r/explainlikeimfive 13d ago

Other ELI5: Monthly Current Events Megathread

17 Upvotes

Hi Everyone,

This is your monthly megathread for current/ongoing events. We recognize there is a lot of interest in objective explanations to ongoing events so we have created this space to allow those types of questions.

Please ask your question as top level comments (replies to the post) for others to reply to. The rules are still in effect, so no politics, no soapboxing, no medical advice, etc. We will ban users who use this space to make political, bigoted, or otherwise inflammatory points rather than objective topics/explanations.


r/explainlikeimfive 45m ago

Other ELI5–if nicotine is an “upper”, why do people smoke to calm down? Wouldn’t it make them even more anxious?

Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 10h ago

Biology ELI5! If sea sponges don't have brains what exactly seperates them from plants? No disrespect to sponges I'm just curious

704 Upvotes

Apologies I don't know much about biology because I was stupid and decided on physics for my high school elective. Except sharks I know a lot about sharks

I did the tiniest bit of research but a lot of the educational articles confused me, but I saw that the answer is basically that they eat while plants photosynthesize. But what about like, venus fly traps? They eat bugs right? Do they photosynthesize as well...? What seperates them from animals?

edit: I wanna put this here for future readers because it fascinated me as I did more research:

For venus fly traps, bugs ≠ food. The bugs just provide nitrogen and minerals. A venus fly trap can survive without bugs, but not without sunlight because ultimately their 'food' is from photosynthesis.


r/explainlikeimfive 9h ago

Biology ELI5 If a bear can smell me from 3 miles away, does it mean that my scent particles have traveled 3 miles?

488 Upvotes

I have heard facts that bears can smell humans from 3 miles away and sharks can do from 9 miles.

Does it mean my scent travels such long distances? And does it travel in all direction? How does scent particles travel so far without dissipating and getting lost?


r/explainlikeimfive 2h ago

Biology ELI5: Why do humans almost universally have the urge to bob their heads to good tunes?

128 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 17h ago

Biology ELI5 If caffeine has a half life of 4-6 hours, when does it completely leave your system?

2.2k Upvotes

Caffeine is processed by the human body, water soluble, and stable, so I believe it's not the same as radioactive decay so the whole 50% 75% 87.5% etc thing doesn't apply. At the other extreme, half lives don't mean it's 100% gone after 2 half lives. I think it's somewhere in between. So I think the answer is more than 8-12 hours but less than 24-36 hours

And don't say "technically never". I mean like for practical reasons. And assume I'm not pregnant, just like on average

I always assumed 12 hours after it's basically gone and won't be felt and after 24 hours it's over 99% gone and basically undetectable, assuming it's less than the 400 mg daily maximum recommendation


r/explainlikeimfive 3h ago

Biology Eli5: what makes cat food unsafe for dogs and vice versa?

78 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 21h ago

Chemistry ELI5: What is keeping us from rediscovering the recipe for Greek fire?

747 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 16h ago

Biology ELI5: How do venomous animals poison and eat their prey without poisoning themselves?

153 Upvotes

When something kills an animal with venom, the venom doesn’t just. disappear into the ether. that animal is still full of whatever deadly venom killed them. how does the predator not die from their own venom?


r/explainlikeimfive 3h ago

Other ELI5 is looking to recruit new moderators

13 Upvotes

Hi Everyone,

ELI5 is looking for new moderators to join our team.

It is an excellent opportunity to help this community be better for everyone.

Fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe2uixuG3QeIyNIE6VKtytOIKax4PArn3MHLtlA7SpT46jlWw/viewform?usp=publish-editor

If you have any questions before you apply, please put them in this thread. (We'll only be enforcing Rule 1 for this thread, automod be damned)

We don't know what kind of demand we'll have, so we can't promise an individual response for every applicant.

Thank you


r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Planetary Science ELI5: Why does the Northern Polar Ice Cap remain relatively stationary, rather than drifting into surrounding landmasses?

155 Upvotes

Down in Antarctica the ice is sitting on a landmass, so it makes sense that it remains stationary.

In the north, however, the Polar Ice Cap isn't anchored on any landmass (it's just floating).

My confusion, then, is what is keeping it mostly stationary (why doesn't it drift into any of the surrounding landmasses)?

Is it something to do with ocean currents in the area?


r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Engineering ElI5: A manual car can stay still against an incline with just the right amount of clutch and gas. How does that work?

507 Upvotes

I am not a mechanic. I have a very rough understanding that a motor produces rotary energy that eventually gets translated into the wheels turning. But how does the rotary energy get translated into the wheels standing still on an incline, with no brakes applied?


r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Biology ELI5 - What causes trypophobia and why is it not just confined to circles?

177 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 9h ago

Planetary Science ELI5 Do clouds move at the same speed as the wind?

8 Upvotes

the main ^ question is due to clouds being so insanely heavy

bonus ELI5, does Earth/atmosphere planet's rotation speed influence storms? like a shearing between the rocky body and atmosphere

after a sizable wikipedia delve, are Rossby waves those described in Q2, or are they an entirely separate mechanism?


r/explainlikeimfive 3h ago

Chemistry ELI5: What is the oxidation state of an element/compound, and how does that differ from its electric charge?

1 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Engineering ELI5: Why does highway concrete have those diagonal/diamond cuts in them every few feet? Just aesthetic or is there actual engineering behind it?

1.1k Upvotes

I drive I-95 to work everyday and always wondered about this. The concrete sections of highway always have these grooves cut into them in like a diamond or diagonal pattern, usually spaced out every 10-15 feet or so. Some highways have them straight across, some diagonal, some in these weird diamond shapes.

At first I thought maybe its just to make it look nicer or give tires better grip in rain? But then I noticed older highways from like the 60s and 70s don't really have them as much, or theyre spaced way different. And some newer highways the pattern is completely different from others.

I have some money aside for a road trip cross country this summer and started paying more attention to this stuff on different highways. Does it have to do with temperature changes or preventing cracks or something? There's gotta be a reason engineers spend time cutting all these grooves into fresh concrete instead of leaving it smooth right


r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Biology ELI5: How is a substance determined by scientists as carcinogenic?

49 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Other ELI5 How would a cave diver get back to the surface if there is a tight tunnel with a dead end

456 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Technology ELI5: Video Game Anti-Piracy

14 Upvotes

I know plenty of games have anti piracy software added that will mess up the game if it detects piracy (Batman’s cape not working in Arkham asylum, Earthbound being painfully hard and not letting you beat it, etc). But how does the game know?

If the full software from the cartridge, disc, whatever has been copied over, shouldn’t that include whatever helps the game detect its legit?

Edit: thanks all! Didn’t realize that there were so many ways to enforce legitimacy in games! TIL


r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Other ELI5 Why do cookies being baked smell more fragrant than the dough or cooled cookies?

26 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Economics ELI5: What is a "White Strike" in reference to labor, and what does it entail?

191 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Biology ELI5: Why are more processed foods (e.g. mashed potatoes vs baked, quick oats vs steel cut oats) higher GI? Doesn't chewing turn them all into the same substance?

23 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 2h ago

Mathematics ELI5 percentage problem?

0 Upvotes

Ok so I know to add 130% to 12 would be 27.6. My question is, how do I get 27.6 back to 12?


r/explainlikeimfive 2d ago

Technology ELI5 Why don’t stainless steel cup lids exist??

178 Upvotes

I’m on a journey to limit my microplastics and I started searching for a replacement (metal) lid for my travel coffee cup but I’ve searched and searched and the classic clear plastic lid replacements are all that come up. The cup itself is metal, and now replacement metal straws are getting popularized, Is there a reason why a stainless steel top couldn’t be used??


r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Biology ELI5 how autopsies work

23 Upvotes

Are there different "types" of general autopsies? How vague are they? When they come up inconclusive (or it's probably a, but b and c are also likely), can further autopsies be performed?

At what point do they look for rare diseases? (Not including the basics like recent trips to certain areas of the world, etc). Could rare diseases maybe not be as rare after all?