AskScience AMA Series: I'm Elana Simon, a liver cancer survivor. At 18, I published gene sequencing research about my cancer in the journal Science. AMA.

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• AskScience AMA Series: I'm Elana Simon, a liver cancer survivor. At 18, I published gene sequencing research about my cancer in the journal Science. AMA.
• Why are Autistic Spectrum Disorders far more prevalent in males than in females?
• Is the VASIMR plasma engine as good as they say?
• Am I heavier if I fill my lungs with air? (as measured by a scale)
• Cement is made from fly ash; how will a shift from fossil fuels affect industries which depend on their waste?
• Why can mosquitoes transfer malaria but not AIDS?
• When new elements are created in the lab, why do we smash together individual atoms instead of just smashing two bigger clumps together?
• What makes an element worth of the periodic table?
• Why do some stars appear to flash red/blue whilst others don't?
• How come when you and a friend get out of a loud venue such as a concert and you can't hear as well your friend and you yell at each other when talking, instead of talking in your normal voice. ?
• Is it possible for some people to have a more/less saturated vision than other people?
• Why are there different programming languages? Are they used in different ways, or is it more of a preference by the creator?
• Why is it that my dishwasher can't remove tea stains from cups, but a small bit of rubbing with a dish sponge takes them off easily enough?
• What is the maximum distance one can vertically suck water, if there is one?
• If I ate a malignant cancerous tumor, does that increase my risk of getting cancer or is the genetic material destroyed by digestion?
• How much of the human brain can be gotten rid of before it stops functioning?
• How does turning on AC help defog car window?
• NASA reported that solar winds were responsible for stripping Mars of it's atmosphere. If we did terraform Mars, why wouldn't the atmosphere just be stripped away again?
• Have we ever seen a star orbiting a black hole pass behind it on our plane of view? If so, what did we see, or expect to see?
• Why, in electrolysis, do bubbles only form on the electrodes?
• Since bismuth has been discovered to be radioactively unstable, is there any assurance that isotopes of other, lighter elements are stable?
• Can Cnidarians do associative learning?

AskScience AMA Series: I'm Elana Simon, a liver cancer survivor. At 18, I published gene sequencing research about my cancer in the journal Science. AMA. Posted: 08 Jan 2016 05:00 AM PST When Elana Simon was 12, she was diagnosed with a rare liver cancer, Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, or FL-HCC, which affects mostly young people. After surgical treatment, Elana used her computer skills to create a registry that could help researchers (including her own father, Sandy Simon, of The Rockefeller University) to deepen their understanding of the mysterious cancer that threatened her life. In 2014, Elana (then 18), Sandy, her surgeon and others published research in the journal Science (link(. Their research suggested a mutation that leads to that cancer. Today, Elana is a 20-year-old sophomore at Harvard University and vice president of the Fibrolamellar Registry (link). She's been recognized by the White House, by science and medical communities, and local, national, and international media. She and her father want to spread the word about their research and answer any questions Reddit users might have. Ask them anything! TL;DR At 18, Elana and others crowdsourced tissue samples to study the genetics of her rare type of cancer. Video explanation by Elana: http://www.aaas.org/content/common-chimera-rare-tumor The AMA is being coordinated by AAAS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which publishes the journal Science. The AMA will take place starting at 12 PM EST. Associated Press story: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/teen-helps-scientists-study-her-own-rare-disease Here is Elana at the 2014 White House Science Fair: https://youtu.be/q0TYR-MxC3I This is the launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative. Watch the first two minutes of the introduction of the President and his first remarks: http://www.c-span.org/video/?324092-1/president-obama-remarks-precision-medicine Here is Francis Collins speaking at his Senate Appropriations committee hearing meeting this year. In his opening remarks the one example he raised was the Simons' work: https://youtu.be/XPeQ0gVbDC8 After the Science paper came out Elana was Interviewed live on Wall Street Journal TV (link) and NBC Evening news and the today show (link) Addressing the Sohn Foundation Pediatric Fund-raiser in Lincoln Center: https://youtu.be/-HhXnKWUJ9I?t=3m4s (A review in Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberglive.com/uncategorized/tough-act-follow/) A video about Elana by the American Association for Cancer Research. They created a special award for her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNSCk8JQ7Fw submitted by AskScienceModerator [link] [24 comments]

Why are Autistic Spectrum Disorders far more prevalent in males than in females? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 11:47 AM PST submitted by crapposting [link] [706 comments]

Is the VASIMR plasma engine as good as they say? Posted: 08 Jan 2016 12:33 AM PST I saw this click bait on Facebook about a VASIMR plasma engine that says it's the key to propulsion once in space. /r/AskScience, please explain! submitted by ddogreddit [link] [4 comments]

Am I heavier if I fill my lungs with air? (as measured by a scale) Posted: 07 Jan 2016 08:05 AM PST Would there be a difference in weight? (Assume a highly precise measuring device, so even if it's very small) submitted by d6x1 [link] [35 comments]

Cement is made from fly ash; how will a shift from fossil fuels affect industries which depend on their waste? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 06:50 AM PST submitted by created4this [link] [41 comments]

Why can mosquitoes transfer malaria but not AIDS? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 04:06 PM PST submitted by jdvogelgesang [link] [6 comments]

When new elements are created in the lab, why do we smash together individual atoms instead of just smashing two bigger clumps together? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 11:39 AM PST Surely if our goals is to perform thousands and thousands of collisions, wouldn't it be easier to collide larger clumps of atoms than single atoms? Or is it something about the acceleration process that prevents us from doing that? submitted by quatrevingtneuf [link] [11 comments]

What makes an element worth of the periodic table? Posted: 08 Jan 2016 12:11 AM PST Ask this chemist about creating new elements http://www.particlenews.com/n/01YsmP1e I'm trying to wrap my brain around what actually makes a new element an element? Is antimatter not considered an element? Does the element have to be a certain substance? What are the criteria? Not all elements are naturally present, so does that make a difference? What does it take then y to make a "new" element? submitted by [deleted] [link] [9 comments]

Why do some stars appear to flash red/blue whilst others don't? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 04:41 PM PST submitted by TobyHJ [link] [6 comments]

How come when you and a friend get out of a loud venue such as a concert and you can't hear as well your friend and you yell at each other when talking, instead of talking in your normal voice. ? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 08:04 PM PST submitted by phillies1989 [link] [8 comments]

Is it possible for some people to have a more/less saturated vision than other people? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 07:59 PM PST For example, can some people see more saturated colors than other people can? submitted by Dragonbourbon [link] [5 comments]

Why are there different programming languages? Are they used in different ways, or is it more of a preference by the creator? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 12:28 PM PST I have no experience with coding of any kind... I know of a few languages though, BASIC, Java, Python, C++, but I'm curious why there are so many? What similarities do they share and what differences do they have? How/why did different languages come about? submitted by ChrisGnam [link] [18 comments]

Why is it that my dishwasher can't remove tea stains from cups, but a small bit of rubbing with a dish sponge takes them off easily enough? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 07:11 AM PST In more detail - it seems that dishwasher tablets are able to successfully clean a lot of other food residues that are more difficult to clean manually - why aren't tea stains removed so easily? submitted by T_at [link] [14 comments]

What is the maximum distance one can vertically suck water, if there is one? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 03:42 PM PST submitted by mcr135 [link] [19 comments]

If I ate a malignant cancerous tumor, does that increase my risk of getting cancer or is the genetic material destroyed by digestion? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 02:40 PM PST submitted by nfreni [link] [4 comments]

How much of the human brain can be gotten rid of before it stops functioning? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 01:20 PM PST I was just thinking about the scene in Silence of the Lambs, (I'm sure most of you know what I'm referring to, but for those who don't, http://imgur.com/gallery/1nLKDlJ.), and it got me thinking. Let's say you are sitting in a professional brain surgeon's chair and he has the task of removing as much of your brain as possible, while still keeping you alive. How much would be left? What functions would you still have intact? Could you leave the OR afterwards? submitted by awesomeguy4018 [link] [6 comments]

How does turning on AC help defog car window? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 05:02 PM PST I've heard that AC "Pulls moisture out of the air, as the air passes over the cold coil" Doesn't AC actually heat air when the car is cold? And if AC coils are placed after the air gets warm, wouldn't that just make air colder and not loose any of it's water. Are any of my claims true. And is this the way AC help defog the windows? submitted by bertoncelj1 [link] [6 comments]

NASA reported that solar winds were responsible for stripping Mars of it's atmosphere. If we did terraform Mars, why wouldn't the atmosphere just be stripped away again? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 08:20 AM PST Ref submitted by belly_bell [link] [4 comments]

Have we ever seen a star orbiting a black hole pass behind it on our plane of view? If so, what did we see, or expect to see? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 10:04 AM PST submitted by KnuckleCrunch [link] [5 comments]

Why, in electrolysis, do bubbles only form on the electrodes? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 05:43 PM PST If you have two metal plate electrodes, and you use them to electrolyze water, bubbles form on the plates. However, isn't there an electric field throughout the area between the? Why isn't the water split at any point between the plates? submitted by TortugaTerritory [link] [3 comments]

Since bismuth has been discovered to be radioactively unstable, is there any assurance that isotopes of other, lighter elements are stable? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 02:45 PM PST submitted by pacman_sl [link] [4 comments]

Can Cnidarians do associative learning? Posted: 07 Jan 2016 02:34 PM PST I've seen few attempts to answer this question in the literature except for one study here (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0031938475902590). Does anyone in the field know if this was ever repeated and reproduced? submitted by jdenniso [link] [2 comments]

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