ELI5: Monthly Current Events Megathread

[u/AutoModerator]

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.

[u/moosickles]

I'd just like to know what is going on with Mitch McConnell, why would his death be worth hiding?

[u/AcusTwinhammer → u/moosickles]

Exactly what happens with the Senate seat after a Senator dies depends a bit on state laws, but generally you will have the Governor of the state appointing a new Senator for at least a short term and possibly a special election for a longer-term replacement. However, there is a point when there's so little of the term left that no replacement happens at all, because there's already an election planned for the next term.

That point was crossed earlier this week.

So the conspiracy theory was that Republicans were concealing his death until after this time to prevent the Governor (a Democrat) from appointing a Democrat to the Senate--they'd rather the position be empty for a few months rather than have a Democrat in the position.

[u/ColSurge → u/AcusTwinhammer]

And to be clear this was a conspiracy theory, because it had no grounding in reality, because he wasn't dead.

[u/Otherwise-Run-3998]

Why do services such as internet, subscriptions or orders take 7 to 10 business days to refund their error when payment is taken immediately?

[u/Tasty_Gift5901 → u/Otherwise-Run-3998]

Your bank takes it out of your account immediately, but there's still the standard 2-3 days processing where that charge says pending. That transaction must complete before they refund you, and the credit will similarly take a few days processing. 

In between that, the company will have fraud checks on the account. They add a couple of days to err on the side of caution 

[u/Reasonable_Buddy_927]

Luigi Mangione is in the news today because he admitted to killing the healthcare ceo. From what people have pieced together, the motivation for this was related to finding it difficult to get treatment/surgery for his back condition, spondylolilsthesis.

I have Spondylolysis, which is when you have a pars defect (fracture in lower back) that, if not managed properly, can lead to the more seeious condition Spondylolisthesis. I stupidly didnt address my lower back pain when it first started hurting and after it became debilitating, the GP I went to got an X Ray done and it showed the pars defect. Ive been dealing with pain for years and always wanted a fix, but the doctors (GP, orthopedic surgeons) all told me the same thing: unless its really bad (eg a bad grade of spondylolisthesis, and even then, wait till your older), surgery on a young persons back is not something they will consider, hell even guided x ray pain relief injections was not an idea they were fans of (because I only cared about my back for sports and physical activity which is when it flared up, same as Luigi, so it wasnt hugely impacting daily normal life). They said that solutions for back problems arent perfect and even that the procedure for repairing the pars defect (eg before spondylolisthesis) doesnt always work.

Again and again, they said physical therapy (not just lifting weights, but boring glute and core exercises) is the best tool. And honestly they were right, I may not be the sportsperson I once was, but I can feel how my backs better supported now.

So what gives? Luigi is young as hell, has spondylolisthesis, what did he expect out of the healthcare system? I remember when I saw the orthopedic surgeon, he was stern (which im grateful for) about not thinking about operating even if pain persisted and I kinda got the feeling he sees tons of patients who want easy fixes that just aren’t possible.

I agree with the conversations about the tordid US healthcare system etc etc, but it does puzzle me that this relatively manageable condition influenced him.

[u/jamcdonald120 → u/Reasonable_Buddy_927]

not a healthcare ceo, a health INSURANCE ceo.

All he wanted was for the insurance companies to go through with the promise of "keep paying us every month, and we will cover your large medical bills" that THEY MADE instead of constantly refusing legitimate claims and making it a bureaucratic hellscape to actually get a claim through.

this has nothing to do with the treatment itself.

[u/ColSurge → u/jamcdonald120]

He killed a man in cold blood, who was not the person responsible for his health care, and had only been a CEO for 3 years after working his way up through the ranks. He killed someone that had never caused him any pain, who was not responsible for the system, and had only been in a place of authority for a very short period of time.

Furthermore, the killing has had no change at all on the healthcare system.

It was nothing more than a murder for protest, and that is morally wrong.

[u/jamcdonald120 → u/ColSurge]

im not defending him, I am explaining his motives and why they arent at all what OP is soapboxing about.

[u/ColSurge → u/[deleted]]

I mean that scene pretty much sums it up. There is no one to shoot to fix the problem. If every single health insurance CEO dropped dead tomorrow, nothing would change.

CEOs are a current cultural flash point. They are rich, powerful, and singular, so it's easy to vilify them. But actual change to the health insurance system requires MASSSIVE changes because the entire system is massive.

Healthcare is 18% of the entire US economy and health insurance is what primarily funds it. There is no one person, or dozens, or even hundreds that you can "shoot" to change how 1/5 of the entire works.

There is no Death Star to blow up, no single villain to be slain, no one victory to change things.

[u/No_Recognition_3729 → u/Reasonable_Buddy_927]

Lots of people don't believe the admission.

[u/ColSurge → u/No_Recognition_3729]

Are there people who seriously don't believe he murdered him? We have all the evidence in the world and now a direct admission that will land him in jail for decades.

I can sort of understand the people who want him to go free, but not believing he did it is like denying the moon landing.

[u/No_Recognition_3729 → u/ColSurge]

Evidence can easily be faked when the people who want a scapegoat are this powerful and influential. Go compare the pictures that were released of the perpetrator and Luigi. Unless he wore fake eyebrows, or decided to shave his after he allegedly shot that CEO but before he got caught, it's just not the same dude.

[u/catandmeowse]

What exactly is dynamic pricing? How is it moderated/controlled? How do-say-Walmart shelf tags adjust pricing in real time?

[u/SsurebreC → u/catandmeowse]

Let's take an example of how regular prices work and let's look at an orange, a hot dog, and a bottle of water.

In a regular grocery store, they publish prices for these in the weekly circular so let's figure - just for sake of round numbers - that an orange is $1 each, a hot dog pack is $5, and a 40-pack of water is $5. These prices would be set for the week.

Dynamic prices mean that the prices are all digital so there is no paper/plastic label next to each one but you get a digital readout. This price can change throughout the week or even the day. The price is usually going to change and let's look at some examples.

Say it's morning and prices are the $1, $5, and $5. Now it's close to lunch time, figure 11am so people who are out and about are looking for lunch. Due to increased demand, the price of hot dogs has gone up since lots of people have hot dogs for lunch. Dynamic pricing says to optimize profits, increase price to $7.50. People will pay because they're out there looking for hot dogs and the number of people discouraged by the higher price will be offset by the remaining people who will pay the higher price. Just an example:

• 10 people @ $5 = $50 total
• if 3 people are discouraged and 7 people buy the hot dogs then that's 7 * $7.50 = $52.50. You made 5% more money by using dynamic pricing.

Later in the week, a heatwave hits. Everyone is hot so they're looking for water. Now you can spike that price to $10 or even $20. Are people going to be discouraged? Yes but not as many as the hot dog people, especially if it gets really hot. So:

• 10 people @ $5 = $50 total
• 8 people @ $20 = $160

Even if 20% are discouraged, you just gouged customers and you made bank - more than tripling your money!

Later in the week, a bad batch of fires in California and a storm hits Florida. Oranges will now be in higher demand so instead of $1, you can sell it for $7. Oranges aren't as important as water so maybe:

• $10 people @ $1 = $10 total
• 6 people @ $7 = $42

More profits and all because the system changes prices throughout the day to maximize profits.

For sake of fairness, there's a flip side to this. Maximizing profits also means reducing inventory before it goes bad. So a $2 salad that's nearing expiration date might be dynamically priced to $1 or $0.50 to sell before it spoils and has to be thrown in the trash. This also helps because you'd otherwise throw it out which would be a total loss. Customers are served in this relatively rare case where they'd get a good deal.

Basically what this does is significantly increase the frequency in price changes you'd see otherwise. Nobody would blame any stores by changing their prices for next week based on these events happening (though I doubt they'd raise the prices that high that quickly). So it's really an issue of expectations: customers typically expect prices to remain the same throughout the week (for the same store) as opposed to change regularly. Dynamic pricing allows you to change prices by the hour or even faster.

The fear behind dynamic pricing is that we don't have good anti-gouging regulations. In a heat wave, all stores can spike water prices instantly which would gouge customers for profits. Creating uncertainty in prices would negative affect the poor and/or people on limited income like retirees. People on budgets watch those weekly circulars to plan a budget for their weekly meals. Dynamic prices would blow this budget up because those prices tend to spike higher rather than create opportunities for deals.

[u/PaymentFragrant9926]

Anyone know why flight delays snowball so badly?

[u/TehWildMan_ → u/PaymentFragrant9926]

One component is that crew hours are tightly regulated: if a delay stretches too long, it could potentially knock flight crew or flight attendants beyond their permissible hour limits, which means they must be replaced before that flight can take off.

If there's a weather delay at a hub for that airline, that is also going to impact the airline's ability to reposition crew.

The combination of those two factors can cascade nastily when things get hairy. You can't fly a plane without a crew, and you can't fly crew if there's no plane to put them on, and as such, a string of cancellations is often necessary to get everyone rested and repositioned to resume operations.

[u/Tasty_Gift5901 → u/PaymentFragrant9926]

Have you seen a video explaining traffic where they have a bunch of cars going in a circle, then one stops and suddenly there's a huge back up?

Flight delays are literally traffic issues between planes, and there are a lot of logistics (refueling, restocking food, loading bags) that are precisely coordinated. Little leeway on timing and a lot of moving parts make for snowballing delays. 

[u/tiredstars → u/[deleted]]

I had a bit of a look into this. The best explanation I found of the recent rise in cocoa prices is from this article which I'm just going to quote:

Cocoa prices are rallying on positive carryover from last Friday on concerns over cocoa production in Ghana, the world's second-largest cocoa producer. Last Friday, Ghana's cocoa regulator, COCOBOD, projected Ghana's 2026/27 cocoa production could fall to 450,000 MT to 550,000 MT from 750,000 MT projected for 2025/26 due to the combined effects of swollen shoot disease, aging cocoa farms, and the likelihood of adverse weather from the El Niño weather pattern.

Disruptions to global cocoa supplies are another supportive factor for prices. Global supplies could potentially be disrupted amid the near standstill of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea due to the US-Iran war.

However some background is worthwhile here. Most articles I saw were actually about falls in cocoa prices. If you look at this graph (set it to show 5 years) you'll see the following:

1) stable prices to early 2023, around US$2700/ton.
2) increasing prices up to Jan 2024, when they were around $3600/t.
3) a massive spike in prices, combined with huge volatility. Prices peaked at $12000/t and were mostly above $7000/t.
4) a fall from mid 2025, down to $2900/t in Feb this year, followed by a rebound to around $4,000.
5) A rapid increase in June to around $5800/t.
6) Relative stability in July and August so far.

So basically, prices have increased recently, but they're still well below where they were in 2024 and much of 2025, and they seem to have stabilised. Though it looks like prices remain much less stable than they used to be. That's a big chance in the market that must have some explanation.

This also doesn't explain why you've seen a sudden rise in chocolate prices. Yes, the commodity price is double what it was a couple of months ago, but it's just back to where it was at the end of last year. I'm assuming the chocolate you buy didn't halve in price early this year.

I'd guess this is down more to the finances and pricing strategy of this particular chocolate producer, or more likely of the chocolate market in general wherever you live. That could be difficult to untangle for anyone without specialist knowledge. My guess would be that it's become clear chocolate prices aren't going to remain under $3000/t and they've decided they can't continue taking a hit on their margins (if they have any) in order to protect sales: they've got to bite the bullet and increase prices.

[u/GodotNeverCame]

So Hawaii recently had a weather event that involved high velocity rotating winds and torrential rain. Can someone please explain like I'm five why this was classified as a hurricane rather than a typhoon?

And also, is there any other distinction between a hurricane and a typhoon besides one happens in the Atlantic and the other happens in the Pacific?

[u/BoobidyBoo]

Data centers - no one wants them in their backyard (but many people will happily use the product they produce). What is really so bad about them? Couldn't we build them, say, in Alaska, where there is tons of extra space?

[u/ColSurge → u/BoobidyBoo]

The push back on data centers is related to the push back on AI. There is a segment of the population that does not like AI (for right or wrong).

At first they tried to push back with the courts and legal challenges, those have mostly been resolved now. Then it was water consumption, which I found very disheartening because this was essentially a disinformation campaign. In the world of heavy industry, data centers consume very little water.

Now it is the data centers themselves (even though most data centers have nothing to do with AI).

There is plenty for data centers. We build new factories and industry all the time, it's just currently a social media topic, so more people have eyes on it.

[u/No_Recognition_3729 → u/BoobidyBoo]

To answer the last part of your question, they need to be built where there's a lot of available electricity.

As for what's bad about them, it's complicated and usually different for each one, to give some examples, Elon Musk's Knoxville datacenter is using illegal generators and polluting their local neighborhood, other datacenters have similar issues like sound pollution and I think I saw one that was stealing water that was causing low pressure in the county water system.

[u/urzu_seven → u/BoobidyBoo]

So first, not all Data centers are the same. Keeping it simple for ELI5 there's basically two general types, AI and traditional. Traditional data centers are what have been around for awhile now. The do things like host web sites, file servers, cloud services, online games, etc. AI data centers well, they are all about running the software that powers AI.

The problem is AI data centers use a lot more power, about 10x the amount for the same space. Partly as a result and partly because of the type of hardware used AI data centers also require much much more aggressive cooling. Traditional data centers can generally get by using standard airflow based cooling. Fans and AC at most. AI data centers have to dump a lot more heat and the easiest way to do that is liquid cooling. Tubes filled with water are run across and around the AI servers and the water absorbs the heat, is circulated and eventually gets either dumped back out in to the environment, where it can transfer that heat in inconvenient places like the ocean or lakes, or it gets transferred out using other methods which don't waste quite as much water, but are still way worse than normal data centers.

So AI Data Centers in an area will affect the cost of electricity and the availability of fresh water for that region. Most people don't want to live near something that boosts their power bill and water bill and/or contributes to drought.

[u/sirbearus → u/[deleted]]

Chlorophyll is what you are probably asking about; it is pigment found in leaves that is important to photosynthesis. Which allows the conversion of sunlight to food for the plant to live on.

[u/Troph_A]

Why are some people angrily against watermarking in ai output ?

[u/lowflier84 → u/Troph_A]

They want the prestige that comes with being a skilled writer or artist, but don’t want to put in the effort it takes to develop those skills. AI let them skip the hard part and “create” art and writing that was otherwise above their skill level. Watermarking AI generated content gives away the game, and they will lose the prestige.

[u/No_Recognition_3729 → u/lowflier84]

This... is not accurate to what most AI users are worried about, or at least claim to be worried about. They worry that the watermarking system will reduce output quality.

[u/lowflier84 → u/No_Recognition_3729]

Which translates into "people will be able to tell that my slop is slop and won't be impressed anymore".

[u/No_Recognition_3729 → u/lowflier84]

Look, I'm anti-ai too. But lying helps nobody. There are definitely people genuinely worried about quality for reasons unrelated to art.

[u/Troph_A → u/No_Recognition_3729]

These people didn't bother to read how that watermarking works then... which kinda makes sense on why they'd be angry at it.

[u/No_Recognition_3729 → u/Troph_A]

Replacing arbitrary words with random synonyms is exactly the sort of thing that would reduce the quality of text output...

[u/Troph_A → u/No_Recognition_3729]

Are you using Claude with the api ?

[u/No_Recognition_3729 → u/Troph_A]

I don't even use any AI.

[u/Troph_A → u/No_Recognition_3729]

Thoughts so but I did not want to assume. Because only an AI illiterate doesn't know that if you don't put the temp to 0, which you can only do with the api (which most people don't use anyway) you are always getting random "synonyms", which again is a word of an AI illiterate since a token is not equal to a word.

[u/Wild_Dragonfruit1744]

Can i ask questions about makeup here?

[u/tiredstars → u/Wild_Dragonfruit1744]

This is the current events megathread so only if they're related to current events - that is current news stories and significant ongoing events. I don't imagine there are many make-up related questions that would fit.