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[Deadpool] If he can heal, could he burn his entire body and have his skin regenerate back to normal?
| 25 |
no, because his skin is a byproduct of his multitudes of cancerous tumors. his tumors are overcharged by his healing factor giving him, essentially SUPERCANCER. burning off all his skin wouldn't do anything because it wouldn't cure his cancer.
| 41 |
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[The Walking Dead] Is the humanity doomed?
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He don't see any real signs of survival of anything else than a small group of people. No planes/helicopters.
Sure, we also don't know about other countries (and perhaps some US states, because there's no much information about these places).
The walkers don't seem to "disintegrate" over time, as should be expected. The last survivors seem to be dying off, and they are usually so few of them...
Is there's any sign of hope?
| 21 |
Nah, humanity as a whole will survive, though in greatly reduced numbers. The group has run across enough other groups of survivors to establish that there are probably significant settlements elsewhere. In colder regions, zombies will freeze, or at least substantially slow down, and their numbers will thus be much thinner. Islands, plateaus, and other areas with naturally defensible terrain will probably be the major areas of concentration for these surviving settlements.
Humanity will have to have a major culture shift if the whole "you come back no matter how you die" thing continues in to subsequent generations. Also, the end of industrialized civilization will obviously result in huge cultural shifts.
All told, humanity will continue, but it will probably be on a level more akin to the pre-industrial age after a few decades.
| 22 |
[Star Wars] Would Vader have ever gone for a Padme clone, if he could get one made?
| 26 |
Given how cloning works in the Star Wars Universe, he'd be raising a child in real time at best and stuck with a rapidly aging knockoff at worst. He'd wind up with nothing close to what he originally had, and he knows it. However, if you take the cloning element out of it, the undercurrent of your question actually has pretty strong canonical legs.
The current, ongoing, (delayed by Covid) arc of the Darth Vader comics involves him teaming up with one of Padme's surviving body doubles while on a quest to figure out *exactly* how Padme died. She's surgically modified to be identical to Padme and she has a lot of the same basic personality traits that Vader was attracted to in Padme.
Whether or not Sabe the body double survives this arc will be a half-decent indicator for his general opinion on the concept of replacing Padme with something that's close, but not quite. It's only half-decent, though, because this arc is set between episodes five and six and is very strongly implied to be the story of how he began his long slow turn back to the light. Vader directly after episode three might react differently to the idea than Vader after episode four or episode five.
| 35 |
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CMV: Voting in elections is the best way to bring about political change in America, and people that choose not to vote are directly responsible for the current state of affairs in American politics
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The previous national election cycle saw voter turnout of only
36% of eligible voters. Voter turnout is at record lows, and a result is the hyper-partisan government we see today. Far right and far left politicians have been able to gain office due to the fact that the far right and far left are turning out to vote far more often then moderate voters. A common complaint is that one persons vote does not matter, so many people choose not to vote. Others abstain from voting as a protest against the current state of the government. These are weak excuses to try and deflect responsibility for the political climate we have today, and the only way to create a change is to actively participate in politics, become educated about current affairs and political candidates, and vote in elections for the person you think is best suited to hold office.
Edit: Many of the responses are not actually providing an answer to the question. Several of the responses talk about the issue of a two party system, but this question does not rely on what system of government is in place. Any representational democracy relies on votes, and I am specifically looking for responses that can challenge the view that voting is the best way to create change within the system, regardless of what it is.
_____
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| 441 |
How do you feel about the fact that even political experts advise that you vote for the democratic or republican representative that best represents your interests if your main choice would have been a third party candidate?
Many people don't vote out of apathy because we're still living in an age where choosing a president is choosing between the lesser of two evils, and there's nothing to show that this will change any time soon.
| 166 |
ELI5: A pound of lard has 4200 calories. Consuming 3000 calories makes me gain a pound of fat. How does eating a pound of fat create more fat?
| 294 |
It doesn't quite work like that. The oft-cited 3,000 calories in a pound of body fat isn't quite accurate. But even using that, it takes more than 3,000 calories to accumulate 3,000 calories, because processing those calories burns calories. One body fat pound == 3,000 does not mean eating 3,000 extra calories == a pound of body fat.
Body fat is also only about 87% fat. Lard is solid fat.
| 237 |
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[Halo (Bungie/343 Industries)] Do Spartan-III's make Spartan-II's obsolete? Do S-II's have virtually any advantage over the S-III's, at all?
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I've lately been reading a lot of 'Spartan II vs Spartan III' style threads on various forums, and the consensus I'm getting is that S-III augmentations actually put them on-par with S-II's, combat-wise, and that the only reason that we notice any difference between these generations is due to the financial need for S-III's to use weaker SPI armor instead of the expensive MJOLNIR that the S-II get to use.
So if the S-III augmentations are just as potent as S-II augmentations, then why are the S-II's considered 'non-expendable' (Much unlike the S-III's), who theoretically could replace them rapidly, since both generations possess similar physical attributes and abilities?
| 29 |
So in terms of say a modern military logistics the 3s are better in most regards. The cost of making them is offset by their effectiveness and they're still replaceable. They benefit from nearly 20 years of spartan 2 development and research and have a wider pool of possible recruits. They can even skip the child soldier aspect and train a 3 in about a year compared to the seven a 2 needed.
But there are trade offs as in everything. Alone a Spartan 3 isn't going to win a battle. They're tough and capable but only marginally ahead of a standard special forces soldier like an ODST. They work in teams and need additional support to pull off their missions. Because of the desperate nature of the war that created them they also lack longevity. Most are theorized to be sterile and suffer from implant degradation and severe cellular defects after a few years. When deployed like suicide troops and with a short operational lifespan 3s sacrifices for cost and production speed are reasonable. Long term they're unsustainable and will result in a negative loss as the older 3s decay or require expensive and intensive medical procedures to lengthen their operational lifespan.
2s by contrast are ridiculously expensive. Each 2 takes over 7 years to train and has to be brought in before puberty from a small pool of possible applicants. Ethical dilemmas aside they're the cost of a warship each with no guarantee they'll survive training and augmentation. But a 2 is a fortress on the battlefield. Able to turn a tide single handedly and operate for extended periods of time without support. Nearly 35 years after coming into operation they had only improved combat effectiveness rather than decreased. The oldest serving 3 that is known was around 5 years since coming online and had severely diminished capabilities making them equal to standard special forces.
In a paper scenario the 3s are soldiers meant to be used and spent as needed to accomplish the mission. Taken from common materials and molded quickly and cheaply into a usable but ultimately expendable form. The 2s were flagships. Entire battle strategies planned around them. Each one a massive cost in time and resources but used sparingly to avoid losing such an investment needlessly. 3s could and were used in desperation to stave off extinction. 2s were meant to be used for more than just fighting and intended to be the culmination of human warfighting technology.
Neither makes the other obsolete as they fill overlapping but distinct battlefield roles. While the 2s were better in every way they cost too much and took too long to be mass produced. The 3s were lesser but cheaper. A trade off made to maximum battlefield usage while limiting the resources spent on them.
| 46 |
I believe that Australia should become a republic. CMV
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Australia is an independent country with a British head of state. It makes more sense to me to have an Australian head of state for Australia.
In the 112 years since Australia gained independence, there's been waves of immigration. This has led to Australia becoming multicultural, with Aboriginal, Southeast Asian and European (not British) ties. An Aboriginal Australian should not be forced to recognise British imperialism after the many atrocities already committed against them by the British people. A Vietnamese Australian should not be forced to recognise a British head of state when the only tie is that British people colonised the country that they live in.
The Queen no longer represents the average Australian, and representation of the people is important for a head of state to have, regardless of if she's appointed a Governor-General to govern for her in the land.
Being the head of state should be attainable for the common Australian, and not something that only the royal family can be born into. This would be accomplished by Australia becoming a republic.
CMV
| 20 |
For what it's worth, the Queen *is* an Australian citizen, as well as a citizen of each country she is head of state of, by default. The Queen may be based in Britain, but she is an Australian head of state (as well as Canadian head of state, British hos, etc).
| 17 |
ELI5: why do negative prescription glasses require a prescription from a docter and cost hundreds of dollars where positive lens glasses can be bought for $3 with no prescription.
| 104 |
This isn't exactly true. What you have to look at is what the "negative" and "positive" mean. However, there is a distinction between that and prescription glasses versus non-prescription.
The negative and positive reflect what your eyes need--negative is for people who are near-sighted (can see close, but not far), and positive is for far-sighted (can see far, but not close). The $3 glasses you see over the counter are reading glasses, which basically help people see those things close to them, such as reading material. They are all very weak and generic, not specifically made for a particular person. You can not do this for people who are nearsighted. If you wanted to, you could say that a nearsighted person could buy binoculars over the counter, but they don't actually help that much.
Any person with a more severe sight impairment would need glasses specially tailored to their needs to see properly, and those cost much more money.
| 22 |
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Why do women tend to live longer than men?
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I know men tend to take more risks but what are some other reasons?
| 47 |
Tons of speculation on this thread.
Currently we believe a big driver to be the estrogen effect. Women produce around 4 times less mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, produce much more superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase...all factors that decrease cellular and chromosomal internal injury.
Postmenopausal women or post-oophorectic women lose this advantage but it is again seen once estradiol therapy is initiated.
Testosterone and risky behavior were once thought to be large factors and have since been shown to be minimally involved, if at all. Castrated males have shown no greater longevity no matter the stage in life their testicles were removed.
| 43 |
Why are investors willing to invest so much money into Spotify, even though it did not make any profit since its start?
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Is it "simply" the hope Spotify will make a lot of money some day?
| 17 |
>Is it "simply" the hope Spotify will make a lot of money some day?
In a word, yes, although the reasoning can be a little more sophisticated. Stock prices are essentially the aggregated present value of a company's future cash flows over an indefinite time frame divided by the number of shares on the market. When investors buy shares of presently unprofitable companies, it's because they believe the company will eventually earn enough money to pay out dividends, buy back shares, or simply make the value go up enough that the shares can be sold to somebody else.
Generally, you'd expect that investors are putting more than just "hope" behind their reasoning for these expectations. In early rounds of non-public funding, early investors put a lot of effort into analyzing all sorts of aspects of the business model, the company's leadership, the financials, etc. to determine if there's a credible expectation that it will generate a huge return on a risky investment. Once a company like Spotify goes public, data about their performance has to be publicly available, which gives public investors the opportunity to analyze their performance and finances in order to base their expectations.
Nonetheless, there's a lot of criticism out there about investing in these big, unprofitable tech companies like Amazon and Spotify. Many people believe that rising stock prices are ultimately a lot of hype fueling itself in a feedback loop rather than well-reasoned analysis on future cash flow expectations. This kind of phenomenon was essentially the basis of the bursting of the .com bubble two decades ago, and a lot of people think we're heading that way again with the newer wave of web and app IPOs.
| 19 |
[GoTG] Ronan and Thanos (Spoilers)
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When Ronan gets his hands on the infinity stone from the orb he claims he is going to come after Thanos after he is done destroying Xandar. Is this even remotely possible for Ronan to accomplish or would Thanos just laugh at power gem boosted Ronan and swat him like a bug?
| 16 |
Ronan goes down hard. Even if the infinity stone gives him enough power to take on Thanos he made the huge mistake of telling Thanos of his intentions. Thanos is an absolute genius and he is a master of preparation. By the time Ronan arrives Thanos will already have devised a means of gaining the upper hand.
| 30 |
Does the shape of a lightning bolt have an effect on the sound of the thunder?
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Primarily if we were to graph a bolt of lightning and compare it the the levels recorded to that associated roll of thunder, would we see a correlation?
What if the sound were graphed in a 3D space? How different is a forked lighting bolts' thunder VS the thunder from a bolt with no forks?
Does this make sense?
| 45 |
The jagged and irregular shape of a lightning bolt is one thing that causes thunder to rumble. Different points all along the lightning bolt are different distances from your ears and thus the sounds arrives at slightly different times. If a lightning bolt were perfectly straight, for example, you'd hear a big boom but it would be uniform in intensity for its duration (discounting effects of distance on sound intensity).
A forked bolt would make a sort of ka-boom sound as the two separate forks of the bolt create sound waves that arrive close to each other but not at the exact same time (at least in most cases, you could prove mathematically that at a point equally spaced from each fork, the sounds would constructively interfere to create a louder boom, however it's pretty unlikely that you'd happen to be in the exact spot where this happens).
| 14 |
How different would I be if a different sperm reached the egg instead of mine?
| 94 |
You could be a different gender since the sperm determines gender. In terms of how you look (your phenotype) the maximum difference would be the sum of alleles for which your father is heterozygous. In terms of raw genetics, this maximum difference would be the sum of single nucleotide polymorphisms for which your father is heterozygous (many of these don't directly influence phenotype). In terms of averages it seems more likely that you would genomically be about 25% different with a different set of crossover products coming from your father.
| 61 |
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[MCU] When Odin took away Thor's powers in his standalone, did Thor become as strong as the average Asgardian without mods or as strong as a human?
| 23 |
Regular Asgardians are still tremendously strong. We see one on Agents of Shield and he effortlessly bends a combat knife.
When Odin banished Thor to Earth, he took away his godly might. He's effectively just a heavily muscled and well-trained human up until the Hammer comes back to him.
| 43 |
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ELI5:How can dogs smell cancer?
| 41 |
The current theory is that cancer cells produce characteristic organic compounds which get into the bloodstream and are then also present in the patient's breath - only in tiny amounts, but enough to be detected by a dog's amazingly keen sense of smell.
Which compounds those are exactly is still being researched, in the hope of using the knowledge to produce test kits.
| 20 |
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[General] Why are superheroes' suits so durable?
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I understand that Superman can be hit by a missile but surely he would be standing there naked afterwards? Substitute any superhero.
| 49 |
Atleast in marvel, Reed Richards makes sits for a lot of People. They are made from so called unstable molecules and adapts to Its wearer. Thats how reeds suit can stretch and human torchs suit doesnt burn up
| 49 |
ELI5: What is the purpose of fainting? What are the benefits of this mechanism? In extreme situations (e.g. being under attack) humans and animals sometimes faint but I see this as counterproductive and it would probability be better to become more alert in these situations, right?
| 30 |
Our brains need a *lot* of blood to stay alive. Normally, our bodies work just fine pumping blood against gravity and up to our noggins, but sometimes things go wrong. If for any reason there's a drop in blood pressure or heart rate or reduced level of oxygen to your brain, your brain is going to make you faint. Why? Because it will make you horizontal very quickly, and that will help restore blood flow to your brain since your body is no longer working against gravity. So fainting (technically called syncope) is about preserving bloodflow to the brain, which will prevent brain damage. Preserving your brain is the paramount consideration. If your brain thinks it's not getting enough oxygen, it doesn't care about anything else in that moment. Anything that causes a sudden drop in blood pressure, or heart rate, or blood oxygenation can trigger fainting. Some of these things are physical, and some are psychological.
| 81 |
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[Star Wars] Unless General Grievous was force sensitive, how was he even remotely fast enough to duel with Obi Wan?
| 32 |
I feel your question doesn't quite reflect the nature of what happened. Grievous was a cyborg and his mechanical limbs actually allowed for the incredible speed with which he could attack. His spinning attack could strike ~20 times a second and would overwhelm most opponents, so speed is not the issue, and we know he had killed jedi before. The real factor in question is Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan was able to go toe to toe with Grievous' speed as Obi-Wan had absolute mastery of the defensive lightsaber style of Soresu. Very few Jedi could have stood up to Grievous' attack on their own, but Obi-Wans speciality allowed him to block, counter and parry the onslaught of blows from Grievous.
| 76 |
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ELI5: Why do wolves & dogs wag their tails when happy and hold them still when agitated, and why do cats wag their tails when agitated & hold them still when calm?
| 50 |
Different species use different ways of communicating their internal states (e.g. their feelings and emotions). Dogs and cats, while both domestic animals, share little else in common. They are not closely related evolutionarily and therefore it is quite logical that those groups or even species within those groups develop different ways of communicating with each other. Thus cats and dogs have different ways of communicating to us.
| 20 |
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ELI5: What is Insider Trading
| 23 |
So say you work for a company that sells orange juice. Your company is traded on the stock market, so news about it can have an effect on the company's value.
Since we had so much rain this year, everyone thinks that the orange juice you make won't be very good in the coming season. Since the juice won't be good, your stock price goes way down.
Now, you find out some a guy in the company's R&D department that they've found a way to make the juice far better than people are expecting! So much better in fact that people are going to buy a ton of the stuff. This means the company's stock price is going to shoot waaay up as soon as the news hits. But, this is secret info that won't be released until tomorrow.
Here's where the insider trading comes in. Since you know that the stock price is going to go way up tomorrow, you go out and buy a whole pile of stock today. You made this decision based on information that the rest of the public doesn't know about yet - and because of that you make an awful lot of money.
Because of that, it is very illegal to do it. It's unfair to people who don't have an inside-source for information. It's also unethical because you're taking advantage of the fact that the people you're buying stock from today have no way of knowing that they're being screwed out of a lot of money tomorrow.
| 34 |
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CMV: If you have more than 15 items you should not be able to use self checkout.
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This irks me to no end. I go into the store for one or 2 items, easy enough I will just use self checkout and be on my way in 5 minutes or so. NOPE. Get to self check out and it is backed up with people that have A CART FULL OF SHIT. WHY?!? Inevitably these peoplw have things that need codes put in or they have bagging errors and they are backing up the queue for people like me that would take less than a minute to check out. If you cannot get your items through self checkout, at least scanned, in 2 minutes you should not be there. People with a cart load of groceries should be with a dedicated cashier, not bagging and checking their own stuff. Change my view.
| 19 |
Self checkout has never been about speed, it's been about saving the supermarket money. There is not a posted limit on the number of items, it's not the express checkout lane (which is poorly enforced to start with, and there's someone there who can shame you easily for it). I'd say the logistical problems of getting a lot of groceries through it is a design flaw rather than a user flaw. There should be larger counters and more bagging space at each station to make it more user friendly.
| 17 |
ELI5: How is it that everything in life is in a constant state of entropy (where everything degrades over time), and yet it's the general consensus that the universe/life has naturally progressed on it's own? (Related to the data.is.beautiful post from this morning)
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I'm agnostic/atheist and still have a hard time wrapping my brain around this.
| 24 |
The sun is converting hundreds of tons of matter into energy every second.
This enormously entropic process ultimately drives the vast majority of chemical processes on Earth. Reactions that become more ordered (like photosynthesis) require a significant energy input from elsewhere.
The Earth isn't a closed system, chemistry here can run against the current as long as the sun keeps providing fuel.
| 37 |
[Fallout] Why did the resource wars even happen?
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We see that the ever dwindling supply of oil lead to a break out of wars, eventually leading to the nuclear apocalypse but why were they fighting over oil if everything they used was nuclear powered?
For example, T-51b power armour can last 10000 years due to it's fusion reactor. Why didn't they just adapt to fusion?
| 20 |
The wars weren't just fought for oil, they were fought for ALL major resources. Even a fusion reactor is no good if you don't have the uranium you need to run it. Plus, the old staples like arable farm land, clean water, sugar cane and plutonium for the Nuka-Cola. Hell, even just living space would be at a premium.
It's also important to note that fusion tech didn't exist for long before the war. The T-51b was cutting edge tech manufactured just before the war went nuclear and even the fusion powered cars like the Corvega were still being advertised as brand new. Maybe if the war had been delayed a few years the fusion tech could have saved the world but it was too little, too late.
| 33 |
Lightning produces ozone. Many ionizing air purifiers also produce ozone. Does an electric current exposed to air always produce ozone?
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Does this mean that those open coil electric heaters are bad for people with asthma? How do ionizing air purifiers generate ions?
| 494 |
Molecular Oxygen (dioxygen) is broken into two oxygen atoms with enough energy input (either photon or thermal). One of these excited atoms will then encounter an oxygen molecule in a collision, creating ozone.
Your heaters at home aren't likely to produce any ozone at all as they don't produce a corona discharge (occurs with a large potential on a curvy object). This is the mechanism by which so-called air purifying ionizers produce ions.
| 88 |
[Marvel] Who did the Watcher make his oath to?
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The Watcher swore an oath to only observe, never to intervene. But who did he swear it to? Does the Watcher have a boss who comes by and checks to make sure that he's only watching? Uatu seems to look for loopholes in the "just watching" oath all the time, so I don't think he made that oath just on his own or else he'd be fine breaking it with no consequences.
| 54 |
The oath of non-interference is a defining aspect of the culture of his people.
The Watchers are one of the first species to develop sentience after the birth of the universe, if not the first. After developing interstellar travel, the Watchers made an attempt to accelerate the development of a younger species. The primitive species was not ready to be responsible with the knowledge they were given, and quickly destroyed themselves with weapons of mass destruction.
This is the reason for the oath; to avoid repeating the mistake of causing harm with their good intentions. The make the oath to themselves and their peers, and their governing council is the body that enforces it.
The Watchers still gather knowledge with the intent to share and uplift others, but now their intent is to learn as much as they can before the death of the current universe and bestow the next universe at birth with all the accumulated wisdom of its predecessor.
| 87 |
[Comics] Why doesn’t Batman also use a staff like Robin?,wouldn’t it be more practical then just using his fist?
| 37 |
Batman is a master combatant and trained marksman, so we know his choice to not use a weapon is a conscious one.
Bruce doesn’t use a weapon because being unarmed keeps him the most versatile and adaptable to any situation. Batman would also probably consider using a weapon too often as him becoming dependent on it and worse off overall because of it.
| 52 |
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ELI5:If I boil a kettle does everything inside become sterile? if so how long does it stay sterile?
| 16 |
Actually sterilized? No. Boiling water and steam are damned effective at killing germs, but you generally need much higher temperatures than you'll achieve in a kettle to reach an effectiveness where you can call it sterile (99.9999999% of microbes killed). In particular, bacterial and fungal spores are generally tenacious little bastards and will survive. For medical sterilization, when steam is used, it's heated under pressure to a much higher temperature than is normally attainable, and objects are kept in for as long as 30 minutes.
As for how long it stays sterile? Until it isn't. Once your sterile tool touches something nonsterile, it's contaminated.
| 27 |
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[Star Wars] How come if the far far away galaxy has the force and the Yuuzhan Vong galaxy had the force, our galaxy doesn't have the force?
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Shouldn't the force be something that pervades the universe? Why would it be localized? Or do some humans have it but it isn't cultivated?
| 113 |
There were only 10, 000 Jedi Knights in a republic of trillions, at the very least. Assuming -conservatively- there were only 100 trillion in the Republic that would average out at 1 person who can become a Jedi for every 10 billion sentients. So even on Earth, we'd fit the average if there wasn't a single person who could become a Jedi.
Then keep in mind, the Republic clearly has more humans capable of using the force than other species, which makes other species even less likely to be force sensitive. In our galaxy, it may be possible that the Togrutans, or Twi'leks, or Muuns are more sensitive to the force, meaning there'd only be a 1 in 100 billion chance of being born capable of becoming a Jedi.
| 82 |
ELI5: How does a painting like "When Will You Marry" sell for $300 million dollars when it doesn't look like anything spectacular
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[This Painting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Will_You_Marry%3F)
| 19 |
When it comes to a lot of art, context is more important than the actual material. Rarity, historical context etc. make a thing more valuable than its actual aesthetic properties. For example, some shitty buggy SNES or N64 games will sell for huge amounts if they are well preserved and in the original packaging etc, even when any high school student nowadays could write a better game in a week.
| 12 |
ELI5: How does tilt photography trick our minds into thinking the subject of the photo is a miniature?
| 174 |
When you lean in and look at a miniature or model, you're eyes are focused on what's right in front of them, and things in your peripheral vision are blurrier - Usually, in a photo everything is clear no matter what part you are focused on- but in tilt-shift photography the focal point is clear and draws your eye to it and the surrounding areas are blurry, recreating that 'miniature' look.
| 111 |
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ELI5: Why is Botulinum toxin, the most lethal toxin known, purposefully injected into humans for cosmetic surgeries such as botox? Is there nothing else that could be used?
| 87 |
Simply put, it is the most effective at what it does.
This is sort of like how we use (potentially) deadly poison's for anesthesia. There are other potential options (botox for cosmetic surgery is basically a paralyzing agent), but none last as long and work as efficiently, so we don't use them. With anesthesia there are potentially less deadly chemicals we could use, but on the flipside, less potent ingredients means we need to administer more, more often, which can cause other problems.
| 31 |
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[Attack On Titan] What was it like when the Titans first appeared?
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What was the reaction? How did world leaders react? How were they able to overpower us despite our technology (drones, bombs, etc)
What were the theories of current scientists on their origin?
| 85 |
We have no idea what the world was like before. From what drawings we have seen it appears that the Titans invaded during a world in the 17th-19th century tech range. All evidence is kept hidden by the higher ups, as the manga goes into detail that they are intentionally hiding the history of the Wall, the Titans, and humanity itself.
We will just have to wait to see if the Survey Corps can find anything beyond the walls.
| 73 |
[Harry Potter] Does magic have an upper limit?
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It doesn't seem like anyone really tries to push the boundaries other than ol' voldy and he had a pretty limited and self centered view on it. If someone really tried to push magic as far as it can go, what could they accomplish?
| 18 |
There seem to be upper limits. A perfect spell can't really be more perfecter. You change your coats colour from red to green. That's it. It's green now, can't get greener, can it? Avada Kedavra kills. The victim is dead. The end.
But there are also spells that are bit more complicated to measure.
Wizards and witches become famous for mastering a single feat, like Andros the Invincible for example, who was able to produce a Patronus of gigantic measure. Considering how even an unformed Patronus is considered a success for the average wand-user, it is unarguably impressive that he was able to cast such powerful spell. At the same time, he probably set the upper limit for a Patronus. The perfect happy feeling, the perfect execution of the spell, the right timing and the right character. But that's really metaphyscial.
A better example would be apparating. This spell definitely has limits due to actual physics. Every case of splintering shows that. You can't apparate into a wall, or at least you shouldn't. Hasty apparations or trying to apparate to a foreign place usually lead to splintering as well, so it's a human limit too.
So I'd say yes, there definitely are limits to magic.
| 14 |
[The Lorax] How did the Once-ler not notice he was running out of trees until literally the moment the very last one was chopped down?
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In the old animated version, he even yells at the Lorax about how he has more long-term plans to keep producing thneeds and "biggering" *immediately* before the final tree is fallen, which he *immediately* takes notice of and realizes was the very last one.
A lot of people seem to think that the story is against using natural resources for capitalism altogether, but considering this apparent glaring plot hole, I've always felt that it validates the interpretation that it is merely against being *recklessly, stupidly shortsighted* about it; given how immensely popular thneeds *clearly* were, the Once-ler could easily have gotten away with slowing down their production and the involved tree-whacking while selling each one at a higher price, enough so that a new generation of trees would have grown by the time all the initial ones were gone, thus benefitting both the environment *and* his own business.
| 39 |
You are exactly correct about the message, and about why this isn't any sort of hole in the story. The message of the Lorax is about care, it's only the story that happens to be about the environment.
People seem to take a very surface reading of the story. There's a good guy, The Lorax, who wants to help the animals. There's a bad-guy, the Onceler, who ignores his warnings. And then things go to shit as a result. But that is wrong.
The Lorax is introduced as basically a jerk. He yells, he interrupts, he's impatient, and ---in the very first thing he does---he's wrong. He says that Sneeds won't sell, but, in fact, they do sell almost immediately.
Likewise, despite his shortsightedness, the Onceler has plenty of virtues. He's hardworking, dedicated, smart, inventive and our main character. And he's sad. He doesn't see what happened as a great victory, he didn't want to destroy the world around him. His sin isn't stupidity or laziness or evil, it's that he didn't pay attention to other things when there was still time.
And the key is the word. The Lorax doesn't leave a Truffela statue in his wake, or a warning about protecting the earth or not polluting. His final word is "UNLESS." And, in his moment of epiphany, the onceler realizes that
>“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
This is a message that precedes replanting that last Truffela seed and pining for the return of the friends of the Lorax. It's a message about paying attention to the world around you and about WORKING to make sure that the world is the way you actually want it to be.
Remember, the Lorax isn't quite a hero. His limit is in his name. He speaks for the trees, but he doesn't do for them. He can only remind us that they exist, but we are the ones that have to decide to care about them. And, unless we do, then of course that will mean ending up like the Onceler, victims of our own success.
Now, of course, part of the idea of the story is that you should care about these things, that there's value in these things, but that's taken as a given, even by the Onceler.
| 48 |
ELI5: What are birth marks and why do we get them?
|
Edit: Thanks for all the replies guys loved reading them all!
| 339 |
**What are birthmarks?**
There are different types. Some are a bunch of blood vessels and capillaries close to the surface of the skin. These are not permanent, but are common among newborn children. This kind is usually red.
The other kind is an above average accumulation of pigment cells in the skin. These are typically brown, and are long lasting if not permanent.
**Why do we get them?**
In short, nobody really knows. There are theories about late mutations in embryo development, but the short (and real) answer is we aren't quite sure.
| 131 |
[Alpha Centauri] Why do the faction leaders keep announcing their secret projects?
|
This is not how secrecy works.
| 46 |
>As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny
Free and unrestrained information prevents others from keeping secrets from you. But it also works in the reverse. Secrecy is only an illusion of formality.
| 15 |
ELI5: Why do power tools (especially ones that need high torque) often employ a motor spinning at a ridiculous speed and then a deep reduction, instead of a motor spinning directly at the tool's speed and higher torque?
| 74 |
An electric motor works by having magnets and electromagnets arranged around the axle, which attract and repel each other in succession to spin the motor. To get high torque you need to have very strong magnets and/or very strong electromagnets. Increasing the strength of the magnets and/or electromagnets by 20 times you will have a motor which is 20 times as big and heavy.
On the other hand, electric motors can naturally spin at very high rates. A reduction gear which increases torque by 20 times (and reduces RPM) will be smaller and lighter than the motor you attach it to, making this a far better solution to get high torque at low RPM than building a bigger motor would be.
| 106 |
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how are planetary rings stable ?
|
Something just occurred to me, if all extraplanetary masses formed from from gravitational forces acting on small bits of debris pulling them together, and planetary rings are just that except in a stable orbit around a larger mass, how hasn't the same process happened there ?
| 31 |
Close enough to a planet, tidal forces will tear apart any moon that's held together solely by gravity. The near side of the moon is closer to the planet so pulled more strongly compared to the far side, and this difference in gravity is stronger than the moon's own gravity.
This also means no object can come together under gravity. Things with different orbital radii will be travelling at different speeds and the gravity between them isn't enough to overcome that.
It is within this distance, known as the Roche Limit, that planetary rings exist. Small moons, held together by the strength of rock and ice, can exist within the roche limit but large ones cannot. A loose object on the surface of such a small moon would float away, in its own orbit round the parent planet that's slightly different to the orbit of the moon.
| 35 |
ELI5: Why is there WAY more snow in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere?
|
Even at the bottom of South America there is little to no snow during winter (excluding on mountains) even though it's not far above Antarctica. Why is that ?
| 54 |
Because it's surrounded by ocean, so has a maritime climate - which doesn't get all that cold.
The northern hemisphere has large land masses, which lead to continental climates, which can get very much colder because they don't have the thermal damping of the oceans.
| 62 |
[MGS4] Question about FOXDIE
|
Why didn’t the FOXDIE kill Ocelot during the brief fight with Snake after he burned Big Boss’s body?
| 16 |
Actual reason: The plot demanded that it didn’t.
Kojima approved reasoning: Ocelot had prior knowledge of FOXDIE and was taking some kind of blockers in conjunction with all the drugs he was taking to be Liquid, sort of like the nanomachine blockers that Snake was using throughout the game. During the battle on the boat, he simply did not take the blockers or drugs, so he could die with the clone of the man he loved, as Ocelot. Either that or the drugs themselves acted as a means to cancel out FOXDIE, but that’s way to straightforward for a game made by Kojima.
| 13 |
[Dune] We're told over and over that the spice has "geriatric properties", but what does that actually mean?
| 45 |
Geriatric = an aged person. So it lets you get older than normal
"Without melange and its amplification of the human immunogenic system, life expectancy for the very rich degenerated by a factor of at least four"
It lets you get older by a lot.
| 45 |
|
ELI5: Why is ESPN in so much trouble?
|
I understand the omnipresent threat of "cable-cutting," but surely these concerns are overblown? What's going on?
| 18 |
ESPN is the most expensive cable Chanel by far for cable companies to subscribe to. They pay each channel for the right to broadcast their channels but ESPN demands an extreme amount.
So much so that cable companies have to increase what they charge for other channels and packages to compensate
As a result many cable companies are toying with the idea of dropping ESPN completely in order to make them more competitive with streaming services that are already far cheaper than Cable.
| 18 |
If 98F is my inner temperature, why does it feel so hot when the ambient temperature is 97F?
|
Why does my body feels the need to cool itself at that temperature?
| 576 |
Because your body is constantly generating more and more heat you'll only feel comfortable when your body is able to shed heat at the right rate.
At 97F the air around you is barely conducting any heat from your body, but down at 70F it feels just right.
But then water at 70F will feel pretty chilly, because water is more conductive than air at equal temperature.
| 664 |
ELI5 - Why were men like Erik the Red and Napoleon exiled instead of executed?
| 1,046 |
For napoleon, at least, it was to avoid making him a martyr. Napoleon had a lot of supporters in france at the time he was exiled. Would he have been killed, they could have used him as a symbol and continued fighting on a new leaders behalf. However, since they kept him alive, he both acted as a living reminder of defeat and a deterrent to a new leader taking his place. This backfired pretty bad the first time, as he was able to leave exile and raise an army of former supporters.
Edit: as u/ilaughatyourbans63 pointed out this was not the only reason they avoided executing napoleon. Heads of state did not want to set a precedent where they could be executed if they lost. In addition, it saved lives and made colflicts end faster, as leaders who knew they were losing also knew they would not be executed if they surrendered.
| 794 |
|
How do you remove indium metal from a metal surface?
|
We got indium on a copper surface and want to remove the indium without damaging the copper surface.
Is ther anyway to do this with a solvent or anything from than mechanically peeling/scratching it off?
| 18 |
You can oxidize it off in a dilute acid solution. I'd use 0.1M Sulfuric acid, with include 0.1M Copper Sulfate. Volume of solution needs to be calculated based on the amount of In you need to remove. Don't let the Indium exceed 0.05M or so.
Use alegator clips to connect your In coated piece to a sheet or snarl of Cu wire that's been well cleaned and has at least twice the surface area of the one you're trying to save. The Indium should dissolve off leaving the Cu exposed below.
The Cu underneath might look a little dull but light polishing will restore the shine.
| 12 |
How do biological receptors recognise a photon if photons have no mass?
| 30 |
Photons have energy, and interact with objects through the electromagnetic field. Namely, photons interact with electrons, exciting them to a different energy level from which the electron has sufficient energy to participate in chemical reactions (oxidation/reduction). These chemical reactions move electrons through many molecules with each reaction taking some of the energy from the electron until the electron arrives back down to the ground state from the molecule in which it started in. It's kind of like a Ferris wheel, of energy where each car is a molecule and the photon provides the initial energy to move an electron to the top. In the end all of the energy of the photon is dissipated into some chemical signal and heat.
In fact, most biological units are so small that their mass is almost always negligible, so it does not matter if how massive the signal is, but rather what chemical energy it contains.
| 15 |
|
[Time Travel] I've been assigned to stop a nuclear terrorist attack in 1855 Philadelphia. How do I enlist the local authorities without blowing my cover?
|
There are hostile chrononauts in the region that wish to unleash the device. I have clothing, a standard issue ferromagnetic side arm, and 500 dollars in period-appropriate money.
| 61 |
Not too sure but lets say they are inside a building. Beat yourself up a bit, black eye, torn clothes, cuts, etc. Run to nearest police and say you escaped from a cult of kidnappers. Hopefully this will cause a good amount of cops to show. Also are you wearing modern clothes?
| 44 |
[ELI5]: If something is 1 in 292 million, then how do over 400 million lose?
| 65 |
The odds of a coin flip landing “heads” is ~50%, but you could still have a run of many flips all landing “tails.” Take that same logic and blow it up to huge proportions.
Also bear in mind that there is no system that prevents multiple tickets from having the same numbers. If each number was unique, you would be correct that there’d have to be a winner. But as it is, there are many losers with the same numbers.
| 379 |
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CMV: Media shouldn't be censored or expected to be censored on the basis that it may be considered sensitive, triggering, or otherwise offensive.
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E2: **Points of view adjustment:**
>Mattel markets toys to children. Children are stupid and cannot make good decisions
>Children also should not have to suffer because parents make poor decisions. Thats why its a law, not a recommendation, to have child safety seats. Or why you can't show people being raped and murdered in a PG movie, or on the Disney Channel.
I think that's fair to expect children's entertainment to fit a specific standard purely because children can't be expected to make good decisions and children may be suffering due to parents' poor decisions. It makes sense to me to that we should moderate decisions people make on the behalf of others, *like* children, though I don't yet understand how this applies to mentally ill people, overall.
I also retract any arguments purely based on expectation rather than decision and law, in realization that expectation can also be related to criticism and in and of itself is just a result of differing beliefs. It also is completely inconsistent with being okay with expecting trigger warnings, because censorship is only one step further. It makes no sense to not be okay with expectations for media yet think we should allow free exchange of information so people can reach the best conclusions. An expectation is a conclusion.
E4:
>As we have seen from the histories of many tyrannical regimes, it is entirely possible to control the masses by brainwashing them with propaganda, and with a heavy censored culture. Free speech is valuable exactly **because speech has power**, because it lets the people shape their own culture instead of subjecting themselves to being shaped by it.
This is fair purely because it shows people can be influenced by their own culture.
----------------------
**For the sake of argument, I'll use media to also refer to things like toys, speech, consumables, clothing, etc.**
In discussing certain mental disorders like anorexia and bulimia, we also raise that the culture we live in may be to blame, and in relation to this, that the media our children and teens interact with may result in low self esteem and body concern where otherwise not warranted (i.e. when someone is healthy and within a healthy weight range.)
Companies like Mattel have more recently started to produce Barbies of various sizes and appearances in alignment with the idea that playing the thin Barbie negatively effects girls self esteem, and countries like France and Israel have passed laws requiring models to have proper documentation showing that they're not underweight, and in addition, French laws require and digitally altered photos of models to be labeled. It has been raised that those raising awareness of anorexia shouldn't share their underweight pictures or any numbers related to their suffering with anorexia, such as how few calories they ate or what size pants they wore.
There are also proposed sets of ethics for journalism in which it is suggested language about suicide methods shouldn't be reported, and that suicide deaths shouldn't be publicized to prevent copycat/cluster suicides.
Game companies have been criticized for portraying women as sex objects and rewards, such as giving female characters skimpy armor, or high heels or using them as the end goal because it deters women from various careers, and as a secondary effect, poorer self esteem. Most notable being Anita Sarkeesian. To quote:
>When the media we create excludes girls and women, fails to depict them as leaders and innovators or treats them as little more than side-kicks, love interests and sex objects, is it any wonder that women are systematically excluded and under-represented in so many careers and leadership positions?
Et cetera.
**In essence, media negatively effects people, therefore it should be censored or changed, whether or not that expectation brings with it legal changes or proposed legal changes.**
I think this ~~expectation or~~ requirement takes away a level of autonomy for consumers and their children and assumes a lack of intelligence or ability to handle sensitive topics in those same media consumers. I also think it prevents us from both being able to enjoy the content we wish to and from being able to discuss mental health in full depth and may push representation for the sake of it. E.g.:
1. **Numbers in discussing eating disorders:** numbers offer a sense of scale when given relative to other numbers. A BMI of 15 may not seem low if you don't also know that a BMI of 18.5 is considered minimally normal for example. It has been suggested that giving these numbers will result in people attempting to attain those very same weights or trigger people into eating disorders in the first place. But if taken one step further, all numbers should be censored because they could result in unhealthy means of attainment for anyone at risk, regardless of where the numbers fall on the BMI scale. Therefore, I don't agree that numbers such as these should be censored, but instead we should find other methods of deterring risk-inducing behavior, like giving people information about medical consequences.
2. **Requiring models to be of a certain weight or Photoshopped images to be marked:** While on one hand, I believe it is good to require workers to be healthy to work for your agency, company, or otherwise, I do not agree with requiring them to be healthy in the interest in of someone else. And in the case of anorexia and bulimia, it presupposes that those with either both choose to harm themselves because of the existence of these underweight models and that they evaluate themselves purely in comparison to *unhealthy* models. It is also too blanket of a standard to apply to *all* models, and implies that people at risk of either disorder or who already have either disorder cannot make decisions for themselves and therefore the media should make decisions on their behalf.
3. **Sexualization of women in video games:** Firstly, it assumes women do not attain certain careers because of how they're depicted in video games, or other media, or that how women are depicted in fictional media effects how they're represented in real life and our expectations of them. I.e. Woman is a reward in game, therefore she is meant to be a reward in real life; women are the ultimate attainment. ~~It also assumes that people's (or cultural) beliefs change based on the media they consume, not the other way around (or that media isn't a representation of held beliefs), and not both simultaneously, which I disagree with~~. Regardless, I do not agree that media should be censored because it effects belief, because it also enforces a specific set of ethics, not necessarily with evidence or good reason, and also doesn't allow people to make their own decisions. I think the belief should be openly criticized rather than censored and hidden away.
**In essence, I think we should allow people to choose to self-censor, and allow a free exchange of information, regardless of how it emotionally or mentally effects people when they consume it, at the exclusion of cases where there is evidence people choose to harm others based on the media they consume, purely because it offers the whole truth about poorer situations. People should be able to choose whether or not they engage in the behaviors in which they do when those behaviors effect *themselves*, especially considering they're able to make decisions concerning their own well being elsewhere. Restricting this ability assumes people are stupid and cannot make good decisions, and that those who are at risk of mental illness, self esteem issues, or otherwise unhealthier states of being are not allowed the same level of autonomy as everyone else.**
Further justification of this belief:
1. If censoring media is meant to prevent people from harming themselves, and I also believe this is preventing people from exercising automony, I think it's insulting to people, and if the purpose of censoring media is to prevent negative changes in self esteem or measurable self harm, it can defeat its own purpose in insulting peoples intelligence or their ability to parent.
2. If models should be censored, anorexic pictures censored, why not also pictures of holocaust victims? Emaciated children? As mentioned before, why not *all* numbers? Why offer any body-related numbers, pictures, anything if it's proposed that low numbers and pictures of low weight people could negatively effect self esteem or attainment goals? Why is this not the case for all pictures? **I think that if sensitive topics such as the holocaust, etc. are allowed a platform, especially throughout schools, including pictures of their victims, the same should be the case for anorexia and the like.** If we have evidence that abstinence-only education in schools results in higher pregnancy rates, I think a similar idea could be tested and taken into account when teaching other subjects related to well-being, *including* eating disorders. i.e. Censoring causes more harm than good.
3. **I think that free exchange of information and beliefs allows people to understand the entirety of an issue, and I also think this is good because it helps people reach the most accurate conclusions and make the best decisions for themselves.** Censoring media is imposing beliefs on people and preventing this. I think this applies to any belief people have, and while I'm not suggesting we deliberately give 'offensive' beliefs a public platform, I do think we shouldn't completely disallow them from expressing their beliefs on the basis that they're offensive. Offensive is also too subjective of a standard. Respectful is too subject of a standard. As the most modern example, Vice wasn't responded to as poorly as Logan Paul was when showing bodies of suicide victims in Aokigahara, purely based on their like:dislike ratio and whether the video is still available to view from their original source, both of which are on Youtube. What makes one respectful and respected over the other if not the depiction of a dead body in and of itself?
I'm posting this in hopes that I am wrong. The frequency in which I encounter those who suggest media should be censored in any way is high enough that I think it's possible I *am* wrong in some way, and in alignment with my own previously mentioned idea, I'd like to reach the best conclusion possible.
E: As an additional point of clarification, I also believe trigger warnings shouldn't be required, but do not disagree with the expectation that they should be. i.e. I think expecting people to warn you of what is in content before you view it isn't bad, but requiring they do it is.
E3: An additional point:
If children cannot be expected to make their own decisions, and such a thing is in the hands of parents, and we should seek to enforce a standard which allows (or forces?) parents to make good decisions for their children, when does the censoring of media end? Changing children's toys so parents can't give their children poor material makes sense, and this would also apply to child rated entertainment, but parental autonomy also means that parents can choose to let their children view anything, meaning other media would need to be censored for the sake of children. i.e. when do we stop censoring the media people can see? Of course I still agree parents should be required to make certain good decisions for their children. I'm more curious how this would effect people who are capable of making their own decisions for themselves.
_____
> *This is a footnote from the CMV moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!*
| 162 |
> Restricting this ability assumes people are stupid and cannot make good decisions
Mattel markets toys to children. Children *are* stupid and cannot make good decisions
Children also should not have to suffer because parents make poor decisions. Thats why its a law, not a recommendation, to have child safety seats. Or why you can't show people being raped and murdered in a PG movie, or on the Disney Channel.
If parents want to censor childrens toys and childrens entertainment collectively, by voting for politicians who write laws that censor children's material, why shouldnt they be allowed to do that? Don't parents have the right to control what their children are exposed to?
Edit: Also, most of what your talking about isnt censorship. Companies have a right to respond to consumer demand. Consumers want less sexist video games, less sexist toys. Why should companies not provide consumers what they want? How should companies decide what media to produce, if not by popular demand?
| 26 |
[Star Trek]Is Data bound by the laws of robotics?
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Being a sentient being in his own right is Data bound by the [laws of robotics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics)?
| 48 |
No.
Data is bound, instead, by a strong sense of morality, duty to his fellow officers and his own self-preservation.
* A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm - Data has harmed sentient lifeforms including humans on multiple occasions and also allowed them to come to harm through his own inaction.
* A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law - Data will typically follow orders but he will also question them and not follow them if he deems them to be illegal. Data is a sentient lifeform and doesn't not deem his own standing to be inferior to that of a biological individual.
* A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law - Data can and will protect himself if endangered. A good example being his refusal to allow himself to be experimented upon.
Insurrection establishes that Data has, effectively, a moral core to his programming that is designed to protect him should he become damaged from being exploited or manipulated. At its most basic level it allows him to determine right from wrong even if that's all he knows.
| 38 |
ELI5: Why does something travelling at supersonic speeds make a loud bang?
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With my fairly limited knowledge of physics I would guess it has something to do with the distortion of sound waves, similar to [red-shifted light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift), but that doesn't seem right to me.
| 38 |
When things fly through the air, they produce sound waves. As long as the thing is flying slower than the speed of sound, the sound waves can propagate in front of the object and the waves don't really overlap very much.
However, when an object breaks the speed of sound, sound waves created by the object can no longer keep up with the object itself, and the object passes the sound waves as it makes them. The sound waves are now thrown out behind the object and to the side, like a wake on a boat. They also overlap and combine with each other, making a huge BOOM of noise where before there would have been a continuous roar at a lower volume.
I hope that helps.
| 25 |
CMV: There should be an option to commit suicide for the purpose of organ donation.
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There are currently 80,000 people in the US on organ donor waiting lists. Approximately 50,000 people in the US commit suicide each year. Even if just one in twenty of those suicides were to volunteer to have their organs harvested in exchange for assisted suicide, that injects 2,500 warm bodies a year into the organ donation program.
A single donor can potentially save up to 8 other lives. Many more lives enhanced through tissue donation. It can also give the donor a chance to die a meaningful death that can bring some good, rather then living living as a burden, or killing themselves and leaving a net amount of damage behind.
However medical ethics prohibit the killing of non terminal patients. In my opinion, the edict, “Do not kill,” has become outdated as it it was drafted before the invention of live organ organ donation as a live saving procedure and and must be reevaluated in this light. The grief of one suicide must be weighed in context against the cost of treating the suicidal person as well as the benefit of potentially 8 other lives; if assisting in the suicide does have a net benefit, then it should not be done. If it does, then the physician should be free to open the option for an assisted suicide.
That said, I don’t imagine that implementing such a program would be simple. There would be push back from medical professionals that would hesitate against killing patients, even if it means many more would be saved. And this program I’d imagine would only slightly stem the flow of patients needing organs as the population grows larger and older.
CMV: is there some flaw or argument against this position that I have not yet seen?
_____
> *This is a footnote from the CMV moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!*
| 106 |
1 suicidal people are usually the elderly or people down on their luck, both types are not people who tend to have healthy organs
2 ethical forms of suicide and forms of suicide that allows organs to be harvested rarely overlap.
3 suicidal patients who are otherwise healthy are usually mentally ill, to get assisted suicide you need to be mentally fit enough to request it.
| 39 |
Does the air inside the tires of a moving car move inside them?
| 84 |
Yes, in multiple ways. When the tire is stationary, the air molecules are still constantly moving and bumping into both each other and the sides of its container. When the tire is moving, the molecules that hit the sides of the container (the spinning tire) are flung in the direction of the spin, causing the air to generally spin in the same direction as the tire, albeit in a delayed fashion (the air will be delayed to get "up to speed" as well as delayed to stop spinning inside the tire when the tire stops). ~~However, the air molecules do not actually move any faster than they normally do -- they just change direction.~~
EDIT: There is a change of velocity in the air molecules when spinning, however while the change is relatively small compared to their velocity when the tire is at rest, there is a change present. Although, the heat caused by the friction of the road on the tire contributes considerably more velocity to the air molecules in comparison.
| 37 |
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CMV: The way anti smoking ads are presented needs to be seriously reconsidered.
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We've all seen those ads that shows someone, probably in a grey hoodie, in a dark background smoking a cigarette. They tend to highlight them having a large amount of smoke, which makes the cigarette look disgusting. Except that only looks disgusting to those of us who find smoking disgusting.
​
Those ads are targeted to people who do smoke, and therefore find that "disgusting" smoke attractive. That's what they crave. Imagine if someone is actively trying to quite smoking, but then sees an ad like that, highlighting what to them is what they enjoy.
​
I designed this to highlight my idea [https://imgur.com/a/TL5ZuVJ](https://imgur.com/a/TL5ZuVJ). (Disclaimer, I'm not actually against eating hamburgers and I'm a bit of a fat ass myself). Imagine if you were on a diet and you saw that? This ad probably acts more as an ad for McDonalds than it does for Anti Obesity, and so a smoking ad of the same type would act more like an ad for Marlboro than for anti smoking.
| 27 |
I was always under the impression that those ads were targeted at the people who might start smoking, not current smokers trying to quit. To a non smoker that doesn't have those craving this wouldn't be seen as attractive
The shit on the cigarette packages (black lungs, fucked up mouths, etc) are targetted at current smokers, and is probably the most effective way to persuade them. That or showing them how much money they throw away each month
| 16 |
ELI5: why somes species don't have their own body heat (like reptiles) and rely on the environment's temperature when the combustion of sugar in the blood releases energy and heat (and allows us to have our own body temperature)?
| 66 |
There's more to body heat than producing energy.
You are right, "cold" blooded animals do produce body heat. However, they don't retain it. There are a few reasons for this.
They don't regulate their production of body heat. They don't produce more when they're cold by doing things like shivering.
They don't constrict blood vessels to move blood away from their skin to reduce the loss of body heat to the environment.
The reason they don't is that cold blooded came first. Warm blood animals evolved to be warm blooded instead of being cold blooded.
There are disadvantages to being warm blooded. One is that it requires a lot more food. Warm blooded animals have to eat a lot more food to maintain their body temperature. A lot of cold blooded animals can go very long periods without eating. Warm blooded animals have to be more active so that they can be, well, more active. They're always closer to starving to death than cold blooded animals. In fact, some smaller warm blooded animals are in constant danger of starving to death if they don't keep eating all day.
| 83 |
|
ELI5: What exactly is radiation/ radiation poisoning and why aren't there ways to "flush" it out of your system?
| 77 |
Think of radiation as little tiny bullets, that smash into the molecules that make up your cells, breaking them apart.
If enough of your molecules get smashed, then you have "radiation poisoning," which is really just the symptoms associated with that kind of damage. But note, it's not like what we normally think of as poisoning, because there's no "poison" left. The damage is already done, and it's done at the atomic level.
That's why it can't just be flushed. The body needs to recover from the damage, not remove the "toxin" that caused the damage.
| 83 |
|
If Venus and Earth are approximately the same size, why is Venus' atmosphere so much thicker?
|
I'd heard years ago from a forgotten source that the reason is because of the fact that our moons mass is particularly high compared to ours (highest ratio in the solar system) and that over time the moons gravity had pulled a lot of our atmosphere out into space where it dispersed.
When I mentioned this in a discussion about exoplanets and how it is likely a lot of them will be uninhabitable since most of them probably won't have moons as large as ours and therefore will have much thicker atmospheres everyone pretty much told me I was wrong and downvoted me. I went to find the source for this but could not. I left it at that, but then I remembered Venus, and how it has no moon and has a much thicker atmospere. So I'm wondering, if the lack of moons around Venus as opposed to the very large moon around Earth isn't the reason for the much different atmospheres on these two planets, what is?
| 244 |
Most of Earth's CO₂ is bound in the carbonates (such as limestone). When CO₂ dissolves in water, it forms CO₃²⁻ anions, which react with several metal cations to form insoluble carbonate minerals, such as limestone or dolomite.
When you heat carbonate minerals, the CO₂ is released, and carbonates turn into oxides (for example, limestone CaCO₃ turns into lime CaO, releasing the CO₂ in air).
Since Venus has no surface water, but is geologically active (though not as much as Earth), it cannot reabsorb CO₂ into the crust as limestone, while it can release it into the atmosphere from mineral deposits. Earth has massive amounts of CO₂ bound in limestone, while pretty much all of Venus's limestone is in its atmosphere.
Regarding the atmospheric composition; the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is of biological origin. The primordial atmosphere of Earth had no or very little oxygen.
| 91 |
If the deepest we have drilled into earth is 7.5 miles, not exceeding earths crust, how do we have detailed descriptions/illustrations of what the other of the thousands of miles look like? For example earths core, the mantle and inner core.
| 34 |
Seismic waves. Earthquakes.
When there is an earthquake different waves will move through the earth, through the different parts of the earth, at different speeds and in different ways. We can measure this at different points and begin to paint a picture. What you are seeing on your seisometre took x time longer to be seen compared to the one closer by, so it traveled through at this speed, or was reflected in this way...
We also have other clues. Gravity we can see how strong it is at different points and heights and work out some density calculations, this adds more information, as well as the magnetic field that's produced meaning we'd have some more liquid parts, and volcanos bringing stuff up from deeper underground.
All of these help paint a picture, and with them together we can deduce what the unseen layers must be.
| 25 |
|
What is fire, and why does it form the shape that it does (like in a candle flame, for example)?
|
I am guessing that it is made out of some sort of matter (photons presumably). But if this is so, what gives the shape it is?
| 19 |
If you have ever sat around a campfire, or a warm fireplace in your living room,
or even the burners on a gas stove, you will agree that fire seems quite
substantial. You can see it, and you can see the instantaneous effects when
something flammable comes in contact with it. Paper blackens and burns,
plastic melts and also burns. But what is fire? What exactly is the yellow or blue
flame made of? How does it work?
The simple answer is that the fire you see is a chemical reaction. Nothing more, nothing less. How that
chemical reaction manifests itself into a visible flame is quite fascinating
though, so bear with me.
To make this explanation simple, I'll first describe the fire you see on your gas
stove. All flames work in a similar manner, but Methane in particular is easy to
describe.
If we looked at a methane molecule, listed in chemical books as CH4, it would
consist of 1 carbon atom with 4 hydrogen atoms attached to it.
Methane by itself will do nothing. If you filled an air-tight room with methane
and tried to light it, nothing would happen. To make fire, we need
oxygen. Luckily, about 21% of the air we breath is oxygen.
Single oxygen atoms by themselves do not float around in the air we breathe. In fact, few
atoms like to be by themselves, and will normally attach to others in clumps.
Oxygen atoms are therefore most commonly found attached as a pair.
Therefore, an oxygen molecule is listed as O2, which means two oxygen atoms
bonded together.
If you mixed oxygen and methane in an air-tight room, nothing would happen
either. At room temperature, there is not enough energy for the methane and
oxygen molecules to break their atomic bonds and react. However, all we need
is a small amount of energy in a tightly focused spot, such as a spark, and the
reactions can start.
Okay, now to the fire. Assume we have a methane molecule, and an oxygen
molecule (CH4 + O2), and enough energy (the spark, or previous reactions) for
those molecules to break their bonds. Note that we must put energy IN to the
reaction for the molecules to break apart. There is no heat generated in this
part of the process.
Hydrogen atoms and Oxygen atoms are rather unstable by themselves, and
they will want to bond with something (this is a bit simplified, this gets even
more fascinating in detail). One of the oxygen atoms will attach to the carbon
atom (CO), two of the hydrogen atoms will join together (H2), and the remaining oxygen and two hydrogen atoms will
join (H2O). When these atoms bond together, they release the stored energy in
them that made them unstable to begin with. This is the heat you feel, and is
able to continue the reaction by providing enough energy for other methane
and oxygen molecules to react. This is why we don't need a continuous spark
for a gas stove, the reaction itself is enough to keep it going as long as the
methane and oxygen continue to be supplied.
This first part of the reaction happened very quickly, almost to the point where
you could say that the original molecules broke apart and re-bonded almost
instantly. That is not the end of the story though. Some of the resulting
molecules haven't shed enough energy yet, and are still unstable. Another
oxygen molecule will be added to the reaction, adding to the CO and the H2
atoms, so we end up with CO2 and H2O. This is called oxidization, and takes
considerably longer than the first part of the reaction... about a millisecond or
so, and produces less energy. If there is not enough oxygen in the mixture, this
second process wont be able to complete, and that is when you will get a sooty
flame.
So to summarize this whole process, you take a methane molecule and two
oxygen molecules, add a bit of energy to get them excited, and you end up
with a carbon-dioxide molecule (CO2) and two water molecules (H2O) and
energy.
CH4 + O2 + O2 --> CO2 + H2O + H2O (In other words, methane and oxygen
become carbon-dioxide and water - pretty clean too).
But where is the heat coming from? If we put in a little bit of energy (the spark)
to start the reaction, where is the energy coming from that is causing the heat
and light?
The simple answer is that it is coming from the methane molecule. Hydrogen
and carbon atoms dont really like to bond together very easily. It takes a
considerable amount of energy to get them to do so. That energy remains
'stored' in the molecule and is released when a reaction with other molecules is
able to take place. This is equivilent to pushing a large boulder up a hill and
then jamming a little rock under it so that it cant roll down. By using a little bit
of energy to unjam the little rock, you release a large amount of 'stored' energy
as the bolder rampages down the hill.
The light you see is just the visible spectrum of the energy released by the
combustion (and refracted through the plasma). The fire moves and waves as
oxygen is consumed in one location and the reaction moves to where more is
available.
The same process happens for other combustibles also, such as wood in a
campfire, wax in a candle and petrol in your car. Same principle, just slightly
different chemical reactions.
| 11 |
Can someone explain source code directories to me? (e.g., src, makefile, include, etc)
|
I've been googling this for two days but i can't figure it out. I compiled or built a Fortran package from source and don't really understand what I did or what each of the folders inside the source directory mean. All I know is the src contains the main instructions. But what is in the include folder? Why does it exist?
This is a broad question, but basically I want to understand organization of source code and the process of compiling it or building it into an executable. Thanks!
| 17 |
Unfortunately it's different for almost every project and idioms are different in different programming languages and the cultures surrounding them.
There's some common rules of thumb but these are fuzzy at best.
src - the majority of the code
build - intermediate build results
dist - compiled / build results
docs - documentation, sometimes auto-generated
lib - library the contains the bulk of the code's logic, but less of the IO (this might just be a Haskell thing)
include(s) + deps - header files or dependencies
How the code gets built is a much harder question to answer concisely, there's more than a few courses on this subject.
| 11 |
CMV: In American elementary schools, American history classes should focus more on the Constitution than on the Declaration of Independence.
|
While I was still going to public school in America, most of my history classes focused more on the Declaration of Independence, rather than the Constitution. We focused so much on it, I thought that the Declaration of Independence was the most important document America ever had. While it definitely isn't *un*important, the DoI was more a list of reasons why the King of England sucked and why they wanted independence as their own nation. The Constitution, however, is the backbone to how America is run, far more relevant to modern American life than the Declaration.
Granted, 1st and 2nd graders might not fully understand what the Constitution is and it's easier to teach the Declaration to them, but I think that 4th and 5th graders would definitely be able to understand the basics of the Constitution, Bill of Rights and amendments, perhaps even 3rd graders.
The Declaration is great for when you want to teach kids about the Revolutionary War. However, there's not much of a need to spend so much time on it, since, in my opinion, it's just not as relevant to American life as the Constitution. While it's important, it's more important to teach about history that had a bigger impact on today's world. The Constitution is a prime example for American life, since it's still being used and referenced all the time today! When was the last time you heard of the Declaration of Independence in the mainstream news? Okay, Nicholas Cage stole it in a movie once, but other than that, nothing much. The Constitution is *constantly* in the news, however, and in order for any of the branches of government to do anything, they have to look up the Constitution to see if it's okay.
I think that if we teach American kids early on what the Constitution is, they're more likely to know how the law actually works, how the country is run and the actual intent the Founding Fathers had for America. They might also become more interested in politics in their adult lives, since they would actually know how the American government is structured. Plus, with the Constitution, it would also help teach students how America changed over time, and what the values and standards were for American people living a hundred or two hundred years ago. It might even get them to debate amongst themselves if they agree with parts of the Constitution or not, and it's important for kids to learn how to properly have a debate and not just a bunch of angry arguments.
Most of the kids I know can barely name any amendments, except for like freedom of speech (and they seem to be under the impression that freedom of speech means that you can say whatever you want and shouldn't have to have any social repercussions for it), right to guns and women's suffrage. It's almost like they only take the time to learn about the Constitution when they need to win an argument. Now, my "generation", for lack of a better word, is still young and we haven't really fully developed into adults yet, but how can a country be functional if the people don't know how their Constitution works, including the parts they *don't* like about it?
_________
**TL;DR:** Kids would benefit more from learning about the Constitution at an early age rather than the Declaration of Independence.
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| 183 |
Ummm... we're taught both...
But really, the Declaration is a simple historical document, and so is best taught in a history class. It goes over, in excruciating detail, all of the reasons for the American Revolution.
The Constitution is a legal document, and if you're going to go over it in detail that's probably best done in a law class. The intricacies of this document are important for people to understand, but they are pretty subtle and take a lot of explanation.
There's nothing that overtly political about the Declaration, either... teaching the Constitution is a *land mine*.
| 40 |
How much holy water do I need to drink before I become toxic to vampires?
| 24 |
There is no way to make yourself toxic to vampires by drinking holy water.
Holy water is pure H2O blessed by the grace of a higher deity. It's nothing but hydrogen, oxygen, and benevolent deific power. If you add anything else, the vessel becomes an impure container for the energy and it is returned to being normal water.
This includes saliva, stomach acid and any of the other numerous substances inside your human body. It stops being holy water the second it is drunk, and though its holy spark is imbued into the drinker's body, the feeble flicker of a blessing is nothing compared to the bright spirit of a living being, so it has no real effect, other than to be unusually refreshing and bouy the drinker's spirits.
No, a better option for becoming toxic to vampires to fill yourself with holy energy straight from the tap. Purify your spirit, become close to your deity, and let its power fill you up. Have no fear and be sure that you are under its protection, and carry a holy symbol of its power.
Holy water just burns. Holy power *kills*.
| 27 |
|
Question : decided to learn about Existentialism, what to read ?
|
Hello, I've decided to learn about Nihilism and Existentialism, what books should I read and in what order ?
Most answers I found just throw authors names - Kirkegaard, Nietzsche , Sartre , Frankel ...
I decided to start from Kirkegaard - Fear and Trembling, Is thats the right chose ?
Sorry if it's weird question, philosophy is very new realm for me.
| 41 |
The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone de Beauvoir. She never got the same fame as Sartre and Camus but this is definitely a very approachable and understandable text compared to others. That and Sartre's Existentialism is a Humanism are a good quick pair and then if you feel like tackling Being and Nothingness and other massive tomes, go for it.
Also, for a great read which is about 50% philosophy 50% history/biography, check out Sarah Bakewell's "At the Existentialist Cafe" which is a great overview of existentialism and its major players. Draws a nice narrative line from Heidegger and Husserl through Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, and many others.
| 30 |
[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer] Why does Rudolph's red nose stand out so much amongst all the other abnormalities the reindeer have that are accepted at face-value?
|
Rudolph's mom has thick, human-like eyelashes and pink eyelids.
The coach reindeer has flexible enough lips to seal around a whistle and blow it.
​
Not to mention, the people teasing him are the only twelve or so reindeer born with the ability to fucking fly, let alone fast enough to visit every Christmas-celebrating household with children in the entire world. The original 12 had to eat magic corn for this ability.
​
They also, for some reason, all have their antlers at Christmas, despite male reindeer normally shedding them in late fall.
​
And you're telling me Santa isn't a misfit himself? A millennia-old human being who rules a kingdom of elves with the industrial capacity to produce enough toys to give away to every Christian child in the world for free with overnight shipping and doesn't use that capacity in a more profitable way?
| 55 |
Note how people who are abnormally strong are treated in our society vs those with harmless but unsightly skin conditions.
Generally, the difference between "a misfit" and "an exceptional individual" is if their difference can be used by the powerful (and, indeed, Rudolph does go from the former category to the latter once the powerful *do* figure out to exploit it). All of the other reindeer have useful abnormalities. Rudolph, initially, doesn't.
| 49 |
ELI5: Why do men play baseball, but women play softball? What is the difference?
| 161 |
Softball was invented in a windy day in 1887 in Chicago, Ill., by a group of men waiting for results of the Harvard-Yale football game. While they were waiting, they turned a glove tied together into a large ball, with a broomstick as the bat. It was first regarded as a way to play baseball indoors, and after it gained popularity throughout the country, it was named softball. Softball was created for men who could not play baseball or did not want to play outside.
After World War II, insurance companies were rising, and injuries from baseball became more costly than ever. More and more men started playing softball. Fewer women played baseball.
Meanwhile, American society moved from physical labor in the fields and farms to mental labor in the offices. There was a fear in society from the idea that men would be seen as feminine, and that the roles were changing.
Men too were now 'coming inside' while women became more active
Later in the century, Title IX, the 1972 law mandating gender equity in federally funded education programs, helped girls' sports grow. But it did not do much for women's baseball. Title IX did not mandate the kind of sport programs schools should have... only that women and men's sports should be funded equally.
Because softball and baseball were deemed equivalent sports during the 1970s, schools were within their rights in denying girls baseball when softball was available. And thus it kind of "evolved" into what it is today
| 129 |
|
ELI5: How do they decide on which direction to point the James Webb telescope?
| 18 |
By committee of course! Research proposals are submitted to a review board which then will rank them based on things like potential research value, etc. The end goal is to book as much of the telescope's time as possible and to work out a schedule where it can move the most easily between points of observation. The telescope can't point just anywhere at any given time as some areas of the sky are only visible during certain times of the year, meaning scheduling certain windows of observation is important.
| 30 |
|
ELI5: Why do dogs lick people?
|
Does it represent a particular emotion on their part?
| 52 |
The licking action is a sign of submission. When a dog wants to let another dog know that he's no threat he will do things that young puppies do to make him seem less aggressive. Sometimes it's done in excitement as well, to welcome the pack leader home. This comes from asking their mother to vomit up what prey she ate while she was gone.
The dogs that do this most often are ones that are bred for keeping their juvenile traits, or dogs that are purely pets. Most dogs that work for a living show their respect and adoration in more adult ways.
The exception is the slow, lazy lick of your hand or foot while you're both relaxing. This seems to be a form of affection, although they don't seem to do it to each other very often.
| 37 |
[Percy Jackson] Why doesn't anyone use guns?
|
As far as I know, they are only mentioned once: a centaur uses a paintball gun shooting paint mixed with Celestial Bronze (which was extremely effective) and Piper McLean being offered a modified shotgun by Annabeth Chase. So they have them, but as far as I know, not a single half-blood uses one. Not even as a backup or for emergencies. Is it 'cause camp would be too boring if training consisted of holding down a trigger?
Also, the cabins Athena and Hephaestus are supposedly home to some extremely smart people. So why don't they consider Celestial Bronze fragmentation grenades or armor coated in C. Bronze? The paintball indicates that mere touch is lethal to monsters. Is there some elusive sentence snuggled deep in *The Demigod Files* that explains it?
| 16 |
Waste of resource. Celestial bronze is extremely rare to the point that using it in for bullets or grenades is wasteful. You can recover and reuse melee weapons and arrows. You can't recover the million fragments of a Celestial bronze bullet or grenade
| 13 |
[Constantine] How did John deceive Lucifer first time?
|
In their talk towards the end Lucifer asked John, "Is it another one of your cons?" It means when John committed suicide as a teenager and went to hell, he somehow conned Lucifer to get out of it and gain life again. Any idea how he did it?
| 36 |
Constantine sold his soul three times to three of the strongest Demons of Hell. Finding out and knowing that a three way war would weaken the Demons and leave God the actual victor, they decided not to collect Constantine's soul and revived him.
| 53 |
Help for job after long pause ?
|
Hi,
I really need help in this. I am a housewife living in Canada. I am planning to resume job after a long hiatus ( 8 years ). I did my MCA and worked at least 8 years ago in India as .Net developer, then I came to Canada. Now I want to start job and I know technology has changed a lot and pretty much with kids don’t want to do coding much ( little bit is OK ),
So to be in pace I am planning to do a certificate course or diploma from a college here.
I feel that cyber security has a bright future and if I learn tools then I can accomplice the job with less coding ( I am not sure about this ).
Can some one suggest me what course and from which college should I do course ?
Is cyber security career is good ? If not then can someone suggest ?
I will really appreciate...
| 32 |
What’s good for you is what you want to do. If cyber security interests you then that is what you should do. Once a programmer, always a programmer. Logic is logic. The only thing that changes is the syntax.
| 14 |
I believe that both Feminists and MRAs have valid points, but neither side truly fights for equality.. CMV.
|
On /r/MensRights, no one ever seems to acknowledge the glass ceiling or prostitution (which I think should be legal to 'clean it up' but right now causes harm to many women). However, on the various feminist sites I've seen, no one seems to acknowledge unequal child custody laws and don't seem to want to give up extra privileges that women have such as being allowed to avoid the draft.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that there are two many groups fighting for one side and not enough fighting for true equality. Change my view - are men or women much more oppressed than the other? Are feminist groups and MRA groups truly campaigning for equality between men and women? Why do we even still *have* separate movements - why don't we all band together and fight for equality?
Also, note that I'm only talking about the Western World. There's no doubt women are much more oppressed in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia.
| 39 |
Depending on who you ask, that's by design.
Some feminists say the fight for equality. Some feminists say they fight for women's rights. These two things are not necessarily the same.
I don't generally hear that the MRM is a force for equality in general in the same way that Feminism claims to be - rather they have chosen to scope themselves to just Men's Rights issues. That is, they specifically target equal treatment in the areas where men are disadvantaged. It would be outside the scope of their movement to pursue equality in other areas.
| 24 |
[Wall-E] Why did the humans equip EVE with a gun?
|
Ok, so EVE was designed with the purpose of retrieving the plant by humans in space. We know this.
It can't be for clearing obstacles, as she has an attack mode that is triggered by slight movement and noise almost instantaneously.
This leads me to ask, what were the humans expecting her to find? Is there things living on Earth that Wall-E hasn't encountered? Horrible hybrid creatures, evolved to survive the harsh post-apocalyptic climate? If so, why don't we see any of them?
| 54 |
B+L was most likely in the automated warfare business as well. Eva tends to shoot at anything that moves, programmed to defend herself from assault robots that are still functioning but with bad or corrupt cores who attack without specified orders. There weren't robots deployed to the area we see in the movie but she needs that gun to keep her safe (and potentially the plant life safe) from killer robots in former war zones.
| 59 |
[Halo] How strong is a Spartan III compared to a Spartan II?
|
Obviously a spartan II in full Mjolnir is going to be a lot stronger, but how would they compare if they were both unarmored? Are the spartan IIIs worse, or are the augmentations better?
| 18 |
Spartan IIs and IIIs have roughly equal enhancements. Outside of their armor they’re pretty much on par in terms of raw strength and speed. The differences are primarily that the IIs were all pretty much peak humans even before they were augmented, the IIs have significantly more combat experience, and the IIs in general got access to better equipment (at least during the human-covenant war).
The augmentation tech had advanced enough by the time they made the IIIs that they could be a little less selective. The IIIs were still great candidates, but not necessarily the absolute peak humans that the IIs were. The IIIs were also meant to be…not necessarily expendable, but much cheaper to deploy and less costly to lose. A single suit of Mjolnir armor costed as much as a full on destroyer, so they weren’t gunna hand those out to the bulk Spartans. Instead the IIIs got SPI, which was still some good armor. But it didn’t give them a boost anywhere close to what Mjolnir gave to the IIs. And the majority of the Spartan IIIs just really didn’t have a chance to reach the same level. Most of them were killed after just a handful of missions.
| 22 |
ELI5: Morning Wood [NSFW]
|
Ok, well maybe like I'm 15
| 55 |
The penis can actually get erect several times during a nights sleep, not just on waking. As we go in and out of deep sleep cycles, the brain shuts off several chemicals, one of which prevents erections. The flow of blood to the penis is quite healthy, as increased oxygen flows and so repair is enhanced. It can also occur due to a full bladder, so the erection can stop you from peeing yourself at night. So don’t be embarrassed, just give the old boy a pat on the head and say thanks!
| 102 |
ELI5: Why are imported chinese products of such low quality and price?
|
And are they the same in China itself?
| 59 |
Because you usually don't know its from China when its high quality. If your going to go through the quality assurance process to keep the quality up, your also likely to brand the product and not advertise its Chinese origin.
| 51 |
ELI5: What gives something it's taste? Does pyrite taste like table salt because they are both cubes?
| 212 |
Your tongue is covered with 2 types of taste proteins, receptors and ion channels, each of which have multiple subtypes.
The receptors have a pocket into which only certain molecules can fit, and when the receptor pocket interacts with one of these molecules, it is activated. The activated receptor then sends a signal into the cell that it is attached to, which gets translated into an electrical signal that moves to the brain, where it is interpreted as a taste.
Ion channels are similar, in that they send an electrical signal to the brain, but instead, these proteins just allow specific molecules to enter the cell which then activates the electrical signal.
Sweet, umami, and bitter use the receptors, salty and sour use the ion channels.
The important part is that each type of protein is VERY specific, meaning that they will only react to molecules that share similar chemical or physical properties. But as long as the receptor or channel is functioning, they will send the same signal to your brain. So, for example, if you eat white sugar or if you eat an apple, the type of sugar in each is different (glucose vs fructose), but they are both picked up by the same sweet receptor and so both of them will activate a sweet signal in your brain.
So pyrite tastes like table salt (who is eating pyrite?!) because they both work through the same channel proteins, and send the same flavor signal to the brain
What tends to give something its taste is that any given food releases multiple molecules which can be picked up by a combination of different receptors/channels
| 76 |
|
why can cold temps and sugar cause tooth pain?
|
I know it's somewhat common, to have sensitive teeth (I should probably just go buy some sensodyne..) but I'm curious as to what's actually happening. Why is it that when I eat something like a gummy bear, or drink very very cold drinks, my teeth are in a lot of pain? What kind of reactions are going on that causes this?
| 17 |
Your teeth have had their enamel worn down exposing dentin tubules. These little tubules go to inside of the tooth where the nerves are located. Pressure changes due cold water in the tubules can cause pain because of the interaction with the nerves. Not exactly sure why sugar causes pain too unless it has to do with the high concentration pulling water out of the dentin tubules causing pressure changes.
Source: Had a summer internship at a toothpaste company
| 10 |
ELI5: How do the helmet microphones that a helicopter or small plane pilot uses only pick up voice and not the helicopter engine?
| 17 |
The use active noise reduction. There are two microphones, one pointed towards the mouth and one pointed away. One picks up speech + noise and the other just picks up noise. Subtract the 2nd signal from the first and you are just left with the speech.
Similar technology is used in telephones, noise cancelling headphones, fetal heart beat monitors, etc.
| 22 |
|
ELI5: How the hell plants/weeds can literally push through concrete without any access to the sun?
|
Seriously, what sort of voodoo is nature pulling? How does photosynthesis even take place which would cause the plants to grow, much less hulk out and push through stuff far more dense.
| 25 |
Seeds aren't just plant-growing factories, they are also like batteries. Without any light or leaves to photosynthesise it, the plant burns stored chemical energy in the seed, analogous to a starving human burning through their fat reserves. This is also why seeds can be so nourishing for animals to eat.
| 22 |
[DC] Many seemingly common occupations of heroes should be outrageously time consuming. How can a fortune 500 CEO be a superhero and have time to sleep and work?
|
The same could go for many jobs.
Reporters, Police or Military, Government, all of these are 40-80 hour weeks. Where does the time come?
Especially with Heroes like Batman and Green Arrow with no superpowers.
| 126 |
Batman has sleep deprivation, peak human stamina + mind, and a great manager Lucius Fox.
Green Arrow has a great manager and uses himself as more of a symbol for liberal corporation rather than the actual worker.
Tony Stark is Iron Man, Iron man is Tony Stark 24/7.
| 118 |
[Life] Humans are very good at killing other species. Killing an alien in a space station with no weapons is one thing. Doing it on Earth is another. Is mankind doomed or is fighting off Calvin and its soon to be numerous descendants possible?
|
Calvin is very obviously hostile but does not seem to kill all life on sight, it didn't kill that final astronaut when trapped with him in the pod? Would Calvin destroy the entire biosphere?
| 62 |
While humans have caused many species to go extinct, it is mostly through over-hunting and habitat destruction. Calvin doesn’t seem to be dependent on any particular habitat and it is better at hunting us than we are at hunting it.
With most of these rapidly growing organisms your best bet is to respond quickly and thoroughly eliminate every trace. A warning was sent out, so maybe a response can be prepared in time. The entire crew of the ISS was lost, so presumably people in charge will be taking this seriously.
What concerns me is that it can grow from a single cell to an animate people devouring organism in a matter of hours. It already has access to the fishermen and whatever they have caught to grow.
I think it comes down to whether the creature can divide. If it remains one entity then the larger it gets the easier it will be to locate and contain. If it can spread spores or something though, there might not be any way to contain them all before they can spread over the Earth. It could just spread pieces of itself around the ocean floor and just slowly grow and spread more until it is far too large to stop.
| 28 |
Why do hibernating animals not lose their muscles, when sleeping for longer periods?
|
Our muscles get cut out after a week of no use/training, but what about hibernating animals who sleep for longer periods? I know that they get their energy from fat storage and lower their temperature and cell activity to reduce energy demand, but do their muscles not need some kind of stimulus to create the reason for muscles to exist and be functioning when the animal wakes up?
| 16 |
Hibernators still tend to lose a good proportion of the protein (4 – 65%, depending on the species... less in bears, more in small hibernators) and strength (~25% over 130 days in bears) in their muscles during hibernation. Animals in fasting and hibernating states will always lose protein from muscles, which are catabolized to provide amino acids for gluconeogenesis and for obligate protein biosynthesis elsewhere in other tissues. These losses just tend to be much less than in bedridden humans (~90% loss of strength over a similar period).
The key adaptations that occur in hibernators is the reduction of 1) protein turnover (catabolism and anabolism is reduced), and 2) amino acid catabolism (via the urea cycle). Protein sparing tends to occur in fasting animals anyways, but the incredible reduction in the metabolic rates of hibernators leads to the further down regulation of these processes and the preservation of a large proportion of their pre-hibernating lean body mass.
Also, in hibernating bears specifically, the balance between protein catabolism and anabolism is maintained; proteins involved in skeletal muscle and liver protein biosynthesis are up regulated to balance out the catabolism of proteins that occurs. This is energetically expensive, but is likely the reason why bears do not undergo disuse muscle atrophy. There is also some degree of urea recycling to scavenge any amino acids that are degraded via the urea cycle, and this is presumably accomplished by the gut microflora because this biochemical pathway does not exist in vertebrates. These processes are likely the key factors that allow bears to conserve the vast majority of their lean body mass, muscle strength, and nitrogen over the several months that they hibernate.
Further reading/sources:
Carey, H. V., Andrews, M. T., Martin, S. L. Mammalian Hibernation: Cellular and Molecular Responses to Depressed Metabolism and Low Temperature. Physiol Rev 83 (2003) 1158-1181.
Fedorov, V. B., Goropashnaya, A. V., Toien, O., Stewart, N. C., Gracey, A. Y., Chang, C., Qin, S., Pertea, G., Quackenbush, J., Showe, L. C., Boyer, B. B., Barnes, B. M. Elevated expression of protein biosynthesis genes in liver and muscle of hibernating black bears (Ursus americanus). Physiol Genomics 37 (2009) 108-118.
Hellgren, E. C. Physiology of hibernation in bears. Ursus 10 (1998) 467-477.
| 20 |
[Warhammer 40K] What was the Imperium doing for 18,000 years?
|
Even the most pessimistic predictions place the Singularity around 2100, by 10,00 AD the Imperium should have been so far above everything in the galaxy that there was absolutely no threat. Did humanity just sit around for 18,000 years until big wars happened?
| 36 |
The Warp Drive is actually listed as not being invented until the 18th Millennium, so before that humanity probably traversed the stars in large sub-light colony ships. The Warp Drive signified the start of major human expansion into the galaxy and also the start of the Dark Age Of Technology, which lasted from the 18th through to the 25th Millennium. The Dark Age was the peak of Mankind's power in the galaxy, a time of wondrous and fantastical technologies that have all been lost to the ages. Around M25, the Men Of Iron, AI's that we're built to serve humanity, all rebelled at once, almost wiping out humanity and plunging it into the Age Of Strife, however, the humans eventually triumphed but all remaining human colonies were pretty much severed from each other. Around four to five thousand years later, the Emperor would reveal himself and begin the Great Crusade, which then led onto the Horus Heresy, and so forth. The Imperium itself was not actually formed until the Emperor had united all of Terra, and it is not known what humanity referred to itself as before the formation of the Imperium.
| 24 |
Is it possible to halt a light beam with light?
|
I was reading about destructive interference, and I suspect that this might give some insight to my question, but I don't know if it totally answers it.
Basically if there are two lasers perpendicular to one another, could one beam act as a wall so that the other does not shine beyond it? If it is possible to do is it dependent on the actual wavelength of the light, or is it relative (as in a blue laser would block a red laser but not a green one)?
Thanks in advance!
| 80 |
Light belongs to a class of particles that do not bounce or recoil off one another, they simply pass right through each other. This may make more sense if you think of light as a wave - waves do not bounce or halt one another.
| 27 |
ELI5: What exactly is Freemasonry? What do Freemasons do?
|
I met someone with the logo on their car the other day, and I also saw a Reddit post detailing a found Freemason badge from WW2. No conspiracy or anything, I’m just interested in what it is.
| 18 |
It's pretty much a community club for r
people. They've got weird initiations and all, but for the most part; they pretty much sit in a room together and have cake.
If you're part of them though, it can be a great place to find employment as most of the people there are business owners and will throw you a job, that and they can help you with finances.
It's a great place to find information, not any kind of insider info on government or world order types of shit, but more like which people are good to make business deals with, who will fuck you over, who to hire and who to avoid hiring if you're someone with a business, shit like that.
That's pretty much it.
Source: Family has been involved for centuries.
| 52 |
[Lovecraft/Meta] Are the great old ones, elder gods, etc. as overpowered as this sub makes them out to be?
|
I mean, at this point they might as well be completely omnipotent according to this sub. It doesn't matter how powerful or well organized an individual or group of individuals are. They can be powerful enough to destroy a universe like Goku, or capable of waging a war the likes of which early 20th century humans (folks of the mythos) never could like the Star Wars Galaxy and the Federation, it makes no difference seemingly. Even though in the call of Cthulhu it seemingly took a boat to the head to incapacitate or otherwise stop Cthulhu's attempt to reawaken. Honestly, are they really so overpowered? Remember, the humans of the mythos wouldn't even beat us 21st century man in a war.
| 19 |
Okay let's explain things. The Universe is inside Yog-Sothoth. Like, mathematically. The universe is a subset of things that are also Yog. Yog is the All-in-One and the One-in-All that defines the sweep of the universe, but is not limited by it.
One calls him and Azathoth co-rulers of the universe, but that is entirely a human understanding, for the blind idiot God cannot rule and Yog does not issue orders. Instead you might define the universe as a dream they are sharing, a dream that shall vanish if the Outer Gods in the court at the center of all things allow their terrible music to falter and Azathoth awakens for an instant-eternity.
In contrast Goku can punch a sun to death. Wow.
| 52 |
Why does python have a reputation for begin good with data?
| 32 |
Because it is extremely easy to use, setup and people have built tons of libraries and tools that make it easy to operate on datasets without much trouble
I’m sure that if you have used it before you can tell it’s essentially writing pseudocode
| 35 |
|
[Dawn of the Dead 1978] Is there any way they could have successfully fended off the bikers and retained the mall?
|
Let's say they knew they were coming, and had prep time. And for the hell of it, let's say Roger is still alive, to even the odds a tad more.
Could they survive the siege and keep the mall?
| 17 |
Not sure if steering locks were in a thing back then, but without seriously hampering their escape routes they could have positioned the trucks wheels so with steering locks, if going forward they would move into the solid walls of the mall (without enough speed to do any damage), and reversing would be into another truck, so they effectivly cannot be moved.
From this position, they have the height advange from the roof to pick off any bikers near the trucks. They could still be shot so it's not without risk.
It showed zombies wedged between the mall doors and the trucks, so any bikers crawling under the trucks would encounter them + they could be shot from the inside at distance with rifles while only having enough room to manoeuvre pistols, or mall group could have put plywood all over the glass doors so anyone between the trucks/doors couldn't do shit even with a gun.
If the mall people didn't care about a quick escape through the doors (as they had the helo) they could have completly disabled the trucks.
| 10 |
[Dark Souls] There's this one annoying undead that keeps barging into my home and attacking me to get my souls. I've killed him multiple times, to no avail. He always comes back. Has anyone had any success with imprisoning pesky undead with no means of self-harm, until they hollow completely?
| 20 |
Currently, someone's working on a more permanent solution, but they're being thrown into an Asylum to hollow for the meantime.
Report it to a guard and it should be taken there.
Either that, or they'll join Farron's Legion.
In distant lands, they've employed artificial soldiers to continually kill Undead each time they resurrect.
| 16 |
|
ELI5: If all carbohydrates get broken down to their most simple form, sugar, why is it unhealthy to just eat tablespoons of sugar?
| 127 |
Most of the dangers come from the glycemic response to these various foods.
Pure sugar with nothing to slow the absorption rate will spike your blood sugar. This causes your pancreas to release Insulin to counteract that spike, which in turn reduces your blood sugar below normal levels, so your body releases glucose into the blood stream to compensate, which spikes it again, causing your pancreas to release more insulin... Lather, rinse, repeat until your glucose levels have hit a steady baseline.
This yo-yo effect taxes your pancreas significantly, as well as has other downstream effects on your body.
The more effort it takes your body to absorb the sugars, the healthier it is for your system when consumed in moderation.
| 116 |
|
What is one thing no told you about programming that you wish you knew earlier?
| 35 |
Not that you could do much knowing it in advance, no one tells you soft skills are as important as actual programming. Not just for networking and interviews, but for actually doing your job. Very few developers are working with clear and unambiguous requirements written by technical people. Before you can start writing code, you often have to figure out what needs to be done by interrogating people who have no idea what they want over email or during meetings. Asking the right question can sometimes save you hours of work.
| 64 |
|
How do you reconcile the narrative that “getting by”is much harder nowadays with the data that appears to show real compensation increasing?
| 72 |
Well, the simple answer is, the narrative is wrong.
But I'd say a plausible explanation is; wealth isn't always obvious.
Consider what you'd consider average, relatively basic equipment for an apartment. Washing machine, fridge, oven, microwave, TV, laptop, and people also own cars, smartphones, etc. A lot of those things weren't nearly as commonplace 30 years ago, and others just straight up didn't exist. But now, they have become standard, and because "everybody" has them, they aren't seen as special, and people don't recognize that they simply have more *stuff* they spent their money on than they would have had 30 years ago.
Not to mention that it's easy to forget about the quality aspect of things. A low budget car now is way nicer, more economical, more powerful than a comparable car 40 years ago.
Of course on top of that you have other effects. People spend more on their education and take longer to enter the workforce, so obviously someone who's in their early 20s now is in a different position than 50 years ago. Doesn't mean it's a worse one in the long term.
| 85 |
|
ELI5: How is it possible to teach a person who is blind and deaf?
| 368 |
I'll stick your hand in water, and sign the word "water" into your hand. You'll eventually associate it. That is basically how it works. You slowly build up. You are presented something, and you are given the sign for it. Very similarly to how we learn to speak- we are presented something and given the word for it. Eventually, it advances into writing.
While it is more difficult and not as extensive, it (obviously) can and has been done.
| 235 |
|
Can insects/spiders get obese?
| 6,571 |
Arachnid keeper here! As far as arachnids go they can become obese from being overfed in captivity. You are very unlikely to find an obese arachnid in the wild as most arachnids are opportunistic feeders which means a meal is whatever comes their way at the time. It could be days, weeks or even months between their meals! They are built to survive like this though by storing energy in their bodies and that allows them to survive even a year without food!
For example, a tarantula that is obese will appear to have an extremely plump abdomen and will be rather slow compared to others of it's genus. An obese tarantula may run into quite a few problems also, such as trouble shedding their exoskeleton. A fall could also be life threatening as just enough height and it will burst, killing the tarantula.
I hope this has been insightful!
| 6,983 |
|
Do caves / cavern systems exist on Mars? If they do, how deep would we have to go to be in an area that is warm enough to support life?
| 53 |
There are believed to be lava tubes (pyroduct) on Mars similar to the Moon and even our own plant Earth. Little is known about how deep they can go. But we do know of their existence and we believe they are our best chance of survival in the harsh conditions outside of our atmosphere.
| 37 |
|
CMV: Every man demanding anal sex from a woman should try it himself first
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First off, I'm a heterosexual guy. This post is not about condemning anal sex, I myself take a lot of pleasure from it. But being engaged in the topic for quite some time, I've learned that it's more than a tempting taboo thing, but rather a very intimate act, requiring lots of trust, sympathy, and patience.
Now, not every man lacks that. And in a narrower sense, my main point is directed at men who consider anal sex to be a standard thing to do for women. In these cases, I imagine them to have zero understanding of what it means for a person to have an object inserted in their butt. The anus is quite different to the vagina, and it requires a lot of devotion and willingness to admit someone/something there.
Luckily, *every* person has an anus. It's nothing reserved for women, and the sensation *as* the challenge are equal for both. ( By sensation I mean the actual sphincter, not the prostate.) So I think it's not too far off to state that you should be able to do the things you demand from others. I'm not speaking of having sex with another man, but experiencing the penetration of a penis-sized toy.
In a wider sense, I would think that it's best for *any* person to experience some degree of anal stimulation, as from my experience it expands the perception of sexuality as well as the body generally in an enormous way.
_____
> *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!*
| 44 |
Who is "demanding" Anal sex? If you are demanding anything then get the fuck out.
Now asking is a different think. You don't need to want a cock up your butt to want to fuck a butt.
Another thing. It's an assumption to say all ass's are the same. Some are tighter.
| 28 |
ELI5: Why is it so much easier to stay in a bad mood than a good one?
| 20 |
A mild bad mood (not anything like clinical depression) is a survival response to an unfamiliar or challenging situation. Our body is telling us to be alert, be on guard, and be attentive.
A mild good mood (that isn't clinical mania) is a signal that we are in a familiar and comfortable situation. We don't have to stay alert because we are safe.
Humans being humans, and the modern world being the modern world, we are more likely to be uncomfortable than comfortable. But that's okay, it's part of growth. What we might want to do, though, is carve out a space and time to be warm and safe and comfortable.
Curl up an hour before bed with a good book and a cup of hot tea, for example. Or meditate or pray. Or journal. Or maybe just clean and organize, some people find that ritual comforting. Listen to music. Play with your children. Cuddle with a loved one.
Whatever it is, find a time and place for it in your life. And don't beat yourself up if you are in a mild bad mood the rest of the time. It's okay, it means you are challenging yourself, and some day the uncomfortable will feel comfortable -- at which time, it's probably time for a new challenge.
| 18 |
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ELI5: Why is it easier to dwell on upsetting moments rather than happy moments?
| 17 |
Memories get bound more strongly the stronger the emotion that accompanies that memory.
Oftentimes, happiness is simply the absence of negative emotions. Yes, sometimes you feel ecstatically, exuberantly joyous. But most happy memories are the moments where nothing in particular is stressing you out, and you are calm and peaceful.
Compare that to when you feel very angry or scared. Memories are not only stored cognitively with its sensory perceptions (sight, sound, taste, touch, etc...) but are also stored in your midbrain in emotions. The emotions get stored in one place, the sensory/visual memories in another (like in the hippocampus but not only there).
When you have a negative memory of strong emotion, your emotional brain (midbrain) remembers the emotion. It makes it easier to conjure up that sensory memory, especially whenever that particular emotion surfaces for any reason again.
Happy moments are usually the absence of negative feelings, and very very happy memories do get remembered vividly, but then again, often produce nostalgia or even sadness or grief, as the memory ended.
| 10 |
|
ELI5: How do chia seeds jellify liquid?
|
Everywhere I read about chia seeds absorbing liquid but they don't, they stay the same size and the liquid around them become like gel/jelly. What is happening?
| 89 |
The ELI5 answer s - The seeds have a shell on them that, when exposed to water, turns to a gel and absorbs the water. The benefit of this is that the gel keeps water in contact with the seeds, instead of running off, so it has "fuel" to germinate and become a chia plant. (Also allows it to stick to terra cotta for chia pets)
| 31 |
CMV: I vote Democrat in Federal elections and Republican in State and Local elections
|
On most issues, I lean to the left. I think sexual orientation should be a protected status on the Federal level. I hated GWB's cowboy diplomacy and prefer Obama's diplomatic views (see Iranian nuclear deal). I think Republicans are batshit insane these days and I would be embarassed to have one represent America on a global stage. Their antiscience and pro-religious views are terrifying. Their embrace of corporations borders on treasonous.
I vote Republican in State and Local elections because I want lower state taxes. I agree with Republicans on gun control and I'm not worried that Democrats will ever pass sweeping gun control regulations on a Federal level. I'm neither gay nor a woman so their homophobic state laws don't effect me and neither do their views on abortion/contraception.
If it matters, I live in Illinois.
I've been told I vote very selfishly. I reply that this is how the system is supposed to work - we should all vote according to our self-interest. CMV.
| 19 |
Are you sure they're actually lowing your taxes? Look at Kansas, where Brownback has thoroughly slashed corporate and income taxes but raised sales and sin taxes. The state is circling the drain because of stupid Republican fiscal policies. You have to be extremely wealthy to benefit more from tax cuts than you lose in services.
| 23 |
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