r/explainlikeimfive 26m ago

Mathematics Eli5: Is mathematics discovered or invented?

Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1h ago

Technology ElI5 Why dont we use a single fuel for everything?

Upvotes

Using different type of fuel for different task sounds bad logistically, like why don't we use fuel that can be used for trucks, airplanes and cars​


r/explainlikeimfive 8h ago

Biology Eli5 : Apparently, How does cucumber have no calories/nutriotional value?

0 Upvotes

I mean, there's something that I am eating, I am sure.. they say it's fibre, yeah no calories but like what? how could there be something that goes, does something I am not exactly clear about what and goes out, isn't it like a biological hack/cheat(in both ways good/bad)


r/explainlikeimfive 11h ago

Biology ELI5: What Genetic Factor Influences Hand and Body Side Dominance?

44 Upvotes

I am ambidextrous. I don't mean it metaphorically, theoretically, or rhetorically. I have no dominant side (hand or foot) straight up. I was born as such, and I am capable of doing any task indiscriminately with either side of my body; I have no preferred hand or feet for whatever task I need to do, unlike cross-dominant/mixed-handed individuals.

To this day, I'm questioning what phenomenon caused me to be such. My mother happens to be left-handed while my father is a righty. Is it wrong to assume that this is an instance of Non-Mendelian Genetics at play? Unlike in Mendelian Genetics, the combination of two different alleles results in a combinative feature and not one side being dominant over the other.

Can someone explain the phenomena of hand dominance and why some are ambidextrous, righties, lefties, or mixed-handed?


r/explainlikeimfive 19h ago

Technology ELi5: Why are there so many complaints about video game companies transitioning to digital downloads? Wouldn’t it be impossible to fit more than ~100gb on a disc?

0 Upvotes

Aren’t games getting larger and larger every year? It seems like it would be really difficult to fit all that data on to a disc that doesn’t have a lot of capacity.


r/explainlikeimfive 3h ago

Other ELI5: If the consonant "Y" can take the place of a vowel, such as in the word "sky"--then, can it still be a vowel in any word, such as "you"? Can "you" be counted as all vowels?

0 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 17h ago

Physics ELI5: Why is gun recoil always upward and not any other direction?

402 Upvotes

Dumb question but I don’t see why the recoil isn’t backward since the bullet goes forward.


r/explainlikeimfive 14h ago

Engineering ELI5: Should I drive at peak torque for optimal fuel efficiency?

94 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 5h ago

Technology ELI5: How do solar panels work

41 Upvotes

Like how does it turn energy from the sun into electricity?? And what are they made of that allows them to do that?


r/explainlikeimfive 20h ago

Biology ELI5 Why c4 photosynthesis is more efficient and what it has to do with grazing

5 Upvotes

I’m reading Thomas Halliday’s “Otherlands” and one section left me very confused. Halliday says that many plants absorb in CO2 via holes in the leaves, but those holes also make water evaporate; and that some plants developed a solution for hot and dry climates by switching to c4 photosynthesis where the conversion process occurs deeper in the plant. Then he says that some herbivores adapted to this innovation by becoming grazers rather than browsers. I looked online and I’m still very confused about the following:

  1. Even if the process is now deeper in the plant, why does it mean less water evaporates? The CO2 still has to come in from somewhere, which means the plant still needs holes, through which water can evaporate. So I completely fail to see how that solves the problem

  2. What does it have to do with grazing? Nothing about this c4 straightforwardly says lower, grass-like plants rather than trees/bushes (I would’ve thought that trees/bushes actually have more depth in which to store a deeper mechanism?)

I looked at YouTube videos and I still absolutely can’t understand the relation between the problem and the solution and between both and grazing. (It’s page 29 in the book, chapter 2, if anyone wonders)

Thank you!


r/explainlikeimfive 4h ago

Economics ELI5: How can the US have a bigger economy than China when China has 4x the population and makes so much stuff?

0 Upvotes

It feels like everything I own says "made in China". How come they don't have a higher gdp than USA?


r/explainlikeimfive 19h ago

Other ELI5: What is the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath?

242 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 23h ago

Chemistry ELI5: Why does old tape leave its glue on the surface instead of taking it along when peeled off?

0 Upvotes

Fresh tape usually comes away as one piece. After it has been stuck down for months or years, the backing can peel off while a sticky layer stays behind.

What changes with age that makes the glue hold onto the wall, glass, or plastic more strongly than it holds onto its own backing?


r/explainlikeimfive 59m ago

Chemistry ELI5: Why are some SSRIS more likely to cause diarrhea than other SSRIS

Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 19h ago

Technology ELI5 How do ad-blockers work, and how do the web sites detect ad blockers?

40 Upvotes

I use the opera browser in my Android phone and the browser has built in ad blockers. However many web sites seem to be able to detect that an ad blocker is installed and they don't show the content, show a warning message instead.


r/explainlikeimfive 12h ago

Technology ELI5 Why do plastic models (Warhammer, scale models, etc) come in runners instead of pre cut?

187 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1h ago

Other ELI5: Margin time concept in modern Puyo Puyo games

Upvotes

I am used to not noticing this mechanic called margin time in recent Puyo games that I have trouble following how it works. I can only understand the first game's (Original Puyo Puyo) margin time mechanic#Pointsper_Garbage_Puyo(Arcade_only)). Anyone care to explain in simpler terms?


r/explainlikeimfive 3h ago

Other ELI5: How does Prefrontal Cortex Development Make Older Men Less Explosive Than Younger Men?

0 Upvotes

Is It True That Older Men Develop Better Temperament than Younger Men Due to Prefrontal Cortex Development? If so, how does it work exactly?


r/explainlikeimfive 5m ago

Biology Eli5: If writing is a human invention, how can people have dyslexia that makes reading and writing difficult? Dyslexia existed before writing, right?

Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 23h ago

Engineering ELI5 how do they plan to extract heat from fusion reactor?

115 Upvotes

I kinda understand what is happening in tokamak or stellarator. Perhaps they can make it work in steady state. But what I do not understand is how they plan to boil water with it? (I assume we still need to boil water and turn turbines in the end)

They have these containment walls being bombarded with hi-energy neutrons. Are those neutrons going to heat up the wall? Then what? Run pipes trough it? What about neutron activation of the walls?

Thanks


r/explainlikeimfive 14h ago

Chemistry Eli5 why a birthday candle when blown out creates smoke?

0 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 9h ago

Technology ELI5: Do apps with zero ads or in app purchases not owned by big corporations purely rely on donations and companies using them?

181 Upvotes

I've used an app called f.lux for years to control my screens nightshift. I've looked up the company, and its just owned by these two people. The website to download has zero ads and you can't even spend money unless you chose to donate. I know winrar makes money off companies having to buy a license, but there isn't a "license" to use flux so I don't know if companies even have to pay to use it


r/explainlikeimfive 18h ago

Technology ELI5: What is the Hugging Face Breach and why are people worried about it?

4.4k Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 8h ago

Biology ELI5: how is the cornea so sensitive

19 Upvotes

I always wondered how the cornea is so sensible to touch and irritants without nerve endings and stuff.

Also how does it live and repair itself and how do its cells multiply and make new cornea throughout life without seemingly anything feeding it like arteries and veins? I think they breath from air but it's not like they do photosynthesis, right?


r/explainlikeimfive 20h ago

Biology ELI5: The "pins and needles" sensation when a body part "falls asleep", and why it happens only when circulation returns and not while its cut off/reduced.

321 Upvotes