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1w3eta | why is "pussy" slang for vagina? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1w3eta/eli5why_is_pussy_slang_for_vagina/ | {
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"The Oxford English Dictionary does link the word history to the cat definition (think furry and warm) - French has the same linkage in feline/vagina slang, despite different roots. \n\nThe [Online Etymology Dictionary](_URL_0_) raises the possibility that it's linked to an Old Norse word \"puse\" meaning \"pocket, pouch\", although the sense of pussy = vagina is relatively recent, at least compared to contact with Old Norse, which may make it a stretch."
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"http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pussy"
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byj8e7 | what’s is the difference between a sales tax and vat (value added tax) | ELI5: A politician in the UK has just said that he wants to remove the VAT system and replace with a new sales tax. What is the difference between the two and what would be the benefit of scrapping VAT for a sales tax? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/byj8e7/eli5_whats_is_the_difference_between_a_sales_tax/ | {
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"VAT is paid at each stage of production by the people \"adding value\" to the product. So you start with a raw material, you make it into something (say a flat sheet of metal), you charge VAT on your part of the job. The next company who takes \\*that\\* and turns it into, say, a metal pole does the same for the work \\*they\\* did to it.\n\nAt each stage, you pay VAT on the product you bought, and charge VAT on the product you sold so the only tax you're actually paying is on what \\*value\\* you added to the product.\n\nA sales tax is, quite literally, just an end-tax on the final product.\n\nThis means that sales taxes are paid by the consumer, and the \"other\" tax along the way is not collected but is \"paid\" because of the higher prices charged by each person along the way because they can, and limited only by what the consumer spends.\n\nVAT is difficult and expensive to administer and audit, sales tax is easier. VAT taxes everyone involved with a product along the chain. Sales tax charges the final customer (which affects demand, no doubt, but that's about it). VAT is charged on imported goods, etc. too so you can't just make things cheaply in Europe and out-compete local businesses while only paying tax once in the end country, sales tax isn't (though there may be other import duties).\n\nBasically, sales tax is a lazy tax that misses the big picture of employment in the country you're in, local industry, complete taxation of every stage in the process, etc. VAT is more complex but helps to even the tax burden among all producers along the chain and encourages you to not just produce things cheaply abroad and claim that you added a ton of value to a particular good for performing a simple action (if you get given cheap materials, then do little to them, but charge a fortune to the next guy up the chain for your end result, you have a \\*ton\\* of VAT collected, almost none given out, and the difference has to go back to the taxman - basically the more you pretend what value you added, the more VAT you have to pay).\n\nGove is an idiot trying to distract from political finger-pointing in his direction by gaining the support of \"big business\" who don't want to have to pay or administer VAT, and gain support from \"the little man\" who just sees a \"20%\" figure on everything he buys. Gove knows perfectly well that those people don't care/realise that a sales tax of even a lesser percentage means that the country ends up taking less tax and encourages losing jobs, shipping manufacturing abroad, and cutting corners, in an unregulated environment which favours profiteering and inflating the prices of products.\n\nIt's literally a distraction technique because the news for the last two days has been about him doing cocaine.",
"Tax should only be changed on an item once. If you buy a piece of wood, you should pay tax. If a factory buys a piece of wood to make into a chair, they shouldn't pay tax on the wood and then you pay tax on the chair, doubling the amount of money the government gets.\n\nThere are two ways to avoid this. Will traditional sales tax, business get a tax exempt number. They go to the store, show their number, and buy the wood without tax, build the chair, sell it to you with tax, and send the tax to the government.\n\nThe problem with this system was there is a lot of cheating. It's up to the person at the till to charge sales tax or not and track it etc.\n\nVAT was designed to make the system simpler with less cheating. With VAT you charge everybody tax. Then, if you are a business, you look how much money you spent on VAT, how much you collected on VAT send the government the difference.\n\nYou spent $5 on wood and sold it for $10. With 20% VAT included in price, that means you spent $1 on VAT and collected $2, so you send the government $1. (The wood guy also sent the government $1). Your business added $5 of value to the wood by making it into a chair, so that's all you should be taxed on. Hence the name Value Added Tax.",
"In Canada, our sales tax is accounted for at every stage by every business. You collect tax on what you sell and pay tax on what you buy and you owe the government the difference at tax time. \n\nThis doesn’t sound too awfully different from the VAT as described.",
"We've had that done in India. Doesn't change much in an average person's day to day, to be honest. Although restaurants are a bit more pricy.",
"If you are paying VAT you are in Canada or the UK. If you are paying sales tax you are in the United States.",
"There’s a lot of conflicting information on here. I run a VAT registered business and this is how it works.\nGoods: \n\nTransaction 1:\nI buy a phone for £100 plus 20% VAT of £20. I pay the supplier £120. The supplier pays £20 to the government. I am a VAT registered business and the phone is purely for business use so I claim the entire £20 back from the government. The government is now back at £0.\n\nTransaction 2:\nI sell the phone to another VAT registered business for £200 plus 20% VAT of £40. They pay me £240. I give the government £40. They claim £40 from the government. The government is now back at £0.\n\nTransaction 3:\nThe company that bought the phone from me sell it to a consumer for £400 plus 20% VAT of £480. The consumer pays £480. The company gives the government £80. The consumer can’t claim anything back from the government. The government is now a total of £80 up. \nEND\n\nThis is silly because £140 worth of tax has been moved about when really it was only the end £80 that actually needed paying.",
"One is a tax for wearing puffy director pants and the other is a tax for not wearing puffy director pants."
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fmech3 | how can a company like tesla or razer, switch from producing their standard products to producing medical equipment so easily? what is the process they have to follow? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fmech3/eli5_how_can_a_company_like_tesla_or_razer_switch/ | {
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"Depending on the old and new items, the hardest part is figuring out how to do it.\n\nFor example, Tesla has to use sewing equipment to make seat coverings, can that be modified to make masks?\n\nRazer works with a lot of plastics and electronics, can they make respirator masks?\n\nOnce you determine how you can help, and modify the equipment to do it, it's just an assembly line, like they'd use to make any other product."
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633u03 | why do some anti-depressants make people less affectionate / "numb" to feelings? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/633u03/eli5_why_do_some_antidepressants_make_people_less/ | {
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"Not a doctor, but many anti-depressants suppress certain neurotransmitters such as seratonin, which help regulate mood, appetite, and sleep among other things. Someone may feel numb as a side effect of generally suppressed emotions from taking a drug.\nEdit: I should say suppress, or induce the creation of more of a certain neurotransmitter",
"former anti-depressant taker here. Can't speak to science (but sometimes [scientists can't either](_URL_0_)). \n\nwhat I do know is that anti-depressants numb all feelings, including depression but also joy, fear, anxiety, love, etc. without the meds my emotions run on a 1-10 scale, and with the meds, it was more like a 3-8 scale, if that makes sense."
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"http://www.medicaldaily.com/how-antidepressants-work-brain-comprehensive-guide-336250"
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pbkez | why incandescent bulbs get hot | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/pbkez/eli5_why_incandescent_bulbs_get_hot/ | {
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"Incandescent bulbs work by running a lot of electricity through a little tiny wire that gets really, really hot. When it gets hot it glows. So if it didn't get hot, there would be no light. Heat is the whole point of an incandescent bulb.\n\nfor more, _URL_0_"
]
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm%27s_law"
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195y0h | how can light return to its original speed even after it has been slowed down in a bose-einstein condense? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/195y0h/eli5_how_can_light_return_to_its_original_speed/ | {
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"text": [
"This is more suited to /r/AskScience than /r/explainlikeimfive "
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bf2kv6 | how do you change sides during a war? | I was thinking about WW2 and Italy changing sides, but I never thought about how the proces works. So how did Italy change sides during WW2, and how would that proces work in todays world? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bf2kv6/eli5_how_do_you_change_sides_during_a_war/ | {
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"If I remember right, Mussolinis government was overthrown by the dissent, who then formed their government and gained support of the military, killing their fascist leaders. I cant think of a time an independent nation switched sides in the middle of a war and didnt also change the group of people in charge"
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6dw2i0 | did people in the early 1900s really get eaten alive by rats? | I am ready The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and the book mentions a character died after being locked in at work and the being eaten alive by rats. I'm wondering if this really happened and if so how common was it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6dw2i0/eli5_did_people_in_the_early_1900s_really_get/ | {
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"Hey, so I can't speak 100% for the 1900's as a certainty, but a few examples that allow for this to be plausible enough to show up in history. \n\n The first would be much more personal, which is called \"The Rat Tortue\". This would involve rats essentially being caged with a hole in the bottom where the person was, applying heat to cause burrowing, and I'm sure you can imagine the rest. Bad way to go, by any and all accounts. \n\n The second is there was supposedly a \"Rat Dungeon\" in the Tower of London by the river Thames. This cell would hold a person and have a small hole just above the water mark of the river, with the rest of the cell below. As the tide would come in, so would rats, and the person could be eaten alive, or just mangled into a mess. \n\nIn terms of common, that's a much harder question to answer. Given the time period, we can expect at least some individual reports, but it would likely be categorized under \"accident\" or \"attack by wild creature\", etc. in terms of records of mortality. \n\nSo in terms of The Jungle, one could say that what was reported may well have been true at least in that case or cases, but to get hard numbers would be quite difficult. I can say though that \"work lock ins\" were common enough to have legislation passed against them, which can currently be seen in OSHA codes 1910.36(d) and 1910.36(d)(2) which essentially state that exit doors must exist and must not be sealed from workers trying to leave with a lock, special knowledge, etc. \n\nHope this helped!"
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63l6dh | when someone is paralyzed? how could they go to toilet and release their waste? | suppose you need to use certain muscle to release your body waste isnt it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63l6dh/eli5when_someone_is_paralyzed_how_could_they_go/ | {
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"text": [
"They don't. They often wear a bag which collects the feces for later disposal called a colostomy bag. Losing control of your bowls is one of the problems with being paralyzed."
]
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ej8eby | the difference between a swamp and a bayou | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ej8eby/eli5_the_difference_between_a_swamp_and_a_bayou/ | {
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"You could easily google this...\nIn fact, I did. Here:\n\n > The main difference between Swamp and Bayou is that the Swamp is a wetland with trees and Bayou is a Franco-English term for a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying area."
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1cpyp3 | what happens once the water i use goes down the drain? | Showers, toilets, sinks... what happens to it after it goes down the drain?
Is it disposed of? Is it re-used? I honestly don't know. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1cpyp3/eli5_what_happens_once_the_water_i_use_goes_down/ | {
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"In urban places it most likely goes through the sewer system into a treatment plant. After the water is treated it can be dumped back into the bay or used for other things such as watering a golf course. "
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5aq130 | the process for remastering old games (ps1 etc) for new consoles (ps4/xboxone) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5aq130/eli5_the_process_for_remastering_old_games_ps1/ | {
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"Well there's no set standard for remastering some games receive minor improvements while other get a lot more. Generally the first thing to get an increase are resolution and or frame rate. These are two easy things that generally be increased without much hassle although since all the art work and assets were designed for a much lower resolution there might have to be some work there to make things like menus look good at the higher resolution. Next you can up the resolution of the textures as well (or create whole new ones) and drastically improve the texture filtering and anti - aliasing. \n\nThese changes alone will make an older game look and feel much more modern and this is honestly where a lot of remasters stop but they can go further. It's possible to improve the games existing effects and add new ones. Maybe an old spell looked like crap and they can make it look better for example. A recent example is skyrim special edition where they have reworked the whole lighting engine to look better. It's also possible to go back and improve the models especially the character models to make them look better. Generally though it's not gonna be anything to drastic the point is to make the older game look better not to create a whole nother game.",
"The first and primary thing done is porting the game. For these consoles that usually means there are different graphic APIs, and you need to update the game engine to use the newer APIs. Going from something like PS3 to PS4 shouldn't be a lot of work, Sony wants to make it easy for you. But stuff like PS4 to XBoxOne isn't necessarily easy, PS4 uses GNM and XBoxOne uses DirectX, there are other system APIs that change and everything in your game using them needs to be changed to match. Then you need to account for differences in CPUs and how your code interacts with it. On older/slower CPUs it was very common to use non-portable cpu-specific code to speed stuff up, it's less common with newer systems. Anyways, all that stuff needs to be updated to work on the new processor.\n\nAfter doing all that, the game should mostly run as is on the newer system. Re-mastering additionally includes things like updating textures because the faster system can handle it and making a few improvement to the graphics engine. That is all normal game development stuff, and they do it as much as they want really.",
"Two methods\n -Port\n -emulation\n\nNote: search any words you don't know.\n\nPort: It depends wildly. The existing game engine can be changed to work with new hardware. This is least likely. Often the team will first choose a new game engine to work with the new hardware, or multiple types of hardware (multi-platform).\n\n Than master assets are pulled up. these are the original recordings of music, high poly models, and uncompressed textures that the studio may have, but don't come with the game you receive. Sometimes there was nothing saved from previous development. Sometimes, even if there was, it is now useless.\n\nNext the assets and code are pulled from the old game. The studio may have the original source or they may have to do it the hard way and pull it from the disk. This data is usually fed into the new engine as-is. That process can be seamless, but is usually very difficult and time consuming.\n\n An alpha build begins to take shape as updated graphics, sound and other assets are added as needed. Quality testing begins as hundreds of hours of game play finds the flaws. When the new assets are all added and usually after any new game play mechanics have been implemented, it goes to beta.\n\nFinal quality assurance pass happens. If you're at a decent company. The game is then sent for certification by Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo. The game is approved (eventually) and a master disk is pressed. From this disk all disks are made. (That process is another ELI5) You now have a Re-Mastered Game Of The Year Edition. Even if it was never game of the year.\n\nEmulation: This process uses a translator to translate the game intended for the old machine so that it can run on the new machine. This process does not require changing anything in the original game. It can be considered a remaster however because the emulation software may be included on disk.-unlikely It is more common to see it when making a Windows game compatible with Linux (UNIX type machines)\n\nMore often new consoles have some limited backward compatibility and the games are not remastered as they are original."
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6z4bvu | why does the skin of the penis not get pale like the rest of the body? would it damage the penis/skin if it got a tan? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6z4bvu/eli5_why_does_the_skin_of_the_penis_not_get_pale/ | {
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"From what I understand, the production of melanin is somewhat related to testosterone. During puberty, there's a concentration of testosterone in that area, so the skin darkens. It's also why pubes tend to be darker in colour than the hair on your head. ",
"Part of what you think of the penis being tan is an illusion. It looks darker because it is all shriveled up while flaccid. All the melanin is closer together making it appear tan/darker. If it gets hard, it won't have that appearance. \n\nI don't see why the penis would get damaged if it got tan, it's thinner skin but not all that different. But I cannot imagine the fucking agony it would be to have a sun burned member and have an absent-minded boner during the day. Nor being woken up in the morning.",
"I used to have phototherapy treatments for psoriasis... yes a penis will tan... but then later it just turns to freckles."
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1rt64y | what happens to heavy elements made by nuclear fusion from the sun? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rt64y/eli5_what_happens_to_heavy_elements_made_by/ | {
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"For the moment they sink down inside the core. Eventually they might be forced out when the helium fuses all at once much later on.",
"About the heaviest thing the Sun is making now is Helium, if memory serves. When the Sun runs low on Hydrogen, it will have to become a red giant to start fusing Helium--and bigger still to fuse somewhat heavier stuff (we'll need to go shopping for real estate by then, if we haven't already). But it's not big enough to fuse the really heavy natural elements; those that exist here on Earth were formed in the hearts of supernovas. As Carl Sagan was fond of saying, \"we are made of star-stuff.\""
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8h2whl | how are the prices of commodities set? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8h2whl/eli5_how_are_the_prices_of_commodities_set/ | {
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"The overall governing factors are supply and demand. \n\nIf there are at lot of suppliers, some may try to charge less for the commodity to attract more buyers. Then competitors would be pressured to do the same to remain competitive. The price typically won't fall below the cost of production, as the producer is unable to make any profit if it does. However, the cost of production can change through technology, changes in labor costs, taxation, and a number of other factors.\n\nChanges in demand fluctuate as well. Booming economies lead to an increased demand in resources to support growth, while shrinking economies focus more on efficiency and a general lowering of demand. As technologies are developed, some commodities find more uses while others may be substituted by others, changing demand as well."
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5lv0v6 | what's a single-nucleotide polymorphism? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5lv0v6/eli5_whats_a_singlenucleotide_polymorphism/ | {
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"text": [
"A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, pronounced \"snip\") is a difference of a single letter in a DNA sequence. They are mutations that usually arise through errors in DNA replication."
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3ek06i | when we put cargo ships, submarines etc into the ocean, does the water level rise? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ek06i/eli5_when_we_put_cargo_ships_submarines_etc_into/ | {
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"In theory yes, in practice the effect is so minute that you could never ever measure it. I.e. the ocean contains somewhere inthe order of 10^18 m^3 of water, your average ship has like what ... a few hundred tons, which directly translates to m^3 of displaced water. You see where this is going, right?"
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dt6uur | how can non-mammals that hatch from shells survive while they don’t have an umbilical cord connected them to the mother and sustaining them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dt6uur/eli5_how_can_nonmammals_that_hatch_from_shells/ | {
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"That's what the egg white and yolk (primarily the yolk) is for. They supply nutrients to the developing embryo.",
"The yolks of the egg nourishes the baby inside the egg. So, instead of the mother supplying nutrients through a long pregnancy, they front load the nutrients when they lay the egg.",
"Because all of the nutrients and things needed for the embryo to grow are already in the egg. That's what the yolk and white of an egg are. As the embryo grows, it basically has an umbilical cord attached to the yolk and the embryo consumes the yolk that way.",
"Short answer. They do have an umbilical cord of sorts.\n\nIf you ever broke open an egg with a developing chicken inside you'd note that it's digestive system is directly connected to the yolk sack.\n\nThat's what eggs basically are, a ball of all the nutrients a developing embryo needs to grow until it hatches.",
"The yolk provides the nutrients the umbilical would. \nThe oxygen from the air passes through the shell (if it's there) and into the \"egg whites\" and into the growing animal."
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45x275 | what exactly do speaker amps and audio boxes do? | Iv really come to love high fidelity music and listening to it. I have a pair of really good sounding IEMs and I'm looking for the same quality on my desk. I have no idea what speaker amps and audio boxes do though. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/45x275/eli5_what_exactly_do_speaker_amps_and_audio_boxes/ | {
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"Imagine your speaker is a shower head. Now, you just bought this amazingly expensive shower head that can power blast your skin until it's sparklingly smooth.\n\nYou replace your original shower head and turn on the water! Only a small trickle comes out. Wondering what is wrong, you look at the manual. The regular water pressure from the pipes in the wall is not enough. It turns out you need a separate water pump (amplifier) to drive the shower head to its full potential.\n\nHowever, this water pump has to pump both hot and cold water properly. Image the case where if you turn the water pressure up, it only gives hot scalding water! At low pressures, it's too cold! The water temperature should remain the same at all pressures. The analogy breaks down a bit here because water only has two frequencies (hot and cold) while audio spans a large range of frequencies. Generally, you want your amp to power your speakers but not distort your original signal.",
"Your music, whether it be from your computer, MP3, phone, etc., usually comes out as a very small signal (usually around a volt or less) that, while perfect for small earbuds or driving the internal speaker, is nowhere near the power required to drive external loudspeakers. In fact, doing so would probably do some unpleasant things to your audio device (firsthand experience). These speakers can require anywhere from a few to hundreds of watts, which is certainly beyond the capabilities of most music players. This is where the speaker amp/audio system comes into play. It's called an \"amplifier\" because it can take these small signals coming from your music player and \"boost\" them (read: \"amplify them\") to a voltage and power level that can drive large speakers. Now, there are two ways in which the signal can be amplified:\n\na. **Analog**: These amplifiers directly take the signal from your audio device, create a copy of it at a higher power level, and then send it to your speakers. In an analog amplifier, the output signal will be almost exactly proportional to the input. These are usually more expensive because they require high-quality parts to exactly replicate the sound.\n\nb. **Digital**: These are also known as \"Class D\" amplifiers, and most except for the very most expensive audio equipment will contain at least one digital amplifier stage. These operate by taking a constant signal level that's able to drive your speakers and chopping it up (modulation) based on the signal levels from your music. (*PWM quick lesson:* Digital signals only exist as either \"on\" and \"off\", but to get \"in-between\" levels, like in a Class D amplifier, it does something called Pulse Width Modulation. Which means, if you want a signal to be, say exactly halfway between \"on\" and \"off\", you'd turn on the signal for half the time, and off for the next half. It's basically an average of the time a signal spends in the \"on\" and \"off\" states.) **Anyways, back to the digital amplifier**. These are more efficient, but tend to cause electronic interference because of all the on-and-off switching happening instead of smooth electrical transitions. However, they're cheaper since it doesn't require as much work to create quality on-off signals.\n\nThe main difference between the two is the method in which they amplify the sound. Some people claim that digital amplifiers don't sound as good because the signals they create aren't an exact replica of the input (because they need to convert the analog signal to digital before they can amplify them, and this leads to some inaccuracy), and while there's some truth to their claims, the switching in a digital amplifier happens so fast that very few people will ever notice any difference in sound quality.\n\nI'm assuming by audio box, you mean an A/V Receiver, or sound system. These contain several amplifiers for different speakers, and some electronics to redirect certain sounds to certain speakers. Some speakers have different ranges (\"tweeters\" are those tiny speakers that play the really high notes, \"subwoofers\" are those larger ones that cause mini-earthquakes), so the A/V receiver tries to direct certain notes to certain speakers so they play most efficiently (read: loudest). They may also include an equalizer, which basically adjusts how much each amplifier can put out, so if you want more bass, let's say, it'll turn up the amplifier for the subwoofers, and lower the ones for the tweeters. \n\nAnyways, I hope this helps! \nedit: Thanks to kstorm88 for fact-checking",
"The amp simply takes the input signal (low power) and makes it much stronger so it can power a speaker. Speakers use a larger, heavier diaphragm so you need more power to move it.\n\nThe enclosure (speaker box) is there to develop the frequencies your speaker is playing. Without going into too much detail, you can design an enclosure to emphasize certain frequencies, or create a flat response. If you've ever stuck your head in a large barrel and made a noise, it sounds much louder than it normally would. This is more or less what's happening with your speakers."
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6vqq0p | how are there so many leaks in the tech and media industries? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6vqq0p/eli5_how_are_there_so_many_leaks_in_the_tech_and/ | {
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"The short answer is that most media companies (like many, many others) short their information security budgets until after they get bitten.\n\nMost breaches are fully preventable, given a proper budget and staffing. But that third mansion in the Hamptons is just too enticing for most CEOs..."
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9uwf5e | why is the senate more powerful then the house of representatives? today’s election outcome means what exactly for america? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9uwf5e/eli5_why_is_the_senate_more_powerful_then_the/ | {
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"It isn't, actually. Senators seem to have more prestige individually, but generally speaking the House of Representatives, as a body, is more important, and the Speaker of the House is more or less the second most powerful person in the entire US government, after the President.\n\nAs far as what this means moving forwards; the Dems now have all sorts of subpoena, oversight, and investigatory powers by running the House. Furthermore, if Trump fires Mueller (directly or indirectly), the House can simply rehire him as Independent Counsel so he can continue the investigation.\n\nIt'll be interesting to see who the new speaker is; Pelosi is likely to take it back, but it's not a sure thing.",
"I wouldn't say the Senate is \"more powerful\".\n\nIt would be more accurate to say that the House and the Senate have different duties.\n\nThe Senate has powers that allow it to block some presidential actions [or support them] without input from the House. For example, the Senate approves or rejects the president's nominations for District, Federal, and Supreme Courts. The Senate can support or limit war activities. The Senate approves or rejects the department heads for all the various departments like the EPA, DoI, State [international relations], CIA, FBI, etc.\n\nThe House has first and last say on budget questions. Any tax related bills must be initiated in the House. Impeachment hearings start with the House, those hearings are to determine whether there is cause and evidence to support the attempt to impeach. [If the House approves, the Senate also then holds hearings]. If an electoral college ends in a tie, the House determines the president. If both president and vice-president are unable to serve, the Speaker of the House [the main organizer/agenda person] becomes President until the next regularly scheduled election.\n\nBoth the Senate and the House have very extensive investigative and oversight powers, some committees are part of normal proceedings; but special committees can be formed to consider just about anything that comes up.\n\nThere are other differences, but those are the biggest ones."
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4c3gl1 | why do flavors like garlic and onion stick around in the taste buds so much longer than others? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4c3gl1/eli5_why_do_flavors_like_garlic_and_onion_stick/ | {
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"Normally, when you eat food, you taste the flavors when you're chewing it in your mouth. Once you swallow it, it goes into your tummy and gets broken up into tiny pieces and mixed around, and then your body takes those tiny pieces and puts them into your blood to make sure your whole body has the good stuff it needs. Usually, after this happens, the stuff that makes food taste good or bad has been broken up and doesn't have a taste anymore. Some food, like garlic and onion, have special little pieces that don't lose their flavor after they are broken up and put in your blood, so when the blood takes them from your stomach to your lungs, you taste them again when you breathe out. Also, these same pieces can be sucked up by your skin. To try this out, if you put some cut up garlic in between your toes, you can taste it after a little while.\n\nEdit: clearing up a bit of how it works.",
"Garlic in toes? Sounds super troll",
"There is a compound in garlic called allyl methyl sulfide (AMS). It is a gas which gets absorbed into the blood when you are digesting the garlic (and onions and shallots). From the blood it is transferred to the lungs where it is then exhaled. A big part of flavor reception is through the nose so you get that lingering taste that way. Some of the AMS compound is also released through the skin. ",
"Because it get's into your blood. We make the goats we are about to slaughter eat garlic to flavor them from the inside. When we do kill them the blood gives of that garlic aroma.",
"Not sure if this is allowed but small LPT I read on reddit once upon a time. If your hands smell like garlic and the smell doesn't come off with soap try rubbing them against the steel sink and wash them again. Apparently the steel does something to neutralize the odor. \n\nI didn't believe it but it totally works!",
"\"There is a compound in garlic called allyl methyl sulfide (AMS). It is a gas which gets absorbed into the blood when you are digesting the garlic (and onions and shallots). From the blood it is transferred to the lungs where it is then exhaled. A big part of flavor reception is through the nose so you get that lingering taste that way. Some of the AMS compound is also released through the skin.\"",
"My buddy's Italian mother told me one day while at the house after we had some great heavy garlic in one of her meals to drink orange or preferably grapefruit juice afterwards to make sure I didn't stink.. Worked like a charm.",
"what smells good that has the effect? "
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6gm8f1 | why do stores and restaurants in us cities, often in lower income area, all have a very similar style? | I am just curious a lot of small restaurants and grocery stores have a certain look common to them. Specifically big, colorful signs that hang over the front, with very literal and specific words under it. Is there a name for this style? Some examples:
_URL_1_
_URL_0_
_URL_2_ | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6gm8f1/eli5_why_do_stores_and_restaurants_in_us_cities/ | {
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"In the US, there is not a strong tradition of going to the nearest store, rather than the one you think will serve you best. So stores are trying to draw in new customers who only pass by occasionally. Extremely bold and informative signage has proven to work."
]
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"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-atc8e6c5Ziw/VEfA3yA8bII/AAAAAAAADdc/w9LG7rcEJ30/s1600/CandyDeliGrocery.jpg",
"https://s3-media2.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/wZIlwMC-QWTSebSjjAZbOw/ls.jpg",
"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r-MZHy3ZVyc/TxGsZg3CmDI/AAAAAAAAAys/K4C7l_abJ0o/s1600/El+Sammy+Sosa+Deli.JPG"
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2tl5mm | how do porn videos find/afford the expensive mansions that seem to be in every video? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2tl5mm/eli5how_do_porn_videos_findafford_the_expensive/ | {
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"There are rich people who rent out their living rooms to porn companies for extra money",
"Most of the homes you see in porn are in Woodland hills. Home owners get paid Minimum of $1000 a day for a shoot. The film production brings in everything and cleans everything after. \n\nSource : Lived in Woodland hills & worked in film production ( Not porn just knew people who did). Chatsworth is just down the road. ",
"Because they can. Porn is a billion dollar industry."
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1bd143 | can you feel an earthquake while swimming in the ocean. | Either treading water or maybe scuba diving | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1bd143/eli5can_you_feel_an_earthquake_while_swimming_in/ | {
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"I lived on an anchor out boat when we had that big one is Seattle. The whole boat shook like crazy.",
"I have no science or proof to back this up, but intuitively I would think the feeling would be more pronounced underwater, as water transmits pressure more easily than a solid mass ie: earth."
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2ec6ct | - why can southpark not censor obscenities but family guy does? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ec6ct/eli5_why_can_southpark_not_censor_obscenities_but/ | {
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"Because you're only legally prohibited from broadcasting certain things (i.e. over the air from a Earth-based station). There are no such restrictions on cable you can say and show anything you want.",
"Pretty sure \"not giving a fuck\" is mixed into the reasoning somewhere",
"The difference is that when South Park is being broadcast on BASIC CABLE on Comedy Central and a certain level of cursing is allowed. But Family Guy on Fox is not allowed since it's one of the broadcast networks and must follow stricter guidelines. \n\nWhen you see South Park on reruns on your local broadcast station, they have to censor all the cursing.\n\nKeep in mind too that with the rules, HBO and other pay networks allow cursing to go on uncensored. ",
"Its an old-fashioned view from the days of radio. Broadcast is seen as public since it reaches every home whether you request it or not. Cable is seen as 'opt-in' since you buy it. Therefore they are regulated differently.",
"One is on Fox with a Tv 14 rating which is 14+ and one is on Comedy Central and is TV MA which is 18+"
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17xhtx | why would i develope a fear for something that i didn't fear a child? | I'm nearly 22 years old, I used to ride any rollarcoaster,any other ride that went upside down, among many other things that gave me an adrenaline rush.Now I fear those things. This fear for things I didn't fear as a child started around 16. Can anyone explain why this happened to me? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17xhtx/eli5why_would_i_develope_a_fear_for_something/ | {
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"For a few years I primarily helped those who had a fear of flying. \nMany times these fears show up right around 20, or right around 28. \nWhy? Because for these individuals, it's not about a fear of flying, it's about a fear of losing control, of being exposed as a fraud. \n\nLet's say Sally is a regular kid but for whatever reason she has very high expectations for herself. She believes she's supposed to get straight A's. Maybe mom is a perfectionist. Maybe all of Sally's friends get straight A's and she has to keep up. \n\nAt the same time, Sally has these deep doubts. \"Am I really that smart? My friends think so. So does Mom. Maybe I'm just fooling them? My god, what would happen if they found out I wasn't really that good?\"\n\nIt's easy to fool people when school is easy (and when boys are 'icky') But right around college or shortly thereafter, things become challenging. She gets her first C. She gets dumped! She can't find a job! I didn't get into Cornell! \n\nEveryone goes through these challenges. But for Sally, the thought process can become \"I don't have what it takes -- > Everyone expects me to be perfect -- > if I lose control, everyone will see that I'm just a fraud -- > I can't let that happen because then I'll be all alone.\" \n\nWhat happens when she's on an airplane? Well, the turbulence that used to not bother her makes her body feel like something is wrong. She's already been on edge, feeling anxious, feeling vulnerable. She then realizes that while flying she's not in control. If she \"loses it\" on the airplane, everyone will see who she really is. These automatic negative thoughts happen instantly. The turbulence makes her feel \"weird\" just like when she feels anxiety and panic. \n\nAll this is to say that sometimes during times of stress, we have what psychologists would call a \"vulnerable schema\" or frame of reference. When doing an activity involving adrenaline, the response is usually either fun & excitement or anxiety, depending upon that mental frame of reference. For people who have issues with control or being \"exposed as a fraud\" often the result is a sense of fear of ... losing control. \n\nI have no idea if this is the same for you. This is just a pattern I see in some people who develop phobias. I can't provide medical advice or diagnose anything. I'm only explaining why some phobias tend to pop up around the teenage/early adult years. \n\nI can tell you that phobias are a very common occurrence. And fortunately, the treatment of phobias is generally quick and effective for most people. Techniques like systematic desenitization or progressive relaxation can do wonders. -- this would be something for you to explore (or talk to your health practitioner about) if you want to learn more. \n\nTl;dr: stress and growing pains can make a person associate an adrenaline rush with a fear of losing control. Growing pains often occur during teenage years or during early adulthood. Cognitive (cognitive restructuring) and behavioral techniques (systematic desenitization; PMR) can be quite effective at breaking up this very common occurrence. "
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3gu07h | why are transgender people more accepted by religious people than those who are same-sex attracted? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3gu07h/eli5_why_are_transgender_people_more_accepted_by/ | {
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"An example of this is in Iran, where one can undergo a sex change, but it's illegal to be gay.",
"I have not heard of this. And I'm both transgender and same-sex attracted, so I have no idea what they'll make of that.\n\nMy only guess is that trans people are not on the hate radar quite so much yet, whereas homophobia has a long tradition.",
"Probably because the two most powerful world religions (Christianity and Islam) don't include specific prohibitions against being transgender, or even changing sex. However, both religions do repeatedly condemn homosexual behavior, and the holy texts tend to advocate for the murder of those who practice it.",
"Depending on which community in, trans people often aren't accepted.\n\nBut some communities that are overtly hostile towards gay people, are less hostile towards trans people, largely because there's little or nothing in their holy texts that specifically talks about trans people at all.\n\nA big part of this is because transition as we know it didn't become possible until the 20th century. \n\nThere have always [**been**](_URL_0_) [**people**](_URL_2_) who changed their lives from living as one gender to living as another. And in many cultures there have been social gender categories specifically for people whose gender expression/identity was atypical for their sex. E.g., [**hijra**](_URL_4_) in the middle east, [**Muxe**](_URL_5_) in Zapotec culture in Mexico, the [**Galli**](_URL_3_) of Ancient Rome, etc.\n\nBut before the 20th century the only relevant physical change a person could voluntarily make was castration. Transition, when it happened, was almost entirely social. Ancient writers didn't say anything about transition as we know it, because it didn't exist in their worlds.\n\nPlus, at least in the Abrahamic traditions, sexual activity tends to carry a lot of tabboos. Gender identity, on the other hand, isn't inherently sexual. The idea that a persons gender can be different from their physical appearance fits pretty well with the idea of a mind/soul that transcends the physical body. And within specifically Christianity, it meshes pretty well with stuff like Galatians 3:28 (*\"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus\"*). If the categories of the physical world no longer apply, why can't someone appearing male also be a woman, or someone appearing female also be a man?\n\nAnd regarding physical changes, it's hard to claim reconstructive surgery for trans people is somehow \"un-Christian\", when the first gentile convert mentioned in the book of Acts is specifically a eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). It's worth noting here that in 1st century Judaism, a eunuch would not have been considered \"male\" as we know the term. [**Classical Judaism**](_URL_1_) recognized six sexes, all based specifically on physical traits. *Zachar* is the closest to our concept of \"male\", and specifically required male genitals. A eunuch was considered *saris adam*, a separate category with different Temple duties and expectations."
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"http://www.transtorah.org/PDFs/Classical_Jewish_Terms_for_Gender_Diversity.pdf",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevalier_d%27Eon",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galli",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_%28South_Asia%29",
... | ||
193dyh | the psychological theory of carl gustav jung | I just can't seem to grasp the "collective unconscious" and how it relates to archetypes :/ | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/193dyh/eli5_the_psychological_theory_of_carl_gustav_jung/ | {
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"Archetypes have to do with the universal personalities/roles that are found in literature, video games, movies, but ultimately within ourselves.\n\nThe old wise man is an archetype: obi wan kenobi, gandalf, dumbledore, mister miyagi.\n\nThe hero is an an archetype: Link, Hercules, superman.\n\nThe list goes on and on.\n\nArchetypes are a part of the 'collective unconscious' because they're shared universally and without conscious thought. I think Jung would agree that the universal unconscious or collective unconscious is why cultures across the world,throughout all time periods, share many things in common. Examples would include: creation stories, the concept of sin, good and evil, messianic figures, and the afterlife.\n\nFreud saw the unconscious as something primal(his concept of the Id) and created out of wanting and traumatic experiences. \n\nJung saw the unconscious as more mystical and spiritual. \n\n",
"I think a less mystical explanation would be that because of: \n1. the large degree of similarity in cognitive processing between individual humans \n2. the fact that most of our brain activity occurs outside of our conscious perception \n3. Groups of neurons are associated with concepts, and the linking of those groups together is related to how we store memories \n\nAll of that put together makes it quite likely that humans at some level will share some basic similarities in the way we view the world without the need even for language to be involved."
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8t5aos | - why does a tubelight lights white and a regular bulb yellow? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8t5aos/eli5_why_does_a_tubelight_lights_white_and_a/ | {
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"Different elements glow different colours when you give them energy.\n\nTubelights have posphor powder on the inside. An electric current creates a plasma which excites the phosphor atoms which causes them to glow white.\n\nA regular bulb has a filiment made of tungsten. When you heat up tungsten it glows yellow.\n\nSo different excitation of the different atoms gives you different colours.",
"It's a phenomena called color temperature. \n\nColor temperature is kind of hard to explain simply, but, basically, it's the temperature, measured in Kelvin degrees, of the electromagnetic radiation of the source producing the light. \n\nAnyway, if a light source has a lower color temperature, it looks more reddish, while a higher color temperature is more blue-white. Incandescent light bulbs have a lower color temperature (2200K-2400K) than fluorescent light bulbs (2700K-3000k). So, the fluorescent bulb looks \"whiter\" while the incandescent bulb looks more \"yellow\".\n\nDaylight has a color temperature of about 5000k or higher.\n\n[Edit to fix typo]"
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fkwgk2 | if 2 animals of the same species vary in the slightest way, we consider them a different subspecies. why does this not apply to humans? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fkwgk2/eli5_if_2_animals_of_the_same_species_vary_in_the/ | {
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"Even skull shapes differ so I have to admit I never thought of it that way. Can someone explain?",
"Would you consider different breeds of dogs a different species? Being a species has more to do with reproduction. Can two of these things come together to make a little copy that's functional and can go on to make more little copies of itself? Yes? Cool, same species.\n\nAlso, they don't necessarily consider them subspecies, but there are schools of thought that have subgroups of the human species, but they have more to do with bone morphology than superficial features such as skin and eye colour.",
"There are actually far more precise measurements. Useually the ability to reproduce is what determines speciation. There are cases where the line can be cross, ligers for example.\n\nSubspecies are situations where breeding is unlikely if possible for example Asian and African elephants. The odds of one of them being in the same place with another to breed super low.\n\nThere are more accurate new ways to determine species with genetics. In that cases humans are even less speciated as our genes are real similar."
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5aemmw | what does a president do in his free time? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5aemmw/eli5what_does_a_president_do_in_his_free_time/ | {
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"Many read or play golf. Some spend time with their families. GWB liked to go to his ranch in Texas. \n\nMany presidents (avoiding politics) are fairly intelligent individuals who enjoy any number of activities. The problem is that the job of president offers very little in terms of true free time and due to security doesn't usually allow much access to \"regular forms of recreation\" that a regular individual might enjoy (for example, a president can't just decide to take his/her dog to the local dog park on a random nice sunny day). "
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4l8e57 | why is adding acid to water safer than adding water to acid? thinking of the rhyme "acid to water just like you oughtta, water to acid you might get blasted". | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4l8e57/eli5_why_is_adding_acid_to_water_safer_than/ | {
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"When you dilute a strong acid, a lot of heat is released very quickly. If you are steadily adding the acid to a container of water instead, then the heat will be dissipated much more effectively throughout the water.\n\nEdit: as others have noted, it's also a safety precaution to help prevent strong acids from splashing out of the container.",
"Because adding one liquid to another can cause it to splash. It's better to be splashed by water with a little acid than acid with a little water. ",
"If you add water into acid, the heat released from solution can turn acid into acid vapor which is dangerous. But if you add acid into a large amount of water slowly, water can effectively absorb the heat and no splashing will happen.",
"When an acidic solution is created, heat is produced. The stronger the acidic solution, the more heat that can be made.\n\nBasically, if you add water to acid, those first few drops will make a very acidic solution (since you have a tiny bit of water, and a lot of acid), and you risk the stuff boiling, splashing, etc. If you add acid to water, then those first few drops won't be able to do anything but make a very weak solution, which doesn't have this risk. \n\nIt pretty much just comes down to the fact that when you add water to acid, there's a higher ratio of acid-to-water and that produces more heat. Add the acid to the water though, and the ratio favors your water. ",
"Do some tests, nothing like experimentation to test a theory. Make sure to have a buddy film it for YouTube.",
"The College Board asked this on the [2008 AP Chemistry test](_URL_0_) in question 47 (page 11 of that PDF, or 25 according to the page numbers). The answer they give (B, according to the answer key on page 18, or 45, according to the page numbers) is \"to ensure that there is a sufficient volume of water to absorb the heat released\".",
"You've gotten a few answers but I'm not really satisfied with any of them, especially for an ELI5. \n\nThink of it like this. When you add water to acid, you have just a couple molecules of water getting attacked by millions of molecules of acid. \n\nWhen you go the other way, you have just a few molecules of acid with millions of molecules of water. You still get the same reaction, but the extra water helps keep everything cool. \n",
"Most of these answers aren't very good.\n\nThe acid molecules are crowded and want to be free to run around and play. Just like kittens.\n\nAdding acid to water is like dropping kittens off one by one, into a room full of yarn. As soon as they hit the ground they disperse and go disappear into the piles of yarn.\n\nAdding water to acid is like adding balls of yarn, one by one, into a room full of kittens. Each ball of yarn has 10 kittens competing for it in such a frenzy that some of them pop out of the scramble and claw at your leg.",
"One is a potentially highly volatile chemical. \n\nThe other is possibly the most stable compound ever, a great solvent, and great at absorbing fairly large amounts of potentially highly volatile chemicals.\n\nI think it's fairly obvious that when adding one to another, it's not safe to give a large amount of maybe unstable chemicals some dihydrogen monoxide to have a field day with. \n\nIt could totally be something evil just laying there begging to bond with that shit. ",
"Think of a school of nice calm quiet student (water) with a transfer bully of a student (acid), not much bullying (heat) would happen. \n\n\n\nBut if it was the other way around?\n\n\n\nA school of angry bullies with a stream of nice transfer student. They would get torn apart.",
"Is this the same about bases? One time I had to shock a pool when I worked at one, and the guard instructing me mentioned something about the chlorine going into the water, not vice versa.",
"You can stop pouring the acid if things start to get out of control. Once you've added water to acid, things are going to keep going until all that water has reacted with the acid.",
"In school my chemistry teacher told us it was because, if you pour water into acid you will have the acid splashing out, but the other way will cause the water to splash out, as to not hurt you. It goes well with your little rhyme, but based on these other comments, maybe my teacher was explaining it like we were five.",
"in my chem class we actually did this experiment: take blue dyed water in a beaker on top of a white sheet. aggressively pour red dyed water into the blue. you will notice that most of the spill would be blue. this shows that whatever liquid is being poured is less likely to be the splashed liquid and obviously you don't want splashed acid.",
"Acid, lets say hydrochloric acid, HCl, has a lot of protons that desperately want to bond to something. when they come into contact with H2O they violently react with it and form H3O+ and Cl- and release heat. when you add acid to water, the HCl molecules on the surface of the acid drop initially react with the first H2O molecules they come in contact with and turn them into H3O+ and become Cl-. Now that the outside molecules of the acid drop are negative, the inner molecules of HCl quickly pass their protons outwards to the Cl- ions. Now you have an HCl ion trying to pass its proton to a H3O+ molecule, so the H3O+ passes the proton backwards to an H2O behind it, and accepts a new proton. and so forth untill all the protons have been distributed into the water. and the heat from the reaction passes outwards from the drop\n\nwhen you add water to acid you have a huge amount of protons all wanting to bond with the H2O, so they all go inwards and the heat from the reaction travels into the drop rather than out of it, this can make it the inside of the drop to rapidly boil and turn into a gas. a hot gas expands, and rapid expansion of a gas in a pool of acid can cause the acid to splash everywhere",
"Imagine you have a large container full of gasoline, and some material that is on fire.\n\nWould you rather:\n\n* pour small amounts of gasoline onto the fire, or\n* drop small amounts of fire into the container of gasoline?\n\nThe first creates a reaction you can (usually) control, the second creates a huge fireball.\n\nThe heat released from chemical reactions can be like that hypothetical fire: it can happen slowly, in a controlled manner, or it can happen all at once. Adding the more volatile component to a larger amount of the less volatile component buffers that reaction, spreading the heat out over time rather than releasing it all at once.",
"AAA - Always Add Acid. \nThis is done mostly to avoid the splashing of acid due to contact with water. The transfer of (usually) protons, releases heat and rapid heating can cause boiling/expansion of the liquid. This can often result in liquid being spilled or the container being damaged. The water is more effective in containing the heat (and is usually in greater quantity than the acid) and thus as a safety precaution acid should always be added to water. ",
"Not the most scientific explanation but one that I use at work is: always think of it being because the acid is the reactive part of the mixture. \n\nIf you have a load of water and s tiny bit of acid only the tiny bit can react. If you have a load of acid and a bit of water then ALL of that acid is going to try and react with the water and it goes everywhere",
"Are you from the North East? Cause water and oughtta do not rhyme.",
"Because when you drop a liquid into another you might get splashed by the liquid you drop into. So better get a slpash of water that acid. ",
"It's like throwing a piece of meat into a room of hungry lions vs. Putting a hungry lion into a room full of meat.",
"It's like this...\n\nJohnny the bully and his friends said bad words\n\nYou want to tell on Johnny and his friends \n\nIf you tell Johnny et. al. (and all) that you will tell the teacher, then Johnny and his friends will gang up on you.\n\nIf you wait for end of recess and once you are back in class, Johnny will be alone and his friends will be in another container/classroom.\n\nOne by one you can tell the teacher all the names and one by one, they will all be in your classroom but they cannot touch you \n\nUnless they overwhelm the teacher.\n\nJohnny et. al. is the acid\n\nThe teacher is water\n\nYou are a snitch who can dilute acid.",
"Imagine you have two groups of friends, ones who are always angry and love to fight; and another who are always positive and just chill - they just want to have a beer and a chat. If you were planning to have an awesome party and you're sorting out the invites, and you want want all your friends to come. If you invited all of your downer mates along with your upbeat mates, then things would kick off and there would be fights. \nSo what you want to do is invite all of your positive friends at 6pm, but only a bring in a couple of the downer mates every hour or so. That way your happy mates make your angry friends chill out a bit, so that they constantly counteract the negative vibes. Then boom, you got yourself a sweet party with no broken vases. \nIn this case, the acid are the angry friends, you need to introduce them slowly to the positive mates, or else they'll break your mum's favourite vase. \n",
"As a lifeguard this applied to basic chemicals as well, with powdered chlorine, you added the powder to water to avoid the spray of powder into the air that you might inhale. Actually had a lifeguard do this wrong one day and had to have EMS to take her to the hospital.",
"When you add acid to water, you control the amount of acid, thus controlling the reaction and the heat it produces. When you add water to acid, most likely all acid will react, causing a bigger reaction",
"Acid is the \"dangerous\" liquid of the two and so you want to add a little at the time (which in effect is what pouring means) to the reaction. There are already similar metaphores in this thread, but let me give my version...\n\nSo you have a bunch of humans (water) and a bunch of zombies (acid) in different rooms, and you want to kill the zombies. Do you then want move a zombie at the time into the room of the humans (ten humans against one zombie) or do you want to move one human at the time into the room of the zombies (ten zombies against one human)?",
"Certified Hazardous Materials Manager here. \n\nWhen you add a small amount of acid to water, the acid really wants to give away one of its hydrogen atoms because by itself it is overly positive and really wants an electron. It forces a water molecule to gain another hydrogen atom to become hydronium (H3O+) and the rest of the acid becomes a *stable* negative ion (typically). This breaking of atomic bonds releases energy. *The water can absorb this energy like a field of grass swaying in the wind.*\n\nWhen you add a small amount of water to an acid the same reaction occurs however, the opposite happens in terms of where the energy goes. *The acid 'attacks' the water and the energy flies back in your face.*\n\n*In pure water there is an equal number of hydroxide (-OH) and hydronium (H3O+) ions.",
"Diluting acid makes alot of heat. \n \nIf you slowly start adding water, the water will react with as much acid as possible, and evaporate in the process. Steamcloud with acid = bad news",
"Imagen that you have one big pile of firecrackers(the acid) and one pile of burning wood(the water).\n\nIf you put one firecracker in the pile of burning wood the firecracker will explode but it won't do any harm since it's only one little explosion.\n\nBut if you take a piece of burning wood and put it on the pile of firecrackers the fire will spread to all of them and they will all start to explode. And when they explode some of the firecrackers will fly off in different directions and could hurt someone.",
"1. So acid doesn't splash on you\n\n2. So heat generated is diffused into the water rather than onto you.\n\n3. Lowers risk of acid steamy cloud of searing ouch forming on you.",
"This has been *mostly* answered so far, but I'd like to clarify something. \"Always add acid to water\" is a little bit misleading because it really comes down to density of each liquid. \n\nMost, if not all common strong acids are more dense than water, so the adage generally holds. Mixing a strong acid or base with water creates an absolutely immense amount of heat, very quickly. When you add the more-dense acid to the less-dense water, the acid will sink toward the bottom of the container and the heat generated will be (relatively) diffused throughout the solution.\n\nBy contrast, if you add water to acid, something similar to adding oil to water occurs. The water pools on top of the acid, and all of the heat generated is generated at the *interface* of the two liquids - i.e. not diffused throughout the solution. The amount of heat generated can bring water to a boil almost instantaneously, which essentially causes an explosive reaction. Basically, the same reason you don't throw water on a grease fire in the kitchen.\n\nSource - am chemist",
"Cause if you add water to acid, the pH of the acid inside the container is way too low, so there is an immediate reaction for the hydrogen atoms in the acid to be given to water, and as a result a lot of heat is released. When you put acid into water, you control the speed of the reaction, allowing for it to process in a more reasonable pace, reducing bubbling. ",
"I was told that it is because adding water into the acid may cause the acid to splash up, whereas adding the acid to the water would make water splash up. I'd rather be splashed with water than acid. ",
"All about the splash. Nothing more than that. I add water to acid and acid to water. If your a good chemist with a steady hand it's no issue. Just pour down a stirring rod.",
"What kind of saying is that? Its not even close to rhyming. ",
"Because if you add water to acid you will literally get blasted in the face with acid. If you add the water too slowly and the acid is strong enough it will boil the water, which will turn to steam, which will explode and splash acid in your face. ",
"Think of the water like an empty battery. It has allot of capacity to contain energy. Think of the acid as energy and the effects of transferring energy (gas engine= work+heat) that you know of. If you only use a steady stream of the water you only have as much of the capacity as the volume of water that contacts the acid and contain the effects of an energy transfer. If you pour the acid into a larger bidy of water it only creates as much work (energy as bubbles) and heat as the volume of the acid interacting with the water and the water has its volume to dissapate into. ",
"Whoever originally came up with that rhyme must be from the east coast. Didn't make sense until I said it out loud with a Boston accent....water and oughta dont rhyme in the midwest! :)",
"Imagine Water = pond full of gold fish\nImagine Acid = pond full of Piranha\n\nWater into Acid = Gold Fish into Piranha -- > Violence every where\nAcid into Water = Piranha into Gold Fish -- > Not so much reaction, more local.\n\n",
"Also when you're pouring water into acid, it may splash. When you pour acid into water if it does happen to splash, it's very dilluted acid or water. ",
"You must be from the east coast. Because water and oughta don't rhyme, and this is the first time I've ever heard that saying lmao",
"\"Nie das Wasser auf die Säure, sonst geschieht das ungeheure!\" \n\n(Never water ontop of acid, else you might face the atrocious)",
"**BETTER DYING THROUGH CHEMISTRY!!!**\n\nAcids have a highly exothermic heat of solution. That means they generate and release a great amount of heat when dissolving in water.\n\nIf this occurs by adding a small amount of water to a strong, concentrated acid, the heat generated can actually cause the water to boil, and this would result in spattering of the introduced boiling water.\n\nAs a result, when the water spatters, it will take along with it some acid, and some other acid may simply fly out without any reduction in concentration. Whether or not this gets to your eyes(!), the likelihood of damage to skin, clothes, other surfaces, and the likelihood that some of the acid will get where it cannot easily be cleaned, is very high.\n\nAlternatively, if acid is added to water, the very large quantity of water has a high total specific heat. That is, any heat generated will spread throughout the water and the likelihood of boiling is much lower.\n\nIt remains possible that the strong concentrated acid will cause spattering, especially if added quickly to the water. It is ALWAYS best to add the strong concentrated acid *slowly*, with stirring, to ensure the water's specific heat and total mass both help to prevent a rapid temperature rise.",
"when you pour a drink into another drink, the drink that you aren't pouring splashes up. So when you pour acid into water, the water splashes not the acid. Pouring water into acid the acid splashes and gets on you.\n\n**EDIT**-Why is everyone talking about heat and boiling? I learned this in middle school, OP just wants to know about pouring.",
"That needs an antimnemonic: \n*Acid to water, you really shouldn't oughta...* \n*Water to acid, it's absolutely placid...*\n",
"My chemistry teacher always told us \"when you jump into a swimming pool, what splashes out, you or the water?\" \n\n\nMade sense to 14 year old me. Though I do like you rhyme too. Yay chemistry!",
"That's ok. I don't mind, I see others already took my concept and ran with it. Do you have something against me stating that I was stoned or just being a dick in general for the fun of it?",
"Oops, sorry ELI5 people. I included my state of mind in the original post and I guess it was offensive. So here's just the relevant part. \n\n\"I always imagined water molecules were meat and acid was pirhannas. A few pieces of meat in a tank full of pirhannas and VIOLENCE! A few pirhannas in a tank full of meat and meh, snacks here n there.\"",
"I had a lab tech at school give me 12 molar Hydrochloric acid instead of 0.12 molar. Then, after I informed her of her mistake, she poured it into the 3.5 liter waste flask, which promptly boiled over, completely destroying a bio-hood, clearing the building, and ending class for the day..."
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7qoic1 | how can you feel like you’re falling sitting in a chair? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7qoic1/eli5_how_can_you_feel_like_youre_falling_sitting/ | {
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"Your brain does various things throughout the day. Some times it's busy like playing cards or walking or thinking about last Thursday. It engages in activities and strives to keep aware, responding to stimuli, doing calculations, predicting, feeling emotions, remembering, paying attention etc.\n\nOther times it's not so busy. When it's not doing much work like when you are sleeping, napping or just zoning out it works differently than usual. It is in sort of a \"low pace mode\" where its activity is focused on itself rather than the surroundings and the environment.\nThis can happen at anytime your brain decides to. It's in full force when you are sleeping but it can happen subtly mid day and you might not even notice, but it still triggers the same body responses for transitioning.\n\nWhen your body is transitioning between these two states your muscles relax in order to reduce the brain activity. Usually this process happens at the same rate/time as the gradual change in brain activity. But that's not always the case, and that's when the muscles relax too quickly that the \"falling in place\" feeling happens.\n\nWhen your muscles relax due to transitioning they are relaxing involuntarily (i.e. you are not controling the process directly, rather your subconscious does it automatically). When that happens too quickly, your conscious mind might not have transioned fully yet and at that point it feels that the body is fully relaxed and goes \"I dont feel absolutely any support under my body - I must be free-falling\" and your instinct is to get alert and snap out from that state of lowered brain activity.\n\n\nTL;DR When your not doing much like falling asleep your muscles automatically start relaxing and sometimes they do it too quickly and sometimes they do it when you are still awake and when that happens your brain thinks you are falling - giving you the feeling."
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5il5nx | why do the interior of continents get so freezing cold, like middle canada and the midwest usa, or russia and central asia? | But does the middle of Australia follow this trend? (at night or in their winter) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5il5nx/eli5_why_do_the_interior_of_continents_get_so/ | {
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"I can't give a full explanation, but it has to do with the fact that water holds heat better than land. It takes longer to heat up and cool down, thus staying at a more 'stable' temperature, and this in turn influences the coastal climate.",
"(The other comment addresses the first part of the question, so I'll comment on the second).\n\nAustralian here. Yes, our inland areas get colder at night and in winter, despite being very hot deserts.\n\ne.g. Alice Springs (in the interior) is roughly the same latitude as Rockhampton (east coast) and Carnavon (west coast). Yet its \"average low\" is considerably cooler than either of those towns, particularly in winter when it's about 6-7C less. \n\nIn fact, Alice Springs' average winter low is comparable to Hobart, the coldest coastal city in Australia, located around 20 degrees latitude south of Alice."
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8lcqwh | what do plants do with water after the consume it? | Assuming consume is the correct word.
Anyways, us humans pee out the liquid we take in... what do plants do? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8lcqwh/eli5what_do_plants_do_with_water_after_the/ | {
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"they use it! \n\nIn photosynthesis water is used in conjunction with CO2 to make sugar and oxygen gas.\n\n[Heres the chemical formula for photosynthesis](_URL_0_)",
"Apart from photosynthesis, there's also something called the Transpiration Stream, where water is drawn up through the roots and leaves through the leaves, carrying dissolved stuff from the soil to the rest of the plant.\n\nWikipedia is not quite so ELI5, but is definitely more detailed and correct, its been a while since Ive done anything on plants.\n_URL_0_"
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7086vc | why can't we talk to kids about sex comfortably while openly talking about violence in everyday media. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7086vc/eli5_why_cant_we_talk_to_kids_about_sex/ | {
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"I have trouble talking to my wife comfortably about sex. It seems like an uncomfortable feeling that's transposable across generations. Maybe if my parents had been better about it, who knows?",
"The US is puritan society. Somehow religion decide that sex is a dirty thing so people grow up with this shame of what's natural.\n\nThe more secular society gets the easier it would be to discuss such natural behavior. ",
"I think part of it is because violence is pretty obvious why you shouldn't do, because it's obviously hurting other people.\n\nIt's not so easy to motivate (to a kid) why kids shouldn't have sex...",
"Especially in the US and in terms of younger people, sex is seen as the \"loss of innocence.\" We have a taboo around sex and sexuality to this day that becomes more and more open as time goes on.\n\nYou're 13 year old kid says, \"Dad, I got in a fight at school.\" You respond with something like a, \"Violence isn't the answer,\" or \"Did you win?\" Depending on the parent you are.\n\nYou're 13 year old kid says, \"Dad, I got laid under the bleachers.\" Innocence smashed. According to several beliefs that's something that should only happen to a grown man/woman on their wedding day, or at least after they're close enough to 18 at some sleazy party. (Alternatively you respond with a high five depending on the parent you are)\n\nHowever, just based off of the fact that the United States was essentially founded on Christian morals and that we still have a large population of older people with different ways of thinking who are in many positions of power and influence, it would/will take a while before sex is something you see blatantly addressed on Cartoon Network. We're afraid to bring up this topic because it might spur something in younger people that we don't want to have to deal with and that we see as inherently taboo.\n\nOn the flip side, violence is A.) a lot more common and can happen between two strangers when they're both 2 years old B.) not considered a damning loss of innocence and goodness by most religions. Not that religion is the only factor, it just seems like a large and powerful one.",
"I have trouble talking to my wife comfortably about sex. It seems like an uncomfortable feeling that's transposable across generations. Maybe if my parents had been better about it, who knows?",
"The US is puritan society. Somehow religion decide that sex is a dirty thing so people grow up with this shame of what's natural.\n\nThe more secular society gets the easier it would be to discuss such natural behavior. ",
"I think part of it is because violence is pretty obvious why you shouldn't do, because it's obviously hurting other people.\n\nIt's not so easy to motivate (to a kid) why kids shouldn't have sex...",
"Especially in the US and in terms of younger people, sex is seen as the \"loss of innocence.\" We have a taboo around sex and sexuality to this day that becomes more and more open as time goes on.\n\nYou're 13 year old kid says, \"Dad, I got in a fight at school.\" You respond with something like a, \"Violence isn't the answer,\" or \"Did you win?\" Depending on the parent you are.\n\nYou're 13 year old kid says, \"Dad, I got laid under the bleachers.\" Innocence smashed. According to several beliefs that's something that should only happen to a grown man/woman on their wedding day, or at least after they're close enough to 18 at some sleazy party. (Alternatively you respond with a high five depending on the parent you are)\n\nHowever, just based off of the fact that the United States was essentially founded on Christian morals and that we still have a large population of older people with different ways of thinking who are in many positions of power and influence, it would/will take a while before sex is something you see blatantly addressed on Cartoon Network. We're afraid to bring up this topic because it might spur something in younger people that we don't want to have to deal with and that we see as inherently taboo.\n\nOn the flip side, violence is A.) a lot more common and can happen between two strangers when they're both 2 years old B.) not considered a damning loss of innocence and goodness by most religions. Not that religion is the only factor, it just seems like a large and powerful one."
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9cd4ba | i know heat is movement of particles, but what is “cold” and how does “cold” transfer vs heat? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9cd4ba/eli5_i_know_heat_is_movement_of_particles_but/ | {
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"There is no such thing as \"cold\", only lack of heat. The feeling of cold transferring is the feeling of particles slowing down."
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5200sp | why does playing dead fool other animals so easily? | It never made sense to me. Surely, they'd be able to detect the animal still breathing or something, if it was big enough. Also, the fact that they just suddenly drop dead, and then repeat once they get found again. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5200sp/eli5_why_does_playing_dead_fool_other_animals_so/ | {
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"They don't always just \"play dead\" they may also secrete foul smelling liquids that suggest the meat inside has already decayed. \n\nNot all predators can eat decayed meat, so it's left alone as the predator searches for safer food to eat.\n\n_URL_0_",
"I would assume that an animal that even gives off the slightest signal of being sick will be avoided by predators, as this could in turn sicken and potentially be the demise of the predator.\n\nThe animal playing dead may seem like a trivial display, but the predator has to weigh up the risks of possibly ingesting bacteria, viruses, whatever. ",
"They also lack theory of mind, so it doesn't occur to them that something could be trying to trick them. ",
"Imagine you were defending yourself against someone and your adrenaline got all pumped up and you went batshit crazy at it to defend yourself. At the point when they stop moving, the crisis is over and you start to feel safe again. Whether that is because they are unconscious, dead, or faking it, doesn't matter. And you are a thinking, reasoning human being, not an animal acting solely on instinct. \n\nAnimals that are prey species will have instincts to protect themselves from being attacked and this includes trampling, headbutting, biting, goring with horns or antlers, etc. Once the thing stops moving, the instinct to defend itself abates and it loses interest. \n\nAnimals that hunt have similar instincts about prey that is running away or moving around, it triggers aggression. When the prey stops moving, it loses interest other than the need to feed if it's hungry. \n\nSo for something like a bear, which will likely display territorial or defensive aggression and lose interest when the crisis is over, this won't work on something like a pack of wolves, that are likely wanting to eat you. When you stop struggling, it's time to eat....."
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4e58og | when you play a game or watch a movie, and the character jumps off a cliff, how come you feel the same feeling in your stomach as if you would jump off that cliff yourself? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4e58og/eli5_when_you_play_a_game_or_watch_a_movie_and/ | {
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"This does not happen to me. Am I weird or is OP weird?",
"I've had this playing games but not watching movies. Could be something to do with how immersed you are. It was quite unnerving when it happened to me. \n\nEdit: spelling, ty bluepsg",
"In our brain there are a special set of neurons th hat fire not only when we perform an action, but also when we observe an action and when we imagine an action. This network of neurons allows us to make predictions about our environment and to help learn new skills. Another element of the world that is mirrored is thought to be physiological sensations, so when you watch a video where you would expect to feel a sensation like your stomach dropping, your mind sometimes generates that same sensation, even though you've not moved.",
"I've always wondered this as well. I played World of Warcraft (paladin) and every damn time I jump off of a cliff/mountain/dragon, I 100% get a full falling feeling like I'm riding a rollercoaster. I mean literally to the point where I have to close my eyes before I jump to avoid the feeling. It's amazing and weirdly terrifying every time. I recognize distances that will cause damage to my character, and flinch accordingly and for the appropriate time (until I land).",
"I too get the feeling while playing games. I get this feeling not immediately as I fall, but when the ground comes closer. It feels like I'm going to hit the ground, and I get some wired rising sensation in my stomach. I take a deep breath and wait for the crush."
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1aq89b | if a nuclear bomb were to go off in a city like atlanta..would everyone die instantly or what? | how far does the force of the bomb actually go and how would that force kill you if it just essentially knocks you down? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1aq89b/if_a_nuclear_bomb_were_to_go_off_in_a_city_like/ | {
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"Distance depends on the bomb.\n\nThe force doesn't \"just knock you down\". With a regular bomb it essentially will crush your internal organs.\n\nWith a nuclear bomb you'd be instantly turned to dust if you were close enough, and further away you'd face the effects of a regular bomb, plus an huge amount of radiation which would probably kill you instantly as well.\n",
"Try this on for size.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nYou can pick Atlanta and the size/type of bomb, and the radii at which the fireball/radiation reach. \n\nIf you search nuclear bomb simulator, there's dozens that have different features and some explain what happens at which distance."
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281h66 | why are we so obsessed with symmetry? | To clarify the question further, i took something and went on an adventure, on said adventure through town i noticed how nearly everything is symmetrical, what is it about symmetry that makes things look appealing and why | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/281h66/eli5_why_are_we_so_obsessed_with_symmetry/ | {
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"There are two main theories. First, the Evolutionary Advantage theory, says that things that are symmetrical are typically more healthy. If you've had a stroke or have a bum leg, you're going to look asymmetrical. The second, the Perceptual Bias theory, simply says that it's easier for our brains to perceive and thus understand something that's symmetrical, and our brains like taking it easy. ",
"It's what were programmed to like. In terms of biology, symmetry tends to be a good indicator of health/strength. Someone with a seriously malformed body could have a disease or genetic disorder that would hurt your offspring. \n\nIn non-living things there's actually a thing called [The Golden Ratio](_URL_0_) which is supposed to be visually pleasing, some famous artists made a point of using it a lot.",
"Symmetry comes up a lot in design theory. Basically humans have a deep-seated desire to see things balanced, and symmetrical things are inherently balanced. We like them because they put us at ease.\n\nConversely, when something is unbalanced, the more unbalanced it is the more tension it creates in us. Designers often exploit this when creating advertisements. For example: In online shops the \"add to cart\" buttons are very bright and usually on the side of the page, their vividness draws focus and their placement makes it hard to ignore them.",
"Abelian Groups man, that's why.",
"Because I have OCD. ",
"Simply put: Laziness. \n\nOur brains are wired to take shortcuts, and do as little work as possible to comprehend what we are seeing, therefore when things are symmetrical our brain can interpret an object with much less energy or stress. Hence: we like things to be symmetrical. Due to this, we have evolved to perceive symmetry as beauty, often times if you take a face and make a mirror image of its right side, that \"mirror image face\" will be viewed as more appealing than the actual face. Same goes for room layouts, architecture, city planning, we as humans try to add balance and symmetry to our world in order to appease our brain's desire to be lazy.",
"cuz its purdy",
"A combination of reasons, some of which have been covered.\n\nPart of the human drive for symmetry is that it's easier to look at/more comfortable, because it requires less brain power to process. Something akin to what ConeCrewCarl said there. However, lazy has negative connotations that aren't really appropriate. The brain uses resources to operated, and evolved with desired efficiencies at heart that are no longer particularly relevant - conservation due to scarcity of resources. But I digress...\n\nAnother portion of what drives it is human sexuality. Human sexuality in turn guides much of what we find beauty in. This explanation would require a great deal of time to explain fully, but suffice it to say that through history we've endowed many sources of art and beauty human characteristc analogues. Symmetry plays a significant role in this, because it is a simply observed sign of overal health. The better the physical health of a person, the more symmetrical they are in general. Since that health is a desirable trait for procreation and evolution of the species, it is something our brains interpret as beautiful. Thus, as with other things that are translated from the sexual form into a form of beauty in art and architecture etc (phallic forms, the breasts, etc), symmetry has become symbolic of beauty, and something of an obsession. Within the arts, it's also a measure of skill. To create a perfect symmetry is exceedingly difficult, and to pull it off well is proof of exceptional skill and talent in the form."
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46dmsa | how was it decided which word represents each letter in the military alphabet? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/46dmsa/eli5_how_was_it_decided_which_word_represents/ | {
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"From [Wikipedia - ](_URL_0_)The ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) developed this system in the 1950s... The final choice of code words for the letters of the alphabet and for the digits was made after hundreds of thousands of comprehension tests involving 31 nationalities. The qualifying feature was the likelihood of a code word being understood in the context of others. For example, football has a higher chance of being understood than foxtrot in isolation, but foxtrot is superior in extended communication.\n\n\nMore history from ICAO themselves - [Annex 10 - Aeronautical Telecommunications] (_URL_1_)\n",
"Essentially by running comprehension tests for a lot of nationalities to determine which words were clearest for speakers of all languages, and furthermore which words would cause the least confusion when combined with others. This is why you see \"foxtrot\" instead of \"football\" - on their own they're equally clear, but when put together with other words \"foxtrot\" stands out more.",
"Basically, the designers of this system wanted words that meet certain criteria:\n\n* The word unmistakably represents the letter\n* The word is easy to understand in communication \n* The words all have distinct sounds, so they are difficult to mistake. \n* It is (relatively) easy to discern their representative value even across multiple languages\n"
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3xy4x5 | why were nazis not allowed to have the defence "we were just following orders" when that is pretty much how every single army in the world operates. | I was just wondering about this, and what kind of trouble could soldiers have gotten in had they not followed orders? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3xy4x5/eli5_why_were_nazis_not_allowed_to_have_the/ | {
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"The key distinction there is between the Nazis and the Wehrmacht. The army was a non-political entity - for sure there would have been Nazi sympathisers, but they weren't an arm of the Nazi party. The extermination camps were run by the SA and SS. \n\nYour average German soldier who followed orders, and shot at the enemy, was treated like any other defeated soldier in war. The people operating the camps, guarding the prisoners, and conducting activities related to genocide were treated as people who failed to stand up against evil, on the grounds that their orders were so unconscionably wrong, nobody should have agreed to carry them out. (The psychological evidence we now have on the strength of mind needed to refuse an order from perceived authority wasn't around at the time, and even if it were would likely have been shrugged off as 'could've joined the army, chose to join the death squads')",
"If one was in active combat operations, as with the German Army battling as soldiers for territory, then that generally conforms to the rules of engagement. If, on the other hand, one were a member of the Einsatzgruppen who wound up killing unarmed Jews, partisans, commissars, and other \"undesirables\" in the rear lines of Russia, that would be a war crime, and \"I was ordered to do it\" is no defense. That's why both the Nazis and Stalinist Russia were both rather despicable because both regimes would kill their own troops for disobeying orders. It became a \"do it, or I'll kill you\" situation. But no one sympathizes with anyone who chooses to murder people. "
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1w7dlm | economically, what would happen to the world if all of the walmarts were to shut down? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1w7dlm/eli5_economically_what_would_happen_to_the_world/ | {
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"Their business would move to other companies. In time, another company (probably Target) would move into the space left by Walmart, and would become the new Walmart.\n\nSo, in essence, nothing substantive would happen, other than a name change."
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2outpj | how does the un make money? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2outpj/eli5_how_does_the_un_make_money/ | {
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"It's... not *really* a money making organisation. But every member nation is supposed to pay dues, and some of it's sub agencies have their own fundraising methods, like charitable donations and so forth.",
"The member nations voluentarily contributes to the budget. What they pay is related to the GNI, adjusted by the debt the country has.\n\nThere is also ceilings to how much a country can contribute, so the UN doesn't become too dependent on a single contributor.\n\nThe UN General Assembly is responsible for creating and approving the budget."
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4jm7ex | how does real colour get converted to black and white, and can it be reversed? | The way I see it, say you have an old black and white film camera. Light comes in at a bunch of frequencies which correspond to assorted colours which are each mapped to a set of black/white/grey colours on the film. Firstly I'd like to know simply how this process works.
Secondly, seeing as, say, a particular shade of red stays the same colour (within uncertainty) in monochrome, and that since our ability to precisely analyse the colour on the film is significantly better now than at the time these devices were common, would it be possible to figure out or extrapolate the colour of the original object on the film and then recolour the output? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4jm7ex/eli5_how_does_real_colour_get_converted_to_black/ | {
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"You'll never get the colour information back once you've gone to black and white.\n\nYou might have a really nice measure of the tone (lightness vs darkness) and we can infer a lot of stuff (known colour of sky, uniforms, flags, etc) to be able to make a *fairly* accurate reproduction, but you will have to rely on other information or artistic license to complete the image.",
"The chemistry of B/W film is more complex than this, but in the interest of ELI5 you can presume that the intensity of the light is captured on film. For every shade of red, there is a shade of blue that produces exactly the same monochrome shade on the film. This process is not reversible, in general. If you have an outdoor picture with sky in it, go for the blue one rather than the red one. Beyond special cases like that, it's not possible. The information was not recorded. No matter how you look at the film negative, you can't tell silver crystals formed from red photons from silver crystals formed by blue photons."
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e74u9c | what is an api? | My current understanding of it is, its like a bunch of code translated into a "language" that is understood by an application or software , so it serves as a translator between a programmer and the app
am I understanding it right? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e74u9c/eli5_what_is_an_api/ | {
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"You are making good assumptions yes. API means 'Application Programming Interface'. If you'd like to understand it at an EL15 level: Think of the connections on the back your TV. There are inputs for your cable, for your game system or VCR. And API is like a panel on the back of your software that lets other software connect and talk to it. \n\n\nThe reason you want this is so that you can focus on what you are good at, and let your software talk to other programs that might be better at what they do. I might have the best weather data program, but not have any skills making a good User Interface for it.... enter Mr. Design who is very good at this, but is not strong at collecting data. Now his program and my program talk to each other using language they both understand. The result is good data in a good looking program. \n\n\nAPIs are usually pretty invisible to us, but are in use everywhere in many applications.",
"close, but the api itself is an effort by the software developers of one product (or department) to allows other developers (or the same ones but without dicking with their main product) to write software that talks to the first program.\n\nso lets take videogame mods for an example. you have the developer and you have the mod makers. the developer (or a third party) writes into the game a method to import the mod files. in order for those mod files to work though the game and the mods have to agree on what things are called.\n\nso if you wanted to make a simple mod that made a weapon do a bunch more damage, you have to know the exact name the game calls it - its not always named internally the same as whats displayed in-game and as well as what the \"damage\" setting is so you can change it.\n\nto do that the developers put out \"the modding api\", which is a guideline on the different variables (values, like damage) used in the program and how to manipulate them, but also make sure you don't accidentally create your own variables that are actually duplicates of internal ones. duplicate variable use is one of the ways you can have mods that are not compatible. they've each used the same name for a variable and when the game tries to import both it fucks things up.\n\nstepping back from our example, apis are used for more than just modding. the first example that popped into my brain was financial transactions. not every financial institution runs the same software, so theres an API thats shared between the two. usually one program only has theirs, and the other supports a bunch and acts as a go between for multiple other programs.\n\nthe api is basicly a standard like USB; you can buy a usb device and be certain it'll plug into the usb port even though the products are made by different manufacturers. as long as everyone agrees on the basic things they can make everything else any way they want.",
"An API is like a restaurant menu.\n\nAt its core, a menu tells you that you can ask for and receive X if you give the restaurant Y dollars.\n\nSome menu items are more complicated. A family-style meal only makes sense if a bunch of people order it at the same time. Endless fries means that you get more and more X's even though you only gave them Y one time. The menu breaks down exactly how each of these things will work.\n\nAn API is **not** a restaurant. I can print the entire Google Maps API and hand it to you, but it won't help you if Google Maps is down. The API just tells you how to ask for things and what you should expect to receive. Just as a competing restaurant could open up with a strikingly similar or even identical menu, it is possible for a competing software product to offer the same API for compatibility. (This practice is currently being litigated at the Supreme Court of the United States.)",
"Everyone's talking about it from a computer programming perspective, but it's easier for an ELI5 post to think of it as a real-world example.\n\nI'm going to assume you're not an automobile designer or mechanic. (Sorry if you are. Just go with it.) But you can still learn to drive a car. You don't need to know how the engine is designed, what kind of metal it uses or where it was mined, what the chemical structure of the gasoline is, how it's refined, etc. All you need to know is that when you push the pedal, the car goes forward. When you turn the wheel, it moves a certain direction.\n\nThis is called \"abstraction.\" The really complicated stuff, requiring deep expertise and knowledge about how cars are made, is \"hidden\" behind a set of very simple buttons and levers so that you can make the car do stuff without understanding how it does it. This layer of simple control in front of something very complicated is called an \"interface.\"\n\nWriting software works the same way. There is nobody on a software team who understands how every line of code works. People write their own parts of a big project, just like the engine guy in a car designed the engine, the refinery guys made the gasoline, the electrical guys wired up the dashboard, etc. But they all then wrap their stuff in an interface, with a set of instructions that say \"if you push the pedal, the car goes forward.\"\n\nIn software, we call that an \"API.\" It's the interface layer between my code and yours. You don't need to know how my code does what it does. You just need to know that if you tell it to do something on this list of things, it will do them. Then your code can talk to my code, and together we can do a more powerful thing, without us ever having to see each other's actual code or even understand how it works.",
"The acronym API (Application Programming Interface) actually explains it fairly well, just not well for ELI5. \n\nAn API is interface between two services. It is a defined set of end points on a web server that accept certain input and will return certain output. They are used to pass information from one service to another, such as a website login. When you login to a website, you give them a username and password and the API will return back whether or not your login attempt was successful.",
"Imagine I had a pile of shapes. Squares, circles, triangles, etc. And suppose I want to be able to share my shapes with a lot of people. If someone needs a certain kind of shape, they can take one. And if they want to give me a shape, they can put it on the pile.\n\nThis is well and good, but if my pile of shapes is kinda large, and has a lot of attention on it, it could get kind of messy. If someone just wanted a very specific octagon, for example, they'd have to tear through the whole pile looking for it, possibly messing up things they shouldn't be touching. Or they could take way more shapes than they should fairly have. And if I let people just leave whatever they want in my pile, I might end up collecting a lot of junk I didn't even want, things that might not be shapes at all, or might be put in my pile to hurt me somehow.\n\nSo, I could elect to devise some sort of magic wall to put in front of my pile. This wall has a bunch of buttons and holes of very specific shapes. If someone wants to give me something to put on my pile, they have to make sure it fits in one of the shaped holes, or else it won't go in. And if they want something out, they have to press one of the buttons, which will only dispense a very specific shape. This way, I can restrict access to my pile in such a way that I only get things in that I want, and people can only take things that I want them to be able to take.\n\nAn API is that kind of magic wall. It exposes a very specific set of things you're allowed to do, and gives you predictable results back when you do those things.",
"From a software standpoint here...\n\nE.g. if you pull a lever out pops a cake. You don't care how, but it gave you a cake. And that's what you really care about in the end. The cake.\n\nFrom a software perspective it's essentially the same thing, but with code. The work has been done already to get you what you want. You just have to use it."
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263nbt | why can i hide my mouse arrow behind the right side of the screen and not the left? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/263nbt/eli5_why_can_i_hide_my_mouse_arrow_behind_the/ | {
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"Because the point (tip) of the arrow is its center and therefore always needs to stay on screen. You can move the rest of it all the way off to the right and still see the last vertical row of pixels, including that point, but you're stopped as you move left when the point hits the edge.",
"All cursors have one pixel set as a \"hotspot\", meaning it's the point which actually clicks on stuff. The rest of the cursor is just for looks.\n\nNaturally, the hotspot cannot exit the screen. If you go to desktop and drag the cursor all the way to the right, you'll still see at least one pixel sticking out."
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41se4k | why do we classify some animals by gender? | I was thinking about it today. We call Cows cows. And all cows are female, but if they give birth to a male, it's a steer (I think).
What made that a thing?
And Like... A female or a male cat is still a cat. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/41se4k/eli5_why_do_we_classify_some_animals_by_gender/ | {
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"cows are female bovines. bulls are male bovines. female cats are queens. male cats are toms. we call cows \"cows\" and cats \"cats\" because we are lazy and don't want to check the individual gender of every animal.",
"This is mostly applied in animal husbandry. A hen is very different from a cock--a hen lays eggs. If you're a farmer, it's helpful to have a specific term rather than saying \"female chicken.\"",
"Questions about the names of cows in English fairly common. The answer is pretty much always the same. \n\nEnglish and England, has a history of borrowing words from different languages from people they encountered, either by being conquered or conquering them. \n\nCow, Cattle, Beef, all came different people the English encountered. \n\nSteer came from the ancient Germanic language that English began from.\n\nSee also \n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_",
"Male domestic cattle are *bulls*. A *steer* is a castrated male bull. \n\nAmong cat breeders, an intact male cat is a tom, while an unspayed female cat is a queen. \n\nHaving gotten that out of the way, English is unusual in that it doesn't have pervasive grammatical gender the way German, French, and many other languages do. Nevertheless, it's useful to have distinctions based on gender, particularly if you're raising animals - as many people did before industrialization. Thus we have these special words for many domesticated animals (ewe/ram, mare/stallion, sow/boar), but largely not for wild animals (unless there's a close similarity). In some cases, we'll use the generic female suffix -ess, as in lioness and tigress. "
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1ban76 | how to turn my app idea into an actual app? | I have a fairly simple and interesting idea for an iphone app.
I know what I want it to look like and how it will work.
And I can do the graphic designs.
But how the f*** do I make it happen. Tell me the steps. Is there anything I should now that I probably don't?
Even a subreddit for me to look at.
Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ban76/how_to_turn_my_app_idea_into_an_actual_app/ | {
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"Learn to code Java/Objective C or go for the easy, but less favorable, way of coding with Titanium (_URL_0_)",
"Either learn how to program, or hire a programmer. :)",
"I'd recommend going on codeacademy and just starting, they're free and they teach you how to code at your convenience and they do it really well. I'd learn Java, too, it's probably the simplest programming language that'll still get you hired in a lot of places.",
"Go to the [Apple iOS site](_URL_0_) and download the (free) development tools (XCode and iPhone Simulator) and learn how to use them (there's a ton of books with names like \"Learn iPhone Programming\". I particularly like Erica Sandun's iPhone cookbooks, although you prolly will also need a more introductory text. \n\nOne you have your app written and tested in the simulator, you need to get an ADC license to test it on an actual device and eventually upload it to iTunes. The basic license costs $99/year (or at least it did when I was looking into this).\n\nGet as many people to test your app as you can, fix the bugs, *listen* to what they like and don't like, and when you're happy with it, submit it and if Apple approves your app they will put it on the site. Sales start to roll in and viola! You're a millionaire (feel free to throw LabKitty some coin for putting you the path to riches).\n\nHowever, that's all the *easy* part.\n\nIMHO, the hardest part of making an app is getting it noticed. Because the app store has become a mountain of worthless crap (hundreds of apps to make fart sounds? Really, Apple? This is really what we need? You would think the first one pretty much fully explored the genre). \n\nSo unless you have a marketing team, or are an established software name, or are just lucky, be prepared to have your app never see the light of day. Not trying to discourage you, but this is what turned me off to making iPhone apps. I, too, had some cool ideas (and even completed beta versions of some of them), but until Apple gets it's shit together and cleans up the app store, I'm not going to spend a year polishing an app just to have it get buried.\n\n/rant"
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3g1f63 | why are people so into vaping? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3g1f63/eli5_why_are_people_so_into_vaping/ | {
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"Because it's \"trendy\" and they are constantly hunting for things to validate thier \"coolness\" which sadly in and of itself negates any \"cool\" gained ",
"It's new. Smoking is old, so it doesn't have the same \"look, I'm a new adopter of a new hobby\" appeal going on. Vaping is new, and exciting and shiny. ",
"I like the taste better and I can do it inside my house and not be concerned my house will smell like smoke",
"I don't vape, or smoke, but I gotta disagree with the people say it is because it is trendy or they want to be cool.\n\nSure, some people do it to look cool, but people enjoy smoking. The act of smoking is very calming for many people, which explains why so many people do it despite it being extraordinarily unhealthy. Vaping may not be exactly the same as smoking, but is a far healthier and safer alternative that still retains some of the feel of smoking a cigarette or cigar."
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6al5v6 | how do electric vehicles harness braking energy to charge batteries? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6al5v6/eli5_how_do_electric_vehicles_harness_braking/ | {
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"Spinning motion can be converted into electric energy using a spinning magnetic field to generate electric current in wire within the field. They basically use motors in reverse. This also resists the spinning motion, so by integrating it into the braking system, the vehicle both slows down and generates electricity when it is engaged.",
"Electric motors. work the same as generators - and essentially they are the same thing. Think \"direction of power flow\" They can take electrical energy and convert to mechanical energy (the RATE or how fast they can do this is their power) and visa-versa. \n\nSo when using Regenerative Braking, they use the motors as generators and convert the kinetic energy of the moving vehicle back into electricity...which then is actually converted to chemical (electro chemical) potential energy by charging the battery.\n\nE1- > A.D.D. sentence corrected",
"It is not taking energy from mechanical breaks. Instead, it is treating the axle of a car as a generator. This has the effect of slowing its spinning, resulting in a slower car, as others describe.\n\n"
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7ndm39 | how does n+1 blankets keep you warmer than n blankets? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7ndm39/eli5_how_does_n1_blankets_keep_you_warmer_than_n/ | {
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"Insulation. Your body heat is what warms the area under the blanket Warmth leaves the blanket from the air cooling the surface of the blanket, so when you add another blanket there is more air and blanket to trap heat. ",
"The more blankets you have, the harder it is for both cool air from outside and warm air inside to pass through them. Cool air entering the space near your body and warm air leaving the space make you feel cold and this occurs less when it is more difficult for this process to take place.",
"Let's say I have an ice cube and I put it in a hot cup of water. It will melt very quickly. If I put it in a cold cup of water, it will melt very slowly. The ice cube is still trying to cool both things to the same temperature but the rate of cooling is different.\n\nThe reason is that heat is exchanged between two things based on the temperature difference between those two things.\n\nSo let's say that I am 100 degrees and it is 0 degrees outside. That is a very large differences and I will lose a lot of heat. If I put something between me and the outside like a blanket, the outside will try to cool that thing while I try to warm it. If the blanket gets stuck at 50 degrees, the outside will be trying to cool the blanket from 50 to 0 and that blanket will be trying to cool me from 100 to 50. So I feel much much warmer!\n\nLet's add another blanket! Looks like this COLD - BLANKET - BLANKET - ME. The cold is trying to chill the outer blanket. The outer blanket is trying to chill the inner blanket. The inner blanket is trying to chill me. Because there are more divisions, the temperature difference is smaller so less heat is transferred.\n\nIf you keep adding more blankets, there will be more divisions and the heat transfer rate will be even lower and the nearest blanket will steadily reach higher and higher temperatures which make you feel warmer.\n\n\n\n"
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9o1pwg | plato’s chariot analogy | I’ve tried watching videos and reading summaries but I just don’t get it. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9o1pwg/eli5_platos_chariot_analogy/ | {
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"The dude riding the chariot represent an individual's intellect. The two horses represent (1) the logical and (2) the irrational or passionate side of the personality. The two horses sometimes want to try to shoot off in different directions. If the charioteer is able to get the horses to work together to go where he wants them to go, then he can go to a really cool place. But if they can not be controlled, it all goes to shit. ",
"Try thinking about the charioteer as the mortal soul (248a-b), and this scene happens after death. The two horses represent our rational and irrational aspects. In the previous section (247d or so) he describes the divine soul which can see what truly is, i.e., the Forms. Our mortal soul in the cycle of reincarnation tries to get a glimpse of the Forms, but the two horses struggle and pull us off course. The black horse is pulling us toward physical and corruptible. A philosopher is better able to control the horses and get a better vision of the knowledge (249c-d)."
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3f0n82 | why are people so upset about cecil the lion? isn't hunting extremely popular in the us? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3f0n82/eli5_why_are_people_so_upset_about_cecil_the_lion/ | {
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"In many places deer are struggling with a huge problem of over-population because we have eliminated their natural predators. That is causing a lot of trouble for the deer themselves (Many of them are starving, which is not a pleasant death) and to the environment. This means that thinning the herd through hunting can be both favourable to the deer themselves and to the environment (though it would be even better if we could restore the natural balance between the predators that should be there and the deer as prey)\n\nCecil the lion on the other hand is part of a species that is threatened with extinction. His role as a breeding male is very important. He was also a huge source of income for the area as tourists would come to visit him. Now some bozo with a gun has stopped all of that all cause he had to feel like a big man and kill a lion. "
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9u2nlj | what is the difference between uk, britain and england. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9u2nlj/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_uk_britain/ | {
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"The United Kingdom is the official state. The UK is the one with a seat at the United Nations. England is a country within in the UK. It is very similar to a state in the United States, but has more power and history. Great Britain is the name of the island that England, Scotland, and Wales are located on. Great Britain contains almost all of the countries of the United Kingdom, expect for Northern Ireland.",
"The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the entity recognised by the United Nations. \n\nNorthern Ireland is in the north east of the island of Ireland and has its own governing Assembly that has power over devolved issues, but is ultimately subservient to the UK parliament at Westminster. The NI Assembly is currently not sitting for reasons I won't go into.\n\nThe island of Great Britain consists of the countries of England, Scotland and Wales. Like Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have devolved parliaments. England is unique amongst the \"home nations\" in that it does not, and all laws pertaining to England are dealt with solely in Westminster.\n\nIn modern culture, \"English\" and \"British\" tend to be used to mean the same thing - see the stereotype of polite tea drinkers in bowler hats. Scots, Irish and Welsh (to a lesser extent, as I dont think Wales is really represented culturally outside the UK) are generally shown as being distinct from the \"British\" stereotype.\n\nThe terms \"UK\" and \"Britain\" are also generally both used to refer to the United Kingdom, in part because a large part of the British establishment tries to forget that Northern Ireland exists.\n\nNote: this is all off the top of my head stuff, so apologies for inaccuracies.\n\nSource: Am Scottish.\n\nEdit: as per comments below, I had referred to Northern Ireland as a province instead of a country.",
"The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (often shortened to UK) is a group of 4 countries: England 🏴, Scotland 🏴, Wales 🏴 and Northern Ireland. They each have their own flags, but also have the union flag to use when they’re all together. 🇬🇧\n\nThe British isles are a group of islands. The biggest one is called Great Britain. England, Scotland and Wales are in Great Britain. Northern Ireland is attached to the country Ireland 🇮🇪 on a separate island to the west of Great Britain. \n\nEngland is the biggest of the four countries and it has the most people. The capital of England is London. (The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, the capital of Wales is Cardiff and the capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast)",
"UK = England, Scotland, Wales And Northern Ireland\n\nBritain = England, Scotland, Wales. \n\nEngland = England",
"England is the country at the south of the island, it’s the one with London, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool etc. \n\nGreat Britain is the island containing Wales, Scotland and England \n\nThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island is pretty self explanatory. It’s the whole of the main island along with the top bit of Ireland where Belfast is located. \n\nThe rest of Ireland where Dublin is a completely separate entity and is going to remain part of the EU after Brexit\n\n",
"England is one of the four countries of the U.K. The other three are Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.\n\nEngland, Scotland, and Wales are to be found on an island called Britain, or Great Britain. Northern Ireland is on a separate island called Ireland.\n\nWith me so far?\n\nThe confusion arises because people often use the terms UK and Britain interchangeably when referring to the UK. Americans tend to use England as well, again when referring to the UK.\n\nThe full country name is: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. So you see how the U.K. and Great Britain are different. Great Britain (and island comprised of England, Scotland, and Wales) plus Northern Ireland, together make up the U.K.",
"GB - England, Scotland, Wales. The big island.\n\nUK - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The big island plus the bit at the top of the little island.\n\nEngland is just the biggest country. ",
"Bonus question. Why does Great Britain compete in the Olympics and not as individual countries?",
"In a month from now, when I finally understand this, I’m going to move on to another ELI5 ...it’ll be explanation of British money ...difference between, Pence, quid, pound, shilling, bob, tupence, etc etc ",
"**United Kingdom:**\n\nFull name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland\n\nA sovereign state that controls the island of Great Britain and outlying islands. It also still controls a bit of the island of Ireland.\nThe rest of Ireland is an independent country since 1921.\n\n**Britain:**\nNormally used interchangeably with United Kingdom. Distinct from *Great Britain*, which refers to just the island.\n\n**England:**\nA country of the United Kingdom. It was once a separate kingdom by itself. The other countries are Scotland and Wales, which were also once separate (Kingdom of Scotland, Principality of Wales). Finally, there's Northern Ireland. Sometimes it's considered a country, sometimes a province, though neither are particularly accurate.\n\nSome further definitions:\n\n**Ireland:**\nThe island of Ireland, located to the West of the island of Great Britain.\n\n**Ireland:**\nA sovereign state which currently controls most of the island of Ireland and outlying islands. Yes, the official name of Ireland is just Ireland. Sometimes *Republic of Ireland* is used to more be specific. However, it's used far more often than Irish people like. \n\nFor Americans on here. Just because you have West Virginia doesn't mean that you need to have East Virginia, does it? It's really not that hard.\n\n**British Isles:**\nJust don't.\n\n",
"To put in a very simple format, it's the similar to asking \"What's the difference between the US, America and New York\"",
"Lots of people have explained the geography clearly but i think the political side is where lots of people find it complicated when it's explained.\n\nEssentially slowly the government based in London gained control of all of the islands. So basically it is the central government and has been for centuries. But this has been chipped away at, so Ireland gained full independence in 1922, but Northern Ireland is still (officially) loyal to the 'crown' so under the jurisdiction of Parliament in London.\n\nThen devolution happened which is just that Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales now have their own smaller parliaments that can deal with a range of issues for themselves, although major decision making still comes down to London's Parliament. From this point it might be helpful to view each of them as states, which operate under a bigger state the UK. So on an international scale, other countries deal with The United Kingdom, and the government in London, not with each seperately. \n\nAnd for more confusion, the Isle of Man and States of Jersey both seperately have their own governments, and are viewed as 'dependant' nations. They have their own currencies. They are not part of the UK but basically the UK owns the land, but let's these guys do what they want on their own on it pretty much. \n\nAnd for more confusion: the Olympics. So we compete as Team GB (Great Britain), but it isn't geographically accurate, as it includes athletes from Northern Ireland, and almost all the small Islands dotted around the globe that still fall under the UK's jurisdiction.\n\nSo basically the United bit is preettyyyy tenuous.",
"The official title of the nation is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, where Great Britain refers to the countries: Scotland, England and Wales. \n\nEngland is not an interchangeable word for the UK or GB even though this is a mistake that many people make, it is one of the countries within them. \n\nIn other words, being English makes you British but being British does not make you English.",
"CPG Grey has good video [The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained](_URL_0_). \n\nIt also gives brief explanation of the commonwealth, crown dependencies, territories/colonys",
"The UK = England Scotland Wales northern ireland, England is the largest country in the UK and Britain is Scotland Wales and England anything on the bigger of the two islands.",
"The United Kingdom is the name of the country and it consists of the provinces/states of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the name of the island."
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dwt6t5 | what happens in someone's brain when they have executive dysfunction/"burnout"? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dwt6t5/eli5_what_happens_in_someones_brain_when_they/ | {
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"This is a real difficult question to answer for two reasons. A, EFD (executive function disorder) is a very broad disorder, with a huge variety of causes and symptoms. Autism is almost narrow in comparison. B, we have correlations for symptoms, but not causes. Just like with adhd and autism, EDF isn't like a disease caused by a single type of virus. Instead it is a name for symptoms, not causes. To my knowledge, EFD and Burnout are not synonymous, but burnout can often be categorised within EFD. \n\nNevertheless, EFD is a failure in the prefrontal cortex where most of our executive function takes place. There is correlation between underdeveloped prefrontal cortexes (down to almost 65% of normal size proportion) and adhd, autism and EFD. There has also been made a correlation to underfunctioning dopamine systems. One of the key functions of dopamine is that it adds value to thoughts, impulses and impressions from our senses. However, with an underfunctioning dopaminesystem, everything is valued equal (this is thought to be one of the main causes of adhd), which means each impulse and thought takes over from the current one, no matter how relevant to what you are trying to focus on."
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30zcub | why is red bull so expensive, isn't it pretty much just a soft drink with a couple extra ingredients? | Shouldn't it cost roughly the same to produce, its almost 3x more expensive than soft drinks. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30zcub/eli5_why_is_red_bull_so_expensive_isnt_it_pretty/ | {
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"They charge what people will pay. Energy drinks in general cost nothing to produce and are more or less the same, that's why they spend a fortune on marketing to convince you that they're special.",
"Its more about how they market and sell it than what the ingredients are. You can buy a generic energy drink with the same ingredients for half the price.\nMost other energy drinks are distributed by other beverage companies, like Coke or even distributed by beer and liquor wholesalers. But here in the USA, Red Bull is sold and distributed through it's own people, and that's a huge added cost.",
"It's the way that energy drinks have marketed themselves as a separate category of soft drink that allows them to charge more for that arbitrary distinction. One drinks a Coke or Pepsi as a casual beverage, whereas Redbull or Monster is usually consumed for energy and alertness. However, energy drinks' claims to make you more alert and focused are widely disputed, and often times the caffeine content isn't much more than a large cup of coffee.\n\nSure they contain ingredients like ginseng and taurine, which are not present in ordinary sodas, and these are all linked to the claim that they revitalize your energy; however, it's just that, a claim. \n\nRedbull gets away with charging you more for a can for the same reason why people wait in line and pay to get into a nightclub (where there's no cover to get into the dive bar down the street): exclusivity. If you're cool, you drink Redbull for energy, not soda. Or that's what they want you to think.\n\nFinally, because energy drinks have been marketed as beverages you consume when you're tired but need to be awake, people drink them less frequently. And so, they need to charge more to make as much a soda companies. And then, why don't they simply charge far less for a can to compete with soda prices? Well, people have learned not to drink too many energy drinks, as the caffeine content is rather high and can kill you in high quantities. ",
"As long as idiots pay 4 bucks for a can of red bull so they can drink Jager bombs there is no reason for the company to lower the price"
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4l76u9 | how do companies know when you have called within the given amount of time after a commercial to receive the special deal? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4l76u9/eli5_how_do_companies_know_when_you_have_called/ | {
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"The simple answer: They Don't.\n\nIf it is a national ad campaign, they really have no way to know, especially if the ad is played in all the time-zones, on various stations.\n\nIt is just an advertising gimmick; create a false deadline and people don't take time to think."
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2eekix | what happened with zoe quinn that got everyone's knickers in a twist and what does it have to do with reddit and the admins? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2eekix/eli5_what_happened_with_zoe_quinn_that_got/ | {
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"put here name in search bar and got these results\n\n_URL_0_",
"Okay, so Zoe Quinn made a game called Depression Quest, which scored great with the video game reviewers. Everything is good so far. However Zoe's ex reveals that she couldn't keep it in her knickers and hit the sack with 5 men, 3 of which were all but confirmed to have been fairly high ranking people in the games journalism industry. So people start making posts about the corruption and all that. This is before it hits Reddit properly however. \n\nEventually a twitter messege from John 'Total Biscuit' Bain, a prominent youtube games pundit/reviewer, is posted to R/gaming explaining his position in all of this. Still no massive controversy. However the thread gains a tonne of traction and people start discussing it, because, well, gaming controversy in R/gaming. then posts start getting deleted, scorched earth style. Any post in the thread was basically deleted. \n\n This is when the brown hit the metaphorical fan. Turns out one of the mods of R/gaming had contacted Zoe on twitter and exchanged emails prior to all of this. Said mod is found out to be the one doing all the deleting. R/gaming is most displeased about the idea of a woman who goes for a bit of buggery so she can promote her game, having significant influence over R/gaming.\n\nSo things get nasty, people ask for him to step down, some asking other mods to remove him from other subreddits (and getting unpleasant replies as well). The mod then makes a stickied post in R/gaming, with many people decrying it and pointing out the fallacies of his statement, all the while people are still getting posts deleted on the previous thread. And messages get deleted on the stickied one, but not in quite such great numbers. eventually it cools, posts stop getting deleted and R/gaming simmers in rage at what happened, and the cycle of reposts and random pictures continues. \n\nUntil today when a video update on the Zoe Quinn is posted. Japes are made about posts not being deleted and discussion is had. Up until it is discovered that one of the Admins is shadow banning users en-masse, leading to accusations of corruption in the highest echelons of reddit. Hooray.",
"I know you've already gotten an explanation, but, as a note for future questions, please search before posting. Thanks."
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7otdk4 | why the wwii generation could afford to raise a large family and retire in florida on the wages of one blue collar job, and the current generation can't afford to buy a house with the combined wages of two college graduates? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7otdk4/eli5eli5_why_the_wwii_generation_could_afford_to/ | {
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"The Standard of living was lower (fewer electronics and gadgets expected), cost of rent was lower, and in comparison to those costs they were paid more. Wages have barely kept up with inflation, and have not come close to keeping up with the cost of living since that era. ",
"There was a war that literally destroyed vast sections of the developed world, and after it, not only was the USA was the engine of rebuilding the world for decades, it sucked all the smartest people worldwide to come work in its economy, and a baby boom ensured an enormous workforce in the WWII generation's retirement.",
"One thing to consider is how they were living.\n\nMy neighborhood was built in the 1940s so it is exactly the sort someone from the Greatest Generation would have raised a family in. That is going to mean 1000-1500 square feet with a small yard, not the 2000+ ones more typical of the suburbs today. There would be no A/C, no cable, no color TV, no cell phone, no clothes dryer. Mom stayed at home, so you'd only need one car. And she spent a lot of time making meals from scratch, reducing food costs, and making/repairing clothes. \n\nAll in all, you are looking at a greatly reduced standard of living...if a family were willing to live like that today, they could like afford much of the same things.\n\nAlso, Dad had a pension. He made a little less, but that money went to a retirement fund he couldn't touch, and that is what lets him retire to Florida. IRAs and 401Ks of today can be just as good, but they require the discipline to put money in and not take money out.\n\nFinally, the labor market has shifted, and it is not valid to compare today's blue collar jobs with yesterday's. Blue collar workers of the past are not the same as janitors and construction workers of today, they were solidly middle-class jobs people would aspire to."
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3zv8z8 | why is there nothing saudi arabia can do to destabilise iran but iran have every possible means to destabilise saudi arabia and other gulf countries, namely bahrain? | Specifically, I'm referring to this analysis that was posted on channel news Asia. _URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3zv8z8/eli5_why_is_there_nothing_saudi_arabia_can_do_to/ | {
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"Have you seen the price of oil? Saudi Arabia is deliberately getting other OPEC members to keep up production as a way to accomplish several political goals. It helps ruin the US shale oil market, but it also hurts Iran and Russia (two enemies of Saudi Arabia). Because of the low oil price, the economic gains from Iran opening up to the world aren't going to happen...and that could seriously affect Iranian politics.\n\nAlso, they lack the troops to have an actual war with Iran, but they can do some damage to Iran's interests in Yemen.",
"The unpopular and repressive govt of Bahrain likes to blame their own internal dissent on Iran, doesn't mean its true. In Bahrain, a small Sunni group rules over a majority Shia population, and they had to call in Saudi troops to avoid being toppled. "
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fwyxix | why are car windows darkened? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fwyxix/eli5_why_are_car_windows_darkened/ | {
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"It’s window tint. Blocks UV rays to keep the inside of the car cooler in the summer heat and also to lessen the damage the sun causes on the interior of the vehicle.",
"It' mostly used as a shade from sunlight. Really good film also lowers internal temperature of the car significantly.",
"The primary function to \"tinted\" windows is to reduce brilliance of light transmitted through the window. In some cases they also provide UV protection to reduce transmitted burns that can occur through the windows.\nIn the case of the UV protection, most car side windows have minor built in uv protection while the windshield can block as much as 96%.",
"This is done for different reasons, so your post is better in r/answers."
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294lwo | do car gears dictate a top speed, or would a car with an automatic transmission going down a big ramp in drive go faster than its top speed? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/294lwo/eli5_do_car_gears_dictate_a_top_speed_or_would_a/ | {
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"I have wondered this about bicycles. Road bikes are faster than mountain bikes. If you are in the highest gear and pedal at 90rpm, how fast will you go? If the gears are different on both bikes, but your still pedalling at 90rpm, this will determine your top speed, surely? Rather than tyre width, weight etc, which determine how easy it is to reach that top speed.",
"Depends on the ramp. A car falling from the sky ends up going very fast - although a powerful supercar can drive faster than it can fall.\n\nThe answer depends on how the vehicle is geared. If the top gear is tall, then the car will run out of oomph to push the car along before the engine hits its top speed, or redline. If so, the car will have a higher top speed if travelling downhill - although at that speed, wind resistance is so high that a slope won't be that effective. \n\nA car with a shorter top gear will hit that redline first, so the terrain really won't matter.",
"Wind resistance mainly dictates top speed. A car has to push itself through air, which takes energy. When the energy that the motor puts out equals the energy of the wind working against it, you stop going any faster.\n\n* yes, other things also dictate top speed, such as rolling resistance and other mechanical losses, but it's mainly wind resistance.",
"a gear has no \"top speed\", in theory a gear-wheel can rotate with unlimited speed (it will break of course sooner or later)). the limitation is your cars engine. the engine's construction limits its maximum rpm (the physics behind this are quite difficult, inertia is important) and all modern engines uses a speed limiter. so, technically, yes there is a speed limit that is somehow related to your cars gears, but the primary cause for this limitation is not the gearbox, but the engine (in case of an automatic transmission the gearbox limits the max. rpm too - they have a speed limiter).\n\na car rolling down a (very very long) ramp might become faster than its top speed, that depends on the engine and gearbox construction and management. ",
"I'm not really a fan of most of these answers. The actual answer is yes or no, depending on the car.\n\nIf you're driving a rally car, those are almost never expected to hit their theoretical max speed as limited by drag, so they use very, very close gearing to make the most out of the powerful but peaky engines. Those, if driven on a flat, straight piece of road, would hit their maximum speed, as dictated now by gear ratio, very quickly.\n\nA C6 Corvette (An example I am certain of) has a six speed transmission with a very long sixth gear. This is technically designed for highway cruising at just above idle (That's how they get such fantastic fuel economy on the highway) and as such, if taken to the rev limiter, would clock some ungodly top speed, so the Corvette is drag limited.\n\nNow then, some cars are gear limited (My personal Ford Focus included) but some are designed to go until the car's power cannot overcome drag (Corvette). In the latter ones, yes, driving downhill will increase its maximum speed. You're using gravity to help propel the car. Automatics especially, due to their viscous coupling.",
"Excluding wind resistance etc. then yes, As an Auto tranny is not solidly coupled to the engine it is possible for the wheels to move faster then the engine. It's a fluid coupling so you have that to deal with, but never really ever likely to happen."
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a0d4pm | in an age of digital currency, how is new money “created”? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a0d4pm/eli5_in_an_age_of_digital_currency_how_is_new/ | {
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"Most new money is created as debt. \n\nLets say I want to build a house for 100k. I go to the bank and get a loan. The bank doesn't have 100k sitting in a vault. They don't even need have 100k on deposit from another client to loan to me. \nWe operate on Fractional reserve banking. So a new bank wants to loan me 100k, they don't need to have 100k. They might only have 20k, but under the fractional reserve system that is allowed. \n\nI then get my 100k loan, and basically pay it to the general contractor, and he builds my house. He is then giving the money to suppliers, employees, etc. At the same time, there is never really actual cash involved. This new money is mostly digital. Wire transfers, electronic payments, employee direct deposit. \n\nIf people take this new money and withdraw it from the their accounts, it can create a demand for physical currency, in which case the US mint and Bureau of Engraving and printing will make more money to fulfill this demand.\n\nGovernments can change fractional reserve requirements, and change interest rates as a tool to influence the economy.",
"If you are really interested, you can read Modern Money Mechanics. It's written by the federal reserve and explains the process in great detail. ",
"The Federal Reserve Bank of New York buy bonds on the secondary market. These are usually US Treasuries, but they can also be mortgage-backed securities, for example. It gets the money to pay for the bonds by creating it.\n\nWhoever used to have the bonds now has the newly created money instead. It flows into the rest of the economy from there, just through people doing--whatever it is they do with their money."
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96jp88 | if you're arrested, how do you contact your lawyer if you've never hired a lawyer? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/96jp88/eli5_if_youre_arrested_how_do_you_contact_your/ | {
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"You’re provided with a public defender if you don’t have the means to get your own lawyer. \n\nAs for quality, there’s no guarantee with a public defender, but they’re rarely ever downright incompetent. ",
"In the UK, every area will have a \"duty solicitor\" on call, which sounds pretty similar to the US system, down to them being severely overworked.",
"If you are arrested in the United States, you can generally be held for 48 hours without being charged with a crime. Before being charged, the state must allow you to either retain an attorney or assign you one if you are indigent. The court might choose to delay arraignment (say, if the defendant makes bail) to give them time to retain their own counsel.",
"Common wisdom mixed up two issues. \n\nOne is that you have a right to speak to a lawyer before and during questioning. Once you invoke that right they cannot ask you questions without providing a lawyer. But that *doesnt* mean you need to hurry up and get a lawyer so they can question you. It means the questioning stops. \n\nThe second, separate issue is getting a lawyer to talk to about your arrest. You can call a lawyer from the station if you happen to know a criminal defense lawyer. If not, you’re better off calling family or friends and asking them to get you a lawyer. \n\nOnce you’re arrested they have to take you to court within a day unless it’s a weekend. If you don’t have a lawyer at court a public defender will usually be there for you. \n\nIf you are arrested DO NOT answer questions other than biographical info. Once you are arrested the police are not trying to help you - they are gathering evidence with which to convict you. You cannot say anything at that time that will help, but you can say many things that can hurt\n",
"When I spend a trip jail, there were two phones in the holding cell. One could only dial a few select numbers: the public defenders office (one in English, one in Spanish), the local court clerk, and the bail review board. The other was a regular pay phone that had ads for lawyers and bail bondsmen on the wall. When you got booked, they gave you an Id band that had a phone ID code and access code, you got 4 free calls. If you wanted to make more, you (or someone on the outside) had to add money to your phone account. ",
"Are you planning a heist?",
"I actually have some experience with this. The FBI executed a warrant at a business I was employed by. During the raid, all the employees were questioned, several spilled their guts in terror. When it was my turn, I answered basic questions, such as, name, age, length of employment, job description, etc... But when they started getting more detailed than stuff I would put on a resume, I balked. I said \"Sorry, I would like a lawyer present before answering any more questions.\" The moment I said that the questioning stopped. They did try to intimidate me a little by saying I might look guilty by refusing to answer questions. I stood firm, that was it, the questions stopped right there and I was allowed to leave. \n\nIn general that's how it works, you will be let go, unless they already have enough to arrest you on. If you are arrested then they already have a case whether you answer questions or not. In that event you will have plenty of time to find a lawyer.\n\n"
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6zzdon | why are passwords said to be safer if i use uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6zzdon/eli5_why_are_passwords_said_to_be_safer_if_i_use/ | {
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"The longer the password, the more potential passwords a hacker or cracking program would have to try before guessing yours. Using more randomized passwords, increases the odds that it won't land on yours.\n\nIt depends on the program and goal. I have lists of passwords for different penetration testing that I am doing. For example. Wifi passwords need to be at least 8 characters so I filter out any shorter than that."
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2hlvsc | what exactly is happening when a computer is turned on and off again? how does this restore normalcy? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2hlvsc/eli5what_exactly_is_happening_when_a_computer_is/ | {
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"One of the key components of a PC is a type of memory known as RAM, random access memory. This component stores information temporarily while your computer does calculations. If everything is ok, information isn't stored here very long. If a program gets stuck, it keeps that information and keeps trying. That means other programs can't use the RAM, which slows/stops them in turn. When you reboot, it releases all the RAM, unsticking the problem program, and freeing up space for the other ones. The PC can actually store information for a short time without having power though. This is why tech support always tells you to wait 30 seconds before turning it back on, you've essentially pulled the stopper from the tub, and need to give it time to drain fully.\n\nAdd-on:\n\nif your machine is running slowly, buying more RAM is one of the most cost-effective way to speed it up. There are two main components that the average user needs to be aware of that determine a PC's speed, your RAM and your CPU. The RAM is essentially your PC's short-term memory. The CPU is its problem-solving ability. The CPU handles all the math that goes on behind the scenes to make the machine work, the RAM allows it to store the results of this math for easy recovery.\n\nFor example: You have a game you're playing where enemies run towards you when you get close enough, and start fighting. The programming for these enemies essentially says \"The Player's location is referred to as \"A.\" The enemy's is referred to as \"B.\" If the distance between A and B is less than 30 pixels, the enemy runs towards the player and attacks, if the distance is more than 30 pixels, the enemy does nothing.\"\n\nThe RAM stores the Value for A and B. The CPU receives the instructions, and asks the RAM \"Where are the characters?\" The Ram replies \"The player is located at A, which is located 50 pixels away from the bottom left corner of the screen, and 20 pixels up. The Enemy is at point B, which is located 60 pixels from the bottom left corner of the screen, and 25 pixels up.\" \n\nThe CPU takes those numbers, and calculates the distance. B is 10 pixels right of A, and 5 pixels up from A. For simplicity, we'll say the game doesn't calculate distance diagonally, only by counting spaces up/down/left/right so these two spaces are considered 15 pixels apart. The CPU tells the RAM \"ok, that means they are 15 pixels apart.\"\n\nThe CPU reads the next instruction, and says to the RAM \"how far apart did I say they were?\" The RAM says \"15 pixels\" The Cpu thinks \"The enemy attacks if they are 30 pixels or closer. 15 is less than 30. So the enemy should attack.\" The CPU then will then ask the RAM to go through the program and find the directions that are considered \"attacking\" and run through the math for attacking with the RAM."
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1qwuyc | why do we have different types of hair? | To whom it may concern,
I've learned that the way a hair follicle sprouts from the skull is different among races. For instance, Asian individuals' hair sprout at 90 Degrees, where as Caucasian individuals' hair sprouts at 45 Degrees.
Please explain to us why there are different types of hair among difference races, not with regards to color, but more so texture and type.
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qwuyc/eli5_why_do_we_have_different_types_of_hair/ | {
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"I dont have an answer for you regarding angle, but textures and colors I can do. \rIt all comes down to evolution. Someone in Africa has very slow growing, short hair that is very coarse. Short is best to keep cool and the texture is best to absorb moisture (sweat.) This is why a lot of black women HATE their hair getting wet.\rMediterraneans and Europeans have thick, long growing hair due to the changing weather. Thick and long is useful in winter, but they dont need coarse to absorb moisture because they don't sweat as much. Granted, they secrete oil to protect skin and hair from the elements, so the whole \"greasy Italian\" thing is rude, but accurate. They are \"greasier.\"\rNorthern European hair is usually lighter in color, like blonde and red. During evolution, and currently, hair and eyes are lighter because there is not as much sunlight present. Hair can be light and thin, because it doesn't need to absorb sweat. However, hair is nifty for keeping warm. I am still stumped as to why Nordic folk didnt grow more body hair to keep warm\r\rHope some of this helps!"
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339mc4 | if there become more and more electric cars, won't that just result in the burning of more coal to produce that increased need in electricity, and be just as bad for the environment? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/339mc4/eli5_if_there_become_more_and_more_electric_cars/ | {
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"Electricity can be produced using wind, solar, geothermal, or hydroelectric power, among others. Burning coal is not the only way to produce it.",
"A) The majority of new electric generating capacity in the US has come from renewable sources, not fossil fuels.\n\nB) Even if the electricity is coming from a coal or oil plant, its still more efficient/less environmentally bad than burning gas in an automobile.",
"First off, no, because electrical motors are WAY more efficient than gasoline engines at converting stored energy to motion (25% vs 90%). In addition, the additional power needs would likely be filled with renewables just because it's getting harder and harder to find a place where people will let you build a coal plant, while many farmers have no problem selling some of their land to windfarms.",
"As others have said, electricity can be produced using plenty of other much cleaner methods than burning coal, or other fossil fuels.\n\nBut even if coal was the only feasible way to do it, it's much easier to build some pollution/emission controls equipment at hundreds of stationary power plants than it is to build in pollution/emission control equipment into hundreds of millions of mobile vehicles. \n\n",
"Also, note that it takes electricity to refine gasoline..",
"All of the Tesla cars come with free 100% solar electricity for the lifetime of the car.\n\nPull up, charge for free over 20mins, it only costs if you want the fast battery swap out, and that is still less cost than petrol.\n\nRemember coal is now more expensive than solar.\n\nAnd solar city is delivering free solar panels and a cheaper power bill.",
"Not if we go nuclear. A primarily nuclear grid would be able to handle the strain no problem and despite what you've probably heard, it's very safe and clean\n"
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5nxyur | why does poison have an expiry date? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5nxyur/eli5_why_does_poison_have_an_expiry_date/ | {
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"Some organic poisons like insecticides and herbicides break down over time and eventually lose their toxicity. It really depends on the type of poison. Some poisons might be less lethal after the expiry date and require a bigger dose to kill. Rat poison for example.\n\nSome other poisons have a expiry date because the compound may decay and loss its fluidness and become solid over time.\n\nIn other worlds, the poison will decay and become less usefull over time.",
"Some herbicides for example gradually decay and produce dioxanes, some pesticides break down when exposed to water and produce a very potent volatile nerve gas. You can usually spot these poisons because the expiration date is very short and is printed as two dates: expiration date and shelf life from date of opening."
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4c4gxj | what would happen to the nuclear plants if all humans in general disappeared suddenly? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4c4gxj/eli5_what_would_happen_to_the_nuclear_plants_if/ | {
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"Modern nuclear plants would simply shut down. They are built with failsafes that allow them to power down without intervention in the event of a disaster.\n\nOlder (especially Russian) units could run into some very serious problems depending on what state the operators left them in."
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1liujq | how come vlc, a small free program, can play anything while quicktime, underwritten by the largest corporation in the world, can't play shit without constant updates and codecs? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1liujq/eli5_how_come_vlc_a_small_free_program_can_play/ | {
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"Pretty simple. Each major company has no ambition to support codecs and formats outside ones they directly support. It's not in their best interests to throw engineers and money to make a product that their competition made or actively embraces. They're basically like a bunch of bickering kids that each have cool toys and don't want to share with anybody. They feel if they play with another kids toy, it admits that they have cooler toys than them. VLC on the other hand doesn't really have a dog in the fight when it comes to supporting one format over another, they don't have a corporate interest whether a format fails or succeeds. ",
"Short answer? VLC is maintained by people who actually give damn about long-term quality of the software and want to hear from the users.\n\nVLC is an open source project. If something gets totally screwed up, [they want to hear from you](_URL_0_). Because they want to ensure some quality, they will keep fixing shit as long as humanly possibly. Also, they have an updater that actually works in Windows.\n\nApple? Like all proprietary software developers, they don't really listen to the individual customers, just the feedback they get from their research. They do internal testing only. They will drop support for anything they cannot test and support any more. And, of course, they'll fix the bugs as they come, usually only when someone points it out *publicly*. Compound to that the fact that they haven't really figured out this update strategy yet, even after all these years.\n",
"VLC is written by people that want to watch videos. QuickTime is written by a company that only wants you watching their videos.\n\n...and apple sucks at writing desktop software that doesn't require constant updates.",
"Some codecs require license fees like a dvd playback codec for example. VLC doesn't pay for them for some reason, but if Apple were to support every codec for free they will probably be sued. ",
"One wants to play everything, the other does not. Simple."
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3f1lbf | what happens when hemophiliacs get their period? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3f1lbf/eli5_what_happens_when_hemophiliacs_get_their/ | {
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"Well, first we have to consider that only 1 in 25 million women in the US are born hemophiliacs. It's very rare for a woman to suffer from that disease.\n\nAnd periods are not active bleeding, so it doesn't change much anyways.",
"First, I just gotta say, I'm no doctor but I am a female. Ok, Contrary to popular belief, a vagina isn't an open wound. Having a period is simply shedding the inner lining of your uterus; nothing has been cut or opened (especially not your legs, buh-duh-chhhh). Hemophiliacs' blood isn't able to clot, therefore it can't properly form a scab or a closing if some sort. But, thank God, a scab isn't needed after a period. I probably completely butchered the science involved, but hey, if I'm explaining this to a five year-old, they don't care, right?",
"Even though a period isn't 'bleeding', haemophiliac girls do have heavier periods, with the weight determined by the level of clotting factor in the blood. \n\nIn fact there is slight evidence that girls with exceptionally heavy periods may have undiagnosed clotting disorders such as Von Willebrand disease or platelet function disorders. A study in the Journal 'haemophilia' found in a study of 61 adolescents with menorrhagia that 36% had a problem with their von Willebrand factor and 7% had a defect in their platelets.",
"While I can't say what it's like for a hemophiliac, I can tell you what it was like for an ex of mine. She has aplastic anemia, which (in addition to many others) has cut her platelet count down to about 30,000 per mcL (the average person has about 350,000). Her periods were **intense**. Multiple-pads-per-night intense. Her skin would turn white, and she'd have to get semi-annual checkups, because she ran a very real risk of bleeding more than she could replenish.",
"As a female with severe Hemophilia A, I have to say that my periods seem pretty normal. I don't feel like I bleed more than any other girl because of my condition. ",
"As a carrier/mild Factor VII (factor 7) deficient hemophiliac, I admit there were times my periods were extremely heavy, painful, and just down right awful. As a teenager I was undiagnosed until I was 17. I do not treat with recombinant Factor 7 unless presurgical. However most other women with hemophilia and bleeding disorders do tend to have heavy periods that can cripple their ability to complete every day tasks. Generally they're put on birth control, factor regimens, or antifibrinolytics (amicar, lysteda). They might also be given DDAVP. Some opt for ablations or hysterectomy. But generally it's usually hell for us females with bleeding disorders. ",
"My intuition would suggest the right side of [this image](_URL_0_), rather than the left."
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djanjf | how does a sliced onion neutralize bad odors in the fridge? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/djanjf/eli5_how_does_a_sliced_onion_neutralize_bad_odors/ | {
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"What, it does? Whenever I put a sliced onion in the fridge, I end up just smelling...sliced onion.",
"Leaving onion in your fridge will just make your fridge reek of onion. \n\nI have never heard that onion neutealizes bad odours since onion is, itself, a bad odour.",
"It's like scraping your knee and getting punched in the face. The punch makes you forget about your knee."
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2pjil9 | given the fact that technology, production capacity and computers have steadily improved during the last 50 years, why is it that everyone now seems to have to work longer hours at more stressful jobs than before? shouldn't we have more free time now with improved machines/automation etc..? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2pjil9/eli5_given_the_fact_that_technology_production/ | {
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"First, not everyone is working longer hours in more stressful jobs. Two hundred years ago, better than 90% of Americans were farmers, working from sun up to sun down, 365 days a year, and living at a barely subsistence level. \n\nToday, less than 5% of Americans are doing that. Almost everyone works a normal workweek. Almost everyone gets weekends and holidays. \n\nSecond, and more directly to your question: some people choose to use the time they save thanks to technological advances to do more work. Others use it to spend time other ways, like hanging out on Reddit.",
"Even though we've automated some manual labor, we haven't put too much automation into business, marketing, economics, or other analytical jobs. As the world's economy grows, these jobs grow bigger. I think the increase of stress is from our culture, not just our jobs (such as social media and constantly comparing yourself to others because of it). [This](_URL_0_) is a fascinating video about how automation will affect us in the future and how jobs will be eliminated.",
"From a societal standpoint, free time occurs when all of your needs are achieved. Free time still exists, but it is often filled with pursuing what you want (by working harder/longer for example). Better technology doesn't automatically fill our stomachs or build our mansions: devotion to the cause does. "
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ark97t | can water clean dirty water? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ark97t/eli5_can_water_clean_dirty_water/ | {
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"I'm no scientist but I believe if you add clean water to dirty water, you end up with more dirty water. ",
"You can dilute the dirty water, spread the pollutants amongst a larger amount of water, but that's about it."
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e39rbc | what happened in the 2012 benghazi attacks. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e39rbc/eli5_what_happened_in_the_2012_benghazi_attacks/ | {
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"Embassy in Benghazi was attacked, initially was blamed on some sort of inflammatory video but was later found to be a coordinated attack on Benghazi, a diplomatic outpost that was known to not have the security it needed (more security was requested numerous times but was never approved for in the budget, while the house was controlled by the Republicans who would later spend millions investing Clinton about the matter) Clinton and other officials initially explained it away as due to the video and many said she was covering it up due to that. During the start of the years long investigation, her \"what difference at this point does it make?\" Statement also did her no favors.\n\nHowever, as the 2016 House report showed, once the attack was happening there was nothing more she could have done. Our military forces were too far away to intervene and save the people at the embassy.\n\nKeep in mind that this investigation would eventually lead to requests for her emails, which of course ended up not being on the state department server but on her private server. This in essence sunk her 2016 campaign.\n\nI am condensing the matter to mere paragraphs of course, there is plenty more that can be said about it.",
"A Libyan terrorisit group coordinated an attack on an embassy and CIA facility. This lead to the death of the American Ambassador and 2 CIA contractors among others. In the aftermath, the Republican controlled house launched 6 investigations, trying to prove Obama and/or Clinton and/or other top officials were to blame but came up empty handed. Another 4 investigations yielded similar fruit. A few senior State department officials were found to have acted improperly by not responding to requests for added security. Clinton, as secretary of state, took the blame for those staff as she was the boss, much the same way the McDonald's Manager apologizes when the fry cook burnt your fries, or your burger was raw. It wasn't the Managers fault, but they are responsible for their staff. Some people took that as her admitting it was all her fault in their search for someone to blame for the first ambassador's murder since 1979.\n\nIn the aftermath, Libya and her people rallied with American allies, and a vocal majority denounced the attack. The American presence in the region was increased with the deployment of a Marine FAST team, and multiple ships carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles, equipped with UAVs hunting for the terrorist group responsible. \n\nSecurity at all similar postings was increased on order of Obama, and right wingers began using it to attack the Democrats."
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1ssxjh | how the american intelligence agencies have become what they are today? | Dear reddit, please help me understand the evolutional process of the American intelligence agencies. What arguments do they use to defend their actions, and what events have triggered the governments paranoia?
I don't understand how the NSA's actions aren't illegal. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ssxjh/eli5how_the_american_intelligence_agencies_have/ | {
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"After WWI, the United States got rid of its intelligence gathering capabilities, because (famously) \"gentlemen do not read each other's mail\".\n\nThe Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was in part a function of not having a very robust intelligence gathering system. After Pearl Harbor, the US government would never again allow \"lack of intelligence gathering\" to be blamed as a cause of a major national security setback.\n\n[We did have intelligence services prior to Pearl Harbor and in some cases they were very good. In the run up to WWII the United States rebuilt a lot of capabilities it had let languish in the interwar period. But we weren't good enough to figure out what the Japanese were planning and we got caught by surprise.]\n\nAfter WWII, where intelligence played a key role - especially the decryption of \"coded\" communications by radio between headquarters and units in the field like submarines - the US institutionalized its intelligence gathering system. In 1947, the US government reorganized its national security system, creating the Department of Defense, the US Air Force, and the Central Intelligence Agency. CIA was envisioned as the place where all the intelligence gathered by the government would be consolidated, analyzed and then presented to leaders as the basis for making decisions.\n\nThe Department of Defense continued to operate its own parallel intelligence service, and each branch of the armed forces has its own intelligence system. The concept of \"code breaking\" was delegated to the National Security Agency. The NSA is a part of a constellation of agencies with responsibilities for gathering intelligence, including the National Reconnaissance Office (spy satellites).\n\nAfter 9/11, the 9/11 commission recommended that a further centralization of US intelligence was needed, and a new position, the National Director of Intelligence was created. Nominally, every aspect of the government's intelligence community reports to this position, but in fact, many of them remain only loosely connected to the NDI.\n\nTo put what the US government does in context, the major world powers have always spied on each other, and usually on their own citizens as well. The Europeans, especially the British, French, German and Russians have centuries of experience in this field. It is, in a sense, a \"world norm\". Of course, nobody likes to talk about it. It's an awkward dinner conversation.\n\nUS law places limits on the intelligence that the US government can gather on \"US persons\", which primarily means US citizens and people inside the borders of the United States. US law doesn't apply to any foreign governments; there's no court where the US can take China to be punished for spying on US citizens, or vice versa. US law places no limits on what intelligence the US government can gather on non-US persons; nor does any other government have such limits. (Inside the EU, the member states have various agreements about spying on each other, so we'll treat the EU as a peer to the US and other great powers for the sake of this part of the discussion).\n\nThe United States participates in a program called \"Five Eyes\", which is an agreement between the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Each spies on other countries and shares that data with the others. In fact, under a program called Echelon, they may spy on citizens in the other Five Eyes countries, then share THAT information with each other. It's not against US law for the UK intelligence service to spy on a US person and then give that information to the US intelligence service. In other words, it's a giant loophole around each country's own laws.\n\nWhy do they do this? Why does the US spy on everyone in the world and often on its own people?\n\nA lot of highly important people lost their jobs after Pearl Harbor. Allegations that President Roosevelt knew or should have known about the attack have haunted his legacy and will forever. \"Known or should have known\" has become a weapon to take power away from powerful people and they hate it. It's a very effective political weapon. How many times did you hear the phrase \"Bush lied, people died\" in the 2008 and 2012 Presidential Elections? To this day, a lot of people think US intelligence knew about 9/11, that Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened and allowed it to happen to create an excuse to go to war.\n\nHindsight is so easy to impose on facts after they happen. Voters are quick to judge their leaders for failing to perfectly interpret intelligence and make correct decisions based on it.\n\nAll the powerful people know that if there's a major breach of national security and they knew, or should have known about it in time to stop it, they risk having power stripped from them. To try and limit their exposure to these attacks, they increase the amount of intelligence gathered without limit. They want to have as much defense against \"knew or should have known\" as possible if and when the next Bad Thing happens."
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3bl1yx | if different colors have different wavelengths, does light travel at the speed of light only when it hasn't been split into individual colors? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bl1yx/eli5_if_different_colors_have_different/ | {
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"Because your post isn't asking a simplified conceptual explanation, but rather for an answer, it has been removed. \n\nYou should try /r/answers, /r/askreddit or even one of the more specialized answers subreddits like /r/askhistorians, /r/askscience or others too numerous and varied to mention. \n\nRest assured this doesn't make your question *bad*, it just makes it more appropriate for another subreddit. Good luck! "
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6arrcv | what is the point of nationalism? | I understand what it is but i for me the whole thing doesnt make sense. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6arrcv/eli5_what_is_the_point_of_nationalism/ | {
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"Nationalism from a citizen's perspective is good because it fosters a sense of belonging in a group and being able to tell other groups that they're not as good as your group. From a government's perspective, its good because with a highly nationalistic population you can keep and stay in power for longer, and more citizens will support your causes. ",
"It does make some limited sense. Only Zimbabwens can solve their country's problems even if we as US citizens have empathy for them.\nConversely only the US can really solve its own problems even if Zimbabwens have empathy for our struggles.\n\nYou might as well ask what's the point of having an individualist ego or sense of self when being a member of community and subsuming your ego is supposedly \"better\".\n ",
"People have always had loyalty to something, whether a family, tribe, town, city, city-state, region, physical nation, non-physical nation, ethnic group, whatever you want. Nationalism has done well over the past few centuries because it can beat up the other -isms.\n\nLet's consider Europe in the 1700s. There are countries, but few people feel strongly about what country they're from. Outside Paris, only a minority of French people know French, speaking all kinds of other Romance languages like Breton, Provencal, and Occitan. The Italian peninsula is a bunch of rival city-states and regions, and Germany is a loose association of little kingdoms and principalities. When it takes weeks or months to travel or send a message, and you've never been fifty miles from the place you were born, you're unlikely to have strong loyalty to people on the far side of your country that happen to have the same king. Your region matters far more. As for the king, he can barely even govern without the help of a bunch of minor nobles who do the actual work of ruling their own backyards. Even when the \"United States\" threw off British rule, they preferred to remain thirteen distinct states with limited central power.\n\nThen, at the end of the 1700s, the French Revolution happened. Ordinary people overthrew their monarch and declared a single French state where all citizens had rights, power was centralized in Paris, and everything was standardized. The monarchs of Europe, fearing for their own heads if this trend continued, declared war. So this shaky new republic drafted huge armies, organized them by merit instead of wealth and nobility, thrashed the invaders, then expanded. Small countries and regions in Germany, Italy, Benelux, and Switzerland were all absorbed or made into puppet states. By the time Napoleon became emperor, it was pretty obvious that a single nation working as a whole was far more powerful than any number of smaller regions. It took the rest of Europe about twenty years of combined effort to finally contain France.\n\nThis lesson would be repeated in reverse when the German states under Bismarck unified in war against France in 1870-71, and won. Their new nation formed the greatest military and industrial power on the continent. To a lesser extent, the Italian states also gained greater influence and power by unifying into one nation. In the United States, the Civil War likewise showed the power of strong central authority over anything looser or more regional. Where the Confederacy's emphasis on the rights of individual states made it hard to coordinate a single military effort, the Union was able to mobilize all its enormous resources and achieve victory. The trend was clear: Nations=glory and victory, anything less=defeat.",
"It's a holdover from when small territories had pretty clear ethnic and cultural divisions, and your nation was pretty much your family and group customs. \nPeople are nationalists (in the bonehead, US, Europe way) today because they fear an integrated world. "
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7tagw6 | what is the top speed of a rocket? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7tagw6/eli5_what_is_the_top_speed_of_a_rocket/ | {
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"Every rocket has a [delta-v](_URL_0_) that tells you exactly what it’s top speed is. Low earth orbit requires roughly 21,000 mph. "
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"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-v"
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6ky2gj | what technology advancement made leds become more useful than basic on/off indicators? | There've been LED's around for a long time. What happened in the past few years to make them viable replacements for just about any other type of light bulb (ok, probably not any, but hopefully the point is made)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ky2gj/eli5_what_technology_advancement_made_leds_become/ | {
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"They got really really cheap, and have a really low power consumption. Its a win-win for electronics manufacturers ",
"Probably the most important advancement was the blue LED.\n\nLEDs have always been much more efficient than incandescent lights, but were only available in red and green, so they weren't much good for general-purpose lighting or color displays.\n\nThe invention of the blue LED in the '90s allowed full-color displays, and by combining blue LEDs with phosphorescent materials, white LEDs as well.\n\n_URL_0_"
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode#Blue_LED"
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b00cbt | why do streamed movies and shows tend to buffer and stop a lot more than other types of videos | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b00cbt/eli5_why_do_streamed_movies_and_shows_tend_to/ | {
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"Movies and shows are expected to be of a certain quality. User videos like those on YouTube don't need to be the same quality so they can be compressed more. This means that there is less data that needs to be transferred per second. \n\n & #x200B;\n\nThe more data per second that is needed the easier it is for the data to get behind and more buffering is needed to get smooth playback."
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431iyd | why is china now defending the yuan if it purposefully devalued its currency a months ago? did they make a mistake? | Also the fact that if china is going through a transition from an export based economy to a more consumer and service based economy. Why the FX intervention in the first place? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/431iyd/eli5_why_is_china_now_defending_the_yuan_if_it/ | {
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"Basically, since China is a dictatorship run by the Chinese Communist Party, they are the ones calling all the shots and you guessed it, they made a mistake - or they made what they think is a mistake.\n\nFor example, they programmed a \"circuit breaker\" in the Shanghai Stock Exchange that halts trading if stocks drop more than 7.5% - they hoped that people would calm down and then the market could recover. The opposite happened, however, and after the stock market re-opened, people sold with greater fervor, again triggering the market to halt trading. So, they had to can that idea.\n\nWhat the CCP fear the most is a bad economy, which would foment civil unrest and perhaps pose a challenge to their absolute authority. They'll do anything they can to ensure good economic numbers, including building massive empty cities (Ghost Cities - look it up online, very interesting!)."
]
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63aysd | are days actually longer in the winter and why is this? | Are days longer in the winter or shorter?
I'm currently reading a book titled "Welcome To The Universe" by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Michael A Strauss and J. Richard Gott.
In the book they mention that in the Northern Hemisphere the days become shorter and the nights longer which is conflicting of the saying "The days get longer in the winter and shorter in the summer."
They don't really go into great detail about how this is, and upon googling it you find many places claiming the days are indeed longer in the winter in the Northern Hemisphere which is very confusing.
I've tried to understand the science behind it but its all very confusing or not clear at all to me.
So, are the days actually longer in the winter and why exactly is this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63aysd/eli5_are_days_actually_longer_in_the_winter_and/ | {
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"Yes, in the sense that a day is the time between sunrise and sunset while night is between sunset and sunrise. The time from noon to noon is essentially constant year round (24 hours, also called a day).\n\nThis is because the axis that earth spins on isn't lined up with the plane that it orbits the sun in. When earth is on one side of the sun the northern hemisphere is points towards the sun and the southern hemisphere is pointed away. 6 months later they're reversed. ",
"A day is about 24 hours regardless of the season. But the amount of sunlight and darkness depends on the earth's rotation around the sun. It's not like a day is longer or shorter, it's just the tilt of the planet.",
" \"The days get longer in the winter and shorter in the summer.\"\nThis is called one of the \"lies we tell children.\"\n\nStrictly speaking, Winter starts at on the shortest day of the year. Days get longer all winter long.\n\nSummer starts on the longest day of the year. Days are getting shorter all summer long.\n\nBut the official starts are not what people think of as the season.\n\nFurther, earth wobbles enough that the solstice might not be the shortest or longest day, there are some interesting youtube videos on it but I don't remember what their titles were. You might want to check them out.\n\n",
"The days *are* shorter, but they *get* longer in the winter. The days *are* longer and they *get* shorter in the summer.\n\nThe winter solstice (approximately December 21st) is the shortest day of the year. The summer solstice (approximately June 21st) is the longest day of the year. That means between December 21st and June 21st, the days get longer, they peak on the first day of summer, and then they get progressively shorter until the first day of winter again. The equinoxes (the first day of fall and the first day of spring) are when we have twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of night.\n\nThe seasons end up working out like this:\n\nWinter: days are shorter than nights, getting longer \nSpring: days are longer than nights, getting longer \nSummer: days are longer than nights, getting shorter \nFall: days are shorter than nights, getting shorter \n"
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6wvrj6 | why is reddit valued at "only" ~$1.8 billion, when less popular sites (e.g. twitter) are worth many times more? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6wvrj6/eli5_why_is_reddit_valued_at_only_18_billion_when/ | {
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"Reddit isn't publicly traded (there hasn't been an IPO yet), so speculation can't inflate the value of the company like Twitter or Tesla.\n\nA company is basically worth how much people are willing to pay for shares of it, but you can't buy shares in Reddit yet.\n\nIt's also not profitable, yet, which doesn't help.",
"Well, for one, twitter allows people to monetize content they create using ads from which twitter gets a cut. Reddit doesn't. You can have a billion unique users on your site, but if they're not doing anything that's making you money, it doesn't matter from the perspective of the market value of your site."
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rtimy | how do they make different coloured led lights. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/rtimy/eli5_how_do_they_make_different_coloured_led/ | {
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"[This couldn't hurt to link to.](_URL_0_)\n\nNotice how the wavelength decreases when the voltage increases. Combine this with the information darkfrost47 provided, that they are made of different materials. I believe the materials are also there in the chart.\n\nHope this helps!"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.densitron.com/displays/led_color_chart.aspx"
]
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180ynk | why does unlawfully seized pieces of evidence get thrown out of court? shouldn't they hold at least some weight? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/180ynk/eli5_why_does_unlawfully_seized_pieces_of/ | {
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"The concern is that, if evidence collected illegally is allowed in court, that will motivate police to collect evidence illegally when they *really* want someone to be found guilty.",
"The writers of the constitution felt that the benefit of getting someone who may have committed a crime through unreasonable search and seizure is not worth the cost of encouraging and allowing unreasonable search and seizure.\n\nIt doesn't count because a world where it counted wasn't and isn't considered worth it.",
"Context is everything. If presented evidence was taken illegally, then how do you know it wasn't tampered with as well? If a government wants to prosecute someone, and that government can't even follow the rules itself, then what right does that government have to prosecute someone? ",
"The evidence isn't always thrown out.\n\n In Canada, and in many common wealth jurisdictions the judge has to decide what would cause more disrepute for the justice system: allowing the illegally obtained evidence to be admissible into court or not allowing the illegally obtained evidence to be admissible into court. Generally, allowing the illegally obtained evidence into court is thought to cause more disrepute to the justice system so the evidence is thrown out. Even if the evidence is judged to be inadmissible it doesn't mean the accused gets it back. For example, if drugs were seized illegally they would be disposed off instead of given back to the accused. "
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ecr90w | what causes people to fall asleep rocking on a chair? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ecr90w/eli5_what_causes_people_to_fall_asleep_rocking_on/ | {
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"Educated guess, but probably evolution and habit. \n\nFor a very long period of man's history, we were nomadic. I recommend reading \"Dawn over the Kalahari\" by a Swedish author Lasse Berg if you want to know more about this. During this period it was vital for the mother to be close to her child at all times. Therefor, it was common that the she carried the child on her stomach when walking. This is thought to be responsible for many infantile connections, such as need for physical contact, attachment theory and (you guessed it) rocking! Rocking, might be connected to the rocking back and forth of hanging on a person that is walking. Why this happens on a neurological level I'm not sure if it is known, just that it activates sleep patterns as usual when we are rocked.",
"Rocking in a chair while holding a baby simulates the same feelings for the baby of being in the womb and the mother walking. At a very deep level, this would be one of your most calm and safe memories / feelings from as long as your body and remember. This state of mind (calm, at ease) is where you can easily fall asleep. Carry that forward into adulthood and it’s basically a learned habit to fall asleep when relaxed, and rocking relaxed me because it always has since before my logical mind can remember."
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2dfvrs | when i rub my eyes and i'm blinded by all these colours, what am i seeing? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dfvrs/eli5_when_i_rub_my_eyes_and_im_blinded_by_all/ | {
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"Instead of being activated by light, pressure can cause your photoreceptors to trigger.",
"Photoreceptors are also mechanically gated and send signals to the brain just as photons cause it to. Rubbing or pushing on your eyes will open these receptors and allow an action potential to be sent to the brain, triggering a sensation of visuals",
"Just did it now, except I held my hands there. Really pretty, some space odyssey shit right there."
]
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etr82y | how do rich people that have major financial problems get to stay rich? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/etr82y/eli5_how_do_rich_people_that_have_major_financial/ | {
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"They aren't immune to bankruptcies in the slightest you just misunderstand how the process works. When a person, or business more so in this scenario goes through a bankruptcy they are given some legal protections and time to make good with their creditors. This is range from just reconfiguring their debts to a price they can continue to pay or sell everything they own and divvy up the proceeds to the creditors."
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3r9rvu | what happens when a person blind from birth takes/smokes something and hallucinates | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3r9rvu/eli5_what_happens_when_a_person_blind_from_birth/ | {
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"If they've been totally blind since birth, they have no knowledge or experience of what vision is like, so they don't hallucinate visions.\n\nTheir hallucinations will be similar to dreams. Crazy stuff can still happen, it just won't involve sight.\n\nA totally blind person explained it to me this way once: \"In my dreams, I'm still blind. I experience the world through touch and hearing. However, sometimes things happen in dreams without me even noticing how - like someone knocks on my door and I know who it is even though I don't remember seeing them or hearing their voice, I just know - or I walk to the store and I don't remember figuring out how to get there or crossing the street, in my dream I just somehow end up there.\"\n\nDreams and hallucinations are entirely in the brain. If you hallucinate there's an elephant in the room (literally), you don't really 'see' the elephant with your eyes, your brain perceives it. A blind person could hallucinate an elephant too - they might not see it literally, but they could feel it, smell it, hear it, and observe others' reaction to the sudden appearance of the pachyderm.\n"
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3qj0db | difference between ct scan and cat scans? | As title states if there is or isn't a difference between a CT scan and a CAT scan | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qj0db/eli5_difference_between_ct_scan_and_cat_scans/ | {
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"Sorta.\n\nCAT stands for Computed/Computerized Axial Tomography. The 'axial' refers to the particular method of scanner the machine utilizes. In an axial scan, the x-ray tube inside the machine's housing does a full rotation around the patient, emitting x-rays and gathering data, and then once the rotation is finished, the patient is slid down a fixed distance and the x-ray tube does a full rotation again. This method provides good amount of coverage in terms of imaging data, but relatively speaking it's slower and requires more radiation to the patient when compared to the technology used today - Helical scanning.\n\nNow the reason we had axial scanning was because there's a lot of tubes and cables inside the housing of the scanner. If you're spinning those around a lot, as you can imagine this can result in the cables getting tangled up. So in the early models, they would do a full rotation and then rotate back to the start position while the patient was slid further into the machine.\n\nHowever, a new development called a slip ring was developed. This allowed power and data to be sent through a series of metal brushes that are in contact against a large metallic ring. This removed the need for the wires and cables that would tangled up, and thus the x-ray tube could now spin around freely inside the machine without risk.\n\nThis eventually lead to the development of the new method of scanning, helical scanning. In this method, the tube is continually spinning and emitting x-rays and the patient is continuously slid through the machine's bore. There's no stop-and-go movement. This allows for much faster scanning and lower radiation doses to the patient. Technically you lose detail and resolution as a result, but advancements in other technologies allowed us to compensate for those loses. \n\nTL;DR - the A stands for axial, a method of scanning. We don't use it as much anymore, switching primarily to helical scanning. CHT doesn't have the same ring to it.\n\nSource: I use CT scanners. There is one sitting to my left right now."
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3midbf | do house plants really "oxygenate a room" to any detectable or beneficial level? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3midbf/eli5do_house_plants_really_oxygenate_a_room_to/ | {
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"No, not really.\n\nUnless you live in an air-tight bubble houseplants don't do nearly enough gas exchanging to make a difference.",
"Yes if you have a small greenhouse full of 'em in your room, not really if it's a tiny cactus or something. And any gains are kind of nullified when outside air blows through.\n\nFor most places, the benefits from indoor plants are really that they look nice, they can cause the people in that room to feel more relaxed by helping to create a certain mood (like a bonsai), and some such as the Spider Plant actually help remove some bad chemicals like benzene out of the air over time.\n\n",
"No. A well-kept 30x30 foot lawn just barely produces enough oxygen to breathe for a single person. If you were to have a small forest in your house, it would produce enough to breathe, but enough air flows in and out of the house through all the cracks, holes, and air vents that it really wont make a difference."
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[],
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9f9qcp | why are some unions powerful and respected by their industries, while other attempts to unionize (such as walmart) can be pounced on and shut down by large corporations? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9f9qcp/eli5_why_are_some_unions_powerful_and_respected/ | {
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"Organizations *always* pounce on and try to suppress attempts to unionize, as unions threaten their bottom line and their freedom to do what they want. When the union is in the process of being formed it's at its weakest. Once it's been formed, it's got a lot more power and industries will often play nice with them because it's in their best interest--they no longer have a chance of breaking the union. Before it's formed, potential members stand to be hurt by joining it. There's a whole standard bag of tricks companies have to prevent unionization, such as penalizing people who advocate for the union by firing and/or intimidation, rewarding people who are anti-union, and releasing anti-union propaganda. Once it's been formed, there's less they can do. A lot of pro-union laws were passed in the early 20th century that make it illegal to retaliate against unions. And unions have the funds and organization to fight such retaliation."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
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7hzeqr | why do us companies have to comply with eu internet laws? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7hzeqr/eli5_why_do_us_companies_have_to_comply_with_eu/ | {
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"text": [
"It's because the sites are visible and used in the EU. If they ignored the requirement I guess eventually they would be blocked from trading with countries in Europe.",
"Many US companies do business in Europe, so they will have to comply with those laws. If they are going business in any place where a court ruling against them would adversely affect their business, then they will want to comply with those laws.\n\nAnd even if a company isn't doing business in Europe now, they might plan to at a later date, so designing their website to comply with that law isn't a bad idea. Also, it will protect them if the US passes a similar law in the future.",
"To be fair, yes some internet companies ignore EU laws without any consequences.\n\nBut they're nearly always small companies. They have no formal ties to the EU.\n\nThis is a different story for larger companies which will certainly have ties to the EU in a way. Their bank accounts could be frozen, their assets be seized, their contracts with EU based companies made void, etc etc.",
"If it is a a US company, with servers in the US and a website targeting US consumers there is no need to comply with EU directives.\n\nIt's the last factor that's the contentious bit. If the website's intended audience is in the EU it could be a good deal more complicated. \n\nThis is due to the [Privacy Shield](_URL_0_) framework which the US and EU signed up to. This allows US companies to process the data of EU citizens provided that agree to do so under the data protection and privacy laws of the EU. Companies that have signed up to the framework are bound by EU directives (at least when processing the data of EU citizens). \n\nWithout Privacy Shield, US companies would be forced to process the data of EU citizens within the boundaries of the EU, meaning their servers, infrastructure, etc would have to be physically relocated.\n\nIn regards to the cookie directive, it's probably easier to just obtain the consent of *everyone* regarding cookies rather than trying to work out which visitors are in the EU and only applying it to them. "
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"https://www.privacyshield.gov/welcome"
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4z585g | why is there a "tiny house movement" when camper/trailers have existed for decades? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4z585g/eli5_why_is_there_a_tiny_house_movement_when/ | {
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"Two things: Trailers aren't custom built. Tiny houses tend to be so if there's anything you don't like about the design, you change it. The other is that campers aren't designed and built to be a primary residence. Rather, they're built to be driven around, so make choices in materials and such that you don't make when building a tiny house, because you intend to build your tiny house, park it somewhere and not move for a long period of time. Campers are temp homes to be brought on the road, tiny houses are just tiny houses. ",
"You can build a tiny house without worrying about its weight. So you can make your walls properly insulated to save on heating and AC, properly dampened so your neighbors don't need to listen to your music, and structurally sound so they don't start shaking during a good storm.\n\nIt's also far easier to install water, gas and sewage if you know that it's never going to move.",
"u/Fauler_Lentz has some good info about the difference between a tiny house and a trailer, I'll go into why it is a movement now. There is a trend toward minimalism. Partly this is just a fashion that comes and goes, but people also need to own less stuff. Twenty years ago, a home would contain dozens or hundreds of books, similar numbers of CD or record albums, movie DVDs, boxes of personal photos. Today, a single tablet can contain it all. Amazon will deliver almost any product to your door quickly, so having reduced storage space doesn't have to mean shopping often."
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2o91vw | how does a phone call get from the caller to the callee ? | Actually more of a "ELI my information is more than 20 years out of date and probably off to start with." From what I understood, the area code and exchange were enough to tell you (roughly) where a call was to go physically and that the routing hardware at your local CO would have whatever routing information was needed to make the connection from point A to B. Given that digital switches have been the norm for a really long time now and things like number portability and cell phones easily confound old ideas about a phone number tying to a location, I'm wondering how this sort of thing is handled now.
**EDIT** I'm more interested in how the connection is switched now as opposed to the basics of voice modulation.
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2o91vw/eli5_how_does_a_phone_call_get_from_the_caller_to/ | {
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"In a modern network, voice can be either circuit switched (as in days of old, where a physical or virtual circuit was set up all the way from calling to called parties), or it can be packet switched. In the latter case, each individual packet (collection of bytes of data) is handled individually by the network and sent on its merry way, in a similar vein to internet data.\n\nYou mention number portability. This does still rely on the dialling codes to a degree.\n\nI'm British, and so I'm going to use the names of some of our networks to illustrate this. I used to be on the Orange network. I changed, to use the Vodafone network.\n\nIf you call my number, then the call still goes to Orange. Orange still hold information on my phone number, and always will do - because the dialling code is specific to them. Orange, however, know that I'm now a Vodafone customer, and so they forward the call over to Vodafone's network, who handle it from there on."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
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