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How many antacid tablets would one have to consume to lose stomach acidity?
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If antacid tablets (like tums, for example) are used to treat exceptionally low stomach pH, then I figured they must be able to raise the pH of a healthy person's stomach as well. This got me wondering how many antacid tablets it would take to raise stomach pH so much that food becomes undigestable, at what pH that would actually happen, and what other effects this whole process would have on the person trying to consume so many tablets.
Tl;DR: how many antacids does it take to make you sick, and how sick would you get?
| 36 |
Stomach pH doesn't have a whole lot to do with digestion. There will be some enzymes that do not work as well in the stomach but digestion happens primarily in the small intestine which is a more neutral pH. The acidity of the stomach is primarily a defensive mechanism to destroy bacteria that are ingested.
| 11 |
[MCU] What exactly is the difference between Thor's "realms" and Doctor Strange's "dimensions"?
| 53 |
I think the 9 realms are all actually physical locations/planets in our dimension, just really far away.
The dimensions in Dr. Strange are not located in our concept of "space," meaning you couldn't reach them even if you had a spaceship that could travel between galaxies in an instant. They are *beyond* space as we perceive it - and you need some sort of specific power to interact with them.
| 91 |
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[DC/marvel] What would Batmans contingency plans for the avengers be?
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like this could be fun
| 197 |
Captain America - Despite its odd qualities, his vibranium shield is susceptible to magnetism. A powerful electromagnet nearby can remove it from him immediately. He is a master combatant and tactician, and in Olympic level health, so attempting to take him out in any prolonged attack gives him too much time to mount a defense and subsequent offense. A series of powerful area based attacks, such as saturating several city blocks with powerful anesthetic gas and wide range taser pulses (which should be enhanced by his chainmail armor) used simultaneously and immediately after disarming him of his shield.
| 146 |
[Warhammer 40k] As a human, if I get a girlfriend, will I certainly become corrupted by Slaanesh?
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Exactly how dangerous? Is it like a maybe thing or do I need to be into some fucked up, kinky shit? If I am not overindulging, will I be fine? Will recreative sex lead in my soul being torn out of me, or is that just the eldar?
EDIT: Really loving the in universe first person answers. I'm already pretty decent on lore and understand slaanesh and that it's mainly overindulgence and greed, not sex like people prefer to portray.
| 19 |
You know how you sometimes want something even though it's bad for you? Like chocolate, maybe a lot of chocolate?
Slaanesh is all about overindulgence. It doesn't have to be sex. Some people seek adoration, some people seek wealth, some people pursue gluttony. It's all about the vices that matter to you.
And Slaanesh works by enabling you. Slaanesh favors those who indulge in what they want to begin with by enabling to go further. Are you an unrepentant homosexual even though your society or religion frowns on it? Slaanesh approves! Do you use your beauty to manipulate those around you into doing your bidding? Slaanesh approves. Are you a sucker for illicit drugs during work hours? Slaanesh approves.
And Slaanesh enables you, those who already seek indulgence find the favor or Slaanesh by enabling their favorite vices. You might get more attractive, more influential, your nervous system might make those drugs even more delicious.
And then the hammer falls. The sex isn't as good, the drugs aren't as mind blowing, the food isn't as tasty. You need more, better, you're getting desperate for a better high. Perhaps BDSM or rape is more fun, perhaps you should eat something forbidden, try those horse tranquilizers.
From there on it just escalates, every time you find a new pleasure, it soon turns to ashes in your mouth. You're getting more and more extreme. Children, barnyard animals and vacuum cleaners are no longer save. Are the cops trying to stop you from making a tasty quiche out of that pretty school girl? It's time for the 'ol ultra violence, how dare this boring plebs try and stop you from pursuing your hedonistic pilgrimage!
Slaanesh's realm is a heaven for his true devotees and a hell for his enemies. There's no real difference really but you'd simply have to be a true devotee to enjoy a place that is a torturous hell for anyone else.
| 37 |
CMV: Reality TV should not be a thing and is just exploiting unintelligent humans to make themselves unattractive and complete imbeciles
|
At least in Australia, reality tv like Married at First Sight and The Block have become a breeding ground for people who want more Instagram followers and not the people it was created to target like people in financial struggle and people who struggle to find love.
I'm not entirely sure who's in the wrong here, whether it be the producers or the applicants but the experiments that happen under the microscope always seem to be tampered with and it becomes incredibly aggrevating to watch. These shows should not be exploited for fame and simply for the people that can't get the life they once hoped for.
Would be happy for someone to make me want to watch these shows. Go for it.
| 243 |
However stupid or incapable or pathetic you feel, these shows show you people that are worse for you to make fun of and feel better about yourself. That is their purpose, not some experiment, or helping those people in any way.
And by the way, none of it is real. Random people causing drama is not because they suddenly got a short circuit in their brain, it's because they are told to cause drama for the views.
Whether that's morally tenable is another question, but you are absolutely mistaken if you think the point is to find people true love or portray normal life or run some experiment.
| 37 |
ELI5: Why we're supposed to drive with one foot instead of both
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(I drive an automatic, not entirely sure what the protocol is for manuals)
Anyway, when I started learning how to drive, two feet just felt completely natural to me. I mean, two feet, two pedals, makes perfect sense. I have an accelerator foot and a brake foot. Contrary to what some people may think, no, my brake foot doesn't lean on the pedal the whole time and accidentally hit it, so if that's the main argument against two-footed driving then it's a stupid one.
So what's the big deal about being supposed to drive with one foot? My dad, mum, old driving instructor and boyfriend all say/said I'm wrong for using both feet, but one-footed driving doesn't come naturally to me, and I feel like the one-foot-shift from accelerator to brake could be dangerous in situations where you have to react quickly. (I know this probably isn't the case, but that's just how it looks/feels to me)
Obviously I have nothing against one-foot drivers and know I am in a minority using both feet (I also think the toilet roll should come from behind, but that's another matter...), but I am a good driver and would like to know why I am frowned upon just for this minor detail that doesn't really seem to affect anything about how I drive.
EDIT: I realise this probably doesn't need to be explained like I'm five, but it didn't really seem to fit AskReddit.
| 16 |
When driving two footed, if your right foot is on the gas and you need to brake NOW, the instinct is to slam both feet down, but car engines almost always overpower car brakes, and so you will keep going, or best case slow down much more slowly than you would otherwise.
For manuals you always use the left foot for the clutch, and the right foot for the brake and gas. Occasionally some people will do a heel-toe start where you push both the brake and the clutch with the left foot but that is a VERY niche case. Not sure if this is reversed for right hand drive countries or not.
| 25 |
ELI5: Why do all the countries in the world use the same number system, but different languages?
| 31 |
Do you mean the written numbers? Or do you mean the base of the number system?
The Arabic numerals were created in India and then everyone else borrowed them because they worked really well or they didn't already have a number system of their own. They replaced Roman numerals because Roman numerals are clunky. But not everyone uses Arabic numerals. In Arabic, they actually have a different written number system. There's probably some other lesser known systems as well.
If you're talking about the structure of the number system, such as the base, that varies a lot. Some languages use base 12 or base 20. French uses a vigesimal system between 70 and 99. Some languages don't have numbers greater than 2 or 3.
| 13 |
|
ELI5: What causes the shower to make that high pitched screech when you turn up the heat a bunch?
| 20 |
Bernoullie's principle states that a faster moving fluid is at a lower pressure than a slower moving one, so the speed of the water through the pipes lowers pressure enough for the hot temperatures you're requesting with the shower knob to turn some of the water to steam which is then heard as a screech.
| 10 |
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Why don’t we use salt water for toilet water? Wouldn’t it save millions of gallons of freshwater?
| 287 |
Saltwater is more reactive and corrosive than fresh water, for one. Harder to maintain, I'd expect.
Also, you would still want fresh water to your house for showering and cooking, so you'd have an additional set of pipes running to each building.
| 435 |
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Are cells from an elephant the same size as cells from a mouse?
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Or do cells, like say skin cells, etc, scale with the size of the animal?
| 35 |
Nope, cells don't increase in size as animals get larger. The main exception is nerve cells--some nerve cells stretch from head to toe, and thus must be longer (but not usually fatter) in larger animals.
| 15 |
Effects of muscular overweight
|
I tried google, but I didn't find any anwer. I was wondering what are the effects of being overweight when the weight is caused by muscle mass. Bodybuilders sometimes have a BMI of over 30 which makes them obese in the ordinary sense, but they have body fat percentage as low as 7 %.
What are the differences or the similarities when comaperd to "normal" overweight?
| 39 |
BMIs are about as useful as nose length in determining health. The similarities are that both eat a lot and the difference is that one is healthy and the other isn't.
>BMI of over 30 which makes them obese in the ordinary sense
No, in the useless BMI scale sense. They are not obese.
| 10 |
[W40k] What happens if I, the average smhuck, dies?
| 20 |
Assuming you're human and not a Chaos worshiper, your body just rots and your soul gets ripped into the Warp and is used up (eaten) by a deamon.
If you do follow Chaos, your soul will just get eaten by your favorite deamon.
An iff youz a Shotta boy, Mork 'n' Gork eatz youz!
| 27 |
|
ELI5: Why is coffee/pepper that you grind at home better than coffee/pepper ground at the factory?
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Would people be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test?
| 37 |
Coffee, pepper, and many other spices have very volatile oils that evaporate fairly quickly after their outer shells/skins are broken. So the closer to end use you put off the grinding of the spice the better it will taste and the more of those oils you consume. Grinding them in a factory means you lose a lot of those oils, and therefore lose flavor.
| 40 |
[Fairy Tail] How is it that every fight ends in the female wizards clothing just barely covering the important bits?
|
I mean most anime are pretty bad about this but I feel like Fairy Tail is one of the worst. Literally every female character is ridiculously busty and within a few minutes of fighting their clothing is in rags. How is that even possible in universe?
| 28 |
Magic used to protect the body only extends outwards to things your mind is very strongly attached to keeping safe. Most of your clothing does NOT fall under this protection, but the parts barely concealing your decency do fall under this protection, purely because the wizard's mind thinks those parts are important.
Thus, when in a very dangerous fight with lots of swords flying and explosions everywhere, most of your clothing is going to get burnt or cut off, except for those parts the wizard considers most important.
| 35 |
CMV:I want to undergo gay conversion therapy
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_____
I am a male teenager who has maybe accepted that they are homosexual. Recently, gay conversion therapy is becoming banned in a large number of locations and this concerns be because I worry that I will not have the option available to me. A part of me wants someone to try to convince me that it's okay but I really struggle with my sexuality. I have so many images and hopes for the future, for a heterosexual future, that I cannot have. They may seem trivial and foolish to some people (for example, I will never be able to see my bride walk down the aisle) but I didn't ask to be this way. I find it unfair that the opportunity to change is being taken away when I actively want to be straight.
| 30 |
Gay conversion therapy has never been about making men less attracted to other men and more attracted to women. Rather, it's focused on getting people to NOT ACT ON their desires. The focus is on "You'll always have this temptation and you'll always have to fight it."
If you want a way to not be gay, it can't help. If you want a way to not ACT gay, that's what it does.
| 44 |
ELI5: Why do soft baked goods go hard when they get stale, and hard baked goods go soft when they're stale?
| 12,642 |
Harder baked goods absorb moisture over time because they start out dry compared to the moisture in the air and become softer as a result.
Softer baked goods that already have moisture in them which is used chemically to make their gel-like structure instead lose moisture over time (since there's less moisture in the air than in them). This makes them harder.
| 7,285 |
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[DnD] What would happen if you put a Bag of Holding inside of a Bag of Holding?
| 31 |
Under the old rules, an earth-shattering kaboom as both bags are destroyed. The explosion is so powerful it rips a whole in the fabric of space and time sucking everything in as a desperate attempt to patch the rift. Fortunately, it is a localized effect. Especially as rift usually closes very quickly.
| 39 |
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[The Thing] 27,000 hours to take over the world?
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Blair's computer simulation projects that once the Thing reaches civilization, we have about 27,000 hours (3 years) before everyone is assimilated.
Granted, the simulation is done on a crappy 80s computer, by one very paranoid scientist, in less than a day. And there's no real way of predicting such a thing anyhow, it's likely to be subject to the chaos of the butterfly effect.
Regardless, is 3 years sound like a reasonable length of time for the Thing to nom everything and everyone? At first, I thought the Thing would be able to take over way faster than that - in many ways, it's way deadlier than any standard issue zombie apocalypse. It can put microscopic bits of itself in the water supply, take over flies and mosquitos and ants and sneak up on people, take over entire ecosystems, transforming into small, fast, flying creatures that could quickly overwhelm any human defenses. That's not even taking into consideration its intelligence and knowledge of advanced alien technology. I imagined an army of Things with human ish bodies, except super strong and armored, using rayguns and hovertanks and whatnot, backed up by lots of the smaller Things. Earth would be conquered in a couple days, tops.
But then I thought about it some more, and realized that if the Thing really was so capable, the first movie would be over in like, 20 seconds after the dog Thing jumps onto one of the scientists.
The Thing, as portrayed in the first movie, doesn't seem that good at controlling bodies that it takes over. I imagine that when the Thing is in "disguise mode", it's pretty much letting its host go on autopilot, so much so that it doesn't even realize that it's a Thing. That's why the dog is able to run and walk around without looking weird, the Thing is basically letting the dog's brain make the dog act like a real dog.
But when it's forced to drop its disguise, turn off its host brain and take direct control, it acts a bit like it's playing QWOP or Surgeon Simulator. It has super strength and jaws and claws and everything, but under Earth's atmosphere and gravity and whatnot, it struggles to use them to full potential. It probably would have a real tough time doing things like shooting straight, flying a plane, holding a conversation, tap dancing etc. It can do all of these things only if it relinquishes control and lets the host brain do what it was going to do anyway.
It also seems to perform really badly in high pressure situations. Instead of going straight for the offensive or making a beeline for the exit, it tends to just explode into a mess of tentacles and teeth, then wriggle around posing while it figures out what to do next, giving humans plenty of time to torch it before it can attack or escape.
I imagine it's like a regular joe trying to fly a helicopter - everything's fine when it's just cruising along on autopilot, but then it suddenly comes under attack, and poor joe is flipping through the instruction manual with one hand and randomly pressing buttons and pulling levers with the other, so the helicopter ends up spinning around firing bullets and missiles all over the place. It's still an incredibly powerful weapon, just not nearly as effective as it could be.
So yeah, the Thing won't be able to assimilate the US president, then subvert the entire political/military system from there. It can technically assimilate the president, but if it has to do anything too "un-presidential", it will be limited to brisk walking, opening doors, weird alien moans instead of coherent sentences, smashing things etc.
Likewise, it can't assimilate a Navy Seal team and conduct lightning raids on enemy positions, it would have horrible aim, clumsy movement and at the first sign of trouble, it would panic and start sprouting limbs and teeth and eyes in awkward and inconvenient spots, instead of, say, laying down suppressing fire and setting up a flank.
It would probably do great in cyber warfare though, if it figures out how to use a mouse and keyboard without fucking up too badly.
And the Thing could very well have a greater than human intelligence, despite its clumsiness. So it might be able to devise strategies that work around these weaknesses, and co-ordinate global offensives with proper logistics, intelligence gathering, deception etc.
There also seems to be a minimum size for a Thing to be effective at assimilating other animals. That would explain why we don't see Thing flies, rats, cockroaches, birds, microscopic infectious cells etc. If it could infect that way, it wouldn't even have to bother "breaking disguise", it could just wait around, spreading its cells like it's spreading a bacterial infection, and then drop the disguise once everyone's infected. Seems like it doesn't deal too well with earth immune systems, so it has to disable those immune systems somehow by 'digesting' or killing their hosts first.
So yeah, given all of these limitations, it might be plausible that the Thing would take longer than 3 years to take over the planet. Is 27,000 hours a reasonable time frame for global conquest? How would the Thing go about doing such a task? Is there a chance in hell for humanity to stop it, or at least hold out for a couple decades before losing?
And while we're on the subject, what would a world of Things look like? What kind of society would they have, and what kind of projects would they busy themselves with? I'm guessing they would focus on galactic domination, but I'm not so sure what exactly that entails - no telepathy means no hive mind, so would that mean Thing scientists, Thing accountants, Thing janitors, Thing mid-level executives...
| 19 |
It's not just the humans that will be assimilated, it's also every other animal that share the planet with us. If the Thing assimilates one rat, the entire ecosystem will soon be assimilated including migratory birds that will spread the Thing to other Eco-systems. If it was smart enough to plan, it could spread around the world without infecting a single human at first. Even if not, there's nothing humans can do about it's spread among animals.
This is a living virus, look how badly COVID-19 has spread and the Thing is a highly infectious virus that crosses species easily. It can survive even in the frigid cold temperatures of the Antarctic as long as it has a host. There are billions of animals that live underground, in the ocean.
The Thing doesn't have to rely on assimilating humans, it can spread worldwide by assimilating animals alone.
| 17 |
ELI5 What are gamma values in pictures and why does it affect png (aka make it worse than jpeg?)
| 21 |
This comes from the days when computers were much slower and monitors were huge and heavy boxes with thick glass on the front of the screen - the CRT, or cathode ray tube, uses intense electromagnets to shoot tiny bits of stuff at a screen that glows when hit by this stuff. That's how it makes colors and pictures, by changing how the stuff is fired at the screen and by aiming to make flat lines to cover the whole screen down from the top, 30 or 60 times every second.
When this was going on, in the earlier days of computing, we hadn't figured out how to make colors exactly the same from Mac os and Windows and other computer operating systems. When we tried the normal way they looked different, and that did not work for us.
So we tried to use this gamma value to preserve the color we would see on the screen from one device to another to make them match. But something went wrong when not everyone agreed on how or even if they wanted to use it at all. So all sorts of things happened, some devices used it right and others did not. It was a mess!
The gamma value specifically tells the computer how much of the color to show, from none to all of it or possibly even more. That's because the gamma was used to say 'this device is already showing more green and red and blue than the one that made the image, so turn down the colors of this image so it looks right on this device' or 'this device naturally shows less green and red and blue than the one that made the image, so turn them all up to match'.
Over time we realized how silly this was and fixed the problem in a better way so everything matched all the time outside of gamma images. Now the gamma value is a leftover of what was tried before, and most browsers don't use it or have a default set up to work in most cases.
Better or worse depends on what you're doing. PNG is designed to be good on websites, so it can get smaller than a jpg or gif with the same picture. But not all browsers support it the same as jpg or gif formats, there are still old browsers out there still using the gamma values or trying to. Because of that it is a matter of knowing who will be using your site and images - if you need to use the old stuff jpg may be a better bet. If you have all new stuff png may work better. When you make new png files, the gamma can be left out to make it like a more efficient jpg format.
Great question!
| 22 |
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[Star Wars] Why don't Jedi, Sith, and other force wielding factions use shields in one hand and lightsaber pikes in the other?
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I realize there's Darth Desolous but he was an isolated example more than anything in the galaxy.
Not only could you have a good defense, but the pike would give you a massive range advantage.
In my time researching ancient fighting styles of planets across the galaxy, I came to one frank realization; Swords are frankly pretty romanticized and overrated, considering they were nothing more than sidearms, in the same way small slugthrowers and blaster pistols are romanticized (Damn you bounty hunters spreading your dumb ideas!).
You could give polearms cheaply out to masses of peasants and they could stop cavalry before they attacked them.
You have reach and the ability to hit your foe before he does to you.
Why weren't shields and pikes given out to force-users to fight with?
| 23 |
Spears and similar pole-weapons have some very strong advantages in massed combat, but in duels are relatively easy for skilled swordsmen to counter. Once you are inside the reach of the sword, all advantages from the spear disappear, and are replaced with some notable disadvantages. There is a reason why, traditionally, swords have been far more common in single combat and in duels, and that is their relative versatility in close quarters.
I think the popularity of the Lightsaber is derived from its strength as a dueling weapon, as this is the kind of combat that both Jedi and Sith have gravitated towards. Even when squared off in large formations, Jedi and Sith have a tendency to pair down into dueling parties rather than typical infantry melee.
| 31 |
ELI5: What does Canada's recession mean, exactly? What makes it different from the economic recession of the USA a few years back, and what does it mean for the average Canadian?
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Referring to [this](https://news.yahoo.com/canada-officially-recession-first-half-2015-131114485.html;_ylt=AwrC1ClGpOVVGS0A6AzQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--) article by Yahoo. Thanks for any explanation.
| 79 |
I don't know about the average Canadian, but Alberta has been experiencing steady lay-offs since oil dropped, and all forecasts predict more. That said, it's not like the situation is going to affect the other parts of Canada any more than any other region of the world that relies on oil for every-day transportation, industrial, or household use, etc. It's not like any place within Canada outside of Alberta is any more or less oil-dependent than the rest of the world.
The difference between a Canadian recession and a US recession (or crash) is that the US economy is far more central and significant to the rest of the world. The sheer difference in size between the two economies means that any relationship is asymmetrical. If America slows down, the world including Canada slows down. If Canada slows down, no one really notices. Canada's economy was dependent on Alberta's oil. Canada needs to sell oil to be prosperous. Canada is competing with OPEC. Oil-importing countries (including the US) aren't concerned where their oil is coming from as long as they are paying the lowest price. If Canada isn't offering the lowest price, it sucks to be Canada.
| 52 |
[General] Who’s the luckiest character in fiction?
| 306 |
Gladstone Gander, Disney comic universe. Able to coast by on supernatural luck where things always go well for him.
Donald was once mad at a casino owner for getting Scrooge to become a gambling addict. He send Gladstone into the casino and bankrupted the place in an hour.
| 323 |
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How do our ears know where sounds come from?
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All sounds enter our ear canal...how can the brain distinguish where it comes from when they all hit the ear drum?
| 18 |
Yeah having two allows you to pinpoint left vs right. Up vs down (and left vs right really), comes from developmental learning. Specifically, the different shapes of the outer ear cartilage will reflect sound at very slightly different frequencies (and wavelengths). Your mind learns to associate these tiny differing frequencies with differing locations.
You can hack this by filling your outer ear (not the canal) with tape or something and trying to locate various sounds. You’ll find yourself pretty terrible at it.
| 34 |
ELI5 How do we build in the middle of the ocean?
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How do we build in the middle of the open sea? Do we have to find a more elevated spot to lay the foundations?
ELI5, if you wanna explain it like I'm 25 that's cool too.
| 16 |
We usually don't. If we're building anything out there, it's probably some sort of oil rig like "building" that floats. Usually the bottom of the ocean is too far down to build on, and even if you could build on it, it's squishy mud that won't support the weight.
In places we do build, it's usually shallow enough to do so and the area has firm enough ground to lay foundations on.
| 13 |
CMV: There is no point in awarding a medal of honor to a dog.
|
As some might have heard, a military dog who lost a leg when sniffing out a roadside bomb has been awarded the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross after serving in more than 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Since the introduction of the medal in 1943 it has been awarded to 31 dogs, 32 Second World War messenger pigeons, three horses and one cat.
My point is the following, why would it be an honor to the dog? He should be given as much steak as he wants and call it a day. He is the real hero, and deserves something he will enjoy.
_____
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| 21 |
Medals are partly for the person/animal who wins them, but they are also for everyone else. It allows leaders to reward those who exemplify great values, and it's inspirational for the general public. The Make-A-Wish Foundation helps dying children, but it also feels good for everyone else to help those children. Giving a gift or a bestowing honor on a deserving person or animal is often just as rewarding as winning one. A funeral is not for the deceased person. Like the dog with a medal, they don't even realize they are having a funeral. Instead, it's for their family and friends. That's the point of the funeral, and that's the point of awarding a dog a medal.
| 17 |
ELI5: Why is carbon fiber often used as a stick to hit objects in sporting goods
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Things like Badminton rackets, Tennis rackets, golf clubs, softball bats and hockey sticks. I know its light and all but what are the other reasons why is it used as a stick to hit objects? Can someone give me a detailed answer?
Edit: Is tensile strength an important factor to making these sticks if so why?
Edit: Since this post booming might I ask are there any other benefits to Carbon Fiber in sports equipment that most of us don't know? Explain why does the certain sport play or know is enhanced when you use carbon equipments. (What are some weird sports that have carbon fiber equipments and why)
Edit: I should make a video with all this information. Would benefit me if I could get some Carbon Fiber facts that are not found on google. Like other than the advantages of carbon fiber I'm pretty sure there are disadvantages carbon fiber in certain sports applications and applications in general we should know.
Edit: Why isn't Carbon fiber used in every sports? What are some sports that Carbon Fiber isn't suited for and why?
Edit: Would like to know more about stiffness and strength, corrosion resistance, X-ray transparency, Low CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion), Chemical resistivity, Thermal and electrical conductivity and its effects on the sports you play or know about.
Edit: What is the impact resistance of carbon fiber compared to other materials used in sports?
| 8,327 |
Carbon fiber is light, but strong. If your Hitting Thingy is heavy, then you'll get tired much more quickly from swinging it around. If your Hitting Thingy is weak, then it'll break from you hitting things with it. Carbon fiber solves both of those problems.
| 6,585 |
Why does the morning sky look so different from the evening sky when at any given moment it seems like the same thing; the sun close to the horizon?
| 463 |
Largely it has to do with the water content in the sky. In the morning the moisture content is greater at ground altitude wheras during the day the sun's heat removes that moisture giving the sunset a more "dry" sky. So the different colors are determined by low atmospheric water contemt.
| 615 |
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ELI5: Why does water form into droplets as its smallest unit? What's special about that specific size?
| 64 |
Surface tension causes drops to take a shape which minimizes their surface area per unit volume. It starts as a sphere, because that's the most effective shape, and then it's pulled into a droplet by air friction as it falls.
| 17 |
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[Harry Potter 2] How would looking at the Basilisk kill a person? What kind of death would it be?
| 32 |
It's so instant that you don't even realize you've died. Moaning Myrtle basically tells us this. She was crying in the bathroom, looked up, saw a pair of yellow eyes, and then the next thing she knew she was dead. No pain or anything, and it happened instantly.
| 79 |
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[The Witcher] What was Geralts's childhood like?
|
In greentext format if you might feel so inclined
| 34 |
> Be baby Geralt
> Be daddy's surprise when he comes home
> Be given to witchers cause daddy's a cheap ass and didn't pay
> Get witcher training
> Be ten
> Drink some dank herbs
> Drink danker herbs
> Be whitey mcpaleface with cat eyes
> Learn to make dank potions
> Get some kick-ass swords
> Be Witcher
| 55 |
ELI5 why babies are born all messed up when a a brother has sex with a sister? Like an inbred child?
|
I just saw a post that had a picture of a pretty fucked up baby and it said "this is what happens when you knock up your sister"
Well I never really knew why that happens, can someone explain? I remember hearing how it's because of certain genes.
| 16 |
What you're talking about is "deadly recessive" genes.
Sexual reproduction (rather than asexual reproduction, where a creature does not need a mate to create an offspring) has one big advantage: it combines the DNA of two different creatures.
So let's say there's a recessive gene in your DNA. It's not a good gene, it'll mess up your heart, or cause brain development issues. Fortunately, tho' you have this gene, it is recessive, and you also have a perfectly functional gene which is dominant. So the bad gene does no harm to you.
Now, your sister also has these same two genes. No big deal for her either.
But if you two both produced a child, that child will inherit one gene from each of you. If the child inherits the bad gene from you both, then it doesn't get the good dominant gene to overwrite the issue, and ends up with the brain development issues or the malformed heart etc.
Now, there's a chance of picking up a bad gene in any kid. But the chances of getting two copies of the same bad gene is considerably greater when both parents have it. And in the case of siblings, they're much more likely to share the same genes.
Make sense?
| 29 |
Why are hydrogels used in tissue engineering, what is the main advantage over just sterile water?
| 28 |
Some context would be helpful, as this is a vast field. Some important aspects:
- Hydrogels have a shear modulus and don't drip away, in contrast to water.
- Hydrogels can have a stiffness and viscoelasticity that's tunable in situ, unlike water.
- Hydrogels may contain electrolytes to maintain isotonicity with physiological fluids; pure water isn't isotonic.
- Hydrogels can hold useful cells (e.g., stem cells) in position in the manner of a scaffold; water can't.
- Hydrogels can be fabricated to present tissue-like mechanical properties that drive cells toward certain behavior; water doesn't provide this.
| 35 |
|
ELI5 why does the same temperature feel warmer outdoors than indoors?
|
During summers, 60° F feels ok while 70° F is warm when you are outside. However, 70° F is very comfortable indoors while 60° F is uncomfortably cold. Why does it matter if the temperature we are talking about is indoors or outdoors?
| 6,438 |
The sun provides (at peak) about 1300 Watts of heat per square meter of area. So, even in the winter when the sun is lower (therefore the angle of incidence is lower, and less heat will be absorbed) you could still be getting a few hundred Watts of heat just by being in the sun. Quite honestly, 60 F (15C) and direct sun is usually uncomfortably warm for me. Go stand in front of a 1000 W electric heater and see! The amount of sunlight is often more important in determining comfort than the air temperature.
| 4,253 |
What's the best explanation for the meaning behind this famous Nietzsche quote?
|
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
The first sentence is fairly straightforward but I've long thought about the second one and have struggled to understand it. Thinking maybe I don't understand Nietzsche enough to understand this? I figured the much smarter people in
r/askphilosophy could help. I'm sure there's a lot of diverse opinions, would love to hear them all.
| 46 |
Nietzsche, like Hegel, is interested in the dialectical nature of the self, how the self and its other mutually inform one another. It is not possible to quarantine yourself in an absolute manner from what you are setting yourself against (though it's a huge psychological temptation). There is always the risk of becoming a monster when fighting monsters. But Nietzsche provides his individualist twist to this dialectical notion of the self by adding that, even if you were to set up your other as an *abyss* rather than a monster, even if you were to gaze into this big inert hole rather than fight against a bad other who is out to get you, even if you were to choose as your other NOTHING, a big lack of objects all smoothed together, an abyss, the dialectical nature of the self would still be there at the end of the tunnel, because, at the end of the day, your fight with the monster wasn't all about the monster (though that's another huge psychological temptation that Nietzsche is trying to push back against), your fight with the monster was also self-revelatory, i.e. the animating factor in our relationship with monsters is us saying "we are not that monster". So even if you stop fighting and just passively gaze into nothingness, even if you choose NOTHING as your object, the object will still be yammering on and on and on at you, because it isn't about the object dummy, it's *you*, it's self-creation that is at the heart of geist, that's where otherness comes from. It's not about the Sun, it's about *for whom the Sun shines*. Our dynamic connection with the world is more about us than it is about the world; the world talks to us even when we choose the deadest thing in the world imaginable, an abyss, because it isn't the world that's doing the yakking when the world is yakking, it's us, it's our self-creation. We love our enemies! Maintaining yourself against enemies, distinguishing yourself from what you are not, is the essence of selfhood. But it's us, it's us, it's us, we are the ones doing it. That's what the abyss brings out. The other yaks on and on even when there is no other. The self is its relation to itself as it pours out into the other, it is a self repelling against itself that pushes out as the other, etc., etc. It's geist that creates otherness and it's geist that can resolve it. Nietzsche thinks this could occur in an individual Superman purged of resentment. He would be cool with the fact that humans are like a yammering abyss, and still go on self-creating anyway without a worry in the world about such things.
| 68 |
ELI5: Why does "rapid rehydration kill"?
|
I am reading a book about the nuclear bombs thrown on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the blast, the heat skyrocketed and this caused survivors to lose most of the water in their bodies. As a result, they felt extremely thirsty yet they would die when they drank.
Did they die because they drank? The book says "rapid rehydration kills" but I don't understand why this would be so. I would understand better if it was said they could not drink fast enough but then surely they wouldn't even make it to the watering holes/rivers/water tanks?
So: why would rapid rehydration kill a dehydrated person?
E: For the record, the book I am reading is "Hiroshima Nagasaki" by Paul Ham.
| 647 |
Alright, think of it this way.
Your cells are little sacs containing a bunch of solutes, like sodium and electrolytes. When the water-solute balance in your body is off (because you've drunk more water than your body can handle), the cells attempt to compensate by absorbing water from outside the cell (osmosis). The cells figure, *"It's OK! We have enough salts and electrolytes that we can take on a little extra water!"*
...but if the imbalance is great enough, the cells can't absorb enough water to correct it. All that extra water causes the cells to swell. When the brain cells swell this can interfere with their ability to function or cut off blood flow, resulting in death.
| 450 |
Could a planet orbit the sun on a vertical plane as opposed to the horizontal plane of the other planets?
|
I am not sure of terminology, but assuming that all the planets are on the same horizontal plane could another planet orbit on a vertical plane?
| 141 |
Bet of a mess here so I'll make a bit of a tl;dr top-level response:
1. Planets form in a flat plane because they all form from a disc of gas.
2. But if you somehow got a planet in vertical orbit *after* the gas disc had dissipated, it should continue quite happily, and there are indeed small objects in the solar system that do have very very high inclinations in their orbits.
| 57 |
ELI5 What level of play can be expected from a Chess Grandmaster?
|
I know they're super good at chess. But can someone explain the type of thinking or styles of play that might come from a grand master (and you wouldn't see in players that aren't quite as good)?
| 37 |
The difference between a good player and a grandmaster is the difference between tactics and strategy.
Games between good players are generally decided by tactics. Some common tactics are forks (attacking two pieces at once), discovered attacks (moving a piece so the piece behind it can attack), and pins (holding an enemy piece in place). Generally, they're moves that give good short-term results.
When grandmasters play, it comes down to strategy. Yes, the tactics still matter, but both sides know them all very well. Instead, it's about the long game. There's a lot of focus on control of rows, columns, and diagonals. You also tend to see lots of moves that don't serve any immediate purpose, but which set up combinations of strong moves that lead into each other. When that works right, you see games go from evenly balanced to overwhelmingly one-sided in a very short time frame.
| 39 |
After death how long do processes like digestion or cell regeneration continue to go on and what ultimately stops them?
|
I would imagine that the processes don't stop immediately.
| 2,909 |
In short, what ultimately stops cell processes after death is lack of oxygen. Without oxygen ions to fix electrons on the cellular level, cells are unable to function or reproduce, and they begin to decay.
For some cells that require constant oxygen (such as neurons) this can happen almost immediately (within minutes) after death. For other cells that are not quite as oxygen thirsty (such as in the transplant organs) this can take between 30 or 60 minutes. Structural cells which require even less oxygen, such as in bone and connective tissue, can survive for around 24 hours after death before cell death occurs.
| 1,550 |
ELI5. When hooved animal's hooves are left untreated they over grow and become unhealthy. Does this happen in the wild?
| 25 |
Unlikely. A hooved animal in the wild gets to run around on dirt, rock and gravel, so that naturally wears down the hoof. A bit like how if your dog is outside a lot, you don't have to clip its nails nearly as much as an inside-only pet, because its claws get worn down by the patio, sidewalk, gravel etc.
Those rescue ponies and horses with the super gross curled up hooves, those are because those poor beasties have never been walked on anything but a stall or soft arena dirt, so there's been nothing to wear them down naturally. The sad thing is that can really screw up their feet; even after the ferrier corrects their hooves they're not gonna be walking normally for long time.
| 41 |
|
CMV: I believe that, in certain cases, capital punishment shouldn't have to be humane.
|
It probably goes without saying that I support capital punishment, if not in practice then at least in principle.
More than that, I find the outcry sparked from the botched executions of rapists and murderers to be somewhat ridiculous. I find nothing ethically wrong with subjecting a condemned man to some measure of suffering before his death. If someone has killed another person by, say, raping and then burying their victim alive, what makes an hour or two of suffering on their way out so unacceptable?
Since Reddit is largely liberal, I'd expect a healthy response, but let me clarify my position before rebuttals are made:
1. My issue is with the ethics of inflicting pain before execution. I'm perfectly aware and agree that according to law anything more than a swift and painless death would be inhumane and therefore illegal.
2. I'm also assuming that such additional suffering would be administered to admitted and unapologetic killers whose crimes were heinous enough to warrant such action. The uncertainty surrounding most court trials would be enough to keep me from supporting any actual policy for this. This is purely meant to discuss the ethics of the "ideal situation".
_____
> *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!*
| 25 |
Capital punishment does not exist to get vengeance. It exists to remove criminals from society's burden, permanently. In this sense, it's the same as keeping someone in jail forever, you're just keeping them out of society. None of that justifies torture or cruel execution.
| 38 |
[Star Trek] How do Borg assimilate non-humaniod species and other species which needs very special living conditions into the Hive?
| 28 |
Borg drones can apparently survive in highly inhospitable conditions. In First Contact, we see human Borg drones operate on the outside of the Enterprise without apparent extra equipment. So the cybernetic augmentation can probably keep most drones functional in the same environment.
Otherwise, they might assimilate them by planet where those living conditions are met. If they can benefit the Collective without ever stepping on a vessel, then why not assimilate them? Or if they are beneficial on Borg vessels, then there might be specialised areas for them.
After all, Federation vessels apparently also had quarters for non-humanoid crew members. While never shown, it's occasionally mentioned how the Enterprise in Next Generation has a few whales and dolphins as crew members.
The Borg might have similar areas on their vessels, planets and structures.
Else, if a species is more trouble than it's worth, they'd probably just ignore them.
| 26 |
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ELI5: What is the psychological reason why people who are close affectionately poke fun at each other?
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Why does my best friend and I greeting each other with "what's up you fuckin' slut" draw us closer? By all accounts it doesn't make sense.
| 26 |
Aggression is playfully used right across the animal kingdom, so it is probably an inherited way of forming a relationship - some tropical fish (ciclids) fight through mouth-wrestling, and when a male and female are evenly matched, instead of the weaker fleeing from the stronger, they become mates for life and proceed to lay egss and raise a family.
| 25 |
I believe the act of sex is given far too much credence by society and the power it is given over our lives is detrimental to us all - CMV
|
The idea of making this post came to me when I was looking through an AskReddit post about sex (one of millions), where as usual, the topic of virginity came up. The term Virgin is a bizarre concept - we are defining somebody by something they *haven't* done. It would be like if we had a regularly used word for people who haven't visited Africa or somebody who never drove a car. And what makes it worse is that it's usually used in a negative way to insult or belittle somebody - or for a person to describe a "shameful" fact of their lives.
Sex is just one of the many things humans do - I can't understand why we give it such power? Why should those who have not yet participated in the act or choose not to have it be ostracized and ridiculed by society? Why do we allow it to control our behaviour and make us do things that objectively seem ridiculous?
CMV
| 523 |
It is given so much power because, biologically speaking, it is the driving force of life. Our genetic code screams for us to have it as we just organisms who exist sheerly to pass on our genetic material
| 149 |
[Attack on titan] Could barbed wire work against titans?
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Seems like it could be a cheap and safe way to slow and bring down titans, specially the smaller ones.
Maybe the wire would have be stronger than the one intended to stop humans.
| 37 |
Could be quite a good tactic, but you have to remember Titans are often quite bulky and big monsters that blunder headfirst towards their targets.
You'd likely need multiple rows of barbed wire reinforced several times and secured *strongly* to prevent the first 6m Titan from simply stumbling into it, getting wrapped up and pulling it out of its fixtures.
Interestingly enough (given where the series goes) I'd actually think some sort of WWI style trench warfare might work better against Titans. Tons of barbed wire (scaled to work against Titans) and trenches thin and deep enough to allow humans to quickly and safely navigate the battlefield while Titans are impeded by the barbed wire and unable to effectively reach in and grab their targets. From bunkers behind the trenches they can fire cannons and other ranged weapons across no man's land to mow down Titans. Any crippled Titans are finished off when the humans conduct a sweep of no man's land for injured humans and surviving Titans.
This all goes to pot when you involve a special Titan-shifter. It's still way more effective than early AoT open field Titan combat (given the trenches for cover, barbed wire to slow or direct the approach and bunkers for sustained fire), but is certainly only a delay for an intelligent Titan-shifter to avoid.
| 30 |
CMV: I feel it's my responsibility to report cheating/infidelity to the wronged party in most every circumstance, because if I was being cheated on I would want people I know to do the same for me. Change my view.
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My opinion stems from an idea that I've encountered a long time ago, being that "If your partner was cheating on you, wouldn't you want to know?" I feel like most people would want to be aware of a partner's infidelity rather than not, because it empowers them to act on the situation. Being in the dark leaves them totally powerless.
Beyond just the cheating aspect to it, there's also the issue of health and safety. Everyone has a right to controlling their own sexual health, and undisclosed infidelity removes that right from people without their knowledge. In addition, cheating can be an excellent indicator of a relationship that needs to be ended, or a kick in the pants if you will. ;D And while it totally is more ideal for the cheating partner themselves to be the bearer of the bad news, many people don't for numerous reasons. (Some of those reasons being reasonable for sure.) As an addendum to all this, it's also my opinion that cheating isn't always a relationship ending event. There's always room to work in that situation.
I've been been seeing and hearing a lot recently a number of people expressing the opposite idea of mine, namely non-intervention, which surprised me greatly! Dan Savage is one particular, his view stemming primarily from a place of "It's not your relationship, you shouldn't go mucking about in it." Which I get, but it doesn't seem compelling in the light of wanting to be there to support people that I know and love. I know that if a significant other of mine were to cheat on me the response of someone that had specific knowledge of it being "I didn't think I should get involved" wouldn't be terribly comforting in light of the abandonment that can be associated with infidelity. Am I missing something here?
I mean, I'd certainly only taddle on someone if I have really solid evidence, like specific messages or solid first hand evidence, and only in cases of actual egregious action. (So not for instance if they're flirting or being unusually snuggly.) And certainly only if I know that they aren't poly/have an open relationship. And there's absolutely room for flexibility. By no means am I saying that I have no other recourse than to report cheating, especially if it's it's a relationship I'm close to. All this to say that I'm not foolish, And would do my best to take the action that's best for both people involved, regardless of who is cheating.
**TL;DR**: I feel that it's almost always my duty to report cheating to the "cheated on" in a relationship, as long as I have good evidence/reasons for doing so. A non-intervention attitude seems unhelpful and potentially hurtful to those being wronged, in addition to health related reasons.
So please change my view! I'm very interested in hearing alternate viewpoints here, both because it's so clearly opposed to my own view and I was very surprised at the number of people out there that disagreed with me. Thanks CMV!
**Small Update:**After reading through these generally great replies, I've been given a lot to think about. I was planning on taking this talk to other people in my life that'd have good opinions to share about this topic, but now I'm reconsidering pending some reconsideration. While I wouldn't say my view has definitively changed, I'm glad to have been give a lot of really solid counterpoints to what I believe. Thanks so much CMV!
| 64 |
First, you're making an assumption that sexual encounters outside the relationship are cheating. Some people have open relationships. Some people with open relationships keep quiet about it to their friends and family because *it's none of their business*.
Second, and more importantly, you are not privy to their internal relationship dynamics. Maybe the cheated on party knows about it, but is deciding to keep quiet for one reason or another. By telling the cheated on party, you make it clear that people outside the relationship know, which could cause significant added stress.
| 18 |
How does eye color change?
|
I know that some people have eye colors that change noticeably and that children may have blue eyes that change color as they get older. How/why does this happen?
Edit: Also please answer kwagener's potential color changes "Mine go from dark brown to bright green depending on the mood I'm in"
| 41 |
It's not that the amount, or color of, pigment in the iris changes, but as the iris dilates and contracts, the pigment becomes concentrated or spread out, changing the perceived color. There are also differences in perceived color depending on the type and intensity of the light source.
As for babies, some are born without the pigment fully developed, and it takes time for it to come in.
| 24 |
CMV: America is already a police state, the public just hasn't admitted it yet.
|
Edit: I think I may have overestimated the problem, due in part to my sources, and in part to my zealousness. Many comments so far have pointed out that even if all of this were true, it would not constitute a police state. I'm willing to give quite a bit of ground on that phrase, as I likely used it without thinking it through.
Edit 2: I'm sorry some people think I'm a shill. I'm just a concerned guy trying to help.
First Amendment
Cops can tell you what to say, taze you for arguing with them, arrest journalists, and arrest you for filming them. They can break up peaceful protests by force. They bring assault weapons to memorial services and gay rights marches and anti-war demonstrations.
[Here](http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/tag/journalist-arrested) are some stories about arrests of journalists.
Second Amendment
Most states don't seem to have tried to take your guns away, but that won't stop them from arming the police with military weapons. If the police attack you, where can you go for help? Why are the (civilian) police forces authorized to carry weapons which are illegal in the states they police? Do police really get into gunfights with heavily armed drug dealers and save the lives of crowds of law abiding citizens, like something out of a 1980's cop thriller?
[Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarization_of_police) is the wiki about police militarization.
Fourth Amendment
Cops can seize your property without cause or warrant (civil forfeiture), and search your car, phone, or house without cause or warrant. Don't believe me? Look it up. Multiple recent court decisions defend an officer's wish to do whatever he wants with your things.
[Here](http://www.mintpressnews.com/supreme-court-rules-police-do-not-need-a-warrant-to-search-your-home/206199/) is an article about the most recent supreme court decision on searches.
[This](https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&rlz=1C1ASUC_enUS632US632&es_sm=93&q=police+raid+the+wrong+house&oq=police+raid+the+wrong+house&gs_l=serp.3..0j0i22i30l9.269565.274940.0.275095.27.25.0.0.0.0.299.3358.0j18j2.20.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..7.20.3353.s4Q1aX2iVQY) is just a google page, but how many of these wrong house, no knock searches are too many?
[Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States) is the wiki about civil forfeiture.
It appears the court has ruled that police -do- need a warrant to search your cell phone.
Fifth Amendment
Cops can arrest you on the spot for literally anything they see fit, and you will be held -at least- until your bail hearing, and you will be lucky if you can afford your bail. Also, they can compel you through whatever means they see fit (lying, threatening, depriving of basic needs, torture) to bear testimony against yourself, even if you are innocent (any testimony given under duress is admissible to the court, and usually leads to conviction regardless of proof-of-guilt). Also, they fund their own departments by issuing citations and stealing property (seriously, if you haven't looked up civil forfeiture, do it now).
[Here](https://youtu.be/6wXkI4t7nuc?t=1656) is a good video where a Virginia Beach officer explains criminal 'interviews.' If you have time to really watch this, please listen to what he says, and how he says it. His job is to look for wrongdoing, and he freely admits that if he wants to pull someone over, he can follow them until they do something he can pull them over for. [This](https://youtu.be/6wXkI4t7nuc?t=1881) is where he starts to describe interrogation specifically.
Sixth Amendment
You can be kept in jail for years before you are brought before a judge, and can expect no help or information from the prison guards. Guards are there to keep people in, not to save lives. Numerous cases are rising to the public view regarding prison conditions, and maybe we should start throwing the 'cruel and unusual' term around. Either way, in 2011, about 3 people died in American jails -every day- with countless others tortured or left off the books (think Chicago's interrogation fiasco this year, or Guantanamo).
[Here](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-site) is an article about Chicago's secret prison.
[Here](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/09/08/how-many-police-shootings-a-year-no-one-knows/) is an article about police killings. Note the fact that they aren't even tracked very carefully.
[Here](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/27/deaths-in-jails-885-inmates) is an article about deaths in prisons. Again, information is out of date, and possibly inaccurate.
Eighth Amendment
Some Judges set reasonable bail, others do not. Some of the Judges caught setting unreasonable bail are called out, or disciplined, most are not. Chances are very good you will not be able to afford bail if you go inside. Think about that next time you're tempted to flip off a police officer.
I'm having a hard time finding specifics about the time between an arrest and a bail hearing, but pages I visit says it varies state by state, with multiple lawyers giving anecdotes of people waiting up to a year in jail before being -acquitted- because they couldn't make bail. Personally, I have known more than one person to spend months in jail after being unable to afford bail. Whether or not someone is found guilty, shouldn't this be viewed as a violation of our right to a speedy trial? Not sure about that one.
[Here](http://www.bjs.gov/content/dcf/ptrpa.cfm) are some statistics on drug bail.
[Here](http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/bailfail_executive_summary.pdf) is a document full of prison statistics, most relevantly, bail rates.
Bottom line:
You don't have rights anymore. Each of the constitutional rights we have were set forth by Americans to protect their families from overzealous government officials. These rights are not there to protect you from your neighbors. They aren't there to protect you from your employer. They were written specifically to protect you from the Government, and they have failed. Remember your history, read the constitution. Every one of the rights Americans hold dear is being violated by police, judges, and politicians every day. Every Day. EVERY DAY. Every bullshit arrest, every bullshit sentence, every bullshit traffic stop, every bullshit roadside search. If you try to exercise your right to free speech, you can be stopped for it. If you argue with the officer, he will pull you out of the car for an arrest and search without warrant. If you resist him in any way, or if you can't hear him, or if you step on the brake pedal by mistake, or if you just don't fall on your face quickly enough, he will shoot you. Those are the facts.
Every year, another generation of high-school students reads 1984, by Orwell. They tell us what to buy, and at what price (medicine, insurance). They tell us our wars are moral, or economically sound. They tell us who to love (media, soldiers, 'heros'). They tell us who to hate (war, media, socialists, WBC). We are in a constant state of war on at least one front (Germany, Vietnam, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt, Russia, Mexico, and God only knows where else). They lie to us, and suppress anyone looking for the truth (media, arrest of journalists, denying the right to assemble or film officers). They tell us what to believe. They tell us how to behave. They will kill you if you do not fall in line exactly when and how they tell you.
It might not look like you live in a police state. After all, you can drive to work, do your job, buy your groceries, and go on vacation. However, if a police officer, a judge, or anyone else has the authority to ignore the Constitution of the United States of America, what else can you call it? Do I need to dare you to piss off a cop? If you know what will happen when you piss off a cop, how can you accept that? Why are police even authorized to use deadly force? You really want them to kill someone for speeding? Well what about stealing your car, can we kill them then? How many lives are saved through the use of deadly force? Is it worth it?
Well it isn't worth it to me. I'm going to keep my head down until I can afford to get the Hell out of here. I'd rather Live as a citizen of the World than Die as a citizen of this country.
If you think the constitution protects you (at all), think again. They are walking all over your rights, and you aren't going to notice until they arrest you, or kill your children. If they never do, you will live your life among the sheeple, waiting for the law to tell you how to live.
I'm sorry if this comes across as somewhat belligerent, but I believe the seriousness of the situation in this country isn't exactly sinking in for the general public. Am I wrong? Is it already getting better? Are citizens safer than they used to be? Is my information wrong or biased? I would love a discussion about what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong, and what we can do next.
**Edited to link some sources**
_____
> *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!*
| 350 |
In a police state everything you describe would be the norm, not unusual circumstances.
Can you show that what you're using as examples (without citation) are in any way common enough to be considered anything other than exceptions to the rule?
| 93 |
CMV: Education in the US should be tailored to top performers and not bottom performers.
|
Note: This is mainly talking about grades seven through twelve.
Education in the US is too focused on teaching to the bottom and middle parts of the class. Teachers move too slow for the students who are actually competent, which leads to them getting distracted. This is something that happens all throughout school from introductory English classes to high school Calculus. In the US teachers also don't encourage competition which is beneficial for lower performing students who don't want other people to know how bad they are ,but hurts top performers who need competition to become better. There are too few programs for dedicated students to learn beyond the curriculum. This leads to greater differences between students in rural and urban areas, beacuse urban areas have greater access to advanced programs.
Top students are the most important, because they are the ones that will lead the country forward in almost every area. Lower level students who are unwilling to put in effort to reach the top are not motivated enough to accomplish important things.
One of the most important ways to help them lead the country even farther is to move at a faster pace for class. This means classes can be one or two terms instad of two or three or classes can cover more material. Covering more material means we can have classes like Calc BC instead of Calc AB or a physics AB 1 and 2. The shorter classes would allow students to get classes in a wider range of topics in all areas. This could be something like proof school for all areas where students can choose to learn about almost any subject in any field.
Competition is the greatest motivator. So a system that discourages competition by not giving incentives and information leads to a lack of motivation. Some teachers in the US forbid students from sharing grades and provide no incentive for being the best in the class or school at something. In several schools I have been to they try to encourage cooperation instead of competition, but this doesn't encourage you to push yourself to be better than the person woh is close to you and then them to push beyond you. Competition is a huge part of Asian schools which are the most succesful in the world. This view is one that wil require more convincing for me to change because I was brought up in a school where you would not share any kind of knowledge with the other students, because that would help your competition. The school led to extremely good results from mediocre people, beacuse you were encouraged to be the best.
The lack of advancd classes or groups is something that doesn't affect all of the US, but mainly rural areas. This leads people like me to have to drive 2+ hours to go learn more things so we can compete wit Urban students. Not everyone's parents are willing to make that kind of a drive for their children so students out in the middle of nowhere do not have access to such great knowledge as Urban students.
| 20 |
I agree with your subject, but not at all with your implementation. Competition is unnecessary and counterproductive. It seems like you're mostly talking about STEM, so I'll focus on that too.
Competition is incredibly rare in actual STEM work, whether it's in industry or academia. There's just no need for it. The problems people are now tackling are simply too complex, and no one really works on them as individuals. Work is always collaborative, so why should school be different? Working with other people is in itself a skill that can be improved and should be developed at an early age. Good learning is collaborative; classes usually only have one teacher, but when people cooperate, all your classmates can also serve as teachers, helping each other understand material and offering different ways of thinking about a topic. You might say this props up the lowest performers, but that's simply untrue. There's so much education required for a technical field that there's bound to be a stumbling block or two somewhere along the way. Almost everyone will struggle a bit with some part of their education, that doesn't mean they should be stopped.
Moreover, competition encourages counterproductive behavior. It puts too much emphasis on certain metrics, which drives people to focus more on achieving those metrics rather than learning what those metrics are meant to assess. The most straightforward way you'll see this manifest is as cheating on exams. But if you ask anyone who's gone to med school, you'll hear stories of sabotage, like people deliberately telling their classmates wrong information to try to get them to fail and alter the curve. The people who wind up as doctors, engineers, etc should be the most capable and well suited. That doesn't happen if the selection criteria include how good you are at sabotage and how good you are at resisting it. These elements of competition hold people back from success. Why not just let people help each other learn and be motivated by curiosity, a love of learning, and a genuine passion for the topic?
| 12 |
[Star Wars] Why does Kylo Ren wear a mask?
| 32 |
A mask in that style seems to be a standard part of the uniform of the Knights of Ren, which is the Sith group that Kylo Ren is formally a part of, and operates on the orders of Snoke, alongside the First Order.
As a bonus, Kylo/Ben is trying really hard to emulate Darth Vader, so a mask is pretty essential piece of wardrobe for his tribute cosplay.
| 71 |
|
How does a hot object like metal or magma produce light?
|
From my understanding, something has to be changing chemically to produce light, but a glowing hot steel rod or magma produce light by just being physically hot. How does his work?
| 63 |
This effect is called blackbody radiation. One aspect of temperature is the random vibration of atoms. Sometimes this vibration results in an electron in the atom being bumped to a higher energy state, which also slightly cools the atom. When the electron falls back down to a lower energy state, it emits light at a specific wavelength depending on where it fell from and to. Wavelength determines energy and color.
The highest energy light that room temperature objects emit is infrared, or more red than red. The cells in your eyes are not able to detect this or any lower wavelength of light. As the temperature of an object increases, both the total amount of light and the maximum wavelength increase, and around 750K or 480 degrees C, visible red light is emitted. As the temperature increases further, light in the green and eventually blue is emitted. This is why a Tungsten light-bulb at 3000K looks white, all visible wavelengths are being emitted.
| 51 |
CMV: A characteristic of a sophisticated justice system is that it be as "outcome-independent" as possible
|
The punishment should fit the crime, not the outcome of the crime.
This was inspired this post on the front page: [LINK](http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/2mzuxe/father_throws_chair_at_judge_after_the_driver/)
The judge sentences a driver to 120 hours of community service for running into a family and killing 3 people, and the father, whom I can't even imagine the sorrow and anguish he is going through, throws a chair at the judge. The driver was known to be going 40 km/hr over the limit. I hope the judge and security guards were sympathetic to the extreme emotions and sorrow in the father's head, and the punishment to him, if any, is minimal.
Regardless, and I don't feel that I'm being insensitive: I believe the judge's sentence was reasonable. The crime was "driving 40 km/hr over the limit". The outcome of the crime was people died. The outcome of the crime should not affect the verdict. **If you say "the driver should be put in jail for *blank* years!" it's very reasonable to say that anyone caught going 40 km/hr over the limit should also be put in jail for *blank* years. They just got lucky and didn't drive into anyone; the crime is identical.** To do otherwise is to make the legal system more about vengeance than keeping society under control.
Another example: ever seen A Clockwork Orange? Alex, the main character, beat a lady very severely. He was arrested, and the police wanted to charge him with assault, which was a relatively common and minor charge in the hyper-violent society. It wasn't until she died that he was really in trouble with the law, and the cops told him this. In my opinion, Alex should have had one charge/punishment against him the whole time: "assault and battery with a strong possibility of causing death" (which is a theoretical crime I just made up) and he should have been convicted of it regardless of if the lady died.
You couldn't make it "perfect" so that every single crime is as outcome-independent as possible, especially because some crimes aren't even apparent until the outcome happens. However, I still think outcome-independence is a desirable aspect of a sophisticated legal system and something to strive for as much as possible.
**EDIT:** I feel that everyone is arguing that what I'm suggesting would cause drastic changes in the legal system, but I don't really feel that it would. Here's some of the changes that would be made by attempting to be more outcome independent:
Here are some theoretical punishments in a modern justice system:
* Murder: 25 years
* Attempted murder: 15 years
* Firing a gun straight up into the air causing death (involuntary manslaughter): 5 years
* Firing a gun straight up into the air not causing death: Community service. Perhaps brief jail time.
Here's how a "outcome-independent" legal system would treat things:
* Murder: 25 years
* Attempted murder: 25 years
* Firing a gun straight up into the air causing death (involuntary manslaughter): Community service. Perhaps brief jail time.
* Firing a gun straight up into the air not causing death: Community service. Perhaps brief jail time.
_____
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| 39 |
>it's very reasonable to say that anyone caught going 40 km/hr over the limit should also be put in jail for blank years. They just got lucky and didn't drive into anyone; the crime is identical
Is the fact of the collision not at least prima facie evidence that this driver was driving recklessly 40 km/hr over the limit whereas some other drivers drive reasonably 40 km/hr over the limit? It seems to me that luck, skill, and judgment are all at play. The person who speeds without incident is less likely to have been reckless than the person who speeds and collides with another vehicle.
| 15 |
"Falsification is Consensual" - What does that mean?
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I am reading the book Statistikal Rethinking by Richard McElreath and I came across the statement that falsification is consensual.
What does that mean?
​
I was under the impression that a theory (with assumptions, context and predictions/conclusion/hypothesis) is rejected whenever there is contradicting evidence (that fulfills a standard of objectivity, repeatability and such) the theory is rejected.
One could then either modify the theory (changing assumptions or changing context and voila, there is no longer such evidence to be found that it can be rejected.
By that thinking a piece of evidence (not just quantitative, but let's keep it at quantitative) falsifies a theory.
​
What is wrong with this (potentially false) way of thinking considering the statement of "falsification is consensual"?
What am I missing? (Is my thinking even correct?)
​
Edit:
Context was missing. Sorry, about that.
Here is the passage:
Falsification is consensual. The scientific community does come to regard some hypotheses as false. The caloric theory of heat and the geocentric model of the universe are no longer taught in science courses, unless it’s to teach how they were falsified. And evidence often—but not always—has something to do with such falsification.
But falsification is always consensual, not logical. In light of the real problems of measurement error and the continuous nature of natural phenomena, scientific communities argue towards consensus about the meaning of evidence. These arguments can be messy. After the fact, some textbooks misrepresent the history so it appears like logical falsification. Such historical revisionism may hurt everyone. It may hurt scientists, by rendering it impossible for their own work to live up to the legends that precede them. It may make science an easy target, by promoting an easily attacked model of scientific epistemology. And it may hurt the public, by exaggerating the definitiveness of scientific knowledge.
| 25 |
Here is some context from the 1st edition of "Statistical Rethinking" (chapter 1. The Golem of Prague, pg. 9-10, section 1.2.3)
"**Falsification is consensual.** The scientific community does come to regard some hypotheses as false. The caloric theory of heat and the geocentric model of the universe are no longer taught in science courses, unless it's to teach how they were falsified. And evidence often--but not always--has something to do with falsification.
But falsification is always *consensual*, not *logical*. In light of the real problems of measurement error and the continuous nature of natural phenomena, scientific communities argue towards consensus about the meaning of evidence...."\[*italics* in original\]
I would say given the further context, that McElreath recognizes science is a social human process. Any theory that is not trivial is an accumulation of multiple lines of evidence and, as such, any theory that is not trivial will not be thrown out overnight from a single contradictory observation. Observations themselves are imperfect with multiple sources of uncertainty and it is a bit daunting attempting scientific inquiry if you throw out an entire paradigm at the first cracks. So the scientific community 'agrees' as evidence accumulates (or with every funeral) that a certain theory has more support than a previous one.
There are some good youtube videos on different epistemological philosophies (some influential thinkers being: Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend)
| 23 |
ELI5: Where does the brain generate its ‘current’ to send small electrical impulses to muscles etc...?
| 1,104 |
There are pumps and gates in your cell membranes, which control the flow of ions. Ions are charged particles (positive or negative), so their movement creates a current and thus electrical impulses.
One example of a pump is the sodium-potassium pump. This pump exchanges 3 Na+ (soidum) ions for 2 K+ (potassium) ions, making the cell lose 1 positive ion each time. This makes the cell more and more negatively charged over time. This effect is slow-ish and mostly constant.
Now we come to the gates. These have a “threshold”, like a plug in a broken dam holding back the water. Once the threshold limit is crossed, everything just bursts through.
In the sodium-potassium example, the sodium gate will open when the cell reaches a certain threshold of negative charge, which will instantly draw the sodium from outside the cell back into the cell to balance the concentration lost by the pump. This causes a massive shift of ions, creating an electrical impulse.
The electrical impulse can also trigger other gates in neighbouring cells to open, causing a “cascade” where the first signal spreads out and travels down the nerves to muscle cells.
| 456 |
|
Why does some spicy food have a delay, whereas with others the heat can be felt immediately?
| 83 |
Depends on the fat content and oils, aswell as what the rest of the dish consists of and also the fruit itself. Fats and oils can coat your tongue and be a sort of shield. Capsaicin doesnt dissolve well in water, but there are proteins that break it down. Milk for example has proteins that can break down capsaicin, and it has fats. This is why dairy helps and water doesn't when needing to cool down your mouth from spicy food. This is why you want to flush it down with something that also breaks it down, because if you you water for example, you're not really doing much other than spreading it around, where it will continue to linger until the enzymes in your saliva as broken them down or you have eaten enough other food to have taken some of it down with it.
So in short to your question, water content, oil and fat content, what you have previously eaten, what you choose to eat/drink after, the types of enzymes in what you're eating and your saliva. If you already have oil in your mouth from something else, the spice might feel delayed because of it working as a protective shield. If you're... goin in dry so to speak, you're more likely to feel the spice much more quickly.
| 60 |
|
ELI5:What is it that makes Toyotas so reliable even after many years of use?
|
Large amounts of spare parts made? Manufacturing process? Design differences?
| 7,487 |
Toyota revolutionized a manufacturing process about 40 years ago that allowed bottom up refinements to address manufacturing issues (the assembly guys on the line can spot an issue and report it up the hierarchy to get it changed, rather than waiting for the managers and engineers to discover issue) and had an extreme focus on quality. At this point, other car makers have caught up in many respects and it’s more reputation than anything at this point. And the worst brands today are still better than the best a generation ago in terms of reliability.
| 6,723 |
ELI5: Why do some sporting events start at such random times, for example Duke vs. Wisconsin started at 9:18, why not 9:00 or 9:30?
| 51 |
This is to give the pre show broadcasting team to have time to set up and introduce the game. Additionally, this is a marketing scheme for organizers to earn more money as you tune in at 9:00 PM with a bucket of pop corn and watch 18 minutes of advertisements.
| 30 |
|
How do services like whatismyipaddress.com determine the physical location of an IP address?
|
Do different countries have specific ranges of IPs they can use?
| 21 |
They use a service that performs IP geolocation. The exact location of an IP address is often impossible to determine. Some major ISPs do have hints with regard to the domain names associated with addresses in a subnet. For instance, try looking up you up and then finding the hostname for it. You'll notice some landmarks.
There's no way to do this solely from the network stack alone.
| 20 |
Could fusion power offset helium depletion?
|
If we in an imagined future got say 10% of our energy from fusion. Would the helium biproducts be enough for to satisfy our need for helium in science? What about both science and "recreational" use of helium?
| 326 |
I agree with /u/somedave that the answer is No.
If we met the total energy demands of the entire world with fusion (4x10^20 Joules per year) then we would produce something in the region of 100,000 kg of Helium as a byproduct. Compare this to an annual Helium usage of the order of 10,000,000kg and you see there is no way it is covered.
With no way to produce resonable quantities of He, we will run out one day but that day is 100's of years away. The most likely way to avoid this is to get better at recycling it and/or to discover high temperature superconductors that allow us to use a different coolant.
| 60 |
Why can't objects be seen if they are smaller than the wavelength you are using?
|
Is there a physical visualization that can help reinforce this? I'm not seeing the relationship between the wavelength and physical object size.
The wavelength of light is continuous, and describes the E/M vector at a point. So if we have an atom at some position X, and we shoot an infinitely thin beam of visible light (wavelength larger than atom's size), the light must travel and hit the atom at position X because the light is continuous. It's not like the lightwave just skips over position X. So the atom should interact with the visible light, somehow. If it were to reflect the visible light back to us, then why can't we see the atom?
| 674 |
If you want a really far but easy way to see it, try to find where a grape ( in reality a bacteria) is on a table using a toothpick (electrons), a carrot (visible light), an apple (infrared) and a watermelon (radio).
As long a the wavelength (diameter) of the tool is smaller than the object you want to resolve, you have no problem defining where the object is and even details of the contour ( that is the toothpick).
When the wavelength of the tool is comparable you can still see that something of that approximate size is there (that is the carrot).
When the wavelength is larger, best case you may see some faint scattering that tells you there is something different about the area where the grape is (with an apple), and at a certain point it is unlikely you see anything at all (watermelon).
| 654 |
ELI5: When you have an itch on your back and someone scratches it for you, why does it then travel to other parts of your back?
| 49 |
Scientists have known for decades that scratching creates a mild amount of pain in the skin.
Scientists worked out that scratching causes a sensation of pain. This causes the brain to release serotonin is to control the pain. But serotonin activates itch-transmitting cells, making the itch worse
In humans, it is not possible to block serotonin to control itching as it is important for pain-control
Senior investigator Doctor Zhou-Feng Chen, director of Washington University's Centre for the Study of Itch, said that pain can interfere with itching - at least temporarily - by getting nerve cells in the spinal cord to carry pain signals to the brain instead of itch signals.
Dr Chen said: 'The problem is that when the brain gets those pain signals, it responds by producing the neurotransmitter serotonin to help control that pain.'
As serotonin spreads from the brain into the spinal cord, the chemical can 'jump the tracks' – moving from neurons that sense pain to nerve cells that influence the intensity of an itch, she added.
EDIT: Explanation to a 5 year old - It's all in the mind.
| 16 |
|
If your body temperature drops while you sleep, why do you often wake up in sweat?
|
Are the two related?
| 32 |
The exactly same (opposite) thing happens when you have a fever- Your body raises its temperature to kill bugs that are infecting you, and the sensation is that you have chills. It might be related to temperature relativity, in that since your body temp becomes a bit lower, the ambient temperature of the room is perceived as a bit warmer than usual. The two main reasons for sweating are from either your hypothalamus trying to lower body temperature, or a sympathetic response on sweat gland acetylcholine receptors.
| 12 |
[MCU/No Way Home] Question about Aunt May.
|
During No Way Home, it would be Aunt May who would convince Peter to try to help the villains who had come to their world and save them from their deaths. How do the villains thank her for her hospitality? By trashing their apartment and Green Goblin murdering Aunt May in cold blood. In spite of this, even as she lay dying in Peter's arms, she tells him that it wasn't a mistake to try to help them and that Peter shouldn't give up on them. Why? She's seen first hand how they react to the kind of help they wanted to give, so why does she still want Peter to try to get through to them?
| 309 |
I imagine it wasn't the first time she has exposed herself to someone in need and seen it backfire on her. She volunteers at a shelter, and takes the time to talk to and care for the people who use the facility. There must've been many people who were dishonest/shifty/looking to take advantage of her good heart. She's learnt to overlook those incidents because there are many more people who need help and who would miss out if she'd gives up.
I guess she lived by a philosophy, a principle, really. She believed that if you could do good things for other people, you had a moral obligation to do those things.
There's probably a more pithy way of saying that 🤔🤔...
| 408 |
CMV: There should be no opportunity to object at a wedding
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Weddings are well planned. They don't in general happen on a whim. Even if they did, it seems unreasonable that an objection could not be voiced before or after the wedding. I have never been to a wedding where anyone objected, but if they did, I feel like it would not be useful to the couple and would potentially result in a poor wedding day or marriage. I think it could be taken out of the ceremony, and no one would miss it. Given that this is a practice that has existed for centuries, I am sure there are some well-founded arguments for its continuance. I would love to hear them
| 34 |
I think the idea is that it’s (admittedly ceremonially) giving any person their absolute last chance to say why these people shouldn’t get married. If they don’t say anything now, then they forfeit their right to complain about it later. That’s the “forever hold their peace” part.
So it’s less about giving an opportunity to say something and more about making it clear that this is the last possible moment someone can say something about whether or not the couple should marry.
| 23 |
[MCU] Did Thanos have plans to help a post-Snap universe prosper?
|
Sure, he rationalises earlier that Gamora's people have naturally enjoyed a paradise and full bellies, but does he really plan to sit back and retire or is he gonna get stuck in and help the survivors? Perhaps that dream of farming is to help bolster supplies? Or is it just for leisure?
| 15 |
It's just leisure - his work is done, and the universe is better for it, as far as he's concerned. The planets that he's halved have always prospered in the past, so he absolutely believes that the universe will prosper on its own, now that he's given it that little nudge in the right direction.
Thanos has devoted his whole life to this one goal and finally seen it through, despite the cost. He's earned a bit of R&R while the rest of the universe gets through this little speed bump and gets back on track. The worlds don't need him any more, because he's finally given them what they needed.
| 26 |
I was zooming around the massive panoramic view of our galaxy (link in comment) and I noticed really bright stars(?) that had black dots in the center of them. What exactly are those black dots?
|
http://djer.roe.ac.uk/vsa/vvv/iipmooviewer-2.0-beta/vvvgps5.html
EDIT: Just zoom in anywhere and I'm sure you can see a few. There is like a giant black dot in the center of these very bright objects (I assume they're stars).
| 18 |
Those are "masks". When you point a detector (like those on the Hubble Space Telescope) at the stars, it's designed to pick up really faint objects. So it's very sensitive. If too much light lands on certain pixels on the detector from really bright stars it can do multiple things including 1) screw up your image by bleeding into adjacent pixels (this is due to how the electronics work), which might hide some feature near that object that you're interested in, or 2) damage the detector. So the detectors are set up to have certain areas that are blocked, so you can put a really bright star on them, and the light won't land on the detector on that little area so you will still be able to look at things near by. So the brightest parts of the brightest objects aren't usually observed directly. (You can, but not with instruments designed for faint observations.) This is why you see black holes in the middle of them. The image you linked to is a composite of course, so it's made up of many images, but all of these images will have been masked, so the composite will also have the black hole.
| 18 |
Are the theories put forth in "Guns, Germs, and Steel" widely accepted by science?
|
I'm just curious. Jared Diamond seems to be making a lot of assumptions about the reactions of the minds of centuries old civilizations to technology such as guns, mounted horsemen, etc. I think the theory seems really clean and solid, but I keep wondering if all these little assumptions are true for certain.
| 458 |
It would be helpful if you could be more specific about what theories or maybe some examples.
Diamond's main thesis is that the course of civilization was influenced by the starting conditions of geography and ecology. The idea that there are more easily domesticated animals in Eurasia and that the east-west orientation of the continent facilitates technology dispersion is generally well accepted. These two facts resulting in all geopolitical history up till now is more contested.
The reactions in the minds seem fairly unimportant for the larger theory. The psychological impact of seeing a mounted rider was probably less important than lacking the knowledge to fight a mounted rider.
| 208 |
ELI5: How do you find the line of best fit on a scatterplot?
| 24 |
There are different ways to do it depending on what you care about most. The most common way is doing a least squares regression. Basically you use calculus to figure out the line that makes the square of the distance from that line to each point the smallest. The math of it is a bit above an ELI5 but you can look up least squares.
| 16 |
|
[Xmen] How does Wolverine's healing factor work?
|
Has it been explained in the comics? I've just read that it comes from some dimension(s)?
I've read that a person's metabolism is responsible for all the healing processes and most of it. So how does he have so strong healing enough to cure anything and everything?
| 17 |
Not explicitly, no. In fact it's been really really inconsistently portrayed over the years.
He once spent a few weeks stuck in the bottom of a boat, he survived by cutting slices of this arm and eating them. So clearly his healing is powered by something other than his metabolism.
| 20 |
ELI5: Why is the atomic mass unit definedas "one-twelfth of the mass of one atom of carbon-12"? Why specifically carbon and not just the mass of one proton?
| 207 |
Because the "mass of a proton" is not as easy to define as you think.
It turns out that if you take apart a carbon atom or really any atom into a bunch of protons and neutrons, the protons and neutrons will have more mass than the carbon atom itself. This is because free protons/neutrons have more energy than a carbon atom, and by Einstein's E=mc^2 they thus have more mass.
In fact there used to be an older definition of the AMU that used oxygen instead. But oxygen has slightly different binding energy to carbon and as such a slightly different amu, the scientific community came to a consensus that both definitions could not be used.
Regardless though we could have defined the AMU to be the mass of a free proton/neutron. The reason seems to be because carbon is a convenient element. Its solid at room temperature and pressure, pretty chemically stable, and as such experiments could be conducted on things made from carbon pretty easily to determine the count of the carbon atoms in it.
| 263 |
|
eli5 I never wake up at 9am but if I set my alarm for 9am I will wake up a couple of minutes before. how does this happen?
| 420 |
You body has its own internal timekeeping (most creatures do). In particular there’s your daily ‘circadian rhythm’ which involves two 24-hour clocks in your brain (suprachiasmatic nuclei in your hypothalamus). These keep a steady tempo. Just like a watch, they need to be told what your timezone is so that you can wake during the day and sleep during the night (instead of the other way around). So your body responds to information like light, which affects hormones, to tell your timers when daytime is. This means your brain has a way of ”knowing” what time it is. It therefore can subconsciously coordinate with your alarm clock. The process is not sudden, it happens gradually. There accuracy is not 100%, so your body can be a bit early or a bit late. But if you tend to feel anxious or stressed (and if you hate alarms) or if you’re a light sleeper and there is environmental information (like birds, sunrise, traffic, etc), the tipping point can happen just before your alarm. It is possible for you to consciously intend to wake at a certain time without the alarm even existing, and your brain will comply. Likewise, if you know it is the weekend, your conscious intent can make your brain let you sleep in. It’s not a hard and fast rule for everyone, but the effect is certainly there.
| 171 |
|
[The Walking Dead] What is the state of the rest of the world? The country?
| 26 |
Small cells of survivors exist all across the world. The United States has collapsed, but many survivors exist in rural america. Some exist in impromptu forts scattered in only the most rural areas of America. The Rocky Mountains, the Nevada desert, the dense marshes of the south and the great forest of the north. The large amounts of firearms that exist in the US have given the survivors a slight fighting chance.
Canada is a barren tundra. Survivors have fled south to escape the harsh Canadian winter. Some survivalist cling to life in the Yukon in small camps, but many have resorted to cannibalism to survive in their remote hideaways.
Survivors exist within Mexico, hiding in the sprawling Mexican deserts. With the government collapsed, the cartels have used their weaponry to create small nations of their own. The savage Mexican gangsters, hardened by years of gang violence, have adapted well to the new world.
Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Bahamas saw some peace during the early outbreak. This didn't last, as refugees from Florida and Latin America have overwhelmed their shores. This population boom has led to incredibly chaotic outbreaks throughout the Carribean. The only survivors have taken to the seas, traveling the Gulf Coast and scavenging the abandoned ports.
Most of the Brazilians have fled deep into the Amazon. Not many of these survivors could make it, and succumbed to disease and predators. These deaths have led to the Amazon being littered with the undead, lying in wait within the brush. The Brazilians rarely leave their fortified jungle camps for fear of being ambushed. Their settlements, though, are by far the most prosperous in the Americas. Fertile soil has led to an abundance of food for the survivors.
The southernmost people of South America have mostly retreated into the Andes. Many reside in the Incan ruins, repairing the ancient terrace farms to provide food as well as protection from the occasional walker.
The people of the British Isles have regressed to a way of life they haven't known for centuries. Fleeing into the long abandoned medieval ruins, the British have reentered an age of castles and siege warfare in their struggle against the walkers. Antique swords, sabres, pikes, and crossbows have now become the norm for survivors, who have utilized these weapons to dispatch walkers with ease.
Most of mainland Europe has fled into the Appalachian mountains, the forest of Germany, or the mountains of Greece. The catacombs of Paris and Rome now teem with walkers, so many that clearing them all is impossible. Should humanity bounce back, these historic cities are lost to man forever.
India and China, the two most populous nations on Earth, are the most devastated. Roughly a thousand Indians and Chinese have survived the largest outbreak on the planet by fleeing into the ocean.
Russia's evacuation of the Oblast beyond the Ural mountains has backfired. Siberia is largely infested by Chinese and Central Asian walkers, but many military and civilian settlements still scrape out a living. Compared to the rest of the world, Russia is one of the only nations with an intact military (despite the lack of a nation to fight for).
The Middle East, a region previously plagued by warfare and unrest, had been pushed over the breaking point by the walkers. The nuclear exchange between the Middle Easterners has reduced entire nations into radioactive wastelands owned only by the dead. Some refugees from the Levant managed to escape to Cyprus, where Jews and Muslims maintain an uneasy alliance for survivals sake.
The state of Africa is unknown, as many of the more populous cities have been reduced to nothing but walker nest. It's possible that some militias still survive deeper within the continent, but we cannot be certain.
All in all, no nation still truly stands on Earth. Though many governments still survive within bunkers or isolated military bases, humanity is now nothing more than scattered plots of survivors dotting the world.
| 25 |
|
ELI5: My mom has always told me to wash my hands after touching money because "there is a a load of bacteria on them from countless people touching them before". Is there any truth in it?
| 238 |
Yes, there's a load of bacteria on money.
However, there's a load of bacteria on pretty much everything.
You don't need to wash your hands after touching everything - just avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes too much.
| 208 |
|
ELI5: What happens to sound after the sound is no longer there, it seems to vanish, but where do sounds go?
| 34 |
Sounds are waves in air. They will slowly disperse and turn into heat after hitting things and being partially reflected and spread out over a wide area.
Imagine dropping a stone into a pond, just like the waterwaves soundwaves will get weaker quickly.
| 44 |
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[Jurassic Park] Is there any interest in cloning prehistoric mammals in this world? What about Neanderthals and Australopithecus?
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Like the Wooly Mammoth, the Smilodon, the Andrewsarchus, the Paraceratherium, the Embolotherium, the Hyaenodon, etc.
What about Neanderthals and Australopithecus?
| 251 |
It's considered to have low scientific value. The changes are significant enough to create problems, IE the staff of the Jurrasic World park understood that the reconstructed clones varied greatly in appearance from the originals, and even if they patched those up they'd lack the original symbiotic bacteria, the learned behaviors that some real dinosaurs picked up from parents, and the ability to compare behavior in captivity from behavior in the wild, which is sometimes wildly different. Even the very large ranges that were eventually built are small enough to cause island effects, which would distort both behavior and biology.
Economically it's a very expensive undertaking with a necessarily expensive ticket price (no matter how cheap you set the ticket price, you gotta build it on a remote island to limit invasive species events, which means customers have to pay somebody else a bunch of money for a plane ticket), so unless demand is very very high the numbers don't work out. Dinosaurs are much sexier than mammoths etc, though you could maybe talk the existing park into opening a mammalian megafauna wing if it actually reopens.
As far as other species of human go that opens up a massive ethical clusterfuck, while cloned mostly-dinosaurs isn't really any dicier than zoos in general (hell its better really, you don't have to take any out of the wild to begin with).
| 128 |
Do insects get sick? like do ants get colds or do bees get STI's?
| 75 |
yes. getting sick means you get infected by bacteria or virii or parasites or ... and of course, this can happen to insects, too. however, they have a different response than humans (read mammals) do. you e.g. have increased temperature to support your immuno cells to fight the intruders. this inflammatory response (which includes many more actions) cannot happen in insects as they don't have this superb system. however, they still have basic immunity granted by a basic system.
edit: got told it is viruses, not virii.
| 34 |
|
ELI5: How do nurses, drug users, etc inject a drug directly into a vein? How do they know the needle tip hasn't gone through the vein or even missed it completely?
|
I'd imagine most veins are less than 5mm in diameter, that's a pretty small target to land the tip of the needle in. How do they do it?
| 10,428 |
The "flash". Before pushing in, you draw back on the plunger. If the needle or catheter is in a vein, blood will easily be drawn back into the tubing or syringe and then you can push the medication or fluid in once you see that. If you're not in a vein, you won't easily pull blood out when drawing back.
| 6,204 |
ELI5: why , when someone is badly burnt do they die? What causes the body to say ok this is too much- while extremely painful- what's actually causing death in this or similar situations??
| 107 |
Burns are extremely good at inflicting lasting trauma that people can't recover from. Basically, there are two reasons:
1. Burns take away skin, which is your most important defense against infection. A third degree burn over any significant percentage of the body will leave you open to massive systemic infection.
2. Really severe burns also burden your kidneys (and possibly your liver, but don't quote me on this) with what amounts to a bunch of charred flesh in the bloodstream. This can screw up your kidneys to the point that it kills you, all by itself, but even if it doesn't finish you off, it can present a giant problem: if a patient's kidneys are barely functioning, you can't give them most pain drugs, as well as anything else that puts stress on the kidneys.
| 75 |
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I believe that public school teachers in the U.S. should make double to triple their average salary. A large portion of the money for this should be taken from the federal defense budget. CMV
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As it is now the average salary for being a teacher in the U.S. hovers right around $50,000, although in some states it's as high as $70,000. Right now I think it's safe to say that teaching is not a competitive market. If you are a really bright student in school, what fields do counselors or advisers encourage you to go into? Among others primarily law and medicine, and this is because they are very competitive fields with high salaries. This attracts our best people into being those things because you can make a lot of money doing those things. I'm not saying that doctors and lawyers aren't important to society, or that bright students shouldn't be proud of becoming a doctor or a lawyer (well, maybe a lawyer).
What I'm saying is that teachers are diametrically important to developing a better society because, in America at least, EVERYONE is legally obligated to attend school school as a child and is influenced by educators, either positively or negatively. If being a teacher was a bad ass job where you're making at least 6 figures students would dream of being a teacher and study their asses off to become the best teacher they could because only the top students were accepted into teaching positions. This would inject the teaching work force with our best and brightest people (the desired effect obviously being improving the quality of education received by students overall). And if this were a government initiative (where they put the extra money into the education system for higher salaries, better equipment/facilities etc.) the students who would be most impacted by this would be the ones who went to public schools. Now a quality education isn't only available to those who live in the right school districts or who can afford to send their kids to private schools. Hopefully the biggest effect from this would be that education would become more dynamic and exciting for students. If this is true than every field that has an educational prerequisite would become better/more competitive, thus greatly improving our country in multiple dimensions.
In 2010 the government estimated that there were a little over 3.1 million teachers employed by public schools in this country with less than 2% growth. If we doubled the teaching salary in public schools, the average teacher in the US would be making about $100,000 a year. To do this it would cost the US government roughly 150 billion dollars (I am estimating this figure based on publicly available census records put out by the U.S. Census Bureau). Now I'm not saying that the entirety of this sum should be simply cut and pasted from the DOD budget, but even if we did take that approach, that figure is only a little over 20% of their annual budget. Now a figure smaller than 20% could be supplemented by tax dollars and other creative methods that the government uses to get money. And I'm guessing our country wouldn't implode overnight if we cut back on military spending and didn't involve ourselves in foreign conflicts as much.
| 442 |
The only way that doubling the pay of teachers would have any effect was if there was some kind of competitive market for the job AND that market could not be flooded.
The first is currently not true because teachers are not measured or sought after in the same way that engineers, accountants, or other higher dollar professions are. Great teachers make no more money than mediocre ones. Only the truly awful/abusive get fired.
THe second is not true now, and would be even less true in a high-dollar scenario. Teaching has a very low barrier to entry. Essentially any adult can do it.... although we expect college degrees. With today's college graduation rate that cuts the pool roughly in half, but that is still an ENORMOUS number of qualified individuals. That many applicants is going to drive the price of teachers right back down from where you try to set it.
A final point... the United States spends more per student than nearly any other country on the planet. Our spending per student had gone up every decade AFTER inflation since statistics began in the 1960s. Whatever our problems are in education, the evidence does not suggest that lack of funding is one of them.
| 127 |
Does a fire apply downward thrust (albeit minor) as a reaction to its updraft?
|
Even a smallest bonfire has a very obvious, often fast-looking column of air rising up from it, surely this creates *some* thrust, from a technical perspective
| 89 |
Not so much the fire, but the cooler air next to it. A like volume of hot air weighs less than a like volume of cold air because it's less dense. Hot air rises because it is less dense than the cooler air next to it, much the same way that a bubble rises though water because air is less dense than water.
There is no thrust pushing pushing it up. A better way to look at it would by buoyancy. The cooler air is actually lifting the hotter air as it settles to the bottom of the high/low density air mix. The cooler air displaces the warmer air pushing it up with a force equal to the differential of their relative weight.
A bond fire heats the cool air at ground level. The hot air buoys upward replaced by cold air from below which is heated anew. This creates a continuous column of upward draft.
Basically thrust is a result of fluid momentum.
Buoyancy is the result of a displaced volume of fluid or air.
| 31 |
Why does majority of software need to be installed?
|
Is it because of fear of piracy or maybe the software needs to be decompressed?
| 21 |
It would certainly work to tell the user to download lots of files and have them put them in a specific directories, but it would be a pain. So having a single file to download is nice. This is some sort of archive format. It makes sense to compress it since download speeds are slower than having the CPU run the decompression. Adding an installer let's the software do some additional integration, like adding icons, putting configuration settings in a standard place. Letting the software be started as a service/daemon using standard tools, putting the main executable in your path, have it open certain file types by default.
Tldr: convenience.
| 33 |
ELI5: Is it really possible to be "sleep drunk" when extremely sleepy or tired? If so, what's the cause of the feeling and why does it happen
|
When I used to work a really early shift, I'd be close to knocked out by 8pm. My boyfriend's told me many times that I, sometimes, say and/do the weirdest things when I'm about to fall asleep. Most of the time I can remember saying or doing these weird things, but it almost feels like they were impulsive reactions that I had no control over.
If anyone could give me some insight as to what being "sleep drunk" really means (if it's even a thing), and how to prevent/cope with it, I'd really appreciate it!
| 43 |
Biologist here!
It very much is!
We call it “sleep amnesia”, and while the process behind it is pretty biologically technical, the jist is:
There are a handful of chemicals and hormones our body ONLY produces while we sleep, as we stay awake longer and longer, our body exhausts its supply and runs out of the stuff the brain uses to send chemical signals, things like “WATCH OUT!” To make you move from danger or “lift your leg up!” To go up a stair.
And since we only form long term memories during sleep. The longer we go without it, our short term memory starts to get full, think like a thumb drive.
If we dont let it plug in and dump its contents to the desktop (our brain) it starts loosing space and corrupting files in a sense, causing you to lag, thoughts seem disorganized, youre forgetful, simple tasks become harder etc.
After about 2-3 days without sleep or hormonal supplements, the brain starts to shut down. It cant work without its needed nightly repair time, and eventually you’ll enter a state of micro sleep. Where the brain shuts off for 10 seconds at a time trying desperately to get you to go lay down.
Fighting thru that, about 2 weeks in youll be in a full psychosis, unable to process thought. Speak coherently, walk, stand, function.
And about a week later, you die from sleep deprivation
To add:
It sounds like youre not getting restful sleep, either being woken up or kicked out of REM Sleep, either by someone in bed with you or an external force.
Try a night alone in bed, put the phone and tv screens away an hour prior, and dont go into the bedroom until youre ready to go to sleep, laying in bed on a phone disconnects the brain, if it sees the bed as a place to lounge and relax, it has a harder time using it as a place to sleep.
If that doesnt work, try getting an hour of sun a day. Or just outside really, between 4-6 pm if possible.
If THAT still isnt working see your doctor or endocrinologist, you may be suffering from a disorder known as “shift differential syndrome” where a change in work schedule can mess with the brain’s chemistry, and usually requires a regiment of medications to get the brain back set right
| 41 |
[The Matrix] How did Cypher get in contact with Agent Smith to arrange a meeting?.
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This isn't a question about how Cypher got into The Matrix because that has been asked and answered several times before.
Rather the question is how he managed to contact Smith and arrange the dinner with him?.
Did he just jack himself into the matrix and simply waited for an agent to arrive and say "Hey I want to betray the rebels" ?
Did he have to get their attention by doing "impossible" things that would threaten the system?.
Or maybe was he somehow communicating his intent to the agents before the meeting?
| 144 |
I just rewatched this and never noticed this before - there's a scene right after Neo leaves the Matrix, where he walks up behind Cypher and Cypher turns and sees him and is super startled! Then theu talk about how the Matrix code is too complicated to visualize on the moniters like the training room, but after awhile you don't even see it anymore. Then he shares the hooch with him. So basically presumably Neo walked in on Cypher contacting the agents, then Cypher confirmed that Neo cannot actually read that code still.
| 221 |
ELI5: The 11th amendment to the US constitution.
| 15 |
The 11th Amendment is fundamentally about the legal doctrine of sovereign immunity, which says that a sovereign state can't be held accountable in a court of law unless it consents to be, since it's the source of the law in the first place.
Originally, US states were effectively separate countries, so they had sovereign immunity. After the US Constitution was ratified, the Supreme Court ruled that a particular clause in the Constitution (which said that citizens of one state could sue another state in the Supreme Court) had eliminated the sovereign immunity of the states in those suits. The 11th Amendment was passed to reverse that and clarify that the states were still immune to suit in those cases.
| 13 |
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Eli5 The sun converts about 4 million metric tons of its mass into energy every second. Does this mean that it's mass reduces significantly over the span of, say, ten years?
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4 million tons a second is a lot of mass to be lost given enough time. Considering the fact that the sun is over four billion years old, does this mean that the sun was physically bigger when it formed?
What about a couple of hundred years ago? Or a few years ago? Could the suns loss of mass imply that it's shrinking over time?
| 266 |
What is "significant" when talking about the reducing mass of the sun? On one hand 4 million tons a second seems significant to us, but the sun is really massive.
Over the course of a year it loses 174 trillion tons of mass. But over the next 5 billion years it will lose 0.034% of its total mass. So yes, it is technically becoming less massive over time, but not to any amount significant to its scale.
| 403 |
ELI5: How does computer memory work?
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When you physically save a file, like a photo or a word document, how is it physically saved? Where is that document physically? I believe there are two modern memory devices, HDD and SDD, but how do they work? How can a Hard Disk Drive be ‘scratched’ the right way to save my essays? And when I save a file to a flash drive, where on the flash drive are my documents? How can another computer read that flash drive? Is it a series of electrons or switches moved to remember each part of the document, like the 38th word on the 4th page?
| 18 |
What you're talking about is called disk or storage. Memory is a different part of the computer, also called RAM.
With a traditional disk drive (HDD \ Hard Disk Drive) there is a spinning metal disk that is given magnetic charges that represent ones and zeros. Those ones and zeroes can then be read back as data. The charges are wrapped around the disk in a spiral, as if you took a credit card magstripe and layed it along a vinyl record. HDD's can increase storage space by having multiple spinning disks (platters).
Modern SSD (Solid State Drive) storage use the same technology as a USB flash drive, Non-Volatile NAND flash memory. Simply explained, there are large numbers of tiny no-moving-part electronic switches made from transistors, each switch representing a one or a zero, and the switches being organized such that they can be represented as a linear series of ones and zeroes, just like an HDD.
When you save a file onto a drive, the computer saves the ones and zeroes into a spot with enough room to fit the ones and zeroes, then adds that spot to a table of contents at the start of the drive.
Another computer can read the files off of the drive by looking at the table of contents to find where different files begin and end.
| 15 |
[Venom] What happens to the host of a Symbiote when it appears around the host's body?
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I was watching the Venom trailer and it shows Venom forming around Eddie (I think that's his name) . Is Eddie still conscious in there? Does he essentially become trapped? Is he able to understand what's going on outside of Venom?
| 50 |
When symbiote merges with the host, it basically both covers the body and suffuses it, including the brain. That's why host can hear symbiote voice in their head all the time, and that's why symbiote hosts can do freaky stuff like stretching and twisting their bodies in inhuman ways - symbiote largely acts as a buffer and healing medium. For the most part hosts are conscious, but depending on the symbiote they are either trapped and controlled by the creature, or working together with it, forming a single identity like Venom or Carnage.
When it comes to the movie, it seems that that version of Eddie Brock is fighting Venom for control for the most part until the end - which wasn't the case for comic version, where Brock gleefully accepted the symbiote and was the one to call themselves Venom to exact their revenge.
| 63 |
[Family Guy/American Dad] Who's the worse father: Peter Griffin or Stan Smith?
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Neither of them are particularly "good" fathers, but compositely(as in throughout all seasons of their respective shows), who is a worse father?
| 34 |
I’d say Peter is worse. Stan might be bad at times, but at least he isn’t as openly and maliciously abusive like Peter is to Meg. We do get some moments of questionable behavior, but even those tend to come out of a misguided desire to help in some manner,
I.e, bullying Steve to toughen him up, or trying to manipulate haley towards a perceived “successful” lifestyle.
| 83 |
ELI5 how some people with down syndrome develop a similar appearance
| 139 |
The politically incorrect, but convenient for this discussion, term for the appearance is 'mongoloid' which was coined because down syndrome sufferers were thought to look like Mongols. A Victorian term for the disorder was 'mongoloid idiocy.' This appearance is one of the defining symptoms of Down syndrome so it is all suffers rather than some that it applies to, but it may be more noticeable in some individuals than others.
The explanation, in extremely basic terms (you'll probably need to consult r/askscience for a full explanation)
Down syndrome is also known as 'trisomy 21'. Short for 'three copies of chromosome 21 ' you're meant to have two copies of each chromosome (22 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes) However, down syndrome occurs when two copies of '21' are inherited from the mother and one copy from the father. Instead of the usual one from each parent.
Normally, by having two copies of each chromosome you increase your chances of being genetically healthy as an error in one can be covered for if it's pair is intact. This is why men get more genetic disorders, because their sex chromosomes are XY compared with women's XX, and so as they only have one X if they inherit a dodgy gene on that chromosome from their mum they haven't got a spare to correct for it.
Now, with trisomy 21. The problem is too many cooks spoiling the broth, the correct genes may be there, but they are *over expressed* because there's 3 copies instead of 2. That's a massive oversimplification as genes affect the expression of other genes on other chromosomes and this is where it gets to r/askscience territory..
There's still a lot of research being done in to how exactly this extra chromosome effects over all genetic health, but the candidate for the 'mongoloid' appearance is a gene called ETS2 whose over expression may cause the skull to grow abnormally.
TLDR:
They have an extra chromsome. It has a gene called ETS2 too many copies of this gene cause skull to grow abnormally.
NB a small percentage of sufferers don't have the extra chromosome, instead extra genes from parts of an extra chromosome 21 are inherited from the mother and attach (are translocated) to chromosome 14
NB ALSO: this is a small part of a much longer and more complicated story - ETS2 is used here as an illustrative example, it is not the whole cause.
| 87 |
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[Doctor Who] Why did the doctor de age and basically become space Jesus when everyone in the world said his name at the same time?
| 15 |
Because the Archangel Network, a ton of extraterrestrial Time Lord satellites The Master constructed, were merged with the minds of every human on the planet. All of them directing their networked minds toward one person allowed him to use the combined psychic ability of *billions* of people.
Psychics and psychic abilities, latent or otherwise, are canon in the whoniverse, and a good hundred people who aren't outwardly psychic have the abilities of one together. So multiply that by how *many* hundreds of people he's actually harnessing, and it makes sense that he can easily reshape flesh and use telekinesis.
| 25 |
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ELI5: How can both fission and fusion release energy if they are opposites of each other?
| 21 |
Because in fission you're splitting large, complicated atoms that are held together loosely but release extra energy when split;
In fusion you're forcing together two small, light atoms which release energy when you join them.
If you try the reverse -- fusion with large atoms or fission with small atoms -- you don't get extra energy out, you lose a lot of the energy you put into it.
The middle point is iron: it doesn't do fusion or fission in either direction very well, which is why stars end up with a lot of iron at their core when they die.
| 38 |
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Why does any length shorter than a Planck make "no physical sense"? Why can't there be half a Planck?
| 246 |
There is no reason to believe the Planck length is in some sense the "smallest possible distance". It's just (1) the length you can construct from fundamental constants and (2) representative of the *scale* at which both quantum and relativistic effects ought to apply.
| 108 |
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CMV: Germany should not pay any further reparations for WWII damage
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Several German politicians from the left spectrum suggest that the German government should discuss paying further reparations to Greece for a forced loan in WWII that was not payed back to Greece.
I maintain that none of the following apply:
- the current population of Germany is responsible for the acts of the third Reich
- the current population of Germany has profited/is profiting from the acts of the third Reich
I also maintain that there are no other reasons to hold a population responsible for the acts of their ancestors.
_____
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| 43 |
Germany has already paid its war reparations, which is standard fare for the losing side in European wars.
However some consider the forced loan as actual credit rather than war damages. i.e. it's money that Germany borrowed from Greece, supposedly planning on paying it back. If the current populations of countries aren't responsible in **any** way for the actions of the governments that came before, then one could argue that most of the world's international debt should be written off since "It wasn't the people of X country today who borrowed that money from Y country, so why should they pay it back?"
| 27 |
ELI5: What does 100% air humidity mean?
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So I know that atmospheric air has a little bit of H2O in the atmosphere, which I assume is what air humidity is - the amount of H2O is in the atmosphere. However why is there a "100% air humidity"? Is there just a cap on how much water can be in air? And what happens if you add more water?
And is 0% air humidity literally just 0 water particles in the air?
| 92 |
100 % air humidity means that there is as much water vapor in the atmosphere as possible. If you add more, it will start to condensate into raindrops. 100 % humidity does not mean that 100 % of the air is water vapor. How much water there may be in the atmosphere varies with temperature and what other stuff there is in the atmosphere. A really hot atmosphere may contain a lot more water before it reaches 100 % humidity, which is why the air may feel really damp in the tropics for example. If it is really cold outside, like -20 celsius or colder, the air is really really dry, which also causes dry lips for many.
| 107 |
Can stomach acid burn organs?
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Since stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve metal, what would happen if the acid from inside your stomach got out? Would it do the same to other organs?
| 102 |
Normally, the cells in the lining of the stomach secrete a mucus that protects the stomach from damage from gastric acid. When your body moves your stomach contents (which contains substantial amounts of stomach acid) into your small intestine, your body pretty much immediately neutralizes it with alkaline secretions from the pancreas (EDIT: also from the gall bladder, as bile is also alkaline), because the intestines don’t have the same protective capacity as the cells in the stomach.
Other organs in the body lack this kind of protection/countermeasure system. Aspirational pneumonia is a great example (when gastric acid enters the lungs). Another much more common example is GERD (which results from gastric acid refluxing into the esophagus. And as has been mentioned, ulcers in the stomach and intestine result when these protective measures are compromised.
While the acid content of gastric juices is problematic, it’s not the only problem. Gastric juice also contains pepsin, which is a major player in the digestion of protein. Essentially, once protective measures are compromised (or if they were never present in the first place) you have damage from the acidity, but also you are literally digesting the proteins in your own tissue.
| 80 |
ELI5: How does knocking a person out work?
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Something I've always wondered. A good strong punch, a pistol whip to the back of the head, karate chops... How is it all supposed to work physiologically?
| 211 |
Not a doctor, not a scientist, but it's an overload. When trauma occurs to the brain like that, certain things happen. All of your senses more or less are stimulated by the impact to the tissue of the brain. It's like when you get hit in the nose ans see white for a second, when you get dizzy from spinning around...imagine all of these happening at once. it's a protective measure of your brain to "shut off," a bit like tripping a breaker, but it can reset itself.
| 104 |
ELI5 Why when falling, we flail our arms and legs
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Why do we flail our arms and legs while in the air falling from a large height?
| 78 |
I've always believed it was an instinctual response in an attempt to regain balance. Your body doesn't know how far it's going to fall it just knows you are falling and wants to get your feet under your center of mass.
| 25 |
Is C a Worthwhile Language?
|
Hello,
I'm a programmer with a few years of experience across several langs. I mostly work with Rust, but I'm decent at Zig, Lua, Python, Javascript, Java, assembler, and even a little bit of C.
I've been hesitant to go full-in on C because it seems like it's dying out. It's full of undefined behavior, shitty errors, memory problems, etc etc. But people still use it often for applications.
I see debates all the time about it and I've tried to think through it myself but honestly I don't know enough about the language to be able to come up with a valid decision.
My question is this: from a *purely performant standpoint*, is C worthwhile for learning in order to write command line tools, apps, games, whatever (I'm not really concerned with OS development or hacking; C obviously has its place there, nor with what's employable as I can't be employed yet anyway)?
Thanks
| 28 |
C is not dying out. Not even close. Linux is written and maintained in C, and runs on most of the web servers. And new kernels are actively maintained.
If you want to be a good developer, C is worthwhile to learn. It teaches you the fundamental concepts that you can take to other languages.
| 38 |
ELI5: Why can't we breed bees on a massive scale and release them, to help with the dwindling bee population?
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Edit: Also, can we genetically modify them to make them more able to survive?
Edit Edit: And make them produce honey faster
| 728 |
Hi there, PhD student working with honeybees here. First, it's worth noting that honeybees have largely bounced back from the Colony Collapse Disorder (presumably what you're referring to by "dwindling population") epidemic of ~2006-2013. CCD was a weird, difficult problem and we may never truly understand what caused it, but neonicotinoid pesticides combined with varroa mite infestations and subsequent disease seem to be the general suspects.
We have indeed genetically modified honeybees for desirable qualities using good ol' fashioned selective breeding. Bees are considered domesticated, and there's several major lines in production that are cold-tolerant, honey-producing, etc. Noteworthy to decline is we have produced lineages which are termed "hygienic" and behave in such a way to reduce the impact of varroa mite infestation. We can and do artificially inseminate queen bees, but it doesn't seem to take well. We probably could genetically modify bees with modern gene techniques to be even better, but honestly that's a load of paperwork, effort, and funding to fix a problem that's not really a problem.
Lastly, honeybees are already an "invasive" species in the United States. They were brought over from Europe a couple centuries ago. You could release a ton of them but there's really no point. There are already feral colonies pretty much everywhere filling the available niche. Interestingly, they don't seem to compete with native bee species but actually have synergistic effects in some areas such as pollination. Right now dwindling native pollinators are the big issue and there's a bit of effort to conserve them and utilize them in agriculture, but by and large honeybees do a great job so there's little economic incentive and probably not much hope in the long run.
Edit for Clarity: Bee populations tanked rapidly over ~6 years due to CCD which stopped in 2013. Populations of bees have recovered and remain stable *HOWEVER* bees are failing to overwinter or otherwise die early at increasing rates. Right now, we can compensate by simply producing more bees. We don't know exactly why, and as CCD showed us, we don't want to be caught in a situation where we suddenly have no bees and no alternatives. It *is* a cause for concern, but we are not presently in any sort of "beepocalypse" *for the moment*.
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How does Avg.costs keep falling as Marginal Costs increase?
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Most diagrams I see in my economics books shows that MC cuts the AC from below, I understand that point but how does MC increase as AC decreases, IMO the minimum point of MC should intersect with the minimum point in the AC curve as both increase due to the Law of diminishing returns.
[https://imgur.com/a/N4kM2qW](https://imgur.com/a/N4kM2qW)
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AC includes a fixed cost.
Suppose your cost curve is, for instance, 1000 + Q + 1/2 Q^2 + 1/3 Q^3. This yields an average cost of 1000/Q + 1/2 Q + 1/3 Q^2 and a marginal cost of Q + Q^2. In this case, as Q->0, the marginal cost goes to 0 but the average cost approaches infinity.
One thing to notice is that the average cost is decreasing as long as MC < AC, then increasing when MC > AC. This will always be the case. One way to think about it is by analogy to your GPA: if your latest ("marginal") grade is below your average to date, it pulls the average down; if above, it pulls the average up.
| 18 |
ELI5: Why do scissors enter 'slide mode' sometimes?
| 2,759 |
Low friction, very sharp: sschhhhwip ooh baby
High friction, blunt: sshcklaclacklackack ah fuck
Sharp scissors cut with very little force, so there isn't enough energy built up in the pressure of the blade against the paper to rip very far. This keeps the tear immediately next to the blade, so the blade continues to cut with very little force.
With a blunt blade, there isn't enough force to rip the paper against the blade until the tension is much higher, then once the paper begins to tear it can tear further and probably not in a straight line ahead of the blade. So then the blade is pushing against un-torn edge instead of the cleft of the cut and the problem starts again.
You can increase the chances of the sschhhhwip by sharpening the scissors and by slowly closing the scissors as you push, keeping the cut in front of the blades and applying both of them to reduce the required force to cut the paper.
If you push hard, you're more likely to rip the paper.
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