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2twtqb | why don't internet companies use the current electricity line infrastructure? you cant use the internet without electricity, so why not? | Surely it would be cheaper to use the current electricity poles and lines for new fiber connections than it would be to continuously dig up sidewalks and roads? Why can't companies just use the current above ground lines?
Even if the line goes down, the power goes out and computers won't work anyway? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2twtqb/eli5_why_dont_internet_companies_use_the_current/ | {
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"Not really cheaper. A couple outfits have tried it. The problem is that wiring for electricity isn't terrific for carrying high-speed data, and the filters/splitters/termination gear is expensive. \n\nIt does have some uses in low-speed data, but it's not a likely candidate to replace coax, fiber, or even twisted pair data cabling."
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3askvw | why is it that, no matter which hotel i stay at, the hotel soap always seems to be the same in smell and dryness? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3askvw/eli5_why_is_it_that_no_matter_which_hotel_i_stay/ | {
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"You probably stay at hotels in a similar price range, and over time they have polished their offerings to be rather similar -- in many cases even buying from the same suppliers -- because they know what the average customer wants.\n\nIf you stay at posh hotels, the soaps vary a lot and are quite nice."
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4nloci | do 100% blind people see any particular color even though they are blind? if so, what do they see and why? | More so if they do see any color, how and why can/do they see that color. If they see nothing then how would you explain how that would "look" to a person who can see? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4nloci/eli5_do_100_blind_people_see_any_particular_color/ | {
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"So many people incorrectly think that blind people see blackness in place of vision but that is still a sight based thing. They see the same thing you see behind your head right now. Nothingness.",
"IIRC, I remember reading about the blind and how they dream. If you are born blind, then that is it. There are no visuals or colors in your dream. If you lost your sight after having it, then there maybe color and images, but over time it lessens. I imagine this is the same for thinking of colors. If they've never seen it, they can't think it or visualize it. If it has been long enough after losing their sight, they may forget it.",
"I have read an interesting article about this. You might know there are some animals that have some sort of compass in their bodies. This way they can always sense what destination they are migrating at. Asking a blind-at-birth person what they see is like a migrating bird asking a human what they sense if they can't feel where the magnetic north is. \n\nTo put this in another way. Your field of vision stops at a certain point. If theres a mosquito buzzing around your ear you can not visibly see it. Is the mosquito in an area that is black to you? Someone who is born with only one working eye misses an entire area of vision. Is this part of vision black? No, his/her vision now consists of the part that he/she can see, like all of our visions are. \n\nBlind people don't see colour, blind people dont see black. Blind people simply can't experience \"vision or colour\" in the same way that you can't feel a magnetic force.",
"Can 100% Deaf hear anything? No. Why? Because they lack the parts that makes hearing possible.\n\nCan 100% Blind see anything? No. The same reason. There's no sensor that would tell the brain that there is something to see.\n\nIf you can see even 5%, the sensor is there but it's really weak.\n\nEdit: You can also think it this way: Where's your \"sixth sense\" that some animals have? Why can't you sense tsunami before it happens like some animals do? Because you lack that sense, and you don't know what it feels like to have it."
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z2i22 | how is it that a googlemaps accessed thru a fixed broadband connection (adsl) can find my exact address on a map? | I understand how a 3g network like on a mobile phone can locate me, but I was on google maps on my google nexus tablet (connected via wi-fi) and it found my exact street address? How is this possible unless google has access to my ISP details who have my physical address listed? This also leads to the question, if I have someones ip address, can I find their physical location? This kinda worries me, I always thought fixed services like adsl didnt have their ip address pinned to a physical address. I also have a dynamic ip, not static. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/z2i22/eli5_how_is_it_that_a_googlemaps_accessed_thru_a/ | {
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"Your nexus 7 has GPS bro.",
"This is copy/pasted from Google:\n\"Google Maps obtains your location from your web browser, through its Geolocation feature. When you activate the My Location feature, your browser will ask whether you're happy to share your location with Google Maps. If you agree, your browser will attempt to determine your location. This involves analyzing the Wi-Fi access points around you and your computer's IP address, and sending this information to a Google server to then be translated into a location that we can show on the map.\"\n\n\nThe following is how i see it and it might make it either easier to understand, or i might completely screw you over:\n\nThis in terms mean that if you activated the \"My Location\" feature on your browser and someone at some time entered your adresse and set that as \"My Location\" using your wi-fi connection. Then that location is stored by Google and they can use your acceptance of the \"my location\" feature to present you with your exact adress. Due to the data being \"tagged\" by your router, the IP adress doesn't need to be the same everytime.\n\nIf no one has plottet in your exact adress, but you still accept the use of \"My location\" Google can use neighbouring wi-fi signals through which \"Set my location\" has been used to locate your approximate adress. (kinda like when you see mobile-phone \"triangulation\" in movies or investigation TV-shows)\n\nHope that helps..",
"Google collects wifi network location information from people who have both wifi and gps android devices. That way, they know the location of a wifi network for people using devices other than gps. \nThe google street view mapping car used to collect information about wifi networks as it drove. "
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3cridi | how did seemingly uneducated individuals such as the wright brothers and john moses browning accomplish such feats of engineering? | Is it related to the time period?
This question applies especially to the wright brothers, since aerospace is such a difficult area of research. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3cridi/eli5_how_did_seemingly_uneducated_individuals/ | {
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"A proper education is just formalizing the process of getting knowledge. Just because they didn't go to school for aerospace engineering doesn't mean they were clueless on the subject matter.\n\nThe levels of details and feats of engineering are completely different between back then and today. Back then they just needed something that can glide and something that gave enough power to keep the craft up without weighing too much. And maybe not kill the pilot. Today aerospace engineering is more concerned about something being able to survive velocities that would tear limbs off human bodies, carry thousands of times more weight, and be able to do so in the most efficient way possible as safely as possible.",
"You have several misconceptions here.\n\nfirst, you are confusing formal education, and learning. Don't. Both had a lifetime of learning, as evidenced by their being successful machinist/engineers and businessmen who took their ideas about bicycles and gear mechanics to design powered but stable and steerable aircraft.\n\n2nd you are confusing what they did with modern aeronautics. By the end of WWI, their ideas about flight had been totally surpassed. Aerospace is not difficult because it is \"air and space dynamics.\" It is difficult because the problems we are trying to solve are much more challenging. Another way to look at it is, the easy stuff has been done. They got in when it was much easier because the question was simpler.\n\nIf, right now, you wanted to answer the same question they did (how to generate an aeronautically stable but still navigable machine) you too could do it with a few years of work and a south knowledge of basic physical and mechanical sciences. Oh, a machine shop, tools, and assistants wouldn't hurt either, but aren't necessary.\n\nI'm not sure what you mean by \"related to the time period.\""
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6pc6l4 | why is out of school suspension used as a punishment for students when getting out of school for a long period of time is almost generally enjoyed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6pc6l4/eli5why_is_out_of_school_suspension_used_as_a/ | {
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"School suspension puts you behind in classes, separates you from your friends, and can potentially lead to being held back a year. Not to mention you're probably in trouble with your parents, are grounded in some way, etc.\n\nGetting out of school for a long period of time is enjoyable when your friends are also out of school, and when it's not impacting/delaying your education.",
"It's interesting to compare this to being sentenced to prison. Although being suspended might seem like you get more freedom, the same principles apply:\n\n1) Denunciation (declaring your actions were wrong) - the school is making a statement that your actions were wrong and unwanted in that environment by excluding you from the group temporarily. \n\n2) Deterrence (giving you a reason not to repeat your behaviour) - although it seems like you get more freedom, you are actually being denied the privilege of attending school and being part of that environment. When you're in school, you can choose to leave. When you're expelled, you can't choose to come back = less freedom. The school hopes this punishment will wake you up. \n\n3) Separation from society (just like it sounds) - sometimes people are sent to prison because they need to be separated from society to ensure the safety of the members of society. In the same way, some people get expelled from school to decrease their disruption on other students. ",
"It's not so much to punish the student as it is to allow teachers to teach and the rest of the students to participate without disruption from the problem kids. ",
"an out of school suspension is not just a break from school while you're punished. it is often a permanent part of the student's record and can and most likely will be taken into consideration when going on trips, getting on sports teams, receiving accolades and awards, and going to other schools in the future. ",
"In theory, the parents would follow through with additional punishments, so their break from school wouldn't necessarily be a pleasant one.\n\nAlso, suspensions are not just about punishment, they are about removing a disruptive influence from the class room so everyone else can learn.",
"Out of school suspension is sometimes used as a method to make the children's ill behavior the parents problem. If the child is of an age that they cannot stay at home alone, the parent then has to take off of work to stay with the child which makes the parent realize that there is a problem. I do not understand why they kick the high schoolers out of school though. It is not productive for the kid, but it is unfair to the other kids who have to sit in class with this kid. There is no reason that this kid that is acting up should be able to prohibit the good children from learning. If you sorta understand this I can go in more depth if you would like.",
"I have been teaching high school for the past 12 years. Over my career, my particular school has been increasing the number of in school suspensions and decreasing out of school suspensions. While completing a masters in administration I asked the principal why this was. His reply was, out of school suspension in the past was a harsher punishment when it was more common to have 1 stay at home parent. Now students do not view out of school suspensions as the deterrent it once was because (especially common to the group of students) they don't like school and they are home alone. Therefore schools recognized this and now make students complete in school suspensions. This consists of completing a full school day isolated from the student body at the school. If teachers wish to they may send work to the student to complete while serving their suspension. In most cases (for example a substance abuse violation which is an automatic 10 day suspension at my school) the suspension is completed as a combination of in and out of school suspension. A previous post mentioned legal reasons associated with the school distancing its self from negative behavior seem accurate to me. ",
"ELI5: Why is suspension from school a punishment? Isn't that just giving them what they want?\n_URL_0_\n\nFrom yours truly",
"The real answer is because the north american school system is highly flawed and outdated. ",
"I'm a teacher and something I haven't seen mentioned is that out of school suspensions are often used when someone's safety is at risk. At the schools I've taught at, that's the ONLY time they're used.\n\nOut of my students who got suspended last year, it broke down to:\nDrugs? In school suspension. \nCutting class three days in a row? In school suspension \nStealing from a teachers desk? In school suspension \nJumping up and down on a teacher's car in order to damage it? In school suspension. \nTaking a swing at another student? Out of school suspension. \nThreatening to get a gun, shoot me, then blow up the entire school? Out of school suspension. \n\nWhen the student has engaged in physical violence with other students or is threatening to hurt someone, they are removed; not as a punishment, but because if they are on campus it is extremely likely that someone is going to get hurt. Students need time to cool down and teachers/admin need time to instate a plan to prevent to keep the student from once again fighting or whatever and to keep other students from retaliating.\n\nIt also just gives the teacher a break. My very first year teaching, I had one of my freshman threaten to kill me. This was after he took a swing at me and tried to come at me, only to be stopped by another teacher. He was quite serious about it and the school was in an urban environment with frequent gang activity in the neighborhoods my kids lived in.\n\nThere was no way I wanted to see that kid on campus for a very long time. I would not have been able to keep teaching if I had to see him every day, even if he was not in my classroom."
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2ju40i | st. thomas aquinas's argument from motion | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ju40i/eli5_st_thomas_aquinass_argument_from_motion/ | {
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"It's the \"first mover\" argument that is still alive today. If things are \"in motion\" and we observe that things that are not in motion must be put in motion by an agent or actor, then if we regress back there must be a something that put the first motion in place. That must be god.",
"I'm assuming you've read the proof, so the gist is thus: In order for something to happen (motion), something must have made it happen. In all of history there existed an original force to make that first something happen. That something was God.\n\nThe proof by itself is flaky as it assumes qualities of a god not proved by the proof, which is why it is one of 5 arguments attempting to close that loophole. I'll leave it for you to decide if it is an overall convincing argument.",
"Aquinas' argument was that, since the universe is in motion, something must have put it in motion (that thing being god). He's not talking so much about literal motion, but existence. The universe exists, so there must have been something outside of existence that created it.",
"the thing about Aquinas is that his philosophy is entirely based on the metaphysics of Aristotle. Basically, the reason he's famous and considered historically important is that he was the first Christian philosopher to use Aristotelian methodology, which had been viewed as too materialistic for a Christian worldview (as opposed to say, Plato, whose ideas such as the Forms, etc. were quite compatible with Christianity/theism in general). The Argument from Motion had basically already been made by Aristotle, altho obviously not from a Christian perspective like Aquinas, idk if you'd call Aristotle a deist or a pantheist, maybe it was even Zeus or Apollo he had in mind, I'm not sure.\n\nis starts with the observation that there is motion in the universe, and that a moving body's motion is generated by contact with another moving body. Aristotle's physics are implicit in this, Aristotle saw motion as simply a transition from Potential to Actual. To explain this dichotomy, Actuality is the natural state of everything, and Potentiality is how things appear to move or change in transitioning to the Actual (eg. Aristotle believed the natural state of all physical bodies was to be at rest, and that all motion was just bodies trying to assume this natural state).\n\nSo motion is just the changing from Potential to Actual, and what's more, something Potential can only make this transition if it's caused by something else in a state of Actuality. The example Aquinas uses to illustrate this is \n\n- fire is Actually hot\n- wood is Potentially hot\n- fire makes wood Actually hot\n\nso bearing in mind that motion or change is Potential - > Actual, which has to be caused by an Actual, Aquinas reasons that nothing can be simultaneously Potential *and* Actual in the same respect (wood can't be Actually hot *and* Potentially hot, it can be Actually hot and Potentially cold). Then logically applying this to motion, nothing can be both Mover and Moved, anything in motion must be put in motion by another. Logically, this regresses infinitely, ie. it extends backwards forever, but Aquinas rejects this infinite regression because it would mean there was no first Mover, in which case there would be no motion at all. He concludes that there must, at the beginning of the causal chain, be something that caused movement without being moved itself, which to him is God.\n\nwhat I personally find interesting and subtle about this cosmology shared by both Aristotle and Aquinas, is that altho they both infer a god because they reject an infinitely regressing causal chain, they don't reject infinite *temporal* regress, ie. they don't believe time had a beginning, in fact, they don't believe that there was a Creation when God created the cosmos. Their God is outside of time, and sort of animates the world and acts as the first cause of motion and causality. This view allows for example, an infinite cycle of universes that can extend forever into the past and future, so long as they are not *causally* connected. The analogy I heard is a blacksmith working with a hammer for long periods, the hammer gets worn out and he replaces it, but the new hammer isn't physically *caused* by the old hammer. And these cycles would be initiated by an initiating force that to Aquinas was God."
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2nt9ly | what would happen to me if i were to drink only salt water? | Not sure if I'd die of dehydration or not. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nt9ly/eli5_what_would_happen_to_me_if_i_were_to_drink/ | {
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"You would definitely die. Your body cannot effectively filter the salt out of the saltwater and so your mental state would deteriorate, and you would dehydrate and die.",
"The salt in the water is too much. You get really sick, go delusional and eventually die.",
"You would die of dehydration. The salt would make you urinate out more liquid than you were taking in.\n\nIf you were on, say, a raft in the middle of the ocean or a desert island, exposure to the sun would only make things worse. \n\nIf you've ever heard the quote \"*Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink*\", that's about sailors on a ship surrounded by ocean but out of drinking water. ",
"You would die of dehydration. It happens often when people are lost at sea"
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1ex5kc | why is java popular and why did google write android os in java? | Java has large support from companies and Google wrote the Android OS in Java. Why do companies like Java so much and why did Google write android OS in Java?
Personally, I dislike Java because of the wordy syntax, the lack of operator over loading, concurrency is needlessly hard, and functions are not first order. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ex5kc/eli5_why_is_java_popular_and_why_did_google_write/ | {
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" > why did Google write android OS in Java?\n\nIt was written mostly in C, but also in C++, and some in other languages including Java. Only about 10% was written in Java.\n\n\n\n",
"Java initially gained traction by being write-once-run-anywhere. It was the best-maintained language offering that.\n\nAdditionally, Java is great for object-oriented design and very easy to write a good program in compared to C or Fortran.\n\nThere are good open source development platforms, I strongly believe that Eclipse had a major role in the huge popularity of Java.\n\nFinally, competitors in that space, like C#, were platform specific.",
"I won't comment on why Java is popular. I don't know (and by this I don't mean to say it shouldn't have been, I literally just mean I don't know).\n\nAs for Android: Java code has the distinct advantage that it isn't written specifically for any one processor architecture. Like Android, the choice of going with Java/Dalvik for apps (even many parts of the system are simply 'apps') allowed Google to switch to another platform such as x86 with *relative* ease from the perspective of apps and developers. Although I don't know if the above has ever been said on-the-record by an Android insider, it stands to reason to me that this is the reasoning behind the decision. The extreme modularity of the Android operating system further reinforces this idea.\n\nOne small piece of evidence is the fact that C#.net was seen as the primary competitor inside Google w.r.t. what language Android apps would be in (keep in mind that Android development wasn't started inside Google though, they bought Android Inc. in 2005 iirc). In July 2011, in the midst of an Oracle lawsuit, an e-mail containing statements by Andy Rubin himself became public. The following is an [excerpt](_URL_0_) from it.\n\n > \"If Sun doesn't want to work with us, we have two options: 1) Abandon our work and adopt MSFT CLR VM and C# language - or - 2) Do Java anyway and defend our decision, perhaps making enemies along the way\"\n\n(Darnit, I hope you appreciate this comment, because you have no idea how hard it is to find that quote when your primary search terms are 'Android' and '.net'. Every page on the internet contains 'net' and everything's Android nowadays.)"
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2c71l3 | what is that purplish gunk i spit out when i use the "crest" mouthwash? | Is it supposed to be the bacteria it kills or is it reacting with some enzyme in my saliva? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2c71l3/eli5_what_is_that_purplish_gunk_i_spit_out_when_i/ | {
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"Agreed I always wanted to know this.\n\nWe are talking about the non-alcohol mouth wash.\n\nWhen you spit it out it has like protein chains gunked together ",
"You're talking about the Pro-Health stuff, right? The gunk you see is because that mouthwash is alcohol-free. Alcohol in traditional mouthwashes like Listerine is used to dissolve flavor oils and keep them mixed together. Without alcohol, this stuff separates. \n\nSource: _URL_0_"
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r9nf0 | why do women run differently compared to men? | Things like hands moving differently. Does the female anatomy significantly have different balance compared to men? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/r9nf0/why_do_women_run_differently_compared_to_men/ | {
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"Different pelvis & bone structure ",
"Walking or running with wide-set legs causes the body to rotate more as each leg is thrust forward (see [the way geese waddle](_URL_2_) for an example). \n\nYou may have noticed that women have a tendency to sway their hips as they walk. Each step forces the pelvis to rotate. For balance and upper body steadiness, the upper torso rotates in the opposite direction to counteract it. Additionally, when the body's weight is balanced mostly on one leg, the hip dips downward on the opposite side because it is not supported as well (seen with both [standing](_URL_3_) and [walking](_URL_0_)). \n\nThese factors come together to create the [feminine sway](_URL_1_) we're all familiar with, and they also causes [the arms and shoulders to swing more](_URL_4_) to counterbalance that sway. Men have the same physical properties in their gait; it's just less pronounced because their legs aren't spaced as far apart."
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"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxKvChqvCBo&feature=related",
"http://static2.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/2/0/1/large2/1022368.jpg",
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4lhdfb | how do interest work in a savings bank account? | I'm embarrassed to say that I still don't quite get the principles of interest rates at all. I do know that the higher it is, the more the amount increases especially if you have loans and credit. In a bank savings account, how does interest work? I've received cents or sometimes a dollar deposited to my account.
I guess I'm still confused as to why interest exists and why banks give them. And do banks just give back to your account at a random time? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4lhdfb/eli5_how_do_interest_work_in_a_savings_bank/ | {
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"Basically when you deposit money into a bank, the bank uses it to fuel their investments. The bank makes their money off of their investments. Since they are using your money to make their money, they give you a bit of the profits. But on savings accounts it is generally very low",
"How often and how much is going to be dependent on the bank and the account at the bank- it will all be specified in the terms you signed when you opened the account. \n\nYou'll typically see it listed like \"0.9% compounded monthly, 0.903% APY\". What that means is that you get 0.9% divided by 12 every month (so 0.007% of your balance every month). But you also get interest on the interest in subsequent months, so the actual interest is slightly more than the interest rate- that's the Annual Percentage Yield, or APY. \n\n\nAs for why banks do it, it's to encourage you to leave your money with them. While they have your money, they can loan it out to other people, at far higher rates than the interest they're paying you. That's how the bank makes their money. But they can only lend money if they have money to lend out, which is why they need you to open an account for your savings.",
"They should teach stuff like this in high school. Life skills should be a core subject. Taxes, bank accounts, investments, retirement, paying bills, common policies of financial institutions, etc. I had a brief introduction to this in my health class, but it should be way more in depth."
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5zpg3n | we were just taught how to calculate huge powers like 10^5 raised to the power 10^5 raised to the power something else. why do we need such numbers? | The question said that as the numbers are too huge we have to provide its modulo with 10^9+7. We used Chinese remainder theorem and Fermat's little theorem and whatnot. So my question is are such Numbers needed in real life or are we just calculating these because we can? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5zpg3n/eli5_we_were_just_taught_how_to_calculate_huge/ | {
"a_id": [
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"Huge numbers are needed to describe reality and do calculations about reality. For example, the mass of the Earth is around 6 x 10^24 kilograms. (Yes, doing physics means going Metric.) It's not just physics, either: in January 2016 the US National Debt stood at about $18.96 trillion. What's a \"trillion\"? Unless you associate that with a number, it's meaningless, and the number is so huge that you need to use power notation: a $trillion is $10^12, meaning the debt was about $18,900,000,000,000.",
"Not a super mathy guy but I had this explained to me once as well. Normal everyday people don't really use large numbers. But large numbers *are* used in Astronomy, Cosmology, Biology, computer science and various other fields. Especially in Astronomy, the scale of some objects in the universe is so mind-breakingly big we need the large numbers to make sense of it. Or with computers the speed can be so great that it's either write it out as 10^^15 or a huge string. Another way of looking at it is in the example of a Googol 10^^100 which when written out is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.",
"Knowing the basics of math is part of general education. You might not have any particular use for that ever, but it's still thought valuable that everyone has some grasp of what math is all about and what types of problems it deals with.\n\nThat being said, you can rather easily generalize some helpful tools from this knowledge, like for mental arithmetic or programming tasks. Multiplication and powers in general are required to read scientific number notation, and that tremendosly helps in assessing fringe probabilities like odds of winning lottery."
]
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[],
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|
2zog8e | what makes hot springs naturally hot? | A couple of friends and I were talking about camping at Harrison Hot Springs (BC, Canada) and this question popped in my head. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2zog8e/eli5_what_makes_hot_springs_naturally_hot/ | {
"a_id": [
"cpkth4q"
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"text": [
"Geothermal heating. Generally from a nearby source of magma heating the rocks. That's why Yellowstone has such a huge number of Geysers and hot springs, a good portion of the park sits atop a SuperVolcano.\n\n\nEDIT: The Harrison Hot Springs in particular are situated on/near a tectonic border in a region called the Ring of Fire."
]
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[]
] |
|
3l584h | why are there always sales just before the financial year ends? | Above ^
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3l584h/eli5_why_are_there_always_sales_just_before_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"cv3akaa",
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"Because many people in the company have performance targets or even bonuses tied to revenue (or profit, or new customers, etc) in the fiscal year. So if the big day is approaching and they need a little bump to earn a bonus, then it's sale time.\n\nOf course there is also the situation where its just being used as a marketing ploy. Their announced sale may have zero connection to their internal reporting or bonus structure.",
"In ye olden days of business, stores would keep a ledger of their sales. Until they turned a profit, all sales were written down in red ink. Around the fourth quarter of the year when the Holidays were fast approaching, they'd start to turn a profit and write their numbers down in black ink. Hence the terms \"have red in my ledger\" and \"Black Friday\". Many stores around this time are trying to do three things:\n\n1) Get as far into the black as possible to cover bonuses, sales targets, surplus capital etc.\n\n2) Get rid of excess and/or outdated stock quickly and cheaply, to make way for new products.\n\n3) Land new customers who otherwise haven't or wouldn't typically shop at said retailer."
]
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[],
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3plqsi | since i'm not a nielsen family, does pirating a show basically have the same effect as watching it on live tv? | From my understanding, ratings are only calculated from people who have Nielsen stuff. So the ratings aren't impacted by my watching it live. Is watching it live then the same as pirating it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3plqsi/eli5_since_im_not_a_nielsen_family_does_pirating/ | {
"a_id": [
"cw7dqdr",
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"text": [
"With respect to TV ratings, if you're not participating in any special Nielsen Families (or related) program, then pirating would be effectively the same as watching the TV program live via antenna or via a passive cable/satellite tuner (e.g. using the QAM tuner built into your TV). \n\nThere are, however, cable/satellite TV set-top boxes that can technically report back to the television service provider what channels you are watching. Whether your television service provider actually collects this information and/or shares it with other parties (e.g. Nielsen) for measuring ratings, that's a whole different story (one I don't actually have the answer to)... \n\nBut certainly in terms of passive tuners (which basically just listen into one-way over-the-air / cable broadcasts), then there is no way they are collecting information about your viewership of the program and thus pirating would not affect the ratings.",
"If you're not a Nielson family nothing you do has anything to do with ratings. You can watch it on television or pirate to your hearts content, but neither has any bearing on whether or not the show will succeed."
]
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[],
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|
5dlf8e | how is uk's new surveillance law different from what data retention laws in the eu already allow the government to do? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5dlf8e/eli5_how_is_uks_new_surveillance_law_different/ | {
"a_id": [
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"A lot of it is basically legalising what GCHQ have been doing illegally for years - hacking devices and bulk collection of data. There are supposed safeguards againts misuse of these powers, but most people think they aren't enough and it'll essentially be a free-for-all.\n\n > The law forces UK internet providers to store browsing histories -- including domains visited -- for one year, in case of police investigations.\n\nThis is the new part. It will cost millions (some say billions) for all the ISPs to implement this. Just imagine how much data there is to store. It's not just browsing histories either; it's phone records and emails too. Each time you visit a web site, send an email or make a phone call the details of where you have gone, who you emailed or who you called has to be stored for a year. This data has to be searchable and available to many different authorities (police and many others) to access at the ISP's expense.\n\nThe benefits of this are, to put it optimistically, theoretical. The opportunity for abuse is massive, not just by people who will legally have access to this data, but also by hackers. Data breaches are so common it is only a matter of time before someone nefarious has your browsing, email and phone records."
]
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[]
] |
||
1zmcbn | hiv/aids and why can't we kill it. | I've been reading up on it but I don't seem to understand. Why can't we kill it. Why can't our immune system protect us from it? What about if we put two pipes in someone and had one suck out all the infected blood and another pipe injecting new, clean blood. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zmcbn/eli5_hivaids_and_why_cant_we_kill_it/ | {
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"HIV is whats known as a retrovirus. Meaning every time it divides within you, it changes its receptors on the outer shell. When white blood cells produce antibodies for the original virus it has already changed. Because of this, there are many strains of the virus and vaccines are only able to protect you from one strain of a virus. Making it impossible to make a vaccine for. \n\nAs for your idea, there is something like that where they take out a persons blood and filter it through a membrane called dialysis. But HIV doesn't just live in blood, it lives in most bodily fluids (except saliva IIRC) so you would have to replace all bodily fluids if that was even possible. \n\nTL;DR Virus constantly changing; no cure. ",
"HIV is a virus. A virus is a very simple structure consists of nothing more than RNA/DNA and a protein coat (bacteria in contrast is a complete cell). Since the structure is so simple, there's less things you can \"break\" to make it fatal for the virus. In addition viruses use the host's cells to replicate, so it's very hard to damage the virus without damaging the host cells. \n\nUsually the only drug you can take for virus is antiviral drugs, which inhibits the development of viruses but does not completely eliminate them. They are very hard and expensive to develop because you essentially have to try everything and maybe you can find one chemical that can do the job. ",
"HIV has a nasty trick going for it -- it infects our immune cells. This means that the immune response is pretty much the same thing as the HIV dinner bell.\n\nAs a result, attempts to flush it using the natural system just aren't as effective as they should be. Once HIV has a foothold, the immune system is destroyed, leaving it to rampage unabated. Like most viruses, HIV is also prone to rapid mutation, which has resulted in numerous strains -- this complicates treatment efforts as some strains will resist the standard course of anti-retrovirals.\n\nThe other problem with viruses is that they are very hard to cure. They can stay dormant in cells indefinitely: it is believed that a rather substantial portion of our genome is viral material that got stuck at some point in the distant evolutionary past. As a result, while you can get the viral load down to a level where you're no longer infectious and no longer detectably ill, there is no guarantee that the virus isn't simply waiting it out somewhere.",
"HIV is a retrovirus. Retroviruses keep their genetic information is stored as RNA which is then translated to DNA by reverse transcriptase when the virus infects the host cell. This conveys more survivability to the virus because reverse transcriptase is extremely error-prone compared to an enzyme like DNA polymerase. So the whole time HIV is infecting someone it's building up tons of mutations, some of which are bound to give resistance to a therapy.",
"While we can't cure it today, you have to keep in mind that a big disease like HIV/AIDS comes around every so often and we generally end up finding a cure. The 1800s had tuberculosis which is easily cured today (unless it's a multiresistant strain) and we've made a lot of progress on HIV medication. \n\nHIV was considered a death sentence at the start of the 90s, but the people that get treatment today can expect to live as long as any other person. Regarding vaccines I'm not one for jumping on the conspiracy bandwagon, but the price of HIV medication ranges from 2000-5000$ monthly and the pharmaceutical industry has been known for extremely hideous business practices. \n\n"
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1moouc | are there any negative health consequences as a result of all the invisible waves (wifi, radio, x-ray ect.) that we are constantly exposed to? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1moouc/eli5_are_there_any_negative_health_consequences/ | {
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"X-rays are very rare to occur naturally, and the ones you get at the doctor are designed to be as low a dosage as possible.\n\nAs far as the long wavelengths like radio and infrared, it's precisely because they're longer that they do less damage. Regular colored light would do more damage to health than radio waves.",
"sometimes. it depends on the wavelength (and your dose- how much and for how long). most radiation- invisible waves- doesnt have significant impacts on your body. microwaves, for example, are fine in pretty much any dose you're likely to ever get. \nsome waves, like x-rays and ultraviolet, can directly damage your DNA. our bodies have ways of correcting for damaged DNA, which works most of the time. If the corrective processes fail, though, you can end up with cancer. this happens a lot more often if you already have a genetic condition that makes it more likely for you to get cancer, like a mutation in your DNA damage correction system.\nmedical imaging, air travel (being up in the plane more than TSA's shenanigans) and tanning are most people's major sources of the ones that can hurt you. \nhaving said that, it's still pretty unlikely you'd get cancer from environmental radiation, even if you break three bones a year and fly a lot.",
"Figure: [electromagnetic spectrum](_URL_0_).\n\nYou have to distinguish different kinds of radiation. Low-energy, or \"non-ionizing\", radiation is perfectly harmless except under very specific conditions. High-energy \"ionizing\" radiation has the potential to cause damage to our cells.\n\nRadio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, and visible light are all non-ionizing. The radio waves emitted by your cellular phone and wireless router are less energetic than the visible light waves emitted by a lamp. This radiation is regulated by the FCC to keep things orderly and ensure that these useful frequencies are not drowned out by interference from poorly made or irresponsibly used devices.\n\nOn the other hand, X-rays, gamma rays, and some ultraviolet light are ionizing radiation, and this is hazardous. This is the reason why we wear sunscreen at the beach and why we don't use X-ray machines to size our shoes anymore.\n\nWe are exposed to a certain amount of ionizing radiation from sunlight, from radioactive elements in rocks (and other things such as bananas), and from the effects of nuclear testing. This exposure is generally too low to be worth worrying about, except of course for sunlight, which is powerful enough to significantly raise your risk of skin cancer if you are careless. We are also exposed to additional radiation from medical scanners, from flying high in the atmosphere, and (rarely) from incidents involving radioactive materials. In extreme cases, these sources can have a significant effect on your risk for cancer. In *super-extreme* cases, acute radiation exposure can sicken or kill you, but unless you're working directly with highly radioactive materials, you don't need to worry about that."
]
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"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/EM_Spectrum_Properties_edit.svg/500px-EM_Spectrum_Properties_edit.svg.png"
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69jona | how do bathroom mirrors always get those little spots on them even if you literally never touch the mirror? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69jona/eli5_how_do_bathroom_mirrors_always_get_those/ | {
"a_id": [
"dh74evh",
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"text": [
"probably splashes from you brushing your teeth and washing your face and not wiping the mirror afterwards.",
"Do you brush your teeth in front of the mirror?\n\nYou probably do, and like most people, you probably spatter tiny amount of toothpaste mixed with saliva from your toothbrush. Sometimes the motion of the brushing install in enough to flick a dot onto the mirror; sometimes it's the spitting into the sink, or backsplash from rinsing your brush. "
]
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[],
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|
22r6m1 | how does applying a foreign substance to a baseball (e.g. pine tar, vaseline, crisco) give the pitcher a competitive advantage over the hitter? why is it worth the risk? | This question stems from tonight's Red Sox-Yankees game where it appeared Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda appeared to have some kind of a substance on his pitching hand.
Jury's not out yet on whether or not he broke any rules, I don't really have a stake in the matter either way, I just want someone to explain to me the controversy like I still wet the bed, so... ELI5 | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22r6m1/eli5how_does_applying_a_foreign_substance_to_a/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"If air is moving differently over one side of a moving object than the other, the object will get pushed sideways. It's the same principle that lets planes generate lift. \n\nIn baseball, the spin of the ball and the interaction of the laces with the air generates these effects, and makes the ball break. If you put something on the ball, you can cause the ball to break much, much harder without much effort. \n\nIf you've ever seen [Wiffle Ball](_URL_0_) pitchers, you've seen an example. A Wiffle ball is intentionally designed to have these drastic effects."
]
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[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_rslXAXE6Y"
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|
3ziyg1 | why do us american citizens have so little powers in controversial laws passed by congress? (i.e. gun control, raising of congressmen wages, etc.) | It seems as though we have a little say in many laws which are, in a sense, very powerful. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ziyg1/eli5_why_do_us_american_citizens_have_so_little/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"USA is more of a republic, not a democracy. We vote for (hopefully qualified) professionals to learn about laws, discuss, debate, and vote on our behalf. We essentially elect them to become educated on all of the important subjects so we don't end up with Joe Blow setting international policy.",
"Every American citizen as a very small amount of power, because they are one voice among millions. The way they become powerful is by finding people who agree with them, and banding together to vote for senators/representatives to go argue on their behalf in the Senate and House of Representatives. When you hear about senators and representatives voting on these important issues, those are *your* votes being cast. If you don't like the way they're representing you, it's your duty to write to them, or to vote for someone who more closely agrees with your opinions.",
"They have all the power. Every congressman was elected by American citizens.\n\nThey make those decisions because that is what we elect them to do. They work for us.\n\n"
]
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[],
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|
4gl4il | why do we feel motivated after we are upset or angry? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4gl4il/eli5_why_do_we_feel_motivated_after_we_are_upset/ | {
"a_id": [
"d2ihvhw"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Depends on where the motivation comes from. Sounds like it's from a place of retribution or to prove someone wrong. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
6okc5t | how does applying sunscreen regularly really help you age gracefully, considering that your skin cells constantly die and get replaced by new cells? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6okc5t/eli5_how_does_applying_sunscreen_regularly_really/ | {
"a_id": [
"dki0udk"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Because UVA rays damage the collagen layer below your skin, which acts as a sort of \"support structure\". This causes your skin to wrinkle and take on a \"leathery\" appearance."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
bbax1b | why do high end sports cars have scissor doors? is it just for aesthetics or is there a practical reason? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bbax1b/eli5_why_do_high_end_sports_cars_have_scissor/ | {
"a_id": [
"ekhj164",
"ekhy117"
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11,
4
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"text": [
"Typical high end sports car are much wider than regular car due to increased performance and the scissor door in high end sports car allow their owner to exit the vehicle easily even parked in between cars. By having the door opening up instead of traditionally outward, the owner would gain a lot more opening to get out of the car vs having to squeeze between the car and the door to not dent the other car.",
"One of the first modern cars to have doors that didn't open from the front or back was the Mercedes gullwing, and it had upwards-opening doors for structural reasons. A door represents a big hole in the structure, which means a weak point in the lower part of the chassis; high-performance cars generally want a stiff chassis that doesn't flex during cornering, so to reduce the impact of the door on that crucial structural part they moved the door up. Today, we've largely figured out ways around that so many modern supercars will have fairly traditional doors, but it's still a valid way to give yourself a little extra room to fit structural components so you see that the serious cars still have it."
]
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[],
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||
2gtqjc | why companies choose advertising, sponsorships, expensive promotions, and blanket mailing over offering cheaper better service | I really don't understand why I get a 4 pages letter on glossy paper every couple of weeks from my ISP asking if I wanna sign up for a landline.
I get ton of mail addressed to "Occupant" from other ISPs and these are just examples from one industry.
On the other hand, I have to pay $80 for cell phone and $65 for internet and I'm not happy with either service.
Meanwhile, phone companies are the biggest sponsors of everything.
Switching to banks, let me tell you about a promotion from this bank where they'll give up to $400 if you sign up with few services. But there's literally nothing stopping you from closing your account after 2 months (and getting the money) but if you stay with them, the account fees are just too high. It doesn't take a Math prof to find that out. I really don't get it. If you say: no-fee accounts, won't people like that better. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gtqjc/eli5_why_companies_choose_advertising/ | {
"a_id": [
"ckmff5i"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text": [
"Guess which one is more effective at making them money? **The one they are doing**."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
3kg05b | why are tote-bag apples cheaper than bulk apples? | I wanted apples for a pie, but they're about $1.99-$2.99lb to buy in bulk at my local grocery store. If I buy the smaller ones in tote bags, they are anywhere from $0.99-$1.50lb. Why is that? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3kg05b/eli5_why_are_totebag_apples_cheaper_than_bulk/ | {
"a_id": [
"cux3i30",
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"text": [
"Because stocking bulk apples is more expensive, as people will only buy the most perfect-looking ones and the rest will spoil and need to be thrown out. \n\nThat isn't to say that bagged apples are lower-quality - they just might have some visual imperfections.",
"Less labor, less materials, guaranteed purchase amount. That's probably the main 3.\nWhat kind of tote? How would you suppose it arrives? If it's actually bulk apples that the workers put in on site from the same batch as the bulk tables, that leaves us with purchasing amounts. Stores make money when you buy more. They'll want you to buy more than you would otherwise.\nIs it pre-packaged sealed bags? I stock those.\nWorking the bagged apples is a breeze and I'd reason that it's less hassle for those who handled it before me."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
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|
3d34e1 | hiring a lawyer | What does the process look like? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3d34e1/eli5_hiring_a_lawyer/ | {
"a_id": [
"ct1cuzk"
],
"score": [
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"text": [
"You'll have to focus your question a little, there are hundreds of specialties in law.\n\nContract law, criminal law, family law, intellectual property law, estate law, property law, etc.\n\nAnd there are lawyers who specialize in certain things, like a trial. lawyer."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
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|
3bqlpe | why does airconditioning in my car consume gas but the headlights/radio does not? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bqlpe/eli5_why_does_airconditioning_in_my_car_consume/ | {
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"text": [
"The headlights and radio do consume gas (or if the engine is off they drain the battery, which is then recharged by burning gas later). They use a lot less than running the air con though, just because air con uses more energy.",
"If your car is running, then your headlights and radio are also consuming gas (indirectly) via the alternator. If your car is off then they're running off the car's battery.",
"Most cars have an auxiliary belt/ drive belt that powers accessories. Accessories include power steering and air conditioning.\nYou may have noticed when your car isn't running the engine, your AC doesn't work. \nThis is because the pulley connected to the AC is free running all the time from the belt and not actually turning anything.\nWhen you turn on the AC, you'll hear a click and the pulley mechanically connects the AC pump shaft to the pulley (You may have a momentary judder as power from the belt starts to turn over the AC).\nThis power used doesn't come for free though. The engine is now having to keep the AC turning while doing everything else and that's why it uses fuel.\nThe headlights and radio work off the battery. Using them does drain the battery faster but you regain all that by driving around and recharging from the alternator that is constantly connected to the drive belt (the same one that can power the AC).",
"The headlights and radio run off electrical power and can therefore run when your engine is off. This obviously won't use gas. The AC is mechanically driven by a belt connected to your engine. If some of the power your engine produces is taken up by it, it has to use more gas to produce the same amount of power as with the AC off. People telling you your radio and headlights use gas don't really know what they're talking about. Don't believe me? Run your tank dry and see if they still work."
]
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[],
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||
btiiz2 | why do people sell their things to pawn shops when they can sell it to auctions for a much better price? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/btiiz2/eli5_why_do_people_sell_their_things_to_pawn/ | {
"a_id": [
"eoyc26v"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"You sell to a pawn shop when you need the cash right that second. You are facing eviction or want to keep the power on or need to buy drugs. It's for when you haven't got time for an auction."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
3sbqbh | what is a beta? | What is a beta in stocks? Can someone clarify it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3sbqbh/eli5what_is_a_beta/ | {
"a_id": [
"cwvrz40"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Can you be more specific? There are beta fish, beta phases of software, beta personalities/people, there's a letter of the Greek alphabet called beta, etc. which are you worried about?"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
4pwlb3 | why does brown rice split open after it is boiled, but white rice doesn't? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4pwlb3/eli5_why_does_brown_rice_split_open_after_it_is/ | {
"a_id": [
"d4oebhw",
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9,
2
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"text": [
"White rice is just brown rice without the chaff or bran of the grain. The splitting it's this casing splitting open. White rice just doesn't have the casing.",
"What is white rice? Can you grow rice and have it come out looking as fine and as white as white rice? No you can't. \n\nRice is similar to wheat in that it has the outer nutritional bit like bran, and an interior kernel of almost pure carbohydrate. Rice is usually milled and rolled so that only the soft, tasty inner kernel of rice is left over and all of the exterior bran is milled away. This results in a tasty, sticky, but less nutritionally valuable rice, similar to whole wheat vs white flour. \n\nIf whole grain rice is boiled, the outer bran casing breaks open as the carbohydrate laden interior expands from cooking. \n\nYou get a similar result when you roast barley or wheat. "
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5ri04g | why do many viruses that can kill you are hard to catch while less harmful ones are easy to catch but don't kill you | For example, HIV is hard to catch (you have to have a blood transfusion, sex with an infected person, etc) and it can kill you, but the common cold virus is easy to catch but usually won't do lasting harm. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ri04g/eli5_why_do_many_viruses_that_can_kill_you_are/ | {
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"Because doctors and scientists have focused a great deal of effort making sure that viruses that can kill/debilitate you AND are easy to catch do not spread. This is mostly done through vaccines that provide herd immunity. If most people are immune to the virus, it is much harder for the virus to find suitable targets to start an outbreak.\n\nHowever, the recent surge of anti-vaccine ideas has poked holes in the herd immunity which has caused outbreaks of viruses that should have been preventable.",
"Viruses don't really want to kill you. If you die, all the viruses that are using you as a breeding ground also die.\n\nSo most viruses that are super-deadly are young ones, that haven't had much time to evolve to spread themselves around humanity yet. Ebola, HIV, and such are all very new diseases.\n\nOlder diseases, like the flu or the common cold, are much less lethal, so that the infected person can stay alive and spread the infection to more people."
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eafgmw | would a human being from 5000 years ago look the same as a human being today, considering if it's from the same genus, species, subspecies? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eafgmw/eli5_would_a_human_being_from_5000_years_ago_look/ | {
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"Anatomically modern humans first appeared about 200,000 years ago. Behaviourally modern humans appeared about 40,000 years ago. Anatomically modern humans are physically the same as us, and as far as we know you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between a modern human and a caveman from 200,000 BC just by looking at them. A behaviourally modern human has a more fully developed brain, and a human from about 40,000 years ago is just as smart as a modern human, just they didn't know as much as we do now. You could grab a baby from 40,000 BC and put it through a modern school, and the child will perform about on par with modern standards."
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7yo3df | how is a neuron conneted to so many others? | How can a Neuron be connected to tens of thousands of cells? I understand this on a biological level, but what I want to know is the architectural/spacial organization. How is it possible that all those thousands and thousands of Neurons are individually connected to so many more, and that seemingly effective (short distance, small space)
I hope I made clear what I mean, sorry for the bad grammar. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7yo3df/eli5_how_is_a_neuron_conneted_to_so_many_others/ | {
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"Dendrites and axons. These appendages are what communicate to other cells and other neurons. They can also be very long. Axons can be feet long, giving lots of room for large networks."
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8fxb3s | how do countries get rid of nuclear warheads when they decide they no longer want/need them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8fxb3s/eli5_how_do_countries_get_rid_of_nuclear_warheads/ | {
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"Nukes are essentially just uranium or plutonium surrounded in metal, and that metal is surrounded with TNT (depending on which material you picked earlier). So its very possible to simply disassemble them. You could salvage the materials for other things. I am pretty sure you can still use them for nuclear fission. \n\nEdit: especially = essentially",
"Generally, you would remove the payload and then repurpose the material inside because it’s still nuclear material. If it’s waste, than the gold standard these days is to encase it in glass and then stainless steel and then bury it, however depending on the government getting rid of it the disposal method could go anywhere from putting it in a holding tank to dropping it in the middle of the ocean.",
"It's a pretty straightforward process. The warhead is dismantled and anything reusable is recycled. The non-nuclear components (the casing, electronics...etc) can be recycled. The actual core of uranium and/or plutonium is diluted and can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors. The fusion fuel (in the case of boosted fission or thermonuclear warheads) is disposed of as hazardous waste. Anything that's been irradiated can be stored as nuclear waste.",
"You re-use them - those elements are rare and useful.\n\nNuclear weapon payloads are very highly-refined Plutonium (Pu) or Uranium (U), depending on the design of the weapon. By refined, I mean the specific type (isotope) of that element is there in far larger abundance than in nature - so much that it can chain-react and go nuclear, as designed. A fair bit of efforts goes into separating the useful 'weaponisable' type of each element from the 'useless' (and more common) types.\n\nWhen you're talking power, Uranium reactors run on a far lower concentration of the type (isotope) that's used for weaponry. In this case you have to reduce the concentration of the Uranium-235, usually by mixing it with raw-mined low-concentration 'natural' Uranium, or with already-spent 'depleted' Uranium.\n\nIn contrast, Plutonium reactors use highly-refined fuel, much the same way Plutonium-fuelled nuclear weapons do. In that case you can use the same fuel in each, and it's just a matter of physically changing it to the shape of a fuel rod.\n\nFYI, Uranium is the more common payload... and there is the added step of getting the payload out of the rocket, but that's comparatively trivial.",
"A nuclear or thermonuclear bomb can be dissembled. The electronics are recycled, the chemical explosive is burned or detonated in a safe way. The uranium or plutonium (modern bombs almost exclusively use plutonium) can be used as fuel in civilian nuclear reactors. It could be a decommissioned nuke that is powering your screen right now.",
"The uranium is used for fuel in civilian reactors. \n\n\"During the 20-year Megatons to Megawatts program, as much as 10 percent of the electricity produced in the United States was generated by fuel fabricated using Low enriched uranium from Russian Highly enriched uranium\"\n\n_URL_0_",
"They take them apart and mix the plutonium with a ceramic forming a fuel pellet. These pellets are then shipped to the correct type of nuclear reactor and used as nuclear fuel. \n\nA lot of Soviet and American warheads dismantled due to treaties ended up as fuel in Canadian nuclear reactors as the two powers didn't trust each other.",
"The really explodey bits inside can be separated from the less explodey bits that are needed to make the warhead super explodey in the first place.\n\nThe really explodey bits can then be used in other safer ways, like to charge your iPad! ",
"Lots of recycling and reuse of materials.\n\nThere is another thing they do, which i havnt had much luck researching are nuclear \"melt\" sites.\n\n I dont know much about them but in the early 90s my dad was a tower rat at one such facility. It was a classified location in Germany, and i havnt had much luck digging up more or getting info from him, except that any time their \"alarm\" on site went off, it was shoot first orders under threat of russian contact.",
"Lots of good answers so just to add a little tidbit on the topic\n\n[Project Plowshare](_URL_0_) was a US program that looked into exactly this in the 1960's (named after the bible quote to beat down your swords into plowshares). Since at the time the US and USSR had collective nuclear stockpiles in the 10's of thousands of bombs (remember that only 2 have ever been used in warfare) so they were looking for ways to use them for productive rather than destructive purposes. These include: using nukes to create open-pit mines, manufacturing of high atomic number chemical elements, and removal of the enriched uranium for use in nuclear power.",
"The US basically shelves old missiles for disassembly, the active components are buried in a concrete bunker. We also pay for Russia's missiles to be decommissioned or did at least for awhile. ",
"Give them to Russia in exchange for their agreeing to respect your territorial integri-\n\n\nOh.",
"This doesn't specifically answer your question about nuclear weapons, but on a related note, at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, they're almost done completing the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant. This facility is going to dismantle all of the chemical weapons the US has stored there over the last century. Things like mustard gas, VX and other nerve agents. There's another facility like it in Pueblo, Colorado.\n\nYou can Google both, and find a decent amount of public information on it, including videos on how the process works. My limited understanding is that they send these missiles and canisters through an assembly line with various chemical and heat processes and at the end are left with basically scrap metal and non-potable water.\n\nI did some minor construction work there so we were only given a very basic orientation on what was going on. Again, pretty much all public information. But I remember our instructor telling us that the old alternative for disposing of this stuff was to basically take it to a remote desert or cave or something and just blow it up. ",
"It depends on why you are taking them out of service, but there are really only a couple of options:\n\n1. Down blend the nuclear material. You purposely un-enrich the material or otherwise add other isotopes to the material to make it no longer useful in nuclear weapons. The [Megatons-to-Megawatts](_URL_0_) program did this for excess special nuclear material in the former USSR, turning it into commercial reactor fuel.\n\n2. Recycle the material in your national strategic programs. You might purify the material, add phase modifiers and then manufacture new pits for new nuclear weapons. If your nation operates [naval nuclear propulsion](_URL_3_), highly enriched material is desirable due to its compactness and long life as nuclear fuel. These uses take advantage of the costs you already sank into producing this material in the first place. \n\n3. Recycle the material in your national science organizations. High purity radioactive material is of interest in a wide variety of research and technological applications.\n\n4. Dispose of the material in your national [geologic repository](_URL_1_) or otherwise destroy the material in something like a [fast flux reactor](_URL_2_).\n",
"The UK has begun dismantling some of its warheads, but hasn't come up with a final disposal plan. A 2016 government report laid out three proposals:\n\n1) Convert the plutonium to a stable ceramic and send it for deep disposal (in a repository which hasn't even been planned let alone built);\n2) Convert it to fuel and use it in the UK's own nuclear reactors, or;\n3) Make fuel and sell it abroad.\n\nThe committee couldn't decide which was the safest and most economically feasible route, but did point out the energy security benefits of the second option.\n\nHowever, this doesn't seem very likely because of the ongoing scandal of the UK's reprocessing operations which are costing a fortune even as they are being scaled back.\n\nThe UK was a pioneer in separating plutonium on an industrial scale because its first Magnox reactors used fuel that couldn't be stored for long periods of time after removal from the reactor. Even after the UK stopped extracting plutonium for warheads, Magnox had to be reprocessed - and plutonium recovered - come what may. The result was an enormous pile of plutonium that needed a home.\n\nSo, in the 1970s, a decision was made by British Nuclear Fuels that the UK would recover plutonium by reprocessing spent fuel, not just from UK reactors, but from all over the World. The plutonium would then be mixed with low enriched uranium to make mixed oxide fuel (MOX) which would then be resold. That kind of made sense when uranium was expensive and resources thought to be limited. \n\nBut as it turned out, nuclear power stopped expanding and uranium remained cheap. So the UK is getting out of the reprocessing industry - but we still have a lot of plutonium - not all of it ours. And I mean a lot - at least 140 *tonnes* of civilian plutonium - plus the classified amount of military plutonium used in our nuclear weapons programme (you need 10-15kg for a bomb).\n\nThe MOX plant at Sellafield was completed in 1997, but it was announced in 2011 that it would be closing. Although it had a capacity of 120 tonnes of MOX per year, it had only managed 5 tonnes in the first five years. The shut down of the Japanese nuclear fleet following the disaster at Fukushima, and the ending of Germany's nuclear programme ended two major markets for MOX. Only one of the UK reactors, Sizewell B could accept the fuel - and it would need modification to do so. \n\nSo £1.2 billion down the drain and we still have 140 tonnes of plutonium to deal with. This is all on top of the £150 billion or so that Sellafield will cost to clean up over the next century.\n\nIf you're interested in the awe-inspiring (and slightly terrifying) operation at Sellafield, both routine reprocessing and the clean-up operation; BBC4 made a programme called Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield - there's a copy here:\n\n_URL_0_"
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ag2st3 | the rate at which muscles lose strength and size after halting a consistent exercise program? | Say for example you bench pressed consistently for a year. And your maximum was 300 pounds. After not working out for a month will you still be able to hit the 300 pounds from a month ago? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ag2st3/eli5_the_rate_at_which_muscles_lose_strength_and/ | {
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"Inactivity does not take long to have it's effects on muscles. Regardless of how consistently one has previously worked out, it will only take a few weeks of inactivity for muscle to lose size/power. Muscles require a lot of energy to maintain ",
"You will start losing muscle size (volume) after about 2 weeks of inactivity due to the decrease of glycogen. Strength loss happens after about 3-4 weeks but it's easy to get back on track due to muscle memory."
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39tc8t | how do people determine the artist of a song and the featured artist of a song? | I noticed that most DJ's or rappers are the artists while the chorus singer is only the "featured" artist, why is that? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/39tc8t/eli5_how_do_people_determine_the_artist_of_a_song/ | {
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"If you were making an album and invited me to sing parts of a song on it you'd be the artist and I'd be the featured guest. If it was my album and you came to rap part of a song I'd be the artist and you'd be the feature. It all depends on who is releasing the song as part of their catalog."
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6sf5fu | how do films and shows make people appear on fire without causing injury? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6sf5fu/eli5how_do_films_and_shows_make_people_appear_on/ | {
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"Someone watched the latest episode of Games of Thrones, didn't they?\n\nStuntmen do two things to avoid injury when they are on fire.\n\n1. The fuels that are burning generally have a low flame point. They simply don't get as hot as gasoline would so there's not as much danger.\n2. They wear protective clothing that is often covered in protective gel so that they heat doesn't make its way to their skin.",
"If you ever visit one of the Universal Studios parks, they demonstrate this technique as part of their special effects/stunt shows. It's a little surreal watching a guy literally on fire 10 feet in front of you, but they explain a lot of the methods used to make it safe.\n\nBasically, the stuntpeople are wearing as much heavy, fire-resistant clothing as possible for the scene and cover every bit of exposed skin in a protective jelly. They use a fuel with a very low burn point so that they can burn at a temperature that won't hurt them, and they hold their breath during the stunt so that they aren't inhaling any fire. And there's a team of assistants with fire extinguishers on standby, keeping an eye on everything.\n\nOnce all that is covered, a trained stuntperson can handle 10-20 seconds of burning without any ill effects. They'll have a safety signal (like a raised hand or something) that means \"extinguish me RIGHT NOW,\" but otherwise, they'll just do the few seconds of action needed for the scene and be immediately extinguished as soon as the director yells \"cut.\" It's a very realistic effect and is often way cheaper than paying a team of digital artists to render a good-looking flaming person.",
"To add to the other awnsers, here is an interesting video on how they filmed the fire scenes in the most recent game of thrones episode: Attention spoilers for S7E4 (and before) _URL_0_"
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fr42in | why do screens often have odd pixel amounts like 1080 or 1440? why not even number like 1000 or 1400? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fr42in/eli5_why_do_screens_often_have_odd_pixel_amounts/ | {
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" > There are historical reasons:\n > Back in the day, analogue television had limited bandwidth. They used that bandwidth as well as they could and came up with a standard to transmit luminace and chrominance plus audio in that limited bandwidth. Later, when color TV was invented, they had to retrofit more chrominance information into the same bandwidth. The number of lines per second they had to transmit was also constrained by further historical reasons: electricity frequency, which goes back all the way to Tesla, the beginnings of AC, and electric motors. So, NTSC (used in the US) settled for using their 6mhz of bandwidth to transmit a 720x480 image at 29.97FPS. Other standards, PAL and SECAM, for instance, used a higher resolution at a lower framerate (720x576 @25FPS). Again, this was constrained by the fact the US uses 60hz AC, while PAL/SECAM countries (Europe, South America) used 50hz. This where interlaced signals (each frame is actually split in two and transmitted odd / even), that's why framerate is half the electricity frequency.\n > With the advent of digital, this same resolutions where used as a starting point. VGA was based on NTSC (640x480). As LCD screens became the norm, progressive video replaced interlaced, and 480p became the standard. Since video needs to keep its aspect ratio, both width and heigh will grow proportionally.\n > So, 720p is simply 1.5 times 480p, and 1080p is simply 1.5 times 720.\n > 480 * 1.5 = 720 720 * 1.5 = 1080\n\nCREDIT: /u/gnualmafuerte who answered a similar question 6 years ago. I thought it was an interesting question. I had an idea of an answer that was wrong. It is not because of binary or hexadecimal numbers. In the course of fact checking myself I came across this answer which is muy fuerte. He is quoted in full above.",
"Old CRTs in TVs or monitors had displays had a ratio of 4 wide by 3 high. Most numbers for displays come from simple relationships from that. For instance 16:9 in a wide screen TV is 4^2 by 3^2. The original 1987 VGA standard for computer displays was 640x480, as was PAL TV. 1920 by 1080 is 3 times 640 wide in a 16 by 9 aspect ratio.There are only a few occasions where both numbers in those relationships come out to round numbers (800:600 is one)\n\nHere is a graphic of display resolution standards going back to old CGA 320x200 pixels. You can follow the aspect ratio lines to follow the relationships.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Technically they are all even they end in zero I think you mean more like round to the second or third digit",
"Other users have already explained the historical context. On top of that, powers of two work better for computers for various reasons. If you factor all those numbers, you'll see they have a ton of 2 factors. For example, 1920 is 2^7 * 3 * 5.\n\nThis is how we wound up with 320x240 and 640x480. NTSC has 525 lines in the signal, and how many are visible is actually kind of variable, because back in the days of CRT TVs it just depended on exactly how the image was aligned (CRTs don't have nice perfect rectangular screens). 483 was about right. Then when computers started getting into the picture, that got rounded down to 480 (or 240 in progressive / double strike mode). That's how we wound up with a number that has a lot of 2 factors, because it got rounded like that for computers.\n\nSame reason you have 16GB of RAM, not 15GB.",
"There is nothing special about 1000 or 1400. They just look special because we use the base 10 number system.",
" [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) \nThis guys youtube channel is awesome for technical questions about common household technology as well as some geekier niche stuff.",
"My Old Surface Book was 3000x2000 but ya that’s an oddball and other people explained the why in other posts."
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8mp5yo | why are speakers arranged with woofers on the bottom and tweeters on top? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8mp5yo/eli5_why_are_speakers_arranged_with_woofers_on/ | {
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"Two reasons. First, subs are heavier because they have thicker membrane and bigger coils. The second one I can't explain that well in English, so I'll have to keep it at low-frequency noises tend to be less directional so it's not important to have them at head-height. This is also why tweeters are slightly tipped when they're overhead.",
"Our ears are less sensitive to the direction of bass frequency sound versus higher pitched treble frequency. So the larger woofer speakers position in the room is not quite as important to our enjoyment of the sound. This is for instance why subwoofers are often located to the side without needing as critical a placement. \n\nThe smaller tweeter speakers need to be positioned very accurately though in order to provide realistic sound, and they need to be close to ear level in order for the music to be as clear as possible. By placing the tweeters at the top, they bring the sound up closer to your ears. "
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3bw5pt | could different races of humans (asian, black, caucasian, hispanic, etc.) be classified as different breeds (such as labradors, retrievers, terriers, etc. for dogs and other animals)? why/why not? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bw5pt/eli5_could_different_races_of_humans_asian_black/ | {
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"Biologically there are no Human Races but one. However the genetical difference between Dog \"races\" is still much bigger then between Human \"races\" so the classification as breeds like with Dogs is just as inappropriate as the classification in races."
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lfxv3 | what's so special about minecraft? | I don't get it. I've never played it or know much about it. ELI5 please. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/lfxv3/eli5_whats_so_special_about_minecraft/ | {
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"It's like legos. End of story.",
"There are three reasons people play, I've found out. Usually people have a favorite of the three reasons.\n\n-Adventure: Some people like seeking out monsters, and are delighted when they find a cave underground, and spelunk with a sword and torches to light their way. They love finding natural beauty (e.g. a lone tree on the peak of a tall hill).\n\n-Crafting: Some people like searching for exotic minerals in the ground, often creating elaborate mine shafts in order to search for the precious diamond. These people also like to farm and bake things like cake with materials they've found.\n\n-Building: Definitely the most popular, some people like creating buildings for the sake of creation. They are the people who construct castles, dream homes, and complicated rail systems. Minecraft is like computer legos, after all.",
"Another huge part of what makes the game attractive that people haven't yet mentioned is that the community feels heavily involved in the game's development. Constant updates, features being implemmented from reddit's r/minecraft subreddit, and having the dev team be active members of the community makes it very exciting. \n\nAlso, legos with baddies. ",
"I get to log in, struggle to gather supplies as if I were Robinson Crusoe, and go spelunking. I get to play with my friends, troll them with elaborate traps involving explosives, and get trolled right back the next day. \n\nSome of my friends prefer to do the interior decorating thing a la making a house in the Sims.\n\nMy favourite thing is to explore worlds, hunting out the hidden strongholds, finding villages, and killing skeletons.\n\nIt's so simplistic, but so...satisfying. I don't know why it's as satisfying as it is.",
"So is it like Garry's Mod for HL2?",
"[ZeroPunctuation's video review](_URL_0_) sums it up well. The gist of it is that rather than just being a sandbox game where you can do anything you like, it has challenges (the need to gather building material and construct tools, monsters that harm you and destroy your creations) that make your finished creations all the more rewarding.\n\nThe multi-player collaborative building aspect is probably another reason for its success.",
"You have a game where you can modify everything you see. Every new scene is new as it is randomly generated.\n\nA lot of games like to focus on telling traditional stories, similar to movies. Other games focus on what defines a game real time interactivity. Minecraft excels at this because it is so simple yet fundamental to the human condition.",
"Shit. that's like asking 'why is lego fun?'",
"It's like legos. End of story.",
"There are three reasons people play, I've found out. Usually people have a favorite of the three reasons.\n\n-Adventure: Some people like seeking out monsters, and are delighted when they find a cave underground, and spelunk with a sword and torches to light their way. They love finding natural beauty (e.g. a lone tree on the peak of a tall hill).\n\n-Crafting: Some people like searching for exotic minerals in the ground, often creating elaborate mine shafts in order to search for the precious diamond. These people also like to farm and bake things like cake with materials they've found.\n\n-Building: Definitely the most popular, some people like creating buildings for the sake of creation. They are the people who construct castles, dream homes, and complicated rail systems. Minecraft is like computer legos, after all.",
"Another huge part of what makes the game attractive that people haven't yet mentioned is that the community feels heavily involved in the game's development. Constant updates, features being implemmented from reddit's r/minecraft subreddit, and having the dev team be active members of the community makes it very exciting. \n\nAlso, legos with baddies. ",
"I get to log in, struggle to gather supplies as if I were Robinson Crusoe, and go spelunking. I get to play with my friends, troll them with elaborate traps involving explosives, and get trolled right back the next day. \n\nSome of my friends prefer to do the interior decorating thing a la making a house in the Sims.\n\nMy favourite thing is to explore worlds, hunting out the hidden strongholds, finding villages, and killing skeletons.\n\nIt's so simplistic, but so...satisfying. I don't know why it's as satisfying as it is.",
"So is it like Garry's Mod for HL2?",
"[ZeroPunctuation's video review](_URL_0_) sums it up well. The gist of it is that rather than just being a sandbox game where you can do anything you like, it has challenges (the need to gather building material and construct tools, monsters that harm you and destroy your creations) that make your finished creations all the more rewarding.\n\nThe multi-player collaborative building aspect is probably another reason for its success.",
"You have a game where you can modify everything you see. Every new scene is new as it is randomly generated.\n\nA lot of games like to focus on telling traditional stories, similar to movies. Other games focus on what defines a game real time interactivity. Minecraft excels at this because it is so simple yet fundamental to the human condition.",
"Shit. that's like asking 'why is lego fun?'"
]
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1lut44 | why do some businesses not tell you their prices for services or merchandise up front. | It seems super shady to me and can't figure out why any business wouldn't want to tell you one of the most important pieces of info before dealing with them.
EDIT: Now I understand why some business would do this. I am trying to get something printed and for the same job most sites have their prices listed. It's not a complicated thing. The one site that I did have to email for a quote was the most expensive. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1lut44/eli5_why_do_some_businesses_not_tell_you_their/ | {
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"They rely on sales tactic more then good prices. Depending on the company they may not even have a price to tell you and the price will be what's agreed on. Many employments works this way.",
"They are trying to force you to shop based on things other than price. They may be trying to differentiate themselves based on quality or style.",
"They do this to get you interested before you find out how much it cost. The more you are convinced you want or need the service or product, the more likely you are to buy it, even if the price turns out to be more than you really want to spend. On the flipside, if you found out the price first, you would be more likely to decide based on that than the way you feel about the product.",
"I do this. For one of my products (I sell medical equipment) customers often jump to \"How much does it cost\". Our equipment creates hard savings for a hospital (versus \"soft savings\", like labor, ease of use, etc).\n\nI dont want to tell them what it costs as it positions the solution incorrectly. I deflect as best possible because I need to do more work to even begin to give them an answer. I need to know a lot about their current process to know what equipment they need as well as other data specific to the hospital to understand what I can forecast as a savings (ie reducing \"loss\" by 90% and overall use by 40%).\n\nAfter I know this I can give them a good idea of cost and savings...but until then just saying \"It will cost you $500k to do this\" sounds awful compared to: Gross Savings, Net Savings, ROI, etc.\n\nTL;DR Complicated Sales are most likely not going to give you a price up front",
"Sometimes they don't tell you the price until they've had a chance to give you their sales presentation, thereby attempting to justify the price.",
"It's not just a sales tactic, it's an overall negotiation tactic, and it's one you should remember and use.\n\nFor example, if you're writing a proposal to do a project, you should put the cost way at the end. If you put the cost at the front, no matter *what* it is, whoever is reading the proposal is framed in a more critical mindset.\n\nIf you put the cost at the end, they judge your work based on its merits, so by the time they see the pricetag they're (hopefully) already convinced that the project should be done.",
"There's a few answers for this based on the various companies I have worked with. This is a tactic used primarily by B2B (business to business) industries:\n\n(1) Complexity. There are some products/services that are impossible to provide a price for until someone actually takes a deeper look at the problem and can provide a tailored solution. \n\n(2) Flexibility. Some companies want to have flexibility in how they price their products/services if they have vastly different types of customers with different abilities/willingness to pay. For example, restaurants have slim profit margins but medical industries typically have high profit margins. Therefore, a restaurant simply cannot pay as much as a company in the medical sector, and if you happen to be a company that offers products or services that are suitable to customers in both of these industries, you will want that flexibility in pricing. That way, if you're forced to reduce the prices you charge restaurants in order to gain market share, you may have the option to recover those losses by selling your products/services at a higher price to new incoming customers in the medical industry.\n\n(3) Market positioning. Companies will often want to position its products and services in a way that de-emphasizes the price and places the emphasis on the features/benefits that they want you to perceive as valuable without any pricing information as context. ",
"On a slight tangent, for things that have on their website \"add to cart for price\" or \"login for price\" this is usually because the manufacturer has an agreement with their dealers to not advertise a product below a certain price. It's called Minimum Advertised Price (MAP), but when a person adds it to their cart, they are actively trying to purchase the item, so they need the price. The idea is to prevent price wars among their dealers.",
"I worked for this small time computer repair shop. The shop repaired phones and game consoles as well. \nIf you quoted a price over the phone or in person,the owner would fire you.\n\nThe scam was to get the equipment checked in and call the customer with a quote on price later. There an initial diag fee on anything we took in. This was to make sure no matter what, the shop made money. Of course, you couldnt get you stuff back unless you paid for the repairs or the diag fee.\nEven if the problem was simply a dirty screen or stuck key, he wouldnt quote. We werent allowed to simply fix a small easy issue at the counter. We had to check it in. \n\nThis guy was a criminal and he took advantage of people's lack of understanding of technology. I quit after 4 weeks. I couldnt live with myself participating in that sham.\n\nHe is still open though. Midwest politics i guess. The worst was sitting at the airport overhearing a random guy talking to his company about this guy and his shady business because he needed a simple keyboard replacement on his bb, which we had on site and would take 2 min to replace, but the owner wanted him to check in, replace the stock with a newer one and charge the guy 2 days bench time and for a new keyboard he wasnt even going to get. Fucking scumbag.",
"For services, the reasoning is simple - the price varies. Even two jobs which look superficially similar could have significant differences in cost. Things like the location, the specific goal, and the initial situation can cause the price to vary by literally several orders of magnitude.\n\nMy entire full-time job is to quote prices for my company. I'm an engineer with several years of experience in the field, and it still takes me hours or days to look at a situation, figure out how to approach it, and determine what it will cost us (and by extension, our customers) to complete the task. I could not be replaced by a price list on our website. I could easily *create* such a price list, but it would have so many variables to account for that it would either confuse the hell out of customers, or would create unreasonable expectations.",
"Usually this is because they don't feel they can compete on price, and that they have a compelling argument for why they don't compete on price.\n\nThis is usually only done when their target audience doesn't know enough about the product they are selling to know that the price isn't why you buy their product.\n\nSo for example let's say you want to buy a red widget because it will work for situations A, B, and C. The general price is $500, but you might not be able to use it more then 5 times.\n\nIf I invent a red widget you can use 20 times, and works for A, B, C, & D situations but it doesn't look any different. Then I might not show you the fact that it costs $1500 up front, I might instead say that it lasts longer, works in more situations, and saves you $50o in the long run because we put more time and energy into making a better product.\n\nWithout the context some shoppers see the two prices and immediately get the cheaper one without asking why it is cheaper. So this tactic tries to head that off.",
"Customer: I want a reservation system on my website, how much?\n\nMe: Ok, what is your website built in?\n\nCustomer: Just tell me the price!\n\nMe: From scratch? With ambiguous specs? $20,000\n\nCustomer: Whoa! I don't have that money. I could barely pay for the wordpress site I have\n\nMe: Ahh wordpress plugin. I will install it and set it up for you. It should take me less than an hour. We bill time in 1 hour blocks. That will be $100\n\n(Clearly I'm making up numbers here)"
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d1ap3l | how come when you practice something for so long in one session, you start to get worse at it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d1ap3l/eli5_how_come_when_you_practice_something_for_so/ | {
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"In a word, fatigue. You get tired both mentally and physically (even if you don’t immediately feel so) which hinders performance.",
"I don't know any scientific terms for this, but as you practice one thing, you begin to get frustrated when you don't make as much progress as you want. When you get frustrated you get flustered and you don't take as much care or think about your actions enough. It's also possible that you think *too* much about what you're doing and you overcompensate and screw up. It's *also* possible that you've become so familiar with whatever you're practicing that you make mistakes on the simple things that you no longer think about."
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2n3kqt | how a "turbo" charger for a cell phone works and why it is better or worse than usb 3.0 | With a slew of new devices coming into the market, some manufacturers are offering "turbo" chargers. Isn't USB 3.0 supposed to be better? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2n3kqt/eli5_how_a_turbo_charger_for_a_cell_phone_works/ | {
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"Okay, because the other answers are making a mistake, I'm making my answer with it fixed:\n\nUSB limits the amperage, which is basically the \"amount\" of electrons that goes through. More of them make it charge faster, but because USB wasn't made to charge things; instead, it was made to transmit information; it limits these things as not to fry devices.\n\nThose 'turbo chargers' prevent the amperage from being limited, instead raising it to a level that charges faster while not frying your device."
]
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c483fx | why is liquid nitrogen cold and is it possible to make it warm? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c483fx/eli5_why_is_liquid_nitrogen_cold_and_is_it/ | {
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"Let's take water as an example here for a moment.\n\nWater is a liquid at room temperature, but if you heat it up it becomes a gas that we call steam. If you make water cold it becomes a solid which we call ice.\n\nThese changes in state occur because of temperature.\n\nNitrogen gas undergoes the same changes in state as water, but at different temperatures. At room temperature Nitrogen is a gas but in order to make it a liquid you have to cool it down... a lot. You have to get Nitrogen down to -196 celcius for it to become a liquid. That's why liquid nitrogen is cold, if it warms up it becomes a gas."
]
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od2k9 | the three branches of government. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/od2k9/the_three_branches_of_government/ | {
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"Alright my little 5 year old.\n\nYour kindergarten class is run by a teacher, right? Set sets all the rules for your class, is the one who makes sure the rules are followed, and judges the situation in which the rules are applied.\n\nYour teacher is an authoritarian (though benevolent) dictator, who has the sole authority of government to: make, enforce, and judge the law.\n\nOur founding fathers wanted your kindergarten to me more democratic, and needed to split the oppressive power over government up, so they created three separate, but equal, bodies of government, to carry out the functions of a government.\n\nKindergarten congress: These are a group of your fellow students elected by your class to represent your interests. They, and only they, actually write, vote, and pass the rules for your class. They also get to doll out the money for your classroom budget.\n\nKindergarten president: Your teacher, who in this case is elected by the class, separate from congress, is vested with the power and duty to make sure the rules passed by the congress are enforced. The teacher also is supposed to protect you from outside class room interference by foreign class rooms. \n\nKindergarten court: These little tykes have the power/duty to judge cases of those accused of breaking the rules passed by congress and enforced by the president. They aren't elected, but appointed by the president and ok'ed by congress. These judges are arranged into levels, with the lowest handling most of the cases of who broke the naptime rules, and the higher judges deciding whether the nap time rules even are ok with the class room constitution.\n\nEach of these branches has a different slice of the 'power pie' and also has checks on the other branches.\n\nThe President can veto laws congress attempts to pass (veto mean refuse to allow the bill to become a law), he also chooses the judges in the courts.\n\nCongress can override a presidential veto with a super majority (2/3 of of congress must agree to override a veto). Congress also has to ok (with majority vote) all the major appointments of the President. Congress also gets to set the budget for the other branches. They control the money. Congress can also impeach and remove either judges or the President (with a super majority vote).\n\nThe courts (in american federal law at least) have lifetime appointments, meaning they are 'above the political fray' and free to make reasoned judgments, though they can in cases of misconduct be removed by super majority votes. The highest court in kindergarten, the supreme toddler court, gets to invalidate laws they don't think fit with the kindergarten constitution your classroom's founder drafted. "
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2a1xqj | how do some people have perfect pitch and others are tone deaf? | Some people can tell when a pitch is sharp/flat or what note it is. What separates these people from people who are tone deaf? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2a1xqj/eli5how_do_some_people_have_perfect_pitch_and/ | {
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"Inside your ear, there is a structure called the cochlea that houses specialized hairs that detect sound. Each hair is tuned like a tuning fork for a specific pitch or frequency of sound. Therefore, the hair only vibrates when it \"hears\" or is stimulated with that frequency of sound.\n\nOur bodies are all unique. Some people may have better arrangements of sensing hairs in the cochlea that allow them to differentiate different pitches, allowing them to have perfect pitch. Other people may have the nerve cells connected to the hairs wired differently so may or may not hear the differences.\n\nAnother aspect of having perfect pitch is training. Having musical training will increase your ability of differentiating pitches. However, a person will be fundamentally limited by the physical structures in their ears and the connections to their brain."
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f3ytyj | why do drug addicts bend syringe needles? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f3ytyj/eli5_why_do_drug_addicts_bend_syringe_needles/ | {
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"So that they don't get reused. No one wants dirty needles in circulation, so they destroy them.",
"It happens over time from reusing a syringe too often. It can bend when you cook it up and press the needle down in to the container you used. I know this from personal experience in fact I have a bunch of bent needles right now",
"Lots of different answers, but from my experience, users tend to use the same needles for multiple injections, causing the needle to dull. Eventually the dull needle will bend before it can penetrate the skin, and that is when the user will toss the needle",
"I am an active drug user and have used a needle for well a lot of drugs that can be dissolved in water. We bend them so others don’t use them, some of us have abscesses, hep c, god forbid HIV, the bent one symbolizes someone who is very sick....",
"When they are directly done using they immediately bend the needle so no one gets poked by it if they were to accidentally stumble upon it, or, so that no one can reuse it if they know they might have a disease. \nThe reason it gets left behind is because after getting high they usually wander off because staying in the same spot that they got high makes them feel unsafe. \n\nOnly reason I know any of this is because I live near PDX and watch plenty of addicts do exactly this. You’re lucky your addicts bend their needles. Ours either cap them or discard them.",
"The better question is, why doesn't anyone develop a syringe that you can dispose within itself? Just pop the needle back inside, twist a cap or something to make it unusable."
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6nhis0 | how do we know how much to chew? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6nhis0/eli5_how_do_we_know_how_much_to_chew/ | {
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"You don't start out knowing. You learn around the age of 2 and as your throat grows you learn to gradually take in as much as you can swallow. Some people don't learn and eat very slowly.\n\n2 year olds put more than they can swallow into their mouths all the time. They tend to spit it out when they realize it's too much. Or they choke and die.",
"Swallowing happens in stages, only the first step (chewing) is under voluntary control. Once the food has been chewed up into an acceptably sized bolus, your tongue pulls it to the back of your mouth and the reflexive processes take over. Your brain has an extremely large area of real estate dedicated to controlling the tongue, and to a lesser extent the muscles of the mouth, throat and lips. When you're a young toddler, the nerve pathways between the brain and the mouth begin to develop and strengthen, and your tongue \"learns\" how to control, transport and propel food in an orderly fashion. It happens around the time that you begin to control your vocalizations and produce purposeful sounds and words. "
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2r730r | is uranium glass not radioactive and dangerous to use? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2r730r/eli5_is_uranium_glass_not_radioactive_and/ | {
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"Is it radioactive? Yes.\n\nIs it dangerous? No.\n\nThe amount of radiation that would be given off by the small amounts of uranium seeded in the glass (remember, glass is basically melted sand, so you just mix some uranium into the sand, melt it down into glass) would be negligible to cause harmful effects. Glass is very stable, so no uranium would be leeched off by water. And even then, you could probably grind up the glass and eat it and still be fairly safe (other than the whole 'you just ate glass' bit).\n\nHumans absorb a decent amount of radiation from background sources, and I mean entirely nature ones - cosmic radiation, radon gas, and naturally-occurring radioisotopes in our food. Heck, the granite countertops in your kitchen probably give off more radiation than the uranium in the glassware, and people prepare food or have kinky kitchen sex upon those.\n\nAlso, this question has been asked about...a dozen times in the past twenty-four hours.",
"_URL_0_\n\nseriously? this is like the 10th thread on uranium today in eli5"
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2iw88u | how millionaires and billionaires keep their cash that isn't invested. isn't it dangerous to store all your cash over $250,000 in one bank? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2iw88u/eli5_how_millionaires_and_billionaires_keep_their/ | {
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"Most millionaires and billionaires keep the majority of their wealth in investments, not cash. It's how they get richer without doing necessarily as much work. What liquid cash they have, they likely keep in multiple banks, not just one. "
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30ln2d | if the director's cut is different from the theatrical cut, then whose cut is the theatrical cut? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30ln2d/eli5_if_the_directors_cut_is_different_from_the/ | {
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"The producers' and studio's, essentially. The people putting up the money get final say. If their decisions differ wildly from the director's, the director may release a cut of his own later.\n\nThe director and producers both work alongside the editor and the editor may lean more to one side or the other. Sometimes the director, the producer, or both just trust the editor to make their own decisions.",
"In filmmaking, there is a concept called final cut. Whoever has final cut can contractually say what the theatrical release is. \n\nThe directors cut is the version the direct thinks best exemplifies their vision of the story. At some point, powerful directors (think Scorsese or Spielberg) were given final cut in their contracts. That means the directors cut is the theatrical cut. \n\nOther times, directors had their version of the film changed against their will. \n\nThe directors cut you see released on dvd night just be a marketing gimmick. It can be an excuse to sell another version with more footage. I think there is a version of the exorcist that that is labeled as the directors cut but the director claims the original theatrical cut is his preferred cut. "
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1yrbqs | why hasn't the price of black market drugs changed 15 years when everything else has gone up? | A gram of Marijuana has been $10 or $200-240 an ounce since I was old enough to know what it was and how much it costs which has been about 17 years, its likely it has been those prices for even longer.
The cost of a chocolate bar has gone up 23% since 2000 alone, why has inflation / increased wages not effected the black market? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1yrbqs/eli5_why_hasnt_the_price_of_black_market_drugs/ | {
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"The price of marijuana may not have changed, but other drugs do have changes in price. \n\nJust like any other good, they too follow principles of economics( supply-demand, inflation, etc )",
"Jesus you get your stuff for cheap as"
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99ccp4 | while sand is abrasive and opaque, why glass made from that is such smooth and transparent? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/99ccp4/eli5_while_sand_is_abrasive_and_opaque_why_glass/ | {
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"Sand is mostly silicone dioxide and when melted it is changed at a molecular level. When it cools it forms a smooth clear substance.",
"Sand is basically quartz crystals, sharp and very very hard, while glass is an amorphous solid, which doesn’t mean it’s a liquid like they might tell you, but means the molecules are scattered around randomly not forming a crystal, it’s not a liquid, but it’s basically a still image of liquid quartz that is solid",
"Sand is a collection of small grains that are unaligned. Glass is a single grain, and its manufacture is precisely controlled to give that transparency - opaque glass is very much a thing, though not a desirable one usually. ",
"Imagine taking a sheet of glass and smashing it into dust. While it would be much sharper than sand as it hadn't been weather's for thousands of years, it would have the same qualities of being abrasive and opaque. \n\nEdit:spelling"
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42ux0y | why do the same injuries hurt so much when you're young and when you're old you might not even notice it? | I remember my dad getting splinters out of my feet and it felt like it was the end of the world. Now, I cut myself open and superglue it together and get back to work. Why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/42ux0y/eli5_why_do_the_same_injuries_hurt_so_much_when/ | {
"a_id": [
"czdax11"
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"text": [
"Pain is relative.\n\nWhen you were younger, your most painful moment could have been when you fell down and scraped your hands on the pavement. And then one day, you are getting your sprinters ripped out of your flesh AND OMG THIS HURTS MORE THAN ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER FELT.\n\nAs you get older, you end up with more experience with pain. It doesn't have to be physical like breaking a bone. Having your heart broken, the stress of losing your job, the sadness of losing someone you loved are all types of pain that we experience. When we have lived through all that, a single cut seems so minor.\n\nBut remember that people all have different experiences. If the same painful event happens to two people, they could feel vastly different amounts of suffering."
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1sqena | what are the pros and cons of a forward swept wing aircraft? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sqena/eli5_what_are_the_pros_and_cons_of_a_forward/ | {
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"text": [
"It's like having rear wheel steering- very maneuverable but not stable. \n\nEven more five year old- push your red wagon by the steering handle and see what happens. ",
"A major con of it is very high drag and very high forces at the shoulder joints. Think of it like when you try to glide through water. You will find less force pushing back if you let your arms sweep back than if you have them sweep forward. It will also take more effort to keep them forward.\n\nYou can play around with different designs here to see for yourself:\n_URL_0_",
"Instability is sought after in fighter designs, as an unstable plane can maneuver in ways difficult for a stable design, giving an edge over the enemy. Forward sweep was investigated as a possible advantage, primarily with the X-29, and it was found wanting for the reasons other posters mention. Forward sweep appeared about 30 years before the X-29.. On the fictional Thunderbird 2!"
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47gydn | us congress and stocks, how are those things not a conflict of interest? | It just seems to me that the people in power of making laws in this nation shouldn't be able to both create laws and own stocks in the companies they are making laws for. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/47gydn/eli5_us_congress_and_stocks_how_are_those_things/ | {
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"It is a complete and total conflict of interest. They briefly banned insider trading in the senate (?) but it was quietly removed. It's disgusting and certainly part of the reason people on both ends of the political spectrum are supporting \"outside\" candidates in the primaries."
]
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1r3gmd | what causes my green eyes to vary in color throughout the day? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1r3gmd/eli5_what_causes_my_green_eyes_to_vary_in_color/ | {
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"Your eye color doesn't really change, it's how we perceive it that changes. Now here are some factors that changes the color of your eye: the angle, type of light, and whether your eyes are dilated or not. \n\nWhen you look at an object at different angles it changes color, best example is like the color of a lake vs where the sun is in the sky.\n\nLight from your lamp and let say, light from your classroom (fluorescent) can change the way your eye color is perceived.\n\nAnd lastly, dilated eyes I believe provides a lighter color vs constricted eyes though the difference can be hard to see.\n\n",
"It is probably due to color constancy... our perception of color changes based on the background. Your eye color doesn't vary, but our perception of the color may change.\n_URL_0_",
"I've looked this up before. According to [Wikipedia](_URL_0_), there isn't exactly any such thing as green eyes - or rather, a green iris. Rather, your iris is a sort of hazel color, and a trick of the light called Rayleigh scattering imparts the blue color. Combined, they make your eyes look green. When the external light changes, the Rayleigh scattering changes, and your eyes look more blue, or more hazel like your true iris color. \n\nFun fact, my green eyes are unique in my family. Now, the mailman's eyes... ;)"
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3e3qa7 | how is it that in 2015, we can't use science to accurately recreate stradivarius violins? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3e3qa7/eli5_how_is_it_that_in_2015_we_cant_use_science/ | {
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"We'd need to know what we were recreating. Where the wood came from and what the weather was like every single year that those trees grew, what chemicals were applied in what quantities and how, where was it stored and for how long?\n\nWe don't know a lot of those things.",
"The assumption here is that a Stradivarius really is objectively better and that we can't reproduce it.\n\nIn multiple studies, the world's best violinists are unable to tell a Stradivarius apart from a modern violin:\n\n_URL_0_\n"
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"http://www.thestrad.com/cpt-latests/blind-tested-soloists-unable-to-tell-stradivarius-violins-from-modern-instruments/"
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||
3slmgb | how can judges legally require citizens to do "community service"? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3slmgb/eli5_how_can_judges_legally_require_citizens_to/ | {
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"Because the relevant lawmakers decided it would be a good idea, drafted laws to that effect, and passed them. That's what it takes to make something \"legal\": a law. ",
"The same way they can legally require you to pay a fine or go to jail. Most of the time, community service is done in place of the other options.",
"Because judges are arbitrators whose legal job it is to prescribe a punishment, and unless the law mandates a specific punishment (such as mandatory minimum prison sentence) or the punishment is illegal (you can't sentence someone to rape for example) then it's all good",
"It depends on the country, but in the United States, judges can sentence anyone to any punishment as long as it isn't \"Cruel\" or \"Unusual\". The ban on \"Cruel or unusual\" punishment is part of the 8th amendment, and defined by the Supreme Court though the appellate process.\n\nSince most people would gladly perform community service rather than go to jail, or pay a hefty fine, community service sentences are rarely, if ever, appealed. This does not mean the underlying verdict is not appealed from time to time, but I have never heard of anyone appealing 500 hours of trash pickup because it was \"cruel or unusual\".",
"13th amendment bro: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
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4rzctd | why does bushfire smog often appear red (i live in melbourne australia) and not just shades of gray? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4rzctd/eli5_why_does_bushfire_smog_often_appear_red_i/ | {
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"Our primary source of light is of course the sun. As we know, the visible spectrum can be simplified as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. These are listed from [lowest to highest frequency \\(or largest to smallest wavelength\\).](_URL_0_) [\\[Source\\]](_URL_1_)\n\nThe red-coloured smoke we see likely has to do with sunlight being filtered by the thick layer of smoke in the sky before it reaches our eyes. The smoke absorbs a sizeable amount of higher frequency light being emitted by the sun, while reflecting lower frequency light.\n\nTo put it simply, because visible light from the ultraviolet end of the spectrum is being absorbed by the smoke and visible light from the infrared end of the spectrum is being allowed to pass through, the smoke appears red.\n\nEDIT: Added more specific information on frequency and wavelength."
]
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"http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/visible.html"
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428wcl | what is actually happening when matrices are being multiplied? | I often have trouble recalling the restrictions of matrix multiplication and how to perform the multiplication by hand. Without an understanding of what the math is representing, I find the operation more difficult than I should. Is there an intuitive way to understand this operation? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/428wcl/eli5_what_is_actually_happening_when_matrices_are/ | {
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"When you do the typical scalar product on two vectors, you are essentially adding the contributions of every entry on the vectors to get a specific number. Also, these scalar products are usually written as a (row vector) x (column vector).\n\nSo instead of the usual notation of v.w, instead use v^t w, where v^t is the transpose of the vector, and use the usual matrix multiplication to get the answer.\n\nNow, a matrix is like a list of vectors, written in either row vector form or column vector form, doesn't matter. So when you multiply two matrices, to get the first entry of the resultant matrix, you do a scalar product of the first row vector of the first matrix with the first column vector of the second matrix. You keep doing this for each entry until you get a matrix of scalar products of every possible combination of vectors.\n",
"Matrix multiplication is really just an extension of the dot product. So first it is important to know what a dot product is. In a geometric sense, the dot product between two vectors is defined as the product of their lengths multiplied by the cosine of the angle between them, this can be visualized pretty well in [this image.](_URL_1_) Here there are two black vectors **X** and **Y** with their tails (their starting point) at the same position. Then there is a third red vector which is a projection of vector **X** onto vector **Y**, the length of this red vector (NOT the vector itself) is the dot product between **X** and **Y**. \n\nOk, so you know what a dot product is but what does this have to do with matrices? Well, we're getting closer. If we do [some math](_URL_0_) we can show that the dot product between two vectors can be written a [little differently like this.](_URL_2_) Now the series format can be a little scary so as a simple example let's take two vectors **A** = [1, 2, 3] and **B** = [4, 5, 6] see what the dot product is. **A** • **B** = 1 * 4 + 2 * 5 + 3 * 6 = 32. So now you can calculate a dot product. But actually, you did matrix multiplication, only in this case you multiplied a 1x3 (1 row by 3 columns) matrix with a 3x1 matrix to get a 1x1 matrix.\n\nNow, what happens when you make your matrix bigger? It's really pretty simple but we need to be careful how we do it. Did you notice that a 1x3 matrix multiplied by a 3x1 matrix gave a 1x1 matrix? Well it turns out we can only multiply matrices A and B (A*B) if the columns in matrix A equal the rows of matrix B. Wikipedia states it well as \"if A is an n × m matrix and B is an m × p matrix, their matrix product AB is an n × p matrix, in which the m \nentries across the rows of A are multiplied with the m entries down the columns of B\". \n\nSo it is helpful when starting matrix multiplication to determine what size matrix you are going to get. If you have a 2x3 matrix called matrix F and 3x2 matrix called matrix G we know that it will multiply since 3=3 and we know that we will get a new matrix that is 2x2 that we will call matrix H. Now all we need to determine is what the value in each slot of the 2x2 matrix is going to be. \n\n Matrix multiplication of F*G = H\n F is 2x3 matrix, G is a 3x2 matrix and H will be a 2x2 matrix\n Row 1, column 1 of H will be the dot product of row 1 of matrix F and column 1 of matrix G. \n Row 1, column 2 of H will be the dot product of row 1 of F and column 2 of G.\n Row 2, column 1 of H will be the dot product of row 2 of F and column 1 of G.\n Row 2, column 2 of H will be the dot product of row 2 of F and column 2 of G.\n\nTo summarize, you are doing the dot product between the rows of the first matrix with the columns of the second matrix. \nIf we have two really large matrices and want to know what will be in row 12 column 45 of their product. We do the dot product of row 12 of the first matrix with column 45 of the second matrix. So the best way to do matrix multiplication is first learn the dot product, then all you need to do is keep track of which row you are multiplying by which column and your value will go in that row and column of your solution.\n\n(Edited for formatting)\n"
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cp15qe | what do scientists means when they say that the "big bang happened everywhere and not at one single point"? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cp15qe/eli5_what_do_scientists_means_when_they_say_that/ | {
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"When we look at the universe we see that the distances between far away things are getting larger. This means that a long time ago they were smaller. If we use math and scientific observations we find that the universe was so small that it was basically a single point about 13.7 billion years ago. It’s hard to think about because we assume when something gets bigger it expands into something but the universe itself is expanding.",
"The big bang was an expansion of spacetime itself, not an explosion of matter. So don't think of it like a firework going off, flinging stars in all directions. Think of it like inflating a balloon.\n\nImagine drawing a bunch of dots on an uninflated balloon, then blowing it up. All of the dots get further away from each other as the balloon material stretches, but none of the dots are actually moving relative to the balloon. So imagine the dots are the \"stuff\" the universe has in it (stars, galaxies, gas, etc.) And the balloon material is the intervening space. There's not really a \"center\" to the expansion, because the material is stretching *everywhere*.\n\nThe balloon is sort of a 2D universe expanding in 3D space, so it's not a perfect analogy, but it sort of gets the idea across."
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146go5 | why do condoms not always prevent the spread of std's? | What's the deal with that? It acts like a barrier, so why do some diseases still get through? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/146go5/eli5_why_do_condoms_not_always_prevent_the_spread/ | {
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"Sometimes condoms break.\n\nSome STIs can spread through skin to skin contact, and not all infected skin is always covered by a condom.",
"Also, people.\n\nThe effectiveness rate of prophylactics or birth control would be higher if not for user error as well. "
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3b7xxe | there are billions of people that have died since the current form of burial has been around. so why isn't the world littered with cemeteries? | I feel like there should be way more cemeteries around judging by the amount of people in the world and the amount of people that die everyday. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3b7xxe/eli5there_are_billions_of_people_that_have_died/ | {
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"Bodies and coffins decay. Depending on the soil, it doesn't even necessarily take that long. I have personally worked in cemetaries only around 100 years old where the only traces of burial are soil staining and a few sturdier artifacts. \n\nCombine with that, in places where land is at a premium, alternatives strategies have been made, such as exhuming the long buried to make room for the new, burying over/under/amongst existing burials, and even sharing grave space among multiple burials. ",
"It's actually a great question because of number you have to bury every year has actually been a great problem overtime.\n\nIn Paris, we have a 200-miles network of tunnels that served at some point as catacombs and where up to 6-7 millions bodies are buried up, we dumped all those bodies underground because the mass graveyards where the poors ended up were just too full.\n\nOtherwise, as others have already said, bodies and coffins decay overtime and I don't know if it's something worldwide but you're not expected to be buried forever, you actually have to pay to renew the ownership of the graves of your ancestors or at some point, their body is cremated or something (can't remember the actual details, I don't really want to think about that :p)",
"1 billion x 20 square feet = one square less than 27 miles on each size = 1/2 of a Rhode Island\n\nThat a lot of space, but is still very small compared to the surface of the earth.\n\n",
"Find Hawaii on a map. To bury 7 billion people in 8 foot by 4 foot graves would require about 8000 square miles of land. That's only twice the size of Hawaii's big island.\n\nLook at that island on a map, and imagine twice that land area scattered around the entire face of the planet. It's not as much space as it sounds when compared to the entire globe."
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4k2753 | smartphone progression getting slower. | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4k2753/eli5_smartphone_progression_getting_slower/ | {
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"One reason is marketing.\n\nCompanies want you hooked on their brand, so they will push out product with slightly better specs each year to make sure people are upgrading.\n\nAs far as the technology itself, the first touch screen smartphone with a mass release was the iphone, and this was only 9 years ago.\n\nLook at how far advance the first one was compared to the most recent release and the jump is huge.\n\nIf you go 9 years into the future and take the most current one today, and do the same thing, you will again likely notice a massive increase in capability.",
"Hardware can only improve so fast. As things get better, the room for improvement is smaller.\n\nS1 > S2 was a .2ghz increase in processor speed, with 2 cores. Same for S6 > S7, but with 8 cores. As a percentage, it's a smaller increase.\n\nS1 > S2 was a 512mb increase in ram, S6 > S7 was 1024mb. Again, a lower percentage increase even though it's a bigger absolute increase.\n\nIn both cases, they share similar screens, features, sizes, batteries, etc.\n\nMoral is, the more they improve, the less an upgrade feels like an upgrade. Adding .2ghz to processor speed feels like a lot when going from 1.0 > 1.2 (20%), but not much when going from 2.1 > 2.3 (a less than 10% difference)."
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43c8f8 | why are the voices in peoples heads so negative? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/43c8f8/eli5_why_are_the_voices_in_peoples_heads_so/ | {
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"That's actually not universal. \"The voices\" seem to be cultural and are different depending on the society. "
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49prrr | why is there still a charge for video games that were made by developers that go out of business? | e.g. Irrational Games, Lionhead Studios (in the future)
I imagine it has to do with the fact that its not the developer that gets paid directly but rather the publisher, who then distributes the portion back to the developer. If that's the case then if a dev goes under, does the publisher get to retain all of those generated sales? If a developer serves as their own publisher and then folds, could they distribute their games openly/freely henceforth?
P.S. This doesn't need to be a literal ELI interpretation here, as per the rules.
Thanks for the responses y'all. I was unaware of "abandonware," so definitely learned something. It seems like the succession for obtaining sales for something like the Bioshock franchise hypothetically would fall back onto 2K games, or Microsoft for the Fable franchise. Thanks again! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/49prrr/eli5_why_is_there_still_a_charge_for_video_games/ | {
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"When studios go under, or are forced to fold their IP usually gets auctioned out. The owners of the IP would receive profits from all sales of products the IP they bought covers.\n",
"It all depends on who has the right to distribute the game. The original copyright holder can give permission or transfer ownership altogether. You are right that if it's the publisher, it doesn't matter when the developer goes out of business. Video game contracts can be very complicated, with many conditions and many different parties involved, so this really depends on the individual situation.\n\nHowever, even if whoever has the distribution rights goes out of business, a game is often still for sale--this is because copyright is an asset that can be sold in a bankruptcy sale or similar deal. A completely unrelated company might have bought up the game when the developer or publisher dissolved, and continue to receive a cut of sales.\n\nSometimes it is no longer clear who owns the rights to a game. This kind of software is called \"abandonware\"--people tend to freely share abandonware, because even though it is technically protected by copyright, there is no party asserting their copyright to prevent it.",
"The rights to those games are almost always still owned by someone. For example Lionhead is part of Microsoft, so even if Lionhead goes out of business, Microsoft still has the right to sell games that Lionhead made.\n\nIf a publisher goes under, then usually someone will buy the rights to their games. Although they may not be interested in continuing with the costs of distributing the game, so it could potentially result in games being withdrawn from sale.\n\nThere have been some cases where the rights to a game has ended up in the hands of an individual who has decided to release the game into the public domain, or otherwise made them available for no charge. But it's rare, and a lot of games like that are old and obscure.",
"The licenses for those games are still owned by someone.\n\nMicrosoft owns the licenses for Fable, EA owns the licenses for Battlefront, etc."
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jikho | when do i properly use the word "literally?" | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jikho/when_do_i_properly_use_the_word_literally/ | {
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"Most of the time when someone uses the term literally wrong, what they mean is figuratively, so the best way to answer this I think is to show the difference between them! Literally means that this *actually happened*, where figuratively means that its an exaggeration.\n\n*\"I waited in line for Metallica tickets for so long my head literally exploded.\"* This would be correct only if your head actually exploded, which would probably make it difficult to be telling the story afterwords, right?\n\nSo when do you use literally? when you're telling a story where someone could misunderstand you and think you are being figurative or exaggerating when you are not. *\"Sorry I'm so late getting back from the Metallica concert, but traffic was gridlocked for literally an hour\"*. This is true, if traffic really was gridlocked for an hour!",
"When you see a fork-lift lifting a box of forks.",
"When you mean exactly what you say. \n\nIf you say \"It was literally a clusterfuck\" then you mean \"I was in a situation in which a bunch of people took their clothes off and had sex together in a big cluster.\"",
"Most of the time when someone uses the term literally wrong, what they mean is figuratively, so the best way to answer this I think is to show the difference between them! Literally means that this *actually happened*, where figuratively means that its an exaggeration.\n\n*\"I waited in line for Metallica tickets for so long my head literally exploded.\"* This would be correct only if your head actually exploded, which would probably make it difficult to be telling the story afterwords, right?\n\nSo when do you use literally? when you're telling a story where someone could misunderstand you and think you are being figurative or exaggerating when you are not. *\"Sorry I'm so late getting back from the Metallica concert, but traffic was gridlocked for literally an hour\"*. This is true, if traffic really was gridlocked for an hour!",
"When you see a fork-lift lifting a box of forks.",
"When you mean exactly what you say. \n\nIf you say \"It was literally a clusterfuck\" then you mean \"I was in a situation in which a bunch of people took their clothes off and had sex together in a big cluster.\""
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3mse2u | the evolutionary advantage to emotions | Wouldn't not having emotions make is better at survival? Insects, as far as we know, don't have emotions and they seem fine. Side question; Why do we have emotions/feelings? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mse2u/eli5_the_evolutionary_advantage_to_emotions/ | {
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"Emotions serve as a motivator to engage in survival behaviors. On a basic level, emotions are punishments and rewards inside our own brains, in response to our own behavior. \n\nInsects can get by without emotion (at least, we assume they can't feel emotion-- they don't seem to have the brain structure that we associate with emotion) because they can do everything they need to do, based on instinct. They do not rely upon sophisticated, general intelligence to solve problems. They just do a sequence of stimulus-response behaviors. For another thing, they usually have short lives. Less time to need exceedingly complex behavior in each individual, and less need for long-term motivation.\n\nIn a large, long-lived, highly social, fully sentient animal, intelligence with no emotion would result in an organism that is a danger to itself. \n\nFear is the best example. A person without fear would be MUCH more likely to get too close to the edge of a cliff or near large predators. Cold, unemotional calculation can, in theory, tell you \"don't go near the cliff, you could fall.\" But that is nowhere NEAR as effective as the unpleasant **feeling** of fear. A person or animal experiencing fear will automatically and reliably avoid the thing it fears. It's simpler than going through a bunch of rational thought. EDIT: Also, intelligence alone does not guarantee avoidance of the cliff. With intelligence comes the possibility to question anything and everything. Without emotion, it's far easier to slip into existentialism. An emotionless being might say: \"Yes, I could fall off the cliff and die...but when I think about it, I'm not sure I really understand why that would be so incredibly undesirable.\" In other words, even the urge to survival can be circumvented by thought. Emotions may very well be a way to keep that kind of thing in check. You could spend too much time on /r/philosophy and conclude that life has no intrinsic value...but if you get too close to a 500 meter drop-off, your fear will still almost certainly drive you away. \n\nSame goes for positively motivating emotions, like love or anger. Note that I mean \"positive\" in the sense that the emotion provokes someone toward action, rather than away.\n\nLove and anger, like fear, represent a simpler, more generalized path to motivation than complex rationalization. If you love someone, you'll put yourself in danger to protect them, without hesitation. If you're angry, you'll fight without having to have the reason for a threat explained to you in clear terms.\n\nFor a complex organism that lives for decades, it's just far more efficient to have evolved an emotional system to regulate our behavior, through the secondary actor of motivation. The alternative would be impossibly complex sets of stimulus-response instincts, or a very similar reliance on laboriously thinking through every possible action, in purely logical terms.",
"Emotions are critical to human evolution. Without emotion, no one would fall in love and procreate and defend their babies and nurture them into successful humans, for further procreation.\n\nInsects have intinctual \"urges\" -- to have sex with other insects and care for their young, for example, which fulfill the same evolutionary purpose as more complex human emotions. Human emotions aren't so simple because we have a complex mind that must be able to adapt itself to many different situations in order to be metabolically justifiable.\n\nI guess it's beyond the scope of an ELI5 answer but for a detailed discussion of why we have the emotions we do I recommend reading *The Moral Animal*, by Robert Wright."
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1xwn9q | what is a "house majority whip"? | I'm watching House of Cards | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xwn9q/eli5_what_is_a_house_majority_whip/ | {
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"\"Whips\" the others in the party into line. \n\nMajority means that he/she is a member of the party that currently holds the most seats in the House of Representatives. Currently, that is the Republican Party. \n\nThe whips are responsible for making sure that whey they put something up for a vote, those in the party are going to follow instructions and vote for it. \n\nThey are the bullies of the party. The strongarms. ",
"The whip is the person who finds out how the members of his caucus plan to vote. And yes, part of the job is getting the members to toe the party line, but the main purpose for the whip is so that you can find out if a measure will pass or fail -- and if you're losing, you can see which votes you need to get, and then they can see what kind of deals have to be made to get those people on board.\n\nSo, the \"House Majority Whip\" would be the person who does that for the majority party in the House of Representatives.",
"Hey, me too! Still on episode one of the new season here.\n\n-------------------\n\n > House\n\nThe House is the House of Representatives. The US government has 3 branches: \n\n1. The Judiciary (judges/courtrooms/etc). They interpret the law.\n\n2. The Executive (the President). They execute the law.\n\n3. **The Legislative (the House and Senate). They create the law.**\n\nThe Legislative branch has two parts: the House and the Senate. In order to create a law both groups have to agree. Once they agree then they \"sign off\" on a bill and send it to the President.\n\nMembers of the House are called Representatives. They are elected every 2 years. There are 435 Representatives. Each state gets a number of Representatives based on how many people live in the state.\n\nMembers of the Senate are called Senators. They are elected every 6 years. There are 100 Senators. Each state gets 2 senators regardless of how big or small their state is.\n\nSo that's the House: one of the 2 groups that is one of the 3 branches of the government. Along with the Senate they create the law.\n\n > Majority\n\nThere are (basically) 2 parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. The majority is the party that has more members. So if there are 60 Democrats and 40 Republicans in the Senate then the Democrats are in the majority and the Republicans in the minority.\n\nIf you're in the majority then you have more power; if you're in the minority then you have less power. \n\n > Whip\n\nThe whip keeps everyone in line. The whip makes sure that the members vote to support their party. The whip can give things (like promotions) or take them away. They make sure that party members vote the way the party wants them to vote.",
"Re: HoC\n\nHe is the #3 guy in the House of Representatives. There is the Speaker of the House (#1), the House Majority Leader (#2), then the House Majority Whip.\n\nHis purpose is to accrue support for the party agenda and ensure that the caucus is supporting the Speaker. It can be embarrassing for the Speaker or Majority Leader to not have the support of their caucus, thus they need an 'enforcer' (Majority Whip) to keep everyone in line."
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5crqep | do all presidents use air force one for campaigning? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5crqep/eli5_do_all_presidents_use_air_force_one_for/ | {
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"While you are the President of the United States ALL airplanes that you set foot on get the call sign Air Force One. All of them. \n\nThe specific plane that you think of as Air Force One is specially designed to suit the needs of the President and so if he is campaigning for re-election or giving speech on behalf of another he will take it, just like he would for any air travel that he has to make. It is part of the job. ",
"Sometimes, but not normally so extensively for someone else (i.e. not their own reelection). Then again, nothing about this past election was normal.\n\nOne advantage the president has is that the presidential airplanes have offices and conference rooms so that the president can still do their official work en route to campaign events.",
"Yes. A sitting president is on the job 24/7, and AF1 is designed to keep him safe and in constant communication with the rest of the government. This applies even when campaigning. Not only that, but any travel he does requires extensive advance prep and travel by the Secret Service, as well as flying in the Presidential limo.\n\nI believe that when running for reelection his campaign is supposed to reimburse some of the costs related to travel that is primarily for campaign purposes."
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3yvv2o | what is a steam arg, and what does arg stand for? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3yvv2o/eli5_what_is_a_steam_arg_and_what_does_arg_stand/ | {
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"ARG stands for \"Alternate Reality Game,\" where the gameplay is layered on top of real life. One notable example is \"I Love Bees,\" an ARG that came out for Halo 2 that had people listening at payphones all over the country, piecing together clues related to the story.\n\nThis may relate to a Valve IP; Valve has done this before with Portal."
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3m9k84 | i want to know basic electrical terms and how they mesh together. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3m9k84/eli5_i_want_to_know_basic_electrical_terms_and/ | {
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"I'll try? There are a lot though, and I'll probably miss some.\n\nVoltage- Think of there being a \"slope\" between any two points of an electric field. The Voltage is the steepness of that slope\n\nCurrent- The rate that charge flows between two points\n\nResistance- A measure of how well a thing reduces the current\n\nPower- How much energy a circuit consumes\n\nCharge- What makes the electric field. \n\nThat's all off the top of my head, plus a few less basic ones like Flux. I can elaborate if you'd like."
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atyjdz | why do some songs sound familiar, despite never having heard them before? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/atyjdz/eli5_why_do_some_songs_sound_familiar_despite/ | {
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"a lot of song that get attention have similar progressions; and some times are in similar keys. \n\nChord Progressions are what order the sounds are played. for example **I–V–vi–IV** is the most common chord progression. you can check out axis of awesome's 4 chord song here. [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) \nit's pretty neat what they did. \n\nSimply put, A Music Key is basically a diagram of which notes can be played in a song. "
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ela0hx | why people curse when they’re angry or frustrated ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ela0hx/eli5_why_people_curse_when_theyre_angry_or/ | {
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"so humans like many animals are vocal and social creatures, we have emotions and we express them. expressing yourself at times may be difficult. consider three year olds throwing tantrums, they feel many emotions very strongly but they don't know what they are/what they mean, and they do not know how to express them properly. this is wear swearing comes into play. one of the main reasons people swear in anger or frustration is a means of expressing themselves. say you drop your keys in a puddle, if you just go \"oops\" it means it wasn't a big deal, but if your key fob got ruined you yell a curse expressing that what just happened is more serious and has caused you more duress.\n\nso you commonly see the old wives tale that people swear because they lack vocabulary, when in fact many psychologists believe it to be the opposite, people swear as more open expression. this happens in all cases, pain, empathy, etc, swearing helps us communicate what we are feeling."
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3eqlsx | if you had a stick one lightyear long, would the kinetic energy transfer faster than the speed of light if you poked something? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3eqlsx/eli5_if_you_had_a_stick_one_lightyear_long_would/ | {
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"No. The stick would not move all at once; your push would propagate down the stick at the speed of sound in whatever the stick is made out of. "
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25hx89 | why do girls and women tend to view more things as "cute" than boys or men? | I speculate that it might be society's norms that's shaping women to be more like this but I really don't know. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/25hx89/eli5why_do_girls_and_women_tend_to_view_more/ | {
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"heternormativity. ie: that's how we customarily act according to gender roles.",
"I'm no expert, but I believe that since women were 'built' to nurture and feed babies, they have a larger biochemical response to 'cuteness' (which, if you don't know, is a response to recognize our own young, e.g. large head-to-body ratio, large eyes etc.) Their brains are more tuned to pay attention to, and look out for 'cute' things. It's an evolutionary thing.",
"Because (as you mentioned about society's norms) girls are taught things are \"cute\" while boys are taught things are \"cool\" and we repeat this through life.",
"_URL_0_\nThis is a great video! Basically we think things are cute when they remind us of children/younglings. Females are maternal and will feel more strongly towards these \"cute\" things. ",
"Well there are different angles that you can look at it from:\n\n- Mothers naturally evolved the ability to respond to 'cuteness' as it represented offspring. Mothers who considered their babies cute were more likely to protect offspring till adulthood thus passing on their \"cute feeling\" genes.\n\n- Offspring that were more \"cute\" were more likely to be protected and more likely to survive, thus either creating or reinforcing the \"cute\" reaction.\n\n- Society gender norms generally seem to evolve from biological differences so girls technically find children cuter - but the extension to other domains which can be considered cute is probably a society thing, e.g. Hello Kitty or something like that."
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3et36s | how do reptile ears work? | I just got a bearded dragon and I was wondering how his ears work, what keeps bugs out of his ears? And does the skin linin the inside of his "ear holes" shed? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3et36s/eli5_how_do_reptile_ears_work/ | {
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"Their ears work like yours. There is a very thin and delicate membrane at the base of the ear canal. DO NOT TOUCH it, or you may damage your pet's hearing. The skin lining the exterior ear canal can shed, usually in little flakes. You don't need to pull them, when they are done they will come off. Ears can become infected, and this is a serious problem for a breaded dragon. If the membrane seems like there is a yellow blob behind it, you need to go to the reptile vet."
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456eto | why are the planet orbital patterns in a flat ring | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/456eto/eli5why_are_the_planet_orbital_patterns_in_a_flat/ | {
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"Asked and answered, plenty of times. It comes from everything spinning around it and settling into what are now the planets."
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4qsyju | when you're dehydrated, is it better to chug water fast or to drink it slowly over time, or does it even matter? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4qsyju/eli5_when_youre_dehydrated_is_it_better_to_chug/ | {
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"I've heard on a survival show that your body can only absorb like 1 liter of water per hour, so I don't think the pace at which you drink it really matters. If you drink more than 1 liter of water in an hour your body will just pee it out.",
"Depends on how badly you're dehydrated. If severely, like to the point of passing out, drinking is an option only if no medical facility is available. Otherwise, what you want are immediate IV saline fluids on a controlled drip rate.\n\nIf you're moderately to seriously dehydrated, you should shoot for about liter of fluid intake per hour. Not because your body can't absorb more, but because you can actually risk cerebral edema (fluid swelling of the brain) and heart arrhythmia by rehydrating too quickly. Your blood is slightly salty. When you're dehydrated your blood gets saltier (called hypertonicity or hypernatremia), and that pulls water out of your cells including your brain. It's why you get stupid when you're overheated and dried out, and why your heart rate shoots up. Your blood volume and pressure drops, which is why you get headachy. Chug a ton of water, and it gets rapidly absorbed into your blood stream. Your blood salinity drops (hypotonicity), your blood volume shoots back up, and the balance of potassium and sodium in your body gets thrown out of whack which can mess with your heart's internal pacemaker or cause bradycardia - a sudden drop in heart rate. In addition your dried out brain cells which have tried to adjust to the lack of water start sucking in all of that new H2O in your blood and can literally swell to the point of bursting. I've seen people have seizures because of too-rapid hydration after getting dehydrated.\n\nIn hot weather, drink constantly. Minimally a liter of liquid per hour of exposure, double that under exertion. If you're thirsty, you're already behind the curve. If you're feeling weak, confused, or headachy, get out of the sun and to the coolest spot you can, wet down your body if possible, and drink at a moderate pace."
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ara9ox | how does asymmetric encryption work? | Taking A-Level Computer Science, and I'm very comfortable with the majority of concepts that I study.
I've never really understood asymmetric encryption though - outside of my studies, having read about public/private key encryption and SSL, understanding how the communication works at a basic level, the only thing that really throws me is how you can encrypt something and not be able to reverse it.
Are there any explanations or examples?
Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ara9ox/eli5_how_does_asymmetric_encryption_work/ | {
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"The trick is to find problems that are easy to calculate in one direction, but difficult to reverse. Then you base your algorithm on that kind of problem. \n \nFor example, plain multiplication does NOT have that property. Division is pretty much just as easy to perform as multiplication, so those two things are not suitable for asymmetric encryption. If I tell you that I multiplied 12 by some number and got 120, it's trivially easy for you to reverse that and figure out that the number I used was 10. \n \nBut there are some problems that are not easy to reverse like that. Factoring large prime number products is one of them. If I tell you that I multiplied two large primes and got 56713727820156410577229101238628035244, it wouldn't be simple for you to figure out what those prime factors were. With a computer you could eventually do it, of course. \n \nBut if I make my primes REALLY damn big so that the resulting product is REALLY REALLY damn big, your computer program will probably take a long, long time to factor it. Like centuries, or millennia. And that's good enough to use it for encryption. \n \nFactoring the products of large primes is not the only problem that is hard to reverse like that, but it's the one that is probably used the most and is easy to understand. "
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blmzog | why does nothing ever really happen to huge corporations who massively break the law and cause people to die? like boeing just recently? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/blmzog/eli5_why_does_nothing_ever_really_happen_to_huge/ | {
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"Corporations are financially liable. This will cost Boeing a fortune but does not appear to be a criminal issue. If a crime is uncovered, employees or officials can be charged. \n\nBasically this is a civil problem and the forthcoming investigations and litigation will be civil, not criminal."
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6zrqzl | how does a 3 month old baby learn the difference between laugh and a simple shout for the first time? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6zrqzl/eli5_how_does_a_3_month_old_baby_learn_the/ | {
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"They don't, really. Babies smile and laugh instinctively. It takes them a long time to learn what any of it actually means. If someone has a big, booming laugh that they are not used to, they may well startle and cry. Over time (months) they learn to interpret social signals based on the kind of response they get."
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1gxagv | base stealing in baseball | How does it work? When can players on base do it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gxagv/eli5_base_stealing_in_baseball/ | {
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"When a player gets on base, say 1st base, he can take a lead of the base. A lead can be a few steps, or a few more than that. It just means he is not physically touching the base with any part of his body. He may do this when the pitcher has the ball. This makes him closer to the next base. It's a regular thing in baseball. Now, the player can try to run while the pitcher has the ball or he can wait until the pitcher delivers his next pitch. The latter is the better option, since the pitcher could throw to the base the runner is trying to steal and the runner can easily be tagged out. However, if the pitcher throws the ball to the catcher, the runner gets a head start and the throw to get him out will come from the catcher (who is farther away than the pitcher from the bases). So most of the time, a stolen base will occur right after the ball is pitched. It is not a technical stolen base unless the defense tries to get the runner out (this is an MLB rule thing). A stolen base only happens if the ball is NOT hit. If the ball is hit, it's like a regular play."
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84ooub | why do large indoor areas use one giant flat fan instead of a couple small fans? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/84ooub/eli5_why_do_large_indoor_areas_use_one_giant_flat/ | {
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"You get more bang for your buck when it comes to surface area: usually the single set of large blades can push more air than several smaller ones.\n\nIt also simplifies wiring & installation: when you have several fans you need to run several wires and drill several holes. The big guy is one and done.",
"The purpose of those big fans is not to \"blow\" air on the people in the area. They are instead for [destratification](_URL_0_). \n\nWhen you have a building with a high ceiling you end up with very different temperatures on the floor vs. up at the ceiling. This causes a couple of problems. If your area is something like a gymnasium with bleachers where you have people at different levels vertically in the room, the people on the bottom will be feeling a very different temperature than the ones at the top. \n\nAlso, if you have a large temperature difference from floor to ceiling, your heating system will be much less efficient and you'll spend a lot more money on electricity or gas to heat the area.\n\nLittle fans aren't powerful enough to get the air all the way down to the floor."
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3qg88r | nihilism | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qg88r/eli5_nihilism/ | {
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"Existential nihilism (the most famous one) is a philosophical doctrine which basically says that life has no objective intrinsic value, purpose or meaning. Moral nihilism says there is no such thing as an objective morality. Metaphysical nihilism says reality does not exist. Epistemological nihilism says that objectively true knowledge does not exist or that it is not possible to know anything for sure.\n\nEdit: Please stop telling me a 5yo would not get this and read the sidebar",
"In pure ELI5 terms :\n\nYou're eventually going to die, everyone's eventually going to die, the entire fucking universe is eventually going to die and nothing anybody ever did will matter at all, so pretending like it matters now is pointless.",
"Nihil is Latin for \"nothing\". So its Nothing-ism. Its the philosophical idea that nothing we do matters. That there is no ultimate true purpose to our existence or the universe's existence. Its the belief in nothing.",
"\"Life is whatever you want it to be, never let anyone tell you what you can't do.\"\n\nThis is the essence of nihilism. There is no objective truth, therefore no one is more or less right then you are. Create values you subscribe to, don't accept values only because they are accepted by others. No one is sitting on the \"right answers\".\n\nOne can choose to interpret this as \"there is no objective meaning with anything, I might as well kill myself\" or \"there is no objective meaning, and therefore I am not bound by any restrictions. I am free\".\n\nI can highly recommend nihilism, it might bring you peace if you are an atheist and question the meaning of existence.",
"Say what you want about the tenants of National Socialism dude... at least its an Ethos... -Walter",
"157 comments and not one reference to The Big Lebowski.\n\nI'm' disappointed, Reddit...really. ",
"Hey, why don't you try and earn a high score at pacman! That might be fun, right? Except periodically, I'm gonna push a button that resets your score to zero. Just to fuck with you. \n\nWait, you're just going to give up? Don't you still want to try and get a high score? No? \n\nI guess you're feeling kind of nihilistic. You feel like the game is meaningless now since in the end, you're going to have zero points, and there's no way to win and there's no purpose.",
"Modern philosophy evolved into a few main lines of thought. \n\n1. Life has no meaning and we can't give it any meaning -Nihilism\n2. Life has no meaning but we can give it meaning. \n3. Life has intrinsic meaning and there is a god. \n4. Life has intrinsic meaning and there may not be a god. \n\nSo a Nihilist says there is no point to life, we just 'are' and we can't give it meaning and anybody who says they can is full of it. Morality is just a convention and there is no right or wrong and all attempts at establishing morality, law, a moral high ground, right and wrong, are failed and flawed. \n\nThe most well known form of Nihilism are the Lebowskian Nihilists. They believe in nothing and they will pee on your rug; which is a shame because it really tied the room together. \n\n",
"A very old, very philosophical woman explained her nihilism to me once:\n\n\"You wake up, you cry for an hour, and then you go take care of shit.\"\n\nNihilism is the recognition that watching your grandparents die slowly and then watching your parents die slowly, forgetting your name in the process, is somehow the *ideal* state of things. And further, that this ideal state of things is rare -- in most cases, people are tormented by their loved ones dying out of order. Your younger brother dies before you -- who will answer the question 'why is this rare grief mine to bear?'\n\nNihilism is a philosophical response to how specific the miseries and degradations of grief are. After all, what system of beliefs can stand up to how arbitrary and sad and inflictive life is?\n\nAnother wise old woman (why are they always women?) once told me a story: \"I lost my wallet for 6 hours, and then I found it. The relief I felt finding it was not big enough to compensate for the stress I felt losing it. I went to bed that day agitated.\" What belief system addresses the deficit of comfort?\n\nIn the end, there is no way to explain nihilism to a 5 year old, or to most 25 year olds, or to any layman in human misery. The request is an oxymoron. You'll feel nihilism as a temptation when your circle begins to die -- first in exotic ways, then in ways we euphemistically call 'old age.'",
"Holy shit what? I read the top comment and it made sense for a micro second and then I tried to rationalize what I'd just read and concluded that I had no idea what I just read. ",
"I could explain it, but what's the point?",
"Why? It's not like it matters. It's not like anything matters. ",
"I think it's beautiful.\nBy saying that nothing has meaning, suddenly anything can mean everything. You're into fantasy football? That's suddenly your whole world, and it's ok. You like urban photography? Portfolio that shit, it's as important as anything else.",
"So Nihilism is basically the philosophy that applies to you when you've lost the innocence of your childhood and begin to realise the world is a nasty place and that people hurt each other for seemingly pointless reasons and no one cares on a larger scale because they have been so busy performing their jobs and life chores that they dont have time to care about things outside of their immediate personal environment which of course is pointless because they are just prolonging their innevitable pointless existence.\n\nI must be in my mid 20's........they told me this would happen when I was a teenager and I didnt believe them.",
"The origin of nihilism lies with Nietzsche. For him, Christianity was the ultimate nihilism since it ineluctably forgoes this life for one that, at the very least, you can't be certain exists. This leads to all sorts of selfish, thoughtless, brutal behavior. Such a doctrine is life-effacing rather than life-affirming, which is what Nietzsche strove for.\n\nNow Heidegger would say that Nietzsche is the ultimate nihilist since he brought us to one of the peaks of Being (Heideggerian language here), showing us that being = nothingness and that life is little more that forces coming together and breaking apart ceaselessly without reason. Heidegger's remedy for this was to suggest that meaning is an inherent quality of Being, rather and something which we bestow on things/people/values on a whim, that is to say, Heidegger rejects both that god gives meaning *and* that we decide meaning ourselves. ",
"You spend all your time on reddit, increasing your karma by posting great links and great comments. \n\nAnd then you realize that you actually don't benefit from a high karma, and you can't really do anything with it. You can't even use high karma to get a job at reddit.\n\nThe only ones that benefit are the owners of reddit who are making money off your hard work. \n\nAll your work and effort is meaningless and worth nothing. And nothing you did actually matters because 6 weeks from now no one will remember a single post or comment you made. \n\nYou are now a reddit nihilist.",
"Eh, what's the point?",
"I'm sure I'm not alone but don't feel like digging through the comments to see if someone else said it. I always saw it as, you're going to die, nothing matters, make the most of it while you can and do whatever the hell you want because we are all worm food in the end. ",
"Why do I get the feeling that we're helping op write his term paper?",
"Why bother explaining it? We'll all be dead soon.",
"Nihilism, in it's absolute simplist form, is the idea that \"so what?\" cannot be answered.\n\nI punch you in the face. So what? So you feel pain. So what? So you punch me back, maybe stab me? So what? I drive off the road. So what? What is the worst that can happen? I can get arrested. So what? I can die? So what? Maybe I'll go to hell? So what? Say we did send every Mexican back to Mexico, nuked the Middle East, and burned every single dollar bill. What *really* happens? Anarchy, hysteria, panic, death; so what? The world keeps on turning, in a thousand years it'd just be a footnote in history, everyone would be dead one way or another; and honestly, even if that wasn't true, and the world just fucking STOPPED, answer me - so what?\n\nThe bottom line is, we give things weight and morals, but it's all imaginary. Arbitrary. Man-made. Once man is extinct, what will everything we've ever learned or accomplished have meant? It is without purpose. Ultimately, the idea as it pertains to life, that we are all actors on a stage, compelled by a script we made up, and Nihilism is the sudden realization that nobody is watching.",
"Nihilism is a latin based word. It's prefix, nihil- literally means nothing. That is where the phrase *Ex Nihilo* (from nothing) comes from. It's suffix -ism has a ton of different meanings but the one that this particular word uses is the name of a system or school of thought, for example communism, capitalism, socialism, and Marxism.\n\nPractically, it is similar to atheism in regards to not believing in god. However, the key difference, as I recognize it, is that atheists generally believe in trying to be moral people. Nihilists simply don't. They tend to believe life is pointless and as a result of that there is no reason to attempt to be moral.\n\nSource: Nearly half a decade of Caesar's English and heavy research trying to figure out which belief system I subscribe to.\n\n**Edit: I seem to have forgotten this is an ELI5, Here is a more ELI5 answer**\n\nImagine belief in god is like a ball of Play-Doh. Imagine morality is a cube. Some religions keep the cube and others toss it out but all religions have that ball of play-doh sculpted into different shapes. Atheism keeps the cube but says \"I won't play with your play-doh.\" Nihilism basically says \"SCREW YOUR CUBE AND YOUR PLAY-DOH I DON'T WANT ANY OF IT!!!\"",
"Nothing matters. Not even the fact that nothing matters matters. Humans are likely to respond to this in an emotional way, but there is no good, objective reason to respond to it in any way. But we are bound by the laws of nature and must."
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jzw61 | - why does a fulcrum (lever) make something easier to lift? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jzw61/eli5_why_does_a_fulcrum_lever_make_something/ | {
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"A lever is typically supported by a fulcrum. It is one of the six \"Simple Machines of Physics\". Typically, you take a lever and it is put onto the fulcrum.\n\nThink of a seesaw, but with the board more towards one side than the other, *not* right in the middle.\n\nIf you put a heavy box on the side of the board that is closer to the fulcrum, and you push down on the side that is furthest away, it will take less and less effort the *further* away it is.\n\nThat's the *how*, now here is the *why*. The longer the side of the board is that you're pushing down on, the shorter the other side is. What this means is that, while it takes less *force* to exert on the board, making the process easier, you have the trade-off of having to move more of the board as the angle becomes greater.\n\nThe object on the shorter side has to move a shorter distance than you do if you're pushing down on the board.\n\nAnother good example: the crowbar.\n\nYou pry it into a box lid. Think of the *tiny* amount of room the crowbar actually occupies in that crack in the crate's lid. Now think of how much room you have on your side? And of course, when you use the crowbar, you might have to push all the way down on it, to the point where your arm might make the crowbar go close to 90 degrees.\n\nSo this is a better example of where you exert less force, but have to move your end of the lever more.\n\n**tl;dr: The further away from the fulcrum the side you're pushing down on is, the less force you have to exert, but the further (distance) you have to move the lever (downwards/against the fulcrum) to see the result.**\n\n",
"I like to think of levers similar to how I think of ramps. Walking up a ramp is easier than climbing a ladder. At least it seems easier. The reason it seems easier is that a ramp stretches out the amount of upward force you need to exert over a longer distance. You wind up climbing for a longer time, but using less force at each step. \n\nA lever works on the the same basic principle. You apply less force over a larger distance. It is easier for most people to push down a 30 pound weight 20ft than it is to push a 300 pound weight 2ft. But both tasks require the same amount of energy. If you think of something like a crowbar, which has one really long side then a bend (the fulcrum) and a short side. If you push the long side down a long distance you can have the short side move a small distance but exert a lot of force. How ever many times longer the side you are pushing on is longer than the side exerting the force, is exactly how many times stronger the force being exerted is than the force you are pushing down with.",
"A lever is typically supported by a fulcrum. It is one of the six \"Simple Machines of Physics\". Typically, you take a lever and it is put onto the fulcrum.\n\nThink of a seesaw, but with the board more towards one side than the other, *not* right in the middle.\n\nIf you put a heavy box on the side of the board that is closer to the fulcrum, and you push down on the side that is furthest away, it will take less and less effort the *further* away it is.\n\nThat's the *how*, now here is the *why*. The longer the side of the board is that you're pushing down on, the shorter the other side is. What this means is that, while it takes less *force* to exert on the board, making the process easier, you have the trade-off of having to move more of the board as the angle becomes greater.\n\nThe object on the shorter side has to move a shorter distance than you do if you're pushing down on the board.\n\nAnother good example: the crowbar.\n\nYou pry it into a box lid. Think of the *tiny* amount of room the crowbar actually occupies in that crack in the crate's lid. Now think of how much room you have on your side? And of course, when you use the crowbar, you might have to push all the way down on it, to the point where your arm might make the crowbar go close to 90 degrees.\n\nSo this is a better example of where you exert less force, but have to move your end of the lever more.\n\n**tl;dr: The further away from the fulcrum the side you're pushing down on is, the less force you have to exert, but the further (distance) you have to move the lever (downwards/against the fulcrum) to see the result.**\n\n",
"I like to think of levers similar to how I think of ramps. Walking up a ramp is easier than climbing a ladder. At least it seems easier. The reason it seems easier is that a ramp stretches out the amount of upward force you need to exert over a longer distance. You wind up climbing for a longer time, but using less force at each step. \n\nA lever works on the the same basic principle. You apply less force over a larger distance. It is easier for most people to push down a 30 pound weight 20ft than it is to push a 300 pound weight 2ft. But both tasks require the same amount of energy. If you think of something like a crowbar, which has one really long side then a bend (the fulcrum) and a short side. If you push the long side down a long distance you can have the short side move a small distance but exert a lot of force. How ever many times longer the side you are pushing on is longer than the side exerting the force, is exactly how many times stronger the force being exerted is than the force you are pushing down with."
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2qkpdm | what is my "permanent record", and where is it located? | I always hear that something is going on someones permanent record.. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2qkpdm/eli5_what_is_my_permanent_record_and_where_is_it/ | {
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"The most likely meaning here is your education transcript. ( _URL_0_ ) \n\nhowever, this has been a long standing in-joke among educators, intending to scare students with the threat of irrevocable consequences. i.e. \"when you go to apply for retirement in 65 years, they will look at your permanent record and deny you because you were a very naughty child today\" ",
"A child gets a permanent record when they first enter school. It is where teachers keep and record your grades for that year, write comments about you for the future teachers and occasionally leave samples of your work. It stays at the school you are present at, each school usually had an office or offices that give teachers a file\n for their students that year, it gets sent to the new teacher the following year. When you graduate high school, you can get your \"permanent record\". My high school gave me mine when I graduated. "
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1mbpbi | why do cheap restaurants often only have canned soda for sale instead of fountain soda, when the fountain soda has a much higher rate of return? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mbpbi/eli5_why_do_cheap_restaurants_often_only_have/ | {
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"Because they don't have the money/space to install a fountain. Or they don't sell enough pop to want to have to worry about maintaining it/changing syrup bags/cleaning/etc.",
"It has a higher rate of return, but it also has a much higher up front cost. Cheap restaurants might not have the capital needed to buy one when they first open, and are saving up until they can afford to.",
"There is only a higher rate of return if you have a lot of customers purchasing it. There is a lot of overhead cost that goes into fountains that isn't there with cans.\n\nI'm going to pull some numbers out of the air just for example purposes.\nSay it costs $1000 for that machine, $25 for the syrup (first bag) and, I don't know, $5 for the cups.\nThat means the restaurant has to pay $1030 right now.\n\nIf they just go to Walmart and buy a 24 pack of canned soda, that costs $12 right now (I really don't know how much soda costs).\n\nSo, now the restaurant opens and say their first week they make $27 in soda sales (because they're a cheap, low-grade establishment).\n\nIf they have sufficient capitol, this isn't too big of a problem for the soda fountain guy because eventually he'll see a return on his investment (after about **9 and a half months** at this rate). At that point, he finally starts to actually see profit off of the soda fountain.\n\nIf you don't have the length of a pregnancy to wait to see profits (you shouldn't be opening a restaurant in the first place) then that soda machine is going to seem like a bad investment to you.",
"A fountain requires a largish initial investment, and often a contract with a soda company.\n\nCans require a trip to the grocery store."
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4ojorw | graphene aerogel. if it is 7 times lighter than air, shouldn't it float? | I'm having a hard time grasping the concept. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ojorw/eli5_graphene_aerogel_if_it_is_7_times_lighter/ | {
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"If, in total, it's less dense than air, it should float. Sometimes, by lighter than air, they mean that if the aero gel had cells of vacuum instead of cells of air, it would be lighter. But it's filled with air, so in total, it heavier. ",
"The aerogel has a lot of empty space in it. Air typically fills that space, and when it does so the resulting density of the entire object is not less than that of air. The claim that it is \"7 times lighter than air\" is true, but only really applies if you suck all the air out of the empty spaces in the aerogel.\n\nYou can analogize it to a ship. A ship as a whole is lighter than water, but if you fill the empty spaces with water instead of air it will no longer be denser than water. The aerogel is lighter than air when there is a vacuum and essentially nothing is filling the empty spaces in the material, but when air fills those spaces it is just a little denser than air."
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7hk5wi | why does autotune sound so bad in 2017? | It’s 2017. We have smart-everything now. Autotune has sounded the same since 2000s. How come it hasn’t improved since?
Side question; why does autotune sound so bad in the first place? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7hk5wi/eli5_why_does_autotune_sound_so_bad_in_2017/ | {
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"Autotune has been used, unbeknownst to the public, long before Cher's Life After Love, which is commonly credited as the first song to employ apparent autotune. Before then, it was simply used to correct pitch in studio performances. When applied thusly, it is nigh unto undetectable. When you can hear the autotune, that's intentional.",
"Producers and sound engineers are very able to use Autotune and other pitch-correction software without leaving electronic-sounding artifacts. It's sometimes a stylistic choice to include them, and it's sometimes the fact that for lots of people a little Autotune sound doesn't bother them and so it's wasted time and effort to keep making it sound better in the rush to produce the next pop industry album.",
"99% of the time you don't hear autotune/pitch correction when it's used as a tool and not as an effect. It's gotten really, really good and it's integrated into most recording software. Back in the day you needed a hardware unit or third party software, now it's a standard feature and it's used so much you wouldn't believe it. It's primarily used when you have a take with a few notes that are out of tune slightly and need to be fixed, which is cheaper than booking studio time or a musician to redo the takes. \n\nWhen you hear it like you're talking about, it's used as an effect. You may think that it's a cheesy effect that sounds bad, but artists make a conscious decision to use it in that way because they think it sounds cool. It can be used as a callback to tunes they were influenced by or are trying to emulate from the early 2000s. But it's just that, an artistic effect. If you don't like it in music don't buy that music. \n\nThe reason it sounds \"fake\" is twofold, the first is the actual pitch shift and the second is how it is applied to the audio. \n\nThe sweeping majority of pitch correction software essentially time stretches the audio (without changing pitch) and then plays it back faster or slower by the same factor. Both stages will have artifacts, or add crap you didn't want. Time stretching without shifting pitch is an old idea (it was done back in the 50s) but one of the things that happens is transients (fast changes in the signal envelope) get smeared or shrunk in time, and in bad cases can even be repeated giving you some pops and blips. When you speed up the signal after stretching it, you have to filter it or else you get \"aliasing\" which is high frequency garbage on top, if you slow it down you naturally filter the signal which rolls off the high frequencies.\n\nNow *even if* you have no artifacts from the shift, you have a problem which is that the general curve of the frequency response is shifted up or down. This is not how a real instrument works, where the curve is fixed based on the acoustics of the instrument/voice, but the individual harmonics move up and down. This causes the timbre of the instrument to shift with the pitch changes, and it sounds alien and unnatural. \n\nIn general the only way around those problems is to only use tiny pitch shifts. Which is where autotune excels today, it's great for fixing tracks that are out of tune, not for changing the melody entirely. \n\nNow when the shift is applied it is done with an envelope, meaning the pitch shift is applied over time. The signal will ramp up or down to the new pitch, it isn't instant. The longer that ramp time, the more natural it sounds. When it's very short you get that T-Pain sound, as the pitch correction kicks in almost instantly rather than how a voice would naturally change. ",
"I dont think its necessarily the autotune that sounds bad. but alot of artists not using it the way its supposed to be used and having it pitch correct at the wrong time etc. "
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8widrx | why during the 60s british bands put out different albums in the uk and us | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8widrx/eli5_why_during_the_60s_british_bands_put_out/ | {
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"At the time British bands would have to sign separate deals with US record labels to get their albums distributed there, and those labels would have had their own ideas as to what songs to put on the albums to best cater to the US market"
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ljd2u | how a photocopier works. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ljd2u/eli5_how_a_photocopier_works/ | {
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"A very bright, intense light is flashed at the original document. This light is then reflected onto a negatively charged metal drum, which through various quantum mechanical effects causes it to lose its charge where the light hits it. This means that where there was ink (and therefore less light reflected) the drum still holds a charge. Ink is then passed over the drum, which attracts to the charged areas and is transferred onto a clean sheet of paper.",
"A very bright, intense light is flashed at the original document. This light is then reflected onto a negatively charged metal drum, which through various quantum mechanical effects causes it to lose its charge where the light hits it. This means that where there was ink (and therefore less light reflected) the drum still holds a charge. Ink is then passed over the drum, which attracts to the charged areas and is transferred onto a clean sheet of paper."
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37luhg | why don't we have atomic powered aircraft? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37luhg/eli5_why_dont_we_have_atomic_powered_aircraft/ | {
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"We tried. In the Cold War the USA did work on trying to make a nuclear powered bomber. They actually did put a reactor in a plane. \n\nToo many problems, and it irradiated the ground crew. Plus it actually didn't make a very fast plane. "
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9eee9d | how do hydrogen fuel cells create electricity and regulate how much is made? also how is the hydrogen extracted from water and collected? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9eee9d/eli5_how_do_hydrogen_fuel_cells_create/ | {
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"Hydrogen fuel cells are more akin to batteries in practice. They hold energy by having hydrogen and oxygen separated from one another by a membrane. When the particles travel through this membrane to create water they release a bit of energy into the membrane as electricity. The hydrogen and oxygen are usually initially separated by electrolysis, which is why I described them as effectively batteries."
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a4a2ap | how can we make an educated guess about the time it is when we wake up without seeing a clock? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a4a2ap/eli5_how_can_we_make_an_educated_guess_about_the/ | {
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"Light through the window puts you in the ballpark. But also take into consideration the times you’ve been out by a mile.\nI’m a shift worker but on days for a project and after 2 weeks my body now wakes me up 5-10 minutes before the alarm goes off, every flipping day, even on weekends. "
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5ty232 | what the difference is between x264 and x265 video encoding and which is better | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ty232/eli5what_the_difference_is_between_x264_and_x265/ | {
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"As of now H264 is the major player around the world. It is everywhere, mobile streaming, youtube, many online sites utilize it. H265 is the successor to H264. H265 was designed to be efficient at video encoding by utilizing about half of the bitrate(kbps), matching and improving on the fidelity of a H264 image. H264 maxed out at 4K/60fps, while H265 maxes out at 8K, has improved image quality, better color space, better dynamic range and supports up to 300fps.\n Even with its advancements in encoding, x265(HEVC/H265) requires more compute power to decode, devices using batteries will run out of power faster(Source) and it is expensive to license. It cost Apple ~$25million for iPhone 6 to use H265 in Facetime(Source). Google has also added decoders to Android 5 and beyond. Windows 10 supports HEVC natively too. The cost will get passed down to consumers especially when it comes to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, regular tv service. You will probably need a new set top box(DVR) that has hardware decoding capabilities with more muscle than your current one. Remember the encoding efficiency we were just talking about, the sacrifice is compute power. I think all Samsung UHD models have built-in RVU(Receiver box) for DirecTV service, that probably means the quad-core processor that resides inside the display will be doing the heavy lifting. Vizio has a hexa-core inside their UHD sets. Sharp, Sony, LG, Panasonic may also have processors inside to assist in decoding.\n This is what I’ve tried on the different brands in terms of UHD playback. Early Q1 2015, I tried H264 2160p, playback was unsuccessful. H264(2160p) with AC3 audio failed, same for MP3 audio. The sets follow a very strict compliance when it comes to 2160p decoding. The content has to be HEVC(H265/x265) with AAC audio. Samsung displays can play HEVC without audio but throw out an audio error. Vizio, LG, Sharp playback fine even if audio is missing in the content.\n\n_URL_0_",
"The actual encoding is called h.264 and h.265; x264 and x265 are an implementation of that standard.\n\nThe h.264 encoding is older and more widespread. There are a ton of devices that can do h.264 very quickly and/or very energy efficiently. The h.265 encoding is newer and claims to outperform h.264 in many ways, though many devices don't support it (though virtually all PCs, tablets, etc will support both; the devices that won't are very low power, embedded devices and the like).\n\nIn practice both encodings have a *lot* of knobs and dials to play with: you can get a lot of performance out of either, or you can tune either to be absolute garbage. On average, you should expect h.264 to take less processing but to leave you with a bigger file, while h.265 will likely take much more processing to encode, somewhat more processing to decode, and will leave you with a smaller file.\n\nWhich one is better depends on your use. If the goal is to wind up with as small of a file as possible (e.g. if you're trying to archive a bunch of videos on a hard drive with limited space) then h.265 is going to be the way to go. If you're trying to compress videos to watch on your tablet then perhaps consider h.264: the lower processing load means that you'll get a bit better battery life. In most cases expect h.265 to be the better choice; it's the more modern standard, though hardware hasn't quite caught up with it yet. \n\nAs for x264 vs x265, these are software projects that are fairly widely used in programs like FFmpeg or HandBrake. The x265 project is based on the x264 code so they're very similar to one another, though obviously they implement different encoding. The choice between them should be based on h.264 vs h.265, not on the features of x264 vs x265. ",
"The ELI5 answer is that x265 uses better compression, so you can get higher quality with a lower file size. \n\nThe penalty you pay for that is that you need much more computing power to decode it - there's hardly any video hardware that supports it so the CPU has to do all the work. \n\nSo for which is better, that depends on whether you have more CPU power to spare or more diskspace. "
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Subsets and Splits