- American Chemical Society AMA: I'm Patti Galvan, I help K-8 teachers bring more chemistry to their students. Ask me anything about being a great chemist/scientist guest speaker in an elementary or middle school classroom.
- Why aren't decimals countable? Couldn't you count them by listing the one-digit decimals, then the two-digit decimals, etc etc
- Can Blackholes absorb matter larger than itself?
- Why can't LASIK give me super vision?
- Are there any solar systems / stars outside galaxies? If so, does it have any impact on the planets/stars?
- Why are rocket engines not able to throttle down all the way?
- Do biochemical processes have binary on/off switches?
- Why do different electric guitars sound different when the sound comes from the same process?
- Why does sodium dissolved in water (through table salt for example) not react like pure sodium does when it touches water?
- Does the density of a charged object affect the amount of force it feels in an electric field?
- Can you make a waterproof Shear-Thickening Fluid?
- Is there a scientifically viable explanation of quantum mechanics that suggests the universe is deterministic?
- How do blacklights work?
- Besides human activity, how is the carbon in fossil fuels returned to the ecosystem?
- For HIV Drugs like Epivir, Which is a reverse-transcriptase inhbitor, why is this not harmful (deadly) to the entire organism?
- Why don't we make "solar panels" that convert radiation from radioactive material to electricity?
- Has anybody explored the "188 day earthquake cycle" theory?
- Do animals need to learn language from a young age like humans do?
- Why does a Helium nucleus have less mass than the mass of two protons + two neutrons?
- How does Platypus venom vary from other venoms in the animal world, and what is it's effect and purpose?
- How can light move things?
- Before IV's, how would comatose people be kept alive (food, water, etc.)?
- Is having a good memory genetically passed down or totally random?
| Posted: 19 Apr 2016 05:07 AM PDT Hi Reddit! I'm Patti Galvan, K-8 Education Specialist at the American Chemical Society. Along with colleagues, I develop resources for K-8 students and their teachers. Another part of my job is helping chemists who volunteer to be guest speakers in an elementary or middle school science class. If it's Career Day in your child's school, for example, what could you say and do to represent chemistry and make your child proud? At this point in the school year (April), we are entering Career Day and guest speaker season! I enjoy helping chemists develop a presentation that will give students a positive experience learning science, please the teachers, and have them invited back for years to come. I help scientists guest speaking in classrooms feel cooler than the firefighter! For chemists who want to make more of an impact than a one-time visit can provide, ACS offers the Science Coaches program which is currently recruiting chemist-teacher partnerships. Find out more at www.acs.org/sciencecoaches I have seen both sides, as a teacher inviting guest speakers into my classroom, and as a guest speaker representing chemistry at my son's elementary school. Ask me anything about how to be a great guest speaker in an elementary or middle school science class. I will be back at 11:00 a.m. EDT (8:00 a.m. PDT; 3:00 p.m. UTC) to answer questions. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2016 08:37 PM PDT The way it was explained to me was that decimals are not countable because there's not systematic way to list every single decimal. But what if we did it this way: List one digit decimals: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, etc two-digit decimals: 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, etc three-digit decimals: 0.001, 0.002 It seems like doing it this way, you will eventually list every single decimal possible, given enough time. I must be way off though, I'm sure this has been thought of before, and I'm sure there's a flaw in my thinking. I was hoping someone could point it out [link] [comments]  |
| Can Blackholes absorb matter larger than itself? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 06:49 PM PDT Was having this debate with a friend and he said that blackholes cannot absorb anything larger than themselves. Personally I felt like he was wrong since not even light can escape from one. I would appreciate an answer, thanks! EDIT- Thanks for all your amazing answers. I tried to respectfully explain to my friend how he's wrong but he wouldn't have it. I said please provide a source that proves that "blackholes can only absorb things smaller than themselves" and he simply said, The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephan Hawking. I have decided to avoid getting into debates with this friend again because he's always right. Even topics he knows nothing about he's seemingly an expert. When trying to tell him how he's "wrong" he laughed, smirked and said that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Anyways short rant over but thanks for the great answers guys. [link] [comments]  |
| Why can't LASIK give me super vision? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 12:48 PM PDT I've been tossing around LASIK eye surgery for a bit. But I was wondering if eyesight can be corrected to 20/20, why not go for 20/10 or 20/5 or full on superpower 20/2. Is it a function of the operation of the eye not just the lenses that limits it? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2016 05:49 PM PDT |
| Why are rocket engines not able to throttle down all the way? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 06:20 PM PDT In the case of the Merlin 1D, it can throttle down to 70% max thrust. What is preventing it from going any lower than this? [link] [comments]  |
| Do biochemical processes have binary on/off switches? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 07:33 PM PDT I have a vague perception that biochemical processes don't generally have a binary on/off switch, but tend to occur on a gradient according to concentrations of precursors, enzymes, and other factors affecting the rate at which they occur. For example, the simple Biology 101 story is that insulin is produced when blood sugar is high and glucagon is produced when blood sugar is low. But my sense is that insulin would still be produced, albeit at reduced levels, even in a hypoglycemic state. Is this correct? If so, are there any notable exceptions? [link] [comments]  |
| Why do different electric guitars sound different when the sound comes from the same process? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 09:52 PM PDT For example. Why is it that people will say that fender Stats and Gibson Les Paul guitars sound different when they use the same pickups. People say that it has something to do with the neck of the guitar, but why would this influence Faraday's law with the pickups? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2016 06:28 PM PDT If my basic understanding of chemistry is correct, the bond between Na and Cl in table salt vanishes when it is put into water. Wouldn't this leave pure atoms of Na floating around which are highly reactive with water? Probably I'm missing something obvious from one of my teacher's lectures that I zoned out in. [link] [comments]  |
| Does the density of a charged object affect the amount of force it feels in an electric field? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 10:13 PM PDT So far I've only looked at the effects of electric field on a charged particle - a one-dimensional point. Is there any distinction when dealing with a 3D object?* If so, is the object's density a factor in the force it feels? In regards to the answer, do the same principles apply for density of 3D objects in a gravitational field? I was thinking density doesn't matter where Newtonian physics breaks down (space or quantum) since density doesn't show up in the gravitational force equation, nor in the electric force equation. I just realised that in the equations mass of the object is density/volume. Then I assume it is equally important; true? Are 3D objects on Earth affected? *Side question: what happens to 2D objects in a field? Is that even possible?...what does that even mean? [link] [comments]  |
| Can you make a waterproof Shear-Thickening Fluid? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 04:02 PM PDT Ok, as many of you are probably aware, the military uses a shear thickening fluid on kevlar to create pierce-proof body armor. They use Silica Nanopowder (or Calcium carbonate nanopowder) dissolved in Polyethylene Glycol, then they dilute it with ethanol, and soak the kevlar in it. Then they bake the kevlar to make the ethanol evaporate, leaving the Shear Thickening Fluid behind, between all of the fibers of the kevlar. Well, my question is this: Can you make a waterproof shear-thickening fluid that would do the same? I was considering using Polydimethylsiloxane silicone fluid that has dissolved calcium bicarbonate in it, and then try using Boric Acid to create the solidity needed? (This would be a variation of Silly Putty) And then maybe dilute it in pentane, dip a shirt in and bake the pentane out? Would this work? Is there a better waterproof liquid + calcium carbonate nanopowder that would make a better, or stronger Shear-Thickening fluid than the one I presented? Any help in this endeavor would be appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2016 04:58 PM PDT |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2016 08:15 PM PDT Black lights shoots uv light at stuff and that uv light is then somehow seen by our eyes? Also wouldnt this uv light be harmful? Ps: would this be a physics question or a biology one? [link] [comments]  |
| Besides human activity, how is the carbon in fossil fuels returned to the ecosystem? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 06:18 PM PDT Based on the biogenic theory of fossil fuels, the carbon locked into petroleum, coal and natural gas comes from millions year old biomass. Human activity releases that carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, which is then returned to the ecosystem. Besides humans burning fossil fuels for energy, how is that carbon returned to the ecosystem? As a followup - is there any model that states all carbon would eventually be locked away in fossil fuels and the earth would end up barren as a result? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2016 10:37 AM PDT How can a drug inhibit Complementary RNA production, and not kill off the organism? I understand cRNA is necessary for viruses like AIDS to disseminate, but if it's a type of RNA the body produces, doesn't the body need it to survive? [link] [comments]  |
| Why don't we make "solar panels" that convert radiation from radioactive material to electricity? Posted: 19 Apr 2016 01:52 AM PDT Solar panels; point them at the sun and get electricity from it converting that radiation. Yet we have potent sources of radiation in the form of radioactive material. We have stockpiles of nuclear waste. Why can't we, or why don't we, use the same principle as solar energy cells to turn radiation into electricity? [link] [comments]  |
| Has anybody explored the "188 day earthquake cycle" theory? Posted: 19 Apr 2016 03:15 AM PDT With several of our recent larger earthquakes happening, I got thinking about this again. I discovered this theory that the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn have influence on the timing of earthquakes and have not been able to successfully bunk/debunk it. I would think that the moon's perigee/apogee would have a much greater influence on the earth than distant planets, but I wonder if they add or subtract in different ways that finally push that tectonic plate over the edge. All of the information I have come across about it is bottom-feeder conspiracy theory links and those who claim to have debunked it without a large enough data-set. Then again, those who claim it's true (e.g.: Japan 9.0 and the Indonesia one) do not have large enough data-sets either.
[link] [comments]  |
| Do animals need to learn language from a young age like humans do? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 03:15 PM PDT I know animals don't have the same range of communicative powers that humans have, but most have some degree of physical and or vocal ability to express themselves to one another. [link] [comments]  |
| Why does a Helium nucleus have less mass than the mass of two protons + two neutrons? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 11:26 AM PDT Hello, Science Whizzes! I'm learning about the proton-proton chain. Six protons combine over several steps to form:
The following figures come from Wikipedia, and presumably from some more reviewed source prior to that: Mass of proton: 1.672622 x10-27 kg Mass of neutron: 1.674927 x10-27 kg The mass of two neutrons + two protons, using the figures above = 6.695098 x1027 kg But: the mass of an alpha particle (which I gather is for all practical purposes, a Helium nucleus): 6.644657 x10-27 kg Should they not be equal? Going back to the proton chain: Mass of positron: 9.109383 x10-31 kg Mass of neutrino: smaller than rounding error, above. Inputs = 6 protons = 1.0035732 x10-26kg Outputs = 4 protons + 2 neutrons + 2 positrons + 2 neutrinos = 1.00421639 x10-26 kg Thus, the outputs weigh more than the inputs. This is at odds with numerous sources that assert that fusion of hydrogen into helium releases 0.7% of the mass as energy. If someone could either explain what I've missed or be willing to coauthor a paper disproving the fusion theory of star energy, I'd appreciate it. Edit: Thanks, everybody. I'm disappointed not to have disproven orthodox nuclear theory via arithmetic, but am pleased to learn that there's a reason for the discrepancy. I'm also annoyed that my (basic astronomy) class doesn't even mention binding energy. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2016 01:25 PM PDT |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2016 03:13 PM PDT I read somewhere that light is able to move things. But if light is massless then there shouldn't be a force to move things with? [link] [comments]  |
| Before IV's, how would comatose people be kept alive (food, water, etc.)? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 10:51 AM PDT |
| Is having a good memory genetically passed down or totally random? Posted: 18 Apr 2016 02:52 PM PDT |
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