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Nitral's Archive 20

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If you mix oil and water in a bowl and wait for a while, you will see gravity seperate them and put all of the oil on top. How is this consistant with the law of increasing entropy?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I probably won't explain this fully or with the highest degree of articulation, but here we go...\n\nIt minimizes the surface area where water and oil interact, which frees up the the largest amount of molecules from restrictive interactions, thus giving maximum entropy.\n\nIf you imagine a single oil droplet in water, a large hydration shell of water molecules. Those molecules are basically stuck in that configuration, giving them high entropy (but minimizing enthalpy). \n\nIf the oil were to suddenly dissappear, then those 'trapped' water molecules could then more freely move about and incorporate back into the bulk solution, forming and breaking countless hydrogen bonds as they move around and mix. Allowing for that movement within the bulk solution gives the greatest entropy.\n\nNow, you can imagine many many oil droplets. Each would have their own hydration shell of water, reducing entropy. As the oil droplets come together, their volume would increase disproportionatly with their surface area. This results in the same amount of oil with less surface area, and thus a smaller group of 'trapped' water molecules.\n\nA similar phenomonon is one of the main drivers for protein folding (burial of hydrophobic regions in the solvent-inaccessible interior, while hydrophillic regions are on the outside)." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5:How did the ancient Polynesians find places like Tahiti, the Cook Islands and Hawaii\n\nI visited Hawaii for the first time this year and I am fascinated with Polynesian culture. How did they look out at the ocean and know how to sail to such small remote islands? Obviously, their astral navigation was extremely sophisticated but how did they know something was...out there..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There are whole books on the subject.\n\nBasically, if you live on the sea and can read the signs, you can tell that an island is near even though you are hundreds of miles away. It has to do with the cloud patterns, the birds, the wave patterns and the wind.\n\nFor example, if waves are passing an island, they will be distorted around the island. This distortion persists for many miles.\n\nAlso...luck. If you are able to be at sea for a couple of months, you can explore a lot and still return home if you find nothing." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Avatar: TLA] Do you think the Avatars influence will dwindle over time?\n\nIf we take from real world examples, the growth of technology and the human population itself could start to overshadow the Avatar. Would they even need the avatar then? How would the avatar handle a world where nuclear weapons exist?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A world where nuclear weapons exist will either use them, and end, or not, and not. They're a null factor when it comes to the Avatar, and the main effect they'd *have* on the Avatar is giving them something else to worry about. \n\nThe thing with the Avatar is, as long as people respect and believe in them, there is no reason *any* amount of technological advancement could ever outpace them. Because their power to bend all four elements is just... a neat bonus, on top of the *true* strength of the Avatar. \n\nTheir spirit. \n\nNot Rava, though that helps, but each Avatar themselves has, by definition, the soul of a hero. Each one will do their best for the world. And as long as people are willing to stand behind that, technology may change the *scope* of the world, but never the Avatar's influence on it. \n\nAdd to that the literal magic that technology will never be able to meaningfully replicate, and you've got a being that will not dwindle as humanity grows, but grow right alongside it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Since most devices nowadays operate on low voltage, would it be more energy efficient to have a separate low voltage DC circuit per house?\n\nApart from appliances in the kitchen and some other household appliances, I don't think there are many devices left that operate directly with 230V (or 110V) AC.\n\nEven modern TVs, while not necessarily being low power, seem to at least be fairly low voltage for me.\n\nYet, each household only has a (comparably) high voltage AC circuit whose power has to be transformed into low voltage DC for every device separately.\n\nI imagine that you could solve a lot of energy loss by getting rid of all the little internal or external power transformators, couldn't you? Or is it impractical to distribute low voltage DC over a whole house? What about for each apartment?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because the voltages are lower, the currents are higher and the resistive losses will be higher. This leads to several problems, the wires get hotter which can become a fire risk and the voltage at the other end of a wire is much less than was put into it (so where you put in 5 volts you only get say 4.5 volts out). When you plug something else into the DC source it will increase the current and will change the voltage drop (and similarly when you unplug something) – so you will need some form of regulation on the output socket which will re-introduce the inefficiencies you were trying to remove – you may also want thicker cables to reduce the resistance and that will be expensive.\n\n\nChanging AC voltages to a different AC voltage can be done efficiently with a transformer, the regulation of the output voltage is where most of the waste energy goes and it is unlikely you can remove that element. \n\n\nAnother issues is not all devices will operate on the same voltages (some, like PCs, require multiple voltages), so either there will multiple DC voltages outlets or you have a single voltage (probably around 20V) there will be a need to step the voltage down in each device. \n\n\nThen you get to the practicality, you'd need two sets of wiring and plugs around the house with a guaranteed way that they could not be mixed up (mains down the DC would upset a lot of things), and you'd need companies to start making things that can be plugged in – until there is a market they won't and until there is a ready supply of goods that can use it, builders won't put it in house as extra expense." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is the recent drop in gas prices a bad indicator for the overall economy?\n\nI tried to read several news articles about this, but none of them actually explain it. \n\n**Edit:** To clarify, I have a pretty good understanding of *why* the price is going down. Supply/demand, speculation, liberal conspiracy theories and all that jazz. My question is how does this impact the economy negatively, as so many news articles seem to indicate? In other words, what are the consequences of all this?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's because oil prices are a fairly good indicator for how well people think the economy is doing. \n\nThe central idea is that everyone, and every business uses some form oil to conduct operations. As such, higher oil prices tend to reflect an increase in business activity and lower prices reflect a slow down. (if 1 million people lose their jobs, commutes are reduced, production is reduced, demand for oil falls and then prices fall.)\n\nNow the tricky part is that the oil price you see on TV is actually the price a few months down the road. The oil price displayed on the news is what's know as an oil future, basically someone is buying a contract to receive oil a few months from now at whatever the price is expected/predicted to be. This allows for a magnified effect on oil prices due to the effect of speculated trades.\n\nThese trades are purely based on what an investor think the price of oil will be. They reach this conclusion by looking at data from various economic sources in order to gauge the economy and then buy/sell oil based on what they think will happen next. These trades then have a huge effect as the increase/decrease in price will only encourage more speculative trade that will further fuel the price increase/decrease.\n\n**TL;DR: Overall gas prices themselves don't necessarily have a large impact on the economy, but the economy has a large impact on gas prices, that's why so many people look to it in order to gauge economic performance.** \n\n**Oil is a good indicator for how well the global economy is doing, but the \"indicator\" can be affected due to speculative trading.**" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Spider-Man: Homecoming] What powers Spidey's suit?\n\nMinor spoilers:\n\nWhat is the power source for Spider-Man's Stark-provided suit? There's enough juice to run a JARVIS-level AI, a holographic HUD, various enhanced sensors (like thermal and x-ray vision), cameras that record everything the mask sees, a spy drone ...\n\nIt's Stark-tech, so my first guess would be an arc reactor, but we've never seen one smaller than a hockey puck, and there's a distinct lack of big-glowing-disk anywhere on Spider-Man's suit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A mixture of dynamos and the ultra-efficient batteries that Stark uses to power most of his silly gadgets like the glovewatch and his glasses.\n\nPeter has Super-Strength. Tony designed the suit to resist Peter's movements to a degree, both as a way to charge the suit's batteries through kinetic force and to restrict his combat ability. This is why he's less graceful than he might otherwise be in the redblue, and why some suggest his Spider-Sense isn't very present while wearing it. It is - the suit's just fighting him without him realizing.\n\nThis kinetic resistance is the reason Peter messes up a few times - most notably during Civil War he mentions the suit messing up his landing, while in Homecoming he misses that one support structure.\n\nBoth of those can be attributed to the dynamos charging the suit. The batteries themselves are embedded in the same layer as the chip he pulls out. This kind of stuff shouldn't matter for what Stark wants him to do (neighborhood shit) but is irritating otherwise, and likely can be toggled off for important fights as needed.\n\nProbably the biggest change in Iron Spider (the suit at the end) is transferring to a distributed Arc power system, allowing both more advanced weapons/tech to be implemented and less resistance in the same overall package." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Terminator] What would be the most rational, effective way to IRL survive a Terminator being sent after you?\n\nT-800, doesn't look like Arnold but looks and acts equally unnatural." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Terminator only knows your name and can only look you up in the phone book. Change your name and get an unlisted number, and tell your friends and family to say \"never heard of them\" if a large, heavily armed man stops by asking about you." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[King of the Hill] Did Cotton genuinely believe that Hank worked as a pump jockey, or was he just trying to tick Hank off by saying that?\n\nGiven that Buck claimed that he \"used to knock skirts with\" Cotton, I'm leaning towards the latter.\n\nEdit, one month later: Changed placement of quotation mark." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Someone on here a while ago suggested that Cotton continues to rag on Hank because he never lives up to his full potential. We see Hank display an impressive array of skills throughout the series, even being able to run heavy equipment, yet he works for a scumbag who doesn't respect him and often puts his own company at risk. Hank should be running a business, not working for Buck." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5 if standing up straight is supposed to be proper, why does slouching seem so natural?\n\nI try and stand/sit up all the time but it always feels forced while slouching just feels right and comfortable. How is that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Proper posture is better for your body in the long run. Slouching feels easier because you're using less muscle to stay upright. But decades down the road, slouching may be your only option if you don't avoid it now." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why does it cost money to do a reverse lookup on a phone number, or a person, when a lot of information is readily available for free?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's because\nA. The company collects all this info in one place to save you the time. That's what you're paying for, not the number owner's details.\nB. It's a service that people are willing to pay for, so there will be people willing to provide it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What happens when a government goes bankrupt?\n\nIn the talks about the bailouts for Greece the goal seems to be to prevent the Greek Government from going bankrupt. But what happens if they would? I posted some numbered questions to better display my confusion.\n\n1: Do the countries assets get seized by the creditors?\n\n2: Does the country descent to anargy?\n\n3: Do they get kicked out of the EU?\n\n4: What would the implications be for the stability of the Euro?\n\n\nThanks in advance folks!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "1. Government debt isn't backed by any asset, it's not like a mortgage backed with a house. Even if it were you'd need an army (most likely) to go get it.\n\nFor the rest of the questions countries can't go into bankruptcy like an individual, Governments default on their loans, not declare bankruptcy. What the bailouts are trying to do is to prevent a Greek default, by giving the Greeks enough money to run a government and make payments on their government debt.\n\nIf the Government fails to payout on a loan this devalues all the greek loans and any new issue of debt will have to offer a high interest rate. This high interest rate is problematic because then the government budget is consumed by something that doesn't benefit the economy and then this would lower GDP.\n\nBecause they are part of the Eurozone they can't just print more money and risk hyperinflation.\n\n2: Note the Greece has already had a technical default on one of their loans and they haven't had complete anarchy.\n\n3: The president of the Euro central bank stated that he will do everything to keep Greece in the euro zone.\n\n4: If there were larger scale defaults by Greece, the Euro plunges and is more unstable. If Greece is removed from the euro zone the euro rises.\n\nHope that helps." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If there are, as most philosophers believe, objective and real moral facts, and if it is true that experts in ethics know what those facts are, then why do we still make decisions about society democratically rather than through philosophers and other experts?\n\nFor instance, if there is a consensus in academic ethics that eating meat, especially from factory farms, is objectively, factually, morally wrong, then what possible reason could we have to still allow people to choose to eat meat? Why do we allow people the freedom to be ignorant, immoral, and wrong when the experts know better? More importantly, why do we put matters of *objective fact* to a popular vote by the masses? \n\nIf you are an expert in academic ethics, do you feel that Western society doesn't grant enough influence to philosophers of ethics?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If there are, as most scientists believe, objective and real facts about global warming, and if it is true that experts in science know what those facts are, then why do we still make decisions about global warming policy democratically rather than through scientists and other experts?\n\nThe answer is that politics is not some sort of hyper-logical process that is run by Vulcans or whatever. It's run by human beings who often have priorities other than \"listen to people who know what they are talking about.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[DC] I'm a normal citizen of Gotham and I want to thank Batman for all his work. What's the best way I can do that ?\n\nSo he would notice it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Write to the justice league, and send your thanks that way.\n\nOtherwise, you could also thank the Batman for his work by making his job easier, and help improve Gotham even more, so he has less work to do, or it's less difficult for him to do it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why are there so many different bolt and screw designs (Hex wrenches, flathead, etc.) ? Wouldn't it be easier to have one universal tool?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, All have different uses, and in turn are optimum for different types of jobs. Moreover cost can also be a driving factor for what to use. And lastly whether your screw driver, impact driver, hammer drive, etc... will slip should also be considered. \n\nFor instance Lag Bolts (Giant screws with hexagonal 'nut' ends) are great for anchoring 2x4 shelfs that will support ALOT of weight. Since they can be 3\", 4\" or 6\" and beyond - you need to use a socket set with an impact driver to really make sure that bolt will not slip. \n\nAlternatively, if you were framing a deck, and needed 2.5\" screws Philips will work just fine - but green deck screws should be considered (costly) and the t-25 bit \"star shapped\" will not strip easy (and again will cost more). \n\nRight tool for the right job, bro." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[SCP] If SCP-682 adapts to anything, what happens if you take its blood and put it into a human being? Would it kill them, turn into human blood, or do some weird third option?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This guy thinks like a scientist. Theres no data on this currently and any data that might exist would no doubt be protected by mimetic kill agents. \n\n​\n\nThis SCP exist solely to destroy. If its blood was injected into someone the chances are that someone would die in the most painful way possible. Im not talking death by poison either. Pretty sure it would do everything from mutate your arm into a giant spike that penetrated the rest of your body to turning your stomach acid up a notch and burning you from the inside out. It would not be pretty.\n\n​" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Despicable Me] Are Gru's minions paid? Does he give them free housing and food? How does Gru get the money for this?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">Are Gru's Minions paid?\n\nAs far as we can tell, no. But, according to the Minions movie, the Minions don't want to be paid. They're biologically wired to serve the biggest and meanest person they can find to the best of their ability. It's actually shown that Minions that don't serve a villain wind up with severe depression and restlessness. Gru is basically Supervillain Numero Uno when he recruits them, so they serve him without question.\n\n>Does he give them free housing and food?\n\nBased on the context, yes. They still need food and water to survive, and, since they don't really have any other job besides \"Gru's Minions,\" the costs incurred fall on Gru's shoulders. And, since Gru seems to hold some kind of affection for them, he's probably more than happy to keep them around while Gru's genuine love and willingness to care for them has established an ironclad loyalty within the Minions that keeps them from switching sides to another villain.\n\n>How does Gru get the money for this?\n\nThe same way all Mad Scientist Supervillains do: develop high-tech weaponry to sell, steal and fence precious items, hold the world (or sometimes the moon) for ransom, etc. Worst comes to worst, he can always get a quick loan from the Bank of Evil to cover any unexpected bills." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If my salt intake is too high, can I just drink a lot of water to cancel it out?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Salt (Sodium) makes you retain water.\n\nAdding water to a high salt diet means you'll be retaining lots of water.\n\nThis makes you hypertensive.\n\nHypertension (high blood pressure) is bad for pretty much everything.\n\n\nSorry, this turned out more ELI5 than science." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5:When does light stop?\n\nToday i was walking along a lake on a beautiful sunny day. I noticed the reflection of the mountains off the lake. I realized that what i am seeing are photons bounced off the lake, but then i realized they were 1st bounced off the mountain, and they came from the sun. \n\n When does the photon stop?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whenever light hits something, some of it is absorbed and gets converted into another form of energy (heat), while some of it is reflected. When you the light hits your eyes, it is absorbed by your retina." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF/GROUNDHOG DAY] If caught in a Groundhog Day style timeloop, would Edward Rooney finally be able to catch Ferris (and would that break the loop)?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "so you're asking, if Rooney had literally infinite chances to catch Ferris (who would never adapt or change his plans) would he catch him?\n\nYes, absolutely. Bill Murray managed to rob a bank. Catching a child is significantly easier. \n\nHowever that wouldn't break him out of the loop. Bill Murray broke his loop when he grew to be a better person. In the same way, Rooney would have to learn not to be so petty and vindictive. Once he learned that, and still caught Ferris (because that's his job) then the loop would break." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Vampires] In general fiction, what would happen if a vampire was forced into a house ?\n\nThere's the lore saying a vampire cannot enter a house uninvited. \n\nBut, what would happen if he was forced into a house ? Maybe while he was sleeping or something ? \n\nAlso, what would happen if a house was built around a vampire ?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The vampire would not have \"entered\" the house, it would have been \"placed\" there. \n\nBesides, if the human dwelling in the house placed him there that would count as an invitation. \n\nNothing would happen if a house was built around a vampire as a vampire is only forbidden from \"entering\" a house he has not been invited into." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: How can ministers affect public opinion as alluded to multiple times in The Wire?\n\nHey all! Stupid question, possibly, but I just finished S4 of The Wire and a common issue for the mayor is how a given policy is going to play out with the ministers of Baltimore, reflecting on their ability to sway public opinion.\n\nI was under the impression, however, that political proselytizing, as it were, was verboten in churches. Did I misunderstand something or is there a more subtle sway of public opinion that they just don't touch on in the show?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the US, a church cannot openly endorse or campaign for a specific political *candidate* without putting their non-profit status in jeopardy.\n\nBut churches absolutely can and do actively support or oppose issues, and that's not illegal. In fact, many of the great movements of social change were driven by churches." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[CMV] I believe that prejudice can sometimes be justified.\n\nI know what it means to be prejudiced. More importantly, I know what racism is. I know that in almost every situation, they are ignorant and unjustifiable. But I've been pondering something for a while now that I frankly don't see as all that unreasonable.\n\nI like bowling. I go bowling non competitively a lot. There are a lot of times when I go to the bowling alley and there will be a group of Indians bowling near me. I've always noticed that they, more than any other people I'm bowling around, will have more balls than anyone else. A majority of them are never used. To put this in to perspective, a group of three will have seven or eight balls, most of them put under the rack where balls aren't being used. This can get frustrating when I can't find a ball with the right weight and hole size that I need and I see that they have one but aren't using it. Yes, I understand that I can't just blame them for being the only ones who do this, I know that there are a lot of people who get way too many balls. Just the coincidence in my experience that nearly every group of Indians does this is curious. The Indian-to-non-Indian-rude-bowler-ratio is when I can't help but notice this.\n\nThe other thing I noticed is that they don't seem to have regard for the proper etiquette of waiting until the player next to you is done bowling before you bowl. It can be really difficult to have a good game when you get distracted by someone else running up next to you. Again, I know there are a lot of people guilty of this, but the coincidence is just too weird. \n\nI've just noticed that I automatically jump to the conclusion that the Indian people playing around me will do those things. 9/10 they do. In any other setting, I have absolutely no prejudice with Indians. Every time I'm bowling with Indian people around, should I have an unbiased outlook? Should The Dude simply abide? Or does my involuntary rough use of the scientific method help justify where I'm coming from?\n\nI would like to point out that I am referring to the people of India, not Native Americans.\n\nEdit: Turns out that I'm not prejudiced! I just have negative connotations with people who appear to be from India in the bowling alley setting. My view has been changed!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Prejudice is forming opinions without evidence, and then (often as not) ignoring evidence when it conflicts with your prejudice. \n\nYou have some evidence: inconsiderate bowlers who appear to be from India. Here's what you can say without prejudice: people at your bowling alley who appear to you to be of Indian descent tend to seem inconsiderate to you. You're on safe ground (from the POV of logic), so long as you recognize this for what it is, a hypothesis built on anecdotal evidence that could be contradicted at any time. If you present a hypothesis as proven and \"true\" about an entire class of people when you have no evidence for that, then you are being prejudiced (and probably rude). \n\nHere's what your evidence does not prove. A) You can't say that all Indian people are rude bowlers. Maybe it's just the ones who live and bowl in your neighborhood, maybe these people are all friends with the owners of the bowling alley, maybe you're just unlucky. There are 1.6 billion Indian people in the world, and you've only observed maybe a hundred of them bowling. You can't even begin to draw conclusions about the entire culture, much less the ethnicity. \n\nB) Are you even sure they're Indian? Some might be Pakistani, Afghan, Bangladeshi or other SE Asian/Subcontinent emigres. Maybe they're all Bhutanese, and the truth is that Bhutanese are rude bowlers. Maybe they're all from one province of India, and that one province is notorious for a rude, aggressive style of tenpins. \n\nC) They might not intend to be rude at all. Bowling etiquette is different for different people, and if these people are all recent immigrants, it may well be that nobody has filled them in. Your conclusion that they are intentionally ill-mannered may be wrong for that reason, and they would (mostly) be horrified if they knew the anglo bowlers around them were quietly, passive-aggressively fuming over their breach of decorum." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is the apology of the US Sailor seen as a negative thing?\n\nIf our boat drifted into Iranian waters then shouldn't we apologize? Seems like it would be the diplomatic thing to do. I don't even understand why somebody higher up hasn't apologized. It wouldn't have to be elaborate or anything maybe just issue a statement that amounts to: \"Hey. Sorry 'bout that. Thanks for not being dicks about it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "> It wouldn't have to be elaborate or anything maybe just issue a statement that amounts to: \"Hey. Sorry 'bout that. Thanks for not being dicks about it.\"\n\nIf after examining the testimony, and boats themselves that was what happened, yes Iran should be thanked for coming to the aid of our Sailors.\n\nBut it should not happen while they are still detained by Iran, and the Geneva Convention includes protections against using Prisoners or other Detained persons for propaganda, or to specifically seek to humiliate them.\n\nThe crux is that this was done and shown off before the Sailors were released, and was done on the individuals own authority not from any higher command with official backing." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Witcher] What qualifies as a surprise in the law of surprise?\n\nYou could have many things qualify as having something you don't know you have at the time of the offer of the surprise. Your wife could be pregnant and also have obtained a valuable while you are away, plus you probably obtained some things with little value.\n\nHow do you determine which of these items to surrender under the law of surprise? Is it which item was acquired first? Is it the most valuable item obtained while away and if so, how are the values appraised?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's what is genuinely a surprise to you. If you knew your wife was pregnant when you made the pact then it's not a surprise. If she has twins and you thought it was one child then it's a surprise. If your pregnant wife gives you a gift from her late cousin that's a valuable trinket then it's a surprise to you. Trying to choose the lesser value surprise to weasel out of the pact is frowned upon but not exactly forbidden. It's just Fate has a funny way of punishing those who don't honor their deals. You could even give up a surprisingly good harvest in lieu of a child or monetary gift and as long as the debtor accepts it you're fine. Children of surprise are rare but more famous than farmer Ted's bumper crop or fishmonger Carla's anniversary gift." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Where possible, picking up items with your feet is superior to picking up items with your hands.\n\nThere are a bunch of benefits to picking up items with your feet:\n\n* Can be a lot more convenient when since your grabbing appendage has to travel less distance\n* Your hands can be used for a lot more than grabbing things that are below your waistline\n* Great for when your hands are full\n* Is a lot more fun as you can pop objects up in the air and catch them with your hands (this is a lot more boring to do with hands)\n* Improves body spatial awareness (I don't know this for certain, but it seems obvious)\n* You get more efficient the more often you do it as you can multitask \n* You can do cool tricks like flicking a sock or piece of clothing over your head and catching it\n* Its just more fun than using hands\n\nI know this is a bit of a light CMV, but I'm curious to hear what people think.\n\nHappy CMVing!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While maintaining balance ability in one's old age is critically important, picking up items with one feet in old age may cause unnecessary risk of falling or twisting a joint poorly. At least for the elderly picking things up with hands or with the aid of a grabber is considerably safer." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[General Zombie Media] What are some legit tactics that Marines and soldiers can utilize against zombies?\n\n(For reference, we’ll do both slow, walking Walking Dead-type zombies as well as the freakishly and inhumanly fast zombies from Train to Busan/Peninsula/Kingdom. Also, we’re not going to use the zombies from the World War Z novel. As much as I love that book (definitely check it out if you haven’t already. Absolutely recommend it), the zombies there were imo written so that they’d be immune to our military and break all of our laws of physics, biology, etc. so for that reason, we won’t use them). \n\nAssuming that no other powerful military hardware like our artillery pieces, armored vehicles/MBTs, aircraft, missiles, etc. were utilized (because otherwise this would be WAAAAAY too easy for the military since Zeke can’t bite you if it turned into pink mist) were used and only guys (and girls) armed with either traditional M16A4s or M4A1s were what was given to you, how would you develop a doctrine to combat the undead? \n\n Personally for me, I think that making suppressors standard-issue would be a no brainer. I’d also make everyone be as fast as possible so probably no or only a little body armor and we’d go back to LBEs/Load Bearing Equipment. Marines and soldiers would be utilized like modern dragoons where they dismount from a vehicle, pick a couple zombies off or harass the herd, then after a designated amount of time (say, 10 minutes), everyone hauls ass out of there and head off to the next spot. ACOGs would also be issued out as the standard optics for their rifles and everyone will also have both an OKC-3S bayonet as well as an E-Tool for melee combat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I mean realistically what we do now works fine. Modern soldiers are very precise and shouldn't have any issues with head shots especially if the zombies are slow.\n\nAssuming it even reaches that point. Zombies have no air defense, don't know how to scatter when artillery is inbound, and frankly have zero countermeasures against literally just being run over by tanks. Or even just some guy driving his car. Zombies are terribly combat ineffective against everything unless they outnumber the enemy hundreds to one. They also don't have the intelligence to make group movements in search of prey, instead preferring to aimlessly wander in the same general place. This results in swarms that can be engaged and disengaged whenever the military wants.\n\nAdditionally Zombies are awful at multiplying. Their only method of reproduction requires they face off against their biggest predator - us. How many zombies can a squad of soldiers kill? How about a few police? That neighbor with a shotgun? What about you just driving a car? Anything more dangerous than a child holding a rake should be able to manage a positive kill to death ratio and that's before we start looking at the ridiculous number of bodies an Abrams tank should be able to wipe away.\n\nZombie media loves to show the aftermath but never really likes to show the early days. The rare times the military is shown they are facing thousand to one odds surrounded on all sides but the reality is even if some areas were overrun they would be quarantined and dealt with quickly. In the real world Zombies would get decimated by modern military forces so hard that we'd actually feel bad for them." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do humans forget important things, but maintain embarrassing things like when we called our teacher mom?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Negativity bias. For whatever reason, the brain seems to put more emphasis on negative things than positive things, even when both things are equally intense. For example, losing $20 will seem more significant than gaining $20.\n\nBecause negative things seem more significant, they are more easily remembered and weigh more on your mental state.\n\nSide note, that's why bad news seems to happen more often than good news. People respond more to bad news, so it gets spread more." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How does space have a temperature if it's just vacuum?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Remember that \"temperature\" is a pretty handwavey concept. We can't measure temperature directly. We can measure *changes* in temperature, by seeing how something metallic expands or contracts over time for example. Or we can measure the radiation coming off an object and make a guess as to its temperature based on how well or poorly that object approximates a perfect heat emitter. And so on.\n\nBut to say that something *has a temperature* is always going to be slightly squidgy.\n\nIn the case of outer space, when we say that it has a temperature and that its temperature is about three degrees absolute, what we mean is that a perfect black body in that environment will settle down to thermal equilibrium at that temperature. That temperature corresponds to the point where the object is emitting the same amount of thermal energy via radiation that it absorbs from its environment." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5:What is the difference between an atom bomb, a hydrogen bomb, and a thermo nuclear bomb?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "* An atom bomb derives its energy from enriched uranium or plutonium undergoing nuclear fission.\n\n* A hydrogen bomb uses an atom bomb to initiate nuclear fusion in lithium deuteride or other fusionable substance. Obviously the atom bomb contributes some of the energy.\n\n* \"thermonuclear bomb\" is roughly a synonym for hydrogen bomb.\n\n* There is also something called a \"boosted fission bomb\". This is basically an atom bomb, but adds a small amount of tritium/deuterium which undergoes fusion. This contributes a small amount of energy by itself, but causes much more fission to take place, increasing yield." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What exactly happened with the Federal Reserve and the 7 millisecond thing?\n\nI think I understand, but I'm not quite sure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The decisions that the Federal Reserve makes have very large effects on the stock market. If you know what the decision they are going to make is ahead of time then you can make a lot of money. Because of this, they are very careful to not release the information early. They decided that they were going to release the information at *exactly* 2:00 pm. Under normal circumstances this information takes a little bit of time to travel to Chicago, via wires--about 7 milliseconds. However, at 2:00 + 2 or 3 ms someone in Chicago placed a *huge* volume of trades taking advantage of the news, before anyone else could react to it. Thus, the question is how did they do it?\n\nThe simplest answer is that they knew the news ahead of time and this is just insider trading (maybe... it's a fuzzy area). They could have traded before 2:00 but didn't want to because that would expose them as clearly breaking regulations. An alternative is that they took a loose interpretation of insider trading laws and decided that at 2:00 the information is public so a trade at 2:00 + 2 or 3 ms is not insider trading--it uses information that is publicly available. Such a move would have to be settled in court.\n\nThe other possibility that is fun to think about but probably not what actually happened is that they have some way to send the information faster than the wires. For example, a radio signal would travel at the speed of light--literally the fastest possible speed for information to travel. Estimates for the time that would take are at about 3.2 ms, but that *could* be within the error of the Chicago or D.C. clocks (shouldn't be, though--there are systems in place to get those clocks synced just about as perfectly as is physically meaningful).\n\nThere was no theft of milliseconds, contrary to the titles of many news articles covering the story, and nothing was stolen from the Federal Reserve. It was just a weird case of insider trading with knowledge that was public-ish." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My web app works on my localhost... now what?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Next, you want to make it face the internet at large. That means either hosting it on a server in your house, and port forwarding and putting up with awful data rates and such, or renting some cloud hosting space. Then, if someone knows the IP address of the server, they can visit your site. Then you'll want to get a domain, so and point it at that ip address, so that it looks like a website." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What would the results be if the United States eliminated all agriculture subsidies?\n\nNot just limited to some farmers going out of business but wider effects in the United States and worldwide." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "New Zealand did this in 1984. It resulted in significant changes to raising meat more efficiently. A quick Google can provide details. \n\n\nToday, New Zealand products enjoy a price premium in China due to their reputation for producing quality food products. In other words, they're competing on quality instead of price." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How Is adderall related to meth?\n\nI saw that the adderall has amphetamine salts but I’ve never taken a chemistry course so I’m wondering what exactly does that mean to it’s relation with meth. \n\nHow are they the same? Are they different?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chemical structure is highly similar but that ultimately means very little because changing even one part makes for a drastically different substance. \n\nIt’s kinda like how humans share a ton of genes with bananas but we are nothing like bananas because the differences we have in our genes (I believe we are 41% similar to bananas if I’m remembering right) amount to a whole LOT of differences in the practical world." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: After world war 1 Germany was dirt poor but how did they manage to get such huge army and inflict huge damage in world war 2 ?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Massive deficit spending and outright not even paying for anything.\n\nThe German economy under Hitler was a house of cards. It's not the economic miracle people pretend it was.\n\nHitler cooked the books. Borrowing money was hidden. Deferred payments were written to German industry which were then deferred over and over and over and over again. \n\nThe 1938 and 1939 invasions of Czechoslovakia and the 1939 invasion of Poland were timed for when the German economy was about to collapse under the weight of how much it owed. \n\nGermany launched invasions to plunder everything they could get their hands on to keep the German economy going for just a little bit longer.\n\nHowever, they never had a chance of winning because they always needed more enemies to plunder to keep the economy going and that was unsustainable." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Does anything actually stop a foreign army from invading a 'Neutral' country?\n\nI'm not sure if ELI5 is the correct subreddit for this, but I figured I'd give it a shot. \n\nI don't even really know how to ask this without answering my own question. What actually stops a foreign country from invading and taking over a Neutral country? I've been doing a little research on what makes a country, such as Sweden, neutral during a conflict and came across this:\n\n> As long as the country is officially recognized as neutral, no country can legally form plans to invade it or use it as a base of operations.\n\nHere's what I would be thinking if I was the General of whatever army and wanted to go in and take the Swedes' stuff: Who cares? \"Legally\" we can't invade, but what's going to happen? The U.N. is going to sanction me? \n\nFor example, in WWII Germany invaded Denmark and Norway (both Neutral), so the Allies decided to invade and occupy Iceland (also Neutral) to better defend the Atlantic against the Nazis. From what I've come across, there were no repercussions for either side. The Allies did pay for anything they \"broke\" in Iceland, but that's far from any real consequence. If Germany had been successful on the Eastern Front and beaten Russia and Finland, they likely would have gone after Sweden (another Neutral country). Switzerland most likely only avoided invasion by the Nazis in WWII because the Swiss bankers would willingly help Nazi officers hide and store money in their country. \n\nHopefully someone can enlighten me because I don't see any real reason to leave a Neutral country alone during the next world war." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The same reason you already said: money.\n\nIf any developed country gets invaded, other countries have everything to lose. Also, politics don't work that way in developed countries. Allies, treaties, UN. The UN might not do much, but the countries in the UN will have something to say about it. \n\nSo, you can invade, but when you try and get carpet bombed repeatedly, over and over by every other country, your country will be in a lot worse position than originally. Not quite worth it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What are the oldest species that we could (in theory) bring back from extinction, given the half-life of DNA?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I do not believe that we are capable of truly bringing any species back. With out a parental cell then even if a \" \" was cloned, by using using an egg from a common ancestor, it would be a hybrid and not a pure \" \". DNA is not the blueprint of a creature, it is more like the library of information, of which a cell can draw from. DNA only makes the creature when released into the context of a the maternal cell. This is rooted in cytoplasmic inheritance, and addresses the misconception of DNA being the blueprint. This line of thought is rooted in a prior believe of a linear relationship from DNA to protein and to gene expression.\n\nAlso as a side not a species is not an individual but a functioning population. Genetic information can survive but memes can not. They don't exist as a tangible substance. \n\nI hear a lot about bringing species back, and not enough about not causing extinctions to begin with." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[star wars] What was the public reaction to Alderaan's destruction?\n\nHow did the public react to the utter annihilation of a peaceful planet by a weapon of incomprehensible devastation controlled by power hungry psychopaths?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Destruction of Alderaan was the largest and costliest mistake in Galactic History. To fully understand why we have to fully understand just what Alderaan represented to the Galaxy as a whole.\n\nAlderaan was, above all else, a peaceful world. It was a beacon of pacifism, hope, political discourse, and strength through the various storms that tore through the Galactic Republic over it's ~25,000 year history. The planet weathered Sith occupation, stood above the corruption that plagued the Republic in its final years, and was generally one of the most well-known planets in the Galaxy.\n\nFor instance, did you eat a Nerf steak last night? Or have you ever called a scoundrel you know a 'Scruffy-looking Nerfherder'? Those are just two examples of how deeply ingrained Alderaan was in the Galactic culture. It was as well-known of a planet as could possibly be.\n\nAnd the Empire destroyed it. They blew it up in the name of the Tarkin Doctrine: an essay written by Wilhuff Tarkin to Emperor Palpatine concerning security threats in the Outer Rim Territories. \n\n>\"Rule through the fear of force rather than through force itself. If we use our strength wisely, we shall cow thousands of worlds with the example of a select few. These examples would need to be highly visible worlds...\"\n\nTarkin was a fool.\n\nThe Destruction of Alderaan had the exact opposite effect on the Galaxy. While intended to induce submission, the instantaneous slaughter of two billion innocent lives did the exact opposite. Instead of inspiring fear this event inspired rage. Angered citizens rose up against Imperial occupation, igniting battlegrounds across the stars. The Empire tipped its hand by destroying Alderaan as well: faced with the knowledge of how far the Empire was willing to go, freedom fighters began taking equally-drastic measures in their resistance. Imperial Officers defected in droves. And, most importantly, due to military victories in the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance firmly declared itself as a viable opposition to the Empire.\n\n**TL;DR:** The Destruction of Alderaan was really important." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5 Why does the body, as a self defensive response to some sicknesses, swell the nose so you can't breathe?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Swelling is part of the body’s response to fight viruses and other bad guys that try to make us ill. The swelling (inflammation) increases blood flow which brings tons of good bad-guy-fighting material (like white blood cells). It also increases heat to the area which helps speed up chemical reactions. \n\nOnce the bad guys are caught, torn apart or moved, the next step is to get them expelled from the body (such as via pus, mucus or snot). \n\nOur nose swelling comes from irritation (eg blowing it a lot) but it doesn’t swell to stop us breathing. Our nose gets blocked because there’s some bad-guy-filled snot that needs gone. When there’s a lot of it it can cause some difficulty breathing." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[MCU] Is the eternal flame more powerful than an infinity stone?\n\nIn Thor Ragnarok Hela walks by the tesseract and goes \"that's not bad\" but she says that the eternal flame is an example of real power." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ability to resurrect the deceased and also retain all of their memories and combat skills is an example of real power. Without the Power Stone or an innate ability of real power, the Space Stone is a glorified car." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Men having children after the age of 50 is unfair to the child\n\nThe average life expectancy for a male in the U.S. is what, 75 years old? That means if a man has children at age 55 he'll potentially have 20 years with them - assuming he's in good health. He might be able to squeeze out an additional 10 - 15 years old life which means that he'll be leaving his kids behind when they're in they're 30's which is still far too young.\n\nMen having children beyond the age of 50 limits the length of their interaction with their kids. It is also a burden for the children because having an elderly parent means that they likely lack the energy to do fun, engaging activities.\n\nIf a man has a child at age 30 then there is no guarantee that he will live long enough to see his kids reach their 40's. However, he is definitely more likely to see that than a 50 year old man is.\n\nI understand that it's \"not about how much time you spend with your kids here on Earth, but how much love you show them while you're here\" but I think it's unfair to put them in a predicament in which they more than likely have a limited amount of time with you." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Life expectancy is an average. The main reasons male life expectancy is lower than females is because of reckless activities, work place deaths, and suicide. Men are roughly twice as likey to die in an auto accident, five times more likely to die on the job, and 50% more likely to commit suicide. Most of these deaths are happening before 50. So, while a 1 day old male is expected to live to 71, once he reaches 50, his life expectancy becomes 84." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why do mitochondria have their own separate 'mitochondrial DNA'?\n\nDo other cells or organelles have their own separate DNA? Is it some relic of the very distant past?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is in fact a relic of the past. Early in the history of life, we believe the eukaryotic ancestor enveloped an aerobic bacterium, but rather than digesting it, it lived within the cell. Eventually, the eukaryote and the bacterium would exchange genetic material, and the two would become interdependent on one another. This is what we call endosymbiotic theory. And there is predicted to be 2 primary events (mitochondria from aerobic bacteria, and chloroplasts from cyanobacteria), and 3 secondary events (green algae and their chloroplasts being taken up by other eukaryotes).\n\nYou can recognize these events through a few characteristics: extranuclear, circular genomes, independent reproductive cycles, and multiple membranes." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5 how does the same hormone exert different effects in different target cells?\n\nSorry if this is a repost. I couldn't any similar questions." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Think of a hormone as a key that turns that flips switches and turns on chemical pathways of cells. The switches they turn on are called cell receptors. Think of them as on and off switches that are turned on by the turning of the hormone key. Hormone (keys) flip very specific switches. Some cells have switches that can be turned on by the hormone key, others do not. Some cells have many switches and when they are all flipped on, they have bigger or different effects. If a cell has that specific hormone receptor (switch), then it will be activated by the hormone." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Does anyone know why the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't report wages over $100/hour?\n\nIt just has a # symbol in the downloadable data or a footnote on the occupation's page on the website indicating that the wage is over $100/hour or the annual salary is over $208k/year." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For publicly available datasets, the answer will almost always be that there are few enough people in the category to make them individually identifiable from the data that is publicly available. E.g. if you combined that wage data with other data available from BLS you would have a high probability of being able to figure out exactly who was surveyed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "eli5: Waves come in at New York, and waves come in at Europe. What happens in the middle?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Waves are not current. Waves are really just pulses of energy and can pass through each other. They are mostly generated by wind. They can reflect and refract like light.\n\nIn the middle of the ocean, most of the waves travel in the direction of the wind. When the wind changes direction, the already generated waves will keep traveling in the same direction (and will eventually dissipate) and it will start generating waves in a different direction. As a result, the open ocean has sets of waves traveling in several directions. Form the perspective of a small boat, there will be a main swell and then \"under\" it, you can usually notice secondary swells traveling in different directions.\n\nWaves go slower in shallower water. Like light entering a lens, this causes the waves to turn towards shore. As a result, any waves traveling at an angle towards the beach will get steered straight towards it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[DC/LoTR] Could Dr. Manhattan, at the height of his aloofness, resist The Ring?\n\nThe Doc's own powers don't give The Ring much bargaining leverage, and his disillusion with humanity makes it seem like he couldn't be appealed to with delusions of grandeur." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He returned from Mars because he cared. Adrian pointed out that Jon had regained interest in human affairs, and he didn't disagree.\n\nTolkien was exactly on point when he said Frodo was the best possible candidate for resisting the ring. Assuming Sauron's magic is strong enough to affect him, Jon would be straight up spellbound." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Superheroes] So, I'm a giant destructive monster. What now?\n\nGood news! I won the genetic lottery and I just developed superpowers!\n\nBad News! I'm 50 ft tall, covered in missile-proof chitin and have a mass of biological armaments, and everyone is running away screaming for superheroes. I'm trying not to hurt anyone, but I'm 50ft tall and I'm pretty sure super strong, so if things continue I'm absolutely going to hurt lots of people. Don't think I can turn back.\n\nHelp? How do i get people to see that me, the monster wrecking the city, is in fact a peaceful soul trapped in the body of a monster wrecking the city? Can I get a message across to the superheroes that I'm not here to wreck things? Is there a place I can go where I won't accidentally murder entire towns through clumsiness? \n\nWhat do I do, guys? This is realyl becoming a problem." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a science fiction story about a human who crash landed onto an alien world and was thrown from his space craft. His injuries 99% paralyzed him from the neck down, and was going to die.\n\nThen he heard a voice. It spoke to him, and eventually he realized he was speaking telepathically with a tiny creature near him the size of one of his eyelashes.\n\nHe was just a space man, a pilot. Not a scientist, so he only knew so much and could only instruct the little creatures so much. They brought him food and water, and did everything they could to keep him alive.\n\nHe even lived for a few decades after that, and he taught them what he could, elevating them from stone age to bronze and beyond. Their lives were much shorter than a human's, and it was generations after generations of these little eyelash creatures that cared for him before he died.\n\nHe made sure they knew he wasn't a god, just a different form of life, with just a much longer life span than theirs.\n\nHis last thought was of a tombstone for his grave, and despite it being an incredibly expensive thing, the eyelash creatures made him one after he passed.\n\nYou're like that human, and now humans are like those little eyelash creatures, to you.\n\nYou can't be killed. Your very movements could kill.\n\nSo: take a walk to an un-populated area, brush a flat area clean, write your name in the ground, and lie down next to it.\n\nHumans are clever. They'll find a way to communicate." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is it possible that all elements are radioactive at some point -- even if it took the age of the universe for just one atom to decay?\n\nHow do we know that all elements aren't radioactive? It seems rather arbitrary that some elements are radioactive while others are not. Wouldn't proton decay be a form of radioactivity? What makes one element radioactive while another element or different isotope is not?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The possibility of proton decay is one of the biggest questions in science. They have been able to put lower limits of 10^34 years as the half life of the proton. Is the proton stable or does it have a really long half life? We don't know yet. Of course that also makes us wonder if the proton in other elements will decay after a ridiculously long time, making them radioactive as well.\n\nJust for comparison, the longest measured half life is for Tellurium-128 which has a half life of 7.7 x 10^24 years, and the age of the universe is 13.8 x 10^9 years.\n\nAs for why are certain isotopes radioactive while others are stable? Are the sum of the decay products less massive than the original nucleus? If yes, then it will decay. You can think of putting balls (nuclei) around a hilly area. If they are at a high potential (top of the hill) they will decay (roll down) to a more stable position at lower potential energy (the valley)." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How did older spacecraft take and develop photographs and then beam them back to Earth?\n\nFor example, how did Voyager 1 take such awesome pictures of Saturn? I'm assuming the photographs were taken on film. Are there photochemicals onboard the spacecraft to develop AND a scanner to turn them into digital info for transmission?\n\nWere the cameras actually just really early digital models?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Early spy satellites would take shots on film and then send the film back to earth in a pod and it would then be developed.\n\nThe cameras on the Voyager craft were similar to TV cameras of the day and were in a way between modern digital cameras and film based cameras. The data they recorded was sent in a digital 8bit format but the way the cameras operated was analogue." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is it possible to synthesize an atom above atomic number 118, where the current periodic table \"ends\"?\n\nThis would require another orbital, correct? \n\nAlso, should element 118 be considered a Noble gas?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes- possible, but very difficult. Right now we don't have the techniques to make them. We would expect no. 118 to behave as a noble gas, since it would have analogous electronic structure to the other noble gases (full valence). \n\nAs a side note, physicists have theorized that there is an \"Island of stability\", or group of elements with much higher atomic numbers that have longer half lives than the largest atoms we have currently synthesized. These elements would have particular numbers of protons and neutrons that provide special energetic stability. \n\nGreat question!" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: I'm not convinced non-binary is a real thing\n\nThe title speaks for itself. I'm interested in hearing from people who think it is and can give me reasonable definitions for what they think it means or is and why they think it's real. \n\nSo far I've heard nothing to make me conclude it's anything other than a label that refers to nothing. Taking it literally it's a nonsense word. If there exist two possible states of being, you're supposedly a third? There's no third option in binary. It's like the joke in the movie Airplane where the menu serves either fish or steak and the character says he picked lasagna. It doesn't add up.\n\nWhat makes a person believe they're non-binary? What makes someone come to that conclusion? \n\nI am prepared to be wrong, but I'll need to hear some good arguments and, if possible, evidence.\n\nInsulting or rude comments will be ignored because I have no time for that. I'm only here for honest debate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">There's no third option in binary.\n\nYou're absolutely right. The concept of nonbinary rejects the idea that gender is intrinsically a binary. Nonbinary people (and others!) may support a vision of gender as a spectrum or may reject it as a useful concept altogether.\n\nSocially, gender has been constructed as a binary: you are either a man or a woman. But this construction is not reflective of everyone's relationship to gender. Just because a person doesn't identify with being a man, doesn't mean they identify with being a woman. Some people may, at times, see themselves as men and other times as women; or they may recognize that there are things about this social category of \"man\" that are useful to them, and things about the social category of \"women\" that are useful to them, and draw from both; or they may not relate to either category at all." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why is your mouth much more sensitive to cold water after brushing your teeth or chewing mint gum?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "the culprit is a protein called \"TRPM8\". It's ion channel is the main molecular transducer of cold sensations in your mouth. It can however also be activated by the presence of menthol which is found in mints and tooth paste for that \"cool & fresh\" feeling. So if you drink cold water after chewing mint gum you'll get the double sensation as the protein is activated by temperature and the menthol molecules." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Trek] Why don't ships from Star Trek use fighters in they're space/fleet battles?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You've hit upon the legendary \"fighters vs missiles\" debate in science fiction.\n\nThe short version is that fighters often don't make practical sense in most science fiction settings. If you want a small craft loaded with weapons, you don't want to put all the equipment necessary to keep a human alive on it, you just want weapons, targeting computers, and engines. Beyond that, a human doesnt really add anything to the fighter craft, since the computers are going to be making all of the decisions anyways. As a result, in any situation where the Federation might launch a fighter craft, they just fire a photon torpedo instead.\n\nThat said, the federation *does* have smaller vessels with life support and weapons, but they're for transportation (shuttles) or longer term missions (the Defiant)." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why did Wall Street crash in 1929 and why did it affect the whole world?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To give insight on how \"buying on margin\" worked:\n\nLet's say you wanted to buy $10,000 worth of stock. In the 1920s you could do this with a $1,000 down payment and signing a note for the remaining $9,000 with your brokerage or a bank.\n\nThe 1920s were an exceptional boom time in the US. Electricity was going in everywhere, lavish excess, home building, agricultural innovations, cars, new technology everywhere. In fact not until the 1990s did America see that kind of economic growth again.\n\nAnyway the markets are going up so now your $10,000 investment is at $12,000. A 20% gain is not unheard of, but buying on margin (remember only $1,000 of your money is in the game) makes this a 200% gain. You pay back your note and get $3,000 back on your $1,000 investment. 200%+ returns means EVERYONE is getting in the game, because why the hell not!?\n\nThis is all fine and dandy but what goes up must come down and when it did all that fake money in the markets imploded." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is it far that my PI expects the some students to work over the weekend/holidays when the some students basically get the same days off?\n\nAbout half of the research group are composed of religious shabbat-observing Jews. PI pesters the non-religious students and the foreign students to work over the weekends and is also somehow ok with the religious students to remain quiet over the same time period.\n\nIs this acceptable behavior?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Stop worrying about other people. Really no one should be forced to work over the weekends, but he certainly can't force observant religious students to work on Shabbat. No one should have to violate their religious beliefs in order to do their PhD." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Fallout] Where are the cats?\n\nFallout is famous for its post-nuclear apocalyptic wasteland, however one of my favorite species is just gone, poof." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You know how cats will sometimes sprint madly into another room, stop and stare at a blank spot in space? \n\nThe FEV finally accelerated their latent psychic talents to the point where they could predict the wormholes with enough lead time that they all caught their rides off world. Every last feline has left the planet." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5:What exactly is shadow banking?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shadow banking is the collective term for organizations that offer bank like services, but aren't regulated as banks. \n\nBecause banks take deposits from the public, they allow multiple people to have a claim on the same money. This is a very important role banks play in the modern economy, and because of this role, the government has a huge number of regulations that are special for banks. However, complying with these regulations is expensive. Traditionally, the margin that deposits provided meant that banks had a pricing advantage against other competitors (these advantages became the source of the term banker's hours). \n\nHowever, as the costs of compliance rose and liquidity in a few markets improved, the cost advantage of accepting deposits stopped being large enough to keep all competitors out.\n\nEventually, non-bank firms began to offer bank like products (not deposits which would entail taking on regulation costs) but loans and guarantees. These firms are not regulated by banks but can offer loans as though they were banks. \n\nAn example of a shadow bank that anyone can participate in are lendingclub and prosper, which have grown dramatically during the bank crisis when credit became hard to get for many. \n\nMost shadow banks are firms like insurance companies or hedge funds that thanks to credit default swaps (a way to trade just the credit risk of a loan without the rest of the loan) and futures and swaps (ways to trade the interest rate risk of a loan) to become very important providers of credit to the economy (either through banks or by themselves). \n\nTL;DR. Non-bank firms that provide loans (or products that allow others to provide cheap loans). Because they aren't banks, they have much less regulation than a bank would." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Castlevania Netflix] How many people did Dracula kill with his genocide?\n\nIs there ever a specific number or estimate mentioned? What percentage of Wallachia is likely to have survived?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A specific number was never given, but likely it wasn't a lot.\n\nDracula's genocide didn't really last that long, many places were still untouched and it sounded like few even took it seriously. \n\nLikely it was a couple of towns and cities." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If microprocessor manufactures are able to get more transistors on a processor why do they make them smaller?\n\nI understand that power and efficiency are factors they have to consider but if you're looking for all out performance why not make the processor bigger so that you can fit more transistors/cores/memory etc on it to make it faster?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "three things: propagation time, power consumption and (to some extent) price.\n\nThe first is that the electrical signal only goes so fast, slightly less than that of the speed of light. This seems fast until you realize that in one clock cycle at 3GHz light only travels 10 centimeters. Chips are usually less than this but once they get larger it can be a significant problem.\n\nSecondly, the capacitance and hence power consumption of a transistor gate decreases with size. lower power consumption is a bonus by itself but it also directly relates to speed because it means you can run it faster before it starts dissipating too much heat for you to remove practically.\n\nAlso, although the smaller sizes are expensive to develop, ultimately you can produce more chips on one wafer than you could before, bringing down the price in the long run (this is more relevant on less extreme cases, such as embedded microprocessors)\n\nAlso, just adding more cores/transistors/memory doesn't immediatly make the computer faster for most workloads, especially games, since the software cannot effectively make use of increased parallism. Most of the increased transistor count on modern chips goes towards better branch prediction, more instructions, and better caching instead of increasing clock speed, for which you in fact want *less* transistors." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[WH40K] One day, without warning, all humanity vanishes from the galaxy along with Chaos. What happens next?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Orks start dying from boredom. Tau can expand, but will eventually get crunched by all the major powers. The Eldar keep going about their business. Ultimately, the galaxy becomes the stage for the epic Tyranid-Necron war." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is the microbiome of one ear significantly different from the other?\n\nSometimes I'm guilty of using q-tips. Is there every a chance of cross contamination between ears?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Medical literature cites a case of a person who only got repeated ear infections in one ear. The infections stopped after the patient took ear wax from their other ear and put it in the ear prone to infection.\n\nThere is also such thing as ear wax transplants for people who are prone to ear infections. They take wax from healthy people and transplant it into ears of people prone to infection.\n\nHowever all these cases seem to indicate that cross contamination of ear biome can be beneficial not harmful. Of course these are all cases of taking \"good\" earwax and placing it in a biome that is causing problems.\n\nSo the question is: do either of your ears have problems? Make sure to always use the cue tip in your good ear first? :)" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Starcraft] In the Brood Wars intro, does the UED drop a detachment of marines just to watch them get eaten by zerglings?\n\nWere they UED soldiers?\n\nWas there mission just so that the officers could be like \"wow damn they're getting brutally killed down there, time to leave\"?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a Dominion colony and therefore Dominion soldiers. As Gerard explains they were there to so Stukov could see how the Zerg operate in action so that he would have real, first-hand experience with the Zerg since they were planning on using them as a weapon against the rogue human colonies." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[X-Men] Can Magneto bend adamantium?\n\nIn the first X-Men movie, when Wolverine finds Rogue on the train after she runs away, Magneto comes along to capture her. Magneto uses his powers to restrain Woverine, and appears to actually bend his claws somewhat. Is Magneto powerful enough to actually bend adamantium?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the comics, he once removed the adamantium from Wolverine's bones, causing his powers to go into hyper mode and thus transforming him into a beast-like creature for a while. \n\nIn the second movie, he says: \"Stryker is the only other person besides me who can manipulate adamatium.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How does one distance themself from others’ worldviews and create their own?\n\nI am a young (20) man, still in the process of developing my fundamental views on basically everything. I cant escape the feeling that things I believe in are not really my ideas, but copies of things I’ve read and heard throughout my life. In the spirit of Emerson, I try to analyse and question things I believe and take for granted, but am I not being impressioned by Emerson in that process? When I read works by great minds I cant help but feel their authority and therefore believe them more than doubt them. For example: I read Fromm at the age of 16 and until this day I feel his views on Love become my own, even though Ive found out many other perspectives since then, maybe even more sensible, but its expinentially harder to make soemthing out of them since Fromm is so engraved in me. \n\nI recently picked up Becker’s „Denial of Death” and I am trying hard to distance myself from those worldviews. Its all just theories in the end, what if I am not lead by fear of death but I will start to believe it because of Becker? I think my final question is: how do I read something neutrally, process it objectively, without it influencing me too much? Is it even possible?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">I am a young (20) man\n\nThere's your problem right there. Just read more and grow older, independence doesn't come from avoiding writings for fear of falling under an author's spell, but from reading widely and deeply enough so that the relative pull of one author on you won't be too large. Besides, there's nothing wrong with becoming a disciple for a while." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What happens to the global economy if i burn 1 billion $?\n\nSerious question.\n\n I study chemistry and I am also decent at physics. So there is this universal low, principle of conservation of energy where if for example i burn something, the energy is released but never lost. \n\nAbout my question now, if I burn that billion, that means I never actually got to spend it, so it didn't «transform» into ten houses or something. So is there a gap in global economy?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Current m0 (physical money) dollar supply is 6328 billion, which means you're removing 0.0158% of physical money denominated in dollars. Would argue that this would do nothing because most money isn't cash and its such a small amount. Furthermore a larger amount of dollars get made every year. Now lets just say you remove a significant amount of dollars. Then what would happen? Well you would lose that money. The reserve bank would see that there is a lack of liquidity and do the proper monetary policy to fill the liquidity gap." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why are there so many talented musicians on YouTube who can sing amazing acoustic song covers that never get picked up?\n\nWhile there are some artists like Selena Gomez are horrible live which shows their lack of singing talent yet they can make it so big?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The music industry has little to do with music and everything to do with industry. It's not about selling an artists talent - it's about selling the artists.\n\nThat's not to say all famous singers are talentless hacks - Just that it's not that important." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Troll Hunter] How are trolls able to smell the blood of Christians?\n\nOr perhaps the question should be, what makes a Christian's blood have a unique smell that is difficult to mask with troll stench?\n\nIt appears that people who are not Christian are generally safer around trolls than those who are. Everyone else in the documentary, the atheists and the Muslim girl, seemed to escape any preferential treatment by the trolls. It seems that there is something about Christians specifically." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I dunno. Magic, probably. But there's a rational explanation for the sunlight thing so maybe it has something to do with brain chemistry and hormones. Would be nice if we could pay some scientists to figure it out, right?\n\nCould be an evolved trait in response to troll-slaying knights from centuries ago. Or, much scarier, they tell each other stories about it. Perhaps they remember the scent, and are still angry about all the men in bright armor with sharp swords. That would mean that if a troll hunter kills one and lets his friends get away, they might share the tale and figure out how to recognize that same scent of loneliness and depression that comes from an underpaid, overworked civil servant. What if a couple hundred years from now they'd be able to smell the blood of postmen?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What was the earliest known relationship between early humans and wolves/dogs, and what did they both stand to gain from the relationship?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I’m not gonna do the fact-finding for you, but it was at least 10,000 years ago.\n\nThe branching of wolves and dogs started with some wolves that weren’t as scared of humans as the other ones were. \n\nThe brave ones lived closer to humans. They ate human garbage (bones and food scraps). They began to associate humans with easy food.\n\nHumans who weren’t scared of the wolves tolerated them hanging around because they didn’t bother them. They cleaned up their messes, and kept other, meaner predators away. \n\nOver time these benefits became more and more pronounced and humans actively fed wolves in order to keep them around as protectors. Then companions. And hunting partners. And utility animals. \n\nThe friendlier and more cooperative wolves got more special treatment, and over generations they were bred into primitive dogs. Once the dog-human Bond was well established, selective breeding to achieve certain results began, and the oldest breeds were born." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: I read about a \"Zip Bomb\" today that is a zipped file that is only 42kb when compressed, but unzipped is 45.5 Petabytes. My question is how can so much information be compressed into such a small file size?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Imagine a file that's literally just 45.5 PB worth of 1s. Like in binary just 1111111111... etc\n\nIt's really easy to compress that, yeah? You just say \"45.5 PB worth of 1s\" and you've got the exact same data in a compressed form.\n\nYou want your zip bomb to look legitimate, though, so you alternate more than that so that the compressed form is, say, 42KB.\n\nAny useful data couldn't be so compressed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] What is one thing that should exist in the Star Wars universe, but doesn't?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maybe kinetic bombardment? \n\nTaking from the scene in The Force Awakens where Chewie, Finn and Hann use Hyperspace until the last possible moment to get on Starkiller Base...\n\nI don't see why it isn't possible for one faction to loosely outfit an Asteroid with basic ship consoles and a hyperdrive, give it coordinates and program it to stop at a specific point and then blast directly into a planet at super-speeds. \n\nThen again, with how smart and independent some droids seem to be in the Star Wars Universe, whatever AI runs the programing for the Planet Cracker Asteroid would probably refuse, or turn on it's handlers." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Sonic the Hedgehog 1-3] What happens to the Rings between stages?\n\nDo they only exist for a finite amount of time? Do the animals he rescues take them? Do they get absorbed by Sonic? Where do they all go?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Specifically speaking to the games and not the movies - we know rings are used as a form of currency. The best guess is that after freeing a bucket of animals, who have been trapped for who knows how long, Sonic being the good guy as he is gives the animals his left over rings so they can get back on their feet." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why is the budget for a cartoonish CGI movie (toy story 3) higher than a realistic CGI movie (Pacific Rim)?\n\nI just gave those as example but overall the costs are pretty equal and Pacific Rim looks very realistic and it was 190 million and toy story 3 was 200 million. I also looked up other realistic ones like Transformers Age of extiction (210million) and avatar (234 million). The last two are more expensive but still in the same ballpark. So why aren't they massively more expensive, they look like they took more time to make?\n\nCaptain America Winter Soldier (170 million).\n\nEDIT- Thanks for all the explanations I've marked it as explained." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Think about it like this - in a movie like Pacific Rim if you need a car in a landscape shot you pick a place to shoot, gather your actors and crew, rent a car, and shoot it. \n\nIn an animated movie you have to build the land, the road, the sky, the clouds, your characters, literally everything - then hire your actors to voice the part, pay technicians to make the characters be able to move, pay animators to make them move, this goes on and on...\n\nTL;DR: You literally have to build and move everything." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] Where did the name \"Millenium Falcon\" come from? Are there Earth like animals on this galaxy far far away?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In works that are still canon, we've seen;\n\n* Ducks on Naboo.\n\n* * Statues of Horses on Naboo (ty, yurkland)\n\n* Rats in Jabbas Dungeon on Tatooine.\n\n* Multiple species of snakes all over the swamps of Dagobah.\n\nWe've heard reference to other animals in canon works, like when 3P0 yells out, 'Die, Jedi Dogs' during the battle on Geonosis.\n\nIn direct-to-video works of questionable accuracy, the Ewoks were seen to have horses, hamsters, honeybees, chickens, ferrets, fleas, ponies, barn owls, ravens, wild wolves, and really low production values.\n\nIn various novelizations, colloquial mentions have been recorded of mineshaft canaries, domesticated cats, hermit crabs, pandas, rabbits (for pulling out of hats as part of live entertainment acts), sharks, pigs, and whooping cranes, but most-if-not-all of those should likely be regarded more as metaphorical translations of colloquial phrases than as actual exact species matches." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Residential Real Estate Holding groups need to be banned.\n\nI understand that housing supply and city planning can be quite a complicated mess and at the end of the day is a necessary evil. However the amount of properties being purchased and rented at exorbitant rates is ridiculous. This is only works because of the artificial scarcity in most areas. \n\nFor example about 5 out of every 6 rentals in our area is owned by a company. Some of these have even gotten the reputation of application fee scams due to the fact that they are empty year round despite this being a pretty hot renters market.\n\nI support free business but this is slowly leading to a housing price out issue. Almost $3,000/mo for a 3bd home is ridiculous. However since most of the properties around here are owned by these companies there really isn't much else to do if you want to live in this area unless you pay $2,000+ for an apartment and deal with apartment living. (Don't even get me started on apartments.)\n\nCan someone CMV and show me if I'm viewing this wrong?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't think you're wrong, but I'd say the core issue is the shortage of housing being exploited by these REITs, rather than the REITs themselves.\n\nWe should make it easy to build dense housing: no more single family detached only zoning. All residential housing can be dense residential. Also get rid of things like architectural style review; we're building housing not a sculpture park. Finally, impose a tax on unoccupied dwellings. \n\nThis should lessen the shortage being exploited." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: The Khmer Rouge.\n\nI don't really understand what happened, can anyone break it down for me?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I fielded an answer to a \"Why was the Khmer Rouge so bad/What was the Cambodian genocide?\" question a few weeks ago. It follows:\n\n> Wow, where to begin. The Khmer Rouge was a communist revolutionary government in Cambodia in the mid/late 70's. It was founded by a group of largely western-educated Cambodians who entirely rejected concepts of the free market and individual liberties. Instead, they attempted to construct an entirely self-sustaining nation through a rigid regime of top-down social engineering. This included the abolishment of banking, finance, currency, and some religions. People living in urban areas were (often forcibly) moved to the rural areas of the country to work in agriculture (again, often against their will). It was a bold and frankly inhuman stab at what could conceivably be called a \"classless\" society.\n\n> The genocide came in a number of forms, which included but were not limited to:\n\n> * **Famine.** The urban workers relocated to the fields knew nothing about agriculture, so land was not nearly cultivated to its full potential, resulting in mass famine almost immediately after the regime took control.\n\n> * **Disease.** The Khmer Rouge believed that the country should be autonomous in all respects, including medicine. If the country did not have the resources to produce a certain drug, that drug was entirely unavailable (at least to the non-ruling class). As a result, thousands died to common and preventable diseases.\n\n> * **Execution and reeducation.** Violations of the regime's anti-capitalist tenets were generally punishable by death. If you hoarded food, you could be executed. If you harvested wild crops, you could be executed. If you traded for a profit, you could be executed. Naturally, if you ever spoke out (publicly or privately) against the regime or its principles, you could be executed. Needless to say, corporal punishment was doled out without judicial process. Additionally, torture and execution were doled out on those suspected of being an enemy of the regime. This included anyone with material ties to the former government, many people with college-level educations, individuals of other ethnic backgrounds (including Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai), virtually any practicing religious person, anyone unable to grow their assigned crops (at quotas well in excess of those achievable before the regime took power), almost anyone who spoke English or French, and even people who simply wore glasses.\n\n> In short, it was an attempt to reboot civilization (sans capitalism) and establish a society without wealth or class. As explained above, the Khmer Rouge did not tolerate non-believers well.\n\nAs with many genocides, it didn't start that way. But things got out of hand quickly.\n\n**tl;dr:** Western educated dictator class sought to completely rewrite civilization and invent a classless society. Mass famine and genocide ensued." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Black Adam] Why doesn't Superman or Justice Society save Khandaq before Black Adam awakens?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because to the rest of the world, Intergang was the legitimate authority of Khandaq. You know how people say history is written by the victors? Well, Intergang was winning, by a lot. They have the Eternium to fight off outsiders, and the money to bribe the ones they can't fight. The JSA doesn't maintain their legitimacy by overthrowing governments, and Superman isn't in the business of deposing anyone. \n\nThey might have gotten involved if someone had explained to them what was going on; but the situation clearly wasn't high on Amanda Waller's priority list until Black Adam starting throwing tanks and helicopters around." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Iridium and similarly hard metals are difficult to machine due to extreme work hardening. Is \"grinding\" based machining also affected?\n\nI understand how drilling and traditional milling would be made essentially impossible due to rapid work hardening, but couldn't a \"grinding\" approach be used to get around this? \n\n\nIs there something I am not understanding about work hardening? Does work hardening affect materials at such a \"small-scale\" as sanding away tiny pieces of the material?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Iridium can be machined, it's just a lot harder to do than other materials and there are much eaisier ways to form it. If you want to cut it with an endmill you are going to want a properly coated tool that has a hard coating capable of handling high temperatures - depending on your setup you might be able to do it with PCD or AlTiN tool. Most machinists would get pretty pissy if you tried to get them to run the job though, the tools just won't last that long and it will take a lot of babying, you might have to swap tools regularly before failure in the middle of a job, use very low speed/feeds, etc.\n\nYou can grind it, that's not a problem. Best way to cut it is probably EDM. Milling is only the \"worst\" option, not impossible. BTW grinding is not an ideal solution because the grinding tool will wear over time and it is hard to hold tolerances. Grinding can be done very precisely but will often use in-situ measuring machines to machine-measure the surface, which is costly but for example one of the best ways to form a complex lens." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Marvel] If Daredevil never went blind, how much of an impact would it have on the rest of the Marvel universe(s)?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If he had super senses, and was never blind? He may become something like Wolverine or Batman, but without being trained by Stick, so he'd just be learning on the go how to use his powers, and he wouldn't be the profecient martial artist he is. He'd probably die his first night out, or just go a different route to crime fighting.\n\nIf he just never became a hero, or got any powers? That power gap would almost certainly be filled. He moved in, because *someone* needed to. If he didn't Elecktra might, maybe some new Hero would pop up, the possibilities are endless." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: how did scientists discover different hormones in our body given that hormones are just tiny particles and how did they study it to know their purpose?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hormones are secreted from different parts of the body, if those parts are damaged or removed the hormones they produce are no longer made. One of the earliest observations of this was in the 1840’s when scientists noticed animals lacking testes had different sex characteristics than other males, and ultimately discovered testosterone. \n\nOther hormones where discovered in similar ways. Scientists noticed that removing the pancreas from a dog will give it type 1 diabetes, they then realized that grinding it up dog pancreas, purifying it and injecting it into people with diabetes relieved their symptoms (and was a big deal as diabetes used to be an agonizing way to die, the only treatment was starvation). \n\nAdrenaline/epinephrine was isolated from the adrenal gland (they sit above your kidneys) and was incredibly useful for its ability to constrict blood vessels, particularly to stop bleeding during precise/fine surgical procedures." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What would be the economic viability of an independent Quebec?\n\nHello,\n\nI was genuinely curious how economically viable an independent Quebec would be.\n\nThere are some who say that independence would be an economic disaster (naturally those who are against it) and those that say it would be business as usual (those are who for it).\n\nHas the evidence shown anything for either side?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think brexit is a decent analogy for business as usual case on a smaller scale. Quebec (assuming it didn’t shrink substantially) would be similar in size (gdp wise) to Israel, Denmark, Ireland and South Africa so comparing it to Canada as a whole would probably be unwise. Those 4 are developed (not using OACD measures, colloquially developed) yet flawed in some ways economies that rely heavily on some sort of national strength but can’t do everything so cooperating with other nations is important. Oil would be a major missing piece IMO. \n\nLike brexit, it would be a disaster for some industries and a boon to others. Establishing a currency would be painful and reliance and cooperation with the BOC would likely be important. \n\nBrexit is a good analogy as we see that the union provided a value greater than the sum of its parts." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "cmv: Pro-life is a violation of human rights and the decision by courts/government on the baby's life is a overstepping of authority unless the baby can be considered as public property.\n\nHello, I know this post is going to be bombarded with religious people but the decision of abortion/ no Abortion solely lies with the mother as she is the one carrying it and is in her natural right to the decision regarding her baby. This can be compared to as the right to oxygen, food and water as these are the natural needs of a human being.\nSecondly, the government/courts must have the authority over the baby to make any decision regarding it but since the baby acts as a private property, technically the government/courts cannot interfere in the matters related to private property as that would be a violation of their jurisdiction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Humans cannot be owned as property by anyone, including their mothers...in the US there’s ample precedence for that. That being said, there’s also precedence for a government body stripping parental rights in instances where say, a parent is abusive. There are plenty of good pro-choice arguments out there, but the “mom has full domain over the child” is just simply not one of them." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What reason do I put to recommend a reviewer for a journal paper?\n\nI'm going to submit my first journal paper this week, and have got to recommend some reviewers. However, what reason do I put for recommending them? I can't leave it blank, so what are they looking for? I want to put something like \"expert in the field\" or \"knowledgable on topic area\", but this seems so vague it's almost pointless. Anyone ever had to do this?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ">I want to put something like \"expert in the field\" or \"knowledgable on topic area\", but this seems so vague it's almost pointless. \n \nThat's more-or-less what they're looking for, so it's not really pointless." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What limitations are currently stopping us from collecting and using lightning bolts?\n\nIs it the inability to quickly route and store the varied amount of voltage and or amperage?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Engineering difficulties aside, from a practical standpoint, a lightning bolt has energy in the range of a few megajoules to possibly a gigajoule. Even if this could be collected and used, it's about the same amount of energy that a large power plant delivers in one second, so even if it were possible, harvesting lightning wouldn't contribute very much energy to the electrical grid in the long run." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Warhammer 40k] What do the Custodes think of the Imperial Cult and Emperor worship in general?\n\nWith the Emperors explicit order to not be worshipped why did the Custodes even allow the fomation of the Imperial Cult and the Ecclesiarchy? And with some many things in the Imperium revolving around the worship of the Emperor from the billions of pilgrims to Terra and to the Age of Apostasy, wouldn't the Custodes stand against them? For as the Emperors companions one would think that they would honor him in that way too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Custodes don't involve themselves with anything outside of the Imperial palace. After the Emperor was struck down the Custodes went into a period of mourning that still lasts to this day; never leaving the palace at all. They personally may not worship the Emperor but their only concern is the protection of the Emperor, not enforcing any sort of decrees or law." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Discworld]About the Luggage.\n\nI know it's made from sentient/sapient pearwood, but why does it have teeth and a tongue? Also, where do it's legs come from? And why does it have a gender? One would imagine it was just a lump of wood magically brought to some odd kind of a life... It has made children with a female Luggage, so it clearly has a gender and some kind of reproductive organs (i don't want to know)\n\nI haven't seen these questions answered in the books (granted, i haven't read quite all of them, i haven't read Raising Steam, some of the Tiffany books, and i haven't had a chance to read the supplementary science of Discworld books), so if they are, i'm sorry." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "*Cracks her knuckles*\n\nRight, I've been reading these books obsessively for the last 10 years. Here's where it pays off.\n\n*Ahem*. \n\nThe Luggage is the magical result of a large wooden chest made out of sapient pearwood. This is the most intelligent, malevolent tree on the Disc, and will only grow in areas of dangerously high raw magic such as the sites of magical battles during the time of the Dark Emperor (who was a sourcerer and therefore a source of raw magic).\n\nThe Luggage is, as a result, a multidimensional middle-finger to the entirety of logic and reason. It's produced from a substance that's so far down the end of the probability curve it's approaching normality from the other side, and as a practical upshot of this it's also massively influenced by belief. For example, Rincewind is always faintly suspicious that it can stare you down when it doesn't have eyes. However, the fact that he believes it can means that it will, in the future, continue to be able to do so.\n\nPeople believe that something so ridiculously and almost cartoonishly malevolent as the Luggage needs to have big, tombstone teeth and a mahogany tongue, and therefore it will do. \n\nPlus, as Ponder Stibbons likes to explain to Archchancellor Ridcully when he doesn't really want to have to explain how reading invisible writings works or similar... \"it's all done by magic Archchancellor\"." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eli5: why new recruits going into the US military are required to have their wisdom teeth removed?\n\nI can't find a good answer online.. You guys have any insight?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The won't force you to get them out prior to basic, unless they're in such terrible shape they need to out due to medical necessity. I'd recommend doing it prior to going in if they're likely to need to come out anyway. Far better than to recover at home in familiar surroundings than to be recovering on an unfamiliar base with doctors that aren't likely to go stronger than Motrin for pain." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Arrival] How did humanity used the alien language to advance the human civilization after the events of arrival?\n\nCostello said they would need humanity's help after 3000 years, so if humanity is going to help them, humanity must have been technologically very advanced civilization after 3000 years (even better than that of aliens).Now the technology the aliens already had was incomprehensible to humans. So why none of the visions of Dr. Louise showed noticable advancement in technology?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why should the aliens need humanity's technology to help them? Maybe it's our philosophical viewpoints. Maybe we breed faster than them, and they need soldiers. Maybe in 3,000 years we develop an inoculation against the baby shark meme that has infested their society from their first contact." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: What is the difference between BMP, JPG, PNG, and TGA photo formats.\n\nI was looking through my FRAPS settings and I was curious as to the difference between the formats and which one would be the best to use." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Note: this is a simplified explanation. This is because this thread is in ELI5.\n\nBMP stores your image as data in a grid. It essentially stores information as X1, Y1: blue. X2, Y1: blue. X3, Y1, red. It (normally) has no compression at all and takes up a huge amount of space on disk.\n\nTGA works similarly to BMP, but also supports more features. Most important is the ability to store \"transparency\" - that is, how \"much\" of a color shows as opaque vs how much it lets whatever is \"behind\" it bleed through. This format takes even more space than BMP in normal situations, but can support compression (it usually doesn't).\n\nPNG is similar to BMP and TGA in that it is \"lossless\". If you save your image as a PNG, it will look EXACTLY the same in the future. No data will be lost. Like TGA, it also supports transparency. The key difference is that it's a more modern format and is always compressed. This means it will take SUBSTANTIALLY less space than BMP or TGA under default settings.\n\nJPG is the \"lossy\" image storage format. Saving an image as a JPG will always lose data - even if you already have a JPG, and change only a small item - after re-saving it, you will lose more data. It works by telling the computer \"I want an image that looks like this\". The computer then decides what the best approximation of that image would be to the human eye, and how best to save that without taking up too much space. It then saves the approximation to disk. This means the image will ALWAYS lose data.\n\n\nTo summarize:\n\n* BMP has its uses. But typically most people do not want to use this format unless you need it specifically for a programming reason.\n\n* TGA used to be the \"de-facto\" lossless format years ago. It currently takes much more space than PNG and isn't worth your time unless you need it specifically for a programming reason.\n\n* PNG is the best format to use if you MUST have \"lossless\" image saving. Since it's compressed differently from JPG, it can actually beat JPG in size AND quality when the image contains large blocks of exact solid colors. It also is the only good choice among these 4 for transparent images used on web pages.\n\n* JPG is the best format to use for photos if size is a concern. It offers the best balance of speed, usability, and quality for images which come from a photographic source and have many real-life incongruities which are otherwise indistinguishable to the naked eye." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: The movie Primer was unnecessarily confusing and should be remade\n\nI really enjoyed the movie \"Primer\", although like most people I didn't understand what just happened the first time I watched it. The things that were great\n\n* The plot.\n* The acting\\- so natural and not overdramatic\n* The time machine, and its effects, which were really cool and well thought out\n\nSo, now that I've gone through and figured out what the plot even is, I've come to the conclusion that\n\n1. its not actually that hard to understand what happened once i looked at the timeline charts online\n2. The problem is in the movies execution, the plot is not inherently too confusing for mainstream\n3. that this movie is a \\*great\\* candidate for a remake which more clearly explained things while keeping the plot exactly the same\n\nConsider the movie \"Memento\" (which, obviously, is not a fair comparison because memento is a big budget hollywood movie and Primer is an indie on like a 10k budget, but go with it). The premise of memento could easily be incomprehensible, but instead it was easy for mainstream audiences to get. Memento deliberately invoked confusion in the audience to help us empathize with the main character, but took great pains to avoid confusion otherwise\\- for example, using b&w vs color to separate the two converging timelines, showing us the beginning/end of each scene twice so we would make the connection, etc.\n\nPrimer is confusing unintentionally, and in the wrong ways. If the plot is complex the editing should be crystal clear, and it isnt. I often found myself unsure if Abe or Aaron was talking\\- in other scenes (such as when Mr Granger shows up) the fast paced cuts made me have to rewind and rewatch what should have been a very simple scene (Abe and Aaron are planning to create a paradox, instead Granger arrives from the future to stop them and then collapses)\n\nThe final third, full of twists and reveals one after another, is inherently hard to follow and requires the audience to pay attention. This is a time when the action should have been slowed down, and the twists over\\-explained. Instead the action sped up and half the plot points were implied in passing. This film is only 80 minutes long\\- it needed another half hour of runtime. For some reason the beginning when they were building the machine is very deliberately paced but the final act is so breakneck its literally incomprehensible to most first\\-time viewers? Weird pacing choice \n\nTherefore, I think Primer is perfect for a remake, either by a different director or by the same director with more experience and a bigger budget." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I would say it is editted in a confusing matter deliberately to illustrate how confusing daily time travel will eventually get. It's an obvious choice by the creator because you can mention the difference in pacing yourself in your initial statement. The whole point of the movie is time travel in practice is never going to be as cut and dry and easy to understand as Hollywood films make it out to be- and your suggestion is for them to make the film just like other Hollywood movies- thereby totally neutering its message." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: We can’t drink spoiled milk but we can consume butter milk, yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese etc?\n\nWhy can we not drink raw milk or expired milk but we can consume various forms of milk mixed with bacteria/cultures?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The primary difference is the bacteria present when the milk is spoiling. Some are toxic and cause the milk to go bad. Some are not toxic and produce the yogurts and cheeses you know and love. When they make cheese for example everything is carefully sterilized first so the only bacteria present are the cheese cultures that are added. In your fridge there are all types of bacteria and the bad ones cause your milk to become unfit for consumption." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: Eileen Gu is a competitive sports traitor in terms of nationalism.\n\nImportant edit up front:\n\nThere seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about the point I am making. To make thise completely simple.\n\nWithin a \"nationalistic perspective and framework\", if she is competing for China to benefit China and \"grow the sport there\" while growing up in, training, and planning to live in the USA then she is betraying the USA to benefit China.\n\n As opposed to someone who moves to another country to benefit themselves but tries to grow the sport in their own country by sponsoring athletes there or doing training seminars etc.\n\nImagine a reverse scenario that could be possible.\n\nA Chinese table tennis player grows up in China, trains in China and plans to live in China...but competes for the USA...and tries to grow the sport in the USA as opposed to in China\n\n\nEdit: After reading a comment that says that she was sponsored financially by Chinese backing since she was 9 years old. Then depending on how much the backing she got was intended for Chinese national interests, and how much of her knowledge and training came from America then Eileen Gu is essentially a mole within a \"nationalistic framework\" of thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In order to be a \"traitor,\" you have to assume she owes some measure of loyalty to the US. In particular, she needs to have some special duty to \"grow the sport\" in the US that she is breaching by doing it in China instead.\n\nCan you explain what that duty is and where it comes from?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[40K/DC] Superman lands on Holy Terra\n\nSo, instead of landing in smallville, Kansas. SSuperman's craft lands on Holy Terra in the Dark age of technology, how does this affect events leading up to the 41st millennium?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In all likelihood, he'd have been taken in by the Emperor and used as part of the geneseed for the Primarchs assuming he found out about him. Otherwise, you just have normal Superman in Grimdarksville." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: What is the true difference between Crackers/hackers and Script Kiddies?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hackers, in the classical sense, are a lot like a good baker. They can work from scratch without directions, know what they're doing and why, and can adapt to different things if they don't get the result they expected. \n\nScript kiddies are like someone following a cookie recipe off a bag of chocolate chips. They have to follow the directions exactly and won't know how to fix it if things don't come out right." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do we produce tears when we are sad?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Emotional tears are different from reflexive tears (tears that come from smokey rooms, cutting onions, etc.). When you cry because emotions, it releases a hormone that causes you to feel less stressed after you have cried. This is also why we cry when we are in pain or extremely frustrated.\n\nThere are also some evolutionary psychologists who think that emotional tears gave our predecessors a leg up, as it served as a cue when somebody was emotionally distraught. This would help the tribe quickly identify somebody who was in need and help them out however they needed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Truman Show]Since the show ended we, the Studio have been using the dome, the largest structure in the world for tour groups. We are going to lock a big tour group inside while tricking them into thinking a nuclear war happened and the air outside is deadly. What should we name this new show?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't think the name is what you should be worried about. Unlike Truman, these people will have families. They'll fight back a lot more than people who are worried about a guy they saw on TV being treated badly." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "CMV: If being vegan were so great and natural, vegan food wouldn’t include mock meat, milk, cheeses and the like.\n\nI understand that being vegan for religious or health reasons is absolutely a thing. However, a common track for vegans is about environmentalism and how humans were made to be vegan/vegetarian. If that were true, why are we so preoccupied with creating vegan versions of products that non-vegans eat? It’s not to be inclusive, since most non-vegans wouldn’t enjoy e.g. a vegan cheese. Doesn’t eating vegan versions of non-vegan foods just perpetuate the idea that veganism is less natural than the alternative, harder to maintain and on the fringes of society?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The thing that mock animals products are designed to address is the cultural and mental element of meat eating. It's kind of like quitting smoking - you can just go cold turkey (in the vast majority of cases this never works) or you can incrementally achieve your goal by switching from cigarettes to vapes to nicotine patches and then finally quitting." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[General]When it comes down to the core 'Science' in Science Fiction, which universe has the greatest integrity in its fictional physics and application?\n\nI don't want to exclude iterations of 'magic' from this, but it seems when it comes to most instances that have it magic is simply an unexplained, or vaguely explained, thing that isn't questioned. This could also be applied in same aspect to far off science fiction wherein everything works because its just 'technology.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A lot of Michael Crichton's books have at least some foundation in real world theories and possibilities. Some of the books are simply conversations about the implications of a new technology that just happen to be set in a thrilling narrative." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[DC] Has Child Services ever investigated Bruce Wayne?\n\nI imagine Bruce's sons fighting criminals every night would leave them with bruises, black eyes, bloody noses, and so on. These would probably be seen by their classmates and/or teachers at whatever schools they attend, and people would naturally assume that Bruce might be abusive to them. So with all that, wouldn't the authorities and Child Services start to get suspicious and want to give Bruce and his home a closer look?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He's really, really rich and connected (specifically providing a large chunk of the polices funding and equipment) in a city that is really, really corrupt.\n\nNo, the authorities have no interest in giving Bruce and his home a closer look." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why do biofilms form? What is the mechanism bacterium use to communicate with each other in such a situation?\n\nI thought prokaryotes were just a nucleoid and some ribosomes contained in a cell wall. When they form a biofilm, what the heck is going on?\n\nAfter taking courses in biology, I came across this strange phenomenon. I've got a rudimentary understanding of cell biology, but I'm still confused as to how such simple structures as prokaryotes can perform hive mind actions like forming a biofilm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quorum sensing would be the correct term here. A bacterium can detect the presence of other nearby bacteria because they secrete a ligand. This chemical signal is receive by the sorounding bacteria, and depending on the concentration of this signal, different actions are taking. \n\nThis type of activity is also exhibited when bacteria form single layer formations. Let me know if you need a more detailed explanation of how bacteria communicate chemically." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Star Wars] Would Palpatine have punished Krennic or Tarkin in any way for the Death Star if they survived, since they were both somewhat responsible for it's destruction ?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Krennic absolutely. He willfully aided and abetted the spies who ran off with the plans of the Death Star and designed the thing to be vulnerable in the first place. His death would have likely not been quick and would probably have been shown to the next engineering team as ‘encouragement.’\n\nTarkin probably would have walked away alive, albeit likely sidelined or retired. Ultimately Tarkin was following the doctrine he designed for the Emperor and so skillfully instituted across the galaxy when the Death Star exploded. He had successfully tracked down the main rebel headquarters and was about to crush it with unspeakable force, demonstrating the overwhelming power of the Empire and securing its security for years to come. Then some teenager managed to blow up his battle station due to the aforementioned espionage. Nobody was expecting that." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "ELI5: Why do search engines tell you how long the search took?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Honestly, they're kind of bragging to show you how good/fast/awesome they are. There is no other reason; it might be interesting to a very small segment of the population, but it's more about people going \"Wow, 20 billion results in 0.02 seconds!\"" } ]