Recent comments in /f/explainlikeimfive

Plastic_Wave t1_j685ru1 wrote

Reply to Eli5: if cardio makes the heart stronger by increasing heart rate and blood pressure, why do energy drinks damage it? by CrammedMeat

For most questions in biology when you ask "why is X ok but not Y" the answer is usually always scale. Because Y is too much.

When you exercise your body will tell you when you are pushing it too far, when your heart rate has been too high for too long. When you have to stop and take a breather for a minute, your heart can also take a rest and the heart rate can come down.

Energy drinks however stimulates the heart to go full throttle for hours, with no breaks or rests. Often with no purpose or gain. It's too much

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justlookingforajob1 t1_j684za0 wrote

Reply to ELI5: Why are we the only species that has to pay to live. I mean we also have to pay to keep other animals alive. by Pretty-Membership430

Nearly everything a wild animal has or gets is because they went and got it themselves or with the help of a few others. Most are naked and homeless. They are vulnerable to the elements, to predators, and to disease. Most have a very short lifespan. On Maslow's hierarchy of needs, they live at the bottom - survive and reproduce.

Humans have found ways to improve our lot in life and meet our needs for additional development. Some might say because we've evolved to do more with our minds and bodies and time, some might say it's because we are God's children and not animals and have a different destiny for life. Either way, we thrive because we divide up labor and help one another. This division of labor means that I can focus on one thing - producing food, or building shelter, or producing clothing or organizing excel sheets, etc. While others produce one thing, and then in this amazingly complex way we trade what we all do with one another, and we use money to make that happen.

So I organize excel sheets all day because I get money to do that and I trade that money with others who produce food and clothing and gasoline and electricity - so I don't have to.

In aggregate, we work less than animals do and we get more in return for our labor.

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WordsNumbersAndStats t1_j684svb wrote

Reply to comment by ranma_one_half in Eli5: how does stomach acid not exit with feces when we have diarrhoea? Isn't it just a sphincter which should in theory not be infallible? by Thtanilaw1113

Repeated reflux of gastric juice can also cause reflux laryngitis - a voice disorder caused by inflammation of the larynx (voice box) by the acid. The patient will have hoarseness but may be unaware of the reflux (no burning sensation as with GERD or run of the mill heartburn).

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s_m_m t1_j684l68 wrote

Reply to ELI5: why can't we use electricity to kill microorganisms in small amount of water ? by FreshT3ch

Yes, you can. I actually keep an electrolytic water purifier (mixed oxidant) in my emergency kit.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_water_purifier

> A simple brine {salt + water} solution in an electrolytic reaction produces a powerful mixed oxidant disinfectant (mostly chlorine in the form of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and some peroxide, ozone, chlorine dioxide).

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Donohoed t1_j6839u4 wrote

Reply to ELI5: Why are we the only species that has to pay to live. I mean we also have to pay to keep other animals alive. by Pretty-Membership430

All animals need to work to eat if they aren't pets or farm animals. Whether it's hunting, foraging, or leading/protecting a pack, they all contribute to their own survival and that of their community.

Money is a physical representation of goods or services provided to others that are used in trade. It's a human society's version of the same thing that happens in the wild but allows it to happen on a much larger scale.

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