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364lm3
|
why did many classic musical acts such as bb king, elvis and johnny cash play concerts at prisons and jails? why don't we see musicians doing this anymore?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/364lm3/eli5_why_did_many_classic_musical_acts_such_as_bb/
|
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"And how were they even able to do it? I can't imagine that would be allowed today. ",
"I doubt it would be a good move publicity wise. Especially not when musicians can do USO tours, or play for sick kids, etc. The media is a lot more invasive today than in the days of Elvis and BB King. Also a lot more negative - it's a lot more common to publicly criticise celebrities than it used to be.",
"In the past, playing at a prison was a way of being seen as folksy and somehow on the same level as the common man. Over time, the public image of prison has become harder and less folksy, and playing at one sends a different message to the public. A few years ago Metallica did a session at a prison for the album St. Anger (not their best work) to try to make it seem like it was a harder album than it was.",
"Waiting for a music industry insider who is a part time prison guard to explain fully, but I will still make an assumption. \n I assume that back then it more or less had to do with the gesture of a prison performance being a cultural statement where they are entertaining the less fortunate who are in prison because they deserve to hear music too, but now culture has shifted and most people imprisoned now would be looked at as actual criminals who don't deserve this gesture of a concert from a top musician, but I'm no expert. Maybe an expert can verify. ",
"Didn't Metallica do that back in 03/04 for their St. Anger video?",
"In Cash's case, he was inspired by a film about Folsom Prison:\n_URL_0_"
]
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40sh62
|
why did two american patrol boats drift east into iran's waters?
|
Why did two American patrol boats drift east into Iran's waters when its a straight shot south from Kuwait to Bahrain?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/40sh62/eli5_why_did_two_american_patrol_boats_drift_east/
|
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"* The US could be lying\n* Iran could be lying\n* The boats might not have been going directly between Kuwait and Bahrain. They said they were training, not traveling.\n* Even if they were trying to move directly between those locations, there might be shipping lanes and certain right-of-ways that caused them to be further from the shore than you might expect.\n* One of the boats was said to have mechanical trouble. They might have been close to Farsi Island and just drifted in while trying to fix the issue."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
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|
11rth3
|
why is it that one world trade center has less floor area than even one of the two twin towers?
|
Floor area 1 & 2 WTC: 4,300,000 sq ft (400,000 m2) each
Floor area One WTC: 3,501,274 sq ft (325,279 m2)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/11rth3/eli5_why_is_it_that_one_world_trade_center_has/
|
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"Less to clean up this time round.",
"Because it's not as big?\n\nHow many stories is each building? How big around?\n\nAlso, there may be a distinction between physical size (floors times 2D size of a cross-section of the building) and usable space once you account for supports, stairwells, etc.",
"It wasn't optimized for floor space, it's more of a monument than an office building in the eyes of the public. (I'm not sure what the actual purpose of it is.)\n\nI mean... just look at the designs even! WTC 1 & 2 were rather rectangular. This new one, not so much.",
"Ultimately, because there's only so much demand for office space in lower Manhattan right now. There's no sense building a building that's twice as big as the amount of floor space you can rent out."
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5rrnta
|
http vs. https
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5rrnta/eli5_http_vs_https/
|
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"The \"s\" means secure.\n\nThink about talking to your BFF in a room full of people at a party. Everyone can hear you and hear what you're talking about.\n\nNow lets change that up, now you and your BFF are speaking a secret language that just the two of you guys know. Only you. Everyone else can still hear you talking, but no one can make any sense of that.\n\nThats what moving from http to https does. It keeps your conversation with the website in your own secret language.\n\n",
"Https is secure.\n\nIf you are using http, everything that you send is basically in plain text. If I could eavesdrop, I would be able to see exactly what you are doing. \n\nUsing HTTPS is encrypted, so it is more secure, and if I could eavesdrop in the middle it would all be random data..",
"All of the answers above are absolutely right. The \"S\" in HTTPS keeps your conversation a secret. It does something else that's just as important though. \n\nLet's say you want to give the person that you're talking to some really private info -- like your bank account number. HTTPS also helps prove that the person you're talking to is really who they claim to be. ",
"HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) was something invented by Tim Berners Lee in 1989 at CERN when he created the WWW (he didn't do it from scratch and built on the ideas of others before him, but he created the version we now all use).\n\nIt is a protocol (hence the **P** in the name) originally designed to transfer (the **T**) a certain sort of file called a HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file (which is where we get the **HT** from).\n\nThis means it was meant as a protocol (a set of rules) to transfer websites from one computer to another.\n\nThere were other protocols with more generic applications before that like FTP (File Transfer Protocol) but HTTP was especially designed for websites.\n\nThe was we use it today is to have a webbrowser (like the one you are using right now to view this website) communicate with a webserver and transfer files (like the website you are viewing right now) from the server to the browser so you can view it on your computer/phone/whatever.\n\nThe HTTP is used to send the website from the server to your computer.\n\nIt can also be used to transfer other types of files but websites is what it was built for and is mostly used for.\n\nThe original HTTP had a big problem though. Everything that was transferred with it was transferred openly over the net in plain text.\n\nThink of it as writing something on the back of a post card. the mailman and everyone else who handles the postcard as it is send to you can see exactly who is sending what message to who.\n\nIf you value your privacy you might prefer sending a letter in an envelope instead of a postcard.\n\nThis is basically what HTTPS is to HTTP.\n\nOnce the web got started people realized that it might not be a smart idea to send things like credit card numbers, passwords or sexual propositions openly around the net in ways everyone could see.\n\nSo a variation of the HTTP was born called HTTPS (the S stands for secure) it basically does exactly the same thing as HTTP does, but the rules were amended to include a bit about encrypting the messages being send back and forth first.\n\nHTTPS has the advantage of giving you privacy on the web.\n\nOne other advantage is authentication. Because of the way encryption works, websites using https have to have something called a certificate. This certificate that they get from trusted authorities can be used like a badge or a personal ID to prove that the website is exactly who they claim to be.\n\nSo https does not just give you privacy it also makes sure that nobody is impersonating the website you are trying to view.\n\nThe combination of privacy and making sure you got the right website is important for such things as online banking and basically everything else you do online where you don't want to give anything away.\n",
"Lets say I'm not a very nice person and I want to take advantage of a person or business. Lets take a person, and say that I've parked outside their house a few nights in order to log wifi packets until I crack their weak encryption key. I can now join their network and use a technique called arp poisoning. I basically trick the persons computers into thinking I'm the fastest path to the internet so all of their traffic gets routed to me, then out to the web. \n\nI could use any number of tools like winpcap and wireshark to sniff the packets being sent back and forth between that user and any website they visit including their bank, their email, what username and passwords they typed in. I would basically know everything about what they are doing. \n\nHow do you prevent that? You connect using an encrypted session which establishes 2 way communication with an internet server, but nobody but the server and the user can understand the conversation. So the bad guy sniffing their packets will get pages of garbage, instead of useful and illicit passwords and account numbers. \n\nHTTP is a non encrypted connection which is fine for googling things or visiting a public website that doesn't require you send any login information to it. \n\nHTTPS is an encrypted connection which not only encrypts the conversation, it also encrypts the username and password that are sent, and it prevents people from eavesdropping. \n\nIt's not fool proof. If I was a savvy bad guy I might use my new found wifi connection to your house in order to serve you malware which infects your computer and logs all your keystrokes. Since the information is only encrypted on the wire, and once it reaches your web browser it's not encrypted anymore, if I can see whats on your screen and log your keystrokes, I can still do a lot of damage. "
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ej6ltj
|
why does carrying 400 pounds of body fat negatively affect heart health while 400 pounds of muscle does not?
|
We all know being overweight is bad for your overall health, specifically it puts excess stress on your heart to supply enough oxygen to your limbs. That same weight however can take the form of muscle fat and yet the negative affects are neglible?
I'm certain I'm missing something obvious but google hasn't been forthcoming.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ej6ltj/eli5_why_does_carrying_400_pounds_of_body_fat/
|
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"Have you ever seen someone carrying around 400 lbs of muscle? I have not.",
"The muscles are distributed throughout the body and has a function. Fat just envelopes your insides. It encases your heart and the muscle that is your heart has to push this heavy less flexible semisolid with every beat.",
"Well, 400 pounds of muscle isn't possible unless you're an animal larger than a human.\n\nIn general, muscle movement helps pump the blood back to the heart in a way that fat movement can't. To build up muscle you first have to build up your fitness to support that muscle, so it's a self-limiting process.",
"If someone is carrying that much muscle it'll definitley affect them negatively too - these extreme bodybuilders aren't as healthy as you think.",
"Body builders aren’t really healthy. Now, someone with a 6-8 pack is likely good (depending on their diet and they aren’t over doing things), once you get into the Hercules category of physique things get trickier. Usually they can’t run fast, or long. Their internal health is gonna be garbage, especially the heart trying to keep up with the demand. Lot of those guys die young from heart attacks.",
"I'm a massage therapist and some of the crappiest bodies i work on are body builders and athletes, but i digress...\n\nUsually a non- muscular \"obese\" ( in quotes because bmi is bullshit) person is likely going to have a lot of fat around their organs (visceral fat)... the amount of fat restricts movement of these organs especially the heart... which moves a lot more often than other organs. The fat can basically restrict the heart sinuses from filling with enough blood and restricts the distance that the blood is pumped... including blood going BACK to the heart and going to the brain. \n\nMuscular people will have much less of that fat due to constant burning... so their heart will be free to move... better in comparison... BUT even a thin person can have a significant amount of visceral fat... if you ever see a generally skinny guy with a gut... and that gut is rock hard, THAT is visceral fat around the intestines. You can assume that kind of fat is around other organs as well."
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ekc9ww
|
i've seen images of a very westernised middle-east in the 60's and 70's, how did this region become so conservative and radicalised?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ekc9ww/eli5_ive_seen_images_of_a_very_westernised/
|
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"USA took out democratic elected leaders in fear of them becoming too communist. \nThe leaders the CIA put in there place were mostly corrupt. \nSo the general public lost the faith in democracy and supported religious leaders wich took down the corrupt leaders and made more backwards religious rules.\n(This happened in Syria but other countries experienced similar things.)",
"Not just middle east, much of the Islamic world back in the 60's and 70's was quite liberal, westernized. Then Afghan war happened. In order to beat USSR, USA relied on radical ideology to create Jihadists. With money flowing in from USA and much of the groundwork for creating nurseries of Jihadists at the hands of KSA, this in return gave so much money and power to the Saudi funded seminaries that states were almost helpless, no rather helped them in spreading the Salafist mirror. My country is one example. Now KSA funds seminaries across the Muslim world and the governments despite knowing the dangers and extremism these seminaries are spreading, can't do much. \n\nAlso, the USA has always found extremist Islamic regimes more favourable to it instead of an open democratic government.",
"Before WW1 it was fairly authoritarian, and during the Cold War it went back to being authoritarian.",
"Every comment here about US meddling is mostly wrong. They overestimate US influence. Salafism, Wahhabism, and political Islam in general, began around WW1. \n\nThose images you saw represented very small, urban, secular subsets of the population for most of those countries. Secular dictatorships were the norm in ME in those years. But the population at large never really was secular, and they were certainly VERY conservative. Of all those secular authoritarian regimes, only the one in Turkey succeded, at least partially.",
"So how did Turkey get to be like it is? Its a premdominatly Muslim nation but seems very westernized.",
"Here is the thing, nothing really changed. Those images you see were of a minority that happened to live in cities in that given timeframe. Urbanization was kind of a new concept to those countries at the time. Maybe up to %90 percent of the population lived in villages/small towns. So it was an illusion basically, that represented maybe %10 of the general population. Then the actual %90 also joined the fun.",
"_URL_0_\n\nGives you a much better answer from historians than what you are getting here."
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||
36vuz4
|
why don't companies sue people who are selling items with clearly trademarked intellectual property?
|
I'm talking about taking obviously trademarked intellectual property like Mario or Pokemon and making "inspired" items that they sell for profit.
Does the fact that they say "inspired" cover them legally from infringement? I understand the mash-up designs that clearly take artistic talent, but some of these are just straight up copy/paste of company images/logos.
Examples:
_URL_0_
_URL_2_
_URL_1_
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/36vuz4/eli5_why_dont_companies_sue_people_who_are/
|
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"1.) The company could sue, but it's not like these etsy kids are making enough money to be worth it. \n2.) Blizzard is probably sending warning letters in case they need to do take stronger action later. \n3.) In the meantime, free advertising... Blizzard doesn't want to harm their image by cracking down too hard on fans.",
"It is very difficult to find and convict these people. \n\nMoreover, once that's done, they rarely have any recoverable assets: so in other words a company spends a ton of money in finding and prosecuting but gets little in return. \n\nThere is also the problem that many governments go out of their way to prevent companies from winning such prosecutions and lawsuits. China, for example, has a court system that makes such prosecution extremely expensive and time consuming. It can take a company over 10 years to get a ruling. By the time that happens, the guilty party is long gone. \n\nAnother example is illegal disc jockeys and karaoke providers. There are many THOUSANDS of KJs and DJs who use PIRATED SOFTWARE and PIRATED MUSIC and VIDEOS to provide such entertainment for bars, parties, weddings and the like.\n\nBut very few of these people have substantial assets. So while it is very expensive to find and prosecute them, the music and software companies gain very little from the settlement. \n\n The one thing such prosecutions can accomplish is to create a deterrent. If individuals FEAR such prosecution, they may be less likely to make illegal use of the intellectual property. This is why music companies and others often pursue high profile cases seeking to show the market the dangers of IP theft. \n\nWhile such a deterrent effect has value, it is difficult to measure. \n\nMeanwhile, it can also have a negative effect on sales as consumers see the actions as \"evil\" and so choose to boycott products. \n\nFun stuff. "
]
}
|
[] |
[
"http://www.teefury.com/",
"https://www.shirtpunch.com/",
"https://www.etsy.com/market/world_of_warcraft"
] |
[
[],
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] |
|
9gud5a
|
what happens to someone’s credit card debt when they pass away if they are the sole owner of the account and all other estate valuables (house, tuck etc) are under active loans also?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9gud5a/eli5_what_happens_to_someones_credit_card_debt/
|
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"If the estate has no funds available to pay off the debt, the credit card company will have to charge it off. Credit card debt is unsecured, so they are basically the last ones t get paid from an estate. Most of the time, they don’t end up getting anything.\n\nThe executor/executrix if the estate is responsible for making sure that all of the debts are paid that can be paid. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
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||
3q463k
|
why are there less and less marshmallows in a bowl of lucky charms as you get closer to the bottom of the bag?
|
The first bowl or two of lucky charms overfloweth with delicious marshmallows, but by the time you are at the last bowl of the bag there is barely a handful of marshymallows left to sweeten my breakfast / lunch / snack :(
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3q463k/eli5why_are_there_less_and_less_marshmallows_in_a/
|
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"density of the marshmellows is lower than the cereal, they migrate to the top during transportation?\n\nnext time you buy, empty the box into a bowl, mix it up, and put it back into the box properly mixed.",
"The marshmallows are generally larger than the other contents. Now during transportation, the bag is bound to be shaken. The small pieces slide into the bottom while the bigger marshmallows stay at the top, kind of like a sieve. "
]
}
|
[] |
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[],
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3c9wxd
|
why does a cars power and/or torque drop off at higher revs?
|
Thanks in advance :)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3c9wxd/eli5why_does_a_cars_power_andor_torque_drop_off/
|
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"At very high RPMs there is very little time for each stroke. So the valves do not have time to perfectly open and close, and the fuel-air mixture does not have time to perfectly blend and optimally burn, before it's time for the next stroke. Efficiency is reduced.",
"Power usually increases with RPM, but so does the inefficiencies of the engine and drive train (power loss due to friction / heat). Early on, the change in power gained exceeds the change in power loss, right up until you approach the optimal power range. As you try to increase the rotational speed of the crankshaft and gear train above that, you start losing more power than you put in - essentially the inefficiencies have caught up and passed your additional power gained by the higher RPM. In part this is caused by increased energy loss due to higher temperatures inside the cylinders, and increased drag caused by the lubricants (fluids react negatively to increased speeds following a velocity squared, giving it low resistance until it suddenly spikes upwards)"
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59hxh0
|
what is the issue with crispr and germ line editing?
|
I'm just curious to be honest :)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/59hxh0/eli5_what_is_the_issue_with_crispr_and_germ_line/
|
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"There are two major lines of ethical problems with gene editing:\n1) If it works, but only the rich are able to afford it (currently the case), are we unintentionally creating a new species that will be inherently better than the rest of humanity? Should we allow people to buy success? Look to the movie GATTACA for this line of argument.\n2) what if it doesn't work as intended? There is the distinct possibility that we mess something up with the germ line that doesn't express itself immediately, but will cause massive health and breeding problems generations down the line. Should we burden future generations with that possibility if they might not have the ability to fix it?",
"There is the issue of informed consent, in addition to the other problems. All of the descendants of the CRISPRed embryo will be artificially genetically modified with potentially unforseen results. If there is a result that produces a negative quality of life for a descendant, will it have been ethical to have done the editing to the ancestor?\n"
]
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|
1y7yv6
|
why doesn't kim jong-un attempt to better north korea?
|
Kim Jong-un knows what the rest of the world is like, so why doesn't he try to fix North Korea? Wouldn't both him and the country begin to reap the benefits by pumping money into their infrastructure, education, quality of life etc...? Wouldn't he be respected internationally, and from Koreans especially if he legitimately tried to do this? I'm sure North Korea would be able to get tons of aid as well. What is stopping him from leading a different life than the past generations of North Korean leaders...
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1y7yv6/eli5_why_doesnt_kim_jongun_attempt_to_better/
|
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"In many ways, he does (especially infrastructure and quality of life, but also civil rights and other areas).\n\nHowever it's not that simple. The military is incredibly powerful and for NK to survive it needs to maintain it's unique national identity, at least in the eyes of the leadership. To suddenly liberalize would lead to their undoing, as is what happened in the Soviet Union in the 1980's. The process needs to be more gradual to maintain continuity of government, which is important so that the country does not descend into civil war or something similar, which would lower the quality of life considerably",
"Why would any petty tyrant abuse or neglect those under his authority? Because he can; because nobody is deeply motivated to stop him. \n\nThat wretched family found a niche where they can rule with an iron fist and enjoy quite a bit of luxury and power that they wouldn't find as ordinary citizens elsewhere. Meanwhile, unease between the US, China, South Korea, and the surrounding Asian nations make it difficult for anyone to take action -- and so does the North Korean artillery focused on Seoul. \n\nSo, internal instability is one of the main long-term problems facing the DPRK's dictatorship, and educating, empowering, or even decently feeding the people could give them enough room to start asking questions. So, they keep the people down with jingoism, paranoia, hunger, isolation, and misinformation. So long as the wretchedness remains safely walled up inside North Korea, China and South Korea really don't want to make waves. \n\nIt's a stalemate, and *something* has to change before anyone can take action. Instability in the DPRK, heightened US/China tensions, Japanese or South Korean militarization, economic shifts, or even a stronger Chinese navy. For now, the situation is tenuously balanced (to the horrific detriment of the North Korean people), and nobody gets anything from stirring the hornet's nest. ",
"There are a lot of elites in North Korea who are happy with the way things are. If something were to change, these elites would lose their cushy lifestyles in a best case scenario or be tried and sentenced to death in the probable scenario. They have a very strong iterest to prevent change and would likely assassinate or overthrow Kim Jong Un if he were to show \"weakness\".\n\nKim Jong Un is in a pretty terrible spot. Even if he were a nice guy, he's practically forced to continue his father's policies in order to maintain power. Remember that a large number if not the majority of north koreans think of him as a savior to the people due to brainwashing through tight control of information.",
"Kim Jong-un may know what the rest of the world is like (although I seriously doubt it), but I'd guess he doesn't really know what the daily life of a common NK citizen is like. He has been raised since birth to think that his grandfather was a god, his father was a god, and he is a god and rightful heir to the NK kingdom. He is surrounded by a regime put in place generations ago that constantly reinforces this message. He can have people who displease him to betray him put to death, even if they're blood relatives. \n\nEven if he did realize the reality of the situation, and wanted to change it, what could he do? I'm pretty sure the power structure that exists would quickly strip him of power and leave him a figurehead, or just oust him completely. And if they didn't, he doesn't have any real leadership (or political, economic, etc) skills that he could use, nor a real political base to put any ideas he might have into action.\n\nI don't mean to defend the guy, but he was raised in a monstrous system to believe he is the king monster, so why would we expect him to act any differently?"
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8839v7
|
where do "profits" go compared to when we buy a car from an american car-company versus a foreign car-company like toyota?
|
Many patriots tell me it's patriotic to buy american because profits stay in USA.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8839v7/eli5_where_do_profits_go_compared_to_when_we_buy/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dwhjbu4"
],
"score": [
11
],
"text": [
"These people are somewhat confused.\n\nSome of the money goes to the factory workers. Both Japanese and American car brands sold in the USA do a lot of manufacturing in the USA, and some manufacturing overseas.\n\nSome of the money goes to the dealers. They are located where you buy the car; they are not generally foreign companies.\n\nSome of the money goes to the suppliers. They are located all over the world.\n\nThe remaining money is the profits. They go to the shareholders (owners) of the company. These are people all over the world. You can buy stock in Ford or in Toyota, today."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
62ftgi
|
why are fluorescent light bulbs curly?
|
What's the function of the curly shape of fluorescent light bulbs/ power saver light bulbs?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/62ftgi/eli5why_are_fluorescent_light_bulbs_curly/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dfm6sgj"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Actually not all Fluorescent bulbs are curly, the originals look like Halogen bulbs: Long, straight, and thin. These bulbs give off a certain amount of light per unit distance. They can be made wider, but this doesn't make them much brighter per bit of length.\n\nThe curly bulbs are called *Compact* fluorescent bulbs, and they take the same technology as regular fluoescent bulbs and put them in a size and shape that can replace a traditional incandescent bulb. Combined, this meant that a curled-design bulb using fluorescent technology could give the same amount and similar style of light as a traditional incandescent bulb, and fit into the same sockets and fittings: Existing lamps wouldn't need to be replaced, just the bulbs.\n\nIncandescent bulbs were the first major lighbulb, and had a number of advantages that newer technology has to replicate: They emitted pleasing light in all directions and at good brightness. Short Fluorescent Bulbs the length of a regular old bulb simply weren't bright enough to do the job though, so the tubing was twisted to get extra distance into the same space. More distance meant more light, and the better technology means more efficient bulbs.\n\nLED's are even more efficient, but have other design needs to replace a traditional incandescent: They emit light in only one direction. This has to be engineered away and is typically done using reflectors to spread the *very* bright light coming off an LED to all directions."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
8p9cec
|
what are "reps" and "sets"? (exercise/weight lifting)
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8p9cec/eli5_what_are_reps_and_sets_exerciseweight_lifting/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e09ermc",
"e09esop",
"e09evpb"
],
"score": [
5,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Reps are repetitions of a certain exercise. And sets are how many separate iterations you do. So 4 sets of 8 squats would by doing 8 squats and resting followed by 8 squats and so on 4 times ",
"Reps (short for repetitions) is the number of times an exercise will be repeated in succession (e.g. jumping jacks for ten reps). \n\nSets are the number of times each succession of reps will be completed (e.g. three sets of ten jumping jacks with a short break after each set). ",
"A rep is a repetition of the exercise you’re doing.\n\nA set is a set of reps. \n\nSo if you’re doing squats, and you’re doing 3 sets of 7 reps. Then each set contains 7 squats.\n\nFirst you’re doing 7 squats. Then you take a small pause, then 7 more squats, a small pause and then at last 7 more squats.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
2lxc5r
|
why are there so many water charities?
|
Do they all just give people clean drinking water? Are they competing? Are charities even working?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lxc5r/eli5_why_are_there_so_many_water_charities/
|
{
"a_id": [
"clz1dtm"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"They usually attempt to build up potable water in places that don't have it, mostly by building wells or teaching rainwater collection techniques. Water charities are important because most other methods of bringing impoverished nations that lack clean drinking water any relief is usually food, clothing and delivered water donations. These charities are good intentioned, but have the unintended effect of really reinforcing their poverty. People in these places could really use agriculture and textiles as industries to start improving their way of life, but since they are just given these things, they become reliant on charity without the means to work out of it. On the other hand, water charities help these places get their own water, which not only improves health and mortality rates, but allows them to begin irrigating to grow their own food. These charities are the best way to help the poorest people of the world. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
5j7uwo
|
why do shroom clouds form after a nuke hits the ground?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5j7uwo/eli5_why_do_shroom_clouds_form_after_a_nuke_hits/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dbe079s"
],
"score": [
7
],
"text": [
"It happens with any large enough explosion, not necessarily nuclear. The explosion pushes a lot of air out of the way, leaving a large, low-pressure zone filled with smoke. As air rushes back in from the sides, and hot air rises off the heated ground, the smoke cloud collapses into the \"cap\" of the mushroom.\n\nThe air circulates something like this: _URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Mushroom_cloud.svg/576px-Mushroom_cloud.svg.png"
]
] |
||
35257o
|
how we perceive a supposedly 2d universe in 3 dimensions
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35257o/eli5how_we_perceive_a_supposedly_2d_universe_in_3/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cr07ysi"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"In simplest terms the universe is 2D only at very very large scales and energies. Our scales and energies are so low that they allow us to perceive 3 dimensions. Imagine a wallmount projector projecting against a flat wall. The wall is flat to you but when you get right up close to it you can see that it's not perfectly flat."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1wh9tm
|
why european countries can't become tax havens?
|
I only hear these countries complain all the time about big companies, which pay taxes in tax haven and because of it they have to rise taxes and poor people must pay higher extortion money, while tax havens are wealthy and happy. So why none of big European countries (Germany, France, Poland) lower their taxes, instead of raising them till doomsday (which force even more countries to emigrate)?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wh9tm/eli5_why_european_countries_cant_become_tax_havens/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cf1xwvn",
"cf1z4xs"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"well, some of them are.",
"Tax haven countries tend to be small and underpopulated - and they wish to attract large amounts of money and investment. France and Germany don't need to attract money in the same way- because their economies thrive on a middle class that benefits greatly from tax revenue: healthcare, schools, infrastructure, etc. Those people are main economic drivers and they're not looking to vacate. \n\nPlaces can be Tax Haven's simply due to bank secrecy laws. Switzerland is one such place, Austria is another. They do *not* report banking information to anyone - that's why they're awesome.\n\nIf you have $100m and you're taxed at 20%, you pay $20m in taxes. However, if you hide say.. $50m in a Swiss Account - you can tell the government you only have $50m and pay only $10m in taxes."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
6qkg9n
|
if a crime (like murder) is commited during an international flight, whose laws apply?
|
I remember watching a Bones episode where the rule is "it's the departure country's business until the flight lands". Is that legally right?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6qkg9n/eli5_if_a_crime_like_murder_is_commited_during_an/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dkxy8ni",
"dkxycyc",
"dkxydjm",
"dky1uu9"
],
"score": [
2,
11,
21,
8
],
"text": [
"Really, I think the country the plane arrives in would handle the case and then determine where to send the case. Kind of like how in the US if a cop is outside his/her jurisdiction but witnesses and handles a crime. They can hold the captive until appropriate figures show up. \n\nAnd for ships, it would be the flag it sails under. ",
"Whatever country wants to claim jurisdiction under their laws can do so. However wherever the flight lands will have the suspect in custody, and get first crack at what to do, either try the suspect under their laws, or deport the suspect to a different country of their choosing.",
"In the US, the federal government has jurisdiction over criminal offenses committed in the \"special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.\" Under 18 USC 7(5), this includes\n > Any aircraft belonging in whole or in part to the United States, or any citizen thereof, or to any corporation created by or under the laws of the United States, or any State, Territory, district, or possession thereof, while such aircraft is in flight over the high seas, or over any other waters within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any particular State.\"\n\nThe federal government *also* has jurisdiction over many offenses committed in the \"special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States\", which is defined in 49 USC 46501(2) to mean\n > any of the following aircraft in flight:\n(A) a civil aircraft of the United States.\n(B) an aircraft of the armed forces of the United States.\n(C) another aircraft in the United States.\n(D) another aircraft outside the United States--\n(i) that has its next scheduled destination or last place of departure in the United States, if the aircraft next lands in the United States;\n(ii) on which an individual commits an offense (as defined in the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft) if the aircraft lands in the United States with the individual still on the aircraft; or\n(iii) against which an individual commits an offense (as defined in subsection (d) or (e) of article I, section I of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation) if the aircraft lands in the United States with the individual still on the aircraft.\n(E) any other aircraft leased without crew to a lessee whose principal place of business is in the United States or, if the lessee does not have a principal place of business, whose permanent residence is in the United States.\n\nI would imagine other countries have similar rules outlining their jurisdiction. But to summarize, if a murder happens on an American plane, or a plane flying to the US, the federal government can prosecute.",
"No. There is an entire body of international law around what happens in this situation called the [Tokyo Convention] (_URL_0_). Per the Convention, the carrier's country *usually* has jurisdiction (the air version of law of the flag), but there are a lot of exceptions to the rule. There are even situations where the country the flight was over at the time of the crime can seek jurisdiction. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Convention"
]
] |
|
69paom
|
why does the crow of every rooster have the same notes?
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69paom/eli5_why_does_the_crow_of_every_rooster_have_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dh8gcwu"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"You can identify a rooster crowing, and you know it's a rooster and not any other bird or any other mammal. So can hens.\n\nIf you're a bird, being able to distinguish between the cry of your species and the cry of other species is clearly beneficial to the survival, as you can spend more time finding your species and less time finding others."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
6msh1i
|
why are array operations (e.g. matlab/numpy) so much faster than using loops on an entire array?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6msh1i/eli5_why_are_array_operations_eg_matlabnumpy_so/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dk3zmyg",
"dk45a0k",
"dk496sq"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Modern computers have support for array operations *in hardware.* There's no way for a software procedure to compete with that.",
"There are two primary reasons:\n\n1) No interpretation overhead. MATLAB and Python are both interpreted languages. There is significant overhead introduced by that, because the interpreter must read the instruction, interpret it, and *then* do whatever it says to do. When you use an array operation, the interpreter invokes native code that has been carefully optimized.\n\n2) Vectorization. Modern CPUs have support for carrying out operations on multiple pieces of data simultaneously (SIMD). For example, there may be an instruction that takes two 256 bit values containing four floating point numbers each, and add them each elementwise to produce a 256 bit result. If you have two arrays and you want to add all the elements, adding them four at a time is clearly going to be faster than adding them one at time. The libraries that these languages use to implement their array operations will are written to take advantage of this.",
"On a really super ELI5 level, it's like this:\n\nSay you have a hundred checks you need to deposit at a bank. A loop is essentially like waiting in line, depositing a check, walking out the door, and coming back in to begin a separate transaction. An array operation is like giving them the whole stack of checks at once."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
1tagfj
|
where do bitcoin's come from and how are they "mined"
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1tagfj/where_do_bitcoins_come_from_and_how_are_they_mined/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ce5zd40"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The Big Picture\n\n\nMining increases the bitcoin network's security and fights fraud by calculating what's effectively a checksum for transactions. By contributing their computing power to the bitcoin network for mining, individuals are rewarded with newly minted bitcoins by the community. This also provides a way to distribute new bitcoins in a fair manner.\n\n\nThe Details\nHash functions are at the heart of mining. A hash function is basically a complicated math formula that takes in some arbitrary input and gives a reproducible output. However, changing the input even slightly will completely alter the output. For example, using the SHA-256 hash function:\nSHA-256 of \"Test\" always outputs a hash of \"532eaabd9574880dbf76b9b8cc00832c20a6ec113d682299550d7a6e0f345e25\"\nSHA-256 of \"test\" (lowercase t) is \"9f86d081884c7d659a2feaa0c55ad015a3bf4f1b2b0b822cd15d6c15b0f00a08\"\n\n\nNow, let's say Alice decides to pay Bob 10BTC. The bitcoin network basically records that in the public ledger of transactions as \"Alice - > 10 - > Bob\". However, right now someone could change that 10 to a 20 without consequence. The network has to have some way of checking if the recorded transaction is valid or fraudulent. That's where mining comes in.\nWhen Alice pays Bob those 10BTC, miners in the bitcoin network will try to hash the transaction \"Alice - > 10 - > Bob\", resulting in \"aa314e08a642f5be3857276ecb4a4085a33b916f84aebef32a077df9c29949b3\". \n\nHowever, mining has a requirement that the resulting hash must start with a certain number of 0's (depending on the network's hash speed). Thus, miners will slightly alter the transaction by adding a random number to the end like so: \"Alice - > 10 - > Bob 12345\". The miners will then hash it again and see if it has the required number of 0's. If not, it'll change the random number and hash it again. This is repeated until an acceptable hash is found.\nOnce the correct hash is found, the transaction and the hash are permanently stored in the public ledger of transactions, and if anyone tries to change the transaction (i.e. changing the 10 to a 20), the hash will naturally mismatch and the network will know that that transaction is fake and will reject it. The miner who calculated the correct hash is rewarded a certain number of newly minted bitcoins and transaction fees for his contributions to the security of the network.\nThus, \"bitcoin mining\" is actually a slight misnomer. Its other equally important purpose is \"bitcoin transaction securing.\"\n\n\nHope that answered some questions!"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
5ieznj
|
where are the dust particules going after i inhaled them?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ieznj/eli5_where_are_the_dust_particules_going_after_i/
|
{
"a_id": [
"db7ob5w"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Most of them are going to hit the sides of your trachea before they ever reach your lungs. They'll stick because of the mucus, and then cilia will push them back up to the top of the throat, where they'll probably get swallowed.\n\nAny that enter your lungs will be eaten by specialist white blood cells called alveolar macrophages (also called dust cells, for that reason)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
1h9j6g
|
the texas abortion bill sb5
|
Aside from the 20-week part (which I feel was intended as a distraction), can someone explain the costly "safety" requirements this bill would impose on existing abortion clinics and why some critics say this would leave 5 working abortion clinics left in the state? One side preaches safety while the other side preaches unnecessarily costly and I would just like to get through the muck.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1h9j6g/eli5_the_texas_abortion_bill_sb5/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cas58ki"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"SB5 demands hospital-level upgrades for these clinics. On the surface, it makes sense, but then only 5 of these clinics would have a chance of affording all of SB5's demands, for relatively marginal gains in medical safety. As well, much like Planned Parenthood centers, these clinics do a hell of a lot more than performing abortions."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2vl523
|
why did the captain of that ship get 16 years for manslaughter when obviously he didn't mean to crash his ship while bp (for the deepwater horizon spill) get a fine not even worth the total cost of the clean up and lives lost?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vl523/eli5_why_did_the_captain_of_that_ship_get_16/
|
{
"a_id": [
"coimgwu",
"coimlbj"
],
"score": [
5,
6
],
"text": [
"You are referring to the Costa Concordia captain, I assume?\n\nThe charge of manslaughter was not necessarily for crashing the ship, but for his actions after the crash. The captain delayed the order to evacuate which contributed to the death of 32 people. BP settled out of court with the department of justice. ",
"He got the 16 years for abandoning his post and recklessness. And that's under Italian Law (the Costa Concordia flew the Italian flag and was owned by an italian company, etc.) \n\nWhen the ship hit the rocks due to his reckless behavior (showing off), he gtfo-ed quicker than a 18-year-old boy caught with his 15-year-old girlfriend by her Baptist preacher father. That mixture of causing the wreck (even if technically an accident) and then leaving people behind to die (not an accident) is what he's guilty of. \n\nBP is an entirely different situation. The well was owned by a company and operated by another, and it was considered a very good, clean, well-run operation during most of its tenure. \n\nThe accident that happened in 2010 had some human error, but no one could be pinpointed as \"The Idiot\" who made it happen. It was a nearly unavoidable accident almost completely outside the control of BP. \n\nPlus, when the crap went down, BP didn't turn and run, they tried to fix stuff. Yes it wasn't perfect, but they didn't run away from the problem. \n\nAnd finally, it's American law for Deepwater Horizon, not Italian. The two are similar in some ways I'm sure, but in the USA Deepwater Horizon was a workplace safety and insurance issue from the start and Costa Concordia was criminal from the start. \n\ntl;dr: Except for the whole \"Ocean\" thing, they're entirely different. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
cm89ie
|
why is it that the notes "e" and "b" dont go to "e#" and "b#" in music theory? how did it become like that?
|
Would music be easier to understand if it did?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cm89ie/eli5_why_is_it_that_the_notes_e_and_b_dont_go_to/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ew0l5d2",
"ew0lhsu",
"ew1ojwm"
],
"score": [
18,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"In western music, what you are reffering to is due to how the \"Chromatic scale\" was developped. It has to do with ratios, math, and intervals. Historically speaking, the scale was concieved as a 7 note scale (ABCDEFG) which was later expanded to take half steps into account.\n\nEach note has a specific frequency. But which frequency is chosen is absolutely arbitrary (some people will say there's reasons to use 435Hz for A but it's mostly pseudo-mystic mumbo-jumbo). In western music, we decided that A was exactly 440hz and went on from there. \n\nOnce you start seeing notes as specific frequencies you realised that there's one specific setup where ratios are easier to calculate. If you divide by 12, it turns out the ratios between notes are really nice and easy to work with:\n\n* C1 to C2 is 1 octave (12 semitones) which is a ratio of 2:1\n* A major Third (C to E) has a nice clean ratio of 5:4\n* A perfect fifth has a ratio of 3:2\n\nUsing ratios like this is very usefull because then you can determine notes easily by ratio. 440Hz is A, but 880 is also A, and 220, etc. \n\nYou can actually see in the ratios that \"simpler\" ratios like 5:4 or 3:2 give intervals that are percieved as more \"harmonic\" (Unison, a ratio of 1 to 1, would be the most harmonic since it's the same note, no difference), and as you get higher and more complex ratios your intervals become more and more dissonant 'a minor second has a ratio of 16:15 and a tritone has a ratio of 25:18.\n\nThe thing about the chromatic scale is that those neat, round ratios only work if your scale has 12 notes. It needs to be 12. With more notes (13 or more) you start getting weird ratios, and the notes you think would be a perfect fifth or a minor third etc would be out of tune by a few cents, getting worse and worse.\n\n12Tone has a great video about this here, where he shows the calculations of ratios for a 13 note scale\n\n[_URL_0_](_URL_0_)\n\nIn essence, the reason why there's no E# or B# is because *there is no room for them* in our musical system. Oriental music systems that take quarter tones or less into account can have more notes, but western music very rarely uses them.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nTLDR: Music would be much harder to understand if there were 13 or 14 notes in our scale.",
"E# and B# = F and C.\n\nThis is due to the way we divide notes within an octave today. This particular division is called equal temperament which divides the octave into 12 tones. There are older/less common temperaments that divide the octave into the same number of notes we commonly see but have the notes divided slightly differently.\n\nOther temperaments may allow an audible distinction between what we may call E# and F etc but almost never used in modern music outside of niche genres. These temperaments divide the octave into a larger number of total notes.",
"These answers are correct, but I don't feel it's that clear.\n\nIt just about naming. We've concluded that dividing scale into 12 semitones is the most logical way. In major C scale you will use these tones: CDEFGAHC, so we used C scale as some baseline and just added rest of the semitones with #.\n\nSo your question is like asking why there are no letters in the alphabet between letter B and C.\n\nSidenote, as someone pointed out, you do technically have E# and B# if you look at it from C# scale. But sometimes people just mark them as F and C because we're used to it that way."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKDHwGGBMUg&t=1s"
],
[],
[]
] |
|
3i6dcx
|
why do artists digitally release albums to different countries at different release date?
|
If an artist releases an album in European countries a month before America, wouldn't that just promote American fans to pirate the project?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3i6dcx/eli5_why_do_artists_digitally_release_albums_to/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cudp1bc",
"cudpiqi",
"cuf1mfs"
],
"score": [
4,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"So they can do interviews and other promotions in the different countries, if they released all at the same time they would be in 10 places at the same time.",
"Damn good question, friend. \n\nI hate that iTunes in New Zealand doesn't have a couple of my favourite albums on there, by big artists, of which every other album of theirs is on there. But if I login to the English iTunes, it's available. But I can't download it because I'm\nIn New Zealand. I was like , wtf apple, be an orange and shut up.",
"As far as I know, artists have \"album cycles\" which include the actual album release online (and via physical copies), and album release tours that go along with it. These are usually managed by record labels and tour managers who set up tour schedules to support the artists' album, for maximum exposure and return-on-investment.\n\nFor bigger artists, these tend to be a worldwide affair, and scheduling conflicts and logistical constraints force labels to release the albums at different times to be closer to the live-tour going through those countries. It also helps have better distribution and earn better record sales which help both the artists and the labels. In the end it is a business decision\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
10gip6
|
self defense laws.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/10gip6/eli5_self_defense_laws/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c6d9kay"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"They vary based on region. In some places you can shoot trespassers and call it self-defense, in other places you have to use \"equivalent force\", meaning you can't shoot a guy with a knife. The general idea behind it, though, is that you ought to be able to defend yourself effectively against aggressors without getting in trouble."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
2uvscw
|
whats with the circles?
|
u1lCMHAY0rJCsycdC9tt6uiTny5NFFS1QyuZA7fx6Ii4JE56KUUaeppF7cerVdu1lCMHAY0rJCsycdC9tt6uiTny5NFFS1QyuZA7fx6Ii4JE56KUUaeppF7cerVdu1lCMHAY0rJCsycdC9tt6uiTny5NFFS1QyuZA7fx6Ii4JE56KUU
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2uvscw/eli5_whats_with_the_circles/
|
{
"a_id": [
"coc3qnt",
"coc3sjl",
"coc3t4k",
"cocjkez"
],
"score": [
32,
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Irrigation systems run on a pivot. \n\nSee [here](_URL_0_) for more pictures",
"_URL_0_ \n\nIt is an irrigation style that became popular because it gives very even water distribution for a crop. ",
"Center pivot irrigation. Basically circular crops being watered around a pivot.\n\nYou can go more into detail [reading its Wikipedia page](_URL_0_)",
"Your Pac Man cabinet game appears to be on the fritz."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.google.com/search?q=pivot+irrigation+systems&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1440&bih=775&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=y5fTVN7KAcKMNvj1gpAO&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ"
],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_pivot_irrigation"
],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_pivot_irrigation"
],
[]
] |
|
dm37oh
|
why should we preserve the native languages of the world??? wouldn't be easier if we all talk the same lang???
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dm37oh/eli5_why_should_we_preserve_the_native_languages/
|
{
"a_id": [
"f4wcwvx",
"f4wd027",
"f4we6rp"
],
"score": [
4,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Languages are very important. If for example we all spoke english, we would lose whole concepts that are only possible or described in other languages.\n\nThey can be used to understand history and anthropology, so if for no other reason than that, they should be preserved like archaeological artifacts are preserved.",
"Many reasons, but most importantly is that language is a fundamental carrier of culture. If you speak at least two languages, you can easily tell how it's sometimes impossible to translate a concept, a joke, a proverb, or a story. These things provide a different perspective into the world. Losing a culture would be a loss for humanity, because we have one less way to see the world. No one said we shouldn't all try to have a common language, that would be great, like English, but we should also continue to preserve our own language. It's like biodiversity but for the mind.",
"They are cultural artifacts and also carry a lot of information about history. We could learn much if many of the languages of antiquity were not forgotten, for example the Quipu written language."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
47al92
|
why would someone have an "out of body experience" after being seriously injured?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/47al92/eli5_why_would_someone_have_an_out_of_body/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d0bj616",
"d0bjgyw"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Its a sort of fight or flight. The experience is too traumatic for the brain to process so it creates an alternate reality to protect you. ",
"I was stabbed in the neck and it really fucked me up for a while mentally, this was 2 years ago and when I think about it these days its like I'm watching a movie from the outside and I think its just that I've gone over that situation a million times in my mind which creates an \"outside\" visualization of the event. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
cb3d3d
|
the new iphones and other flagship phones have 2 cameras to create a bokeh effect. why do they need 2 cameras while real cameras can do the same effect with only one?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cb3d3d/eli5_the_new_iphones_and_other_flagship_phones/
|
{
"a_id": [
"etcsgoa",
"etcy3xy"
],
"score": [
2,
7
],
"text": [
"The aperture inside a camera works like the pupil of your eye. It opens or closes to restrict the light coming through. The size of the aperture directly effects the depth of field of the picture. This is basically the range of what is in focus vs out of focus. A big aperture means only objects an exact distance from the camera will be in focus, while a tiny aperture makes more stuff be in focus. In order to get that artsy blurry background in pictures you need an open aperture and to focus the camera exactly on your subject. Since cellphone cameras cannot adjust their aperture or focus they have to be set up have a moderate aperture size that will be a good all purpose setting. The use of two cameras to get a blurry effect is done digitally and you have less control over how it approximates that effect.",
"Because the bokeh created by an iPhone is fake, it takes two pictures and combine them by software. Cameras in phones are too small to reproduce depth like a DSLR, so they emulate this effect by using two focal points, one for the focused target and another for the background."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
32finm
|
why do our voices sound so odd/weird to us when we hear it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32finm/eli5_why_do_our_voices_sound_so_oddweird_to_us/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cqapluj",
"cqaq4fw",
"cqauvww"
],
"score": [
7,
5,
2
],
"text": [
"When you talk, you're not just hearing your voice through the air. The vibrations in your throat, which is what makes your voice, travel through your neck, into your ears. Since vibrations spread out and slow down as they pass through the solids of your body, the sound lowers in pitch, so we hear our voices as deeper than they sound to others.",
"When i used to hear myself recorded i sounded weird and hated it, but after taking a Spanish class where we had to record ourselves and listen back to correct our pronunciation, I no longer sound weird to myself. Also, I hear my voice the same as when recorded now, but it's a mental correction my brain is making to synthesize what I have memorized as the sound of my voice with what I hear \"in person.\"",
"You hear your own voice through two means, vibrations in the air which are warped by your face and/or is echoing off something, and the vibrations in your throat carrying to the ear.\n\nOnly by listening to a recording you have the setup where its like listening to others."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
66xdpy
|
how does an e-zpass work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/66xdpy/eli5_how_does_an_ezpass_work/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dgm0nef"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"You open the equivalent of a bank account and you put some money into it. And you get a RFID radio device that sends out an ID code that is received by the wireless receivers built into the toll station. So the toll station receives your ID code wirelessly and charges your account for the cost of the toll."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
4twb7u
|
how a bycicle brake works
|
hi guys.
I really don't get how a bicycle brake works.
I mean, what I know is that there is a metallic wire that somehow pulls a fork. The "problem" is that this wire is very flexible at the start, as it follows the movement of the handlebar.
There are some other little metallic cylinders that block the wire, resulting in a stiff part (which is the one that really pulls the fork, I think).
Ok, now. How is it possible that this stiff part pulls the brake, if there is still a loose section at the beginning of the wire?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4twb7u/eli5_how_a_bycicle_brake_works/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d5ksnt5"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Bikes commonly use [Bowden cables](_URL_0_). The cable housing is somewhat flexible but its length will never change by much. The ends of the cable housing are affixed right next to the brake handle and the brake itself, so the final bit of air that's spanned will also stay the same length. The end result is that the brake handle controls the brake very directly, as if you were pulling on a solid rod as opposed to a flexible cable."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowden_cable"
]
] |
|
5jr0tz
|
why is even a tiny layer of ice on a plane's wing dangerous? isn't the aerodynamic shape essentially the same?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jr0tz/eli5_why_is_even_a_tiny_layer_of_ice_on_a_planes/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dbi95p7",
"dbi960a",
"dbi9aui",
"dbiiwd8"
],
"score": [
13,
18,
4,
8
],
"text": [
"The shape of the leading edge, where ice formation occurs on a flying plane, is key to keeping the airstream bonded to the airfoil surface which produces lift.\n\nIt's not the amount of ice, but where it forms.",
"The aerodynamic shape changes not only on the specific wing, but as a difference between the two wings.\n\nAdditionally a major issue is weight. Ice is heavy, so not only is there a huge increase in weight across all airfoils, but just like above, there is a huge difference in weight across each airfoil.\n\nHelicopter's AIRFOILS for instance can become unbalanced with weights as light as a quarter at the tip of the blade. Now image ice across the entire thing... \n\nEdit: added the word AIRFOILS for those that don't understand context.",
"The ice changes the shape of the wing and alters the airflow changing the lift force of the plane and changing the aerodynamics. In some places it's next to impossible to remove the ice during flight. Also on a side note when you're coming in to land your wing has various components that raise and lower to help slow the plane and they can't function properly if they are frozen in.",
"The simple answer is - No, the shape is not the same. Ice rarely forms on anything as an even coating. And, if it did, that coating would change the size, and thereby the shape, of whatever it is formed on.\n\nIce tends to form (in flight) on the leading edge of the wing, which will (potentially drastically) change the shape and therefor performance of the wing. While at rest, it will primarily form on top (due to gravity), again changing the performance, and weight.\n\nDue to the importance of the wing in keeping an aircraft in the air, the shape is not, and can not, be a \"close enough\" measurement. It is rather important that it stick as closely as possible to the shape it was designed to have to ensure accurate. predictable performance."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
8jngax
|
why does gasoline appear blue when it is poured?
|
When i pour gasoline (into my lawnmower for example) it seems blue, why does that happen? Gasoline is usually colorless
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8jngax/eli5_why_does_gasoline_appear_blue_when_it_is/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dz0yx4o",
"dz159jt",
"dz35taz"
],
"score": [
5,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Its usually a dye put into the gas - just to identify it. Sometimes there are additives (I think mainly in diesel however) that are used for use in winter, etc... its harmless to the engine.",
"Gasoline isn't dyed where I live. But they put red dye in Heizöl (heating oil) to make it sure people don't put in their diesel cars, tractors, because of the taxation difference. On diesel we pay around 64% taxes ( 47ct/l energy tax and VAT). Heating oil has lesser taxes on it (13ct/kg and VAT).\n\nThe color of gasoline is the result of Additives.",
"It's a dye used to help visually identify the product. Assuming you're in the US; gasoline is typically a light green, although in the right light I could understand it appearing bluish. Kerosene is typically a darker blue, diesel is yellow, and untaxed offroad diesel will be red."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1h80um
|
what is a photonic boom?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1h80um/eli5_what_is_a_photonic_boom/
|
{
"a_id": [
"carqsnu"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Light traveling through some medium must always move at the speed of light through that medium. But particles are not constrained by this rule.\n\nJust like when something moves faster than the speed of sound, there's a sonic boom.\n\nWhen a particle moves through some medium faster than the speed of light though that medium, there is [Cherenkov radiation](_URL_0_). Some people call it a \"photonic boom,\" but it's not a common term."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation"
]
] |
||
4ww8f9
|
does the fecal science behind squatty potty have any substantial basis in reality?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ww8f9/eli5_does_the_fecal_science_behind_squatty_potty/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d6acufq"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Yes. Our bodies don't 'open the hatch' completely in a normal sitting position; the rectum is kinked somewhat. Only when we squat does it straighten out and allow feces to pass unimpeded. Sitting toilets are much more common in the First World. Elsewhere, squatting is the norm, and there is a drastically lower incidence of issues like diverticulitis and haemorrhoids in these countries.\n\nYou might want to read up on the subject: _URL_0_"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gut-inside-story-bodys-under-rated/dp/1925228606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470750688&sr=8-1"
]
] |
||
2seh6q
|
in a room full of wi-fi enabled devices how does the data know to find it's way to your device so that not everybody can see for example your emails?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2seh6q/eli5_in_a_room_full_of_wifi_enabled_devices_how/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cnoo7zn",
"cnoobkg",
"cnoonny",
"cnoozc2"
],
"score": [
28,
2,
2,
4
],
"text": [
"The other devices in the room didn't request the information, so they ignore the information. \n\nIf it's not encrypted, other devices in the room/on the network can absolutely see things being sent to/from your device. Even if it is encrypted, people can see the jumbled characters being sent.",
"The same information gets broadcast out to the whole world. Other devices should ignore packets that aren't for them. ",
"Wi-Fi isn't targeted, so technically anyone can see the data if they wanted to. The only way to make sure someone isn't is to encrypt the connection, as in even if someone picks up your data in the air, they can't read it without the encryption key.\n\n",
"Fundamentally, this problem is referred to as \"routing\". That is, given some information, how does a device know where to send it so that it arrives at its intended destination?\n\nThe answer is much the same way as mail is routed in the physical world. Just as buildings and houses have an address, so does every device on a network. There are actually several addresses at different layers, but the one we're interested in is an IP address. In addition to an IP address, an Internet communication endpoint also includes something called a *port*. This allows different applications on a computer, say, to be able to separately communicate despite all having the same IP address. You can perhaps think of the address as identifying the location while the port identifies the particular recipient at that location. As an example, your computer may communicate with the Google server on port 80, which is the port most often used for HTTP traffic. Meanwhile, your computer just chooses a random port to use, as it doesn't mater that much which it is. Let's say it uses port 4000. Data sent from your computer to Google includes your IP address and port 4000. When Google sends data back to your IP address, port 4000, your Operating System knows which application is using port 4000 and sends the data back to that application. Another application may be doing completely separate communication on port 5000, and another on port 6000.\n\nThe same fundamental idea works with networks behind a wireless router. The router acts as a go-between. Let's say that there are people behind a wireless network, both trying to talk to Google at the same time. Bob sends a request to the router from IP 192.168.0.1:4000 (port 4000) destined to _URL_0_:80 (port 80). Simultaneously, Alice sends a request to the router from IP 192.168.0.2:3000 also destined to _URL_0_:80. The router sends 2 requests to Google, but it of course uses its own IP address and it assigns a different port to each request. So what goes out is a request from router:1001 and router:1002. Internally, the router has decided that port 1001 was for Bob's request and port 1002 was for Alice's request. Now Google replies, sending a request back to the router destined for port 1001. The router knows that port 1001 was for Bob, and so it forwards the reply to 192.168.0.1:4000. It then receives a reply on port 1002, which it knows was for Alice, so it forwards that message to 192.168.0.2:3000.\n\nThis scheme is called Network Address Translation and the part I specifically described is called Port Mapping."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"www.google.com"
]
] |
||
3s7vi3
|
why don't we duplicate organs?
|
For those wandering, we have the technology to do so already.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s7vi3/eli5_why_dont_we_duplicate_organs/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cwuv2tm"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
" > For those wandering, we have the technology to do so already.\n\nSource?"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
8vu3o1
|
what is the phenomenon that allows bad lip reading to work so well?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8vu3o1/eli5_what_is_the_phenomenon_that_allows_bad_lip/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e1q9cem",
"e1qai2m"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"All of the labials are virtually indistinguishable. Fricatives and nouns are easy to conflate as well",
"It is a combination of many things, but I think the two most prominent are suspension of disbelief and the McGurk effect. Suspension of disbelief is essentially our willingness to be lied to for the sake of entertainment. We know Mark Zuckerberg isn't asking for his frodo ring, much like we know a magician didn't spawn a rabbit out of thin air. We choose to ignore what we know and temporarily believe what is being presented to us as reality because it amuses us. The McGurk effect explores the relationship between our visual and auditory sensory perception. If what we hear coincides even marginally with what we see, our brain associates the two things and fills the gaps in for us. There are many videos that demonstrate this by playing the same sound and showing two different mouth movements and we perceive what we hear differently based on which one we look at."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
46odo4
|
why dog have food for tooth care but not human ?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/46odo4/eli5_why_dog_have_food_for_tooth_care_but_not/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d06ov5n",
"d06pbp2"
],
"score": [
4,
3
],
"text": [
"Because we brush our teeth regularly, while most dog owners don't brush their dog's teeth every day. It's more of a convenience thing than an actual necessity.",
"Avenues to market and sell. \"Do you want organic or Colgate meat on your burrito?\""
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
19q4rn
|
why do my pits sweat profusely, even when it's cold outside?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/19q4rn/eli5_why_do_my_pits_sweat_profusely_even_when_its/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c8qcdcl"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"If you regularly bathe & use antiperspirant, here's a few things you can do:\n\n* Shave/trim your armpit hair. All that hair provides a lot of room for bacteria (which are responsible for BO and can promote sweating) to grow & makes it harder to get the antiperspirant to your skin (where it needs to be to work).\n* If it's cold outside, you may be bundling up a lot. If your core is too warm, you will sweat. Try wearing less clothing or something that can let more air flow through - preventing the moisture from building up.\n* Along those lines - does it always happen or just when wearing certain fabrics? Try wearing different shirts - it can make a difference.\n* If you keep trying things and nothing pans out, see a dermatologist. They might be able to find something that's wrong with your skin or just give you a heavy-duty antiperspirant.\n\nAs one of the other posters mentioned, hormones might be the problem. If you're in your teens or early 20s, you might just have to wait to grow out of it."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
708xi0
|
how does a roll cage keep race car drivers safe when they get into massive wrecks where their car does flips and gets shredded going 200 mph?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/708xi0/eli5_how_does_a_roll_cage_keep_race_car_drivers/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dn1b8dw",
"dn1b8dw"
],
"score": [
6,
6
],
"text": [
"The roll cage is just part of the protection system. It reinforces the roof and other areas around the driver so that no part of the car hits the driver. A typical scenario in older racing car is that the car flips over and lands on the roof such that the roof collapses and hit the driver in the head killing him. The roll cage will protect the driver from this kind of roll over and make sure the roof does not collapse. It also prevents the door from collapsing and the engine from being pushed into the cabin. There are other protection systems in place to protect against other dangers. The seat and harness is designed to keep the driver in place to avoid sudden jerking movements, the suit and helmet protects him from debris and fire, runoff zones and collapsible barriers around the race track makes sure the car does not stop instantly in the event of a crash. Even concrete barriers will help guide the car in the right track so it does not go straight into a hard barrier. Usually getting into a big wreck where the car flips over several times, catches fire and goes 200mph though several fences is not the most dangerous crashes. The dangerous crashes are those where the car goes from 100mph to a dead stop in a single impact.",
"The roll cage is just part of the protection system. It reinforces the roof and other areas around the driver so that no part of the car hits the driver. A typical scenario in older racing car is that the car flips over and lands on the roof such that the roof collapses and hit the driver in the head killing him. The roll cage will protect the driver from this kind of roll over and make sure the roof does not collapse. It also prevents the door from collapsing and the engine from being pushed into the cabin. There are other protection systems in place to protect against other dangers. The seat and harness is designed to keep the driver in place to avoid sudden jerking movements, the suit and helmet protects him from debris and fire, runoff zones and collapsible barriers around the race track makes sure the car does not stop instantly in the event of a crash. Even concrete barriers will help guide the car in the right track so it does not go straight into a hard barrier. Usually getting into a big wreck where the car flips over several times, catches fire and goes 200mph though several fences is not the most dangerous crashes. The dangerous crashes are those where the car goes from 100mph to a dead stop in a single impact."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
2bvk5q
|
why do some cities have their own fire/police department, sheriff department, while others has the county police/fire?
|
My county has the police and a sheriff department. Some cities have their own sheriff or police department and they are in the county. Who would respond if there is a 911 in that city with a sheriff. The county police, the sheriff, or both?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2bvk5q/eli5_why_do_some_cities_have_their_own_firepolice/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cj9bf36",
"cj9blnp",
"cj9bqto"
],
"score": [
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"It depends on the needs of the area. For example, in something like New York City, which spans several counties, it makes sense to have one unified police department rather than sheriff's departments trying to intercoordinate and duplicate costs. Then you have places like Las Vegas where (most) of the valley is under the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which answers to the county Sheriff, but North Las Vegas and Henderson have separate police department for their areas. LVMPD covers the actual city of Las Vegas and the unincorporated areas, North Las Vegas and Henderson cover their respective cities.\n\n9-1-1 calls are routed depending on agency agreements and vary from place to place. There's really no hard and fast rules there.\n\nIn counties where there is a sheriff's department, they'll get calls unless it's inside a city that has their own police department, in which case the city police would get the call.",
"There's always going to be a primary responding agency -- city police, county police, or sheriff.\n\nNo cities have their own sheriff -- that's always at the county/parish level. In most states, police are at the city level and sheriff is at the county, but there may also be county police separate from the sheriff. In such cases, the sheriff's department is often just in charge of the jail.",
"Population density. In rural counties, there's not enough crime to need a central police force in town. And even if you did, it's not like they could get out into the country quickly. (Source: where I live). Sheriffs have multiple stations across the country. In theory they can cover the large, low density, area better. If you call 911 to somewhere in the city, the Police will show up. If you call for help out in the county, the Sheriff will likely show up. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1hwvd7
|
why is rape generally considered to be a man on woman crime
|
I sat through a sex ed class. The students were split by gender. As a boy, my presentation went through anatomy, birth control devices and drugs, and consent. About 1/4, 1/4, and 1/2. The consent portion was basically a "don't rape her" lecture. Do not assume consent, no means no, she doesn't owe you anything even if you bought her dinner, etc.
Isn't it possible for a woman to rape a man? What about gay males? Also, is this really that effective? Isn't rape a crime, which means that someone chooses to hurt someone else and break the law? This talk makes rape seem like some kind of ignorance caused event, or someone who would have raped a woman will suddenly think back to when they were 12 and have a change of heart (like Dora the Explorer telling Swiper to not steal).
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1hwvd7/eli5_why_is_rape_generally_considered_to_be_a_man/
|
{
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"It's possible for a woman to rape a man, or for men to rape each other. But outside of prison, the vast majority of rapes are done by men to women.\n\nAnd what you don't seem to realize is that some guys don't *know* the things you were told in that lecture. I frequently encounter guys who assume consent, who think that the first \"no\" doesn't really count, or who think that they are owed something after a nice date.",
"I don't know the exact statistics, but the overwhelming majority of rape is by men against women. That's not to say other variations don't happen, or aren't as bad. It's all bad.\n\nThe reason education is important is because a *lot* of rape cases happen in circumtances where the people know each other. Not some premeditated criminal mastermind scenario. And a lot of men have warped ideas of what is 'consent', and things like intoxication, power imbalances, shitty ideas of gender roles etc etc all factor into it.",
" > Isn't rape a crime, which means that someone chooses to hurt someone else and break the law? This talk makes rape seem like some kind of ignorance caused event, or someone who would have raped a woman will suddenly think back to when they were 12 and have a change of heart (like Dora the Explorer telling Swiper to not steal).\n\n\"No means no\" lectures certainly won't prevent violent or intentional rape, but I think there's some value in teaching young, hormonal sex enthusiasts about boundaries. \n\nThoughtlessly pressuring someone for sex is a natural tendency that can and should be addressed. Those lectures certainly won't deter a *big, bad rapist*, but they might give pause to a dumb, horny college kid who doesn't mean any harm.",
"I'd also like to add that the presentations about \"don't assume consent, no means no, she doesn't owe you anything even if you bought her dinner\" are just as much for the potential victims of rape to hear as the potential perpetrators. It's good to be told and reinforced that they have the right to say no, the right to refuse sex, and nothing obligates them to have sex with someone else... because potential rapists will try to to tell them otherwise."
]
}
|
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[],
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|
5w6y31
|
why is a tunnel ever preferable to a bridge when crossing water?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5w6y31/eli5_why_is_a_tunnel_ever_preferable_to_a_bridge/
|
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"When a bridge would be impossible, but a tunnel not impossible?\n\nImagine trying to design a bridge over the English Channel. I can't imagine it would be an easy feat. It would probably require advances in materials science, to a science-fiction type level.",
"In some cases shipyards, which often produce heavy water traffic with quite tall ships, are located near the desired location to build bridge/tunnel. So instead of building a drawbridge, or bridges that are extremely high to let ships pass through, tunnels are just built instead. ",
"In general, tunnels require less land area at the approaches/access ways. This is especially true for the very high bridges needed over navigable waters. This is why you see tunnels in large cities with navigable waters. Land is expensive and ship traffic is important to the economy. ",
"Bridges have many drawbacks. They obstruct ships. They require strong foundations and some places have bad geology for that. They're exposed to the weather. They're visually intrusive. They often require large elevated approach roads.\n\nI'm not saying tunnels don't have drawbacks either. They're generally more expensive than bridges. They can have problems with bad geology too. Fire safety can be a serious issue. They can be difficult to build without damaging foundations of existing buildings.\n\nSo depending on the exact situation, either a bridge or a tunnel might be chosen.\n\nTaking examples from New York City. The Lincoln Tunnel and Holland Tunnel both avoid blocking river traffic. The Queens-Midtown Tunnel might have been a bridge, but a tunnel was chosen; it does mean not much surface space is needed at either end. Had the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel been a bridge instead it would have basically destroyed Battery Park.",
"Footprint. Bridges have much larger footprints on each side. Tunnels, while less visually impressive and often more expensive, do not disrupt existing built environments as badly. Tunnels are also better in weather--no need to clear snow, less icing problems, no wind issues etc...",
"In addition to the answers given, another reason is that a bridge might interfere with a significant natural, cultural or tourist site. \n\ne.g. when Sydney wanted to build a second major harbour crossing, they didn't build a second bridge, they built a tunnel. Why? Because a second above-ground crossing would have cut a swathe through significant parklands and Circular Quay, and effectively severed the Opera House from the city. Plus cut through a whole bunch of expensive housing along the harbour. No way that was going to be practical. "
]
}
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[],
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3tjp8v
|
french politics. why is there both a president and a prime minister. what is the point of there being a doubling up?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tjp8v/eli5_french_politics_why_is_there_both_a/
|
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"The president is head of state, the prime minister is the head of government. This reflects the distinction made in a constitutional monarchy with a parliament--David Cameron heads the government of the United Kingdom, as representative of the largest party in parliament, but Elizabeth II is the head of state. Most European republics with this system did so in emulation of the system they had as a monarchy.\n\nOne of the beneficial aspects of this is that the head of state is relatively stable and is not as deeply involved in politics. In a parliamentary system, the cabinet can lose power if it loses the support of a majority of parliament. If you look at the United States, an example of a presidential republic, this is not a factor because the president holds his position for a full term except in case of misbehavior. \n\nImagine the nonsense that would occur if Congress could unseat the president and call a new election. It'd be terribly inconvenient, particularly on the international level. A system with separate head of state and government allows for a consistent leadership while retaining the traditional tight control of parliament on the cabinet ministers.",
"Besides of what has been told already in the other answers, mainly /u/TokyoJokeyo - I wish to answer a question you may be asking yourself now. That is : \"then why even *have* a Prime Minister ?\"\n\nThe answer is : so that he can take the heat when things go south. The Prime Minister is sometimes called a \"fuse\" in France: he's the thing that can blow up in case of problems to protect the important parts of the circuitry.\n\nBasically, when the President's decisions become too unpopular and the Government really gets a ton of hate, the President will fire the Prime Minister, change a few other ministers here and there, decide to slightly \"curve\" your political project (after all, officially, it was the PM's project), and start anew. It usually isn't enough to restore faith in the current government, but it's enough to protect the President from being so pressured into stepping down that he would be forced to leave.",
"The president represents the country -- the state. Everything involve in \"France\" and being French.\n\nThe prime minister represents the government.\n\nSome countries like France have strong presidents. In Ireland, the President is much more of a ceremonial role and the Prime Minister is the strong role. In the UK, the Queen represents the state, but in a practical sense all of the power is with the Prime Minister.\n\nIn the U.S., the Speaker of the House is basically the Prime Minister. I think initially the U.S. wanted a weak President and strong state-level power, but things changed and now the POTUS is both a ceremonial role and a strong power role. \n\nYou can see this distinction in how a country behaves after a national crisis. In 9/11, the U.S. rallied around the ceremonial -- head of state -- part of the President's role, even though the same President surely had just failed more than any other president to prevent terrorism. In Spanish terror attacks, the people rallied around their King and replaced their Prime Minister. ",
"All of the top upvoted comments in here so far say that the President represents the state and the prime minister represents the government.\n\n1. **To Americans, that distinction is totally, utterly meaningless. In America, the state is the government, and elected officials are explicitly elected to represent the people.** I'm having a hard time conceptualizing of the distinction, and I'm an attorney. There is no concept in America of being elected to represent the \"government\" - unless you are talking about purely judiciary officials, such as District Attorneys and Judges. However, these are local positions and they are still also explicitly elected to represent the people. This distinction of working for the government as opposed to working for the people is totally lost on Americans - in America, the elected government are supposed to *all* be working for the people. \n2. **What are their differences in *duties*? Is the PM more like the British PM, or more like the American Majority Leader?** An explanation of this would go a long way in explaining this distinction.\n\nThanks,\n\nI love you\n\nEdit/update: It seems that the \"head of government\" in this instance means that they represent *just* the party or coalition that is in power. Is this the case? Because that is pretty different than in America, where we don't have coalitions or ruling parties - we have a single (bicameral) legislative body where they may be a *majority* party, but all the behavior of the legislative branch is dictated by the constitution. All of the ceremonial and executive powers are vested in the president, and the government is not \"formed\" or \"organized\" by the ruling party - the parties inhabit positions in government. It seems that the president in these countries *is* largely a ceremonial role, that includes a cross of ambassador, figurehead and, in rare instances, veto power. Is that right?",
"France is an example of a country with the semi-presidential system. In presidential democracies, the president of the country is at the same time the president of the government (prime minister). In semi-presidential (or presidential-parliamentary) and parliamentary democracies, the president and the prime minister are two people, the difference being that in parliamentary democracy, the prime minister holds more power and vice versa in semi-presidential democracies.\n\nIn the case of France, the president chooses the prime minister (with parliament's support), meaning the prime minister is his subordinate. In parliamentary democracy, on the other hand, the prime minister is the leader of the party with the most votes and is not connected to the president.",
"The roles of French president and PM differ depending on whether the president is from the same party as the parliamentary majority.\n\nWhen the president's party controls the legislature, the president pretty much has free rein to pick his prime minister. The PM handles the day-to-day affairs of government and manages the implementation of the president's broader agenda. As another poster rightly stated, the PM in this scenario acts like a fuse: he or she (there has thus far been one female PM) can be sacked if the president becomes unpopular and wishes to 'shake up' his team.\n\nWhen the opposition party controls the legislature, the president has less of an opportunity to appoint a PM; he must generally appoint the leader of the parliamentary majority as PM. In this scenario — known as cohabitation — the prime minister sets the domestic agenda while the president dominates foreign, European and defence policy. Note that the president cannot hope to have much of a say in the domestic agenda because the Constitution does not grant him a veto; the parliamentary majority may pass a law over the president's objection. \n\nCohabitation has become a less likely scenario since a constitutional amendment set the term of both president and parliament at five years; prior to this the president was elected to a seven-year term and parliament a five-year one, which led occaisonally to an irate public electing the opposition to a parliamentary majority midway through an unpopular president's term.\n\nYou will remember Jacques Chirac as France's conservative president between 1995 and 2007. Before this, he was conservative prime minister and perennial thorn in the side of socialist President François Mitterand.\n\nn.b. I use the term 'parliament' somewhat loosely to refer to the lower house of the French parliament. The French upper house, the Senate, is relatively powerless and does not need to be discussed here."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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||
3gixy5
|
why, psychologically, do insults feel realer and land harder than compliments?
|
I've noticed in my life, and talking to other people, that compliments and positivity are often easy to ignore or blow off, while insults, even from people one doesn't know or like, seem to have more weight, and stick with you longer.
What is the psychological reasoning behind this?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3gixy5/eli5_why_psychologically_do_insults_feel_realer/
|
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"Many people seem to use compliments automatically as part of small talk. \"Oh, your new shoes are nice\" and the like. Which makes our brains just get used to them not being meaningful. I myself don't do this, I try to reserve compliments to when they mean something.\n\nInsults are either done with the express purpose of hurting somebody, or if not seriously meant, then they are accompanied by swearing usually, which is a much more truthful basic psychological state. We are used to people not swearing without meaning. It's something that I really like about swearing. It can express certain emotions in a way non-swearing really can't get close to.",
"Compliments can often be blown off as small talk or just \"filling the air\" so it's hard to know if they mean them or not.\n\nInsults, especially ones that you personally may think about yourself before the people said it to you, cut deep and stay with you as it seems like someone is confirming it\n\nSorry this answer isn't too detailed as it's a good question but I can't think of the proper way to word why it happens but it's currently at 50% upvote 0 points so it's unlikely to be wildly seen which sucks.",
"Because of a phenomenon called negativity bias. Negativity bias causes us to be more affected by psychologically by negative events than by positive ones.\n\nThere are several reasons for this:\n\n* People evaluate negative social impressions of themselves as being more accurate and useful.\n* Negative traits have more influence on how a personality trait is evaluated. For example, a person can be honest most of the time, but they wouldn't be considered an honest person if they lie just once a day.\n* More cognitive processing is devoted to negative information because it presumably presents a problem that should be solved. This means that it also takes up more space in memory.\n\nNegativity bias appears to be at least partially innate and probably an evolutionary adaptation. Studies have demonstrated that infants whose parents react negatively to a toy will devote more brain activity to the \"negative\" toy than to a regular toy or a \"positive\" one.",
"As someone who recently insulted you, I'm sure you're a lovely guy. Not being a psychologist personally, but actually an aspiring writer, I think it's important to remember that insults reflect just as much on the hurler as they do on the target. For instance, when one says that you were born a foot from home plate, rather than denigrating you with any kind of accuracy, they are more likely frustrated that that has not been their experience. I loved Chronicle, and Good Time Gang has had my interest for some time. I wish you the best of luck and hope that one day some twerp will be jealous enough of me to take internet pot shots."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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|
21hrvq
|
why does seeing certain songs/images from my childhood cause me to smell a nondescript but very exacting and familiar smell?
|
As soon as I try to "catch" the smell it goes away and it puzzles me greatly.
I have Googled this question with Reddit and can't find it.
ETA: Also goes for hearing childhood things.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21hrvq/eli5_why_does_seeing_certain_songsimages_from_my/
|
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"There is strong evidence that smell is the sense that is most closely linked to memory.\n\n I personally get the opposite effect that you are describing. I smell a certain something from my past and it brings up images or sounds from childhood."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
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|
tvnwj
|
why does sweden's government resist international efforts to crack down on piracy?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/tvnwj/eli5_why_does_swedens_government_resist/
|
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"John grew up with parents that gave him exact bed times and nap times. \n\nZooey grew up with parents that encouraged her to sleep whenever she wanted and make her own schedule.\n\nJohn believes that if he beats the class and wins a snack he shouldn't need to share it. He earned it. \n\nZooey believes the opposite. She comes from an environment where people are encouraged to share.\n\nJohn grows up and makes laws about piracy based on his culture and how he was raised. \n\nZooey grows up and makes laws about piracy based on her culture and how she was raised.\n\nZooey is Sweden, a very progressive and liberal country even by European standards.",
"They aren't. According to [Falkvinge](_URL_0_), the US government handed the Swedish government a list of demands to fight piracy, threatening with reduced trade if they didn't do it. The Swedish government did so. I haven't read the cables myself but they're there if you're interested.\n\nEither way, the laws he discusses (nation-wide wiretapping for all Internet communications crossing the border, copyright holders having powers to track pirates even the police do not have) are there. It's just hard to track pirates in general, and when the ISPs don't want to cooperate, it gets even harder.\n\nThe raid on The Pirate Bay several years ago had no legal basis, but was done because the US demanded it. The police kept the servers far longer than you'd think necessary, and then returned them when they found that the site had, indeed, broken no laws.\n\nIn short, the Swedish government aren't resisting, they're basically trying to do as much as possible the US tells them to do."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://falkvinge.net/2011/09/05/cable-reveals-extent-of-lapdoggery-from-swedish-govt-on-copyright-monopoly/"
]
] |
||
3i9raq
|
why is it that i've never seen professional singers yawn or sneeze while singing?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3i9raq/eli5_why_is_it_that_ive_never_seen_professional/
|
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"one of the things a good singer must be able to do is control their breathing, I'm sure it has happened of course throughout history but it would be like a professional basketball player missing a layup or something along those lines. Its so practised and central to their livelihood that such a slip up would be very rare",
"Most people performing on stage are swimming in adrenaline, which makes it really easy to ignore such urges."
]
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|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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||
2ngecg
|
why do i feel like i'm about to die of suffocation when i swallow my own saliva and i fail at it?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ngecg/eli5why_do_i_feel_like_im_about_to_die_of/
|
{
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"text": [
"Nothing makes me feel like more of a failure as a human being than this. I should be able to both breathe and swallow without killing myself."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
33p1xc
|
why do guys spit all the time?
|
I just never understood why so many guys are just spitting all the time. Seriously, it's gross after awhile.
I'm a guy, sure I'll spit once in a while, but I see guys standing outside spitting every 30 seconds. Do they think it looks cool?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33p1xc/eli5_why_do_guys_spit_all_the_time/
|
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"Chewing tobacco is the usual reason. Outside of that, though, damned if I know.",
"Us men don't. Some disgusting slobs who also carry a mounted penis do spit, but they barely qualify as human. ",
"I spit all the time, I have no idea why. It just seems like whether my mouth is open or closed I produce a whole lot of saliva. If I swallow too much spit I get this queasy feeling in my stomach. \n\nPlus it's kind of fun to spit if you get good at it. Nothing like being able to hock a loogie a good ten feet and hit something dead on."
]
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|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
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|
3o58b6
|
why are terms like "mentally challenged" less hurtful than "mentally retarded"
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3o58b6/eli5_why_are_terms_like_mentally_challenged_less/
|
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"text": [
"They aren't. Mentally retarded was the feel good change from terms like \"idiot\" and \"moron\" which were at one time medical terms.\n\nThe current one being used and one that will be undoubtedly changed for feelings is \"autism\" (yes I know autism isn't the same as being retarded) which is now used in place of retarded for an insult, since saying \"retarded\" is now like the R word but autism is socially OK. \n\nAt some point mentally challenged will be a negative term and they will switch it to something like \"Differently learning\". \n\nAlso its NOT to protect the feelings of the person who is retarded, but the family of that person, or other offended types. Parents especially. ",
"Because people kept using 'retarded' as an insult in particular. Once upon a time it was the medical term that was fairly 'nice' and 'idiot' or similar was how one generally insulted someone.\n\nThe cycle is sometimes called the euphemism treadmill.\n\n",
"\"Mentally retarded\" is more hurtful because people use \"retarded\" as an insult. This causes it to become a derogatory word that offends people. Because it has become derogatory, people now say \"mentally challenged\" since it is less offensive. Maybe people will start using \"mentally challenged\" as an insult and it'll become derogatory too.",
"Words mean whatever people use them to mean. If a lot of people use a word to mean mean things then that word eventually picks up the mean meaning even when it's not being used that way. God didn't hand us english, every single word only means what people use it to mean and people used 'retard\" to mean a lot of bad things too many times to keep pretending we can call people \"retards\" and have it sound benign. ",
"I guarentee you in 10 years or less Austistic or Austist will be considered just as offensive as any of its predisesors .",
"They are synonyms, but the reasons for the frequency of change in language to describe people with learning disabilities are complicated.\n\nThe ways that groups of people are defined are socially constructed. By that I mean that our views of what those groups of people are like, and who they are (and whether they're even viewed as being human) are a lot more dependent on those social constructs than any actual \"truth\". People with learning disabilities (some of the lit is now saying intellectual disabilities) are one of the most \"othered\" groups of people.\n\nThey're so separated from society that they're barely noticed or featured when compared to other groups of people. The language that describes them often (historically.. but now too) serves not only to describe them, but to distance \"us\" from *\"them\"*. That kind of distancing happens when we take the piss out of people by calling them \"retarded\" etc, so the stigma attached to the language makes people want to change the language.\n\nMaybe part of what's puzzling is that, in turn, because of the stigma attached to learning disability, words that are usually meant to be descriptive and not necessarily derogatory *become* derogatory over time, as they're used with contempt to dehumanise people.\n\nThere you've uncovered the other issue, which is that until as a society we become more comfortable with people who think in a different way to us, we will, functionally in society be *\"us\"* and *they* will be *\"them\"*.\n\nThe discomfort of being around someone who you don't know easily how to communicate with creates a need to blame that discomfort on the person's \"deficit\". The language might be more easily gotten right, and then stuck with, if the stigma can drop away over time. The stigma will only drop away though, if people can *feel* less scared and uncomfortable and, actually, *stupid* around people with whom they don't know how to communicate. People need to be helped to understand people with learning disabilities more, see them as less \"other\", and be helped with way of speaking *their* language.\n\nAs an aside, \"Mental Retardation\" is still used in a lot of American (academic) literature; which makes lit searches feel weird for lots of British people. \n\nTL;DR: Yes the euphemism treadmill, but there's a reason that it happens so much for this population",
"_URL_0_\n\n\"When they were originally introduced, the terms “mental retardation” or “mentally retarded” were medical terms with a specifically clinical connotation; however, the pejorative forms, “retard” and “retarded” have been used widely in today’s society to degrade and insult people with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, when “retard” and “retarded” are used as synonyms for “dumb” or “stupid” by people without disabilities, it only reinforces painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities being less valued members of humanity. \"\n\n-Taken from _URL_1_ site, \n\nI'm a sibling to a delightful young man with downsndrome and this is the explanation I use most often. I'm not preachy about it but it really does hurt, like makes me physically hurt when people use it in a insulting way. ",
"Weasel wording. Trying to say something without saying something so as to not be held responsible for saying it. \n\nThe word retarded means lacking development. For instance fire retardant materials inhibit the growth of fire. So in essence to say someone is retarded is short hand for saying they have a retarded capacity for understanding or learning, IE it takes them longer to get it and limits them. It was used in an educational sense of whether someone was able to learn and develop similar to other children, or if they had an impairment, retarded development, etc however you want to word it. \n\nWhen the word started to be used as a pejorative is when it became socially taboo. Or course it depends on who's listening. People use words like that all the time without realizing it's a slur but if the people it's slurring aren't well represented in your social circles you might not get that dirty look that tells you so. \n\nFor instance indian giver is pretty bad especially when it was the Europeans who gave and then took it back. To say you got ripped off as \"What a gyp\" is a slur against gypsies but there aren't many gypsies in America for an American to be socially conscious of that fact. \n\nWords themselves have no meaning but the one we give it. The N word is a mis-pronounciation of Nigerian people. It would be like calling Rawandans Rawees but soon people applied it to non Rawandan people just because they looked similar. Eventually that would be a bad word if it was used as a slur. \n\nWhen you say someone is niggardly you're saying they are cheap, but it sounds too much like the bad word and people avoid using it due to misunderstandings even though the meaning associated with the word is not a racial slur. On the other hand a nonsense word can be considered racist if it's used by people to put down a race of people even if it's completely made up. \n\nWords also change meaning over time like a faggot used to be a stick or bundle of wood, and originally it was used as a pejorative for anybody who was dead weight or a burden to be carried and initially was used against the elderly, like they were just baggage weighing you down, then later a cigarette because it kind of looks like a stick or log, but much later people started using it as a pejorative against homosexuals even though the word had no previous association therefor it evolved into a pejorative against homosexuals and unless you're from the UK, if you use that word it's probably not talking about a burden or load of sticks. \n\nAlso words which were once politically correct are sometimes later judged as racial slurs by later generations. People used to use the word colored instead of the n word or negro but when ignorant european descended people used it as a way to describe people of African descent and enough of them used it in ignorant ways, it too became taboo even though it was originally politically correct. \n\nEven the word Indian is considered a bad word by some people because it was a wrong name used by early European explorers and it stuck. They prefer to be called Native Americans or American Indians. \n\nIf you look at cartoons from the 40's and 50's many of them are akward to watch because of racial stereotyping, especially during WW2 but at the time it was socially acceptable. \n\nI would imagine that many things we find unoffensive today, may be found offensive by later generations. \n\nIt's pretty much impossible not to offend someone if your words are read by enough people and I bet even though I'm giving a gentle explanation and trying to be considerate in my post some people might be offended by it for simply talking about the history of racism and pejorative slurs but it is our history, it did happen, it was bad, and we can't change that no matter how hard we try to erase it. I mean no offense but some may be offended anyway which is the way of the world when you share any idea. You have to have good intentions and hope that the other person sees that. \n\n"
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[],
[],
[
"http://www.r-word.org",
"r-word.org"
],
[]
] |
||
4mzyqh
|
are transgenders allowed in the sports?
|
This might be a dumb question. But given how many transgenders there are, going to the bathroom isnt going to be the only issue they face. Perhaps I am mistaken though. If there are transgenders already in sports, how does it work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4mzyqh/eli5_are_transgenders_allowed_in_the_sports/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d3zt825"
],
"score": [
10
],
"text": [
"Your question brings up a couple of issues that can be easily conflated. I read your question to be: \"Are transgendered persons allowed to compete as the sex they have transitioned to? (e.g., a male-to-female transgendered person competing as a woman)\"\n\nThe answer to that is that it depends. On the international level, the IOC recently released new guidelines on the issue: _URL_1_\n\nTL;DR: A trans male (female-to-male) can compete as a man (they usually can't compete as women if they are taking testosterone); a trans woman (male-to-female) can compete as a woman if they can prove their testosterone levels have been below a certain point for at least a year - surgery is no longer required.\n\nIn the US, the NCAA has had a policy since at least 2011: _URL_0_\n\nTL;DR: A trans male (FTM) student-athlete who has received a medical exception for treatment with testosterone ... may compete on a men’s team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s\nteam without changing that team status to a mixed team; A trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication ... may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without\nchanging it to a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment.\n\nThis also often gets confused with how to determine if someone is a man or a woman (or, the more common issue: whether the person is intersex). There are a number of conditions wherein someone is either hermaphroditic or has a disorder that causes a biological male to develop ~female sex organs (e.g., androgen insensitivity). These can cause problems for simple divisions of gender, but are not technically related to trans athletes.\n\nEDIT: At lower levels, the rules are not as consistent or have not been formally put in place and its possible some trans female athletes are getting an advantage."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Transgender_Handbook_2011_Final.pdf",
"https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jan/25/ioc-rules-transgender-athletes-can-take-part-in-olympics-without-surgery"
]
] |
|
3nw25a
|
"the mayor wants to give you the keys to the city", what does one do with the keys?
|
Is it real or fictitious?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3nw25a/eli5_the_mayor_wants_to_give_you_the_keys_to_the/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cvrr11e",
"cvrr385"
],
"score": [
6,
5
],
"text": [
"It's a symbolic gesture to say \"you're so appreciated by our city that you're welcome everywhere!\"\n\nWhat do you do? Take pictures, meet powerful people, and enjoy the event.",
"If you're in the middle ages and there's a walled city, you can unlock it and enter anytime you want.\n\nIf it's the modern day, you just shake hands for the photo-op."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
2c7iid
|
john boehner's lawsuit against obama
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2c7iid/eli5john_boehners_lawsuit_against_obama/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cjcp5js",
"cjcppzd"
],
"score": [
5,
9
],
"text": [
"John Boehner wants Obama to stop using executive orders to do things because Obama is supposed to ask Congress to do it.",
"Basically, Boehner and House Republicans want a publicity stunt that they can use to bolster numbers in the midterm elections so as to keep the House and ideally get the Senate. The pretexts they are using, however, is that they are suing over the President's usage of executive orders to help smooth out the implementation of the Afforable Care Act. This is for two reasons: firstly, they want to stake out a \"principled\" position on executive orders (which, considering the gridlock in congress at this time, can't be considered a terrible means of governing effectively) and secondly, they want the ACA to be implemented in full so they can wave the flawed bill they amended into a steaming mess of shit and pushed through rather than allow a single-payer system through to use as a weapon against Democrats. \n\nNote that an alternative explanation could be given by someone with different ideological leanings, but I happen to think that given Boehner and others pretty despicable behavior and ideology, this is most fitting. Note also that unless they find a judge who is motivated purely by hate of Obama, they'll be ruled not to have standing and the suit will be thrown out. Essentially, standing is determined by whether you can prove you were harmed, directly or indirectly, by the action or, in this case, executive order. As no one has presented a coherent legal argument as to how the House, on behalf of whom the suit was filed, were harmed, this is gonna be goddamn hard to prove."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
259osd
|
why do i always stay up late at night regardless of what time i have to wake up or how much sleep i got last night?
|
I normally go to bed at 2am and wake up around noon, but when I'm forced up at 9, even though I get crazy tired much earlier, I still can't bring myself to sleep earlier.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/259osd/eli5_why_do_i_always_stay_up_late_at_night/
|
{
"a_id": [
"chf2960",
"chf2edq"
],
"score": [
2,
7
],
"text": [
"I have the same problem. With me, i feel like its self discipline. If i want to be normal, i can stay up all night, go to bed like 10 the next night and get on track. Mostly i just stay up almost all night, getting just a few hours of sleep. ",
"If you are someone who sits behind the computer a lot. It's because the artificial light messes with your biological clock. Usually your body notices the change in light and starts to release certain hormones to make you sleepy. Because of the monitor brightness this doesn't happen.\nOne of the ways to combat this is [f.lux](_URL_0_)\n\nAlso if you are a teenager. Your hormone levels mess with that system. The biological clock of an adult and teen are not exactly the same. A teen's bio clock wants to wake up at about 10/11 most of the time.\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"https://justgetflux.com/"
]
] |
|
5rzvx9
|
do a high percentage of adopted kids grow up to be bad? if so, why?
|
I've heard from people around me and from the recent askreddit thread about adopted kids who turn out to be kleptomaniacs, drug addicts or generally bad people? Is the ratio of adopted kids that grow up to be good/bad the same as kids who are not adopted? Whats the reason if thats the case?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5rzvx9/eli5_do_a_high_percentage_of_adopted_kids_grow_up/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ddbkzvt",
"ddbl9p2"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"Children that are up for adoption that have been taken from their parents are often dealing with many things. First, they are usually removed because of neglect or abuse (physical/sexual/both). This will understandably create issues of mistrust, anger, and fear. If these aren't addressed they can lead to problem behavior that can create problems when they are adults. The other big thing these kids are dealing with is psychological scars. Being neglected or abused by your parents start the problem of \"something's wrong with me\" which is exacerbated by years in the foster system before being adopted. By the time they're in an adopted home, the scars can be very deep and it is very hard to overcome the sense of betrayal and inadequacies an adopted child might feel. Those feelings can lead to problem behavior when they grow up.\n\nTL;DR: it's not that the kid is bad but that the kid is dealing with all the bad things that happened and may not be able to handle it all, so they act out.",
"A \"high percentage\" of adopted kids do _not_ have behavioral problems. Only a small percentage have such problems. However, some studies show that percentage is higher than in non-adopted kids. \n\nFor example, according to a [2008 U. of Minnesota study](_URL_0_) \"a small minority of those [adopted] kids — about 14 percent — are diagnosed with a behavioral disorder or have contact with a mental health professional as adolescents, or about twice the odds that non-adopted teens face.\"\n\nHowever, there are flaws with this measurement because it depends on a diagnosis by a medical or mental health professional. People who adopt children tend to be wealthier and have better access to medical care, including psychiatric care. So it may be that non-adopted children *have* problems at the same rate as adopted children, but because many non-adopted children don't have adequate access to care they are not _diagnosed) at the same rate as adopted children. \n\nTo simplify, say 15% of _all_ kids -- adopted or non-adopted -- have behavioral problems. It may be that among adopted kids (who tend to be placed with middle-class and upper-class families), there's good medical care so 14% of them are diagnosed and only 1% go un-diagnosed. However among all non-adopted kids (many of whom live in povert), the access to medical care is spotty, so it might be only 7% of the kids are diagnosed with behavioral problems and _8%_ go _un-diagnosed)_. \n\nThat will make it look like non-adopted kids have less frequent of behavioral problems than adopted kids, but instead it might mean that adopted kids are just more likely to get _recognized_ as having problems than non-adopted kids because they adopted kids have better medical care on average.\n\n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1737667,00.html"
]
] |
|
1f795c
|
historically, why spain is so different from the rest of europe, even though it's geographically part of it.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1f795c/eli5_historically_why_spain_is_so_different_from/
|
{
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"text": [
"Different in what sense? It's very much a part of Western Europe in every sense I can think of other than some of the architecture, and that's because much of it was part of the Islamic world until the 15th century. Other than that, nothing comes to mind as being particularly different.",
"Spain is not different in any sense.",
"Implying the rest of Europe forms a whole...not the case.",
"Apart from the fact that it was part of the Caliphate over 1000 years ago where as the rest of Europe was not. _URL_0_\n\nIt was also Neutral in the WWII, although Sympathetic to the Axis forces, a political stance rather uncommon in WWII. \n\nBut living in Europe, Spain is not seen as \"different\".",
"Note that Spain's southern point is very close to northern Africa. In the early 700's, a group of people called the Moors invaded what is now Spain from Africa and took over. The Moors were not only ethnically different than most Europeans, but they were also a Muslim people. At least some parts of this area was controlled by Moors for about 500 years, so their culture and style took a different direction than places like Italy, Greece, and France.\n\n*Major Edit: Moors historically referred to people of Muslim faith, they are not an ethnic group or nation. See more accurate comment below.",
"Mismanagement of resources and finances by the Spanish monarchy throughout the 1500s-1700s left the country bankrupt, caused its empire to collapse, and ultimately lead the country down a different path compared to, say, the UK or France or Germany.\n\nIt's also worth noting that while Spain is part of Europe, it's really a peninsula - Spain is rather isolated by the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans on two sides, and even the land connection is composed of the daunting Pyrenees Mountains.",
"For a very long time, Spain's ruling class was Muslim. The Caliphates were a series of Muslim \"Empires\" that (at it's peak) ruled all of Northern Africa, the Balkans (think Yugoslavia, Southeastern Europe), and the Middle East.\n\nIt took hundreds of years to push the Caliphates out of Spain. This had a lasting effect, as its culture had been strongly effected by the presence of Islam.\n\nEdited: Geography fail.",
"Different in what sense? Different to Finland, which is also completely different to Hungary, which is completely different to The Netherlands, which is completely different to Switzerland, which is completely different to Bulgaria; all of which are continental Europe?",
"The Pyrenees, and the wars with the Muslims. ",
"Goddamn I love this subreddit."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
2xyynl
|
with the constant talk nowadays of nuclear warfare, why can't we build anti-nuclear weapon equipment?
|
I would be surprised if this hasn't been asked before, but I searched it and nothing came up.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2xyynl/eli5_with_the_constant_talk_nowadays_of_nuclear/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cp4otzd",
"cp4yggn"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"[There have been programs put together actually offer us some protection against nuclear weapons. In the U.S. it's referred to as the Star Wars Program](_URL_0_)",
"First thing to get out of the way, we do not have a significant amount of \"anti-nuclear weapon equipment\" because we don't have the technology for it or because we think it would be pointless because it probably wouldn't be able to intercept all the warheads or whatever.\n\n\nRather, the reason is strictly political. So the history of all this is rather long and complicated so I will do my best to summarize it, but it will not be complete and if you want to learn more I suggest a book called [\"Wizards of Armageddon\" by Fred Kaplan.](_URL_0_) \n\nAnyway, back during the early Cold War with the US and USSR, there was a stalemate. Both sides had nuclear weapons and no way to protect against them. This lead to a foreign policy called \"Mutual Assured Destruction\" (also known at MAD, funny enough). The mentality then was basically this, \"If you launch your nukes at us, then we will retaliate before your nukes get to us by launch all of our nukes at you!\" aka, if you destroy us then we will take you down with us. This policy worked in the sense that it deterred either side from wanting to attack the other out of fear of total annihilation.\n\n\nHowever, a bit further into the cold war and suddenly scientist and engineers realized that it was possible to build a way to defend against nuclear war heads. There were lots of plans and ideas and everyone was very confident that they would work. But, then a certain realization came about. Say the USA was able to build a defense network that was about to intercept a vast majority of a nuclear attack. Suddenly, the USA has the incentive to strike first against the USSR because they are confident that they can survive a retaliatory nuclear attack from Russia. Yes, a few would make it through but a lot of people really believed that the USSR was that big of a threat. \n\n\nIt also gets worse then this, say the USSR finds out about this (they did after all learn about the atomic bomb before it was declassified), now Russia has incentive to attack the US before it finishing it's defense equipment because otherwise they could be killed without being able to kill them back. In summary, a nuclear defense would completely void the policy of MAD, at least that is what most of the higher up's came to believe, and so they opted to not build them. They had many talks with the USSR and both decided to not build them to keep the status quo so to speak. \n\n\nNow thats not to say that there exists absolutely no defense nowadays. The USA does have one line of defense where they can intercept a warhead in mid flight with what it basically a chunk of metal. But this does not have a comfortably high chance of success especially if there are lots of nukes launched at us.\n\n\nsorry this got kinda long but it is not exactly a simple subject :). Hope this helps. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative"
],
[
"http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Armageddon-Stanford-Nuclear-Age/dp/0804718849/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425536424&sr=8-1&keywords=wizards+of+armageddon"
]
] |
|
3kekk4
|
self-adhesive wrap
|
The kind that sorta looks like an ace bandage, it sticks to itself but not anything else. How does that work? The best I can come up with is wizardry.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3kekk4/eli5_selfadhesive_wrap/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cux13hi"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Instead of an ordinary *adhesive* molecule that sticks to anything, it contains a specially designed *cohesive* molecule that only sticks to copies of itself."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
14aigc
|
what's stopping us from sending lichens, algae, and other extremophile bacteria to mars and start trying to change the atmosphere now?
|
Fully terraforming will take a long time so why not start early and send stuff up with the next rover.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/14aigc/whats_stopping_us_from_sending_lichens_algae_and/
|
{
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"c7bbo4i",
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"c7bkbgp"
],
"score": [
20,
3,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"There's nothing stopping it from happening theoretically, but for now, NASA is trying very hard to prevent contaminating Mars with life from earth. \n\nAny kind of organisms that could be found on Mars should be studied, and if you just ship a bunch of extremophile bacteria from earth to Mars, you contaminate the planet with potentially invasive species. \n\nThere might come a time where humanity will attempt to colonize a planet, but for now it's both unproductive and virtually impossible.",
"Nothing, but what if in doing so we accidentally destroy something that is already there?\n\nEverything we introduce to the planet has the potential to devalue it's biological, ecological and geological history. ",
"i think the idea is to discover life on other planets , they want to be 100% sure when finding any life it did not come from a rover or any external source",
"I took an astrobiology class, and we learned that terraforming would take something like millions of years. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
32e814
|
the sharp pain you get in your side that only goes away after a deep breath
|
It's been going my entire life, what's happening when this occurs?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/32e814/eli5_the_sharp_pain_you_get_in_your_side_that/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cqaeh1u"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"It's possibly what you're experiencing is [what's called a precordial catch](_URL_0_)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precordial_catch_syndrome"
]
] |
|
69nvbu
|
why do we not mind a certain sound when we are the ones creating it but get irritated when someone else makes the noise?
|
An example I can think of is clicking a pen alot.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69nvbu/eli5_why_do_we_not_mind_a_certain_sound_when_we/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dh806a7",
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"dh8doy6"
],
"score": [
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],
"text": [
"When I'm tapping on the counter top I hear Hot for Teacher. When someone else does it I hear random tapping on a counter top.",
"When its you making the noise, your brain has already established that its you but when the noise follows a certain pattern made by someone else, such as a scream, car crash, nails on the chalkboard; that sound is of a pattern which creates a feeling of anxiety [depending on the frequency and waveform.](_URL_0_)",
"Also REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEADING annoying sounds is annoying too. \n\nI'm slightly irritated by typing that too tho",
"Maybe when we are doing it, our brain blocks it out like snoring. \nI used to chew ice when I was younger and my older brother would go nuts about how much it bothered him. I did not understand until I had kids of my own and one of them loves to chew ice.\n",
"I'd say, based on my own questioning of this, is that when I'm doing the tapping, I'm also creating other rhythms in my mind or imagining part of a song. So the tapping is just part of the symphony.\n\nTo someone else it's just annoying noise.",
"\"We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions\"\\\n\nAt least that's my thinking of it. There's probably science behind it.",
"Perhaps someone could give an answer connecting this and not being able to tickle yourself. I know this isn't a proper response, but it might spark a line of thought.",
"Because we know we can stop the sound at anytime when we make it and we know when the sound will happen. ",
"As others have said, it's because we're the ones in control of the sounds we're making. We can perfectly predict all aspects of it: the rhythm, the timing, the volume, the duration, etc. This is also why we can't deliberately tickle ourselves. Our brains are fully expecting it. \n\nWhen it's someone else doing it, we have no control over any of it. The irritation comes when our expectations are violated. The rhythm is off. The timing is off. The volume is wrong. It stopped too soon or should have stopped already. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[
"http://traffic.libsyn.com/20khz/20k_-_Best_Worst_v5.mp3?dest-id=440475"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
9r4td5
|
how does a bomb suit protect a bomb technician during an explosion?
|
Edit: Thank you all for the responses. They very very clear!
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9r4td5/eli5_how_does_a_bomb_suit_protect_a_bomb/
|
{
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3
],
"text": [
"Thick kevlar and padding both help to stop shrapnel and dampen the shockwave, but not by much. Chances are if you're close to an IED a bomb suit wont help much",
"There are three big dangers that typically come from a bomb explosion: heat, shrapnel, and shockwave. \n\nA bomb suit is designed, as much as possible, to protect from those three things. It's got thick layers of padding and kevlar to keep shrapnel from the bomb from piercing and harming the wearer. It's thermally insulated so that heat can't get inside the suit and burn the wearer. And it's got layers of material with a high acoustic impedance and soft foam layers to keep the shockwave from exerting too much pressure on the wearer.\n\nThe shockwave is the biggest danger to the wearer if they're close to the bomb, and the hardest to protect against. A light suit can protect very effectively from shrapnel and heat, but might not be able to withstand a close-range shockwave that could still cause a lot of internal damage. Heavier suits are more able to withstand that pressure, but it's the hardest factor to protect against.",
" \n\nThe bomb suits are not magic force fields. A large enough bomb close enough to the guy wearing it will still result in injury or death.\n\nHowever, bomb suits do offer a large degree of protection. They protect from light fragmentation and heat as well as reducing the blast overpressure experienced by the wearer.\n\nIn addition to the testing these suits have undergone, bomb techs have been blown up while wearing them.",
"If they don't work, do you get your money back?\n\n & #x200B;",
"I worked with EOD. The suits don't do a whole lot of shit, unless it's a poorly made IED. If it's a 155mm round, it's over no matter what. If it's a pipe bomb, you can walk it off. They use robots more now, but guess how often those robots work? For $200k you'd think it would work. A lot of the times, they just go pick up said IED, and then go blow it up in another place(after they've traced the detonating device). I've seen and done this with them. The suit stays in the MRAP unless the CO tags along."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1rwvl2
|
how does a government take money out of a country?
|
When the US, for example, wants to cause deflation and wants to take out money from the people, how do they do it? Where do they take it from?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rwvl2/eli5_how_does_a_government_take_money_out_of_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cdrpv3x"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Deflation can be caused simply by not printing money while the population grows. Nothing really needs to be \"taken from the people\", for deflation to happen.\n\nAnother way deflation could happen would be instituting a gold standard. But that would just mean the creation of money is limited, which really is just the situation mentioned above."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
2ca1gl
|
how did the soviet union remain a superpower even if it was inefficient?
|
By inefficient, I mean that it was inefficient economically wise, like good old US politicians say. Everyone knows that communism and sharing stuff is bad.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ca1gl/eli5_how_did_the_soviet_union_remain_a_superpower/
|
{
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Having a big stock of nuclear weapons was probably the principle reason. Politically, this gave them a big influence over Europe (particularly Eastern Europe, where their influence extended through Poland and the North-East corner of Germany (separating into \"East\" and \"West\"), and down through then Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary, and south through Bulgaria and Albania.\n\nNot to mention that the Soviet Union was huge, just as Russia is still huge today (with only moderately less influence!) There are huge oil reserves, land for agriculture and mining. There were an economic force as well. You needed grain, you needed oil, you wanted to trade, you needed to join the group.\n\nBut economically, over time they could not keep up, and economic collapses were part of the breakup of the country in 1992. They did not have the productivity to support the military machine and keep their people fed at the same time.",
"Coming off the back of WWII, the SU instilled confidence in the Eastern European people. They were true leaders, looking to make the world strong again.\n\nThey also rigged elections and killed other leaders, so there's that too...",
"Oil really. Sure, they had nukes and also a large military industrial complex like nowadays USA, but it was mostly Oil, arms, and some more goods.\n\nSome historians believe that a big part of the SU demise was accelerated because the USA Government influenced the Saudis in the 80's to pump much more oil into the market, plummeting prices and causing an economy crisis in the SU. ",
"Because the CIA was even more inefficient\n\nWe prepared for an invasion of Europe through the Fulda Gap but the CIA failed to tell us that the Russians didn't have enough gas to get there ",
"A large population base, vast natural resources, a good educational system, nuclear weapons, and a large military. Add war weariness that caused the western powers to cede eastern Europe and voila. Russian incompetence led to the downfall of the Soviet Union. China seems to be doing things far more competently.",
"I went to the Soviet Union in 1989 just before everything collapsed. Outside of Moscow and Leningrad (Now back to St Petersburg) it was like stepping back in time to the 1920s. Keiv (then part of the Soviet Union, not Ukraine) was in the 1960s. I went through villages that looked like WWII had ended the month before. For many of them that was the last time they had any outside influences. They were so isolated that they had no idea how much things sucked. If your last point of reference was Nazi occupation, Soviet inefficiency seem pretty cool. For a long time that inefficient system still managed to deliver food and basic goods. Again compared to war time, it was good living. I had Russian instructors who had been in Stalingrad during the siege and had committed cannibalism. Compared to that, lots of things are good. But once the wall came down in East Germany information/news spread rapidly and those people became angry. Mostly they were angry at those in Moscow for knowing and not telling. Once that social compact was broken it was every man for himself and the whole thing imploded. \n\nSo I would say that internally they maintained \"at least its better than when the Nazis were here\" for a LONG time. Once people realized that even the Nazis were living well now they got angry fast. ",
"The wealthy elite of the west funded it from beginning to finish. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
4o1jqi
|
why some movies and tv shows have real operating systems and software on computers and smartphones (like mr. robot) while others have fake ones?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4o1jqi/eli5_why_some_movies_and_tv_shows_have_real/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d48t2jm",
"d48u1kz"
],
"score": [
13,
6
],
"text": [
"It really depends what the show wants to focus on. In the case of Mr. Robot, the show is all about hacking, and appeals to a growing demographic of viewers who know enough about computers to detect fakery.\n\nOther shows, such as crime serials, are focusing on the detective work and the character interaction, rather than the technology. \n\nThere's probably also issues with branding. You generally don't want to give away ad placement by using branded equipment in a show, so faked OS's and software can avoid that. ",
"In most shows it's more important that a computer screen conveys information to the audience clearly and quickly than it is to look realistic. This is why programs and OSs on TV display giant progress bars that dramatically fill up while an agent is stealing computer files while being chased by the enemy or a fingerprint matching program shows dozens of fingerprints being checked before giving the police a match."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
a2mx2j
|
how/why do medications whose primary function is something other than sedation -- i'm looking at you, diphenhydramine -- knock you out or make you at least super loopy?
|
Bonus question: I suppose a related question would be how do actual sedatives, such as trazodone, work?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a2mx2j/eli5_howwhy_do_medications_whose_primary_function/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eazow0a"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Diphenhydramine works as an antihistamine by blocking the H1 histamine receptor. When it crosses the blood brain barrier it also blocks the central H1 receptors causing sedation. \n\nThe exact mechanism of how trazodone causes sedation is unknown. \n"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
67pl7d
|
is the feeling of love chemical or mental?
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/67pl7d/eli5_is_the_feeling_of_love_chemical_or_mental/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dgs7bxy"
],
"score": [
8
],
"text": [
"Yes. You seem to think that chemical and mental are mutually exclusive but they are not; our brains and minds are extremely complex chemical reactions."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
44xna9
|
why are humans able to domestic dogs so much easier than monkeys?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/44xna9/eli5_why_are_humans_able_to_domestic_dogs_so_much/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cztm3h4",
"cztmiz0"
],
"score": [
3,
5
],
"text": [
"Because we have been selectively breeding dogs for thousands of years to have the behaviors which allow us to domesticate them. That is what domestication is.\n\nWe have never selectively bred monkeys for this purpose, thus they are not domesticated. You don't domesticate a single animal, you domesticate a species through many generations.",
"Dogs basically domesticated themselves. Ancient wolves came to our camps and hung around for food. Eventually those wolves became dependent on humans. But as much as we domesticated them, they domesticated themselves, and some argue that they guided our evolution in very poignant ways, so they kind of domesticated as well. It's been a symbiotic relationship for ten thousand years or so.\n\nMonkeys don't need us. They are smart enough to get along without us, so they're very independent. It's more like trying to \"domesticate\" a small child: where's the line between domestication and just teaching behavior? More to the point, we don't need them. There's not a lot moneys have to offer us that we can't already do or get that would be with the effort to train them instead of just doing it ourselves. They're also not very useful for meat, and they're very hard to keep caged. Way too much effort for not enough payoff."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
3gj5hi
|
why do some belly pains only go away after using the toilet/restroom?
|
Usually diarrhea. I know it's waste but still. And why does the pain go away like immediately after having a dump?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3gj5hi/eli5_why_do_some_belly_pains_only_go_away_after/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ctyluxy"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"The pain in those cases are caused by pressure. Like a blocked pipe, enough pressure can cause issues(for us, intense pain, for pipes, expanding and potential rupture), and also like the pipe, if we unblock the way and get rid of the stuff causing the pressure, the pain goes away."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
633izm
|
what mental disorders fall under the "not guilty by reason of insanity" clause and how does it fall under that?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/633izm/eli5_what_mental_disorders_fall_under_the_not/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dfr1lm7"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"It doesn't really work that way. It's not like you can be acquitted because you're schizophrenic but not, say, if you're manic-depressive. What matters is the person's state of mind.\n\nMost American jurisdictions work off of something resembling the American Law Institutes's Model Penal Code, which says that a person is not responsible for criminal conduct if \"at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.\"\n\nSo basically A: the crime you committed was a result of your disorder, and B: you can't appreciate that your actions are illegal/wrong. The exact disorder at work is irrelevant."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
myzao
|
how did a bill as dangerous as the ndaa get passed with overwhelming support? are we, as a public, missing something?
|
From what I've read about the bill, it doesn't seem any public official in their right mind would vote yes on something like this, yet, it passed the Democrat controlled Senate with votes that made it seem like it was a no brainer.
What information are we missing that made this so popular with the senators?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/myzao/eli5_how_did_a_bill_as_dangerous_as_the_ndaa_get/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c34zgp4",
"c34zgp4"
],
"score": [
5,
5
],
"text": [
"It's must-pass legislation, otherwise our soldiers would not have food/gasoline/supplies to keep going. There is one provision that everyone is upset with, and rightfully so. They tried to pass the NDAA then amend out the detainment provision.",
"It's must-pass legislation, otherwise our soldiers would not have food/gasoline/supplies to keep going. There is one provision that everyone is upset with, and rightfully so. They tried to pass the NDAA then amend out the detainment provision."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
aje73u
|
a dna test says a man's dna is 96.9% english/irish but neither of his parents are 100% english/irish....how is this possible?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aje73u/eli5_a_dna_test_says_a_mans_dna_is_969/
|
{
"a_id": [
"eeur8hz",
"eeurau3",
"eeurd4r",
"eeutzju",
"eeuuyyx",
"eeuvbdl",
"eeuwwj1"
],
"score": [
6,
7,
11,
5,
2,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"DNA tests just guess on genealogy based off of markers that are somewhat distinct for an area. What it marks for English may also be present in French, German or Mongolian people, as an example. They aren't 100% accurate, but can usually generalize pretty close.",
"Did his parents get a DNA test to prove they are not English or Irish?\n\nIf their ancestors emigrated from the british isles to another region, they could have been given an inaccurate history of their heritage. ",
"These DNA tests test for ethnicity not nationality, although the former is a fairly accurate indicator of the latter, it doesn’t allow you to be 100% certain of their nationality.\n\nEdit: made a mistake - DNA traces ethnicity in the context of ancestry",
"Do you mean his parents aren't ethnically English/Irish or they're not from England/Ireland? \n\nAlso, please keep in mind that these tests are not as accurate as people believe they are. They're essentially just comparing your DNA to other people in their database. So your result depends on the variety of DNA in their database. \nAlso, these tests don't clearly advertise this, but if they're giving you a specific country as your ethnic origin, that's just a very rough estimate (around 50% chance you're actually ethically from there). Some websits allow you to put the accuracy up to 90% which usually results in giving you just a continent. . . Basically, with DNA tests, they really only accurately tell you what continent you are from. The rest is a best-guess from an algorithm. ",
"DNA tests check for a number of nonexpressive genes. These genes have been statistically linked to certain areas of the world. Meaning 100% of people in Greece have gene A and 97% of people in Germany have gene B, things like that. So based on which genes you have they tell you the percent chance your ancestors were from certain locations. \n\nBut it is important to note that people all over the world have both gene A and B. The theory is that the gene started in the location it is most highly represented and then spread from there. But whether your friend has the English/Irish genes because his grandparents were born there 80 years ago, or because some ancestors were born there 1000 years ago is hard to tell. ",
"Because those tests are not scientific.\n\nThey use specific genetic markers found in certain populations to determine a person's ethnicity.\n\nThe problem is they only use people in their database, that is, people who have had their DNA tested through the same company.\n\nHere's a video where identical twins had their DNA tested by several different companies had got different results for each one and different results from each other.\n\n_URL_0_",
"There is a lot of fudging in these DNA tests. This guy could use a different DNA company and get a different percentage of DNA to be English/Irish, and the same would be true for each of his parents. There have been a lot of articles written about identical twins and triplets who have taken DNA tests from various companies and have come out with results different from one another and different for the same person from different DNA companies."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isa5c1p6aC0"
],
[]
] |
||
y8lyr
|
why are ivy league schools (harvard, yale, etc.) so tough to get into?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/y8lyr/eli5_why_are_ivy_league_schools_harvard_yale_etc/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c5tb0y9"
],
"score": [
9
],
"text": [
"It's simple low supply:\n\n* Most of the schools are relatively small (excluding Penn and Cornell), so there aren't many spots\n\nand high demand:\n\n\n* They have a reputation for academic excellence and have some of the largest endowments in the world\n* The post-grad schools and research opportunities are incredible (the Mars Rover and Arebico Observatory are two examples from Cornell alone)\n* More importantly to most people, they have a reputation for incredible job placement and networking"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
2vbqc5
|
why do torrent sites, like kickass torrents, have to change their url?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vbqc5/eli5why_do_torrent_sites_like_kickass_torrents/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cog7diy"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Because, sometimes governments have the power to force, or at least pressure DNS providers to not give a domain to a certain entity. That's why these torrent sites are often registered in Sweden (.se), Tuvalu (.tv) Cuba(.cu) and Tonga (.to)."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
aw7h9e
|
is it really necessary to "logout" from a website if you're quitting the browser anyway?
|
Are we causing harm by skipping the step of logging out and leaving loose threads in the universe? Don't websites just notice your not there anymore and take care of it?
*Adding:
I use Firefox and it's 'excellent' setting that deletes cookies when quitting.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aw7h9e/eli5_is_it_really_necessary_to_logout_from_a/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ehkg4m5",
"ehkiadc"
],
"score": [
3,
4
],
"text": [
"If you know you will be the only one who can use that computer (under that user profile), it doesn't matter.\n\nIf you leave it logged in and someone else opens the website, they might so something without your knowledge. Imagine if someone found your email account sitting wide open, they might be able to reset passwords to things like your bank account before you can notice.",
"When you log in to a website, the fact that you're logged in is stored in a cookie within your browser. This makes it so that if you load a new page, the website still knows you're logged in. In general, the website never knows *when* you're logged in, it just knows that at one point you logged in, and it sent you data for your cookies.\n\nThe default configuration of most browsers is to retain cookies when you close the browser. Next time you start up the browser, you'll still have the cookies and still be logged in.\n\nIf you're on a single-user computer, or there are other users but they do not have access to wherever your browser stores your cookies, then this is fine. Otherwise, another person could use your cookies to open up the website and be logged in as you."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
5ucmi9
|
why does flour and other powdery things clump when water is added?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ucmi9/eli5_why_does_flour_and_other_powdery_things/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ddt1wnn"
],
"score": [
7
],
"text": [
"Inside those clumps is dry flour. The surrounding flour holds the water tension creating the clump. Thats why you have to mix the flour thoroughly in order to break the water tension in each indivual clump.\n\nEDIT: I had used the wrong spelling for the word \"tension\"."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
c5gmy9
|
why can some animals cross breed between them, while others cannot. for example, donkeys and horses can breed to give a mule, but nothing comes out if your breed humans and chimpanzees.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c5gmy9/eli5_why_can_some_animals_cross_breed_between/
|
{
"a_id": [
"es1onfr",
"es1ov31",
"es1pe0t",
"es1qiq4",
"es1qrl5",
"es1slrn",
"es1uk3y",
"es1z5i0"
],
"score": [
24,
2,
67,
14,
2,
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"\"nothing comes out when you breed chimpanzees and humans\". Umm....\n\n\n*nsfl warning*\n\n\nThere were some experiments back in beginning of 20th century iirc.",
"Only some animals are genetically compatible with each other. This is termed as being \"interfertile\". How this is determined, I have no clue.",
"There may be different reasons. For humans and chimpanzees we have differences in the chromosomes that don't allow us to breed. it's like trying to plug a USB cable into a micro USB port, they're similar, but the differences don't allow for the mix.\n\nNow, with donkeys and horses they can have a mule, but consider that the mule can't breed, it's sterile. So while some animals can breed, they aren't meant to, and are still to some extent incompatible.",
"There are a few different kinds of reproduction, but sexual reproduction needs a set of chromosomes from mom and a set from dad to make a baby. Chromosomes are DNA folded up really tightly for convenience. \n\nIn an animal, there will be a certain number of chromosomes. How many changes depending on the species. Humans have a different number of chromosomes (and genes) than, say, a starfish. The further away from one another on the evolutionary tree, the more different the genetics of the two species will be. \n\nWhen a new animal is formed, mom’s chromosomes in the ovum meet dad’s coming in with the sperm and they line up together and form a complete, paired set of DNA instructions for a complete animal. You need that whole set of data. It is the entire blueprint for the animal - it has all of the instructions, how to make each part, and how to put it all together. So any pairing that doesn’t “match” tends to fail - because you simply *must* have the correct lineup of chromosomes (which are made of DNA) to start. If you don’t, there’s a kill switch safeguard that terminates the whole process. \n\nIf you tried to combine two animals that are very different, you get something called “not compatible with life”. It’s like trying to build from a blueprint but you have three pages of a blueprint for a house and three pages for a blueprint of a submarine. Not going to work. If, however, the species are very similar, and their chromosomes matched up *just enough*, you *might* be able to combine their blueprints and still have all the necessary elements needed to make a fully functional animal. It will be a little weird, and it might not fit together quite right - most of these kinds of animals are infertile for this reason - but if there is enough there in the mismatched blueprints to be compatible with life, then you can have a hybrid baby.",
"There are degrees of similarity, and degrees of being able to breed, and maybe no clean answer. \n\nTo use an example from a bio class I took, frogs from adjacent states on the US east coast can breed with each other (Maine frogs can breed with New Hampshire frogs, which can breed with Massachusetts frogs, and so on down to Florida). But if you jump the intervening space, a Maine frog can't breed with a Florida frog... they can mate, but the product is infertile. \n\nThe mating pairs will become more successful if you pick ones from closer areas, but it's hard to define an exact line.",
"It's all to do with the genetic data and the classification of animals. Some animals share the same genus, so donkey and horse are both equus but different species. This means while they are able to reproduce their offspring is infertile and unable to reproduce themselves.\n\nAnother example is big cats, all big cats are of the panthera genus but with different species. Panthera tigris (tiger) and panthera Leo (lion) are able to breed and produce offspring who're infertile.\n\nWhat makes a species is the ability to reproduce to produce fertile offspring as well as morphological similarities.",
"I read it might be possible to breed a human and an ape but it's not allowed for ethical reasons.",
"One reason is that whenever the sperm and egg meet, the sperm doesn't recognize it can penetrate an egg's zona pellucida, which is the membrane that surrounds an egg that the sperm must penetrate before the egg is fertilized. With donkeys and horses, the sperm from one is able to penetrate the zona pellucida of the other species. Compatibility varies among species. For example, the sperm of a mouse can fertilize a human egg, but human sperm cannot fertilize mouse eggs. There are lots of factors that affect gamete compatibility.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThere was once an experiment where a human and chimpanzee embryo was successful. In the United States, it is a federal crime to experiment with human gametes in a way that produces hybrid species. This is why we do not hear about many human/mouse or human/chimpanzee experiments."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
98gscv
|
if director’s like christopher nolan and quentin tatentino insist on using film instead of digital, how are they able to use special effects?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/98gscv/eli5_if_directors_like_christopher_nolan_and/
|
{
"a_id": [
"e4fwv6m",
"e4fz5yw"
],
"score": [
9,
2
],
"text": [
"They just shoot with film and convert it to digital for everything that happens during post production (which includes VFX). \n\nNothing stays on film for the entire production cycle anymore. ",
"Shooting on film vs digital is entirely irrelevant in terms of visual effects. These are added in later during post-production, where editing can be done on film or digital. If the latter, the film is simply converted and all post-production is done on computers. Visual effects have been added to films long before digital cinematography existed. Every film you've ever seen with vfx prior to the early 2000's was shot entirely on film, and many of the films you've since were shot on film as well. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
||
q67zu
|
why is pork so unhealthy and poultry not?
|
It seems when related to meat things like bacon and ham are on the really bad for you end, while chicken and turkey not nearly so. They're both meat. Are pork products today just more fatty because of how the pigs are raised?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/q67zu/eli5_why_is_pork_so_unhealthy_and_poultry_not/
|
{
"a_id": [
"c3v21oy",
"c3v377k"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Pork is a fattier meat than Chicken (about twice as much fat as a percentage). There is no real certainty as to whether the higher fat content makes it \"unhealthier\" or not.\n\nBacon and Ham are more processed - they are cured. Depending on how they are cured, the meats have been exposed to high levels of salt and/or nitrate and nitrites. Over consumption of salt and nitrites both can lead to health problems. \n\nThis is not so much due to how we raise the animals to how the fat is naturally structured in the creatures' meat.",
"Bacon, ham, and the like are all cured (which means they were soaked in salt, basically), whereas there isn't really any cured chicken commonly available. People tend to like to eat the fattier parts of the pig and the leaner parts of the chicken, too (except for the schmaltz). They're both pretty unhealthy, though. Now eat your peas. "
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
3aahen
|
how does a super nintendo or sega genesis game get from cartridge to being emulated on my phone?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3aahen/eli5_how_does_a_super_nintendo_or_sega_genesis/
|
{
"a_id": [
"csaqtc5",
"csar6zj",
"csau5ib",
"csb9iqc"
],
"score": [
11,
7,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Basically, it's possible to design software that imitates (emulates) what the SNES or Sega Genesis hardware does. Since those machines came out in the early 90's, any computer today can easily handle running it. The software that was on the cartridges can just as easily be written onto your computer's hard disk and be loaded up by your virtual SNES/Genesis.",
"The process is called a ROM dump. It uses a special piece of hardware that plugs into your computer on one end and fits the game cartridge in the other. Then it dumps the contents of the cartridge's Read-Only Memory to a file on your computer, which can be loaded into an emulator.",
"These old game consoles had very simple pinouts on the cartridges. For example, there might be 16 pins for the 16-bit address of each byte, 8 pins for the return byte, and 1 pin to dictate when we want a byte. So reading it would go like\n\n1: Set the 16 bit address\n2: Wait a few nanoseconds\n3: Set the read pin high\n4: Wait a few nanoseconds\n5: Gather the data in the 8 bit result and save it somewhere\n6: Repeat step 1 by incrementing the address by one until we've reached the maximum address (65535 likely)",
"In addition to the answers already given, also keep in mind that occasionally games are just straight-up rebuilt for modern devices. For example, Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 for iOS/Android aren't actually ports, they're instead pixel-perfect recreations of the games built on a modern engine. That's why those games have 60fps widescreen support and extra features, like online co-op."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
895oj3
|
why do people with mc in their names (mcdonald’s, mccallister’s, etc.) get to have two capitol letters. where did this come from?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/895oj3/eli5_why_do_people_with_mc_in_their_names/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dwp3oz9"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"The \"Mc\" in \"McDonald,\" for example, is short for the Gaelic word \"Mac,\" which means \"son.\" So \"McDonald\" means \"Son of Donald,\" etc. \n\nEDIT: Originally I only posted the article on Irish naming conventions. The rules apply across the Gaelic languages, but I've added the Scottish article for clarity. \n\n[Irish Naming Conventions](_URL_1_) [Scottish Naming Conventions](_URL_0_)"
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic_name",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_name"
]
] |
||
cmtcln
|
how do things like phones and car keys deactivate hotel room keys?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cmtcln/eli5_how_do_things_like_phones_and_car_keys/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ew4k63w",
"ew4tb6b",
"ew51362"
],
"score": [
6,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Iron atoms can polarize meaning the electrons lean to one side making it more negative with the nucleus making the other side more positive.\nSo each atom is inherently magnetic in some level, but all the atoms are oriented different directions cancelling out their magnetic fielda. But they still exist so iron objects can diarupt other magnetic fields, especially the weak ones on a hotel key card.",
"They don’t. Those hotel keys are crap and work intermittently. Cell phones and car keys are a red herring.",
"EMI or electromagnetic interference is generally what causes the problems. Electronic devices generate small electromagnetic fields. Something like a hotel card has a stored magnetic charge on the strip. If these magnetic energies come in contact with each other they try to align. If the charge on the card is weak enough or given enough time it will change states to match the field generated by the other device."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
2nu8kc
|
why is hitler considered worse than mao zedong?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nu8kc/eli5_why_is_hitler_considered_worse_than_mao/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cmgwp4a",
"cmgwp7c"
],
"score": [
4,
3
],
"text": [
"The majority of deaths during Mao Zedong's reign happened due to famine, caused by a failed economic campaign (the [Great Leap Forward](_URL_0_)). The deaths caused by Hitler were a deliberate, systematic attempt at exterminating entire populations.",
"Mainly because Hitler killed on purpose. Hitler had extermination camps that were designed just to kill. Most of Mao's deaths were through accidental starvation. Additionally Hitler started world war 2 so technically he can be blamed for the 70 million deaths as a result, which surpasses Mao."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward"
],
[]
] |
||
buog43
|
how is gas produced in our intestines after digesting certain foods?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/buog43/eli5_how_is_gas_produced_in_our_intestines_after/
|
{
"a_id": [
"epew7oz"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Gas produced in your gut is largely due to bacteria. Your gut has a thriving ecosystem of little critters that help break down your food into simpler molecules your body can deal with. They do this by eating what you ate, and then pooping out a fair amount of various gases as a byproduct."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
47rkn8
|
why can't fighter jets fire missiles backwards toward an enemy in pursuit?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/47rkn8/eli5_why_cant_fighter_jets_fire_missiles/
|
{
"a_id": [
"d0f3y6u",
"d0f3zrg",
"d0f5hmb",
"d0f6ead"
],
"score": [
15,
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Dogfights don't really happen like they do in movies and video games.\n\nBackwards-firing missiles would mean less regular ordinance, and would only be used in very, very limited, specific situations.\n\nIf a fighter has a jet behind it, another jet will take it out.",
"Well for one it would waste a lot of the fuel. If you're firing the missile forward it's already got the velocity of the jet plus what ever their engines kick out. If you're firing it backwards you have to first get to 0mph and then get up to speed.\n\nMost modern air to air fights take place out of visual range so firing behind wouldn't be that advantages. Dogfighting is really a thing of the past with modern tech.",
"According to [this ELI5](_URL_0_) answer there is such a missile.",
"Real Answer: There is nothing stopping a missile from doing this. Previous generation fighters could only lock on targets within their limited radar field of view or direct frontal line of sight. For example, the F-15c uses an AN/APG 63 radar which can only detect targets in a narrow cone to the front of the plane.\n\nThere are also several different types of missiles. Infared (fire and forget) and active/semi-active missiles (require radar lock). If you cannot get or maintain a radar lock, you cannot fire the second class of missiles. Targeting systems on previous generation fighters required the target to be in front of the nose to fire an infared missile.\n\nModern 6th gen fighters have targeting systems built into their helmets (russian 5th gen fighters also have this). This means they can establish a lock on targets so long as they can see them. Keep in mind, a pilot has a large seat and the rest of the plane behind them blocking their view to the rear."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1q1khi/eli5why_dont_modern_fighter_aircraft_have_weapons/"
],
[]
] |
||
2b8bhi
|
what is the proper response when someone tells you a relative (or loved one) has died?
|
Recently, my aunt told me (via text message) that her father-in-law passed. I have only met the guy once or twice in my life, so I had no close personal connection to him. After she told me, i began to think about what my response should be: "Oh i am so sorry to hear this news.", "How is the family", "Is there anything I can do"....
Then I began to second guess these responses because I felt like they are all very cliche. So I sat for about 5-10 minutes thinking about my response. I ended up with: "That is awful news, i am so sorry for your family's loss. How is everyone? If you need anything, please let me know."
But then I began to wonder if there were other approaches that you think are better or more well intentioned than my own. I have always felt like a deer in headlights regarding this topic.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2b8bhi/eli5what_is_the_proper_response_when_someone/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cj2r24k",
"cj2r4zj",
"cj2remw",
"cj34ozr"
],
"score": [
6,
2,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"According to some etiquette thing I read recently, it's best to leave it at \"I'm sorry for your loss.\" It's simple, and it gets the point across. Trying to justify things by saying something like \"This is all part of God's plan,\" or something of that nature is likely to upset someone more, especially if they're not religious.",
"Just put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would want someone to say. Once you do that, it's pretty obvious. Just give your condolences, be a caring shoulder to cry on, listen intently to anything they need to vent or get off of their chest, and act as an always-available crutch of strength when they need someone.\n\nDo NOT Say \"I understand how you feel\", or go on a tangent telling the person about your own similar story. Everyone feels like their own personal situation is unique and special, and are seldom comforted by other people acting like they know what they are going through. That's more appropriate for a \"scared\" or \"nervous\" person, not a person that is grieving or in mourning.",
"I think you did just fine to be fair\n",
"Your comments were fine.\n\nI typically avoid the line about let me know if there is anything I can do.\n\nIf I don't know them well, I say nothing along those lines. If I do, I offer something concrete like: \"I am sure you are having family over. I'd like to bring take out over for everyone's dinner the day before the funeral. What do you think would be a good restaurant, and how many people should I plan for?\""
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
coddk0
|
why is it that you feel the urge to vomit/throw up when you hear devastating news?
|
[deleted]
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/coddk0/eli5_why_is_it_that_you_feel_the_urge_to/
|
{
"a_id": [
"ewhktqc"
],
"score": [
20
],
"text": [
"Fight or flight response. When your nervous system detects a stressful situation it instinctively prepared to either fight or run away by a bunch of physiological reactions such as increasing adrenaline, heart rate, and diverting blood towards your muscles. One side effects is that your digestive system gets blood diverted away from it, causing nausea."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
|
3bf69m
|
what makes certain wines and beers preferable to drink with certain types of food?
|
Is it something to do with balancing the pallette? And if it is, what the hell does that mean?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bf69m/eli5_what_makes_certain_wines_and_beers/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cslkl74",
"cslkr8s"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"You answered your own question! Think about sweet and sour sauce. Sweet sauce is alright, sour sauce is alright, sweet and sour sauce is a godsend. Flavor combinations can either work together or not. Just like adding some lemon juice to a Caesar salad can drastically improve the flavor of both, properly pairing your beer (or wine, or scotch) can serve to improve the overall flavors of both things. ",
"For the same reason that some spices fit together and others don't. Certain tastes just fit together and others don't. Very simplistic example: for dishes which have very light flavour you need a similar light drink because a drink with heavy flavours would just overpower the taste of the food so you would not be able to taste all aspects of it. Same goes the other way round."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
37sjwa
|
if beer is mostly water, why can someone get water intoxication drinking 12 water bottles, but not 12 beers?
|
well give or take on the beer/water but I figured I'd use a 12 pack as a standard of measure
|
explainlikeimfive
|
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37sjwa/eli5if_beer_is_mostly_water_why_can_someone_get/
|
{
"a_id": [
"crphmjp",
"crphmz8"
],
"score": [
5,
2
],
"text": [
"When you drink a glass of water, the water enters the blood stream and dilutes it. The cells through osmosis lose some salts to the blood, and equalize the sodium, potassium levels inside the cells with the blood.\n\nWhen you drink too much water, the salt levels in the cells drops too low, causing water intoxication. This is why sick babies are given pedialyte instead of water. And sick adults are given Gatorade plus water. \n\nBeer has a higher level of various salts, so it won't cause water intoxication as quickly. I'm not sure if you'd get water intoxication eventually from it. You might get alcohol poisoning first.",
"Water intoxication occurs because as the body takes on water, electrolytes are taken out of the body because their concentration in the water is much lower than in cells. Beer, on the other hand, is not water. It contains a whole cocktail of chemicals and does not have the same electrolyte-sucking effect."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[]
] |
|
5hrko3
|
how are the current tech startups that have no business plan any different from the internet boom years & crash?
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5hrko3/eli5_how_are_the_current_tech_startups_that_have/
|
{
"a_id": [
"db2dfzo"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text": [
"This is a leading question - you're assuming as a given that current tech startups have \"no business plan,\" which is categorically untrue. A venture capital fund will never give away money to a startup with no business plan. Now, some of those plans may be based on faulty assumptions, or shaky bedrock, but that doesn't mean they don't have a \"plan\". \n\nMost of the dotcom startups in 2000 also had plans - they just happened to be emerging in a bubble in which the hype quickly outpaced the reality. \n\nThe hype, I may add, was not unjustified - dotcom companies still exist, in great numbers ,and the internet *is* an enormous market. It just simply grew too quick, overcrowded with investors. Which isn't really the fault of the companies themselves, it was the market."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
||
8avpwk
|
what are we smelling when it smells 'hot' or 'cold'?
|
For example, if a hair straightener is left on, you can smell it, but it smells 'hot', not like anything specific. Or sometimes if you go outside, it smells cold.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8avpwk/eli5_what_are_we_smelling_when_it_smells_hot_or/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dx26hxa",
"dx26sjc",
"dx27hkz",
"dx27u6c"
],
"score": [
28,
12,
2,
6
],
"text": [
"You're not smelling the heat, your smelling the heat's effects on the environment. That hair straightener singed some hairs and lofted some lovely burnt flesh scent into the air, you smell it and immediately know that there is a hot element around somewhere because your brain has made that association many times before.",
"I feel like you can smell when it’s gonna to snow. I’ve walked outside and said it more than once in my life. It’s so weird. I want to know the answer!",
"I can smell when the clothes come out of the dryer but I believe it's a mixture of things such as the aromatics of the detergent left behind in the form of a thin layer of wax-like material possibly melted on the clothes. And fabric softeners leave a wax behind.",
"The hot smell is basically burnt dust. If you leave a straightener on, even if it doesn't touch anything it will get in contact with all the dust that is the air at any time (which is a lot even in a clean house, you can see it when sun goes trough your window).\n\nDust is a bit of everything: mostly cloth fibers, but also hairs fragments, shed skin, sand, everything that can break into little pieces releases some dust. When it touches the straightener, it gets burnt and releases that smell.\n\nI don't know about cold smell though."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
40p30b
|
how do these preliminary presidential polls work and why are they considered good indicators of popularity? obviously they're not polling everyone. i've never been polled, never met anyone that has been polled.... seems to leave a large margin for error.
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/40p30b/eli5_how_do_these_preliminary_presidential_polls/
|
{
"a_id": [
"cyvyt0m"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Ye might find [these past posts](_URL_0_) helpful."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/search?restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all&q=presidential%20polls"
]
] |
||
69v7h2
|
what do the main political parties of mexico mean and want for their country?
|
PRD PRI PAN
|
explainlikeimfive
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69v7h2/eli5what_do_the_main_political_parties_of_mexico/
|
{
"a_id": [
"dh9zif4"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Partido Revolución Demócrata \n(Democratic Revolution Party) \n\nPartido Acción Nacional \n(National Action Party) \n\nPartido Revolucionarior Institucional \n(Institutional Revolutionary Party)\n\n\nPRD is your hippie friend always talking about how better the school would be if it were socialist. \n\nPAN always comes with good ideas and tries to implement them in the class room, but the bullies will never let them. \n\nPRI are the popular kids in school, no one can touch em and no one can't talk wacky about them, or else..."
]
}
|
[] |
[] |
[
[]
] |
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