AskScience AMA Series: I am a scientist currently working in a US congressional office. Ask Me Almost Anything!

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• AskScience AMA Series: I am a scientist currently working in a US congressional office. Ask Me Almost Anything!
• Why are solar sails reflective, not black?
• Are human brains hardwired to determine the sex/gender of other humans we meet or is this a learned behaviour?
• Is there a limit to how massive black holes can be?
• Discussion: MinuteEarth's newest YouTube video on growing human organs in pigs!
• [Physics] During the process of spin pumping between a ferromagnet and a normal metal, is there a change in frequency or phase between the precession in the ferromagnet and the normal metal?
• What if the size of the matter that is about to enter the black hole alot bigger than the hole of the black hole itself, would the matter entering the black hole be broken down or would the black hole expand in some sort of way or what?
• What would happen if the Panama Canal didn't have locks to regulate the different water levels?
• If you were traveling one m/s short of light speed in a spaceship, and you pointed a laser in your direction of motion, would the light appear to be going 1 m/s or the regular speed of light from your frame of reference?
• Can something escape the particle horizon? If not, would that essentially make the observable universe a black hole of sorts?
• Why do solar systems and galaxies flatten out, but gas giants and stars remain spherical?
• Will two identical charges moving at the same velocity experience magnetic force due to each other?
• [Med] Is there a functional difference between "fresh" blood and "Stored" blood?
• How do the Nuclear Forces relate to radioactivity?
• Are there any sexually reproducing mammals that don't produce males and females at a 50/50 ratio?
• If you fell into a black hole, wouldn't the intense time dilation cause you to die from old age before you had a chance to be spaghettified?
• [physics] The hadron collider is 27kms in size. My question is how much does upping the scale of size help with research? If we made a collider that wrapped around the planet would it be significantly more powerful than the Hadron?
• How much mass would we need to add to Earth to make a meaningful change to Earth's orbit?
• How does the composition of air change over altitude?
• Why does Mercury and Iodine form a ionic compound even though the delta En shows it's non-polar covalent?
• Does Mohs' Hardness Scale change by pressure of the forced material?
• Why does the LHC run at center of mass energies of around 14 TeV when most threshold energies for particle production are in the GeV range?
• Why is the moon moving a centimeter away every year? without any exterior source of energy?

AskScience AMA Series: I am a scientist currently working in a US congressional office. Ask Me Almost Anything! Posted: 31 Jan 2017 05:00 AM PST I hold a doctorate in biological sciences and am currently working in an office in the United States Congress. I primarily do work outside of the sciences, applying scientific thinking and problem-solving techniques to non-scientific policies. I wish I could be more specific about my background and current role, but I need to remain anonymous, and further information could identify me. I am happy to answer any question that I can, but out of anonymity concerns, please understand that I cannot speak more to my specific scientific expertise. Note: This AMA has been verified with the moderators. Our guest will be available to answer questions starting around 8 PM ET (1 AM UT). submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

Why are solar sails reflective, not black? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 11:01 AM PST My limited understanding of solar sails leads me to believe the goal is to absorb the small amount of energy in a photon. Isn't more energy absorbed by a dark surface? This is the only information I have found on this https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newscientist.com/article/dn3895-solar-sailing-breaks-laws-of-physics/amp/?client=ms-android-verizon. The scientist credited above, died about a year later. I didn't find any follow up. This is my first reddit post, sorry if my format is wrong. submitted by /u/kassiussklay [link] [comments]

Are human brains hardwired to determine the sex/gender of other humans we meet or is this a learned behaviour? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 09:07 AM PST I know we have discovered that human brains have areas dedicated to recognising human faces, does this extend to recognising sex. Edit: my use of the word gender was ill-advised, unfortunately I cant edit the title. submitted by /u/Stevetrov [link] [comments]

Is there a limit to how massive black holes can be? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 11:24 AM PST submitted by /u/not_athletic [link] [comments]

Discussion: MinuteEarth's newest YouTube video on growing human organs in pigs! Posted: 30 Jan 2017 11:04 AM PST Hi everyone, for today's video discussion topic, we've got David from MinuteEarth (/u/goldenbergdavid) to help answer your questions regarding their latest video about the new technology that will let scientists grow new kidneys for patients from their own stem cells but inside of pigs. submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

[Physics] During the process of spin pumping between a ferromagnet and a normal metal, is there a change in frequency or phase between the precession in the ferromagnet and the normal metal? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 04:19 AM PST Hey all, I don't do any spin-tronics within my phd and I am a little lost with this one, so I'll give you some background of what I believe to happen, and hopefully someone could correct my assumptions and hopefully answer my question. During a ferromagnetic resonance mode in the ferromagnet, the precessing spin can induce a spin torque in the normal metal across an interface. This spin accumulation can be pumped back into the ferromagnet by spin-torque transfer. This is normally seen as an enhanced linewidth in the ferromagnetic resonance experiment. This is where my question comes in, could the spin torque induced in the normal metal (and thus the spin torque induced in the ferromagnet) be of a different phase, or at a different frequency to the original excitation mode in the ferromagnet? Thanks to anyone who can help me. submitted by /u/silverphoinix [link] [comments]

What if the size of the matter that is about to enter the black hole alot bigger than the hole of the black hole itself, would the matter entering the black hole be broken down or would the black hole expand in some sort of way or what? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:39 AM PST submitted by /u/Ishjot11 [link] [comments]

What would happen if the Panama Canal didn't have locks to regulate the different water levels? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:38 AM PST Would it create a river of one ocean emptying into the other or something less/more extreme? submitted by /u/TheMilwaukeeLion [link] [comments]

If you were traveling one m/s short of light speed in a spaceship, and you pointed a laser in your direction of motion, would the light appear to be going 1 m/s or the regular speed of light from your frame of reference? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 07:32 AM PST submitted by /u/Streletzky [link] [comments]

Can something escape the particle horizon? If not, would that essentially make the observable universe a black hole of sorts? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 11:55 AM PST submitted by /u/DIK-FUK [link] [comments]

Why do solar systems and galaxies flatten out, but gas giants and stars remain spherical? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 09:06 PM PST submitted by /u/youwontguessthisname [link] [comments]

Will two identical charges moving at the same velocity experience magnetic force due to each other? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 10:13 PM PST I think they shouldn't since they are relatively at rest to each other. The actual answer to this question (it was in an exam I took) is that there will actually be a magnetic force acting on both of them. Here's my reasoning: Since both the charges are unaccelerated, I can view them from an inertial frame which is at rest relatively to both the charges. Now, these two charges would appear to be at rest and as such they should only affect each other by electrostatic force. What is wrong in my reasoning? Thank you submitted by /u/punindya [link] [comments]

[Med] Is there a functional difference between "fresh" blood and "Stored" blood? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:36 PM PST I had this idea earlier, instead of having lots of people donate blood once, and then store that blood, and risk transporting it and have it go bad RELATIVELY quickly, why not have healthy individuals in hospitals, whose sole purpose is to give ""replaceable" blood and body parts? Other than the fact that you would not have to worry that the blood will expire, would there be any other benefit of having blood "fresh" from an individual? Lets say, you take my blood (I think I am o- ) and you put it into someone who needs it right now, is there any advantage (other than eliminating the transport and expiration risk) to having it go to another individual within 10 to 20 minutes? Is "Hot-n-Ready" blood any better than frozen blood? submitted by /u/TheRedBaron91 [link] [comments]

How do the Nuclear Forces relate to radioactivity? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:12 PM PST I'm confused as to the fundamental reasons behind radioactivity - I have never fully understood what criteria constitutes a stable element versus an unstable one. As a followup, does the fact that atomic masses above a certain number tend to be unstable relate to the strong and weak nuclear forces in some way? submitted by /u/rinterra [link] [comments]

Are there any sexually reproducing mammals that don't produce males and females at a 50/50 ratio? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:02 PM PST submitted by /u/Acrotar [link] [comments]

If you fell into a black hole, wouldn't the intense time dilation cause you to die from old age before you had a chance to be spaghettified? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 10:33 PM PST submitted by /u/pancakesandspam [link] [comments]

[physics] The hadron collider is 27kms in size. My question is how much does upping the scale of size help with research? If we made a collider that wrapped around the planet would it be significantly more powerful than the Hadron? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 09:11 AM PST Basically I'm wondering the extent to which the size of the collider helps with understanding physics questions. submitted by /u/no40sinfl [link] [comments]

How much mass would we need to add to Earth to make a meaningful change to Earth's orbit? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:20 PM PST Presuming we are able to find a way to safely retrieve and bring asteroids or comets to Earth's surface, in a non-extinction level event kind of way, how much mass can we add to Earth before adding more will have an impact on Earth's orbit such that it negatively impacts the environment for humans? I've seen a lot of statements regarding asteroid mining the last few years. My presumption is that, if we do begin to mine them someday, that most of the material would be used in constructing objects in space given how difficult it would be to bring the material safely to Earth's surface. I imagine any amount we actually bring back will be relatively small. Over time, maybe centuries, the total amount would accumulate. How much can we bring back, and realistically, how long would it take us to reach a maximum? submitted by /u/LegionVsNinja [link] [comments]

How does the composition of air change over altitude? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 10:50 PM PST A quick google search shows that air consist of roughly 78.09% N, 20.95% O2, 0.93% Ar, 0.04% CO2, some small change of others and some variable amount water vapor. My question is given CO2 is more dense and N is less dense than O2, will CO2 be more concentrated near sea level and N more in the upper atmosphere, or is it fairly uniform throughout? submitted by /u/neelsg [link] [comments]

Why does Mercury and Iodine form a ionic compound even though the delta En shows it's non-polar covalent? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:51 PM PST Mercury and iodine create a compound named Mercury(II) iodide or Mercury(I) iodide, however since the delta En is non-polar, shouldn't it be named Mercury diiodide, mercury monoiodide, etc... basically following the covalent naming scheme. submitted by /u/alexbatman [link] [comments]

Does Mohs' Hardness Scale change by pressure of the forced material? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 10:31 PM PST I mean, for example, Corundum has a 9 mohs hardness according to wikipedia and diamond has a 10. Can I scratch a diamond[10] with a very thin pointed Corundum[9] tipped pen if I apply enough force (increasing the pressure)? or is it just not possible? Thanks submitted by /u/Jaspersong [link] [comments]

Why does the LHC run at center of mass energies of around 14 TeV when most threshold energies for particle production are in the GeV range? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 12:01 PM PST submitted by /u/farra890 [link] [comments]

Why is the moon moving a centimeter away every year? without any exterior source of energy? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:25 PM PST submitted by /u/1paper [link] [comments]

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How were carnivorous plants able to evolve as they did?

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• How were carnivorous plants able to evolve as they did?
• How do baryons (ie. a neutron) react to being hit by a boson?
• In the distant future, will human garbage landfills become pockets of oil?
• 8 weeks of meditation result in a better Brain function, do we already have a clue about the science behind that?
• Does the periodic table of elements go on forever? Is it possible to synthesize element 1,000,000?
• Why does the sky turn rainbow when I view it through both polarised sunglasses and a tinted car window?
• Why is thick ice blue?
• Is it possible for a stable isotope to exist in any (already discovered) element?
• Restarting a crashed application is normally much faster than the initial launch of the same program. Why is this the case?
• Why don't atoms emit Bremsstrahlung?
• What are believed to be the risks to individuals who cannot be vaccinated (the very young, immunocompromised etc) of being exposed to unvaccinated people?
• Are their any mammal species which have the heart on the right side as a general pattern?
• What reducing agents are gaseous and don't contain H?
• Why is there a c^2 in Einsteins mass-energy equation? Isnt the speed of light constant, thus making putting a numerical value more efficient?
• Is there a simple proof that square root of minus one is not a real number?
• Why and how do we know the temperature of space?
• Why do triiodothyronine and thyroxine require iodine to function? What does it do for the hormone? And why iodine instead of another halogen?

How were carnivorous plants able to evolve as they did? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 01:52 PM PST Let me preface this question by saying I have always been a firm believer of evolution. However, I've puzzled over many strange results of evolution and how they got to be where they are. Carnivorous plants are one example. How can a plant GRADUALLY evolve the ability to trap insects and absorb them without use of its roots? Did it just start out as a mutation that made a plant kind of sticky? It seems like such a radical change and the intermediate steps don't necessarily seem beneficial enough to ensure greater than average reproductive success. Edit: Thank you for all your informative responses! This was my first reddit post since the 4 years I've been lurking, and it is very encouraging. submitted by /u/Scyfer327 [link] [comments]

How do baryons (ie. a neutron) react to being hit by a boson? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 06:48 PM PST I know that if a boson is absorbed by an electron, the electron will absorb the energy of the boson by jumping up energy levels and then falling back down and emit more bosons. However, how does that interaction play out between bosons and baryons? For example, if an xray or a gamma ray hits a neutron or proton directly, how does the particle react? Does the boson impart kinetic energy, does it go right through? etc. submitted by /u/GMRarg [link] [comments]

In the distant future, will human garbage landfills become pockets of oil? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 09:49 AM PST Fossil fuels are thought to be massive amounts of organic material that was buried long ago, and transformed by various processes into oil, coal, and natural gas. Our landfills are mostly organic material, so will there be pockets of fossil fuels created by human concentration of garbage in the very distant future? submitted by /u/BrapTime [link] [comments]

8 weeks of meditation result in a better Brain function, do we already have a clue about the science behind that? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:21 AM PST 30 minutes of meditation, 8 weeks in a row result in an improved brain function, Harvard study suggests. So we know that it works, but do we know how? submitted by /u/lucidgazorpazorp [link] [comments]

Does the periodic table of elements go on forever? Is it possible to synthesize element 1,000,000? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 11:47 AM PST I understand that some elements have only been synthesized in a lab and last for mere fractions of a second, but is there anything keeping us from creating, for example, element 1,000,000 even if it only lasted for an incredibly short period of time? submitted by /u/Jolly_Misanthrope [link] [comments]

Why does the sky turn rainbow when I view it through both polarised sunglasses and a tinted car window? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 09:55 PM PST Can someone explain these photos? When viewing the sunny sky through both polarised sunglasses and a tinted car window simultaneously, the sky turns into a rainbow of it's component colours (green, blue, purple). If I view it with only sunglasses, or only the car window, it looks normal. I'm sure this has something to do with polarisation, but I'd like to know precisely what. The ground mostly appears normal. My theory is that the light from the sky is polarised (why? Why would that cause a rainbow?), and when the ground (diffusely) reflects that light it messes it up. Smooth rocks and salt plains are an exception to this rule. I'm guessing because they conserve polarisation when they reflect light. submitted by /u/falsePockets [link] [comments]

Why is thick ice blue? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 08:48 PM PST submitted by /u/Techiastronamo [link] [comments]

Is it possible for a stable isotope to exist in any (already discovered) element? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 08:16 PM PST To reword this a bit more coherently, many heavy elements past atomic number #82 (currently discovered) are unstable, and contain a half-life. Is it possible for stable isotopes to exist in any/all of these elements, or is there a property that keeps them unstable no matter how many neutrons are added? submitted by /u/itsgreymonster [link] [comments]

Restarting a crashed application is normally much faster than the initial launch of the same program. Why is this the case? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 03:26 PM PST I've been learning 3DS Max on my laptop, which isn't the fastest but gets the job done. When the program occasionally crashes, it's always quick to restart, as opposed to when I first launch it and it often takes twice that time. Shouldn't the computer be faster when it's 'ready and waiting', instead of bogged down in heavy work? submitted by /u/throwaway392613 [link] [comments]

Why don't atoms emit Bremsstrahlung? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 01:11 PM PST Bremsstrahlung is the radiation caused by a charged particle decelerating. Since atoms are made of charged particles, why don't they emit radiation when they are decelerated? submitted by /u/FreakinGeese [link] [comments]

What are believed to be the risks to individuals who cannot be vaccinated (the very young, immunocompromised etc) of being exposed to unvaccinated people? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 08:03 AM PST In trying to understand the vaccination/anti-vaccination debate, I've come across useful research and articles that explain how important high levels of vaccination are for herd immunity. Often, they provide an example to help understand this (e.g. how measles can spread in a school to vaccinated and unvaccinated students) and some quantify the risks in an outbreak to vaccinated vs unvaccinated people ( e.g. this study suggests that unvaccinated people are ~35 times more likely to catch measles during an outbreak). Many articles also reference the importance of herd immunity for those who are immunocompromised (people receiving cancer treatment, transplant patients or AIDS patients) as well as those too young to be immunised. What I haven't been able to find is research explaining the risks individuals in those categories might face as a result of day-to-day interaction with unvaccinated people, where the infection status of the unvaccinated person is unknown. Is there a study showing the risks for an immunocompromised person interacting with an unvaccinated person of unknown infection status, or is it just about herd immunity? Is there any research or data out there to help me understand this? submitted by /u/DrCaptainFantastic [link] [comments]

Are their any mammal species which have the heart on the right side as a general pattern? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 05:42 AM PST I'm not talking about exceptional dextrocardia (like in humans), but of a general rule for the said species. Bonus question: how about full internal inversion of organs? (Some humans do have their abdominal organs reversed---situs inversus---but again, I'm not referring to exceptions.) submitted by /u/xT2M [link] [comments]

What reducing agents are gaseous and don't contain H? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 01:12 PM PST I've heard of strong oxidizers that are gaseous close to STP, like BrF5, but are there any reducing agents that are gaseous and at STP or elevated T that don't have H? thanks!!! submitted by /u/povault [link] [comments]

Why is there a c^2 in Einsteins mass-energy equation? Isnt the speed of light constant, thus making putting a numerical value more efficient? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 07:09 PM PST submitted by /u/073227100 [link] [comments]

Is there a simple proof that square root of minus one is not a real number? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 02:59 PM PST There is a proof that square root of 2 is not a rational number, which requires only simple definitions and algebra (based on contradiction). While watching Numberphile I heard something like "We can put all real numbers on one line, but square root of minus one cannot be found anywhere there". While it seems obvious, that square root of minus one is not a real number, is there a similarly simple, but strict proof of this fact? submitted by /u/dandbdi [link] [comments]

Why and how do we know the temperature of space? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 05:13 AM PST What would be the temperature of "ideal space" , which has no radiations or waves or anything in it? I do not know how the temperature of space of measured or calculated, but I were to keep a thermometer in space , wouldn't the temperature shown by the thermometer be due to the effect of radiation or light or anything that interacts with it that comes from some distant place (like a star ) ...But it won't be the temperature of the space itself instead the temperature due to a distant star. Now what would the temperature of space be if there were no em waves or matter ..(absolutely nothing is what I'm referring to) Thank you. Please correct my knowledge , i might have been wrong on many levels submitted by /u/hari2897 [link] [comments]

Why do triiodothyronine and thyroxine require iodine to function? What does it do for the hormone? And why iodine instead of another halogen? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 10:49 AM PST I am currently studying the endocrine system and the thyroid hormone was discussed. I was informed that they require iodine, but that seems odd to me. Why do they need iodine to function? And why not another halogen (considering the similar properties)? submitted by /u/Mace_Dogg [link] [comments]

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Is element 118 a noble gas?

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• Is element 118 a noble gas?
• Why is it impossible for objects weighing less than 0.02 milligrams to form a black hole?
• Do octopuses have a dominant right or left side?
• What was Turing most likely referring to when he talked about "overwhelming statistical evidence" of Telepathy?
• Would any heavy metals such as mercury be found in fish naturally or is that caused entirely by human industrial waste?
• What kept a massive black hole from forming immediately after the Big Bang?
• What can we use Time Crystals for?
• How does the drop height of a marble affect the wave length of the waves in a water tray?
• If black holes emit gravitational waves, doesn't it mean that something is escaping from them?
• If there is no friction in space, how do the thrusters work on space shuttle?
• Are there any factors that have actually been shown to affect which sex a baby will be when born?
• What proportion of primes smaller than the largest known prime do we know for certain has been discovered?
• Why is beet juice a good addition to de-icers from a chemical stand point?
• What mass does a planet have to have to be able to keep light in orbit?
• Why is osmotic pressure able to raise a water level against gravity?
• Why isn't mastocyte degranulation as a response to IgE Fc receptor engagement considered ADCC?
• If extremely common viruses, like Hepatitis A, give humans post-exposure immunity, how do these viruses survive in places they are everywhere, such as India?
• Is the reaction of Silicon and Chlorine dangerous?
• Is there more variation in the nucleotide sequence of a highly conserved gene than its protein sequence?
• Will quantum computers/processors be useful for solving sparse linear and non-linear systems seen in FEA/CFD? What about D-Wave
• Does frequency of sound affect how much it's "carried" by the wind?

Is element 118 a noble gas? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 03:27 AM PST submitted by /u/JakeThyCamelMobile [link] [comments]

Why is it impossible for objects weighing less than 0.02 milligrams to form a black hole? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 02:01 PM PST Whats so special about that mass that you cant form a black hole below it? submitted by /u/sourc3original [link] [comments]

Do octopuses have a dominant right or left side? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 08:43 AM PST I'm drawing an octopus right now, and I'd really like to know. submitted by /u/Harisson-affordable [link] [comments]

What was Turing most likely referring to when he talked about "overwhelming statistical evidence" of Telepathy? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 08:12 AM PST In Computing Machinery and Intelligence he talks about overwhelming statistical evidence of Telepathy. Does anyone know what he was most likely referring to? I assume that the reader is familiar with the idea of extrasensory perception, and the meaning of the four items of it, viz., telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition and psychokinesis. These disturbing phenomena seem to deny all our usual scientific ideas. How we should like to discredit them! Unfortunately the statistical evidence, at least for telepathy, is overwhelming. It is very difficult to rearrange one's ideas so as to fit these new facts in. submitted by /u/StopfortheKlopp [link] [comments]

Would any heavy metals such as mercury be found in fish naturally or is that caused entirely by human industrial waste? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 09:52 AM PST submitted by /u/openskeptic [link] [comments]

What kept a massive black hole from forming immediately after the Big Bang? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 01:39 PM PST If all the mass in the universe was in the same place immediately following the Big Bang, how was an insanely massive black hole not formed? What kept it from collapsing in on itself instead of spreading out? Is it because of it's mass? Light can't escape a black hole, but can something with enough mass traveling near or at the speed of light escape? submitted by /u/Pappy091 [link] [comments]

What can we use Time Crystals for? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 06:33 AM PST submitted by /u/eman00619 [link] [comments]

How does the drop height of a marble affect the wave length of the waves in a water tray? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 06:24 AM PST submitted by /u/willywu123 [link] [comments]

If black holes emit gravitational waves, doesn't it mean that something is escaping from them? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 04:32 AM PST Can they be true singularities then? submitted by /u/Jagulars [link] [comments]

If there is no friction in space, how do the thrusters work on space shuttle? Posted: 27 Jan 2017 07:43 AM PST Don't they have to push against something to move, like air. submitted by /u/FuzzyCamron [link] [comments]

Are there any factors that have actually been shown to affect which sex a baby will be when born? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 10:38 AM PST I've heard of anecdotal reasons like mother's diet but have there been any serious studies on this topic? submitted by /u/TheRedditLifeChoseMe [link] [comments]

What proportion of primes smaller than the largest known prime do we know for certain has been discovered? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 12:44 PM PST We hear about a new "largest prime number ever" being discovered now and then. But we clearly dont know of every prime number below it (distributed computing projects like PrimeGrid discover new primes all the time which are smaller than the largest known). So I have a few question, just to satisfy my own curiosity really: What is the largest number N for which we are certain we have discovered all the prime numbers smaller than N? How much smaller is that number than the largest known prime? How many primes do we suspect are "missing" between that number and the largest known prime number? Does that proportion remain relatively constant as time goes on? (ie. as new largest primes are discovered, we will also have discovered other primes in the mean time and possibly increased the number N as well, so does the proportion of "missing" primes between N and the largest known prime remain relatively constant as time goes on or does it shrink or grow?) Thats it I think. Feel free to fill in more though. submitted by /u/GroovingPict [link] [comments]

Why is beet juice a good addition to de-icers from a chemical stand point? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 09:27 AM PST I want to ask why the addition of beet juice to de-icers is beneficial from a chemical point of view, for example adding it the calcium chloride and salt brine then spreading it on roads to keep them clear of ice. submitted by /u/K3V1N_Gar1 [link] [comments]

What mass does a planet have to have to be able to keep light in orbit? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 07:42 PM PST I know gravity will bend light, and I know gravity is a function of a bodies mass, but at what mass can a body bend light around its self enough to essentially keep it in orbit? Is that what is meant by a black hole has gravity so strong light cannot escape? submitted by /u/thegregtastic [link] [comments]

Why is osmotic pressure able to raise a water level against gravity? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 09:47 AM PST My understanding of diffusion is that all the particles in a fluid randomly move around within the fluid volume. Eventually they are evenly spread out, reaching equilibrium. Models of such systems are defined by concentration gradients of the particles of interest. I thought that the idea of the concentration gradients being the "driving force" of diffusion was just a convenient way to intuitively grasp the process of diffusion, and that such a force doesn't really exist, because the particles are randomly moving and their diffusion is statistical. However, in the case of a semi-permeable membrane separating a high-salt concentration aqueous solution from a low concentration one, the diffusion of water across the membrane actually forces the solution levels on either side to be uneven, like in this illustration. I would have assumed that, if the diffusion of water across the membrane were just statistical chance, that the hydrostatic pressure would be able to keep the levels equal by pushing the water molecules back across the membrane once they started to raise the liquid level. Instead, the "osmotic pressure" must actually exist as a real pressure and balance the hydrostatic pressure of the raised water level. What molecular interactions between the water and the solutes, or whatever else, causes the system to come to this equilibrium state? submitted by /u/OpenSystem [link] [comments]

Why isn't mastocyte degranulation as a response to IgE Fc receptor engagement considered ADCC? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 01:16 PM PST Eosinophil-mediated ADCC involves eosinophils recognising IgE antibodies bound to an antigen via FcεRI receptors, which causes them to degranulate, releasing MBP and various cytotoxic enzymes. Mastocytes also possess FcεRI receptors which, when stimulated by an antigen-IgE complex, cause the mastocyte to degranulate. The mechanism seems similar enough. The contents of the granules are mainly focused on producing an inflammatory response, but cytotoxic substances are also released (according to my immunology textbook), so why isn't this considered ADCC? submitted by /u/3288266430 [link] [comments]

If extremely common viruses, like Hepatitis A, give humans post-exposure immunity, how do these viruses survive in places they are everywhere, such as India? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 08:35 AM PST submitted by /u/borrrrka [link] [comments]

Is the reaction of Silicon and Chlorine dangerous? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 06:15 AM PST Hello. So I'm doing my first ever Chemistry project for school. The project is: Choose an element and discuss it for the class, and at the end of the presentation you either do an experiment or show a video of one. It's my first year that I have chemistry, so it's still very basic and not really complicated. After looking around on google i've seen that Silicon reacts with Chlorine. This is the video I saw. I'm not really sure what is happening in this video. I see he's heating the Silicon untill it's glowing, then he increases the flow of chlorine but I don't know exactly what happens next. I was wondering if it would be safe enough to perform in class. Sorry for this weird question. If this is not fitting for this subreddit (because it's all kindoff proffesional here) please tell me or remove this. Thanks in advance! submitted by /u/Garfield131415 [link] [comments]

Is there more variation in the nucleotide sequence of a highly conserved gene than its protein sequence? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 07:49 AM PST I was recently conducting a BLAST search of an unknown gene sequence and there were fewer related nucleotide sequences as compared to when I searched the protein sequences. Of course this could be based on fewer submissions to the nucleotide sequence database than the protein database but I think it may be explained by the degeneracy of the genetic code but I'm not sure. submitted by /u/Suomwe [link] [comments]

Will quantum computers/processors be useful for solving sparse linear and non-linear systems seen in FEA/CFD? What about D-Wave Posted: 28 Jan 2017 08:11 AM PST I am a structural FEA analyst, primarily concerned with material nonlinearities, but also contact problems. We use codes that use NL Krylov methods and Newton methods. It would seem to me that quantum computers/processors could efficiently solve these systems, but retrieving the results may be problematic. I have a slew of questions, please don't feel obligated to solve them all: 1a. Can QC solve these systems? 1b. Efficiently? (Qubit per DOF? Time to solve? What's the proper measure?) 1c. Is it possible to retrieve accurate results efficiently? (For example, I postulate a QC might solve the same problem 1000s of times to retrieve the solution (decoherence?). If each solve is very, very fast, it might still be more efficient than standard CPU/GPU) 2a-c. Same questions, but with D-Wave 3a. Does the amount of qubits limit the size of problem that can be solved, or is it similar to "given enough time and memory a single CPU core can solve any-size problem" ? If yes, what's the DOF/qubit scaling law? (Sorry about formatting, on mobile) submitted by /u/Ferentzfever [link] [comments]

Does frequency of sound affect how much it's "carried" by the wind? Posted: 28 Jan 2017 06:15 AM PST I guess I should state my assumption first. If you are standing upwind of a sound in a strong wind, you can't hear it as well as if you were standing the same distance downwind. I feel like this happens, but I have no concrete proof. So a first question is: is this really the case. If so, do higher frequency sounds get "pushed" by the wind more easily than low frequency ones? The other day I was upwind of my car and hit the door lock, and the little beep it makes was not audible to me at all, even though I was only about 5 meters away. If the sound it made had been lower, but at the same volume, would I have heard it? submitted by /u/nojustice [link] [comments]

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