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8173pt
How do farmers produce millions of batches of coffee/wine that taste the exact same every year?
When you buy a certain bottle of wine or bag of coffee, you expect a certain taste and flavor. Now I'm no farmer, but it seems like it would be extremely difficult to grow millions of beans/grapes that produce the same constant flavor, year after year. Wouldn't there be too many dynamic external factors to account for?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv0xtpa", "dv0zgvn" ], "text": [ "It’s not so much about the uniformity of the beans/grapes, as it is about the treatment after harvesting. That’s where the flavor profile can change most.", "To add to this, most big name “brands” of wine/coffee probably have more processing involved ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
817c0o
Why do public schools (and many offices) exclusively use Internet Explorer?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv0znek", "dv139cv", "dv17d6u" ], "text": [ "Certain settings in Internet Explorer can be controlled through a Windows Domain environment with something called Group Policy. For instance, you can use Group Policy to enforce the Homepage of IE, whereas Chrome and Firefox would require ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
8193bk
what’s physically different about USB versions?
So take usb 2.0 and 3.0 or usb-c, what exactly is it that allows for faster data transfer speeds?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv1f1aj", "dv2057o" ], "text": [ "For example USB 3.0 has 9 wires while 2,0 has only 4. More wires = more data sent in shorter time. Also 3.0 uses different method of sending signal than 2.0. And for the C version, which I don't know much about. Only info I found is that it has 24-pins an...
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[ "url" ]
81ay6c
How exactly does self checkout prevent ppl from stealing, techonologically done, apart from human supervision?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv1u33v", "dv1uoss" ], "text": [ "One thing it does is weigh the items. If there are more things in the bag than you've scanned, it will summon an employee. This helps prevents you \"forgetting\" to scan something, or scanning something of a lower price. But there *will* be more theft. Th...
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[ "url" ]
81cn79
Is image quality capped by the resolution of a screen?
If you have a 12 Mega pixel camera, and you view the photo on a 1080p screen (effectively 2 MP) then how does a better camera resolution (whilst keeping all other factors like light sensor, exposure, etc.) make it a better picture?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv28gyr" ], "text": [ "If we're just talking pixels, then yes. A 1080p screen will only display a max 2.07 Megapixel. However, with higher Megapixel cameras you can take a picture and zoom in. (post processing) without the image becoming blurry. If we disregard focus, lighting etc. So for exa...
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[ "url" ]
81ctic
Is there any purpose for rocks around train tracks?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv29g44", "dv2kqu4", "dv3720t", "dv2m4xy" ], "text": [ "Yes, Stops crap from growing, keeps drainage/erosion controlled so your tracks will not wash out and cause an incident. Pretty much alotta same reasons why you have gravel driveways.", "We went over this in class the othe...
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[ "url" ]
81db84
How does Quick Charge work?
I mean shouldnt it depend on how powerful the adapter is? Or does it have something to do with the type of battery, programming the phone? Is it a marketing term companies use to sell more phones?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv2dbh3" ], "text": [ "Fast charge uses a microcontroller in the charger, to communicate with the phone, and the two devices negotiate, and decide what current and voltage to charge at. Despite what the previous poster says, a USB fast charger will only up the voltage or current if the recipi...
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[ "url" ]
81dq1u
why does notepad on windows save files with an asterisk?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv2f7tx" ], "text": [ "The asterisk means: \"Replace with your own text.\" Notepad is one of the simplest applications you can get, and is mainly included as the default application for things like viewing readme files, not much more than that. When you save a file in Windows, and you choose ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
81g4ov
How it is possible to have a cellphone conversation with a person on the other side of the planet in near real time...
How are the signals able to travel so quickly as to seem nearly instantaneous? I would understand if it was light, but aren't cell signals more akin to sound waves? Sorcery I say...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv2xukf" ], "text": [ "No, they are radio waves. Sound waves are matter moving and compressing, just like a physical water wave. Light, radio waves, and the like, are electromagnetic waves that travel at the speed of light." ], "score": [ 7 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
81i7a0
My tongue at the end of a USB cable attached to my laptop counts as an unrecognized device
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv3a3i2", "dv3am5d" ], "text": [ "Yes: the port can detect *something* is attached, but can't tell what it is, because your tongue doesn't communicate via the USB standard :-P", "Yes. The USB protocol has some back-and-forth where the computer asks the device what it is. That's how a ...
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[ "url" ]
81o4yb
How do websites determine whether or not you have a capital letter, a number, etc in your password if they never actually get the password, just its hash?
Say a website wants my password to have at least one uppercase letter, one lower case letter, and a number. * I try *password123* * That string gets hashed and sent to the website * Supposedly the website only ever has the hash, not the actual string, right? For security reasons? * But if a hash is a nonreversible func...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv42dk7", "dv44a12" ], "text": [ "The cleartext is checked before it's submitted and hashed, usually by a client-side script. That's pretty normal behavior and there's no security risks there. Even if it's submitted in cleartext for validation and your connection is secure, then you've li...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
81o5os
What are NAT Type and UPNP and how do they affect my internet experience?
Basically all i know is what NAT AND UPNP Stand for and they seem to be causing me problems that my isp doesnt want to help me fix
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv43wmp" ], "text": [ "Internet communications get where they are going using an address, your IP address, which is unique worldwide. If a message is sent to your IP it will get to you specifically. The address is recorded as 32 binary digits, or bits. The problem then is that there are only ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
81qg80
Parsing Data
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv4dk37" ], "text": [ "There are many different data formats and the process may be different and/or more complex but here's a simple example: Let's say you have a text file in CSV format (comma separated value) with some customer data (name, age and email): Alice,24,alice@example.org Bob,19,...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
81so13
How limiting is developing software on older systems like Mac OS System 7 or Windows 95 compared to newer systems?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv4ue0k" ], "text": [ "Do you mean besides there being almost no user base for an operating system that old? Or that it is no longer maintained by the developer of that OS, so no bug patches, security or driver updates? Or that the hardware it runs on is also likely to be ancient? Or that you...
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81t81x
What exactly is the process to make lab grown meat?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv5w2w1" ], "text": [ "Oh I can answer this! You have to consider what 'meat' actually is. Meat is animal muscle, but even that is a bit vague; muscle is a combination of muscle cells, muscle fibers, blood vessels, fat, nerves, connective tissues etc etc all in completely different ratios and...
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[ "url" ]
81vo6y
Why do lights get brighter before they die?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv5jj66" ], "text": [ "An incandescent light bulb works by making a tungsten filament so hot that it glows in the visible spectrum. The main failure mode of a tungsten filament is that it is so hot that it slowly evaporates. It gets thinner and thinner until either on its own or due to a mino...
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81x7gt
The difference between source code, and what we download when we buy a game
I'm not even sure I'm asking this question correctly; that's how far removed I am. I remember reading that someone had found starcraft source code and the internet lost their minds when he turned it in.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv5ulk3", "dv5uyrp", "dv5xfup", "dv5uo58", "dv5uslm", "dv6lxfr", "dv6thdv", "dv6gnva", "dv60znk", "dv8oqeq" ], "text": [ "When you write a computer program, you write it using a human readable language, for example C, Java or Python. For example, this is wh...
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[ "url" ]
81y9x1
Why are smartphone fingerprint scanners so quick and responsive, but laptop fingerprint scanners always seem to be so gimmicky and ineffective?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv64nb9", "dv6nljp" ], "text": [ "phones dont actually scan your entire fingerprint. that's why you have to tap it a bunch of times during setup, so it can unlock even from a partial print. it's faster, but less secure havent used a laptop scanner but from what i've seen they're bigger th...
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820qe5
How does a cars speedometer know not to increase when a cars tires are spinning?
I'm not very car smart, and this question popped in my head today. Somebody help me out with this one. And too add to this, how would my car know I'm slowing down even when ABS is kicking in? Thanks in advance all!
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv6lirl", "dv6lnyo", "dv6l0vw" ], "text": [ "It does not know. It assumes the tires are in proper contact with the ground, and when they are not, it gives an incorrect reading. Future speedometers may be corrected using GPS, but that generally is not done today.", "I haven't worke...
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[ "url" ]
821riy
Why do PC manufacturers continue to release new computers with McAfee or Norton installed even though they slow down computers?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv6t0qg", "dv6t38z" ], "text": [ "They get revenue sharing whenever a user subscribes. also, those brands still carry weight with a majority of non-tech savy customers, they believe these programs are important and beneficial.", "Short answer: money Long answer: software manufacturer ...
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[ "url" ]
824s5w
Why do bitmap graphics lose quality when they are resized?
Cant find anything on Google Edit: Added a flair
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv7fmcb" ], "text": [ "Imagine you scale up an image with 2x2 pixels by a factor of 1.5, so that it has 3x3 pixels. The image is very simple: It's a white column on the left, and a black column on the right. Now you somehow have to insert a third column into the image: You can either make it ...
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825wdc
Why does a 60 inch 4k TV (60HZ) cost roughly the same as a 28 inch 4k PC monitor (60hz)?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv7lnea" ], "text": [ "Are you sure about that? A quick Amazon search shows me that 60'' 4K TVs cost about twice as much as 28'' 4K monitors. URL_0 URL_1" ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://www.amazon.com/s/?&field-keywords=60in+4k+tv", "https://www.a...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
826303
How do physical disk readers identify music "tracks" on the disc? How do they know where to stop/start?
More specifically, if a disc has 12 "tracks" and the disc reader knows how to read it so that it doesn't overlap or combine music, what mechanism allows for this? Are there headers at the beginning of the track or file that allows it to recognize start and at the end for stop?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv7nqm3" ], "text": [ "The same way your computer knows how to read files on your hard disk. Audio CDs have a specific format called CDDA for Compact Disk Digital Audio. The format specifies a Table of Contents section that indicates the location of each track on the disk. The CD player is ju...
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826o86
The differences between a guitar/bass amp, pre-amp, head, and PA.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv7s40j" ], "text": [ "**Pre-amp**: electrical signals from microphones, guitar pickups, and so on, are usually very small, and too weak to travel through wires to other equipment or to be used as input to other circuits. A pre-amp is a specialized amp that boosts the signals so they can get ...
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8271p2
why motion sensors don't react to sudden light changes and shadows?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv7u928" ], "text": [ "Motion sensors use a PIR sensor. PIR stands for Passive InfraRed, which is basically a 1- or 2-pixel thermal camera. Since it's only looking at changes in infrared light (which is emitted by mammals and other warm things), it's not going to notice actual visible light c...
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828lff
How was it discovered that two pieces of the same metal would bond together in a vacuum if they became in contact, and how do astronauts repair stuff in space avoiding this to occur?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv875vp" ], "text": [ "I'm not sure about the history of it, but I'd wager that it came up as a theoretical prediction long before anyone tried it. As far as the astronaut stuff: vacuum welding is actually tricky to do. The surfaces must fit together very well, like two finely sanded flat sur...
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82a7x9
Why does an electronic device occasionally glitch?
Computers and electronics by nature should theoretically respond to the same stimuli the same way every time if they're working properly. Why, do electronics sometimes freeze or do strange things but then a moment later or after restarting it will work fine? Something must have been "wrong" during the glitch, but then ...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv8knjd" ], "text": [ "There are two main causes for electronics \"glitches\". * **Physical Conditions** - things like moisture and heat can and do often effect electronics. Heat especially can cause computers and other electronic devices to fail. Excess heat causes the resistance values of v...
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82a9wo
why locks can be locked without being closed? (link to pic in description or in comments)
When i was 6-7 i had an old, greasy, rusty lock that i really liked for some reason, and i kept fiddling, by locking and unlocking it repeatedly. At some point i noticed that the lock could be locked with the metal thing outside from the hole, not being closed and so becoming useless as a lock, i thought that maybe gre...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv8kd7v" ], "text": [ "Has to do with the design of the internals of the lock. It was just designed in a way where this happens. Probably locks on both sides to make it harder to shim, but I can’t be sure." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
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82akaz
What is holding us back from having batteries that charge significantly faster, hold significantly more charge, or even have an unlimited lifespan?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv8mkis", "dv8ms03", "dv8myr5" ], "text": [ "Unlimited? No. Batteries rely on chemical reactions to hold the energy that's put into them. As the density of stored energy increases, it becomes harder and harder to hold, requiring more and more cleverness.", "Batteries use chemical ...
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82eetx
How does minmax and alpha-beta algorithm manage to find the best possible solution?
In a game implementation like 4 in a row
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv9filt" ], "text": [ "Simply by playing as well as it can against itself for both sides. ***Let's start with minmax:*** A minmax algorithm starts with some move: and then goes \"OK, for every move I make, what would my OPPONENT do in response?\" It then goes to each of those moves and goes \...
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82erc9
Why are IT Best Practices so drastically different per company?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv9i6hb" ], "text": [ "URL_0 This web comic explains it really well. Not sure how many more words is needed to get around silly bots removing comments." ], "score": [ 6 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/standards.png" ] ] }
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82fets
How do radar detectors work and how do police detect radar detectors?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv9m48h", "dv9lxrz" ], "text": [ "> How do radar detectors work They detect the radio waves emitted from some types of radar guns used by police. > and how do police detect radar detectors? Mostly, visual inspection: they see that you have a radar detector mounted somewhere in your vehicl...
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82fivy
Why do lights flicker, and do all of them flicker?
I understand this has to do with alternating current, but I'm still in the dark. I have a set of Christmas lights in my room and I can *almost* visibly see them strobing. Moving objects look choppy. I then noticed if I change the shutter speed on my phone's camera, it actually picks up certain frames of them turning on...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dv9mv4w" ], "text": [ "Your Christmas lights are cheap AC LEDs. Basically they're two strings of diodes that are pointed in opposite directions with no driver or smoothing components which add costs. The voltage coming in looks like a sine wave going up and down. When it rises to a certain po...
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82h0j3
How do scientists seperate particles from the rest of their groupings?
Basically like how do they shoot off one particle at a time in experiments like the "Gold Foil Experiment"
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dva0gre", "dva086o" ], "text": [ "Methods differ depending on what kind of particle you want. For example, for the Gold Foil Experiment, they were using an alpha \"particlse\" (which really aren't particles but are actually two protons and two neutrons). Alpha particles are a product of a...
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82hm34
Why is an electric toothbrush so much better than a manual toothbrush?
Or is it better? My dentist suggested I start using an electric toothbrush and I’ve been thinking a lot about it. But I don’t understand how a vibrating brush is any better than scrubbing my teeth myself. I feel like presence of technology is always better than its absence because tech is awesome but I find it hard to ...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dva43kf", "dva4i5g", "dva659s", "dvakrqo", "dva8v8p", "dvad6fj", "dvard11", "dvasyin", "dvaup6p", "dvab8wv" ], "text": [ "It's a bit clearer if you look at it from the perspective of WHY you brush your teeth: to break up plaque. The objective is not so much...
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82ijgu
[Technology] Why do electronics slow down over time, even though the processes which they run get better?
Take a phone or a laptop for example. 5 years ago, a new laptop could surf the web, use Microsoft programs, and other small games or applications (Solitaire). Over the next 5 years, the processes and applications don't change, but maybe the web (Chrome, Safari) gets more "advanced", more efficient. Why do computers slo...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvaclnz", "dvac6lg", "dvaehpq", "dvacgh9", "dvah5nn" ], "text": [ "The processes they run don't get better, they get slower. The people writing that code make their \"is that too slow?\" Decisions using the latest hardware. Every update adds more code but you notice that more ...
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82jvmk
How do phones and cell-towers deal with the Doppler effect?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvamkpt", "dvamjn9", "dvao2sj", "dvan78w", "dvb2hn5" ], "text": [ "It doesn't matter The Radio waves are moving at 3x10^8 m/s, thats 300,000,000 m/s. If you travel towards a cell tower at Mach 10 you'll be moving 3,430 m/s and change the wavelength by 3,430/300,000,000 or 0.00...
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[ "url" ]
82lzal
How did Ancient Greek fountains work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvb4o4o" ], "text": [ "Gravity my friend, the water was taken from an elevation above the fountain, most likely in a water tank. They would use pipes to transfer the water from a tank down to the elevation of the fountain, the pipes were narrow so that the pressure increased in the pipes. Wat...
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82nbi9
Why does an aircraft carrier store all the planes on deck? What happens if they need to scramble jets?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvbc9wh", "dvberha", "dvbf947", "dvbecr7", "dvbfnsa", "dvbfrg7", "dvbgfdu", "dvbmkfn" ], "text": [ "The aircraft are “stacked”, or parked in such a way that they can be quickly manned and in the air. None of them would be in the way of launching. If they were all b...
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82o5d5
Why does the ISS not melt if the thermosphere is 500°C +?
So I read why space is cold and why the earth is not cold. But reading that the Thermosphere is hotter than 500°C made me wonder why the ISS does not melt.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvbhib4", "dvcgosu" ], "text": [ "The ISS (or anything else in the thermosphere) doesn't have any problem with the temperature because there's basically no air, it's almost a vacuum. Hot gas heats up cold objects predominantly by running into it, and there's so little of it in the thermos...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
82q632
What’s the difference between .com .net and .org?
What difference does having a .com and .net at the end of a URL make? Furthermore what exactly are domains? I have a very general idea but I would be curious to know more details.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvby62k" ], "text": [ "When you buy a domain like URL_0 , someone is responsible for that .com portion. That is called a top level domain. Plenty of people resell them, but one company is ultimately responsible as the authority on them. The original TLD's like .com, .net, .org, etc., were ori...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
82q88a
What exactly do developers do when they "optimise" an app to reduce stutters/lag?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvbydft", "dvby3db" ], "text": [ "Could be dozens of different things. Most commonly it is things like: * turning off or removing services that are not needed * moving long requests (e.g. \"go retrieve this data from this remote server\") to the background so the UI remains functional * i...
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[ "url" ]
82v4jm
How did Disney animate their early animations (e.g. Snow White)?
I know that they hand drew them of course, but without computers, how was this "digitized" and made available to the mass market? Did televisions play it?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvd2myr", "dvd2ww0" ], "text": [ "So, they were hand-drawn, but perhaps not quite in the way you think. Each frame consisted of many different drawings--you'd have a background, then trees or buildings, then characters, and then sometimes actual faces of the characters--something like tha...
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[ "url" ]
82xrpi
How come if you leave your car lights on overnight the battery dies, but you could drive for 10 hours straight with lights and everything on and the battery is fine?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvdj30m", "dvdj4jv" ], "text": [ "When the engine is running, it powers an alternator (a kind of electricity generator) which recharges the battery and lights up the lights.", "There's a device connected to the engine called an alternator. It uses engine power to both provide electric...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
82ygte
how multimeters work
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dve47y7" ], "text": [ "What part would you like to know more about? Voltage detection is pretty simple and can be accomplished digitally, albeit through a few voltage dividers to get the voltage into a range where the chip can read it. (Likely 0V-battery voltage) Inside the chip, it will comp...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
82z9n1
How are large planks/sheets of wood made, such as ones used to make doors or walls? Obviously trees aren't big enough to cover that much wide area often, so how is it done? If there a particular process used?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvdvedk", "dvdvk07", "dvdwzfa", "dvdve7d" ], "text": [ "There are absolutely trees big enough to make a door from. But generally they're made of multiple pieces joined together so it resembles a solid piece.", "Rather than slicing a tree trunk into planks, wood for large sheet...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
830vwg
Community Networks (Local Service Providers), How do they get started and how do they provide such reasonable rates?
I’ve heard of certain states and cities which have community networks that enable the community to thrive by providing internet at a reasonable rate — with some providing gigabit speeds for as low as $40 a month, in addition to other services such as voip and television. I imagine the stakes that major companies have i...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dveeo6c" ], "text": [ "> why more states and cities don’t do this usually because the Cable/Internet lobbies the government to pass laws prohibiting it, or sues them in court to block any such attempt > How do they keep the rates low? they are usually run as non-profits" ], "score": [ ...
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831oj2
What is Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and why is it important for the futur of the mobile web?
It seems to be the next big thing but it's hard for me to get it. Thanks
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvegz25" ], "text": [ "it strips all the style elements and other heavy stuff so you get a barebones site that loads faster. whether it's important for the future of the mobile web is debatable since it breaks a lot of stuff including text formatting, but it also saves a lot of data if you do...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
832s0h
Meltdown/spectre thing with cpus
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dveqjw1", "dveu00d" ], "text": [ "There is a bug in the CPU hardware. Using this bug, malware running on your computer can access memory for other programs that it should not be able to access. There are patches, but they have side effects. Your next processor chip probably won't have the...
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[ "url" ]
8344rz
How do free games (like Fortnite) make profit? Especially for a 3D game which employs alot of artists, developers, etc. how do they pay all of these people and still earn enough money to keep the company moving forward?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvf0ppl", "dvf0pwc" ], "text": [ "Microtransactions. They offer a bunch of stuff in game that you can buy. A lot of mobile games get ad revenue as well, but it's mostly in game purchases.", "Microtransactions and ads. Most of the great free to play games are based off of cosmetics and...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
8358nb
how does that switch on my rearview mirror that helps dim headlights at night work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvf8nwv", "dvfp0dr", "dvfcry7", "dvfqg5q", "dvfvl8q" ], "text": [ "There's two types. The old style is positional; the new style is electronic. The positional ones came first and have been around for decades. These type of car mirrors are actually two main parts - a true refle...
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835onc
How can concert tickets and big clothing drops seemingly be already sold out at the exact same second they go live?
For context: Was just attempting to get Anderson .Paak tickets from TicketMaster however their site was already displaying that they were sold out at the exact same second they went live.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvfau53", "dvfdiqx", "dvfd2w4" ], "text": [ "Either someone had access to buy before that, or a lot of buyers were just faster than you. There's many examples of employees buying the entire stock before the sale goes live. And there's also many examples of people making software to bu...
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837muy
how 3D movies with polarized lenses are seen in 3D with both images (the one for the left eye and the one for the right eye) are on the screen at the same time
Sorry if it’s hard to understand, but my first language is not English. When you see a 3D movie using the polarized glasses technology, the image for the left eye and the one for the right eye are both on the same screen at the same time (unlike VR headsets that have two screen, one for each eye), but each eye only see...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvfp3ou" ], "text": [ "A way to picture what polarizers do is imagine that kids toy which has a square hole and a round hole. Only the square blocks fit through the square hole, and only the round fit through the round. A polarizer has this effect on light. Light can be polarized in different...
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8380z8
How is old packaging recreated for TV shows and movies?
I'm thinking of shows set say in the 1970's or 1980's but made in 21st century where you see things like drinks cans with removable ring pulls or even pierce-top drink cans. This sort of stuff is easily mass produced, but 30 years later as a one-off? How is it done? Some examples: [Screencaps of food and drink packagin...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvfslvy", "dvg2pa9", "dvgods4", "dvgq66f" ], "text": [ "A film or show's property department is responsible for all that stuff. They'll be given a budget to work with and part of their job is figuring out if purchasing an original item is more cost effective then a recreation. For...
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83a6ji
How is putting files in the recycle bin any different from a regular folder?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvgb3j6" ], "text": [ "It isn't. The recycle bin is just another folder. The operating system is going to associate meta data to that folder through some mechanic that when you \"empty the trash\", it implies this folder has its contents deleted. That's it. Nothing special. And your user inte...
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83aa8r
Why is it that in web browsers the address will often have %20 between every word?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvgaehe", "dvga7ig" ], "text": [ "%20 is the code for a space character. You're not allowed to have spaces in a URL, because otherwise including a url in a sentence like URL_1 upon a time would be really confusing. But if someone puts a file containing spaces on a web server, and you want...
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83cysc
How is linear algebra used in machine learning algorithms?
Edit: the two well thought out and informative answers I've gotten so far are making me very glad that I chose electrical engineering instead of computer engineering for a major
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvgwjbh", "dvh0jjp" ], "text": [ "We use matrices to represent data and relationships between data. We do all kinds of matrix stuff; we multiply them, add them, find covariance, find eigenvectors etc. Multiplying two matrices with say 1000 entries each helps *relate* 2000 units of data in...
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83d5o9
Why do non-rechargable/single use batteries last longer than rechargable ones?
I recently bought a pack of rechargable AA batteries and promptly returned them when I read they had to be replaced and recharged every couple of hours in like a TV remote. Why do non-rechargable batteries last for months?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvh2b0d", "dvh6znu" ], "text": [ "They don't need to be recharged every couple of hours. They need to be recharged after a couple of hours of **use**. In this instance, that would mean pushing a button on your TV remote and holding it down for a couple of hours straight, but you don't do ...
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83fktx
Are driverless cars at the point where, faced with a crisis, they can choose to hit a tree instead of a child?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvhorr1", "dvhg8fk", "dvhhrfs" ], "text": [ "No, the self driving cars of today can't make \"lesser of two evils\" decisions. But lets approach this philosophically for a second. What you're describing is a version of the trolley problem where the subject (the car in this case) is req...
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83fz4p
When a music album is “remastered” how is it done?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvhjgay", "dvhtdbu", "dviwga6" ], "text": [ "Mastering is a form of mixing that tends to be very very subtle. During my last month in my recording arts program we handled mastering sessions and songs. This consisted of sitting in a room that had been treated to remove as much room ton...
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83gekk
How does Topgolf scoring/ball tracking work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvhm17d" ], "text": [ "The scoring is RFID based. Topgolf balls are specially made with an embedded RFID chip. When the ball lands in a scoring zone, it passes an RFID reader which identifies the ball associated with a player." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
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83h5zg
What's the difference between Megabits and Megabytes?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvhr1y1", "dvhreif" ], "text": [ "One megabyte is equal to eight megabits. Megabits per second (mbps) are generally used to describe the speed of an Internet connection, whereas megabytes (MB) usually refer to the size of a file or storage space.", "Bit is short for \"binary digit\" w...
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83hz9j
Why are CCTV cameras preferred in building surveilance to normal cameras despite the latter's seemingly better picture quality?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvhxotp", "dvhxzqn", "dvhxl90" ], "text": [ "> Why are CCTV cameras preferred in building surveilance to normal cameras despite the latter's seemingly better picture quality? A \"CCTV\" system refers to \"Closed Circuit Television\", meaning the video output from the cameras are fed i...
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83k2ox
What's so special about TV studio lenses?
I work with a variety of camera and lenses in the corporate and TV series world including anamorphic, PL, EF, C mount, etc, etc. Why are TV studio lenses so large and box-like? I can't imagine that's stabilization motors considering they're always on posts.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvieaia" ], "text": [ "The lenses are round. However, they typically have a rectangular shade to keep the studio lights from entering and causing reflections; and they often sport motorized zoom and/or focus controls. If this doesn't explain the type you're thinking of, maybe provide a link o...
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83qrq3
Electric vehicle charging units compared to gallons of gasoline.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvjuav8" ], "text": [ "33.4 kWh of electricity is about the same energy as 1 gallon of gasoline. [source]( URL_0 )" ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_gallon_equivalent" ] ] }
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83rzly
Why and how are atomic fountain clocks the most accurate time keepers?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvk57px" ], "text": [ "Atoms are very small and extremely stable oscillators. The atoms we use for clocks, mostly cesium, can be kept in a little ball in a vacuum by cooling them with lasers. Alas, in the little ball the signal from each atom gets combined with the others in a non-synchronize...
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83spgl
How come—when looking at the light produced on earth VIA satellite imagery, they are always yellow, when in fact, there are lights of all different colors being produced?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvkafrc" ], "text": [ "It's not VIA, it's just via, a word. :-) Anyhow, the answer is simple: most electric lights are actually yellow, so when you look at a lot of lights grouped together from far away, you see mostly yellow light." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
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83xb9a
How a cellular network handles IP addresses? Does it just act like a massive router? What is different between internet use via router or via LTE?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvl75ov", "dvl7nym" ], "text": [ "The whole point of TCP/IP is that *it doesn't care what you run it over*. Wifi, Ethernet, LTE, DSL, Cable, ATM, etc... You just encapsulate IP to run over that network and connect it to a router one way or another. That router is connected to other router...
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83xkzr
How do we make water safe to drink? (Including removing the chemicals used make the water "clean")
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvlbdh0", "dvl9ki0" ], "text": [ "Several ways: Desalination: turn water into steam. Salt and dirt doesn't become steam. Steam is clean. Turn steam back into water. Water is clean and not salty. Reverse osmosis: force water through a tiny screen. Dirt and germs are too big and stay behind...
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83zmx6
How come upcoming sony phones have 1080p 960fps recording when even high-end dlsr can't do 120fps?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvlpbtj" ], "text": [ "DSLR cameras are typically pushed for still photography, adding the feature would cost more time & money while not necessarily getting people to run out and get the DSLR. Meanwhile on a cell phone the more 'fun' bells and whistles like that DO influence decisions to buy...
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841pww
Why do movies look smooth at 24 fps but video games look choppy under 60 fps?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvm6m9l", "dvm6cm9", "dvm6mcc" ], "text": [ "A computer frame is a rendering of an exact point in time. A camera frame is a capture of everything over a short period of time (e.g. 1/24th of a second). Lets say a baseball pitcher throws a ball to a catcher. A computer will render the b...
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844rzv
Why do many workplace PCs still run on old software?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvmqt64", "dvmvukw", "dvn1vg7", "dvn0hog", "dvn0rju", "dvn7hgj", "dvmqm98", "dvn4fj1", "dvmybod", "dvmwycy", "dvnmf16" ], "text": [ "A few reasons: 1. Cost. Upgrading software is expensive. If an upgraded licence costs $50 that may not seem like much, b...
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844z4g
Dear DJs! I am really curious about what you guys doing on that "table", sometime you "use" them a lot like making some sound effects, sometimes they just let it be and music still come out as usual. Sorry for my English.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvmyeej", "dvn352r", "dvni5ly", "dvn28tk", "dvmsh4o", "dvmztlb" ], "text": [ "Let's imagine a simple DJ setup: there are two turntables and in between them there's a mixer. The DJ can play a different song on each of the turntables, and uses the mixer to 'mix' them togethe...
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845b2g
What is reversible computing and what does it mean that it has no "energy cost?"
URL_0
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvn7fqc" ], "text": [ "Irreversible means you can't figure out the input from the output. As a simple example, let's say I have two numbers as input, add them together, and get the output 4. Can you figure out the input? No. Could have been (2,2) or (1,3) or something else. Information about ...
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8469kq
Why are we not able to make artificial human blood for medical use, or why is it not feasible if we are?
I recently donated blood and the thought occurred to me that this seems like a practice that will one day be unnecessary or looked back on as a barbaric form of medicine. Thanks.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvn3gd5", "dvn4ro3", "dvn4wn2" ], "text": [ "[Artificial blood is a thing]( URL_0 ). As you can read on the wiki, the issue is that we don't have a good way of getting it to transport oxygen, which is obviously a pretty vital function of blood. Also, as you can read, clinical trials f...
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846l6x
Paging and segmentation in Operating systems.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvnapa1" ], "text": [ "To try put these concepts as simply as possible: Segmentation is the process where memory (RAM) is allocated out in chunks called segments. This allows an application to store various parts of itself and the data that it's working on in different parts of RAM. Imagine y...
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84a9o9
Why are so many old/obsolete/unused assets left in code?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvo1k3t" ], "text": [ "When you’ve reached the end of a game’s development cycle, you want to be as cautious as possible, and you want to alter as little code as possible. Sure, assets may be unused or obsolete, but one weird line of code could mean removing that asset breaks some other aspec...
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84e6lx
How do military guidance systems work when tracking fast moving objects that seem to lock on and track perfectly?
Some of the recent UFO sightings produced by the Military and Navy show pilots following UFO's utilizing their tracking/guidance systems, where the screen locks onto the object and maintains it. Is this an automated process that allows the aircraft to remain on course with it? URL_0 URL_1
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvot64s", "dvox8ix" ], "text": [ "In the video, the first part you can see the pilots actually moving (big cross hairs) the ATFLIR's view to keep the thing in view - this is manual or they can slave the view to the aircraft radar to some extent. Next, when that expanding box appears, the ...
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84gvig
Why do steam downloads on my windows laptop take days when the same game on my MacBook takes 30 minutes?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvph5l0" ], "text": [ "> What factors affect the download speed relating to the OS? None. Whatever you're experiencing is likely a hardware, network, or bandwidth availability issue. All other things equal, you will see zero difference in download/upload speeds between different OSs. For exam...
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84kv46
What are the long term effects of using different USB-C wattage chargers on different devices?
With USB C being as popular as it is having different chargers with different levels of power all over the house makes it convenient to just plug my USB-C devices into any of the laptop, switch, or phone chargers I have lying around. Is this harmful to the device? Why do some chargers have variable Volt outputs, and ho...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvqhqex" ], "text": [ "> Is this harmful to the device? No. Charger wattage is a maximum. If a charger can provide up to 65 W and your device only needs 5 W, then it'll get the 5 W. The only real consideration here is that chargers aren't equally efficient at all ranges, and that higher power...
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84liak
how and by what means can the origin of the poison be determined, example from the recent poisoning in UK where they know it came from Russia?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvqfdns" ], "text": [ "Certain details of the manufacturing process leave detectable impurities in the chemical. If you have samples to compare them to, you can determine with decent accuracy what lab they came from. The same sort of technique is used in drug investigations. Also, particular ...
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84pqis
Why do mobile networks have to “bid” for spectrum? Can’t they simply broadcast on it?
Not sure if this is just a UK thing but here mobile networks have to bid for spectrum. Is this like bidding for the right or the technology or?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvrdcun" ], "text": [ "> Is this like bidding for the right Yes, it is exactly like that. If people were allowed to just transmit over whatever frequency they wanted then you would end up with companies and even private citizens all trying to talk over each other and interfering with their si...
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84rjhr
We have two ears, so surely two decent headphone drivers and some good software on the part of the game or film can perfectly replicate surround sound? Why do headphones come out with "virtual surround sound"?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvrt1bm", "dvrsn0a" ], "text": [ "It is possible to have more or less \"perfect\" surround sound with headphones - it's called binaural recording. But it requires the recording to be made live and in a special way: two microphones are placed inside a dummy head complete with dummy ears to...
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84rzq9
Why does a 20000mAh external battery charge a 3500mAh phone 5 times over, but is unable to charge a 4640mAh laptop once?
Are mAh not a reliable quantitative measurement, like liters?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvrwuml", "dvrwqx0", "dvsa2dz" ], "text": [ "You've likely got a problem of charge rates If you have a 10 watt charger attempting to charge a 9 watt-hour battery in a device that consumes 1 watt then it'll be charged in an hour If you have a 10 watt charger attempting to charge a 9 wa...
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850xug
What is video rendering?
I do not understand what the computer is doing while rendering a video. I just saw a post from a video that took 3 day rendering. And when you upload a video to YouTube, it has to render as well, why? The video isn’t done already?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvu7lr4" ], "text": [ "A video file is basically a series of compressed still images that the computer plays back one after another. But when you're editing video in editing software, you're essentially creating a \"recipe\" for how to create a video from a bunch of individual clips, images, ...
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8510l7
Why can we plug in our phones 1 second before they die and be just fine, but if we plug them in 1 second after they die we have to wait a few minutes?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvty4n3", "dvtx3pb", "dvtx3zg" ], "text": [ "It is to prevent the device turning on and off repeatedly. Maybe you have noticed that a radio or torch with flat batteries can be made to work again, for a little time, by turning it off and waiting a minute or so. They call this the 'rebo...
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851284
How is local cable internet routed?
It came to me in the shower, as all good questions do, how is traffic routed on the last mile of cable internet? Is all the traffic sent down all the lines in the neighborhood like electricity, to bounce off or go through an individual modem? Or is there a router on each service pole that points certain packets to cert...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvu3rp0", "dvu3s9c" ], "text": [ "Your house is part of your nehighborhood cable segment. Everyone on the segment is connected, via splitters and amps, to a cable headend system. The size of the segment depends on the cable company. Bigger segment = fewer expensive headends,but greater am...
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853iir
If electric cars are the future, why is interest(funding/research) really picking up today when they have been around for over 100 years?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvuezpt", "dvugo9n", "dvuhy6a", "dvuftrd" ], "text": [ "Back then there may have been electric cars but they were too expensive to mass produce and sell. And the electric cars were probably no more better than the fuel driven counterpart as far as efficiency. Also the technology o...
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855bxe
Why do “selfie cameras” flip a picture, but the rear cameras don’t?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvuszmf", "dvuvjzg", "dvv4ljq", "dvut9hi" ], "text": [ "By making the selfie camera act like a mirror, it becomes easier to coordinate yourself for your picture. It's all about a postive User Experience (UX)", "People are used to how they see themselves in the mirror. I think ...
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855tbh
Why does gps need almanac data?
Been reading about GPS recently but this confused me a bit. Why isn’t time and ephemeris sufficient to triangulate position? Sure it gives the rough position of the satellites so that the GPS knows which signals to listen for, but can it not just listen for all satellites?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvuxqca", "dvuyews" ], "text": [ "It could, but that would mean a lot more processing. Almanac data is almost always available, so it is much more efficient to use that instead of listening to everything and then figuring things out from there.", "You could listen for all the satellit...
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857wge
Which files does an antivirus software scan when doing a "quick scan"? Why are those most likely to be infected?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvve7yc", "dvvetlq" ], "text": [ "For a virus to do its job it has to be running on your computer not just sitting on the harddrive like a book on the shelf. Sort of like all the open books on your school desk. So a quick scan just needs to scan all the running programs in the computers m...
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859eve
Can leaving a device, such as a smartphone, on a charger after it's reached 100% battery for an extended period of time damage, or have long-term effects on the battery?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvvqm6o" ], "text": [ "Your phone and laptop have battery controller chips that regulate charging and discharging to keep the battery within the allowed current, voltage, temperature, and charge range. When the battery is \"full\" the controller will stop charging the battery and the phone wi...
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859lx5
Why are satellites more powerful than wifi?
To my admittedly little knowledge, our satellites are like 50+ years old in outer space but my wifi antenna is brand new and in my house. I can't get my wifi in my drive way YET I can get satellite signal for my GPS anywhere in the United States like immediately. Why?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvvs7yc", "dvvrxw4", "dvvrym2" ], "text": [ "The distance a radio signal can travel is based on how strong the signal is. GPS satellites are allowed to broadcast very strong signals. Your Wi-Fi transmitter is not. This isn't a technical limitation, it's a legal one. The reason your Wi...
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85buhw
How do projector display the color black?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvw8jz8", "dvw8cza" ], "text": [ "By using contrast. Your eye adjusts itself to a specific level of brightness, anything a lot dimmer than the brightest thing you can see will appear as black. Imagine taking a glow stick and holding at arm's length towards the sun. It would appear dark, e...
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85czde
How do scientists know anything about distant planets beyond what they look like?
How do scientists know what the core, crust, and mantle of other planets are? Also, just the other day I read about a planet that rains glass made of a specific element (that I can't remember, I'll try to find it and link it in an edit). How do they know these specific little things if our crowning astronomical achieve...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvwjuri" ], "text": [ "What we know about planets in other solar systems is very limited; in some cases, what you're reading about is pure speculation--the conditions on that planet are right to let something like the formation of diamond crystals in the atmosphere. What *can* we actually kno...
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85d9b7
Why do some games handle alt+tab between them and other applications well, and others handle it really badly or not at all?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvwjwwl" ], "text": [ "Imagine you run an factory that has a hundred employees, each of them doing different jobs with different equipment. You get on the intercom and say \"Everyone put what you are doing on hold and meet me out in the parking lot as soon as you can.\" Most likely, it would ...
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85dcqr
How do apps keep up with updates in OS(android,iOS etc.)
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvwkfkg" ], "text": [ "Well often times they don't bother, but in general os updates are announced in advance and are fairly well documented so devs can get pre-release versions to test their app and keep up. OS updates aren't released as frequently - minor ones only a few times a year and th...
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85dq3n
Why do photographs have different pixel densities (or even a pixel density at all) if a camera takes pictures by taking a snapshot of light?
For example: two different photographs with the same aspect ratio could have different pixel densities.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvwn54r", "dvwn20n" ], "text": [ "The CMOS sensor. It's a big grid of photodetectors, and the lens is designed to focus incoming light to hit the big grid of sensors. Each spot on the grid translates to one pixel in the final product. CMOS censors vary in how big their grid of sensors are...
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85e5v5
Why do rechargeable batteries become worse/less effective with time?
My phone for example. Absolutely fine battery lifetime when purchased about 2 years ago. Now - a joke; absolutely horrific lifetime. Why is it like this?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvwrmrp" ], "text": [ "Batteries work by a chemical reaction that produces electricity. Rechargable batteries work by a reversible chemical reaction, but it isn't *perfectly 100.0% reversible* If it's 99.9% reversible then you're down to 74% capacity after 300 charge cycles and 54% after 600(...
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85fclu
What is a 'dirty bomb' and how do they work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dvx0863", "dvxfauc" ], "text": [ "A dirty bomb is a hypothetical (I don't believe one has ever been used) weapon that uses conventional explosive to disperse radioactive material over an area. Basically imagine a bomb wrapped in something radioactive. It's not a nuclear weapon because the...
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