Explain Like I'm Five | Don't Panic!

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eli5: Why shouldn't I ever release a bow without an arrow?Physics

Does a "dry release" actually hurt your bow? If so, why?

ELI5 Why Shakespeare is considered so greatR2 (Subjective/Speculative)

In comparison to his contemporaries in English Literature?

ELI5: If you’re dying of hunger, why can’t you eat leaves and grass to survive? Could that sustain you for even a little longer?Biology

And what would be the most advantageous things to come across if you have dwindling supplies? Berries? An animal?

ELI5: why are Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si the standard notes?Physics

If you take an instrument without predefined notes, such as a trombone or a violin, you can produce an infinite amount of notes between Do and Re for example (applies with out of tunes instruments as well). With that logic, you could have an infinite set of 7 notes that are as evenly « spaced » as our current standard. Im sure im missing something obvious.

EDIT: people pointed out how poorly framed my question is. I was in fact asking, « why is Do always the same frequencies depending on the octave? Why did we assign the name Do this specific sound wavelength? » it does seem like the answer is « because we arbitrary chose to somewhat recently so that all music follows a standard, but it could have been any frequencies. »

eli5: How do professional betting houses determine the gambling odds for games and fights?Mathematics

Im not a gambler so this is foreign to me. But i've always been fascinated with the business of setting odds. Is this pure subjective from professional odd setters or is there complex math attached to each odds?

ELI5: How do smartwatches measure heart rate and other vital signs, and what sensors are used?Technology

I can understand the heart rate part since watches are worn on the wrist, where our pulse can be determined, though I'm not quite sure, but what about the other vital signs? how? 

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ELI5: How does the founder of a company get paid when they give equity to investors?Economics

Let's say Jane creates a company and owns 100% of it. Jane then decides to give John 25% of the company in exchange for $100,000. Does this $100,000 go into the bank account of the company ? Or does it go to Jane, the individual, for giving up a portion of her company?

On shows like Shark Tank, the sharks frequently ask the contestants what they plan to do with the shark's money if they invest, implying that the money will go into the bank account of the company. If that is the case, how does Jane, the individual who worked hard to create the company, get compensated for the portion of the company she used to own that has been transfered to this new investor?

ELI5: How come both petrol and diesel cars still exist? Why hasn't one "won" over the years?Engineering

I'm thinking about similar situations e.g. the war of the currents with AC and DC or the format wars with various disc formats where one technology was deemed superior and "won" in the end, phasing the other one out. How come we still have two competing fuels that are so different?

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eli5: Plastics are polymers that are engineered to have specific uses for utility. Why can't they be engineered to be better for the environment?Chemistry

I really can't wrap my head around this. With all the garbage created from plastics, can't they just design and engineer green versions?

Update: Sorry guys, I know I'm oversimplifying everything here. Thanks for the great contribution. Really appreciate it. I did finally get the answer I wanted from a great contribution.

eli5: How do storms you see moving on a weather radar app move in the opposite direction of the prevailing winds in the region? Why are they not pushed ahead by the wind and going with it?Planetary Science

Gulf Coast U.S. for reference. Looking at a radar app and the Windy app today, I noticed the wind was blowing to the north but the line of thunderstorms was moving south. Help me understand this please!

ELI5: What actually happens when paint dries?Chemistry

Let's say I buy an X amount of paint, which has a total mass of 5kg (or 5lb). I spread the whole content on my wall and 24hrs later the stuff has "dried" and my wall has taken on a new shade.

So chemically what has actually happened to that liquid that weighed 5kg/lb? Did it change phase to a solid, adhered to my wall, and then added 5kg/lb to the weight of the wall?

ELI5 How much data does DNA have for things like skin and fur colors, especially in the case of weight gain?Biology

Sorry if this doesn’t make sense or is dumb

So to my understanding, your dna contains all of the code for how your phenotypes are expressed, including in your skin of course. Like where moles/birthmarks go, and for animals, how different fur colors manifest. Pigment and stuff is programmed to go to specific areas and things like that

But how much data is there? Because if someone gains a lot of weight, they also gain a lot of new skin. Does your dna just have an endless pattern for what features your skin will have? Or when an animal is really overweight, how does the dna just keep on generating a fur pattern indefinitely? I can understand when it comes to skin how maybe moles and things are a separate manifestation, but to my knowledge fur color is very tied to pigment sources placed in a pattern. It’s not random, because the colors are never just scattered without reason. But how does it decide in what manner to continue the pattern? Of course DNA is a finite thing, so does it eventually just loop back around? A repeating pattern, reusing data?

Sorry if I’m totally misunderstanding how this works lol

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ELI5 Armed Forces Special Ops, the culture, the process, and the stigmaOther

So I was scrolling on the porcelain throne and came on a post about Sgt (Cln?) Mike Vinning, and a lot of the comments went in and discussed special forces like Seal Team 6 and Delta Force, referencing some operations, command structure, and also making not of a bias against them as well as an insular culture that doesn’t endear them to people.

While I like history, basically anything after the Interwar period is lost on me unless it has to do with American politics, so I was wondering if anyone who had this knowledge base could leave a few paragraphs discussing special forces teams in the US (and the wider world if possible), with a brief rundown on the above mentioned topics. Especially the culture within those teams and the perception of them outside.

Eli5 what is the difference between hush money and a nda Other

Why does hush money have such a negative connotation but a NDA doesn’t, honesty wouldn’t it be better because they get some cash too. I know I sound actually so dumb but please explain.

ELI5: What is ergodicity?Mathematics

Hey all, I recently picked up House of Leaves and saw someone refer to it as "Ergodic Literature". I have no clue what this means or what "Ergodic literature" is supposed to mean since ergodicity seems to be a mathematical term? I'm confused, any attempts to explain ergodicity to me would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

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