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67ndlt | what was the scientific theory behind shock therapy when it was an accepted form of treatment for mental illness? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/67ndlt/eli5_what_was_the_scientific_theory_behind_shock/ | {
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"Because the brain works on electrical signals and at the time they didn't know a hell of a lot more about it, electroshock therapy was thought to sort of overload the brain and shock it back into working properly in a similar way that a defibrillator does with the heart. \n\nA bit like pressing a reset button or turning it off and back on again. ",
"Fun fact, electroshock therapy is still used for severe cases of treatment resistant depression, it is important to know this is an absolute last case scenario option when nothing else has worked and it is much more gentle than film or tv has depicted, but it does actually work, sometimes."
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5nt14e | why do capacitors make that high pitched sound? | I have 3 old camera flashes, All of them make a noise when charging up, Why is this? And why are modern ones silent? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5nt14e/eli5_why_do_capacitors_make_that_high_pitched/ | {
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"text": [
"It's probably not the capacitor, it's the transformer. Older cameras generate a high voltage to get a bright flash, and that voltage is generated through a transformer/capacitor circuit. \n \nThe whining is caused by [magnetostriction](_URL_0_). As the magnetic field rapidly changes in the transformer, the materials expand and contract a bit. This sets up a high frequency vibration that you hear as a whine. "
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetostriction"
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2boorx | why don't they use cyanide pills for executions instead of all these chemical cocktails? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2boorx/eli5_why_dont_they_use_cyanide_pills_for/ | {
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"Cyanide is not a pleasant experience.",
"Cyanide gas was used in several states (such as California) up to the 1990s. It was stopped because it can cause convulsions and obvious suffering, with one notable execution involving the man gasping and violently banging his head on a pole until he finally died. Everyone switched to lethal injection, as it was generally held to be more humane than that. ",
"The current \"cocktail\" is meant to be more humane. It's supposed to paralyze and make it painless before it actually kills the person.\nPersonally, whatever. I'm in that horrible boat of people who don't mind if a person suffers during their execution.",
"Or, you know, we could just stop killing people.",
"death by cyanide is pretty gruesome.\n\nMichael Portillo did a very interesting documentary on all the different forms of execution and their benefits and drawbacks.\n\nNitrogen gas poisoning was found to be the most effective. Cheap, quick, painless and no thrashing about during the execution.\nTHe only problem is nitrogen poisoning gets you wicked high before you die and they felt the prisoner should not be granted any pleasure by the process.\n\n\nEDIT; Nitrogen not poisonous, subject dies by Nitrogen and argon induced hypoxia.",
"Cyanide had been used by a number of states for many years and there are two issues with it: 1) it's relatively quick, but agonizing and many felt that it violated the \"cruel and unusual punishment\" restriction, 2) cyanide is very toxic and poses a threat to the health of anyone that handles it and the environment.\n\nI've always thought that N2 would be ideal - very humane, relatively cheap, and no toxic waste. It has no smell and body doesn't perceive N2 as an asphyxiant, so the person would feel nothing - they'd simply pass out and, after a few minutes, peacefully die. No needles, no restraints, no convulsions, no toxins..."
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etkv3f | what are the factors that increase build up and clean up of adenosine in brain? | If adenosine is the reason we get sleepy, tired, are there any ways to improve this metabolism so we can last longer without sleep? Or to recover faster from being tired? Does exercise for example help cleaning up adenosine from the brain faster? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/etkv3f/eli5_what_are_the_factors_that_increase_build_up/ | {
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"Building muscle is a really good way to increase metabolism. The more muscle mass you have, the easier it is for your body to break down the things you eat.",
"Nobody knows for sure yet, but current research indicates a fluid-like system called the “glymphatic system” that essentially cleans out the adenosine while we sleep. \n\nOther than that, caffeine blocks adenosine."
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br7c93 | why do home led lightbulbs have so much heat on heatsink yet devices like iphone that use led lighting seem to have very little | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/br7c93/eli5_why_do_home_led_lightbulbs_have_so_much_heat/ | {
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"Because a LED bulb with a heat sink will emit many time more light then the screen of a iPhone. A low power LED bulb do not need a heat sink.\n\nJust try to illuminate a wall in a dark room with the screen and compare that to a light bulb. \n\nThere might be a difference in efficiency and the phone product less heat for the same amount of light and that is because how you it is constructed so you can run a LEDs on mains voltage versus the battery in a cellphone. A LED bulb often is made as cheap as possible but the cellphone charger and voltage converter in the phone is more advances, expensive and efficent. But the main difference it still the amount of light they emit.",
"LED bulbs use much more energy, and so produce much more heat. A typical LED bulb consumes about 10 watts. If an iPhone consumed that much power, it would run out of battery in less than an hour.\n\n_URL_1_\n_URL_0_"
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"https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/60-watt-equal-led-light-bulbs/"
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||
1n56o1 | how is obamacare going to affect me as a person whose employer offers insurance already? | I'm sorry if this has ready been answered and I am not looking to start a political opinion war. I'm just looking to be informed about the matter in a way that is easier for me to comprehend. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1n56o1/eli5_how_is_obamacare_going_to_affect_me_as_a/ | {
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"It depends. It might not affect you. Your employer might keep you on your current insurance for a number of reasons including wanting to retain talent, good deals/low coverage (and therefore low premiums), or PR. Of course, your employer might decide to drop your insurance and tell you to get it through the exchanges because the fine per employee for not providing insurance is substantially lower than premiums per employee (on average)."
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238han | how can i only be allergic to a specific berry and seemingly no other ones? in my case i'm only allergic to strawberries. | EDIT: I just found out that a Strawberry is not a berry. However, it is the only thing I know of that I'm allergic to. So why could someone be allergic to Strawberries and not other similar foods that are of its class.
Can someone be only allergic to apples and not other fruit?
Can someone be only allergic to carrots and not other vegetables? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/238han/eli5how_can_i_only_be_allergic_to_a_specific/ | {
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"Well, strawberries are not berries. ",
"You can be allergic to anything that has a unique antigen, which is just a protein tag on the surface of a cell. Your body sees an antigen that doesn't belong and sends an immune response after it. If the tag is found in multiple food items, like glutens of various forms for people with severe allergies, then you will be allergic to all of those things. If the tag is unique, then it will only be triggered by a specific food item.",
"Strawberries share in common with other allergen producing plants, trees, specifically birches, which have a particular protein that causes the reaction. Really, if you need to know to what you are allergic to, and why , you need to see a specialist. And the answer to your follow-up questions is yes, yes and yes.",
"I would always recommend talking to a specialist and seeing an allergist who can test you for other allergies and answer your questions in detail. That being said you may be interested in reading up on [oral allergy syndrome](_URL_0_). \"OAS is perhaps the most common food-related allergy in adults. OAS is not a separate food allergy, but rather represents cross-reactivity between distant remnants of tree or weed pollen still found in certain fruits and vegetables. Therefore, OAS is typically only seen in tree and weed allergic patients, and is usually limited to ingestion of only uncooked fruits or vegetables...OAS sufferers may have any of a number of allergic reactions that usually occur very rapidly, within minutes of eating a trigger food. The most common reaction is an itching or burning sensation in the lips, mouth, ear canal, and/or pharynx. Sometimes other reactions can be triggered in the eyes, nose, and skin. Swelling of the lips, tongue, and uvula and a sensation of tightness in the throat may be observed. It can seldom result in anaphylaxis. If a sufferer swallows the food, and the allergen is not destroyed by the stomach acids there is a good chance that there will be a reaction from histamine release later in the gastrointestinal tract. Vomiting, diarrhea, severe indigestion, or cramps may occur.\"\n\nIf it helps, I am severely allergic to tree nuts and this results in an anaphylactic response, vomiting and other very severe symptoms. However, I am also allergic to almost all fruits except citrus, and the \"berries\" - strawberries, blueberries, blackberries etc. However my fruit allergy is very different from my nut allergy. My fruit allergy is limited to an itchy mouth, throat and ears. However, when I cook fruits I can eat them just fine (e.g. I can eat apple pie with no symptoms). This is because the cooking process denatures (breaks apart) the pollen proteins that my body is reacting to. Conversely, no amount of cooking denatures the nut proteins that I am allergic to - so I have to be careful of any nuts in any state (cooked/uncooked).\n\nI have talked to my allergist (a specialized doctor) and he said that individuals can be allergic to many, some or even just one particular fruit/vegetable type. He said that I have oral allergy syndrome to fruits which is caused by a pollen allergy to various tree types. I am eligible to take shots which may help my symptoms.\n\nIt is up to you to talk to your doctor about your specific symptoms in order to learn how to best manage them. Allergies should be taken very seriously because while they may not present life-threatening symptoms the first time you are exposed they may at any later point become quite severe.\n\n",
"Thanks for posting this question...I have a similar situation but never realized how strange it seems! I've heard putting the fruit/veggie in the microwave for 30 seconds breaks down the proteins or something and makes it not as allergy-inducing. So far I've only tried it with apples...with bad results. :/ I'm also allergic to raw veggies sometimes but not as much other times. Maybe pesticides on them? So confusing."
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7yvxi9 | red shift / blue shift | Hi guys,
well I know this is a 'common' kind of thing, but I just don't understand it. I am happy to accept it, but I don't understand why it happens. I didn't really get the explanation in the book 'A brief history of time', nor did I really get the explanation of the guy who did the Khan Academy video. I guess there must be something missing there, some knowledge that I just don't have.
I understand that light has a wavelength that translates to 'colour' if it's within the visible portion of the spectrum. I understand that light travels at the speed of light from the source to my eye (or some detector). I appreciate that the wavelength of this light changes if the motion of the observed object and the observer are different. I just don't get why.
My misunderstanding may relate to light itself. Is light sent as a 'beam' of some sort? Are we talking about a photon? Something that is sent by the source to the observer that the observer receives. But... once it's 'sent' then it's on its way right? It no longer has to worry about the source. Let's say as an example that an object sents ten (beams, waves, photons) over the course of ten minutes. Each travels further than the last one did. So the wave (seems to be how people describe this) will have more peaks and troughs due to a longer distance, but how does that mean the frequency of that wave changes?
Sorry to ramble, but I thought I should try and explain my current thoughts so they can be corrected.
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7yvxi9/eli5_red_shift_blue_shift/ | {
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" It has to do with your frame of reference. I'm sure you've heard something moving very fast past you and heard the oooooOOOOOooooo as it passes by. That's called the Doppler effect. The sound waves are compressed near the object because the speed of sound in air is always the same but the car is moving in the same direction as the sound. ( ( ( ( (((🚓⬅️. The car keeps making the sound waves and is constantly chasing the waves making their frequency higher. And higher frequency = higher pitch sound. From the frame of reference of the car you always hear the same sound as you aren't experiencing the changing frequency. \n\nLight is weird. It acts some times as a particle and/or a wave. In terms of red/blue shift we care about its wave properties. It works in almost the exact same way as the Doppler effect. Light and the speed of sound in air having constant speeds. If the object producing the light (car/star/galaxy) is moving towards you, the waves are compressed. Increased frequency = shorter wavelength = bluer light. It works the same in reverse. If it's moving away the wavelength is longer = lower frequency = redder light. \n\nScientists use this by finding out what light a star should be producing by its chemical makeup/size/luminosity and compare that to what it actually sends to us. By checking the difference between the two you can calculate if the object is moving towards or away from you and at what speed. Our frame of reference is relatively stationary in terms of interstellar distances so we can see (hear) the change in frequency. \n"
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dz3jfu | why are phone batteries rated with mah (milliamper hours), but car batteries with kw (kilowatts)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dz3jfu/eli5_why_are_phone_batteries_rated_with_mah/ | {
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"First, a correction. Car batteries don't us kW, which is a measure of power. For an electric car, batteries are typically measured kWh (kilowatt-hours). This is a measure of energy (power x time). Essentially how much \"fuel\" it has.\n\nYou are correct in noticing that mAh are not really a measure of the same thing. Current x time is not energy, it's charge. However, it is ultimately used the same way, since all lithium ion batteries have the same voltage, and charge x voltage = energy.\n\nAs electronics designers take the standard voltage for granted, it's natural they think in terms of current only, hence that unit being used for specs. With an electric car, there is no standard voltage. It is necessary to stack many batteries in series to get much higher voltage, and there is no one standard configuration. So it is more logical to talk about energy when comparing them.",
"You will see two different ratings on car batteries, amp-hours and cranking amps. Cranking amps is what you can expect for a peak, right now availability to start your car. Amp-hours is more of a duration and rather misleading in my opinion. Theoretically, a 100 amp-hour battery could supply 50 amps for 2 hours, or 1 amp for 100 hours. Same ambiguity for the cell phone battery, other than its load is probably more consistent.\n\nI assume there is an industry standard somewhere explaining this if anyone wants to quote it."
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177nrf | what's the difference between "culture" and "pop culture?" | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/177nrf/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_culture_and_pop/ | {
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"text": [
"pop culture tends to refer to the popular entertainment at time. "
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5yinv3 | if you get a vasectomy would it still hurt to get hit in the balls? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5yinv3/eli5_if_you_get_a_vasectomy_would_it_still_hurt/ | {
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"text": [
"Yes. They cut the connection from the balls to the penis, not all the nerves. Everything still feels the same, it just can't let you reproduce."
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3loc0g | if dogs are considered so intelligent why can't they understand that the road is dangerous? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3loc0g/eli5_if_dogs_are_considered_so_intelligent_why/ | {
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"They can't tell instinctively because roads are an extremely recent phenomenon. A quick search of this sub will show you many good answers to this question wrt. deer. However, many dogs have a fear of cars at first due to the noise, but they are socialised out of it.\n\nLearning that something is dangerous requires either direct experience (e.g. touching an electric fence and getting a shock, or stepping in front of a car and dying), or the ability to receive that information from someone else. Dogs can't understand human communication beyond simple words and phrases related to their immediate environment.\n\nThey're intelligent because they can solve problems, but they don't have the capacity to understand complex speech about abstract ideas.",
"i guess you've never seen stray dogs wait at pedestrian crossings for the light to turn. \na housedog that goes outside 4 hours a week might be too excited to care."
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3f3y8z | why do some people think chicken/fish isn't meat? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3f3y8z/eli5_why_do_some_people_think_chickenfish_isnt/ | {
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"We use the word \"meat\" colloquially to represent red meats, pork, and a handful of other animals' flesh. Fish is distinctly different from these types of meat, as is poultry, so it became a sort of habit. ",
"I've never heard people consider chicken to not be meat, however it is healthier than red meats, so some people might exclude red meat from their diet but still eat chicken, in the interests of health. \n\nAs for fish, most fish are also healthier than red meats, so that too might be a reason, and also fish aren't smart animals like mammals and birds, so people might think it's unethical to kill a bird or mammal for food, but killing a dumb fish isn't wrong. That being said, the vast majority of vegetarians and vegans would consider you to still be a carnist if you eat fish. ",
"Words have different meanings depending on the situation.\n\nNobody's going to argue that chicken & fish aren't meat in the sense of \"flesh of an animal\". In certain religious or cultural contexts, however, 'meat' is more restrictive & only covers beef & pork.\n\nFor example, if you look at the menu at a Mexican restaurant, there's \"carne\", \"pollo\" and \"pescados\" ('meat', 'chicken' and 'seafood'). Even my 1950s Betty Crocker cookbook makes the same distinction because, as part of culture & cuisine they were seen as different.\n\nThese days, it's it's not uncommon to just lump all your 'protein' options together including meat, tofu & other meat substitutes - especially in things like Mission burrito joints (eg - Chipotle) that give you choices.\n\nAnother context this frequently comes up in is a *religious* context. Many Catholics (and quite a few protestants) used to have a \"meatless\" day or go without \"meat\" for Lent but, due to longstanding tradition, this still allowed them to eat fish.\n\nThen you have \"vegetarians that eat fish\" - again, they're focusing on different aspects of what \"meat\" means. For them, seafood is a lower life form than land animals & can't feel emotions or pain to the same level."
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1qb353 | what specific entities fuel the crusade against the scientists of the world providing evidence for global warming/climate change? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qb353/eli5_what_specific_entities_fuel_the_crusade/ | {
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"Big Oil, Big Coal and generally most fossil fuel companies or companies who make equipment for fossil fuel companies. Remember about 80% of proven reserves of fossil fuels have yet to be burned. If the U.S. and other major nations put a tax on carbon most of those reserves would not be cost effective to remove from the ground. The problem is investors have already included those resources in their valuation of the companies. So essentially by taxing carbon you're removing trillions of dollars that is already included on the balance sheets of companies like Exxon and BP. Which explains why they are hell bent on making sure that there is new tax on carbon. \n\nMinor edits"
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26u52j | what is a 2nd seller take back mortgage? | if you are buying a house and the seller offer to provide you a 2nd seller take back mortgage, what does it mean?
examples will help thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/26u52j/eli5_what_is_a_2nd_seller_take_back_mortgage/ | {
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"text": [
"If I'm understanding you question right, it's when the seller lends you the money to buy the house, instead of a financial institution."
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|
atlit3 | how come we can hear music in our minds without actual music playing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/atlit3/eli5_how_come_we_can_hear_music_in_our_minds/ | {
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"Recalling a memory activates the same pathways in the brain as actually hearing the sound. So in a sense remembering the song and hearing the song are the same thing. "
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rztlp | programming software. |
The only software programming experience I have is with VB, back in the 90s, using .bas files to make AOL punters and such.
How is a program like Google's Chrome browser programmed in such a way that it allows extensions to be written by users and integrated right into the browser? How do you program music players to read mp3 files? What the fuck is CSS? Java? How do these languages break down?
I know I'm on Reddit here, so I apologize for my ignorance regarding the subject matter | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/rztlp/eli5_programming_software/ | {
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" > How is a program like Google's Chrome browser programmed in such a way that it allows extensions to be written by users and integrated right into the browser?\n\nI don't know how most Chrome extensions interact, but the obvious way that many simple ones do is simply by applying custom javascript. In case you don't know already, javascript is a language that makes it easy to program behaviour based on the page contents. For instance, a couple of lines of javascript applied to a page could make the images on that page float around the browser. Since javascript is a massive part of the modern web, browsers all have superb support for it, so it's easy to write extensions just by writing javascript and applying it on top of what the web pages automatically have.\n\n > How do you program music players to read mp3 files?\n\nAgain, I don't know the specifics of the format, but sound is just a set of times and amplitudes (or equally well represented by frequencies and amplitudes). The mp3 format is set way of writing these down in a well documented way. The act of reading it is just the act of reading the numbers in the file and looking up what they mean in the specification. You can then send the right sound amplitudes to the OS audio device.\n\nOf course, in real life you wouldn't reimplement the wheel to read mp3s, but instead probably use an existing library that provides a simple interface whilst handling everything you need behind the scenes.\n\n > What the fuck is CSS?\n\nCascading Style Sheets. Web pages are written in the markup language HTML, which essentially means you write plain text surrounded with instructions about how to format it. For instance, ' < b > foo < /b > bar' would normally look like ' **foo** bar'.\n\nCSS is the part that tells the viewer exactly how text of each type should be formatted. For instance, text might be marked as title text and so would be expected to be large and perhaps bold, but the CSS instructions would specify exactly what 'title' text should look like. How big? What font? What colour?\n\nThis means that web page appearance can vary dramatically by just changing the CSS. To illustrate how powerful it is, the website [cssZenGarden](_URL_0_) lets you choose from different CSS designs. Whilst the website content stays the same, its appearance changes dramatically.\n\n > Java?\n\nA popular programming language, higher level than C, but relatively low level compared to more modern popular languages. One of its most important features is that it compiles to a special 'bytecode' rather than directly to a particular OS instance. This in principle makes it much easier to write one program that runs easily on a wide range of computers and operating systems. But don't feel that this is the sole defining feature of the language, it's just a big one.\n\n > How do these languages break down?\n\nThis is a massive topic in itself. Languages may be low or high level, imperative or functional, verbose or concise. They may be designed as scripting languages, or for low level systems programming, or anything in between. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask."
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2uuat1 | what's that slimey gooey stuff in my mouth when i'm thirsty/after exercising? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2uuat1/eli5_whats_that_slimey_gooey_stuff_in_my_mouth/ | {
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"Good question. I never feel not thirsty. I always have this effect. Always have. I can not remember a time ever I wasn't thirsty.\n\n\n\nEdit: And that's not a joke, and I'm over 30. I'm thirsty.",
"Saliva is 98% water, while the other 2% is made of other substances, such as electrolytes. Your saliva becomes more concentrated without water, giving it that \"slimy\" feeling. And that white ring around your mouth? A combination of salt, electrolytes and mucous."
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6jltu2 | how do we estimate the global populations of migratory animals like birds, whales, and wildebeest? | I feel like even with modern equipment/technologies, there has to be a lot of statistical modeling that's going into an estimate that, say, there are 200,000 sperm whales left in the world. So how did we develop these models/test for their accuracy? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6jltu2/eli5_how_do_we_estimate_the_global_populations_of/ | {
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"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Can't decide whether to flair this as Mathematics or Biology, but I feel like Mathematics is the right answer here. Sorry if that's wrong."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
ej0x2w | why or why can't we use cloud seeding to fight forest fires? | I recently learned that making man made clouds are a real thing that have been used to stave off droughts and that parts of China have been regularly using this tech. If so, can we use it to fight forest fires like the fires that have been so devastating in Australia? If not, why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ej0x2w/eli5_why_or_why_cant_we_use_cloud_seeding_to/ | {
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"text": [
"You need clouds to start with. Cloud seeding just gives the moisture in clouds something to form drops around, so it just makes sense in the narrow band of conditions between rain clouds forming and it raining anyway.\n\nSeeding the Australian air to make rain works as well as throwing seeds at your blow drier to make crops.",
"\" making man made clouds are a real thing \"\n\nIt's not. Cloud seeding consists of sending certain stuff into the clouds that raindrops can coalesce around and so there's a much higher chance it will start raining from those clouds. If there are no clouds overhead there's not enough water overhead to make it rain.",
"There has to be sufficient moisture in the atmosphere for cloud seeding to work - e.g. there have to be rainclouds that just need a little coaxing to release their moisture as rain.\n\nIn the case of most serious forest fires they occur during the dry season where there are no clouds, or where the clouds are not sufficiently \"wet\" to be seeded with productive results.",
"I'd think if the conditions were right for cloud seeding to work, all of the particulates in the air from the fire would be seeding them already."
]
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[],
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|
1qf48n | if i donate to a sperm bank, how can i be sure that my kids won't someday marry their half sibling? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qf48n/eli5_if_i_donate_to_a_sperm_bank_how_can_i_be/ | {
"a_id": [
"cdc6282"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Outside Iceland, you can't. \nHowever, children are usually told that they come from donor sperm, normally around adulthood, so when they meet another person and talk about it there's a good chance that the topic comes up and they found out that they both come from sperm from the same sperm bank. \nAlso, in many countries children of donors have the right to know who their father is, so there is that. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
599orj | what is the difference between fresh and frozen food from a chemistry perspective? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/599orj/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_fresh_and/ | {
"a_id": [
"d96rmp3"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"First thing is if you freeze food improperly, water will freeze inside the cells in such a way that crystals of ice will form, piercing through the cell walls and degrading the quality of the food.\n\nSecond: a lot of processes require certain molecules to be dissolved in liquid water. When you prevent that from happening, those processes stop. For example, when fruits ripe, the cell walls start disolving in liquid water (e.g. pectin from the walls gets degraded by the enzyme polygalacturonase and becomes soluble).\n\nFor most chemical reactions, the rate of reactions increases as the temperature increases. If you lower temperatures, most processes will start having negligible reaction rates, that's why your fridge preserves your food (by slowing down everything, including bacterial growth).\n\nIf you freeze, anything that relies on liquid water is basically put to a stop. Imagine being in a pool and trying to reach the other side of the pool, and then all the water around you freezes and you basically can't move anymore, you just have to sit there and wait. Same thing happens to molecules dissolved in the food's water.\n\n\ntl;dr liquid water allows molecules to interact and come in contact. Freezing water removes that possibility."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
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||
851una | why do airlines tell passengers to remove over-ear headphones for takeoff and landing, but permit in-ear headphones connected to their entertainment system? is it for safety? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/851una/eli5_why_do_airlines_tell_passengers_to_remove/ | {
"a_id": [
"dvu4dam"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"While rare, crashes are by far the most likely to happen due to problems with takeoff or landing, so safety regulations focus on these parts of the flight. It is more important at these times that you are able to hear instructions from the crew than it is at other times. The announcements will override the in-flight entertainment system, but of course not anything else you may be listening to."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
3d8q05 | how or where in the evolutionary process did the separation happen between warm and cold blooded animals? what mechanism does it involve? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3d8q05/eli5_how_or_where_in_the_evolutionary_process_did/ | {
"a_id": [
"ct2txhp"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"A key mechanism is going from a three-chambered heart to a four-chambered heart. In a three-chambered heart, one side receives freshly oxygenated blood from the lungs, the other deoxygenated blood from the body. In the third chamber the two are mixed together and pumped into the rest of the body. With a fourth chamber, low-pressure circulation to the lungs is separated from high-pressure pumping to the rest of the body. High-pressure pumping is needed to maintain a warm body temperature."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
5hvawr | as a teenager, how different are our emotions different from that of an adult and why ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5hvawr/eli5_as_a_teenager_how_different_are_our_emotions/ | {
"a_id": [
"db3a6f6",
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"score": [
7,
2
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"text": [
"It's not that your emotions are necessarily \"stronger\", but that your brain LITERALLY is not prepared for them. The limbus and endocrine systems of your brain are developing faster than most of your frontal lobe. Your frontal lobe is largely responsible for planning, judgments, and reasoning. \n\nIf it's any consolation you will grow out of this. Most people have their emotions more or less in check in their late teens 18-19. However, some people will not be so lucky and they will have to wait until their early 20s. The human brain is not completely finished cooking until about 25. ",
"The emotions themselves are not fundamentally different. What's more likely to be different is things like knowing when and how to make decisions based on your emotions, as well as being able to deliberately regulate / control your emotions. \n\nSome of that comes with experience and learning, some with actual development of brain areas like the prefrontal cortex.\n\nBut there's nothing different about the emotions themselves, I'd say. "
]
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[],
[]
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||
3ekfnt | why aren't more apps designed to work with your sd cards? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ekfnt/eli5_why_arent_more_apps_designed_to_work_with/ | {
"a_id": [
"ctfryn3"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"App developer here. It's generally because it's useless to, especially when you're releasing an app over multiple platforms.\n\niOS devices (iPads & iPhones) don't have sd card slots and even for android devices that have slots in them, you can't rely on the sd card actually being there for your app to use. \n\nThe only real time to use an sd card for storage (from the app's point of view) is when you want to store data that's important, but not critical to the function of the app.\n\nOne such case would be viewing offline (locally saved) articles off a news app. \n"
]
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[]
] |
||
3zsc3v | why do our perceptions and ideas of style, design, art, etc. change? | The most obvious example I can think of is graphic design - modern design is radically different from even 30 years ago. Why and how do these shifts in everything from architecture to literature to fashion occur? Why do our ideas of modernity/relevance in those disciplines and fields change? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3zsc3v/eli5why_do_our_perceptions_and_ideas_of_style/ | {
"a_id": [
"cyono25",
"cyonrkv"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"Boredom.\n\nI know this answer doesn't fit the rules of this sub, but I'll say it anyways. Humans get bored. They want to make new things that excite them. Over time these minor incremental changes lead to what appears to be drastic changes when comparing two different times.",
"A culture can have a prevailing mood. Sometimes it is conservative, sometimes it is adventurous, it may be sad or happy, depending upon circumstances. Fashions then tend to reflect the prevailing mood. Other than that, sometimes it is just a matter of someone having a good idea, and other people liking it and being inspired by it."
]
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[],
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|
6gidyr | why aren't chapters still added to the bible? what would somebody have to do to get something added to it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6gidyr/eli5_why_arent_chapters_still_added_to_the_bible/ | {
"a_id": [
"diql3xf"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"They do add new chapters to the bible. The mormons added a bunch for instance. The problem is that not everyone is on board with that so new sects form."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
tovkj | how does prizes like "win pespi 4 life!" work? | How does prizes like "Win Pespi for life!" work?
Do you get a HUGE load at first or do you call them when ur almost out? O.o | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/tovkj/eli5_how_does_prizes_like_win_pespi_4_life_work/ | {
"a_id": [
"c4ohq7w",
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"text": [
"It all varies on the prize. Sometimes they give you a huge upfront amount that they call a lifetime supply, sometimes they dole it out every so often in instalments, sometimes they get you to ring up and ask for more when you run out. It's not going to be an unlimited supply though.\n\nIt's rarely bad to win a life time supply of something, regardless of how they're getting it to you or how much a life time supply turns out to be.",
"Wow. For me that would be, 7 Pepsi. ",
"Just enter their pepsi-cola diabetes4life sweepstakes...If you win they will come hook you up to an iv so you can wheel it around with you intravenously. "
]
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[],
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|
5e5ws8 | why do we have reflexes of gag when brushing tongue with toothbrush? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5e5ws8/eli5_why_do_we_have_reflexes_of_gag_when_brushing/ | {
"a_id": [
"da9yxe8"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"The gag reflex is a involuntary reaction to having large objects in or near the back of your throat (note that large is a relative term, here). The body has this reflex to help keep you from choking when it senses something that it thinks would be too large to swallow. The gag reflex ideally expels the object from your throat, and you live to learn to chew your food better.\n\nThe gag reflex is unique from person to person. Some people don't have much of one, while others' is very sensitive to the point where eating something sticky like peanut butter will trigger it. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
3jx7rv | what is internet throttling? | How do ISPs determine when to do this, and why? How do they do it? I can't find an explanation that's dumbed down enough for me. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jx7rv/eli5_what_is_internet_throttling/ | {
"a_id": [
"cut1jc6",
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"text": [
"Well, in simple terms is the intentional slowing down of internet acess when youre consuming alarming rates of bandwith, as a means to controll the traffic and prevent cloggings",
"Internet throttling is when an Internet Service Provider actively restricts your download speed. That is why sometimes you can do a speed test and achieve high speeds, but when you torrent or download something, it is a lot slower.\n\nIt's a mechanism designed to prevent the overall network from being too slow. To answer the questions you asked, it's probably best to give a quick overview on how you request a web page.\n\nFirst, you type in a web address. This sends a request to your ISPs server to find out who owns this page and where its located. Once they find the IP Address of the site you're requesting, they download the information for you, and you in turn download it to your computer.\n\nISPs determine when to throttle internet connection because they can actively monitor an individual customer's usage. If you're torrenting (ie. making 'requests' to multiple computers over the internet), they're going to slow you down because you're draining the network. If they have to allocate more server capacity to your request, they're unable to provide that server capacity to someone else, potentially losing them customers and money.\n\nThey do this by telling their server handling your account to slow down your connection. Because your input isn't as high, your output isn't going to be as fast as what you'd expect when you perform other tasks over the internet."
]
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[],
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49gojf | tonight show controversy. jay leno vs conan o'brien | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/49gojf/eli5_tonight_show_controversy_jay_leno_vs_conan/ | {
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"Jay Leno was the host of the late night talk show Tonight Show after Johnny Carson (who had started hosting the show in 1962) retired in 1992. In 1993, Conan O'Brien (who had been a comedy writer and performer for everything from SNL to the Simpsons) took over the reigns of Late Night, the talk show that came after the Tonight Show. Late Night had been hosted by David Letterman, ~~which had an unofficial tradition that the host of Late Night would take over the Tonight Show with some new talent taking over Late Night~~ people assumed the Letterman would take over after spending so much time hosting Late Night. Instead, NBC decided to screw with things by giving the Tonight Show to Jay Leno, causing David Letterman to leave NBC entirely to move over to another channel (this will be a recurring theme).\n\nAnyway, in 2004 it was announced Leno would retire in 2009. That date came, Conan O'Brian took the reigns of the Tonight Show, and everyone thought that this transition would be the end of Leno's time. Then NBC decided to screw with things.\n\nNBC didn't want Jay Leno to follow David Letterman's example by jumping networks. So, they tried to get him to stay on NBC by offering some other non-Tonight Show position. Finally, they settled on creating \"The Jay Leno Show,\" putting it *before* O'Brian's Tonight Show. It was basically Jay Leno's Tonight show skits. After the first few episodes the ratings went to the toilet.\n\nThese ratings not only hurt the 10 o'clock timeslot, but also the Tonight Show and the various local late night news. Leno was under contract, so show couldn't be cancelled outright, so they shortened the show to 30 minutes and moved the Jay Leno show to 11:35, the timeslot the Tonight Show had occupied for *60 years*. After more ratings wows, NBC decided the best solution was to just cut O'Brian and have Jay Leno host the Tonight Show again.\n\nO'Brian (and Leno for that matter) were not particularly pleased with this arrangement, but contract clauses were called upon. Jay Leno hosted the Tonight Show from 2010-2014. After less than a year on the Tonight Show, O'Brian left NBC for his own talk show (Conan) on TBS.\n\nEdit: Slight correction.",
"Jay Leno and the network promised the job to Conan years in advance. \n\nWhen it came for Leno to leave, the network still wanted him around for viewers so they gave him a new prime time show. When both had low viewers, they bumped Leno's new show to his old time, thus moving Conan to an hour later.\n\nThis was a big deal cause essentially Conan was ripped off. The Tonight Show was always the same time, and with Jay Leno in that time slot it was basically like they gave him his old job back, just under a different name. Very disrespectful.\n\nSo Conan wanted out, and was bought out of his contract, on the condition that he did not appear on tv for a year. Leno got his old show back, and Conan got the gig at TBS. ",
"Others have explained the situation really well, but I would add that the situation wasn't really Leno vs. O'Brien, it was NBC vs. O'Brien. Leno wasn't trying to get the Tonight Show back after he left, but he had the opportunity to try out a different show and give the headlining gig to Conan. He's not the bad guy, he was just performing according to his contract. NBC is who screwed Conan over by forcing him to air his show after midnight ET. There is a huge dropoff in viewers after the first half hour of late night television, because a lot of viewers just stay up for the monologue before going to sleep. If the show doesn't even *begin* until after that time, they lose those viewers. Basically, Conan was getting the tonight show, but they were sending all of the viewers to Leno's show.",
"Another point people are (willingly) forgetting is that Conan's ratings were TERRIBLE. Unfortunately his humor never translated well to Leno's lowest-common-denominator audience so even if NBC hadn't fucked things up so royally, I don't think Conan would have lasted there. And I love Conan. \n\nLeno was only brought on several months later to try to save Conan's show as well, and that didn't work either. The fact that after the whole debacle Conan stayed on TBS and Leno led the Tonight Show for another 4 years shows that, unfortunately, Leno was always going to get better ratings than Conan."
]
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4hf5h3 | terminal velocity and maximum speed of a falling object. | So I read about Terminal Velocity which is the maximum traveling speed of a falling object. Does this work with gravitational pull and larger object or do objects in weight and size differ in terms of falling speed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4hf5h3/eli5_terminal_velocity_and_maximum_speed_of_a/ | {
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"text": [
"air is a fluid and has resistance, things moving quickly through air experience drag. faster things experience more drag.\n\nterminal velocity is the speed where the drag and the pull of gravity balance out.",
"The gravitational pull on any object is always the same - gravity will always *accelerate objects at the same rate*. Galileo proved this by dropping two balls of unequal weight from the leaning tower of Pisa. NASA stepped it up a few notches and dropped a feather and a hammer side by side on the moon. In both cases, the objects hit the ground at the exact same time.\n\nThis magic number is 9.81 m/s/s - acceleration due to gravity.\n\nNow, terminal velocity is the speed at which you're no longer accelerating - your maximum speed as you fall. This isn't just dependent upon **gravity** pulling you **downward**, you also have another force pushing you **upwards** - **air resistance**. Unlike gravity, this force will change as you get faster and faster. Eventually, air resistance pushes with the exact same force that gravity is pulling you down with - so you have zero net force acting on you. From Newton's second law (F = ma), this means you'll no longer accelerate - you won't get faster or slower. You're *terminal*.\n\nNow, you can change your air resistance - the easiest way being by changing the part of your body that you expose to the wind. Skydivers do this when they put their arms and legs by their sides to shoot down faster. Alternatively, if you present a larger area, you can slow yourself down even further - this is the idea behind wingsuits. (I'd say parachutes, but [wingsuits are fucking cool](_URL_0_) )."
]
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"http://adventuresportsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SZ-07Gap-WS-LJA-01-1.jpg"
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26u1dl | why can some northern europeans tan very brown? | From my experience most white people can tan a decent amount, some can't tan at all and then some tan A LOT. I'm not even talking about people in North America who might have a distant native ancestor or something but I have met a number of people in Europe from Scandinavia, Germany, the UK and Ireland who can tan naturally to a really deep brown. How come some people can tan this much?
Also, I have met some people from the Middle East and Southern Asia who are really, really white. How come they haven't developed a darker tone despite living in these very hot climates for what a long time? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/26u1dl/eli5_why_can_some_northern_europeans_tan_very/ | {
"a_id": [
"chugwt2"
],
"score": [
2
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"text": [
"Genetics. Although most Northern Europeans are quite white, some people from those regions, either because of racial mixing or simply possessing uncommon genes, tan darker."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
9pvkmv | is the chance of getting food poisoning correlated with the amount of bad food eaten? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9pvkmv/eli5_is_the_chance_of_getting_food_poisoning/ | {
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"text": [
"Yes. For example a contaminated food is essentially full of poison and the amount of exposure affects how badly the person will be impacted if at all. Dipping a toothpick into a spoiled food isn't the same as eating the entire thing of course. ",
"It depends. \n\nOn what you mean by \"bad\". Microbial interaction with a foodstuff is not always bad for you, think cheese, or beer or any fermented food.\n\nSome things when eaten and start living and breeding in you are bad, think Salmonella or Listeria. \n\nSo what is eaten is important. \n\nSecondly you have a defensive system (broadly speaking), starting with saliva, then stomach acids, \n\nThis physically destroys the bacteria before it gets into your system. \n\nSo getting infected depends on the health of your gut and the amount of what type of bug gets into you. \n\nThen the immune response in the intestine walls and blood gets active, prior exposure can lead to faster responses, but quantity of attack can overwhelm the response. \n\n & #x200B;\n\nSo yes there is a correlation but its not as important as your health, your immune systems health and what exact bug you have eaten. \n\n \n\n & #x200B;"
]
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[],
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||
60ii35 | mathematical relations; reflexivety, symmetry and transitivity | I can very vaguely understand the mathematical statements for these, but I can't seem to be able to form coherent answers or find any working logic to logical challenges regarding these.
The rules are A={a,b,c}
for reflexivety:
xRx, for x in A
for symmetry:
xRy = > yRx for x,y in A and x!=y
for transitivity
xRy and yRz = > xRz, for x,y,z in A and x != y != z
But beyond looking at the symbols and saying "yup, there's some kind of logic at play here", I can't figure out - at all - as to how I can solve problems relating the thing. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/60ii35/eli5_mathematical_relations_reflexivety_symmetry/ | {
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"df6nubs",
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"Look at the relation \"is equal to\" on the set {\"2\", \"1+1\", \"7-5\", \"69\"}\n\nIs it reflexive?\n\nWell, \"2 is equal to 2\" is true. And so is \"1+1 is equal to 1+1\". And so is \"7-5 is equal to 7-5\". And so is \"69 is equal to 69\". So yes, it is reflexive.\n\nIs it symmetric?\n\nWell, \"2 is equal to 1+1\" is true and so is \"1q1 is equal to 2\". This applies to all of these combinations except the ones involving 69, but that's fine, since it only cares about yRx if xRy is true to begin with, and none of the other elements will be equal to 69. So it is symmetric.\n\nIs it transitive?\n\n\"2 is equal to 1+1, and 1+1 is equal to 7-5\". Does this mean \"2 is equal to 7-5\"? Yes, logically. Again, having a \"69\" thrown in doesn't stop this from working because it needs two true cases. But yes, it is transitive.\n\nSo we can see that \"=\" is reflexive, symmetric, and transitive.\n\nDoes an example help in understanding?",
"what do you want explained? The formalism? The equations/relations?\n\nSometimes it helps finding (dumb) examples for these relations to see how they work. \n\nLet's go with the most obvious: A is a group of people (Alice, Bob, Carol). R is \"is a blood-relative of\" (is related to)\n\nthen it says:\n\nxRx everyone is related to themselves. aRa = Alice is related to Alice.\n\nxRy - > yRx = if Alice is related to Bob, then Bob is also related to Alice.\n\nTransitivity: If Alice is related to Bob and Bob is related to Carol, then Carol is also related to Alice.\n\n\nThis is a rather simplistic example but something along these lines might come up in situations where blood is analysed to find a suspect for a crime or something like that. In that case R would be some kind of DNA test.\n\nis this what you meant? "
]
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[],
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|
a2q648 | psychologically, what is an ego? why does contempt and indifference psychologically hurt an ego soo much? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a2q648/eli5_psychologically_what_is_an_ego_why_does/ | {
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"eb0b1m5"
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"your ego is how you view yourself. So much of it is going to be a measure of your self worth. \n\nbecause we are social we are constantly looking for approval and recognition so we know what we are doing is 'right'. so when we do something we consider good or noteworthy our expectation is that others will think the same. when they do this gives us our confirmation and reinforces that we know when we are doing things right, which makes us feel good and leads us to think when we do that thing again will we be able to do it well. \n\nWhen the reaction to something we do doesn't match our expectation it causes us to go through some internal questioning, because we need to reconcile why they didn't react positively to something we thought was good. \nEventually this brings us to a crossroads, either they were right and what we did wasn't as good as we thought, which leads us to doubt ourselves more when we attempt the task again, or we choose to dismiss their reaction as incorrect, and rely on our own judgement. \n\nobviously however choosing to ignore the feedback we are given will cause a degree of doubt because it is external recognition we crave, so choosing to ignore feedback can only really continue for so long because we have to accept that we may be wrong. "
]
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[]
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||
5v8711 | emotional eating. why do some people "eat" their feelings? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5v8711/eli5_emotional_eating_why_do_some_people_eat/ | {
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"text": [
"I really like food. Like, really really REALLY like food. Eating delicious food makes me happy, at least for a while. Normally, I try to maintain a decent diet, avoid overeating, etc. When I'm upset or stressed or sad, the first thing to go is my self control about what I eat. Since eating good food makes me feel better, when I don't feel good, I eat. \n\nSome people have different solutions, including alcohol, drugs, or sex. Other people have healthier solutions, like exercise, volunteer work, creative work, etc. \n\nWhat we're basically looking for is a burst of dopamine to make us feel good.",
"From personal experience it appears as a form of control, usually when you aren't able to control other aspects of your life, in a similar way people go out and get drunk or self harm. \nWe eat with our eyes and usually to get fast food or ice cream or cake is quick and easy. In the same respective get a rush of dopamine from doing something we enjoy like eating favourable food, gambling or doing drugs, it all works on the same receptors, I.e. the reward receptors. \nThere's a comfort in it because it's a reliable source, easy access and availability, though it could be short term. \nDepending on the person and its frequency can depend on repeated events, often when people aren't able to resolve issues it becomes a habit, long term it can cause weight gain, health issues and confidence issues. Usually it is a secret habit underlined with negative feelings and reliance, it is a vice we turn to when things are usually bad, as some would go for a run or cry, punch a wall. ",
"Eating, triggers many of the same responses as say doing a line of coke or heroin. Same chemicals are released in the same parts of the brain and we get the same \"good feeling\" just in a much lower dose. When you are happy or joyful we want to celebrate. When we are sad or mad or depressed we want to escape. Different sides to the same coin. However this is the \"why\" people eat their feelings. Just as an alcoholic turns to a drink to \"take the edge off\" after a stressful day. Or having a great time and want to \"enhance\" those good vibes, food can and does do the same thing in our brains. It feels good. Who doesn't want to feel good or better? Some people's brains are more sensative to that \"reward response\" than others. ",
"Not the full answer by any means, but our stomach contains oxytocin receptors. Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that releases when we have comforting physical touch. In essence, by overeating we get a big food hug. There are likely individual differences in the size of food hug one can get, as well as how much needs said food hug. \n\nFunnily enough, I read this while eating peanut butter by the spoonful alone in my apartment. "
]
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[],
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||
5pxu4g | why does the sun rise at the about the same time in ny and miami today, but the sun sets almost an hour later in miami? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5pxu4g/eli5_why_does_the_sun_rise_at_the_about_the_same/ | {
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"text": [
"The further from the equator you get, the longer nights are in winter and the longer days are during summer. It's due to the tilt of the planet."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
bpiy8e | why do camera sets have particularly green coloured curtains for cgi and vfx and not any other colour? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bpiy8e/eli5_why_do_camera_sets_have_particularly_green/ | {
"a_id": [
"entnyy9"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"It is a color that is easy to exclude from the set. Red, yellow or brown might exclude skin tones or hair."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
4ghyqg | why are mri machine so loud? | Whenever I take an MRI there are always a ton of weird sounds and lots of noise. Why and where do they come from? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ghyqg/eli5_why_are_mri_machine_so_loud/ | {
"a_id": [
"d2hrnmv",
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"text": [
"An MRI scanner contains a huge magnet. However, to make images, it has to alter the magnetic field. \n\nIf you couldn't alter the magnetic field, you could only \"see\" 1 pixel. So to make an image, you need to warp the magnetic field to focus on a different region and then change the focus, so you get multiple pixels (actually, it's more complicated than that, but that's good enough for ELI5).\n\nSo, to warp the magnetic field in a controlled way, you need an electromagnet. Two magnets may attract or repel, depending on their alignment, so the controllable electromagnet gets attracted or repelled from the main magnet. \n\nThis is exactly what happens in a loudspeaker. You have a permanent magnet, and an electromagnet. The electromagnet is connected to the loudspeaker cone, and the force on the electromagnet gets transmitted to the cone.\n\nIn an MRI scanner, the electromagnet isn't connected to a cone, but because the forces on it are so huge (many tons) that it actually causes vibrations through the whole body of the scanner and magnet, so effectively the whole body of the scanner acts like a giant loudspeaker.\n\nYou get different sounds according to what particular type of scan is being performed. Some scans are down a row of pixels at a time, then there is a rest period of a second or so, so that the magnetization of the tissue being scanned can reset - these give a clunk...clunk...clunk.. sound, as there is a strong vibration as the magnetic field is warped to start a line. Some scans need to be done much faster, to the magnetic field is swept backwards and forwards without a rest period, this causes a beeping sound, as the warp magnets get a sine wave signal.",
"The biggest (mechaniccaly) part of an MRI is the magnet. It's a super-huge magnet. More powerfuler than Wile E. Coyote magnets! (If you have a metal chair somewhere else in the room it's going to suck it inside, just to give you an idea of how powerful we're talking about).\n\nFor reasons, inside this huge magnet there are lots of smaller electromagnets, which flip their orientation extremely fast (depends on the protocol, but something between 3/4 times a second to every 10 millisecond).\n\nWell, now, imagine flipping a magnet near another magnet. That's hard, isn't it? There's where the noise comes from. From the mechanical stress that these magnets undergo when flipping themselves inside this super-duper magnetic field"
]
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[],
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6mptm4 | how does it feel to code when your first language is not english? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6mptm4/eli5_how_does_it_feel_to_code_when_your_first/ | {
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"A lot of folks learned to code in English, even if English isnt their first language. Then thought processes become a function of how well you know that language .\n\nLike with doing other things for bilingual folks, sometimes we have domains of life that just makes more sense to think in one language over another. For example if I'm cooking a Chinese meal I read a Chinese recipe and run the process through in my mind using Chinese. If I'm making a North American meal it makes more sense to think it through in English. \n\nWhile I don't code in Mandarin personally, the folks I have talked to all switch to English when they code because they learned to code in English. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
eahvce | melting vs burning | ELI5 Why do some materials, such as wood, burn, while others, such as metal, melt? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eahvce/eli5_melting_vs_burning/ | {
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"text": [
"Fire requires three things: oxygen, fuel, and heat.\n\nSome materials, such as sand, water, and ash, have already been fully oxidized and won't burn any further even if heated. \n\nSome materials, such as metallic iron and aluminium, aren't reactive enough to burn faster than they cool down in atmospheric air, unless they're pulverized. \n\nSome materials, such as table salt, are bound to something more reactive than oxygen. \n\nSome materials, such as helium and argon, just don't care to react chemically. \n\nThe rest burn, if the temperature and oxygen concentration is high enough, though for things like gold the required conditions are impractical to reach with atmospheric air.",
"[TIFO made a vid about this very recently](_URL_0_)\n\nBetween the video and the answers everyone put here you have the complete answer. Hope it's useful for you"
]
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[],
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"https://youtu.be/sk0pq-KChBQ"
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|
3pvcd5 | how does dynamite work? | Is it an explosion of fire like in the movies burning everything when it explodes? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3pvcd5/eli5_how_does_dynamite_work/ | {
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"There is the old version which is gunpowder (salt peter, charcoal, and sulfer) which consists like most other chemical explosion, of an oxidizer, fuel, and stabilizer. Developed somewhere around the mid 1800s was nitro glycerine. Rather than burning like everything else up to the time, this destabilises, violently when a physical shock is applied. Not~~but~~ unlike how the bubbles escape soda when shook.\n\n Created in 1849, one of the creators blew apart some of his factory in the 60s, killing some people. This was so badass, they decided to make more, because that's just fun. Actually, construction demanded a faster speed explosion for (I'm guessing) the railroad.\n\nThere are perhaps 10 types of nitro. At one point, it was made more stable by adding sawdust. This helps to keep it from detonating from jarring *slightly*. It's this action that allows the nitro to explode by shooting with a gun. Old nitro (read dusty old, not old style) \"sweats\" and will either have droplets, or crystals formed. It USr not to be fucked with under any circumstances unless trained. /very serious\n\nEdited format, spelling, clarity.",
"Triple bonds between nitrogen atoms store a lot of energy and are very difficult to break apart",
"When ignited, dynamite detonates very rapidly. That means that what was a small unassuming blob of jelly almost instantly becomes a small angry blob of very hot, very compressed gas. Being hot and compressed it expands very rapidly, producing a pressure wave that can break rock, knock down walls, and internally pulverise living things. The huge fireballs in the movies are to look pretty; real explosions are much less flash and no fire, and more (and faster) shredding and destruction.\n",
"Dynamite is a mixture of nitro glycerin and any suitably stable compound.\n\nThe explosive agent is the afore-mentioned nitro, which explodes in a concussive blast when destabilized. Nothing in the reaction burns, so there is no flame at all, just a shockwave."
]
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cfw8ry | what are the differences between stocks and options? would starting to invest in option be a good idea? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cfw8ry/eli5_what_are_the_differences_between_stocks_and/ | {
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"Not bein rude/mean or anything at all...but if you have to ask what options are, you absolutely aren’t ready to invest in them. Basically you’re paying for the right to either buy a stock if it drops past a certain point, or the obligation to sell a stock if it hits a certain point. But that’s incredibly simply put and they can get super complicated.",
"Starting your investment life by investing in options is seldom a good idea unless you are willing to spend a lot of time (and likely some money) learning. The price movements are quite rapid and not at all what an inexperienced investor might expect.\n\nBuying stock is purchasing a partial ownership in the company. Companies, relatively speaking, are fairly durable and their value doesn't change much on a day to day basis absent some really unexpected development. \n\nAn option is a contractual agreement that you buy (or sell - but don't even try selling options until you understand them). The agreement is that the counterparty agrees to buy or sell you a particular asset (shares/stock usually, but there are also options in commodities - in fact most commodity trades are in options) for an agreed upon price. The key thing to note is that option contracts are time limited. When you purchase an option, you don't own the underlying asset - simply a right to buy or sell it within a certain period for a certain price. \n\nThere are many places on the internet (investopedia) to learn about options. For a sophisticated investor, it can be a form of hedging risk or to leverage their investment dollars. Because of that leverage effect, option prices are usually quite volatile.",
"ELI5? Assume you have a bicycle and I don't.\n\nI want to ride your bike occasionally so I give you some money and in exchange you grant me a *share* in the use of your bike; I now own *stock* in your bike. Later, I decide I don't really want to ride your bike any more so I sell the share of your bike back to you and you give me back some money in exchange. How much money I pay initially and how much money I receive back later might depend on how cool your bike is compared to other peoples bikes then and now, how much wear and tear I put on it, how many other people now have bikes, and so on. Also, perhaps instead of selling the share back to you I sell it to someone else instead - in fact, say a bunch of people who aren't necessarily bike owners get together and start *trading* the *shares* they have in those bikes, establishing a market for bike stocks; a *stock market*.\n\nNow consider the scenario where I don't want to own a share in riding your bike starting immediately because it hasn't been good riding weather, but I think I might want to have the *option* to *call* upon you *at some future date* to sell me that share in your bike because I expect conditions to improve. We haggle a bit and agree today on what that share might be worth in the future. I commit to pay the price we *strike,* but only if I eventually decide to *exercise* that right, and in exchange for granting me that right I will pay you a small *premium,* thus we have created an *option contract.* When a bunch of people start trading in these contracts among themselves they create an *options market*.\n\nUnlike shares which are a perpetual contractual agreement, options are *derived* from an underlying thing; the *share* in your bike. An *options contract* always has an *expiry date,* when the commitment and obligation vanishes, rendering it worthless afterwards. As such, options *compound* the risks associated with trading the underlying stock. There are valid strategies that trade options in conjunction with *investing* in the underlying stock, usually to *hedge* against certain types of future price changes, but *naked* options trading is purely *speculative* trading with a fixed time limit; **gambling**."
]
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||
2qokkx | why do schools separate boys and girls when there are so many gay/questioning kids? | (Wasn't sure how to word the question)
My High School had an over night field trip where you could choose who you room with, boys could only room with boys and girls could only room with girls. I assume a big factor in doing this is so that certain things won't happen, but if there are so many gay/questioning kids out there, isn't grouping the same sex just as harmful? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2qokkx/eli5why_do_schools_separate_boys_and_girls_when/ | {
"a_id": [
"cn81mnz",
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"text": [
"It eliminates the possibility of pregnancy at least.",
"There aren't so many. You might just have a bad perpective on the reality of it.\n\nOnly around 2-3% of the population of the US is gay, and that's adults. In your school (assuming maybe 1000 people) that means 20-30 gay people spread across seveal years, social circles and gender. It's simply not that likely to happen, the chance are almost non-existent compared to letting everyone mix with everyone.\n\nKids often don't really know until they are a bit older, and with the current stigma against being gay, a lot of kids aren't open about it in high school, so it's very unlikely that two gay kids would try anything together when they're surrounded by other people simply because they don't want to get shit for it."
]
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[],
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|
2w1ron | in non-english speaking countries, is there also a trend towards giving children 'unique' names? | We all know how some parents give children really weird names (like Awesome) or spell names differently on purpose (Emily - > Emalee). Is this a trend in non-English speaking countries as well? I think it might be hard in character-based languages (I noticed in the credits of a Japanese game that every name was pretty common). | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2w1ron/eli5_in_nonenglish_speaking_countries_is_there/ | {
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"text": [
"I'm from Sweden, I don't know if it's a trend but I can confirm that it's at least happening here to some degree. ",
"I have friends/family/acquaintances in Japan that have kids with some unique names -- either really old school or very new and kind of funky. One cool thing about naming in Japan is that you can pick the kanji for a name and then assign it a unique reading not related to any of its usual pronunciations, and I've seen people playing with that because they like \"this\" sound but want \"that\" meaning.",
"In Turkey, there's a huge trend. I don't even know the meaning of most of the today's children names.",
"I am from India and i am soon to be dad.. yes i am searching for unique name for my kid. i am not sure about the gender of my kid as gender identification is illegal in India. But I am shortlisting both gender names.\n"
]
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66zv5f | what's the difference between a cpu with integrated graphics and an apu? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/66zv5f/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_a_cpu_with/ | {
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"dgml4i7"
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"text": [
"A 'CPU with integrated graphics' is a technical description. \"APU\" is a brand name from AMD, like how \"Retina\" is a brand name from Apple describing a high DPI screen."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
1f25go | currency values. | How do people know how much money currency is worth from country to country or at another time? Not sure how to phrase this so I'll just give an example.
If $18 in 1969 is worth $95.58 in 2005 how did they come to that conclusion?
Also, I hear about how USD ($) can be exchanged for much more money in pesos. How does that work? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1f25go/eli5_currency_values/ | {
"a_id": [
"ca627mg"
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"Basically, statisticians have a list of normal, everyday items like food and clothing that are tracked as consumer goods. When the average price of those things goes up, it's an indication that the currency is experiencing inflation. That is to say, a given amount of face value of that currency is worth a smaller amount of goods now than it was before. This is summarised by a [consumer price index](_URL_0_), which is how you calculate approximately what a 1969 dollar is worth in 2005 money.\n\nIf currency markets were ideal, the exchange rates would be such that you would always buy pesos and get an equivalent amount of goods and services in Mexico for your pesos as you would get for your dollars in America. However, they're not that ideal and occasionally track very poorly. When this happens there is said to be a purchasing power disparity: someone who can work in one country and spend their money in another sees their money \"stretch further\" - they get the same goods and services for less time spent at work. \nOne intuitive demonstration of this is the [Big Mac Index](_URL_1_), which shows how much one roughly equivalent good (a McDonald's Big Mac) costs around the world if purchased using different currencies."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_price_index",
"http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index"
]
] |
|
7t3ypn | at times on the road we see dead rabbit or some kind of small animal on the road. i have always tried to drive around it and most people do. who removes them out of the road? is there an agency that takes care of it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7t3ypn/eli5_at_times_on_the_road_we_see_dead_rabbit_or/ | {
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"In most of the US the government (normally county level) employs a department that deals with roadkill, as well as fallen trees and random debris that may get onto roads. Sometimes this is just a couple of people (or even one for small counties) and sometimes it is large crews. Here in texas it can generally be handled by calling the non-emergency number for the police or sheriff and they will send the proper people. ",
"Depends on where you live.\n\nMany cities have an agency, typically animal control, that disposes of the carcasses. However, scavengers will typically drag the carcass of the road and dispose of it."
]
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[],
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||
8ydq7r | why do certain drug dealers lace their product? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8ydq7r/eli5_why_do_certain_drug_dealers_lace_their/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"I think there's two reasons for lacing things.\n1. Whatever they lace it with is usually cheaper than the drug they are selling so they profit more, similar to cutting it.\n2. Lacing something makes it seem more potent. If you smoke marijuana laced with someone you're going to think that guys stuff was the best you've bought compared to regular marijuana. If that gets word out that he's got the best stuff, then he doesn't care of a few people OD on the stuff. The thing about drug users is there's never a short supply. A few people die and even more take their places."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
9vewfv | what is the law regarding a supreme court justice that cannot physically sit in session and/or execute their duties? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9vewfv/eli5_what_is_the_law_regarding_a_supreme_court/ | {
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"text": [
"There is no law forcing a Justice to retire. When and if RBG recovers from her fall, if she chooses, she will resume her duties.\n\nThe other Justices have the right to defer cases until they see fit, as happened in 1974, when one Justice basically refused to go, but they can not remove them.\n\nEven if she goes into a persistent vegetative state, she remains a Justice until they pull the plug.",
"\"Justice Ginsburg took no part in the deciding of this case.\" Justices can recuse themselves any time without needing to provide a reason. [Here's a blog](_URL_0_) that tracks recusals.\n"
]
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[],
[
"https://fixthecourt.com/2015/03/took-no-part-vol-8-2/"
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||
2m2gpx | eye goobers. what bodily function causes it? | Furthermore, what is it? how does it form? why does it accumulate and only during sleep? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2m2gpx/eli5_eye_goobers_what_bodily_function_causes_it/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"It's called [rheum](_URL_0_). \n\nShort of it: Your eyes discharge fluid with stuff in it (mucus, dried skin flakes, etc). While awake, you blink and clear it away. While asleep you don't. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheum"
]
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|
1p0oeh | stock prices and splits | How do I determine how many shares a company starts off with and how do splits affect the number of shares? Also, what is volume (is it the number of shares the company currently has?)? X-x | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1p0oeh/eli5_stock_prices_and_splits/ | {
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" > what is volume?\n\nVolume is the total number of shares listed by the company, so yes there are a finite number of shares a company has on the stock market.\n\n > How do I determine how many shares a company starts off with?\n\nA company that wishes to issue stock will have what is know as an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Leading up to this the they will enlist the services on a bank (usually an investment bank) to be an underwriter, what this means is that the bank will look over their financial situation, and what they plan for their IPO and decide whether or not to agree to sell that companies stock. They will also hire a team of lawyers an accountants and such to deal with all the legal and financial requirements. On the day of the IPO the stock becomes available to the public in whatever quantity and price the company stipulated. \n\n > how do splits affect the number of shares? \n\nWhen a company decides to split its stock it simply divides the total volume of shares by whatever number it decides and adjusts the price so that the total value of the shares stays the same. Someone who owned 100 shares at $10 per share now owns 200 shares at $5 per share.\n\n",
"When a company is first incorporated, the founders can choose to issue any arbitrary number of shares and set any starting dollar value for the shares. Of course, when they try to sell them to other people they might have to negotiate a different price! Usually, however, this very first batch of shares is sold to the founders and their very close family.\n\nAt some later time, the directors of the corporation (who are elected by the shareholders to lead the company) can choose to issue more shares. These shares can be of the same class or a different class than the first batch, but let's assume they are all the same class for simplicity. The directors can also, in theory, set any price for the shares and issue any number of them, though once again there will need to be a negotiation with the prospective buyers. Also, at this stage and afterwards, the directors owe a very strong legal and moral obligation to the existing shareholders not to make their shares worth less due to this new deal. Note: this is not a stock split.\n\nOne day, if the company is successful and needs to grow much larger, the directors may choose to \"take the company public\" by issuing an IPO, or Initial Public Offering. This is a large issue of new shares like before, but also allows all the shares to be easily bought and sold by anyone in the world using automated computer systems, rather than the traditional way of having buyers and sellers get together and negotiate in person.\n\nAfter some time as a publicly-traded company, it may come to pass that the price of each share rises too high to be convenient for trades. Prospective investors don't want to buy $300 shares... they might be more comfortable with buying $50 shares. This is a human psychology thing, and can also affect transaction costs. So, the directors of the company might choose to perform a stock split, in this case perhaps six-for-one. If this is done, then on the day of the split everyone who currently owns shares in the company will automatically receive five additional shares for each share he owns. Naturally, the value of each share will drop to one-sixth of its original value. Then everyone just carries on as before with a larger number of less valuable shares. (The opposite of a stock split is a stock amalgamation, which is done when the price becomes too low to be convenient, and is usually seen as a bad sign for the company.)\n\nVolume is the number of shares of a company that has traded hands in a given period of time, usually in one day. Shares that trade hands more than once per period are counted each time they are traded, so the volume can be less than, equal to, or even greater than the total number of shares outstanding, even over the course of a few minutes.\n"
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1d38sn | the plot of 'the great gatsby' | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1d38sn/eli5the_plot_of_the_great_gatsby/ | {
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" > Be student that wants to learn about bond\n\n > move to this new city called West egg in Long island\n\n > Only relatives I have at this place is my cousin, Daisy\n\n > She's a solid 7/10, married to some compulsive asshole named Tom\n\n > Cheats on her with this whore, Myrtle, who is also married\n\n > Tom keeps his relationship in the down low and always have sex parties with Myrtle and bunch of plebs\n\n > Be at dinner with Daisy and Tom when first arrived\n\n > introduced me to Jordan, she's pretty cute, 8/10\n\n > started dating\n\n > feelsgoodman.jpg\n\n > Learn about this \"legendary guy\" named Jay Gatsby\n\n > Jay is this rich guy that throw amazing parties, rich, charming, as alpha as you can get basically\n\n > Got invited to his party, about to shit my pants\n\n > went to the party, first intimidated by Jay \n\n > He called me old sport, English gentleman type\n\n > totally cool, doesn't have an ego or anything\n\n > started chit chatting away about his past\n\n > found out that he actually knows my cousin Daisy from back in the day\n\n > bought his house, located in the East Egg, which is directly across the river from Daisy's house\n\n > would peak at the house at night just to get a glimpse of her\n\n > stalker mode \n\n > After party, found out that Jay and Daisy already started hooking up\n\n > fast forward a couple of days\n\n > That whore Myrtle be taunting Tom about Daisy will cheat on Tom with Jay\n\n > Tom punched Myrtle in the nose for being a whore\n\n > lol.tiff\n\n > Tom took the bait\n\n > drove all the way to meet Gatsby, confront him\n\n > Found Jay and Daisy together, flipped shit\n\n > told Daisy that Jay is actually an alcohol bootlegger, which is why he is so rich\n\n > Daisy is uncertain, due to moral reason she decided to side with tom\n\n > allofmywut.mp3\n\n > Later found out Gatsby truck hit Myrtle\n\n > Jay explained that it was Daisy who was driving the truck when it happened\n\n > Jay decided to take the blame because he's a manly man, alpha as fuck\n\n > Tom's a sore loser at this point, took the opportunity to ruin Jay\n\n > Told Myrtle's husband George that Jay killed his wife, add a bunch of random bullshit to make George mad\n\n > pleb George is retarded so took the bait and raged\n\n > Went over to Jay's house, found Jay swimming in the pool\n\n > shot him, then fucking killed himself because George is a coward faggot\n\n > TFW my alpha British bro just died\n\n > Decided to hold a funeral, barely anyone showed up\n\n > too jaded to stay in this shitty town\n\n > broke up with Jordan and went back home\n\nMFW I am Nick."
]
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[]
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||
28sakt | how does google adwords work exactly. i tried reading about it. baffles and confused me. auctioning? what? huh? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28sakt/eli5_how_does_google_adwords_work_exactly_i_tried/ | {
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"People search for different things on Google and some things are searched more often than others so Google can rank these words into a list. If the word is really rare, like maybe your own company name which is unique, you'll only pay a cent or two if someone clicks that ad and comes to your site through it.\n\nAdvertisers usually want to get ad space from the most popular search terms and Google then basically pits them up against each other. The advertisers bid the price of the ad space higher and higher and advertising on keywords like \"led tv\" can thus be very expensive.\n\nThat's the basic gist of it."
]
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[]
] |
||
4c0ibf | why are we not supposed to sit close to a tv but computer monitors and phones are okay within inches of our eyes? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4c0ibf/eli5why_are_we_not_supposed_to_sit_close_to_a_tv/ | {
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"text": [
"You can sit close to the TV. That's a myth, like all Asians are smart. In any case we have to look closer at phones because of screen size, so regardless of health we have to do it.",
"Early CRT TVs produced a reasonable amount of X-rays. The way to remain safe is to reduce the amount of X-rays that reach you, and the best way do do that is to allow them to spread out - by keeping a reasonable distance from the source.\n\nBut this problem was designed away long ago. As CRT TVs are no longer used, this is now not even a possibility."
]
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[],
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||
7rb94c | what makes american football so popular and how dangerous can it be? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7rb94c/eli5_what_makes_american_football_so_popular_and/ | {
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"It has a lot of depth, and is extremely physical, making it a rather exciting watch. A large portion of the game is to physically stop people from tackling who ever has the ball. This makes the game more exciting, but it also makes the game prone to injury. \n\nThe only way you can block is to use your body as a wall. Punching, kicking and grabbing are not allowed. Smashing into your intended target is the only way to tackle or stop someone from tackling. \n\nTechnology has advanced to allow for theoretically safer play, but people have been arguing for sometime if this is actually true. At any rate the game stills leads to frequent injuries. ",
"One of the things that makes football popular is it is a really good TV sport. Baseball doesn't fit into the screen right and you never know how long the game is going to be, hockey has part of the rink blocked from view, and soccer doesn't give much opportunity for commercial breaks. Football is almost custom made for TV, and to some degree it was.\n\nFootball is one of the more violent sports, but only playing a 16 game schedule mitigates this somewhat. They do wear a lot of protection, but that just lets them hit harder, so that is something of a wash. Currently, there is a big controversy on concussions, with a lot of retired players showing signs of serious brain injuries. Retire players also show a higher incident of neck, back, and leg related disabilities.",
"I LOVE watching football. It's like a physical chess match. Rather than a continuous flow of teams passing, stealing, and shooting their object (ball, puck), football is a line of specific, discrete moves.\nUnlike baseball, which also is linear rather than continuous, football matches 11 guys against 11 guys, all of whom MUST do their job's correctly for the move to be successful, not just a pitcher against ALL the batters.\nA lot of people condemn football, saying it's too quarterback-centric, however, the reality is, the quarterback is only functional if his offensive line gives him time, and his receivers can elude their defenders AND catch ball WHILE being hit hard! Case in point, 3 of the 4 QBs in this playoff weekend are back-ups (even 3rd string).\nSome sports, like Basketball, can be extremely \"super-star\" driven, meaning if you have a \"super-star\" you win, if you don't, you don't. Football is designed to have parity. Generally if a team is dominant, its because of the coaching staff. Furthermore, if your defense can't stop the opposing offense, it doesn't matter how strong your QB is.\nThe New England Patriots have created all of their success utilizing players other teams threw away or overlooked. They have a knack for developing players and utilizing them in a way that confuses other teams. Although being the reigning dynasty for almost 2 decades, they've only produces a small hand-full of \"super-stars\"."
]
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36mgwx | how is there still a market for rhino horn if the species is so endangered? is there no environmental consciousness or sense of guilt in the countries where rhino horn is sold? (i.e. how do purchasers live with themselves?) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/36mgwx/eli5_how_is_there_still_a_market_for_rhino_horn/ | {
"a_id": [
"crf6qfg",
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"It's hard to imagine that the people who do that *ever* had a sense of environmental consciousness or guilt about it, considering what they're doing. \n\nAll the change in the swing of things for everyone else has done has made it more of a challenge for them. Consciously, they're no more bothered than they ever were. ",
"It's thought to be an aphrodisiac in China and has a very long history in Chinese medicine. I hate to say those Chinese just don't respect the environment but its a little more complex. When culture crosses with environmentalism sparks fly. Just consider the blowback over global warming in the religious right in the US. \n"
]
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[],
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||
6z7rn3 | what is v-sync? adaptive v-sync? g-sync? freesync? how do they relate? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6z7rn3/eli5what_is_vsync_adaptive_vsync_gsync_freesync/ | {
"a_id": [
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"Most screens have a fixed refresh-rate. \nThis means that the image will be updated some number of time per second, always (usually 60).\n\nIf you have a video source (like a game), that produces frames at a different rate than the screen consumes them weird things will happen\n\nFor example, if the game emit a frame while the screen is refreshing you will end up with half of the previous frame and half of the next ([that's tearing](_URL_0_)) \nIf the game emits frame out of sync with the screen (or with variable framerate) some frames will be displayed a long time after being emitted causing stutters.\n\nV-Sync, Adaptive V-sync, G-Sync, Freesync, are ways to solve this problems. \n\n * V-Sync: The game wait for the screen to have finished updating to begin a new frame. This way, if the the game framerate is close enough to the screen's refresh-rate they will stay in sync and you won't have as much tearing/stutter\n * Adaptive V-sync: Basically V-sync but disable itself if the game is slower/faster than the screen.\n * G-sync, Freesync: These require special screens with variable refresh-rates. The screen will refresh itself only when the game emits a new frame, completely removing both tearing and stutters. (G-Sync is the nVidia tech while freesync is the open one)"
]
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[
"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Tearing_%28simulated%29.jpg/1200px-Tearing_%28simulated%29.jpg"
]
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||
3mod6k | why does what i see, and the photo my phone camera takes of the moon, differ so drastically? | I have an iphone 5, but the problem doesn't seem to be limited to just my phone. Every photo I've seen on facebook shows the moon as a distant dot in a field of black, whereas in person it's much clearer. Is there a simple science-y reason as to why this happens? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mod6k/eli5_why_does_what_i_see_and_the_photo_my_phone/ | {
"a_id": [
"cvgpclq"
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"text": [
"You eyes have a wide field if view - on a camera that would be a wide angle lens. The iPhone had a relatively wide angle lens (not as wide as your eyes, but when your taking a picture of the moon, it's wide).\n\nThe difference comes in the sensor. The moon takes up very little space in the sky and is thus tiny in the wide field of view of both your iPhone and your eye. The phone dedicates the whole sensor to resolving the whole field of view of the lens, and so the moon only gets a few pixels. If you use a telescope and hold your iPhone camera up to it or get a lens attachment to attach a DSLR to it, you can make the field of view just cover the moon and thus dedicate much more resolution to moon making for a better picture.\n\nYour brain on the other hand works differently. While your eyes have a wide field of view, your brain is smart. When you look at the moon, which is relatively small in the field of view of your eyes, your brain knows you're just focusing on the moon, so it doesn't bother putting much effort into looking at the rest of the sky and instead works hardest on getting as much detail out of there moon as it can.\n\nTL;DR your eyes/brain with differently than cameras.\n"
]
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[]
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|
bcboo1 | how does your fingerprint grow back? | Recently completely destroyed the part of my thumb where my fingerprint is, but it grew back and I was interested. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bcboo1/eli5_how_does_your_fingerprint_grow_back/ | {
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"It depends on the degree of burn or severity of the injury.\n\nFirst degree burns only affect the epidermal layer, and when it is regenerated by the underlying dermis it will have essentially the same whorls and ridges—unless there was severe mechanical deformation—like severe blistering and tearing.\n\nSecond degree burns affect both the epidermis and the dermis, but the later not completely. The dermis first has to regenerate from whatever is left of it, and then it regenerates the epidermis. Barring severe, extensive or very deep damage (destruction or tearing), the epidermis recovers partially its whorls and ridges, but usually with some deformation.\n\nBut third degree burns destroy both dermal layers, and even some deep tissue. With enough medical care it is possible to recover the dermal layer—even if that requires a skin transplant—and the dermal layer will usually (with some help) regenerate the epidermal layer. But many times the whorls and ridges will be missing or too thin, and even when present they will be completely different.\n\nEdit: \nTL;DR: Basically we have ridges beneath the surface of our skin which are responsible for the formation of fingerprints. As long as they are left unharmed, your fingerprints will regrow along with your skin",
"I heard that people that work on orange/lemon farms without gloves for too long don't have fingerprints due to the acid on the fruit's peel. Not sure if it's a myth, could anyone confirm?",
"And the other question is , \"Are they a genetic trait, passed down - at least for the general patterns of arch, loop and whorl?\"",
"I’m actually missing about 20% of the prints of my left middle and ring finger, tbh I don’t remember what injury caused the scaring but it makes fingerprinting me extremely difficult which has presented itself as a slight issue as a law enforcement recruit when every agency wants your prints\n\nPhoto: hard to tell by photo but here’s a slight look _URL_0_",
"Your fingerprints come from ridges deep in your skin. When you superficially damage your skin, the ridges deep in your skin stay safe so the fingerprints come back when your skin heals.",
"I cut off about a third of my left middle finger years ago but effectively the saw only took the top half of the finger, bone included so I had just the fatty pad of my finger tip remaining. Doctors just folded the flap around and sewed it up such that my finger print is still intact but rolls all the way onto the top of my finger so my fingerprint is viewable looking at the top side of my hand",
"The subdermal layer is like the template for a human skin 3d printer. If that layer gets damaged, it copies it when growing new skin, and that's why you have scars. If the damage doesn't go that deep, it will grow back normally",
"Can someone explain how i cut my finger and my fingerprint had a missing piece for about a year and a half, then grew back magically?",
"Imagine your skin is an escalator, going up. \n\nAt the bottom of the escalator (basal cells), new skin cells are generated. They push up the skin above it constantly, adding pressure. As they push, and are pushed from new cells underneath *them*, they keep getting flatter and flatter. Eventually they keratinize (harden), resulting in the outer later of skin you see with your eyes. After enough time (30-ish days), they slough away.\n\nSo long as you don't totally destroy those cells at the basal layer, they will always renew and push cells back up to the top. If you *do* destroy them, part of the friction ridge skin pattern will be destroyed. That's why when you get super deep cuts, you get a scar... the rest of those cells are pushing inwards to close the wound, and disrupt the ridgeflow.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nSource: I am a forensic specialist."
]
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"https://imgur.com/gallery/U5uq87O"
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7ymqmt | what do the canards at the end of an airplane wing do? | I’m sitting at MCO looking at a United (N36447 for those that want to deep dive on info) passenger jet ready to board and notice at the wing tip instead of having the 1- 90* up canard it has a second one coming off at a different angle. What are they for and why does this plane have 2?
Edit: pic added [canards in question ](_URL_0_) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7ymqmt/eli5_what_do_the_canards_at_the_end_of_an/ | {
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"duhnesi",
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"text": [
"Do you mean the wingtips? They help with aerodynamics, reducing wing vortices and thus reducing drag.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Canards are something else. Most modern planes have “wingtip devices” or winglets. They help to smooth the transition in airflow at the end of the wing without making the plane wider, and reduce the vortex that usually appears at the wingtip, improving fuel efficiency. They come in various shapes, and the forked one you saw apparently does a better job of blocking swirling motion around the wingtip.\n\n_URL_0_\n_URL_1_",
"I think you mean wingtip devices. The interaction of the end of a wing in the air has some interesting properties. Basically if you leave the wing straight on the end, you lose lift over the last 5-10% of the wing. It also creates additional drag and produces wingtip vortexes. \n\nThe wingtip device helps the tip of the wing generate lift and cut down the amount of drag the end of a wing produces. "
]
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"https://imgur.com/gallery/VAf03"
] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_tip"
],
[
"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingtip_device",
"https://gizmodo.com/how-these-simple-scimitar-winglets-make-the-737-a-whole-837341873"
],
[]
] |
|
9g33p0 | when it comes to sending packets across the internet, how does a router know it has reached the right ip address? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9g33p0/eli5_when_it_comes_to_sending_packets_across_the/ | {
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"You are not the only 192.168.0.1 - but the 192.168.x.x range as well as a few others are special in that they're only allowed to exist on *private* networks.\n\nIf I take an example of a public IP address - let's go for 139.143.5.31\t which is a public time server - that's an IP that exists on the internet, and there will only be one machine with that IP, it won't be reproduced elsewhere.",
"Just picture a postal service. The IP is your address. So I write the address on a package and give it to the package handler so to say. He sends the package to the address (your router). The package doesn't know it arrived. And yes, ips are unique. Some isps use shared ip-addresses but even then, inside you still have a unique IP address.",
"Firstly, that is not your true IP. That is your local router's IP. To see your internet IP, Google \"What is my IP?\"\n\nSecondly, yes, you are the only one in the world with your IP. Beside some IPs being reserved for things like local networks (all devices connected to wifi for example), each IP corresponds to a unique router in the world. "
]
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3ezdtb | why do people react with disgust to cecil the lion being killed, and then happily suggest killing the dentist? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ezdtb/eli5_why_do_people_react_with_disgust_to_cecil/ | {
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"Questions that are subjective or asking for/about opinions are not what ELI5 is for. That doesn't mean your question is bad, it would just fit better in another subreddit. Try /r/askreddit, /r/nostupidquestions, or another more general \"ask\" subreddit. This post has been removed. "
]
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[]
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||
g1jg9u | how do you find finite vector spaces? | ELI5:
The problem I was given was:
Give an example of a finite vector space V over a finite field F such that V = V1 ∪ V2 ∪ V3 ∪ V4, where the Vk are proper subspaces.
I am struggling to understand this, so could someone please explain? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/g1jg9u/eli5_how_do_you_find_finite_vector_spaces/ | {
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"fng6lwo"
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"text": [
"I found this set largely by trial and error, so if anyone can find another or has a better way to generate them, I'd love to hear it.\n\nConsider the vertices of a 1x1x1 cube (that is, the 3-dimensional vector space over F = {0, 1}), with the origin at one vertex. Note that the proper subspaces here are lines and planes through the origin (and the origin itself, but that's boring). In particular, the three faces of the cube passing through the origin are all subspaces, so let's call them V1, V2, V3. And the only point we miss with those is (1, 1, 1), so let's call the line through that V4. It's easy to check that each is a proper subspace and that every point in the vector space belongs to at least one of them."
]
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[]
] |
|
1pei0p | why do our ears pick up noise in complete silence? | In other words, why is silence so loud? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1pei0p/eli5_why_do_our_ears_pick_up_noise_in_complete/ | {
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"Because it's not complete silence. Your body is making noise, both internally and externally: your heartbeat, breathing, food digesting, clothes rubbing together. There's small noises all around you: air moving, clocks ticking, your butt rubbing against the chair.\n\n*complete* silence is very difficult to achieve.",
"here's a room that's absolutely silent. people can't stand to be in it for more than 45minutes.\n\n_URL_0_"
]
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[],
[
"http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/04/05/how-long-could-you-last-in-the-worlds-quietest-room-the-record-is-only-45-minutes/"
]
] |
|
3qgs4m | why does consistently crumpling a piece of paper make it soft? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qgs4m/eli5_why_does_consistently_crumpling_a_piece_of/ | {
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"text": [
"Paper is made up of a bunch of stiff fibers. When you fold the paper you are breaking up the fibers along that line, which makes the paper softer there."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
3j6jgw | why do some buildings/plazas have a new restaurant almost every year in many cities? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3j6jgw/eli5_why_do_some_buildingsplazas_have_a_new/ | {
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"text": [
"About half of all new restaurants fail within their first year of business. ",
"Find few reasons below:\n1. Demand is high enough for another shop\n2. They are trying to create a trend/fashion by opening them restaurants in major cities so people see them everywhere\n3. New shop is part of their brand advertisement\n4. Major cities ask for them shops as part of their development plans\n5. To test if the heat in that area is good enough to bring more profits in the business, of course after they did their survey.\n\nThere are other reasons behind this but i think the above are the major ones."
]
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5gmfd3 | maybe not like i'm 5, but how does a country deport someone if they have no records of where they live, family, etc.? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5gmfd3/eli5_maybe_not_like_im_5_but_how_does_a_country/ | {
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"Aside from border checkpoints and other ports of entry into the country, there really aren't any usual immigration checks. Undocumented immigrants usually get picked up by law enforcement during a raid on a place that's known to hire people without work permits or during another encounter with police (traffic stop, arrest, etc.). If you can't prove that you have status to be in the United States, then you'll go to a detention center and have a case started in immigration court. \n\nAt the detention center, someone from the government will ask you where you're from and for proof. If you don't tell them and have no proof, you might end up staying in the detention center for a long time. Even then, they can often figure out where you're from based on your accent, language, etc. If you tell them but don't have proof, they'll try to get records in the country you tell them. If you tell them and have proof, that makes it easy to determine what to do.\n\nOnce immigration authorities have determined where you're from, you'll have a hearing on your deportability. Sometimes these happen in courtrooms within the detention center with several detainees at once. Sometimes they happen in courtrooms outside of the detention center (you can get bail from a detention center) and take years. If the court finds that you're deportable and don't have a defense to staying, then you'll likely be scheduled on the next bus/plane to your home country.\n\nYou're right that they can't just drive people to the border and kick them out. The reason is that you have to deport someone to their home country. For example, we can't deport people who come from Syria to Mexico.\n\nIf you can't return to your home country for some reason (you'll be tortured there, you'll be persecuted there because of your political or religious beliefs or your race, we don't have relations with your home country (e.g., Cuba), etc.) then you can get asylum or some other special status to remain in the country.",
"If they are caught at a border checkpoint they are deported to the country they are coming from. If they are caught at an airport or some other place in country they are taken to a detention center till they can determine where you are from. That means you may be detained for a long time, potentially life. \n\nAs for claiming asylum, that is an official process, and one cannot do if you enter illegally. The act of that crime rules you ineligible to claim asylum. "
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||
s4iun | why doesn't reddit simply hire the guy who makes reddit enhancement suite (res) and make those features part of reddit? | It seems so obvious that there must be an underlying reason why they don't.
EDIT: Thanks for everyone who chimed in. Unfortunately, like three of the top four most upvoted replies are jokes, so you kinda have to dig down to find an actual answer. I like [Lucas_Steinwalker's](_URL_0_).
EDIT 2: Check out the responses from the RES team, [honestbleep](_URL_2_) and [solidwhetstone](_URL_1_) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/s4iun/eli5_why_doesnt_reddit_simply_hire_the_guy_who/ | {
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"Go put this in the suggest the admins place. \nMy guess? Legal constraints, proprietary licensing, copy write integrity, and budget issues. etc. Maybe they have and he just said no because he makes more on his own? No idea...\nIt would just be a mess, especially if he couldn't work from home.",
"Nice try, guy who makes RES.",
"Why buy the cow when you get the sex for free?",
"When a person makes something for free, it seems silly to pay them for doing what they already do.",
"It might increase server load which results in more costs for reddit.\n\nAdditionally, some people might not want the added benefits (and perhaps confusion) of RES.",
"Not everyone likes RES.",
"Reddit is like four guys. Hiring another guy would be a big deal.",
"I also have to imagine that RES requires more intrusion into user privacy with browser tweaks and stored data and such. It's not the kind of thing you'd want by default, considering privacy concerns, but it's nice to have as an optional add-on.",
"Not everyone wants those features. Some may, especially the hardcore reddit users, but perhaps the majority of people browsing reddit do not fall into that category. \n\nIts just like why doesn't Google incorporate all of the GO sms and GO launcher features in their Android operating system even tons of people use them",
"Because not everyone wants it. Reddit has too many users for making really big changes like this. Also I've heard that there are problems with some things (for example legal problems with displaying linked pictures in Reddit because it doesn't show any advertisement that might be on picture site).",
"some features, such as inline pictures, count as copyright infringement. at the very least it's hotlinking, which is frowned upon as well.",
"I've seen this asked before and he responded that he was offered a job but is happy with the job he has now.",
"I'm not sure how this fits into the niche Q/A community of ELI5, it seems better fit for AskReddit or maybe a subreddit more focused on Reddit itself?",
"Side note: holy crap that was the easiest install in history. ",
"Because some people think RES is annoying as hell.",
"While it might be a vailid question, I'm not sure that this is an ELI5 question...",
"RES is \"client-side\", meaning your browser is what is doing the processing. \n\nReddit is \"server-side\", meaning reddit's web/database/caching servers are doing the processing.\n\nThis gives several reasons why the idea you suggest would not be useful or feasible:\n\n1. The current code of RES cannot just be plopped into reddit's code and work. RES takes the content of a Reddit page, modifies it and displays it in the browser. Implementing RESs features to be a part of the native page render from the server side is an entirely different thing. honestbleeps may be of some use to assist with implementing RES features in reddit's code base but there is no reason to believe that is necessarily true. He may not be skilled at doing the kind of coding required to implement RES's features on the server-side reddit codebase. Coding something and having to consider how it will work in a complex environment with thousands of simultaneous connections is very different than coding something where everything is happening locally on the system for 1 user. Plus reddit is python, I think and RES is javascript. Honestbleeps may not know python (or whatever reddit was developed with)\n\n2. RES's features are very resource intensive and it would be entirely impossible to implement them all for all users with reddit's current infrastructure. Until recently reddit was having a hard time keeping up with daily load. Offloading RES's features onto the Reddit servers would most likely require a huge infrastructure investment.\n\nI just do not see a business reason for them to undertake an enormous project with huge infrastructure and development costs to implement an entire suite of features that are already available in a high quality client side plugin. ",
"I've seen this asked before, and IIRC people from the reddit team have replied back in the past saying that a lot of the features of RES haven't been incorporated directly into the site because they go against the spirit of reddit. For instance, one argument I remember was with regards to how RES allows users to ban certain domains from their frontpage. This sounds nice but it circumvents the whole point of self-moderation. In other words the quality of a subreddit will only be maintained if users are self moderating via upvotes/downvotes rather than just ignoring the posts they don't want to see.\n\nEDIT: I can't seem to find any links though so you'll have to just take my word for it. Also I agree with Chrisss88, this doesn't really seem like an ELI5 question. You might want to x-post to /r/AskReddit, it might get more attention there anyway.",
"On the topic of RES, does anyone know how to turn off the feature for never-ending Reddit? I psychologically NEED Reddit to be able to end. Or I will NEVER get work done.\n\n\nEVER.",
"Why is this in ELI5? This should be in AskReddit.\nAnswer: Because the big boy who made has RES has a better job and Reddit wouldn't pay them enough.",
"why pay someone when they will do it for free.",
"While it's best as a browser extension, I don't see why reddit doesn't enter a partnership of some sort with honestbleeps and suggest RES to new account creators and, occasionally, to anonymous visitors.",
"he makes it free no? why pay him to do it.",
"It sometimes happens. My ex-husband worked for a company that improved many features of Windows immensely. It was called Autoprof and then Desktop Standard. It was so good, Microsoft bought the product line, and all of us using Windows 7 are now using code my ex-husband wrote in a little office in seacoast NH! \n\nOh, well, they bought him, as well, and he went off to Seattle, so some was written there. But fuck Seattle. And fuck Microsoft.",
"1. It's a radical change, not everyone would be happy with it. \n\n2. It would require a lot of work. Maybe honestbleeps would be doing it for free, but why bother rewriting everything when it already works perfectly as is. \n\n3. It would increase server load, saving comments, user tags, filters, etc. Right now this is all done client-side since this is a client-side script, but making it server-wide would require that data be stored and retrieved from Reddit's servers. It's not ideal for a website already struggling with server load. \n\nFrankly, there's no single good reason to bother with this. Those who want RES can have it and it will work great for them. For the rest of us, we don't need to deal with the bugs and downtime it could potentially bring. ",
"This comment will likely get buried, but I am the 'other half' of the RES team (aka the guy who does less work), and I can tell you the main reason why honestbleeps won't go work for reddit out in california.\n\n**IT'S ALL A BIG CONSPIRACY!**\n\nOk kidding. The reality is that honestbleeps has too much love for Chicago and the Blackhawks. He refuses to move away. I'm sure if they opened an office in chicago, he could be bribed to work for reddit, but until that happens- he plans on staying put in [the motherland](_URL_0_).",
"I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet: Usability.\n\nI'm an avid RES user. Some of the features, like the comment tracking, I find invaluable. Others, merely a novelty. But they're there because I chose to activate them, and because I don't mind a bit of cruft in my Reddit -- I've been using it for years, and know it fairly well.\n\nImagine, however, that all the RES features were enabled for every new person who joined. No, really. Try and imagine it. Explain to someone who just stumbled here what the Dashboard is, or what the difference is between clicking my name, \"preferences\" or that mysterious cogwheel. What does l+c mean? Hell, what do all the *numbers* mean?\n\nRES is tailored for people who are already familiar with Reddit. While some features can easily be of use to new users, the suite as a whole isn't.",
"Why not put a link on the main page of Reddit, so that every user knows about it and has the option to install it? I'm sure a vast majority of people have no idea it's even around or what it does. \n\nThe chrome install is so easy, even a cave man could do it. ",
"Hi. I'm way late to this party and will never be seen, but I'm the guy who wrote RES! There's a lot of half-good information in here... i'll try and clarify a few things...\n\n1) I want to make very clear that Reddit has never offered to hire me. One time, during a stint where they did want to do some hiring, they offered to let me skip their \"test\" process and go straight to an interview. This is not a job offer. I politely declined, as I was happily and stably employed, etc.\n\nI will say, however, that there is truth to the fact that I love Chicago too much to leave... All I ever wanted since I was a little kid was season tickets to the Blackhawks... I have them now, and I can't fathom letting them go just yet.\n\n2) There's only some truth to the \"it would be more server load\" argument. A lot of things would require virtually no extra server load. For example, the \"full comments\" link is an absurdly simple thing that Reddit could add but doesn't. I'm not criticizing them for this, mind you -- they may not believe it's best for *all* users to have that link as it adds yet another link to every item on the page, etc... but it certainly wouldn't increase server load.\n\nThe vast majority of RES's features requires little to no database related stuff, and would likely not increase server load in a measurable way.\n\nOther claims are accurate... yes - a place to store user tags, etc would mean a bit more of a hit to the server. No argument there.\n\n3) With regards to \"honestbleeps may not have the skill set to go from front end code to back end code\"... well, I'm not insulted by that because it's a perfectly valid thing to think. However, I will say that my background is actually more in writing backend code and *less* in front end. My front end expertise has mostly been developed in the past few years of my 25+ years of programming (yes, 25+, if you count Apple Basic from when I was a kid, etc)...\n\n\nNow, to actually answer the ELI5 question... There are likely a number of reasons Reddit hasn't \"just hired me\"...\n\nFirst and foremost - I've just made a cool browser addon. It's not like it's some foregone conclusion that I've proven I'm worthy of being hired by Reddit. I'm just some guy.\n\nSecondly - a lot of people hate RES. Now, i'd argue that they didn't give it a chance - because 9 times out of 10 when I see someone say they hated it, they complained about things that could easily be turned off with about 2-3 clicks of a button. However, that also means maybe I could learn a thing or two about making facts like that more obvious to users, doesn't it?\n\nAnother issue is a \"legal\" or at least \"ethical\" one... One of the biggest selling points of RES is the inline image viewer. It allows you to view images inline without loading the entire page that's being linked to. In reality, this takes away ad impressions from those image hosts. Thankfully, most of the image hosts RES supports are in there with the permission (and even request!) of the owners of those hosts. Still - those hosts may well make a chunk of their livelihood off of Reddit's non-RES-using users... imgur, for example, is almost exclusively fueled by Reddit (or at least seems to be... I've never seen people use that host elsewhere unless they are users who learned about it here)... \n\nThen there is the issue of frequent change irritating users...\n\nYes, many of RES's changes aren't all that major... but some are - otherwise you wouldn't see posts (including in this very thread) from people saying \"I hated that shit and uninstalled immediately\"...\n\nI also think it's sort of a benefit to reddit that RES is a browser addon - because it can almost serve as a testing ground for great new features that's only rolled out to people who've signed up to get those updates... If Reddit loves something, \"borrows\" it from RES and incorporates it -- cool! In fact, they've done that in a few minor instances.\n\nUltimately, I am flattered every time I see someone suggesting \"why doesn't Reddit hire that RES guy!\", but it's worth noting that for every 1 of those, there are 10 \"ew, I uninstalled that crap\" people, and probably 20 messages, emails, or posts to [/r/Enhancement](/r/Enhancement) about bugs or \"design failures\" or \"you suck and your code sucks and I hope you die\" sort of notes...\n\nI do wish I had more time to work on RES, because I have some pretty grandiose ideas for it... alas, my full time job does get in the way of my hobby coding ;-)",
"Again this is one of those questions that belong in AskReddit.",
"For once I won't cut in line by replying to something not entirely related to my comment...\n\nI've read the arguments for/against and as a fellow 25+ years of working software developer I can understand and agree with everything Honestbleeps and the Reddit guys are saying.\n\nBut what I think they *ought* to do is make the RES an official Reddit product and have it installable with just a single click or two right from the reddit front page.\n\nAs it is now, you do have to go to a tiny bit of effort to find it and install it, ad this could definitely be improved.\n\nBut my main point of interest is whether the Reddit team couldn't actually make use of RES to *reduce* server load. Currently RES does a lot of stuff by loading data only when the user asks for it, like the inline image expansion, and other stuff. I would have thought that the Reddit team could see a ton of ways to use this idea to keep the data required for the initial page load to a minimum.\n\nThis is not so much for the 'front page' view, but for the comments view. But either way I'm sure the Reddit team are intimately aware of where they could leverage this to reduce server load.\n\nSo they should adopt RES as official Reddit extension. They don't have to give the guy a fulltime job, and he doesn't need to leave precious Chicago (man, what a shithole! Dude is nuts); all this stuff is pretty easy to coordinate over long distances, especially with Skype and other remoting tools that are everywhere today. I've done dozens of short and long-term contracts with companies a thousand miles away, and even in different countries.\n\nSo, adopt RES as an official thing, make it installable with the bare minimum of clicks, and promote it fairly heavily to new users. Make it's default behaviour a bit less aggressive so people aren't too shocked, in fact the new version should focus mostly on the server-load-reducing features, and leave much of the UI improvements as configurable options.\n\nI think there's real potential in using a browser extension to take load off the server, and loading as much data as possible only when asked to. I've done this sort of re-vamp of a large site before, but using javascript libraries to do all the heavy lifting. I can only imagine that doing it via an extension is easier and probably a good deal more flexible/powerful than that."
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2lz7ux | why did obama appoint wheeler, a former cable lobbyist? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lz7ux/eli5_why_did_obama_appoint_wheeler_a_former_cable/ | {
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"Wheeler was his third choice. Republicans blocked the confirmation of the first two.\n\nHe was someone who Republicans would allow through.",
"I'm not agreeing with the appointment, but there *is* something to be said for appointing an industry insider to a position like this. Nobody knows the politics of the industry like a lobbyist. Being a lobbyist is a job like any other, and I'd hazard a guess that most lobbyists have feelings for their industries that range from neutral to loathing. \n\nThat said, dude seems like a turd.",
"This is a pretty common practice by all political parties.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIn fact I would be surprised if he didn't a pick a former lobbyist. "
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8u42lc | how extreme bodybuilders afford their lifestyle | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8u42lc/eli5_how_extreme_bodybuilders_afford_their/ | {
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"Sponsoring! Companies pay athletes to advertise for them in exchange for money and free stuff. Also, winning competitions often gets you prize money. "
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jnp9x | if signals broadcast from a transmitter were visible, what would they look like? | I have a small FM radio with an ariel and I'm trying to visualize the way it receives signals. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jnp9x/eli5_if_signals_broadcast_from_a_transmitter_were/ | {
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"Here's a bunch of MPEG Electromagnetism animations from the famous 8.02 class at MIT:\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_\n\nFM radio waves are big fuzzy planes about three meters thick which are spaced about three meters apart. The waves are spewing out of the transmitter antenna at the speed of light, with about a hundred million waves passing by you every second. They come out of the transmitter as packed concentric spheres which expand outwards. If you could see the waves near the transmitter, they'd look like an expanding onion, with the transmitter antenna in the center of the onion. But by the time the waves get to you, the expanding spheres are so enormous that really they act like moving flat plane-shapes.\n\nSecond key to understanding: all receiver antennas must themselves be transmitters. All antennas transmit in order to receive. Whenever an antenna is absorbing radio waves, it creates a downstream shadow in the wave pattern. And it also scatters half the incoming waves off to the side. But in fact, the receiver is emitting its own waves ...but these waves are out of phase with the incoming wave pattern. In the downstream shadow the two waves cancel out. Energy vanishes from the space around the antenna. That's how antennas absorb radio waves: it's a wave-cancellation process. Mirrors do something similar with light waves. So does black paint.\n\nMisconception: some books draw EM waves as wiggling snakes: as sine waves which move side to side as they propagate along. This is wrong. EM waves are fuzzy blotches, and while it's true that the distribution of the \"fuzz\" is sinusoidal, there are no sine waves to be seen. (I mean, no sine waves if EM waves were visible!)\n\nI suspect that this \"wiggling snakes\" misconception dates back to the turn of the century, back when physicists still believed in the Luminiferious Aether. Back then, light and radio were though to be transverse waves in the Aether. If true, then there should be little wiggling sine waves moving along. Perhaps they'd look a bit like water ripples, only 3D in space rather than 2D on a water surface. But the Aether doesn't exist. Instead the EM waves have flux lines at 90deg to their direction of travel. Check out those antenna animations from MIT above. You'll see expanding patterns of flux lines, but no snake-like sine waves marching along. (There are sine waves ...in the voltage graphs of the EM wave pattern. The sine pattern only appears in the e-field intensity graph. But e-field intensity is not a sideways physical motion.)\n",
"Here's a bunch of MPEG Electromagnetism animations from the famous 8.02 class at MIT:\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_\n\nFM radio waves are big fuzzy planes about three meters thick which are spaced about three meters apart. The waves are spewing out of the transmitter antenna at the speed of light, with about a hundred million waves passing by you every second. They come out of the transmitter as packed concentric spheres which expand outwards. If you could see the waves near the transmitter, they'd look like an expanding onion, with the transmitter antenna in the center of the onion. But by the time the waves get to you, the expanding spheres are so enormous that really they act like moving flat plane-shapes.\n\nSecond key to understanding: all receiver antennas must themselves be transmitters. All antennas transmit in order to receive. Whenever an antenna is absorbing radio waves, it creates a downstream shadow in the wave pattern. And it also scatters half the incoming waves off to the side. But in fact, the receiver is emitting its own waves ...but these waves are out of phase with the incoming wave pattern. In the downstream shadow the two waves cancel out. Energy vanishes from the space around the antenna. That's how antennas absorb radio waves: it's a wave-cancellation process. Mirrors do something similar with light waves. So does black paint.\n\nMisconception: some books draw EM waves as wiggling snakes: as sine waves which move side to side as they propagate along. This is wrong. EM waves are fuzzy blotches, and while it's true that the distribution of the \"fuzz\" is sinusoidal, there are no sine waves to be seen. (I mean, no sine waves if EM waves were visible!)\n\nI suspect that this \"wiggling snakes\" misconception dates back to the turn of the century, back when physicists still believed in the Luminiferious Aether. Back then, light and radio were though to be transverse waves in the Aether. If true, then there should be little wiggling sine waves moving along. Perhaps they'd look a bit like water ripples, only 3D in space rather than 2D on a water surface. But the Aether doesn't exist. Instead the EM waves have flux lines at 90deg to their direction of travel. Check out those antenna animations from MIT above. You'll see expanding patterns of flux lines, but no snake-like sine waves marching along. (There are sine waves ...in the voltage graphs of the EM wave pattern. The sine pattern only appears in the e-field intensity graph. But e-field intensity is not a sideways physical motion.)\n"
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16dnwc | please can somebody explain how a conductor conducts? | I've been listening to more and more classical music recently, and while I obviously understand that the conductor conducts, I'd like to know *how* the various movements are interpreted by the orchestra.
It'd be fantastic if somebody could explain the nuances in movement etc. because at the moment I find it difficult to see how the erratic movements are translated into direction. I find it confusing that if the orchestra has the sheet music before them, how they can accommodate for any changes in unison.
Thanks!
EDIT: Perhaps an example would be useful? I've been listening to this;
_URL_0_
lots recently. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16dnwc/eli5_please_can_somebody_explain_how_a_conductor/ | {
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"Basically, the idea is to have a central \"ear\" to help balance the sounds from the various parts, and to keep them in sync (although I suspect this latter issue is small for world-class orchestras). It's like in a rock band you have the sound guy in the middle of the auditorium, balancing the sounds that come out of the speakers. The conductor just does that by adjusting the musicians rather than the electronics.\n\nIf you watch, they will signal various sections to be louder or softer, or the conductor may practically dance to show that he wants more enthusiasm or more passion or... whatever emotion he thinks it should convey.\n\nIf each orchestra member just used their own interpretation, you'd end up with a competent, high-quality-but-not-spectacular version, because not everyone agrees on what the music was trying to convey.",
"Ooooh boy. This is a toughie. I am going to have music people all over my ass for this response, but I'm going to try my best. Please feel free to correct/edit my response as y'all can.\n\nAll music has a beat. A pulse. Everyone can feel that and appreciate it- it's a huge part of why music binds us together as a species. A large portion of the conductors job (on the most basic level) is to make sure that the performers know where the beat is so they know when to strike their notes. While not all notes occur on the beat, musicians need to know where each pulse occurs so they can play on the \"ands\" and the \"uhs\" of a piece. (If a piece has 4 beats per measure, the musicians' lines may require them to count the pulse as \"One-ee-and-uh, two-ee-and-uh...\" instead of just \"One, two, three, four\")\n\nSo maintaining the beat is mandatory and it's a conductors first job. The reason it often looks like the conductor is not keeping a good beat is that he's (or she's) a little bit ahead of the orchestra. He may be trying to get the players to play a little faster, so he'll move his arms more quickly than the music is currently going and his players will try to \"catch up\". Perhaps they're going too slow, so he will be \"behind them\". In addition (this is a bonus ELI10), some concert halls and theaters have a long reverb time, and the time between seeing the conductor and hearing the piece has lag, so that can further disconnect the audience from the conductor/player dynamic. Highly advanced groups like the New York Philharmonic will plan ahead for the reverb and the conductor is consistently ahead/behind based on the space he's playing in.\n\nIn addition to keeping the basic beat of the music, the conductor is responsible for style. This is the reason you see the conductor's dance on stage. His sweeping arms gestures, tiny wrist flicks, points, and bounces are all a non-verbal way of telling his players what to do. Musicians have a lot going on- it's very easy to forget things! Not only do you have to worry about playing the correct notes, there are fingerings attached to each note, changing dynamics (loud or soft), style, timing, etc. It's tough, no matter how much you play! The conductor helps to shape the sound of the orchestra much like a potter shapes his spinning clay on the wheel. His subtle motions and cues can help the musicians remember what they did in their rehearsals and can help them perform the subtle variations on their notes.\n\nIn addition, lots of time (especially in an orchestra) is spend NOT playing. For example- I used to play Trumpet in orchestra. Often, the brass don't play for hundreds of bars, then come in for just a few notes, then go back to napping. While we are responsible for counting out our break, counting to four 135 times is really freekin' boring. The conductor will often help us by making eye contact with us when it's almost time to come in, then pointing or otherwise cue-ing us when we start our series of notes.\n\n\n\n(ELI10) In a more general response to your question, each conductor is wildly different in their motions. This is blatant pandering to Reddit here, but it's easy to draw a parallel to sex. You know how your first time with your partner was awkward because you didn't really know what they wanted and you didn't know their moves? The first few times a new conductor works with a new group, it's kind of awkward too! \n\nOver time, as the musicians learn the conductor's motions they learn what each one means for this specific guy in this specific piece. After tens or hundreds of re-plays of the piece, each section has it's own unique movement and \"dance\" that the conductor has honed.\n\nThat was probably really bad, but I tried. Let me know if you still have specific questions and I'll do my best to answer.",
"Electrons are able to move about more freely in a conductor than an insulator, flowing from one end to the other, conducting electricity.",
"All music is different. One way it's different is because of a *time signature*. These are written in fraction-form, for example, the most common time sig is 4/4 time, where there are four beats per measure, and one quarter note is one beat (numerator =beats denominator =note value per beat). The conductor waves their baton (stick) in time to the music, different depending apon what tome signature the piece is in ATM. That's pretty standard for every conductor, or it would be consfusing to the orchestra. All conductors conduct differently, though. They may lean in towards the orchestra and move the baton in shorter strokes if the area in the piece is quieter, perhaps. Or the opposite, lean back with broad movements for a loud area. They may turn towards the section of the orchestra that has a melody, or point to each section separately in a round. What the orchestra sees are cues to play differently, and know when to slow down/speed up, and if they need to alter their tempo. Good question!",
"One more point that hasn't really been made yet: the conductor is responsible for the overall interpretation of the music. In rehearsal, the conductor can explain exactly what he or she is trying to accomplish musically and exactly what the ensemble needs to do to make this happen. \n\nI have often described this as being a bit like watching gymnastics at the Olympics. You see the coaches on the sidelines and can tell that they are able to communicate with the athletes using their body language. Just like how a gymnast spends years training for a brief time performing at the Olympics, orchestras spend much more time in rehearsal than they do in performance. The conductor's gestures, eye contact and overall body language help him or her communicate with the orchestra. \n\nAlso, music is expressive. Conductors use their movement to help convey the emotional response they want the orchestra to convey with the performance. Their movement becomes part of the way they motivate the orchestra (a large group of individuals) to work together for a single artistic purpose. \n\nIf that's too highfalutin' there are some very basic technical things you can watch for. When conductors beat time, they follow a simple pattern. Most often, Western orchestral music has four beats to the bar. This means the music has a rhythmic pattern of four beats. The conductor indicates this with motions that look like a + sign. The first (strongest) beat of the measure is made with the hand going down. The second beat is to the conductor's left, the third to his or her right and the fourth back up to the top of the plus sign. For music with three beats to the bar, the pattern is down-right-up. This makes it easy for the orchestra to follow and it is a universal convention. "
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1crxel | the bohr effect/shift. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1crxel/eli5the_bohr_effectshift/ | {
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"so hemoglobin consists of 4 myoglobin monomers, they interact in a way where once the first oxygen molecule binds to a myoglobin monmer, it makes it easier for the second monomer to bind and so forth. from this logic, the reverse should be the same. once one oxygen is let go, its easier for the next ones to go. pH is very important to this process because if your blood is way too basic, hemoglobin will bind to oxygen much more tightly therefore it's less willing to give it up to other places that need it. if your blood is too acidic, than it doesn't bind well enough and lets it go way too early. this is influenced by the amount of carbon dioxide that you have. once co2 hits water, it undergoes a reaction to produce carbonic acid which would lower the pH which would [shift the curve to the right](_URL_0_). this is called the km curve, as you can see comparing the blue(normal) to the red(acidic blood), it takes a higher amount of oxygen(x axis) present to completely saturate the hemoglobin(y axis). in short, the more carbon dioxide you breathe in, the harder it is for your body to take in oxygen. but if you hyperventilate, you breathe out too much carbon dioxide which would increase the affinity your hemoglobin has for oxygen, thereby lowering its ability to give it up. basically, dont fuck with your blood pH in normal conditions \n\n"
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"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Oxyhaemoglobin_dissociation_curve.png"
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63lq99 | what is it that makes a heart able to be restarted in some cases and not in others? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63lq99/eli5_what_is_it_that_makes_a_heart_able_to_be/ | {
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"If the cause of the heart to stop in the first place is correctable or not. If you've lost a large volume of blood, for instance, restarting your heart is going to require a replacement of some of that blood volume. \n\nIf the heart has stopped, there is a problem that needs to be fixed with immediate medical attention. They don't generally simply restart on their own, the idea on television where you can 'shock a flatline' is not medically correct. ",
"It's a common misconception, but if you're think about a defibrillator with the shock paddles, those don't restart your heart. If your heart is not beating, a defibrillator will do nothing. \n\nDefibrillators work when your heart isn't beating the way it should be, typically this means that the heart is barely pumping at all. Instead of being a normal, strong heartbeat it's basically nothing more than a twitch or a flutter. It's pumping, but not well. This is because of the electric signal controlling the pumping isn't correct, so the strong shock attempts to reset the tempo.\n\nWhen your heart isn't beating at all, there is no electric signal telling it to beat, so shocking it will do nothing.",
"Its a complicated answer as it depends on the circumstances. A good analogy would be a gas powered engine. Now ask the question what makes an engine able to be restarted in some cases and not in others. \nIt could be out of fuel = no blood to pump. \nIs the fuel good fuel? = oxygenated blood.\nCan the fuel get to the engine = obstructed blood flow\nIs the spark plug good? = brain damage\n",
"DOI: UK physician in anaesthesia and intensive care.\n\nWhen you have a cardiac arrest, it is caused by one of two problems, either there is a mechanical problem (for example, the muscle is failing, or there's not enough blood to pump) or an electrical problems (abnormal heart rhythm)\n\nUsing a defibrillator attempts to reset electrical problems. It has no effect on the muscle (mechanical) side of things.\n\nAs such, it can only be used in specific circumstances. Most cardiac arrests are caused by mechanical issues and therefore a defib can only be used in a small proportion of patients.\n\nMechanical issues can only be fixed by addressing the cause, for example, replacing lost circulating blood. The muscle can be forced to beat harder by drugs like adrenaline. If the muscle itself is failing or dead, then usually it is fatal.",
"A defibrillator literally does what its name is: It stops (atrial or ventricular) fibrillation. Fibrillation is when the heart muscles are contracting rapidly and irregularly (basically like shivering) and due to this the heart doesn't/can't pump blood anymore (but the muscles and electrical system of the heart still work ). The electical shock from the defibrillator stops all contraction so when the shock is over the contraction starts again synchronized and the function is reset. \n\nWhen there is no heart movement at all (asystole/'flatline'; ~80% of cases are the result of previous fibrillation) that means that there is much more wrong with your heart because neither the electrical system nor the muscles are currently working. In that case only CPR in conjunction with adrenaline may work to actually restart the heart but this works in less than 20% even in a hospital. Unless there is an obvious cause that can be fixed this situation will most likely end in death.",
"It all depends on what is happening during cardiac arrest that indicates whether your heart can be shocked or not. \n\nThere are two main \"shockable rhythms,\" ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. To understand these, you need to understand how the heart normally works. The top of the heart is called the atria (plural for atrium). There is a location in the right atrium called the SA node. This is the \"pacemaker\" of the heart. It generates an electrical signal that travels through special fibers from the top of the heart to the bottom (the ventricles). This progression causes the atria to contract, filling the ventricles, and then the ventricles contract, pumping blood to the lungs and rest of the body. \n\nIn ventricular tachycardia (V-tach), the ventricles are squeezing on their own and not waiting for the impulse from the SA node to cause contraction. While it's possible for this rhythm to continue to pump blood effectively, often it is not. Either the contractions aren't strong enough to pump the blood effectively or not enough time is allowed for the heart to fill up, so it's only half full when it pumps again. So shocking this type of rhythm somewhat \"resets\" the whole heart and stop the irregular heartbeat.\n\nIn ventricular fibrillation (V-fib), the individual muscle cells in the ventricles are not contracting together. They're just all firing randomly all the time. So since there is no organization to the contractions, the heart just quivers and does not beat. Shocking, again, resets all these cells and hopefully allows for an organized contraction initiated by the SA node.\n\nThere are dozens of other rhythms or arrhythmias that are unshockable. The most common misconception is that someone in asystole (no heart muscle activity at all), also known as flatline, can be fixed with shocking. Since there is no electrical activity to \"reset\" shocking does nothing. The only thing that can possibly help is high-quality CPR and ACLS drugs like epinephrine, amiodarone or vasopressin."
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26k2pt | how come netflix can't stream all of their movies online? how do they decide which ones they stream and which ones are physically shipped to your house? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/26k2pt/eli5_how_come_netflix_cant_stream_all_of_their/ | {
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"Netflix pays for the rights from the studios(or in some cases the auteurs) to stream it online and ship to your home. Studios would still like to make money from sales after release, so some movies don't get in to Netflix' Instant Streaming options for some time. Also, Netflix makes rights to whole catalogs in their instant streaming. Netflix currently has rights to Dreamworks Animation, Open Road(till 2016), Relativity Media/Rogue, Walt Disney Studios, The Weinstein Company, FilmDistrict, Disney TV, CBS TV, Saban, Hasbro, 20th Television, WB TV, etc. All of these are on delay periods, so they can sell DVDs. "
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2hov6w | in soccer, why isn't all time added to the 2nd half? | I was watching a match today. 5 minutes was added to the first half. In other words, 5 minutes of stoppage time was wasted and they needed to play 5 more to get their 45 in. Clock kept running. So half ended at the 50 minute mark.
Then 4 minutes was added to the 2nd half.
So...the game ended at the 94 minute mark. Where did the extra minute go? Wouldn't it be easier to just play all stoppage time at the end of the game? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2hov6w/eli5_in_soccer_why_isnt_all_time_added_to_the_2nd/ | {
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"it didn't go anywhere. You play 45 minute halves. At the start of the second half, the field clock is reset to 45 (because that's how much should've been played). You can't play all the minutes at the end of the game, because that could cause an unfair advantage to one team or another, because you switch sides at the start of the second half as well.",
"So they really play 45 Minutes per half.\nIf they did all of the stoppage time (9 minutes) in the second half it would be:\n\n1st: 40 minutes\n\n2nd: 50 minutes\n\nof actual play time.\n\n\n"
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7k4dja | what would happen if your home country started a conflict with a country you're visiting or living in? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7k4dja/eli5_what_would_happen_if_your_home_country/ | {
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"You can probably expect some hostility, perhaps outright violence. Never know, you could be taken captive as an enemy of whatever country you're in."
]
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||
8qg255 | cell phone flashlights shine a very bright white light. when you cover it up, your finger glows a very deep orange/red. why is this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8qg255/eli5_cell_phone_flashlights_shine_a_very_bright/ | {
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"e0ixanq"
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"text": [
"It’s reflecting the light through your skin. Your skin is an orange/red color so it’s shining through that."
]
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||
ajn5dq | how does winrate and usage calculate in games | [Here's](_URL_0_) Overwatch heroes stat. 2 teams, each have 6 heroes taken from a pool of 29 difference heroes, with 3 outcomes: Win, Lose, and Tie. With this in mind, how'd they accurately calculate individual hero winrate and pickrate | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ajn5dq/eli5_how_does_winrate_and_usage_calculate_in_games/ | {
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"text": [
"store data for each match and then calculate winrate and usage based on that. basic statistics. You can get usage of a hero if you divide times-used-hero / total number of matches * 100 and you get percentage"
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"https://www.overbuff.com/heroes"
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[]
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|
4w4wbo | how are tests created that can identify substances or diseases? | How are tests created that are able to determine a disease, or drug, or any other "result"? How do scientist know what will react with what? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4w4wbo/eli5how_are_tests_created_that_can_identify/ | {
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"A whole host of ways to do it, but one of the easier ways is to tag it. You know the drug, protein, etc. wants to attach to another molecule, so you design a molecule that you can identify easily that glows, has some magnetic properties, etc that you can detect after it has attached to whatever you're looking for.\n\nIf you were actually 5: imagine you're in a crowd of kids, and I needed to find just you. I could just have your dog go into the crowd and find you, and I would just have to look for the dog. ",
"For substances, it depends on what sort of thing you're looking at.\n\nanalytical chemist here, literally what I do day in and day out.\n\nSome tests are as simple as shape based. You can have a probe with a filter that only lets a specific shape through and it tells you how much of that thing is in there.\n\nOther, you blast apart and say, hit with a flashlight. Depending on how much of green you get, you know specifically how much of that stuff there is.\n\nA common test is known as GC. You take a standard where you know what it's in it and pass it through an iiiiity bitty column, like a metal straw with a specific coating on the inside. Based on the way that standard acts, you know when certain things show up on the other end of the straw and you can repeat that with samples where you don't know what in them. Then, you can math it all out so you know how MUCH of those things are in there.\n\nEdit: the topic overall is kind of hard to ELI5 but I tried."
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24en0o | why do we need fossil fuel to produce ethanol? | Why is it not possible to replace the gas being used to produce Ethanol by Ethanol itself?
Either the whole production of Ethanol is consuming more energy than it is creating -- and in that case it would be better to simply stop producing Ethanol. Or, some parts of the production cycle absolutely require gas instead of Ethanol, which doesn't make sense for me as they seem to be almost interchangeable sources of fuel... | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24en0o/eli5_why_do_we_need_fossil_fuel_to_produce_ethanol/ | {
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"The EROI is about 2. You get about twice the energy out that you put in. There is some fossil energy used in the process (diesel fuel in planters/combines to grow corn, natural gas at the plant, etc.), but it's generally overblown.\n\nSome plants are starting to use solid fuel boilers to replace natural gas. As biodiesel use grows, less petroleum fuel will be used.\n\nThe whole \"it takes more energy than it produces\" argument is just rhetoric. You don't even hear the oil industry say that any more; it's been disproven so many times. One study came out years ago that made that claim and (thanks media) it got spread around so prolifically that it stuck in the general public's mind."
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yzyta | chris christie's governorship | I'm a New Jersey native and I'm not a huge fan of Chris Christie's policies, but I feel that I should be more well-versed in what he's accomplished as governor. Could someone explain to me what he's done as governor and how it's viewed across the political spectrum? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yzyta/chris_christies_governorship/ | {
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"Cut taxes.\nBalanced the budget.\nChallenged public employee unions and renegotiated pensions to save money\nChallenged public teachers unions and renegotiated contracts to make it easier to fire teachers that deserve to be fired (tenure is no longer a guaranteed job if you are bad at your job)\n\n"
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1mx67p | why is there such a stigma behind losing your virginity? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mx67p/eli5_why_is_there_such_a_stigma_behind_losing/ | {
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"It's left over from the time when the only way to keep power was to keep your bloodline going.\n\nIf you wanted to be sure your wife was not carrying the seed of someone outside the royal family, virginity was the the only way to be sure.\n\nIt was stayed a dominant stigma up until the time we could start doing things like blood tests. Comparatively, that wasn't that long ago, so it will be a little while still before it fades away entirely. "
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||
6oxjo1 | in finance, what are "securities", "secured transactions", and "securities litigation"? | Are they all of the same stock? I'm pretty financially ignorant, and I'd like to understand more. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6oxjo1/eli5_in_finance_what_are_securities_secured/ | {
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"text": [
"Securities are tradable investments. Usually it's a term that includes all stocks and bonds. \n\nSecured transactions where one or both sides needs to pledge an asset so if they don't complete their promised action they lose the asset to the other party. \n\nSecurities litigation is the history of court cases over securities laws. Because securities are tradable, they're powerful tools, allowing people easy ways to invest money quickly, but have also been an easy way for crooks to sell scams. After major problems surface, it's very common for congress to pass laws aimed to prevent such problems from occurring again. Since there have been lots of problems, there have been lots of laws. \n\nI'm not sure what you mean by the same stock. "
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xx7wr | how air conditioners make cold air | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/xx7wr/eli5_how_air_conditioners_make_cold_air/ | {
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"It's pretty simple. Take a can of deodorant and keep spraying it continuously for a long time. The can will start to get cold. That happens because gases lose energy when expanded, so they get colder. Air conditioners simply do that repeatedly over and over: they compress air, giving it energy and temperature and then expand it again, taking away it's energy and it's temperature, making it colder.",
"So an A/C unit can be broken down into two things: the things that makes the air move around how you want it to (fans) and the things that make the air cold (compressor, etc.)\n\nAn a/c is like a giant refrigerator in principle. It cools the air by pumping a 'refrigerant' (freon) through a circle. While it is being pumped in a circle, refrigerant gets changed from a liquid to a gas back to a liquid. When the refrigerant is being turned into a gas by the 'evaporator' it absorbs heat, making the air, passing by the pipes doing this evaporating, colder. The colder air is then blown back into the house.\n\nOf course the gas has to turn back into a liquid or you'll have to refill the a/c like a car tank all the time. The way it does this is through a 'condenser' which uses cools the gas into a liquid. Then a 'compressor' puts the liquid under a lot of pressure for efficiency reasons. Then things repeat.\n\nThe big metal box outside is actually only part of the system. Usually that's where the 'compressor' and 'condenser' is. The reason it's so big is because it has a huge square aluminum heat sink that helps dissipate the heat out of your house with a fan. Then there is another part that is in your attic or garage that contains another small fan and the 'evaporator'.",
"To simplify what others have said.\n\nRefrigerant gas is pumped around in a cycle.\n\nThe gas - \n\n1. picks up heat from the air in your room\n\n2. travels to the outside unit\n\n3. gives up the heat from your room to the air outside\n\n4. travels back to your room unit\n\n5. repeats cycle",
"Really good video: \n_URL_0_",
"Literally none of these comments make sense to me :/",
"As a follow-up question to this; I understand that heat is energy, and energy can change forms (e.g. chemical > heat) so I've always wondered - why don't air conditioners simply† convert heat into electricity?\n\n† I imagine it's not simple at all, and that's why it's not been done. But still why not?",
"Gasses get hot when compressed. You can prove this for yourself by taking a bike pump and pumping up a tire. When you cant pump any more air into the tire, but force the piston down anyway, you should notice that the tube gets hot. This is because you compressed the air inside the pump. If you waited until it cooled down again and released the pressure, you should notice that the tube then gets cold. This is what is happening in your air conditioner. Compress the gas outside so it heats up, then cool it down again with a fan. Pump it back into the house and decompress it to cool the interior. The interior then heats it back up and the whole process is repeated. Basically what you are doing is shifting the heat from inside to the outside by mucking around with gas.",
"Actually LI5:\n\nAir feels hot because of the heat in it. When you compress air, the same amount of heat stays in the air, but now it is concentrated into a smaller area. This makes the temperature rise. As this compressed air cools, the total heat in the air drops. When it is allowed to decompress to its original state, there is less heat in it and it feels cooler. \n\nAn air conditioner has a gas in it that is moved out of the room before it is compressed, then back into the room before it is decompressed. This cycle moves heat out of the room.",
"Refrigeration mechcanic here. We define a/c as \"removing heat from an area where its not wanted, an placing it in an area where its unobjectable. But basically it doesn't blow cold air, it removes the heat from an area. \nHere is the ELI5,air is blown over a coil, refrigerant in the system, aborsbs heat an condesates the humidity, heat is transfered to outside an is removed from the condenser. This is as basic as it gets. "
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54ezey | why do companies use mainly saxophone music for their on hold music? | Is there some psychological reasoning behind it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/54ezey/eli5_why_do_companies_use_mainly_saxophone_music/ | {
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" > The style of music played by MOH (Music on hold) systems depends largely on the type of business offering the service. It is generally best to present music that will not be offensive to the audience, but that would also be of particular interest to the typical caller. A western apparel store may choose to play country music. A Christian book store may choose to play popular Christian music. A university may choose to play classical music. Light classics, smooth jazz, and beautiful music are common choices, as is fully synthesized melodic music.\n\nSo they choose smooth jazz because it is inoffensive but also interesting enough to most people compared to something like classical music (which tends to have a more niche appeal)"
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2kwa8q | why is it legal to use adblock and listen to music for free on youtube but illegal to download the music to your phone? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kwa8q/eli5why_is_it_legal_to_use_adblock_and_listen_to/ | {
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"Youtube is a streaming service. A stream works in much the same way as a radio: A broadcast is made, and you tune in to listen/watch. If someone broadcasts illegally, it is not illegal to listen-- it is illegal to broadcast.\n\nBut when you download, you are taking illegal ownership of a song or film, and that is punishable.",
"It's about where the data resides. For the same reason it is technically legal to stream movies but illegal to download them. You aren't \"taking\" the content, you're just watching it. It's a shitty rule, but it is what it is. \n"
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6e48a1 | does the human immune system has a limit of how many germ information it can store? | If I keep getting the flu vaccine every year, will I reach a limit where my immune system will not be able to store more germ information? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6e48a1/eli5_does_the_human_immune_system_has_a_limit_of/ | {
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"text": [
"The part of your immune system that deals with making antibodies in response to disease, or vaccines, is called your adaptive immune response (also called Humoral). The cells that make antibodies for preparation for when you get the actual disease are called Memory B cells. Sadly, like all cells, these cells have a lifespan, so they can't exist forever, however they can live for a pretty good amount of time to give you active protection against the pathogen. Vaccines work by having your body intentionally react to an attenuated form of the virus/bacteria, or like a toxoid, which helps you be protected from a specific toxin that the organism produces (we have the DTaP vaccine for this purpose). The one weakness with some vaccines is the need for boosters annually, or even yearly. Plus when you age, your immune system naturally over time loses its strength. What once could have been a nasty cold to you at 20, could very well kill you, or send you to the hospital at 80-90. I don't necessarily think you can hit a \"max\" storage when it comes to germ response, but rather you can lose protection over time because of numerous factors like aging, being infected with a immune system destroyer like AIDS/HIV, allergic to certain vaccine ingredients, general health status, and a preexisting autoimmune disorder. \n\nEdit: Misspelled DTaP vaccine",
"Every 'immunity' you have is stored in hundreds to thousands of B-cells in bone marrow. Your body has trillions of cells, and billions or trillions of bone marrow cells.\n\nSo no. You aren't going to run out of B-cell bone marrow storage space because the space required is so small and the capacity is so large. You might as well try to fill up a terabyte hard drive with mp3 songs...\n\nYou might get infected or vaccinated against 500 pathogens in your life. There's no way possible to run out of space unless you live a million years.\n\nThat said B-cells don't live forever and you can lose immunity simply because they die off over time. So you get boosters or you catch a lesser version of whatever sickness a few decades later."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
20s08z | how much do we spend of welfare? | I suppose that I need a definition for what "welfare" actually is. Should Medicaid be included in "welfare"? Is it just TANF and SNAP? Is unemployment welfare? These guys at work bitch about welfare all day, idk if I'll ever correct them (stupid is as stupid does). But now I need to know, what is welfare and how much does it cost? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20s08z/eli5_how_much_do_we_spend_of_welfare/ | {
"a_id": [
"cg66ql6"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"To further confuse you, should you also include corporate welfare? Tax breaks for successful companies, subsidies to unsuccessful ones, etc, etc."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
aq0xaz | when jumping off of a great height (e.g. cliff jumping), why do many people spin their arms like a windmill? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aq0xaz/eli5_when_jumping_off_of_a_great_height_eg_cliff/ | {
"a_id": [
"egcmir2"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"No way! I just asked the same thing and this wasn't in my feed until I hit refresh. Great minds think alike I guess!"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
7szoth | what happens to big name people after they resign amidst a scandal? | Thinking about the president of MSU who just resigned after the Nasser case, and the other bigwigs who are likely to resign as well - what do they do next after they are disgraced, if they don't end up in jail for something? They were making millions of dollars - surely they won't be hired somewhere else, right? How do they pay their bills? Do they end up working at Wal-Mart? I've always been genuinely curious. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7szoth/eli5_what_happens_to_big_name_people_after_they/ | {
"a_id": [
"dt8s033",
"dt8y1mz"
],
"score": [
11,
2
],
"text": [
"Look up what happened to the conspirators from Watergate or Iran Contra.\n\nMany write books, hit the talk show circuit, become pundits and talk show hosts themselves. Some just use their noteriety to sell stuff. \n\nSome remain political power brokers outside the public's eye; if you keep your mouth shut and pull the strings needed to stay out of prison then your advice and connections are still valuable. More so if you know where the undiscovered bodies are buried.\n\nSome were successful people in the business world and go back to running their company.\n\nThe rest just take whatever shit jobs they can find like the rest of us.",
"Some just disappear with their cash (Weinstein, Spacey, so far), some keep trying to continue their careers (Cosby), some people keep making money off their crimes (O.J.). \n\nThey still all have friends and family who are sticking by them, they have lots of money (and can in many cases continue to invest and do business privately). More than likely they can still enjoy a comfortable life until they die. Minus the black spot on their name, and their family’s name."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
1gf31q | combustible vs. flammable liquids | There's a difference, but that's all I know. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gf31q/eli5_combustible_vs_flammable_liquids/ | {
"a_id": [
"cajlpbd"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Combustible will burn, but you must ignite it with an open flame. Flammable (inflammable is actually more correct) can be ignited by a tiny spark."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
or1rn | non-complex numbers | Unless I've been misled, complex numbers contain both the real and non-real (Imaginary) Number sets, so what else is out there? I heard from my Algebra teacher in 7th Grade about non-complex numbers, and he said he couldn't explain it to me.
I'm still curious today. So, reddit, Explain this to me like I'm 12.
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/or1rn/eli5_noncomplex_numbers/ | {
"a_id": [
"c3jcu2i",
"c3jcwph",
"c3je64j"
],
"score": [
12,
4,
2
],
"text": [
"There's lots of different ways to go beyond the complex numbers. \n\nThe most natural one, is the [quaternions](_URL_0_). You know how the complex plane is 2 dimensional? Well, the quaternions are *4* dimensional. \n\nWith the complex numbers, you add in a new number, i, which satisfies\n\n i^2 = -1. \n\nFor the quaternions, you add two *new* numbers, j and k, so that\n\ni^2 = j^2 = k^2 = ijk = -1. \n\nOne interesting thing is that you lose the commutative property: \n\nij != ji, but ij = -ji \n\nfor example. \n\nThese are actually incredibly useful. It turns out that they are a good way to describe 3 dimensional rotations. So programmers often use them to calculate the rotation of 3-D objects. If you've played a modern video game, it's likely that quaternions were behind the scenes for this purpose. ",
"There are a lot of ways to construct numbers other than (or beyond) the complexes. One way is to add additional roots of -1 or 1; that is, extra numbers that give -1 or 1 when you multiply them by themselves. The most well known example of this is the quaternions, which have three roots of -1 called, usually, i, j, and k. Importantly these are all *different* numbers that square to -1; i^2 = -1, j^2 = -1, k^2 = -1, but also i\\*j = k, k\\*i = j, and j\\*k = i. Importantly, this is an example of a number system that is *noncommutative* —the order of multiplication matters. In the case of real or complex numbers, you get the same answer regardless of the order of the numbers being multiplied—3\\*4 = 4\\*3, (1+i)(2-3i) = (2-3i)(1+i)—but in the case of the quaternions this is not true. For example, consider (j\\*k)(k\\*j). We know that k\\*k = -1, so this becomes (j\\*-j), which is 1. But j\\*k = i, and i\\*i = -1, so k\\*j must be -i instead of i. Note that the quaternions contain the complex numbers in the same way that the complex numbers contain the reals.\n\nAnd you can do this in a lot of different ways, and add extra roots of 1 as well. There are other ways to construct new number systems, but I think this method of adding \"roots of unity\" is the most common.",
"One example, square matrices of the same size can sometimes be thought of as numbers. You can add, subtract and multiply them. And if the determinant is not zero you can \"divide\" them, but, usually, AB is not the same as BA, so although they are \"numbers\" they are not complex numbers since the order of multiplication matters.\n\nThese kind of numbers are an example of something mathematicians call RINGS. In special cases you have a special RING number that acts like 1. These are called RINGS with identity. You can add, subtract and multiply the RING numbers. All RINGS have a special number called ZERO that acts like you think, A + **0** = A and A x **0** = **0**. There are also some very special RINGS with identity (they have a **1**) AND you can always divide the non-zero RING numbers. These special RINGS are called Division RINGS. The square matrices of the same size with non-zero determinant are examples of Division RINGS. In some RINGS you can multiply in any order, but that is not required. A Division RING where you CAN multiply in any order is called a FIELD. (Mathematicians define and name every little thing they can think of)\n\nEDIT: Too much to say."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternion"
],
[],
[]
] |
|
2ejnr0 | how is fiber deployed? | This applies (i think) to both Google Fiber and other fiber. At my company, we have fiber and it connects our LAN to our facilities all over the state. So do companies like mine that use fiber for network connections and companies like google fiber have to actually lay down fiber to each location that they want to connect? For instance would my company have to run a cable to each facility? Or is there something I'm missing? Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ejnr0/eli5_how_is_fiber_deployed/ | {
"a_id": [
"ck03pqo",
"ck03w7i"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"*Someone* has to physically lay down fiber to every location, but once one company does it, they can then sell access to their fiber infrastructure to other companies.\n\nGoogle is physically laying down fiber in areas that don't have an existing fiber network. Your company is *probably* buying rights to use pre-existing fiber networks, and possibly paying the company that provides the fiber to have them build \"last mile\" connections to your company's facilities from their existing fiber network that goes *near* those facilities.",
"I thought you meant nutritional fiber. :("
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
2bhw0n | how does a disease make a comeback like ebola or the bubonic plague have recently? | I find it utterly terrifying to think Ebola or the Bubonic plague could make a serious. Beginning of the zombie apocalypse stuff. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2bhw0n/eli5_how_does_a_disease_make_a_comeback_like/ | {
"a_id": [
"cj5gp7a",
"cj5gpmh"
],
"score": [
25,
2
],
"text": [
"Ebola has no cure, or even a real treatment. It never really went away. It's just that humans aren't commonly exposed to it (it probably normally lives in bats), and when they are it tends to kill quickly enough that it burns itself out. So you see a series of fairly quick and nasty outbreaks in the areas in which infected bat populations come in contact with humans, in west and central Africa. \n\nPlague is different, in that it's curable with antibiotics. It lives in various rodents, and occasionally breaks out because it too has never really gone away. If it happens in a richer country, it's usually dealt with pretty easily. Isolated cases pop up in the US and Canada now and again, incidentally. ",
"These diseases exist in natural reservoirs that humans occasionally come in contact with. Their spread can be aided by poverty or poor infrastructure, areas where easy access to medical care is lacking, or medical standards or provisions are insufficient to deal with the disease. \n\nI'm not aware of a particular threat of the bubonic plague returning as a major 'world changing' threat, it is treatable by several forms of antibiotics. Of course, a region where these are not readily available or affordable would be at higher risk."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
2d2jrz | why does the us let out so many child molesters after only a few years in prison? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2d2jrz/eli5_why_does_the_us_let_out_so_many_child/ | {
"a_id": [
"cjlflah"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"although i've never worked in courts or hung around any prosecutors i do work with a lot of sex offenders and my best guess is that for cases like groping, touching, light sexual contact, in which there is no physical evidence (bruises, mutilation, DNA etc.) it becomes the defendants word against a young childs. because the prosecution needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime the prosecution can offer a plea bargain to get the case wrapped up but they will be giving the defendant a much shorter prison sentence. on the other hand i've seen inmates get some serious prison time for aggravated sexual assault of a child, even life without parole. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
27v1kn | how do "soft" power buttons still work when my phone/laptop/whatever freezes? | Doesn't a soft button mean the software needs to be functioning for it itself to function? A "hard" button makes sense to me because it will physically make contact with something with no need for software involved. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/27v1kn/eli5_how_do_soft_power_buttons_still_work_when_my/ | {
"a_id": [
"ci4nohw"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The soft power button is triggering firmware, which is software but not installed on a medium but hardwired into the circuitry of the chip. It is on such a low layer that it will work even after the OS has crashed."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
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