down of organs). However, Group A strep is the one renowned for this, and we are utterly vigilant against it. It is also the bacteria responsible for toxic shock syndrome.\n\n Anyway, that a relatively simple list of the big hitters.",
"I'm pregnant right now. I have something called placenta previa. Basically it means that my placenta is completely blocking the baby's exit route. If I went into labor naturally the placenta could hemorrhage and I could bleed to death. Luckily we have known about it since I was 19 weeks pregnant when it was first noted in an ultrasound. My OB has been monitoring it and I will have a planned c-section just after 36 weeks. It's still a more risky c-section than normal since they will likely have to cut through my placenta but it's a relatively common procedure. \n\nI imagine back in the day many women with placenta previa just died. ",
"As a neurosurgeon, the one that comes to my mind is intracranial bleeding. The labor process is obviously highly stressful and contractions cause temporary rises in blood pressure. I've seen women with develop bleeds into the brain tissue or have an aneurysm rupture and bleed into the fluid around the brain. Both can be fatal.",
"We had a reletively close one with our first. @12 weeks my wife was diagnosed with placenta previa. Basically that's when the placenta that forms for the baby is covering the cervix ( or exit for layman :p) . Anyway we were monitored closely for weeks and had a few cases of bleeding which gave us nightmares about miscarriage.\n\nFinally at 27 weeks ( to the day) , we woke up in the middle of the night and my wife was covered in blood. Rushed her to hospital and got into the maternity. She had suffered a placenta abrupta, basically the placenta had come off the sides of the womb and she was bleeding from the breach. Our son was not ready to come out so the docs and us were hopping to staunch the bleeding and keep him in, even if it meant a prolong stay in hospital for her. However after fighting it for about 2 hours and a couple of pints blood later, her blood pressure started to severely drop and they deemed her at risk as well as the baby. She then had a crash ceaser. \n\nThat abrupta was apparently a common cause of death as the only way to stop it is via surgery and both the mother and child can be lost.\n\n*note* Both are perfectly fine now BTW, son is 4 and spent 85 days in the nicu but all good and we even had our second a year ago with no complications.",
"Not an actual cause, but I'd just like to point out that death by child birth isn't as protected against by evolution. As long as the child makes it out alive, it's enough to pass on that woman's genes, and potentially the genes that causes their mother's death. That's also why it's so painful.",
"Stroke also is a major concern after childbirth, due to the hypercoag state after. I've taken care of a few women who have had post childbirth strokes at the inpatient rehab I work at. ",
"I'd imagine blood loss is a big one, I've no medical experience, but my sister nearly died due to blood loss and nearly lost the baby when she gave birth to her first child. When the hospital asks you if it's okay for a midwife in training to be in the room tell them no because apparently that means in actual place of a qualified midwife. That was in the UK.",
"Uterine Inversion. This is exceedingly rare but was my very first case when I was on the OB service and is memorable. \n\nAs others have explained, sometimes the placenta needs a little bit of help to be delivered after the baby is delivered. Whether it's because the uterus is weak, the placenta is poorly placed, or too far entrenched into the uterus, sometimes it just needs some help. Normally, gentle traction is placed on the cord to facilitate the process. Pull too hard, and you've got yourself an inverted uterus. Excessive traction isn't the only cause though, spontaneous inversion is possible and can occur well after placental delivery in exceedingly rare cases.\n\nThe uterus is shaped like a balloon (to be overly simplistic) where the opening of the balloon is equivalent to the vaginal opening. In uterine inversion, the dome of the uterus inverts and can be seen in the vaginal opening. This can be from pulling too hard on the umbilical cord when trying to facilitate the delivery of the placenta. If the placenta is so entrenched, pulling too hard will bring the rest of the uterus as you pull. Uterine inversion is an emergency and was a surgical emergency in our case because the inversion could lead to shock for some reason.\n\nManual replacement (literally trying to push the uterus back into place with fingers) should be attempted. Ours wasn't successful so we had to operate on this poor young lady. The procedure, called a Huntington, uses graspers to slowly pull the dome back up into place. If this was unsuccessful, we would have had to remove her uterus.\n\nI said it was rare, but common enough to be in almost a medical student OB/GYN literature, likely because of it's mortality. Numbers I see now say between 1/1200 to 1/57000 births with the variability attributed to differences in definition and management.\n\nAll that said, keep making babies.\n\n",
"Although childbirth and pregnancy has become much safer over the years, it still has significant risks for both baby and mother.\n\nBaby:\n-lungs aren't fully developed if baby is born prematurely\n-some heart defects can be serious if not addressed very early in life\n-a number of infections can cross the placenta and cause serious birth defects/death if mom gets them while pregnant\n-babies don't have enough/any gut bacteria producing vitamin K. They can have significant bleeding issues if they experience any trauma (big head going through a little place)\n-sometimes the placenta starts to give up a bit towards the end of pregnancy... If you're not monitoring babies heart and activity it's hard to notice and catch it before it's too late\n-drugs can be bad. Medications have different pregnancy categories to describe how much we know about their safety in pregnancy. Recreational drugs are almost universally very bad for baby in the short term and long term.\n-birth defects can also lead to early termination of pregnancy (generally because the baby didn't have a normal set of chromosomes), or can result in the body being incompatible with life outside of the womb.\n\nMother:\nPostpartum hemorrhage is one of the major causes of death for mothers after delivery. During pregnancy the uterus goes from receiving about 2% of the bodies blood supply to about 25%... Anything that causes a bleed in the pregnant uterus can bleed fast. Causes of bleeds include:\n-Atony: the uterus is too exhausted from delivery to contract down and stop the bleeding\n-Placental abnormalities: in conditions like placenta accreta and percretta the placenta can be rooted too deep in the walls of the uterus, so when it comes out it can cause tears that bleed tremendously. The placenta can also be placed poorly and get in the way of the cervix so the baby can't get out without taking out its blood supply first... This requires a c-section in serious cases.\n-Lacerations: big baby, little hole (cervix), narrow tunnel (vagina), and delicate exit (labia)... Somethings bound to tear. Some tears are superficial and are quick and easy to suture. Cervical tears are on the outermost part of the uterus and can release a tremendous amount of blood.\n-Retained products of conception occurs when the placenta or fetal tissue (in case of spontaneous or therapeutic abortion) does not fully come out in delivery. This tissue can irritate the uterus and cause continuous bleeding and clots. This tissue may also lead to infections that can kill, which is a topic in itself. \n\nIt's also worth noting that childbirth in general is very strenuous... You can think of it like a marathon. If a woman is pregnant and has history of morbid obesity, lung problems, heart problems, or any organ issues then it is very concerning. These women may have a difficult time simply because their bodies can't handle the marathon, so they may get a heart attack or something similar.\n\nPregnancy is full of the wonderful hormone estrogen, and towards the end also involves a lot of sitting without movement. This is the perfect storm for a blood clot that can dislodge and wreak havoc elsewhere in the body.\n\nA very sad reality is that not all pregnancies are wanted, but not all women have access to birth control for prevention or services for safe abortions. Ethics and reasoning aside, the reality is that with or without abortion clinics women will try to terminate pregnancies that are very much unwanted. If safe methods are not available, these women can try dangerous things that can result in poisoning, infection, or bleeding out.\n\nThere are some specific conditions that can occur in pregnancy that are less easy to explain. For example Eclampsia can cause seizures and incredibly high blood pressure that can cause death if the baby isn't delivered quickly. HELLP syndrome is another weird one in which the body starts to break down its own blood cells, the liver begins to fail, and platelets (normal stop bleeding) go dangerously low. The liver can also acutely have problems that lead to failure.\n\n\nFor most of the above, medical doctors are trained to be able to spot these and know the appropriate next steps to keep both mother and baby safe. That said, sometimes things slip through the cracks and/or some situations are too bad for even the most daring intervention. This is why I do not recommend unsupervised home births, and would prefer anyone I love (and anyone in general) to deliver in the hospital. For some doctors it may be about the money, but for the good ones it's about keeping women and children safe.\n\n*apologies for any typos or formatting issues, this was typed on my phone",
"One cause is the egg plants in the wrong location. When the eggs plants in the fallopian tube, this is called about school ectopic pregnancy. Back when they couldn't diagnose this, the pregnancy would go long enough that the tube would rupture and the woman would bleed to death.",
"The three horsemen of death in healthy pregnant women in developed and developing countries:\n\n1. Hemorrhage\n2. Eclampsia leading to seizures\n3. Illegal abortions\n\nHemorrhage happens when placenta separates from the uterus. Most commonly in delivery. The uterus has blood flow of 600 ml/min form 120 spiral arteries. This is massive! The natural inclination of the uterus following delivery is to contract. These contractions cause the arteries to be compressed as the uterus grows smaller and smaller and decreased bleeding. The genital and uterine tract can also sustain lacerations from delivery which can be hard to control. Sometimes, you can have parts of the placenta remain in the uterus so it can't properly compress and the arteries remain bleeding. The other ways it can bleed is when placenta doesn't separate from uterus and you have to remove the uterus from the woman, or placenta prematurely separates and causes hemorrhage for both woman and baby-abruption. There are other reasons like cancers, placenta previa, vasa previa, uterine inversion, and rupture, but they are more uncommon than delivery processes itself. It can often taken more than 2L of blood loss to really affect the woman. This is because your blood volume increases 30-40% in term pregnancy from 4L to 6-7L. \nIf you don't replace blood quickly enough, women die. In our hospital last year, a woman received 17 liters of blood in 48 hours night even as she lost 13L in the surgery where the placenta had invaded through the uterus into the bladder.\n\n\nEclampsia- a unique situation arising from abnormal implantation of placental vessels into the uterus. It causes leaky vessels and causes vessels of body to shrink leading to less blood flow. Women have seizure due to cerebral edema and they become hypoxic where they lack oxygen, or can have strokes, and die.\n\nIllegal abortions are huge and unrecognized as a major source of obstetrical issues in the US. They can cause perforation of the uterus into the abdomen causing massive bleeding. They can also simply cause infection which is how most women die. A 17 yr old woman died last week in hour hospital from sepsis after not seeking care after having illegal abortion from an unknown midwife in a big US city. \n\nThere are some other very, very rare conditions like heart failure, or allergic response to amniotic fluid in woman's blood which can cause embolism.",
"Most women in the old days died from infections likely caused by the doctor unknowingly. It was only until one doctor figured out washing hands significantly cut down on infection rates and germ theory to establish a causal link. ",
"Medical student here that's dealt with perinatal maternal demise many times.\n\nUltimately there are two reasons. One is hemorrhage, as many people have described already. Baby has a big bundle of veins and arteries that help feed it while it's growing in mom (the placenta and umbilical cord). If this tears or ruptures during birth, it can cause a huge amount of blood loss over a short period of time leading to death. This isn't seen much anymore in hospitals because ultrasound allows us to visualize the major bundles of vessels and determine before birth of the child whether or not the mom is likely to bleed.\n\nThe second and more sinister cause is something called an amniotic fluid embolism. This is rarer but almost always fatal. Basically, a small amount of amniotic fluid (8-10mL) - the fluid that baby is floating in while growing in mom's womb - accidentally finds its way through the major blood vessels I previously talked about. Once that happens, it goes to the heart, and the heart essentially gets clogged with this stuff since it's not the same consistency as blood. Then the heart starts fibrillating instead of actually pumping (i.e. starts to quiver), and the patient rapidly dies.",
"The uterine artery supplies ~700ml of blood per minute to the uterus. A 70kg woman has approx 4500-5000ml blood volume. One can exsanguinate in a matter of minutes. Yea, I never recommend home births.\n\n-anesthesiologist ",
"It's been pointed out already, but the worst thing that can really happen to a woman having a baby is an amniotic embolism. They are very rare so there is not much reason to worry, but if they do happen it's like a 95% mortality rate. My dad is an OBGYN and he is kind of a legend in his hospital and with his fellow OB's because he saved a lady that had one. He will be the first to tell you he was lucky bc he was right there when she started having symptoms, but it's still a really cool story to hear, especially the amount of blood the lady lost and something like they had to use all available blood, of her type, that was on the floor to keep her alive. ",
"Hemorrhage caused by the uterus not contracting down like it should, or from parts of the placenta remaining in the uterus following delivery.\n Infections such as chorioamnionitis not being discovered/treated properly. \nAmniotic embolism, which is amitotic fluid getting into the blood stream and then heart/lungs. Pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot traveling to the lungs. Placenta previa, which is where the placenta either partially or completely covers the cervix. When this is the case, and the cervix begins to dialate, the placenta bleeds VERY heavily and the patient can die within minutes. Placent accreta, which is where the placenta is deeply embedded in the uterus and when removed can bleed heavily. Often results in a hysterectomy. And Vasa Previa where the umbilical cord attaches to the side of the placenta instead of the middle. Mom and baby can both bleed to death before anyone knows what's happening. Also, mothers who have a previously undiagnosed heart condition can suddenly arrest. Finally, PIH/HELLP syndrome, previously known as eclampsia. Mom can have a seizure or stroke which can prove fatal. \n-IAmA OB nurse\nEdit cause I remembered one and to add credentials.",
"So, something I've not seen addressed here too much is the importance of is Obstructed Labor. It's not a big deal in the developed world b/c we have C Sections so it's not really a risk factor for death anymore. But obstructed labor is the reason behind a significant number of C Sections in the developed world. Yes, in most cases Obstructed Labor will resolve without killing the mother or the child but you frequently don't know until it's too late, which is why most doctors C Section early and often rather than risk the health of the mother and child.\n\nHOWEVER... and this a big however... most people in the developing world today don't have access to surgeons or C sections and Obstructed Labor is still a really big deal. Sometimes you get a dead baby. Sometimes you get a dead mom. Sometimes you compromise blood flow to the baby and you get cerebral palsy. And sometimes you get Obstetric Fistula which I haven't seen mentioned once in the comments here so I have to say something.\n\nOne hundred years ago this was common in the US. Most people don't even know what it is anymore but its a part of life in the developing world. Two million women in Africa and SE Asia have untreated fistulas today. So what is it? Pressure from the prolonged birthing process causes tissue to die, creating an abnormal opening between the vigina and rectum or bladder causing the woman to leak and stink for the rest of her life.\n\nYeah, maybe we do too many C Sections in the US, but not having the option is freaking horrible and you should hug your OB."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.britannica.com/science/puerperal-fever",
"http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/ignaz-semmelweis-doctor-prescribed-hand-washing/"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-evolutionary-benefit-or-purpose-of-having-periods"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/93/3/14-148627/en/"
],
[
"http://nitroflare.com/view/0E16CAB1642BE71/Am-Medicine.com-210815-m192.pdf"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/reprod/placenta/structure.html"
],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs348/en/"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_for_gestational_age"
],
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
2i2g6q
|
genetically speaking, what purpose does different hair types pose?
|
i.e: Coarse hair, thin hair, thick hair, et cetera.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2i2g6q/eli5_genetically_speaking_what_purpose_does/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cky75ym"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Nothing. It's a mutation. Not all mutations provide an advantage.\n\n\nMutations are a different evolutionary process than natural selection."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
1t84ch
|
how do dumb people get into such positions of power?
|
It seems that more often than not, dumb people come into positions of power. Like managers, government officials, or what have you. How does this keep occuring?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1t84ch/eli5_how_do_dumb_people_get_into_such_positions/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ce5b4t1",
"ce5b6pb",
"ce5bcq4",
"ce5bnrr"
],
"score": [
4,
2,
3,
6
],
"text": [
"Managers and government officials aren't dumb. It's fun to portray them that way, but they're generally pretty bright people, at least in their area of expertise.",
"The best advice my brother ever told me was that at work you never want to be the worst employee OR the best. Always aim for the middle. If you suck you get fired. If you're the best you'll never get promoted because they depend on you too much.\n\nI didn't understand this until I worked at Dell Computer for 1 year. I watched middle of the road techs get promoted to supervisor and manager while the top guys were stuck on the phones. Lesson learned when I got my promotion handed to a guy who's next job was working the cash register an Staples.",
"**Managers:** Who gets promoted? For generalities sake, we will assume it is someone who has decent social skills and is good at their job. They get promoted to be a mid-level manager. Well who gets promoted from a mid-level manager to an upper-level manager? Same assumption, the better middle manager. This keeps happening all the way to the top. You are then left with the worst people at each position, since they were not promoted. Basically you get moved on every place that you are good and then find a final resting point when you reach mediocrity.\n\n**Politicians:** Politicians come into power by knowing how to be good at politics. This involves influencing people, public relations, and high charisma. This does not involve knowing how to best run a state/country. So they seem \"dumb\" when you judge them as a policy maker, but they are smart when you judge them as a politician.",
"_URL_0_\n\nPeople are promoted to their level of incompetence."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle"
]
] |
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