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ELI5:Five dimensional hard drive | How does it work? We live in only a 3D space. | 25 | "5d" is a misnomer. The storage medium is still 3D, of course, but instead of just using one method of encoding, the "5d" medium uses multiple encoding methods for a single storage location, meaning that a single location can contain more than one bit.
In a CD or DVD, for example, it's strictly bump or no-bump, 0 or 1... | 23 |
ELI5: At certain speeds, why do wheels (on cars, bikes, etc.) look like they're going backwards? | EDIT: Thanks for all the replies! | 54 | Say you have a film camera running at 30 frames per second. Point it at a wheel with a big bright pink line on it. Then start turning the wheel slowly (let's say 1 rotation per second). Every time the wheel turns slightly, that bright pink line will move slightly more forwards around the wheel. In each successive f... | 51 |
ELi5: Is it possible to suffer a heart attack from a nightmare? | 18 | Heart attacks happen when the heart muscle doesn't get enough oxygen and the muscle cells die.
So healthy heart muscle cells are dependent on getting
(1) enough oxygen (oxygen supply)
(2) for their needs (oxygen demand)-
(1) Which means getting enough oxygen (normal breathing, normal gas exchange from the lungs int... | 13 | |
ELI5: Why is -273.15C the lowest possible temperature? | 25 | One of the smallest possible things are called atoms, everything is made up of these atoms, and they are always moving.
As things get colder they move slower and slower, it's best to think of water in this sense as it moves slower it becomes ice and stops moving.
At some point, in this sense -273.15 C, atoms complete... | 44 | |
[DC] Can Shazam’s feats also be used for the characters he’s named after? | It’s pretty common knowledge that Shazam is named after characters that he has the powers of. Wisdom of Solomon, Strength of Hercules, Stamina of Atlas, etc. Does this mean any feat Shazam does with those powers can also be attributed to their owners? For example, if Shazam is able to move at 5 million miles per hour, ... | 78 | If I’m taking it as a literal translation…. If Shazam has the speed of Mercury, it means he can go as fast as Mercury can. If Shazam can move at 5,000,000 per hour, so can Mercury.
If Shazam has the strength to move a billion tons, Hercules has the same strength level… | 59 |
ELI5: How does clearing browser cache fix a lot of website issues? | 16 | In the case of a web browser, sometimes temp files and cookies are not current, or even become corrupted. Either way, if changes were made in the browser when trying to load, if the browser is attempting to use what is cached and it is conflicting with what the website currently has, then it can load screwy or not loa... | 13 | |
[Men in Black] Did James Edwards pass the tests? | There were a series of tests when Edwards arrived at the MIB quarters but did Edwards succeeded or did he get in only due to K's recommendation? in the final one at the shooting range he was being questioned by Z. Edwards gave a curated answer as to why he shot the girl but was that the correct answer or only a way of ... | 18 | MIB agents operate in fairly contradictory environments. They need to be able to identify possible threats through disguises while walking down mundane NYC streets, to pick out the most minute details of an ordinary setting which seem out of place, and furthermore to do so without the typical reaction of shooting anyth... | 42 |
CMV: Louis CK's career shouldn't have ended for what he did. | Louis CK was recently accused of inappropriate sexual behavior, where he exposed himself and masturbated in front of several woman, who were shocked, confused, or disturbed by his behavior. While this behavior is certainly inappropriate and distasteful, he never actually forced these women to watch, and he didn't have ... | 365 | This type of behavior would end your career in literally any workplace, and the ones that it wouldn't would be subject to a quick and easy Title IX lawsuit. C.K.'s behavior is unacceptable. Yeah, it's not sexual assault, but there's a lot of unacceptable behavior in between appropriate behavior and sexual assault.
CK ... | 687 |
Eli5: Why is it that after a run I feel like I have the energy to keep on going, but 30 minutes after, my energy levels would dipped substantially | 45 | It is likely adrenaline and cortisol. Your body knows during, and just after, the run that you need more energy. Once you finish the run your hormone levels will drop and that extra energy you feel will dissipate. | 30 | |
eli5: Why do we always get strong urge to be lazy if its better for the brain to be active | I mean its so much better for the brain to be active working doing useful things stimulating your brain or working out, we all have a reward system and everytime we finish a task we feel a sense of accomplishment but everytime you should be doing something that you know will feel good in the end you just get this urge ... | 7,216 | The environment we find ourselves in today is very different from the conditions that humankind has faced for the vast majority of our time on planet Earth. For most of our existence (and for most species alive today) a steady diet was not guaranteed, and malnutrition/starvation was a very real danger. If our far-dista... | 7,616 |
ELI5:How do directions work in space? Are North and South still a thing? | 32 | You can still refer to directions.
North and South aren't really a thing, in space.
In general all space navigation is done in terms of orbit shapes.
So they might describe the orbit as how high it is at it's furthest point, how low it is at it's closest point and what angle it is orbiting.
So if you want ... | 14 | |
ELI5: How do people who speak Asian languages such as Chinese or Japanese explain how to spell words? | In Western languages we have letters that build into words, however in most Asian dialects there doesn't seem to be letters. So if someone from China didn't know how to spell a word, how would his friend explain how to spell that word or symbol? | 18 | Aside from kanji, the the japanese written language (hiragana & katakana) is phonetic just like the western alphabet. In fact, it's even more phonetic then English, considering that many English words aren't pronounced via their letters, but historical roots of the word. | 10 |
[Mass Effect] What to Omni-tools actually look like? | Standard Omni-tools project a holographic interface on the user's arm which can be used for hundreds of different things. What I don't understand is where the actual tool is kept. I assumed it was part of the armor characters wear but Shepherd can be seen using his with bare arms. Is the omni tool some kind of chip imp... | 19 | Not sure, but in the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3, a character can be seen activating their omni tool via a disc embedded in the palm of their glove. I'd imagine that simpler omni tools could be implanted. | 13 |
eli5 How can Australian skin cancer rates be so different depending on the source | So it's no secret that Australia has the world's highest prevalence of skin cancer. Looking for information, I repeatedly come across conflicting data with one site saying that [it's 36 per 100k](https://wiki.cancer.org.au/skincancerstats/Skin_cancer_incidence_and_mortality#:~:text=The%20International%20Agency%20for%20... | 31 | You’re missing the age thing.
36 per 100k essentially means that 36 people for every 100,000 will get skin cancer in the year.
That 100,000 includes kids, babies, teens, young adults, middle aged people, etc etc.
2 out of 3 before the age of 70 is a totally different way of framing. This means instead of looking at... | 44 |
[Rick and Morty] How does detective Rick have intel on evil Morty, and why does he choose to specifically give it to campaign manager Morty? | It seems kind of confusing, out of all the people detective Rick could have given the intel to, he chooses to give it to Campaign Manager Morty? Why not assassin Morty? Or an assassin like Krombompulus Michael? | 17 | Because he's more interested in playing out his bit than taking the most efficient route. This is a common recurring flaw of the Ricks and Mortys of the Citadel, who find themselves rewarded for finding a niche and filling it, which is one of the few ways you can stand out in a society made out of your doppelgangers an... | 37 |
Dating/marriage and Tenure Track Academia | I am in my final year of my PhD and also in my late 20s. I am currently single but I find it constantly weighing on me that I feel like I should be dating if I don’t want to be single for the rest of my life but also the demands of academia are significant. I currently am fulfilling a senior role in my lab that is much... | 179 | At some point you need to define for yourself a work life balance. There is no time card in academia. You could work 50 hours a day and there would always be more to do. More to read, more to write, more ways to pad your CV. And no one is going to stop you except you. Do you want to write that next article, or do you w... | 282 |
ELI5 Why is Earth's core hotter than the surface? What's causing the heat? | 22 | A couple of reasons.
One is that the Earth is rather, well, big and the core has heat left over from the formation of the Earth. It takes a long time to get rid of all that heat. This brings us to the second reason which is that when the Earth was molten the denser material sank into the core. This included most of... | 53 | |
ELI5: If both ADHD and autism are considered neurodivergent, why do we only have ADHD stimulants but no medication to treat autism? | This isn't meant to be poor in taste. I have autism myself, but am I'm often really confused when it comes to the whole
I understand that ADHD/autism are often co-morbid and that autism doesn't need a cure. I'm just stumped on how ADHD is considered neurodivergent even though there's medication to control symptoms, w... | 15,246 | Neurodivergence is a broad category, and it doesn't mean that ADHD brains and autistic brains function the same way or can be treated with similar meds. Some people have both conditions at the same time, and the meds only work on the ADHD symptoms because autism affects the brain in different ways that don't respond to... | 5,248 |
Why do we need a quadrupole "oscillation" to get gravitational waves, but a dipole for electromagnetic waves? | I was told that this is the case and I don't know where to start to untangle why. | 315 | Gravity is a rank-2 tensor field while E&M is rank-1. This is why the photon has spin-1 and the hypothetical graviton has spin-2. So EM radiation can carry no less than one unit of angular momentum, while gravitational radiation can carry no less than two. | 53 |
ELI5: How come there’s just 1 line of continuous bubbles coming from the bottom of the glass if you’re drinking something like champagne? | 6,832 | When you see a line of bubbles coming from a single point, that point is called a 'nucleation site'.
What is happening is that there is probably a small imperfection in the glass there where a tiny bubble of air can be trapped.
It is much easier for an existing bubble to get bigger than it is for a new bubble to fo... | 4,572 | |
Why did Nietzsche live a life opposite of what he preached? | From what I gather, Nietzsche philosophy is all about life\-affirmation, and, generally speaking, he seems pretty opposed to Plato and successors with their ideas on conventional morality, emphasis on some other ideal world instead of our imperfect material world, emphasis on the rational faculties and suppression of ... | 58 | Life affirmation to Nietzsche doesn’t mean going out there and living life through all sorts of wild experiences. It means saying yes to life in its entirety. Even if it’s filled with pain and suffering. And Nietzsche lived this. He suffered a lot: he went through intense and debilitating pain and headaches. His health... | 91 |
ELI5: Why aren't people getting sick from using their phones in the bathroom? | With all of the people using their smartphones while on the toilet, at the gym, etc and then later while eating, why aren't more people getting hepatitis / other illnesses? It seems that touching a phone with dirty hands, pocketing it, then using it later would be almost as bad as not washing your hands | 16 | The real issue is that washing your hands in the bathroom isn't as crucial to avoid illnesses as you'd think. It's just that washing your hands IN GENERAL is, and reminding people to do so after using the bathroom is easier since you're already in a place with a sink. | 27 |
CMV: EV's (for personal use) are one of the worst things to happen to climate policy because they offer a faux solution to the car problem and eat up a ton of resources. |
EV's at the moment are objectively unsustainable and impossible to implement at a large scale. There's not enough lithium and our grid isn't developped enough.
They're a gadget upper middle class people buy for themselves to virtue signal and political parties that build policy aruond them are being disingenuous. T... | 1,980 | >A lot of European countries are banning the sale of non-electronic vehicles in 2030. This seems to me a "poor people can't have a car" rule.
Is that not what you want? Your alternative proposals are all about eliminating car useage, so if requiring electric cars eliminates them, it will force the implementation of... | 791 |
As an applicant, what would be some good questions to ask during a PhD interview? | I have a PhD interview coming up and I can't seem to think of an impactful question that I may ask at the end of the interview. As an applicant, I think that I would need to ask something that may showcase my readiness and motivation for the PhD position. The questions I have in mind feel a little too basic. I would re... | 95 | I would ask how things were going for people who got their PhD's at their department. It's a potential huge investment by both parties, and if they are worth their salt they should be able to present actual employability numbers. | 74 |
ELI5: Why does it take so long to download and interpret Black Box info after a plane crash? | I realize it can take time to find the black box. But why isn’t there a computer program that hooks up to the BB and acts like a simulator? All the data is there. Why can’t they plug it in and watch a recreation of what happened immediately? | 25 | The “black box” isnt a single system, its made up of separate recording devices through the aircraft.
It doesnt record EVERYTHING, only the Time, Engine specifics and altitude, the other records cockpit voice and conversations.
The data recording systems on aircraft flights saves burst data, meaning it only starts ac... | 24 |
How come our eyes don't feel cold when it's frigid temperatures outside? | 1,654 | The only portion of the eye that has thermoreceptors is the cornea, which is a terribly small surface area. That being said, I've spent a good deal of time outside in -15 to -45 windchill. At a certain temperature, your eyes start to feel gummy upon blinking-which isn't temp but texture sensations- and they start to st... | 1,802 | |
CMV: r/The_Donald is the ultimate Safe Space. | "Safe Space" is defined as "a place or environment in which a person or category of people can feel confident that they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other emotional or physical harm."
Since the beginning of Donald Trump's campaign, r/The_Donald has practiced systemic banning, de... | 293 | Wouldn't the ultimate safe space be wholly separate and unreachable from external views and ideas? Any one of us can visit r/The_Donald and post anything we like. It may get deleted quickly or it may not, but if it does someone might still see it. Certainly, at the very least, the user who reported it and the mod who d... | 44 |
Will the antibodies from a blood donor attach to the antigens of the donation recipient? | I know that O- is the universal donor and that AB+ is the universal recipient because O- lacks major antigen groups while AB+ has the 3 major antigen groups.
However, what still confuses me is why the antibodies received from the donor don't attach to the recipient's own blood cells. For example, if an O- person donat... | 109 | Blood group O is an universal blood donor, because as you point out, neither A,B or AB have antibodies towards O (because O is the base glycoprotein).
But as you've pointed out, those who have blood group O have antibodies against A,B and AB.
What you've missed is the fact that when you receive blood from a donor it'... | 55 |
ELI5: How does battery charger knows when the batteries are full? | 33 | It depends on the type of charger. Chargers for older batteries such as NiCad batteries simply dump power into the battery and observe the rate at which the voltage increases. Each battery has a predefined "peak" at which the voltage will start to level off. At this point, the charger knows to shut off.
Your phone is ... | 34 | |
Why is it an accretion disc and not a spheroid or cloud? | I'd imagine it's the same thing that gives galaxies their shape? I didn't get the opportunity to ask during my intro geology class but it's something I've been wondering for a bit. | 49 | It's all about angular momentum. When you have a cloud of particles, either freestanding or around a stellar body, all the particles are orbiting the center of mass of either the cloud itself or the body. Either way, they're all moving on their own orbits, mostly at random. And when you compound all these movements and... | 19 |
[Culture]Why don't other slap drone ships follow the Meat Fucker around to stop it from torturing people it judges to be bad or evil? | I just reread the part where it killed that old nazi stand in, ....then I went and drank some vodka to help me stop thinking about it.
EDIT:don't say they agreed he deserved it, the Culture's general ethical framework doesn't include retribution. That's why they only slap drone killers, and why they insisted Vepers ... | 20 | If you knew that one of your friends pulled wings off insects for fun, would you call the police on him?
The analogy isn't perfect - Minds are beyond humans to a far greater extent than humans are beyond flies - but it illustrates the relevant issues. On a practical level, you can't just slap-drone a Mind. Keeping ... | 30 |
CMV: If you are pro-life, it is in your best interest to still make abortion legal. | The pro life stance is that killing an unborn baby is immoral as it is a person being murdered.
If you believe this, then you should make it legal.
This study shows how countries with the most restricted abortion laws have the highest abortion rates: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-worldwide
Fr... | 20 | I can make a fairly simple argument here. If you believe allowing abortion will land you in hell, then it almost doesn't matter whether or not it actually decreases or increases rates of abortion.
Given that a lot of people base their pro-life position on a religious view of biology and morality in combination with a ... | 11 |
ELI5: Why does the word 'liberal' refer to the left in the US? | I assume it is because of the lack of a significant 'socialist' movement. In much of Europe, for example, liberals are considered centrist or even fiscal conservatives. Why is this not the case in the US? It confuses me. | 32 | The word liberal originally meant something like "people should have liberty." That meant stuff like elected government, rule of law, that kind of stuff. No one is really against that anymore so anyone can call them selves "liberals" by this old meaning.
In the 20th century, one group of liberals became important in ... | 22 |
ELI5: Why do spreadsheet programs like excel and google sheets have the default text wrapping set to 'overflow'? It seems like everyone switches it to "wrap". | Is there some use for excel that's extremely common that I don't know about that uses overflow frequently? | 869 | Spreadsheets are made mostly for numbers. Numbers are usually not as long as text so wrapping isn't as likely to happen. Another reason is that reading down a list with uneven row heights isn't as easy and doesn't look as good. | 392 |
ELI5: With variables such as tides and waves, how do scientists measure sea level changes of just millimeters in height? | 47 | Hundreds of measurements taken at hundreds of locations, averaged out over time and compensating for seasonal shifts. With all of that taken together, you can get a pretty good estimate of average increases. | 11 | |
Why does a helicopter's propeller make a broken thumping sound but an aircraft propeller make a continuous sound? | While walking to work I heard a helicopter and noticed the familiar "thump thump thump" sound that helicopter blades make, and a few minutes later a small prop plane flew by which creates a completely different sound.
My questions are: why do the propellers on these aircraft create such different sounds? Are they aer... | 39 | The most important reason is that propeller doesn't spin faster than the speed of sound, because of drag, aerodynamic disturbance and sound production. A small one therefore can spin a lot faster than a big one before the tips break the sound barrier. So the main difference is that an airplane has a small fast moving p... | 25 |
[Mass Effect] Are Krogan Biologically Mortal? | I can't think of a single historical record of a Krogan dying of natural causes. Even Krogan history points out that before the invention of gunpowder, the main source of mortality was being eaten by predators, and afterwards it became death by gunshot wounds. I've heard of Krogan warlords who were headbutting enemies ... | 98 | Yes, they can die naturally. But it almost never happens due to their society and biological predisposition to violence. (A handy survival feature when born on a planet actively trying to kill you, even before nukes turned it into a pule of dusty rubble.) There are most likely records of many millions of Krogan who hav... | 87 |
CMV: Non-Violent Felons should get their guns rights and voting rights back and unless jobs involve kids, pets, or the elderly, they shouldn't be screened for prior criminality | Let's take a hypothetical case of a mid-level polydrug dealer. He carries either an illegal or legal firearm to abate the tumultuous way he makes his money with Robbery as a major risk factor. Unless he aimed, or shot to kill or maim, he's just as responsible as the gun owners that work for MJ dispensaries if they are ... | 36 | So accounting firms shouldn't screen for past history of tax fraud, insurance fraud, or other financial crimes?
Publishing companies shouldn't screen for copyright infringement? Or plagurism?
I get what your saying, but employers should always be allowed to screen for crimes that pertain to their particular industr... | 20 |
I think that if you "break check" someone in the Passing Lane instead of just getting out of the way, you're being a jerk. CMV | If someone is in the [Passing Lane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_lane) and is going slow, I don't get too close to them, but I also stay where I am instead of passing on the right. Often, I'll use my horn to try and get the driver to move out of the way, since passing on the right is more dangerous. Sometimes, ... | 44 | There are some people who just can't get off your ass for whatever reason, maybe they have no depth perception. What you could do instead of brake checking, which is an abrupt maneuver, instead decelerate slowly to a more reasonable speed for the following distance that they want to give you. | 14 |
ELI5: Given that currents can throw a boat off course, how did submarine navigators know precisely where they were while submerged pre-GPS? | 15 | Compass bearings, knowledge of the currents, and dead reckoning. Prior to nuclear power submarines spent most of their time on the surface because their batteries had very limited endurance. So they could regularly take star sightings and utilize radio navigation beacons.
Modern submarines have very advanced inertial ... | 16 | |
Eli5: the lens of your eye flips the image of what is happening in front of you and displays it on your retina, then your brain “flips” it again for you to perceive. What is the brain doing for that second flip? | 150 | It’s just your brain deciding that it’s stupid to have things upside down and deciding not to anymore.
An experiment was done where they had volunteers put on goggles that flipped everything upside down. They wore them all the time: sleeping, showering, everywhere all the time.
After about a week, the brain said “s... | 452 | |
I believe that the vast majority of rape is about sex, not power. CMV | I’m a woman. I’ve never done any formal reading on women’s studies (probably everything I know comes from reddit, whatever that’s worth). In any case, I most certainly have heard that rape is about power, domination, violence, etc. and so forth – but not about sex. It sounded weird when I first heard it many years ago... | 49 | You're misunderstanding the point. (Which isn't your fault. Lots of people do.) Rape does of course fulfill sexual urges, which is why rapists choose to rape people rather than do some other violent crime. The question is *why* rape is such a big deal.
We used to think that it was just because of the sex; there was s... | 45 |
[Digimon] What makes Veemon have so many potential digievolutions? | Where most Digimon have a rookie, champion, ultimate and mega forms, digi armour and a dna evolution. Veemon doesn't, he has numerous potential evolutions.
Veemon's evolutions include: Veedramon (and his evolutions) and ExVeemon, DigiArmour evolutions including Magnamon. As well as DNA Digivolving into Paildramon and... | 33 | The code that was in charge of making the Royal Knights ran through many generations and settled with having two off shoots of Veemon becoming final members of the Royal Knights. Not all other generations were deleted in the end though allowing the multiple branches of evolution. | 17 |
CMV: "It's just human nature" or "Greed is just human nature" is no argument for capitalism. | First of all, I don't want to discuss capitalism itself, so if you agree with me on the point that capitalism is not justified by greed being human, but just want to discuss any negatives I associate with capitalism, this is not the thread for you.
So, my main point is, that more often than not, people are arguing f... | 34 | I think that you’re coming at this from the wrong angle. Greed doesn’t justify capitalism, but it does denounce communism. Greed is the reason that communism doesn’t work - people will inherently prioritize their own interests. That’s why people won’t work as hard under communism, it’s because the greed for more money ... | 22 |
Looking for honest advice on recovering from a huge mess up | I graduated with a double-major BA in Linguistics and German from a large T30 state school just before turning 24. I was burning out at the time and dealing with a number of mental health issues + family issues + relationship issues, but I ignored all of that and went on to a MA in Linguistics at a somewhat smaller sch... | 28 | Don't take life too seriously. Pursue what you feel love for and screw everything else. Don't do stuff to get "a better job", do it to have fun, meet people and make memories. A failed rocket scientist is closer to becoming a successful one than someone just thinking of becoming one. You have academic experience under ... | 28 |
[Spider-Man] Spider-Man's radioactive blood was able to cure him of vampirism in mere hours - but at the same time he's had colds and flus that have lasted for days. Does this mean the colds and flus are stronger? | 37 | What it likely means is that the biological base for vampirism is much more complex than a virus. Viruses are very resistant to radiation because they are small and very simple.
See, radiation damages cells when a particle of radiation happens to impact part of the genetic code. Viruses are small and simple enough, an... | 37 | |
[Star Wars] What are the benefits for working for the Empire? | I am just an orphan who wants to work but no one will hire me so I want to work for the Empire as a stormtrooper. I am 20 and in good health but before I do what do I get out of it? | 19 | They feed you, house you, and pay you.
If you're more ambitious, a military career is an essential element to advancing through Imperial politics. The odds might be against you, but theoretically anyone could rise through the ranks. You may very well have your own star-system some day. | 26 |
When it rains on the ocean, does the fresh rainwater harm the marine plankton? If not, why not? | 20 | There is so much salt water in the ocean that rain doesnt even begin to dilute it to harmful levels. In estuaries where rivers meet the ocean there is whole environment that is a different biome from the rivers and oceans with brackish plants and fish and everything. | 12 | |
Government Spending is Being Blamed for Inflation - How Exactly has Recent Government Spending Contributed to Inflation? | 33 | Most of the analyses I’ve seen put government stimulus at around 10% to 50% of the peak inflation we’ve seen. This is balanced with similar analyses that credit government stimulus with a very quick recovery and millions of jobs created/poverty avoided. This is referring to the US at least. | 23 | |
What technological advancements would be necessary for humanity to travel into deep space? | Hard mode:
If immortality is indeed attainable, is it also necessary to explore space?
Might I live to see such achievements within my lifetime? (young adult) | 18 | advanced radiation and micrometeorite shielding, high specific impulse AND thrust propulsion systems, food growth and/or synthesis in space, medical procedures to face unexpected health issues, possibly criostasis, possibly robots to perform extravehicular work and repairs, possibly methods to harvest resources. Also, ... | 17 |
ELI5: How is low rep strength training different from higher rep size training? How do the muscle fiber grow differently to accomplish this? | 67 | Muscles work by snapping some muscle fibers under whatever stress you are putting them to, then replacing them with more fibers. This allows them to match whatever your needs are using only simple rules, a common theme across all of biology. While strength training, you're focused on the healing part more: you want mor... | 25 | |
[Samurai Jack] Why did none of the aliens Jack helped come back to liberate earth from Aku? | In the old videologs and records of the time, it is clear that Jack helped at least one powerful alien species (the wasp people), and possibly several others with advanced technology. Why did none of them return to earth to liberate us from Aku? | 22 | Because their conventional weapons don't really work against Aku. For example, when Jack visits Atlantis and those creatures try to fight back against Aku, their weapons are basically powerless; their arrows go straight through him. Only Jack's magic sword works. | 15 |
I feel embarrassed to say I'm a programmer | I am a CS student and roughly spent a year learning to code. I'm mostly into web development. I know JavaScript, Python and their frameworks like React and Django. But, every time I have to solve a unique problem using my programming knowledge, I get lost and can only get a solution after doing a google search about a... | 73 | Youre likely picking projects that are too large for you rn. Try and do some smaller projects and just get them working. Don’t bother with trying to do it the „right“ way. You can refactor later and that will help you understand clean code bases/design patterns in the future as well | 68 |
[Transformers] How does the Decepticons keep losing? | The Decepticons are made out to be a powerful army made up of more battle hardened warriors then the autobots and yet they lose almost every battle we see. So why do they lose when they are more trained, better equipped and have more soldiers then the Autobots. Are the Answers the same in G1 , the Movies and Prime | 51 | I think it's because the Autobots use different strategies and even in the Great War used various aspects to their advantage. For example, in WFC games they had Metroplex and Omega Supreme. The cons had Trypticon, as he was defeated. The Decepticons aren't as trained as you'd think. They pretty much rely on brute weapo... | 41 |
Whenever you look at any light source, lines or streaks protrude from them. Why is that? | 89 | Someone else already answered why this happens with camera and telescope lenses. If you’re using just your eyes, it’s not supposed to happen (but often does).
It’s caused by small imperfections in the cornea and/or lens in your eyes. If its bad (ex. it makes driving at night difficult), see your eye doctor. It’s ... | 144 | |
Is crypto an economic bubble? | I very recently began studying economics and I began to read very basic books about it. In one of these books there was a chapter about Charles Mackay and his thought about economic bubbles. This made me think is crypto an economic bubble? Might sound stupid but I thought I would ask! | 69 | The short answer is that we don’t really know for sure if something is a bubble until it pops (which crypto may be doing right now). But Crypto has a lot of features of a bubble. One of the things that makes something a bubble is that people start investing or buying into the product to speculate on its price, rather t... | 57 |
ELI5: how can scientist determine a robot is self-aware after just one question? | Seriously, I've heard AI say a lot of other things, a lot more impressive than this, so am I missing something? Is there something I don't understand? Please help as so far I've failed to be impressed by what should be one of the biggest technological achievements to date.
[Source](http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/0... | 124 | They can't of course.
You have to understand that science and technology reporting stinks on ice. Ignorant reporters parrot back any wild-ass claim they hear, and most of the public can't tell the difference between science and junk.
You can relax: there are no self-aware robots.
| 103 |
How long is the Vagus nerve? | How long is the vagus nerve, end to end? Not counting branches (or is someone actually approximated that, awesome.)
I tried finding an answer and failed! | 89 | Vagus' nuclei are in the medulla oblongata, which is inside your skull, towards its base. The lower-most fibers innervate the small intestine, which runs below your belly button. If you touch the base of your skull with one hand and your pubic symphysis (the bony bump below your belly and above your genitals) with the ... | 51 |
If transcription and translation are coupled in prokaryotes, how do mRNA quantification methods provide meaningful results? | Wouldn't it be more of a measure of the brief latency between transcription and translation than an indicator of transcript or protein level? | 207 | Huh? It's not like the mRNA gets destroyed during translation. It's just a measure of how much RNA is present. It's true that it may not give you a good idea of how much protein is there, but that's the nature of the method. | 21 |
ELI5:The American civil war | As a European, this war is something I've never understood but I feel like I probably should by now.. Can someone help me out please? | 15 | American politics from the late 1820s until 1860 were focused primarily on slavery. The "free states" in the North jockeyed politically with the "slave states" in the South for power. There were a number of crises and a number of compromises. In the 1850s tensions rose as the USA expanded westward across the contine... | 47 |
Scheduled C-section - how does the body know its no longer pregnant? | Pretty straightforward question - how does the body know it's not pregnant after a scheduled C-section?
I'm guessing when it goes through labor for a vaginal delivery the body is preparing to not be pregnant any longer, but how does it know when there is no labor involved? After the C-section is it just like "oh, no ... | 15 | The placenta secretes a ton of hormones. One of the critically important steps in a C-section is for the surgeon to go over the uterus and make sure that every bit of the placenta is removed, and scrape off anything that isn't. Even small bits of placenta can cause serious complications, like heavy bleeding. As a medic... | 41 |
[Zombieland] where the Hell did Columbus get a rifle? | In Zombieland, Columbus tells us his backstory about how he is a reclusive, somewhat cowardly, college student. 2 months into the apocalypse, he has a rifle and he is a pretty good shot. Like a really good shot. I know the answer could be simple- he got one after the inevitable riots occurred and the gun stores were le... | 445 | Making some broad assumptions about his capabilities and location. He probably holed up in his dorm as long as possible during the beginning of the outbreak. Surving the initial hordes subsisting off of ramen and frozen dinners from the other dorms or apartments around. Using stairwells and simple barricades to keep th... | 281 |
ELI5: Why does clear phone cases turn yellowish over time? | 247 | Think of the material as being made of long strings. Something like a bug screen on a window, in fact a whole bunch of those screens stacked up so the holes match up perfectly and light can keep passing through.
Over time the environment (mostly UV light) breaks some of those strings down. As they break into smaller ... | 302 | |
[Pokémon] Isn't Brock a little weak to be a Gym Leader? | What happens when a kid who grew up in Fuchsia comes along, who had to train to beat Sabrina first? Do the gym leaders have teams of strength appropriate pokémon for different challengers? Or does the Gym challenge HAVE to be done in a specific order? | 26 | Per the Pokemon Trainers Handbook:
Regulation 10.5.9 Gym Leaders and their teams.
Each gym leader is to possess a number and variety of Pokemon for use in duels against opposing trainers. Any gym leader not possessing at least six Pokemon of varying skills will face expulsion of forfeiture of their gyms and gym lead... | 28 |
[Beauty and the Beast] Which war did Gaston fight in? | 98 | Potentially the War of Austrian Succession, a global conflict that lasted 8 years, from 1740 to 1748, and involved nearly all major powers in Europe as well as their colonies. A subset of the fighting between the British and the Spanish in the Caribbean was known as the War of Jenkins's Ear. | 118 | |
ELI5: Household electricity is delivered at different voltages and frequency in different countries around the world. How did these multiple standards arise? Is one system better than others? | 15 | Somewhat haphazardly is the answer to how. It was really what was thought best at the time early on, and developing countries tended to use the system from their colonizers or whomever was hired to come in and advise on the electrical infrastructure.
As to which is better, that is a subjective thing. Better at what ... | 14 | |
[Star Wars] How are trade routes taxed/tracked? Everyone just seems to jump into hyperspace without regulation. | 26 | Id assume like they are now. Goods are marked from point of origin amd taxed by the planet you land on.
Hyperspace routes are likely taken from the nav computer and a tax for use is likely given to the discoveror for the first 20 years or so. | 28 | |
ELI5: why can't we just take the carcinogens out of cigarettes to make them safe? | 42 | Some of the things that are bad/dangerous about cigarettes come from combustion (burning) that is part of smoking. Even if you removed any kind of chemical additives and just smoked tobacco, you’d still be inhaling the products of combustion, which are not good for your lungs. | 119 | |
Do spiders scout out multiple places before deciding to spin their web and if so, are environmental conditions taken into account (wind speed, temperature, humidity, etc.)? | 852 | A lot of spiders spin test webs, just a few strings in several locations and check on them later to see which one roughed it out better.
Now, spiders have several sensory organs that determine a location's appropriateness based on humidity, heat, cold, wind, light, etc., but sometimes a spot is just not good for non-... | 385 | |
ELI5: How do the results differ between a workout of 100 pushups straight vs. 100 pushups throughout the day? | 215 | 100 pushups straight (or however many your body can handle) rips your muscles up. This way your body knows to repair itself stronger than before so it doesn’t rip itself up again.
100 pushups throughout the day gives your body enough time to recover between the sets and thus not ripping up as much (or at all if your ... | 152 | |
[Free Fallin'] Why are all the vampires in Los Angeles traveling west on Ventura Boulevard? | 87 | The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; Ventura Boulevard is a major east-west thoroughfare. As the sun is setting, the eastern side of the street gets darker first, with deeper shadows to hide in. Thus, "the vampires traveling west" on Ventura Boulevard suggests that the sun is setting, and they are able to mo... | 108 | |
Why can we talk in our heads? | Hey guys, I've always wondered how we are able to talk in our heads. I can say a whole sentence in my head and when I think about that it seems crazy that we can do that. So how are we able to speak in our head without saying it? | 1,239 | Language related information in the brain is represented at different levels of abstraction. At one end of the spectrum you have the basic visual and/or auditory input coming in from our sensory organs. This information must be preprocessed and analyzed by sensory cortex to reach the point at which we represent it as a... | 672 |
Which is better, a 90% chance that you get $1, or a 50% chance that you get $2? (This chance is occuring every second) | I’m just curious for the game I’m playing, this has no real scholarly or practical application.
Also assume no inflation or anything like that, it’s just a game lol. | 19 | To solve this question, you have to solve for the EV (Expected Value).
EV = (Value of prize \* probability of winning) - cost of entry
Assuming you don't have to pay to play this game, cost of entry is 0.
EV = $1 \* .9 = 90 cents
EV = $2 \* .5 = $1
Clearly, the second choice is better, because you earn an expected... | 35 |
CMV: The biggest issue facing the LGBTQ community is itself, and it’s full of toxic, non inclusive, insecure people that gatekeep personality and sexuality. | I’m a bisexual man that tends to lean more towards guys, and in the past few days can recount multiple separate negative interactions I’ve had with other gay guys / girls. Obviously this is a small sample size below, but Ive had more negative experiences with LGBTQ people than positives. As I’ve been an open member of ... | 9,325 | I absolutely agree that biphobia in the LGBTQ+ community is a massive issue, and the bodyshaming is incredibly gross and another big issue. These are for sure big issues facing the LGBTQ community, and it's also gross to have insecure people in the community (often younger white gay men from fairly affluent background... | 1,974 |
ELI5: Why can't they make CPUs bigger if heat dissipation is a problem? | If heat is distributed through larger area/volume it will be easier to dissipate, no? | 2,820 | It's a bit unintuitive, but that's not exactly how it ends up working.
A more densely packed, smaller CPU design made out of smaller individual transistors is actually more power efficient. It suffers less electrical losses, and so it generates less heat. The performance and efficiency benefits to going smaller genera... | 2,931 |
What inspiration did early christianity have from greek philosophy? | I heard they took some ideas from stoicism and platonism. And apparently aristotle's metaphysics? | 17 | There was an important social and cultural shift that occurred in the Roman empire during the third century. Prior to this shift, Stoicism was more or less dominant in the philosophical culture of the empire, whereas after this shift, neo-Platonism became dominant. Christian writings from this period often show signi... | 16 |
Do artificial sweeteners cause tooth decay? | As an example, if you were to drink coke or coke zero every day for a year without brushing what results would you see? | 91 | Short answer: no.
There are four things required for caries (cavities) to form: the host (tooth), bacteria (usually strep. mutans), food for the bacteria (fermentable sugars), and time (it takes longer than you might think...roughly 14 days for a complex community of harmful acidogenic bacteria to become established).... | 43 |
Can generalized anxiety spread throughout a group of individuals? | What brought up the question/ the parameters. My friends and I were all together tonight (4 of us). We were doing what we usually do, sitting around playing poker and listening to music, when everyone myself included got the urge to leave, so we go on a walk. I can tell one of my friends is getting distressed, so I sug... | 430 | Sure, and not just anxiety. Lots of emotional processing is heavily influenced by the affect of people around you, and if they have a negative affect or are predisposed to it then it's hardly surprising. It's also worth noting that a lot of affective/emotional processing happens below the level of conscious awareness, ... | 105 |
How do people find time to work on multiple research projects and publish multiple papers? I can barely find the mental capacity for one. | I'm an MSCS student who does research in machine learning. I've noticed that many people work on several projects at once (usually their own project and as a participant in another) and often have multiple papers published in venues.
Right now I'm trying to get my own research project going as I'm graduating next seme... | 102 | It just comes with experience. Time management is critical, too. Once your own project is up and running, you’ll hit points where there’s nothing to do but sit and wait for data, IRBs, reviewers, finding, etc. Those are the gaps you fill with other projects. Plus you’ll gain enough expertise to serve in more of a consu... | 50 |
[Star Trek] Can The Borg adapt to high speed projectiles such as a bullet? | In the movie First Contact, Picard uses a Tommy Gun to kill some Borg saying that even a holographic bullet can kill. Can the Borg adapt to a high speed projectile? If not, why don't they just replicate some AR-15s and clean them up pretty quick. Also could that be effective again their ships? | 24 | The Borg are certainly capable of adapting their shielding to project a standard force field, which is all that would be necessary to stop a simple kinetic energy-based projectile weapon. While Capt. Picard was able to use an ancient-model weapon effectively, the Borg were unprepared for it, and he did only use it on t... | 17 |
[Star Wars] Why are IG units not used in war? | We’ve seen their (or at least one) fighting capabilities in The Mandalorian, so why not deploy them in general combat like during the clone wars? Is it just they’re too expensive? Or is it some other reason? | 20 | I think they're too independent for war; IIRC they rebelled against their creators and went off taking jobs for themselves so they probably wouldn't make good soldiers. But good bounty hunters and assassins, for sure. | 36 |
ELI5: Why do girls, with virtually no boobs, wear bras? | Hi!
Just thought if this as I, in my hallway, looked at my magnificent semi-fatguy-goes-bodybuilding-body; I've got bigger boobs than my ex-gf and my current.
Both of them uses bras, but I don't. I don't see why I should wear one. They, on the other hand, who are as good as completely flat with the bras off, uses the... | 165 | Firstly, there is often more breast tissue than is immediately apparent. For wide-rooted breasts, a significant portion of breast tissue can lie around the underarm area. So don't underestimate the mass of boob just because they don't stick out much at the front!
A well-fitted bra will support all the tissue and cup ... | 256 |
GPS satellites work because they adjust for similar bending of spacetime to coordinate with systems on Earth. Why wouldn't they? | What possible errors could they make without this adjustment? I thought all they do is to point us direction or pinpoint our location. Why are they really concerned about time? | 25 | GPS satellites need to know the time.
They don't know what direction you are in, and even if they did the error would be humongous. It would be very tricky to make a satellite system that could accurately pinpoint a transmitter in this way.
The way it works is GPS satellites continually transmit both the current tim... | 20 |
ELI5: A single tree might shed thousands of seeds a year, but most of these won't grow into anything. What starts the growth of a mighty tree? | 2,022 | If you look closely, many trees are surrounded by saplings. Most won’t make it to maturity because there isn’t enough sunlight reaching them under the canopy of large trees. Sometimes, an old tree will die, allowing some saplings to grow until they become mighty and take the place of the dead tree. This type of “growth... | 1,198 | |
ELI5: what causes halucinations in your brain when you take LSD and how do they differ from hallucinations that someone with schizophrenia would have? | 1,915 | Technically what you see when you take LSD isn't a hallucination, it's a pseudohallucination. The difference is that people on LSD recognize that what they're seeing isn't real, but people with schizophrenia don't.
The visual effects of LSD have to do with it interacting with serotonin receptors that control vision. ... | 988 | |
Is there a way for us to know what the population of any given species of dinosaur was during their time on earth? And if so, how? | 135 | Certainly not. In a field where we aren't sure what are separate species, there is little chance of being able to make such precise observations.
We can estimate that X dinosaur was more numerous than Y dinosaur for a given period, but anything more would be too poorly supported. | 46 | |
[Star Trek] What kind of water comes from the replicators? | I know you can program different “recipes” into the replicator, but what is dispensed when someone orders water? Specifically, is it just H2O, or are there other chemicals like we would see in city/tap water? I imagine specialty items like Spring Water or Mineral Water would have their own formulas programmed. | 20 | It's probably "just" water, with only the minerals and such that can be tolerated by all (or at least the majority) of Federation citizens.
Of course, it's also possible that the replicator knows who's asking, and gives them a glass of whatever they'd get from a very clean river on their homeworld. | 39 |
CMV: Assuming the allegations against him are true, the decision to fire Jeremy Clarkson was the right one | It's simple. If I get in a fight in my workplace and send someone (who appears to not have fought back) to the hospital, I deserve to be fired. It doesn't matter how shitty my work conditions are, punching someone in the face after several minutes of cussing someone out is not acceptable behavior.
But then, fans say, ... | 116 | I agree with you but will dispute your view for the sake of argument:
While it may have been the right decision morally, it is not a good decision for the BBC. Top Gear is a huuuuuuge moneymaker for them, and it is largely Clarkson's creation. What's more, Hammond and May (mostly May) seem to be suggesting that they w... | 58 |
ELI5: What is the biological basis for laughing? | 54 | Some anthropologists think that when ancient people got startled or scared by something that could have been a predator, but wasn't, relieved laughter let the tribe know things were safe. But it's just one of many theories. | 79 | |
[Star Wars] What are the chances a planet which strikingly resembles 21st Century Earth in terms of culture, technology and geological diversity exists in the galaxy? | 28 | Geologically? There are plenty of diverse planets around the GFFA.
Culturally? Most planets aren't as diverse as ours, but the galactic culture itself is hugely diverse.
Technologically? Essentially nonzero. You have to remember that galactic society has existed to some degree or another for at least twenty-five thou... | 29 | |
Cars, solariums, and greenhouses can get really hot because they trap heat coming in through the glass. Why can't the heat leave just as easily? Why doesn't it balance out? | 1,365 | The energy comes in as light and doesn't turn into heat until it gets absorbed onto the interior surfaces. Then the heated materials and air inside do not leave the car while continuing to accumulate more heat.
Some heat is always leaving the car but until the sun goes down there will be more heat coming in than is le... | 696 | |
[Dragonball] Why do the androids seem to go in reverse order of power? | Note that I understand this isn't strictly true: Androids in the original Red Ribbon Army (that Terminator-looking one, and Android 8) are almost certainly weaker than most other forms we've seen. Also i'm discounting Cell and 21, even if they are technically Androids.
That said, starting with Android 13 we see the st... | 16 | I don't know where you got the idea that 14 and 15 are stronger than 16, 17, 18, or even 19 and 20.
14 and 15 manage to give some trouble to the Saiyans, but only in their base forms. When they go Super Saiyan, the androids get demolished almost instantly, putting them around the league of 19 and 20.
As for 13, he's ... | 17 |
[The Amazing World of Gumball] How do interspecies couples manage to have kids? And what determines the kids species or resulting mix? | Most couples seen in the series are of the same species/being of creatures, no issue there. However the titular character's family and some others are mixes, sometimes VERY ODD mixes.
Nicole and Richard Watterson are a Cat and a Rabbit, so mammals, and they have a cat boy and a bunny girl, (and adopted a fish). How?
... | 50 | The world that we see in the show has little resemblance to the one that we live in. The different characters are manifestations of ideas, not flesh and blood like we are. That's how such a large variety of beings can exist, from cats and rabbits, to dinosaurs and bananas. When two characters reproduce, their children ... | 20 |
If mass matters in the solar system with relation to gravity (Jupiter vs Mercury for example), why doesn't that apply to mass of smaller objects (a feather and a bowling ball). Why do those two fall at the same rate? | 37 | For some people equations work best to explain something, so let's give this a try.
Force of Gravity (F) = G*m1 *m2/ r^2
Say m1 is the earth and m2 is the bowling ball or feather. And they are both the same r from the center of the earth.
Now the rate they fall is determined by the acceleration with the following eq... | 16 | |
CMV: When rehabilitation is not an option for a prisoner i.e. those on life sentences, the prisoner should have the option of completing his sentence or state assisted suicide. | I feel as though debates on the death penalty vs life sentences are very tricky. Life sentences are often criticized for costing too much money. The death penalty is often criticized for being barbaric and inhumane. I feel as though the best approach to the problem is through a compromise in which the prisoner chooses ... | 30 | A life sentence isn’t about just dying in prison. It’s about spending the rest of your life, however long it is paying for your crimes. Letting people commit suicide is a cop out. And to be perfectly honest, they can just do that anyway. | 15 |
ELI5: What exactly was the danger of the Y2K bug - what are the consequences of a computer recognizing '2000' as '1900'? | 1,292 | The consequences are that a calculation involving the difference between two dates suddenly returns nonsense values.
Imagine you're running a system that pays a pension for people aged 65 or over. Someone born in 1930 might have been quite happily claiming their pension as a 69 year old in 1999, but in 2000 the comput... | 900 | |
ELI5: Brainfreeze | Whenever I get brainfreeze, I was always taught to put your thumb on the roof of your mouth. Is there any actual "science" behind this? Is it really a tiny transfer of body heat that makes the brainfreeze go away, or is your brain just distracted by something so obsurd that it "forgets" about the brainfreeze? | 115 | There is some evidence for it, but pressing your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth works better.
Brainfreeze happens when your body goes OH SHIT THATS TOO MUCH COLD RIGHT NEXT TO MY BRAIN! So it opens up all the blood vessels trying to warm it up, and that's what caused the pain. Warming it up will shrink th... | 34 |
ELI5: why is Henri Matisse's "Apparition I & II" considered inestimable art when it's just a sketch. | [talking about this one](https://imgur.com/a/YqZ2QoE) | 26 | Matisse was a skilled painter. Drafting/sketching had always been a part of the process. Through his career, he was spurred in part by a rivalry with Picasso. Both strived for a ‘purity of means’ meaning they wanted to create art, real art, that didn’t depend upon fancy-schmansy supplies. So, they both experimented wit... | 44 |
[Star Trek]why Ferengi never invent fiat currency? | it's my understanding fixing money to a hard finite commodity, like Latinum, makes it really hard for governments to do anything about stuff like recessions? | 32 | It's important to remember that the Ferengi system isn't just a lifestyle - it is quite literally a religion, and one of holy texts of said religion is The Rules of Acquisition. The Rules very clearly state that "Nature decays, but latinum is forever". | 53 |
ELI5: why do images of things on a microscopic level not have color? | 16 | You are probably referring to electron microscope images which are taken with electron bombardment rather that visible light; indeed some of the structures may be too small to image with visible light because the wavelength is too large. Under such circumstances there is no color in the resulting image because color ha... | 21 |
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