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[Star Wars] How does Luke's ranch not get attacked by Tusken Raiders, being out in the middle of nowhere? What keeps them away?
| 20 |
Isn't a massive part of EP 2 the fact that they do in fact raid that specific farm and abduct Shmi Skywalker?
Perhaps the ensuing slaughter has passed into legend and keeps the next generation of raiders away from the area?
| 48 |
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[Marvel] Why is Thor's combat speed so slow?
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Thor can throw Mjolnir faster than light, he can travel faster than light, he can see and even catch Hermes, the god of speed, when other people can't even detect him because he moves so fast, and so on and so on. But when he's actually fighting, his combat speed is lower than Wolverine or Captain America. How is it that someone with thousands of years of fighting experience and the ability to travel faster than light can't combine those two abilities?
| 25 |
You're addressing lots of different elements there.
Mjolnir is a reservoir of power that gives Thor a great many abilities that alone he would not have. Thor can throw Mjolnir at light speed because of Mjolnir, not his personal abilities.
When he travels faster than light, he is propelling himself bodily, not using his superior reflexes or actual leg speed to do this like hyper-speedsters do. He is using magical power, which only applies to propelling his entire body, not combat reflexes.
Another example is his perception. He can see things that travel extremely fast, it bears no effect on his ability to do anything about it. You yourself can detect events that occur faster than your reflexes can react.
Thor, without his Belt of Strength, Mjolnir and other accoutrements, is really just a very well-bred experienced Asgardian warrior with a very heavy frame. His reflexes are excellent, but he still has a lot of mass to move around in combat, and that slows him down compared to warriors with razor reflexes like Wolverine.
In fact, a lot of Thor's fights involve getting the crap knocked out of him. It's almost as if part of his fighting style is to absorb damage he knows isn't crippling in order to set himself up for the devastating blows he wants to land. He is known for being a skilled warrior, as in he knows many ways to strike and do damage, but not for his grace in battle.
| 35 |
[Star Wars] Why did Darth Sidious even bother with an apprentice?
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I'm aware of the rule of two: a master to embody the power, and an apprentice to crave it and brutally murder the said master at the first opportunity, which would hopefully strenghten the Siths over time. A flawed system in my opinion, but that's a whole other debate. However, Palpatine saw first hand that cooperation was impossible in such a system: Darth Plagueis was betrayed and struck down the one time he let his guard down in presence of his trusted partner.
If Palpy wanted to keep going with the rule of two, he probably wouldn't mind the risk of being thrown down a shaft eventually, but he obviously disn't care for Darth Bane's legacy, and saw himself as the pinnacle of Sithism, destined to rule the Empire forever with an iron grip.
Now, I can see his reason for training Maul (a brute to do your wetwork for you is always nice, especially is you are /u/LazyPalpatine), Dooku (an useful puppet to lead the secession) and even Anakin (these younglings aren't gonna purge themselves). But why bother reviving Vader after he got burned to a crisp? After all, the Jedi were dead, Palpatine was Emperor, and all his goals had been achieved. Since he wasn't looking for a successor and Annie had outlived his usefulness, why not just let him die? Why try to replace him with Luke twenty years later? Why bother wasting time on an apprentice at all instead of spending his evenings at the opera or hurling force lightning at defenceless stormtroopers?
| 216 |
Do you know that scene in Attack of the Clones where Anakin and Padmé are frolicking around in the grass while the audience is projectiling vomit? Palpatine had to watch that for like ten years. He had to keep track of their relationship so that he could manipulate Anakin. And in the end, the boy has the *audacity* to die on Mustafar and make the whole thing a waste of time? Hell no, fuck that.
| 229 |
ELI5: Why do heads of state always board and deboard the aircraft using the staircase in full public view? Why don't they use more secure and easy methods like jet bridges?
| 99 |
It is easier to secure the airplane far from the airport terminal, where no vehicle can ever approach it without passing security forces. Near the terminal, numerous service vehicles are zooming by all the time.
| 57 |
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ELI5: Why is "Fortunate Son" the stereotypical song for the Vietnam war.
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Feels like people cant make a movie or game about the Vietnam war that doesnt have the song Fortunate Son in it.
| 172 |
It was a song written about the Vietnam War during the Vietnam War. It was about the feeling that people were dying for no reason, and the people with money and power could avoid fighting while the poor people couldn’t.
It was a good song, so the people who were against the Vietnam War started playing it a lot.
So it became associated with the Vietnam War then.
I think a lot of our modern association with it comes from its use in Forrest Gump in 1993 though.
| 449 |
ELI5: Why can’t you donate blood or organs if you have lived in Europe in the 80’s?
| 45 |
There was the mad cow disease period between 1980 and 1996.the mad cow disease affects the brain of the animals. People who consumed meat of an infected animal may be affected too. There are studies that suggest that the disease may be spread even with blood transfusion if the person had consumed that meat.,tho there is no real evidence.
| 35 |
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ELI5: Why does higher voltage mean lower current can be used to supply the same amount of power?
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I know that P = U x I, thus the higher the voltage, the lower the current. However I can't seem to figure out how does that make any sense?
I thought voltage is just the potential, the "pressure difference", and it makes sense since higher voltage will generally push through higher current through the same receiver. But how is it that using transformers, you can limit the current on the transmission lines, while retaining the same power? If current is the rate of flow of a charge, shouldn't it heat up the wires in the same way, regardless of voltage?
I feel this is the moment the whole "water" analogy sort of stops working.
| 341 |
I like thinking of waterfalls.
Voltage (potential) is like gravitational potential - how high is the waterfall?
Current is how much water is going over at one time - how WIDE is the waterfall ?
Power is what happens to the imaginary single spot at the bottom where all the water falls.
(Please ignore air resistance, terminal velocity, and assume that cows are spherical)
| 315 |
ELI5: If the muzzle energy of a bullet is = 1/2 * M * V^2, wouldn't it make sense to make really small and fast bullets since it has a much greater affect on energy than mass does?
|
.
| 96 |
Your intuition is correct, and that is exactly how cartridge selection for the military has progressed over the years.
The standard issue rifle for US troops, the M16/M4 fires the 5.56 Nato cartridge, which has a very small (0.15 ounce) bullet traveling at blistering speeds (2000mph!)
Compare that to the previous US military infantry rifle catridges that had bullets that weighed 3 times as much like the 30-06 in the M1 Garand.
There are other factors that went into selecting a catridge with a lighter, faster bullet (accuracy during full auto, amount of ammo a soldier can carry, politics, et cetera) but militaries around the world tend to favor light, very fast bullets for infantry rifles.
| 45 |
CMV: The best way to save humanity from the negative effects of climate change is to future proof our infrastructure and accept that we can’t stop it from happening.
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I’m not going to be a climate change denier, I do however think that our approach to combating climate change is flawed.
We can’t stop the Earth from heating up, and it is completely natural for the planet to heat up due to things like the tilt of the earth and it’s axial precession which change every so often.
We need to accept the fact that we aren’t gods, and we have no control over what this planet does. We need to adapt to the changing environment and create solutions to the potential problems that climate change can create instead of signing pieces of legislation that are really just wishful thinking and a way to improve the image of world leaders.
Organisms have been fine tuning themselves to meet the demands of this planet for billions of years, I don’t see why we should be the only exception to the old rule of “survival of the fittest”.
| 23 |
You’re aware that our current temperatures - and CO2 levels - are well beyond natural cycles, and that global warming as a result of climate change is man made?
Because you open by saying you won’t be a denier but your second paragraph heavily implies denial.
| 33 |
[Harry Potter] How does one invent new spells?
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Most of the spells in the wizarding world (at least in Britain) are derived from Latin, so do spell inventors/discoverers randomly mix and say phrases and wait for something to happen? Or is there a 'science' to it?
On that thought, are there spells in other languages? For example in India are the spells in Hindi? Could one invent a spell using modern-day English for that matter?
| 51 |
You don't invent spells anymore than you invent physics. Incantations obey natural laws. That's why pronunciation is so important. Spells sound latinish, but they are not Latin. Are there spells that sound similar to other languages? Probably. There's nothing inherently magical about Latin or wizards would have had a heck of a time speaking in ancient Rome!
Many of the most powerful recent magical breakthroughs are in constructing magical artifacts, potions, and transmutation which have no verbal components anyway.
| 24 |
Do a freshly laid egg and a freshly hatched chick have the same number of calories? If not, where do the extra calories come from?
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If the chick has more calories, it must be getting the extra energy from somewhere...?
| 16 |
No, the egg would have more calories. The egg has all of the materials, including energy, needed to form the chick. The process of forming the chick involves chemical reactions that are driven forward by the use of the stored energy. The process is not 100% efficient and the energy lost escapes from the egg as heat. On top of that the chick moves in the egg, it's heart beats, it's nerves fire, all of which use calories, which is lost in the end as heat.
| 20 |
[Pokémon] Why do the bad guys still follow the traditional rules of Pokémon battling?
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Like, they don't harm the player with their Pokémon, they don't try to capture your Pokémon in-battle, they skip a turn when they heal their Pokémon, they only send out one Pokémon at a time during single battles, they only have their Pokémon hold one item, and so on and so forth.
If they're evil and want to conquer the world/steal everyone's Pokémon/whatever, why do they abide by the rules? Ghetsis, the evil manipulative antagonist of Generation V, even tries to kill the player with his legendary Pokémon, Kyurem, in Black 2 and White 2, but he still follows all the rules during a battle.
Why?
| 86 |
It's about preventing escalation. Sure, you could just attack the trainer, but so could they and are you sure that if your pokemon go all out that they'll win all out against the other guy? If it descends into a brawl, then the loser is going to get hyperbeamed in their face and no one wants that. This way the loser accepts their loss and you both move on, alive and not melted into a puddle.
It's tempting to abuse the agreed upon rules, but in the end the bad guys benefit too, so they stick with it.
| 110 |
Frustrating Ph.D. Life
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So this happened a couple of times now.
While working on a topic I propose one direction of the results saying this seems interesting, to my supervisor. only for him/her to completely obliterate my proposal saying we can do this later.
Now fast forward while presenting my work in a meeting reviewer asked for the same thing that I proposed to my supervisor.
I guess now the supervisor has completely forgotten that I suggested the same thing a few months ago...
How can earn the trust?
Share your experience...
| 98 |
It's not necessarily a matter of trust, but it can be more of a strategic decision that you don't fully agree with. "Let's see if the reviewers ask for it" is a perfectly reasonable path in some cases.
On the other hand, there often comes a time during a PhD when the student is in a better position to understand what needs to be done, and what comes next. Generally this is toward the end of the degree (maybe year 4 or 5 under the American system). At this point, a little bit of push-pull between mentor/mentee is often necessary and healthy. Advocate for yourself.
| 72 |
ELI5 Why does our stomach makes a sound when hungry? And are we the only animals do that, if yes, why?
| 46 |
It isn't so much that it makes a sound to tell you you're hungry, it's that it happens often *at the same time* that you're hungry, so you associate the sound with the feeling. When your intestines are not full of food and digestive juices, there is relatively more air inside them. When they squeeze what little fluid there is, it's kind of like the sound of a dripping faucet echoing in a big empty sink. All the air inside instead of fluid makes it easy for you to hear. It probably happens in animals too, but whether they notice or not is a good question.
| 41 |
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[Superman] Does Superman have any personality flaws at all? Any insecurities? Any issues? He seems so perfect to me.
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I know he's called the the Big Blue Boy Scout for a reason but he seems almost unbelieviably perfect. I'd really love it if there was some comic that showed Clark as a bullied nerd who had to keep his head down in school because he couldn't reveal his powers, then when he becomes Superman he gets all the love and adoration from fans which fuels his own craving for approval.
| 15 |
Lex Luthor once got Superman's powers, every ability Superman possessed. Within hours his emotionless and uncaring demeanor was crumbling and he was facing a moral dilemma tearing him apart.
See, you can ignore people suffering because you don't know they're suffering. You don't have to see, or watch, you can turn that off. Superman can't. He can hear a whisper across a city, see the physiological changes as someone is heartbroken, watch their bones break as they're injured, see the pain flash across their nervous system and into their brain, see and hear changes in their breathing as they respond.
There's two pathways when you are faced with this. You can become a psychopath who doesn't care or enjoys it (Zod) or you can know each and every time you've done something to hurt someone. Superman not only cares that people are being hurt, he has the self-control to understand that he can't right every injustice, stop every pain, or he'll be a greater tyrant than any the world has ever known.
| 35 |
How much of a health risk is involved with flies landing on food?
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For instance, I always imagine that the fly has just visited a mound of dog poop right before they try some potato salad. Also, are they laying eggs, or eating?
| 35 |
If you are a healthy, young adult you have nothing to fear. Your stomach acid will take care of most of it.
Also, if the fly lands on the food just before you eat the food, the bacteria it might be carrying wont have time to grow and spoil the food. The problem might arise if a fly lands on the food during preparation and then the food is stored improperly for several hours before consumption.
| 25 |
CMV: Learning how to box, hunt or wrestle is good for a kid and not a 'legacy of violence', kids these days are overprotected and therefore, weak.
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I had a very traditional upbringing where my dad encouraged us to enjoy things that are not considered PC anymore.
I had boxing lessons, a BB gun, a penknife. I was encouraged to defend myself and not be scared of getting bruised. It taught me how to protect myself, and that I was strong and able to control that force.
I recently watched a 'documentary' calling my culture a legacy of violence (gypsy/traveller). I don't really agree with that and would like to hear your opinions about why that is not just passing on traditions.
Imo, kids who don't learn to deal with getting hurt occasionally is making people weak.
Tldr, I think kids should be encouraged to be tougher.
| 47 |
I believe the most important thing in playing "rough" in childhood is what is called the wind down. Children learn a lot while playing, but there is a different between violent behaviour and safe behaviour. You said it yourself, you had boxing lessons - the key part is "lessons". You did not go to the playground and started hitting other kids, you encountered violence in a safe and controlled space. The most important part of rougher play is not the roughness, but the wind down. To quote Alastair Spate with regards to fathers playing rough with their sons:
>The crucial thing is the winding down. Here a father teaches his child, through play, the mastery of his energy and angers, sets the limits of aggression and how to stay in charge of one's emotions and not be flooded by them. (Quoted after Steve Biddulph)
The goal is not to teach violence or to be tougher. The violence is only a secondary part in teaching kids to be not tough but to control their emotions.
| 28 |
ELI5: What is the difference between desert and ocean sand?
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This is my first ELI. I am trying to follow the rules. I searched for ELIs on sand. I could not find an answer from the last 6 months. Also my internet skills are failing me.
​
My question in more details: Over the last couple years sand as a resource has become more expansive due to shortages. I am wondering whether transportation is the issue or if there is something that makes desert sand useless to the building and silicone industry.
| 106 |
The difference comes from how the sand is made. Desert sand is made by wind, and makes each grain smooth. Ocean sand is made by water, and makes each grain rough. The rough sand can stick together easier, and so is better for building.
Edit: Spelling.
| 56 |
[Star Wars] How did Luke never find out that Starkiller Base was llum?
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Considering it’s an important planet to the Jedi and Luke was studying them after ROTJ, how come he never went to planet where Jedi get their kyber crystals and saw what the Empire/First Order were doing?
| 40 |
Ilum had been extensively mined by the Empire to build the Death Stars, so there wasn’t a huge reason for Luke to go there. And according to Wookiepedia, the location of Ilum was unknown to the First Order for a long time after the fall of the Empire, which means it was probably unknown to Luke as well.
| 37 |
[Superman] Why didn't the Kryptonians take over a planet with a yellow or blue star earlier?
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I know General Zod's whole thing is basically this, but why didn't it happen before? There's also other yellow stars out there. Why do Kryptonians choose to live on a planet where they have no powers?
| 56 |
Depending on the continuity, that's exactly what they did. Then they had some disagreements among themselves. Imagine a civil war between an interstellar empire of Supermen. They shocked themselves with their own brutality, and settled on Krypton and *only* Krypton.
| 92 |
ELI5 - how does charcoal work? How do you burn something and expected to burn later?
| 40 |
Charcoal isn't burnt. It's pyrolysed, which is a different process.
Plants are made mostly of cellulose and (in the case of wood) lignin, which are complex molecules that contain a lot of carbon. Burning a plant reacts those molecules with oxygen in the air to produce mostly carbon dioxide and water, which are both gases at the temperature of a flame and thus fly away into the air. (In practice, flames are usually a bit 'dirty' and contain a number of other things too.)
There are two steps to this chemical reaction: *breaking* the bonds in the molecules that already exist (which consumes some energy) and then *recombining* the resulting parts with oxygen (which releases more energy than the first step consumed, so both steps together produce energy on net).
In charcoal, wood or other organic material is heated, but not supplied with enough oxygen for a true flame. For example, it might be buried in a pile below ground with only a little oxygen available. This heating causes the first step of the reaction, breaking down the complex organic molecules into mostly free carbon + other stuff. But there's not enough oxygen for much of the second step to take place, so it stops there. (In practice, a little oxygen is introduced - just enough to allow enough of the second step to happen to keep the pile of material hot enough to continue breaking down.) This first step alone is called *pyrolysis* (Greek: *pyro* "fire" + *lysis* "to break down").
The resulting charcoal is effectively a chunk of mostly-pure carbon, which burns with a cleaner and hotter flame because many impurities have been removed (particularly water, which takes a lot of energy to evaporate) and because it doesn't have to consume energy to allow the first step of the reaction.
| 109 |
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Is it possible to accurately predict the death of a given star?
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If you were close enough to a red giant star would it be possible to accurately predict the point at which it would go super nova? How accurate could that prediction be? Would you be able to pinpoint the precise minute, year, decade? And from how far in advance? Also, same question for a smaller star collapsing into a white dwarf.
| 20 |
No. The problem is that the changes which will result in the star exploding all occur deep within the core of the star, and it takes of order a million years for structural changes in the core to be visible on the surface. This not coincidentally about the same amount of time it takes for the thermal energy in the core to make it out to the surface.
Supernovae in massive stars occur because the core has fused up to iron and doesn't have another energy source to fall back on and support the star against gravity. There are five or six fusion stages the star goes through, roughly H -> He -> C, O -> Ne, Mg, Na -> Si -> Fe -> kaboom. For a massive star like Betelgeuse, the first step takes 2-3 million years. Helium to carbon/oxygen, another hundred thousand to million years. Going up the alpha chain from oxygen takes no more than a few hundred. After that, you get a silicon core in a few months to years, and an iron core in just a few weeks, if that. This is because each rung of the nuclear burning ladder releases less and less energy per reaction and requires much higher temperatures to proceed, so the star goes through its fuel faster and faster.
And therein lies the problem. Once the star moves off the main sequence and becomes a red supergiant (red giants don't go supernova, as a rule), all you know is that it has at least started burning helium in its core. You have no real idea how far along it is in that process because the energy released by carbon burning and higher simply has no time to make it to the surface and produce visible changes in the structure of the star. Now, you might have a shot if you were really close to it by detecting neutrino emission, since neutrinos stream freely out of all stars - in fact, solar neutrinos are some of our best physical evidence for the fusion processes occurring in the core of the Sun. But you'd never see a high enough neutrino flux when viewing the star from afar. Once the star goes supernova, you would get some slight amount of warning from an enormous surge of neutrinos resulting from the formation of the proto-neutron star at the center of the core, but that's it. And it only amounts to a couple hours' warning before the supernova shockwave makes it to the surface and finishes blowing up the star.
Similar story for low-mass stars destined to become white dwarves. Although we can definitely classify stars as being asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, which are no longer burning helium in their cores and are well on their way to completely shedding their outer layers, this phase is still very long (AGB stars are still burning hydrogen and helium in shells around the inert core). The process by which an AGB star ejects its envelope and becomes a white dwarf takes of order 10-100,000 years. This is blisteringly fast on an astronomical timescale, but we humans really can't say anything until a star is already well into this phase. This is accentuated by the fact that this phase is so comparatively short, so there just aren't that many stars out there currently in it and thus we don't have a great handle on what they should look like.
| 14 |
[Borderlands] Why are there so many midgets on Pandora?
| 22 |
Pandora's 90 hour day subjects its population to increased radiation exposure from the planet's star. This increased radiation exposure causes a higher rate of mutation in the FGFR3 gene, which is responsible for Achondroplasia, the most common cause of dwarfism. Because of the harsh nature of society on Pandora, people born with this obvious morphologic abnormailty are frequently the subject of scorn and ridicule, which enventually results in criminality and insanity.
| 29 |
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[General] How would a modern Vampire operate?
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Where would they most likely be hunting? Would they live in groups? What should they fear the most about modern humans?
| 28 |
Assuming we're talking about intelligent vampires like Dracula and lestat. They'd absolutely love modern society over the old world. Settle into a city like Vegas or Shanghai or Paris that's known for operating late hours and unlike smaller cities. Purchase a condo through a familiar are through online transactions. Make some minor modifications like black windows. And high speed internet service. They'd prowl online forums and chat rooms looking for victims and grooming potential victims to the idea that they are real vampires and lure them in. Online dating and anonymous hook up apps will become a buffet for them. Once too many people begin to ask questions they simply move to another city or even just across the city. Large homeless populations will provide a quick meal as well. And in today's day and age any evidence brought to light will be discredited and called fake or considered the work of a serial killer or lunatic rather than a monster living down the street.
| 31 |
ELI5: Why do we feel jealousy?
| 39 |
It's all wired in us. We feel jealous to encourage us to be better than that person.
Let's go back in time about half a million years ago...
Oog and Gork are neighbours. They are hunting buddies and they have known each other for years. The two go on a hunting trip. Oog is bigger and stronger and can throw the spear further and faster than Gork. Gork took down a 300lb deer while Oog took down a 600lb deer.
Gork will obviously be jealous.
Suddenly, a group of females nearby notice Oog carrying the freshly killed deer on his back and start flocking towards him. They then go back to Oogs's cave and start mating.
Now Gork will be very jealous.
Simple enough?
| 17 |
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Does time travel into the past imply the Halting Problem is decidable?
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Rule: Assume that there are unbounded resources including time.
​
If the message will be sent by ourselves, we will receive the YES **instantly.** If we do not receive the answer, then the algorithm does not halt.
Basically, if there is no possible future where the algorithm halts, then we will not be able to send a message back in time. **And the lack of a message means it will not halt.**
| 30 |
It isn't an area with a lot study. However, it has been argued that a Deutschian closed-time loops allows effectively for the construction of a halt oracle (not by the means you mention but you can read Aaronsen's paper if you want).
| 20 |
[Marvel] Can wolverine get a tattoo?
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With his super regeneration would it even stick? And if he can get a tattoo what would happen if he lost all his skin, would the tat grow back too?
| 143 |
He addressed this specifically in the Ultimate Universe, telling Storm that it was a great way to impress girls, because he would get their name tattooed on him and then it would be gone the next day, IIRC
| 116 |
[MCU] Could Tony Stark have backed up the mind of the avengers?
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As shown in winter soldier, Arnim Zola backed up his brain in a large computer with technology from the 70s. As shown by Vision, Nebula and Ultron, just because a being is not made of flesh does not mean that they are not sentient. Does this mean that anyone who is at least smarter than Arnim Zola or have space Technology could achieve immortality.
Bonus question: Did Captain America share about Arnim Zola with Tony Stark
| 35 |
Could he? Probably, he's an engineer first and foremost but he's a technological genius, look at the AI he's developed or helped develop.
He's done backups of himself in the comics, but that Tony is a far different one from the MCU.
But would he? That's a different question entirely. There's no real viable reason to, without cloning (which we haven't seen in the films, but have in Agents of SHIELD). Most probably wouldn't agree to it in the first place, either.
As for what Stark knows about Zola? Cap might have told him the general idea of what happened, but we don't know. And without access to Zola's tech, he might not be able to update it to his own modern specifications.
| 25 |
ELI5: How does a voice commentary for sports videogames (ex. NBA 2K12) actually get recorded? How does it actually work?
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Well, explain like I'm 8 would be adequate. My nephew is constantly amazed that the commentators seem to almost always be saying the right thing whenever he plays his NBA 2K12 on his Playstation. I notice that the comments may get a bit repetitive at times, but it also still quite blows my mind. So how do they do it? Do they record thousands of lines, each time saying every specific player's name? I just can't imagine what's happening behind the scenes.
Edit: I realized that I used the word "actually" twice. Lol. Anyway, thank you for all the replies!
| 84 |
They don't record every line for every player. They'll record each player's name in a couple of tones of voice, and then plug the recording of the name into a longer line of commentary.
However, some of the lines that are specific to a individual player are recorded with the player name in full.
As for how the game knows what to say and when to say it: any event in the game can trigger commentary, and the game will choose from a selection of lines that will fit the current situation.
You're right though, it is pretty incredible how far video game commentary has come over the years. Back in the early 2000s, things were even more repetitive, to the point where I'd play most sports games with the commentary off!
| 53 |
[Star Trek] What is the most powerful Federation warship during and immediately after the Dominion War?
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Specifically looking for a warship/ship that is geared at least with combat heavily in mind with regards to design
| 17 |
That would be the *Defiant*-class Escort. Starfleet does not commission "warships" by name, though it is an oddity that even their "science" vessels care enough weaponry to level a planet.
However, even the Defiant eschews any pretense of being for exploration or discovery. It is a warship, ostensibly for *defense*, but it is probably the most potent offensive vessel in the entire fleet.
| 16 |
Returning to Academia
|
As of 2008, I had my bachelor's and master's in history. I had a full ride lined up to go to Purdue to start the Phd program. Due to starting a family, I decided not to pursue it at the time and instead worked in other field where I have some skill which is IT.
While working my way up in the IT field, I started an adjunct position at a nearby community college and have been doing that nearly every semester since 2010. IT has been good to me and I have a high paying position for my area.
At the end of 2020, I left my employer and while I took on an IT consulting gig, I decided it was time to try doctoral school again as it was a passion and still is. I received one acceptance with no funding and a letter saying that I would have gotten in if the pandemic hadn't caused the university to lower the number of new candidates. For the acceptance without funding to St. Louis University, I deferred my enrollment and continued with my IT career. In that time frame, I bought new things and took on new debt since I thought it was over.
Now.... SLU has funding for me to start my program. At 37... I feel like it is now or never.
How do I justify taking a MASSIVE pay cut and ask my wife to become the sole breadwinner while I pursue something I think is my dream? Is it worth it? Am I giving up too much? How do I juggle being a Dad while going to school.. doing an assistantship.. still teaching online courses.. and maybe even do a little consulting to make ends meeting? I still have student loan debt from my first round of college.
I keep telling myself that with all of my IT experience, I could easily find another good paying job in the field if it doesn't work out, but the unknown is scary.
I'm not even sure what I am asking this community, but I wanted to put it out in the ether that is Reddit...
Thanks for reading.
| 23 |
Don't do it. You can still go to academic conferences, you can still read journal articles, there are loads and loads of amazing lectures online. Heck, start a podcast or a YouTube channel about the area of history you are interested in.
Your work life balance, sanity, ability to be a good parent/partner, and financial situation are going to be so much better if you let IT pay the bills and keep history as one of your passions.
| 51 |
ELI5: This programming joke
|
http://xahlee.info/comp/i/fault-tolerance_NoSQL.png
| 20 |
GreySuit wants some information. BlueSuit responds with pedantry. GreySuit ignores it and asks for the information again. BlueSuit feels GreySuit is not respecting the difference and tells him to do an complete overkill task in a language few people use to get GreySuit off his back. Presumably you understand the third panel.
| 20 |
[Star Trek] Where the Hell are the Xindi?!
|
Since Captain Archer stopped the war with the Xindi, they've been dead silent. Even during the Dominion war, when the entire Alpha quadrant was at risk, the Xindi remained quiet. Apparently, the Xindi are meant to join the Federation by the 26th century, but I haven't seen or heard a thing from the Xindi throughout TNG, DS9 or Voyager. So where the hell are they?
| 22 |
Best bet? After learning of the Sphere Builders' treachery, they took stock of what had happened and chose to retreat deep into their own space to attend to old wounds and rivalries. While the original Xindi Council was a massive step forward in unification and peace, the actions of the Insectoids and Reptilians revealed that they had not progressed as far as they thought, and that, absent the false threat of Earth, they needed to go back to square one.
Azati Prime became a neutral territory, where any Xindi could live and work. Generations went by as the Xindi learned how to live with one another, how to give up on their ancient tribalist ways, how to become one people. Because of the social instability, technological advancement slowed. Integration programs were put in place, to ensure diversity in Xindi environments for all of the species.
It wasn't until a few hundred years later that the Xindi finally emerged a unified race. They opened up talks with Earth, now the Federation, and were allies for some time, before the invasion of the Sphere Builders brought them together and the Xindi applied for membership.
| 15 |
How do snakes move?
|
How do snakes move forward? Watching them, it seems like they move forward by slithering their body back and forth, but I can't see how that moves them forward.
| 30 |
Snakes have four ways of moving around. Since they don't have legs they use their muscles and their scales to do the "walking".
Serpentine method: This motion is what most people think of when they think of snakes. Snakes will push off of any bump or other surface, rocks, trees, etc., to get going. They move in a wavy motion. They would not be able to move over slick surfaces like glass at all. This movement is also known as lateral undulation.
Concertina method: This is a more difficult way for the snake to move but is effective in tight spaces. The snake braces the back portion of their body while pushing and extending the front portion. Then the snake drops the front portion of their body and straightens an pulls the back portion along. It is almost like they through themselves forward.
Sidewinding: This is a difficult motion to describe but it is often used by snakes to move on loose or slippery surfaces like sand or mud. The snake appears to throw its head forward and the rest of its body follows while the head is thrown forward again.
Rectilinear Method: This is a slow, creeping, straight movement. The snake uses some of the wide scales on its belly to grip the ground while pushing forward with the others.
| 30 |
[XMEN] Shouldn't Magneto get helmets for his whole team?
|
I mean, all Professor X has to do is get one of his goons to slap off the helmet quickly and then he's vulnerable.
| 26 |
Okay, first off, the helmet is magnetically stuck to his head. You'd need high-level super-strength to pull it off.
Ultimately his team is expendable, and he is strong enough to insta-kill most of his minions if they are mind controlled. Although afterwards he would feel guilty about having to sacrifice them for "the greater good."
Of course, Xavier knows that Magneto is willing and able to kill *anyone* to achieve his goals. That's why Xavier doesn't push Magneto very frequently. For example, in Fox's X-Men 1, Magneto points guns at an entire police squad when Xavier has Sabretooth's claws around Magneto's throat. Xavier backs down.
| 16 |
If the Sun were to suddenly disappear how long would it take for the Earth to freeze?
|
Title pretty much. Question came to me when watching a Doctor Who episode.
Edit: From a few comments, I think I need to be more specific. My freeze, I mean be unsuitable for human life without technology. I don't mean it as in walk out of a heated house and die. How long would it take for earth to be inhabitable by humans without any forms of technology.
Thanks!
| 73 |
Your question should be clarified as: If the LIGHT from the sun were to stop reaching earth (for some unexplainable reason).
If the sun actually vanished, the planets would abandon their orbit and well...it will not be a fun time.
| 17 |
How long can bacteria survive on everyday household items without nutrients and water?
| 40 |
Depends on the strain and species. If it's a spore forming bacteria, it can survive for almost forever.
Normal households won't be free of water or nutrients, as there are naturally in the air. But in ideal conditions, as to your question, a few days to a few weeks.
| 30 |
|
ELI5: Why is it hard for rural areas to get home internet even if they have good phone service?
|
Edit: *good cellphone data service*
What's the difference between watching Netflix on mobile vs home internet? Why can't a similar technology of radiowaves or satellite be used?
| 33 |
Good phone service just needs cellular towers, which is a few connections to service a large area. Good internet, cable or fiberoptic, regulars direct connection from the residence to the provider. So they'd need to run cabling to each house, along all those rural roads, to provide good internet, which is an expensive upfront cost for a small benefit (a few customers).
| 19 |
ELI5: Why do people like Ron Paul? What does he want to do if he becomes president?
|
First of all im from Europe and know nothing about US politics but what i've read is that people like Ron Paul, why?
| 22 |
Ron Paul is a social and economic libertarian.
It can be confusing because the the terms liberal, conservative, and libertarian are slightly different in the US than they are in Europe.
In the US, liberals are on the left of the political spectrum and generally believe in things like unions, progressive taxation, social equality, financial regulation, etc. Liberals are more often found in the Democratic Party.
Conservatives are on the right of the political spectrum and generally believe in less progressive taxes, less financial regulation, religious values, etc. Conservative are more often found in the Republican Party.
Libertarians in the US are sort of a mix in that they fall on the extreme right economically and on the far left socially.
Ron Paul is further unique in that he falls on the far right economically, but socially spans the entire political spectrum.
So Paul believes in the complete deregulation of business and financial markets, the dissolution of our national bank, returning our currency to be tied to gold, removing a bunch of government institutions and generally removing as much power from our federal government as possible.
Socially he believes that drugs should be legal, but he also thinks that abortion should be illegal, so he sort of spans the spectrum.
So people generally like him because they ideologically agree with a number of his beliefs and above all else think the federal government exists to take rights away from people.
People don't like him because they think his views are extreme, impractical, irrational, and ideologically think that government exists to protect the rights of people.
| 26 |
When I breathe casually, why does my stomach move in and out. But when I breathe deeply my chest expands?
| 26 |
When you inhale normally, your diaphragm drops displacing the contents of the abdominal cavity. When you do a forced inhalation, you utilize your external intercostals and other accessory muscles, allowing for further expansion of your chest cavity until your inspiratory reserve capacity.
| 53 |
|
ELI5: Why do we get hungry every few hours, even when we haven't burnt all the energy/calories from our previous meal(s)?
|
I'm sure there's something very obvious that I'm missing, but I don't get why humans get hungry all the time even if there's plenty of energy left to burn. For instance, if we eat a breakfast that's 1500 calories and then sit on the couch all day and only burn maybe 700 calories, why do we feel hungry again a few hours later, even though there's still 800 calories left? If I had to guess, I would guess that the feeling of hunger (like stomach growling)is a technique our body uses to tell us that we need more food and more energy. But why does our body make us feel hungry even if there is leftover food that we haven't burned yet?
| 19 |
We get hungry when our body is about to start the process of warming up the furnace to burn fat.
There may be plenty of calories available in our bodies, enough to last for days, but we get hungry when we run out of the "easy to access" energy and our blood sugar level gets low.
Blood sugar levels have a certain safe range -- too low and we're weak, too high and the blood turns toxic. When we eat, blood sugar levels rise as food gets digested and sugars get added into the bloodstream. If it rises above a certain point, our body starts skimming off the top and putting the excess into fat. If it falls below a certain point, we get hungry, and if it falls even further, we start burning off that fat to return those sugars to the bloodstream.
Hunger fades once the fat is burning and sugar levels rise. When the fat calories run out, we just get tired not hungry because the body is already in "fat burning" mode.
As soon as we eat anything (edit: anything with any sugar), our body immediately stops burning fat and switches to using the incoming food instead. When that runs out, you get hungry again as part of flipping the switch back to fat use.
| 26 |
[Warhammer 40k] Describe the typical process of a planet falling to Papa Nurgle
|
Hello everyone. I am a lowly member of a small cult and would like a guide pretty please.
| 43 |
Nurgle is the beginning and the end, he is both life, death and everything in between. Like those he will come to everyone, and that makes him different to his chaotic brethren.
Tzeentch favors the smart and cunning, the ones with ambitions that span across the whole galaxy. His followers are the intellectual elite.
Slaanesh favors the decadent and the desperate. Rich oligarchs that wish to end their continual boredom as well as the poor living in the gutters of the hive city that long to drown out their bleak reality.
Khorne is war and burning wrath. He favors only power and those willing to use it. Righteously vengeful or hateful and indiscriminate, he represents both. His followers are those both powerful and willing to crush their enemies.
Malal is pure destruction. He destroys everything but himself. That's it.
Nurgle on the other hand doesn't care about a specific characteristic. If anything is alive it falls in his domain and he has things to give that everyone want. He will lessen the pains of life, both physical and mental, and even take your fear of death. Among his followers may be a the graying business man, that fears death slowly creeping towards him and making all his lively possessions pointless or the suffering and abandoned mutant, cowering in the sewers praying for a few friends to make his existence bearable, or the guardsman at the front-line when he sees the endless slaughter and just wants back home and live happily ever after. He is not as excessive as the others, no unspeakable pleasure, no glorious vengeance, no big twisted schemes; just the contentedness life can give you, the joy of friends and family, birth and finally a fulfilled death.
When he decides to take a world it won't be spectacular. A dying man begs for help and Nurgle hears him. He is generous, as he always is, and quickly bestows the man with his gifts. The man feels better, happy and loved like he hasn't been since his childhood. The nasty cough and his bloating stomach don't bother him, no, they are signs of his 'fathers' affection. He obviously wants to share his new found happiness with the world, so he walks around the hive, coughing his lungs out but smiling broadly. Withing week everyone dies painfully, convulsing in their bodily fluids and the man rejoices. Who would he be to deny them entry to Nurgles garden after all. They deserved it.
| 40 |
Nothing is unnatural. CMV
|
Everything in the universe is nature (meaning it is part of the physical world). Anything produced in the universe is natural. Genetically modified organisms were produced or engineered by humans, who are part of the universe. You can't say something is unnatural or unnaturally occurring, unless you're talking about something supernatural. Also, something that is "man-made" is still natural since humans are part of nature. I really can't see how this can be disputed. In day to day life, when people refer to something unnatural, they are making up their own definition or using their own parameters for determining whether something is natural or not. Instead of using the word unnatural when talking about man-made things, shouldn't people be using "man-made"?
EDIT:
The definition of natural:
>Existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind.
Humankind is part of nature so doesn't the definition contradict itself? It's like saying:
>Existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by nature.
Shouldn't the definition be:
>Not made or caused by humankind.
| 30 |
Technically, you are correct, but this would render the words 'natural' and 'unnatural' useless, so we have a kind of loose definition for the purpose of conveying information
For examples: ''This shirt is made of polyester and this one is made of natural fibres'' or ''This woman has dyed her hair blonde and this woman has naturally blonde hair''
| 31 |
If our bodies are conductive, can holding a battery between two fingers deplete it completely?
|
Let's say you have a new AAA battery and hold it between your thumb and index finger. Given that the human body has some resistance, but is still conductive, if you hold it for a long enough time, can you deplete it completely? How long would it take?
| 16 |
back of envelope calculations:
A AAA battery typically has a capacity of 1000 mAh (it will supply 1000 mA for 1 hour) if the current drawn isnt too high.
a dry contact across the body is of the order of 50k ohm.
ohms law says i=v/r, so 1.5/50,000 = 30uA (not too high)
so a 1000mah battery @ 30uAh will last 33,333 hours (3+years)
there's a bit more to this, but for back of envelope stuff it's accurate enough
| 20 |
ELI5:Why does the US Armed Forces have an Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard, instead of just an Army and Navy.
|
It seems unnecessary to have all these branches when the Navy can just absorb the Coast Guard and the Army can absorb the Marines. To me it seems counter-intuitive for these specialized branches to exist when in reality they are essentially the same branch.
For example, Marines are supposed to specialize in invasion and ground combat, but so are Army Rangers. The Navy reigns in international waters but both the coast guard and the navy perform the same tasks with the same equipment.
To me, it seems expensive and overly complicated to keep 4 branches instead of 2.
| 36 |
Back when they first started making militaries, there were two kinds of fighting people:
* People who fought on land. When they got around to inventing the English Language, they called them *Armies*.
* People who fought on water, from ships. We call them *Navies*.
Now around the time of the American Revolutionary War (late 1770s), navies fought using wooden sailing ships with lots of cannons firing solid iron balls. These guns were pretty powerful, but they were pretty inaccurate unless you got really close, and unless you got really lucky and blew up the enemy's gunpowder magazine, they couldn't really do enough damage to sink another ship quickly.
So if you were willing to sail through cannonball fire for a little bit, it was possible to get close enough to the enemy ship to board it with your own men. However, most sailors were good at sailing, and not as good at shooting or hand-to-hand fighting, so they decided to create groups of soldiers who specifically trained to fight from ships. These are called *Marines*.
Some countries kept them as part of their armies or navies, but in the US, they put them specifically under the authority of the Department of the Navy, and slowly over time they gained more and various responsibilities- Presidential guard, Embassy guard, etc. Also, because they were on Navy ships all the time, they were usually the first ground troops to show up when the government was trying to flex its power overseas, so they also started doing amphibious warfare (invading beaches from ships), which is their primary mission today.
Around the same time, many countries saw a need for a nautical police force. Using the Navy for that was in most cases overkill; you want to enforce tariffs and catch criminals, not blow merchant ships out of the water. So *Coast Guards* started becoming a thing, tasked with seagoing law enforcement and search and rescue. In the US, it was put under the authority of the Department of Transportation in peactime, and the department of the Navy in wartime. (there was no Department of Defense then). Recently they've been put under the Department of Homeland Security.
So, finally, years later, airplanes were invented. Immediately all the armed forces saw a use for them; mainly spotting for big guns at first (Navy battleships and Army artillery), but later they started carrying guns and bombs and torpedoes and missiles. In some countries, they managed to create a separate *Air Force* right away (the UK did this with the RAF), but in the US, the Army and Navy each handled their own aviation, arguing (accurately enough) their needs were different. So it wasn't until after World War II that the Air Force was split off from the Army into a final branch. The Army still maintains its helicopters for transport and close air support, and the Navy argues that aircraft carrier operations are too different from the land flying that Air Force personnel are used to, so they each have their own aircraft. The Coast Guard needs aircraft for long-range search and rescue. And the Marines have their own aircraft because they're supposed to be a self-contained, independent and fast-moving fighting force once the Navy drops them on the beach.
As for why they haven't merged them back? Politics, money, and tradition. There have been several attempts made--the Air Force argued in the 50's that nuclear weapons made all surface forces obsolete; the Army has tried to absorb the Marines several times; the Air Force has tried to take the Navy's planes, etc. But it seems unlikely in the near future.
| 54 |
CMV: banning alt-right accounts from mainstream social media does more harm than good.
|
Obviously, I'm not a alt right, anti vaxxer, tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. But I believe banning alt right accounta from mainstream social media (facebook, twitter) will do more harm than good.
Obviously, having them around is bad for a for company PR. But, outright banning them may lead to more distrust, and the possibility of all of them moving to a echo chamber filled with other quacks.
I may be a bit naive, but I do believe of people are shown the truth, most of them will change. At least being exposed to alternate content may change people's opinion. But simply banning them is doing no good.
| 22 |
Research shows otherwise. Repeat a lie frequently enough, and people will start to think it is true. Having more access to a larger populace only will do bad things.
Edited to add: some of the more gullible/less passionate people won't do the work to continue to find the crazies.
In other words, it might not help the individual, but it helps society
| 38 |
ELI5: How do diesel engines work? Why would they be preferred?
| 42 |
Diesel fuel burns differently than gasoline. It's a thicker, less volatile fuel that burns more slowly than gasoline (think of the difference between setting a cup of gasoline on fire, and the ease of doing so, compared with doing the same thing with a cup of oil). So, when the gasoline in a cylinder burns, it does so very quickly. It only provides propulsive energy when it burns, so it only provides that oomph for a very short time, so you need to have more repetitions of this to get things moving, hence the higher comparative rev rates of gasoline engines. Diesel burns more slowly, so it ignites and it keeps pushing for longer. So, you don't need as many revolutions of the engine to get the power out of it. This longer push in the cylinders also results in the engine creating more torque.
Diesel is also ignited differently. It isn't ignited with a spark like gasoline is. Rather, it is compressed to a very small volume, until that compression creates enough heat to cause ignition. This high pressure means that diesel engines have to built very strong, to withstand that pressure. The end result is that you have a very toughly built engine that revs low and creates a whole lot of pull out of those low revs. So... diesel is preferred in those situations that benefit from those characteristics. And that means hauling, where you have a lot of weight that you need to get moving and keep it moving. You don't need the high-revving horsepower of a gas engine for that. You need that slow-burn torque of a diesel for that. Yank all that weight off the line and just get a head of steam going and keep going. That's hauling, and that's diesel.
| 74 |
|
Why are the Galapagos Islands specifically so important to study?
|
I always see the Galapagos Islands as the big place that people are studying. I realize there are major historical discoveries that have happened there, but aren't there likely to be many archipelagos that are near a mainland that display the same amounts of natural selection and adaptive radiation? Are they just the "famous" archipelago? Is there a really unique situation there? Or are people building upon 100+ years of research in that specific place?
| 129 |
It's for a number of reasons. Largely because of the fact that the Galápagos is a volcanic landmass that was never connected to any continent. This means that all the species there had to migrate there, and there are no natural large predatory mammals, so they're able to survive there. Because of this, and because of how different the Galápagos landscape is compared to anywhere else, species were able to adapt in ways that we haven't seen before. There are many species there that can't be found anywhere else in the world. For instance, there's a native species of Iguana there that's adapted to aquatic life, which is something we've never seen from Iguanas.
| 149 |
ELI5: How is the Earth's core still hot 4.5 billion years into its existence?
|
I mean, I get that it's pressurized and all, but how does it maintain enough heat to keep iron melted?
| 210 |
The earth is actually still heating itself. We're not just a bunch of rock, the core and mantle actually have atoms breaking down, releasing heat. We are effectively sat on a nuclear reactor set to slow.
Early earth was hotter, and has lost a LOT of heat over time, but the amount we have left isn't just here form the start, our planet is effectively burning fuel to keep active.
| 118 |
[The Stanley Parable]Whay is the meaning behind the Escape Pod Ending
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBVr0B-Exco
Its really odd
| 34 |
/u/twarnercool stares at a screen. Waiting for someone, anyone really, to answer the single most important question of his life. At least, for the next 3 hours. What he doesn't know that a whole new world is out there. To enjoy, to experience, to revel in. Instead, /u/twarnercool asks an inane question for a game that admonishes the user to question everything. Including asking this question.
| 49 |
Why do we only see one big rainbow instead of myriad of very small ones? Every drop of water in the air kind of creates its own small rainbow by refracting the light, so why don't we see all of those individually?
|
Question has been answered, but feel free to add onto any dicussions or bring up points not yet mentioned.
| 1,535 |
A water droplet is a sort of mirror prism. A ray of light comes from the Sun, enters the droplet and changes its angle due to refraction, reflects off the inner wall of the droplet (at least partially), and comes out at a different angle. Different colours come out at different angles.
If you imagine a triangle from the Sun, to the droplet, to your eye, this is the path the light goes. You will get a specific colour if the angle between the Sun-droplet line and the droplet-eye line is just right. What this means is that all droplets in the same line-of-sight will give you the same colour, because the Sun->droplet->eye angle is the same along that line, and the light has been bent by the same angle for all those droplets.
A rainbow is (in principle) circular, centred on the point exactly opposite the Sun, because it doesn't matter which direction the light is bent, as long as the angle is right. So a full circle of lines-of-sights of droplets will cause rays of light of a specific colour to hit your eyes. Of course, the ground is in the way most of the time (the Sun is above ground, so the centre of the rainbow is below ground), and the rainbow ends up looking like an arc.
You also get double & triple rainbows etc because light can bounce more than once within a droplet, and will come out at a different angle after each bounce. But some light leaks out after each bounce, which is why the second + third + above rainbows are quite dim - and also why clouds aren't completely dark!
| 673 |
[Star Wars] What makes falling to the dark side of the Force more serious than a non-Force-sensitive becoming evil?
|
How is it any different from a regular person doing evil stuff and why is it considered harder for a Jedi to stop doing evil things than a regular person? Isn't someone like Jango Fett or Tarkin just as or even more dangerous than a Jedi? What makes an evil Force user a more important target than a known vile criminal like Jabba who is known to cause widespread suffering?
Yoda: “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.”
| 25 |
1)non-force sensitives don't have freaky superpowers.
2)a force user's life is dominated by their connection to the Force. Misuse of it will seep into them and cling to them. IOW: being evil taints your soul. Being Dark Side taints your soul AND poisons the Force around you.
| 42 |
[Iron Man] Had Rhodey accepted Tony's offer to become involved with the secret Iron Man project , what would his role have been?
|
This was the original scene: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwiaIbKXT50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwiaIbKXT50)
Tony had offered Rhodey a part in it but ,for reasons unknown to me, he ended up declining. The rest happens to be history.
But another thing that never occurred to me was , what was Tony's plan for Rhodey? I've speculated that it's possible that he might've wanted Rhodey to be the man in the suit, possibly since he was the trained one and had pull in the military for this. Then Tony would be free designing the suit and Rhodey can test it out and use it himself. Or maybe he just wanted to share this with best friend and have him be somewhat of an assistant and helping out.
Do you guys have any ideas as to what Tony's plan could have been?
| 99 |
I think the scenario you described would have been really plausible.
Tony would have wanted Rhodey to be the test pilot and man on in the field, while he stayed in the workshop and sold the world (not the U.S. military specifically) on Iron Man- which probably would have been easier with someone like Rhodey as the guy making the calls on the ground and pulling the trigger.
| 60 |
[MCU] The Asgardians, an incredibly advanced species, couldn't find a way to safely remove the reality stone from Jane. So how did Tony, with comparatively lesser technology, do it so easily?
|
In TDW, the Asgardians made a big deal about how it would be extremely difficult to safely separate the reality stone from Jane. And yet, in 2023, Tony managed to create the technology to do it, with relative ease; how?
| 1,042 |
I think it's a combination of three things:
First, the Asgardians had *very* little time between rediscovering the Aether and being invaded by Dark Elves. Nobody had seen it for eons. The knowledge Odin inherited was a flat-out lie regarding whether the Aether still existed and certainly did not include details like how to remove it.
Second, there was little incentive for Odin to extract the Aether while it was contained. Removing the aether may have been a very bad idea without a sure way to destroy it (a mistake Thor makes later on). Odin would have had no problem sacrificing Jane if necessary. He regularly sacrifices Asgardians to achieve goals and he values humans far less.
Third, the Aether has its own intent and seemed both hostile to Asgardians/Humans and 'friendly' to the Dark Elves. Two Asgardians got thrown across a room just for touching Jane while it left willingly for Malekith. It's possible that this was taken advantage of in some way to extract it or, at least, that Malekith possessed the knowledge of how to control it (indicating that it was a matter of technique rather than pure technological ability).
| 553 |
ELI5:Why is bottled water often more expensive than Coke (or other fizzy drinks) which, as well as containing water, contain lots of ingredients which need to be bought and paid for while water is just, water?
| 27 |
When you buy a bottle of Coke, it comes from a local bottling plant. Coke only has to ship a very highly concentrated syrup containing the flavor across the country & somebody adds water to it locally & then distributes it to stores. Many bottled waters come out of the same factories - they just don't bother adding anything to the water.
If you want a 'special' bottled water those have to be bottled at a single location and then shipped all around the world. Shipping is expensive, water is heavy & Evian has to come all the way from France.
Then there's always the idiot factor. If you put a fancy label & a high price tag on some tap water, you can probably get people to buy it because they just assume that the more expensive product is higher quality.
| 19 |
|
What is the difference between genetic mosaics and chimera?
| 70 |
Mosaics and chimeras are animals that have more than one genetically-distinct population of cells. The distinction between these two forms is quite clearly defined, although at times ignored or misused. In mosaics, the genetically different cell types all arise from a single zygote, whereas chimeras originate from more than one zygote.
| 18 |
|
ELI5: Why is there serotonin in snake venom if that chemical is the chemical that makes us happy?
| 19 |
Your body repurposes the same chemicals for multiple uses.
Serotonin is used in the brain to modulate your mood, but it’s also used in the circulatory system to control blood vessel constriction and blood clotting.
The snake doesn’t much care about your mood, but it does want to blow up your circulatory system with a huge dose of chemicals that interfere with normal behavior.
| 33 |
|
ELI5: What does hacking actually LOOK like? For example, what interface is the hacker using, what's their goal, and are they typing in a bunch of passwords like in the movies?
| 207 |
Nothing like the movies. Most of it is writing a program at your leisure, depending on what you’re doing. It’s just exploiting over sights or weaknesses in a code or system. Very little is done in real time, and even that is more more mundane, just exploring directories for data you want, etc.
| 237 |
|
What is the evolutionary explanation for homosexuality?
|
This is not a polemical question or a challenge, I am actually wondering about the answer.
My understanding of evolution is that what matters for a given trait to be favored is that it allows an organism to survive long enough to pass on its DNA. This is why so many diseases like Huntington's, which occur late in life, are still prevalent in our gene pool.
I understand there are a lot of seemingly unbeneficial traits which are still around, and I know that evolution simply hasn't weeded them out and this does nothing to disprove the theory. The difference with homosexuality is it seems to me completely and diametrically opposed to the fundamental principle of natural selection, that traits which allow the organism to survive to reproduce are favored over others, and homosexuality is by definition a disposition NOT to reproduce. Yet its prevalence has been observed in hundreds of species.
Thanks in advance for any answers.
EDIT: just wanted to say thanks for all the answers! They are all careful and explained simply and have given me a ton to think about. You guys are great
| 184 |
> The difference with homosexuality is it seems to me completely and diametrically opposed to the fundamental principle of natural selection, that traits which allow the organism to survive to reproduce are favored over others, and homosexuality is by definition a disposition NOT to reproduce.
Gay uncles tend to greatly increase the survival rate of their sisters' or brothers' children, but not as much for children belonging to other families (this is generally true for mammals); the gene which is thought to be related to homosexuality is also thought to cause female fertility; there are relations between homosexuality and hormones in the woman's uterus; and finally, men with older brothers are more likely to be gay.
So evolutionarily speaking, the genes don't care if they're being passed on by one family member or all of them, as long as they're being passed on; so in a complex social dynamic like with humans, you actually get more surviving children (in total) if you have fewer breeding pairs and more supportive uncles than if everyone was breeding.
In that sense, it makes perfect sense we see the situation we do: hard for the only pair to end up gay (females have increased fertility; first boy is not gay) but geared towards maximal survival (females are still extra fertile; all but one male are acting in support roles).
tl;dr: It's easier to make kids than raise them, so "being gay" is a way to shift adult males from breeding to raising kids.
| 169 |
CMV: Nuclear waste isn't really a big problem.
|
So my train of thought goes as follows: The uranium mined for nuclear energy is already radioactive to begin with. In the power plant, it decays into much more radioactive isotopes, but these have really short half-lives, so it will just take a couple months for them to decay into isotopes just as weak as the uranium that was originally mined.
So why do we need final disposal sites where this weak radioactive material can stay for thousands of years? If we just dumped them deep into the ocean for example, what would happen? Wouldn't they just dilute to the point of not being noticeable at all?
It's really hard to get information on this online, but I gotta be wrong in some way, otherwise people wouldn't have this argument, right?
| 31 |
It's true that the diffusion of radioactive matter into the sea will dilute it, but it comes from a very concentrated source to begin with, thus harming aquatic life nearby. It's not so much that entire oceans are affected significantly, but the immediate area is.
However, like you say, encasing waste in concrete is a pretty inexpensive and safe way to dispose of the waste, so there shouldn't be much of an incentive (if any) to just dump it in the sea.
| 14 |
ELI5: How can cars like the Honda CR-X get 52 mpg in 1984 but average cars now get the mid 30's?
|
Explain?
| 39 |
Weight and Emissions requirements.
Cars have progressively gotten heavier for safety reasons such as mandatory air bags, and higher crash test requirements.
Car engines also have much more restrictive emissions laws influencing their design. Things like catalytic converters affect horsepower and efficiency.
| 38 |
ELI5 : why do buses make that "PFSSSST" sound when they stop?
| 33 |
Many large vehicles have a system of brakes actuated by compressed air instead of hydraulic fluid or cables you would find in a lighter vehicle or passenger car.
Parking/emergency brakes on such vehicles are usually "normally closed": to release the brake, air pressure must be applied to the brake. For these, a sudden release of air pressure will quickly activate that brake, but also will create a little bit of noise.
| 50 |
|
ELI5: Why is the Male:Female ratio so skewed Qatar and The UAE?
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_sex_ratio
2.74 men for every female aged 15-64 in UAE, 2.46 for Qatar
Is it the migrant workers?
| 100 |
Yes its the migrant workers and there are more male than female migrant workers. From Qatars wiki page:
> In 2013, Qatar's total population was 1.8 million: 278,000 Qatari citizens and 1.5 million expatriates.
| 41 |
[Harry Potter] Bone marrow transplants for leukaemia sufferers results in the patient producing new blood that is genetically the same as the donor. If a Muggle received marrow from a compatible wizard donor could they potentially gain some magical ability from it?
|
I'm don't know if wizards can cure leukaemia but if not I could envision a plausible scenario where a muggle born wizard is the best compatible donor available for a non-magical sibling and having no hesitation about going through the procedure for them. Given the emphasis that the wizarding community places on the magical nature of wizard blood (indeed their blood has been involved in a few spells) and the established fact that magic has a genetic basis then a muggle who has received marrow from a wizard will now be producing genetically pure wizard blood.
Could this potentially open the door to some aspects of magical ability to them?
| 24 |
Wizard blood, while containing magic, doesn't necessarily mean it is the source of magic.
And we have no idea how much epigenetic is involved in gaining the magical talent, or if genetics is even involved at all. For all we know, even if you clone a wizard, the clone might not have magic.
| 14 |
CMV: There is no viable free market solution to climate change
|
According to the most recent reports we're already in a climate crisis. People are already protesting enmasse for drastic changes. The free market is not a system that handles drastic change well. If there is drastic change that fundamentally, and systematically shuts down certain types of businesses, and revenue streams the markets tend to go into free fall and crash. Still, we do need to change our ways in a fundamental and systemic way. So I don’t think there is a way you can come up with a free market solution that would adequately address the problem and still have a fully functioning free market. I am open to ideas and would like to hear what you think.
| 26 |
Slavery used to be legal and commercially viable. The abolition of slavery was disastrous for the legal slaving industry; good riddance. The markets continued to function. The markets are not only capable of handling change, the markets enable change. The capital market is the tool we use to funnel capital to productive uses society wants. If society decides it wants to stop using hydrocarbons and start using nuclear energy instead, the markets may be used to facilitate that change.
| 13 |
CMV: I believe Waluigi to be the worst character Nintendo has ever made.
|
First of all, the name. Really Nintendo? Waluigi?
Wario actually makes sense, it even sounds good. The W being an upside down M representing the fact that Wario is the anti-Mario makes it all fit together nicely. Nintendo has done a good job with him as a character, and produced some decent Wario games.
Then there's Waluigi. I get it, they needed an anti-Luigi to fill things out. The problem is, "Filler" is all he is. He doesn't seem well thought out. He is just there because they needed him to be there. So they stapled "Wa" to the front of "Luigi" and gave him purple suspenders.
Edit: Lots of great answers here. Some have pointed out some other not so great characters as well. I should point out that Waluigi would be considered a top tier character along with Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser. Toadette would be considered second tier character. In part, I consider Waluigie's character to be so particularly bad because he is intended to be a top tier character but feels like a 2'n or 3'd.
Edit 2: [/u/dukeofdummies](http://www.reddit.com/user/dukeofdummies) has changed my view by pointing out that both Wario and Waluigi are simply trolls for the sake of being trolls, and that Waluigi's name and character actually fit very well within that scheme.
_____
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| 41 |
Waluigi is a pun that only works in Japanese. Luigi is "Ruigi" in Japan and "warui" is a word that means bad or evil, so "waruigi." Wario is meant to be a similar pun for Mario but just happens to work in English the way you describe.
He's a pretty useless character but he serves his purpose: as a partner for Wario in Mario sports games. Luigi himself was just a palette swap of Mario in 2 player mode. Maybe one day Waluigi will have the depth Luigi does.
| 49 |
[Game of Thrones] If the Lannister's symbol is a lion, then where do said lions appear?
|
I don't believe that there are any in Westros. I understand why the lion would be chosen, but wouldn't someone have had to actually see one to know what it looks like?
| 117 |
In A Clash of Kings chapter 18 we find out that there are in fact lions in Westeros, Tytos lannister was attacked by one but saved by a Clegane which was the founding of house Clegane. According to GRRM there are still a few in the surrounding hills around Casterly Rock but most have been hunted out.
>After crossing the drawbridge, Sansa asks why the Hound lets people call him a dog but never a knight. He replies that he likes dogs better, and explains that his grandfather was a kennelmaster at Casterly Rock who received lands and a towerhouse for saving Lord Tytos Lannister from a lion, losing a leg and three dogs in the process. He adds that a dog will die for you and never lie to you, which is more than little birds can do
| 129 |
ELI5 how does submarines sink when its full of air?
| 46 |
The hull is very heavy and so they just barely float normally.
They have big chambers inside called ballasts that are filled with air when they are at the surface, but when they want to sink they let seawater into them and pump the air that was in them in to compressed tanks. Compressed air is more dense so it effectively makes the entire vessel less buoyant, making it sink. When they want to rise they decompress the air in the tanks back in to the ballast, pushing the water back out to the ocean.
| 81 |
|
Is it possible to have planets with shapes other than spheres? e.g. a cube or two spheres combined?
| 15 |
Such configurations would not last for long. The reason why large celestial objects are spheres is because this is the most stable configuration for an object held together by its own gravity. If the object is massive enough, its gravity will cause it to eventually collapse into a spherical shape (though rotation of the object around its axis can cause the shape to deviate from a perfect sphere).
Smaller objects, such as the moons of Mars, may exist in non-spherical form because their gravity is not strong enough.
| 29 |
|
ELI5: Why did car design go from curvy (up to 1960s) to blocky (70s-90s) to sleek (modern)?
|
What causes this change? Do we just get tired of it?
| 54 |
As everything in Design, Car-Design goes hand-in-hand with its environment. One thing are production-methods, establishing new opportunities for designers, to make new forms possible, new materials and new technologie in general. Cars had to look modern and new, but they also needed to look comfortable and wellknown, like the design of your home for example. So like everything in Design changed from the 60s to the 70s and 90s car design went with the time and the form of cars changed. It's a evolution, you need something new, so you drop the curvy spaceship design and go with the blocky DeLorean.
People who influenced Car-Design were also groundbreaking artists and designers in other fields, Raymond Loewy for example designed NASA's Skylab, the iconic Lucky Strike Cigarette packet and worked for Coca Cola and gave the 50s Studebaker Cars their look with the aerodynamic visual language of aircraft.
so you can't hardly say "One day someone said hey guys, lets go all blocky, and everyone went blocky", it's evolution of Design, a constant progress of many very talented Designers.
if you're interested in the subject i recommend "How to Design Cars like a Pro" by Tony Lewin, it's not really a "How To" but it gives a good overview of iconic car-designs and how they came to be and tells much about the history of Car-Design
| 26 |
ELI5: Do fish get 'out of breath' when they swim really fast?
| 109 |
Same way humans do - they don't got enough oxygen. Of course, they don't *breathe* though.
To become out of breath, you must exert your muscles, such as by doing exercise. Muscle use requires energy. This energy can be produced in two different ways - aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration. Aerobic respiration is what cells do normally because it produces a lot more energy and doesn't poison you. However, it requires oxygen. A cell that doesn't have enough oxygen can only use anaerobic respiration, which produces less energy and creates a toxic byproduct called lactic acid, that builds up in your muscles.
Lactic acid can be converted to a non-poisonous molecule using oxygen, which is what being out of breath is - after you do some anaerobic respiration, you need even more oxygen than you normally do, because you need the normal oxygen for aerobic respiration *plus* the oxygen needed to clear the lactic acid. This happens to fish too, but where we get oxygen using our lungs by breathing, fish get it using their gills by moving water across them.
Fish have a particular disadvantage when it comes to being out of breath. If you think about the anatomy of a fish, they're pretty much entirely muscle, right? They also have a ridge of darker meat. Most of the time, the fish is only using that small ridge of dark muscle, that's optimised for regular use. This is the same kind of muscle we have everywhere. The white meat is only used by the fish when it needs a rapid burst of speed, but it runs out of oxygen faster than the dark meat does, so it builds up lactic acid really fast if it's used for too long.
| 87 |
|
[Elder Scrolls.] I've somehow stumbled onto an Ebony Bow.
|
My first question is: How "strong" is this bow?
Or in other words, how fast can the arrow shoot,
and how much force does this produce? (Piercing and all the like)
Secondly: How does this Ebony Bow compare to a modern Bow?
(Any kind of modern bow I suppose.)
Any thoughts??
| 27 |
It's kind of hard to imagine a Bow made from ebony. What is it? Stone? Metal?...anyway that bow is going to be *immensely* stiff.
You're going to need immense upperbody strength to even draw the thing.
| 24 |
ELI5: Why are astronaut's movements in space seemingly slow motion when there's no air/water resistance to slow them down?
| 2,062 |
There are a few reasons. Their suits are pressurized. The joints of these suits want to fully extend due to this pressure. This makes it difficult to move and do things, and reduces precision substantially. Not only this, but the suits are quite heavy, and have inertia to slow movements. Lastly, the astronauts do not have anything to stand on. Fast movements will make their bodies start to rotate and further reduce the precision of their motions.
| 2,406 |
|
ELI5: How does the pump at the gas station know when to stop putting fuel in your car?
| 255 |
Up inside the handle there's a venturi nozzle (a smooth restriction in the tube) that causes a low pressure spot in the fuel line. That venturi is connected by a small tube to a hole near the end of the nozzle. The hole is on the side of the nozzle, not the big hole that the fuel comes out of. While you're pumping fuel the venturi pulls air into that small hole.
When the tank gets full enough that the fuel level comes up to the end of the nozzle, fuel starts to get sucked into that little hole. Fuel is way denser than air. This causes a pressure change inside the handle that actuates a spring-loaded mechanism to shut off the valve inside.
| 368 |
|
[Mass Effect] How did Illium get a Hanar to portray Blasto in the Blasto movies?
|
Hanar are supposedly all very peaceful and were seriously offended by the movie, yet they bost having a Hanar in the leading role. Is there any indication as why or how this happened?
| 23 |
Just because an entire species is thought of as being one thing, doesn't mean they won't have their exceptions. *Most* Hanar are peaceful and offended by the movie, however apparently one played a little fast and loose with it's society-driven morality and decided to become famous.
| 40 |
ELI5: How did countries of the world come about deciding on a universal measurement for time?
|
I know there is a slight when considering “military” time, but every one agrees that there are 24 hrs in a day. How did we all come to agreement on this fact?
| 30 |
Europeans used it and conquered the rest of the world and converted everyone else. Formally, of course there have been international standard organizations that codified everything eventually, but those came long after the practicalness of European mass expansion across the globe spreading their time systems, calendars, and much more to every corner of the earth.
If China conquered the world instead, we would be using their system, which is different.
Our current time system is a descendant of ancient Egyptian and Babylonian time systems which was changed and altered in various cultures to get to what we have now.
| 25 |
Why was Curiosity such a big deal if Opportunity and Spirit were already on Mars?
| 177 |
It's bigger. It has more experiments. It has more cameras and shit. It has a motherfucking laser cannon. It's in a new location. It's powered differently so it can theoretically last longer. Spirit's already done and Opportunity is coming to the end of it's life. It's already well beyond what it was designed to do.
| 209 |
|
ELI5:How a person who commits horrendous acts against humanity, such as Albert Speer get 20 year sentence while illegally downloading documents, such as done by Aaron Swartz, holds a potential for 35 years ?
|
I saw two documentaries back to back. One on Aaron Swartz and then the Nuremberg trials. This confused me.
| 891 |
In most jurisdictions, the maximum penalty that can be issued by a court is much more severe than the typical penalty. The maximum penalty is usually reserved for only the most heinous of crimes or repeat offenders of serious crimes.
Also, sometimes the maximum penalty is exaggerated because it reflects the maximum penalty of each charge put back-to-back consecutively (e.g. serving 5 years on one charge, then 3 years on another etc.). In reality, many jurisdictions allow for multiple sentences to be served concurrently so that someone like Aaron probably wouldn't have had to serve consecutive sentences for each individual violation.
In sum, it's highly unlikely that Aaron Swartz would have actually served (or even have been sentenced to) anywhere close to 35 years - if any prison time at all.
The other issue at play is that the maximum possible sentence for a given crime varies widely by jurisdiction. In many jurisdictions in the US, people can be sentenced to death for murder. In many other countries, however, the maximum penalty for a murder charge may be considerably less severe (e.g. 20 years).
| 129 |
CMV: Adults and the elderly don't automatically deserve more respect than children
|
I'm not trying to debate whether or not a child should act respectfully towards an adult or elder - because I believe that every single person should deserve to be treated nicely and with respect. However, I don't think that just because someone is older, or has lived a longer life, necessarily means that they are always in the right or that they deserve more respect than others. If a child's mother disrespects them, then they should no longer have to respect her, and that is that - they should not treat her rudely, but the respect that they have for her may be lower and that is fine.
I remember when I was younger I would always be very upset that adults could disrespect me, or treat me badly, and I'd still have to treat them like royalty - I don't encounter that as much now that I'm older, but it still doesn't make sense to me. I worry I'm not explaining my point well enough, but basically - I will respect anyone that respects me, too. Adults and elders should not get a free pass to disrespect children or anyone else, for that matter. Children should be given the same amount of respect as adults and elders, and adults/elders don't automatically deserve respect no matter what. If a child or anyone else doesn't respect an adult or elder, they should still treat them decently and in a civil manner, but they have no obligation to respect them.
Edit: First sentence is worded weirdly - In my mind there's a difference between acting respectfully and actually respecting that person. You can treat someone decently without actually holding any respect towards them.
_____
> *This is a footnote from the CMV moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!*
| 938 |
Here is the definition of respect:
> a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.
Children don't yet have abilities, qualities, or achievements. They are simply too young to have developed them. The more of those things they achieve, the more respect they earn. At the end of the day, children consume more than they produce. They take time, money, effort, etc. from their parents. Meanwhile, adults produce more than they consume. They expend time, effort, and interest on earning money, bringing home food, etc. Then they use some of that stuff on themselves to keep themselves alive, and use any excess on their children. This is the idea of responsibility. Kids take from others. Young adults don't provide anything extra, but they are at least responsible for themselves. Older adults, especially parents, are not just responsible for themselves, but for others too.
You might say that based on this criteria, some adults deserve less respect than some kids. That might be true, but this also comes down to the concept of staying alive. If any living organism manages to live into adulthood, they have to be one of the fastest, strongest, wiliest, or otherwise have the most respectable quality for that given species. Surviving to a given age is proof that they are at least somewhat adept at life. And that skill at life is what makes them respectable.
By definition, children are too immature and irresponsible to take care of themselves. Otherwise they'd be called an adult. So based on the very definition of these terms, an adult is always more deserving of respect because they have developed the maturity, qualities, and achievements to stay alive on their own, and possibly even care for others.
| 224 |
Honestly how do people do literature reviews
|
I’m getting started with my first research project and I find the how literature search and review such a pain staking process. I totally understand the necessity but I seriously can’t bring myself to actually read the papers let alone criticize it or boil it down to it’s main points. Really struggling with this and being systematic about it
| 29 |
The literature review shows that a) you know what you're talking about and b) there's a need for your work.
The most credible work is grounded in existing best practices but moves beyond that into some new direction. You don't have to drown in the foundations; spend the bulk of your time considering the pushback to your new approach.
Why is your work different? Why is it necessary? What does this add to what's already known?
| 28 |
ELI5: What do toothpastes that claim to repair enamel really do to your teeth?
| 31 |
Basically enamel can't be regrown once destroyed but it can be strengthened by fortifying it with minerals, the tooth paste deposits some of these when you brush and can help prevent further damage to enable
Edit enable/enamel
| 10 |
|
[Harry Potter] Would Parseltongue be able to distinguish between a Slow-worm and a "true" snake?
|
Technically, slow-worms are limbless lizards instead of snakes.
| 26 |
Parseltongue is a language. It's not sentient. Your question is flawed. You should ask, "Can a slow-worm understand Parseltongue?" The answer is no.
You may as well ask if your glass mug can distinguish between a full-grown dragon and some butterbeer. No, but butterbeer will fit in the mug and a dragon would not. This is a very Muggle sounding question. Are you a Mudblood?
| 16 |
[Star Wars] Was food produced on the Death Star? Did it have a certain area for growing food, or was it delivered from somewhere else?
|
Considering the size of the station, it would be a huge benefit to grow food there using artificial light.
| 51 |
No, no food was grown there. You don't put a farm on your battlestation.
The Empire has entire worlds dedicated to feeding the rest of the galaxy, Death Star included. They ship the food in by freighter, much like they do with Coruscant.
| 40 |
ELI5: VHS Generation Loss
|
Why does a copy of a copy of a copy etc, get worse and worse?
A great example of what i am asking about
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mES3CHEnVyI
| 39 |
VHS is an analog system, meaning that the data does not consist of bits and bytes, but of a continuously-varying signal. In most cases, you can't make exact copies of analog signals. You can make copies that are "close enough" to the original, but with tiny, *tiny* amounts of variation. But if you make copies of copies of copies, those tiny variations build on top of one another, until they're the only data left.
| 34 |
CMV:All lives are of net negative value.
|
All the ways in which one can be happy, fulfilled, or satisfied are merely the satisfaction of constant cravings we are used to. Most obviously, an experienced smoker does not experience net positive utility in smoking; they merely experience the brief alleviation of an unpleasant craving. Which, if to be regarded as positive at all, can only be regarded as relatively positive rather than absolutely positive.
I claim this to be true of all experiences. All that is good to us (even Millsian "higher pleasures") is merely the relief of an absence, the presence of something previously lacking. As such, the best we can conceivably hope for is a life of 0 utility. All our efforts to be happy are just us clawing our way to neutrality.
The best we can do is to alleviate our suffering and the suffering of others. So long as this is possible, that is our duty. We should avoid inflicting the unfortunate state of being necessitated by our biological nature on new lives.
We are machines made for fucking to make more machines. There is no deep purpose in life that would justify its continuation, but the closest we can get is to realise our suffering is unnecessary and morally indefensible, and we can frustrate our evolutionary function and quit perpetuating something unnecessary and ultimately unpleasant.
| 30 |
This seems arbitrary. If you're a utilitarian, you can set the zero point for utility essentially anywhere you want. It's totally arbitrary because utility is necessarily measured in arbitrary units. Saying that max utility is zero is no different from saying that min utility is zero; it's no more meaningful than jumping from Celsius to Kelvin.
| 15 |
ELI5: Why did ISIS bomb a mosque in Yemen?
|
Link to article: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/24/middleeast/yemen-mosque-attack/index.html
Why bomb other muslims (and at a mosque of all places) ?
| 19 |
ISIS is a different sect than the shiite mosque they bombed.
they all basically hate each other and have nothing to do.
ISIS enemy list is like this
1.) Jews
2.) West
3.) Hindus
4.) Other muslim sects
5.) themselves
| 19 |
Why do they stop space launch countdowns?
|
I'm not sure that this is totally appropriate here, but I couldn't think where else to ask.
Sometimes, when reading about space launches(specifically NASA in this case) I see a statement like this:
"We're going to count down to T-2, then we're going to stop the countdown there for fifteen minutes while we work on something."
I don't get the stopping of the countdown. Isn't the point of the countdown to tell you how much time you have before something happens? Why stop the clock at T-2 for 15 minutes? Why not just make the countdown T-17? Wouldn't that be more useful? A stopped T-2 could start in two minutes or in two days.
| 133 |
Everything must go as close to perfect as it can.
There is a T clock - T for test, where everything is checked against a list and the T clock has built in holds for double checks, confirmations and go/no-go decisions.
The L clock - L for launch, is the time remaining before the scheduled launch. Because of orbital mechanics issues, sometimes delays will exceed the launch window and there has to be a delay until the next day.
The US Space Shuttle had holds at T-27 hours, T-19 hours, T-11 hours, T-6 hours, T-3 hours, T-20 minutes, and T-9 minutes.
For Shuttle, the T-9 hold came up the most because during launch coverage the T-9 was usually during the live broadcasts. During the T-9 NASA would do the following:
* During the hold, final launch window determination
* Activate flight recorders
* Final "go/no-go" launch polls conducted by NASA Test Director, Mission Management Team and launch director
So why is there a T-2 hold - to do all the last minute things, the verifications, flight data recorders, get the radio telemetry going, fire up APUs, all sorts of things.
Here is a list of all the stuff they had to do past T-9 for Shuttle
* Once the countdown resumes, start automatic ground launch sequencer
* Retract orbiter access arm (T-7 minutes, 30 seconds)
* Start auxiliary power units (T-5 minutes, 0 seconds)
* Arm solid rocket booster range safety safe and arm devices (T-5 minutes, 0 seconds)
* Start orbiter aerosurface profile test, followed by main engine gimbal profile test (T-3 minutes, 55 seconds)
* Retract gaseous oxygen vent arm, or "beanie cap" (T-2 minutes, 55 seconds)
* Orbiter transfers from ground to internal power (T-50 seconds)
* Ground launch sequencer is go for auto sequence start (T-31 seconds)
* Activate launch pad sound suppression system (T-16 seconds)
* Activate main engine hydrogen burnoff system (T-10 seconds)
* Main engine start (T-6.6 seconds)
| 64 |
CMV: The term "homophobic" paints with too broad a brush, and does not accurately describe anti-gay sentiments in most cases.
| 246 |
"Homophobe" exists as a word because it is supposed to be a disparaging term. We don't have a word like "baseball-phobe" because people don't typically see an avoidance or hatred of baseball as a bad thing.
Do you also object to the word "hydrophobe," which, rather than mean "someone afraid of water," means "something that has a resistance or inability to absorb water?" There is a precendent for using "-phobia" for aversions beyond fear. In fact, the clinical definition of a 'phobia" has less to do with the fear of something but avoidance or resistance to it. Anybody can be afraid of airplanes, but it doesn't become a phobia until you go out of your way to never take one.
Frankly, your argument just seems to indicate that you are incapable of comprehending the subtle nuances and complex meanings of words.
Do you know what else original means "something to be feared?" "AWESOME!" Should we stop saying awesome?
| 119 |
|
What would happen if you explode a hydrogen bomb in a kilometer-thick metal sphere?
|
For example a 10 megaton hydrogen bomb going off in a kilometer thick lead sphere. Will it amplify the explosion kind of like a [boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_liquid_expanding_vapor_explosion)? Or will nothing really happen and the lead sphere would contain the explosion?
| 81 |
Instead of lead, use beryllium. While preventing expansion helps to keep the reaction going, using a neutron reflector has the most impact on yield. Hydrogen bombs have much larger yields due to the boost from the neutron burst of the fusion reaction.
| 27 |
ELI5: If human body regenerates cells all the time, how memories persist in brain?
|
If brain cells also undergo the life-and-death (or regeneration) cycle - how are stored memories or electrical impulses carried forward?
| 336 |
"You" are not the molecules that make you up, but rather the arrangement of those molecules. The same applies to your memories - memories are the pattern of connections between brain cells. If all the cells in a connection are replaced, but the new cells are connected in the same way, then the memory remains the same, because the memory is the pattern of the connection, not the molecules that make it up.
If that's not clear enough, take an analogy. You have a lego set, let's say it's the Batmobile. If you take it apart, you still have all the pieces, but you no longer have the Batmobile. If you buy a copy of every piece separately and swap them into the model one by one, you still have the Batmobile, but none of the pieces are the original pieces. Your memory is the Batmobile, not the pieces.
| 425 |
Why can't the three-body problem be solved?
|
In school teachers always said it was unsolvable and left it at that and I am now doing second year physics in uni and it's again taken as axiomatic that we cannot solve it. What is it about it that presents a problem?
| 89 |
It isn't a direct answer to your question, that has been answered elsewhere in the thread.
The correct statement is the three body problem can't be solved *analytically*. It is very routine to solve n-body problems numerically with a differential equation solving routine. Although the answer can never be as precise it can be very accurate. All the spectral lines from ions who have lost more than one electron for example is an n body problem and yet we know the spectral lines of Iron XIV etc very accurately.
| 58 |
ELI5: If a nuclear Football is ever stolen, why can't they just change the codes?
| 20 |
In addition to having a person holding the nuclear football, the president carries a card with a series of codes on it, one of which is necessary to prove that the person ordering an attack is actually the president. If someone stole the nuclear football, that would be insufficient to launch an attack without the president's identification card. Additionally, authorizing an attack requires permissions from both the president and the secretary of defense. This means that in order to actually order a nuclear strike, someone would have to acquire the nuclear football, the president's gold code (which isn't apparent just from stealing the card it's on), and whatever the secretary of defense uses for identification. (I don't know what the secretary of defense has, but it's probably like the president's card, which doesn't have an easily interpreted code on it.) Presumably the time it would take to steal and interpret all those items would be long enough for government officials to call, email, or otherwise contact the relevant personnel to inform them of the situation. Also, there are lots of trained people with guns who are willing to risk their lives chasing people who steal the nuclear football, which would further reduce the chances of anything disastorous occuring.
Also, there's probably some other emergency plan for this scenario that's classified for national security purposes.
| 17 |
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ELI5: Why do people trace the lineage of Jesus back to King David through Mary's husband Joseph since they do not share the same genetics, per the story of the Virgin birth?
|
Tis the season!
| 23 |
Ancient people didn't know anything about genetics. But inheritance - in this case, a metaphorical inheritance of the Kingdom of Israel - would be passed down male-line. Adoptive children, which would include Jesus to Joseph, were perfectly eligible for inheritance. That was actually how Roman emperors would name their successor for a while - they'd adopt whoever they wanted.
| 32 |
ELI5: If nearly all the countries are in debt or in a financial crisis, where is all the money going?
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Like say how the U.S. is in debt to China. And if China has a debt to Japan. And Japan to France so on an so forth. How is there money circulating if we're all in the red?
| 214 |
Countries owe money to other governments, their own government, and people (both within the country and elsewhere). The majority of US debt (for example) is owed to US government and private American citizens. Only about 9% of the US debt is held by China.
| 78 |
How will E.T. see us ?
|
We have been transmitin television waves for some years as seen in this [pic](http://www.geekologie.com/2009/07/02/alien%20tv%202.jpg). So, if there is a planet with intellengent life in that range, they should be able to watch our TV signals. But a) Will they have to point their anntenas to exactly our location (or maybe our location 50 years ago) ? b) Will the signal be strong enough to receipt it ? c) Are we doing the same with every new planet the Keppler discovers ? Are we trying to "watch" them ?
| 18 |
Once you get out to a distance of about three light years, terrestrial radio and television signals are attenuated to the point where they cannot be distinguished from noise.
The closest star is more than four light-years away.
So no, there are no little green men watching Hitler open the Olympic games.
| 27 |
[World War Z novel] What was the status of the United States Marine Corps during the duration of the American campaign?
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The Navy, Air Force, and presumably Coast Guard were all grounded since Secretary Sinclair didn’t believe that it was worth it trying to fuel, maintain, and arm a billion dollar warship or multi-million dollar fighter jet. The Army ended up taking the brunt of the march to New York.
But what about the Marine Corps? What was the role and status of the Marine Corps during the War? A couple of Marine combat engineers made E-Tools but was that really all we did?
| 24 |
The United States Army saw massive reorganization throughout the war. Early on in the war the "Alpha Teams" were made most likely of elite marine units. While those teams were successful once the outbreak in New York got out of control the Alpha teams were unable to keep the outbreaks under wraps.
After the battle of Yonkers which was primarily the Army (but probably had some marine units) the U.S. defense force fell apart and a there was a massive exodus to the west. This is probably where most marine units ended up disorganized, lost or dead. Once the west coast was secured the armed forces had to completely evolve, as you mentioned this meant no substantial machines would be used. In the novel they mention that they had to walk across the country.
The Marines that were left were adopted into this new armed forces. The modern marines love their machines and that's not what World War Z was won by. That said the steady trigger finger and great discipline lends itself to the new methods of warfare quite well. Many army units were augmented with marine veterans.
| 23 |
ELI5: How can "power naps"(10-30m) be more effective than longer naps? (1-3h)
| 18 |
A Power Nap ends before you enter the phase of Deep Sleep.
 
Sleep occurs in four cycles of around 90 minutes each-
+ Light Sleep Cycle
+ Deep Sleep Cycle
+ Dream Cycle
+ Light Sleep Cycle
*(repeat)*
 
If you wake up in b/w a cycle (before it's finished, but after it has started), you'll feel very tired. Which is why you should sleep for either six hours, seven-and-a-half hours, and nine hours.
______________
The power nap is thought to maximize the benefits of sleep versus time. It is used to supplement normal sleep, especially when a sleeper has accumulated a sleep deficit.
| 18 |
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ELI5: How can car insurance companies adjust their prices for people based on age/sex and not be sued for discrimination? What stops them from adjusting rates based on race?
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I know they base their rates on actuarial information, but what is to stop them from doing the same thing with regards to race? It seems like insurance companies are allowed to exercise a degree of prejudice that most other businesses would never get away with.
| 39 |
Two things that are relevant:
1. They can discriminate on any factor if they have scientific evidence that it increases or decreaes the cost of insuring you. There is clear evidence that younger drivers are more likley to be involved in a crash; therefore it is legal to charge them more.
2. The legal standard for discrimination is different depending on what the basis for the discrimination is. Legally race is extremely difficult to justify (almost impossible), sex is difficult but possible, and age is relatively easy to justify.
| 30 |
[Star Wars] Mace Windu vs. Palpatine.
|
Mace Windu blocks Palpatine's lightning, and now Windu, Anakin and Palpatine are there with Windu ready to drop the final blow.
Now Windu, instead of saying that awful "he's too dangerous to be kept alive", says something more sensible. "He's killed countless Jedi, he tried to kill Obi-Wan [through Dooku], he would kill anyone to get what he wants". This causes Anakin to doubt that Palpatine has any intention of saving Padme. In his confusion, he fails to act. Windu goes to strike. What happens next?
| 19 |
Windu goes for a death blow and catches a blast of Force Lightning square in the chest, blasting him out the window. During the split-second distraction, Anakin lops off Palp's head. The Jedi congratulate him on his service.
Deep down though, the Dark Side has found a place in Anakin's heart. He executed Dooku at Palpatine's command. He killed a disarmed Palpatine. Corruption within the Senate remains unchecked. Anakin begins to consider the points made by the Separatists.
With Padme's support, Anakin leaves the Order and is elected as a Senator himself. He tracks down the Sith knowledge hinted at by Palpatine and begins his training, as his fear for Padme's death gnaws at him. His Force power grows by leaps and bounds as he isn't maimed, and the Dark Side is quicker, easier, more seductive. Windu's Juyo style becomes more attractive to him. Eventually, not even Yoda can match him in power or swordsmanship. He supports unethical activities by the Senate to support his view of order and promote his own personal power.
Eventually Padme discovers this and leaves him with Luke and Leia. In his rage, he takes on a secret apprentice of his own, outside the Jedi Order. Slowly Anakin moves to have himself made Chancelor. Thanks to his service in the Clone Wars, he builds a small cadre of men loyal to him and him alone. Political opponents begin to disappear. Anakin learns the history of the Sith and begins to see Empire as the most logical system of government...
| 39 |
ELIF -- Why are obvious jokes posted about school shootings taken legally serious while rape and death threats are largely ignored?
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A teenager posts about shooting a school followed with "JK" and "LOL," gets charged with terrorist threats.
A college student posts about shooting a school, "to see the affect it has. to see if i get arrested."
Meanwhile, certain bloggers or journalists have received hundreds of rape and/or death threats with serious language. No "JK", "LOL" or "to see if I get arrested" follow up.
Legally, why aren't rape or death threats treated the same? Why is threatening one so different than another?
(NSA overlords, I'm not making any threats, I'm asking questions)
| 67 |
Many communities have adopted "zero tolerance" policies toward any threat of violence on school grounds. The reason this has been done is that many of the shooters in previous school shootings gave warning signs or threats that they were going to partake in violent actions.
Rape and death threats are also prosecutable but you don't often hear as much about it because sadly, these actions happen a lot more than school shootings and the same type of zero tolerance policy does not exist for these threats in many cases.
| 26 |
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