We are scientists from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology coming to you from our annual meeting in Brisbane, Australia. We study fossils. Ask Us Anything! | AskScience Blog

Pages

Thursday, October 10, 2019

We are scientists from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology coming to you from our annual meeting in Brisbane, Australia. We study fossils. Ask Us Anything!

We are scientists from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology coming to you from our annual meeting in Brisbane, Australia. We study fossils. Ask Us Anything!


We are scientists from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology coming to you from our annual meeting in Brisbane, Australia. We study fossils. Ask Us Anything!

Posted: 10 Oct 2019 04:51 AM PDT

Hello AskScience! We are members of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. We study fossil fish, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles — anything with a backbone! Our research includes how these organisms lived, how they were affected by environmental change like a changing climate, how they're related, and much more. You can learn more about SVP in this video or follow us on Twitter @SVP_vertpaleo.

Joining us today are:

  • Stephanie Drumheller, Ph.D. is a paleontologist at the University of Tennessee whose research focuses on the processes of fossilization, evolution, and biology, of crocodiles and their relatives, including identifying bite marks on fossils. Find her on Twitter @UglyFossils.

  • Larisa DeSantis, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Biological Sciences and Earth and Environmental Sciences at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on the paleoecology and paleobiology of mammals in North America and Australia.

  • Dana Ehret, Ph.D. is the Assistant Curator of Natural History at the New Jersey State Museum. He studies fossil fish and reptiles, and also has an interest in the pop culture and history of cryptids. Find him on Twitter @DrDanaEhret.

  • Jess Miller-Camp, Ph.D. is the Paleontology and Zooarchaeology Collections Manager at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. Jess studies alligatorine systematics, biogeography, ecomorphology, and diversity dynamics as well as dicynodont morphology and extinction survival. Find her on Twitter @DeadGators.

  • Kenny Travouillon, Ph.D. is the Curator of Mammals at the Western Australian Museum. His expertise is in mammalian ecology and paleontology in Australia, with a focus on bandicoots.

We are coming to you from Brisbane, Australia, so we will be back later this evening (Eastern Time) to answer your questions. Thanks for your patience, and see you soon!

submitted by /u/VertPaleoAMA
[link] [comments]

Why is it best to keep lithium ion batteries charged between 30 and 80 percent?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 09:06 PM PDT

From my understanding, lithium ion batteries gradually "age" because whenever the battery is recharged, some of the cathode and anode material builds up on the opposite terminal, lowering the battery's capacity.

If this is so, how does keeping the battery in this middle range improve battery life and performance?

submitted by /u/spool_pin
[link] [comments]

How do birds with sexual dimorphism know their supposed sexual partners?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 11:10 PM PDT

Take a hen and a rooster as an example. They are unquestionably distinct in their appearance. What's going on in their head that results in "oh, that's the male I'm supposed to make kids"? Obviously, there's no reference book for young hens depicting what their to-be partners should look like to have chicks. Despite that, I haven't seen geese mating ducks. And there are Eclectus parrots, which have entirely different males and females. How come they do not confuse their potential mates with, I don't know, macaws or cockatoos?

submitted by /u/urutseg
[link] [comments]

So if gas can turn back into a liquid, why do we not convert gas waste into liquid form instead of letting it go into the atmosphere again?

Posted: 10 Oct 2019 04:16 AM PDT

I was also thinking... if gas can be converted into liquid, why not turn the gas that car uses back into liquid form for the cars to use it again? What elements would we be lost in the conversion to gas from the original gasoline?

submitted by /u/DemDems44
[link] [comments]

Why do muscles twitch?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 09:52 PM PDT

I know what can cause it including stress or diet, but what really causes the muscle twitch? Like, I'm thinking our bodies have an "energy short" in that area. Some sort of glitch in a complex robot.

submitted by /u/NeedSomeMemeCream
[link] [comments]

Can “Clostridium tetani” (bacteria that creates tetanus infection) transfer to clothing or bed sheets and survive there?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 11:29 PM PDT

I'm having a paranoid week after reading too many Reddit comments about health precautions, which can drive one temporarily mad.

Basically, I had my laundered bed sheets hanging on a line over a shelf.

Said bed sheets MAY have been hanging low enough to touch a coat hanger that was on the shelf. Upon inspection, the hanger has a bit of rust on it.

If I put those sheets on my bed once they're dry, is there ANY chance the potential bacteria from the hanger — namely, Clostridium tetani (sometimes found around rust) — will transfer to the sheets and survive there and harm me or others?

Edit: I simply can't remember when I last received my tetanus shot. Probably childhood. I don't know

Edit 2: I'm working from what Google told me, which is that this bacteria does live in soil and other specific spots BUT also can live basically "anywhere." If it were on my sheets, and I involuntarily inhaled or swallowed it, then wouldn't I be putting myself at risk?

submitted by /u/posting_in_SNLthread
[link] [comments]

How can I increase water to create an alkaline water with a min Ph of 11.5?

Posted: 10 Oct 2019 05:29 AM PDT

Hi,

I would like to know options to create alkaline water with a Ph of 11.5+ through food-grade chemicals. I know I can do it through reverse osmosis like Kangen machines ect but I am looking for a simple cheap solution to test the solubility of an ingredient I am working with.

Interested in any solutions but must be food grade compliant

Thanks

submitted by /u/pivotaldrinks
[link] [comments]

Is this analogy accurate?

Posted: 10 Oct 2019 05:24 AM PDT

"These substances [aluminum and formaldehyde] are harmless in the context of the vaccine, in much the same way that table salt is completely harmless, even though it's two components, sodium and chloride, can be dangerous to humans on their own. "

EDIT: thank you all for your contributions! I removed the analogy, and replaced it with "the dose makes the poison".

submitted by /u/sunflow3hrs
[link] [comments]

What makes a peptide chain hydrophobic or hydrophilic?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 11:58 PM PDT

For example, in the chain Cystein-Alanin-Valin-Cystein-Leucin-Alanin, it apparently counts as hydrophobic, and only cystein is polar, hydrophilic, but that is still 33% that is hydrophilic

submitted by /u/Helgrinds
[link] [comments]

Earth has been through several mass extinction events. How quickly did these occur? Did most life die out in months and years or centuries, etc?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 02:26 PM PDT

If lighting strikes are around 50000 F (27760 C), how do people survive them?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 10:06 PM PDT

How does electricity flow through water?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 12:01 PM PDT

Let's say you have a power line hanging into the water. How is volume going to affect how the electricity travels? And as an alternative question if you were swimming under water would the electricity flow across the top, or through the whole pool?

submitted by /u/snarledmist
[link] [comments]

Why can't I power an electric scooter from a phone battery pack?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 08:54 PM PDT

My friend recently got an escooter, and it only has a 6,000 mAh battery. My phone battery pack has a capacity of 10,000 mAh (and an output of 3.8V). I'm fairly sure that he can't just swap out my battery for his and drive twice as long, but I don't understand ohm's law well enough to know why.

submitted by /u/corvidsarecrows
[link] [comments]

Is the Columbia River Gorge a Fjord?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 01:36 PM PDT

The Gorge is on the border between Washington and Oregon, USA and is very similar in appearance to some fjords.

submitted by /u/RisingWaterline
[link] [comments]

How can we tell black holes are all the same type of object?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 06:47 AM PDT

So if a black hole is anything dense and massive enough to cause escape velocity to exceed the speed of light, thus trapping light, does that mean that actually black holes, as opposed to being a specific single phenomena could actually be several different types of supermassive objects that just happen to look the same because light can't escape from them?

like i'd always thought of a black hole as something that's literally eating matter, but really that's just a product of it's massive nature.

i guess my point is, if by their nature we can't see them how can we actually say they're a singularity and not something else that just happens to be incredibly dense and massive?

for instance as a specific example, supermassive black holes appear to be fairly different to other black holes, even if it's just due to their mass.

summarised:

why is it assumed that these objects are the same based on appearance, when in the case of black holes, the appearance is just a function of their mass?

submitted by /u/Avnas
[link] [comments]

Is it true that heating up honey turns it toxic? If so why?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 06:36 PM PDT

What is the difference between Millennial Oscillations and Dansgaard-Oeschger Oscillations?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 06:30 PM PDT

I'm learning about millennial oscillations in my climate change class, but i don't quite understand the relationship between them are Dansgaard-Oeschger. Is Dansgaard-Oeschger a type of millennial oscillation? Adding on to this, are Heinrich events a more specific type of Dansgaard-Oeschger oscillation? I'm super confused, would appreciate if anyone would be able to help me out

submitted by /u/CoronaryArtery
[link] [comments]

If a white light is shined though red colored plastic and projected onto another surface, the projection is red. Shouldn't it be all colours of white minus red? Isn't red scattered by the red plastic, letting only the other colours through?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 12:34 PM PDT

Can I jump from the ISS in such a way I fall to the earth?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 09:15 AM PDT

Basically that's it. Can I jump from the ISS in a specific direction with a specific force to throw myself out of orbit and fall to the Earth? I guess one would burn themself in the entrance by doing it but I'm just curious.

submitted by /u/amatiasq
[link] [comments]

Can a molecule be big enough to be seen by the human eye?

Posted: 09 Oct 2019 12:24 PM PDT

Can a molecule become big enough to be seen by our eyes without microscope, and if so what would be it's formula.

Preferably not a big DNA string, because these are just made up of 4 the same molecules with bondings.

submitted by /u/YoranJansen
[link] [comments]

No comments:

Post a Comment