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5u98ti | when a 60+ degree day comes a few days after a snowstorm, most of the snow on the street melts but there's some that survives. how/why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5u98ti/eli5_when_a_60_degree_day_comes_a_few_days_after/ | {
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"Snow is white. It reflects most of the light energy that hits it, instead of absorbing the energy and melting. The ambient air temperature melts the ice, but slowly compared to if it could absorb light energy instead of convection heat from the air alone."
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3jx0ch | why is a car lease a bad idea? why do leases have a bad reputation in general? | $99 a month seems too good to be true. Just want to know how bad it is.
My parents are considering it because of the $99 price tag, but they don't internet and I feel they will get ripped off. What would be a better way to get a low payment per month and own the car?
_URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jx0ch/eli5_why_is_a_car_lease_a_bad_idea_why_do_leases/ | {
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"First, I would do a search in /r/personalfinance . This is a frequent topic of debate there, and you can find some good threads on it. \n\nThe general argument is that buying gives you an asset---the car---which retains at least some value and usually lasts past its payments. So buying a car that costs $99 a month is the superior choice to leasing a car for $99 a month. At the end of the lease all of that money is gone, but at the end of the car payments you probably still have the car to resell or use. And, for many people, the amount of car they can get for the price of the lease would still be \"just as good\" as the car they could lease.\n\nBut, as you note, sometimes lease prices are just \"too good to be true.\" This is especially the case if you want an expensive car more than you care about the possibility of saving some money in the long run, or you have some reason to prefer having the best/newest car you can afford (say to impress future clients, or to impress potential mates). In those situations leasing is \"smarter,\" at least to some people, because it's a way to get access to a vehicle of higher quality. ",
"Leasing and buying a car each have advantages.\n\nLeasing:\n\nPros:\n\n1) Usually cheaper both in terms of down payment, and monthly payments. You can drive a nicer car for the same amount of money.\n\n2) Maintenance is often cheap or free. Factory warranties cover most repairs above and beyond extremely basic maintenance over the course of a typical lease.\n\n3) You can hand in the car at the end of the lease and stop paying. In effect, you have someone who has already promised to buy the car, and at a set price.\n\nCons:\n\n1) You don't own the car. You have to hand it back at the end of the lease.\n\n2) You are usually limited in how you use the car. Leases usually give you a per year mileage limit, and they can get expensive if you exceed that amount of mileage.\n\n3) It can be hard to get out of a lease, if your situation changes and you suddenly need a different size or type of car.\n\nBuying:\n\nPros:\n\n1) You own the car. You can modify it as you like, and keep it even after you pay off the financing.\n\n2) In the very long run it's cheaper. Yeah, per month you're paying more, but if you keep the car after paying it off, that $0 car payment starts to add up.\n\n3) You can sell the car whenever you like, if your needs change. You're less likely to get stuck in a bad situation if you lose your job and need to downsize, or if you need to buy that minivan to cart around your unexpected triplets.\n\nCons:\n\n1) It's risky. Once the warranty expires, you are responsible for all the maintenance and repairs, and that could be a very reasonable cost or it could be exorbitant with no real way to accurately predict the future.\n\n2) You pay more every month while financing. You're usually limited to a less expensive car than you could get on a lease because of this.\n\n3) Even after you've paid off the loan, you have a depreciating asset, that loses you money as it ages. \n\nYou'll notice that most of the advantages of leasing are to do with having a newer, nicer car on the same monthly payment, while most of the advantages of buying a car are in cheaper long term ownership. If you're the type of person that feels the need to always be driving a car that's only a few years old, and you'd always be upgrading anyway, the lease is the better option. If you are OK driving the same car for the next 10 years, you're far better off buying.\n\nMost people who give advice on this kind of stuff are in the second category of people, which is why you hear to *always* buy a car, never lease. But really, it comes down to preference and priorities.",
"There are a couple of situations where leasing makes financial sense.\n\n1. If your life situation is such that you can't afford a down payment on the car you need, but could more easily have it in two years (say, divorce settlement on horizon), leasing can get you a new car that you couldn't otherwise finance. Basically, you're shifting the big payment from the beginning to the end of the rental period. Very narrow niche.\n2. If you are a salesman in a business where \"appearance is everything\", such that you always need to drive a new or nearly-new car, leasing can work for you. You drive the car for 50,000 miles and give it back, and you haven't had to do ANY significant maintenance on it except oil changes -- brakes last that long, tires last that long, auto trans fluid doesn't need to be swapped in that interval, cabin air filter is probably still OK, etc, etc.\n\nBeyond that, it's pretty much the same rent-vs-own argument as anything else. You pays yer $99 a month, and you've got a vehicle to use for two years at a cost of $2376."
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1cll3z | subnet masks. i just don't get it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1cll3z/eli5_subnet_masks_i_just_dont_get_it/ | {
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"IP (v4) addresses are 32-bits in length (usually represented as 4 groups of 8-bits). A subnet mask tells the computer how many of the bits (going from left-to-right) are part of the subnet.\n\nThe subnet mask is used to compare 2 addresses to see if they are on the same subnet or not. To do this, we compare only the bits that are part of the subnet mask.\n\nA common mask is /24, which means the first 24 bits (which is also the first 3 \"groups\") are used. \n\nFor masks that are not 8,16,24, or 32 the math is a little more complicated. The mask is used as a logical \"AND\" operation on both addresses, and the result of these two ANDs is then compared. ",
"So, think of it this way: your computer network is like an apartment building. And your building has a street address, a number. This is the IP address of your network. A subnetork is like the apartment number, there are many of them within the building. A subnet mask differentiates the apartments from the main building. So it tells the network at 53 Main St. that the apartments are numbered 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc so that it can find different apartments. It also prevents the network from going into rooms that it's not supposed to, like ones labeled Maintenance or Office, because they're not correctly formatted.\n\nFor example: if your computer has an IP address of 192.168.4.21, the subnet mask is set to 255.255.255.0, then that computer will only work with subnetworks formatted as 255.255.255.x. The mask \"filters\" any subnetworks that do not fit that format, hence the name \"mask\". \n\nThis could be wildly off, but it's how I understand it based on the [Wiki article on subnetworks](_URL_0_) and this [IP tutorial.](_URL_1_)",
"Like phone numbers, IPv4 subnet mask indicate the \"area code\" of the computer that has that address.\n\nWhat's different, though, is that you can choose which part of the address is the \"area code\" and which part is the \"phone number\".\n\nWhen two computers are in the same subnet, they have the same \"area code\", meaning they are on the same network and can connect directly to each other.\n\nWhen a computer wants to talk to another one with a different subnet address, it sends its message to a special device (PC or router) called the default gateway. The gateway will examine the IP, and then decide where to forward the message.\n\nSo a PC needs:\n\n- an IP address so it can talk and listen to messages\n- a subnet mask, which tells it how many bits of the address are used to identify the network\n- a default gateway address, so it knows where to send messages that belong to a PC outside of the local network (=subnet).\n\nNormally, you also have the adress of the DNS server, which keeps a list of names that match IP addresses so you don't have to deal with numbers when looking for a machine.\n\n\nExample: \nPC's IP address: 192.168.0.104\n\nSubnet mask: 255.255.255.0 means that 192.168.0 identifies the subnet, and 104 identifies the computer.\n\nDefault gateway: 192.168.0.254 the computer will send messages to this address when it wants to connect to a computer that doesn't have 192.168.0 as its subnet.\n\nDNS server: 192.168.0.1 will translate names to IP addresses.\n\nAnd if you have a big subnet, instead of going nuts managing IP addresses, you set up a DHCP server that will take care of all that automatically.\n\nEDIT: GRMMR",
"in furtherance of the above, the only reason why there are subnet masks in the first place is because the first routing protocols required networks to be Class A, B, C or D... This limited routing possibilities, ip address allocation and also created massive collision domains, and the work around was to employ subnet masking, which goes hand in hand with classless routing. Soo, with a subnet mask, a network administrator can define networks as small as 4 ip addresses (network, 2 usable, broadcast) no matter where they fell in the classful system previously.\n\nClassful systems are the systems where the networks were hard defined as:\n\nClass A is equiv to /8 networks between 0 and 127\n\nClass B is equiv to /16 networks between 128 and 191\n\nClass C is equiv to /24 networks between 192 and 223\n\nThe other classes then go on to make up the remainder, multicast and so on and so forth. The early routers did not use subnets, so all network routers had no subnet mask but relied on these default rules!",
"Imagine you send lots of letters between yourself and others around the apartment block, your city and the world. Your address could look like:\n_URL_0_.London.120 Fleet Street.156\n\nLet's say the postman is *really* lazy and doesn't want to waste time reading your full address every time; He suggests using a subnet mask. If you wanted to send a letter to someone else in your apartment you'd send to the address: ...298. The postman assumes it's the same country, city, etc and delivers it to room 298 in the same apartment block.\n\nIf you had to send a letter outside your apartment block, you'd send the letter to the full address. _URL_0_.Manchester.1 Deansgate.1A and the postie would know to route it outside the apartment block.\n\nImagine sending millions of parcels every minute, using subnet masks can relieve traffic load and congestion :)\n\n",
"There's two parts to an ip address. Network and computer. An IP is 4 bytes.\n\nA Mask is the bits that are the network portion by ANDing them together: \n\nType | As Binary\n---|----------------------\nIP | 1100 0000.1010 1000. 0000 0001.0000 0001 \nSubnet | 1111 1111.1111 1111. 1111 1111.0000 0000\nResult | 1100 0000.1010 1000. 0000 0001.0000 0000\n\nRouters forward IPs where result doesn't equal the same network as their interface network out whatever interface they think is closest to that network.\n\nRouters ignore packets that are for the local network.\n\nSome routers have built in switches. A switch basically just listens for a signal and repeats it out all the other ports including to the router. \n\nI lied a bit earlier. Switches build a table of MAC addresses based on sending packets from computers, then they only repeat packets marked with that destination on the port that contains the MAC.",
"Many of these posts are accurate but they haven't really gotten into why subnet masks exist and how your computer uses them.\nIf you're computer's ip is 192.168.1.115 and your netmask is 255.255.255.0, that means your \"range\" is 192.168.1.0-255. Other people have done a great job explaining this. But what this actually does for you is if your computer tries to contact \"192.168.1.112\", your comuter uses the netmask to determine \"Is this IP on my local network? As in, can I contact it _directly_?\". If the the destination IP is 216.68.4.10, that's is very much outside your range - so your computer sends that packet of information to your GATEWAY address and lets it handle the next step. Your gateway will always be within your \"range\" of IP's.",
"The subnet mask just tells how big the network you're dealing with is.\n\nIf your mask is 0.0.0.0, then there are no allocated addresses, and the world is your burrito. This is commonly used on gateways, to signify that every address can be reached via that route.\n\nIf your mask is 255.0.0.0 that means the first number has been assigned (for example 10.0.0.0/8 would have the subnet mask 255.0.0.0. So would 243.0.0.0/8...The slash notation is kind of redundant in this context, since it's really just another shorthand for telling the size of the available address space) but the other three have not.\n\nBy the same token, 255.255.0.0, means the first two numbers have been assigned (e.g. 192.168.0.0), 255.255.255.0 means the first 3 numbers have been assigned (192.168.1.0) and 255.255.255.255 means all numbers have been assigned (192.168.1.10).\n\nNow, you're probably wondering WHY, and the answer is routing. Traffic needs to know where to go, so there will be \"routes\" in every system to that it uses to direct traffic. The netmask allows you to set a route for a range of IP addresses, so rather than having to do something like:\n\n Destination Gateway \n 10.10.1.2 10.10.1.1 \n 10.10.1.3 10.10.1.1 \n 10.10.1.4 10.10.1.1 \n 10.10.1.5 10.10.1.1 \n ...\n 10.10.1.255 10.10.1.1 \n\nYou can just do this:\n\n Destination Gateway Netmask \n 10.10.1.0 10.10.1.1 255.255.255.0\n\nYou also commonly see netmasks for very small ranges of addresses. For example, if you have an address like 192.168.1.1 with the mask of 255.255.255.240, what that tells you is that you have 192.168.1.1- > 192.168.1.16 in your address space. These days, it's more common to see it written in the CIDR format (e.g. 192.168.1.1/28)\n\ntl;dr: IP address tells you where to start counting, netmask tells you where to stop.",
"Subnet masks exist to help computers communicate. A subnet mask is a range of addresses; your subnet could be small and have 1 computer address or it could be large and have thousands of computer addresses. \n\n When communicating to other computers your computer checks to see if the other one has an address within its range or outside its range. \n\nIf the address is inside the range your computer looks for the other computer within your local network, meaning both computers can find each other without asking a router for help. If the address is outside the range your computer asks your router to find the other computer because your router has at least two subnets or ranges and has another router to ask in case the address isn't within the ranges that it knows about. \n\nThis continues until one router has the address in one of its ranges and the address is found."
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mxi8u | what happens when you knead bread dough | I understand that it strengthens the dough, but how does this happen? How much kneading is "too much," and what happens to the dough at this point? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/mxi8u/eli5_what_happens_when_you_knead_bread_dough/ | {
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"By kneading together your dough, you're making gliadin and glutelin combine into gluten. Gluten is elastic and springy. It's this elastic property that allows the dough to catch the gasses produced by the yeast/baking powder/baking soda/leavening, blowing bubbles.\n\nIf you overknead the dough, the gluten gets too strong and the leavening can't raise the bread, so it just gets hard and dense.",
"[1](_URL_0_)\n\nIt's not about incorporating air at all, but rather facilitating a reaction that allows the water and flour to bind and form gluten. Without this, the gluten in the dough wouldn't be strong enough to contain air (CO2, as a waste product of the yeast) to rise, and would then collapse.\n\nYou don't knead something like banana bread because it's unleavened and not meant to rise (and is dense as a result). You likewise don't knead many cakes because they're chemically leavened (with baking powder) and not organically leavened (with yeast). Chemical leavening is much faster than using yeast.",
"By kneading together your dough, you're making gliadin and glutelin combine into gluten. Gluten is elastic and springy. It's this elastic property that allows the dough to catch the gasses produced by the yeast/baking powder/baking soda/leavening, blowing bubbles.\n\nIf you overknead the dough, the gluten gets too strong and the leavening can't raise the bread, so it just gets hard and dense.",
"[1](_URL_0_)\n\nIt's not about incorporating air at all, but rather facilitating a reaction that allows the water and flour to bind and form gluten. Without this, the gluten in the dough wouldn't be strong enough to contain air (CO2, as a waste product of the yeast) to rise, and would then collapse.\n\nYou don't knead something like banana bread because it's unleavened and not meant to rise (and is dense as a result). You likewise don't knead many cakes because they're chemically leavened (with baking powder) and not organically leavened (with yeast). Chemical leavening is much faster than using yeast."
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7u2m8d | while i definitely understand the need to cut down on our plastic combustion, what are some of the alternatives being proposed or researched for goods, food, etc..? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7u2m8d/eli5_while_i_definitely_understand_the_need_to/ | {
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"A big issue is the use of plastic which isnt needed in the first place. For instance, you can buy on orange with the skin pre-peeled and wrapped in plastic which is... stupid. So if we cut all of that out, a lot of the time we don't need alternatives. Then obvious things like cardboard straw and reusable bottles / cups. \nSo the first issue is just cutting plastic where it isn't needed. Where it is needed / clearly the best option, I am not an expert in how the theory works but the aim is to produce decomposable options",
"There are plenty of alternatives materials we can use, but the core problem is the attitudes of the manufacturers and consumers.\n\nThe three Rs:\n* _Reduce_\n* _Reuse_\n* _Replace_\n\n__Reduce:__ For the supposed convenience of the consumer, so much of our things come with extras we didn’t even ask for...they’re thrust upon us. Go to a fast food or chain coffee shop and look at all the pre-packaged crap that comes with it. Napkins, condiment sachets, plastic knives and forks (in its own wrapping). It comes by default, it’s assumed...you never ask for it. The problem isn’t that they supply it, it’s that they give you it without asking and most of us don’t bother to correct them. Also, these take-out conveniences often serve in-house customers, as it’s just cheaper to bin all the one-use stuff than to have the facilities to wash them (eg. salt / pepper shakers at a KFC).\n\n__Reuse:__ Plastic isn’t the devil, it’s that we’re producing it in a way that, by its design, its assumed/implied its one-use. If the container really needs to be plastic, it should be robust enough to last, to be reused...and to have the infrastructure to let it be reused.\n\n__Replace:__ This comes in two fronts: either replace the one-use material to something that biodegrades, or replace it entirely with something intended to be kept. For the former, things like paper straws, wooden cutlery and popcorn packaging. For the latter, incentives/ease-of-access to not even take a one-use item...like discounts for using your own cup, or no need for bottled water when everywhere will top you up for free.\n\nIt takes consumers to change bad habits and to hold themselves and companies to account. It’s for the manufacturers to invest in something beyond profit.\n\nI don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but this whole ‘war on one-use’ right now not only seems a bit half-arsed / showy, it’s also probably a decade too late."
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16w0yu | the nfl draft | I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but as a Norwegian I am at a total loss as to what the drafts are or what they mean to the teams? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16w0yu/eli5_the_nfl_draft/ | {
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"After being in college for at least three years, all the best players get to be picked by nfl teams to play for them. For fairness, team records determine the draft order, so the worst team in the nfl gets first pick of any college player. They can trade this pick for a current player or use it. "
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2alrwf | how does the calculator count? | What happens inside the "machine"? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2alrwf/eli5_how_does_the_calculator_count/ | {
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"This is not really ELI5 but maybe it helps:: _URL_0_"
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2dihhv | why do some people look like they have a certain name? | For example, people often state things to others such as "You look like a Michael" or "You don't really look like a Taylor". Why is this? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dihhv/eli5why_do_some_people_look_like_they_have_a/ | {
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"\"A lot of people are fucking stupid\"- George Carlin",
"You meet someone with a certain name, Justin, who is a complete asshat. You then make a connection between the name Justin and them being an asshat. So when you meet someone who is polite and sweet also named Justin, it seems like they shouldn't have that name.\n\nThis is just my personal experiences though.",
"Eh, if someone looks like a \"good ole' boy\" from the South I think it's fairly safe to assume that they're going to have a traditional, super common, masculine sounding name. \n\nCommunities do have their tendencies and they're rarely creative.",
"Associations you've made from past experiences. ",
"You relate the person's looks or personality to that of someone you already know, therefore making them seem like that person. ",
"Chads are always the worst.\n(I don't know the answer to your question though, sorry).",
"People like to recognize patterns. Not all people see the same patterns. Like constellations in the sky. One person sees a bear and the other sees a spoon. \n \nBased on people you have interacted with you develop a pattern for how you associate people to names. Enough people with similar features and names will begin to emerge as a pattern. \n\n",
"Names come into fashion in different demographics of people at different times. For example, When I was growing up a lot of the middle and upper class girls were named Ashley and Britney. They were cheerleaders and high on the social ladder. When I got in my 20s, I saw the Ashleys and Britneys that were in my younger siblings class and they were all lower class. The names fell out of fashion with the middle and upper class, probably because the lower class started using those names. When I see a girl named Ashley that is my age or older, I tend to associate her with a wealthier, or as least a more fashionable family. When I see an Ashley that is noticeably younger than me I picture a lower class girl and all the mean things that you can think about lower class girls.\n\nA name like Billy Bob you would assume that guy is from the south because I can't think of a New Yorker named Billy Bob. What /u/risenashes said, \"You meet someone with a certain name.. and you make a connection between someone else you know what that name.\" is also true.\n\nSo, I guess it is a mix of a person's name that narrows down what kind of parents they have and your association with that name.\n\nAlso, Sorry to the Ashleys and Britneys that read this.",
"When you feel the smell of freshly cut grass, it might make you think about summer time. When you see a yellow car, you think about cabs. When you look at an oddly shaped cloud, you think of a face.\n\nOur thoughts make associations between what we perceive through our senses and our memories. It also makes associations between our memories and other memories. For example, when you read the word \"dog\" you think it means a four-legged fanimal, and thinking about four-legged animals makes you think of horses.\n\nYou thoughts also makes associations with your emotions. When you are sad and you hear the sound of bells, you might think there was a funeral at a church. If you are happy and you hear the bells toll, you might think of wedding. Stronger emotions make stronger associations of thoughts\n\nThese associations might be lighting fast. When someone types in a keyboard, they think about words, then about the letters in each word, and then their fingers jump to the letters quickly. It is so fast sometimes the person don't think about the sounds words make. They don't think about the fingers moving either.\n\nWhen you look at a someones face, hear their voice or know what they are doing, your thought makes associations with your memories and emotions. Recent memories and strong emotions make stronger associations. And one of these associations might be someone you know the name. Or might be the name itself, because of its meaning or because of its sound."
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2wldp0 | what is superfish? | What is Superfish, what happened, and why is it bad? I've seen a lot of Superfish-related articles up lately, and all I can think of is a caped fish systematically flopping on Lenovos until they break. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2wldp0/eli5_what_is_superfish/ | {
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"It's malware that hijacks secure HTTP connections and serves ads. It's also been compromised so that anyone, not just Lenovo, can hijack your HTTPS connections. It's a pretty severe problem, and if you own an affected machine, you ought to already have cleaned it, if not wiped your system and reinstalled.\n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_0_",
"SuperFish is a piece of adware installed on some Lenovo computers.\n\n\nIt is bad because they installed a digital certificate on the computer which browsers will trust.\n\nThen the adware intercept all web traffic, including HTTPs. When you visited an HTTPs site, the adware signed a certificate for the site using the installed trusted cert.\n\nIe. instead of\n\n You < ---[encrypted]----- > Bank\n\nyou have\n\n\n You < --- [encrypted] --- > superfish < --- [encrypted] --- > bank\n\nwhere the link between you and superfish is encrypted with the superfish certificate.\n\nYour browser trusts the cert, so it doesn't tell you anything is wrong.\n\n\nThe problem is that that the private key is embedded in the software, so anyone can make a certificate that any Lenovo computer will trust. Think the communication between you and your bank is secure? Anyone with the superfish key can be listening in."
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"http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/02/save-yourself-from-your-oems-bad-decisions-with-a-clean-install-of-windows-8-1/",
"http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02/lenovo-pcs-ship-with-man-in-the-middle-adware-that-breaks-https-connections/"
],
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1tnxot | if an emp weapon hit the entirety of the usa, disabling every electronic device in the country, what would be the most likely consequences for individuals, the country and the world? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1tnxot/eli5_if_an_emp_weapon_hit_the_entirety_of_the_usa/ | {
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"most stuff is actually pretty well shielded. if you dont believe me, and think I'm totally full of shit, look on the back of your cell phone, and check that it has been certified by the FCC, to not cause radio interference. if it has the FCC certification its golden.\n\ncars wouldnt care a damn bit either, the ignition system is shielded to hell and back, otherwise you wouldn't be able to get any radio reception for 10 feet around the engine bay. Diesels would laugh at your feeble attempts to short them out using plebeian electrical interference. \n\nthe only stuff that would take a shit would be beaten up and un maintained electronics and wiring. like old black and white portable TV's and old ass transistor radios.\n\nif stuff is properly grounded, Faraday caged, or RF shielded, EMP is just a 2scary4u buzzword. "
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u8g3x | polling companies like yougov - how do they make money? | Is it all from advertising or are they able to sell their polling results to news outlets? Or are they paid to conduct certain polls? Anyone in the industry? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/u8g3x/eli5_polling_companies_like_yougov_how_do_they/ | {
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"Best I can tell, YouGov simply collects groups of people and makes them available to other people who want to do some market research. So, a soda manufacturer might come to YouGov and say \"I want to survey a thousand people 18-35 about the brands of soda they like.\" YouGov and the soda company work together to produce a survey and YouGov gives it to their users. YouGov gets paid by the soda company."
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1rllb8 | how singers like florence welch from florence and the machine manage not to lose their voices? | I mean... she sings very strong, If I scream like that for a quite time am loosing my voice for a weak. How can she keeps her voice? Can she perform a lot or does she have to restrict the amount of live shows their doing? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1rllb8/eli5_how_singers_like_florence_welch_from/ | {
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"Singing properly doesn't do the same damage as screaming does. Even people doing screaming in metal aren't actually screaming.",
"They practice so their vocal chords are stronger and stretchier and they do warm ups with their throat before they step out on stage like an athlete does.",
"What Florence Welch does a lot of is known as belting. This sounds like a bit like screaming but FEELS nothing like it. Using proper breath support, when she sings these powerful high notes, it would feel like her face is buzzing. It's a very hard concept to explain but basically her sound is so 'forward' in her head that the resonance of the vocal cords throughout the skull and chest make it seem like a scream, but it doesn't hurt at all.\n\nFor non-singers, this would be hard to wrap your head around, and even for most singers it is a freaking hard concept to get haha. \n\nPS a lot of people do spend years training this type of singing, and if you get set up with the wrong teacher or try to do it yourself, a lot of people do end up losing their voices.\n\nPeople with healthy belting: Florence, Idina Menzel (recently), Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson\n\nPeople with UNhealthy belting: Christina Aguilera, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus. (and many more) these are the types of singers that end up canceling tours halfway through because vocal problems because they actaully are doing more screaming than singing.\n\nHope this helps and wasnt too confusing!!"
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aie1x3 | how can the sports media know all the possible transfers? even if football societies didn’t talk about it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aie1x3/eli5_how_can_the_sports_media_know_all_the/ | {
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"Usually it is inside sources. Journalists tend to only post during the final negotiation stages, where public opinion would not affect the process.\n\nOrganizations are not as tight lipped, at you would believe, but at the same time if some journalist goes too far, it is pretty easy to deduce who is doing it and reputation travels very fast."
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b7ghsq | why is it that so many u.s states have bans on cell phone use while driving, yet you see tons of text-heavy billboards and flashy signs along roadways that are sometimes as distracting as reading a text on your phone? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b7ghsq/eli5_why_is_it_that_so_many_us_states_have_bans/ | {
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"Field of vision.\n\nWhen you look down or at something close to you, you lose perception and scope of the world around you. You can prove this by looking at your phone to read this on reddit while holding the phone in front of, say, your TV. It's nearly impossible to focus on both (this is also how cameras get field of vision).\n\nWhen something's sufficiently far away, you can essentially focus to infinity - your field of perception is much wider and you can take in much more information.",
"It's not just about staring for too long. With texting and phone calls your brain actually prioritizes the action and places everything on sort of stand by. Which for reaction time specifically is terrible. Reading a billboard or listening to music doesn't have the same affect on our brains and we don't lose the reaction time and focus on driving. "
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ahnuze | how do tax brackets work and why do a lot of people think if you get a raise you actually earn less money? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ahnuze/eli5_how_do_tax_brackets_work_and_why_do_a_lot_of/ | {
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"basically if you earn $100 dollars more and go into the next tax bracket, then only the amount of money above the threshold is subjected to the new tax level. So if taxed at 50% you will only get $50 more in your pay assuming it all falls into the new bracket.",
"Say you make 20k and its taxed at 10% that's 2000 going to taxes, the next tax bracket may be from 20k-50k and taxes are at 15%. You only get taxed 15% for every dollar between 20k-50k everything in the first 20k of income is still taxed at 10%. Many people believe if you make 20,001 all of the pay is taxed at 15% meaning 1 dollar over the 20k would lose you money, when I reality you would only pay 15% tax on the 1 dollar above 20k. \n\nEdit: This is progressive taxing in America, could be different other places.",
"Its not too complicated when you break it down.\n\nA simple system might look like:\n\n$0-$10,000 - 0% tax\n\n$10,001 - $20,000 - 10% tax\n\n$20,001 - $30,000 - 25% tax\n\n$30,001 + - 50% tax\n\nSo in this scenario, if you made $35,000 you would pay:\n\n0% for the first $10,000 = $0 in tax\n\n10% on the next $10,000 = $1,000 in tax\n\n25% on the next $10,000 = $2,500 in tax\n\n50% on the remaining $5,000 = $2,500 in tax\n\nYour total tax bill is - $6,000.\n\nSo on your $35,000 income you paid an *effective* tax rate of 17% since 6/35 = ~17%\n\n___\n\nWhere people get confused (or willfully ignorant) is thinking that you pay the highest rate only. That is incorrect. You pay each step (maybe they should call this the \"tax stairs\") only paying the higher rate on the money that makes it into that tier. ",
"When you include welfare benefits, you can actually lose income on net even if you earn more money from your job. This is because there are many welfare programs that cut off suddenly at the same time.\n\n(in the US)",
"Because people don’t understand only a certain income is taxed at a certain rate. \n\nSay the limit is 50k between 20 and 40% rate, jumping between 49k and 51k would, in their mind, reduce their pay.",
"When your income level falls into a tax bracket you don’t pay that rate for the entire income but instead only pay the relevant percentage for the portion of your income that falls into that bracket. \n\nVox just made a video about this. Give it a try. [Tax Brackets](_URL_0_) ",
"If it actually worked that way, then wouldn't people be clambering for entry level positions that pay less?\n\nThe \"top\" portion of your raise *may* be taxed at a slightly higher rate than the \"lower\" portion of your income. But you would never pay more tax on the lower portion.\n\nI've heard several co-workers say that I shouldn't apply for a promotion because I would be taking home less money. I'm glad to have leapfrogged over them over the years.",
"[Vox Media just posted a video about this! How do tax brackets work?](_URL_0_)",
"Okay, it's payday. You've got four workers in the room and the boss man is coming around with their money.\n\nEverybody earned at least a thousand bucks. Boss man gives everybody a thousand bucks.\n\nWorkers 1, he's done. He walks out of the room with his money. ($1000)\n\nEverybody still in the room earned at least two thousand. Boss man goes around the room and gives everybody another thousand bucks.\n\nBut wait -- there's taxes. Tax man follows up behind and takes a hundred bucks back from everybody. (10% of the last thousand they got.)\n\nWorker 2, she's done. She walks out of the room with her money. ($1000 + $900 = $1900)\n\nThat leaves workers 3 and 4. Big time workers. They each earned at least three thousand. So boss man goes around the room -- it's a short walk -- and gives them each another thousand.\n\nBut tax man's on the case! He comes along right after and takes three hundred bucks back from those two! (30% of the last thousand they got.)\n\nWorker 3 is done. Get out of here, worker 3! Take your money with you! ($1000 + $900 + $700 = $2600)\n\nWorker 4 is a very big time worker. She gets another thousand from boss man. But tax man takes five hundred bucks back from her. (50% of the last thousand she got).\n\nWorker 4 is done. Worker 4 walks out with her pay. ($1000 + $900 + $700 + $500 = $3100)\n\nWorkers all meet up at the bar. Hey guys, how much do you make?\n\nWorker 1: My salary is $1000, and I got $1000.\n\nWorker 2: My salary is $2000, and I got $1900.\n\nWorker 3: My salary is $3000, and I got $2600.\n\nWorker 4: My salary is $4000, and I got $3100.\n\nHey guys, what's your tax rate?\n\nWorker 1: Highest rate 0, effective rate 0.\n\nWorker 2: Highest rate 10%, effective rate 5%.\n\nWorker 3: Highest rate 30%, effective rate 13.3%.\n\nWorker 4: Highest rate 50%, effective rate 22.5%.\n\nTax man: I got $1400 from these guys. I'm gonna go pay for some schools and roads and stuff.\n\nBoss man: Hey, anybody want a $1000 raise next paycheck?\n\nWorkers 1 through 4: Um, yeah?\n\n & #x200B;"
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1vnptg | how did the navajo communicate and why couldn't enemies decipher the language in world war ii? | What's so special about the language (besides its difficulty, I assume) that makes it so hard to understand? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1vnptg/eli5_how_did_the_navajo_communicate_and_why/ | {
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"Because only a handful of non Navajo spoke the language in the US let alone anyone in Japan. It takes years to learn a language fluently and the Japanese had no where to start. \n\nEdit: On top of that they then still used code words in the Navajo language to make it even harder. ",
"Mostly its extreme obscurity especially outside of the US, plus the messages were in code as well as being in Navajo.\n\n\n [source]( _URL_0_)",
"It's a bit more complicated than just being a language not spoken outside of the Americas. It's also because it's from a language family that's not spoken outside of a small group in the Americas. This is important because it makes it about 50 thousand (citation needed) times harder to translate it.\n\nTake for example the English language. English comes from the Indo-European family of languages. That means that it has at least some similarities to other languages in this family, including all of the Romance languages and all of the Germanic languages, etc. So even with no understanding of English, if you know one of the many languages in that language family, you at least have a baseline.\n\nThen compare Navajo. Navajo comes from a family called Na-Dene which, until very recently, was believed to exist only in the Americas. Even still it only existed in small parts of the Yukon and the North.\n\nAs an aside, we now know that there are tribes in Siberia who speak a similar language but that wasn't known at the time.\n\nSo, this being a language not widely spoken, from a language tree that isn't spread outside of our region, with no baseline for other countries to use in their codebreaking, made it a very convenient and efficient language to use.",
"In addition to what everyone else has said (which is solid info), languages in that family have drastically different noun/verb constructions. That's the practical reason why decoding such languages is difficult even for linguists.\n\nIf I remember it right, Navajo and related languages use verbs as the determining factor in sentence construction, as opposed to the subject, object, etc. pieces familiar to Germanic families (if I'm way off here, please correct me). This makes even simple things like parsing out how sentences in that language are set up incredibly difficult for people who have never seen it before."
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7zhf0m | why are the tropics home to so many weird and gruesome diseases compared to more temperate climates? | As the question says, why are tropical diseases so much nastier than temperate ones? What is it about tropical climates which allows them to develop like this? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7zhf0m/eli5_why_are_the_tropics_home_to_so_many_weird/ | {
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"Small organisms that can carry diseases (like mosquitoes and worms) thrive in warm climates, and tend to die in cold climates.",
"A large part is moisture, lush vegetation for nutrients, and (relatively) large population of disease carriers (like mosquitoes and other animals). Additionally, the moisture and large amount of water serve as pathways for disease transport.\n\nThis is a simple reason and doesn't cover the complexities, seeing as it is ELI5.",
"Firstly, there are just a greater variety of diseases in the tropics because of the increased biodiversity. There are more nasty diseases and more harmless diseases.\n\nSecondly, population density is greater in the tropics, which allows for dangerous diseases to spread before killing their host. If some highly deadly disease appeared in a sparsely populated area, very few people would be infected and the disease will die with the victims.\n\nThirdly, economic factors affect the country’s ability to combat disease. Tropical areas tend to have less access to sanitation. Cholera is a terrible disease which is virtually extinct in the developed world thanks to proper sanitation.",
"Another reason could be the heat. The increased heat allows disease-spreading animals like insects to breed more quickly, and more things to grow quickly."
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7rp5ib | how exactly do prophylactic drugs prevent hiv? | I was reading about HIV, and kept seeing mentions of prophylactic drugs being the "nuclear option" and "essentially poison."
How exactly do the drugs work in the body to prevent HIV?
Why are they the nuclear option? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7rp5ib/eli5_how_exactly_do_prophylactic_drugs_prevent_hiv/ | {
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"They're the same antiretroviral drugs used to treat someone who is already HIV positive, but instead they're given to someone who is HIV negative to prevent infection. They're not perfect, but they can greatly reduce the risk of seroconverting (becoming HIV positive). They're usually a combination of 2 or 3 drugs, but they work by blocking the ability of the virus to replicate.\n\nI'm not sure what article or articles you've read that refer to PREP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) as a \"nuclear option\" or \"poison\", but PREP is generally safe. You wouldn't want to take it for no reason because there are side effects that can be unpleasant, but if you're at risk for becoming HIV positive, PREP is safe, effective, and relatively benign. \n\n\n\nUpdate: I did a search and I don't know if I read the same articles as you but the only ones I found that mention PREP in the terms you used are anti-science conspiracy theory sites that reject HIV as the cause of AIDS and other general anti-science nonsense.",
"Great question! \n\nA key point to keep in mind. \n\nAll drug developers are trying to find points in the viral life cycle that are both unique and essential to the life of the virus. Unique is key because if a drug can also affect your cells and not just the virus well then your in for some nasty side affects. (This is why chemo sucks so much for people, cancer cells are almost identical to your own cells) \n\nOkay so what does the HIV lifecycle look like and where do we attack it? So this is a difficult question that has had a lot of money thrown at it. Full HIV therapy requires lot of different targets and a host of drugs. Fortunately for us standard prep typically has one target. \n\nThere is a unique protein in HIV (reverse transcriptase) that is essential to its life cycle. Perfect drug target. This is where we have the most drugs for HIV. These fall under two categories - and funnily enough in the medical community at least we refer to these as Nukes and Non-nukes. So in at least one sense standard PREP is actually the “nuclear” option because it contains two drugs that are NRTIs or “nukes”\n\nTo back up a second, you might be asking why does HIV require so many different drugs? Most infections can be cleared up with a few pills! \n\nViruses are generally really hard to treat (compared to bacterial infections for example) because they are great mutators. By changing their genetic make up they evade both our natural immune system and can develop resistance to drugs way faster than we can make them. This is why you have to get the flu vaccine so many times in your life but MMR vaccine usually only once. The flu virus is phenomenal at mutating. \n\nHIVs reverse transcriptase is incredibly error prone - meaning it mutates incredibly fast. This is why we have to use so many drugs when treating HIV/ administering prep - we are afraid of the virus developing resistance to one or more of them drugs and tanking a patients immune system. Just the shear number of drugs opens up the potential for side effects which is probably why some describe it as being poison. These therapies are pretty remarkable however and they allow even those affected with full HIV to keep their immune system at good levels and lead very normal lives. \n\nHope this helps!\n\n\n"
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wqg1q | how come if i hold in flatulence for a long time, it doesn't all come out at once? | I ate some bad food yesterday and was on a crowded train today, and I held in every feeling I had to let it out. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/wqg1q/how_come_if_i_hold_in_flatulence_for_a_long_time/ | {
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"I'll explain it like a layperson and maybe someone can come along with a good analogy for a five year-old. There isn't exactly free space for stuff to float around in your intestines. The intestinal walls are muscular and contractile. This means that things don't always move and settle like gravity would have them do. Also your poo doesn't move through as one bolus. There are two (arguably three) types of contractions in your intestines. One moves stuff forward and one mixes and separates (you could argue that this is two because of the separate functions). The one that separates is focused right on the middle of the food bolus, this means that some food gets pushed forward and some goes backward. This can also happen with bubbles of air, they get separated and can be in separated pockets separated by a section of contracted intestine (separate peristaltic waves). Also, the colon is not just a simple tube, it is composed of multiple pockets, called haustra, that are linked, some air can make its way from one haustra to another while some remains behind. I guess the best analogy I can come up with at the moment is trying to get all the air out of an air mattress without folding it. "
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j3efc | can someone explain why the tide goes in and why the tide goes out? | Need help!
Edit: I've heard it can't be explained, explain it to a 5 year old and disprove Grandmaster O'Reilly | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j3efc/can_someone_explain_why_the_tide_goes_in_and_why/ | {
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"I'll bite: remember last week, when we talked about gravity, and how it keeps you on the ground? and how it keeps the earth going around the sun?\n\nwell you'll remember that I said all the big things in the universe have gravity. the moon is a big thing and it has gravity too. it pulls on the earth just like the earth pulls on the moon.\n\nwell, it turns out that the pull of the moon is strong enough to pull up the water in the oceans! so when the moon is in the right place, it sort of pulls the water up, and this means the water level rises a little (or a lot, depending on where you are). and when the moon is in a different spot, the water level goes down. We call those \"tides\".",
"It doesn't really go in and out so much as it goes up and down, but most beaches and riverbeds are slanted so it seems to go in and out."
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zy50i | why are they called "checks?" | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/zy50i/why_are_they_called_checks/ | {
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"As in a cheque? \n\nThere have been suggestions that the word chek comes from ancient Pahlavi language which was used in the Achaemenid Empire in Persia. It may have spread from there to Arabic where saqq means a promise to pay a certain amount of money for delivered goods.\n(_URL_0_ )",
"Probably from the Parthian word \"chek\" that the Achaeminid Empire used to describe the same thing.",
"I kinda thought that the word might have come from the word \"Exchequer\". (_URL_0_)\n",
"Hmm, I don't know how helpful this is, but here are excerpts from the OED: \n\n > 2) A draft form having a counterfoil. Obs. \n > This was apparently the sense in which Tucker used checked paper (which could not mean chequered or patterned paper, as none such was ever used by the Bank of Eng.).\n\nCross Reference: \n > 1768: A. Tucker *Light of Nature* (1852) I. 621 \"If I have an account with the Bank of England..if I have no checked paper along with me, I cannot draw for a single sixpence to buy me a little bread and cheese.\")\n\nWhich leads us to our modern use of the word \"cheque\":\n\n > 3a) A written order (on a printed form or otherwise) to a banker by a person having money in the banker's hands, directing him to pay, on presentation, to bearer or to a person named the sum of money stated therein (called in Bank of England books 1717 a Drawn Note).\n\n**ETA:* Okay, that doesn't actually explain anything, but it's still interesting (to me). /u/TheSweetSnazzoo seems to have gotten this one!\n"
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cmf6qj | what exactly are the gun laws in the usa and how do they actually compare to countries which are known to have stricter laws (e.g. the uk) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cmf6qj/eli5_what_exactly_are_the_gun_laws_in_the_usa_and/ | {
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"The only people who can't own a firearm in the USA are as follows (at the federal level):\n\n1. Convicted Felons.\n\n\n2. Dishonorably discharged service members.\n\n\n3. Anyone convicted of domestic abuse and/or under an order of protection (if under an order of protection and not any domestic violence conviction, then the firearm can be purchased after the order ends).\n\n4. Anyone under 18 (depending on the state).\n\nAs for state by state, Missouri is *extremely lax*. You can even conceal carry firearms everywhere you want except where posted no firearms allowed (which anyone who is concealed carrying still do anyway) and not allowed at all in churches/banks unless they are law enforcement.",
"In Great Britain gun laws are roughly as follows:\n\n* Hand guns are banned. Period. Pretty much the only exception is for vintage muzzle-loading pistols.\n* Some types of long guns are permitted, with a strict licensing regime:\n * Rifles are permitted as long as they are bolt action or semi-automatic. If semi-automatic then the maximum calibre is 0.22 rimfire. Fully automatic weapons of any kind are completely prohibited.\n * Shotguns are permitted, as long as they have a maximum magazine capacity of three cartridges.\n\nFor both shotguns or rifles, every owner needs to have a Firearms Certificate which requires registration with the police to obtain and proof of a good reason to want to own the firearms. \"Self defence\" is explicitly barred as a good reason to own firearms. When deciding whether to grant a Firearms Certificate the police will make significant enquiries into the applicant's background, including mental health checks and alleged past criminal activity (even if not convicted or even arrested). Firearm Certificate holders are re-assessed at least every five years to confirm they still meet the requirements.\n \nLegally-owned guns must, by law, be kept in a locked gun cabinet conforming to certain regulations, and if being transported (e.g. from the owners house to a shooting range) must be done so in a safe and secure manner.\n\nAnyone who has been sentenced to more than three years in prison is barred for life from ever owning a firearm."
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l8pii | batteries, and why (for the most part) their progress seems stagnant compared to mobile technology. | Why haven't we found the next big thing that will push mobile technology to weeks between charges? What's holding us back? Out of almost all systems, batteries are the heaviest, most expensive, and least improved (from my perspective) parts around. What gives? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/l8pii/eli5_batteries_and_why_for_the_most_part_their/ | {
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"If you tried running a modern digital point-and-shoot digital camera on AA alkaline batteries manufactured to a 1990s standard, it would probably last for less than a dozen pictures. And anyone with an old CRT TV, put Lithium or Nickel-Cadmium batteries in the remote, and they'll last longer than the TV itself.\n\nBatteries *are* improving somewhat quickly - if anything, be impressed that they can keep up with the increasingly battery-hoggish technology that's been coming out (Android, I'm looking at you). My cell phone, the LG Rumor Touch, is one of the newest non-\"smartphones\" on the market, so it has a fairly good battery and lightweight software; it can easily last me a weekend without having to worry about charging it, usually even longer than that.",
"If you tried running a modern digital point-and-shoot digital camera on AA alkaline batteries manufactured to a 1990s standard, it would probably last for less than a dozen pictures. And anyone with an old CRT TV, put Lithium or Nickel-Cadmium batteries in the remote, and they'll last longer than the TV itself.\n\nBatteries *are* improving somewhat quickly - if anything, be impressed that they can keep up with the increasingly battery-hoggish technology that's been coming out (Android, I'm looking at you). My cell phone, the LG Rumor Touch, is one of the newest non-\"smartphones\" on the market, so it has a fairly good battery and lightweight software; it can easily last me a weekend without having to worry about charging it, usually even longer than that."
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yq3jf | how is it possible for lakes to have tides? | I understand how ocean tides work due to the gravitational pull of the moon, but what about tides on lakes? Where does the "extra" water come from at "high tide" on a lake? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yq3jf/eli5_how_is_it_possible_for_lakes_to_have_tides/ | {
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"My first guess would be the other side of the lake (one side has high tide while the other has low tide) but I've never heard of lakes having a high and low tide."
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9hgphj | what is tritone substitution and how does it work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9hgphj/eli5_what_is_tritone_substitution_and_how_does_it/ | {
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"Pfew! so, \n\nTritones are the flat fifth of a root note, you use tritone substitutes to get from a root to a fifth chord.\n\nTritone substitutes are passing chords which are build on a root a tritone away from the related dominant 5seventh chord of a target chord, so say your target chord is F the related 5seventh chord would be C7. The chord a tritone away from C7 is Gb7, this is the tritone substitute\n\n(You can think of the tritone sub as a dominant seventh chord a halfstep above a target chord, so from Gb a halfstep down to F. Its a great way of giving an otherwise boring chord progression chromatic interest.)\n\nThis works because the tone you’re using to get to the different chord is only a half step above the target chord, which gives it a melodic spin.\n\nHope you got something out of that, though I doubt a five year old could understand this, I could simplify this even more for you if you'd like, just gotta charge my laptop!!\n\n_URL_0_\n(A video explaining it a bit better)"
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38acfo | the freedom act. | What was just passed? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/38acfo/eli5_the_freedom_act/ | {
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"To the best of my understanding: The freedom act is being aimed toward ending the excessive spying on us that the government has been doing. Rand Paul, an advocate of freedom of communication (who doesn't want the government listening to our phone calls, etc.) is pushing for it so that it will lessen how powerful and secretive the NSA/CIA is, and get the government out of our personal affairs."
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4zf65n | how do charitable foundations benefit those who found them? | I understand people like Mark Zuckerberg and the Cl!ntons have established these foundations and there is always a lot of flak that they get when people bring it up. Do the charities help for tax reasons or do they just use them as excuses to spend money on 'overhead'? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4zf65n/eli5_how_do_charitable_foundations_benefit_those/ | {
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"Several ways:\n\n* It makes you look good. The more money your foundation gets (and can spend), the better you look.\n\n* You can funnel money to businesses and causes you care about. Let's say you're trying to get food to a region with a famine. You can have your charity buy the food from the business of someone you're hoping to get a favor from.",
"Charitable foundations need CEOs to run them, and those CEOs need very large salaries.\n\nWho better than the founder to take that position?",
"It does help somewhat for tax reasons, but for people with really large amounts of money it's probably not a huge issue, if they were going to donate it it would have been written off anyways and there is a good chance they cap out on their tax benefits too. The main benefit is collecting other people's money and paying the people who work for it and liability. The money goes further if it's through the charity and limits the liability coming back to you.\n\nAs for why these people do this, it helps to understand how much many of these people have. If you have $10bn in your bank account (Zukerburg has $50bn+) then that money is mostly just sitting around. You can't use it, it's an absurd amount of money. Buying a $10million house has the financial impact to them as you buying a laptop, only once they spend that much they'll never have to pay a mortgage, things like food and transportation is a rounding error on their paycheck. It's such an absurd amount of money that dropping a few billion dollars into something will have no impact to their life other than dropping on the forbes list and spending it on a charity is positive PR.\n\nClinton doesn't have nearly that much, but it does give her some good PR. For her it's probably more about a method to solicit donations for the charity that she controls (so turn others people money into good PR).",
"It makes it so that you can throw parties free of tax. You just call it a fund raiser and get people to chip in. A lot of the fund raisers might actually be a net loss. A fund raiser is also a good excuse to go to a party and makes it possible to have more secret meetings.\n\nIt is also possible to use the funds of the charity on other things that benefit you in some way or another. You could for instance accept money from a company that is spent on school books for a third world country that comes from a publisher that is owned by the CEO of the company you got the funds from. You can then pocket some of the money yourself by having the books delivered by your transport company. It is actually irrelevant if the charity is actually doing anyone any good. It is just used as an excuse for moving money around between a lot of companies and people.\n\nAnd of course having your own charity can be used to focus on the things that is important for you and make sure that things is done properly. Famous people might actually have enough money for themselves and just want to make a bigger impact on the world. Giving money away to the red cross or similar is not that tangible and they want to have some control and make sure they are actually doing something important."
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71odbn | how is sound transferred onto a vinyl record? how is it capable of stacking all the sounds (bass, guitar, percussion, vocals, etc.) and still sound so clear? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/71odbn/eli5_how_is_sound_transferred_onto_a_vinyl_record/ | {
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"All the various sounds we hear ultimately vibrate a single membrane in our ears. So if you are hearing the low rumble of a motor cycle driving by and the shrill sound of brakes being applied, both sounds vibrate your single ear drum but your brain can still tell them apart.\n\nFor this reason we can layer sounds together into a single varying signal. In the case of a vinyl record it's in the form of 3 dimensional grooves that cause a tiny needly to vibrate. Those vibrations are converted into a pair of varying voltages along a wire. "
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6exhp3 | why is it bad to sleep on a couch? | I've heard things about how sleeping each night on a couch instead of your bed can do bad things to your back, your sleep, your scalp and your organs... but I'd like to understand/know more about it. Why exactly is bad to sleep on a couch? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6exhp3/eli5_why_is_it_bad_to_sleep_on_a_couch/ | {
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"I've been sleeping on my couch for years. You can't generalize why it's good or bad, it's an individual thing. I've had back issues from beds and couches both.\n\nAs far as organ damage, what ? Lol the only thing damaging my internal organs are the pharmaceuticals I'm taking, by prescription.\n\nI think this is a rumor started by chiropractors and mattress co's.lol\n\n",
" > Why exactly is bad to sleep on a couch?\n\nIt's not the end of the world. We used to sleep on the ground and the like. But it's also not ideal. Beds are designed to support you in the laying down position. Couches aren't. They tend to be much softer, for example.\n\nAn ideal mattress is stiff enough to support your spine, but has enough give to contour to your body. Your body is full of curves (particularly your spine, which forms an S shape). Your back isn't a board. Similar if you sleep on your side, your hip sticks out.\n\nIf you sleep on something too firm, you'll get uncomfortable at those pressure points which are grinding too hard against the surface (try to lay down on a board, or stone, you'll feel it pretty quick).\n\n If it's too soft, it'll contour, but certain areas of your body aren't really designed to hold weight. (if you want the counter example to the board, try something like a hammock. they're great for lounging and naps, but you'll \"stretched\" for lack of a better word, if you use it every night).\n\n > your back, your sleep, your scalp and your organs\n\nThese seem a bit exaggerated,particularly the scalp part.\n\nYour back we covered above. Sleep- well if you aren't comfortable, you aren't going to sleep well.\n\nThe organs part also sounds kind of exaggerated, but if you're sleeping on a couch, and you sink in, that means the foam will be pressing up into the soft areas of your stomach region.\n\ntldr:\nYour back/sides/spine require different support than your butt."
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ct21z8 | why is it so hard to get to the moon again? i’d think with all the tech advances it’d be much easier than before. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ct21z8/eli5_why_is_it_so_hard_to_get_to_the_moon_again/ | {
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"It's not really difficult as such. There's just no reason to go back there.\n\nWhy do you think it's difficulty that makes us not go back?",
"It's not any more difficult than it ever was. However, it's quite expensive, the budget by the largest agency capable of doing so (NASA) is a fraction of what it was the first time we made it to the moon, and there's not a whole lot of reason to send people or crafts to the moon as we already know quite a bit about it at this point.",
"The difficulty with getting there isn’t so much technical, but political and economical. There’s little strategic benefit or money to be made by sending people to the moon again. Also, robots can do most of the research an astronaut could for much cheaper and at much less risk to human life.",
"It would be easy to go - we have the knowledge & technology to do it safely \n\nThe reason it is not done is because space travel extremely expensive & we have already learned pretty much everything we can from lunar exploration so would not be worth the investment unless there was specific goal in mind such as build refueling station for interplanetary mission",
"It's not really *hard* so much as it's expensive and the tech we used in the 60s was staggeringly unsafe.\n\nGoing back there today will require significant cost and some development time to make sure we don't accidentally kill someone.\n\nNixon's team had written an incredibly moving speech that he fortunately never had to give because there was a hefty chance that Apollo 11 ended in disaster killing or stranding them on the moon.\n\nShould we return to the moon, we want to minimize the risk of delivering that speech.\n\nAs for why interest waned in the 70s? It's kinda boring on that dustball once the novelty and cold-war dick wagging wears off.",
"It's still expensive. And it's not too much effort to go to other places. The reason for this is the cost of rocket fuel and all the boosters needed to get into earth's orbit before going elsewhere, as this is around 70% of the fuel and rocket stages for any mission, whether it be to the moon or to Pluto. This means it's not significantly more difficult to go to other places where there's greater scientific research and exploration that can be done.\n\nThe current common mission is to build a permanent colony on another planet/moon. Earth's moon isn't really a great candidate, as it has no atmosphere, no confirmed water sources (possibly deep in craters at poles), and no chance for life to exist. Mars on the other hand has the potential to have all that. \n\nThe only reason for more moon exploration imo would be if we found metal and enough other resources to build a rocket depot on the moon. It's a lot easier to take off of the moon, but it wouldn't be worthwhile to have to bring materials there from search unless it's really lightweight"
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44iak8 | how do your local, run of mill drug dealers make any profit from the drugs they deal? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/44iak8/eli5_how_do_your_local_run_of_mill_drug_dealers/ | {
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"They buy them for a certain price from a bigger dealer and then sell them to customers for a higher price. The difference in the two prices is their profit.",
"According to Freakonomics they don't make hardly any money at all.\n\n\nSee [here](_URL_0_):\n\n\n > A foot soldier had plenty in common with a McDonald’s burger flipper or a Wal-Mart shelf stocker. In fact, most of J. T.’s foot soldiers also held minimum-wage jobs in the legitimate sector to supplement their skimpy illicit earnings. The leader of another crack gang once told Venkatesh that he could easily afford to pay his foot soldiers more, but it wouldn’t be prudent. “You got all these niggers below you who want your job, you dig?” he said. “So, you know, you try to take care of them, but you know, you also have to show them you the boss. You always have to get yours first, or else you really ain’t no leader. If you start taking losses, they see you as weak and shit.”",
"I jsed to sell weed years ago. I used to get 40oz a month at £150/oz and sold at £10 a gram (£280/oz) and still it was a better deal then everyone else (av. £10/0.7gram). Made a nice bit of prodit and paid for 2 trips to thailand a year."
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2smp9g | why does nintendo go after people who post their game content on youtube? | IIRC game reviewers have for at least a year boycotted reviewing Nintendo because they get copyright strikes or get forced to add ads who's revenue goes directly to Nintendo. These people are making advertizements for Nintendo and the company thinks it's ok to take all the credit or something? Other companies, such as EA, embrace the YouTube community, but Nintendo puts the squeeze on them if they make even a dime. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2smp9g/eli5why_does_nintendo_go_after_people_who_post/ | {
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"The short answer is this: It's their intellectual property, and they get to decide who gets to do what with it. \n\nNintendo, for whatever reason it may be, has decided that they do not want people using their content without a license if Nintendo cannot monetize it. Nintendo has had a long history of being very protective of their copyright. I've never heard an official statement as to why, but the ancient rumors go that it has a lot to do with protecting and controlling their brand image."
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beph22 | how does bytes and electronic storage etc. work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/beph22/eli5_how_does_bytes_and_electronic_storage_etc/ | {
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"A byte is 8 bits, a bit is either a 0 or 1. So a byte is a total of 8 0's or 1's (00000000 through 11111111). \n\nStorage depends on the storage medium, magnetic storage (hard drives) converts bits into a magnetic charge stored on a metallic disc that can later be read and converted back into a bit. SSDs work a little differently (I've never looked into the tech well enough to be certain but I think it has to do with storing electronic charges to represent each bit, similar to how memory works). \n\nThe amount of data a byte can hold depends on what that data is, it boils down to a byte is always 8 bits, but the amount of data that can be represented in 8 bits depends on what the data is. It takes fewer bits to represent a few numbers than it does to represent a sentence, for example.",
"A bit is a true/false value. It can have two possible values: either 0 or 1.\n\nTwo bits can store 4 possible values: 00, 01, 10 and 11.\n\nA byte is 8 bits. It can have 256 different values.\n\nHow computers store data is enormously varied. You can store data with pretty much anything. Writing it on paper, magnetic fields, making holes in a surface, capacitors, etc.\n\nHard disks store data by magnetizing the surface of the platter inside the drive in one direction or another. How one actually works is a rather lengthy matter, but Wikipedia has an [excellent page](_URL_0_) on that.",
"Computers store data in \"bits\" or 1's and 0's. You can store a surprising amount of data in 1's and 0's... 1 bit can store any number from... 0 to 1. 2 bits can hold 0-3, 8 bits can hold 0-255, 16 bits can hold 65,535, and 32 bits can hold any number from 0 to 4,294,967,295. A byte is 8 bits. The reason we use bytes instead of bits is because 1 byte (8 bits) is enough information to store a character - like a letter of the alphabet. So a text document with 1000 characters is 1000 bytes. Bytes are more relatable to the human world, but computers only really care about bits.\n\nComputers store bits in various ways. When your processor is processing data, a bit is represented by electricity being turned on or off at a given moment in time. Think of it like morse code... you either hear a beep or you don't, and can turn this on/off into letters, words, sentences, even a whole message. Now when you want to store a byte, you just need something that can be set semi-permanently to on or off. For a standard hard drive, it uses magnets which can be magnetized (on) or demagnetized (off) to represent a bit. And 8 bits is a byte, and you can then store millions of these to store information."
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3mqgxr | why is the vw thing such a big deal? | Why will the gas mileage AND performance take a hit when it's fixed? And how have I been passing my emissions test every time I get my car inspected? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mqgxr/eli5_why_is_the_vw_thing_such_a_big_deal/ | {
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"My car buddy explained it quite simply to me...\n\nThe onboard computer in the cars were watching for specific events to happen. A connection to the cars computer port, the hood up, and the car in neutral while revving the engine. These are all things that happen during emissions testing. When the computer software detected this, it changed the performance of the car so that it had less emissions and would pass the test.\n\nSo that's how your car has been passing the tests. Once it's fixed, the cars will operate as if they are always being tested which means poorer performance and gas mileage.\n\n",
"My understanding is that they have to blow some extra fuel into the chamber to burn off the pollutants. By avoiding that extra fuel they improve mileage, and somehow performance (maybe they have to adjust the timing or something else to faciliate it).\n\nyour emissions test is a pretty low bar, any diesel from the past 20 years should pass it. But the laws say that NEW cars need to be more efficient.\n\nThe EPA has a credit system, where the automaker can offset \"good\" cars with \"bad\" cars. This is important because typically \"bad\" cars are profitable cars. curving their results helps their average.\n\nThe bigger deal to me is the scale of the deceipt... this didnt happen on accident. This isnt a coverup of some faulty tires or even a late recall of an ignition switch or airbag... Those are horrible things, and they cause deaths. And yet... none of these went to the levels of active fraud as VW... All this to pass emissions, wonder what else they covered up."
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eys4ub | how do apps that reward you with money for playing minigames make money. | I was wondering how apps that allow you to buy gift card using in game points that you accumulate playing minigames.
There essentially handing out money even if it's small amount so were does it come from. Do they sell your user profile like some cookies do or do they just give you bake a fraction of the ads you watch. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eys4ub/eli5_how_do_apps_that_reward_you_with_money_for/ | {
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"You pretty much have it. Advertisements for sure, and it's possible they sell user data. Both are equally possible. They DEFINITELY make a profit off of you though",
"Wile working on advertising what I figured was that those apps make money by selling the devs/companies a certain amount of new users/interactions. Basicly companies are paying to boost their numbers of users or viewship to bump them in whatever ranking they are measuaring. I never worked with games but payed ads viewership works in the idea that if you get a certain number of views you garanteed that your brand will get a boost on recognition since the metric for this are deeply tied with singluar viewship. This idea is deeply flawed by the way.\n\nSo you can buy from those apps lets say 1 million singular new views for an ad, trailer or promo video. And you will pay X per view to the app (normally they need to provide a minimum of views to collect payment, and said payment caps at a certain amount of views). Those apps then pay you a fraction of that money. And this by the way is perfectly legal in most countries, you just have to name this paid user gathering some fancy name depending of teh country and its good to go. Usually there´s some limitation on paying minors and most alcohool, gambling or medication can´t be promoted this way. Some markets forbid this kind of promotion for sweets, fast food and candy, and in certain instances you can only \"pay\" using non currency items, but steam credit for exemple can be used since somehow you can argue its not really money.\n\nThen there´s the tons of scams that happen using this apps. A lot of them are after credit card information or selling your data for data collecting companies. Also some use this \"agreed interactions\" to aleged that you clicked to buy extras for your phone plan, like messaging services. There´s a lot of scams going on with these apps and since these days there are simpler and cheaper ways for brands to buy views I can see the devs of these apps being desperate to get revenue and starting to do some shady stuff.",
"I'm sure they sell some information, but they also typically mak eyou watch adds to keep playing, each add is I dunno, a few cents that they get, but you watch a thousand adds and after that end up with 1 real life dollar..... It all adds up."
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8sypmz | - why do humans seem to prefer a hot meal and a cold glass of water? why are the temperatures so impactful on the experience? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8sypmz/eli5_why_do_humans_seem_to_prefer_a_hot_meal_and/ | {
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"Colder water numbs our tastebuds to the taste. We do not like to taste the metallic taste of lukewarm (tap) water. We may also prefer cold water because warm water is associated with stagnant and uncovered (like from a pond or puddle) water and therefore unsafe. \n\nIt is for this reason too we like food hot. Coldness numbs our taste buds but we want to taste our food, so we eat it warm. The heat also creates more excited particles and thus a stronger smell. And, opposite to water, we have grown to associate cold foods with those that have grown \"bad,\" as it is hot when we cook it and grows cold over time.\n\nEdit: Grammar",
"This varies based on culture and of course time of year/weather. \n\nHumans prefer hot meals because we've evolved to. What separates us from primates and other animals isn't opposable thumbs, it's the ability to cook our food. Cooking our food specifically meat, allows us to eat and digest it much quicker. Seriously, think how long it would take to eat a steak if it were raw. Chicken. Any type of meat, really. Scientists (antro? paleo?) believe that this is what allowed humans to evolve with much bigger brains: because we learned a trick to spend less time cooking, prepping AND eating food, while maximizing our nutritional gain with every meal. \n\nAs for cold/hot water, this is kind of a personal/cultural preference. Americans generally preferred iced/cold drinks with meals. Many Asians prefer tea with meals. ",
"I drink hot/warm drinks when it's cold out, or if I am cold.\n\nI drink iced/cool drinks when it's hot out, or if I am hot.\n\nIll eat colder foods when it's hot outside, or if I am hot.\n\nIll eat hotter foods when it's cold outside, or I am cold.\n\nI guess, it's all relative.",
"It’s entirely cultural. I’ve taken guests from China out to eat, and they couldn’t have the cold water because they found it ‘too cold’ to have together with the hot meal. They’re used to having hot soup with their meals. When I was in Japan, most meals you get with a serving of hot miso soup. ",
"Your question is like asking, \"why is the favorite color of humans blue?\"\n\nThat question is only valid for some humans, but not all. and it's not even all culturally contextual, like some people say.\n\nPeople prefer coffee and tea warm, though there are iced versions of hot drinks. There's also hot cocoa, etc. People in Asia prefer their water warm instead of cold.",
"Yoshinoya and other beef rice restaurant and Japan offers cold tea, while ones in Hong Kong offers hot tea. While the temperature definitely affects the texture of the drink, the culture/habit matters a lot too.",
"A lot of food has more flavor when it's hot. Anything with fat will taste better because the fat will have low viscosity and contact taste buds better. Teas , coffee will taste better warm or hot too because flavor will be picked up better by taste buds (water is lower viscosity and lower surface tension at hi temp). Reason for cold water? I like icy cold water on a hot day. With a meal water that's too cold shocks my taste buds. Water that's too warm can taste funny because it can pick up taste from containers. Also it picks up dilute tastes still still in my mouth and tastes bad. Cool water tastes more neutral.",
"I believe hot meals originate from our earliest ancestors whom learned to wield and create fire. Cooking hunted/scavenged meat actually helps \"denature\" proteins (which is really just a fancy word for stretching or relaxing their naturally coiled structure). This in turn makes it easier to break down the proteins in our stomach and small intestines and in turn allows us to absorb more nutrients from the food which we then use to build our own proteins among other things. \n\nThis extra nutrients was then used to fuel the caloric intake of our brains allowing for higher thought processes... you could say cooking food likely helped humanity reach its full intellectual potential and meant we required less overall food than eating it raw. \n\nCooking food also has the benefit of killing most germs, bacteria, and parasites which our ancestors wouldn't have known about exactly but may have noticed that cooking and drying meats and vegetables mean't they lasted significantly longer than leaving the food out raw which also mean't our food supplies were that much more stable and healthy.\n\nSo you could say a hot meal is more or less a universal norm because it had so many benefits for early mankind. \n\nA cold glass of water is purely an American trend as in the UK and in particular Asia most drink hot tea with their meals. In Arabic cultures as well cold drinks are believed to \"shock\" the bodies core temperature throwing its natural heating rhythm out of wack. While warm or hot drinks are considered soothing to the body. \n\nMedically the above to my knowledge is bullshit, but it does point out that different cultures like different temperatures of drinks... i also imagine that Cold drinks are a fairly new invention as several hundred years ago the idea of having ice in much of the world was more or less unheard of. ",
"When I was living in China, almost every restaurant would give you a cup of hot water as you sat down at your table, particularly in Winter. So I'd say that drinking only cold water is more of a cultural thing (seeing as it's perfectly normal to drink hot water in the west so long as there's a tea bag in the cup).",
"After living for a long time in Asia, and then returning to America, it took a while for me to adjust to cold drinks with my food again. I would get irrationally frustrated when restaurants would load my drinks with ice in the middle of winter because it just seemed so illogical.",
"It is more ‘difficult’ for taste buds and the olfactory nerves to perceive the impurities in cold water than hot water dt some basic principles of physics. But yea cultural norms are powerful in dictating our perceptions as well.",
"Hot food is less likely to contain microorganisms that make us ill. Cold water is less likely to contain the same.",
"Watch this Ted talk on the subject, it explains exactly this question. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nHumans prefer hot cooked meals because when we invented fire and therefore cooking, it caused our brains to evolve in such a way that we then relied upon it to continue growing, and sustain the level of brain activity it afforded us.",
"This poster believes cold liquid is preferred by a particular cultures to help lower body temperature instead of raising it, because it is easier (and safer) for humans to raise our own body temperature than to lower it; or we may have a genetic memory yearning us of warm parasitic waters, with hazardous gasses. Warm food preference is either early childhood comfort, or evolutionary to avoid falling ill. \n\n\n\nWhat is the temperature of a fresh kill? \n\nWhat is the temp of a two day old kill that has sat in the sun?\n\nWhat is the temperature of a mothers milk?\n\nHow warm is stagnation water in a pool after a blistering day?\n\nHow hot are the waters in hot springs?\n\nDo we sit in the sun after eating, or do we go about our day?\n\nHow do humans cool down?\n\n\n\nFood temp may be based on preference of meat eating. Not the individual but those before them. We can eat any animal (disregard the parasitic issue) and digest without getting sick. We can not eat carrion without becoming ill. Our bodies are adapted to a predatory diet; we eat very soon after a kill. We do not eat old kills (disregard our present state of freezer preparation)\n\nIt could also be said that warm food reminds us of maternal milk. It’s 37 degrees. This poster finds warm food comforting. It was fed to a large amount of us growing up. Some got it from a kill maid, unsure if it was heated up or not. This poster understands it was a daily delivery. \n\nWater on the other hand is hot if there is a lack of current. Cooler if it circulates. The liquid temp may be the same reason cats won’t drink from placid water. Hot water could indicate the presence of parasites. \n\nElevated temperature could indicate hot springs. Hot springs have an increased chance of having dangerous gases released. We most likely did not evolve a preference for cold liquid because of this. \n\nReptiles are cold blooded. They do not expend energy to regulate their body temperature. After a meal they must move between the heat of the sun and the shade to keep the food at a temperature that it will digest to suit their body. \n We are warm blooded. Our bodies expend energy to heat itself. We will always strive for near 37c. Hot food would increase our temperature. Cool liquids would lower the temperature. Drinking cool liquid over tepid is preferred to fight heat exhaustion. \n\nHumans have adapted a most advanced cooling mechanism. Our entire body (disregard individuals with glandular issues) contains sweat glands. The average person has Two-Million sweat glands. Maximum sweat rates are 2-4 liters (“L”) an hour. 10-14 liters a day. 3.8 liters is one freedom unit (“gal”). 14 liters is 3.7 freedom units. \n\n The body can be composed of 60-70% water. \n\n50 kilograms (“kg”) or 110 pounds (“lbs”)\n@60% : 30 L or 7.9 gal\n@70% : 35 L or 9.2 gal\n\n65 kg or 143 lbs @60% : 39 L or 10.3 gal. \n65 kg or 143 lbs @70% : 45.5 L or 12 gal. \n\n80 kg or 176 lbs @60% : 48 L or 12.6 gal. \n80 kg or 176 lbs @70% : 56 L or 14.7 gal. \n\n100 kg or 220 lbs @60% : 15.8 L or 15.8 gal. \n100 kg or 220 lbs @70% : 70 L or 18.4 gal. \n\n125 kg or 275 lbs @60% : 75 L or 19.7 gal. \n125 kg or 275 lbs @70% : 87.5 L or 23 gal. \n\n150 kg or 330 lbs @60% : 90 L or 23.7 gal. \n150 kg or 330 lbs @70% : 105 L or 27.6 gal. \n\nConsidering the lowest amount is 30 liters, and the maximum listed is 27.6 liters, and the sweat elevate is 2-4 liters per hours we are also capable of dehydrating ourself as well.\n\nWith a four (4) liter perspiration rate,m a person could excrete 30 liters in 7.5 hours.\n\nDespite this, we often create more heat than we can vent. People adapt to the area they live in. This poster knows individuals from Jamaica that moved north more than 2,000 kilometers. In the summer that area felt “freezing” to those people. After 3-4 years they either stopped complaining about it freezing, or adapted to the climate. \n \n The process can see this in Antarctic explorers. Eventually their thyroid is unable to produce enough hormone to regulate the metabolism. They must supplement with a medication like levothyroxine (synthroid.) There is slang to describe the process the event, an unable to recollect it though. ",
"amongst the other explanations that I see here is the fact that smells and tastes are impacted by the temperature. Things taste differently at different temperatures."
]
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"https://www.ted.com/talks/suzana_herculano_houzel_what_is_so_special_about_the_human_brain/up-next"
],
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6h80ke | today's missle defense technology and why it would not be able to defend a nuclear missle. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6h80ke/eli5_todays_missle_defense_technology_and_why_it/ | {
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"The problem is not hard to explain in a simple way, because the core of it is simple:\n\nProblem 1: The missile to be intercepted is either a large target being launched and boosted, or a small target falling at tremendous speeds. With current tech, intercepting the latter is essentially impossible, but the former is doable. The result is that our missile-killer can only kill during the launch and boost phases, not re-entry.\n\nProblem 2: Lets say you *do* want to intercept the re-entry vehicle (which houses the warhead), because it's going to be hard to take out every missile during its brief launch. Now we have another problem: countermeasures. Chaff and dummy warheads are relatively cheap compared to interceptor missiles, and with a nuke only one warhead needs to get through your screen.\n\nSo on one hand you either need to be close by and perfect at shooting down missile while they're launching or boosting, and on the other if you wait, it becomes technically almost impossible to manage. A realistic adversary is going to launch *all* of their missiles, from many locations (including from submarines) and we simply won't intercept them all. ",
"Modern missile-defense technology follows this principle: satellites detect missile launches, radar tracks the missile, and then land- or sea-based rockets are sent to hit the missile and blow it up (blowing up its conventional explosives, but preventing a nuclear explosion) before it reaches its target.\n\nIt's not able to defeat a nuclear missile because the system *doesn't work.* Even under ideal conditions, tests of various systems can't get their interceptor rockets close enough to hit an incoming missile: the target is just too small and too fast.\n\nUnless maybe the system *does* work, and for whatever reason, the government and military are keeping it a secret by spreading false reports of failure to the press. But [that doesn't make a lot of sense](_URL_0_)."
]
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[],
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"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmCKJi3CKGE&t=3m46s"
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4c0ng3 | how do drugs get to their desired location in the brain? | Have a school project to complete and have only found complicated science articles on the matter. I know they travel through the bloodstream to the brain but that is pretty much it. Any help is appreciated! Thanks... | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4c0ng3/eli5_how_do_drugs_get_to_their_desired_location/ | {
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"Yeah, there is really not much more to it, if you don't want to go knee deep into biochemistry. The drug enters your blood stream (via the intestine for example) and then gets distributed in your body. Everywhere. Now our brain gets a big chunk of the cardial output so a lot of the drug reaches the brain. There it penetrates the blood/brain barrier and is now directly where it has it's effects. It also everywhere it doesn't have any effect but that doesn't really matter much, does it?",
"They're metabolized (Broken down and distributed) and that is one of the places they effect. \n\nThink of it like, if you dipped 5 people into water, and one of them happened to be the wicked witch of the west, only one would start melting, because only she has a reaction to it, or at least a noticeable reaction to it anyway\n\nThere are other factors in this but on the whole, it goes everywhere and eventually just ends up somewhere it will have an effect."
]
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7kl878 | how does spray insulation foam work and turn from spray to foam? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7kl878/eli5_how_does_spray_insulation_foam_work_and_turn/ | {
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"Inside the can, there is a large amount of gas dissolved in the liquid. This is a lot like C02 dissolved in soft drinks. When you spray the foam, the gas begins to expand (much less pressure outside the can, than inside!) and it makes bubbles. However, the liquid begins to harden before all the gas fully escapes...meaning that the bubbles actually harden while the gas escapes. This creates the insulating foam. \n\nThere are also \"two-part\" systems... used by professionals. In these, chemicals are mixed together as they exit the containers...and they react producing gases that create the bubbles.",
"Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) is created by mixing isocyanates (like methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) and polyols. These two ingredients are the main reactive components that when combined create polyurethane.\n\nTo achieve the rapidly expanding foam, companies may add water to the polyol which will react with the isocyanate to form carbon dioxide gas. This makes foam like when you mix vinegar and baking soda. Another method of generating bubbles is with the addition of a liquid with a really low boiling point. As the liquid exits its pressurized container, it turns into a gas. The polyurethane reaction then creates heat, and the heat causes the gas to expand creating bigger bubbles. Bigger bubbles means more foam. \n\nAs the polyurethane then cools back down, it begins to harden. This is how it maintains its permanently expanded shape.\n\n\n\n"
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1tuclp | how does my penis have a better tan than i do? possible nsfw | I can't be the only guy who's thought this. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1tuclp/eli5_how_does_my_penis_have_a_better_tan_than_i/ | {
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"text": [
"Pics for proof",
"As a black man . it is not tan, but the perfect shad of cholate all year round ",
"because its skin is overlapped.\nwhen you get a boner it loses the tan.",
"This is not meant to be judgmental in any way. This is just my belief from my own experience. \n\nIt's because of the death grip of masturbation. You are squeezing your dick so hard that you are very slightly bruising it. Not enough to cause pain but enough to cause deoxygenated blood to stay in it for longer than the rest of your skin. The blood causes it to be a lot darker in colour, which in turn makes it look tanned. \n\nI tan nude regularly so my skin is a nice a dark caramel colour. But up until a week ago my dick was a chocolate brown. People were actually commenting at the beach that I was \"hung like a black man\". It was that colour because on top of the tan I had been furiously masturbating two or three times a day for years. I stopped doing that a week ago, and now my dick has turned the same colour as the rest of my skin. "
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2dseqn | why is it that negative emotions can feel...nice? | Negative emotions like sadness, loneliness and anger are usually horrible - and they negatively influence us physically and emotionally as humans (e.g. a heavy feeling in your chest when you're sad). But how come feeling down can sometimes be nice? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dseqn/eli5_why_is_it_that_negative_emotions_can_feelnice/ | {
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"text": [
"When you are feeling down, your body does two things.\n\n1 - It tries to reverse this with happy feelings, caused by dopamine and serotonin. People who can't do this suffer from clinical depression.\n\n2 - Because you feel sad, your happy moments feel nicer. If we never felt lonely, then being with friends wouldn't be as nice. If we never felt anger, then compassion wouldn't be as great. If we never felt sad, then laughing would not leave us feeling good. You have to go through valleys and canyons to recognize how tall the mountains truly are."
]
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6i5lew | why do a lot of japanese game directors use very ambiguous storytelling? | Maybe that's a bit too general, but I've only ever really experienced it with series such as MGS, Final Fantasy, & Dark Souls/Bloodborne. Most of which I would never have really fully understood until it was explained by multiple people on forums/subreddits etc.
Is this style of convoluted storytelling a trope in Japanese media in general or is this as much of a niche in Japan as it is elsewhere? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6i5lew/eli5_why_do_a_lot_of_japanese_game_directors_use/ | {
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"As someone who loves MGS and FF but knows fuck all about game and story design it's possibly a method of adding artificial replayability. Like watching Pulp Fiction, that shit makes very little sense the first time but you watch it again and it you get to piece it all together. But you play more of them and get used to the story telling style and learn to figure it out the first time through. I'm sure someone with a vast amount of different normally useless encyclopedic knowledge than I can shed more light on it.",
"I would say for multiple reasons.\n\nThe game makes you think about them long after turning off your console, which in time creates discussion about the game's meaning(s), which then creates communities, which then develops a stronger, more loyal fanbase and increases publicity for the game... \n... Which then increases profits.\n\nThe ambiguity makes the game more complex and deep and worthwhile. It can also give the developers a way to express their opinions on people/society/whatever they may have a problem with. You find this more often in movies, though, so I'm not sure if this counts so much for games as much.\n \n\n\n",
"The Japanese tend to gravitate very heavily towards character-oriented stories; that is, the story exists to reveal the nature of a individual participating in the setting to the viewer/player/reader. This is different from a plot-oriented story, in which the actions that take place in the setting advance the viewer/player/reader understanding of the meaning behind the story's ending.\n\nNow, meaning and theme are frequent topics when discussing works like Dark Souls, Final Fantasy, and Metal Gear Solid (the Wisecrack channel on youtube has some good videos on FF and DS). But theme is not the same thing as a story. Both character and plot driven stories can have strong or weak themes."
]
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5jwteq | what happens to the chemical compound of water when it's boiled? is there less oxygen and a different taste? | H2O minus a few O's? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jwteq/eli5what_happens_to_the_chemical_compound_of/ | {
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"text": [
"Nothing, boiling is not a chemical reaction. All you do is heat up the H2O and change the state of aggregation of a small portion of it from liquid to gaseous (resulting in bubbles and steam).\n\nUnless you trap the steam somehow a little bit of H2O is going away, but apart from that it remains exactly the same, chemically speaking."
]
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8hmsa9 | why are bananas so slippery? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8hmsa9/eli5_why_are_bananas_so_slippery/ | {
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"The inside of the peel is soft, so when you step on it, it squishes down and follows with your foot, but starts going faster than the other foot due to the now-flat and smooth surface. The result is you are losing balance and begin flailing your arms until you inevitably crash on your tailbone.",
"Phloem. \n\nPull back the yellow peel of a banana, and there they are, haunting you. They run vertically along the fruit, demanding to be removed with precision. ... We're talking about those annoying white strings on bananas, or more technically, “phloem bundles.\n\nThey’re slippery. ",
"They are not especially slippery the comedy trope is just a trope today.\n\nThe whole thing dates back to the mid 19th century when it become a popular street food but cities had bad sanitation so the peels was dropped a streets. They become a symbol for bad manner and if you left the out until they start to rott they ge more slippery as do anything else if you leve it to rott.. \n\nThe first publication about slippery banana peel was in 1880\n\nYou can read more at: _URL_0_"
]
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2f1vsl | why is what's going on in ukraine right now not already considered war? | Every article about events happening in Ukraine seem to be about Ukrainian and Pro-Russian forces clashing and there being deaths. Plus I don't know if I have this wrong or not but I thought I saw that Russia has now moved armor into the country on a large scale. So I'm just wondering how this isn't already considered a war. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2f1vsl/eli5why_is_whats_going_on_in_ukraine_right_now/ | {
"a_id": [
"ck53opp",
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"text": [
"Ukraine hasn't officially declared war against Russia yet. ",
"It's not a war because Russia hasn't formally declared war on the entire country and has only moved units into the eastern portion currently being contested. If they insert unmarked units there, it's not war because they still officially deny that the units are theirs, meaning that they're supporting the rebels by proxy. \n\nUkraine, NATO, and most external observers know that they're Russian, but even Russia doesn't want a formal declaration of war. \n\nIt's what the new kids call a 'low intensity conflict'. This is different from full-scale conventional warfare in that they are restrained from using their full capabilities for political reasons, and their operational area does not include the entire country or engaging its national forces. \n\nGranted, this particular conflict is going to be a lot hotter than what are normally considered 'low intensity', but it looks as though Russia doesn't want to commit to rolling over the Ukrainians with their considerable amount of available forces. ",
"While the question topic (Ukraine/Russia conflict) has been covered multiple times, I am leaving this question as it really asks for a clarification on the concept of war and war declaration in a formal sense."
]
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12pupz | why can humans exhibit super-strength in times of crisis? | Why can a mother lift up a car off of her child? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/12pupz/eli5_why_can_humans_exhibit_superstrength_in/ | {
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"Because at any moment, we are only using a certain percentage of our muscle mass, since using all of it at once could severely damage those muscles. When we are in extreme situations like the one you proposed, our instinct to survive or help our offspring survive overrides the need to keep your muscles intact. Our brains engage all those muscles at once, which can exert a humongous amount of force, sometimes more than the world record for bench presses.\n\nIf any of that was unclear, [this video from Discovery Channel](_URL_0_) does a pretty good job of explaining it, and in more detail. ",
"My best ELI5 answer: Adrenaline + Instinct (to stay alive, keep others alive) = Hulk (temporarily). "
]
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[
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9wRTIZIByk"
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69994c | what are the best explanations of how to visualize an atom? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69994c/eli5eli5_what_are_the_best_explanations_of_how_to/ | {
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"You'd have to define \"best.\" There are different representations and visualization of atoms that are better or worse for different purposes.",
"How about:- \n\nA small fuzzy ball that you can't quite see surrounded by a larger fuzzy cloud of stuff that you also can't quite get a fix on. \n",
"The best model (to my knowledge, as a college student not studying chemistry or quantum physics) is a small, dense nucleus made of neutrons and protons, surrounded by an electron cloud. It's impossible to know whether an electron will be in a particular location at a given time, but it is more likely to be found in certain areas, or \"orbitals\". Orbitals of an atom be different sizes or take different shapes depending on the number of electrons in the cloud, whether the atom is bonded to any other atoms, and what kind of bonds they are. "
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fwaura | why a person's body can appear younger than it is through things like exercise (like in the case of elderly athletes with body composition similar to one decades younger) but the face keeps on aging as it would normally? | Tried to word that as clearly as possible | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fwaura/eli5_why_a_persons_body_can_appear_younger_than/ | {
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"fmngtps",
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"text": [
"You don't 'exercise' your face muscles outside basic movements (eating, expressions, etc.), so they atrophy (get weaker) at a faster (un-exercised) rate as you age. Face bones are closer to the skin, making atrophied face muscles more pronounced (your face looks more bony). Facial skin is exposed to the sun more often, which speeds up skin aging. More muscles move the skin on your face around to create expressions than other interacting muscles in your body, so wrinkles form more noticeably at muscle junctions (think 'crow's feet' by the eyes). Think about how your palms and fingers crease from gripping things; that's happening on your face. I'm sure an actual physician could chime in with more reasons.",
"Sun is the major disparity imo. Fit folks spend more time outdoors. Makes the body/face gap way more noticeable."
]
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e9p9ro | if the sun is mostly hydrogen, why has it been burning since the beginning of recorded time, instead of just exploding? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e9p9ro/eli5_if_the_sun_is_mostly_hydrogen_why_has_it/ | {
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"The pressure from it's own mass fuses it's hydrogen into helium, this creates energy and an outward pressure. The gravity of it's mass pushes against the outward pressure of fusion creating a stable system. Also the sun hasn't been around since there beginning of time, just the last 4.6 billion years.",
"There is no oxygen up there, so the hydrogen does not 'burn' like it would down here on earth. What is happening to the hydrogen is a fusion reaction similar to what is happening inside a hydrogen bomb.\n\nEventually the sun will use up all its hydrogen fuel, start fusing heavier elements instead and then eventually die, but it will take billions of years.",
"Stars are in a constant war with gravity - the force of gravity crushing down on the core of the star, and the explosive outward force being generated by the reations inside the star.\n\nEventually, the star can't generate enough energy (usually due to iron and other heavy metals being made in the core) that's when gravity takes over, and the star goes supernova."
]
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1wrdjp | why can i feel the old cathode ray tube televisions from several rooms away when they're turned on? | This is not confirmation bias or any trick of the mind. I've NEVER been wrong on this account. It's a very tangible buzzing sensation and I know a TV is on, even if it is muted or several rooms away. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wrdjp/eli5_why_can_i_feel_the_old_cathode_ray_tube/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"There is a part in those TV's called a flyback transformer. It operates at a frequency you can sense/hear if it is no longer working exactly as designed (age/dirt). It is above your normal hearing range but you can still sense it.",
"Many CRT emit a high frequency noise just at the edge of human perception. It is so high it doesn't even register as a sound, but more of an odd sensation."
]
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4zlriz | how can a 30 amp, double pole electrical circuit not need a neutral wire when both wires carry current? | Contractor is installing an electric hotwater tank and I was asking how one copper wire carried 220 volts without burning up and he said since it's double pole, both copper conductors are hot with the bare copper ground. How can it not have a neutral return to complete the circuit? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4zlriz/eli5_how_can_a_30_amp_double_pole_electrical/ | {
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"Electrical power supplies to a typical house in the U.S. uses alternating current (AC), which transmits power using two conductors, each 110V from ground potential AND out of phase from each other. Because the voltage in one conductor is out of phase from the voltage in the other, a circuit that needs 220V can be powered using these two hot wires with no neutral required. A circuit that needs 110V takes its power from one of the hot wires and a neutral wire.",
"There is some misinformation in some of the answers here.\n\nIn the US almost all residential electrical service is 240/120 volt (not 220/110) single phase three wire. The hot legs are NOT on separate phases or \"out of phase with each other\". There is only one phase. Inside the transformer supplying a house there is one coil for the primary (high voltage) side and another coil for the secondary (low voltage) side. The two ends of the secondary coil will output 240 volts. To create the 120 volts needed by small devices the secondary coil is tapped in the center. This center tap creates the third conductor or \"neutral\" wire. So, 240 volts from hot to hot and 120 volts from either hot to the neutral. The current for the load only travels between whichever two conductors are being used by the load, either the two hot legs or one hot and one neutral.\n\nIf you were to connect an oscilloscope between the two hot legs you would see a sinusoidal wave that is 240 volts. If you attached it between either hot leg and the neutral you would see the SAME wave but it would be half (120) the voltage.\n\nThe heating elements (and controls) in your water heater are all 240 volts therefore they do not need 120 volts. No neutral needed.\n\n"
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7sjgvl | how does a software know when it crashed in order to keep a log of the crash? | How does a software know when to log a crash (and that ir crash) so that it can asks users to send a log to developers? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7sjgvl/eli5_how_does_a_software_know_when_it_crashed_in/ | {
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"It should be noted that a lot of programs do *not*. They crash and if you're lucky, the operating system catches it and tells you what happened. \n\nHowever, it is possible for programs to keep a running log. Then if it crashes, the log has the last actions performed. \n\nIt is also possible to write error-handing and exception catching into a program - that way when something bad happens and the program can't recover, it will shunt to a \"clean things up and exit nicely\" subroutine. ",
"There are several different ways. \n\nThe old school C programming way is based on the concept of signals. When a process does something that would normally trigger the OS to kill it you can ask the OS to let you do something else. This means that you can write a general function that creates a crash report and then ask the OS to call that function whenever the OS detects that you should crash (e.g. by reading a piece of memory you're not supposed to have access to). \n\nA more modern way is with exceptions and exception handlers. When a program detects a bad value (e.g. about to read a bad piece of memory, being asked to divide by zero, etc) it can \"throw an exception.\" This allows the program to record some data about what it was doing and then start \"unwinding the stack.\" If function A called function B and B called C then C throws an exception then C ends early and B gets a chance to handle the exception. If B doesn't handle it then A gets a chance. If A doesn't then the program crashes. Many developers working in a language that uses the exception model will wrap the whole program in an exception handlers and, upon receiving an exception, they will start the crash reporter. \n\nAnother possibility is to have multiple threads running in a program. When the crash reporting thread detects that the main thread has terminated unexpectedly it pops up to try to send relevant data to the developers. \n\nAs with most questions in programming there are a ton of ways to go about implementing a solution. What the answer ultimately comes down to is the fact that crashes don't just *happen*. They're a designed behavior at some layer, where software detects that it is in a state that it shouldn't be in and aborts. Reporting that crash comes down to getting whatever layer detected the exceptional state to communicate that fact to a piece of software that will report it to the developers. "
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209tva | why does meningitis always seem to kill people who are college aged and otherwise healthy? | I just read another news story about a college student who died from meningitis. I personally have known a couple of kids who have succumbed to it. Is bacterial meningitis more dangerous than viral meningitis? How come it doesn't kill the elderly and infants as often, or do we just not hear about it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/209tva/eli5_why_does_meningitis_always_seem_to_kill/ | {
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"Bacterial meningitis is *extremely* deadly, able to kill in less than a day, often under 3 days. You often hear of it in college students simply because they are more exposed to the infection, as bacterial meningitis is usually transferred through saliva. Any age group can contract and die from it.",
"I'd venture to say that college kids are less likely to admit they feel sick to someone that would have them get checked out. Free from parents to make you go and invincibility complex. \n\nCompletely speculative on my part, though.",
"Regarding your first question: The damage caused by bacterial meningitis is [a result of the body fighting the bacteria rather than the bacteria itself.] (_URL_4_) One reason college-aged people *may* be more at risk of dying from meningitis-- not that I'm saying that they are-- is that they are likely to have stronger immune systems, which are more likely to \"overreact\" when it tries to fight off bacteria or viruses. \n\nThis was the case [during 1928 flu pandemic, when more than half who died were between 18-40] (_URL_0_). More recently, it's thought that overactive immune responses probably caused the deaths [during the 2003 SARS epidemic] (_URL_2_) and in [cases of bird flu] (_URL_1_)\n\nRegarding your second question: I would've put my money on viral meningitis as the more dangerous kind, but it turns out that [it tends to be less severe, and most people recover completely from it] (_URL_3_).\n\nRegarding your third question: It might be because it makes a more shocking and dramatic headline when college-aged people die of diseases compared to the elderly, and to a lesser extent, infants.",
"People in close contact in dorms and classrooms are an excellent way for it to spread. ",
"most highly deadly diseases are self limiting. they sweep through their victims quickly, they die or recover, and the infection goes with it. \n\ncolleges have many of the same problems prisons and nursing homes do with regard to infection. you have a huge number of people together in relatively closed quarters for functionally the entire time people are living there. even the sick who would otherwise isolate themselves are exposing people en-mass.\n\nthe environment means the young and fit are far more likely to be exposed in a meaningful way to meningitis. the same goes for TB, flu, and gods know what else. which is why colleges are big on vaccination records and flu shots.",
"I had both bacterial and viral meningitis when I was in third grade. It was a bad time."
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"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18258000",
"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15602737",
"http://www.webmd.com/brain/understanding-meningitis-basics",
"http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/31/1/80.full"
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73s6ph | 2017 las vegas strip shooting is not an 'act of terrorism' according to the police. can someone explain why killing 50+ innocent people isn't considered terrorism? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/73s6ph/eli5_2017_las_vegas_strip_shooting_is_not_an_act/ | {
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" > Terrorism, in its broadest sense, describes the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence **as a means to create terror, or fear, to achieve a political, religious or ideological aim**.\n\nThis is the main point. We don't know what his goal was yet.",
"No, you just said why it doesn't fall into the group. There was no agenda the shooter was trying to push, he was just killing for the sake of it. He's not trying to cause terror, but simply deaths.",
"I think they mean that at this point they haven't found political or religious motivation for the act.\n\nThe motivation will probably become clear after the police go through his hotel room in detail."
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1lnpzz | why is the term "eighty-six" used when a restaurant kitchen pulls a dish? | Or throwing something out... More why "Eighty-Six" as a term | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1lnpzz/eli5_why_is_the_term_eightysix_used_when_a/ | {
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"I have been in the food business for 25 years. When you run out of something you 86 it. I was told that in the days of the New York mafia, when the mob wanted to get rid of someone they would throw them off of pier 86 which came to be a slang, as in 86 that guy. Just one of the explanations I've heard"
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20woqp | why is our heart on the left side of our chest, instead of in the center? | So much of our bodies are symmetrical, including our internal organs (lungs, kidneys). So why are our hearts more to the left side of our chest? Is there a biological reason for this? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20woqp/eli5_why_is_our_heart_on_the_left_side_of_our/ | {
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"Well, it is in the middle - kind of - but leans a bit to the left. You could also ask why the stomach is on the left, or why the liver is on the right. Organs that we only have one of cannot all fit exactly in the middle lest we have a very long torso.\n\nAs far as I know there is no particular biological reason for this. In fact, there is a syndrome called [Situs Inversus](_URL_0_) where sufferers have their major internal organs mirrored (so the heart would lean to the right, the liver would on the left, the stomach would be on the right, etcetera).\n\nWhile I don't think they would suffer too much discomfort, it is something to be considered when undergoing surgery and such.\n\n*EDIT: typo*",
"Hi, emt here. Your heart is in the dead center of your chest. You can't feel the beat in the center because of your breastplate protectively covering it.",
"Another poster mentioned that this is one of the body's tiny asymmetries, which I agree with. Apart from that the best I can think of is this:\n\nThe bloodstream has two main cycles: the right heart, which pumps heart to lung back to heart; the left heart, which pumps from the heart to the entire body and back to the heart. Obviously the responsibility, and therefore, strength, of the left heart is greater. This is why it is thicker.\n\nAs for how your question ties in, this may be some sort of evolutionary advantage. Also, as far as the center of the chest is concerned, it includes major blood vessels, the esophagus and trachea, etc. If the heart were to be in the center of the chest, there may be greater number of heart-related complications (just a guess). \n\nHope this makes sense. ",
"The left ventricle which does most of the pumping is the part you feel and is on the left. Your heart however is in the center. The right side is also smaller.",
"it relates to the embryological development of the fetus. \nto accommodate for the solid organ such as liver (which is attached to the diaphragm), bigger and expansive organ like heart goes to the left. Although, it not actually completely left, its in the center but takes a major portion of left side. \nAlso, major expansion of chest cavity occurs vertical and sideways (even though, it feels as if its front-and-back), leaning to left gives more space for heart when it is filled with blood. ",
"When we're growing inside our moms, we basically start out as a tube. Then that tube sort of folds itself to have two more tubes inside it. One goes straight through you from one end to the other, that becomes your mouth, stomach, and... Well, you know that food turns into poop. You'll figure it out. \n\nAnyway, the other tube stops partway through, and that becomes your heart and lungs and stuff. \n\nNow, when you grow these tubes all start to change shape and get longer, but the inner ones change and get longer faster. They sort of twist around as they grow, so everything fits. Each side won't match the other, which is why your heart ended up on the left. Sort of. Really it's in the middle, but the part that beats hardest is a bit to the left. \n\nNow get the hell out of the operating room. Seriously, who let him in here people? I'm elbows deep in grandma here. \n\nNO TIMMY YOU CANT POKE IT. Jesus. \n",
"the left side of your heart pumps blood to your entire body. the right side pumps blood to your lungs. this means the left side has to be stronger and bigger. "
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jaruh | the process of foreclosure. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jaruh/eli5_the_process_of_foreclosure/ | {
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"You want a treehouse. You dont have enough money to pay for a treehouse. You go to your parents. \"Mom and Dad, can you give me some money for a treehouse? I'll pay you back, little by little each month until I completely pay you back. I'll even pay you a total of more than you lent me because you are so generous.\" They give you the money and you buy the treehouse. Each month you pay them back some of the money. BUT in February, things go wrong. You gambled away your money at recess. You can't afford to pay your parents back that month. March comes, and you spend all your money on candy at the candy shop. Now you can't pay your parents for the month of March either. This happens through April and May as well. Since your parents gave you the money initially, and own almost all of the treehouse, its \"kinda\" THEIR treehouse. Since you couldn't make your monthly payments, your parents decided to take the treehouse from you and lend it to someone that CAN afford the monthly payment.",
"You want a treehouse. You dont have enough money to pay for a treehouse. You go to your parents. \"Mom and Dad, can you give me some money for a treehouse? I'll pay you back, little by little each month until I completely pay you back. I'll even pay you a total of more than you lent me because you are so generous.\" They give you the money and you buy the treehouse. Each month you pay them back some of the money. BUT in February, things go wrong. You gambled away your money at recess. You can't afford to pay your parents back that month. March comes, and you spend all your money on candy at the candy shop. Now you can't pay your parents for the month of March either. This happens through April and May as well. Since your parents gave you the money initially, and own almost all of the treehouse, its \"kinda\" THEIR treehouse. Since you couldn't make your monthly payments, your parents decided to take the treehouse from you and lend it to someone that CAN afford the monthly payment."
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aq17jo | why does anesthesia (like morphine) make people act all loopy? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aq17jo/eli5_why_does_anesthesia_like_morphine_make/ | {
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"Because it shuts down higher brain functions. When we block pain and nerve signals, we also block inhibitory systems, like logical thought, perception, speech processing and the “filter” of thought to speech.\n\nThe same system that registers pain also registers conscious higher processes",
"Morphine is not an anesthetic. It is a narcotic pain reliever. It does not cause amnesia (inability to make memories), or affect the conduction of nerve signals like pain. It simply makes you not care as much about pain by releasing chemicals that make you feel good. It does affect your brain in a way that makes it harder to pay attention, which accounts for acting loopy, but not in the same way that actual anesthetics do."
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cw55l9 | do all objects bounce? specifically heavy objects | Hey all,
So I read through the questions already asked and no one seems to give me a definitive answer. I may have dropped a radiator out of my second story window (longer story, but it happened) and from what I saw there was no bounce - the ground did dent though. And according to my roommate it definitly bounced. I think the weight/mass of an object would change if it bounces or not, but I could be wrong.
Reddit please explain it to me! Do all objects bounce? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cw55l9/eli5_do_all_objects_bounce_specifically_heavy/ | {
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"Whether an object bounces depends on its rigidity, and the rigidity of the object it hits.\n\nA bowling ball that hits a hard wood floor will bounce. A bowling ball* that hits water will not. \n\nAll objects *can* bounce, given the right circumstances. Some objects will readily deform, and in certain circumstances the deforming will take up all the energy that would normally go into bouncing. \n\nIf you dropped the radiator out of the window onto hard ground, it probably bounced. If you dropped it onto soft ground, it may not have. If it dented the ground but didn't leave a pretty good radiator-shaped impression in the ground, it almost certainly bounced at least a little.\n\nEDIT: A bowling ball dropped out of a two story building that is. As /u/hoohoohoos points out, a very fast bowling ball can bounce off of water. It all depends on the conditions of the impact.",
"I think the other guy answered your question but now I gotta know how you dropped a radiator out of a second story window! If you're willing to tell that is",
"Nope!\n\nWhen you drop something, it picks up kinetic energy. When it hits the ground, that energy has to go somewhere. It either stays as kinetic energy (bouncing), or goes into deforming the ground or the object. \n\nIt largely comes down to how hard the object and the ground are. A harder object is harder to deform, so it'll likely bounce, or if it's dropped from high enough, shatter. Something soft, like a ball of lead, will hot the ground, flatten, and not bounce at all. Rubber materials are a different story, but suffice it to say, they're bouncy too",
"This is actually a pretty complex question, a lot goes into a collision.\n\nWhen an object strikes the ground there are two competing forces: \"elastic\" deformation and \"plastic\" deformation.\n\nIn elsatic deformation, the material (and the ground) bends and then recoils like a spring. Chemical bonds bend, but they don't break. All materials have some ability to do this, even stuff like glass that you might not expect.\n\nThen there's plastic deformation. When the force of the collision overwhelms the chemical bond strength, bonds move or break and the material (or the ground) crumples or shatters irreversibly. This absorbs energy and deadens the bounce.\n\nSo whether an object will bounce or not depends on how much energy it can temporarily absorb into an elastic \"bend\" and how much it permanently absorbs into a \"crush\".\n\nThis is a function of material strength and the energy of the impact.\n\nA rubber ball at 40mph will bounce, it can absorb all the energy elastically and rebound away. That same rubber ball at 40,000 mph won't bounce, it'll explode. Wood bounces. Wooden ships don't.\n\nSo all objects have some degree of inherent \"bounce\" to them, but whether they actually rebound or not depends on the mass, speed, and structure of both the object and the surface. Can the object safely absorb enough energy to lift itself, or does the shearing of bonds and crumpling of the ground absorb it all?\n\nA radiator on concrete would probably bounce a little, but the same radiator on dirt might not",
"No. Not all objects bounce. A bullet fired into a lead plate does not bounce - it causes deformation.\n\nA lot of technical answers here, and I almost went that route, discussing energy dissipation over time and mechanical impulse, but in reality, OP asked a simple question with a simple answer. No need to answer a more complex question than OP asked."
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1n3yhj | why are musical notes depicted as the letters "a-f" rather than numbers or symbols? | I've been playing guitar for 5 years now. It has baffled me for all of them.
Edit: I know it's A-G I typed it on a cellphone that's way too small for my thumbs. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1n3yhj/eli5_why_are_musical_notes_depicted_as_the/ | {
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"[This](_URL_0_) may help, but I'm sure someone with more knowledge can explain.\n\nWhat I DO know is that its A-G.. 5 years?"
]
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_notation"
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5a1dk6 | why nutrient information like sugar and calories, isn't/doesn't have to be on alcohol? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5a1dk6/eli5_why_nutrient_information_like_sugar_and/ | {
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"The FDA requires all nutrition labels on food; however, alcohol used to fall under the jurisdiction of the ATF, who didn't require any labels; it however is now under the jurisdiction of the TTB, and they currently don't impose nutrition labels requirements unless the beverage claims \"lite/light\", \"table wine\", etc. In mid-2016, new laws were approved for nutrition labels on alcohol, such as the inclusion of sugar, manufactures have until mid-2018 to comply (mid-2019 is they are small companies)."
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bz26qz | what does it mean to be pragmatic? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bz26qz/eli5_what_does_it_mean_to_be_pragmatic/ | {
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"It means that you choose actions based on their likely outcome, rather than as a matter of principle, ideology, ethics, or unlikely hope."
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1wur33 | is there a medical explanation for this? feeling large or small in bed.. | [–]shamus4mwcrew 2285 points 9 hours ago
Sometimes when I wake up before I open my eyes I either feel super small or extremely large. Like if I was to open my eyes when feeling small I'd be like the size of a mouse in my bed. Anyone else?
[–]Advocates_Devils 435 points 8 hours ago
This has happened to me as long as I can remember. I don't remember thinking that it would have any bearing on reality, but it's a very strong sensation. It's also very rare and seems to have decreased with frequency over time.
This has also happened to me but not in a long while.
i used to feel this before i would fall asleep some nights as a kid it was as if i was to open my eyes my legs would stretch to brazil or something (exaggeration)
I am hoping there is some cool medical explanation that i am not able to find o the internet when i look | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wur33/eli5_is_there_a_medical_explanation_for_this/ | {
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"It's called [Alice in Wonderland syndrome](_URL_0_)."
]
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atppz3 | why do some bluetooth devices (receivers) seem to maintain connection at longer distances? | For instance, I have a Bluetooth headset (Jaybird) that seems to lose connection about 10-15 feet away, but a Bluetooth speaker (JBL) that I'm currently streaming music to about 30 feet away and through a closed door. Is the difference on the receiving end of the devices? Both would be connected to my mobile device, so the signal going out is always the same.
Edit: Forgot flair. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/atppz3/eli5_why_do_some_bluetooth_devices_receivers_seem/ | {
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"There are 3 different classes for bluetooth devices - lower power = less range.\n\nClass 3 is designed for short range, < 10 meters.\n\nClass 2 is designed for around 10 meters.\n\nClass 1 devices are designed for around 100 meters.\n\nYour Jaybird is probably a class 3 or 2 device and your JBL speaker is a class 1."
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324qkr | in the graph for x^y = y^x , why do the two lines intersect at (e,e)? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/324qkr/eli5_in_the_graph_for_xy_yx_why_do_the_two_lines/ | {
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"uhhh, i have no idea how to eli5 this but since i dont think 5 year olds know exponents, i'm not going to assume you're 5. instead, i can try to explain it at several levels depending on your math background. i can give you a bad explanation if you know logs, a better (but still hand wave-y) explanation if you know calculus and then a 'best' explanation (that doesn't require calculus) using logs, something called the lambert function and some annoying algebra.\n\n---------\n\n**if you know logs and want a basic explanation:**\n\nthe first thing you can see is that x^y = y^x translates to logx/x = logy/y which is the more useful form to look at. if you just look at the function k=logx/x. this function has a max of 1/e and a minimum of 0. it starts at 0 (when x is 1), hits a max, and then asymptotically approaches 0 as x approaches infinity.\n\nso for each value of logy/y you have a solution where x is between 0 and the peak, and then another solution where x is between the peak and infinity.\n\nthe place where there is only one x value for logy/y is the peak.\n\nand that peak is the e,e point.\n\n-----\n\n**if you know calculus:**\n\nwhy is it the e,e point?\n\nif you take the derivative of logx/x you get 1/(x^(2))*(1-logx) showing that it has a peak/valley at infinity and at logx=1, x=e. Therefor at x=e (or y=e) there will only be a single value of y and that value will be e.\n\n------\n\n**if you want to know how mathematicians cheat to solve this problem:**\n\nyou can see when you graph your function: _URL_1_\nthat there are kind of two functions here. One which is the straight diagonal line and the other kind of looks like y=1/x.\n\nthe diagonal line is obviously y=x, the other is not so obvious, but its y=e^-W(-log(x)/x) ... in order to solve for the second one you need to know what W is.\n\nso what is W? basically when a mathematician runs into a problem that is impossible to solve they just basically say:\n\n'OK, so assuming i could solve it, this is what i would call the solution' and then they move on\n\nso the impossible problem was 'can you solve for w in terms of y in the function f(w)=w*e^w =y?'\n\nwhich is impossible.\n\nso a mathematician went 'Ok, I can't solve for w in terms of y in the function w*e^w =y so lets just ASSUME i did and lets call it W.'\n\nthis function W is called the lambert function: _URL_0_\n\nso if f(w)=w*e^w =y then W(y)=w.\n\nOk, so now we can use it to solve our problem.\n\nnotice what happens in the f(w) function if you set w=log(1/x)\n\nf(w)=w * e^w = > f(log(1/x)=log(1/x)*e^log(1/x) =-logx/x\n\nso if we have this function f(w)=we^w then f(log(1/x))=-logx/x\n\nso given that the function you gave is the same as -logx/x=-logy/y we now know what we need to solve for x:\n\n-logx/x=-logy/y = > f(log(1/x))=-logy/y\n\nthen using W:\n\nW(f(log(1/x)))=W(-logy/y) = > log(1/x)=W(-logy/y) = > log(x)=-W(-logy/y) = > x=e^-W(-log(y)/y)\n\nalso note that using the definitions here W is actually two different functions because (as you would expect since logx/x=y hits its values twice) f(w)=w*e^w for w < 0 peaks at -1/e (actually a minimum) and otherwise hits each value of f(w) twice. This is why we cant use our two functions to solve a linear equation. x=e^-W(-log(y)/y) is equivalent to x=y for one of the solutions in W.\n\nif you do\n\nx=e^-W(-log(x)/x) = > x=e^-W(f(log(1/x)) = > x=e^-log(1/x) = > x=x\n\nI'm not aware if its possible to separate the two and solve for x=e,y=e.\n\nHope this helps!\n\n\n\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
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"http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LambertW-Function.html",
"https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=y%5Ex%3Dx%5Ey"
]
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37vpca | what would the earth look like if you're in a helicopter and an earthquake happened? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37vpca/eli5_what_would_the_earth_look_like_if_youre_in_a/ | {
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"It would shake? I suppose it depends on how high up you are and such. You wouldn't really see much since the plates are so incredibly huge. ",
"If you're over a populated area, the most noticeable thing would probably be a bunch of electrical transformers exploding as they shorted out. That was the most memorable thing to me watching aftershocks happen in the Los Angeles basin from up in the hills overlooking it. ",
"I am speculating here from having personally seen rock quarry blastings, but as the explosion spreads outwards you see a shimmer that is a pressure wave. It's literally a pressure gradient of air. It wouldn't seem too far of a jump that the earth moving such a large mass upward/downward/sideways even a short distance would cause a very similar effect in the air. I would think that the shimmer may not be as defined as an explosion, but definitely there should appear to be a distortion on the light and air in the area where there is movement. "
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1sh6ea | why are diamonds the hardest material on earth? | I know it takes a diamond to cut a diamond etc., but how can this be? Surely we can make something with our own technology that is harder than a diamond.. Right? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sh6ea/eli5_why_are_diamonds_the_hardest_material_on/ | {
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"They are not the hardest anymore, science has found and created harder. Try this site for an explanation. _URL_0_",
"There is plenty of things harder then diamonds, well a handful at least. They are however not naturally occurring or occurring in so small amounts that they are practically not naturally occurring. "
]
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"http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16610-diamond-no-longer-natures-hardest-material.html#.UqYFLz_naM8"
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1jygtm | in racing sports, how do some people do better than others? what is required for one person to beat another, while they have very similar bikes/cars/etc? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jygtm/eli5in_racing_sports_how_do_some_people_do_better/ | {
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"This is just a partial list:\n\n- Making fewer mistakes. Human racers, being imperfect, constantly make tiny little mistakes and each one costs lap time. They add up.\n- Having more advanced vehicle handling skills. These can allow you to go around a corner faster or break later without spinning out or overshooting the corner. The best drivers have greatly nuanced senses of exactly what the car is doing and what more you can get out of it.\n- Better race strategy. Coming in for a pit stop at just the right time for just the right set of tires can make a huge difference.\n- Skill in passing. Passing another vehicle with similar specs is very tricky since you won't have much of an outright speed advantage, but there are ways you can pressure the other racer into making a mistake or leaving a gap for you to get by. This aspect of the race is very psychological.\n- Vehicle management. Knowing how to get the most speed out of the car/bike without tearing up the tires or wasting too much fuel.\n- Physical/mental conditioning. Being able to perform at your best in any situation, throughout the duration of the race (which can be gruelling).\n\nAlso, in many race series the cars and bikes, while similar, are different enough that some are decisively faster than others. F1 is a good example of this: there is often one car that is so much better than the rest of the field that it's hard for the others to compete.\n"
]
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3v2xsf | how did the foster system begin and why was it chosen as an alternative to orphanages in the us? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3v2xsf/eli5_how_did_the_foster_system_begin_and_why_was/ | {
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"Believe it or not, Welfare was a big part of their downfall...Lot of the kids in orphanages ended up there just because their families couldn't afford them (believe it or not, one such child was baseball notable [Babe Ruth](_URL_0_)\\), so when social programs got going to the point where you weren't going to *starve* regardless, the number of loose kids dropped to a level that could be handled by the foster system.\n\nThe foster system itself is as old or older than the orphanage system in this country. Orphanages \"fed\" kids to foster families...They weren't meant to be permanent homes, just a place to stay while other family arrangements were set up.",
"There was another problem that had long plagued the orphanage system. Violence between children. While the foster system doesn't completely eliminate this (as a foster family may have more than one foster child) it did help reduce it.\n\nSurprisingly, rape between males was a very common problem in orphanages (source: four friends were raised in them just before the system was closed)\n",
"U/workpuppy and u/goaway432 have provided good explanations, but I'd very much like to tag on that it's more an an absorption into the foster care system. There are many foster homes that have sizable populations, up to fifteen or sixteen kids. At least, those were the largest I had ever seen. But they were far from ordinary.\n\nAs was stated, violence was a serious problem in the orphanages, and that still hasn't changed a ton. People don't want to adopt an older kid remotely as much as a young one. This leads to kids who get angry, and hold onto that anger. They'll naturally take it out on their peers who aren't as aggressive.\n\nAs per the cliche you'd expect when a bunch of pubescent teens and preteens are kept together in small groups without strong support structures (generally), we tend toward calling the angry ones \"hard cases.\" Although that may just be a southern thing, it's certainly a common phrase in the Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia foster systems.",
"They have orphanages in the United States, they are known as Group Homes and once you reach a certain 'level' of group home, you are pretty much an orphan because you are no longer placeable at a normal or even ITFC home. Orphanages and group homes in general are not cost effective, the government spends thousands to keep a child at a group home, (last I heard it was around $8k per month for a level 12 group home, I'm sure it has gone up since then), versus the hundreds it may pay a foster family to subsidize the child's placement. \n\n\nSource: Grew up in foster system, spent a few years in a couple of group homes, became an adult, and worked for a group home provider in an administrative capacity. ",
"Orphanages were not separate from the foster care system. The foster care system in the US included orphanages, which were basically just larger foster homes. Over time, the term fell out of use as the foster system became less about caring for orphans (in part because social welfare and access to adequate contraception reduced the number of orphans) and more about caring for children removed from abusive homes.\n\nAs that change was taking place, a series of reforms also transformed foster care from a \"work house\" environment that made it easy for unsavory folk to exploit kids^1 into one with significant government oversight. The larger foster-care environments we think of as \"orphanages\" were no longer practical or profitable, and gave way to smaller placements.\n\n---\n\n^^1 ^Though ^even ^the ^exploitative ^work ^house ^model ^was ^superior ^to ^the ^\"almshouses\" ^of ^pre-English ^Poor ^Laws ^(c.1500) ^England; ^in ^work ^houses, ^at ^least ^kids ^were ^somewhat ^protected ^from ^the ^worst ^abuses ^and ^learned ^a ^trade.",
"A lot of comments about widespread rape and violence in orphanages/group homes, but the facility I worked at (2007) was fantastic and staffed by professionals that truly cared about the kids. \n\nOn the other hand, most foster parents I saw in the system were weirdos that I wouldn't trust my dog with. \n\nUnfortunately the facility Was shut down, probably a combination of cost and activists' beliefs that a family environment is better for the kids (no matter how crappy that family usually is)"
]
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1vj9xw | why are members of college sports teams students instead of staff? | Is there a good reason to force athletes to earn a degree? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1vj9xw/eli5_why_are_members_of_college_sports_teams/ | {
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"The overwhelming majority (like, 99%) of college athletes will not be professional athletes, so it absolutely makes sense for them to earn a degree. There's no way to decide which players are good enough to go pro when they're 18 or whatever, so it would be ridiculous to say \"oh yeah you don't have to go to class\" and have the kid be completely fucked over when it turns out he just doesn't have what it takes.",
"Yes, education creates better/smarter people overall. And after their career, if the need money or are bored, they can go to work in good jobs in their mid 30's to 40's. \n\nIn Germany, sports and school are completely separated. Sports are local clubs. Think of it in the same way except you have to be a student to play. \n\nI am sure the NCAA and NIAA have some sort of write on why that rule exists. "
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6zykt4 | the psychology behind people's desire to follow and like posts from celebs, in particular the kardashian type celebs. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6zykt4/eli5_the_psychology_behind_peoples_desire_to/ | {
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"text": [
"Humans are social creatures.\n\nWe love gossip, and we love talking about gossip. Celebrities allow us to share gossip with anyone, be it a close friend or a stranger."
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24ke3p | why is the current recession taking longer than others to recover? | Although we are experiencing a modest reversal in the recession, this downturn seems to be outlasting so many other recessions.
I have the economic/business acumen of a flea, so please ELI5. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/24ke3p/eli5why_is_the_current_recession_taking_longer/ | {
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"Trying to keep this ELI5. \n\nTechnically, the US economy emerged from the Great Recession 4 years ago. The term recession means that the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has fallen for more than 2 quarters. Many aspects of the economy have not recovered to their pre-Great Recession levels but in many ways that 's good. For example, the housing market bubble was not sustainable and we should not go back to those levels. At least not quickly. Sustainable conservative growth is preferable to boom and bust. \n\nMake sense? Feel free to ask questions. ",
"Also with the current recession, many employers that shed workers in 2008-2009 are adding more automation/technology and working current employees harder instead of hiring new workers. And certain industries and large companies (borders bookstores, newspapers, magazines) will never bounce back."
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2o2nyl | what aspects besides its insurance business caused aig to collapse in the financial crisis of 2008? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2o2nyl/eli5_what_aspects_besides_its_insurance_business/ | {
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"AIG was assuming a risk that was more hurricane risk, but assuming it was more like auto risk. The risk they were protecting was related to mortgages and while it wasn't insurance, it acted in similar ways to insurance. \n\nAIG got a tiny payment in exchange for a massive, but very low likelihood event (mortgages all across the US defaulting at once). When that event occurred, they collapsed and needed to be bailed out (the government feared that because they were backstopping so much of the market that many other firms would fail, as well). "
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5xls7g | why does the human body's own immune response make your own body swollen and painful?? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5xls7g/eli5_why_does_the_human_bodys_own_immune_response/ | {
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"Pain is mostly a protective thing: if a body part hurts you, you tend to use it less thus reducing mechanical stress and strein for faster healing. The swelling is due to the increased flux of fluids carrying what you need to heal: immune cells, chemicals, water, blood. "
]
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[]
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3lzt2t | why does anxiety cause your stomach to hurt? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3lzt2t/eli5_why_does_anxiety_cause_your_stomach_to_hurt/ | {
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"It's a fight of flight response. Anxiety is like the stress that comes when a tiger chases you in a savanna. In that moment your body goes to flight or fight mode. Bodily functions which are not necessary are disregarded and energy and focus on the body goes on raising heart beat and breathing, as if you were going to run away from the tiger or fight it. As your body puts the operations of digestive system on hold, it can cause stomach ache, loose belly and stuff.",
"You have a bunch of nerves in your gut that can feel anxiety. It's called the [Enteric nervous system](_URL_1_).\n\n[Here is a more in depth explanation.](_URL_0_)"
]
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enteric_nervous_system"
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fgm356 | - what are dj's actually doing up there with all the knobby twists, record turns, and switch flips? | Seems like absolutely nothing is changing to the music when they're doing all of this. Is it just for show? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fgm356/eli5_what_are_djs_actually_doing_up_there_with/ | {
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"one record plays \n\nthe next record is moved to just before the part you want to play next, then you change its speed so it’s ‘in time’ with the one already playing \n\nwhen you’re ready, you start the second record playing, and increase the volume, either by cross fading (volume fades up on one, down on the other at the same time), or by simply turning record 2 up\n\nto help them fit together more neatly, you can also turn down the volume of the bass, mid, or treble on either\n\ntwo full volume bass lines can work, but usually that’s a clutter you want to avoid. same with other parts, but less so\n\nthen, when it’s time, you turn down the first record, leaving the now playing one at the correct volume across the frequency range\n\n\nthen you repeat the process with another record on the turntable that is now free\n\n\nbesides that, you can also create tension and movement without changing track by using the EQ",
"A great club House or Techno DJ who is really playing will work the EQ or filter knobs to really blend two tracks together. After getting the tempos synced, dropping the next record at the intended cue point they‘ll usually either filter or cut the bass on either the incoming or outgoing track to a certain extent so that the frequencies don’t clash. Somewhere in the transition they’ll use the EQ / filter to switch emphasis from the old track and the new track with the objective largely being for the output to sound to the floor like the whole transition was completely produced that way in the studio, so if they’re on top of the game and the crowd doesn’t know the records then it should sound like they’re not doing much at all.\n\nWhen it gets to peak time and the crowd favourites and bangers start dropping then similar EQ / filtering tricks take place to help everything fit together and flow.\n\nTBH though I’ve lost interest in it since The whole EDM / Steve Aoki / mashup scene blew up. Those guys largely don’t do shit except for DJ AM who was legit mashing things together in real time.",
"Ok, so the knobby twists do a number of things depending on the knob:\n\na) change the volume\n\nb) increase or decrease the highs, mids or lows (e.g removing the bass out of a tune by turning the low knob to the left)\n\nc) increase or decrease the length or action of an effect they are using e.g echo or filter\n\nThe record turns are usually finding the start point of the track, the first beat of a bar, or a vocal that they want to bring in. All of this is done in the headphones which is why you don't hear it. \n\nThe switch flips, I think you mean the faders. Think of 2 faders as track 1 and track 2 on a 0-10 scale, zero is off, 1 is very slightly on, 10 is all the way on. There's all different styles of mixing, once a DJ has the 2 tracks in sync in his headphones, he might bring the next track in by raising the 2nd fader. Alternatively scratch DJ's will have both fader 1 and 2 at 10 and use the cross fader to flick on and off between tracks while moving the record backwards and forwards.\n\nAlternatively the DJ is playing a pre-recorded mix on channel 1 while fader 2 is at zero, twisting all the knobs on channel 2 to pretend like they are doing something.",
"I believe Carl Cox is more the exception than the norm in that he does not have a set list of tracks to play. Check out the below video of him explaining what goes on behind the scenes, quite eye opening and certainly not an easy task.\n\n[Carl Cox Model 1](_URL_0_)",
"for dnb mixing I'd use the gains to change the snap of the snare and hats to alter the original mix a bit.",
"They're getting the next track ready to transition and maybe changing the speed of the current track to match the next. The headphones they wearing usually is the next song they're prepping",
"Depends, if its fully prerecorded they can fake it. Most often, its song and sample selection, loading, beat matching, key changing, filtering for transitions or drops, adding effects. It is waaaay harder than it looks and takes a lot of preparation and skill.",
"My favourite DJ/producer has a great article on his website on what he does on stage:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThe answer same short not simple. A DJ can be doing very little, but a good DJ is getting the next track ready, transitioning, layering vocal samples on top of the track, mixing, etc. A lot of uninformed people say that a DJ just pushed buttons. Well, so does a pianist. It's the way they push those buttons and turn those knobs that makes what they do special.",
"This video is a good demonstration of what basic record switching/transitioning involves\n\n_URL_0_\n\nSome DJs do much more and actively mix several tracks, levels, filters, effects.\n\nOthers literally have a playlist and are there to provide a more visual source for listeners.",
"For the record, if people are actually using those buttons, it could be likely any of the following things:\n\n-Changing the EQ (making it sound very thin or muffled, usually to make the next part of the song sound more intense)\n-Changing the tempo (making the song faster or slower)\n-Changing it from one song to another (either by making one song go quiet while the other one becomes louder, sudden transitions, or even playing both at the same time)\n-Adding effects like reverb or delay (echo)\n-Choosing to either let you listen to something, or just them (the DJ) listen to something, so they can prepare the next song and line it up with the beat of the previous song.\n\n\nMostly, all the dancing and twirling is just for show. When they’re actually doing something, they tend to move around a lot less, and look really focused on what they’re doing.",
"Depends on the type of DJ.\n\nA wedding DJ for example (which I used to work as), if I'm interacting with the equipment, I'm either adjusting the levels of the current song (bass, treble, volume etc), or more likely I'm choosing and then preparing the next song. A smooth transition from one song to the next is actually quite complicated to get right, the process is:\n\n* Find the correct track. Something that matches the current mood and pace, and is within 10 bps of the current song (anything more/less than this will result in a noticeable beat sync).\n* Find the correct entry point. I need roughly 6 seconds of repetition that isn't noticeable (no lyrics) so I can create a loop to transition into.\n* Beat match the loop to the current song (so the percusion is in sync). Used to have to do this manually, now software does it for you.\n* Transition. 6-12 seconds in which I fade in new song (lower treble and volume so the entry isn't noticeable), fade up new song (increase treble/volume of new song), fade out old song (lower volume, but relative to the new song so the overall volume doesn't drop), completely transition to new song by leveling it correctly and removing the loop, and then step up/down the beat to the original bps of the new song.\n\nThis is all for standard songs. DJs who do their own mashups etc would have more to do. Honestly, a diligent wedding DJ spends at most half their time of the equipment. A lazy one could get away with a quarter.\n\nPerforming DJs (big names), a lot of it is just showmanship and entertaining the crowd."
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513lo7 | how does washing our face with water help us when waking up in the morning? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/513lo7/eli5_how_does_washing_our_face_with_water_help_us/ | {
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"Cold water on the face triggers the [mammalian diving reflex](_URL_0_). Of the various effects, the thing that wakes you up is that it causes your blood to be squeezed back into your core body and brain, away from the skin and limbs. This boosts the oxygen available to you, and raises your blood pressure, which is usually low when you wake up.",
"Covering your face with water (especially cold water) triggers a reflex known as vasoconstriction. This causes all outer blood vessels to constrict, thereby increasing core blood pressure and ensuring oxygen delivery to the brain. This normally helps maintain consciousness while diving, but can also be used to kick-start your brain and circulatory system.\n\nEdit: The reason why cold water works better is a different reflex (which too causes constriction of blood vessels) which is triggered when the skin is exposed to low temperatures. This one aims to maintain core body temperature even when the average body temperature drops."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalian_diving_reflex"
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6cbn9w | what makes a binder clip "elastic"? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6cbn9w/eli5_what_makes_a_binder_clip_elastic/ | {
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"text": [
"Binder clips are made out of spring steel, which is designed so that it can bend a lot without permanently changing shape. Paper clips are just \"regular\" steel that can bend a lot easier. "
]
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15s8c8 | why are there still so many limb amputations? | I've seen a lot of amputees on reddit, and it just seems like so many doctors give up on limbs that could be surgically repaired-or a surgical procedure could be perfected- and and just chop them off | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/15s8c8/eli5_why_are_there_still_so_many_limb_amputations/ | {
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"Limb amputation is an *incredible* last resort in modern times. If a limb gets removed, there was almost certainly no way to save it.",
" > I've seen a lot of amputees on reddit, and it just seems like so many doctors give up on limbs that could be surgically repaired-or a surgical procedure could be perfected- and and just chop them off\n\nDo you have any numbers, and - more importantly - case histories that show these limbs that could have been saved?\n\nwhat you might be able to find is cases where there was a descision between removing a leg or an arm and a long and difficult recovery process that was guranteed to only yield partial results. (So, yes, they might decide to chop your leg off if the altenrative would be to let you keep a leg that you could never ever use again.)",
"It's reddit. People post pictures of cool stuff. Modern prosthetics are cool. I mean who doesn't like cyborgs, really?\n\nThis doesn't mean that there's more of them, we just like pictures of cool stuff & people that are succeeding against adversity.",
"Amputation only occurs when not amputating is more dangerous. A severely mangled limb will start to die, which can spread necrotic material throughout the entire body and lead to death.",
"This is a confirmation bias. You see lots of pictures of amputations or amputees because it's not really much to talk about if doctors save your arm and you go home in one piece. There are many reasons to have to amputate, and also a lot of things that can be done to try and save a limb. But... if they have to they have to.\n\nedit: Also 10 years of brutal warfare in the middle east has given us a lot of returning soldiers with missing limbs thanks to IEDs, and probably the nature of guerrilla warfare in general."
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2vmobo | how is it that the cereal in the plastic remains fresh while the ones that get outside of it (in the box) become stale? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vmobo/eli5how_is_it_that_the_cereal_in_the_plastic/ | {
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"There is more moisture outside of the bag than in the bag. Moisture is what makes things stale. "
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3ykzpp | how do filmmakers get young ones to cooperate on set? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ykzpp/eli5_how_do_filmmakers_get_young_ones_to/ | {
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"Movie magic.\n\nWhen dealing with very young children and infants, those not old enough to understand what is going on, there are two big tricks to make them work for filming a scene.\n\nFirst is you shoot A LOT of footage. You only have to get them to act right once. If you have to do the scene dozens of times, that is fine, as long as one take works.\n\nSecond is you will often see a lot of shots of just the child. This is so they can sit a child infront of a camera until it gives the reaction they want and then they can edit that in response to what the scene calls for. ",
"You're looking for /r/answers or /r/Filmmakers "
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3g78ak | what's the big deal about jon stewart? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3g78ak/eli5_whats_the_big_deal_about_jon_stewart/ | {
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"He is (was) the long-time host of The Daily Show, a nightly news/entertainment/comedy show on Comedy Central. His final show was last night--he retired.\n\nIt's a big deal because he was seen, particularly by liberals and young people, as a valuable news source and an effective & impassioned communicator. Having been the host of TDS for so long he played a large role in forming the opinions of the young people who watched his show growing up.",
"Most simply put, he is the most prominent satirist of recent times.\n\nMore largely speaking, he is one of the fiercest and finest critics politics and the media that covers it. Some would say that he does a better job of political commentary than actual political commentators. He was one of the first people to use actual video clips to show politicians and pundits actively contradicting themselves and to call out their hypocrisy."
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10ynqr | how can countries like el salvador not have a self-minted currency? | El Salvador's official currency is the US Dollar. How can their government not.. I don't know, collapse under the instability on relying on foreign money to make its way into the country? Moreover, what's the legality of this? (I would assume there would have to be some sort of "approval" or something by the US to certify such a major reliance on their economy) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/10ynqr/eli5_how_can_countries_like_el_salvador_not_have/ | {
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"Okay, to give an explanation of why it works, first you have to understand what money is.\n\nBefore money, you had barter. An exchange where both parties agree that a certain amount of given good (item, object, property, etc) or service (ie. action by an individual) from one party is worth a certain amount of a good or services from the other party. ie. We both agree that my dozen apples is worth the same as your fancy hat and we trade them.\n\nThe problem with barter is that quite often you want a specific good or service from a person and they don't want anything of yours. However, if we can get everyone (or just about everyone) to agree on the worth of some item that everyone has, then we can trade goods and services for that item and then trade that item for whatever we need. This is currency. In classic times, people typically used something that was rare enough to be valuable. Gold, sea shells, etc were all used. Eventually, just about everyone agreed that gold was a good item to use as a basis for currency. Paper money in the USA was originally an IOU for an equivalent amount of gold (ie. 1$ bill is worth 1$ of gold). Now and days, it's more complicated then that but the original idea remains: That a given amount of currency is worth a certain amount of goods or services. The amount it's worth is determined by general consensus based on a number of factors.\n\nNow, back to the original question: So long as the people of El Salvador all agree to accept US dollar bills and agree on it's value, then they work just as well as if they were using their own money. This has a number of pros and cons but in the end it boils down to ease of trade with the USA but at the cost of greater reliance on the USA economy (and the whims of the US government). Most countries don't want to take that risk or lose their independence but (for whatever reason) El Salvador decided to take on that risk."
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4ko0y3 | how the islamic banks work, and what's rge difference between them and conventional banks | edit title mistake : what's the* difference between them and conventional banks | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ko0y3/eli5_how_the_islamic_banks_work_and_whats_rge/ | {
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"My english is not the best but ill try to explain.\n\nIn the islam its forbidden to get money wich you didnt work for, so the money you get by just letting your money stay in the bank is harram. You cannot do this, so they will work around for an \"Halal\" way to do it.\n\nELI5: its the same, different naming.",
"There are a few common practices of modern banks that are considered illegal under Islamic jurisprudence, and so these banks operate under those laws as well as the laws of their resident country. Specifically, charging interest, investing in businesses that produce anything considered *haram*, and gambling (in the form of high-risk investments such as stock options or precious metals) are all forbidden.",
"If Islamic banks cannot charge interest, do they charge service fees to account holders then? I imagine they must be profitable somehow?",
"Im a layman when it comes to financial questions and only a close observer of islamic social norms in so far that I live in a muslim dominated community. From what I hear, the major differences to regular banking are these:\n\n- no interest rates. If you make a deposit in an islamic bank (and you don't just give them the money for safe keeping, which is also an option). You will not gain any interest. The bank may make \"gifts\" to you (deposit money in your account), but these gifts can not be guaranteed (because that would be charging interest, which is haram)\n- If the bank is charged with developing your assets, they may do so under certain restrictions: No high risk investments (gambling is haram), they can only charge you as a percentage of actual earnings (they can not charge you fees if the investements don't pay off), no investments in businesses involved with haram products or services (no breweries, no non-halal butchers/food production, no gambling sites etc...)\n- Credit cards are usually not offered, because they are thought to encourage frivoulus spending (although certain models for credit cards exist, which would technically not haram)",
"I know it's stupid that I'm answering myself, but I want you to correct me if I'm wrong.\nsince interest are forbidden in the Shariaa law, they found a way to charge people without applying \"interest\". for exemple if you want to buy a car that is worth 10,000 $, if you go to a convential bank they will give you that amount, but with interest ,you will find yourself paying back an amount of 13,000$ .. the islamic bank, to do this in a HALAL way, they buy the car for it's original price and resell it to you for 13000 $. you pay the same amount but you don't break the islamic rules.",
"Either planet money or freakonomics just did a podcast on this exact subject. If I can find the exact one I will post once I get to work.\n\nEdit: for those interested here is the link[running a bank without interest](_URL_0_)",
"Islamic Banks basically play the loophole shuffle that Christian Banks use to do back in the Renaissance.\n\nFirst, Islam allows you to make profit from a business you own a part of, but not from loans to others. It has something to do with sharing the risk being seen as acceptable in the eyes of Allah, where usury is not. So when you put your money in an Islamic bank you are technically not lending the bank money but are instead like buying a share of the bank that will pay a fixed rate, allow you to cash out your investment at will, and you are given first dibs on the assets of bank. It is like preferred shares or saving at a credit union.\n\nThe big difference then is that some imam or organization of imams will declare that your process follows the letter of sharia law.\n\nBut from an economic modeling point of view it is still debt/bond. They just played a game of semantics. \n\nThe bank will then invest your money in local businesses in a way that is more similar to buying stock or they use the loophole they used to get the money in the first place. And if the imams are more liberal they will allow investment in traditional Western financial instruments. Like for instance it could easily justify an Islamic Bank buying stock or buying into mutual funds that invest exclusively in stock. (This is also why Arab princes love to buy big name brand stock, it is very Halal.) But the Islamic Bank could also push the envelope and buy into mutual funds (that own debt), derivatives, and even (gasp) government and corporate bonds. There really is spectrum on what an Islamic Bank can get away with investing in based on how liberal (or bribed) the imams are.\n\n\n\n",
"The whole Islamic bank concept has one underlying rule that is a stern no-no in Islam, which is you cannot sell money for money., i.e. give out a loan and when repaid, expect more money out of it.\n\nFor loans they normally work like a lease. They buy the property for you and asked for either a fixed or varying sum monthly. They will, in no circumstance, give you money.\n\nFor fixed deposits or savings accounts, they give you a fixed percentage return out of a profit they make investing the pool of money (account holder's money is put into a pool) into different industries. In malaysia typically its palm oil, in Saudi its the steel trade, etc.\n\nThis is whats sharia (name given for Islamic Law) compliant. I mean its a good replacement for conventional banking which blew up in our faces during the recession in 2009, which was caused by gambling (another no-no under sharia) and selling money for money. The bubble just popped because of the chain of selling money for money, which down the line was non existent money was impending doom.\n\n",
"The main difference I would say is that it is asset based and therefore banking transactions have to be tied to an asset. \n\nSo, if you need to borrow to buy something, the bank buys it and resells it to you (murabaha) where instead of interest rate they apply a \"profit rate\" which is their markup on the asset.\n\nStructures other than murabaha exist such as ijara which are based on concept of leasing an asset - this can be used for capital financing where sukuk (islamic bonds) are issued. In this structure an issuing company/bank would put up assets as part of the sukuk and lease them back for the tenor of the sukuk (i.e 5 years), with agreement to buy it back at maturity of the sukuk - thus repaying the lenders (buyers of the bond).\n\nBasically most conventional financing needs can be met through structures tied to assets. Conventional banking on the other hand is debt based.\n"
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1dxsyo | what exactly is happening in your brain that enables you to type without thinking about it/looking at the keys? | As I'm sitting here typing something for my boss, I'm not even looking at my computer/keyboard while typing, yet when I look up (minus a few typos), what I'm typing is mainly intact and I have a typing speed of 65+ words per minute. The more I thought about how amazing it is that humans have the capability to do this, the more weirded out I got by the whole thing.
What is exactly happening with our brain/motor skills/muscle memory to enable us to be able to do this? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1dxsyo/what_exactly_is_happening_in_your_brain_that/ | {
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"Muscle memory. It is the same mechanism that allows a soldier to automatically lift his rifle, aim and fire when he is fired upon in an ambush. The brain is designed to allow for this type of automation."
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nsqw2 | solstices and equinoxes: el5 | For some reason, I've assumed all my life that these terms referred to the longest and shortest days of the year, as well as those days where the night and day are exactly equal in length. A quick glance at Wikipedia has proven me wrong, and now I simply can't wrap my head around what these terms signify. Please, dear Reddit, enlighten me; what are solstices and equinoxes, and furthermore, what made them so important to ancient cultures?
EDIT: Oops, apologies for the typo in the title! That should read ELI5. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/nsqw2/solstices_and_equinoxes_el5/ | {
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"Solstices are dates when the sun is at its northernmost or southernmost position to the human eye. Equinoxes are when it's at the \"middle\". They're important to ancient cultures, such as the Greek, because it marked when the gods had their meetings. It also marks when certain celebrations are held.",
"Solstices are dates when the sun is at its northernmost or southernmost position to the human eye. Equinoxes are when it's at the \"middle\". They're important to ancient cultures, such as the Greek, because it marked when the gods had their meetings. It also marks when certain celebrations are held."
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2dhuup | how something can exist with literal no-mass | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dhuup/eli5how_something_can_exist_with_literal_nomass/ | {
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"It doesn't interact with the Higgs field. It has energy, but no mass."
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430ta6 | why is sodium lauryl sulfate (sls) in every product even with its negative perception | From a marketing point of view wouldn't it be better for companies to use a less condemned sulfate such as sodium lauryl sulfoacetate even if the harms of SLS is overblown. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/430ta6/eli5why_is_sodium_lauryl_sulfate_sls_in_every/ | {
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"99% of people don't know what SLS is or care about it. They've never heard anything negative about it & they don't look at labels to see if it's in their products.\n\nThere's no reason to reformulate products because a tiny fraction of people, who probably hate all \"chemicals\" anyways, have taken interest in a particular ingredient.",
"Making liquid soap is a fairly drawn out process requiring many steps. Most soap companies from designer brands to artisan soap makers don't have the equipment, capacity or know how to make liquid soap on a scale that will make it cheap enough to distribute and sell for profit. \n\nInstead they tend to make the product theirs by creating a unique scent which is then added to a mass produced liquid like SLS, SLES or a more natural alternative before bottling.\n\nSLS is one of the more common liquid soaps used because it is clear and odourless so more easily coloured and scented to make a new \"unique\" liquid soap. \n\nIts also fairly cheap because you can use both palm and coconut oils to make it so that's another reason industry loves it but unless you can buy the raw ingredients by the container load and make at least a 1000 liters at a time even you will struggle to complete on price.\n\nSo mainly it comes down to money and the industry standards even if SLS has been considered a skin irritant for over 30 years. \n\nPersonally I would recommend using a natural bar soap made with vegetable oils and with the all the glycerine left in. \n\nGlycerine is what cares for your skin in natural soap but it is often removed and sold for use in moisturising products. If you want to read more about SLS check out my blog post on it below and please feel free to get in touch if you have any other questions.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nTLDR: it cheap, clear, odourless and does what it supposed to even if it isn't very good for your skin. I can get a bit carried away when talking about soap."
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37shgs | why do all infomercials always ask for "3 easy payments" and not a set amount? | Title :3
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37shgs/eli5_why_do_all_infomercials_always_ask_for_3/ | {
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"Because people are more likely to buy the product if they have to pay less when ordering it. Its the same principle of saying something is 19.99, sure you could just say $20 but people are dumb and are more likely to buy something under $20 even if its just a penny. Its just good business ethics. ",
"Because more people will make 3 payments of $33 than one payment of $100...it gives the illusion that you're getting a deal and the item isn't terribly overpriced.",
"It is a subconscious trick to make you think that you are spending a lot less. Same idea at marking something at 9.99 instead of 10-. I always beat this trick by immediately rounding up and using that number in my mind instead. I change 9.99 into 10- and 3 easy payments of 29.99 into 90 + insane shipping cost and handling costs. I am also a salesman and can confirm 1 cent can make all the difference in selling the item and not selling it.",
"Because it makes someone assume it is cheaper than it really is.\n\nCar commercials tend to do the same thing with car payments. \"Own this car for a low monthly payment of $99\", but then the fine text says \"for 80 months!\" so you aren't really getting much of a deal, except \"Wow only $99/mo!\"\n\nSay you see a vacuum on an infomercial that looks cool. Pick which one initially sounds better:\n\n1. One easy payment of $499.99!\n2. Three easy payments of $166.66!\n\nThey're exactly the same price, but $166.66 X 3 sounds so much cheaper than $499.99."
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c1ouvc | why do eyes water when nervous? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c1ouvc/eli5_why_do_eyes_water_when_nervous/ | {
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"Our bodies respond to most stresses with some degree of what is called the ‘fight or flight’ response. During this period, our heart beats faster and we breath more deeply or quickly to increase the oxygen in our blood to fuel running if need be, or to heighten reflex’s in case of a fight. Feelings of anxiety, tears, and shakiness are all symptoms of this response as well, as your nervous system is in overdrive. Hormone levels such as adrenaline are also increased to heighten senses and dull potential pain."
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14i717 | shepard tones | _URL_0_ here's what i'm talking about | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/14i717/eli5_shepard_tones/ | {
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"The tones actually do end, but as one ends, another begins where it started. Many of these descending tones are layered together and played simultaneously, and it ends up sounding like that."
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18dgsr | what do north korea hopes to achieve by doing an nuclear test? what is the test about and why it matters? | I understand about the rationale for food aid and waving their saber for show of power. I am more interest about the test itself - is it as simple as laying some nuclear material and blow it up? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18dgsr/eli5_what_do_north_korea_hopes_to_achieve_by/ | {
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"Trying to remind the world tht they have the bomb, eve of if they don't have food or electric lights. ",
"Aside from the sword waving, etc. that you mentioned, the main reason to test a nuclear weapon would be to gather scientific data to enable them to build a better nuclear weapon.\n\nRemember that (almost) no one wants the North Koreans to build a bomb, and so no one is sharing nuclear secrets with them."
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51kg11 | leaving aside the "nobody-know-why-it-works" reason, why is so innovative the em drive compared with others like ion thrusters, plasm, solar sails...? | What is the difference if all of these methods already exist and can provide continuous acceleration anyway? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/51kg11/eli5_leaving_aside_the_nobodyknowwhyitworks/ | {
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"It doesn't push anything away from itself which, if it actually works, just breaks a lot of physics so it's really interesting. \n\nAll other drives push away some gas like in an exhaust flame, or in case of solar sails get pushed by incoming particles. The em drive has neither supposedly, which is just crazy weird, like a microwave suddenly driving your car, no now people want to know how it really works. ",
"The top comment is not quite correct. The EM Drive does require fuel - the battery is the fuel. What it doesn't require is **reaction mass**. \n\nEvery force has an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, in order to move you have to push against something. In space that means if you want to go in one direction you have to throw something in the opposite direction.\n\nPeople get confused because for rockets the fuel is also used as the reaction mass. Other forms of propulsion separate the two. If an astronaut on a space walk had a bag of peanuts and began to throw them in a straight line away from their centre of mass, they'd begin to drift backwards. Their muscle would be the fuel/energy source and the peanuts would be the reaction mass.\n\nAn interesting consequence of this is that in space a weapon is virtually indistinguishable from an engine. The requirement of an engine in space is to push something away from your ship with as much energy as possible, which just so happens to also be the main aim of most weapons! This is something scifi always forgets. If you have an engine capable of getting you close to the speed of light, you also have an apocalyptically powerful weapon of mass destruction. All you need to do is point your butt at any planet which offends you and hit the gas.",
"If the Emdrive is in fact a propellent-less drive, the human race will have become free of the tyranny of the rocket equation\n\n\n(WARNING NON ELI5 LINK) _URL_0_\n\n\nTLDR: about 80-90% of the mass of any space launch mission is fuel/propellant, severely limiting how fast and far we can go. The equation/efficiency gets even worse for interstallar travel if you want to get anywhere within a human lifetime. IF Emdrive works, you don't need to bring any propellant, only energy (like a small nuclear reactor), which enables you you to bring more shit with you (ie. life support, experiments, friends etc..), and go much, much faster.\n\n\nIon drives are more efficient than chemical rockets, but still need propellant (usually a noble gas), and the thrust is very low\n\n\nSolar sails don't need propellant, but you are limited to being close to a star or laser array.\n\n\nThe second or third generation emdrive with the superconducting cavities are also expected to produce enough thrust to actually give us flying cars - ion drives and solar sails can't get anywhere near that.",
"ELI5 People!\n\nThere is a rule that everything must have an equal and opposite reaction. \nA Gun that shoots a bad guy across the room, would have the same force pushing the shooter the opposite way.\nRockets have thrust because they shoot out propellant to go forward. \n\nIn space, you can't \"swim\" b/c you're not in water. In water you push the water backwards to move forward. In Movies (Wall-E, Gravity) they use fire extinguishers to move in space.\n\nThe EM Drive is a closed system where nothing is being pushed backwards to move forward... it still uses energy, but its like blowing into your own sailboat, you're pushing off yourself which shouldn't get you anywhere, but the EM does somehow.\n\n(Full disclosure, fan into a sail does generate thrust since the wind bounces off the sail and shoots backward like a rocket)",
"A rocket is just a big gun. When you shoot a gun, the bullet flies out really fast, and the gun recoils. It's the recoil that moves the rocket.\n\nThe trouble is, the faster you want to go, the more bullets you have to shoot. But bullets are heavy. The more bullets you carry, the more the gun weighs and the less it recoils. So it's hard to make a really fast rocket because you have to carry so many heavy bullets around.\n\nThe EMDrive doesn't shoot bullets, it just moves by magic. To go fast it doesn't have to carry more bullets so it can keep shooting them. It just keeps accelerating by magic. So it's easy to go super fast.\n\n(By \"magic\" of course I mean \"by unknown physics,\" which would violate some of the most basic physical laws as we currently understand them.)\n\n(Solar sails are targets instead of guns. The Sun or a laser shoots the bullets, which bounce off the target and move it. But as the gun gets farther away, this gets less practical.)",
"All other existing methods eject some mass behind the spacecraft for propulsion. Consequently, the maximum speed is limited by how quickly the ejected mass travels. Assuming the EM Drive works as some expect, there is virtually no limit to the maximum speed (up to a large fraction of the speed of light). There would need to be major advances in long-term nuclear reactors, but conceivably a spacecraft could even reach the nearest neighboring solar systems in the span of a few generations. Compare this to our current fastest spacecraft, which would take on the order of 100,000 years.",
"1. Almost no fuel at all - more weight and room for other stuff\n2. Can work anywhere in space (unlike solar sails)\n3. Doesn't give off anything to move itself (which is the reason why it \"breaks\" physics)"
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4srgol | why is calling someone fat such a bad thing in western culture? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4srgol/eli5_why_is_calling_someone_fat_such_a_bad_thing/ | {
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"Comments and statements always carry more meaning that the strict interpretation of what the words mean. Look at all the various acts and traditions that Japan has that are meant to convey honor or respect to someone. \n\nWhen you call someone fat in Western culture it also carries the additional statements of calling them Lazy, Unattractive, and failures to keep the expected standards in their life. That makes it a direct insult and not a question of curiosity. \n",
"I dated a Korean guy, his mom was brutal. I chose to find it amusing.\n\nI think it has roots in conformity pressure of many Asian societies, there are much narrower definitions of beauty compared to the west. Also our more individualistic values mean how we look is no one else's business. My sister gets livid when people point out she's so skinny, though it's intended as a compliment. So it cuts both ways.\n"
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44ztf0 | why is hillary the focus of her e-mail server issues, and not it staff? | I get politics. But I also know higher ups aren't usually in charge of their computer systems. Trying to figure out if there is a reason (other than politics) that I have heard nothing mentioned of the folks who are tasked with the computers being accountable. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/44ztf0/eli5_why_is_hillary_the_focus_of_her_email_server/ | {
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"Hillary was in charge, and knowingly employed an IT staff to create an email server for her. Everyone is positive that this was done so they would not be held accountable for the emails that they wrote.",
"The personal email server isn't the issue. The issue is she sent classified information to and from her personal email server. The IT team wouldn't have anything to do with that with the messages being sent back and forth, they just set the thing up.",
"First, no one actually thinks Clinton wasn't the one who decided to use a personal account for official business. The people who followed along with that couldn't really be expected to do anything else; if your boss the Secretary of State tells you to use *this* email account for her instead of *that* email account (or if she asks you to set up a separate account), you do it. She directly reports to the President of the United States, and Obama has *far* better things to do than question her email account practices.\n\nSecond, even if it was their fault, it's generally considered legitimate to hold the leader responsible for the actions of her subordinates, on the grounds that it's her job to supervise them properly. If she's actively aware of something that shouldn't be happening and has the power to stop it, it's her fault if she lets it continue.\n\nThird, if it *was* their fault and *wasn't* something you could seriously blame her for at all, it'd either still have people trying to blame her despite that, or wouldn't be a story at all.",
"There were no State Dept regulations against having a private server for private matters before, and the two prior secretaries of state, Powell and Rice, both had private servers (and they did not produce any emails from them for anyone). The rules eventually changed, so some people have complained that if there are rules against it now, that means it was shady before. Doesn't seem fair, but what can you do.\n\nThe other reason is classifications. The government classifies all kinds of information. Anything related to drones, for example, is typically deemed classified. Even if it is reported in public or discussed in the media, still considered classified. And any discussions of anything classified must only be made with those with the right clearances and on secure servers. After reviewing her emails, the government inspector has determined that some of the things discussed were topics labeled 'classified' so they shouldn't have been sent to her private email. This could even be a newspaper article \"hey look, the washington post is talking about an alleged drone strike that killed a bunch of kids.\" Classified, under government rules. ",
"For me this just goes to a pattern of activity that makes me not trust her. I haven't trusted her since 1991 when she first stepped out with her husband on the national stage. I was 18 in 1992 and remember how Bill used MTV to get in with the younger people. I was one of them who watched his speeches on MTV but wouldn't have given two shits for the real debates. I bought the Rock-the-Vote propaganda and it was all for Billary. \n\nWhile I can't personally attest to any of these I will own that this is my perception build over 25 years.\n\nShe was a shady lawyer making shady deals in Arkansas. When Bill was running for president and the Arkansas ladies come out to make claims about his sexual activities she played that stand-by-your-man game and defended him. When he got caught getting blow jobs (kudos Bill, I wish I could get more oral at work) in the oval office she still played that same game. Recently she's independent and a strong, take-no-shit kinda gal. Her stance on everything has changed depending on the times. in 1992 she was 110% against gay marriage. Now she's for it. She voted for the war before she voted against it. \n\nHer whole life, in my eyes, she's been about one thing one thing only; HILLARY GETTING POWER!!! This email bull shit just mad me go \"Well, it fits.\"",
"When you are given clearance to sensitive information, it's drilled into you that it's your ass on the line for what you're given. By deliberately putting that shit on a non-secure server, she was putting her personal interests (not having to disclose emails that might look bad) over national interests (keeping classified information secure).",
"Because she is the boss. She runs the show, and she knew that she should not have been using a personal email server to handle classified information",
"If I buy a car, then go speeding down the street, the person who sold me the car isn't responsible for me using it to speed.\n\nSimilarly, her IT staff isn't responsible for what she did. They provided her a service she was legally allowed to have (email), she used it in a way that was potentially illegal."
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22ubbz | why is it that certain countries have really complicated visa requirements to travel there even as a tourist (invitation letters, etc.), but other countries only require a valid passport to enter as a tourist? | I've done a lot of traveling, and I like to read the US State Department's info pages on different countries, and I understand things like the Schengen Agreement (for a lot of countries in Europe, all you need is your passport for a stay of fewer than 90 days), but it mystifies me why certain countries require applications and sometimes things like invitation letters and HIV tests for people who are only going to be in the country for a week tops to sight-see, especially countries that could use more tourism money. Is it so the government can keep tabs on who's coming into and out of the country? Worries about proselytizing or turkin' jerbs? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22ubbz/eli5_why_is_it_that_certain_countries_have_really/ | {
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"The difficulty of entry to different destination countries vary depending on the visitor's citizenship. Every country make these requirements based on a variety of factors that are not limited to:\n\n* Political relationship with the visitor's country\n* Economic relationship with the visitor's country\n* Cultural relationship with the visitor's country\n\nEver notice that allied countries have much lenient rules, whereas rival countries have more strict rules toward each other?\n\nEDIT: For example: China and the US; even though have a strong economic relations, their political differences and how the Chinese culture right now pushes people to move to Western countries all the time make US travel visas hard to get for Chinese people. ",
"I'd say that the complicated visa process where you have to prove that you are financially stable, won't cause trouble, and have a legitimate reason to enter the host country is the *default*. All of the other situations where the countries have some type of agreement with friendly countries usually do a sort of \"waiver\" program where tourists can enter the country as long as it's under a certain amount of time and prevents them from searching for work or staying in the country longer etc. Likely it's just to bolster tourism between the countries which is always a good boost to the economies. For every other country that doesn't have this special agreement, the visitors have to go through the visa process which is oftentimes long, complicated, and annoying."
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66sq3p | the reason for the impending writers strike? what resolution are each side looking for? | Also how long could one possibly last? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/66sq3p/eli5_the_reason_for_the_impending_writers_strike/ | {
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"I dunno the current situation, but what I do know if that a lot of series take a heavy hit in their viewer tolls before and after the 2008 strike, so lets hope it don't backfire that much and ruin our favorite shows tyhis time around",
"Television produced by HBO, Netflix, and Amazon have shorter seasons (typically 8-10 episodes) than conventional network programming (13 to 24 episodes). Writers are paid per episode, and often must sign an exclusivity contract, which prohibits them from working on more than one show at a time.\n\nAdditionally, the residuals payments for cable and streamed content is a fraction of the network rates.\n\nThis results in the writers making as little as 1/3 the money per year than in the past.\n\nThe Writer's Guild is looking for higher royalty / residuals for streamed and cable content, and an end to exclusivity rules.\n\nThe buyers (cable, Netflix, Amazon, and the networks) don't want to have to pay more for their content.\n\nIf the strike isn't averted, it could run until the next season (fall), when the content providers will need new content to attract both viewers and advertisers.\n\n *edit: typo",
"Ken Levine, a writer and showrunner for Cheers, Frasier, Wings, MASH and others wrote a blog post about it:\n\n[Ken Levine's Blog](_URL_0_)\n\nHis blog is quite informative and funny, especially if you're interested in how TV shows are made."
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3310v4 | why is dialogue in movies whisper quiet, then gunshots and explosions happen and damn near blow your speakers? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3310v4/eli5_why_is_dialogue_in_movies_whisper_quiet_then/ | {
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"When using your tv's built-in stereo speakers, go to your set-top box's settings and play around with the dynamic range setting. \n \nIt's because you aren't using a surround sound system. Movies are made for a surround sound system, dialogue is on a dedicated center channel, and all non-dialogue audio goes on the other channels, when listening to your tv's built-in stereo speakers, the dialogue channel is mixed with the other sounds. \n \nEdit- for using VLC and stereo speakers, use dynamic range compression, set a low value for threshold (at what volume to activate compression), and play around with some of the other settings as well, such as gain. \n \nEdit again- for surround sound systems, increase the volume of the center channel and play around with the dynamic range.",
"In a surround sound setting (such as a movie theater) the dialogue is pretty much entirely on the center channel (the speakers behind the movie screen). In a setting like that you can crank up the center channel so that you can easily hear dialogue during the movie (and generally in a movie theater dialogue is easy enough to hear).\n\nWhen the audio gets converted from surround sound to stereo they don't always do a good job of combining these channels, and you end up with a movie where it feels like you need to change the volume every 3 seconds to hear people talking without destroying your eardrums when the action happens.",
"Watch movies in VLC. Use the compressor in the audio filters settings. Set a low threshold and add some gain.\n\nIt will make everything relatively equal loudness. Thats what compressors are for basically.",
"Most of the movie sound are designed for surround sound systems. The center speaker/channel is where majority of the speech are used. Play around with your TV or home theater's dynamic range and increase the center channel output. Some pirated movies online simply have shitty encoding and no matter what you do, the speech are still low. ",
"Easy to blame the TV but I've notices this for a long time. TVs, computers and some theaters . The fucking music will over power dialogue sometimes and its very annoyoing having to hold the volume button to hear dialogue and not blow my ear drums a minute later with noise, bass or whatever_",
"Ooohhh same question about YouTube commercials. They just blast out of your speakers like there's no tomorrow. ",
"Compared to the sound of a gunshot, your voice is actually pretty quiet.",
"It's called preserving audio dynamics. In real life, somethings are quieter or louder than others. This is an example of audio dynamics. Some mixes in movies use what is called compression (some TVs have this effect built in). Compression makes the quieter parts louder, and the louder parts quieter so there is a more uniform volume. However, this squashes the audio dynamics. For some sound mixers/engineers, having a high dynamic range - a big difference between loud and quiet - is important.",
"I'm half deaf, so this really sucks. Combined with tv manufacturers putting speakers in the back, I need fucking subtitles to understand the dialogue. Dynamic range is for the feel and experience of the scene, but the whole show/film is fucked if all I can hear is mumbles and whispers. It's nice of them to make most of this hushed talking some of the most important plot points.",
"This is probably because your sound system isn't neutral. Neutral means that your speakers produce sound just as it was created. A lot of audio systems/settings increase the bass and treble (Bose, Beats). This is usually done to make the sound seem more impressive, but it is almost always a bad thing.\n\nThe filmstudio folks pre-mixed the audio of the movie just perfectly. If you watch the film you don't want to mess with this mix, thus your system needs to be as neutral as possible. \n\nHowever it often is justified to increase the volume of the center speaker if you're using more than 2 speakers. Oftentimes the center speaker only does the speech. If you can't hear the speech well enough you want to increase the volume of that speaker. Increasing the volume of all speakers will make you want to decrease the volume each time an explosion happens.\n\nIf you are using just 2 speakers, you'll want to pick the stereo audio track of a movie. It's pre-mixed to be perfect for stereo.",
"Here's how to help fix that in VLC. You'll have to do this at the start of each movie, but it doesn't take long and it helps.\n\nHead to Tools > Effects and Filters and click on the Compressor tab.\n\nWithout changing your TV’s volume from its usual spot, find a quiet scene in the movie and raise the Makeup Gain slider until the volume is at a comfortable level. This will boost the volume of the entire movie so you don’t have to change your TV or computer’s volume from its usual setting.\n\nRaise the Ratio slider all the way up. This will ensure that any sound over a certain volume threshold will be turned down to a level you set.\n\nWithout changing the volume, find a loud scene in the movie and start playing it. \n\nLower the Threshold slider until the sound is at a non-earthquake-inducing level.\n\nLastly, move “Attack” up to about 50ms, and “Release” up to about 300ms. This makes everything a bit more fluid, so your movie will change volumes when necessary but it will happen a bit more gradually.",
"More dynamics = more drama and more excitment. Simple formula that makes movies better.",
"I think the best method is using MPC-HC with ffdshow or LAV filters. Gives me the best experience without having to adjust volume manually all the time. Dialog is very easy to understand with those.\n\n\nFor ffdshow:\n\n\nVolume = > _URL_3_\n\n\nMixer = > _URL_0_\n\n\nIn volume you activate normalization. And Mixer tells ffdshow to mux your input audio to stereo. You can also set center to 200% or even 300% so that talking will be easier to hear.\n\n\nFor LAV filters:\n\n\nMixer = > _URL_7_\n\n\nVolume in MPC-HC = > _URL_1_\n\n\nYou see it's almost similar, but you can't make center as loud as in ffdshow and normalization is done in MPC-HC itself, otherwise it sounds not as good.\n\n\nAnd if you listen at night and have thin walls you can use Sound Lock on top of it. Just skip at the credits or one loud passage and limit your volume as you like. Never had complains since that. But mostly the Mixer and Volume normalization should do the trick. AND DON'T FORGET do deactivate night mode if you watch on TV now. Sorry it's in german, don't know how to change that. I could make more pictures if people have problems to find the settings.\n\n\nffdshow tryouts: _URL_2_\n\n\nLAV filters: _URL_4_\n\n\nSound Lock (optional): _URL_5_\n\n\nMPC-HC: _URL_6_\n\n\nINFO: If you use 32 Bit MPC-HC make sure your filters are 32 bit too. Or MPC-HC won't be able to see them. Same for 64 bit.",
"Hey there are a lot of incorrect answers here, saying that this is a result of not having good speakers, or needing surround sound, or setting your tv to have low dynamic range. The reality is the Re-Recording mixer just did not to a great job. ",
"this is a good problem. a wide dynamic range is better than all the audio compressed.",
"Is this /r/needadvice or ELI5? I've only seen one comment who actually tries to explain what was happening in dummy terms and I've seen countless try to \"fix\" his \"problem\". ",
"Lots of people are talking about it from a technological standpoint, and how you should set up dynamic compression. That talks about how to *solve* your problem, but not why movie producers would choose to do something like this in the first place.\n\nOrchestras take pride in their dynamic range, making the difference between their pianissimo and fortissimo as big as possible. This makes them very impressive to listen to in real life. Sure, changing tempo and key are good tools to take the listeners on a journey of peaks and valleys, but volume is another fantastic tool to use too, especially since we respond reflexively to loud noises, but get calmed by softer ones.\n\nHowever, if you've ever tried to listen to a live orchestra on CD in your car, you've probably noticed that the sound of your car running on the road usually drowns out everything. Then if you go to turn it up, sooner or later, the orchestra blasts you out, and you have to turn it down again... and back up... and back down...\n\nHowever, an orchestra isn't going to do a performance where they limit their dynamics just so it would be less annoying to listen to on CD; it would be a lot more boring for the live audience.\n\nSomething very similar is likely happening with movie theatres and DVDs. Movie theatres have lots of expensive sound systems, which make it possible to have a large dynamic range to capture the audience. However, if that means that watching it on DVD is a bit more annoying, oh well. Another incentive to go to the movie theatre instead.\n\nIt takes time and resources to remix all the dynamics again, although, I know that ZombiU for the WiiU is one of the only video games that I've come across where, in the audio settings menu, you can choose to have high dynamics or low dynamics.",
"I'm a little surprised by how much misinformation is in this thread. \n\nI'm an audio mixer. Here's why you're hearing things the way that you are:\n\n - most films are mixed for a theatrical setting. Theaters (in theory) do two significant things differently than a laptop setting: they control ambient noise so that you can hear the quiet parts, and they play back the mix at a calibrated loudness setting that matches what the director was hearing during the mix. \n\n - by listening from a laptop out in the world, that audio mix is now competing with the ac noise, traffic, kids screaming and whatever else is making noise around you. Sit in a super quiet environment and you'll likely have a better experience hearing the soft stuff. \n\n - movies DO tend to be mixed *dynamically*, meaning that the director will usually call for gunshots and explosions to be as loud as he can get them. Given that he's in a calibrated (and quiet) environment, a director can end up getting them pretty dang loud. It's about the cinematic experience. \n\n - some bigger budget films get a separate \"home theater\" mix that is done in a smaller room and at a softer level. This greatly reduces the dynamics and makes the mix translate better to uncalibrated situations, while still preserving the integrity and intent of the original mix. \n\n - most films do NOT get a home theater mix. Therefore the dynamics of the theatrical mix will tend to jump around because you're having to crank the volume of the soft parts up way higher than was originally intended in order to get over the noise that exists in your listening environment. ",
"The sound editors intend it that way, simply to increase the contrast and to shock you--making their scene seem more violent--like the typical slasher scene where the teen quietly walks down the basement stairs, and suddenly the cat shrieks and jumps across the screen.\n\nIt's a cheap effect and a better director/sound editor could find different ways to evoke the sudden-ness and extremeness of the scene.",
"To sum it up quickly, either you're watching the movie with with bad audio settings or you're just watching a movie with really bad audio mixing. I bet it's the first option.",
"I remember reading somewhere that movies are mixed for sound-proofed theaters with great acoustics where voices carry nicely to your ears. I guess not all companies do a good job of converting that sound for our family rooms.",
"Films are mixed in a controlled environment, where the quietest and loudest moments are known quantities. Theaters are (supposed) to play films back at a set level, so that they will sound like the director intended. When you take a film mix into your home, the environment is not the same-- the room probably isn't as quiet as a theater, (there is more ambient noise, like your AC, the dishwasher, traffic, etc) meaning that you will have to bring the volume up to hear the dialogue. Also your tv room is probably much smaller and more reverberant; and you are much closer to the speakers than you would be in a theather. This has the effect of making loud moments seem louder. \n\nTLDR; a film mix will sound different in your small room at home than in a big theater because of acoustics.\n\n",
"Answer: There are different aspects to sound that make it high fidelity, one of them is dynamics. Dynamics are the difference in level from the softest sound in a recording, to the loudest. The softest sound is determined by the noise floor of the recording, with digital recordings like DVD, Bluray, etc, that noise floor is almost non existent which allows for very soft sounds to be clear. The loudest sound in a recording is determined by how high you turn up the sound and how powerful your system is. Most movie theaters have high output power, and multiple speakers delivering the sound but despite different size theaters, and different audio systems they use a calibrated sound level so that the movie is played back in the way the creator intended. This mix might be good in a calibrated theater, but may cause trouble for some viewers depending upon what they are watching/listening with. \n\nSo if you are using a playback system with little output power, like a television, and you turn the volume up to a comfortable level for the soft sounds, it won't have enough power or \"headroom\" left over to accurately reproduce the loud sounds, the amplifier will begin clipping as it runs out of power, like cutting the tops off a hill and making them flat, and it doesn't sound very good. Hence your speakers blowing up. \n\nBecause someone may be watching a movie using TV speakers, or using a home theater amplifier or head unit, the DVD and bluray standards support dynamic range compression. Most televisions, movie players, and stereos have a setting for dynamic range. You can select full range for a stereo, or max compression for a television. What that does is make the softest sounds louder, and the louder sounds softer, so there is less range in levels and it's easier to hear dialogue during quiet scenes and without distortion during loud scenes. \n\nIf you want the best fidelity, use a head unit and a powered subwoofer and buy a DVD or bluray that is THX certified. These discs usually contain a calibration sound that you can use with a sound meter to set the correct loudness of the audio system.\n\nThe familiar THX sound is actually there for calibration purposes, it plays across all frequencies at a constant level and allows a consumer or a theater to calibrate the loudness or level of their audio. \n\n",
"I mean...have you ever fired a gun? I cant speak for an explosion on any large scale but I have fired many guns in my life. Some pistols in particular are incredibly louder than you would think IRL. \n\nEven the loudest human yell is nothing in comparison, but regular dialogue? I think others in this thread have given much more useful answers but i'm just sayin... there kinda should be a huge difference in levels or that would be pretty weird.",
"many times it's because of how the sound for the film was mixed. ",
"I don't get it. But I've been using closed captioning for years although I hear normally. Way more comprehension ",
"I always assumed it was for emersion. Do you know the volume difference between a conversation and gunshot at the same distance?",
"I understand it's supposed to be that way. The rustling of a leaf is supposed to be as loud as a leaf rustle and a gunshot is supposed to be as loud as a gunshot. The speakers in a movie theatre are calibrated kinda like this. My advice is find a scene where someone speaking, turn it up til their voice is at a normal level and then just embrace those loud cannon explosions if they come up :)",
"This is only a problem for me when i torrent mp4s. when i watch movies on netflix using the same speakers there isnt that disparity in volume between dialogue and efx",
"Because explosions are utterly deafening compared to dialogue. Have you ever tried talking over an artillery bombardment before? Gunshots vary from suppressed handguns which are no louder than a car door slamming to miniguns which blare over pretty much everything else.\n\nMany of these things are so loud that not only is speech inaudible when they are going on, it is for some time afterwards as well as you ears recover.",
"I use an application called Sound Lock on windows, it works on every video app and its done wonders for me. I haven't got yelled at for waking up my girlfriend when the music gets loud in a movie since I downloaded it lol. Its free too!",
"This will probably get lost in here but, I'm a re-recording mixer in hollywood and this is my wheelhouse so here's the ELI5-iest answer i can give.\n\nIt has very little to do with Surround vs. Stereo. It's all about dynamic range.\n\nLets think about it as percentages (These are fake percentages for clarity):\n\nIn **film** Dialog is 50% of the maximum volume.\n\nIn **TV/Web** Dialog is 75% of the maximum volume.\n\nIf your computer goes to 100% of its own volume, and knows that the loudest sound in your **Film** should be 100% volume, then dialog will only be 50% of your computers total volume.\n____________________________\n**Master Class**\n____________________________\n\n*Why is film dialog softer on TV/Web?*\n\nFilm and TV have different dynamic range standards. A film's dialog should hover at around 65dB on a mix stage. That leaves roughly 40 dB of headroom for things like big SFX (maxing out near 105dB, LOUD). Theaters obviously reproduce this 65dB \"sweet spot\" for film goers so that it all sounds correct.\n\n\nBut when you put that on a computer or TV, which doesn't calibrate its volume for films dynamic range like a theater, all it knows is \"The loudest sound in the movie is the loudest my volume gets\", that all falls apart.\n____________________________\n\n*So how come Breaking Bad sounds fine on my TV/Computer?*\n\nWhen I mix a TV show all of that headroom gets squashed, so dialog and the loudest SFX are much closer in volume. That's why you probably have no problem watching something like Breaking Bad on your laptop, it was designed for that listening space in mind. They're mixed in the same environments, just to different dynamic ranges.",
"Is there a way to compress dynamic range systemwide on PC?",
"Yes, this pisses me off - having to turn the volume way up to hear what people are saying, then having to turn it back down when something loud happens (since I have neighbours). ",
"I've found the answer to the foolishness of erratic volume (well at least for home theaters)...it's called buying an audio compressor. I really don;t care what the the producer of a movie wants me to hear....I want to hear he dialogue more than anything.\nI've had to resort to closed captioning sometimes in order to underssnad what the actors are saying.",
"I compression software/app would help keep your ears and speakers alive.",
"Now someone explain why shitty sound production seems to be the rage in action films nowadays. \n\nEmotional moment? Can't hear shit buddy, the generic Zimmeresque music is playing too loudly.",
"Better question: Why can't the sound editors manage to remove the .au EOF sound off of the gunshots, explosions, songs, squeeling tires and every other fucking sample in the movie?\n\nSeriously, that's not the spent cartridges going \"tid-WINK\" that's the EOF indicator used by apple sound editing software.",
"Yeah, I've turned off movies before because of this. \"What are they saying??\" *turn up the volume* \" *jet explosively decompressed BOOMSSHHHH!!!!\" RIP eardrums...",
"A lot of answers about surround sound settings on your TV so thought I'd share the other reasons for varying levels of audio in TV, particularly films.\n\nWith audio mastering you are trying to get the audio to the loudest level you can (listen to the difference in volume to say a local bands recording compared to some professional dance etc) without distorting. You want to use all of the \"space\" available whilst keeping dynamics, well, dynamic \n\nIn TV and film you have dynamics too, explosions should be loud and dramatic to help the story so compared to speaking it is much louder. Think of an orchestra playing all the quiet sections of a piece at full volume. When they come to the big build up crescendo at the end it won't sound so dramatic if it isn't played louder than the rest. It's all relative.\n\nAnother example is how TV adverts in breaks are louder than the shows. That's because the shows normal volume isn't at 'full' to make sure that music and explosions etc stand out and make an impact whereas the TV advert can afford to be at full volume because it doesn't need to worry about leaving space for louder items in the mix. It just needs to shout \"BUY MY SHIT\". \n\nThis is trying to be a sort of ELI5 of audio mastering and I'm a bit drunk and am not really reading what I've put but did study music production/studion engineering... Just obviously didn't study how to explain things in a sensible way...\n\nEdit - as to ads\n",
"I don't understand why there isn't an audio options setting for Voice, Sound Effects, Music just like there is in every game that is released. If we can adjust all that in game settings why not movie settings? ",
"So fuckin stupid. Whoever is in charge of this Hollywood, please fuck yourself with a cactus...sideways.",
"I don't have an answer, OP. Just wanted to say that I sympathize with you. As a mom with a baby that will only sleep on me, trying to watch a tv show or movie is such a pain because of the dynamics. Either I can't hear what they are saying or something is waking the baby up. We tried to use subtitles, but it's not often available either. Luckily the SO figured out a way to compress the audio in xbmc a few weeks ago and that has helped soooooooooo much. ",
"I HATE THIS! ugggh... so glad to see a post about it. It's like the rest of the world enjoy these sudden shifts in volume, nobody question it....\n\n\nI spend way too much time adjusting volume. I think they should come up with a program for computers that would automatically adjust the volume (does it exist? for like, netflix etc.) And make TVs with that feature as well. It has come to the point where I respect the moviemakers less when the only tactic they can come up with to make it scary or actionsfilled is to crank up the volume. \nI even miss those scenes because I'm so busy going *sigh* and fiddling with the mouse or remote. Only to have to adjust it 2 seconds later...",
"I work in Audio Post Production, I do sound for TV and films. In our industry, sound mixers love dynamic range. The idea being that you can make big moments seem much bigger based on the relative volumes of the things around it. Same in the reverse, softer moments seem softer and thus can have a more emotional impact.\n\nBUT this approach only really works for films seen in the theater - the ideal environment for them to be viewed (well that's how it's accepted anyway). \n\nI watch a whole lot of movies and tv from my computer, Netflix etc, and I HATE DYNAMIC RANGE. I live in an apartment with paper thin walls and I'm constantly running from my couch to my audio interface to turn up or down the volume. \n\nI argue with my boss, a well known mixer where I'm from, that there needs to be at least 2 separate mixes, one for a theater, and one for home. He disagrees.\n\nIt seems to me to be an outdated attitude. 90% of the audience watching the films we work on, are not seeing them in a theater, nor anything like our mix room, they are listening on shitty laptop speakers or shitty tv speakers, in the background while they are cooking dinner. And dynamic range is entirely inappropriate in this situation, yet my old school boss still thinks it needs to be ridiculously dynamic.\n\nTL;DR - Many high level sound mixers are old dudes living a false belief that everyone has a stellar audio system at home and mix as such.",
"I was watching the original Battlestar Galactica in an art host theater once. Somehow the projectionist got the sound backwards and PEOPLE TALKED REAL LOUD and the spaceships, laser blasters, etc were *^real quiet^*",
"As an apartment dweller that loves TV and movies, but wants to be a considerate neighbor, this drives me fucking insane!",
"I just got into an argument last night over this same damn question.",
"Yeah, I completely understand your frustration. I'm not surprised at all by the people in here criticizing your complaint and/or setup. Not everyone has the space or money to implement a surround sound system which basically necessitates subtitles and/or upping the volume to uncomfortable levels. I would love to see newer media take advantage of using a separate channel for dialogue much the same way PC games do these days.",
"Here ya go: _URL_0_ Soundlocker. We use if for our home theater. Set the maximum you can tolerate, and all the volume gets adjusted accordingly. Boom.",
"I have always found this annoying and am glad you asked. ",
"Putting a compressor between my computer and my amplifier was the smartest thing I've done in a while, and I'm a computer programmer. Late night ebay splurge was totally worth it.",
"It's because with stereo sound you're missing the center channel that is usually reserved for dialog. ",
"I generally talk at a lower volume than explosions and gunshots.",
"Your third edit makes me wonder what kind of know it all toddlers are on here. I instantly understood what you meant and I don't even watch movies much. ",
"The audio channels for movies are mixed so as to sound good in a *theater.* Theaters have HUGE banks of 'center channel' speakers behind the screen, so they don't need to boost that channel much to get it to sound good in a theater. As for the left/right and surrounds, many times those are relatively small wall-mounted units along the side walls, and those get pumped with a lot of extra juice to boost the audio levels. In *home* audio systems, the opposite is true: center channels are relatively small, and left/rights are bigger, thus you get big sound effects and superquiet dialogue. The main issue is that the studios that produce movies for DVD get lazy and don't bother to remix the audio channels for a home audio system, leaving it at the 'theater' setup. Sometimes in later releases, the audio is 'remastered' to fix this problem (like when a movie is re-released for an anniversary special edition or if another studio buys the rights), but not often. This is more of a problem lately as profits go up, studios spend less and less money on remastering for DVD because they're pretty convinced nobody cares. Except us, and they don't care about us, apparently.",
"Sound engineer here.\n\nI notice this frequently on certain movie files that have been ripped from a Blu-Ray disc with a 5.1 surround mix. I think the rip doesn't properly collapse the surround mix back into two-channel stereo, leaving you with no centre fill (dialogue) and heaps of bassy SFX that would have been meant for the sub woofer.\n\nJust a suspicion. I could be completely wrong.",
"There is something called \"Dynamic Range.\" A high dynamic range has very loud parts and very quiet parts. A low dynamic range has somewhat quiet parts at the softest, and somewhat loud parts at the loudest.\n\nIn the case of your movie, they've cranked the dynamic range up really high. I suspect it is because they know you won't be able to hear the talking parts, which will then make you crank up the the movie volume to much louder than you want.\n\nHigh volume tends to make audio more intense and engaging. That's why clubs or movie theatres play music at (or often beyond) the legal maximum volume, just below the Hz threshold for acute ear damage. A movie with high volume benefits similarly. In fact, this is why the 15 year old in your car who cranks up the bass and treble is smugly satisfied with the \"better sounding music\" with their equalization - not because they improved the mix, the mids are mostly gone - but because the total output is much louder.\n\nIt's all about them controlling what volume you watch their movie at and not you. If this bothers you, you can set the dynamic range in the audio options on any decently made DVD or Bluray, and if you can't, I recommend ripping it to your computer, where many media players can modify this, then playing it on your computer or burning a bootleg with a dynamic range that won't cause your neighbors to call the cops.",
"Turn up your center channel. That's where the dialogue originates. Turn down your side speakers and rear speakers and bass bin if you have one, that's where the explosions and surround sound comes from. Done! You may, if you can, raise the treble of the center channel and cut the bass, this way the vocals slice thru even at low volumes. Don't turn up above 10K because this is where \"sizzle\" and high hats live: these frequencies can be exhausting to the ears and don't add legibility to spoken words. Professional audio offers \"compressor/limiter\" circuits which automatically provide an over-all volume ceiling, some home units may offer similar features. I have found that MOST audio engineers have blown their ears out long, long ago. These guys are the ones who create the insanely loud action sequences, they don't even know HOW loud they come across: best example \"Imax\" which to me means... I Max The Volume!!!!",
"MPC Home Cinema with ac3filter and DRC turned up to about 12 works really well."
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"https://github.com/Nevcairiel/LAVFilters/releases",
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5gsigt | why haven't we cracked the dna algorithm to create organisms as we would program with assembly language. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5gsigt/eli5_why_havent_we_cracked_the_dna_algorithm_to/ | {
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"At the basic level, it's because assembly languages use 0 and 1 to output commands. Two states: on and off.\n\nHuman DNA uses 4 distinct chemicals, which can only bind in their respective pairs: A-T and C-G. But those pairs can also be backwards: T-A and G-C\n\nSo you have four possible states, which involve two distinct chemicals bonding for each state, which form instructions based on...what exactly? \n\n0 and 1 literally mean a physical switch is being turned on and off. There's no mystery to what the states mean. \nThe 4 chemicals have their own unique behaviours, they have unique behaviours when bonded in either state and the combinations are then read by *another* complex protein.\n\nIt goes on and on like this, every time you answer \"what is that\" you end up with a dozen more things to figure out.",
"It's because DNA and all that are specific physical processes, while computer programs are merely arbitrary representations of ideas. \n\nWe decide what constitutes a computer program, and what it means.\n\nWe don't make those decisions about DNA and the like (obviously, as they were around doing their stuff long before we appeared on the scene).",
"You aren't dealing with numbers on a screen which are just abstractions. You are dealing with real biochemical entities and manipulating them is not as easy as writing computer code.",
"DNA doesn't directly create organisms. DNA is an encoding used to represent proteins that your cells create . . . using other proteins also encoded by your DNA. It's a super-complex system of interacting molecules, and DNA is just the beginning.",
"The tricky thing would be the fact that the genome is capable of yielding several different proteomes, depending on environmental conditions. The genome is all the genes present in cellular DNA. The proteome is all the gene products (aka, proteins) expressed in a cell. For instance, your brain cells and your muscle cells all contain the same genome, but they have different proteomes, which is why the same instructions can give rise to different cell types. The proteome is determined by external factors (outside of DNA) that we haven't completely figured out, and even if we did have it figured out, deciding how the proteome should be manipulated to achieve a desired result is a judgement call.\n\n**TL;DR the same genome can produce a wide variety of proteomes and thus, a wide variety of organisms.**",
"Because its vastly more complex than Assembly, we have no manual for it, and its hard to do trial and error because it might take a lot of time and modifying something can cause seemingly undetectable changes.",
"The difference is that we know exactly how machine code is executed: in sequence, and each instruction is exactly documented and we know what effects it will have and on what its effects depend (e.g. in x86 assembly, opcode 04 will add the following byte to the register AL).\n\nBut the human body is an infinitely more complex system. The DNA merely encodes instructions to make *proteins*, and with the completion of the [Human Genome Project](_URL_0_), we basically know which proteins our DNA produces. But what do those proteins do? We don't know that completely. They can interact with each other - what a protein does often depends on the presence of others. And they can even break or connect to form different proteins, or influence how the DNA works! In fact, that is how the DNA is \"executed\" in the first place, by proteins acting on it. And it doesn't happen in sequence but in parallel. \n\nWe are still far, far away from understanding the human body's biochemistry well enough to make deliberate DNA changes much more complex than \"fix this spot so it produces protein X, which we have found through decades of research is necessary for the body to do Y\".",
"It's probably doable when we have enough computer power to simulate the process on a molecular level. That is problably a far way off, though.\n\nFor now, it's a mess where everything's interconnected in mysterious ways.\n\nI assume you know programming from how the question was worded. Now, say that you receive the worst imaginable auto-generated assembly code, which has evolved over countless generations without any refactoring. Now, try to understand that.\n\nOr, imagine the DNA as code in Malbolge (_URL_0_).",
"They have begun to do exactly that. There has finally been success in creating basic synthetic bacteria. Eukaryotes(multicellular organisms) are sooooo much more complex intracellularly that it will probably be a while before they crack that one. \n\nThen there is the challenge of getting these cells to work together. We will have to fully understand how they communicate with each other to create tissue, organs, scaffolding, and full organisms. Just observing some of these pathways is a slow and laborious process. I spent years studying a fraction of a single one. There are probably millions of pathways or variations. Assuming that someday enough data could be obtained, the computational power needed to analyze all the signaling and how it interacts with gene expression across our host of different cell types would surely be immense. \n\nThen to use that information to create something from scratch? Very difficult. I doubt humans could do it without some advanced AI and very extensive automation. \n\nEdit: Splicing stuff that already exists? That would be a lot easier. People do that all the time. Its like changing couple lines of code and seeing what happens, to use a programming analogy. \n\n\n_URL_0_ ",
"The problem is like comparing apples and oranges, they are completely different. Assembly language is pretty much bare bones programming, giving the hardware pre-made, well documentation functions to achieve something. \n\nHowever, a DNA algorithm would be completely different, if you are wanting to make a cell/organism. All DNA is is a molecular structure that the cell uses to figure out what proteins to make. And that lies the problem. If you were to make a living thing, you would have to know a **VAST** amount of information, and pretty much 99.99% of it is undocumented. You would have to know what parts of DNA code for what proteins, how the proteins interact, what the effects are of the protein, etc. I assume it may be possible in the future when we know more about DNA, understand how \"simple\" organisms work on the chemical level, and have a way to know how all sorts of protein interact, but that is unrealistic at the moment.\n\nHowever, there have been a few projects started to achieve DNA programming, but all of the have their thing they want to program, and none of it is programming organisms. One project that started is called Cello, and it aims to allow individuals to design and program different \"biological\" circuits. Here is a link if you are interested. _URL_0_",
"Edited to add tl;dr: we know the entire code, but we don't know the entirety of how that code is processed to yield some metabolic output. The information in the DNA is processed through stochastic and labrynthine mechanisms before yielding a metabolic output, so while what you're suggesting is reasonable in theory the complexity of the system is such that we're far from being able to achieve such an outcome.\n\nOthers have touched on certain issues but I'll try to summarize most of the major ones I can think of.\n\nHaving 4 possible states at any position is the least of your worries. We know how coding DNA is read, and 3 specific nucleotides in a row always outputs the same protein.\n\nIssues come more from ways that DNA transcription is regulated, and what the protein output of transcription- > translation actually DOES (we often have no idea).\n\nI imagine most code runs fairly linearly through all essential parts, and conditionally runs more specific routines in a discrete way. Metabolism isn't so clear: often all \"code\" is expressed into mRNA and protein at some level, and the amounts of some of these products in turn up- or downregulate other genes. \n\nGenes can be differentially utilized by, off the top of my head:\n\n-splicing (alternate products from the same gene)\n\n-methylation (selective and sometimes heritable silencing of parts of the genome)\n\n-being made more or less inacessible by being inside tightly-wound heterochromatin\n\nand all of this is on top of the transcriptional regulators I already described, where many promoters and inhibitors fight over the volume dial of a stretch of DNA.\n\nSo that's regulation, which is to a human mind maybe intractably complex, but you can at least imagine how quantities of certain products rise and fall and in turn cause the quantities of other products to rise and fall, creating this sort of complex changing regulatory landscape inside the nucleus. So then you move on to proteins (chiefly) and certain non-coding DNAs and RNAs which are the actual effectors of cellular activity. Just because we know the amino/nucleic acid sequence of one of these effectors doesn't mean we know everything it interacts with, in which direction and how strongly. So when you take all of that into account you can see why this problem hasn't been automated.\n",
"For DNA to function, it has to be translated into proteins. You can sequence the genes/amino acids that form a protein but the function of a protein is not only determined by them. Protein function is mainly determined by its 3-D structure, which is much harder to model and observe. Besides genes are just hardware and how the body uses them is the software (epigenetics). By translating the DNA in another way, the product is completely different.\n\nIn short, humans can assemble a CPU. Yet to build a PC is a long way ahead",
"Molecular biologist here. The biggest problem doesn't have to do with DNA at all. It has to do with protein. We can accurately predict a protein sequence from a DNA sequence, but we have no way of predicting the actual structure of the protein from the sequence.\n\nA protein isn't a series of instructions. It's not like \"Alanine means this and glycine means that.\" Individual amino acids are simply structural pieces, and as they get linked together into a protein, they fold into a structure.\n\nAn analogy, though not great, would be language. If I gave you a whole new alphabet you've never seen and taught you the individual sounds the letters made, you could sound out words in this novel alphabet. However, this would get you no closer to understanding the meaning of the words. The letters simply provide structure to the words, not purpose or meaning. ",
"One of the reasons (there are many) is, if thinking in terms of a programming language, there are no clear functions, at least that we can tell.\n\nImagine a program written were a variable is used in 15 different places for 15 *completely* different things. Changing that variable to alter one outcome, will also inadvertently change 14 other things as well in unpredictable ways. Now imagine this program has *hundreds of millions* of these variables, *and* the program itself wasn't designed to be readable or editable in any way whatsoever. \n\nOur programs are written in a logical way with 'arm' function describing how an arm works an 'eye' function that clearly describes how an eye works etc. DNA is simply not written that way.\n\nEssentially we haven't reverse engineered DNA to that degree yet due to its *extreme* level of complexity.",
"Another thing I don't see mentioned here is that genetic code interacts with each other across wide swaths to change the meaning. So while GATG might mean \"ld a,5\" the fact that ACTT exists 2 million letters down the line changes it entirely to \"jp 56AEh\""
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"https://gith... | ||
2jkbq6 | how is the value of someone's life calculated, for instance in the case of a negligence or wrongful death lawsuit? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2jkbq6/eli5_how_is_the_value_of_someones_life_calculated/ | {
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"A wrongful death lawsuit the value is applied to \"damages\" the result of the death, not a value for the life itself. This may sound like semantics, but...it does help a little to understand things.\n\nFor example, damages in wrongful death could be related to loss of income to a family from the death of a working parent. If you're looking at \"pain and suffering\" style damages these are pretty darn fuzzy, and largely determined by the jury and the often bound by the capacity to pay said damages (e.g. a large corporation will get hit harder for the same sort of death than another individual). ",
"It is usually based on life expectancy and earning potential.\n\nThe can often be additional, punitive damages based on how negligent the defendant was."
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