- AskScience AMA Series: I'm Dan Riskin: author, bat biologist, host of Animal Planet's Monsters Inside Me and co-host of Daily Planet. I wrote my PhD on bats and since it's Bat Week, I thought I'd take a swing at some of your questions. (See what I did there?)
- What would happen if antimatter entered a black hole?
- What is the fastest theoretical speed a planet (rocky or gas giant) or dwarf planet can rotate without breaking up? Also what is the timescale for one rotation in comparison to an Earth-standard day?
- When the Earth had only a singe continent, was its rotation off balance?
- If a mass-spring system is hung from a vibrating object, at what frequency would the mass begin to oscillate?
- What is line-by-line phase reversal and how did it help bring about color television?
- When doing separation of variables for partial differential equations, why do we assume the initial equation is a product of two one-dimensional functions?
- Can insects be albino?
- How does Cognitive Remediation Therapy differ from "Brain Training"?
- Why does a radio get better signal when we touch the antenna or get close to it?
- How can a particle tunnel if it exists as a quantum superposition of states?
- When a protostar begins fusion and becomes a star is there a sudden release of energy?
- Where does the energy for work performed by a superconductor come from?
- Can air permeate through window glass?
- What are some energy sources better than electricity?
| Posted: 27 Oct 2016 07:13 AM PDT I've seen >100 species of bats in the wild (not bad but far short of the 1,300+ species out there). For my PhD, I put vampire bats on treadmills to compare their walking performance to those of other animals. To my surprise, vampire bats had a running gait. That was my big break. Soon, I got TV gigs, like the job hosting Monsters Inside Me for Animal Planet, and guest appearances on Craig Ferguson, Jay Leno and Dr. Oz. I am the co-host of Discovery Canada's flagship daily science show, Daily Planet, and I'm the author of Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You (2014). My latest project is a weekly 10-15 minute podcast called Recent Paper Decent Puzzle in which I pick an interesting scientific journal article paper to break down and then "cleanse your mental palate" with a fun puzzle. I often talk about bat papers because let's face it, bats are the most charismatic creatures on Earth. Did you know some bats feed on fish? Did you know there are bats with suction cups on their wrists and ankles? Did you know some bats perform oral sex on one another? I could go on. Oh wait, I will! Let's blab about bats. Also, I'll happily answer questions about other things, too, like what it's like to work on Monsters Inside Me (there's a new episode tonight!), or about my experience doing the podcast. This will be my third AMA, and I hope it is just as fun as the last two. Coming on at noon (ET), bring it, Redditors. Proof: https://twitter.com/riskindan/status/791659729047216128 [link] [comments]  |
| What would happen if antimatter entered a black hole? Posted: 27 Oct 2016 07:42 AM PDT |
| Posted: 26 Oct 2016 05:20 PM PDT |
| When the Earth had only a singe continent, was its rotation off balance? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 01:50 PM PDT So, continental crust is thicker, older and, generally, more massive than oceanic crust. During the periods when one or two super-continents (Pangaea, Gondwanaland etc) were concentrated in one hemisphere of the Earth, did the distribution of oceanic vs continental crust mean that Earth's centre of mass was off centre? Would this mean that its rotation was 'unbalanced' in a way that would have caused it to wobble or rotate off-axis? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 27 Oct 2016 02:48 AM PDT |
| What is line-by-line phase reversal and how did it help bring about color television? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 08:06 PM PDT In this video by the channel standupmaths, the narrator states that line-by-line phase reversal was used to enable colored TV. While the narrator does walk through the math of how line-by-line phase reversal solves the issue of incorporating color TV signals into pre-existing picture and sound signals, he does not explain the physics concepts that underlie line-by-line phase reversal. Could someone please explain what line-by-line phase reversal is and why it was useful in the context of TV development? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Oct 2016 02:42 PM PDT For example, say I have a function u(x.t) and want to solve the Laplace for u(x.t). I would first set u(x,t) = X(x)T(t). Why is it assumed that u(x,t) = X(x)T(t) and not something else like X(x) + T(t)? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Oct 2016 10:41 AM PDT I've tried googling it, some sources say that they can, some that they can't. [link] [comments]  |
| How does Cognitive Remediation Therapy differ from "Brain Training"? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 08:17 PM PDT After doing a little Google research on both, it seems that both are relatively similar, however, CRT is said to be somewhat effective at helping people with previous brain injuries and schizophrenia. What sets it apart from the more commercial "brain training" craze that's taken off with sites like Lumosity? Or is CRT ambiguously helpful like brain training? [link] [comments]  |
| Why does a radio get better signal when we touch the antenna or get close to it? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 09:54 AM PDT I don't know what category this should be under so if a mod reads this could you pick one for me. If i have to pick i would say biology or physics. [link] [comments]  |
| How can a particle tunnel if it exists as a quantum superposition of states? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 07:39 PM PDT As I understand it, radioactive decay (or particle decay) occurs because the constituent elementary particles have a probability of tunneling to a location where the binding force can no longer hold the composite particle together. I also understand that a particle generally exists in a superposition of positions, and only definitely has a position when observed. I am having trouble reconciling these two ideas. If an elementary particle continues to exist as a superposition of wave functions, what observation is it that localizes the particle outside of the composite particle in a decay event? Are composite particles constantly being "observed" in some sense? Are my understandings incorrect (probably)? [link] [comments]  |
| When a protostar begins fusion and becomes a star is there a sudden release of energy? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 10:55 AM PDT When a protostar becomes a true star does the initial fusion reaction cause some sort of large, sudden expulsion of energy (like a nova) or does it just sort of grow and radiate energy as it does now was it consumes materials around it? Specifically, if it does create some sort of blast is it powerful enough to throw small moon-like planets and asteroids from its orbit? [link] [comments]  |
| Where does the energy for work performed by a superconductor come from? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 12:26 PM PDT Work done by a circuit is defined as the difference in voltage between two places, so if there is no resistance in the part, it has done no work, as it has not converted any of the electrical energy to other energy. Say, an electromagnet made of superconductor-material is used to push an object away from it, it has performed work on the object, but where does the energy for the work come from, since there is no resistance in a superconductor? [link] [comments]  |
| Can air permeate through window glass? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 04:00 AM PDT I always shut the blinds at night because I thought it would keep more of the cold air out, thinking that cold air permeates through glass and the blinds would simply act as a secondary barrier. My friend laughed and said that's wrong. I've always just assumed this, is there any benefit to it? TL;DR: Will shutting the window blinds "keep more cold air out" [link] [comments]  |
| What are some energy sources better than electricity? Posted: 26 Oct 2016 07:42 AM PDT Its hard to define energy source when talking about electricity because everything runs off it, but for the sake of this, what are some things either: A. If you designed a system around it, something could be powered by it. Example: pnuematics use electricity but also air. B. Alternative ways of generating electricity that we just don't use for some reason. (preferably small scale, we all know nuclear and etc) [link] [comments]  |
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