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TIL: ELI5

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A complex topic, explained like you"re a 5-year old.

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The Arrow Debreu Model

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/24

The Arrow-Debreu Model is like a massive international swap meet, but for goods and services, and well into the future. In this big worldwide marketplace, instead of meeting only on the weekends, people commit to exchanges years, even decades, into the future, assuring each other that what they're promising will actually happen. Here's an example to better understand it: Imagine a farmer who grows apples. He doesn't just sell apples today, but he also promises to sell apples for the next

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The Four Color Theorem

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/23

Imagine that you are given a map, and your job is to color each region in such a way that no two adjoining regions have the same color. How many different colors would you need to successfully complete this task without any two adjacent regions being the same color? The Four Color Theorem answers that question. Introduced in the mid-19th century, the Four Color Theorem states that any geographical map in a plane can be colored using only four colors. The catch here is that no two regions

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The Concept of Neuroplasticity

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/22

Neuroplasticity is a term that sounds complicated, but it's really quite a simple, though amazing idea once you get the hang of it. This concept is rooted deeply in neuroscience, the study of the brain. In simple terms, neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change, adapt and rewire itself throughout a person's lifetime. Yes, it's like your brain is a software that's constantly updating! This happens because of your experiences, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. Let's imagine, for a

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The Zero-Point Energy

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/21

Zero-Point Energy (ZPE) is an intriguing concept from the realm of quantum physics, which can be a little mind-bending, so let's simplify it. Start by picturing what absolute nothingness might look like. Most of us would imagine a vacuum with no particles, no energy, and certainly no movement. Ironically enough, quantum physics tells us there's no such thing as an absolute vacuum. Even the emptiest space in the universe is actually buzzing with minuscule amounts of energy. That's

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The EPR Paradox

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/20

Let's shift our attention to a fascinating concept from quantum physics: The EPR Paradox. This puzzling theory, proposed by Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen in 1935, revolves around the principles of "quantum entanglement" and "locality". Essentially, the EPR Paradox aims to challenge the very fundamentals of quantum theory. First, let's get to know "quantum entanglement". It basically suggests that two particles can be instantaneously connected, no matter how far they are

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The Mandelbrot Set and Fractals

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/19

Let's consider a concept drawn from the realm of mathematics, specifically from an area called 'fractal geometry.' This concept is known as the 'Mandelbrot Set.' Now, if you're starting to get nervous with the mention of complex math, breathe easy. We're going to explain everything in straightforward terms, so it's perfectly fine if your math skills are a little rusty. First of all, let's make sense of the word 'fractal.' A fractal is essentially a pattern that repeats itself regardless of

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The Fibonacci Sequence

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/18

The Fibonacci Sequence is a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. It usually starts with 0 and 1. In other words, just start at 0 and 1, add those together to get your next number, which would be 1, then you add that to the previous number to get 2, and so on and so forth. So, if we were to write it out, the sequence would look something like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and it could go on forever in this same way. Now, here's where it gets

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The Pauli Exclusion Principle

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/17

The Pauli Exclusion Principle is a theory in the field of quantum mechanics, the branch of physics that deals with particles that are incredibly tiny - so small that even atoms seem huge in comparison. Now, this theory sounds complicated and perhaps something out of a science-fiction movie, but I assure you, it's a lot simpler than you might think. The principle was proposed by an Austrian physicist named Wolfgang Pauli in 1925. To truly appreciate what Pauli discovered, we first need to

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The Miller-Urey Experiment

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/16

Imagine for a moment that you're back in a time when the Earth was still formed but life didn't yet exist. The sky's filled with thunder, lightning, and the atmosphere's a toxic soup of methane, ammonia and other gases -- it certainly doesn't seem like a setting where life could blossom. That’s where scientists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey step in. In the 1950s, they set out to demonstrate a groundbreaking idea: that life, or the building blocks of life, could have spontaneously arisen

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The Concept of Spacetime

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/15

Spacetime is a concept in physics that combines space and time into a single, unified idea. It might sound complicated, but let's break it down to simpler terms. Everybody understands the idea of space. You move forward, backward, left, right, up, down. Those are your three dimensions of space. Time is the fourth dimension, something continuously progressing. We move forward in time just by existing. Now, imagine if you could combine these four dimensions. That's spacetime. In other

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The Doppler Effect

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/14

The Doppler Effect, named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, is something you've likely experienced without even realizing it. You know when an ambulance zips by and you suddenly notice the pitch of the siren changing as it passes you? That's the Doppler Effect in action. Let's break it down in simple terms. Imagine you're floating on a peaceful lake with your eyes closed, feeling the waves lapping against you. You'd notice that the waves hit you more frequently when a

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The Bose-Einstein Condensate

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/13

Have you ever piled up sand or soil, just to watch it cascade down as a landslide? Or observed water droplets combining to form bigger drops? Nature, in many situations, prefers things clumping together rather than scattered apart. This concept is also seen in the world of quantum physics, in the form of a peculiar state of matter called the "Bose-Einstein Condensate". Let's break this down. We learn in school that matter can exist in three states - solid, liquid and gas. Then we hear

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Concept of Cryptography

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/12

First off, let's establish what cryptography is. It's a method used to protect information and communications by using codes. The idea is to change data in a certain way, making it difficult for anyone except the intended recipient to understand it. Imagine you and your friend committed to a secret language that only the two of you know. For instance, you exchange "apple" for "hello" and "banana" for "goodbye". This way, if you drop an "apple" or a "banana" in a conversation, only you two

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The Uncanny Valley

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/11

The concept I’m going to explain is called the "Uncanny Valley". So the uncanny valley is a theory that comes from the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, but it's also applicable to fields like animation and digital design. Let's imagine a graph. On the vertical axis, we show how much humans emotionally accept or like an artificial figure (like a robot or animated character). On the horizontal axis, we go from a crude, clearly non-human figure (like a rock or a simple toy) to

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Superstring Theory

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/10

Superstring Theory is a really cool idea from the world of physics. At its simplest, it's a theory about the tiniest bits of stuff that make up everything in the universe. You know that everything is made up of atoms, right? And those atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. But then, what are those protons, neutrons, and electrons made of? According to Superstring Theory, they are made of super tiny strings of energy, which are the fundamental pieces of everything! The cool

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The Quantum Zeno Effect

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/09

The Quantum Zeno Effect is a peculiar phenomenon that arises from the strange and mind-boggling world of quantum mechanics. Now, you may already know that the world around us behaves quite differently at the smallest levels, like the level of atoms and particles. That's where quantum mechanics comes in - it's like the rules for this teeny tiny world! Now imagine you're baking cookies. If you keep checking them every minute, they won't get burned, right? But if you forget about them and let

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Perception and Confirmation Bias

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/08

You know how when you buy a particular brand or type of car, all of a sudden it seems like everyone is driving the same car? Or maybe you're thinking of a friend, and then they suddenly call. It can seem spooky, right? But this phenomenon isn't a result of magic or universal connection -- it's actually something called confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is a psychological theory that explains how our brain prefers information that confirms what we already believe, ignoring the rest

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The Second Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/07

The Second Law of Thermodynamics is one of the fundamental laws that govern our universe. But it comes with a complicated little twist, something called 'entropy'. Don't worry, though–I promise to pat it down into bite-sized pieces. Let’s think of a kid's bedroom. When it's clean and everything's in its place, we could say it's 'ordered'. But give the kid some playtime in there, and soon enough, toys will be everywhere. The room gets messy, or in other words, becomes 'disordered'. The

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Bell's Theorem

TIL: ELI5 ·

2024/02/06

Bell's theorem is a very advanced concept in the world of quantum mechanics, which is a part of physics. If you remember, quantum mechanics is all about the really, really small things - things much, much smaller than a single hair on your head. These tiny things, like electrons or photons, have a unique quality called entanglement. When two particles become entangled, they become deeply connected. It's like they've become best friends and they care so much about each other that if

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The Turing Test

TIL: ELI5 ·

2023/05/15

The Turing Test is a concept developed by Alan Turing, a brilliant mathematician and computer scientist. It's a test designed to determine whether a machine can exhibit human-like intelligence. In simpler terms, it's a way to see if a computer can think and communicate like a person. Here's a basic explanation of how the Turing Test works: imagine you're having a conversation with someone, but you can't see them - you can only send and receive messages. If you're not able to tell whether

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TIL: ELI5

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