post_title
stringlengths 5
304
| post_text
stringlengths 0
37.5k
| post_scores
int64 15
83.1k
| comment_text
stringlengths 200
9.61k
| comment_score
int64 10
43.3k
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
[MCU]Why didn't Doctor Strange use the Time Stone to go back in time and hide the Infinity Stones better, or to kill Thanos at a more convenient time in the past or using the Time Stone's time manipulation powers dump Thanos into the end of the universe or freeze him in time forever? | Any issues of "But Thanos has an Infinity Stone so the Time Stone does not work!" are neutered if Strange goes back far enough that Thanos has none and then, he can use his time control powers to fuck Thanos up good.
If the movie ending was the "only way forward" then why not just change the past? And as we saw with vision, the Time Stone absolutely can work on the others. If Thanos getting them all was "inevitable" for some reason because he was a badass and would never quit, why not freeze him in time forever or freeze him for a few moments then dump him in another dimension or dump him at the end of the universe? Or freeze him for a short time, then dump him into intergalactic space. Or into a sun. He isn't a god, dropping him into a sun or black hole would get the job done.
We see in Doctor Strange's movie that the stone can manipulate limited areas, so it only effecting the whole universe is a non-issue. | 104 | People were freaking out about Strange using the stone to go back 10 minutes, you're talking about going back years or at least months. By the time Strange was aware of Thanos's plans billions had already died, it's not entirely clear to me how those people can be brought back without at least the soul stone though presumably people were brought back by Strange's shorter rewind as well. | 104 |
[LOTR] Why not just send the Ring to Valinor? | It's not like Sauron can hop over the ocean and fight Manwe and all the other Valar to take back the Ring. Sending the Ring to the Undying Lands seems like a much simpler way to keep the Ring out if Sauron's hands than sending it to Mordor, where its liable to be intercepted and taken back by Sauron. | 31 | Because they knew that the West would never accept it. The Ring is more or less a Middle Earth problem, it's up the the peoples of Middle Earth to solve it on their own instead of relying on the Valar to do it for them.
The Valar did help though by sending the Istari to guide the peoples of Middle Earth. | 52 |
How do modern ship anchors work? If they get stuck on the sea bed how do we free them? | How do modern sea anchors work? Do they hook onto rocks? Sink into the sea bed? Just weight the ship down? What happens if they get stuck? | 16 | Anchors sit on the sea bed and resist being moved initially because of their weight causing friction that resists movement.
If there's enough pull to drag the anchor, the weight of the flukes causes them to dig into the ground, the more they do so the more strongly the anchor resists the pull.
Anchors resist horizontal movement. The weight of the chain between the ship and the anchor plays an essential role in absorbing upward pull from the ship and delivering only a sideways pull at the anchor, (catenary effect).
When retrieving ("weighing") the anchor, the ship moves forward until the bow is directly above the anchor. As the anchor cable is raised, the lift is from directly above. The anchor shaft is lifted, from the "light" end, and it offers little resistance.
A bit more effort and the rising shaft lifts the flukes and breaks them out of the ground.
From that point the anchor has no more grip on the ground, the ship only has to lift its weight and the weight of the chain in order to get the anchor back on board.
In this way a ship's anchor can exert tremendous resistance against the ship being dragged, but the ship can retrieve the anchor afterwards with very little effort. You're welcome | 58 |
Why aren't asynchronous processors a viable replacement for synchronous processors? | As a computer scientist, I've always been fascinated by the idea of a clock-less processor, but I have very little knowledge of electrical engineering, so I've never really understood why they're not considered a viable replacement for modern synchronous processors? Is there some inherent flaw in making a circuit without a clock that makes it impractical for CPUs? | 15 | Two big things:
1) More space is required due to completion signal detection circuits.
2) Synchronous designs are easier to test.
That's really about it. Most of the other reasons we don't make them is no one is trained to make them and none of the design programs are built around asynchronous designs. | 14 |
ELI5: Why do energy companies like Con Edison give you tips on how to use less energy? | I see ads on the NYC subway where Con Edison gives tips on how to reduce your energy use. Why are they trying to get you to use less energy? Doesn't that mean less money for them? | 1,497 | As a regulated utility, they make a profit based on negotiations with the state, not based on exactly how much electricity they sell. In fact they can get paid to reduce demand, as a substitute for getting paid to build more supply. | 1,123 |
Is it possible for a star to be cold? | If it is, is the limit absolute zero? And a follow-up, is there any limits on how HOT things can be? | 3,303 | Stars can be cold if they are brown dwarfs, objects much bigger than Jupiter but not big enough to ignite nuclear fusion at their core, or black dwarfs, collapsed medium-sized stars (white dwarfs) that have radiated away all their thermal energy. The universe isn't old enough to have black dwarfs though.
relephant edit: in brown dwarves you can still have deuterium fusion, but not hydrogen fusion, and it's debatable whether these are stars are not. | 2,322 |
ELI5: What is the "sharp" in sharp cheddar? How are there various levels of "sharp"? | 21,660 | The term "sharp" tells you how long the cheese was aged. Mild is 3 months, sharp is 9 months and extra sharp is more than 18 months. As it ages, its texture also goes from smooth and creamy to crumbly by developing hard, salt-like crystals called calcium lactate. | 17,823 |
|
[DC] I hear Darkseid remembers the previous iterations of the Multiverse. What are his memories of that time he died in Final Crisis? | Also, is there still a higher-dimensional Darkseid alive and well even though he was recently killed and reborn as a baby? | 84 | Supposed he would remember Final Crisis, and yes there is a higher concept Darkseid that is continuous through his incarnations, the Darkseid that interacts with the the universe is an avatar of that higher being. | 22 |
Why does tickeling make us laugh? | 19 | The areas of the body that tend to be ticklish are often vulnerable spots, like the neck, sides and stomach. When tickled, we tend to laugh, yet there is something almost unpleasant about it that compels us to protect that area of the body and stop the stimulus. This is believed to come from an impulse of mammalian children to "play fight" and it helps to reinforce the need to protect vulnerable areas from attackers. | 14 |
|
Tell me why this is wrong? "You could create virtually free energy by launching a harpoon into a black hole, and hooking up a generator" | I had this thought today as I was looking at a [garden hose reel](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Qts5Np7VL.jpg).
Now, I know this is a preposterous idea that most likely won't work, but I can't for the life of me figure out why.
So here's the specifics. Sometime in the future, when interstellar travel is a thing: You launch a very large, very sturdy, very futuristic harpoon at the nearest black hole, and let it travel for a while. Make sure there is a LOT of extra rope or coil. Leave it unhooked to the generator. Because inertia, the harpoon will only need the initial push.
Once the harpoon hits the event horizon, it will get sucked in by the black hole. If you hooked the generator up to the base of the harpoon's rope (where it's reeling from), then couldn't you use the black hole's suction as a source of power?
Sounds dumb and feels dumb. I'm sure it wouldn't work, but why? | 334 | > So here's the specifics. Sometime in the future, when interstellar travel is a thing: You launch a very large, very sturdy, very futuristic harpoon at the nearest black hole, and let it travel for a while. Make sure there is a LOT of extra rope or coil. Leave it unhooked to the generator. Because inertia, the harpoon will only need the initial push.
Sure. That sounds fine. In fact, you don't even need a black hole, any gravitating body will work just fine. Climb up to the top of the Empire State Building and cast off your harpoon. As gravity pulls it down, the spool unrolls and powers your generator. Though if the spool is too big then friction and its large moment of inertia will make it too hard for gravity to unroll it, so perhaps you'd like to just leave it coiled on the ground, and have the generator near the edge of the building and just weave the rope through it after you've already launched it. Anyway...
The problem is that you need a *lot* of material to get power from gravity this way. Think about dams- they work by letting gravity accelerate water downward, and the moving water turns the turbine, which generates power. Dams need a lot of water to do this. Essentially, you're just using your rope as fuel, which really isn't practical. You're better off packing a few canisters of uranium in your spaceship than all that garden hose. At least the uranium doesn't require you to find a massive gravitating body to crank your generator.
So the energy isn't *free,* it comes at the expense of the material's loss of gravitational potential energy, which just happens to be very *clean.* Also, it comes at the expense of a harpoon and light-year of hose if you're eager to shoot it into a black hole.
> then couldn't you use the black hole's suction as a source of power?
Common misconception about black holes. The aren't celestial vacuum cleaners, as long as you don't get too close to the event horizon they look like an ordinary gravitating mass like the sun. Your spaceship could easily find a stable orbit sufficiently far from the black hole to chill in while it launches it's harpoon. | 225 |
[ELI5] What happens to our brain the exact moment we fall asleep? | Like, how in one moment we are awake and in the other unconscious? What precisely happens that triggers it? | 74 | It’s not really such a sharp transition, you generally drift to sleep and the current theory is that the thalamus (basically a relay station between your senses and your brain) gradually stops transmitting information from your senses to your brain. | 60 |
ELI5: Why does practically every website still have trouble handling high traffic volumes even when they're expecting it? | It seems like everytime I go somewhere to buy tickets, watch an event stream, etc. the site hosting the sale/stream/etc. crashes. How is this still the case in 2016? Can they not prepare servers for increased volume ahead of time?
EDIT: Thank you everybody for your explanations, I guess the technology just isn't there yet. Still incredibly frustrating though! | 127 | Servers have a finite amount of processing power. The only way to increase your capacity is to get MORE servers or upgrade the hardware of existing servers. This is an expensive proposition and takes work to do. It doesn't make much sense unless you're expecting to have to handle this sort of volume a lot. | 69 |
In wholesale electricity markets, the most expensive generator sets the price. | This seems to be a big issue in Europe right now. Per the title of the post, which is a quote from the first link, it seems the consumer does not pay for a KWH something like the average it costs to produce it, but the maximum. The links I post are from the UK but apparently Greece has a similar wholesale market that has similar dynamics. Can anyone here comment or link to a source that explains how this happens, what are the reasons the electricity markets work this way?
[https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/jan/opinion-renewables-are-cheaper-ever-so-why-are-household-energy-bills-only-going](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/jan/opinion-renewables-are-cheaper-ever-so-why-are-household-energy-bills-only-going)
[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wbTG0FLHK2IJ:https://utilityweek.co.uk/rema-reform-is-coming-but-the-scale-is-up-for-grabs/&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=bg&client=ubuntu](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wbTG0FLHK2IJ:https://utilityweek.co.uk/rema-reform-is-coming-but-the-scale-is-up-for-grabs/&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=bg&client=ubuntu)
[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-launches-biggest-electricity-market-reform-in-a-generation](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-launches-biggest-electricity-market-reform-in-a-generation) | 74 | Former power trader here. Marginal pricing happens in many deregulated power markets. The concept is that a generator will offer its capacity into the pool on an “X Mw @ Y$/Mwh” basis. These offers are stacked, lowest price to highest price, per period (could be 5mins, 30mins, 1hr - it depends on the market). During that specific period, the marginal price will be the intersection of stacked capacity offers and actual demand.
E.g.: you have two generators each with 100Mw installed capacity. Genco A offers 20Mw @ $0/Mwh, 60Mw @ $20/Mwh, and 20Mw @ $1000/Mwh; Genco B offers 10Mw @ $5/Mwh, 40Mw @ $25/Mwh, and 50 Mw @ $1500/Mwh.
So the stack will be:
20Mw @ $0/Mwh (A)
10Mw @ $5/Mwh (B)
60Mw @ $20/Mwh (A)
40Mw @ $25/Mwh (B)
20Mw @ $1000/Mwh (A)
50Mw @ $1500/Mwh (B)
So if the demand in this period is 50Mw, A is the marginal producer and the price will be $20/Mwh. Further, A will be required to produce 40Mw and B will be required to produce 10Mw.
The market operator receives these offers in advance from generators, and determines demand from real-time system data. What’s to stop generators from all offering at super high prices? Well some won’t as they are baseload and must be dispatched at least at a price that covers costs, while swing generators (gas) will compete at the margin - again to cover costs. This is a pretty complex system, made by humans and therefore gameable. | 70 |
[Star Trek] Why the Ferengi never had slavery? | > Quark: I think I figured out why Humans don't like Ferengi.
> Sisko: Not now, Quark.
> Quark: The way I see it, Humans used to be a lot like Ferengi: greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget.
> Sisko: Quark, we don't have time for this.
> Quark: You're overlooking something. Humans used to be a lot worse than the Ferengi: slavery, concentration camps, interstellar wars. We have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism. You see? We're nothing like you... we're better.
Concentration camps and wars may not be good for business (other people's wars are good for busssiness), but slavery seems to be a thing that Ferengis would do. | 52 | The Ferengi have indentured servitude, and keep almost every feeeemale Ferengi in effective slavery. Quark is just arguing semantics in an effort to appear morally superior. He's like those weirdos who harp on word choice rather than subject matter.
E.g. "it's not pedophilia, it's ephebophilia." | 109 |
[WH 40k] Is there an internet? | 16 | Some planets maintain digital data-networks, primarily used by the Adeptus Arbites and the Machine Cult, but these are temperamental and usually ancient systems governed by capricious Machine Spirits.
Nothing like the Internet exists through the Imperium as a whole, nor is it possible. | 14 |
|
ELI5: When can a species be mutated much enough to be considered an entirely new species? | Since evolution happens through mutation after every generation, when can a species mutates so much that it is considered an entirely new species? Would there be a point when the parents considered one species while their children are considered an entirely new species? | 62 | Species are considered different if they can't produce fertile offspring. It doesn't change in one generation. Different species are very vague expression though because there are many animals that are concerned as different species even they can produce fertile offspring just because they live separately and don't breed in nature. | 20 |
Does Occam's Razor eliminate teleological explanations for phenomena? | Here's an example:
Why does a bacterium swim up a glucose gradient to a food source?
The reductionist way to answer this would be to examine the glucose receptors, and what protein messengers they trigger, which result in deformations in the outer membrane.
The teleological answer would say that the bacterium goes through that chemical process *in order to* reach the food source.
While a combination of both explanations are needed for complete understanding, it seems like people tend to consider the reductionist answer to be more real, probably because purpose isn't measurable.
Is an immeasurable but seemingly real phenomenon considered an assumption to be eliminated by Occam's Razor?
EDIT: A better example of teleology being a more effective agent of understanding is explaining why salmon swim upstream. Reductionism examines the chemistry of the fish, where teleology finds the purpose, that is to lay its eggs. | 15 | One important thing to remember is that Occam's Razor is a guideline for theories that have equal explanatory power. It is open to a teleologist to insist that his or her account has more explanatory power, and that, for this reason, its greater complexity does not count against it.
Another thing is that the example you gave is a tricky one. Why should we say the bacterium goes through that chemical process 'in order to' reach the food source? That sounds like a intentionalistic projection onto a creature that is not capable of having intentional, goal-directed action. Why would we need that sort of explanation 'for complete understanding?' Nevertheless, in explaining human or other animal behavior, teleological explanations are very helpful. | 17 |
Am I correct in thinking zero is the middle of all the numbers? | Or are there any weird high-end math type things that keep this from being true? | 23 | Well, it depends entirely on what you mean by "in the middle of the numbers".
One possible definition of "in the middle" is this: *A number x is in the middle of all numbers if and only if there is a one-to-one pairing between the numbers smaller than x and the numbers larger than x*.
Before we go on, let's try our definition out and see if it makes sense. Let's consider just these five numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Now, is 2 in the middle of these numbers? Let's see. There's only one number less than 2 (namely, 1), but there are three numbers greater than 2 (namely, 3, 4, and 5). There is no way to make a one-to-one pairing between the set {1} and the set {3, 4, 5}, so 2 is not in the middle of these numbers.
Okay, is 3 in the middle of these numbers? There are two numbers less than 3 (namely, 1 and 2), and there are two numbers greater than 3 (namely, 4 and 5). It is possible to make a one-to-one pairing between {1, 2} and {4, 5}: for example, we can pair 1 with 4, and 2 with 5. Therefore, 3 *is* in the middle of these numbers.
Now, it may seem like we've made things needlessly complicated. The point of mathematics, though, is to make things absolutely precise and exact. As a result, mathematics allows us to know things with absolute certainty.
Okay, so, if we use this definition, then is 0 in the middle of all numbers? Yes, it is. There are infinitely many numbers smaller than 0 (-1, -2, -3, ...) and infinitely many numbers larger than 0 (1, 2, 3, ...). We can pair -1 with 1, -2 with 2, -3 with 3, and so on, thus making a one-to-one pairing.
There's an interesting consequence of our definition, though: it states that *every* number is in the middle. Let's look at an example here.
Is 10 in the middle of all numbers? There are infinitely many numbers less than 10 (9, 8, 7, ...) and infinitely many numbers greater than 10 (11, 12, 13, ...). It's possible to make a one-to-one pairing between these two sets: pair 9 with 11, 8 with 12, 7 with 13, and so on. So yes, 10 is in the middle.
The important thing to realize is that it depends on how you define "in the middle". It would be possible to come up with a different definition of "in the middle" such that 0 is in the middle, and nothing else is in the middle; or yet another definition of "in the middle" such that nothing at all is in the middle. | 48 |
Would You Step Into The Happiness Box? | This is an exert from - "The Big Questions" - by R. Solomon
Here's the question:
[We have developed a machine, a box with some electrodes and a life-support system, which we call the "happiness box". If you get in the box, you will experience a powerfully pleasant sensation which will continue indefinitely with just enough variation to keep you from getting used to it. We invite you to try it. If you decide to do so, you can get out of the box at any time you want to; but perhaps we should tell you that no one, once they have gotten into the happiness box, has ever wanted to get out of it. After 10 hours or so, we hook the life-support system, and the people spend their lifetimes there. Of course, they never do anything else, so their bodies tend to resemble half-filled water beds after a few years because of the lack of exercise. But that never bothers them either. Now it's your decision: would you like to step into the happiness box? Why or why not?] | 20 | One interesting question is a reverse example. You find out one day that your whole life has been generated by a happiness box. You now have the choice of shutting off the box and stepping out, or continuing to live your life. Which do you choose, and why? | 17 |
[LOTR/The Hobbit (movies)] Couple questions (spoilers) | Watching the new hobbit movies for the first time, and i'm confused on a couple things:
1) If the ring is what gave Gollum an unnaturally long life, shouldn't he have died after he lost it? When Bilbo gave it up in the first LOTR movie he later seemed really weak, and yet Gollum lives 60 years longer after losing the ring. Why was Gollum unaffected by losing it?
2) In the first Hobbit movie, Saruman is still a good guy, but when LOTR starts he's evil. What happened in the 60 year gap to turn him evil? This stuck out especially because of his dislike of Gandalf causing trouble with the dwarves, to only have him become a bastard in the later films.
Searched for these questions and didn't find anything. Also don't know anything about the books, so my apologies if the answers are obvious to book readers. | 24 | 1. Gollum would only have lost his long lifespan if the One Ring was destroyed; while the Ring existed it still sustained him. Peter Jackson messed up and had Bilbo age a lot after giving up the Ring.
2. Saruman had been a traitor to some degree for many decades before the events of The Hobbit, but he was only revealed during the events of LotR. He was always interested in Ring-lore and other arts of the Enemy, originally just to learn how to better oppose Sauron. But eventually he came to think that it would be better if the Wise increased their power as much as possible and took control of Middle-earth, allegedly for the benefit of everyone. He was convinced that the One Ring would provide the necessary power and so he began to search for it himself. He also opposed Gandalf's proposals of attacking Sauron, hoping that if Sauron got strong enough the One Ring would reveal itself openly and he could claim it. But during the events of The Hobbit he decided that Sauron was too likely to find the Ring if things kept going the way they were, and he finally agreed to the attack on Dol Guldur. Then he took Isengard for his own and began to use the palantir. Sauron had a palantir of his own (stolen from Minas Morgul, originally a fortress of Gondor), and Saruman quickly became fully ensnared by Sauron's evil. | 29 |
How do philosophers conceive of the difference between intended acts ("I want") and normative acts ("I should")? | I'm a psychology researcher working on a model of normativity - the biological and cognitive basis of the sense of "ought". One of our proposals (based on empirical evidence that I omit here) is that there is little distinction between the mechanisms underlying intended actions and actions that are believed normative. What you think is normative (what you think you ought to do) is in essence just what you intend to do, and the experience of a distinction (the sense that there is a big difference between an act that is intended and an act that is normative) is in large part illusory.
Is there any philosophical tradition along similar lines? What have philosophers arrived at when analysing the distinction between normative and intended actions? Are there philosophers who have argued that talk about normativity is not importantly different from talk about what people want? | 56 | Look into A.J. Ayer's Emotivism which is a non-cognitivist theory ("Killing is wrong!" = "Boo killing!" with the latter not being truth-apt).
For a refutation, look into the Frege-Geach-problem.
If you talk about statements that are truth-apt but subjective ("Killing is wrong!" = "I don't like killing."), then look into G.E. Moore's open-question-argument.
Those should be some good starting points. | 16 |
ELI5: Why do the videos from the early 1900's look like they are being played at 2.5x speed? | 23 | The original hand cranked cameras like the pathé and the bell & Howell 2709 had what was called an 8:1 gear ratio, which meant for every 360 degree crank it would produce 8 frames.
There was a song that cameramen would sing as they handcranked, which would result in about two revolutions per second - 16 frames. It would fluctuate, obviously, and sometimes cameramen would deliberately change their cranking speed depending on the scene.
Projectors were also handcranked in the early days, and the projectionist would change his/her speed depending on the scene.
With the advent of sound, the speed of recording /playback was deliberately changed to 24 frames per second to help with the fidelity of sound.
A proper silent film should be played back at 16/18 frames per second, and some criterion versions were transferred that way. | 21 |
|
[MCU/Daredevil](Spoiler) Why did Kingpin... | organize an escape from justice complete with a shootout against federal agents? He was accused of some serious crimes, but being as wealthy as he is, he could be out on bail in 12 hours. The evidence against him could be spun as the testimony of a single, disgruntled man. His lawyers could have kept him out of the courtroom for years with delays. He could have fought the law and won, or skipped town. Having his goons kill a bunch of feds while rescuing him pretty much sealed his fate. It seems like a dumb move from a smart man. What am I missing? | 24 | The Feds could have frozen his assets.
Most of the people working for him were arrested including his lawyers.
The judge probably wouldn't have to granted him bail.
There's also the documents from that lawyer lady.
Most importantly, his public image was permanently damaged the moment he was arrested. | 21 |
[Marvel] New Costume for a New Speedster! | Hello Reddit,
My hero name is Speeding Betty, and I've been established in Downriver Detroit for the better part of three months, and I think it's time to go legit! I've clocked up to 300 mph and could probably go faster, but what my dad calls my Speed Aura completely wrecks my clothes once I pass 270ish. My dad is okay with me caping since the Aura cushions my body from physical damage and I get a healing factor, haven't really tested that, because ouch. But the big big BIG hangup right now is the costume. I want it to cut down drag, be able to keep up with me and be resistant to some of the supers in my area. (Fire, Frost, Thunder, guy with a sword) Dad wants it to be in his budget, since he's trying to be supportive, but also wants it to be "modest," which means whatever he wants it to mean after a tangent on the X-Men and showing less skin than a Norse God. Anyway, what do you guys recommend? | 17 | Talk to Reed Richards.
He specializes in unstable molecules costumes that should be able to keep up with anything you can throw at them. If your super speed turns out to be the one thing that the unstable molecule suit can't handle, then that's actually good news, because now you've just given Richards a novel problem to solve. He'll likely spend an afternoon redeveloping materials science from the ground up as an intellectual exercise, and you'll wind up with a nice super suit. | 21 |
Eli5: How come we don't use carbon capture at the exhaust towers of power plants to directly capture co2 before it enters the atmosphere and put it back into greenhouses or store as rock? | Climeworks is already doing this passively but why not on power plant exhaust towers? Surely it makes sense, there is enough heat and power available to run the carbon capture devices and its been proven that we can store co2 as rock underground [https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/2020/09/audi\_climeworks.html#](https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/2020/09/audi_climeworks.html#) Or be pumped as a gas into large greenhouses to be used by trees
Wouldn't this reduce emissions by a lot or is there something I'm missing? | 31 | Because it can't be done just anywhere and requires power, meaning it would probanly decrease the efficiency of a traditional power plant. It also needs water and the right kind of rock (basalt) to filter it through.
This location was specifically chosen for this technology:
"Iceland is one of several places on Earth offering the ideal conditions for this process. Its volcanic origin makes the country one of the world’s most potent geothermal regions. The particularly high geothermal energy means that the Earth’s heat can be converted to electricity cost-effectively and virtually CO2 neutrally. Furthermore, the rock in Iceland has the ideal composition for storing large amounts of CO2." | 23 |
How common is our Moon's orbit which causes it to always show us the same face to Earth? | As stated in the title, is it common for other planetary moons to show the same face to the body they orbit? If not, are there any theories as to how our moon's orbit evolved as such. If so, what causes this to happen? | 2,111 | It's quite common, essentially all the large moons in the solar system are tidally locked to their planet. It's not a random occurrence, it happens because the gravitational gradient from the planet exerts a drag on the rotation of the moon that gradually slows it down until its rotation and its orbit are in synch. | 1,358 |
ELI5: The Double-Slit Photon Experiment | In the wise words of Bender, " Sweet photons. I don't know if you're waves or particles, but you go down smooth."
Please help me understand why the results of this experiment were so counter what was predicted, and why the results impact our view of physics? | 72 | Briefly, in the early 20th century, people like Rutherford, Planck and Einstein had competing theories as to whether light was fundamentally a particle or a wave. Thomas Young had performed the double slit experiment by showing that light that passed through two slits resulted in an interference pattern on the detector screen. This is analogous to dropping two stones in a perfectly calm lake. Waves will recede from each stone's landing spot, until the waves collide with each other. Wave crests will collide with other crests, causing supercrests, and troughs will collide with troughs, creating supertroughs (as long as the waves are in phase, which they would be in you dropped the stones at the same time). This pattern of supercrests and supertroughs is called an "interference pattern". When Young saw an interference pattern on the detector screen, he declared that light behaved in the exact same way as water waves do, and therefore, light is fundamentally a wave.
However, Max Planck had shown that whether light was a wave or not, it existed in discrete packets called quanta. Like a case of beer is divided into 24 beer-sized quanta, you can't have a case of 24.6 beers.
So they were able to repeat the double slit experiment but this time they fired individual quanta of light through the slits, without looking to see which slit the quanta went through. They observed little dots on the screen, representing each quanta of light.... so... particle? Except when they kept firing quanta of light through the slits, the individual dots accumulated to form the same interference pattern that Young saw. This was extremely counterintuitive, because it doesn't seem possible that individual quanta of light could produce such a pattern. How could it? This result suggested that the individual quanta of light were interfering with *themselves*, and therefore must pass through both slits at the same time.
So they decided to add a detector at one of the slits and see which slit the light is going through. To their amazement, when they did this, the interference pattern disappeared, and light clearly passed through one slit or the other, and just showed up on the detector as individual dots with no pattern. So... what?!?
They removed the detector and sure enough, the interference pattern returned. In conclusion, light appeared to behave as a wave, even individual quanta of light, since it appears to pass through both slits simultaneously, which is necessary for the appearance of an interference pattern. When you measure which slit the light when through, light appears to behave as a particle, and just flies through one slit or the other, but not both.
**The act of observing the experiment changed the result**. So light can be described successfully as both a particle **and** a wave. As it turns out, all matter can be described this way, not just light. This was a tipping point for a new understanding of the universe through quantum mechanics, which is a whole different story.
**TL;DR Light is a wave, unless you look at it like a particle, then it's a particle, but also it's a wave. Simple.** | 36 |
[Predator] Predators/Yautja seem to be all about using their skill, cunning, and intelligence to hunt the most dangerous game in the galaxy, so why is their primary weapon a shoulder mounted plasma cannon equipped with auto-aim? | Sure, it showcases their technological prowess, but it takes away all of the 'sport' of the hunt, which seems to be the only reason they do what they do. | 95 | Shoulder-mounted and self-aiming because it frees up the hands for weapons useful against more worthy prey.. the spear, the claws.. not all meat is worthy of these.
Plasma is useful versus both Soft and Hard meat, and requires little in the way of ammunition and upkeep, unlike the pellet launchers the Soft Meat prefers. | 61 |
[FilthyFrank] What's the source of Frank's connection to the Dark Lord ChinChin? | 21 | Dark lord chin chin is one of the main and most powerful beings, who rules that section of the omniverse and can survive the void. Frank, being a leader of his own clan, is the one who must appease to chin chin as it is necessary. Presumably there are other clans that require this as well. | 10 |
|
Why does information from entanglement travel instantaneously, yet information from other forces (gravity, etc) travel at the speed of light? | 15 | It is only *causal* influences that are limites to the speed of light. You cannot use entangled particles to transmit useful information (without communicating via other means, first).
Imagine Alice and Bob are light years away and each have a set of entangled particles - say the spins of the particles are correlated. When they measure them, no matter who measures first, each observer on either end will always see a set of random spins. It cant be used to transmit any *useful information* (unless Alice and Bob first make an intergalactic phone call and discuss their spin basis, but this would travel at lightspeed). Anything that can transmit useful information (which could change the course of events) is limited to *c*. | 15 |
|
[DC Comics] Why is King Shark so weak compared to Wonder Woman when he's also a demigod apparently? | 522 | Well, let's take a look back at Ancient Greek Mythology, shall we?
Both Heracles and Bellerophon are demigods.
Heracles has extraordinary strength and courage beyond the capacity of mortal men.
Bellerophon can ride horses real good.
Sometimes, them's the breaks. | 806 |
|
If using AD block is stealing content then so is going to the bathroom during a TV commercial break (CMV) | You transmitted the ad & a program on my computer made it so I didn't have to watch. You have no more right to tell me what programs should or should not be on my PC and what they should or should not do, in same way you have no right to tell me not to click onto a different window or even just close my eyes for the duration instead.
Content creators often say that they don't want people to watch the videos without the ad because they need the revenue. Well firstly your financial issues aren't really my concern, refusing to help a struggling individual isn't stealing just because it's a bit Dickish. Secondly I don't have to experience your art the way you want me to (nor do I have much incentive to want to if you freely admit you would remove your self if you could). | 712 | The main problem is that online ads report if they are blocked, which makes the site/video owner not make money off your view. In the case of TV ads the producers of whatever show you're watching make money whether you watch the ad or not. | 321 |
Is it possible to be genetically fat? | What I mean by this question is that one argument given by overweight people is that they've tried all the diets under the sun and they are still fat and thus blame genetics.
Other people give a similar argument that certain medical conditions make it impossible to eat a healthy diet.
But wouldn't the laws of thermodynamics still be relevant, ie calorie intake < calorie usage = weight loss? | 29 | The answer is 'kind of'. Metabolism is determined by the genetic makeup. Still, weight gain and loss is, for every one of us, the sum of calories absorbed and calories spent.
Some ethnicities are on average more prone to gaining weight as a result of being adapted to diets low in fats and sugars. Many tribes from the American continents, for instance, have experienced a very negative impact from suddenly being introduced to western food products rich in fats and sugar.
With very few exceptions to the rule, a carefully planned diet combined with adequate exercise works for everyone.
| 29 |
[Family Guy]How could Brian have written Harry Potter? | In the episode Back to the Pilot, Stewie and Brian go back in time to 1999, while back in time Brian tells his past self about Harry potter(perhaps he gave the books to him from the future)and the past Brian writes and claims credit for the Novels.The problem with this is that Harry Potter was first released in 1997, how could past Brian claim credit for them? | 58 | [Meta] Seriously? That seems like a massive oversight for a major show to make, that's like 30 seconds of fact checking [Meta]
OK let's have a go. Well, this isn't exactly the first time that Brian and Stewie have messed with time. Time Travel is a fact in the family guy universe, as is the existence of God and other deities and supernatural beings, and talking/ intelligent animals.
Anyone one of these factors could have snowballed in to JKR writing her famous book series a few years later than she did in our universe. Perhaps Harry Potter is a much different story there, as it needed to outdo the supernatural elements that already exist irl. | 52 |
CMV: The concept of „Cultural Appropriation“ has some overlap with ethnopluralism because both essentially propose that a culture „belongs“ to the ethnic group associated with it | This has been bothering me for some time! I’m well aware that ethnopluralism is a dogwhistle for modern-day racism, which is why it irritates me so much that one of it’s core aspects seems to also be the foundation of the left/progressive concept of cultural appropriation.
Now, I know that cultural appropriation takes into account the power dynamics between different ethnic groups and is mostly used to protect the cultural achievements of marginalized groups from exploitation by more powerful groups.
However, my ideal society would be a multicultural one where every individual can enjoy, but also contribute to a multitude of cultures that slowly merge into one where the differentiation between different cultures (or at least their connection to any ethnic group) looses relevance. Preventing individuals from „crossing over“ to other cultures seems to strive for a society where multiple cultures exist, but there are defined lines between them and depending on an individuals ethnicity, some are more or less accessible to them. This - at least in some sense - resembles the ethnopluralistic idea of ethnically segregated nationstates, just within one nation.
Maybe I’m seriously misunderstanding either of the two concepts. In that case, I’d love to be educated!
Anyway: Please change my view!
Edit: I realized that my view could be understood as simply "cultural appropriation is bad/good". That's not what I mean and has been discussed plenty on this sub. It's rather that it's conceptually flawed in the way I described, given that it aims at combating structural racism/protecting marginalized communities.
Edit 2: My view has been changed, or rather my misunderstanding has been resolved by this [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/ufimr8/comment/i6vjzk7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). But a lot of other comments have also helped me to understand the topic better, have given me new insights and provided useful subcategories to think about the topic more complexly. Thanks a lot to everybody who contributed! | 150 | I think it comes down to 1) consent for the culture to be shared and 2) respect for the culture doing the sharing.
Some cultural practices are considered "closed practices," where outsiders are not permitted to witness/participate. There are a number of reasons for this, but this "enclosure" usually serves to protect something that's considered private, sacred, or unique, or to ensure that the participants have the necessary education to appreciate what's going on. You can't just bumble your way into another culture's most intimate ceremonies and expect to be able to gawk and point and treat it like a tourist attraction.
Your ideal culture may be one of absolute openness and sharing, but not everyone shares that ideal, often because these smaller, closed cultures have faced external pressure/coercion/ridicule. They value what makes them unique, and they don't want to lose their sense of heritage.
Some cultures may have both public and private spheres. The public sphere is meant to be shared and appreciated by the wider world, while the private sphere is meant to be kept within the community. One example would be Amish communities who make furniture for sale or offer traditional hospitality via B&Bs or restaurants. This is shared, and in fact is beneficial for the community when outsiders come in as customers. But outsiders are very, very rarely welcomed into the Amish community as marriage partners, religious converts, etc. You could not expect to force your ideal multicultural society on their protected, closed cultural practices.
So it's not as cut-and-dry as "you can't use anything from someone else's culture." It's about respecting their boundaries, and only taking what's freely given. | 24 |
[Marvel] If it were somehow possible to give Bruce Banner an Adamantium skeleton, what would that mean for his Hulk transformation? | 41 | A few scenarios.
1- He can't get the skeleton because it triggers the Hulk.
2- His healing factor forces the skeleton out.
3- His healing factor creates adamantium beta ala wolverine, which transforms with him.
4- You have a very, *VERY* angry Hulk. | 52 |
|
Trailing spouse problem -- how to help my husband to get a position | Dear all, I am a postdoc in mathematics, in a German university. My husband has a doctor's degree in engineering and is working in China. I would like to bring him to my university in Germany, but to find a research job directly without any local contact seems to be very difficult. Luckily, he found a professor in my department (not in my work group, and may not know me at all), who involves a RTG (Research Training Group) that focuses on his research area. I plan to ask the professor for help, but I wonder if it is a little strange to do so... | 42 | That's literally all that networking is.
Introduce yourself, tell them that your husband is looking for a position in his area, and ask if he knows of anybody in the department who is looking for a post-doc. | 43 |
Can some infinities be larger than others? | > “There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.”
-John Green, *A Fault in Our Stars* | 418 | Yes. For instance, the set of real numbers is larger than the set of integers.
However, that quote is still wrong. The set of numbers between 0 and 1 is the same size as the set of numbers between 0 and 2. We know this because the function y = 2x matches every number in one set to exactly one number in the other; that is, the function gives a way to pair up each element of one set with an element of the other. | 328 |
[Star Wars] How many Super Star Destroyers did the Empire have? | 136 | Of Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts - the class most commonly known as "super star destroyers" - we know of sixteen specific vessels and potentially of more (it is not clear if others are distinct vessels, or ones listed here but simply not mentioned by name).
Overall, Executors tended to live short, bloody lives; they were prime targets for Rebel (and later New Republic) infiltration, were often assigned to heavy-service sectors, and bore the brunt of major battles in which they were involved.
- *Executor* - flagship of Darth Vader's Death Squadron. Destroyed at Endor.
- *Lusankya* - originally named *Executor II*, completed simultaneously with *Executor*. Buried on Coruscant as an escape ship for the Emperor. Fell into New Republic control, expended as suicide bombship at Borleias.
- An unnamed Executor-class was under construction at Fondor when it was destroyed by a Rebel task force.
- *Terror* - equipped with cloaking device. Flagship of Admiral Siam's TIE Phantom project. Destroyed by Rebel sabotage.
- *Vengeance* - flagship of Admiral Wooyou Senn. Allegedly destroyed by impact of 4 Rebel suicide bomb-ships, but reports are unclear. May have survived.
- *Guardian* - flagship of Admiral Gaen Drommel's Coruscant defense fleet. Fell into Rebel control, last seen operational at the Defense of Mon Calamari in 29 ABY.
- *Annihilator* - flagship of Admiral Gaarn. Destroyed at Fondor by combined Rebellion/Zann Consortium fleet.
- *Reaper* - flagship of Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, later Admiral Gilad Pellaeon. Destroyed by Rebel task force at the Battle of Celanon, in large part by duel with the captured *Lusankya*.
- *Iron Fist* (originally *Brawl*) - flagship of Admiral Zsinj. Destroyed at the Battle of Dathomir by combined New Republic/Hapan force.
- *Night hammer* (later *Knight Hammer*) - advanced model with reduced crew requirements and some stealth measures. Flagship of Admiral Natasi Daala. Destroyed at Yavin by massive Force action by multiple Jedi and sabotage.
- *Intimidator* - advanced model with improved shielding. Captured during Yevethan uprising where it was known as *Pride of Yevetha*; later recaptured and returned to Imperial service. Later discovered apparently abandoned, presumably as the weakened Imperial Navy could not support such a massive vessel.
- *Aggressor* - flagship of Admiral Roek, later Grand Admiral Josef Grunger. Expended in suicide ramming attack at Corellia.
- *Enforcer* - flagship of Admiral Kohrin. Destroyed at Phaylenn by Rebel forces while powered down and undergoing repairs from earlier combat.
- *Razor's Kiss* - scuttled at Kuat Drive Yards while under construction by Admiral Zsinj rather than allow a Rebel force to potentially seize it. Wreckage was later used to create *Second Death*, an illusory and nonfunctional "mock Executor".
- *Whelm* - part of Coruscant defense force; destroyed in battle by New Republic force over Alsakan.
- An unnamed Executor was used by the Imperial agent X1. It was destroyed at Mustafar by Rebel sabotage and incompetence, causing collision with the planet's planetary shield.
Lastly, it should be noted that there were many other classes of Star Dreadnought; Executors were simply the most well-known of the lot. Some were very much the military equal of an Executor; *Whelm* was destroyed by a duel with the Mandator III-class Dreadnought *Panthac*. | 117 |
|
[World of Warcraft] New Demon Hunters are created when they eat demon flesh/blood. Illidan absorbed the skull of Gul'dan. Gul'dan was not a demon. How do these two methods both create demon hunters? | Either the new demon hunters aren't true demon hunters like Illidan or Illidan is something else. He's exponentially more powerful than other demon hunters but when he started out, he just absorbed an old orc's skull.
Granted Gul'dan was a powerful Warlock but he was not a demon himself, so his remains should be like any other orc's.
So we have 2 wildly different methods of creating demon hunters. How is it that they are the same? Are the new elves not true demon hunters? They're should be differences but aside from the massive power difference, there doesn't seem to be any. Does anyone have any ideas? | 63 | I don't know of any of this for sure but...
The demon or skull is just a vessel, doesn't matter. They're consuming fel energy, fel corruption. Also, Gul'dan is about as much demon as any of the Eredar I'd say. They're all races from other worlds that have been inducted into the legion and corrupted by the fel. | 55 |
ELI5: Why aren't patients, especially children, given something to numb the surface skin before getting a shot? | 6,416 | Because it would slow down the process significantly, as well as adding cost and more time for the kid to think about how he/she is totally about to get a shot, instead of just getting it over with. Since the areas we get shots are typically not especially sensitive to the pain, it is a very minor inconvenience and much of the discomfort is psychological rather than physical. | 3,649 |
|
Is the sun slowly losing mass? | AYpAdEKxxnrmLxZvHnvpv74b5F4g8Pd3DpLNBGgs48GclUo4NIEFpI0KIdkgssAYpAdEKxxnrmLxZvHnvpv74b5F4g8Pd3DpLNBGgs48GclUo4NIEFpI0KIdkgssAYpAdEKxxnrmLxZvHnvpv74b5F4g8Pd3DpLNBGgs48GclUo4NIEFpI0KIdkgssAYpAdEKxxnrmLxZvHnvpv74b5F4g8Pd3DpLNBGgs48GclUo4NIEFpI0KIdkgssAYpAdEKxxnrmLxZvHnvpv74b5F4g8Pd3DpLNBGgs48GclUo4NIEFpI0KIdkgssAYpAdEKxxnrmLxZvHnvpv74b5F4g8Pd3DpLNBGgs48GclUo4NIEFpI0KIdkgssAYpAdEKxxnrmLxZvHnvpv74b5F4g8Pd3DpLNBGgs48GclUo4NIEFpI0KIdkgssAYpAdEKxxnrmLxZvHnvpv7 | 227 | The Sun is a big ball of plasma, within it's core hydrogen is fused into helium. This process releases a small amount of energy, approximately 0.7% of the original mass of the hydrogen is converted to energy.
In the Sun 620 million tons of hydrogen is fused every second.
0.7% of 620 million tons is 4.34 million tons.
So every second, the Sun is losing 4.34 million tons of mass.
That is a lot, approximately one Khafre pyramid every second (Khafre is the second largest pyramid in Giza, after Khufus).
Compared to the Suns mass though, it is nothing. The Suns mass equates to about 2 octillion tons, or 2 billion billion billion tons.
4.34 million tons / 2 octillion tons = 0.0000000000000000002% of the Suns mass each second or 0.0000000127% since year 0.
EDIT:
To put this into perspective. There has been 63,557,006,400 seconds since year 0.
Khafres pyramid is 215 meters on its side, which equates to 46,225 m^2.
Earth has a land area of 1.491*10^14 m^2.
46,225 m^2 * 63,557,006,400 = 2.983 * 10^15 m^2
2.983 * 10^15 m^2 / 1.491*10^14 m^2 = 20.01
So thats 20 layers of pyramids on all the land mass on Earth.. Still only 0.0000000127% of the Suns mass. | 215 |
ELI5: If diabetic people can have dangerously low sugar from not eating, how can non-diabetic people go on fasts, or skip meals? | I understand when blood sugar gets to high, and in theory when it gets too low. However, I don't understand how my fitness crazed cousin can do intermittent fasting (only eats during a 4 hour window each day) and regular 3-5 day water fasts wouldn't have the same issue. | 41 | Diabetic people have trouble metabolizing sugar, and so must inject insulin to properly use glucose. But if they have insulin and not enough sugar, such as from not eating, their blood sugar can drop too low.
However someone without diabetes shouldn't have trouble with intermittent fasting because their body can adjust insulin levels itself to compensate for the different levels of food and thus sugar intake. | 11 |
[Magic School Bus] Is there a Mr. Frizzle? | 33 | Ms. Frizzle had a fiancé before she was a teacher. They were both scientists and were working together to create a new mode of transportation. Unfortunately, due to a tragic accident, her fiancé was transformed into a sentient bus. After many years spent trying to find a cure, they decided that it was beyond their abilities. Convinced that the next generation would hold the key to reversing the transformation, the bus and Ms. Frizzle dedicated their lives to teaching youth and trying to develop the next scientific genius to hasten the cure. | 101 |
|
What aspect of modern economy would stop working if all people knew about it? | 94 | Although it's empirically unclear how much of monetary policy's 'strength' is due to information frictions, it's certainly a non-zero portion. If everyone were able to precisely see through the 'money illusion', we would probably see monetary policy lose some of it's power.
In general though, it's hard to find an answer to this question. Prices communicate information. Individual businesses/households don't need to know the full details of the inner workings of the economy to make optimal decisions. They simply need to know the prices that they personally face. | 85 |
|
[Star Wars] The Rebel's successfully capture the first Death Star rather than destroy it. What happens next? | In the lead up to the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel leadership decide that the Death Star is simply too great of an asset to destroy so they decide to attempt to capture it instead of simply destroying it.
So using an attack on a Death Star's trench as a distraction (which leads to the near destruction and disabling of Darth Vader's fighter) the Rebel's manage to land a large raiding party in the space station's docking bays.
Although there are large casualties and they were almost almost overwhelmed, the Rebel's manage to capture Grand Moff Tarkin and other high ranking imperial officers. They convince them to order the Storm Troopers to stand down in exchange for their lives.
The Rebel Alliance now has the greatest weapon in the Galaxy at their disposal. What happens next? | 48 | They certainly don't use it for its intended purpose. The rebels are fighting against the mindset that thinks it's okay to destroy planets and commit genocide in the name of politics.
They might spend time seeing if the targeting system is sophisticated enough to hit starbases or ships as large as star destroyers. That way the rebel's usual hit-and-fade tactics would be considerably more capable. But once they prove that the DS-1 can only target things as large as planetoids, they would move on.
Sure, it could be used as a mobile base, and a powerful one at that. But if the Rebels were able to capture the death star with such relative ease, the Empire wouldn't hesitate to do the same. (And with much greater numbers) Not to mention that the Death Star is the emperor's pet project. So its capture would draw his personal attention. The Imperial efforts to retake the death star would pale in comparison to every operation and battle in the civil war so far. The rebels at this time barely had a fleet, and a lot of it was destroyed over Scarif, so this is a losing proposition all around.
I think their smartest course of action would be to dump all of the contents of its memory banks onto the holonet and broadcast every atrocity required to build such a thing, as well as what it was going to be used for. And once the galaxy is fully informed of what kind of monster sits on the throne, they would destroy the death star in a way that everyone in the galaxy can see. Hopefully, just like how the death star's destruction in the real timeline spurred a huge number of planets to openly rebel, this slightly less violent sequence of events would lead to the same outcome. | 59 |
ELI5: What makes blood a different "type"? | What's the difference between blood in people that means we have different "types" and why are some incompatible? | 23 | Our blood contains antibodies and antigens. Different people have different antibodies/antigens. Antibodies attack antigens of the same type. Blood type O has no antigens and both A and B types of antibodies. Blood type A has antigen A and antibody B. Blood type B has antigen B and antibody A. Blood type AB has both antigens and neither antibodies. There is a final important antigen, known as D, which people are either positive for (they have it) or negative for (they don't have it). This means that someone whose blood type is A+ has antigens A and D, as well as antibody B. | 32 |
[Death Note] What if I name my child the symbol of a fractal, will it take forever for the name to be written on the death note? | 56 | You would still have to call the child by a verbal name, right? Or at least, there'd be a name that the child would respond to. *That* would be their name, their real name, and not some loophole that trusts the Death Note relies on legal documents. | 81 |
|
ELI5: the physics behind non-Newtonian fluids | Hello all,
I know *what* a non-Newtonian fluid is and I know that either the shear rate or shear stress can affect the fluid's viscosity, but I'm not sure *why* they act as they do, on a molecular level.
My best guess would be the shape of the molecules themselves, but that's purely conjectural.
If anyone can tell me more or direct me to an ELI5 friendly website where I can learn more about the physics interactions between molecules in non-Newtonian fluids, I'd be most appreciative :) | 41 | ELIF answer:
Think of sand. It's soft and flows when it's wet, but if you squish it down and wait for it to dry, it's hard and crumbly.
Non-newtonian fluids are like sand that absorbs and dries out REALLY fast. So if you apply pressure, it gets harder like you squished out the water. | 14 |
Do creatures with shorter lifespans evolve faster? | Maybe I'm wrong with this but my (very) basic understanding of evolution is that there are genetic mutations in a species that "win" over vast amounts of time and change things as a result. So, if you have certain creatures that only live a few years, then wouldn't any mutations happen faster if they were far more generations to travel through? | 61 | This is a little bit tricky depending on your definition of evolution. In the loosest sense, yeah, mutations will happen faster because of how quickly generations go by, but for a mutation to take over a population and 'win' like you put it, there would have to be a selection pressure.
Think of how you hear things like crocodiles being 'living fossils'. Its not that they havent experienced generational mutations, its that they have little need to adapt because they're already well suited to their environment. | 81 |
how are we able to see at really high speeds? why does the "binocular vision" effect happen? | to add context to the question: i used to street race when i was a young and irresponsible lad. when approaching speeds at the 160+ MPH range, things in my peripheral (streetlamps, trees...etc) would get blurry, BUT the center of my vision would become super detailed, to the point where i could see cars miles away ahead of me and judge their approximate speeds with considerable accuracy. i used to chalk this up to adrenaline and my brain somehow doing something to compensate in order to stay alive -biological imperative and whatnot- but now i'm not so sure..
so my question is two-fold, what exactly is going on that allows me nigh-super-human vision at high speeds, and why would humans evolve to be able to perform such feats? especially given the fact that we hardly traveled over 20 MPH for millions of years of evolution?
| 52 | Things in your peripheral actually _are_ blurry. Photoreceptor density is very high on the fovea (center of your vision) and very low outside, particularly if you're trying to see color.
Normally, we adapt to this by bouncing our eyes around alot -- a process called saccades. When you were driving, you most likely suppressed this entire system, meaning all you were seeing was the tunnel in front of you.
We have a really adaptive sensory system, particularly if life is at stake. | 26 |
What body system does fat belong to? | If they can be part of different systems, are there other examples of tissues that are not strictly monogamous?
| 2,334 | Endocrine system generally, but it's also important connective tissue. Fat cells derive embryologically from mesoderm (there are three basic embryologic tissues). Also, you may be interested to know that there are two types of fat (let's call it adipose)-- white adipose and brown adipose. White adipose is typically what you think of when you consider fat. It's the stuff that's under your skin, in your belly, thighs, around your heart, kidneys, and etc. Brown adipose on the other hand tends to be around only when you are an infant, and it actually actively burns carbs and fat to create heat. It's brown because they contain iron rich mitochondria, which are the cellular machinery for burning through chemical energy. People have tried to harness / reactivate this stuff over time, and it's a pretty interesting research field in itself.
If you're interested in some peer reviewed lit on the subject, see: doi:10.1038/nm.3361 "Brown and beige fat: development, function and therapeutic potential"
As to your question about tissues not being strictly "monogamous," there are tons of examples!-- blood, blood vessels, nerves, muscles all comprise important parts of various organs. Generally, various tissues compose an organ, and organs work together in organ systems to carry out a specific function. For example, renal tubules are a tissue but they work along side smooth muscle, blood vessels, neurons, and endocrine tissue in the kidneys (an organ), which are an important part of the renal or excretory system. The human body is a wonderful thing. | 836 |
ELI5: Why do muslims consider it a sin to draw/illustrate Muhammed, when it does not clearly say anything about it in the Quran? | 23 | The Bible and the Koran are both very strict about idol worshipping -- it's actually one of the Jewish/Christian Ten Commandments and is repeated multiple times in the Koran.
Muslims therefore consider it a grave sin to worship Mohammed rather than Allah, and some fear that if anyone were to make images of Mohammed it would encourage worship of him. So making an image of Mohammed is, for many (but by no means all) Muslims, almost as bad as idol worship itself -- in other words a breach of one of God's Ten Commandments and therefore one of the worst sins you can commit. | 27 |
|
[Stargate SG1] By the end of the series, are the Tauri the most powerful non-ascended beings in the galaxy? | Since they have the sum total of all Asgard knowladge, wouldnt that make them the top dogs? | 47 | (Factoring in the post series movies)
What do you mean "most powerful"? Do you mean most technologically advanced? Then you have to consider the Nox, the remnants of the Ori army, and maybe the Furlings.
In terms of destructive force per ship, then yes, we are probably the most powerful.
In terms of total military strength, there are several factions (like the Lucian alliance) that would outnumber Earth's fleet. Even though our ships are more powerful, they have way, way more. | 34 |
Discrimination against Transgender people in Science Academia? | Hello, I am transgender woman who haven't transitioned yet. I am currently in undergrad majoring in Chemistry who wants to become a researcher in science. I am worried that coming out and transitioning will hamper my future severely and ruin my future as being scientist. Would professors refuse or unwilling to work with me if I transition? What should I expect?
Edit: I am from US. | 17 | Researchers are just people, so no blanket statements apply. Some professors may be very supportive, others may be uncomfortable, and others may not care at all.
In general the North American academic environment is pretty woke and accommodating of all kinds of people, so you are unlikely to face overt discrimination. If you do, you will have the support of your institution and robust LGBTQ resources that may not be as well developed in private enterprise. | 53 |
ELI5: How is a nuclear submarine lost at sea not a danger? | The USS Thresher was a nuclear submarine that was lost at sea and never recovered. Does the nuclear material aboard it not pose a problem? | 761 | Water absorbs nuclear radiation really well, thats why we use it in our reactors (well that and the whole steam thing.
The radiation wont penetrate more than like 20 meters even if there was a catastrophic containment failure, but normally its in a giant steel box. So no its fine. Not ideal, but not a danger. | 343 |
ELI5:How an Iron lung works? | 17 | An iron lung creates an air-tight seal around your body. It will change the pressure of the air inside from negative to positive, and back again. When a person's muscles will not allow them to breathe on their own, this pressure change will force your muscles to move in the way necessary to make you inhale and exhale. | 10 |
|
[Star Wars] Palpatine killing Padme? (Spoilers for Episode 9) | I know this is a discussion that has already been done but I just wondered whether a new piece of potential evidence has been given to us after watching Episode 9. Towards the final scene, we see Palpatine transform back into his complete body after using both the life-forms of Kylo Ren and Rey, so surely this is proof that he is capable of using said force power to steal the life force away from others?
So, instead of Padme dying of a broken heart, would it be plausible that Palpatine actually took the life force from Padme, (and being a non-force sensitive, she had less life force as compared to Kylo and Rey who still survived from Palpatine stealing their life force to heal up Vader) which led to her unfortunate death.
Thoughts? | 23 | While it's a long-standing theory that Palpatine drained Padme to support Anakin during the surgery, there is no evidence in either continuity or from George's own statements to actually support that he did it or was capable of doing that at that time. In fact, the only examples of him stealing life force from others is in Episode 9, and there's no indication in that film that he can do it when the target is not in his immediate vicinity, let alone that he might be able to siphon life energy and transfer it to another. | 23 |
[Marvel] Has Reed Richards ever attempted to create the supersoldier serum? | Given his intellect and multidisciplinary knowledge, it seems strange that SHIELD or some other group hasn't recruited him to re-create the super soldier serum used on Captain America.
Reed seems to do science for the sake of it so he probably would attempt to just to see if he can. Is there any reason they haven't attempted it? | 164 | Problem here is SHIELD. Reed could make it, Reed won't make it.
Reed is peaceful exploration and science, not a weapon smith. Also there are several people who could make it at this point, shouldn't bother asking Reed. Waste of his time. Reed has probably dabbled and examined it, but maybe respects Captain America enough that distributing something like this is bad form.
Not only that the Super Serum is pretty out competed as a weapon. Why bother making Captain America when you can try rushing for Iron Man or Hulk? | 88 |
just got rejected again from a PhD program | Sorry I just need to rant.
>Dear (u/rigtm),
>Many thanks again for your application for the PhD we advertised. It was really nice to meet you at interview. We were all really impressed with your application, your research experience and productivity to date, and your thoughtful answers at interview.
>We interviewed five excellent candidates, who were selected from over 50 applications for the PhD. I’m sorry to say we have selected a different applicant for the PhD, who had some highly relevant experience and expertise, and novel thoughts on how to develop the project.
>I hope you find an alternative PhD soon.
>Sincerely,
>xxxx
Being in the top 5 doesn't matter; there's no consolation prize. How the hell am I supposed to be the top ONE when there are so many excellent candidates applying for one spot?
First I'm expected to have really high grades. ALSO work experience. ALSO publications. Apparently I need to give innovative answers too even before I start on the project. If I have all of these, then what the hell is the training/degree for other than just a formality???
Well, this fucking blows and I'm going to be sulking for a few days and do this all over again.
Rant over. | 488 | Your rant is very nice, but we have received many fine rants here today. While your rant is in the top two rants of the rants we are considering, your rant did not rise to the level of rant magic that we expected. Other rants were more whiny and pathetic than yours, so unfortunately, we must reject your rant. Good luck with future rejections, we hope they inspire better rants.
*\[ps. this is satire meant to lift your spirits, keep your chin up and don't let the failures define you. Everyone gets rejected, it's all about persistence!\]* | 677 |
Do any of you ever take a step back and marvel at the magic-like capabilities of modern computing? | Like I understand enough about the underlying physical properties of modern computers as well as operating system construction and computer architecture/organization to perceive computers as more than just magical black boxes. At the same time, the speed at which they operate and the complexity of the hardware at a transistor-level is sometimes too mind-boggling for my ape brain to handle. | 46 | Yep. The first time that you make a program that has to process a large amount of data to complete its task, it really opens your eyes to how fast modern computers are.
Prior to taking CS courses (and at the beginning levels) most of what a computer does seems almost magical. You may know it is fast but you don't really have a good perspective for how fast it is. The first time you hand design something that is going to run through thousands of data points to complete its task, hit run, and watch it finish in only a couple seconds (or practically instantly in some cases), you finally get a taste for how absolutely ludicrous the speed of modern computers are. Then you consider that the code you write relies on lower-level code (and may even take a peak at some of it) and you realize the speed at which the computer is processing instructions is several times faster than your initial perception gained just from running your own code. The more and more you learn the greater your appreciation becomes until it reaches a point where your understanding of the speed at which modern computers run reaches a number that is so incomprehensibly high that things pretty much wrap around to where you started and it all becomes magical again. | 19 |
[MCU] Did the efforts of Captain America hasten the demise of Nazi Germany or was it largely a “private war” against Hydra? | And subsequently, if so, why did the German leadership (particularly the SS) not take direct action not only against Cap but also against the openly breakaway Hydra organization, which by killing-off its SS overseers, at which time it declared itself as a usurper faction of the Third Reich, while operating within a totalitarian state at war for 3-4 years? | 26 | Cap’s greatest value to the main war effort was as propaganda. The USO shows, the movies, and the genuine battlefield heroics all helped boost morale, especially on the home front.
Taking direct action against him would have been tricky. German attempts to infiltrate America were, for the most part, staggeringly ineffectual, and once he went overseas he was constantly surrounded by heavily armed men, and Peggy Carter. You don’t fuck around with Peg. | 32 |
[WH40K] Which civilization is objectively the strongest/weakest? | I know for the purposes of the tabletop, they are all 'balanced', but from a lore perspective which race is the strongest in the galaxy and which is the weakest?
Also, I know civilization may not be the right word, but 'race' also doesn't seem to fit for groups which have more than one race. | 54 | Tyranids are the strongest. The vast forces we have seen so far are only their scouts. They have an entire galaxy's biomass behind them, and they're coming for us.
The Tau are the weakest. While their technology is excellent, they have slow travel with no access to the Warp. They have very small numbers, and only a relatively small number of worlds | 85 |
CMV: The U.S. military and the defense industry is the largest and most useless (and dangerous) makework program in history. | More than just the "military industrial complex" that Gen. Eisenhower warned us of, the military post-Vietnam, post-draft era has really become a way for the rich and those in Congress (increasingly the same people) to artificially lower the unemployment rate; redistribute tax dollars to both shareholders of defense contractors and to marginalized citizens who might otherwise be unemployable; and essentially operate a political slush fund to support the economy in places with shipyards and bomb factories but precious little else in the way of industry and employment.
I recognize that this argument is likely to anger people who have made a lifelong commitment to selfless public service in the armed forces, but numbers are numbers: President Trump asked for a 10% increase in FY 2018 to $639 billion. The Congress eventually obliged with an 18% bump to $696 billion. Our military budget is more than the next seven nations combined budgets, per the Pete Peterson foundation. Like our healthcare system, we spend outrageously and for what? Safety? Global order? Respect? Are any of these actually ours at all, thanks to borrowed (at interest) and then spent billions?
TL;DR: Our economy is addicted to spending tax dollars we borrow to finance a war machine nobody needs. Like a third-world nation that refuses to regulate transit or mining or logging because it creates low-paying jobs for millions, our vaunted military is really a catch-all for many young men and women who might otherwise be doing nothing at all. Change my view. | 30 | >we spend outrageously and for what? Safety? Global order? Respect?
The ability for the US to globally project power at any place and any time is the single thing keeping order what it is now. When there's a power reduction, something else will come to fill its place.
What do you think would happen if the US military disappeared (or at least greatly diminished)? What would happen in the South China Sea? Would international shipping lanes exist there? Or would China expand her sphere to influence the area? How would that affect trade? Would Russia have taken over the Balkans if we didn't have a US-reinforced NATO to discourage them? Would North Korea invade the South if our presence was removed? What about the Middle East? Would Israel exist? Would Iran make the entire area proxy states?
Now you can say "who cares" to all that, but the fact is that the US military is not useless at all. It's fine to say the US military should change its behavior - just understand that eliminating it altogether it would result in a world much different than the one we live in now and one that you may not like very much. | 21 |
So we call it magma while underground and lava after it erupted. But why make the distinction in the first place? Is there anything materially different between magma and lava or is it just tradition to use the two different names for the same thing? | 17 | The rocks that they form are different. Magma cools slowly to form plutonic/intrusive rocks; lava cools rapidly to form volcanic/extrusive rocks. The rate of cooling is an important factor that determines the mineralogy of igneous rocks. Furthermore, magma composition could evolve as fractional crystallization occurs(minerals with different melting points crystalize sequentually); this often results in a final extrusive melt that is compositionally distinct from the magma whence it came.
| 13 |
|
ELi5 : How were they able to broadcast the moon landing live? | 31 | Radio waves. Same way they communicated with the crew and broadcast the commentary over the air waves. Most if not all of tv at the time was literally broadcast like radio is now and you had an antenna to pick it up for your tv. | 36 |
|
Do bugs sleep? Plain and simple. | Do bugs sleep? (insects, spiders, moths,flies, the colloquial application of the word bugs is implied) | 34 | Yes. The only living organisms that *don't* sleep (in some form) are the ones who don't live long enough to incorporate the day/night cycle into their lifespans, ~~i.e. Mayflies~~. Plants sleep. Slime molds sleep. Single-celled organisms sleep. The common misconception that "sharks don't sleep" comes from the observation that sharks never close their eyes, but as it turns out, sharks don't have *eyelids*. | 38 |
ELI5: The taboo of unionization in America | edit: wow this blew up. Trying my best to sift through responses, will mark explained once I get a chance to read everything.
edit 2: Still reading but I think /u/InfamousBrad has a really great historical perspective. /u/Concise_Pirate also has some good points. Everyone really offered a multi-faceted discussion!
Edit 3: What I have taken away from this is that there are two types of wealth. Wealth made by working and wealth made by owning things. The later are those who currently hold sway in society, this eb and flow will never really go away. | 4,512 | * unions benefit the group, at the expense of individual achievement...many Americans believe they can do better on their own
* unions in the US have a history of corruption...both in terms of criminal activity, and in pushing the political agendas of union leaders instead of advocating for workers
* American unions also have a reputation for inefficiency, to the point it drives the companies that pays their wages out of business
* America still remembers the Cold War, when trade unions were associated with communism
| 4,270 |
ELI5: Why must stocks be traded through clearing houses? Why can’t they be traded directly between entities? | 28 | Most people who trade stock do not actually get the stock. Actually moving stock from one entity to another does take quite some paperwork and waiting for the right records to be updated. So most stocks will be in the possession of the stock exchange or the banks. This means that stock trades can happen much quicker, even less then a week. But it does mean that all trades now have to go through the stock exchange or a clearing house. | 26 |
|
ELI5: Why is it supposedly rude to point? | Is there some sort of cultural "back story" to this? | 63 | Pointing makes people uncomfortable or even feel threatened. If a stranger points at you on the street (assuming you're not a celebrity), it never means something good. They could be signaling an attack, mocking you, etc. Whatever the reason, it's bad.
Thus, it's rude to point. | 55 |
ELI5:How is it that animals trapped in caves for hundreds of years have enough genetic diversity to survive? | 31 | Genetic diversity isn't really as important as you might think. Consider: nearly all golden hamsters in captivity are descended from one litter captured in the early 20th century. Humans care about inbreeding because having one of your kids die from some genetic disease is unacceptable to us. But for many species, having a dozen, or a hundred, or a thousand offspring with only a couple survivors is the norm. After a few generations, the lethal alleles are weeded out by natural selection.
The downside after this happens is that genetic variability is low. That leaves a population relatively ill-equipped to deal with changing environments and new diseases. But in isolated caves, neither of those things is very likely.
| 37 |
|
ELI5: How come the kickoff is considered very dangerous in gridiron football but less so in rugby? | Having some familiarity with both gridiron football and rugby's rules (but not a regular watcher of either), I've heard that gridiron football kickoffs are one of if not the most dangerous plays in the sport. In fact, they're so dangerous that there have been calls to abolish them. What makes them more dangerous compared to rugby kick-offs, apart from gridiron football's use of pads and helmets? | 15 | Gridiron/American football kickoffs are the most dangerous plays of the game because the most of the kicking team is running straight into full-speed blocks and tackles with the receiving team. Most other blocks in football happen at low speed at or near the line of scrimmage, reducing the chance of injury. Tackles in regular gameplay can be dangerous, but are usually either not head-on, or are at lower speed.
Rugby (in and out of the kickoff) doesn't allow blocking. Helmet- and pad-less tackling is less dangerous because players tackle differently. | 28 |
ELI5: Why do bees, bumblebees and wasps all have the same yellow black color pattern? | 42 | Many of them (though not all of them) can sting. The first ones that could sting evolved a distinct pattern to warn predators that they could sting - better to not even be in the situation where you might get hurt, right? But then some of the non-stinging insects evolved the same pattern because predators who avoid black-and-yellow insects on principle would avoid them anyway.
It's called mimicry, and it's a fantastic, if entirely accidental, strategy for self-defense. The fact that they chose black and yellow as the "agreed upon" pattern was totally arbitrary save for the fact that it's visible in their native environment. | 66 |
|
ELI5: Where did the H go in "Herbs" in America? | As cliched as it is to laugh about Americans saying "fanny" instead of "arse" and all that, I genuinely don't understand why Americans drop the "H" in "Herb". It's not a thing in general, to drop H's is it? So why that? | 17 | It was originally a French word, who pronounced it without the H. When it was adopted into English by the English, we pronounced it as though it were an English word, but American culture instead kept the French pronunciation. In a nutshell. | 35 |
[Harry Potter] Wait, was Snape the ONLY spy within the Death Eaters? | Seems odd that Dumbledore would only have Snape as a spy within the Death Eaters.
What if something unfortunate had happened to his only spy? Wouldn't it be smarter to have at least a few double agents, each at differing ranks, to have infiltrated the Death Eaters? | 43 | You don't just walk up to Voldemort and say you wanna be a Death Eater. They are only very few in the Order that could even try. Quite a lot of them aren't pureblood or are blood traitors like the Weasleys so they would probably be killed/tortured on sight.
And for those that would qualify it just is an insane risk. If you aren't an expert in Occlumency you will be caught fairly soon. So the only proper way to get someone on the inside is to turn them. Snape was pretty much pure luck for Dumbledore and most of the other Death Eaters are way too insane to even attempt talking to them.
And there is always the risk of them being exposed and getting Imperiused. Suddenly there is a double agent in your ranks, not fun. | 71 |
ELI5: How are stem cells extracted from blood? What happens to the new stem cell-less blood when reintroduced to the body? [context in description] | My father recently underwent a blood transfusion, and my brother was selected to be the blood donor. So they hooked a tube to a vain in his leg and the machine the tube is attached to drew in his blood. This blood went into the machine and it literally separated and collected the stem cells from the blood. The separated blood is then fed back into my brother's body. I was blown the fuck away. | 72 | The process is called peripheral stem cell transplantation.
Normally, the hematopoietic (a.k.a. blood-making) stem cells are located in the bone marrow, with very few in the blood. Your brother most likely took drugs before donating that cause the stem cells to rapidly make copies of themselves, more so than normal, and then to attract some of them into the blood rather than stay in the bone marrow.
From there, getting the stem cells is done by a process called apheresis which usually involves centrifuging the blood to separate out the components, then taking off the parts (stem cells) that are needed. The new stem cell-less blood gets pumped back in the body.
There are still stem cells in the bone marrow, enough to regenerate whatever was lost so there isn't too much of a risk for the donor. | 18 |
[General Superheroes] Why are superheroes often reluctant to seek medical attention when they get hurt in battle? | 53 | They've generally received their injuries while fighting villains, and likely while technically committing a crime, and if they go into the hospital those injuries are now recorded and connected to their civilian identity.
But more than that - Superheroes are generally biologically different from a standard human, and routine medical tests could discover this fact. Batman would be fine, but Daredevil getting an MRI could result in strange discoveries, and Clark Kent going to A&E/ER would be both pointless and immediately reveal he was superpowered.
At best they're risking their secret identity being discovered by a savvy villain, at worst they're risking being taken away to a secret facility where they'll be experimented on for the rest of their life. | 100 |
|
ELI5: How do beekeepers know when to stop taking honey from bees so they have enough food for the winter? | Also: In naturally occurring hives or in the case where a beekeeper just stopped taking the honey. What would the bees do once they deemed they had enough food? Do they just stop leaving the hive or does that excess of food cause the hive to expand or break off in to another hive? | 2,255 | We generally use deeper boxes for the bottom two levels - one is for bees to raise young and store pollen, the other is for honey … which we leave for them for over wintering. We set shallow boxes on top during honey flow ; from these the surplus honey is collected. | 1,284 |
ELI5: How come other websites prevent you from watching videos when AdBlock is installed, but YouTube/Google does nothing? | 382 | They calculate that it's better to let you watch the video and potentially share it with other people who do watch the ads, rather than stop you watching at all.
Other sites believe that their content is so compelling that you'll still watch if they force you to turn off ad blocking, or they just care less because their traffic is less dependent on their videos being shared and going viral. | 352 |
|
Eli5: How do anti-seizure meds work? | Am epileptic so curious as to what they do to my brain. | 139 | Depends which one you are referring to! As a very general statement- they can inhibit the markers that cause your nerves to communicate across the nervous system. Therefore less transmission between nerves. Less seizures :)
This is why drowsiness is a common side effect with these meds- as it is slowing down the firing of your nerves :) | 80 |
[Star Wars] Did nobody ever think to move for a vote of no confidence with Palpatine? | He was Supreme Chancellor for a good 20 years, give or take. And if Star Wars politics is anything like real world politics, there must have been someone at some point who thought he was doing a shitty job at running the Republic. | 21 | > there must have been someone at some point who thought he was doing a shitty job at running the Republic.
A motion of no confidence is proposed in times of great need and when there is a large portion of the ruling body strongly against the person in charge, like when Valorum was unable to stop the armed invasion and occupation of a Republic member world.
It's not something you propose every week because you dislike a photo he posted on the HoloNet. | 33 |
Why are there different tresholds to reach herd immunity for different diseases? | I thought it was a quantitative concept, applicable for all kind of diseases, as numbers do not differentiate between them.
Why is it for Covid considered to be \~70% but for measles \~90%?
Thank you. | 19 | Roughly speaking the threshold to reach herd immunity is 1 - 1/R0.
Hence 80% for R0=5 or 90% for R0=10.
This is because R0 is the average number of infections from one case. If p is the proportion of people who are not vaccinated, then the number of infections from one case becomes p x R0 which needs to be less than 1 for the disease to stop spreading. Thus, the threshold case is p = 1/R0. Hence the proportion of vaccinated individuals needs to be 1 - 1/R0. | 24 |
CMV: Avengers: Endgame was a worse film than Infinity War (Spoilers Inside) | #WARNING: SPOILERS
I thought Endgame was worse than Infinity War for multiple reasons. Firstly, Thanos, a deep and well-reasoned villain, was reduced to shallow evil by bringing back his 2014 self who was far more bloodthirsty.
Secondly, the pacing of the film was worse and many moments could have been cut to preserve the same momentum that Infinity War had.
Additionally, the characters of Thor and the Hulk did not receive satisfying character arcs as Hulk's most important development was skipped over in the time jump, and Thor became the butt of fat jokes instead of examining his depression.
Finally, the power levels were inconsistent, hurting dramatic tension, such as when Thor, who previously mortally wounded a six-stone Thanos with Stormbreaker was unable to even dent him with both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. | 76 | > Thanos, a deep and well-reasoned villain, was reduced to shallow evil by bringing back his 2014 self who was far more bloodthirsty
Thanos was never really well reasoned. He put on a good show, but everything was always about his ego. He thought he had the solution to his planet's problem and they didn't use it, then his planet died. His entire goal is to prove he was right about culling the population. Once the past version learned that it didn't work, his facade broke and he showed how crazed he was all along.
> Secondly, the pacing of the film was worse and many moments could have been cut to preserve the same momentum that Infinity War had
The pacing may have been slightly worse, but it was very similar to infinity war. A few side quests that meet up for an epic final fight. The only real difference is that they needed to wrap up more stuff after the fight in endgame, which made it feel a little like the multiple endings in lord of the rings.
> Additionally, the characters of Thor and the Hulk did not receive satisfying character arcs as Hulk's most important development was skipped over in the time jump, and Thor became the butt of fat jokes instead of examining his depression.
I agree that Hulk could have been done better, but Thor has a compelling arc. He goes through complete failure even though he did kill Thanos, and it shows the depths of his depression with how he is drinking and not leaving the house. Then his conversation with his mother helps him realize that he isn't happy because he has been chasing some ideal version of himself that he can't and doesn't want to live up to.
> Finally, the power levels were inconsistent, hurting dramatic tension, such as when Thor, who previously mortally wounded a six-stone Thanos with Stormbreaker was unable to even dent him with both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker.
Someone else in the thread has point out that Thor was very clearly out of shape and not at full power, while Thanos is not overconfident this time and probably in the best fighting shape of his life since he hasn't fully committed to his chair sitting phase.
For Ironman, he was fighting someone with one weapon that had a glaring weakness in Infinity War. Thanos had to be able to close his gauntlet to use it. So Tony exploited that at every opportunity. Without the stones Thanos had no armour or weapons to use against the best Ironman suit Tony had ever made. In Endgame, Thanos is in full combat gear and is not relying on a weapon with a weakness. | 63 |
CMV: Universal basic income wouldn't work without a universal rent control | I support a universal basic income, but I'm curious whether it would benefit as many people as people think. If there was a UBI (Universal basic Income) giving people 1000 dollars a month, what would stop landlords from charging 1000 extra dollars on top of the current rent that they're charging? I get it can work on a small scale, only giving selective people the income, similar to our current system, but would there be any chance of it working on a country-wide level. Would the cost of everything just go without some regulatory system on every aspect of the government? | 23 | Competition would stop it. Just because people have the extra $1000 doesn't mean that they will just throw it away. So if a landlord tries to raise the rent by $1000 their tennants will move to the place that only raised rents by $950. Rinse and repeat until the new equilibrium is found.
That isn't to say some inflation will not occur. But that is from the decisions people make with what to do with their money, not from the suppliers. So some people will decide to spend their money on a nicer apartment, not have a roommate, move out of their parents basement, or stop living out of their car, thereby increasing demand and raising prices somewhat. Others will choose to spend the money on food or Healthcare. People who have already met their basic needs will probably spend more on entertainment or a new car or vacation. Some may even use their now baseline stability as an opportunity to start a new business. | 23 |
ELI5: What does it mean if Russia leaves the 1987 nuclear treaty? | 119 | It means they'll start testing new missiles and nuclear systems. The other parties to the treaty (most importantly the US) will probably start too.
If it happens, you'll probably start seeing an increase in military development projects from both sides, along with more sabre rattling. However, it won't go any further than that. | 56 |
|
ELI5: When and how did green generally get associated with positiveness, and red as negativeness? | 23 | It's hardwired. Red is the color of blood and bleeding, green is healthy vegetation. On a biological level, we don't want to deal with injury and we do want a healthy fertile landscape where food and shelter can be found. So we instinctively like green and dislike red. | 35 |
|
If someone is walking down the road, is the air around them moving to avoid the person, or are they more like a knife cutting through the air? | 32 | Both. By walking through air youre pushing the air infront of you into other air. This creates a bubble of high pressure air infront of you. As you leave your stationary position, you leave a vacuum where you once were and it is quickly full of air. So some air you push and some air you pull. | 12 |
|
ELI5: How does bluetooth actually work? | 176 | Bluetooth works very much like your WiFi, by sending data wirelessly over a 2.4Ghz frequency, but there are 3 key differences:
* Bluetooth is designed to have low power consumption, and that's mainly the reason why its effective range and transfer speeds are both lower than with WiFi
* WiFi will today also operate on a 5 Ghz frequency, which typically means more data can be crammed in during transfer, but a worse range than 2.4 Ghz due to attenuation (loss of signal over a distance)
* Different protocols. A protocol decides how two devices are expected to communicate and tends to be designed for specific purposes. Since Bluetooth serves a different purpose to WiFi, it talks to devices and sets expectations in a different manner
There are different ways Bluetooth devices talk to each other (sometimes referred to as handshakes), but it looks something like this:
1. One device broadcasts a signal to discover other Bluetooth devices. Other devices may reply with their identifying information.
2. Form a connection between devices.
3. Connectivity is formed, and now devices can either talk, enter a low-power idling mode, or a few other modes. | 152 |
|
ELI5: If FM is frequency modulation, then why does each radio station have a specific frequency? | I get that AM carries info by creating a sound wave with the contours of a (given frequency) wave's amplitude. But if you modulate 93.7MHz, then it's no longer 93.7. What am I not getting? | 16 | each fm station has a primary carrier frequency. these carrier frequencies are separated from each other by 200 KHz. out of that only 150KHz is used for modulating the analog signal wave. this leaves a guard band of 50KHz to help prevent crosstalk.
so basically you have the station carrier wave, and then you add or subtract up to 75KHz from the carrier frequency to match the audio wave. | 29 |
ELI5: Why are pork and beef not called pig meat, or cow meat? | In German we're just saying it is "Schweinefleisch" etc, witch basically means pig meat. So why does the English language does have their own names for these kind of meats.
Edit: thanks for all the answers. | 21 | The names for the meats come from French, while the names for the animals come from Anglo Saxon. The usual explanation is that after the Norman invasion, the Saxon peasants raised the animals and so their names for the animals stuck in English. The Norman nobles ate the meat, and so their names for the animals became the English names for the meat coming from that animal. | 44 |
[Marvel] Why does Ant-man retain absolute strength when shrinking but not when growing? | When Ant-man shrinks down, he essentially has super strength because his strength doesn't decrease proportionally to his size. But when growing, his strength increases proportionally to his size. (ie, he can lift 100 pounds when human or ant sized, but much more when giant sized.) | 92 | I think, and this might not be canon anymore, that when Hank Pym shrinks, he isn't just losing mass, but also compressing the space between atoms, making himself much more dense. That extra density is what gives him his super strength in ant form.
When he grows, he's actually adding additional mass from an alternate dimension, similar to how the Hulk grows larger and Wolverine heals massive wounds. That additional muscle mass provides extra power when in giant form. | 95 |
CMV: Reparations should not be payed to African Americans | I'm more or less on the fence with this issue, BUT I see many points raised by anti-reparations proponents to be seemingly valid. First, I am not using the common argument against reparation of "I didn't do anything, why should I pay?". But I am having trouble disagreeing with the view of "Neither I nor my ancestors did anything, why should I pay?". This would be in line with the views of white people with immigrant ancestors (who also went through hardships and discrimination) who did not partake in slavery or discrimination in any form. I often see the comparison of paying reparations to the Jews by Germany and I find that different since those reparations were made shortly after AND everyone or their ancestors in Germany either was a Nazi-supporter or silently compliant during the genocides.
I know reparations in the U.S. are as much about slavery as they are about recent discrimination from the 1900s. But, it's been long enough that not everyone was around or had ancestors around in the U.S. during that time, and even for those who did, their ancestors weren't necessarily silently compliant -- they may have even marched with African Americans to get them their rights. So, why should someone, particularly descendants of immigrants, have to effectively pay reparations to African Americans. This is a topic that is very relevant to the present time and has come up frequently over the past year or so, so I'd appreciate opposing views to help me to CMV.
\[Given permission to repost\]
**VIEW SUCCESSFULLY CHANGED, CHECK DELTAS FOR STRONG COUNTER-VIEWPOINTS.** | 59 | I disagree with reparations but for a different reason: it is not ethical or practical for a government entity to decide between the deserving or non-deserving. The idea of people having to prove how black they are to receive reparations is to me extremely dystopic. | 17 |
[DS9/Voyager] How might events have turned out differently if the Defiant had accompanied Voyager into the Badlands and become stuck in the Delta Quadrant with them as well? | 41 | Well, if the Defiant goes then thee are now three vessels to protect the caretaker including the Defiant, which would rip through the Kazon and drive them off.
Janeway may still be leery about leaving the array, in case the Kazon are able to come back and stop the self destruct, but if the Marquis ship is still destroyed (which it probably wouldn't be) then they can leave that or the Defiant behind with a self destruct running and head on home using the array's technology.
With the array self destruct running and a Federation ship on lock down and a self destruct running the odds of the array NOT being destroyed are tiny and so Janeway is happy enough to head home with a strange tale about Voyager's first journey. It all wraps up nice and neatly and everyone gets home in time for tea.
In fact, it's probably more of an extended tale for the Defiant crew, perhaps a way to introduce new character's into that show, rather than an adventure involving the Voyager crew. Perhaps for the Marquis' good behaviour a few of them get to transfer over to the Deep Space 9 station to serve their time being useful on this far away platform full of people who also hate Cardassians. | 24 |
|
[Star Wars] When Vader says that the power to destroy a planet is insignificant to the force, he gets teleported to a planet with the Death Star powering up. Can he stop it? | Let's say after Vader lectures the room about how insignificant the Death Star is, Vader is magically sent to a planet and as he looks above him in confusion, he sees the Death Star slowly taking aim. Within minutes Vader knows him and the planet are going to go boom.
Time to back up his words, what does he do? What CAN he do? | 37 | The point was that, to the Force - a galaxy-spanning thing of immense power - the ability to blow up a planet is small potatoes. Whether or not Vader can personally do something isn't really pertinent to the argument. | 103 |
CMV: The word "Problematic" needs to be eliminated from academic and political discourse. | I'm really curious to see how people come to the defense of this way overused word. There are a number of perfectly good synonyms yet people still choose to repeat the word problematic over and over again within any conversation to the point where it diminishes the argument being made.
I know Urban Dictionary isn't remotely an academic source, but a definition of "problematic" that I just came across on that site sums up the word perfectly.
*"A corporate-academic weasel word used mainly by people who sense that something may be oppressive, but don't want to do any actual thinking about what the problem is or why it exists. Also frequently used in progressive political settings among White People of a Certain Education to avoid using herd-frightening words like "racist" or "sexist."*
That humorous definition from 7 years ago has perfectly predicted how watered down this word has become in recent years. Not trying to humblebrag in the slightest, but I'm studying in an advanced public policy college for undergrad, and through my completed 3 years and the first month of this semester I've probably heard the word problematic close to 100,000 times (no hyperbole). Every bad thing in politics is described as "problematic" by both (but mostly) liberals and conservative students and professors. The only reason I mention the "advanced" nature of my major is that I would expect the people studying with me to have a better command of the English language and stronger reasoning skills. These are students who aspire to be lawyers, politicians, professors, and leaders of non-profits or community organizations yet they regress to this same fucking word multiple times in a sentence.
It drives me unreasonably crazy. Use a better word please, or at least complete your thought. Instead of interrupting the professor for your mini rant where you describe anything you don't like as "problematic", take some time to identify cause and effect of why this issue needs resolving or rethinking. Ideally, the sentence should go, "I believe ___ issue is a problem **because**..." instead of "This is problematic".
So CMV, why is Problematic a good word to use in these discussions?
_____
> *This is a footnote from the CMV moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!* | 123 | > Ideally, the sentence should go, "I believe ___ issue is a problem because..." instead of "This is problematic".
The problem (heh) here is that you aren't showing that "problematic" is a bad phrase, you're showing that a lack of explanation can be unsatisfying. If you mirrored your example, saying "I believe ____ issue is a problem." would feel like an incomplete thought, while "This is problematic **because**..." would involve an explanation.
In a more specific sense, the word "problematic" is occasionally used without explanation because it's directed at an audience that is assumed to understand *why* it's problematic. For a semi-recent example, if somebody in a left-leaning discussion says "ScarJo being cast as an Asian character is problematic", it is not meant to be an example without explanation. The explanation of "...because it's part of a trend of Hollywood whitewashing" is implied. (this is just an example, you don't have to agree with it). While that might not be a satisfying way of writing for you, an outside observer, sometimes things are written for brevity and conciseness at the expense of accessibility. | 104 |
[Dc Comics] Where does superman's motion stem from? Not how he can fly, but specifically what initiates the movement when he does? | So for instance the muscles in my back start the motion when want lift my arm up over my head. If he stopped suddenly, where would he feel a jerking motion? | 59 | Two prevailing theories.
Firstly, he has a variant of TK- Tactile Telekinesis. Primarily exhibited in his clone, Superboy, it means he has telekentic abilities over himself and anything he touches. Superman's variant would likely have less conscious control over than his clone's, and he likely wouldn't be able to control it as finely as Superboy has displayed the ability to. He's flashy, Superboy is fine-tuned.
Another theory, never outright stated but often used, is that Superman has absurd control over his bioelectric field, using its interaction with the environment to propel him forward, even in space. The best example of this is probably All-Star Superman, where he's gained the ability to spread his biolectric field around another object (a satellite/space station) and propel it with him without touching it. | 30 |
CMV: In the grand scheme of things, nothing humanity ever does matters. | I came across this website that pretty much tried to scale the entire solar system by equaling the size of the moon to a pixel. This was pretty astonishing to just even think about, considering they didn't even include other systems, and it was still huge. I am sure you may have come across something similar, perhaps that one video that circulated around comparing the planet sizes, and then finally joked about 'your mom' being the biggest of all. Either way, this made me think. Nothing, really, that we ever do, as individuals or as a whole society, can have a significant enough impact to matter in the grand scheme of things. Since, think about it, after all, we \_do\_ live in a floating rock in the middle of nowhere. This minuscule dot in the grandiosity of the universe.
And I get this might be a vain argument when it comes to justifying why every person's individual life and every little thing we do like \_ooo\_ idk say going to college, marrying, having kids, having a job, or anything that you might consider normal or successful, doesn't have a purpose, since as humans, I feel like we \_need\_ this justification to keep ourselves going. In the sense of the here and now it might, but what I am trying to get as is, in the grand schemes of things, it doesn't.
Even though we \_want\_ our lives to matter, and we want to do things to change the world, or at least change something or someone, because otherwise what is it for? - And we might be able to do these things, they will never be significant enough in the grand scheme of things. It might be frustrating to think about, or maybe not. You might consider it liberating. In any case, it is a hard fact to get around, so CMV.
However, keep in mind I am not saying that humanity is not capable of doing this in some way, hell there is a lot of technological advances that have changed things as we know it and could potentially have big effects, like the atomic bomb, space exploration etc... but again, the thing is they change things here on Earth (the Mars rover gets a pass), and for a limited time only. None of these things will ever make a big enough difference to matter in the entire universe. Like also, for example, all these man made and man induced concepts , like politics and money, and economics all fail to make a difference, only keep us here on Earth busy and at least \_feel\_ like we are changing the \_world\_.
In the end, it won't go anywhere. In the grand schemes of things, nada. One day all of us will cease to exist, and literally nothing of what we did will ever matter. I guess this is freeing in a way, but also not really. There is always something bigger than yourself, something we can't even begin to grasp. I guess, the only way out is to conform with what we got here, as it is already more than enough.
&#x200B;
Nevertheless, I want to hear your thoughts and opinions!
&#x200B;
Also, here is the website I referenced, if you want to check it out.
[https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace\_solarsystem.html](https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html)
&#x200B;
Edit: Thanks so much to all of those who replied! I appreciate the insightful discussion that has taken place and led me to change my view. From the discussing of 'mattering' and 'values' as human constructs, to quantum mechanics, or tennis, nihilism, the butterfly effect, the theory of heat death, and even the *Iliad,* it's been really great to engage in such civil and incisive discourse.
Cheers! | 23 | When you talk about things "mattering", you have to consider \*who\* it matters to. True, nothing we do makes any significant impact on a universal (or even galactic) scale. But who/what is judging impact at that scale?
What we do "matters" to us, and since we are the most intellectually advanced \*known\* species in the universe, that is the yardstick by which we measure what matters. | 19 |
[Avatar TLA] Where did Guru Pathik come from? | He is apparently a non-bender with great spiritual insight. Which of the bending cultures is he from? He doesn't resemble any other characters in the show. | 32 | You don't gotta be a bender to be spiritual. This is going a bit meta, but the chakras thing was developed in a world without bending, so in a world where you actually interact with spirits and spirituality it's entirely possible there's entire groups of people who have developed this view of the world.
If he came from any bending culture he may be descended from the spirit benders that may or may not have existed alongside the other elements. | 29 |
Why are we so tired? | Almost everyone consumes some sort of stimulant (caffeine, coca, etc.) to be less tired but, why? Why are humans so tired? Do we sleep less than we should? Are our lives too active? Were the cavemen equally tired? Is it normal for an animal to be tired? | 142 | There is FAR too much layman speculation in this thread.
Please, if you're proposing some ***idea*** about what a better sleep system is, or why we don't get enough sleep, we ***need*** to see some data to support that theory. | 202 |
[General Superpowers] Can speedsters sleep faster as well? | For example, can Flash or Quicksilver get 8 hours worth of rest in a few minutes? | 15 | I think the question should actually be "Can speedsters break their sleep into smaller increments?" If Speedsters can fit the equivalent of 8 hours sleep into 5 minutes that would imply that they need to sleep more often as well since their perception of time is faster and they experience a longer subjective period of time in a 24-hour day.
So at the end of the day a speedster would presumably still need ~8 hours of sleep per day, the question is whether they sleep in one long period once per day or whether they are better off taking micro-naps multiple times through the day. | 11 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.