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ELI5: Why do atoms of a same radioactive element decay at different times? | For example uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.468 billion years, which means that one uranium-238 atom decays in a day and another one in one billion years.
Why do atoms of a same element have so vastly different "lifespans"? | 29 | Radiodecay is random.
Picture it like this:
The atom is rolling a random handful of dice once a second. When all of them come up sixes, the atom blows up.
This may happen on the very first roll, or it may take all day.
Atoms with very short half lives are unstable - they’re barely held together and you only need one “six” to make them explode.
Atoms with very long half lives are extremely stable - you need a whole trash bag full of sixes all at once to blast it apart.
Uranium is very stable so it usually takes billions of years to finally get cosmically lucky and shatter the nucleus with a random quantum shudder that hits *just* right. | 60 |
What is the soft "crackling" sound my car makes when it's cooling down after I park it? | I don't know how to describe the sound exactly, but it's a very soft "crackling" or "clicking". Does it have something to do with the metal around the engine or hood contracting as a result of cooling down? | 666 | As different parts of the car cool, the metal contracts at different rates. This creates tension within the metal, which accumulates as the car cools further and the temperature difference increases. Eventually, one part may move quickly to release this stress, which creates an audible 'tick' sound. | 370 |
[Watchmen] What is Dr. Manhattan is capable of and is there a way of defeating him? | 21 | Ozymandias had it right. Dr. Manhattan was human, and despite his abilities still thinks like one. Granted, as time passes his perception of time, space, matter, and everything else diverge from how humans perceive the universe; however, he is susceptible to many of the same emotional weaknesses as humans. If you're able to engender pride, ego, hubris, fear, jealousy, anger, frustration, disappointment, sadness, or depression in Dr. Manhattan, you have a chance to defeat him by forcing *him* to disengage. To leave you alone. To ignore some crucial factor, or to overlook some vital piece of information. | 25 |
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[Star Wars] What if a Mandalorian debt becomes impossible? | So after watching the Mandalorian, I notice there is quite an abundance of debts going around, and Mandalorians take these things seriously.
However what if an agreed repayment of a debt becomes impossible? Like "I will help you rescue an individual" and then before the rescue is performed, said individual is executed?
Or "We will help you capture an individual for intelligence" but that person dies and therefore cannot be captured? | 203 | Then the debt gets carried on to some other task. It's subjective but mandos are extremely honorable and won't renege on a debt just because of technicalities. So long as the debt holder lives or has given a task that is still viable the indebted will have something to do even if the original task has changed. It's only really the debt holder that can break the agreement by asking for the mando to perform something dishonorable or by asking too much of the mando. | 150 |
[Superman] How does Kryptonite compare to earthly minerals in hardness? Does it have any practical uses outside of Kryptonian deterrence? | 23 | I've never ready anything about it being particularly durable, sharp, or anything else of interest to material scientists. It is radioactive, however, and can be used as a power source, as several of Superman's opponents have done.
It's also fantastically expensive, which means there's *some* sort of a demand for the stuff. That demand seems to be driven primarily by people who want protection from Kryptonians, however. | 22 |
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Can you know something without having it memorized? | Like you know it in some contexts (like when you see or hear it and recognize it) but not others (like when trying to solve a problem or trying to communicate something). I haven't really seen anything written about this so I think its worth discussing. | 20 | There's some interesting work about it in Husserl's *Ideas II*, near the beginning, as well as in his *Origins of Geometry*.
Basically, Husserl has the idea that one you learn something, it can become the grounds for something else that you learn. Let's say, for example, that you learn special relativity to read a book about black holes. When you are studying black holes, you are not actively recalling how special relativity works, but your understanding of it serves in the background as something like the "horizon" for you to read about black holes. Also, you might be able to understand books about special relativity without sitting down and doing the equations from memory again.
Once you have grasped special relativity, in this example, you don't have to recall the entire argument, the equations, or do the math again to "check" your work. Rather, it becomes something like "background" knowledge.
However, part of this background knowledge is the ability to recall it, to work it out again, and check what you know.
What's interesting is that Husserl later applies this to the history of mathematics to explain how it allows for mathematics and the sciences to build off one another without having to redo all of the discoveries each time. He argues that within, say, a geometrical theorem, the proof of this theorem remains something implicit. If we try, in epistemology, to recall this proof, we *recreate* the original conditions of its discovery (which allows Husserl to claim that epistemology is a "historical" inquiry).
This basic idea, that there's a difference between understanding an idea and being able to conceptually articulate it from memory, can be found in both Plato and Leibniz's theories of innate ideas.
In Husserl's historical writings, geometrical ideas aren't "innate," but function in a similar way. This is because mathematics and science have a history. They build off earlier discoveries, which serves as a background for new discoveries.
Generally speaking, Plato has a lot to say about having a correct belief about something and *knowing* it. He might be a good place to look for more information. | 21 |
ELI5: Why can I pick up my little brother, who weighs around 100 lbs with no issues, but I struggle just trying to get a 50 lb weight off the ground? | 1,130 | A big thing to remember is that when you pick people up, they are actually helping you. When picked up, people uncounsciously shift around to get their center of balance just right so they wont fall, and it helps out the lifter.
If you tried picking up an unconscious or asleep (or dead) person for example, you would have a veeerry hard time because they are no longer helping you and their center of balance shifts wildly. | 1,241 |
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I don't understand why Iron is the element that starts the supernova process? (Layman's terms please) | What property does Iron have the kickstarts a supernova? Why not another metal? I just had someone breifly describe to me how a star's lifespan works (Fusion, going from one element to another down the line) but I can't find out why Iron is the magic element. | 559 | I think it is misleading to think of iron as "kickstarting" the supernova process. When you burn a log, the wood turns to ash. When you have no wood left, and only ash, the fire goes out. But the ash didn't cause the fire to go out - the ash is there because the fuel is gone.
Similarly, stars need fusable atoms as fuel. Fusion involving iron doesn't release any energy. A supernova happens when the star runs out of fuel, because there is no longer any energy to keep gravity from collapsing the star. Iron doesn't necessarily cause this reaction - it's just there when it happens. | 678 |
How would a springboard work on Moon? | I've been wondering about this for quite a long time. None of my physics teachers could tell me how would be the effect.
The gravity on the Moon lets us to bounce 6 times higher, but reduced falling speed would reduce the pressure put on the trampoline surface by our body. So, how would it be? | 65 | First: ignore the fact that it's notoriously difficult to do acrobatics on the moon. And friction.
To figure this out, we need to look at energy. When you jump, you add kinetic energy to yourself. This is converted into gravitational energy when you move up, slowing you down. As you fall back, the reverse happens and you speed up again, ending with you falling down with the same energy and speed as you began. Note that the strength of gravity doesn't change your final energy/speed: lower gravity just takes a bit longer to get you back.
The trampoline does something like gravity: it converts kinetic into elastic energy and back again. Gravity plays no role in this. Without friction you'd bounce forever. If you jump, you add some more energy to the mix. The first jump about doubles it, the second triples etc.
So the trampoline would work perfectly fine on the moon, and you'd jump and bounce at least six times as high as you would on earth. As there's no air friction on the moon, it might even be higher. | 18 |
ELI5: Why do deodorants say "Apply to underarms only"? | 26 | Gabrielpenfield brings up an interesting scenario, but it isn't the main reason why we don't apply deodorants everywhere. Deodorants simply block odors, so we, for the most part, can use them everywhere (I wouldn't use them on your face in case of acne, though). However, the real danger lies in anti-perspirants. They can prevent salivation, or any real leaking of fluids. They are also, for the most part, not good in large doses, which can get into your body in many ways - maybe even cutaneously. In addition, they can clog pores very easily - and most are even designed with that in mind. Clogged pores can result in many skin conditions, from acne to swollen glands to boils. Unless you want a bunch of blemishes, it's best not to apply it everywhere. This warning prevents manufacturers from lawsuits by people who do just that.
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[Flavortown] How do the residents of Flavortown view Guy Fieri? | Is he seen as some sort of tourism ambassador, or a self promoting huckster? Does he actually follow through on these promises to take people there in the first place? | 221 | He is Flavor Town's god, devil, servant, master. He is the mewling cry of its newborn babes and the gasping wheeze of its dying patriarchs. He is the bones on which Flavor Town is built, and when Flavor Town returns back into nothingness at the end of all ages he will be the one to sing it into the void. He is the fervant spice of Guy's Kickin' Chili Wings and the tranquil cool of Ranch and Buffalo Chicken Salad Wraps. | 165 |
CMV: The TPP is the only way that America can sustain its economic hegemony over east Asia, and is necessary if it wants to remain a world power. | As China begins to overtake the US economically the biggest threat to world peace would be if the US loses its overwhelming market power.
Peaceful solutions to for the Iran crisis, for example, will be impossible if the US, and just as importantly its sphere, is unable to impose crippling sanctions.
The TPP is a free trade agreement between Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, some of the biggest economies in the region and with rooms for expansion. The securing of these into the American sphere both denies them from drifting towards China and gives America a great deal of Economic power, which it will need if it wants to compete with China in international crises or produce goods for its own citizens.
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> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 90 | The TPP is far from the only way that the US ould maintain hegemony in Asia. There are multiple other deals that could be made, either economically or diplomatically, that would increase hegemony and our overall popularity in the area. For example, a grand bargain with China where we give up our defense of Taiwan in return for them giving up their claims to the South China Seas, or a plan where we work with China to put sanctions on North Korea. But I'd like to go the opposite route and say that hegemony is actually bad for our relationship. A direct result of high USA heg is US military troops that are being deployed in Asia. That provokes military standoffs and destroys US-Sino relationships. US supremacy in Asia ensures armed conflict because it clashes with a rising China. China has it's own ideas about how political and security order should work, and the potential for future conflict definitely exists. The very fact of American primacy is bound to create a backlash-with China in the vanguard-in the form of counter hegemonic balancing. | 30 |
Do stars undergo orbital decay in relation to the center of a galaxy over extremely long periods of time? | In a way comparable to a satellite would fall back to earth after several years in orbit | 37 | Satellites fall towards Earth due to drag from the latent amount of atmospheric gas in their orbit. This is not an issue for stars. There is theoretically orbital decay from gravitational radiation, but in practice it would take longer than the lifetime of the universe to notice this effect. | 10 |
[MCU] How did Titan die? | First of all, I’m sorry if this question has been asked before but I’m not very active on the sub so I don’t know some posts. If this has been asked before, then could someone please link to me to the post, thanks. Also, sorry for formatting, I typed this on my phone.
Alright, so Thanos claims that overpopulation destroyed his planet. Apparently the problem was so bad that he appears to be the only survivor and his planet seems have been completely abandoned and desolate. But I just don’t understand how overpopulation could destroy a planet like Titan which (I’m assuming) had at least some knowledge and interaction with the galactic community (considering Thanos left to conquer that community after his people died) and apparently didn’t benefit from those interactions enough to stop a problem that oil-powered human civilisation has today.
I mean, obviously Thanos’ solution to snap Titan was stupid, but did nobody offer a better solution? Did they never colonise another world, build superstructures for housing, heck, even freeze their people for future awakening?
The MCU is a world where a rainbow bridge can take one from pretty much anywhere to pretty much anywhere, where godly beings like Celestials exist (or at least existed), where neutron stars can be reignited by a dwarf, a raccoon, and a god, etc. In this crazy universe, Thanos says that *overpopulation* us still a problem??
That’s not even getting into the issue of the gravity thing. How did Titan’s gravity get weird? Overpopulation? Or was it that the gravity issue is what destroyed the planet? I feel like it was the gravity problem that caused the demise of Titan, and that Thanos is lying about the overpopulation problem, but that just feels wrong. It would undermine Thanos’ whole motivation and make him unsympathetic.
So, what killed Titan? Was it overpopulation? The gravity thing? If it was overpopulation, how? | 17 | Titan may have been a spacefaring civilization, but it might not have developed interstellar travel yet. Ecological disaster is gonna get you, if the only places you have to go are nearby barren rocks.
Which leads me to overpopulation. Too many people, consuming too many non-replenishable resources, can kill a planet. Climate change from things like depletion of ozone layer and too much CO2 in the atmosphere released from a technological civilization can cause a runaway effect. It frees up more greenhouse gasses trapped in permafrost or tied up in biotic systems, like marine plankton.
As the world warms, more warming agents are released, creating an ever-increasing positive feedback loop. The end of that road is the collapse of most food webs and most life. The people that depend on that life, which is everyone, then die off themselves.
The gravity problems may be due to Titan's particular brand of technology. Those big jack-shaped things in the sky seem to stay aloft due to some manipulation of gravity. That may have been part or all of the problem too - overuse of anti-gravity leading to global destruction. | 22 |
Will we ever get a probe or even better a human to the centre on the Earth? | If so what would we find there? Would loads of pressure be released causing mega eruptions or send the earth flying through the solar system like a burst balloon? | 19 | I work on camera systems that go on vehicles with depths ranging from 100 m to 4 km in the ocean... For 100 m, we get to work with nice easy materials like aluminum (6061 is popular for its corrosion resistance). For 4 km, we need pretty fancy pressure housings made out of a single titanium crystal (something like Ti-6-2-4-6). The pressure at this depth is around 40 MPa, and the temperature is a nice 3 degrees Celsius.
The pressure at the center of the earth is 350 *GPa*, and the temperature is probably 5000 C or more. There are no known or proposed materials which can stand up to these conditions. | 20 |
[LOTR] Why did Gandalf call the Fellowship of the Ring "fools" in "fly, you fools?" | Did Gandalf believe the Fellowship was not intelligent, at least during that moment? | 31 | They were standing there, staring at one of the very few entities on the planet as powerful as Gandalf himself. Essentially, they were facing down a fallen Archangel.
He was trying to convey that standing there, or trying to help, was dumb. There was nothing they would be able to do to help. Running meant a chance at life, and a chance at saving the world. Staying meant certain death.
He was telling them that running wasn't cowardice, it was *smart*. | 235 |
ELI5: What makes our sides hurt when we run? | 87 | Overusing intercostal muscles and not controlling the diaphragm when running. Intercostals and the diaphragm cramp easily when running because they're either not used or passively used all day. Consciously using you diaphragm can help. Not an expert just an athlete | 57 |
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Why do professors ignore letter of recommendation requests instead of just declining? | Is it a sign that they simply forgot to reply or missed my email, or is it that they just can't be bothered to reply at all if they aren't interested?
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**Edit:** When I make requests in the future, would it be appropriate to tack on "just a simple yes or no answer is fine" at the end of the email, to hint that I would appreciate even a very curt refusal rather than silence? | 173 | No, tacking that on would be passive aggressive.
And it's often because the email was lost in the neverending flood of other things, or because it's easier to ignore than deal with the response to a no.
Send a single, polite followup or ask them during office hours. If no response then, head elsewhere. | 182 |
My spark is gone | I recently had a realisation that whilst I enjoy the concept of a PhD, I really don’t enjoy the actual work. I’m in my first heard all I’ve done so far is work from home. I haven’t even physically met the people in my department or the other PhD students.
Try as they might, I simply can’t garner the same enthusiasm and spark for learning I had as an undergraduate student. Maybe it’s because I’ve had very limited social contact but I’m just not feeling it any more.
What should I do? | 154 | First question is whether this is likely to change with a return to being face to face?
The answer to that isn't necessarily straightforward though - a PhD is by its nature a pretty solitary thing. Having people around you in an office can make it a lot better though. Also, a PhD is less about learning, and more about developing techniques, gathering data, and doing research. So it might just be that your expectations were not going to match to reality.
If you're not feeling it then quit. There's no point forcing yourself through something as gruelling as a PhD if you're not enjoying it. | 70 |
ELI5: How is it that Aaron Sorkin could make movie about Mark Zuckerberg(The Social Network) and movie about Steve Jobs without the approval of the person or family and not get sued | 22 | You can't copyright facts about a person's life story. Mark Zuckerberg doesn't own the events of his life, they're things that happened. Steve Jobs' estate doesn't own the events of his life, they're things that happened. If Zuckerberg or the Jobs estate think that Sorkin is maliciously misrepresenting the facts, they can sue for defamation, libel, or slander, but Sorkin doesn't actually need approval to tell the stories. | 20 |
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We have microwaves to quickly heat up food or drinks - why don't we have a device to quickly cool something down in a similar manner? | I've always wondered why I can stick a cup of water in a microwave and heat it almost instantly, but the best I can do to cool it is stick it in the freezer for a while and wait for it to cool down. Why isn't there a device to do this more quickly? | 17 | There is a kitchen instrument called the blast chiller that will cool down foods very quickly. Creating cold takes much more energy than to create warmth as well, limiting the general appeal of such a product that would not be used much. | 19 |
[ATLA] Have there been Avatars in the past who have been under the control of groups like the red lotus ? | I was rewatching ATLA and LOK it made me wonder if there were avatars who were kidnapped or coerced into fighting four them. Would something like this even be possible? Love to hear your thoughts. | 42 | Probably not, as the avatar state makes it extremely difficult to hold one, and each avatar is probably less powerful than the world around them due to advancing technology. The ability to throw fire is a lot more impressive compared to a wooden spear then it is compared to a giant laser mech.
Plus, an avatar would possibly kill themselves if they were captured in order reincarnate.
Also, literally the entire world would probably be against you if you did capture the avatar. | 35 |
[SW ROTJ] If Jabba liked Captain Solo where he was why did he allow him to be defrosted and mess up his whole display piece set up? | 17 | If Jabba is anything, he is a self indulgent, hedonistic, sadistic bastard. Sure he would have been very happy having Han frozen in Carbonite for all eternity, but the moment he figured out that something was up and that Bounty Hunter with the therman detonator isn't who they claim to be, he wanted to see how things turned out and how he could cause them suffering for his enjoyment.
Frankly his plan of executing Han in the Sarlacc pit and having him know that Leia was now his slave, would have been immensely enjoyable to Jabba. | 25 |
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ELI5: how do bears manage to keep their muscles strong after hibernation? | I just thought of it because humans can barely walk after a lengthy coma | 101 | Nobody really knows, and it's only actually been quantified recently. Humans, as you noted, do lose strength relatively quickly, losing 54% of their strength in 90 days of bed rest, even with a well balanced diet. Bears on the other hand only lose 29% of their strength after 110 days of hibernation, so without any food intake whatsoever. These numbers come from a 2007 study reported in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. There is thought that it may be due to lowered body temperatures, slowed and altered metabolism, etc, but nobody really knows the answer. | 107 |
[Dc comics] How come people think Batman is a legend but then he appears publically when the JLA give conferences? | In many iterations, people talk about a "bat" man that does not exist at all. But in other issues we have the same man appearing next to the big 7.
In JLI run, Batman publically stops a terrorist. But then? They want to interview him. Years later, the bat is still considered an urban legend and he even scared off reporters who attempted to get a picture of him.
Also, isn't Batman in danger if his chin is so exposed? | 489 | > In many iterations, people talk about a "bat" man that does not exist at all. But in other issues we have the same man appearing next to the big 7.
I guess perhaps there's a disconnect between the two. On the one hand, you've got a guy who drives a space ship, lives on a space station, has a laser pointed at Earth, and helps respond to intergalactic threats and occasionally major terrorist atatcks. He happens to be called Batman.
On the other hand, you've got this... thing... vague bat-shaped, hunting criminals in the dark, leaving them strung up for cops in dark alleyways in Gotham. Some people say it's Batman from the Justice League, others say its a ninja, others say its not human at all. Who's to know? | 365 |
[Pulp fiction] Was Jules able to leave Marcellus Wallace's organization safely? | Was Jules able to leave Marcellus Wallace's organization safely? True, in the chronologically later episodes we no longer see him, but it could also be because he was killed.
Usually criminal organizations do not take the resignation of an affiliate well. | 18 | When Jules told Vincent he was quitting the life, Vincent didn't seem too concerned for his safety, just for him ending up a bum. Marcellus also appears to be the kind of person that if you do right by him, he'll do right by you. He even let Butch go when he saved his life. Jules is also very obviously not a wildcard and you wouldn't worry about him doing something rash and causing problems, so Marcellus can most definitely trust that Jules won't go out into the world and run his mouth or send problems back to the organization.
Pretty sure with the briefcase delivered, Marcellus would shake his hand and wish him well on his journey. | 55 |
How come metal sparks in the microwave yet the insides of microwaves are made out of metal? | 2,431 | Roughly: the microwaves induce an electrical potential in the object metal, this causes sparks as differences in the potential across the object metal causes arcs of electricity (especially with water vapour that may come from the cooking food). The side walls of the microwave are earthed, so any potential induced by the microwaves won't build any charge. | 811 |
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What actually is Critical Theory? | It seems like it’s become a buzzword recently but I very often hear conflicting politicised definitions. Upon doing a quick google of the term I can’t say I found a consistent or understandable (at least for me) definition.
It often seems to be used in the same breath as other buzzword like identity politics or neo-segregation but I still have no clue as to how much they relate.
The general gist from what I’ve gathered is that it seeks to criticise society based on underlying social systems and structures as a conflict between oppressed and oppressor.
But I feel I’m completely wrong on this definition and am not sure how to remedy my misunderstanding. Not to mention the added confusion caused by certain prefixes such as ‘postmodern critical theory’.
What actually is it? | 149 | Nope I'd say that's pretty good as an initial definition. But some context might help. In the first instance 'critical theory' was a school of thought that emerged in Germany in the 1930s in response to dissatisfaction with orthodox Marxism. Max Horkheimer and Theodore Adorno were early important figures here in the so-called 'Frankfurt School'. The argument was that orthodox Marxism had paid too narrow attention to economic issues and neglected culture (Antonio Gramsci in Italy took a rather similar view). This was why it had struggled to explain things like the willingness of the working class to divide up along national lines and fight for their countries in WW1 rather than show the kind of international solidarity that Marxism thought class consciousness would make clear to them was in their real interests. Another problem was the failure of the revolution to occur in the West, but had happened instead in Russia which was relatively economically underdeveloped and thus not ripe for the overthrow of capitalism (it hadn't even gone capitalist yet). So in many ways, critical theory began as a neo-Marxist critique of culture; Horkheimer and Adorno argued that oppression was deeply rooted in Western thought in Dialectic of Enlightenment, for example. Later figures like Jurgen Habermas from the 1960s onwards have added the problems of language to those of culture and have also moved in a more social democratic and less revolutionary direction while still retaining the desire to, as you put it, ' criticise society based on underlying social systems and structures '. There's a good but rather dense history by Martin Jay of the Frankfurt School. So see also Raymond Geuss, The Idea of a Critical Theory, for a short sympathetic introduction. Of course, critical theory, since it is broadly on the radical left, also has plenty of critics! But insofar as it is a critique of capitalism it can also sometimes line up, oddly enough, with certain varieties of conservative thought that dislike the rationalist reduction of society to market relations. See Michael Oakeshott as a case in point here. | 83 |
ELI5: If freezing generally damages tissue, how are we able to freeze human eggs and embryos for birth later? | 304 | An egg is literally a single cell that can instantly freeze. This limits the damage that ice crystal formation does.
Tissues are vastly more complex and therefore vastly more susceptible to damage with way more points of failure. | 293 |
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I believe that a woman who has gone through an abortion(s) cannot justifiably be anti-choice. CMV! | Recently, I have heard a lot about the abortion debate following the Texas legislation that was passed. I have seen several comments and statements from women saying that they once had an abortion but are now anti-choice. This argument simply boggles my mind.
I understand if the person disagrees with abortion in and of itself (maybe she regretted doing it after the fact, changed her mind, etc.) for her personally. In the future, this woman would therefore make a different choice if faced with an unwanted pregnancy. But the key element there is the choice. The woman's ability to choose in the past allowed her to escape a difficult or impossible situation. If she made that choice in the past, she can more easlity understand why that same option would be necesarry for another woman. I disagree that she could now justifiably oppose another woman's right to make the same choice that she did, especially if she herself benefitted from that same ability to choose. It seems to me that people holding this view only want women to have a choice concerning their body if they themselves are in need of having that option. I see it as taking advantage of the ability to choose, but once that choice is no longer seen as needed, not allowing anyone else to have it. It seems a bit selfish, IMO.
I do not mean for this post to start a pro/anti-choice debate, simply a discussion over whether this attitude is justifiable. I really would like to be able to understand and respect these individuals' opinions. Help me see what they see and CMV.
**EDIT: Thank you, people of CMV! I'm now realizing how ignorant I had been of all the reasons a person could change their feelings on the issue, as well as the varied opinions that could result.** | 20 | While you're correct that if someone performs an act that they themselves oppose, they are being a hypocrite, being a hypocrite does not mean that someone is wrong or that their stance is less valid (it's also tu quoque to make that argument).
For example, someone can make a completely sound and reasoned argument as to why smoking is bad, but be a smoker themself. It doesn't make their argument wrong or weaker...it just means they aren't strong enough to follow it. Similarly, you could talk to a murderer in prison, and he can validly tell you that he thinks murder is bad, even though he committed it. It could even be argued that the fact that he committed it *strengthens* his claim about how bad it is, because he is someone with firsthand experience, unlike most people who condemn it. | 16 |
CMV: I am a Democratic Socialist and an Anti-Capitalist | I believe that democratic socialism is the best ideology for a country to possess. It's politics and programs should be revolved around it. Capitalism doesn't work, and therefore I oppose it.
* Democratic Socialism frees the people from the capitalist enslavement.
* Socialism gives everyone an equal opportunity in live, whatever you're poor or rich.
* Socialism treats everyone like human beings, instead of consumers like capitalism does.
* Socialism's only goal and motive is the well being off the masses, instead of profits like capitalism.
I have seen the horrors of capitalism. It enslaves people with low salaries and rough working conditions. By having profits as it's priority it treats people like consumers. It makes the ideology morally bankrupt. For example: Private health care will have profits as it's goal. It will therefore charge people so that they can be healthy, and doesn't care if the consumer is dying or not. Capitalism makes it right for companies to get a profit off of what people need. Capitalism therefore believes that only those with money are those that matter to society, and everyone else are mere slaves.
Socialism treats people as human beings. It's main goal is the betterment of people, and not profits. Therefore health care doesn't care about how full your wallet is, it cares about treating you and making you healthy again. Therefore everyone gets a place in society. Everyone is treated as equal, and as human beings.
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> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 16 | The problem with your stance is that your chosen system removes the only thing that has ever worked with human beings - the incentive system.
To refute a specific point-
>Capitalism therefore believes that only those with money are those that matter to society, and everyone else are mere slaves.
This is incorrect. Capitalism "believes" that the rewards of society should be seen as a motivating goal to keep people productive.
| 18 |
CMV: The system of Significant Figures that we use in most sciences is an inherently flawed system. | As we learn in science classes, it is important to know the precision of our measurements, and it is important to know the difference between exact numbers and measured numbers. The scientific world keeps track of numerical precision through a system called "significant figures". Some classes beat students senseless with this system. I was in one such class.
My school recently adopted a policy that the first unit of every science course has to be about metrics and significant figures. If you're not familiar with Significant Figures, here's a basic summary:
* All non-zero digits are significant.
* Trailing zeros in an integer (no decimal place) measurement are just place holders and are not significant.
* Leading zeros are also place holders and aren't significant.
* Trailing zeros following the decimal point and zeros between digits are significant.
* In scientific notation, all digits before the multiplication sign are significant.
All measured numbers have a certain number of "significant" digits. Numbers with more "significant" digits are said to be more precise. This seems idiotic to me. I understand that precision itself is an extremely thing to keep track of, but as far as I can tell, this system is flawed. I will try to articulate why I believe this through a typical use case.
A student takes out a yardstick that is equally precise with all numbers. That is, any measurement taken with this stick is exactly as precise as any other measurement. This student measures a 1-inch long paper clip. Then, he or she measures a 12-inch long textbook. It seems obvious to me that since these two measurements were done with the same yardstick, they are equally precise. But according to Significant Figures, the textbook measurement is more precise than the paperclip measurement! It baffles my mind that this is the case.
No one has explained to me how it is fair that a double-digit number is nearly always inherently more precise than single-digit number. It's totally possible that this is a problem with my scientific education, and if that's the case, please enlighten me.
EDIT: View has been changed. Thanks everyone.
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> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 16 | There's two relevant factors you want to look at. One is the percent that a measurement is off by, the other is the absolute amount.
If the measurement is 1.1 mm, it can be off by as much as 0.1 mm, or 10% of the length. On the other hand, if it is 1000.1 mm, it can only be off by 0.01%, even if the absolute error is the same at 0.1 mm.
Both are important, but significant figures deals with the percent error, not the absolute. | 24 |
Is there actually a solution to the twin paradox? | All the ones I've come across assume that the twin on the rocket is the one changing velocity, (accelerating) which breaks the symmetry, causing him to come back younger. The whole point of relativity is that there are no preferred frames of motion. (each twin would have the same right to claim that it's the other one who is accelerating) In general relativity it's not only the apple that falls to the earth, but the earth that falls to the apple. Both points of view are equally valid. To have it simplified, substitute the twins with two objects in empty space that break apart and come back together again. There is nothing else in that universe for these objects to move relative to so what's to decide if one object's acceleration was any more real than the other? | 3,085 | It is not really a paradox. It just appears to be one, but on a closer look there is nothing paradoxical about it. It just doesn't follow our everyday intuition formed at low relative velocities.
> In general relativity it's not only the apple that falls to the earth, but the earth that falls to the apple. Both points of view are equally valid.
They are different. One is an inertial frame (following the apple), one is not (following Earth).
Acceleration is absolute. Everyone agrees who accelerates relative to an inertial frame and who does not. | 1,812 |
[Power Rangers] Why do Rita, Zedd, Divatox, et al only create one monster at a time? Surely they'd have better luck if they made an army? | Also, imagine if the monsters were teamed up so that they had synergy with each other. | 29 | The bad guys only have so much ninjitsu they can shove into their monsters at any one time. If they made two monsters, then each of those monsters would only be half as effective as a single monster. Spread out that ninjitsu too thin and you've basically turned your monsters into fancy-looking mooks. | 35 |
[Warhammer 40K] How fast is warp travel? | Ideally, I would like to know how long it would take for a vessel with a good warp drive to cross the galaxy. | 31 | It seems random, honestly. The ships have to ride the waves of psychic energy like a ship in a storm. Some voyages cross the galaxy in weeks (such as when Chaos had the aid of the Gods) and some ships become permanently stranded (again, if the Gods see fit, like when Nurgle struck down the Death Guard). Best case scenario, weeks. Average circumstances, several years. | 26 |
[Portal] How did Aperture stay in business for so long? | Even if you remove the truly insane death toll from their seriously dangerous, unethical, and possibly illegal experiments on humans, they still had to deal with the fact that, in no particular order:
* They continually failed to turn over any profits from their inventions and products,
* They were in blatant violation of ***at least*** 1000 different OSHA regulations,
* They ignored any sort of laws or ethics,
* the United States government denied them funding in favor of Black Mesa, (probably not just because of the whole "missing astronauts" fiasco)
* They squandered their money on pointless pet projects,
* They perpetually misapplied knowledge gained from their experiments, and
* They all-around just plain lacked any sort of common sense.
So, with all that in mind, how did they stay afloat until GLaDOS gassed them all to death? | 15 | Through the Perpetual Testing Initiative Aperture Labs discovered an alternate universe literally made of money. All USD too. None of that peso crap. Less fortunate versions of Aperture got their money from Cave Johnsons vast real estate empire and a handful of U.S defense contracts throughout the 50s and early 60s. | 33 |
ELI5: What does it mean when a scientist says ‘per second per second’? | 33 | It means that the rate of change itself changes.
"meters per second" is speed - the rate of change of an object's position. "meters per second per second" (m/s^(2)) means the rate of change of the object's speed, i.e. acceleration.
If a car is accelerating at 10 meters per second per second then it means that every second, its speed gets 10 m/s faster. | 55 |
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ELI5: Why does a deep scrape on elbows/knees/shins stay white for a period of time before bleeding? | Say when you dive into a pool and scrape your knee on the bottom, why does it stay white without much blood for around 30 seconds before properly bleeding? | 259 | This is because initially after an injury, blood vessels contract in order to minimise blood loss. They increase again in diameter later to facilitate healing and the movement of specialised cells and materials towards the site of injury. You can see this contraction and subsequent dilation of blood vessels anywhere; try scratching your arm with your nail (don't cut yourself!) and you'll see that your skin will become pale initially, then redden. | 138 |
If a knife cuts your finger, what is stimulating your pain receptors once the knife is gone (after the cut has been made)? | Obviously, a cut still hurts long after your skin is first broken, and I am wondering why this is. Are nociceptors just programmed to keep firing for a specified time after receiving a strong stimulus? | 422 | Cell damage is one of the big ones.
When a cell pops open, it releases stuff (e.g., endothelin, bradykinins) that shouldn't be outside of the cell. This stuff hangs around and causes pain.
Another factor is the arachidonic acid pathways. In response to damage, cells will start to convert membrane lipids into things eicosanoids. These are a class of molecules that do a lot of things to regulate the injury response. One of these things is cause pain (they also help stop blood loss and recruit inflammatory cells to the area). The "function" of the pain is to let you know you are injured and keep you from messing with it (and thereby worsening the injury).
As an aside, it's these pathways that are partially blocked by NSAIDs like aspirin and ibuprofen. | 466 |
[Escape from New York/LA] What event specifically caused Snake Plissken to go from war veteran to hardened criminal-turned anti-hero? | There were many ideas presented like distrust of the government after the Leningrad Ruse or his parents dying at the hands of the US police force, but what really broke him into the badass in the movies?
Also, being a veteran, could he have been eligible for government programs to help him get legit jobs, or did that collapse when the crime rates shot up? | 25 | Snake lives in a world without good guys. In his universe, crime rates continued to skyrockets in the 1980s and 90s rather than decline. This prompted ever more authoritarian politicians getting elected with "tough on crime" platforms, legitimizing an aggressive, militarized police force.
This also led to an increasingly hardline foreign policy; the new Congress and President didn't have much room for nuance, since they were elected solely to beat bad guys. With no room for nuance in their views, they saw everyone as bad guys. They were excessively confrontational with the Soviet Union, to the point that they they were willing to create false flag attacks to justify war with the Soviets.
Snake was recruited for missions like this. In the wake of WWIII and his work, he lost all faith in the US government. Unfortunately, there's no non-corrupt alternative. The state governments have been subordinated entirely to the federal, and local police are corrupt and militarized.
Snake is still an American soldier, but there's no America left for him to serve.
By the time of his service, there were no programs left to help veterans. Empowering veterans wasn't in the federal government's interest. It's much easier to discard them. That leaves them only the choices of homelessness, recruitment into the military police, or joining private military contractors. These all suit the government; they don't want highly trained private citizens operating outside the influence of the state. | 23 |
How do European drug manufacturers make a profit? | I was reading up on US drug manufacturers with U&C pricing, PBMs, insurance, patents, and the like, and even though all that what I couldn't wrap my head around was how EU drug manufacturers make profit with, and I could be wrong on this fact, their government setting a cap on drug prices.
Wouldn't a market cap disincentivize R&D? Or at least limit it?
Or can EU manufacturers simply copy what US R&D produces and use the formula and create a new patent in the EU?
I have no idea how patents work over international borders and I could be very underinformed about the process so feel free to correct me on any and all points made! | 58 | Drug companies patent things everywhere and sell globally. US is the biggest market so thats where drug companies make the most money regardless of nationality. There are different patent rules around the world so they have different monopoly timings, but as said Drug companies sell on every market regardless of where the company has its headquarters, therefore the nationality of a drug company does not really matter. | 41 |
CMV: Miley Cyrus should not be judged for her lewd or edgy behavior. | I was prompted to post this after seeing a different post about Miley Cyrus being slutty on stage that hit the front page of Reddit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/56sj86/miley_loves_her_fans_xpost_from_ronstagegw/
She certainly was being slutty on stage, sure, but I don't see why that's a problem at all. I responded to a few of the comments in the other post because a lot of them bothered me, but mine were buried (the post had over 1000 comments). Basically, it seemed like a significant portion of the comments were slamming Miley Cyrus for being a whore, throwing away her talent, etc. because of the way she chooses to perform on stage. I really couldn't believe it as I was scrolling through the comments, because Reddit tends to (on average) be more open minded than most places. And I don't see how what she is doing is any different from what countless other musicians have done in the past.
So yeah, Miley Cyrus did a 180 from an innocent/pure seeming child star to more of a "sex and drugs and rock and roll" type persona. But so what? If you look at the history of music (specifically rock in the last 7 or so decades), nothing she has done is unprecedented. People thought Elvis was offensive when he first arrived on the scene, and edginess and shock value has been an integral part of music ever since (arguably even before Elvis). I quoted this scene from "Freaks and Geeks" in the other post because it seemed extremely applicable to this discussion. It's two parents and their children (set in 1980) discussing the Sex Pistols.
Mr. Weir (Joe Flaherty): You know those Sex Pistols? They spit on their audience.
Mrs. Weir: Oh, that’s terrible.
Mr. Weir: Yep, that’s what I want to do. Spend my hard-earned money to be spit on. Now that’s entertainment.
Lindsay: Oh come on, Dad. Every generation is afraid of the music that comes from the next. I’m sure your parents hated Elvis.
Mr. Weir: Elvis didn’t expectorate on his fans.
Sam: No. But he died on the toilet.
Mr. Weir: Well, that’s paradise compared to where those Sex Pistols are gonna end up.
And if you somehow don't think spitting on your fans (which the Sex Pistols did almost 40 years ago, when people were MORE conservative overall) is as crude or shocking as what Miley is doing, how about Ozzy biting the head off of a bat? Is it a gender difference? Tons of male rock artists/bands have performed incredibly sexualized or shock value based acts, how is this any worse?
I honestly don't listen to or particularly enjoy any of Miley Cyrus's music. It's not my thing, and that's okay. But it's clear that she can sing well. And even if she couldn't, there are plenty of famous artists who can't sing well but are still popular and not as maligned as she is. Everyone has different tastes. So it seems ridiculous to insult her for doing the same stuff musicians have been doing for literally decades. Even if you ignore every male artist and band in music history, lots of her contemporaries (Lady Gaga, Rihanna) have done stuff that's similarly sexual in nature, but they don't get roasted for it as much. Maybe because she used to be a child star, so people are holding her to different standards? But isn't it her right to do as she wants now that she's an adult? After being raised as Hannah Montana by a combination of Billy Ray Cyrus and Disney (both of whom had a vested interest in her being ultra conservative and portrayed as an innocent, pure girl), I'm not surprised she has taken to rebelling in some fashion. Most teens or young adults in situations like that end up rebelling to some extent. And she hasn't done anything that hurts or negatively impacts ANYONE else as far as I'm aware AT ALL (certainly she's killed less bats than Ozzy). It's like she's literally being attacked for embracing her sexuality and acting sexual on stage, and I really thought that as a society we were done demonizing that sort of thing.
So yeah, I think Miley Cyrus gets a ton of unwarranted crap from people who judge her for the same stuff other artists have been doing for decades. So change my view.
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> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 16 | I think the point of her persona that is probably an act NEEDS to be judged to become successful. You don't get to enjoy the fame that comes with the behavior without attracting those who want the same sort of attention. She wants to be judged, needs it. Otherwise she wouldn't be posting what many consider to be smut all over for public consumption. | 10 |
[Dc/Marvel] What are some purely offensive uses of teleportation powers or other uses of a teleportation power that's never explored or that they could theoretically do with their powers? | 34 | Nightcrawler's teleportation puts a lot of pressure on you. He's been known to grab someone and port with them multiple times to knock them out (he himself is used to it).
An alternate version of him once teleported someone's head off, so the regular Nightcrawler could presumably do that if he wasn't a nice guy. | 42 |
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ELI5: Why does it take so long to transfer files across hard drives? | I know certain things can contribute to speed. But I'm curious, why should 50GB of data take hours to transfer, when 1GB only takes a few seconds? | 32 | okay.. this is the correct answer..
a single file moves much differently then a bunch of files.. a one gig file will move immensely more faster then 100 different 10 meg files
same goes for a 1 gig file and 50 1 gig files or even one 50 gig file that is spread across multiple sectors on the harddrive making up smaller pieces much like smaller files.
when you start copying a file the read head has to take time to locate the file, find and read various bits of the drive that tell it where your one large file sstarts and where it ends. this all takes time.. reading the file is no big deal if it is all on one place but if it is scattered around the drive in different places then it will take even more time to find everything and read it all.
so reguardless of read time, needing to check the drive to locate files upwards of 50,000 times for a 50 gig file.. and checking for that file takes .5 seconds or so that could potentially be 6 hours of wasted time locating files.
so for larger files or many more files the harddrive has to locate all these bits and pieces (which arguably is the longest time wasting process) and then go from one part of the drive to the other back and fourth copying data ..
1gig file
1) locate - takes time
2) read- at your max read speed
many smaller files attributing to 50 gigs
1) locate piece
2) read piece
3) find another piece
4) read piece
5) find another piece
6) read piece
repeat for hours..
thats the biggest reason why ssd's are much faster, there is no read time delay shaving minutes and hours off of read times achieving 50X performance
If your computer has a defragmentation program, run it.. NOW.. defraging organizes all these pieces so that they are next to eachother making up a larger folder or file
| 16 |
[Mad Max] Why does Max seem inclined to constantly wander the apocalyptic wilderness, instead of settling down in one of the decent-by-comparison communities that he runs across? Sorry if it's something to do with his character archetype that totally goes over my head | 405 | He is haunted by the death of his family. He wants to stay alive but also wants to avoid attachment. The cop in him still wants to help when he can, but he tries to avoid those situations. The movies we see are just when he gets caught up in helping. | 540 |
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Eli5: Why are human bites so nasty? I know there are lots of germs in the mouth, but how can they be so much more dangerous than most animal bites? | 15 | Simple: the bacteria and viruses (mostly bacteria) that live in your mouth are pre-adapted to living in humans, and only *some* of the germs in, say, a dog’s mouth can cross the species barrier. The end result is that even though we have about the same amount of germs in our mouths as animals do, the amount of *infectious* germs is far higher.
Still get checked if an animal bit you. Tetanus and rabies are not jokes. | 37 |
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[Harry Potter] What happened to Fred’s hand on the Weasley clock? | Mrs. Weasley’s clock showed everyone’s current status; (Home, Traveling, etc)…. after he died during the Battle of Hogwarts, did the hand disappear? Did it stick around as a grim reminder until it was fixed to be removed? | 499 | There is no canon answer for this. Presumably the hand is still stuck on school or mortal peril. There is an argument for the hand moving to home because we know that the afterlife is a definitive thing in the Harry Potter universe (although we don't know what form it takes, we do know that it exists). However such an argument is not particularly strong given the lack of evidence. | 299 |
CMV: Limits on who can run for office are really limits on who voters are allowed to vote for. | I live in The States, but this probably applies elsewhere.
I believe it sets a poor precedent that the government is allowed to set limitations on who may be voted into office. Democracy is based on the idea that people should be allowed to choose who leads them, and restricting those choices is useless and undemocratic. The only time a law that restricts the candidacy could even come into play is when the majority is willing to vote for an illegal candidate, which means the only possible scenario is one where voters cannot have the president they want.
Change my view.
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> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 76 | The only limits in the US on who can run for office are citizenship, area of residence for local positions, and age for congress and president. (Edit: and criminal history as mentioned by another poster.)
Do you think that an elected official shouldn't have to reside in the region that he or she is representing?
Do you think that an elected official shouldn't have to be a legal adult?
*Edit: Do you think that it's okay for convicted felons to be elected representatives? (Would you also remove the restriction on convicted felons voting in that case?)*
You already mentioned that you do agree with the citizenship requirement. | 15 |
ELI5: Why did older cartoons always have ‘xx’ on the label of something like a beer or the like? | I may be misremembering but was it just Looney Tunes cartoons or was it a blanket theme? | 34 | A blanket theme. When alcohol, like moonshine, was distilled they placed an "X" on the side of the bottle after each distillation. "XXX" is meant it was distilled three times and would have been smoother and higher in alcohol content | 79 |
[Fairly Oddparents] The fairies had all the magic in the universe, and can turn into anything. Why can't they change their color to others besides magenta and green? | 27 | They can!
In fact their most recognizable form are two gold fish who look completely normal except for the eyes.
Cosmo and Wanda probably just turn into colour coded objects for their godparents to make it easier for them to find them. | 44 |
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[Game of Thrones] Had Robb been informed of House Bolton or House Frey's treason, could he have won the war? | Assuming of course that either:
A) At Harrenhal, Brienne decides to warn the Starks of Roose's new friendship with Tywin and refusal to send Jaime back to Robb (via undetected raven)
B) Messages between Tywin and Walder Frey reassuring recompense for the Red Wedding plot are intercepted by someone loyal to the North (or say, Littlefinger who wants to save Cat)
Do either of these play out better for Robb than the established plot? | 59 | Probably not. We're told that the Stark army is running on fumes through the show and it's only Robb's (and Roose's) tactical genius that is allowing them to punch above their expected weight (and also that the North is like *really* hard to invade). Roose flips because he sees the writing on the wall and doesn't like that Robb won't play politics to win the war. Here is probably what happens
A) Robb gets the letter warning of Roose's betrayal. Robb confronts Roose. Roose either convinces Robb that the letter is a trap designed by the Lannisters (and then the story plays out as usual) or Robb kills Roose. Roose's Bannermen go home and Robb is left with even fewer troops and the loss of a good general (this doesn't even take into account Ramsey). Robb doesn't have the army to march South. The Lannisters use their perceived wealth and the Tyrell's food surplus to marshal their forces and eventually crush the North. Only caveat is that if this takes too long and Tywin is killed then maybe the Cersei's invasion goes poorly. Robb isn't going to bend the knee to either Dany or Stannis, meaning neither are as willing to support the North's defense against the dead.
B) Different path, same results. Robb was allying with the Frey's to get access to their lands (a huge strategic point) and their troops (who, IIRC, were the only neutral power of note left). Even if they dodge the Red Wedding, they still don't have the troops needed to take the fight to King's landing. Frey allies with the Tyrells. Above plays out as before. | 33 |
How do almost extinct species revive without the damaging effects of inbreeding? | I've heard a few stories about how some species have been brought back to vibrancy despite the population of the species being very low, sometimes down to the double digits. If the number of remaining animals in a species decreases to these dramatically low numbers, how do scientists prevent the very small remaining gene pool from being damaged by inbreeding when revitalizing the population? | 6,074 | Inbreeding makes the passing on of deleterious genes more likely, not a certainty. The subsequent generations are still under the same evolutionary pressure, where genes with a net negative result are still selected against. | 3,460 |
ELI5: Why don't video games come out when they're finished? | Fallout 4 and every other game I want makes me ask this question everytime.
-When I mean "finished" I'm referring to the content on the game copies sent to stores and what is pre-downloaded through steam or xbox live. Not day 1 patches. The stores have the copies. The marketing for Fallout 4 or Halo 5 was well completed before these games hit the shelves. Is it common courtesy to come out on Tuesday and never any other day or is it due to some places wont be shipped the game until "launch" day so they have it fair for everyone? | 17 | It is impossible to make any software absolutely perfect. Development is a very long process and releases are timed with an estimate on when it will be done and coordinated with marketting.
Would you rather every game be delayed at the last minute because a clipboard animates like a shield? | 22 |
Knighthood. To me the UK's whole concept of "knighting" and the "Sir" title etc in today's world is simply a disgusting and ridiculous version of a modern-day popularity contest, and I really have a hard time trying to respect it at all. CMV | As you can probably guess I am American. It's (very) arguable that our forefathers had the exact same viewpoint I do, which could be one of the many reasons they wanted to be independent of Britain. I understand there is actually a passage in our constitution that forbids an American citizen from having or formally being recognized with such a title. (Correct my wording as applicable please)
I am not proud of my viewpoint, being it's one of the only ignorant-sounding ones I hold. I am definitely open to hearing good reasons why I am completely wrong about this, and that knighthood and other similar nobility-type customs actually have business exisiting in 2013 where we are supposedly all equals. While possibly not it's intention, the idea of being knighted or otherwise labeled as nobility, sure gives off the impression they are "superior" or "better" than the average "commoner" which is all the rest of us.
Please educate me and CMV! | 17 | Define respect. Its as respectable as Christmas; its has absurd nonsense orgins, but someone giving you a gift doesn't mean that they are a pagan who will be killing sheep because the moon is in the right place in the sky. *Cult*ure is silly but its just part of every part of society. | 13 |
ELI5: why are people upset over red starbucks cup? | 23 | It's part of a larger "War on Christmas" argument that get's brought up every year. Over the last several years, companies have done different things to make the holiday season more inclusive for everyone. The big one was getting workers to say "Happy Holidays" to customers instead of "Merry Christmas" since not everyone celebrates Christmas. This pissed a lot of people off who viewed this change as trying to get rid of Christmas. The red Starbucks cup is seen as another example of that. Usually, Starbucks changes their white cups to red around this time of year and it usually has some sort of wintery or Christmasy design on it. This year, it's just solid red and Starbucks has been accused of taking Christmas off of their cups. | 38 |
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[Batman] How does Batman feel when a police officer is forced to use deadly force? | Does he blame himself for not being there? What does he say to the cop? | 22 | Batman only holds killing against those who are powerful enough to do it as an option. A scared police officer fighting for his life is not abusing his power, his authority, or going beyond the justice system.
Superman killing a criminal is a very different thing, as he was under no threat whatsoever and the killing was completely optional. | 33 |
ELI5: Why does it feel so good to "crack" my neck? | It doesn't just feel good physically, but also makes me feel relaxed and almost like I've taken a very short lasting drug. | 429 | It's likely that you've gotten used to the feeling of air bubbles within but it feels better if they aren't present (ie. They would cause discomfort if you weren't already desensitized). That's why it feels better when you pop them ("cracking" your neck). | 78 |
Native American Philosophy | Hello, if there is one definitive text in Native American philosophy, what is it? And if no such choice exists, are there any legitimate contenders? Thank you. | 42 | I always recommend " The Stones Shall Cry Out" by George Tinker as a first step. It highlights the issue of even starting to compare Indian philosophy with "Western" philosophy rather clearly.
From there, I'd recommend reading *God is Red* and *American Indian Literary Nationalism* before moving on to actual Indian stories, like the collection by Zitkála-Šá.
Edit to add: There is no definitive text, largely because Indians are not a single unified entity despite colonial propaganda to the contrary. | 28 |
Why are free neutrons unstable? | Neutrons that are not part of a nucleus but just kind of floating around by themselves are unstable and undergo beta decay with a half life around 15 minutes. Do we know why they are unstable? What is making them decay?
What keeps them from decaying when they are in the nucleus of an atom? Why are free protons, by contrast, (essentially) stable?
Thanks. | 29 | Protons are slightly less massive (and therefore, energetic) then neutrons, and a neutron can turn into a proton by beta decay. Because the higher energy neutron can turn into the lower energy proton, it eventually does.
A proton can't spontaneously decay into a neutron by inverse beta decay because the neutron has higher mass. In an atom, however, the mass is also determined by the energy that binds the protons and neutrons together, so in this case neutrons can be stable or protons unstable. | 13 |
How to get better at Asking Questions? | I am a PhD student in the computer science field. And I've just been wondering... What's a good way at getting better at asking questions? Or better at formulating them?
I've noticed one thing that really sets apart an academic is the questions and type of questions they ask during a guest lecturer or seminar.
I can't help but marvel at the eloquence, structure, and delivery from some of the senior profs.
It's one thing to ask insightful questions, but another on the delivery of it.
Sometimes I find myself having the same questions for a speaker, but the way I formulated it might be off or I am not quite getting the response I was looking for.. and someone else asks it and immediately I recognize it to be much better...
Others with thoughts on this? | 81 | Practice and experience. Usually, the people who sound "eloquent" are just using the precise terminology for their field, which is something that comes from spending a lot of time working in that field and becoming very familiar with it. Once you have a strong working vocabulary it becomes much easier to be more concise and precise with your questions.
Also... don't worry about it too much. Focus on asking good questions that help you learn something about the subject at hand, and don't worry about how it comes out. If you're lucky, you can get the real prize which is a topic for a follow-up discussion with that presenter after their talk, in other words a networking opportunity. | 56 |
Why is it bad for someone who has a concussion to fall asleep? | 41 | A possible complication of a concussion is a brain bleed. They keep you overnight at the hospital to make sure that this doesn't happen. It's not exactly bad for you to sleep on a concussion, but it is bad to sleep if your brain is bleeding. Because you might not wake up. | 15 |
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ELI5: What exactly happens when an animal imprints on a human? Does it understand that its new "mother" is not the same species? | 150 | For true imprinting, they won't recognize their own species later on. You'll run into this a lot of rehab facilities where human-raised wildlife imprinted as babies and then can't integrate into a flock/herd/whatever. They won't be successful at breeding or parenting. There are other animals that become socialized and tamed so they don't see humans as a threat, but still recognize fellow animals. A local wildlife rehab has a kestrel that was very socialized to humans and caught because he kept hanging around parks and visiting people who were picnicking. However, when they put baby kestrels in with him, he recognized them as familiar and began to feed and preen them, so he isn't considered imprinted. | 33 |
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[Star Wars ROTS] Why didn't Grievous just let the hundreds of Battle Droids in the hanger all pointing their weapons at Obi Wan shoot him when he jumped down and made his big grandstanding entrance in front of him? | It would have been the logical thing to do and Obi Wan was an arsehole for thinking anything else other than that would happen. | 117 | Yeah, sure, then Obi-Wan jumps back up into the rafters while Grievous' army shreds itself (and *him*, since he was standing there too) to pieces. He knows the quality of his droids, and he does *not* trust them to fire their blasters in any direction that includes him. | 301 |
CMV: The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best Christmas movie ever made. | A shocking claim, perhaps? Here is my evidence:
-Michael Caine in one of the most auspicious performances of his career
-A song from the theatrical version called "The Love is Gone", wherein Belle breaks young Scrooge's heart as old Scrooge watches in despair
-The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens
-Consistently amazing songs and instrumentals
-Miss Piggy and Kermit give a tearjerking performance as the Cratchits
-Scrooge's bookkeepers complain that their assets are frozen.
Reasons it is better than other selected Christmas movies:
-Miracle on 34th street is super cheesy
-A Christmas Story lacks the emotional punch of MCC
-Bad Santa, while a good movie, can't be enjoyed by younger audiences, and isn't family an intregral part of Christmas?
-The Santa Claus is pretty good, but is depressing for most of the movie (custody battles, questions of sanity, child abuse)
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> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 164 | Die Hard is perhaps the greatest action movie of all time, still holds up completely 27 years later and led to a flood of imitators trying to recreate the magic of the best Christmas film of all time. | 81 |
[Fairly OddParents!] is Dino Dads meat vision technically vegan? | I mean they were made by his eyes and didn’t come from the corpse of an animal so could vegans eat it | 17 | No, whenever he uses it nearby farm animals start disappearing piece by piece. It's pretty messed up actually. The show doesn't really cover it, but they go into a lot of detail in the novels.
But actually though, scientists are working on lab-grown meat that is chemically indistinguishable from the real thing. Some vegans say they'd be down to eat it, others say they wouldn't. Mostly depends what their reasons are for being a vegan. | 18 |
What’s special about hypersonic speeds? | I understand that characteristics of airflow change when it becomes super sonic (Mach 1), but what is special about specifically 5 times that speed? Is it just that just a human label or is there a physical phenomenon at Mach 5? | 2,321 | Hypersonics are conveniently defined as any speed above Mach 5, because around Mach 5 a lot of engineering problems change their form.
At supersonic speeds, you can quite easily maintain subsonic combustion (a shock cone or ramp intake will do much of this, check Concorde's intakes which are well documented) for a conventional turbine-based engine.
Your airframe will experience drag heating from skin friction, but this again can be solved using titanium, ceramics, carbon, etc.
Flight controls can be conventional control surfaces, so long as you take into account things like aileron reversal.
As we approach hypersonic velocities, all this starts to change. Subsonic combustion becomes impractical, it causes too much drag, so you need to either not intake oxygen (e.g. a rocket) or do your combustion supersonic (e.g. scramjet).
Airframe heating is more intense, but that's manageable (orbital craft re-enter way, way faster than mach 5), what changes is that the leading edge is now exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS), oxygen plasmas, atomic oxygen, ionised oxygen. Oxygen attacks metal just sat in the open, ROS are types of oxygen turned up to 11: Atomic oxygen can oxidise fluorides. Coming back from orbit, we can use disposable ablative heat shields, and large blunt-bodies to push the shock back. In flight we can't do this if we want to remain flying very long.
Flight controls are different too. If you actuate an elevator, you lose your elevator and empennage, so your turn radius is extremely large. Hypersonic craft get their lift from inertia (ballistics) as much as from the air, and from the air it's less wings as much as lifting bodies.
This is partly the sheer speed of oncoming air, and partly your enormous inertial momentum. You go in a straight line, which becomes a ballistic trajectory at hypersonic speeds, aerodynamic flight is a secondary concern.
So in summary, hypersonics are where the engineering challenges change substantially, and it's conventionally accepted to be around mach 5 where those challenges are the primary ones. | 3,493 |
ELI5: Why does the sweat from the armpit smell worse than sweat from any other part of the body? | 23 | Armpits have **apocrine sweat glands**. These differ from sweat glands elsewhere on the body because they secrete oils in addition to sweat. The oils are then broken down for energy by bacteria on the skin, and the byproducts produce body odor. It's also thought that armpit hair helps spread the odorous chemicals into the air. | 12 |
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[40K] Why are Titans walkers? | Walkers aren't the best option, because of the weak joints they have and I think they're slower than equivalent tracked vehicles. They also have slimmer profile and can be position into a hull down position (like that would help... The digging sites for Titan equivalent vehicles would be massive). | 67 | Its because they are the best option for their size, and given the availabke technology, they are both faster and can operate in more terrain than treaded vehicles.
At smaller sized tracked vehicles make more sense, but titans are massive on a different scale, and at their size, anything but lega stop making sense | 46 |
Why do people pace back and forth when they're thinking really hard about something? | I know I do this, and I start doing it without even thinking about it. Does it help you concentrate somehow? | 82 | I don't know if there is any literature on the subject out there, but one possible reason may be less about thinking and more of a physiological response to the stress or anxiety that comes along with it. We tend to use rocking or rhythmic patterns when trying to regulate. (You can look into research on stress regulation methods)
So it's not you think better, it helps you calm down which lets you think better. | 19 |
[X-Men] Why is the X-gene responsible for so many wildly different powers? | 58 | I don't believe this is ever explored in a canon way, but there is a fan theory that explains this. It says that the X gene really gives everyone the same power - reality warping. Its how this reality warping *manifests* that gives them their power. Wolverine subconsciously warps reality so that he regenerates, Storm warps it to create weather, etc. | 56 |
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CMV: most new genders and gender labels are not productive to have in the long run |
Right now US, and in lesser extent other western countries, cultural and social complexes are centred around “identity”. Knowing to what group you belong and what name you give to that group is very important for your personal identity. Delineations of Identity are thus very important, and things like racial categories and gender categories become very important to define and identify with.
I understand how making a new gender can benefit the people who don’t feel like the other genders there are. But to me, this only makes sense in a cultural complex where identity groups are very important.
In this cishet society it makes sense to create another gender if you don’t feel at home.
But in the bigger picture, why the emphasis on gender? Shouldnt the better course of action be to let biological sex be biological sex. And then to let everyone be their unique person without having to give who you are a name? Why make your gender identity so important to who you are?
For context: I live in a country where American identity and gender ideas are gaining ground. I think there are things to gain from cultural exchange with the US, but it feels like the “American” focus on gender(eg everyone putting pronouns in your bio, creating a new gender whenever you don’t feel any existing ones represent you) goes too far beyond “accepting differences” and perpetuates the culture of identity | 1,118 | >Shouldnt the better course of action be to let biological sex be biological sex.
In theory yes, but in practice this kind of argument is very strongly associated with people who will then proceed to give a very broad expectation of how many spaces biological sex labels should matter in.
I mean, sure, hopefully 1000 years from now we will all just have individual bodies, and self-expressions, and knowing what chromosomal sex someone has, would be even more obscure of a medical trait, than knowing what blood type someone has: Something that has zero influence over the 99.9% of your life that you spend outside of a doctor's office.
But overwhelmingly people who say "only sex should matter", will end up expecting that sex should still matter in plenty of social contexts like sport events, bathroom segregartion, dating, etc. | 226 |
[Werewolves] Sometimes the moon is visible during the day. Does this effect werewolves? | During a new moon, the moon can be seen during the day as a full moon. | 384 | It depends on the series context. Werewolves traditionally only roam at full moon. The moon can only be full when it is opposite to the position of the sun comparative to the position of the Earth. Therefore, full moons can only rise after sunset, and so the werewolf only roams at night. Since the moon cannot be 100% full if seen in the daytime sky, classic werewolves have less or no power at this time and humans typically take advantage to capture or kill them.
Whether a non-full moon affects the person depends on the author's choice.
For example, the film *An American Werewolf in London* shows that between full moons there are limited effects like hair growth and enhanced senses, but not enough for a full transformation that mostly exchanges human reason for animal killer instinct.
A series like Twilight separates the "Children of the Moon," who are like classic werewolves on full moon nights only, from "Shapeshifters" who can transform at any time and aren't dependent on the phase or time of day. | 204 |
What is the meaningful distinction between nuclides and isotopes? | I've read several different articles on this, talked to nuke engineers, and really just failed to receive a consistent and satisfactory answer. ~~It almost seems like "nuclide" is a preferred term for the nukes while "isotope" is preferred by chemists.~~ I understand very well the concept of elements, atomic masses, etc. I just want to make sure I'm using the correct terminology.
For instance, is it proper to refer to U-238 as an isotope of uranium, or is U-238 a nuclide? I've heard the former but very rarely the latter. Are both valid? When would one be valid and the other not?
Thanks | 26 | >For instance, is it proper to refer to U-238 as an isotope of uranium, or is U-238 a nuclide?
Uranium-238 is an isotope of uranium and a nuclide.
A nuclide is just a bound (or resonant) nuclear system with a given Z and N.
"Isotopes" refer to nuclides with the same Z.
"Isotones" refer to nuclides with the same N.
"Isobars" refer to nuclides with the same A. | 10 |
ELI5: if the earth is spinning around, while also circling the sun, while also flying through the milk way, while also jetting through the galaxy…How can we know with such precision EXACTLY where stars are/were/will be? | 5,781 | Picture an anthill in your front yard. The ants are moving around all the time, right? How far are they from the moon? Well, we'd say they're 238,855 miles from the moon. It doesn't really matter whether they're on top of the anthill or a few inches underground, because those distances are meaningless on the scale of earth to moon.
Earth goes around the sun at around 18 miles *per second*. To us, that seems really fast, but the next closest star is about 24,984,000,000,000 miles away. That makes our 18 miles per second seem pretty insignificant. On the scale of the galaxy, we might as well not be moving at all.
Also, when we talk about the positions of stars, we're not all that precise. We could easily be off by thousands of miles, and it wouldn't matter, because stars are really, really big. | 7,302 |
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[Borderlands] Am I killing the same Psychos and Marauders over and over again? | On Pandora they seem to have the ability to digistruct a new body for someone and somehow put their consciousness in it when they die. does everyone have disability or is it unique to vault hunters for some reason? When I clear out an area and then go back a few hours later and it's full of psychos and raiders again are these the same psychos and raiders I killed a few minutes before with new digistructed bodies?
Does anybody really die on Pandora, and if not, what's the point of killing people like Handsome Jack if they are just going to come back again? It seems like the ability to digistruct new bodies has rendered the concept of violence useless. | 44 | The New-U stations are, by word of God, noncanonical. Yes, this presents an issue with a certain sidequest in the latter part of BL2, and the writers admitted as much.
So no, you're not killing the same bandits and psychos over and over again. | 66 |
How do computers know how to interpret binary code/machine code? | How does the computer ‘know’ that a = 01100001? It seems like some lower language is always needed to explain the significance.
As in, 01100001 is inputted. Some language (A) presumably has to tell the computer how to interpret the binary. Then wouldn’t a second language, B, have to tell the computer how to interpret the first language, A? So on and so forth... a never ending chain of lower level languages.
Could someone ELI5 how this actually works? I’m struggling to wrap my head around it. | 38 | The binary is interpreted as what path the electrons take in the physical hardware. There's no program that does this, they flow through the wires based on the ones and zeroes that determine which paths allow the flow to go through | 21 |
Do whales experience holding their breath the same as us? | I was watching a video on blue whales just now and found out they surface to breathe once every half hour normally and I wondered how it must feel to them to hold their breath for that long. I can hold my breath for only 30 seconds before I start to feel a little uncomfortable.
Do whales have the same system as us that governs that automatic urge to breathe or is breathing and overall more conscious process for them? | 20 | No, whales experience holding their breath differently than us. Whales have a different breathing system than humans that allows them to remain underwater for extended periods of time. Whales have evolved a set of physiological adaptations that enable them to hold their breath for long periods of time without feeling the urge to breathe. These adaptations include an enlarged volume of oxygen-rich blood, an increased ability to store oxygen in their muscles, and an increased efficiency of oxygen utilization throughout their body. Additionally, whales have a “conscious control” over their breathing, which allows them to regulate their oxygen uptake and hold their breath for extended periods of time. | 12 |
ELI5: What do steak grades mean? | For e.g MB3+, what does this mean when referring to a steak? | 37 | From USDA website on beef grades:
* Prime Grade is produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. It has abundant marbling and is generally sold in restaurants and hotels. Prime roasts and steaks are excellent for dry-heat cooking (broiling, roasting, or grilling).
* Choice Grade is high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be very tender, juicy, and flavorful and are, like Prime, suited to dry-heat cooking. Many of the less tender cuts, such as those from the rump, round, and blade chuck, can also be cooked with dry heat if not overcooked. Such cuts will be most tender if "braised" — roasted, or simmered with a small amount of liquid in a tightly covered pan.
* Select Grade is very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades. It is fairly tender, but, because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades. Only the tender cuts (loin, rib, sirloin) should be cooked with dry heat. Other cuts should be marinated before cooking or braised to obtain maximum tenderness and flavor.
* Standard and Commercial grades are frequently sold as ungraded or as "store brand" meat.
* Utility, Cutter, and Canner grades are seldom, if ever, sold at retail but are used instead to make ground beef and processed products. | 47 |
"Every polynomial of degree n has exactly n roots" | We learned this in class the other day, but what about say f(X)=x²?, There is only one root, but shouldn't there be two according to the prior statement? | 34 | The statement is really more like 'every polynomial of degree n can be factored into the form a(x-c1)(x-c2)...(x-cn)' for constants a,c1,...,cn.' The ci don't have to be distinct.
For convenience, we say that c1,...,cn are the n roots *counted with multiplicity*. That is, in the case if x^(2), it can be said to have two roots: 0, 0.
Why do we do this? Well, nice statements that would be false now become true. For example, consider the following statement:
If p is a monic polynomial of degree n, then the constant term of the polynomial is (-1)^(n) times the product of the roots of p.
(Monic just means the leading x^n coefficient is 1.)
For that statement to be true, you have to count the roots with multiplicity. For example, if p(x) = (x-2)^2 = x^2 - 4x + 4, then the roots of p are 2,2, and indeed the constant term is 4=(-1)^(2)\*2\*2. | 54 |
ELI5: Why can cows and sheep crap in fields where they eat without getting sick, while faecal matter lying about quickly leads to diseases like cholera in humans? | 794 | Cattle have a natural aversion to feeding around their own dung. This can lead to the formation of taller ungrazed patches of heavily fertilized sward. These habitat patches, termed "islets", can be beneficial for many grassland arthropods, including spiders (Araneae) and bugs (Hemiptera). They have an important function in maintaining biodiversity in heavily utilized pastures | 628 |
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[Dark Souls] Assuming the PC embraces the Dark ending and brings about the age of Dark, is there a reverse apocalyptic scenario when the age of fire inevitably emerges? | 33 | Exactly that. If the Chosen Undead were to link the fire, it would eventually begin to fade again. Unless powerful souls are reclaimed and used to fuel the First Flame, it will burn so low that an age of Dark begins.
Similarly, if the Chosen Undead chooses to *not* link the fire, they withhold those powerful souls and deprive the First Flame of fuel. However, the flame will continue to burn, ever so weakly. If it burns down low enough, previous beings that have linked the fire will be reborn as Lords of Cinder, supposedly to relive their original task of gathering souls and linking the fire yet again.
Essentially, neither ending is an ending at all. The Chosen Undead can only make a temporary impact on the state of the world. Whether they reinvigorate the Age of Fire or begin an Age of Dark, the cycle will continue. However, if the risen Lords of Cinder refuse to link the fire, an Ashen One can rise to the task, either linking the fire in their place, or letting it fade yet again.
Perhaps there is another option. Perhaps a Champion of Ash could claim the fire's strength for themselves and begin a new age. One not of disparity (fire) or of darkness... | 26 |
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What is the biochemical origin of caffeine dependence? | There's a joke that if you've been drinking coffee for a long time, when you wake up you'll need a coffee to get you back to the point where you were before you started regularly drinking coffee. But, if you stop for a week or two, your baseline goes back up. What happens to regular coffee drinkers to lower their baseline wakefullness, and is it chiefly neurological or psychological? | 4,542 | Caffeine is a nonselective adenosine receptor antagonist, acting at A1, A2a, A2b, and A3 receptors (it also binds to a few other receptors, but we’ll ignore those for simplicity’s sake). From knockout studies in mice, it appears A2a is critical for the stimulating effect of caffeine. In the brain, Adenosine levels fluctuate as the day passes with the highest levels at night. Higher levels of adenosine produce a drowsiness effect. When you consistently apply an antagonist to a cell, a common response is the cell will upregulate the particular receptor that is being antagonized. As such, consistent caffeine intake can result in an upregulation of adenosine receptors [1]. When you do not intake caffeine, you thus experience a heightened response, or a sensitization, to adenosine, and thus feel an increase in drowsiness.
1. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 1993 Jun; 13(3): 247–261. | 3,039 |
Has anyone had major revisions requested after fixing minor? | I submitted a paper several months ago and recieved a response of "Based on the advice received, I have decided that your manuscript can be accepted for publication after you have carried out the corrections as suggested by the reviewer(s)." The minor revisions were to simply fix a graph and the formatting of my references (which I did and submitted, admittedly a few days late because I didn't see the deadline in the email - 100% my fault).
Today I received an email stating that major revisions were required from 3 reviewers! All I can think of is that this is some kind of punishment for submitting my revisions late. I've never had this happen before and I feel like a cold bucket of ice has been dumped on my head.
Has this ever happened to any of you? How did you deal? | 15 | This can happen, either because when you made the minor changes, the reviewer (sometimes because of the minor changes, sometimes just because they had a changed point of view) saw a flaw they've not seen before. More scrutiny = more chance of weaknesses to be seen. Maybe they weren't thorough the first time around, or maybe they misunderstood the graph and after you've changed it they "got it" and then there was an issue that they didn't see before because they misunderstood.
Or, what's more likely, the previous reviewer(s) weren't available to review again (because they do it in their free time for free) and the editor had to enlist new reviewers, who looked at the paper fresh and they've seen issues the others didn't.
​
It's surely not a penalty for submitting late. Remember, the peer-review process is not to judge you as a researcher, or to make sure you get through, or to make sure to publish something, but rather, the peer review process aims to prevent the publication of flawed research, - and as we're all human all of our research is inherently flawed because we see it from our own perspective with only our own expertise. Enlisting more experts means more scrutiny, and that typically means they will find more. That is good for science, but it can be rather depressing for the individual. Don't take it personal. It's all about making sure the science that gets out is thoroughly tested! | 42 |
[Hitchhiker's Guide] In Mostly Harmless why is the Earth still destroyed even though the dolphin's had a new one built? | In addition, why is there a random planet at the same coordinates as Earth and why is Ford's section on Earth in the Guide still say, "Mostly Harmless" | 17 | The earth sits on a multiverse nexus destroying it just gives you access to an alternate version.
This was inconvenient to the Vogons who wanted a motorway there so they created the second version of the guide to ensure Earths destruction.
The guide manipulates others into destroying the Earth every time -including the reconstructed earth- and it decides the Grebulons are tenacious enough to keep trying to remove earth even if it takes forever.
The series main characters deaths are painted as meaningless and the earth itself is just a weird blip in the universe that needs to be erased for a mild convenience. (Adams had been having a bad year and later regretted writing the book).
| 22 |
I believe that punishment should be based on the action taken alone, and the consequences should have absolutely no bearing on it. CMV. | First and foremost, my apologies if this is a repost- it seems like a somewhat obvious CMV candidate. I could find no post like it though, so please delete this and redirect me if this view has been expressed before.
It is hard to significantly expand on the view as presented in the title; I believe simply that, in accordance with any account of punishment I am familiar with, it is both more productive and fairer to disregard the consequences of the action. For example, I believe that the penalty for causing death by drunken driving should be the same as that for simply being caught drunkenly driving. Whether that is achieved by raising the latter or lessening the former is a difficult problem to consider, but a separate one.
The aforementioned consequence of my position is the main reason why I would like to have my view changed; it is uncomfortable to have to defend the position that someone who recklessly causes the death of a child should receive what many would consider no more than a slap on the wrist. I have yet to be convinced, however, that the driver in such a case is any more deserving of punishment than a driver who makes it home without incident at the same level of intoxication. So please, my good redditors, CMV. | 16 | This idea gets a little bit messy in practice, because luck and circumstances play a role in virtually all actions. In your drunk driving example, how would you punish someone who *intends* to drive drunk but passes out before they start the car? Or what about someone who *intends* to drive drunk, but then is offered a ride by a good samaritan? Are they as bad as the person who managed to drive drunk? If not, it seems like you are giving them the benefit of the doubt due to consequences outside of their control, which goes against your guiding principle. If we knew with certainty that they were going to drive drunk before they got lucky, should we still punish them?
We generally stick to consequences rather than intent and potential consequences because there's such a massive disparity in action and consequences based on events outside of our control. | 15 |
Has anyone had their PhD thesis defense rejected? | Hello reddit, I've been reading up on people's PhD defenses recently and I've been wondering - has anyone actually had their PhD thesis rejected? Is the defense more of a conversation/formality than a "final exam"? Can one redo their defense?
Hope this isn't an ignorant question, I am just curious. Seems as if you put forth a genuine and considerable effort you will be able to be able to get by, no problem. | 28 | As has already been said, a good advisor won't allow you to schedule the defense if he or she doesn't believe you're pretty likely to pass.
However, if you've been in the program and you're almost out of time (most programs say if you don't have PhD in hand in X years, you're thrown out) then occasionally you'll be allowed to schedule a defense even if you're going to fail it, because it gives you another month/semester/whatever on the clock for revisions. However, if your work is still crap at the end of that time, few committees will pass it.
So yes- it's totally possible to fail, although it's rare because care is taken not to let it get that far if it isn't a solid piece of scholarship done by a solid scholar. | 20 |
ELI5: Why are some frogs, etc., poisonous? Unless the poison is so lethal that any predators die on contact, the frog still gets eaten. How does this help survival? | 27 | It’s not just poison, the bright coloration, instead of camouflage, alerts predators to the poison, and predators who survive then learn that those tiny frogs with bright blue markings are not safe to eat, and so poison dart frogs go uneaten, save those unlucky martyrs of frogkind.
Incidentally, poison dart frogs aren’t naturally poisonous, either, they get that from the poisonous insects in their normal diet, and secrete the toxin through the skin; this is why poison dart frogs born in captivity or long kept are safe to touch, they’re fed nontoxic insects.
EDIT: small correction, thanks. | 39 |
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ELI5: why does plastic turn white when bent? | 287 | I can answer this!!
So plastic is made up of microscopic spaghetti (it's actually made up of long chains of some form of carbon molecule, but we will pretend it's spaghetti). There are two main types of plastic; plastic where the spaghetti is completely random and all over the place, and plastic where the spaghetti is somewhat ordered (like your little sister has decided to put all the spaghetti in lines rather than eat it but because she is four, the lines are a bit wibbly and there are a few pieces that aren't in lines at all). When plastic is in lines, it doesn't bend very easily and is quite easy to break (ie, brittle). The not ordered spaghetti is easier to bend as the spaghetti can move to line up into lines.
The plastic turns white when bent as all the spaghetti lines up and stretches, and doesn't take any dye with it. The dye isn't affected by the force you are putting on the plastic, only the spaghetti.
Also, plastic can only be clear when the spaghetti isn't ordered so when clear plastic turns white, it means the spaghetti has lined up and light can no longer easily find it's way through the material and it turns opaque. | 205 |
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[Werewolves] Would a werewolf die if they ate chocolate? | 21 | Probably not. Dogs and wolves' stomachs can't process it, but werewolves still have physical characteristics of humans, which are omnivorous.
There was a show that pointed out werewolves take painful s***s after a full moon, with human bones and whatnot coming out. | 30 |
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I believe that free speech should not apply to all forms os speech, example, religious hate speech. CMV | Free speech as always given us a means of change, a trustworthy way of fighting real issues, sometimes even a way of uncovering corruption and crimes all over the world.
* I am Portuguese, living in Portugal. Free speech here is not an issue. However, in Europe there is a growing number of "religious leaders" from all sides (Be it Christian, be it Muslim, be it whatever), that advocate a sort of holy war, a means to erradicate the cultural presence of others. With the growing number of communities that form around these "local religious leaders", children and young people are growing with violent speeches in their ears.
* Although i do believe in religious freedom, i do not believe that people should be able to use hate speech to garner attention. It has brought violence in all sides, it has increased racism and xenophobia in Europe.
* I believe that free speech should have limitations. It sounds weird, strange that free should have limitations, but the education of young people should be free from hate.
Am i in the wrong here? Is it a slippery slope?
P.S. please no atheism vs religion, i hate r/atheism i know i spoke of religion, but what i really want to stress is the freedom of speech.
p.s. first post here, hope everything is in order.
Edit: Ok people, i have to go to work now. Im not saying i have changed my mind completely, but the truth is you've all made me think in some points i haven't really thought about. If some of you could recommend books on free speech i would love to read them. Thank you all. | 21 | Once the majority is able to silence the opinions of a minority, where does one stop? Now that you have the ability to stop religious hate speech, why not get rid of the next thing that offends the majority of people or "causes problems". Of course, this could lead to lots of policy that is detrimental to society in the long term. | 31 |
[DC] Can the Yellow ring/lantern be used as a force of good? E.g. fear of losing your loved ones so you fight and be empowered by it | Or does this translate to a Darth Vader-esque route? | 661 | It's more or less goes full Dark Side. Sinestro himself was motivated by a desire to accomplish what he believed was the Green Lantern Corps' actual directive, bring peace, when he felt they weren't capable. Except "bring peace" rapidly became "impose order" which gave way to "accumulate power" towards the end. He was, after all, motivated by the fear of what would happen when his stabilizing authority was removed, fear of losing another friend to evil, and never mind what he had to do or become to prevent it.
It's not that you can't use a Yellow Lantern ring to produce positive outcomes, but doing so takes a toll on you and, bit by bit, you'll lose those good intentions. When the desire to do good becomes the fear of others doing evil, the need for control is never far behind. | 502 |
CMV: The concept of "doing your own research" is prone to bad understanding when you are a non-expert | This is NOT an argument on doing any research at all, I highly recommend people seek to learn things.
Rather I am pointing out there is a very large potential for bad science when laymen tries to do research.
I don't mean just youtube videos. I mean when a layman reads actual research they often make poor assumptions and conclusions.
There are two major issues when a layman does personal research
First is scientific literacy, you must know what the terms mean, how to read the research paper, check credibility ect.
Secondly an understanding of the subject matter. Even if you are well versed in scientific literacy, not understanding the subject matter leads to vastly different conclusions. A foundation in the subject must be needed.
This is how we end up with non-experts taking a paper on vaccine and concluding that it causes autism.
This isn't to say doing research is bad, just that people need to be wary. If you, a non-expert reach a conclusion that contradicts the consensus of millions of experts, you probably need to do some self-evaluation. | 836 | Are we assuming an "expert" Is void of subjective bias? Even Science bases research on agreed upon Theory.
Self discovery is based on individual observations, and as a Social Science researcher, I'd recommend researching to understand, not to prove a point.
"The truth is rarely pure, and never simple"! | 105 |
ELI5: Would a vacuum cleaner work in space? | 15 | Despite their name, vacuum cleaners do not create a vacuum. They create a pressure difference by pumping air out through the filter chamber. But since there would be no air in open space they won't create a pressure difference. | 19 |
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Why is/was there a tendency for like minerals to collect together on earth? | It seems that the original source for minerals was random and that they should be randomly, and relatively homogeneously spread over the surface of the earth. Yet minerals like iron oxide, sodium chloride, gold, silver, (and most others it seems) have had a significant tendency to be found concentrated in various areas, making mining them and collecting them a practical endeavor.
What has caused that to occur? | 306 | 2 parts to this (admittedly insufficient) answer.
Sodium chloride stands out on this list. Sodium chloride build up is often due to sea water being trapped or secluded from fresh water. Over time the water will evaporate leaving the salt concentrated in that area.
As for concentration of other elements, despite starting out mixed, density will cause elements to separate out. Much in the same way a copper will sink in water, in a molten state iron will sink in silica.
A volcanic eruption can take some of the molten minerals in the magma nearer to the surface causing similar density of materials to appear near each other near the surface as they originated from a similar area/density. | 71 |
[Batman] What plot would Calendar Man have for April Fool's and Easter being on the same day? | The thought came to me when I remembered the date-specific Calendar Man easter egg in Arkham City. | 129 | Poison chocolate easter eggs, annouce it at midnight so batman has 6hours to contain the eggs and come midday for Calendar to tell him it was a hoax and that batman being smarter. Should of figured that out before upsetting all the kids by taken there chocolate eggs away | 109 |
Standing on a rock at the absolute edge of the Milky Way, facing away from the galaxy. What do I see above me? | *For the naked eye.*
Is the sky filled with stars? Do I only see light from the local cluster, or is it mostly pitch black?
Also, if you have any material on this I’d love a link. | 155 | It would be mostly pitch black.
There is no absolute edge of the Milky Way - there's just fewer and fewer stars as you go further out. So once you're far enough out that there's no stars close enough to be visible as individual stars "in front" of you, you're in a region that's so lacking in stars that there's there's no stars close enough to be visible as individual stars "behind" you either.
With the naked eye, you can only see stars (as individual points of light) within 2000 light years or so, but most of what we see is much closer than that - it's only the most extremely bright stars that are visible at that distance. The Milky Way is like 100,000 light years across, so all the stars you see as individual points of light are stars just in the neighbourhood of our Sun.
If you take away those stars, you can still see *something* though. You can see the Milky Way galaxy, and some other galaxies too. However, galaxies are dim. As they are mostly empty space, the surface brightness is low - and the surface brightness of a resolved object doesn't depend on distance (a wall doesn't get brighter as you walk towards it!). So nearby galaxies are pretty faint cloudy patches. You'll also only see nearby galaxies - if a galaxy is small enough to be a point, it's no longer resolved, and its brightness does depend on distance. As they aren't very bright to start with, you're not going to see those distant galaxies with the naked eye.
So the main thing you'll see is the big band of the Milky Way behind you - you might make out the bulge, and dust lanes, depending on where you are. You'll also see three other galaxies. There's the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, which are two massive dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, and Andromeda, which is about as massive as the milky way, but looks smaller because it's much further away. Personally I've found the LMC is the nicest to see from Earth, but you do have to see it from the Southern Hemisphere. Our hypothetical astronaut won't have a planet in the way and shouldn't have this issue!
But that's about it. All you'll see is the Milky Way behind you, and a few faint cloudy patches for other nearby galaxies, and that's it. Mostly black. And this is still within the Local Group - if you get away from our little family of galaxies into the void between clusters & groups, you'll quite likely see nothing at all. | 225 |
CMV: TV Shows Are HANDS DOWN Way Better Than Movies. | Movies are dope but I think tv shows are so much better for a couple of reasons. Firstly TV shows have the time to build your love for a character, like Sons Of Anarchy for example. Their are 7 seasons in that show and the way they introduce the characters and make the characters feel like a part of your family is AMAZING! In a movie the character generally feels kind of generic and not that loveable because they only have 2-3 hours to build a character. Don’t get me wrong some movies build characters perfectly like Poetic Justice, Goodfellas, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Bronx Tale etc. But TV Shows just have so much more time to do it. My second point is that tv shows are a lot more convenient, let’s say you come home from a hard day of school/work and you have half an hour to chill before having to do your homework or clean. It makes so much more sense to put on a twenty minute show like F.R.I.E.N.D.S and watch thru fully, instead of watching 1/4th of a movie.
I’m pretty new to Reddit and young so sorry if this post is kind of irrelevant lol just wanna know your thoughts. | 28 | The distinction we should make is not show vs not show. It's serialized content vs non-serialized content.
You are right that some content is definitely better to convey over a serialized show format. But not all ideas/themes/content are. Not in every case is a show a better format than a movie.
You might really enjoy serialized content, there's nothing wrong with that, but some stories are meant to be short and fleeting.
Let me give you an example. Every seen "the shining"?
In your opinion, would a consistent serialized format of a the shining give you a different feeling than the movie?
Would you learn to expect certain things from the next episode? How would that affect your surprise?
I don't always think the movie is going to be better than the show, but i think it clear that there are *show* good reasons for a movie format. | 25 |
[40k lore] So, how does a planetary militia deal with the overpowered forces of Chaos? | For that matter, what sort of equipment does your local Imperial militia carry, and how does it deal with obscenely nightmarish forces such as Plague/Noise/Rubric Marines, rotting virus demons, etc.
It seems that every time chaos is brought up, there's no chance unless pitted against Ultramarines or titans. I'm persistently left with the idea that humans have literally no chance against their chaos counterparts. | 21 | The Imperium is vast, with uncounted worlds. The attacks of Chaos are beyond number, as well. But fortunately for humanity, not all those attacks are Black Crusades. Let me elaborate.
Chaos attacks can first be divided into two categories: attacks from within and attacks from without.
The examples you mentioned all fall into the latter category: attacks from without. And what can the pdf do against these outer threats? Very little. An attack by the accursed Chaos Space Marines, or demons, or any of the greater threats of Chaos, are going to be overwhelming--otherwise the Chaos force would not bother to attack. In those situations the PDF is almost always routed and destroyed, left to form underground resistances if they are lucky enough to survive at all. That is, unless, they are fortunate enough to be joined by the forces of the Imperium; usually the Imperial Guard. When the Imperium forces join the battle then the pdf becomes invaluable, as they know the planetary environment and battlefields the best, and fight with great fervor to defend their homes and families.
The other type of Chaos attack is attacks from within. These are rogue psykers possessed by Warp beings, or cultists given over to the worship of Chaos. For small occurrences, local arbites and church forces are enough to deal with the problem; but for larger insurgencies, the pdf is great at isolating and destroying the Chaos element.
To sum up, Planetary Defense Forces are valuable for aiding Imperial Forces in defending their planets from external threats, and good at suppressing Chaos insurgents on their own planets; but faced with an external threat without aid of Imperial Forces, the PDF is likely doomed. | 17 |
ELI5: Why, when on a low calorie diet, does your body consume muscle as well as fat? Why not just fat? | 46 | Extra muscle is a luxury. Your body wants to be strong, but the more muscle it has, the more food it requires. If it thinks there isn't enough food available, it reduces the amount of muscle you have so you will use less in the long run. | 16 |
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[avatar] why was the avatar, the only one who could defeat the fire lord? | throughout the series, it was said that only the avatar could defeat the fire lord, but why? what is so special about the avatar that he was the only one who could do that? what would have happened if someone else had done this? | 52 | The Avatar was probably the only person powerful enough to take the Fire Lord in single combat. And of the others that *may* have been able to do it... none were likely to end the war by doing so.
The Avatar, however, stands apart from the nations of the world, and keeps peace between them.
Add to that, the Avatar had *vanished* before the war began. Of *course* people thought their return would lead to it's end. | 83 |
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