When we say "the electromagnetic interaction is mediated by photons", what's actually happening in terms of the wave function/Schroedinger's equation? | AskScience Blog

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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

When we say "the electromagnetic interaction is mediated by photons", what's actually happening in terms of the wave function/Schroedinger's equation?

When we say "the electromagnetic interaction is mediated by photons", what's actually happening in terms of the wave function/Schroedinger's equation?


When we say "the electromagnetic interaction is mediated by photons", what's actually happening in terms of the wave function/Schroedinger's equation?

Posted: 05 Jul 2017 02:10 AM PDT

Do bees or house flies have to individual trigger each wing beat or do they have more of an "ON" switch in their brain?

Posted: 05 Jul 2017 05:04 AM PDT

It seems very difficult that the brain would be able to individually control each wing beat. Their wings can move thousands of revolution per minute and that seems like their brain would need an "ON" switch. Very different from how anything the human brain has to control which is why I am curious.

submitted by /u/Dezman7
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When children have serious diseases and illnesses does the process of fighting it off and the drugs affect their growth at all due to the body focussing on surviving?

Posted: 05 Jul 2017 12:20 AM PDT

I'm thinking particularly with cancer on this, it takes so much energy to fight cancer and live through the drugs used to fight the cancer. This must take some of the required growth energy the child needs to grow? Leaving them possibly shorter in adulthood?

submitted by /u/Zachary1205
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What does it mean when we say that the four fundamental forces are "unified" at high energies?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 03:39 PM PDT

I understand the basic premise is that in the chaotic, high-density, high-energy and low-volume state of the early universe, the fundamental forces are "unified" and are really a single force acting on the universe until energy levels fall.

But how do we know at which energy levels this unification occurs? And if we know this, why do we need different equations to describe the now-disparate forces? Shouldn't they, in principle, be describable by the same theory even at the lower energy levels we find them in today?

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this. How does this factor in the search for a quantum gravity theory?

submitted by /u/superfuels
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Do toroidal coils attract and repel each other?

Posted: 05 Jul 2017 02:37 AM PDT

So magnets attract and repel each other, and so do wire loops and open ended coils... but a toroidal coil contains all the magnetic field inside itself, leaving none outside. Two toroids near each other would therefore presumably not experience each other's magnetic fields and so be unable to attract or repel each other magnetically.

And yet, there is still a curl-free magnetic vector potential outside them, and moving coils together or apart means one toroid experiences a time rate of change of the other's vector potential, which generates an electric field, which might lead to a force.

But I'm not sure...What do you think, will there be a force that causes two toroidal coils (with current running through them) to attract/repel or not?

submitted by /u/bergred
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In the context of quantum physics, what does 'symmetry' mean?

Posted: 05 Jul 2017 03:49 AM PDT

How do huge structures get buried?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 02:02 PM PDT

Huge structures such as houses, pyramids and whole cities that are hundreds or thousands of years old are often found below the surface, often while digging for construction. My question is how can these tho vs simply get buried? Esp. In places where humans have always lived and nature hasn't reclaimed the settlment.

submitted by /u/iris12345
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How do recycling centers deal with people who recycle thins incorrectly?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 12:43 PM PDT

Is there some sort of way that recycling centers can separate straws out of the recycling and other things that don't belong? Or do they just have to throw that whole batch away?

submitted by /u/Coral_Blue_Number_2
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Could a Kaon decay into baryons(or anti-baryons/one of each)?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 05:58 PM PDT

DISCLAIMER: I am an engineering student and physics enthusiast. My understandings of Quantum mechanics may be incorrect, please correct if so.

For what I've read, depending if it is a K+ K- or K0 the Kaon can decay into other Hadrons, usually pions or leptons. But some of these decays correspond to the valence quarks of baryons, such as K+ decaying into three pions. Could, by any chance, this decay result in a proton and anti-neutron? Or is there some principle that doesn't allow for this?

Thank you.

submitted by /u/Pecsus
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How do we know the life expectancy of insects?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 11:00 PM PDT

I've tried to google this to no avail. Do we tag them somehow, or just follow one around until it dies? Or do we bring it into a lab and wait until it dies of natural causes?

submitted by /u/Epsilons_Alzheimers
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How do writing skills correlate to reading comprehension?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 04:50 PM PDT

For example, are writers who conform to accepted standards more fluently better readers of standard writing? What about non-standard writing? If one is taught to write well after having poor writing skills, will their reading comprehension be better? And is that benefit, if there is any, only for standard writing?

These are just contextual questions to support the main question, which is about what general correlation there is between writing skills and reading comprehension.

submitted by /u/-_Stitch_-
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Ask Anything Wednesday - Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science

Posted: 05 Jul 2017 08:07 AM PDT

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science

Do you have a question within these topics you weren't sure was worth submitting? Is something a bit too speculative for a typical /r/AskScience post? No question is too big or small for AAW. In this thread you can ask any science-related question! Things like: "What would happen if...", "How will the future...", "If all the rules for 'X' were different...", "Why does my...".

Asking Questions:

Please post your question as a top-level response to this, and our team of panellists will be here to answer and discuss your questions.

The other topic areas will appear in future Ask Anything Wednesdays, so if you have other questions not covered by this weeks theme please either hold on to it until those topics come around, or go and post over in our sister subreddit /r/AskScienceDiscussion , where every day is Ask Anything Wednesday! Off-theme questions in this post will be removed to try and keep the thread a manageable size for both our readers and panellists.

Answering Questions:

Please only answer a posted question if you are an expert in the field. The full guidelines for posting responses in AskScience can be found here. In short, this is a moderated subreddit, and responses which do not meet our quality guidelines will be removed. Remember, peer reviewed sources are always appreciated, and anecdotes are absolutely not appropriate. In general if your answer begins with 'I think', or 'I've heard', then it's not suitable for /r/AskScience.

If you would like to become a member of the AskScience panel, please refer to the information provided here.

Past AskAnythingWednesday posts can be found here.

Ask away!

submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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Are there any substances which are opaque in the visual spectrum but transparent in the ultraviolet spectrum?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 10:20 PM PDT

If a normal/healthy person started to take anti-depressants, what would happen? Would they feel happier then normal?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 11:02 AM PDT

How is the mains electricity sine wave kept pure with today's modern appliances?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 02:33 PM PDT

With the increase of DC to DC conversation in lamps, TVs etc, the current is drawn at the top & bottom of the waveform. When lots of these appliances are combined this would distort the waveform & flatten the top & bottom as the capacitors charged up.

So how do they manage to refine the waveform back to being a purer sine wave with these appliances in use?

submitted by /u/Sergeant_Steve
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Is it possible to create giant capacitors to store energy generated by solar/wind?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 04:27 PM PDT

I just recently read an article on how California is generating so much solar energy that they have to give it to other states like Arizona, and pay them to take it, to prevent their own grid from being overloaded.

Surely there's got to be a way we could store the energy, instead of just finding ways to expend it as it's generated. Some kind of super massive capacitor seems like a solution, though the potential dangers of one that size seem pretty insane.

submitted by /u/AcidTWister
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On this 4th of July, I'm wondering the effects of all the fireworks have on our atmosphere?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 08:26 PM PDT

Do any moths in the United States Midwest change color during metamorphosis to blend with it's environment or change color to match it's surroundings?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 09:46 PM PDT

I've been seeing these silky grey moths the exact color of my apartment complex being caught in the orb weavers' webs and I can't find it anywhere online. No changes in pigment that I've seen and they have no markings, just the silky light grey color and bushy antennae. They are about the size of a half dollar coin and are almost impossible to see on the walls of the building. I'm in St. Louis, Missouri. Sorry I don't have a picture if it's needed let me know and I'll repost later.

submitted by /u/Mister_Potamus
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The Oh-My-God particle was calculated to be travelling at 99.999999999999999999999510% of the speed of light. Is there a point where that percentage of c is so great that it becomes indistinguishable from the actual speed of light?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 01:13 PM PDT

Just to clarify, I'm wondering if one of the Planck units could be exceeded(?) at some percentage of c.

Edit: Let's take something like length contraction: would at some percentage an object appear shorter than its Planck length? Is that even a problem to the universe?

submitted by /u/explohd
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How would the density of a planet's atmosphere affect the transmission of sound through it?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 09:05 PM PDT

I'm writing a science fiction story, and I have a scene that happens on a planet that has an atmosphere similar in chemical composition to that of Earth, but thin enough that people would need an oxygen tank to walk on the surface. Would this affect the way the sound travels through it, maybe in range or perceived volume?

submitted by /u/naikiktulu
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Why does SpaceX need a launch window for a satellite?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 06:59 PM PDT

Isn't an orbit an orbit? As far as I knew, launch windows were only for missions that required a rendezvous, or planet/moon positions.

submitted by /u/PM_ME_TRUMP_FANFICS
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Is GMO cross contamination actually a problem? If so, why?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 10:47 AM PDT

My friend argued that GMO crops being infertile is good because it prevents cross contamination (I was against it because it means farmers have to rebuy the seeds from the company). However--is cross contamination actually a problem?

Edit: for people saying seed saving is outdated, I was specifically thinking of farmers in other countries like India and in Africa.

submitted by /u/quyksilver
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Why do our veins stick out the most on our arms and legs and not our abs/back/chest/head?

Posted: 04 Jul 2017 08:29 PM PDT

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