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i1adpn
How does switching the rotation of a ceiling fan decide whether the fan gives cool air or warm air?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "fzvpae9" ]
[ "It doesn't. Rotation decides whether the fan is sucking the cold air up or pushing the hot air down." ]
[ 16 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
aaoz0c
Why some objects orbit and don’t get pulled directly into another objects center?
Some planets have multiple moons and others have none. It seems like it’s a million times more likely for an object to just get pulled to the center of another by gravity as opposed to orbiting. Probably because I have no idea how it works.
Physics
explainlikeimfive
[ "ectqks9" ]
[ "It *is* unlikely for an object to fall into orbit. Many objects are orbiting because they formed there, from debris themselves that were in orbit. For instance, the planets formed out of a rotating dust cloud that was orbiting the center of the system. Some objects fell into the center. Others were ejected from the system entirely. The planets formed from material that remained." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
m937jl
Why is it that some phones today have cameras with hundreds of megapixels but advanced DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras have only 64?
What are megapixels? How do they work? What is the difference between a 64mp mirrorless camera and a 24mp mirrorless camera of the same brand?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "grko4sg" ]
[ "Images are made up of squares of a single color, pixels. A megapixel of course refers to a million pixels, 64 million pixels means 64 million tiny color squares. > Why is it that some phones today have cameras with hundreds of megapixels but advanced DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras have only 64? Because not all pixels are made the same. A digital camera has a sensor, this sensor is divided into smaller sensors for each pixel. While phones can have higher number of pixels, the sensors that absorb these pixels are smaller and thus more prone to error. The sensors on the DSLR are not only larger, allowing them to absorb more light to avoid this error, they also take in more light because these cameras have bigger lenses to get more light. DSLR manufacturers just have little reason to join in these \"megapixel wars\" since their customers know more megapixels doesnt necessarily mean better." ]
[ 48 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
89l1ex
What gives fresh cut grass that distinct smell?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dwron99" ]
[ "Volatile organic compounds that the plant uses to try and self-heal, as well as signal other plants that there is danger. Basically, they are screaming. In scent-form. URL_0" ]
[ 8 ]
[ [ "http://mentalfloss.com/article/30573/what-causes-fresh-cut-grass-smell" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
gvk6ch
Please explain how depression feels and how it affects a person
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "fsp6sgv" ]
[ "Some people can function with depression some can't. It is as unique of a disease as the humans it plagues. Some people can't get out of bed, some can't form emotional connections, some look like life is 10/10 until you find them with half their skull blown out of their head. I'm sorry for the mental imagery but depression is no joke. Some of it is treatable with exercise and some needs a rework of brain chemistry. There is no ELI5 for depression. It is far too large of a topic with too many variables. I hope my outlook helps your sister understand that we can't all just \"be happy\"." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d1fd3a
How can someone DDOS servers of multibillion dollar company (Blizzard) and how hard is to track the person who does it?
Ok so like two days in a row there is someone DDOSing Blizzard WoW classic servers. How can someone does this to such a big company? They have so many resources. And how hard is it to track the person who does this? I rly dont understand why would anyone do this in a first place, will the person go to jail for this or is it "untrackable"? edit: looks like they got him [ URL_1 ]( URL_0 )
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "ezl7t5e", "ezl3jpm", "ezltwsu", "ezl1ytt", "ezlzdt9", "ezlxnd0", "ezlwu6v", "ezmk9v0", "ezm1167" ]
[ "The \"D\" in \"DDOS\" stands for \"distributed\", and it means that there are many computers on the attacking side. Those can be from a botnet where the attacker has managed to install some sort of software on them. Or they can even be volunteers, where somebody posts a call for action on some forum and people voluntarily join in. If you consider that somebody with a good connection might easily have 100 Mbps or more available, it adds up to big numbers very quickly. Also consider that while Blizzard has a lot of servers, individually they're not that strong. If a given machine has say, 10 Gbps networking, then that particular machine only needs to be attacked by about a hundred machines or so. Bringing down a single machine might be plenty. It could be a particular server the attacker wants down, or worse it might be some sort of central authentication server. Then nobody can log in even though you've just taken 1% of the datacenter's total capacity. Then there are amplification attacks. For instance, if you find something you can send to a server that's small but produces a large response, this works in your favor. You send 100 bytes of junk, you get a 1KB error page back, that's the victim doing your work for you. Now you only need 1/10th of the bandwidth on your side to take up all of theirs. One can also attack other resources rather than just the network. For instance if disks are slower, or if some particular action consumes a lot of CPU time you can get a lot of effect that way. If the server needs 10 ms to process a given command, you only need to send 100 of those per second, and suddenly the CPU is 100% busy." ]
[ 436 ]
[ [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
l3s8z9
Why can't temperatures in the universe be infinitely hot or infinitely cold?
Physics
explainlikeimfive
[ "gkhsb9e", "gkhs4wb", "gkhsikx", "gkhsfgn", "gkiu67n" ]
[ "If you think of temperature as the average kinetic energy of the atoms, it makes sense: you can not have less kinetic energy than something that is absolutely still. When the atoms in an object are absolutely still, the temperature is absolute zero. Conversely, infinite temperature means infinite kinetic energy, and there is not infinite energy in the universe. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed (only converted into our from other types of energy)." ]
[ 9 ]
[ [], [ "https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/racing-toward-absolute-zero/" ], [], [], [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zero" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
abca5w
Why can’t we completely taste what we’re drinking until we swallow it?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "ecz8g6o" ]
[ "Flavor is a complex sense made up of taste, mouthfeel, texture, scent, and temperature. Additionally you have tastebuds at the back of your throat which contribute to how the food feels going down and last minute taste of the partially chewed food. If one of the aspects of flavor are missing (I.e. smell) then the way you perceive the food changes too. This is also why cold pizza tastes different from hot pizza, and why head colds affect taste so much." ]
[ 6 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
c5h71s
How do anticonvulsants like lamotrigine help people with bipolar disorder?
Chemistry
explainlikeimfive
[ "es1t0n3" ]
[ "As with everything psychiatry, and especially with bipolar disorder, we don't *really know* why anything helps. Lithium is the primary treatment and nobody has literally any idea what lithium even does to your brain. In kind of *general*, the theory is that anticonvulsants basically slow the brain down. They put the brakes on. Bipolar has two phases: the manic phase, where the brain runs 100 times faster than it should, and the depressing phase, where the brain slows down and you get depressed. Lamotrigine prevents the manic phase of bipolar, but has no effect on the depressing phase. Lamotrigine is considered an \"antimanic\" drug for treatment of bipolar, not a comprehensive treatment, like lithium is." ]
[ 4 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6bo7wr
Why does nausea seem to come in waves?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dhordi8" ]
[ "It can come in waves as the natural movement (muscle contractions of the digestive system known as peristalses) is reversed, and involuntary contractions in the walls of the stomach and esophagus force the stomach contents out" ]
[ 6 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
e7r1yd
Why can fish survive out of water is much longer than humans can survive underwater?
I have seen fish survive out of water for 10+ minutes while the average human can barely survive 4+ minutes underwater. What is the difference between gills and lungs?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "fa39o3q", "fa3zsg5" ]
[ "Gills and lungs work in a fairly similar way, but their shape is what matters. Fish can technically breathe just fine out of water, but the layers of their gills wind up sticking together and collapsing when they don't have water flowing through them so they stop working. They're like thousands of little pieces of paper held up next to each other which water flows through. Human lungs can't work under water because they're adapted to a much more oxygen dense media and they aren't designed to pump something as thick as water in and out. We would have to breathe water in and out extremely fast in order for it to work, but that can't happen." ]
[ 8 ]
[ [], [ "https://www.reddit.com/user/blahblahsdfsdfsdfsdf/" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6y9qw9
Why does your body feel physically ill after experiencing emotional trauma?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dmlsnyl", "dmlyfru", "dmlozi6", "dmlp7b9", "dmlsd7a", "dmloyvs", "dmm0tgc", "dmlv3vu", "dmlouv6", "dmlp5kn", "dmlz9ol", "dmm2h7l", "dmlq4xb", "dmm4z1k", "dmlp1jo", "dmm4asi", "dmlpzsn", "dmm3anz", "dmlw0bw", "dmmc1zc", "dmltjqp", "dmlziev", "dmm22lz", "dmltjti", "dmm3sxt", "dmm1k5y", "dmmg1ld", "dmm0oh6", "dmm29uz" ]
[ "The limbic system is responsible for this feeling! The limbic system is the emotion and memory part of your brain, and is hugely important for how you experience and perceive things. The limbic system has a direct impact on the autonomic nervous system. If you perceive that you're in a calm situation, your limbic system will impact the rest of your brain, and thus the rest of your body, to make your body act as if it's in a calm situation. The hypothalamus is also part of the limbic system and plays a role in your body maintaining chemical balances. It is also a reason why you feel physically ill. To give a little bit more detail on a few things: The sympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous system is the the part of your body that makes your heart beat faster, makes you breathe faster, makes your pupils dilate, makes you sweat, and makes you stop digesting food (your blood is diverted to your muscles so you can run if needed). It is the fight of flight response in your body and has a cascade effect on the rest of your body. If your limbic system is going crazy with emotional trauma, it'll make your sympathetic nervous system ramp up as well. If you just ate and your body all of the sudden stops digesting food, you may throw up. The limbic system (emotion and memory area of the brain) also directly impacts almost every other part of your brain. The limbic system is smack dab in the center of your brain, thus connects to everything. This is why being in a really intense situation can change how you feel physically and how you even perceive (time slowing down) a situation. One of the important parts of the limbic system is the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus plays a huge role in maintaining your body's \"natural state\". If you need food, your hypothalamus is the part that makes you feel hungry. The hypothalamus is part of the limbic system, so it is under these same controls of emotion. Under a really stressful situation, your hypothalamus will react with the release of cortisol, which will affect your blood sugar and can make you feel sick. Now, all of this kind of paints the limbic system as the bad guy, but that's not really true. The limbic system is also what integrates emotion into what we experience when something is positive. It's why your mom's cooking tastes better if you have fond memories of her. It's what makes your heart flutter when you're in love. It's what makes you remember things. Heck, it is even the reason why a truck horn can go off in the dead of night and you won't wake up, but when someone whispers your name you will. Edit: /u/dr_bewbz goes into the same thing in her response but with more focus on the autonomic nervous system. It is very accurate and a great response." ]
[ 8561 ]
[ [], [], [], [], [ "https://www.physio-pedia.com/images/2/21/Systemic_Effects_of_Depression1.GIF", "https://i.pinimg.com/736x/50/f9/d2/50f9d22f435e908106845c79fdf636ae.jpg" ], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [ "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4228144/" ], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
jk1a4g
why does wearing compression make my legs feel so much stronger?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "gagclk9", "gagdvtc" ]
[ "This is not a good explanation for someone who is 5, but I don't know how to make it better. The way I understand it is that standing on your feet all day, running and walking means that gravity is working all day to keep your blood in your legs, while your heart pumps from behind to get it to flow up them. We do have valves in our blood vessels that help prevent backflow, but the fight to pump blood upwards is not easy. Additionally, blood in your body generally flows through the path of least resistance, so when you're standing, it's easier for more blood to flow down to your legs than up to your head. With the extra flow down, and the resistance to flowing back up, it means we end up with a larger volume of blood in the vessels of our legs than we do when we're not always in our feet. This means that pressure starts to build up in the vessels in your legs. because our blood vessels need to be able to exchange fluid, this extra pressure means that the pressure in your vessels is greater than the pressure in the tissue around them, so fluid starts to leave your blood vessels and also not get pulled back into them. Then we get swelling in our legs and feet (which isn't always visible, but that tightness you feel is offend just that). Compression helps in 2 ways. First, it increases the pressure within your tissues around the blood vessels, preventing some of the swelling from occurring in the first place. Second, it increases the pressure in your veins to help push blood back up your legs so you don't have as much of a discrepancy in the pressure. The lack of swelling helps improve overall body circulation, so your brain is better off, and the lack of tightness in your legs makes them feel better." ]
[ 23 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
acev39
What is Genomic Selection?
Never heard the term before and a google search brings up even more terms I’m unfamiliar with
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "ed7f5d3" ]
[ "Traditionally, Farmers would grow crops and cross breed the best crops to produce better crops. The characteristics of the plants is called phenotype, so this traditional method looked at phenotypes and selected the best. Genomic selection instead looks at the DNA of the plant (also known as genotype). In order to do this, they will sequence the DNA of many crops, and identify “genetic markers”, which are interesting mutations. They compare that to a “standard” crop and using some statistics, predict which genes are beneficial and which are not. For example if mutations A and B have no net effect, but mutation B has a positive effect, a possible prediction is that A has a negative effect. Continue analysing the thousands of crops you created and you can get a pretty Long list of mutations and their effects. A computer program then lists out which crops to breed, in what order, to accumulate the good mutations into a single plant. The farmer follows this breeding plan until a super-efficient crop is formed. Genomic selection tends to be faster than traditional phenotypic selection, because you have a predictive program to help you make the “best” crossbreed. This also makes it cheaper to do genomic selection." ]
[ 6 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
l47qk7
Why do corporate inversions work? Why wouldn’t all corporate entities be taxed on profits they make inside a country regardless of where they are headquartered?
I’m just curious how/why it matters where a company is headquartered. Is it because we want to tax a corporation for profits made in the rest of the world and we are willing to accept a Lower tax rate to incentivize them to headquarter here, or is there a world trade competition issue that would result in a trade war if we basically said in order to have access to the country’s marketplace you have to pay x tax rate on all profits made in this marketplace?
Economics
explainlikeimfive
[ "gkmus7y" ]
[ "Because they often present minimal profits. One example of a very famous coffee brand: they pay royalty fees for their products to a third company, based in a tax haven, leaving their physical stores with zero or minimal profits for taxation." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cfpr1p
What's the hissing sounds made by semi trucks when they stop?
Sounds like air being released, but I can't figure out why or how they release the air
Engineering
explainlikeimfive
[ "eubld5l", "euboezk" ]
[ "The brakes are air assisted. The hissing sound is when the driver lets go of the brake pedal" ]
[ 12 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
bso2rf
how did saying 'shhhhhhh' become the way to get ppl to be quiet?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "eoontwl", "eoondgm" ]
[ "When I had a new born kid they told us to shhh to calm our child. Was told it is similar to the ambient sound in the womb so babies are comforted by it. So maybe subconsciously some of that calming is in all of us and it makes us be quite." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
l5hm1k
Why is there a stereotype that older people are Republicans, and younger people are Democrats?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "gku7xdp" ]
[ "[Because it's generally true]( URL_0 ). That's not to say there aren't young Republicans, or old Democrats, but there's measurable party lines shown in age." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [ "https://news.gallup.com/poll/172439/party-identification-varies-widely-across-age-spectrum.aspx" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cte9v6
How do these advertisements work, when they are put on one side of the glass and you can see them from that side, but not from the other side?
I hope I described it well enough, but I'm thinking of those big advertisements on the sides of buses and fast food places and stuff, when the ad is on one side but from the inside it looks like the glass is clear and nothing is there.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "exk98vg" ]
[ "Oh I know what your talking about the factory I work at has those, interesting thing you can't see them from far away either under certain light settings. It's actually called perforated window vinyl and basically it works like this they pop a bunch of holes in it which actually removes a significant amount of the material to help you see through it, as far as I'm aware the most holes you can get is 40% and it still look good from the outside, our eyes naturally focus on a bright, well-lit surface rather than on the holes and the relative darkness of whatever is behind the surface. The inner side of perforated vinyl, however, is dark colored. Here the eye naturally focuses through the dark vinyl to the light and motion outside the window. Because of this, people inside a store, home or automobile see through the back of the sign to the world outside. Basically it's an optical illusion when you think about it, also at night if there's a light right on it, it may be hard to see it even from outside" ]
[ 6 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ddh43w
Why does chewing gum pop your ear drums?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "f2haari" ]
[ "It's not actually the gum. It's the process of moving your jaw and swallowing. On flights I usually don't chew gum, I just open my jaw and usually it does the same thing." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
epa1rw
There is a type of antidepressant called SSRI’s, which stands for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor. In what way are they selective?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "fei6ob7", "fei6pwt" ]
[ "They're selective in that they only inhibit the reuptake of serotonin and not other monoamine neurotransmitters like dopamine or norepinephrine. Earlier classes of antidepressants affected all of these neurotransmitters." ]
[ 14 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
gvqrn2
How do we have such an in depth library of history, dating back to dinosaurs and beyond? I know that it obviously been passed down through history, but surely after a even 2000 years information starts to become skewed?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "fsqcmut", "fsqbtvr" ]
[ "A lot of historians and archeologists have been working very hard to be able to piece together what we know. And what we know is pretty patchy at best. But we do have a rough idea of how the culture were at various times throughout history and we do have some specific events that have been recorded. It does help a lot when we actually have texts from the period. This is why we have a lot more knowledge about the Middle East 4000 years ago then Europe as they wrote things down on permanent clay tablets that we can now read. But for example Stone Henge or the Egyptian Sphinx is still quite unknown to us as we only have the part of the structures that remains without any written records from the people who made it. However even written records that have survived is very patchy. We are literally piecing together how a city worked from half a monopoly set and a torn up receipt. There is a lot of qualified guesswork and selective storytelling going on. Even later on in ancient Greece where they wrote down a lot and it have been actively presered for all these years we constantly find references to other books and works that we do not find anywhere. We probably have less then 10% of the works from that period which were meant to be kept. There have been entire epic battles from the period that we only know of from some passing phrases in books written centuries later. So no, we do not have any in depth library of history, just a few patchy parts of it." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
c7lmow
Why do nuclear reactors rely on diesel generators in emergencies?
The more I read about nuclear power plant incidents, the more I wonder why these plants seem to be reliant on diesel generators to keep coolant circulating in an emergency. Is there a reason that power generated by normal operation can't be stored for emergency use? In a large scale battery or something like that?
Engineering
explainlikeimfive
[ "esg2a4h", "esg3mlo", "esg8i8r" ]
[ "> Why do nuclear reactors rely on diesel generators in emergencies? They work. In an emergency situation where failure can lead to an entire city becoming uninhabitable for centuries, that's the only thing that matters. Batteries are fragile and even petrol engines have more breakable parts than diesels (spark plugs, specifically). Add in the fact that diesel generators are cheap, can be easily kept running indefinitely by trucking in fuel, and take up far less space to store a given amount of energy than an equivalent capacity of batteries and they're simply the best choice." ]
[ 19 ]
[ [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6dv9lo
When and why did basketball hoops become such a staple for American driveways?
Culture
explainlikeimfive
[ "di5mtco", "di5n0xa" ]
[ "Basketball is the second (or third depending on the poll) most popular sport in the US. It is easier to set up a hoop for simply play and practice than it is to get space to play football or soccer, and far less than practicing baseball (even with a batting or pitching cage). This means it is a common recreational activity for active/semi-active families. As for when it became popular. That would have been in the 50s-70s during the boom of suburbia. Cities would have public parks with full courts available, suburbia everyone had a driveway." ]
[ 10 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dw4ciy
Why do hotel rooms not have ceiling light fixtures, and only lamps?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "f7gl3mo" ]
[ "You can replace a lamp in a few minutes. If a guest messes with a ceiling fixture bad enough, the repairs can include having to cut into the ceiling. That can affect other rooms!" ]
[ 6 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
5w2r90
How do they get the colored tail behind the ball on tv while watching golf?
I was watching golf today and they often show a back view and while the ball is mid flight how do they get the tail to follow the ball while it is live?
Physics
explainlikeimfive
[ "de6v5hl", "de702yo" ]
[ "To quote /u/Kowzorz from [this thread from last year]( URL_0 ) > You can have a computer program look at the pixels on the screen and generate a \"true\" path by applying some vector math to the curve generated on screen. Then you can draw that curve from the perspective of the camera and overlay it on the screen. Alternately, you can just make a 2D curve overlayed on the screen where the pixels change and make the curve appear to move away (by being smaller) at a constant rate which is probably good enough for a simple visual." ]
[ 4 ]
[ [ "https://www.reddit.com/r/answers/comments/3an14h/how_do_they_track_the_golfball_during_mid_flight/" ], [ "https://youtu.be/1Oqm6eO6deU" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
jv0k2s
why are blue eyes more sensitive to light than other colors?
I have light blue eyes and I find myself with eye pain and sensitivity to light far more often than my friends with brown or green eyes
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "gcgs8fk" ]
[ "Your eyes are blue because they do not have as much melanin, a pigment protein, in them to make them brown. Melanin absorbs UV, blue, and green light which is why it appears brown (brown is just dark orange/red). Melanin also makes our skin darker either through genetics or tanning. Blue-eyed people also don't have as melanin inside of their eye. This melanin helps protect your light sensing cells from being exposed to too much light. This is why you may be more sensitive. If the light sensitivity is an issue or gets worse, make sure to check with your doctor. Light sensitivity is a symptom for other issues like migraines." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
km56fc
What determines which color an object is?
Physics
explainlikeimfive
[ "ghcrd41" ]
[ "There are two main ways color is determined: by colors absorbed or by colors reflected. & #x200B; By colors absorbed is much more common. Everything colored contains substances called pigments or dyes that absorb certain colors. The colors of light that are not absorbed by the pigments or dyes are the ones that reach your eyes and tell you what this object looks like. The exact colors of light absorbed depend strongly on the actual shape/structure of the pigment or dye. For example, the molecule chlorophyll in plants absorbs both red and blue light, but does not absorb green. The green light passes through and reaches your eye, so you see the leaf as green. & #x200B; Color can also come from structures in the material that reflect and strengthen a particular color. This is called \"structural color\". Good examples of this include bird feathers and butterfly wings. The Blue Morpho butterfly has tiny structures in its wings that amplify blue light, making its wings appear blue. Birds commonly have feathers that appear black as a background, but also have structural pigments that scatter green or blue light, resulting in a green or blue sheen on the feathers." ]
[ 8 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ccfs9t
Why do horses have horse shoes
Why do working or recreational horses have metal horseshoes nailed to them when wild horses untouched by man obviously did without them for centuries?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "etmjt41", "etmkclf", "etmkrf0" ]
[ "Wild horses untouched by man didn't have to walk on paved roads or other hard man-made surfaces" ]
[ 23 ]
[ [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
8hoyqt
How did they do math before Arabic numerals?
I know it has to do with relations between numbers, but that isn't really clear
Mathematics
explainlikeimfive
[ "dyldmtj", "dylem2r" ]
[ "[Abacuses]( URL_0 ) were in use long before the invention of the Arabic writing system, and are still used today by students who can not do math with Arabic Numbers (like the blind). It's a frame with bars, each bar with a number of beads on them. And they can be used to great effect for most simple mathematical calculations." ]
[ 6 ]
[ [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus" ], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6vbobu
why is is it so much easier to get food poisoning from chicken than other meats?
Does bacteria not grow on other meats? Or does chicken just go off faster? Also why is it that you can leave other meats "pink" but not chicken?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dlyyq2y", "dlyzfww" ]
[ "My understanding is that bacteria which infects things like beef (such as e. coli) can only live on the surface of the beef (which is why it's safe to eat a rare steak, but ground beef like in a burger would be dangerous if rare,) but bacteria which infects chicken (such as salmonella) go all the way through the protein - making it all around more dangerous." ]
[ 4 ]
[ [], [ "https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gepo3/eli5_why_do_people_get_sick_from_undercooked/", "https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24xxrg/eli5_why_do_we_get_sick_from_eating_raw_chicken/", "https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2p30ne/eli5_why_is_undercooked_chicken_more_dangerous/", "https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rgi0r/eli5_why_is_chicken_the_only_meat_that_you_cannot/", "https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1eqycb/eli5_why_can_people_eat_raw_fish_but_not_raw/", "https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2a4u5j/eli5_why_can_i_eat_raw_fish_but_not_raw_chicken/" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
arcwuw
Why is HIV/AIDS incurable?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "egmhkbi" ]
[ "Just to clear up your apparent misconception, HIV is not *incurable*, we simply don't have a cure for it yet. Although there are some promising things being researched at the moment. But a good tl;dr on why it's so hard to come up with something is that HIV hides itself by copying it's own DNA *into your own DNA*. It can sit there for a long time and do nothing. This is why someone infected can take years before blood tests actually come up positive. Eventually, this DNA will activate and order your body to produce actual HIV cells. Once infected, you basically have the HIV DNA permanently in your own genetic code. And genetic engineering to remove rogue DNA from your *entire body* is a long way off." ]
[ 10 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cm5yju
Why do our testicles hang lower when warm and move closer to the penis when cold?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "ew06np5", "ew06ipx" ]
[ "Balls are meant to stay at temperatures cooler than the rest of the body. Sperm production gets negatively impacted at higher temperatures. So, when body is hot, then to maintain a lower temperature, balls hang in the sack. When body is cold, balls don't need to distance themselves from the rest of the body." ]
[ 10 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
89uzjq
Why does "Anarchy" have a universally standardized symbol? Doesn't that go against the idea of anarchy?
Culture
explainlikeimfive
[ "dwtpnx8" ]
[ "Anarchy doesn't require that people avoid using well-understood words or symbols. It just requires that things aren't forced on people by rules or governance." ]
[ 6 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
a3xk7w
What happens when we get itchy and why does scratching the area relieve it?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "eba7hfa", "eba9n69" ]
[ "Last I heard was that we are unsure as it is hard to trigger a spontaneous itch (like when your palm itches like mad for no reason). We don't even know what kind of cells trigger an itch so it's hard to start looking." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
aje73u
A DNA test says a man's DNA is 96.9% English/Irish but neither of his parents are 100% English/Irish....how is this possible?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "eeurd4r", "eeurau3", "eeur8hz", "eeutzju" ]
[ "These DNA tests test for ethnicity not nationality, although the former is a fairly accurate indicator of the latter, it doesn’t allow you to be 100% certain of their nationality. Edit: made a mistake - DNA traces ethnicity in the context of ancestry" ]
[ 11 ]
[ [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
86ksrn
What is the point of Chase Pay? What is JP Morgan saving by setting up Chase Pay with merchants, but still using Visa cards as the network?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dw5w3mr" ]
[ "TL; DR: It's not a cost-savings move; it's a strategic hedge to maintain customer share in a mobile-first economy. The point of Chase Pay has nothing to do with cost savings. It has to do with the push towards mobile banking and away from a physical credit card. In fact, development likely increases their costs. Many economies have moved towards the phone as the basis for banking and payments (and away from the wallet). The large Asian economies (China, Japan, South Korea) tend to be cited but African countries have similar trends, with some differences, as making the phone your banking center. You can send money, borrow money, make payments, etc. all from your phone. In Kenya, for example, phones have replaced banks... which means VODAFONE is the \"bank\" ( URL_0 ). It is assumed that a similar thing will happen in the United States. And the banks don't want to be taken out of the consumer market for financial services. So they have to compete with Google, Apple, Verizon and all the other banks for an app to at least be competitive as the switch occurs. As for why move towards mobile banking has advantages over physical credit cards. Harder to duplicate, easily handle 2FA, less likely to be forgotten at the store, etc." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
8qo2nv
Why are drugs that you can get from a shelf called over the counter, when you don’t have to get them over the counter like you do for prescription drugs?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "e0kp3t9", "e0kx66k", "e0kxgy5", "e0ky17s", "e0l0s8n", "e0kyfmv", "e0l2rxg", "e0l0gp9", "e0l4s7k" ]
[ "A pharmacist used to hand you everything because all the stock was behind the counter. You could buy things “over the counter” without a prescription." ]
[ 10639 ]
[ [], [ "https://i.pinimg.com/originals/50/74/42/5074422ba547620a848db6e0166eb5bd.jpg" ], [], [], [], [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6juv68
How does a virus like "Petya" lock a computer so that it can't just simply be deleted, and how do the makers receive the ransom money without their identities being disclosed?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "djh5v26" ]
[ "> how does a virus like \"Petya\" lock a computer so that it can't just simply be deleted The software takes everything on the hard-drive and encrypts it. Everything, including OS that gets loaded at bootup. So when it reboots, instead of grabbing the OS you expect it to grab, the virus have it load itself. Computers run and operate out of RAM, but that goes away when you turn it off. When a computer boots up, it's loading software from the hard-drive to RAM. (Which is why SSDs make bootup times faster). > and how do the makers receive the ransom money without their identities being disclosed? Typically bit-coin. With the right key to a bundle of bit-coins, they can sell that to other people for cash. Their \"bit-coin\" ID is forever stamped into the logs, but there's no real way to associate that ID with their real ID." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6lwxx
Watched a movie about WW1 recently and wonder how the guns on the German airplanes didn't hit their own propellers and damaged them.
Engineering
explainlikeimfive
[ "f0u5dv6", "f0u6prc", "f0u74ey" ]
[ "Originally, they just put a metal plate on the back of the propeller and let bullets bounce off. Later there was a gear that synchronized the firing with the propellor so the bullets couldn't hit." ]
[ 12 ]
[ [], [ "https://youtu.be/faZiS1CYZs0" ], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
871srr
Why does GTA5 use P2P servers for their Online suite when it's the reason hackers are so abundant? What are the benefits of not using dedicated servers?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dw9ksap", "dw9jaoq" ]
[ "The advantages are : - Very low cost compared to Dedicated servers - People in areas that wouldn't get good ping due to location would get matched with other people from that area, so some people would get better ping A good explanation of the three most common network models can be found at 10:45 of this [video]( URL_0 ) by Battle(non)sense :)" ]
[ 4 ]
[ [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiHP0N-jMx8" ], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
bj99ba
Why is lumber sold based the size it was before it went into the planer?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "em6ufue", "em6bohk", "em7do6j", "em6qmgh", "em6q06v", "em6llq7" ]
[ "Just a side note to your comment, but a quarter pound hamburger is the amount of hamburger that was put on the grill. The patty you end up eating won’t weigh 4 oz anymore. So your example actually is closer to the same than an opposite." ]
[ 98 ]
[ [], [], [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
7fxp66
How can a member of the Commonwealth be considered independent but still have a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "dqf3pfc" ]
[ "You are thinking about this all the wrong way. She is not the “queen of the Commonwealth”. She is the queen of the United Kingdom. But she’s also the queen of Canada, which is a completely separate job. Then, she’s also the queen of Australia, which is a completely separate job from the first 2. So, each country that she’s the head of state of is independent. Their queens just happen to be the same person." ]
[ 13 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6kkhzf
What does recovery look like for people who abuse inhalants? Do they generally fully recover, or are there permanent effects?
A video making the rounds shows a woman with a pretty deep addiction to inhalants. After crashing her car, she can't even make it 30 seconds between hits. Can this woman ever recover? What would that look like? Warning, I found the video unsettling, you might too: URL_0
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "djn749e" ]
[ "There was that lady who was abusing inhalants on that Intervention show. She stopped and went back to looking and living like a normie." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6ldccw
What’s the difference between shower gels and shampoos? How can some products be both?
Chemistry
explainlikeimfive
[ "djsyzyb", "djt3ajx" ]
[ "Very little difference. Amost the same list of ingredients if you read the label. Shower gel tends to be a bit thicker and shampoo tends to be a bit foamier but that's really just differnet balances of the same ingredients. On top of that, they might add a few extra ingredients like exfoliant for shower gel or some sort of scalp treatment for shampoo. But the basic goop is the same so it's easy to make one that works as both if all you want is something to get you clean that maybe smells a bit nice." ]
[ 7 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
9a6eig
Why did some civilisations develop left-to-right writing, whereas some developed right-to-left writing?
Culture
explainlikeimfive
[ "e4t515i", "e4t6276", "e4t651x", "e4t4k3r", "e4t9k7g" ]
[ "I heard that it comes from a time where letters were mostly chiseled in stone. As a right handed person, it's quicker, easier and more natural to chisel from right to left." ]
[ 19 ]
[ [], [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
8yxyei
Why can we eat runny egg yolks without the threat of salmonella but not the whites?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "e2ektwy", "e2ek7jf", "e2eqagw" ]
[ "Other people have already stated that risk of salmonella is actually very very low. However if an egg IS infected it is likely the yolk that is the problem, not the white. Heating to 165 F is the only* way to make it safe which would also cook the yolk. This is why you will see many menus in the US saying that eating raw or undercooked eggs can be hazardous to your health. It’s their disclaimer. The fact that we eat so many sunny side up and over easy eggs kind of proves how safe they are. *You can use a sous vide to heat to a lower temp for a longer duration which would also guarantee safety (kill bacteria) without cooking the yolk (coagulating the proteins in the yolk). Aside from this, sous vide eggs are the fucking bomb." ]
[ 11 ]
[ [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
64nw81
Why do most software programs (web browsers, for example) display an error code that you have to look up instead of just telling you the error?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dg3o15z", "dg47vre", "dg3pmzc", "dg3vx8p", "dg3z9bq" ]
[ "The use of error codes is considered a good practice in programming, because it allows different errors to be strictly defined and distinguished from one another. The name and explanation of that error can then be easily localized. For example, HTTP error \"404\" has a detailed specification indicating when it should be issued. It happens to be called \"Not Found,\" but a web site may choose to return a page with a different name and an easy-to-understand explanation if it wants to. Or a browser can choose to provide that information, even translate it based on the user's language. Either way, behind the scenes the web server and browser both understand just what is meant by \"404.\"" ]
[ 47 ]
[ [], [], [], [], [ "https://www.reddit.com/uhdhjdjdf" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cl3b1j
Why does sleeping (even an hour) dehydrate you?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "evsjc78", "evsl5l6", "evsjuz8" ]
[ "Just living dehydrates you. That's why we need to drink all through the day. When you sleep, you aren't replenishing water." ]
[ 6 ]
[ [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d4vdju
when I’m sitting on a chair and I lift go on my tippy toes, why do my legs shake uncontrollably?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "f0h31kj" ]
[ "Rock climbers call it \"sewing machine legs\" or \"Elvis leg\". Fatigue from having your heel elevated starts the condition. Keeping your heel lower than your foot and your calf muscle stretched while climbing usually takes care of it." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
g5bsa6
Do people still sweat while swimming?
Sweat helps to expel excess body heat. As the water would essentially be performing that task now, would your body still create sweat? Lets assume water in direct contact with the skin, no wet suits.
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "fo2hfmz", "fo38uki" ]
[ "Yes. You just don't feel it because you're wet. The water usually cools you down though, so you do sweat less. That's why people often feel very thirsty after swimming for a long time." ]
[ 26 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
82vkjq
Why does blood rush to the penis when aroused?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dvd5ivb", "dvd6k6l" ]
[ "> Why does blood rush to the penis when aroused? To make the penis erect so mating can take place. The penis is basically like a water balloon inflated with blood to become rigid, by muscles restricting the flow of blood out of the penis. In that sense it isn't so much that blood is \"rushing to the penis\", rather blood is prevented from rushing away from the penis as fast as it arrives." ]
[ 12 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j8hkdc
If chemically nothing is ever created or destroyed but simply transformed, where does the matter come from when a sperm cell grows to a full body?
I know obviously how the cell divides and becomes more and more complex over time. I get that the biological code is in the original cell, but where does the matter come from? In my mind, I imagine the first cell as an architect with all the blueprints, but without any material. It doesn't pop out of nowhere, right?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "g8av1y9", "g8avcl4" ]
[ "That's why your mommy eats for two. All the nutrients and food she eats gets converted to raw building blocks, that get fed to the baby. This is also why mommies need to be extremely careful not to eat or drink certain things while pregnant. It all passes to the child." ]
[ 17 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
o9chie
how does the body know what to repair and how something looked before an injury
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "h3adinx" ]
[ "We don't really know. We know that genetics are involved in this because genetics are involved in basically everything, but we don't know much about how they're involved yet. Our best explanation so far is that different types of cells are hyper sensitive to their environments - they can detect a lot of different properties about where they're located, and have \"programs\" for what to do in each environment. To give an example, the cornea is a layer of cells on the surface of the eye. It's made of cornea cells, arranged into a layer a few cells thick. There are no blood vessels in the cornea (because that would obstruct vision), so it's quite a simple structure. The cells on the outer side of the cornea essentially resides in a very, very shallow layer of water, and the open air just on the other side of that water. On the inner side, the cells of the cornea touch the cells of the next layer down, which happen to very closely resemble the cells of the human placenta, for some reason. If you get a bunch of cornea cells and put them in a nutrient fluid or in a petri dish or wherever else you can grow cells, they will grow, but they won't form a cornea - they'll just form amorphous clusters of cells. If you fix a bit of human placenta to the petri dish and soak it in fluid, the cornea cells will stick to the placenta, but they'll still grow amorphous clusters. However, if you get that fixed bit of placenta and then make the pool of nutrient fluid very, very shallow, so that he cells will be *almost* exposed to the air, the cornea cells spontaneously form a cornea, which is even suitable for transplant. So, cornea cells can detect when they're in an environment that they think is the surface of an eye and automatically arrange themselves into a cornea in response to it." ]
[ 10 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
bz2toy
why do some file transfers have such variable transfer speeds?
like for example if there is a lot of smaller files, it seems to really make the transfer speed slow down. but some transfers in general seem to have completely random transfer speeds, why aren't they able to use the full bandwidth of the connection?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "eqpe595" ]
[ "Fragmentation and connection protocol message size limits. When files are stored in a drive the drive allocates contiguous blocks of data to most files if they need it. But if you have lots of small files the drive needs to search for them all over its memory to then copy them to the bus and send them to their destination. Search, find, copy, send. Search find copy send. Over and over for many files vs 1 long stream of continuous data. & #x200B; In addition when being sent over network or even local protocols, they have a max message size, so the device will cut up the file being transferred into: 1. Header (what is the file, how big and where is it going) 2. First chunk of data 3. Second chunk of data 4. Thir... you get it 5. ... ?. End of File While sending these messages, sometimes the computer needs to check to see if the connection is still alive... so stop transfer (rather pause), check, wait for reply, continue with a new header that also says 'I'm part of the previous message'. & #x200B; This happens very quickly in many many small messages, so you can see how the connection might flutter up and down in speed if it has to stop and go." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
5vwhel
what did CloudBleed take or break, and how is it used maliciously?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "de5ftw6", "de6ztn0" ]
[ "For some domains (for example URL_1 ) Cloudflare sits between you and the actual website. This way they can prevent websites from attacks and also make sure the website loads fast on your laptop, because they always have a server nearby. The problem is that Cloudflare made a mistake in their code, which meant that private communication that should have stayed between you and the website you were visiting was shown to others. This only happened with a small percentage of traffic to Cloudflare, but since it is used so much, it could leak private information of up to 200.000 requests per day. This private information was shown to random other people connecting to Cloudflare, also to crawlers from searchengines like google. Crawlers store what they find on the internet so people can search through it. And that is how they found out. A guy at Google noticed all this private info and notified Cloudflare. Cloudflare fixed the problem in a few hours. Even though the leak is fixed you should still change your passwords, because Cloudflare was leaking for more than 5 months and searchengines or other people may have stored your password and other private that you've sent to these compromised websites. ~~By the way: URL_0 wasn't effected. So you only need to change that if you used it's password elsewhere. In which case you should change it, never re-use passwords.~~ Reddit _has_ used Cloudflare until October 2016, so it is recommended to also change your Reddit password." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [ "reddit.com", "uber.com" ], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
k0ebec
how come cells that express viral protein from the new mRNA vaccines aren't immediately destroyed?
Title. Was discussing this with my genetics professor and we couldn't come up with a reason why the immune system wouldn't destroy a seemingly infected or rogue cell, negating the effects of an mRNA vaccine.
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "gdj6d8a" ]
[ "They will. The mRNA will (hopefully) enter it's target cell and be translated into COVID spike proteins. The innate immune system will then react as it would to any infection, attacking the cell, digesting the foreign protein, and then presenting it for B-Cells to make antibodies that will be ready in the event of exposure to the full, pathogenic virus." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
bwkzdw
Why do automatic car windows have to exert so much force that it can break bones or cause serious injuries, at the least?
I mean I can understand that the glass mechanism is heavy and to move it, you would need a lot of force. But it's possible to design a gearing ratio to provide the exact force needed to push the heavy window up, without it being dangerous. So why are car windows designed with the potential to cut fingers off?
Engineering
explainlikeimfive
[ "epyc407" ]
[ "How many times have you seen that happen?" ]
[ 5 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
65fckl
My Mac can run every pre-Wii U Nintendo game ever made. Why can't a new Nintendo console do the same?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dg9svmn" ]
[ "There are at least 3 problems * Many games that you think \"run\" on your Mac (or a Raspberry Pi) don't really run 100% as they where intended. It might be something easy to miss without a side by side test like the Triforce pieces moving too quickly at the start of Link to the Past or it could be entire elements are missing (often things like audio since they are often the most sensitive to timing errors caused by emulation). * It takes money and time to both verify that a game is emulated correctly and to *also* verify that the game doesn't run foul of modern things like age ratings (unless you want to rate them all AO) that didn't exist when they where made. * Nintendo doesn't own most of the games released for their systems. Even many games that do have Nintendo's name of them (like Super Mario RPG) are tied up with other rights holders. Indeed some games are basically impossible to work with because the rights have been split and shuffled around so much (ie one company owns the code, another owns the character IP, a third owns the original distribution rights). All of this isn't much of a problem when you pirate games and load them up with no expectations. When Nintendo does it they are taking on a large legal responsibility." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
63b44t
What happens if lightning strikes the road close to a car in heavy rain?
So the wife and I are in the car driving through a thunderstorm and she asks me "If lightning strikes the road by the car, what happens to us?" Now I'm thinking that the tires should insulate us from a nearby strike, however the car is covered top to bottom in water, so I'm unsure of what the end result would be.
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "dfsth98", "dfsp3ls" ]
[ "Other than the stench of shit in the car because the occupants collectively shit themselves, basically nothing." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
672ur6
Why is it that after undergoing anesthesia we have no control over or recollection of what happens until we "come to?"
I am having surgery tomorrow and so naturally, have been watching videos of said surgery and people waking up from anesthesia. I remember a few years ago I had wisdom teeth surgery and when I woke up from surgery I was leaned over talking to this other kid who had his taken out and was probably mid-sentence and just stopped and sat back. The nurses told me that we had been conversing for awhile and I have no idea what about, and can't remember talking to him at all. Thankfully they let me stay in the office until I got past that, I've seen some hilarious videos. Why is it that we react that way instead of just staying asleep until we fully wake up?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dgn7dxg", "dgnox6a" ]
[ "While I am no doctor this is what I would assume: -You are still partially under the effects of the anesthesia, similarly to how you don't instantly become sober after being drunk. -Your body is still under quite a lot of stress and pain I think these things in combination with other factors would cause you to not have much of a recollection about what happened." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6g85qb
how are the fbi and nsa able to recover deleted information from hard drives
I guess I specifically mean magnetic hard drives but if you can explain both solid state and magnetic media, that would be even better.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dio6zw4" ]
[ "In most cases, when you \"delete\" something from a hard drive, you don't actually remove the data. You simply mark the area that the data was in as \"empty\". The data is still there and can be read until it's overwritten. In some cases, even if a data area is reused, it's not *fully* reused. Most computing systems break up a hard drive into blocks - fixed size small data segments. Your file will take up many blocks, but it likely won't fill the last block full. The space between the end of the file and the end of the block is called \"slack space\", and survives until specifically rewritten. There are some technologies that attempt to recover even overwritten data, but those are much more complex." ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ahrm43
How does fast reading work and is it really efficient enough as that of an average person?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "eehe9yn" ]
[ "I've heard people say that you should skip sentences or only read the top and bottoms of paragraphs and shit, which is really stupid. Reading quickly shouldn't be a substitute for understanding what you read. If you read a lot you'll get faster at it obviously, but if you're not reading half of the text then you'll miss the point." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
94ji8e
[deleted by user]
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "e3lfhgp" ]
[ "No, the delays don't add up this way. If it's 3 seconds at the beginning of the interview, it's generally going to remain about 3 seconds throughout the course of the interview, unless there's some sort of latency issues in the connection. It might be easier to understand it in different terms. Imagine you drive a mile to a store to buy a gallon of milk. It takes you five minutes to drive to the store and five minutes to drive back. But you forgot to get eggs. You're not going to magically be driving ten minutes to get to the store, it's still going to be five minutes to drive that mile and five minutes back." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
mp4qbn
How are damns built? Wouldn’t the water just crash down on the builders?
Engineering
explainlikeimfive
[ "gu7mtxn", "gu7mz2d" ]
[ "They build a “detour” for the water while they’re working on the dam. Then, they drop in landfill in the main river at the entrance and exit of that detour, and drain the water remaining between the two landfills. Then they build the dam in the now dry section of river and remove the land fill and the detour when done. Sometimes they leave the detour." ]
[ 30 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dgf0ts
Why is it that some medications taste fine and others taste horrible? Can't they formulate everything to taste good or at least neutral?
Chemistry
explainlikeimfive
[ "f3b2x2x", "f3b3737", "f3b5flo" ]
[ "They, whoever they are, don’t want medicine to taste good because it may encourage people to take more than what was prescribed. They also don’t want people (nominally kids) to eat, it and like it because it tastes good, who don’t need or shouldn’t be on the medication. As to the medicines that taste okay, they were most likely deliberately formulated so that people (kids again) wouldn’t complain too much" ]
[ 11 ]
[ [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
5lnzk1
What is that feeling we get in our stomach when we're hungry? Why does it happen?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dbx6gsy" ]
[ "Hunger is caused by a region in your brain called the hypothalamus, which regulates many different types of involuntary activities. The hypothalamus makes you feel full or hungry based on chemical hormone signals, nerve signals, and the type of food we last ate (more or less satiated for longer). Nerve signals from the stomach and small intestine detect pressure changes (distended or empty). Ghrelin stimulates secretion of neuropeptide Y which causes people to feel hungry; gherlin is released two hours after people eat and is associated with insulin levels." ]
[ 15 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
g6aayg
If the US government knows how much every citizen owes in taxes, why does each citizen have to figure it out on their own?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "fo8b1bm", "fo8lv2g", "fo8cwed" ]
[ "Because the US Government *doesn't* know how much money you owe on your taxes. The government only knows about income that is reported to it - for example, on a W-2 or 1099. But a large number of people have sources of income that isn't reported to the government. The current theory is that by forcing you to self report income most people who would otherwise try to hide unreported income nonetheless voluntarily report it. Congress has looked at this a few times and every time has come to the conclusion that the amount of lost revenue from the increase in tax evasion would be substantial. On top of that, modern electronic filing makes it trivial for most people to file their taxes and so Congress isn't particularly concerned about the burden that forcing you to e-file causes. The tax prep company lobbying thing that you're going to get a lot of on here is a conspiracy theory. The only people that would be affected by the government auto computing taxes for W-2 and 1099's would affect are people who are able to use the free tax filing service that Congress mandates tax prep companies provide. Tax prep companies don't make any money from those people. The people that tax prep companies make money from are those who have incomes and deductions that are complicated enough that they would need a tax prep service regardless of how the government handled their W-2/1099." ]
[ 28 ]
[ [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
bdsxky
Why does water made from melted ice cubes taste different than normal water?
Chemistry
explainlikeimfive
[ "el0gca3", "el0pv3y", "el15oe4", "el0s7lv", "el1ahu6", "el0gvi3", "el18nu3", "el1a5z5", "el1bj4k" ]
[ "It's a theory still being tested, but it more than likely has to do with oxygen levels in the water. Ice holds a higher oxygen level than water does, and continues to hold more oxygen for a short period of time after melting. Researchers have theorized this to be the cause of the difference in taste. Edit: the reason ice has more oxygen is because water expands as it freezes, and oxygen fills that void." ]
[ 2118 ]
[ [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
g5dp81
How do noise cancelling headphones work with the flick of a switch?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "fo2ocwx", "fo2pit8", "fo3iq2u", "fo38xiz" ]
[ "[Destructive Interference]( URL_1 ). Sound waves are pressure waves in a medium. As waves obey the [superposition principle]( URL_0 ) – that is, the amplitudes of waves add arithmetically – we can create a second wave with opposing amplitudes, thereby canceling out the original wave. Noise canceling headphones have microphones that measure incoming sound waves and create artificial sound waves canceling out the the incoming waves in the area around your ear." ]
[ 27 ]
[ [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superposition_principle", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_interference" ], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
blze6n
Why do people have "tells" when lying?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "emsnpv1" ]
[ "Despite what we like to believe, most of our actions are not consciously controlled. So, when we lie, our face and our body give away clues as to what the rest of our subconscious brain is really thinking in ways we can't control. This is for a variety of reasons, such as it makes us nervous to lie, part of our brain is against lying in the first place, or simply that it is harder to make up a lie than tell the truth. These conflicts within our subconscious brain register outwardly as tells. The interesting part is that the \"tells\" are mostly registered by the other person subconsciously as well. When they do studies on this, people will say things like \"I knew he was lying because he was sweating\". Except the person wasn't sweating, so it must have been something else that told them they were lying" ]
[ 3 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iuwe0s
Why is it a common joke that the French always surrender?
I was a terrible stoner of a student, by my hazy memory suggests that they were on the front lines of both world wars. Obviously I’m missing something obvious.
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "g5nntr8", "g5nn5gp" ]
[ "In World War I, they had some bad commanders and lost a few major battles early on, ended up losing a lot of territory. Then the two sides dug in for trench warfare and so the rest of the war was fought on French soil. It's easy to read it as \"rofl everybody else had to rescue France\". At the start of World War II, France was the most dangerous adversary Germany saw - pretty substantial army, right on the border, with a crazy defensive network called the Maginot Line. So Germany's plan was to sucker-punch France early. They equipped an unheard-of proportion of their vehicles with radios, to keep command and control, and did a march through the mountains to get around the end of the Maginot Line. It worked fantastically. They got to a position where if France had fought they would have lost boatloads of soldiers and still lost, so they surrendered. Since then, they haven't had a lot of chances to win back Honor Points. They were driven out of Vietnam the same way the US was, they showed up for Desert Storm but were off on the flank where the action wasn't very heavy...and that's all the French military actions I can think of for now." ]
[ 39 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
5ubt8o
How do historians agree on a consensus that a person historically existed based on secondary and tertiary sources alone?
Hannibal, Alexander and Socrates are such persons without contemporary first hand accounts yet historians accept that they have existed by relying on sources which were written long after they died. So how do we know with a good degree of certainty that these people existed? I am asking because I have often seen arguments being forwarded, particularly in religious debates, that there were no first hand sources about the person therefore he/she never existed.
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "ddsxsz5", "ddswj65", "ddswhx9" ]
[ "They look for consistency among contemporary and near contemporary accounts. With Socrates, for example, three of his contemporaries wrote of him, and many more took his historicity as granted a mere generation later. Also, at the time, juries in Athens considered of 500 people. If Socrates was an invention of Plato to make a point, there would have been a lot of people running around Athens who knew better. But instead, near contemporary authors take his trial as fact. Compare that him to Jesus, whom he often is. There were many leading authors and historians in and around Judea, like Philo, Pliny, and Seneca, but the earliest accounts range from 55 AD to 112 AD, depending on your standard of evidence. Most of the New Testament has questionable authorship, and almost certainly were not written by whom they have been attributed to. Nor can we be sure exactly when they were written. The earliest secular account was either Josephus in 92 AD or Tacitus in 112 AD. I'll leave it to you to draw your own conclusion about Jesus, but to say the evidence for his existence is on par with Socrates greatly misunderstands both the practice and the content of history." ]
[ 13 ]
[ [], [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur" ], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
b25di0
Why is it called permafrost if it isn't necessarily permanent?
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "eiqbw0k" ]
[ "What would you use to describe a situation where the ground if frozen during the whole year? So as long as the climate does not change it will be frozen. & #x200B; A permanent marker pen is not permanent as you can use solvent or scratch it away but we still call them that to distinguish them to pens that is easy to remove like that one used on a whiteboard. & #x200B; Permafrost is there to distinguish it from seasonal frozen ground that freeze in the winter but get warm in the summer. It geology it is ground that is frozen for two or more years." ]
[ 16 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
5lg7s0
How do Youtubers earn money? I mean, how is revenue generated by simply watching a video. I understand it has something to do with the advertisements, but that is my question, how do ads help Youtubers earn money.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dbvex5u", "dbvytvq", "dbveim5", "dbvqaq3" ]
[ "It's quite simple. Advertisers pay money to Google/Youtube for the rights to show an advertisement before (or during) a video. Google/Youtube takes a cut of the revenue, and the Youtuber earns the rest. The amount advertisers are willing to pay in terms of cost per click or cost per view, is dependent on many factors, including but not limited to: - The popularity of the Youtuber / video - The target audience of the Youtuber / video - How competitive (from an advertiser perspective) the video is (or its associated keywords are) Certain videos are not eligible for monetization (so Youtubers typically won't earn ad revenue from them). This includes, for example, many videos depicting nudity or sex and videos containing extremely foul language or controversial / offensive topics. If a video contains commercial music, sometimes the music publisher or record label will file a copyright claim over the video and instead of taking it down will request the Youtuber's revenue share instead. So, in these cases, the Youtuber is not penalized but also does not earn ad revenue from the video. Youtubers also make lots of money (much more than standard ad revenue) by negotiating product placement deals directly with advertisers to personally use and/or promote a product (such as a mobile app, web service, gadget, etc.) within their video." ]
[ 126 ]
[ [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6lm66s
What would be the effect of having one computer connected via LAN and the rest of the computers connected via WiFi?
So lately our router seems to be working rather slow and when we've contacted our supplier the support center told us it could happen due to someone on the network connected via LAN and "taking up all the bandwidth". I've searched around the internet a bit and it seems like unless some 50MBps downloads are currently running on that computer, the effect should be the opposite. Is having one computer plugged to the router via WiFi and another computer connected via WiFi work faster than one computer connected via LAN and another one connected with WiFi? **edit:** you guys are too kind. Thanks for the help! Personally, I don't experience these problems with my PC, but my roommate keeps complaining about slow connection (he's the one using WiFi), and our internet provider asked him whether or not we have any computers connected to the router using a LAN cable, and said it might be the cause. We're leaving the apartment in a month and it doesn't really matter that much to any of us, just kind of annoying. Asking more for general knowledge since I like gaming with LAN connected and was afraid it might have an effect on other people who are connected to the network.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "djutddq", "djuydlo" ]
[ "Depends on the router; they're not all equal, and it's not always about the bandwidth being used. Figure a typical router's network ports operate at 1 Gigabit (1000 Mbps). A typical wireless connection is limited to approx 50 Mbps; You could, in theory, connect 20x devices wireless before matching the bandwidth a single physical port allows for. Now this never actually happens because wireless technologies, interference, processing speed, packet loss etc, never get you the full bandwidth. What's often more often the case, is the router's ability to handle multiple wireless connections to different devices at the same time is limited. You also have to consider that the \"Wireless\" connection on the router is a single interface being shared by multiple devices, and splits the wireless bandwidth between them; where the physical port is just the one device. However, not all wireless routers are 'rated' for the same wireless bandwidth. A wireless router rated for, say, 300 Mbps has to split that between all wirelessly connected devices. Now taking all that together, and assuming your actual internet connection isn't the limiting factor; having a plugged-in computer should have no noticeable impact on your wireless performance by a longshot unless it's a pretty junky router. Having a computer plugged in directly would theoretically IMPROVE wireless performance, as it's one less device to share the wireless interface." ]
[ 11 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j6pg8q
Why does the urge to use the bathroom increase when you come in close proximity to a bathroom?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "g7zv9ww", "g7zx9bz" ]
[ "The urge to pee is influenced by visual, tactile and auditory stimuli. Hearing or touching running water can trigger or intensity the urge. Seeing a toilet can do the same. Source: am person with lifelong bladder issues Doesn’t answer your “why” question, but I can tell you from daily experience we are certainly “wired” like that." ]
[ 9 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kzkj1m
How do universal remotes work
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "gjodjtf", "gjodf2p" ]
[ "Typically they have an IR sensor, you put it in programming mode, push that button you want on the original remote and it records the pattern of flashes. Some also have a lot of the signals for major appliances preinstalled." ]
[ 4 ]
[ [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
b757dp
Why arent our eyes reflective in the dark the way animal eyes are? If you see an animal in the dark, it looks like their eyes are glowing.
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "ejpbtcs", "ejpce5i", "ejpc78c" ]
[ "It's called the [tapetum lucidum.]( URL_0 ) Some animals have it, some animals don't. It's essentially a mirror at the very back of the eye, so the cells which you use to see get a second chance to catch the photons, and improves night vision. If you shine a bright light at an animal with one, then the mirrors in their eyes reflect your light, causing the glowing effect." ]
[ 41 ]
[ [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapetum_lucidum" ], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
7enair
Why do we feel less need to pee when we are walking?
I was talking to my mother on the telephone. And the conversation was too damn good. We didn't talk like that in months. Then, the urge to pee begun and it was too damn strong. I started walking around the room and realized it was easier to hold when walking. Why?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dq6k81k" ]
[ "The urge to pee is something which can be suppressed by the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system activity, or becomes more obvious when parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system activity predominates. Physical activity shifts the balance towards the sympathetic nervous system." ]
[ 6 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
bl5ng2
why are tires not a solid piece of rubber, and are instead hollow, and filled with air?
Engineering
explainlikeimfive
[ "emlt496" ]
[ "Solid rubber tires are used in large and heavy industrial applications (think of those absolutely enormous dump trucks), where the weight of the vehicle would pop an inflatable tire. Smaller vehicles like cars, trucks, and buses use inflatable tires because they provide more cushion." ]
[ 6 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
djos8y
How do fish descend in a fish tank without spewing out air bubbles?
I'm watching these little guys just raise and lower themselves and I wonder how is it they could manipulate any air inside them to help them rise to the top or fall to the bottom of the tank without spewing out air or taking in extra water....
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "f46ph8q" ]
[ "They have a gas-filled organ called a swim bladder, which is used to control their buoyancy. In some fish, a connection is retained between the swim bladder and the gut, allowing them to fill the bladder by gulping air. Others rely on a gas gland which excretes lactic acid and produces carbon dioxide, which causes the hemoglobin in the blood to lose its oxygen, some of which diffuses into the swim bladder. URL_0" ]
[ 8 ]
[ [ "https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swim_bladder" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
5on6xv
When we have nightmares and try to scream, why can't we do so?
Culture
explainlikeimfive
[ "dcknq3i" ]
[ "Your mind relies a lot on the feedback from physical cues you generate while moving. This is why, sometimes, when you try and punch something in a dream, you feel like a weakling loser. Your arm isn't really moving, so your brain has a lot of difficulty parsing the lack of motion of your arm with the memory of what it is like to punch something. Basically, your mind isn't great at simulating the actions of your body, especially compared to generation of images. So, screaming requires some of the same biomechanical feedback as punching. I.e. your mouth opening, throat contracting, lungs and diaphragm working hard, etc. This is different than speaking, because it is more visceral. Speaking can be words, and your brain can parse them out as thoughts. Screaming, though, is almost more of a bodily function than a thought. Like a punch. For a real mind-trip, try and figure out if, when you are dreaming, you are actually talking to people (physically using your lungs and vocal cords) or if you are just thinking at them, and they are reading your thoughts ;)" ]
[ 4 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
5t6n7m
What is synesthesia? How can people taste words and smell sounds?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "ddkixll" ]
[ "You can open a JPEG in an audio program. The result will be weird noise, but it will be sound. This is the same thing." ]
[ 5 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ivnere
Why have ASD diagnoses increased so much in the past 20 years?
According to the [CDC]( URL_0 ), cases went from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 54 in 2018. Searching online brings up way too many anti-Vaxer arguments...
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "g5sibbf", "g5smrt5", "g5szk7z" ]
[ "Because, as our technology improves, our diagnostic capabilities also improve. That's literally all there is to it. We have better ways of detecting ASD in children, so more children are diagnosed with it. Part of the problem is that we've already been primed to believe that ASD is an aberration of normal human function rather than simply a *variation* of human function. So this makes people feel scared when they see big jumps in diagnosis numbers." ]
[ 15 ]
[ [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
5mqrvv
Why the definition of an integer is independent of the number base used?
Mathematics
explainlikeimfive
[ "dc5lstb" ]
[ "The proper definition of integers relies on the natural numbers. The natural numbers are defined using the following basic definitions: * 0 is a natural number. * Every natural number x has a single successor S(x). * 0 isn't the successor of any natural number. This automatically defines the set of natural numbers - 0, S(0), S(S(0)), S(S(S(0))) and so on. For convenience, we named them: S(0) is called \"1\", S(S(0)) is called \"2\", and so on. Note however that while these \"names\" depend on which base you use, they are not required for the definition of the natural numbers. The integers can then be constructed from all the natural numbers, again without using any base." ]
[ 4 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
86kofk
Why are there minimum donation amounts?
For example, I might want to donate $5 but am told that the minimum donation amount is $10. Isn't the donation amount supposed to be entirely dependent on the person giving the money? Why are some organizations stipulating how much they want to receive from your "donation"?
Economics
explainlikeimfive
[ "dw5qmgd" ]
[ "There are material costs involved in donation processing. If for example you gave me a cheque for ten cents, it would cost both you and me more money in bank fees than 10 cents to process them. So especially if its a non cash donation they want you to spend enough that they dont lose almost all of it to transaction fees." ]
[ 13 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
abkpow
Why does too much sleep feel worse than not enough?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "ed0zpyn" ]
[ "That usually happens when one wakes up in the middle of a REM cycle. You feel most refreshed when you awake at the end of a complete REM cycle." ]
[ 4 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
o9sv2s
Why was the Y2K issue such a big deal, causing all those tech companies to spend billions of dollars trying to fix?
This topic is really confusion to me, how dates could be such a big deal.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "h3d4n55", "h3d47ty", "h3d58xq", "h3dd5yr" ]
[ "The problem was that people didn't think far enough ahead. Many early computer programs only used two digits for the year. For example, *1976* was just *76*. However, once you hit 2000, two digits aren't enough. When the data says \"00,\" is that *1900* or *2000*? Any date-related program could go haywire. Imagine a payroll program for example--does it pay you for two weeks or a hundred years and two weeks? Fortunately, as 2000 got closer, computer programmers realized the potential problems and raised the alarm. There was a huge world-wide effort to update programs to deal with four digit years. The effort was so good, 2000 came in with very few serious problems. For more info, see [Year 2000 Problem at URL_0 ]( URL_1 )." ]
[ 25 ]
[ [ "Wikipedia.org", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2000_problem" ], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
799f3a
Why if something spins very fast we see that it changes direction.
Repost
explainlikeimfive
[ "dp06683" ]
[ "That's actually an artefact of the *recording* process. Since we only capture a certain number of frames each second, if there's, for example, a clock face with the minute hand spinning around extremely fast, then if it's moving at *just under* once around every second, and we're recording at 60 frames per second, then every time the camera records the scene, the minute hand will be slightly *before* where it was the previous frame, since after the picture it spins all the way around again until just before its current position which is right when the camera is ready to take another picture. Imagine taking one photograph every second. If you are walking around in a circle, but are walking that circle in just under one second, then every time the photo is taken it'll be just before you reach the point you were in when the photo was last taken. If you put all of these photographs together one after the other, you'll *appear* to be moving backwards, because the parts where you walked all the way around are missing, and so when we watch an animation of those photographs, we assume you were just walking backwards and taking the photos more rapidly." ]
[ 8 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
8ott4l
Is cracking your bones bad? Not only knuckles but back, neck, wrists, toes, ankles, etc.
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "e063k6e", "e065oag", "e066des", "e06aoet" ]
[ "Cracking joints is just a release of built-up pressure (nitrogen I think?). It was an old wives tale that cracking knuckles led to arthritis, but that has never been proven in any respected study. As far as anyone can tell, the act of cracking joints is not harmful to you." ]
[ 22 ]
[ [], [], [], [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracking_joints#Effects" ] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
moi5uf
Do different nerves register different sensations such as touch or pain?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "gu3x3bl", "gu3y7jm", "gu3ysgk" ]
[ "I can tell you a little bit... I know there are different nerves for temperature and sensation vs. pain receptors. i had an injury to my hand and required stitches... they numbed it with a shot... but I could still feel cold and warm and texture... just not pain." ]
[ 4 ]
[ [], [ "https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-psychology/chapter/reading-touch-and-pain/" ], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
82o7fx
what do C level execs do Day to Day?
I’ve worked for a few large corporations and it seems all they do is go to meetings, meetings about having other meetings, make big decisions and collect fat paychecks. I work in IT and it seems like my management is always handling twice or three times the workload as the guys who stroll in at noon, take a catered lunch meeting and hit the links for the rest of the day.
Other
explainlikeimfive
[ "dvbhphb", "dvbiszb", "dvcei17", "dvbigsd", "dvbm5dx", "dvc85u6", "dvd445g" ]
[ "“Make big decisions” there you go. C-level executives accept a significantly larger responsibility for the productivity and outcomes of the company. They are the ones who get in trouble when there is a scandal, they go to jail if something was illegal, and they make decisions that direct the company. They are both the captain and the fall guy, thats why they get paid so much." ]
[ 23 ]
[ [], [], [], [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iuu700
Literally. A situation i was recently in. I have a 4yo child with non verbal autism. We recently went on a play date with a co worker and there 5yo child. Said child asked me "what's wrong with him?" I was caught off guard and not sure what to say sowhat is autism?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "g5n8ujg", "g5n7nas", "g5nalrb", "g5n7yqc", "g5nhoh8", "g5nkbjq" ]
[ "So as an autistic adult working with autistic and neurotypical children under the age of 6, here is how I explain it. Say your child's name is Tom for the sake of writing this nicely.. Tom is just a little different. Just like you are from (insert friends name here). Do you and your friend have all the same interests(/things that you like)? What's different? See, Tom is just a little different too. He likes (1-3 interests). And sometimes we struggle with different things too, Tom is really good at (insert thing here) but he hasn't learned to talk yet. What's something you are sturggling to learn? This explains that everyone has differences and even if \"Tom's\" are more pronounced it isn't 'wrong' just different. From personal experience this is really important for both your child and \"Tom\" to hear. Self esteem and acceptance of others, etc. Then this redirects the conversation to identifying with your child (awesome! Best case scenario for learning outcomes) or exploring the concept of \"same and different\" which to put it bluntly is a big enough concept at that age that they tend to forget what they were talking about conversationally. If they are trying to loop back and you feel comfortable, then answer questions, maybe suggest how your child prefers to communicate. If you don't feel comfortable, then redirect with examples in the environment of same and different." ]
[ 47 ]
[ [], [], [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
a36x3b
Why does Netflix offer different/more content depending on what country you live in?
Economics
explainlikeimfive
[ "eb3ummp" ]
[ "Netflix has to buy a separate license for each country (except for the stuff they own outright themselves) For some content someone else may already own or buy the license instead of Netflix. For some other stuff they may just decide there's not enough of a market in that country to justify paying for a license. On very rare occasions something may not be legally allowed to be streamed in a particular country." ]
[ 7 ]
[ [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
beajuh
It seems like in the animal world, males compete for females so that the strongest genes are passed on, but if 50% of genes come from the mother, what ensures that the strongest male doesn't end up mating with a weak female?
Biology
explainlikeimfive
[ "el491la", "el4982f", "el49mte" ]
[ "The \"strength\" of females in an evolutionary sense is how well they do at rearing children. If they're bad at that, the genes may be passed on, but won't spread because the children will die." ]
[ 17 ]
[ [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
jsv9fu
Why did the musket outclass the bow?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "gc1tbbt", "gc1upe0", "gc205nc", "gc1s61c" ]
[ "The reduced training and skill requirement is a lot bigger than you might think. A bow requires constant training and some serious arm strength to use effectively, whereas muskets level out the skill requirements considerably and almost entirely remove the strength issue." ]
[ 13 ]
[ [], [], [], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
jp3ero
Why can't you install Windows/Linux on a PS4 or Xbox?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "gbc43vp", "gbc66tz", "gbcr0vq", "gbc70ao" ]
[ "Because Sony and Microsoft very strictly control what can run on these boxes. If they didn't then people could install their own applications and use it as a means of copying games or bypassing other protections. Consoles are supposed to be a safe place for developers to make their games and if piracy and cheating was that easy... It is worth noting that back in the day you COULD install Linux on a PS3. Sony removed it after it was demonstrated how to break out of the virtual machine environment it was running in. (This in spite of the fact that doing so required attaching things to the motherboard and sending it an electrical jolt with millisecond precision)" ]
[ 46 ]
[ [], [], [ "https://media.ccc.de/v/33c3-7946-console_hacking_2016" ], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
71r88v
How come the same prescription for eyeglasses produces thick "coke bottle" lenses can be used for paper thin contacts?
Physics
explainlikeimfive
[ "dnct06f", "dncvm1b", "dnd9vus" ]
[ "The glasses are pretty far from your cornea (the lens on the front of the eye. Contact lenses are, or course, in contact with the cornea. A much thinner lens can bend the light the required number of degrees because the light hasn't spread out to an aviator's eyeglasses sized area before the lens has to capture it." ]
[ 70 ]
[ [], [ "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Spherical_cap_diagram.tiff/lossless-page1-1011px-Spherical_cap_diagram.tiff.png" ], [] ]
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
6o3nh5
How does AI ever lose at chess?
If a human chess player looks x amount of moves in advance to pick their next move, a computer, not bound by memory constraints, could play every combination of every piece on the board; eliminate all games that end in a loss, select only from winning endings and make a move based on that. Then repeat process after every single move.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
[ "dkebysb", "dkebq4p", "dkehni9", "dkeh6wd" ]
[ "> a computer, not bound by memory constraints, could play every combination of every piece on the board This, right here, is the flaw in your assumption. The computer is absolutely memory limited, the human actually has an advantage here because heuristics are more efficient but less accurate than brute force. Computers often rely on moves that human chess Masters have made in similar situations in the past There are ~10^43 combinations of a chess board, a computer with a petabyte of RAM only has ~10^15 bytes of memory, still far far short of the complexity of a chess board. A computer will generally only compute maybe a dozen moves out so it can act in a reasonable timeframe" ]
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