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4bed3h | how do chain restaurants like chilis and olive garden get so big and popular despite not being very good? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4bed3h/eli5_how_do_chain_restaurants_like_chilis_and/ | {
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"Consumers like the comfort of consistency. Also, chain restaurants are good resources for banks and investors to know they're putting their money to something with a good chance of a high return, because these chains have successful stats to back them up.",
"I happen to think Chilis and Olive Garden are great. I feel like most people do too. That or they just don't mind the price to taste ratio.",
"When you say that it's good, what variables are you using to measure that? Is it fairly affordable? Yes. Is it flavorful? Yes. Is it pretty darned similar no matter what location you're in? Yes. If you go to a big chain, you know what you're getting and roughly how much you're getting it for before you even walk through the door, and that has a lot of appeal to people.\n\nIt should also be noted that when I say that it's flavorful, this is not to say that it's healthy. One of the things many of these restaurants do is provide high calorie meals that are loaded with carbs and fats, which makes you think that the food tastes really good. Load something up with cheese and butter and people are going to think it tastes delicious because of all of the extra fats, even if you're getting more calories than your recommended daily allotment even before you get past the appetizer.",
"First of all, it depends heavily where you live. I lived in a small town (60,000 people, largest city for 200 miles in any direction) that had around 5 large chain restaurants. While there was some local independent places, nothing with the seating space of the chains. The local places were much more run down inside. The food was good at 1 local place, and worse at others. During my 4 years in this town 3 local places opened. All closed within the year and the food was not so good at any of them.\n\nChains offer an average meal and they offer it consistently. In a large city there's many options to get a good meal, so why accept average. but there's also lots of shit independent places. The nice things about the chains is they are almost always averagely good.\n\nThe last thing to mention is that taste is a very subjective thing. The reason the chains offer bland, average, meals is because those meals taste OK to most people. Never good, just fine, but also not generally bad.\n\nHell, look at the top viewed TV shows. NCIS: new orleans has about the same viewer numbers as Walking Deal. Hell, according to Nielsen Judge Judy does about the same numbers as Walking Dead. \n\nI say this because it's hard to understand sometimes that the average person's tastes does not trend towards \"good\". Many people think things that are objectively average are actually worth their time or money. ",
"Small town America often has such limited options that an Olive Garden genuinely is the best restaurant around.\n\nI've lived in several places were your only real options for eating out were McDonalds, Taco Bell, and a couple of very low quality cafes or diners that all served the same crappy, boilerplate hamburgers and soggy old coleslaw.\n\nSeveral times there were rumors that an Olive Garden might be coming to town, and it was *big* news. .",
"So because you do not enjoy these two restaurants, you concluded that the other 300+ million people in this country must not either? \n\nHow's that logic work? \n\n"
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99uqt2 | how come cars don't use a smaller-sized battery nowadays? | Do we really still need the big box battery to start our cars? If so, why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/99uqt2/eli5_how_come_cars_dont_use_a_smallersized/ | {
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" > Do we really still need the big box battery to start our cars?\n\nYes, yes we do. The battery turns the starter motor, a high torque electric motor that cycles the car engine until it can run under its own power. The big lead acid batteries work well for this purpose and while potentially a lithium battery might be able to do the same thing while being smaller, they wouldn't be as durable or reliable.",
"You need lots of amps, you need it to be cheap, it must widthstand hard discharge and recharge cycles and harsh environments, and, since weight and size aren’t a problem here, lead acid batteries are the way to go, since they do all of thy very well, you could make a very small li-ion pack, but it would need protection circuits and lots of cells to get those amps and it would be very expensive ",
"Lithium car batteries are slowly coming up in popularity. They are smaller and lighter than lead acid batteries, and last much longer. But they are also much more expensive than lead acid batteries. Since lead acid batteries are pretty reliable (sealed lead acid batteries last several years without needing a change) and since the supply of lithium is almost entirely dependent on one source (China), lithium ion batteries haven't yet become the mainstay."
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2d3i0l | so ive been told anime means cartoons in japanese. so why do people say theres a difference? | I just started watchig naruto and despite being very good, I cant see what people means when they say its an anime but NOT a cartoon.
explain im fiv5
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2d3i0l/eli5so_ive_been_told_anime_means_cartoons_in/ | {
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"Realistically? Nothing. You can have adult cartoons and children's cartoons just like there is adult anime and children's anime. Boy's and girl's, right wing and left wing.\n\nThe only difference is that anime tends to be much more stylized, often done with artwork similar to that of a comic book or graphic novel.\n\nAnd cartoons (western ones that is) tend to be aimed towards children and humour, with few (if any) that are serious and adult. While anime (which can be humourous, and many are) tends to be able to broach more serious topics. These include justification of killing people, torture, abandonment, mental health, etc. Which if a cartoon tried to do, it wouldn't be able to do as well."
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7sf5ht | why do people feel dizzy and/or general malaise when the weather changes abruptly? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7sf5ht/elif_why_do_people_feel_dizzy_andor_general/ | {
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"The rapid change in barometric pressure does not allow your body to make adjustments fast enough leading to sinus pressure etc. "
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de8244 | why/how do things still use electricity when they are turned off but plugged in (or just plugged in like a charger not connected to anything)? where does the electricity go? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/de8244/eli5_whyhow_do_things_still_use_electricity_when/ | {
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"It depends on the device. Most chargers or small devices these days have a transformer in the plug. This transformer changes the voltage from the larger supply to something more useable. This creates a small amount of heat, and loses efficiency. Every time you change something to something else you lose a little bit. Unless it has an off switch before the transformer, or light, or anything which is physically connected, that little bit of power is lost.",
"A lot of devices when turned off still have part of their circuitry turned on and drawing power. The classic example was the old CRT TV for quick \"turn-on.\" Some of them drew more power off than modern TVs do when on.\n\nDevices that use a \"wall-wart\" and other types of internal power supplies that convert ac current to dc still have electricity flowing through transformers (or the equivalent) when turned \"off.\"",
"Engineer here. The short answer is, the electricity turns to heat. Put your hand on a wall wart and it will feel warm. That's where the standby power is going.\n\nNow, the reason something like a phone charger still consumes electricity even if it's not charging your phone is because it's not actually off (unless you unplug it from the socket or use a mechanical switch to physically break the electrical connection to the socket). Any time the charger is plugged in, the circuit remains powered up to monitor the output. That way the power starts flowing the instant the phone gets plugged in.\n\nA modern phone charger doesn't use much power on standby. Something like 0.1 watts. That's so little you won't even be able to feel that the charger is a fraction of a degree hotter than room temperature while on standby. To put that in context, charging a phone takes 10-11W (a hundred times the power of standby)"
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3gkffe | we often hear "x percent of human communication is body language." where do thsee numbers come from and how are they determined? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3gkffe/eli5_we_often_hear_x_percent_of_human/ | {
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"Not an expert in any sense but i was very interest in body language. From my understanding those kinds of numbers are generally just made up. They are estimates made by experts in the field.\n\nHowever, my personal opinion is that these self proclaimed experts often vastly overestimate peoples ability to consciously analyze or manipulate their own body language. If you try to read about body language you will notice a lot of inconsistencies and that reality tend to differ quite a bit from what you are led to expect from various texts/books. ",
"Research and study of 3,300 individuals. This is how they got that percentage. Remember news sites inflate and deflate these statistics.\n\n > One of the most frequently quoted statistics on nonverbal communication is that 93% of all daily communication is nonverbal. Popular science magazines, students and media outlets frequently quote this specific number.\nSo where does the number come from? Dr. Albert Mehrabian, author of Silent Messages, conducted several studies on nonverbal communication. He found that 7% of any message is conveyed through words, 38% through certain vocal elements, and 55% through nonverbal elements (facial expressions, gestures, posture, etc). Subtracting the 7% for actual vocal content leaves one with the 93% statistic.\nHowever, studying human behavior is a challenging task. The inherent flaws of social scientific research methodology combined with the incredible dynamic nature of human behavior make this specific quantification close to impossible.\nThe fact of the matter is that the exact number is irrelevant. Knowing that communication is specifically 75% nonverbal or 90% nonverbal holds no practical applications. The important part is that most communication is nonverbal. In fact, nonverbal behavior is the most crucial aspect of communication.\nBased on my own research, I would state that the amount of communication that is nonverbal varies between 60 and 90% on a daily basis. This number depends on both the situation and the individual.",
"Have you ever talked to someone on the phone? Have you ever played charades? Which was more effective?\n\nIf someone (who doesn't speak sign language) tries to tell you that most communication is body language, gesticulate to them that they are full of crap."
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1j5pzr | air miles | How do they work, and what's the best way to take advantage of them?
I'm from the UK but spend most of the year in the USA if that makes a difference.
I did google it, but it's just a sea of confusing information, I hoped somebody hear could explain it like I'm five! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1j5pzr/eli5_air_miles/ | {
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"You receive airmiles from different flights you take. The longer the duration of the flight, the more airmiles. You can use these again once you have built up enough, and they will take you the amount of distance that you have collected. Another benefit is that once you have collected a certain amount, I think 100,000 miles, you become a gold member and get several of benefits. Including, getting an upgrade to business or first class when seats are open.",
"Each airline has different programs but you generally earn 1point for every mile flown.A round trip flight on Delta costs around 35,000-60,000 . Other airlines use different scales but it's relatively similar. Some airlines also work together like Delta and KLM so your points work on either. \n\nYou typically earn points as I said by flying. Some airlines have credit card that give you 1 or 2 points for every dollar spent. Though points earned this way may not earn you status. \n\nTypically once you've reach certain milestones in flying, like 25,0000, you become a special member and qualify for perks. Some perks I have are complementary first class upgrades, access to better seats, free checked luggage, and very short security lines. \n\n",
"Air Miles are like experience points in a game. There are many groups of airlines (called alliances) that each make their own game based on how far you travel with them.\n\n[List of Frequent Flier Programs](_URL_1_)\n\nHere are the basics:\n\n* As you travel on airlines you get one point for each mile you travel. If you have certain upgrades or bonuses (riding in business class? imagine wearing a shield that grants 25% experience bonus) you can get more miles for every true mile you fly.... (Example: Business class is 200% if on International Full Fare tickets via American Airlines)\n\n* As you gain more miles you \"level up\". For instance I prefer American Airlines and the OneWorld Alliance (Cathay Pacific, Qantas, etc...). With American Gold Level is at 10,000 miles, Platinum is 50,000 miles, Executive Platinum is 100,000 miles. Each level gives you different benefits... better seat options at check in, priority upgrades, better baggage allowances, access to lounges, etc... Just like access to better skills and spells!\n\n* Miles to gain levels must be maintained (mostly) annually. That means if you got 55,000 points this year and became level Platinum on AA, and next year you only did 40,000, you will likely be Gold next year unless some promotion comes up, there is no grandfathering. Its like a server reset every year.\n\n* Miles typically have an expiration date... that means if you don't use them, you lose them. The expiration usually happens within 18 months of when you stop flying, but it depends on the program. Imagine you stopped paying your monthly fee for that great MMORPG. The company will hold onto your character for a period of time, but if it looks like you aren't coming back, your character (FF account) will be wiped.\n\n* Miles/Points that are accrued can be \"cashed in\" towards travel, vacations, and other items... depending on the airline. Imagine you want to cash in all that hard earned AA experience in Everquest for a benefit... that is how this works. American Airlines cheapest domestic miles flight is 12,500 miles one way, you still have to pay taxes and fees. I tend to use them for gifts or when airfare is just too expensive. Note that using miles does not take them away from your \"earned experience\". If you earned 100k points of experience from your flying and you spend 100k, you still get credit for the 100k and would be Executive Platinum on AA.\n\n* Many people do really make this a game, you can earn points outside of travel. I have an American Airlines credit card that earns experience for every dollar I spend (RMT!) I use it every month and try and pay it off... I use it for everything from gas to groceries to the bar. Also the devs (airline) sometimes have partnerships with companies... for instance Bose. If you buy a Bose product you can earn miles by sending in your receipt. Its fun to try and figure out the best way to level!\n\n* There are OMG HAX in this game that people aren't usually aware of. Airlines have challenges... for instance American Airlines has a Platinum Challenge. You can go straight to Platinum Level (equiv of flying 50,000 miles) by completing a challenge where you fly 10,000 miles in a set period of time (I think its three months). There is a fee, around $250, but its worth it if you are going to travel a lot. When I first joined my company I had to fly to China Business class. With the bonuses that was enough to meet the challenge one-way. Its nice for all the perks, but not really advertised... [Challenge (AA)](_URL_0_)\n\nHope this helps! Safe travels!\n\n:Edit: \n \nAdded expiration of miles and fixed some of my horrid grammar"
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31ftt4 | these jokes | "no homo" I whisper as I look at my garden of pea plants. The progeny had expressed a 1:2:1 ratio of phenotypes. I am Gregor Mendel.
a motorcycle gang made up of ancient bisexual norse monarchs: the bikings
(apparently there's 4 puns in this one joke) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/31ftt4/eli5_these_jokes/ | {
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"I dunno about the first, but the second is pretty straightforward.\n\nObviously, the first pun is on the word Viking. Then there's bi-, which indicates bisexual; \"king\", which is a monarch; and the word \"biking\" itself is what you do on a motorcycle.",
"The peas expressed a 1:2:1 ratio of phenotypes (it could also have been just 3:1) because the previous generation of peas was [heterozygous, not **homo**zygous](_URL_0_). Gregor Mendel was a monk/scientist who did important work on that area.\n\nThe motorcycle gang has four puns: the **bik**ings ride bikes; the **bi**kings are bi[sexual]; the bi**kings** are monarchs; the **bikings** are vikings."
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855zta | why is the formula for standard deviation different for a sample and a population? | I've taken a look at an earlier eli5 but am still very confused. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/855zta/eli5_why_is_the_formula_for_standard_deviation/ | {
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"When you compute the standard deviation from a sample, you almost always have to compute it \"around\" the observed mean of the sample (not the true mean of the population) because the true mean of the population is unknown. The difference between the observed mean and the true mean causes a bias in the standard deviation which can be corrected by using a different formula."
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1cbphq | "check your privilege" | "Check your privilege"- I'm not English nor American and in my native language the translation of this sentence sounds weird. And I see it all around the net, so it's kinda hard for me. So could anyone please explain it like i'm five to me, what does it mean and when and where could/should I use it? Thank you very much. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1cbphq/eli5_check_your_privilege/ | {
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"The idea behind privilege is that depending on the circumstances you were born in, for example being white, male, straight, etc. give you innate and unearned advantages in life. For example, as a straight person myself I don't have to deal with any of the issues that many gay people deal with.\n\nTelling somebody to check their privilege is just reminding people that they don't know what it's like to worry about that kind of stuff, having not experienced it first hand.\n\nThe reason that many people dislike it is because it makes a lot of assumptions about the other person's life that the accuser doesn't know. For example, let's say I tell you to check your white privilege. Not only may you not be white, but saying that makes it sound like you have a perfect life, when for all we know you could be living in poverty and the mob is eating your parents.",
"Grammatically it's always confused me a little as well. It may help you to know that the word \"check\" has more than one meaning.\n\nThe more common meaning is \"Examine (something) in order to determine its accuracy, quality, or condition, or to detect the presence of something\", as in \"Let me check what time the train leaves\". But there's a slightly less common meaning \"An action or influence that stops motion or expression; a restraint\". \"Keeping < something > in check\" means not letting that thing get too much, limiting it or restraining it. So a phrase like \"check your speed\" can have two meanings. One being \"Look at your speedometer and find out how fast you're going\", and the other one being \"Slow down\".\n\nI'm not really sure which of these meanings is meant in this phrase, because they both seem to apply in context."
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1xo4gh | march madness brackets. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xo4gh/eli5march_madness_brackets/ | {
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"You pick the team you think you will win for each match up. \n\nI think the odds of a correct bracket is one in 2^64",
"It's a big basketball tournament. People like trying to guess who wins - it makes things more exciting. You might not care about.Duke or UNC but having them on your bracket gives you somebody to root for."
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aja9wq | venezuelan coup d'etat | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aja9wq/eli5_venezuelan_coup_detat/ | {
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"President Maduro has run the country into the ditch economically, causing widespread hunger and a wave of refugees. He's altered the constitution to stay in power and there's been some highly suspect elections. USA is trying to oust him using sanctions, which isn't helping the economy. Another politician has been declared interim president (which is legal) and has promised to hold new elections. This interim president is gaining international support. \n\nMeanwhile, tens of thousands of Maduro opponents and supporters are demonstrating in the streets, and violent clashes have already cost several lives. \n\nIn short, things are going to hell in a handbasket. The only way this will have a peaceful resolution is if Maduro resigns voluntarily, which seems unlikely."
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24kuo2 | the concept of judicial standing in the united states | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24kuo2/eli5_the_concept_of_judicial_standing_in_the/ | {
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"In order to be party to a legal process you have to have a reason to be involved. You can't just assert a right to participate.\n\nSo for example if you want to sue the NSA for listening to your cell phone you have to prove to a court that the NSA actually listened to your cell phone first. If the NSA refuses to admit that it did such listening, the court may decide you don't have \"standing\" to bring the suit.",
"Standing can be fairly complicated, but the ELI5 version is that only people who have been harmed can sue the wrongdoer. For example, you can't sue a company for discrimination just because you don't like discrimination. You have to show that their discrimination actually affects you."
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3ijnr7 | how do people in vancouver afford 1-3 million dollar houses that would sell for half the price anywhere else in canada ? | Im just trying to understand how people who work ordinary jobs can afford over priced living ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ijnr7/eli5_how_do_people_in_vancouver_afford_13_million/ | {
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"Basically, you don't.\n\nOnly people who make more than 60k a year live in Vancouver proper. Everyone else lives in the suburbs, like Burnaby or New Westminster. Middle class people who make 50k-80k before taxes can rent a multi-bedroom place in these areas or even a small house. People who make less than that just spend most of their income on rent and have room mates, with 2-3 couples sharing a house.\n"
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8wwigc | my dad is in the hospital because he’s very dehydrated. the doctor recommended he drink gatorade over water because he needs electrolytes. what are electrolytes and why are they so important in a dehydrated person? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8wwigc/eli5_my_dad_is_in_the_hospital_because_hes_very/ | {
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"So electrolytes are things like sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc. These are important because if the levels in your blood becomes too low or too high, your body won't function as well. If you just drink water, you're not replenishing the electrolytes that you sweat out. Low sodium can cause seizures, coma, loss of consciousness. Low potassium can cause abnormal heart rhythm, muscle cramps. Low magnesium can cause seizures, muscle cramps, abnormal heart rhythm. "
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bqbjzs | can the full moon affect the water in our bodies similar to how it impacts the tide? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bqbjzs/eli5_can_the_full_moon_affect_the_water_in_our/ | {
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"Sure, but any effect it has is absolutely minuscule, likely so small as to be unmeasurable.",
"The Moon's effect on water doesn't depend on how full it is. The effect of the Moon and the Sun is more synergistic during full or new moons than it is during a quarter moon, but the Moon still has the same mass, no matter how much of it you can see.",
"Yes, but only when utilized by a very powerful water bender. On rare occasion one may be born that is able to blood bend without the full moon but this is very rare.",
"Tidal effects are caused by differences in gravity, because the nearer you are to an object, the stronger its gravity pulls on you. The earth is very large so the moon's gravity pulls on the part nearest to the moon substantially more than it pulls of the part farthest from the moon. That's what causes tides in the ocean. But since you're so much smaller than the earth, there's no measurable difference in the moon's pull on the various parts of your body, and you feel no tidal effects.",
"Sure, just like all the water on earth and all the other mass on earth, your body is pulled by the tidal forces from the moon (regardless of the phase). \n\nBut the tides you see in the ocean are due to the fact that the oceans are so big. Tidal pulls from the moon (and sun) set up enormous slow waves (not the waves you can see, the rising and falling tides themselves are the waves) that move around ocean basins causing water levels to rise and fall. \n\nThis only works on an oceanic scale. There aren't even significant tides in the Mediterranean. And you've surely noticed you don't see similar things in local lakes or ponds or your bathtub or sink. And definitely not in yourself.",
"The moon is able to move the earth's oceans because the effects of an object's gravitational attraction are directly proportional to the mass of the object they are acting upon. The mass of earths ocean is approximately 1,450,000,000,000,000,000,000kg, as opposed to the average weight of a human at 62kg. According to the gravitational force formula (F=GMm/r\\^2), and assuming that 50% of the ocean is facing the moon (the part at high tide). The part of the earth's ocean at high tide experiences roughly 14,920,000,000,000,000,000 (fourteen septillion nine hundred twenty sextillion) times more gravitational force than you do. The moon's gravitational effects on a person are negligible to say the least."
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3grkqc | why are patent trolls much more prevalent now than they have been before? | I recently heard of the patent troll filing takedown notices for anything with "Pixel" in the title on Vimeo, among other cases. Why am I hearing so much more about patent trolls now than I have heard in the past 2 years? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3grkqc/eli5_why_are_patent_trolls_much_more_prevalent/ | {
"a_id": [
"cu0sxag"
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"score": [
3
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"text": [
"The \"Pixel\" takedown notice has nothing to do with patent trolls. That was DMCA abuse.\n\nBoth DMCA abuse and Patent trolls have been fairly significant issues for several years."
]
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[]
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|
38qc6a | how is it possible to have water formations, like rivers and waterfalls, underwater? | Just been a common curiosity of mine. Sorry if this is a repost. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/38qc6a/eli5_how_is_it_possible_to_have_water_formations/ | {
"a_id": [
"crwzsad",
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"score": [
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"text": [
"The density and most of the times due to the fact that its not actually water. Its usually a compound, which is heavier than water and in liquid form.",
"Temperature is the key factor, as this has the greatest effect the density of water. Colder water sinks below warmer water, frozen water (ice) floats (which is a unique chemical quality). This causes lake stratification, ocean currents, and so on. "
]
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[],
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6a07g0 | why do veterans needs get ignored by the us government when so much money goes into the military? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6a07g0/eli5_why_do_veterans_needs_get_ignored_by_the_us/ | {
"a_id": [
"dhaojyk",
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Because you need to spend money on the military when you want to attack someone, but spending on veterans doesn't help you attack someone, so when the people leave the service you can lock them up in prisons or mental health institutions.",
"The government prefers the military to have as many members as possible who can serve to full ability. Veterans who are wounded are often maimed to a point where they can no longer serve as effectively as the government wants eg it's a lot harder to carry a full pack with one good leg, and you can't fire a weapon as well with just one hand. That said, many wounded veterans have moved into politics and been successful eg Dan Inouye, John McCain, JFK.",
"You can begin your own search for an answer on r/conspiracy. But to briefly respond. Your question assumes that the government is run by people like you with ethical concerns. However, it is not. The answer to your question is that spending money on veterans is a waste of money from the point of view of a person without ethical motivation. Its money better spent on making more weapons out of the next generation of young people."
]
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||
34noa2 | how "100% money back guarantee" products make money | I keep seeing commercials where they say "if you aren't satisfied with it in 90 days, return it for a no fee 100% money back guarantee!" How do these companies make money? After around 85 days of use even if I loved it, I'd return it for all my money back and buy a new one. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34noa2/eli5_how_100_money_back_guarantee_products_make/ | {
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"cqwclmq",
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Because 90% of the customers forget there is a money back guarantee, or the product is so cheap it's not worth the hassle of getting a refund.\n\nSame idea for rebates, most folks simply forget to file for their rebate.",
"They're either THAT confident that their product is great, or they're THAT confident that the vast majority of people can't be bothered to actually return it. \n\nEither way, unless they get MASSIVE amounts of returns, they make their money.",
"Forgetfulness helps. If you used the product, by the time you get around to the return, you've forgotten.\n\nSome of the companies make it intentionally difficult to make a return, also. They'll require you to jump through major hoops.\n\nMany charge quite a lot of \"handling\" in their shipping and handling fee and make additional money on the product-- you have to pay the shipping and handling to get it to you AND you pay to ship it back to them, while it's often less than the cost of keeping the product, that handling money is usually helpful in keeping the business afloat.\n\nFurther, most have a limit on how many times you can order a product and get your money back-- so if you ordered Oxyclean, and \"hated\" it and returned it, then ordered it *again* because you actually loved it, you couldn't keep returning it for your money back-- by then you'd know how you felt about the product, so it would be like a one-time deal.\n\nBut generally, most people are okay enough with the product that they just keep it-- why go through the hassle and the shipping charge?"
]
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[],
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|
7b12l6 | how do individuals and companies void taxation by putting their money in the cayman islands? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7b12l6/eli5_how_do_individuals_and_companies_void/ | {
"a_id": [
"dpeg7pn"
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"text": [
"In part by breaking the law.\n\nThe Cayman Islands have pretty strict finance privacy laws, so it is difficult for law enforcement to trace money once it makes it to a Cayman bank.\n\nLet's say I want to buy a house from you. I could pay from my US bank from your US, but that money would be completely traceable and you would have to be honest when you reported that income as a capital gain. But if we both use Cayman banks, you can pretty much tell the IRS whatever you want, even that you took a loss on the house and deserve a deduction. It is illegal, but there is little to be done to prevent it.\n\nThe only downside is that your money is kind of stuck in a Cayman bank, and it can be hard to get it back into the US. But if you do business with a lot of people who also have Cayman banks, it is less of a big deal."
]
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[]
] |
||
1bamh2 | whats the point of fake facebook accounts? is it part of a scam? | I'm talking about the ones you get a request from that you don't know. They have no friends but were made months prior. Always has an attractive, barely clothed girl as the profile pic. The complete lack of information makes it obvious that it is an empty account. Is it an attempt to hack your account? A corporate scheme to see your account? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1bamh2/eli5_whats_the_point_of_fake_facebook_accounts_is/ | {
"a_id": [
"c955x63"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"There's ton of reason to make a fake account, like:\n\n* you want to access some facebook-only thing, but don't want to give them your real information\n* or you have real facebook account, but you don't want to share it with things that require facebook connection, so you use your fake account instead\n* you want to stalk your ex (most people just autoconfirm all friend requests)\n* you're playing facebook social games, and you need extra accounts to give yourself gifts - that's probably most surprising to people who've never seen \"serious\" farmville players in action\n* you want to spam people\n* you want to spam votes in some polls\n* some app might require you to spam your friends, and you'd rather not do that, so you make some fake \"friends\" account\n\ntl;dr - usually it's Zynga's fault."
]
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[]
] |
|
1fqhny | integrals/antiderivatives | Or, rather, like I'm someone who dropped out of calculus after half a semester cause I just can't manage my parentheses. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1fqhny/eli5integralsantiderivatives/ | {
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"An integral is a fancy way of summing things up.\n\nAn antiderivative is undoing the differentiation operation.",
"An integral of a function f over [a,b] is the area below the graph of f over [a, b].\n\nAn antiderivative of a function f is a function F such that F's derivative equals f. Note that if F is an antiderivative, F + constant is also an antiderivative.\n\nThose are related: the function that sends x to the integral of f over [a, x] is an antiderivative of f (this is called the fundamental theorem of calculus).",
"An integral is the area under a curve. So If the line on the graph were a line of paint, the integral is all the area that would get paint dribbles. "
]
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3cky23 | the new uk living wage increase and what it will mean to me as a minimum pay worker? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3cky23/eli5_the_new_uk_living_wage_increase_and_what_it/ | {
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"Really, all that the Chancellor has done is rebranded Minimum Wage as Living Wage, and promised that the Minimum/Living Wage (whichever you prefer to call it) will rise to £7.20 per hour next year, and will eventually rise to at least £9 in five years time.\n\nThe reason some are saying this is a rebranding exercise is because organisations that have been campaigning for some time for a Living Wage say the Chancellor's values are still not sufficient. For example the Living Wage Foundation says that as of right now a suitable minimum living wage would be £7.85 per hour outside of London, and £9.20 per hour in the capital. So by that definition the Chancellor's new figures are still a minimum wage rather than a living wage, no matter what the government calls it.\n\nNote that the figures announced by the government only apply to over-25s, so assuming you're a minimum-wage worker over 25 years old, you'll see your pay increase to at least £7.20 per hour next year. If you're under 25, none of this applies."
]
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[]
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||
eu95mf | why does your stomach “drop” when you hear/see something upsetting? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eu95mf/eli5_why_does_your_stomach_drop_when_you_hearsee/ | {
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"ffmt2yy"
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"text": [
"Your body goes into a fight-or-flight state, which is to say, the sympathetic nervous system gets activated. Mediated by adrenaline, it diverts blood away from less immediately important organs, such as the gastro-intestinal system, towards more acutely necessary organs, such as the brain and muscles.\n\nThis diverting away of blood from the stomach gives the sinking feeling."
]
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||
94p3jq | why can pilots of supersonic jets hear the engine when faster than the sound barrier? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/94p3jq/eli5_why_can_pilots_of_supersonic_jets_hear_the/ | {
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"text": [
"The air in the cabin is moving the same speed as the pilot and the engines' sound waves are traveling from the engine through the plane into the cabin.\n\nIt's similar to tossing a ball while in a car. The ball doesn't shoot to the back of the car but travels the same speed. In the plane the sound waves travel at the speed of sound plus the speed of the plane. Once they hit the outside of the plane, the travel at the speed of sound in air."
]
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[]
] |
||
1w9zlu | how does your car detect when you're slipping on ice, and how does it decide when to apply abs? | If it's too hard to explain simply, you can try to explain it to me like I'm 15. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1w9zlu/eli5_how_does_your_car_detect_when_youre_slipping/ | {
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"text": [
"Each wheel has a sensor and a reluctor wheel on it, as each wheel spins, the sensor counts the teeth on the reluctor, and sends that signal to the cars computer (ECM) as a measurement of wheel speed/rotation. The transmission has this sensor and reluctor wheel as well, and that sensor sends a signal to the ECM for overall vehicle speed.\n \nWhen the car is made, the ECM is programmed so that it knows what to expect from the transmission sensor, and each of the wheel sensors. And it knows that if transmission speed is X, then wheel speed must by Y, and if is not, and if the 2 numbers do not agree, then the wheels must be slipping. This is how a very basic ABS system works. More complicated systems that also include vehicle stability systems (anti-skid) will also include yaw and gyro sensors in order to selectively brake each tire independently in order to help correct skids. "
]
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[]
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|
8q7bbv | if life started in salt water oceans, how do lakes all over the world have fish? | Every single lake in the world seems to have freshwater fish. How did they get there, and where did they come from? Saltwater fish can't live in freshwater, and vice versa. Why would something become a land mammal only to somehow become a fish again? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8q7bbv/eli5_if_life_started_in_salt_water_oceans_how_do/ | {
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"text": [
" > How did they get there, and where did they come from?\n\nBirds carry them, or their eggs.\n\n > Why would something become a land mammal only to somehow become a fish again?\n\nWhat, like whales and dolphins? Where did mammals come into it? Freshwater fish came from saltwater-fish ancestors.\n\n > Saltwater fish can't live in freshwater, and vice versa.\n\nThat's only correct as a rule of thumb. There's a spectrum of salt tolerance and dependence. ",
"The oceans were not always salty, they became salty after millions of years of erosion washing salt from the land into the oceans. The earliest sea life would have formed in what was essentially fresh water oceans, or oceans that were only slightly salty. \n\nAnd even if we start with salt water fish, evolution can promote their adaptation. First some fish would be able to go into the brackish water of the river deltas. This area would potentially have fewer predators and less competition for food so they would thrive. Over the generations they become more tolerant of freshwater and travel further up the river until they are fully adapted to freshwater. \n\nAs for how did fish get into the lakes. Some travel up the rivers. Some were trapped in the lake when it got cut off from the ocean. And some were put there by man. ",
"So while 'fish' evolved into humans, birds, giant mammals, tiny mammals and all kinds of sea creatures, you are out of your mind about how salty fish became freshy fish?",
"There's lots of ways for fish to get from the ocean to a lake.\n\nFor one, most lakes are connected to oceans via rivers and other waterways. Presumably, early ocean-based life started going up through brackish bay areas in search of food and eventually adapted to fresh water.\n\nFor lakes and ponds not connected to rivers, there's a good chance they once were connected. There are millions of years we're talking about. Rivers can flood or change course, especially in the time before humans started tightly controlling them.\n\nEven then, there are other possibilities like birds carrying fish eggs with them, or fish being pulled up in major storms and falling from the sky (rare, but it does happen). \n\n > Why would something become a land mammal only to somehow become a fish again?\n\nThe only mammals to go on land and go back into the water are stuff like whales and dolphins. They went back in the water because there was food there. Presumably they were a coastal species that fished, and kept going further out to sea and eventually adapted to it.\n\nThey did not turn into fish. Fish and mammals are separate."
]
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[],
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35sv6a | why don't they make sensor/smartphone controlled quad/hexacopters that can fit people? | I imagine sitting reclined in the middle while on your phone you press the "up" button and you go up, then you press forward, or put in GPs coordinates or something, and it whisks you away. Why isn't there a person-sized quad/hexa-thing full of sensors etc that can sit in, allow it to keep it from killing me, the I simply tell where to go? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35sv6a/eli5_why_dont_they_make_sensorsmartphone/ | {
"a_id": [
"cr7hqfo"
],
"score": [
2
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"text": [
"Ignoring the risk and liability: quadrocopters don't scale. Fact is that if you take a quadrocopter and double the mass it isn't going to work just the same. The mass of the craft increases much more quickly than the lift produced as you scale up, and it quickly becomes unable to fly. Conventional helicopters are still the better choice for human transport. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
69bah5 | why do acts of battery during a sports event result in small penalties instead of meaningful charges and jail time? | I just watched a clip of Rougned Odor [push then deck](_URL_1_) Jose Bautista after Bautista performed a dirty slide into second. Last week, I remember seeing another [clip](_URL_0_) of a soccer player knocking out a ref before swinging at other players.
Do players simply not bother to press charges? Is there pressure from the owners/player contracts not to cause "disruptions?" I get that passions run high in these highly physical, competitive events, but still. The fact that many of these individuals are so athletic seems to make justice especially necessary, as they are capable of inflicting a great deal of harm if they possess violent tendencies.
Perhaps there are examples of players jailed of which I'm not aware? Perhaps there is some limitation in their contracts? Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69bah5/eli5_why_do_acts_of_battery_during_a_sports_event/ | {
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"text": [
"It's consensual fighting, and under somewhat controlled circumstances that generally will work to limit severe injuries.\n\nExpress consent - most athletes sign legal waivers\n\nImplied consent - punching my brother in the arm or slapping my SO on the ass is fun...doing it to a stranger is assault\n\nLack of intent - hockey player wear pads and helmets, and know the fight will be broken up soon...it is harder to show they mean each other serious injury\n\n\"Victim\" apathy - knowing they could be perpetrator next time, athletes aren't eager to press the issue in court\n\nPolitical apathy - no one wants to open that can of worms that will start a tit for tat battle of court cases across two countries\nIt's part of the game - in hockey, fighting really is part of the game, with unwritten rule about what you can and can't do, and when the fight is over"
]
} | [] | [
"http://nesn.com/2017/04/french-rugby-player-knocks-out-referee-with-disgraceful-punch-to-his-face/",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVpJCPwrUes"
] | [
[]
] |
|
80imxj | why is hot food described as "piping hot"? | Temperature, not spice. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/80imxj/eli5_why_is_hot_food_described_as_piping_hot/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"From the [Online Etymology Dictionary:](_URL_0_)\n\n > Piping hot is in Chaucer, a reference to hissing of food in a frying pan; to pipe up (early 15c.)"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://www.etymonline.com/word/pipe"
]
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|
4al6yu | why is spring break such a big deal in the usa compared to europe and other parts of the world? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4al6yu/eli5_why_is_spring_break_such_a_big_deal_in_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"d11jbb9"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Historically a big chunk of the US population lived in the North (Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, etc). These places are cold. So we're looking for an excuse to go somewhere warm for a Break. The European population centers have milder weather, so it isn't necessary. They prefer to take their vacation in the heat of August."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
1bphmb | what is happening when you get a "fart bubble" that seemingly exits your ass and then pops | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1bphmb/eli5_what_is_happening_when_you_get_a_fart_bubble/ | {
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"text": [
"what? I dont even know what you are asking. Maybe you should get that checked out by a doctor. ",
"This is my first ELI5 answer, so sorry if it isn't informative enough. When you usually fart, the noise is caused by your butt cheeks opening and closing rapidly, like what makes your mouth make the same noise. When you have that fart bubble, that's when your fart stays in between your butt cheeks, maybe because it wasn't enough gas to expel it through your cheeks, or maybe you have a sweaty crack and it was glued closed by your sweat. Either way, the fart doesn't come out, and you have to clench and hope it doesn't come back up through your hole.",
"If you have a very fat ass, your fart can be trapped between your ass cheeks. Your fart is a bubble of gases released from your anus. Your ass cheeks slowly yield to the pressure from the fart, and the fart then 'pops'.",
"I always want to grab a needle and try to pop it"
]
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[],
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||
838jiw | if someone was found not guilty of killing several people but later came out and admitted to the murders, why couldn’t he/she be recharged and retried? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/838jiw/eli5_if_someone_was_found_not_guilty_of_killing/ | {
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"text": [
"In the US, you can't be charged twice for the same crime. So if I killed Joe, was found not guilty, and then later confessed to it, I can't be tried for the killing of Joe again. \n\nHowever, you can still be tried for other things, like perjury. And that carries a hefty punishment. ",
"The fifth amendment says that you can't be retried for a crime again after being punished or acquitted (the legal term is \"double jeopardy\").\n\nThat said if they had decided to drop any of the original cases due to lack of evidence, there was a mistrial, or your admission involved other crimes that you weren't necessarily being tried for the first time around they could still nail you for those even if they couldn't get you for the original crimes you were found innocent of.\n\nAs for \"why\" a big reason is to prevent the government from bringing you to court again and again until you either run out of money or they manage to convict you.",
"Because prosecutors abusively trying people over and over again for the same crime is a greater harm than letting some people get away with murder.\n\nIn order to retry someone for a crime, there has to be some criteria of what constitutes new evidence. If set too low, an unscrupulous prosecutor could use this to bring unfounded charges against an innocent person over and over, either hoping to get lucky once, or drive them into the poorhouse with legal expenses. If too high, there would be too few cases to make it worthwhile.\n\nAlso, confessing to a crime is not necessarily strong evidence of guilt. Some people might do it to enhance their reputation or taunt authorities or sell a book.\n\n"
]
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38n1on | why there are only 2 gpu maker (amd nvdia) there are billions of computer out there and we have only 2 company? | I had vodoo card way back, hardly remember. I understand some companies can close but there should be new ones as i suppose. Where is samsung or other big companies. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/38n1on/eli5_why_there_are_only_2_gpu_maker_amd_nvdia/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"The problem is one of momentum.\n\nDesigning chip architectures is really difficult and specialist. \n\nATI started producing graphics solutions way back in the mid 80's. NVidea started in the early 90's about the same time as 3dfx. Up until then domestic computer graphics were pretty much maxing out at *maybe* SVGA (800x600). If you really spent stupid money and had a desk big enough for a foot or more of cathode, then you might consider an SXGA (1280x1024) display. Even so, gaming graphics were mostly stuck at 256 colours, and games themselves were largely scrollers.\n\nWith the advent of games like Doom the pressure was on to start exploring proper 3D rendering. ATI and 3Dfx started going head-to-head with their Rage and Voodoo lines of cards. THis was a period of very rapid innovation and improvement, as it also tallied with a marked increase in the amount of home PC ownership and therefore demand for games. During the early years you would typically have a 2D (VGA) card as normal, then a second 3D card - you daisy chained them together. \n\nBy the late 1990's both 3dfx and ATI were releasing combination cards which fulfilled both 2D and 3D rolls. Around this point NVidia entered with their GeForce 256.\n\nNow you had 3 companies all in competition for what was a growing but still relatively small market, and as the complexity increased, the development costs did as well. eventually 3dfx got bought out by NVidia, leaving you with 2 main players (ATI eventually being bought up by AMD).\n\nSo by 2005 you have 2 companies, well embedded in the market, with over 10 years experience and patents manufacturing graphics solutions and - crucially - their architecture designs had evolved from simple to more complex. There has been a further 10 years from that point now.\n\nThe crux of your question comes down to this: how does a company go about entering a mature market, which requires phenomenal technical expertise, to design a product which can compete with those built on 20 years of experience? And can you do it without infringing on others patents? If not, how much are the licenses going to cost? And when both competitors are already solidly embedded in the market, how do you go about challenging them on sales even if your product is as good or better?\n"
]
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3jevbc | why doesn't the catholic church sell some if it's $7.3billion in assets to help hungry/homeless/helpless people in addition to asking for donations? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jevbc/eli5_why_doesnt_the_catholic_church_sell_some_if/ | {
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"text": [
"The Church is meant to last for many centuries. Therefore it needs a large financial cushion for hard times. Also, part of the Church's way of working is to inspire awe and reverence -- and keeping & maintaining beautiful facilities is one of the ways it does this.\n",
"I'm pretty sure most of those assets are churches and other religious buildings. Yeah, they could (hypothetically) sell some of the paintings and statues that they own, but I'm pretty sure that that things like the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica are the key source of those assets. Most of the rest of their assets are probably religious relics, like pieces of the True Cross and St. Peter's Chains.\n\nThese aren't really things you can sell",
"Use the search function, this has been asked and answered very eloquently about FIFTEEN TIMES."
]
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33p58e | why do kitchens and butchers have chains hanging on the door? | Where I work (hotel kitchen) there are all these thin chains hanging from the door-frame. When I carry in heavy boxes the chains can be a mild annoyance. I've also seen them at a local butchers.
So what's the big idea? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33p58e/eli5_why_do_kitchens_and_butchers_have_chains/ | {
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"They are there to stop flies and other things from coming into the kitchen. "
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emsf9w | how does escalating a foreign conflict result in better re-election chances? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/emsf9w/eli5_how_does_escalating_a_foreign_conflict/ | {
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"Makes some people more patriotic, opens up support if opponent as being unpatriotic; some like continuity of leadership in times of war/conflict"
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1m84kx | what do research firms like gartner and forrester do? | I work in public procurement and we frequently rely on reports from firms like Gartner and Forrester for technology. Often, they don't seem to report on the things I'd expect, and sometimes, they promote "leaders" which are anything but. They also seem to like "waves" and other ways of visualizing their data which seem to be pretty basic and gimmicky. Why are they trusted and how can they charge so much? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1m84kx/eli5_what_do_research_firms_like_gartner_and/ | {
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"They do research they think companies want, and it turns out they do.\n\nData on, say, the way the wind is blowing in the adoption of tablets rather than desktops/laptops is very valuable if your company needs to decide how it'll allocate resources on some upcoming relevant project."
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j4flz | [li5] why would it be bad to raise taxes on the rich? | I'm not gonna lie, I'm not too knowledgeable on this subject. For example, how much "rich" get taxed compared to "non-rich". But I do know I always hear about tax breaks for the rich. Does that mean for rich companies or people? Why would they need tax breaks anyway? and Why/How would it be bad to raise them?
I'm really don't want the high-level answers and huge debates I would get in /r/politics, that's why I'm posting this question here | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j4flz/li5_why_would_it_be_bad_to_raise_taxes_on_the_rich/ | {
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"It goes back to President Reagan and \"trickle down economics\". The tax rate for the wealthy dropped down dramatically (by nearly half) with the idea that if the richest get tax breaks, that wealth will spread throughout the middle to lower class.\n\nThis is because the wealthy most often own the means of production, factories and the like, and if they have more capital (money) in the form of tax cuts, they will be able to expand their businesses and hire more people, therefore paying more wages and in turn increasing wealth for the working class. The taxes went back up briefly during the Clinton era, and then back down again *temporarily* after with George W. Bush.\n\nThis is why the current Republican party have taken to calling the rich \"job creators.\" The *tax rate* itself isn't too dramatically different between someone who makes over $250,000 and $30,000. The problem is that those with millions of dollars are investing and making income that way and *that* is not taxed effectively. These people can also afford investment managers that exploit loopholes in the tax code so that they can keep more of their money. Many times this money is kept in the stock market, or off-shore accounts, so that it can be passed down from generation to generation. \n\nDemocrats allege that these \"job creators\" are only creating jobs overseas, outsourcing the industry from more expensive American workers, and therefore don't deserve the tax breaks that Bush and then Obama extended because the money has never actually \"trickled down\" to the masses. But Republicans still think that taxing the wealthy will only cause the recession to last longer and hurt \"job creation\".\n\nLY5: Theoretically: A friend has 6 candy bars from his parents and asks his 5 friends to do his chores for him in exchange for 1 candy bar a piece, he still has one for himself. If the parents decide he only gets 3 candy bars, the kid will probably only ask 2 friends to do his chores for him, leaving 3 kids without candy.\n\nIn reality, however, the kid with 6 candy bars will look for the poor kids in the trailer park that will settle for half of a candy bar to do the work so he can keep as much candy as he can.\n",
"Those in favor of them believe that tax breaks for the rich will cause that wealth to \"trickle down\" to poorer people by creating jobs and such.\n\nSuppose you're the child of a wealthy parent. It's more likely that your parents will give allow you to do more chores for more allowance money than someone whose parents can't afford to give away any money.",
"There are two main issues at hand that lead some people to want to give tax breaks to the rich: \n\n1) The \"Trickle Down Effect\":\n\nThe idea behind this is that if the people who run our industries have more money to spend, they will be more likely to take more risks with their money and create more jobs. — If you tax them too much, they will be scared to invest money (or simply not have any leftover money to invest).\n\n2) Companies moving away: \n\nToday, corporations don't have to stay in one country. So, if we start taxing companies too much, they will simply leave us and go somewhere where labor is cheaper, or they don't have to pay as much taxes. \n\n > Why would it be bad to raise taxes on the rich?\n\nWhile, on paper, these ideas seem to make sense, it is a source of much heated debate in the USA whether they work in practice. Many even blame recent economic troubles directly on the implementation of these practices. \n\n***\n\n3) The libertarian point of view:\n\nThis is an ethical stance. Libertarians don't care so much whether tax breaks are god for the economy; they simply believe that taxing anyone, for whatever reason, is inherently unethical (is stealing their property).\n",
"Because, like all people, Rich people don't like having people come and take their things. Even if they have more than other people, it still feels to them like someone is picking on them. And, UNlike other people, rich people (and their money) are more mobile- if a rich person, who owns a factory or a company, or just lots and lots of money, fels like he's being picked on, he can move his money (and/or the factory with all its jobs) to some other part of the world where nobody wants to increase his taxes, and he can keep his money."
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5ewkxx | how do we have so much sand on earth? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ewkxx/eli5_how_do_we_have_so_much_sand_on_earth/ | {
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"Because sand is created by smashing up rocks and Earth is a giant, 6 billion year old rock.\n\nBillions of years of wind and water action makes a lot of sand."
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7oyf30 | why is virtually every claim about human nutrition controversial? | First calories were bad. Then it was fat. Later it was carbs. Why is it so hard to identify the ideal human diet? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7oyf30/eli5why_is_virtually_every_claim_about_human/ | {
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"Because you can't put a human in a locked cage for 80 years and feed it an experimental diet. We can use animal models, we can use short tests, we can ask people what they ate, but you can't definitively prove nutrition requirements or long-term effects without experimentation. ",
"Many missconceptions are based on market research and frankly, simple advertisements. \nIf you want to make a certain kind of food look good or bad, you can do that easily. Fat has a high amount of calories! Calories make you fat! Fat is making you fat (hence the name!?)! Therefore, fat is bad! \n\nIt's easy to spread these lies, because they seem to be logical and can be verified, indeed, fat has more calories than sugar or carbs, so why is it false? Because nutrition is complicated, depends on the person and is part of a lifestyle, which contributes to the same things, amplifies your diet, counters benefits your diet would have etc. \nSo the problem with \"nutrition\" is that people have goals in mind, narrow a complex topic down to a certain question (Does fat make you fat?) and can tinker with the data out of context until they get what they want. This is espescially amplified by the fact that major coorporations, which tend to do nutrition research, all have certain agendas and want to push their products. \nAlso, old information doesn't disappear, everyone on this earth has to has an opinion about nutrition to some degree, unlike for example, physics, which you don't have to have any ideas about in particular, \"wrong\" ideas in physics are relatively fast to disappear, as people discussion physics tend to be dedicated to it and informed, unlike nutrition, which basically everybody is discussing all the time, bringing ideas from some weird diet they want to succeed, old times or actual academia to the table, all vowing for you ears.",
"You're making a bit of a generalisation here. There's a lot of nutritional information that's well established, and not likely to ever change. for example, we need to eat, we need to eat balanced meals, we need to include certain elements, etc. \n\nYou're also making a generalisation in expecting a \"human diet\". Every human is different and has different dietary needs. A healthy diet for a bodybuilder in his mid-20s is not very likely to be super healthy for a 90-year-old person confined to a wheelchair. \n\nWhen you look at a lot of these dietary statements, they *are* generalising, and usually not aimed towards general health! It's usually \"X will make you loose weight!\" or \"If you eat Y you will live longer!\" - these are not really nutritional guidelines, but a large amount of -- at best -- pseudoscience (I'm looking at you, TV \"doctors\" and blue-zone enthusiasts). \n\nTalk to an actual nutritionist. They can tell you what the best diet for your *lifestyle* and your *goals* is. And if you ask them to generalise, they will pretty much tell you that the answer is \"moderation\". ",
"There are lots of reasons:\n\n* **Technology moves faster than evolution.** Things like fats and sugars taste really good even though they are \"bad\" for us, but the thing is they're only bad for us when we consume tons of them. In low quantities they are not only good but essential, so our savanna ancestors evolved to seek them out when they found them. Nowadays a sugary fruit isn't a rare lucky find, but something I can buy by the bag at the grocery. Unfortunately, our taste buds haven't kept up with technology, so we still crave these things even though we don't need to.\n* **The Dose Makes the Poison.** Everything is bad when you have too much of it. Even water will kill you if you drink too much too quickly. Sometimes when people think something is good they eat so much of it that isn't good anymore.\n* **Long term effects are hard to study.** A particular diet may seem great for children or young adults, but cause problems much later in life. This is why it sometimes takes so long for people to figure out things like smoking are bad for you. It's not like you do it once and get sick, you have to do it for years before you realize how bad it is.\n* **Factors other than diet play a role.** Let's say you wanted to study the effects of a gluten free diet. You decide to head to California, since there's a pretty big gluten free culture there so it will be easy to find people who don't eat gluten for your research. The thing is, those people all have *other* things in common as well, such as living in a sunny, temperate area. Who knows how much of what happens to them is because of their diet, and how much is due to environmental factors.\n* **Some info is just wrong.** A lot of claims about food come from studies that are not actually scientifically rigorous. Always consider the sources of the information.\n* **Companies have an interest in spreading different ideas.** Non-GMO food companies want you to think GMOs are bad, GMO companies want you to think GMOs are good. Organic food companies want you to think organic food is good, non-organic companies want you to think organic is overhyped. Pretty much every claim about food, be it true or false, has someone who stands to gain from it financially.",
"Nutrition is absurdly complicated. There are so many different pathways involved in metabolism, so many side effects of different foods (ex hormone levels), and so many other variables such as genetics and lifestyle. It isn't so much that we don't understand nutrition, but that it's very difficult to simplify it. \n\nYou said calories were considered bad, then fat, then carbs. Well none of that is true. Calories aren't bad, we need the energy to live. It's just that too many or too few leads to a myriad of health issues. The important question then is what is \"too few\" or \"too many\" calories, but it's impossible to say because everyone has different genetics, different metabolisms, excercise different amounts, and get their calories from different sources. 1500 calories is enough for some people, while others need 8000. The same applies to fat and carbs - too many is bad, too few is bad, but the \"just right\" amount is different for everyone \n\nThere are still limits in our knowledge, and we still have a lot to learn about how the body works. A lot of what we think we know about nutrition will likely be found to be false in the coming decades. But we understand the broad picture fairly well, and the real source of controversy is people attempting to over simplify a very complex issue ",
" > Why is it so hard to identify the ideal human diet?\n\nthere are at least these reasons:\n\n* humans are different : tall, muscular people have different nutritional needs than short, thin people; also various groups have heritable susceptibility/resistance to metabolic and other nutritional conditions; and these things change over time (e.g. few ten year olds, or 80 year olds, have 170 pounds of lean body mass)\n* people's circumstances are different : an agricultural worker who is in a state of constant rigorous activity has different nutritional needs and tolerances than someone who works at a desk; likewise people in a high stress environment (e.g. emotional stress or environmental stress), or people with low recovery such as low sleep, have different needs and tolerances than someone in a low-stress environment; and these things change over time\n* control : it's very difficult to collect data on all of these variables over a sufficient timeline (e.g. decades) in such a way that reliable statistical inferences can be drawn",
"It's the application of the science which is controversial. The science is used to create fad diets. Fad diets are controversial because they are mostly ridiculous. Different people have different nutritional needs. It's not that hard to meet these and be healthy. The advice 'eat in moderation' will likely never change. Include vegetables in your diet. This will always be true. There are people with intolerances, these people need to avoid certain foods. Don't eat too much sugar. It's not as complicated as people pretend it is. ",
"The type of diet you live on should be determined by your lifestyle, and for too long you've had experts advertising THEIR method as being applicable to each and every person. For example, body builders want LOTS (well over the normal 2k calories) of protein and slow-burning carbs (which are always the healthiest anyways). A person just trying to lose weight should have a lot of fibers, protein, and little to no carbs (and typically eats 1200-1500 calories a day or less for extreme diets). A person trying to lose weight AND build muscle has to have a very specialized diet to supply their body with energy to burn the fat, AND to trim down (very hard), which is why you are finding more and more nutritionists admitting that exercising to lose weight isn't the most efficient method of shedding the lbs, and instead you just want to keep an eye on how many total calories you are eating and their source (bad carbs, fats, and sugars that simply don't metabolize as well).\n\nCalories have NEVER been bad. We have always required them, but people never really take the time to figure out what any of it means. Calories are simply a measurement of the energy you get from the food you eat, and the amount you need every day depends completely on your genetics, your activities, and your goals. \n\nThe simple answer to your question is that most individuals just assume that \"if it worked for them, it will work for me\" and then misinformation, misunderstandings, and health-fads spread like wildfire. Consumers are lazy, especially those looking for fast-working diet solutions."
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7q445p | why can't homosexuality (or other sexual attractions) be developed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7q445p/eli5_why_cant_homosexuality_or_other_sexual/ | {
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"They can be. I dunno where you get the idea they can't be. But just like a lot of things, just because they can develop doesn't mean you will start to enjoy something. There are veggies that I try once or twice a month. I still hate them. Every fucking time. ",
"Why don't you just give it a whirl a couple of times and see if you like it?",
"Any behavior or lifestyle can be developed. Events in your life and environment can lead to all sorts of things. Especially when you are young and easily imprinted upon. \n\nSome traits we are wired with at birth from our specific genetic profile, and others we are taught directly/indirectly. It's easy to become a product of your environment (as seen by vastly different cultures and lifestyles). ",
"The same reason you might have heard of numerous counts of individuals having heterosexual marriages for decades and then deciding to throw that all away and come out as homosexual.\n\nYou can try to force it and for awhile, you might think you succeeded, but that wriggling doubt in the back of your mind will surface and you'll wonder \"am I really attracted to the sex my spouse is\"? ",
"Just because you can change your opinions about some (fairly superficial) things, doesn't mean you can necessarily change everything about yourself. Some things are going to have more of a biological/genetic basis and some are going to have more of a nurtured basis.\n\nAs of right now, we have no evidence that anything can change sexuality. There are therapies aimed at this sort of thing (conversion therapy) but there is no actual evidence of them working in any meaningful fashion.\n\nHonestly, there is still a lot that is unclear on the topic of sexuality and how it forms.",
"we don't really know. we know, for instance, that sexual orientation isn't *entirely* genetic, we have twins that are different sexualities. however, there absolutely is a genetic factor and there's piles of research to back that up.\n\nwhat we do know is that all attempts to change it not only fail, but cause tremendous harm to those subjected to the attempt. \n\nmost likely, there are environmental factors in early development that get \"locked in\" as it were. things that happen in childhood can permanently influence how your brain develops. there have been inquiries into this, the idea that all homosexuals are abuse victims was in vogue for a while but has since been disproven. but we do know of a large number of correlations between childhood development and sexual orientation. it's really involved, to the point that it's unlikely current technology will find a solid answer. ",
"Attraction to people CAN change. However, unlike food or music or style which are typically culturally-rooted phenomena that one is lenient in their exposure towards...\n\n-----\n\nLet's put it like this. I don't really like seafood, but I love sushi and sashimi and calamari, use tuna in sandwiches sometimes, and have had fish when appropriate (such as when visiting a monastery as a field trip for my college's Religion club). So I went to New Orleans to visit family, and when my dad passed around the deep-fried soft-shell crab he got at this one restaurant I had a piece. It was ok, not that I would buy it for myself but if I go back when I have a girlfriend/boyfriend I would be willing to split it with her/him.\n\nSo I don't normally eat seafood, but I am open to trying new types of seafood to see if I like it or not.\n\nOn a similar note, I'm not outright opposed to dating or having sex with a man. But no man I've met has been sexually appealing to me, nor is the idea of having sex with a man appealing to me.\n\nI might not have liked the crab, but since I like similar things it was also reasonably possible that I could have liked the crab. So I tried the crab. Meanwhile, since I don't romantically or sexually like other men, it's much more of a hurdle to even want to attempt to be romantically or sexually forward with a man.\n\nIn short, \"I know that I don't like it, so I won't try it.\""
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5i63ao | why did the iphone not sport a 64-bit architecture until its seventh model in 2013, whereas the nintendo 64 was 64-bit and was released in 1996? | Was it just not deemed necessary to give the iPhone a 64-bit architecture until the iPhone 5S? If the technology was there (Nintendo 64, 17 years prior), why was this the case? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5i63ao/eli5_why_did_the_iphone_not_sport_a_64bit/ | {
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"They are a different architecture. The N64 used a ~~RISC~~ MIPS architecture that was designed to be 64bit from the start. The iphone uses ARM (which actually goes back to an old computer called the Acorn) and ARM hadn't designed a 64bit architecture until ARMv8 which was released shortly before apple started designing the chip in the 5S \n\nAlso not totally relevant but the Nintendo 64 was \"32bit plus\" at best, it used a 32 bit bus, and almost any game you played was probably using the CPU in 32bit mode. There was a higher-end version of the same chip and a better bus design would have allowed it to be true 64bit, but it would have been more expensive and offered very little actual difference, it was mostly just a marketing phrase due to the '16-bit era'\n\n\nedit: just because no other posts here really covered it, and I'm bored, a really expanded answer:\n\n\nThe 'bitness' of a CPU is a really il-defined number. What it refers to in the first place is the size of a number that can be used on that CPU:\n\n8-bit is numbers 0 through 255 (or -128 through 127 ) \n16-bit is numbers from 0-65536 (or -32768 through 32768) \n32-bit is 4,294,967,295 \n64-bit is 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 \netc. \n\nThe reason it's il-defined is because there's a few different measures that can be used here. The NES for example used a MOS 6502-based CPU. The 6502 has an 8-bit execution core, it can only add/subtract/work with 8-bit numbers in instructions^1. It also used an 8-bit bus, meaning it can only get/send 8-bit numbers from the game cart, or from the GPU, RAM, etc. However, it had a 16-bit address space - meaning it can address up to 65536 bytes of memory. \n^1 This does not mean you can't add numbers bigger than 255 however, using a 'flag' in the CPU called the 'overflow' you can add \"128 + 129\" - you'll get a result of 1 with the overflow bit set. Using your program logic you can then store that result in memory addressX, and look at the overflow bit is set so store 1 in memory address X+1 right beside it, and you've effectively made a 16bit number that equals 257. (doing this in reality is a bit more complicated and involves another flag called carry on the 6502, but this is simplified for demonstration)\n\nWhat I mean above when I say the MIPS architecture was designed to be 64bit from the start, is that it had a 64bit execution core able to handle 64bit numbers, and address 64bits of address space. When ARM was designed, there was really no need for 64bit execution most of the time, and no need for 64bits of address space since 32bits gets you 4gb of address space (far more than anything at the time would need). They designed it as 32bit execution and address space. To make it 64bit they had to effectively change the entire low-level working of the processor to work with 64bit addresses and 64bit execution.",
"Software developer here,\n\nThe size of the data path is largely irrelevant. The N64 wasn't the first or even the biggest data path of the CPU architectures out there in its era. Even the 1970s Cray-1 supercomputer was 64-bit. Even 32-bit Pentium processors had 64-bit data paths. And almost all N64 games were actually 32-bit because it took too long to execute the larger 64-bit instructions and it was largely unnecessary back then.\n\nThe reason 64-bit processors are more popular these days is either for large memory address spaces (larger than 4GiB) or for processing certain kinds of big data sets, like video encoding/decoding. The N64 didn't have to and couldn't have done that back then."
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3v6hab | does a bullet continue to accelerate once it leaves of the barrel of a gun, or is it always getting slower? | Velocity is confusing. Help! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3v6hab/eli5_does_a_bullet_continue_to_accelerate_once_it/ | {
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"Acceleration in physics doesn't mean the velocity is increasing. It merely means the velocity is changing.\n\nSlowing down is acceleration. ",
"A bullet fired from a gun can be considered an object that is thrown with a really high starting velocity. Now... what we learn about throwing is that it's the sum of a straight-line movement with constant speed (linear uniform motion) and freefall.\n\nNow, acceleration is the result of a force. Force is applied to a bullet when it's fired, and that force accelerates it to a certain v speed. In an ideal situation, the bullet is not affected by any other force, so it begins flying 'till eternity at this v speed. We, however, have metal tubes and air which have friction, thus slowing the horizontal movement of said bullet. At the same time, Earth's gravity is pulling the bullet down, accelerating it downwards. So... Horizontally, it is losing speed, vertically, it is gaining speed.",
"As everyone else has said the bullets are unpowered projectiles one they leave the gun and normally will only get slower after that.\n\nBullets gets slowed down by the air and normally even shooting straight down and hoping that gravity might give an extra boost won't work because of the air resistance.\n\nHowever there were some futuristic designs of guns that essentially fired small rockets which could speed up once underway:\n\n_URL_0_"
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2971az | why is "who killed kennedy" a more pertinent question than "why was kennedy killed?" | UK person here so perhaps everyone knows in USA, but here the event is presented as a mystery about the ID of the shooter. Just thought it was a bit off that the presumably more interesting question of why it happened is not the main question ppl want answered. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2971az/eli5_why_is_who_killed_kennedy_a_more_pertinent/ | {
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"It is sort of the same question.\n\nIf it was a lone gunman then it was just some nutter.\n\nIf there was a conspiracy then was it the mob, CIA, Russians, etc? Once you figure out who did it then you have an excellent idea of why that group would have done it.",
"Because why he was killed depends on who killed him.",
"There are always many reasons people have for wanting to kill a political leader, so pinpointing why without knowing who is incredibly difficult.",
"In most murder investigations, detectives try to find out who did the crime before they focus on the motive. In the [Five W's](_URL_0_) the first question reporters ask is who. We care more about finding the person responsible than in indulging their violent rationale. ",
"This question has been done to death and made billions for various people like Oliver Stone. It's pretty tedious, actually.\n\nMany different factions want to kill any sitting U.S. president for their own reasons, including lone nutters like Oswald. There are probably five really strong candidates for having wanted him dead, including organized crime, communists, political factions, etc. Parsing it all out 50 years after the fact has, in my opinion, become tiresome. We aren't likely to solve it anytime soon.\n\nInterestingly, Dorothy Kilgallen supposedly had the goods on the assassination and was going to go public, but she mysteriously died of an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol. Her copious notes on her investigation were missing. Her death was never explained as anything but accidental.\n\n'Case Closed' by Gerald Posner puts forth the argument that Oswald definitely had the skill to kill Kennedy, and enough motive. He was nuts enough to do it. He was a sad little man with delusions of power and grandeur, and in death he got his larger-than-life wish, something psychiatrists had picked up on when he was a child. He could have done it, and he did. He simply got to Kennedy before the other factions could. Kennedy was a marked man, as much as many presidents have been before or since. \n\nThe security in Dallas was appallingly inadequate. Kennedy rejected the bubble-top car. He had been warned repeatedly that it was dangerous there, and aides begged him not to go. His own brother advised against it. Even a leading psychic, Jean Dixon, tried repeatedly for months to tell the president's staff and even reached Ted Kennedy to say it would be a fatal mistake to go. He went anyway, and into history."
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3advdd | why are some movies premiered at film festivals up to a year before they are released in theaters? is anything happening to this movie during this time? | I was looking up Robin Williams' (RIP) latest movie on Wikipedia:
_URL_0_
The release dates are listed as April 20, 2014 at the Tribeca Film Festival, and then July 10, 2015 in the United States. Why did they wait 15 months between these releases? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3advdd/eli5_why_are_some_movies_premiered_at_film/ | {
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"That means that the film has not found a distributor yet. The festival agrees to premiere the film, and then, based on reception, they might be able to get US distribution. And then, based on box office, it might get international distribution. This is why it takes so long for indie or festival films to get to other countries like Australia."
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27tngr | if the food we eat is clean, then why is our feces contaminated? | If the food we consume is not pathogenic, then why does the fecal matter form the same food contains pathogens? if it's the endogenous microflora, then why isn't it harmful to us before defecation? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27tngr/eli5if_the_food_we_eat_is_clean_then_why_is_our/ | {
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"The pathogens live inside of your intestines all the time. They are essential to sustaining life. Without them, we would not be able to extract the nutrients from food we need to survive.\n\nUnfortunately, those bacteria are only benign if they stay in our GI tract. If they enter your body through a cut, your mouth, or through a tear in your intestines, they can wreak havoc on your body. They can cause illness, sepsis, or death, among many other horrid things."
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2ho2ra | why do europe's roads appear to be always freshly repaved, and america's roads are crumbling? | Just looking at the pic of the tower in front of modern skyscraper in Frankfort got me thinking. It seems like Europe's (northern anyways) streets and highways are immaculate, and here in the US they are really unmaintained. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ho2ra/eli5why_do_europes_roads_appear_to_be_always/ | {
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"American sitting in Frankfurt airport right now.... I asked the same thing about German roads. Effectively, I got \"Germans do things right.\" \nConstruction/repaving a section of the autobahn (Germany's Highway system) will take 2+ years. The work done will last close to 40 years. I.e. They may have to patch it once in a while, but for the most part, it's solid. \n\nNote: Belgian roads are not nearly as nice. More along the lines of what you see in America. France wasn't bad, but it doesn't compare to the German autobahn. ",
"In the U.S. road conditions vary from state to state, and even from city to city. As you cross a border there is often a noticeable difference in road conditions. This is because of how the government (local) uses the tax money. In a city like Minneapolis where they recently started building a new american football stadium, they are using the some of the tax money to build the stadium which takes away money from road repair. Also in places where it snows, the roads get potholes in them, so every spring the city usually repairs them, which results in better road conditions in the North than the South, since northern roads get yearly renovations whether it's from potholes or not. Don't know how it is in Europe though.",
"Frankfurt is a big rich city, so you're seeing the best the roads get. I'm in the UK and we have plenty of potholes. \n \nI know some of the guys who work on testing the road materials used in the US, and the testing is second to none. In America there are strict rules on the quality and testing of road materials to ensure that you can make good quality roads for weather in Florida to weather in Alaska. A lot of countries in Europe have far higher population density, so there are far fewer roads that are 'out of the way'. All things being equal, your roads are actually far better and much more well looked after. ",
"* Europeans drive a lot less than Americans\n* Europeans drive smaller cars\n* the US is very large and more sparsely populated, meaning there are more miles of road per person to maintain"
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bgq7x4 | what are the basics of shooting film camera? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bgq7x4/eli5_what_are_the_basics_of_shooting_film_camera/ | {
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"Film exposure is measured in ISO.\n\n100 ISO: high light or long exposure. Very high resolution. Good for portraits / art photography. \n\n200-400 ISO: Medium light or medium exposure. Good resolution. Good general purpose film. \n\n800+ ISO: Low light or short exposure. A bit grainy. Good for sports/action.\n\nGoogle Sunny 16 rule.\n\nOtherwise, shooting on film is similar to digital photography (except with the anticipation that precedes development).",
"Proper exposure is like filling a glass of water.\n\nYou can turn the faucet on using a lot of pressure or using a little pressure. \nYou can turn the faucet in for a long time or a short amount of time. \n\nFilling it w high pressure for a short amount of time vs filling it w low pressure for a short amount of time nets similar exposures (some differences explained later).\n\nThe camera aperture is the pressure; it’s the hole that the light comes through. \nThe camera shutter speed is the amount of time. \n\nA large hole (aperture) lets in a lot of light, so you tend to leave it open for a shorter amount of time; conversely a small hole requires letting in light for a longer amount of time."
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5yx0nb | how do large venues, like madison square garden, switch so quickly from say a basketball game to a hockey game? does the court/rink get taken apart and removed? stored under the floor somehow? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5yx0nb/eli5_how_do_large_venues_like_madison_square/ | {
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"Here's a video of how my alma mater changes over from basketball to hockey and back. They did it 3 times in a weekend once when I was there. _URL_0_",
"Here's a more complete description of the process:\n\n_URL_0_",
"Here's a timelapse of [staples center](_URL_0_). The ice is always there, they put the hardwood on top of it"
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4c7xvj | why is your dpi/cpi measured in inches when the entire world, say for a few countries, uses the metric system? | I wouldn't be surprised if the US uses DPI/CPI but why is the rest of the world using this instead of DPC/CPC (Dots/Counts per centimeter) ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4c7xvj/eli5_why_is_your_dpicpi_measured_in_inches_when/ | {
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"Unit invented in America, so it stuck. Same reason America uses plenty of metric measurements.",
"There are as many imports where a culture will avoid tampering with the original parameters. Subway sells a foot long. Sushi is not 'raw fish'. The world has an amazing tolerance for sourcing goods. \n\nThere are laws on using appropriate units, but normally governments are not going to bankrupt the importer over the system of measurements. In contrast, they will bankrupt an importer to make them meet design rules and safety standards. And, you can't produce products in a non-metric system if it's the only lawful option. Advertisers can get caught by lawful requirements too."
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6qx897 | what is the difference between uranium and thorium in regards to nuclear power? | I saw a video today that was speaking to the large benefits of molten salt reactors with thorium over reactors that use water and uranium. Is it really that much safer? If so, why has it not what we use today? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6qx897/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_uranium_and/ | {
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"well..\n\nBasicaly 99% of uranium is usless\n\nmany elements have whats called isotops, an isotop is a variation of that element with a different atomic mass and tend to be less stable allowing nuclear fission \n\nso you have to use diffrent methods to \"enrich\" uranium to increase the ammount of the fussionable isotop to make it usfull (5-10% for power, 95% for weapons with exception of empovrished uranium ammo which is between 0.2% and 0%)\n\nthe isssue is the half life of uranium, its 700 million years against the 14 billion of the radioactive isotop of Thorium, it means that thorium releases less power but releases it for longer. \n\nAnother issue is the way its used\n\nWhat you have to understand is that when you use a solid fuel rod like used with uranium (ceramic Uranium 90% non fissionable, 10% fissionable) the fuel gets contaminated with whats called trans uranic elements, \n\nThe thing is that when you hit the nucleus of the uranium with a neutron to split it, you get different fissionable and non fissionable radioactive elements, and those are what we know as \"nuclear waste\". now in solid fuel like Uranium power plants use those elements crystalize inside the fuel rod and slow down eventually stopping the reaction, meaning that even if you went from 10% fussionable U253 to 9%, if theres enough \"waste products\" in the fuel rods, then you have to pull them out and reprocess them to remove those products by dissolving the uranium and for most people its cheaper just to shove new fuel rods. Now imagen if you fuel up your car and the exauste is pumped in to the fuel tank contaminating the fuel and when you used 5-10% of the fuel in the tank you had to pump the rest out and trow it away. \n\nWith thorium you use a liquid fuel, a liquid thorium floride fuel is used, so when those trans uranic elements appear you can just Filter them out of the liquid and keep on using the fuel.\n\nAnother advantage is that the liquid fuel acts as part of the heat transimison cycle, now the 3 biggest nuclear accidents we have had were becuase if failiure of the coolant systems, Chernobyl was a valve that failed, Fukoshima was a pump failiure and 3 mile island was also a sensor issue.\n\nIn a liquid fuel cycle, to stop the reaction you just have to drain the fuel in to a shielded container, you set up a failsafe that stops cooling a frozen seal and the liquid salt is drained out of the reactor in case of power failiure, \n\nWhile a solid fuel uranium reactor, when the power goes out, the water pumps stop working, the water stops circulating and it sublimates immidiatly, and since the circuit is pressurised to mantain the water liquid above 100 degrees C (212 F for you savages that use a kings foot to mesure stuff) the reactor just explodes.\n\nYou can solve that by using liquid sodium instead of water but its harder to manage.,\n",
"Nuclear engineer here. \n\nThorium is only better in certain types of reactors. In our water reactors we use today it has lower efficiency. \n\nUranium is capable of fission on its own and is naturally found. Thorium cannot split directly, instead you put it in a reactor to convert it to uranium which you then can split. Because you have to convert it, it's less efficient. \n\nThe molten salt reactor or liquid flourish reactor you see in most videos can be fueled with thorium or uranium. The safety benefits are the same, but thorium is typically chosen as the fuel because it's more abundant in nature. Thorium isn't what makes the reactor walk away safe, the molten salt design is what makes it safe. "
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2sv297 | if i'd put a hundred small speakers next to each other and simultaneously played a quiet "poff!", would it go "boom!!" because it's a lot of speakers or would it still just be a "poff!"? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2sv297/eli5_if_id_put_a_hundred_small_speakers_next_to/ | {
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"I saw a figure once that, if you have a person or musical instrument making a noise at a certain decibel level, it takes 10 times as many to make a noise twice as loud. Hence why, when you have thousands of people yelling in a stadium, it's loud but doesn't immediately burst your eardrums. So, it would follow that 100 speakers would be 3 times as loud as 1 speaker.",
"A doubling of volume is 6dBspl. Every time you want to achieve this you need to double the number of speakers. 100 identical speakers doing the same thing will add roughly 40dB to whatever the original signal was (am a little drunk and can't remember the maths to figure out exactly what it would be right now!)\n\nIn this example I've chosen to ignore things like room reflections, phasing and potential standing waves at the listening position.",
"If you hooked up one hundred tiny one watt speakers to a one hundred watt system....you would have a one hundred watt _URL_0_ would sound like shit but it would be a one hundred watt speaker.",
"Constructive/Destructive interference would also play a role here. Basically, sound is a wave, so you can think of it like a water wave, moving up and down in a repeating pattern. If two waves meet, the value of the waves adds up, and you get out either a stronger or weaker wave. For example, if both waves are at their highest point, you get a peak twice as strong, but if you have one at the max and the other at the min, you get nothing. There are online simulators that allow you to visualize this and if you are interested I recommend you check them out, because seeing it will instantly make sense (assuming you don't fully understand what I'm saying). "
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5e6otk | why do we find vibrato to be pleasing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5e6otk/eli5_why_do_we_find_vibrato_to_be_pleasing/ | {
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"So, it's actually really interesting—if you listen to pieces from the Baroque or Classical periods, vibrato is never used because there was more of a focus on perfect harmony. In the late classical and Romantic era of music, these rules were broken for the sake of expression. IMO, it tends to add a warmth to longer notes especially because of the fact that hearing the slight wavering of a note with vibrato is perhaps less drone-like than a perfect sine tone.",
"On guitar, single notes can be sustained longer with vibrato.\n\nAlso, single held-out notes with no vibrato sound boring and unimaginative.\n\nOn vocals, I find very smooth voices sound boring and fake (Michael Buble is my favorite example).",
"When you add vibrato to a sound, it actually energizes that sound. It will make it sound louder and more vibrant. As a result, it can be considered a 'booster' in music, especially to boost our 'romantic-era expression' and the boost the intensity when we reach the climax of a piece of music.",
"For the record, i hate vibrato. I go to a lot of opera and classical chamber choir concerts because my mum sings in heaps of choirs. Everytime the soloists start going all Vibrato i just sit there wishing they would sing it in simple smooth notes. Just seems much cleaner to me. But hey that's just me. "
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blgcti | - what makes a band 'indie'? | I believe it originally meant that the group was independent from any major record label, but I've heard a lot of people referring to it as an actual music genre.
On the same note, are the terms 'alternative' and 'pop' under the same group? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/blgcti/eli5_what_makes_a_band_indie/ | {
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"You are correct. \n\nIt came from independant. Now it's more used to describe a niche band, playing things that aren't deemed pop. More akin to alternative.\n\nBut the indie/alternative sound/vibe has become pop. So it's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world \n\nExcept for Lola offcourse.",
"Indie music is just that- it's produced independently. They aren't part of a commercial record label, they do it all themselves. \n\nAlternative was a rock genre that started in the 80s, and the whole idea from that was to be different from traditional mainstream rock.\n\nPop music has its own rhythmic flair, however they often borrow elements from other genres like rock, dance, electronic, etc.",
"It's an historical definition, and the reason for the name is interesting, but not terribly useful anymore.\n\nThere was a period of a few decades where it started to get cheap enough to produce and distribute an album that some bands could do it by themselves. Then the internet happened and pretty soon it was almost free for anyone to make an album. \"Indie\" was defined in that period from the 70s through 90s, and had a few qualities:\n\n* It wasn't like the mainstream music of the time (so not rock or pop or metal, etc.) because most of the bands that were successful in those genres got picked up by record labels\n* It also had an audience that wasn't tiny little niches. So, it wasn't \"hardcore\" or \"screamo\" or \"viking metal\", or any other genre that was obviously \"not mainstream\"\n* It was music that was kind of popular, but not super popular. So genres we'd now identify as \"alternative\" or \"brit pop\" or different flavors of \"punk\". These were all genres that shared similar roots, were growing in popularity at that time, and had enough fans that some bands could afford to make their own records and actually make money doing it.\n* At some point these genres started to get more and more popular and some big bands broke out and saw mainstream success. Inevitably they were accused of \"selling out\" and indie was used to describe similar bands that weren't as mainstream/popular/etc.\n* By the early 2000s anyone could make and distribute a record and the \"indie = independent\" definition really stopped being useful anymore. By this time the sound of the bands that happened to fill that niche for the last couple decades really defined what people thought of as \"indie.\"\n* There was also a huge proliferation of music of every genre from everywhere, and this particular genre that was becoming more and more popular was absolutely flooded with derivative bands cranking out mediocre (at best) music.\n* And now we end up with the situation where a successful indie band is just as likely to be on a big record label as not. And we're another 20 years after the time where the genre hit the mainstream, so there's tons of different sub genres (indie pop, post-punk, garage rock, emo, etc.) that probably all had their roots in \"indie\" music. And the further and further we get away from the time when the term was originally coined, the less and less useful it becomes."
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40i9oz | is there a computer virus that can cause mechanical issues on the computer? how does it work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/40i9oz/eli5_is_there_a_computer_virus_that_can_cause/ | {
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"When I was young my friend got a virus that opened and closed his cd drive constantly over night. The cd drive broke after a week. So yes, viruses can do mechanical harm.\n\nPotentially a virus could overclock your processor or graphics card and cause it to overheat, breaking the device or the fan/cooling system.\n\n",
"A virus that targets the systems that control heating could potential damage the hardware by allowing it to overheat.\n\nStuxnet is probably the most famous example--by repeatedly changing the speed of the Iranian centrifuges, it causes mechanical breakdowns.",
"There was one back in the early 00s that tried to wipe out your bios. It only worked on certain ones, but it sucked for those people. ",
"Many viruses utilize the hard drive more than normal. If your hard drive is mechanical (not a Solid State Drive) then a virus using a lot of hard drive operations can cause your drive to fail prematurely. SSDs fail after a certain amount of data operations as well. Anything like torrents, viruses, or constantly moving data causes them to fail earlier than the typical Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF).\n\nEdit:\n\nAn old virus was rumored to change the refresh rate of monitors when they used Cathode Ray Tubes, and caused them to get hot, which could lead to premature failure.\n\nStuxnet modified the firmware of Siemens Programmable Logic Controllers, and cause them to make the centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant go too fast, and report normal speeds, eventually causing them to fail catastrophically before the engineers knew what was going on.",
"There's allegations that the US planted sabotaged software for 1982 Cold War era Russia to unwittingly steal from a Canadian company, which they then used to run a natural gas pipeline. The supposed Trojan ran pumps and systems to pressures at well beyond their designed limits, causing one of the largest man made non-nuclear explosions in modern history.\n\nCloser to home, back in the 80s, there were supposed viruses that could cause damage to tape drives, floppy disc drives, and computer monitors.\n\nThis isn't all that crazy, as plenty of physical components were software driven, and could be damaged due to careless programming.\n\nI can't attest to a virus, but the Commodore 64 didn't have heat sinks on it's processors; it was possible to run the CPU in a tight loop until it overheated and sometimes spectacularly destroyed itself.",
"I don't know if this has actually been done or is merely theoretical, but most hard drives on the market allow for firmware upgrades (to the software that runs on the the electronics inside the drive itself). A crafty virus author could download malicious firmware to the disk, and since the firmware has low-level access to the hardware inside the drive, could send commands to the heads and possibly to the spindle motor that would result physical damage to the drive. For example, the heads on disk float on a cushion of air created by the disk spinning at high speeds. The firmware could command the spindle to rotate slower than the necessary speed to float the heads, then seek the heads back and forth, scratching the heck out of the platters."
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62fu31 | how do guided missiles actually steer? is it using fins like on a jet or does it rotate its rocket motor? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/62fu31/eli5_how_do_guided_missiles_actually_steer_is_it/ | {
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"Fins, Gyros, and Thrust Vectoring.\n\nFins are what you'd expect: They are on the outside of the missile, and redirect the flow of air.\n\nGyros are internal and can induce rotational force on the missile.\n\nThrust Vectoring doesn't change the rocket motor position, but it does redirect the exhaust.\n\nCombined, these systems give missiles a large degree of control and ways to follow the instructions on the guidance computer.",
"If you want to understand the gyros, Google the \"wheel tied to rope\" experiment, then follow that with \"Boats with cylinders for sails\"\n\n\nSpinning things produce a directional force perpendicular to the spin. So spinning a thing on the ----- axis produces either an ^ or v force (depending on the direction spun) It's a pretty incredible bit of physics. It can push things in a direction easily with no wind required, so the fins hold the missile in a direction, and the gyros spin to steer it (otherwise up might not be up, if the fins didn't guarantee a position.)"
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vdi4f | why does our brain shrink when we're old? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vdi4f/eli5_why_does_our_brain_shrink_when_were_old/ | {
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"Honest answer: We have no idea.\n\nTheorized answer: Your brain is composed of millions of neurons. Neurons are different from other cells in your body in that they (for the most part) lack the ability to divide. Your body really has no way of replacing damaged neurons so it sticks with the ones it has until the very end. Those neurons, after decades of high-powered thinking, will eventually wear down, become less efficient, and die. With each neuron's death, your brain gets smaller."
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qihxn | does anyone have a way to explain voltage, other than the water pressure analogy? (probably going to go beyond eli5 rating.. or do you know an appropriate subreddit?) massive thanks!!! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/qihxn/does_anyone_have_a_way_to_explain_voltage_other/ | {
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"You know the power current is made up of electrons. I like to think of the voltage as the amount of work that each electron has throughout the electric circuit. So in a circuit with high voltage the electrons can do a lot of work, which can go into lighting a bulb or turning on switches. But important to remember is that the electrons has too use all its work throughout the circuit, so if there is only one light bulb throughout the circuit the electrons work all goes to power that bulb. \n\nThis way makes sense to me because there are two ways to get enoguh energy(/work) to light a bulb. You can either have a few electrons with a high voltage or you can have a lot of electrons (=high ampere) that does less work. But both will be enough to light the bulb.\n\nHope this helps or else I hope somebody else can do it better\n\nEdit: fixed a sentence",
"The important thing to remember about voltage is that it's basically just a measure of the potential work an electrical system can do. A good analogy is this: voltage (also known as electric potential) in an electrical system is a lot like grativational potential (gh) in a physical system. If you were to lift a block up a little bit, the amount of potential energy you generate (mgh) is less than if you were to lift it up a lot. But if you think about it, you don't need the mass (m) to compare the two values because it is the same in both cases, so you can make m=1 and use gravitational potential (gh) instead of potential energy (mgh) for comparison. Voltage is the same thing for electrical systems. It is a measure of the difference in electic potential between two points in a circuit but instead of removing mass (m) from the equation we remove charge (Q) since it will be the same at the top and bottom of the circuit.\n\nA little advanced for ELI5 but I did my best.",
"Someone throws a grenade into a crowded room. \n\nVoltage = desire to get out.\n\nAmperage = actual flow of people through the door.\n\nResistor = door. Increase the size of the door means to lower the resistance.\n\nGrenade = positive charge. (DC)\n\nPeople = Electrons.\n\nOutside = resting area (lower potential)",
"A river/waterfall.\nVoltage = drop distance between top part of waterfall to the bottom\n\nAmperage = Current\n\nResistor = Dam\n\nPositive Charge = start of river\n\nLower potential = ocean\n\nElectrons = H2O\n\n\nThis analogy always helped for me.",
"Electrician here. An old guy explained it to me this way,\n\n\"Electricity is like sex. The voltage is how big your dick is, the amperage is how hard you're fucking. Resistance is how tight she is.\" \n\nNot sure if this helps in any way but I couldn't help but laugh.",
"WITHOUT ANALOGIES, perhaps ELI-16: Voltage is a way of measuring the strength of an invisible electric field. If you don't have e-fields, then you don't have any voltage.\n\nSo, if you don't realize that electric fields even exist, you won't be able to understand voltage. Electric fields aren't taught in grade school; we only learn about gravity and magnetism. Pity.\n\nExamples. There's a \"voltage\" for gravity: gravitational potential. There's a \"voltage\" for magnetism: magnetic potential. Actual volts, they are a measure of, well, \"electri-cism.\" Besides magnetism there are also e-fields, the electrical fields; the fuzzy invisible stuff that surrounds a charged balloon. E-fields resemble magnetic fields a bit, yet they are something entirely different. If magnetism is caused by the \"N\" and \"S\" magnetic poles, then e-fields are caused by the \"plus\" and \"minus\" electric poles. Michael Faraday discovered e-fields at the same time he discovered the magnetic field concept.\n\nIt's possible to see voltage.\n\nSprinkle some grass seed or chopped hair on a pool of oil. Hold a charged balloon up to it, and all the seeds/hairs align with the electrical field lines. That's the flux-lines of an e-field. The lines of invisible voltage are perpendicular to the flux lines, and are called \"equipotential surfaces.\" If an e-field is shaped like a starburst, then the voltage is like concentric spheres.\n\nVoltage: it's like looking through a glass onion. At the center of the onion is a small, electrically charged object.\n\nIf a charged balloon or charged hairbrush is surrounded by radial lines of e-field flux, then it must also be surrounded by onion-layers of voltage. A charged balloon might have 75,000 volts at its surface, zero volts at the floor. In between the balloon and the floor are all the in-between values of voltage, where each value is part of a distorted sphere with the charged object in the middle.\n\n[Pictures of voltage-fields](_URL_0_)\n\n[What is voltage?](_URL_1_) (Always try google)\n",
"This picture about sums it up:\n_URL_0_",
"Everything on Earth has some degree of electrical potential. A voltage is a *difference* between the potential of two things. Why does lightning strike the ground? Because the potential up in the clouds is a lot higher than the ground. Why does current flow when you connect a resistor to each pin of a 9v battery? Because the difference in potential between the two things is 9 volts. Normally, the current between the pins is negligible because air has a very high resistance, but connecting them up allows a stronger current to flow.\n\nWe talk about ‘ground’ in electronics. This is the reference to which the potential of other components is measured. You could think of it as the potential of ‘most things’, as most things are not electrically charged. For instance, you, sitting with your computer have overall about the same potential as the chair you're sitting on, the house you're living in and the ground you're standing on. This is why there isn't a current rushing through you right now. When something has a higher potential than ground, a current is formed.\n\nNow, if you hold a piece of exposed wire and put it into a mains socket, you will receive a shock, and possibly be electrocuted. This is because the mains has a very high potential, but your body provides a path to ground. A powerful electrical current will shoot right through you. If you were to wear a thick rubber glove, the current going through you will be a lot lower because of the resistance of the glove."
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55cryn | 200 years ago, people protested because combine harvesters were putting farmhands out of work. the same thing happened with sewing machines, mining machinery, steam trains, calculators, planning software, etc. why is it different now with self driving cars/trucks? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/55cryn/eli5_200_years_ago_people_protested_because/ | {
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"Because you can't fight technological advancement. There are currently way too many auto-deaths in the US, killing over 30,000 people a year and injuring millions. Also, and the biggest factor, self-driving 18-wheelers will save companies a ton of money. They won't have to pay a driver and a computer never needs to take hours off to sleep, increasing delivery times a great deal, meaning they can complete more jobs in the same time span.",
"Self-driving cars are what most drivers want. They might enjoy some driving, but most of it is just boring and tiresome; having a computer do the job for them is just dandy.\n\nThe same for truck drivers - being able to rest and oversee the computer driving the truck instead of concentrating for 18 hours a day would be a really welcome change. But if and when trucks start being able to drive themselves without a driver, we can certainly expect to see blockades and industrial action by the transport unions - actions which could very well seal their fate, as it did for the harvesters, seamstresses, weavers etc. in the past.\n\nNote that unions have largely been able to prevent driverless trains, even though that has been within the abilities of computer hardware for at least a decade now.",
"Well considering that self-driving trucks aren't yet a commercially viable product, I think it's too close to say that things are different.\n\nNobody has lost their jobs yet, so nobody is getting angry yet. Farmerhands probably didn't get angry upon learning of the development of technology that would lead to the combine harvester, they probably got angry when the person who ran their farm bought a combine harvester and made them redundant.\n\nWhen driverless trucks start actually replacing people's jobs en-mass, you can bet there will be people getting angry about it, just as people get angry about every desruptive technology (take a look at Uber for instance, which leads to controversy in just about every country it operates in).\n\nI think the difference between 200 years ago and today is the 200 years of history that says that protesting is futile. No amount of protesting is ultimately going to stop the fact that if machines can do the same job but cheaper, then people will get machines to do it. It's just a fact of economics and if a company tries to rebel against it then the chances are that they will become uncompetitive and the company will die.",
"Well, people don't really have other options but to give protesting a shot. Nobody likes to go down peacefully.",
"The issue isn't self driving vehicles, but artificial intelligence. AI automates the final thing we have that we've yet to automate, intelligence. Currently we only have narrow AI, it can only perform a specific task and is incapable of going beyond the task it was created for. As AI gets better, more intelligence based jobs will be automated. When physical labor was automated it created more physical labor jobs that could not be automated and jobs that require intelligence. \n\nAI will also create new jobs that require intelligence, but the issue is that existing AI technology might be able to fulfil these jobs before humans even get a chance at doing them. Even if physical automation automated all physical labor, which it didn't, we still had intelligence based jobs to go to. With physical jobs and intelligence based jobs being automated, where do humans have to go? \n\nLuddites wanted to destroy the machines that took their jobs, while the anti-luddites of the modern age want them to get here as fast as possible. We want AI to replace drivers, customer support that reads from a script, anything really. The more jobs AI replaces the better."
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1innpa | - what happens to hair after detaching? | Does it decompose pretty fast and just sort of 'vanish' or do we pile up all our garbage hair in a dump somewhere | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1innpa/eli5_what_happens_to_hair_after_detaching/ | {
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"It clogs the drain.\n\nThe lye in the drain opener then dissolves the hair. "
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29rtp7 | will phone's accelometer work in space? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29rtp7/eli5_will_phones_accelometer_work_in_space/ | {
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"Yes.\n\nSome axis are more accurate due to gravity providing a constant source of reference, helping prevent drift, but they would still work in space, albeit a little less accurately",
"Of course, the 'phone itself will fail awfully quickly if you expose it to vacuum. Heat is normally removed from its components by the air in the phone, and it will overheat.\n\nBest keep your 'phone inside your space station."
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3e4zr8 | what's the difference between donating blood to the red cross vs. donating to a hospital? if the red cross supplies blood to hospitals, why do hospitals run their own blood banks? | I've tried looking on Google for a good explanation, but it seems like the Red Cross sells the blood to the hospital for the cost it takes to draw blood, process it, etc. which a hospital at the blood bank would do anyway. I've also read a few controversies about the Red Cross scamming/marking up the cost of blood to keep cash in their system. Is there a difference, or is it just ease of convenience of having more place? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3e4zr8/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_donating_blood/ | {
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"We don't give blood any more. We fractionate it into the different components and give only what is needed. If you need red blood cells, you get Packed Red Blood Cells. If you need platelets, you get that. Same for plasma, albumin, etc. etc.\n\nThe blood bank stores the blood products. They also ensure that the blood matches the recipients, and that special blood products (e.g. leukocyte reduced PRBCs, etc.) are kept stored appropriately. Most hospital blood drives are actually the Red Cross or another blood supply vendor setting up a station in the hospital to accept the blood. Hospitals never accept blood donations because they aren't well equipt to screen it appropriately or to separate and store all the components.\n\nEdit: to throw this in, the Red Cross supplies about 40% of the blood in the US. That leaves another 60% of the blood supply that hospitals could buy from if the Red Cross abused pricing."
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6zg8bi | what does it mean when something will cost the economy? | I read the hurricanes will cost the economy $500 billion or something. But how exactly does that work? Isn't someone getting paid to clean up and stuff so money is still flowing like usual? or is money leaving our country or something? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6zg8bi/eli5_what_does_it_mean_when_something_will_cost/ | {
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"That's the estimated hit to the gross domestic product or \"GDP\" from loss of product and service sales/revenues. Stores are out of business, cleanup costs money, so all the effects of those outweigh what little additional money is made performing the cleanup and rebuilding. ",
"Big disasters do all sorts of screwy stuff to the economy. Initially, businesses lose money when they can't open, employees lose pay if they're not at work. This might just be the day of the storm, or could be weeks/months if there is damage. And people are too preoccupied with clean up, assisting, etc. so discretionary businesses that are open see big drop off in sales... say an upscale restaurant or movie theater. So the economy suffers initially...\n\nBut there are transfer payments from insurance companies to policy holders, who spend money repairing their homes and businesses, replacing vehicles and personal items destroyed, so it can actually boost GDP once that money starts flowing and people are buying replacement cars and trucks, new appliances, materials at Home Depot to fix their house, hiring contractors, and so on.",
"You are using something known as the broken window fallacy. The fallacy is that breaking windows is economically productive because it causes money to be spent repairing them. In reality if the money didn't go to fixing windows it would likely have gone to something else so by breaking the windows you are dividing economic activity that would have taken place into the window repair industry.\n\nThere are cases where it is not a fallacy, but that is economics that at best is above ELI5 level.\n\nAnd I realize I am only answering about half the question, but u/loveandsubmit has the rest of if well covered.",
"The economy isn't just money, it's productivity. Say a house is destroyed by a disaster and is rebuilt. The same amount of money exists, but with the time and resources spent on that house the builders could have been making an entirely new house somewhere else. The destruction of the first house still means the economy is down by 1 house's worth of labor and materials.\n\nThere's also the problem of lost potential. All those people evacuating to safety or volunteering to help out are not working their day to day jobs, which means a lot of work is not getting done that *could* be getting done if there wasn't a hurricane. Goods aren't being produced, businesses aren't making money, and employees aren't getting paid. All of that hurts the economy."
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6uaawb | can citizens of the united states overthrow their government? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6uaawb/eli5_can_citizens_of_the_united_states_overthrow/ | {
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"What do you mean by \"can\" and \"overthrow\"?\n\nBy force? Yes they can, but obviously not legally.\n\nLegally? By pressuring enough state legislators to ratify an amendment proposed by pressuring enough members of the house of representatives to essentially change the structure of the government, yes. But it's unlikely to happen.",
"What do you mean?\n\nTechnically any citizens of any country can overthrow their government.\n\nThe government works because there is a mutual agreement between the \"Government\" and \"The People\" you agree to play by the government rules and the government agrees to keep you safe, to develop infrastructure / whatever / whatever, if the people simply stop recognizing the government rules as rules, they can go against it and eventually overthrow it",
"Why bother? It would be a lot quicker and easier to just elect a new government. In 6 years you could completely replace the regime, and keep all the bureaucratic infrastructure needed to print the money."
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3fsb2h | why do some people from the islands (jamaica, bahamas, etc.) speak english with their native accents to their friends/family, but when they talk to someone like their coworkers/colleagues, their accents are gone? | I'm from South Florida and I've noticed this in my workplace. The company I work for has a lot of people from the Caribbean. I don't see or hear people from Asia or Europe hiding their accents when they speak English. (I'm just curious) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fsb2h/eli5_why_do_some_people_from_the_islands_jamaica/ | {
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"imitation is a good way to get people to like you, its likely not completely deliberate, we adapt our speech patterns to the people around us even if you don't have an accent. Humans still carry a lot of our tribal prejudices that are evolutionarily ingrained in us so being \"part of the tribe\" is very beneficial",
"It's called code switching. Changing how you speak or act to fit in culturally especially when dealing with class differences. Also, they natively speak English so it's not as hard to switch as someone who speaks another language.",
"It's the same reason I don't say nigga to white people I don't want them to feel uncomfortable. So they switch accents incase you don't understand the accent and have to ask them to repeat what they said a bunch of times."
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2e8nv4 | does keeping batteries in the fridge/freezer work? if so, how does the climate controlled setting help? | I've heard all my life that putting batteries in the freezer/fridge extends the life and or keeps them fresh. Is this true? I can't see how the temperature can help something like a battery have longer life. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2e8nv4/eli5_does_keeping_batteries_in_the_fridgefreezer/ | {
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"Sadly, it has no appreciable effect on your batteries, other than possibly shortening their life through corrosion via condensation or temperature extremes. All major battery manufacturers recommend storing at normal room temperatures.",
"Batteries produce electricity through chemical reactions. Those reactions can occur even when not in use, and cause a \"self discharge rate\". The reactions also happen more slowly at lower temperatures, so conceptually they would last longer in the fridge.\n\nHowever, as it turns out there is a danger to chilling the batteries in that freezing them can cause them to burst. Also they are less convenient because you would need to warm them up to use them. Finally, the actual power savings are minimal and the cost is high compared to just getting new batteries when you need them."
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871y7m | how does a food processor and a blender give you such different consistencies when all they both do is have a blade spinning in circles. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/871y7m/eli5_how_does_a_food_processor_and_a_blender_give/ | {
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"I would think that it is the shape of the blades. One may have just a two pronged flat blade. The other is more articulated and has additional arms/blades. Here is a cool video (kind of) touching on the subject. _URL_0_ "
]
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||
40ie60 | what is the point of physical signatures for credit card purchases? can/do companies actually use them to prove who made the purchase? | How often and for what purpose does anyone actually use these signatures to prove identity? If you claim fraudulent purchases, couldn't you just claim someone faked your signature too? Half the time the signature look like gobbledygook on the electronic signature pad.
What, exactly is the point? I would very much like to hear form someone in the industry who can explain what the signatures are really used for. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/40ie60/eli5what_is_the_point_of_physical_signatures_for/ | {
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"It only matters if you contest the charge. If a charge shows up $1000 on your card and you say you didn't, but the signature matches yours and the merchant has security video of you walking out with a TV, then they're going to deny your request",
"Yarr, ye forgot yer searchin' duties, for [a very similar thing was asked by those what came before ye!](_URL_0_)\n\nEnjoy yon molderin' explanations, and remember [rule 9](_URL_1_)."
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4st74e | how often are film extras given an explanation of what is going to happen? are they ever intentionally left in the dark? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4st74e/eli5how_often_are_film_extras_given_an/ | {
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"The extras most certainly know what is going to happen in a scene, anything about them being kept \"in the dark\" is just Hollywood rumors. How do we know this is true? One simple fact.\n\nNothing is done in one take.\n\nEvery scene from ever major hollywood movie is shot many many times. Dozens of times if not more. The reason is because if something was wrong in the background, or a subtle word was misspoken, there is a very large cost to go back and re-shoot the entire scene. There is a very small cost to re-shooting the same scene 12 or so times after everyone has already gathered to film it.\n\nSo if the extras were \"kept in the dark\" they would only be in the dark for the very first take of that scene which would probably not be in the film anyway. What would be the point of keeping it secret for only 1 of a dozen plus takes?\n\nIt is just rumors an nonsense. ",
"There are different types of extras.\n\nA \"featured extra\" is selected by a casting director (or some equivalent). You probably won't have any lines and you may not even make it into the movie, but you're selected by a casting director because you fit the part. For example, if the scene is in a prison and it requires background actors, they're obviously going to select extras who specifically look inmates or gang members. How the background actors look and behave does affect the scene in this case. The director will most likely give them some direction too, like, \"Stare at the main character like you want to kill him,\" or something like that.\n\nOtherwise, a typical extra is pretty much just a warm body to fill space. They filmed a football movie starring The Rock at a stadium near me. They paid a few hundred extras $50 each and a free sandwich/chips to sit in the stands and cheer/shout on command. I know a few people who were selected and they did it for fun. We can actually see one of my friends very briefly in a few of the crowd shots. They were all told to wear dark clothing without visible logos and they were given fake jerseys/hats for the fictional team when they arrived. They didn't get any personal instructions or anything, just a guy with a megaphone going, \"Ok, when I wave this orange flag, I want you to start cheering as hard as you can!\""
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j2wf8 | what's the math for the imperial system? (li5) | I'm Canadian (Eh?) and, up here, we use metric. Metric makes sense. You multiply by or divide by 10.
* 1000 millimeters is 100 centimeter
* 100 centimiter is 10 decimeters
* 10 decimeters is 1 meter
* 1 meter is 0.1 dekameters
* 0.1 dekameters is 0.01 hectometers
* 0.01 hectometers is 0.001 kilometers
It's simple, neat and easy to understand
But I don't get imperial...
* 12 inches to a foot
* 3 feet to a yard
* 22 yards to a chain
* 10 chains to a furlong (WTF is up with that word? lol)
* 8 Furlongs to a mile.
What's the math there? Looks pointlessly complicated. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j2wf8/whats_the_math_for_the_imperial_system_li5/ | {
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"Most people only use inches, feet, yards, and miles. I\"m not sure I've even heard of chains before, and furlongs are only really used for horse racing.\n\n12 inches to a foot, 3 feet to a yard, 5280 feet to a mile. We don't really do a lot of unit conversions, they're just convenient lengths.\n\n(Tell the truth, how often do you use a hectometer?)",
"Imperial units are really old. Like most old things they weren't planned out beforehand and just developed from tradition, which makes them weird.\n\nWhen we needed to created standards for distance we had to use something and so we used the obvious solution, The King's body parts.\n\nThe word \"inch\" is similar to the word \"thumb\" in some languages, and at some point the distance was based on the width of an average mans thumb.\n\nThe foot was possibly based off of the length of a kings foot, and calibrated to be 12 inches.\n\nSimilar things existed for yard (possibly the girth of a person, length of a stride, distance between nose and thumb)\n\nThe rest have similar origins.\n\nMetric was created by precise planning and negotiating a ta time when precise measurement of things was very important.\n\nImperial was created by tradition when measurement just needed to be kind of close."
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1tnzou | east coast/west coast rap. especially the death of notorious b.i. g. and tupac. | I've never listened to rap music. I'm interested in learning about this, though. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1tnzou/eli5_east_coastwest_coast_rap_especially_the/ | {
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"Well basically to make a long story short, Biggie and Pac were best of friends, one night Biggie came to the studio where Pac was recording in NY. Shortly after Biggie departed the studio, Pac was assaulted in the lobby said studio. Pac survived the shooting, but blamed Biggie, which led to the severing of their friendship. Although Tupacs death took place in Vegas after a brawl outside of the casino they (Tupac, Suge Knight, and assorted entourage) were watching a boxing match in. The group they fought followed them and shot the truck Tupac and company were riding in, subsequently delivering the wounds that would end Tupacs life. Biggies death was a clear retaliation due to the hype of the East Coast /West Coast 'beef', antagonized by the two rappers after the initial assault on Tupac. \n\nTl;DR What started as a rivalry on wax ended up taking two of the best rappers of all time and forever reshaping rap. "
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2i55ar | why does my tongue physically hurt when i hear the sound of velcro tearing apart? | I've done some research and can't find any information. I've also explained this phenomena to friends and they have never heard anything like it.
Any ideas? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2i55ar/eli5_why_does_my_tongue_physically_hurt_when_i/ | {
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"It's called synesthesia. Stimulation leads to secondary and involuntary effects on other parts of your body.\n\n\nEver heard of people seeing numbers in different colours or people knowing the \"taste\" of words? That's synesthesia too, but in different forms."
]
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ch7lba | what keeps our bodies from decomposing before we die? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ch7lba/eli5_what_keeps_our_bodies_from_decomposing/ | {
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"Constant renewal of cells. Some die and some are created.",
"Our immune system, which constantly attacks foreign organisms that try to live inside us.\n\nAlso, trillions of friendly bacteria that live in and on us, and that fight off others.",
"I'm not an expert, but nothing prevents our bodies from falling apart. Our bodies are constantly destroying old cells and recycling them to make new ones.\n\nAs far as external factors, a lot of decomposition occurs from 'decomposers' such as bugs, fungi, and microscopic life. Normally, our skin stops that stuff from getting inside, and if the stuff does get in, then our white blood cells destroy it. If our bodies can't take care of that, then we get sick, which can lead to death and decomposition. They're always trying!",
"Decomposing is our body being eaten by bacteria. While alive, our immune system is maintaining a balance of bacteria in our bodies and killing any that enter restricted areas. When dead, our immune cells aren't getting the stuff they need to live, so they die, so the balance isn't being maintained and the bacteria win.",
"We are all food for worms, and life is just the cellophane keeping us fresh until we're ready to be eaten.",
"You can absolutely start decomposing while alive! We call this necrosis and it smells absolutely revolting\n\nWhen a cell is faced with some kind of stressor, such as bacterial/viral infection, injury, chemical changes, etc., its membrane dissolves and it basically explodes. If a bunch of cells explode in sequence, you end up with a dead area of tissue. This is because when the initial cell explodes, it releases inflammatory and corrosive compounds that affect other, healthy cells. People can survive with incredible amounts of necrosis; I've seen patients with partially mummified extremities still attached to their bodies. Necrosis can occur just about anywhere in the body. \n\nWhat determines subsequent death is how critical the necrotizing tissue is for life, as well as the propensity for infection. Necrotizing tissue can spread infection and even alter the pH of neighboring tissue. More often than not, infection or more specifically sepsis, will claim the person's life. \n\nThe body does perform a regulated version of necrosis called apoptosis. This can be thought of as a \"scheduled cell death\". Some cells that complete their life cycle undergo programmed death. This is how we can more or less \"regenerate\" an organ every few years, without it getting bigger. We also see apoptosis during the development of a fetus (that's why we don't have webbed skin between our fingers!). The difference is that with apoptosis, cell contents remain within the deceased cell membrane and only scheduled cells die.\n\nP.S. lemme know if you wanna go to the next level"
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3fceqg | is it against the law to help or fight back if cops are unlawfully/illegally beating somebody? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fceqg/eli5is_it_against_the_law_to_help_or_fight_back/ | {
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"This sounds like a question for [r/legaladvice](_URL_0_). As far as I know, it's legal, but a very bad idea. Stick to videotaping.",
"In Indiana you may. If a cop is unlawfully entering your home you may defend it and yourself. Again, as other have stated the chances of your killing him before they kill you is not a gamble I would make. \n\n_URL_0_",
"It is not against the law, but its incredibly risky. You would have to know, 100%, that the officer was not lawfully trying to detain the individual in question, no matter how insignificant you think the crime is. If, and it's a very big if, you are found to be in the right, you will have justifiably assaulted an officer, and will not be convicted...but the odds are so slim, you are better off just filming what you see and reporting it.",
"So you can't help or fight back, but can you berate or insult? If a portly cop has me pulled over and asks for my license and registration, am I breaking any law if, as I pass him my info, I say \"Here you are, you fat little bitch\"? \n\nObviously that's not recommended, as I'm sure the cop would then try to fuck you over as hard as possible, but is it illegal?",
"You never know the whole story. The time you see them beating someone out of the blue, and for \"no reason\" is when prior knowledge you don't have comes into play. ",
"Yes, its illegal. \n\nRecently we've been seeing that its not necessarily *unethical*, though.",
"What if you just become a human shield for the one getting beaten? I would imagine an officer beating up two non-combative people would be bad for them.",
"I think you'd likely get arrested, beaten and probably convicted of a crime. That said technically since they are exhibiting lawless behaviour and are a threat to another person's life I don't believe it would be illegal. You'd need a damn good lawyer, unassailable video evidence and sympathetic jury to walk away from it though. Fuck da police.\n ",
"You jump in and you can get charged with obstruction of governmental justice, you'd get hit with disorderly conduct. I may be wrong here but as a born & raised New Yorker don't fuck with the cops. A camera is your best weapon.",
"You have no way of knowing if what they are doing is legal or not. As such anything you do is assaulting a police officer and interfering with the execution of their duties. It is not only a crime, it is a felony. ",
"Any situation where you physically assult a cop probably wont end well for you. Cops have proven many times that they almost always get away with anything they want. The exemptions to that are far less than the rule. I guess we are supposed to just let the cops kick the shit out of us and hope someone gets it on video.",
"There would only be a small hand full situations in which you would actually know the full context enough to know if the police were unlawfully arresting or detaining someone. You might witness something that you believe to be an arbitrary or unlawful police action simply because you don't know that the person has a warrant, is on probation, matches a suspect description, etc. not to mention most people know jack shit about criminal law and law enforcement which is evident by talking to anyone or looking at comments under any police video online. On top of that, generally speaking (states vary) the law gives police officers the discretion to use the amount of force THEY think is necessary. Your opinion regarding the legality of their actions in the moment is irrelevant. If you were to intervene because you believed an officer was using excessive force or conducting an illegal search you would still be committing crime and your charges could stick regardless of whether the officer's actions were late deemed illegal. Basically trying to get in the way of an law enforcement officer is just a horrible idea. ",
"Here's the primary problem; you aren't familiar with the context, you don't have all the facts, and you clearly don't know the law which is why you are asking.\n\nFor example, your entire premise is wrong that they \"unlawfully\" took the man from his home, when they very much can and almost always do in domestic disturbance issues order the inhabitants out of the home for their own safety.\n\nSecondly, you didn't hear any audio on the tape you just heard a potentially completely fabricated story from one side, a stranger you have never met and may be a habitual liar. In reality, they may have pulled him out because he was drunk and said \"fuck you pig, I will kill your whole family\" at which point the bacon is going to hit the skillet at 500 degrees and yank his ass out. When you jump in the middle of it, you may not understand the backstory that led to the current situation, or be able to see little things like perhaps they are being rough with a suspect because hell he may have a damn trigger mechanism to a nuclear device in his left hand for all you know.\n\nI know its so popular right now, especially in the black community, to just assume \"f-da-popo\" and jump in, but you don't know if its legal or not because you're not going to have all the facts to make the decision at the time. So the answer of whether or not its legal is something you find out later in court after all the facts are revealed, and at that point its too late for a \"oops, well I didn't know that, they didn't tell me\". \n\nAnd even if you were justified, then it comes down to being a bad idea, because you're liable to just end up getting shot. If anything, statistically you are far better jumping on the side of the police officer than the perp (despite what the liberal media would lead you to believe) and maintain respectful distance and ask the officer if he needs assistance, and then follow his or her instructions accordingly.",
"Does it matter? You'll get your ass handed to you either way, and possibly lose your life.\n\nIn reality your best option is to witness/record the events and take the cops to trial.\n\nIf you intervene physically you'll lose and won't have any evidence to back up your story.",
"Cop here. Please do fight back, but don't do it at the scene. \n\nIn my profession we certainly want the bad ones out. I don't want something I swore to uphold trampled by a cop who refuses to respect the rights of the people. \n\nBasically, please fight back but don't do it on the scene. Gather as much evidence as possible and take it to court. ",
"How did you even know they took the guy unlawfully? This has to be one of the stupidest questions asked on reddit. Everyone getting arrest will protest. As if the crime rate in U.S. Cities are not high enough right now, we have idiots trying to incite violence against law enforcement. ",
" > I saw the video of the cops beating that man that they unlawfully took from his home, and I was just wondering if its legal to help or defend someone in that kind of situation?\n\nThe problem is, if you interfered in this case, you would be in the wrong. The cops' actions were not illegal. The man was not being beaten, he was being arrested, there is a big difference.\n\nThe point being that you do not know the circumstances of the arrest and interfering will most likely escalate the situation.",
"Assuming you don't die, the question becomes \"would you win your day in court\" and while I'm in full support of resisting an unlawful arrest I have to say you will lose that battle ",
"Never fight with a cop on the street, you will lose every time. Only battle with the police in court where you have a chance.",
"Do you want to become a hashtag? Because this is how you become a hashtag.",
"Cop here. So, this is a very dicey area. There are two prevailing rules which come into play. 1) You cannot lawfully resist arrest, even if you are **certain** that it is an illegal arrest. This is the most important rule for the general public to know. Fight your battle in court, not on the street. 2) You may resist (to the point of killing the cop if necessary) any **illegal** use of force. Yes, you read that right. \n\nHowever ... cops are trained extensively on the use of force. Like several hours worth of training from the lawyer in that county who will prosecute these types of cases. You most likely have **not** received such training. Most of the time (like 99.9%) the cops are acting properly and their video (and other videos) will back that up. So, what are you to do? \n\n1) Don't resist anything. 2) Verbalize (speak up) about everything. Tell them you don't consent to their search, but let them search. 3) Be polite. It costs you nothing and it differentiates you from the others. 4) Only physically fight back if you are in fear for your life. When presented with the option to \"stop resisting\", you should do just that. Most cops ( like 99.9%) will immediately stop applying force. \n\nI hope this helps. ",
"The BEST way to Fight back is with your Video Camera ANY other way could possibly get you KILLED!",
"It would depend on the circumstance and ultimately would come down to the jury deciding if it was valid self defense.\n\nThere was recently a case in Texas where cops conducted a no-knock raid that ended in the death of an officer because the defendant thought he was being burglarized. The jury ruled innocent.",
"If you enjoy getting killed and if not killed spending months in court and jail all the while coming to financial ruin defending yourself for attacking a poliece officer. Go right ahead",
"Not at all. I drive up and see a cop beating a young kid to put on cuffs. I beat up the cop. Little do I know, 1 minutes prior the kid pulled a knife on the cop and tried to stab him",
"Though it may or may not be legal by the book, courts tend to believe the testimony of police more than that of the average person, so you are much more likely to get in trouble. In addition, you put yourself at huge risk of being injured or killed by the officer. Thus, the best response (as others have pointed out) is to record them with your phone/camera, which a) provides evidence against them and b) deters police in general from using unnecessary violence.",
"At the time? No.\n\nNo no no.\n\nAt the exact moment you decide to 'help', then you are violating the law. You are assaulting a police officer.\n\nIn that moment, you are a criminal, attacking a police officer. Whether the officer's actions are within the law is completely irrelevant. In *that moment* you are assaulting a police officer.\n\nNow, you might be vindicated in court later on, but that sure as fuck won't help you if you've got six bullets in your chest, will it?",
"In simple terms, yes, interfering with police actions is against the law. Though morality may override legality in one's mind, it is best to find the nearest camera and get a clear video of the officer. You could try to help, but you would most likely lose the impending legal battle to come due to police officers being more favorable in court.",
"The Supreme Court addressed the question of resisting an illegal arrest in John Bad Elk v. U.S., 177 U.S. 529\n\n\n > He, of course, had no right to unnecessarily injure, much less to kill, his assailant; but where the officer is killed in the course of the disorder which naturally accompanies an attempted arrest that is resisted, the law looks with very different eyes upon the transaction when the officer had the right to make the arrest from what it does if the officer had no such right. What might be murder in the first case might be nothing more than manslaughter in the other, or the facts might show that no offense had been committed.\n\n\nThis case is still good law and has been cited as recently as 2012 by a Federal District Court. Whether or not that would apply to a \"defense of others\" situation, I do not know. An individual does however have the right to fight back in the case of an illegal arrest by the police.\n\nHowever, and I want to say this is a very strong however, legality aside if you find yourself in a situation where you believe that you are being wrongly arrested fighting back is not a smart thing to do. Being correct legally is of very little consequence if you end up dead or permanently injured which is a very likely outcome. ",
"If one officer was illegally beating someone, and a group of bystanders saw the whole thing, they could all arrest that officer.\n\n[Citizen's Arrest](_URL_0_)\n\nThe people have the power, don't forget. There's probably 200 people for every 1 officer, if that.\n\nHowever, even though the people have the power, the police scare you into not exercising it, and will **make an example** of you if you try.",
"You'd get shot soooooo fast. They'd probably forget about who they were originally abusing and fuck you right in the ass.",
"What point is the right to bear arms if you cant use it against tyranny. People need to start shooting these criminal cops."
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a5ippx | why do people with glasses generally seem to have dark circles under their eyes when they take their glasses off? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a5ippx/eli5_why_do_people_with_glasses_generally_seem_to/ | {
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"I've noticed this alot because I wear glasses, I'm kinda self conscious about it but I never really thought about why it happens, gonna come back to this thread later"
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1gusws | in space, why can't i use fuel to accelerate to the speed of light and then pass it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gusws/eli5_in_space_why_cant_i_use_fuel_to_accelerate/ | {
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"As you accelerate, you need more and more fuel the faster you want to go. This amount of fuel (or energy) gets higher and higher as you approach high speeds, and the amount of energy needed to achieve the speed of light approaches infinity.\n\nAlso, not specifically related to the speed of light, but to the acceleration in general: you would need fuel to carry the fuel itself, which makes it more difficult to accelerate, and this can be overcome by bringing more fuel, which brings in more weight, which requires more fuel...",
"I'll try this in ELI5 terms.\n\nThink of it like riding a bike. If you're stopped it only takes a little bit of effort and you're moving. When you want to go faster you just petal a bit more and you speed up. But as you get faster and faster you have to petal even harder to pick up speed. Eventually you reach a point where you are petaling as hard as you can, but you're not going faster, you're just staying at the same speed.\n\nIt's similar in space. The faster you go, the harder it is to make yourself go even faster, which limits your top speed."
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110v2g | the infield fly rule. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/110v2g/eli5_the_infield_fly_rule/ | {
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"The infield fly rule calls the batter out in fairness. The batter is out to avoid an unfair double play. Let's say there's a runner on first...\n\nIf a fly ball is hit, generally, a runner will not go far from first base. So the fielder could \"accidentally\" drop the ball, forcing the runner on first to go to second. Then the fielder will throw to second for a force out, then back to first for a double play.\n\nAlternatively, the fielder could throw to first to force the batter out, and either tag the runner, or box him in between first and second. However, then there's a risk of him making it safely to a base.\n\nThis rule is applied whenever there is a forced run.",
"Are you an umpire in Atlanta?\n",
"The idea is to make sure it is never advantageous for a fielder to intentionally drop a fly ball.\n\nLet's say there is a runner on first, and the batter pops one up to the first baseman. The runner has to stay on base to avoid getting tagged out. But a sneaky first baseman could intentionally drop the ball. Now the force is on, and the runner can easily be thrown out with enough time left for a double play.\n\nThe infield fly rule prevents this."
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609e50 | how hairdryers manage to heat up to full temperature almost immediately, yet this technology cannot be applied in other ways | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/609e50/eli5_how_hairdryers_manage_to_heat_up_to_full/ | {
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"Hairdryers have a very powerful heating element. it is comparable in power with a panel oven used for heating a room. However the hair drying only have to heat up a small amount of air that passes though it. So it is a matter of size of the thing you are going to heat.",
"Heat capacity is basically how much heat (think of heat as energy) has to be transferred to a material to increase its temperature. If you heat up water it will take a while because of its high heat capacity, though the metal will be really hot almost immediately (if you have a kettle you can notice how hot the metal part is even after few seconds, -if it's not in contact with water that will cool it down-) air has low heat capacity and will heat up just by passing through the hot hairdryer for less than a second. If you were to do that with water (don't) it wouldn't heat up that much.",
"The motor starts immediately and that gives you the sense of an immediate start. The heating element is just pure resistance and is almost as immediately turned into heat. A toaster is fairly immediate as well, but lacks a fan. Put your hand on top of a toaster and you will remove it almost immediately. Hair dryers are not high tech. What other ways would you expect a heating element to be applied?",
"Before someone asks, automakers have played with the idea of using heating elements for heating in the winter. The issue is they use a fuck ton of power. Power your car would else not be using. A standard 1500w hair drier wouldn't heat your car well but 1500w is 2 horsepower. Instead they pull the heat from water heated by the engine. Heat that would otherwise be rejected into the air outside. It's basically free heat. For reference you can typically say a car passes equal energy into to the cooling system as it produces to the wheels. A 200 kw car dumps roughly 200kw into the cooling system. Same goes for the exhaust, a 200kw car dumps 200kw heat through the exhaust."
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2jiz1t | why is the skin on our elbows so rough and dry? | . | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jiz1t/eli5_why_is_the_skin_on_our_elbows_so_rough_and/ | {
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"It's similar to when you get a callous on your hand or foot. It forms because you constantly rest your elbows on surfaces. This repeated stress causes the skin to become rough because the cells in your skin produce additional keratin to protect the underlying tissues."
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dtdjm0 | logic gates and boolean algebra real-world applications | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dtdjm0/eli5_logic_gates_and_boolean_algebra_realworld/ | {
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"A simple example is simple automation.\n\nIf you're making an automatic espresso machine, you only want to brew coffee when the heater is hot enough AND there's water in the reservoir. Otherwise you get bad coffee, or burn the heating element.\n\nIf you've got a grade crossing, you want to sound the alarm and close the gates when there's a train going down one track, OR the other.\n\nYou want an elevator to move only if the door is NOT open.\n\nBut of course the real example is virtually all modern technology. A CPU is all logic gates. The way you managed to ask the question over the internet requires billions of logic gates to exist and function.",
"Probably the most important application is in computing and electronics in general. Logic gates are the fundamental components from which all digital circuits are built.",
"You are using the canonical example of a device using logic gates and Boolean algebra. The entire field of computer science and how computers work in reality rests on the foundation of logic gates and Boolean algebra. \n\nIt can also be used in statistics, and general conversation even if not obviously \"1\" and \"0\". Whenever you need a chain of thought that can only ever be correct, or wrong, that's boolean algebra.",
"* Every device that uses a processor uses gates and Boolean algebra. This includes things like:\n * MRI Machine\n * Microwave\n * Car Radio\n * Car Engine Management Computer\n * Smart Phone\n * Elevators\n * Programable thermostat\n * Coffee Maker\n * computer keyboard\n * basically an endless number of devices."
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313zmo | neil degrasse tyson said there could be "multiple multiverses". is this considered a paradox, speculation, or it's possible but it's just too complicated to comprehend? | Our host star is just one of billions of stars in a galaxy surrounded by billions of galaxies in a universe that could be surrounded by infinite universes. Why would it stop there? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/313zmo/eli5_neil_degrasse_tyson_said_there_could_be/ | {
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" > surrounded by infinite universes\n\nnot quite, more like dimensionally shifted (i.e. not using the same three dimensions). This is really stupid to explain without paper though. ",
"We really don't know and our current scientific methods cannot get a definitive answer. But the thought is more or less: why would our own universe be unique? Couldn't it be just one of many, like our solar system is one of billions, as is our galaxy? Maybe the Big Bang wasn't a one time event, rather a regular occurence in a constantly boiling multiverse.\n\nI'm sure there is some high level math suggesting the possiblity, but that's way above my understanding.",
"We don't know, we are a long way away from ever knowing and we may never even know. We've seen less than 0.00000000000000001% of something that we don't even know the size of."
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223iz3 | is it possible to have build a spaceship with gravity like earth's? | In basically every science fiction show, people can walk around spaceships like people walk on earth.
Would it be possible to build ships like this?
If so, wouldn't the ship's gravity machine (let's call it that) also interfere with the ship's movement (etc) and the sense of time within the ship? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/223iz3/eli5_is_it_possible_to_have_build_a_spaceship/ | {
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"There is no way too make gravity. Gravity is the attraction between all mass. \n\nYou can stimulate gravity by rotating the space ship. Is the slave ship is spinning, you will feel a force pushing you towards the walls of the spaceship, as if there was gravity"
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2mh825 | when i send data from my pc to my isp, how does the data then go from there to the specific servers i requested it to go to? what decides where the data goes? | For example, if i was uploading a file to google drive, how does my isp know to send the data i was uploading to google drive? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2mh825/eli5_when_i_send_data_from_my_pc_to_my_isp_how/ | {
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"Everything on the Internet has an address.\n\nThe most common type of address you encounter is a URL, which stands for Uniform Resource Locator. The URL for Google Drive is https://_URL_0_/\n\nThe part of the URL that determines where the data goes is the hostname, in this case _URL_0_.\n\nTo figure out where to send your data, first your web browser has to translate the hostname into an IP address.\n\nThink of it like an address book. Suppose you tell your coworker to please mail this letter to your friend George Smith. The post office won't mail something to a name, so your coworker first looks up George's address and writes the address on the envelope, then the post office mails it.\n\nYour web browser asks a special server called a Domain Name Server to convert _URL_0_ into an IP address, which looks like 74.125.239.137. (An interesting detail is that depending on where in the world you live, you might get a different answer, because Google has servers - computers that make up Google Drive - in multiple locations around the world so they can serve you more quickly.)\n\nOnce your web browser has an IP address, it sends your data to that address, and the Internet takes care of the rest.\n\nHow does the Internet know how to get data from your computer to 74.125.239.137?\n\nIt starts with your ISP - your ISP connects to several other networks - like other ISPs, large service providers, and Internet \"backbones\", which are companies that maintain fiberoptic cables that connect far corners of the world. Your ISP has a big router that keeps track of what ranges of IP addresses are found at each connection.\n\nThe various networks on the Internet talk to each other - they pass messages back and forth advertising what addresses they can connect to.\n\nThere's a fair amount of redundancy - there may be dozens of different ways to get a message between your computer and _URL_0_. Usually your ISP will pick the fastest route, but sometimes it may pick a longer route if it's less congested. If a connection goes down, within a few seconds it finds a new route.\n\n\n"
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5799sm | annuity insurrance | I was looking up some of the for-profit entities owned by the LDS church, and notice they owned a company that offered life and annuity insurance . I read up a little bit on it, but the wording is kind of confusing to me, and I think I'm drawing conclusions and ideas about it that are incorrect so... ELI5? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5799sm/eli5_annuity_insurrance/ | {
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"Life insurance is you betting you're going to die. So, you pay a monthly premium of a (usually) low amount in return for the assurance that when you die your family will get a large sum of money. E.g. I pay $60 a month for about $300k of coverage on myself, my now ex-wife, and $10k on my kids.\n\nAn annuity is the opposite.\n\nYou're betting you're going to live. So, you pay the company a large sum of money and in return you get small monthly payments for the rest of your life. E.g. you give the company $1 million, and you get payments of $50k/year until you die. If you live 20 years, you break even...etc, etc..."
]
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[]
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4vmnkv | how does poor posture cause back muscle pain? | Why does slouching put strain on the muscles of the back? Or does it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4vmnkv/eli5_how_does_poor_posture_cause_back_muscle_pain/ | {
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"Think about it this way: If you put a weight in your hand and hold it above your head, most of the weight is held up by the bones in your arm, the muscles just stabilise; but if you hold the weight out in front of you it's much harder, as the muscles have to fight gravity by themselves. The same thing happens as your head sits forwards of the bones of your neck, and each vertebra sits a little forward of the bone below. There's also a bunch of other stuff regarding joint congruency, facet joint capsule stretch, and neurological control/fatigue, but that's much harder to ELI5. I'm a chiropractor and the weight thing is the general gist.",
"There are a variety of different reasons, including overstretch of the muscles such as your erectors (erectors are the rope-like muscles you can feel up and down the sides of your spine), your infra/supraspinatus (the muscles of your shoulder blades that keep your shoulders pulled back in good posture) and your traps. Its much nore difficult to operate a muscle when its already in overstretch, so this creates a bit of a chronic pain cycle that lots of people live with day to day. Another added reason is the load increase on the spine - the more we slouch, the more increased the load, as the head sits further and further forward with disregard to the ideal axis. Your vertebrae will begin to pinch anteriorly and open in the back, leading to increased chance of disc bulging which is sometimes cause for surgery in the incident of eventual herniation. \n",
"Muscles on opposing sides of the body almost always have an opposing function. Slouching can be referred to as 'Kyphosis' generally, and the reason it strains your back is because in regards to posture the ability of the muscles in your back to maintain against gravity is less than that of the muscles in your chest causing them to tire and then become sore. There can also be issues with tightness and joints but it's ultimately the same principle. Imagine a high rise building with a curve for instance, you'd imagine the building's structure would be compromised and parts of the foundation and supports would always have extra stress on them.",
"Simply put, humans aren't designed to slouch. [Check out this article for more perspective](_URL_0_). The short of it is that people from indigenous and native cultures tend not to have back problems because they don't have bad posture; they don't have bad posture because they don't sit for long periods or have the sort of furniture that allows you to hunch over.",
"Something to do with the human species being in an evolutionary transition from quadruped to biped. The spine would need a few more 100,000 years of natural evolution to adjust to upright locomotion. \n\nAlso it feels good to be in bad posture because your nervous system is used to that position. The problem is over time tendons get pinched, muscles weaken/become dysfunctional, spinal discs herniate(search multifidi muscles). The deep intrinsic back muscles are mostly slow twitch which means that are always firing. You have to consciously and effort-fully retrain them which is going to feel weird and painful in the same way as proper form weight training against gravity is \"painful\". After a while though the muscles with pull the bones into the proper position naturally without \"feeling weird\" which will be better for long term bio-kinetics and health. "
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fcb9bb | why are many food products labeled with “not for individual sale” ? | I’ve noticed living in North American that many items sold in bulk such as tea, candy, soda, etc. are labeled as “not for individual sale”. Can anyone explain why? I’ve always wondered. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fcb9bb/eli5_why_are_many_food_products_labeled_with_not/ | {
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"They're intended for sale as a bulk pack, for less money. The individual packs inside generally don't have as much information on them and therefore won't comply with the local regulations on food packaging labelling. The company making them only has to worry about updating artwork for the outer pack without having to change the inside pack, which saves them money and means that if, for example, they have millions of unused inner packs, they can continue to use them while only changing the outer pack, or they can change the outer pack whenever they want for promotions etc. without changing everything else.",
"Prevents you from buying bulk and reselling them individually at your store to make a bigger profit.",
"Their labels do not comply with packing standards. In these situations, you’ll see things like ingredients and nutritional information printed on the box, but not on individual packages. Granola bars are a good example. There’s not enough real-estate on the individual packaging to include everything the law requires.",
"When bulk packaged the individuals don't have required nutrition information on them, the manufacturer also sells bulk for a different amount and doesn't want retailers to only buy bulk and break them down their selves vs buying their smaller quantity box's too.\n\nThese are the main two reasons I can think of.",
"They haven’t included the complete required nutritional labeling on each individual package/can, just the overall pa paging. So they can’t sell due to the lack of required info."
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3fgd5u | why is there such an uproar about welfare but not about corporate subsidies (welfare) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fgd5u/eli5_why_is_there_such_an_uproar_about_welfare/ | {
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"You've started with a false premise. There are actually plenty of highly publicized criticisms of corporate subsidies. For instance, farm subsidies routinely come under fire, especially recently when Congress passed on a food stamps bill. Government support for sports stadiums is also often criticized, and John Oliver discussed this on a recent episode of his HBO show.\n\nSo, allow me to reframe the question: Why do some people vehemently oppose government benefits for the poor while supporting government benefits for corporations?\n\nThe standard conservative theory is that people tend to do more of whatever they're incentivized to do. If being poor doesn't suck, then you're less likely to take a job that does suck just to get a little more money. The benefit of extra money from working might not outweight the suckiness of work. So, the less being poor sucks, the more willing people are to be poor.\n\nOn the other hand, they see benefits to businesses as helping those businesses grow and be successful, which in turn helps the economy, puts more people to work, etc.",
"Two reasons:\n\n(1) Corporate subsidies are often harder to pinpoint. \n(2) Corporations employ a lot of people. Taking the subsidy away would hurt the corporation, but would also hurt some portion of the people who work for them. No politician wants to be known as \"the guy who closed the local tire plant\" (or whatever).",
"For a lot of people when you phrase it as \"welfare\" they think of black people, or at the very least some kind of awful \"poor white trash\" stereotype. \n\nWhen you phrase it as \"GI Bill\", \"medicare\", or \"Social Security\", those same people think of either themselves or other nice middle class white people who are \"deserving\" of help.\n\nTL;DR: racism and classism",
"There's a phenomenon known as Last Place Aversion that is part of the human condition. We don't want the poor to have any money because then they would be on our level and we would be tied for last place. There were studies where they gave groups of people amounts of coins and each person had to give some of their money to one of the other members of the group. No one gave money to the poorest person because they feared being in last place themselves.",
"My understanding is that corporate subsides are predicated on some shaky Macroeconomic theory (Or more cynically, lobbying and bribery) - and while they probably result in greater economic output at least some of the time, the government is choosing market winners at the expense of taxpayers and their competition. \n\nIt obviously doesn't sit well with poorer segments of the population, or economic libertarians, who tend to dismiss the former as personally responsible for their rut. I guess it all depends on your political beliefs over how much control people have over their lot in life, in spite of social circumstances. To throw money and handouts at the poor, is to concede a negative opinion on the matter, and nobody wants to believe that certain segments of the population, and by extension themselves, are ultimately powerless - or should be forced to shoulder those that are. ",
"A lot of corporate welfare is in the form of money not collected, whereas most welfare is a cost. Those are pretty fundamentally different. If you're for a smaller government, while both can be considered \"welfare\" -- a decrease in revenue or a decrease in costs both achieve that goal. So really increasing corporate welfare and decreasing welfare benefits are actually very compatible views. \n\nAnother reason is that many people feel this is more efficient. I lean a bit towards agreeing with this viewpoint. While there are companies where shareholders rake in the benefits, the majority of businesses in the US are small businesses with owners really not collecting that much more than a median salary. So while there are many high profile cases of these breaks just going straight into someone rich's pocket, there are significantly more cases where a break does actually mean more money to try expanding (and therefore adding more jobs). In this case, there are no costs to collecting and distributing that money -- it goes straight from someone that would have paid taxes to someone that could have received benefits. \n\nFinally, a lot of the subsidies are just people (possibly purposefully) misinterpreting how accounting works. The best example is how the cable companies were given billions of dollars to deploy fiber -- that is wrong. What actually happened was there was a set rate for the depreciation of copper lines. When fiber started becoming popular, the cable companies said \"in terms of value, because fiber exists our copper lines are actually depreciating faster\" -- which is true. Before fiber, if they were to liquidate their networks would have been worth more whereas after a purchaser would much prefer fiber. Because of this, they were able to take a larger loss. People twisted this to mean that they were receiving money to lay fiber and never did it, which isn't what happened at all. So that's not a subsidy at all, their asset just lost value faster and they got the IRS to agree with them. ",
"A. Culturally, Americans tend to hate poor people. It's purely emotional and obviously it's not shared by everyone, but broadly we consider them useless and undeserving and morally deficient. (There's a book called BORN LOSERS about this cultural phenomenon.) Just look around at most cultural messages about poor people and you'll begin to see what I mean.\n2. By the same token, we tend to see wealthy people/entities as virtuous (historically, that is -- it might be changing) and also the great \"givers\" of society. Think Ayn Rand. The offhand remark made by just about anyone who is pro-subsidy (or just subsidy neutral) is that removing those subsidies will cause lots of regular people to lose their jobs. This is patently untrue, but that's the general idea.\n\nThe funny thing is that those who complain about welfare subsidies tend to be \"free market\" advocates. But then when it comes to corporate subsidies, they fall silent. So I must return you, by way of explanation, to the cultural myths we have here in the US about poor people being trash and rich people being virtuous. And BTW, they don't suffer this delusion in Europe. If you're rich in Europe, everyone just thinks you're good at making money. That's it. There's no virtuousness linked to it. AT ALL. And if you're poor, in most of Europe anyway, you're not considered trash automatically. ",
"Propaganda from the corporate-controlled media ignores corporate welfare while saying that social welfare is evil."
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aclel0 | difference of resolution and fps? | I just got a camera that can record 1080p at 30fps or 4K @ 30 or 1080 @ 60 fps or 4K @ 60 fps. What is all the difference between resolution and fps and which is the best for good, quality video? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aclel0/eli5_difference_of_resolution_and_fps/ | {
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"Resolution means how many pixels are on the video. \n\n1080 means 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels. \n\n4K means 3840 x 2160 pixels or 4096 x 2160 pixels. \n\nFPS is frames per second. Videos are made of frames. The more frames, the smoother the picture looks. \n\nMost TV shows are filmed at 24 frames. \n\nAs to the other question, it depends on what you want to do with your filming. For me personally, I wouldn't bother going above 1080p60 (1080 pixels at 60 frames a second) just because the general public won't have 4K TV's (although this is changing). "
]
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3jqyyn | why would you put a severed toe/finger on ice to preserve until reattached when they would amputate it if frostbitten? | Why would you put a severed toe/finger on ice to preserve until reattached when they would amputate it if frostbitten? It seems like in one scenario freezing preserves while in the other it destroys the tissue. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jqyyn/eli5_why_would_you_put_a_severed_toefinger_on_ice/ | {
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"you want to cool the finger, not freeze it, freezing creates crystals and explodes cell walls. I think your supposed to protect the finger from direct contact with the ice, and not leave it in there for a long time.",
"First off, only incredibly severe frostbite requires amputation, mild frostbite will heal on its own or at worst leave minor scarring. \n\nNow, frostbite occurs when blood flow is restricted to your cells for an extended period of time, causing them to die. Since the finger or toe in question is already severed, that's not really a concern (or, more accurately, you're already at the worst-case scenario). \n\nSecondly, frostbite typically occurs at temperatures *well* below freezing. The lowest a finger on ice would get is 32 degrees F. \n\nFinally, cold really is a great preservative. It slows the degradation of your cells and prevents infection. While you certainly wouldn't want to keep a finger on ice for days, having a severed finger in an ice bucket for an hour or two while you make it to the hospital can definitely help preserve it for reattachment. ",
"Yes, they would get frostbitten, which is why you NEVER put it directly on ice. Instead, you wrap it into a wet, cold cloth, put that into a plastic bag and then put that on ice."
]
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a72tpo | how are certain animals capable of delivering an electric shock as a means of defense? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a72tpo/eli5_how_are_certain_animals_capable_of/ | {
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"text": [
"They have internal organs that generate current and store it like a capacitor. They then discharge this through prey, for both offensive and defensive purposes."
]
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||
4qf7mb | how does my local network know what my hostname is? dhcp or dns or both? | When I connect a new device to my home network, say a device with the hostname BobbysLaptop, how are other devices on my network able to locate it using the hostname BobbysLaptop? How is my DNS record notified that a new device has connected to the network and given a name? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4qf7mb/eli5_how_does_my_local_network_know_what_my/ | {
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"text": [
"DHCP has an optional field in which the host can write his name. The DHCP server can then give this name or a variation in case of duplicate entries to the DNS server.\n\nThe specifics for this are in [RFC2132](_URL_0_)",
"There's several ways this can happen, depending on your network. Most generally, the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (IPv4) and Neighbor Discovery Protocol (IPv6). These allow your device to advertise information about itself, including its name."
]
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3l1fx4 | what would happen if someone destroyed the u.s. constitution? | I understand what it does and how protected it is, but let's just say someone burned/destroyed it. Does anything change? Is it just a symbolic document? If it doesn't "mean anything", are we in danger of losing the liberties described by it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3l1fx4/eli5_what_would_happen_if_someone_destroyed_the/ | {
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"What would happen if someone destroyed your birth certificate? Would you die?\n\nWhile people would obviously be sad, it's just a piece of paper. It's the words written on it that are the actual important shit.",
"The person who destroyed it would probably be quite soundly maligned, but no, the document outlines the powers, it doesn't actually 'contain' them. ",
"If you destroyed the Constitution, the government would be destroyed and the country would fall into chaos.\n\nHowever, the Constitution is *not* the physical document. The Constitution is the rules. Think of it like being the laws of physics. What would happen if you destroyed the laws of physics? The entire universe might collapse, or explode. But what happens if you destroyed a physics book? Nothing. The book isn't the laws of physics any more than the document is the Constitution.\n\nPerhaps the most clear example of this is when people swear an oath to defend the Constitution. They're not swearing to defend a piece of paper. They're swearing to defend a set of ideals."
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wn9vs | why does the speed to go supersonic decrease with higher altitudes? | The speed of sound is about 700 knts at sea level, but just 200 knts at 60,000'. Why?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/wn9vs/eli5_why_does_the_speed_to_go_supersonic_decrease/ | {
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"text": [
"With higher altitudes, you have lower temperatures. Despite what you may believe, air pressure has little effect on this - crazy, I know! Lower temperatures means that sound travels a bit slower, as vibrations happen at a lower frequency. ",
"The speed of sound is related to things like the temperature and density of air. Therefore the speed of sound changes with the altitude."
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2r4n72 | why do cats continue to stare and beg for food even though food was put right in front of their noses? | Today I fed my cats treats, and one just could not for the life of him find them literally right under his nose. I had to point and tap the spot over and over, yet he kept sniffing around in random directions. The treats never moved! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2r4n72/eli5_why_do_cats_continue_to_stare_and_beg_for/ | {
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"text": [
"They do it because that is not the food they want --right then.",
"Imagine seeing a co-worker with a giant supreme topped pizza and you have a measly peanut butter sandwich. There's your answer.",
"I watched this last night on Oregon Public Broadcasting. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nAt one point they explain that cats have \"long vision\". Meaning they do not see very well less than 12-16 inches in front of them. So, next time, drop the treat farther away.\n\n"
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96y48y | if you break something, like a stick, what happens to the atoms and their bonds? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/96y48y/eli5_if_you_break_something_like_a_stick_what/ | {
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"Nothing. The bonds that hold a sticks together are at the macromolecular level, 1000x bigger than atomic bonds.\n\nWhat happens to individual Lego bricks themselves when you drop a big model of millennium falcon on the ground and it smashes to bits? Nothing. They just lose bonds with each other.",
"This is my basic understanding from a single course that was kinda about this. This might only apply for metals.\n\nAtoms like to be together so in a material they huddle up close to eachother very efficently. Sometimes one group of cuddling atoms wants to cuddle with another group. Usually when they merge a sort of line is formed between them. That is because the two groups don't quite fit together and the atoms can't rearrange now because they are so cozy where they are. So now you have a big chunk of metal full of groups of atoms cuddling with weaker lines between them. Kinda like if you broke a vase and glued the pieces together but in a lot smaller scale.\n\nNow if you bend this metal what will happen is these groups will slide past eachother along the weaker lines and if you break the metal it might crack along these lines but it can also crack through groups of atoms.\n\n",
"Everything you’re breaking is more than likely bonds consistent of dipole dipole interactions or something like that which are more associative bonds where objects close together will stick together cuz their shape favors it. It is physically impossible to break actually chemical bonds. This by definition is a chemical reaction and as a human you do this through your internal metabolism but never by grabbing something and breaking it "
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ffgxi0 | why is dish soap toxic to consume, when we use it to clean things we eat off of? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ffgxi0/eli5_why_is_dish_soap_toxic_to_consume_when_we/ | {
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"You don’t just leave soap on your dishes. You rinse it off. What kind of question is this?",
"It’s not toxic. It’s indigestible. At worse it’ll give you a bad stomach upset, cause vomiting and the flaming action might mess up your bowels, give you bloating, remove the gut flora and cause other complications, but chemically speaking surfactants are not toxic and will leave your gut not absorbed."
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4fx3ee | why are certain drugs (metfomin, birthcontrol, etc.) still biologically active by the time they leave the human body? shouldn't your kidneys or liver break them down? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4fx3ee/eli5_why_are_certain_drugs_metfomin_birthcontrol/ | {
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"Not necessarily. There are a lot of complex biochemical process that go into breaking down various drugs, and sometimes our bodies just get rid of them before having completely metabolized them. Also, so drugs break down into other different biologically active substances that then get removed as waste.",
"It really depends on the drug. Like others said, sometimes our bodies get rid of drugs fast enough such that we don't have to metabolize them first. The function of metabolism isn't as much *inactivating* drugs as it is *getting them out of your body*.\n\nLets look at your example, [Metformin](_URL_0_). Hey, it's a pretty tiny drug, only 20 atoms! It's also got a lot of exposed polar atoms (nitrogen), making this a highly hydrophilic molecule. The whole point of metabolism is to make things smaller and more hydrophilic anyway, so this drug already has those features in the bag. Smaller means a drug will have no trouble fitting through the kidney's glomeruli filters. More hydrophilic means a drug will preferentially stay in the bloodstream instead of chilling in the tissues and fat. Staying in the bloodstream ALSO means it makes more passes past the kidney, meaning it will get filtered out more.\n\nIf you have a big drug with large hydrophobic components? You're definitely gonna need to chop it up to smaller components to fit through the glomeruli as well as make it more hydrophilic by sticking on some polar functional groups.\n\nThis faster elimination of Metformin is also why it needs to be dosed twice daily rather than once daily."
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63fixg | what's the difference between a well optimized computer program, and one that's not well optimized? | I'm a Computer Science Major, but still a Freshman in College. (Within C++) I've recently learned about "pass by reference" in relation to "pass by value", and it got me thinking... Passing by reference (even when not modifying the variable) makes it so no extra copy is made of that variable, thus making the program require less memory to run.
Is it little things like this, when done thousands of times, that makes a program well optimized?
I'm very curious. Will someone smarter than I please enlighten me? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63fixg/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_a_well/ | {
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"Pass by reference vs. pass by value is one of the many optimizations that people consider when looking to improve performance when using C variants where this functionality is exposed. In other, higher level languages, this functionality is performed by the compiler and therefore isn't exposed. \n\nInstead, when people discuss optimization they are usually referring to how a task is being done and whether it makes sense.\n\nLoops are expensive, especially over large data sets so a lot of optimization revolves are minimizing the number of times you have to perform that loop or figuring out a way to segment the data so that each loop is smaller. \n\nOptimization may refer to how data is organized either in memory or in the database to limit the amount of information that needs to be passed around or worked on.'\n\nAnd then there is really low level optimization where you may opt to implement a piece of functionality in software on a FPGA or custom built chip instead of in software on commodity hardware. It all depends on what level you're working at and what your most expensive operations are. \n\n",
"by reference is one way for memory optimization. basically you're not making duplicates everywhere.\n\nanother method is algorithm optimization. since you're in basic level, we'll do a basic example: sorting a list of numbers.\n\nthe easy way is to take the number in position 1 and compare to the number in position 2. if the pos1 number is larger, swap the two numbers. then repeat for pos 2 and 3. then pos 3 and 4. repeat until entire list. then run thru the list again. the repeat until there are no more swaps. you've just sorted the list. \n\nthis algorithms goes over the entire list multiple times. it's very inefficent if you have a big list of 100,000 numbers. \n\nonce you get to more advanced classes, there are much more optimal sorting algorithms. they involve data structures like linked lists and trees. ",
"It really depends on the programs but it's all relative to how well the variables are kept, saved, reused or dumped and on how well methods are written / run.\n\nAbout variables it's intuitive. You should pick the appropriated type. If you want to convert them for later use you have to decide to do that on the time it's created or later. Dumping also helps clearing memory etc.\n\nAbout Methods is not that easy. It's called sometimes \"Spaghetti code\". Methods should be clear and concise: Do the function and nothing else, with no loose parts. It's bad for memory management to call for the same variable 20 times in a method when you should have used a local variable to avoid that.\n\nThen there is how you save data, using the background / different threads to avoid freezing etc..\n\nThe faster and less memory a program uses the better. \n",
"I've seen shell scripts (unix) where external programs were called multiple times when a single call for all was all that was necessary. the time to spin up all those extra calls really slows things down. ",
"Computer engineer here,\n\nThe difference between a well optimised computer program and a poorly optimised computer program is obvious, the former is faster and more responsive than the latter. However, I suspect that your question was geared towards an explanation of optimisation in general so that's what I'll write about.\n\nThere are three goals for optimisation, they are conflicting but not necessarily mutually incompatible.\n\n1.) Reduce space by confining an object such as a compiled program, archive, or image to as small a space as possible.\n\n2.) Reduce the time complexity of a program or algorithm by reducing the number of operations that are needed to execute said program or algorithm.\n\n3.) Reduce the space complexity of a program or algorithm by reducing the amount of memory that is needed to execute said program or algorithm.\n\nThese goals are conflicting and it is rarely possible to minimise all three at once. Optimising for storage will result in longer start and load times, optimising for speed will result in increased memory usage, and optimising for memory usage will often result in reduced speed. There are sweet spots, and many optimisation techniques are beneficial regardless -- that is, they do not invoke tradeoffs on their own because they solely address inefficiencies --, so it's not necessary to obsess over compacting a program into the smallest space possible or achieving the fastest runtime unless that's the objective from the outset.\n\nLets look at optimisation from the perspective of the compilation process. Compilers are good at optimisation methods that involve iteration, calculation, and evaluation. However, compilers are terrible at optimisation that involves inferring the developers intent without the developer expressly stating what his or her intent is. What optimisations the compiler chooses to make must still result in a program that conforms to the programming language's specification even if those optimisations are made at a lower level.\n\nMany compiler toolchains perform optimisation in three stages: high level optimisation, intermediate level optimisation, and low level optimisation.\n\nHigh level optimisations look for obvious inefficiencies right in the language grammar itself. For example, writing to the same variable twice in a row without any synchronisation operations in between is utterly wasteful as only the last is of any effect, the same is true for unused variables, unnecessary function calls, evaluations that simply cannot be reached, oversized variables, etc...\n\nIntermediate level optimisation breaks the resulting high-level optimised code down into single operation representative instructions and looks for generic benefits such as reordering of instructions, unnecessary instructions, unrolling of loops, etc... Intermediate level optimisation varies heavily across toolchains\n\nLow level optimisation is where architecture and ABI specific decisions are made. The compiler can try and vectorize certain loop operations if appropriate, eliminate unnecessary memory operations by storing as much data in registers as possible, choose the fastest way to address data (a compiler may choose to pass by value rather than by reference as long as the result is still accurate), combine multiple instructions together, further reorder instructions, and much more.\n\nAs I mentioned above, compilers won't produce code that is inaccurate. However, there are instances where a compiler could produce code that is faster provided that it knows a bit more about what the programmer's intentions are.\n\nConsider a simple matrix multiplication function that accepts the addresses of three arrays (A and B as inputs, C as output), and appropriate dimensions to size these arrays into matrices.\n\nThe compiler in this example must consider the possibility that C overlaps in part or in whole with either A, B, or both A and B. Since it does not know this in advance, the compiler will have to reload values from A and B after each write to C rather than simply storing them in registers. If the compiler is told expressly that C is spatially disjoint from A and B, then the compiler can avoid this unnecessary double loading and keep as much in registers as possible for as long as possible.\n\nAs another example, many data processing operations can be vectorized if the corresponding data is stored as a structure of arrays rather than an array of structures. While an array of structures (or array of objects) is intuitive to us humans, it's not very efficient for the purposes of loading and storing data. Although Intel has recently improved vectorization of sparse data, data of constant or unit stride is still easier to work on.\n\nI could go on, but this is ELI5 so I'll leave it at that. Feel free to reply or PM me with any questions that you may have."
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