Split (1)

train · 14k rows

q_id stringlengths 6 6	title stringlengths 4 294	selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k	category stringclasses 1 value	subreddit stringclasses 1 value	answers dict	title_urls listlengths 1 1	selftext_urls listlengths 1 1
byqxf4	Why do graphics cards use GDDR6 RAM but RAM in our phones, PCs, etc are DDR4?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqkkeru" ], "text": [ "After GDDR4/DDR3, GDDR spit off to be a different style of RAM with different goals. Graphics memory requires obscenely high throughput, but some latency is acceptable as they're only looking to draw a frame every few milliseconds or so and all graphical tasks can go in...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bys9n1	Why do some electronic screens look weird at certain angles?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eql18gu" ], "text": [ "Most screens these days are Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD). It works by shining a light through a filter that only allows light that is twisted horizontally through. (Polarising Filter) Then there's a liquid crystal that either twists it until it's vertical or lets it th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
byv4pr	How do cryptographic hashing functions work?	To give you some context, I attempted to build a hashing function myself for fun and the result was quite average even after I tried to extract all possible information from any given input string. After doing some research on the currently used cryptographic hashing functions, the methods used in the source code seeme...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqm8d65" ], "text": [ "I don't know how to explain the alghoritm and proof in a simple way, but the method used by the hash functions of MD5, and all SHAs is the Merkle-Damgard construction." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
byw1ix	Why do businesses save their computer files with underscores in the names rather than spaces?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqmxbo1", "eqmerv1", "eqndbm1", "eqmyguj", "eqmka9b", "eqn9fdc", "eqmfn0x", "eqnapdm", "eqngfb1", "eqnb05b", "eqnbyvt", "eqnf321", "eqmeqgv", "eqn9roo", "eqndb9q", "eqnnago", "eqn3w5b", "eqntw41", "eqndmt8", "eqn7f9w" ], ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
byxb58	Why do lithium ion batteries in a laptops charge to 100% then uses adaptor power while batteries on phone don't?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqn1l6o" ], "text": [ "Two reasons, the practical being the most important case though Practical: There is basically zero demand for people to run a mobile phone, without a battery, in a fixed location. This is an exceptionally obscure condition, as such, designing a phone that would be in a ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
byxg4v	How does Microsoft and Sony compete with similar specs?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqn4jhz" ], "text": [ "They both have a similar release date in mind since you don't want to come out too far after your competition and 3rd party developers want to know when to start making higher end games. As well they have similar price points in mind as you don't want to be way more exp...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
byxl7l	How/why do certain TV shows appear more ‘polished’, and others more ‘live’?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqnboua", "eqnb9m8" ], "text": [ "The main thing is that they use different cameras. Soap operas and lower budget shows use different equipment to shoot. High production value shows are done with cinema cameras and equipment, while cheaper productions are done with TV cameras. Back in the...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
byxtdl	What exactly is a game engine, and why are some better or stronger than others?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqn9nnl" ], "text": [ "It's a framework, somewhere between programming language and development environment. Think of it like a foundation over which you build games. So instead of having to start a game with a blank page and having to write every piece of code for it. You have a basic makeup...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
byy76s	Why can't phone cameras take pictures the way I see things at night, even though they can adjust for brightness?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqnqwad", "eqnle45", "eqnzpfz", "eqnno7l", "eqpkjw4" ], "text": [ "A camera is a very dumb tool with lots of limitations. Those limitations can be mitigated with technological advancements, but at the end of the day, it's just a hunk of metal glass and plastic trying to captur...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
byyntb	How does a game in development for 7 years stay up-to-date with trends, graphics, etc?	I am referencing CyberPunk by the way.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqns98c", "eqntzl0" ], "text": [ "Depends on the development cycle. If they use a static model, they don't keep up with trends, but graphics tend to be fairly mutable. If they use a dynamic agile model, you'll notice elements of the game developed last will have more polish to them. & #x2...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bz1879	How do you make an operating system?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqot1uf", "eqoxa2s", "eqoyp9z", "eqpnp9z" ], "text": [ "With great difficulty. You have to start with the hardware, will it run on regular modern computer hardware or its own custom thing? You write code that will communicate with the hardware in a structured predictable way (usua...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bz23yq	/dev/null, /dev/random, /dev/urandom and /dev/zero	I've been reading about this files and also I have tried to inspect by myself about this files (file, ll, Stat and some other commands) but I just don't understand them. Can someone please explain me what are these files and how can I used them?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqp3egi", "eqp19u3", "eqp916t", "eqpsov3" ], "text": [ "Whenever you read from or write to a file, you don't directly access the file. Instead, the operating system does that for you. These three files are special in the sense that when you use them, the OS pretends they are real ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bz2toy	why do some file transfers have such variable transfer speeds?	like for example if there is a lot of smaller files, it seems to really make the transfer speed slow down. but some transfers in general seem to have completely random transfer speeds, why aren't they able to use the full bandwidth of the connection?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqpe595" ], "text": [ "Fragmentation and connection protocol message size limits. When files are stored in a drive the drive allocates contiguous blocks of data to most files if they need it. But if you have lots of small files the drive needs to search for them all over its memory to then co...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bz4jtf	How do movies go from the raw footage (film or digital) to 4K?	I’m mostly curious about the process of converting it from its raw form into ultra high quality, especially if the movie is older. But the question also probably applies to DVD and Blu-ray as well.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqpz57q", "eqq03vw" ], "text": [ "With digital recordings, the raw footage is usually higher quality than 4K (IIRC, 8K is fairly common). For final release, you just render the video in the release quality and write it to the DVD or blu-ray (or digital download/streaming service). With fi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bz8wgv	Why electronics suddenly stop working	I know about planned obsolescence, but HOW does it happen? How can a TV mounted on a wall for 3 years up and die all of a sudden? How will a network router suddenly give up the ghost after years of working?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqqvr7r" ], "text": [ "The most common failure points is the solder that connects the different internal pieces of the electronics to each other. After too many heat cycles they can break down and can desolder themselves which effectively breaks an electrical connection. Depending on what sol...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bz99jj	Why do the ads before YouTube videos never seem to have trouble loading but the video itself will barely play at 360p?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqqz3k8", "eqqxmpr", "eqr1jzt", "eqrbaoz", "eqre0ip", "eqqyca2", "eqrdmjm", "eqr0xkp", "eqr4jo5", "eqrspvy", "eqr3dpn", "eqr6rxx", "eqr5jfd", "eqr85ae", "eqr4rt1", "eqrmcof" ], "text": [ "Because they are on different servers. The vi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bze4tt	Why it is so difficult to create ps3 emulator?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqrs3d3" ], "text": [ "The PS3 uses a radically different architecture than found in the average home PC. The PS3 used multi-core Cell processors instead of X86-64 as the PS4 does, so these processors need to be fully emulated. The problem there is that there's not enough of a performance gap...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzfrx5	What is TCP/IP and why is it so prevalent in modern day computing?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqsccmw", "eqs881o" ], "text": [ "Communicating on the internet generally uses 5 layers. Making it layered makes it easy to tackle the different subproblems individually. Let's take an email as example. I want to send an email to you, these are the questions at each layer: * **Application...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzfxbu	Car cigarette lighters/chargers		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqs4jt3", "eqs4mzi" ], "text": [ "The piece that you pull out (the piece that lights the cig) is the coil that gets hot. The hole in the dash is just the power and ground source for the cig lighter or charger. So you put a charger in the hole, it gets power and ground and charges the phon...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzin6b	What's the difference from installing and downloading?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqsofnq", "eqsozdg", "eqsvo72" ], "text": [ "Instead of software, think dinner. Downloading is getting the ingredients from the store to your kitchen. Installing is turning those ingredients into a meal you can eat.", "You buy a desk. The desk comes in several pieces, in a box. Ge...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzju79	How can you pinpoint your location with GPS on your phone without service on the ground, but can’t do the same on an airplane?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqsxonz", "eqsyks0", "eqsx94a" ], "text": [ "It works in plane too....if you have an unobstructed view of the sky with at least 4 satellites. Given cramped space and metal ceilinge of typical airliner body this is 50/50 chance of working if you're in window seat. But if you do it on a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzjuwb	How would you go about making a search engine like google from scratch		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqsxmww", "eqtbups" ], "text": [ "There are several components in the Google search engine: 1. The \"spider\", which browses through websites and collects the data. 2. The indexer, which parses the collected data and makes indexes of keywords and ratings. 3. The user front-end, where the ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzk5tg	When an OLED screen is cracked/dropped on a certain area, why do all the pixels in a column around or near the main cracking point change to one color?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqtrdnt" ], "text": [ "OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. The \"organic\" part of that means carbon-containing molecules that are used to make the light instead of silicon chips. The particular molecules used in OLEDs tend to be air-sensitive, so when the screen cracks, they chemic...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzkbc2	Why do programs or websites think I'm using a new device when I'm not?	Whenever you use a new device, Google or whatever website/program you're using will wig out and email you to confirm it's you. But quite often I have this happen while using my only laptop using software/websites I've used dozens of times before. Why is this and how does device identification work? Does it check for ne...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqt0q1c" ], "text": [ "Whenever you visit a site and authenticate, it saves a file called a cookie on your computer. When you revisit the site, the browser sends that cookie along. Then the site knows you're you. If you clear cookies, the site no longer knows it's you and needs to authenticat...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzkrt7	Why do software updates skip numbers. E.g. 1.17 to 1.34?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqt4c4j", "eqt52ok" ], "text": [ "There will be internal versions of builds that may not be ready to release into the wild due to bugs or incomplete features. You need to keep track all versions for tracking and QC", "There are some standards out there but only loosely followed as any...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzl5xr	How does wireless phone charger work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqtazsi", "eqt7taq", "eqt7s3b", "eqtazim", "eqtb5ya" ], "text": [ "There are two coils. One in the phone, one in the charger. The electricity from the outlet flows through the coil in the charging plate. This creates a magnetic field around the coil. When the coil in the phone...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzld7h	Why are wall outlets 110V or 220V? Those seem like such arbitrary values; why not 100V?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqt9r8c", "eqtr9qs", "eqtb9yv", "eqtiqf7" ], "text": [ "In many parts of the world, electric companies sprung up, each making their own flavor of power (certain voltage, amperage, cycles per second, etc.). This caused one really big problem: you buy a lamp and it works in your hou...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzoyd9	How do airplanes vanish from Radar?	In the last few years there have been multiple planes that have just dropped of the radar and vanished. Some more famous like the Malaysian airlines plane and some local incidents. Aren't we already at a technologically advanced enough level where it should be virtually impossible for planes with no cloaking tech to va...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "equo3e0" ], "text": [ "Radar needs a direct line of sight to something to be able to see it. This limits ground based radar to a range of about 60 miles. Major international airports will have radar that can see that far, but smaller airports - particularly those outside of the US - don't. Ra...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzq7px	Do wired earphones use less battery than Bluetooth? Why/why not?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqv7jnd" ], "text": [ "I think the power used to broadcast the Bluetooth signal is higher than what it takes for the device to power the wired speakers." ], "score": [ 10 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzr022	How does a video game programmed in a PC get stored in a cartridge that can be played by a console?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqvhl2i", "eqvsc2z", "eqwl3vj" ], "text": [ "So ultimately what gets run on any piece of hardware is machine code, instructions that the chips on that hardware can understand. You can program in any \"high level\" programming language and then compile it, which means turning it into m...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzrpwg	Why is there so much clipping/ what causes the clipping in Bethesda games?	How come objects clipping though walls is so particularly bad in Bethesda games? It’s so prevalent that there’re memes about it and it’s present in almost every Fallout or Elder Scrolls game they’ve made. It’s so prevalent that my mind just filters it out now and I take it for granted. Question is why though. What abou...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqvs2ho" ], "text": [ "The games are massive and open plan. Everywhere 2 sides meet is a potential point for clipping but due to the size of these games it is very labour heavy try to find all the clipping spots. Classic corridor games are much easier to debug for this because there is a much...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzt1vb	Why is it considered dangerous to use your device while the plane is taking off? What does Airplane Mode do to combat this?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqwibx5", "eqwjy8h", "eqwfvel", "eqwmgm5" ], "text": [ "Takeoff and landing are the two most dangerous parts of flying; if the plane doesn't crash during takeoff or landing, it is most likely not going to do so in the air. But because planes carry so many people and a crash from e...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzudkd	Why does minimizing some games increase GPU usage to 100%?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqx3p8r" ], "text": [ "[V-sync]( URL_0 ) - when playing, and this setting is on, the game's frames per second are maxed out at 60, which is the maximum that the screen can display. When minimized, certain games continue to render the screen animations, but no longer limited at 60 FPS - they g...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
bzzogp	I set my truck clock ahead 3 minutes from my watch but I'm a couple weeks it's 4-5 minutes ahead. Shouldn't it just stay three minutes ahead?	I usually set my vehicle clock ahead too be early to places. I used to set it areas 5 mins but in a few weeks it'd be 7-8 minutes ahead.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqyvk4o", "eqyw5bb", "eqyxixo" ], "text": [ "Have you traveled over 88 miles per hour in your truck at any point over those weeks?", "Most commercially available clocks aren't perfect at keeping time. This is obvious very quickly if your clock went by by one second for every two, ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c00acb	Why haven't humans connected the Bering Strait with road or rail?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqz53pi" ], "text": [ "That bridge would connect Siberia with Alaska. Neither territory has the population to justify the cost of building the bridge. People in the US wanting to send things into Russia or beyond (and vice versa) wouldn't send it the long way around by truck anyway. They'd pu...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c01og2	How do animation movie studios sync voices to animation?	I always wondered. Do they record voices first, then animate around the voice?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eqzs4be", "eqzn6fe" ], "text": [ "The easiest way is to record lines and then animate the characters to the voice. They do it this way so that the actors don't need to worry about matching any of the visuals. In a lot of animation studios, they actually film the voice actors recording the...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c02qa2	How does a bionic arm work?	How does the wearer control the fingers and movement with their mind considering it’s not their arm?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er0b3p8" ], "text": [ "Myoelectric prosthesis are connected to your body by electrodes on the skin or in the remaining muscles of the limb you lost. If you try to move your missing limb, your brain will still send an electric signal through nerves. The electrodes will sense and transmit the e...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c05el8	Why don’t car manufacturers make cars that seat 3 up front anymore?	I had a car long ago that seated 3 up front. Was very practical at times. Why don’t cars do this or even some with that option if ppl need?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er1gwr8", "er1h44w", "er1f4j5", "er1lsdl" ], "text": [ "Seating 3 means a bench seat. Bench seats feel cheaper (and they are) and they're less comfortable. People want bucket seats that adjust 10 different ways. And without a center console there's less room for cupholders and pho...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c05f91	What exactly is the Google Stadia?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er1g9y9" ], "text": [ "Stadia isn't really a thing it's a service, some people describe it as Netflix for video games. You'll need to buy the controller from Google and pay a subscription fee and it will let you play video games without a console over the internet. Apparently you can play on ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c062ho	Why phone and laptop companies still use Li-ion batteries?	I've read about quite a few (new) battery technologies but why is it that companies don't try to implement those rather than just keep increasing the mAh of the current Li-ion batteries? We all know those degrade with time and there are some methods which are far better.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er1n7yq", "er1nrkg", "er1n5yx" ], "text": [ "They’re all still in the development stage- not yet possible to mass produce efficiently, meaning they’d be quite pricey", "Li-ion batteries satisfy the device makers’ requirements, including power, reliability, lifespan, weight and siz...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c06xu7	What exactly do Nvidia developers update when they release drivers for a game?	Every now and then, when a new game comes out, Nvidia (and AMD) come up with updated drivers that supposedly improve the performance of the game. But I've always wondered, what it is that they update? Are they simply adding game-specific behaviour for the graphic card or ar they modifying some "system-wide" property ab...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er2m7ay" ], "text": [ "Former game developer, & #x200B; Driver developers work with studios to develop custom driver profiles so those games run optimally. Often enough the studio is doing the wrong thing, and at that point in development, it's often easier to fix it in the driver than tell t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c09nyw	Why don’t you need to wear a seatbelt on public transportation?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er2zacc", "er2zbsx" ], "text": [ "For one thing, busses are much heavier than cars, so in a collision they will usually experience much less deceleration. But if you drive into a tree or wall that won't help you.", "Overall buses are safer than cars. Buses have professionally trained ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0etee	how is it possible people can create things like working internet and computers in unmodded Minecraft? Also, since they can make computers, is there any limit to what they can create in Minecraft?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er47rg0", "er4fz8p", "er4m0qf", "er4bcvw", "er442jt", "er43ynl", "er4jvvv", "er4jgxu", "er4xd45", "er4xerb", "er4t9f8", "er4tsyw" ], "text": [ "Minecraft provides the fundamental elements required to build a computer: circuits (wires), logic gates, ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0j98q	Why can't we truly delete pictures and documents from a cellhpone or a computer ?	Not long ago I had to factory reset my computer because it had some problems. After the reset I managed to get my pictures and documents (I don't remember if I recovered all of them) back using a recovery software. I even recovered pictures that were deleted prior to the reset. Something similar happened with my cellph...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er4zavd", "er4zfh5", "er4zpkm" ], "text": [ "Computer storage is designed to be stable for a long period of time. Some technologies, like flash memory, have a limited number of changes and a long storage life. When you \"delete\" something, the storage is just marked as \"unused\". Ac...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0jb1k	How does a Nintendo 3DS produce its 3d effect?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er4zo39", "er51hfk" ], "text": [ "It has two screens on top of one another and the light projects at different angles to trick your eye into believing it’s 3D. If you move the 3DS too far to one side, the effect will disappear.", "To be a bit more specific, there is actually only one ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0jeke	what is Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC) ?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er57afa" ], "text": [ "It's an old way for devices to talk to one another through wired connections, created by IBM and pretty much only used by IBM. At one point, there were a lot of competing standards (SCSI, Ethernet, Econet, Token Ring, LocalTalk, RS-232, IEEE 488), but most of these stan...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0lmxt	How does a SSD read data quicker then a HDD.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er5juy4" ], "text": [ "An [SSD]( URL_0 ) has memory chips inside, so \"reading data\" is just a matter of the electronics inside the SSD to find where in memory that data is. A [HDD]( URL_1 ) stores data magnetically on platters (disks). Sort of like magnetic CD's. Reading data involves movin...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0o20x	How do marketplaces (e.g. URL_0 ) handle currencies?	For example, anyone can view hotel rooms in their local currency, and the hotel would post their rooms in their local currency.. I'm assuming URL_0 save the price in the hotel's currency, then convert it for the end user.. but when you book, does the transaction get saved in the end users currency? And would that not b...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er66h1k" ], "text": [ "> And would that not be a problem when the hotel gets paid? No. URL_0 's bank and the hotel's bank would work it out so that the hotel gets paid in their preferred currency. & #x200B; > I book a hotel in the us in GBP and then choose to pay on arrival, do I pay in the e...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0okbk	How does a battery continue to support the exact same functionality as the charge decreases over time? As in with a phone battery, how does the screen not get slowly dimmer, sounds from the speakers quieter?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er6cxmk", "er6ec0m", "er6d2sc" ], "text": [ "First of all, I'll make a slight correction to your question: \"maintain the same amount of voltage as the amperage decreases\" Actually, it's quite the opposite. It's the voltage that decreases as the battery is discharged. The current...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0opny	How do these computers work at a library where you put stacks of items on a shelf and it automatically checks them in or out without scanning barcodes?	What witchcraft is this? No barcode scanning and I've done up to 5 at a time no problem. Image for reference: URL_0	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er6aimb", "er6nf5i" ], "text": [ "RFID. The books have a thick sticker, probably in the back cover, with an antenna programmed to that book. The shelf reads those tags. Source: worked in library that made the transition to those tags. Tagged several thousand books.", "I helped install...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0pqhb	Why is it we can play mega-ultra HD on COD at 120 Hz without a hitch, but can't explode 100 TNT on low poly minecraft without freezing the computer?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er6m9vk", "er6kn0c" ], "text": [ "Because COD is a relatively simple game (as far as computer calculations go) and all you really need to do is render the game. There's no physics that need to be processed, since everything is a prerendered animation. With 100 TNT blocks, you need to calc...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0pr37	Why do full frame DSLRs deliver optimal performance at ISO 100 while many digital cinema cameras with smaller recording areas perform best at 800?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er6qzmn", "er6lmkl" ], "text": [ "It's easier if you think about this the opposite way around — let's imagine we're designing a video camera. You rarely want to use a super-wide aperture for video, because you need the depth of field from a tighter aperture, so you lose out on a tonne of ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0qc6a	How does the Hubble telescope, moving 8 km/s around the Earth, take clear and well exposed pictures of interstellar formations light years away?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er6oi0p" ], "text": [ "When you're driving down the highway, the bushes right on the side of the highway appear to be zooming by at incredible speed, while the mountains in the distance dont seem to be moving at all. This is an effect called parallax. Now imagine how incredibly little the int...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0rhr2	Why are house arrest bracelets placed on the ankle instead of the wrist?	The ankle seem’s like an impractical place to put it, but obviously there’s a reason. What is it?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er6wl8h", "er6xbeq" ], "text": [ "You can’t contort your foot/ankle the same way you can your hand and wrist. It makes it very difficult to get off without resorting to more extreme measures.", "Where would you to have a bracelet of that size on your body for week at end. Where would ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0t22a	How do devices like weight scales and body fat measuring machines figure out the percentage of things like muscle, fat and water in your body?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er7ay4a" ], "text": [ "The scale detects water by putting a voltage across your feet. Because stuff dissolved in water conducts electricity, the more water you have, the more current makes it through. Fat requires the scale to know your height. The scale just compares your actual weight to th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c0un2w	How can I access and stay connected to WiFi while inside an airplane thousands of feet in the sky?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "er7o5um" ], "text": [ "A satellite beams Internet to the plane which has routers and access points. It also acts as a mid-point for whatever information you send to the Internet. Ground based antennas work too, if they're available." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c15wgx	How do activity trackers know when I'm asleep? How they deduce REM sleep, deep sleep etc?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erb6x4t" ], "text": [ "They detect movement through either an accelerometer or by using a microphone to listen out for movements (as programmed by the software). Since each sleep cycle lasts roughly 30 mins, the tracker is really only guessing which stage of sleep you are in based on the time...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c16a2n	Why do some companies create multiple apps for the products they offer instead of using one app? Uber and Uber Eats, Google Home and Google Assistant are two examples.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erb5lfz" ], "text": [ "Marketing. You get more people to use your app/product if you have different versions targeted to specific groups. It's why there a separate varieties of cold medicine in spite of all of them having identical ingredients. If presents with a choice between something gene...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c174d0	what is the difference between Ark, Mig, Tig, and Oxy Acetylene welding. (?Strengh, speed, efficiency?)		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erbbihy" ], "text": [ "Hello there! I want to start off by apologising for how long this post is; I didn’t want to oversimplify it too much. Both MIG (metal inert gas) and TIG (tungsten inert has) are forms of arc welding. TIG may also be referred to as GTAW (gas tungsten arc welding) and MIG...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c18yux	how do new barcodes get made? How do companies make sure their product doesn’t have the same code as a different company when it gets scanned in the shop?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erbkyi4", "erca28e", "erbkz49", "erca3sd" ], "text": [ "Barcodes are actually just a font what represent the numbers that are normally printed just below it. The most common type of barcode is the UPC (Universal Product Code) that is owned and managed by [GS1]( URL_0 ). GS1 offici...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1abiu	How are amputees able to control the fingers in their bionic arm ?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erccajx", "erc5ykj", "ercz6mz", "erccazh" ], "text": [ "The company I work at actually exclusively works on this! /u/WashingtonFierce post is incorrect, we do not yet have commercial technology designed specifically to physically interact with the brain and detect limb movement. T...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1buz1	How big is the internet? Can it be define in GB or TB?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erc5nvj", "erc5u50", "ercb02c", "erc9yws" ], "text": [ "Bigger. It's on the order of 1000 of petabytes. And growing. A petabyte is 1000x terabyte", "Big can mena a lot of number of stuff. How many computer or humans uses it. The amount of data stored on public servers, the amo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1ehj3	Why do some tail lights appear to flicker in dashcam videos?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ercrc2l", "ercoxky" ], "text": [ "Old filament lights won't do this, modern LED lights will, the brightness of the light is varied by switching the supply on and off rapidly the on time and off time can be varied, the longer it's on the brighter the light, this switching happens at someth...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1eomx	How do flight computers in planes know how high above the ground they are.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ercr108" ], "text": [ "So there are a few ways. - Barometric altimeters measure the atmospheric pressure outside the plane and use that to (fairly accurately) estimate the height above sea level. This works because atmospheric pressure drops at a predictable rate as you increase your altitude...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1f1iv	How does Air Conditioning work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ercr3q8", "ercrgfg" ], "text": [ "A compressor takes electrical or mechanical power and uses that to compress a refrigerant gas. That gas is then released into a series of coils where it can expand in volume. That expansion causes the gas to become very cold, which makes the coils very co...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1fbg2	How do geiger counters work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erct9iv" ], "text": [ "They are chambers filled with a special gas (Boron Triflouride) that interacts with high energy photons and neutrons by releasing electrons. These electrons are attracted to a positively charged center rod in the chamber, and as they accelerate towards this rod, they cr...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1gqbp	Why do photos of stripes/patters get all messed up on computer screens?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erd8t1i" ], "text": [ "Do you mean moire patterns? URL_0 In television and digital photography, a pattern on an object being photographed can interfere with the shape of the light sensors to generate unwanted artifacts." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://en.m....	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1hgh2	How does vaporized liquid (specifically from electronic cigarettes/ vapes) not burn you?	Title says all. How does vapor from e-cigs not burn you when steam from boiling water can cause blistering?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erd9n3b", "erdrq68", "erdqxve" ], "text": [ "vapor is not steam. if you filled your vape with water it would probably burn you, and vapor can be uncomfortably hot around the mouthpiece if your wattage is turned up really high, but vapor expands, spreading heat through a wider area, an...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1jls2	How can apple trademark "apple"		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erdorwb", "erdn7ks" ], "text": [ "The primary requirement for trademarks is that they be distinctive - they need to uniquely identify the product. Apple is the textbook example often used for \"arbitrary\" marks, the strongest category of mark. Apple makes computers. The word \"apple\" ha...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1jx1v	How are LEDs brighter and more powerful, yet use so little energy?	Ex: Police Lightbars, they're so bright but use so little of the cars battery. Much less than the classic rotating lights.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erdpv38", "erdplsc" ], "text": [ "You know a lot of light is invisible, right? Infrared, for example. You can't see it, but you can feel it on your skin with your eyes closed when you're standing near something really hot. Take two lightbulbs that consume exactly the same amount of electr...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1kbuo	How can I use the touchscreen of my phone even after putting on a screen guard or a protective mirror on meaning I’m not directly touching the touch screen?	Edit: Protective glass, not mirror.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erdspqu" ], "text": [ "There are 2 types of touch screens, 1 of them works by touch, the other one is more complicated one. Phones use the more complicated solution, as this allows you to use a nice looking glass screen. Multiple times a second, your phone sends an electric signal on an layer...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1lm7i	I have just heard of the concept of “splitters” for computers and have questions....	1. What are they? 2. This can be used for the computer and not just monitor right? 3. If my sick sister and I were in the same house with one monitor in one room and one different monitor in her bedroom, could we both “plug in” to the same screen to play various “one player games” each of us being played one? 4. If so,...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ere0m4i", "erdyips" ], "text": [ "[A screen sharing program like VNC would work if you have a spare PC to act as a remote viewing machine, and a decent WiFi network]( URL_6 ) As u/arlondiluthel mentioned, using two mice and keyboards at the same time can have weird effects, but it's mostl...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1t6tc	How does the flash in cameras damage paintings in museums?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erfsvfq", "erfe7sq" ], "text": [ "Flashes used to emit a lot of UV which damages dyes and paint. Flashes no longer emit UV so they don’t do any damage. Museums have kept this rule for two reasons: 1. Flashes are really annoying for everyone else. 2. They have a higher chance of selling th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1uvaj	How does a computer shows the correct time even after we shut it down and pull out the power cord?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erfpr2v", "erfpt4h" ], "text": [ "Most computers update through the internet once they are turned on. The motherboards also contain a small battery that maintains an internal clock, even when unplugged.", "There's a battery, the CMOS battery, that keeps the internal clock running and ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1yr3m	How does the nuclear material get put into a nuclear reactor?	That's probably a very poor wording of the question, but after having watched the HBO series Chernobyl I was left with the question of how the nuclear fission material actually gets surrounded by graphite and such that it can be used to create energy. The explanation the show gives states that machines and microchips b...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erghj2l" ], "text": [ "In this case, uranium isn't that radioactive. First of all, its not highly enriched uranium. So most of it is the less radioactive kind. Secondly, even the more radioactive uranium isn't that radioactive. The fuel rods are safe to handle with some protective equipment. ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1z73d	What makes a computer programmable and not a single purpose machine?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ergjwzi" ], "text": [ "It's whole structure. The CPU is just a blank calculation machine. It gets data and commands from the memory and writes data back into the memory, so what it does depends fully on what is saved in there. An analogy would be a toolbox, you have different tools, for diffe...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c1zg8l	what happens if i play a 1080p video on a 720p display?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erglbts" ], "text": [ "The image gets shrunk. There are several ways of doing that. You could just skip pixels. So for instance, a line from the image with 8 pixels: 12345678 when shrunk by half would become: 1357 You don't need to do it by halves, for instance you could do by a third by remo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c214x1	Does restarting a computer actually do anything or is it just a placebo?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ergu8ky", "ergygyu" ], "text": [ "Restarting the computer forces everything in the computer to shut down and start again so any processes that were giving you trouble could just fix themselves like that", "Just a related note,unplugging and plugging something back in again is an actua...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2321j	How does compressing and decompressing a file with GBs of space work.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erhc4xb" ], "text": [ "File compression works by representing big repeating patterns with little ones. The classic example would be \"aaaaabb\", which you could condense down to \"5a2b\" or \"5abb\" since changing the b's doesn't save size, so why bother? Streaming compression algorithms work...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c23ol6	what exactly is happening when a volume dial breaks and starts turning the volume up instead of down or vice versa?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erisdak" ], "text": [ "Do you mean a rotating volume dial, like found on an AV reciever/amplifier? They are rotary encoders. They're supposed to repeatedly count +1 or - 1 when you turn up or down. When they get dirty, they can count all sorts of things instead. Here's [a video]( URL_0 ) of a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c25afd	How are "mesh" WiFi setups different than a single router with WiFi extenders?	Doesn't it all come back and get congested at the same point? I understand that with a true mesh, the "sub-routers" or whatever can talk to each other but I don't see how that doesn't still result in weaker connection away from the main router and overall congestion at the main router.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erhscf0" ], "text": [ "WiFi range extenders are basically just wireless routers without the 'Router part' (AKA: Wireless Access Points). They plug in to your router using a wired connection and create a separate wireless network. If it connects to your main WiFi wirelessly, then it becomes a ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c264gl	how does one do a reverse image search, and how does this technology work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eri01hq", "erhyxwu" ], "text": [ "Let’s look at drinks. For each drink, we’ll keep a running total of ‘points.’ If it’s hot, it gets one point. If it’s cold, it loses a point. - Coffee is hot, +1 - Tea is hot, +1 - Milk is cold, -1 So we can see coffee and tea are more similar to one anot...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c271g7	How can people on the phone not hear themselves when on speaker?	For example, my car speakers are very loud and i can hear people very clearly, how does none of this sound get transmitted back to them?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eri2hbr", "erijl09", "erijoht" ], "text": [ "Speaking as someone who answers phones for a living, I do hear it. It’s awful when people call me on speakerphone/from their car.", "As the phone broadcasts your voice, it add a inverse sound wave of your voice to the recording of the p...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c27zfq	How does animation work? I thought they drew every single frame up until a month ago. I know that 3D animation is done on a computer with models and what not but the whole concept of animation still blows my mind.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eriaozs", "eribhci", "erialqi" ], "text": [ "Historically, animation has been drawn one frame at a time. The primary artists might draw out key frames then hand them off to a group of animators who draw the frames in between. These days, you can have a computer interpolate the from an...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c28max	How is data conveyed over waves such as WiFi?	How can a wavelength possibly carry enough information to load say, a video? How can one wave carry instructions for hundreds of thousands of pixels?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erig3zo" ], "text": [ "> one wave One wave frequency travelling at the speed of light. By changing either the frequency or the amplitude of waves, you can convey ideas like \"on\" and \"off\". For example: you can program an antenna to understand that a wave peak above X volts is a 1, and b...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c29iwl	How does lane assist in cars work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eriloyw" ], "text": [ "The car has a camera that points towards the front of the car (at the road). It scans for the markings on the road that show where the lane is, and then if it notices that the car is shifting to an angle where the markings don't line up, it does its thing (makes a sound...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c29s6h	Why do monitors display more things on the screen while they have the same resolution as laptop screens?	For example: a laptop screen may show 8 icons on the desktop but when connected to a monitor bigger in size (inches) it may show 10 icons on the desktop even though both have same resolution so things should just look bigger	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eriqji5", "erivieq" ], "text": [ "Laptop screen resolutions can indeed show as much content as desktops, but they are physically smaller. Condensing to that scale would work, but everyone would be squinting at their laptops.", "Windows 10 has separate display scaling for each screen. ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2b7so	How does the "harvesting" if renewable energy work? How do windmills get power from spinning? How do solar panels make energy from the sun? How does the conversion of the energy from one to another work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eriytm9" ], "text": [ "This is all ELI5 levels of course. I don't know enough detail to ELI10 Windmills are blown by wind - the wind collides with the blades and causes them to turn. The windmill is linked to a big-ass magnet, and that big-ass magnet is inside a big-ass coil of wire. When the...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2bi0j	When your phone is ringing, why are the electronics around it buzzing?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erj1jpf" ], "text": [ "I don't think that's what OP is asking. You can have a phone on silent, sitting next to other electronic devices, and you'll often hear very distinct electronic buzzing type noises from the other devices specifically when the cell phone is ringing." ], "score": [ ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2bydd	Why it's not recommended to cool down a heated up smartphone in a fridge? Isn't this the same as taking out your working smartphone in a winter (from warm room to cold street)?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erjb58n" ], "text": [ "Kinda, And ive seen companies say \"Yeah, our phones werent designed for this. Now you got water damage. And water damage isnt covered under warranty, so pay up!\"" ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2ige6	- How can it be, that we went from Roman times up until the late 1800's with the horse and chariot/carriage. And then in less that 100 years managed to reach the moon.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erk9cxi", "erkdexp", "erkczli", "erka3f9", "erkjj25", "erkfvir" ], "text": [ "Technology scales exponentially. Better technology begets better technology and has forever in all fields. We spend hundreds of thousands of years as nomad hunter gathers before we invented agric...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2jnmd	- How does a single 3.5 mm jack provide stereo sound?	So on my way back home I was listening to music on my bike and I got fascinated by a sound panning from left to right in my earphones. (I was listening Ready or Not by the Fugees). How does a single contact like a 3.5 mm jack provide a stereo sounding effect? How is it able to split the sound between both earphones?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erkibl3", "erkifwu" ], "text": [ "You will notice black bands on the jack. Stereo will have 2 bands, making 3 connections; L, R, and common. Some new headphones with buttons will have extra bands.", "A 3.5 mm jack isn't a single contact; it's three. A standard headphone jack can there...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2lpxy	How can some companies offer unlimited cloud storage for an affordable monthly subscription while others charge an arm and a leg?	For example, Drop Box allegedly has an unlimited storage plan for just $20 a month, but Google drive offers like 20TB max for $200. Why is there such a difference in pricing? Is it even possible for companies to offer “unlimited storage”? Does the computing power for unlimited actually exist or are they saying “unlimit...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erkyxej" ], "text": [ "First off, that 'unlimited' remark us correct, they're just saying that assuming you'll never actually be a problem. All data stored on the cloud is actually kept on hard drives in servers somewhere. Some companies have their own, but a lot just rent server space from o...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2n5dv	- How do those labour simulators work, and are they safe?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "erm387b" ], "text": [ "So a labor simulator uses electric pads that are placed over specific abdominal muscles. When activated, they send an electric signal to the muscle causing the muscle to contract in much the same way that your brain sends an electric signal to your muscles. To simulate ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2t0b6	How does a weighing machine work?	Edit: I'm talking about a weighing scale.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ermd7d5", "ermd91v" ], "text": [ "In general scales use springs with a known spring coefficient. This means that the designer knows how much force is required to extend a spring a certain distance. This distance can then simply be translated to a weight. Digital and electronical scales us...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2vc1g	How do filmmakers/artists make a bright/blinding white compared to a normal white?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ermrm3c" ], "text": [ "Contrast. If a scene is largely dark, a bright spot will appear brighter than if that brightness were to fill the whole screen. Likewise if a scene is dark and then cuts to a completely white screen, our eyes will have to adjust to the change in brightness, and it will ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2vma8	How do metal detectors only sense metal?	I've always wondered how they are able to pick metals up on the scanner and not other materials	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ermso5n", "ermsrye" ], "text": [ "They're looking for materials that interact with a magnetic field. Out in nature, this is almost always a conductive metal. There are other materials that react to or interfere with the magnetic field and could produce a false reading, but they're pretty ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c2wve3	If real-time satellite imagery technology already exists, why are surveillance drones used in hostile areas?	Edit: I got a very helpful and detailed explanation from u/SeanUhTron, quoting his comment here for other curious people to read: > Geosynchronous satellites do exist, but they have much higher orbits, putting them further away and making data transmissions slower and photos less clear. > > Drones are used because they...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ern14ut", "ern1yd2" ], "text": [ "Real time doesn't mean they can see every area of the globe simultaneously. They still need a satellite overhead, and they typically move. A drone can be sent to a specific area and linger for hours.", "Satellites are moving several thousand miles per...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c3051a	What are those tiny little numbers on the bezel of my wristwatch and why do some of them rotate?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ernqlf8" ], "text": [ "That depends on the type of watch that you have. If the numbers go from 0 to 60 (and usually those are the spinning type), it is intended for keeping track of time since you started something. They’re called dive watches, used by divers to keep track of how long they’ve...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
c32y29	ELI: in coding, how is a randomizer itself actually coded?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eroayms" ], "text": [ "Yes this is a big problem. Since nearly everything in a computer is essentially a function, and multiple functions put in sequence or parallel are still functions, then mathematically the concept of random doesn't really exist, you cannot have a function whose known inp...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.