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5p7xyb | why do we feel 'harder' and less connected to the world as we grow older? (or, is this me?) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5p7xyb/eli5_why_do_we_feel_harder_and_less_connected_to/ | {
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"As you get older fear and sloth get their fingers around your soul. It's all the little compromises, the little disappointments, the little cheats, the little lies, the personal failure to live up to what you imagined yourself to be that erodes your soul.\n\nYou have to choose to fight. You have to take a stand. You have to wake up knowing that you won't stand for the black fingers that swirl around the gold glowing thing that you know at the core of you is the light of the world made real in the living fact of your life.\n\nFight, fight, fight every motherfucking day to be what your soul tells you you are, what you feel but cannot say, what that music is at the back of your brain, dancing on your skin, singing at all the nerve endings wanting you to be the electric brilliance that is the unique jewel only you are in this time, in this purpose, in this only you that can be what the infinite now needs you to be.\n\nThe fall is an illusion. Fight. "
]
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[]
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5h0zt0 | the price of video game medias | *I can't remember the right word when addressing CD's, cartridges and other physical medias, that's why I used "video game medias" on the title*
What's the gross value of video game medias? What are the taxes on top of what we are buying when I go to the game store?
Taking for example GameStop, where a 3DS game costs around U$39,99. How much of this value is profit?
Thank you, | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5h0zt0/eli5_the_price_of_video_game_medias/ | {
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" > What's the gross value of video game medias?\n\nThey physical media is pretty much worthless. It probably cost them pennies per unit to produce.\n\n > What are the taxes on top of what we are buying when I go to the game store?\n\nThat depends on where you are in the world and what the government charges. Usually it would just be sales tax of various forms, maybe a VAT in some places.\n\n > Taking for example GameStop, where a 3DS game costs around U$39,99. How much of this value is profit?\n\nThere is no way of knowing that from the cost of the media itself. Think about a book; the cost isn't in putting ink on paper but in writing the book in the first place! Producing the first copy of a book is incredibly expensive but every additional copy is extremely inexpensive.\n\nA game developer might put years and tens of millions of dollars (hundreds for some AAA titles) into a product and then need to sell enough copies to recoup those costs. But techically speaking it costs very little to press a CD with the data which spent millions to develop. Profit is the difference between their total costs and total intake from sales, so until they cover their costs each copy sold is zero profit, and then once they have made back what they spent each copy is nearly 100% profit.",
"The cost of the physical media is very small. A disc costs maybe a few cents. A cartridge like 3DS ones cost a bit more. Maybe a few dollars.\n\nThe main cost is developing the game in the first place. So games have to be priced appropriately to be able to make that money back and make a profit.\n\nThe retailer, the publisher and the platform owner (e.g. Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo) all have to take their cut before the developer gets any money. Exactly how much they get depends on the deals between all those parties.",
"This question is a bit more complicated to answer, and as such won't be ELI5 perfectly (I think the word you're looking for is \"digital\").\n\nUsing Gamestop, let's look at their [income statement](_URL_0_).\n\nWe're going to look at the following three measures of profitability. \n\nFirst, is **gross profit.** This answers the question: \"How much money did I make in sales, and how much did I spend on the materials I sold.\"\n\nSo first, sales. Sales for Gamestop in FY 2015 was $9.3B. *Without looking too much at what \"COGS\" is, because sometimes there are hidden things in there,* Gamestop had to buy $6.4B worth of material in order to sell. \n\n9.3 - 6.4 = 2.9B.\n\nSo after doing all the work to sell $9.3B, Gamestop got to \"keep\" 2.9B of it after those costs. This amounts to (2.9/9.3 =) 31%. **This is their gross profit/margin.**\n\nBut wait, that's just the cost for what's being sold! We haven't even talked about store locations or salaries!\n\nAlright, let's look at that, then!\n\nSo, the total **operating expenses** Gamestop had, for having stores and employees, was $2.3B, leaving only 600M dollars left (only 6.5% of revenue). This is their **operating profit/margin.**\n\nBut wait! What about any loans or taxes! \n\nGamestop had to pay $23.4M in interest payments, and $222M in taxes. This left them with 402.8M, which was 4.2% of their revenues. This is their **net profit/margin.**\n\nGamestop, however, isn't the only member of this supply chain, and each supplier, buyer, and competitor within the digital media industry each contributes (or tries to contribute) to the product in some way, shape, or form. "
]
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[],
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"https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GME/financials?p=GME"
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13usfh | the chinese calendar | I've been looking around trying to find out how and why it starts and ends at different days each year and it's making my head hurt. Could you help enlighten me about the chinese calendar ELI5? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/13usfh/eli5_the_chinese_calendar/ | {
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"The reason the Chinese Calendar starts and ends at different days each year is because the calendar was originally based on longitude of the sun, and the phases of the moon. The calendar we use is called the \"Gregorian Calendar\", which is based on when the Equinox's (no Earth's tilt compared to Sun) are.\n\nAlso, instead of having a leap day, they have leap months, adding a 13th month to the calendar.",
"The Chinese Calendar is also commonly known as the Lunar Calendar because it's all based on the moon. The month starts and ends when it's a new moon (i.e. no moon visible in the sky). This necessarily means that the 15th of every lunar month will be when the moon is at its biggest, brightest and roundest, because that's the full moon.\n\nBecause it's based on the movement of the moon, the lunar month lasts for exactly 28 days every month, or 4 weeks exactly. But since there are 52 weeks in a year, this means that the Chinese calendar will necessarily have 13 months (52 / 4 = 13).\n\nThe Gregorian calendar, on the other hand, is based off the movement of the sun: which rarely syncs up with the phases of the moon. For this reason, each lunar month always starts and ends on a different date on the Gregorian calendar."
]
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[],
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87jh4e | why do you need to put your seat back up for landing? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/87jh4e/eli5_why_do_you_need_to_put_your_seat_back_up_for/ | {
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"text": [
"So the air hostess doesn't have to put every seat upright for take off. \n\nWhy do your seats have to be upright for take off you ask? \n\nIt's easier to board a plane when the seats are upright."
]
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[]
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3e9sll | this whole situation with sandra bland. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3e9sll/eli5_this_whole_situation_with_sandra_bland/ | {
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"text": [
"Try r/outoftheloop or Wikipedia\n\n_URL_0_"
]
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Sandra_Bland"
]
] | ||
30a11y | what is the difference between norway, scandanavia, the netherlands, the danish realm, holland and the nordic countries? | Could someone explain what each of these actually are? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30a11y/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_norway/ | {
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"[Norway is a country](_URL_5_).\n\n[Scandinavia is a region](_URL_2_) that includes Norway.\n\n[The Netherlands is another country](_URL_0_).\n\n[The Danish Realm](_URL_4_) refers to [Denmark](_URL_1_) as well as the Faroe Islands and Greenland.\n\n[Holland is a region of the Netherlands](_URL_3_), although some may use \"Holland\" to refer to The Netherlands as a whole (but that's inaccurate). \n\n[The Nordic Countries](_URL_6_) are Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (plus the Faroe Islands and Greenand for the rest of the Danish Realm and the Åland Islands for Finland). ",
"Okay, so, there are about six countries that are in play here: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and the Netherlands. You can just look up where these countries are; it won't help for me to do it for you.\n\n*Scandinavia* is a cultural-geographic term that means \"Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.\"\n\n*The Nordic Countries* are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. And if you ask Estonia, them, too.\n\n*The Danish Realm* is Denmark-the-country, plus two overseas territories that are owned/governed by Denmark: Greenland and the Faroe Islands.\n\n*Holland* is a part of the Netherlands, the way England is part of the United Kingdom. But, much like England being used incorrectly by people who mean the UK as a whole, Holland is sometimes used incorrectly by people who mean the Netherlands as a whole."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Netherlands/@52.2129919,5.2793703,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x47c609c3db87e4bb:0xb3a175ceffbd0a9f",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark",
"http://www.vexen.co.uk/countries/files/scandinavia.jpg",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland",
"http://en.wikipedia... | |
6ff54a | why does the pledge of allegiance go 'under god' if one of the founding principles of america was religious freedom? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ff54a/eli5_why_does_the_pledge_of_allegiance_go_under/ | {
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"To show hostility toward the state-enforced atheist Soviet Union. Before that it did not say 'under God' and it's not an issue now because you can't be compelled to say the pledge, nor does it specify which god of which religion they're talking about. It's just that the majority of Americans are Christian so they default to that one.",
"It was added in the 1950s. Previously, it was not in there, and the pledge then was actually fairly new, arising in the 1890s. There had been some smaller changes since the pledge started, so changing stuff wasn't something particularly crazy or unique,\n\nThe idea was to make the pledge more against the atheist crazy commies, the cold war was real in the 1950s, and terrifying.",
"It was added during the cold war as part of the psychological combatting of communism. The Soviets were violently atheist and so supporting God was seen as a way of standing against communism. ",
"Before the change of the Pledge in the 1950s as a result of the Communist hysteria, you would have recited a different version. This page from a 1936 high school autograph book. _URL_0_",
"The \"under god\" part was not originally there. Nor was the \"In god we trust\" on currency. They were added during the Red Scare so that America could distance itself from those \"evil atheist communists\" as much as possible.",
"It wasn't always \"under god\" and \"in god we trust\" wasn't always on our money. After World War II the United States was an especially fearful nation. They were afraid of Communism, and most communist governments were anti-religion or atheist. To demonstrate how anti-communist the U.S. was, we gave up our freedoms bit by bit by endorsing religion in government.\n\nThis erosion of our rights because we give in to our fears hasn't ended. Everyday the government spys on its own citizens without due process because of the fears of terrorism. Every day there's a push for citizens to give up more of their rights because of their fears. Benjamin Franklin, among others, knew things like this could happen. He is often quoted as saying, \"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.\"",
"some seem to forget it is 'freedom OF religion\", as in you are free to worship in whatever church you want (or none at all), not 'freedom FROM religion', those who came here first were trying to escape countries with a state religion, be it catholicism or anglican or whatever",
"All that has been said about how the pledge was amended decades after its composition in a reactionary response to the godless Soviets and their godless atheism ....yes. \n\nAnd interpretations about what 'religious freedom' means, and how specific or general you take the term 'under god'... sure, ok, sure, whatever you think. \n\nI just came to say that The Pledge of Allegiance is not a founding document, it was not conceived by the founding fathers. It was written over a hundred years after The Continental Congress, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, etc. \n\nThe Pledge of Allegiance does not represent founding principles. It's an oath of loyalty to a post-civil war vision of America. \n"
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6m17zt | why did grenfell tower not collapse after the fire? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6m17zt/eli5_why_did_grenfell_tower_not_collapse_after/ | {
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"The load bearing core of Grenfell Tower is still in place. Tower blocks are built to hold their weight on their inner columns. It is the opposite to houses which support their weight on their outer walls.",
"The tower is a mix of cast in place and precast concrete structure. There are 10 exterior concrete columns supporting the floors and an interior concrete shaft for lateral stability (which also partially supports the floors). Interior walls are precast concrete. \n\nConcrete structures are very resilient to catastrophic collapse from fire. A fire like that probably wasn't hot enough to really compromise the reinforcement in the concrete. Although the building will be inspected to determine if it needs structural repairs or needs to be demolished."
]
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3bfsnw | the whole situation going on with donald trump and mexico right now. | All I know is he said something to really piss off Mexico about the border (I assume). | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bfsnw/eli5_the_whole_situation_going_on_with_donald/ | {
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"He suggested, iirc, that America should build a wall between the US and Mexico and shoot anyone who gets too close. The Mexican government is upset because that's fairly racist (the life of a Mexican is worth less than an American job and that Mexicans are the only source of illegal immigration to the US), and also kind of threatens their sovereignty (by having the US killing Mexican citizens while they are still in Mexico). Univision, a Spanish language television channel that broadcasts in the US, has cut ties with Trump as well.\n\nI'm not sure if there's been any other comments by Trump or other responses by Mexican/Spanish speaking officials or individuals though, but that should give you a good start point."
]
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[]
] | |
9mts6i | when pouring a thick liquid (like honey) why is it giving a kind of a zigzag shape right before it touches down? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9mts6i/eli5_when_pouring_a_thick_liquid_like_honey_why/ | {
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"text": [
"The viscosity prevents the stream from merging with the puddle you’re pouring it onto right away like with water, so as more comes down the stream, it essentially piles up and collapses as it becomes unstable, or “top heavy” within the stream",
"The viscosity is so high that the fluid reacts very slowly to hitting the bottom, so it essentially buckles upstream. You can tell how viscous it is by how long the zig of the zigzag is - and it's different for honey, shampoo, and molasses. "
]
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2dalp4 | why it's so hard for america to get out of the middle east | Besides political lobbyists trying to maintain their profits from wartime materials, why is it so hard for our leaders to decide to get out of other country's foreign affairs? We shouldn't have to keep wasting our own citizens on problems that aren't ours. Especially when hardly any other countries are even involved EXCEPT us. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2dalp4/eli5_why_its_so_hard_for_america_to_get_out_of/ | {
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"The most powerful groups aren't always the ones we (or the world) want in power, so intervention is often necessary.\n\nUnfortunately when you're a global superpower other nations affairs *are always* your business.\n\nThe US has reached such lofty political, military, and economic heights by being a dominant (and occasionally domineering) influnence all over the world. It has many allies to protect and many enemies to monitor.\n\nWhen one of your enemies attacks one of your allies (in this case, the Iraqi Kurds, who have been stalwart US allies for decades) you *must* respond or risk damaging the faith of your other allies in the future.\n\nEuropean nations don't help much in these military conflicts because they simply don't possess the military capability to blow up anyone, anywhere, at any time like the US does.\n\nIf someone, somewhere absolutely positively needs to get exploded to prevent a genocide/military coup/terrorist attack it will fall on the US to do it. The US spends hundreds of billions on its military machine to provide security not just to itself, but also to the many allies and sympathetic parties all over the globe.",
"1. After the Holocaust, taking the position of \"Well there's a genocide going on but it's really none of my business, who am I to tell other countries how to run their affairs?\" fell out of general favor.\n\n2. As 9/11 proved, just because America leaves these countries alone, that doesn't mean they'll leave *us* alone. America pretty much stayed out of the Taliban's business, but they harbored Al-Qaeda anyway. From that point forward America's iron-clad rule has been \"You sponsor terrorism, we will wreck your shit\". ",
"Because many of our security interests happen to coincide with the extraction and shipping of a resource that the modern world requires to function. Without securing this resource, which no one else has the means or willingness to do, the economy that many nations in the world (including the US) are reliant upon could crumble easily.\n\nOur way of life exists because of cheap oil. The spice must flow."
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rjzr3 | hydrogenation. | This process seems to be applied to many different foods. How harmful are hydrogenated oils to the body? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/rjzr3/eli5_hydrogenation/ | {
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"Fats come from different food sources. Fat from plant sources is usually \"unsaturated\" fat and is liquid at room temperature. Fat from animals is \"saturated\" and usually a solid at room temperature. The \"saturated\" refers to the hydrogen bonded to fat molecules. Fats (lipids) are long molecules of glycerides. Along the length of the molecule, there at places where hydrogen atoms can attach. If all of the sites are filled, then the molecule is saturated. Unsaturated molecules have considerably less hydrogen attached. \n\nSo scientists a few decades ago realized that if you take unsaturated fats (plant oils) and treat them in a lab, you can attach some hydrogen to the fat molecules. The molecules don't become fully saturated, so they're \"partially hydrogenated\" (also: trans-fats). Because these molecules don't naturally exist, bacteria and other nasties don't really know how to eat them, so they don't really spoil. Good news, right? Well, the human body doesn't really know what to do either. Trans fats have a bad impact on cholesterol, which leads to heart disease. "
]
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[]
] | |
65h6of | hot vs. cold coffee cups | Why is it that if I put a cold liquid inside of a paper coffee cup it will start to get soft and slightly malleable to the touch however when full of hot coffee the cup retains it's firmness and rigidity longer? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/65h6of/eli5_hot_vs_cold_coffee_cups/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Cold inside - warmer outside - warm air contains water. Heat wants to get into cup - outside of cup sucks water from warmer air into the surface and therefore gets \"soft\" with moisture. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | |
1oo9ki | why do british comedians do so well in america? | America seems to have a fasciation with British humor and I have to wonder why it's so popular? Monty Python, Rowan Atkinson, Russell Brand, Ricky Gervais, et al. We don't see a bunch of comedians from Australia or South Africa...but Britain seems to be flush with comedic talent. Is there something special about British comedy that makes them attractive to American audiences? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1oo9ki/why_do_british_comedians_do_so_well_in_america/ | {
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"text": [
"They're fucking hilarious that's why. \n\n",
"Watch [this explanation by Stephen Fry](_URL_0_),\n\nIt's a lot easier to go one way than the other."
]
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[],
[
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k2AbqTBxao"
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1s2c0e | why do we only have black friday sales once a year? why can't we have the deals all year long? | Just a quick thought I had :) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1s2c0e/eli5_why_do_we_only_have_black_friday_sales_once/ | {
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"text": [
"Some stores tried this. They found that they sell more if they have higher prices then drop them shortly for a sale than if they keep the sale-low prices all year.\n\nPeople just really like sales."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | |
1jb82q | why, with the world being roughly 50% male, 50% female, does it seem like females are in higher demand? | Online dating, roughly 70-75% is male seeking female. It's rare to find parties where females drastically outnumber males, but sausage fests are common.
Where are all these straight guys coming from? A female changes her facebook status to single and hordes are guys are swarming all over her. Why do males always seem to be single but not females? Maybe I'm lacking critical thinking skills but this just isn't adding up.
Hopefully this doesn't sound like an anecdotal rant, but I really want to know how/why dating is this way. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jb82q/eli5_why_with_the_world_being_roughly_50_male_50/ | {
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"Pretty much societal norms. Guys are expected to make the first move, guys are generally more \"allowed\" to express sexual desire, etc. Once you factor in all the societal expectations in a \"relationship,\" you'd see that men are usually expected to do more. Well, maybe not \"more\" but at least the \"initiation.\" If you're a guy who can't make the first move, you're pretty much SoL until some outgoing girl comes along and asks you out.\n\nWhereas women, generally speaking, aren't really expected to make the first move. If one does, well amazing. If one doesn't, well, no foul.\n\nSo for some guys, there's a level of stress that arises from fear of rejection... which in turn makes it a little tougher on them to get into a relationship.",
"The problem is not that women are in higher demand: *good looking* women are in demand. There are just as many single women as men (thereabouts), but they are not the kind of women that you are inclined to notice.\n\nImagine this: there are 6 people in the world. 3 guys, 3 girls, all straight (for simplicity). The prettiest girl and handsomest guy pair off. The next most attractive pair off, leaving the two ugliest people on earth. They don't want to pair up, because who wants to date the ugliest person on earth? The ugliest man looks at the prettiest women and says to himself, \"Gosh, it's so hard to find a good woman.\"\n\n*Because he passed over the available yet unattractive woman.*\n\nThis happens on the other side, too. The last woman says, \"Gosh, there are no good men left.\"\n\nThe problem here is not that there is a lack of women (in the U.S., girls outnumber guys 51% to 49%, giving a whole 3-4 million more women in the states!), but that a significant portion of them are initially passed over. The ones with desirable traits for dating will of course be dating, much in the same way that artistically inclined people make art.\n\nThere is actually a lack of men for women in society as a whole. The 51/49 split, coupled with [about 5-10% of men admitting to being gay where as 2-5% of women are lesbians](_URL_0_), means that for every 100 women, there are as low as 88 men available. Wrap your head around that."
]
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[],
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_sexual_orientation"
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88h667 | why can plasma transfusions be used instead of whole blood transfusions? | Wouldn't the body still be missing the red blood cells, white blood cells, etc? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/88h667/eli5_why_can_plasma_transfusions_be_used_instead/ | {
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"You can get plasma instead of blood, it has the clotting factors in it BUT it has no capacity to carry oxygen to cells and by administering it you are lowering the overall number of blood cells per liter and lowering the oxygen carrying capacity so you only use plasma in certain specific situations such as clotting disorders ",
"Blood is separated to make donations more efficient (different components are used for different things) and also to make it more easily storable.\n\nThere are 3 main components of blood from a transfusion perspective:\n\nRed cells which carry oxygen - can be stored for 35 days at 2-6 C\n\nPlasma which makes up blood volume and carries clotting factors-can be stored for 2 years at -30c\n\nPlatelets which form the basic 'bricks' of a clot- can be stored for 5 days at 20c\n\nAll of these have radically different storage conditions and red cells in whole blood itself only has a shelf life of 14 days (IIRC) due to the white blood cells that it contains being quite metabolically active so a single blood donation is much more efficiently used if it is separated.\n\nWhole blood also contains white blood cells which can cause severe problems if they are transfused into certain patients\n"
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41t04u | why humans resist sleep early in life, yet need it so desperately (eg. my 2 month old and 2 year old). | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/41t04u/eli5_why_humans_resist_sleep_early_in_life_yet/ | {
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"This is simply unique to Western cultures. In other cultures, infants and children often sleep in the same bed, or even the same room as a parent, and bedtime protest are non-existent. \n\nEssentially, your child is not attempting to object to your authority by not wanting to go to bed, but are reacting to an engrained response of fear. We are hunter-gatherers, and your child is reacting to genes that deem the idea that sleeping alone in the dark is dangerous, even suicide.\n\nThis is known as a evolutionary mismatch. We still contain many of the same tendencies as our ancestors, yet our environments are starkly different. \n\n[More Info](_URL_0_)"
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1z7ge3 | what is the appeal of impressionism and post impressionism? differences? | Saw a bunch of paintings by Georges Braques today and I just dont "get" it. Why is he considered such a great artist? What is the appeal? I'm genuinely curious because I want to be able to appreciate these works of art | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1z7ge3/eli5_what_is_the_appeal_of_impressionism_and_post/ | {
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"Note: Georges Braques generally is thought of as a Cubist, not an Impressionist or a Post-Impressionist.\n\nWhat is important to note about Modern art movements is that they came about in a period when the propagation of photography challenged traditional ideas about painting. Painters before photography became easily accessible were trained to paint as real to life as possible. However, once the camera became more commonplace, the need for painters to accurately represent the world was diminished, and artists were freer to experiment with ideas of visuality.\n\nImpressionism was born out of this historical context and they became interested in playing with light, especially sunlight, at different points in time. A lot of Impressionism was about capturing fleeting moments in time and moments of everyday life. So for example, Renoir was known for painting everyday people at parties or the opera, subject matter that showed how life was really lived instead of relying on Classical and Biblical allegories as in \"academic\" painting. Monet, possibly the most famous Impressionist, commonly did series of paintings of the same scene but at different times of day in order to highlight how light changes throughout the day and how the time of day affects what we see. In fact, the term \"Impressionism\" comes from the title of his painting \"Impression, Sunrise,\" highlighting his focus on temporality and playing with light. A lot of the techniques that Impressionists became known for, such as quick gestural brush strokes and a lack of mixing colors, were used to further suggest the immediacy of the scene - they wanted to capture a moment as it happened, not labor over one painting for years in order to get the most amount of detail. They want to give you an *impression* of the scene.\n\nImpressionism is especially notable for, as I mentioned, its focus on everyday life. Many Impressionist painters are considered extremely important not only because of their techniques, but also because we can learn a lot about how people actually lived and dressed by looking at their paintings, which is information that academic painting rarely provides. In that sense, Impressionism is highly important both because it helped to pave the way for later art movements, but also because it is a highly historically contextualized movement that says a lot about the era.\n\nPost-Impressionism, as the name suggests, grew out of Impressionism. These artists took some of the basic tenets of Impressionism and extended them in different ways. Some artists, like George Seurat, delved further into playing with color and light by exploring pointilism, or the use of small dots of color that create a more coherent picture when viewed from a distance. Others, like Van Gogh, played more with the expressive qualities of Impressionism by using brush strokes to invoke an overall emotional quality.\n\nCubism, which Georges Braques falls under, grew out of Impressionism in that both movements are interested in *how we see the world*. While Impressionism generally focuses on the play of light and color, Cubism instead looks at angles and perspective, often combining multiple perspectives of the same subject matter into one (what Picasso was really famous for doing). It also breaks down the subject matter into fundamental shapes and figures."
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1kxiwr | how do "smart bombs" work? specifically, how are they guided to the target if they are simply dropped from a plane. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1kxiwr/eli5how_do_smart_bombs_work_specifically_how_are/ | {
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"There is a variety of ways to control how the bomb will fly and what it will hit. The most commonly used bombs now are actually \"dumb\" bombs outfitted with a JDAM kit, that let's them be guided toward the intended target while falling. There are also bombs that are laser guided that will use guide themselves to a laser designated target. Radio controlled bombs that can be steered to targets. Some bombs focus on IR imaging and outlines to guide themselves to their targets, radar guided bombs etc. \n\nThis doesn't even cover things like some of the advanced cluster munitions that have individual bomblets that can each choose a target and fire armor penetrators at it, while others that can't find targets explode before they hit the ground. \n\nNow we even have smart grenades that can be set to explode over targets so that cover like walls is no longer effective defense. And there is work being done on guided small arms ammunition.\n\nSo bombs aren't just metal casings of explosives dropped from planes anymore. They contain computers and equipment, guidance systems and a lot of other technology. ",
"There are a number of different guidance systems for \"smart bombs\" but one of the most common uses lasers.\n\nBasically the bomb is released from the plane, and it has sensors in it that constantly scan the ground looking for a laser marker at a specific frequency. So after releasing the weapon, either the bomber aircraft itself, or a support aircraft, will shine a laser at the target. The weapon then \"sees\" this laser and attempts to guide itself to where the laser is shining.\n\nStrictly speaking, most laser-guided ordnance are missiles rather than bombs, as they usually have the ability to use propulsion systems to change their course.\n\nLaser-guided missiles are extremely accurate when tested under ideal conditions, but in practice their use is often curtailed due to smoke, low cloud, or even the difficulty of keeping the laser permanently shining at the target during the weapon's flight.",
"\"Smart Bombs\" have a couple ways they can be guided to their target. First, I'll go over the two main ways that free-falling bombs find their targets and then go on to some cool ways guided missiles find their targets.\n\nThe most accurate way a bomb can find its target is using a pulsed laser frequency. Pilot drops bomb in a way that it will free-fall in the area of the target (the plane can usually do this much and get within 300 meters). Then the pilot, or his Weapon System Officer, points his laser where he wants it to go. The guidance package looks for the energy, and adjusts it's fins to fly towards the \"laser spot\". This is accurate, however things like dust, smoke, and clouds can get in the way, and these all are fairly common on the battlefield.\n\nSo then we get into GPS guided bombs, or JDAM's. JDAM's are actually GPS/INS (INS means Inertial Navigation System). JDAM's have a set of coordinates input into them by the pilot, or Weapon System Officer. When the bomb is released it will look for a GPS signal to figure out where it is, where the intended target is, and the fins adjust in a way to make this happen. Now the INS is actually great because if the bomb ever fails to get its GPS signal, it basically takes its starting location (the aircraft) or its last known location and can use its direction and velocity to still know where it's at and where it needs to go (although with some degraded accuracy).\n\nSome of the newest bombs on the battlefield use both the above systems. Initially the bomb is dropped like a JDAM, however after its released, it's laser seeker will seek out a \"laser spot\" to further refine the target location.\n\nNow while not technically bombs, many missiles use \"smart\" guidance systems. The most common is laser guidance, as it is the most accurate. However, for laser guided ordnance to be accurate, you have to lase the target, to lase the target you have to see the target, and if you can see the target, it can see you.\n\nSo here we have a need for fire and forget weaponry, which is ideally radar guided. Missiles that launch, then seeks out a millimeter wave radar signal, then reads the \"returns\" which are generally large metal objects (tanks have great returns). Once it finds a radar \"return\" it will guide in to strike the target. Some missiles like the UK Dual-mode Seeker Brimstone has both radar guidance, and laser guidance.\n\n*edit: forgot a word"
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4360pt | if it is possible to travel to other star systems, does the expansion of the universe affect the distance of the trip? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4360pt/eli5_if_it_is_possible_to_travel_to_other_star/ | {
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"I feel like people are misreading this question. The question isn't, as /u/Nedn1 and /u/Brodusgus seem to be primarily addressing, whether or not travel to other star systems is possible. The question is that *assuming inter-stellar travel is already possible*, does the expansion of the universe affect travel time/distance? Implied is **how** does it affect it, and why?",
"Gravity holds the milky way together against the expansion of the universe (just like how Andromeda is actually moving towards us despite the expansion), so the expansion would not effect the distance traveled unless you were going to other far away galaxies (or at least not significantly if it does)",
"Assuming you're planning to stay within our galaxy (and you should plan to stay within our galaxy), the expansion of the universe would have no effect. Gravitationally bound objects like physical bodies, solar systems and individual galaxies don't experience the expansion and will stay together. \n\nOur galaxy will eventually merge with Andromeda and the combined galaxy will eventually expand away from all the others enough to become an island universe, too far from any other galaxy to receive light from them, but will stay as a unit until or unless there's fast enough expansion for the Big Rip model to be true."
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39ndtn | why was obama so adamant about fast tracking tpp trade bill? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/39ndtn/eli5why_was_obama_so_adamant_about_fast_tracking/ | {
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"Obama believes that the TPP is in our long-term strategic interest to ensure strong ties with SE Asia while undercutting China (who are excluded from the deal), and that it is not realistic to negotiate such a large and complex deal without fast-track authority.\n\nBasically, no one doubts that if the discussion is about the TPP's effects on \"the US economy\" that it will be good.\n\nOpponents are rightfully suspicious, however, that one likely outcome from this trade deal is that US companies will greatly profit while they fire a whole bunch of their workers, and that the average person will see few benefits.\n\nThe bill that got rejected in the House today was (ironically) about providing aid to people who lose their jobs as a result of off-shoring. Passage of such a bill is viewed as politically necessary in order to win fast track authority for the the TPP; many democrats rejected it basically on the grounds that it just wasn't enough.",
"First, it's important to remember what “*Fast tracking*” means in the context of trade bills. It just means that when it goes to congress it must be voted on up-or-down, and not filibustered and (and this is the important one) **not amended.** Once Congress decides to amend the TPP themselves, it's probably dead right then and there, even if they vote to pass the modified version into law. \n\nIf the US amends the proposed treaty in Congress, what's to keep other nations from amending what is presented before *their own* legislatures too? For example, if Japan's legislature modifies the treaty before they pass it (without America agreeing to such modifications) America would (rightfully) respond with something like “*WTF, we didn't agree to that part of the deal, you can't unilaterally change it, no deal anymore!*” \n\nFast-tracking prevents such shenanigans.\n"
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bk23d6 | how are some people born female, but have male xy chromosomes? | And can this happen the other way around (XX but born male)?
Biology in school was very black and white about XX XY chromosomes, so can someone explain how this works?
Edit: posted on r/askreddit too because I didn't think the mods would approve my post review, but I've been getting some narrow minded and unhelpful answers over there. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bk23d6/eli5_how_are_some_people_born_female_but_have/ | {
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"Hey I remember this from a college-level Sex class I had! There are a variety of chromosome disorders that can occur, such as XX males, XY females, XXY males (also known as Kleinfelter's Syndrome), and more. And within those, there can be a lot of variation as well about how it specifically affects each individual.\n\nThese disorders occur during development of the fetus, and while rare, are apparently quite random (thats what we were told), so we don't know exactly why they occur.\n\nJust a note, most people affected with one of these are infertile, and may have deformities (again depending on the specifics) of both internal and/or external sexual and reproductive parts. Some persons may be classified as intersex, or self identify as such, although many will consider themselves male or female as well, are generally are raised as such and identify as such.\n\nFor people affected by one of these disorders, they are (sometimes not willingly as children) often given treatments to help develop in a certain way, such as to boost testosterone for males or for females to start their period, in order to help their body into puberty, which may be delayed or not occur in some cases without external help.\n\nAgain I should reiterate, as we were told, these don't affect each person identically, although there are traits that are fairly universal within each disorder, each person may or may not have the exact same situation and/or issues-- our professor made it a point to keep calling this out to explain that each person really is their own case and there is no \"perfect\" answer for everyone regarding both physically and mentally",
"Swyers Syndrome is probably the most direct example of this.\n\nBy default a fetus will develop to be female, the gonads need to form into testicles and start pumping out male hormones for it to 'switch tracks' and develop male. Vast majority of the time, the gonads do this without issue and the resulting organs align with what you'd expect given their chromosomes. Gonadal Dysgenisis is when the gonads development into testicles or ovaries is impaired, with complete failure to develop into either in XY individuals being known as Swyers Syndrome.\n\nSo because the gonads failed to form into testicles and start male development, an XY fetus will continue female development, the lack of ovaries doesn't change anything about this. So the baby is born anatomically female and subsequently socially raised as a girl. Usually nothing is perceptibly wrong until much later when they fail to start puberty due to the lack of ovaries. At that point treatment usually consists of hormone therapy to mimic the hormonal function of ovaries and surgery to remove the nonfunctional gonads as they pose a high cancer risk."
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1mp47s | can someone please explain to me what is going on with this snowden guy?? how did this guy get so popular and what is going on with him now? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mp47s/eli5_can_someone_please_explain_to_me_what_is/ | {
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"Snowden was an independant contractor with the NSA. Specifically, he was a systems administrator and had a LOT of access. He took about 1000 documents or so, that prove the NSA was spying on U.S. citizens and a bunch of other \"big brother\" invasions of privacy.\n\nRather than post them all at once on Wikileaks (like what Bradley Manning did), he gave the documents to reporters at The Guardian, The Washington Post, and the New York Times, with specific instructions to report the items in a slow and responsible manner (He didn't want to cause any danger to any personnel currently undergoing a covert operation). We don't know if they were all given the same documents or not, but the stories are coming out as they're vetted, redearched and confirmed.\n\nAs for Snowden, he is seeking permanent asylum in another country. He initially traveled to Hong Kong, but left when the authorities started considering sending him back to the US. He then flew to Russia, and the US revoked his passport when he landed. After a week or two of living in the Moscow Airport, he was grantef temporary asylum in Russia."
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2lx47f | why do only female mammals produce milk from their breasts to nurse young? males have nipples too, wouldn't it be helpful energy-wise for a species if parents took turns? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2lx47f/eli5why_do_only_female_mammals_produce_milk_from/ | {
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"Males have nipples because for roughly 2 weeks in the womb we all develop as female. After that sex begins to define itself and work on breasts and a vagina is indefinitely halted. \n\nNipples are only the exit hole for milk, for males to produce milk we'd also need mammary glands. Not to mention milk production is tied to reproduction, too. So males would need to have periods of fertility, like ovulating females.",
"It probably ended up that specialization was more effective than just being capable.\n\nFor hunting, you either come back with something you caught or you didn't. Say that you spent half of your day stalking your prey but now you had to come back to take care of the young. If you were a dedicated hunter, maybe a few more hours hunting would mean you would have something to bring back for dinner but now you have to return with nothing.\n\nProducing milk also drains your energy. If you had to also hunt or gather, you won't have as much energy to do either compared to someone who is not producing milk. This is also bad if you're trying to escape being a prey to other animals.",
"Keep in mind that asking *why* about evolution is always tricky. Evolution doesn't have goals, things just happen, and when they work out for the better they stick around. \n\nAny explanations of why a specific trait evolved are going to be limited by our knowledge and biases, in a way that's really hard to pin down. Sometimes the why is different than we expect, or hidden by some confounding variable. Sometimes the why was a relic of the past, and the trait is merely a leftover. Sometimes there is no why, and the question of one thin versus another boils down to chance. Given how scattered the fossil record is, it can be nigh impossible to explain all but the most basic traits.",
"I remember seeing some weird episode of Eurotrash in the early 90's which had a segment detailing men who have a fetish for having themselves stimulated to produce milk, so it most definitely possible.",
"The males of the [Dayak fruit bat](_URL_0_) species will naturally lactate to feed their young. Hard to say whether it's a result of natural selection, or something in their diet. \n\nConsidering that almost no male mammals naturally and non-pathologically lactate, it suggests that this feature, if it was ever present, was lost among the earliest common ancestors of all mammals. Lactation is an expensive trait to retain, males who have lost it would be more likely to find more females and reproduce, and if their offspring require additional nutritional support, well, there's lots of other ways the male could contribute. ",
"Most mammals are not good father's. In that usually the females raise the young, the male animals rarely have anything to do with it",
"Not necessarily. If you have a species where all adults have to take time nursing offspring, then this prevents one-half of the species from being liberated to hunt or conduct defense of the clan well away from the offspring. Or, for that matter, to flee. It's actually pretty rare, as well, that the parents stay paired while raising offspring. In herding animals, for example, it's an evolutionary advantage for the fittest male to mate with as many females, harem-style, as possible. And then of course it would be no advantage at all for that male to be tied down to dozens of offspring.",
"One of the reasons why females are more involved in aspects of child raising (such as lactation) than males are, is that females can always know who their own babies are, since they gave birth to them, while males do not necessarily know who their babies are, since women can have sex with more than one male, and often do. The human race does not have a biological history of strict monogamy, even though the institution of marriage was created to encourage monogamy. The evolutionary history of the human race greatly predates the institution of marriage."
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4265sd | how is my cable tv signal different than my isp connection, and why isn't it subject to the same bandwidth issues? | I have FIOS, but this applies to any cable TV/internet combination. I can watch ~150 HD channels without any buffering issues, and without, as near as I can tell, any bandwidth limitations. I'm told this is all digital. On the other hand, even with a pretty nice data package, I sometimes run into buffering issues when streaming video.
Data is data, so it seems like it should be fungible. I understand that there are business reasons for Verizon to want to get me to pay more for data, but that doesn't seem like what's going on.
Netflix says HD Video takes about 5 megabits/second to stream, so my 150 HD channels seem to suggest I have nearly a gigabit connection before considering all the SD channels.
What's going on here? Why is the data needed for a regular cable TV signal different than internet data? They're different in some technical way, right? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4265sd/eli5_how_is_my_cable_tv_signal_different_than_my/ | {
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"Internet data is point to point. The server is waiting for your computer to acknowledge the last sent data before seeming you some more data. That means the integrity and sequence of the data is preserved.\n\nTV is broadcast. The station doesn't care if you received the last data or not"
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4ipdax | if transgender people are seeking equality and normalcy, why do they refer to themselves as transgender men or women, rather than just men or women? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ipdax/eli5_if_transgender_people_are_seeking_equality/ | {
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"Generally they only do it when they're talking about support or issues for their community. So basically most of the stuff you'd hear on a normal basis. Otherwise and in a perfect world, they'd simply be what they wished to be and only be called that. ",
"That's like asking \"if black people are seeking equality and normalcy, why do they refer themselves as black people, instead of just people?\"",
"A lot of them don't refer to themselves as transgendered....but just as men and women. The trans label is added to help explain to people why they might be a little unclear about their origins....for people who need that.\n\nSome trans people completely pass for their new gender. Some, do not. I am certain that you interacted with someone recently that was either transgendered (or not, but likes to dress in another gender's clothing) and you didn't even notice.",
"**They don't**, unless it's important for context. \n\nUnless they're an exception, they don't just walk up to you and say \"Hi I'm a transgender\" if it's not a theme of the conversation they're joining. \n\nBut they will say \"As a transgender, yes I do experience that issue\" in the same way you would say \"as an office worker that lives in the suburbs, yes I do have a long commute\". It's important to the conversation then. \n\nAnd it also is if someone is speaking to the press or representing others when raising inequality or other transgender-experienced themes as an issue, and that's often where and how we hear the term more than anywhere else."
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zh8zi | why is bill clinton regarded as such a great president? | I'm not saying he isn't, I'm just 15(I MEAN FIVE) and wasn't paying attention at the time.
EDIT: My fu**ing God, 594+ comments, and thanks for the answers btw. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/zh8zi/eli5_why_is_bill_clinton_regarded_as_such_a_great/ | {
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"He took office in a recession, and then presided over a huge economic boom of the mid to late 90's. How much is attributable to his policies and how much to other factors is debatable, but he'd have taken the hate if the economy tanked, so I think it's only fair he takes the credit if it boomed.\n\nAlso, he worked with a Republican congress to get some major important policies implemented, like welfare reform.\n\nHe also made it cool to be a democrat again, after 12 years of Republican presidents, 4 years of a basically failed Carter presidency, and another 6 years of Nixon and Ford. Clinton was the first strong democratic president since LBJ in the 60's.",
"Think of it this way:\n\nFind someone who thinks Bill Clinton was a bad president and ask them why. 99% of the time, they're only going to bring up the whole scandal thing and never address any of his actual policies. ",
"Because he was sandwiched between two terrible presidents, and he was better than the previous president from his party.",
"To add to what everyone else said:\n\nHe had a rough upbringing. He was a ~~poor,~~* middle class white kid from Arkansas. When he was elected President, some referred to him as the \"first black president\" because, basically, he understood what suffering entailed. Practically every other president before him came from very wealthy families. \n\nHe was just *cool*. He was so personable. He knew how to connect with people. When he talks, it feels genuine. [Watch him debate H.W. Bush back in '92](_URL_0_), watch how he answers this woman's question compared to how Bush did. \n\nI don't agree with all of his policies. In terms of his actual policy that he pursued, he was just an OK-to-good president in my opinion. But goddamn, you can't deny that he was just a likable, articulate guy.\n\nEDIT: * There's some debate about whether one can be poor and middle class. I don't know all of the details of Clinton's upbringing and background, but my impression is that he came from a lower-middle class, disjointed family. The point I was trying to make is that he had been exposed to poverty, and really understood the plight of the most disenfranchised in our country. ",
"He can play the saxophone better than Lisa Simpson. Sorry dude, I don't know anything about politics. ",
"Hi five year old, I'm gonna sit down here beside you, because Uncle Rektide has a bit of a long tale to tell you.\n\nBill Clinton was fortunate enough to be in office during the last final great push of robots taking over the jobs everyone used to do. Instead of each town having people who make rugs, who sell rugs, factories that make furniture, local business owners who sell that furniture, instead of these local economies, America plugged-in to the global economy: rather than me, working at an office, giving the money I make to Joe, who runs the furniture shop, who pays people from the town to help him run the shop, America spent more and more of it's money at big, chain stores: these companies were unlike anything the world had seen years ago.\n\nChain stores changed a lot of things. They didn't buy from other nearby places, giving those nearby folks money, money that might make it's way back to our area. Chain stores are run by people far away, they get their goods from really far away places where people don't have as many opportunities to work, and since they need work, they have to ask for less money. So we get things for less money, but we send our money away, outside of the town, outside of the state, outside of the country to get these things. And chain stores are ruthless about finding the lowest prices: they want very much to find the lowest possible price, and whole nations struggle to provide the same goods at ever cheaper prices, giving less and less to the families that work their. This is called globalization, looking for goods from all over, and the chain stores, they're practicing marginalization, trying to buy goods for the cheapest price they can, and then selling them at way higher prices here, in our town, and in hundreds of other towns all around.\n\nSelling things to hundreds of towns we'd begun to do, well before Clinton came into office. During Clinton's presidency, we started making computers though. Computers both changed things, and were how things were going: globalization was already happening, we already had big companies buying lots of things from over seas, but selling stuff of people was still usually done by having them come into a store. And when you come into a store, you expect to see what you're going to buy, right? It's on the shelf! With computers things started changing: anyone could rent a warehouse for cheap, buy some cheap goods, and then on the internet sell these cheap goods to other people. They didn't even need to hire many other people to help at the store!\n\nThis itself didn't change things fast, but it did change things. The biggest most noticeable thing was that the Internet was still being created, people were just beginning to use it when Clinton took office: less than 10% of people had even connected to it. By the time he left office, well over 1/3 of the people in America [ed: facts please!] had bought something on the internet. But to do that, we had to make these online stores. A lot of computer programmers and business people were responsible for creating these systems, and by creating them, by selling software to these re-sellers, by becoming re-sellers themselve, earned gobs and gobs of money. They earned so much money, we called it the tech boom: America didn't really know what was happening, which was that factories and rug makers were losing their jobs, rug sellers were losing their jobs, but we saw some select few people get very rich very quickly, and people loving hearing about that. We can see that and think, that could be me!\n\nAs these jobs were disappearing, as they were being shipped overseas, another big huge thing happened. Towns used to do it all, right? Rug maker, rug seller, furniture factory, furniture store owned by someone in town? Well, as these jobs were leaving these towns, people still wanted jobs. Cities, cities were were these chain stores operated out of: lots of people in offices, figuring out what country could provide millions of tables cheap, planning how to get them on container ships to travel the long seas for days on end, planning how to get these millions of tables onto trains once they got to port, and have those trains meet up with fleets of 18 wheelers to get those really cheap tables to either big chain stores, run by very low skilled low payed employees that still remained in towns, or directly to the doorstop of people who ordered the table via the Internet. Cities made all of this run, cities told a nation far far away, across the sea, build me many tables. And they figured out how to get those tables to a lot of people who wanted them, really really cheaply, as cheap as they possibly could.\n\nPART TWO FOLLOWS",
"He was the first black president ",
"He had (and continues to have) a great deal of personal charm. We called him \"Slick Willie\" at the time; he seemed to be able to talk his way out of any situation, he seemed to be able to persuade you of anything. Over the years, our attitude toward that side of him has mellowed—now that he's no longer in office, we view that side of him as less of the shifty/lying/game-playing politician, and more of an aw-shucks merry ol' scamp.\n\nAlso, some of the things that we look down on him for _now_ were at the time viewed as okay. You hear a lot these days about how his repeal of Glass-Steagall was bad, but at the time people weren't complaining in quite the same way (or, if they were, we've forgotten), so people don't blame him for the current crisis. We don't like DADT now and we're glad it's gone, but at the time it was an improvement on a bad situation.\n\nFinally, although he was of course a Democrat, he was more of a centrist / moderate than a liberal, and while this disappoints some on the left, it also makes many on the right look back on him and think, gee, we may have complained but it wasn't so bad, he was on our side for a lot of things (either by choice or because we won the fight).",
"[Mainly because of this](_URL_0_)",
"OH by the way, there was a budget SURPLUS during his tenure as president. The government was earning more revenue than it was spending. With a democrat in office, which supposedly is the party of big government, that is awesome. ",
"Repealing Glass Steagall...",
"Several reasons, and some of these probably show personal bias.\n\n1) He was sandwiched between Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. *Insert some form of the \"getting a gold medal in the special olympics\" joke here*\n\n2) He was president during a financial boom. He left office just before the dotcom bubble burst. This is not a fair way to judge presidencies, but it's very common.\n\n3) He is a very persuasive and powerful speaker. He had the most magnetic personality of any president in my lifetime. \n\n4) He felt much more \"in-touch\" with regular people. Essentially he's the anti-Romney.\n\n5) He used polling extensively when making policy. In other words, he tried to do what the people wanted. If you're conservative, you can finish that with \"rather than what they needed.\" If you're liberal, you can finish that with \"rather than do what he wanted and try to spin it as something positive.\"\n\n6) He got a BJ from an intern. I think the general feeling was that it was tacky. But then the Republicans started a whole inquest into the matter, which turned him into the victim we empathize with. \n\n7) He was more fiscally responsible than any Republican in my lifetime.",
"Really, if you're not a total shit face you're an alright president. He was in office for eight years and really didn't fuck anything up.\n\nIn truth, he was moderate as fuck and pretty personable.",
"He presided over the longest peace time expansion of our countries history, and lowered the number of welfare recipients to the lowest it had been in nearly 50 years. Also, the unemployment rate dropped around 3% during his term to the lowest it had been since before the stagflation that troubled Carter's term. All of this was done while balancing the budget and having the largest budget surplus in recent history.\n\nThe main thing you should get from this is that he PRESIDED over this time, and that it wasn't necessarily his policies that produced these results. The Dot Com boom was a major factor when it comes to tax revenue, unemployment rates, and the amount of welfare recipients.\n\nAlso, he is an extremely charming and charismatic guy that can talk the pants off of nearly everyone.\n\nEdit- I forgot to mention he is a Rhode's Scholar, which is still considered to be one of the world's most prestigious postgraduate awards/titles.",
"*Is* he regarded as such a great president?",
"[\"It's the economy, stupid\"](_URL_0_)",
"Because blowjobs are better than no jobs",
"Because he took a large part out of his day to spend it with me, a dying kid, whom asked to meet him back in the 1990's during the height of the Kosovo Wars. \n\nThat was the highlight of my life. :) Personal meeting with him so my opinion is probably biased. ",
"Well many attribute his overall success to a combination of him plus his republican congress at the time. There was a sufficient amount of balance between the laws and what not going into affect. And gas was like a little over 1$ a gallon. Oh god the 90s. I would love to go back....",
"Also, his overseas military operations weren't spoken about really. People didn't know about the stuff.",
"He presided over a period of peace since the Cold War had recently ended, he was president during the tech booms so that was major on the economy, and the Asian financial crisis kept oil prices down. Most of the bills he is remembered for were more of congress' work, another example of a president recieving creditor blame for something he didn't do. He was not a bad president, bit had times been tougher (things out of his control) he wouldn't have handled too well.",
"Watch him give a speech (after you've grown up some, I guess). There is just no one like him anywhere. ",
"While he did reside over great economic prosperity, some of his legislation has REALLY hurt us. \n\nI: \"Wall Street Gambling\"\n\nAmong his biggest strokes of free-wheeling capitalism was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act.¹ (Glass-Stegall Act: An Act to provide for the safer and more effective use of the assets of banks, to regulate interbank control, to prevent the undue diversion of funds into speculative operations, and for other purposes.²)\n\nSo he helped DE-regulate banks, giving them more freedom to 'gamble,' per se, and engage in riskier investments. This was a large factor in the recent economic crash.\n\n\n\nII: \"A House for Everyone\"\nIn 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods.¹\n\nBanks received flak from the government for not lending to sub-prime lenders. This caused banks to approve loans that they would not have normally (people who could not afford the houses they were buying), which led to a much higher foreclosure rate down the road, which was a large factor in the housing crash.\n\n\nI'm not stating that he is a good/bad president, but I believe it's only fair that both sides of the argument are shown here.\n\n1: _URL_1_ \n\n2: _URL_0_",
"[He also put pressure on Fannie and Freddie to give high risk loans to people who typically do not have credit to get them.]\n(_URL_0_)\n\nMany people feel this initiated the housing bubble that has caused is problems for the last 8 years."
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4inhdi | why do so many temporary use services (e.g. hotel rooms, bike sharing, boat rentals) require a credit card instead it a debit card? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4inhdi/eli5_why_do_so_many_temporary_use_services_eg/ | {
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"Financial protection through a third party company is my guess.\n\nJust like consumers are better off paying big transactions through credit services instead of directly debit'ing their account, since credit companies offer a lot of consumer protection in case something goes wrong with the bought product/service\n",
"The services need a way to pull funds from you in the event additional charges need to be made (say, if you never return a borrowed item). Credit cards offer a stronger promise of the ability to obtain funds than a debit card. "
]
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[],
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5llbaq | what happens with plane after emergency landing on water? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5llbaq/eli5_what_happens_with_plane_after_emergency/ | {
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"It sinks and depends on where it went down divers or recovery crews are sent to recover the black boxes to see why the plane failed. \n\nIf a plane sinks the cost of repairing the water and impact damage usualy makes the idea of refusbishing the plane and putting it back in to service quite unrealistic. \n\n",
"Wikipedia has an [excellent article on this](_URL_0_) and it's worth readin if you want to get a sense of how rare successful water landings are.\n\nPlanes are normally irrecoverable in terms of being able to make them flight worthy again. Black boxes and scrap metal are the only things worth dredging them back up, typically.",
"Pilot here. Landing on water is quite possibly the worst scenario a pilot can face when a forced landing is on the cards. It's a lot worse for some aircraft than it is for others, but regardless of the aircraft your in, it's a bad day no matter what.\n\nThe first problem the pilot has to worry about is water isn't solid. It's also incompressible. That means anything entering the water is going to slow down really, really fast. That's a problem for most planes because almost all of them have something hanging from the bottom that will dig into the water well before the body of the plane hits the water. For large jet aircraft, this most often tends to be the engines sitting under the wings that act like giant water scoops. For smaller aircraft, it's often the bottom of the propellers and indeed some smaller aircraft have fixed non retractable undercarriage.\n\nThe trouble is when these things hit the water, they basically act like a scoop causing instant drag and smashing the body of the aircraft into the water. Often quite hard. It's this near instant de acceleration to a stop that causes the aircraft to break up and the many fatalities on board.\n\nTo counter this, pilots are taught that when forced to land on water, they should keep the nose extremely high which forces the tail to go extremely low. Hopefully the tail glances along the water first and slows the plane down enough so that when the plane \"Digs in\" to the water, it's going at much slower speed.You may be surprised to know most airlines do not extensively train their pilots for water based landings, if even at all. \n\nIf there was ever a plane to be in for a forced water landing, it's one where the engines are mounted on the body of the aircraft [like this example](_URL_1_). This means there's nothing to hit the water before the body of the aircraft does, thereby decreasing your chances of a fatal break up.\n\nShould the pilot get the aircraft down in one piece, it's surprising to most people to learn that a plane will float quite well, though it likely would not remain afloat forever. This is because some of the same reasons that keep it flying in the air also help to float on water. A broad weight distribution across a large surface area. Another reason is either the air or the fuel in its tanks is lighter than water and thus aid its buoyancy. It tends to be water rushing into the aircraft via windows/doors/breaks that forces it to sink. This was evidenced by the [aircraft that came down in the Hudson river](_URL_0_) and how long it took to sink."
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3ew1t4 | how do birds manage to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter, despite not shedding their feathers to get new seasonal ones? | In the months coming up to summer my dog's coat thins out, allowing him to stay cool and vice versa for winter. How do birds manage this without shedding their feathers and gaining new seasonal ones? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ew1t4/eli5_how_do_birds_manage_to_stay_cool_in_the/ | {
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"Ecologist popping in. There are a few reasons birds can adjust to seasonal temperatures.\n\n**Keeping warm in the winter -**\n\n* Metabolism\n\nBirds are [endotherms](_URL_10_) or warm-blooded. This means they create their own heat from their metabolic processes. Birds also have a much higher resting metabolic rates than humans do. The average bird’s body temperature is 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).\n\n* Feathers\n\nBirds’ feathers also provide excellent insulation against the cold, and many species grow extra feathers in the late fall to give them more protection during the winter months. There is also an oil that coats birds’ feathers also provides insulation as well as waterproofing. Bids also have a layer of soft, insulating feathers called \"[down](_URL_9_)\" (you can see it's soft, and fluffy) which traps their body heat, minimizing heat loss.\n\n* Feet\n\nBirds’ legs and feet are covered with [specialized scales](_URL_5_) that prevent heat loss. They can also control the temperature of their legs and feet separately from their bodies by constricting blood flow, which reduces heat loss. Aside from this you may have noticed that water fowl, such as ducks and geese, can tolerate cold water. This is a great adaptation called \"[counter current heat exchange](_URL_0_).\" How this works is the warm arterial blood flowing away from the heart warms up the cooler venous blood heading towards the heart. This exchange keeps their feet from freezing while standing exposed or floating in water. [Here is a diagram to help you visualize this process.](_URL_7_)\n\n* Reserves of body fat\n\nBirds can build up a fat reserve during the Fall to prepare for harsh winter months. They gorge on food which gives them a protective fatty layer.\n\n* Behavioral adaptations\n\n[Fluffing](_URL_8_) - birds can fluff out their feathers to create air pockets for additional insulation in cold temperatures. \n\nRoosting - certain species of birds will flock together in winter to keep warm for the evening. We see this in the [America crow](_URL_1_) (*Corvus brachyrhyncos*) around sundown in the cooler months.\n\nSunning - allowing the Sun to do the hard work, birds can keep warm (like other animals) by ensuring they are spending time in the sun.\n\nShivering - shivering keeps birds warm just as it does with humans and other animals.\n\n[Tucking](_URL_3_) - you'll often see birds tucking a beak or one leg up into their feathers to minimize heat loss.\n\n[Torpor](_URL_4_) - Many species of bird will enter torpor to conserve energy. Torpor is a state of reduced metabolism when the body temperature is lowered, therefore requiring fewer calories to maintain comfortable heat. Most birds can lower their body temperature by a few degrees, but torpid birds have lowered their body temperatures by as much as 50 degrees. \n\n**Keeping cool in the summer - Most of these are behavioral**\n\n* Panting\n\nBirds can [pant](_URL_6_), like your dog, during the summer to cool down. Panting releases heat through evaporation of moisture along the bird’s mouth, throat, and lungs.\n\n* Soaring\n\nYou'll often see larger birds, such as harks or vultures, soaring high up when it's warm out. The air at higher altitudes is much cooler.\n\n* Reflective coloration\n\nThe lighter the color of the bird the more heat is reflected off of it. \n\n* [Bathing](_URL_11_)\n\nYou'll often see birds at your yard's birdbath on hot days cooling off.\n\n* [Feather ruffling](_URL_2_)\n\nLifting their feathers allows cool breezes to cool off a bird’s skin."
]
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"http://www.thefreequark.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Crow-Mayhem-4.jpg",
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"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-68_aL5l-7Wg/UyW7ZCizE9I... | |
589xan | why do foods such as salsas and soups tend to taste better after they've been refrigerated overnight? | I made salsa on Monday, tasted it, and thought it was OK. A night in the refrigerator really brought out the flavor. It's almost like the ingredients mingled somehow to make it taste so much better. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/589xan/eli5_why_do_foods_such_as_salsas_and_soups_tend/ | {
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"You've pretty much got it.\n\nWhen you combine a bunch of ingredients in a flavored liquid, at first the flavors of the liquid will either just coat the pieces or barely penetrate the surface. As you let it sit, the flavors penetrate deeper into each piece of food, and each ingredient starts to give up its own juices to the mix, which are then absorbed by the others.\n\nA freshly made chopped salsa or chunky soup tastes \"disconnected\", where each ingredient can still be individually discerned. In some cases, this is a good thing. As it sits, the ingredients absorb the flavors of all the others, becoming more of a cohesive overall taste.",
"It may make a difference if you ate it warm or cold. Cold food will taste differently as the volatile components are less released, meaning the is less \"smell\" component to the taste. Whether this is better or worse depends on the food and balance of flavours. For instance salt flavors are more prominent when it is cold."
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1ll46y | what is us labor day and what is it actually celebrating? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ll46y/eli5_what_is_us_labor_day_and_what_is_it_actually/ | {
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"text": [
"It's a federal and state holiday that celebrates organized labor and the working class. Most other countries celebrate something similar on May 1."
]
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5u0cof | why don't general physicians cover teeth? | I know there's specialists for basically everything else too, like ENT's, dermatologists, etc. but it seems weird that teeth are the only thing excluded from a GP's list of skills. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5u0cof/eli5_why_dont_general_physicians_cover_teeth/ | {
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"Dentistry is more complicated than you'd think.\n\nDentistry needs to consider not only teeth, but the entire oral cavity. It's not just making sure someone doesn't have a cavity; you also need to understand how the bone structure of the skull and the associated soft tissue play into things. "
]
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6goqtv | how does the body discern different chemicals? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6goqtv/eli5_how_does_the_body_discern_different_chemicals/ | {
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" > For example, if you ingest a bunch of different foods, how does it know what different minerals such as zinc are, how does it know which chemicals allocate where in the body, etc?\n\nIt doesn't \"know\" anything, the chemicals do what those chemicals do in that environment. It is a chemical reaction; how does vinegar and baking soda \"know\" how to foam? It doesn't, in the same way that a lever doesn't know how to allocate force when used to pry something apart. It just is what it is."
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3p1fyg | how the australians were such an effective fighting force in wwii. | Not to disparage Australia, or Australians, but I've repeatedly heard of, and read of courageous exploits by Australian divisions in WWII.
Is there any reason to explain this?
I'm not intimately familiar with military training/operations/whatever. But I would assume that a relatively 'new' country that hadn't been in very many global armed conflicts wouldn't be such an effective military force.
Can anyone give any concrete explanations or reasons for this? Other than pointing to sheer Aussie courage?
(This question coming from an American who studied abroad in Australia and throughly enjoyed the experience) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3p1fyg/eli5_how_the_australians_were_such_an_effective/ | {
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"Many people forget that Australia was involved in WWI and therefore learned the same hard lessons about how combat was changing firsthand with the nations who were front and center in the conflict. \n\nFrom battles like Gallipoli it became clear that having a modern fighting force was a necessity and despite being far away, their ties to Britain ( They declared war on Germany and Italy almost at the same time as Britain did and fought extensively in Europe and the Pacific) and the world economy meant that Australia wasn't blind to the rising tensions in Europe. Combine this with their proximity to Japan and they had good reason to be prepared for full scale combat. "
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1qnvaj | why does bread go stale faster when the bag containing it is wide open, versus just a crack open? isn't there the same amount of air in the bag in either case? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qnvaj/eli5_why_does_bread_go_stale_faster_when_the_bag/ | {
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"Bread stales because the starches in it crystalize. Moisture slows down this process, but doesn't stop it. Bread which is in a bag starts losing its moisture, but the humidity in the bag quickly reaches saturation where it won't take much more. Allowing room air to circulate near the bread allows the moisture to be drawn away as dryer air moves in to replace it, drying out the bread faster and allowing the starches to crystalize more easily. Even sealed, though, bread will eventually go stale.",
"It's not contact with air that makes bread go stale; it's contact with *dry* air. The air in the bag is humid, because moisture is leaving the bread. But as long as that moist air stays more-or-less in the bag, the bread won't go stale.\n\nBy widely opening the bag, you make it easier for air to flow in and out, meaning the moist air will diffuse into the surrounding, dryer air more quickly, and the bread will go stale faster."
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6y68y7 | why is the sale of alcohol restricted during certain hours? | So I've always known that most counties will restrict the sale of alcohol before (noon?) on Sundays. However, I just went into a store to buy alcohol on a Tuesday at 02:20 AM and was denied because it was after 2 AM. I had never known that there was any limitation on alcohol sales aside from Sundays which I had come to terms with.
Why are there restrictions after 2AM? There are plenty of people who work different schedules, and it's not like this is going to prevent many people from preparing in advance...
This just doesn't seem to make much sense to me. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6y68y7/eli5why_is_the_sale_of_alcohol_restricted_during/ | {
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"Blue Laws. They were enacted because of religious reasons, and are very slowly being rescinded.\n\nSometimes they make no sense at all, for instance, allowing bars to remain open while closing stores that sell alcohol, thus leading to people going out drinking and then having to drive.",
"Don't come to Thailand. Here you can only buy alcohol between 11 am to 2 pm and then 5pm to midnight. Technically this applies to package alcohol sales AND bars and restaurants. A lot of restaurants however will still sell to you in the \"off\" hours. \n\nAlso alcohol sales are banned on most religious holidays. \n\n",
"Here in Ireland, about a decade ago, a law was in to effect that shops couldn't sell alcohol after 10.00 PM. The reason given was to curb anti-social behaviour and binge drinking culture. However you can still buy alcohol in restaurants, pubs, hotels etc. so I'm not sure if that makes sense.",
"It's a form of crowd control. Alcohol is a well-known enabler of rowdy activity. That's what it's *for*. But rowdy drunk people are often loud, corner-pissing, corner-fucking, bottle-breaking, jaw-breaking, car-crashing people. \n\nControlling the time of sale controls the flow of those drunk people. Closing the bars and liquor stores tends to send them home to sleep it off. Drinkers who stockpile alcohol at home for just such occasions tend to drink at home, not take their bottles out on the streets to cause trouble.\n\nYes, *some* people work odd hours and want to buy alcohol at odd hours, but most people work about 9 to 5, maybe drink in the evening after that, and then go home. Most people want all those rowdy drunk people to go home and let everyone (or almost everyone) else get some sleep. People who work in bars, liquor stores, hospitals, police stations, and morgues appreciate a little quiet time in the wee hours. It lets the night shift clean things up while the day shift gets a little rest.\n\nThis also gives cities some quiet time to take care of things that are best done when the streets aren't busy. Road repairs, electrical repairs, etc. "
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m4m33 | how gun model names are "determined" (elaboration inside) | So we just picked up MW3 tonight and while watching my boyfrient play, I realized I have no idea how firearms are named. For example, in this Wikipedia article here: _URL_0_ nearly every gun has a letter and a number. I'm a very logical thinker, so I'm hoping maybe having some idea about this will help me understand more about this game!
TL;DR- How do firearms get their letter and number named? Ex: M16, M4, AK-47..
Thanks in advance :D | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/m4m33/eli5_how_gun_model_names_are_determined/ | {
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"The company that makes the gun picks a name. Different companies use different systems. The M in one company's gun name might stand for \"Machine Gun\", or maybe they've already made guns labeled A, B, C, up to L in the past. Some gun names also come from a army or military that ordered the guns, but each nation's army has different names too, especially because they often speak different languages.",
"The AK-47 is an **A**utomatic rifle, designed by Mikhail **K**alashnikov, and introduced in 19**47**.",
"Depends on the manufacturer. Someone already explained the AK series. Heckler and Koch are responsible for HK weapons and their abbreviations can be found [here](_URL_0_). Often times the numbers just come from model or iteration numbers (the H & K MP5 is Maschinenpistole 5, or machine pistol model 5).\n\nFabrique Nationale also includes their initials in their weapons like the FAL, FNAR, and FN2000. \n\nAmerican naming systems are a bit more confusing, where M1 could reference an Abrams tank, a carbine, a Garand, a mortar, a Thompson SMG, or a host of other things. I can't really explain it.\n \ntl;dr: Abbreviations, years, model numbers, manufacturers, arbitrarily chosen designations.\n\nEdit: Spelling. Brain likes to make penis jokes.",
"taken from wiki answers \n\n\"Traditionally, the US Military designates the year that the weapon was accepted, as the Model number. Such as the Model 1911 Colt .45 (automatic) pistol, or the M-1903 Springfield (bolt action) rifle.\n\nIn the case of the M-16 rifle, Armalite manufactured 14 firearms prior to their AR-15; thus, when the military adapted it, they added military modifications to it, making it different from the AR-15, therefore it was a 16th AR type firearm. Model (M stands for Military Model) 16.\"\n\nEDIT: bellow is not from wiki answers.\n\n\nalso, you will notice in US firearms or weapons systems many have an A for example I believe that the US army is currently using the M16A4 the \"A\" typically stands for \"Alteration\" or \"Advancement\". For example the M1A2 Abrams tank is a more updated advanced model than the M1A1 Abrams, the next version will be the M1A3 Abrams tank. So an M16A4 is just denoting that it is a different and newer model than the M16A3, M16A2 etc. The military uses this type of designation for many weapons and equipment, for example the M40 sniper rifles current variant is the M40A3 which is an improved version of the M40A1.\n\n\n",
"The company that makes the gun picks a name. Different companies use different systems. The M in one company's gun name might stand for \"Machine Gun\", or maybe they've already made guns labeled A, B, C, up to L in the past. Some gun names also come from a army or military that ordered the guns, but each nation's army has different names too, especially because they often speak different languages.",
"The AK-47 is an **A**utomatic rifle, designed by Mikhail **K**alashnikov, and introduced in 19**47**.",
"Depends on the manufacturer. Someone already explained the AK series. Heckler and Koch are responsible for HK weapons and their abbreviations can be found [here](_URL_0_). Often times the numbers just come from model or iteration numbers (the H & K MP5 is Maschinenpistole 5, or machine pistol model 5).\n\nFabrique Nationale also includes their initials in their weapons like the FAL, FNAR, and FN2000. \n\nAmerican naming systems are a bit more confusing, where M1 could reference an Abrams tank, a carbine, a Garand, a mortar, a Thompson SMG, or a host of other things. I can't really explain it.\n \ntl;dr: Abbreviations, years, model numbers, manufacturers, arbitrarily chosen designations.\n\nEdit: Spelling. Brain likes to make penis jokes.",
"taken from wiki answers \n\n\"Traditionally, the US Military designates the year that the weapon was accepted, as the Model number. Such as the Model 1911 Colt .45 (automatic) pistol, or the M-1903 Springfield (bolt action) rifle.\n\nIn the case of the M-16 rifle, Armalite manufactured 14 firearms prior to their AR-15; thus, when the military adapted it, they added military modifications to it, making it different from the AR-15, therefore it was a 16th AR type firearm. Model (M stands for Military Model) 16.\"\n\nEDIT: bellow is not from wiki answers.\n\n\nalso, you will notice in US firearms or weapons systems many have an A for example I believe that the US army is currently using the M16A4 the \"A\" typically stands for \"Alteration\" or \"Advancement\". For example the M1A2 Abrams tank is a more updated advanced model than the M1A1 Abrams, the next version will be the M1A3 Abrams tank. So an M16A4 is just denoting that it is a different and newer model than the M16A3, M16A2 etc. The military uses this type of designation for many weapons and equipment, for example the M40 sniper rifles current variant is the M40A3 which is an improved version of the M40A1.\n\n\n"
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alerw6 | if plants only need water, co2, sunlight and nutrients from the soil to flourish, where does the material for the actual growth of the plant come from? | Probably a dumb question, but obviously the sun and air doesn't provide matter for the plant to grow bigger, and I dont see large holes forming in the ground from where the plant come up and turn the soil into leaves. Where does it come from? How does whatever it is turn into plant matter? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/alerw6/eli5_if_plants_only_need_water_co2_sunlight_and/ | {
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"But the material DOES come from the air!\n\nThe sun provides the energy. The air provides the carbon and oxygen in the CO2. Water provides hydrogen plus more oxygen. Put it all together and you get a plant that produces oxygen. \n",
"The air certainly does. Material for plant growth is largely carbon. So when a plant \"breathes\" in CO2 it uses the energy from sunlight to extract the carbon and expend the Oxygen.\n\nWhen we burn plants we're effectively reversing that process and converting the carbon and oxygen in the air back to CO2, releasing energy in the process.\n\nAir seems like it's nothing because we evolved to be used to this amount of air pressure but there is a tremendous amount of atoms surrounding you right now.",
"The CO2 from the air, and the water. Through photosynthesis, this is turned into sugar, which can then be turned into cellulose (hard plant material). \n\nIt’s just air and water, which changes the way you think about plants - especially trees. ",
"It is the air!\n\nPlant matter, like all organic matter, is mostly made of molecules that consist of long chains or rings of carbon atoms, with oxygen, nitrogen, and/or hydrogen atoms attached.\n\nPlants use the energy from the sun to break down the carbon dioxide in the air and then assemble those carbon atoms into the complex organic molecules they need. Oxygen also comes from the air and the breakdown of water. Hydrogen comes from water.\n\nNitrogen is the odd one out--they can't extract it directly from the air because it's too hard to break apart. Bacteria in the soil break apart the nitrogen molecules in the air and put them in an easier form for the plants to use.\n\nSo the plants are literally sucking up air and using the sun to transform it into themselves, which is pretty damn cool.\n\n",
"everyone told you about the air and water already, but plant (and all life actually) needs more than carbon, oxigen, nitrogen and hydrogen. here's a short list: phosphour, sulphur, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, chlorine plus microquantities of various other metals like copper, iron, zinc, manganese, etc... all of these, they absorb one way or the other from the substrate they grow in (like soil)... but the amount needed are smaller so we dont notice a change (\"large holes\")."
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1cd5q0 | why can my phone usb adapter plug in either way to the wall but the vacuum cord has to be plugged in a certain way? | I can turn my adapter either way and it fits into my wall plug, but if I want to plug in the vacuum or a TV, it's specific to one way? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1cd5q0/eli5_why_can_my_phone_usb_adapter_plug_in_either/ | {
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"This is a great question!\n\nThe concept of having one prong bigger than the other has been around for a while, but if you go into an old house or building, you'll notice the outlets aren't like this. Both prong receptacles are the same.\n\nMost people assume they could be electrocuted by touching either the left prong or the right prong. And that's not true. Only one side is **hot.**\n\nModern (two prong) electrical appliances have one prong that is larger than the other. They are wired internally such that the **hot** side is the most internal. While the other side (the safer side) is kind of shielding it.\n\nWith a grounded plug, the third wire is used to shield you from electricity by grounding all of the metal of the object. Like the metal handle of the vacuum. The idea being that if there is an internal short which would electrify the metal handle, the electricity will follow the third wire to ground and protect you.\n\nMany plastic cased electrical items are called \"double insulated\" and can be plugged in to an outlet either way. Like your USB adapter. Often, you will see a logo on such products. It is a \"D\" with a box around it.\n\nHELPFUL EDIT: [The double insulated logo is now a square within a square.](_URL_0_)\n"
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9sxt0z | why is pemdas in that order? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9sxt0z/eli5_why_is_pemdas_in_that_order/ | {
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"We just need an order that everyone follows. If you solve an equation in a different order you'll get a different answer. If we were to use EDSAMP you'd just see equations written differently and be asking why we don't use something like PEMDAS\n\nThe exact order of operations isn't important, all that matters is that the person writing the equation and the person solving the equation follow the same order of operations\n\nThere are many programming languages and even math notations that don't follow PEMDAS but instead work right to left or left to right so you have to convert your equation so you'll get the same answer",
"Parentheses are pretty much obliged to go first, as they signify \"the following section isn't in the normal order\".\n\nAS and MD go together because they're essentially the same operation - subtraction is just addition of a negative number, and division is just multiplication by a reciprocal.\n\nAs for the order as a whole, they're in that order because, essentially, it minimises the number of brackets when writing polynomials - i.e. expressions of the form ax^3 + bx^2 + cx + d. These things are all over the place in maths, and we can write them completely without brackets thanks to PEMDAS. If we had some other order, like, for instance, PASEMD, the above expression would have to be written as (ax^(3)) + (bx^(2)) + (cx) + d, or if we were using PMDEAS, it'd be a(x^(3)) + b(x^(2)) + cx + d.\n\nPEMDAS also captures the nature of the distributive properties of exponentiation and multiplication. Under, PEMDAS, we can write a(b+c) = ab+ac and (ab)^c = a^(c)b^(c). This is another way in which PEMDAS helps to minimise the number of brackets - any time we see an expression like a(b+c), we can expand it out into a form that takes no brackets.\n\nIt's actually possibly to have a notation system that requires no brackets in any case and is always unambiguous, but they're a pain to read because the operators have to come before or after the operands - e.g. instead of writing 1 + 2, you'd write + 1 2 or 1 2 +. These are called Polish and reverse Polish notation.\n",
"Historical/cultural reasons OP. The order of operations is arbitrary. In my country it was never PEMDAS it was BODMAS or Bracket (Parentheses) of Division Multiplication Addition Subtraction. Exponentiation was wierdly left out but probably because the order of operations becomes redundant by the time exponentiation was taught.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nSo what is the \\*\\*real\\*\\* order of operations? As a first I will suggest you to watch [this video](_URL_0_) .\n\n & #x200B;\n\nBasically instead of treating operations as things you do one after the other, you treat them as special numbers. You probably already know about integers and rational numbers.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nSo if a and b are some numbers,\n\n & #x200B;\n\nb-a is the same as b + (-a)\n\nb/a is the same as b\\*(1/a)\n\n & #x200B;\n\nAddition and multiplication are commutative and associative so you can now arrange any expression however you want.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIf you want things to happen in a very definite order just use parentheses.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nHoping that helped a little."
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3ldfw1 | how do we diagnose personality disorders relative to what is a 'normal' way to behave? | How do we understand what is 'Normal' and so diagnose conditions away from normal, and at what ppoint do we decide to medicate for abnormal personalities? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ldfw1/eli5_how_do_we_diagnose_personality_disorders/ | {
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"Personality disorders aren't treated with medication. For the most part, they're not amenable to treatment. Some co-morbid conditions such as depression or schizophrenia can be treated - both those are independently diagnosed.\n\nIn terms of diagnosis, it's essentially what a psychologists decides it is. Personality disorders can't be treated, they can't be used as the basis for disability and they do not limit your legal culpability so no one much cares (except in a purely intellectual sense) who qualifies."
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4lcwnk | why is wider speakers required for deeper sounds? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4lcwnk/eli5_why_is_wider_speakers_required_for_deeper/ | {
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"The deeper a sound is, the longer its wavelength. The longer the wavelength, the more the energy in the wave is damped (which means to reduce, like the way a shock absorber on a car smooths out the bumps in the road).\n\nThis means deeper sounds require more energy which means you have to move more air, to move more air you need a larger cone. \n\n\nThis is also why you can get nice full sounding deep tones from headphones with very small drivers but if you want to hear it across a room you need much larger drivers. In you ear the sound only has to travel a very short distance so there isn't much air in the way to dampen the waves. But traveling across the room there is a lot of air in the way so the damping effect is much bigger.\n\nThis is also why PA systems at large concerts have very large speakers just for the low frequency sounds (subwoofers). A typical concert PA system will have subwoofers with a pair of drivers that are 18\" or larger, and there will be between 4 and 36+ of these boxes depending on the size of the venue. ",
"Sounds are related to frequencies. A frequency is the rate of something per time period.\n\nImagine you are throwing a ball in the backyard with your friend. You want to measure the frequency of your throws. If you move closer, you can achieve a higher number because the ball has to travel less distance. If you step farther away, the frequency will go down. \n\nFor your speaker, the throw it produces - how much it actually oscillates back and forth is increased on a deeper/wider speaker. As such, since a deeper tone has a lower frequency, the longer your throw is, the deeper a tone it can produce. "
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1oru2j | how do flavored marijuana strains(pineapple kush etc) get there flavours? is it genetic? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1oru2j/eli5how_do_flavored_marijuana_strainspineapple/ | {
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"Hoping someone can give you a scientific answer because I can't. From experience though I found the taste really depended on how it was grown as opposed to the strain. I imagine it being like apples. Same shit, different tree. That being said, seeds being illegal (in most of North America) and all you can never be too sure you're getting the strain you actually want on the interwebs.",
"Just signed up to post this.\n\nI have some experience in this field. I can tell you that a lot of the flavour you get from coffee shop weed is in fact nothing more then plain old baking extracts added in during the flush. They're sold as flavour enhancers in grow shops for ridiculous amounts of money. \n\nAll you do is get an extract that matches your plants flavour profile, so \"lemon\" for lemon haze, pineapple for \"pineapple chunk\". Add it in during the last two weeks of the flush so the plant takes up the flavour.\n\nSimilarly if you have over-dried or mid range weed you can popp it on a plate with a piece of orange or lemon, put a bowl over it and let it sit for about 45 mins. Afterwards you'll have nice fruity fluffy weeds.\n\n*edit*\n\nDon't let the fruit or its juice touch your bud."
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p9pyx | best truecrypt encryption algorithm | I don't need help making a TrueCrypt volume. But I do need help with a setting.
Out of all the encryption algorithms (AES, Scorpion, BlowFish, ect.) Which one is the best, and most secure. I'm sure they all are secure (or they wouldn't be an option) but which one is the best? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/p9pyx/eli5_best_truecrypt_encryption_algorithm/ | {
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"No one really knows.\n\nTomorrow, someone could develop a clever attack against any one of those, rendering it less secure.\n\nTruCrypt allows you to use multiple algorithms for just that reason, so if you want the very best encryption possible, at the cost of performance, that is the way to go.",
"For maximum paranoia, take the combo Serpent-Twofish-AES.\n\nIt means you data is encrypted thrice which slows the process though.\n\nNo matter which you pick, the weakest link tends to be your passphrase. To get peace of mind, pick something of at least 20 characters (which isn't that hard to remember if it's a sentence and not just random characters).",
"Haven't been on this subreddit for a while, came back to this...\n\nThere is an objective correct answer to this question (AES) which completely defeats the point of this subreddit.\n\nOK so I'll humour you. The answer \"Like you're five\" is \"AES\"."
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9bqlku | what do you feel leading up to a seizure? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9bqlku/eli5_what_do_you_feel_leading_up_to_a_seizure/ | {
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"Well, keep in mind that it varies depending on the person, the condition, etc. It’s a great idea that you’re teaching his class about his condition. Props to you on that, Mom. So let’s get into it... \n\nWhat is a seizure? Your brain cells send out signals throughout the rest of your body that tells each part what to do to function normally. Sometimes, a persons brain will overload causing too many signals to be sent out at once, forcing the brain into a sort of spasm. \n\nWhat causes a seizure? Well, that depends. For some people, it could be flashing lights, and for others it could come out of nowhere. \n\nWhat are signs that a person is about to have a seizure? Again, this depends. It could come out of nowhere. But some of the most common signs are tummy aches, a weird feeling, and even smelling a strange smell or tasting a strange taste. That is called an aura. Also, sometimes a person will become unresponsive, they won’t talk back if you talk to them, or react to you waving your hand in front of their face. \n\nWhat happens during a seizure? Once again, it depends. But most commonly people shake violently, drool, and maybe even throw up a little. \n\nWhat happens after a seizure? Some people don’t even know they just had a seizure. They might not remember having it or anything leading up to it, and they might feel tired afterwards. \n\nWhat do you do if you see someone having a seizure? Obviously, the kids must know it’s important to tell an adult as soon as it’s happening. They also need to know that it’s important not to touch them when they’re having a seizure. It’s up to you and the school if you would like to have one of the kids turn them on their sides before getting a teacher. Turning them on their side prevents them from choking. So you can either tell them to immediately get a teacher, or turn them on their side first. Other than that, they should not be touched. There is really nothing you can do to stop a seizure once it’s happening, most seizures last only for a few seconds. \n\nYou might want to also inform the class that him being prone to seizures doesn’t make him any different from the rest of the class. Over 150,000 Americans are prone to seizures, so he’s not alone. Seizures can be scary to experience, but it’s important to stay calm and inform an adult right away. \n\nRemind his class that just because he experiences seizures, does not mean he’s different at all. Most people that get seizures live their life just as normally as we do, they just have to be a little more careful in life. \n\nHope this helped, good luck!",
"Well, how do YOU recognize he's having a seizure? Convulsions? Is it possible for others to even see it coming? Could you train your son to signal others when he feels a seizure coming? Either to speak up, or raise his arm, or slap a surface repeatedly, or lie down quickly and in controlled manner? Epilepsy patients can have a variety of symptoms. The stereotypical convulsions happen in \"only\" 60% of the patients.\n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_2_\n\n\"*Absence seizures are characterized by a brief loss and return of consciousness, generally not followed by a period of lethargy (i.e. without a notable postictal state).\"*\n\nThis could be explained as \"It's like you fall asleep for a second.\"\n\n_URL_0_\n\n*\"In the frontal lobe symptoms may include a wave-like sensation in the head; in the temporal lobe, a feeling of déjà vu; in the parietal lobe, a numbness or tingling; and in the occipital lobe, visual disturbance or hallucination.[4]\"*\n\n*\"After the active portion of a seizure, there is typically a period of confusion called the postictal period before a normal level of consciousness returns.[9] This usually lasts 3 to 15 minutes[17] but may last for hours.[18] Other common symptoms include: feeling tired, headache, difficulty speaking, and abnormal behavior.[18] Psychosis after a seizure is relatively common, occurring in between 6 and 10% of people.[19] Often people do not remember what occurred during this time.[18]\"*\n\nThe section \"Generalized Seizures\" lists the various convulsion and muscle spasm seizure types.\n\nWhen you read through all these symptoms, I guess you could question him and ask him one by one \"Do you feel like waves? Do you lose feeling? Do you feel tingling?\" etc. and wait for yes/no answers. But first make sure you enlighten him what \"tingling\" and \"waves\" mean. Take him on a boat, the boat sways, that's waves. Not sure how to simulate and induce tingling sensation. Maybe pour soda in a bowl, and have him dip his hand in there. That should tingle. Meanwhile, I'm sure there's plenty of material on Youtube. Epilepsy patients telling their stories and doctors putting it in simple terms. In fact, maybe do a little video presentation to show what it looks like, and say \"This happens every day/week so don't be afraid when it does\". Maybe have the teacher see the video first though. You could try to film your son having a seizure if it's the convulsion type, or find a clip on Youtube. And maybe there's a parenting subreddit. Could ask for tips there too.\n\nAlso /r/Epilepsy/"
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ds8do1 | inhibitory vs. ecitatory neurotransmitters | My Psychology exam is in a few days and I am having trouble understanding how the receiving neuron interacts with the neurotransmitters and how that interaction can affect that same receiver. I have a solid understanding of the basic structure and functions of neurons, this part simply eludes me. Please reply with anything you think might help, everything is appreciated! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ds8do1/eli5_inhibitory_vs_ecitatory_neurotransmitters/ | {
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"Each neurotransmitter has its own receptor\n\nGlutamate, the main excitatory neutrotransmitter, binds to channels that let sodium into the cell\n\nGABA, the main inhibitory neutrotransmitter, binds to channel that lets chlorine into the cell\n\nIts all dependent on the neutrotransmitter the cell is around and the type of receptors on the cell",
"Think about your car. You have a gas/accelerator pedal, and a brake pedal. Your brain has these too. They're called glutamate (accelerator) and GABA (brake). When you hit the accelerator, the pedal isn't actually making you go faster. It causes a change in the machinery of the car that causes you to speed up. Same with the brake. The brake pedal itself doesn't slow you down, it causes a change in the shape of the braking mechanism (ie, the brake pads are pressed against the wheel and it slows you down). The same is true for glutamate and GABA. By themselves, they don't do anything. But when they bind to the receptor, the receptor itself changes, either to signal to speed up or slow down the central nervous system."
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63txvg | why does russia hate syria? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63txvg/eli5_why_does_russia_hate_syria/ | {
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"I think you have things a little backwards. Russia and Syria are allies and Russia has been defending Syria during these attacks. ",
"Syria is in the middle of a multi-party civil war.\n\nRussia has taken the side of the original government to preserve Russian interests in the region.\n\nThey agree with the Syrian government's stance that the numerous rebel and islamist groups also active in the country are basically terrorists."
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4spetg | why is it that every once in a while, a breakthrough in alzheimer's research and sometimes even a cure is announced, but in most cases, nothing happens after? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4spetg/eli5_why_is_it_that_every_once_in_a_while_a/ | {
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"Media outlets routinely sensationalize any findings they see in scientific journals. Science is slow, but news moves fast. So, while this might actually have been useful, no responsible scientist would say that they have found a cure until it's extremely well proven.\n\n[Relevant xkcd](_URL_0_)",
"Two reasons. One is that the media is populated by those with art degrees, which means that the stories are written by people who don't know *anything* about *anything*, and have a big incentive to be sensational to draw readers. So obviously they badly misinterpret and misrepresent any scientific advancements.\n\nThe second reason is that such projects require funding and eventually that funding runs out. Either the project is shut down for lack of money or it can be renewed with a new cash infusion. That cash is a lot easier to get if you are making good publicity for some sort of breakthrough (regardless of if it is entirely true). The result is such projects will announce something sensational to the media in a deliberately misleading and evasive manner, and the media laps it up because they want to be deceived and wouldn't know any better anyway."
]
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"http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/significant.png"
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5jzdle | how can someone be a director and star in the same film? | Forgive me for my ignorance, but I always pictured the director behind the camera, not in front of it. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5jzdle/eli5_how_can_someone_be_a_director_and_star_in/ | {
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"They are behind the camera - they have an idea of how they want the shot to look like and can provide director guidance to the other actors, work with the cinematographer (the guy who actually aims the camera, frames shots etc.) and the rest of the crew.... once the shot is set up exactly how they want, they can step in front of the camera to act in the shot. While some directors give their cinematographers a lot of leeway in how they want the camera aimed, how it is to track or pan, zoom etc., directors usually work with the cinematographers they know well, who can just \"know\" what the director wants - which makes it easier for the director-actor to step out in front of the camera. And of course everyone is in constant communication and discussion. But even so, its not that onerous; back to the monitors (the screens that show what's visible in the camera), back onto the set, back to the monitors... ",
"Easiest way to put it is that the director preps the cast and crew before the camera starts filming and evaluates the performance and adjust the cast performance and crew actions as needed. The director is not actively doing anything when the cameras rolling."
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3ly67z | would someone who's actually a political historian explain which political system works best? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ly67z/eli5would_someone_whos_actually_a_political/ | {
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"What do you mean by \"long term function\"? What does it mean for something to \"work best\"? What actual metrics are you using for \"best\"? Is Russia \"functioning\"? Is the US? Is China? Is North Korea?\n\nYou'll need to clarify what you need to have explained.\n\nEdit: I've removed the thread, feel free to respond once you've elaborated on what you need to have explained.",
"The question is too vague to answer properly. Even if you did have more specific metrics, there may not be a proper way to calculate them, especially for historic societies. ",
"If a political historian could answer this, they'd be putting themselves and all other political scientists out of a job. There is likely no 'best' system, as each system prioritises certain things, and suffers handicaps in the name of it. (e.g. the American government has certain inbuilt inefficiencies, but those inefficiencies are intentional as part of the checks and balances between the branches of government) What should be prioritised is likely going to be heavily dependent on the culture of the society the government has been constructed from, along with that society's recent and long term history and traditions. This is the kind of question that likely doesn't have an answer, only a bunch of debate on the merits and lack thereof with regards to different systems. "
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d1av67 | when a person gets an organ transplant the body's immune system will reject and attack the organ because of foreign dna. why does this not apply to blood transfusions? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d1av67/eli5_when_a_person_gets_an_organ_transplant_the/ | {
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"It's not DNA that's causing the problem (at least not directly), and you do have to worry about it with blood transfusions which is why blood has different types (A, AB, O-, etc.)",
"It \\*does\\* apply to blood transfusions. That's why you need to match the blood type. The blood type (A, B, AB, 0 etc.) refers to different kinds of proteins on the surface of the blood cells. If your body detects blood cells of the wrong type, it will attack and destroy them.\n\nBlood type 0 does not have any of these proteins on the surface, so people of this type are \"universal donors\", i.e. their blood can be safely given to all other people regardless of blood type.\n\nConversely, people with blood type AB are \"universal recipients\". Because their own blood as both type A and type B proteins, their immune system won't attack blood of any type.\n\n(Note that this isn't the full story, there are other blood type systems in addition to the AB system.)\n\nBonus info: With organ transfusions, one issue is that the recipient's immune system rejects the organ. But it sometimes happens that the immune cells from the donor that are still in the donated organ start attacking the recipients whole body (graft-vs-host disease)! This doesn't happen with blood transfusions because they typically filter out the white blood cells (immune cells) and only transfer the red blood cells and/or plasma.",
"Red blood cells don't have nuclei and therefore don't have any DNA and generally DNA isn't what your immune system targets. It targets foreign proteins... which, yes, would have came from translating RNA that may, or maybe not have been transcribed from DNA."
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708az8 | if the some of the rods and cones are missing/not working, thus making a person colourblind, then how do colourblind glasses allow a colourblind person to see colour? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/708az8/eli5_if_the_some_of_the_rods_and_cones_are/ | {
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"They block the wavelengths that are causing the confusion, those that a colorblind people don't know if they are red or green, and just make up a midway color for (these are normally detected by both cones, but normally we can sort that confusion out anyway). Hopefully the object they're looking at also has some clearly red or clearly green wavelengths in the mix, after filtering out the confusing red and confusing green, the colorblind person only has an easier time discriminating between the two colors \n\n(that doesn't mean they look the same as for normal people, actually can't say if any color is perceived the same by normal color seeing people anyway, how do you even describe a color in words without using colors in the description???)\n\nNote: if the object only contain the most confusing colors it will instead appear as black!",
"They block the wavelengths that are causing the confusion, those that a colorblind people don't know if they are red or green, and just make up a midway color for (these are normally detected by both cones, but normally we can sort that confusion out anyway). Hopefully the object they're looking at also has some clearly red or clearly green wavelengths in the mix, after filtering out the confusing red and confusing green, the colorblind person only has an easier time discriminating between the two colors \n\n(that doesn't mean they look the same as for normal people, actually can't say if any color is perceived the same by normal color seeing people anyway, how do you even describe a color in words without using colors in the description???)\n\nNote: if the object only contain the most confusing colors it will instead appear as black!"
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al8pdk | why are cicadas so loud? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/al8pdk/eli5_why_are_cicadas_so_loud/ | {
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"They are attempting to attract a mate.\n\nIt’s a bit like Tinder, but cicadas can’t use phones. So they just scream at the top of their lungs."
]
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8zmp3i | why is wheat so popular? | Wheat seems to be a staple crop in many parts of the world, but its not obiously a food source. A fruit growing from a tree is intuitive to both us and other animals, but wheat just looks like grass. Converting wheat into flour also looks like a fairly complicated process, and so does baking bread from there. So why and when did we start farming wheat? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8zmp3i/eli5_why_is_wheat_so_popular/ | {
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"For a given amount of land and water, grains like wheat, barley, oats, rye, spelt, corn, and rice provide far more calories than fruit and tubers do, and they can be stored for longer periods of time. This is crucial for living in temperate climates, where food might not be available during the winter.\n\nMilling grains into flour helps preserve them and provides greater options when making food, but it is not necessary. Many cultures subsided on porridges, where the grains are simply crushed or chopped, then boiled."
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a6h6e4 | in tv show opening themes, why is the last cast member listed as their character? | Using Buffy the Vampire Slayer as an example, in the seasons in which Giles was a main character, in the opening theme he is listed as "Anthony Steward Head as Giles". In seasons 6 & 7 (perhaps even earlier than that) Alyson Hannigan (excuse my spelling) is listed last and then it's "as Willow".
How come it's not every show that does this? How come it's always the final cast member to be shown, and how come it's always secondary characters (I mean, not Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy. She is the lead and title character. Wouldn't that make more sense?) ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a6h6e4/eli5_in_tv_show_opening_themes_why_is_the_last/ | {
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"You list a show by the actor’s pay agreements. Lead actors first, who get paid for every episode, even if they don’t appear in it. Regulars second, they get paid and appear for about 14 episodes a season. Recurring characters, who appear for 3 or more episodes a season, more episodes if they’re not filming something else or their character is popular with viewers/producers. And then Guest Stars, who usually appear for 1-2 episodes in the whole run of the show, unless they were liked by the viewers/producers.\n\nThe last two on the list are obviously not seen as often on the show, so, you generally list their character names with the actor names so people know who they are.",
"It's for famous people that aren't the main star of the show. It's so you know that the famous name you recognize isn't the star or principle actor/actress.",
"Back when the original \"Lost in Space\" series was running Jonathan Harris,, who played Zachary Smith, was always listed last in the credits as \"Special Guest Star\". This was because he never had a contract and was hired on a per-episode basis. ",
"I figured, at least with Buffy, that it was because those were the **most** famous actors in the show. Anthony Stewart Head had obviously been acting for a long time before playing Giles, and when Alyson Hannigan got named “as Willow” it was when people would have known her from American Pie. ",
"It's called \"Last Billing\". The lead obviously gets the first credit. Second billing is a less prestigious position and is inappropriate for major stars that are brought on board because they're already famous.\n\nThe last credit in the opening is a very prominent position though. In any list, our eyes are drawn to the start and end. They add the \"Star as Character\" to emphasise that this is an important person.\n\nBy season 6, Alyson Hannigan was a fairly prominent movie star, so was able to receive this billing.\n\n\n\n",
"I think a lot of people here are close but aren't quite there\n\nIt's not just to let you know the person is prominent\n\nIt's intentionally negotiated by a more famous actor *because* of their prominence.\n\nOften times, when TV shows have one big name and then a bunch of nobodies, they usually can't afford to pay the star a tooooon of money like they're used to getting. They'll still probably get a big paycheck, but if they're going to be the only big name in the show-- q driving force, they want a little *more*\n\nSo they will specifically put it in the contract that their name is *special.* That's it. They don't get anything for being last, it's not saying anything about them or their character, they just wanted their name to come on screen in a different way than everyone else's, so it stands out more.\n\nIt's not quite just ego, being presented notably can help cement them as *the star* to the audience, it convinces them that the actor really does deserve to have their name presented specially, and can make it harder to get fired or easier to get raises. All this helps their career.\n\nThis is also why, in the rare cases it happens when some other actors on the show end up being *more* famous, the newly famous actors aren't given the special treatment-- because it's already in the contract of the other star, and they can't keep giving people special treatment or it won't be special treatment anymore."
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2crh4z | why do i get a sympathy pain in my balls when i see someone else hurt in that area? | I just watched a close calls video and when someone was hit in the balls my own nether regions hurt. Why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2crh4z/eli5_why_do_i_get_a_sympathy_pain_in_my_balls/ | {
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"We have a set of neurons called Mirror Neurons, which enable you to feel that phantom sympathy pain.\n\nThere are a few hypotheses as to *why* we have them, and it seems to most researchers that they are an aid in communication and bonding. Being able to share emotions and pains with other people can bring us very close."
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51mfth | if two metals touch in space they fuse permanently. why? | Is there any benefit welding in a vacuum on earth vs conventional welding? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/51mfth/eli5_if_two_metals_touch_in_space_they_fuse/ | {
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"Well metal is just a grid of atoms really with electrons flowing between them. When you touch two pieces together on earth there is still air between them which keeps them seperate even if its a tiny amount bonded to the outside of the metal.\n\nIn space however theres no air so when you touch two clean surfaces of metal together the atoms on the boundry have no idea that they are two seperate pieces anymore. They just bond together like the rest of the metal.",
"This is not very common but it may happen. Metals is a collection of atoms held together with electrons. Unlike most other solids you can relatively easily bend or stretch a metal and it will stay in its new position. When two metals touch there is usually a small layer of air, water, oil or oxides between them. However if you were able to get two metals to actually touch without anything between them there is nothing defining where one end and the other start and they will just fuse together. It can happen in air as well but mostly just tiny areas that is easily broken apart. If you have two clean polished surfaces with nothing preventing them from touching all the way you can get bigger areas to fuse together. This have been known to happen with hard drive platters that have had a disk head polishing it for decades in a clean environment but it is much more common in space.",
"So if you touch two metals in a vacuum, they'll fuse? And is the fusing permanent?"
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2gwy27 | why do i feel happier when anticipating something than actually experiencing it? | I've been noticing lately that I always feel the need to have something to look forward to, but I usually don't enjoy it like I think I will. I find it hard to be "present" and tend to think of the next thing to look forward to.
Is this this a common phenomenon that can be easily explained? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gwy27/eli5_why_do_i_feel_happier_when_anticipating/ | {
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"Same thing happens to me. I wish I could just enjoy fun activities, but I never seem to be satisfied. It's like I don't know how to have fun. Even when I realize I should be thoroughly enjoying myself, I end up more sad that I know the activity will be over and just a memory before I know it. The only thing that I really enjoy is building things. It's not the process of building that I enjoy, but the pride I get from looking at something that I personally built. That is the only enjoyment that lasts for me. I guess you could say I get the most enjoyment out of having pride in my work.",
"When you anticipate something you're imagining it under your rules and your mind is free to create any scenario you want. When you experience it it's usually a let down because it didn't live up to what you imagined it would be.",
"Imagination is always better than reality.\n\nWe often romanticize things in our heads to the point that the real thing will never measure up.",
"This was on brain games! It was about addiction oh I found it on natgeo website: \n\nThe thrill of the chase is its own reward! There’s no denying that winning provides a euphoric rush, but not as much as one might think. Research shows that dopamine levels, which are responsible for that feeling of ecstasy we crave, reach their peak in the moments just BEFORE the anticipated result rather than at the moment of the payoff. By the time you’ve accomplished your goal or learned the outcome of a scenario, you’re already coming down from the high!\n\n",
"Behavioral economic studies say that we should space out the good things in our lives. IE, if I'm going to get a bunch of new furniture, I should get the couch, wait a few months, get the arm chair, wait several more months, etc.",
"Zizek writes somewhere that desire is never fulfilled, only supplanted by another desire. I wake up, I fancy a cup of tea, but when I'm drinking the tea all I can think is 'damn I can't wait to brush my teeth', etc. True contentment, as such, is impossible. (This seems to be supported by the one thing all religions have in common: the promise of contentment in a *future* state - Heaven, Nirvana, etc.)\n\nMoreover, there's a saying in business that a prostitute should always gets paid *before* delivering her/his services, since the desire for gratification is always greater than the perceived gratification itself. "
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4082gp | phospholipids vs lipids | Im learning about Phospholipids and Lipids in biology and I don’t know what the difference between the two are, aren’t they both just fats? Also, are they macromolecules and if so are a part of the “big four macromolecules”? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4082gp/eli5phospholipids_vs_lipids/ | {
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"Phosolipids consist of a phosphate head and a fatty acid tail. Lipids typically have a glycerol head and a fatty acid tail. The main difference is that phosolipids contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions (aka amphipathic), and lipids contain only hydrophobic regions. \n\n\n\nPhosolipids are kinda like a modified lipid, useful in cell membranes. These are also known as a \"lipid bi-layer\" because they have two layers of phosolipids ",
"Just adding onto the previous comments, it is the properties of phospholipids (being both hydrophobic and hydrophillic, thus being able to produce a lipid bilayer) that allows cells in the body to have selective permeability - the ability to isolate, categorize and 'store' things in separate 'compartments' within a cell (in cell membranes).\n\nedit: last parenthesis"
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3nx7b6 | what is an algorithm, and why is it effecting reddit so negatively? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3nx7b6/eli5what_is_an_algorithm_and_why_is_it_effecting/ | {
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"The \"algorithm\" is the formula used by Reddit to rank posts. Right now it's letting them stay in the top spots for long periods of time, creating a lack of new content on the front page.",
"Algorithm is a step by step instructions with an end result, that when followed, will achieve that result. Technically, from cooking recipies to instructions on Ikea furniture are algorithms.\nComing to your second question : an algorithm is used to rank the posts on Reddit to get them on front page. They've recently made changes to this algorithm. That made the ranking of posts really shitty and front page became stale, just like a shitty cooking recipe results in a bad dish."
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3bo8l7 | why does causing pain in certain places on my body give my a stinging sensation in a whole different area? | I know, bad title. I don't really know how to explain it well, but if I kind of dig my fingernail into my leg a bit, it feels like someone is poking me with a needle on my back. Why does this happen? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3bo8l7/eli5_why_does_causing_pain_in_certain_places_on/ | {
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"I just tried scratching my leg with my thumbnail and the only thing I felt was a thumbnail scratching my leg. You may have a neurological condition, it wouldn't hurt talking to a doctor.",
"See your doctor if you think something may be wrong. You know your body better than anyone else, and you know when something is wrong. After you've concluded that nothing is wrong with your body, search kyusho in YouTube. ",
"There's a phenomenon known as referred pain, where you feel pain somewhere other than the source. It's most commonly associated with pain coming from your internal organs. Your brain isn't used to caring about sensations from your liver, so when it does hurt, it can get confused and think it's coming from the surface of your abdomen because that's where pain normally comes from.\n\nIt's pretty rare on the skin, but it could happen. Nerves get all bundled up and sometimes can develop to get mixed up. [You also don't have uniform touch receptor density](_URL_0_). Without sufficient information, the brain loves to make up explanations.",
"OP came for a neat explanation to something he thought was common in everyone just to leave knowing he may have a condition. "
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dno87d | how do online password managers work and how do we know the companies that run them can't just access our accounts, specially sensitive ones like online banking? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dno87d/eli5_how_do_online_password_managers_work_and_how/ | {
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"They never get to see your actual username and password for any of your accounts. The way this works is that your master password is used to encrypt your usernames and passwords for other sites before they're sent to be stored by your password manager, and your master password itself is never sent to your online password manager. So, all your online password manager has on their servers is the encrypted version, with no way to decrypt it - the only way to decrypt it is if you know the master password, which never leaves your computer.\n\nOf course, this is based on how they say they do things, so you might also wonder how we know that they're doing what they claim - the answer is that plenty of security researchers have looked into these services and tried to break them. There have been some minor issues published, but the basic premise that I described above is actually what they're doing, and if it weren't, that would have been published.",
"If the company is doing it right, they are storing your passwords in an encrypted format so the can only be accessed by someone who knows your master password, which they never store.\n\nYou have to find a company you trust, which isn't as hard as you might think. Stealing from bank accounts is very illegal, and it is unlikely the company would get very many before they were caught. They'd much rather get subscription feels from million people than try to steal from a few hundred.\n\nIt is really a question of balancing risk. What is more likely, a company that is in the business of security having a serious breach, or you personally getting hacked because you are using the same crappy password in ten different places?",
"Basically, your information that gets stored on their servers is scrambled in a very specific way using a complicated equation.\n\nSimplistically, think of it as distilling your vault password down to a number (we'll use 4), your website password to another number (let's say this is 5). Multiply those and store the answer (20) in the vault server. This is the \"hash\" of your original password. In reality, this ends up being a string of hexadecimals (0ffa62b4c725ca....)\n\nBecause of the actual complexity of the math that created the resulting answer, one can't easily figure out which numbers created that answer. But for the sake of the oversimplified example...if you know that the answer is 20, and you supply your vault password which was 4, you know the original password that you stored was a 5.\n\nSo when you go to a website and have it fill in your stored password, your browser asks the vault for the password hash for this site. Your browser already has your vault password since you logged into it. It now has the two pieces of information it needs to figure out the missing information, which is your original site password.\n\nAnyone can see your encrypted password and it doesn't help them one bit to figure out the real password unless they have your vault password - the \"key\" to unlock/decrypt it.",
"When you make and account you get a locker. You can access that locker with a master password. Once inside the locker, everything is encrypted. They cannot read what ever password you type in. It's similar to the end-to-end encryption in Whatsapp they can't read your messages. The passwords are stored in encrypted format in your locker. \n\nWhen the password managers are hacked and the hackers have access to the locker when they open it they don't see passwords, they only see encrypted passwords which are extremely hard to decrypt.",
"Should one use evernote as a password manager?",
"Think about when you goto the gym, you may have a locker with a lock where you set your own key on it when you arrive. The locker is stored at the gym, but you can access it and put your stuff in it for safe keeping, but the gym can never access it because they don’t have your code. You can get your stuff out whenever you’d like by entering that code and use it as you see fit. \n\nThis isn’t a perfect example because ostensibly the gym would have a master unlock, but it gets the point across to a 5 year old.",
"This is the ELI5 version:\n\nThey actually don't know your passwords.\n\nImagine you want to store some important information in your bank. You could just give it to them and trust they won't look. But what if they do? Or what if the bank gets robbed? So instead you lock the information in a box and save the key at home. Then you give the box to them. They can safely store the box but they don't know what's in the box. So when you need the information you tell them to send the box to you. Then you open it with your key, look at the information, put it back, lock the box again and send it back to the bank.\n\nBut how do you know the bank can't just open the box with brute force?\n\nWell the box is made up of a very strong material, lets call it Cryptonite. This is so strong it is practically impossible to break it. Technically you could break it, but you would have to drill for BILLIONS of years until it actually breaks.\n\nThis how a GOOD online passwords manager works. So make sure you chose a well known service.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nEdit: As many have asked, how do you know this is how the service works?\n\nWhen you use a online service that handles your passwords there will always be some level of trust involved. They can be lying or they can have vulnerabilities/bug in their software.\n\nA online password manager delivers two services. One is designing the box, the other is storing the box. And when their methods is not completely public, i.e. Open source, you can never be 100% sure it is secure.\n\nSo as many have suggested in the comments, use two services to achieve the same _URL_0_ continue with the analogy:\n\nSince the bank won't let you know exactly how the box works, you don't want to use their box. Luckily there are box-experts out there that have designed boxes that are completely unbreakable. Also they will tell you how YOU can build them all by yourself, completely for free. So take their instructions and build the box and save the key somewhere only you know where it is. Or if it's a combination lock, just remember the combination. The you can tell the bank to store the box and you can be 100% sure they can't open it.\n\nTo leave the analogy, use [KeePass](_URL_2_) to encrypt your passwords, then save the encrypted file(s) on [Dropbox](_URL_1_) or [Google Drive](_URL_4_). This is completely free.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nQuantum edit: One thing that most people get wrong about quantum computing and cryptography is that they can (in the future) break public-key encryption, not symmetric encryption. The example in my analogy uses symmetric encryption so it will be safe against a quantum-computer-attack. Maybe I have to make the key longer but it won't break the encryption.\n\n[Post-quantum cryptography](_URL_3_)",
"Is there really a proper bank out there that just requires a single password to log in? \n\nNormally you need a gadget of some sort, a personal and unique code card or a verification app to log in. \n\nA single password like for an email account sounds crazy unsafe..",
"To safeguard your data, there are 2 ways.\n\n* Encryption: let us assume you have a password like `123456`. If we take a strategy like increasing the count of characters by 1. Your password would now be 234567. Now for a character-based password like perhaps `hunter2`, this could now be `ivoufs3`. For a random person, if they see `ivoufs3`, unless they know the strategy here (example as above increase character by 1), you won't get the password. \n* Hashing: As per the previous example. Let's say your password is `123456`. Now if we divide this by 5, and only save the remainder (i.e 1), even if they know the strategy of divide by 5, it doesn't matter, as if I divide 11 by 5 or 12378543586 by 5, the answer is the same.\n\nWhat these companies usually do is combine your master password with a random string such as say your password is `123456`. Now on this, we add the random string so your password now becomes `H4KVO123456T3JPG` (a much more complex one). This is generally called as salt as this is to spice up the password string. (The more fancy-sounding name is Initialization vector). Now, we encrypt this ala above example strategy. \nSo your encrypted password then becomes `I5LWP234567U4KQH`. Now if I take the ASCII representation of this it would be `073053076087080050051052053054055085052075081072`.\n\nAnd if I divide it by 5, the end result would be 2. I would then take this 2 and get the ASCII representation again (`050`). Divide by 5. Value = 0.\n\nIf I do this a bunch of times and all I store is \n\n* the number of times I've done the operation, (2 as per above case)\n* the additional characters I've added - (H4KVO,T3JPG).\n* final result (0)\n\nNotice I do not really need to save your password. All I need to save is the operation conducted ontop of your password, and the final result from which I can never truly get the original password back.\n\nThe next time you send a password, I can try to do the exact same operation on that password, and see if the final value matches. If it does, you are authenticated.\n\nTo be clear, the operations are a bit more complicated than this and usually done with large prime numbers so you don't repeatedly get 0, etc.\n\n*So, using this. I can save a hashed version of your master password, and use that to unlock the box, that is your safe containing all the passwords. These passwords are then encrypted and not hashed(because you actually do want these passwords back).*\n\n\nPart 2 of your question would be: How do I as a customer know that the company is still saving these passwords, either in some random database or maybe in logs or something. \nThis is basically done through different certifying agencies, which will be able to oversee the operation of the company and certify that they aren't doing anything hockey-pockey.\n\nAdditional things to add. The data sent over the network would be encrypted - SSL or TLS (newest version is v1.2). \nThis is so that, somebody who has access to your router (example: say you log in from work or school) would still only see some random gibberish and not really be able to get your password from it. \n\nThe encrypting company may even initiate a logic of sending over an already hashed version over the network. This is basically to add more gates to mess with someone trying anything unwanted etc. (Although I don't think most companies would opt for something like this as it isn't really a tough one to crack, just an additional step is all).",
"You'll never know. Unless if you're the one who created your own password manager, in which case your non physical issues are spyware, keyloggers, malware etc. \nUse password managers at your own risk and through your own research and analysis of which companies may be trusted. That said, having a password manager is infinitely better than reusing passwords. \nIt's the same with hashed and salted passwords on websites. For something encrypted to be decrypted, you must have a decryptor/key. And this key is either or both located and generated on their location. You are trusting the locksmiths for the locks and securities of your home who issues you a masterkey who may or may not have a copy or blueprint of it and in this case, your master password.",
"I'm pretty sure, technically, they can/could (only offline managers couldn't), because they could make their app send your password to them. It's just that they wouldn't do this (say if you're Snowden and you use such password manager - pretty sure the governments could make that company get your master password/data; and/or the data those companies have can leak;)\n\nNot having the code of the app/program (open source) - basically you can't tell wether it **knows** your master password or not. You just have to \"trust\" that app/company.\n\nWith an open source app/program people around the world can check out everything that app can do, and if they/we don't find anything suspicious - that app/program is safe.\n\nSo it's only safe to use a program if you have sure it never has access to the Internet, or use a (well reviewed/popular/known) open source program (and a trusted server (such as created by yourself), and/or I believe there is such thing as open source servers (although I'm not entirely sure about that)).",
"You can never be sure. \nLastpass for example actually recently had a problem with exposed passwords:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIf you want to be safe, use a well known offline password manager, and handle the storage yourself.",
"Unfortunately this thread has too much momentum for this to make headway. \n\nTechnically any of these services can be vulnerable. Even KeePass which allows you to \"lock the box\" before uploading to the cloud has rhe vulnerability that developers need to maintain and update the software. If a developer gets hacked and someone pushes malicious code it's arbitrary to steal your \"key\" to unlock the box. \n\nYou are trusting several layers of entities whenever you do anything with trust online. \n\nLastPass as an example\n\nYou're trusting the browser because it could steal your credentials as you type them into the site. \n\nYou're trusting LastPass as they develop the JS front end logic, the back end server processing and at either point they could try and \"shim\" on software to steal your goods.\n\nIt goes even deeper than this!\nYou trust the operating system you are on! (Think unpatched Samsung Android). You trust the cryptography library writer for that build environment.\n\nLastPass might use the bcrypt library from Python or PHP which is the fancy \"locking mechanism\" people are referencing. \n\nHowever if the library writer makes a mistake you could be compromised.\n\nThe last scariest truth is that the lowest level of trust in societ comes down to the mathematics of cryptography. If the mathematician/computer scientist who invented the cryptographic algorithm makes a mistake EVERY library, EVERY software that implements it the same is vulnerable. \n\nEvery chain is a layer of HUMAN trust not technological. \n\nHowever the likelihood is slim for the average person. So it's safer to have one strong centralize password to change regularly and segmenting your password usage online.\n\nDoing it this way keeps your \"ship\" from sinking like Titanic by compartmentalizing the exposed passwords. \n\nIf your FB has a different password than your bank, it isn't possible for them to login after they compromise your FB account."
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583903 | why are my password reset email or 2fa sms not arriving instantly? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/583903/eli5_why_are_my_password_reset_email_or_2fa_sms/ | {
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"Neither email or SMS is made for instant messaging. They are both store-and-forward protocols where one node in the system will receive the message and store it until it gets the capacity to forward it. Email predates the Internet and it could take days for an email to arrive not that many years ago. SMS use free capacity in the cell phone system and a busy system could keep your messages for hours before they arrived. This have caused a lot of the software and standards to be written for this and not worry to much about how long it takes as long as it gets delivered. Most mail servers still have a retry timeout of minutes if something goes wrong in the transfer. The message might also be sent through a dozen servers all with their own queues and be processed one by one to check for the correct sender and receiver, spam, virus, company secrets, etc."
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88ep32 | what is graham’s number, how is it (theoretically) calculated, and how big is it? | I’ve looked it up but I can’t find an answer that makes sense to me. I’ve seen some posts about it on the sub as well but it didn’t answer what it was and just gave context about its size. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/88ep32/eli5_what_is_grahams_number_how_is_it/ | {
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"Its a number suggested as a bound for a mathematical problem. The problem is to do with subgraphs of hypercubes (cubes in more than 3 dimensions) and grahams number is a suggested lower bound for the number of dimensions needed in that hypercube. It can't really be calculated, as in, I couldn't write the number down and show it to you. If I divided the universe into its smallest unit (Planck volume) and wrote one digit of grahams number in each of the smallest conceivable spaces, I still couldn't show you grahams number. Its normally expressed in knuth-up-arrow notation, which is a method of expressing big numbers by compressing them into a set of rules. ",
"Graham's number was, at the time of its publication, the largest number ever used in a mathematical proof. Graham was trying to solve a complicated geometric problem, and he proved that the answer's upper bound was less than this number.\n\nUsually Graham's number is described using tetration, which is sort of to exponentiation what exponentiation is to multiplication.\n\nBasically imagine you have a sequence of numbers. Each subsequent term is 3 exponentiated by itself n times where n is the previous term.\n\nThe first term is 3. The second term is 3 raised to itself 3 times, or 3^(3^3), which is equal to 7625597484987. Now the next term will be 3 raised to itself 7625597484987 times. You can already see how mind-bogglingly fast this number grows.\n\n~~Graham's number is the 68th term in the series.~~\n\nEdit: On further reflection, I do have this wrong. What I have described is \"up-arrow notation\" which is a way tetration is expressed, with the nth term in the series being described as 3↑↑...↑↑3, where the number of \"up arrows\" between the two numbers is N.\n\nGraham's number is actually described using another recursive tetration series, starting at 3↑↑↑↑3 (the fourth term in my above series).\n\nThe next number in the Graham series is 3↑↑...↑↑3 where *the number of arrows* is equal to the previous term.\n\nGraham's number is the 64th term in *that* series.",
"It's a number so big that pretty much all the methods you have for trying to comprehend its size are gonna fail miserably as the number is too large. Try to write it down? The universe doesn't have enough atoms to contain the digits it has.\n\nTry to write down how many digits it has? The universe doesn't have enough atoms for that either.\n\nTry to write down how many digits the number of digits it has, has? Yep, not even close enough atoms.\n\nLike, compare this to billion. Billion has 9 digits. 9 has 1 digit.\n\nCompare this to googolplex. Googolplex is 10^10^100, so it has 10^100 digits. 10^100 has 100 digits. 100 has 3 digits. 3 has 1 digit.\n\n\nWith Graham's number, you could keep doing this iteration for your entire life, for the entire time it takes to reach heat death of the universe, and you wouldn't even have begun making a number small enough that it could be contained in our universe.\n\nDivide it by 10^10^10^10^10^10^10^...^10^10, where the tower of powers is googolplex steps high, and you're still not getting anywhere\n\nBut this here is sort of pointing us in the right direction in how the number is defined. If you have 10 + 10 + 10, that's often written as 10 * 3. Basically, multiplication is iterated addition.\n\nIf you have 10 * 10 * 10, one could write that as 10^3 instead. Exponentiation is iterated multiplication.\n\nSo what if you have 10^10^10? Enter Knuth's up-arrow notation. It basically deals with iterated exponentiation. You'd write that as 10 \\^^ 3, where \\^^ is two up-arrows.\n\nAnd you can go further. 10 \\^^ 10 \\^^ 10 could then be written as 10 \\^\\^^ 3, with \\^\\^^ being three up-arrows.\n\nGraham's number is defined with this notation, in 64 steps. First you start with g*_0_* = 3 \\^\\^\\^^ 3. Then g*_n+1_* = 3 \\^\\^...\\^ 3, where the number of up-arrows is equal to g*_n_*\n\nSo first you have 3 \\^\\^\\^^ 3 which is way bigger than anything one can write in our universe.\n\nThen, you have 3 \\^\\^... unimaginably many up-arrows ...\\^ 3, which you'd break down by 3 \\^\\^... unimaginably many up-arrows - 1 ...\\^ 3 \\^\\^... unimaginably many up-arrows - 1 ...\\^ 3, which you could then keep breaking down, arriving at more and more outrageous numbers.\n\ng*_64_* is Graham's number.",
"[Tim Urban explains it in a very existential, but elegant way. Long article, but sure to cover all bases. ](_URL_0_)\n\nSimply put, Graham's number is a mammoth number generated through iterative power towers i.e. Giving it progressive exponentiation along the number line."
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5t1mil | why do "a-list" actors seem to shy away from the horror genre? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5t1mil/eli5_why_do_alist_actors_seem_to_shy_away_from/ | {
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"The genre rarely provides opportunities for a great actor to show their abilities, because the story is told in such broad strokes -- the action and blood and camera work and editing steal the show.\n\nHuge exception: the very tense semi-horror stories by Stephen King and such.",
"You've got it backwards. The Horror genre shies away from A list actors because they're so expensive.\n\nHorror movies are made on the cheap. We're talking 20-40 million or less. There's no room in that budget for A list celebrities.\n\n",
"Probably because horror movies are typically low-budget and thus couldn't afford to attract a-list talent. High-budget horror movies like *Shutter Island* can afford more expensive actors (e.g. Leonardo DiCaprio).",
"Because \"good\" horror movies are called things like \"psychological drama\" and \"supernatural thriller\".\n\nHorror is almost always reserved for low-budget, formulaic movies that ham-handedly jerk you around with overwrought suspense, violence, and gore. When someone's head explodes into a bloody pulp, you relly don't need good acting to get an audience reaction.\n\nThere are exceptions, of course. *From Dusk Till Dawn* was filled with A-listers. Nic Cage has done more than a few movies that could be described as horror, and not just for the reviews (*rimshot*)."
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2ccgfu | - if exercise is suppose to make you physically healthier, why is it so common for athletes to get muscle and bone injuries? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ccgfu/eli5_if_exercise_is_suppose_to_make_you/ | {
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"Because sports isn't for injury reduction. It is maximum performance regardless of injury. They train limit to injury, the athletic performance causes injury which would be worse with no training under their belt. \n\nAdditionally, getting hit by another fit athlete isn't exactly safe.",
"Athletes are using their muscles to the extent of their limits, and over time that will cause injury. The extreme ends of physical activity can be just as bad for your health as as little to no physical activity.\n\nThe reason we are told to exercise is because we have an epidemic of high cholesterol and blood pressure, not an epidemic of torn quadriceps. "
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b8i4mj | how is 'selective perception' different from 'confirmation bias'? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/b8i4mj/eli5_how_is_selective_perception_different_from/ | {
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"Selective perception is the tendency not to notice and more quickly forget stimuli that cause emotional discomfort and contradict our prior beliefs. \n\nConfirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.\n\nSo they are two sides of the same coin. Selective perception typically refers to not perceiving information that contradicts you, while confirmation bias is strongly noticing or seeking out only the information that supports you."
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ako0u4 | fm/am radio | ELI5: How are FM/AM radios able to send/receive music/audio over distances via radio waves and then be able to have it be played back as the actual sound?
For something that has been around for probably something like 100 years, I still get a headache trying to understand it. How are the waves turned back into actual audio? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ako0u4/eli5_fmam_radio/ | {
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"You can search to get more detailed explanations, this is a frequently asked question.\n\nAM radio has a radio carrier with a frequency much higher than sound. The transmitter changes the amplitude of this signal up and down. The receiver measures this up and down change in amplitude. the up and down change occurs at a sound frequency, and when the receiver sends the up and down signal into a speaker, it makes sound.\n\nFM is the same, but a little different. Instead of changing the amplitude, the transmitter changes the frequency by a small amount. Sometimes the frequency is a tiny bit higher, then it is lower. These higher and lower changes occur at sound frequencies, like the up and down amplitude changes of AM, and the receiver feeds them into a speaker to make sound.",
"Radio waves have different frequencies. Radio and visible light are essentially the same thing. They are the same type of thing, with a big differencing being that our eyes can see light, but cannot see radio waves. Light and radio are both called electromagnetic radiation. Xrays, microwaves, ultraviolet and infrared are also all electromagnetic radiation.\n\nFM stands for frequency modulation. radio has different frequencies just like light has different frequencies. We see different frequencies of light as different colors. Red is a different frequency from blue. \n\nFM works by changing the color (aka frequency) of the radio waves.\n\nAM works by changing the brightness of the radio waves. This takes more energy because you need to generate a bright and very bright radio wave. The A in AM stands for amplitude.\n\nuntil recently, both are analog signals. The change in color or change in brightness correspond to the change in the pressure waves that form sound."
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19if91 | what 'alternative rock' is. | I've just read the Wiki article on it twice and I don't feel any more enlightened for it. I'm not seeing a common stylistic or thematic thread linking all these artists together.
Is it just a thought-terminating cliche coined by music critics for their own amusement? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/19if91/eli5_what_alternative_rock_is/ | {
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"The easiest way of thinking of alternative rock is the \"none of the above option\".\n\n What genre is your rock band?\n [] Punk rock\n [] Funk rock\n [] Jazz rock\n ... etc. etc.\n [X] None of the above (alternative)\n\nReally this means that there really isn't any common style to alternative rock - although many bands have some similarities with each other (hello electric guitar fuzz!), to the best of my knowledge there's no common thing linking them together.\n\nIn my opinion, whether something is alternative rock or not depends a lot on the context of the song than the actual song itself.",
"The term \"alternative\" in music is pretty much the same as \"miscellaneous\". It's pretty much bullshit to the casual listener, it's where things that are rocky but don't quite sound like Elvis, Chuck Berry, or Cream, or Status Quo go.\n\nTo the more invested/passionate, it's a term that means a little less because of all the sub-genres spawned from it, such as grunge and indie rock, as they'd just use them. Rock is typically upbeat, 4/4, simple repetitive chord progressions in standard tuning. In alt-rock you're much more likely to find slower/quicker music in different time signatures, lower tunings and with a less rigid format to song writing."
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1jjnfd | why does the government pay so much for inexpensive things. | You always hear about the government buying inexpensive things for crazy amounts of money. An example would be the post about the 45 dollar bolt, or the 16 dollar muffins made famous by the youtube song. Is it just corruption, or is there a reason for it? If it is corruption is anything being done about it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jjnfd/eli5_why_does_the_government_pay_so_much_for/ | {
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"You have to be more precise about *what* you're talking about. There are a lot of reasons things could cost a lot of money.\n\nOne is certainly corruption. Corruption is hard to root out, because it can be difficult to tell the difference between corruption and incompetence/poor judgement, and (as most people generally assume) those who have the power to investigate corruption really don't have incentive to do so. \n\nAnother is, and we'll use the example of the \"[400 dollar ash tray](_URL_0_),\" from the West Wing. Are you really qualified to say that 45 dollars is too expensive for a bolt because you can pick up one that looks similar at Home Depot? Maybe that bolt is made of a very specific alloy, one in high demand and difficult to make that must have no impurities in order to ensure that a turbine that spins at 2400 RPM and costs millions of dollars doesn't fly apart, killing a dozen sailors? \n\nIndustrial objects often resemble in appearance and function their consumer counterparts, but that resemblance often ends there. You spend 45 dollars on a router? A hotel spends 4,500 on ten. Who's to say you're wrong and they're right, or the other way around? \n\nThis gets a lot more complex in government, when everyone has a vested interest in seeing the government run efficiently, but cannot by very definition understand every facet of their spending.\n\n\nSpecific to the 16 dollar muffins, honestly that's a lot but it's not an overwhelmingly ridiculous amount for catered food from a \"gourmet\" shop. I wouldn't pay it for someone else, but I would certainly choose it if they were delicious muffins to entertain clients if I thought it would give me a leg up. That, though, isn't the governments job... so, who knows? "
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4igw01 | is 1 minute in a 500watt microwave the same as 30 seconds in a 1000watt microwave? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4igw01/eli5_is_1_minute_in_a_500watt_microwave_the_same/ | {
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"Under ideal circumstances, yes. For instance, the 1000W microwave will heat a cup of water roughly twice as fast. However, if the food is frozen and must be defrosted first, you would likely want to run the higher power microwave at a reduced power setting to allow the food to defrost first. Otherwise, you can overcook part of the food while the rest is still frozen.",
"Same amount of energy applied, but if it's a food that can't be uniformly heated, you won't get the same result. Sort of like putting a chicken in a 700 degree oven instead of 350 and expecting to cook it twice as fast. Microwaves penetrate more and heat water and fats, so not a perfect analogy. ",
"If you asked is 500W of energy for 1 minute the same amount as 1000W for 30 seconds, the answer is exactly yes.\n\nMicrowave ovens take some time to start producing microwaves, but the timer counts linearly. So the 1 minute run leaves the oven producing microwaves longer (i.e. may take a second or two to start making the microwaves).\n\nDifferent ovens may also have a different efficiency. 500 W and 1000W are input ratings, does not mean they make that much microwaves.\n\nTo answer your question, if you mean exactly the answer is NO, if you mean approximately, the answer is YES. ",
"The amount of energy given off by the microwave is the same but the cooking is not.\n\nIt takes time for the center of the thing being cooked to get heated up. If the thing being cooked is a cup of water, the heat can move around pretty freely but if it's a block of ice you can see that it wouldn't be heated evenly, parts of the block would melt before other parts. Similarly, if it's a piece of meat it will take time for the center to cook correctly."
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6d46dd | if someone under 18 can be tried as an adult, why can't the jury of peers include those under 18? | (At least in the US) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6d46dd/eli5_if_someone_under_18_can_be_tried_as_an_adult/ | {
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"Because that would not be \"as an adult.\" That would be a very literal juvenile court.\n\nNo court considers the independent judgement of a minor to have any value in sentencing.",
"Those under 18 are only tried as adults under extremely unique circumstances when the nature and severity of the crime demands it.\n\nThere's no need for special circumstances for jury composition so it doesn't happen.",
"One, even though those under 18 may sometimes be tried as an adult (and this just means they're not in the juvenile justice system), depending on the crime, they can't be subject to the same punishments unless certain findings are made by the court.\n\nTwo, jurors are usually pulled from the registered voter rolls. Those under 18 are not on that since they are not able to vote."
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33jeo8 | what would happen if you detonated a nuclear bomb at the north or south poll? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33jeo8/eli5_what_would_happen_if_you_detonated_a_nuclear/ | {
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"there'd be a big explosion.\n\nwhy the question about poles? what did you think might happen? that'll help us try to formulate a better answer",
"You'd probably end up with really shitty North or South survey results."
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6xvi06 | why is it that women are not as competitive as men in most motorsports? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6xvi06/eli5_why_is_it_that_women_are_not_as_competitive/ | {
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"This is a question you should ask women who *are* involved. But I worked with someone who is a competitive motocross racer, and the environment wasn't great for young women, if not outright hostile or sexist. For a lot of reasons, parents also weren't as encouraging for young women who are interested. ",
"I think you should ask courtney force, Alexis dejoria, Brittany force or leah pritchett just to name a few. Women used to be rare in motorsports but now days they are the ones to beat.",
"I don't think women are less competitive in those sports, but there are definitely far less women taking part. \n\nAs a culture we make it clear to young girls and boys what is 'appropriate' for their gender, and what isn't. They pick up on it from their families, schools, TV, books and everything else around them.\n\nIt's not always conscious, and it's cumulative. So, for instance, a family friend buying a gift for a young girl may never consider giving her a toy car (but they might buy a car for a little boy.) Or the parents of the girl might throw her a party at a bouncy castle, instead of a go-karting track. So by the time she's 10, say, she's likely to have had less exposure to playing with cars than a boy her age.\n\nAnd then imagine that aged 13 she sees go-karting and by herself she decides that it does look fun. So she goes, and most of the other kids there are boys. She doesn't care, but they feel weird having a girl there too and they make it an issue. Or maybe they don't make it an issue, but the parents do - maybe a dad shames his son and tells him to make sure he doesn't get beat by the girl, for example. For whatever reasons, the girl doesn't feel as welcome and as comfortable as the boys. So she struggles to progress, or she switches to another hobby that doesn't come with so much baggage. \n\nBy looking at how girls are subtly and not so subtly discouraged from 'boys activities', it becomes clear why there are so few women competing at elite level.\n\nIt works the other way round too by the way - boys face huge social pressure / violence if they want to take part in activities considered 'girly' (eg playing house, dressing up). The gender-obsessed culture is bad for all of us =( \n\n\n\n",
"It's a matter of how few women are in those sports compared to men. Most of the top drivers/riders are still men... but so are most of the worst drivers/riders. I think you'd find that the \"average\" man is not better than the \"average\" woman driver. Sheer numbers give men the advantage, but as that changes, as more women get into motorsports, you should see more women reach the top ranks."
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2ze58l | how is floyd mayweather 47 and zero, but got a bronze medal at the olympics? | Just saw this on his Wikipedia page; wouldn't he have had to been beaten in order to not get the gold medal? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ze58l/eli5_how_is_floyd_mayweather_47_and_zero_but_got/ | {
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"My understanding is that he's 47-0 in professional fights, but the Olympics are strictly amateur. In amateur boxing, he was 84-6.",
"For professional boxers their record are only since they became a professional. They usually start as amateurs and fight (and lose) until mature enough to attempt a pro career."
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2rb9mv | if transgendered people want to be classed as there non-biological gender and not be labeled as transgendered/there biological gender why do they call regular men/women "cis"? | inb4 check your privellage. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2rb9mv/eli5if_transgendered_people_want_to_be_classed_as/ | {
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"It's a distinction so that \"men\" and \"women\" can encompass \"transmen and non-trans men\" and \"transwomen and non-trans women\" without having to resort to such clumsy labels as \"non-trans\".",
"People who were born Male and identify as Male are cis, and same with woman.\n\n\"Regular\" men/women identify as their biological sex, and therefore are cis. ",
"I'm no expert but I don't think transgendered is the right term. It's transgender. I believe.",
"\"Cis\" is just the opposite of trans. A trans person identifies as a different sex than their genetic or physical sex; a cis person identifies as the same.",
"Most of the time, we don't. It's there for when a distinction needs to be made due to discussion of gender-related issues, just like the label \"trans\" is, and literally only means \"not trans\". The rest of the time everyone just uses \"men\" or \"women\".",
"People need a word for non-trans so that they can talk about how society/culture/law affects different groups etc. In addition there is a requirement to not declare groups of people as weird, so words like \"normal\" or \"regular\" are out because of the implication. The term \"cis\" is the opposite of \"trans\" (I think in latin) so it was chosen.",
"Sex and gender are two separate things. Sex is biological and set at birth, gender is a set of social conventions, which a person can transition to and from. There is actually a difference between a \"transexual\" person and a \"transgender\" person. I have no clue if the LGBTQ community typically considers transexual people to be cis but I don't think so.\n\nCaveat: There are some radicals that consider sex to shaped by gender. I.e. inter-sexed children are sometimes operated on to to \"normalize\" their gender. The argument is that thesse operations create the illusion of a binary when there's really a gradient. So far from sex creating the imperfect idea of gender, it would actual be the social construct of gender that creates our sexes."
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8dja50 | why do rockets go so slow after takeoff if they are so powerful? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8dja50/eli5_why_do_rockets_go_so_slow_after_takeoff_if/ | {
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"They are just speeding up — just like a race car leaving the starting line. In a few seconds they are going very fast indeed.\n\nEdit: [here is a graph](_URL_0_) of a moon rocket's speed over time. Within 20 seconds it's going well over 200 meters per second, that is, over 500 mph.",
"Because they're super freaking heavy and they're fighting the Earth's gravity. It takes a huge amount of power to get something really small out of Earth's gravity - to get the thousands and thousands of tons into orbit takes a massive push. They start out slow because they're pushing a gigantic load of matter, but they maintain that acceleration and end up going pretty damn fast.\n",
"Another thing to consider is: Because rockets are so large (and launches generally lack any \"everyday\" scales like cars or people around them), they look like they are moving slower. A car needs to travel at only ~15 to 20 km/h to move one length of its body in one second. A rocket, say, as an example, the Falcon 9, needs to move 250 km/h to move once its length in one second.",
"The Rocket is going slow because it is extraordinarily heavy. \nA Saturn V rocket weighs 2,970 tonnes. \n3 quarters of that was just fuel for the first stage. \nIt burned through 13 tonnes of that every SECOND. \nAs it burned through fuel it would accelerate faster and faster. ( by that I mean its speed was increasing, and the rate at which its speed was increasing was also increasing) \nThis is because while it's weight was quickly going down as it burned fuel and pushed it out the back, the thrust wasn't changing as much (in fact it was actually increasing by a decent amount as it got close to space). \nThis is to say it's thrust-to-weight ratio was going up. \nIt needed to be so heavy because it's not only hauling the rocket up, it's hauling the weight of all the fuel it needs to keep running. \nThis is often referred to as \"the tyranny of the rocket equation\"\n\nAlso it didn't need to go much faster at the start, because the atmosphere would have slowed it down anyway. \nBest start really going fast when the air is thin.\n\n"
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907z7u | what is the difference in functionality between flat head screws and phillips head screws? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/907z7u/eli5_what_is_the_difference_in_functionality/ | {
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"You're less likely to slip out of a Philips head thereby making it faster and safer. The trade off is you need what was once considered a special device whereas before you could have used anything from a coin to a knife. ",
"The earliest screws are slot-head, because they're easy to make. A blacksmith can make one by hand, just by cutting a slot into the top, and the appropriate tool is basically a pointed stick. They're also fairly attractive screws, so they're often used for finishing touches. However, it takes some dexterity to keep the screwdriver centered in the slot, so they're not the fastest to use, and they really can't be driven with power tools effectively. If you over-torque them, the head will often strip out and become unusable.\n\nPhillips screws are designed specifically for use with power tools. The shape is self-centering so you can run them in quickly, and the driving surfaces are actually slightly tapered so if you try to over-tighten them, the tool will slip out without seriously damaging either the screw or the tool. They need specialized equipment to manufacture, but the head can be formed in a single operation by a press, so they're still pretty cheap.\n\nThere are other screw designs which also have the self-centering features of Phillips but *don't* slip under load. Robertson (square-drive) screws, Torx, and internal hex are all like this. They're honestly better for most things, especially now that technology allows us to build torque-limiting screwdrivers, but they don't have the dominance of Phillips. For Robertson, that's a patent issue; for the other kinds it's more because they're newer and more expensive to produce."
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344496 | the difference between concealed and open carrying a weapon | I have always been fuzzy on this law and have asked around but haven't gotten a direct answer on what would be considered a concealed weapon | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/344496/eli5the_difference_between_concealed_and_open/ | {
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"The only difference is one permits you to carry a firearm, openly on your person. The other let's you carry a firearm, but your aloud to carry it without it being able to be scene",
"its as simple as it sounds if its visible its open carry, if you're hiding it on you somewhere not visible its concealed\nmost states allow open carry as long as you can legally own a gun\nmost states require a permit of some sort to conceal it",
"It's pretty much a literal definition. Carrying a concealed weapon is a weapon that is hidden from view. Wether in a holster or tucked into your waistband doesn't matter. if you're hiding it, it's concealed.\n\n\"open carry\" is also just as literal. Walking around with the weapon in plain view. Either in your hand or over your shoulder or in an exposed holster (like a cop)",
"Concealed means just that. Nobody knows you have it, the weapon is not easily discernible. It could be hidden under clothes, in a bag, or even in a glovebox of a vehichle. Open carry means the weapon is fully exposed. Many states have actual legal definitions of each, so check your local laws and regulations for more information. ",
"Open carry is if it's visible. If it's on your hip, your thigh, under your arm but not covered by a jacket, etc.\n\nConcealed carry is if it's not visible. If it's in your pocket, under your jacket, etc.",
"It is fairly simple. With open carry you can see the weapon on the person from a distance and in most states can not be loaded/on the person in a moving vehicle. With concealed carry the weapon is hidden from sight like under a shirt or in a purse, and usually can be loaded and on the person in a vehicle. Their are some variations between states so check your local laws before attempting either. ",
"All of this comment refers to Texas, where I'm from. \n\nThe only way an ordinary civilian may carry a handgun in Texas is to hold a Concealed Handgun License and carry the handgun concealed, defined by statute as \"not openly discernible to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person.\"\n\nOpen carry would be just that - carrying a handgun without trying to conceal it (for example, in a holster on your belt, like a uniformed cop). Open carry of handguns is not allowed in Texas.\n\nOpen carry of a long gun (i.e. rifle or shotgun) is allowed (without a license), unless it is done in a manner \"calculated to cause alarm.\""
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qkcvs | the "companion cube" and the attraction to it. | I am pretty sure it is from the Portal series, but I don't understand why some people, such as r/gaming, are so intrigued by it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/qkcvs/eli5_the_companion_cube_and_the_attraction_to_it/ | {
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"It's from the Portal series. Through the progression of the story line, the cube almost becomes an inanimate friend. It's an innovative relationship in an innovative game, which is why people are so drawn to it.",
"The companion cube was my friend, but I actually have a deep affection for the turrets, too, even though they were trying to kill me. They are just so friendly and pleasant to be around. It hurt me every time I had to disable one. Whenever possible, I would pick them up and turn them to face a wall, and set them down gently, instead of tossing them.",
"In Portal 1 there was this puzzle. The whole idea was to bring one cube with you through the level. During play-testing it took a long time for the testers to figure out this key point of the level. So they changed the level up a bit and painted the cube pink with a heart and let the game tell you multiple times to keep the now named Companion Cube by your side. This change made the cube almost like a character.",
"While it has been answered quite well a couple of times, I felt like giving this a go as well.\n\nAs correctly stated by *sneerpeer*, it was difficult for the play testers to figure out that they should bring this one cube with them through the entire test, using it in several different ways. In order to drill into us that we should use the cube, Valve had the narrative talk about it constantly throughout that test. Somewhat similarly to how a soldier values his gun (*\"there are many like it, but this one is mine\"*), players started to like and \"trust\" the companion cube as it helped protect them from deadly energy spheres and to solve puzzles.\n\nAt the end of that test chamber, you are forced to throw your companion cube into an incinerator in order to continue. This served two purposes: it helped build up GLaDOS' sinister side, and it stopped players from trying to bring the cube with them through the rest of the game. The end of each chamber has a \"Material Emancipation Grill\" which destroys most objects you try to bring through it, and such a cheap \"death\" would seem almost like a set-up for a secret passage. I believe a number of play testers did try to find said (inexistent) passage.\n\n**TL;DR:** Because people were too stupid to figure out a puzzle, Valve made the necessary cube into a character we would care for. ***We did*.**"
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2p4ogb | if torture works then couldn't you just torture all of the people who claim it works until they admitted it does not work? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2p4ogb/eli5_if_torture_works_then_couldnt_you_just/ | {
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"Well, by 'torture works' people mean that 'torture extracts accurate information'. So if torture works, then you'd just get everybody telling you that it works.",
"That proves the point that under such torture methods the accuracy of the information is so low its not useable. I bet if I waterboarded you and the only way it would stop is if you admitted to selling the gun to lee harvey oswald you would admit it in under 15min."
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eyov16 | how is acid capable of corroding materials? what enables it to have this property? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/eyov16/eli5_how_is_acid_capable_of_corroding_materials/ | {
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"Corrosive reactions are reactions - two or more molecules encountering each other, thinking \"y'know what, let's become something else\" and then becoming something else. This happens because the end results of the reaction are a more preferable state to be in, thermodynamically. Let's take an example:\n\nHydrochloric acid and sodium metal. In its normal state, sodium is just a bunch of sodium atoms all in one place. Hydrochloric acid is made by dissolving the covalent HCl molecule in water, creating a solution with a lot of charged hydrogen and charged Chlorine atoms (a charged molecule is loves to react with things, is probably the most you need to know about that). Normally, hydrogen and chlorine don't really like each other when they're in water together, so they disassociate, instead of remaining as HCl. They also don't like being alone, though, and can only hang out in their gaseous forms when they're stuck to another atom of the same element. However, because of how they share electrons, they can't do this. That's a really complicated thing though that I suspect you don't need to know about. \n\nThen, you drop some Sodium into the mix. Charged chlorine loves to stick to sodium, so every chlorine atom in the acid plucks one sodium atom off the sodium piece, forming sodium chloride. This moves some electrons around, and allows the hydrogen to float off as hydrogen gas (hence why this reaction fizzes). Sodium chloride meanwhile is an ionic compound (common table salt, in fact), which dissolves in water and which forms crystals, not metals. So, gradually, the size of the sodium piece gets smaller, because sodium is being ripped off to become sodium chloride, and the acid also becomes less acidic because the molecules that make it acidic are being turned into salts and gasses. \n\nThe acidic property of acids comes from the fact that hydrogen atoms dissociate from their compounds while dissolved in water. Not all hydrogen-containing compounds do this, but the ones that do are called acids. The amount to which they dissociate (not all molecules will dissociate all the time, only a proportion of all the molecules) determines the strength of the acid.",
"Something is acidic if it has a lot of positive hydrogen ions floating around in it. These little hydrogens want nothing more than to find and hug their best friends, electrons, and will kidnap them any chance they get. Problem is these friendly electrons are usually working at the time, and their job is being the glue of the molecular world."
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6qk1ef | how did "lucifer", which means "lightbringer" in latin, become one of the names associated with satan? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6qk1ef/eli5_how_did_lucifer_which_means_lightbringer_in/ | {
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"Its in the bible. Specifically, [Isaiah 14:12](_URL_0_). Here, it talks about the angel who wanted to put himself above God, and it calls him \"Light-bringer\" or Lucifer.",
"While /u/TheGamingWyvern has given you the usual explanation, it doesn't even hint at the whole story.\n\nThe passage in Isaiah 14:12 is a type of poetry called a \"taunt song\" a sort of Old Testament celebrity roast. Isaiah is actually sarcastically referring to the King of Babylon: one of his titles was \"The Shining One\", which was also what they called Venus, the Morning Star; another of his titles was \"Son of the Dawn\". And that's how Isaiah addresses him: \"O Shining One, Son of the Dawn...\" It's just that the King James Bible decided to use the Latin word \"Lucifer\" at this point.\n\nThis Lucifer actually has nothing to do with Satan. In verse 4, God tells Isaiah that he is to give the following prophecy to the King, and then the taunt starts. Verse 12 basically means: \"Hah! You call yourself the Morning Star? Well look at you now, fallen out of the sky!\"\n\nIn the New Testament -- Luke 10:18 -- Jesus is quoted as saying, \"I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.\" Actually, a more accurate translation of the original Greek would be \"I was watching Satan falling...\", and he was reacting to his disciples' report that they had been successfully driving out demons. Nobody really knows whether Luke was deliberately referencing Isaiah 14, but in the popular imagination the connection took hold and people equated Lucifer with Satan.\n\nThe idea of Satan as a fallen angel is a much more modern idea.\n\nEDIT: Thanks for gold.",
"In biblical lore, before Satan was cast from heaven, he was the leader of the angels and the most favoured angel in heaven. But a rift between God and Satan resulted in Satan being cast down to earth.\n\nIn history, the Babylonian king referred to himself as the first star. Kings always think very highly of themselves, and the first star of the morning is impressive. But this title of first star of the morning comes from an scene that occurs on many clear mornings. This scene is the shining of a star as the sun rises. That is, it is the last star visible before the sky is flooded blue. The light bringer refers to this star, also known as the first star of the morning, or the morning star. \n\nLucifer is a Roman translation that means morning star. This was apt for early Christians because they considered Satan to be the first among the angels, or the leader of the angels.\n\nHowever, the morning star to which they are referring Venus. Venus appears as the brightest star on the morning depending on the time of year. This is because it is relatively close to earth and reflects the light of the sun easily. It's usually the last star to disappear form the morning sky as the sun rises.\n\nSo when Isiah was referring to Lucifer, he was in fact referring to Venus. The later Roman translation creates Lucifer, which became the name of Satan, as a means to identify a fallen star, or the great first star among the angels, or the angel that was cast from heaven. The translation was wrong, and Lucifer as Satan was born.",
"It's interesting to note that the figure of Satan/Lucifer is actually an amalgamation of three figures in mythology.\n\n1) The Serpent in the garden of Eden. A figure of corruption. \n\n2) Ha-Satan, which means 'The Adversary.' Think of him as a celestial District Attorney that lays out your sins when you die and stand before God and are judged. He also has a spot in Heaven and converses with God on a regular basis.\n\n3) Lucifer, fallen Angel, which others here have covered very well.\n\nThey all sorta got mashed together over the last two thousand years. ",
"It's been a while since I did my degree (theology) but I focussed heavily on the Satan myth in my dissertation and if I had pursued academia further word have been the basis of any doctoral work. If memory serves the simple explanation is the character is actually a mix of translational issues, biblical references, pagan artifacts and several apocryphal stories that have all been amalgamated into one overarching narrative. \n\nSatan in either Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic (can't remember the language for the source text) is actually a title, the correct term being something like 'Hasatan' or 'Hashaitan' (it was 10 years ago I did the research, bare with me). This title was actually a political stab at some infamous despot or another at the time. I think the literal translation is 'the adversary'. This was interpreted by early scholars as a proper name and was characterised into this malevolent persona. Over time it got swept together with things like the serpent myth in Genesis, Origins poems, the signs of the first rapture in Daniel and the second in Revelations, Hades from Greek myth, Zaroastrian Angra, Chernobog, Djinn Legends from Persia, Enoch's story of the Fall and a thousand other cultural influences into this broad overarching narrative. Satan itself just represents 'that which we are opposed to', whereas the Lucifer tale of the fallen angel comes from Enoch, Dante, Blake and Milton. \n\nIt's important to remember that there is no one 'Bible' there are thousands of texts, written across hundreds of years by thousands of authors in dozens of different languages (most of which we can only guess at reading). What you commonly think of as the Bible is just what a few old dudes decided they wanted to cram together into one book at Nicea, or under King James or in some church or university somewhere. What one you refer to just depends on your chosen breed of insanity/sun worship. There isn't really one Satan story because the story is actually a cultural phenomenon. It's a persona we invented as a society over two thousand years of culture. \n\nI'm sorry if that's a bit of a tangled mess to follow, but I'm skimming over a lot of detail from my memories of research I did a decade ago. \n\nFun fact: Of all the characters associated with Satan in the NRSV edition of the Bible, not one of them ever tells a lie. The devil always tells the truth (which probably had a significant impact in tying him to the Lucifer story from Enoch).\n\nNinja Edit - Forgot about my boy Dante Alighieri",
"Hmm, I fell under the assumption that Lucifer, like Prometheus, carried this name because he \"tricked\" Adam and Eve into eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Lightbringer being synonymous with enlightenment, it would make sense that Satan would be referred to as such since he is thought to be the one that brought understanding to mankind. I haven't actually formally studied this, so take this with a grain of salt. ",
"Satan in Hebrew is just \"adversary\" or \"accuser.\" There is no one Satan in the Old Testament, it's just a title; the New Testament is where the singular Satan/Devil is developed as a figure. That's important to bear in mind because there are so many misconceptions about Satan. \nLucifer is attached to Satan because of a prophecy in Isaiah 14 regarding the king of Babylon at the time who is sarcastically referred to as the \"Shining Morning Star\" in translation. For some ignorant reason, despite the text quite literally prefacing the statement by saying it's about the king of Babylon, people have relentlessly attached it to Satan because of speculation about his origin. Tradition is a powerful thing and it's not helped by the influence of various religious groups, especially Gnostics, on contemporary understanding of pseudo-religious myth. ",
"At the Bible college that I attended, one of the OT professors said that the first tie-in of Lucifer and Satan was contributed by Jerome, of Vulgate fame. \n",
"I'm not sure what the origin is, but it is interesting, because \"lucifer\" in roman refers to the morning star. \n\nThe last thing that Jesus says in the book of revelations is, \"I am the bright and morning star.\"\n\nI kind of see it as a commentary on the duality of man, but I'm no biblical scholar.",
"2 Corinthians 11: \n\n > 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.\n\n > 14 And no marvel; **for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light**.\n\n > 15 Therefore it is no great thing if **his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness**; whose end shall be according to their works."
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"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+14%3A12&version=KJV"
],
[],
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[],
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54h7ea | do planes have to compensate for the movement of the earth? | Suppose this. A plane is trying to fly from Point A to Point B 100 miles north of it. As we know, the Earth rotates from west to east and the lower atmosphere moves along with it. If the plane tried flying due north to get to Point B, wouldn't it end up a bit west of it? Would the plane not have to fly diagonally, rather than due north, to reach point B from point A?
I tried googling about this, but all I could find were examples using east and west, which is a slightly different situation. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/54h7ea/eli5_do_planes_have_to_compensate_for_the/ | {
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"Yes, but not for to the reason you might think.\n\nWhen a plane takes off it's moving at the same speed that the ground is. The air is moving at the same speed that the ground is. As far as the plane is concerned the planet may as well not be spinning here. As the plane flies it's going through air that is, for the most part, stationary relative to the ground. When it's not stationary it's because of wind, not because of the ~1000 mph velocity of the ground (at the equator) from the planet rotating.\n\nHowever, planes cover great distances. As a plane flies north or south it winds up closer to or farther from the planet's axis of rotation. This means that we have to consider the Coriolis Effect, which is much the same thing as what happens when a figure skater pulls her arms in during a spin. If you have something in rotational motion and you pull in towards the axis of rotation then the rotational velocity increases.\n\nThat means that as a plane flies towards the poles it will seem to drift east compared to what you'd otherwise expect, while a plane flying towards the equator will drift west. This isn't that big of a drift and it's easy to compensate for, but it's certainly there. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | |
59gxfl | what do roller coasters do to the chemistry in some people's brains that causes them to think their going to die, while in other it simply gives them a rush? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/59gxfl/eli5_what_do_roller_coasters_do_to_the_chemistry/ | {
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"The only difference between fear and excitement is the way you think about it. Adrenaline causes the same biological response whether you're on Team Excitement or Team This-Is-How-I-Die. Do you *expect* to be scared? You probably will feel scared. Do you *expect* to have fun? You probably will have fun.\n\nThis premise has been distilled into a lot of Pinterest-y bullshit, and saying that the difference is psychological doesn't make the answer less simple. There are a lot of learned assumptions, unconscious decisions, risk tolerances, etc. For example, if you have a hard time tolerating anxiety, any adrenaline response might seem scary and unbearable. If you grew up in a home where risk is bad and the world is a scary place, fear might be your automatic response to adrenaline. On the other hand, if you associate adrenaline with fun or a thrill (i.e. goofing around when you were a kid, playing sports, etc.), you might not see the adrenaline response as a sign of a threat."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
35xwdw | how do you define an alcohol addiction? as a college student, i'm drinking 3-4 times a week - but so are most the people i know | I don't understand what makes someone an alcoholic. As I said, me and many other students living in residence are drinking and going out 3 - 4 times a week. We drink because we're going partying though.
I have never felt the NEED for alcohol like I do for a cigarette - is it a physical addiction? Psychological? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35xwdw/eli5_how_do_you_define_an_alcohol_addiction_as_a/ | {
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"text": [
"Alcohol has physical and habitual addictive properties. If you can stop without feeling the need to drink, you're not physically addicted but you may be habituated. \nAn alcoholic will get the shakes and strong cravings if they don't have a drink. Are you drinking too much? Maybe, most young people do, but I wouldn't worry unless you feel like you need booze to function. ",
"Alcoholism is alcohol addiction. If you want alcohol but are fine when you can't get it, you're not an alcoholic. If you NEED alcohol, it's addiction and alcoholism, regardless of how often or how much you drink",
"What does it get you? If you said you were cycling every day I would say okay. If you said you were joining a homebrewers club I would say okay. But partying? I party up to 3 times a week. I dance. ",
"On the practical side of it I would say you gotta ask yourself two things. \n\nIs it interfering with any other important aspect of your life? Like personal relationships, goals, work/school? \n\nDo you get cravings, or feel like you can't function if you haven't drank in awhile? Can you easily go a week without drinking?\n\nIf the answeres are 'no, no, and yes' then you're probably fine in my non-medical, non-expert opinion.",
"Also remember there is physical addiction (symptoms such as shakes, headaches, stomach aches from withdrawals of a substance) as well as psychological addiction (anxiety, unhappiness, mood swings, etc). One may be present without the other. And that's why not only alcohol but also marijuana are slippery slopes. Sure marijuana's not \"addictive\" in the physical sense, but bullshit if it's not potentially psychologically addictive. It's the same as even other things, such as food or even healthy things, such as working out. People can get in a pattern, get reliant on something, and have it improve their mood or even their physical well-being and become addicted to it and the feelings they bring. A weight bench doesn't have chemicals to cause addiction, but it's not common for a person to become addicted to the feeling of exercise, feeling of self-improvement, feeling of muscles getting tired and experience emotional distress when there's been a long withdrawal from being able to do it.\n\n\nAll in all, just be careful, man. It's really easy to become reliant on something without even knowing it or having physical side effects.\n\n\nedit: had a brain fart about what I was trying to say. Alcohol definitely can be physically addictive.",
"Frequency of alcohol use is an indicator of addiction, but it certainly isn't the sole indicator. It is entirely possible to get drunk every day as a matter of lifestyle, and not have a drinking problem.\n\nHowever, lifestyle drinking can often mask addiction. The warning signs are things like drinking alone, drinking early in the day, drinking during work or school, or missing those things becuase of drinking.\n\n > I have never felt the NEED for alcohol like I do for a cigarette - is it a physical addiction? Psychological?\n\nIt is less physically addicting than nicotine, but there still is a physically component. A seriously alcoholics, after withdrawing from alcohol, can suffer from *delirium tremens*. Symptoms include agitation, tremors, fever, and hallucinations that can last for days. The [pink elephants](_URL_0_) you hear about are as much about delirium tremens as they are about seeing funny things while drunk."
]
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"http://www.pascalkolkman.com/delirium/images/image1.jpg"
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203rw7 | what's the difference between a mirror and a window? | Aren't they both glass? Why can I see through one and not the other? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/203rw7/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_a_mirror_and_a/ | {
"a_id": [
"cfzj5bc"
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"text": [
"It's because of the special backing applied to glass intended to be a mirror. I believe it's a kind of silver compound. That is also why if the back of the mirror is scraped or chipped, that spot may lose its reflectiveness."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | |
3ypfud | why are meteorites flying around space so fast? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ypfud/eli5why_are_meteorites_flying_around_space_so_fast/ | {
"a_id": [
"cyfgpz3"
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"text": [
"Everything in space flies around something. Since most meteorites in our solar system come from our solar system, they were all part of the spinning dust cloud that gave birth to everything within it. Some may have spin from that cloud. Others get their orbits from whatever originated them. \n\nFor instance, let's say a certain meteorite comes from Mars. This means something slammed into Mars and lifted the rock past escape velocity into space. (Those that don't reach escape velocity fall back to Mars.) Mars is traveling around the sun at a certain speed. (If it didn't, it would just fall into the sun.) This rock is going about as fast as Mars, and may increase or decrease its velocity depending on how it interacts with other bodies. When it enters Earths atmosphere, it may strike Earth, orbit the Earth for a while, or just skip like a rock on the water, depending on the exact path.\n\nTL/DR: Everything in the solar system orbits the sun. The ones that don't go fast enough fall into it."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
9vy846 | is our bodies always fighting infection? | If we contract flu,pneumonia and colds etc we developed symptoms. But for people that are rarely sick, are they always still fighting infections but their body is able to fight it off before symptoms develop? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9vy846/eli5_is_our_bodies_always_fighting_infection/ | {
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"text": [
"Pretty much, yes. It's when our bodies encounter a virus or bacteria we haven't fought before that we get ill, while we produce antibodies that fight off the infection.\n\nThe body is also constantly fighting off fungal infections from the millions of spores that are floating around literally everywhere.",
"Yep. In fact, if you've ever had chicken pox, you are an example of this too. Chicken pox is caused by the \"varicella zoster\" virus, and when you're \"cured\" of the virus, some of it actually survives and remains dormant in some of your nerve cells, frequently trying to reactivate (as \"shingles\"), only to be smacked down again by your body's defenses before you experience any symptoms."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
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] | |
dei1td | why do you feel “zapped” after being out in the sun? | Edit clarification : feel zapped or drained/tired. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dei1td/eli5_why_do_you_feel_zapped_after_being_out_in/ | {
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"text": [
"The tingling/cooking feeling on your skin, and any white/blue tint to your vision is UV Radiation, \nPS it's not good for you",
"I think dehydration is a factor. During a day on the beach or by the pool you tend not to drink enough water. If you’re drinking alcohol outside in the sun that makes it even worse.",
"Not a biologist, so sorry if anything is wrong.\n\nBeing in the sun makes the body work harder to maintain your internal temperature. It causes vasodilation (blood vessels change size to regulate temperature), sweating, and increased heart rate. All that work wears you out.\n\nYour skin is also taking damage from the sun, even if you're not noticing a big sunburn. The damaged skin cells cause inflammation, much like when you're injured or sick, also causing tiredness.\n\nI've dug around looking for the answer and I've noticed a few other reasons that are given around the web, like the sun messing with your melatonin production (a hormone that regulates sleep), but I'm not too sure how much (or if) these things figure into it."
]
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[],
[],
[]
] | |
35dz3k | why we don't build up immunity to seasonal allergies over time. | Not sure if "immunity" is the correct word in this case, but how come they affect us our whole lives? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/35dz3k/eli5_why_we_dont_build_up_immunity_to_seasonal/ | {
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"text": [
"Because allergies are an immune response.\n\nAllergies are basically caused by your body overreacting to a perceived threat (like pollen or dust mites or whathaveyou). So you're being exposed to something that's actually quite harmless but your body presses the panic button anyway.\n\nThis happens largely because your immune system is *bored* and has nothing better to do, so it acts up like a kid who is bored and has noghing better to do. Studies on children suggest that kids who get sick a lot develop fewer allergies.\n\nNow, exposure to small and regular dosages (amping up all the time) can erase an allergy, but this apprach wouldn't be effective against seasonal ones.",
"Being allergic means your body \"over reacts\" to something that would normally won't hurt you. \n\nBeing allergic *is* developing immunity. What you need to not be allergic is have *less* immunity. \n\nIt affects you your whole life because being allergic is mainly determined by genetics, can't change that ol' building block in your cells. And some people do achieve tolerance (no more allergy) in time, or with treatment. \n\nSource: am an allergy and immunology dude. \n\nEdit: *Panache*"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] | |
7tt038 | why do theatres hate moviepass? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7tt038/eli5_why_do_theatres_hate_moviepass/ | {
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"text": [
"I haven't used it, but they market it as $9.95 a month for all the movies you want. There is no per-movie cost for the tickets.\n\nTrue, theaters make most of their money from concessions, but people who are seeing more than one movie a week probably are they type to not splurge on popcorn and soda.\n\nAnd the theaters are required to pay the distributor per-ticket sold, so they may actually lose money on tickets."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
1z0irz | the process of making meth. is breaking bad realistic? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1z0irz/eli5_the_process_of_making_meth_is_breaking_bad/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"From what I've read, they retained chemists to make sure it was realistic, but changed minor details here and there such that you couldn't actually make meth. \n\nSo in broad strokes, w/r/t ingredients and general procedures, it was correct."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
4e1h08 | why is it easier for two people to lift twice the weight together, than half individually? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4e1h08/eli5_why_is_it_easier_for_two_people_to_lift/ | {
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"text": [
"better distribution of weight. If you lift on your own you're basically lifting from the side and letting it pivot. if there's two of you you have two supports.",
"There are two different issues with lifting a heavy object: force and torque. Often with a large box, apply a *force* equal to the weight of the box isn't hard, but applying a *torque* that will keep the entire box in your hands (instead of allowing the box to tumble away from you) is harder. With one person applying a torque on each side, this issue disappears.",
"I don't think this is true unless the object have peculiar properties. Like being too long or irregular. In this case two people can balance the load better.",
"Torque. You need to keep an object balanced while lifting. This requires extra effort which depending upon the shape of the object and how you hold it, can mean using double or more of the effort. _URL_0_",
"When lifting an object, you are applying force to the ground through two points, which are your feet. With two points, you can make a line. All the weight must be balanced over top of that line, kind of like walking on a tight rope. \n \nBut with three or more points, you can make a two dimensional plane. So in stead of having to balance it over a thin line, it only has to be balanced somewhere inside of the rectangle formed by the two pairs of feet of the lifters. "
]
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[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeyDf4ooPdo&nohtml5=False"
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2vpjrb | how one battery charger can charge different battery types like nimh, nicd, and li - ion. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vpjrb/eli5_how_one_battery_charger_can_charge_different/ | {
"a_id": [
"cojrts8"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"because batteries all work the same way. and all a battery charger does is feed current into a battery. \n\nthe battery charger feeds current into the battery, then it's up to the battery to determine how to charge the internal cells. \n\nwhile the internals are different. it still has to maintain compatibility to the external devices it connects to."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
3baseg | do catholic churches have to officiate gay weddings now? if they don't, isn't it considered discrimination? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3baseg/eli5_do_catholic_churches_have_to_officiate_gay/ | {
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"text": [
"No. This is from the ruling:\n\n > Finally, it must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned. The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered. The same is true of those who oppose same-sex marriage for other reasons. In turn, those who believe allowing same sex marriage is proper or indeed essential, whether as a matter of religious conviction or secular belief, may engage those who disagree with their view in an open and searching debate. The Constitution, however, does not permit the State to bar same-sex couples from marriage on the same terms as accorded to couples of the opposite sex.",
"No. Religions were always allowed to have their own rules (such as catholics don't receive a religious funeral in case of suicide or if they elected to have their remains cremated, for instance, or people who were divorced before can't have a catholic wedding, just a \"blessing\" of their union, of course it depends on the priest, some are willing to bend the rules but it's officially not allowed).",
"No, but allowing gay marriage just allows them to get married. \n\nIf you want an example of this, let's say there are two Buddhists who want to be married- if they choose a church and ask that it be officiated, the church can easily go, \"Hmm... well, we're heavy on only Catholics, so sorry no.\"\n\nReasonably, you can think, \"Well I guess that makes sense\" which in another case, they could just rent the building on a Friday or something and use it like any other venue at the discretion of the building owners.\n\nThis same thing applies to gay weddings. You can be officiated by a Justice of Peace which is a non-religion based person who is legally allowed to officiate a wedding. So basically, you now have options to freely be married by a Justice of Peace (or any other registered person) that you wish. If your wish is to be married in a Catholic/Jewish/Muslim fashion, you might want to rethink that.",
"No. Not yet, anyway. I fear some day that will come.\n\nI'm not trying to be a slipperly-slope alarmist, but only five years ago everyone thought it was absurd that the government would force Catholic organizations to pay for birth control, and yet here we are."
]
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[],
[],
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5catas | why are posters and graphic designs so minimalistic now compared to stuff from the 50's, 80's, 90's etc? | It's kind of boring now, logos are bland and flat, posters are generic and empty, no more cool lightning shaped fonts or insane amounts of colour. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5catas/eli5_why_are_posters_and_graphic_designs_so/ | {
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"text": [
"The prevailing theory is that simple designs are easier to identify and to remember.\nThink of a silhouette shadow on the wall of a spider. We only have to glance at it for a moment to recognize it. A silhouette shadow of, I don't know, a folded T-shirt isn't as easy to recognize. It's simple, yes, but it isn't necessarily as identifiable because it could be any old square thing. \n\nThe apple from Apple; the bird from Twitter; the swoosh from Nike; the M-shaped golden arches from McDonald's; Mickey Mouse's 3-circle head from Disney; these are all ultra-simple designs that marketers want for the company's branding because it's easy for consumers to identify.\n\nA goal that many companies strive for when designing a logo to brand themselves with is to come up with something unique but, more importantly, simple enough so that someone could draw it accurately from memory.",
"It's the design pendulum. No matter how much fasionistias try to justify the current fashion as the best ever, brands will start moving back in the other direction to differentiate themselves from the status quo. There will be new justifications about why less minimalism is obviously far better, everything will slowly drift that way until it's overdone and cluttered, then a new generation will rediscover the idea of minimalism as the hot new obvious improvement. Back and forth. By trying to be just one step outside of the status quo to stand out in the crowd, it constantly pushes the pendulum from rest.",
"It will swing back the other way before long. This happens all the time in the art world. Always trying to be cutting edge by doing something \"new\". Almost everything has been done before in some capacity. I'd really love Victorian style to make a come back for a time. Get some practical steam punk looking stuff for awhile.\n\nMy favorite example of this swing is the Romans, who in their relief carvings would portray people as an ideal, over what they actually looked like. Then got bored of that and started to create hyper realistic carvings. Then went back to idealism again. It's so all over the board.\n\nException to these design changes: Egypt. They were around as an empire for like 4000 years. Only one time (as far as we know) did they drastically change their art style. Some pharaoh, forgot his name, changed everything up for like 60 some years. Soon as he died, the next pharaoh brought it right back to they way things were and tried to erase the previous pharaoh from history, including all the changes he made to the art style.\n\nArt history is fun.\n\nSource: graphic designer and art historian."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] | |
1t4sjo | what exactly causes a person, later on in life, to have almost no memories before they are 5 years old? | My wife calls her 0-5 years as her "coma years". | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1t4sjo/eli5_what_exactly_causes_a_person_later_on_in/ | {
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"text": [
"I wonder the same thing but I have a few memories from very early on in life, like a snapshot.",
"Loss of early childhood memories is extremely common. It's called [infantile amnesia](_URL_0_), and there are competing theories for why it happens.",
"Just now thought about this, but if you explain this like I am 5, will I instantly forget it? Haha",
"One theory is that a structure in the brain called the hippocampus (yeah, that's Latin for sea-horse... because it looks. like. a. seahorse. You can't make this up) is not highly developed. One of the major jobs of this part of the brain is coding of memory for long-term storage. \n\nTo put it as short as possible, your brain is still learning how to remember. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_amnesia"
],
[],
[]
] |
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