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28ni5x
|
how did china become so successful if it is as corrupt as everyone says?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28ni5x/eli5_how_did_china_become_so_successful_if_it_is/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cicl51n",
"ciclljm"
],
"score": [
4,
5
],
"text": [
"1. Off the backs of the oppressed.\n2. Capitalistic countries (USA, Australia, Etc) using them for their cheap labor. This pumps wealth into a country.",
"Who said corruption is necessarily bad for business?\n\nIn some recent study of \"corruption\", there is made a distinction between \"petty corruption\" that increases overall costs of businesses vs. \"efficient corruption\" that actually decrease overall costs of businesses.\n\nConsider simple scenarios:\n\n(1) Petty corruption: You go to DMV, and the DMV exam administrator demands a bribe to let you pass the exam, even if you would pass the exam normally. If you don't pay, he would fail you.\n\nThis scenario is highly inefficient for the overall system, because it raises the overall cost of business transactions that normally would not be that high.\n\n(2) similar scenario, but this time, the DMV line is very long, waiting time is more than several weeks /months for even taking an exam. The DMV Examiner asks for a bribe, in exchange, he would let you get to the head of the line. But after that, you would pass/fail the test on your own.\n\nUnder this scenario, the corruption may actually be more efficient, because for a nominal cost, it actually may lower the cost of overall transactions for a few individuals who REALLY desires it, at the expense of those who don't really care that much. (I.e. it prioritizes a system which may be difficult or costly to prioritize).\n\nIn China, most corruptions are the 2nd scenario, where the state would allow some shifting of priorities and resources based upon corruption. \n\nWhile some of that still may seem to be unfair (i.e. when a relative of an official gets a government contract, etc.), at the end of the day, efficiency of the overall system improved over time. \n\nThe system also incentivize more efficiency, because more efficiency allows for more corrupt income.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
3akcg7
|
why does it sometimes only take a second to get a password reset email and other times i never get it
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3akcg7/eli5_why_does_it_sometimes_only_take_a_second_to/
|
{
"a_id": [
"csdeszl"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"It all dependant on server load, the programming behind the scenes of the email reset function, and the email providers filters. \n\n1. Server might have a lot to do, so it needs to postpone more minor tasks in favor of larger tasks.\n\n2. The programming behind the scenes is clunky and unoptimized resulting in failed attempts or other unfavorable results.\n\n3. Your email provider is annoying and likes to run every email through countless spam checks. Typically not the case as these are usually just thrown in a spam folder."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
7853p6
|
american schooling vs. british schooling
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7853p6/eli5_american_schooling_vs_british_schooling/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dor7j25",
"dor7m41",
"dor7ocv"
],
"score": [
5,
2,
3
],
"text": [
"What level of schooling? What aspects? This is very broad. There are so many schools and school systems in the US that it would be very difficult to compare. If you live in the North, Dangerous Minds. If you live in Texas, Varsity Blues. If you live in the Midwest, Breakfast Club. If you live in Northeast, Rocky V. If you live in California, Encino Man or Clueless. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, Twilight. ",
"Which system are you familiar with?",
"British children learn the USA is a country. \nAmerican children learn the USA is the centre of the known universe. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
7y97w2
|
when hackers steal money via bank transfer swift, why can the bank just reverse it back?
|
Edit: can’t
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7y97w2/eli5_when_hackers_steal_money_via_bank_transfer/
|
{
"a_id": [
"duesau8"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Because what they usually do is transfer that money between different bank accounts hundreds of times, and then split the money into hundreds of other bank accounts and they're really hard to trace "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
42jpa6
|
how is my cars' engine/transmission not destroyed when braking?
|
My knowlege of how the braking system and how an engine works stop when they are put together. In neutral it makes sense, because the engine and transmission are essentially freely spinning. If the power is then transferred to the wheels, but stopped fully by the brake rotor, where does the power go?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/42jpa6/eli5_how_is_my_cars_enginetransmission_not/
|
{
"a_id": [
"czaxba4"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"on an automatic car when you step on the brake pedal the transmission shifts to neutral and the engine slows to idle. \n\nIf you were to fully engage the transmission and the brakes at the same time the automatic clutch would slip. The engine and the transmission would not be destroyed because the clutch is designed to be the failure point. \n\nHere are a couple of animations to help you understand.\n\n[How a Clutch works](_URL_0_)\n\n[How an automatic transmission works](_URL_1_)\n\n[How a manual transmissions work](_URL_2_)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqF-aBtTBnYa",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqF-aBtTBnY",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K53cPGRE1Kk"
]
] |
|
cyj1g2
|
why do people void their bowels when they die?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cyj1g2/eli5_why_do_people_void_their_bowels_when_they_die/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eys9i82",
"eys9i99",
"eys9oy2"
],
"score": [
9,
7,
2
],
"text": [
"Your digestive tract is a tube,right. Your body has muscular control over the bottom end, using autonomic muscles. All that ceases when you die.",
"While some muscles spontaneously contract after death — and though all muscles eventually tighten into rigor mortis — others are loosening their grip entirely. Meanwhile, the part of your brain that regulates involuntary functions is shutting down. Specifically, the region of your brain that controls the muscles that hold your sphincter closed becomes incapacitated following death. Just like those rare occasions where you laughed so hard you peed in your pants, you will pee and poop in the spontaneous relaxation of your muscles following death. In fact, it’s not just the muscles but also the gas produced inside your body following death that will cause peeing and pooping.",
"Easy enough, thank you!"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
34wyc4
|
if you pay off your credit card every month, wouldn't that make you a dramatically less profitable customers for a bank? how do credit card companies make money offering great deals to people with great credit?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34wyc4/eli5_if_you_pay_off_your_credit_card_every_month/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cqyus7g",
"cqyuu03",
"cqyv3s0"
],
"score": [
7,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Credit card issuers get part of the swipe fee every merchant pays when they process a credit card transaction. Usually, that fee is around 3%. The bank or company issuing the credit card gets a chunk of that.",
"People with great credit usually have money in the bank. Offering great deals to people with great credit means more people with money will put their money in that bank which makes the bank more money. ",
"Credit scores are partly based on outstanding debt versus available credit -- the higher the debt ratio, the lower the credit score. So, if you pay off your credit cards every month, you reduce that ratio to the lowest possible.\n\nAlso, if you pay off your credit cards every month, you get lots and lots of green boxes on your credit report, showing all payments are current. They like this because it shows that you pay everything on time, which is a more important part of credit scoring.\n\nConversely, if you only make the minimum payment on your credit card every month, even if you make it on time, it will make people less likely to lend you money. Why? Because you don't understand how credit works. They'll be perfectly happy to accept you paying buttloads of extra interest on what you owe, but won't extend you more credit because, well, you're the kind of person who is most likely to suddenly default and go into bankruptcy.\n\nMeanwhile... if you pay off your balance every month, you're also more likely to accrue a balance every month, so they make money off of you via merchant fees either way. And that makes lenders happy."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
by4btj
|
how did iced tea get to where it is today.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/by4btj/eli5_how_did_iced_tea_get_to_where_it_is_today/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eqcj2sv"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"It is not the northern states that were left behind. It was the south and Canada who couldn’t see past the sugar to realize the tea was what you were after all along. \n\nAdd mint, add another tea to the tea hell add lemonade. IDGAF \n\nBut don’t mock the unsweetened tea just add your sugar and move along."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1jox68
|
why didn't astronomers conclude that the universe is expanding based on the movement of our galaxy itself?
|
Why did they have to observe the red shift from other galaxies in order to conclude that? I mean our galaxy isn't static, is it? So if the universe is expanding by an ever increasing rate, isn't our galaxy speeding up as well?
Edit: Thanks!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jox68/eli5_why_didnt_astronomers_conclude_that_the/
|
{
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"cbgtsju",
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"cbgtxgc",
"cbgu0f8",
"cbgvl1z"
],
"score": [
3,
2,
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"We're *inside* our galaxy, though. How could we measure its movement without checking against other galaxies?",
"Redshift is caused by something moving away from us - like Amarkov said, we're inside our galaxy, so it looks stationary to us. We don't see it by looking at the stars within our galaxy, either, because we're all held together by gravity. (Well, there is movement within the galaxy, but it's not a uniform \"expanding\" trend.)",
"The red shift that you mention observed via other galaxies is not due to velocity, in the sense that we think of it, but due to [the expansion of space itself](_URL_0_). This expansion is bigger/faster for objects that are farther away from each other.\n\nOur galaxy is very, very small when you're talking about scales like this, and thus the red shift (from this effect) is very, very small. The effects of actual velocity -- some stars moving away from us, some towards us -- overwhelm the expansion of space on this level.",
"Velocity (movement) is relative. In order for us to say we are moving, we have to have something to compare ourselves to. If you are standing by the side of the road and see a truck roll by, you would say it is moving because you are assuming that you are static. In the same token, though, the person in the truck could assume that they are static and that you and the earth are moving around them. Technically you would both be right, it just depends on your perspective. One of the things that we can take away from Newtonian mechanics is that there is no such thing as absolute rest, everything can be considered to be moving compared to something else as long as they have different velocities and trajectories. There is no single point you can look at in the universe and say with absolute certainty that it is not moving. \n\n",
"If they had done that, they would have been wrong. We're actually getting closer to our closest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy. The scientists may have erroneously concluded that all galaxies are coalescing together, when they're actually spreading apart."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expansion_of_space"
],
[],
[]
] |
|
4m1cem
|
why can't you use a colon in the name while saving a document?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4m1cem/eli5_why_cant_you_use_a_colon_in_the_name_while/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d3rppjo",
"d3rsjxo"
],
"score": [
6,
3
],
"text": [
"MS-DOS (which predated Windows) introduced certain conventions when it came to naming drives, directories (folders) and files.\n\nThe colon character is used to identify something as a drive - a lot of computers these days might only have one, the hard drive which will be C: - in days gone by, you might have had one or two floppy drives, A: and B:, with your hard drive at C: and your CD or DVD drive at D: or E:\n\nSo that's the background for you, but the basic version is that Windows likes to use the colon to refer to drives, and nothing else.",
"When Windows stores a file, it goes to an address that reads something like this:\n\n\nC:/User/Documents/Textfile.txt\n\n\nModern Windows does most of the formatting there on it's own now, but it's essentially how you go about navigating your files. Each punctuation mark there is how Windows divides up a bunch of text so it can read it properly. Here the colon there means everything before it is a drive name, and everything after is a path to a file. If we wrote:\n\n\nC:/User/Documents/Text:file.txt\n\n\nThen Windows would be confused, because it's looking for a drive named \"C:/User/Documents/Text\" which doesn't exist. So it will come up with an error. Rather than go through the trouble of programming some new rule to handle that, long ago they just made these important punctuation marks protected, so that they could only be used as intended and not part of file names. This means Windows wont be confused and all the programs that work with this format will play nice. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2bvoht
|
what's the point of empty, blank spam emails?
|
I'm talking about the ones with no attachments, no links and no advertising. Just something like "Hello...." and nothing else.
What exactly is the sender trying to accomplish?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2bvoht/eli5_whats_the_point_of_empty_blank_spam_emails/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cj9cwgh"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"It's possible that the e-mail contains a piece of hidden code that is meant to exploit a security flaw in some e-mail clients, websites or browsers. For most people it won't do anything, but for the people who uses any of these, the code will work and the spammer will be able to exploit this flaw."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
4hwwup
|
how are the numbers chosen for military units, eg 117th air refueling wing
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4hwwup/eli5_how_are_the_numbers_chosen_for_military/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d2t1pse"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"At this point? Basically one dartboard covered in numbers and one dartboard covered in acronyms. Throw two darts, name unit.\n\nReally though it's a hilarious mishmash. Units tend to retain the names/numbers of their predecessor unit. So the 177th Air Refueling Wing might once have been the 117th Bomber Wing, or the 117th Reconnaissance Squadron, or the 117th Hula Dancing Platoon, but then they traded in their grass skirts for KC-135s and now they're an Air Refueling Wing.\n\nNames might also get reinstated to carry on some traditions. A new unit might be formed with the same name/number as a decorated unit of the past. Units may retain their numbers when they transition from active to reserve/guard or vice versa. Numbers may be chosen by a bureaucrat based on some sequential list buried deep in a Pentagon basement, or if the unit is important/expensive/HSLD simply because the number sounds totally badass or can be made to look like a skull on their patch.\n\nNobody really understands it, and these decisions are largely made by people who have spent a whole career watching Top Gun and huffing jet exhaust so it really isn't that surprising."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
6pt3c0
|
why do the chemicals in plastics leach into some of the things they contain, eg food in food containers, but not into others, such as substances in centrifuges or dna samples?
|
I know there is a lot of concern about chemicals, such as BPA, leaching into food from plastic containers or plastic lining. And I have heard that the dangers are made worse by sunlight, dishwashing, and microwaving. But I have also noticed that plastic containers are used in other situations where the purity of the contained substance is very important, such as in the laboratory. For example, I have seen that plastic is used to contain substances in centrifuges or biological samples in DNA tests, and plastic bags are used to contain evidence from crime scenes. It seems to me that higher temperatures and pressures are present in these laboratory settings, which would make the leaching effects worse, but there does not seem to be similar concern about chemicals from plastic containers tainting the substances being examined, even when the scientists are trying to do very sensitive experiments. Why does plastic pose a threat to food at home but not in other settings, such as the laboratory? Is the plastic used in the laboratory "safe" but the plastic used in the kitchen "dangerous"?!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6pt3c0/eli5_why_do_the_chemicals_in_plastics_leach_into/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dks30aw"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"A couple things here:\n1. It depends on what plastic is used of course. Certain plastics need plasticizers or fillers (these typically leach) while others don't. Depending on if it's a ziploc bag or a centrifuge tube or Saran Wrap will highly affect if these leachants are even present to start. \n\n2. These samples are important yes, but because most of the technology analyzing them is super specific (for example DNA, genomics isn't going to be affected by minute traces of BPA because of how the DNA is analyzed, unless of course the BPA alters the structure, which is technically possible but would need some pretty appropriate conditions, lol) or they can baseline correct for it (they know the container they are using, thus they know what leachants to look for, thus they can disregard those \"peaks\" in the data). \n\n2. The reason humans care about leaching is because these leachants typically bioaccumulate (I think in adipocytes since most leachants are lipophillic.. don't quote me there). This leads to potential toxicity over time, allergic reactions, chronic illnesses, etc because it just sits in your body and messes stuff up (this is common for other treatments as well where bioaccumulation is a problem, including gold/silver/silica nanoparticles). Since the stuff we analyze isn't going to bioaccumulate obviously (we aren't ingesting those samples) we don't worry about it in those samples, even if they did Leach. \n\nAlso, these leachants are a problem for sure in particular cases. For example, a paper published like 7 years ago looked at a couple leachants from micropippette tips and how they actually can contaminate samples. So you are correct that this can happen and it is a REAL concern, but only for particular applications. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
1a6cwf
|
the starcraft storyline up to now.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1a6cwf/eli5_the_starcraft_storyline_up_to_now/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c8ui77n",
"c8uk4im"
],
"score": [
14,
3
],
"text": [
"okay I'll try and do it for you since your kinda 5 years old and all and may not understand everything thats going on\n\nWell it all started a long time ago, when some people like you and me went on big spacecrafts. They found these other planets and began a new place to live and all was good. Until one day, a giant alien spaceship shows up out of nowhere and blows up one of our new planets. These \"protoss\" were trying to stop another alien group known as the Zerg who infested that planet. Now the zerg are infesting more and more planets.\n\nMeanwhile, on the human side, a guy name Mensk is trying to take over all of the planets, with Jim Raynor who you play as in SC2 and Sarah Kerrigan who is a cool human that has SUPER powers. Well when Mensk is successful he does mean things to Sarah Kerrigan and she is captured by the Zerg, and made into this scary monster called the Queen of Blades. Jim Raynor is mad at Mensk because he loved Sarah and now shes a monster, so he teams up with Protoss to stop the Zerg.\n\nThe Zerg attack the Protoss homeplanet of Aiur. Tassadar who is a protoss general sacrifices himself to save the planet and their race. He crashes his ship into the Zerg Overmind, basically the Zerg King. With the Zerg King dead - The Queen of Blades becomes the almighty ruler of the Zerg. And for a little while there is unnerving peace.\n\nJim Raynor, still mad at Mensk decides he's going to stop Mensk. When he starts, he meets his buddy Tychus, who has a new mission for Jim. To find these artifacts that will turn The Queen of Blades back to human. While on this mission, Jim meets another old friend a protoss known as Zeratul. Zeratul shows him what the future will be if the Queen of Blades is killed. It seems that the Zerg Overmind made Sarah into the Queen of Blades to avoid some apocalyptic future in which the entire universe would end! Zeratul warns Jim that the Queen of Blades must not be killed.\n\nJim gets all the artificats and goes to change the Queen of Blades into Sarah. He's successful but not before killing Tychus who was a double agent trying to kill Sarah to make sure the universe would end! So that's the story so far, Sarah is back to being Sarah and the Zerg have no ruler. But that wont last for long :D",
"If you have time, [this video by NASL](_URL_1_) does a really good job of explaining way more than you'd ever need to know about Starcraft's story, including the novels.\n\nIf you know what happened in SC2:WoL but want a quick-hit description of what happened in SC1/BW, [here you go](_URL_2_). \n\nIf you want a recap of the whole thing in text because you can't be bothered to sit through the first video, [this](_URL_0_) is a decent recap that has everything you'd need and offshoot articles if you're curious about other stuff.\n\nJust for fun, here's my ELI5 recap:\n\nThese dudes called the Xel'naga made space bugs and space elfs. The bugs want to eat everybody, and the space elfs don't want to get eaten, so they fight each other a lot. Humans who came from Earth a long time ago needed a place to live, so they found new planets, but the space elfs and bugs didn't like it so they fought the humans too.\n\nOne of the space elfs realized that if he killed the biggest bug, the other bugs would be sad and confused because the biggest bug was telling them what to do. He crashed his spaceship into the big bug, which blew up him and his planet, but he had to do it to stop the bugs. The big bug knew that the space elf was going to kill him, though, so he stole a human lady and made her the new big bug.\n\nThe new big bug lady was mad because her old boss had tricked her, so she wants to fight him now. Other humans are mad at him too, so they decided they'd fight him too. The leader of the other humans has a crush on the big bug lady and wanted to turn her back into a normal lady, though, so he learned from his space elf friend how to turn her back into a person, and did it.\n\nedit: btw the Raynor/Kerrigan romance is a complete retcon. there was no mention of it in the original campaign, but they just threw it in and told us that Raynor is totally in love with Kerrigan in SC2's campaign. if you go to a starcraft fansite, you will hear from a lot of angry people about how they butchered the original story just to add a romantic plotline."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/StarCraft_storyline",
"http://www.twitch.tv/nasltv/b/375704733",
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ieud2xfFXb4"
]
] |
||
4n0pur
|
why are people mad about microsoft's windows "spying" but not google's same "spying" in android?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4n0pur/eli5_why_are_people_mad_about_microsofts_windows/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d3zu0ha",
"d400gqc"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"Historical context. Windows computers have never had \"spying\" before, but now people's computers that they bought years ago have now had \"spying\" forcefully added to them without permission. In contrast, Android phones have had \"spying\" from the very beginning and people bought them with full knowledge of their business model. The contract is identical as when you first bought it; nothing has been changed without your permission.",
"Everyone knows Google is spying on them. It is part of their business model, and Google is up front about it. They even give you web pages that show you how much they are spying on you.\n\nMicrosoft is less up front about it, and has more of a history of doing dodgy things without telling users. Also, they are an older company, so a lot of their misdeeds occurred before people were as used to getting spied on."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
a2p4jk
|
how do organs *consistently* develop on a given side?
|
EG: Why is the human stomach *always* on a person's left? I've read [this ELI5](_URL_0_) & the answers explain how asymmetry comes about but not how it consistently happens in the same way (in my understanding, the organs are asymmetrical because of the "bunching up tubes" nature of our internal organ development).
EDIT: A couple people say I shouldn't use "always" so I should clarify I mean 99.99% (wiki says situs inversus occurs at a rate of 0.01%)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a2p4jk/eli5_how_do_organs_consistently_develop_on_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eb01nbr",
"eb0a4o3"
],
"score": [
3,
14
],
"text": [
"They don't. There's a condition called [*situs inversus*](_URL_0_) where organs are mirrored. It's rare, and it's not usually harmful, but it happens.",
"When you're still at the multicellular level, your cells produce proteins called Sonic Hedgehog (I'm not joking). Your cells also have a hairlike structure called \"cilia\" at this time in development. The cilia all beat in one direction, causing the Sonic Hedgehog protein to accumulate on one side of the developing embryo. This creates a chemical gradient that the developing body can use to determine left from right, which it uses to make sure that our organs all end up in the right place.\n\nIn Situs Inversus, you have a problem in which the cilia don't beat correctly, and thus can't cause a gradient of Sonic Hedgehog. In this case, the body can't tell what is left and what is right, so it essentially chooses randomly. This is how you get a small set of people who have hearts on their right side (dextrocardia)."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6gx4zt/eli5_why_are_all_external_body_parts_like_eyes_or/"
] |
[
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situs_inversus"
],
[]
] |
|
48i5j0
|
why do we have rills in the top of our mouth?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/48i5j0/eli5_why_do_we_have_rills_in_the_top_of_our_mouth/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d0jrs6a"
],
"score": [
19
],
"text": [
"I had no idea, so I looked this up.\nI found a source that said that they provide friction, so that when chewing food it won't accidentally slip into your esophagus.\n\nSource is in dutch, so you might need google translate if you wanna read it:\n_URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://www.quest.nl/artikel/waarom-is-ons-gehemelte-geribbeld"
]
] |
||
4v7tdh
|
why does water make gravel (and rocks in general) look darker?
|
Just curious.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4v7tdh/eli5_why_does_water_make_gravel_and_rocks_in/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d5w8grl",
"d5w9dc6"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"[Here's](_URL_0_) an article about it. To summarize, it looks darker and shinier because it creates a smoother surface on top of the rough surface of the stone itself and reflects the light all in the same direction. The colors can also look more vibrant because the layer of water allows for more \"subsurface reflection,\" where the light penetrates the surface and eventually comes back out, which is what is responsible for the colors of the rocks in the first place.",
"[Here's a thread](_URL_0_)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://www.askamathematician.com/2012/06/q-why-do-wet-stones-look-darker-more-colorful-and-polished/"
],
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1a0t38/eli5_why_do_materials_appear_darker_when_wet/"
]
] |
|
blzer4
|
how do antacids help indigestion if acid is what digests food?
|
As far as I know acid is what digests food in the stomach taking antacids while having indigestion would just make things worse and the food would stay in the stomach .. Is what I concluded..
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/blzer4/eli5_how_do_antacids_help_indigestion_if_acid_is/
|
{
"a_id": [
"emsm7vo",
"emsm92r"
],
"score": [
4,
3
],
"text": [
"Your stomach got too spicy (ph level). \n\nAntacids are made of ingredients that cancel out or soak up (negate and potentially absorb) the extra spicy.",
"Indigestion is too vague of a word. Antacids are meant to treat heartburn. Heartburn is when stomach acid backs up into the esophagus causing a burning sensation. Antacids are base compounds the neutralize the acid that's been backed up."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
3fmkif
|
why doesn't the amount of hot dog's match the amount of buns you can get?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fmkif/eli5why_doesnt_the_amount_of_hot_dogs_match_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ctpy3eq",
"ctpz1od",
"ctpz654",
"ctpzlkl",
"ctq04af"
],
"score": [
4,
13,
4,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"So that you have to buy at least one more pack of one of them. (If your dogs come in packs of 10 and the buns come in 8, buy 4 packs of hot dogs and 5 packs of buns and you're golden)\n",
"This is based on the assumption that all hotdogs are sold in packs of ten and all buns are sold in packs of 8. However, this is not the case. There are many brands that sell hot dogs in packs of 8, therefore matching that pack of buns. ",
"Hot dogs are typically sold in 1 pound increments, and for most hot dogs that equals 10 hot dogs. If you purchase \"jumbo\" hot dogs they'll usually come in 8. Buns come in packages of 8 because the manufacturers suck and don't want to redesign their manufacturing process.",
"Well, for me I typically buy the hot dogs that come in packages of 10, and the buns come with 8. However it is nice because I usually end up forgetting about the hot dogs and burn one of them so that it is not edible. Then I'm happy that I had an extra hot dog! So now I only have 9 to carry from the grill to the kitchen, however I will turn too quickly and lose 1 or 2 hot dogs as they fall on the ground and get all dirty. So now I have too many buns, but wait, fortunately I bought the buns the same time that I bought the hot dogs and I put the hot dogs in the freezer but the buns in the pantry so now there are 2 moldy buns. Also I end up eating one of the hot dogs while waiting for my wife to get off the phone with her mom so now I have 6 of each and its perfect!",
"The 2 extra hot dogs are for:\n\n1. the actual dog\n2. cutting up and cooking with the baked beans\n3. cooking with barbecue sauce for \"cocktail wieners\"\n4. sitting around and spoiling in your fridge\n5. excessively picky children who demand they be chopped into \"pennies\" and think hot dog buns are poison.\n\nYour choice. Alternatively, I usually buy my hot dogs in packs of 8 and am often left with 2 buns left over, as my daughter and dog take care of eating them sans bun. Perhaps I should get the 10-pack."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
tmdpy
|
why does the president need to raise funds for the election when he's the president?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/tmdpy/eli5_why_does_the_president_need_to_raise_funds/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c4nuh2e",
"c4nupla",
"c4nuw3o",
"c4nvuxs",
"c4nw37g"
],
"score": [
5,
10,
4,
9,
2
],
"text": [
"Commercials cost money....",
"Elections are supposed to be fair, and it would be unfair for the current president to use government money for an election campaign when other candidates couldn't.",
"*Like your five*: Because everybody has to pay for stuff they want, even if they are the president.\n\n*Like your ten*: To expand on what [Herdnerfer](_URL_0_) said, even though he is the president, he still has to pay for all costs of a political campaign. Let's take a look at two theoretical alternatives to funding his campaign.\n\n* **Everyone doesn't charge him for stuff.** I am sure you can see where this will not work. \"Commercials cost money\", but so does everything else. I will not get into everything involved in a political campaign, but campaigns are expensive and a lot of people profit from them. These people are not willing to let the president take or use what he wants, just because he is the president.\n\n* **He uses taxpayer dollars to fund his campaign.** This would cause even more outcry than the former option. It would be wrong for the president to use money given by taxpayers, given to run the country, for his personal political campaign. If you like a particular president in office, you may not have a problem with him using your tax dollars, but everyone else from other political parties or people who support a different candidate sure would. He can't use other people's money because he is the president.\n\n*Analogy*: Imagine you donated money to your local high school because they were holding a fundraiser to get new and better books for the library. A couple weeks later, you found out that instead of getting books for the library, the school decided that they were going to use that money to landscape the principals front lawn. You donated your money for a specific purpose. Someone in charge where you donated your money can't decide to use that money for themselves.\n\ntl;dr: Stuff cost's money, people have to pay for that stuff, and the president is not an exception.",
"Because using federal money to pay for his re-election campaign would imply that he's using public money funded by taxpayers to run for president, meaning that the entire country is paying for his bid. That's not fair to the people that would not vote for the president.",
"If you didn't like the current president, would you be very happy if he used taxpayer money to get reelected?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/tmdpy/eli5_why_does_the_president_need_to_raise_funds/c4nuh2e"
],
[],
[]
] |
||
2kmfm3
|
where do the beneficial bacteria in our digestive system come from? and how come, even after killing them with antibiotics or alcohol, the bacteria always return?
|
I find it fascinating that we have a multitude of organisms in our body that pretty much work for us. It's like each of us is a walking biosphere, with populations of microbial life living, eating and going to work inside our stomachs. If anyone can explain how we retain these bacteria while fighting others and where these bacteria come from, that would be greatly appreciated.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kmfm3/eli5_where_do_the_beneficial_bacteria_in_our/
|
{
"a_id": [
"clmojmw",
"clmsdsf"
],
"score": [
4,
2
],
"text": [
"This is actually the recently-discovered purpose of your appendix. It houses beneficial bacteria until your digestive system needs a recharge.",
"The most well studied of the bacteria enter us initially in the womb, during birth, and from breast milk. So much information has has come to light recently. Vaginal births and breast feeding really contribute a lot of different species of bacteria. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
3ze0rg
|
what is that thick saliva that forms in the back of your throat when you run/exercise a lot?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ze0rg/eli5_what_is_that_thick_saliva_that_forms_in_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cylcz78",
"cylliq9"
],
"score": [
7,
2
],
"text": [
"This is just a hypothesis, and I'm hoping someone else can offer some actual knowledge. But based on the fact that when you run and exercise your body uses a lot of water, my educated guess would be that that thick saliva is just normal saliva with a lower than normal water to \"goo\" (official scientific term right there) ratio.",
"Probably mucus from the lungs or any stuff that was there above the lungs. Because saliva (which is produced in the mouth) is watery and doesn't get that thick (would take a lot of drying) and is essentially a different material than mucus (which I think has a lot of dead DNA)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
4lgkgw
|
why do kids love to spin in circles?
|
I'm standing in line somewhere and a kid is spinning in circles while his mom tells him to stop. He doesn't appear to have any mental issues and I'm not making any assumptions by any means, but it seems like a lot of young kids like to spin in circles. I used to spin a lot when I was a kid now that I think about it. Is there a reason?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4lgkgw/eli5_why_do_kids_love_to_spin_in_circles/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d3n7dw4"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Because being dizzy is a fun sensation. Some adults(me) still enjoy being spun in circles. A lot of people enjoy things like roller coasters or whiskey for a similar sensation. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
50pea0
|
how do you recycle electronic waste properly?
|
I was watching the [**60 minutes**](_URL_0_) of how electric waste was being shipped illegally to Hong Kong and there were Ash Rivers and all of that stuff there.
My question is though, how do you properly recycle it? What is the process?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/50pea0/eli5_how_do_you_recycle_electronic_waste_properly/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d76366j"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The sad truth is that the 60 minutes segment is completely true. Companies that \"recycle\" electronics most likely ship it out to Hong Kong or places in Africa. What they do there is either let it be, or try and extract precious metals from the devices. Most people make less than $5 a day but they have no alternative. Since they don't have any precise tools, they smash them and burn them to extract the metals from them. This creates pollution (not only air, but also water) which completely kills the wildlife. Most people that work in these areas have horrible diseases that give them trouble breathing or ruin their eyesight. If you see some of the people there, their skin looks bright yellow because they chemicals screw up the pigment in their skin."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuGSSuGs9jM"
] |
[
[]
] |
|
2kynks
|
how come bullfighting is so big in spain and méxico but not practiced in other regions of spanish descent like south américa?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kynks/eli5_how_come_bullfighting_is_so_big_in_spain_and/
|
{
"a_id": [
"clpx1nc",
"clq1uqh"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"You are wrong. It exists in other Spanish speaking countries. ",
"Bullfighting is also something done in France and Portugal, while it's not done in Las Canarias an in Catalunya. In Spain as a whole it's losing spectators, as it mainly caters to older people."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
buxmbb
|
how do they make slowing time in computer games?
|
Do they just make all animations slower, and add/remove certain vfx, or do they have some internal time going, to which is everything tied to, or... How?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/buxmbb/eli5_how_do_they_make_slowing_time_in_computer/
|
{
"a_id": [
"epj3ern",
"epj3lzv"
],
"score": [
4,
2
],
"text": [
"There's a few ways, but having internal time is a way to do it. Things like movement and animations are usually timed, a frame could be 100ms and movement is velocity \\* time. There's no reason that time is the real time though, the game could have a multiplier to real time such that `game time passed = real time passed * slowdown` and use that for time everywhere. Doing that is minimal effort and gives the slowdown effect.",
"I love this question.\n\nThere are usually 3 main moments when video games update their objects. To be clear, an object is basically everything in the video game world and related to its programming, it can be as simple as text, or as complicated as a rubber ball; the rubber ball's color is an object, so is it's texture. If it has parameters you can change, it's an object.\n\nGames usually update their logic at 60hz, regardless of if it's being drawn more often. During these 'ticks' that occur 60 times per second, the game engine will update object variables, graphics, and physics.\n\nVariables are simple, did something take damage? where is it? should it still be alive? Depends heavily on the game.\n\nGraphics can update more than at 60hz, but usually take into account the other two for accuracy, that's why sometimes you seen things teleporting a couple of millimeters to catch up with their physics when you do huge things like big explosions.\n\nPhysics, they are usually updated in their own timing, at the end of everything else because they take the most calculations, force, velocity, momentum, gravity, so much math and vectors, these updates produce the location for the next Variable update, and subsequently Graphics to follow.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nYou can tell an object where to be by messing with it's parameters (location), like using the cheat console to teleport. Like when you pause skyrim want to spawn 99 chickens by typing into the console, but because the game is paused nothing happens until you close your console and it continues, that's because you're stuck between a Variable update and a Graphics/Physics update.\n\nThen things appear, and for a split second, nothing happens, then the Physics update goes... oh crap all these object are in the same place, that's no good, get away from each other... boom 99 chickens flying in all directions because physics.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nWhen you slomo a game that has that capability, you're telling it to do these updates at less than 60hz.\n\nEssentially any game can do it... but it can look pretty awful without a good engineer at the helm.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nBasically when it is time to do any update, you tell the game:\n\nhas it been x amount of time? no? okay increase time and don't do anything.\n\nhas it been x amount of time? yes? okay do your updates and reset timer.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nExcept graphics, you gotta work some magic there so things look good, that bit is beyond me.\n\nHope that helps.\n\n & #x200B;\n\n\\- I will add that some objects can have personal updates, so you can have them like drop or move while everything else is in 'bullet time', but I can't think of a reason to do it... might make for a fun game mechanic."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
1mdesa
|
how major news agencies get information from al-qaeda
|
I don't know how news agencies get their information from 'terrorists' or criminals and would like to know how they get it.
[example](_URL_0_)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mdesa/eli5_how_major_news_agencies_get_information_from/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cc85mga"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"I know of a way, that I have seen used in Brazil, but I don't know if this how indeed is done. So lets say A bad guy want to get a message to E the news agency. So A gives to B , B TO C, C to D , d to E , the reason is hard to track back, is that most of the chain is random, could be kids that are given $20 and \"hey kid, give this to a man on the bar\" , man in the bar does it the same way , and so on...\nAnd not always the same people are used, so going to a kid and saying who has given you this? Is useless because the kid doesn't know.\n\nAnother way, anonymous mail deliveries. "
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/09/201391322641627946.html"
] |
[
[]
] |
|
3946qc
|
why doesn't accupuncture hurt?
|
I really don't know why
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3946qc/eli5_why_doesnt_accupuncture_hurt/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cs08jcj",
"cs0993t",
"cs0aftl"
],
"score": [
3,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"I've only had a few experiences with its nearby cousin, dry needling. Which is using acupuncture needles as a form of muscle therapy.\n\nBut my understanding is that since the needles are so thin, they don't produce enough trauma to elicit pain. Then again you will still be sore and feel the prick, but the sensation is not enough to make your brain signal pain. Everyone's pain threshold is different though. ",
"Wife's an acupuncturist:\n\n1. needles are incredibly thin. They come in a variety of thicknesses that are designed for different uses, but the thinnest are so thin you don't feel them all that much.\n\n2. sometimes they DO hurt. It depends on the location you are having needled. In fact, for ear needling the amount of initial \"pain\" is one of the signs for having found the proper location.\n\n3. its very common to have some pain at first, and if the pain persist the practitioner will generally remove the needle.\n\n4. people who have trouble relaxing around needles will often tense up which makes things more likely to cause pain or discomfort. Being relaxed makes everything easier.\n\n5. They spend a lot of time learning about needling locations and - generally speaking - they will know what will and won't hurt. If you're just starting out, they will likely not do things that will cause you a lot of pain.\n\n\n\n",
"It does hurt.\n\nLook up Placebo. \n\nThere is no reason to not believe a Professional when it comes to a medical procedure."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
z5j79
|
how websites like twitter and tumblr make money when there is virtually no advertisements?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/z5j79/eli5_how_websites_like_twitter_and_tumblr_make/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c61rli7",
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"c61odch",
"c61p000"
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"score": [
42,
3,
2,
7,
20,
5,
21
],
"text": [
"Just think about it this way, if you aren't buying a product from a website, you are it's product.",
"Your interests. They are interesting. Not yours, personally, but yours, as representative of a consumer in a particular segment as determined by, self-referentially, your interests.",
"As far as I know, Twitter has been relatively unsuccessful in large-scale monetization.",
"Imagine that you see a cute girl. You want to ask this girl out, but you don't know anything about her. You know that she is friends with this guy named... Twitter. She tells Twitter all kinds of things. You might be inclined to ask for Twitters help in order to learn more about her. Twitter will give you select information about the girl for a small fee. This is how Twitter makes money.\n\n\nSo on a larger scale:\n\nYou - a company that wants to know about a group of users\n\nGirl - a group of users\n\nTwitter - ... Twitter\n\n\nSource: I'm a webmaster for a website that is payed for by a combination of selling data and by investments. The data that my site gathers is mostly related to political opinions within its users. We make bank selling the opinions of our users to add campaigns before and during election season.\n\n[Edited for formatting]",
"I'm less familiar with tmblr, but twitter gets paid through advertising campaigns with hashtags and \"promoted\" tweets.\n\n[Twitter#Finance](_URL_0_)\n[\nTumblr does a similar thing, apparently](_URL_1_)\n > In early June 2012, Tumblr featured its first major brand advertising campaign in conjunction with Adidas. Adidas launched an official soccer Tumblr blog and bought placements on the user dashboard. This launch was only two months after Tumblr announced it would be moving towards paid advertising on its site.",
"Tumblr has been recently trying to monetize itself. They've tried things such as little \"sticky note\" things you can buy to increase visibility on your follower's dashboard, but other than that there isn't much in the way of profit. (probably still running off of investors' money, but don't take my word for that)\n\nTwitter recently rolled out \"Sponsored Tweets\", which take place on your timeline regardless of whether or not you follow the account. (Say, a Samsung advertisement that looks very similar to a real tweet from someone you follow.)",
"Twitter also sells data from users' posts. They can analyze huge amounts of incoming information and find trends nationally and globally. That's very valuable."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter#Finance",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumblr"
],
[],
[]
] |
||
33wsi1
|
how is it possible for tiny sd cards to have 200gb storage? how do they create more storage space on something that small?
|
Basically I don't understand how a tiny thing like that can hold 200gb of data. How do they make them so they can hold so much information?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33wsi1/eli5_how_is_it_possible_for_tiny_sd_cards_to_have/
|
{
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"cqpy2ef"
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"text": [
"The 1s and 0s that represent information in a computer are stored on tiny little switches called transistors. These switches produce a ton of heat when they move, so you can only put them so close together before they burn each other out.\n\nScience keeps finding new ways to put more switches closer to each other in the same space without causing failure. Usually by making them smaller. A modern memory card has billions of these little switches.",
"Various ways but its the same thing as computer CPUs. They increase the density of the Floating-gate MOSFETs and or reduce the space in between them (which increases the density).",
"You'd be surprised how \"big\" small things can be. A microSD card weighs 0.5g, if only 0.1g of that is the flash chip then that's around 2 x 10^21 atoms of silicon in total (according to Wolfram Alpha). \n\nIf you divide that by 200 gigabytes you have 1,250,000,000 atoms of silicon for each single bit to build the flash chip out of, and that's if the flash chip makes only 20% of the total weight.",
"Imagine you have a lot of glasses on your kitchen table in a grid. You also have a garden hose. For each glass you have two choices, either fill the glass full with water or leave it empty. It is up to you. \n\nThis is a basic memory cell. With this setup you can store a combination of 1s (glass is full) and 0s (glass is empty).\n\nYou can probably only fit 500 glasses on your kitchen table, so your memory capacity is limited by the size of your table assuming you only have normal household glasses. In computer jargon, we would say you have 500 'bits' of memory. What can you do to increase the amount of memory you have? \n\nThe first thing is to get some smaller glasses. Shot glasses would do just fine. You can probably fit 4 shot glasses in the footprint of your kitchen glass. Replacing them all with the shot glasses will give you 2000 'bits'.\n\nThe other thing you could do is change how you represent your information. Instead of only filling up the shot glasses full or leaving them empty, you could use the water level as a way of representing more data. You could say, empty is 00, less than half empty is a 01, more than half empty is a 10 and full is a 11. See, now we are using one glass to store the same information as two glasses used to. \n\nThis is essentially what has been happening with the flash technology that is being used to make these memory cells, a combination of shrinking the bit storage units and changing the way that the information is represented. \n\n\n",
"Also... If you can fit 200gb into something that small, why do some of the latest and greatest smartphones only have 16 gb? Its a joke!",
"Doesn't apply to NAND memory but I'll never miss a chance to post this: _URL_0_",
"The actual part of the SD card that IS the circuit, is terribly small, with much leftover room. So much, in fact, that they can make a larger memory card by adding more circuits, without running out of room on the original card.",
"Just a point- SD cards aren't the most information dense storage technology - far from it. Magnetic tape storage, the same technology as videotapes and cassettes, have managed densities of 150GB per square inch, making it very useful for archival applications. The difference is that magnetic tape is not random access, its sequential - information must be retrieved in the order it was stored. SD cards are random access - you can retrieve information in any order.",
"Short answer is Moore's Law. Technology continues to scale down allowing for more storage/circuits in the same physical space. \nWe are basically making the space that holds each bit smaller with process enhancements and new technology."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_PyKuI7II"
],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
7skfdw
|
what's the point of the "read more" button often found on news websites?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7skfdw/eli5_whats_the_point_of_the_read_more_button/
|
{
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"A few things. \n\nFirst, it gives you more ads for the space. If you just graze down the page and some after-article content gets your attention before you hit read more, even if that doesn’t happen to you much, it’s a plus.\n\nSecond, it’s a weak yet worthwhile protection against simple content scrapers. \n\nThird, if there’s multimedia in the content, the page loads faster. In-page video/audio players don’t load until it’s rendered on the page, typically. ",
"The key reason is what they can charge for advertising. \n\nIf someone clicks the “read more” then they are interested on what’s in the page, and will spend more time looking at it. The longer someone looks at a page, the more impactful the advertising becomes. \n\nThis means they can charge more for the ads. Sure, any ads that appear after the read more can command a premium price. But even the ones that appear before can get a higher price if the website can show stats like “40% of the visits to this page click the read more button.”"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
es3l01
|
why doesnt a lighter work after being left outside in the cold?
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/es3l01/eli5_why_doesnt_a_lighter_work_after_being_left/
|
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"Not too positive on this, but I am pretty sure it has to do with the pressure at which the fuel inside the lighter vaporizes. For example, when it is hotter outside, puddles of water dissappear more quickly than when it is colder outside. The same is true for the fuel inside the lighter, as the fuel itself does not come out of the lighter as a liquid, but as a gas. It is harder for this fuel to become a gas when it is colder, as with water. You can experience this concept at home by smelling a strong alcohol or a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, as those liquids evaporate easier and turn into a vapor easier than water.",
"Most Bics or Cricket lighters have no wick for the liquid butane to wick up. When you press the little red lever it simply opens a valve and the gaseous butane comes up. But there needs to be a relatively high air pressure inside the body of the lighter, and when they're cold, well, air pressure inside drops accordingly and voila. \n\nHold it for a few minutes in your hand and the temperature should rise enough to create enough pressure inside.",
"The boiling point of butane is about 30F / -1C. If it is colder than that, the butane liquid in the lighter will not turn into a gas and come out the top to burn (liquid butane doesn't burn). The trick is to hold it in your warm hands (or keep it in your pocket) to keep it well above the boiling point.",
"There is liquid butane in a Bic lighter that acts as a reservoir to fill all the empty space up with gas the gas itself is what burns which is why liquid butane burns pretty quick when you spill it (gets hotter making more gas making more heat etc). The Colder the lighter the less of the fluid is likely to be pressurized and evaporating",
"Boiling point is below the threshold for vapor pressure.\nSame as when you want to BBQ in winter.\nYou have to warm the regulator and tank with boiling water to get it going if the outside temp is below the boiling point of -43°F",
"Its the pressure. \n\nBasicly a lighter is a tube full of pressurized lighterfluid. The pressure helps push the fuel out to be lit. Without pressure, the fuel doesn't get pushed out. \n\nWhen it gets cold, the fuel becomes more dense and has less pressure to push it. \n\nThink of a baloon. When its cold, the gas inside of it condenses and the balloon shivles. Same concept."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
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|
dzzhrq
|
why does a lightbulb get suddenly much brighter shortly before it blows?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dzzhrq/eli5_why_does_a_lightbulb_get_suddenly_much/
|
{
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"text": [
"The filament gets thinner over time continually. It reaches a point where the material gets super excited, ie too much power being pushed through for the remaining material, gives off more light yet overheats as it does so.",
"Two possibilities: \n\nIf it blows when first turned on, which light bulbs often do, the filament is cold. When the filament is cold it's resistance is lower, that means, as per Ohm's law (Current equals Voltage divided by Resistance), the current flow will be much higher and it vaporises the filament almost instantly. \n\nThat will result in a much brighter flash than you'd expect from the brightness the bulb normally outputs. \n\nIf it blows when it's hot, the filament fails, and there'll be an electrical arc can be formed between the ends of the filament. This electric arc will be much brighter than the light from the filament, and as the ends burn away the arc will widen getting brighter. Arcs behave in the way that as they get hotter, their resistance falls, so again the output will get brighter and brighter until the filament burns away or the breaker trips. All this happens in an instant, in both cases, so it just appears like a super bright flash before the light disappears."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
alwtr5
|
why does jamming your thumb on a basketball hurt so much?
|
I’m not a crier but damn when my thumb gets hit by an on coming basketball I have to sit out, shake it, do SOMETHING cause it hurts so much. Getting hit in the arm is nothing though. why is this?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/alwtr5/eli5_why_does_jamming_your_thumb_on_a_basketball/
|
{
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"efhkvp8"
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"text": [
"Well, think about what happens.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nWhen you jam any digit, you are literally trying to compress something that will not compress(bone). The only way for it to give at all is to either bend in an awkward way, stretching muscles and tendons, or move the joint, both of which are quite painful, or break the bone if the force is hard enough.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nAlso, due to the need for a sense of touch, fingers have a ton more nerve endings than most other places on your body, and thus feel pain more acutely."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2qpang
|
how can countries like us,russia,france sell fighter jets and warships to other countries without worrying of it being used against them?
|
How does any of these countries selling high-tech arms protect themselves?
On the other hand how does a buying country ensure that the fighter jets are not rigged with spyware or could be remotely hijacked?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2qpang/eli5how_can_countries_like_usrussiafrance_sell/
|
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"That's the conundrum, for sure.\n\nMost countries don't sell their very latest, most secret tech, to other countries.\n\nOn the other hand, selling high-tech goods to other countries is sometimes a smart tactic.\n\nIn the case of the USA, the majority of their military tech is made by companies based in the USA. That means that you need the support of those companies to maintain the equipment that they produce.\n\nYou sell other Countries those products, and if they turn against you, you simply withdraw the support.\n\nThe F-14s sold to Iran are an excellent example of this...\n\nTo start with, the F-14 was a boondoggle from the very beginning. It is an aircraft that is very expensive to produce and operate. It has a unique weapons-delivery system that is designed around One Specific missile, and that platform is not tremendously flexible.\n\nIn fact, in the U.S. Armed Forces, the F-14 was only used by the U.S. Navy, and only for the purpose of \"Fleet Defense,\" at least until its final years in service. No other Armed Forces on Earth, with the possible exception of the \"then\" USSR, had any use for a \"Fleet Defense\" aircraft.\n\nBut somebody in Iran obviously thought the F-14 was a Great Idea. WOW! Talk about being \"Sold a Bill of Goods!\"\n\nSo... Iran bought a fighter from the USA that was twice as large, twice as heavy, and 5 times as complex as any other fighter that could carry the same tactical capability.\n\nSo, when the Iran coup occurred, the USA simply stopped providing support for the F-14 -- at the time, by far the most complex fighter on Planet Earth, which is NOT what any military wants. The U.S. military didn't even want it.\n\nI do have to hand it to the Iranians... They kept it flying and scored an impressive number of kills in the war with Iraq.",
"Complex weapons systems don't function without a logistics train to support them. When you sell something like a military jet to a foreign nation, that nation still requires regular involvement from the producing nation to keep the jet flying.\n\nAs a result, the only 'protection' the selling nation really needs is standard intellectual property concerns. The purchasing nation cannot effectively use the weapons system against the seller, but they could potentially copy the system to produce on their own.\n\nThis also makes installing spyware pointless. Being able to remotely disable the hardware isn't very useful when the hardware will effectively auto-disable once deprived of support. If the purchasing nation is planning to copy your work, they're unlikely to simply to copy your firmware verbatim. At the very least, they'd need to analyze the firmware to understand what your product is doing - and such an analysis would detect the spyware.\n\nThat spyware also wouldn't be able to do all that much since it would need a way to interface with the outside world and signal emissions are very carefully controlled on military vehicles.",
"In addition to what others have said nations often sell export variants of hardware. These versions are usually less capable than what is in the selling nations' arsenals. When the US sells planes they will usually have a less capable avionics and radar systems. US tanks are sold with export armor that is less capable than the armor on tanks currently in the US military. In essence if you have to go to war against your own hardware it won't be as capable as what you have."
]
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|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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|
41feo8
|
how is oil overproduction possible? if production exceeds demand, where and how is it being stored, and what is the limit of that storage capacity?
|
At some point, won't the OPEC producers have to shut pumps down because there's nowhere to ship it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/41feo8/eli5_how_is_oil_overproduction_possible_if/
|
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"Demand increases when the price falls. And price falls as a result of high supply. Therefore everything gets bought, just at a new equilibrium where quantity is higher and price is lower ",
"OPEC nations don't have a lot of storage facilities, they have some though. Mostly because they haven't needed to build them, the oil they produce gets shipped out fairly quickly.\n\nThese pictures of oil storage bunkers in and around Cushing, Oklahoma where West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is stored and sold.\n\n_URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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"https://www.google.com/search?q=oil+storage+cushing+ok&biw=1920&bih=932&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjWxuD347HKAhUE-mMKHRDdA_4Q_AUICSgE"
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|
2tawh7
|
how do iq calculations work and what do they really tell about a person?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tawh7/eli5_how_do_iq_calculations_work_and_what_do_they/
|
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"A legit IQ test is administered by a trained professional, and should be a one-on-one test (not a quiz online, not in a group, it should be you and someone with a stopwatch and some flip-books). It will give you an estimate how well you score, as compared to others your age, on of a handful of cognitive functions we currently think are pretty important to have. Verbal skills, nonverbal reasoning, processing speed, and working memory are the most common skills, fluid reasoning sometimes is in there too. \n\n\nThose skills are combined into one \"Full Scale IQ\" score, which has an average of 100, that tells you, on average, how well you do on those skills as compared to others your age. But that 1 number might not mean much if you're really good at one thing but crap at another. And you also might be good (or bad) at other things that are important in life, like long term memory, social skills, academic stuff like reading and math, that the test doesn't measure. And so the IQ may or may not accurately represent how \"smart\" you appear.",
"(Real) IQ tests are not only long, and have questions covering a variety of subjects and thought processes, but they are also timed. This is because the IQ is really just a measurement of how fast your brain can process information. Usually, this translates to how learned you are, but in reality, it just relates to how fast you can figure things out. As far as what it actually means about a person, it means very little. [Mensa](_URL_0_), a society for people with high IQs, shows this in their about us page. Their members range from people with multiple doctorates, to high school dropouts, scientists, to truck drivers. ",
"An IQ (Full Scale Intelligence Quotient---or FSIQ) is an overall score that is calculated by using 4 other scores. You have verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning (or non-verbal reasoning), working memory, and processing speed. \n\nThese 4 indices look at areas that define what we believe to be types of intelligence. There are many different kinds of intelligence (fluid, crystalized) that the indices are looking for. They compare you to others in your age range to see where you lie in relation to the highest functioning and lowest functioning out of your age group. \n\nThey use a bell curve, with 100 being average intelligence. \n\nTo explain it very basically, they tell you how well you're functioning intellectually by looking at your verbal skills, your non-verbal skills (visuospatial skills), your ability to hold information in your head for a short period of time and extrapolate from it (working memory), and your ability to process information quickly.\n\n\n**/Someone correct me if any of that seems off**",
"Actual psychologist here. It occurs to me that you will probably find better answers by googling your question, or reading a book on psychological testing from the library. There are some truths to what people have posted here, but most seem to be referring to the WISC or WAIS tests, which are just 1 brand of many. There are tests for people that are color blind, deaf, etc. \n\nThe other issue is that you are really asking 2 questions that entire books have been written about. I took a class just on \"how IQ tests work\" and a series of classes (Assessment I-III) on \"what do they really tell about a person.\"\n\nI don't know if you're going to get a licensed psychologist (such as myself) to type that all out in a single response. But some of the answers here are a good start, but I haven't seen one yet this is 100% accurate and fully answers your question at the time of this posting. There are too many different types of IQ tests, components of that test, IQ constructs they measure, and ways to score to accurately sum up in a reasonable response. For example most responses have described the WISC or WAIT but have not addressed usefulness of comparing scores to each other within the test or to other tests such as academic achievement tests, or resting over time. Or the possibility of alternative scoring such as calculating the General Ability Index (GAI) due to discrepancy between scores outside of normal base rates, which gives you information right there. You would have to read several books to really understand the scope of the best response here. ",
"Hi! Before deciding I did not want to spend as much or more of my life doing research vs seeing clients I was in a PhD program for Clinical Psych and can shed a bit of light\n\nOne thing that most people don't know is IQ testing is only legitimate if performed by a licensed Clinical Psychologist or Neuropsychologist and these are the only professionals who receive proper training on the tests. That being said, it is not uncommon for other less qualified professionals to give them anyway. These are not technically valid. \n\nThere is significant debate within the psychology community about what IQ tests actually measure. Think about it, what is intelligence? Ask 10 different people and you will probably get ten different answers.\n\nMost \"mainstream\" psychologists , people really into testing and statistically-based diagnostics tend to believe that IQ tests accurately assess various dimensions that, when put together in context, represent intelligence. However, a large minority (myself included) believe that IQ tests accurately assess various constructs that essentially add up to abstract reasoning ability, not something as broad as intelligence. The main reason for this is that IQ tests do not assess things like creativity and practical know-how and we believe these , along with the abstract reasoning ability assessed by IQ tests, are a better representation of the concept of inteeligence.\n\nIf you find that interesting I highly recommend the work of Robert Sternberg and his Triarchic Theory of Intelligence\n\nIf you're not sure if you have ever been given an IQ test it would have been, as someone else said, one on one only, it is long about 1-2 hours depending on the speed and skill of the administrator and how well you do as each section continues to get progressively harder until you miss several in a row. Each section is designed to be so hard even very intelligent people should not be able to finish it, though it happens sometimes. Most people seem to recall the block design section the best as it involves making designs using red and white blocks. If you did this as part of a long test you probably were given an IQ test. \n\nThe so-called online \"IQ\" tests are BS and not anything like real IQ tests. Usually just clickbait. \n\n\n_URL_0_",
"IQ tests are more a measure of the fluid intelligence of a person As compared to the general population. \n\nFluid intelligence in layman's terms would be a person's cognitive functions and ability to process information. This is opposed to crystallized intelligence which is more along the lines of learned knowledge (facts, skills, processes learned).\n\nThink of it as a computer. It is measuring the processor speed of the computer and RAM (fluid intelligence), Not the hard drive or what is stored on it. \n\nHigh IQ just correlates with learning things more quickly and problem solving. However, high IQ doesn't make one knowledgeable. A person with a normal IQ can be an expert in a field and a high IQ can know jack squat. \n\n",
"Having someone do an IQ test will tell you how good they are at doing IQ tests.",
"I second the part about the trained professional.\n\nI am a special education teacher, and I don't put too much stake in IQs. I've had kids with 65 IQs that could write in complete sentences and do math calculations. I've had kids with 65 IQs who stuggled to write their name and count.",
"A whole bunch of people take an intelligence test. The scores on those tests are then laid out, and assigned an IQ value, such that: \nThe middle score is assigned a value of 100. \nThe scores in the middle 68% are assigned values from 85 - 115. \nThe scores in the middle 95% are assigned values from 70 - 130. \nThe scores in the middle 99.7% are assigned values from 55 - 145.\n\nSince it's just a way of comparing scores on intelligence tests to other people, it's a measure of intelligence. Anyone saying otherwise is probably just being politically correct.",
"on topic sort of:\n\nanyone have internet iq test that is somewhat legit, I realize they are not made available to public and all that, but I assume there are leaks and close enough approximations, curious to see questions on it. ",
"In my experience people with very high and very low intelligence are the least likely to question its existence.",
"So what effect would age have on an IQ test? I was tested very young, four or five I think? ",
"A long time ago a fellow by the name of Alfred Binet was tasked with coming up with a test to figure out the intelligence of children for reasons of school placement. If memory serves (and I'm in the middle of something so I am not going to take the time to look this up) the idea was to identify children with low intelligence. It might have been the other way around and to identify gifted children. It doesn't really matter.\n\nThe problem with trying to measure intelligence is that no one can really agree on what the definition of it is. You ask a 100 different professionals and you may receive 100 different answers. Possibly more. Try defining it for yourself without referencing the word or a synonym for it. It's hard.\n\nSo, what Binet did was start finding tests that identify skills people associate with intelligence and looked for trends and created the first practical IQ test. One of the multiple types of IQ tests we use today is actually still strongly based upon this original test that Binet created. \n\nSo what does it actually measure?\n\nNothing? Something? Maybe?\n\nIn theory the original idea was it stood for your mental age divided by your physical age multiplied by 100. So, if someone was 4 and had the mind of a 6 year old then the formula would work out like this. 6/4 = 1.5. 1.5 X 100 = 150. \n\nThe problem with that is obvious. It only works for very, very young people. It may not even be measuring intelligence but rather verbal skills. The difference between having a mind of a 20 year old versus the mind of a 35 year old isn't that significant. But, that should work out to having an IQ of 175. \n\nIt's better to think of an IQ as a number that has a statistically significant relationship with what we think of as intelligence. That is to say that what people tend to generally agree upon as a sign of intelligence goes up, this number should go up as well. As what we think of as intelligence goes down this number should fall off as well.\n\nDoes it work? Yeah, kind of. IQ tests have a lot of focus on math and verbal skills. Why? Because when Binet started compiling all these myriad tests that were supposed to be linked to IQ those were common trends that he found across all of them. We tend to associate higher intelligence with strong verbal and math skills and lower intelligence with weaker skills. This test of his seemed to work pretty well and we've built upon that idea since. There are other areas that are tested including memory and logic skills, yes, but verbal and math skills are a big part. \n\nSo, could you say that IQ tests are a measure of your math and verbal skills? Well, in very, very early incarnations of the test that closer to true than it is now. Now there are a lot more factors that go in including how long you take to answer certain questions. \n\nFine. So it isn't exactly measuring verbal or math skills. It's measuring a lot of different mental skills that we tend to associate as being closely linked to intelligence, whatever that may be. What does this tell you about a person?\n\nIt . . . sort of . . . depends. \n\n\nFor one thing there is something out there called the Flynn Effect. Look it up if you like, but the general idea is that they have to keep redoing IQ tests every few years and make them harder. It's like the IQ of the planet is going up. Except, since the average IQ for the population is supposed to be 100, you have to renormalize the data. If you take a current version of an IQ test versus an older version you should score higher on the older version. Are people getting smarter? If we follow the trend backwards we should find people around the time of the founding of the United States had an average IQ of about 75. That can't be right. How can people be that much smarter today?\n\nThe idea is that they aren't. But what we do have is a population at large where a larger and larger percentage of people have mindsets that work well on standardized tests. I'm not trying to suggest they are gaming the system or cheating. It's more like a frame of reference situation where things that were foreign to a larger percentage of the population are more commonplace now.\n\nSo, IQ tests have to change to account for the fact that the populations common skill sets keep evolving. So we have to shift how well people have to use some of those strategies to be considered \"intelligent.\" Sure.\n\nBut it gets stranger. Someone else mentioned the standard deviation for the IQ test is 15. If you aren't familiar with statistics, the standard deviation is a way of describing the curve of how the numbers clump together. Start from the highest point of the curve and go 15 points up and 15 points down and around 66% of the population should fall in there somewhere. For IQs that means 85 to 115. By the time we get to the second standard deviation we should have something like 70 90% of the population (depends on the test and how they curve the population). So, from 70 to 130 should be where most people are found. Up from there we get to smaller and smaller portions of the population.\n\nGood. But the margin of error is 5. That's in either direction to. So if you have an IQ of 120 your IQ may be 115 or 125. So if your actual IQ can be anywhere withing 10 points difference and the standard deviation is 15 points you now see a problem. Just a few points difference can mean a world of difference on which level of standard deviation you fall on.\n\nBy the way. If anyone ever heard that the definition of a genius is an IQ at or above 140, that's why. 3 standard deviations, which should account for 98% of the population, is 45 points. So, anyone who falls outside this gap makes up approximately 2% of the population. 65 on the low side and 145 on the high side. But, since your IQ can be off by as much as 5 points, we fudge down to 140 and assume they fall on the high end as well.\n\n*gasp gasp gasp* Getting tired.\n\nOkay, so what else can we say about IQ? Well, it's also not stable before the age of about 16. So if you are quoting your IQ from a test earlier than age 16 you probably are not quoting your current number. \n\nThere are also some weird little quirks that work their way into IQ tests that presume a certain common experience. As such there can be a cultural bias that needs to be taken into effect. Believe it or not, making tests more culturally neutral is a big topic of discussion. If the questions is \"People live in: A) houses B) Trees C) Caves D) Cardboard boxes\" and you are one of the million some odd people in China who live in caves, you are likely to get that question wrong. No, that isn't an actual question. But it is an example of how cultural bias can sneak in.\n\nSo if we gave an intelligent alien creature an IQ test the results may be all over the place because he/she/it doesn't know what in the world is \"normal\" for humans.\n\nIf that wasn't bad enough, while we are really interested in high IQs the numbers have less significance the higher you go up. Really. The difference between someone with an IQ of 70 and an IQ of 85 is pretty dramatic. One is low functioning normal and the other is someone who has mild to moderate delays. But if you trot out a guy with an IQ of 145 and one with an IQ of 160 there is very little difference between them. Same 15 point gap but it's harder to detect a difference.\n\nFine! So, now, like you are 5. How do they work? By carefully compiling a lot of data, we build up an idea how well a common person should do with a certain set of skills. From that we figure out how the data should spread out for the population at large. By taking these tests with these skills we can figure out where you are most likely to fit in with the population at larger. What does the number mean? It is more or less a position on a Bell Curve. What does it tell about the person? Depends on the person. Mostly it gives a fairly reliable indicator on how well they do on certain skills we associate with being strongly linked with intelligence. Is it perfect? Far from it. Is it good? Pretty good. Good enough that it provides useful data. Do the individual points really mean anything? Depends on where you fall on the curve.\n",
"They're used to prove if a child is lazy or if a child is developmentally challenged. If a child scores a hundred or more on an IQ test they CAN do work and SHOULD be able to keep up with other students without and significant help. Any below that and they need extra help to succeed. \n\nI'd argue it's useless at determining true intelligence, but it is very good at telling if a child can or cannot do work.",
"* IQ tests were originally designed to test children.\n* IQ = Mental Age / Actual Age * 100 (e.g. a 4 year old who had mental capacities of a 6 year old has an IQ of 150).\n* Formula doesn't work for adults, so they instead extrapolated the distribution, e.g. if the top 2.5% of 4 year olds have an IQ above 130, then the top 2.5% of 40 year olds can be assigned an IQ above 130.\n\nThis is theory, how well it works in practice is debatable, just like the many other tests that exist that are supposed to measure something but may not do a very good job of it.",
"Professional in training here. I've given a few dozen of these.\n\nThe main theories of intelligence are that it is comprised of a large set of skills. There is an overall component (referred to simply as \"g\" or \"General\", in popular phrasing, IQ) that is broken down into smaller components and skills. Initially, this was thought to simply be \"verbal\" and \"non-verbal,\" but we have learned that it does not break down so simply. There are some skills acquired through the environment and some through the genetic lottery, and most through a combination of the two. These skills can roughly be understood to how well you can solve problems, how much world knowledge you have attained (e.g., facts, vocabulary), your ability to remember things, and so on. We calculate an overall IQ score based on the sum of these skills. IQ score gives a quick, shot-gun overview of your basic mental functioning. What these components are, and how we measure them, evolves frequently.\n\nThe thing about IQ scores is that, by definition, most people are average. The theory contends that, after a certain age (if ever), you will always be as intelligent as you ever will be. Perhaps frustrating to some is that the scores are forced to be average. What does this mean? You are constantly being compared to your peers with this score. If you score 100 (the average score) that means you are about 95% likely to always score a 100. You may get older and smarter as you age, but so did your peers. Moreover, there's something called the [Flynn effect](_URL_0_) that shows that we, as a society, get more intelligent, or we at least get better at the skills that are assessed or more knowledgeable about the facts being quizzed. Thus, we re-test what is \"average\" about every 10 years.\n\nWhat do they really tell about a person? If someone scores in the average range (depending on the test, but usually 80-110), it means their mental capacities are working just as they should. If someone is a little bit lower, it means there's likely some areas that don't work as well (which happens frequently), but others are working fine or better than fine. Once a score dips below 80, it means there is likely some elements of disability, and below 70 or 60 is indicative of disorders (e.g., intellectual disability, formerly known as mental retardation). \n\nInterestingly, scores in higher ranges begin to be predictive of less and less. Above a certain level, a person is capable of any number of things. IQ in the average to above average (and beyond) is predictive of college entrance, but not predictive of college completion (if I remember right). They've been trying to figure out what the upper scores of IQ really do. Terman [followed highly gifted children](_URL_1_) for a very long time, but the highest of the individuals with IQs did not excel, contrary to what he thought. In essence, there is a ceiling effect of what one's IQ is and what it means; lower scores are more predictive than higher sores.\n\n**EDIT:** TL;DR: It is a measurement of a bunch of skills that come together to guesstimate how well your brain/mind work; above a certain level, it doesn't predict much, below a certain level, it predicts that you may have some big difficulties.",
"Am I wrong in saying that high IQ just means you're better at puzzles and making connections that's really about it",
"*has been professionally tested for IQ with results over 150*\n*socially retarded in real life*\nIQ isn't the only thing you need to succeed, it just shows your natural aptitude for certain thinking abilities.",
"People will tell you it means nothing; this is false. It is a sort of aptitude test. People who score high are generally and observably better at a lot of mental tasks, like calculating quickly in your head or grasping advanced concepts easily. They are the people you've encountered in school that get 90+% in class without ever opening their books. It doesn't mean they'll do better in life, just that they are better at understanding stuff and making links. They can still suck at cooking and relationships, and can often struggle later on as they have not learn what it means to work hard to succeed.\n\nSome people are taller, some people are smarter.",
"Everyone on Reddit is a lazy person with an IQ of 130 who didn't study that much in school because of reasons.",
"Every IQ test I remember taking boiled down to \"How well can you identify a trick question?\"",
"A lot of high IQ people go nuts. Because when you start to understand how the world really works, and the deceptions and evil that is happening all around you and you start to see deeply into the sick machanations of man, it is hard to fucking handle.",
"Internet ones dont and show u absolutely nothing.",
"they just measure a lot of different mental capabilities such as working memory and such. It's also used to test some mental impairments. I've taken two for the purpose of diagnosing my ADD and I scored a 140 in 3rd grade and 10th, which is pretty high, but I'm still an idiot. ",
"They are very limited, and in my experience actually kind of harmful. I was given one in 5th grade (11 years old) by my school and did very well on it. Nothing good came from it. They put me in all \"extended\" math courses literally the next day, in the middle of the school year, where I didn't know anybody, and when I did poorly they classified me as an idiot savant or something like that and put me in remedial classes for the rest of middle school and got my parents to give me all sorts of medications to try to \"fix the problem\". \n\nIt sucked, the only reason I had a normal time in high school was because my parents finally told the school administrators to fuck off and just let me choose my classes myself."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://www.mensa.org/about-us"
],
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triarchic_theory_of_intelligence"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Terman#Thoughts_and_research_on_gifted_children"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
ztd7a
|
what exactly i'm looking at when i see this picture
|
Where is the camera positioned, and how are they able to get a full circular panoramic shot like this?
_URL_0_
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ztd7a/eli5_what_exactly_im_looking_at_when_i_see_this/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c67n0b6"
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"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"One usually takes multiple pictures pointing out from a fixed angle and stitches them together to form a 360 panorama. (I think there are special cameras too that can take almost 360 degree photos). Then you apply a [stereographic projection](_URL_1_)--I'm a bit confused if this is what the 'polar filter' in photoshop does or if you need to get a special plug-in. Here is [a youtube](_URL_0_) of someone messing around with the projection filter so you can sort of tell how it bends the image around."
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://i.imgur.com/kObPo.jpg"
] |
[
[
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYDCiMD8W7E",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereographic_projection"
]
] |
|
2f1c60
|
why can dogs pant for so long without dangerously increasing their blood ph?
|
I've heard that only a few seconds of hyperventilation can cause your (a human beings) blood pH to rise to dangerous levels, so what about a dogs blood chemistry can allow them to use panting as a method of cooling off without causing themselves harm?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2f1c60/eli5_why_can_dogs_pant_for_so_long_without/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ck4zqt5",
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5,
2
],
"text": [
"Dogs do not sweat and panting is how they cool off the body. They therefore evolved to not really be prone to hyperventilation while doing so because that would mean they die from over heating. ",
"When we hyperventilate, we often think about breathing **hard and fast** so that the pH of our blood rises of which can be dangerous.\n\nSo how can we counter this?\nEither we breathe **less hard** and or **less fast**.\n\nWhen dogs pant, they tend to breathe pretty fast, which leaves us with the 'less hard' (in other words more shallow) breathing."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
1rzv4x
|
view of women in buddhism versus in christianity
|
Can someone please explain me the differences between the two? All contributions are greatly appreciated.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rzv4x/view_of_women_in_buddhism_versus_in_christianity/
|
{
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"cdsjkdd"
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"text": [
"I'm not well versed in Christianity, but the Buddhist view towards women is one of equality.\n\nYou've got to understand that Buddhism started out over 2500 years ago in India, where the religion was predominantly Hindu and patriarchal in culture. Buddhism was a revolutionary religion for Hindu India at the time because it promoted equality among men and women, and got rid of the caste system.\n\nWomen are allowed into the Sangha, the monastic community, much like men are. Although there are different rules in place for nuns vs. monks, but most of this is likely due for protection in a sexist society, and also for practical reasons.\n\nSome Buddhists view women as having a life that is more burdened than a man's, in that women have to go through child labor, as well as other physiological differences such as menstruation and menopause. \n\nBut in all other regards, women are treated equally as men."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2fwho7
|
why did the nfl suspend ray rice indefinitely and the ravens release him only yesterday when what he did was well known for many months beforehand?
|
Was the entire video not released until TMZ sent it out? Just curious.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fwho7/eli5_why_did_the_nfl_suspend_ray_rice/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ckddswx"
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2
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"text": [
"He was already suspended for two games and the NFL can't increase the arbitrarily like that due to the collective bargaining agreement with the players. The NFL is claiming the new footage allows them to now suspend him indefinitely. The Ravens simply saw the writing on the wall and did not want to put the organization through the ensuing public relations disaster that would have befallen them if they kept Rice. He still has a bit of guaranteed money on his contract, so removing him will really cripple the Ravens for a bit. \n\nThe NFL and Ravens both claim not to have seen the footage until yesterday. Whether that's true or not is another story."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3dmseo
|
how are mountains and canyons formed on other planets? do all non-gas planets have tectonic plates like earth?
|
With these new images of pluto coming through I was curious if all non-gas planets have tectonic plates to create mountains and canyons like we do on earth? If they don't how are the mountains and canyons formed?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3dmseo/eli5_how_are_mountains_and_canyons_formed_on/
|
{
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"text": [
"So we obviously don't know about what processes are going on on Pluto quite yet (though we've known Pluto is dynamic for quite some time). That said, not all bodies are geologically active nor do all geologically active worlds have plate tectonics (e.g. Venus). ",
"By and large mountain/valley forming on other planets are the results of impact events. When a big rock smashes into an even bigger rock, it pushes giant chunks of crust to the sides, where they settle and form mountains. Sometimes these impacts can be so extreme that the crust of the planet cracks to form enormous valley systems (eg Valles Marineris on Mars).\n\nLayer a few billion years of those impacts on top of each other, and you wind up with complex patterns.\n\nThe other well-known mountain forming process is volcanism, both classic and cryo (ice). Many of the bigger mountains on Mars, for instance, are actually gigantic volcanoes.\n\nAs far as I know, Earth is the only planet with known tectonic activity. Places with actual weather (like Venus or Titan) tend to have less mountains/valleys simply because the weather slowly erases extreme geologic features.",
"Well this is the first time my geography degree actually seems relevant, and I can't even manage to put together a non-jargon TL;DR. The geomorphology of planets is wildly interesting to me, and [this](_URL_0_) explains it in much better than I can."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_science#Geomorphology"
]
] |
|
39zrvc
|
why do objects with the same mass but different volumes have different gravitational forces?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/39zrvc/eli5_why_do_objects_with_the_same_mass_but/
|
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"text": [
"If you're the same distance away from them it (basically) doesn't. You could replace the sun with a black hole of equal mass & the Earth would still orbit just fine.\n\nThe difference is that, once you start compressing the mass, it lets you get *closer* to a massive object. [Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation](_URL_0_) says that the gravitational force between two objects is inversely proportional to the square of the distance (ie - you divide the force by the square of your distance from the center). If you're 2x as far from the object, you only get 1/4 the gravitational pull; 3x as far gives you 1/9. If you cut the distance in half, you get 4x the pull.",
"Gravitational force between two objects (say, you and a planet) is directly determined by the distance between the two objects' centres. The greater the distance, the less the gravity.\n\nCompare when you're standing on a planet with the mass of the Earth that's made of solid iron versus a planet that's the same mass as the Earth but made of styrofoam (and so much, much larger). \n\nThe first case sees you not that far from the planet's core because the planet is so dense, so your weight will be high. \n\nThe second sees you're much further away, maybe four times as far from the planet's centre, so your weight will be lower because that much extra distance really reduces the gravitic attraction.",
"Only mass has an effect on gravity, but volume has an effect on the position of that mass. If you have something that's higher in volume, its mass will be spread over a larger area and will therefore have a weaker influence on a given object.",
"According to one of Isaac Newton's (1642-1726/7) law, the shorter the distance between masses, the stronger the gravitational pull. The closer, the stronger. \n\nFor example, picture 20 feet. Object A is on one corner, object B is on the another corner and have the same masses.\n\nObject A is 5 feet long and object B is 5 feet long. The space between object A and object B is 10 feet. \n\nNow on the other hand, Object C and Object D have the same mass as Object A and Object B. However Object C and Object D take up more space or more volume.\n\nPicture the same 20 feet. Object C is 7 feet and Object D is 8 feet. The space between them is 5 feet. \n\nWhich has the stronger gravitational pull? Object A and Object B seperated by 10 feet or Object C and Object D seperated by 5 feet? Object C and Object D because they are closer to each other. \n\nThe closer objects are to each other, the stronger the gravitational force. \n\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_law_of_universal_gravitation#Modern_form"
],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
uofzx
|
how are waffle fries made?
|
I have tried to figure it out before but it's the one thing I can't seem to wrap my brain around.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/uofzx/how_are_waffle_fries_made/
|
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"text": [
"Waffle fries? Don't you mean carrot fries? ",
"My word, [how could one find the answer to such an intricate question??] (_URL_0_)\n\nOn another note - what sorcery did you use to find a picture of this online?! ",
"They're sliced one way, all wavy (so they'd look like Lays Ruffles) and then they're sliced perpendicular further in the potato so that holes get created where the potato is in a trough but is held together where the potato is in a crest.",
"you mean like... blue waffles?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+waffle+fries+are+made"
],
[],
[]
] |
|
395xyj
|
why do most people stop crying over physical pain when they go from child to adult?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/395xyj/eli5why_do_most_people_stop_crying_over_physical/
|
{
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"text": [
"Crying is an effective way to get the attention of an adult. Babies and toddlers do it by instinct; some children do it deliberately. Ever see a child who bumps his head or falls on his butt, *looks around for reactions,* and the minute Aunt Wellmeaning rushes over with \"oh you poor thing!\" *then* the waterworks start? That's a social reaction, not a physical pain reaction (same as the child who looks around at adults laughing at the sitcom and then joins their laughter).\n\nAs we get older, we are able to control our outward reaction to the pain (involuntary crying). However, as someone with several kinds of chronic pain and undergone many medical procedures, I will add that involuntary crying from pain stimulus as an adult really depends on the level of pain. This may also relate to your question; if 3/10 to a child is the \"worst pain they've ever experienced\" and elicits tears, an adult who experiences 9/10 pain decades later, it's still the worst pain they've ever experienced. As you gain experience, the relative effect of pain decreases.",
"Adults, especially men are conditioned that crying is not acceptable.\n\nSwearing apparently reduces pain a little.\n_URL_0_\n",
"Anecdote: When my son was maybe two years old he fell over and genuinely hurt himself quite badly. He was screaming like mad, so I picked him up, but it was so loud in my ears that I said quite calmly, \"That noise is hurting my ears, so you'll have to stop it or I'm going to put you down.\" He stopped immediately - it was like a switch. To me, this shows how easily controlled it is, even in infancy, especially when it has achieved the intended result.",
"Crying is an alarm response, an attempt to alert others in your tribe that you need assistance.\n\nAdults are less likely to need or receive aid, so they cry less, in all situations.",
"when you are younger pain is also associated with fear *(lack of understanding whats happening to your body)* and and we also do not have the experience to decipher whats going to kill us or not. Crying is basically a trigger to relieve the stress of being injured.\n\nAt times when older you may have seen someone or even yourself... laugh while injured, even while being in a fair amount of pain. this is because you understand your injury is not life threatening or altering. the laughing is again a stress reliever, just a more educated one.",
"There's been some neat research lately as to *why* we cry.\n\nOne leading theory with a lot of support describes crying as a natural mechanism to prevent our emotional side from getting too overwhelmed. This theory goes on to explain why people cry when they're happy too: too much emotion - > need to prevent being overwhelmed - > crying provides an outlet to calm us.\n\nThe same is true for pain (emotional loss, like death, or physical pain). Basically, crying helps us moderate very intense emotions much more quickly than those of us who 'bottle it up.'\n\n[Source 1 - Yale University Psychology Research](_URL_0_)\n\nAs a child you don't know how to control emotions. As you grow up you get exposed to more emotions and a larger range for them; from different physical pains to different levels of joy and excitement. As that range increases you learn to better control various types of emotions, kinda like, \"Well, this scratch isn't as bad as that time I smashed my finger in the car door... I can handle this one.\" You learn to not get as amped up over things that are smaller than past experiences. If you're not really emotional you don't have the need to cry, so you don't.\n\nedit: I can't type so corrected typo.",
"All of the answers in here are great. You also have to remember that when you're, say 5 years old, you've only had 5 years to get hurt. There's a good chance that if you hurt yourself, it'll make the top 10 most painful things you've ever experienced. Once you're an adult, stubbing your toe for the 300th time still hurts, but you've felt much worse pain. ",
"for what its worth, I caught my baby toe on the coffee table the other day and cried my eyes out for like 10 min..... I am a 30 year old grown ass man. ",
"I couldn't yell \"FUuUuUUucKKK\" out loud as a child, so I'm sure I found crying to be more effective. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-swear/"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2831275/Why-cry-happiness-revealed-Responding-negative-reaction-helps-people-cope-extreme-joy.html"
],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
5smeoz
|
what exactly happened to r/politics?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5smeoz/eli5_what_exactly_happened_to_rpolitics/
|
{
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"text": [
"Long time reader and occasional commenter on r/politics here. \n\nThe 2016 election happened. Roll back to early 2015, and r/politics is a moderately left leaning sub that more or less mirrors Reddit's overall demographics. \n\nThen the Sanders/Clinton battle begins. Sanders is the clear favorite, as his positions cater to the young, white vote strongly. This begins a political civil war, in which the two sides of the left bicker over which candidate is better. The shit show that was the RNC primary gets largely ignored.\n\nThis has the eventual effect of turning away moderate and right leaning voters, as it was frankly getting pretty extreme by the end of the primaries. With Clinton's upcoming victory, the remaining regular readers slowly coalesce around Clinton, especially as it becomes clear that Trump is taking the nomination on the Republican side. \n\nModerate readers are slow to return to the sub as it's pulled pretty hard to the left at this point. The battle begins between Clinton and Trump with r/politics solidly blue and very salty over the primary. Due to the polarizing nature of the election, as well as the growth of alternate subs, like r/neutralpolitics or r/The_Donald, there's no balancing force to outweigh the liberal bias present.\n\nWith the election over, the sub has continued to devolve, focused almost entirely on nitpicking the President's every action.",
"It's a combination of the dominant share of readers of that Reddit and the Reddit algorithm. I'm a moderate conservative, but I really do generally enjoy engaging with the other side. But views that don't conform to the Sanders-Warren faction of the Democratic Party in /r/politics will get downvoted hard and fast, which in turn means that the Reddit algorithm will bury them. I ultimately unsubscribed. No real point in taking 5-10 minutes to try writing out a serious conservative argument on any point when it's just going to get downvoted into oblivion almost immediately."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
3ao88e
|
why is the year written as 2015 and not 2,015?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ao88e/eli5_why_is_the_year_written_as_2015_and_not_2015/
|
{
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"text": [
"Commas are used for clarification, or to facilitate reading. Adding a comma to a year does not help in either category. If we lived in the year 15,235,225; we probably would include the commas.",
"The usually typesetting rule is only to use the comma digit-grouping separator (or period in Europe) where there are *more* than four digits in the number. By this rule we need to wait for the year 10 & thinsp;000. There's an exception to the rule where you have tables of numbers that will look strange if the digits don't align but this rarely applies to years.\n\nAs an aside, it's better to use a \"thin space\" instead of either a comma or period to group digits because it causes less confusion over the whole comma/period issue. The trouble is that in many contexts (like here on reddit), non-breaking thin-spaces are tricky to use; compare:\n\n2 & thinsp;015\n\n2,015\n\n2.015"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
81069u
|
is it easier to start a bonfire when it’s hot outside or when it’s cold outside?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/81069u/eli5_is_it_easier_to_start_a_bonfire_when_its_hot/
|
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"Hot or cold may play a small factor in how much your fuel has dried out, but fundamentally you can have hot wet wood or you can have cold dry wood. The important thing is you have lots of small dry tinder, with some dry twigs and grass on top, slowly building up with larger and larger pieces before you get to your logs. And the core of your fire, where your dry stuff is should have good airflow. If you have enough dry stuff with adequate airflow at the core/base of your fire the rest will take care of itself wet or dry. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
5g11vj
|
physiologically speaking, how is the retina taking light waves and generating an action potential from them?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5g11vj/eli5_physiologically_speaking_how_is_the_retina/
|
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"Each rod and cone contains a chemical (rhodopsin for rods, others for the cones) that when hit triggers an electrical signal.",
"This is a cool one.\n\nNormally in nerves ions are separated to create a charge across their membrane. When a stimulus comes in, they open channels to allow the ions (which are now separated by both concentration and charge) to rapidly rush across. This is called depolarization and results in a small voltage change that triggers the next set of channels. This wave of channels opening from each others' voltage changes is an action potential.\n\nThe retinas however don't do this. Instead they have channels that stay open all the time and pumps that just keep pushing ions across the membrane which trickle back in through the always open channels.\n\nThe proteins responsible for detecting light (pigments) have a bend at one point. The bend is from electrons trying to occupy the same space. They push each other apart since they can't both be in the same spot. Light at certain frequencies has the ability to push an electron. Depending on the pigment, the electron at the bend will be pushed by a different frequency of light. When it is pushed it allows the other electron to fill the spot and the bend straightens. This change of shape in the protein causes it to react with another protein bound to it. That protein (G-protein) then sends a set of signals that rapidly shut all those always open channels I mentioned earlier. When all the channels shut, the pumps cause the cell to hyperpolarize (still a voltage change) which signal the nerve next to it.",
"Very complicated question. The ELIFifeteen explanation is as follows. You talked about action potentials, so I'm guessing you understand depolarization and hyperpolarization.\n\nIn the absence of light, photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) are slightly depolarized (around -40mV). While depolarized, they release glutamate, a neurotransmitter, at a steady rate onto a \"bipolar\" cell. This glutamate INHIBITS the bipolar cell, so that it releases LESS glutamate onto the retinal ganglion cells. The retinal ganglion cells are EXCITED by glutamate so in this case, they don't fire very much.\n\nIn the presence of light, the photon triggers a chemical reaction in light sensitive molecules in the photoreceptor cell. This triggers a signalling cascade which results in the closing of sodium ion channels. As the sodium channels close, the cell becomes HYPERPOLARIZED. This causes calcium channels to also close. As calcium influx is necessary for the cell to release glutamate, in the presence of light, the photoreceptor cell releases LESS glutamate onto the bipolar cell. Since the bipolar cell is inhibited by glutamate, the bipolar cell now becomes EXCITED and releases MORE glutamate onto the retinal ganglion cell. The retinal ganglion cell is excited by glutamate which leads to the opening of ion channels generating an action potential. The retinal ganglion cell is the first to generate an action potential in this pathway. The other cells have graded potentials (not self propagating, weaken as the signals travels from its origin, etc).\n\nIn reality it is a bit more complicated. What I described is an ON-center bipolar cell. There are off-center bipolar cells which respond in exactly the opposite manner. When it comes to cones, you can't consider a single pathyway from cone cell > bipolar cell > retinal ganglion cell. You have to consider a cluster of cones together known as a receptive field. Multiple cone cells are connected to eachother through a horizontal cell which integrates their input and feeds back into the central cone cell before their signal is sent to the bipolar cell. I just want you to be aware I am somewhat simplifying the process.\n\nIf you're interested, here's some additional information which may be more or less helpful based on your background in biology:\n\nPhototransduction (the question you asked, without discussion of ion channels or signalling cascade)\n_URL_2_\n\nPhototransduction with signalling cascade explained (may need more biology background):\n_URL_1_\n\nOn-Center, Off-center receptive fields:\n_URL_0_\n\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ptnmfpDThk",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_phototransduction",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLQCYflVV3M"
]
] |
||
b3lh5g
|
why do almost all fm radio frequencies have an odd decimal value? for example: 100.3, 91.5, 101.1
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b3lh5g/eli5_why_do_almost_all_fm_radio_frequencies_have/
|
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"So the stations don’t interfere with each other. 101.3 and 101.1 can be 2 separate stations but it would overlap with 101.2. \n\nIf you have the capability you can hear this happen if the station you want is 101.1 and you tune to 101.2 you can still hear a bit of the 101.1 through the static.\n\nWhy the numbers are odd and not even is arbitrary and chosen by the FCC. But they all remain odd because the FCC chose odd and they need to be .2 apart",
"The bandwidth of a FM radio signal is 200kHz or 0.2Mhz. In the US the frequency band for FM radio is 88-108Mhz so the first is 88-88.2 Mhz. The name of the channels is for the center frequency of the rang so for 88-88.2 Mhz the center is 88.1Mhz. The next channel have a center frequency 0.2Mhz higher so all channels have a odd decimal digits.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThe channels also have a channel number and 88.1 id change 201 but the are seldom used outside the FCC\n\nCommercial radio the range is 92.0 to 108 MHz\n\n & #x200B;\n\nHow the spectrum is distributed depend on the country and even decimal digit are used. I can for example pick up 7 odd and 6 even decimal FM station from my desk in Sweden\n\n & #x200B;\n\nEDIT: mixed upp the start ad 80 instead of 88 for some dum reason.\n\n & #x200B;",
"When you transmit on a radio, the signal leaks off to both sides, and more so at higher power. (Say, putting out a signal strong enough to be picked up across the city with a crappy car antenna)\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIn the US, the FCC allocates 88.0-108.0 for consumer radio. They break the radio spectrum into channels, each .2 wide. This provides 100 different channels. However, the radio station actually tries to transmit in the middle of the channel. So the person assigned the 100.2-100.4 channel tries to transmit right in the middle at 100.3, knowing they won't leak outside of their range too badly.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIn reality, the FCC takes a bunch of stuff into consideration to make sure stations don't step on each other. The higher the power the station, the further it can be picked up, but the more it bleeds outside the channel. So you have to show you're important enough to get a radio station assigned to you, and you're limited. That's why you can hear the major channels further away then your local collage radio. It's not just that the college can't afford a powerful transmitter, it's that they are limited on how powerful of a transmitter they can use. They also look at nearby cities radio stations as well, so the high-powered station from one city won't wipe out the next city's smaller station.",
"Some good answers but no one has mentioned yet that FM means \"Frequency Modulation\". The signal is sent by encoding the sound in variations in the frequency. So a signal is not sent on one specific frequency, it's a range of frequencies centered on, for example, 100.3Mhz. The stations have to be a certain distance apart on the spectrum to not overlap each other, and 0.2Mhz is the separation that works for FM radio.",
"FM is short for *Frequency Modulation* which means the different sounds are transmitted by slightly adjusting the frequency of the signal. If the station frequencies are too close together, they will sometimes overlap. By using odd tenths of a kHz we keep some space between stations.",
"If stations are close to each other, they will interfere. \n\nThe rest of my answer is specific to Melbourne, Australia (which given the frequencies you listed is probably where you are from too)\n\nThe regulators here decided to make them all 0.3 more than a multiple of 0.8\n\nThis is an arbitrary choice. The 0.8 is to leave enough of a gap between that they don't interfere (lower would probably work too as long as it was at least 0.4).\n\nThe 0.3 was an arbitrary decision but stops any of the stations having much 'better' numbers than the others.\n\n",
"A picture is worth a thousand words:\n\n[_URL_0_](_URL_0_)\n\nThis is a screenshot of SDR#, a software to receive all kinds of radio broadcasts.What you can see in the screenshot are multiple FM radio stations.\n\nEach peak is a station, with the highlighted one at 95.5 MHz.\n\nThe highlighting around the station is 240kHz wide, so basically 0.24 MHz.If you had a station at 100.3 and 100.4 MHz, they would interfere, because they are both wider than a 100 kHz step...",
"For a real ELI5, pretend your radio tuner is a bucket, and in order to listen to a radio station you have to place that bucket on a pole with the stations name on it.\n\nIf the poles are all too close together it becomes hard put the bucket on just one pole instead of 2 or 3. So we space out the poles (or radio frequencies).\n\nThe 0.2 difference is enough for the bucket to miss other stations when tuning into one specific one, yet allows for us to put the poles fairly close together",
"The Fourier equation states that if you broadcast on say, 88.7, there will be a harmonic at lesser power a predictable distance away, higher and lower. So maybe 101.6, and 67.whatever. the stations are carefully spaced so that this harmonic is not on top of another station. ",
"u/Target880 covers the concept of bandwidth for you really well. Only thing to add would be the term 'guard band' which is a little extra RF space thrown in on the sides of a transmission to actually prevent overlap. The 200 kHz measurement includes the guard band. The signal won't actually be 200 kHz wide.\n\nYou can see the foundation of this concept with a Wi-Fi scanner that shows you the occupied channels. Adjacent channels will overlap significantly. If you skip a channel you'll see a significant drop between signals, that drop off helps the demodulator quite a bit. ",
"I'd like to add a note that I'm not seeing elsewhere. In the title you say \"almost all FM radio frequencies\", but it really is all proper radio stations (at least in the US). If you hear, for example, \"98 FM\", look it up. They're really 98.1 FM but the standalone 98 is more memorable so they push that.",
"The answer is in pieces scattered across a few different top-level comments, so to give a summary:\n\n* Stations have to be a certain distance apart on the radio spectrum, or they will interfere with one another\n* In the US, the FM band is split into 0.2MHz-wide chunks\n* These chunks are always arranged as xx.0-xx.2, xx.2-xx.4, xx.4-xx.6, etc.\n* The stations broadcast in the center of each 0.2MHz chunk, so the station occupying 100.0-100.2 has a center frequency of 100.1",
"Something that doesn't seem to get mentioned is that this applies to the US, in Europe (afaik, throughout) they have stations on the EVEN decimals. In Israel they have one both, but still give a buffer - 88, 91.3, 91.8, 93.9, 95.5, 96.6, 97.7, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 107 are all popular stations here (though some are regional and others are national).",
"Each station has 30 KHz of bandwidth allocated to it. So, when you tune you tune to the center frequency of, say, 107.7 MHz, but the information the radio receives varies (because of modulation) from 107.6 MHz to 107.8 MHz. This isn't 100% true though: there's a gap between stations to also allow for digital sub carriers and to prevent interference. So the FM signal itself is really only from 107.64 to 107.73, the rest of the space is for stuff like HD radio and stereo broadcasting as well as an empty \"guard band\" to prevent station interference. AM is the same way, they are all spaced 10 KHz apart but only take 6 KHz or so of bandwidth for modulation, the rest is for intentionally empty space.\n\nEdit: put an 8 in the wrong place, fixed.\nEdit 2: clarified more.",
"As others have said, in Australia the standard is odd numbers with 0.8 spacing. So for instance Sydney has stations on 104.1, 104.9, 105.7 etc.\n\nThe only exception that I know of is in Sydney where the Christian music station is on 103.2, big the surrounding stations are 102.5 and 104.1 as you’d expect.\n\nIs there something non-Christian about 103.3?",
"We talk about radio stations as a single frequency, but in the real world they spread out a bit at every stage - when they're transmitted, traveling through the air, when your car receives them. There's also a bit of error in your tuner, and in the transmitter. All of this (and also physics) contributes to the bandwidth - how wide the range of frequencies is, and it's not zero. A station is allocated a chunk of the radio spectrum to use that has a reasonable about of bandwidth that they can stay in, and stay far enough from other station's signals to not cause interference.\n\nThe reason they're odd is very simple. My local NPR station has the chunk spanning from 89.6 to 89.8 MHz. They aim for the middle of that chunk, 89.7. That's why all stations are odd decimals.",
"The fact that they are 0.2 apart is because of the way radio works. It's like lines of text: you need to have the text be a certain size so you can read it. If you make it smaller, it's harder to read (similarly, AM radio stations are narrower and it has less fidelity—550-1600 AM is like 0.55 to 1.6 FM). You can put the lines closer together but if you get too close then it's hard to read. Ideally, the lines of text are in perfectly straight lines, but radio gets wiggled by the air, and radios don't read the radio waves perfectly either (although advancements in radios made them better at following variations in the waves.)\n\nSo if you imaging trying to read text that's kind of wiggly up and down on the page, and if you're an old radio, you're also shaking the paper, it would be much easier if the text was big and there were was a big gap between lines.\n\nIf it were all perfectly aligned, radio could be fit as close as 0.04 apart (that's two channels, right and left, that are 0.02 wide) but that would be like reading text where each line touches the next; if you add in the wiggly printing and shaking the paper, you'd often read the wrong thing. So they give the sound 0.1 MHz width or so to make it big enough to read, and then they give a gap of 0.1 MHz between each line of text so when it's distorted, it's still readable.\n\nIn other countries, radio stations are on even numbers instead. (100.2, 91.2, etc.)",
"FM radio bands are different around the world, but the 200khz separation is still in effect pretty much everywhere. If you had a digital Walkman back in the 90s, there was a code combination to switch between Japan/Asia 76-108mhz, and North America/European 87.5-108mhz. You could pick up lots of interesting things in those lower bands.",
"It's there to make sure there's enough gap between the stations; they're never at *exactly* the right frequency. The FCC assigns stations a certain section of the frequency spectrum and tells them to stick within it. In other countries the gaps might be different'for instance in much of Europe the gaps are every 0.1 MHz, not every 0.2 MHz.",
"You know how you can make your voice *really deep* or ^really ^high ? In the middle is your normal voice.\n\nFM Radio stations do the same thing. But they're only allowed to talk in a certain range or the government will be mad at them.\n\nSo the lowest they can talk in the US is 88.0. But that wouldn't be their normal voice. Normal voice is 88.1. Then they can make their voice *really deep* to 88.0 and ^really ^high to 88.2.\n\nThe next station doesn't want to talk over the first station - that makes the other station and the government mad and then they fight and get a time out.\n\nSo the next station talks in normal at 88.3. They can go to 88.2 but no lower, and to 88.4 but no higher.\n\nEdited per comment.",
"I actually know this one very very well. So FM stands for frequency modulation. That means the station has a specific frequency they can broadcast on say 105.7. Now in order for them to actually send any sound they have to change that signal somehow so your radio can tell the difference between the sound and the base signal. It does this by modifying the frequency a little. So what happens is the sound changes the base frequency from 105.7 to something roughly between 105.65 and 105.75 depending on the exact sound they want to make. You radio is set up to interpret these constantly changing differences as sound and plays it through your speaker. Now if you had a station on 105.6, 105.7, and 105.8 you would hear the edges of sound from .6 and .8 while listening to .7 so they force extra room between the stations then is ideally needed. Why is it odd numbers well the FCC says hey here are the bands you can operate with for FM radio 88-108 so if you you are changing the frequency to send your signal you can broadcast at the 88 or 108 because you will be over or under the required frequency range. So where is the first place you can really start transmitting 88.1 and if you need a .1 gap what's the next one that can transmit 88.3 and so on and so forth.",
"I don’t know the technical reasons (smaller area, stronger signal, less deviation?) but in the UK, we have both even numbers and odd numbers in our FM frequencies",
"It's an american thing. In Europe all decimal numbers are used. ",
"That's because you tune by the center frequency of a signal that's defined as roughly .2MHz,(actually slightly less) with the range of the FM broadcast band being from exactly 88.0 to 108.0. Signals aren't allowed outside this range, so, you have a step of .2, with a starting value of 88.1.",
"I can't source this. FM means Frequency Modulation. FM is in stereo, so think about it, that is TWO channels. No sound is naturally stereo, it's all mono. The unseen digit (even channels) are the other channel giving stereo.",
"Many of the answers here are speculative bullshit. \n\nThe carrier signal is on the odd-decimals, but each station is allocated 0.2 MHz of bandwidth. Because of sidebands/deviation, the full signal goes above and below the carrier frequency. In addition, there are other parts of the transmitted signal that you never hear. There is digital content, and in some stations, a whole different set of non-commercial subscription programming. \n\nAll of this takes bandwidth, *both above and below the carrier frequency *. So the U.S. FM band starts at 88.0 MHz. If the first station had their carrier right on 88.0, their lower sideband would extend into 87.9 MHz, below the allocated band. Hence by starting at 88.1, the lower sideband remains above the band limit.\n\nEach subsequent station is 0.2 MHz above.",
"I've recently wondered this, there's a station where I live that advertises itself as just 102 but picks up on 101.9 but Is a bit static. Are they actually 102 or are they just rounding? ",
"\nFM works by changing the frequency transmitted above and below the nominal frequency.\n\nIn North America, broadcast FM radio station allocations are 200 kHz wide. That's one reason why they sound better than AM, which has 10 kHz spacing -- they can carry more information.\n\nIn North America, the band reserved for FM starts at 87.8 MHz. In order to go above and below the center frequency, then, the first *center* frequency has to be 87.9. All the rest follow every 200 kHz after that.\n\nOther places, the channel width may be 50 kHz or 100 kHz, and so the center frequencies that you tune to may not follow that odd numbered decimal rule. With 50 kHz spacing, it would be possible to have a station at, say, 87.825 MHz.\n",
"Simple answer. It is for the frequency spacing required by FCC and plus if you ever listen to 103.2 you will hear some bleed over from the other channels.",
"When radio waves are too close to each other, they fight for dominance. So they give each other space.\n\nIts an odd occurrence, so thats why all the numbers are odd.",
"this is a different frequency range but you want different stations so you don't interfere with the next signal. Here is a spec an display of a MHZ signal \n\n_URL_0_ \n\nEdit: bonus points if you know what's wrong in the photo... ",
"An FM radio station at 100.3 uses all the frequencies between roughly 100.2 to 100.4 (MHz).\n\n[Here](_URL_0_) is an FM station at 88.3. You can see how it's using everything between 88.2 and 88.4, and that if there was something at 88.4 it wouldn't work out so well.",
"This is specified as the center frequency of the FM signal. For example, 200 KHz is reserved for each station, and the FM radio spectrum goes from 88 through 108 MHz. by specifying odd frequencies, you get 20 x 5 = 100 possible frequencies. Maximum deviation is +/- 75KHz, and there is a 25 KHz \"guard\" band on each side of the channel. \nSource: [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) \n",
"Each station occupies not just one frequency, but a swath of airspace which is called the station's bandwidth. For FM radio in the US, the bandwidth is 200 kHz (0.2 MHz). In order to prevent the stations from interfering with one another, they must transmit on specific frequencies that are separated by (you guessed it) 200 kHz. Most FM radios simply cannot tune to frequencies in between these odd numbered ones, because there simply isn't anything there. As far as the frequencies themselves being odd-numbered (i.e. why does the FM band start at 89.7 MHz and not 89.8), I have no idea. This same idea is true for AM broadcast stations and even amateur radio operators, but the bandwidths are much less. Only 10 kHz for an AM station and as small as a tens of hertz for a morse code signal. An HDTV signal occupies something like 6 freaking megahertz!",
"OPh ffs these comments. \n\nRight so, lets take the american standard since I know that one does the decimal thing. \n\nthe FM standard covers the 88.0Mhz to 108Mhz spectrum. Why is sort of arbitrary, although that happens to be a useful chunk of the spectrum for radio since it usually can't make it much beyond the visual horizon and that means a radio station broadcast covers a fairly well defined area.\n\nEach Fm radio station was given 200 Khz of bandwidth to broadcast on. They'll use that to broadcast The mono audio, stereo audio, and bascily anything else they want, like say artist information. For example a station that only broadcasts mono audio for some reason only needs about 15khz to transmit that. That still leaves them with 185khz of spectrum to broadcast on, so they might use that to broadcast a radio reading service. \n\nWhen you tune your radio to a station, you select the center of that block and your radio bascily chops off everything more than 100khz away from that center. \n\nSo from 88Mhz, the first station gets the spectrum between 88.0 and 88.2 and it's center is at 88.1.The next station gets between 88.2 and 88.4, and it's center is at 88.3. And so on, which each new station's center frequency begin another 200kHz further along. 88.5, 88.7, 88.9, 89.1 etc. \n\n\n",
"Technically the frequencies are actually defined by a frequency band - the number that you tune to is just the center of that band. For example, 101.1 is actually all frequencies between 101.0 and 101.2. The frequency below that is 100.9, which goes from 100.8 to 101.0. So really the frequencies are non-overlapping even-numbered bands!\n\nThis is because in FM (Frequency Modulation) the amplitude of the sound wave is converted into a frequency, so the radio needs to receive a range of frequencies to operate.",
"In America the deviation for FM signals is 75k and in Europe (I believe) is 50k\n\nSo your signal bandwidth is 150k wide. This way 101.1 and 101.3 don’t bump and overlap each other’s signals."
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"http://landoflinux.com/images/linux_gqrx_fm.png"
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[
"http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Audio/radio.html"
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||
39sdzn
|
when people say "it smells like sex in here." what are they actually smelling?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/39sdzn/eli5_when_people_say_it_smells_like_sex_in_here/
|
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"text": [
"Semen.... Rubber.... Spermicide.... Lube.... Sweat.... Ass...... Moip..... Mung..... Pee/Poo (if in Germany).... ",
"TL;DR - sweat and juices.\n\nMost people keep their junk well covered the majority of the time which means sweat builds up there so is noticeable when aired out, plus physical activity produces sweat, and sweat has a distinct smell. Also squishy bits produce various fluids (semen, lubrication), each of which has a distinct smell. This cocktail of bodily fluids fills the air with the smell that people associate with sex. ",
"What do you honestly think?",
"Roses... Laughter... Unicorns... I believe this explains everything...\n_URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH7hj1nauTc"
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||
ehglpl
|
what exactly is digital money? does it represent physical money that banks store, or is it completely digital?
|
As you may know, many people have credit cards and bank accounts, which have a number that represents their balance/amount of money they have. I cannot find a straight answer as to whether this “digital” money is entirely digital or if it is merely a representation of physical notes and coins. Answers explaining this will be appreciated. Thanks!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ehglpl/eli5_what_exactly_is_digital_money_does_it/
|
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"text": [
"Strictly speaking, it is debt, the promise of an institution to pay on the terms of the account.\n\nBecause of something called **fractional banking**, the institution that you have an account with may not have enough bills on hand to pay off all their accounts. That is because some of their assets are in longer term investments (like a mortgage).\n\nGenerally banks will have an asset sheet (money lended out generating a return) and a debit sheet (deposits owed and interest paid), as well as reserves (cash on hand needed to meet their obligations under the terms of the depositors accounts).\n\nSo a healthy bank your deposit represents a share of the banks current reserved/ future investment incomes.\n\nAt the end of the day, the bank has assets to back up its digital money, but not necessarily currency. The **Reserve Banking** and **interbanking systems** system provides a way for banks to square with each other, so if uneven digital currency changes hands one bank will end up transferring assets (usually treasury notes) to another.",
"\nBank: Your bank balance is a representation of how much the bank owes you.\n\n1000 people each deposit $1 in a bank. What does the bank do with the $1000? It's split among several deals:\n\n- (a) The bank keeps a $40 stack of bills.\n- (b) The bank deposits $60 in the Federal Reserve bank.\n- (c) The bank buys $200 worth of government bonds.\n- (d) The bank makes 100 loans of $7 each to people who want to buy houses.\n\nThese are the bank's *assets*. Let's walk through them:\n\n- (a) The stack of bills is used to pay anyone who comes in and wants cash.\n- (b) The Fed is a whole post in and of itself. Basically it's a \"banker's bank.\" A bank can use its Fed account to send money to another bank's Fed account. (The Fed's computer literally subtracts from one balance and adds to another balance.)\n- (c) Government bonds pay interest, they're a safe investment, and also very easy to sell.\n- (d) Eventually over 30 years, those 700 homeowners will pay the bank something like $1000. The $700 original loans plus $300 interest.\n\nAs you can see, the deposit represents money the bank owes you. If only a few people ask for their deposits, the bank can easily handle it with its stack of bills (or Fed deposit in the case of a transfer to another bank). If a large number of people all ask for their deposits at the same time (called a \"bank run\"), they will be in trouble.\n\nThere are a number of ways banks try to stay out of trouble:\n\n- For access to the best interest rates, depositors agree to be penalized for early withdrawal (\"Certificate of Deposit\").\n- If cash is running low, use the payments from bonds / loans to replenish it.\n- Sell bonds / loans to raise cash.\n- Take out very short-term loans (\"overnight\") for cash while waiting for sales to close.\n\nThese are all normal business practice for a healthy bank. For an unhealthy bank in danger of collapse, the bank can sell itself (assets and deposits) to another bank. Or if the bank completely fails (super rare in the US), depositors are paid back through mandatory government-run insurance (FDIC).\n\n[1] I'm using small numbers that are easier to think about, really it would be something like $1 billion and $100 million."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
29cu1c
|
why are events such as the world cup and the olympics held in different places each time?
|
Why not just use existing facilities and just cycle between them? It costs Earth-shattering amounts of money to build these places and they lie unused and deteriorating afterwards.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29cu1c/eli5_why_are_events_such_as_the_world_cup_and_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cijnjl0"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"To give everyone a chance at hosting them, instead of just assigning them. Its supposed to be a competition, and the country with the best proposal to put on the best games wins! If there was no competition, they wouldn't be trying too hard would they.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3jzy6q
|
quantum multiverse
|
What actually distinguishes between two different outcomes, potentially causing a branching universe? It's often illustrated with a coin toss, but surely it only works on a quantum level? What is the 'quantum coin toss'?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jzy6q/eli5_quantum_multiverse/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cutpdkw"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"As an example, take the spin of an electron. Electron spin is really weird. It can only spin up or spin down. You might ask what happens if you take an electron spinning up and turn it 90 degrees. Now it's spinning up AND down at the same time. So what happens if you measure the spin of the electron? The universe splits in two with one version of you seeing it spinning up and a version of you seeing it spinning down. The two universes will diverge. One where you remember it spinning up and one where you remember it spinning down. Now, if it's friday afternoon you might beforehand have decided to go out to a bar if you see spin up and go home and rest if you see spin down. So one universe you're going out, the other you're going home. Maybe in the spin up universe you meet a sweet girl at the bar and eventually get married and have children. In the spin down you're forever alone. While this is an extreme example, small differences in universes can eventually build up to huge differences. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
52yhsu
|
is tor illegal or is it just some of the content?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/52yhsu/eli5_is_tor_illegal_or_is_it_just_some_of_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d7oduv3",
"d7oinok"
],
"score": [
7,
3
],
"text": [
"Tor is a system for anonymising your Internet access, so that your ISP etc. can't see what you are accessing. Tor is not a website or anything like that, and it doesn't *have* any content. It's not illegal. ",
"Given that the US government is one of the *sponsors* of the TOR project, it's safe to assume that TOR is not illegal in the US. \n\nGiven that the US government sponsors TOR specifically to help citizens of other countries get around local restrictions, it's pretty safe to assume TOR is illegal in *those* countries. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
w9qa8
|
the difference between drive, d3, 2, 1.
|
And why is it D3 and not D2 and D1?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/w9qa8/eli5_the_difference_between_drive_d3_2_1/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c5bh8wq"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"If it has D, D3, 2, and 1, then that means it is a 4-speed automatic (the 4th is generally overdrive - the engine spins less than once for each rotation of the drive shaft).\n\nEach selection limits the transmission to not shifting past that gear. If you set it to 1, you're always in first. Set it to 2, and you're not *always* in second, but it will never shift into third. D3 lets it go into the standard \"drive\" gear - that is, a 1:1 ratio between engine and driveshaft. Like I said above, D is what you normally want to use, and lets the transmission use all four gears.\n\nI can't say why they don't use D2 and D1, but my best guess is that 3rd is the \"drive\" gear, so they just label it as such."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
jjmw8
|
what does nonprofit really mean?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jjmw8/eli5_what_does_nonprofit_really_mean/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c2cnrc5",
"c2cntqs",
"c2cnrc5",
"c2cntqs"
],
"score": [
3,
2,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"It means that after paying employees their salaries, any theoretical profit is merely reinvested into the company in its entirety. \n\nSo non profit company A makes 10 million dollars, pays employees a total of 8 million, rather than the extra 2 million being \"profit,\" it gets reinvested back into the company for whatever is needed -- newer technology, training, etc.",
"think of it this way: the nonprofit is a business. the only distinction is that their goal isn't profit. its something else. So, like hooj's comment, they reinvest it, or put it toward their goals, or something.",
"It means that after paying employees their salaries, any theoretical profit is merely reinvested into the company in its entirety. \n\nSo non profit company A makes 10 million dollars, pays employees a total of 8 million, rather than the extra 2 million being \"profit,\" it gets reinvested back into the company for whatever is needed -- newer technology, training, etc.",
"think of it this way: the nonprofit is a business. the only distinction is that their goal isn't profit. its something else. So, like hooj's comment, they reinvest it, or put it toward their goals, or something."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
f0yod5
|
is there a way to store the energy of a lightning?
|
I was talking to a friend and he said it could be possible using a titanium tower gold cables an a lot of high energy super capacitors, or any electrolytes that can survive the peak of energy. That's possible? Have anyone on history of the man kind tried to do this?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f0yod5/eli5_is_there_a_way_to_store_the_energy_of_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fh08fps"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"A lightning dissipates huge amount of power, but as the duration is short the energy output is not very high. Any fixed installation will wait without producing any energy for most of the year even it somehow achieves directing every lightning in the area to itself during a storm.\nSo the major problem would be that the solution would not be feasible, as it should endure high voltages and high currents but producing very small energy in return."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3lik8u
|
how does "if we don't hand you a receipt with your purchase, your order is free" work?
|
This whole concept of telling someone you didn't get a receipt THEN them refunding you (without you having the receipt in hand) is so strange.
What's the reason behind me seeing these signs around, is there some legal case that started the whole thing that I don't know about?
Is this just some useless reassurance that I will never actually benefit from as an *ahem* human being.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3lik8u/eli5_how_does_if_we_dont_hand_you_a_receipt_with/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cv6lwy9",
"cv6lz5s"
],
"score": [
3,
4
],
"text": [
"When a business prints a receipt, they aren't just making one for you, they're making a copy for themselves to go into their own records. If the cashier doesn't make a receipt, the transaction is off the books. Thieving employees sometimes do this to hide theft from the cash register or to overcharge customers and pocket the difference.\n\nPutting up a sign like that incentivizes the customer to report to management when a receipt isn't printed, so cashiers won't try that kind of thing.",
"If you don't get a receipt, you can call a manager right away. Those signs are really there for the store, not for you, and the manager would be happy to deal with it.\n\nEssentially, at the end of the day a store will compare the amount of money in the register to the amount it says it should have, and if there's a difference then they start looking for an employee stealing money. But an employee can get around that by not ringing up purchases; that money could then go straight into their pocket. It's expensive to monitor employees; instead, they tell customers \"if you notice an issue, you don't have to pay,\" and customers will then monitor the cashiers for free."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
2cocdy
|
how do fibrous foods cause me to poop within such a short space of time (10 mins after my cereal)?
|
I eat cereal which gives me energy + helps me poop in the morning. Why does fibre help me to poop and how does it have an effect so quickly? Surely it takes longer than 10 mins to digest the cereal?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2cocdy/eli5_how_do_fibrous_foods_cause_me_to_poop_within/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cjhewuj",
"cjhezde",
"cjhf6wh",
"cjhfbgd",
"cjhfuaz",
"cjhgc1e",
"cjhgd3o",
"cjhgg7r",
"cjhh1uz",
"cjhkjye",
"cjhq56i"
],
"score": [
3,
2,
13,
9,
2,
2,
2,
2,
2,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Maybe it was last night's dinner. Have you had your gal bladder taken out? I have and now have to take a dump almost straight away after eating a meal. ",
"It's possible that you're slightly allergic to cereal, actually - it's pretty common. If you are, it can act as a laxative! Get tested if you want to know for sure.",
"Eating cereal will not effect your poop within 10 minutes. I would say it is either a coincidence or placebo.\n\n(Or maybe the cereal takes 24 hours and 10 minutes to digest? :P )",
"Eating in the morning encourages your body to poo, it will work with any food not just cereal.",
"It isn't the cereal. My guess is that you're under 30, probably under 25.\n\nBabies do the same thing. Bowel movements after eating is normal through childhood and that tends to change as a person matures.\n\n",
"Its probably the milk reacting with your stomach or the fact that you are not used to eating breakfast first thing in the morning. This happens to me too in the morning...i don't drink milk at all because then my stomach starts acting up. Also drinking coffee makes me go.",
"It doesn't, it's because you just woke up. Waking up and eating something triggers your digestive system to \"wake up\" and say to itself \"all right, time to get everything moving down there.\" Then you poop. This would happen no matter what you ate. Lots of people poop every morning.",
"Well the digestive tract is basically one long tube with a few pouches. And any time we eat, our brain basically tells it that its go time, and it kicks into gear from one hole all the way to the other. You salivate, produce more acid, and start moving the junk you've already partly digested forward through your intestines. So the stuff you're pooping 10 minutes after that cereal is actually something you had the day before, that's been shuffled forwards to make room on the assembly line.",
"You are right, cereal takes at lot longer than 10 mins to go through your system, but there are a few reasons that this phenomenon occurs.\nFirstly, eating, especially in the morning, gets your gut moving. Food entering your mouth and stomach triggers signals that get your gut moving and the system prepped, the blood starts to flow more to your gut and you body prepares for digestion (moves on the old food and gets rid of the waste).\nAlso, our bodies are habit forming, so your regular poop time might well be after getting going in the morning. Your body knows the routine, eat breakfast, must be time to poop. Its not clockwork and can be disturbed by all sorts of things (including your will to \"hold on\" sometimes), but left to its own devices your body likes to stick to a schedule.",
"Eating causes your digestive tract to be stimulated moving anything that's in there to the end, which comes out as poop! It might be more noticeable with breakfast because after sleeping the whole night your body probably has built up enough waste that you'll need to poop.",
"Fiber cannot be digested. It simply moves through your body and as such, it aids in the process of moving other things along. \n\nNow, I am no expert, but I do know that hydration also has a lot to do with bowel movements. Dehydration means a harder time \"going.\" Well, cereal is often consumed with milk. So now we have fiber and hydration together. Perhaps this is why its so easy for you to go in the mornings. \n\nLastly, your body has had all night to take care of your last meal. Perhaps you are waking up ready to dispose of some waste."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
p91nn
|
dirac sea and quantum foam
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/p91nn/eli5_dirac_sea_and_quantum_foam/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c3nnbag",
"c3ofljr"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"Dirac basically postulated that the universe is populated with an infinitely dense sea of negative energy particles.\n\nIf all the negative energy states are full, a positive energy particle cannot become negative energy.\n\nHowever, a point in the sea can be \"promoted\" to a positive energy particle, leaving behind a hole in the sea, which has the properties of the antiparticle.\n\nThis solution was the first step in working with antimatter.\n\n\n",
"In Quantum physics, there are this concept that there's a minimum size that we can observe. Not limited due to technology, but due to nature. This size limit is the Plank size. It's INCREDIBLY TINY, it's like a billionth of a billionth of a billionth and even less than that of the dots here. In fact, we CAN NOT observe what happens below this point.\n\nThen we also have the Uncertainty Principle. Basically, it means that particles can be in \"superposition\", so an electron could be in several places at once. When we interact with it, it will pick one spot, but we do not know which one in advance. It has even more consequences too.\n\nCombine the two, and we end up with shortlived virtual particles that can appear in oppositely charged pairs and just disappear again. These virtual particles are thought to fill the universe, but they are so shortlived that we pretty much never interact with them.\n\nBlack hole radiation is thought to be due to black holes sucking up one of the two virtual particles in a pair, which causes the second virtual particle to become real, and it takes the energy needed to become real from the black hole (so it's *almost* like if the black hole emitted that particle itself).\n\nThe term Dirac Sea refers to the theory that the space is filled with negatively charged particles, and originally, positively charged particles were thought to be \"holes\" in this sea. I can't describe this much better."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
ecp0cm
|
why do city lights appear to "glitter" from a distance?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ecp0cm/eli5_why_do_city_lights_appear_to_glitter_from_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fbcvep4",
"fbcwpdn",
"fbd5uge"
],
"score": [
18,
7,
2
],
"text": [
"For the same reason stars glitter. Air currents disrupt the view, similar to the shimmers you get above hot asphalt in the summer.",
"Air isn't homogenous. It has differing densities at random areas and times. Multiply the randomness times distance from observer to object and you have different variations on transmission and refraction. Resulting in glimmer.",
"Idk, but I just decided to give my shot here. City lights are powered by AC currents. So they are not always ON, but flicker 60 times in one second, if we assume the AC current powering the city is of 60 Hz.\n\nWhen you are in a room, you don't notice your lamp flickering, because you're inside closed walls and light is bouncing around consistently, giving you that always ON feel. But if you remember the old CRT televisions, they flicker 60 times in one second, and this was quite noticeable at night. Any device without an adapter is actually directly running on AC currents.\n\nSo when you look at city lights from distance, since they are not in a closed chamber like room, their flickering become more clear and noticeable."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
1ee4dc
|
why don't different kinds of birds reproduce and create "mixed breeds" like dogs?
|
Why aren't there finch-pigeons and crowbins?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ee4dc/eli5_why_dont_different_kinds_of_birds_reproduce/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c9zbm56",
"c9zf568",
"c9zhp7n",
"c9zr4u2"
],
"score": [
18,
6,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Dogs are all the same species. Two random birds of different species are very unlikely to be compatible. Their mating rituals don't match up, eggs aren't viable due to X or Y or Z, mismatched number of chromosomes - there are a lot of things that can go wrong there, and they've had millions of years to accumulate such differences. Dogs, on the other hand, were all wolves quite recently in comparison, and look much more different than they actually are genetically.",
"Dogs are a single species. Birds are multiple species. Trying to mix a pigeon and a parrot because they both have wings makes as much sense as mixing a dog and a sheep because they both have 4 legs.",
"Birds are a class, not a species. It is fairly rare for two different species to produce viable offspring (and if they do it is often sterile). It [does happen with birds](_URL_1_) on occasion, but not commonly. Birds are actually interesting in that they are a class of organism that has been observed to engage in [interfamilial breeding](_URL_0_) (this is *extremely* rare, \"family\" being the classification 3 steps above \"species\").\n\nDogs on the other hand are all the same species.",
"For most creatures, we define a species as a group of organisms capable of producing viable offspring with each other. This is why dogs are one species, while there many different species of birds.\n\nWhy is that? They are no longer closely related enough for it to happen. When you fuse eggs and sperm, you really need things to happen just right in order for a living offspring to come about. Being too distantly related fucks it up."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_hybrids#Chicken_Hybrids",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_hybrid"
],
[]
] |
|
16pa7n
|
in music, what's the difference between a mix, remix, dub, overdub, re-dub, dub mix, club mix, vocal mix, etc?
|
There are so many of these used all over the place, especially in electronic music. Are some or even most of these synonyms? What makes the various groups distinct? Does this vary by genre?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16pa7n/eli5_in_music_whats_the_difference_between_a_mix/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c7y5fm7"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"I cannot vouch for the accuracy of these as I am at best an armchair enthusiast.\n\nMix - Taking separate recordings of Vocals/Guitars/Drums and combining them to create a song, allowing you to change the levels of each as desired.\n\nOverdub - Play the song or track while simultaneously record a new one to be in sync.\n\nRedub - take out one or more tracks of the song and record news ones in their place.\n\nRemix - Take that completed song, and give it to someone else to fiddle with the original levels to their discretion.\n\nDub - Originally meaning to simply duplicate the finished song to another format, but can now involve removing and remixing tracks, usually removing or changing the vocals. Although simply removing the vocals you should probably call it an 'instrumental'. Also a genre of reggae music that utilizes these steps.\n\nDub mix - Pretty much another way of saying dub but letting you know you didn't mean the genre.\n\nClub mix - remixing a song to make it more appropriate for dancing in a club.\n\nVocal mix - the vocals are the star of the show when remixing, as opposed to the instruments/melodies being the stars in dubbing.\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
4gr7pr
|
why are popular songs in seemingly most cultures much more likely to involve sad topics, heartbreak, emotional strife, etc. than happy themes?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4gr7pr/eli5_why_are_popular_songs_in_seemingly_most/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d2k0bv7",
"d2k0kp7"
],
"score": [
4,
2
],
"text": [
"The short answer is that we don't need help with happy. The vast majority of art is inspired by struggle and strife. This allows us to emphasize, while happy or upbeat art seems ingenuine, and if we aren't happy, it just pisses us off. [The long answer is better laid out by the legendary AE Housman.](_URL_0_)",
"Songs that are sad and emotional are more likely to stick with you than happy songs. Sad songs are the ones that you remember and listen to over and over again in times of trouble. There are much less sad songs out there so the good sad songs take priority. This is similar to movies, how the Oscar worthy movies are usually sad or emotional but are also works of art."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://www.bartleby.com/123/62.html"
],
[]
] |
||
7oeq1h
|
how does a caller to 911 from california able to give an address from kansas during the swatting incident? are 911 operators not local?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7oeq1h/eli5_how_does_a_caller_to_911_from_california/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ds8xkhl",
"ds8xxh3"
],
"score": [
5,
3
],
"text": [
"It is very, very easy in this day and age to use software to make a phone call from either an anonymous number or spoofing a number. Even an anonymous call would have to be taken seriously by a 911 operator since obviously they can't risk the chance of not acting on a reported hostage situation.\n\n911 operators are located at or near the area they are servicing.",
"My friend installed an ip phone service at his parents so they could make local phone calls to Canada. From Eastern Europe. They could call a Canadian 911 operator while being on the other side of the world."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2a21dy
|
if atomic blasts and radiation can change gene expression and cause mutations, can we theoretically use similar methods to our benefit?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2a21dy/eli5_if_atomic_blasts_and_radiation_can_change/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ciqpfkn"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Chance.\n\nWhen cell division occurs there is a very good chance that the off spring's DNA will be mutated. This happens a lot not > 50% of the time, but fairly often.\n\nNormally 99% of these are useless and will do nothing. .7% are harmful, and will be killed by the immune system, .2999% end up as carcinoma cells (cancer) .00001% are actually adventitious. \n\nThe same goes for Ionizing raditions from atomic blasts, nuclear reactors, radioactive stuff, cosmic rays, etc.\n\nNormally Radiation overwhelms the body's defenses by producing junk cells the body has to cull. This leaves you open to infections, and body systems that fail because their are just to many useless cells, which poison you in strange ways. And cancer from random mutations.\n\nNOTE: Percentages are made up to illustrate a point. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
4cdwj8
|
how did large games like pokémon crystal fit on a gbc cartridge?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4cdwj8/eli5_how_did_large_games_like_pokémon_crystal_fit/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d1hc709"
],
"score": [
11
],
"text": [
"Everything in the game is stored in a very space efficient way. All the dialog is text, which is much smaller than voice acted dialog. All the sounds are produced by synthesizers, the game only stores instructions on how to make the sounds. This is also much smaller than storing a recording of the sound. And the game's map is based on a grid. All the graphics displayed are stored at very low resolutions with limited color pallets, making them much smaller to store.\n\nThe sorts of things used in old games are much more space efficient. It wouldn't have been a problem to fit all of pokemon on a cartridge. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
8wd5tm
|
how does the "hot singles in your area' internet scam work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8wd5tm/eli5_how_does_the_hot_singles_in_your_area/
|
{
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"Some are pure scams, leading to malware sites or just ways to get your email for spammers.\n\nOthers mostly scams, leading to phone sex lines, porn sites, phone dating lines, and half-ass dating sites, all of which you have to pay for.",
"It isn't a scam per se it is just a deceptive advertising. They want you to sign up for something like a site that hosts cam girls and asks you to pay for shows, or perhaps a sleazy \"dating site\" that also serves advertisements for porn. The tag line is just a hook to get you to click, they aren't going to drain your bank account or something.",
"At best, you'd be brought to a site asking for your email address and other personal information, or some cheap paid porn site.\n\nAt worst, you'd get some malware or something. (if you had nothing in your browser / operating system to block it)",
"The advertiser uses a geoIP database to get your location and shows you some carefully picked pictures (that are the same everywhere, except possibly between countries with different distributions of skin colours). \n\nIf you click it, it'll ask you a number of (very simple) questions specifically designed to waste a bit of time (yes, I want to meet strangers, that's why I clicked the ad) before either redirecting you to a different, similar site or asking for your credit card information. \n\nThe idea is that, having wasted so much time already, some people will decide to just enter their damn CC info. At that point you might have you bank account emptied or just charged a dollar, either way it's unlikely there'll be anyone to meet in your area. \n\nDisclaimer: this is by no means a complete description of the possible consequences. Viruses can also happen. \n\nEdit: a word. ",
"Clicking will probably just redirect you to a website of dubious legitimacy. Giving them any of your contact info probably makes you a target for spam email and likely attempts to get you to give them money in one form or another (via subscription fees, posting fees, etc.)\n\nI'd assume they spend less time/energy/money targeting females as they are less likely to part with money for the prospect of getting laid.",
"They aren't usually scams. They want you to pay for some dating service that you may, but probably won't ever find someone on. Its unreasonably priced for pretty much nothing but its not fraud typically. ",
"Basically just an interactive ad template that will usually end up linking you to already well known cam sex sites. Sometimes they use a long list of possible links to send you to, other times it's the same website, but 9/10 times it's not harmful to click on one, just pointless.",
"My 21 year old niece works for one of those companies. She basically just talks to people and strings them along, and she gets paid a dollar a message, so I have no idea how much they charge the idiots that communicate with her.\n\nShe said a lot are just lonely guys wanting someone to talk to, but she certainly gets a lot of dick pics. She doesn't care, she just eggs them on so they keep writing and she'll keep making money.\n\nOn the other hand, she has admitted she has sent some nudes of herself their way at times -- not including her head. So I guess there is a pay off of some sort. I just worry I may stumble upon one of her pics on the Internet someday and not know it's her. Thankfully she has no obvious identifying marks, like tattoos. ",
" > As a relatively self-possessed 20 y/o girl\n\nI'm a 64 y/o computer nerd. We clearly have much in common.",
"I get texts like this all the time: \n\n\nHi Honey, \nI'm Seeking a Best Partner For Hooksup Right Now. \nI'm 18 Years Old Sexy girl, I want to sex with you Tonight. \nMy Profile > > > _URL_0_ (It's 100% safe, No need CC) \nCreate a free Profile & knock me > > > angle18 \nIam waiting for sucking your dick tonight...\n\n\nI assume it's from a couple for sale ads on Craigslist ",
"If you ever really wanna try a scam and see where it goes, get a prepaid visa and leave a dollar on it. That's what I use for free trials.",
"Great time to remind people to use 2 factor authentication on your accounts whenever possible. ",
"They require you put your credit card details in to ***verify your age***. (Then steal from your credit card)\n\nThe Internet Historian has an adventure seeking out the hot singles in his area in [this video](_URL_0_), it’s 20 minutes long but I think worth the watch.",
"How bout the fake headline with your town name in it claiming that a group of Asian college students (if they’re Asian it’s gotta be real right?) “are disrupting a 10 billion dollar industry.”\n\n",
"I am constantly impressed with how many hot single girls in my area are able to track me down and are so keen to meet me that they find a way to open a chat in whatever site I am on. It happens a lot... I guess I'm a catch",
"So, tangentially related to this, I just got for the first time today a trio of text messages from an unknown number. I am used to robo calls now, but this one was new. Got what I could only describe as an accidental text - someone speaking to me as if mid convo (saying something clumsily about being at the club), and immediately following was a second text continuing the chat, and then a flattering pic of a young woman's torso with shirt pulled up to reveal bra and cleavage, and a belly button ring.\n\nThe phone number had an area code one digit off from my own, despite being from pretty far off geographically. Wanting to give this sender the benefit of the doubt but still protect myself, I popped into my Google Voice account and sent the number a reply like, \"I think you just sent to a wrong number\"\n\nI was then immediately sent the same three texts to my Voice messages. So, obviously bot. Or is it? I reply \"yeah, those were the ones\" and suddenly the texting becomes more conversational. She introduces herself as Jenny, and talks a bit more casually about being in town (a town close to me but not quite, it would be a 30 min drive) and visiting her sis before going back to Newark (place the phone number is from) and looking for fun. Second pic.\n\nAt this point I'm solidly on the fence between bot soldiering through and person operating on a script. I have given my name (for the purposes of this I gave a feminized version of my middle name and pretended to be a girl) and they have repeated it back to me, and they have made an effort to be nearby. Script that captures name input? Geolocation abuse? Not out of the question. \n\nThen the twist: she's on her sister's phone and said sister needs to take off with it for a week! Oh no what's a girl with a dead phone but working computer to do? (I almost suggested Google Voice off the bat, but had a more naïve role to play.) I offered to wait til they charged their phone, no they want to chill now and won't be free later. How about computer chat? Before I say yes or no, they dump the link for their spam cam girl date site. Without even clicking the link, I say nah let's just be FB friends. If it's a bot, I will give it credit for recognizing lowercase fb and replying about the two sisters having a military dad who doesn't want them on social media. Could still have been a script reader.\n\nShe said she was the sister now and that Jenny is waiting on the link from earlier. I stopped replying and researched the link.\n\nVery new sort of spam scam. I'm sure they just shotgun phones like the scam callers do, but man it was a very novel experience compared to just getting a phone call from a spoofed local number about my credit card, which hangs up if I dont answer the way they expect.",
"I've never really understood why everyone assumes it's a scam. As a hot single in an area, there is one thing I like to know about a sexual partner: what is their credit card information?",
"A couple of ways.\n\n1. Get you to subscribe to a service where they try and get bots to talk to you thinking that you are going to go on a date. *Here are all these people in your area get their contact info by becoming a member!*\n\n2. Use your information and sell it. Age, Sex, Location, Email is worth a good amount to people who want to spam you.\n\n3. Make money on affiliate deals, most likely porn. Make money on showing ads, mostly porn.",
"scam? Dude, I'm sexing horny milfs in my area all the time. Everyone thinks it's a scam, so nobody ever clicks on it... that's just more for me",
"Careful! They are stalkers. I have moved a couple of times and it's always the same hot singles wherever I go. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://sexygirlsarah.nut.cc"
],
[],
[],
[
"https://youtu.be/sPUKxtLHPKQ"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
a9u4j8
|
how do oil /gas pipelines,such as the german russia one work?
|
Title.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a9u4j8/eli5how_do_oil_gas_pipelinessuch_as_the_german/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ecmips6"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Similar to a water pipe, and a bit similar to a straw. You push in oil/gas on one side with a pump and it is pushed through the pipe. A single pump wouldn't be sufficient for most pipelines so you have frequent stations with more pumps - a bit like many shorter pipelines in series.\n\nYou can pump stuff all the time, that means you can get quite a lot of oil/gas through it. In addition you don't need trucks or trains and their drivers."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
jdr0n
|
why i should be worried about the us credit downgrade
|
Title says it all
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jdr0n/eli5_why_i_should_be_worried_about_the_us_credit/
|
{
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"score": [
2,
2,
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],
"text": [
"[This should give some insight](_URL_0_)",
"The credit downgrade is the least of your problems. It's mostly an arbitrary change in labeling that doesn't really affect anything. I'd be more concerned with our Congress's inability to balance the federal budget.",
"[This should give some insight](_URL_0_)",
"The credit downgrade is the least of your problems. It's mostly an arbitrary change in labeling that doesn't really affect anything. I'd be more concerned with our Congress's inability to balance the federal budget."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfrNJ38oSM"
],
[],
[
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfrNJ38oSM"
],
[]
] |
|
8milou
|
why are older fathers more likely to have daughters rather than sons?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8milou/eli5_why_are_older_fathers_more_likely_to_have/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dznuuhu",
"dzo0ij9"
],
"score": [
4,
3
],
"text": [
"I won't get into the genetics of it because people still don't understand that very well, but it is basically evolution. Sons historically required parents to be present because their reproductive future is based on their inheritance of family wealth and status while daughters have depended of physical appearance and maturity, which can only be controlled by aging. This means that sons are at a disadvantage if their parent parents die before reaching sexual maturity ( this is more likely since the parents are old) but daughters continue to age and at are no evolutionary loss. The sons of older parents did not get as good a shot at reproduction and therefore the genes responsible for this trait declined in number, leaving the gene for producing females as older parents to skyrocket in comparison. It's not just older fathers though. Mothers and fathers are equally responsible.\nIn contrast to this, young parent are slightly more likely to have sons for the opposite reason, and about 54%. Percentage of having sons for parents over 40 is around 35% by the way.",
"The simple answer is: *we don't know*.\n\nThere is a statistical correlation with age of the parents (both mother and father, not just father) and the likelihood of a boy vs. girl child, a difference that is particularly pronounced once both parents are over 40, but the reasons why are entirely speculative at this point. There are other known health effects that go along with parent's age, including overall fertility of the parents themselves, but for most of these effects we have little to no clue as to *how*, and essentially no clue at all as to *why*.\n\nThere was a (now-infamous) [2011 paper](_URL_0_) published in a blog at the Psychology Today website by Evolutionary Psychologist [Satoshi Kanazawa](_URL_1_), who is considered pretty notorious as a pseudoscience-peddler in the larger evo-psych community, that posits that it is due to parental investment needs of boys vs. girls. Specifically, it put forward the idea that a boy's social status reflects their likelihood of successful mating, and younger parents can thus invest more in those boys, while girls only need to worry about the genes they have for beauty to determine reproductive success and thus parental age is less important. Though the idea has been popular in certain circles (and is apparently believed by the commenter prior to me), this has since been rightly savaged, as in addition to the blatant sexism of the premise, the theory simply doesn't hold as the societal status is a social factor that 1- has only limited connection to actual breeding success and 2- is too recent and transient to have an evolutionary-scale effect."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201104/why-are-older-parents-more-likely-have-daughters",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Kanazawa"
]
] |
||
49jz4e
|
how does blood alcohol level work?
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/49jz4e/eli5_how_does_blood_alcohol_level_work/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d0scz0w"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"There are so many variables that this is impossible to answer.\n\nBAC is based on your age, weight, sex among many many other factors. \n\nGeneral rule of thumb is one drink per/hr up to three drinks for a normal, average, middle aged man will put your BAC at the legal limit (.08) "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
6n8kkm
|
how do people change when transitioning from a child to a teenager (young adult)
|
I'm 15, and now in high school. I've never felt any change in how I act since I was in Elementary school. Now I'm not super immature or anything, but this is not about me :) . So as a kid who ended up going to a different middle school than all my friends in 8th grade, when we met up in High School, it was like they were completely different people. Kids that used to be super shy, all of a sudden are picking up girls and going to parties every weekend, and this is multiple kids btw. So, how exactly can someone change so drastically in such a short period of time.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6n8kkm/eli5_how_do_people_change_when_transitioning_from/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dk7jj1j"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Alot has to do with life experiences and how we apply that information to interact with others. We ultimately want to be happy beings and take the information we have gathered so far and apply it in ways in which we can attain our goal. So as we age, the more experiences/knowledge we gain will influence how we interact in society, so someone can seem so different due to the passing of time...imo. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
37tyma
|
why isn't everyone taught sign language in school?
|
Ignoring the convenience for the deaf, imagine being able to communicate with anyone who can't hear you, like in a crowded bar or from far away. It seems so obvious and easy, but I've never heard anyone suggest it.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37tyma/eli5_why_isnt_everyone_taught_sign_language_in/
|
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"text": [
"because it's not that useful, some schools offer it as a foreign language, but that's about it. there are enough stuff that students have to learn, why add more required stuff. ",
"I cannot answer your question. I can tell you that you have made a dam good point. This would be most useful in many ways",
"Really it just isn't worth making it a requirement. There is no /need/ for every person to know sign.",
"We don't do it basically because nobody cares. It's not practical. It costs too much to train and hire teachers. There are a multitude of reasons.\n\nBut why stop at sign language? Why don't we teach braille? Morse code? Semaphore? There are over a billion Chinese on the planet compared to a few million deaf, so wouldn't teaching Chinese be a better idea? Japan and Germany are powerhouse economies, so how about Japanese and German? French and Spanish are spoken in many parts of the world, so what about teaching those?\n",
"If you are in a crowded bar or far away, you can text them. Also if you are signing while drunk, does your speech get slurred?\n",
"1. If you want to communicate with someone in a bar, commonly understood gestures get the job done most of the time. \n2. The number of people using ASL isn't very large. Even among Deaf people, the majority aren't fluent. There's a lot of reasons for this but TL;DR mainstreaming instead of residential schools means Deaf kids today are rarely/never immersed in an ASL environment. Texting/email/chat means they develop their written English skills way more than in the past and feel more connected to hearing peers.\n3. ASL is not an official language of the US. There are no nationwide official languages of the US. \n4. Fluency in ASL is actually pretty hard to achieve. It has many, many grammar concepts unfamiliar to English speakers. It isn't taught in schools for the same reason Chinese and Arabic and Russian usually aren't. Middle/high schools usually teach the languages that are easiest to teach to English speakers, like French and Spanish. This is changing a little, but not that fast.\n5. Memorizing 100 useful signs without applying the grammar is not \"learning ASL\". When you slap signs together in English word order you're using \"Pidgen Signed English\". It has little/no relationship to ASL.\n",
"They don't even teach cursive in most schools now. How are kids supposed to read handwritten notes? "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
8b95yz
|
why do some schools have uniforms and others don't?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8b95yz/eli5_why_do_some_schools_have_uniforms_and_others/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dx4vjm0"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"All schools have uniforms; some times they're more restrictive than others, and some are more explicit.\n\nThe idea of a uniform is to make everyone act the same because they're dressing the same, and make them feel part of something bigger than themselves. So it's a way of enforcing discipline.\n\nAll it takes is one girl coming to school in something inappropriate, or some guy coming to school in gang colors (someone else's uniform) and you'll see how quickly dress code gets enforced, even if it's not even-handed, at a \"no school uniform\" school.\n\nUniforms avoid all those issues, leaving teachers with more time to teach.\n\nBoth methods have their strengths and weaknesses."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
eixfwx
|
how come you can force a cough but not a sneeze?
|
You can force yourself to cough even when you don't need to in the slightest, but you can't do the same with a sneeze. Why is this the case? It seems like these are pretty similar bodily functions
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eixfwx/eli5_how_come_you_can_force_a_cough_but_not_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"fcu05mr"
],
"score": [
14
],
"text": [
"A cough is a different mechanism to sneezing. Both involve forcing air out of the lungs, but in different ways.\n\nWhen we sneeze, our diaphragm violently tenses to force air out of our lungs, and through out mouth and nose. This is involuntary, and triggered by nasal irritation, or some other things such as exposure to light. This spasm is violent and difficult to just do on your own, like trying to manually recreate a muscle cramp.\n\nWhen we cough, we take a deep breath, and then a rapid exhalation against a closed glottis (voice box). Once pressure is built up against it, it opens, clearing the airway. This can happen reflexively, but can also be done manually as we can have manual control over our voice box and lungs.\n\nI hope this explains it well and I didn't miss any details."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
4d4gul
|
when someone is choked until unconscious, what separates them from waking up (like in ufc fights) and dying?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4d4gul/eli5_when_someone_is_choked_until_unconscious/
|
{
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"text": [
"A choke cuts off the blood supply to the brain causing unconsciousness. You would have to maintain the choke for a much longer period to starve the brain of oxygen to kill a person. Just think of how long strangulation takes to kill a person. ",
"Typically, if done correctly, a choke hold cuts off blood flow to the brain momentarily. This is enough to provoke unconsciousness and then releases. If done incorrectly, where airflow is blocked by crushing the windpipe, death can occur. For you watch someone perform a proper choke hold, the the crux of the elbow is over the front of the throat, with the bicep and forearm pressing on the arteries. It's released as soon as they feel them go out. ",
"Time. Once the brain doesn't have enough oxygen, you pass out. Pretty much everything in the body shuts down except the things that can get oxygen to the brain. In a UFC fight, the choke hold will be released at this point, and blood flow (and thus oxygen) to the brain will start again.\nBut if the choke hold is kept, or if the windpipe is crushed, and the brain continues to be oxygen starved, death will follow. \n\nAgain, it's a question of how long. If normal blood oxygen flow resumes shortly after unconsciousness, then they will wake up. If it doesn't, for any reason, then it is a medical emergency and they will die without aid.",
"It's important to note a difference between a blood choke and a respiratory choke. \n\nI'm trained to be able to perform a blood choke on people as part of my law enforcement duties. Essentially, briefly halting blood flow through the jugulars will induce unconsiousness. This is temporary and the subject can be woken up easily.\n\nIf you move your hands over the trachea however, you are now cutting off air. Now this isn't a major issue due to this as it is only a few seconds. The issue arrives that it is an easily damaging area of the body. Too much pressure can cause some serious issues. If I recall this is how the officer in northeast us brought around the death of a civilian. He fucked up by not practicing his tactics and incorrectly using this technique.",
"Dizziness, syncope, loss of consciousness, and death are all gradations on the same scale. The difference is how long the circumstances causing the blood flow to be cut off are maintained. Strangulation is not as easy as the movies make it seem. It takes several minutes of consistent (and strong) pressure to cut off the blood flow in *both* carotid arteries to cut off blood supply (and, by extension, oxygen supply) to the brain in order to cause death. Up to 8 minutes. Someone could be rendered unconscious in 20 seconds. So what separates them from someone dying is the fact that in a UFC fight, the fighter will release the pressure after their opponent is down. If they maintained it, they would eventually kill them.",
"The amount of pressure needed to collapse the arteries in the neck is pretty low. If you push directly on both arteries in the neck, you will stop blood flow and the victim will pass out within about 15 seconds. If you let go, the artery opens back up, blood flows, and the victim wakes up. If you don't let go, tissues in the brain will be injured and beginning dying within seconds. Note that an artery is normally held open by high pressure blood inside of it, so when you let go the blood rushes back.\n\nThe trachea (wind pipe), on the other hand, has low pressure air inside of it, and it is held open by rings of cartilage in the walls. These rings can be immediately injured if you push on them hard enough to collapse the trachea; even if you let go immediately, the trachea may not open back up to allow the victim to inhale. That is to say, the trachea is held open by its stiff walls, and if you hurt the walls, it doesn't matter if you let go, the trachea may not open again.\n\nEdit: Also note that if you strangle someone forcefully enough to collapse the wind pipe, you'll also (probably) collapse the arteries in their neck. So not only are you decreasing oxygen exchange in their lungs, you're also cutting off blood flow to the head. If you managed to collapse the wind pipe without affecting the arteries in the neck, something similar to what happens when you hold your breath would happen: the blood supply would slowly become less and less oxygenated, and the victim would pass out after about 2-3 minutes (however long they can hold their breath)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
760t6f
|
so a deodorant commercial said that stress sweat is different from regular sweat because it smells worse. is this true? how? why?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/760t6f/eli5_so_a_deodorant_commercial_said_that_stress/
|
{
"a_id": [
"doafosd",
"doafrvt",
"doamstm"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Different types of sweat glands:\n\nEccrine glands are all over your body, and produce the watery sweat you get from exercising or on hot days etc to cool you down. - Pretty much odourless as mainly water & salts which bacteria can't break down..\n\nApocrine glands are mainly in your underarm and genital area, & also on your feet. - Stinky as full of proteins and lipids, which bacteria thrive on.\n\nThis is why stress sweat (Mainly, if not all apocrine sweat) smells worse than heat sweat (Mainly, if not all Eccrine).",
"It is true. When you sweat from stress the sweat comes from additional glands that have a much worse smell. ",
"Wipe your underarms with plain rubbing alcohol and let it dry, to kill the bacteria... no fancy chemicals necessary to kill off the bacteria. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
bp9iq1
|
how did we end up with the plank units and what do they mean?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bp9iq1/eli5_how_did_we_end_up_with_the_plank_units_and/
|
{
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3,
2
],
"text": [
"They're a system of units used for measurement, but unlike most other systems they were designed purely using physical principles. In the metric system and most other systems of units, a lot of physical constants have ugly-looking numeric values. The speed of light, for instance, is an awkward 299792458 meters per second. The Planck units come from taking several of the most commonly-appearing constants and asking \"what units of measurement would we have to use for all of these constants to just be 1?\" The five specific constants that were chosen were:\n\n* The speed of light in a vacuum\n* The gravitational constant, describing the strength of gravitational forces\n* The Coulomb constant, describing the strength of electrical forces\n* The reduced Planck constant, which relates the frequency of a photon to its energy\n* The Boltzmann constant, which relates kinetic energy to temperature in gases\n\nIt turns out that the units you get are rather unwieldy for everyday use: the unit of length is about 1.6\\*10^-35 meters, the unit of time is about 5.4\\*10^-44 seconds, the unit of mass is about 2.2\\*10^-8 kilograms, the unit of electric charge is about 1.9\\*10^-18 coulombs, and the unit of temperature is about 1.4\\*10^32 kelvin. However, in theoretical physics where everyday use doesn't matter as much the fact that all of the 5 listed constants are just 1 can be quite mathematically convenient.",
"In order to talk about the Planck units, first we have to talk, briefly, about something called the *black-body problem.*\n\nSimply put, this dealt with the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from an idealized black-body radiator. German theoretical physicist Max Planck, for whom the units are named, derived something called the *Planck constant* to relate the energy emitted to the frequency of the emitted particle, which we know now to be the photon.\n\nAt the end of the paper he published this result in, he introduced the concept of these fundamental units (explicitly defining length, mass, time, and temperature), noting,\n\n > These necessarily retain their meaning for all times and for all civilizations, even extraterrestrial and non-human ones, and can therefore be designated as \"natural units\"...\n\nThe important point here is that, because the Planck units are defined solely in terms of universal physical constants:\n\n1. the speed of light in a vacuum,\n2. Planck's constant,\n3. the gravitational constant,\n4. the Boltzmann constant (relating to gases), and \n5. in some formulations, the Coulomb constant (relating to electric charge)\n\nthey don't depend on how a particular civilization talks about length, or mass, or time. Any civilization that arrives at these constants will be able to accurately talk to any other civilization.",
"You know how a light-year helps take a ridiculously huge number and puts it into a \"handy\" version for general conversation?\n\nThe Planck unit does a similar thing, but for ridiculously small measurements that nonetheless end up with really unwieldy numbers, usually in the form of lots of decimal places.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIt allows a physicist to communicate to another physicist or the public an approximation of their tiny tiny measurement without having to run their pen dry of ink just to write the damn number(s) however many times.\n\nConsidering that both a light-year and a planck unit are defined to a ridiculously accurate level, the use of the word 'approximation' here should be taken with a grain of salt. The units are quite capable of defining very discreet units if need be."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
dfkiyb
|
how does a nuclear explosion at high altitude create an electromagnetic pulse?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dfkiyb/eli5_how_does_a_nuclear_explosion_at_high/
|
{
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"text": [
"When a nuclear weapon goes off, it releases a lot of radiation in the form of gamma rays. When those gamma rays run into molecules of air, they can knock of their electrons (ionization). The (negatively-charged) electrons move out from the explosion faster than the (positively-charged) ions that they were knocked off of. This \"separation of charges,\" as it is called, produces an electric field. \n\nThis happens on the ground, but the \"deposition region\" (the volume where air is ionized by the radiation) is really small, because there is so much air that it'll absorb the radiation really quickly. So the EMP effect on the ground is usually pretty modest in size; the direct damage from the nuke is generally much worse. \n\nBut in the upper atmosphere, there is a lot less air. This means the radiation can go a lot farther. At the right height, it means that you can get that radiation to have a very large \"deposition region,\" which is to say, the area of oxygen atoms that it can ionize. So you create a bunch of free electrons in the upper atmosphere, these in turn are deflected by Earth's magnetic field, which causes them to accelerate. This results in a much larger pulse, over a much larger area. [Diagram](_URL_0_).\n\nNow you might say: wait, that still sounds pretty complicated. _It is._ Even the above is an over-simplification. This is not something a real 5 year old is going to make sense of; to really understand it requires a lot more knowledge than even a very educated person tends to have (I don't claim to have the deepest understanding of it, and I study this stuff for a living). The \"5 year old\" answer is, \"the nuclear radiation charges up the upper atmosphere with electrons and that makes a pulse on the ground\" which is not really explaining what is happening, just asserting it. But it's more accurate than the answers most people tend to give."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://imgur.com/meJdBC1"
]
] |
||
cr2ixf
|
what exactly in the debris from the 9/11 world trade center attack is causing the huge spike in cancer amongst those who were exposed?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cr2ixf/eli5_what_exactly_in_the_debris_from_the_911/
|
{
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"Building materials, cement, for example has cancer causing properties and warning labels on the bags that you should never inhale it. When the buildings collapse this along with any other dust is in the air and is breathed in by everyone near the scene. \n\nThe only thing that should go into your lungs is oxygen. When you start adding foreign substances and particles then things go wrong.",
"all the asbestos they used in that very huge building was turned to dust which when breathed in causes cancer and respiratory diseases. *If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Mesothelioma* you may to be entitled to financial compensation."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
4clbhm
|
what do all of these leaked emails from big oil mean to the average joe?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4clbhm/eli5_what_do_all_of_these_leaked_emails_from_big/
|
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"Price of Oil going up, cover up. Then this dog and pony show of regulations nobody will follow. So basically everything will stay the same.",
"Except for price fluctuations, probably nothing.\n\nThis is more of a legal matter for corporations that will affect the corporations and the people that work for the corporations. Huge fines, government intervention, new corruption laws, etc...\n\nFor you, me, and most of the world it really won't mean a whole lot.",
"Average Joe- not much.\n\nOil is in flux in general.\n\nThe whole damn system is going to have a bit of an overhaul. Problem is that sometimes that destabilizes markets. If you have investments in an investment portfolio of any affected companies- you may see a dip.\n\nJob instability within the oil industry will likely continue for the foreseeable future.",
"Nothing; corruption is the status quo with regards to this type of multi-national industry and it should not come as a surprise to anyone. Right and wrong are concepts that don't apply themselves well to international business because there is no \"global police force\" arresting shady businessmen and what is right/wrong differs from country to country. People and businesses have always, and will always, break/bend the rules that they can in order to make more money or gain power",
"About the same as it meant when the banks were caught in widespread fraud (twice). Some people you've never heard of and weren't in charge may or may not be punished without addressing the actual problem. Long story short: we live in a world run from boardrooms without regard for law or morality.",
"It means we'll have some FCPA headlines for the next couple years, and DoJ will get some fine monies",
"Absolutely nothing.\n\n\nI remember taking an International Business course in college decades ago. We talked about bribery and corruption as a matter of common practice in many places in the world. We focused on tax law, but we studied techniquies and methods (basically hire a 3rd party) to follow the rules of the culture you're in while avoiding breaking US laws. \n\n\nBasically, if you don't bribe, you'll never win. Those who play the game ethically don't \"survive\".",
"Pretty much nothing. Even if this results in them being assessed for fines, the fines will be one of two things. So minuscule by comparison with their operating budgets that they pay it out of...their budgets line item for \"we got caught doing illegal things and had to pay something small\". Or the fine will be so huge that they will instead devote their budget line item for \"We got caught doing something illegal and have to pay a BIG fine\", which means spending 10 million a year in lawyers that can keep the courts from collecting the fine for so long that eventually the company goes to the court and literally states \"We have proven that you will never get this money from us if we don't want to pay it. So, if you instead reduce the fine to something WE choose, then you will get some money instead of no money.\".\n\nFor evidence about the latter one, just look at BP over the gulf spill. Despite a billion dollar fine, they have paid almost none of it and have actually sent lawyers to the court pointing out how they can just keep this going forever if they have to. Meanwhile also spending millions on lawyers who on Christmas day this last season, send out something like 5,000 fraud notices to the people who would be receiving the money collected from the fines. Meaning that they are now challenging, with their million dollar lawyers, small business owners in court to prove that they should have been part of the fine collection group. In this way, they can knock off probably 10-25% of the companies and thus fines, just in the form of companies that couldn't afford legal representation in that fight and instantly lose.\n\nSo...yeah...nothing will change except maybe the names of faceless managers in those companies that you didn't care about anyway.",
"The entire middle east is extremely corrupt. It is just the way of life over there, it is basically the cost of doing business over there, I doubt there are any repercussions. I don't think the U.S. government gives a rats ass about these emails. They lost billions towards corruption and bribes trying to rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq. ",
"In theory it means that there's now actual evidence of corruption that could lead to legal action.\n\nIn practice it means that the journalists who published the information will probably be harassed at the airport a lot more for the foreseeable future and not much else will happen because the corruption goes all the way up and the general public doesn't seem to care. :/",
"I know this breaks the rules for not explaining anything but its fucking disheartening to see everyone confidently saying nothing will happen. We've already lost. ",
"Anyone have a link for more info?",
"Cliff's notes of what the emails said?",
"Could someone please give a link?! I want to know what you are talking about..",
"Nothing whatsoever. We are just simple peasants to these rich and powerful criminals, they laugh at our suffering as they plot our demise. ",
"Nothing. There's so much corruption and money going around all the time and the only difference is that there is now a digital trail.",
"It's not even about oil, per se. It's about entrenched corruption in the middle east. Nothing new here, people.",
"Can you link to these emails? I looked through this thread and couldn't find anything.\n\nI work in energy purchasing and sustainability, and I attend many energy conferences. I'd like to compare what was written in these emails versus what has been stated in public.",
"What does it mean to the average joe? Nothing. Just keep working and paying your taxes, so that the rich 1% can go out on their yachts this friday.",
"Pretty much nothing, it was mainly just corporations bribing for government contracts which is insanely common anyhow. Basically, government is going to pay a company millions of dollars for doing X. So companies give a person, who is able to get them the contract, hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. It's a win-win situation for them, but unfair to the competition who should have had a fair bid for it.",
"So much misinformation, speculation, and cynicism here. \n\n1. The price of oil isn't going to rise significantly. Low prices today are the result of a global oversupply, and production capacity isn't going to fall because of a bribery scandal. \n\n2. People saying \"nothing will happen\" have no clue what they're talking about. No company is immune from the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. (In recent years, companies like Wal-Mart, Goodyear, and Siemens have been successfully prosecuted.) \n\n3. So this is a bad time to own stock in any of the implicated western companies. They're looking at fines in the hundreds of millions, possibly billions.\n\n4. This is a *really* bad time to have written an email in which a bribe is arranged. That's a prison crime, and it doesn't matter how politically connected your bosses are. \n\n5. But the bosses are probably smart enough to have kept their fingerprints off of this. \n\n7. The US can't arrest corrupt officials in foreign countries, but they can seize assets and revoke visas. And that could have an impact on things like London's real estate market or the yacht dealerships on the Riviera. \n\nEDIT: \n\n7. [For those curious about the original story.](_URL_0_) \n\n8. This situation really isn't comparable to the crimes of bankers leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. Finance regulations were grossly inadequate to deal with the mortgage bubble, but the FCPA is very specific, and these emails (if true) are a smoking gun. ",
"They'll be yellow taped and tied up in court, any politician will side skirt the issue and court cases will take years - plus an email isn't enough to convict someone - probably only enough for a warrant to get more info - which will be stalled.\n\nCorporations will pay a tiny fine, politicians will just love off their kick backs and nothing will happen to them, and the world will continue to turn and die slowly from immorality and self destruction.\n\nI need a drink",
"Instead of a bunch of cynical answers, can someone provide an actual ELI5? This isn't \"explain like you're a snarky pundit\" ",
"My concern is that as data on an array of nefarious dealings comes to light, that we will experience an accelerated erosion of public faith and confidence. Many Americans already feel like government is failing them. That's how we end up with Trump becoming a viable candidate. Eventually we get to a point where the system fails completely. In Central/ South America in the 70's and 80's the result of that loss of confidence manifested itself in the form of governments being overthrown in military coups. ",
"Effectively nothing. \n\nThe US government COULD in theory go and launch an internal investigation.\n\nOil firms fund the politicians, \nany \"left-over\" campaign funds from the election can simply be kept by the politicians for themselves. \nYou can effectively buy US politicians. They're not that expensive. ",
"Didnt a division in the rockefella family just pull a large sum of money out of the oil industry ? coincidence?",
"That there's going to be a few unimportant schmucks used as scapegoats, possibly a resignation or three, lots and lots of media noise, the rich escaping the law, and business returning to usual.",
"I work for one of the companies that was written in the article. It's pretty common knowledge in all oil companies that you can't get shit done without paying someone off in those 3rd world countries. Hell you can barely get yourself through an airport in those countries without paying someone to let you through Customs.",
"Can someone give me a TLDR on which oil companies were implicated?",
"Nothing. Bureaucracy in the vast majority of the world runs on bribes and \"grease\", because it is literally how civil servants make a living in most of the world.\n\nThe US deciding to make bribery illegal by its citizens some 40-years-ago had zero real impact on how the way the world works, except it created a small business disadvantage for Americans in that American businesses have to hire middlemen to operate in countries where corruption is the norm.\n\nAs important as the United States is, it does not, by and large, dictate how bureaucracies across the world operate.\n\nWhen you're a business operating in a country where corruption is the norm, bribing government officials is just a cost of doing business. Either you do it, or you don't exist.\n\nWhen you're an American business in the same countries, bribing government officials while technically not bribing government officials is just another cost of doing business. Just another thing for your compliance department to sort out.",
"Absolutely fucking dick. \n\nIn a few weeks all the involved parties will have been quieted, the senders will be thrown under the bus, business as usual will go on.\n\nThe US kills plenty of people every year to keep the oil flowing, this will be no different.",
"In the US and Western countries? Nothing. Most of he bribes were to Iraqi government officials and a few other middle Eastern countries. The Iraqi government is already pretty tenuous and most of the other governments are already known for being largely corrupt and full of bribery. Its possible the citizens there will call for massive reforms, but truthfully, if they haven't done it yet, I can't imagine this is going to push them over the top.\n\nIt's possible that US and western companies may face some public backlash, but it's not as if large corporations, especially oil related corporations are particularly loved to begin with, so they'll just go from being hated to being slightly more hated. Like the article says, pretty much everyone has plausible deniability since they were just hiring lobbyists, which means your not going to see anyone go to jail or really any significant legal action.\n\nPlus, most Westerners don't don't particularly like the middle East, so if a handful of Western corporations were taking advantage of corrupt middle East governments, very few people in the West are going to be offended by that.",
"Means take the profits they've made last year and divide by 10 or more and that will be the fine. Also some lower level employees might end up in jail and a lot of hand-wringing about the culture of the company will occur.",
"What's OP talking about? Anyone got a link? ",
"Well joe basically it means you've been fucked, you are currently fucked and you'll continue to be fucked.",
"Nothing we are talking about a multi billion dollar industry with a millions in bribes. It'll all proportional ",
"When we levy the billions of dollars worth of fines, how are they going to pay for that without increasing oil prices? It seems to me like the government is the big winner here and everyone else loses ",
"5 huh?\n\nOK, in some countries there are bad people in government who make other people give them money to get government approval to do things.\n\nSomeone wrote an article, shocked that this happened. The rest of the world said,\"Yeah, tell me something I **don't** know.\" and then went back to playing video games.\n\nPokemon is super cool.",
"What I want to know is this: **WILL RICHARD CHENEY GO TO JAIL?**",
"Some middle manager will get scapegoated for the fraud and corruption, and a few a IT guys will get unceremoniously fired for letting the emails out. The company will be fined a few hours worth of profits. ",
"Realizing that the means of production have become increasingly centralized, the proletariat will become alienated from the capitalist system and organize against it - > the destruction of capitalism leading to a stateless, classless, socialist society.",
"Nothing because we never get anything done. We just gasp and make monkey sounds and forget.",
"Big oil execs will get bonuses at the taxpayers expense and the petrodollar will continue. ",
"Just more evidence that human greed and corruption will eventually lead to the extinction of the human race. Have a nice day!",
"The bad guys will be brought to justice! Good will prevail and our beautiful planet will be free from the shackles brought about by the immoral and wicked!\n\nIs what I would choose to tell a 5 year old",
"Yeah not sure about the stock part. The stock of KBR, an American company implicated in the scandal was up .07 today. ",
"_URL_0_ in case you wonder what this is about",
"Quack Quack Quack \n\nIt means buy more Dawn Ultra dishwashing solution, so you can scrub my oily ass. ",
"Nothing. If you didn't already think/know that big oil controls and corrupts everything in it's favor, then I have a bridge I want to sell you.",
"So many people in this thread are saying: \"nothing will happen, we live in a bad world\"\n\nWhere is your hope? You won't be affected in the near future, but views will change, new governments will be elected and hopefully something **will** happen.\n\nWe just got screwed heavily by VW and there are other \"suspicious\" other cars with varying emissions. VW might not be the only big guy.\n\nFifa just got caught taking bribes too. Don't forget the finance sector which screwed up just 5 years ago.\n\nWe are in desperate need for something to punish the global players and I do hope I will see change in my lifetime!\n\nTo answer your question: If you don't have any money or stocks from the firms involved you won't lose money, \n\nOil price will propably have a small hickup and will stay pretty much the same.\n\nBut in the end, you're good to go\n\nSorry for the rant but I had to get this off my chest\n\n",
"To the average Joe this means nothing. You still have to pay whatever the price at the pump is. Prices will not change much if at all. This just conforms something everyone \"knew\" without having proof. It's not going to have a massive impact for most people. ",
"Kim Kardashian will \"break\" the internet again, or Trump will say something, and everybody will forget.",
"To the average Joe, it means that we will have to listen to politicians from both parties use it as a political talking point to tell us how much they don't agree with it and what they will do to change it, all while not actually doing anything because the money keeps coming in. ",
"Absoloutely nothing. All the injustices of the world, be them big or small, don't mean crap for yousadly.\n\nYou're not gonna get slung a cheque for being stiffed. Fuel at the pump isn't going to magically get cheaper. No one will go to jail or like maybe 1 or 2 fall guys and some big fines - overall. Nothing.\nWe are the serfs.",
"what does it mean? short term? nothing. they're rich and fuck you.\n\nlong term? < stephen king > wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which one fills up first. < /stephen king > ",
"KBR is construction. Not \"Big Oil\". But I wouldn't expect a 5yo to understand the first paragraph.",
"Why was this deleted? With 5300 upvotes?"
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||
21y78u
|
how can i suddenly become lonely?
|
I am generally absolutely fine with being alone, in fact at times I revel in it. However, for some reason at random intervals for approximately 5-6 hours at a time I feel near cripplingly lonely and for no apparent reason crave another person.
Is it a chemical situation or is it possible that I repress the feelings and they are always present without me noticing?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21y78u/eli5how_can_i_suddenly_become_lonely/
|
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"“Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.” \n― C.G. Jung\n\nI don't believe there is chemical imbalance that leads to the specific emotion of loneliness. And, even introverts need interaction.",
"It may be several factors:\n\n1. You may be dehydrated. Dehydration can make you feel depressed\n\n2. You may have used up a large portion of dopamine, and lack dopamine. The extreme of this is when you do drugs or drink too much, when you feel lonely or depressed the next day, it's because you've expended seratonin and dopamine and they are currently at low levels\n\n3. There are many types of psychological factors and situational factors that could have to do with the depression"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
4rj2mo
|
how does facebook determine what is trending news, and why do facebook users often have the same commentary on each story?
|
Today I looked at a trending news story on facebook, this one about Liz Krueger wearing a tight dress to a wedding (yes...I know, but I am a glutton for mindless facebook outrage). Strangely, on the trending news page for it, it seemed like every facebook user that had posted the story had the same 2 or 3 paragraphs of commentary preceding it.
So first, how does a silly story like this end up as a top-3 "trending" news story on facebook? And second, are these users posting and commenting on the story real people, just copy and pasting commentary as their own? Are they some sort of news bots, adding commentary to manufacture more likes, comments, etc. to increase how much a story is "trending?" Is something else going on?
I'm assuming it's the former, but it just seems really odd.
Edit: Maybe "sometimes" instead of "often" is better for the title.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4rj2mo/eli5_how_does_facebook_determine_what_is_trending/
|
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"Many \"Facebook Users\" are bots. As with all social media, attracting attention is more important than being correct or sharing information.",
"There was a report recently that came out and *I believe* (source needed) facebook admitted...the trending news stories aren't actually \"trending\". As in, I don't believe those stories are even related to how many times they've been shared or anything like that. But who or what DOES decide what is a trending story I'm not actually sure, but it isn't because they are popular stories.\n\nAlso, don't get your news from Facebook.",
" > just copy and pasting commentary as their own?\n\nAre you sure you're seeing the same comment from *different* people? When you share a story, it will include the original comment... so if 30 people share it they will all have the same comment. ",
"Hive mind syndrome....that and bots. Lots of bots. \n\nGoing viral is the new marketing goal. Just ask Pied Piper.",
"Part of it is supposedly based on an algorithm which searches out identical stories that are being shared and liked the most at any given time. It however also recently came out that Facebook has a team of people who can manually adjust this and either insert stories into the \"trending\" feed regardless of how much they've been shared, or delete stories that *are* actually trending. This came out because Facebook was found to have been employing this method to shape political conversation in one direction over another. ",
"I'm fairly confident that there's a small team that picks stories to \"trend\" because they write a sentence for each one. (1) There's a huge bias in the types of things that go trending (2) It's funny when they put a 'video' or 'buzzfeed' article to trend but in reality all the comments are \"This isn't interesting, why wast this trending?\". Sometimes the trending news story was from a week or two ago."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1ln33u
|
how can astronomrs accuratly predict the path of a sungrazing comet if they aren't sure how much mass it'll loose grazing the sun? (/r/askastronomy x-post)
|
Taking Comet ISON as an example, as astronomers are unsure how much mass it'll loose* during it's swing past the sun, how are astronomers able to calculate it's path correctly? Wouldn't loosing more mass or less mass change the course of the object as it moves around and out of the gravitational force of the sun?
*At least I think this is the case, as it's always been reported that no-one's 100% sure on how much of ISON would be left after it finishes its trip past the sun.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ln33u/eli5_how_can_astronomrs_accuratly_predict_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cc0ue3d"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"In a resistance free environment, momentum and its direction will remain constant regardless of mass changes. Therefore, the object will continue on its previous path.\n\nSame principle as dropping an elephant and a penny from a height in an airtight environment for example. They will both accelerate at the same rate and reach the ground at the same time."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
35jd1y
|
why do porns always look amazing at first and ridiculously disgusting once you have masturbated?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35jd1y/eli5_why_do_porns_always_look_amazing_at_first/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cr4yvzc",
"cr4ywu3",
"cr58hqu",
"cr5ab2g",
"cr5aukb",
"cr5b63n",
"cr5bkl9",
"cr5bs13",
"cr5ca2i",
"cr5dvcr",
"cr5exhk",
"cr5f1gw",
"cr5ko1v"
],
"score": [
152,
189,
38,
19,
7,
65,
2,
7,
4,
17,
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"I can offer a couple of reasons.\n\n1. Your monitor is coated in your spunk \n2. You are deeply disappointed in the direction your life is going as you sit their with a sticky right hand and a quickly softening penis alone with your thoughts.\n\n",
"One widely-publicized experiment suggests that sexual arousal inhibits feelings of disgust. This is pretty valuable, because in spite of the natural drive toward sex, sex still has a lot of components that are normally disgusting, like body fluids and smells.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Objectively speaking, sex is pretty gross. Dirty sweaty bodies rubbing together, lots of messy body fluids mixing together and getting everywhere. \n\nThe human species would not get very far if we found sex disgusting though, so arousal suppresses feelings of disgust.",
"This is normal. As an example I present the buffet. \n\nI love food and goddammit I want to eat all $11 of what I paid. When I go to a buffet I eat till I am ready to explode. I then sit and digest for a bit. Then I eat desert. I feel like I am going to rupture when I am done. \n\nWhen I leave I have to walk past that food. I feel disgusted at the thought of even eating more. The smells of the food that enticed me not just an hour earlier make me nauseous now.\n\nIt's not that the food was good, I was just hungry. Once I am full it becomes unappetizing because the food is crap and I am feeling guilty about being gluttonous.\n\n",
"you need to come to terms with your sexual habits.\n\nMaybe you have guilt for masterbating or for the genera you are looking at? Maybe you feel lonely or maybe your partner does not like you looking at porn? \n\nI had that Christian Guilt, I talked to a therapist, accepted my sexuality, and now it does not disgust me...",
"Orgasms release prolactin. Prolactin inhibits dopamine in the brain so your dopamine levels drop off giving you negative feelings. Prolactin is essentially the off-switch to sex to shut the desire off after orgasm so you don't become stuck in endless sexual desire. Prolactin is also the hormone that's responsible for the roll-over-and-sleep effect of orgasms. \n\n_URL_0_",
"This used to happen to me, but not anymore. Does this still happen to most of you or what?",
"Some good explanations posted. I also think, for some people, the disgust is the result of realizing that you masturbated to a type of pornography that you you wouldn't actually engage in real life. So as the orgasm fades, you feel what you watched isn't consistent with your self-identified orientation/preferences. This could produce disgust, embarrassment and regret. ",
"First and foremost, after watching porn, it doesn't disgust you, but *you* are disgusted by *yourself*. It's simply the matter of shame and the feeling of emptiness. \nWhen I rub one out, I feel great. I actually feel relieved and over-all completely satisfied with myself. \nYou need to acknowledge the fact that it's a natural thing to do, and have some self-respect.",
"I've never had this problem and I don't understand why. I just lose interest, but I'm not disgusted about it.",
"If you come to terms with porn and decide to love it and share it with your SO you will have fewer feelings of disgust, that is to say, I have fewer feelings of disgust. I still love porn even when I'm done. Sometimes I just keep going and have another, slower and more sensual.",
"disgusting? well i enjoy it even afterwards ",
"Well this isn't always the case. Actually, to be honest, I don't feel shame after masturbating. People always talk about it, but I don't get that."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044111"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.entelechyjournal.com/pulling_away_after_sex1.htm"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
6zuzjz
|
why do all the cells in the body die when a person or animal is killed?
|
Can't some cells operate and thrive on their own? How are they all connected to the point where they all shut down upon the person/animal's death? And how long does it take all cell activity to stop after death?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6zuzjz/eli5_why_do_all_the_cells_in_the_body_die_when_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dmy74rx"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Cells in the body are dependent on the circulatory system to supply them with food and oxygen. When circulation fails, the cells die. (This can happen in living people too: gangrene.)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
9pzs2o
|
why do muscles shake when they’re cold / dealing with too much weight?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9pzs2o/eli5_why_do_muscles_shake_when_theyre_cold/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e85k49z"
],
"score": [
12
],
"text": [
"I can't say for the weight bit, but your body's natural reaction to cold weather is to warm itself to a healthy internal temperature. It does this by twitching muscles which generate heat by consuming fuel derived from what you eat."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
4jh20z
|
i have an android and my phone takes universal chargers. why does it recognize some of them and charges normally but for other chargers it will tell me to use the original and not charge properly?
|
What is a phone "reading" or looking for when I plug in the universal charger? There have been some that I bought that work fine and others that charge my phone slower.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4jh20z/eli5i_have_an_android_and_my_phone_takes/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d36i54e"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"The charger itself puts out a certain amount of power - 1A, 2A, maybe in voltage, etc. The more power it puts out, the faster your device will charge. Some chargers cannot put out enough power to adequately charge your device (think a USB 1.0 port), in which case your phone is telling you."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
8ifn0l
|
is it more fuel efficient to turn off your vehicle for 1 minute then start it up again or to just leave it running?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8ifn0l/eli5_is_it_more_fuel_efficient_to_turn_off_your/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dyrbbnv"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"leave it running, you spend a lot of gas on start up. If its like 5-10 minutes then turn your car off, but if its literally a minute then keep it idling."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
3mvq73
|
why does the strength of wi-fi vary when i'm a few rooms away from the router? shouldn't it be consistent?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mvq73/eli5_why_does_the_strength_of_wifi_vary_when_im_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cvijcwz"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"The issue can often be related to the structure of the building - the building materials, the way those materials are assembled, the shape of the room, etc., can all have an impact on the ability for wireless signals to travel through a space.\n\nYou can have two rooms the same distance from the hotspot, and get two different signal strengths depending on the structure of those rooms."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
7x1p8w
|
why do other cars' left/right blinkers seem to sync up with mine?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7x1p8w/eli5_why_do_other_cars_leftright_blinkers_seem_to/
|
{
"a_id": [
"du4t2yt"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"They don't. They are at different speeds. Because of this, at some point they will seem to be the same, then drift off back to being different."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
c3uoh1
|
why is hunter s thompson popular
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c3uoh1/eli5why_is_hunter_s_thompson_popular/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ertbag5",
"ertbv3a",
"ertca6x"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
3
],
"text": [
"I’ve recently asked a similar question in a class of mine. What makes specific artist and authors standout throughout history",
"I think he came up with a new style of journalism in the 1970s that was fresh and unique. It is still very popular today. \n\nBefore Thompson people would report on things in a distant, dry, detached manner. They would write about events from the outside in an attempt to remain objective and stick to the facts. \n\nBut Thompson put himself into the story and wrote from the inside. Similar to the way companies like Vice report on things now as opposed to the BBC or CNN. The story becomes about the reporter and their subjective experiences which makes for an interesting take on events. The stories are often fun, energetic, engaging and exciting. \n\nHe might not have been the first to do it but he did popularise it and give it a name - 'gonzo journalism'.\n\n_URL_0_",
"His craziness wasn't an act. He was honest in his desire to get the most out of his words by any means necessary. Also, he was a turbulent man that lived in and documented a very turbulent time. He isn't the greatest writer but he has great content."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism"
],
[]
] |
||
2psbp9
|
when cooking what is the difference between boiling water and very hot not-boiling water?
|
I've been told not to add, tea bags or pasta before the water is boiling. What difference does the boiling make?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2psbp9/eli5_when_cooking_what_is_the_difference_between/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cmzjya7",
"cmzktyf",
"cmzv6m2",
"cmzzd9c"
],
"score": [
12,
3,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"The nice thing about boiling water is that it stays at a single, precise temperature for even cooking throughout.",
"Tea should not be brewed with boiling water. It should be slightly below boiling.",
"The other nice thing that has not been mentioned yet is that boiling water moves. Hot water from the bottom of the pan rises to the top, so your food is constantly coming into contact with new water. This is called \"convection\" heating.",
"When heating up water, you are adding energy. One 'calorie' is the amount of energy to heat up 1 gram of water (by mass/weight) 1 degree Celsius. So as you get to the boiling point (100 C) additional energy is required to change 100C water to 100C steam. This is about 32 calories per gram. This is called the 'heat of vaporization', I think.\n\nSo water that is actively boiling is not only 100C, but also has some extra energy that will keep the overall temperature at 100C *even after you put in your pasta, pour for coffee/tea, or some other colder food*. This keeps the temperature consistent for a longer period of time. In the case of pasta, especially, the higher temperature helps prevent sticking after the water is cooled by the pasta.\n\nIn recipes, you should pay attention to the instructions \"When the water has come to a full rolling boil...\""
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
7q6d25
|
how has the panama canal effected fish and wild life in the atlantic and pacific that previously had no interaction?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7q6d25/eli5how_has_the_panama_canal_effected_fish_and/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dsmqn0f",
"dsmr2xj",
"dsmreqg",
"dsmt478",
"dsmvns7",
"dsmw9zk",
"dsmwqcx"
],
"score": [
21,
263,
29,
3,
29,
29,
8
],
"text": [
"That's an interesting question but I will point out that it's a canal, not an open waterway. Meaning, its got walls on each side and water is pumped in or out to level out the two sides. \n\nSo unless very small lifeforms are traversing those pumps, I'd guess very little effect. But that's just a guess",
"Marine life can physically traverse the canal and locks. \n\nHowever, the Panama Canal connects two salt water bodies together with roughly 40 miles of freshwater.\n\nSo, while the fish could physically traverse the locks and canal, it is unlikely that they would survive the 40 miles of freshwater travel needed to pass through the canal.\n\nThere have been multiple studies as this question is not uncommon, but I believe it is still not known of any marine life that has successfully passed the entire canal from one ocean to the next.\n\n*Edit:* I should clarify I was speaking to larger marine life. /u/datums brings up a very good point for smaller marine life. _URL_0_",
"What about the Suez canal instead? Life mixing from the Mediterranean and Red sea.",
"The Pacific and Atlantic join below the southern tip of South America. The opportunity already existed for wild life to travel between the two oceans.",
"Well, the lock fees are high enough that most fish choose to swim around rather than take the tollway. \n\nSorry, couldn’t help myself. But the freshwater issue is what I’ve always understood to be the impediment when I asked the same question years ago to some engineer friends.",
"The canal doesn't actually \"connect\" each body of water. Think of the canal as river that splits - half of it goes east, and the other half goes west. Boats go up river, reach a high point, then go down river in their journey from each side. \n\nHere is a good graphic : _URL_0_",
"Fun unrelated fact:\n\nPanama City, FL, picked up its name from residents who began referring to the area (then called St. Andrews) as the new Panama City when a large fruit company was considering it as a port city at which to relocate from New Orleans. Tampa ended up getting the bid, but the name stuck. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7q6d25/eli5how_has_the_panama_canal_effected_fish_and/dsmrgpa/"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://28oa9i1t08037ue3m1l0i861-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Panama-Canal-Locks-Animation.gif"
],
[]
] |
||
37h644
|
why does the back of my head and neck tingle with pleasure when i watch videos of people working with their hands?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37h644/eli5_why_does_the_back_of_my_head_and_neck_tingle/
|
{
"a_id": [
"crmmsid"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text": [
"It's called [ASMR](_URL_0_) and it is not entirely understood. It can be triggered by a varsity of stimuli and each person is different, but it is a pretty good sensation, isn't it?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response"
]
] |
||
4knsts
|
what does the blue light your dentist shines on your teeth do?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4knsts/eli5what_does_the_blue_light_your_dentist_shines/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d3gei00",
"d3gosou"
],
"score": [
144,
55
],
"text": [
"#The composites we use are cured with blue light. NOT UV LIGHT. \n\nIt is a polymerizing reaction that is initiated by (usually) camphorquinone. The polymerization is best at 470nm which is blue light. The yellow/orange filter you see us using filters out the blue light from white light so it doesn't cure the composite as we're shaping the tooth.\n\nSource: Dentist \n\nEdit: Reddit - Where facts don't matter and all that does is hurt Fee Fees",
"**Short answer: Light particles trigger a chain reaction in the glue causing it to make long chains and harden. If the particles have too less energy, they fail. If they have too much, they are less likely to interact with the glue. The most commonly used type of dental glue has this perfect energy to harden at the wavelength we consider blue.**\n\nThe glue is set up in such a way that it can be made to harden through a chain reaction.\n\nThis chain reaction happens when bonds in one chemical in the glue get broken.\n\nIf the particles of light are too 'slow' (long and of lower frequency), such as infrared light, they cannot break the bonds of this chemical.\n\nAs /u/Quadrupol said, the best wavelength for the most common one is 470 nm, and at this point the particles of light are fast enough that they perfectly break the bonds and start the chain reaction.\n\nWhy not go faster/stronger then? You could move on to more energetic quicker UV rays. The problem with them is that as the particles of light go faster, they are often less likely to interact with the chemical (lower absorption cross-section). Also, even if they interact, their wavelengths are too small to cause chain reactions (low quantum yield)\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
5pg2ka
|
how does the impeachment process work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5pg2ka/eli5_how_does_the_impeachment_process_work/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dcqxwd3",
"dcratzp"
],
"score": [
31,
3
],
"text": [
"Someone (usually a member of the House of Representatives) files impeachment charges, those charges move to a committee for review. If the committee decides to move forward with it, a vote is held in the House. \n\nImpeachment is similar to an arraignment, where a judge decides if the charges against someone have merit. If the President is impeached by the House (a majority voting in favor of impeaching), it moves to the Senate for something that's akin to the actual trail in a court. If 2/3 of Senators vote in favor, only then will the President be removed from office.\n\nSo in the 90s, Bill Clinton was impeached by the House, but not removed from office by the Senate. Andrew Johnson was also impeached, but no President has ever been removed from office this way. Richard Nixon probably would have, but he resigned before impeachment proceedings could take place.",
"The impeachment process actually takes some time to work out, and follows a series of specific steps. This was done to prevent a situation where a congress decides that they just \"don't like\" the president, and removing him from office. \n\nSo as to the process.\n\nFirst off, let's explain what impeachment means. In simple terms, it means that charges of misconduct are filed against the president by the congress. Misconduct is a pretty broad term, but usually it applies to Abuse of power or failure to uphold the requirements of the office of President.\n\nOnce charges are levied against the president, the Senate then investigate the claims. This is a two stage process. First an independent investigator reviews the charges and any evidence presented. That investigator then decides if the charge is valid. \n\nIf the charge (or charges) is found to be valid, then the Senate holds a hearing where the president is brought before congress to testify. The President will be asked a number of questions, and is allowed his own lawyer to defend his actions. It's not unlike a court case, in all honesty. Once the testimony has been taken, which can take several days, the Senate will then retreat to a session and vote on whether or not they believe the president is guilty.\n\nFor a guilty verdict to be found, the Senators must have two thirds of them vote guilty. If this happens, then the president is removed from office, and the next in line (typically the Vice President) takes the oath of office.\n\nOur 17th president, Andrew Johnson, was impeached while in office. Thirty-five senators found him guilty -- just one vote short of the two-thirds vote necessary to convict him. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
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