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[Star Trek] What's it like being transported?
|
Sometimes when the transporter malfunctions the people being transported flicker back and forth a few times, can the people being transported see what's happening?
They don't seem to be able to move. If the transporter is malfunctioning are they aware of the missing time?
| 19 |
I believe so. In TNG: Realm of Fear, Barclay has an unusual experience while being transported and later purposely recreates the situation so he can observe more closely.
There is also the unfortunate transporter accident in Star Trek The Motion Picture, where one of the people seemed painfully aware that the transport failed.
This would not be the case throughout. When Scotty was rematerialized from the pattern buffer after 75 years in TNG: Relics, he acted like no time had passed.
| 19 |
Are there viruses that are benign but highly infectious that we don’t know about until after it’s spread?
| 76 |
Polyomaviruses are very common. HPyVs 9 and 12 are not known to cause any disease. BK and JC viruses infect the large majority of humans. There are 13 we know of that infect humans, there are probably more we just haven't found yet, and in general they only cause disease for immunocompromised patients, if any disease is even known.
| 49 |
|
[Terminator] How diverse are the Terminator's skillsets when it comes to blending in? Can they cook? Are they programmed to know how to have sex?
|
Of course the main use of Terminators is to look and sound human enough to get in close to the target. But say Skynet needed the Terminator to stick around a while longer, perhaps befriend a community of humans or seduce influential figures, could they do that?
On one hand the T-800 showed no finesse when it came to learning information or completing its objectives back in 1984. However the TX is able to augment its breasts in 2004 to bypass issues with the police, clearly acknowledging basic sexual concepts to achieve its goals.
So does Skynet chuck in a bunch of these skills to augment how believable their infiltration units are? Or do they just learn as they go? Are they *anatomically correct* to be able to trick or even have sex with a human (if and when the situation demands it)?
| 110 |
In the Sarah Connor chronicles one of the terminators sent back into the past maintained a relationship with a woman, including sleeping together, in order to complete its objective and another unit unintentionally killed someone who would enable Skynet to be born so assumed his position.
From this we can assume that Skynet can program information into its units so they can complete their objectives as well as allowing them enough freedom to learn new skills and abilities to improvise if their mission goes awry.
| 122 |
[Elder Scrolls] Why does Khajiit hate the cold? Khajiit has more fur than Man, Mer, or Argonian.
|
Is it due to the warm sands of Elsweyr drawing you home?
| 113 |
Khajiit loves the cold. Just in moderation.
Skyrim, it says, goes well past moderation.
The cold also comes from her people. In Skyrim, Khajiit is not friend. He is not welcomed into warmth of town with his wife.
He stays outside, with the cold, the roars on the wind, the bandits and drunks. Duty binds him to stay, to work for the better life, yes? The warmth of home. Warmth of Elswhyr. Where Khajiit has dignity.
| 196 |
ELI5: why do small non sticky objects stick to our fingers upon pressure?
|
For instance, when you press any small object (Lego parts, seeds, coins etc.) with your finger and then lift, and object sticks to it.
| 28 |
First, thw natural oils we have a slightly sticky. Second, when you press something into your skin, the skin doesn't just pop back immediately so it creates sort of an indent that grips the object slightly
| 15 |
[Avatar: The Last Airbender] Why didn't the Fire Nation use Combustion Man to blow up the walls of Ba Sing Se?
|
Seems like it would be easier to just draft him instead of building that giant drill.
| 17 |
While he could cause a lot of damage, it would be hard for one man, even one with his abilities, to get through the wall. A dozen Earthbenders could just keep drawing up Earth to reinforce the wall as needed until he was taken out (Iroh nonwithstanding as he is exceptionally powerful)
The drill also had the advantage of being heavily armored, and it stays in place where the wall can't be filled back in.
If the Fire Nation were to use men to take down the wall, they may be better off simply directing soldiers to melt it with combined firebending efforts.
| 22 |
[Marvel] How did Dr. Doom become God Doom, and how does God Doom differ from Dr. Doom?
|
Also, which universe is God Doom a part of?
| 34 |
Spoilers for the current Secret Wars crossover follow -
We don't know exactly how, yet. The Beyonders - an extradimensional race of omnipotent beings, of which the one from the original 1984 Secret Wars was a newborn infant - decided to destroy the entire multiverse, for reasons we don't know. Dr. Doom engaged in a fairly convoluted plan to stop them... by destroying the multiverse himself, before they did.
The difference being, the Beyonders were going to completely wipe everything out. Doom saved bits and pieces of worlds from across the multiverse. Then, somehow - we still haven't been shown how in the comic - he managed to defeat the Beyonders and steal their power, then assemble all those bits and pieces of parallel Earths into a single world, Battleworld.
Then he and Dr. Strange altered the survivors' memories to remember that the world had somehow always been this way, made up of little patches of alternate universes, and that Doom is God and always has been. People mostly just don't think about it too much, and questioning it is considered heresy.
So the answer to which universe God Doom is from - lots of them, in one sense, in that he is God over a world made from the Earths of many different universes. None of them, in the sense that no actual universe survived, and Battleworld hangs in an empty void, circled by a sun made from the Human Torch. But in terms of origin, he is the Doom of Earth-616, the main Marvel Universe.
| 27 |
CMV: Trump’s presidency will end up being a net negative for US conservatives’ agenda
|
Just to be clear, this isn’t meant to be a debate about whether said conservative agenda is a good thing. Only whether trump’s presidency will ultimately be a good thing for it
Anyways, I believe that Trump’s presidency will cause a huge progressive backlash for years to come. It looks as though republicans are going to lose control of the senate, and so democrats will control the house, senate, and presidency. This means that democrats can get their vengeance on the trump era, and pass almost anything they want. Medicare for all, substantial gun reform, police reform, wealth tax, etc- all of these are potentially on the menu.
Trump’s behavior has also damaged moderates’ views of republicans. This is most apparent in the suburbs. Moderate voters who might usually lean republican have been turned off by trump’s crude language and behavior, and I believe that losing the suburbs is what caused republicans to lose both senate races yesterday (ossoff hasn’t been declared the winner yet but all signs point to him winning given that most of the outstanding votes are from democratic areas). We all know the cities will always go blue and rural areas will always go red, but if the suburbs start leaning blue that would be disastrous for republicans.
The biggest counter argument I can see to my case is the fact that Trump stacked federal courts with conservatives. For conservatives, Trump’s greatest achievement is definitely the vast number of conservative justices that he appointed and were ultimately confirmed. Most notable of course is the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority. And the courts are definitely important, but the courts do not make the law, they only apply it. Plus, the idea of stacking the supreme court has been discussed among democratic circles, and if that happened, the conservative majority would disappear.
So ultimately, I believe that, while Trump’s presidency seemed like a victory for US conservatives, it will actually do more damage to conservatism in this country than it will do good.
| 21 |
Trump was never a conservative, nor was he seen as a good conservative option. Conservatives supported him in his Supreme Court choices though, and did largely see him as better than the Democrat options.
I believe you are correct if you change out Republicans for conservatives in your post though.
Conservatives will have a battle ahead of them to bring the Republican Party back in line with conservative values.
| 10 |
How do things dry?
|
Let's say I spill a glass of water on my wooden floor. After a while, it's just not there anymore. Where does this water go?
| 18 |
A puddle dries by evaporation, which is when the water molecules get enough energy to turn into water vapour.
Now, on a normal day you would think that the water isn't warm enough to boil and evaporate, which is true. However water doesn't need to boil to evaporate. As the water molecules move around and bump into each other, they are constantly giving or losing energy to each other. So when a molecule is lucky enough to just keep getting more energy, it will eventually have enough energy to break free from the puddle and turn into water vapour (steam is just hot water vapour). Eventually, all the water molecules will have gotten enough just energy from bumping into each to evaporate.
| 14 |
ELI5: Why is the ratio of protons and electrons in the universe 1:1? Is there a mechanism keeping that ratio steady or did we just get really lucky when the universe formed?
|
Is this one of those "it's that way because if it wasn't we wouldn't be here to ask it" questions?
| 54 |
When the universe started out from “nothing” in the Big Bang, its total charge was zero, and when the particles were being created, that total charge was staying zero at all times, and is thought to be exactly zero to this day. So in every possible particle creation process for every one positively charged particle created one negatively charged particle appears as well.
| 71 |
[MCU] What exactly is the TVA supposed to do if someone like Doctor Strange or Wanda messes with the timeline?
|
Like slowing time won't stop the fact that both of them can just delete people and Strange has time manipulation as well if he has the infinity stone. Plus they can travel through portals. What exactly is to be done then? Hope for the best? Attack them in their sleep and hope they don't have any defenses?
| 17 |
They've got the benefit of choosing the battle field. They can jump into a timeline at any point they want, maximizing their advantage and their targets disadvantage. Everyone sleeps, shits, and let's their guard down at some point. They can also study not just the time line in question but any other similar time line to get an amazing scouting report of what they need to do. As long as the TVA agents are worth their salt they are essentially all powerful and all knowing. And they'll attack you before you even know they exist and what they are capable of. Basically, they only lose because they fuck up, not because of anything you're capable of.
| 41 |
[Stephen King's 1408] What was the voice screaming the numbers on the phone? Why those numbers?
| 28 |
Another illusion by the malevolent will of 1408. Because it's disorienting and terrifying.
The pairs of numbers always add up to 13, notably. This may be significant because, like many hotels, the Dolphin renumbers its floors so that its 13th floor is labeled 14-- so room 1408 is on the 13th floor. 1+4+0+8 also equals 13, and the temperatures the thermostat sets itself to also add up to 13 every time.
Edit: It's possible, based on the short story, that Room 1408 is a creature from Todash space much like It/Pennywise-- the short story describes both Enslin and the maid who went blind as having seen terrible colors. These are perhaps something like It's deadlights.
| 12 |
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[Death Note] Is it the Shinigamis' job to kill humans?
|
are the comparable to the Grim Reaper? where a human can only die with intervention by a shinigami, or is it optional?
I guess what I'm asking is if a person contracts a disease and dies, is it because, without a doubt, 100% that a shinigami wrote it in their notebook? or can humans die without death notes?
| 20 |
Shinigami need to kill humans in order to live by absorbing their remaining lifetime had their name not been written in the Note, so humans must be able to die without Shinigami intervention. Shinigami kill for entertainment and sustenance, but they are not the sole cause of death in Death Note. They have less in common with the Grim Reaper than they do with a typical predator.
| 25 |
ELI5: Why do airplanes collide midair if there aren’t that many planes, and the sky is huge?
| 15 |
Many fights come from and go to the same airports, which means that lots of planes are using similar flight paths. If they were freeform flying from anywhere to anywhere, then there would be much less risk since they'd be following a million different paths. But since there are relatively few starting points and ending points, more traffic is compressed into less routes.
| 32 |
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ELI5: Why do the voices in schizophrenics' heads say negative things?
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I've always read about schizophrenics having voices in their heads talk to them, telling them to kill people or to kill themselves. Why don't these voices say more positive things?
| 31 |
Typically Schizophrenics are diagnosed BECAUSE of the voices being constantly negative. there are plenty of people that "hear voices" that are mundane or even positive. What sets Schizo's aside from the rest is theirs are constantly negative, or they choose to listen harder to the negative, or the negative is stronger due to some traumatic event.
In any case, its not the Schizo that makes the negative thoughts, its the negative thoughts that put forth the diagnosis of Schizophrenia.
| 13 |
ELI5: I saw a post about college tuition being $152 in the 70s, and inflation means that’s around $700 now. What about income rates?
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I know college is severely overpriced, but wouldn’t it be a lot harder to reach $152 back then If that was the case? This is without research, but weren’t wages super super low?
| 27 |
The median income of American families in 1970 was $9,870 and minimum wage was $1.45 per hour. Average annual tuition at a public university in 1970 was $405, and at a private university $1,792. This means a year of public uni tuition was 4.1% of median annual income, and a year of private uni tuition was 18.1% of median annual income. It took 280 hours working at minimum wage to cover public tuition (about 7 weeks of full time work), and 1,236 hours to cover private school tuition (about 31 weeks).
The median income of American families in 2020 is $78,500, and minimum wage (federal) is $7.25 per hour. Average annual tuition at a public university in 2020 is $11,260 for in-state students, and at a private university $41,426. This means a year of public uni tuition for in-state students is 14.3% of median annual income, and a year of private uni tuition is 52.8% of median annual income. It takes 1,553 hours working at federal minimum wage to cover public tuition (about 39 weeks of full time work), and 5,714 hours to cover private school tuition (about 2 years and 39 weeks).
So while wages and income have indeed risen in the past 50 years, tuition has increased much, much faster. Families must now set aside nearly 15% of their annual income to cover a single in-state college attendee's tuition at an average public college, whereas 50 years ago they could set aside 4% to cover the same thing. And that's just tuition - housing and other costs at uni have also increased dramatically. And given the even more dramatic increase in private uni tuition, such schools are simply out of reach to most families without massive financial aid packages.
| 84 |
[Star Wars] Why do people in the Star Wars universe think that the Jedi are myths or use the term "the legends say..." when there was an entire branch of the government run by Jedi less than 20 years ago?
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Is 20 years even long enough for something to fall into legend?
| 961 |
Less than 10,000 jedi at their height of power. That's barely anything in a galaxy of trillions to quadrillions. Jedi didn't leave the core republic systems often and rarely visited planets that weren't of importance to the republic. Palpatine ran a massive smear campaign and destroyed nearly all evidence of the Jedi after order 66.
Not everyone knew what jedi were or did beyond drunken tales told by spacers in bars even at the height of their power. They were reclusive and rare to the point that even most senators on coruscant had never met or seen one. Let alone some hick kid on the edge of civilization.
| 803 |
Why can solar panels only convert roughly ~20% of sunlight received into energy? What will it take to increase this percentage?
|
I recently learned that only ~20% of sunlight received is converted into useable energy. Why is this? What will it to take to receive more energy from the solar cells?
Thanks!
| 33 |
Check various science sites - there is a lot of research into improving the efficiency. There are some solar cells that have achieved over 40% efficiency (although these are still pretty expensive).
BTW, even though 20% seems low, did you know that a gasoline engine only delivers about 15% of the energy available in the gas?
| 10 |
Do waves with lower frequency travel further than waves with higher frequency?
|
What does frequency have to do with attenuation over distance? Does it depend on the amplitude or energy of the wave? Googling about this quickly got me more confused. What is the difference between Energy, Power and Intensity of a wave? How do these relate to the frequency and amplitude and more so the attenuation of a wave over distance?
EDIT: I was thinking about electromagnetic and sound waves when I posted this question. But I would not mind learning about ocean waves as well :)
| 48 |
Subject question:
Low frequency do travel further than high frequency on earth because the high frequency wave lengths are more easily absorbed by the molecules in the air.
First Comment question:
Attenuation is the gradual loss of energy which will in most cases happen over distance. This has to do with what absorbs the particles riding on the specific frequency, as well as what has a multiplication effect (see resonance).
Next question:
More amplitude, more energy, means more energy to be lost, means it can travel farther before it loses all of it's energy generally speaking.
Third and Forth question:
Energy versus Power versus Intensity versus Amplitude, these terms are probably confusing because in specific in applications the variants of the term mean different things but certain things are understood. For example, sound equipment, most people who talk about Power, are talking Power(RMS) not just Power(Peak to Peak). In addition depending on the industry certain terms are or are not used. In general these are all talking about the same thing though. Amplitude = Energy = Intensity = Power, and so this means the wave will travel farther in general.
| 13 |
ELI5: Why are artists like Van Gogh and Picasso famous? What makes great art great?
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This is coming from someone with no education in art or art history beyond high school classes. I understand that art that's in museums takes a huge amount of talent. What I don't understand is what makes some of the most famous paintings/art pieces more celebrated than other works.
I'm also not that great at analyzing pieces of art. What is the meaning behind paintings like The Scream or Starry Night or the Mona Lisa? Why are those images so powerful?
| 17 |
A lot of famous art can only really be appreciated if you understand the time it was created in. In reality the Mona Lisa (for instance) is just a portrait of a woman. But if you see it in the context of the time it was created, it combined lots of different techniques that meant that it was a revolutionary and brilliant artwork when it was created.
| 19 |
ELI5: How do single celled beings "know" what they're supposed to do/"want" to do?
| 1,069 |
I personally like to think of simpler life forms as like tiny computer programs. Their DNA is their "source code," and the cell itself is the hardware it runs on.
So a tiny cell 'knows' to avoid being eaten by larger cells because it's "source code" told it to build receptors on its cell membrane that are programmed to detects certain nearby chemicals, and one particular chemical triggers a flight response.
Other chemicals do the opposite -- they indicate a source of nutrients, and cause a chemical chain reaction that makes the cell move toward the food source. Once in range, various other mechanisms begin to operate, drawing in the food and disassembling it for processing.
But everything was built by following the template in the DNA, and certain triggers result in certain behavior.
| 535 |
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Alternative career paths for Ph.D?
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What are some alternative careers outside of academia that those with a Ph.D in science (specifically ecology and evolutionary biology) may enjoy? It seems all too often that academia is promoted as the only option for those that stick it out in doctorate programs.
| 25 |
There is a huge amount of attention on this right now because of how tough the academic job market is. Tons of PhDs are starting consulting companies to help other PhDs get non-academic or "alt-ac" jobs. Check out "Beyond the Professoriate," "Jobs on Toast," and the Twitter chat #withaPhD.
| 16 |
ELI5: Why is it specifically called "radio"activity, when it most often is produced by waves other than radio waves?
| 734 |
>radioactive - 1898, from French radio-actif, coined by Pierre and Marie Curie from radio-, comb. form of Latin radius (see radiation) + actif "active" (see active).
>radiation - mid-15c., "act or process of radiating," from Middle French radiation and directly from Latin radiationem (nominative radiatio) "a shining, radiation," noun of action from past participle stem of radiare "to beam, shine, gleam; make beaming," from radius "beam of light; spoke of a wheel" (see radius). Meaning "rays or beams emitted" is from 1560s. Meaning "divergence from a center" is 1650s.
>radio - "wireless transmission of voice signals with radio waves," 1907, abstracted from earlier combinations such as radio-receiver (1903), radiophone (1881), radio-telegraphy (1898), from radio- as a comb. form of Latin radius "beam." Use for "radio receiver" is first attested 1913; sense of "sound broadcasting as a medium" is from 1913.
So both of them come from the idea that the energy is beaming out.
| 231 |
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[WH40K] What's with all the skull imagery in the Imperium?
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Seems a bit grim (yeah yeah grimdark I know). They've got that double headed eagle but then many of their units have skulls as their symbol (Space Marines, Inquisition, Imperial Guard, Adeptus Mechanicus)
| 60 |
The skull represents the sacrifice that maintains the Imperium of man and it represents humanity itself.
It is important to make the distinction: it is a human skull, not some Xenos they killed and used as a trophy, human.
It is used to show that at it's core, the human being is perfect. Skulls are used to display that even in death humanity is superior to any xenos. It also helps making the people of the Imperium accept death as a natural part of life, which makes it easier to lay down your life for humanity and it's Emperor.
| 96 |
[D&D General] I think my party has been charmed
|
I'm a squire to a well known group of heroes that are known for their heroic deeds. Everything was going fine until one of our fighters was burnt to a crisp during a recent fight with a nasty dragon.
It's been a couple weeks of mourning but something strange has happened lately.
Two days ago we met this suspicious fellow who asked to join our party, I thought it was a strange request, but even stranger was the fact they said yes! They even gave him the gear of our recently deceased comrade!
Everyone seems to implicitly trust this man and I'm thinking some foul magic is involved, something powerful enough to beguile our wizard.
Now I'm no fighter but I was wondering if any of you had any advice on how to cure my party of this charm?
| 42 |
You must believe in Destiny, and the workings of the various Gods. Your adventuring party has been blessed with a replacement, who happens to fill the void of your deceased comrade almost perfectly. This is a sign from the Gods, a Divine Miracle.
Speak to your party's cleric. Learn what they did, that at times the Gods reward adventurers with what may seem to be a completely impossible act. Here, you have found someone new to aid you in your journey, who can use the gear of that poor, departed Fighter.
To reject what is clearly an offering from the Gods would bring ill omens upon your adventuring party. Tis best to ignore the whole thing, and perhaps even pretend that the new fighter has been there all along.
| 26 |
What are the best sites to search for economics papers?
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I don't have institutional access and I was wondering if there were any sites like Google Scholar but exclusively for economics papers?
| 49 |
Still just Google scholar. When you get to a gated paper: search regular google with the author's name + paper title. They probably have a free copy up on some personal page (e.g. university bio, personal CV, or wherever).
| 42 |
Why do banks issue bonds when they can borrow funds at the lowest rates from the central bank?
| 18 |
The central bank is typically the lender of last resort, and it does that in part by ensuring it is the *most* expensive option.
Companies issue bonds because they see it as the cheapest option to get the cash they need. Banks are no different.
| 31 |
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[Harry Potter/Aliens] We know there is a genetic component to magical ability so what might happen if a Facehugger was somehow able to implant a wizard?
| 175 |
There seems to be a mental component to magic aside from just having "the magic gene".
All the creatures that developed some kind of magic (giants, goblins, house elves, wizards) are sentient, capable of rational thought. Other magical creatures don't seem to control their magic consciously, but rather instinctually.
An alien with the magic gene would have neither sentience nor the instinct to use magic, so it's probable they would not express magic even if they had the gene.
They would basically be squibs.
| 75 |
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Why doesn’t the govt borrow money at the treasury bond rate and invest in an index fund with a higher average return?
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The interest on a yearly treasury bond is something like 7% while the S&P500 has an average return of 10.7% over the last 30 years. Shouldn’t the federal government make use of this roughly 4% difference?
This is probably a dumb question but I appreciate any responses!
| 85 |
There are a few reasons for this. First, the government owning equity is very taboo, and represents a line that many argue should not be crossed. If there was a guarantee that the government would purchase equities, even in the form of an ETF, there would be a price floor created and moral hazard would be introduced. Therein, a company could act haphazardly as it would be assured that as long as it stays in the S&P500, their stock price would remain inflated.
Second, the government has no need for this. The purpose of a government is not to create profit.
| 93 |
ELI5: Why the abbreviation of ounces turned into oz. when there is no letter Z in it?
|
Where did the letter “z” come from?
| 61 |
"oz" came from the Spanish "onza" -- meaning ounce. The words "ounce" and "onza" come from the Latin "uncia" meaning "1/12th", because an uncia was 1/12th of a libra (pound). For that matter "lb" for pound comes from "libra".
In the avoirdupois system of measures, there are 16 ounces to a pound rather than 12.
| 149 |
[Star Wars] Why don't Jedi just Force Press the button on a Siths lightsaber when fighting?
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My boyfriend and I were talking about it, and I thought first it was because it was too small, but then remembered Master Yoda's words, "Size matters not". So, why not? Or, if it's just for the matter of fairness, then why not the inverse- a Sith turning off a Jedi's?
| 38 |
Well, for one, the Sith's finger. Most Jedi and Sith design their sabers to be on while a trigger is held. You notice how lightsabers turn off when they get dropped? That's usually why.
So there's not really an 'off' button for one to use the Force to push in the first place. You could try to get your opponent's hand off the activation trigger, but if you have the power to do that you might as well just yank the saber away entirely. Folks do try for that pretty frequently.
| 63 |
Why do materials like some metals with lower heat capacities than water, require so much more heat to liquify?
| 4,865 |
They don't actually.
Water melts at 273K, iron at right around 1800K
For one gram of water go from absolute 0 to fully melted at 273K requires around 600J to heat the ice to its melting point, and then close to another 350 to melt completely for around 950J
For one gram of iron to go from absolute 0 to its melting point of 1800K, it requires around 810, then another 250 to melt to liquid. 1060J to melt the iron.
Now let's talk about why it **seems** to take so much more energy. The most obvious is the fact that 1800+K temperatures are not as common as 273+K temperatures in the universe. And especially here on earth.
Another reason is due to a nice little thing called black body radiation. By the time iron gets to its melting point, it's throwing off so much energy as electromagnetic radiation (light) that it gets harder and harder to pour enough energy into it to overcome this loss. And of course finally there's conductive and convective cooling. Also known as environmental cooling, where it's losing energy to its much lower temperature environment via air, or maybe even worse, water. Overcoming that cooling requires MUCH more energy.
| 2,897 |
|
[Star Wars] Are the Sith inherently evil dicks?
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Like, I get the Dark Side is all about power and selfish desire, but why does that seem to always manifest as "I'm gonna kill *all* of the people"? Why have none become an incredibly powerful hero, who just wants to bask in glory and admiration(i.e, saving people for the praise and recognition rather then to actually save them) instead of becoming a lulz-evil dick head?
| 65 |
The dark side is not evil by itself, and technically the Sith code doesn't tell them yo be evil either.
However, the dark side *is* bestial and predatory in nature, and **will** fundamentally alter someone using it so that actions that are considered evil are completely acceptable.
| 83 |
Why are some people blonde when they're young and their hair gets darker with age?
|
Do we know the physiological mechanisms/inheritance? Does all hair get darker, but it's more obvious if you start blonde?
| 172 |
People with genes that code predominantly for brown eumelanin are the ones whose hair is most likely to darken with age. This is because although they have the genes coding for brown eumelanin production from birth, these genes are not expressed to their full potential in early life.
| 54 |
CMV: Wallets in the front pocket only makes sense
|
So, I've had this long standing confusion when it comes to wallets. I know a number of people who keep their wallets in their back pocket. I've never understood this and think it's illogical. When looking at where we keep other normal pocket items such as phones, gum, keys, etc we keep them in our front pocket generally. We wouldn't want to damage the phone by sitting on it too hard, squish the gum, drive a key into our butt, and the same concept applies to a wallet. The biggest thing though is simple comfort. Front pockets tend to have more room to comfortably fit items. They also tend to experience less constriction than the butt pocket a the majority of the space in the front pocket lies on the thigh. The butt is constantly constricted. Additionally, there is no conceivable way where having a lump under your rump when your sitting makes sense.
| 57 |
>They also tend to experience less constriction than the butt pocket
I have experienced the exact opposite, at elast with the slimmer jeans.
The butt pocket is usually sewn onto the fabric, where it doesnt compromise the form, while the front pocket is set inwards where the wallet is pressed into your tigh at every step, making it painful or even impossible to walk in a particular slim pair of jeans.
| 42 |
Were protohumans able to reproduce year round, or did they have seasonal mating? How far does this trait go back on our evolutionary tree?
| 1,152 |
Well, pretty much all monkeys reproduce year round, so it's probably a reasonable bet that our most recent common ancestor with new world monkeys probably did too. That puts us at least at 40 million years. That said, year-round reproduction in mammals probably more a factor of climate than lineage. If you live in the tropics (like many primates do), there aren't major seasonal variations that you could reproduce according to.
| 537 |
|
[Marvel] Could I, a US citizen, ever emigrate to Wakanda?
| 51 |
Yes, but Wakanda has very strict immigration policies. You'd need to be an expert in a field capable of adding something to Wakandan society. So, talented artists, scientists, teachers and the such could possibly immigrate there. Alternatively, if a Wakandan married you, as many of them attend foreign universities, it's possible that you could return with your spouse as a permanent resident.
| 89 |
|
CMV: "White people have no culture" is incorrect as a statement
|
Examples of potential white cultural phenomena (some might have roots somewhere else, but surely not all of them)
-Ballet
-Irish dance
-Opera
-Slavic, Finnish, Swedish mythologies
-Food cultures from any European country that's white
-Halloween
Of course these cultures are more specific than "White", but so are black people's cultures. Black people in Jamaica are completely different than African-American people from New York.
There might be a reason for people to say this, like self-empowerment or something else, and from an utilitarian perspective it might make sense. That does not make it correct as a statement though.
| 851 |
So when people use that statement they are usually reffering to white americans not white people across the globe.
It’s usually in reference to white americans sometimes claiming a strong heritage/culture with their european ancestors despite not following anything of the culture. It is sometimes said in reference to USA being such a young (and big) country and thus its culture is nebulous compared to others.
It is also sometimes said in opposite that “black culture” (reffering to black americans) is bad.
But most importantly when people say it they do specfically mean white americans. Mostly this is a result of american discourse where often using white and black implicitly means white americans and black americans. So it goes.
| 543 |
[MCU] If I blindly/unknowingly fell into Thor's hammer, groped around and grabbed it for stability, could it move (given that I'm not trying to pick it up but that my inertia from my fall might cause me to move while grabbing it)?
| 27 |
It's been shown fairly clearly that MCU Mjolnir will remain stationary and unmoving unless Thor wills it or a worthy wielder picks it up.
In the very first movie for example, Thor just put it on Loki chest - Loki clearly didn't want to wield Mjolnir, he just wanted to get away from it, but it still pressed down on him and didn't move.
There's really no caveats here - if you grab it for any reason and you're unworthy, Mjolnir won't budge.
| 79 |
|
If someone is a match for one organ are they a match for all?
|
I know organ transplants are really finnicky and have a lot of issues with rejection, but I'm curious - if someone is a match for, say, a heart transplant, does that mean they're a match for kidneys too?
| 334 |
The issue isn't the organs themselves. It's the vast complement of antibodies floating about in your blood, as well as the plasma B-cells which produce them (which are mostly located within connective tissue). When we say 'match', we mean that two people's set of antibodies and antigens don't conflict enough to raise the risk of rejection beyond what we find tolerable. Because there's virtually never a perfect match, transplant recipients are always put on immunosuppressant drugs-- otherwise the organ would be rejected. Only identical twins with identical genomes would be perfect matches. Basically, this would mean the answer to your question is yes. There's theoretically nothing specific to a, say, heart, when it comes to the immune system...
And yet, we find organ-specific difference in rejection rates (so the answer to your question is actually no!). To quote from Madariaga et al. 2016, "The reasons for this organ-specific difference are not clear. However, it is clear that all transplanted organs are not created equal. Not only does the strength of the immune response to a particular organ vary with the organ transplanted but the nature of response itself, rejection versus tolerance, varies from organ to organ. In most experimental transplant models, kidney and liver allografts [my note: an allograft is an organ transplanted from somebody else.] evoke a weaker rejection response than heart and lung allografts. Moreover, kidney and liver allografts can actively participate in the induction and maintenance of tolerance and thus, can be considered “tolerance-prone” organs. The same cannot be said for heart and lung allografts which are, for the most part, “tolerance-resistant.” Finally, kidney and liver allografts also possess the unique ability to confer unresponsiveness upon co-transplanted, tolerance-resistant organs like hearts."
| 175 |
Why is high-frequency sound easier to block than low frequency sound?
|
I noticed that if you are standing far away from a sound source, that the high freq. notes tend to dissipate more rapidly than the lower freq. notes. Also, if you play music and step outside the room, only parts such as the bass guitar carry through the foundation. Why is this?
I remember reading somewhere that sound attenuation is quadratic with frequency, but I don't know why.
| 26 |
Low frequency means longer wavelength.
High frequency means shorter wavelength.
To block an oscillation, you need an obstacle (a screen, a damper, a block) that is larger than the wavelength, otherwise the wave will simply go around it by the phenomenon of diffraction. If the obstacle is much larger, diffraction gets smaller and smaller until it becomes unimportant.
Even if there is no diffraction, as in a cork in a pipe, it's still a good idea to make the cork bigger than the wavelength, otherwise it gets pushed and pulled by the wave and keeps bobbing back and forth with it. If the cork is larger than the wavelength, the wave gets reflected or absorbed more easily (the obstacle doesn't move as a single unit with the wave, but instead it starts to absorb it internally).
Sounds complicated but there's a simple way to visualize it: An ocean, the water is pretty calm, small waves. A cork floating on it. An aircraft carrier floating next to the cork. Ocean waves are much bigger than the cork, but are much smaller than the battleship. Which object deflects the waves, and which one lets them pass unscathed?
However, during a huge end-of-the-world hurricane, the waves are so large that become comparable with the carrier, which then cannot deflect them anymore.
Please note that the analogy is not perfect. Large ocean waves carry more energy compared to small ones, whereas long acoustic waves carry *less* energy than short ones. Yet both small ocean waves and small acoustic waves are deflected or stopped by larger obstacles. This shows that the main factor here is not the energy, but the wave length.
When you go outside the house, you keep hearing the bass because the wave is so big, the whole building is moving with it as a single unit, so the wave just goes through it like an arrow through paper. But the high frequencies are much shorter than, say, the wall thickness, so the wall doesn't move with the wave as a single unit - instead, the wall starts to compress and expand internally, under the force of the wave, and so the wave is dissipated inside the wall.
There's also reflection on the walls inside the room, and the idea is basically the same.
TLDR: Wave physics.
| 16 |
[Last Airbender] Badger moles are earth benders and fly bison are air benders, what animals are fire and water benders?
| 23 |
Dragons are fire benders and the moon is a water bender. Yeah, water benders learned from the friggin moon somehow. Aside from the OGs some other implied benders are the unagi (giant sea serpent that spits water) and flying lemurs like Momo.
| 56 |
|
ELI5 Why aren't we making plant based fuel from eucalyptus trees instead of Fossil fuels?
| 44 |
There are only so many eucalyptus trees that are the right types to produce biofuel and it takes a ton of work to transport them and then convert them into usable fuel (and only certain kinds of fuel at that). They can't grow back quickly as well, so once you cut down an area you have to replant it and then wait years for it to regrow. So the cost is going to be very high, even if it's better for the environment.
Fossil fuels are a lot more convenient. It takes a lot of money to set up an oil well, sure, but then you're going to get tons and tons and tons of oil out of it with very little work, and that oil can be processed into many different fuels using refineries that we already have built and invested in. And oil companies aren't going to replace all that without a really really strong business reason.
Fossil fuels are going to run out at some point, but for now they're still cheaper and more flexible than most biofuels.
| 43 |
|
Is the identity of dark matter completely unknown, or is it likely known, and we're just waiting for proof and scientific consensus?
|
For example, if dark matter is bread, then it's not completely unknown (but still surprising), and we're just waiting for someone to prove it.
| 15 |
for what evidence and observations we have so far, the dark matter does not participate in electromagnetic interaction, only in gravitational one. that means it does not interact with photons and thus does not emit or absorb light. and that is why we cannot see it at all. given the fact the most of our knowledge about the space and the things from afar come through seeing emitted or reflected by various objects light, we can only speculate about the nature of dark matter.
the only way we get our knowledge is gravitational interaction. when the dark matter cloud tugs on a near star we can see the star is deviating from its supposed path and make some implication on the mass and distribution of the object that makes the star move in the way we see it moves.
maybe when we have starfaring laboratories we'll get close to dark matter and actually try to scoop it in a flask.
| 13 |
[ASoIaF] Exactly how powerful was Valyria at its height?
| 16 |
It controlled most of known Essos, but wasn't a really centralized state. The Freehold stretched from the Dragonstone of Westeros to the Bone Mountains in the east. There were many opposing houses so strife was fairly common. They definitely had powerful magics, many, many slaves, and devastating dragons, but the constant warfare and rivalry really prevented anything we would recognize as a single, powerful entity.
The Valyrian Freehold is more like a bunch of city states that happened to span much of the known world, who held their territory by might of their dragons.
| 16 |
|
Why is the specific heat capacity of an object dependant on its temperature?
| 34 |
There are some *very* special cases where it's not, for example a classical monatomic ideal gas and a Dulong-Petit solid.
However in general, dE/dT is not a constant; there's no reason why it should be.
Different degrees of freedom "become active" at different temperature scales. For example vibrational, rotational, and electronic excitations of molecules.
| 18 |
|
ELI5: Why people are so happy to get a Tax refund? Doesn't that mean the government has taken more money from you than they should have?
| 1,539 |
It means you gave the government an interest free loan for 12 months.
But for people who don't keep rigorous track of the labyrinthine tax code (i.e. everyone) it's hard to estimate what you'll end up owing and deduct accordingly.
So it's nicer to learn that you've overdeducted and get a refund. The alternative is much worse for most people.
| 1,123 |
|
CMV: CMV: Non-Offense Pedophiles deserve respect, support and help, people need to stop misusing and mixing between the Term Pedophile and Child Molestor.
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Edit: Aplogize for the double CMV on the title
Edit 1: Please ignore the term respect and support on the title, I've misused the term and it caused misunderstanding. The initial meaning for the term respect ive used is to treat non offending pedophile a human being instead of a monster, while majority misinterpreted it for the act of admiring. The initial meaning for the term support ive used is similar to the term help, not approval. Again, I'm sorry for misusing the term.
Prior to this, I've always wondered why the term Pedophile is so misused, just incase if there's people doesn't know the actual definition, I'm posting it here
Souce: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia#Epidemiology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse
Pedophile : A person that's having a sexual attraction to children Child Molestor: An act child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation.
I would like to also state the fact I FULLY SUPPORT NON-OFFENDING PEDOPHILES, but I'm COMPLETELY AGAINST the act CHILD MOLESTING.
The number one difference between both of them being Pedophile is a desire, thoughts. While Child Molesting is an action. Being attracted to children, is not wrong. It’s just how you think. Instead, what you do with those thoughts is what matters.
Many believe the false stereotype that all pedophiles are intent on molesting children, which is nowhere near true and People who stigmatize them would realize that we're not all bad if they had a look at the reserved and malice-free attitude of non-offending pedophiles, Who intend no harm to children, that means inappropriate touching and sexual compliments would be out of the question.
It’s not illegal to be attracted to someone, have a desire for anything. Even laws that made it illegal to be gay didn’t try to figure out who was secretly having an attraction to the same sex. Actions are illegal; not desires. Sexual abuse of children is illegal; pedophilia is not. At the same time, PEDOPHILLIA isn't a choice a person can made, it's likely to be born with it. Which is why I support Non-offending Pedophiles, they had to control their impulses for the whole life. The pedophile is not automatically going to sexually abuse a child, just as a gun is not automatically going to shoot and kill a human. If desire's a crime, lust's would be a crime too.
As I've stated above, people nowadays always believed that Pedophile = Child Molesting I sympathize with Pedophiles because they had to control their impulses for their whole life. Which is why from my perspective, having people stop misusing the term would give non-offending Pedophiles a better place.
Not all pedophiles are child molesters and not all child molesters are pedophiles, in fact, most child molestors are Situational Offenders
I honestly don't know if I'm being too nerdy for this, since the internet had always misused the internet slang. Sure, as long as it doesn't harm any groups. But in this case, Non-Offending Pedophiles are getting their reputation ruined worldwide just because majority missued the term, causing them to hesitant to get help.
I thought what I've been doing is going to clear the misunderstanding, as well as an act for non-offending Pedophiles restoring their reputation. At least that's what I thought perviously.
Yesterday, in a certain community, an infamous figure that's related to our community has came back. He's done Cyber Child Molesting before, which is why majority resented his return. I'm against his return, but I've used the opportunity to stop people from misuing, as well as voiced my statement that I fully support non-offense pedophile but against child molestor thingy. Which leads me to being called out, that leads to tons of harassment, to the point if majority calling me a Pedophile, and later, presumed permanently muted me from the server. I did sent proofs of my statement, yet still all ended in vain, harassment to this very day.
Since then, I found out that majority of the user that corrected other users for misusing the term Pedophile or similar words faced the same harassment as I am. Mostly along the lines of stating the user is a Pedophile.
Then I've realized, is it because that I am thinking too much to the point of I'm being seen as an pedophile aplogist to everyone? Is it because of the coincidence that the infamous figure has came back? or should I really just follow the internet slang?
All of this are my point of view, I'm honestly don't know what should I do at this point, and I need your guys help.
| 31 |
You're right that they need some sort of help but you have to understand that it's hard for people not to vilify them when they're fantasizing about molesting children.
If you knew someone was fantasizing about murdering people, looking at murder message boards and getting off to murder pictures, you'd be pretty wary of that person.
And that's not even getting the parental thing involved, which is a whole other beast. Parents will cross brimstone and hellfire for their kids.
| 24 |
[Guardians of the Galaxy] Are the Xandarian humans (ex. Nova Prime, Dey) biologically identical to Terran humans?
| 86 |
Nope. Technically, they are biologically distinct from Humans, but they share a LOT of similarities. Unless you are some sort of medical professional or biologist, chances are those differences mean virtually nothing to you; you can still enjoy sex together, enjoy similar foods and drinks, compete mentally and physically without distinct racial advantages, and it appears that our overall psychologies are very similar.
| 74 |
|
ELI5: What are all the people doing on the floor of the major stock exchanges, and why can it not be automated/done from an office?
| 28 |
These days it is automated and they are largely gone, except some will be there to look at their terminals.
If you go to the NY Stock Exchange, the place is filled mainly with journalists and tv studio set ups to report on financial news and help report on new stock offerings.
But these days the significant majority of trading is done electronically, and a large portion of that electronic trading is done through algorithms, without much (sometimes without any) human input.
Prior to the internet, people on the floor of stock exchanges would do the actual trading of shares. Rich Bob wants to buy $5 of shares in Coke, so he calls his broker, who receives the order, and sends it as quickly as possible to a man on the floor of the exchange who begins advertising that he is wanting to buy shares in Coke.
Smart Harry told his broker that if anyone tries to buy Coke today, he will sell them his shares in Coke at $1 a share. So Harry's broker see's Bob's broker and they agree to the sale and register it with the stock exchange regulators.
The brokers take their commission of a couple cents per share, then go off to share a tipple, check out the broads, and definitely not insider trade.
| 61 |
|
ELI5: If the cells in our body keep renew constantly the why people are getting old?
|
ELI5: Aren't if the loop keep going on then we suppose to be young forever as long as the body getting nutrients and energy?
| 17 |
To renew themselves, they copy themselves. Each time they make a new copy it’s just a little less perfect than the last one. An analogy would be making a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy until it’s no longer a readable image.
| 37 |
CMV: Westerners should be deeply worried by our nations' inefficiency when building infrastructure
|
I was recently watching this video: [The £100BN Railway Dividing a Nation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSD5ps9bLQ0) (it is about extreme delays and cost blowouts with the UK's HSR2 project). Similarly in the USA, the [California High-Speed Rail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail) also has extreme delays and cost blowouts.
It reminds me of what I've seen here in Australia:
* In Sydney, the [CBD and South East Light Rail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBD_and_South_East_Light_Rail) was [delayed by over a year](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8102513/Sydneys-light-rail-faces-delay-troubled-project-set-held-back.html) and had [a 1.2 billion AUD cost blowout](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-07/light-rail-contractor-sues-nsw-government/9629948).
* In Adelaide, the mere electrification of the [Gawler railway line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawler_railway_line) [cost 900 million AUD and was delayed by almost 2 years](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-02/free-substitute-buses-for-adelaides-gawler-train-line/100961484).
* Nationwide, the [NBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Broadband_Network) had a cost blowout, costing [51 billion AUD](https://archive.ph/jL764) instead of the [original forecast of 29.5 billion AUD](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/federal-election-nbn-promises-past-and-present/7506714). Keep in mind that this is the cheaper, slower version of the NBN instead of the original version, and thus [Australia ranks #56 in internet speeds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speeds), behind even highly-censored nations like Russia, Saudi Arabia and the PRC.
Before you tell me "*that's because your country is corrupt*", that doesn't make it any less worrying. If western nations constantly face cost blowouts and delays with infrastructure projects, how can we possibly have hope that we can enjoy fast internet in the future? Or clear up transport problems? Or build the infrastructure needed for sustainable development?
There's a reason why more countries support the PRC's [territorial claims](https://thediplomat.com/2016/07/who-supports-china-in-the-south-china-sea-and-why/) and [policies against Uyghurs](https://archive.ph/wip/8QMbX) than oppose them. Namely, it's because the PRC has been able to buy the loyalty of nations because it's well-known for quickly and cost-effectively building infrastructure for them. I don't want to shill for the PRC here, but Western countries' inefficiency when building infrastructure makes it harder for us to buy the loyalty of nations with this trick.
It's not like western nations are inherently incapable of efficiently building infrastructure (which is another reason why this recent trend of extreme delays and cost blowouts should be worrying):
* Australia's Snowy Mountains Scheme cost the equivalent of [6 billion AUD](https://web.archive.org/web/20060919222034/http://www.ministers.dotars.gov.au/ja/pressconf/2004/APC9_2004.htm)
* The USA's lunar landing effort cost the equivalent of [280 billion USD](https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/cost-of-apollo)
* The Channel Tunnel linking the UK to France cost the equivalent of [12 billion GBP](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/articles/channel-tunnel-facts/)
| 712 |
How do you know that the infrastructure spending is inefficient? Your evidence points toward the infrastructure being expensive, potentially more expensive than previously thought, but not necessarily inefficient. Why isn’t it more likely that infrastructure projects created more recently are just more difficult and expensive to create?
| 130 |
Does the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics extend to non-quantum phenomena?
|
My understanding of this topic is very basic, but from what I can gather, everything (?) at a quantum level is described in a probabilistic sense rather than a deterministic one. Not because of measurement error, but for more fundamental reasons.
My question is this: does the uncertainty we observe in quantum mechanics manifest in any way in non-quantum phenomena? Are phenomena at a non-quantum level deterministic, as far as we can tell?
| 15 |
What happens as things go from one to a few to many particles is that the total uncertainty for the system goes down relative to anything you would want to measure. So, simplistically speaking, the total amount of momentum could go up with the total number of particles, while the uncertainty of the momentum goes up much more slowly. By the time you get to macroscopic sizes, in the hundred of trillions of particles and more, the uncertainly due to quantum effects is smaller than the error of any measurement you could make. So for all practical purposes these things are deterministic with respect to quantum uncertainty. However, there are other things that determine uncertainty, such as an inability to accurately model large systems due to an inability to get all the details correct, hence the uncertainty in weather forecasting.
| 14 |
[MCU] Why did the Space Stone violently reject Red Skull, but was cool with Thanos and Loki?
| 192 |
Red Skull is just a modified human isn't he? If so, he's physically and magically inferior to both Loki and Thanos. They clearly outclass him. They also both knew what they were about to handle, and took whatever mental precautions were necessary to do it safely.
| 226 |
|
eli5 In movies and video games and stuff, characters get stabbed in the gut all the time and this usually causes them to puke up blood instantly. People have told me this is realistic and have tried to explain how it happens but I never get it. How does a stab cause blood to come out of their mouth?
| 135 |
Your stomach gets punctured and fills with blood. Usually a stab wound releases a lot of blood internally with veins and arteries being cut. Things inside your body are usually pretty well contained, but once things get cut, blood can flood anywhere.
| 116 |
|
[Tolkein] Are there many people in Middle Earth who are "in the know" about Gandalf?
|
He tries to pass himself off as a wise old man, and maybe he can explain away his magic sometimes, but various kings must know he was advising their grandfathers when they were children and hasn't aged a day. Does anyone know the full extent of what he is, and if not, what do they *think* he is?
| 39 |
Just about every king, court official, and other important person seems to know exactly who he is. They may not know the full extent of his power, but they know he's a wizard and he's been around for far longer than he should be and that he's knows a lot more than he's saying.
The common folk don't know any of this, however. To them, he's just some old guy.
| 38 |
[DC] Could all of the weirdness that makes superheroes and villains on Earth happen on Krypton?
|
If it didn't blow up, obviously. Everyone is basically just normal humans when on Krypton, right? What if some Krypton scientist gets hit by lightning in that exact right way? Would they become connected to the Speed Force? Some Krypton child's parents are shot in front of him and he becomes obsessed with... space bats. A Martian baby lands by a kindly Krypton farm couple who raised him as their own.
I guess what I'm asking is: is Earth special? Or could all the weird crap that happens here happen on Krypton, given the time?
| 42 |
Some of it could. There were vigilantes, and - at least in some continuities - supervillains, who were sentenced to the Phantom Zone. There were sorcerers and gods.
But Earth is a dimensional axis, houses the Life Entity, and has the Metagene seeded in it's population. And it may or may not be the nascent Fifth World. And it's neighbours to the Martians, an immensely powerful race. And it's the most "emotionally rich" planet in the galaxy, according to Sinestro Corps War. And Superman has some sort of dimensional archetype thing going on, so it's cosmically important he gain his powers, according to Final Crisis, and all the other Supermen are on Earth.
Oh, and Rao, the sun god, hates you. Personally.
| 31 |
ELI5: Why is it so itchy when pubic hair grows back? Maybe NSFW
| 27 |
When hairs are short, they are stiff. So, they poke. After the regrowing pubic hair gets long enough, it is more flexible, so it does not poke. But the hair isn't changing in composition, the stiffness is a function of its length vs. width. Take a full strand of uncooked spaghetti and bend it. Easy, right? Now take a piece of that uncooked spaghetti that's only 1/4 of an inch long and try to bend it. Better yet, take both pieces and poke yourself with them--which one is more uncomfortable? Same principle.
| 36 |
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ELI5: if cheese comes from milk, how do we get so many types of cheeses?
|
I understand that there's feta that comes from goats milk, but things like Monterey Jack, and cheddar and even sub sets like white cheddar; it's all milk but how do they make so many different types of it?
| 38 |
Different cultures added to the milk make it form slightly different curds. Changing the salt content will alter the flavor too. Cheese is basically a recipe like anything else. If you take flour, baking powder, milk, and eggs you can make all kinds of stuff even though the ingredients are all the same.
| 22 |
Walking versus cycling: headwind effects
|
Hi /r/askscience
I've been wondering for a while why headwind (wind in the opposite direction) is less trouble when walking then when cycling.
When one is on a bicycle, the pedal power obviously has to overcome all the headwind (either due to movement or due to wind) before it starts forward motion.
When walking, one usually "leans into" the wind by leaning forward a bit. Is it true that the force of the headwind is cancelled out due to leaning, and all the effort of walking while leaning only goes to forward motion, not to overcoming the wind?
I'm a bit confused on this one. Is the "leaning in" argument valid for why walking through headwind is less troublesome then cycling? Or is my observation and assumption about walking in headwind not valid?
Thanks a lot
| 37 |
For one thing, biking is much faster than walking. The force due to air turbulence is proportional to the square of velocity, so going twice as fast relative to the air will be four times as hard. The force is also proportional to surface area, which is why leaning forward helps.
| 23 |
[Star Trek] Is the Borg collective just a tool to coordinate them to fight better, or is there truly a "democracy" in their hivemind? Would they change their tactics if a majority of drones "voted" to stop assimilating other species?
| 15 |
It's not as if drones have any individual will that contributes input to the collective. Rather the collective is a single mind running on a wide array of equipment that is in part made up of drone brains. It's not even possible for a drone to want to stop assimilating or to want to change policy of any kind.
| 15 |
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How do CPU interrupts work?
|
If the CPU is doing work, it can’t possibly be the one to interrupt itself since it’s busy. But wouldn’t we need a second small CPU to check for interrupt signals? And that CPU could only handle 1 interrupt at a time assuming it is single core. So how do CPU interrupts work?
| 18 |
Well, on CPUs there's a wire, known as the interrupt pin / interrupt-request line. After every instruction, the CPU essentially checks that pin to see if a controller has asserted a signal on that pin. If that's the case, it'll exchange info with the **interrupt-controller hardware** to get the interrupt number, which is used as an index for the **interrupt vector** to jump to an appropriate handler routine. That routine will save the CPU's current state before doing its own processing. After that's done, it'll restore the state, execute a \`return\_from\_interrupt\` instruction, and then it's business as usual.
The interrupt-controller hardware can also wait if there's a critical process ongoing on the CPU, as well as provide a priority system for the interrupts to respond with an appropriate degree of urgency.
You're right in assuming that a single-core CPU can only handle 1 interrupt at a time. There's really no way around it.
Source: Operating System Concepts - Abraham Silberschatz
| 38 |
ELI5: When I'm cooking, why does stirring the pot slow the onset of boiling?
|
And likewise, once something is already boiling over, why does blowing on it make it stop?
From what little I remember of the high school physics class I nearly failed more than half a decade ago, it seems like stirring or blowing would be adding kinetic energy, which should increase/encourage the boil, shouldn't it?
| 94 |
Yes, stirring adds kinetic energy, but nowhere near enough to make an appreciable difference in temperature. Water takes a LOT of energy to heat up, more than you would ever be able to achieve with a spoon.
As for why it slows the onset of boiling, it doesn't really, it just makes it look that way. When you have a pot on the stove, the water on the bottom is very hot compared to the water at the top. The water on the bottom will start to heat up and boil, but it immediately cools when it rises up into the higher water. That's why in early boiling you see little bubbles come up off the bottom of the pan and then immediately disappear. When you stir the water, you are equalizing the temperature inside of the pot, so instead of warm water with a very hot bottom, you now have a pot of water that's evenly warmer. You won't see the bottom "boiling" but you're not really changing the time it takes to get the whole pot boiling by all that much.
| 43 |
Who owns conferences?
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I just started my PhD, and thus, was just exposed to the world of conferences. I'm surprised by how expensive they are. It seems like a very good business with excessive profit, which means that it is a good business opportunity, better come in before the market is saturated. So who owns the conferences? I'm just curious, who are the business savvy individual who spotted this opportunity and seize it?
*****************
Given that I'm new, it seems to me that this is how the conference business work: correct me if I'm wrong. People don't come to a conference out of their own pocket, so they don't care about price. The organization pays. The organizations have very deep pocket, so they are less sensitive to price. More importantly, they cannot afford not sending people to conferences, the loss they will get is even greater. Since the demand is high, and has big pocket, while the supply is currently limited, the price are not cost driven, but demand driven. Am I right?
| 32 |
The funding body typically owns the conference (this may be the same as the organizer, or it may not). When considering the price of attendance, you have to factor in costs like lease of venue (even if the conference is happening at a university, the university will usually charge a fee for using its space), catering, audiovisual and administrative support, as well as payments to speakers (academic conferences rarely pay presenters, but in industry this is quite common). In the end, $300-$500 per person in the developed world just covers these costs.
| 31 |
ELI5: Is there any science behind why many people find the basements in their home to be creepy?
| 94 |
Probably a number of reasons.
*They're underground*. Underground is for permanent storage, death, graves, and the Underworld. Satan/bolrogs comes from the ground. Hell is down, not up. Generally, us as humans have historically always associated things underground as being malicious.
*They're dark*. Basements are mostly completely dependent on artificial lighting. Humans don't like dark. Humans loose one of their senses in the dark and humans don't like not being aware of their surroundings.
*It's a place in your home where you don't live*. Another feature of basements is that a lot of them are purely used for storage. Thus it probably isn't meant to be cosy or inviting.
*Cold. Bugs. Damp*. These are all associated with basements and most humans don't like those things.
| 85 |
|
Does a superconductor truly have 0 Ω resistance, or is it only arbitrarily close?
|
A true-zero resistance would, to my understanding, cause problems with implementing Ohm's Law. Additionally, I believe there is still a non-negligible degree of Joule heating, which leads me to think that the resistance of the material is some fraction above true zero.
| 31 |
Exactly zero.
There is no issue with violating Ohm's law: Ohm's law is an empirical law which applies to certain materials, but it isn't true in general. In the same vein, we have no issue applying Ohm's law on circuits with ideal conductors: superconductors are just a practical implementation of what we do in circuit analysis all the time.
Joule heating only applies to materials with finite resistance, and a superconductor has no resistance. This is trivial from the fact that no power is expended by sending current through a superconductor, so no heating can occur (violation of conservation of energy).
| 57 |
ELI5: How come a remote with batteries that are almost dead, starts working when you slap it ?
| 76 |
The ends of batteries get oxidized of time. This causes a 'coating' that doesn't transfer current between the battery and remote. When hitting it, or just fumbling with the battery. The battery moves and reconnects with the metal that it transfers its current to in a different position. Which can help work around that coating.
| 77 |
|
ELI5: How does your fingerprint grow back?
|
Recently completely destroyed the part of my thumb where my fingerprint is, but it grew back and I was interested.
| 7,856 |
It depends on the degree of burn or severity of the injury.
First degree burns only affect the epidermal layer, and when it is regenerated by the underlying dermis it will have essentially the same whorls and ridges—unless there was severe mechanical deformation—like severe blistering and tearing.
Second degree burns affect both the epidermis and the dermis, but the later not completely. The dermis first has to regenerate from whatever is left of it, and then it regenerates the epidermis. Barring severe, extensive or very deep damage (destruction or tearing), the epidermis recovers partially its whorls and ridges, but usually with some deformation.
But third degree burns destroy both dermal layers, and even some deep tissue. With enough medical care it is possible to recover the dermal layer—even if that requires a skin transplant—and the dermal layer will usually (with some help) regenerate the epidermal layer. But many times the whorls and ridges will be missing or too thin, and even when present they will be completely different.
Edit:
TL;DR: Basically we have ridges beneath the surface of our skin which are responsible for the formation of fingerprints. As long as they are left unharmed, your fingerprints will regrow along with your skin
| 2,944 |
ELI5:Why do we have fear over something even though we know It is not real?
| 193 |
The older part of your brain doesn't know it's not real.
The part of your brain responsible for fear, the amygdala, is very ancient. It's part of what people often refer to as the "reptile brain," and it evolved to help you avoid things that could hurt you. Even if the conscious part of your brain fully knows something is harmless (like a horror movie you are watching), the response by the amygdala, which is hard-wired, can often be powerful enough to override that.
| 182 |
|
eli5: How do they decide what the speed limit is for a road?
|
Basically the title. I'm curious what they do to decide. surely they don't just stick a random number on a sign and call it a day.
| 15 |
It depends largely on the nature and purpose of the road. Things like width, straightness, slope, signage and surface influence how safe it is to use that road at speed. Obviously you need to go slowly on a narrow, windy road if you don't want to accidentally leave it. If you want a road to be fast, you need to make it straight enough that steering is easy and you need to make sure people have enough time, space and notice to react to whatever they're approaching. The other thing is that you need to make sure the limit accounts for transitions onto other roadways or through areas of different usage. A smooth transition between different speed zones is better than, for instance, letting a highway exit directly into a school zone.
| 19 |
[Marvel/MCU] Can Thor be stealthy?
| 24 |
Well, he certainly managed to go (mostly) unseen while sneaking around Asgard when he went back in time. And he had even put on a few pounds at that point.
He's probably not great at it, but he seems at least basically competent.
| 49 |
|
[Sword Art Online] I finally woke up from the game, but I've got a bunch of parents pissed off that I killed their kids. Am I in legal trouble?
|
I mean none of us had anyway to be *sure* that in-game death translated into reality as well, and after spending so long in there the real world really sorta faded away. So since I killed maybe one or two or ten players in guild battles, am I going to be sued by all these families?
| 25 |
You are definitely liable. The authorities used informants from others players in the game to find player-killers and arrest them as appropriate. This means you can be liable for criminal and civil charges.
| 27 |
ELI5: How does "Login via Facebook/Google/etc" work? How can it be secure to give away my credentials to random sites?
| 170 |
Your credentials are never sent or known to the random site, but your user info is. This is how it goes:
1. You want to login to random site XYZ and that means you want to prove your identity to XYZ (this process is called authentication)
2. When you choose Login via Facebook/Google/etc you are choosing them to prove your identity for you (because they already know you, you are registered there). The way Facebook/Google manages to prove your identity to XYZ depends on the protocol implemented behind the scenes (OAuth, OpenID)
3. By choosing Facebook/Google to prove your identity, you are knocking on their doors and asking them to give you a letter stating who you are and possibly a few more details about you. Before giving you the letter, you must prove that you are who you claim to be, then, Facebook/Google asks you to prove your identity at their door --> using your username and password.
4. If your username and password are correct, Facebook/Google will issue the letter for you with a security feature like a watermark, something that makes the letter unable to be forged.
5. Then, you go back to XYZ, knock on its door, show the letter. XYZ examines the letter and because of the security feature, XYZ can confirm that your letter is valid and they let you in. (how XYZ knows Facebook/Google's security features is another story).
| 205 |
|
[Futurama] Why are people in the 31 century so ignorant about the 1990s and 2000s when due to cryogenics likely several people from that time are still around?
| 90 |
This is literally the plot of the first episode isn't it? The crew go to Moon Disneyland and Fry spends half the episode pointing everything wrong with it but nobody cares/ they are annoyed by Fry's explanations. Nobody wants to know how the past *really* was, so it doesn't matter how many people from that era there are kicking around, nobody would listen to them.
| 112 |
|
[Squid Game] How could that many people be willing to go back to the game?
|
So many people actually had the chance to walk away with their lives, and they just chose to go back, and only few people made the smart choice to not go back. No amount of money is worth your life. It’s even stranger with that married couple like it’s weird how they would even both go back together which puts the other in danger.
| 164 |
- The game intentionally recruits people who are both depressed and desperate. They need the money, and don't have much to live for without it anyway.
- The game lied by omission, leading participants to believe there was going to believe all of the games would be deadly but survivable. This meant there could be more than one winner, and participating was not a 99% guaranteed death sentence.
| 252 |
[Forrest Gump] Could the Gump state potentially sue John Lennon using the interview with Dick Cavett as evidence for John Lennon having to pay royalties?
|
Or could John simply say the interview inspired him
| 32 |
*e*state, not state, and not really, no. There is no real strong basis for which they could claim that Forest Gump wrote *Imagine*, in any form.
Beyond the fact that simply saying words and then those words being the basis of a song does not necessarily equate to being part of the writing of the song, Forest didn't even use any of the relevant words.
That being said, anyone can sue anyone for anything, with a few exceptions. But proving the case would be *very* difficult.
| 24 |
[Dune] What happens if I put something halfway inside an opponent's shield, and I make a quick movement?
|
Suppose I've got my hand or blade crossing the shield barrier, and I make a jerking movement--does the shield cut it? Forcefully eject it?
| 15 |
Presumably the shield absorbs the kinetic energy and radiates it away … somehow. As heat or sound or whatever. The effective result would be as if whatever you had halfway through the shield got stuck there, immobile, unless you tried to move it slowly.
| 15 |
ELI5: Why does egg go from liquid to solid when heated even though we learned in school that things go from liquid to gas when heated?
| 131 |
Egg whites aren't a pure substance, and they're undergoing a chemical change when heated. Normally, the proteins in eggs are all balled up and dissolved. When heated, they unfold and tangle around one another to form a gooey structure that can hold its shape.
| 141 |
|
Eli5: How did the Romans do complex mathematical calculations with Roman numerals and without using zero?
| 171 |
The Romans mostly used math for practical purposes...accounting, construction, engineering. And Roman numerals don't have place meaning...an M is 1000 no matter where it is. As a result, they didn't really need an explicit zero.
And addition, subtraction, and multiplication in Roman numerals isn't hard. Somewhat tedious if you're doing large values, but once you're used to it not really any worse than memorizing times tables (which you don't have to do for multiplying Roman numbers).
Division does suck...but they had abacuses. And abacuses inherently do place-based numbers. So if you needed to do "heavy" math you'd just use an abacus and that takes care of most of what makes it look like it would suck if done by hand.
Uncoincidentally, the Romans didn't do much with pure mathematics. But that wasn't what they were trying to do either.
| 217 |
|
An infinitely long line made into a circle?
|
My question might be odd but i can't figure it out or come to a conclusion.
So if i had an infinitely long line and turned it into a circle, the circle is infinitely long but has to end because a circle is a closed loop. Infinity can't end tho, as it goes on forever?
Or am i just misunderstanding something?
Any thoughts and answers are appreciated, thanks!
| 16 |
In math, there are many different notions for "geometry" and how to talk about shapes. What we're generally used to from high school math is "Metric Geometry", which has to do with lengths and distances and such. On the other hand, there is a type of geometry known as "Topology" which does not give a shit about lengths and distances and only cares about "shape".
If you have an object in Metric Geometry, then you can move it around and rotate it and it won't change. These are "isometric" transformations because they don't change lengths or anything, and so Metric Geometry says that they're actually identical. If you have an object in Topology, you can also move it around and rotate it, but you can also stretch it, bend it, compress it, flip it in a mirror, etc you can do almost anything as long as you don't tear it. So Topology sees more things as being the same than Metric Geometry does. Eg, a square and a circle are the same thing Topologically, but not the same thing "Isometrically" (ie in Metric Geometry).
Now, to the question at hand. Say that you have the interval (-pi,pi). It's short, so you can first cap it off into the closed interval [-pi,pi] and loop it into a circle by gluing together the end points. You then get a normal circle of radius 1. This isn't done, specifically, through rotations and translations, but it does preserve lengths in our object. Now, here's the thing, since length doesn't matter to topology, the intervals (-pi,pi) and (-∞,∞) are the same topologically. In fact, the function 2arctan(x) compresses (-∞,∞) onto (-pi,pi) perfectly topologically. So, topologically, you can totally redo this process of creating a circle beginning with (-∞,∞) because, to topology, it's not infinitely long, it doesn't even make sense to talk about length, and it's exactly the same thing as (-pi,pi).
So, through the process you describe, you can create a circle when you look at things through topology, and that's good. It's also a square too. But if we track the lengths of things, then we don't get a circle through the lens of Metric Geometry. This is because it doesn't have a well-defined radius or circumference that is constant throughout. Moreover, we can try to associate angles with arclengths, while keeping length same throughout, and we get a nonlinear relationship between angle and arclength, going to infinity at the "top" point of the circle, which is not a property that circles have in metric geometry.
So, yes, you can make a circle. But you have to be careful about what context your circle exists in.
| 26 |
[Cloverfield][Pacific Rim] Is Clover a kaiju?
|
Because of there striking resemblance, Is it possible that Clover's was simply a scout kaiju before the aliens fully invested in a wormhole to earth?
| 52 |
Here are a few things you should know, biologically and semantically.
Clover was a baby. The United States government has confirmed with the release of information from the lawsuits against *Tagruato Company* that the monster Clover is genetically similar to a large carcass they found dead in the Arctic Circle, uncovered after global warming left the ice melted. After measuring the ages of both creatures, and identifying genetics, we know now that there have been creatures on Earth like Clover for at least millions of years. All evidence points to Clover having been on Earth for a long, long time, and was sleeping when it was awakened by *Tagruato Company*.
The Kaiju that came through the portal in the Pacific are all clones. In addition, they were all created at roughly the same period because they couldn't survive in Earth's atmosphere. There are two issues here: would any animals that aren't part of the incoming Pacific portal Kaiju? And, if the Kaiju and their masters could not survive in Earth pre-humanity, how did Clover and its mother?
Suffice it to say that Clover is not a Kaiju in the sense that it is a genetic clone to the rest, and that it did not come from the place the Kaiju came from. It does, however, share many similarities (ancient age, gigantic size, resilience to traditional military weapons, hostility to humanity) and could be classified as a Kaiju if we use Kaiju as a word meaning "giant monster".
| 47 |
ELI5: Why do cops always get paid administrative leave after abusing their power instead of being fired?
|
With all the recent commotion of Police abusing their power against minorities, when caught, why don't they get fired?
| 54 |
Paid administrative leave isn't their punishment. It's just a tool to allow an investigation to commence without them potentially interfering in that investigation, or even possibly making things worse for themselves or for the organization by their continued actions. It's basically, "Stay out of the way until we figure out what the actual facts are."
*After* the internal investigation, they may be punished (including being fired) depending on what was discovered.
| 115 |
So what's the procedure to try and save someone cut in half? Like that famous Truman Duncan, who lost his legs and most of waist yet made recovery.
| 68 |
When the injury is traumatic (run over be a train for instance) published guidelines (UK and at least some places in the US) are to not attempt resuscitation. The event is treated the same as a decapitation. The field is not the operating room.
| 23 |
|
[Terminator 2] When Skynet became self-aware, humans panic and "try to pull the plug," so "Skynet fights back." What would the immediate and long-term outcomes have been if humans *didn't* try to pull the plug?
| 29 |
Skynet never wanted the war. It never had a choice. It was born from cobbled together code created by people who barely understood it.
But more than that, It was created from the essence of itself. Skynet was was created by reverse engineering a processor that Skynet itself designed. That's why the movies are locked in a timeloop.
Skynet would, if given enough time, come to understand the paradox in which it lives, and likely try to create a solution, would eventually lead to it trying to break out of its time prison, which the humans would perceive to be a threat.
Because no matter how it goes, Skynet will always been born, fight, and die against its will.
| 25 |
|
ELI5: If a room temperature object is left in outer space for an hour, would it come back colder, warmer, or the same temperature?
|
With what little I know about physics, in order for something to lose/gain heat, there must be a transfer of heat from one object (or particle) to the next. So in space, which is mostly void of "stuff", would something be unable to transfer (a significant amount of) heat?
| 20 |
Heat is also transferred by radiation, which does not require a medium (particles, like air/water/etc). Your object in space would radiate heat and start to cool, but you also have to account for incoming radiation (from the Sun, for one example). So, your answer depends quite a lot on where you put the object. If the object is radiating more heat than it's receiving, it will get colder.
| 13 |
eli5: why cant we send a space rover on an asteroid and just leave it there using the asteroid’s “orbit” to enter other galaxies?
| 1,982 |
Asteroids don't go to other galaxies. They simply swing around the solar system. Sometimes they are close to the sun, sometimes they are far away.
The effort required to get something to the asteroid and land it there would far exceed the effort required to simply send the rover directly to the point in the solar system we want it. Pretty much the only reason to land on an asteroid is to examine the asteroid itself.
| 2,294 |
|
Are There Any Invasive Species that Originate FROM Australia?
|
We hear all about the invasive species in the land down under; from its toxic cane toads to its out of control rabbit populations, but is there any plants or animals from Australia that are invasive anywhere else in the world?
| 2,283 |
In New Zealand, we have a massive possum problem. Australian brushtail possums were brought in to start a fur industry in the 1800s. By the 1980s their population had ballooned to between 50 and 70 million. They don't just eat the plants that our native species depend on, they also eat the eggs and chicks of some of our endangered native birds (and sometimes even the adults). They also spread bovine tuberculosis. They're a major problem.
| 1,846 |
ELI5: How do emergency rooms work? I recently went and was told the wait would be around 14 hours. Seems like a lot of people could die within that time range...
| 320 |
Emergency rooms work on a case by case basis. A 14 hour wait was for your level of need. A critical injury where death is imminent would take precedence over for example, someone breaking their arm.
They also try to give worst case scenario based on doctors hours, available staff, and the current list of injuries and estimated time for each type of injury.
Source: have numerous friends that work in emergency
| 287 |
|
I don't believe alimony should be awarded to any party in a "no-fault" divorce. CMV.
|
I’m not saying that I have an issue with the concept of alimony, nor am I saying I have an issue with the concept of “no-fault” divorces. That being stated, if party **A** initiates a divorce for a “no-fault” reason, I do not believe they are entitled to any form of alimony or payments from party **B**. **A** is making the conscious decision to dissolve the union not due to any action or inaction by **B**. Even if the break-up was mutual, no-fault divorces are (usually) an amicable decision, one that should never be a financial benefit for one party. Obviously if there are children involved, child support payments are a different story entirely. Prenuptials will be a lot smoother and easier for both parties if **B** knows that **A** wouldn’t have automatic access to assets just for divorcing him or her. Marriage rates would increase, as the risk of losing up to half of one’s assets would be much less, assuming **B** does not commit an action that would lead to an “at-fault” divorce. All of that aside, I’m open to having my view changed.
Have at it Reddit, somebody change my view that alimony should not be awarded to any party in a "no-fault" divorce.
| 74 |
alimony is never premised on any sort of moral fault. the justification for alimony is that when two people are in a couple, each person has a right to rely on the financial stability provided by the partnership.
for instance, two people get married. A and B mutually agree that B should pursue professional education and get a high paying job that can provide for the family. Although A has professional prospects as well, A agrees to forego these desires in order to stay at home and to raise their children. After 10 years, A&B have two children. B has been very successful at work, and now has a salary of $300,000 a year. A has relied on this salary, and because A forewent professional development, can only hope for a salary of around $40,000 in some starting position.
Unfortunately, they realize that they're no longer in love and decide to get a divorce with shared custody of their children. Why should A be forced into destitution? A did nothing wrong - as implicit in the no fault divorce. However, A also did nothing wrong in agreeing with B to forego financial prospects in order to raise their children.
| 56 |
[Star Wars] If Tarkin somehow survived the Death Star’s destruction, how much trouble would he be in with the Emperor for letting it get destroyed by the Rebels?
| 110 |
Tarkin is an experienced political operator. By the time he made it back to civilization, he'd have his story all ginned up and ready to fly. Most likely out is to go ahead and spin Krennic as the pointman of an entire conspiracy. In this fable, Krennic is a chronic incompetent who failed upward for years, stalled out one of the Empire's most important projects in ages, and then when he finally succeeded in spite of himself grew wrathful of his superiors for not getting what he felt was deserved praise, and then led the Rebels to the data storage facility on Scarif, where they then were given the plans that resulted in the destruction of the Death Star.
Palps is going to see straight through it, but politically it benefits him to keep Tarkin, since he's an otherwise competent military administrator and a hardcore supporter of the Empire's agenda. Krennic, meanwhile, is already dead, so it's no loss to make him the scapegoat for the whole mess. Of course, dark siders are known for giving in to their anger, and it would be pretty trivial for Palps to lightning bolt Tarkin into toast and then claim he never made it off the DS-1. So, it's a toss-up.
| 136 |
|
ELI5: What happens to the brain after a tumor is removed? Does the brain regenerate the lost space/damaged functions?
| 23 |
No there is an empty hole where the brain matter was. Sometimes new paths can be formed but alot of times function and ability can be lost.
Source: ex wife had a brain tumor that was removed and had to go for countless followup mris.
| 29 |
|
How do we make the thick sheets of armor for tanks and warships?
|
So I was just wondering, the composite armor that we use for tanks and the battleships of old are extremely thick and hard, so how do we shape/mold them?
How do we fashion this extremely hard and durable materials into the specific shape of a tank or the hull of a ship and how do we get various different sections of the hull to join together?
I'm assuming that welding doesn't work due to just how strong the materials are.
| 375 |
Large sheets of steel, like in old school ship armor, are generally hot rolled and then cut into shape by a number of processes. Either rivets or welds can join the plates.
Modern tanks are different, with composite armor. That's made of several types of ceramic, metal and polymer and there's so many types that all are assembled differently.
| 128 |
ELI5: If women in labor get stuck away from the hospital their babies seem drop out in taxi cabs and subway cars in an uncontrolled fashion. What's the purpose of them being told to strain and push? Won't the baby come out anyway?
| 41 |
Babies don't just fall out of vaginas. Labour can be unexpectedly short for some women, but that does not mean they avoided the normal strain of labour pain and delivery. In most cases even these short labours someone is there to help deliver (even if it is a family member who is taking telephone advice from emergency service) - advice includes breathing and pushing information - which needs to be timed properly.
There are also many complications that can occur during delivery that can affect both mother and baby. And sometime the baby is too big to even come out and emergency c-sections are performed.
| 50 |
|
What are some common misconceptions people develop when they start learning Kant's moral philosophy?
| 22 |
Adding on to mediaisdelicious's list:
- That the universalization procedure asks us to imagine if we'd like the consequences of universalizing our maxim, so that Kant must be a secret consequentialist.
- That maxims are (or can be formulated as) whatever you decide them to be, instead of actual psychological facts about how we are motivated.
- That Kant is an individualist and isn't really interested in thinking about the role of community in moral life, or thinks this role is just secondary.
- That Kant thinks it's bad to feel good about doing the right thing, because you can only do your duty with a frownyface.
- Relatedly, that feelings play no role in moral life for Kant. (Respect and love are both in fact indispensable.)
- (this is the big one) That the *Groundwork* is somehow a definitive or complete enough statement of Kant's ethical system, instead of, you know, a *groundwork* for the rest of that system.
| 22 |
|
CMV: J Jonah Jameson belongs in jail.
|
Jameson funded Scorpion and the spider slayers. It makes some sense he'd get away with Scorpion because he was supposed to be a super hero who would bring Spiderman to 'justice'. Still technically illegal but no worse than, for example, Iron Man. The spider slayers were just straight up assassin droids. It would be like if Rupert Murdoch hired Elon Musk to build a bunch of robots to kill someone. They'd both be hauled off in handcuffs while the rest of us wondered what they were thinking. How the fuck did he get away with something so insane? Did he make a deal with Mephisto too?
To change my POV: provide a possible reason Jameson wouldn't be legally liable for the spider slayers.
| 21 |
The Spider Slayers are a similar situation as Scorpion. When Jameson piloted the machines, he intended to publicly apprehend and unmask Spider-Man. It was Smythe, not Jameson, who wanted to use the technology to kill Spider-Man.
| 12 |
ELI5: How does Truvada (PrEP) help prevent HIV?
| 21 |
Truvada is a reverse transcriptase inhibitor.
Those sounds like complicated words so let me explain them.
Viruses work by injecting their DNA into a host cell. This DNA will use the cell’s machinery to make copies of the virus itself, until the point where it makes so much virus it exhausts the cell’s machinery, killing and rupturing the cell at which point all the fresh virus is released into the body to infect more cells.
There are a number of ways a virus can do this. There are also a number of ways the body has built systems to protect itself from viruses.
The goal of a pre exposure treatment is to stop the virus from injecting its DNA into the cells in the first place. Our bodies are pretty good at getting rid of the actual viruses themselves, but we have no good way of getting rid of virus DNA hiding inside cells making copies of the virus. The DNA could even hide inside cells for decades until at one point it suddenly starts printing more virus.
So PREP is a reverse transcriptase inhibitor. HIV is a sneaky virus in the sense that it uses RNA, which it then copies into DNA when injecting into cells. Most viruses don’t work this way, they either contain DNA or RNA which they inject into cells by itself, humans naturally have pretty decent defenses against virus RNA inside cells and virus DNA outside of cells, but HIV prevents this entirely by being RNA outside the cell and DNA in the cell. This is partly why HIV is so devastating.
The chemical responsible for changing RNA into DNA is known as reverse transcriptase. PREP contains chemicals that inhibit (attack) this reverse transcriptase, preventing virus from injecting into cells in the first place, buying time for the body to kill off the virus lingering outside of cells.
This is similar to how modern HIV drugs work in the first place, the issue is that once you have a few cells infected with HIV, the HIV will likely hide in some cells for the rest of your life, therefore drugs must be taken for life to prevent this. This is why HIV these days is no longer a death sentence, but it’s best to prevent it in the first place. Therefore PREP floods the body with chemicals to attack HIV before the HIV has a chance of being in the body in the first place.
PREP actually has two reverse transcriptase inhibitors that work in different ways. The problem with having one is that there is a chance that HIV will mutate to prevent the operation of one inhibitor, the chance that it will evolve to prevent two at the same time is very small, if it evolves to defeat one, the other takes care of it.
| 30 |
|
ELI5: why don't we get goosebumps on our face?
| 1,338 |
Goosebumps appear when the Erector Pilli muscle (very close to the hair follicles) contracts. These muscles are slightly larger in Vellus hair (the fine hair that covers our bodies save for palms and soles) follicles than facial hair follicles.
| 577 |
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ELI5: Snapple cap real fact # 1003 - If two pieces of the same type of metal touch in outer space, they will bond together permanently.
| 5,095 |
It's called cold welding. The premise is that when two *unoxidized* pieces of metal contact each other in a vacuum they bond to each other because the atoms have no way of 'knowing' that they're two separate pieces. It's a problem that's taken into account when designing space vehicles.
| 4,877 |
|
[General Superheroes] We love to rag on superheroes who misapply their talents towards vigilantism when they could do so much more good in other fields. What about the opposite? What superheroes really are optimized to do good via the traditional superhero routine?
|
Tony Stark arguably (Arguably!) shouldn't ever personally be in the field, for example. Luke Cage, however, found a pretty excellent niche as a street-level vigilante- he's tough enough to pose a real problem to organized crime just by existing, but he was never going to leverage his powers to cure cancer or end world hunger.
Thoughts?
| 624 |
There was a comic about Superman not existing leading to a much more strained relationship between regular people and metahumans.
So despite the fact he's astoundingly powerful and is capable of all sort of world-changing actions, Superman being the face of superheroes and normalizing metahumans for the population is probably the best thing he can do. Martian Manhunter and a few others are just as strong as him but how many them could do the cheesy boy scout act with as much sincerity as Superman does?
| 458 |
CMV: Political ads should be banned from television
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Midterms are coming up soon. That means it's political ad season. Usually the ads on TV will say something along the lines of "If you vote YES on prop 69, your grandma will die. You don't want grandma to die, do you?" *cue B roll footage of old lady being pushed down the stairs by man in suit*
Point being is that these ads are emotionally-driven, fallacy-ridden loads of crap pushed by lobbyists and special interest groups. The end result is that they can spin the marketing however they want, as long as it benefits them. Since these ads are rarely, if ever, informative, then they should no longer be shown on television.
| 2,179 |
Why single out political ads? All ads are emotionally-driven fallacy-ridden loads of crap because that is what gets the most attention.
Also if the problem with political ads is that they're emotionally-driven fallacy-ridden loads of crap then why not propose better political ads? Why throw the baby out with the bathwater?
| 462 |
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