In the latest week of Reddit’s live question-and-answer sessions, readers proved that geeky TV celebrity is no where near as powerful as cartoons.
Mythbusters star Grant Imahara barely made it to the fourth most popular spot this week, edged out by Wikipedia programmer Brandon Harris, a secretary on the Manhattan Project, and a Nickelodeon storyboard artist who drew whatever redditors asked him to.
Below, we’ve compiled the top seven posts (seven being our lucky number) from Reddit’s r/IAmA this week, as voted by redditors themselves. We’ve also included a sample question and answer from each. For the complete list, check here.
A note on terminology: AMA stands for “ask me anything,” while “IAmA” is simply “I am a;” AMAA means “ask me almost anything.”
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1. IAmA Nickelodeon Storyboard Artist. AMA and I’ll draw it.
Q: My daugther’s 4th birthday party is Saturday – she’s having a Rapunzel party, but was torn between that and Sponge Bob. Can you draw Sponge Bob and Rapunzel on their way to Lily’s 4th Birthday party? You’d be Epic. (permanent_throwaway)
A: How can I say no to that? Happy Birthday Lily!
2. IAmA Secretary of Manhattan Project civilian research director, Ernest Lawrence, who was central to the development of cyclotron and U-235 enrichment during WWII. AMAA (The woman’s answers were typed up by her grandson.)
Q: What was Oppenheimer like? (PeacockDoom)
A: “A normal physicists who’s mind is miles away. A very nice guy actually.” A good story is about his brother Frank, who was also a physicist. Back in the war, they all used to sort of date. One date, Frank Oppenheimer took his girlfriend out and parked with a view of the Berkeley hills. After a while he got to thinking, got out of the car and started walking around. After a couple of hours, his girlfriend got tired of waiting and drove home with out him. Frank Oppenheimer then just walked home. Everyone at the Rad Lab had some fun with that.
3. I am Wikipedia programmer Brandon Harris. AMA
Q: How does it feel to be part of something like Wikipedia? I mean, do you ever reflect on the impact of it on people’s everyday life? (Anserine)
A: Yes. There are times when the “vision of the mission” settles and there’s this really weird sense of peace and purpose. Like, an understanding of the full implications of “making the sum of human knowledge available to everyone for free.”
It’s a pretty epic feeling. I can’t describe it other than “it’s one of those emotions where you feel the edges of your eyes start to tear up”.
I kind of live for those moments, to be honest.
You can’t live like that all the time, mind you. The practicalities of what we do always bubble up.
4. Mythbuster’s Co-Host Grant Imahara Answers Your Top Ten Questions
Q: In the episode where you tested out lie detectors, you were asked if you had ever made a female robot for yourself, and you said no, but it came up as a lie. So have you? (DrPie)
A: Point of clarification, the question was ‘have you ever made or wanted to make a female robot.’ Here’s the thing about lie detectors: they don’t respond to the context of your question. They don’t tell you a straightforward ‘you are lying’ per se. Instead, based on a number of factors like heart rate and galvanic skin response, they say whether you’re more or less likely to be lying. But embarrassment can cause a false positive because it detects (among other things) if you’re flushed, sweating, or have a high heart rate. And when Tori asked me that question it took me by surprise. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that …. But yes, I thought about making a female robot, and no I have never made one. And that’s the weird part about the lie detectors because there were two questions in one and I was confused.
Q:What would your family’s reaction be if they found out your true past and your future intentions? (bordss)
A: Some violence would definitely enter the equation on both mum and dad’s part… but I don’t think they would kill me. I wouldn’t stick around long enough to find out. The minute I get a whiff of them knowing something; I’m evacuating. That’s been my plan from day one: don’t stick around to see the mess you’ve caused. It’s cowardly. I don’t know what to say other than that.
Q: What can an average folk (like me) do to help see this developed and deployed outside of China? No engineering background. Not rich. (lastchance)
A: Talk to people about it. You’d be amazed what a difference that makes. I’ve been blown away by the informal channels through which real resources (money, people, capability) have made their way to us.
7. IAmA East Indian girl who was disowned by her family because my boyfriend is white. Now living in a shelter. AMA (findlovewilltravel)
Q: Why don’t you live with your boyfriend?
A: My uncle threatened to kill his family. Yes police were involved, along with his mother being notified of the threat. His mother loves me and of course would offer to have me stay there, but for right now its best to be safe and prove to my family i can manage on my own. i have practically had everything handed to me my whole life
