r/explainlikeimfive • • 16d ago

Other ELI5: Monthly Current Events Megathread

15 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 • • 6h ago

Technology ELI5: I still cannot comprehend the dark web and how there exists'.onion' URLs.

272 Upvotes

Could someone like tremendously dumb it down for me? i have looked into past posts and I am just getting more lost with some blogs,websites amd chatgpt giving me all kindof different answers. I know I'm late to the party since this is not a new thing and not a trending thing but yeah...

Its night and I can't sleep because I keep wondering about how can we even have physical infrastructure to support a dark web? And how is it even anonymous if it goes through the same infrastructure as the normal web?

tia!

Edit: Thank you all sm, I got some really good responses and I understand it a bit more now. Y'all are the best.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 4h ago

Physics ELI5: how does prehrating a stainless steel pan work?

128 Upvotes

If I heat the pan to medium temp and put the food on it, it sticks. If I heat it to high temp and reduce to the same medium temp, the food doesn't stick. Why?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 10h ago

Physics ELI5 How do rear view mirrors reflect in two directions?

265 Upvotes

Rear view windows have a tab you can pull down for night driving. When you pull this tab, the rear view window changes its angle a precise amount. At one angle it shows the roadway behind you, at the other angle the roadway is much darker, and therefore headlights behind you aren't as bright. However, you couldn't see the roadway to back up at the darker angle.

My question is, how do these mirrors work? The mirrors look like any other mirror in daytime mode. You don't see anything odd from it being able to reflect at a different angle. I don't understand it.

I hope I explained this well enough... Thanks.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 14h ago

Biology ELI5: How does the human mind construct highly detailed realistic imagery of places a person has never actually seen in real life during sleep?

374 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 54m ago

Biology ELI5 Why do we get more tired when we sleep too long compared to getting just enough sleep.

• Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Other ELI5: How did Germany move away from Nazism after Hitler’s death?

2.0k Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Other ELI5: Why do women have discharge?

1.7k Upvotes

Possibly a dumb question, but my school / parents never taught about discharge. I actually spent years thinking I was broken because I didn't know what it was.

Obviously I know it's normal now and it changes throughout my cycle, but I don't think anyone ever explained to me why our bodies make it in the first place.

Is it basically the vagina cleaning itself? Does it have something to do with ovulation? ELI5


r/explainlikeimfive • • 2h ago

Physics ELI5: How do macro objects behave like waves but still have a physical presence,

8 Upvotes

Or something like that I’m still kind of confused how waves work before and after interaction.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Biology ELI5: why do people with albinism have shaking eyes?

170 Upvotes

what exactly is happening that makes them shake?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 22h ago

Engineering ELI5: Why does driving just a little faster use so much more gas?

79 Upvotes

I've always wondered about this. If I'm driving 60 mph instead of 80 mph, I'm obviously going slower, but I'm also spending more time on the road. So why does driving faster end up burning so much more gas, even though you reach your destination sooner?I know wind resistance has something to do with it, but can someone explain how that actually works in simple terms?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 13h ago

Other ELI5: How is language vocabulary formed and expanded?

14 Upvotes

Who creates new words? I read somewhere that when enough people start calling something by a particular word, everyone accepts and follows. Looks ok for nouns like places, animals etc. but...

Let us take English as an example. Words like perseverance, assassination, fulcrum, pendulum etc. require some effort to form for the first time ever and propagate down the line. Words for language foundation required for communication. Who thinks about it and makes it for the first time? Is there any authorization required for a new word to enter a dictionary?

edit: reddit has some real experts with patience to explain things that they already know. This is awesome, I got some very good explanations in the first few answers itself.

Edit 2: the post is reinstated after the bot locked it in error and I appealed.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 25m ago

Chemistry ELI5: Why does ice suddenly crack and pop when you pour a drink over it even though nothing is hitting it hard enough to break it?

• Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Engineering ELI5 Why are batteries in phones measured in mAh and in cars it's kWh?

399 Upvotes

I get the difference between kilo and mini but why is one in Amps and other in Watts?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Physics Eli5 the smallest "size" of a photon?

67 Upvotes

Is a single photon just the smallest possible wave of light in an EM field? And how did we discover that size?

So photons don't have mass and don't "take up space" in the sense that unlimited photons can be in the same space, but they can still be measured to have a "size"?

Is this like if I took a tape measure to a ghost, I could say it is 5' tall, but the ghost doesn't actually take up space( like it can go through me)?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Other ELI5: can bedding actually lower your body temperature, or does it just feel cooler?

82 Upvotes

I understand how a sheet can feel cool when you first touch it, but I’m confused about whether bedding can actually lower body temperature in any meaningful way. Is the feeling mostly caused by heat moving away from your skin faster for a short time, while room temperature and airflow still determine what happens later? I’m also wondering how moisture changes the feeling, since a fabric could feel comfortable when dry but different after several hours of sleep. Could someone explain the difference between initial coolness, heat transfer, breathability, and actual body-temperature regulation in simple terms? I’m asking how it works, not looking for a product recommendation.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 42m ago

Other ELI5 What is 8chan?

• Upvotes

and what is the difference between it and 4chan? And what is their relationship to the dark web?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 2d ago

Biology ELI5 How have the alligator and crocodile genus manage to survive tens of millions of years of what mother nature has thrown at them?

659 Upvotes

The earliest form is said to have started close to 85 million years ago, are the two species just that hardy?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Physics ELI5: How do mirrors work?

140 Upvotes

Intuitively, I thought it was light reflects off an object (like you) then reflects off the mirror then hits your eyes and you see it.

But then someone said it was the light just directly reflects off the mirror to then hit your eyes (nothing else like light from the sun hits the mirror then you) but that makes no sense because then you shouldn’t see the objects in front of the mirror in the mirror???


r/explainlikeimfive • • 2d ago

Chemistry ELI5 How do charcoal filters stop smells?

98 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 2d ago

Other ELI5: Post Tax Deductions somehow saves money?

29 Upvotes

Hi, good morning. I'm uneducated in this discussion. I'm considered doing a Dependant Care FSA, which has a $5000 max per year($192.30/paycheck). This is a "Pre-Tax" Deduction.

I would then, as i understand it, pay the 383/week for Daycare, submit a request for reimbursement, and get that back. How exactly does this actually "save" money?

Secondly as a continuation, same thing for Roth IRA vs 401k?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 2d ago

Chemistry ELI5: If the iron in our blood is what makes it red, why is iron silver and not red?

1.0k Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Mathematics ELI5: what does Q-Max really measure in a sheet?

7 Upvotes

I understand that Q-Max is used to describe how cool a fabric feels on first contact, but I’m still not clear on what the number physically represents. Does a higher value mean heat leaves your skin faster in that first moment of touching the fabric, rather than the sheet staying cooler all night? I’m also trying to understand how two sheets can feel similarly cool at first but feel different later, once body heat, humidity, and the rest of the bedding are involved. Could someone explain the measurement with a simple everyday comparison, without turning it into a product recommendation?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 2d ago

Engineering ELI5 Where does the extra fuel consumption goes to, in cars with different cylinder capacity?

399 Upvotes

I drove around 500 kms with my friend. My car has a 1.6 engine; his has a 1.4. We went together, so roughly the same speed (around 110 km/h most of the time).

In that distance, my car consumed more gas than his (let's say, for example, 6 litres).

If that gas is not converted into speed, then what is it being used for? Heat? The engine is heavier, so it needs more gas to move it?

Thanks, and sorry for any mistake in my English.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 2d ago

Biology ELI5: What causes back pain before/during your menstrual cycle?

520 Upvotes