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LAUNCH Lab 13

askscience/cmtuzfm

2p5s0e

Is is possible to levitate a board with 4 powerful electromagnets on water?

Water is diamagnetic, so it is able to repel magnetic fields and in principle cause things to levitate. It then comes down to how strong a magnet you mean and how much weight you look to levitate. Also, I don't know why you chose the number 4.

AskReddit/dm27izi

6vqlmb

How do you fall back in love with your spouse?

I've been married almost 11 years now. We've had our ups and downs. It absolutely infuriates me when I see couples divorcing and their excuse is "He/She is just not the same person I married X years ago" or "We've just grown apart over the years". Something I've grown to understand is that no one is EVER the same person they were when you first met or got married. To think that someone will stay exactly the same forever is completely stupid. Marriage is constant work. A continuous effort in constantly getting to know your spouse over and over again. I do not consider that a negative either. We've made a point to have dedicated date nights every couple months or so. Doesn't have to be anything spectacular. In fact we have spent many a date night just going grocery shopping. We have 4 kids so doing anything child-free is a vacation in itself. The key is understanding that your spouse is your partner for life; Your best friend, your co-pilot. If you feel like you barely know your spouse anymore, make the effort to get to know them again as if you had just met. Try to do the little things that you used to do to assure your spouse that you still love them. Or, if those little things don't work anymore, just strait up ask them "So what are some of the things I can do to let you know I love you." And when they tell you, do those things. Hopefully, this will spark some reciprocal effort by your spouse to let you know that they still love you.

explainlikeimfive/d5zx7f3

4vns0j

Why does opening a window or any exposure to outside weather cause the floor of a house to become sticky?

It lets moist air into your home. In the summer, your home is likely cooler than the outside, so the dewpoint inside your house is lower than that outside your house. As a result, the air loses its moisture inside your house, making your floors sticky. Yes, it's dew on your floors.

AskReddit/c2bk2m0

jf0xj

What would really happen if we returned to a gold or silver standard?

If that were to happen, there would be far more swings in the markets but they would be much smaller fluctuations. If you look at our markets when they were tied to metals, the swings tended to be fast and small. A move to the gold standard, if it could be pulled off, would also slow market growth. Since money would be tied to a real asset with a real value, the people who like to play with the markets would not be able to game the system as easily. Most importantly, our money would be worth more than toilet paper.

AskReddit/e8k8uvg

9rwurg

Who’s the richest person you’ve talked to and what was the conversation about?

I met the ex drummer of breaking Benjamin and current drummer of black label society. I can only assume as a famous musician he’s the richest person I’ve ever met, but he’s super down to earth. He was doing a drum clinic at a local music school and I told him his music got me through some hard times.

AskReddit/cbuvl3x

1l1ouy

What was the most vivid or seemingly real dream you remember having?

The ones where I dream that I am asleep in my bed, wake up and there is a shadow figure at the door that I cant make out and I cant move or scream. And one where I dreamt a girl died at the end of year 7, I believed it was real. It freaked me out when my high school played hers in touch football about 6 months later and she was playing.

AskReddit/cmtddo3

2p3s0h

What makes a 'safety meeting' effective?

Safety Meetings are effective if for no other reason, they put the idea of safety into the minds of everyone who attends. When you leave a safety meeting, safety is actively on your mind, and you more attention to things around you that could be unsafe. Just hearing the word safety is enough to make you double check your surroundings sometimes. But hearing it all the time is enough to make you ignore it. A safety meeting will pull you out of your normal daily routine, which will wake up your brain and cause you to be more attentive later.

AskReddit/d09077e

46zeib

What is the worst feeling in the world?

The worst feeling is an overwhelming hatred for yourself. You believe that you are an absolute waste: of time, of space, of food and water, of all the things that makes a human. Your loved ones tell you that the love you, but you think to yourself that of course they do, they're obligated to love you. I mean sure, to you can see the beauty of the world and you find yourself loving and caring for others, just not yourself. That is the worst feeling I've ever known.

AskReddit/ew3hbt1

cmnies

What is something about giving birth that is good to know, but never gets talked about?

Ask the age visitors are allowed to be in the room with you and how many. When I gave birth my 13 year old sister REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to be in the room, but the nurses said NOPE. She’s under age, gotta be 16 and she waited furious in the waiting room. Even after the baby was born they wouldn’t let her in. We snuck her in at the end of it all. Our hospital only allowed 2 extra visitors apart from Dad to be. So in the rush of it all, I had to worry about picking who got to be in the delivery room.

askscience/c7liqux

15dk4a

Does slowing your heart rate through meditation have a similar affect on health as a pose to having a slow heart rate due to lots of exercise?

Athletes heart rates slow due to increased cardiac efficiency, meaning more blood pumped per beat of the muscle, this keeps the rate of circulation of the blood as high as before. Meditatative slowing actually reduces the flow of blood through the body.

explainlikeimfive/d30jy7b

4irpg0

Why does the size of a planet matter in terms of habitability?

HUMAN habitability, I assume? As in the ability to walk around outside of a very controlled station of some kind without a spacesuit and air supply? A planet that is too small will never get an atmosphere, so we have nothing to breathe, and temperature regulation becomes tough. It's likely to have direct stellar radiation exposure issues too, as there's no "ozone layer" or possibly a magnetic deflection layer (something we have on Earth called Van Allen belts) to help block the bad stuff that its star sends. A planet that's too large will have very strong gravity or be a gas giant, so we either don't have enough strength to live there comfortably or don't have anything to stand on. And getting in and out of the gravity well would be pretty tough too. If there were such a thing as a stable gas giant, we could build a floating island held up by balloons or something and live on that. But those gas giants often have very severe weather patterns, not to mention toxic atmospheres, and so that would be tough.

AskReddit/e4862p3

97hdxz

How do you deal with losing your best friend?

8 years ago my best friend for life or so I though just "dumped" everyone because her daughter came out as being gay and she didn't want to be around all the "normal" people as she said. This is someone I talked to ever day for years. The pain it has caused is immense and I still hope to run into her but have not. No amount of talking will bring her back. The pain has lessened over the years but the hurt and devastation of losing someone, not by death but by her choice still hurts.

AskReddit/cb9u1d5

1j0cex

What is your good guy cop experience?

I was out late with some friends celebrating my departure to university. We were at a local lake past closing time. Good guy cop pulls up and checks on us and lets us know we need to skidaddle. He asks for our ID's to make sure we're 18 and older and then lets us go. He even took a picture with us.

explainlikeimfive/dgaaiqv

65h9fv

Why do we treat/accept Monday as the first day of the week, but almost all calendars show Sunday as the first day of the week?

I don't know about Monday being the first day of the week. It's moreso the first day of the workweek, and why its treated like the first day of the week probably originates with that. In fact, in Vietnamese, Sunday is literally translated to "First day" and Monday is "Day two" and so on for the rest of the days.

AskReddit/c1atu8q

etldc

What do you consider flirting?

I would argue that flirting is just being overly friendly to another person. If you see a friendly waitress talking and laughing with her customers, you would say she's "flirting" with the table. You can be accused (jokingly, of course) of "flirting" with an old man if he tells you how pretty you are and how much you remind him of a girl he once knew, and you smile back and mention what a ladykiller he must've been. Flirting is just a conversation that is really friendly. However, I'd wager what you're asking about is strictly boy / girl (or boy / boy or girl / girl) that has sexual undertones. In that case, I'd look for the person in the submissive role to start blushing. If you get stammering, that's a bonus.

explainlikeimfive/cdzoy2t

1soret

Why don't video streaming sites (Netflix, Youtube) use BitTorrent protocol?

Bittorrent is not designed to stream files. It downloads the chunks in random order. A large company that either requires fees, or paid advertising, isn't going to leave the quality of its service in the hands of the users.

askscience/cuskm6n

3juywb

Do animals have a sense of time?

It may be hard to generalize but the suprachiasmatic nucleus in animals is an internal clock of sorts that is dependent on light. Sensory pollution studies have actually shown how certain street lamps completely screw up mating in songbirds where they actually sing earlier because they "think" it is dawn. The sun is a clock for many animals.

AskReddit/d2vgflq

4i6fcw

Why is the trend to melt cultures together, rather than valuing their beauty as their own thing?

Like, everyone always wants to mix cultures together, but what makes us all special and different people are those cultures.and the more you dilute the cultures, the quicker they get lost. Im not talking about keeping them separate like the white power movement or something, I just mean that I don't understand why we have to lose our culture to adopt another one. I mean, yes there should be common ground and some assimilation to make every day life smooth, but as an immigrant myself it seems the push is to get rid of your culture, to become american (i should rephrase.my family are immigrants, I was born here)

AskReddit/c9424dp

1b6ixh

Do you have a 'one night stand' or very short term relationship that still haunts you years later?

I was hanging with a good friend. he had a firend visiting him that he had not seen in years. i ask if its a friend he wants to hook up with. nope. shes just an old friend. we have drinks . he goes to bed. me and her bang. a month later they are married. i tell him what happened and he never speaks to me again.

explainlikeimfive/dsiyixd

7ppfjx

How do architects design new and unique buildings and know that they will be structurally sound when actually built?

For very unique buildings they use computer software that actually calculates the forces on each and every post, beam, and joint. For buildings based on traditional designs they have pre-calculated figures they can just look up and adjust.

AskReddit/cfitg4k

1yaog8

What is the best piece of advice you can give to a 16 year old?

You are not inherently special. The world does not revolve around your problems, and it does not end with them. You will go through college and the workforce, and you will have to deal with bosses and professors and administrators who have seen hundreds and thousands of you. Many of them will not care about you or your problems unless they have a vested interest in you. They don't really care that you just broke up with your s/o, or your cat died, and some of them might even not care if you have a death in the family. They only care about you doing what you're supposed to do, especially if its a job. It's up to you to make yourself stand out from the crowd. You need to make yourself special. That sounded super harsh! That was actually the advice one of my professors gave to our class a few years ago. It was a Music History Class for Music Majors, and when you're in a field like that you sometimes need a slap in the face to keep egos in check. But in many ways he's right! (And he was seriously probably one of the best teachers in the whole department). Also, when you go into college/university, don't skip class. Don't skip class. Don't skip class. If a class has an attendance policy, it can drop your A to a C faster than Snoop Lion drops it like it's hot. Edit: Removed a word

AskReddit/dgqqu13

67irvl

When was a time you genuinely felt embarrassed in front of your family because you were trying to act cool?

Had to take a call from a friend of mine in front of my brothers. This guy was a new friend of mine and I was trying to act in the coolest way because I wasn't so good at making friends, so I pick up and start talking with douchy slang terms the "cool guys" used. Halfway through the phone call I realise my brothers are there. They were looking at me in such a happy way, like "we are gonna roast you till you burn". And in fact, they did

AskReddit/ek5take

b9ntt1

What huge life choices have you made, that brought you where you are now?

Played Minecraft with an old friend and his Call of Duty clan. My friend invited me to play with them, and we started a server. We made a Facebook group so we could contact each other outside of the game. Fast forward two years, and one of the members and I start chatting and couldn't stop. Luckily, we lived a few hours away and did the trip back and forth for a year. I made the big move, and we've lived together for two years now. Thanks Minecraft for still being fun for adults.

AskReddit/c0guijc

ac4qx

What's the best way I can introduce a new cat to my other 2 cats?

Give him a monocle and a top hat. The other cats will be jealous. Then, give that cat spare pairs for the other cats. They will become the best of friends, drinking tea with their pinky-claws extended.

AskReddit/chfuqc3

25cli7

How did you get your GUY?

I knew my boyfriend for a few years before we were dating. We were always friends, but not close enough to hang out with just the two of us. I was in a long distance relationship with someone in the state I used to live in. After 2 and a half years, I couldn't put up with that man child, but I was too scared to break up. Since I was with him, all of my guy friends took turns crushing on me, since I was the only girl who talked to them. Well, as my birthday drew near, I noticed my current SO, let's call him Damon, was very sad. He was extra withdrawn and very silent. He would always leave early to go home. I recognized the signs of depression very easily, but put off talking to him for fear of it starting a relationship. Once my bd came, and my LD boyfriend refused to visit me, it was the last straw. I still didn't have the heart to end it, but I really didn't care about him anymore. I started reaching out to Damon as a friend. It turns out that he just needed a little push, and soon he opened up to me in ways he never did to our other friends that he knew since middle school. We formed our own friendship. I went to his house to play Left for Dead. We went out to eat. We shot archery targets. When he heard he missed my recent birthday he bought me a pre paid phone. It was wonderful seeing him smile. I knew I was falling for him, despite him always being that silent brooding guy everyone of my friends wanted, but no one could have, and he was falling for me. One day he asks if I want to stay and watch Lord of the Rings, since I mentioned not seeing it all the way through. During the movie I acted like I was playing with something near his hand, I don't remember, and left my hand to rest on his. I noticed him get quiet, and since he didn't pull away, a slowly made it so we were holding hands. I knew at this point I had to break off the old relationship. using my new phone I sent my teary eyed goodbye. The next day, I told Damon I was single and I could just see the hope flash through his eyes. We went on what we consider our first date, and 4 days later we are official. Once we were together he starts telling me more about his depression, and how he credits me for saving his life by making him too happy to make a second attempt. His first "attempt" was him simply putting the gun down for lack of a goodbye note. I felt floored that I had unknowingly saved a life, and at that point I didn't care about my sadness over my breakup, or even if I would stay happy in this one. All I cared about was helping him. In July, we will have been together 2 years. He is absolutely in love with me, and I for him. He has stayed with me despite my many problems, which is another wall of text on it's own. I've told him if we ever get married, our wedding will be Lord of the Rings themed. TL;DR:I saved him from a suicidal depression and gave him a friend and a lover.

AskReddit/c8axrwb

18291l

What is the most embarrassing thing a parent has done?

When I was the twelfth man on the basketball squad in high school one time my mother came down from the other side of the game and walked out on the court during a time out and yelled at the coach to put me in the game. some six seconds later they put me in during a close match and luckily i score a bucket and then get hastily taken out again but i had no energy to play and was awash in absurdity from an early age. another time my mother walked in on my neighbors and my self playing doctor in the play house where my sister was dancing around naked and we never talk about it but we were awash in laughter alone as super young kids laughing at being naked and then in walks mom and she freaks out. i was always embarrassed by my fathers waving at me during soccer games because he always got way to into it. i think i hurt his feelings when i asked him to stop. getting hit in public was pretty embarrassing. going to school with a mother as a pta president was embarrassing enough when i got special treatment at school and people picked fights with me so i had to work to keep myself safe a lot. yelling at me to come inside because i wasnt allowed to play basketball in the street with the black kids. getting hit with a paddle repeatedly and not knowing what to do. living with them because of their treatement that caused me to suffer mental damage and be housed in apartment living on a disability wage. never listening to music ever. having a disdain for the famous always made me embarrassed for them.

AskReddit/cpsk73a

30hvgm

What is the greatest realization you have made as a result of reading a book?

I went from reading Atlas Shrugged directly into The Grapes of Wrath. As a general fan of Ayn Rand's writing (not necessarily her ideology, aside from free will), Steinbeck brought me back down to reality and made me realize how outside of said reality Ayn Rand was. Steinbeck has generally changed my entire view of the disconnect between poor and wealthy people and the effects of it, and really my politics and worldview. His writing combined with my military experience really helped me gain empathy.

AskHistorians/c897ci7

17vj15

How did the Vikings did their funerals exactly?

Some of the rich were buried in ships. Many were buried in barrows, or tumuli. Many burials were also buried in ship like shapes; for instance in Badelunda the graves have stones arranged in ship like patterns on them. Another tradition was that of burying a boat (Imagine Sutton Hoo; not technically Viking but close enough) with the deceased before have earth layered over it to produce a barrow. Cremation also occurred, as mentioned in Ynglinga saga. Grave goods were often deposited in the burial mounds, including household items and weapons. The weapons were often ritually killed by bending, perhaps to discourage grave robbers though this is a bit speculative. read Ibn Fadlans account for more info, and the prose edda for some interesting info on funeral rites (an example would be the cutting of nails)

AskReddit/cy0tqhc

3x200l

Why is the Joker (DC Comics) so appealing as a villain?

I've never understood why the Joker was such a dangerous villain. Growing up I always viewed him as kind of a fill-in type character that I could never take seriously. He seemed so weak and human like in every way.He was nothing more than a clown that could be knocked out in a single punch. And compared to some of the more powerful villains in the comic universe with much more power in every category compared to the joker, why oh why is he still one of the dark knights most notable villains?

AskReddit/car6eft

1h6142

What's a movie that you thought would be cheesy, but turned out to be pretty good?

I just watched 50/50 a couple of nights ago. I don't much like Seth Rogen films, but this one had a few good reviews and I thought I'd give it a go as I like Joseph Gordon Levitt. I thought it'd be unfunny, sentimental and obvious, but I was willing to take the risk. It was really good. Some nice dark humour (it's about a guy going through cancer), and Levitt just drew you in. I was so rooting for him, I found the operation scene quite nerve wracking. It's fantastic to see a film tackling cancer that isn't sentimental, and isn't wholly depressing, without trivialising it.

AskReddit/e4wt2l2

9ao6qg

What's the most effective way of quitting smoking that you guys have used?

Combination of intense workouts, nicolette, and sunflowerseeds. Then constantly calming my need by saying I could start smoking again, anytime I wanted, but I wasnt going to do it just now. I kept the last half pack in my glove compartment for a couple years, just so my body wouldnt freak out and send me to the store to get more. It was very very tough.

AskReddit/e6vcrlr

9jz35g

What is not worth the time or effort?

Sometimes we spend too much time trying to understand people that don’t want to be understood. They’ve already written the ending of their story and they reinforce it in both obvious and subversive ways. Know that all the chapters in between are being purposely written to support that ending and they don’t want you messing it up. Move on. You were written out many chapters ago. It is not worth the effort to keep trying.

AskReddit/c0mulwy

bhvsf

What is the appeal of the show 2 1/2 men?

Correct me if I'm wrong but the few episodes I saw were basically 2 gay men raising a partially retarded son. Very bold move for CBS to show this in prime time.

AskReddit/dduse9v

5ukqj9

What was the first video game you fell in love with?

Super Mario Bros for NES. Used to play with my dad every Sunday when I was 5 years old. Easy enough for a 5 year old to play and have fun yet challenging and complex enough for an adult to love it. Playing Mario with my dad began my lifetime love of video games. I'm in my 30s now and still gaming strong.

AskReddit/d6ylahg

4zt9ar

What do rich/wealthy people talk about on casual nights out?

It definitely depends on which industry they're in. People in the film industry are going to talk film. People in construction are going to talk construction. People in family law are going to talk family law. Unless they're with friends in other industries, then I guess the normal stuff: families, what friends are up to, what beaches are best for surfing. You know wealthy people are still people, right? Like, they're not going to sit around in a circle and count their money together. They still have hobbies and interests, drama and monotony.

AskReddit/c0w4lhy

cy2ar

What is the most romantic thing you've ever done for someone?

My mom & stepfather were married at the court, no ceremony, just the two of them. My sister and I were too "young", and didn't find out till after they were married. Which was fine with us, we were kids. Fast forward, and approaching their ten year anniversary. I was working in the hospitality field, making tons of money. A year in advance I planned their ten year anniversary in Vegas. Best part, they had absolutely no clue to my awesome plans. Year Prior: Booked awesome suite w/a view at the Hotel @ Mandalay Bought new set of wedding rings Bought 3rd row, Center tickets to O @ Belagio Reserved a wedding chapel for their ceremony, with flowers, dvd, photos, the works! Reserved Dinner at a fancy restaurant, after the ceremony Behind their backs, arranged the time off with their bosses Bought outfits, luggage, all the amenities for the trip Nearly $5000 later, their anniversary was fast approaching and it was exciting. All my co-workers knew of my plans and were just as excited and couldn't believe my parents had no clue to my plans. My sister and I packed their suitcases with everything they would need. When my parents arrived home, we sat them down, and told them we were leaving for Vegas. My parents sat dumbfounded at the news; starting making up excuses about having to work, and money. I stopped them, sat them down, and said: " Ten years ago, you two went off and got married. My sister and I were not there to witness the joyous occasion and wanted to celebrate with a trip" We drove to Vegas, short four hour drive. The look on my parents face as we drove into the city was priceless. Neither had been to Sin City and were taken back by the bright lights. We checked in and headed down to the casino. It still makes me laugh how in awe they were with the whole thing. I gave each of my units $150 cash to start their gambling with. The following day, we did the sight seeing, picture taking, the whole deal. What they didn't know was, they were renewing their vows in a couple of hours. After the sight seeing, we told them to get dressed as we had dinner reservations at a fancy joint, and they needed to be well dressed. We drove out to the chapel, and were obviously caught off guard. I explained that they were renewing their vows with us actually there this time. During the ceremony, they had to remove their old wedding rings, when it came time to exchange rings, we handed them new ones, my mom was in tears, and my stepfather voice cracked. It was amazing. After the ceremony, we had dinner at the Palm, then escorted them to the Bellagio for their next surprise, watching O. The rest of the trip, was just enjoying being a family, and celebrating my parents. The people I have shared the story with have called in romantic. I think of it, as a small appreciation for having awesome parents. TL:DR , booked surprise ten yr trip for parent to vegas, they didn't know a thing till the day we left. Edit: grammar

AskReddit/doeg0ms

76ihju

Which U.S state would you absolutely refuse to live in, and why?

I might consider living in California, but otherwise, I'd refuse to live in the USA entirely. I'm absolutely terrified of the health care sysyem and the criminal justice system in the USA.

AskReddit/ecym2ck

ab9yl8

When you eat something you’re allergic to, what does it taste like?

I am allergic to pineapple where my tongue swells up and I can get hives. I think it tastes like pineapple last time I recalled. I don't think if you are allergic to something that the taste of it changes. Being allergic is the bodies immune system response which usually is related to symptoms like rash and inflammation.

AskReddit/c3x4wjq

qf3m6

Why are most internet communities, such as Reddit, predominantly left wing?

Silly Americans, Reddit isn't left wing. Reddit right wing-ish compared to pretty everything in Europe Edit: Thank you Chaos_is_me, that is exactly what I meant.

AskReddit/dhwcc2v

6cp3eo

What's a great vacation spot most people don't know about?

I live in NC, and there are so many great vacation spots here. You can have beautiful beaches, the majestic mountains, the big city, endless options. Downside; you have to deal with a lot of southern folks and their interesting driving habits.

AskReddit/edrh3ms

aeptht

Why do you work harder than others?

Because I hate every second of my day when I'm at work. The harder and faster I work the less I have to think about the fact that I'm there and the faster the day goes by. Also, it gives me justification to ask for raises more often than others which means I put more away for retirement, which means I get to get out of the living nightmare of having a full time job sooner and just smoke pot all day every day by the time I'm in my mid 50s.

askscience/c6w8sxv

12m656

Would a Large Number of Flies Obey the Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution?

No. Flies actively avoid collisions in flight and would spend most of their time in the box lighted. When they do fly they accelerate pretty quickly, so the distribution of speeds would probably just be two peaks, one at zero and the other at fly cruising speed.

explainlikeimfive/ct2966p

3d6kew

Why do dogs feel guilty after doing something bad?

They feel shame (an external, group-related thing), not guilt (an internal, self-related one). They feel shame because in the past they have been punished for doing that thing, and they anticipate punishment again. Dogs do it anyway because they lose themselves in the moment.

explainlikeimfive/e5lome8

9e1xcs

How can we determine what the behaviors of animals were in a time we weren’t around in?

Well, we can't for sure. But we can extrapolate based on the behavior of their modern cousins, and based on things we find in fossils and anatomy. For example, sometimes large predators die with a full stomach, and we can get a sense what the contents were from a fossil (few fossils are this high-quality, but some exist). More reliably, we know that anatomy adapts to behavior and vice versa. For example, modern animals with sharp teeth eat meat, and animals with wide, blunt teeth eat plants. You'll notice that humans have both, and we eat both. So when we find a fossil with sharp teeth, we know they ate meat. If they ate meat, they had to either hunt or scavenge, because those are the two ways to eat meat, so which do we think this one was? Well, if it has very thick leg bones, the purpose of those would be to support powerful leg muscles and a lot of impact, so we can guess that it was probably a hunter, because it needed to be fast and powerful. We also know that predator species tend to have eyes facing the same direction and prey tend to have eyes on opposite sides of their head; predators need depth perception, and prey needs to see a wide field. So if their eyes are facing the same way, we can guess predator, which also points to hunter. Are their claws and feet big and powerful, with long claws and thick bones, or are they small and nimble? Modern raccoons are largely scavengers, and they have small, nimble hands. tl;dr We can't, but we can make guesses based on modern animals with the same physical features.

AskReddit/et192th

c9pv80

What's your job and its big unwritten/unspoken rule?

Front of House management of a pizzeria, and I'd say the biggest unwritten rule is "Ensure the mostly non-english speaking kitchen crew understands correctly the special instructions for an order"

AskReddit/d1k9u0c

4cpero

What in your life are you starting to get a little worried about?

I don't know how to have a functional relaionship with anyone further than a close friendship. For context I'm 16, live with bigoted, narcissistic parents. Who have a dysfunctional marriage; I don't have a relationship with any of them. Basically I don't know how to treat people further than a friend, even then it's tough because at times I feel I need to hold back on opening up in order to not come off as overbearing and losing them. Family hates my parents (logically) but I can't get close to any relatives because of that. And sort of have a relationship with my older sister, but even with her I can't entirely open up because she can get bigoted sometimes. So the only people I really have are my best friends, other than that I struggle on how to approach new people and build relationships with them. Don't know how to get a healthy marriage dynamic (I know it sounds dumb considering my age) going. So yeah, I guess I'm pretty worried about that.

AskReddit/c3tc9dx

pyzhb

Can anyone produce a logical argument to demonstrate that the world is, in fact, an increasingly evil place to live?

I don't know about "increasingly evil," but no one should ever die of starvation with the amount of food supply in this world. I guess you could argue that every day is just another day where poverty exists.

explainlikeimfive/ck613s7

2f57p3

How can we eat raw fish but raw chicken makes us sick?

Lets be clear here. If you take one chicken, and one fish, and kill them both at the same time, you are just as likely to contract a disease from one as the other. However, chicken processing is gross. Same with pork and beef. Fish is kept cleaner for the intent of being sushi, and is even more expensive if it is sashimi grade. You can do the same for any meat. Steak Tar Tar tartare is raw beef, and it is delicious. Raw pork and chicken are slimy and kind of gross, but if it was kept to the same standards would be perfectly safe to eat. *edit. It's Steak Tartare. I've never seen it spelled, hopefully is better now.

AskReddit/dxxzmsj

8etccg

What science focused, yet fun to read and easily understandable books would you recommend?

Big Bang by Simon Sigh. It is an excellent book which summarizes how we got to the theory of the big bang. It starts with ancient Greeks and ends with current observations such as the CMB. You don't need to have a degree in order to understand it. There are no equations, it is mostly focused at observations which lead to the theory. I recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about the Big Bang.

AskHistorians/dbyqhbx

5lv7el

What was life like for the average opium addict in China during the years preceding the Opium Wars?

I was reading about the first opium war and I know the government of China made opium illegal with death penalties and other extreme punishments, but heroin is illegal in the US and look at how that turned out. Opiates are a special class of drugs in that an opiate addict, deprived of their opium, will do desperate, illogical, immoral, crazy things to get more opium. So I wondered: were the conditions such that everyone or nearly everyone on all levels of society and status would have used opium at least recreationally or socially, or at least be familiar with it the way the average American is now familiar with marijuana? What was the character of the opiate use in China in that period? Were there lots of lower class addicts running around, stealing and begging to feed their habits, the way modern American heroin addicts do? Or did opium's importance in trade come about because the average aristocratic man or woman enjoyed going to the opium parlor and smoking a few pipes at night? There's no heroin shortage in supply terms in the US right now, but addicts still end up selling all their possessions just to get enough money to feed a daily heroin addiction. I'd imagine that, if anything, opium would have been more expensive during that period than heroin is now, and a serious addict might have to spend, say, 2 weeks worth of their income on 1 day's worth of opium, for instance. So was there a precipitant rise in crime from the lower classes trying to get enough money to feed their addictions? Or was that not the nature of Chinese opium use at that time?

AskReddit/eb0sg3w

a2s3iy

Why haven’t i noticed any anti vax dads?

Dad: I dont want to vaccinate my kids School: Then they cant come to school and they have to stay home with you. Dad: I guess the vaccination thing isn't that big of a deal after all.

askscience/ckul0cm

2hoc3b

Can the Schrödinger equation be derived from first principles?

What are "first principles" here? If you assume matter is following some wave equation, you can take a clue from geometric optics: in optics you can start from Maxwell's equations and find that in the geometric optics limit you can pretend light traces out rays through space. If you ask "what underlying wave laws would lead to classical mechanics as such a large-scale limit?" the Schrodinger equation pops out. The reasoning is simple enough; Schrodinger's original paper is fairly short. It's not literally derivable; classical mechanics is internally consistent so there's nothing about it that could force quantum mechanics on you. But you can derive the full form of the Schrodinger equation from fairly simple postulates about the underlying significance of Stern-Gerlach or double-slit experiments. Asher Peres' Quantum Theory: Concepts and Methods is a good reference here, as is Landau and Lifshitz's QM text, which both start out developing the whole structure of QM from logical principles that are probably as minimal as you'll be able to find.

AskReddit/di7etwj

6e3rzy

How different would the lives of your loved ones be if you just vanished from existence?

Past and present, or just present? Because if it's just present and I suddenly vanished, I'm sure that a lot of their time would now be focused on filing missing persons reports and trying to find me.

AskReddit/dw9av6w

870gd7

What's your 'I was in the exact right place at the exact right time' story?

Mentioned this on another question, but mine is when I met my boyfriend at a train station. We both had missed our train, and he struck up a conversation with me because he liked my phone case. We started talking and turns out, we had a lot of the same interests (comics, games, movies, tv). And we were also attending the same university. We didn’t stop talking the whole train journey, and got off at the same stop too. Kept in touch and more than 3 years later we are still going strong. I often look back and think it was meant to be, and that I happened to be in the right place at the right time, to meet him.

AskReddit/cgwkkya

23fw28

Who is the most awesome member of your family?

My grandfather is the most awesome member of my family. He quit school in the 3rd grade, never finished any sort of education to get a diploma. He joined the army and fought in WWII (even though he was colorblind) and helped build airports in Europe. Then he became an electrician and worked at the same company for 30 years. He's the smartest person I know. He can tell you what any type of machinery is, and if he doesn't know what it is, he will be able to figure it out.

AskReddit/cxdhcgb

3ubdhp

What's a universally hated thing that you actually like?

Nickelback. I don't necessarily LIKE them, but I definitely don't hate them. They were huge for a solid 5-6 years until what seemed like overnight, they became hated by everyone. It was the social norm to hate them and nobody had a good reason for their anger towards the band. You don't have the like them, but the hate didn't seem warranted to me.

AskReddit/dtl5x67

7ul1mt

Why is T included in LGBT when the others have to do with who you're attracted to while T involves gender identity?

it's about the history of the community, it started with LGBT and changing it now would be extremely stupid. the drop the T thing that some gay men wanted to do a few years ago was stupid and ignorant of trans struggles and transgender people's giant role in LGBT activism and rights. back in The Old Days when the community formed the groups had very very similar struggles and many trans people were seen as gay people "crossdressing." Without the trans women at Stonewall there is a risk that the community wouldn't be what it is today. some people getting confused about the differences between sexuality and gender isn't a good enough reason to change it.

explainlikeimfive/d0d13y4

47hq4m

What led up to the Salem Witch Trials?

Following the Glorious Revolution in England, parliament passed the toleration act, which granted all protestants the right to worship freely across British territory. That meant that Puritan New England had to let Quakers and Anglicans and other folks they kind of hated worship freely. Prior to this act only people of specific denominations got to vote in elections in most of the colonies, so this was a political as well as religious issue. So basically, you had a bunch of Puritans in Massachusetts being forced to accept the political rights of people they had previously rejected and the crown exerting more influence over the colony. This was really the context for the upheaval and the witch trials: The colony had failed in its religious mission.

AskReddit/c1fxxyl

fhaio

Why do things beep and flash when low on battery?

There must be a change in state in order to indicate the change in battery power, correct? This is the function of an alert. At first glance, it would make more sense to change the state to a more battery saving state-- turning off a light, or something. That way the battery lasts even longer. But this would mean the light would have to stay on to indicate normal amounts of battery. The problem is, the device spends much more time in normal battery than in need of charging. Let's say 15 hours. So for the "logical" settings, a power light would be on for 15 hours, then go off when the battery was running down. This would shorten battery life. Conversely, with the current "illogical" settings, normal operation is not affected. Thus, the constant, battery using signally is not to signify low power state-- it is to effect you to plug it in. Assuming you heed your dying child's requests for juice, this is the most efficient way of signalling low power state.

explainlikeimfive/dlidpnc

6t4mtg

How would the environment change if you added a body of water to a dry desert area?

By bringing in water you're providing potential moisture for clouds to form. But any rainfall would happen farther downwind from this inland sea you've created. I know nothing about Australian geography or weather to know how topography and prevailing winds would affect those clouds. After a quick maps search I see Lake Eyre in Australia. What is the humidity around that area? It seems to be roughly the size you're talking about. The water vapor would make the air more humid. However, since you're adding salt water not fresh, you're going to have coastal flora and fauna living there.

AskReddit/ebyxb77

a6xeqa

What was the most hilarious/creative thing you made younger sibling(s) believe?

My oldest brother made us believe in chooky santa Claus and I think the turkey tooth fairy , uh, I don't know why he made them but we really really believed in a tiny chicken santa Claus and tiny turkey tooth fairy lol

AskReddit/c2a0wg5

j8jki

Why does the moon have no name?

The moon has many names. Luna, Phoebe, Artemis, Diana, Isis, Nanna, Sin, Mani, Tsukuyomi, Rahko. All early humans deified the Moon before the days of scientific astronomy. It just so happens that in astronomy the moon was the first object in the heavens we recognized to behave the way it does. Therefore we call all the other large planet-orbiting spherical satellites 'moons' in honor of 'THE Moon'

AskReddit/cf1p78q

1wgbg3

What do you need to hear most and from whom?

I'd like to hear from my mom that she knows she favors my little brother over me and chooses to ignore it. And that even though I am 22 and he is 15 that I still need the same motherly love I needed when I was little and that she knows that as well. Part of it is most likely because I am a lot like my father who she doesn't get along with. Another reason could possibly be because I am a lesbian and she isn't ok with it and doesnt know how to be which is fine. I just need to hear her admit it. Admit that this changed how she has treated me since I hit my teens and I would hope it would help me drop the issue. Edit: organization.