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[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How hard is it to change your name?" ]
In the UK, it's similar to what RabbaJabba says about the US. Here, we call it "changing your name by deed poll". You obviously need to prove who you are, and there are rules about what you can change your name to. The really don't care why, although you do have to affirm that you aren't trying to get out of something legally - under oath. When I did it, the law here was disjointed between the sexes - women can (for once) get it easier - when getting married or divorced, for example, it's free and there are no special forms to fill in other than the marriage papers. On the basis of equality, my wife and I decided to double-barrel our names meaning we would both have a name change. We could have gone for the option of recording her name change on the marriage papers, which would have been cheaper, and instant, but our names would have been different for a while. In the end decided to both of us would go down the "deed poll" route.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "why are certain products designed so differently in different markets?" ]
Some of it is market preferences, which may simply have been set way back when products were first introduced decades ago. Could also do with things like what surfaces get cleaned most — Americans have more carpeting on floors while I think European homes use vacuums on hard floors, drapes, etc. Trucks are a combination of road/space constraints, various safety and fuel economy regulations.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How Stephen Hawking has managed to survive with ALS for so long?" ]
It is common knowledge that Stephen Hawking died long ago. His chair achieved sentience at some point, critics disagree on when, and is currently posing as the scientist.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why Google might possibly not go national with fiber when internet is an industry in desperate need of disruption." ]
They don't have to offer fiber in every single market to disrupt the ISP ecosystem. All they have to do, and all they're trying to do, is embarrass the ISPs into making progress. Google doesn't really want to be everyone's ISP because that's not their core business.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Where did the idea that classical music makes infants smarter come from, and has it been proven?" ]
There was a study that showed pretty well that listening to music made adults temporarily better at doing a spatial reasoning paper folding task. This sort of melted into "classical music only specifically makes people smart" to "classical music makes babies smart". It's some pretty big leaps from the original study.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "If elephants are being slaughtered for their tusks, why don't reseves remove them without injuring the elephant so the poachers have nothing to slaughter for?" ]
Quite often, poachers don't kill the elephant first-just cripple or sedate as necessary. Removing the tusk is a severe enough injury that the elephant will die from blood loss soon after, while in debilitating pain for the remainder of their life. Keep in mind, they go deep into the elephant's face, often a foot or more. There's no safe way to de-tusk elephants. (I'm sorry for such a gory answer, but the reality of poaching is often hidden from us.)
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What has atmospheric pressure to do with wind speeds and the wind force? More Info In Text" ]
Atmospheric pressure is basically the weight of the column of air sitting on top of you, so it's directly linked to the atmosphere's density. Wind speeds are just, well speeds, it's an important factor but in physics, we know kinetic energy (the energy that an object has due to the fact it is moving) is directly proportional to the object's mass. Mars' surface pressure is only 0.6% of that of Earth, which makes its strongest winds incredibly weak compared to ours.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "In terms of web - what is a cache and how does it work?" ]
When you load a web page the server does a lot of work to calculate how that page should look. A cache basically stores the result of that work. If somebody want to load that page again, it doesn't do all that work again, but just delivers the finished result from the cache. Less work for the server = faster loadtimes
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is the Swiss National Bank saying it will buy all other currencies in unlimited quantities? ELI5" ]
The Swiss Franc is actually too strong verses other currencies right now. This sounds like it would be a good thing and too a degree it is but Switzerland relies on exports as a major part of its economy and if no one can afford your exports then you have problems so they wanted to cap the value of the Franc verses the Euro at 1.2 Euros per Franc. Now capping your currency on paper is one thing but actions is louder than words so they feel they have to enforce this by buying the crap out of currencies in an effort to make the market do what they want it to do. The idea is, we set the cap, now we are going to buy currencies and make the currency market follow what we are doing.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is the Middle East perpetually in conflict?" ]
* Muslims have multiple sects and some of the members want the others dead. * Israel and Palestine both feel they have divine claim to the same portion if land. Neither side has a point of compromise and many would rather die than lose. * The US and Russia have enormous monetary interests in the area and use these countries for proxy wars from time to time. The first gulf war was a great example of this; it was a weapons demonstration between the US and Russia * Countries like Afganistan have some 3 trillion dollars of untapped natural resources * Little wars used to be common everywhere... Before machine guns became a thing. A lot of the world fought two world wars learning how machine guns changed things
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why commercial airliners don't use ejector seats?" ]
Two reasons, mainly. 1. They're ridiculously heavy. You're flying, you see. Weight is the opposite of flying. 2. They're ridiculously expensive. Would you pay an extra $10,000 per ticket? More reasons than that, but those should cover the most important.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "why does turning on your wifi on your phone, even if not connected to a wifi, help pinpoint your location." ]
In the background the phone is scanning for which wifi hotspots it can see around you. Given this information your phone can ask Google/Apple/etc over your mobile data connection where hotspots with these particular names are located, these companies will have large databases of such information and can tell you roughly where you are given this list of hotspots. The relative signal strength of these different networks can then be used to calculate where you are relative to all of them. Google/Apple/etc build these databases by occasionally having your phone report it's GPS coordinates along with what hotspots it can see. I think androids used to commonly do it when you put them on charge. Google also used their streetview cars to do the same thing on a slightly larger scale, recording what hotspots they could see constantly as they drove around photographing.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why can it be really bright inside and I can see my phone screen just fine but when I'm outside it becomes hard to see?" ]
It's because the surroundings are really bright, your pupil contracts. This helps you see the surroundings. But your phone can't match the brightness. This makes your phone appear darker.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do airlines force people to keep their seat belts on for so long when people in private planes can lay down, sleep, party, etc.?" ]
Seatbelts aren’t just for collisions or sudden stops while taxiing. They are primarily there to keep you in your seat in the event of bad turbulence. Turbulence can happen suddenly and without warning. If you’re not secured you can easily fly up and hit the ceiling. On your way back down, you can land on another passenger and injure them too. On private planes, it’s more of a “your house your rules” deal as no one will be liable for injury but you, but I can guarantee the pilots up front who know what’s up are wearing theirs at all times. Edit: pilots are required to wear seatbelts at all times. Even in private aircraft. What I meant to imply was that given their awareness of clear air turbulence, I’m sure they would do so regardless of requirement.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "When birds fly, do they know where they're going every time or do they just land wherever?" ]
I live near a long string of parks. Over decades I have watcher the behavior of Canadian geese in particular. Groups will do to the golf course or another pond on a regular schedule. They fly a direct route between these locations. They definitely know where they are going. I remember one terribly windy winter day when a group wanted to go up wind about three miles. They all took off, but one goose could not keep up the pace in the wind. The lead pack turned around and landed while the tired goose rested. I don't think they ever visited the other pond that day. I have seen many examples of such behavior. Other observations: you can tell how far a group is going by how high they fly. Geese flying from pond to pond may fly 100M above the ground whereas birds going 10 miles or more will fly 500m or more high. I conclude they know what they are doing.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Where does the term 'ninja' come from if in Japanese it's 'sasuke'? And is ninjutsu something different in Japanese? Sasukejutsu?" ]
Are you talking about the show Ninja Warrior? That show was called Sasuke. Ninja is a Japanese word, as is the alternate reading, Shinobi. The word literally stems from the character "endure." There's arguments that there was never really a historical ninjutsu, as a distinct art, but that most of the ninja aesthetic comes from theater, where the all-black outfit originated with stagehands.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is the 1-2-3 on the top row of a phone keypad but on the bottom row of a calculator?" ]
the first phones with an actual keypad used it to match the old rotary phones, which had the lowest number first. calculators existed before that, and had already established the 7-8-9 on the top row
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What is inflation and how is it caused?" ]
I'm assuming you're talking about economics. Imagine there's this thing called money that works far better than bartering. Now the amount of money in an economy is not totally fixed. If there is not enough of it, the price of everything goes down. If there is too much of it, the price goes up. Now remember that money in whatever form is more or less useless - people only demand money because they want goods and stuff. What makes "too much money chasing too few stuff?" Well, it might be useful to look at what determines price of anything - supply and demand. Perhaps the demand for stuff has risen because everyone got a raise. Or perhaps the supply of goods has fallen because the things needed to make and transport most of them (say, oil) has become more expensive.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is the search for \"intelligent life\" so widely talked about and seems to be a prominent goal for NASA?" ]
First of all, you're correct. Finding any life would be a big fucking deal. However, that's actually not very likely to happen. What's much more likely is that we will find evidence of alien technology, such as radio signals or something else that travels at light speed. Remember, any evidence that we find will have to travel from where the aliens are to where we are. If you think about a cow, or a worm here on earth, there would be no way for an alien who is not on earth to know that the cow is here. But humanity's technology does have signals that could be picked up from other planets (given enough time for the signal to get there). So the assumption could be made that without setting foot on an alien planet, the only way we are going to detect life is via the signals that technology puts out. Therefore the life would be intelligent.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do we use White and Black to describe race when the skin tone is actually Beige and Brown?" ]
(1) Color vocabulary has evolved and expanded throughout time. I highly doubt the word 'beige' was around when this usage was solidified. (2) We do this all time time when it comes to naming binary pairs, in order to easily distinguish them, even when the designations don't match up perfectly. Think about white pepper. It's definitely beige, but we call it white because it's easy to contrast with "black," which is the name of the other kind of pepper we use.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do TV shows do the fake lines on the screens to make it look like a home recorder, when today they look the same quality?" ]
To convey to the audience that the scene is taken with a recorder, in universe. They do a lot of shorthand like that. The "shink" sound of a knife being picked up. Dial tones on cell phones. People typing on computers and the individual letters appear on their face. It's not realistic but serves the story.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is it wrong to drive using 2 feet?" ]
Because it's bad for your car to have the gas and break pedals pressed at the same time, and it's too easy to do that when you have one foot on each. If you only use one foot for both pedals, you can't press them both at the same time.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively" ]
Here's a short story that I think gets the idea across very effectively: _URL_0_ There might be more 'philosophical' ideas about it out there, but this introduces one idea about it in a very understandable way; with this context, it might be easier to understand the more complex ideas.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why the smoke curling off the tip of the cigarette is blue, but when you smoke the color of smoke is white?" ]
It has to do with the lungs adding water vapor / stuff to the smoke which affects its Rayleigh scattering. Walter Lewin has a nice demonstration/explanation of this in one of his MIT lectures. [_URL_0_](_URL_0_). (the smoking starts at about 3:30).
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What's the behind the meaning of a \"neckbeard\"?" ]
A decent beard should be, to at least some degree sculpted or manicured. Just basic hygiene really. A "Neckbeard" refers to someone who has a beard not because they want one, but most likely simply as a result of inattention to grooming. Usually paired with wrinkled, smelly clothes, a surly attitude, and poor social skills.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "how is it technically possible for Lance Armstrong to have Doped when he passed over 500 tests throughout his career?" ]
Other riders who did get caught also passed hundreds of tests. Armstrong just failed one less than they did.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "how the Nazi identify the Jews in the holocaust" ]
That's part of it, but they also checked public records of lineage and church records. Most Jews didn't think anything about the government knowing they were Jews before Hitler. Many Jews had names that made them easy to identify, like names ending in Stein or Burg, which were disproportionate compared to similarly named Aryans. And they used comparisons of facial features to show if you were Jewish. They didn't care if there was a false positive, so they could be as stereotyping as they wanted to be.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "when my phone is fully charged it tells me to unplug it to save electricity. Is it actually more efficient to run it off the battery?" ]
power is being converted by the transformer even when it is plugged in and being converted to heat, so yes sort of.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why Words With Friends is not being sued by Scrabble?" ]
Hasbro probably doesn't have a patent on the concept behind the game. Edit: _URL_2_ "The board is laid out slightly differently and the letter point values are just different enough to make it hard for Scrabble to prove copyright violation."
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Do twins get concieved from the same singular sperm that reaches the egg first?" ]
There are two types of twins, identical and non-identical (fraternal). Identical twins form when a single sperm fertilises a single egg, but somewhere, early in foetal development it splits in two and both continue developing into children, resulting in two children with identical DNA. Fraternal twins form when two different sperm each meet a different egg, and both fertilised eggs develop into children. This results in two different children in one pregnancy.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do newly released blockbuster films only circulate on the internet when they have been released on DVD?" ]
Sometimes they are, but it's rare. Before DVD release pirates have to rely on cams, which are of questionable quality. Also, it's not really worth the time and effort to steal one of the theaters copies. Getting caught is too easy.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do guys insist on sending unsolicited dick pictures. Does that ever REALLY work?" ]
Men are very visual creatures, and quick to arouse. A man can go from no arousal to immediately turned on just with a quick flash of a girl's boobs. As a result of this nature, many men don't grasp that women don't work the same way, and aren't interested much in seeing a dick unless already aroused. Combine that with the general negative effect that arousal tends to have on your ability to make good decisions, and you have horny men sending what they think are arousing pictures to someone who is in no mood for them.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why are some people \"naturally smart\" and seem to get through academics/life in general with ease?" ]
As someone who went through school pretty easily without ever really trying all that much, the key to my success, or what makes me "naturally smart" is my ability to memorize things quickly and relatively easily. It made cram sessions for tests much easier, and resulted in me doing well a lot of the time. The way I describe it to some people, is I feel like my brain functions like a computer. It's great at processing information quickly, and I can retrieve info quickly, but I'm not always great and taking the next step with that knowledge. Taking what I know, and applying in different ways (I.E. creatively) has always been harder for me. A good example is music. I played the piano, trumpet, and guitar for many years. I was great at reading music, and very technically proficient. But that was only so because of my memorizing ability. I could never write my own music, or even just "jam". For me to be good, I need to know exactly what to do.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why don't phones just capture video in horizontal mode no matter which way you hold it?" ]
The actual sensor in the phone that captures the image is itself also rectangular - in the same direction as the phone screen. To make the phone record video in horizontal mode when it is held vertically would result in using a lower resolution, as it would require ignoring a large portion of the sensor (keeping it widescreen by chopping of the top and bottom of the image captured). To continue to capture the image in full resolution, horizontal mode would require the sensor to rotate with the phone.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How can a ziplock bag seal tight enough to hold water, but you can smell marijuana through it easily?" ]
Water is a special substance with a high surface tension. That means that water molecules have a firm grip on each other, and it takes significant pressure to push then through a tiny hole because they have to loosen their grips to fit through one at a time. Odors are gasses, and gasses love to drift around bumping into things like your nose. The Ziplock has tiny holes that are part of the thin membrane. Also, unless you're really careful, you get your pot on the outside of the Ziplock when you handle it.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "The difference in the types of guns (revolver, pistol, rifle, shotgun, etc) and what the numbers (.32, .22, .45) in their names mean" ]
A revolver is a handgun where the bullets are stored in a circular cylinder. A pistol is a handgun where bullets are typically stacked vertically in a spring loaded magazine. A rifle is a long gun that shoots solid bullets. A shotgun is a long gun that shoots a bunch of small pellets. The caliber (.22, etc) is the measurement, in inches, of how wide the bullet is. Some bullets are measured the same way, but in millimeters instead of inches. With shotguns, the gauge is the measure of ammuntion. It's number of pellets per a specific weight, so smaller gauges tend to be more powerful.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What happens if I bring a plant with a seasonal lifecycle indoors? Will it skip its dormancy or die out of confusion?" ]
That depends. Plants are numerous and very diverse. The easiest example I can think of is the Venus Fly Trap. The biggest mistake short of not giving them full sun is that people bring them indoors to keep them warm over the winter. These plants require a cold, relatively dark winter dormancy or they will die of stress after two or three missed dormancy. Other plants might be fine, and others might enter and leave dormancy at arbitrary points. It depends if the dormancy is strictly required or not. As for annuals, it depends if it is a true annual or just a plant that happens to live as an annual. True annuals will die after reproducing regardless of temperature. Plants that happen to live as annuals in the area can live much longer, but are killed by unfavorable environments first. True annuals will live no longer, and might live shorter indoors, while plants that are really perennials will live for years if you actually take care of them.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why don't submarines have cameras mounted on the outside to aid in the use of sonar?" ]
It gets dark underwater really quickly. Without a visible light source, you probably wouldn't see more than a few feet, which is vastly less than what sonar can give you. And that's assuming you got clear water, which usually isn't the case.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does my room not stink to me, but when my mom walks in she thinks it's horrible." ]
Animals rely on scent as a sense to understand their surroundings. Take a poodle, give it a perfumed bath, and it'll still sniff that fire hydrant given a chance. Take a retriever, have it roll in a carcass that it uncovered somewhere, and it'll still be able to whiff out a concealed hot dog. Our mammalian brains have figured out how to filter and erase the most common and strongest scents that we are exposed to over time so we can smell new ones that might mean "food" or "danger", and we've carried this forward into our modern lives. It's why we can't easily smell our own B.O., but other people get a nose-full and WOOO.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "why should the ex-partner of a marriage get half of their ex-partner's business when they divorce" ]
The reasoning is that if you share your life with someone then anything you do during that time is made possible by their support. For example if your wife is a stay at home wife and your a business man making lots of money, the reasoning is that you would not have the same amount of time to dedicate to work if you had to look after your own house and/or children. That being said many place only take into account what happened during the marriage in the 50/50 split as they understand anything accumulated before the marriage was done on your own. It gets tricky when things persist before and after the marriage like a business because it's an ongoing effort to maintain it that in theory was made easier by your partner joining you. That would entitle them to some percentage in most areas but possibly not 50% This is all dependent on the divorce laws in the area your talking about though as they vary widely and some are more strict on splitting assets than others.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why are alleged sexual assault victims subject to publications bans during trial but not the accused? Should not all parties have anonymity until a verdict is determined? What’s the legal reasoning behind it?" ]
I have always wondered this myself. Several lives have been ruined by false accusations long before a verdict is reached. Sad really.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is it obvious when someone deliberately avoids looking at you?" ]
There are very few people who can exude a natural demeanor when they are actually forcing it. Basically, they are trying to physically fake what they think they look like when they aren't paying attention to a specific stimuli. It's easy to spot because people aren't good at this and it's apparent in their face, body, and just how they carry themselves in general.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Knot, as a unit of speed" ]
If you represent the earth as a circle containing 360 degrees, a nautical mile would be one minute (1/60) of a degree. A knot is one nautical mile per hour, or one minute of a degree per hour. Very useful.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does intense hunger sometimes cause nausea? That seems like the opposite of what should happen." ]
Because your body is trying to encourage you to eat! Here are the two possibilities I've read about: According to when you eat, your body will release a hormone called Ghrelin which makes you feel like you're starving, possibly to the point of feeling nauseated. So if you normally eat every four hours and you missed a meal, your stomach starts to release ghrelin whether you need food or not because you've trained it on a schedule. Ghrelin normally stops being released after 30-60 minutes so it doesn't impact you actually getting food and that feeling of nausea will go away. It could also be low blood sugar! Your body could be releasing the hormone, Glucagon, which can cause nausea. If your diet is higher in refined carbohydrates, you're not used to burning fat because you have more sugars in your diet. If those sugars run out, your body starts to burn fat and this might cause a dip in your energy levels, headaches and nausea.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do most SUV's, Hatchbacks, Station wagons, Vans all have rear window wipers, but almost ALL sedans, never do." ]
I think I know the answer to this one! The near-vertical boxy non-aerodynamic shape on the rear of SUVs vans etc tends to cause dirt from the road to end up on the glass, sedans don't suffer from this effect as much.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What does the \"Night Shift\" feature on an iPhone actually do? What are it's benefits?" ]
it basically reduces the amount of blue light that's displayed by the display when the ambient lighting is low. blue light can interrupt sleep patterns and is generally bad for your eyes in low light.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "why is the reverse side of a coin called \"tails\" ?" ]
Typically the other side has someone's head on it, so the opposite of "heads" being "tails" is rather fitting.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do we find organs and other insides of the body so revolting?" ]
I would have to say that it's just a natural response. Those things are supposed to stay inside and when they come out your brain just automatically knows something isn't right.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does attraction cloud judgement?" ]
You have a reproductive instinct that drives you to breed. It is outranked only by basic survival - the hierarchy of needs (air, water, food, shelter.) Genetically, reproduction is your one and only purpose beyond survival, and even the quality of your attempt (i.e. fitness of mate, personal success) is secondary to any mating at all. The reproductive drive also doesn't need any rational analysis getting in the way, so it can't let you stop and think whether you actually *want* to breed. The solution is to slam you with a wall of endorphins and similar substances that basically intoxicate you and affect your decision making. Life itself invented the idea of getting us *drunk* so we get laid.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What is the difference between a budget car tyre and a premium brand. What happens during the manufacture of them to make such a noticable difference in grip?" ]
First you have the rubber; what ingredients are used? The natural rubber can have several qualities, everything from pure condom rubber to rubber with sticks and insects in it. Then you have the additives, what proportions are used? Sulfur and stuff. Porpotions between natural and synthetic rubber. The best premium recipes are guarded secrets. Some rubbers are soft and some durable, a consideration has to be done. Then you have the cord, how well did they manufacture them? What materials? Oh, and we must not forget the "baking" of the rubber, times and temperatures, expensive brands care, cheap brands don't care. Then the pattern design.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is being fat less attractive?" ]
I read somewhere once that attraction has a lot to do with a primal/subconscious desire to pick a mate based on chance of success for offspring. Like a woman would want a muscular man because her children could be strong. So maybe more obese people would be unlikely to out run danger and therefore not a good choice as a mate. Additionally as someone pointed out society/culture probably has some influence as well. Source: I likes to internet
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How does wrinkle-free clothing work?" ]
Fabric wrinkles because the chemical bonds that hold it in place are broken by heat and water. When they dry and cool the bonds reform and they get stuck in the new shape. Different materials are more or less susceptible to this. Polyester for example is not so bad. But it not so nice to wear. For example: Water breaks the hydrogen bonds in cotton that's why it's really wrinkles easily. Manufacturers replace these hydrogen bonds with other chemicals so that they don't break when they get wet. So it can stay wrinkle free-ish. There is are problems with changing the chemical bonds in fabrics that make them weaker and less pleasant to wear. That's why there are no really great wrinkle free fabrics yet.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "why are computer viruses being created and spread? Do they have a function other than wrecking computer software?" ]
Several reasons: Wrecking software just for the sake of it would be one. Also, give me money and I'll restore your software back. Gaining control of computer resources to make them work for your own interests would be another. Obtaining personal information such as log-in data to email or bank accounts is also very sought after.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why dont other countries have military bases in the US, While the US has bases in many other countries?" ]
The US has a huge military force with the primary mission of projecting force worldwide. Most other countries have comparatively small forces with a mission of only local self defense or regional force projection. Local self defense obviously does not require bases half the world away. Many countries also depend on the US for military protection. The US has always been the backbone of NATO forces, with the other members being a relative footnote. Western European states therefor have many US bases because they depended on US forces to protect them from the USSR during the Cold War.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How did the word sanction come to have two completely different meanings: 1. to approve something and then 2. A threatened penalty?" ]
It comes from the root (Latin) sānctiō, meaning "a law or decree that is sacred or inviolable." The **verb** sanction still essentially means the same thing for the positive or negative - to 'sanction' something is to give it official approval. So technically the **noun** also means the same thing - a rule or decree that has official approval - even though this rule can be a positive or a negative.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is it that mirrors flip images horizontally (i.e. Left to right) but not vertically (up and down)?" ]
They flip front to back, up remains on your up, and your left remains on your left. You just see a face in the mirror and assume that you must have rotated, since you have an arm on your left and an arm on your right, you assume that they were swapped since that's the only way people can do that in real life. You don't think people flipped top to bottom because they have a head on one side and feet on the other, that obviously didn't happen.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does inhaling helium from a balloon make your voice sound high pitched like a cartoon character?" ]
Helium is 6x less dense than oxygen, so the sound waves travel through them faster and you sound like a cartoon character speaking quickly. Fun Fact: Sulfur Hexafluoride is 6x more dense so it'll make your voice sound slower.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does most graffiti look similar?" ]
It looks similar to you because you haven't learned how to distinguish styles or quality. If you had, you'd be able to pick out good from bad.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "When scientific papers refer to the mass/size of the Mt. Everest (to compare), what numbers are they actually taking?" ]
This is why *real* scientific papers use actual numbers and actual units, not "as heavy as a fully loaded 747" or your example. There is no official answer. They're winging it.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "If a handheld GoPro can record at 4k resolution, why do movie and television productions use such large cameras?" ]
Resolution does not necessarily mean quality. Professional cameras have far more in terms of customization (e.g. swapping out lenses or changing the filming modes) and quality (e.g. quality of footage shot in less-than-ideal locations and color balance/depth.) Microphone quality is also a major factor. GoPro cameras are very durable and can film during motion, but are otherwise more-or-less equivalent on what you'd find on a smartphone.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "The guy that spent $700 at a vet who couldn't find what was wrong with his cat, only to have a different vet immediately know what's wrong, are there any consequences for the original vet?" ]
Basically no. If a professional carries out their duties to the best of their ability with no intent of fraud then you should have picked a better vet. They can be sued but as long as the vet wasn't negligent the suit wouldn't be successful.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "what would the Catholic Church do if Jesus came back?" ]
Probably flip a shit, when he turns out to be brown.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Where does award money on game shows come from?" ]
The TV company producing the show. A game show usually has significantly lower costs than a normal show, the only have to pay the salary of the host, there is only one set and very little special effects. That allows them to spend that saved money on prizes.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "I'm 27/m. How can girls on \"The Bachelor\" be ok with dating a guy who's making out with 20 other girls and in fantasy suite when there's 3 girls?" ]
Most of them aren't. That's pretty much the entire plot line of the show. Jealously, cat fights, and falling in love for the "right reasons." The show has it all--except reality, basically.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Thunder and lightning" ]
Light travels at 299,792,458 meters per second. Sound travels at 343.2 meters per second. Since light is so much faster than sound, you see the lightning much sooner than you hear the thunder. It simply takes the sound longer to cover the same distance. The farther away a lightning strike hits, the longer it takes for the sound of thunder to catch up with the light of the lightning.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How are popular animated TV-shows made these days? Who draws all the frames?" ]
Some are still produced in the West, usually with computer technology as a major enabler using tecniques like keyframing (animators work with a small proportion of the frames, and computers "fill in the gaps" using mathematical interpolation). One example would be [Friendship is Magic](_URL_1_) which is produced in Canada. Many are also outsourced to lower-cost countries as you say. For an example, the *[Avatar](_URL_0_)* series and *The Simpsons* are primarily animated in Korea but writing, storyboarding, sound recording and such happen in America. The artist Banksy famously made [a Simpsons intro](_URL_2_) commenting on sweatshop practices in this kind of production, but it should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "why did Apple buy Beats?" ]
_URL_0_ Nobody really knows, but the talks are happening. I personally think Apple made a mistake. Unfortunately Apple is getting a notorious reputation for coming out with stale ideas and overpricing (not to mention that older generations have latched onto Apple - making younger generations shy away). If they came out with their own awesome headphones it would be great, but instead buying another company means you aren't innovating. People liked Apple when they were innovators like Steve Jobs was.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Hat happens to water/food when it falls in the lungs?" ]
A small amount of water will usually be okay provided it wasn't contaminated with bacteria. The tissues basically just absorb it. Food almost invariably results in something called aspiration pneumonia, basically it makes your lungs really sick from bacterial growth, and because of that your entire body responds as well (fever). That pneumonia can be deadly.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How do anti-malware programs determine what is malware and what isn't?" ]
Depends on the type of Anti-Malware program it is. The first kind of protection is signature based. This means that there is some database that exists that lists the signatures of known malware and if it's detected, the program is notified. So this only works when the malware is known to exist. The second is anomaly based. This contrasts with signature in the sense that for this type, there exists a known behavior of the system that it exists on. Anything that is outside of that known behavior is known as an anomaly and is registered as a possible threat. They each have their pros and cons. Signature is generally faster but is more susceptible to new malware or zero day attacks.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "The difference between an exonym and an Anglicized word." ]
Ok, Exonym is the general term for a external name for a geographical place that's solely used out side of that place. Anglicize is the specific example of Exonym.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How do they get the Stripes on the grass on a baseball field and on golf courses?" ]
I think the strips being referred to by the asker are those vague, nebulous stripes you get from mowing in opposite directions on different passes over the field. Golf courses don't have painted stripes, but they do have the swaths of different colored green -- I get the same stripes when I mow my back yard.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does HR universally suck at all midsize/big companies?" ]
HR tends not to attract the best and brightest because it's mostly an administrative role. In a big corporation, HR is probably the least demanding department in terms of skills. You don't need to be a technical expert in anything like engineering or laboratory folks, you don't need people skills like the sales guys, and you don't need to be skilled at task management and leadership like someone in operations management.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "- Why can't people that go vegetarian/vegan taste meat again?" ]
It isn't true. They might get a bit of a bad stomach for a day or two, but it won't put them in the hospital. They're just being dramatic. Chances are they eat meat all the time anyway. Survays have shown that the majority of 'vegetarians' eat meat occasionally. Especially when they are drunk.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Difference between Marxism and Cultural Marxism?" ]
Marxism is just a way to describe the world. Cultural Marxism is this paranoid conspiracy theory where, usually right wing nuts, think that people in high positions, such as a university professor or people in charge of newspapers, try to disseminate marxist ideas with the hope of establishing a marxist hegemony. Not only is this totally insane, but it goes against the whole Marxist idea regarding social change.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "The rule of thumb is to add acid to water to prevent splashing. What happens when you sip some water and it mixes with your stomach acid? Does the body have biological mechanisms to prevent the splashing?" ]
Water doesn't just free fall down your esophagus, it's sorta encompassed in a muscle Mexican wave. Your stomach isn't an empty chamber with a puddle of stomach acid at the bottom like some people believe either, it's more a hydrochloric acid sack. Even if the water could splash up most of your digestive tract has protective mucus all over the place so you don't dissolve from the inside out.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What causes the \"drop\" feeling you get in your stomach when you experience something thats upsetting?" ]
when you step on a lego your spine sends the 'jump' signal; before your brain gets the 'lego' signal, and this is a survival reflex to keep you from doing stupid shit. basically you have an entire second brain in your gut and spine and sends all sorts of involuntary signals before your brain even knows whats going on. this facilitates fight or flight, both are easiest on an empty stomach, also vacating your bowels might dissuade a predator. so, like the 'jump' reflex, the 'vacate' reflex switches on and primes the pump based on a signal from your nervous system that didn't involve your thinky bits. so, cop in your rear view? 'we need to talk' from the SO? you might have a sinking, vaguely vomit/shit your pants sensation the split second before your eyes or ears have fully grasped the situation, because it COULD be a tiger, and you gotta be prepared for that.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Russia- communist, secular, religious, democrazy? What's their deal?" ]
Autocratic empire until 1917, then communist for nearly 75 years. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and Russia has been an increasingly autocratic semi-democracy since then. Russia is absolutely **not** a communist state any more, and hasn't been for more than twenty years. Putin is the current president, who had a lot more personal power and influence than many would like. He served his terms as president, then had his handpicked successor elected, so then immediately appointed Putin as Prime Minister. After Medvedev had served a term as president, and Putin was eligible to run again, he did, and is now back in office. He managed to get the presidential term increased too :)
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What would happen if an important character on a TV show died mid-filming?" ]
If you watched the sitcom News Radio you'd see an example. Phil Hartman was killed while the show was still in full swing. The writers killed the character off-screen with a heart - attack and wrote in a replacement character.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "If we're all told to \"not be the hero\" in dangerous situations, why are we calling the hostage who died trying to wrestle the gun away in the Sydney hostage situation a hero?" ]
He is a hero. You're told not to be a hero because being heroic generally involves taking huge risks which may result in injury or death.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "what are neutron stars?" ]
> What distinguishes whether a star will becomes a black hole or a neutron star? Mass. A small star will cease fusion and become a white dwarf. One that is large enough to overcome electron degeneracy pressure will become a neutron star. One that is large enough to have its Schwartzschild radius outside itself will become a black hole. > Why do neutron stars form, why are there no proton or electon stars? Because when atoms are squished together extremely tight, the electrons and protons can combine and become neutrons. This doesn't work for protons or electrons.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do our noses run when we eat spicy foods?" ]
Capsaicin is what makes food taste spicy. When the mucous membranes (mouth, nasal passages, etc) get exposed to it, it irritates them and mucous is produced by the body as a defense to try to flush out the irritant. Same reason your eyes water from dust, basically.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is most of the girls handwriting „better“ than boys handwriting?" ]
I work with kids. Generally, there's a big difference in how girls and boys are socialized in regards to handwriting. I find teachers are often harder on girls who have messier handwriting, while boys are sometimes chalked up to inaccurate assumptions about boys' development and interests. While teaching handwriting, there may be a very, very slight difference in terms of fine motor control, but it evens out pretty quickly. Girls also tend to find a lot of enjoyment out of school supplies, and are encouraged to do so with fancy pens, glitter pens, etc. It's seen as a 'safe' hobby or interest for girls, but feminine, so not as encouraged in boys.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why are not there just people called Jesus outside the Hispanic countries?" ]
The Iberian peninsula fell under Islamic rule after the Arab Conquest of Hispannia. Muslims love to name their children Muhammad. As a response to this habbit by their Muslim rulers, the Iberians began to name their children Jesus. The short answer is Hispannia fell under Muslim rule, hence they adapt their practice of naming. The Anglo-Saxon countries, never fell under Muslim rule, hence they don't do that. Though, the anomaly to this is the Balkans since Jesus is not a popular name in that region yet the region was subjugated under the Muslims just like Iberia was.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "I understand that Ebola has been around for a long time, but what caused this sudden spread of the disease?" ]
Unlike previous outbreaks that happened in rural, isolated areas which burned themselves out, this one managed to spread to a large densely populated area with poor sanitation and terrible healthcare services. Throw in poor education, lack of basic knowledge of the illness, superstition, burial rituals that evolve touching the bodies of the dead and you have the perfect conditions for it to spread.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How come you don't get an echo when your phone is on loudspeaker?" ]
That's because they have programmed in a feedback control loop to detect which sounds are coming from the speaker (as opposed to your voice) and which should be echoed and which should not. Lots of engineers worked hard to make this work.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How do hard shutdowns work even if device is frozen?" ]
Outside of the parts of the device that can 'freeze', there's a simple switch. This switch cannot be activated easily, as one would reset or turn off the device too often. Instead it's a simple mechanism that's activated by a combination of pressing a particular button for long or combining it with another button. On an iPhone the lock and home button are both connected to the hardware, and both have distinctive functions. But they are also connected to another switch, one that is not affected by the rest of the device, and a simultaneous long press will lead to the battery briefly being disconnected for a moment. No matter how stuck the device is, the switch operates in a separate circuit, and will therefore always work (unless this particular switch also breaks.. which could happen, and one would then need to screw open the iPhone to physically disconnect the battery).
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How do heart rate sensors track your actual heart rate?" ]
Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: How do heart rate sensors on wrist watches work? ](_URL_5_) ^(_7 comments_) 1. [ELI5: How do smartwatch heart rate monitors work? ](_URL_4_) ^(_47 comments_) 1. [ELI5: How do the heart rate monitors that clip on to your finger also find oxygen levels? ](_URL_1_) ^(_ > 100 comments_) 1. [How do those smart watch green light heart rate sensors work? ](_URL_6_) ^(_3 comments_) 1. [ELI5: How does a smartphone app measure blood pressure and heart rate? And how accurate are they? ](_URL_0_) ^(_17 comments_) 1. [ELI5: How can those treadmill sensors tell what my heartrate is while I'm running really fast and the whole thing is shaking like crazy? ](_URL_7_) ^(_7 comments_) 1. [ELI5: How do treadmills measure your heart rate at the gym by just holding two handlebars. ](_URL_3_) ^(_17 comments_) 1. [How can some watches give you your heart rate? ](_URL_2_) ^(_2 comments_)
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does it take 3, 5, 10+yrs for some games to come out, such as Fallout New Vegas to Fallout 4 when the games become profitable on mere preorders alone? Halflife 3 would generate billions, yet it is an opportunity no one is pursuing?" ]
Games like Fallout or Halflife are niche genres without much widespread interest, so any additions to the series have to be carefully created and marketed in order to preserve their following while attempting to gather more interest. Games like BF/CoD have a massive following; it doesn't matter if the newest one is good or better than the previous, people will still buy it, and they won't likely ever lose interest in the series. They're also a lot easier to make because those companies don't need to hire historians/story writers to make sure the lore is accurate to the universe and to make compelling stories.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How the hell does Asia have so many people?" ]
Well to start with it's goddamn enormous, so there's that, it's also been populated a *lot* longer... got to remember that Westerners didn't even make it out to America until a few centuries ago, before that the 'Western World' was pretty much just Europe.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "How does having a Youtube channel with lots of subscribers make you money?" ]
People watch your videos, and those videos have ads on them. You get a percentage of the profit from that ad based on how many people watch the video. There's a good breakdown of how the profit is divided here: _URL_0_
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why has there been such a marked increase in spam/scam phone calls in the past few years, and is there anything that can be done about it?" ]
The level and detail of information about people is so accurate now that these companies can afford to ring you. Before they would need to randomly dial every number for a few hits. Now they can purchase data on things like, people who have had a car crash, people who have bought a PC etc. Our data is everywhere. What you buy, when you buy it etc are all easily collected. Things like a store loyalty card isnt there because they really really like you, its because they can tell if people in a particular area prefer Pepsi or Coke-Cola etc. They also get mega bucks by passing these sorts of details over to marketing people who by these lists from all over the show, and then sell big lists to anyone who will buy them. This means that you can afford to only ring the 100,000 people on your list about that car crash they've had, rather than the entire country.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why do the tendons in my foot randomly contract to the point where my toes will curl up?" ]
It sounds like a regular foot cramp to me. I get those sometimes. Maybe you need potassium or something? Are you eating properly? Taking a multivitamin? Do you get leg cramps? Maybe you need electrolytes and hydration. *Edit: IANAD
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "- Does masturbation decrease sperm quality? NSFW" ]
That's bullshit. If anything, masturbation is good for men, as it 'clears out the tubes', so to speak. In fact, "high frequency ejaculation" (i.e. 21 or more times a month) reduces men's risk of prostate cancer! [Study](_URL_1_) EDIT: A search on Pubmed returns NO evidence WHATSOEVER that masturbation decreases either sperm count or quality. EDIT2: Here's a [study](_URL_0_) that says just that - even though density and volume are decreased, it has no effect on man's fertility
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "What happens to a check after the teller takes it and does the magic?" ]
It's been years ago, but I used to be a proof operator. Essentially the checks, with the deposit slips and cash in/cash out tickets are collected from all branches and sent to the proof operator. That person encodes each item for its individual amount. If you notice when you get look at your check, the amount is encoded on the bottom right (next to the account number). The proof operator is the one who does that. Once everything is encoded, all transactions are run through a machine that reads the bank code, account number and amount. Once that is read by the computer the actual paper check isn't necessary anymore. Checks used to be sent back to the customer each month. Now, the bank keeps a digital image that customers can request on demand. That's how it was 25 years ago. I don't know if it still works the same way.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why is is customary in rap/hip-hop to use a different name?" ]
It's often a part of culture. Especially in the African American community, nicknames are what people are most known by.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why are Russian bombers flying \"over\" the UK?" ]
They are flying over the uk to prove they can, train their pilots and most importantly test the response time of the RAF. Provides them with valuable information in the event of relations heating up even more than they are! They have been doing this three or four times a year for the past decade, there's nothing new!
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does Sean Bean always die?" ]
He often plays secondary protagonists or villains, both roles that often find themselves with a death scene. John Hurt, Bela Lugosi, and Vincent Price are killed in movies much more often. Then again two of those are famous horror villains so obviously they would die.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "5th, 6th, 7th, etc, Dimensions..." ]
Whatever you want it to be. You can choose them, but it’ll be hard to imagine a geometry that’ll pass. But the system can be described by equations. Yes, energy can be a dimension.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "Why does baking soda cure canker soars?" ]
It doesn't cure them per-say. But the canker sores are typically infested with bacteria that like acidic environments. Likewise, the pain receptors exposed by the sore will react from acidic things. Baking soda is a basic compound, which means it will neutralize acid, which may both help with killing off bacteria keeping the wound infected, and more immediately, remove the stinging pain every time you poke at the sore (until your saliva eventually lowers the pH back down). You can get the same effect by chewing up a Tums tablet (calcium tablet) in your mouth and swishing it around over the wound. It might sting for a second, but then pick and prod at it all you want - you won't get that sharp shooting pain.
[ "Provided a user question, retrieve the highest voted answers on Reddit ELI5 forum", "why do mosfets have Gate, Drain and Source rather than Base, Collector and Emitter?" ]
In a transistor with a Base, Collector and Emitter, a small current is used to control a larger current, essentially copying the small current, but *larger*--thus, the transistor amplifies a faint signal into a stronger signal. There's a net flow of current through all three electrodes. In a MOSFET, the purpose of the transistor is to act like a switch. If you add a small positive charge to the Gate, this attracts electrons from the Source into the region between the Source and the Drain, and once the electrons get far enough into that region, they can continue to flow out the Drain. There is no current flow between the Gate and either the Source or the Drain.