If large atoms are formed in stars and then spread out in the universe, why are heavy metals found in high concentrations, rather than distributed evenly, throughout the earth? | AskScience Blog

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Tuesday, October 24, 2017

If large atoms are formed in stars and then spread out in the universe, why are heavy metals found in high concentrations, rather than distributed evenly, throughout the earth?

If large atoms are formed in stars and then spread out in the universe, why are heavy metals found in high concentrations, rather than distributed evenly, throughout the earth?


If large atoms are formed in stars and then spread out in the universe, why are heavy metals found in high concentrations, rather than distributed evenly, throughout the earth?

Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:28 AM PDT

Is it possible to see the flag that was left on the moon?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 03:43 PM PDT

Why do your eyes feel heavy when you’re tired?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 12:41 PM PDT

If the moon were pear-shaped, which end would face the earth?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 02:16 PM PDT

Would it be the small end because it has "extra" mass ("outside" the sphere) or the big end because it has the center of gravity?

submitted by /u/fwubglubbel
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If there's clockwise and counterclockwise in three dimensions, is there an analogous third-clockwise in four dimensions?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 04:27 PM PDT

In both two and three dimensions, there's only two directions to rotate things: clockwise and counterclockwise. Is there an analogous third-clockwise in four dimensions? Or is it still only clockwise and counterclockwise?

And I guess a follow up would be: why are there only two ways to rotate in 2D and 3D instead of say three or only one? And do higher dimensions still only have two ways to rotate things?

And I guess this is really more of a math question than a science question, but I suppose it's relevant to physics.

submitted by /u/BroccoliHelicopter
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What's the difference between a dissection and a necropsy?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 06:15 PM PDT

All of a sudden I don't see a difference between the two.

submitted by /u/immr_meeseeks
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Is electron spin and orbital momentum the sole cause of magnetism? And related questions.

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 09:26 PM PDT

Second similar question is do electron's magnetism have an orientation? I understand that electron's are not spinning balls but they have a magnetic field and what not so wouldn't they have a North/South orientation in some physical spacial dimension? If this is the case how does that effect magnetic properties? Tied to this then is how does the physical orbital "direction" or shape affect magnetism? Lastly, how does this relate to macroscopic objects such as the earth and it's magnetic field? Is it's magnetic field caused by this same thing or is it because it's a rotating charged body which then does this charge come from uneven protons/electrons?

P. S. I have a reasonable conceptual understanding of particles, moderate conceptual understanding of classical physics. However no math background in those, but I can understand some math.

submitted by /u/Ug1uk
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What are known technical hurdles that AlphaGo Zero would have to overcome before being able to play go on arbitrary graphs?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 07:56 PM PDT

AlphaGo Zero recently demonstrated impressive success in AI by training a winning neural net from only self-play. I read somewhere (can't find the original source) that there is reason to be skeptical of how much of an advance this really is, since the resulting network won't be able to generalize its knowledge to even slightly different games, like "go on an 18x18 board". It seems like one possible next step is to fix the rules but to allow the topology to vary. My limited knowledge of neural nets suggests that this would be hard.

What are specific hurdles to constructing a neural net that can play go over arbitrary graphs (supplied at the beginning of game play)? What are avenues of exploration for overcoming them?

submitted by /u/rpglover64
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How would inserting a floating balloon into the atmosphere of a planet from space be technically different from landing a craft on the rocky surface of a planet from space?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 12:03 PM PDT

So I know there are a some important technical differences between landing a craft on Earth (which has a moderate atmosphere) versus landing a craft on Mars (which has a thin atmosphere). If my understanding is correct, the thinner atmosphere of Mars poses particular challenges because it's not thick enough to make use of air braking, but it is thick enough to cause frictional heating.

I've also heard that landing a craft on Venus is damn near impossible because the heat, pressure and chemical composition of the atmosphere at ground-level basically melts any craft we might send to its surface.

And I've read briefly about proposed missions to Venus that involve floating a lighter-than-atmosphere vessel in the upper layers of the venereal atmosphere, where the heat and pressure and causticness of that atmosphere won't be so severe.

But how would we go about inserting a balloon-like craft from orbit into the upper atmosphere of Venus?

submitted by /u/CalibanDrive
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What classifies a sickness as the "flu" and why do we have flu seasons?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 02:15 PM PDT

Would matter made of tetra and penta-quarks have their own periodic tables?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:19 AM PDT

If atoms in an element have protons, neutrons, and elections, and get their chemical properties depending on their atomic number, would, in theory, "atoms" made or tetra or penta-quarks, make up a different nucleus and replace a neutron and or proton?

submitted by /u/Phlegmsky
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People cannot live in Pripyat, but they live in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What is the difference in atomic after-affects (radiation) in a bomb context versus that of a reactor meltdown context?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 12:59 PM PDT

How much beta/gamma radiation does the core of a star that has undergone supernova emit?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 07:30 PM PDT

Specifically how would it compare to say, a typical nuclear reactor running at full capacity?

I wonder because it seems like in the entirety of a star there would be a very small amount of fissile material. How much plutonium or other fissile material would there be in a stellar core? How much is in a typical reactor?

Asked before but the context here is a little different.

submitted by /u/MostlyCarbonite
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What happens to your body after getting a vaccine?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 06:37 PM PDT

After getting a flu shot, I got curious about what happens as soon as the needle punctures the skin and what happens to your body as the vaccine works its way through/develops (?).

Sub-question: What happens when you come into contact with whatever you were vaccinated for?

submitted by /u/TheDrKillJoy
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How big would a ball have to be to start rolling due to the curvature of the earth?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 04:15 PM PDT

Also would it keep rolling forever?

submitted by /u/profuttbuck
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How are exoplanet host stars distributed by spectral class, and how does that compare to the distribution of stars generally?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 03:31 PM PDT

The visual processing region of the brain is located on the opposite side of the brain to the eyes, does this distance cause lag in our visual perception?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 05:40 PM PDT

Is power being drawn by an appliance that is plugged in but switched off?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 03:22 PM PDT

Do appliances draw any power, i.e. I am charged for power usage, when they are plugged in to an outlet that is switched on but the appliance itself is switched off and not on standby? Also does an outlet draw power if it has nothing plugged in but is switched on?

submitted by /u/ThatsTheWaySheGoes
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What are the physical implications of Maxwell’s relations (of thermodynamics)?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 10:03 AM PDT

For example, the one derived from enthalpy:

(∂T/∂p)_S = (∂V/∂S)_p

The answer I'm looking for is not "the rate of change in temperature respective to pressure at constant entropy is equal to the rate in change of volume wrt entropy at constant pressure". This I already know.

What I'm trying to understand is more so the physical implications of these equations.

For example, the constant pressure heat capacity Cp is defined similarly through a partial derivative as (∂H/∂T)_p. What this directly represents is the change in heat respective to the change in temperature while holding pressure constant, however in a gas it is much more significant when understood in terms of intermolecular interactions; complex gas molecules can absorb some of the incoming energy through their vibrational states/bonds/etc, which therefore lessens the change in temperature due because not all of the incoming energy goes to influencing ΔT.

I am primarily trying to understand this in terms of gases, as the course I'm taking is Physical Chemistry rather than thermo, and so the vast majority of what we've been discussing involves gases. However, any interpretation would help greatly.

submitted by /u/G-Quadruplex
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How do you interpret Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle for wave functions?

Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:22 AM PDT

Okay so I understand the idea behind Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle when applied to macroscopic objects, like a ball - if you were to see a clear picture of a ball, you could accurately identify its location, but not its momentum, and if you happened to see a blurry picture of a ball, its location would be less well defined, but the blur direction would allow you to accurately identify its momentum.

However, I can't quite grasp the a proper understanding of the the Uncertainty Principle when applied to wave functions. I stumbled across this picture - I understand why the bottom wave function has a more well-defined location than the top wave function, but I can't understand why its momentum is less well defined. Fundamentally, what characteristic of the bottom wave function means it has a less well-defined momentum? If someone could somehow draw parallels between these wave functions and macroscopic objects in this way, that would be fantastic, as I hope I would then understand.

Thanks.

submitted by /u/ThatCosmicGuy
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