Is a single Elephant's skin cell bigger than a human's skin cell? | AskScience Blog

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Monday, September 4, 2017

Is a single Elephant's skin cell bigger than a human's skin cell?

Is a single Elephant's skin cell bigger than a human's skin cell?


Is a single Elephant's skin cell bigger than a human's skin cell?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 01:15 PM PDT

People built a "Z machine" on Earth that creates a temperature of 2 Billion Kelvin. How can this temperature be generated and why does this temperature not melt the entire facility that creates it?

Posted: 04 Sep 2017 02:37 AM PDT

For scale, this is approximately 100x hotter than the center of the sun.

Given that the sun only has an outside temperature of 5,500K and easily heats up Earth to 300K+ over a distance of 150 million kilometers, shouldn't a temperature of 2,000,000,000K on Earth itself cause severe damage of some kind?

submitted by /u/Linnun
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How soon after an organism 'dies' are all of its cells dead? its bacteria?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 10:12 PM PDT

Let's say an organism dies instantaneously (no previous oxygen deprivation). How long would the cells continue to be alive despite the macro organism being considered dead? How long would the bacteria within and on the body last? How much of a time difference would it be, if any, between say an ant and a blue whale?

submitted by /u/zincinzincout
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What are the repercussions of detonating a nuclear bomb underground?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 10:56 PM PDT

When the immune system damages the gut of a coeliac person who eats gluten, does the mechanism of action differ significantly from that of an allergy (igE+histamine+basophils)?

Posted: 04 Sep 2017 05:18 AM PDT

Coeliac's is often described as an "allergy", but people who've been educated in the field say it's "technically not an allergy and technically not autoimmune, though very similar to both". I'd like to better understand what this means.

Bonus question: Do allergies have something similar to "levels" like coeliac's? Or is it more like you're either allergic or non-allergic?

submitted by /u/katinla
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How does one measure the thickness of gold foil?

Posted: 04 Sep 2017 06:03 AM PDT

What, other than the tides, is noticeably affected by the moon's gravity?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 01:46 PM PDT

Why does the deficiency of some vitamins like b12 can cause depression?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 07:48 AM PDT

Cats can shake their head at a surprisingly rapid rate. How do they avoid whiplash and concussions while doing this?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 04:20 PM PDT

What is the mechanism by which nuclear reactors produce energy?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 09:24 PM PDT

To be more specific, I'm interested in what happens with the nuclear fuel and how the energetic reaction is sustained. I know that it uses fission (commonly U-235) to release the energy, as well as the basic idea of neutron moderation, and I'm aware of but not fully versed on the idea of fast and slow neutrons.

My questions include: * Is the reaction a self-sustaining chain reaction? That is, could it be considered at the precipice of criticality? * Followup, if It is NOT, then how is the reaction maintained? How do they provide enough neutrons for a sustained and fairly constant energy production? * How exactly are the decay products handled? How quickly do they accumulate? And what do they do to the energy output? (Also, if possible, the common and notable decay products would be awesome!) * How does "neutron moderation" occur, and what is the point of it? My picture of the reaction is of solid fissile fuel (i.e. like those diagrams you see explanation fission). Where does the moderator interact with the fuel?

I hope these questions make sense! My understanding of physics is analogous to that of a hobbyist astronomer, so explaining it at that level is ideal. However, I'm fairly content with getting into more mathematical sides of things if necessary. That said, these questions are more of the engineering side (which is the category where I'm placing it), so I'm hoping it will have more conceptual answers.

submitted by /u/Aethi
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How exactly can elements be changed into other elements by radiation?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 03:17 PM PDT

If I remember correctly, the radiation of electrons can disturb and add/take away electrons from another element to change the element itself. If I were to do this to a big block of gold, could I possibly change this into a block of silver or even into a gas like oxygen?

submitted by /u/Bradleyharris88
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Could a neutron detector be used to verify underground nuclear tests?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 11:53 AM PDT

If the symptoms of an illness are typically the body creating a hostile environment to get rid of the infection (runny nose, fever, etc.), what do viruses/bacteria actually do?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 08:29 AM PDT

Or, what would an illness look like if our immune system didn't do all of those things to destroy the viruses/bacteria?

submitted by /u/mozrik
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How much of the fissionable materials (Uranium, Thorium) are in the Earth's core and how often does it combine into critical mass to explode?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 10:25 AM PDT

How can waxing and waining gibbous phases of the moon look like they do?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 03:22 PM PDT

The shadow the earth throws on the moon in those phases looks like the earth is a crescent instead of a sphere. I can't wrap my head around it. Can someone please explain.

pic of lunar phases

submitted by /u/I_want_fun
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Do trees effect the wind speed/potential wind damage of a hurricane?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 03:35 PM PDT

With Hurricane Irma looming, I was wondering if living in a rural area with dense tree and brush coverage has any effect on the wind speed of the storm at ground level, and by extension could that reduced wind speed lessen the potential damage caused by the wind to homes in that area? Edit: of course, trees can fall and branches become projectiles, I'm more curious about wind damage only from a powerful major hurricane.

submitted by /u/DobbyDooDoo
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What is it exactly that energy boosting substances like caffeine and ginseng do to our body in order to provide an alert/energized state?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 09:05 AM PDT

How is queen bee becoming a queen bee ? Is it natural or is it acquired ?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 02:08 PM PDT

From the Light Side of the Moon, are there phases of the Earth?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 06:28 PM PDT

What happens to the inside of planets as they age?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 07:03 AM PDT

I was thinking about the Earth's core today and how they should, due to entropy, cool over time. However it will still be under enormous pressure. What happens to different planet's cores over time? Do they completely solidify? Similarly what will happen to gas giants as they age?

submitted by /u/SailingOnFishlessSea
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With regards to the Diving Reflex, can we hold our breath longer while underwater than we can on land?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 07:48 AM PDT

Does Hurricane Harvey affect the weather for the rest of the United States? If so, how, and how far?

Posted: 03 Sep 2017 07:56 AM PDT

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