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1f27ft | the concept of the ghost in the machine | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1f27ft/eli5_the_concept_of_the_ghost_in_the_machine/ | {
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"EDIT: Wow, okay, so I'll leave up what I wrote but I just realized that I've been misinterpreting this \"ghost in the machine\" business for a while, and what I wrote is a common usage of the phrase, but untrue to its original meanings. The \"ghost\" is the mind, but the \"machine\" is the human body. [Descartes had posited that the mind and body, i.e. the immaterial and the material exist and act in parallel.](_URL_0_) That is to say, our soul or mind could influence our body, and vice versa. However, [Ryle disagreed and wanted to show how absurd that idea was by calling it a \"ghost in the machine\"](_URL_1_) as if a ghost (something intangible) could manipulate a machine (something tangible).\n\nWhat I wrote originally:\n\nIt's the philosophical question of whether or not a machine can have a \"soul\" or a \"mind\" or a \"consciousness.\"\n\nBecause what is a \"soul\" or a \"mind\" or a \"consciousness?\" What is it made of? What is it about the size and construction of our brain that generates a \"consciousness?\" What would we have to take away from our brain to remove \"consciousness?\"\n\nThese are hard questions, and the advent of machines and the possibility of \"artificial intelligence\" pose even harder ones, and make us question whether or not there is a \"ghost in the machine,\" or maybe more appropriately, a \"mind in the machine\" Like, can a machine ever gain a \"mind?\" Has it already? I.e., when a computer is executing a video game, is it \"thinking\" about that game? Is your computer \"thinking\" about displaying this web page? And is that \"mind\" the same as the one that we possess?",
"I think you are missing the other part, YOU are a ghost in a machine."
]
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_machine"
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33it7t | how does the wayback machine store so much data? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/33it7t/eli5_how_does_the_wayback_machine_store_so_much/ | {
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"They don't actually store that much. They don't store akot of images. Just the texts. Texts take up very little space",
"It's actually not difficult to compress large amounts of data as long as you don't have a requirement to \"re-hydrate\" them immediately. There's a concept in data storage called Deduplication. This means that each block of data is only written once. Any copies of that block aren't written, they just put a pointer to the piece that was written.\n\n\nLet's say I have a data file that is 1 GB in size. I save that. Then I email 100 of my co-workers with that file and they all save that to the same storage system (but in their own directories). The storage system writes 1 GB (and actually probably compresses it down first to about 500 MB), then everyone else's save file is just a block pointer to a memory location (a couple of Kilobytes). You've now saved 100 GB to the size of 500.01 MB. An almost 200:1 compression ratio. \n\nOne of my co-workers gets the bright idea to make a small change to that 1 GB file. He changes a couple of words. The storage sees those changes as unique, and writes just the changes, and even though he's saved a new copy of this file (version 2), it's only writing the changes (which still get compressed through standard compression, removing eager/lazy zeroes, etc).",
"[_URL_2_ server room](https://www.google.com/search?q=_URL_2_+server+room & num=100 & tbm=isch & tbo=u & source=univ & sa=X & ei=Fz04VZ-0Fov2sAXurICQBw & ved=0CD0QsAQ & biw=1485 & bih=861) \n\n[The Wayback Machine -- Hardware](_URL_1_) \n\n[Petabox](_URL_0_)\n",
"Their hard drives are located in 2025 when the server costs are much lower"
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1mjd6d | could someone explain defining functions like i'm five? | I'm currently learning Python, and I'm stuck in a rut when it comes to defining functions. Specifically what happens when you call a function, a function's place in the rest of the program, and what exactly happens when you "return" at the end of the function.
Thank you kindly. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mjd6d/eli5_could_someone_explain_defining_functions/ | {
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"when you call a function, you're basically telling your program to go to the start of that function and execute the code that is within the function definition.\n\na function's place in the rest of a program is to basically help you organize code, prevent duplication of code and to make maintenance easier.\n\nfor example, if i had a program that i wanted to print out \"Hello!\" in 3 different places:\n\n < lots of code here > \n print \"Hello!\"\n < lots of code here > \n print \"Hello!\"\n < lots of code here > \n print \"Hello!\"\n\nif all of a sudden, i wanted to change that to print out \"Hello, dude!\" instead, i now have to update three lines of code. if it was defined in a function, i'd only have to update one line.\n\nwhen you return out of a function, your program just goes back to where the function was called and continues. if you returned a value, that comes back with it.\n\n def print_hello():\n print \"Hello!\"\n return 1\n\n my_value = print_hello()\n print my_value\n \nif you ran that, your output would be:\n\nHello!\n\n1"
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5nau39 | how come our body can absorb protein from food like cooked chicken, shouldn't they denature? | When I accidentally microwaved protein powder once, I saw all the powder clump up which is sign of denaturing but how come cooking chicken won't denature those proteins and our bodies can still absorb it. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5nau39/eli5_how_come_our_body_can_absorb_protein_from/ | {
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"We're using the amino acids that make up the proteins to produce new proteins. Digestion denatures them if cooking didn't.\n\nAnd cooking chicken does denature some proteins. The gooey white stuff you see on chicken breasts sometimes when you cook them is mostly coagulated proteins.",
"They do, and that is how we absorb them. Whole proteins are way too big to be absorbed into your bloodstream through the cells that line your intestine - they just physically wouldn't fit.\n\nYour stomach contains specific enzymes, called proteases, which cut the proteins apart into their individual components, called amino acids. These are small enough to be absorbed by your body, and those then get used by your cells to build new proteins."
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51dszi | stress-strain relationship | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/51dszi/eli5_stressstrain_relationship/ | {
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"Strain is the response to stress. When you squeeze or stretch something you're applying stress. The object strains to accommodate that stress. What more would you like to know? ",
"When you pull on a spring with some force *F*, its length changes by some value *x*. The spring constant *k* tells us the stiffness of the spring, so if you know the force you can get the change in length and vice versa. The equation is like this: *F = kx* .\n\nThe notion of stress and strain is this same concept with a slightly different representation. Instead of a force, you have a force per area (stress, *σ*). Instead of a change in length, you have a change in length relative to some reference length (strain, *ε*). And instead of a spring constant, you have Young's modulus, *E*. But it's the exact same idea. Imagine instead of a spring, you have a rod. If you apply a certain amount of stress by pulling on the rod, you can use Young's modulus to figure out how much it will strain. The equation looks like this: *σ = Eε* .\n\nThings get more complicated when you consider stress and strain in more than one dimension, but it's still the same general concept. You push or pull on the material, and it deforms based on how stiff it is. It also gets more complicated when you consider plastic deformation (i.e. the material doesn't entirely go back to its original shape when the stress is removed), microstructural changes, viscoelastic materials, damage modeling, etc. "
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5vtslf | who are the union/teamsters? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5vtslf/eli5_who_are_the_unionteamsters/ | {
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"I'm not sure I understand the question, but the Teamsters are a union (officially called the 'International Brotherhood of Teamsters'), primarily formed in the trucking/shipping/delivery industries. \n\nUnions are groups of workers who work together to negotiate the terms of their employment. "
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34zppd | why is it acceptable for celebrities to receive millions of dollars in salary while a ceo of a billion dollar company is often criticized for that? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34zppd/eli5_why_is_it_acceptable_for_celebrities_to/ | {
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"Because people aren't rational - so many people won't even make that connection.\n\nOf course, it doesn't help that most people only notice the CEO when his company is doing something they don't like. The average person probably couldn't identity the CEOs of the vast majority of the big banks, or any other industry... unless they are involved in a scandal.",
"Because celebrity worship as a form of hero worship is built into our genetic memory. CEOs and massive capitalist ventures are still very new an abstract, so our attitude towards them is going to be cultural rather than instinctual. Right now, the cultural attitude is very Marxist, so CEOs get the rap. It's funny because CEOs aren't usually even the top beneficiaries of business success. ",
"Because despite their big salaries, the celebrities are often not the top dog in the chain, they're just employees of someone making even more money. \n\nIt might seem crazy that an NFL player is getting paid $14 million for a year, but in the current agreement with the owners, all of the players combined only get 47% of the league revenue. The other 53% goes to the 32 owners. Sure the owners have to pay a bunch of costs out of that, but they're almost certainly all pocketing at least 10's of millions of dollars per year, and all without sacrificing their bodies the way that the athletes do. \n\nIt might seem crazy for someone to pay Brad Pitt $20 million to star in a movie, but if the movie grosses $350 million just in box office receipts, there are people making way more than $20 million from it. ",
"Actors receive lots of money because they bring in big money for the movies they work in. There is the perception that executives rarely benefit the companies they work for in a way that justifies their salaries, and that they often fail upwards - being rewarded for poor jobs.\n\nFor example, recently announced presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was formerly the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and did so poor of a job that she was forced to resign. But unlike you or me, who would get very little in a severance package for being fired, Fiorina got $20 million dollars. Twenty million US dollars *for being tossed out*. What sense does that make?\n\nSource: _URL_0_",
"Most of the criticism has to do with the ratio of pay relative to others who helped earn the money. A CEO of a large company ultimately relies on the labor of thousands below him, and the proportion of the company's revenues going to the CEO vs. the rank-and-file employees has increased dramatically in the past couple decades even as increased worker productivity suggest that the money should result in higher salaries for the rank-and-file. \n\nOn the other hand, that isn't really the case for actors, singers, athletes who are not the top of giant organizations in the same way. An actor or athlete is technically a highly paid employee of the movie's producers or team's owner.",
"What a lot of posts here miss is that it's more about perceived inequality than anything else.\n\nWhen people hear about the income of a CEO and compare it to employees working in the lower levels of the corporate hierarchy, it can seem unfair. \n\nPart of this is a lack of understanding of market forces in the economy as well as a lack of transparency related to the importance of the CEO to the company. \n\nCEO's are often just as important as celebs or sports stars, however they are seldom in the public eye. Most people have no idea what a CEO actually does. Just as top tier athletes operate at a level that is beyond most average people, CEO's tend to operate at similar levels of stress and operational management. It's something few people can handle and even excel at. For this reason they are often highly financially compensated by shareholders and/or board members.\n\nTL/DR: People get paid what they are worth and the general public is bad at estimating what people are worth.",
"Some of the answers seem to forget a fundamental difference between celebrities and CEOs.\n\nCEOs have duties and responsibilities to a large group of stakeholders. Every dollar they are being paid means a dollar less that shareholders and employees of that company get. So people are outraged that some employees down the line gets paid near minimum wage and the CEO gets millions. This is especially true if the CEO gets millions and the company isn't doing so well, then investors start to question if some of that money should be theirs. \n\nCelebrities aren't responsible to anyone financially. In fact, it's the populous who voluntarily pay money towards them (buying magazines, buying branded items they endorse, watching movies, listening to music, watching TV etc...) that evaluate and appraise them. The people are the ones contributing to their wealth in the first place. If you don't want a celebrity making money, boycott them.",
"CEO pay has changed significantly in the past 50 years. Celebrity compensation, for all intents and purposes, hasn't. [The average ratio of CEO-to-average worker wages in the US has increased from 20:1 in 1965 to 273:1 in 2012.](_URL_0_) That's really what people are reacting to. There have been movie stars for as long as there has been mass media. But CEOs making *hundreds* of times what the average worker of the company makes is a relatively new phenomenon that has particularly accelerated in the last 10-15 years.",
"It's the \"why\" factor. Celebrities often enrich my life with their talents whereas the CEO of big corporations typically get their riches on the backs of poor people doing most of the work.\n\nI feel like Brad Pitt deserves his money since he starred in some of my favorite movies that have enriched my human experience.\n\nI feel like the CEO of Walmart is a scumbag because he's hoarding all of the food for himself while the workers below him are starving.",
"Just for some perspective while a Brad Pitt may command $20 million to star in a movie. The other week Jeff Bezos CEO of Amazon made $5 billion in a single day. Literally in a single day. ",
"I think the difference is some CEO's make hundreds of millions due to huge amounts of stock options, and the things they do to make the stock go up are sometimes dubious and at the cost of labor.",
"Celebrities are the 'product' in a much more tangible way than a CEO is. A celebrity who tanked will have difficulty commanding a high wage. A CEO who tanked can just go and run for Governor.",
"CEOs are responsible for the workers below them. Receiving ludicrous salaries takes away from money that could be used to improve the company or pay the thousands of people they employ higher wages.\n\nCelebrities are only responsible for paying for the few people they choose to hire for themselves, like personal trainers or cooks. And those people are making some big bills, for the high-quality services they provide. Actors and singers are the employees, making money from their own talents. And they often receive millions because no one can replicate their performance - their product is specialized and highly desirable.\n\nTL;DR: A CEO is the boss, employing other people to make his money. A celebrity is a nearly non-replaceable employee, given big incentives to play a roll/create music/dance in a performance.",
"Several reasons. \n\nThe main one being that celebrities don't set the salaries of other employees.\n\nPeople aren't upset with ceo's for making millions. They are upset with them for making millions while paying others minimum wage.",
"It is because celebrities can more easily manage their public image towards the positive; they are in the movies, songs, tv-shows, etc. that you love. They entertain you. \n\nCEOs and what they do are invisible to 99% of the people -- except for their large compensations which are always picked on by the media. \n\nCEOs are often highly educated, well connected individuals and are almost always monitored by the shareholders of the company. Naively, the shareholders would prefer a CEO with zero pay and high efficiency while CEOs would like a high amount of money with zero efficiency (or work). Then supply and demand kicks in. There are not many individuals equipped to lead a Fortune 500 company. The ones who are will not do it for cheap as they don't have to.\n\nIf you really think about it, most CEOs are more important to the society than most celebrities. Sure there are some bad examples but then there is Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg and thousands of others who you have not heard of who have helped make the world a better place.\n\nI actually find the fact that athletes and artists make millions just as \"disgusting\" as high CEO pays -- in a sense the world is a pyramid and there are many different sides of it to climb to the top. Don't get mistaken by celebrities; they are just as greedy as the worst CEOs and the play the game just as ruthlessly. Their game is just a different version of the one CEOs play."
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2kt7r2 | the physical differences between bluetooth, rf transmission, wifi, nfc and other wireless connections | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kt7r2/eli5_the_physical_differences_between_bluetooth/ | {
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"The only difference is radio frequency. Like most \"wireless\" technology, it's all just radio waves, but at different frequency and power, and used for different purposes. \n\nLet's say if you compared NFC and wifi, NFC is actually faster at sending data packets compared to wifi, but operates at length between point to point. That's why NFC can exchange data with just a single tap of your phone to, let's say, a payment terminal. \n\nSo different types of technology for different types of usage. Where applicable."
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2e8qam | why do some of us lose all appetite when we feel guilty/sad and others gorge themselves? | I did some stupid things and now I just don't feel like eating even though I was hungry just a bit ago. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2e8qam/eli5_why_do_some_of_us_lose_all_appetite_when_we/ | {
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"Simply put, any type of stress can [release chemicals](_URL_1_) in your brain that physically slow down your digestive system, in turn making you lose your appetite. \n\nHowever, those same stress chemicals can very quickly [increase your blood sugar](_URL_2_) levels; eventually leaving you with low amounts. \n\nSelf-control [requires energy](_URL_0_) which comes directly from blood sugar. If you're running low, your brain will crave sugar and without much of this 'willpower energy' present you can see how it will lead to binge eating but also many other impulsive actions of short-term pleasure. \n",
"Nobody who gives you an even-halfway definitive answer knows what they're talking about.\n\nSource: my girlfriend's dissertation project involves an experimental investigation of certain facets of emotional eating behavior. I've been helping edit the lit review for months, and TL;DR: it's a new area and we don't have a real good clue beyond:\n\n1) Sometimes eating serves an emotion-regulatory function for some people\n\n2) Sometimes emotional distress suppresses appetite\n\nEdit: of course, other posts are going to begin to show up here saying: b-b-b-bbbbbrraaaiin chemicals! Yeah, of course. They're not an explanation (of anything, really). They're a *mediator*. A grand mediator, in that they facilitate every quantum of experience, learning, behavior, etc.--none of those things can occur without them. For most problems, they don't have much to say within a science of behavior, which is the appropriate domain of your question.",
"For someone who gets very depressed, loss of appetite is a result of a couple of things:\n\n* I derive zero pleasure from food, so when I'm depressed is easy for me to decide not to eat\n* Not eating is a form of self flagellation/punishment for feeling crap about myself and the current situation\n\nDepression sucks.\n \n ",
"i... don't think that's something that can be ELI5'd. i don't even think it's something that can be ELI-Doctor'd. i certainly can't explain why it is the way it is. scientists are looking into genetic markers that might have an effect.\n\nbut some of it has to do with habit, at least in the case of emotional over-eaters. they're used to eating at a sign of distress. distress becomes a cue. eating allows them to feel better for whatever reason. by perpetuating that habit, they become more and more used to it, and likely more and more overweight as a result.\n\nhope that answers it a little",
"I fucking adore food. When I'm sad I feel like I don't deserve to be happy. I mean this to an extreme degree. I can't eat. I just don't want to. At all. Everything repulses me. I haven't eaten in two days.",
"I really wish I knew. When I get very depressed, I'll sometimes go days without eating, or having just the bare minimum to survive. I'm not even sure how to describe it other than I just don't feel like eating.",
"First off, let me preface this by saying that appetite is an extremely complex biological process that involves many biological systems that are intricately connected. In the situation you are asking about I believe it can be explained with two key parts about how the brain deals with food.\n\n1) \"Rest and Digest\" vs. \"Fight of Flight\": The autonomic nervous system is tasked with keeping your body in homeostasis by either activating the parasympathetic nervous system (\"rest and digest\") or the sympathetic nervous system (\"fight or flight\"). When you're under acute stress or anxiety, epinephrine activates the sympathetic nervous system which shuts down non-essential life activities like digestion and appetite. In modern day society, feelings of guilt or stress can trigger this acute reaction and make you lose your appetite. Over time stress can become chronic and will cease to trigger such a strong autonomic response, which leads to some people using food as emotional self-regulation (see below).\n\n2) Food as reward: Eating food triggers the reward pathway in your brain (more specifically, the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens). This is the same pathway used for any other pleasurable activity with the possibility for addiction (sex, gambling, drug use, etc.).\nThrow in some learned conditioning of looking to food for comfort and you have a emotional self-regulation tool that some people turn to when they're feeling sad, upset, bored, etc.\n",
"To add to the perplexity, before I went on birth control, I was an extremely emotional eater. After I went on birth control, I lose all appetite when I'm sad/stressed/etc. "
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226uhi | how is the summit of mt. everest the highest point on earth but not the farthest point from the center of the earth? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/226uhi/eli5_how_is_the_summit_of_mt_everest_the_highest/ | {
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"The earth is not a sphere.\n\nIt is a shape called an oblate spheroid - it is wider at the equator. That means that sea level at the equator is further from the centre of the earth than sea level at other points on the planet.\n\nThe point farthest from the centre of the earth is Chimborazo, a volcano in the Andes in Ecuador. It is very close to the equator, much closer than Mount Everest, which is why it is able to make this claim.\n\nSee _URL_0_ for more details.",
"Relevant: The actual shape of the earth:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nLooks like a big chunk of rock, we are essentially a big spinning asteroid."
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37o7d8 | why the us is allowed to shutdown websites such as mega-upload? | Why is the US allowed to seize and shutdown websites that they consider illegal?
For example: Why was the US allowed to seize the mega-upload domain in 2012 and shutdown the site, when the internet is a global thing and should not be controlled by one country. I am sure in some small countries the site wasn't breaking in laws, but now the site is closed for them to. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/37o7d8/eli5_why_the_us_is_allowed_to_shutdown_websites/ | {
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"Because the relevant assets were inside the jurisdiction of the governments that did the seizures.\n\nA website hosted inside Germany using the .de ccTLD of Germany is safe from the USA because all of its assets are inside Germany. Germany can take action against them, though. "
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1k9odv | the difference between various audio formats: mp3, wav, aac, etc. | Also, what does "lossless" mean? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1k9odv/eli5_the_difference_between_various_audio_formats/ | {
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"Each has it's specialties, but mostly it comes to 3 categories:\n\n* Uncompressed: No compression, usually huge files with great quality. Example: .WAV\n\n* Lossless compressed: Compressed in a way that it will be exactly the same as the original when uncompressed, medium sized files with good quality. Example: .FLAC\n\n* Lossy compressed: Compressed in a way that some data (like sounds that cannot be heard by humans) is lost and not recoverable, small sized files with low quality. Example: .MP3",
"When you compress audio into a \"lossy\" format, you essentially throw away parts of the sound. The goal is to guess which parts you won't notice if they go missing, then discard them.\n\nA \"lossless\" format ensures that no parts of the sound are tossed out. This will result in bigger files, though, which is the trade-off - bigger files but the exact identical sound as the original.\n\nIf you want, you can think of it like images - you know how when you save a JPG, you can choose how much compression you want to use? You typically pick a value between 1 and 100 (where 100 means \"no compression at all\"). Between 90-99, you really can't tell the difference, but when you get down to, say, 50 it starts to look all blocky.\n\nA lossy format is like choosing some JPG value less than 100. A lossless format is more like zipping your image instead of saving as a JPG - when you unzip it later, you get the exact same file back.\n\n* Lossy formats: MP3, AAC, OGG\n* Lossless formats: FLAC, APE, WAV, AIFF\n\nNote: WAV and AIFF are uncompressed formats - they're the biggest type of file. Their main benefit is 1) everything ever can play them, and 2) zero overhead to play them. If you say \"I want to start this song 30 seconds in\", I can easily calculate where to go in the WAV file, whereas the FLAC will take me a bit more to figure out. You don't typically store your music as a WAV or AIFF, it's usually used as an intermediate file - like when you want to bring something into an editor or make a new mix or somthing like that."
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5n9o1r | when a phone dies how does it still have enough power to tell me it is dead? | When a phone dies, how/where does it get the power to show the screen of the dead battery? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5n9o1r/eli5_when_a_phone_dies_how_does_it_still_have/ | {
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"Because you phone isn't completely dead yet. It \"shuts down\" when it has a small about of power left and uses that remaining power to display the low power message and keep your data open.",
"Lithium-ion batteries are never intentionally drained to zero; doing so would cause irreversible damage, and possibly create an unsafe situation.\n\nInstead, devices will cut off at some point to avoid damaging the battery. To reassure users that their phone is still in working order, but with a low battery, the phone may turn on the screen for a brief moment and/or flash a LED.",
"The battery isn't dead, it's only very low on power. Now the next question you will probably ask is: Why does it shut down before the battery is dead?\n\nThe main reason is that shutting the phone down properly actually takes time. The phone has to shutdown all of the apps that are running, and ensure that it is done writing any files that are currently being written, and other tasks like that. And it is not always possible to tell exactly how much time that will take. \n\nSo to be on the safe side phones will generally start the shutdown sequence as soon as the battery reaches a level where there is no guarantee that it will be able to stay on for more than a couple of minutes."
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4k09m1 | pokemon: what is/are iv breeding? ev training? shiny pokemon? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4k09m1/eli5_pokemon_what_isare_iv_breeding_ev_training/ | {
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"In Pokemon each species has certain strengths and weaknesses, but two individuals aren't exactly the same. Furthermore, you can change their strengths and weaknesses to some extent by how you train them.\n\nIVs are the numbers that are associated with an individual Pokemon from the moment it is created (either by a random encounter or from breeding). Each stat—health, attack, etc—has an IV associated with it. The IV is a number between 0 and 31, where at level 100 a Pokemon with an IV of 31 will have 31 more in that stat than an otherwise identical Pokemon with an IV of 0. At lower levels the benefit is smaller, but it is still present.\n\nPeople trying to get optimal Pokemon for dueling will seek out the highest possible IVs. One way to do this is to breed Pokemon. Normally a bred Pokemon will get 3 of their 6 stats from its mother and 3 from its father, but you can manipulate this through various mechanics. You would typically look for wild Pokemon that have a perfect value in one of their IVs, then try to get those IVs passed down to offspring.\n\nShininess is another intrinsic property of a Pokemon, determined when its stats are generated. In Gold/Silver this was based on that Pokemon's IVs, but in later games it is based on other values. The odds of a random Pokemon being shiny are 1 in 8192, so it's largely just a status symbol for collectors. Since Generation III it is no longer mutually exclusive with perfect IVs.\n\nEVs are the way that you can affect the stats of a Pokemon during training. Each time your Pokemon defeats an enemy Pokemon it gets some points for one or more specific stats; the stat(s) it gets points for is determined by the species of Pokemon defeated. If you wanted to train a Pokemon to be incredibly fast, for example, you could defeat a bunch of Pidgeots, which give 3 EVs in speed. (Aside: the system was different in generations I and II).\n\nEV training is important because there's a limit to the number of points you can get in total. It takes ~250 points to max out the effect on a stat, but you can only get a maximum of ~500 points in total before additional battles have no effect. If a duel-oriented player has a specific role for a specific Pokemon then they'll want to carefully choose how they train it so that they can maximize the stats that they care about. ",
"\nWhen you find a wild pokemon, there is a very low chance of it having sparks and having a different color. That's a shiny pokemon. Since they are rare and flashy, people are really atracted to those pokemon.\n\n ___\n\nEVs (Effort values) are hidden \"stats\" that determine how much a pokemon's real stats (HP, Attack, Defense, Sp. Attack, Sp. Defense and Speed) will increase when it levels up. A level 100 pokemon will have a stat one point higher each 4 EVs in that stat, than a level 100 poke with no EVs.\n\nEVs are increased by defeating a certain species of pokemon. What I mean is, each species gives your pokemon a certain amount of EVs for each stat when defeated. For example, defeating a Venusaur will grant your poke 2 EVs to your Sp. Attack and 1 EV to your SP. defense stats.\n\nHowever, each stat can't have more than 252 EVs, and a pokemon can't have more than 510 Evs in total, which means the trainer has to choose carefully which stats of its pokemon are important to raise, and which ones will be underdeveloped in comparison. \nThis can be determined by looking at a pokemon's base stats, which basically give you an idea of how fast each stat grow.\n\nFor example, a Gengar's base stats tells us that his best stats are Speed and Special Attack, while his other stats are mediocre at best. So, most people will consider EV training their Gengar by ensuring he only battles pokemon that reward with Speed and Sp. Attack EVs on defeat, and will do so until both stats' EVs reach 252. \n252 + 252 = 504 out of 510. 4 EV's can go to any other stat to increase it by 1, and 2 EV's will be wasted.\n_____\n\nIV's (Individual values) are hidden attributes that determine some characteristics of a pokemon, most importantly, how fast it's stats will grow. This factor is as much as important as EV training, however, it's much more time consuming and luck dependant. I don't quite understand how it works as much as EVs, so I can't really help you with that."
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aaxkmq | why is noon 12 “pm” instead of “am” when it followed 9, 10 & 11 am? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aaxkmq/eli5_why_is_noon_12_pm_instead_of_am_when_it/ | {
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"Noon is considered midday, and anything following would be considered after midday, or post meridiam (PM).",
"Think of 12 as more of a “0” than 12. Midnight is a new day, not the end of the previous day, and in military time 12:01 is 0001.",
"A.m. stands for “ante meridiem”, which is Latin for “Before Midday”; p.m. stands for “Post Meridiem”, which is Latin for “After Midday”.",
"The Romans invented the 12 hour clock dial and their number system doesn't have a concept of zero; that's why it's 1-12"
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1qjwzd | why do we feel physical changes as a result of emotional changes? ex when you get that lump in the back of your throat when you cry or chest pain in love | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qjwzd/eli5_why_do_we_feel_physical_changes_as_a_result/ | {
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"[This] (_URL_0_) should be explanation enough."
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"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGglw8eAikY"
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22fk9k | how does breaking someone's neck supposedly kill them immediately? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22fk9k/eli5_how_does_breaking_someones_neck_supposedly/ | {
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"When your neck breaks near your skull, three things happen - you can't move, you stop breathing, and your body loses the ability to control your heart. While you're not technically dead *yet*, you're close enough to it (the action/kung fu movie trope of a person slumping lifelessly to the ground), and *will* be dead shortly thereafter without medical attention.\n\nIt basically happens because the 'wire' (spinal cord) that runs from your brain to the rest of your body, that tells it to move and keep living, is severed.",
"Short answer: it doesn't. That's just a movie thing.\n\nLonger answer: just breaking your neck bones will not kill you. But severely damaging your spinal cord is a strong possibility with a broken neck, and can be fatal in a couple of ways. Severing the spinal cord separates the brain from the body below the level of the injury. An injury at a high enough level (above the third cervical vertebra) will paralyse your respiratory muscles and you will be unable to breathe. This won't kill you immediately, but complete respiratory paralysis isn't survivable for long without treatment. Spinal cord injuries can also cause paralysis of the autonomic nervous system causing your blood vessels to relax and dilate inappropriately. This can cause a potentially-fatal drop in blood pressure which can again result in death within a few minutes.\n\nI'm a doctor who has treated people with spinal injuries, though this is not my specialty.",
"Thanks for the answers!"
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7wsg5n | why does discharged battaries bounces higher from the ground than fully charged batteries? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7wsg5n/eli5_why_does_discharged_battaries_bounces_higher/ | {
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"Surprisingly, this is not an urban myth and has in fact been tested and explained scientifically: _URL_0_\n\nELI5: a fresh battery contains a gel-like substance, and the gel acts like a shock absorber that dampens bouncing. Discharging turns the gel gradually into a solid ceramic, which does not inhibit bouncing.\n\nNote: it was only studied for alkaline batteries, lithium-based or rechargable batteries may act differently."
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2drlw9 | why does a 72 pixel per inch image look sharp on a computer screen but not when printed? | I know that to get a sharp image from a printer you need to print at at least 300 pixels per inch so how come computer screens can still display at 72 pixels per inch and produce a clean image? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2drlw9/eli5_why_does_a_72_pixel_per_inch_image_look/ | {
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"text": [
"On screen the dots are fixed. On paper using ink the dots can't be nearly so perfect. It really depends on the quality of printer and paper you're using."
]
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d8wzqh | how dows pepsi agree to be joked about in coke's commercials/product placement? | E.g. in Yesterday movie (no spoiler, seen in trailer) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d8wzqh/eli5_how_dows_pepsi_agree_to_be_joked_about_in/ | {
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"Simply referring to a product by its trademarked name is not a violation of that trademark. Indeed, it is what a trademark is there for.\n\nSo, whether or not Coca-Cola paid for references in that movie, trademark law does not provide PepsiCo (or Coke, for that matter) a right to object to it. It may have been a different matter of the packaging or logos are used, because those are also copyrighted - that is more of a grey area in the law.",
"They don't agree to it, nor do they have to.\n\nA trademark is not a copyright, anyone is free to mention a brand name, they just can't defame it or give the impression they are being endorsed by it.",
"Years ago there were Pepsi ads that showcased a “blind” taste test in which more people preferred Pepsi over Coke. So Pepsi did the same thing in the past.",
"A long time ago, you used to not be allowed to mention other brands in advertising. So commercials would say things like \"our competitor\" or \"the alternative cola\". Then, in the 70s, the laws changed so other brands could be named. It's called comparative advertising and was thought to encourage comparison shopping and healthy competition.\n\nThe named brands do not have any say on whether or not they're mentioned.",
"it is theorised that they have an unwritten agreement between the both of them to ensure that carbonated soft drinks, and specifically their brands and flavours, dominate the cold beverage market. There is hundreds of billions, maybe trillions, of pure profits at stake over the centuries ahead, as well as even more money for all the truck drivers and bottle plant owners etc. The real tipping point will be when automation kicks in and Pepsi and Coca Cola can afford to give even more profits to retailers, offering them all a cut so big that even if customers preferred a less popular flavour that the retailer wouldn't be able to afford to stock it anyway, because smalltime drink makers can't bottle and distribute as cheap as Pepsi/Coke can even if they can access automation too.\n\nBut this theoretically future of easy money only comes if the balance of power is maintained, so it's in Coke's best interest if they remind everyone that Pepsi is the true Coke alternative, not bubble tea or whatever else is trying to muscle them both out. If Pepsi is taken out by chai lattes in most countries then Coke's position is far less secure even I they remain number one for now. suppose Cola falls out of fashion, or carbonated drinks, or sweet drinks. No, Coca Cola can sleep much better at night knowing that the \"cola wars\" is still a thing in people's minds, rather than just a general beverage war."
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1ju32b | how does google 2 step verification work? | Hi,
Looking to understand how the number shown on the app on my iPhone lets Google know its me, I guess a lot of people use the service so they must serve millions of these codes a day?
Also, I had an RSA key for logging into VPN for work that displayed a random number in a similar way except you needed to know a prefix number. Is this the same type of system or something completely different?
Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ju32b/eli5_how_does_google_2_step_verification_work/ | {
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"2-key authentication works essentially the same way with Google as it does with your RSA key.\n\nThe keycode on your RSA keyfob, or in the Google authenticator, is unique to your username. There is an algorithm used to generate the code that you see on your authenticator. The same exact algorithm is used on the authentication server as well - so your code will always match the server's code.\n\nSo, after you log in with your username/password combo you are presented with the 2nd phase of authentication. The authentication server (either by RSA, or Google, or whatever) knows that r_os_s has just logged in and the code on their keyfob should be \"XXXXXXX\". Assuming you have the appropriate keyfob, you enter the code, and are given access to the system.\n\nMost systems like this will also use a code+pin system for added security. So even if someone steals your keyfob, they might need to know your secret pin on top of that. In that case, you may be prompted to enter \"XXXXXXX-YYYY\" where \"YYYY\" is a 4 digit pin that only you know."
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63nsoj | the different political factions in syria | I was reading about the Syrian Civil War, after reading about the Sarin gas attack today and wanted to know more about it. The wikipedia article mentions four "factions":
Syrian Arab Republic
Syrian Opposition
ISIL
Rojava
What I find interesting is that both the Syrian Oppisition and Rojava are funded/supported(seemingly) by the US according to the article, yet they are opponents of eachother? Why is that? Do they not have similar goals?
What does each faction want/hope to achieve in Syria? What's the difference between them all? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/63nsoj/eli5_the_different_political_factions_in_syria/ | {
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"Syrian Arab Republic: Assad's government. Its a dictatorship, secular and Arab nationalist, (i.e anti non-arab). It used force against protesters, tortured political opponents and has used chemical weapons against its own people. It was also quite stable, secular and is thus considered better than the alternatives by some. It is supported by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.\n\nOpposition (FSA, al nusra): Rebels. They are the anti government faction, and tend to be sectarian (Sunni). They are extremely fractured, so its difficult to generalise a lot. Al-Nusra are affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and have clashed with the other rebel groups. They are primarily backed by Turkey and other Arab nations, and are supported by the US against IS. \n\nISIL: Also know as IS/ISIS. They are a hyper sectarian caliphate that holds territory in Iraq and Syria (and fight guerrilla wars across the Middle East). They gained international infamy after beheading journalists and posting the videos online, and have launched terror attacks in Europe. They have no international support, but receive volunteer fighters (illegally) from other countries, such as the UK or Denmark.\n\nRojava (SDF): An autonomous region in north Syria, controlled by the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces). The SDF are a secular group with an ideology based around democracy, feminism and local rule, heavily influenced by anarchism and Marxism. They are supported by the international coalition (US and friends) and are the primary anti IS force. They are also Kurdish dominated (rather than Arab) although they are ideologically egalitarian. Turkey hates them with a passion as the main SDF group, the YPG, has links to a similar (although terrorist) group in Turkey, the PKK.\n\nThe US supports anyone who is against IS, and also funds the rebels in the hope of toppling the government (although is slowly giving up on that). The SDF gets funding and support to fight IS. \n\nThe below map shows the situation, Red is Government, Yellow for SDF, Black for IS, Green for rebels, and blue for Turkish forces and proxies. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nFinally, inter-faction relations: \n\nGovernment is at war with IS and the rebels, has a truce with the SDF\n\nRebels fight the Government and clash with IS and the SDF\n\nIS fight everyone\n\nSDF mainly fight IS, sometimes attack the rebels (or are attacked by) and have a truce with the government. \n\nObviously the war is too complex to encompass in one post, so I'll elaborate on anything you ask about to the best of my ability, (however limited it may be) \n\n "
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3znouq | how can us politicians threaten to keep individuals with mental illness from purchasing guns? wouldn't that be a violation of the americans with disabilities act? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3znouq/eli5_how_can_us_politicians_threaten_to_keep/ | {
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"No. The Americans With Disabilities Act does not prevent Congress from changing any other law. (Moreover, I don't think it applies to selling guns to mentally incompetent people, but I don't care to look up the precise wording right now.) It wouldn't violate the Second Amendment either, as the right to bear arms has always had exceptions, such as criminals, foreigners and the insane. The Constitutional question is where one may draw the line on who is competent and who is not.",
"The ADA only covers discrimination regarding employment, transportation, public accomodation, communications and governmental services. No where does the law protect the right of a person to have a firearm. \nEdit: speaking only about ADA and not the entire corpus of law",
"No, because there is a legitimate threat to public safety if they have legal access.\n\nThe same reason narcoleptics and epileptics can't drive cars or operate machinery."
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58zan5 | why are tv car commercials so formulaic? | A list of features, some feel good background narrative, some prices at the end. Almost as formulaic as drug commercials, presumably without the same regulatory restrictions. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/58zan5/eli5_why_are_tv_car_commercials_so_formulaic/ | {
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"Many car commercials are actually only local broadcast. Local dealers run commercials using stock car footage supplied by the manufacturer's marketing dept and plug in the VO and titles... they have no budget for anything more complex.\n\nNational campaigns are less formulaic. The Lincoln commercials with Mconaghey are weird as fuck. Kia used to have man-size hamsters driving their cars.",
"In the UK there are rules that ban car commercials from glamorizing speed. If you take that away it doesn't leave the car companies a lot to show",
"The areas of the ads you are looking at is not where the action is. Think about what lifestyle or emotions they are selling in the different adverts. Yes, they always do some driving, features etc, but one may be aimed at a 'responsible family man' and another a 'cool surf dude who gets the chicks' for example. The literal narratives are all very similar and formulaic, yes, but the emotional content varies greatly. \n\nLook at this Leica advert for example \n\n_URL_0_ \n\nI picked this as Leica are always painfully obvious with their marketing, they really lack subtlety. Notice how there is one coherent vision of what the consumer is on this page, the main sell is 'if you buy this camera you will be a super cool dude touring a surf wagon round with a hot chick'. The funny thing is that they are so heavily invested in the Bernaysian idea that they are selling a lifestyle over features, is that the webpage almost completely omit the USP of the camera which is it uses instant film like a polaroid. The language they are using is all along that vein too.. \"*Whether on a surf adventure or out at a party*, the stylish, compact Leica Sofort is always by your side. *Dive* into the atmosphere and be inspired! When you encounter a special moment, frame it, capture it – quickly, intuitively and creatively! The simple operation and variety of manual settings of the Leica Sofort will help you take control.\" There's a million and one little propagandist tips of the hat on the page but hopefully you get the jist. \n\nIt's about selling a lifestyle or representation of self, rather than what the actual thing does. \n\nI'm pretty high and I can recognise that I have explained that very poorly but I hope it at least gives you the jist of what I'm on about.",
"In addition to the cookie cutter marketing narrative, it also doesn't help that in some cases it's super easy to create stock footage that the [body of the car can be edited into](_URL_0_). Basically, the same people could be shooting a large number of the car commercials you see, so that'd also contribute to having the same look and feel.",
"Car companies realized early on thay the average consumer doesnt wamt to hear too much about the specifics of the car as long as it looks nice and is moderately affordable. Extra points for celebrities in the commercials. The average consumer is usually pretty uneducated as far as things like car choices. ",
"The ads you are most likely referring to are produced by the manufacturer but purchased by the individual dealership and just tagged with their information. Is their formulaic because they're made for a very broad audience and for easy insertion of information. ",
"Hopefully I can shed some light on this. I'm really into cars. Sorry for responding like 13 hours after the post was made.\n\nSo, first, we need to look at some car ads. Are they all really formulaic? Well, in my opinion, no.\nLook at this [Mazda Miata commercial](_URL_0_), compare to this [Chevrolet Malibu commercial](_URL_4_) and this [Chevrolet Silverado commercial](_URL_2_), a [Kia commercial](_URL_1_) and finally a [Hyundai Commercial](_URL_3_). \n\nMazda Miata: A life story about a guy rediscovering his passion.\n\nChevrolet Malibu: People come in and try to guess what the car is.\n\nChevrolet Silverado: People come in and choose between two types of materials.\n\nKia Commercial: Dancing Hamsters\n\nHyundai Commercial: Worldwide automakers speculate about how to beat Hyundai.\n\nSo then, why would people think some car commercials are formulaic?\n\nIn short, because a certain segment of car commercials are formulaic. The car commercials for things like SUVs, Crossovers, and economy cars. The true reason that these commercials are often formulaic is because they are largely to raise awareness that the product exists. This is probably for a few reasons, but mostly because people buying these cars are average joes with no special use-cases for their automobiles. They don't know anything about cars, so getting into specifics or highlighting one specific part of the vehicle would be difficult because these people are looking for all-rounders and specs will just fall on deaf ears.\n\nGoing into specifics, or trying to be different, will likely make people less likely to consider buying them. When some guy looks to buy a compact car these days, he's going to look at every model available to him - Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, Hyundai Sonata, Chevrolet Cruze, etc. \nHe won't be swayed by an ad, but he will be *aware* of the car if he sees it in an ad. Therefore, it's less important that the ad be *different* and more important that it represents what he wants - and he wants a compact car, so the ad is tailored fit the \"compact car\" image"
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"https://www.youtube.... | |
3dj2pr | why is it important to preserve traditions? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3dj2pr/eli5_why_is_it_important_to_preserve_traditions/ | {
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"For some people, traditions are a way to relive the innocence of their childhood. They get to experience a taste of the security that children feel in their naivety. I'm not much into traditions and if the only reason you do something is because it's way it was done yesterday or \"it's the way it's always been done\" then it should be considered whether or not to try something new. ",
"There are actually a few potential answers to this question. \n \nAlso, to give a more complete answer. It should be noted that the idea that it's important is a *claim* and not necessarily true at all. \n \nSo the answer will depend on who is making the claim, and why the claim is being made. \n \nFirstly the question could mean two things. \nIt could mean to ask why it's important to not let traditions die. \nOr it could mean to ask why it's viewed as important to continue doing things the way your ancestors have. \n \nThe two questions have different answers obviously. \nIf it's the first question then the answer would be that when cultural knowledge dies there is unique human knowledge lost. It would generally be considered preferable to always *increase* knowledge. So a loss would be a bad thing. \n \nIf you mean to ask the second question, then the answer is not so simple. \nBut there are at least a couple of easy answers to give to the question. Albeit they are simplistic and maybe not too satisfying. \n \nFirst is that it's worked in the past. Kind of an \"If it aint broke...\" kind of idea. Which is an answer that at least makes a little sense, but I really don't think it's the answer. \n \nSecond is that it preserves a person's group cohesion. Be it at the level of family tradition or nations. Much of living in groups involves defining that group as compared to different groups. Traditions help to do that. \n \nLastly, and maybe more to the point. The people who want the traditions preserved are usually the people who have been living them the longest. It's the older generations. That's partly habit. It partly because older people tend to be a lot more conservative \n \nIt's also partly that a rejection of their traditions is a sign that their life is waning and their way of life antiquated. \n \nSo there are really a lot of things going on there. \nOne really needs to look at the person who is claiming that it *is* important to get a good idea of what's really happening in that claim. "
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2ou9ym | why is it that when i sit up/lean forward slightly while laying on my back, my spine shakes | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ou9ym/eli5_why_is_it_that_when_i_sit_uplean_forward/ | {
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"I think what you're experiencing is actually your abdominal muscles working to hold you in that position. You would be using those muscles to sit up. I'm not sure exactly why it makes you shake, but it's your abs, not your spine.",
"Your abs hold you in that position. If they get fatigued they will shake. If your abs aren't strong, it'll shake immediately. "
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18qxzd | what is nuclear fallout comprised of and what does it look like? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/18qxzd/eli5_what_is_nuclear_fallout_comprised_of_and/ | {
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"Nuclear fallout is made up of the radioactive materials that are ejected in to the world after a nuclear incident or explosion.\n\nThese are actual atoms that are radioactive. That is to say, they decay and as they do they release radiation, usually by emitting Alpha particles, Beta particles or electromagnetic radiation.\n\nWhat it looks like, I couldn't tell you really because a lot of diffrent materials have radioactive isotopes. You've probably heard of Plutonium and Uranium. But there's also Thorium, Cesium and a whole load of other materials.\n\nUsually the amount of material is so small though that it won't be visible to the naked eye. And be glad, that much radioactive material would kill you very fast.",
"i heard somewhere that nickel holds onto radiation and should be avoided if exposed."
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1gpn9n | how does the processor know what to do with input and code? | I know that processors work in binary, with little transistor "switches" and gates, and there was a short YouTube video that explained what CPUs physically did with information and where it sent it, but what is physically happening from code to... basically the results we see: a functioning computer. How does the machine even know what to do with programming code? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1gpn9n/eli5_how_does_the_processor_know_what_to_do_with/ | {
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" > How does the machine even know what to do with programming code?\n\nInside the Central Processing Unit are millions of transistors.\n\nThese transistors are grouped together to build logic gates - simple electric circuits that can do things with binary 1s and 0s, like determine if Bit 1 AND Bit 2 are both set to 1, for example.\n\nThese logic gates are grouped together to do useful things. For example, with a couple of dozen of these, you can add two binary numbers together.\n\nFurther logic gates are set to look for specific binary codes that represent specific instructions. Then, if they see the code which represents \"add\", for example, they trigger the circuit that adds numbers into action.\n\nAll of these sections are tied together by a clock that makes sure one action happens, then the next, then the next.",
"When a microprocessor is first powered up and brought out of reset, it will \"look\" at a fixed address that was hardwired into it, such as address 0000 (for example). It does this by placing its address bus pins A0-A3 to \"0000\" and toggling some control pins that tell all of the memory devices connected to it \"Give me the contents of the memory location that is currently on the address bus\" (0000). When it receives that data (on its data bus, usually) it interprets that as a new address to go to. So if memory location 0000 contained \"0110\", the processor now says \"Give me the contents of memory location 0110\". When it gets *that*, it interprets it as an instruction to execute and does so. It then says \"Give me the contents of memory location 0111\" and executes that. It continues to increment the memory locations it requests the contents of, until the instructions it is executing tell it to do something else, or there is an exception, or a variety of other possibilities. The microprocessor keeps track of what memory location it needs to fetch instructions from in a \"Program Counter\", and it is incremented each time. \n \nThe microprocessor actually contains a little program called \"microcode\" that tells it to do these things. But the address to go to (0110 in my example) and the program that gets executed (starting with the contents of memory location 0110) are all external to the processor and can be changed. Only the first one (0000) has to be hardwired into the internal microcode, since you don't want it to start up randomly. \n \nIn a PC, the program that starts executing at that first location is the BIOS, which is held in a simple memory device like a flash ROM (Read Only Memory). The BIOS enables communications between the CPU and all of the Input/Output devices, plus other internal systems like the DRAM memory, the HDD, etc. That then kicks off other programs such as the OS kernel, the bootloader, and the OS itself. (The BIOS needs to go first to help the CPU communicate with the more complicated devices like the DRAM and the HDD, respond to the keyboard and mouse, etc.)\n \nNote that I'm simplifying things quite a bit for this example. But this is the general idea. "
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5or6yo | how can locks/padlocks be mass produced whilst still being unlockable only by their individual key? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5or6yo/eli5_how_can_lockspadlocks_be_mass_produced/ | {
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"They aren't unlockable by an individual key. It's rare but your house key can open up othe houses as well. The amount of houses you'd have to try before it would work would be an amount that you'd probably be arrested before you succeeded.",
"The lock has a set of pins of various sizes that when lined up correctly allow the lock to turn. Depending on the lock, there's usually about 4-6 pins. For a 5 pin lock, let's say there are 15* different pin sizes that can be put in any permutation. The number of permutations P(15,5) gives 360,360 unique locks. \n\nDuring manufacturing they just rotate through different pin sizes either at random or according to a process which ensures that no two identical locks end up in the same lot.\n\n\\* 15 comes from looking up the number of sizes in a Schlage pin replacement kit. Some pin replacement kits have up to 28 sizes which would result in 11,793,600 unique pin sets for a 5 pin lock, or 271,252,800 for a 6 pin lock.",
"There is a limit to the number of possible keys for any given lock series.\n\nAny given lock has a number of spring loaded pins that can have a small number of positions, the cut of the key moves the pins up and down to align break points with the edge of the lock cylinder so that the lock can turn.\n\nA cheap lock might have 4 pins and each pin has 5 possible heights that it can be cut to. Such a lock would have 5^4 possible combinations, which would be about 500 different keys.\n\na more well made lock might have six pins capable of 10 positions, and that would give you 10^6 possible combinations, or 1,000,000 different keys (that said, a lot of combinations near all high or all low would tend to be avoided- you wouldn't want to be able to open the lock with what was essentially a key blank)\n\nhigh security locks may have additional features like angled teeth that rotate the pins to a necessary position, which adds another dimension for potential unique keys, as well as making picking the lock much more difficult.\n\n--edit--\n\nthat should be 4^5 on the cheap lock, for 1024 combination, and thanks to the kind soul who pointed out my mistake to me.",
"Most people don't realize that not ALL locks and keys are unique. Even autos have keys which duplicate those of other similar brands. It's just it's so rare that a key to one car will start another, it's not often seen. But it does occur. Same is true for house keys. If people REALLY knew how easy it was to pick a lock, they'd think twice about buying cheap locks....",
"I'm going to try my best to explain this, but it can get complicated. To understand how this works, you would need to understand how a key cylinder is made and how the key interacts with the cylinder. We'll use a 6-pin cylinder as an example.\n\nStarting with the key, as you know there are several grooves along the side of the key. This designates the keyway. Each keyway is usually specific to a manufacturer like Schlage or BEST. When you look at the cylinder on a lock, where you stick your key in, it isn't a straight line, it's a series of jagged shapes that correspond to a keyway. Typically keyways are designated by a letter, for example \"C keyway\". This is done so that a key with the C keyway grooves will not work in a cylinder with an A keyway.\n\nThe notches on a key correspond to the pins inside the cylinder. There are 6 pins in their own chambers within the cylinder. In each of these chambers there is also a spring so that when you take the key out of the lock, the pins will return to their original position. When the key is inserted into the lock, the grooves push the pins into alignment allowing you to turn the key and unlock the padlock. \n\nThe pins in each chamber vary in size and are placed in a sequence called the bitting format (I'll touch on this later). The various pin sizes are given a number 0-9, zero being no pin and nine being the largest pin. These pins are placed in a sequence to create a combination. Keys are cut to these different combinations so that one key doesn't operate every lock. \n\nNow, remember that bitting format? The bitting format is a sequence that allows us to come up with 4096 possible combinations. How did I come up with that number? Using the 0-9 size pins I mentioned earlier, you would put a different sized pin in each chamber. For Example:\n\n965857\n965859\n965851\n965853\n\nEach of the 4 combinations above have to be operated by a different key (assuming there is no cross keying or master keying, but that's another time). When coming up with these combinations, it's important to note that no 2 numbers in the sequence can be the same when they are next to one another, which is why I left out 965855. Since this is the case, there are only 4 possibilities per sequence group. Since there are 4 possibilities per group and 6 pins, 4^6 is 4096 possible combinations.\n\nOut of those 4096 there also arises the issue of ghost keys, which are keys that are so close to another combination that it's possible for them to accidentally unlock another cylinder. This is why your friend's key will sometimes work in your lock. Typically there is keying software that eliminates these groups before the bitting list is finalized, but when things like padlocks are mass produced, they reuse the same bitting format because of the limited number of combinations. \n\nSo to bring this all back around, because of the different pin combinations in a cylinder, there are around 4096 possible combinations (minus ghost keys) that can be used when mass producing padlocks. They are all operated by a different key that is specific to the padlock's keyway. \n\nI realize this is too much information and there were some points I didn't touch on...but it's fun to explain. ",
"This past year I purchased a house and decided to purchase all new locks around the house. Went to my local hardware store purchased about $100 worth of door handles to find out they all worked with my old house keys after I installed them all. Couldn't believe it. ",
"While there are some good answers here, the dirty little secret is manufacturers and consumers (industrial or otherwise) are kinda lazy, and many things are simply keyed alike: [From The Eleventh HOPE: \"This Key Is My Key, This Key Is Your Key\" by Howard Payne & Deviant Ollam](_URL_0_)",
"Wow. Everyone who answered decided that none of us know how a key and lock works. \n\nWe know how it works. \n\nWe want to understand how they do not get duplicate locks on the factory floor. Don't answer what doesn't need answering ffs",
"Very simple\n\nThere not\nEach lock has a maximum number of combinations for the key \nUsing mass production they would very quickly pass the amount of maximum different key combinations \nInstead they just mass produce each different key and lock. The amount of different combinations can be so high (depends on the quality of the lock) you would definitely be jailed walking around trying to find another lock to work with your key.\n\n"
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28x6e5 | do bugs evolve at a much higher rate than humans due to a shorter lifespan? | After reading the article about the "invasive species of ants in the gulf states with bear traps for jaws" I was wondering if bugs evolve exponentially faster than humans. I guess I was thinking that while humans have much longer lifespans, the considerably shorter lifespans of bugs would enable favorable traits to be passed on faster and therefore become the norm.
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28x6e5/eli5do_bugs_evolve_at_a_much_higher_rate_than/ | {
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"Yes. Evolution is measured in generations, not in years. ",
"If you measure evolution over time then yes. Evolution can happen with each new organism, or with each new generation if you consider the population as a whole. So if you measure evolution over generations it would probably be about the same rate, except for the fact that there are fewer natural evolutionary pressures for humans.",
"First of all, there's not really a quantifiable or standard unit of evolution. We as humans have the ability to see the uses that different traits have, but considering the fact that there many pieces of and methods for even analogous structures (structures that do the same thing), you can't really compare them. Example: A bird and a bat and a bee all have different components to their wings and flight mechanisms. You can't say \"it took the bird and the bat this long to develop this structure (the wing), and the bee this long\", because they *didn't* develop the same structure, they developed structures with similar utilities. A bird finds flight through hollow bones (makes it less heavy) and hollow feathers (catches air well, is also light); A bat has large stretches of skin that act almost like fins or sails, but for air; A bee has chitinous (shell-like) wings, but it's so tiny and light that they can lift it (also, it acts more like a helicopter, while they other two act more like airplanes). \n\nNext, you have to understand that evolution takes place through the selection and mutations of *breeding* individuals. For your ant example, the answer is no, they don't \"evolve faster\", as the vast majority of ants in a colony are not breeders. Most live and die having directly added nothing to the genetics of their species (additionally, the queen of a colony usually lives *vastly* longer than the workers. IIRC, some colony-insects have queens that might live ~~20~~ [~~30 years~~](_URL_0_) [45 years](_URL_1_)!). After that, the speed of one's life *may* indirectly suggest how much it reproduces, (there is a *tendency* for short-lived animals to produce large batches of offspring and let them fend for themselves, known as R-strategists) but is not itself important. The rate at which it reproduces with mutated genetics, in combination with something to make the mutated offspring better suited for wherever it lives, is what drives the evolution of a group.\n\nBacteria do tend to develop more changes at a faster rate than us. Many of them have less effective ways of preventing mistakes when copying their genetics (i.e. more mutations each time they copy), they copy very frequently, and their copies *are* the next generation. In contrast, while the trillions of cells comprising us may duplicate at a similar rate and mutate in one way or another, only our sex cells (gametes, e.g. sperm and egg cells) count, as only these go into the next generation (our children), and we very often take decades to actually use these.\n\n**TL;DR-** No, shorter lifespans **do not** increase rate of diversification. More frequent reproduction and mutations **do**. Also, there's no standard way to compare species' evolution.\n"
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1pw3pb | how do i know that a product that claims to kill 99% of germs, like hand sanitizer, actually does what it says and isn't just a scam? | I'm in the shower right now and had this thought while applying my Old Spice body wash. It makes me smell nice, and that's their selling point because of the brand name, but how do I know that it's actually cleaning me and not just making nice-smelling bubbles? Also applies to hand sanitizer, how do I know this mystery liquid is making things I can't see, just die?
Edit: I think I didn't ask clearly. I don't want to do experiments, I want to know how it's tested before they even make the label. I guess it's more of a legal question than science. Who decides that these sanitizers are actually doing their job and are allowed to use the title of "sanitizer"? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1pw3pb/eli5_how_do_i_know_that_a_product_that_claims_to/ | {
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"You could test it.\n\nE.g. cover yourself in grease and then shower 1) with water only 2) with water and the product. Compare results. That would be a (pretty crude) experiment, which is how we learn answers to those kinds of questions. Also you could compare two pieces of perishable food, one of them treated with the sanitizer. I'd expect it would rot slower.\n\nOr you could rely on other people's work. Soap removes oil, alcohol kills bacteria, that's well-known, well-tested and well-understood."
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1un1wj | why was porn banned in communist countries? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1un1wj/eli5why_was_porn_banned_in_communist_countries/ | {
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"Ok so I lived in Communist Cuba until I was about 18 so This is not necessarily a scientific/ philosophical answer and more of personal experience. I'm giving several answer/reasons to cover all the basis I can:\n1- Communist countries tend to ban a lot of foreign television/ movies in general because they promote the capitalist lifestyle as an alternative so much like any other form of entertainment porn is restricted just for being foreign. All porn is by definition foreign made because There are no homemade porn see reason 2 and 4.\n2- Communist societies rely heavily upon the idea of an ideal communist man hence why figures like Castro, Che, Lenin and Marx are idolized and their images plastered in every surface they can. And they indoctrinate the people to strive to be like these idealize versions of ideal communist men. Now, The ideal communist man is one of supreme moral authority and patriotism : loyal to party, Country and Family in that order. Party as the expression of the will of the people, country as an image of the party in the eyes of the world and family as the building block to the party where the ideals of the party are taught to children on the small scale. If a family is corrupted the offspring of that family will carry corrupted ideals. A man who enjoys porn is by that definition morally inferior since he is not being loyal to his family and corrupting the party. He is also being disloyal to his country by disrupting the image of the morally superior party members. And he is directly disloyal to the party by placing his personal enjoyment ( watching porn) over the will of the party ( morally superior society). \n3-Communist societies like to promote themselves as defenders of equality and porn is considered demeaning towards women. \n4-Porn is considered prostitution and prostitution like gambling and drugs are considered capitalist vices and harmful to the people. Castro specifically was very much against any sort of Vice since the 1950's Cuba had become a mixture of Cancun and Las Vegas with twice the Mob funding and 3 times more government corruption. It was one of the most popular reasons in support of the revolution.\n5-The government likes regulating any and all forms of entertainment. Cuba has become a lot more lenient ( even if just because it had no other choice with the development in satellite tv technology) but in the early years of the revolution only the government sponsored tv shows, movies and music were allowed most with hidden or subliminal messages in support of the regime and I'm not a tv producer but I don't know how could someone make a delivery boy delivering a double meat pizza to a Milf's house into a Ode to the proletariat. ",
"Ask David Cameron",
"East Germany actually produced quite a bit of porn.",
"Communist Rule #82: cannot get a boner unless you share it with everyone.",
"The ideological basis for this is that from a Marxist viewpoint, pornography turns women's bodies into commodities--basically, that it takes their dignity away from them and makes it a product to be sold. Commodification has the annoying ability to let consumers feel ethically distinct from producers."
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6bh6wo | in abdominal surgery, is there a precise way in which the intestines must be placed back inside the body? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6bh6wo/eli5_in_abdominal_surgery_is_there_a_precise_way/ | {
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"As someone who was told to just throw them back in, you can just toss them in. They have been in the same place in the body since they existed. They're muscle memory is very impressive as a result.\n\nThe surgery I learned this on was an exploratory one. We were prepared for the worst when he opened this 80 year old woman up. It turned out to just be an adhesion, which has no blood supply. 1 snip and we were done. The several different instrument trays we had ready were for nothing. The surgeon gave me (the student) a once in a lifetime opportunity to \"play\" in her organs, and I did. He wasn't satisfied with how deep I got in there so he grabbed her intestines and tossed them up on her face and chest and then demanded \"I said fucking play!\" I very gently and cautiously continued to go through her anatomy despite how uneasy he made. He asked me if I was done, I confirmed I was. He told me to put her intestines back in, I told him I didn't know how. It dawned on me my professor used the words \"just throw them back in\" and he replied with those exact words. I scooped up her intestines in the same way you would scoop water out if a stream and put them back in. When I let them go they moved on their own back into the correct anatomical alignment and it was the coolest thing I have ever seen in person in my life.\n\nTLDR There's probably a method of putting them back correctly, but you can also just dump them in there and watch them work their magic",
"It's worth noting that for some animals a twist in the intestine is a definite risk. Horses in particular can have issues with this when rolling - especially if they are in the period when they are changing from fresh grass to hay or vice versa. For most animals the gut is quite stable though."
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1qodmw | why it is more grammtically correct to say "jack and i" as opposed to "me and jack." | Mum calls me out. Every. Time. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1qodmw/eli5_why_it_is_more_grammtically_correct_to_say/ | {
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"This is really easy to learn. Just remove the \"Jack\" part, and then that'll tell you whether to use \"I\" or \"me\".\n\nFor example, \"Jack and I went to the store\" --- > \"I went to the store\". So use \"I\" here.\n\nOr \"Can you give the movie tickets to Jack and I?\" --- > \"Can you give the movie tickets to I?\". That's wrong, so use \"Jack and me\".",
"I'm not certain this is THE reason, but think of the sentence if you remove the other person. \n\n\"Jack and I went fishing.\"-- > \"I went fishing.\"\n\nAs opposed to \"Me and Jack went fishing.\"-- > \"Me went fishing.\"",
"Along with what watabit said, I was taught something else too. I was taught that, just as you would hold a door open for Jack before you go through it, you would speak of Jack before yourself. Common courtesy more or less. It makes the person feel more important and stresses that they are with you.\n\nBut if you want to know when to use Me or I, follow watabit's explanation.",
"There's 2 parts to this.\n\nThe first is the difference between \"me\" and \"I\". \"I\" is used when you're the subject of a verb, that is, doing something. e.g. \"Jack and I went out\". \"me\" is used when you're the target of an action. e.g. \"He told Jack and me to go out\". Basically, you use \"me\"/\"I\" the same way you would if the other person wasn't there.\n\nThe second part is the order in which you place the names; even in sentences where it's grammatically correct to say \"me and Jack\", it's considered polite to always put yourself at the end of a list of people. e.g. \"Jack, Jill, and me\".",
"\"I\" is used when you are the subject of the sentence.\n\n\"Me\" is used when you are the object of the sentence.\n\nIt can be perfectly acceptable to say, \"Jack and me,\" if you are the objects such as, \"This is a photo (subject) of Jack and me (objects).\" ",
"Because people decided it sounded better. That's it. That's all language is, a collection of sounds we decided meant something. Literally, twerk is in the dictionary (unofficially). That shows that there are no hard rules for language, it's just what we use. We stopped saying wherefore, and now people think it means where, when it really means why. (Unrelated point, but still.)\n\nOne of these days, people might stop saying Jack and I, and me and Jack will be the norm. Who knows? ",
"Based on the short examples you've given us, we can't judge, because it depends on the whole sentence.\n\n* \"Jack and I played baseball\" is correct\n* \"Jack and me played baseball\" is incorrect\n \nbut\n\n* \"Me and Jack played baseball\" is incorrect\n* \"Dave played baseball with me and Jack\" is correct\n\nSo it really depends on the whole sentence. Which of the above would your mum give you a hard time for?",
"Because usually when you say \"jack and I\", you're also implying an action. If you separate you and jack, it makes more sense. So lets say you're saying \"jack and I ate the corn dog.\" You can separate it into two parts \"jack at the corn dog.\" and \"I ate the corn dog.\"\n\nIf you say \"me and jack ate the corn dog\" and separates it, it becomes \"jack ate the corn dog.\" And \"me ate the corn dog.\" The latter doesn't sound grammatically correct.",
"It depends on which noun (which person) is doing the action of the phrase, and which is additional. \n\nLanguages have cases, which can change the word used for a noun depending on what function it serves in the sentance. The two most evident in English are the Nominative and Accusative cases. Nominative is for the one doing the thing (I, he, she, we, did something). Accusative is for the thing the action is being done to (It happened to me, him, her, us)."
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4fyhg7 | how can buildings and bridges be lit up with specific colors so quickly? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4fyhg7/eli5_how_can_buildings_and_bridges_be_lit_up_with/ | {
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"text": [
"Many famous landmarks and buildings are illuminated. These lights have coloured filters, and can be pointed in different directions. Together, these make possible nearly any combination of colours with a few seconds or minutes notice.",
"Those buildings and bridges that do this have permanent lights set up to illuminate the exterior of the bridge or building. All they have to do is set put a colored filter over said lights. This can generally be done in a few minutes or hours depending on their number and the number of workers doing it. ",
"What the other posts say used to be true, but most of these landmarks and buildings have modern LED lights that have Red, Green, and Blue elements. As a result they can be easily programmed to be almost any color in less than a minute from the control software. ",
"Now, most buildings are lit with LED lights, which can be color adjusted by a simple dial. Those with older lighting systems use colored gels -- basically a colored plastic/acrylic sheet that goes over the light (like a theater spotlight)"
]
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[],
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ejq7rw | if everyone on earth became std free, would they be gone forever or would they somehow shown up in people again? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ejq7rw/eli5_if_everyone_on_earth_became_std_free_would/ | {
"a_id": [
"fczo1yx"
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"text": [
"These diseases didn't just show up, like any other disease. There is nothing special about them other than that they are spread through sexual contact, and so people assign a moral value to them that isn't assigned to something like pancreatic cancer.\n\nLike everything else living, these things come about by organisms being opportunistic and adapting themselves, via evolution, to take advantage of an available environment. This has happened countless times in the life of the Earth, and will happen gain. Even if you had a magic wand and waved it, causing all STDs to disappear, something else would eventually come along and become a new STD."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
4gm94t | why can the penis break? | AFAIK the penis gets hard when blood rushes through it, so how is it that it can break even though it's just blood that fills it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4gm94t/eli5_why_can_the_penis_break/ | {
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"text": [
"When the blood rushes in, it is soaked up kind of like a sponge in the tissue. The tissue is surrounded by something call Tunica albuginea. This becomes harder and holds the blood in. It's not a bone but it is stiff and this can tear. So kind of like break a fistful of uncooked pasta. Yeah it's not a bone but it holds strong until a few break then they all start to go.",
"[Relevant Ted Talk](_URL_0_).\n\nSo yes, the penis becomes erect via blood pressure filling two \"balloons\" called the corpora cavernosa. Using liquid-filled sacs to maintain rigidity isn't anything new. Plants use it a lot. It's called a hydrostatic skeleton. Humans are particularly weird because we don't have bones, unlike [almost] other primate. Most mammals have some kind of penile bone that helps hold their penises erect.\n\nSo, normally when creatures use hydrostatic skeletons, they want to be flexible. They wrap their fibers around in a helix like a [Chinese finger trap](_URL_1_). You can do this experiment yourself: take a piece of cloth and tug on it at the corners, so the fibers are running at 45 degree angles to the direction you're pulling. That's **not** how penises work!\n\nInstead, the fibers are parallel and perpendicular to the direction of stress. Take your same cloth and tug on it on the sides...it doesn't stretch and bend nearly as much, right? That's how penises stay so stiff.\n\nSo breaking your penis: if you want to keep the home experiment going, keep pulling on that cloth at the sides until it rips. The reason most things arrange their fibers at 45 degree angles is because it's so much more flexible and hard to tear. But the penis is *supposed* to be stiff. That means it resists bending a lot more, but if you keep bending, there's nowhere for that energy to go, so the fibers tear. This, as you can imagine, is exceedingly painful. You still have *some* structure holding everything together, but the one balloon (or both) won't hold blood correctly. The blood is probably going to leak out into the surrounding tissue, which isn't designed with stiffness in mind, so it won't be stiff, it'll be just a saggy blood-filled balloon. Even if the blood stays in your corpora cavernosa from the fibers that run around the penis, the fibers going length-wise are broken, so it'll be stiff *around* but won't stay up. So it looks \"broken\"."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"https://www.ted.com/talks/diane_kelly_what_we_didn_t_know_about_penis_anatomy?language=en",
"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Iv5nKVRJtEs/hqdefault.jpg"
]
] | |
2ozc8x | why are bangladesh, india, pakistan, ethiopia and nepal the countries that contribute with the largest number of un peacekeepers? | [Here the list of countries by UN peacekeepers](_URL_0_). | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ozc8x/eli5_why_are_bangladesh_india_pakistan_ethiopia/ | {
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"text": [
"Countries who contribute troops to UN peacekeeping get paid a whole bunch of money to do so. When the cost of your troops is very low, the risk is low, and you don't really need them for military operations, it becomes a really great way to earn a shit ton of money for your country.\n\nCost of troops, low. Amount to get paid to be UN Peacekeepers, high. Just math.",
"I can list a few factors that motivates bangladeshi army people to serve at UN\n\n1. wage scale: while at peacekeeping mission they gets paid for a greater scale than while in the home nation.\n\n2. Inactivity: Bangladesh hasnot really fought in a war. But people working in the army might want to go somewhere where they can use their training at least for once in their lives. \n\n3. Seeing a foreign nation: This is a good motivation :D "
]
} | [] | [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_UN_peacekeepers"
] | [
[],
[]
] | |
29h90v | why is it so difficult to stick to a diet? | Is it a physiological or psychological component, or both? Why is it that even though a strong desire to eat healthier/diet in order to lose weight may exist, it is sometimes impossible to achieve this? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29h90v/eli5_why_is_it_so_difficult_to_stick_to_a_diet/ | {
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"text": [
"Because of routine, what you are used to.\n\nIt is hard to make or break a habit at the beginning, roughly around the 7 week mark (this is what the latest articles say, but I've seen ones that range from 3 days to 2 months) your new habit becomes established, and part of your routine. Until this time, you're still establishing it, and therefore it isn't there in your head as \"hey, it's 7 pm, time for a jog\"",
"Lots of reasons. One of the more interesting ones is \"[hyperbolic discounting](_URL_0_)\". When it comes to motivation, it seems like immediate consequences are valued much more highly than longer term consequences. This causes us to make bad decisions when comparing large, distant rewards/costs to small, immediate rewards/costs.\n\nLike, the big distant reward is being healthy six months from now, the small immediate reward is the taste of a doughnut. Often the doughnut wins because even if given the choice \"would you rather be in good shape or eat a doughnut\" you chose being in good shape, the reward of the doughnut is immediate and the reward of restraint is distant.\n\nSame thing with \"Cat video now, or A on the exam a week from now\", or \"Cigarette now, or healthy lungs a few years from now\", etc.",
"Because \"Dieting\" is usually a form of starvation (You consume less energy than you expend), so it only works for so long until the human bodies' natural tendency to store energy takes effect. We are mammals, it is inherent in our nature to try and store food for time when food is scarce, so starvation \"diets\" all fail.",
"Diets are complex. You're changing the amount of protein, amount of fat, amount of fiber, amount of carbs you intake. You change the level of vegetables you intake, level of meat, types of meat, types of seasoning, etc. \n\nEach of those changes affects your body's primary energy source. Because your body runs solely off what your diet consists of, every change is magnified.\n\nThe most effective diets are the ones that aren't \"diets\" at all. The paleo diet is effective because one can eat paleo for a very long, sustainable time. You get plenty of protein, fat, and fiber, and lots of veggies and meat. In that mode, your body doesn't lack for any nutrietns. Other diets (and cleanses) are such an extreme change or shock that you don't have the willpower to stick to such big changes. Change smaller things less frequently, and you'll be able to keep those healthy habits going longer. \n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporal_discounting"
],
[],
[]
] | |
23530g | what is to stop students from applying for student loans and then going bankrupt after they're done school? | It seems to me like a pretty big loophole. Students don't usually have many assets, so going bankrupt after you're finished school and in debt seems like it'd be the easy way out for most people. Am I missing something here? Is this legal?
**Edit:** To be clear, this is not something I'm planning on doing. I've been out of school for a long time now. It was just something that I realized and thought "huh, that doesn't seem right.."
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/23530g/eli5_what_is_to_stop_students_from_applying_for/ | {
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"text": [
"Bankruptcy will not protect you from student loan debt. ",
"Student loans are one of the types of debt that can't be forgiven in bankruptcy. \n\nAlso, Bankruptcy is not something to take lightly. It should only be used when no other debt solutions are available, and not because you want to pay off your house and your car and your credit cards in a hurry.",
"It used to be an option but that loophole was closed. Bankruptcy doesn't make all debt magically disappear. Some types of debt are immune to bankruptcy, student debt is one of them.",
"It's not entirely true that student loan debt is non-dischargeable in bankruptcy. It's just very unlikely that you'll be able to do it.\n\n I read a court case several years ago about a guy in North Carolina, I believe, who was about to get married. He had a lot of debt, including some student loans, that he wanted to clear up before the wedding. He filed bankruptcy, and listed those student loans among the ones he wanted to discharge.\n\nNow, when you go through bankruptcy, you have a hearing, and that hearing is where your creditors have the opportunity to tell the trustee why your debt should not be discharged. They don't have to show up in person, but they have to at least answer the notification they get that you're filing.\n\nThe student loan service company received notification, but didn't respond because they figured they didn't need to, since student loans are supposed to be non-dischargeable. The trustee approved the bankruptcy with the student loans as part of it. He quit paying, and they sued him.\n\nWhen he went to court, he presented the judge with his evidence that they had been duly notified, they had not responded, and that the debt had been discharged in bankruptcy. \n\nAnd the judge ruled in his favor.\n\nSo it's possible, just don't bet on it working twice."
]
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[],
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bliwmf | how does my record player know the vinyl is finished so that the arm lifts up and goes back to the rest and stops it spinning? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bliwmf/eli5_how_does_my_record_player_know_the_vinyl_is/ | {
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"text": [
"Because it get close to the center and at a certain angle a connection closes to start that action.",
"The arm is always moving toward the center as the record spins. When the arm reaches a spot a specific distance from the center it stops and raises. It is the same location for all records.",
"Record needles move from the outside in on the spiral groove. The distance it has to move is standardized. Once it moves to the innermost point, it trips a circuit that causes the arm to retract. It's basically like a little off switch that's only hit when the arm is in the position it would be at the very end.",
"The position from the center spindle tells the record player aka turntable aka Victrola when the record is over. The sound on a record is carried on a single* spiral groove which runs from the outer edge towards the inside. The space between successive turns of the groove (aka pitch) increases after the last track so the tonearm moves rapidly to the inside and triggers the mechanism\n\n*except for side 2 of “Matching Tie and Handkerchief ”"
]
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[],
[],
[],
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enbj0o | why wasn't there any reported epidemics / pandemics in scale as that of the european bubonic plague in the americas and the new world prior to discovery and colonization? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/enbj0o/eli5_why_wasnt_there_any_reported_epidemics/ | {
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"1) Population densities in the Americas were lower at the time in most places. \n\n2) There was less trade between populations in the Americas (though more than most people think).\n\n3) There was were fewer species of domesticated animals in the Americas and in general those that were domesticated did not cohabitate with humans as much or as closely as they did in Europe and Asia.",
"These types or outbreaks require a number of elements, such as a large population in a small area and poor sanitation. Bubonic plague was caused specifically by a certain type of flea on rats that lived in the streets/houses/etc. When it bit a human, it would transmit the bacteria that causes the plague, thereby spreading it from person to person across the city. Further, infected people or clothing/blankets could transmit it. Humans did not have a theory of germs at the time, so clothing and blankets of dead people were given to the poor, which spread it even further.\n\nHad cities been maintained clean and pest control been a thing, it is far less likely that the plague could have occurred--at least as widespread as it was. Likewise, the Americas had fewer large cities and the specific bacteria-rat-flea combination did not exist in the Americas.",
"Why would Europeans report about the New World before they knew about it?"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
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1la5dd | why isn't there a single, cheap product that will provide all nutritional needs in lieu of eating real food? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1la5dd/eli5_why_isnt_there_a_single_cheap_product_that/ | {
"a_id": [
"cbx72kd"
],
"score": [
2
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"text": [
"It's called [Plumpy'nut]( _URL_0_ ) "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumpy'nut"
]
] | ||
5o1um8 | why is it impossible to decrypt something after it has been encrypted to md5/bcrypt/etc? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5o1um8/eli5_why_is_it_impossible_to_decrypt_something/ | {
"a_id": [
"dcfzsnz"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Because those aren't encrypting functions. They're hashing functions. Unlike an encryption functions, hash functions cause you to lose information when you do the transformation.\n\nThe simplest operation that exhibits this property is modulo division (taking the remainder of a division operation). If I have 12 mod 5, the answer is 2. But, given just the numbers \"5\" and \"2\", there's no mathematical operation you can perform that will result in you getting 12. \n\nNow, modulo is a pretty simple operation, so you can see pretty quickly that the numbers 7, 12, 17, 22, and so on will all match this problem. With the password hashing functions, there's still multiple solutions that will give you the same hash, but the math is complicated enough that the guess-and-check method of trying to find a match for a given number will take centuries."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
8a3rrz | why are we able to remember more disturbing memories/keep remembering them. while other memories you have to recall? | I never understood why this happens. Also does this classify as chemistry because it’s technically neuroscience | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8a3rrz/eli5_why_are_we_able_to_remember_more_disturbing/ | {
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"text": [
"Probably because disturbing memories are more violent in nature and give us constant reminders on how to not get into the same situations ever again. ",
"It's an evolved defense mechanism. Vividly remembering bad things that happen to you will reduce the chances you let them happen to you again, increasing your chances of surviving and procreating.",
"I would assume that it is because it bothers/bothered you. You dont want to have it happen again, so it bypassed your short term memory and went directly to long term memory. Things that went right in life aren't remembered as well because they dont bother you.\n",
"I'm no Dr but I do know trauma tends to \"code\" to the brain because you experience it in your autonomic nervous system. You experience trauma with your entire body. There are talks about treating trauma in the moment with beta blockers so you feel it less. "
]
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5czi2e | does the size of a donor matter for organ transplant? | So if a stereotypically huge Viking warrior lost his head in battle, and had previously signed his or her donor card (as we all should) would the heart, lungs, or whatever else be able to be transplanted into a stereotypically small person? Or a teenager, or child that is still growing? It seems like if a large heart was installed in a small person, they would be supercharged. Or conversely, a small heart in a large person would leave them out of breath often. Is this a thing, or how does the system work?
edit: So i read some of the replies when a similar question was asked last month, and it looks like there are physical size requirements to matching that must be met. Does this mean if there are no appropriately sized recipients immediately available, the organ is destroyed, or will they expand the restrictions to something like, 'it's a bit big but whatever, it's better than someone dying?' | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5czi2e/eli5does_the_size_of_a_donor_matter_for_organ/ | {
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"_URL_0_\n\nSo, UNOS, is the organization responsible for organ procurement and they decide who gets what organs. Yes, as you stated, size of organs is but one of many factors. Other factors include time on the list, current status of recipient, eg. are they healthy enough to receive, their situation, etc. The link I posted is but a small step into understanding. \n\nFor example, you're not gonna donate an adult heart to a baby in need or vice versa. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://www.unos.org/transplantation/faqs/"
]
] | |
94t273 | how does us treasury bills work ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/94t273/eli5_how_does_us_treasury_bills_work/ | {
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"text": [
"FYI it would be more proper to say \"How do US Treasury bills work?\" The problem is mixing tenses, where \"does\" is usually singular while the bills are plural. If you want to get into banking people will desire correct English in order to appear professional.\n\nIn answer to your question, treasury bills are basically short term loans to the bank. They have a face value which will be paid out at the end of the term, and are usually sold at a discount from that face value. You might for example buy a bill at $960 and then it matures to yield $1000. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
550snf | why is daylight added or subtracted unevenly from morning and evening from one day to the next? | I was looking at the 10 day weather forecast for my city, which included sunrise and sunset times. I noticed that in the 10 day window, the sunset time moved 20 minutes earlier, but sunrise only 12 minutes later. Why over the 10 day span don't I lose 16 minutes in the morning and in the evening? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/550snf/eli5_why_is_daylight_added_or_subtracted_unevenly/ | {
"a_id": [
"d86mcsk",
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"text": [
"The quick answer is the \"equation of time.\"\n\nIt's because the earth orbits the sun in an ellipse, not a circle. When the earth is closest to the sun (in January) it's moving faster so the sun appears to move more quickly across the sky (relative to the stars) than at other times. \n\nThe length of day varies through the year according to sundial or \"apparent\" time. With modern clocks this is a problem so we invented \"mean\" time (as in Greenwich Mean Time) where every day is equally long. The difference between mean time and apparent time is called the equation of time and it can exceed 16 minutes. Since your sunrise and sunset forecasts are based on mean time they are not symmetrical.\n\nA related effect is that the earliest sunrise, longest day and latest sunset are all on different days, typically a week or two apart, depending on your latitude.",
"I guessing your question is why is it uneven between morning and evening time loss (as you approach winter solstice).\n\nI think this is because our method of measuring time doesn't coincide symmetrically with the loss of daylight, and even if it did so for your city, it would probably not be symmetrical in another city."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
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] | |
8jtp9f | why do massive updates to games give barely any extra space to the game when people download the base game (after the update is released)? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8jtp9f/eli5_why_do_massive_updates_to_games_give_barely/ | {
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"text": [
"Very rarely do games have large updates where a significant portion of the update files were not already in the game. Many games nowadays operate in a live format (with updates every couple of weeks). Developers have schedules and plans sometimes years into the future. This can range from new models to new sounds and textures. So they add files piece by piece as they become available often locking them out of the regular program so that only clever users can take a peek. So while on the day of an update like the launch of new DLC or the launch of an expansion you may see a fairly large file (or set of files) being added to the game much of that file being downloaded is merely altering and overwriting files that were already there and activating them in the game. \n\nOn top of that many games platforms try their best to compress files. They try to fit the maximum (or whatever amount is necessary) into as small a file size as they can (without ruining it). So that it’s easier for the end user (the player) to acquire (aka a smaller download). \n\nThis actually involves a lot of concepts that go into game development and you’d likely have several entirely separate positions that could go into quite a bit of detail on how they play their part in making stuff like this happen. Games and gaming platforms (steam, and consoles) put a lot of work into making buying and playing games easier.",
"Because most of the update is actually overwriting files that were already there. So instead of adding to the size of the game it stays roughly the same due to files just being replaced with new ones that are similar in size."
]
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[],
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3f0xla | why are courts involved in deflategate? how does it have anything to do with the american judicial system? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3f0xla/eli5_why_are_courts_involved_in_deflategate_how/ | {
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"text": [
"The NFLPA (players association) is a union and it has a contract with the NFL known as the CBA (collective bargaining agreement). The CBA stipulates how and under what circumstances the NFL may suspend, fine or otherwise punish players.\n\nThe lawsuits are not going to be about deflated balls or whether or not Brady was involved. They will be about whether or not the NFL and Goodell followed the process stipulated in the CBA. If he did not follow the process this his punishments would not stand, and if the conduct was egregious enough there could be further repercussions against the NFL because it acts as a monopoly in the employment of professional athletes in the sport of American Football.\n\nImportantly the NFL needs the CBA to function (without it there can be no draft, and no salary caps). If the NFL is violating the terms of the CBA then the players might get to throw the entire CBA out and renegotiate (this time from a stronger position) or potentially bring anti-trust cases against the NFL."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
5qh3xx | why are the terms used in anatomy and other sciences usually derived from latin or greek? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5qh3xx/eli5why_are_the_terms_used_in_anatomy_and_other/ | {
"a_id": [
"dcz5gvk"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"I think it was Carl Linnaeus who started the practice after publishing Systema Naturae. The idea behind this is that both these languages are dead languages so the words used for naming won't change over time like languages naturally do."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | ||
smcoo | corruption in american politics | How does it work systemically, and how is it inhibiting progress? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/smcoo/eli5_corruption_in_american_politics/ | {
"a_id": [
"c4f6cis"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Big businesses present politicians with a choice,\n\n\"Do what we say or\":\n\na) we don't give you campaign contributions\n\nb) we give your contributions to your primary/ general opponent. \n\nWhen do you think a politician in an unsafe district will ever vote against the big business? "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] | |
2kebsm | in some film credits why is the actor as playing their character(as themselves)??! | As a random example:
Bruce Willis
John Mclane(as Bruce Willis)
Ive seen this a few times and i never got what it meant!
HELP ME UNDERSTAND! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2kebsm/eli5_in_some_film_credits_why_is_the_actor_as/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"It's usually when an actor plays himself. In Harold and Kumar, Neil Patrick Harris plays the role of Neil Patrick Harris. Sometimes, movies will have a news anchor from a real news program on a TV for added realism. They would be credited as themselves, as they did not play another role. ",
"In the IMDB, you mean? That's because sometimes an actor may use more than one name, or it may have been spelled wrong/differently. So an entry will read, for example, John Actorname - Joe Character (as Johnny Q. Actorname)."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
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] | |
3yxu8j | why the usa does not join opec to help raise oil prices and profit by screwing other nations? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3yxu8j/eli5_why_the_usa_does_not_join_opec_to_help_raise/ | {
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"text": [
"Because OPEC was created as a way to make a cartel and rig prices in America and Europe. Allowing America in would defeat it's purpose. For the same way that the USSR asked to join NATO and America said no. Money.",
"The US actually has laws forbidding companies from doing oil related business with OPEC nations. It would require a pretty significant and unpopular change in foreign and domestic policy."
]
} | [] | [] | [
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1y1kzy | when did time start being recorded? why does it start with jesus' birth day? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1y1kzy/eli5_when_did_time_start_being_recorded_why_does/ | {
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"It doesn't. There are, and have been, many different calendars. Many are older than the calendar which starts at year 1 (AD or CE) with the birth of Jesus. Human civilisations that had calendars date back thousands of years before the birth of Jesus. There are calendars in use in today's world that don't use that event."
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n6z1m | li5: are ancient humans just as physically smart as modern ones? | x-post from askscience
Imagine:
I have a time machine and went back in time to the Upper Paleolithic age and kidnapped a baby Homo Sapiens Sapiens. I bring this baby back into modern society and raise it as if it is my own child. I give it a modern human education and teach it modern social etiquette.
Based on current scientific understanding, how likely is it that this baby would grow up to be indistinguishable from a real modern day human baby?
Basically, are early homo sapiens sapiens of the same biological intelligence as of modern day ones?
If so, does that also suggest that if I accidentally brought back a neanderthal baby, I could have taught it to use reddit? (Since neanderthals seemed to have similar intelligence as the early humans they coexisted with)
(I know intelligence is hard to measure, and that the mean IQ raises every year to the point that they have to rescale the IQ test, but there's a lot of compounding issues at play there such as improving education standards)
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/n6z1m/li5_are_ancient_humans_just_as_physically_smart/ | {
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"Well, mentally, current humans have a prehistoric refugee called instinct, which in many cases trumps rational thought (whether you like it or not). \n\nBasically, your brain is made up of two parts, The gut (instinct) and the head (conscious thought). Your brain is like a car in which a caveman (your gut instinct) has the steering wheel, and a bright but lazy teenager (your conscious thought) knows he should have his hand on the wheel, but sometimes like to stare out the window and listen to his iPod instead.-Paraphrased from \"The Science of Fear\" By Daniel Gardner, which I'm currently reading. \n\nThe further you go back in the course of evolution, the more you think with your gut instead of your head, but in most cases, we're looking back millions of years to see a dramatic change in brain function. The main difference would be culture and social constructs if you're looking back in the 10's of thousands of years. \n\nWhat most people don't understand is that we are hunter gatherers in our gut. We are still curious and fearful cavemen. So the baby you snatch could adapt perfectly to our society, however, I am not sure if it would be average intelligence, but I speculate a human would at least have an IQ of 80-95 depending on evolutionary distance from the current time. \n\nIf we're going back just as far as early Homo Sapiens, I don't think you would be able to pick one out of a crowd. \n\nLet me now ask you a question, do you consider yourself a caveman? If not, why not... Many genetic artifacts including the evolution of your brain are hard wired from your ancestral experiences. You have a natural fear of the unknown, of things that squirm or slither, and you size up every guy in every room you walk into. Why? Your caveman is driving and a logical teenager is your passenger. ",
"One of the reasons proposed for increasing IQ in modern humans is better nutrition. A considerable amount of brain development happens in the womb and this development would be hindered by the inferior diet of the pre-historical child that you are stealing. You might want to try taking a paleolithic zygote and implanting it in a modern woman.\n\nNote: I don't mean to say that all of the increase in intelligence is a result of nutrition. Alot of it is theorized to be a result of our increasing ability to impart knowledge and cognitive skills. In other words, we are better at teaching and education than ever before.\n\n > would grow up to be indistinguishable from a real modern day human baby?\n\nProbably not. There are two considerations here:\n\n1. [Sexual selection](_URL_2_) pressure for intelligence moves genetic adaptation [much quicker](_URL_0_) than other selective pressures (except artificial selection). Which means that the mean intelligence as determined by phenotypic biology could be significantly higher today than it was in the upper paleolithic. (kinda going out on a limb here. Someone with a more comprehensive understanding of the mathematics of evolution could easily undermine this.)\n\n2. Considering the [diversity of modern humans,](_URL_1_) there is a strong possibility that your paleolithic baby will look different than any modern races of human.",
"There are several issues that come to my mind.\n\n1 As mentioned elsewhere a baby is already imprinted with a LOT of environmental influences eg the mother's diet is hugely important etc. Even babies born to mothers whose mothers were starved have environmental influences (Grandma affects grandchild). A baby, even freshly born is not a clean starting point.\n\n2 This is before agriculture, which is known to have had many varying affects on humanity. How this slight difference would manifest is not known. (Note: some groups of humans have NEVER farmed (stayed hunter-gatherers) so it is possible the baby would resemble those humans more)\n\n3 Sexual selection (eg we are getting a lot taller due to preferences for this trait in both men and women). Your baby might be a shorty.\n\n4 The intelligence question is very hard to truthfully answer. We have enough trouble gauging intelligence of actually living humans, let alone predicting it from bones/artefacts. While IQ does raise with every generation that passes I think this is more to do with the fact we DO know more and are exposed more intensively to information with each generation. There is no known mechanism to increase 'intelligence' so rapidly due to genetic selection. It must be environmental. Basically, the raw genetics makes LESS difference on average than the increase in intelligence due to environmental changes. So your baby (raw genetics) would likely do fine in modern society (environment) regarding 'intelligence'. That said, I would caution we have no real way of assessing whether there were large changes in 'intelligence capacity' from 40000 years ago to now. There are hunter-gatherer groups that 'split' from the rest of humanity more than 10000 years ago, there is no indication they have less 'intellectual capability' when given the right environment. (I am not implying these modern hunter-gatherers have not evolved for > 10000 years, just that they were not exposed to farming and other technologies that may have altered the rate of evolution)\n\n5 There is a huge variation in modern humans currently alive so your baby would only have to fit into this continuum to be classed 'normal'. As this is so broad I doubt anyone would be able to distinguish your baby from other currently living humans.\n\nTL;DR\nAs a scientist, the real answer to your question is we have no fucking idea, but speculation is fun and my leaning is that due to normal, human variation, your baby would fit in the continuum of 'normal currently living humans' quite easily\n\n > how likely is it that this baby would grow up to be indistinguishable from a real modern day human baby?\n\nOn a closer reading, no chance whatsoever, the baby should grow up to be indistinguishable from a real modern day human ADULT. ;-)\n\n",
"Well, mentally, current humans have a prehistoric refugee called instinct, which in many cases trumps rational thought (whether you like it or not). \n\nBasically, your brain is made up of two parts, The gut (instinct) and the head (conscious thought). Your brain is like a car in which a caveman (your gut instinct) has the steering wheel, and a bright but lazy teenager (your conscious thought) knows he should have his hand on the wheel, but sometimes like to stare out the window and listen to his iPod instead.-Paraphrased from \"The Science of Fear\" By Daniel Gardner, which I'm currently reading. \n\nThe further you go back in the course of evolution, the more you think with your gut instead of your head, but in most cases, we're looking back millions of years to see a dramatic change in brain function. The main difference would be culture and social constructs if you're looking back in the 10's of thousands of years. \n\nWhat most people don't understand is that we are hunter gatherers in our gut. We are still curious and fearful cavemen. So the baby you snatch could adapt perfectly to our society, however, I am not sure if it would be average intelligence, but I speculate a human would at least have an IQ of 80-95 depending on evolutionary distance from the current time. \n\nIf we're going back just as far as early Homo Sapiens, I don't think you would be able to pick one out of a crowd. \n\nLet me now ask you a question, do you consider yourself a caveman? If not, why not... Many genetic artifacts including the evolution of your brain are hard wired from your ancestral experiences. You have a natural fear of the unknown, of things that squirm or slither, and you size up every guy in every room you walk into. Why? Your caveman is driving and a logical teenager is your passenger. ",
"One of the reasons proposed for increasing IQ in modern humans is better nutrition. A considerable amount of brain development happens in the womb and this development would be hindered by the inferior diet of the pre-historical child that you are stealing. You might want to try taking a paleolithic zygote and implanting it in a modern woman.\n\nNote: I don't mean to say that all of the increase in intelligence is a result of nutrition. Alot of it is theorized to be a result of our increasing ability to impart knowledge and cognitive skills. In other words, we are better at teaching and education than ever before.\n\n > would grow up to be indistinguishable from a real modern day human baby?\n\nProbably not. There are two considerations here:\n\n1. [Sexual selection](_URL_2_) pressure for intelligence moves genetic adaptation [much quicker](_URL_0_) than other selective pressures (except artificial selection). Which means that the mean intelligence as determined by phenotypic biology could be significantly higher today than it was in the upper paleolithic. (kinda going out on a limb here. Someone with a more comprehensive understanding of the mathematics of evolution could easily undermine this.)\n\n2. Considering the [diversity of modern humans,](_URL_1_) there is a strong possibility that your paleolithic baby will look different than any modern races of human.",
"There are several issues that come to my mind.\n\n1 As mentioned elsewhere a baby is already imprinted with a LOT of environmental influences eg the mother's diet is hugely important etc. Even babies born to mothers whose mothers were starved have environmental influences (Grandma affects grandchild). A baby, even freshly born is not a clean starting point.\n\n2 This is before agriculture, which is known to have had many varying affects on humanity. How this slight difference would manifest is not known. (Note: some groups of humans have NEVER farmed (stayed hunter-gatherers) so it is possible the baby would resemble those humans more)\n\n3 Sexual selection (eg we are getting a lot taller due to preferences for this trait in both men and women). Your baby might be a shorty.\n\n4 The intelligence question is very hard to truthfully answer. We have enough trouble gauging intelligence of actually living humans, let alone predicting it from bones/artefacts. While IQ does raise with every generation that passes I think this is more to do with the fact we DO know more and are exposed more intensively to information with each generation. There is no known mechanism to increase 'intelligence' so rapidly due to genetic selection. It must be environmental. Basically, the raw genetics makes LESS difference on average than the increase in intelligence due to environmental changes. So your baby (raw genetics) would likely do fine in modern society (environment) regarding 'intelligence'. That said, I would caution we have no real way of assessing whether there were large changes in 'intelligence capacity' from 40000 years ago to now. There are hunter-gatherer groups that 'split' from the rest of humanity more than 10000 years ago, there is no indication they have less 'intellectual capability' when given the right environment. (I am not implying these modern hunter-gatherers have not evolved for > 10000 years, just that they were not exposed to farming and other technologies that may have altered the rate of evolution)\n\n5 There is a huge variation in modern humans currently alive so your baby would only have to fit into this continuum to be classed 'normal'. As this is so broad I doubt anyone would be able to distinguish your baby from other currently living humans.\n\nTL;DR\nAs a scientist, the real answer to your question is we have no fucking idea, but speculation is fun and my leaning is that due to normal, human variation, your baby would fit in the continuum of 'normal currently living humans' quite easily\n\n > how likely is it that this baby would grow up to be indistinguishable from a real modern day human baby?\n\nOn a closer reading, no chance whatsoever, the baby should grow up to be indistinguishable from a real modern day human ADULT. ;-)\n\n"
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2h0ihz | what is "burning in" a pair of headphones? | Just bought a new pair of sennhieser headphones and some of the reviews on amazon mentioned something about burning in the headphones. I'm really unsure of what this means or if it will improve the sound quality of the product at all. If someone could help me out and explain it to me that would be great! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2h0ihz/eli5_what_is_burning_in_a_pair_of_headphones/ | {
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"The concept is that the speaker drivers will become more flexible over the course of the burn in period. However there is little to no evidence that this happens significantly or that it particularly improves the sound quality. My advice is to not bother and just use your headphones; they will produce good sound right from the start and any later change will be gradual and trivial.",
" > For those of you unfamiliar with the practice, it basically amounts to pumping different kinds of sound into a new pair of headphones or earphones for a given period of time. This is to be done before any critical listening happens. Think of it as the sonic equivalent of breaking in a new pair of shoes — the idea being that the true character of your earphones will only surface after some robust exercise. The only problem? There’s zero evidence this does anything but defer your enjoyment of music and add more confusion to an already complex topic.\n\n\n_URL_0_"
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2vzwz5 | enamel restoring toothpaste. | What is actually happening when you use them, maybe on a chemical level? Do they actually work? Are there certain ingredients which I should look out for (much like looking out for hydrogenated oils in food)? Obvious curiosity, do they work? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2vzwz5/eli5_enamel_restoring_toothpaste/ | {
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1c6x8c | if i buy shares of a company, does the company use the money, or where does it go? if i sell shares, does that mean the company is paying me? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1c6x8c/eli5if_i_buy_shares_of_a_company_does_the_company/ | {
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"No. If you buy shares, you are putting money into the pockets of people who are selling shares.\n\nIf this company is new to the stock market, then that will probably be the directors. Otherwise, it will be other shareholders like you (well, most of them will be corporate, not individual) who have decided to sell.\n\nIf you sell, you get money from people wanting to buy.\n\nIf no one wants to buy, the share price drops, until it eventually becomes zero. (This is unlikely unless the company stops trading or has serious issues - for example, before the Enron scandal, Enron shares were close to $100. I checked them shortly before they stopped being listed, and they were valued at $0.04.)\n\nAs a shareholder, you might well receive some money actually from the company itself if it makes a profit. This is called dividends.",
"Think of it like this. I have a lemonade stand but but to compete with some of the other lemonade stands around me, I need $100 to buy an amazing new lemon squeezer. I don't have $50 so I have the great idea that I should get people to help me afford it. So, instead of just asking for a loan, I could sell them a portion of my business. I'll sell 49 \"parts\" of my business and keep 51 parts for myself, that way I control most of it. So, my business is worth about $100 (I already have a table and regular customers) and I start selling off parts, or shares, of my business. I sell 49 parts and keep 51 for myself, making me $49. That's close enough that I can now by the new squeezer.\n\nSo, a month later business is going amazingly well. My business is now worth $250 because I'm selling so much more lemonade. Now, those parts that were worth $1 each, are now worth $2.50 because they're a % of a more valuable company. In fact, word has gotten around that business is going so well that people want to buy the shares off some of my investors because they think the value will continue to grow! I don't have anything to do with selling the shares between investors, they're just trading their ownership in my company. "
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3l9ypv | how can an odometer be accurate when our speedometer isn't? | My car (and many others) speedometer over-reads. I am certain this is due to tyre wear and tire size differences. At 120KM/h (per my speedometer) I have measured my speed with a GPS, which reads about 105/110. I would assume the only information that my car gets about it's speed/distance is the revolutions of the wheels. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3l9ypv/eli5how_can_an_odometer_be_accurate_when_our/ | {
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"The short answer is that it isn't, but probably isn't inaccurate enough to really matter.\n\nThat said, if your speedo is off by that much you should have it adjusted by a mechanic."
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5lfsvr | why is it "bad" to make tea in the microwave vs a kettle? | Okay so this is a bit of a silly/light-hearted one but I keep seeing it referenced occasionally and an wondering.
Usually it's some sort of conversation between someone here in the US and our friends across the pond and they seem mock alarmed or horrified that Americans use the microwave to heat the water for their tea.
My question is: why does it matter? It's just your method of heating the water right? Either way you're just going to pour the heated water in a cup and add the tea bag so it's not like the actual tea is going in the microwave.
Edit: I forgot I posted this and can't catch up on answering everyone but thanks for all the input! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5lfsvr/eli5_why_is_it_bad_to_make_tea_in_the_microwave/ | {
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"It doesn't matter at all. Microwaves just seem to freak some people out for no reason. Hot water is hot water. \n\nI even remember reading about a couple studies that show microwaves don't cook out as many nutrients in food as say an oven or stove top. Not sure how legit those studies were though. ",
"Oh good lord. \n\nDisclaimer: I am a tea snob.\n\nI'll start by saying there's nothing *inherently* wrong with using a microwave, *so long as you're only using it to get the water to the correct temperature*. \n\nTea is a lot more delicate than most people think. You do not -- I repeat, **not** use boiling water for tea, and you never, *ever* boil the tea in the water! \n\nYou need very specific temperatures, and very specific steeping times for different kinds of tea. For example, green tea needs to be steeped for 1-2 minutes in water that is 80 degrees C (175F). That too is generalised - some green teas must only be steeped for 30 seconds! \n\nSteeping the tea for too long will make it bitter. Same with the temperature being too high or too low! That's why people keep dumping sugar and milk in tea. If you make tea correctly, *you don't need to add anything to it* to make it delicious. \n\nNow if you're using some, shall we say, non-delicate tea, like the kind that comes in tea bags, then it's not a big deal since that's not going to be delicious anyway. And there are more resilient teas that can handle a wider range (in fact, there are some Display Teas that are designed to have hot water added to them for an entire night). \n\nAs a sidenote: the people across the pond are in a glass house about tea. They know *nothing* about brewing. Unless \"the pond\" is the pacific ocean and you're going to China, and also 200+ years back in time. ",
"Much like a small sect of coffee drinkers, there are tea ~~connoisseurs~~ snobs that will turn their nose at you if you don't brew your tea at the *proper* temperature. Tea pots are designed to heat water to a specific temperature, where the microwave can produce irregular and inconsistent results. In reality, most people will never know a difference and most tea consumers can't taste the difference. If you are among the few that can taste the difference or can't take the mockery, a teapot may be good for you. Otherwise, enjoy that quick heat from the microwave-induced vibrating water molecules.",
" > My question is: why does it matter? \n\nIt doesn't. \n\n > ...you're just going to pour the heated water in a cup and add the tea bag so it's not like the actual tea is going in the microwave.\n\nI always microwave the teabag in a cup of water; do it most every day, works just fine. ",
"Microwaves don't heat evenly, and hence there are several possible results, none perfect: cold spots in the water, superheated water that boils vigorously on contact with the tea, or water that's been heated long enough in the microwave to come to a rolling boil, at which point there's a good chance that the oxygen has been boiled out. All of these can affect the flavor of the tea.\n\nMost people who are into tea agree that most black teas should be seeped with water at 212°F(100°C). A tea kettle or hot pot, whether electric or stovetop, heats from the bottom, creating convection currents that stir the water, allowing the temperature to be uniform. Plus it's easier to know exactly when the water reaches the desired temperature. [Partial source](_URL_0_)\n\nAt the risk of being a tea snob, if you're adding a tea bag to a cup into which you've poured hot water, you're already compounding the problem. The water will cool off from the cup, so when you add the bag, you're dealing with water that's already colder than it should be. Whenever I use bagged tea (mostly just herbals), I always put the bag in first and then pour the water onto it.",
"Because it flies in the face of tea tradition. \n\nMicrowave ovens are associated with quick but poor-quality cooking. They're the things you use to heat up a frozen pizza pocket at 2:00 in the morning. \n\nTea, on the other hand, is supposed to be a class apart -- you're supposed to put your regular life on hold, brew up a pot, and let your troubles slip away for the next little while. So you don't want to mix up your sublime tea experience with such mundane things as microwaves.",
"Boiling an open container of water in a microwave is generally bad for a microwave and there is a danger of superheating the water which can cause it to flash boil and harm you.",
"Different teas need to be brewed at different temperatures and for different lengths of time to get their proper flavor.\n\nBlack teas for example are usually steeped at higher temperatures (200-212F) for longer periods of time, whereas a white/green tea that is more delicate is generally steeped at 150-180F.\n\nDifferent teas have different chemical makeups which greatly affect the flavor of the tea, and how long and hot it can be brewed at before it gets bitter and ruins the taste. Brew your jasmine needle at 212F and you're gonna burn the hell out of it, making it bitter and disgusting.\n\nMany pre-packages teas that you would buy from the store (Lipton, store brands etc.) are very fine, sometimes powdery, and generally just low quality tea. The finer the particles are, the more surface area the water hits, and hence the faster the tannins and other flavors infuse into the water.\n\nThe proper way to get the best quality tea in terms of flavor would be to:\n\n* use loose leaf teas (the higher the quality, the better the taste)\n* brew the tea at the proper temperature and length\n* use freshly brewed water, do not re-heat previously brewed water\n* use the highest quality water available to you (contaminants in the water can affect the taste)\n* store your tea in an air-tight storage container, away from other materials that may have a strong aroma (spices for example)\n* store your tea in a dark area (generally keeping it in a metal tin would do)\n\nLike /u/sterlingphoenix said, you want to avoid using boiling water, generally 205-210F at the hottest. If you are using a high quality loose leaf tea, and using water that isn't riddled with hard minerals, you should have a great tasting tea without any sweeteners.\n\nYou can of course add sugar, honey, etc. but depending on what kind of sweetener you use, this will greatly affect the flavor of the tea, and in most cases, will hide the true taste of the tea. Good tea does not need to be sweetened, and it's healthier to avoid sweeteners anyhow.\n\nI HIGHLY suggest checking out Adagio Tea (_URL_0_).\n\nThey have a large variety of high quality tea available at an affordable price, plus they don't charge shipping over certain amounts. They also have a rewards programs, clubs (subscriptions) and more. They do a lot of free samples, and limited time tea variants etc. Been buying from them for years now and I am very happy with their prices and quality. The shipping is quick too.\n\nThe reality is that there IS a proper way to get the BEST flavor out of the tea. If you are drinking tea to just have something hot to drink, that's fine, but you're really not getting the proper tea. It's kind of like playing your Skyrim on an Xbox instead of a PC :^)",
"I agree with the consensus that generally speaking it shouldn't matter as long as you're careful because microwave boiled water can be dangerous as others have mentioned.\n\nAlso, I'm British and I have to say that the idea we Brits have, that we have any expertise on tea is a complete nonsense. We're a nation that takes tea and adds sugar and milk to \"brew a perfect cuppa\". Pathetic! \n\nSide question though, does anybody add microwave boiled water to their basic coffee filters like cafetieres or instant coffee? \n\nPersonally speaking, I have never microwave boiled water for tea or coffee myself, and wouldn't even consider it, but interested that others do.",
"As long as the water reaches boiling point it doesn't matter if you use an electric kettle, metal pot on a fire, or a microwave to achieve this. The important thing is fresh water just off the boil is poured onto tea leaves (loose or on a tea bag). The issue I find in the US is the temperature of the water is never hot enough. If you place a tea bag in hot water you are not necessarily making a good cup of tea. (In my opinion) \nSource: Irish Brit that has been drinking tea for 33 years. ",
"May also have something to do with the US using 120V mains power rather than 230/240V, I am told that electric kettles in the US take forever to boil whereas a kettle in the UK will take around a minute to make a couple of cups worth of boiling water.\n\nIt is therefore a lot quicker for you to heat water in the microwave.",
"Its to avoid the harrumphing of the Greater Spotted Tea Drinker.\n\nI myself am a Lesser Spotted Tea Drinker so while I use a kettle, microwaving the WATER is...ok but strange.\n\n\nHowever, sugar and teabag, then hot water, then teabag out and then milk. Adding milk with the teabag in is blasphemy and all who do so shall be first against the wall when the revolution comes.",
"My dad's Garage tea - boil a full kettle on the wood burner pop 5 tea bags in and set asside to cool to the touch .boil up again and stew for a few minutes, pour then add sugar and condensed milk. Makes enough for 4 mugs of tea. After that if you make more just add another tea bag and then stew it longer ."
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1vkwwr | sometimes my poop is too big and it tears my butthole slightly, resulting in blood. how come i don't get any diseases from my poop when it's essentially seeping into my bloodstream? | this could probably be worded better | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1vkwwr/eli5_sometimes_my_poop_is_too_big_and_it_tears_my/ | {
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"Anal fissure. More fiber!",
"Maybe you should start by asking \"Should my anus tear from my shits\".\n\nThe ELI5 answer would be: no.",
"change your diet. also do not hold your poop for as long. shit as soon as you have to.",
"Used to have this problem OP. Had it checked and was told my large intestine was also torn (from the same one tearing the butthole up I guess). It was to the point of literally dripping blood everytime I shat. Had very minor outpatient surgery to stich my intestine back up, and ta-da! No more booty tears. You more than likely have the same issue. Its definitely worth getting it looked at.",
"3 things:\n\n- Start drinking more and start pooping more often. Also, add some fiber to your food. Huge poos that tear your butt are not good.\n- Your butt is an area of increased blood flow, especially around the butthole - when the skin breaks, more blood flows inside to out rather than out to in, helping against infections.\n- If it has happened for quite some time and with all kinds of poo (but you've written \"Sometimes...\" so...), go see a doctor. Also, use the antiseptic tissues more.",
"There is a special immune system structure called Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue (MALT), which is like a white blood cell (immune defense cell) military base and transport system along the gastrointestinal tract. You have lymph nodes of varying size throughout your body, and these have a special name: Peyer's patches. So, if your rectum tears, infectious agents from your feces do enter the bloodstream, but there is an army of white blood cells ready in waiting, deployed at the front lines (of your backside), and you are unlikely to be overwhelmed with an infection that results in systemic illness.",
"Doctor here. This is the reason why:\n\n-The blood flow around the area of the anus drains to an area with heavy lymph nodes, lymph nodes around the colon and anus, and the inguinal lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are designed to filter blood, and white blood cells are located here to destroy bacteria. These nodes work very hard. \n\n-The blood from the intestines drains to the liver, where it is filtered (except for the lower most part, the anus). You might also ask yourself, why don't I get diseases from absorbing nutrients and toxins from poop into blood from my intestines? This is why. It all goes through the liver\n\n-Treatment recommendations: if you are tearing your butthole and it hurts, consider taking a laxitive like miralax, senna, or colace. Eat more fiber. See a physician and get examined for hemorrhoids. Then try anusol or something similar \n\n-The reason is not because of increased blood flow. Increase blood flow would just mean the blood flows faster. That has nothing to do with clearing infection. The blood flow at the anus is not very fast\n\nEdit: Eventually you can get infections, such as abscess or fistula. The body isn't foolproof and if it gets bad enough, something can happen. So try the above treatments and consider getting checked out",
"A friend of mine had this happen when he started eating bread again after several months on a wheat-free diet. Ended up with poop so 'big' it had to be scooped out by hand. His hand. ",
"I know people have already explained, but as one dude who had the same issue (and then got infected) to another... try to fix this, and don't ever hesitate to get a doctor to check it out if shit feels strange. Trust me.",
"I've got to thank you for asking this, because it's answered half of a question I've always wanted to know the answer to but never ask: Why don't you get sick from having an anal piercing. I still don't know how those things don't get infected, though. ",
"Stop pushing so hard and get a squatty potty.",
"Eat more fiber. Go to your doctor to see if there is something else at play. ",
"I've experienced the giant poo before as well. I think you are not pooing often enough. I starting going at least once a day and I've yet to have that issue since. Before I would go 2-3 days between poops. Never felt like I had to go, but now I force myself and reddit on the toilet like a normal human being.",
"People's advice of 'eat more fibre' generally led to recommendations of which powered supplement to take....\n\nThis is WRONG!\n \nEat more unprocessed VEGETABLES! \n\nEven 5 a day is absurdly low but its the baseline because its relatively easy to achieve. In Japan they eat an average of 17 portions a day and people are extremely healthy.",
"it happens to me i take a stool softener every night before bed so its softer drink lots of water so there is a lot of lubrication in your digestive track and your poo will be sift",
"I had that issue when I first went off to college. Then I found FiberOne bars. Just don't eat more than one within a few hours. ",
"on a side note, eat more fiber and and a lot more water. More veggies, and fluids. Seriously. eat a lot more fiber an drink a lot more water. ",
"Maybe It's not ripping your asshole, just scraping the insides? Either way, eat more fiber and drink more water.",
"You need to drink more water.",
"This tear is an anal fissure. And they are some of the worst pains. Opiates cause many of them as they constipate you. My remedy for them\nDont eat solids, dont eat peanuts or anything else that comes out sharp\nTake a ex lax at night and a senokot in the morning. You want the softest stools while it heals. ",
"I thought your question would have been \"Why does my body create turds that are too large for my butthole to pass?\" \nBut I suppose the direction you took and the answer you received were on the hole.",
"Along with drinking more water and eating more fiber, I would say to eat more fruits, whole grains and vegetables and -- especially -- more green leafy vegetables. Vegetables are generally high in fiber, but I think that, due to commercials, when people think of fibers they often think of things like Metamucil or bran, which are fibers and can be beneficial but they won't give you as much benefit as eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Sometimes large stools result from too much fiber supplement (and not enough water and not enough physical activity, typically). \n\nIf you're not a big vegetable eater, try mixing some in with other foods that you like, like macaroni and cheese, soups, stews, etc... (say, if you're having a frozen pizza, try slicing up extra mushrooms, onions and tomatoes and putting them on top before you stick it in the oven). If you don't like prepping and cooking food, try using frozen vegetables, just toss some in whatever you're heating. Along with this, you can also try taking a fish oil capsule or two and try getting regular exercise, even if it's walking for a half hour on a treadmill at home while you browse Reddit.",
"Also, you are probably not actually tearing your butthole. You probably have an internal hemorrhoid that is bleeding a little.",
"so am I the only one here who has never taken a shit so big it tears my asshole?",
"Yeahhh, your \"poop\" is too big",
"You do, then your immune systems kills it...\n\nOh but prostate biopsies have turned up a good one - resistant bugs in our digestive tract are not a big deal (in this case) but push a needle through the wall of the bowel and let those resistant bugs into the blood and you have issues.\n\n\nWhere do these resistant gut-bugs come from? Well at the risk of sounding racists, mostly SE asia and India where antibiotics, sanitation, food handling, and medicine generally all fail at once."
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1uthz2 | how do we calculate the value of fiat money? | I'm thinking specifically of bitcoin, but any example will make it more clear for me. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1uthz2/eli5_how_do_we_calculate_the_value_of_fiat_money/ | {
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"the value of anything is the amount of money others are willing to pay for.\n\nBitcoins cost $200 a piece (or whatever it is now) because someone is out there willing to give you $200 for a bitcoin. If there wasn't, then it wouldn't be worth that much.",
"I'd tell you, but first I want to know how much you're willing to pay for that info.",
"*The London Interbank Offered Rate is the average interest rate estimated by leading banks in London that they would be charged if borrowing from other banks*\n\n_URL_1_\n\n*The Libor is an average interest rate calculated through submissions of interest rates by major banks in London. The scandal arose when it was discovered that banks were falsely inflating or deflating their rates so as to profit from trades, or to give the impression that they were more creditworthy than they were*\n\n_URL_0_"
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1227kc | torque? | Whats the difference between torque & kilowatts? For instance when looking at the power in a car. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1227kc/eli5_torque/ | {
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"Torque is angular force. It's how hard you can twist something.\n\nKilowatts is the total power output, which is how hard you can twist something and how many times you can twist it.\n\nFor instance, if you were shoveling mud, torque would be how much mud you can lift in your shovel, rpm would be how many times per minute you can lift the shovel, and kilowatts (or horsepower, which is just 1 hp =0.76 kw) is how much mud you can move overall, which is the product of the two. So if your shovel holds 5kg of mud, and shovel it 45 times per minute, your mud output is 225 kg per minute. Or, if your shovel holds 25kg of mud, and you shovel it 9 times per minute, you'd also have a 225kg per minute output.",
"Torque is a measure of the rotational force you are applying to an object, or in ELI5 terms, how hard you are twisting it.\n\nPower, measured in kW or HP, is just how much torque you are applying over time, or in ELI5 terms, how fast you can twist it while still applying the same force.\n\nIf you can twist something really hard, but not very fast you are producing a lot of torque but not much power. If you can twist something really hard and do it really fast you create more power.\n\nIn a car, both are important, some engines are designed to create a lot of torque to move heavy objects, like trucks, and other engines, like those in race cars, are designed to maximize peak power output (less torque than a truck, but can rotate really fast).",
"When you and your twin brother were on a merry-go-round yesterday I started to push on one of the outside bars, and since this bar was far away from the middle of the merry-go-round, it was easy to push it (Torque=Force x Distance, measured in ft-lb, Nm, etc.). However, I had to keep it going, and this required power (Power = Torque x angular velocity and is measured in watts, ft-lb/s etc). Daddy needs to spend more time at the park burning calories that he gets from his daddy drinks.\nEdit: Some words\n",
"Since you're asking specifically about cars, let's talk about that. \n\nFirst off, horsepower is not a force, it doesn't move a car in any way shape or form. The only force responsible for making a car move is torque, period. \n\nWhat horsepower is is an attempt to quantify how efficiently an engine uses it's torque at a given RPM. To be more specific, horsepower is the sum of an equation that measures torque and rpm. \n\nNow you may be inclined to think that more torque = faster car, but that's not true. For example, a Ford F350 might have 550ft/lbs of torque but it would lose a drag race to my mom's maxima which has less than 300ft/lbs. And F1 cars about 10 years ago only made 285ft/lbs of torque, but they'd run a quarter mile in under 10 seconds. So how is that possible?\n\nThe answer is horsepower (or really, what horsepower represents). An engine moves a car by making explosions, and each explosion is a brief burst of torque. Of course we've developed engines to be smooth so you don't notice these individual explosions, but it's still a series of explosions that propel a car forward. \n\nSo each explosions creates *an* amount of torque for *a* period of time. And that's what horsepower is, work over time. Looking at an engine this would be roughly 'explosions per minute'. \n\nSo let's look at that F350 and say it makes 550ft/lbs at 2,000rpm. Well that's 550ft/lbs 2000 times every minute, which totals 1,100,000ft/lbs each minute. However an F1 car that makes 285ft/lbs at 22,000rpm totals 6,270,000ft/lbs each minute. So the reason an F1 car can accelerate more quickly than an F350, despite having less torque, is because it's 'creating' that torque many more times per second (and its weight, but that's another discussion).\n\nedit: huh, apparently everybody in this response thread got downvoted",
"So has anyone been able to explain 'torque' in simple terms?"
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17wh7k | why are supercars so expensive when they're so much slower than a modded racing car? | So, I know nothing about cars or racing. But there's lots of videos on youtube of minivans or station wagons that have been heavily modified beating up "supercars" like lambos and corvettes and so on.
Larry Larson's car that did the whole 6.95 quarter mile thing is a 66 nova. Why don't supercar manufacturers just do whatever these people do to their station wagons and 66 novas?
Edit: Thanks for all the answers using small words. I appreciate it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17wh7k/eli5_why_are_supercars_so_expensive_when_theyre/ | {
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"Because going fast in a straight line isn't the top priority of either people who build \"supercars\" or people who buy them. Both of those groups of people tend to want their cars to be able to go around corners, for instance. Quirky, I know, but chacun à son goût.",
"Making a car legal, safe, comfortable, attractive and durable (somewhat durable) is much more difficult than just making it fast. A production car has to meet all kinds of emissions and safety requirements. \n\nAnd yeah, going fast in a straight line is trivial compared to going fast on all kinds of roads and conditions. ",
"Lambos and corvettes are status symbols."
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acdsqw | how can the new chinese object left on the moon send information to earth if its always pointing away from earth? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/acdsqw/eli5_how_can_the_new_chinese_object_left_on_the/ | {
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"They launched a relay satellite past the moon that's orbiting a point in space out there that can receive a signal from the dark side and then transmit it to earth once it gets out from the backside"
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9oeceq | how is it possible for soccer players to “bend” shots? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9oeceq/eli5_how_is_it_possible_for_soccer_players_to/ | {
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"It's called the Magnus effect. A bend shot has a lot of spin. The spinning motion combines with the linear movement. The speed of the inside of the curve is less than the speed on the outside of the curve. So the ball moves into the direction of the spin. \n\n*Edit: As many have pointed out, the way the spinning ball interfaces with the relatively still air creates the curving movement. This is affected by the speed of the ball, the surface characteristics of the ball, the rotation and direction of spin, and other characteristics of the ball. This can be seen in soccer, basketball, golf, tennis, table tennis, and other round ball sports. Bowling and curling are slightly different because the ball or rock is interfacing with a solid (wood lanes or ice) instead of a fluid (air).*",
"Inducing spin/rotation, either clockwise or counterclockwise, causes low pressure on one side of the ball in motion.\n\nThis lower pressure on one side 'draws' the ball to follow, thus, inducing the curve effect in flight.\n\n\n _URL_0_",
"It's all boils down to striking the ball off center. If you kick the ball on the left side, it will spin to the right. If you hit under the center, it will spin up, leading to more hang time. \n\nAlternatively, if you were to strike the ball perfectly through the center, you can cause it to \"knuckle\". Baseball pitchers can throw knuckle balls but it's very difficult and even more so in soccer.",
"Others are explaining it from a physics perspective, I'll add in a sports perspective. Maybe people unfamiliar with the sport will find it interesting.\n\nThere are two ways to do it. Well, technically if you hit the ball off center and make it spin it will have a curve. But I'll talk about these big impressive curves.\n\nThe simplest one, but difficult to get it accurate, we call \"trivela\" here in Brazil. Another way to say it, which makes it easier to understand, is \"bola de três dedos\", literally \"three ~~fingers~~ toes ball\". So you kick with it the part of your foot where the three smaller toes are located, the outside of your foot. ~~IIRC some people call it \"knuckle ball\", presumably because you use your knuckles~~. \n\nYou angle your foot slightly inwards, so you hit the ball with the outside of your foot to spin it. Roberto Carlos' \"Banana Shot\" against France is a famous example.\n\nYou can also do it with the inside of your foot to get a different curve. You use the part of your foot right behind your big toe. This is what you see in free kicks most of the time since it tends to be more accurate. \n\nSome players are just talented at getting this stuff right. There's this Malaysian guy called Faiz Subri who gets amazing curve shots and won a Puskas Award with one of them. You can find videos on YouTube.\n\nEdit: I was wrong about \"knuckle ball\" in English and corrected \"fingers\" to \"toes\". I also added the bit about Roberto Carlos because it's a good example.",
"Follow up question:\n\nWhy does the almost total lack of spin make a knuckleball move all over erratically? \n\nTalking soccer here in case there's a difference between how it works here vs with a baseball ",
"So, the ball is cutting through the air, air is in front of it, below it, above it, all around it. Depending upon how you strike a ball, can change how it CUTS through the air, this works in just about every sport. So, say the ball is dead center with the net, if you strike (right foot) the left side of the ball, with the outside of your foot, the ball will appear to go left and then, bend or curve back right. This confuses the goalie and puts them out of position. \n\n\nYou can try this on your own, you have to be able to strike it straight first, then practice hitting it on the side, make sure you use a lot of power!",
"all about spin. this shows up in several sports. in football a tight spiral tends to increase distance and accuracy. in golf you can see a \"slice\" curve dramatically. in baseball it's how they get curve balls. also like in baseball, a hard shot in soccer without spin will behave like a knuckleball pitch in baseball.",
"Fill a tub with water. Take a ball and try to push it in a direction while spinning at the same time. Watch how the water surface reacts to the ball. The same thing happens in the air, only it needs far more speed and spin. ",
"Take a soccer ball roll it across your blanket, but as you roll it give it a spin. It causes the blanket to twirl around it which, in turn, will cause the direction of the ball to change as it rolls and guide it in a curved direction where there is less resistance from the curdled blanket wrinkles. \n\n & #x200B;\n\nThis is what's happening to the air around a soccer ball when you kick it a certain way.",
"Already answered in relation to bending but thought I’d add:\n\nDon’t know if anyone has said this already however sometimes even the bend can be deceiving. \n\nWhen you strike the ball initially if you generate enough force on the contact while still using the correct technique you can get the ball to slow down rapidly and spin right and the end of its trajectory. This works a lot better with lighter balls.\n\n",
"When I kick the soccer ball, I choose the direction I want it to go by the way I strike my foot against the ball. When I kick, I had a certain amount of drag against the ball's surface, which causes the ball to spin in a certain direction. This spinning effect causes the ball to curve in the way that it is spinning. Similar to how a baseball pitcher throws a curveball. ",
"In pool it's called \"putting English on the ball.\"\n\n_URL_0_\n\nBasically if you propel a ball in such a way that the ball spins while flying, it will tend to curve away from the direction of the spin. This is because the effects of air friction on the spinning sides.",
"former collegiate soccer player- the Magnus effect on a trivala kick is as difficult as it seems. not only are you (on the fly with 20+ other variables in play) you are also aiming off target by some 5-30ft to ensure a goalworthy shot. \nthe really impressive part to me is aiming for some point +/- 10ft from the actual goal to achieve a shot on goal. I'm also a pool player, and the English on a pool cue is very similar. set a shot angle, aim off target and let the physics do the work. \nat the end of the day, it's another one of those skills where the initial set up is counterintuitive until the execution, then the wizardry and witchcraft take over. all hail the dark arts",
"For a real ELI5:\n\nWhen you kick to the sides of the ball, it spins. Spinning makes it curve in the wind. Harder the spin, harder the bend.",
"Lots of answers here about speed and pressure, and my understanding is that they're either incomplete or downright wrong. It's not about fast air versus slow air, for example.\n\nIt's the Magnus Effect, yes. But the best explanation of what's **actually** happening is that the spin of the ball is causing the air moving past it to deflect more in one direction than the other. That unbalanced deflection equates to a force. And Newton's First Law means that has to be balanced with **another** force, in the opposite direction. And **that** force is what moves the ball.\n\nThe clincher is that the ball doesn't always move in the same direction. A soccer ball is rough, and moves one way. But a smooth ball curves the **other** way. See [**Physics Girl**'s excellent video](_URL_0_) on the subject for demonstrations and explanations of both cases.",
"Depending how you hit the ball and the effect you give it while you hit it.\n\nYou can hit the ball in perpendicular direction with the tip of your foot and the ball should go straight, but you can also hit with the inside or outside of your foot, providing centripetal force to the ball making it move in curved way. ",
"Think of the air around us as a really slippery ground. When you roll a ball on the ground, it usually goes whichever way the ball is spinning. It also does the same thing in the air.\n\nBut, the air is really slippery, so it needs to spin really fast to grab the air. And the air is all around the ball. If you spin the ball to the left, the left side of the ball is rubbing more against the slippery air than the right side is. So the the farther the ball goes, the more it will drag against the air on that side. And the more it drags on the air, the more it will roll in that direction."
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nztha | why is the tenth amendment ignored? | When did it go by the wayside? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/nztha/why_is_the_tenth_amendment_ignored/ | {
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"The Civil War was basically the very violent verdict on the scope of the 10th Amendment being delivered.",
"It's all about how you define \"by the Constitution\". Basically it comes down to whether or not you think the Constitution should be interpreted and precedent should be considered or the wording should be explicitly followed. For instance, the federal government regulated the production of ADHD medication. This is usually done underneath the auspices of the Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3), saying that since the medicine can (but might not) be produced in one state and sold in another that the federal government can regulate the product. The constitution doesn't actually mention the regulation of medicine or Adderall and an extremely strict constructionist would insist that the US government has no ability or right to decide what can be in the medication or who can receive it. They would leave this up to the states individually to regulate this. This would seem ridiculous, but it's one example of skirting around the 10th amendment. ",
"For the lazy: \"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.\"\n\nBasically- if some sort of power isn't explicitly given to the executive branch then it belongs to the states (unless the Constitution says its prohibited, like slavery). "
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6x0gt8 | what's with all the hate for the red cross and is it justified? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6x0gt8/eli5_whats_with_all_the_hate_for_the_red_cross/ | {
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"Whether it's justified or not is up to you but it largely stems from this page _URL_0_ which points out mismanagement of money on a massive scale, resulting in millions of dollars of donations being squandered. \n\nAll charities and organizations of any sort have some level of these issues. It may be that the Red Cross is just so big, that millions can be wasted and still be a small percentage of their total effort. ",
"There's a feeling that donating to the Red Cross in times of emergency usually results in very little of that money actually helping the people in that emergency, and most of the money gets sucked up in executive salaries. They were accused of raising half a billion dollars for Haiti, and only building 6 homes, for example.\n\nThe Red Cross in general is not a model of transparency, and given the scandals surrounding them, I'd be cautious of donating until they become much more transparent.\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_2_"
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"https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes",
"https://www.propublica.org/article/5-tips-for-donating-after-disasters",
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14uiv3 | why the united nations doesn't authorize the removal of governments like north korea's? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/14uiv3/eli5_why_the_united_nations_doesnt_authorize_the/ | {
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"A lot of reasons. \n\nTo start with, the UN isn't so much a world government as it is a collection of the world's governments, and they generally — generally being the key word here — frown on military action over a government's politics.\n\nSecond, the UN Security Council would have to approve military action for this to happen, and China (A permanent member with veto power) would never permit an invasion within its own sphere of influence. It's a lot easier to invade, say, Iraq when you have one Security Council member (The US) really pushing for it when the other members don't have a clear conflict of interest — which they most often always do.\n\nThird, North Korea is a known nuclear power with one of the most massive artillery batteries just 30 miles from Seoul. They've been preparing for a military invasion since the \"end\" of the Korean War (Technically, it's still going on) and any victory from a military intervention would be pyrrhic at best.\n\nTL;DR Politics and nukes.",
"Because some permanent members of the UN security council - namely, Russia and China - have a very absolute view of national sovereignty. Their policy is not to tell other governments how to run their internal affairs and not to care or interfere in the internal affairs of foreign governments. \n\nAlso, the UN wasn't founded to bring American-style governments to all of the world, it was made to ensure world peace. It's a broken premise to begin with, because the world uniting to get rid of authoritarian, genocidal governments like North Korea is obviously preferable to the world uniting to sit on its ass and let dictators murder their own citizens in the name of maintaining international peace.",
"Because how does one remove a whole government?"
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4cd12h | if english is the world's lingua franca, why is it important to be multilingual in business? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4cd12h/eli5_if_english_is_the_worlds_lingua_franca_why/ | {
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"Speaking the local language gives you access to the rest of the target market as well as access to unfiltered information. For example, your initial business contact in China may speak English, though the vast majority of the population does not. Now if you set up a factory in China, you will most certainly want to visit that factory semi-regularly to ensure it's efficient and there's a lack of waste and corruption (a very real problem in China). If you rely on one of the few English speakers in the company, you're at their mercy and better trust them fully. If you speak Chinese, you can communicate with everyone working and are better able to uncover any transgressions. \n\n*Edit:* When you learn the language, you're probably also learning the culture, too. Learning the customs of a people provides information regarding what you could sell them and how to do it effectively. For example, in China it's a sign of prosperity to be to be wealthy enough to not have to perform physical tasks (long fingernails and pale skin are desirable traits in part for this reason). So when a DIY store like Home Depot tried to enter the Chinese market, they failed and pulled out soon after. Their DIY image that appeals to Americans attitude couldn't have been more out of tune with the Chinese market."
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2khakv | what are the net overall effects of casinos to a local economy over a long period of time? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2khakv/eli5_what_are_the_net_overall_effects_of_casinos/ | {
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"It also depends on the deal made between the local government/state and the casino regarding the revenue that is shared and where it goes from there. There is a casino in the city I live that pays a percentage of their revenue to the government, however, the majority of it goes to other areas while the local city declines. "
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65znwh | do plants have intelligence? | I was reading an article and there's a breed of Acacia called the Bullhorn that creates a chemical dependance on the sugars it produces on the ants that live in it. By utilizing various chemicals it can get the ants to attack grazing animals, like giraffes, or drive them away when it's time to pollenate so they won't attack the bees as they visit the flowers.
Obviously I know that plants don't have brains, but this seems to come close to instinctive intelligence. Do some breeds of plant have something approaching intelligence as we know it? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/65znwh/eli5_do_plants_have_intelligence/ | {
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"They can evolve chemical defenses and some very rudimentary stimulus response behavior at the local cell level.\n\nPlants have no nervous system or real tissue differentiation so there's certainly no actual thinking going on.",
"What kind of receptors would plants have to pick up sound?\n\nThere was a study done where they would play audio of leaves being eaten and plants would release chemical. Down wind to notify other plants of their predation. Causing their leaves to become bitter. Basically staving animals because they won't eat these now alerted bitter leaf."
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7lfy1z | why do you have to point a tv remote right at the tv for it to work properly, but a wireless video game controller will always work underwear a blanket or even in another room? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7lfy1z/eli5_why_do_you_have_to_point_a_tv_remote_right/ | {
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"TV remotes use Infrared Light to signal the device. Game Controllers use radio waves to signal the device. They make (or at least used to make) radio based TV controllers but they had a tendency to operate through walls and even into other houses which can cause problems when you have multiple TVs within range. ",
"Tv remote is infra red and requires line of sight as it projects the commands via a beam of light to the tv. Game controller uses radio frequency which is multi directional and does not need to “see” the device being controlled. Just like the radio station doesn’t need to see your car so you can hear music on the radio. "
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29rn1r | how do studio musicians make a living long term | Do you hope you get asked to play on a song that sells a million copies and live off royalties? Do you become a music teacher? Do you move from NY to LA to Nashville? Are you given creative freedom or are you simply a hired hand playing pieces already written for you? How do session fees work? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29rn1r/eli5how_do_studio_musicians_make_a_living_long/ | {
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"There are a number of ways to pay the bills by being a studio musician. You can contract with a label and be a musician on an album for singers that don't have a dedicated band. It's a good way to avoid a rigid touring schedule. You can also be contracted to help complete albums by filling in on extra takes.\n\nEven well established groups use studio musicians for their albums. Lee Ritenour is all over Pink Floyd's \"The Wall.\" Sometimes it's just easier to let a studio musician fill in."
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2srauh | can mobile phones get viruses like other computers? if not, why ? | Why don't we have to worry about our iPhones or Droids getting viruses or malware like we do with laptops or other computers? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2srauh/eli5_can_mobile_phones_get_viruses_like_other/ | {
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"Generally speaking: yes, they can.\n\nHowever, they are far less targeted than PCs, and their operating systems are generally far more restrictive than PCs. Windows for example allows you to execute and install pretty much anything you want, while an iPhone (not jailbroken) will only allow you to install apps from the App Store, which have to go through a verification process by Apple first.",
"Yes they can, but there are certain things that mitigate this.\n\nOn Android and iPhones the phones use what is called a sandbox to run downloaded applications in. This sandbox essentially restricts an application to run isolated from everything else, so if an application were to be malicious it could only damage it's own data. Additionally both Android and iPhones primarily get their applications from the Play Store on Android and the App store on iPhone both of which have applications that are vetted and automatically scanned for malicious behaviour. Your computer on the other hand normally can download applications from anywhere, and an application downloaded to your computer generally has access to much more data than just it's own files. So a program on your computer can easily delete other data maliciously. \n\nAndroid and iPhones do have some viruses, allegedly they are more prevalent in other countries where piracy of applications is more the norm. In many cases malicious software is designed to somehow profit the author, and monetizing a computer infection is different than monetizing a phone infection. In computers one common way of doing it is serving up ads, or encrypting all data and then holding it hostage for the user. On a phone you can monetize it by secretly sending text messages to premium services. ",
"Just an fyi, \"Droid\" is a specific brand of Android phones from ~~Motorola~~ Verizon and therefore not really accepted as a shorthand.",
"You do. On iOS devices someone can use a flaw in the phone to install a malicious program. This is the same concept as rooting your device - or gaining full access to your device. A bad guy could use those same root exploits to do something bad.\n\nOn Android (and rooted iOS devices) you can install any program you want. If you are trying to pirate applications you may install a bad application. Your phone holds a lot of data that bad applications can collect. Your location, your conversations, your photos. \n\nThere only a very slim chance of malware when using the official app stores, Google Play and Apple App Store, on a non-rooted device. On a rooted device you gain more freedom with more risk. \n\nThe biggest risk on an unmodified device in the official app stores is sketchy advertisers. \n\nI've looked at a lot of mobile malware. [Here](_URL_0_) is a blog about mobile malware."
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bcwpc8 | why are far away objects blurry for people with bad vision, and why do glasses help? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bcwpc8/eli5_why_are_far_away_objects_blurry_for_people/ | {
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"So the eye is a lens that focuses light onto a spot in the back of the eye, much like how camera lenses focus light onto a small sensor. Similar to cameras, if that lens moves to close or too far away from its focal point, things get blurry (at different distances). People that are near/far sighted have misshapen eyeballs (like grapes instead of spheres) that cause the lens to be too close/too far.\n\nContacts and glasses are just a corrective lens on top that bends the light such that it hits the eye and focuses into the right spot."
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4j33k3 | an oncoming storm looks dark and menacing, once it reaches our location and the rain is falling, the actual sky looks a lot brighter, and less menacing. why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4j33k3/eli5_an_oncoming_storm_looks_dark_and_menacing/ | {
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"If no one else offers a better answer I'll throw this out there. I assume it has something to do with the angle of the clouds and the sun. Depending on what time of day it is, the position of clouds in the distance vs. Overhead will produce different shadows and lighting. \nIf weather typically moves in from the west, and you are observing this predominately in the afternoon, perhaps the angle of the sun and clouds produces a more dramatic image in the distance opposed to when the clouds are over head. \nI have a feeling this might have something to do with it, but I'm open to being wrong. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will answer. "
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3wxwa6 | why is it bad to cancel a credit card? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3wxwa6/eli5_why_is_it_bad_to_cancel_a_credit_card/ | {
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"It's not *necessarily* bad, but it can be bad in that it could negatively affect your credit rating.\n\nYour credit rating consists of a number of factors, including:\n\n* Payment history (most important)\n* Credit length history (how long you have had credit)\n* Credit utilization (how much of your available credit are you using -- in other words, are you maxed out?)\n* A number of other factors that we don't need to get into here.\n\nSo let's say that you have a credit card that you got 15 years ago, and it was your only credit for the next 7 years. As long as that card is open, you have a 15-year history. If you close it, your \"active\" history drops down to 8 years. \n\nUsually, though, the issue is that it changes your credit utilization ratio. Let's say you have 3 cards with limits of $10k, $15k, and $20k. You have no balance on the first card, and $10k on the other two cards. Your total available credit is $45k, and you are using $20k of it. Your credit utilization rate is 44%. Now let's say you decide, \"Well, I never use that $10k limit card. I'll close it.\" If you close it, your credit utilization rate jumps from 44% to 57%.\n\nSo even though nothing has really changed, you look like a riskier investment because you have less available credit."
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201dc4 | why are we so set on finding new habitable planets when it would take us thousands of years to even reach them? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/201dc4/eli5_why_are_we_so_set_on_finding_new_habitable/ | {
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"Curiousity is a big part. People want to see what's out there, they want to see new places and such, see if the way we live is normal, or if we are very war hungry, or if we are even one of the \"peaceful\" planets.\n\nAnother large part is colonization, the way the system is set up now, we are having trouble sustaining our booming population. So if we could load a massive ship with supplies and settlers, put them in some sort of suspended animation and send them to a new planet, to colonize and take some of the burden off of earth, that would be great.\n\nNot to mention it makes it so that if Earth/Humanity is destroyed on Earth, that Humans are still alive out there, carrying on our legacy."
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57g8mi | why do alkaline batteries not have their mah capacity info on them, while for virtually any other battery this would be unacceptable. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/57g8mi/eli5_why_do_alkaline_batteries_not_have_their_mah/ | {
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"I suspect you're probably a bit young, so you're missing the framework on how things used to be. I don't mean that as a dig, just as a way to point out lots of stuff would have made more sense in hindsight, but that's the way things go.\n\nThe ubiquity of handheld devices is a relatively new thing, and the power consumption of said is crazy amounts more than it used to be even a few years ago. For decades, people knew which battery they needed by battery size (AAA/AA/C/D/9 volt) being the common sizes.\n\nFor most people, in most uses, the batteries used would last for months or longer in the various devices. So the actual capacity and effective time of the battery didn't really matter.\n\nNowadays, we're carrying devices that need to be charged daily, so it's more important to know the exact length of time. For general alkaline batteries that were likely going in a remote or a walkman and would last for months, an hour or two here or there difference made no effective difference, so why even get into another measurement that would just confuse the consumer?\n\nSo it's acceptable for the alkaline batteries to not list the specific mah, because for the uses those batteries will have it's not really needed. It would make sense, now that the average consumer may understand a little more, but at the end of the day, I suspect it wouldn't matter much; if you care that much you're probably going to be using some form of rechargable battery anyway.\n"
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25h8eg | why do a lot of jewish last names have words like silver or gold or stein in them? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/25h8eg/eli5_why_do_a_lot_of_jewish_last_names_have_words/ | {
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"According to the Christian bible, usury (the act of making loans for personal profit) is a sin. Being a banker was seen as being dirty. Jews had no such qualms and became successful money lenders, working in the finance and jewelry industries. Silver and gold and stein (rock/jewel) became part of their name, as many professions did (For example \"smith\" for blacksmith).",
"_URL_0_\n\nTL;DR Most Eastern European Jews didn't use family names until they were forced to do so around the late 18th century. When they had to make up a new last name for themselves, many ended up going with something related to their profession or the place where they lived. \"Stein\" means stone in German, so a lot of Jewish jewelers used it in their new names. ",
"These are Ashkenazi Jews, who lived in central and eastern Europe, especially the area we now call Germany (\"Y'hudy Ashkenaz\" means \"Jews of Germany\"). When surnames became common, they took -- or were forced to take, when Napoleon made it compulsory -- surnames from the German or Yiddish languages (Yiddish being a mix of Hebrew and German). For example, the name Mendelssohn is made of the common Jewish name Mendel plus the German \"Sohn\", and means \"Son of Mendel\". Some notable German Jews had very obviously Jewish surnames (e.g. Daniel Itzig), but most had very normal-sounding German surnames (e.g. David Friedländer).\n\nOccasionally, when Jews were forced to adopt surnames against their wills, the authorities gave them names that were faintly (or sometimes very) insulting, often in an ironic way, which may account for why you notice \"Gold\" and \"Silver\" or \"Silber\" a lot. For example, \"Goldwasser\" translates as \"golden water\", by which is meant urine.\n\nMostly, though, they just happen to be German names. It's important to realise that not all Jews have German names, and not all people with German names are Jews."
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29iwma | why is it okay to charge more for car insurance because of gender and age but not for race? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/29iwma/eli5_why_is_it_okay_to_charge_more_for_car/ | {
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"It's not about race being a protected class.\n\nIt's that discrimination is only illegal when there isn't a justifiable business reason to do so. In the case of insurance there is clear statistical data which shows that men are more costly consumers of insurance, especially young men.\n\nThere may also be data about specific races, in which case insurance companies might conceivably alter rates based on that as well.",
"Personally, my guess is that if women were statistically more likely to be in accidents that there wouldn't be a price difference because it would be deemed sexist. \n\nA quick search of car crash data by race yielded [this](_URL_0_) which if you go to Table 1 on page 2 you'll see that all races are roughly the same except Asians and American Indians. Oddly enough the stereotypical Asian driver gets a bad rap according to this chart and they should be given the best rates. As to why Indians don't get higher rates it's probably because the population is small and the insurance companies would get killed in PR for raising rates for just them. ",
"Does someone have statistical proof that women are better drivers? I know that that's what I hear a lot, but I've never seen the facts, and I know WAY more women that have been in accidents than men",
"This was recently outlawed by the EU _URL_0_ so maybe it's not ok anymore.",
"I think in Europe you can no longer make car insurance cheaper for women?",
"Insurance companies sort of charge by race but in a round about way. Where you have the vehicle located according to your insurance can often time have a huge impact on how much you pay. I had a lady tell me that she moved to a black area across the river and her insurance doubled. Also, mathematics or something.",
"I can't think of a feasible way to prove what race someone is. Age and sex are clear cut. If they could do it they would",
"Where you live has a big effect on your insurance premiums. If a certain demographic is over represented in a certain area, they are charged more or less based on race.",
"It's *not* okay. Legal, maybe, but not okay. I am *not* a statistic. I am *not* a worse driver because I am male. Either I am a worse driver or I am not, and observing my driving habits would answer that question. Lumping me in with my peers based on some physical attribute I have is, in my strong opinion, amoral. It's a lazy way to optimize profits, and nothing more.\n\n[edit]\nWhy am I being down-voted here? This is one of the most blatant \"correlation implies causation\" fallacies in our society, and it has direct economic impact on the individuals being discriminated against!",
"I'm no expert at anything but I do know that there are more physiological differences between males and females of different ages; such as hormonal imbalances, strength, aggression, how excited they can get, maturity. These all change between males, females and people of different ages and can all effect how you behave on or off the road.\n\nHowever race is a different thing. Race has more to do with your cultural background and upbringing as well as, though far less so, how much melanin you have in your skin (more melanin = darker skin tone).\n\nDifferent cultures could have different behavioral norms on the road but generally, if they are getting car insurance you would hope they know how to behave on the road in whatever country it is, but different skin tones shouldn't have any effect on how you behave.\n\nSimply put: Gender and age effect behavior alot. Race can effect behavior but far less than gender or age.",
"It's not like a whole race are terrible drivers, therefore making it okay for them to pay more",
"I think there is a lot of weak answers here.\n\nI know I'm 9 hours late, but in the event you read this as an actuary I can tell you that the reason this is the case is because race is not as easy to define as gender.\n\nMale and female is a constant easily observable trait. There are people who are mixed race, or not even totally aware of what their racial composition may be in the form of adoptees etc.\n\nI can assure you if genetics worked differently and everyone came out of their mother explicitly blue, yellow, orange or whatever and statistical data backed up that orange people drove the worst they would be charged more for insurance.\n\nAs an anecdotal example, consider South Americans. There are South Americans who may consider themselves Native American, Black, White, or a mix of them all. I work with an afro-Honduran who is somewhat light skinned who prefers to label himself as Black but would probably be labeled as \"latino/hispanic\" by most of the public not familiar with afro-Honduran culture.\n\nThe ELI5 answer is that gender is black and white (disregarding trans people I suppose - but for insurance purposes 99% of the time they will be assessed based on their birth gender), where race is most certainly not.",
"What if you're transsexual....do you pay the male or female rate ?",
"Switzerland does - by nationality. Try any of their online quotes once using Swiss or EU nationality (they are not allowed to differentiate between Swiss and EU citizens, however this could bo on the way out if they cancel the free circulation with the EU as they have voted to do) - then try it with any other nationality. Difference can be as high as 25%",
"In Europe, you now can't discriminate insurance on gender grounds. ",
"In the UK you aren't asked what race you are while applying for insurance anyway. ",
"Because unlike age, and mostly unlike gender, there's no reasonable definition of race.",
"I pay $1,000 a month for car insurance for my ONE car, and i have no prior tickets or accidents",
"Because people don't get upset when something is sexist towards men. ",
"This is and will still be done in New Zealand. We have strict laws though and there had to be a lot of statistical proof that says one gender is more likely to crash than another. However, age plays a part in it as well. If you are less than 25, it's going to be expensive. Above that and there may be a slight change in premium for age and gender but not much. Biggest factors are where you live, what car you have. \n\nYour premium is essentially determined on two things: how likely you are to have a claim for something, and how much that claim is likely to cost. ",
"My dad once explained an important fact to me.\n\nIt is illegal to discriminate on the basis of age, but only if you try to exclude someone for being too **old**.\n\n\nIf you're young? Fuck it, don't drink, smoke, drive, run for president, etc.",
"It isn't OK, at least in the EU. The women-only cheaper insurance outfits were banned a few years ago under the discrimination legislation.",
"Because gender and age has proven stats that show more car accidents, where as the race doesn't matter.",
"Just to add claiming- your married vs single even if your spouse isn't on your policy gets you a discount. Not fair for single people. ",
"I've worked on a lot of car insurance systems in Canada and the US. In most of Canada sex isn't allowed as a rating factor, when it was outlawed the companies did just increase the rate for women to match the rate for men. In some locations age isn't allowed either. Race never is and, as noted in previous posts, it's not definable anyway. \n\nThe current proxy for age is credit score, the premium goes down as the credit score improves; this tends to target young drivers and, especially, new immigrants. \n\nI pay $600/month, btw, for two vehicles and, having had a bad year, am expecting that to double at renewal.",
"Gender is a fundamental difference among humans; race is not. Human genetic variation exists on a gradation, which the lazy phenotypes we've thought up an called \"races\" do not explain. ",
"How high your car insurance rates are will depend on your gender and age because those are serious factors that go into considering how many/what kind of accident you will get into. Men and woman may get into the same amount of accidents in a year, but men are more likely to get into more serious accidents because they are more aggressive drivers who like to drive fast. Because woman are \"gentle creatures\" we will just get into slight accidents causing dings and nicks in the car, while men will end up totaling the car. This is the theory anyways. Which explains why insurance rates are higher for men. As far as age goes, of course teen drivers are going to get into more accidents than adults, simply because they are new drivers. Which explains why insurance rates would be higher for teenagers. There is no correlation between race and how many accidents you will get into. Many other factors besides gender and age go into deciding how high/low your car insurance rates will be, but race is not one of those factors and will not be one of those factors until there is shown to be a direct correlation between what your race is and what kind of accident/how many accidents you get into. \n\nEdit: grammatical error ",
"They do charge more based on your location, so you could say that by charging a predominantly black area, i.e. Harlem, a higher rate that they are indeed charging more because of race. ",
"Race affects nothing about someone. Gender and age does.",
"Classifications for underwriting insurance are based on likelihood of causing a more costly claim. Typically speaking, ratings change every two years (i.e., 16-17, 18-19...23-24, 25+). In addition, said age ranges are also separated by gender.\n\nThe logic is a male is more likely to be involved in an accident going at a higher rate of speed, causing more damage to both property and persons. Females are more prone to be involved in small fender benders from simply not paying attention.\n\nOnce the insured party reaches age 25, males and females are rated equally. Other factors that equalize ratings are marriage and children. A married individual (male or female) is generally considered a lower risk, therefore rating them similar to a 25+, regardless of younger age. Another category is \"with child.\" Again, this tends to be a category that puts one into a lower risk class rating... (by the way, no proof of having a kid is required...If you are shopping around, just say you're a parent and you will get rated as if you are 25 or over)\n\n",
"They also charge based on your credit rating",
"Because there are studies that show that male drivers under the age of 24 tend to have more accidents than any other age group of either gender. Younger females also have higher rates based on age, but not as much as males. While you may be a 20 year old guy that has never been pulled over or been in an accident, you are paying for the nincompoops in your age bracket that have had multiple accidents.\n\nAs for race, if there were some study done to show that white people were worse drivers than black people, then I'm sure the insurance rates would be higher for whites than for blacks. And I'm sure there has never been a study done for fear of anyone conducting the study being labeled a racist. Because in this day and age, who wants to do anything that could possibly be tainted with an implication of racism? ",
"Discrimination of different varities is held to different standards in court. Discrimination by race is held under the \"inherently suspect\" standard, meaning the burden of proof falls upon an establishment to prove that its actions are the only way to accomplish its goals. Thus is why affirmative action is legal. It serves a purpose that cannot (for now) be replaced by anything better. Gender, on the other hand, falls under the \"intermediate scrutiny\" category. This means that gender discrimination cases are not pre-favored to either the plaintiff or the establishment. And finally, age falls under the \"reasonableness\" standard. Discrimination by age is assumef reasonable and the burden of proof falls on the plaintiff to prove that the discrimination was unnecessary and unreasonable. \n\n\nTl;dr discrimination based om age and gender is more easily defendable in court than discrimination by race",
"Insurance should be charged on individual merit. Why should I pay more because other fuckheads drive like idiots? \n\nI was totally getting ripped off on liability only insurance until I turned 25. (male)",
"You know why.",
"Better question: Why is okay to charge more for car insurance because of gender but not ok to charge more for health insurance because of gender?",
"Race is a myth- there is no gene that defines race. There is no way to tell what race someone is other than appearances alone. Race has been continuously redefined since the beginning of this country.",
"In the EU it is not permitted to charge more based on gender.",
"Didn't the Supreme Court just rule that gender differences in insurance is illegal?",
"Just as an extra point, I believe in Europe it actually is illegal to charge different rates for insurance based on gender.",
"It is just discrimination, as everyone is young at one time and they tell you it will go down when you are 25 or some such poop but the fact is by then over all rates will have gone up and you never see less.\n\nThen of course you buy a better car later wham you get hit again.\nI liked a time you guys know nothing about but when there was no fault insurance you could afford a car.\n\nWhen this bullshit money grab payola to insurance companies requiring you to have insurance I left the country for a decade. In truth i wish I never came back except parent died.\n\nI could always buy uninsured motorist if i were worried about what others did or did not do.\n\nFact is ever sense that day insurance sky rocketed.\n\nBecause you cant rein them in buy just saying no to the high price you have no choice.\nNo fault existed so people would not just say no and buy something.\n\nPlace taxing cars yearly at 4 percent like in Virginia no one will be buying a car before long no matter what it runs on this should send chivers down auto makers spines. Ownership price creep is keeping people out of ownership.\n\nThey are all scum.\n",
"In the UK (Edit: and Europe) we made it illegal to charge different rates based on sex",
"Oh but they do, if only indirectly. As far as the statistics are concerned, you can select for race just by selecting location of residence. Certainly not all people living within a particular area are of one race, but lots of areas are so homogeneous that picking a particular street or zip code will give you a good idea of what color the person on the other end is.\n\nNow, I'm not saying that this is intentional or anything like that...I'm just saying that if you looked into the data, it'd probably be rather easy to select for race within all the non-racial data the insurance companies have...and that the judgments are probably already in the actuarial algorithms, they're just called something else.",
"In the uk, it was recently made illegal to charge males higher car insurance premiums than women. \n\nIn response insurance companies started charging women more. \n\nCrafty bastards. ",
"This is a great question. Considering that in 2014 Gender is something one \"Identifies\" with, how can it appropriately come into play for determining car insurance rates?",
"They charge more if you are in a high risk area...(see south florida with fraud) and it can change a little more based on zip code. In a really bad part of town your rates go up... So in a round about way they do charge for being surrounded by some races.",
"It SHOULDN'T be ok to charge more for gender. ",
"Because it's charging males more. If it were reversed, it would be discrimination. ",
"In glorious EU, it is illegal to charge more for gender.",
"because you cant discrimate against race. its the federal law. \n\nyounger people are charged higher insurance (at first) because they have no \"safe driving record\" to stand on. sort of like a 17 year old trying to get a loan with no credit. \n\nfor an example, a 35 year old non smoker with no traffic tickets on 10 years, will likely get cheaper insurance that an 18 year old with one ticket. \n\ninsurance rate change for genders at younger ages because young men are far more likely to take risk than women. this changes after 25. \n",
"I don't know why people dislike the industry so much. If you are getting outrages prices its for a reason. A company isn't going to charge you, say $100, for complete coverage on your new $25,000 auto if you have a history of getting into tickets/accidents. Imagine you total your car, they pay you $25k. You would have to stay with that same company for roughly 20 YEARS for them to break even. Still don't like insurance? Well who would you rather let borrow your shiny new Corvette? A single 18 year old that just got his license a week ago or a 30 year married man with 12 years driving experience? And as others mention, your location matters as well. How many accidents happen in the outskirts of cities compared to in the city? I am 20 going 21 and yea insurance on my BMW is a bitch but I knew that BEFORE i bought my car. Too many folks buy expensive cars but can't afford insurace for it (or even maintenace!). Don't get mad at an insurance company because you didn't make a financially sound decision.",
"Also, in the european union it has been made law that companies have to charge men and women the same for car insurance (they raised women's rather than lowering men's of course). A case of political correctness flying in the face of logical, statistical data. ",
"This is actually illegal now in Ireland. ",
"I think a simple answer is that race is such a taboo topic that they are scared to. You bet if they thought they could get away with it they would do it.",
"Your opening premise explains a problem. It's actually not okay to discriminate car insurance based on gender.\n\nBoys 16-25 are wrongly clumped together. The higher risk side is 16-21 at which point accident rates horribly drop. Accident rates for everyone 75+ skyrocket and are almost twice as high as people 16-25. This should mean that as soon as you hit 70 your insurance should be double that of a fresh driver, but it never is.\n\nGender is also a problem. When you count in all age groups you find that women (_URL_0_ check Table 4-1) are actually a high risk group than men. When you look at by age women's driving gets worse very quickly around age 60 (Figure 4-2). So hypothetically the most expensive insurance SHOULD be a woman over 75... but it's not.\n\nIf you look at Figure 4-3 you'll notice that women consistently are in more crashes than men. Keep in mind all of this information is from 1993.... yes we've had all this information for a little over 20 years now and only the EU has made it illegal to discriminate based on gender.\n\nThe problem is that car insurance companies unfairly discriminate between age and gender without consistency or data to back up exactly why they are doing it.\n\nIf they were to include race, they'd have an even larger problem. Race is not exactly a black and white thing. If you were to list off all of the races and race combinations in the world and were forced to explain why exactly certain ones are higher risk than others.... you might be seen as a hate criminal."
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3rv476 | how do journalists get into conflict areas? | I've seen many in Syria with the rebels, and even one guy who managed to access to Raqaa and IS. (Medyan Dariyah) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3rv476/eli5how_do_journalists_get_into_conflict_areas/ | {
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"In general they can arrange with rebels to get in and report. \n\nIt is not difficult to get in to rebel or IS held areas from the Turkish, Saudi , or Jordanian borders although journalists are not likely to reveal exactly where or how they crossed. \n\nPeople who report on IS tend to be locals (like in the vice news video), or make a special arrangement with IS. For instance, PBS Frontline got a local a special arrangement with the Taliban to follow and report on them. It is harder with IS since they tend to be harsher to journalists than the Taliban, but you get the idea. You need contacts and connections to report on such groups.\n\n"
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90yesv | how does the variation of the thickness of a guitar string cause different sound frequenices ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/90yesv/eli5_how_does_the_variation_of_the_thickness_of_a/ | {
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"More thickness = More Weight = Slower Vibration [Frequency] = Lower Pitch [Heavy Sound]..., \n\nSimilarly...,\n\nLess Thickness = Light Weight = Faster Vibration = More Pitch [Thin/Shriller Sound]. °¬"
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6abio4 | where do pantone colors come from? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6abio4/eli5where_do_pantone_colors_come_from/ | {
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"It is best to think of printing as a lot like screen printing. When printing anything on a CMYK printer the target image is broken down into different separations for each of the four colours. e.g. _URL_0_ and each of those colours is layed down in varying amounts. In combination they can present as a much greater variety of colours despite having only used 4 colours of ink.\n\nLike any colour system, CMYK has a limited [gamut](_URL_1_) - it can't reproduce all the colours that are in the visible spectrum. This can be bypassed by using spot colours.\n\nIf there is an additional colour requested (for example an out of range blue, or perhaps a silver or gold) then another separation is added and the printer is fed with the precise colour ink for that separation.\n\nAlternatively, and probably a more common form of spot colour printing, perhaps only 2 or 3 colours are selected. This is common in, for example, corporate identities. For example a [UPS](_URL_2_) business card or letterhead is likely printed in a two colour process where they use one yellow screen and one brown screen. This will be much cheaper than paying for a CMYK 4 screen print.\n\nPantone is simply a company that provides a catalogue of standard colours. They use 13 base pigments mixed in different amounts. Any printer can buy access to this catalogue and inks to mix any colour in the catalogue precisely, ensuring that the same colour can be reproduced anywhere."
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3w9whw | where does the power lie in the european union? | Who runs the show? How exactly do things get accomplished? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3w9whw/eli5_where_does_the_power_lie_in_the_european/ | {
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"Think of the EU like the US federal government and the countries as states. Now make the states each powerful enough to say no to the govt but not necessarily to all the other states if they work together. \n\nSome countries like each other, some don't. Some will work together and others will block things out of spite. \n",
"u/anomalous_cowherd got it. To add on, if you were looking for the country with the most \"clout\"... It would definitely be Germany. They have the largest economy in the EU, so they typically have a lot of pull in any debates. Look at the Greek debt crisis for an example of Germany whippin its D out"
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15721m | i keep hearing about the "trillion dollar platinum coins" solution to the us debt. could someone please eli5 why this isn't ridiculous or why prominent economists are endorsing it? | It just doesn't seem like you should be able to print money to pay off a country's debt, but 2 trillion dollars would be some small percent of the cash that's already floating out there. The resulting inflation would be a function of that percent... right? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/15721m/i_keep_hearing_about_the_trillion_dollar_platinum/ | {
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"It *is* ridiculous, and prominent economists do not seriously think we should do it.\n\nHowever, it *would* eliminate the deficit. The idea is meant as a funny way to show that, despite the political rhetoric, we cannot and should not reduce the deficit at all costs.",
"I disagree with all of these points. The coins would only be held by the Fed and used to back inter-agency payments. No one has standing to sue and the money would not be in circulation, so inflation would be impossible. Big investors already understand that the whole thing is a joke. If they were going to bail on USD because Washington is nuts, they would have bailed decades ago. There's only so many places you can put money, and compared to other places, the USD is still the most reliable. \n\nThe real absurdity is in the debt ceiling law itself. Why should POTUS have to ask Congress for permission to make payments on the stuff that Congress has already bought? It's just the circlejerkery we live in these days."
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6oww9j | what's the difference between flat footed people and people with arches? why is it that flat feet is a disadvantage and was at some point a reason to excused from military service? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6oww9j/eli5_whats_the_difference_between_flat_footed/ | {
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"Flat footed person here.\n\n\nSo arches are pretty important, they're essentially shock absorbers. When you run, walk a lot, jump, etc it's a lot of impact in your body and the arches absorb a lot of it.\n\n\nWhen you don't have a strong arch, your foot collapses instead, causing the shock to go to other parts of the body such as the knees. This causes knee pain, back pain, and other issues. Over time, these issues can become chronic (turning into arthritis, disc degeneration, etc). \n\n\n",
"Back 100 years ago, most of the army marched from point A to point B, there weren't trucks or trains or airplanes. \n\nSo if you had someone with lousy feet, you didn't accept them. You needed those who could march 25 miles per day, and flat footed recruits, it was thought at the time, wouldn't be able to handle that.",
"Flat footed and military here.\n\nAs /u/midwesternhousewives said, I have a lot of knee/ankle problem. Even sole doesn't fix the problem. It helps but it's not a magical solution."
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oymx2 | how creationism could be taught along side of evolution | I just saw the reddit post for this article: _URL_0_
My question isn't what it is or if it should be taught. I'm more wondering how it could take more than a few minutes to mention. The title of the reddit post says taught along side of Evolution. I just can't see how it could take that long to explain. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/oymx2/eli5_how_creationism_could_be_taught_along_side/ | {
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"I see what you're saying, if all it were was: \"Scientists say this is how life developed (weeks/months)\" alongside \"The Bible says this is the answer! (maybe 15 min).\"\n\nThe people who are pushing this though actually have an agenda beyond that. What they want is for school's to 'teach the controversy.' The problem though is that there isn't any controversy; scientists are unanimous about evolution. Except for 'creation scientists' of course, who have textbooks worth of specious and misinformed criticisms of their crude understanding of evolutionary theory. These are the folks who'd like to teach \"Flood tectonics\" (yeah, Noah's flood) vs. Plate tectonics. They have pseudoscientific arguments on all this stuff and would like to get them inside classrooms. The goal of getting it into classrooms, and these guys are often very honest about this, is to proselytize the Christian religion.",
"There's an interesting article I read a few years back about biology classes at [Bob Jones University](_URL_0_) that's related to your question. I can't find the article right now (unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the journal it appeared in), but basically, \"teaching Creationism\" is more or less asserting your point of view, then spending a good amount of time explaining why evolution is wrong and makes no sense. Sometimes the teaching of Creationism also includes showing how random scientific discoveries \"support\" the view that the universe was created in six days.\n\n[This website](_URL_1_) gives a good overview of how Young Earth Creationists might teach their version of creationism. (Scroll down a bit until you get to the list; the introduction isn't relevant to the discussion on hand.) Basically, it comes down to angry rhetoric couched in pseudo-scientific language. \n\nHowever, as far as I can tell, conservative Christian schools that spend a significant amount of time in the science classroom talking about creationism are rare. Most schools uncomfortable with evolution simply choose to spend as much time on the theory of evolution as they do on creationism, which is to say very little, and move on to less controversial topics. They take a few minutes to mention creationism, but they also only take a few minutes to explain that there are \"some people\" who also believe we were all descended from monkeys. They then will assert that both are \"theories,\" and that students can choose which one is more plausible, usually making it evident which one the teacher wanted students to believe. (At least, this is how my middle school teacher did it.) The problem with people who don't \"believe\" in evolution isn't so much that they're teaching Creationism instead; it's that they aren't teaching evolution at all. \n\n\nEDITED to add that I still can't find the article, but it's nonetheless interesting to look at the language utilized by BJU to describe their [General Biology II course](_URL_2_):\n\n > Bio 101 - General Biology II\nA continuation of General Biology I dealing in greater detail with meiosis, sexual life cycles and transmission genetics; pathways of respiration and photosynthesis; and **a biblical response to the theory of evolution.** Topics introduced in this course include taxonomy, developmental biology and ecology. Lecture and lab.\nSecond semester, four hours. Prerequisite: Bio 100.\n\nEmphasis added is mine. Again, goes to the point that there isn't really a \"teaching\" of creationism, rather just the refutation of evolution. ",
"Propaganda and indoctrination aren't complex at all, but for them to work they require repetition. That's why a short time is insufficient.",
"This is actually a slide from a class I'm taking right now and it shows the progression from 100% creationist beliefs to 100% evolution beliefs and you will see that there are a lot of tiers that mix evolution and creationism.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nYou can probably Wiki each of those terms and get a good summary in the first sentence or two.\n\n"
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2id6f6 | why earth scientists believe extra-terrestrial life is only possible within the same parameters of life on earth. | It's difficult to explain the question properly, but whenever I read articles about the other planets in our solar system, and the possibilities of life existing on them, as well as the search for "Earth like planets", the whole argument for the possibility of life seems to rotate around how life on Earth has developed. I.e. life requires oxygen, water and usually sunlight to develop. Is it not possible that extra-terrestrial life-forms could breathe methane, or helium or what have you. If they even need to breathe at all? Surely there are possibilities outside of lungs and gills? The physical and chemical make-up of the planets in our solar system is pretty varied, so on planets light years away from us, I imagine the scope for diversity, variety and anything different to "us" is enormous.
TL;DR Why are aliens expected to be "carbon-based, oxygen/water reliant" according to every article I can find on the subject? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2id6f6/eli5_why_earth_scientists_believe/ | {
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"It's not that scientists believe that extraterrestrial life *must* exist in conditions that we're familiar with, it's that we know that these conditions are conducive to life as we know it (on at least one planet).\n\nThere might be a multitude of different forms of life that can exist in a multitude of different environments, but we can only investigate so many possibilities at once, so we look for those that we are most familiar with and, therefore, most able to identify.\n\nAll that being said, there are some compelling arguments that indicate carbon-based chemistry is more likely to be found in recognizable life, as well as utilization of water. Most of these have to do with the specific physics/chemical properties of both, and the various reactions and interactions that they allow for, but a detailed explanation is beyond my ability to express simply.",
"It most certainly is possible that life can be created outside of what we think it is formed from. \n\nIt isn't that scientists don't think it can be formed differently from how it is formed on earth, more so that all we can use to make these predictions and assumptions is what we already know. \n\nAlso, if we can find life these \"earth like\" planets, that makes it more relevant to our own planet and findings.\n\nSomeone else will answer this much better than I have , but I hope I gave a simple, concise answer.",
" > Why are aliens expected to be \"carbon-based, oxygen/water reliant\" according to every article I can find on the subject?\n\nThey're not. It's just that we don't have any knowledge of other possible chemistries that may be conducive to life, so we have no clue what other types of planets to even look for. Thus we look for Earth-like planets because we **know** that they can harbor life.",
"Let's say you were walking down the sidewalk, and you dropped your keys and couldn't find them. Would you look in the gutter, or down in the sewer? You'd look in the gutter, because if they are in the sewer, you're never going to find them.\n\nThat's why scientists look for earth like life in other star systems. We know what it looks like, so if it there, were have a chance of finding it. We have no idea what non-earth like life looks like, and really don't know how to search for it.",
"While it is certainly possible that life elsewhere could be vastly different, there is actually good reason to think that it will, at the very least, be carbon-based, and use water.\n\nThere is a reason that there is an entire branch of chemistry devoted to carbon (organic chemistry) and it isn't because life on earth is based on carbon, it is because carbon has a fairly unique ability to form amazingly complex molecular structures. Complex structures are necessary for complex life. Silicon is sort of like carbon this way (which is why one of the main alternatives to carbon discussed is silicon), but it doesn't seem to be able to do it quite as well as carbon. The most impressive alternative I've seen are polyoxometalates. The metals involved are less abundant than carbon in the universe, but technically many metals like iron are more abundant on Earth than carbon, so I don't see any reason that we might not find some metallic based life somewhere (_URL_0_).\n\nLife using water is also highly likely because, water is an incredibly good solvent, and is incredibly abundant in the universe. What we are looking for if we want life that isn't water-based is another solvent to use. There are possibilities, like ammonia or methane, which are also very abundant (though not as abundant as water). Of course it needs to exist as a liquid, which means it is restricted to environments very different from those on Earth.\n\nBasically, life is ultimately very complex chemical processes, and carbon and water are really ideal for the purposes of generating complex chemical compounds. So there might be life out there in the universe that isn't carbon based, and that doesn't use water as it's solvent, but I think it is very likely that most life in the universe will involve carbon at the very least. Water is more easily replaced as a solvent than carbon as a structural backbone, but it is probably not impossible."
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a4pcmv | the penultimate scene of trading places (1983), how do the dukes lose so much money and how do valentine and winthorpe do so well? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a4pcmv/eli5_the_penultimate_scene_of_trading_places_1983/ | {
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"Basically they gave the Dukes bad info about the OJ prices, making them believe it was going to reach higher than what it was on the exchange. They do this by making a fake report saying the orange crop was poor, which means less OJ so what there is is more valuable. In fact the orange crop was fine, as a result the Dukes need to sell what they bought to try and regain their losses leaving Valentine and Winthorpe free to buy it all up incredibly cheap. At the time insider trading from government tips on commodities was perfectly legal, although nowadays the events in the movie would be highly illegal. ",
"Valentine and Winthorpe were using inside information about the future of orange crop production to game the market.\n\nThe Dukes had commissioned their fixer Clarence Beeks to get a copy of a report from the Agriculture Commission on the orange harvest for the next season.\n\nThe Dukes' business is to buy and sell \"futures\", which are a term for a kind of financial instrument that lets you buy and sell things for a fixed price *in the future*. What you're buying and selling is not the commodity itself, but an agreement to buy or sell that commodity for a specific price at some point in the future.\n\nNow, if you are speculating that the price of frozen concentrated orange juice will go up in the future, you'd buy contracts at the current price (called *going long*) and when the price goes up, sell the contracts back at the new price, pocketing the difference.\n\nIf you think the price will go down in the future, you'd sell contracts at the current price (called *going short*), then when the price goes down, you buy them back at the new price, and again pocket the difference.\n\nIf you do either and the market goes against you, you have to spend more of your own money to *close the position*, or zero out your held contracts.\n\nSo, with that in mind- Beeks got the crop report, but Valentine and Winthorpe got Beeks and swapped the report for one that was false. The real report said there was going to be no harm to the orange harvest because of cold weather, while the one they slipped the Dukes said the cold weather had harmed the harvest.\n\nIf the harvest were hurt (as the Dukes believed), then they would think the price of oranges and therefore frozen concentrated orange juice, would go up. So they tell their guy to buy the everloving shit out of FCOJ from the moment the market opens- driving up the price. But since they think the crop report will send it even higher, they don't care.\n\nValentine and Winthorp wait until the Dukes have driven the price up a good amount, then start going short- selling contracts at the elevated price. They conveniently do *not* sell anything to the Duke's guy, leaving him holding a lot of contracts.\n\nThen, while the price is falling- because Valentine and Winthorpe are selling to all comers, who are buying in a frenzy- it's still above the open. At that point the real crop report is revealed, and the market goes into an absolute panic (because other investors saw what the Dukes were doing and wanted to get in on the action, sending prices even higher). Valentine and Winthorpe stand there quietly while the price goes down, then say \"BUY 'EM\" and buy all their short positions back at the lower price (but again not from the Duke's guy), making hundreds of millions of dollars in the process, and leaving the Dukes holding the bag for a couple hundred million bucks they can't pay.\n\nEdit to add: The law that makes it illegal to use insider information in this way is called the \"Eddie Murphy Rule\" from this movie and scene.\n"
]
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[],
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3gfjbd | magnet powered generators | Here is a link to a video about what I am talking about:
_URL_0_
Don't be scared off by the term "free energy" obviously it is not free energy. But what exactly is happening here? There are so many youtube videos out there about this which NEVER explain what is happening which is part of the reason why there is so much hate towards these things. People label it as free energy which makes people go crazy.
I describe it as the potential energy from the magnets is being converted into electricity. Is this correct? How long would the energy from the magnets last?
How much energy do they create? Why doesn't the industry use something like this? Is it not finantially viable or does it not produce enough energy even with much larger magnets to be worth anything? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3gfjbd/eli5_magnet_powered_generators/ | {
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"The magnet pushes on the magnets glued to the fan blades, the fan blades repel, the fan spins, and the motor in the fan generates electricity that lights the LED in the bulb.\n\nThe potential energy comes from moving the magnet towards the fan. Notice that he never leaves it there for long. That's because the fan would wind down with the magnet in one place. You can use electricity to spin the fan, and it will spin for a good long time after the power is turned off.\n\nIt takes force to move the magnet closer to the repulsive magnets. That force costs energy. Some of the energy he's putting in is turned into power for the LED, most is lost. If you make a machine that moves the magnet in, and then takes it back, and then moves it in again, over and over; you'll find that the energy to run that machine is more than the energy to light the lightbulb.\n\nTL;DR: if they don't explain it, the explanation would spoil the trick, just like \"magic\".",
"There's a lot of misinformation here, so I'll do my best to clarify. The video is real, and you can do it at home, but it is not \"free energy.\" In the case of the video OP linked, the magnet is behaving as a battery or energy source for the system. It constantly pushes away all of the batteries with its magnetic field, but it causes the fan to spin because the most force is imparted to the magnet whose field is parallel to the source magnet that he holds. This *will* spin the fan and it *will* generate a voltage using the internal diodes and motor. However, the source magnet does this work by consuming energy in the form of molecule alignment in the iron (or rare earth metal) of the magnet. Like a battery, once you use up all the energy stored in the source (electric field for a capacitor, chemical bonds in a battery, magnetic fields in a magnet) then you stop producing a force and you stop doing work.\n\nWe don't use magnets to power our cars or anything because they're stupidly heavy relative to the amount of energy they store.\n\nThe light he uses in the video runs off a AA battery, which is 1.2 to 1.5 volts, depending on the type, and a diode that's reverse biased with a current can easily produce that. Small fans like that run on 3-5 volts usually.\n\nTry it at home: build one of these and hook it up to an incandescent bulb for a few weeks. You may or may not (probably not) be able to see any light being produced. Then hook it back up to an LED and see how well it works. The incandescent bulb will drain energy far faster than the LED bulb will, so you can see results sooner."
]
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"https://youtu.be/jiAhiu6UqXQ"
] | [
[],
[]
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66wysu | how can netflix provide me with so much content and zero commercials for $12/month while comcast charges me > $50/month for limited content that's 1/3 advertisements. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/66wysu/elif_how_can_netflix_provide_me_with_so_much/ | {
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"text": [
"Comcast has to maintain a vast nation-spanning infrastructure system to deliver that content.\n\nThey also pay a huge amount of money for the rights to live sports content.",
"Comcast has to pay for the maintenance of the wires carrying the information to you. For the equivalent you need to add your internet cost to the cost of your netflix account. "
]
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[],
[]
] | ||
6eajxg | how did mars lose most of its water? considering the water cycle that i learned in school shows that the same water is used and reused over and over again. i'm curious as to what could cause most of the water in a planet to just disappear. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6eajxg/eli5_how_did_mars_lose_most_of_its_water/ | {
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"Probably a number of factors.\n\nLower atmospheric pressure leads to water evaporating at a lower temperature.\n\nNo real protective atmosphere to absorb some of the radiant head from the Sun, again causing the water to evaporate. \n\nLess gravity to keep the water vapour close enough to the surface to attempt to condense into a liquid. \n\nThere is likely a few more to add. ",
"The solar wind stripped it of its hydrogen because Mars lacks the magnetic field that the Earth does.\n\nOxygen, being the skank-ass hoe of elements, found something else to bond to to form a solid oxide.",
"Mars lost its magnetosphere which then allowed the solar winds to blow away its atmosphere. Over time the atmosphere got so thin that water boiled off and once in the atmosphere blew away. "
]
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[],
[],
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aubma4 | how do multiple exposures work to create such amazing photographs? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/aubma4/eli5_how_do_multiple_exposures_work_to_create/ | {
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"This is a technique that is used when photographing in low light conditions. Normally this would require very long exposure times in order to collect enough light to get all the details. However you run the risk of overexposing parts of your image and underexposing other parts and you also risk motion blur as objects move (such as stars in the sky). So instead of one long continuous exposure you take multiple shorter exposures. This gives you a lot of options when you merge them together. It does not on its own make the images better but it helps you out when you are editing the photograph as there is more information for you to manipulate.",
"With film, you can take a photo (an exposure), and then take expose it again over to of the first. The resulting image is a combination of both exposures; they often appear to have transparent or ghostly layers. \n\nThat same effect can be done digitally with Photoshop.\n\nOtherwise, digital cameras can do lots of neat things by combining multiple exposures of the same subject. \nOne is HDR, or High Dynamic Range. HDR is a combination of at least two exposures. One exposure will show detail in the deepest shadows, but lose all detail in bright areas. Another exposure will show the bright areas while losing the shadow detail. There may be other exposures in between. These are combined into a final image that has detail in the deep shadows and bright highlights at the same time. \n\nAnother helpful tool is focus stacking. If you want to show sharp detail right up close to the camera and very far away at the same time, you can take multiple images where the only thing you change is the focus point. Starting focused up close, and ending focused far away. Combining these makes an image where everything is in sharp focus from front to back. A very close-up macro image that is sharp everywhere could be a stack of dozens of exposures. \n\nThere are a handful of other camera functions that can use multiple exposures, but those are the common ones."
]
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[],
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] | ||
4ajatu | why 1t hdd for a desktop pc its so big? a same capacity for laptops its a lot smaller. :\ | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ajatu/eli5_why_1t_hdd_for_a_desktop_pc_its_so_big_a/ | {
"a_id": [
"d10shbg",
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"text": [
"HDD sizes are standardized. Desktop ones, regardless of capacity are 3.5 and laptops are 2.5. This gives extra room for better motors for faster speeds.",
"Nothing's stopping you from putting a laptop HDD in a desktop. \n\n*Very* generally speaking, smaller electronics tend to be more expensive. So if you *can* make a slightly cheaper version because you have the space for them, you may as well. \n\nBut, again, harddrives have standard interfaces, and you can put any standard drive in any standard computers. "
]
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[],
[]
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r1b0c | how sound chips in older video game consoles like the sega genesis produce music? | From what I've read on Wikipedia, the [Sega Genesis](_URL_0_) utilizes two different sound chips:
1. [Yamaha YM2612](_URL_1_) ([FM synthesis](_URL_2_))
2. [Texas Instruments SN76489](_URL_3_) ([PSG](_URL_4_))
Side question: why are two separate chips required? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/r1b0c/eli5_how_sound_chips_in_older_video_game_consoles/ | {
"a_id": [
"c423xy5"
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"text": [
"Why two sound chips? That's the easy question. There's different ways of making sounds electronically.\n\nSynthesis is good at making \"musical\" sounds (think keyboards and electronic instruments) with very little processing power - early synthesizers were purely analog machines. I won't go into much detail about *how* FM synthesis works (it's ugly shit with lots of math) but, in short, the CPU just needs to tell the synth chip \"hey, make voice #1 sound like a flute and play an E-flat\" and it does it.\n\nThen you have \"sound\" chips that just play back any sound - they're good for recorded things & sound effects. The problem is that you either have to record the sound ahead of time or use lots of CPU power to create it from scratch.\n\nGiven that an old system like the Genesis had very little RAM, storage capacity or spare CPU cycles, this was a compromise to get sound effects and music at the same time. Modern systems tend to have just \"sound\" chips because they have the storage to play back MP3-style music."
]
} | [] | [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Drive#Audio_and_video",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_YM2612",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation_synthesis",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Instruments_SN76489",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmable_Sound_Generator"
] | [
[]
] | |
capplm | what happens when i’m passing out after seeing blood or getting blood drained? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/capplm/eli5_what_happens_when_im_passing_out_after/ | {
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"text": [
"when you're passing out, it's due to a sudden drop of blood pressure to the brain. so your body sees something that triggers a stress response (fight-or-flight, cortisol realese) and in the process some blood flow is directed away from your brain, and causes you to lose consciousness briefly.",
"Something in your lizard brain felt so threatened on such a base level that your brain decided not to fight, or run, but to freeze and hope for the best. You tranquilized yourself. Your blood pipes all loosen up and your brain gets way less go juice so it goes into standby mode.",
"I know a few people with the same problem. It's called vasovagal syncope. \n\n\"You faint because your body overreacts to certain triggers, such as the sight of blood or extreme emotional distress. It may also be called neurocardiogenic syncope. \n\nThe vasovagal syncope trigger causes your heart rate and blood pressure to drop suddenly. That leads to reduced blood flow to your brain, causing you to briefly lose consciousness.\n\nVasovagal syncope is usually harmless and requires no treatment. But it's possible you may injure yourself during a vasovagal syncope episode. Your doctor may recommend tests to rule out more serious causes of fainting, such as heart disorders.\" -source, Mayo Clinic",
"The image of blood triggers an exception error in your brain so basically your body turns off and on again."
]
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[],
[],
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7w2l92 | how come using spit on a shower mirror or swimming goggles prevents them from fogging up longer than if you just use water? | When I rub spit (kind of gross, I know) on the mirror in my shower it seems to keep it from fogging up and collecting condensation better than just rinsing it off with water. Why? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7w2l92/eli5_how_come_using_spit_on_a_shower_mirror_or/ | {
"a_id": [
"dtx2g22",
"dtx4djq"
],
"score": [
16,
2
],
"text": [
"The saliva acts as a surfactant and decreases the surface tension of the water droplets (fog) created inside the mask, which is from a drop in temperature of the lens I am pretty sure. ",
"For the shower mirror you can also use shaving gel, rub a bit on all over the mirror, then wipe if off, leaves a nice residue which stops it from fogging up ☺️"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
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