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6m27c2 | Why can't the human eye see clearly underwater, but with swimming goggles we can? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"djyblsf",
"djybj6e"
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"text": [
"Wait, people can't see clearly under water? This is a serious question, because under water I see as well as I do normally with my glasses.",
"The human eye has evolved to see in air, and water has a different [index of refraction]( URL_0 ) from that of air. Swimming goggles trap air in front of the eyes, so you're seeing through air before water."
],
"score": [
4,
3
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_Of_Refraction"
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6m36xw | - Why are all the bottoms of clouds have a flatness about them while the tops are very non uniform? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"djykb6f",
"djykahr"
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"text": [
"Think about a bubble bath. All the foam is very irregular on top, but flat on the bottom. The same happens to clouds. When the air parcel reached a level where it can exist (defined by pressure, temperature and humidity), then it condensates and the clouds is formed. The interface separating the \"here you can exist - here you can't\" is the flat bottom. Same as the bubbles can't exist below the water, but exist above, and the interface is flat.",
"Below a certain height it's too warm and there's too much air pressure for cloud vapor to form. Once you pass that barrier the vapor forms freely and thus gives the upper portions of the chaotic, fluffy appearance while the vapor vanishes below the point where it physically can't exist, giving the bottom a reasonably smooth appearance."
],
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63,
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6m46ch | How come radio station frequencies don't end in even numbers? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"djyt738"
],
"text": [
"Due to FCC regulations to reduce interference between radio stations. Radio station can only occupy roughly 88MHz to 108MHz. To fit as many stations as possible within that band, and reduce any possible interference, stations have to be 200 KHz apart, and it was decided to be every odd number instead of even just because. There wasn't a real reason to make it odd, other than with the 200KHz spacing it would make them either odd or even and the FCC just chose odd. I believe Europe is only spaced 100KHz apart, so you can have odd and even stations there. Quick edit: This applies to FM, as AM can be even or odd. Found a link that basically says the same as I did. URL_0"
],
"score": [
3
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"http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/fm-station-odd-number.htm"
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6m5857 | How does a handicap in golf work? What do the handicap numbers for each hole mean? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"djyzm8y"
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"text": [
"Each golf hole has a \"par\" score, the number of strokes an excellent golfer should need top play the hole. Some holes are harder than others, and each course ranks its holes from 1, the hardest, to 18, the easiest. When a person has a 7 handicap, they are allowed to subtract 1 from their score on the holes with handicap numbers 1 through 7. Golfers with handicaps can then compare their \"net\" score on each hole fairly."
],
"score": [
3
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|
6m5a6a | Why do you blow on a fire to help it grow, but you blow to put out a candle? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"djz1ocv"
],
"text": [
"To have fire you need 3 things: oxygen, fuel and heat. When you're blowing on a fire, you're adding oxygen. When you're blowing out a candle, you're removing enough heat for the flame to extinguish."
],
"score": [
3
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6m6akn | Why does cold water seemingly taste better (or seem more enjoyable in general) than warm water? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"djzaccu"
],
"text": [
"As discussed on /r/askscience recently , your body is constantly making heat and has to dispose of that. \"Room temperature\" is the comfortable temperature at which your body (at rest) is in equilibrium and doesn't need to do anything special to make or shed excess heat. At warmer ambient temperatures, sweating will be required, or other ways of cooling off. If you drink cool liquids, this will help cool your body and reduce the amount you need to sweat. As with many things, \"tasting good\" is a signal from the brain that the food/drink is particularly useful/needed at the time. For similar reasons, sports drinks will taste really good after you've sweated a lot - because they replace lost electrolytes and provide sugar to replenish your blood sugar levels quickly - but will taste overly salty if taken after a meal or other point when you aren't short on electrolytes. On a cold winter's day, you will probably find that cold water isn't that \"tasty\" - but a cup of hot tea or coffee certainly is. These hot drinks are just shortcuts to warming you up without having to increase your metabolism / burn extra calories. So your brain will signal that these taste good."
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5
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6mcjms | How did our ancestors survive without glasses? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk0kwka"
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"text": [
"Bad eyesight is not, in and of itself, a detriment to reproduction. For example, I need glasses. I'm near-sighted. But it isn't so bad that I need to wear glasses all the time; only when I'm driving and need to read street signs is it really necessary. I can get around my city without a problem because I already know the layout of the streets, but when I go to neighboring cities I sometimes will need to read the names of streets, so I bring my glasses. Primitive lifestyle didn't have tiny letters to read that would affect their survival. Only the most severe bad eyesight would be of any real effect. This means all the people with only slightly bad eyesight would continue to be able to provide for their families and reproduce just fine."
],
"score": [
3
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6mf7ob | What exactly is the Publishers Clearing House? And how do they have so much money to give away? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk12utn"
],
"text": [
"They're a seller of magazine subscriptions. Magazine publishers, love subscriptions enough they'll pay other businesses to generate them (that's the same reason some retailers try to give you a trial subscription to a magazine when you make a purchase). They sell magazine subscriptions for revenue. Rather than paying millions of dollars per quarter for lots of television ads, they do fewer ads, and a sweepstakes."
],
"score": [
4
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|
6mia52 | why is coffee called joe? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk1umjx"
],
"text": [
"There are two strong ideas but neither is verifiable. 1. A corruption of one of the slang words for coffee; **jamoke** (a compression of java and mocha). So **\"cup of jamoke\"** transitioned its way to \"cup of Joe\" or \"cuppa-Joe\". 2. *Joe* is jargon for \"fellow, guy, chap\" and so \"cup of joe\" means \"common man's drink\" or **\"cup of Joe's drink\"** (average Joe, etc). [Source: Snopes]( URL_0 )"
],
"score": [
11
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"text_urls": [
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"http://www.snopes.com/language/eponyms/cupofjoe.asp"
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|
6mm8ct | Why do we enjoy/prefer music with lyrics that rhyme? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk2nhy7"
],
"text": [
"When you're reading or listening to something that rhymes, it sets up an expectation that is then fulfilled. It's something you're actually trained to expect; rhyme is not an automatic function of poetry (Old English poetry, for example, was heavy on alliteration but didn't rhyme at all). The best way I can demonstrate how that expectation/satisfaction works is to show you how odd it is when it's frustrated. Take a look at a poem titled \"Strange Meeting,\" by Wilfred Owen: URL_0 What drives you slightly crazy about it is that it employs pretty much only \"slant rhymes\" - words that *almost* rhyme but don't, really. You'll find here that he likes to match consonants but not vowels on the \"rhyme\" words. The technique has a disquieting effect, because it's toying with and frustrating the expectation of rhyme."
],
"score": [
4
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"text_urls": [
[
"https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47395/strange-meeting"
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|
6mpnhc | Why do spider's legs curl up when they die? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk3dga4"
],
"text": [
"Took this fun answer from an older question of the same topic answered by u/MorphingShadows. Not my own work before the fearsome pitchfork folk attack. \"When spiders die, they typically curl their legs under them. Spiders don't possess muscles like that of insects and other animals, but instead what some would describe as some weird ass hydraulic system; fluid is forced to extremities, sort of like having eight penises for legs and getting boners instantaneously to walk around. So when a spider dies, its limbs essentially lose pressure and all sort of wind back up. Spiders suffering from dehydration will have trouble moving for this reason and sit in a similar fashion.\""
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"score": [
5
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6mpo0v | How do cranes get set up? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk3dlun"
],
"text": [
"It is awesome. They build themselves. Here's a an animated gif: URL_0 Here's a gif from actual footage: URL_1"
],
"score": [
10
],
"text_urls": [
[
"https://m.imgur.com/t/the_more_you_know/dTSHCNY",
"http://i.imgur.com/kNHt5Ww.gifv"
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|
6mtn4q | Why do humans only crave for two tastes - salty (e.g. Chips) and sweet (e.g. Soda, cake, ice cream) and do not crave for other tastes (bitter, umami) | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk47f9i"
],
"text": [
"You also sometimes crave fat if you have been active for some time. You also crave water when you are thirsty. And sometimes you do crave a juicy steak, a burger or some tomato as they are rich in umami. Alcohol is also something you crave sometimes. You never crave bitter things as that is not something you need but something you should stay away from. Being bitter or sour often means the food is rotten or otherwise spoiled. Salt is also somewhat of a double sword as you may sometimes crave salt and sometimes avoid it at all cost depending on your sodium levels. The human body does a good job at trying to keep your meals balanced and taste is playing a big part in this. The problem for modern humans is that we have not developed any systems for craving vitamins and minerals as this have generally not been a problem until now. We also have our hunger system tuned to be hungry most of the time as eating too much have not been a big problem and generally a good idea to stay alive. Historically it also takes a lot longer from becoming hungry and starting to prepare meals to being able to eat."
],
"score": [
4
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6mtxv3 | So I've heard of a photographic memory, but I've never known how it really works. So how does a photographic memory work? And how does a person know if they have one? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk4aplw",
"dk49q24"
],
"text": [
"See [Eidetic memory] ( URL_0 ): that's what a small number of people actually have, while purely \"photographic\" memory hasn't actually been found in the real world. With Eidetic memory, images form only part of the experience and aren't remembered perfectly, but other senses form part of the memory. In *The Big Bang Theory*, Sheldon is naturally very clear about the difference.",
"I have a photographic memory but it was only a few years ago I found out my memory was different from everyone else's I believe it's just something you are born with, I can remember many things in perfect detail from when I was around 3 years old, I can remember the day of the week on a specific day and what the weather was like. I can even remember my best friend's card PIN number from glancing at it ages ago LOL. I'm starting to develop my memory and I'm about to try to memorise a pack of cards and remember pi to as many digits as I can :D It can be tough sometimes, with any bad experiences you have you will always remember in such detail it can get you down sometimes but I do love having a photographic memory and I find it very intriguing. Can most people remember their 16 digit card number? For some reason everyone I know seems to not have memorised their credit card info and I find it crazy since it's just a handful of numbers"
],
"score": [
3,
3
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"text_urls": [
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory"
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|
6mucok | How do we have cures for so many of the worlds major diseases yet something as common and mostly harmless as the common cold is yet to be cured? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk4cwx5"
],
"text": [
"Which cold do you want a cure for? The common cold is the name for a large number (hundreds) of similar viruses that like to hang out in your nose and throat. And like the flu they also mutate rapidly, meaning each year it is a slightly *different* set of hundreds of viruses to defend against."
],
"score": [
8
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|
6mvm1u | What is a DNS address and why is it important? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk4nvra"
],
"text": [
"The DNS, or Domain Name System, is basically the phone book of the internet. Every computer that is connected to the internet has what is known as an IP, or Internet Protocol, address. This looks something like this: 123.456.789.012. What each one of those numbers means is beyond the scope of ELI5, but it basically allows your computer to know how to connect to the webserver that you are trying to connect to, just like how dialing (555) 555-5555 will connect you to the phone that you want to connect to. The problem is that remembering that string of numbers is hard - you don't know the IP address of Reddit or Facebook or Google off the top of your head. In order to make the internet easier to use, we instead type in URLs, or Uniform Resource Locators. That is what you think of when you think of a website - URL_0 is a URL. The DNS is basically the middle man between the URLs and the IPs where the servers physically are. When you type in URL_0 , it queries one of the central DNS servers and obtains the IP address that is assigned to that URL. Your computer then connects to that IP address to retrieve the content you are after. Now, in practice your local ISP may cache the most common IPs just to speed the process along, but the DNS servers are still the servers that hold the master list of URL to IP mappings."
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
[
"http://www.reddit.com"
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|
6mvmo1 | How do companies that operate as basically monopolies not get into trouble in the US? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk4o4xp"
],
"text": [
"it is not a crime to be a monopoly. it is a problem if you actively prevent a fair market. In your example, the simple fact is that broadband service has enormous startup and fixed costs. its rarely practical to bury two fiber networks and split the revenue. The fact that it doesn't make financial sense to challenge the incumbent is not the incumbents fault. You cant force someone to compete. Often times these situations will become a utility, at which point the local govt will protect their monopoly status, but in return, they get a say in how the business runs, prices, ect, to ensure they are not exploiting their status. So far, this hasnt happened with broadband, because they fight it... but it will probably happen eventually. Or 4g/5g/6g whatever will eventually supplant the buried cables and the whole model changes. Im ignoring claims that comcast does supress fair competition, blocking access to utility poles and such."
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6mwzyv | What is actually happening when you "crack" your knuckles? Why do you have to wait a bit of time before you can do this again? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk4zkx1",
"dk53epa"
],
"text": [
"When you pop a joint, you're stretching the joint capsule. The cracking sound is the popping of bubbles made up of gases within the synovial fluid, the fluid that surrounds our joints within this capsule. You have to wait awhile because the gases need time to build up again.",
"A lot of people are going to say that it's from the popping of gas bubbles in your joints and that you have to wait for the gas bubbles to reform to pop them again. This is what originally was was thought to happen but new evidence suggests THIS IS NOT THE CASE. In fact it is practically the reverse. The popping sound you hear is a gas cavity forming in your joints. This is due to the negative pressure (aka like a vacuum) that happens as you pull on your finger (joint). The nitrogen dissolved in the fluids suddenly forms a bubble in your joint (this is due to how pressure affects that state of matter but that's a different topic). This releases energy and thus the pop. Until the gasses dissolve again into the fluid, you can't form this bubble again to get the sound. [video of the gas cavity forming]( URL_0 ) [source of information]( URL_1 )"
],
"score": [
31,
4
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"https://youtu.be/_ZNENkkf5Uw",
"https://www.wired.com/2015/04/watch-gross-mri-knuckle-cracking/"
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6mxxir | Why can other animals (such as lions and wolves) eat almost only meat and remain healthy while humans have to eat a mix of meat, fruit, and vegetables to remain healthy? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk59px6"
],
"text": [
"Essentially it has to do with differences in enzyme expression. Enzymes are little machines in the body that help break down and convert the food we eat into other forms that we can then get energy from or help with growing cells and other bodily functions. For example, other animals (not including humans, and for some odd reason, guinea pigs) have an enzyme that allows them to produce their own vitamin C, while humans don't have this enzyme. Therefore, when humans don't get vitamin C from the diet, we get a disease called [scurvy]( URL_0 ). Because humans lack some of the enzymes that other animals have, we have to get nutrients that the enzymes would otherwise produce from our diet."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy"
]
]
} | [
"url"
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|
6mytz8 | How do modern touch screens know to only work when skin touches them, compared to when some other foreign material does? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk5f29l",
"dk5eyxv"
],
"text": [
"I think it has something to do with completing a circuit. But fun fact, dog noses and paws work too.i learned that from my puppy.",
"I'm by no means an expert here. So if I am wrong, someone please correct me. My understanding is that our fingers complete a circuit, having electricity pass through it. That's why stylists also work, and some random materials but not others. Has to do with conductivity."
],
"score": [
3,
3
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6mzt2z | Why do humans like music ? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk5nakl"
],
"text": [
"Melody and rhythm can trigger feelings from sadness to serenity to joy to awe; they can bring memories from childhood vividly back to life. From an evolutionary point of view, however, music doesn’t seem to make sense. Unlike sex, say, or food, it did nothing to help our distant ancestors survive and reproduce. Yet music and its effects are in powerful evidence across virtually all cultures, so it must satisfy some sort of universal need. Music triggers activity in the nucleus accumbens, the same brain structure that releases the “pleasure chemical” dopamine during sex and eating. Animals get that same thrill from food and sex, but not, despite the occasional dancing cockatoo, from music."
],
"score": [
4
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6mzx9n | Why is something like steak able to be eaten more acceptably whilst undercooked while something chicken isn't? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk5nc6r"
],
"text": [
"Chicken and pork are likely to carry diseases, specifically salmonella and trichinosis. Steak and fish are less likely to have disease, so rare steak and sushi are safe as long as they're sourced properly."
],
"score": [
6
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6n22qb | Why when doing exercise do you tire relatively quickly, only to recover and regain stamina to continue? What causes this "second wind" effect? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk65bb8"
],
"text": [
"Respiration. When you exercise, your body respirates to keep your muscles going; this requires oxygen and is called aerobic respiration. When there isn't enough oxygen coming in, your body will start anaerobic (without oxygen) respiration. This is highly inefficient and causes lactic acid to build up in your muscles (which makes your muscles feel tired). Once you've rested, you start to aerobically respirate again, which makes the lactic acid go away. Once its gone, your muscles don't feel as tired, so you get the \"second wind\". This pattern keeps repeating. (I'm only 14 so I might be wrong)"
],
"score": [
7
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6n23f1 | Why do we in the US use inches, feet, yards, etc to measure most things, but centimeters to measure very small things when we largely reject the metric system? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk639ux",
"dk644l7"
],
"text": [
"The metric system is used in most scientific fields in the US, as well as a range of other fields, such as the military and some manufacturing. You use inches and feet for others because a lot of people in the US were against switching everything over to metric.",
"This can be seen as the seeping of European and other manufacturing standards seeping into the everyday life of the U.S. Especially at places like IKEA, things are designed and manufactured in metric, then would have to be converted to Imperial for an American audience. More and more, they're skipping that conversion step and just shipping the original measurements."
],
"score": [
6,
3
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|
6n2tro | How come that a negative multiplied by another negative becomes a positive? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk6a1ge"
],
"text": [
"The opposite of the opposite is back to normal. If you turned something inside out twice, it would be back to normal. Same as if you turned it around twice. On a number line, the number 5 is five units to the right. If you do the opposite of that, you go left 5, to -5. If you go the opposite of left five (the opposite of the opposite) you're back at 5."
],
"score": [
3
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"text_urls": [
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|
6n2tse | USA voting system. | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk69tjd",
"dk6d4b2"
],
"text": [
"No issues are voted on by all US citizens. The United States is a \"representative democracy\". US citizens vote on members of Congress to represent them, and make/change laws on their behalf. Even with the presidential election, citizens are voting for who will be appointed as the electors to cast their states' votes for president.",
"Because collectively, US citizens are ignorant and apathetic. What do you know about forestry? Civil engineering? Pollution mitigation? Soybeans? Nuclear power? Migrant workers? Economics? Computer security? Syria? Traffic planning? Fracking? Epidemiology? And are you willing to spend most of your time educating yourself about these and other issues? If not, congratulations, you are ignorant and apathetic too. Most of us are. As much as we like to denigrate our politicians, this is their job. The work full time have staffs to ensure they understand the implications of bills they are voting on. Without that, you would have chaos. You likely won't fully understand what you are voting on, and what is worse, you will only vote on what you care about. Why everyone else was jumping on the \"Prevent Puppy and Kitty Cruelty Act\", the \"Adhesives in Particle Board Regulation Act\" just make it like to use lead and plutonium based building materials legal in new construction, because it look to boring to most people."
],
"score": [
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3
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6n5r1n | How Check Kiting works | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk6ypyj"
],
"text": [
"There is a lag between when a check is cashed and the payment is finalized. If you write a check from an empty account and then immediately deposit a check for the same amount from another empty account, when the first check goes to clear it looks like you have enough money to make the payment, when in reality you don't and you're just moving a floating charge from account to account. This can go on until: 1. The bank figures out what you're doing 2. Eventually you run out of accounts to float to and your last check bounces 3. You get some actual money (such as a paycheck) into the accounts, this covering up what you did"
],
"score": [
3
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|
6n5rnq | What causes computer components to heat up during use? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk6yo1p"
],
"text": [
"Resistance. It's essentially the electrical equivalent of friction. Any current going through a wire is going to be less than 100% efficient - that loss happens as heat."
],
"score": [
4
],
"text_urls": [
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] | [
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|
6n7ei8 | - why do we sweat when we eat really spicy food. | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk7cbkl"
],
"text": [
"You don't have a \"hot/spicy\" taste receptor. Capsaicin oil, the chemical that makes things taste spicy is actually doing so by triggering the heat receptors in your mouth that normally tell you if food is physically hot. The exact opposite of effect is triggered by Menthol, which chemically triggers the cold receptors."
],
"score": [
4
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"text_urls": [
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6n7f8e | Why does certain food have to be refrigerated after opening? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"dk7byst"
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"text": [
"When many types of food are packaged, it's done under sterile conditions - so that bacteria or fungi can't grow in it. As soon as you break the seal of a package, you introduce bacteria or fungal spores into the food. At room temperature, microorganisms like to thrive. At refrigerator temps, it slows or stops the growth of these microorganisms. Not all types of them, just most."
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6n8f0h | Why bugs shrink their legs to the middle when they die? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk7io1p"
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"text": [
"Sorry for my English. Spiders' legs are moved by their Blood or something close to Blood. They are hydraulic. If u kill spider, hydraulic preasure goes down and then you See described effect."
],
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6
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6n99h1 | Why do we as humans have to keep our teeth clean, whereas other animals do not? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"dk7r5hz",
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"Animals will eat until their teeth have been ground down and then slowly starve to death, or at least get so weak that they get ripped to shreds by predators or succumb to disease they have no medicine for. Humans prefer to die of other things. Also we eat way more sugar.",
"Until refined sugar became available a few hundred years ago, we really didn't need to worry about keeping our teeth clean so much. Your dentist is not lying- sugar REALLY is bad for teeth. Teeth don't last forever, but most people kept thier choppers until they died. Fun fact: When refined sugar was introduced to Europe it was expensive and lower classes could not afford it. Rotten teeth was sometimes a badge of honor for the nobility as it advertised the fact they were rich.",
"Sugar. That's about it. When we evolved, we got basically no cane sugar. Or high fructose corn syrup. We'd occasionally get some fresh fruits or even jams or preserves, or honey. But it was fairly rare, and the sugars in fruits were eaten with lots of fibers as well. Once we started getting refined cane sugar around the 1600s thanks to slave plantations in the west indies and Brazil, we started to put that shit on everything (if we could afford it). And we didn't really need to brush before (maybe just floss to get some meat out). But those sugars were great for the bacteria that lived in our mouth and on our teeth and gave them an exponential boost. But the short of it is: processed foods and sugars (as we still put sugar into all kinds of food today - just look at the ingredients list on things like bread: it almost always also has sugar in it).",
"Sugar is a fairly obvious answer and has been well covered, but there are additional answers - for one, we don't replace our teeth (beyond our milk teeth). Some animals like sharks simply have an endless conveyor belt of new teeth, whilst in gnawing rodents (rats, hamsters etc) the teeth permanently grow (think fingernails or hair) and as such they need to grind them down constantly. The fact we have exactly one adult pair of teeth for our lifespan means we have to clean them whilst for some animals teeth are as transitory as toenails. Second point, which is kind of linked to the first is lifespan. Compared to most living animals, humans have a capacity for exceptional lifespans. 60-80 is a standard range even for \"wild\" humans, provided they survive the early years (and bearing in mind a slightly higher % of death year by year as a result of injuries that could otherwise be healed etc). Given our teeth are expected to last a good 60 years (70 year lifespan, milk teeth assumed to be gone by 10 for ease of maths), this is ridiculously long compared to say a horse, or a cow. (25-30 and 18-22 respectively). With modern technology this can easily be a 85 year lifespan for our teeth to function, with no replacement. As such, especially bearing in mind our modern sugary diet, teeth represent a \"weak link\" for retaining full health. Given humans tend to breed at 15-30 (especially \"wild\" humans, especially females (males likely are more like 20-40 average range), our teeth function just fine up to that age, especially in the wild. Past that point we've already bred, there's very little selective pressure to actually force us to get \"better\" teeth. One final point - some people mentioned that many wild animals die when their teeth decay to nothing, and this is true. However, humans are heavily social animals, even since we weren't even humans (Neanderthals). We have records of us caring for injured, crippled, or weakened members of the group, which means a person could easily enough survive without teeth, on a diet of soft boiled food or broth.",
"Because we have a diet that has lots of processed food and refined sugar added, with varying types of food items, traditionally in the wild carnivors eat only meat, and the herbivores only eat a limited plant diet.",
"Humans have artificially extended lifespans, and also have a diet that contains far more sugar than other species. The human species, before medical advancements and nutritional awareness, had a lifespan that was typically around 40 years. Humans also had a diet that comprised primarily of meats and vegetation, with no processed food. As a result, the teeth in an adult lasted a sufficient time with no cleaning to allow for a full lifespan. Nowadays, we consume sugar regularly, which is a breeding ground for bacteria in the mouth. We also live to 70 years old or more, well beyond the original \"rated lifespan\" of teeth. So we have to keep our teeth clean to make sure they last.",
"Do animals eat Sour Patch Kids and drink 32 ounce Mountain Dews on the reg?"
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6nac8q | How does a home scale tell you your body fat %, body composition, etc. | Really curious how just standing on the scale can tell you those things and how accurate they really are. | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk7xjzi",
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"Your scale is running a small electric current into your feet - up one leg and down the other, and measuring how much voltage this takes. From the voltage it can calculate the resistance/conductivity of your flesh. Fat flesh has a different conductivity than lean flesh does, so from your conductivity it can tell you your body fat percentage. It's not the most accurate measurement, since it only measures the conductivity of your legs, not your entire body. And unless you have an absolutely top-of-the-line bathroom scale, the sensor is probably not very high quality. But it can be useful as a ballpark figure.",
"This question is very popular on ELI5 and has been answered countless times: URL_3 URL_1 URL_2 URL_4 URL_0",
"The scale sends a mild electric current up one leg, and measures the resistance when it comes out the other. It does some fancy math, knowing that muscle conducts electricity better. In the end, you're left with an inaccurate measurement of body fat.",
"The fancier ones send a very very light electrical pulse through your feet. The level of resistance it records is usually a pretty good indicator of body composition (though there are a ton of environmental factors). Try standing on it with wet and then dry feet to see a difference. The fancier ones will ask you to input your height and make a user profile, this makes it more accurate. So the accurate answer is usually \"depends what you need it for\" I'd add a +- 5% just to be sure (especially if you didn't put in your height)."
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"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nwrzi/eli5how_do_bathroom_scales_that_calculate_body/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6gro2h/eli5_how_do_modern_bathroom_scales_measure_the/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2r1h1s/eli5_how_does_me_standing_on_my_bathroom_scales/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ejdkr/eli5_how_does_the_bmi_function_on_my_bathroom/"
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6nax71 | Why is it that we occasionally see words that we view fairly often as strange and unusual, almost as if we've never seen them before? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk8371x"
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"text": [
"It is called semantic satiation. If you look at or hear a word repeated, you stop experiencing it as a word and start seeing it as an arbitrary group of letters or sounds, that has no inherent relationship with what the word represents. \"Dog\" is no longer man's best friend, it because a wierd string of squiggling we for some reason associated with the animal."
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6nb6j4 | Why are hangovers so much worse as we get older? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk84od8"
],
"text": [
"Even at 25, we aren't as young as we used to be. It'll only get worse from here. The key is to stay hydrated. Often times when we forget to drink \"real\" water and might only be drinking liquor the whole night. I've found that about one cup of water for every \"drink\" helps a lot. In addition, these days I try to never go to sleep drunk. If possible, I stop drinking about an hour or two before going to bed to give me time to sober up and drink the water."
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6nbtxb | Why do websites in asian languages typically seem "cluttered"? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk8a9pb"
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"text": [
"You're not the first to ask. People seem to think it's because of cultural reasons, and an emphasis on text over large graphics due to historic technical limitations. URL_0 URL_2 URL_4 URL_3 URL_1"
],
"score": [
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"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qjuom/eli5_why_is_japanese_web_design_stuck_in_the_late/",
"https://digitalcommunications.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2016/03/03/why-is-eastern-asian-web-design-so-busy/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/44azgm/eli5_why_are_all_asian_websites_so_horrifically/",
"https://randomwire.com/why-japanese-web-design-is-so-different/",
"https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-design-of-Japanese-websites-tend-to-differ-from-those-in-the-US"
]
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|
6nct5e | How does google search the entire internet so fast when my computer takes ages just to search its own files? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk8i3hf"
],
"text": [
"Google isn't searching files, it's browsing a tagged index, have a [video] ( URL_0 )"
],
"score": [
8
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[
"https://youtu.be/gIPIqOiSknY"
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|
6ncz4x | What are the differences between Advil, Aleve, Aspirin, and Tylenol, and what problems does each one treat best? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Advil is Ibuprofen. Aleve is Naproxen Sodium. Tylenol is acetaminophen. Aspirin is... Aspirin. Acetaminophen is used for mild pain and fever, and is easily mixed with cold medication (by the manufacturer). It does not work for inflammation and overdose or abuse can lead to liver failure. Naproxen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and can reduce pain, fever, swelling, and stiffness. Abuse can lead to stomach ulcers. Ibuprofen is also an NSAID, of similar class as Naproxen. Specifically, if is a go-to for menstrual cramping and migraines. As with Naproxen, it runs a risk of ulcers, but also has increased risk of heart failure and other problems. Aspirin is an NSAID, but also an antiplatelet. It is used in specific inflammation conditions, like Kawasaki disease, as well as in low-dosage heart regimens. It has a larger risk of ulcers. NSAIDs generally should not be taken together, if it can be avoided because of the bleeding risks. If you take a full dose of Aleve, wait for the full time for it to wear off before switching to Ibuprofen.",
"Advil works well with muscle aches and, especially, toothaches. It can relax muscles. It can irritate your stomach. Aspirin is an anti inflammatory. It works with general pain and it is also a mild anticoagulant. As such it's good with any pain but it's also good to take a small dose regularly when older to reduce heart attack risk. It can irritate your stomach and cause ulcers potentially. If you are having s heart attack, chew an aspirin while you wait for an ambulance. It can reduce risk of damage to heart. You don't want to take it if you're at risk of stroke, though, because it can increase brain bleed chance. Don't give to babies and young children, usually Tylenol can help with general pain. It doesn't irritate your stomach. Can also reduce fever. It can damage your liver if you take too much or even if you've been drinking many alcoholic drinks before you take it. So if you're a drinker, don't use. If you have an irritated stomach or intestines, this is better to take. I'm not too familiar with Aleve."
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|
6nd10l | Where do last names come from? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk8jxgb"
],
"text": [
"Depend. in Scandinavia men had the name of their father as surname (Leif Erikson mean Leif son of Erik) Last name could also come from profession (Potter, Baker, etc.) Can come from the city/town you come from (Chrétien de Troyes, 12th century poet who's known for the arthurian legends) can even be a nickname your ancestor had that became officially his surname. All these examples are only from European surname. I don't know enough about other regions such as asia and africa to say anything."
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6neb3z | What exactly is post-postmodernism? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"This David Foster Wallace quote explains it beautifully: > For me, the past few years of the postmodern era feel a bit like the way you feel when you're in high school and your parents go on a trip, and you throw a party. You get all your friends over and throw this wild disgusting fabulous party. For a while it's great, free and freeing, parental authority gone and overthrown, a cat's-away-let's-play Dionysian revel. But then time passes and the party gets louder and louder, and you run out of drugs, and nobody's got any money for more drugs, and things get broken and spilled, and there's cigarette burn on the couch, and you're the host and it's your house too, and you gradually start wishing your parents would come back and restore some fucking order in your house. It's not a perfect analogy, but the sense I get of my generation of writers and intellectuals or whatever is that it's 3:00 A.M. and the couch has several burn-holes and somebody's thrown up in the umbrella stand and we're wishing the revel would end. The postmodern founders' patricidal work was great, but patricide produces orphans, and no amount of revelry can make up for the fact that writers my age have been literary orphans throughout our formative years. We're kind of wishing some parents would come back. And of course we're uneasy about the fact that we wish they'd come back--I mean, what's wrong with us? Are we total pussies? Is there something about authority and limits we actually need? And then the uneasiest feeling of all, as we start gradually to realize that parents in fact aren't ever coming back--which means we're going to have to be the parents. Basically postmodernism says all rules are made up. What counts as art is made up, the rules art has to follow is made up, the structure of human society is made up, right and wrong are made up, etc. It's all about tearing apart all the rules we used to follow and looking at the pieces through a microscope or just saying we don't need them. Post-postmodernism says \"well, maybe even if it is made up, rules and definitions are useful and worth keeping around and maybe we can even make up new rules.\" I'm sure somebody who studies this in depth will disagree, but that's probably an excellent understanding for a 5 year old."
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6nh0ug | Why are insects so annoyingly good at avoiding my swat attempts? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk9dots"
],
"text": [
"The species & offspring whose nervous systems didn't emphasize maneuverability and fast reflexes were swatted into extinction long ago."
],
"score": [
16
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|
6nh4pi | How does a laser read a barcode? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk9egnw",
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"text": [
"> How does a barcode scanner work? > A barcode scanner picks up the alternating black and white elements of the barcode which follow a specific algorithm that is turned into a corresponding text string by the scanner. This information is then sent over to your computer by the scanner no different than a standard keyboard does. This string of text will populate where ever your cursor is on screen at that time. The white part reflects the laser while the black part absorbs it. That light is reflected back to the scanner, which has a sensor that detects that. Source: URL_0",
"The laser is just there to illuminate the barcode. The laser is swept across the barcode very qucikly, and a photo-diode records the intensity of the reflected light. The white portions reflect more light than the black portions. The timing of when the laser illuminates white or black parts of the barcode is used to calculate the thicknesses of each line and their spacing, which is then decoded into numbers to be fed into the computer system to look up product information. Newer barcode readers don't use a laser or photo-diode, instead using just a normal camera.",
"The space between the black lines indicate a character (letter, number, etc.). The laser bounces off the white, but not the black. The scanner then can judge the space between the reflected laser light. The reader sends this to a computer program that turns the spacing information into characters. The series of characters is associated with information in a database to which the scanner is linked. E.g. 2468753 = tomato; tomato = $1.00. Next time you see a barcode, note that there are (usually) characters below, often numbers. Those numbers are what the scanner \"sees\" when it measures the space between the reflected light."
],
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"https://www.barcodesinc.com/faq/?nav=ftr"
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6nix81 | How does "phone data" actually work? Do the phone companies save money by handing out less amount of data per month? Is there a limit? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk9sgi8"
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"text": [
"The phone data, connection, 2G etc all are working thanks to Masters that are usually placed on top of the buildings (they cooperate with the owner of the building or the land, offering them sweet deals by letting them use the master. Secondly, each masters have different frequency output, less number = faster but less strong (cant last long) so distance it travels is little, thus it requires more masters that support that frequency to be build. 4G = Requires alot masters that are close. 3G = Is better but slower than 4G, but does work eveb at longer distances whereas 4G cant. 2G: It travels very far, but it can only give little amount of data (signals) it carries + takes longer time, thus, it is usually used for calling mostly if no 3G or better is available. So now, we come to data! Phone data is something companies add to limit abuse on the masters. They can be overloaded and cause overall of the speed much worser, it practically would mean \"why use WiFi when you got unlimited data everywhere?\" And so, all will think that way and use data instead of WiFi. When all of us use the data, we make masters to transfer tremendously big data, and each masters are in contact with each other, so if you focus to one thing too much, that one thing will affect others too, the load is divided to others but others will also suffer same thing, this will cause a 3G speed similar to a 2G speed or worser, and 4G speed into a 2G speed. Else, no, data is damn cheap, but if you add a limit that can be breached by paying more money, then less people will waste data. Else, bandwidth is no problem, but problem is on the masters that sustain to those loads. This isnt about 50,000 or 100,000 people, but millions of people over the country. This is why in the past, a unlimited 2G data was cheap, because the masters would not suffer those loads as data size itself is already little, it was alright + not many people were using it, as back then, we had phones not capable of multitasking, so in the background, it did not require constant connection 7/24 unlike todays smartphones. In sweden, until 2010 or earlier, there was unlimited data plan, but now nope. In some countries, unlimited data still exists, but there is most of the time \"fair usage policy\" tending to apply, burden into small texts so customers dont see it but company has proof that they did add it to the site IF things go too big up to attorney."
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6nj8ej | What makes rechargable batteries rechargable? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk9z6f6"
],
"text": [
"A battery is ran by a chemical reaction. Actually, there are 2 chemical reactions, one at anode and one at cathode. The first one requires one electron to be able to happen, and the second one produces one electron. Have the electrons flowing between the 2 reactions through a wire and you will get an electrical current. The problem is that these reaction convert some substance A into B (actually, there may be more things that can be consumed, but this is ELI5). So, at some point, you will run out of A and the reaction can't continue anymore. Depending on what type of reaction is used, if you run a current in the opposite direction, B can be converted back to A and your battery is recharged. In other cases, the reaction is irreversible and running a current in the opposite direction can cause some side-effects. Explosions included."
],
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6njd1j | Why were canned tuna do not spoil easily? Is it the can itself that preserves them? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk9vn0f"
],
"text": [
"Classically, food would be sealed in a can and then the whole can would be heated. Killing bacteria and enzymes inside the can. Which delays spoiling significantly. Because the can is sealed, new bacteria cannot get in, so the food is preserved."
],
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6njk7n | Why does salt make food taste better? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dk9xfmu"
],
"text": [
"Salt pulls water out of food, and since the body can taste salt it can also taste whatever the salt is mixed with, like soup, cheese, celery, or most other savory foods."
],
"score": [
4
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6njw1v | If cancer is just your body's cells, how can it kill you? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dka07vd",
"dka0w62"
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"text": [
"By growing and growing and growing uncontrollably, growing into tumors that crowd out and kill cells that you need to actually survive. Cancerous cells are cancerous because they have a mutation that makes them divide uncontrollably, and *another* mutation that disables the part of the cell that's supposed to cause it to shut down and die if it detects serious damage to its DNA.",
"If you've seen the Matrix Trilogy think of cancerous cells as Agent Smith, replicating uncontrollably until everything has been taken over by those cells and the body can't function anymore."
],
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6nket4 | How do taxes work? | I've just graduated from high schools and I still have no fucking clue how taxes work. | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Income tax works like this: Your first X dollars are taxed at a specific rate. That's a plain percentage -- possibly 0%. Your next Y dollars are taxed at a slightly higher rate. Your next Z dollars likewise. If you do certain things the government wants to promote, you can pretend your income was lower. As an example, let's say the tax brackets are 0% up to $10k, 10% on the next $15k, and 30% after that. You made $50k. You bought an electric car for $5k, and that's tax deductible. So in your taxes, you write down your gross income: $50k. Then you subtract the $5k deduction for the electric car: $45k. Now you look at the first tax bracket. It's 0% up to $10k, so you take off up to $10k from your income, multiply that by 0%, and add it to the tax you owe. That bracket gave you $0 in taxes and accounted for $10k of your income. You still have $35k left, so you look at the next bracket. It takes up to $15k of your income, and that portion of the income is taxed at 10%, so it adds $1,500 to your taxes. You still have $20k left, so you look at the next bracket. That takes all your remaining income and taxes it at 30%, giving you another $6,000 in taxes. That handles all your income, so you just sum up the amount of tax from each bracket -- $0 + $1,500 + $6,000 → $7,500 total. There are other types of tax, but that's probably the one you're talking about.",
"For the US: 1. You estimate how much tax you will owe when starting a job. This will mainly be based on whether you have any dependents (such as children). Your job will give you a form to fill out that does this for you. 2. That estimated tax gets deducted from each paycheck and sent to the federal, state, and local governments. Once per year, you file a tax return: 1. Your job will mail you your tax information, called W-2 forms. 2. Figure out your total tax liability (how much you owe the government) 2. Figure out how much tax credit you get (how much the government owes you) 3. Subtract the credit from the liability to find out how much tax you should actually be paying. 4. Compare the tax you actually owe to the estimated tax that was withheld in Step 2. 5. Figure out whether you underpaid or overpaid over the course of the year. If you underpaid, you owe the government more money. If you overpaid, you get a refund. 6. Repeat for both state and local. Protip: [Just use software to do it for you.]( URL_0 ) It'll ask you stuff like, \"Are you married?\" or \"Did you buy a house this year?\" or \"What does your W-2 say in box 3?\" and you just fill in the answers and hit \"submit.\"",
"In the US when you get a job you fill out a tax form for the state and federal governments. Based on how you filled it out, a portion of your paycheck is withheld. Every year you need to fill out another form for both the state and IRS and you calculate how much you owed the government that year. If you overpaid (which is normal) the government sends you the difference. If you underpay, then you need to send them payment. If you work for yourself you need to pay up by April. There are additional forms for income related to capital gains (stocks and bonds). That only matters if you sell stocks during the year or get paid dividends.",
"I'm going to assume you mean taxes as in income tax/the frenzy people get into about \"tax day\" (normally on/around April 15th) and \"tax return/refund\" that you hear people talking about. So here's the deal, baring some exceptions, every dollar you earn at a job is taxed. When you started working you might have been asked to fill out several forms, one of which might have asked you things like \"how many dependents do you have.\" Then it gives you a very rough (and usually very bad, more on this later) estimate of how much federal income tax you'll owe for the working year. So let's say it says \"we estimate you should withhold 15% of your wages for taxes\" and you say fine. Now, your paycheck is 15% less, but the important thing is you haven't lost any money. That 15% that they take--it's still there, it's still yours, you just don't have it *now*. (In a real paycheck there would be other deductions taken off too: social security, local taxes, etc.) Now around February-April, most people will **file** their federal taxes. This is nothing more than filling out a few pages of documentation to let the government know how much money you earned, so they can figure out how much money you need to pay. So you'll typically get some forms from your job around this time called the W2 that lists how much money you've earned, how much you've paid in taxes, and how much you've withheld for taxes. Let's say that the gross salary is 50k over the course of the year. Gross means absolute total, before any taxes etc were taken out. This is the theoretical amount you'd have earned if you didn't pay taxes, pay social security, etc. The US federal income tax system is one called a \"progressive tax\" system. Another tax system you might have heard in the news is called a \"flat tax\" system, which is also known as a \"regressive tax\" system. The flat/regressive tax system is simple to understand: you pay the same percentage of taxes no matter your income. So if the flat tax was say 10%, then your 50k income means you pay $5000, and someone's 500k income means they would theoretically pay 50k. This isn't actually a good thing because imagine a person earning 20k/year gross: for him paying $2000 in taxes is a huge amount of money leaving him with less to spend for necessities. For that rich guy making 200k, he'd pay 20k, which is the entire income of the poor guy, but he still has 180k left to spend on things like \"food\" and \"housing.\" Sales tax is a form of a regressive tax because poor people pay the same in taxes for that chicken that needs to feed his family for the entire week, whereas for a rich person the measly dollar or two in sales tax for the chicken is literally pocket change. Back to the income tax/progressive tax. The system is split into several brackets. I don't recall them off the top of my head, but let's say the following are the brackets: * From $0 to $30000 you pay 0% taxes * From $30001 to $50000 you pay 20% taxes * From $50001 to $100k you pay 30% taxes * Etc So back to your 50k gross income: this means that the money you earn up to 30k will **always** be taxed at 0%. It doesn't matter if you make 50k, 25k, 500k. The first 30k will always be 0%. The money you earned between 30k and 50k are now taxed at 20%, always and forever. So you do some math: you have $20000 left untaxed, and on that 20k (and **only** on that 20k) you will pay 20% on taxes. The total amount you owe is just added up from all the brackets. This is important to understand because every now and then you'll hear conservative talking points like \"I was given a raise which pushed me into the next tax bracket and now I take home less money because I pay more in taxes!\" which is 100% factually incorrect. Even if you were \"pushed into the next tax bracket\", the only additional taxes you would pay is the amount in only that next tax bracket, so unless that next tax bracket had a tax percent over 100% then it is impossible to pay so much more in taxes that you take home less money, due to income tax. Now when you do your taxes you might also hear people talking about \"deductions\". What are these? These are ways to make your income look \"less\" so that you pay less taxes overall. Remember that your gross income was 50k. If you support yourself (ie, your parents don't claim to support you) then you are allowed to take a personal deduction. Let's say this deduction is worth $5000. You subtract it from your gross income to get your \"adjusted taxable wage\", which would be 45k in this example. This would now lower your tax burden: the first 30k is still taxed at 0%, but now you only need to pay 20% on 15k for the next bracket, instead of 20% on the original 20k. There are quite a few ways to lower your tax burden. Donating to charity for example would lower it. I think you get a tax credit if you bought an electric car, so that lowers your taxable wage as well. I think first time home buyers get a credit as well. If you deposit money directly from your salary into a retirement plan (IRA, 401k, etc) then it lowers your taxable wages as well. Ok, so you now have figured out how much money you owe the federal government in income taxes. How do you pay it? Well actually, you've already essentially been paying it. Remember that federal withholding we talked about? That's money that has been set aside (withheld) from your paycheck to be used to pay federal income taxes. So after one year of working, let's say they have withheld a total amount of 10k from your wages, and now you figure out you only need to pay 5k in taxes. You fill out your forms and give the IRS a bank account for them to deposit the remaining 5k into. A couple weeks later you get a huge 5k \"bonus\" and you're happy and go out and buy a brand new car with this \"free money.\" Only that's not free money. That's money that you actually earned. That's money that you told the government to withhold for you to pay taxes with, but that extra amount you get back means that he government has withheld too much money and are just giving it back to you. This money was just sitting there this entire time, earning no interest for you, not letting you access it to buy things, etc. The best way is to actually sit down and do the math to figure out how much you'll need to pay, and tell them to withhold as close to that amount as possible, but this is a much harder subject to talk about."
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6nkli9 | How come when a video is sped up it becomes higher pitch and lower pitched when slowed down? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"For the same reason as if it was an audio cassette tape. You are compressing the audio, effectively making it have more waves per second which is the same as having a higher pitch."
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6nm53l | Why does communism ultimately always fail when put into practice? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"It gives a single body of power to much power simply put. The government will regulate and see every part of your life wether you like it or not and this devolves into corruption."
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6nmjc9 | The fear of AI. | AI would still be bound to a base instruction set, and it seems like we'd (probably) implement kill switches in their programming. And even if neither of those things turn out to be true, and sentient (artificial) life is created ... so what? Is it a fear of creating something or someone smarter than ourselves? I just don't get it. | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"> AI would still be bound to a base instruction set, and it seems like we'd (probably) implement kill switches in their programming. The problem with AI is that *we can't program it*. Consciousness is far too complex a thing for us to even understand, let alone program. The only possibilities being explored to create true AI involve things like self-learning neural nets. Which means that when the AI is finally complete, we'll have no idea what its programming is, nor do we really even have any way to fully understand it. > And even if neither of those things turn out to be true, and sentient (artificial) life is created ... so what? > Is it a fear of creating something or someone smarter than ourselves? I just don't get it. Think of it this way. If we can create an AI that's smarter than ourselves, then that AI could create another AI smarter than *itself*, which could create another AI smarter than **itself**. Very rapidly, we'd be faced with a super-intelligence whose thought process are beyond our ability to comprehend (much like your dog could never comprehend the complexities of your thoughts). We'd have no way to know if such a super-intelligent AI is benevolent or malevolent. Will it want to help us, or destroy us? And even if it wants to help us, will it help us in ways that we can tolerate? You're only \"helping\" your dog when you have it spayed or neutered, but your dog isn't particularly pleased with the outcome.",
"That's a popular question here. I hope ye find these previous posts helpful. 1. [ELI5: why Is It Considered Dangerous to Create...?]( URL_4 ) 1. [ELI5: Why Are We So Scared of Ai...?]( URL_1 ) 1. [ELI5: Why Are Some People Afraid of Ai If There...?]( URL_5 ) 1. [ELI5: Why Are Some People Afraid of Ai If There...?]( URL_2 ) 1. [ELI5: Why Is Ai a Threat to Humanity...?]( URL_0 ) 1. [ELI5: What Are Real Dangers of Sophisticated Ai...?]( URL_3 ) 1. [ELI5: why Should We Fear Selfaware Robots Why do We...?]( URL_6 )",
"There has been a fear of irresponsible science creating a chain reaction that the creator loses control of since Frankenstein, which was pretty close to the point where science began to have a noticeable effect on the common person's life (via industrialization). Since AI is currently a cutting edge research topic, it gets the treatment, too.",
"The issue is that there's a lot of complexity to programming a kill switch for AI. Let's just start with a basic off-switch. You have some robot that's programmed to load boxes onto a truck and you have a remote that can switch it off. This is all the AI wants to do. It doesn't want to take over the world or enslave mankind and it never will unless we change what it wants. For now, it just wants to load boxes. Let's say that the robot is loading boxes as normal and it's about to do something wrong and you're getting ready to hit the kill switch. The AI doesn't want you to press that button, because that button will stop it from loading boxes, which is the only thing it wants, so the concern is that it might try to stop you from pressing that button, and that's bad. So let's do some tweaking. Since we can change what the AI wants, we can program it so it doesn't care if the kill switch is hit or not. We can say something like \"if the kill switch is hit, that is equivalent to putting 10 boxes on a truck.\" So now we don't have to worry about the AI trying to stop us, because hitting the kill switch is a good outcome for it. But now we have a different problem: the robot is now incentivized to press the kill switch instead of doing work. So instead of loading boxes, it will just spend all its time trying to get at the button or doing dangerous things so you'll have to press it."
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6nn10h | How does carbon dioxide trap heat? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Oh this is a brilliantly simple question whose answer is shockingly complicated. It relates to the vibrational modes of CO2 of which only a portion are actively participated in at most temperatures. This portion increases as temperature rises giving CO2 an unusually high specific heat capacity. Interestingly, as a result of this, CO2's heat capacity is dynamic; it can absorb more heat the hotter it gets, which is weird to think about, but it takes a lot of energy before some of its vibrational modes become active, and once they are they can store more heat. I'm finding it very hard to describe this in simple terms because it's a complex problem. But, I'm overcomplicating it in the extreme, and I'm guessing you're not talking about molecular CO2's ability to store energy in the form of vibration, so I'll do a much simpler answer: I'm guessing you're asking because of the Greenhouse Effect. Carbon Dioxide gas traps heat in the atmosphere because it is transparent in the visible and UV spectrum; where most of the sun's light resides. This means it doesn't have much of an effect in reflecting the sun's heat outwards. However, it is partially opaque to the longer wavelength infared light produced when the warmed surface of the earth radiates heat and light. As a result, much of this radiation is converted from infared light and back into heat, which then gradually dissipates throughout the atmosphere and back to the surface."
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6npqyh | Why do most young children only like very simple foods like plain hamburgers and chicken nuggets, but don't like more complex flavors? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Children's taste buds are more sensitive than adults'. Flavors that are subtle to adults are therefore much stronger to children. As we age, the taste buds become desensitized to the point that we perceive a lot of flavors more subtly. Or so I've heard."
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6nq7h2 | The United States of America's Government. | I understand that the USA Govt is made up for 3 branches, but the senate and Congress confuses me. It's fairly different from where I'm from. Can someone explain it to me in the most simplest way? Like to 5 y.o? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"There are three pieces to the government: the judicial branch (the court system), the executive branch (the president), and the legislative branch (Congress, i.e. Lawmakers). The legislative branch is made up of two houses: the senate where every state in the United States gets two senators, And the house of representative's where each state gets representatives based on how many people live in that state. This house gets to make up the laws that govern our nation. Once the majority of Congress, as stated in the constitution, passes a Bill it must go to the president to get signed or vetoed (he says it should not be a law). However, even if the president says no then an even bigger majority of the Congress can override that no if they choose. The executive branch is comprised of the president of the United States and his cabinet (advisors). The president runs the country and can pass or veto bills. If he passes a bill it then becomes the law of the United States of America, But if he vetoes it it goes back to Congress and they can still pass it if enough congressman agree it should be law. The judicial branch is made up of the court system. The most important of which is the Supreme Court which has the ultimate authority over the law of the United States. The Supreme Court is made up of nine justices who will rule on cases. It is the judicial branches job to interpret the law the way they see fit regardless of the actual language in the bill. This means overtime the Supreme Court has a large impact in the shape of our future cases (Especially since these nine justices of the court have lifetime sentences). These justices are nominated by the president of the United States when there is an opening and the Congress must approve them."
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6nrda7 | Where did matter/energy come from? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"'Twas oft asked here. Ye may enjoy these: 1. [ELI5: if matter can't be created or destroyed, how does matter currently exist? Isn't the existence of matter already breaking that law? ]( URL_0 ) 1. [ELI5: If energy can't be neither created nor destroyed. How did it came into existence? ]( URL_5 ) 1. [ELI5: where did all matter originally come from? ]( URL_6 ) 1. [ELI5: How much energy is in the universe, and where did it come from? ]( URL_1 ) 1. [ELI5: If matter is neither created nor destroyed, how did all the matter in the universe come to be? ]( URL_2 ) 1. [ELI5: Where did all the materials come from during the big bang? ]( URL_4 ) 1. [ELI5: How can the concept of the big bang not violate the conservation of energy & mass principal? ]( URL_3 )"
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6nt1zr | a PKI infrastructure how does it work | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"It relies on the generation of two \"keys\" that are mathematically related in a way that means that you can only get a \"correct\" result when they're combined. You can't get the correct result if either is wrong or missing. It's not *impossible* to get one from the other, but the mathematics makes it extremely hard to do and depending on the type, requires impossible amounts of computing time. In use, one is \"public\" and is given out, while the other is private and controlled by the user. They are used in different ways depending on the application. If you want to encrypt an email so that only the recipient can read it: * get the recipient's *public* key, and encrypt the email with that; * the recipient gets the encrypted email decrypts it using his or her *private* key, which no-one else has; * so only the recipient was able to decrypt the message; If you want to send a public message that is certified to come from you: * encrypt the message using your *private* key; * other people can decrypt the message using your *public* key; * because only you have your private key, the message *had* to come from you. So it should be clear that managing keys and keeping private keys secure is a big deal, and that's where the \"infrastructure\" comes in, with systems for generating and controlling access to keys. A \"certificate\" as used on the web is an example of the second type of message: it's guaranteed to have come from a particular server or organisation, but only as long as they kept their private keys secure.",
"The beauty of PKI is that it solves a couple of big problems: 1. It's easy for two people to have a secret code. But what happens when you want to add a third person? You have to give them the code, and hope that a fourth person doesn't overhear. What happens when you want to add 50 people? What happens when Jimmy accidentally gives the secret code to the wrong person, and now it's not secret anymore? How do you give a new secret code to all 50 people, without anyone catching on? What happens when Marge accidentally gives *that* one away? When do you give up? 2. How do you find out when someone figures out the code? Maybe Antoine was careless. When you get a code from Samantha, are you *sure* it's from her, and not from Merle, the guy down the street that no one wants to be friends with, so you wouldn't give him the code, but he overheard Samantha talking about it with Amy? How do you trust your secret messages are secret? PKI fixes both issues. Everybody has two parts to a secret code, a public key they tell everyone, and a private key they keep to themselves. One of them (either one!) encodes your secret message, and the other one decodes it, **and you can't figure out one from the other** (because, math). If I encode my message with Eric's public key, I can put it out to the whole world and say \"this secret is for Eric,\" and that's safe because Eric's public key can only be decoded by Eric's private key, no one else can read it. And he didn't share it with anyone. And if he did, Eric has a problem, but YOU don't have a problem, because they were Eric's keys, not yours. And Eric can fix the problem by making new keys. You can still send private messages to Cheryl, even if Eric is an idiot. It provides a cool feature, too, that's really useful for legal and banking type stuff. Because the public key and the private key decode each other, and you can't figure out one from the other, you can do it backwards! You can encode a message, and give it to the world, and say \"This message is definitely from me, because my public key will decode it.\" So Merle can't send out a message saying \"This is Carl, I need you all to tell me your codes\" because he has no way to encode it, to make Carl's public key decode it. This is the idea behind digital signatures."
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6nu6il | How does a GPU work? What does the data it receives look like, and what tasks does it handle compared to the CPU? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"a really bad way to think of it is comparing it to a CPU CPU's are good for tasks that are like... *we need to go from A to B to C to D in that order*. It'll grind through A- > B- > C- > D with a beefy fast core. GPU's would rather be asked *hey we just need to make sure we hit every letter of the alphabet once*. So a ton of weaker but numerous compute units each go to visit one real fast like POIUYTERQWASDFGFDLJKZCVBXMN DONE!"
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6nu80h | With no atmosphere to propagate a shock wave, are explosives in space actually even lethal? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The gas from the explosive itself will propogate a pressure wave a short distance, but range will be severely limited by the extremely low ambient pressure. At a moderate distance shrapnel would be the greater concern because it won't slow down or stop in space. The shockwave would still cause damage at short range. Depending on the bomb, thermal radiation may also be a concern."
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6nu8ya | Why are we unable to make gold artificially? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"We *can* produce gold artificially. However, the costs to do so are significantly higher than the gold itself is worth.",
"Via nuclear fusion? Because it takes a whole boatload of energy, for a very small output. Much easier to just dig it out of the ground. It can be done - and has been: URL_0 But it's not very practical to make gold a few atoms at a time.",
"It is possible to make gold artificially by smashing the right number of protons and neutrons together. The problem is that it requires immense amounts of energy. So much that it is not cost efficient (money wise) to produce gold this way. If there would ever be a gold shortage in the future and the technology improves it's definitely possible that more gold would be made though. The heaviest elements in the periodic table have all been made this way. They don't occur in nature (as far as we know) and are very unstable (they decay in a matter of seconds)."
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6nugfi | What exactly is OCD and Anxiety? (I mean actual OCD, not the "it's not perfectly symmetrical" one) | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"It's important to note that you can have an anxiety disorder \"with obsessive compulsions\", where it's similar but the obsessiveness is more a symptom of the anxiety than a thing on its own, and I believe anxiety is a part of OCD as well. So there is a bit of cross over"
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6nujpq | Before Viewing Earth in Space How Were We Able to Get the Exact Shapes of Continents? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"You don't need a bird's eye view to make accurate maps. The very early maps of the coast of the med, africa, indian ocean etc. were not-to-scale and very disproportionate. But once we had the following things, our maps could get pretty good: - accurate time keeping - sextants and sun keeping - accurate compasses - astronomy and how/where the stars were in the sky at various seasons Once you have these things and know how to apply them, you can fix yourself to the surface of the earth to within (guessing) a few minutes of Lattitude / Longitude (which is about a mile). Once you know where you are vs. some reference, and you have a telescope and a compass you can map out the coast that you can see from your ship using trigonometry. e.g.: _We've fixed our position at x long and y lat. from here, the crew in the crows nest have observed there's land at x degrees from our current heading. They know the horizon is ~20 nm away and the land apears to be half that distant._",
"'Twas oft asked here. Ye may enjoy these: 1. [ELI5: How was map accuracy maintained before the age of satellites and aircrafts? ]( URL_3 ) 1. [ELI5: How could we have had so accurate world-maps before we could fly/see the world from space? ]( URL_2 ) 1. [ELI5: How were maps so accurate before flight or satellites? ]( URL_0 ) 1. [ELI5: How did early cartographers make accurate maps of the world, before the help of modern technology/satellite imagery? ]( URL_1 )"
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"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vnw8c/eli5_how_were_maps_so_accurate_before_flight_or/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3cumgz/eli5_how_did_early_cartographers_make_accurate/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1lnv1i/eli5_how_could_we_have_had_so_accurate_worldmaps/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2u3s6l/eli5_how_was_map_accuracy_maintained_before_the/"
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6nupst | Why do people take comfort from crossing their legs or elevating them on a chair/table etc? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"dkcclyk"
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"'Twas oft asked here. Ye may enjoy these: 1. [ELI5: Why do many have such an irrational urge to sit with a leg crossed (either leg-over-leg or ankle upon knee) as opposed to both feet on the ground, even though it quickly leads to discomfort and the need to then \"switch legs\"...? ]( URL_2 ) 1. [ELI5: Why do we cross our legs? ]( URL_5 ) 1. [ELI5: Why do people take comfort from crossing their legs or elevating them on a chair/table etc? ]( URL_6 ) 1. [ELI5: Why do we feel a need to cross our legs? ]( URL_3 ) 1. [ELI5:Why do we generally cross our legs when relaxing? ]( URL_0 ) 1. [ELI5: Why do we usually cross our legs when we sit? ]( URL_1 ) 1. [ELI5: Why do we cross our legs when we are sitting down? ]( URL_7 ) 1. [ELI5: Why do I always need to cross my legs when I sit in a chair? ]( URL_4 )"
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"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4eau41/eli5why_do_we_generally_cross_our_legs_when/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xa4pg/eli5_why_do_we_usually_cross_our_legs_when_we_sit/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1m7p61/eli5_why_do_many_have_such_an_irrational_urge_to/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ei1oj/eli5_why_do_we_feel_a_need_to_cross_our_legs/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28y5r3/eli5_why_do_i_always_need_to_cross_my_legs_when_i/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2z1pwg/eli5_why_do_we_cross_our_legs/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6nupst/eli5_why_do_people_take_comfort_from_crossing/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1pf2ib/eli5_why_do_we_cross_our_legs_when_we_are_sitting/"
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6nv51c | Why everyone in a "Pyramid Scheme" can't make money | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Pyramid schemes start with a limited set of founders. These people each go out to get 2+ people to pay them for the right to get others to sign up. Those people have to go get 2+ people to pay THEM for the right to get others to sign up. Since there are a finite number of people who can sign up, and the pyramid is exponential for each level of the sign up, eventually you get to the point where there are no more people who you can get to sign up (the entire population of the world can fit in 32 \"tiers\" of a pyramid where each person only signs up 2 others). When the sign up stops, the people on the bottom tier paid money, but don't get paid themselves, and they're the majority of the people in the pyramid (the bottom layer is always the majority, due to the doubling of each layer). Often person-to-person sales (Tupperware, CutCo, Pampered Chef, AmWay etc.) are called pyramid schemes, even though it's possible for the person at the bottom to make a living selling the product -- they just don't get the car, the house, the expensive vacations, etc. These aren't actually pyramids, although the profits made under these schemes definitely follow the same diminishing returns model. Also, when you sell with one of these companies, the first people you sell to are those you know; once you've done that, your market is mostly dried up. The only way to make more money is to sign up other employees who know people you don't know, and take a cut of their sales. This is the \"pyramid\" bit of the schemes."
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6nvh5v | Why do we get a "someone's watching me" feeling when someone is watching us, despite not knowing for sure that we're being watched? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"We don't really. People get that feeling all the time when no one is actually watching, and they quickly forget it happened. Other times they definitely don't get it when someone is actually watching. But the few times you do get that feeling AND you catch someone looking at you, those moments stick in your memory. So you falsely think you are better at sensing people than you are.",
"Our brain picks up on way more things that we are consciously aware of. If our brains didn't filter out information, then we'd be under constant bombardment and unable to do anything. While you may not consciously be aware that someone is watching you, chances are that you may have seen them watching you in your peripheral vision, or heard them approach behind you or something else. Your conscious mind didn't pick it up, but your subconscious has put the pieces together and you get the feeling that someone is watching. Of course, this really only explains the times that you're right about someone watching you. Another commenter mentioned the times that you are wrong that you readily dismiss."
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6nvhh4 | If most money is just numbers in a database, how come we don't hear of hackers who break in and just increase their account balance? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Accounting and balance sheets. Every debit has to have a credit, and every credit a debit...or it will show up as out of balance. If there were to be a balancing entry in the respective offset account, then maybe it would go undetected...but nonetheless it would still show up as an entry that someone is eventually responsible for reconciling."
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6nvja8 | how does a record player produce complex music simply from a grove moving on a vinyl? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The wiggles in the groove are shaped exactly the same as the sound wave you hear when you play it back. The stylus wiggles back and forth tracing out the groove. The back of the stylus is attached to a magnet which is surrounded by an electromagnetic coil. The movement of the magnet induces electric current into the coil which is sent to the amplifier. Records are able to reproduce stereo sound because the sound wave for the left speaker defines the shape of one groove wall, and the right speaker defines the other wall. Because the two walls are at an exact 90 degree angle to each other, the left-channel and right-channel stylus movements can be sensed independently of each other by two separate electromagnetic coils - one attached to the \"L\" amplifier input and the other to the \"R\". Edit: [Here]( URL_0 ) is a picture of the sound wave from a clarinet playing a single note. The wall of the record's grooves would be shaped in exactly this way if the sound of the clarinet were put on vinyl."
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6nwwxx | Why are there chess tournaments individually for women and men? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"'Twas oft asked here. Ye may enjoy these: 1. [ELI5:Why are men and women segregated in chess competitions? ]( URL_1 ) 1. [ELI5: Why is there a separate league for men and women in chess in the year 2015? ]( URL_5 ) 1. [ELI5: Why do chess championships have a Men's and Women's class? ]( URL_0 ) 1. [ELI5:Why do chess tournaments segregate men and women? ]( URL_4 ) 1. [ELI5: Why are chess tournaments typically separated by gender? ]( URL_2 ) 1. [Why is chess segregated? - Quora ]( URL_3 )"
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"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/42d6ne/eli5_why_do_chess_championships_have_a_mens_and/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ly83y/eli5why_are_men_and_women_segregated_in_chess/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/51o8cl/eli5_why_are_chess_tournaments_typically/",
"https://www.quora.com/Why-is-chess-segregated",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2a8fv7/eli5why_do_chess_tournaments_segregate_men_and/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2v2wq5/eli5_why_is_there_a_separate_league_for_men_and/"
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6nx2r0 | Given the billions of people that have lived and died throughout history, why is it relatively uncommon to find human bones at any given location? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dkcw83q"
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"text": [
"People through out history have usually concentrated into certain areas, ex cities. You probably won't find alot of bones in the Sahara. Also bones can decay and overtime crumble to dust over time. The only reason we find really old bones is because they were preserved: mummies, in bogs (Google bog people), or if really old fossilized."
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6ny3uk | why do rocking and swaying movements help us fall asleep? | Thanks for the explanations peeps! | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"dkd74rc"
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"text": [
"Rocking and swaying triggers memories of a what it was like for a baby in the womb. It is loud (sounds of flowing blood) and lots of motion from the mother moving around. This is what I remember from reading Dr. Harvey Karp's book _The_Happiesr_Baby_On_The_Block_ - he calls the first three months of an infant's life the \"fourth trimester\" and encourages parents to try to recreate these soothing and familiar conditions to help baby's fall asleep."
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6o05nk | How does a URL shortener work? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"The URL shortener website keeps a simple database which maps the shortened URLs to the actual URLs. When you wish to shorten a URL, the website creates a random string of characters and adds a mapping in the database from the string to the URL you entered. When you enter the short URL, it looks up the short URL in the database, fetches the actual original URL, and sends the browser a redirection to this URL."
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6o0w02 | Where did the idea of a "dumb blonde" come from? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Blondes in society are generally considered to be more attractive as their hair color makes them more desirable. The stereotype is built on the idea that women can get ahead because of their looks and don't need to rely on their intelligence as much. Therefore blondes are \"dumb\" by comparison.",
"here's a good thread with an answer: URL_0"
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6o0z90 | Why do insects flip over on their back when they die? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Their limbs are hydraulic in nature and use pressure to move their legs around and to push them out. When they die and subsequently lose control of this system then the legs retract and they tip over - when you see a dead insect flat on their back you also tend to see all their legs curled up in their retracted state."
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6o1wgv | How does a company monitor my 'Internet usage' | Ill make this quick. Manager in my work is complaining because I have 'too many Internet Explorers' (tabs) open, saying that when I lock the computer I should close it all down so that no one thinks I'm using the Internet when I'm not at my computer. I tried to argue that most Internet monitoring systems usually check if your going to a new URL as a sign that your on the Internet (something im not 100% sure off). He said that the IT Manager told him that even when locked your Internet tabs ping the IP address and this shows that your own the Internet. I only usual my internet STRICTLY for news and Wikipedia and only ever on my breaks, funny enough unlike my manager who goes on twitter and instagram when he should be working. So how does it work, do companies know when their users are actually on the computer rather than having it locked? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"> So how does it work, do companies know when their users are actually on the computer rather than having it locked? There are a variety of ways you can be monitored. First we should go over the basic setup of a typical network: Your computer is connected to a local router along with all the other computers in your home or office. This local router forms a \"LAN\" or local area network. If you connect via wifi or plugging a network cable in it works basically the same. From that router it connects to your ISP and on to the internet at large. Everything going in or out of your computers is going through this router and is subject to inspection (provided it isn't encrypted). The most common method is through \"filtering\" where if you say \"Show me this porn website\" the router will check the address against a big naughty list and if it is present will refuse to forward the request on, instead displaying a generic blocked message. It can also make a record of the blocked request, or record all requested sites regardless of legitimacy, or whatever it is set up to do. This system is purely automated and is not being monitored by a real person unless something very unusual occurs; in fact the compilation of the \"naughty list\" of sites is almost always farmed out to a third party service so whoever is keeping the records probably isn't in your company! Another way of monitoring is to have software directly installed on your computer to allow \"remote access\". This is where the \"seeing your desktop as you do\" comes in and it is certainly possible. However again nobody really has the time to bother with this 99% of the time. Now for your internet habits. Browsers on web pages can actually generate traffic just sitting there if for example they are set up to refresh new ads or reload to check for breaking news. I can definitely see this happening on news websites so it may be that a bunch of tabs can generate a ton of small requests but they wouldn't equate to network congestion. When your computer is locked the requests should stop as the browser is suspended, but when you log back in there will be a flurry of network requests. The bigger question is \"Why does it matter?\" If you are doing a good job then why would your internet history even come up? If they can't tell if you are doing a good job without checking your network logs then they have a major performance assessment problem, not a need to change your browser tab habits. It sounds like either the IT manager is getting too nosy or your manager doesn't really understand what the IT manager was saying. It might help of you rephrased what the IT manager said: Network traffic and URL requests are poor indicators of if someone is actually on the computer. Tabs left alone can generate traffic visible to IT so asking IT about computer usage by employees isn't a question they can reliably answer. Your manager will need to manage their own employees because IT isn't going to allow that responsibility to become their problem.",
"They have 100% remote access to your computer. There is a person sitting in a room who can see everything that you see and everything you type on their computer WHENEVER they want. It's not practical to access everyone's computer all the time, but they can and they do. If your manager said something, that means you were flagged for something. I'll explain my experience below. They can also see collectively for the whole company who is using what type of websites and services online. They can see if you are on a website that has a lot of ads and it can be perceived that you are shopping at work even if you aren't shopping at all. I am not a technical person, so, I can't explain this in technical words, but the day that I learned the IT person had 100% access to watch what I was reading all day at work opened my eyes. I was never doing anything wrong, it was just embarrassing to have someone tracking every article I read. They CAN record what you are looking at and can keep it. I had trust in my IT guy's ethics and we spoke often, so, he tried to make it explicitly clear that he had 100% access to everything I did so I would not do anything weird ( he knew I was weird and liked to research controversial topics ). One day Vice magazine was flagged on my computer and I called him and told him \"wtf, I need to research this issue\" and it was legit- Vice magazine also called to interview my boss, but he told me that Vice magazine's 'not safe for work' tab was flagged as pornography. In context, it's FINE. Out of context, that stuff can look really sketchy on paper and they can fire you down the line for something like that. I keep a hand-written diary or a word document at my desk to jot down what I do each day. \"May 1st, 2014, Researched congressional action on BLAH BLAH and its effect on transgender community\"- that way if anything gets flagged as porn, I can show someone two years later what my line of thinking was for hitting a transgender porn website accidentally. Something like that would probably help you stay out of trouble. And if he said to close the tabs, just close the tabs and 're-open' your closed tabs when you get back from lunch. They can see what is on your computer whether it's locked or not is my guess."
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6o4q7p | Random number generators work off seeds but how is the seed itself randomly generated? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"There are only 3 sources of truly random data: nature, humans, and time. Most modern computers are using processors that have a native entropy collection instruction, for example Intel chips can gather a word of random data from thermal fluctuations in the silicon chip. Human input also turns out to be very random, the mouse wiggle to get entropy is surprisingly good. The last source is the amount of time it takes to do something. A common method is to create a race between threads such that the ordering of execution is nondeterministic. These are all ways to seed a cryptographically secure random number generator. EDIT: It seems many of you take issue with the words \"truly random\", a sentiment I can appreciate, so let me be a bit more specific. I mean truly random in terms of computational complexity. There very well might be sources that are \"more random\" getting into quantum effects, however if the data produced from these sources are computationally indistinguishable from traditional sources then why does it matter? In terms of a sequence of independently distributed bits, they are equally random by all computational means we currently have. So I guess I'll say a source of truly computationally random data instead then to be precise.",
"Generally the seed is the number of milliseconds since \"zero\" in whatever system is being used to measure time. Jan 1st 1970 is a common start point for systems. This means that each time you run it the seed will be different, so it's close enough to random. If you want to ensure it differs even if is seeded on different computers at the same time you can take the time and combine it with something unique to the computer, like a MAC Address, but usually the time does the job. This is also why sometimes new programmers run into a trap where they seed a RNG then generate a number, than seed it, then generate over and over again. If you do that you'll get the same number. Because the same seed is used because the time hasn't had a chance to change yet. The right way to do this is seed once, then generate many numbers.",
"If you don't want to explicitly seed the RNG to produce predictable results, you normally set it with a timestamp.",
"As others have said, it's usually something that changes regularly and is difficult to guess. Current time to the millisecond is a common one. However, there are many others, and I have a funny story about one to give you an example. Remember Mario Kart DS? I got into a routine where whenever I was going to poop, I'd bring my DS with me and play a one-player four-race series with random tracks. Every single time I'd do it, I'd follow the same sequence of operations: open the DS, open the game, select the right options, select the same character, start. I quickly discovered something: the game was using some component of that as its random seed. It might have been current total number of button presses, for example. I discovered this because *every* single time, the game chose the same four tracks, in the same order. If you have Mario Kart DS and a DS handy, try it. Turn on the game and play a four-course randomly-picked sequence. Close the game, reopen it, and do the exact same sequence of operations: it'll choose the same courses. I don't know if they're the same for everyone or if everyone gets their own set, but it should be the same for your game time and time again.",
"It's not *truly* random, it's just very hard to guess. Typically the seed generator will start with the time of day in nanoseconds, and then combine other unpredictable garbage like the status of the nearest disk drive. For hardcore randomness: I've seen one program that asks the user to wiggle the mouse randomly, and another one that looks at the \"noise\" (random electrical signals) coming from a webcam in the dark.",
"Depends how random you need your random number to be. If you really want it to be random, you base it off of something like the thermal noise in the computer. If you don't need it to be quite so random, you can use something like the current time in microseconds at the start of the program."
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6o7gpt | In movies and TV shows, people that have amnesia lose their memories but not their language and skills. Is this really the case? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The brain has several specialized systems for different jobs, and they can indeed fail independently of one another. This means losing things like semantic memory (facts about the world), muscle memory (physical skills) and episodic memory (events of your life) can happen independent of one another. Actual amnesiacs can present in many ways, but story writers usually prefer the kind who get a mystery to drive their character arc but doesn't take away the skills they need to drive the plot forward."
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6o7wz4 | How did doctors find out which parts of the brain control different things (like individual emotions, pain, happiness, all 5 senses, etc etc) | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Most of the original discoveries were made by observing and documenting patients who had a brain injury which disabled or damaged a certain part of the brain and working out by the deficits in their perception or action, what that part was responsible for (for example google \"Phineas Gage\" if you haven't already heard the story, his frontal lobe was damaged by an iron rod and that left him the problems with his personality). Now tools such as fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) can show which regions of the brain light up in certain circumstances and give a good idea of what does what, although science is still tenuous about ascribing regions to control of the different regions for definite."
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6o9c0k | How is car GPS usage free? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Your GPS isn't eating bandwidth or communicating with some satellite. It's entirely reception. Satellites are sending out a signal. Your device is receiving them from multiple satellites, and calculates its position based on what it receives.",
"Think of standing in a field, with three mountains off in the distance. On top of each one of those mountains is a guy with an extremely bright flashlight, in fact, three flashlights, one red, one green, and one white. Every second the people on the top of those mountains flash one of those flashlights, first they all flash the red one, then a second later they all flash the green one, then they all flash the white one, then repeat. If you had a sensitive enough stopwatch, you could record the difference in time of each flash and figure out how long it took to get to you and use triangulation to figure out how far away you were from each one and therefore determine your exact location. That's all that is happening with GPS. The satellites are transmitting a satellite number and a time code, over and over and over, multiple times every second. Your GPS receiver knows what time it is, and can determine how long each of those time codes it's picking up differ from it's internal clock. So once it picks up three or four time codes from three or four satellites, it can then do the math to find out where you are, as it knows how fast radio waves travel. The satellites themselves were set up to just autobroadcast their information forever. They were set up for the military to use, so that's who is paying the bills to keep them up in the air, and to replace them when they wear out. Private companies figured out how to read the time code data that was being transmitted endlessly, and from there it was easy to build a device to do the rest.",
"GPS signals are broadcast like radio. It is only a one-way transmission, so one set of satellites can cover the entire planet. Those satellites are government owned and paid for with tax dollars. Also, the government launched them for its own purposes, we kind of get to use them as a side benefit.",
"GPS was originally for military use only. If a civilian was using GPS in the 90s their location was not pin-point exact because of some intentional selective availability. Clinton made a directive around 2000 that removed the selective availability and civilian use became very reliable. The maps like TomTom and Garmin and such are privately made so you may need to pay for updates or subscriptions. But the satellite signal is free courtesy of the US government and your taxes."
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6oa32s | Why do we tend to only get thunderstorms in the evening or night, why are they rare during daytime? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"They happen most when there is a temperature gradient. During the day, the temperature is hot everywhere and night, the air higher up cool rapidly. The air lower down is still very hot. this leads to clouds forming up high and having a large electrostatic potential",
"There are two types of thunderstorms: - Cold front thunderstorm, this one can happen any time when cold front is passing over area. - Cumulonimbus \"thundercloud\" thunderstorm, this one happens in evening because those clouds need time to grow. They form from hot air currents at morning, then form small cumulus clouds around noon, and if conditions are right, they to grow couple miles upward forming cumulonimbus."
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6oaccx | How come when you close your eyes and press against them, you begin to see colorful light that continues to get brighter while you maintain pressure? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"While photons can stimulate the cells in your retina, they aren't alone. Electrical stimulation, and pressure, can also both provoke them to signal, among other sources. Those signals are sent to your brain. As far as your brain is concerned, it simply sees that a signal is coming to it along the optic nerve, and so it attempts to make an image. These are called [phosphenes]( URL_0 ) if you wish to read further."
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6ob5pe | How can forest fire can be a good thing for the environment? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"This has been asked before, here is a good answer: [ URL_0 ]( URL_0 )"
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6ob84e | does blood actually pour out of your mouth if you're stabbed or shot? If so, why? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Blood welling out of the mouth can either be coming from the stomach or digestive tract, in which case it is called haematemesis (vomiting blood), or from the lungs and respiratory tract, when it is termed haemoptysis (coughing blood). Another alternative is that the bleeding is from a structure inside the mouth, such as the tongue. So generally speaking, trauma to the abdomen may cause haemtaemesis, while trauma to the chest would be more likely to cause haemoptysis. Its pretty unusual for an abdominal wound to cause a large amount of haematemesis, as an injury that damages a blood vessel inside the abdomen will cause the bleeding into the abdominal cavity, but not into the digestive tract itself. So, one might see a distended, tense abdomen, and a low blood pressure, but unless there was also a hole in the stomach or intestine, there may well be no bleeding from the mouth. In contrast, damage to the lungs is much more likely to cause haemoptysis, as the lungs are full of blood vessels, and its very easy for blood to leak into the airways, and so be coughed up. A wound to one of the major pulmonary blood vessels can lead to massive, torrential bleeding from the mouth and can be very difficult to treat. Edit: words."
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6oc0h0 | Why does it take so much time and encouragement for humans to learn how to walk but other animals can almost instinctively walk/fly sometimes within minutes of being born? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Humans have a relatively big brain-to-body-weight ratio, especially for a good-sized land-dwelling animal. We also have a pelvis that evolved for a four-legged creature and had to be adapted for our current bi-pedal form. This means that it's a little tricky to get our babies' big ol' heads through their mother's lady parts. To make it a little easier human beings come out a bit undercooked, before we've fully developed and have really good control over our bodies. That lets us be born with smaller craniums so fewer mothers die in childbirth. We're also smart social animals that can handle caring for useless babies, unlike, say, gazelles, who might have to be running from predators within minutes after birth."
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6ochdc | When you die from cancer (brain, bone, liver, etc.), what happens to you physically that eventually causes your body to shut down and die? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"I can speak about a specific type of cancer and how it causes death: AML, or [acute myeloid leukemia.]( URL_0 ) This is a personal story, because I was diagnosed with such a cancer in 2010 and during my treatments, I learned a lot. So, Mods, if this is against the rules, I am fine with that. So, your bones contain marrow. The marrow tissue is what makes all of your blood cells, red, white, platelets, plasma, etc. Each of these cells grows from stem cells into the mature cells, kinda like how a baby is grown in a womb. Well, at some point in the growing stage, a white cell stops growing properly. These cells end up staying in the bone marrow since they aren't ready to be born. The body is still getting signals to make these cells, as the cell count in the bloodstream for the mature cells is down. Eventually, these immature cells get pushed out of the marrow and into the blood stream. While this is happening, few if any of the other cells are being made, in particular platelets. What are platelets? Those are the blood cells that stop bleeding, and are some of the most numerous cells in your blood. If you blood vessels get a tear, these cells will get caught, break open and start a protein scaffold to hold the other blood cells in preventing you from bleeding out. Bleeding out is bad. Unbeknownst to you, you are constantly bleeding, but the platelets stop that bleeding. Sooner, rather than later, the platelets in your blood stream run out and need to be replaced. But your bone marrow cannot make more of the platelets because the blast cells (those immature cells I was talking about earlier) has taken up all the room. What side effects occurs? Well, since you can't stop bleeding, you'll start getting these little brown dots on your extremities. Those are micro bruises. You become short on breathe because of the lack of red cells. When you do get cut, it'll bleed for a long time and the blood will be extra thick since these blast cells are heavier than other cells. When you brush your teeth, your gums will bleed and won't stop. With AML, you'll bleed out in one form or another. Either internal bleeding, from a cut that's bad enough to keep going, or, the worse that I imagined for myself, getting a nose bleed while sleeping and in-essence drowning in your own blood. You will also be more susceptible to infections as your immune system is not right. I will be happy to share more information not related to death via cancer (cause you know, it's kind of a downer topic), and of the treatments so don't hesitate to ask.",
"In general, the cancerous cells starve out functional cells until they die. This eventually leads to organ failure and thus death. For cancer that forms in non-essential areas of the body, the cancerous cells eventually break off into the blood stream and begin reproducing in more vital areas of the body, ultimately starving them and causing organ failure and death."
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6ocp7o | How can scientists know if there is a earth-like planet light years away from the earth if they can't prove the planet 9 in solar system? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"they can look at the \"wobble\" of the light shift coming from distant stars (red-blue-red-repeat light shifting) which is caused by the planets gravitational pull on its star and its revolution around the star. the magnitude of this wobble effect will be proportional to the planets mass and distance from the star. in order to be \"habitable\" it must be at a certain distance from the star (so temperatures are not too high or low) and also of certain mass (for adequate atmosphere/gravity/etc)"
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6oczjh | Why does beer foam when you pour it directly into a glass from a pitcher/fraught/can but when you pour it into a tilted glass there is little to no foam | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Adding to /u/kg989 Also because having the Liquid run along the side of the glass, only 1-2 millimetres high until it hits the \"pool\" at the bottom, gives the gas much more surface area to escape into the air. And the flow of the liquid destroys the foam as it flows down When you pour it into the pool directly the gas gets shaken up into the drink more, takes a part of the liquid and carries it to the surface of the pool, where the surface tension of that very liquid creates bubbles around the gas - the foam.",
"Think of it like soda. Soda does the same thing when you pour it straight into a glass. While soda is a lot fizzier than beer usually is Beer still has a good deal of bubbles too. When you pour the beer directly into the glass and it hits the flat surface head on it churns the beer which releases a lot of the gas dissolved in the liquid. This keeps happening as more beer is poured into the glass and churns the rest of the beer already in there releasing more bubbles that then rise to the top and gather creating the foam. If you look under the foam while it's being poured you can see smaller bubbles being created and rising as you pour. Now when you gently pour the beer against a tilted glass it slowly flows into the bottom of the glass without churning as much. This in turn does not release as much of the gas from the beer and so not as many bubbles are created. When you gently pour the beer down a soft incline the beer flows slowly and gently and fills the glass without a lot of foam being created. source: Have poured many, many beers."
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6odfxr | How does an object "gain mass" the closer it gets to the speed of light? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Typically the object is actually gaining energy as it gets faster. Usually this energy comes from fuel or from falling into a gravity well. The kinetic energy of an object in classical mechanics increases proportional to the velocity squared. Your energy doubles, you go 4 times as fast. As the energy of your object increases however, it's mass will increase accordingly (given by the equation E=mc^2 ). There's no real \"how\" to this in a traditional sense. There isn't a mechanism I can reduce to smaller pieces and explain, or even a process I can break down. I can tell you that it happens in a bunch of different ways, but since we know that mass and energy are equivalent, one can simply transmute into the other. This happens at all energies, as well. When you're walking you weigh slightly more than when still, because you have more kinetic energy when walking, and E=mc^2 . This is why the masses of fundamental particles are listed as their \"rest masses\", ie, the masses of those particles measured by something stationary relative to them."
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6oe4ju | What is the difference (at least in the southern US) between sheriff cars, constable cars, state troopers, and regular police cruisers? | Mainly relating to jurisdiction and duties, like working traffic stops, directing traffic, homicide, etc. | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"'Twas *very* oft asked here. Ye may enjoy these: 1. [ELI5: Differences between or roles/duties of police, sheriff, state police, US Marshalls, highway patrols etc. ]( URL_1 ) 1. [ELI5: The difference between Police, Sheriff, Constable, and State Trooper. ]( URL_7 ) 1. [ELI5: What's the difference between Police, State Troopers, and Sheriffs? ]( URL_5 ) 1. [ELI5: what's the difference between city police, state troopers, highway patrol, and sheriffs? ]( URL_4 ) 1. [ELI5: What does a sheriff do? And how is it different from normal police? ]( URL_6 ) 1. [ELI5: FBI vs State Trooper vs Police vs Sheriff etc in the US. What's the difference? ]( URL_2 ) 1. [ELI5: In the United States, how do Sheriff and Police jurisdictions overlap? If a Sheriff needs backup and he's within city limits, will that city's police department help? Do they share a radio frequency? How do they cooperate? ]( URL_0 ) 1. [ELI5: Sheriff's Department Vs Police Department ]( URL_3 )",
"Police: Have jurisdiction in a city or town. Their authority stops at the city limits. Sheriff: Have jurisdiction in an entire county. They technically supercede the jurisdiction of the city police, but seldom ever overrule them. They tend to patrol outside of city limits, but will help when needed. They will also deal with crimes that cross into multiple cities or is city and rural within a county. Constables: There is no real standard use of the title in the US. In most places though they are not full police officers, but are instead officers of the court. They could be in charge of: Giving subpoenas for court summons, provide security for the courts (primarily through bailiffs), and may be in charge of guards in prisons or jails. But in some States they function virtually the same as a Sheriff with all the same authority. State Troopers/State Police: These have jurisdiction in an entire state. For the most part they will patrol highways but they can assist or supercede any jurisdiction within the State. They will deal with crimes that cross multiple county jurisdictions. As for the vehicle differences. That is dependent on the choices of the specific department.",
"It varies wildly from state to state. I will talk about my home state of Tennessee here. Other maybe someone from another state will add to this. In Tennessee each county has at least a sheriff. Sheriffs for the most part operate outside of city limits enforcing laws and investigating crimes in none incorporated areas of each county. Sheriff is an elected position and answers to no one but the citizens. Sheriffs are usually in charge of running the Jail or other other prisoner incarceration facilities within each county. Sheriffs my also act within cities with no police force. Police operate inside city limits investigating crimes enforcing laws within the city. Police chiefs are normally appointed by and answer to the city counsel, who in turn are elected by the citizens. In some areas police chiefs are elected positions. State Troopers in Tennessee are normally only concerned with enforcing traffic laws and investigating accidents. State Troopers may also enforce other laws such as drug trafficking, but this is usually in connection with traffic enforcement. State troopers are usually found only on state and federal roads and are rarely encountered on county and local roads. Traffic accidents are normally investigated by police within city limits. Sheriffs will normally investigate accidents on county and local roads outside city limits, and State Troopers normally investigate accidents on State and Federal roads. However there is some overlap and State Troopers may, in the absence or on request of, other authorities investigate accidents anywhere on any road in the state. Constable is usually a volunteer position often filled by older retired law enforcement officers. A Constable is a county position in Tennessee, and are usually only found in low population counties with low law enforcement funds. Constables are tasked with ensuring public safety in a general sense. Constables act as the the most basic law enforcement authority in the absence of other agencies, but their authority can be very broad, Constables may enforce traffic laws, public duskiness laws, and even investigate minor property crimes. Constables act as a visible law enforcement presence in the absence of other agencies. Constables in some counties may be a paid position, but this is rare. In Tennessee most counties have abolished the position of Constable as the sheriff's department handles basically the same task. There are only a hand full of Tennessee counties that still have Constables. Tennessee also has another law enforcement division known as the TBI (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation). The TBI is often called in for major crimes in smaller counties, such as murder or organized crime. But the TBI has another MAJOR part to play in Tennessee law enforcement. The TBI investigates wrong doing by other law enforcement agencies. For example last year there was a sheriff that was using his position as sheriff to direct all contracts and purchases made by the county jail to his companies or companies run by family members. The TBI marched right in to the Sheriff's office, which by the way was in the same building as the jail, and arrested the Sheriff and walked him right out of his own office in handcuffs. Maybe someone can add more about other states."
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6oeeh1 | Why is is that many people are pushing to get mankind to colonize other planets, when are own uninhabited oceans are such a huge percentage of our own planet and so accessible | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Among other things, establishing human colonies in the ocean does little in terms of an insurance possibility for human existence beyond the planet earth. Plus, as someone may have told you, don't shit where you eat. Other colonized planets, at the point they become self-sustaining and outward-growth capable, are a quantum leap forward in that respect. That's a long step forward from some colonization but it's a step that has to be taken first to begin the journey. Then outside the solar system, the galaxy, etc. Natural instinct to survive will get us out there eventually, if soon enough.",
"Say you're running a datacenter. Your servers aren't empty, but they aren't full either, they still have decent amounts of room. Your client however, considers their data to be extrodinarily important, they will sue you personally into oblivion if it's ever lost. Space isn't the issue, you got a spare closet, you could fill it with more server racks if needed. However your data center is located in an earth quake zone. If a big quake hits and your data center is leveled, you lose your data, doesn't matter if it's in the data center main floor or in the closet. So you build a backup data center in the next town. Ideally you want them on several towns, if possible some of the town in another country. The more towns it's in, the further apart, the less likely you'll lose your data to a disaster. Likewise with colonies, if an asteroid hits Earth, those sea colonies will be just as dead as our cities. If a gamma ray burst hits the solar system, that Mars colony is going to be just as dead. If we had colonies on Mars and on another solar system, there's pretty much nothing that we know of that can cause the extinction of the human species.",
"If we want to survive(progress) as a species we have to move on. We are quickly reaching the point of no return and making this planet unsuited for such a large polulation. But realy, making permanant settlements on other planets and moons in the solar system is just the first step, and colonizing the galaxy will be the next logical step.",
"'Twas oft asked here. Ye may enjoy these: 1. [Will we ever colonize our solar system? ]( URL_3 ) 1. [ELI5: Why are we trying to colonize Mars? ]( URL_5 ) 1. [ELI5: Why colonize Mars? Wouldn't it be more efficient to fix things on planet Earth? ]( URL_2 ) 1. [ELI5: Why are there people talking about colonizing Mars when we haven't even built a single structure on the moon? ]( URL_1 ) 1. [Why bother colonizing planets? ]( URL_0 ) 1. [ELI5: Why is there such a big push to colonize Mars when it doesn't appear necessarily more viable than colonizing the deserts of earth? ]( URL_6 ) 1. [Space Colonization ]( URL_4 )"
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6of8rt | What's the difference between name brand and generic branded drugs? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Most of the time there's no significant diffrence except the price of the drug. When a pharma company develops a new drug they're allowed to keep the patent on the drug for an x amount of years, for that time they've effectively got a monopoly on the production and sale of the drug. This is in order to recoup the development costs of the drug. After several years this patent expires and everyone is allowed to produce the drug, leading to the much cheaper generic brand versions of the drug."
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6ofccg | How does gas rise if the gravity of the earth pulls everything towards its center? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"It is not so much that the gas rises despite gravity but because of it. Gravity pulls down a kilogram of lead exactly as much as it pulls a kilogram of hydrogen gas. If you had a ballon filled with helium or hydrogen and let in go in chamber with no air in it it would drop like a lead weight. (Okay it would explode in practice most likely but if you made the ballon from material that would not just burst apart it would drop like a stone.) The problem is that a kilogram of practically everything up a much smaller volume than a kilogram of hydrogen gas. Hydrogen and helium are much less dense than normal air (which is a mixture of several gasses including hydrogen and helium). The pull of gravity is stronger on heavy gasses than on lighter gasses of the same volume. Everything gets pulled down towards the center of the earth, but usually there is already something there. If something gets pulled down it will have to displace something else already there and push it aside and higher up. Something that is denser than what is there can displace the substance beneath it and sink. Something that is lighter will not be able to dow that. The air gets pulled down stronger than your helium ballon and makes it rise up. You have the same effect with fluids of different density that don't mix with each other. Oil will float on water. Ships despite being certainly quite heavy float in water because they are lighter than the water they displace. If you sit in your bath-tub you experience a certain sense of being much lighter, not because gravity doesn't affect you as much, but because it affects the water around much stronger than it dos the air you are normally in. It may help to think of it as gravity ending up sorting stuff in layers with heavy stuff at the bottom and light stuff at the top. lighter stuff rises and heavier stuff sinks to the correct place in that order (in practice it is much more complicated than that). It means that some gasses which are heavier than normal air will pool at your feet if released and other which are lighter will rise to the ceiling. Warm air rises against cold air because it is lighter."
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6ofe1d | The relationship between water and fire | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"I think you're misunderstanding what fire is. I guess you can think of it like a chemical reaction that is self sustaining; the energy output is greater than the input required. It's not a \"thing\" like water, it's an action a \"thing\" goes through. It's not so much \"removing one of the three thing that make up fire\" so much as slowing the reaction itself to the point that it isn't self-sustaining. To your further question of \"at what point does fire ______“, well, depends how self sustaining the material is once it reaches its unique \"flash point\".",
"You need 3 things to make fire: heat, fuel and oxygen. If you take away one of those things, there is no fire. Water works by taking away heat and to an extent oxygen via smothering. There is no ratio to my knowledge of how much water you precisely need to extinguish a fire - it's just one of those things that you keep adding until the fire is out."
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6ofrt5 | What happens to the newly "dead" bacteria on your hands after you use hand sanitizer that "kills" bacteria? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Like another poster has said, you can't really wash off the dead bacteria because water acts differently on them due to their size. Also when you use antibacterials, the area will quickly become repopulated with bacteria from your environment, other parts of your skin and by the bacteria that wasn't killed multiplying. As the area becomes repopulated, the new bacteria will use the dead bacteria as a food source. In essence, the dead bacteria becomes food for the still living bacteria. Edit: words - silly phone predictive text.",
"So i had to remove the top reply in this thread. I know people are going to want to know why, and my explanation is buried there. It was a copy and paste of [this comment by /u/TheTimeNotTheMiles]( URL_0 ). That is one of the reasons that the OP of the removed comment didn't respond to anyone. That violates our [rule #3]( URL_1 ) explicitly. I think though that it violates the spirit of rule #1 as well. --- I'll post the contents of that original comment here for convenience. > So lets say we have a scalpel, right? Simplest medical device there is. There's a number of ways to make it totally(ish) sterile- gases, steam, dry heat, gamma radiation. > But as you ask- the little bacterial corpses are still there. Waiting, one presumes, for tiny necromancers. > The problem occurs when you stab someone with the scalpel, preferably in a medicinal way. The bodies immune system works by identifying certain chemical triggers in bacteria, and has no way to know that, for example, the lipopolysaccharide hanging around in someone's heart is not part of a bunch of living bacteria, but the floating corpses of dead bacteria. > The dead byproducts of bacteria are called \"pyrogens\" because they cause (among other things, such as death) fevers. > Where do they go? Nowhere. Bacteria are small enough that water has completely different properties on their level. Beyond rinsing off gross matter and reducing bacterial load, washing can't do much. > So for things like heart surgery scalpels, there will usually be a second step of \"Depyrogenation\" This is the process, not of killing bacteria, but of removing the bits left behind so they don't trigger an immune reaction. This varies widely in complexity depending on what you have to depyrogenate- steel scalpels are easier than an injectable drug, for example. Typically, the goal of the process is to so thoroughly break down the biological material left behind. > **Are my hands covered in bits of dead bacteria?** > No your hands aren't covered in dead bits of bacteria. They're covered in happy, healthy bacteria. > **Then why wash my hands??** > Washing your hands removes dirt and debris that carry the nastiest bacteria. Sterilizing your hands is a ridiculous notion however- your hands are made of cells, bacteria are made of cells. Anything that would kill them would kill your cells. Your hands, and literally everything else on the world not currently under direct gamma radiation bombardment, are covered in bacteria, > Quick run down on terms: > \"Cleaning\" a medical device is basically doing dishes-getting blood n bits off the reusable ones. (plz dont reuse single use medical devices that makes regulatory professionals sad 😭) > \"Disinfecting\" is using chemicals to get something purty darn clean. > \"Sterilization\" is killing all* the germs on something > \"Depyrogenate\" is taking bacterial corpses and reducing their remaining structure to a point where your immune system won't recognize it and freak out. > *SALx10-6 is the typical sterility level for a medical device. one in a million germs/one in a million devices --- Edit: I'm going to unsticky this as i think this and my original removal reply are visible enough on their own by now.",
"> I'd prefer not to have bacteria corpses on my hands, thanks. The irony here is that the human body contains just as much bacteria as our own cells. Not only that, but we are desperately dependent upon the bacteria that lives on our skin to protect us from all sorts of nastiness.",
"So basically using germ-x is a waste of time and it's better to wash your hands?",
"Objects can be made \"bacteria-corpse\" free with depyrogenation using gamma irradiation. Pyrogens are bacteria fragments left over after cell death. You cannot be depyrogenated, because you have bacteria that live with you all the time. They eat the dead ones when they find them, and they keep your outsides happy and healthy. If you lost them, you would end up with all kinds of horrible side effects because your microbiome (or personal bacteria ecosystem) is just as much a part of you as your own cells are.",
"[Excellent answer from a few months back.]( URL_0 )",
"Hand sanitizer kills bacteria by lysing cell membranes. You are quite literally cutting them open and spilling their juice all over you. By rubbing your hands together there is mechanical removal of bacteria, to some extent, but your best bet is to wash under water with soap. The soap will help lyse the cell, and allow the bacterial remnants to become suspended in water. Then, they should slide off, as running water does.",
"don't worry, the dead bacteria will be very quickly eaten by the bacteria that survived, bringing forth a mini revolution of stronger hardier bacteria. Yes, you read that right. Hand sanitizers are bad for you and the world we live on. Never use hand sanitizers unless you've just touched something you are pretty sure had something contagious on it, or if you yourself have a contagious bacterial (viruses won't care about alcohol) illness and are about to cook for someone. In those cases, having less bacteria on your hand for a brief period is actually beneficial. Best way to stay healthily clean? soap. It'll get rid of the brunt of the gunk mechanically, not leave any corpses behind, and most importantly not give preferential treatment to the worst bacteria.",
"The super bacteria feed on the corpses of its weaker brethren. It makes them stronger. We are only feeding the itty bitty beasts",
"They are still there just dead. This reason is why antibacterial soap doesn't work as well as it sounds it should. Washing your hands actually removes bacteria from your hands, it may not kill it but it is a very effective method of sanitation for that reason.",
"I'm sure someone else has already said it, but you're covered in and surrounded by dead bacteria all the time. Don't worry, you're used to it."
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6ogkbb | Why does it seem to be such a custom here in the US to not list sales taxes on products? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"It should also be mentioned that the US has a large group of people who are against the very concept of taxes. It's a popular opinion among anti-tax advocates that taxes, when they exist, should be itemized so that purchasers feel the burden of taxation directly. Many anti-tax advocates are against employer witholding, and wish to see changes to gasoline taxes so that taxes are also itemized there. With that in mind, a big part of the reason the US itemizes taxes is because doing so is politically popular, or at the least, attempts to change existing laws regarding them are *unpopular*.",
"Because sales taxes are different everywhere. My State has a different rate than my neighboring States. Counties and cities have the option to tack on additional percentages, so it even varies from county to county, or city to city in the same county.",
"Going alongside the different sales tax from state to state, there are often different or additional taxes for cities or regional areas. It would require different labels to be sent out per state and a different price advertisement per area (ex: different commercials, billboards, radio ads, etc) due to the possibility of being accused of false advertisement."
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6oilh4 | Considering all of humanity's population EVER, why aren't there way more graveyards? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"The ground is hungry. Especially once you get back beyond modern preservation methods, barring special cases like mummification. Put a body in a wood coffin with metal adornments, in the ground, and depending on your soil and local environment, you can have nothing more than a discolored soil column with trace metal remains at the bottom in a number of years or decades. The rest of the body, the coffin, the clothes, it all decays. Lose the headstones, as has happened, and a graveyard may go entirely unnoticed by people, even if they are digging through it."
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6okvnt | How do bugs in games occur? | Are bugs that we see in games just error in the coding of the game? Are the errors things like typos? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Hallo, Computer Scientist here. Bugs are almost never typos, they can be, but this is rarely the case as if you just misspell a variable, for example, your code simply won't compile. Basically, you push Go! and the computer just laughs at you in this case. More often in any kind of software, not just games mind you, the code interacts in a way that the programmer didn't expect. For example, the programmer thought that some variable, X, could _never_ be a negative number. Then, when the code (game, in our case) is running, it ends up being a negative number, and the code interacts in a way the programmer never expected it to. This normally happens at a large level because several, if not dozens or even hundreds, of programmers are all writing on the same code, meaning they cannot possibly account for every single thing that could go wrong. Consider that your average major title, like GTA, Skyrim, etc, can be hundreds of thousands, if not _millions_ of lines of code. It's easy for something to go wrong. If you have further questions, lemme know :D",
"> Are bugs that we see in games just error in the coding of the game? Yes. > Are the errors things like typos? No. If there's a typo in the actual code, the code won't run at all. Errors in the coding are mistakes in the structure of the code. You can generalize code to things like \"If X happens, do Y, unless Z is true, but if A and B are both false, and C is equal to D, then do Q instead.\" In reality, single statements aren't that convoluted, but it gives you some idea of what the complexity can be over dozens of lines of code. And when you're dealing with **millions** of lines of code, a single mistake can cause unexpected behavior.",
"I wouldn't call them typos. The game or application has many code paths it can take based on user input. And in games there is a lot of user input. There is a Q/A team but they mostly test out the sane code path as a normal user would take. They cannot possibly test out all permutations. There will be odd cases which will uncover untested bits of code or high enough levels where they didn't anticipate anyone getting to.",
"Typos in code are, correct me if I'm wrong, called syntax errors. Syntax in language is the structure of a sentence, following certain rules. A syntax error in programming can be something as simple as using an uppercase letter where you really shouldn't. Syntax errors will be reported to you by your compiler. They can be hard to find sometimes, they don't always stand out. Bugs are caused by what I have heard referred to as semantics errors. Semantics is the meaning of a sentence, the information the sentence is trying to convey. There's a famous bug in the early Civilisation games. The AI Gandhi was nuke crazy. It seems this is because the aggressiveness of the AI was based on a score of 1 to 250 or something. Gandhi had a low base aggression to start off with but also had these character traits that lowered it further into negative aggression, or what should have been negative aggression. They never programmed it for negative aggression so when Gandhi's score dropped below 0 it went all the way around back to around 250, back to the maximum score for aggression.",
"As Zak pointed out, bugs are often the result of the code going through things that the developer never intended/expected. Like how hitting a certain block in Paper Mario billions of times, will crash the game, because the variable that stores how many times the block has been hit, overflows (goes over the limit for the amount of storage space it was allotted, and flips back to 0) and causes more blocks to spawn, eventually crashing the game due to too many objects in one area. The developers never expected you to hit that block 128,849,018,850 times, so the bug happens."
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6ol8hf | When a car is moving quickly, why does it appear like the wheels are rotating backwards? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Your eyes and brain have a limit to how fast they can process information. They can only process a certain number of \"frames per second,\" and this works just like you would expect it to in a video or game. When you look at the world, your brain receives information like a picture. Then it receives a new picture, and processes the difference between the two, and that difference becomes our perception of motion. This happens again and again, and reality is just a series of still images. Your eye can process thousands of 'frames' each second, but for the sake of example lets say your eye is limited to 60 FPS. If a wheel is spinning at 1 rotation per second, and your eye is seeing at 60 fps, you will see 60 'images' of the wheel before it finishes a rotation. Each 'image' your eye captures the wheel has rotated 1/60th of a rotation forward. Your brain processes the difference between each of these 'images' and determines that the wheel is moving forward. If the wheel speeds up to 60 rotations per second, and your eye is seeing 60 fps, your eye will always 'capture' the wheel at the exact same moment in the spin, when it has made 60/60th of a rotation. Each 'image' your brain processes will have the wheel at the same position in the spin. It will be moving, but it will look as though it is stationary. If the wheel slows down to 59 rotations per second, and your eye is seeing 60 fps, your eye will always 'capture' the wheel at the point that it is 59/60th of a rotation. When your brain processes the difference between start position and 59/60 rotation it will make the wrong assumption that the wheel moved 1/60th of a rotation backwards rather than 59/60th of a rotation forward. All those 59/60th of a rotation happened while your eye was sending information to your brain, rather than receiving it from the world. Again, in reality your eye can process thousands of 'frames' each second, so the numbers in question are much larger. The principle is the same, though. Interestingly enough, if a wheel appears to be spinning backwards and you speed the wheel up it will once again look like it is going forward."
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6olac4 | Why is staring at the sun painful? What happens if you stare too long? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Your eyes have a focusing lens in front of them somewhat similar to a magnifying glass lens. Just like a magnifying glass, the lens will focus the sunlight tightly and begin to rapidly heat up whatever the light is focused on: in this case, onto the back of your eye, which is a very fragile tissue called the Retina. If you have ever watched someone burn a hole in paper or fry an ant with a magnifying glass, you will see how fast focused sunlight can cause damage."
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6olf6h | why does air moving over your body, like from a fan, feel cold even though its no cooler than the regular air? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The evaporation of perspiration from your skin makes the breeze feel cool. A smaller effect is direct heat transfer to the new air. Sidenote: the common admonition to \"wear a hat because your body loses most of its heat through your head\" is a confused lesson from military studies that compared heat loss with/without headgear. A person loses heat from all surfaces at about the same rate."
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6olgt3 | why is suicide generally not accepted? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"It's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It's a messy thing for loved ones to try and understand.",
"I feel like everyone has the right to kill themselves if they truly want to it's your life. Yes your leaving people behind and they might miss you but do you think that someone ready to end their life hasn't considered that already? Newsflash they have and if they still want to do it who is anyone to say that they shouldn't be allowed to.",
"Suicide was always seen as a last means. Whether it was to exonerate your family name (see Ajax or the ritual of seppukku) or to help end your suffering (this has all sorts of extensions I won't get into). As a societal construct , humans believe that in all cases life is preferable to dieing , so our values and ethics, and even art , reflect this belief."
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6olle1 | Why does video game animation look so much worse than movie animation/CGI? | Repost | explainlikeimfive | {
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"dkib216"
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"text": [
"Video games have to render each frame of animation in real time. For movies, they can spend hours rendering a single frame."
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