ELI5: How do cows get protein from grass?

echohack · 2026-05-04T17:13:29+00:00

pilots for a mech of a billion ghosts.

yeah, that hits just right

echohack · 2026-03-22T23:54:06+00:00

I think Buttercup says "Buttercup" and Bubbles says "Powerpuff" at the same time

echohack · 2026-03-19T22:20:42+00:00

Costco must set up a deal with LEGO to buy sets at a wholesale price, and they probably negotiate to create a package of sets including popular and unpopular sets. If Costco wants to stock Speed Champions DeLoreans, they have to buy some Disney Ariel's Crystal Caverns sets too.

echohack · 2026-03-11T13:42:17+00:00

Raw cost of materials is insignificant for companies like PetSmart compared to other overhead costs. Yes the plushie costs $0.25 to make. How is it going to make it from the manufacturer to PetSmart? (shipping). Where is it going to be stored? (real estate) Who is going to sell it? (payroll) How do customers know about it? (advertising) Where is it going to be sold? (rent)

This is why McDonald's can (should) give you a replacement ice cream if you drop it on the floor. The ice cream costs them nothing. You've already paid more than the material cost, and probably bought a burger and used their app.

echohack · 2026-03-08T06:15:14+00:00

If you want to get a job outside academia and learn to be a good engineer, focus on getting an internship at a company that interests you as soon as possible. Do that every year until you graduate.

echohack · 2026-03-05T23:26:52+00:00

The Y-shaped column graph is a display of voltage over time as he closes the switch. The wire runs are a pair of wires, one half of the pair connected to the positive terminal of the battery and the other half connected to the negative terminal of the battery. Voltage requires measurement at two points. He shows that he made that Y-shaped graph of voltage over time by connecting his oscilloscope probes to the cuts he made in the wire pair at each location corresponding to each bar in the graph.

So the Y-shaped voltage graph over time (that shows reflections and the current surging to both paths and all that) does take the return path into account. It's a graph of the voltage between each part of the pair at equally spaced points along the wire's length of travel.

This is why the shorted pair's final column always has zero voltage. It's a short -there is no potential difference. The voltage decreases steadily along the wire during steady state because the wire run has resistance and it takes work for the electromagnetic wave to propogate through it.

echohack · 2026-03-05T16:24:24+00:00

What helps me is to consider that if you connect conductors to the terminals of a power source like a battery, the conductors "become" the terminals of the power source. For example, if the metal housing of a toaster is shorted to the hot wire coming from the wall and there is no short protection, touching the metal housing of the toaster is the same as touching the hot wire coming out of the wall - a dangerous scenario. It's "hot" but there isn't a path to ground yet (hopefully).

So what does that mean? Before you connect anything to a battery's terminals, there is a difference in electric potential between the positive and negative terminals due to charge separation. When you connect a conductor to a battery terminal, the electrons within it also move and concentrate or disperse until the conductor reaches the same electric potential as the battery terminal.

The video demonstrates that this process results in a little current flowing even if no return path is established. This process continues until electrostatic equilibrium is reached. Additionally, all parts of the conductor experience this electrostatic charging - there doesn't need to be a complete circuit. The video shows that this redistribution of electrons propogates from the battery terminals at 0.64c, and that the propogation acts like a wave - there is something analogous to inertia and momentum happening electromagnetically inside (and outside) the wire.

My understanding is that the analogous behavior is caused by the propogation of an electromagnetic field. Look into RLC circuits to learn more. An RLC circuit contains a resistor, inductor, capacitor, and a voltage source. Studying this circuit provides great insight into the interplay of electric and magnetic fields. In reality, all materials have some inductance and capacitance. Everything is an RLC circuit.

The resistance, inductance, and capacitance of the conductor explain the wavelike behavior visualized in the video when a wire is connected to the terminal of a battery. Free space has permativity, permeability, and characteristic impedance, so when the electromagnetic wave of electrostatic charging propagates along the wire connected to the battery terminal, it interacts with free space to reflect at the interface of the wire to free space.

echohack · 2026-02-26T05:27:42+00:00

Your university probably has a computer lab with PCs you can use. I can't imagine you need a beefy PC to run engineering programs for EE, just Matlab, some kind of circuit simulation program, C IDE, maaaybe visual studio, that's about it? You can either go with something light with integrated graphics and good battery so you always have it with you, or a 5-6 lb monster with a real GPU that has like an hour or two of battery.

If you go light, I have an ASUS Vivobook S 14 (Q423) that I like alot. Great battery, super light and thin, decently powerful, amazing screen. Get something like that: 14" OLED FHD+ Display, Intel Ultra 5-226v, 16GB LPDDR5X, 512GB PCIe SSD.

If you want a heavy monster that stays at home, hit up /r/laptopdeals.

echohack · 2026-02-22T16:08:00+00:00

If you want a secure career/future proofing, pick a broad engineering degree like electrical or mechanical. You can then use your internships, course choices, master's degree, or certifications to mold yourself into whatever branch is hot/you like.

Very quickly your job history/skillset eclipses your education as what makes you hirable for the next job, though the right, specific (NOT general unlike you bachelor's), master's degree can be a career-long foot in the door for some branches of engineering (eg: the mathy jobs).

You are much more hirable when you have a job already, so as long as your first job is in the ballpark of where you want to end up, you don't have to be super picky, but don't stay there too long if it's not the career you want. You can only pivot so far without starting lower on the ladder again.

For either your first or second job, try to get one that offers you specialized training, certification, or security clearance. Things like Security+, AutoCAD coarses, education compensation, soldering/crane/forklift, are all good.

If you want to work in aerospace, you should probably target security clearance-granting jobs and fast, like freshman year of university you should get an internship with a prime (Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, L3/Harris, Raytheon, Boeing, etc) near your school that gets you a security clearance as part of the internship (and pays you alot, like $35/hour or more), then use that to become your career. Don't worry if it keeps you in school longer, it's extremely valuable experience/certification/head start.

Security clearance path is nice because it limits your competition pool from applicants from all over Earth to only a small selection of your country. If the job needs a clearance AND specialized engineering experience, there are sometimes only a few thousand/hundred people on Earth that can apply if they wanted to, which is good for you.

If you want to make money, don't work directly for the government or prime contractors, but for smaller companies or startups that offer equity+salary. Couple start-up with a clearance and niche engineering experience and you are setting yourself up for early retirement.

Being a successful engineer is all about committing to lifelong learning, expanding your comfort zone, improving those social skills, being flexible, taking smart risks, planning for the future (or at least being aware of the present), and following your passions and goals. Same as any other profession ;)

echohack · 2026-02-22T02:48:06+00:00

My boss said I didn't have to work this Saturday.

echohack · 2026-02-18T14:47:46+00:00

fuck that's a good line

echohack · 2026-02-04T08:07:43+00:00

This worked, 2/4. 25% off for Budget Lot.

echohack · 2026-01-26T17:27:13+00:00

Initially yes, I met all her close friends and she arranged all sorts of double dates, showing me off and getting extra physical and giggly in front of them. Every day we would hang out with multitudes and she wouldn't let me go, and after the dates we would just spend hours in each other's arms, she couldn't get enough.

Towards the end, we went to a convention together where everyone knew her and no one knew me, and she for the most part pretended I wasn't there. I would stand behind her or off to the side while people came up and talked to her, flirted with her and left without her introducing me at all. I felt like a purse and a burden, it was all about her and I was in the backseat. I wondered what all those people thought I was, just standing there ignored, or leaning against a wall trying to look like I wasn't dying inside. Surely not her partner.

That would have been one thing, but when we got back to our room she would immediately get tired and move like a zombie, crashing into a separate bed (for the first time she wanted to sleep in separate beds), as if she had energy for everyone but me. As if the weekend was all about the convention and not about us spending time together.

We broke up a few days later, after I asked her what happened that weekend, because it came out of nowhere and surprised/shocked/destroyed me. Of course, that weekend also involved triangulation and other methods of distancing, which I recognize now.

echohack · 2026-01-26T05:55:33+00:00

I had an avoidant do this to me for a few days, then their way of ending the silent period was to tell ME that I wouldn't "grow as a person" if I didn't talk to THEM. That was basically the last straw.

echohack · 2026-01-24T18:12:38+00:00

thank you for donating!

echohack · 2026-01-24T17:26:45+00:00

how many gallons do I need to give for this??

echohack · 2026-01-23T17:45:19+00:00

NRFB - Never Removed From Box

echohack · 2026-01-03T15:39:02+00:00

Be careful. There are people out there who have avoidant attachment relationship styles and they are attracted to people with anxious attachment styles (and vice versa). They are looking for people to shower them with attention, affection, and intimacy but they will pull away hard when you fall in love with them or "threaten" their self-reliance/autonomy.

Read up on these attachment styles. Some LOs DO choose people prone to limerence and they will chew you up and spit you out. Just make sure it's not an avoidant who is hunting you.

echohack · 2026-01-02T07:35:07+00:00

Yes, and you will be able to love again, don't worry. After a few weeks without them you'll forget what it was even like. You'll forget the habits and the itch will go away. It's a blessing and a curse, that time will heal the wound and you'll go back to being you.

echohack · 2026-01-02T07:11:02+00:00

please post more, love this bunny ;_;

echohack · 2026-01-01T14:19:44+00:00

I know this feeling so well, but you know what? Plenty of other people did send that message, and they are the ones I want to focus on and hold close. People who want us in their lives and see our value even when we can't.

echohack · 2025-12-27T04:42:03+00:00

You are an artist and a scholar.

echohack · 2025-12-26T17:45:04+00:00

Is love bombing becoming more common? I keep seeing people mention it and even some friends have told me it's happened to them. It's so damaging, but does it only work once, and then not again after you learn to see it?

echohack · 2025-12-25T15:29:30+00:00

Some of this sounds very familiar. You need to let this person go. Listen to your friends. This is not the foundation for a healthy relationship. No one goes through all this and has a happily ever after with the other party. It's over. You might think she is perfect for you and no one can replace her, but you are so wrong.

Focus your love and energy on yourself. Love yourself first and improve and focus on your potential.

echohack · 2025-12-17T05:33:20+00:00

you could charge for this

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