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2v01b4 | with radioshack filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy, what really happens when a large corporation goes bankrupt? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2v01b4/eli5_with_radioshack_filing_for_chapter_11/ | {
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"Well, when you go bankrupt, it generally means that your debts and liabilities outweigh the value of your assets. So, filing bankruptcy means that you need to extract as much value as you can from your assets, use them to pay your debts, and whatever debt is left is forgiven. It's similar with a corporation. \n\nSo, there will be layoffs, they will mark down everything in the stores low enough that it sells, they will sell their stock, warehouses, and retail operations to other companies (reportedly, Sprint is buying half of their retail stores, the fate of the rest is undecided), and then when everything is gone, or, sometimes, when the court says enough is gone, they will either close up (like Borders), or try to rebuild (like Best Buy)",
"Chapter 11 is reorganization, but can ultimately be a total wind down of the business. Chapter 11 usually keeps existing management in place (debtor in possession), which is very important because they know everything about the business and which parts generate most profit. In some cases the outstanding liabilities can be reduced to create a profitable business from existing assets. The surviving profitable business can be sold or continue on after bankruptcy. Bankruptcy basically provides really good legal tools to trim the fat. Bankruptcy under Chapter 11 is a very effective way to restructure existing contracts and agreements. You usually see debt refinanced, revised labor agreements, renegotiated or sale of leases, and other measures to reduce costs while preserving value of the business and some lesser value to outside businesses. Loans and other debt can be modified. Of course many of these agreement alterations must be approved. There is also a very complicated process involving voting as a way to give power for debt owners to approve plans to ensure fairness and not one-sided agreements. A judge overseas the whole process and can force certain things under bankruptcy law. Assets are sold with court oversight as necessary to generate cash."
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1r6vrp | why don't i roll out of bed like i use to when i was little? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1r6vrp/eli5_why_dont_i_roll_out_of_bed_like_i_use_to/ | {
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"Because now you know the world sucks.\nIgnorance is bliss."
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2uaku9 | when and how does a baby chicken realize it's in an egg and needs to get out? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2uaku9/eli5_when_and_how_does_a_baby_chicken_realize_its/ | {
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"When the chick gets to large and runs out of its food source (the yolk) it either has to leave the egg or it will die.",
"SO, it actually has nothing to do with size, or food, and the bird (or reptile) never \"realizes\" it, if by realize you are speaking of a conscious act. Pipping, or the breaking of the shell from the inside, is a reflex, and is caused by decreasing oxygen and increasing carbon dioxide levels, much as you \"reflexively\" breathe due to the same factors should you try and hold your breath for too long. \n\n_URL_0_",
"I wonder if any chickens die before breaking free?",
"I always felt like the chick was going on every day, in the shell until that one day when,\"oh oh oh cramp, cramp, cramp, oh oh oh, ok stretch out, stretch,aaahhh,...hey why is it so bright?\""
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5uji8t | why are power line wires exposed and not covered with a coating? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5uji8t/eli5_why_are_power_line_wires_exposed_and_not/ | {
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"Air is an excellent insulator, so further insulation is not necessary. In addition to addition expense, it would also serve as a heat insulator, which would limit the amount of power that could be transferred.\n\nThe are designed in a such a way that water will drip off the wires and not cause a short circuit.",
"Only overhead power lines are bare wires, because they need to be light. They're put high enough up that nothing should be able to touch two wires or a wire and the ground or a grounded object.\n\nUnderground power lines are insulated and sheathed."
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a7ht03 | in the uk, what does the title of sir actually mean and what benefits does it come with? | In the sense of Paul Mccartney being a Sir | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a7ht03/eli5_in_the_uk_what_does_the_title_of_sir/ | {
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"You can only use the title \"Sir\" if the queen/king of the UK bestows a knighthood on you. Being knighted is the highest honor available with other lesser titles also available including MBE, OBE etc.\n\nNo real benefits other than public recognition.\n\nI'm sure others will provide a better explanation. ",
"It means you’re a knight if the realm; there are various degrees of this, most involving gifts of land deeded by the monarchy.\n\nIt also means the person is sworn to defend the monarchy with their life, and their ancestors have a shot at becoming part of the peerage.\n\nBut that’s really simplified explanation, and most knighthoods given out these days don’t actually involve transfer of land title (they’re the most basic form).\n\n[edit] For example, when novelist Sir Terry Pratchett got his knighthood, he figured he should follow things to the letter, so he bought a forge and made his own sword on which he engraved his new coat of arms. That way he was actually ready to defend the Queen with his sword, as required, because he actually had a sword that was his.\n\nOh yes; Knights of the realm also have license to travel in public with swords.\n\n[edit2] aargh! How did I miss autocorrect somehow thinking Pritchett was a more noble name than Pratchett? I mean, I don’t even know of any Sir Pritchetts...."
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8dxta8 | why do adults snore louder and more often than kids? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8dxta8/eli5_why_do_adults_snore_louder_and_more_often/ | {
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"The same way an old engine makes more ticks and clicks than a brand new Honda engine. Older age means more respiratory disease, wear and tear in respiratory tissues, medication side effects ect. All of which reduce respiratory function and efficiency\n\nEdit: a word",
"A lot of it is because there are a lot more fat adults than fat kids. Fat people snore more and are more prone to sleep apnea.",
"Snoring occurs due to semi collapse of the upper respiratory 'tubes'. This produce turbulent flow and thus the sound. Kids don't really have a lot of excessive fat and thus they have a more open airway. I could also imagine that the connective tissue becomes less elastic with age and therefore the airways collapses more.\n\nThat's my qualified guess :p",
"As we grow older our arms and legs stop growing as our growth plates fuse, but other tissues don't stop entirely. You may have noticed that old people have large ears- this is why. \n \nNow this is important because all of the tissues at the back of your throat also keep growing. This includes your tongue, your soft palette (the bit that's at the back of your throat at the top that you tense when you blow your nose), your vocal cords, and even your jaw a little. \n \n Now all of this is usually held open by your muscles when you're awake but when you fall asleep the muscles relax and the tissues flop into your airway. As you breathe in those tissues flap around and that flapping makes the snoring sound. \n \n(As an extra little thing, some adults have a condition called Acromegally- which is where your body makes way more growth hormone than it should. All of the tissues that aren't fused bone grow a lot and these problems get even worse.)"
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evzs6b | why is milk more filling than water? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/evzs6b/eli5_why_is_milk_more_filling_than_water/ | {
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"It's full of fat, protein, and carbs. Your body needs time to digest that, whereas it can just pass water right on through your kidneys.",
"This is better in r/answers."
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2go3mx | how does wikipedia deal with spam? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2go3mx/eli5_how_does_wikipedia_deal_with_spam/ | {
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"1. They have bots which automatically clean out spam and vandalsim.\n2. New users can't add external links\n3. The people who want to improve wikipedia are far more dedicated and have much better tools than spammers who want to screw it up.",
"I really hate it when jerks respond on ELI5 with a Google Search or Wikipedia link... but in this case the actual policy page really is the best answer: [Wikipedia:Vandalism](_URL_0_)"
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6tcd4c | why is gold considered a hedge against armageddon. | Currently reading a book called 'The Elements of Investing' by Burton Malkiel and Charles Ellis.
It claims that during times of uncertainty, investors fled towards gold, and for this reason, it is known as 'a hedge against armageddon'. Also, that it is the commodity of choice for diversification in investing.
Why is this the case? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6tcd4c/eli5_why_is_gold_considered_a_hedge_against/ | {
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"I think the thought process is that gold has universal value. Paper currency or stock in companies does not.",
"Reverse post-hoc fallacy, believing that because ancient societies all traded gold, then the collapse of modern civilization would automatically revert back to that status. ",
"Paper currency is only as good as the faith in the government that backs it up. If the government collapses, those note become worthless. Gold, on the other hand, has inherent value in pretty much every culture on earth. So, its value will never go to 0.",
"Gold tends to hold it's value (and increase in value) during times of economic uncertainty. This is because it is a valuable commodity not directly tied to any industry or government. When we talk about investing in gold we aren't talking about physical gold in most cases. Investors buy gold-backed investment vehicles.\n\nOnly nations and dupes buy actual gold. Nations because they can buy enough to have a serious market effect, and dupes because the TV convinced them to bury gold coins in the yard.",
"It would probably be worthless in Armageddon scenario as a society degraded that far is primarily reduced to a currency of bare neccessitis(food and water). However it can be useful in an economic downturn, as it tends to atleast somewhat hold its value regardless of how the market is doing. Treasury bonds would probably be a better vehicle for this type of investment though."
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6u3kw1 | why does hunger feel so much stronger than thirst, despite dehydration coming about quicker. | For example if I don't eat for a day I feel like I'm on the brink of starving to death, but if I don't drink for a day(I know you some liquid from eating) I don't feel like I about to die from dehydration. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6u3kw1/eli5_why_does_hunger_feel_so_much_stronger_than/ | {
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"Sounds subjective. I fast regularly, and going 24 hours without food isn't nearly as big of a deal to me as missing a meal was before I started fasting. When I'm dehydrated, on the other hand, I pass out easily.",
"Personally I know where you're coming from, and I don't think its totally subjective. One possible answer : food contains water, and is often consumed with water. Unless you consume nothing but dry wafers eating tends to provide some fluid intake, so hunger signals function to help both eating and drinking.\n\nSecond possible reason : people eat too frequently. I'm the similar to the other poster in that I fast semi reguarly - I don't tend to eat breakfast or lunch, and I rarely start eating till half 7 / 8 pm. I don't notice hunger pangs as much. When you get used to eating reguarly, your body expects it and starts desiring more faster. Fluid intake is less ritualised, and involves less preparation on the part of the body, so for most people the signals warning about \"intake required\" would be less strident for water than for food",
"Hunger generally starts when the body stops metabolizing food and starts using stored energy, but there isn't really an equivalent for thirst. That being said, hunger pangs hurt, but being dehydrated feels like walking around with a concussion after sprinting for a mile or two. It's not \"painful,\" but I wouldn't be able to function at all after 24h without water.",
"Completely reverse for me. I drink all the time. A minimum of 2L/day. Up to 3L plus whatever is in food.\nFood - beyond some annoying stomach growls, meh.",
"Have you ever had a dehydration headache? Those are the worst.",
"If you have any appreciable amount of body fat, its unlikely that its true hunger. Its just the feeling of your body switching from using recently eaten food as energy to using fat stores. Wait 20 to 30 minutes and the feeling will subside.\n\nIf you start to feel sick, what you're feeling is withdrawal from sugar.\n",
"If you're actually dehydrated, thirst feels way stronger than hunger. I know from cutting weight for wrestling that hunger pangs disappear when you are truly thirsty. I think you're probably just not that dehydrated. ",
"This is coming from a person that didn't eat solid foods for a month and was only allowed to have fluids. \n I think it's a combination of things - I think it's got a little bit to do with what you eat - sugars, iirc, make you crave food more quickly. I think never feeling *really truly* hungry makes it feel like when your stomach growls you're STARVING. But after a couple days of not eating, pangs get to be WAY less intense. It becomes just more of an empty feeling. With liquids, in my experience, you don't feel them as a feeling of needing water. You feel it as \"I'm lethargic, I have a headache, my muscles feel tight, nothing sounds good to eat, my mouth is dry, maybe my pee is too yellow?\" I think its just that we aren't used to feeling what hungry feels like so we think we need food way more often than we should. Also we misattribute what that feeling is; next time you're hungry - drink a couple of glasses of water and see if you're still hungry. If you are - you were actually hungry, if you aren't, you were probably just thirsty. Idk if any of this is based on real science, just my personal experiences and interpretations of those things.",
"Trust me the need for thirst is a whole lot stronger then hunger....you can get by doing light work with out eating pretty easy for a week.\nTry working with out water the need to drink doesn't pass like hunger.",
"Anecdote: as a weight class athlete, the need for water is nearly insatiable during a cut. You forget the hunger in 24 hours. ",
"I'm the other way i hate to be thirsty but I can skip food without too much trouble for a while ",
"Most of the time the sensation you think as \"hunger\" is really just your body signaling that it needs water.",
"That's because of our modern, sugar rich diet.\n\nThe body looses it's ability to easily process fat storages when it gets lots of easy calories from sugar. Someone who's eating less that 10 grams of simple carbohydrates a day will be a lot more fat adapted and their body will be able to reside in a fasted state for multiple days without the dire need to restock supplies, because it can use up all those tens of thousands of calories stored in fat. (Remember, one kilogram of body fat has about 9000 calories, so the typical man carries around 140,000 Calories) \n\nIf you supply the body with lots of simple carbohydrates tho, it will loose the ability to process fat easily and start depending only on glycogen reserves in the muscles and liver. And those deplete easily. So after just a few hours of fasting, your body will scream \"GIV ME LOOOTS OF CARBS NAU!\"\n\nOur ancestors did not have this problem since they ate mammoth and not chocolate and doughnuts.",
"I have gone to the hospital due to being dehydrated before, mostly as a jackass kid doing stuff outside in the summer and not drinking any water because \"water is gross!\"\n\nThat was in 1 day of just being active in the sun and not hydrating. When you are as dehydrated as I was, your head hurts like you have a concussion, your stomach feels nausceous, and you just feel like you want to die.\n\nSo I am not sure what you are describing is actual dehydration, because actual dehydration is terrible."
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4ft8i3 | what privileges/rights does a us president gain when he declares a state of emergency? | Also, is this stuff written in law some where? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ft8i3/eli5_what_privilegesrights_does_a_us_president/ | {
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"It's essentially a way to free up money tied in funds.\n\nA city may have a highway fund of $50 million, operating budget of $20 million, social programs of $10 million, and a retirement fund set to pay out retirees in 30 years currently being invested (like social security) of $50 million.\n\nA huge disaster hits and destroys all the roads. A state of emergency would let them borrow from rainy day funds. Potentially taking $15 million from the retirement fund (paying it back later). The federal government also gives states funds for various things. A state of emergency allows them to channel money there that wasn't previously there for them.\n\nI remember 10 years ago Arizona had a hell rain storm and the governor declared a state of emergency. Basically all it did was channel funds towards emergency services, search and rescue operations, and repair. \n\nIn Fergusson Missouri during the protests, the governor declared one too. Basically it gave him the power to in act a curfew since the city was literally burning itself down. He was also able to deploy his state's national guard and give them power to basically protect assets like the police headquarters in a way beyond what the police could do.\n\nedit: Specifically see the law _URL_0_\n\nCurrently, fair trade laws basically say we can buy stuff from any country, give money to cousins in Europe, anything. But a National Emergency order after 9/11 blocked trading with assets who have terrorist ties. Since the executive branch enforces laws, they can't chose to not enforce being arrested for drunk in public. But the courts would very quickly would pass a judgement saying he wasn't fulfilling his duties. Especially since congress hates Obama. However if our whole water supply was contaminated with something that made 99% of the people drunk 24/7, he could issue a state of emergency declaring not to arrest drunks in public. That way it wouldn't be grounds for suing him for not doing his job."
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1bgjx3 | r/spacedicks | Alright, since most people are just saying something along the lines of "I'll explain when you're older" and other unhelpful stuff like that, lets say this is a matter of **LIFE OR DEATH** and you have to address the subject. Internet point depend on this. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1bgjx3/eli5_rspacedicks/ | {
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"It's where nightmares are made. ",
"Some people like to post some weird stuff to the internet.\n\nSome of those people like to put it where other people who like to post weird stuff to the internet can look at their weird stuff too, so they can all comment on their weird stuff.\n\nr/spacedicks is full of very very weird people. Just stay away from it, kiddo, until you're a bit older.",
"There is a website called 4chan where almost everyone posts anonymously. On 4chan there is a section call /b/ which was traditionally an \"everything goes\" forum where people competed to post the most disgusting and shocking material. These people became desensitized to this shocking material and now find it grimly humorous. Some of them have since left 4chan and created their own subreddit to share the shocking pictures while laughing at the average redditors who don't find so funny."
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2d9o9b | as ice melts it gets colder? | Everyone keeps saying that when ice melts it uses heat to change form. Where does the energy go? Can it come back? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2d9o9b/eli5_as_ice_melts_it_gets_colder/ | {
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"The energy \"melts\" the structure of ice. The energy required to melt ice is roughtly the same energy to get liquid water from 0° to 80°, and thats why ice keeps your drink so cool.\n\nEdit: To clarify, ice has a structure that requires less energy than the structure of water, so if your freeze water (take energy from it) it goes to that low-energy state, which is ice. The structure just describes how your particles are put together."
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vntyt | what is being 'semitic' and 'anti-semitic' | I've read definitions but it never clicks, does this word only applies to Jewish? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vntyt/eli5_what_is_being_semitic_and_antisemitic/ | {
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"The word \"Semitic\" refers to a bunch of associated ancient racial groups; Jews are included, as are Arabs. The word \"Anti-Semitic\", however, refers only to disliking Jews.",
"In the Bible, Shem was one of the three sons of Noah, and the ancient Jews believed that they and most other people from the Middle East were descended from him. That's the origin of \"Semitic.\" Much later, linguists discovered that Hebrew, Arabic and some other languages like Akkadian and Aramaic are all closely related, and they started calling these the Semitic languages based on the Bible. \n\nPrejudice against Jews has existed for a very, very long time, and was traditionally based, at least in Christian countries, on the idea that the Jews had \"killed Christ.\" In the late 19th century in Europe, however, this religious anti-Judaism gave way to a pseudo-scientific anti-Judaism that held that the Jews were *genetically* inferior, and that this couldn't be fixed by converting to Christianity. This sort of bigotry needed a new name, and the bigots came up with a new word by themselves: \"Antisemitism.\" \n\nWhile they probably weren't very fond of Arabs, they didn't really think about them at all, since there weren't any in Europe at the time. They applied the term only to Jews, and that meaning has stuck. "
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17p63c | why hasn't the design of the incandescent light bulb changed for an incredibly long time? | Additional question: What if a good way to make them last longer? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17p63c/eli5_why_hasnt_the_design_of_the_incandescent/ | {
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"Well there's only so far a technology can physically develop. An incandescent light bulb is a relativity simple technology, that has probably hit it's peak of development (or worth furthering research on devolving rather than finding new technologies.) The light bulb has been around for 200 years, and has gone through many iterations and improvements.\n\n\nAnd as nmerrill showed, there are far better alternative technologies to incandescent light bulbs.",
"There are a lot of reasons. Here are a few: price, technology, government policy, and tradition.\n\n\n**Price:** newer types of bulbs have a larger up-front cost, but this cost is usually payed back over the life of the bulb (e.g a bulb may cost $5, but save $15 in electricity over the life of the bulb).\n\n\n**Technology:** bulb replacement technology hasn't always been available. The first CFLs came out in the early 1980s and were horrible. The light was very blue, it flickered, and the bulb made a humming noise. These technological issues have since been resolved, but it took some time. For LED bulbs, we just recently figured out how to make one that puts out as much light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb. This was just a couple years ago.\n\n\n**Government Policy:** In the world today, most developed nations have stated to ban traditional incandescent bulbs (more accurately, they have set electricity usage to light requirements which the old bulbs can't meet). This has made it clear to manufacturers that it is worth it to invest billions of dollars into light bulb technology. Without government action like this, the manufacturers would have been less confident in investing so much time and money.\n\n**Tradition:** When incadescent bulbs first came to the market, a large percentage of the population vowed to never have one in their homes. They liked their kerosene lamps and candles. They did not want to change. The same thing is happening with the incandescent bulb. This is simply human nature.",
"Your question reminded me of this frikkin awesome documentary of about planned obsolescence. [Video snippet](_URL_0_), and the whole documentary, I can't find... but Im sure someone else may be able to.\n\nELI5 version: Because companies want you to keep them in business."
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1nu6q9 | why do some psychopathic people experience satisfaction after killing others. | I just saw the movie Mr Brooks, and I couldn't help but wonder why and how he got satisfaction after murdering people. Please explain like I'm 5 | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1nu6q9/why_do_some_psychopathic_people_experience/ | {
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"Being a psychopath and enjoying or getting satisfaction out of murder are two different mental conditions. They just happen to occure simultaneously most of the time.",
"Hi I'm studying to be a neuroscientist. There's a great episode of [*Morgan Freeman's Through The Wormhole*](_URL_0_) where they talk about what makes people psychotic.\n\nBasically your mind is wired to feel empathy and the emotions of other human beings, this helps us get along and communicate. They found when you show people images of people getting hurt the viewers brain \"lights up\" in the same areas as if they were being hurt. A psychopath is anyone who can't feel empathy as a result of a defective brain. So they literally can't feel wrong about what they did. They often have a imbalance of dopamine, this is not always the case however. Dopamine is a hormone which makes you feel good. You get a rewarded by it by eating, having sex, by attaining something, or by interacting positively with your fellow man. Since psychopaths can't get this good feeling by being social instead they take to drug use or by being sadistic. Causing harm to others invokes a predatory like instinct. Adrenaline flows through you increasing your your odds of survival and the rush is addictive and rewarding. \n\ntl; dr Psychopaths kill because they're unhappy and it makes them feel better."
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6fh7m2 | why does walmart waste money on all their checkout stations but they never have more than a couple open? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6fh7m2/eli5_why_does_walmart_waste_money_on_all_their/ | {
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"They never have more than a few open **on normal business days**.\n\nThey open almost all of them during like black Friday and right before Christmas and etc. \n\nThey have registers for their maximum amount they'll need at the busiest point in the year. Not what they think they need on a random Tuesday. They simply open and staff as many as they think they'll need that day. ",
"A few reasons. All Walmarts are designed to basically look the same. I know that fishing and sporting is most likely located by automotive. Tvs and computers are in the back with the pet supplies. Food on the right, clothes on the left, kids toys left of that. \n\nThis allows me to find anything I need no matter where I am. It also means that most stores are the same size, no matter the customer base. \n\nAnother reason is surge levels. After Sunday at around 11 my local walmart is packed. All registers are open and they all have lines. \n\nBasically its better to have it and not need it, than need it and miss out on a sale because no one is waiting in a line wrapped half way around the store to buy a pillow",
"It is also a security barrier between the 'have not paid' and 'have paid' area of the store. In the floorplan of any WMs I've been in there is no easy route to get past the checkouts without paying.",
"I've read that it's also psychological—it has to do with creating the appearance of having a *lot* of customers who are buying lots of stuff (just never when you're there). \n\nIt's what people expect when they walk into a big store—to see a lot of registers. Shoppers who pick a big store (for various reasons) want visual confirmation that they are indeed walking into a big store. \n\nI mean, yeah, the building size and parking lot size are also dead giveaways, but I'm sure consumer research has shown that a long row of lots of cash registers has a positive effects on customers' perceptions, too.",
"If a checkout isn't open then how has any money been wasted?\n\nIf a checkout was open, but not being used.. then money is being wasted, but it costs no money to not have someone run a till.",
"All major retailers use software for scheduling that pulls in all the sales data from the last year. If they weren't doing much business at nine in the morning last year then you're only going to get enough cashiers to meet last years sales. Holidays are a different story though most places will have everyone open on those days.",
"It's because they don't like wasting money. Especially not when it means you the customer will be checked out faster, decreasing the potential of you purchasing/remembering you forgot something while waiting to get checked out.\n\n\nEdit: gram crackers",
"I will answer your question with another question:\n\nWhy do sports stadiums have 100,000 seats when the typical game doesn't draw that many spectators?",
"Before they had self checkouts at Walmart, my dad, when faced with a very long set of lines on only a few tills would proceed to bellow at the top of his lungs, over and over:\n\nWE NEED MORE CHECKERS! WE NEED MORE CHECKERS!\n\nHighly effective. Always funny to watch the rapid response time. ",
"Next question: why do they not have hand baskets any more?? ",
"So I worked in POS design for a major retailer for many years.\n\nThere are a few answers. As others have said, they build them out for peak load. Putting in a bunch of cash registers that get very little use, while not cheap, isn't that big of a number on their bottom line.\n\nAdditionally, you have excess capacity for when systems go down. Your store staff isn't going to be able to do more than swap out a few basic plug in components, and in many companies, they won't even go as far as that. You will need to wait a day or two for a tech to show up. Hell, even if your staff could do something like swap in a new scanner, you are still knocking that line out of service for the amount of time it takes someone to go find a spare, unbox it, set it all up, etc.\n\nAlso having a bunch of lanes, even though they aren't in use at the MOMENT can simplify bringing added cashiers in or out quickly. You can have someone hop onto a new register and get going without disrupting the existing line for the minute or two it takes to swap someone out.\n\nAlso, in a perfect world, stores are rotating their use among the registers. This helps reduce the wear and tear on them making failures like a swipe reader or pin pad wearing out less likely, and discovering that that register you planned on using for the biggest day of the year is dead.\n\nEdit: Quick additional item i thought at. You also have product at the store in those lanes, and want to try and maximize what sells, what the variety is between lines, and collect metrics on it. Did the pogs not sell well because you only put them on every 3rd checkout lane, and the store in question for whatever reason never uses lanes 3 6 and 9? Lane 2 is heavy on magazines that are all at the end of their run, lets send some extra traffic there and try and move them. Hell, even \"the candy they stocked on lane 5 is almost expired, lets work that one extra hard today\".\n\nWe played around with all kinds of optimization stuff but found it was pretty much ignored at the local level for various reasons, some valid, so we gave up on it, but I'd be surprised if someone on the scale of a walmart or target wasn't using automation for at least some form of lane selection.\n",
"Reminds me of the Carrefour in Dubai. It feels like there is a kilometre of checkouts there",
"In addition to what other posters said about capacity during rush periods, Wal-Mart also has the spare registers in case one breaks. They can quickly transfer the waiting customers to a new line with minimal interruption to other people already waiting. ",
"I used to work there. You must go there during the week, because on the weekend its swamped and every register is open. Also when everyone gets off work (4-7) its super busy and most registers are open.",
"Interesting question! I think WalMart should take a few lanes out and turn the space into a lounge. A couple whiskeys takes the edge off that craphole. I love their prices, though...",
"I think they should just install half of the stations they regularly do, in place of the other half they put a delicious nacho bar. Because if I am going to be in line, I may as well have nachos ",
"I feel the same way about drive thru windows. Why is the first one always closed?",
"Back in the day when Walmart was trying to put K-mart out of business, they used to actually have a lot of checkers. It was the reason I switched to Walmart. I hated the ridiculous wait in the K-mart line.\n\nBut after Walmart surpassed K-mart and old Man Walton died, they changed and went to minimal checkers. Now the wait in line is Walmart is exactly like it used to be in K-mart, the reason I switched to begin with.",
"I'm more interested in why they never fix the broken price check scanners throughout the store. Every time I go into a new wal-mart, I dread finding the inevitable product without a price, because I know I'll end up walking around the whole store in order to find the one scanner that isn't broken.\n\nAnd add to that - why not remove the \"Price Check\" sign when they remove the scanners? That's just cruel.",
"Retail CSM here. \n\nA lot of it sadly has to do with scheduling around budget. \n\nSo If you look at say... June 5th of last year, the store made $X in profit.\n\nFast forward to June 5th of this year and you'll be given X amount of payroll hours for your cashiers based on last years sales.\n\nThe system is moronic, since it almost never matches up and you'll have lines and upset customers because we just don't have people scheduled. Plus not everyone in the store is register trained so we can't exactly pull someone from produce and get them upfront. ",
"Read a lot of post but didn't see one mention this.\n\nThey pay their people shit, and usually don't hire the best of the best, it's a high turnover job anywhere. When you have so many spare tills you can have each till be touchedby only one person a day. This is great incentive to not steal since there will be no finger pointing or doubt.",
"They don't waste money. They get their products dirt cheap so they can afford to have some checkouts open",
"If you're waiting for a cashier that's a cost for you. If a cashier is standing there waiting for a customer that's a cost for the store. It's most profitable to have cashiers available at the exact rate that customers arrive, but that's impossible in practice so the next best thing is to pass on the cost to the customer instead of the store. The best way to do that is to close checkouts and make customers stand in line. Not to mention that impulse purchases often happen when customers are waiting in line.",
"I work at King Soopers and I can confirm that it's based on peak needs. We have 8 large checklanes (plus 10 self and 4 express), but most of the time only have 3 or 4 open.",
"Why does no one that works there ever know where anything is located? ",
"they don't have any registers open after midnight around here. if you're going to basically force me to work for free for you in order to purchase my groceries from your store, then there may be some inaccuracies on that fucking receipt when i'm done. a few weeks ago they had 2 cashiers up there speaking spanish and talking about some dudes cock (but that part was in english) right in front of me while i scanned my shit and never bothered to scan the 23 gallon trash can under my cart. they were 6 feet from me. never noticed. maybe if they lose enough money to shrink they'll put someone on a fucking register. ",
"Man, I was at Wal-Mart the other night, pretty late and the only lit up registers were their self checkout ones. So I begrudgingly made my way over, scanned 3 items, all of which wouldn't let me scan properly.. It was kind of embarrassing, so I asked the clerk standing nearby if she could cash me out. She took me to a register and cashed me out. Maybe if I had just a few items, I would've felt more comfortable, but I had like $150 worth of groceries and I don't feel like it's my responsibility to do the self checkout when they have employees who should be more than capable of checking me out.",
"Go there on a black friday for 5 minutes and see how busy it is, and realize how much money its worth to the years bottom line, based on what you see that day, to have the capacity just that day to bring up as many registers as humanly possible. ",
"Because nobody wants to pay anyone to work anymore. If you are unemployed today good luck ever finding a job. It is rough for us. ",
"Because machines are cheap and people are expensive.\n\nWalmart, like most businesses, will do as little as possible as long as it doesn't stop people using them. Customers might get annoyed at long lines, poor service, or items out of stock but unless it's bad enough for them to stop coming, nothing will change. Likewise they'll try hard to please you when there's competition but it'll stop once the competition has gone.\n\nWhen it's extra busy they risk people just giving up if they queues are too long so they get more staff",
"So I haven't seen this mentioned yet, so I'll add to what other people are saying.\n\nWhen two cashiers are switching shifts, if there is only one register, they will have to shut down the register to go take the register and count it out (gotta separate who uses the drawer so that way if someone is short you know who to blame). This can be a cumbersome process. So instead of forcing your customers to wait while you count the drawer, you have two stations so cashier A can count out while B helps the customers waiting.",
"Because they like it when I go in and fill baskets to the brim, yell at them for the long wait, and leave my basket without paying for anything. \n\nJk Walmart just seems to be very greedy their employees are paid very low wages. On top of that they seriously understaff. I think they are trying to get more people to do the self check out so they don't have to pay as many checkers. I have left without buying anything the last 3 times I went. ",
"The biggest question is why they don't make more of those self checkout things. There is always a line to use the darn robot checkout! Just buy more of them!",
"I went to Walmart at around Midnight a few weeks ago. We had to wait 20 minutes while the one register in the whole store was having issues. Then instead of checking out the line of 25+ people now waiting after midnight they do a shift change, which involves shutting down the only register in the whole building that is working so they can manually recount the till.\n\nMeanwhile there are 15 employees stocking cereal and talking, with 30+ registers not in use and the self checkout lanes are turned off.",
"If it is like my store, they work for \"products per hour\" so, the less checkouts open+ lines = more products per hour = more money for them (not the store but for the people, like getting bonus money for x amount of products in an hour)\nAlthough I would have open as many as I can to maximize efficiency for the customer, but my employer thinks different, so maybe that's why.",
"Because it'd waste Walmart's money to have many checkouts open for quiet times. Because to have all those checkouts open, would mean cashiers would have to be there and 95% of the time, have those cashiers standing around. They'll be well manned come 4:30 every day before everyone gets out of work, and weekends at 10:30 for the weekend shoppers. ",
"The answer is simple. \n\nAll these retail stores make 60% of revenue in November and December. You need that many checkouts to make your quota for that holiday rush and to serve the demand.\n\n\n",
"Because they're cheap and don't want to give people hours. The less hours they give, the more staff they can keep as part time so that they don't qualify for benefits. They also have a \"scheduling system\" that outputs works schedule based on historical data, but it sucks so you end up with long lines anyway. \n\nWhat gets me is that they have self checkout stand, but they're not open. "
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5kcho4 | who is in charge of building the houses that we live in? (us) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5kcho4/eli5who_is_in_charge_of_building_the_houses_that/ | {
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"Often companies will be contracted to build X amount of homes in an area such as in suburbs. \n\nIn places where you see many different kinds of houses of different ages, it's usually where people have themselves paid a contractor to build their home (or done so themselves, of course)\n\nWhen this happens it helps draw more people and businesses to the area, escalating the rate of growth and getting more houses bought.\n\n",
"Anyone who owns land can build a house, as long as you follow all the local building codes, which are rules builders have to follow to make sure a home is built safely. Normally homes are built by a company (or person) that builds homes for a living. The company, a real estate developer, would need enough money to buy the land and then pay to build as many homes as they plan to build. You can plan to build one home, or an entire neighborhood of a hundred homes. They can sell the house either before or after the house is built, which is how they get their money back for all the money they spent building it, plus a profit to keep.",
"No one. In the US, houses are typically built by private sector speculators aiming to make money. They have to play by the rules set by the city, regional government, state, and federal government to help ensure that they do a good job. These regulations usually exist because many bad things happened in the past and they tried to prevent it from happening again. In other cases, the rules require a certain standard be met because we think it is a good idea (but they might not want to pay). Sometimes big good outcomes that require individual action that are not immediately profitable - typically these extra items are optional in exchange for recognition (LEED) or a small exception to a rule somewhere else (like, you can build and sell one extra unit than normally allowed, if you use recycled materials). This is true for big buildings, new houses, remodeled houses (\"flipped\"), subdivisions, etc.\n\nSometimes there are housing authorities, which are government entities, that build public housing to help alleviate housing shortages for the poorest of the community. These are increasingly rare."
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236clt | why do news outlets focus so much on stories which have no bearing on their citizens? casey anthony didn't have anything to do with me, nor does pistorius. why not focus on news that matters? | EDIT: tl;dr Its not about "news", its about what will make people watch and thus make them money.
I wish it was different. I'd like to know real stories, not this. I'll try NPR/PBS. Thanks for the insight! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/236clt/eli5_why_do_news_outlets_focus_so_much_on_stories/ | {
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"News stations are almost always for-profit companies. They also run advertisements in the form of commercials. The best way to make a profit is to get more viewers so that you can sell commercials for more money.\n\nThe best way to get viewers is to cover things that will cause people to watch your station. Casey Anthony does that, as does Pistorius.\n\nIf an overwhelming amount of people weren't interested in watching these stories, they wouldn't air them.\n\nYou might want to focus on a non-profit news organization, NPR or PBS being one example.",
"Oh you're just confusing the title. You see it's called 'News' but it's actually entertainment. Just as scripted as any sit-com or CSI drama to sell adver..oh wait, yeah, someone already said that. Yeah what they said. ",
"Profit. For example, there's a thing called 'missing white woman syndrome' where a woman is way more likely to be discussed if she's a young white girl. I can't name a single black woman that had news attention, but I know who Natilee Hollaway is.",
"To expand on this, why do Americans care more about Rob Ford than Canadians? "
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dzl13d | what is fat in the human body? is it in a cell? | When you lose weight do the cells die? If the cells don’t die, how long does it take? Minutes, days, weeks? Nothing seems to discuss how fat is stored in the human body except to say that it is.... Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dzl13d/eli5_what_is_fat_in_the_human_body_is_it_in_a_cell/ | {
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"The fat is stored in specialized cells named \"fat cells\". They absorb the fatty acids that are hanging about in your blood and prepare them for long-term storage within themselves. \n\nWhen you need the fat they convert the fat in to something the body can use, like the fatty acids and sugars, and release them in to the bloodstream to be used by the rest of the body. \n\nThe cells don't die, they simply get smaller as they store less fat. You can think of fat cells as unusually complicated containers of fat. When you're eating, they get bigger. When you stop eating, they get smaller.",
"Fats are key components in the human body. They make up cell membranes, store energy, and are used to make signaling molecules such as hormones. There are specialized tissues and cells that help store fat: adipose tissue and adipocytes. Fat is stored in these cells in the form of triglycerides. However, adipocytes have more functions than just energy storage; they have endocrine functions and secrete hormones such as leptin.\n\nFatty tissue grow in one of two ways. They can either enlarge or divide into smaller cells. These are not mutually exclusive. Losing weight decreases the number of triglycerides stored in these cells, but they do not die as a result. Like other cells, adipocytes do die. Typically 10% of adipocytes are replaced annually."
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5rsyrn | why is it important to know the millionth decimal place of pi? aren't we accurate enough at some point? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5rsyrn/eli5_why_is_it_important_to_know_the_millionth/ | {
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"It's not particularly important, and those digits aren't actually used for any calculations. It's just done to do it, like building the world's biggest ball of twine or whatever.",
"If you know pi to 40 decimal places you can calculate the circumference of the visible universe to an accuracy of 1 atom. NASA would typically use around 15 digits unless they need to be extremely precise. \n\n_URL_0_",
"The profound thing is that pi is never exactly measured. It is an infinite string of numbers without any repetitions. ",
"For practical purposes, you're never gonna encounter situation where you need accuracy beyond pi = 3.14. NASA got people to moon with that accuracy.\n\nHowever, mathematically, pi is not 3.14. It's irrational number with infinite number of digits in its decimal expression. So people kinda got curious, is there a piattern to it? Why those digits? For example, we could start from random position in pi's digits, and digits that follow it would be like random number generator... but would you get 1 and 9 with equal probability? We don't know. It sure looks like that, after billions of digits have been calculated, but no one knows for sure.\n\nThere are surprisingly many things we don't know about pi, which is a bit annoying given how widely that number is used. Number crunching its decimals probably won't help, but it won't hurt either.\n\nAlso, efficiently computing those digits is a math problem of its own",
"Wanting to know more about π than the first couple of decimals has nothing to do with accuracy. It's about understanding the relationships between different mathematical constructs (like numbers) and how they behave under different operations.\n\nAnd what we want to know isn't really the specific decimals, but more things like whether there is any kind of system or regularity in the decimals. For example, it is currently not known whether π is a [normal number](_URL_0_)."
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441knj | what helps break down trash? microbes, chemicals, enzymes, etc. | Trash meaning household trash, minus recyclable materials. Of course some metals, papers, plastics, make their way into trash in landfills. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/441knj/eli5what_helps_break_down_trash_microbes/ | {
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"In short: Yes and yes. \n\nIn general, the primary activity in breaking down biological waste is microbes, mostly from the single-celled bacteria or fungi lines. They live \"on\" most trashy substances and consume the biological components of the trash like the food. Some work more slowly breaking down wood, cotton and other fibers. \n\nIn addition to microbes, many enzymes work on non-biological materials, either assisting in oxidation or converting to another chemical form, such as sulfation, though that's more rare. \n\nThen, the broken down chemicals are often consumed by the same (or different) microbes. Up close, it's a complete ecosystem inside that trash bag. "
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206j6q | how do 24 hour stores count their cash registers? | For example, at my store (a coffeeshop) we count our cash register at the end of the night and deposit based on our cash sales. How do gas stations, mcdonalds, etc do this? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/206j6q/eli5_how_do_24_hour_stores_count_their_cash/ | {
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"one at a time",
"Ever see a cashier shift change? They take the whole drawer out and into the back room and the new cashier puts his drawer in.",
"At maccas drawers are usually counted at the end of a cashier's shift and the extra cash is taken out and put in the safe. At some point during the night the registers are shutdown so end of day stuff can be performed, only takes 10-20 minutes at most but it has to be done or problems can happen the next day. During this time a final cash count is done and a bank deposit is prepared. Individual stores might change it up a little but that's the general process.",
"Every incoming shift does their own cash audit; the registers are counted and left in place, and the manager writes down the total. Then s/he compares the cash total to what the total should be; if they match or are very close (it wasn't worth our time to look for a missing quarter) all is well, and if not, then s/he looks for the mistake and recounts the tills if necessary.\n\nEach 24-hour company has its own procedure, but that's how we did it at the c-store."
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7qir4c | why does almost all matter react with visible light, considering its relatively small percentage of the whole spectrum? | it covers like 3-400 nano meters, yet everything reacts to a specific frequency within it.
Be it read or green or whatever, almost all matter we can see reflects a specific frequency of such a small portion of the spectrum, why is this?
does the same matter have specific frequency's of X-rays they reflect, or gamma?
to my mind, there must be a link between the matter and frequency of light that should resemble a constant of the universe but I am unaware if there is one.
apologies if this is a stupid question. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7qir4c/eli5_why_does_almost_all_matter_react_with/ | {
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"You're coming at it from the wrong direction. There is nothing particularly special about visible light, the sun is beaming out photons of wavelengths well above & below this frequency too, but biological life evolved to take advantage of this slice of the spectrum because it bounces off of stuff. \n\n\"visible\" light isn't the only light that interacts with matter, it's just the *important light* that interacts with *important stuff* at the time and place we were evolving eyeballs. \n\nXrays are also hitting the same matter, at the same time, and some of them are being absorbed and some are being reflected and some are just going on through, they're only invisible *to our eyeballs* because we didn't need to evolve a way to see them to get our lunch.",
"I see alot of good answer but i have another angle of think about this. \n\nAlmost all matter, and by matter i realy mean molecules, reacts with visable light because the difference in electron energy levels mostly fall in the same range as the energy range of visable light. While not true for everything, such as transparent materials, the majority of molecules have electron energy level differences equal to that of visable light. \n\nAlso... All molecules i can think of also interacts with\n\nInfrared waves which have identical energy ranges to that of vibrational energy levels. \n\nMicro waves which have identical energy levels to rotational energy levels. "
]
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[],
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29aqqq | nitrogen asphyxiation vs. drug cocktail for death penalties. | (Edit: This is NOT explained to me! I don't know how to get rid of that mark!)
(First post here, I hope I get the etiquette right! And I might make this longer than you want to read. TL;DR at the top!)
TL;DR: Death penalty by [nitrogen asphyxiation](_URL_0_) (link is to a Wikipedia article on "inert gas asphyxiation); painless and suffering free. Why aren't we, or any other country doing this? Please explain!
First off, I am not in favor of the death penalty, in general. I am a US citizen, a vegetarian, pro-choice on euthanasia, and other stuff that probably irks Dick Cheney....oh, and a liberal.
Also, I am an atheist, so it's not a religious issue. I am also of the opinion that we are very far away from being able to deal with most mental disorders in a truly effective way.
On those two topics I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone or any group, so I hope that we can agree to disagree if you and I don't see eye to eye.
But if someone is to be put to death, shouldn't it be done humanely? Punishment by death is a...well..."complete" punishment. I believe that it can't be done humanely and without "death by heart attack" many minutes after the chemicals are administered to provide that death as in a recent incident in the US.
The criminal may have done things that most of us would consider to be evil and inhumane, but the rest of us are still human and if it must be done, shouldn't it be done humanely?
Shutting up now, but ELI5, why aren't we using nitrogen (or other inert gasses) to perform death penalties, if we MUST do them? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29aqqq/eli5_nitrogen_asphyxiation_vs_drug_cocktail_for/ | {
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"The method is for the observers. The inmate would much rather just get it over with a shot to the head. ",
"Is the drug cocktail not humane? ",
"Is the nitrogen asphyxiation cheaper? \n\nThe thing that turns me off to execution is the fact that it costs more than a life sentence, so if this type of execution is cheaper, we should implement it right away.",
"Many courts have ruled that the Constitutional protections from \"cruel and unusual punishment\" do not entitle a condemned inmate to a painless death. State laws are often due to cost and political considerations to determine the manner of death.\n\nSources:\n\n* [OKLAHOMA COURT REJECTS DEATH-ROW INMATES' CLAIMS](_URL_1_)\n\n* [Ohio judge rules death row inmate is ‘not entitled to a pain free execution’](_URL_0_)",
"First of all, the idea's been floated before. It was suggested in a *National Review* article in 1995, then by a lawyer named Lawrence Gist, then by a British MP in 2007 (all of this is from [Wikipedia](_URL_0_)).\n\nThere are a couple reasons I can think of that it hasn't caught on: first and foremost, it ain't pretty to watch. Some victims are unconscious after the first minute and feel nothing out of the ordinary except maybe a little euphoria before they pass out, but for others that first minute is accompanied by pounding headache, nausea, dizziness, etc. Either way, there's going to be a period of time after unconsciousness sets in but before death where the victim is convulsing and vomiting. They don't care cause they're unconscious, but that's not easy to watch, especially not for the victim's family.\n\nSecondly, lethal injection is really pretty humane when done properly. It's three drugs given in succession: sodium thiopental (a very fast-acting barbiturate) which knocks you unconscious, pancuronium bromide to paralyze your muscles, then potassium chloride to stop your heart. This kills the victim within 5 minutes. Each one is many, many times the maximum safe dose, to make sure they don't wear off (especially the thiopental.) The problem with this is that it's not always done properly: if the drugs are not given IV but instead IM, they're going to take a lot longer to work. Injection of potassium chloride is really painful for anyone who hasn't been knocked out, and having your diaphragm paralyzed isn't fun. This of course happens on occasion, because the injection isn't done by doctors and nurses, it's done by prison staff trained in venipuncture. \n\nA lot of the cases you see about lethal injection where the victim stayed alive for an hour afterwards, or was clearly writhing in pain, etc., are cases where a state was trying an experimental cocktail of drugs other than the ones above for whatever reason."
]
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| [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation#cite_note-1"
]
| [
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ohio-judge-rules-death-row-inmate-is-not-entitled-to-a-pain-free-execution-9059842.html",
"http://bigstory.ap.org/article/apnewsbreak-oklahoma-court-could-face-impeachment"
],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation"
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dsorhe | wouldn't it be more efficient for an electric vehicle to utilize a conventional transmission, as opposed to running direct drive? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dsorhe/eli5_wouldnt_it_be_more_efficient_for_an_electric/ | {
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"Every transmission system has losses, the one with the least losses is direct drive. Since electric motors have high torque at low revs a gearbox is unnecessary.",
"Yes, but not by much.\n\n[This](_URL_1_) is what the efficiency map of an electric motor looks like. It's most efficient (96%) at medium speed and medium load, and the efficiency drops down to 82% at low load levels and low speeds.\n\nNow look at the efficiency map of an internal combustion engine:\n\n[_URL_0_](_URL_0_)\n\nAt medium speed and high-ish load it burns 250 grams of fuel to produce 1 kw-hr, but at low loads it burns nearly twice as much fuel (475 grams) to produce the same output.\n\nIf you don't keep an internal combustion engine inside its speed/load sweet spot, you may almost double its fuel consumption. If you don't keep an electric motor inside its sweet spot, its electricity consumption only goes up by a few percent.\n\nA transmission with multiple gears is very important to run an internal combustion engine efficiently, but an electric motor doesn't really gain much in terms of efficiency, and the gains would probably be offset by the extra weight, friction and cost of the transmission, so there's not much point in having one, unless you have specific requirements, like being able to achieve very high vehicle speeds.",
"Electric car are not in general direct drive. They have have gearboxes. \n\nLook at [this video](_URL_0_) of the read drive unit of a Tesla model S. Notice that the electric motors are not inline with the wheels but offset from them. There is gray metal part that connect the rear axis and the electric motor that is a gear box. It is a 1-speed fixed gear (9.73:1) as stated on the wiki page for the car. It is a fixed gear system but that is still a gear box."
]
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"https://i.stack.imgur.com/BBWi6.png",
"https://x-engineer.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Electric-motor-efficiency-map.jpg?41ab8b&41ab8b"
],
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"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FQlQXOSReA"
]
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|
||
22apml | why do baguettes become rock hard so much faster than other breads? | I know they are meant to be eaten within a few hours after they're baked, but how do they go stale so much faster than other breads? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22apml/eli5_why_do_baguettes_become_rock_hard_so_much/ | {
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"text": [
"Summarizing some other causes and adding my own:\n\n* Not in sealed container, allowing moisture from air to cause staling. Yes, moisture makes bread \"dry,\" not dry air. See _URL_0_\n* Airy, bubbly insides provide higher surface area than a denser bread, speeding up above effect.\n* Fats slow the staling process; traditional baguettes have none.",
"Baguettes are light and airy, but also moist on the inside with a crisp dry crust. This interior air content and moisture essentially stales the bread from the inside out. Their shape as well as unique structure makes it worse than some other breads but most baked good with an open crumb and air pockets stale very quickly (foccacia, croissant, ciabatta etc). ",
"There are two main types of doughs used for bread, lean and rich (or enriched) dough. Lean dough contains flour, water, salt, and yeast usually. This would be your traditional baguette or crusty roll. Enriched doughs have some form of fat and usually eggs and dairy in them, maybe sugar. This would be a foccacia, parker rolls, etc. The fat in those doughs help maintain the moisture for longer periods, at the cost of keeping a crust. The lack of fat in lean doughs helps form a traditional baguette crust, but there is no fat to help maintain moisture as water evaporates. \n\nSource: I'm a culinary student who finished my baking class 2 weeks ago. So while I might not know the science, I know that this is the theory behind why that happens from a baker's point of view. "
]
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| []
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[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrogradation_(starch)"
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|
69ygte | how did they shoot the changing angle shot in kendrick lamar's humble music video? | The scene under the bridge when he is wearing glasses and the camera moves around him. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69ygte/eli5_how_did_they_shoot_the_changing_angle_shot/ | {
"a_id": [
"dhac74p"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"...it looks like it's just moving the camera on a moving , maybe with a robotic arm. and some postprocessing motion blur on the background. \n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_0_"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfOroSB2f64",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysW5XPuvYrw"
]
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|
bjj3ta | why do politicians deal with "big donors"? isn't there a fairly low limit to campaign donations? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bjj3ta/eli5_why_do_politicians_deal_with_big_donors_isnt/ | {
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"This is true, but there are two big catches...\n\n**FIRST** \\- There are certain organizations called 'Political Action Committees.' These organizations take donations, but they don't donate DIRECTLY to the candidate. They just run advertisements and host events that support that candidate. As long as the candidate doesn't handle the money or tell them what to do - *wink wink nudge nudge* \\- it doesn't count. So if I want to donate directly to John Smith, I have a $2800 limit. But if I want to donate to the We Love America Committee (that just happens to run pro-John Smith commercials), I can donate as much as I want. And by doing it through a dummy corporation, I can prevent people from knowing it was me who donated.\n\n**SECOND** \\- Certain charitable or nonprofit organizations are allowed unlimited election spending, as long as their election spending is less than 49% of their total expenses. They are not required to disclose their donors. So if the Beanie Babies Fan Club receives a billion dollar donation and spends 49% of it on election advertisements, they can get away with it. A few years back the IRS suspected people were abusing this system and they investigated, and conservatives LOST THEIR SHIT so now the IRS doesn't even bother checking.\n\nSo, yeah, the system is completely bonkers."
]
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| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
6n5s9e | how do electronic key cards for hotels and college dormitories work? how do the card readers know to reject cards not associated with a room or building? | Edit for clarification: I'm referring to the "tap" or insert cards that do not require you to also input a code. Thanks for reading! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6n5s9e/eli5_how_do_electronic_key_cards_for_hotels_and/ | {
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"text": [
"Because they're programmed to. If the door code is 12345, then a card coded 24555 isn't going to open the door. ",
"Most of these answers are incomplete or wrong.\n\nThe card scanner is connected via some network to a server. That server contains a database that says what cards are allowed into what rooms and possibly other factors (like time, max occupancy, etc.).\n\nWhen a card is scanned, all the scanner is doing is pulling a static string off the card (unless the card is a \"smart\" card capable of generating dynamic strings) and transmitting it to the server. The server then replies with a simple \"yes\" or \"no\" and lock either unlocks or it doesn't.\n\nThat's it."
]
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[],
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2fb9es | why do my legs get itchy when i run and how can i stop it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fb9es/eli5_why_do_my_legs_get_itchy_when_i_run_and_how/ | {
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"Man, I was wondering the same thing today after a jog & workout except I get itchy all over my body, not just my legs???",
"It's an allergic reaction. I used to have the same thing happen to me occasionally when I biked a lot (45 miles at a time).\nThe condition, which can be quite severe, is called [exercise induced urticaria](_URL_0_)\n\nThere are a few theories on how it happen. One is out of shape types' bodies aren't used to the physical activity and the new activity causes capillaries (the tiny blood vessels in your body) to open, stimulating nearby nerves sending an \"itch\" signal.\n\nAccording to the [wikipedia article](_URL_1_), it can be linked to dietary issues that runners (and others) have, as in they eat certain foods before running and this leads to the allergic reaction during exercise.\n\nIt can also be caused by hot showers, \"fretfulness\" (i'm not sure what that means) or fever.\n\nMany people find taking an antihistamine before exercise helps (worked for me, after a few weeks it stopped), while others need much more extreme measures.\n\nBe careful, in rare cases it can lead to anaphylatic shock.",
"So wait, you really can be allergic to exercise? I thought I was just being cute every time I said that."
]
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| []
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"http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/1015/p1367.html",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urticaria#Exercise"
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|
||
c79xud | how do big trees survive without constant watering | I would've assumed that big trees require lots of watering to sustain them at their size but it seems like big trees just kinda survive even in the summer without anyone watering them | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c79xud/eli5_how_do_big_trees_survive_without_constant/ | {
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"text": [
"Tree roots can span a far distance (down 20 feet/5 meters), so it will suck up water from deep in the earth. Current record is 60 meters of a living tree root was found in Arizona.\n\nIf it's a dry season, growth slows down. When you cut a tree, and look at the rings you can tell when a year was wet or dry based on distance."
]
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| []
| [
[]
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|
|
bizo9w | why is it so satisfying to knead an anti-stress ball? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bizo9w/eli5_why_is_it_so_satisfying_to_knead_an/ | {
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"text": [
"Its like squeezing the life out of or popping the heads of co-workers but without consequences."
]
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|
||
1p8dm9 | if i have to poo but hold it, when the sensation goes away (and it doesn't come back) what happens to my poo!? does my body absorb some waste? | I have to shit as we speak but am not in a situation where I can. Holding has commenced. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1p8dm9/eli5_if_i_have_to_poo_but_hold_it_when_the/ | {
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"text": [
"It's sits in your intestine, being compressed by the new shit piling up. If you hold it too long you'll get constipated.",
"The nervous system in your innards isn't directly under your control, but it understands context. When your lower bowel gives you the signal that it's time to poop, it isn't a command, it's a suggestion. Your body realizes that you may be hiding from a fearsome predator, or just in the middle of a class, and is willing to take into account your conscious opinion about the idea of pooping.\n\nYour poo remains where is was, and your lower intestine continues to absorb moisture from the poo as it waits for a more appropriate opportunity to squeeze it out.\n\nThus, the longer you go without pooping, the firmer the poop.\n\n"
]
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1mwsqd | what are the various ways an nfl owner makes money? | I get that an NFL owner "makes" money based on the increase of a team's value, but does he get a salary? A percentage of ticket sales? etc... | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mwsqd/eli5_what_are_the_various_ways_an_nfl_owner_makes/ | {
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"text": [
"Main ways:\n\n1. Ticket Sales\n2. Merchandise\n3. Team wins of playoffs/superbowl\n4. Licencing\n5. TV/Radio Rights"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
|
83iy89 | why do overweight people tend to be physically weak? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/83iy89/eli5_why_do_overweight_people_tend_to_be/ | {
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"text": [
"Because fat people are fat for a reason. They don't tend to walk around or do a lot of physical activity. That's why they gain weight. ",
"I'm 6ft 300lb. My legs are built like \"tree trunks\" I've been told since I was a child. I can't run for shit though because I don't have a strong cardiovascular system, and I've spent most of my life walking/sitting, not running. Same for weight lifting, I have a natural stocky frame, but my muscles are not conditioned for weight lifting. Muscles aren't able to just lift things when you tell them to, even if they're big. They have to be trained to do it efficiently through muscle memory.\n\nEdit: On top of this, if you don't use your muscles often for things like exercise or lifting, then your muscles are easily prone to injury through strain and build up acid between muscle layers quicker and don't get rid of it as fast.",
"Because they generally are overweight because they are inactive. It's few and far between that you see overweight people (like really overweight not just like 10-15 pounds) that are active. It takes more to move heavier people they have limits muscle won't just continue to grow unchecked, they still have the same limits as if they were 100 pounds lighter because muscle just can't keep up unless it's worked often, it's like how a car begins to break down and stop working if you don't drive it enough. They are still weak for their body but if you took a normally active 350 pound person and shredded 150 pounds off of them they would probably compare well to someone who is inactive and always was 200 pounds but that just doesn't happen.",
"Because we don't be much in the way of stamina. I mean you use weights to build muscle but if you were to live with about 100lbs just strapped to you all the time you'd quickly start to get tired as you're don't doing reps then moving on. Being overweight is like having that on you all the time. \n\nThe problem is that being overweight makes it harder to exercise and therefore it becomes a vicious cycle.",
"Speaking as a fairly large man (6ft 4inches at ~300lbs) that intends on playing collegiate football, I think it’s the amount of training required to get stronger. For a football example, it takes someone my size much much longer to get into “game shape” than it does a much smaller running back. Also, bigger people are much more prone to training related injuries due to increased stress on bones. "
]
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1yv3p7 | what exactly is california's new bill sca-5 and what will it do if it is legalized? | What exactly is SCA-5, and how does this affect Californians? Why should people, Californian or non-Californian, be concerned? Thank you. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yv3p7/eli5_what_exactly_is_californias_new_bill_sca5/ | {
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"text": [
"You can read it here: _URL_0_\n\n\"Deletes the specific provisions implemented through the \n enactment of Proposition 209 that prohibit the State from \n granting preferential treatment to individuals or groups on \n the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin, \n in the operation of public education.\"\n\nSo what's the impact?\n\nRecall that Prop. 209 (or the California Civil Rights Initiative) amended the state constitution to prohibit state government institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting or public education. The state government therefore is not allowed to discriminate against someone, nor give preferential treatment to someone on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity. \n\nSCA-5 aims to delete those parts of Prop. 209 pertaining to public education. Long story short, public education institutions would be allowed to either discriminate or grant preferential treatment to scholars in California on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity. ",
"It would allow state universities to consider race and gender in admissions.\n\nNote that this is constitutional. See Grutter v. Bollinger and Fisher v. Texas. While a university can't use racial quotas, they absolutely can use race as part of the inquiry into an individual applicant as part of broad array of factors if the goal is to obtain diversity. Using gender is scrutinized less strictly, which basically means that if you can constitutionally consider race, you can definitely constitutionally consider gender (since the law sees gender discrimination as being less immediately alarming than race discrimination)."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0001-0050/sca_5_cfa_20130816_110047_sen_comm.html"
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|
|
4bb38a | why are cringey videos literally painful to watch, like i feel embarrased myself | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4bb38a/eli5_why_are_cringey_videos_literally_painful_to/ | {
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"text": [
"Humans are empathic creatures; much of our social structure and behavior comes from our ability to feel what other people do. There's a lot of research into this phenomenon and how it affects human development.\n\nHumans have \"mirror neurons\", which are basically networks of neurons that fire not only when you do something, but also when you *observe* that same behavior in another. The neuron \"mirrors\" the action by giving you a sense of feeling the same thing the other person does.\n\nThis is theorized to be why we wince when someone stubs their toe, why we cringe when someone does something embarrassing or humiliating, and is also a major component in early development, as babies learn to behave by observing other people and mirroring everything from their facial expressions to their emotions.\n\nAt the most basic level, you feel that pain because you are literally experiencing it as though it were happening to you.\n",
"Have you been watching Andrew Hales channel on YouTube? _URL_0_",
"Its a natural result of being empathetic. In German they have a word called fremdschämen describing exactly what you describe: vicarious embarrassment."
]
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[],
[
"https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2xdJZn2p0_4"
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||
3vvaz6 | can you plead insanity for crimes other than murder? if not, why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3vvaz6/eli5_can_you_plead_insanity_for_crimes_other_than/ | {
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"text": [
"You can be adjudicated insane for matters beyond just murder, and you can even be adjudicated insane without a pending criminal charge. However, there is a very substantial detriment to actually being declared insane by a court, and it's not something that one would necessarily want to do just to escape a simple assault or battery. \n\nAdditionally, murder cases typically tend to see insanity defenses because it's easier to blame something as abhorrent as murder on insanity than it is something that requires \"higher\" level thought like an organized crime ring, tax evasion, or a bank robbery. Basically, killing someone is relatively easier than coming up with a way to constructively take their things. ",
"I once served on a jury for a minor B & E, and the woman was pleading the insanity defense. You could tell the judge desperately wanted a drink. After about 10 minutes of preliminary stuff the lawyers got together and worked out a plea.",
"Sure, if you were ruled to be legally insane you could get out of jaywalking.\n\nHowever, the standard for legal insanity is quite high, and basically requires you to be so delusional you cannot tell right from wrong. That level of impairment would make it very unlikely you would be able to commit anything but immediate crimes of passion.\n\nAlso, crimes like assault, vandalism, or theft often don't have lasting consequences, meaning a prosecutor is likely to treat is purely has a mental health issue without bringing criminal charges.\n\nIn addition, the consequences of being found legally insane are pretty severe, and are independent of the seriousness of the crime. You could conceivably spend the rest of your life institutionalized to beat out a 5 year prison sentence. \n\nFinally, insanity is often the defense of last resort, used by high profile murder suspects whose guilt is not really in question.\n\n",
"Yes, you can plead insanity for any crime. US prisons are full of prisoners who are seriously mentally ill, psychotic, with things like schizophrenia. Prison has become one of the main ways that the mentally ill are treated in the US. In the book *Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness*, an investigative reporter of necessity turns his attention to the ways the mentally ill are treated in prison. He must do this because his son had a psychotic break and became schizophrenic at around age 20. What a person can legally do to treat a schizophrenic who does not think he's crazy, is basically nothing. The author struggled to convince a court that his son was mentally incompetent, but until and unless he could show his son was a danger to himself or others, the court could not step in to treat him. So his mentally ill son ran amok, not being evil or hostile, just acting in a crazy way, with no conscious understanding of the law or his own actions. One day he broke into a house and made a mess and pooped on a bed and took a shower and slept in another bed, and ate their food, that kind of thing. No one was home. He was caught and the author tried to show that his son was clearly insane and needed treatment. He was unsuccessful in convincing the people whose house it was--that is, the husband agreed the kid was insane, but the wife, while acknowledging that he was crazy, refused to drop the charges. The potential penalty for what he did was so high, and the chances he'd be found not guilty so low, that they ended up making a plea bargain to minimize his time in jail. So he ended up in prison for awhile. And once you're in prison, they can force you to take any drugs they want you to, and treat you any way they want, basically, and because you're crazy, you can't fight it. And because you're a convict, you have no right to refuse. So the father started studying the criminal justice system's treatment of the mentally ill. His son was one of the lucky ones, with parents with influence and money (the father was a *60 Minutes* producer). Almost all of the mentally ill in prison are alone in the world, with no advocate, no money, no lawyer. Public defenders typically just plea bargain, so it doesn't matter that you *can* plead insanity. It's such a high hurdle to jump, and the insane person has so little in the way of resources, that it's just not going to be done. The reason you hear more about it in murder cases is that murder cases so often are capital cases where it's life or death. They are much more likely to get the interest of some pro bono attorney's groups. \n\nOne type of insanity that you see almost exclusively in cases of murder, though, is \"temporary insanity\". It's a lot easier to convince a judge or jury that you went mad for just a short while, due to grief or anger or overwhelming compulsion, and killed someone, than it is to convince them that you were temporarily insane when you stole. One famous case in which a person successfully argued he went temporarily insane and was therefore not guilty of theft, was Joey Coyle. This was an unemployed guy walking down the street one day when an armored vehicle drove down the street with its back door open (due to the oversight of one of the drivers who didn't securely close it). Long story short, $1.2 million fell out of the back of the truck, and Joey Coyle grabbed as much as he could carry and ran away with it. He ended up being caught. It was understood that this was a guy who didn't go seeking money illegally, and it was a moment of folly that caused him to steal it, when he was overwhelmed by the site of the discarded money. And he didn't try to hide it, either, but started handing it out to all of his friends. Basically, this were not the actions of a master criminal, or even a petty thief. And so he ended up as the most prominent case of someone getting off for temporary insanity, who didn't kill anyone. The distinction matters because the \"temporary\" part meant he wouldn't end up locked away in a mental institution indefinitely. "
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24gwqf | why is a 4 year degree worth more to an employer than 4 years of applicable experience? | I served in the military and accrued four years of in-the-field hands-on experience to include training in my field of Government Contracting.
Now that I am no longer Active Duty, I've applied numerous times for positions where I meet the actual job duties and experience requirements but am denied based on the fact that I don't have the 4 year theory-based paper. To justify, I do have 30 semester hours of business relate college credit and 60+ semester hours of specialized training that is applicable only to the field of Government Contracting. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24gwqf/eli5_why_is_a_4_year_degree_worth_more_to_an/ | {
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"Three things.\n\nFirst, you're probably competing with people who have four years of experience *and* a degree, not people with a degree and no experience. \n\nSecond, there are more people with college degrees than there are people with military experience. Employers know how to think about college degrees. Military experience is a less-familiar quantity and thus harder for them to evaluate. And it almost certainly involves doing at least *some* things which aren't immediately relevant to the job you're applying for. \n\nThere are efforts out there to educate employers about the value of military experience, and I think that's a very important thing. We should be doing more of that for our veterans. \n\nBut third, experience--even military experience--will never replace the value of a college degree. Indeed, it doesn't do so in the military either. You have to have at least *some* college to buck for officer. "
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1yncx2 | why do ginger ale and root beer have beer references to their names but taste nothing like beer? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yncx2/eli5_why_do_ginger_ale_and_root_beer_have_beer/ | {
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"In the traditional recipes, these drinks are brewed/fermented just like beer is. If “beer” is what you get when you malt grain and let it ferment, and “wine” is what you get when you let grape juice ferment, there are all sorts of recipes for taking some blend of herbs and spices and letting it ferment to make a drink. Often those herbs don't have a high enough sugar content on their own, so you add (a lot, usually) of extra sugar and that's what's feeding most of the fermentation but the herbs add flavor.\n\nSo, if you ferment dandelion flowers (along with other ingredients and lots of sugar) you get “dandelion wine”, if you ferment ginger (plus stuff) you get “ginger ale”, if you ferment birch sap—which has less sugar than maple sap, but still has its own sugars—you get “birch beer”, and if you ferment sassafras roots (plus stuff) you get “root beer”.\n\nThe fermentation isn't usually very strong, and people would get more carbon dioxide than alcohol, but that's ok too because it made a pleasantly fizzy drink. These recipes became very popular in the early-to-mid 1700's and were the origin of what would eventually become modern soda pop."
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4ddwog | why are schools funded by property tax? that seems like the least fair way to tax for education. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ddwog/eli5_why_are_schools_funded_by_property_tax_that/ | {
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"In a perfect world, sure. But in practice, people who live in rich areas want their schools to be above average (and then when the schools become good, the property in the area is worth more, and so the cycle continues). And in general, people in low-income areas don't want their property taxes going up to pay for better schools.\n\nIt's not a great system for exactly the reasons that you give, but people have their own interests at heart, so it's hard to actually get changes like that proposed and approved. \n\nRight now the happy medium is the additional programs, charitable funding, and scholarships that are made available for low-income schools to help bridge the gap - it doesn't solve the problem, but they can help students who are driven to get more access to advantages and opportunities.",
"It is about the local school being funded by local people. People in rich areas want their school to be better and they have the money to make that happen. ",
"Well, alabama is funded by sales tax. That's an even worse idea. Now, you have shitty schools that get worse when the economy is doing poorly.",
"Where I live, property taxes go to the school district, and then the district allocates funds to the schools. My tax dollars end up at every school in the city, regardless of neighborhood.\n\nSchools in the rich neighborhoods are better funded though because rich families donate more to school booster clubs. You can't really stop rich people from spending money on their kids.",
"education is funded locally. when you try to fund things at the national or even state level then you add a lot of layers of bureaucracy so that a lot of the money gets spent before it even gets to the thing its supposed to fund. You also sacrifice some of the freedom for those working locally to make decisions such as how best to use their funds. that is the point of local government, to make sure that those who are empowered to make decisions are closest to the people who will be affected.\n\nedit: \"layers\" is different than \"lairs\" and i swear that i know the difference.",
"This isn't always the case. I lived in Shelby County, TN (where Memphis is) and went to both the poor and rich schools. The rich schools were in the county where property taxes are much lower. The city schools received much higher funding per student and subsidized many after school and elective programs through the state. I would be shocked if half of my classmates there graduated high school. The big difference in the school's success rested entirely on the involved, mostly 2 parent households of the suburbs. In the city, I had classmates with parents that didn't feel like buying their child a coat (they could all afford it). It's not a mystery to me why, despite the funding per student, the county schools provided a better education. \n\nTldr: if the parents don't care, it doesn't matter how much funding the school gets. The deciding factor of a school's success is parental involvement. ",
"Readers might find it interesting that \"poor\" urban school districts spend vastly MORE money per student. The idea that rich suburban districts fund their schools better is a myth.\n\nDon't take my word for it. Read the USA Education Department analysis: \n_URL_2_\n_URL_5_\n_URL_3_\n_URL_4_\n_URL_1_\n_URL_6_\n_URL_0_\n",
"ELI5: why does OP ask a question only to disagree with all of the answers?\n\nAlso, no one has touched on the fact that school quality impacts home values, and school quality is a huge factor in choosing where to raise a family. So good home values - > good schools - > better home values - > better school funding... ",
"The real answer is that historically property ownership was reserved for the wealthy and the more wealthy you tended to be, the more property you owned. So funding schools using property taxes was very progressive (higher burden on the wealthier people). With the rise of home ownership, suburbs, and the middle class, funding schools through property taxes became much less progressive because more people with less money now owned property. \n\nIn addition, to your other point, believe it or not the dollar amount it takes to educate children equitably is different depending on the child. For example, special needs students have higher costs. ",
"First off, usually there are state funds that supplement the worst off schools, and these funds have little effect. The problem is that in public primary education in the United States, money doesn't have that much to do with success.\n\nRural poor schools don't have the same problems with bad grades the urban poor schools have. This is 100% about culture, NOT money. Urban culture is extraordinarily detrimental to students, often putting sex and money above work and education, while rural cultures tend to be more focused on family, faith, and work.\n\nIf you really want to help poor urban areas, stand up and be willing to talk about the negative aspects of urban culture. Nothing will stop unless you're strong enough to take a stand.",
"I live in Orange County, Florida and my property taxes go to the Orange County public school system that, as far as I know, does not allocate funding school-by-school based on any demographic information. So my tax dollars go to the 'rich' schools and the 'poor' schools equally. I have no idea how other states do it, but I would imagine if its done on the county level that it would be done the same way as it is here. I personally don't see any inequality in this system; am I missing something?",
"Education may be a fundamental right, but quality of that education isn't. You try and make all the schools equal, the wealthy will send their kids to private school. This creates less money for people who can't afford private school, and worse public schools. \n\nI think it is defensible for the wealthy to make decisions that lead to better educations for their children. I mean if you want total redistribution and allocation of resources according to need, that's the only way to ensure a totally equal education for all. \n\nNot to spoil history for you, but that hasn't worked out very well in the past. ",
"SO much eyeroll in this thread. Here's the actual deal: The State determines how much money per student a school is allowed to spend. Local residents are taxed up to a maximum amount, usually set by the state and ratified by the school board, and then the state backfills whatever the school can't raise through the levy. There are a number of programs in place that allow schools to count \"ghost\" students so that they are allowed to spend more money than they would normally be allowed to spend based on their butts in the seats count.\n\nIf a particular school is doing badly, and they get the exact same amount of money as other schools that aren't doing badly, it is a culture problem.",
"It can be pretty unfair in some situations. My dad lives in a small town that's part of a larger school district. There's only ~300 residents in the town and not many roads or facilities to upkeep. A large portion (I want to say about 80%) of property taxes paid to the town go to education costs. \n\nTwo families with a few kids moved to the town and all of a sudden the town is now sending about double the kids to schools in the district as they had before and my dads property taxes almost doubled as a result in a one year span.",
"My state collects a lot of its tax revenue from property tax. A significant portion of that revenue is allocated to school districts on a per-enrollment, per-attendance basis, along with whatever other funding sources (ie, federal money) are allocated state-wide.\n\nSchool districts are free to then try to convince their populations to vote to add local property taxes within the bounds of the district to pay for additional revenue for that district only. It's almost easier to pass those in poor neighborhoods than rich ones though. The taxes raised allow the district to sell bonds to get immediate cash, which are repaid through the taxes over the duration of the term of the bond.\n\nSchool districts usually don't annex areas that will vote against bonds. This sucks if there are a lot of 55+ communities within the area, as they almost always vote against school funding.",
" > with public money.\n\nIt's their money and they worked for it...There is nothing \"public\" about it. Why should they have to give it away to other school districts? \n\nWhat makes you think you deserve other people's money just because?\n\nIs your house public property? Can I go and live in it for free?\n",
"Not sure on the historical reason but its actually pretty fair from the standpoint of connecting taxes to benefits. If property owners choose to provide ample funding for their school system then in theory their school system will perform well. Seeing as how there is demand for well-performing school systems this should then increase the prices of homes in that area and lead to some return on investment for the property owners. Of course if they over-fund the school system and get nothing for their money except overpaid teachers then that would reduce the demand for homes in that area and actually reduce their home prices. So while they're related, its not a linear relationship is what I'm saying.\n\nAlso, the property tax is not the problem when you have underfunded schools in poor neighborhoods. The problem is the exclusivity of the tax. If you funded schools purely on the sales or income taxes generated in those poor neighborhoods then you'd have a similar (and probably worse, actually) result.",
"The day to day operation of schools in the US is typically the responsibility of the most local level of government. The primary source of revenue for this level of government is property taxes. Where I live, the borough (town) and therefore school also collect a 1% tax on income, and all schools in the state receive some amount of state funding that varies to a certain extent based on the needs of the students.",
"If you are paying on a million dollar property my kid better be going to a school with other rich kids. I don't want a bunch of poor people seeing my rich kid and getting any ideas about theft or having his poor ass friends and family to my house. Literally the only way that makes sense you want kids from the ghetto seeing the money flaunted in their face everyday. "
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"http://www.schoolfundingfairness.org",
"http://atlas.newamerica.org/school-finance",
"http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/06/06/School-Budgets-The-Worst-Education-Money-Can-Buy",
"http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/05/schools-taxes-education-biz-beltway_cz_cs_0705schools.html",
"http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/index.html?exp",
"http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/failing-schools-education-white-house-214332",
"http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may02/vol59/num08/Unequal-School-Funding-in-the-United-States.aspx"
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395lgl | why do i take hours longer than any other animal i know to wake up in the morning? | Has the snooze button caused this de-evolution? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/395lgl/eli5_why_do_i_take_hours_longer_than_any_other/ | {
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"Two reasons: you probably know that your next meal is in the fridge, and nothing's coming to eat you. So yeah, you can relax and take your time. "
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1l1bts | why are nfl players more prone to injury during the preseason rather than the regular season? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1l1bts/eli5_why_are_nfl_players_more_prone_to_injury/ | {
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"In preseason, players that have a locked roster spot don't want to play because the games don't count. Their entire goal is to not get injured and not embarrass themselves. During the regular season, when the games count, they try their best. When they think about injuries, they get injured. Also, this season, as a result of the NFL changing the practice rules (not allowed to practice in full pads as much) they got less practice and less conditioning resulting in an increase in acl injuries. \nTldr: thinking about not getting injured puts you at a greater risk for injury"
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4ey0ep | what happens to illegal immigrants if they have no documentation and their identity home country cannot be found? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ey0ep/eli5_what_happens_to_illegal_immigrants_if_they/ | {
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"My uncle tried to do that in the 60's by giving a new name, so he was allowed to stay in the country for 7 years. Then he got in trouble and they recognized where he was from because of the investigator they brought in who identified him by his accent. If you are from a country with a lot of immigrants though they probably cant do anything. They cant just send you to Honduras or Guatemala if there is no proof you are from there but nowadays there is a lot of proof.",
"they will detain you indefinitely if they cannot determine where you belong. They do NOT give you residency (in the USA)",
"To my understanding (I am European, and we have the *refugee* crisis), most of the illegal migrants and refugees come from countries with bad government practices (or no government at all) making the official documents unreliable\n\nThe social service do an investigation, for exemple someone speaking *morrocan arabic* but not understanding the *syrian arabic* will have trouble to pretend s-he is Syrian. To check the age there are medical exam, some NGO complains about these exam being to invasive (Like having a doc checking your genital to check whether you're an adult). The Main issue is that the whole process is very long (especially since our democratic standards include the possibility to appeal a decision etc...) leading people to be asked to leave a country after they spent years trying to get a residence permit. \n",
"Isn't this kinda like what happened in that movie *Terminal*? I imagine they'd detain the guy until they found answers. Or, they'd just detain him and inform him that he needs to provide them some information if he wants to get out. ",
"This is the basic plot of a play called de donde. Ice basically scares the shit out of some girl til she gives in."
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keh33 | the argument surrounding the validation of cold fusion | All I know is that there was some sort of issue with one persons validation of a cold fusion theory which may or may not have been refuted, I'm genuinely clueless, hopefully some of you lovely folks can help.
P.S. sorry about how ambiguous this question is but I honestly can't be any more clear. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/keh33/eli5_the_argument_surrounding_the_validation_of/ | {
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"There really isn't any argument there. In 1989, two scientists named Fleischmann and Pons announced that they had demonstrated a hitherto unsuspected energy-producing reaction that they suggested could be muon-catalyzed low-energy nuclear fusion. What's that mean? Well, put simply, it means those two guys thought they'd found evidence for a type of nuclear reaction that nobody had ever observed or even suspected could exist before. It was very exciting.\n\nThis announcement generated a *lot* of interest — it came on the heels of recent surprising discoveries in the area of high-temperature superconductivity, so scientists at that time were particularly open-minded to the possibility of the hitherto unsuspected — but within weeks it became clear that it was a bust. Many, many other scientists tried to reproduce Fleischmann's and Pons' results, but none were able to.\n\nUpon reviewing Fleischmann's and Pons' data, other scientists discovered that a straightforward and simple *mistake* had been made in the analysis. What Fleischmann and Pons claimed to have observed was not, in fact, observed. The data simply didn't support it, and Fleischmann and Pons had made a mistake in thinking that it did.\n\nThat by itself isn't a big deal. The big deal is the way Fleischmann and Pons *refused* to admit their mistake. This created a lot of professional problems for them. Especially when, a few months later, the US Department of Energy reviewed the whole field and announced, in a peer-reviewed and sound way, that there was simply no evidence to suggest that \"cold fusion\" even existed. It was all just attributable to errors in data analysis and wishful thinking.\n\nFleischmann and Pons eventually suffered such blows to their professional reputations that they had to emigrate. I forget which did which, but one of them took a job at a Toyota research facility in France and spent about a decade and millions of dollars on research into cold fusion with no results. The other, if I remember right, left academia entirely and went back to a purely private life.\n\nThe whole subject's been ancient history since about 1991 or so.",
"Fusion is when you press two small nuclei together, resulting in a larger nuclei and energy. Nuclei are pretty hard so force together, so usually only happens at high temperatures.\n\nThat's why when two scientists said they had a low temperature reaction the resulted in fusion, it was a big deal. There were performing an experiment that result in a bunch of unexplained energy, and claimed low temperature, or cold fusion was the cause.\n\nIf true, it would have revolutionized the energy production, potentially providing all the energy the world would need for almost free.\n\nBut, of course, it turned out not to be true. Some initial attempts found a little excess energy, but no other scientists unable to repeat the full result, and they *were* able to identify the flaws in the original experiment that lead to the false conclusion. \n\nToday the scientific community considers the issue closed, there was no cold fusion, with views on the original claim ranging from sloppy to fraudulent. The original scientists still claim it was real. There are conspiracy theorists who claim the government or oil companies stepped in to suppress it, and scammers who claim it is real to get funding for their own quack devices. ",
"There really isn't any argument there. In 1989, two scientists named Fleischmann and Pons announced that they had demonstrated a hitherto unsuspected energy-producing reaction that they suggested could be muon-catalyzed low-energy nuclear fusion. What's that mean? Well, put simply, it means those two guys thought they'd found evidence for a type of nuclear reaction that nobody had ever observed or even suspected could exist before. It was very exciting.\n\nThis announcement generated a *lot* of interest — it came on the heels of recent surprising discoveries in the area of high-temperature superconductivity, so scientists at that time were particularly open-minded to the possibility of the hitherto unsuspected — but within weeks it became clear that it was a bust. Many, many other scientists tried to reproduce Fleischmann's and Pons' results, but none were able to.\n\nUpon reviewing Fleischmann's and Pons' data, other scientists discovered that a straightforward and simple *mistake* had been made in the analysis. What Fleischmann and Pons claimed to have observed was not, in fact, observed. The data simply didn't support it, and Fleischmann and Pons had made a mistake in thinking that it did.\n\nThat by itself isn't a big deal. The big deal is the way Fleischmann and Pons *refused* to admit their mistake. This created a lot of professional problems for them. Especially when, a few months later, the US Department of Energy reviewed the whole field and announced, in a peer-reviewed and sound way, that there was simply no evidence to suggest that \"cold fusion\" even existed. It was all just attributable to errors in data analysis and wishful thinking.\n\nFleischmann and Pons eventually suffered such blows to their professional reputations that they had to emigrate. I forget which did which, but one of them took a job at a Toyota research facility in France and spent about a decade and millions of dollars on research into cold fusion with no results. The other, if I remember right, left academia entirely and went back to a purely private life.\n\nThe whole subject's been ancient history since about 1991 or so.",
"Fusion is when you press two small nuclei together, resulting in a larger nuclei and energy. Nuclei are pretty hard so force together, so usually only happens at high temperatures.\n\nThat's why when two scientists said they had a low temperature reaction the resulted in fusion, it was a big deal. There were performing an experiment that result in a bunch of unexplained energy, and claimed low temperature, or cold fusion was the cause.\n\nIf true, it would have revolutionized the energy production, potentially providing all the energy the world would need for almost free.\n\nBut, of course, it turned out not to be true. Some initial attempts found a little excess energy, but no other scientists unable to repeat the full result, and they *were* able to identify the flaws in the original experiment that lead to the false conclusion. \n\nToday the scientific community considers the issue closed, there was no cold fusion, with views on the original claim ranging from sloppy to fraudulent. The original scientists still claim it was real. There are conspiracy theorists who claim the government or oil companies stepped in to suppress it, and scammers who claim it is real to get funding for their own quack devices. "
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1x70d5 | why does cardboard get soft when it's cold? | Cardboard is made from wood pulp and therefore cellulose. Is it a property of cellulose? It's not any wetter, just colder. I first noticed this when trying to open boxes kept in a cooler. Any ideas? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1x70d5/eli5_why_does_cardboard_get_soft_when_its_cold/ | {
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"The cold might cause the water vapor to above it to fall onto it and the cardboard absorbs it. Just a hypotheses I made though."
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1kscqz | why does the lockheed c-130 hercules still use propellers instead of jet engines? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1kscqz/eli5_why_does_the_lockheed_c130_hercules_still/ | {
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"It uses a turbine powered propeller.\n\nPure jet engines aren't efficient until a certain air speed is reached. Most aircraft use turbo fans, which is just a jet with a fan wheel attached at the very front. There's usually a housing for the entire assembly, and some of the thrust generated is from the fan pushing air, and the rest is from the combustion in the jet engine.\n\nThe bypass ratio is the ratio of fan thrust to jet thrust. Thrust from the fan is more efficient at lower speeds, so commercial airliners will use high bypass turbo fans, whereas supersonic fighter aircraft will tend towards low bypass turbofans.\n\nThe turbine powered propeller would just be an infinite bypass turbofan, where all of it's thrust comes from the fan.",
"There's a number of factors that lead to the decision to use a turboprop engine over a turbofan engine (your typical jet engine).\n\n-Shorter take-offs. Turboprops perform better at short take-off and landings, which increases the versatility of the vehicle. Turboprops can handle lower air speeds better, thus the plane doesn't have as great a risk of stalling when taking off at lower speeds. The Hercules is a military transport so landing in sub-optimal airstrips is a very likely possibility.\n\n-Fuel Efficiency. At sub-sonic speeds, turboprops have a higher fuel efficiency compared to turbofans. A comparison between similarly sized passenger aircrafts found that the turboprop burned about 2/3 the fueld per passenger compared to the turbofan. The Hercules is required to fly long distances so fuel-efficiency is key.\n\n-Operating conditions. Turbofans offer two major features over turboprops - supersonic speeds, and a high operating ceiling. Turbofans (jet engines) can potentially fly faster and higher than a turboprop plane can. These two features, however, are not necessary for the Hercules. It cannot fly at super-sonic speeds with heavy payloads, and it can already achieve a 33,000ft operating ceiling.",
"C-130s do not \"simply use propellers\" like older airplanes did. The propellers are turbine driven, not piston driven. They use [turboprops](_URL_0_), which are extremely efficient and can carry heavy loads.\n\nThe C-130 is designed to carry cargo, not move quickly.",
"One thing I haven't read in here yet. The wings on a C130(e)(h)(j) cannot take the power that a jet engine can put on. The engines currently being used on C130's are throttled to not go over 65% power because even these can cause severe structural damage.\n\nEverything /u/CommissarAJ said is 100% correct but a real major reason is structural integrity. Also they are flying turds...I love working on them but they are turds."
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25aewm | why are porn tv channels still around with free porn on the internet? | When you have porn sites like Pornhub and xnxx that provide free videos how are these tv channels still on air? Possible [NSFW] | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/25aewm/eli5why_are_porn_tv_channels_still_around_with/ | {
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"i think that people that are older and grew up without internet porn are just used to those channels and don't want to change to the new fancy free internet stuff",
"Two words: Old People.\n\n",
"Same reason you still get emails from Nigerian Princes and phone calls from Microsoft engineers.\n\nPeople still pay for it.",
"*unzips*... cuz watching porn on 65\" tv is better than watching it on a 4.5\" smartphone or a 13\" laptop."
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1wx2rh | why are gingers hated? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wx2rh/eli5_why_are_gingers_hated/ | {
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"A lot of people just don't find them visually appealing. ",
"It has something to do with the belief that gingers- those with red hair, pale skin, and freckles- have no souls."
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2nnozp | the differences between chorus, bridge, hook, interlude, verse, etc. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nnozp/eli5_the_differences_between_chorus_bridge_hook/ | {
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"Verse: Same melody and harmony but different lyrics. \n\nChorus: Same melody and harmony that repeats, often has the primary \"point\" or \"message\" of the song in it. \n\nInterlude: Instrumental filler used to connect two larger parts of music. \n\nBridge: A specific type of interlude most often seen right before the final verse or final chorus. \n\nHook: Short catchy musical phrase. ",
"+ *Chorus* : the main message of the song. This gets repeated multiple times. This is usually the climax, what gets remembered.\n+ *Verse* : this is what carries the story, this is where you set the scenery. You usually put verses between choruses.\n+ *Bridge* : usually unique section in a song, often used as a kind of \"something-unexpected-happens\", to keep the audience focused. Indeed, often major changes are made to the harmony, melody, rhythm, effects or anything. Then it gets back to normal with the chorus. \n+ *Hook* : hook is not a song's section, it is more at the melody level, this is what catches your ear, makes you remember it and maybe say \"ugh, I have that song stuck in my head\"\n+ *Interlude* : Bridge, Break and Interlude are kind of the same thing : they just break the song structure so you don't get bored. \n\n\nBasically, pop song structures are like this : \nVerse, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus\n\nedit : formatting"
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6l3cl9 | why did edison think dc was better than ac and why did he kill elephants to make his point? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6l3cl9/eli5_why_did_edison_think_dc_was_better_than_ac/ | {
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"Dc is less likely to bridge gaps like an arc and is less penetrative like going through your body. Ac is pissed off and is more than willing to lash out at you. But ac is easier to send long distance so that is why we use ac. ",
"Edison had a patent on DC power, but not AC power, so he pushed DC in order to make a profit. Killing an elephant was a propaganda stunt to emphasize that AC was more deadly than DC. "
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ez7xpf | why do airplane communications sound so bad? | From pilot microphone to passengers, to radio/plane communications, it sounds like it's a microphone from the 1950's | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ez7xpf/eli5_why_do_airplane_communications_sound_so_bad/ | {
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"It's because the signal is still transmitted by changing the amplitude of the carrier (AM). AM is subject to RFI and distortion much more than FM/PM. Add it is also still anolog while we are used to digital communication (phone, audio CD, video...",
"There are some effort being made to make ATC communication with aircraft better. The EU SESAR project has a lot of modernization ongoing for air traffic, and one of these is digitized comms via radio and via satellite.\n\nThat will also introduce authentication/integrity protection, and allow for long distance atc, such as over the Atlantic where traffic is currently not handled by ATC (aircraft out of radio range).\n\nOn mobile, but a bit of googling should help you out.",
"the radio is likely narrow-bandwidth (300hz - ~4khz): [Voice Frequency](_URL_0_)\n\nthe microphones and associated electronics may also be optimized for those frequencies as well which would impact the sound for even in-cabin audio.",
"The communications you find on YouTube and whatnot are usually recorded by enthusiasts that might have a crappy setup and/or not be too close to the airport.\n\nThe actual communications between pilots and ATC/Tower should be much better",
"It's analog for reliability reasons. The sound quality might not be great, but you can understand what's being said. The purpose isn't to make great YouTube recordings. Digital communications are great when they are working and nothing when you're out of range or under bad conditions. Nothing isn't acceptable for safety functions. They'd much rather have low quality audio than \"no sound\".",
"One of the main reasons is sounds bad is that the transmissions are simplex, not duplex. This means when someone starts talking it blocks other transmissions and it just becomes a garbled mess.\n\nWhen pilots hear a blocked transmission, someone will often chime in by saying \"blocked\", so that ATC knows an instruction was probably not received. This cycle further clogs up the frequency.",
"Radio communications aren't as bad as they might appear. Pilots use jargon specifically designed to be understood in poor conditions, and they get used to understanding things even when there is some interference. Also, the communications are in a pretty set format, the pilot already knows what most of the message will be, all they have to do is pick out whether they are clear to land and which runway they should use. \n\nIt might all sound like a garbled mess to the layman, but it is perfectly clear to the pilot."
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4lplfo | how does an animal's body know when to drop it's winter coat? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4lplfo/eli5_how_does_an_animals_body_know_when_to_drop/ | {
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"In true ELI5 fashion;\n\n\nChanging of coats can be to a variety of things such as the lengnth of time the sun is out, temperature and diet. It varies species to species but it's usually down to hormonal changes caused by day length and temperature.",
"They should really hang it up, but they usually drop it on the floor as soon as they're inside.",
"Seasonal shedding cycles are governed by light exposure (through the eyes) which affects the production of melatonin, a hormone that mediates the body's circadian rhythms. More light exposure reduces the production of melatonin, and at some point that reduction triggers the start of a new hair growth cycle. The animal moults, and a new coat comes in. \n\nLater, as winter rolls around, the daylight hours decrease, and the subsequent increase in melatonin triggers a the start of another hair growth cycle. This time the summer coat is replaced by a thicker winter coat. \n\nIt's important to note that changes in seasonal light exposure increase with latitude, and thus the further a furred mammal lives from the equator the more prominent the shedding cycles become.\n \nAs an aside, I believe that the sparse haircoat of many tropical mammals is due to the fact that their aggregate light exposure is never low enough to trigger a shedding/growth cycle, and thus they maintain what amounts to an essentially permanent summer coat. "
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1a4ajp | is an m-16 and an ar-15 the same thing? what makes them different? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1a4ajp/eli5_is_an_m16_and_an_ar15_the_same_thing_what/ | {
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"AR-15s are only semi-automatic.\n\nThe M-16 is the select-fire version; it can be fired semi-auto, 3-round burst, or full-auto.",
"Yup \n\nThe M16 is just the military version, the difference being the M16 has fire select (full automatic, burst, and semi automatic) where the civilian AR15 only has the semi automatic function. \n\n* Full auto - Hold the trigger and bullets keep coming out.\n* Burst - pull the trigger and a controlled amount of bullets are fired, usually 3. \n* Semi Auto - Each pull of the trigger is 1 round fired. ",
"AR-15 is the civilian equivalent to M-16. So if I ELY5; you can have an AR-15, not an M-16 (unless your active military or a thief). AR-15 can go boom once per trigger squeeze and M-16 can go boom, boom-boom-boom or constant boom 30 times (standard)."
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7jo8hx | is moving less than a planck length possible? | Moving a planck length per planck time means moving the speed of light, so massive particles should move less than a planck length in a planck second. Ive heard that planck lengths are like the "pixels" of space, so should moving less than a planck length be possible | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7jo8hx/eli5_is_moving_less_than_a_planck_length_possible/ | {
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"Short answer: Yes, moving a distance of less than a Planck length is possible; in theory, there is no limit as to what the smallest distance something can move is. But things are weird at such a small level, so let me explain.\n\nIf you move, say a marble, .1 meters, that's pretty small. But you can go smaller. You could move the marble .01 meters. From there, you can move the marble smaller and smaller distances because you can always add a zero before that one. The conclusion of this thought experiment is that there is no limit to how small of a distance you could move the marble because there is no limit to how many zeroes you could add to the distance.\n\nNow when we get to distances like the Planck length, things start to get funny. At sizes that small, matter and energy start to behave in different ways than what we do at a normal level. Particles can pop in and out, other particles can \"communicate\" with each other (an idea known as superposition), and our ideas of natural laws start to break down.\n\nAt such a small level, quantum mechanics govern. The reason why we have \"the shortest distance\" being the Planck length is because that is the smallest meaningful length that can be used in classical mechanics; anything smaller would be governed by laws that don't apply to what we don't know. \n\nSo in a nutshell, you *can* move a distance smaller than a Planck length, but there is not much meaning to it because classical mechanics does not apply at such small distances. \n\nEdit: Wording",
"You absolutely can have something move a distance smaller then the Planck Length, and in fact it wouldn’t be hard to argue that there might be some undiscovered particle that does (we don’t know of any particles that do, it just wouldn’t be hard to make the case that something like that might happen). \n\nThat said, the planck length is simply a length derived from the Gravitational Constant (G), the Speed of Light (c) and the Reduced Planks Constant (ℏ) according to \n\n sqrt((ℏG)/c^3)\n\nThe above equation works out as far as units are concerned (which means that every unit we don’t want gets crossed out as you solve the equation) but doesn’t really prove anything past that. Currently it’s not known if the value of the planck length actually has any signifigance, but there are a few theories. Scientists think that it could be the point below which physics simply no longer works, or at least that’s what we think might happen since we don’t know what happens at such small levels. This idea does makes sense, since ℏ is the smallest increment of energy any system can have (more accurately, this value belongs to h, which is ℏ multiplied by two pi, but some things are measured in ℏ and this is less confusing as a sentence imo) so it makes sense that a length derived from it should also be a minimum of sorts. The other theory is that the planck constant is quite literally the “pixel” of our reality and any attempts to go below it will simply result in black holes. \n\nIn other, simpler, words hears what that paragraph is trying to say; the Planck Length by itself isn’t definitive proof that you can’t go below it. There are theories that predict what happens below this length and they state that\n\nA. Physics breaks down but with lots of fun new physics in its place.\n\nB. Physics breaks down and the more we try to go below it the bigger of a black hole we make.\n\nNeither of those two theories are definitively proven, but they do at least make some sense when you go into the details. \n\nOk, now to answer the time part of this question. As I was saying before, Planck Units are simply derived units from constants and we don’t know if there’s any signifigance behind them. This is especialy true for the Planck Time since, unlike the Planck Length, there’s no theories that inter signifigance to it. In other words, planck time is just a very well defined value of time and there’s nothing stopping it from going down to even smaller increments. ",
"Planck units do not represent a fundamental limit. As far as we can tell, distances are 'continuous' and there isn't a minimum distance in and of itself. That being said, it may be a minimum *meaningful* distance insofar as we can observe behavior. \n"
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1fqirl | what makes a race car driver "good" at racing? | I'm assuming that most people in a given race have roughly similar cars... At least in the large professional races. What is it about the "stars" of racing that makes them win more often than other drivers? What sorts of "strategies" do they use to win more often? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1fqirl/eli5_what_makes_a_race_car_driver_good_at_racing/ | {
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"Depends, what type of racing are you talking about? \n\nF1 is vastly different to NASCAR and the likes. Some are more about endurance than speed, and some take teamwork like in Rally with the co-driver. \n\nEDIT: /u/xcerj61 explains it pretty nicely",
"Top tier race driver needs to have great mix of skills that include \n1. driving skill - being smooth with the car, knowing the limits, being able to feel the car, to sense the optimum line, react instantly to the unexpected. The smoothness is the reason why fast drivers look like they are driving slowly, but it is needed to maximize traction, thus speed. \n2. Balance of aggressiveness and cool headedness. The driver needs to be aggressive enough to eg. commit for overtaking manoeuvres, resist other drivers' pressure, but at the same time, \"to finish first, first you need to finish\". \n3. technical competence. They say that the edge Michael Schumacher had over his competitors in his golden days was that he understood the car well and could help with proper set-up. For not the jet-setter levels of drivers it is even more important, they often need to help with the car themselves \n(4. Sponsors and networking. To break into the top level of drivers (ie. F1, GT2 etc.) you need to have serious money behind you. \n5. physical fitness and low weight. Lot of the events are physically demanding, require several hours of exercise and concentration. In some of the disciplines the driver's weight is substantial part of the total vehicle weight. having 10kg less can mean 10ths of a second on a lap)",
"This question has already been answered by /u/xcerj61, but I wanted to add this little bit. One of the best IndyCar drivers is Will Power. He was recently on the show Sports Science demonstrating his reaction times. [Here is the clip](_URL_0_) of him on that show, and it's pretty amazing to see just how quickly he can react. What's even more amazing is when they test him after exercising. ",
"This [video of Top Gear presenter, Richard Hammond attempting to drive an F1 car](_URL_0_) will give you somewhat of an idea.",
"Here is a list of video links collected from comments that redditors have made in response to this submission:\n\n|Source Comment|Score|Video Link|\n|:-------|:-------|:-------|\n|[MankBaby](_URL_9_)|148|[Richard Hammond drives F1 Renault R25 car at Silverstone - Top Gear - BBC Autos](_URL_21_)|\n|[Remmy14](_URL_17_)|40|[Sport Science: Will Powers](_URL_7_)|\n|[brofession](_URL_22_)|15|[Nico Rosberg explains his driving position](_URL_23_)|\n|[Harry_Seaward](_URL_30_)|12|[Richard Burns best onboard stage ever](_URL_29_)|\n|[Dascandy](_URL_16_)|9|[Ayrton Senna Top Gear Tribute](_URL_34_)|\n|[thecosmicpope](_URL_2_)|9|[F1 Honda engine traction control sound, F1 test Spa 2007](_URL_6_)|\n|[torquesteer](_URL_45_)|8|[Finland race: Mika Hakkinen teaches Captain Slow to drive - Top Gear - BBC Autos](_URL_37_)|\n|[cogitoergo](_URL_13_)|8|[Kimi overtake Schumacher Spa 2012 HD](_URL_24_)|\n|[elf_dreams](_URL_42_)|8|[Jake Allen amazing stick save on T.J. Brodie. Feb 15th 2013](_URL_35_)|\n|[torquesteer](_URL_45_)|8|[Laguna Sega versus the Real thing : Top Gear](_URL_18_)|\n|[torquesteer](_URL_45_)|8|[Speed Comparison: GT vs. F1](_URL_0_)|\n|[ztherion](_URL_38_)|7|[High-strung Irish Rally Co-Driver screams pace-notes & cusses :](_URL_5_)|\n|[parser101](_URL_41_)|4|[Chasing The Dream - Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes/ fernando alonso/ lewis hamilton](_URL_10_)|\n|[bobtheterminator](_URL_26_)|3|[Richard Hammond does NASCAR - Top Gear - BBC](_URL_33_)|\n|[alexseiji](_URL_44_)|3|[How Ayrton Senna was so fast](_URL_31_)|\n|[CrankyAdolf](_URL_8_)|2|[How a Formula 1 team builds a f1 car around its driver](_URL_40_)|\n|[clintVirus](_URL_28_)|2|[Stroker Ace Charlie Daniels Band](_URL_11_)|\n|[thecosmicpope](_URL_46_)|1|[F1 Spa 1994 Schumacher spins](_URL_36_)|\n|[thecosmicpope](_URL_46_)|1|[Jos Verstappen pitstop gone wrong German GP 1994](_URL_39_)|\n|[The_Spaceman](_URL_25_)|1|[Nascar? Whats all the Hype about? part 1](_URL_20_)|\n|[xcerj61](_URL_4_)|1|[2004 British GP- Kimi Raikkonen vs Michael Schumacher](_URL_27_)|\n|[thecosmicpope](_URL_46_)|1|[Schumacher 'Launch Control' France GP 1994 Benetton](_URL_1_)|\n|[Treshnell](_URL_15_)|1|[Chad Knaus jimmie Johnson caught cheating On VIDEO](_URL_12_)|\n|[lostshootinstar](_URL_3_)|0|[Denny Hamlin Sport Sciences ESPN](_URL_43_)|\n\n* [VideoLinkBot FAQ](_URL_19_)\n* [Feedback](_URL_14_)\n* [Playlist of videos in this comment](_URL_32_)",
"Pretend you're a military jet pilot. Now you want to be the best right? Of course you do. Now to be a pilot, you can't just be a fat lazy guy. You need to be on top of your game! To be a combat pilot you need to be physically fit, in order to withstand the demands of g-forces put upon you. You also need to be smart. When you get into combat, you need to stay calm. You need to be one step ahead of your enemy. Know the moves hes going to make, before he makes them, and you're going home in one piece. \n\nBasically, this is the same thing to be a good race car driver. You need to be on top of your game. You need to be fit to withstand the g-forces of cornering. You need to have a 6th sense about the drivers around you (who pressure you into making a mistake), and a 6th sense about how to drive smoothly, while driving fast, and not crashing. You might be racing for just 1-2 hours, but imagine having to think at the highest level for 1-2 hours and driving a car that can potentially kill you. It's going to be hard. ",
"When Richard Hammond attempted to drive an F1 car on Top Gear my respect for the drivers skyrocketed. \n\n\n\nIt was bad enough for him just to do a lap by himself. Imagine trying to win against a bunch of pros...\n\n",
"Like you are five: remember how faster riding a bicycle is compared to your fisher price car? Remember how much faster riding in a car is compared to that? Imagine that you continue to go faster and faster until you realize that it takes a super human to be able to control all that speed... there you would have a racing driver.\n\nAt top level racing, things are moving [much much faster](_URL_0_). There are a lot of factors, but the single thing that can be said about top level racers is that they have a higher speed of which they can process information and act upon it. This comes not only from years of experience, starting at a very young age, but also comes from a certain rare trait that allows them up to have a sixth sense of which information is important and which information they should overlook.\n\nTypically, most of us can learn to drive very very fast also. But 99.99% of us will hit a wall called the \"talent wall\". At this point, our fears and instincts prevent us from going any faster, even though the machines can in fact go faster. Top level racers seem to lack the talent wall entirely.\n\nSome Top Gear videos explaining this phenomenon:\n\n[Clarkson hitting his talent wall](_URL_1_)\n\n[What makes the Finns so good at driving](_URL_2_)",
"my race watching experience comes mostly from watching Formula 1, motoGP and some Nascar/Indy car. I'd say the biggest difference between a good driver and a great driver is the consistency. A great driver can go out and put down exactly the same lap over and over and over. They hit the same corner in exactly the same way every time around the track. This makes a great driver. But that doesn't make a winning driver. \n\nA winning driver, your world champions, can do the same lap over and over and then when they need to pass the guy in front of them they can take a faster line through a corner, a lin that no one would even try. This is why you see commentators amazed at passes in turns that no one tries, because the grip isn't supposed to be there, and suddenly it is.\n\nCheck this out for an example:\n_URL_0_",
"Can someone also answer this question for the Olympic sport of Luge?",
"Fast reflexes, ability to quickly think and act under extreme duress, hand-eye coordination, foot-eye coordination, confidence in themselves and their vehicles, patience, timing, great understanding of how their vehicle is going to behave and respond at all times under any circumstances.",
"One thing would be knowing the limits of the car, and trusting it. It may sound simple but cornering in 300km/h takes some balls.",
"Watch the documentary Senna. Even if you're not a huge car guy you'll get what sets regular drivers apart from world champions",
"Be Aryton Senna, then not die. RIP Aryton Senna :-( ",
"In racing there is an enormous amount of factors that come into play in order to be the fastest such as fuel strategies (how much fuel load to weight) to cross weights, spring stiffness, damper stiffness and settings, chassis stiffness etc... but the single most important thing is the drivers ability to properly and consistantly attack each corner as fast as humanly possible and the drivers that can consistantly conquer each lap oper and over will do better than those that dont. In a equal racing series there is a so called \"line\" around the course that drivers should follow. Each corner is different and each track is different therefor each line is different. Its the ability to carry the most momentum through a corner while braking the least and giving gas the most. The sooner you can get on the gas coming out of a corner the faster you'll be overall. \n\n\nHere is a diagram that illustrates the basics of approaching a 90 degree bend. \n_URL_1_\n\n\nHere is a great video of a legendary driver in F1 named Ayrton Senna illustrating what makes a great driver. _URL_0_",
"1. Sisu.\n\n2. Skill.",
"The only way to get good is practice. Most racers are in some sort of car by 4 or 5 years old.",
"Consistency and precision. If you are a great driver but erratic you will not win as many races. ",
"I saw them on the telly once take some drivers to a sports reflex testing facility. They had some rugby players, and a tennis player in for comparison - the deal is you have to touch the lights on the board twhen they come on. It measures your reaction time.\n\nThe drivers blew the professional athletes out of the water with their reaction times."
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18q9kk | voltage, current, and impedance | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18q9kk/eli5_voltage_current_and_impedance/ | {
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"Voltage is a difference in charge between two points. If there's more charge at one point than another, there is a voltage between them. A 9V battery, for example, has more charge at one terminal than the other.\n\nCurrent is the amount of charge moving through a conducting medium per second. An ampere, the unit of current, is defined as 1 coulomb (the unit of charge) moving through a cross-section of wire in one second. \n\nThe way that voltage and current relate is through something called Ohm's law, which is *v = iR*, or voltage = current x resistance. Resistance is the amount that a conductor opposes charge being transferred through it; a copper wire has a very low resistance, whereas rubber has a very high resistance. Basically, if there's a difference in voltage over some conducting element (and the circuit makes a loop), current will flow, because the charge difference caused by the voltage wants to get evened out.\n\nImpedance is fairly complicated, and I'm not sure if you actually meant to ask what resistance is instead. Impedance is analogous to resistance, but applies to AC circuits instead of DC circuits (impedance in a DC circuit is the same thing as resistance, so it isn't really relevant). I can try to explain it if you want, but I'm almost positive that you meant resistance (no offense)."
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20x6gy | how do postal services (usps, ups, fed-ex, etc.) make money from such low shipping costs to travel such long distances? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20x6gy/eli5_how_do_postal_services_usps_ups_fedex_etc/ | {
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"You can fit a lot of packages into a single UPS truck, to say nothing of a cargo flight. The shipping services have logistical software that is efficient like you wouldn't *believe*. They have a very, very good idea what their shipping volume is going to look like, and they're almost always able to maximize their use of trucks and planes. ",
"Volume and efficiency. If I deliver a small package in my car to the other side of the state, it will cost me about $200. However, if I fill my car to the brim with packages and charge people $5 each to deliver it, I might be able to fit 60 packages in ($300). I pocket the other $100. Parcel services do this, but on a huge scale.\n\nAt my last job, we leased software written by UPS to use with our own delivery trucks. It's amazing how many rules and variables it looks at to maximize efficiency. Everything from avoiding left turns to weighing a faster toll road vs a slower freeway.\n\nThe reason longer delivery times are cheaper is because this way, they can wait until each plane or truck is full, which cuts down on the total number of trips they have to drive."
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8whe4l | why is it that adult oriented thing like sex toys porn etc are denoted by a triple x? why x? who decided that this would be the norm? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8whe4l/eli5_why_is_it_that_adult_oriented_thing_like_sex/ | {
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"X rated movies (outside of the US, short for explicit) are supposed to be viewed by mature audiences only, due to extreme violence, language, or sexual content. This is equivalent to NC-17 rating in the US (no children below 17 admitted), which is a step above R rating (which children can get into if they have a parent/guardian with them).\n\nFor a while, film makers were content with X. Then they wanted to get the point across that some films were raunchier than others, so they used XX. Now we're at a point where everything is XXX, which is three-explicit levels. \n\nBasically, it was a required denotation that eventually became marketing gimmick that caught on and is now a cultural icon. ",
"The reason we use triple x for porn and sex is because of the flag of amsterdam.\n\nThe flag of amsterdam has three Xs on it on a red and black background.\n\nSince amsterdam was one of the first cities in the world to make prostitution legal, it so happened that the triple x of amsterdams flag became a simbol for sexual content.\n\nSource: Tourist guide during my visit in amsterdam told this story\n\nEdit: appearantly just an urban legend. Sad, i thought this was so cool tho.",
"When the modern film ratings system was created in 1968, the “X” rating was intended to denote films only suitable for adult audiences. However, since the “X” rating was not copyrighted by the MPAA, it was often self-applied by porn producers who wanted to market their films to adults only. One “X” became two “X”s and then three “X”s. One can only assume that the additional X’s were added to draw the attention of men walking past porno theaters back in the 1970s and 80s, the decades during which “X” and “XXX” became pervasive and synonymous with pornography. Finally, in 1990 the MPAA decided to replace the “X” rating with NC-17, because the “X” rating had become so linked to porn that legitimate theaters wouldn’t show “X” rated films, and newspapers wouldn’t allow advertisements for them, thereby dooming any “X” rated film to commercial failure.\n\n",
"Any correlation to the XXX on a jug of hillbilly moonshine? ",
"I remember old cartoons that had booze with 3 x's on it. Wtf. Am i drinking the lubed dildo? Is that whats under that cork? ",
"Everyone here is obsessed with answering the 'why triple X rather than just one' portion of the question, but not the 'why X in the first place?' portion. Like OP, I'm also curious. ",
"Not to go off on a tangent but why also is XOXO labeled hugs and kisses? Who comes up with this shit",
"As other have said, I'm pretty sure this comes from Amsterdam. The city was well positioned to be a place where sailors and merchants can spend their hard earned money before going home to their wives. Even in the early days the city was known for \"sinful\" activities. \n\nThe official Coat of Arms of Amsterdam includes three Silver Saint Andrews Crosses. This is used as a shorthand for a logo of the city. Signs, streetlamps, and goods were stamped with 3 Xs to signify it was Amsterdam. Eventually, 3 Xs would become a shorthand for anything sinful including pornography and alcohol. \n\n_URL_0_",
"XXX isn't a real rating, it's just the rating in the adult industry made up to denote hardcore (visible penetration) porn. Technically, adult films are NR, not rated. The porn industry isn't part of the MPAA.\n\nX was a real rating, but it was only used once or twice, since it's essentially the kiss of death in theaters, it was replaced with NC-17, and is still avoided like the plague.\n\nIt really just evolved, x ratings existed while we were deciding whether porn was legal, XXX worked as both a warning and an advertisement."
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1e4ttx | how come adobe does not support flash for mobile phones, tablets, and ipads? | It seems if you jailbreak your device, you can view websites that use flash so it's not a compatibility issue. Why limit people from using the software? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1e4ttx/eli5_how_come_adobe_does_not_support_flash_for/ | {
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"It was a choice by Apple, not Adobe, to not include flash on their mobile devices. They did because Adobe couldn't produce a version of flash that met Apple's requirements in terms of battery life, memory usage, & stability. They also felt flash was a dying medium due to the introduction of html5 video around that time. \n\nSince apple devices had such a large market share, mobile sites didn't use flash so they could be properly accessible by iphones. Eventually, Adobe stopped developing mobile flash for android because so many sites had shifted away from flash. ",
"Apple has made the design choice to not allow Adobe Flash on Apple mobile devices because of stability issues. Apple has very high demands for reliability, and Flash is responsible for a large proportion of crashes on devices. They made the judgment call to remove the feature in favor of retaining a reputation of reliability and a stable user experience. Opinions vary on if it was a good call.",
"you know, there are mobile phones and tablets not made by apple.",
"They tried. They couldn't make it work very well. It was slow and used a lot of battery.\n\nThat didn't make Apple, who makes iPhones, happy... so Apple told them they couldn't do it. Most smart phones were made by Apple when they said that, so Adobe stopped making flash for phones and tablets.\n\nSince then, most people who make cool things for phones and tablets simply stopped using flash, so it wasn't needed anymore.",
"think of it like his, if Apple made Flash work on the iPad, you could just go to a website (ex. angry birds) and play it similar in quality with the native apps, but online.\n\nApple would loose it's monopoly on the AppStore, for a lot of the casual games that a lot of people buy, and Apple could not force developers to pay 30% royality on each app sale.\n\n"
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3z6sv5 | why do non-actors, when put in acting situations, always sound flat and wooden, when they are perfectly capable of speaking naturally in other situations? | Consider the cameo appearances of the SEC coaches in the film "The Blind Side." Obviously these are talented, intelligent men, but given an acting role, it just makes my skin crawl to hear them. Also, lots of "hidden camera" youtube videos can be outed as fakes, and I don't see how local TV advertisements that feature owners that would be better suited to run a business than advertise for it can bring money in at all.
Is there some innate thing we have that makes the amateur actor's brain partially shut down when told the camera is running? Is it some effect of the technical equipment that makes someone sound fake? What advice would a pro give an aspiring actor to make sure he sounds natural? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3z6sv5/eli5_why_do_nonactors_when_put_in_acting/ | {
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"People tend to feel nervous and self conscious when they have an audience, especially when their performance is being recorded for later viewing. Feeling \"on the spot\" can make people stiff and unsure, which leads to an unnatural performance",
"I think part of it is trying to remember lines. If you've not memorised them all 100% then part of your concentration will be taken up by trying to remember. If you know them all without thinking about it you can focus all your attention on *how* you're saying them.",
"Your right. Nothing sounds worse than some dealership family member trying to sell me on a car. Just pay an actor!",
"I'm not an actor, but I think that communicating to an audience through a camera is a totally different skill to communicating with someone naturally. There's so much more expression required. People who aren't used to it make a bad job of it and it feels forced.",
"I'm an aspiring filmmakers (as many others on reddit) and what I notice about people is that they get really self conscious about themselfs while they know they're being filmed, they start to pay attention to what they're saying, how they're standing etc. While this just makes it look unnatural. (This is why I secretly film most dialogue shots while rehearsing)",
"The \"self-conscious\" commented make me think about a great exercise my English teacher did that I've never seen replicated. He had a small group do improv of a dramatic scene (eg, involving an unplanned pregnancy). It went great, partially because we felt like we were just doing it to our own little group with no observers.",
"I used to get really high and watch TV/movies with the sound off. The great actors stand out via body language alone.",
"Acting is a little trickier than you'd think. Most communication happens without words. Body language, intonation, inflection, volume, etc all contribute. Every time an actor starts a scene they must imagine themselves in the time and place in question. They have to have the appropriate emotional tone in word, body, and deed. They need to interact meaningfully with other people who are all pretending too. Over and over, take after take. Without cracking up.\n\nAverage Joe has no practice at it, and it's tougher than it sounds. \n\nThis plus being on the spot makes folks seize up.\n\nSource: I'm a semi pro voice actor. It's hard enough just to get the voice right.",
"Non-actors haven't developed a good stage voice, since there's no need to have one if you're not going to use it. My normal speaking voice is quite forgettable, but my stage voice is significantly lower, more resonant, and projects well. That's the voice you hear on a certain radio network, doing announcements. It's overpowering in a small room and quite useless for everyday conversation.\n\nI practiced with a microphone, tape recorder (with a loop), and headphones until I got the effect I wanted, greatly helped by a drama coach. I highly recommend doing this, particularly if you are soft-spoken - it's an excellent life skill.\n\n",
"Being able to stare into a soulless camera and pretend you're in absolute love with it is a skill that takes years to cultivate.\n\nSource: I have a degree in acting. And even now, 18 years after graduation, I still take classes to stay fresh and on top of my game.",
"Most people have not had to lie about shit enough to have discovered the trick of temporarily fooling yourself into believing a lie in order to put on a convincing act.",
"I was formerly a professional actor, with conservatory training. I have about 75 film and television credits, plus plenty of stage experience.\n\nActing is the ONLY art that people think they can do without training. Ok, maybe singing too, but bad singing is pretty obvious. Bad acting is less so.\n\nCivilians sound wooden and flat when they perform because they're aware of themselves. That's it. They're thinking about their voices, \"how to say the line\", what to do with their hands, how they're standing, etc etc etc. Whenever you're aware of yourself in regular life (job interview, public speaking, trying to get with someone you like), you are probably equally wooden and awkward.\n\nBeginning acting training teaches a young actor to stop thinking and just be. An early exercise I remember well is sitting in front of an audience without speaking, moving or trying to \"entertain\" at all. It's harder than it sounds, but with exposure comes comfort and naturalness, so you can feel people's eyes on you without feeling like you have to \"do\" anything. A beginning actor should also receive vocal training (not singing, but speaking), speech training including accent reduction, and rudiments of dance and expressive movement.\n\nIntermediate training involves techniques in understanding the psychology of people different from you, which enables thinking and behaving naturally as a character other than yourself. (A lot of professionals never achieve this, frankly. You've all seen the actor or actress who is basically themselves in every role.) If you can have the inner life and dialog of the character going in your head, or something like it that motivates you in a way analogous to the character, then you can pursue those needs/desires as if you were in real life. Self-consciousness disappears, because you are truly acting and reacting in the shared, constructed reality of the scene (rather than thinking about \"how am i gonna say my next line\", like an amateur).\n\nTraining to become an actor is immensely difficult, and equally rewarding. Everyone should try a beginning acting class; you'll learn a LOT about yourself.\n\nTL;DR: you can't act, unless you learn how.",
"When children learn to read out loud, they sound very flat and wooden. It is difficult to sound natural when you read one word at a time since intonation is based on context. As we become better readers, we can read a few words ahead so that we know how to sound the words before we say them.\n\nActing is similar except it adds all kinds of other things one must \"forsee\" before doing them, including positioning, timing of when to speak in relation to others, how we move our bodies, our facial expressions, how we \"feel\" when we say the words, etc. Actors have practiced all these elements for years so they get proficient enough that when they \"act\" they're acting the scene rather than their lines, one at a time.",
"Reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg joke where he tried to make his own Sprite. \"They say it is lemon and lime but I tried to make it at home. There is more too it than that!\" Looking natural on camera requires subtle tricks and mannerisms with both verbal and nonverbal communication.",
"You're always immersed in the situation around you, and when you find yourself on a set with a script to play, that's a very strange situation that you've barely ever experienced before. So your instincts are totally different from ordinary life even if you're playing an ordinary character.\n\nSometimes someone on the internet asks a relationship question and get the answer \"Just tell them X,\" for some X. But if that isn't something the person feels comfortable saying, then when the actual situation arises it's going to be very difficult to say it, even if it's something pretty simple."
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zz9kj | how do car keys work? | My question is that are all keys unique or are they all the same? For example. If you got the same model car, would their keys be cross compatible? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/zz9kj/eli5_how_do_car_keys_work/ | {
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"Same model will have the same shape but they have different cuts (the \"mountain range\", if you will). Yes, there are a limited amount of combinations to these cuts, but the chances of finding one is very slim, and there are probably precautions against that like cars that get shipped to different areas of the country. If you had a key to a certain model and all the cuts were higher than the car needed that you were trying, you could use that key by using it as a blank and making deeper cuts in it, but you need to know where to make the cuts and how deep.\n\n[Here's a little video of a tumbler mechanism that just about all key locks are based on.](_URL_0_)",
"Are talking about electronic keys? If yes, then here's an answer. \n \nI can only speak very broadly about this but I can give you a better idea. Basically, the security from those keys come from the *information* they contain. For example, a car key might contain a \"secret number\" which the car also knows, and what the key does is conveying this information to the car and the car says \"oh, this key knows the secret number, I guess I can trust this key and take orders from it\". I'm sure that in reality there's not simply a secret number but you could really think if it as that. It's all in the information. \n \nNow for how the information is conveyed, I don't think I should try to explain since I'm not sure, but I'm quite certain that the technology used to retrieve information from car keys that are inserted in the car is the same as the technology that reads your credit card chip or your hotel key."
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1tciw3 | why don't/can't we use the sun's energy as our number one source of power? |
> The amount of energy the sun released in one minute is more than the amount of energy all humans have used for our entire history.
/u/ManateeIA mentioned this in an AskReddit thread.
So much energy, so close to earth (relatively). | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1tciw3/eli5_why_dontcant_we_use_the_suns_energy_as_our/ | {
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"Main problems are consistent energy output, energy storage and the actual harvesting. Most panels run between 10-30% efficiency, which right now means that the cost of creating the panels doesn't offset their energy generation. Solar power only works when the sun is shining, so if there's any cloud cover (as there are in most parts of the world), we wouldn't have any way to generate power. This also goes into the issue of energy storage: we don't have a good way of storing excess energy we capture. Some ideas are floated around and implemented, such as using the extra energy to compress air or move water up vertically, but the efficiency losses in doing this are currently hindering the system. It's also worth noting that the quoted statistic likely is relative to the amount of energy produced by the sun, not the amount of energy that makes it to the Earth's surface. After you realize that we as a planet don't absorb that much of the sun's total energy, add in losses due to the atmosphere and cloud cover, and we get less energy.",
"Why don't we all eat penguins? Because they're very far away and difficult to get to the public in a usable form at a reasonable cost. ;)\n\nThe energy of the sun has pretty much the same limitations. First, not all that energy is directed our way. Of the energy that comes towards our planet about 30% gets reflected back into space, 47% gets absorbed and turned into heat, 23% runs the water cycle and a little bit helps create wind. \n\nAs of right now, the most efficient solar cell I could find converts [44.7% of sunlight](_URL_0_) into usable power, and the light that actually reaches us down here on the ground is only about 0.03% of the total energy sent our way so you're not getting a huge benefit from it. On top of that, nobody's come up with a really cheap way to produce solar cells. There's some really cool technology out there but it's still not cheap enough for widespread adoption.",
"** < smartass > ** Ah, but we do. If you exclude geothermal, some forms of hydroelectric and nuclear, every energy source on this planet comes from the sun. Fossil fuels come from dead organisms, which were directly or indirectly fed by the sun. Wind and other weather are caused by uneven heating. The list goes on and on. ** < /smartass > **",
"We kinda do.\n\nSunlight powers photosynthesis, plants turn CO2 and Water and other minerals into biomatter using sunlight. Animals eat plants to form other biomatter. Animals eat other animals to form even more biomatter. All this biomatter eventually dies and forms fossil fuels over the course of 1000's of years. \n\nSo sunlight is the primary source of fossil fuels, which is our current #1 source of power. \n\nWind power, solar power, wave power, all are sourced primaraly from the Sun.\n\nOnly Nuclear and geothermal are not directly powered by the sun. Though, an argument could be made that Uranium and other nuclear power sources are the product of stars at one point. Same for geothermal. \n\nEnd of the day, stars ARE the primary source of power for everything. ",
"[It's coming.](_URL_0_) There are several engineering issues to work out. However, as technology progresses, it'll become viable."
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2755zk | the circumstances surrounding army sgt. bowe bergdahl? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2755zk/eli5_the_circumstances_surrounding_army_sgt_bowe/ | {
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"The people we released were dangerous, the conditions of his desertion are cloudy.\n\nThis biggest question is what takes precedence: No man left behind or we don't negotiate with terrorists? Both are mantras we live by.\n\nIt is also important to note that he was on the brink of death and his health was very poor.\n\nWe also don't know whether or not he was implicated in some top secret intel gathering mission and his desertion was a ploy.\n\nSince we will be out of Afghanistan soon we want to make sure we have all are POW before we leave, he was the last to my knowledge still in captivity.\n\nWhat we also don't know, and is plausible, is whether or not these Taliban leaders are working for us, and if they have gps implants. We could be sending them back to lead us right into their base, then a drone comes along.\n\nThere are so many possibilities here, I have to have faith in our military and I believe they know what they are doing, even if we never find out the true motives. This has become an issue, but I think there is more to this than we know right now."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
3u34tx | could we all be self-employed and making money? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3u34tx/eli5_could_we_all_be_selfemployed_and_making_money/ | {
"a_id": [
"cxbfsxe"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Economic transactions are not a zero sum game. Sure, in order for you to make money, someone else has to give up that money, but in exchange for a good or service. Typically, they value that good or service equally as much or more than they valued that money.\n\nCould we all be self employed. It's not impossible, but the modern world probably couldn't survive the transition, as pretty much everything we do requires cooperation and organization. Without large organizations like companies or governments, a lot of the stuff that we take for granted wouldn't be feasible."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
4iidub | how do we know what's on the other side of our galaxy? past the galactic core. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4iidub/eli5_how_do_we_know_whats_on_the_other_side_of/ | {
"a_id": [
"d2ybuu2",
"d2ycxcy"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Gas and dust scatter and absorb much of the visible light which comes from behind the center of the galaxy. However infrared, microwave and radio aren't attenuated as much, so we can get a picture using those regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Just like how visible light is scattered by clouds but you can still listen to the radio on a foggy day. But there is still quite a bit which we still can't get a clear picture of. About 10% of the sky is obscured by the center of our galaxy.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Since high mass objects bend space, we can use them as lenses. We're so good at this that we can take pictures of galaxies behind other galaxies by using the galaxy as a giant lens. \n\nAs you can see from the responses, there are a ton of ways to get this sort of information."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"http://www.spaceanswers.com/astronomy/how-much-of-the-universe-does-the-milky-way-block-us-seeing/"
],
[]
]
|
||
7sed9c | how can a person who's married to an american citizen be deported? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7sed9c/eli5_how_can_a_person_whos_married_to_an_american/ | {
"a_id": [
"dt42w8i"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"If the spouse is a legal resident, it's simple, register with the government and change their status. If the spouse is undocumented, any attempt to change the status will likely result in deportation proceedings. There is no simple way to change from undocumented to legal status without the spouse leaving the country and applying for entry as a fiancée, which can take a very long time and will be rejected if there is any record of them being in the US illegally."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
alkkq1 | when they say the average life expectancy is 75 years old, does this count for someone in their 20s or younger? since life expectancy is expected to increase in the next few decades, will the life expectancy of someone in their 20s today rise with it, or is it expected to stay at 75? | Like, when I'm 50, and the average life expectancy increases to like 85 or something, will that count for me, or only people who are in their youth at the time? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/alkkq1/eli5_when_they_say_the_average_life_expectancy_is/ | {
"a_id": [
"efeqv4z",
"efewlu0"
],
"score": [
9,
2
],
"text": [
"It's based on how long people are expected to live now based on the ages people are dying now, which is why lowering infant mortality significantly boosted life expectancy in the early 1900s.\n\n\n[Also, life expectancy is actually going down](_URL_0_) (in the US, at least), so it doesn't necessarily need to go up over time.",
" > ELI5: When they say the average life expectancy is 75 years old, does this count for someone in their 20s or younger?\n\nGenerally not. But if you really want to know what they count, you should ask them for their references and go read them. \n\nThe most common life expectancy numbers use a method where they assume that a 20 year old will experience the death rate 20 year olds currently experience, then if they survive will experience the death rate 21 year olds *currently* experience, then 22 year olds, etc. up until you are looking at the death rate that 100 year-olds are *currently* experiencing, and then beyond. And then you compute what would be the average remaining years of a hypothetical person who went through all of the death rates. They do not try to predict what death rate 100 year olds will be experiencing 80 years in the future.\n\n > Since life expectancy is expected to increase in the next few decades, will the life expectancy of someone in their 20s today rise with it, or is it expected to stay at 75?\n\nThe total life expectancy (current age, plus expected years left) of someone who is 20 computed as described above could be expected to rise over time for two reasons. When you recompute it when they are 30, it will account for whatever medical advances have happened over those 10 years (but not whatever advances might happen in the future), and it would also account for the fact that they didn't already die. The chances of dying between 20 and 30 are pretty small, but big enough to be measurable, and having not done so will increase your total life expectancy."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-life-expectancy-declines-again-a-dismal-trend-not-seen-since-world-war-i/2018/11/28/ae58bc8c-f28c-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html"
],
[]
]
|
|
1asenu | how can a thumbnail of an image still exist, but the source is no longer on the hyperlinked website? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1asenu/eli5_how_can_a_thumbnail_of_an_image_still_exist/ | {
"a_id": [
"c90bmtv",
"c90eoqi"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Because something, somewhere has stored the thumbnail.\n\nIt's much easier to store a thumbnail once you've created it, in case you need it again, than it is to re-create it each time you need it. But this has the side-effect you've noticed.",
"Reddit hosts thumbnails, so when the linked website is down, the preview image can still be seen since it’s uploaded to reddit servers. \n\nAnalyse these two links from [this post](_URL_0_):\n\n_URL_2_\n\n_URL_1_"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1ariwc/suddenly_it_was_like_a_black_and_white_movie_on/",
"http://d.thumbs.redditmedia.com/RMWVvXTHlq62FvFi.jpg",
"http://i.imgur.com/yh7T1Sp.jpg"
]
]
|
||
3vk2zi | how is a "through and through" gunshot wound better than the bullet not leaving the body? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3vk2zi/eli5_how_is_a_through_and_through_gunshot_wound/ | {
"a_id": [
"cxo64b5",
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"cxo6zad",
"cxocdb3",
"cxocs69"
],
"score": [
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23,
6,
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],
"text": [
"Ok, there are millions of factors that could make your statement untrue.\n\nHowever, one of the reasons this can be easily true is because bullets usually do not travel nice through the air, they tumble, which means when they enter a person they can bounce around and riccochet, destroying all sorts of things. If there is a clean through shot, then the bullet took an easy path through the body instead of bouncing around. ",
"For a few reasons.\n\n1. Bullets that are still in you will need to be pulled out, this can be dangerous if it's lodged near something important like your brain or your heart. If the bullet hit an important part anyway, then whether the bullet penetrated through or not is the least of your concern.\n\n2. The body can heal itself, a bullet lodged in you would prevent the body from healing that area.",
"Former soldier/current cop here:\n\nThe difference is like the difference between stabbing someone once, then pulling the knife out, versus stabbing someone, and wiggling the knife around in thier body.\n\nBullets actually don't travel in nice straight lines usually. They can tumble and ricochet, and break apart.\n\nI've seen people get shot in the stomach, and the exit wound is in thier shoulder, or shot in the chest and it comes out thier leg.\n\nI've also seen people get shot in the front, and the bullet comes back out the front next to the entrance wound.\n\nThe bullet can literally bounce around in the body causing more damage than is seen.\n\nSo when you have a \"through-and-through\" wound, you have minimal damage to the body, which means it's easier to treat and heal from.",
"This is part of why muskets were so deadly. A metal ball is going to smash through flesh and bone. Not only that, but there is also hydrostatic shock. If you drop a pencil straight into water, it will go straight through without much of a splash, if at all. If you drop a rock into a body of water, the diameter of the splash will be larger than the diameter of the rock. Energy is easily transferred through water.\n\nThe same principles apply to us. We are usually about 50% water. This is why hollow points work so well. The soft tip allows the bullet to flatten/tumble and stop inside of us, dumping all of the energy into our watery bodies. The damage can be so terrible that it can be a war crime to use them in some situations. \n ",
"One factor is \"where does the energy go\". If a bullet passes through you, it still has momentum (energy) carrying it forward. If it stops in you then the energy goes into you (in the form of smacking the ever loving hell out of your innards upon hitting a bone for example). This is far from the only factor, but it largely applies to the other points mentioned. e.g. if a bullet were to cleanly pass through your soft tissue you would have 2 holes and 1 small path of destruction through you. If the same bullet were to hit you and tumble, causing it to stop inside you, you would have 1 hole, and a much larger path of destruction going in all kinds of directions throwing waves of force around in you as it tumbled, and then a chunk (or chunks if it broke up...) of lead lodged in you somewhere that needs to be removed. Another analogy, which is worse, a hole in your hand, or your hand after it's been in a meat grinder."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
]
|
|
6y8hkp | why are all alarm sounds annoying, waking up? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6y8hkp/eli5_why_are_all_alarm_sounds_annoying_waking_up/ | {
"a_id": [
"dmle5oe",
"dmle5yb"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Because of poor product design thinking you need to basically have a heart attack to wake up.\n\nUse your phone as your alarm and pick a tune that eases in from quiet ambient sounds to louder ambient sounds over a course of a minute.",
"Annoying sounds have the effect of focusing your attention and compelling you to respond with some physical action like running for cover (air raid), comforting an infant (crying), escaping a building (fire alarm), or getting your lazy butt to work/school (clock alarm)."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
||
774rnu | why do humans like to travel? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/774rnu/eli5_why_do_humans_like_to_travel/ | {
"a_id": [
"doj36yp",
"doj3e6v",
"doj52to",
"doj6oy8",
"doj894b"
],
"score": [
4,
2,
15,
6,
5
],
"text": [
"WHat do you mean by \"travel\". Just the casual toursit or the tribe of people looking for a place to settle?\n\nFor the first case, it's because there are lots of interesting places around the world and being a tourist doesn't put your sedentary lifestyle in danger.\n\nFoe the second case, it is due to the fact that humans were so good at life when they became sedentary that the quick growth of population motivated hungry people to move to new lands in order to settle.",
"It certainly isn't a modern thing. It has been going on forever - since mankind first walked out of Africa.\n\nThe leisure travel has increased as we get more time for leisure, but even that was common hundreds of years ago.",
"personally, I hate traveling. It is a pain in the ass. But if there is motivation for me to do so, like a new higher paying job, I will do it. \n\nIf there is a more fertile land to go to, it might be worth the effort of trying to travel to it. ",
"Well your assumption is wrong. Humans don't universally like to travel in fact there are many that hate traveling and avoid it at all costs. In fact from a biological view humans would actually tend to stay put if they have all of their needs met. Also being able to travel large distances safely and conveniently is realitively new thing. ",
"our brains like novelty. some people like to watch new tv shows, some people like to read new books and stories, some people like to see new /r/woahdude's, other people like to see new places and cultures. the further away from your own culture you go, the more things are different and require your brain to calibrate itself to it's new surroundings"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
]
|
||
3j6jsv | how can police "refuse" to release dash cam footage? | I have been looking more into the Zachary Hammond trail, and currently the police officers are refusing to show the video of the dash cam from the police vehicle. How is this legal and why is this allowed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3j6jsv/eli5_how_can_police_refuse_to_release_dash_cam/ | {
"a_id": [
"cumq974",
"cumqcsi"
],
"score": [
4,
12
],
"text": [
"The only people who have a right to demand footage are the courts. Legally the public and media cannot demand footage from someone. ",
"It's legal because when it comes to evidence the police answer to the courts not individuals. If a judge request the video or any other evidence that is involved in a trial the police have to turn it over. If the general population requests anything the police don't have to turn over anything. This is for good reason. Mainly because a person is considered innocent until proven guilty and the public might not have all evidence but they will pass judgment on what they do have."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
|
34nfnq | why do i feel like the strife between police and minority communities is at an all time high? has it always been this prevalent? is the media sensationalizing unlike before? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34nfnq/eli5_why_do_i_feel_like_the_strife_between_police/ | {
"a_id": [
"cqwauti",
"cqwb6ya"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Personally, I don't think it's worse. I think that the minorities/disadvantaged are fighting back more. The age of social media has made it more organized.\n\nA simple Google search will show you how long this has been going on. However, now communities know they aren't alone. This has empowered them. \n\nRodney King was 20 years ago. The relative quiet before recently wasn't because it wasn't happening. It was just hidden better",
"This is an all time low. There were dozens of huge riots from 1965 - 1977. Back then there was segregation, poverty, lynchings, and widespread police violence. Considering schools are more segregated than they were then, minorities live in communities which are actually poorer than they did then, it's amazing that there are so few riots. "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
||
8l5dbx | how are super-rare antiques valuated? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8l5dbx/eli5_how_are_superrare_antiques_valuated/ | {
"a_id": [
"dzcyua4"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Honestly if there isn't a prior sale of a similar item in simialr condition to appriase it next to, than a super\\-rare antiquie like the never been sold before, one\\-of\\-a\\-kind piece you described would literally be priceless. And it would sell for whatever price someone would be willing to pay for it. \n\nArt/antiquities appraisals work by comparison to known prior sales of similar items. "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
|
65mxft | centimeters/inches of rain | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/65mxft/eli5_centimetersinches_of_rain/ | {
"a_id": [
"dgbk02s",
"dgbk0pn"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Put a container with straight walls out in the rain, and it will start to fill up from the rain falling on it. If it fills up to 1 inch, the area received 1 inch of rain.\n\nSo your next question will be, \"Doesn't the amount of rain in the container change depending on how big it is?\" Well yeah, the *amount* changes, but the depth **doesn't**.\n\nImagine taking a small, square container. Maybe 1 inch per side, and several inches tall. Place it out in the rain, and it'll fill up to some depth X (doesn't matter what it is) after the rain is over. If you put thousands of those containers out in the rain, all of them will fill up X inches deep with water. If you put them all together in a giant grid, they'll all still fill to a depth of X with water. Remove the walls between them and squish them all right up on each other to make one giant container, and it should be clear that it'll *still* only fill up to a depth of X.\n\nSo no matter how big or small the container, it'll fill up with water to the same depth during a rainstorm. And we use that depth to talk about how much it's going to rain.",
"You collect rain falling from the sky & measure it. In inches or centimeters.\n\nIt doesn't even matter how big your collection device is. As long as you have straight sides, the same height of water will be collected by 2ft barrel or a 6in cup."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
||
2ywz0w | why does your body tingle all over when you realize something shocking or enlightening? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ywz0w/eli5why_does_your_body_tingle_all_over_when_you/ | {
"a_id": [
"cpdpq18"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text": [
"Its called [Frisson](_URL_0_). Check out /r/frisson."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisson"
]
]
|
||
2bgghe | why don't humans growl? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2bgghe/eli5_why_dont_humans_growl/ | {
"a_id": [
"cj53dsf",
"cj53gr0"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Humans make all sorts of aggressive noises when they fight each other. Our vocal structure isn't built to enable a loud growl, but we yell a lot.",
"we growl when sex sometimes"
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
||
1l9q4d | why is the indian rupee falling against the dollar? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1l9q4d/eli5_why_is_the_indian_rupee_falling_against_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"cbx2sxo",
"cbx30wu",
"cbx5ti6"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Currency prices are dictated by supply and demand. There are a number of reasons one could fall against another but it always will break down as one or a combination of these things.\n\nPeople who have dollars want less things from india and therefore need fewer rupees. Therefore India is forced to pay more for the dollars it needs.\nPeople who have rupees need more things from people who use dollars (like America, but also other countries). Therefore India is forced to pay more for the dollars it needs. \n\nAlternatively it could be America that has changed, and india is in the exact same spot as before.\n\nNote, a currency price change does not indicate the relative strength or weakness of an economy. It deals exclusively with the supply and demand of imports and exports. You can extrapolate that to have meaning for the total economy but not as a straight comparison.",
"At the moment, the markets seem to be very nervous about investing into emerging economies. The economic data that has been coming out of China, India, Brazil, etc., have all been lower than forecast, which means that no one is making as much money out of their investments as they were expecting. There are ton of reasons why emerging markets are risky investments in the first place, but given the dire situation the US and EU were in a few years back, the investors were willing to gamble on the fact that emerging markets would give them higher returns than if they parked their money in US or EU investments.\n\nHowever, both the US and EU are looking much better now (though, still no one is sure whether any kind of Western intervention will happen in Syria, which can turn investors' moods in a snap) and so why bother investing money into something risky when the safe bets are recovering? \n\nTherefore, a lot of investors are pulling their money out of India, which means that there is less demand for the Rupee on currency markets as well (causing the value of the Rupee to go down). And some of these investors are turning around and putting their money into US markets, which means that the demand (and value) for the US dollar is going up, basically further widening the gap between the value of the Rupee and the US Dollar. ",
"Over the past week it's decline is related to the approval of a bill in India which states food as being a right, and will supply extraordinarily cheap, subsidized food to nearly 800 million people. The markets are worried that the Indian government can't afford this, and rightly so, feeding nearly a billion people is not an easy task. So they have lost confidence in the rupee and its value has dropped. "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[],
[]
]
|
||
39gx3x | how did tithing come to be a requirement for members of the church? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/39gx3x/eli5how_did_tithing_come_to_be_a_requirement_for/ | {
"a_id": [
"cs3999x",
"cs3b63o"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Tithing goes back to the earliest days of Judaism (Abraham offered a tithe to Melchizedek and it was required in [Jewish law](_URL_3_)). However, in the earliest Christian church records, the church appears much more like a [commune](_URL_1_) where there were few things held individually. \n\nThe earliest mention of giving a tithe by a Christian is [Cyprian](_URL_2_) who lived from 200 to 258, and argued that too many Christians were not giving 10% but were increasing their wealth. By the 6th century it was part of [Church law](_URL_0_), and by the 8th enforced by secular law. ",
"It is part of Jewish law, and is implied, but not specifically stated in the New Testament.\n\nIt later became explicit church law, and sometimes even enforced by secular law."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/597211/tithe",
"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2:44-45",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprian",
"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+27%3A30"
],
[]
]
|
||
5sxzxp | why does winter weather ruin roads? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5sxzxp/eli5_why_does_winter_weather_ruin_roads/ | {
"a_id": [
"ddipekm",
"ddipgo2"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Ice. asphalt/concrete are not perfectly smooth and have micro cracks in them. Water seeps into these cracks and then freezes expanding and making them larger. ",
"Water expands when it freezes. Rain and melted snow filter into cracks in the road surface, and as the temperature rises and falls over the course of the winter, the water repeatedly freezes and thaws and re-freezes, progressively expanding the cracks with every freeze. Eventually a snow plow scraping the road pulls out a chunk or the road surface, or regular traffic dislodges pieces of the road."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[]
]
|
||
1yb28g | are you more likely to survive a 5 story building collapse if you were on the top floor or the bottom floor, and why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yb28g/eli5_are_you_more_likely_to_survive_a_5_story/ | {
"a_id": [
"cfiwxv4",
"cfiwzgj",
"cfixd1l"
],
"score": [
17,
5,
6
],
"text": [
"Imagine 4 stories of brick, concrete, pipes, and other materials falling on top of you. \n\nThen imagine falling 4 stories and landing hard on broken concrete, pipes, and brick. \n\nHonestly, the chances are likely better high up. \n\n",
"Top floor because you would not be stuck under or struck by heavy debris. Your fall may also be cushioned by an object below.",
"Top floor without a doubt. \n\nImagine you are on the bottom floor. Even if the building *very gently* lowered itself to rest on top of you, you are still being crushed by hundreds or thousands of tons of material, unless you get absurdly lucky.\n\nImagine you are on the top floor. The question becomes -- is it possible to survive a fall of ~4 floors (the material beneath you will prevent you from falling the full 5 floors). 4 stories is about 50 feet or so. Reading through some of [these stories](_URL_0_), it seems that a fall from that height is certainly survivable in the right conditions."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
[],
[
"http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/6/1/62.3.long"
]
]
|
||
c06s7g | when you lay down on your side (w/ your head sideways), why do you see with a slightly redder hue out of the lower eye and a greener hue out of the upper eye? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c06s7g/eli5_when_you_lay_down_on_your_side_w_your_head/ | {
"a_id": [
"er3ql57"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"This is caused by pressure differences in your eyes changing the functionality of the cones (color receptors). I had an in depth discussion with an optometrist about this once."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
|
4fz2bx | when a baseball is hit, why does it typically curve upwards rather than down into the ground or straight ahead? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4fz2bx/eli5_when_a_baseball_is_hit_why_does_it_typically/ | {
"a_id": [
"d2d6mxg",
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"It has to do with the rotation of the ball creating lift as it leaves the bat. If the ball is hit on the bottom half it will have backspin which will create lift. If it is hit on the top half it will create topspin which will make the ball dive. ",
"For the most part, it's because the batter intentionally hit it upwards with his bat.\n\nHit balls do often go straight ahead (*line drive*) or into the ground (called a *ground ball* if it rolls along the ground or a *chopper* if it bounces up into the air).\n\nStrong batters will often try to hit the ball high and far, to maximize the amount of time for them to run to the base. But this carries the risk of having the fly ball caught by an outfielder. So weaker batters, or those who can run extremely fast, may try for ground balls and simply gamble on their footspeed to make it to the base.",
"If you know anyone that plays pool well ask them to show you English in a shot. Exact same concept except it is using air for friction instead of cloth. It's all in the spin."
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2tsu9g | depression. how can someone not be able to get up and do things? | I just can't wrap my head around the concept of being in control of your body, but not being able to do something you want to or feel you need to do. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tsu9g/eli5_depression_how_can_someone_not_be_able_to/ | {
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"It's not a lack of control. It's a lack of motivation. You don't want to do anything, and you feel like not doing things.\n\nIt's like not caring about anything, because you don't see the point of doing it.",
"From a subjective standpoint, it's just a feeling of \"why bother?\". The room's just gonna get dirty again, going to the gym just seems like pointless work, class doesn't seem interesting. Everything feels pointless. ",
"Because depression isn't an issue with your body. You're not paralyzed, you have no broken bones, you are not too physically exhausted to move.\n\nThe *brain* is hurt. It's outputting chemicals in all the wrong proportions. \n\nHave you ever felt fear before? That's caused by these chemicals. Normally they react to stimulus in a helpful and rational way. Sometimes they don't. So the very thought of putting shoes on makes you feel abject terror. \n\nHave you ever felt the deep despair of losing a person you love? That's caused by these chemicals too. Now imagine if turning on the light felt like everyone you know dying. \n\nWhen you are depressed everything *actually* feels the same as the worst possible scenarios you can imagine. It's not in their head or a lack of motivation or being lazy. Their brain is just constantly reacting the same way your brain would react if your entire family and every one of your friends literally exploded in front of your eyes and it was your fault and now you are going to jail where you are going to share a cell with the worst rapist known to your country in the last 20 years. ",
"It's kind of hard for me to explain but at least for me, I can want to do something but my depression just won't let me. This is how people stop doing things they like to do. Somethings I even want to, want to do something but I just can't want to no matter how hard I try. It's almost like its own being in my head with its own wants and desires. It's like it knows that it should stay under the radar so it doesn't stop me from doing things like going to school or work so it can fly under the radar from friends and family and not get hassled. It's a complicated set off feelings to explain and I know I'm probably not the best at explaining it.",
"GREAT book recommendation for you... [Stumbling On Happiness](_URL_0_). Explains this very thing and is a VERY good read. Essentially... \n\nOur minds are wired to project what's happening today on to tomorrow, and so on. When your today is sad and depressing, you automatically want to think tomorrow will be as well. It's a thought process that everyone does automatically. \n\nSome people lack the ability to be able to project positive things on to tomorrow and they stay in their depression. Others are able to think positively and overcome the sad thought in various ways and not get stuck in depression. Those who cannot, suffer from it longer. There are many mental illnesses that come into play for all sorts of reasons (chemical imbalances, brain damage, disorders, etc. etc.) that can affect the strength of the depression. \n\nHere's an excerpt from the book: \n > Imagination cannot easily transcend the boundaries of the present, and one reason for this is that it must borrow machinery that is owned by perception. The fact that these two processes must run on the same platform means that we are sometimes confused about which one is running. We assume that what we feel as we imagine the future is what we’ll feel when we get there, but in fact, what we feel as we imagine the future is often a response to what’s happening in the present.",
"I remember reading an excellent analogy on depression from the creator of Hyperbole and a Half, a popular blog. She was suffering from depression at the time.\n\n > I remember being endlessly entertained by the adventures of my toys. Some days they died repeated, violent deaths, other days they traveled to space or discussed my swim lessons and how I absolutely should be allowed in the deep end of the pool, especially since I was such a talented doggy-paddler.\n\n > I didn't understand why it was fun for me, it just was.\n\n > But as I grew older, it became harder and harder to access that expansive imaginary space that made my toys fun. I remember looking at them and feeling sort of frustrated and confused that things weren't the same.\n\n > I played out all the same story lines that had been fun before, but the meaning had disappeared. Horse's Big Space Adventure transformed into holding a plastic horse in the air, hoping it would somehow be enjoyable for me. Prehistoric Crazy-Bus Death ride was just smashing a toy bus full of dinosaurs into the wall while feeling sort of bored and unfulfilled.\n\n > Depression feels almost exactly like that, except about everything.\n\nSo imagine your favourite toy car as a kid. Imagine how completely pointless it would seem to sit down with that toy and run it around in circles on the carpet making vroooommm noises. That'd be silly, right? It wouldn't achieve anything, so why bother?",
"For me I'd describe it, simply, as: \nyou finding yourself in a 20meter white corridor. You see a door at the end. \nYou walk across and open the door. \nAnother white corridor with a door as the end. The door automatically locks behind you. \nWhat do you do now? \nOpen the door? Find the same thing. Open the next? Same situation. \nWhy are you still opening doors? Is it simply that if you open enough then something will change? \nDoes it matter if you sat down or kept walking through doors?",
"I have a feeling that you never had depression so I can't blame you for your ignorance and I do actually hope you remain ignorant and never know how it feels.\n\nIn my experience, it's like being at the bottom of a hole. You could see the light at the end of the tunnel but as you climb up you fall down and the hole gets even deeper. After climbing and failing the hole is now so deep that you can barely scale a fraction of the hole. Why bother even climbing the wall of the hole now? Since you will just fall down and be at square one, and then you have the onlookers telling you that you belong in that hole sure the thick skin protects against it for a while but it's death by a million cuts and you start believing in what they are saying. And even doing activities inside the hole wouldn't change that you're still in the hole with the onlookers jeering at you, so why bother doing any of the activities you enjoy?\n\nForgive me for the elaborate analogy but depression is more than being sad, it's some kind of negative feedback loop + confirmation bias (I suck, I will never get better, I'm worthless) to support your self loathing."
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43z2li | how come it's so easy to tell the difference between games made in different engines | So there are lots of game engines today that allow anyone, to some degree, make their own commercially ready game. These range from engines as simple as construct2 to engines that can create ready-made sprawling metropolises, like Unreal Engine. There are lots of ELI5s on this. But what I find weird is that for some reason it's fairly easy to determine the difference between two functionally identical engines. For example if you were to look at a screenshot from a game made in Unreal Engine and a screenshot from Unity3D without a logo or context you can easily tell the difference. Why is this? How can our brains detect so many minute details and process them like this? Even with animation engines it's fairly easy to see the difference between games made with, say Blender3D and Granny3D. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/43z2li/eli5how_come_its_so_easy_to_tell_the_difference/ | {
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"Jimmy has a bunch of legos. Timmy has megablocks. Why are they not the same?\n\nMost simplified explanation i could come up with. Different styles from creator's produce different results.",
" > How can our brains detect so many minute details and process them like this?\n\nOur brains are very good at this. Pretty much every face has two eyes and a mouth. But you can still tell the difference between people can't you? \n\nEvery game engine simply has a different way of rendering things, different lighting effects, etc. \n\nPlay enough games and you'll be able to spot the tell-tale signs of most major engines.",
"Different engines have different little details that give them away when you've looked at enough games. A casual observer won't be able to tell what engine, say, Titanfall ran on. I could tell you from a first glance it runs on Source (yes, it's true) because it has very Source-y physics (you can tell a lot by the way the ragdolls move and by the way the Titans blow up) and the way its subtitles appear on the screen (Source engine games all have similar subtitles). You can tell a lot of Frostbite games by the way their lighting works (I can't quite explain that one, but trust me, I can tell a Frostbite game when I see one most of the time) and by their destruction physics when they use it. So on and so forth."
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a9r14p | how do phone/computer chargers work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a9r14p/eli5_how_do_phonecomputer_chargers_work/ | {
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"Without more explanation of what you want to understand I'll explain very simply. Your phone and computer have batteries that need to be charged. They need direct current input at a specific voltage. The charger takes the alternating current coming out of the wall at either 120 or 240 volts and converts it to direct current at the desired voltage.",
"You have 50 or 60hz AC coming in, it goes through a full bridge rectifier to convert it into high voltage DC. Now there's a big capacitor to store that charge.\n\nNext some transistors chop that high voltage DC up into high frequency AC pulses, which goes through a transformer to convert it into low voltage AC. This is then rectified and filtered again to get the DC voltage that the phone or computer uses. \n\nYou could technically skip the initial rectifier and switching, but then you'd need a much bigger transformer and filtering components, because you'd have to smooth out several milliseconds instead of micro or nanoseconds. \n\nAs for charging the battery, there's a circuit that limits the voltage and current going into the battery, so that it doesn't overheat(can cause battery fires) or get overcharged(can cause metal to deposit in parts of the battery's internals that are supposed to be non-conductive). "
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u3u7c | convolutions -- what exactly are they and what's the best way to think about them? | Thanks in advance! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/u3u7c/eli5_convolutions_what_exactly_are_they_and_whats/ | {
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"text": [
"Although they are related there are a lot of applications of convolutions. It giving a LI5 explanation it would help to know what context you are getting them from. \n\nGood Luck"
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11239s | why isn't competition between health insurance companies in the us more aggressive? | For pretty much everything I pay for on a monthly basis - satellite TV, electricity, car insurance, etc. - there seems to be fierce competition between the companies that offer them, constantly pitching themselves on TV or direct mail as being better/cheaper/faster/smarter than the other guys, offering different deals and temptations to get users to switch.
I'm currently paying a small fortune out of pocket for health insurance (the plan from my last job) and I've never been approached by one of their competitors with an offer to switch. Other types of insurance (car, home, etc.) spend ridiculous amounts of money on ads to get your business, but not health insurance.
EDIT: Thanks to everyone for their replies! I am surprised that the market for people paying for insurance directly is too small for insurance companies to aggressively compete for it.
Follow up question, hopefully keeping politics to a minimum: given that both parties have been talking about giving consumers more choices in healthcare, can we expect insurance companies to make more pitches directly to consumers in the near future? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/11239s/eli5_why_isnt_competition_between_health/ | {
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"There is certainly competition between health insurance companies in the USA. The thing is that in the USA, most people get their health insurance through their employer. So health insurance companies don't sell their products primarily to the people who will use them—they sell it to the employers, and everything is designed to convince the employer, not the employee.\n\nThis same disaster happens in other cases, like in 401(k) retirement plans, which are almost invariably a ripoff at nearly any company you can imagine, because the employer chooses the plan offerings and the employees don't have any choice. The result is that all choices are made to benefit your employer and plan manager, not you.\n\nPS: I don't mean to discourage anybody from investing in their 401(k) plan. There are tax breaks for doing so, and many employers provide matching contributions which you should certainly take advantage of. It's a ripoff, but one that the government has given you an even larger incentive to participate in. In the end, however, it boils down to the government giving you a big tax break in order to subsidize bad mutual fund companies.",
"Part of the reason is that premiums are priced beyond what the average consumer would be able to afford. In 2008, the average employer-sponsored family premium across all states was $12,298. Most people don't see the cost of that because their employer pays the majority of that cost, and the employee only pays a portion. Employeers are able to gain discounts for brining in a large number of employees into the system, something that wouldn't be offered to the individual consumer.\n\n\nTherefore, insurance companies are going go after the individual pick-ups, they are going for having an entire company switch over. Trying to sell a $15k health pan to an individual would be a huge waste of their time and it would be very unlikely a health insurance company would be able to get their prices to be competitive with out the company subsidizing the cost for the individual. ",
"There is massive competition between insurers. I'm a health insurance actuary, and I price/rate insurance products, and a huge component of decisions i make on a monthly basis regarding trended increases comes from what the competition is doing and how competitive our rates our.\n\nThe difference is that we do most of our advertising/marketing to brokers, who then sell to your employer. Individuals would rarely see an insurer market to them, because there is a very low probability that someone with employer sponsored insurance would have an incentive to move to an individual plan."
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2tcvg7 | how can time slow down and speed up nearer to larger or smaller objects? | I watched Interstellar this past weekend, and the part where the astronauts were on a planet where one hour equaled 7 years on Earth because they were close to a black hole didn't make sense to me. Sorry if this has already been asked, I didn't find anything by searching. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tcvg7/eli5_how_can_time_slow_down_and_speed_up_nearer/ | {
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"It's called Gravitational Time Dilation. It's an effect explained by Einstein's theory of relativity. It's basically just a property of the universe. As you approach objects with greater masses (i.e. with greater gravitational potential), your time starts running slower relative to that of an outside observer. This effect even happens on Earth, it's just that the time dilation you experience from standing next to a large building or mountain (relative to someone on the beach for example) is so insignificant that you would never be able to perceive the effects of it."
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kl7q9 | the equal protection clause. | Whenever I got to look up the definition of what it is I become even more confused by what is trying to be said. I just need a simple explanation without a host of legal terms of which I will have to go look up. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/kl7q9/eli5_the_equal_protection_clause/ | {
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" > No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States\n\nIf you have rights as an American, then it is unconstitutional for state government to do away with them.\n\n > nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law\n\nStates cannot simply decide to punish people without going through lawful processes.\n\n > nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws\n\nStates are not allowed to have different laws or enforcement of laws for different people. For example, they aren't allowed to ban the possession of guns by African Americans but not other groups of people. This part is a direct response to the [Black Codes](_URL_0_) that Southern governments passed immediately after the civil war.",
" > No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States\n\nIf you have rights as an American, then it is unconstitutional for state government to do away with them.\n\n > nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law\n\nStates cannot simply decide to punish people without going through lawful processes.\n\n > nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws\n\nStates are not allowed to have different laws or enforcement of laws for different people. For example, they aren't allowed to ban the possession of guns by African Americans but not other groups of people. This part is a direct response to the [Black Codes](_URL_0_) that Southern governments passed immediately after the civil war."
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5ux0lb | why is tony blair getting hate for the iraq war now more than during the war itself? | Maybe I'm missing something, but everyone in Britain seems to be bringing up Blair and the Iraq War out of the blue as if they realised recently that the war was a mistake. Countless people in the country, and worldwide, we're against the war when Britain went in. Why is Blair getting blamed again all of a sudden when the war was in the early 2000s? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ux0lb/eli5_why_is_tony_blair_getting_hate_for_the_iraq/ | {
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"Because various reasons were given before and during the war to justify British involvement such as alleged WMD's, Iraqi freedom and combatting terrorism. \n\nNow we know there were no WMD's, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died and are still suffering through civil war and terrorism is arguably a greater threat to the UK than it's ever been. \n\nThe power vacuum caused by the collapse of the regime allowed the Islamic State to suddenly arise and capture huge territories which is a relatively recent event. \n\nAs for Tony Blair, well, it was ultimately his decision to commit to the invasion and now that it can safely be called a disaster and he's no longer PM some people feel he needs to be held accountable for that, some even going so far as to brand him a war criminal. The Chilcott Inquiry found that the invasion was ordered with little or no decent intelligence to support it and that peaceful options were largely ignored. That Inquiry finally concluded in 2016 after 7 years which might also explain why you're hearing more about it now. \n",
"There is an unfortunate tendency, whenever Tony Blair is mentioned, for the subject of his support for the Iraq War to be mentioned as a way to discredit him.\n\nIn the last few days, Blair has been speaking out against Brexit, saying that the Labour Party, which was the party he used to lead, should do everything possible to stop it.\n\nThis has ruffled quite a few feathers. Labour's current leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has been making a conscious effort to move Labour in the opposite direction Blair had taken it in. This wasn't a universally popular move, and Corbyn has managed to alienate large numbers of his own party. Those who support Corbyn, meanwhile, often attack his critics as \"Blairites\", adding that Blair was so right-wing he should have been a Conservative, and that his bringing the UK into the Iraq War on the basis of claims that turned out to be lies makes him a war criminal.\n\nThe whole Brexit issue hasn't helped at all. Officially, Labour was against Brexit. Corbyn, though, used to be a vocal critic of the EU, complaining that it was an organisation set up by capitalists for the benefit of capitalists at the expense of the workers. This has led to accusations that Corbyn's campaigning against Brexit was, at best, insincere and half-hearted. This impression wasn't exactly dispelled when, after the announcement of the result, Corbyn immediately said the government should not delay in implementing it.\n\nIn the recent vote giving the government the power to start the Brexit process, Corbyn officially instructed Labour Party members to vote for the motion -- i.e., for the implementation of Brexit -- even though the party was officially against it. That caused even more arguing.\n\nInto this dog's breakfast of a democratic process stepped Blair, a controversial former politician who annoyed a lot of people right across the political spectrum, effectively criticizing the current Labour leadership despite no longer having anything to do with it.\n\nPro-Brexit politicians from both sides of the House didn't like this intervention at all, and have told Blair to, basically, butt out. And whenever Blair is criticized, the Iraq War is bound to be mentioned, particularly by those who hate him most: \"Why should we listen to a war criminal?\""
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2sssqc | why was there a rivalry between punks and metalheads in the 80's? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2sssqc/eli5_why_was_there_a_rivalry_between_punks_and/ | {
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"Subcultures that identify as \"outsiders\" tend to internalize that view and it results in picking fights to keep up that perception."
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1zbu2c | what is the purpose in nature for some males to have a giant penis? | before everyone comments, yes i am jealous and i wish i had a giant one too, but why, in nature, do some males have giant schlongs? it seems like a horse size penis would hinder natural survival | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zbu2c/eli5_what_is_the_purpose_in_nature_for_some_males/ | {
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"A longer penis can more easily deposit sperm closer to the cervix, so that sperm doesn't need to travel as far, making pregnancy more likely.\n\nThere are also evolutionary pressures for a shorter penis - it's less prone to damage and requires less energy to obtain an erection. Humans differ from other primates in that we wear clothing, which may alleviate the first of those downsides, so that may be why humans have larger penises than (most?) other primates.\n\nSince there's evolutionary pressure to have both a larger and a smaller penis, there's a lot of variety as neither is strictly 'better' in an evolutionary sense.",
"If you manage to have more children with a bigger penis then your children will be predisposed to having/wanting bigger[or smaller] penises. \n\nAll things being equal, women pretty much determine the penis size of men over time. I'm so sorry for this image [not really, your parents were doing the nasty and that's how you came about] but, whatever you're packing is likely pretty close to your mother's preference.",
"Not every feature has a purpose meant for survival. For example, there is some fish where the males are extremely colorful and bright, with the brightest being the most attractive to females. However, they are the most easily spotted by predators."
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1iqtkx | how do animals decide whether they're going to confront/fight another animal, or back away? | Is it based on size, sounds, weirdness of physical appearance? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1iqtkx/eli5_how_do_animals_decide_whether_theyre_going/ | {
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"Animals can't write books, solve math problems, or use other higher levels of reasoning.... but on lower levels of thinking, they're a lot like humans.\n\nIf you saw a wolf, what would you do? You might run away, or hide from it, or yell at it and try to scare it away. Animals are just like humans, in that not all of them will react the same way to certain encounters. They'll just decide whatever seems like the right idea at the moment (sometimes they will be right, and sometimes it will be a mistake).\n\nSize is probably the biggest factor. If you see a mouse, you might ignore it or attack it, and you recognize there is no threat. If you see a bear, you recognize the threat and are much more concerned about your safety.\n\nExperience is also important. They remember encountering other animals before and remember which ones are dangerous and will attack them. They can learn that things like snakes can be dangerous, even if they are small and slow.\n\nThe specific situation also matters a lot. Most animals who have lived for a while have done so by learning the lesson that avoiding trouble and staying safe is usually the best plan. But sometimes you don't have that option. A mother bird will protect her nest full of eggs from predators, even though she knows it might be dangerous. An animal that is extremely hungry might take risks and confront others in order to gain access to food and water, when otherwise it would leave the others alone.",
"Based on an instinctive risk assessment:\n\nIf you see something bigger, faster, or more colorful than you; run.\nIf you can't run; then fight or hide (the one most likely to work). \nIf think you could win, get a meal, or get a mate; then fight.\nIf you're unsure what to do; run or hide (the one you're better at)."
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s3bve | the trayvon martin case | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/s3bve/eli5_the_trayvon_martin_case/ | {
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"Part 1:\nMartin, a young black male, was walking through a gated affluent neighborhood that had recently been a victim of a string of burglaries. Unfortunately, the suspects of the burglaries were also young black males. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, became concerned when he saw Martin and followed him. When Zimmerman got out of the car, Martin apparently confronted him and a scuffle ensued.\n\nPart 2:\n[This part of the incident is what is unknown and why this is a national sensation (No witnesses, only a bit of shoddy audio evidence which is inconclusive.]\n\nPart 3:\nZimmerman shot and killed Martin. Under Florida \"Stand Your Ground\" laws, lethal force is justified if you or someone around you is being threatened with their life. Zimmerman claimed his head was being bashed against the ground thus justifying his fear for his life and shooting Martin.\n\nPart 4:\nTrayvon Martin was black. George Zimmerman, although hispanic, is white. Because police never arrested Zimmerman this tragedy turned into a racial issue. It built momentum when the story hit Miami with the Miami Heat donning hoodies in protest (the garment Martin was wearing the day he died.) At the Sharpton rally 2 weeks ago, the mayor of Sanford (also the only white speaker) was booed and subsequently brought back onto stage by the other speakers to chill the racial divide. Also, Martin was from Miami therefor bolstering support from that city to his cause.\n\nPart 5:\nThe is mayor is doing everything he can. He spoke publicly today that Zimmerman should have been jailed under the premise, \"No matter what, if you shoot someone you should be taken into authorities until facts are sorted out.\" The police chief has been replaced. This investigation is going to take a long time. Meanwhile, Florida representatives have denounced this interpretation of \"Stand Your Ground.\" Zimmerman should not have pursued and allowed police to sort the situation out.\n\nSource: I live in Orlando, 20 minutes from where this happened and hear about it all the time on news and radio."
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2b94zr | why is comic con so popular now? | I am not saying I hate comic con but I am pleasently surprised to see that it is so popular now when it really wasn't in the 80s? Why the suddenly great turn out? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2b94zr/eli5_why_is_comic_con_so_popular_now/ | {
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"The popularity of comic book characters and acceptance of the geek subculture, mainly. people aren't scared to show that they enjoy these things anymore. ",
"Companies realized that \"geek\" culture is profitable. It's the same reason you see a thousand comic book related TV/movie projects now, when in the 80's/90's they were rare.",
"I understand your sentiment. It got popular after becoming the place to release information about new comic-related media. Which has gone from a niche indusrty to a multi-billion dollar apparatus thanks to all the rich nerds who loved comics as kids. It's become like E3 now. Marvel waits every year to release new information about their next movie. I imagine that there will be new star wars information too. It's all about the money.",
"It stopped being about comics. Watch the hype around comic con and you will see it is about movies and tv shows."
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7zgdza | why is the sale of homeopathic "remedies" not punished under fraud/false advertising laws? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7zgdza/eli5_why_is_the_sale_of_homeopathic_remedies_not/ | {
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"Governments are reluctant to step into the realm of psuedo-science and bunk because it puts them a wet paper tissue away from having to figure out where religion lies on that spectrum.\n\nCan you act on magic water without setting up a system that doesn't also point a finger at various religious institutions that make worldly and otherworldly promises for adherence?",
"They are not sold as medications. They are sold as supplements. They do not have the same rules. ",
" > How is this not considered fraud, as it is intentional deception for financial gain?\n\nGovernments have regulated what claims can be made but homeopathic producers carefully avoid making legally identifiable claims. It is left up to the vocal community of private citizens to peddle the bull shit, and the actual producers just say stuff like \"Take this if you have a headache\" and not \"Cures headaches\".",
"Homeopathic remedies use a series of loop holes to get around FDA regulation. Like labeling them supplements, clever marketing and labelling.\n\nIt's also a multi-billion dollar industry so they have a lot of lawyers and a large lobbying base which I joking refer to as \"Big Placebo\"",
"I actually read a bit about this in school (will have to check the book when bome) but in the 40s the FTC actually sued the FDA over the rights to control advertising of pharmaceuticals and won. To this day the FDA has no real say in the advertising beyond the not evaluated statement the company places. Obviously this applies only to the USA.",
"I think they are in some countries. At the very least there are specific laws regarding the marketing and labeling of these things so that the consumer technically should know they won't really work. ",
"People get away with it because of a law in the USA that says if your making a “structure function claim” like BOOST your immune system (which means nothing just marketing) you can sell any snake oil you want. For real drug claims I’ll quote the regulation:\n\n“The regulation also provides criteria to assist you in determining when a statement about a dietary supplement is a disease claim, that is, a claim to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease. Disease claims require prior approval by FDA...”\n\nSo real drugs = regulation, but snake oil = no regulation. If you want to sell magic, as long as you don’t say words like CURE you can peddle, and turns out con artists are clever word smiths (surprise!)",
"The weird system we have right now with homeopathic drugs being sold as, essentially: \"note: no verified effect\" might be the best possible system to distribute placebo to those who are helped by it.\n\nI mean, don't misunderstand me. For things we have actual medicine for, that should without a doubt be what is prescribed and used. But, there are many cases of people being in unspecific pains or having other issues for which placebo *really* is the only thing we got.\n\nWithout the 'homeopathy' nonsense, how would we do it? Doctors cannot lie to patients. So, they couldn't just prescribe sugar pills and claim they were something else. But, what they can do now is nudge these patients towards a homeopathic drug, with something like \"You could try this, its effect has not been proven in clinical trials, but nonetheless it seems to help some people\", all of which is true.",
"You can't talk global AND law unless you drill down into countries (I believe the only global laws relate to war.)\n\nThe answer you're probably looking for has to do with an individual freedom and the placebo effect. Individuals are generally free to consume 'medicines' or food that don't cause any immediate harm. If they believe they work, sometimes they do. People also have a habit of believe that something will work when you spend money on it. That only enhances the placebo effect. That means people are willing to pay potential cures, and that creates a market.",
"Former state food and drug auditor. In the US there are almost no regulations against dietary supplements. As long as they don't make any direct claims to treat or prevent disease they're ok to sell. Normally there's a disclaimer that the item is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Homeopathic remedies are sold in this way.\n\nEdit: added clarifying language",
"The FDA has recently taken measures to prevent the sale and manufacture of homeopathic medicines marketed towards vulnerable individuals. Generally children and those with a terminal illness, essentially those that have no say in their medical care and those who, if they receive no medical care will be truly harmed.",
"To add to a lot of the comments about political forces, just look up Orrin Hatch and his promotion of the supplement industry. His son-in-law works for a large supplement company.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Labeled “not intended to cure or treat any disease” or “these statements not evaluated by the FDA”",
"In Canada, they require all homeopathic remedies to contain the following notice on the packaging :\n\n\"This claim is based on traditional homeopathic references and not modern scientific evidence.\"",
"There have been a couple lawsuits in California in the past couple years against homeopathic “remedies” on the grounds of false claims/labeling. As far as I know the companies settled. ",
"In the US: The Senator who wrote the original FDA legislation was a homeopath: [\n \"Copeland served as primary author and sponsor of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 which entrenched special protections for homeopaths.\"](_URL_0_)",
"Actually I bet that in most countries they're not called \"drug\" or \"Medicine\" anywhere in the packaging nor in the instructions. They don't realky claim to be effective anywhere. That gives you an idea about how (I'm sorry) stupid are educated people who use that overpriced water ",
"are you kidding? a few of years ago marketplace on CBC did an expose on the homeopathy industry and hundreds of protesters showed up at the CBC headquarters kicking up a riot about \"CBC's unfair coverage of homeopathy\"",
"I work in a Pharmacy in France. Homeopathy is prescribed for imaginary illness. Basicaly, the patient think he suffer [insert small inconvenience], the doctor knows it and is left with three solutions:\n\n- Tell the patient that it's in his mind.\n\nPatient will think he is not listened, he will then deny authority of Doctor and finaly ask another one (doubling the charge paid by the community to cover both Doctor visit)\n\n- Prescribe homeopathy\n\nPatient will be happy, feel listened, placebo effect will take place and patient will cure by \"himself\". The cost of Homeopathy in France is almost zero. (About 2€, cover at 35% with regulated margin possible for Pharmacist)\n\n- Prescribe medecine\n\nThat can worry the patient, create problem with pre-existing treatment, that would explode the cost for NHS to cure an non-existing illness.\n\nThere is a reason why government accepted to be milked by Boiron and equivalent. They know that the benefit largely outshine the cost. There is no problem with homeopathy as long as people don't delay a heavier treatment needed for a real problem.",
"Thank the [1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act](_URL_0_), co-sponsored by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch (part owner of a supplements company) and Democratic Senator Tom Harkin (bee pollen supplement fan), which limited the Food & Drug Aministration's power to regulate many quack medical products. In other words, greed and quack science.",
"Here's an interesting thing: here in India, we have a [government body for homeopathy.](_URL_0_)\n\nMost of the people over here believe that homeopathy helps to some degree. There are actual practitioners and everything. Even among the well-educated class, it's hard to sway the opinion that's been formed over the years, as homeopathy operates under the whole \"not harmful chemicals!\" and \"nature's way!\" guise, which really appeals to our population as a whole. \n\nI'm generally recommended homeopathic medicine by family for non-serious ailments only, like bad acne or an ulcer or something. Generally for anything that could be caused by an external factor, like a cold or some infection, we'll try the normal medicine first, after consulting a doctor.\n\nEven qualified and practicing doctors over here don't outright say that homeopathy is a hoax, unless it's actively doing harm - probably because the patients won't believe them and will think worse of them for that.\n\nNote that this doesn't reflect my personal views. Even though I don't really believe in this, I'm not independent yet so I listen to the adults. Plus the sugar pills don't taste half bad.",
"Read Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action.\n\nThe people who want/believe in homeopathy are passionate about it and push for it whole those who are opposed are less passionate and have other things to worry about. So the small, motivated group gets their way.",
"If you read the fine print on the ads and packaging, they tell you that it does nothing. Usually something along the lines of \"This product is not intended to treat, diagnose, or cure any illness or injury.\"",
"My dad was a pharmacist and owned a struggling pharmacy in the NY area for a while. We’re Indian and the pharmacy was in a predominantly Indian neighborhood. People would come in all the time and ask for homeopathic/ayurvedic medicines but my dad didn’t want to carry them. They’d tell him how much business he could do if he sold them, other businessmen in the area would tell him the same thing. But my dad was a man of science and couldn’t sell medicines that didn’t go through that scientific rigor. I was in my teens back then and didn’t really understand it. I thought he should just sell whatever would make him money. But as I’ve gotten older I really admire the fact he wouldn’t abandon his principles for the sake of money. ",
"Real shit, I have terribly bad feet. They rot, they smell terrible, can't get much to stop it.\n\nSo my girlfriend is pretty well versed in plant medicine and she covers my feet in witch hazel extract. Burns like a son of a bitch. We do this every night for a week. My feet have been clear for like almost 2 years.\n\nBuying over the counter crap with no knowledge is a recipe for snake oil shenegans but if you know what you are doing, have some knowledge, and accept that humanity survive for multiple thousands of years without the aid of modern medicine, you can accomplish some things with natural remedies. \n\nHowever when you are dealing with extracts that have a millionth of a part of the active ingredient yeah, that's snake oil."
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32nube | how does someone who was born completely deaf, have an accent? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32nube/eli5_how_does_someone_who_was_born_completely/ | {
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"Some people can lip read. When we talk we're basically changing the shapes of our lips and mouth while making a sound. Different accents can have very different lip movements. It is possible to mimic that lip movement, and so speak in that accent, without ever hearing it.",
"I read yesterday that a deaf person regained hearing and learned to speak by watching \"Thomas the train\" which had a british accent. He lived in Virginia."
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