Is it possible to have a planet at just the right size to have a solid surface, with a molten core which keeps the temperature at the surface suitable for life with no sun?

Is it possible to have a planet at just the right size to have a solid surface, with a molten core which keeps the temperature at the surface suitable for life with no sun?
Are 128bit cpu's coming? If so what would be their advantage over 64bit currently?
What makes some cancer "inoperable"?
What "powers" an atom?
Why is there a speed limit on high explosives?
Are there comedown or withdrawal effects for natural highs like oxytocin and endorphins?
Why make things really really cold? (~100 picokelvins)
Is there any way, because of time dilation, to get the result of a computer faster than it would take normally?
Can gold be heat treated / tempered like other metals to give it new qualities (Like improved durability)?
Where does the V^2 come in Fr=k.A.V^2 ?
What would the magnetic field inside a hollow magnetic sphere look like?
Why will a bigger cup of coffee stay hotter longer than a smaller cup of coffee?
Do other animals have a sense of "family" like humans do?
Why is ice so slippery?
Is there a place in the universe where spacetime is completely flat? And would a theoretical clock there tick at a fixed constant?
Why do most planets seem to get bigger as they get farther from the Sun?
ASD, PDD-NOS, SCD, and the DSM-5; What has changed and why?
Does a thermal crack in a window pane reduce the chances of another crack forming, through some stress relieving mechanism?
Why do coniferous trees only seem to proliferate in mountainous or northern environments?
What is the evolutionary reason to losing all hair on our faces besides eyebrows and, for men, beards?
Is it bad to be alone with your thoughts for too long?
Microscopes: What exactly am I looking at?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 03:13 AM PST

submitted by lysergic_25
[link] [27 comments]

Are 128bit cpu's coming? If so what would be their advantage over 64bit currently?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 06:48 AM PST

submitted by chewy_mcchewster
[link] [8 comments]

What makes some cancer "inoperable"?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 06:46 AM PST

what prevents a surgeon from just getting the thing out?

submitted by Idroxyd
[link] [12 comments]

What "powers" an atom?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 12:41 AM PST

I'm not sure how to phrase this question, but how do electrons keep spinning around a nucleus practically forever? When they're moved between atoms or stripped off how do they spin back up to speed? What keeps them at speed?

submitted by OriginalGentrifier_
[link] [4 comments]

Why is there a speed limit on high explosives?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 05:24 AM PST

submitted by DroppinHadjisLandR
[link] [7 comments]

Are there comedown or withdrawal effects for natural highs like oxytocin and endorphins?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 10:49 PM PST

Thanks!

submitted by frankhaaz
[link] [7 comments]

Why make things really really cold? (~100 picokelvins)

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 03:28 PM PST

Beside being really cool, scientifically, is there a functional purpose to making something extremely cold?

submitted by flummyheartslinger
[link] [22 comments]

Is there any way, because of time dilation, to get the result of a computer faster than it would take normally?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 08:31 PM PST

For example imagine you have some sort of super computer calculating something very time consuming, that it would on the order of say hundreds of years to complete.

If you don't have time to wait around, is there any theoretical way you could for example send it off round the solar system on a spaceship at a high fraction of the speed of light and rendezvous with it in a few years time, while meanwhile it did hundreds of years of work? So from your perspective you get the result much earlier than it would have taken normally.

Intuitively it seems to me that there must be a reason this can't be done but time dilation seems like it might allow this without knowing too much about it.

submitted by SuperSmokio6420
[link] [8 comments]

Can gold be heat treated / tempered like other metals to give it new qualities (Like improved durability)?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 05:28 AM PST

I was curious after thinking on metals for a bit for no particular reason and thought about gold. It has no particular use as a tool or blade, and, to my knowledge won't alloy with something like steel or aluminum.

So the question is. . . can you heat treat gold to make it harder?

submitted by Alashion
[link] [1 comment]

Where does the V^2 come in Fr=k.A.V^2 ?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:07 AM PST

submitted by Korbolko
[link] [3 comments]

What would the magnetic field inside a hollow magnetic sphere look like?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 11:53 PM PST

if the sphere it self was magnetic.

submitted by stormypumpkin
[link] [2 comments]

Why will a bigger cup of coffee stay hotter longer than a smaller cup of coffee?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:27 AM PST

submitted by t3hcurs3
[link] [5 comments]

Do other animals have a sense of "family" like humans do?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:14 AM PST

submitted by Whypers
[link] [1 comment]

Why is ice so slippery?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 02:29 AM PST

Ice is a solid, but still it's quite slippery. Why is that? Is it becuase there is a thin layer of liquid water on it? Is it because of the chemical matrix?

submitted by Deemril
[link] [2 comments]

Is there a place in the universe where spacetime is completely flat? And would a theoretical clock there tick at a fixed constant?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 02:18 AM PST

Not sure if this makes sense, or if constant is the right word. By flat I mean undistorted from any gravitational influence, thus the "theoretical" clock. But I guess I'm wondering if there is a universal constant for the passage of time?

submitted by unclecaravan
[link] [6 comments]

Why do most planets seem to get bigger as they get farther from the Sun?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 10:29 PM PST

I know Pluto's not a planet any more (it's messed up, right?) but if someone could explain why it (and other dwarf planets)suddenly gets tiny again that would be cool, too.

submitted by applefandroid
[link] [5 comments]

ASD, PDD-NOS, SCD, and the DSM-5; What has changed and why?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 07:14 PM PST

A confused Psychology student here...

As far as I understand, if Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) is now categorized as simply Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), making PDD-NOS diagnostically nonexistent; and Social (pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD)--which is relatively new according to my understanding--is now what PDD-NOS was to ASD in the DSM-IV regarding its diagnostic reasoning in relation to what ASD was prior to it's catch-all changes in the DSM-5, then what exactly has changed and why?

In other words, it seems to me that SCD is just a new name for PDD-NOS, and PDD-NOS was promoted per se, to being included in the new catch-all diagnosis of ASD; but if this is the case, then the the scales according to my logic anyways, seem to even themselves out--leading us back to square one, or at least back to the DSM-IV. If these changes that I listed are accurate, then I assume my reasoning logic is flawed. If this is the case, and even if it's not, what am I missing? What exactly has changed aside from just re-categorizing these disorders, and what prompted these changes?

Sources for my information which led to my confusion:

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders?page=2

http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Social%20Communication%20Disorder%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Autism%20Spectrum%20Disorder%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

And of course, the DSM-5

submitted by bh2005
[link] [1 comment]

Does a thermal crack in a window pane reduce the chances of another crack forming, through some stress relieving mechanism?

Posted: 11 Dec 2015 01:06 AM PST

I installed large double glazed panels a decent distance from a wood burning stove. The distance wasn't great enough and two of the panes-inner ones only- cracked, Crack hasn't propagated entirely across from edge to edge (about 2/3 of the way) . They are toughened glass.

Will the existence of these cracks (can't afford to replace the double glazed units) act as a stress reliever for any new thermal stresses, or could they crack in a different place?

submitted by astartef
[link] [comment]

Why do coniferous trees only seem to proliferate in mountainous or northern environments?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 08:25 AM PST

I live in the Eastern United States. The only time I ever see conifers or "pine trees" is at Christmas or in the occasional wild grove or landscaping area. Yet out west in the Rockies, British Columbia, and everywhere in southern Alaska, conifer forests dominate, even at low elevations. Why is this?

EDIT: Thanks for your responses! Although, let me be clear, I am fully aware that coniferous forests exist outside of the regions I provided; my Dad's family grew up near the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. All I was saying was that in Alpine environments and Northern regions, coniferous trees dominate.

submitted by ArcadeIsland
[link] [12 comments]

What is the evolutionary reason to losing all hair on our faces besides eyebrows and, for men, beards?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 12:38 PM PST

A friend and I are curious about the existence of eyebrows and beards vs. hairless foreheads and cheekbones. Why do these parts of our faces lack hair? What caused this change over the course of our history?

submitted by jsquizzle88
[link] [14 comments]

Is it bad to be alone with your thoughts for too long?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 09:35 AM PST

submitted by soilavalex
[link] [9 comments]

Microscopes: What exactly am I looking at?

Posted: 10 Dec 2015 12:10 PM PST

My class looked at some samples underneath a microscope. I forgot to ask my teacher what it was that we were looking at, can anyone take a guess?

Under 100x magnification: http://m.imgur.com/IsrBuxc

submitted by ILightless
[link] [9 comments]