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[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Where do illegal drug chemists get the skills to make hard drugs such as meth or krokodil?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It doesn't really take skill; all you need is a \"recipe\" and the necessary equipment.\n\nDiscovering new compounds to get people high is where it takes skill. That's more the purview of designer drug manufacturers than meth cookers."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: What is the difference between Visa, Mastercard and a credit card and how do the way of payments differ?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Visa and Mastercard are both companies that facilitate electronic payments between consumers using a card, merchants, and banks. Mastercard issues credit cards (a card that works like a small loan, that you normally pay off by the end of the month or accrue interest) and also debit cards (a card that works more like cash, in that it immediately takes the money out of your bank account). VISA technically does not issue cards, but rather licenses their name to financial institutions like your bank or credit union, and facilitates the transaction."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Avatar: The Last Airbender] How does combustion-bending work?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "All bending works by the focusing of chi, which is aided by physical motion. The very best benders don't rely on these movements to the same extent as younger benders. For example, Bumi managed to break himself free from a cage in the air with motions of his face.\n\nCombustion bending is merely the intense focusing of chi out through the forehead and at a target, where it causes an unfocused concussive blast of firebending, which is really a primitive form of energy bending (not as Aang does it, but as actually directing energy as explained by physics). \n\nIn the case of Sparky Sparky Boom Man, the blow to his head may have actually concussed him - he could no longer focus on his target visually and presumably couldn't focus his chi, causing the blast to go off much closer than intended as his chi was unleashed."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why are bugs attracted to the light?\n\nNever really thought about it honestly, and this summer i've been sitting outside and the spot lights are on and all the bugs keep dive bombing it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Moths navigate and orient themselves by using the sun as a guide. For example, Mr. Sample Moth likes it on his left, means he's going the direction he wants to. Porch lights, street lights, etc, confuse them. They will fly in circles around it because they think they're flying straight. In their heads, the light is on the correct side, so they must be heading the right direction."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "CMV: Public Colleges That Prevent Free Speech Shouldn't be Eligible for Government Funding.\n\nThe 1st amendment protects free speech and expression. However, people will argue that the 1st amendment only protects you from the government censoring your opinion, not private organizations such as websites or private companies.\n\nHowever, public colleges receive billions of dollars in funding from the state and federal governments. If taxpayer money is being used to fund these universities, their administration should be held to the same standards as the government.\n\nOne question might be \"what criteria would you use to determine if a university fosters free speech?\"\n\nThe answer is simple. You can kick out students that speak out in ways that are disruptive to learning. \n\nSome examples of ideally non-protected speech:\n\n- screaming during a lecture or presentation\n\n- pulling fire alarms to silence other's speech \n\n- verbally threatening others\n\n- attempting to create fear through actions with no academic or political value(such as wearing a KKK uniform, holding a sign with the N word on it, and going around harassing African American students in order to make them feel unsafe).\n\nThose things don't carry much value and just cause trouble and hurt the learning environment.\n\nYou can't kick students out for unpopular political opinions, \"micro-aggressions\", or any sort of structured speech that the moral majority disagrees with. As long as speech is provided in a civilized manner(arguments based on logic and statistics rather than personal/character attacks), a student shouldn't be able to get kicked out for it.\n\n\n**TL;DR:**\n\nIf public universities receive government funding, they should be held accountable to the same standards the government does in regards to the constitution. If they don't want funding, then they can make their own rules."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "> You can't kick students out for unpopular political opinions, \"micro-aggressions\", or any sort of structured speech that the moral majority disagrees with. As long as speech is provided in a civilized manner(arguments based on logic and statistics rather than personal/character attacks), a student shouldn't be able to get kicked out for it.\n\nI know many people whose learning has been disrupted by microaggressions. Your distinctions seem entirely arbitrary. Why is a microaggression okay, but the sign with the n-word on it not okay?"
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Evolution: If modern humans have been around for ~200,000 years, why have no other post-human species branched off of us yet? Is there a projected timeline for that to happen? Will we even recognize if it's happening?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Speciation generally happens much slower than that. Further, you probably wouldn't even recognize the branch until well after the fact. It's possible that if technology hadn't advanced then some of the distant clusters of humans would become isolated enough to eventually branch off, but at this point there is constantly gene flow amongst nearly all human populations. For speciation to occur you need some mechanism (physical separation being a good one) that prevents genes from flowing from one group of species to another. This separation allows for the slow build up of mutations that allow them to start to move off in different directions. Even with limited interbreeding of the two groups you keep sharing all the mutations from each side with the other, preventing a branch from occurring. So if, for example, one of the groups of island people were never \"refound\" by the rest of the human population for many tens or hundreds of thousand years, they could have become a separate species."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Ghostbusters] Do Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz deserve (a lot) more recognition for the invention of proton packs? Wouldn’t the military have interest in them? The Nobel committee? They seem pretty impressive."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Among folks \"in the know\" Stantz and Spengler get their due credit, though a lot of lay folks give Venkman too much of a share due to how he's positioned himself as the leader/face-man of the crew, and the \"legit\" science community does it's best to ignore them, since they don't want to legitimize \"fringe\" science.\n\nIf the military had a ghost problem they'd be keen on the proton packs, but in terms of a weapons system it leaves a lot to be desired. It's heavy, short ranged, erratic in it's firing path, and could turn into a nuke if you cross the streams; a machine gun or missile launcher is cheaper, lighter, more accurate, infinitely safer to operate, and don't take a dude with multiple doctorates and a fungus collection to perform basic maintenance.\n\nAs far as the Nobel, they'd have to publish their findings, and Venkman would fight them kicking and screaming the whole way. He doesn't want academic accolades, he wants money, and publishing means that people might knock off the designs and steal their market share."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Star Trek] Are no ballistic weapons used by federation ships? The Borg can hardly “adapt” thicker or tougher armour on the spot I presume, why not just bring a damn railgun to kill a cube?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ballistic weapons just flat out won't work. The Borg wouldn't even need to adapt. Any ship's navigational deflector is already doing the job of keeping small, fast, physical objects from impacting the ship. \n\nWe're not even talking actual defensive measures, just normal navigation systems on even the most lightly defended scouts or science vessels has this problem solved. The Borg wouldn't even divert resources to think about the situation."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5:What are Hedge Funds and what do they do?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's an investment scheme. Basically a group of people all put their money into one big pot, and the hedge fund manager(s) invests that money in various things with the intent of making more money. Each person who put money into the hedge fund gets a share of the profits that is in proportion to how much they put in. They also proportionally share the risk. It is similar to a mutual fund but hedge funds generally make more high risk investments and are only open to higher level \"accredited\" investors."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[DCU] Does being half-Atlantean affect Aquaman's powers? What would be different if he were completely Atlantean?\n\nIs his hydrokinesis weaker? How about his ability to communicate with marine life? \n\nI know for a fact that Arthur can stay on land for far longer than 'full-blooded' Atlanteans, but how else does his hybrid physiology separate him for his fellow Atlanteans? Overall, is Arthur weaker than if he were completely Atlantean? Or is he like Blade - stronger, without any of the weaknesses (or less affected by Atlantean weaknesses/vulnerabilties)?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Usually he doesn't have hydrokinesis - most atlanteans don't. In the movie it seemed to be the function of his trident, which is a magical artifact of bygone age, and in comics he had it when he had a water arm, which also was magical."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "CMV: languages that use a Latin-script alphabet should move towards eliminating accent marks.\n\nMy reasoning: I have some level of proficiency in five languages, using three alphabets between them. I have recently gotten more into language learning and am studying four more, all of which use Latin script (the alphabet used by Romance, Germanic, and Celtic languages among others). In doing so and using my phone for learning programs, I have realized just what a pain accent marks are - slowing everything down and not adding much to comprehension. Words are faster to type without accent marks, and text looks neater. To a fluent speaker, their exclusion should present no impediment to comprehension. \n\nThe concerns: I am aware that there may be a few Latin script languages (Vietnamese comes to mind) that are so reliant on accent marks that losing them would seriously impede communication. These may be excluded. Further, I am aware that demo in accent marks makes pronunciation more ambiguous and may make the language more difficult for children or new learners. I have a proposed solution: Hebrew normally excludes vowels (a more important textual feature than accent marks) from professional/adult writing, including them only for children or new learners. There might therefore be, say, learners' French which includes ç,é,è,ï,ô, etc and professional French which excludes them."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I would counter that accent marks actually provide for less ambiguity, more possible phonemes, stress marking and ease in differentiation of homophones, while at the same time aiding the reader in inferring the correct pronunciation or meaning.\n\nAccent marks have a wide variety of uses that are ultimately beneficial. In many languages with more-or-less regular rules on stress placement, such as Spanish, accent marks can differentiate words, such as \"esta\" (this) vs \"está\" (he is); the former has stress placed on the first syllable, whereas the latter has it on the second. In Spanish, stress usually falls on the penultimate syllable when the word ends in a vowel, n or s, and on the last syllable otherwise. \"Está\" violates this and needs to be marked accordingly. Similarly, accents also allow for differentiation of interrogative and relative pronouns, cf. \"¿quién?\" (who?) vs \"quien\" (who). In other instances, they simply aid comprehension in terms homophones, such as \"si\" (if) and \"sí\" (yes). Even more, an accent mark can hold stress on a specific syllable for inflection purposes: the addition of \"me\" to \"mira\" in order to form a command would push stress one syllable over, but by writing \"mírame,\" we're able to preserve the proper stress without ambiguity.\n\nIn other languages, accent marks change the pronunciation of a vowel without resorting to using additional letters that complicate things. In French, the circumflex opens the vowel so that \"hôpital\" differentiates from \"bonne.\" The \"ô\" signifies /o/, where as \"o\" in this case is \"/ɔ̜/\" in IPA terms.\n\nWe can also look at accent marks as providing an avenue for more vowel pronunciations without the need to either guess or come up with convoluted spellings to achieve them. English has roughly 12 vowels depending on the dialect spoken with an additional eight diphthongs, but there are only five vowels and no accentuation possibilities. In comparison, Portuguese has around 16 vowels, but is much easier to deduce due to five of them being marked nasals with a tilde and the use of the acute accent and circumflex for specific sounds. Even more, Portuguese has a huge volume of diphthongs and triphthongs, but comprehension is easier since accented vowels provide clues on how to differentiate them."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Do men’s and women’s hygiene products (shave gel, lotion, face wash) actually do different things for men or women, or is it a marketing thing?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Most of the ingredients are the same, though some manufacturers claim that their gendered products are tailored more towards the different areas that each gender tends to shave more.\n\nThe main difference in ingredients is the scent. Fragrances and oils can be incredibly expensive, which could go towards explaining some of the difference in price. We know women place more emphasis on the fragrance of a product than men (some men being happy to purchase without smelling the product at all). \n\nAt least when it comes to bathroom products, men and women discriminate on price differently. Men are more likely to take a cheaper product and see that product as equivalent. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to see a more expensive product as superior. Thus reducing price could be a good strategy for men's products but could actually lose you sales on women's."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Back to the Future] Why does Earth Angel get a positive reaction?\n\nDuring the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance, Marty subs on guitar since Marvin sliced his hand open earlier getting Marty out of the trunk. Marty starts off decently, but as soon he starts to be erased from existence he starts messing up and then stops playing altogether for the majority of the song. The band notices, Marvin gives him a look and the piano player even asks if he's alright. \n\nOf course once George kisses Lorraine and secures Marty's existence, Marty gets back up and closes out the last few bars of the song. But regardless - the performance was missing the guitar almost entirely! Yet the crowd and the band all show their approval to Marty, thinking it's such a good performance that Marty should join them for an encore!\n\nDid anyone actually listen to how Marty just butchered the song??\n\nThe only explanation I can think of for why the band thinks it's a good performance is cause they are all stoned out their minds on the reefer. \n\nAs for the crowd... Maybe they all somehow magically hear Alan Silvestri's orchestra accompaniment (which is clearly score, not source). This is backed up in Part II when we revisit the dance and the newer Marty witnesses George and Lorraine kiss - we again hear the Alan Silvestri orchestra even though they are nowhere to be found.\n\nMaybe everyone was on the reefer that night..."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The band was just keeping up appearances for the sake of the show. \n\nAs for the crowd, years of experience as a performer tell me that crowds don't notice shit. This is especially true if they're a lot more worried about dancing or smooching than listening to the band. They might have a vague notion that something sounds off, but that's it. \n\nIf you think you've caught every mistake at every concert you've attended, I've got a bridge to sell you."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "need help with work bully\n\nthere is a staff member at my work (responsible for organizing orientation, budgets sheets, etc) who is making my life miserable. im a new tenure track hire and this staff member constantly makes demands of me which are not my responsibility. he orders me around and talks to me like im his secretary. i have pushed back politely and firmly, and he has raised his voice, lied/exaggerated things to manipulate me into doing his bidding, cornered me, blocked exits, and accused me of not pulling my weight. i finally went to the chair and told him about all the demands that this admin has been making and the chair said that i'm doing everything i'm supposed to be doing at work (the bully told me i wasn't doing enough), and that he would talk to the staff person about it. but i'm not sure if the chair gets the whole gist of the issue. chair travels a lot and is not always around when these things are happening. the staff member is on his BEST behavior when chair is around and kisses his butt.\n\ni've already had many nights of insomnia and anxiety and ive been avoiding this person as much as possible. but i know that this situation is not tenable. it is distracting me from my research and my work is suffering. i've considered the following options: 1) telling this bully more directly about his effect on me, 2) talking to my faculty mentor, 3) talking to the ombudsman\n\nmy fears are that no one will believe me or that they will think that this is no big deal. if i talk to him directly, i'm worried that he will yell at me again or accuse me of even more things or use my concerns as a weapon against me. what do you think is the best approach?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Complain to HR if your chair won't act. Yelling is almost always the sort of thing where they will intervene, at least at a reasonable institution. Especially when it is a staff member yelling at a TT line hire.\n\nRefer them to the chair every time they make requests/demands of you. Say no firmly and more often."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This might sound like a stupid question, but was the sky pitch black eons ago?\n\nI’m new to this sub and I was curious, since I had nothing to answer this question with other than my own headcanon. So this might actually have a short answer than expected. So light takes a super long time to travel right? Since what we’re seeing up there (outside of the solar system) are dead or dying stars and the info hasn’t reached our eyes yet. So was there a time when no light from outside the solar system had reached the earth, making the sky pitch black at night save for the sun?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Within the galaxy, the light travel times are actually quite short. The whole Milky Way is only about 100,000 light years across, and we're about 30,000 light years to the centre. But most of the stars you can see in the night sky are less than 1,000 light years away, and many are less than 100 light years away. It takes us about 200 million years to orbit the galaxy. The shortest lived massive stars live for millions of years, medium ones live for billions of years, and long-lived low-mass stars live for trillions of years. A molecular cloud will form collapse into stars, and then be blown away by those stars, over a period of 10s of millions of years or so.\n\nStars form and move so slowly compared to the light delay time that we're pretty much seeing every star in the night sky as it is now, except for small variations. Except for a few extreme objects, almost every star you see at night is still alive, and unchanged from what you see.\n\nThe Sun was also not the first star in the galaxy. There were a couple of generations of stars first. So once the Earth formed, the light from other stars was already all around, and the first night of the primordial Earth would have been a starry night (if the atmosphere was clear)."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How well-supported is the big bang theory? Are we fairly certain it's true?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, and overwhelmingly so. However, you have to be careful about what you mean when you say \"Big Bang Theory\", for it is *not* a theory about how the universe was *created*, but rather how it has *evolved*. Despite what anyone will tell you, we physicists currently have no idea how the universe was created."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5:Why isn't there a good defense for companies against DDOS attacks?\n\nAs someone who plays Blizzard games, I found myself locked out tonight as a result of DDoS attacks. This was most likely because Blizzard issued a ban wave against cheaters and hackers.\nBut this seems like a recurrent problem for various companies.\nIf it's so common, what is it about a DDoS attack that makes it so hard to defend against?\nAlso, keep in mind, I'm not a hacker nerd, I really do need you to explain it like I'm 5, but someone who grew up in the 70s who is 5, not someone who is 5 in 2016.\nThanks!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "DDoS means Distributed Denial of Service attack. Now you obviously experienced the part where service was denied. The key here is that it was distributed. \n\nWhat that means was rather than one guys with his one machine trying to keep their service too busy, the attackers used a great number of compromised system that all worked together to keep the service too busy. Because they are using so many separate machines to attack, there's no commonality they can use to filter them out early, because each of those machines start by connecting and pretending to be potential real customers. But processing them all through this process just overwhelms the system before they can identify the bad guys from the good guys.\n\nAs a metaphor, imagine there is an old school pizza store taking calls for delivery. A speaker at a local conference tells his audience who are staying at hotels all over the city to call this one store and go through the process of ordering a pizza, only to wait right until they are going to take a credit card number and then say, \"oh never mind\" and hang up. Suddenly the pizza shop is incredibly busy trying to take orders and all their resources, including phone lines and people taking orders are super busy. But for the most part it is fake orders. Legitimate customers might occasionally get through, but mostly they get a busy signal because all their lines are busy. Even most people trying to place fake orders usually get a busy signal.\n\nIt's kind of like that, only with internet servers being the pizza shop and potentially tens or hundreds of thousands of fake callers."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How come the ocean isn’t making the ocean floor compact? Like, the pressure at the ocean floor is absurd, the weight of the ~4km of water is a lot and yet we see the sand loose."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The pressure exerted on the sand at the bottom is experienced in all direction. They are separated because they have different densities.\n\nImagine you have a plate on the floor of a pool. Apart from just it's inertia and the viscosity of the water you could easily pick it up.\n\nLarge pressure differences on either side of the object are what causes noticeable forces. \n\nNow imagine the same circumstance except this time there is a drain at the bottom leading to open air and the plate is covering it. The force from the weight of the water is much greater than the force from the weight of the air so it's pressed into the floor and difficult to move."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "eli5 how Google claims not to 'sell' your data, so what does Google do to give data to others, and what data is being shown to them?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Google does not directly give your data to anyone. They don't want to- access to your data is the secret sauce that makes Google ads more valuable than ads from other places.\n\nInstead, companies can come to them with an advertisement targeted towards men in their 30s in the American Southeast that like baking, and they can make sure to show that advertisement to that group of people. Since they're only showing the ads to the people most likely to respond to them, they get more responses and so Google gets more money from the advertiser, while being able to sell ad spots for other demographics to other companies."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "CMV: I don't care that facebook and there social media sites sell my browsing info to ad companies\n\n*other social media sites\n\nWhat does it even matter? The service is free to me because I'm the product - that was obvious from the beginning. I can't believe it was a shock to anyone.\n\nAnd how does it negatively affect me? So instead of getting ads for bunion pads, I get ads for period pads. Worst case, the ad doesn't matter to me and I ignore it. Best case, it's actually a product I'd use and I learn about it when I otherwise wouldn't have.\n\nAnd I get to keep using social media for free (maybe a bad thing but that's a whole nother post)."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The problem is that these little pieces of your browsing info can be pieced together to incriminate you. There's no regulatory agency making sure this info isn't leaked from the ad company. For example let's say you search, \"drug store\" on Google maps, then a couple hours later, the term \"when is the right time to have an abortion\", then a few hours later, you're back on Google maps searching \"Planned Parenthood\".\n\nOf course, abortion isn't illegal, and it's nothing to be ashamed of, but what if you are from a religious background? What if someone chooses to share this information with your family? What if you run for president one day under a heavily religious campaign (as they all seem to do), and your opponent just happens to find a way to snag this data? Of course , they probably wouldn't get it straight from Facebook, but that ad company, who's really regulating where they sell that info? Suddenly there's 'leaked documents' showing that you had an abortion in 2020, and guess what, now it's 2040 and abortion is a felony in your country.\n\nWhat if this whole time, you were making these searches to help a friend, or if the pregnancy was the result of abuse, or if the searches were all completely unrelated? People will always draw their own conclusions with little bits of information like this, and we don't know how this info will be weaponised against us one day, either by some unforseen adversary, or, more likely, our own government."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why is a population decline in a country considered a bad thing?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The problem, especially with extreme population decline, is that eventually you have too many retired/elderly folks and too few workers to support them. Either directly supporting elderly parents, or paying into social security.\n\nA slight decline may be fine, but many social systems are set up on the premise of constant population growth. The same thing can happen even without a population decline if you have a very large generation (such as the baby boomers) who will all retire as a group."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Question] Why did the Fed get rid of conventional monetary policy in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The zero lower bound was a major factor. They couldn't set interest rates below zero, this constraint meant other avenues of monetary policy had to be consider. This being QE, paying interest on excess reserves, etc. It was because they got to a point where conventional policy could no longer be done."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[WH40K] Could the Emperor \"fix\" things in the present?\n\nSo, if the Emperor were to heal totally and wake up today (as in the WH40K present, not 2015 :P), would he be able to fix things in the galaxy? Fixing, of course, being relative to the Imperium/mankind in general (sorry Tau), finishing his webway, destroying/crippling humanity's enemies, etc. \n\nAlso, after millennia of devotion and worship from most of mankind, what kind of creature would he be?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Emperor is not subject to the same effects as Chaos Gods, as he's entirely bound to a mortal frame, basically manifesting as an immensely powerful Psyker. The devotion and worship of mankind will not have had any impact on either his power, or his outlook.\n\nAs for can he 'fix' things... probably not. The Webway project is almost entirely a failure, he lacks the leadership and capabilities of his Primarchs, and the Imperiumis faced with far worse threats than he had to contend with during the Great Crusade."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Star Trek] What are some legitimate reasons to turn off the safety protocols on the Holodeck?\n\nI mean, it seems like every couple of months something goes wrong on a Federation starship and somebody has to struggle to survive in an environment that is both lethally hostile and wholly illusory. A whole lot of trouble could be avoided, and lives saved, if you just made it completely impossible to disable the safety protocols. I'm not entirely au fait with the programming protocols, but it should be possible to basically hardwire it into the system so that turning off the safeties also turns off the entire damn Holodeck.\n\nObviously there's a reason they don't do this, but what is it? Why do they want it to be possible for a Holodeck to murder random crewmembers in the event of a power surge or somebody getting drunk and thinking it'd be cool?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Federation is a very Liberal society; they prioritise personal freedom in many instances. If someone (Miles O'Brien for example) wants to go kayaking on a dangerous river then he's not really going to get the full effect when he knows that there's no danger. He doesn't really get to experience the satisfaction of overcoming the challenge and bettering his skill, so he disables the safeties and occasionally gets injured, as is his right as a Federation citizen. The Federation has educated him to the level where he's not at risk; he knows full well what will happen when he disables the safeties, and that's his choice, but as far as the Federation is concerned that must be his choice either way.\n\nI wouldn't be suprised if that was a privilige he held as an adult/Starfleet personell/qualified engineer. Children may not be able to disable the safeties.\n\ntl;dr: the Federation doesn't make idiots. If you wanna risk your life that's on you."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How does super glue work and how is it different from a regular glue stick?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Most regular types of glue just harden as water or solvent in them evaporates. If you want to glue something really well, you have to stick it really tight together with a clamp and let it cure for a bit.\n\nSuperglue however doesn't need to dry out. Instead, it \"polymerizes\" - that means the individual liquid molecules start attaching to each other until they become a solid. This reaction is triggered by moisture in the air, and happens so quickly that you don't need to hold it clamped for hours."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Is there a maximum hot?\n\nI know the maximum cold is literally no heat energy, absolute zero, but is there a highest possible temperature in the way that speed has the upper limit--as far as we know--of light?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Theoretically no.\n\nHowever, technically you could only attain a temperature as high as the energy of the universe would allow. Something like the exact moment of the Big Bang would be the hottest temperature that could ever be achieved in the universe. This is called the Planck temperature which is the highest theoretical temperature you can achieve before the temperature starts to cause conventional physics to begin to break down. But this doesn't occur until 1.416785(71)×10^32 kelvin so we have a ways before we get to that temperature."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Has there always been the same amount of water on earth?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No. It is theorized some/most water was brought to Earth by cometary bombardment. Also, some (miniscule) amount of hydrogen is constantly lost from the atmosphere to space. However, it is relatively insignificant to the total amount. \n\nWater is also sequestered in rocks and ice in varying amounts throughout geologic history."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why do we have wisdom teeth?\n\nIt seems like all wisdom teeth are good for is being removed. Why does everyone have them?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Our jaws have actually gotten smaller as we have evolved, along with the fact that we no longer have use for them as we can keep our teeth healthier and learned how to cook. As the wisdom teeth come in, they get impacted now because most people do not have the room in their mouth for them to properly grow in, which is why it is common practice to remove them now before they completely grow. Some people don't even have wisdom teeth because we have no use for them. It's actually a good argument in evolution's favor."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why does basically everyone in a hospital get an IV regardless of their situation?\n\nIs there anything to it other than keeping patients hydrated and getting medicine into their system when necessary?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A lot of the time it's just to have an established line, so that if things go south, you don't have to waste the time to start one. With some people it's not easy to get a line in, especially once their BP starts to crash, and they need medicine right now."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Eli5 Why do steep rear windshields need a wiper and normal sloped windshields dont?\n\nFor example on a minivan there's a rear wiper and a front wiper, but not on say a Toyota corolla. Why is that?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's not because of the angle of the rear window, it's because of how much dirt sprays up from the back of the vehicle.\nOn most cars, the trunk is between the rear window and the back of the car, and the window stays relatively clean and dry from road spray from the back of the car.\nOn minivans, hatchbacks, station wagons, etc... The rear windows get very wet and dirty simply from driving on a wet road, so you need a way to clean the rear window for visibility.\n\nThough the angle of the rear window might affect how well rain washes the rear window, generally car rear windows stay cleaner.\n\nAlso, pickup trucks have a steep (vertical) rear window, but no wiper, because the truck bed is in between the rear window and the back of the vehicle."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: What happens in the stomach of a lactose intolerant person after eating dairy ?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nothing special happens in the stomach. It's the intestines where it gets real.\n\nWhen someone is lactose-intolerant, their guts lack the enzyme *lactase* (either partly or totally) that usually breaks it down into simpler sugars.\n\nDo you know what doesn't lack the ability to break down lactose into simpler sugars? The bacteria that live in your guts. They can very happily break down the lact**o**se, and *their* byproducts (hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, etc) are what we note as the symptoms of lactose-intolerance. The presence of these byproducts, as well as the lact**o**se itself, also causes more water to flow into the intestine, causing diarrhea."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Marvel] Do superheroes also get discounts and free meals at restaurants on Veterans day?\n\nSomeone like Captain America and Punisher would be obvious because they've served in the military. But could someone like Spider-Man swing by an IHOP for some free pancakes?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Im sure Captain America does, but if the Frank Castle flashes his I.D. assuming he would and has one someone might call the cops or the mob. As far as the rest of heroes goes its probably more like a police/firefighter discount assuming the hero isn't wanted by the law and popular enough to be recognized."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How do the big YouTube channels (pewdiepie, Yogscast, etc) avoid getting three strikes from frivolous/bogus copyright claims?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They aggressively pursue their rights. Every-time they get a strike they reach out to YouTube and let them know what happened. \n\nGiven their size and value to YouTube they likely get handled very quickly."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Star Wars] Why don't the Inquisitors use tracking fobs to find the Jedi, like the Mandalorian uses to find bounty targets?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't think we have enough info on how the Tracking Fobs work right now or the limitations of them. \n\nWe know the Tracking Fobs are tuned in to a target's chain code somehow. Maybe Jedi just didn't let themselves get signed up for the chain code? Maybe the Jedi used forged chain codes. (That has been done) We can just guess right now.\n\nNot having a chain code would disallow a Jedi from using commercial travel from planet to planet, but it seems like Jedi-in-hiding are using backdoor methods of getting around."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why can't spiders climb up the side of the bath tub?\n\nTo confirm, I didn't kill the spider, I put it outside. They're great for getting rid of pesky bugs, plus... Live and let live right?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They climb using the hairs and little microscopic hooks. Think of it like rock climbing. If there weren't any type of way to hold on to something with your hands and feet you wouldn't be able to climb a nearly vertical wall. Same is true for the spider. The tub is a smooth and relatively vertical surface for them to climb."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[The Dark Knight] How did Batman and Rachel survive the drop off the skyscraper?\n\nDuring the penthouse/party/whatever you want to call it scene, Joker drops Rachel off the building, and Bruce jumps off after her. I've watched this scene multiple times, and there is no use of the cape to slow down the fall like in TDKR. How did they survive?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Watch the surveillance footage right before the crash onto the car, and listen carefully to the sound. The cape is clearly fluttering with the same strong resistance that it displayed when Batman flies to Lau's tower to arrest him. Batman's cape doesn't have to be at full wingspan in order to slow a fall."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why do women look different than men?\n\nI understand the need for wider hips / breasts, but what's the point of creating two distinct creatures (one with a normally larger and muscular frame) and another with a smaller and more 'aesthetic' face and body?\n\nWouldn't the human race be simplified by just having a single organism that can reproduce with itself?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Men and women look different (sexual dimorphism) because of the presence or lack of the Y chromosome and different gonads which in turn leads to different hormones. Natural selection has selected certain features in males and females which made them reproductive successful. Males for example are larger and stronger because they often had to physically compete for females. \n\n>Wouldn't the human race be simplified by just having a single organism that can reproduce with itself?\n\nNot quite sure what you mean by simplified. Generally speaking sexual reproduction gives an evolutionary advantage because it allows for genetic diversity."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How did broken bones evolve to heal if a broken bone is usually a death sentence for a wild animal?\n\nI was just thinking that many broken bones need to be \"set\" in order to be able to heal (which is not possible for a wild animal to do to itself), and even with that, healing a broken bone can take weeks or months. A wild animal that is incapacitated by a broken bone would probably die before the bone could heal. Given that, how could bones have evolved to heal?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I think your premise is misleading. A _complete_ fracture (as opposed to one that does not go all the way across the bone) of a long bone like a femur would be difficult to recover from in the wild but\n\n* most fractures are incomplete\n* most bones are not \"alone\": ribs and the lower bones of the limbs of many animals run in groups that support each other\n* phalanges (fingers and toes) and other bones are not continuously weight-bearing and will naturally be held in place by the tendons and ligaments\n\nIf you break a rib, for example, there is little medicine can do for you (Advil and some tape to help stabilize it); you are reliant solely on your body's ability to heal."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why are the helmet-straps that the British military use in formal dress placed under the lip instead of under the chin?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The dress bearskin hats have a chain strap so when not firmly affixed will hang naturally around the lip area, however the chain will allow the chain to go under the chin when needed to keep the hat firmly on."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[MCU] During the events of Spiderman Far From Home, what do the general public know/ not know about the snap?\n\nTo what extent their knowledge of the blip are? Do they know about the infinity stones? Thanos and how he looked like? Different alien races?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Maybe not the full exact details, but they seem to know pretty much everything. In particular, the help group from Endgame references Thanos by name in their posters and the in-flight TV in Far From Home has a documentary called \"The Snap\" with a picture of the complete Infinity Gauntlet as its poster.\n\nFor the record, the Blip and the Snap are semi-synonymous, but the latter refers to the specific event caused by Thanos while the former refers to the five-year period after the Snap and in particular, the five-year displacement experienced by the people who were snapped."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "CMV: the entire “humans weren’t meant to be monogamous” argument falls apart when you take children into account.\n\nI often come across discussions that center around the fact that now humans live such a long lifetime, monogamy is unrealistic and out-dated. But every study I have ever read on the topic of childhood seems to prove children have the best outcomes in a two parent home with parents who have a good relationship. \n\nI don’t see how this is compatible with the idea that marriage and long term commitment are passé. \n\nIf, as a species, we thrive best when raised by a couple, there must be SOMETHING to the idea of marriage."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The idea of children needing a home with two parents is more of a cultural aspect of western society than something inherent. There are other arrangements. Some cultures take a more community rearing approach where the individual parents aren't so important and children will be raised as children of the whole village. Another approach is to have stable polygamous relationships. They will be similar to monogamous marriages but will have more people involved so the children have several stable parents rather than just the two."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5:What makes your stomach hurt when you are hungry and what causes your stomach to growl?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The growling is called borborygmi and it's caused by fluids and gasses moving through the intestine, not the stomach. The stomach sits left orientated, partially in the ribcage, wedged just below the diaphragm and part of the liver.\n\nThe stomach itself is pretty thick and relatively deep in comparison to the coils of intestine found in the soft, superficial portion of your gut. You shouldn't be hearing much of anything from there when it is empty. Usually borborygmi is more specifically sounds in the large intestine. If you put your ear to someone's stomach area you're more likely to hear the exact stomach noises. \n\nSo why noises when your stomach feels empty? Food sits in your stomach for about 2 hours on average, getting churned around and broken down into a more fluid state called chyme. Then it passes to your small intestine, emptying the stomach. This is where things have the potential to become noisy! Everything moves down the line at this point- chyme from stomach to small intestine, undigested remains from small intestine to large. As well, both stages of intestine spend several hours digesting- peristalsis (more churning) of the food mass in the small intestine where additional digestive enzymes are mixed in and the majority of nutrient absorbtion takes place, then mostly reabsorbtion of water (not churning) in the large intestine as the leftovers are slowly made into poop that go into the rectum for storage and expulsion. \n\nOnce all the food moves down, stomach is ready for a new job and feels left out from all the action the intestine gets to have! Also realize your stomach contracts a lot for its digestive process and you don't feel it so much then, but you might feel it as it expells food to the small intestine. The body isn't particularly good at identifying where the stomach is. Most of your guts don't cause pain directly at their site, the body doesn't quite know where they are, this is why we feel heart attacks down the left arm with some chest tightness and not stabbing heart pains."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How are spacesuits sealed from the vacuum of space when assembled?\n\nI understand that the space suit provides air pressure to keep the fluids in your body in a liquid state, and that the suits are assembled in different pieces for the limbs and such. But how are these separate pieces sealed from the vacuum of space when assembled? (i.e. where the separate pieces connect)"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The same way as docking. Joints lock tightly so air can't escape. It's like putting your finger over the neck of a bottle and flip it upside down. The liquid inside won't come out because your finger is in the way. \n\nBasically, a space suit is an upside-down water bottle with a finger on the neck."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[FMA:B] If alchemy is so insanely powerful and can be learned from books, why are there so few alchemists?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Investing can be learnt from books, why isn't everyone Warren Buffet?\n\nIt takes a special kind of person to pursue Alchemy, same as any other profession. Its hard, requires endless hours of study/practice and not everyone has the drive to become an alchemist."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5:Why can't flies get out of open windows as soon as you open them?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Imagine being in a very large room, and you can only see a small part of the room at any time. Someone makes a small opening (door, window) in one part of the room.\n\nYou can't leave immediately since you don't know it's open until you explore it.\n\nOn top of that, flies are very bad at figuring out transparent obstacles. A window might look open, but is actually closed."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How are people able to think themselves sick? (somatoform disorder)"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We don't feel sick because we are sick: we feel sick because certain patterns of neurons in the brain fire. Most of the time, they are firing because we are sick, but not always; and doctors aren't sure why they fire when we aren't sick.\n\nAnd the real answer is \"we don't know\". In many ways, somatoform disorders are the evil twin of placebo effects; and we really don't understand *how* or *why* either work, we just know that they *do*."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[X-Men] On Krakoa, the mutant nation is now performing mass resurrections on dead mutants, thru the efforts of the Five. Are there any moral implication of them bringing back the dead and on such a massive level?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The just-started Way of X series is going to be dealing with this. Nightcrawler has had a long history of being a devout Catholic, and the ritualistic deaths and rebirths for depowered mutants, and other mutants being nonchalant about death, is really freaking him out."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Mad Max] Why are there a disproportionately high number of people with American or English accents in post-apocalyptic Australia?\n\nFrom the comments of Furiosa who only vaguely seems to remember what power lines look like, we can pretty safely assume we are at least 25 years post-apocalypse. If this is the case why does she (and a few other characters) possess non-Aussie accents? I mean surely their accents should have assimilated by now."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Those ain't English accents, it's the Cultivated Australian dialect, similar pronunciation but more inclined to call you a cunt in general discourse. \n\nCan't explain the seppo though - might be she grew up around another seppo and kept her accent to retain a sense of indiviuality and separation from those around her."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How is a new video game sometimes \"ready to play\" when less than half the game is downloaded?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Some games are packaged in a way that gives you what you need to start the game first. \n\nThe game is a bunch of separate files. There’s sound, music, levels, character models etc. if the game is set up for it, you can download the title screen and the first level, and start playing before the final boss is downloaded."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What are the first specialized cells created in an human embryo, and what is the mechanism for proper relative positioning of different types of specialized cells?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This explanation may a bit too general. Anyways, Cells start to specialize during gastrulation when the blastula (hollow ball of cells) gets this dent. This divides the embryo into 3 “germ layers”. Each of which will specialize into specific body parts. \n\nOne mechanism for cell positioning is as simple as cell migration. Cells migrate toward some chemoattractent to get into the correct anatomical position. For example; cells of the peripheral nervous system migrate outward to eventually innervate the various organs and tissues of the body."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "So if time is a dimension of spacetime, and space is expanding, what's time doing?\n\nSubject pretty much says it all. Are space and time connected in such a way? Is time expanding? Is this why it passes? Am I retarded?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Time isn't changing. The metric equation that describes the line element in terms of cosmological coordinates includes a numerical coefficient in front of the spacelike terms, and none in front of the timelike term. Time just keeps being time.\n\nBut more to the point, there's actually no difference between \"cosmological proper time parameterized by some other notionally independent variable\" and \"cosmological time as an independent variable.\" The equations work out exactly the same. You could trivially parameterize the quadratic form of the metric by some arbitrarily chosen *λ* or something, but once you worked through all the algebra you'd find that your *λ* disappears and you're back to having *τ* as your parameter again.\n\nHm. That might be too jargonny, depending on your experience with multivariable calculus. The short answer is no it's not, and also even if it were it wouldn't be."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why is it that i need to crack my back and i don't feel normal until i do?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bubbles! Bubbles always make people happy, right? In this case, there's oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide bubbles trapped in your joints that escape when you crack your back. These bubbles float away and relieve a bit of pressure build up, which also relaxes the things that hold your muscles in place, the ligaments, and the tight feeling, tension.\n\nMost of it comes from the release of the body's natural little painkillers, endorphins, though. Your back might *actually* feel somewhat better, due to relief of pressure and loosening of the ligaments, but mostly it's the release of endorphins that block the pain signal to the brain. So you partially *really* feel better, and partially just *think* that you feel a bit better. Combined, you feel \"normal\" afterwards, but the effect will be temporary. Once it wears off, and some of the tension and pressure builds back up, you feel the need to pop it again."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I feel like my PhD advisor does not respect me, what should I do?\n\nNow first of all I have an ADHD and ADHD people at first may seem stupid when arguing things, because we get too exiceted sometimes and talk without thinking and say inaacurate things. There have been few indicedents like that, while discussing with him. It has been 8 months since I have been working with him. I did not have any serious research yet because I spent first 6 monts for extensive sutdying to fill the gaps in my knowledge. Now we started to new projects, but at first there were some dead end at the projects, and I was not giving all of my self to studying because I was adjusting to the new life in a foregin country. \n\n\nOn the other side I am a very ambitious and idealistic guy, I love my subject and I aim very high. How ever I feel like my PhD advisor does not respect me, he does not listen to me very carefully, when I am explaining my argument I feel like he does not give much attention etc. This pisses me off deeply, and highly demotivates me. Also he ia micro managing me, by giving very specific tasks like calculate this and that, but I feel like a calculator rather than a scientist. I dont get a good guidiance but what I get is just directives. \n\nI have been sucsesful in my bachelor degree, and I had a good pape rin masters. But when I get too much micro managing and disrespect, this affects me and I can't focus. I feel like a moron and a child. How do I stop him getting under my skin, and start to work like a dynamo like I did before? The ADHD is I think makes people not respect me because it makes me too exicted and makes my mind runes a mile at a second. SO people just see me as a kid, with mediocre intelligence. I mean I agree that I asked him some trivial questions. But I don't deserve disrespect, and I had been very sucsefful in the past. So I know I have the potential. I really need some advice and directions. thank a lot."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Respect is earned. If your professor is belittling you, that’s one thing and is inappropriate, but if you’re just not getting the respect you think that you deserve, it is possible that you’ve overestimated the amount of respect you merit at this admittedly early stage in your academic career."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Home Alone] Would Kevin be charged for what he did to Harry and Marv?\n\nMe and my family were watching both Home Alone movies (Yes I know there is a third and what not but come on) when I realized something. Kevin in both movies had info about Harry and Marv's plan and rather than reporting it, Kevin makes his traps, and the two men suffer. Well if the police knew about this would Kevin be charged? I know it sounds silly but Kevin put the two of them through a lot and in some instances they were both lucky that they lived so what would happen?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "As a minor, Kevin isn't responsible for his actions and it can be argued that he was simply defending his home from two known criminals. Being a young person left literally alone over the holidays he can also argue he didn't know to contact the authorities, or how to contact them. He's likely not face any criminal charges. \n\nI think two other outcomes are more likely. One, the kid is a psycho and is in need of counseling (some of the things he contrived for the wet bandits are pretty savage). Two, his parents will be rightfully vilified for not only leaving him alone like that but how the heck does he not know to call any of his neighbors? (I've not watched the movie in a long time so this second point may be covered in it someplace)."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why are we colder when wet?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Our sensation of being cold (or hot) is strongly affected by the rate at which we exchange heat with the environment. When we're wet, the water is almost always colder than the 37 C of our body. That means that heat flows from our body into the water on our skin. And since water has a considerably higher heat conductivity than air, the body loses heat more rapidly when it's covered in water.\n\nNext, the water will evaporate, which lowers the average temperature of the water that remains, causing further heat flow from the body to the water on the skin. Essentially, this is the same as sweating, except that sweating is a beneficial process that the body initiates when it is too hot.\n\nSo when we're wet, we lose heat more rapidly than when we're dry. This causes a stronger sensation of feeling cold, even though the water on our skin may be warmer than the air."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: SD. SS. SA. Gestapo. Wehrmacht. Sipo. Kripo. What were they all and how do they relate to each other?\n\nIt's a broad question, but Nazi Germany had so many intelligence/military apparatuses it is hard to keep them straight. I especially don't know how they all relate to each other. Who was subordinate to whom? Did they interact with each other?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "the Wehrmacht was Nazi Germany's military\n\nThe SS (=Schutzstaffel) was a paramilitary group founded to protect Hitler, but it quickly turned into one of the Nazi's most important instruments. The Waffen SS, which was under the Wehrmacht's command was a special unit that fought on the frontlines along with the Wehrmacht. \n\nThe Gestapo (Geheime Staats Polizei = Secret State Police) was a secret police. Their task was to eliminate political enemies. Many enemies were put into concentration camps and they used torture to get information out of their victims\n\nThe SD (Sicherheitsdienst) was an intelligence agency that acted alongside the Gestapo\n\nSipo (Sicherheitspolizei) is a collective term for The Gestapo and the Krip\n\nThe Kripo (Kriminalpolizei) still exists and has existed before the Nazis. It's the part of the police that is tasked with fighting crime and preventing it."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[The Witcher 3] What exactly is The White Frost? Is it something artificial? Magical? Or a natural process like entropy?\n\nHaven't been able to work this one out. It seems like an unstoppable force akin to entropy where eventually all worlds lose heat and energy becoming icy and lifeless. Perhaps it's more to do with each planet's star going supernova, and the worlds losing heat from their sun? Either way, it appears that The White Frost is the result of extremely powerful magic or unchangeable laws of physics due to the notion that only someone with Elder Blood (a rather notable trait and insanely powerful in magic that tends to bend the laws of physics) can actually stop it. \n\nSo what is it? And how exactly does someone with Elder Blood stop it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A (presumed) magical WMD that caused an unsurvivable ice age in one dimension or \"sphere\", before eventually making its way to another.\n\nAs to how it's stopped, there's unfortunately no canon answer to give other than \"magic\"."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Would Helen Keller be immune to the madness induced by Cthulu?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Absolutely not. Cthulu's very existence defies human comprehension, regardless of the senses it is perceived by. Just FEELING its presence is enough to drive someone mad. \n\nShe may last a little longer, because of limited input, but she would succumb like everyone else. \n\nIn fact, because of he limited referential experience, her attempts to rationalise what she experiences may be weaker, so she may even fall faster."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Star Wars] If a huge fleet can orbitally bombard a planet's surface to dust, even back in the old republic days, isn't the concept of the Death Star massive overkill? It's not like you need all that power to kill people living in the core of the planet."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In addition to Tarkin wanting to scare everyone, the other advantage of the Death Star is its Nigh-invulnerability. \n\nA huge fleet can be met by another huge fleet in combat. It can be harried, disrupted, blasted by surface weapons, etc...\n\nThe Death Star was effectively beyond these concerns. It's planet killing capabilities were merely the mirror of its (expected) invincibility. \n\nAs they say in IV, the death star is designed to repel large scale assaults, and could really only even be approached -- even absent a fleet escort -- by smaller fighters that should not have been able to hurt it. \n\nAn invincible terror weapon, that no fleet can hurt, that can destroy any target. A worthy crown jewel for the arsenal of any Galactic Tyrant."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Kill Bill] Why didn't Bill kill Vernita Green?\n\nIn the movie we see that Bill tries to murder Kiddo for trying to start a new life away from him. We also see that Vernita did the same thing, had a child, etc. So why didn't Bill murdered her as well?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Because he didn't love Vernita. Kiddo didn't walk out on the Vipers, she walked out on *Bill*. She slipped out the back door, dumped him without a word, and when he finally finds her he finds out that not only was he dumped, but she's already shacked up with some nothing hick in Bumfuck, Nowhere. \n\nHe valued Vernita and O-Ren as employees, but it didn't go anywhere near as far. When they left the squad, it wasn't his lover running off, it was trusted subordinates moving on to other things."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why aren't certain endangered species that are now limited to a single site, such as the large mason bee, just reintroduced to areas where they used to be common, when they've been limited to a single site for years. Is there some scientific reason for this?\n\nYou can buy mason bee cocoons and keep them in your garden, so I'm just wondering why nobody's done this with that species. If they had, it'd no longer be limited to a single site, so its population, distribution and genetic diversity would increase, reducing its risk of extinction. Is there some good reason this can't be done, or has it just not happened because nobody's bothered doing it yet? Surely the population can't be so unstable that at least one or two cocoons can't be safely taken to another site and raised there?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In many cases they are trying to reintroduce them but either the climate is no longer suitable, their particular food source is no longer sufficient, the area has somehow changed in possibly an imperceptible way that we have yet to grasp that it doesn’t like, a new predator has moved in, a competing species is consuming its resources, pollution… or a mix. Sometimes species just reproduce at too slow a rate to get their numbers back up to spread out again."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why's there still a \"share\" button for internet porn videos despite there being zero demand for it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Three possibilities:\n\n1) Someone out there actually uses the porn sharing function, so websites continue to use it.\n\n2) Its a default option in the web video program that porn sites use, and removing it would cause some issues with the playback.\n\n3) Web developers have a weird sense of humor, and have programmed it in the hopes that people click it on accident."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Is petrified and fossilized the same thing?\n\nIf not how do they differ?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Petrified objects are fossils, but not all fossils are petrified.\n\nWhile a fossil can be the indication that an organism was present, or is present, it doesnt denote petrification which is a very specific fossilization processes that retains are large amount of detail and internal structures of the fossilized material.\n\nIts most common in wood, but can be seen in species such as ammonites and trilobites, but has been seen in some dinosaur species that partially petrified showing bown marrow or other tissue structures. \n\nAnything can be replaced by a mineral and show the shape of what it was, but petrification shows a lot of the internal details that were accurately replaced."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[The Jetsons]The Jetsons take place in 2062. That is uh, really close to now. What happens between then and now to cause the surface of the Earth become uninhabitable?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In 2022, a zombie virus breaks out. By 2025, most of the un-infected have fled to stilted buildings in the clouds. They carpet-bombed the surface to try and sanitize the threat. The surface is considered uninhabitable by the cloud-dwellers.\n\nMeanwhile, on the surface, once the zombie virus ran its course, the remnants of humanity on the surface were left with no infrastructure and reverted to a stone-age tech level. They still posses the knowledge of a more advanced society, and thus try to recreate it however they can using stone-age tools."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Warhammer 40K] A ton of Ork Mekboys bang on the shiny yellow chair with hammers, and think \"shiny chair work now.\" Is the Emperor's Golden Throne restored to full function?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No. \n\nThe ork gestalt field still required technology to run, its a common trope that ork shit either breaks the laws of physics or is just a gun shaped stick that shoots plasma because of belief. \n\nIn reality its far more nuanced, the gestalt allows mechboyz to built better more advanced technology but it doesnt allow them to just magic up shit. \n\nIf this were the case their desire for a fight would be manifesting enemies left and right out of thin air."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "CMV: Society is getting dumber because most people who have kids are dumb\n\n Now I'm not saying that all people who have children are stupid, but what I do believe to be true, is that dumber people are more likely to have children/many children.\n\nWhy is this? Well, having kids is something that society pushes onto people, because it is seen as \"just a part of life\", and I think that the people who follow along \"just because\", are of lesser intelligence, because they don't think for themselves. I also believe that people who have a strong desire for children are more primal, to be completely honest.\n\nAnother reason is that currently, people's financial situations are very grim overall, so it doesn't make much financial sense to have children. What sucks though, is that welfare basically rewards people for pumping out more copies of themselves, and I would bet that most people on welfare aren't the brightest.\n\nI think that lots of people want to have kids to feel fulfilled, or to feel as if they are important. These people have weak minds, which I believe to be a definite sign of lesser intelligence.\n\nSo, with all this in mind, I don't think it will take that much time before people become quite a bit dumber. Will intelligent people have children? Yes, but in much lesser numbers than their less intelligent counterparts. Fun fact! - scientific studies have already found that overall IQ levels have started dropping, for the first time in recorded history."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Is it even possible to have any meaningful proof of this claim?\n\nIt's not really possible to measure intelligence in any useful way, nor have we been able to prove that intelligence is significantly genetic."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[MCU] How does Star Lord's helmet work, and what would happen if Tony Stark got his hands on it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "One of two things. Either it would catapult mankind forward in technological development, or it would be so advanced that it was literally useless.\n\nThe way we know this is the miniaturization technology. It's not just that the mask can just pack itself into a space it can't fit into... it's that they used it in what's a pretty ordinary space mask. It's basically an emergency mask for life support if you lose pressurization. \n\nLet me compare. Imagine you took a modern car back to the 1950s or something and explained \"well, it's more or less like your cars... but it can parallel park itself by pressing a button.\" \n\nThat one fact indicates a revolution in technology that's obscene. Miniaturized cameras. Transistors. Computing. All these things needed, to make a button do what any kid just passing their driver's test can do. But seeing that one feature casually tossed on a car indicates that the technology not only exists, it's trivial.\n\nIn the same way, Star Lord's mask is going to contain components that are simply high tech beyond Stark's wildest dreams. Not just technology that's experimental, but technology beyond his, mass produced and distributed in these fairly ordinary masks. \n\nHow does it work? Nanotechnology? Spacial anomalies? Who knows. But the tech is wildly beyond what Tony knows, and in the hands of Tony Stark would be... something."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Marvel] Is there any thickness of adamantium that I, a mere human, could physically bend bare handed?\n\nIs adamantium always rigid? Could I flex adamantium wire or would it be a case of eventually going thin enough that I'd just be cutting my hands?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes and no. Adamantium, once set, is impossible to reshape even after exposed to a significant amount of heat. But adamantium is not an element but an alloy, meaning it's the combination of various materials and gone through a very expensive procedure to get just right. Once the adamantium gets thin enough, it's literally just several elements kinda mashed together that you can probably bend."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5 what Tor is, and why everyone praises it as the king of proxies."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Imagine the internet as a phone system.\n\nWhen you make a regular call, it's easy to see who is calling who (caller ID) and what they're saying (phone taps and the like). What TOR does is splits everything up and encrypts it. So instead of calling the person you want to talk to directly, you call a designated stranger, and give him your message in code. Then he calls another person, and re-encodes your message. Then that person sends it along again, each of them decoding and encoding parts of the message, but never the whole thing at once. Eventually, the message gets to where it was intended to go, and then the reply is sent back the same way. \n\nNow imagine that this is happening at the speed of light, millions of times a second, and instead of talking you're looking at a screen. That's TOR."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where does all the debt go?\n\nSo me and my friends were discussing economics and the recession and trying to figure out how it all works and we think we've figured it all out except for one thing.\n\nSo as far as we can tell, the big problem is that everyone's in debt and owes money that basically doesn't exist. As in there's more money owed than there exists. The analogy we were using to wrap our heads around this is if each of the three of us are our own closed economic system and we each had €1 but each of us owed €10 to each other than although only €3 exists in total in the system, €30 is owed which means there is €27 that just doesn't exist so the question we have is, if this is the state of the current economy, where does this €27 go? Does someone always end up with this fake debt forever or is it gotten rid of somehow or have we just completely misunderstood everything?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There is actually 33 Euros in your system; there are the 3 Euros of cash, and 30 Euros of assets in the form of debts that other people owe to you. In your closed economy, there is also 30 Euros of liabilities, so on the net, the 3 of you hold 3 Euros."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Samurai Jack] Why didn’t Aku just nuke whatever location Jack was at?\n\nHe came up with all these hair brained schemes and sent God knows how many assassins but he never went the Nuclear option. It’s not like Aku would care what people thought of him afterwards since he’s the Shogun of Sorrow. As a matter of fact he would probably revel in the newfound fear of everyone knowing he could just eradicate any location he wants in an instant. \nJack may be able to fight off assassins and otherworldly beings but he can’t really survive an island sized explosion with a follow up of nuclear fallout."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He did once. In the Spartan episode a city sized robot exploded next to Jack, and he was fine and suffered no ill consequences.\n\nRanged weapons are just much less effective in the Jackverse for some reason, as are explosives. A sword or spear is vastly superior at killing people."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How much formal education is necessary to become a philosopher?\n\nI am currently pursuing philosophy at the undergraduate level. If I do not go to graduate school, then would I still be taken seriously if I were to pursue a career as an academic philosopher? If not, then are there any philosophy careers for non-academics?\n\nAre there any renowned (academic or not) philosophers who haven’t had formal education in the field?\n\nThanks in advance for any answers. This is my first post in the community. I’ve read the rules, but please let me know if there’s anything I can clarify."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There have been many famous autodidact philosophers throughout history. But that is no longer likely feasible. You can still publish in journals if you are a BA student. But not going to graduate school is not going to get you into the academic philosophy world."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How the human brain can go years without hearing a song, and still remember every single lyric of it when it forgets other things like the names of old friends or coworkers."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Memory that is stored with multiple sensorial associations is more likely to be unique and thus easier to recall. A song lyric is associated with rhymes, instruments, vocalists and personal experiences while listening, creating a very unique data point. On the contrary, a person's name is likely not very unique and a brief, ordinary encounter with someone will leave the cortex unimpressed and less likely to store it."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Futurama]Why did the Professor hire Bender?\n\nFry had his delivery boy career chip, so that made him a natural. But why hire a defective bending robot to work on an intergalactic delivery company? Is it simply his durability? Is he a diversity hire? Or just the Professor being the Professor?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "To bend things.\n\nBut it's more likely Hermes made the hiring decision. Remember, he's Inspector #5, and he's the one who overrode Bender's \"defective\" designation in the first place. He probably felt some responsibility for Bender and gave him a job out of pity, and the Professor was too out of it to notice."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How is sound recorded?\n\nI do have somewhat of an understanding of how the ear perceives sound, and how speakers work. But I am just lost on understanding how something can record the exact sound it receives. Please help.."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sound is just waves in the air. Inside a microphone is a membrane that vibrates back and forth with the waves. Attached to this membrane is a coil of wires, this coil of wires moves back and forth across a magnet as it moves back and for with the membrane (and therefore, with the waves.) The coil of wire moving back and forth across the magnet generates an electric current in the wire, precisely the same pattern as the pattern of waves.\n\n\nDoes that help? Any questions?"
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[90s Kids Movies] I am a card-carrying villain, but my local college shut down, so my dreams of being a scientist have been crushed. Should i become a stepmother or a dogcatcher?\n\nI was really looking forward to using a bunch of gadgets to take over the world, but ether abusing a tiny orphan girl in rags OR putting a bunch of stray puppies in the pound so they can be put down when their time is up will have to do. Which one do you think is more evil and nasty? I want to be the best villain i can be."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You are not thinking big enough. Take a lesson from some iconic baddies from the 80s and become a real estate developer. There is nothing more villainous than becoming rich by dashing local kids hopes and dreams by closing down their local community centre to build another soulless mall."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[John Wick] How does John Wick have money?\n\nThe gold coins John has, while probably valuable because of their gold content, always seemed to represent something more like a favor trading system than an frankly unnecessary secondary currency that would just ultimately be exchanged for dollars, euros, or whatever; and I assume given how valuable they are within the continental's organization that you can't just take a handful of them and pawn them off for a few thousand bucks to put down money on a fancy California home, a classic American muscle car, or dog food. So is John's entire retirement taken care of by the continental's organization? Was he earning coins on the side? Is it like the big boys at the top of the high table pay their assassins in money and Winston is paying out coins or something for optional assignments? John never seemed like the kind of guy to go out of his way to kill people so it doesn't strike me like he'd hungrily be chasing people down for Winston so 5 years later he can afford to pay for a new suit, new guns, and intel on the Roman catacombs."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The coins are only used for high table and continental services. Cash is still traded for other goods and services by lower members. Working for the Russian mob pays US dollars, working for the camora pays gold coins. There's likely some way to exchange cash and coins for their opposite through the continental. We do see all continental services using gold coins despite assassinations being described in cash values. Likely the gold coins are merely a way for assassins to safely store their money with a neutral third party in the continental than trusting a bank or the mattress when handling large dollar amounts. John only had a few coins stashed and probably converted the rest to cash after retiring."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why can't we get to Mars easier by placing intermittent satellites (space stations) along the way?\n\nIf planets can orbit the Sun, then surely man-made space stations could be placed into orbits to mimic planets. We could place many of these into orbits between Earth and Mars. Then shuttle things back and forth between the shorter distances."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The distance won't necessarily be that much shorter. Mars and Earth orbit the Sun with a different period, so the position of Mars with respect to Earth changes continuously. Sometimes Mars is rather close to Earth, but other times it is on the opposite side of the sun.\n\nThe proposed space stations that are placed in intermediate orbits would show the same effects, depending on when you'd look, they might be anywhere in their orbit and going from one space station to the next in the sequence may require a greater distance to travel than simply going directly to the final destination.\n\nAn additional problem is that for every intermediate stop you're going to have to expend fuel to slow down and stop at the station and afterwards again to fly away. If you do the journey in one go, you'll only have to do this once. By stopping multiple times along the way, you will need much more fuel that you'll somehow have to carry with you (which would increase fuel consumption even further) or send out in ahead of you, which would require complicated refueling logistics."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Sofia the First] As King Roland's step-daughter, and a commoner no less, does Princess Sofia have a place in the ascension order to the throne of Enchancia? Is she even a princess?\n\nIn our world, it would appear her status would be analogous to Tom Parker Bowles, who apparently doesn't have a royal title."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No. She's not the daughter of the king and she's a commoner, *plus* she's the youngest child. Her chances of inheriting the throne without a **major** catastrophe happening are null.\n\nIf the kingdom practices agnatic-cognatic primogeniture then Amber is next in the line of succession. If not then their brother is next on the line.\n\nSofia *is* technically a princess, though, being the daughter of the Queen. Her title is given by family ties not by bloodline.\n\nIt is possible her sons and daughters might not have a legitimate claim on the throne, though. Unless she marries into the family proper."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why is it healthy to strain your heart through exercise, but unhealthy to strain it through stress, caffeine, nicotine etc? What is the difference between these kinds of cardiac strain?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Exercise causes natural vascular dialation allowing the increase in heart rate to provide your circulatory system with more oxygen. \n \nCaffeine and nicotine cause vascular constriction along with the increase in heart rate. This puts more stress on your heart since it has to work even harder to achieve the same level of blood oxygenation."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: The probe sent to Pluto is about to come out of hibernation, giving us the best glimpse of Pluto since it's discovery. Why can't we just point the Hubble at it and get crystal clear photos of Pluto when we can use the same telescope for peering into the edges of the visible universe?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Your phone can take a picture of Mt Rushmore from 1,000 feet away but can't take a picture of an ant from 20 feet away.\n\nHubble is looking at supermassive things far away that generate a lot of light but Pluto is very small and doesn't reflect a lot of light."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If you drop your a phone or something else with a glass screen and the screen doesn't crack, does it have a higher chance of shattering the next time you drop it?\n\nIf you drop glass and it doesn't crack, are there invisible changes to the glass that make it weaker?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "TL;DR: Yes.\n\nMaterials Engineer here...Your brand new phone screen has billions of cracks in it. They're just really really really small. Now, anytime you do something to the phone (drop it, sit on it, bump your keys against it, whatever) you're putting stress on those cracks. \n\nIf the stress is over a certain threshold, it can cause the crack to grow. The longer the crack, the less stress needed for it to grow. So every time you drop your phone, you're effectively lowering what's called the critical stress - the amount of force it can take before catastrophic failure - aka a shattered screen."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5 When I plug my nose and blow air really hard, my ears \"pop\". What is actually happening?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "When you do that you force air up your eustacion tube which goes from your throat to your ear behind your ear drum. It equalizes the pressure on both sides of your ear drum. When you go to higher altitudes the air pressure gets lower so the air on the inside of your eardrum is higher and pushes out on your eardrum so if you plug your nose and suck in it will pop your eardrum back to normal. If you go underwater far enough the water pressure will push in your eardrum so by plugging and blowing you pop your eardrum back out."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If there was another planet with the same orbit time as Earth, would we know?\n\nHey all,\n\nIf there was another planet with the same amount of time to orbit the Sun as Earth, but was on the far-side of the Sun, would we know?\n\nDan O."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yeah, because Earth's orbit is elliptical and not circular we would still see it at times. Also, the probes we've sent to Mars and Venus and other planets would not have reached their destination if there was another planet on the other side."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[The Martian-book] What long term health effect can Mark Watney expect?\n\nI have only read the book, not seen the documentary. Watney lived off of MRE's, space potatoes and vitamins, he also spent alot of time around that radioactive thing he dug up plus whatever solar radiation he would have gotten just being on Mars. Would he get cancer? Radiation poisoning? Malnutrition? Would his muscles and bones atrophied due to lower gravity? Any other health concerns he would have? Would he survive the trip home? What about the rest of his crew that had now spent a lot longer in space than planned?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Long-term, Watney will have a much higher chance of developing cancer. The reactor actually didn't contribute to that very much; it's heavily shielded and never breached. The massive exposure to solar radiation did it. The Hab and the EVA suits are radiation-shielded, but they weren't designed to hold up over so long. \n\nHe'll also be suffering from severe muscle atrophy. It's not as bad as it would be if he spent the entire time weightless, but it'll be a while before he's able to walk in Earth gravity again. His bones will be weakened as well from a combination of malnutrition and low gravity. He'll have the trip home to begin physical therapy, which will help. \n\nHis crewmates will be dealing with more of the same, but less severe. The Hermes is better shielded than the Hab, which cuts down on radiation exposure. They also had the luxury of more-than-adequate nutrition and access to an actual gym during the flight, which is better for retaining muscle and bone mass than Watney's daily routine. \n\nLong-term, they'll all be fine. Besides the cancer."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Anyone like Heidegger but who writes like a normal person?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, but he has a ton of lecture notes published as books which are much clearer than Being and Time (I presume that's what you're struggling with), and most of his essays are also reasonably lucid. His writing is also much nicer to read when you understand the terminology he's using, and there's lots of approachable secondaries you can use like Dreyfus, Polt, and King for that."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Metal Gear Solid (The whole darn story)"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Added a tl;dr at the bottom...\n\nThe Boss was a hero during WWII. Naked Snake (later Big Boss) was one of millions inspired by the Boss. The Boss became an undercover agent (essentially) in Russia, but her gift to Volgin (an American rocket launcher) that he fired started political tension between America and Russia. The Boss was told to scapegoat by the government and did so. Big Boss killed her because that was his mission (and, as it turns out, hers).\n\nBig Boss found out the government threw the Boss under the bus and became disillusioned. About the country and about a soldier's place in it. Eventually, he defected to erect his own soldier state... all while still masquerading as a loyal American.\n\nBig Boss saw all the problems after that stint in Russia and started a group with the other members of the operation in MGS3 called the Patriots, funded by a collection of money pooled between China, the US, and Russia after WW2. Part of the Patriots activities included cloning Big Boss (the perfect soldier), which resulted in two things: the new Snakes (Solid, Liquid, Solidus), which was the final straw for Big Boss. He quit the Patriots, while Zero assumed command, eventually began running the US by his whims, and once he became too old, had AIs run the country in his place. Think of the Patriots AI as the ultimate Big Brother; an all seeing eye that watches everything but also controls it.\n\nLiquid's mission, ultimately, in MGS1 is simply to obtain Big Boss's genetic information, because, as a side effect of being clones, Liquid knew he'd eventually deteriorate (much like Snake did in MGS4).\n\nSolidus, as the president, was well aware of the Patriots, however, and wanted to put an end to them. Solidus was an antihero in a way, as while his methods were extreme, he wanted to restore freedom to the world by destroying the Patriots. He failed.\n\nOcelot, acting as a triple agent (spying on the government spying on the Snakes spying on the Patriots, basically) took up the cause of eliminating the Patriots, acting as a resurrection of Liquid Snake to throw off the Patriots from his ultimate goal, allowing him to take control of the system of AIs. They recovered the AI from MGS2 and used it as their gateway into the main AI as a means to destroy it. Snake destroyed the AIs.\n\nTL:DR; In a nutshell... Big Boss becomes disillusioned with the government and helps start the Patriots. The Patriots clone him (Liquid, Solid and Solidus Snake) and he becomes disillusioned with the Patriots and quits. He does a bunch of shit that on the surface makes it look like he's defected but is ultimately trying to destroy the Patriots, who have grown so immense in power since he left that they rule the entire world. From there, more or less everything in the Metal Gear Solid series has the ultimate goal of ending the Patriots, whether the participants know it (Ocelot) or not (Snake).\n\nHope that somewhat helps. But it's hard to accurately boil down such a rich yet convoluted story down to a few paragraphs.\n\nAnd thanks for the gold!"
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What happens to a person’s oral hygiene while being in a coma?\n\nLike does someone come brush their teeth once in a while?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes. It's actually very important that Nurses brush the patient's teeth twice a day. Patients in a coma don't have a gag reflex because they have an airway in their trachea. Brushing their teeth reduces the amount of bacteria in the patient's mouth that can travel down into their lungs and cause a pneumonia."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Peer-review: how to know a request is legit?\n\nHello everyone! I have received an email asking to peer-review a paper. This is my first approach (if you exclude obviously predatory journals) as I am still a PhD student.\n\nI was approached via my personal email, which I used to publish a thesis after I lost institutional affiliation, so I know which paper the editor has either read or seen the abstract of. Reviewing this paper as an ‘expert’ is a bit of a stretch, and whilst it’s broadly in my area I couldn’t really comment on who the author has neglected to mention etc.\n\nThe journal seems legit? My area is so interdisciplinary, I probably draw from 100+ journals so it’s not unusual to not recognize a journal’s name. \n\nI am hoping for a little guidance as to whether it’s okay to accept, what the general norms are of doing this and how to identify when I should and shouldn’t turn these offers down beyond the obvious of totally different subject and clearly predatory.\n\nThanks!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "1. View several issues of the journal to see if people you recognize have published in it. This will help you assess if it's legit. \n2. Ask your advisor.\n3. It is probably not legit, though this depends on your field. \n4. Ask your advisor. \n5. If you don't feel comfortable reviewing it (you said you're not the expert they're looking for) *and* if you judge the journal to be legit, politely decline. If it's not legit, mark the email junk or spam and move on.\n6. Ask your advisor."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[Star Trek TNG] In \"Darmok\" how could a civilisation communicate only through metaphor without first having a language in order to write and speak the stories?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They did have a more \"normal\" language. But languages evolve.\n\nSimilar to how trying to listen to someone from England 1000 years ago isn't going to work for a modern English speaker. Or similar to how people today can have entire conversations with just emoji and understand it fine."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[MCU] Stark wears the Mk 47 in Homecoming, 50 in Infinity War, and 85 in Endgame; what does the progression look like for the armors in between?\n\nAnd do Iron Spider and Rescue count? I personally doubt those two count since War Machine got his own line."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Iron Spider and Rescue definitely don’t count, they’re separate projects. As far as what they look like, probably not very different. After the Mark 50 when he used nanobots the suit upgrades were probably mostly software, just uploading plans for new weapons and features mostly. Like the energy shield he used when Hulk did the snap compared to the physical shield he used on Titan when fighting Thanos. The look of the suit definitely changed a bit, but that could be aesthetic preference, in general it’s the same hot rod red and gold he normally uses though."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "[MCU] Is Bruce Banner/The Hulk still a fugitive?\n\nIn 2008, he destroyed half of Harlem and was on the run until 2012 when he joined thee Avengers. Since then, he's mostly kept to himself and traveled the world. Assuming he didn't leave earth in Age of Ultron and the events of Civil War took place, what would his legal status be?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hulk wasn't a fugitive or traveling after the Avengers, he was pretty obviously hanging around with Tony in Stark Tower. Likely SHIELD and Stark Industries leveraged whatever they could to get his name fully cleared after the Battle of New York."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are academic conferences open to the public?\n\nI’m a new grad student with a flexible schedule and I’m embarrassed to ask my advisor such a silly question. \n\nAre academic conferences usually open to the public? I have interests outside of my field and would love to find some conferences so I can listen to people talk about their work. \n\nIs there a database of upcoming conferences? How would I find out about these? \n\nThank you in advance!\n\nEdit: thanks again for the help! Navigating higher ed as a first gen student is exhausting, I’m glad there are kind people out there willing to take time out of their day 😀"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If you mean open, as in free, then most likely “No.”most scientific conferences require registration fees. There are some conferences that you may not be able to attend; these are typically smaller & more intimate, so you need to be presenting or get in touch with organizers to get permission. You’ll still have to pay fees if you are allowed, & this can get very expensive. Larger conferences (like for societies) are generally more permissive but you still pay $$$$$$. In any case, you should just reach out to the organizers and ask."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How do they figure out how many calories are in my food?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Calories are a measure of energy contained in the food.\n\nTo calculate the amount of energy in the food we need to release it. This is done by burning it completely in an oxygen atmosphere.\n\nTo measure how much energy is released they may use something called a \"bomb calorimeter.\" Basically it is a chamber (in which a known weight of food is burned) surrounded by a known amount of water. They measure how much the temperature of the water increases. By knowing some properties of the water, how much water there is and how much the temperature of the water increases, they can calculate how much energy was released by burning the food. One calorie is the amount of energy needed to heat 1L of water from 14.5ºC to 15.5ºC."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Eli5: Why are we told to wash our hands for 20 seconds to kill all the bacteria etc, but not told anything similar for dishwashing? What makes dishwashing different, if anything?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The 20 seconds hand washing is to encourage you to wash all areas of your hand, you can do it quicker or slower but as long as you wash all over, it achieves the same results. Similar to the dishes, you wipe all areas until it's clean. Hands are a more complex shape than a dish hence why it takes longer."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Does the earth expand and contract?\n\nOK this may sound dumb but here's my reasoning. I work in construction and one of the common misunderstandings most people have is that everything in their house expands and contracts as the weather changes. This causes a lot of cracks and why there is usually a tolerance with materials.\n\nBut I was wondering does the earth expand and contract as it revolves the sun since it's not a perfect circle around the sun and gets closer and farther?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not in any appreciable sense, no. Earth’s radius remains quite unchanged over the course of a year, although it’s shape is slightly altered as a consequence of the gravitational force exerted on the Earth from the moon, as well as Earth’s rotation. This results in Earth being very slightly “Pear-shaped,” with a minor bulge extending outward toward the Moon. Although, the bulge is obscenely small, you could never recognize the difference with your eyes.\n\nThat being said, the dominant geometric shape the Earth most accurately fits is what’s known as an oblate spheroid (Imagine squishing a flexible ball between two surfaces, flattening it a little bit). Bear in mind that this deviation from a sphere is minimal, only about one part in three hundred. It comes from the equatorial regions experiencing a greater centripetal acceleration than locations at other latitudes. \n\nBut as you mentioned, Earth’s orbit is not perfectly circular. It is indeed an ellipse, but not in an extreme sense. The orbital eccentricity of the Earth (How far the Earth’s orbital path deviates from a perfect circle) is minimal, measured to only about 0.017. So the amount of solar radiation that Earth absorbs barely changes at all throughout the year. On top of that, solar radiation doesn’t really penetrate the surface and wouldn’t contribute to any significant internal heating, anyway. So we don’t see any “Breathing” of expansion and contraction."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: Why won't China let Tibet be an independent country?\n\nFrom everything I've heard, Tibet is dirt poor, ethnically a totally different country with a very separate history, and contributes little to the Chinese economy and society. Why not just let them go?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just *because* they can control it. No country wants to cut away a constituent part of it so long as it can still be managed without negative consequences.\n\nApart from controlling a ton of people in Tibet and gaining access to what resources it has, it also also allows China to keep an eye on the rest of Central and South Asia.\n\nPS. Don't think that this is because China is authoritarian or anything. Many countries have it in their constitutions to maintain territorial integrity at all costs. Places are only 'let off' when they become too much trouble to be worth it, for eg. India or the US getting independence from the UK."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are online, anonymous surveys (qualtrics etc.) considered a valid method for collecting data in the social sciences? What are the problems with this method and, assuming these problems are glaring, why is it so common in academic institutions?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's a valid way to collect data, but it might not be a way to collect 'valid' data. The people taking these surveys are self-selecting into the survey, so it's not random. Randomness is needed if someone plans on generalizing the findings to a larger population (anything larger than the people actually taking the survey)."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Can human brains actually \"multi-task\" or is our brain just capable of swapping back and forth between tasks quickly?\n\nWhen I'm brushing my teeth and doing something else at the same time with my other hand, like folding a pair of pants, I find myself involuntarily stopping brushing my teeth and only focus on the folding. I don't even realize I stopped brushing my teeth. What's the science behind this?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The brain has a multitude of interconnected systems and modules specialized for different tasks, and these operate in parallel at all times - so yes, to some degree, multitasking is possible. If you think about it, one part of your brain is processing visual information, another processing audio information, another keeping you breathing, etc etc etc, nonstop - so your brain is always doing many, many tasks at once.\n\nWhere this breaks down is if you want to do two tasks that use the *same parts* of the brain at once - this is something we can't really do. For instance, we can't typically split our conscious attention - we can switch it back and forth fairly quickly, and we can automate tasks through extended practice so they don't take much conscious attention (like driving) - but generally you won't be able to use those parts of your brain to do two things simultaneously, because in order for the brain to accomplish a given task, it has to inhibit any activity associated with other tasks to avoid crossed wires and failures."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "system",
"value": "Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ELI5: How come that in american media, sexual content of any kind is a strict taboo, but extreme violence is not a problem at all, while in most other parts of the world it is exactly the other way around?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The U.S., though secular by construction, is still a very religious nation on the level of its people. There has always been a strong religious pushback against sexual activity and pornography, which remains in religious communities to this day.\n\nOn the other hand, Americans tend to be pretty pro-military compared to the rest of the West, and such a position makes being strongly anti-violence quite difficult. Additionally, in the early-to-mid 20th century, some of the most famous works of fantasy violence (such as superhero comics, and Tom & Jerry) got their start. Works like these were gradually able to raise the stakes, until we ended up with works like Gears of War."
}
] |
Subsets and Splits