r/explainlikeimfive 31m ago

Biology ELI5 - Why is there a 'goldilocks zone' for TV volume?

Upvotes

If the TV volume is too quiet, but still loud enough to make out the dialogue, then this feels uncomfortable.

If the TV volume is too loud, but still well below the threshold of causing pain or damage, then this also feels uncomfortable.

Why is this?


r/explainlikeimfive 1h ago

Planetary Science Eli5: why do scientists believe the universe is infinite?

Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1h ago

Biology ELI5: What use squid/octopus have of changing color, when they are colorblind?

Upvotes

How do they know what colors to flex and when.


r/explainlikeimfive 2h ago

Technology ELI5: What is the difference between front-end and back-end programming?

9 Upvotes

I am learning js, html, and css, and was recently told that front-end isn't "real programming". What languages are used in back-end, and whats the point if you can host on github pages? Thanks in advance!


r/explainlikeimfive 2h ago

Biology ELI5: How do bugs or other small animals recognize the causality of human actions affecting them?

92 Upvotes

If ever? Like when a human throws water at a bug, I always imagined from the bug’s perspective it would be a natural disaster like how we perceive storms.

Because sometimes a cat doesn’t even seem to notice a human arm belonging to the human in front of them as a whole torso, or are they all smarter than this?

So to extend the question, it would be: (1) do they at least recognize a human limb belonging to the human agent? (2) They couldn’t possibly do this when a human uses an external tool, or could they? (3) Further, would looking into this give any insights on how we humans understand causality when we perceive events?

Thank you in advance to smart people


r/explainlikeimfive 2h ago

Technology ELI5 Why do smaller movie screens need to cut off part of the image? Why can't they just shrink it so it fits on the screen?

36 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 2h ago

Biology ELI5: how does maternal alienation work psychologically ?

8 Upvotes

like what's actually happening and how does it work


r/explainlikeimfive 2h ago

Technology ELI5 What is OpenGL, and GLAD?

0 Upvotes

I've been trying to learn opengl for a while but I can't really grasp the concept. From what I understood, it is a specification for generalizing graphics rendering, but that doesn't ring a bell to me.
And what does GLAD have to do with that?


r/explainlikeimfive 5h ago

Other Eli5: when withdrawing cash abroad, why do you always get given the option to accept or decline a conversion?

538 Upvotes

And is it always better to do one or the other? Or is it situation dependant?


r/explainlikeimfive 6h ago

Chemistry ELI5: Why does the taste of food change based on its temperature?

5 Upvotes

Hi! I am not talking about raw food that get cooked, because I can understand in that case, but specifically about the difference in taste between cold cooked food and warm cooked food or also drinks. Why does some ingredients taste stronger/weaker/more salty/more spicy depending on their temperature?


r/explainlikeimfive 7h ago

Biology ELI5: How do non-native species become "naturalized" to an environment? How does this happen without thousands of years of evolution?

18 Upvotes

e: To clarify, I am familiar with the idea of invasive species. I mean how does a species that is introduced into an ecosystem become incorporated into the ecosystem, neither going extinct nor going out of control.


r/explainlikeimfive 9h ago

Biology ELI5: Why do shallow cuts sometimes hurt more/for longer than deeper ones?

21 Upvotes

I've noticed that when I accidentally get a shallow cut (especially when there's no bleeding) they tend to hurt more, than when I get a deeper one. So I'm curious, why's that? Does the bleeding have something to do with it?


r/explainlikeimfive 11h ago

Biology ELI5: Why do dark circles form from lack of sleep?

210 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 13h ago

Biology ELI5: Grip strength as a indicator of overall health

0 Upvotes

Does this mean one can train only grip strength and be healthier, or does one need to engage in training that also improve grip strength, i.e., strength training


r/explainlikeimfive 14h ago

Chemistry ELI5: what is the ingredient that is actually in SSRIs that help to boost neurotransmitters in the brain?

7 Upvotes

eg. some pills work better than others that may have little to no effect, but all have different ingredients..

what is the acutal ingredient or element that boosts happy hormones (serotonin/dopamine) in the brain?


r/explainlikeimfive 18h ago

Biology ELI5: If the body balances the effect of caffeine by adding more receptors, is there a threshold where the effectiveness stops decreasing or will the effect of the same dose of caffine eventually become your original baseline?

43 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 18h ago

Biology ELI5: Why can increasing dopamine with Adderall have a calming effect?

134 Upvotes

I thought dopamine increase = more anxiety and racing thoughts?


r/explainlikeimfive 20h ago

Technology ELI5: How do viewership metrics work for Nielsen and other similar trackers prior to internet on TV viewership and current viewership tracking, and how accurate is it?

21 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 21h ago

Biology ELI5: How does Joey Chestnut eat so much? Example 76 hotdogs+buns in 10 mins etc

470 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 22h ago

Other ELI5: Why do completely different mythologies have characters and creatures that feel like versions of each other?

1.2k Upvotes

I’ve noticed how often the same types of characters show up in mythologies from cultures that were very far apart.

There always seems to be a thunder god, a trickster, fairies, a giant serpent, gnomes, an underworld ruler or a hero who has to defeat some kind of monster. Did these stories spread between cultures over time, or did people independently invent similar characters because they were dealing with the same fears and parts of nature?


r/explainlikeimfive 23h ago

Engineering ELI5: The Brayton Cycle and the Otto cycle: How do they work?

0 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Planetary Science ELI5 heatwaves in Europe. Why rising average temperature makes heatwaves more extreme instead of just making the climate a little bit warmer everywhere in more or less uniform manner.

89 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Technology ELI5: What is 'bridge mode' on a modem?

41 Upvotes

I have a wifi modem (from Bell fibre). It doesn't cover the entire house, and certainly doesn't reach the basement where I need it the most. I asked a technician what my options were, and he mentioned getting some wifi mesh devices, and then turning the modem to 'bridge' mode.

I have a basic understanding of wifi. The modem turns the wired signal into wireless. I understand that if I just plug in another wifi emitter, it makes a separate wifi network. So what exactly is bridge mode? What does it do? Do I have other options too?

EDIT: Thank you all for your input! Everyone's so helpful! Obviously there are many follow up questions, which I'll ask in comments :) Thank you!


r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Technology ELI5: What prevents an aeroplane to back up flight data to the cloud during or after a flight?

1.2k Upvotes

What prevents an airplane's black box automatically sending all its flight data to the cloud while the plane is flying, or immediately after a crash? Why do investigators still have to recover the actual black box?


r/explainlikeimfive 1d ago

Physics ELI5 why light slows down in a transparent medium

0 Upvotes

Most explanations I've seen say that the light interacts with the atoms of the medium, resulting in absorbtion and re-emission. That makes sense for translucent media, but I don't understand why it doesn't produce so much scattering that nothing would be transparent. Other explanations I've seen treat light as a classical wave. What is the quantum theoretic explanation for why light that is not scattered by a transparent medium is slowed by that medium?