q_id stringlengths 6 6 | title stringlengths 4 294 | selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k | category stringclasses 1
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ej72gj | why you’re told to wait 30 seconds when unplugging a modem or DVR. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Electric circuits have parts called capacitors which can hold on to electric charge for a bit. In order for the modem to get a fresh start, you are told to wait a “longer than necessary just to be safe” amount of time, so all the capacitors... | [
"url"
] | [
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ej8h3j | When an actor is in a scene twice, how do they do it? | For instance, Austin Powers and Doctor Evil or Data, Lore, and Noonien Soong. Do they just shoot it twice and overlay the images? How is it done now vs. the late 1980s or earlier? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Often they will do tricks to make you think the actor is in the scene twice, such as filming the scene twice, but with a stunt double taking the place of the other character, and then filming from angles that make it seem like the two characters are talki... | [
"url"
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ejbas2 | (Photography) What is Noise, White Balance, ISO, Chromatic abberation, ETC? And how does it help in Photography? | I dont understand most of what they are and how it happens and what does each do to help photography? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Noise: graininess on the film or, in case of digital photography, the graininess on a shot. ISO: the sensitivity of the film/sensors to a certain amount of light. When dealing with low light scenery, the less ISO you have, the longer the exposure time. White balance: ev... | [
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eji58q | For what reason is the snooze timer set to 9 minutes instead of 10? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Original mechanical alarm clocks had already been standardized by the time the snooze feature was invented, so gearmakers had to mesh the gears with the existing clock mechanism. It worked out that they could best fit a gear set up of about 9-10 minutes, ... | [
"url"
] | [
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] | |
ejikzh | How was the USA/Russia able to build nuclear weapons in the 1940s, but countries today aren't able to just as easily? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The Haves preventing The Have Nots from building a nuclear arsenal. It's more about politics than technology.",
"Weapons-grade uranium isn't cheap or easy to produce, you need a vast array of equipment and a large amount ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ejisju | What's the difference between a "front end developer", UI designer, UX designer, and what do they do? | What's the difference between a "software engineer" and "Front-end developer". For example, if someone is designing the code for Google, who is designing the look of the app? Like take a popular app like Outlook. I understand that software engineers design the code and stuff, but who decides how it looks, where the rea... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"First off, none of these terms are an exact science. They are certainly not used consistently everywhere, so I'm just providing a decent rule-of-thumb from what I've seen in the industry. That being said: Generally the term \"front end developer\" is used to contrast wi... | [
"url"
] | [
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ejj8rl | How does Google knows where have you been, even if you aren't connected to any network? (No mobile data or wi-fi) | I'm currently traveling in Europe and I don't have roaming on my cellphone, but somehow Google maps manage to know where I have been as soon as I connect to the hotel wi-fi. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Two ways: 1. Your phone doesn't need to connect to a WiFi network to know that it is close by. Your phone always listens for networks and uses them to determine where it is. Your phone can do this even when WiFi is turned off. 2. Your phone... | [
"url"
] | [
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ejjp2j | When you click on "delete" what physically happens in the computer? How is space retrieved? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The space is marked as \"available\". Nothing is deleted, but when the computer is looking to write a new file, it finds available space for it."
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ejkeu2 | Why are electric cars better at accelerating than most gas powered supercars? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"All of the torque in the motor is available instantly rather than being dependent on the RPMs of the engine.",
"A gasoline engine doesn't work entirely on it's own. It has to work in conjuntction with a transmission. All a transmission ... | [
"url"
] | [
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] | |
ejmk5w | How does an LED display produce a "black color"? | I understand that in an OLED display, those black pixels are just turned off, but since an LED display has a backlight, I don't understand how you can achieve a black color, even on full brightness. (I know that it's never true black) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fcz1xaf"
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"text": [
"The principle of an LCD is to block light selectively in order to create different shades of color, so if you block all of it, you’ll see black, or at least it looks like black, but it’s really still lit up because the filter isn’t perfect The newer LED LCDs use leds as... | [
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] | [
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ejnk6m | When a video game crashes, why does the music continue to play even though everything else is frozen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Video games are extremely complex pieces of software. I could go into a lot of depth about this, but seeing as this is ELI5, here's a simple analogy. Just because you crash your car, doesn't mean the radio inside is now broken. Game engines... | [
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] | [
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ejqelk | Why are the download speeds advertised by wireless providers never the same as what is actually achieved? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Wireless speeds advertised by providers are theoretical maximums in a near perfect test environment. Distance, other wireless devices, and obstacles significantly degrade signal & speed."
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ejqqks | Why would digital cameras ever have a shutter? | A shutter is necessary on a film camera--the film itself is photo-sensitive and any amount of time it's exposed beyond what the photographer/meter wants would lead to an overexposed image. But in my limited understanding, a digital camera uses a photo-sensitive sensor and translates the light hitting the sensor into a ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"You can do a digital shutter like you've suggested, but it makes the circuit more complicated per pixel, reducing the size of the sensor for each pixel, which then makes image quality worse. There is also delay in reading the signal from each pixel and yo... | [
"url"
] | [
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ejslj2 | How could Voyager 1/2 transmit data such a long distance ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Any electromagnetic emission in space will travel forever unless intercepted by something. In the case of Pioneer, it's a radio receiver, though really it's radio telescope. Pioneer's transmissions are rather low power, so it takes a lot of antenna area t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ejv5sf | How do some games like Monster Hunter, or even mobile games like Underlords, allow for players all over the globe to play together seamlessly but other games like Dota has horrible lag and ping when you play outside your region? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Differences in game styles and different quality programming of the network code in the game (netcode). The concept of ping is the same... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ek0hxz | Why do objects in video games vibrate rapidly when they somehow get stuck inside other objects? | Like when a character somehow gets stuck in a car door or wall, it moves rapidly until its thrown away somehow. Why does this happen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The game engine (i.e. the underlying software that the game runs on) has to constantly keep track of all the various objects' locations in the world. Two solid objects can't occupy the same space without something weird happening. In your example, the pla... | [
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ek0izj | Why do you have to pay for .com domain names? Where did those websites get them from in the first place? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"There is some upkeep required in owning a domain name, so part of the fee goes to support that. But most importantly, the price needs to be high enough that people can't just buy millions of domain names to sit on them forever and prevent other people fro... | [
"url"
] | [
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ek3kvy | How LED lights are so much brighter AND more efficient than previous lights like fluorescent, etc | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"TLDR: An ELI5 way to think about it is how much heat is generated vs how much light. Incandescent bulbs dump current through a filament (read: wire) and it glows to generate light, but also generates a lot of heat, and that’s wasted energy ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ek765r | how do they do the graphics for the first down and line of scrimmage markers on tv for NFL games? | So I am watching playoff games today and the lines for first downs and the line of scrimmage seem like a layer beneath the players and not as a simple overlay on what’s being filmed since you can see the players on top of the lines, breaking it up. How do they do that? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"They scan the whole field, with nobody on it, before the game starts. The line only replaces pixels that match the pregame image.",
"There are two parts to the question: how do they know where the line should go, and how do they know what the line sho... | [
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] | [
"url"
] |
ek8b9b | what is a cyberattack when it comes to warfare? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"An attack carried out on a digital system instead of one carried out physically. This is usually done by engineering a virus to attack the system. Some examples included Stuxnet, a virus which is speculated to have been created by the US and Isreal and ta... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ek9agy | How do fiber optic cables work? | I've heard that they transmit info at light speed, or near that speed or something, but how does that work? How does the cabling send information at all? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"A digital signal is encoded using pulses of light and sent down the fiber optic. All digital devices (computers, etc) encode their data and instructions as a set of ones and zeros. Think of it like a light switch in your room. When the switch and light are on that’s a 1... | [
"url"
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eke6s7 | Why is it not possible to get a source code of a program/game if it's original is lost? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Much for the same reason if you lose a recipe having the resulting cake baked and ready to go generally isn't enough to reconstruct the method and ingredients. When the final program is built, the human readable source-code is compiled in t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ekjvbb | Why do FM radio stations sound clear but AM radio stations seem fuzzy? | AM radio stations seem to always have a fuzzy, unclear reception but FM radio doesn’t seem to have that issue. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"AM radio is like communicating by changing the brightness of a light. Lots of things can block the light making it seem dimmer than expected. FM radio is like communicating by changing the color of a light. Man... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ekliit | Why do scratches and smudges on a video game disc affect the video game itself? | And do/can scratches and smudges cause games to freeze? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Imagine you have to run round a full race track within a certain time, but there are obstacles (which you weren’t expecting) in your way to interrupt your flow and momentum. The track represents the data on the disc, the obstacles represent the smudges or... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ekoyd2 | What is static and why does it always have that black and white fuzzy look no matter where you see it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"TV static? That's the cosmic microwave background. It's literally the birth-flash of our universe that has been shifted to longer and longer frequencies. Since the birth of the universe is the source, no matter where you point your antenna, you'd see it. As for WHY its ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ekpo1j | - Why combustion engine cars still use lead acid batteries when more advanced batteries like those used in smartphones are available? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Cars don't need a lot of energy in their batteries - they need to get the energy out *really fast*. Lead acids are really good for this and can take a fair amount of abuse, and while a comparable lithium battery could be sign... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ektbbr | How does call tracking work and how different is it from tracking calls in movies? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fddiw8e"
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"text": [
"Call tracking works by determining the distance between the phone and nearby cell towers. The tower sends a message to the phone, and the phone sends one back. By measuring the time between sending and receiving a circle can be drawn around the cell tower. So the phone ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eku4xd | Why do all diodes have a forward voltage? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Sounds oddly like school homework. The electrical characteristics of the element silicon (and germanium) are such that a current flow will be allowed after a certain amount of pressure (voltage) is reached. The amount is different between the two material... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ekvw4f | Why can't I, a nearsighted person, use a VR headset without my glasses? Shouldn't everything still be clear since it's just a screen close to my eyes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Glasses refocus light to correctly hit misshapen eyes. Each person, sometimes each eye, will have different corrections that need to be made. If a \"normal\" sighted person wears someones prescription glasses e... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
el2u9i | how solar energy is converted into electricity | ‘Tis for a project my brother is doing where he has to summarize solar energy using vocabulary that doesn’t make the kids he’s presenting to confused I don’t know the answer, nor do I know how to explain it in simple terms | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Sunlight comes as packets called photons. When a photon hits electrons in a metal, the electrons can escape and go to a another metal plate which will induce a difference in charge between the two connected points as the metal from which th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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el3nmt | Why are drone strikes on moving targets so accurate, how does the targeting technology work? | Edit: Damn, I did not expect so many responses. Thank you, I've learned a fair amount about drone strikes in the last few hours. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"All the US-operated ground-strike UAVs use the AGM-114 'Hellfire' air-to-ground missile, in addition to several types bomb. The hellfir... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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el58co | Why do some radio stations seem to lose connection at stop lights? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"I've never had this happen. FM? AM? Urban area?",
"AM will loose signal under power lines and you will just listen to 60 or 50 hz depending on where you live. But I have never lost signal under a stop light.",
"Theory - stoplights t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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el7qqx | How do Machines Calculate Body Fat Percentage? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdg4cfy"
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"text": [
"Usually scale use two electrod under your feet and use Tiny Ac current. By measuring the impedance and frequency responce of the human body they can deduce the ammount of fat and water."
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elbhrl | How does SpaceX ensure that there is no air-traffic during a rocket launch? | By air-traffic I mean commercial or military flights - how is the air space in general allocated to differentiate between commercial and military purposes? What extra measures are taken to clear the air space during the launch of space missions? The question is for any space organization including NASA. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"They file paperwork with the FAA to launch so the FAA keeps the area clear of commercial flights. They also launch from military bases (the Cape is considered a military base), so airspace over the area is generally restricted anyways.",
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
elboze | When a game requires "Microsoft Visual C++ (year)" or "DirectX (number)" to be installed along with the game itself, what are those things and how does the game use them to work? | Often when installing a game through a digital storefront, after the game has downloaded and installed, but before rubbing for the first time, it will download various files titled "Visual c++ library 2008" etc, even if previous games have installed them. I suppose the main things I'm wondering are; What are these thin... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Libraries are pieces of code that can be used by developers across different applications, so they don’t have to do things that have already been done (like directly control the mouse, interface with the operating system, read files, draw o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eldp7g | How do they test projector and other LED's that claim to last 30,000 or more hours? Are they just taking educated guesses? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fdh3qhi"
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"text": [
"Very well educated guesses, yes. One way to do it is to take a large sample and run them, and measure how long they last. Of course, that would take years to accomplish, since there are 8760 hours in a year. So instead the process is accelerated. You still take a signif... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
elghm5 | How do computers check if a file is corrupt? | This is a generalization, but I was thinking about how, if something goes wrong with your save data, most console games/OSes will tell you that your save game is corrupt and that it has to be deleted. How do people check that out? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"In the programs there is defined how the save file should look, the shape, the colour, the measurements. When the program tries to read the file and for example a part is gone, it can find the shape, but not the colour and measurements. Wit... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
elhgvx | Where/how is the internet “stored”? Does it have anything to do with servers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The \"Internet\" refers to the network of interconnected networks. This involves computers, their network interfaces, their signaling media (cables or radio waves), the signaling protocols over those media (electrical signals, optical signa... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
elj7wi | Do visually complex images take up more disk space than visually simple ones? | For instance, would a solid red image of 100 x 100 pixels take up the same amount of space as an image of the same dimensions which has a completely random color value on every pixel? Sorry if this doesn't make sense the question is bugging me. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"It depends on the filetype, but for image types with compression (most of them), yes, it will be smaller. Compression generally works by identifying patterns of similarity, and \"all the same colour\" is as simple a pattern as you can get! I don't underst... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
elk0h1 | How do we know what the correct time is? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdig3vl"
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"text": [
"It doesn't matter because time is arbitrary. It's whatever time we decide it is. Before clocks, people went by the sun. When the sun reached it's maximum height in the sky for the day, that was noon, and noon differed depending on where you were. It doesn't matter how m... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
elkul4 | What is the difference/relation between a node/server/cluster? (Preferably in the world of high performance computing) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdikdtl"
],
"text": [
"A server is basically any single computer. A cluster is compromised of many servers. A node is a server that is a part of a cluster. And a supercomputer is the entire cluster or multiple clusters connected by an interconnect. Though interconnects also connect nodes."
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
elpidl | What is the prurpose of the "turbo" button on vintage PCs? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdjfjpz"
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"text": [
"Its for compatibility for applications that are CPU speed dependant. The turbo button actually slows down the CPU clock. Here's a [video]( URL_0 ) on the subject."
],
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elr8fd | what are the benefits of recycling glass over just using more sand? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdjou4c"
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"text": [
"It takes way less energy to melt glass for reuse than to start with raw materials. I work in a plant that makes glass and when we need to speed things up we run waste glass in."
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elsosy | Fighter planes have technology to disrupt ballistics that are headed toward them. Why can military bases not have this same thing? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fdjxxto",
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"text": [
"Because they can not move. To hit a fighter plane in flight, you have to track it. If the tracking is disrupted, the chances to hit are basically 0. You don't need to track a base, if you know where it is you can just shoot at it directly. And it's big en... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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elwz8k | What was that short barrel at the end of old USB cables, and why are they gone now? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"it's a ferrite bead, which is used to mitigate the effects of the inductance of the wire running through it. We don't need them nowadays on USB cables because we use better manufacturing techniques that better ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
elz5yh | How do long exposure shots work? | I saw a while ago this one pic where the photographer took an exposure shot of the Falcon 9 launch. I understand that it layers images (I think) but then how does the smoke from the engines not show? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdlhrbf",
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"text": [
"Each time a photo is taken, the shutter (little door that normally blocks light from hitting the sensor or film) is opened for a specific amount of time. For normal photography, this can be measured in the hundredths or thousandths of seconds (really shor... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
elzehs | What’s physically happening inside a missile that allows it to adjust its flight path to hit a target even after its been launched from another country? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fdlac2o",
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"text": [
"Inside a missle not much. The control surfaces and thruster, depending on the missile type, can adjust the trajectory.",
"No one is going to talk about the little dudes inside there who sacrifice their lives for the betterment of humanity? Steely eyed... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
em02m7 | OpenMPvs MPI | I have tried to ask my PI and several computer science friends what the heck the difference is but it still has not made sense. Please help! | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdlmwi7"
],
"text": [
"OpenMP is for running a program in parallel on one processor (one computer). MPI is for passing data between machines, in order to run a program in parallel on multiple computers, that have each their own processor and memory."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls"... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
em2drz | Why are videos sent from Android to iPhone's and vice versa always blurry amd corrupt? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdlwc4n"
],
"text": [
"Depends, what are you using? If your texting it using the built in app over SMS, that’s the reason why. SMS is a messaging service that is very old and can only send pictures by compressing them to an almost laughable state. I would recommend uploading them to google dr... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
em2htt | How does wireless charging work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdlw766"
],
"text": [
"A moving electrical field creates a moving magnetic field, and a moving magnetic field creates a moving electrical field. Transformers, that change the voltage of a source, work like this, and there is no actual wire connection in a transformer. The magnetic field induc... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
em4fyn | Why does the battery suck more than the previous version of Android after every major version update? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdma5e0"
],
"text": [
"Every new OS update has more features than the previous one. It is possible that all those new features are draining more of your battery compared to the older, simpler OS. The new OS might not be as optimized for older devices (=it is built with newer devices in mind, ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
em52gi | Why do record players still make sound with the speakers off? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdmefjf"
],
"text": [
"Back in the day, those old Victrolas didn't have speakers, just a huge horn protruding thing. Records used to be both recorded and played with no electricity. Sound comes from the needle in the groove and all the electronics do is amplify it- just like you can still hea... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
em7k7i | - why does old tech slow down? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdmte9h",
"fdmu5wn"
],
"text": [
"It's normally not likely that the electronics of the device have degraded in any way. Typically any failure of the processor or ram will give you a catastrophic failure (like bricking) instead of slowing down. Apps evolve over time and adapt to new techno... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
em8yma | what's the difference between software and firmware? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdn1i3w",
"fdn019m"
],
"text": [
"Firmware is a special kind of software that is permanently stored in non volatile memory in the hardware, such that it is always available. These days the distinction is less than it used to be, in that previously software could only be loaded from some '... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emaamy | How does IR headsets in helicopters and planes work? | I need to take a helicopter to work(oil rigg). We use headsets that have a IR reciver on them, we get music and information from the cockpit on them. I tried to cover up the IR sensor, but the music never stops. When phones used to have IR, the transfer would fail if you touched the phone, so how does the headsets work... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdn8lru",
"fdn8w0a"
],
"text": [
"IR? Are you sure they're not RF? I've never heard of a wireless headset that uses infrared communications, but then again I've never taken a helicopter to work on an oil rig.",
"almost certainly radio (rf) not infrared. they work the same as any other... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
embdbv | Where do deleted files on phones and game consoles go? Does the data completely dissipate? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdng8cg"
],
"text": [
"There are programs that can completely scrub data from a hard drive (basically, it goes to the area on the disk where the file was stored and sets everything to 0), but in general, this is not how deleting files work (especially since truly deleting data takes time and ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
embg0p | What is a Content Delivery Network (CDN)? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdnka4y",
"fdngvhw"
],
"text": [
"All the stuff you see when you load a webpage is stored in a computer (technically, called a server) somewhere in the world. The text, the images, videos, etc. If you have a webpage only few people visit, there is no problem. If you have a webpage a LOT o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emehft | If someone working at my ISP wanted to see what I'm doing online, what would they actually see? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdo3lvv",
"fdo447l"
],
"text": [
"Essentially anything that goes over the network with some caveats. Generally, they can see any content you visit over http (unencrypted), and they can see the domains you visit over https (encrypted) but not the actual content (so they would see URL_1 , b... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emgsc6 | We’re taught in school that white is all light/color combined, and black is the absence of color/light. So how do black pixels work on my monitor? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdotf16",
"fdolk28"
],
"text": [
"Many comments here aren't quite right. All LCD screens are backlit - this is where you get your white colors, because the backlight it white. There are then LCD layers that act as color filters in front of the back light, one for each color channel. LCD's... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emhktu | What is computer science? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdov4qi",
"fdosbmw"
],
"text": [
"So, this rundown is my own, and the idea here is to have a pseudo-historical list running in descending order of abstraction. Basically, I'll start with the most abstract and general ideas of the field, and work down towards nitty gritty practical bits th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emhoef | How do programs like Audacity or Fruity Loops actually clean up recordings? | I don't get how the de-noising actually works. Can someone who's an engineer explain exactly how Audacity or FL does this? And how did the creators come up with this technology? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdovd45"
],
"text": [
"All of the digital manipulation that happens in Audacity is mathematical, there's really no special technology happening that is specific to this function. The sounds are digitized and recorded, presenting a mathematical wave of sounds. A Fourier analysis is done to iso... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
emi87e | Why does the Nintendo Switch experience controller connectivity problems (aka 'Joycon drift') when both the Wii and WiiU largely did not have this problem? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdov572",
"fdow55n"
],
"text": [
"It basically boils down to a hardware design issue. Some sensor that's supposed to stay centered when theres no stick push registers when there is no actual stick push or the mechanical reentering mechanism has worn out and no longer properly recenters. T... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emm4ug | how do the scales that measure your body composition work??? | Like how do I step on it and it just knows how much visceral fat, skeletal muscle, WATER IM CARRYING, and all that info? How accurate/reliable is it? Thank you for any answers this may get!! | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdplz19"
],
"text": [
"They basically run a current of electricity through you. Muscle and fat conduct electricity differently so the scales measure how much of the current your body resists/absorbs and guesses your composition. As you can guess they're not very accurate as the skin on people... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
emowyy | What is an API (Application Programming Interface)? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdq27w5"
],
"text": [
"Hi! Someone has already asked this question and offered a really good explaination. You can find an explanation here: URL_0"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text_urls": [
[
"https://te.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/c6vq39/eli5_what_is_an_api/"
]
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emp1nu | What is so bad about big companies having access to all of our data? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdq2ld4",
"fdq2wxs"
],
"text": [
"You never know who could be buying your data and what are their intentions. Best case scenario : an ad network knows you are really into cats, you get targeted ads. Not-so-good scenario : your bank/insurance company buys data from Google and gets sensitiv... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emp3yo | Why can't we put an entire city under WiFi as opposed to providing coverage with cellular data? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdq3ip9",
"fdq6em6",
"fdqaeph",
"fdq9rvw",
"fdqaxhn",
"fdqahjd",
"fdqd0ys",
"fdqatph"
],
"text": [
"Frequencies.... wifi is designed to operate in a set of frequencies that makes them ideal for medium-range distances only, we are talking about something in the rang... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emp89m | Why all modern cellphones come with dual-camera and sometimes more? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdq3863"
],
"text": [
"As I understand it, there’s not enough space in phone to fit proper optical equipment like zoom and different lenses to one camera, so they make different cameras for different purposes."
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
empbpc | Fuzzy Logic | Dear people of reddit I am in need of your help. I am simple law student and I don‘t understand the scientific papers on that matter. May you explain it to me, please? Thanks in advance | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdq511j",
"fdqbcgb",
"fdqabdj",
"fdr4vfu"
],
"text": [
"Boolean logic can only take two values : True or False. When trying to perform text recognition with AI, you can't tell for sure if the single pixel you are analysing corresponds to the \"A\" letter with 100% certainty. In or... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
emq7cw | what is OS-level virtualization? | All articles I read are too high level for me. I want to understand this term to be able to understand what Docker does. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdq9757"
],
"text": [
"In regular virtualization one physical server runs multiple instances of an operating system to keep users and their actions separate. In OS-level virtualization, one *operating system* has multiple self contained partitions to achieve separation. So rather than have on... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
emsmo7 | How do electric cars heat the cabin? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdr3t32",
"fdr9izz"
],
"text": [
"Electric heaters blow warm air. But they also tend to have heated seats and steering wheels since it's more efficient to heat you directly than to heat the air, which then heats you.",
"Typically they still use a heater core and coolant like a normal ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emt021 | How does a surface to air missile battery mistake a large airliner for a fighter jet? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdqqac1",
"fdqrj13",
"fdqrv6h"
],
"text": [
"They don't. They mistake it for a big bomber and that's a bigger threat than a fighter jet.",
"It happened before. During the last Iran-Iraq war (when the US was still on the side of Saddam Hussein) an US warship shot down an Iranian ai... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emvcp6 | . If a computer is made up of preprogrammed circuits, then how does it display anything on its screen, even if that particular thing hasn’t been preprogrammed in its circuits? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdrcu03",
"fdrcsdu",
"fdrfw0p",
"fdrmp3v"
],
"text": [
"The ELI5 answer is that the circuits are not designed to display an image. & #x200B; Instead there is a set of circuits designed to turn on or off a Red pixel, a green pixel or a blue pixel at a very specific location on the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emwscs | What's the reason behind wireless being slower than wired? will it ever overtake it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdruorg",
"fdrruuu",
"fds1m0u"
],
"text": [
"Wireless communication is like talking to a friend out loud. If you're in the same room, you can have a normal conversation. If your friend is outside the house, you can still talk to him - you'd just have to yell. If he's across the street... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emwwhd | How does 8D music work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdsh5f2"
],
"text": [
"So, the way that it works is by panning the audio signal, pretty much, instead of having a balanced output (as you would on any song) the modify the way the audio comes out (balancing between more output between the left or right headphone) AND most importantly, if you ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
emxndg | when streaming videos online, why do ads seem to load instantly, without buffering, and play in HD quality, but then the video itself... does not do these things? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fds4jva",
"fds56yw"
],
"text": [
"Consider this question. Which of the two actually generates revenue?",
"They were going to show you ads anyway, so might as well load them onto local RAM behind the scenes. Just because you're already watching something doesn't mean they can't drip-fe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
en3uy7 | One Shot Film Making (Just saw 1917) | So I just saw 1917 and thought it was great. I have heard/read about how it was a one shot movie, but I don't fully understand the concept. I watched the AVGN version of a one shot episode (Immortal), and the BTS - is 1917 sorta like that, but on a larger scale? I am fascinated on the concept. Does that mean there were... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdtwtm1",
"fdu573x"
],
"text": [
"It's not actually one shot, they just hide the cuts. But obviously when you have to hide every single cut there are more and complex requirements on where you can or cannot cut and must do one take for real.",
"They're not actually one shot, they're j... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
en3zdt | Why can't news providers provide their broadcasted streams over the internet like a live broadcast works on youtube or twitch? | Where one can hit up a local news site on a phone or pc and stream whatever the tv currently receives over the air. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdtyx5l",
"fdtzbi7"
],
"text": [
"They absolutely can, in fact many news providers such as [ABC News]( URL_3 ), [NBC News]( URL_2 ), [CBS News]( URL_1 ), and [bloomberg]( URL_0 ) have free video news feeds online. There are plenty of others too However, they are not allowed to broadcast t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
en5435 | How did file sharers get hold of tv episodes so quickly? | Just a few hours after an episode of a popular tv show aired, back in the days, the episode would be available on torrent sites. How was this possible? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fduhfd3"
],
"text": [
"In the old days, they used to have a TV capture cards. TV capture cards are like graphic cards, that you put in your computer and you connect your computer to your tv cable so you can watch TV on your computer. You can also record whatever you watch. After you record so... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
en77t9 | Why are phone chargers compact, while laptop chargers have a huge brick in them? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdvldrp",
"fdvmf4q",
"fdvpldo",
"fdvn7rd",
"fdy01fw"
],
"text": [
"Very basic answer: Laptop batteries are bigger and need to deliver more power at once than phone batteries. So they need more powerful chargers. More powerful chargers need bigger ~~transformers~~ heatsinks to ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
en86aa | Native Americans were largely wiped out from European disease, why didn’t the opposite also occur? Did they have no immunities to harmful diseases of their own? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdw6aey",
"fdw7hx6",
"fdw0u4f",
"fdw9hh7",
"fdw19du",
"fdwav3g"
],
"text": [
"There were no plagues to spread. There are a couple of reasons, but the main one is a lack of domesticated livestock in large cities. Plagues are generally zoonotic diseases- that is, they origin... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
en8qi8 | how stores can run out of digital content keys. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdwaz6y"
],
"text": [
"> Isn't it just a copy of digital files? No, it's a unique registration key that gives you access to a copy of those files. Like if you bought a voucher at the entrance to a mall for a sweater at Macy's, and then went to Macy's and turned your voucher in for the sweater... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
en90zh | Why do telecommunication companies not implement a DNSSEC-like mechanism to thwart robocalls / ID spoofing countermeasures? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdwfh4f"
],
"text": [
"A well thought / well designed Kickstarter / crowd sourced project would seriously drive us a long way towards securing our peace at home, and get the attention + demand for this capability that most carriers otherwise leave up to the consumer to deal with? Why hasn't t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
enbt9r | why do pictures' resolution drops once you upload them on the internet ? | My bad, i meant quality | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fdxmnm7"
],
"text": [
"This will depend on where you are uploading it. More than likely, there is some processing of the uploaded image happening at the other end that results in it being compressed, which will save space on the server. The compression also results in the quality dropping."
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
enkabk | why is it difficult for cameras to capture such things like snow falling on film when we can easily see with the human eye? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe0iwfd",
"fe0nlgp"
],
"text": [
"Cameras take discrete frames, whereas [our eyes continuously capture light using a biological process]( URL_0 ). Let me elaborate. A camera always has a shutter over top the sensor when you're not using it. When you take a photo, the camera drags a small ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
enmj3j | does smaller nm in cpu actually matter like they said? Performance and Efficiency (android snapdragon) | Okay, this should include PC CPU & other mobile CPU but I will take a smaller scope. basically with each snapdragon increment, it always have smaller nm fabrication (14nm, 10nm, 7nm) with 25%++ performance and 20%++ efficiency for each jump (number is just example it vary between newer series but it should be around th... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe1r4n1"
],
"text": [
"2 ways you can increase performance: - More cores/larger cpu - overclock and overvolt Overclock is not an efficient way to increase performance, but making the CPU bigger is. With smaller transistor size you can have a CPU that is still the same size and cost but virtua... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
enms5l | Why do some bass guitars have a piece of metal covering the strings? | I saw an old post like this but the only answer was that it's purely for cosmetic reasons. Is this really the case? Won't the metal be in your way? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe21lo0",
"fe25m4h"
],
"text": [
"It's a [Pickup cover]( URL_0 ), a pickup being the thing with coiled wire and little magnets beneath the strings, which is what picks up (hence the name) your sound to be carried to the amplifier. They're only cosmetic nowadays, and most people take them ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
env0t6 | How does a microphone pick up the tone of sounds it is recording? | I have, at the very least, a minimal understanding of music, but I don’t understand how microphones and sound work together. How does a microphone pick up on all the aspects of a sound it is recording: volume (loudness/amplitude), pitch (frequency), and specifically tone? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe5n3q4",
"fe5jlr4",
"fe6196o"
],
"text": [
"Think of a microphone as the opposite of a speaker. A speaker makes sound by vibrating, a microphone picks up sound by being moved by sounds vibrations. After that, your question is more about how sound waves work. Sound waves are areas of ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
enxery | When you’re watching certain videos, what causes a mismatch between the voices and their mouths? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe6a0tm"
],
"text": [
"Audio and video are recorded separately, so when the editors are putting the sound files over the video they have to try to align it correctly. This is why before they start the actual content they will isolate a very clear audio and video segment to help synchronize it... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eny8wp | How does Spotify pay artists? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe6dn3x",
"fe6fsy7",
"fe6dc52",
"fe6g81w"
],
"text": [
"I worked for a now-dead streaming service. We would keep track of what we played, and give money to the labels based on whatever payment schedule we had with them. It was then up to the labels to pay the artist. The same rate... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eo0qos | why silicon is used for all the sophisticated tasks like building computer chips and all the electronics. I read an article today about how scientists have successfully built a particle accelerator on a silicon chip and it made wonder what makes silicon so useful in this area? | Link: URL_0 | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe6xc3o",
"fe6pw1c"
],
"text": [
"Silicon is a semiconductor, which means it is possible to make it into switches that can be turned on and off by electrical signals. This is how all computers and other silicon-based electronics work. There are MANY semiconductors in the world: crystals l... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eo2jra | How do concert lightings sync so precisely with musicians? Especially with instruments like drums, it will be super obvious even if it's off by a second? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe7c14h",
"fe7cfic",
"fe7j6vz",
"fe81a7z"
],
"text": [
"Computers. The lighting system is usually programmed in advance, and these are professional musicians. Unless something catastrophic happens, they'll stay synchronized, and if something catastrophic *does* happen, there's a t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eo2nmv | Why can phone cameras not take good photos of the moon? They always seem to make it 10x smaller than you can see with the naked eye. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe889dj",
"fe9wour",
"fe7wr2n",
"fe8jdss",
"febia8c",
"fe8ppu7",
"feaz8g6",
"feaqytm",
"fe8ftzi",
"fea1icw",
"fecja6o"
],
"text": [
"It has nothing to do with the brain or the ''moon illusion'', camera have wide angle lens to make sure u can fit a lot i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eo34t9 | Why video game companies make such beautiful cinematic trailers about their video games, but they never lead to a full fledged movie on the big screen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe8qp3t",
"fe7s48y",
"fe9gllf",
"fe7oead",
"fe98soz",
"fe931jo",
"fe9coj0",
"fe7n9kg",
"fe8w60j",
"fe7plru",
"fe9u6ls",
"fe9z50p",
"feanxeq",
"fe9pj83"
],
"text": [
"A lot of it comes down to budget as well. Blizzard puts out crazy sexy look... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eo48lu | Internet Cables on the Ocean Floor | All of the world's internet runs in cables on the ocean floor. How is that possible when we know so little about the oceans and when some parts of the ocean are too deep? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fe8ph22",
"fe8f1k7",
"fe863z3",
"fe92psn",
"fe8e0a7"
],
"text": [
"The route for cables is checked before laying them down, in sort of the same way you \"call before you dig\" when installing a pool at home. The companies who own the cables want to make sure the path they're l... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eo9gkr | How does a public/private key encryption work? | If something can be encrypted with a public key, why can't someone just reverse engineer the encryption using the public key to get the original data? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"feafc6k",
"feag05j"
],
"text": [
"Certain mathematical operations are difficult to reverse. It's easy to take two prime numbers and multiply them. But it's hard taking the product of that multiplication and figuring out the two original numbers. The larger the numbers, the more difficult ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eobwog | I get what Deepfakes are used for, but Wikipedia went right over my head explaining how they are made - so how is this done, exactly? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"feb9xwd",
"feb97jm",
"fecod1x"
],
"text": [
"Basically it uses a few data points to infer the rest. Like if you had to guess the next numbers in this series. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15... you use the data and you have to guess the rest. Deepfakes takes actual footage of those people an... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eoexqf | how did telephones work in the early 1900s? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fecbdnf"
],
"text": [
"Do you mean the decade the 1900s or the century the 1900s? If you're talking about the old timey box on the wall with a crank telephones, The crank is a generator that rings a bell for the operator, you tell the operator who you want to talk to, and the operator then pl... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eoiyss | What do they mean by “signal failure” on London Underground train network | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fed2zo3"
],
"text": [
"Train signals are a bit more complicated than traffic lights. Because trains take so long to stop, the safe following distance for a train is something like 90 seconds. (Compare this to a car where the safe distance is around 2 seconds). A train traveling at the minimum... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eokmbg | how does my car know to stop playing my music and switch to FM radio when traffic updates come on? | Like I'm assuming theres some voodoo in the airwaves? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fed9vqs",
"fedgl5t",
"fedfsvm"
],
"text": [
"Radio checks your last tuned frequency for a special signal that you can't hear, like a very high beep noise, every second. If the radio \"hears\" it, it switches to the radio.",
"I'm starting to think this isn't a thing in America?",
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eon6aj | Why do downloads need to accelerate? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fedqyde",
"feeggdr",
"feeodsc"
],
"text": [
"Your computer and the one you're downloading from *do not know* what the max speed is. The available capacity in the network in between them fluctuates. So they start slow and ramp up in the part of the Transmission Control Protocol called ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
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