post_title stringlengths 5 304 | post_text stringlengths 0 37.5k | post_scores int64 15 83.1k | comment_text stringlengths 200 9.61k | comment_score int64 10 43.3k |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ELI5: We know the universe is expanding. What is it expanding, INTO? | 18 | There was a Nobel laureate in physics on Dr Karl's show a few weeks back who pointed out that you're really talking about expanding spacetime, just just space. That being so, he said, you can view it as expanding into the future. | 13 | |
CMV: If you are a good person on the inside but do hurtful things, you are a bad person. If you are a bad person on the inside but do kind things, you are a good person. | Maybe this is the wrong sub to post this, so sorry if I'm wasting your time.
My family is full of people who think highly of one another, who are emotionally supportive of one another and say nice things about you to your face but, in private say and think the most hateful and vindictive shit about one another that yo... | 100 | I don't think your title matches your view. Your family DOES perform bad behaviors (the gossiping, the fault-finding, the cruelty)... that's how you know they're bad people. It's not just on the inside. | 44 |
[The Orville] Why do all ship mounted weapons fire only straight forward? | Not even capital ships can fire off to the side or backwards - what gives? Is targeting enemy ships so complex that it's impossible to do so? | 31 | Despite being at war with the Krill for several years they never really designed a warship. Since the primary mission of any given vessel is exploration and diplomacy it really wouldn't serve to cover the ship in guns. Star Trek was similar in design ideologies and only produced two warships seen on screen: the USS Def... | 19 |
ELI5: Why are pistol bullets usually wider than rifle bullets? | A smaller Pistol caliber is 9mm.
While a larger size rifle caliber is only 7.62mm.
Why is that?
| 16 | Bullets have both length and width that contribute to their volume, and therefore weight and power. In a rifle, the magazine can generally be whatever dimensions are convenient for the designer to make them. For a handgun however, the magazine goes inside the grip, and so must fit within a human hand. This restricts th... | 25 |
ELI5: Why does a projectile's velocity matter more than mass in terms of kinetic energy. | I have a background in long range shooting and am trying to explain to a novice that the kinetic energy of a projectile is 1/2m(v^2) and because of this mass is it as important as velocity when it comes to calculating kinetic energy. No matter what I say to this person, they do not understand that heavier is not as im... | 18 | Kinetic energy is *1/2* times *mass* times *velocity* **times velocity**. That's right, velocity is in there twice, multiplied together. That makes it twice as important.
If you double the mass, you double the energy.
If you double the velocity, you quadruple the energy.
If they don't get it after that, then you need... | 15 |
Does the brain undergo physiological changes while depressed? If so what kind of changes specifically? | 4,305 | Depression can shrink various parts of the brain, specifically the hippocampus (responsible for emotional management, learning, and memory) and prefrontal cortex (complex thought and planning). There's speculation that the amygdala (the fear center and further emotional management, largely "negative" emotion) is altere... | 2,070 | |
CMV: The democratic party should completely drop gun control off of their agenda | I believe that the democratic party should completely drop gun control off of their agenda. They aren't going to lose voters based off of this, because there is no one else for the people for extreme gun control to vote for. The green party is a laughing stock that next to no one will vote for, and they aren't going to... | 30 | You could say this about every single position in a 2 party system. Why not drop abortion rights, LGBT rights, and minimum wage laws too? They wouldn't lose any voters because Republicans believe the same thing, its a perfect strategy. | 23 |
[Marvel] Why is She hulk green all the time while regular hulk has two personalities? | 86 | The multiple personality thing has nothing to do with the Hulk powers. Literally no one else that transforms into a Hulk has that issue. Most have some personality changes, but not a completely different one.
The two personalities are solely and completely a result of Bruce Banner's own mental issues. The powe... | 131 | |
Tipping is supposed to be voluntary and for exceptional customer service. Expecting or mandating tipping is rude and detrimental to customers and employees alike. CMV | If I'm in an ordinary US restaurant, I don't really know what the prices is... it's whatever's on the menu plust some unspecified amount that's based on shame. If I pay any less than whatever is expected (and the amount varies depending on the kind of restaurant and service), I'm some kind of asshole.
Why? Because som... | 243 | I think this is simple enough - you would be paying a higher cost for your meal if the businesses paid their employees accordingly and no one tipped anymore. In other words, *you're paying that tip one way or the other* - as it stands now, there's some incentive to do more than "just your job", and allows the patron to... | 80 |
[Endgame Spoilers] How do we know that the main timeline... | was NOT visited by some future timelines avengers to get the stones? Multiple times?
So by natural progression of time, the Snap is inevitable. Which means that if every timeline ran the exact same away, the events of IW and EG would happen in all timelines across the multiverse.
So if the snap and the end of Than... | 50 | I think we know the main/first(I'll be calling it the first timeline because it's easier to reference and think of, as these timelines (I believe) are more sequential, than constant.) timeline wasn't visited by future avengers because none of them remember the events happening, like tony having a heart attack, the cap... | 34 |
[Monkey's paw] What would happen if I made a selfless wish to the monkey's pay? | I mean, something like finding the cure for cancer, or finding the solution to global warming? | 30 | It would still twist your wish to have negative repercussions somehow. The Paw isn't really about punishing you for making selfish wishes. It's about punishing you for messing with fate. A selfless wish is still an attempt to alter fate. | 76 |
Theoretically, what's the farthest back in time a human could travel and still safely breathe the Earth's atmosphere? | With the atmosphere constantly changing, how far back would you have to go before it is unbreathable to humans?
From [this](http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1991/6/91.06.04.x.html#c) article, it says that our atmosphere has been "maintained" more or less since the atmosphere became oxygen rich about 1.4 bill... | 2,007 | Look at the Great Oxidation Event, which was concluded around 2 billion years ago. After that time, the CO2 levels of the atmosphere were much lower, and the O2 levels were much higher. Probably, it would be possible to breath the air any time since then, but you would have other problems (nothing to eat and not many... | 790 |
CMV: All drugs should be legalized | If drugs were legal, then people could acquire them from reputable, government-inspected sources in a way that's much safer than getting them illegally from a dealer. Of course, many drugs are still inherently dangerous, but at the end of the day, people should be allowed to make the choice to put themselves at risk. P... | 276 | Certainly not all drugs though?
Are we going to be allowing college kids to buy roofies?
And drugs like certain formulas of synthetic marijuana provide you with a similar high to cannabis, except you go through withdrawals afterwards and can become addicted. | 103 |
[Deus Ex] Are augmented humans allowed to board commercial planes? Isn’t that a big risk? | How would someone with augmented limbs be permitted to board a plane? In real life, something like a box cutter would be a no-no, but an entire limb capable of potentially ripping off a cockpit door seems like a big risk. This doesn’t even consider if someone had truly weaponized augments like Adam Jensen. Are augmente... | 39 | Nano-augmentation is probably close to undetectable, and there are probably certain nano-augmentations that *make* it undetectable. So even if there were a regulation banning augmented humans from air travel, it would be mostly useless.
But it kind of doesn't matter. The most successful hijacking in the history of the... | 37 |
ELI5: Why does putting a slice of bread in a bag of cookies make the cookies softer? | So I baked cookies on Thanksgiving and a friend I invited over who doesn't have family out here told me to put them in a bag when putting them away but include a slice of bread.
Now putting the cookies in a bag is nothing new to me, but the bread part sorta made it seem weird. When the cookies came out of the oven an... | 31 | Cookies contain a good deal of moisture in them, more than the air does usually, and because nature likes things balanced the moisture in the cookies leaves, to balance things out.
Bread, a lot like cookies, has a lot of moisture and, when compared to cookies, "gives up" that moisture quicker. This means the bread dr... | 17 |
[Pokémon] Has there ever been a documented case of a Pokémon killing a human? | 20 | It happens all the time. Ghost types feed on people's souls, Kyurem is known to eat people, Gyarados goes on wild rampages etc. There is a reason you're not supposed to go into the tall grass alone.
And of course humans use Pokemon to kill others, often through warfare or criminal syndicates. | 25 | |
CMV: Blaming rapidly industrializing nations for pollution is extremely hypocritical | Industrialization is an extremely costly process, one that usually bears the brunt of its price on the environment. Although I am not an expert in the subject, I do have some knowledge, and it usually goes something like this:
1. Breakthrough technology is invented
2. New labor opportunities around this invention begi... | 19 | I think in your two examples they did not know better until they did. Then they fixed it. Now countries DO know better and should be at least attempting to industrialize in a more environmentally safer way. To not make the attempt when we know what we know now is the problem and why they get the blame from me. | 23 |
[Superheroes]Legally, are superheroes allowed to kill super villains in battle? | 49 | That depends on the situation. Vigilantees tracking down supervillains and then killing them in "self defense" would be illegal because they were the ones who created the danger in the first place. For that matter, they're also not allowed to beat up the supervillains, or even enter their hideout. But if the supervilla... | 64 | |
What exactly are hash tables? | I’ve recently watched a couple videos of live programming interviews and in almost every one hash tables get brought up. Sorry if this is a really basic question but I can only get convoluted answers from googling hash tables. If someone could ELI5 hash tables it’d be much appreciated! | 32 | Imagine you have a mapping of usernames to user information like this:
* johndoe1 → (name: "John", email: "johndoe@example.com")
* alice → (name: "Alice", email: "alice@example.com")
* etc.
You want to be able to do a *lookup* of a particular user using their username. The username, being unique for every user, is ca... | 38 |
[Marvel X-Men] Does Wolverine see instant results when he works out? | His powers are obviously accelerated healing.
When you work out, you're damaging your muscles so when they repair, they also grow in mass so they dont continue to tear under similar stress. This is why it's important to increase workout intensity and consume protine, so your body has stuff to build muscles with.
Sin... | 16 | Honestly: yes, he would, but that would have been long, long ago. What “state” he heals to is squishy at best. But yeah.
A couch potato suddenly getting his regeneration would immediately feel amazing, have literally infinite stamina (yes, sexually too) and almost accidentally would get buff over time. | 19 |
How are vaccines delivered via needle? | I've gotten a number of vaccines through my life, most recently the Covid one and it got me thinking.
-why aren't vax shots done in the veins and arteries? Why the arm muscle? If it's in the vein, wouldn't that carry the "product" around faster?
-is the muscle and everything just mass covered with veins so that chanc... | 69 | They're meant to remain in place for more than a few hours to better stimulate an immune response. Most vaccines have an adjuvant - something to help it stick around longer and further stimulate the immune system, like an oil or protein-based antigen.
Some vaccines are oral (rotavirus, poliovirus), others can be intra... | 104 |
[avatar] If I'm a metalbender, can I bloodbend with the iron in people's blood? | 233 | No. Metalbenders can only bend iron because of the earthen impurities in it (which might be because of elemental silicon, or might be because of weird chi magic stuff). There's nothing that an earthbender would find recognizeable as earth in a human body.
That said, new techniques could be discovered, just like bloodb... | 228 | |
Okay, so what the hell is dialectics? Anything that I've read about it seems like gibberish. Do any of you have some resources that can aid my understanding? | 162 | Dialectics is an abstract description of the movement that the understanding does. The mind sorts the world in ideas. Those ideas are reasonably good and reasonably clear. However, an idea will always prove to be insufficient or internally contradictory. So the mind will realise this and leave the old idea behind and d... | 119 | |
ELI5: How does photo identification work for Muslim women who wear the full face veils? | 35 | They take them off and presumably, smile.
In airport security or anywhere where they are required to show their face, it isn't really convoluted: they go to a private room where a *female* officer identifies her.
The keyword is female.
I live in a country with a native Muslim population and the issue has never re... | 44 | |
ELI5:How does "declaring war" on a country work? And how does a country know who is attacking them? Couldn't the US go bomb a country and say another country did it? | 24 | Yes, a country's leader could go attack another country and blame someone else. However, the complexities in chain of command and the number of people that would be required to know are so high that people would find out eventually. Even Russia, which Putin keeps on lockdown with state-controlled news and the like, cou... | 15 | |
ELI5:Why can't you remove the crease from paper? | 93 | Paper is so common we take it for granted. This is a great question. Paper is a mat made from the pulp fibers of wood, and sometimes other plants or materials like cotton, etc. when you crease it you shift the fibers and probably break some. That makes it difficult, if not impossible, to get back to the smooth state. | 85 | |
Could you perceive reality without interpreting it? | Could you "turn off" your human interpretation and still be able to understand what it going on in front of your eyes? | 140 | This is a question that is often asked by people who are skeptics of metaphysical concepts. Philosophers have spent years trying to answer this query, but no one knows how to fully comprehend the answer. However, many philosophers have come up with close approximations.
One philosopher who has tried to a... | 72 |
ELI5: When a multi-billion dollar transaction occurs between two companies, how are the funds transferred/managed? | For example, let's say that American Airlines buys 50 Boeing 787-8 for the price of 50*$211.8M = $10.59B. Does a staff member of AA log in their system, enters the amount, then click 'Transfer' to Boeing's bank account, or is it more complex? Are the funds transferred by gradual amounts or in a single package? Are ther... | 29 | Typically by Wire Transfer.
Wire Transfers, unlike checks or regular electronic bank payments (known as ACH transactions in the US), are irrevocable once final -- even in the case of fraud. (That is, if someone authorized to make a wire transfer makes one, even if defrauded or illegally embezzling funds, the accoun... | 14 |
[Star Trek]can a society be kicked out of the Federation? | Like suppose a society joins the federation, then a fascistic leader takes over and abolishes democracy.
Can they be kicked out? | 28 | The Prime Directive only applies to pre-warp cultures. The Federation would absolutely meddle in the affairs of a member world that is in danger of backsliding. Note that democracy can be just as tyrannical as fascism. The Federation would strive to enforce the vaguely technocratic utopianism that operates the post-sca... | 30 |
Universe Simulation Theory-How do we know that the cutoff point in crystal lattices is indicative of the universe behaving like a computer rather than a computer behaving like the universe? | I apologize for my very poor wording and overall lack of knowledge on this subject. I am referring to [this article](http://www.technologyreview.com/view/429561/the-measurement-that-would-reveal-the-universe-as-a-computer-simulation/) . From what I gather (it's very complex and I clearly don't understand it well), if w... | 31 | We don't. These arguments are not sensible. First, as you say, our universe might just be dsicrete. Furthermore, if our universe is a simulation, we have no ideas what the laws of physics would be like in the "real" universe. Thus, the fact that computer simulations are discrete in our universe tells us nothing abo... | 18 |
CMV: People in the U.S. need to stop trying to solve most issues through the federal government. Most issues should be solved through state legislation. | I'm talking healthcare, education, gun control, drug reform, etc.
Many of the issues we see in U.S. politics stem from, I believe, people trying to push too much legislation through the federal government.
I think both sides are guilty of this (liberals more so in my opinion), and that doing so creates a situation ... | 135 | A democratically-elected government creating policy through the proper legislative process isn't 'imposing ideas down the throats of those with different views'; it's the normal operation of a government. If we consistently applied this reasoning that any minority voting bloc that objects to policy ought to be able to ... | 76 |
ELI5:How do geologists know whats located below Earth's crust? | 118 | When you ring a bell sound waves travel through it, bouncing from one side to the other in the hollow cavity creating that ringing echo.
When an earthquake occurs, seismic waves do something similar with the entire planet - bouncing around the interior and deflecting and changing as they travel through different mater... | 98 | |
What is the safest form of nuclear power we have today? | What is the safest form of nuclear power we have today? Would wide-scale nuclear power be possible or probable for the next 20 years? | 21 | All of today's PWRs and BWRs are tremendously safe through redundancies in the system, inherent safety, and safety policy. The biggest probelm with scaling nuclear power up (it is currently at about 20% global and domestic) is public fear and the aforementioned safety policy. A perfect demonstration of how safe nuclear... | 14 |
ELI5: Why was the US happy to invade Iraq over supposed weapons of mass destruction, however now that North Korea are literally shouting about how they have WMDs, the US is not considering it? | Surely North Korea needs 'saving' more than Iraq does. I know that Iraq had oil etc. but what how do the politically justified reasons differ between the two situations? | 35 | North Korea has a long lasting relationship with China. Although China have been more critical of North Korea recently, they wouldn't abide a US invasion. Not just because they value North Korea's friendship but more because if South Korea took control of North Korea, the US would have a strong military presence right ... | 29 |
[Dexter's Lab] If Dexter's lab is supposed to be a secret, why does he wear a lab coat and gloves everywhere? | Alternate: why don't his parents notice the massive power bill? | 154 | I can't explain how the parents don't notice the bill (I don't remember them as all that bright, but that would be nearly impossible not to note) though if Dexter was able to build a lab like that alone, it's not unthinkable that he's simply stealing power from somewhere.
As for the outfit - that one's really easy: he... | 114 |
[Marvel] Has vibranium ever been found on alien planets? | On Earth, virtually the only major source of vibranium comes from an asteroid that landed in Wakanda. Earth being hit with the *only* chunk of vibranium in the universe seems pretty implausible though. Has vibranium on other worlds ever been touched on in the comics? | 37 | Short answer is that we have no idea, it hasn't been revealed.
But if Wakanda received that much vibramium from one measly asteroid, logically speaking there should be quite a bunch of it in the universe. Of course, it's possible that Earth just got insanely lucky and Vibramium is actually super duper rare, but the c... | 34 |
ELI5: How do explosions kill people? | I guess it makes sense when you're standing in extremely close proximity to the actual explosion. What I don't quite get is how people in the general area of a bomb explosion get thrown into the air and killed. | 62 | First, the whole "getting thrown into the air" thing is just a Hollywood stunt effect. You're not actually going to be lifted off your feet more than a couple of inches unless the explosion is underneath you.
The primary way an explosion will kill you is the shockwave. A wall of compressed air comes racing away from t... | 117 |
[WH40K/Mass Effect] How would the reapers react to a necron incursion ? | If through some warp fuckery a fleet/tomb world of necrons appeared in the mass effect galaxie and maybe started harvesting it, what would be the reapers reaction ? Would they approve and try to approach them and form an alliance or would they be enraged at the complete genocide ? (from what i uderstand the reapers on... | 31 | The reapers are like gardeners, removing plants only when they get too invasive and threaten to take over an ecosystem. The necrons on the other hand are more like locusts, they destroy without creating. A necron incursion would certainly draw the reapers involvement, and they'd do everything in their power to contain ... | 44 |
[LOTR] How does Sauron regain strength after his defeat? | Is it just a simple timer for his spirit to recharge until he can retake physical form? Does he do anything to get stronger faster? | 100 | There is one thing you should bear in mind: if you're most familiar with the movies, then you're probably working off the assumption that, after he lost his Ring, Sauron lost his body and became a giant flaming eye ghost.
That's not suggested in the books. They mention a flaming eye, yes, but in context it seems they... | 99 |
How did the Jedi come to hold their position in the republic? | And is there an official title for their position? Enforcers? Peacekeepers? | 17 | The Jedi Order formed after the fracturing of their "parent" order, the Je'Daii Order. The Je'Daii were concerned with the balance of the Light Side and the Dark Side, and gave no particular credence to either. There were followers of both among the Je'Daii, and they mostly worked together. Eventually, though, disagree... | 35 |
CMV: The Whole Johnny Depp Trial is Unimportant | The only reason we are told to care by social media (on a daily basis it seems) is because the persons involved are famous. I get that it's important to bring about awareness about physical abuse from both sexes but honestly, I think everyone IS already aware. Instead why aren't we promoting resources links or somethin... | 370 | > The only reason we are told to care
Nobody is telling you to care.
If you do care (personal choice) you can follow the trial. If you don't, you can completely ignore it.
It is important to some people, unimportant to others. Everything that happens in this world is not a personal offering to you. | 357 |
[DC/Batman] If called as a witness, would Batman testify at a trial? | Would his testimony be admissible under the pseudonym "Batman"? | 33 | In the DC Universe, masked crimefighters are covered by a special provision in the law. In 1961, Congress passes the Keene Act, delineating the parameters of official authority over superhuman activities. (SUICIDE SQUAD #1, 1987) Prior to this, most superheroic activity was regulated to some degree as almost all supe... | 44 |
ELI5: what is one psychological benefit to keeping traditions such as Santa, the Tooth Fairy and others alive and what does it do to a developing kids mind? | 38 | The idea that Santa keeps track of the good and bad things you do reinforces the principle that your actions have moral significance and long-term consequences whether or not you are "caught" or rewarded immediately. This is a very abstract concept that would be impossible to explain to a 3 or 4 year old child, but ear... | 80 | |
ELI5: If a civilization relied on the sun to tell time, what did they do on a very cloudy day? | 94 | Until the modern age(locomotive trains, and telegraphs), knowing precisely what time it was, was not very important. Only when communication and travel between groups of people in different places became the norm, did accurate timekeeping matter. | 100 | |
ELI5: Why aren't white people in the United States referred to as "European Americans" like how blacks are referred to as "African Americans?" | 489 | The term "african american" came about as a deliberate attempt to reduce discrimination by making race about ethnicity and not about skin color, to get away from the racist connotations associated with the term "black". As there were no comparable negative connotations associated with "white", there was no real need to... | 227 | |
[Fallout] Culture progresses incredibly fast in the modern age, typically undergoing major changes on a decade-by-decade basis. What caused America to remain aesthetically, socially, and politically 50's for upwards of 70 years? | Edit: I fucked up the math a bit. The world ended in 2077, so that would actually be closer to 120 years of cultural stasis. | 275 | Is there any proof that it did, or did society change over the 70 years and then come around again to the 'good old days' of the 50's as a cultural renaissance to draw comfort from as society started to get strained from the looming resource shortages? | 136 |
[Star Wars] What exactly makes clones better than droids? | I get that clones have some advantages, but droids have far more advantages, such as:
- They don't feel pain
- They are incredibly disposable
- They don't need food or water
- They just do what they're told without emotions getting in the way
- If destroyed, they can be rebuilt
- They don't get tired
- They have... | 64 | Clones can improvise on the spot, changing tactics to match the situation. That adaptability gives them an edge in combat - one clone can take out an entire unit of clankers on his own, and would be able to deal with threats like Droidekas as the need arose.
And droids might not switch sides, but they can definitely ... | 96 |
ELI5: How units of time (seconds, minutes, hours, etc) became seemingly universal around the world while other units like weight or distance did not? | 156 | Weights and measures were independently developed all over the world. Timekeeping, on the other hand, with accuracy beyond "mid day" or "late afternoon" only got serious with the advent of precision clocks, almost all of which were developed and spread from Europe during exploration. Since everyone was trying to steal ... | 133 | |
[Dark Souls] Where are all the other undead champions? | I busted out of the Undead Asylum and this guy near the bonfire told me many had come before me to try to do whatever I'm supposed to do here, but aside from a very small handful of delightful weirdos, all I've seen are undead natives. If they all went hollow, where are they? We can't die permanently, so shouldn't they... | 41 | I believe they're the other players. As the sun guy mentions, time's gone a bit wonky and him and you are doomed to kind of randomly fade in and out of each other's reality and the ghostly images of other players sounds a lot like that almost happening.
This can be circumvented by summoning like with the white soapst... | 51 |
[Star Wars] Do the blades of light sabers have weight? | Is all of the weight in the handle? Do the blades experience any air resistance? | 17 | There's no noticeable weight to the blade. However, the mechanism that allows the plasma to "loop" back at the tip of the blade toward the handle reportedly creates strong gyroscopic forces, which is part of why the lightsaber is so difficult for non-force-users to wield. | 37 |
[DBZ] How does Goku retain his increased in physical strength attained from the gravity training? | Before the Frieza fight, Goku trained in the rocket chamber under the effect of 100g. After that, he spent most of his time on planet yadrat and then Earth. Won't his body acclimatise to the Earth gravity and lose any strength gained from the training? | 27 | Not necessarily. Human muscle does that to cut costs when the muscle's not in use, but many animals on Earth have muscle that behaves differently - bears, for example, don't lose muscle mass when they hibernate for months. Saiyan muscle probably has similar properties. | 50 |
ELI5 - whatever happened to acid rain? | 224 | Acid rain is primarily caused by specific kinds of air pollutants. Legislation in North America and Europe successfully limited the emission of these pollutants--for example, through the establishment of a "cap and trade" system that limits the total pollution and requires companies to pay more to buy the a greater sha... | 201 | |
[Futurama]In the time lapse in the first episode we see New York City destroyed twice by UFOs. The world is seemingly rebuilt in a medieval style. Old New York City is entirely underground by the time of the series. How did Fry remain stationary? | For the entire medieval was there just one single skyscraper just hanging around? And even if it was, wouldn't it have been buried alongside the rest of the city?
Fry does not appear to have moved at all during his cryosuspension, how does that work given the information above? | 472 | The time lapse goes by too quickly to see the construction of bomb-shelter level wall replacement, and high definition screens replacing the now bricked over windows.
Fry awakens in the 5th level basement. | 245 |
ELI5:How does a modern touchscreen actually works? | 43 | There are actually several types of touchscreens in use today, but most fall into one of two categories; capacitive or resistive.
Capacitive touchscreens are what you see in your phone, tablet, and MP3 players. These are glass covered with a thin coat of a transparent, conductive material. When the human body part (I... | 39 | |
[X-Men] If Wolverine was given the adamantium coating on his bones when he was a boy, how would his body adapt to or develop with his healing factor, while trying to grow over the years? | 118 | Seems like the bones would be in a constant state of almost breaking/warping. Maybe just become really dense which could affect marrow. That could probably affect immune system which probably wouldn't matter much. Maybe affect red blood cells in a way that also affects the efficiency of circulatory system carrying oxyg... | 50 | |
Are there any real photos of Black Holes, or are all "pictures" simply artist renditions? | I cant seem to figure out if there are any *real* pictures of a Black Hole. I was thinking that becasue no light can escape it, and all light that touches it enters it, would it even be posible for us to see a black hole, or would we just see everything around it and infer that their must be a black hole there? | 16 | No, not yet. There is a series of telescopes collectively called the Event Horizon Telescope that are attempting to make an image of the black hole in the centre of our galaxy. But it will basically just look like a dimmer spot on a bright backgroun. | 18 |
ELI5: Shared networks. How can someone sharing an unsecured wifi connection view information from my computer? | 17 | like you're five:
Using an insecure wifi access point is like shouting to your friend on the other side of the coffee shop, everyone can hear you and what you are saying simply by listening to you.
Using a secure wifi access point is the same thing, you're still shouting across the room to your friend. However, you a... | 12 | |
ELI5: Why it pounds when you roll down a window in a fast moving car. | Why does it happen in some cars and others not? Also I have noticed it happens mostly in back windows, why is this? | 43 | There is a low pressure vacuum around your car due to the fast moving air. This vacuum naturally sucks the air out of the car but is not powerful enough to totally equalize the pressure. The popping is a result of the air inside the car quickly alternating between a high and low pressure state.
Suck the air out of yo... | 16 |
Does charge come in discrete chunks smaller than the charge of a single electron or proton? | I know that the charge of an electron/proton ±1.602x10^-19 C.
But I was wondering if there's any subatomic particle that carries a charge less than that, maybe some configuration of quarks or something? Or is e^- truly the *fundamental* unit of charge?
I'm reading in my E&M book, and it claims that the permeabili... | 61 | Sort of. Quarks can come in +/- 1/3 or 2/3 of the fundamental charge, but they are only found in groups where the total charge adds up to an integer value of e.
SI units are defined the way they are so that they are easily replicatable, not because they are inherently fundamental (there's nothing special about the kg... | 18 |
[Dune] Why was Baron Vladimir Harkonnen so blind as to the true nature of the Fremen? | Baron Harkonnen was, in nearly every respect, a cunning and dangerous man. His defeat of Duke Leto Atreides was a masterful series of maneuvers, he frequently anticipated and thwarted attempts on his own life (including from within House Harkonnen), and he was even able to manipulate a master Mentat to his own ends. Ye... | 49 | He's a racist. In his mind: Harkonnen > noble Houses > natives. He is born and raised as a noble, so he's trained to anticipate subtle political maneuvers. However, if we look towards Giedi Prime, we see an oppressed population which speaks of his very low opinion on the worth of the common people. Even after mov... | 50 |
ELI5: I've heard you can't "catch up" on lost sleep. Does this mean I'm going to keep adding to the mountain of exhaustion that is my life until my dying day? | 29 | Not quite. If you simplify and say that our body needs 8 hours of sleep for every 16 hours awake. If you miss out on some of that sleep then you may have some symptoms, one of them being exhausted. If you finally get a full 8 hours of sleep most of your symptoms go away. There may be some health affects still remaining... | 37 | |
Does all the nuclear fuel in an atomic bomb undergo fission, or is some scattered before it can go critical? | Is it possible that some fissile material is blown away by the force of the explosion before it can start reacting itself? On a related note, could the detonation of a nuclear weapon in close proximity to a reactor's fuel rods (unshielded for this hypothetical) cause them to explode? | 86 | Most of it does not undergo fission, only a small fraction actually does.
It takes about 0.22 Moles of fission reactions to produce 1 kiloton of energy. So for the nuclear weapon that destroyed Nagasaki (21 kilotons) it took about 4.6 Moles of fission reactions to produce that amount of destructive power. Pu-239 has a... | 32 |
[Marvel/DC] Steve Rogers was born on July 4th. If other superheroes/villains had thematically appropriate birthdays, when would they be? | 870 | Bruce Wayne on December 21, the winter solstice aka the longest night of the year
Tony Stark on June 5th, 6-5, F-E, Fe, Iron (it’s a bit of a reach)
Thor on October 9th (Leif Erikson Day)
Thanos at Noon on July 2 (the exact middle of the year, perfectly balanced, as all things should be)
Edit: Leif Erikson day was ... | 865 | |
[Harry Potter] What is the afterlife in the world of Harry Potter? | Full disclosure, inspired by [this post.](https://reddit.app.link/Xb3ToE3hBO)
Spoilers for a twenty year old global storytelling franchise below.
Harry Potter dies and goes to the afterlife in The Deathly Hallows. He’s in some kind of ethereal train station. He understands himself to have some kind of body and uses ... | 15 | We don't know.
Harry isn't in the afterlife. Not really. He is in the place where he decides if he wants to go to the afterlife. Dumbledore tells him that if he does not want to go back, there's a train coming (paraphrased)
We also know from the ghosts (mainly NH Nick) that it's a choice to stay behind as a spirit, a... | 25 |
ELI5: What happens if I don't click "I accept" on these cookie-prompts on webpages? | Are cookies not being stored until I accept or is it all just a bunch of smoke and mirrors trying to give me the sense of control? | 50 | Nothing happens, cookies are stored the moment you load the page. These banners are only there because the eu passed a law that makes it mandatory to inform users if the site is using cookies, which every site does | 44 |
ELI5: The European Union - what does it do and how does it work? | 47 | The European Union is a group of countries that think it would be better for them if they treated eachother in way that isn't *that* different to how the states work in the US.
This means that many European countries use the same kind of money because it makes buying things from eachother easier.
Also, citizens from ... | 72 | |
ELI5: Why does rain come down in droplets and not a steady stream? | Why is it that rain falls down in tiny droplets, instead of a raincloud extruding a constant stream of water? | 34 | In order for it to pour down in a stream like that, there would have to be a floating pool of water overhead. Such a pool would be very heavy, so it could never float.
Instead you have a bunch of tiny droplets of water that are just small enough and light enough to float around in the air. When the conditions are ... | 61 |
[Marvel] If wolverine got a tattoo | If he got a tattoo and the part where the tattoo was got destroyed would he heal it back or would just regular skin heal back | 15 | The ink is now gone, but the a scar *may* remain. If your navel is your first scar, and Wolverines navel always comes back, the scars he got pre healing factor will heal back like regular scars.
If that's worded confusingly, the gist is that the same way his navel heals back as a scar, his tattoo will heal back as a s... | 11 |
ELI5:what would happen if someone injected themselves with a "Eppie Pen" if they didn't need it? | 18 | An epipen injects you with a dose of epinephrine (adrenaline). Your heart beat is going to get crazy high and your breathing might deregulate. That is why you need to get to the hospital ASAP after any injection with an epipen. Additionally, epinephrine constricts the blood vessels around the injection site, so dependi... | 18 | |
ELI5: What exactly happens inside our body that gives us cramps around spleen level while running? | 27 | There’s no clear answer, but the diaphragm has generally been ruled out because swimmers get it and their muscle use doesn’t put the same pressure on the diaphragm. In walking and running, it is almost always caused by uneven pacing. If it ever strikes, try focusing on making every step the same pace. It will generally... | 14 | |
ELI5:What is the most accurate meaning of Nihilism? | I have been having a debate with a friend on what is actually the concept of Nihilism, and ended up entirely confused on it's meaning after our conversation. I thought Nihilism meant believing that everything is meaningless and hence not doing anything. My friend says that it is more like Nihilism is questioning the me... | 62 | Nihilism is a way of thinking which rejects concepts, meaning, or life. It is a philosophical position or condition. Nihility means "nothingness", and "nihil" is the Latin word for "nothing". Nihilism can mean the belief that values are meaningless ideas. It can also mean the belief that nothing has any meaning or purp... | 65 |
[The Culture or other post-scarcity utopias] How are raw materials secured and how is growth managed to prevent such a post-scarcity civilization from overrunning the universe in search of said raw materials? | 31 | In the Culture specifically, they have solved all of their energy requirements through a combination of antimatter and grid energy (energy siphoned off from the medium between universes), which is for all intents and purposes limitless.
They are able to manipulate energy at such a file level that they can read a human... | 37 | |
ELI5: The conductor in classical music | I don't get the point of him standing there guiding the music with his *item that you can tell me the real name of* when the majority of the band is reading sheet music the whole time. How does it help the band? | 37 | Sheet music doesn't keep track of the beat. When the orchestra is large, the back row might be out of sync with the front row and everyone might have an interpretation of how the music should be played. To avoid anyone being out of sync everyone look at one person's direction instead. (In very large theaters there migh... | 33 |
[MCU] What likely went down during the time between the Battle for Earth and Tony's funeral? | Did the Earth's defenders just go home? Was there any sort of group recovery period where wounds were tended to and the dead collected? | 25 | You imagine that everyone had different things to do.
Scott Lang, for instance, had to track down the Pym-Van Dyne’s as well as Cassie. Pepper had to make funeral arrangements. One assumes that Spider-man called Ned, and Aunt May. Someone called the kid from IM3, obviously, probably Pepper or Friday. Tchala had a who... | 24 |
[Matrix] Why block out the Sun? | Like, I understand the basic principle, machines get most of their energy from the Sun, but humans do too. Hell, we rely on it even more. And even if it’s out of desperation, why was it done so early in the war? Blocking out the Sun is the ultimate scorched earth policy, why would humans do this first when their armies... | 529 | The human didn't block the sun.
Morpheus tells this story, but he's repeating a lie.
He doesn't really know what year it is (the matrix as been resetted numerous times.
The "history" Animatrix episode which tells this story has a propaganda feeling that makes you wonder if it's the truth.
The machine don't need hum... | 443 |
I'm aware that the earth is not a "sphere", but, rather, a heptoloidal zircosumfered something or another, however, the Sun sure seems to be very nearly spherical to me. Is it or is it not, and why, in either case? | 19 | Earth and the Sun are both oblate spheroids, which means they are spheres squashed along one axis (the rotation axis). The reason for this is ultimately the same in both cases: a spinning ball of stuff will tend toward hydrostatic equilibrium. This means the surface of the ball should be an equipotential surface for an... | 31 | |
ELI5: How do seedless watermelons continue to be available if they don’t have seeds to create the next crop? | 1,527 | Seedless watermelons are the result of coming two varieties of watermelon, both of which produce seeds and can propogate on their own. However if you breed them together you get a variety that does not have working seeds. As long as you maintain ability to grow those other 2 varieties, you can make more seedless ... | 1,585 | |
CMV: White people portraying other races without the use of cariacatures or stereotypes is not blackface. | I have yet to understand why a straight actor can portray a gay character while can't the same be same for white people portraying other races. If an unknown white actor portrayed black character with a rounded story, un-cariacatural appearance, etc., and slipped under the radar, why should there be any problem if peop... | 143 | It deprives non-white actors of work. There's very few roles for non-white actors. There are plenty of roles where the character needs to be white. Plenty of "open ethnicity" roles go exclusively to white people. So you're taking the very few roles specifically for actors of color and giving them to white people as wel... | 58 |
[40K] Before the birth of Slaanesh, did the emotions normally associated with him like pleasure, passion, and decadence flow to the other Chaos gods? | 40 | While the Birth of Slaanesh was a single apocalyptic event in our universe, it was a slower, "deliberate" (as far as anything can be described using that word in regards to the warp) process on the other side. The single creature we know as Slaanesh is more of a gestalt entity. The core personality began as little mo... | 37 | |
ELI5: What is [currently] the most widely accepted scientific explanation for why we dream? | I've read a lot of different theories, but is there any one theory that is more widely accepted than others? | 190 | Generally, the one most accepted is that it is a way to sort out memories. The dreams create links in your brain for the new memories and attach the links to other memories so you can recall them in several ways. That is why you can get weird combinations in your dreams, like eating ice cream with a dinosaur on a pogo ... | 79 |
[MCU] What would be the timeline of Super-Soldier research now? | From the top of my head right now, I tried to trace
Erskine original formula, used on Red Skull and perfected on Steve - ultimately lost.
The concoction Zola used on Bucky - which I'm not sure was ever written down anywhere - still in Bucky and probably unreplicable.
With Zola being snatched by Americans, it's lik... | 22 | Banner made his own version of the serum, which is what him and (probably) Blonsky were given. He didn’t know it was the super soldier serum though, he thought it was supposed to make people resistant to radiation. Because he thought it was for radiation resistance, he used gamma radiation with it and that combination ... | 17 |
ELI5: How come cheese is sometimes aged for month, but when you buy it and open the package, it expires after a few days? | 563 | Cheese is aged in a large wheel with a thick, hard rind. The rind protects it from unwanted bacteria or fungi. When it is cut, the clock starts ticking on spoilage. Packaging buys you time, but once that’s open, it is vulnerable | 482 | |
CMV: suicide should be legal | I hope that no one will resort to special pleading in the comments.
As for the view that it is illegal so that cops can stop it, there is nothing preventing a law that says that cops are allowed to use their discretion to prevent suicide.
USA should make it legal to carry a suicide pill with you (akin to those foun... | 74 | >We as a society should stop looking at death so seriously. It is inevitable so why does it matter if it occurs sooner rather than later?
This makes no sense. Since when has the inevitability of something meant that timing isn't important? We know that winter comes each year and yet it's disastrous if there's a co... | 45 |
ELI5: why do hairs that grow from skin blemishes, like moles, grow faster, thicker, and darker? | 44 | Moles are basically cells with a lot more melanin, in addition to their structural differences (being raised off the skin). Melanin is what makes your skin dark. The hairs themselves just have more melanin, and thus appear darker/thicker. | 19 | |
ELI5: Why don't we dump our trash in volcanos? | Watching Samsara, my girlfriend sees the huge mounds of trash cities and slums have created. I told her the toxins and gases from our burned trash would destroy the atmosphere, but she said volcanos are already very toxic and maybe the heat alone would kill most pollutants. Have we humans tried this recently and come t... | 3,053 | 1) It is prohibitively expensive to move all of the world's trash to the top of volcanoes.
2) Burning trash produces pollutants. No, volcanoes don't get hot enough to kill pollutants. That's like saying you can kill gasoline or bleach. *
3) The volcano gods would be really pissed.
*So, the temperature lava is typi... | 3,448 |
Do we have the ability and resources to launch an object with a decent chance of hitting a planet in another star system? | How would we do it? What would it cost?
EDIT: Great discussion everyone, thanks! | 319 | In the near future it may be possible to get into orbit of a star, but a planet would be quite hard. The real issue is the centuries it would take to get to the nearest planet out of our solar system. | 91 |
Learning higher level programming | Hello
I've been programming for about 5 years now, and I have a decent understanding of several language (mostly C/C++, as well as some assembly and python).
While I do feel that I have a decent knowledge of the detailed, technical stuff (algorithms, data structures, languages and concepts, etc), I'm lacking in the h... | 29 | Looking for literature and articles is your mistake. You need to start \*BUILDING STUFF\*.
You're caught in the student-trap, like many before you. Stop reading and start writing. It doesn't have to be anything magic, try making a calculator with a UI or something. A text based RPG, a URL shortener, anything.
Start w... | 26 |
CMV: I genuinely think Breath of the Wild is an overrated game. | Greetings!
I think that Breath of the Wild (for either Wii U or Switch) is an overrated game which is exclusively appreciated by the nostalgic fanbase, and I think it fucking sucks.
Let me just say that I DO have the game for Switch, but it's the worst 60€ I ever spent. I hate the graphics and the fact that the game ... | 19 | Understand that everything and anything that can be judged is subjective. Meaning the experience of the subject (Breath of the Wild) varies depending on the individual’s personal perception of it. To call something underrated/overrated is superfluous. Try not worrying about what others think about something and only c... | 14 |
[Jumanji] How in the hell did pre-teen Alan survive 26 years or so in Jumanji? What skills or abilities did he possibly have that could allow him to make it past a day or two? | 85 | Jumanji can be a very deadly game, but it is still a game - it's intended to have a winner, not kill everyone playing. It subtly influences the challenges to make them 'winnable' by the current player, or at least survivable. As Alan got older and more experienced, the game matched him. It kept him challenged, but d... | 106 | |
What kind of treatment would someone with schizophrenia have received in the early 70s? | How well was the condition even understood then?
Edit: Some really great answers here, guys, thank you. If anyone has any information on the second question "How well was the condition even understood then", that would be great also. Anything you can give me, however small, would be helpful. Thanks
Edit 2: For the tw... | 908 | Thorazine and later haldol were the main antipsychotic drugs at that time. They were probably used in much higher doses then we use them now, which caused a lot of people tardive dyskinesia—an often permanent disorder of abnormal involuntary movements. When you see an old homeless guy on the street and he’s moving his... | 443 |
[Farscape Series 3] So John Crichton was "twinned" in this series. Question is which JC was the original, the one that stayed on board Moya ( green shirt ) or the one that took off on Talyn? ( black shirt ) | And it's no good saying that they are both equal and the same, that's nonsense. That's just the show having it's cake and eating it. One HAS to be the copy that got pulled out of JC, the other is the original the copy gets pulled out from.
But which was which? | 20 | Neither and both.
The "original" John was effectively split in two, the two new Johns are both originals and equal in every way, both to each other and the pre-twinning "original" John, who ceased to exist when he was twinned. | 25 |
Why is the the global population predicted to stabalize at ~10 billion when it has more than doubled in the last 50 years, and quadrupled in the last 100? | Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World-Population-1800-2100.svg
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-living-outnumber-dead
"And the U.N. predicts the world population will stabilize at 10 billion inhabitants sometime after 2200. At this rate, the living will never outnumber the ... | 111 | Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Overall fertility has been declining for a long time, and is expected to continue to decline. The figure of 10 billion is arrived at by looking at this decline in fertility.
Replacement rate fertility is 2.1 children per woman, or 21 children for every 10 women. Man... | 60 |
How does a 3 chambered Heart work vs a 4 chambered heart? | Im in a veterinary assistant program, and I learned that reptiles and amphibians have a 3 chambered heart. My teacher didn't go into much detail since I won't be working with a lot of reptiles, but I was just curious.
How does the 3 chambered heart function if it only has one ventricle?
How does "double circulation" w... | 16 | basically, in an amphibian heart there are two atria and one ventricle. Now as you'll know, humans have two ventricles to keep oxygenated and deoxygenated blood from mixing before it is pumped to the appropriate place. However, in amphibious hearts, there isn't an interventricular septum so you might think the blood mi... | 10 |
[DC] Is the creation of The Batman a universal constant or are there any realities where Bruce Wayne handled the trauma of his parents being killed in front of him in a different way? | I know there are Elseworlds which have resulted in different outcomes for Bruce but these were the product of a change in circumstances, even a slight one. What I am asking here is given the exact same circumstances without any outside influence, has there ever been a version of Bruce that went on to do something total... | 43 | I believe there's an Elseworld where the Wayne family fortune was destroyed in the Great Depression. Bruce, craving justice but not having the resources to seek global training or fund a 1-man campaign, instead became a good, honest police detective. | 42 |
ELI5: why humans, and some animals, stretch their limbs when they are tired. | 64 | When you use your muscles they break down in a way. This process creates a product that tends to sit around your muscles. When you stretch you move your muscles in a way that promotes the byproduct of your muscles breaking down to move away from your muscles. | 25 | |
Why are companies taxed on profit but individuals taxed on income | Is there any economic rationale behind this ? Or is it a policy decision thats more like "it was always like this" ?
How would things change if people were only taxed on their net income, like corporations ?
Edit: I want to clarify here that I am not asking a political question. I understand there are different ways ... | 205 | People aren't businesses, they for the most part don't earn a profit.
>How would things change if people were only taxed on their net income, like corporations ?
They are taxed on their net income from their labor. | 120 |
[LoTR] How would the world of Arda change if Melkor hadn't been evil? | 17 | Even Melkor's theme was born of the theme of Iluvatar. His evil has purpose, and no mortal nor immortal can fully understand the full theme of Illuvatar until it is revealed. Melkor was made the way he is for a reason. If Illuvatar had made Melkor differently, his entire purpose of Arda would be different. Since we can... | 25 | |
ELI5: Why do some websites need you to identify trucks to prove you're human when machine learning can easily allow computers to do so? | 1,545 | Machine learning can't do it without feedback telling it whether its prediction was correct.
And that's what you're providing.
Google can take a bunch of images from streets around the world, run their own machine learning software on it to try to guess which ones are trucks, and then they ask you to pick out the ones... | 2,084 | |
ELI5 : How a vending machine knows when you insert counterfeit money? | 61 | Wrong size, wrong weight, doesn't respond the way it should to an electric current, etc. Coins and notes/bills all have exacting technical specifications, and if something inserted doesn't meet them, the machine is often going to be better at determining it's a fake than the human eye. | 44 | |
CMV: Rule of Law in the US is coming to an end | I make this CMV in light of the death of RBG.
My view is that the Rule of Law, as we understand it, is coming to an end. With a blatantly ideological SCOTUS, hundreds of young Federalist society judges filling the judiciary, and an attorney general whose view of the law is a weapon to be wielded against anyone the Rep... | 28 | Fundamentally both parties will choose judges that Align with their political belief system. Ideally though, the judges should be chosen to be “neutral” in their decision making. This is operational. ALL people will have personal ideas, leanings, etc but a person that things logically should be able to set aside biases... | 42 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.