AskScience AMA Series: I'm Brian Greene, theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist, and co-founder of the World Science Festival. AMA! |
- AskScience AMA Series: I'm Brian Greene, theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist, and co-founder of the World Science Festival. AMA!
- Is there any amount of turbulence which could bring a plane down?
- Why is there so little neon in Earth's atmosphere?
- Why doesn't the CDC provided Oligonucleotide Sequences provided for Covid-19 testing match any sub-sequences provided in the updated published Covid-19 genome (version 2)?
- Starting today, and continuing every day for an infinite number of days, I will add one kilogram of iron to a large heap of iron. Will my heap eventually collapse into a black hole? Or is the shock of the supernova also needed?
- How fast does the humoral immune response occur (after becoming immune)?
- How do you cut a pizza into 7 equal slices using only parallel cuts?
- Is dark matter a byproduct of the expansion of the universe, I.E the thing dark energy leaves behind after expanding into empty space?
- Is it possible to make sodium metal from NaOCl?
- Is there research that shows that the absence of certain physical stressors that were present in distant past and experienced by our ancestors can worsen brain function and create mental health issues like depression?
- What causes the effect of trenchfoot?
- What are some ways we determine what asteroids are made of?
- Which instruments do they use to observe photons or electrons in the double slit experiment?
- Does the Earth's rotation create centripetal force against everything on it's surface? If so does that mean we aren't experiencing gravity as strong as it should be?
- Do galaxies regularly "disappear" from the edge of the observable Universe due to the ever expanding nature of space?
- Why are Boron and Aluminum in column 13 of periodic table instead of 3?
- What is the scientific term for the amount of current/electricity a material can endure before being destroyed/melting?
- What does the "hand" part of the motor homunculus map refer to?
| Posted: 26 May 2020 04:00 AM PDT I'm Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and the Director of the university's Center of Theoretical Physics. I am also the co-founder of the World Science Festival, an organization that creates novel, multimedia experience to bring science to general audiences. My scientific research focuses on the search for Einstein's dream of a unified theory, which for decades has inspired me to work on string theory. For much of that time I have helped develop the possibility that the universe may have more than three dimensions of space. I'm also an author, having written four books for adults, The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, The Hidden Reality, and just recently, Until the End of Time. The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos were both adapted into NOVA PBS mini-series, which I hosted, and a short story I wrote, Icarus at the End of Time, was adapted into a live performance with an original score by Philip Glass. Last May, my work for the stage Light Falls, which explores Einstein's discovery of the General Theory, was broadcast nationally on PBS. These days, in addition to physics research, I'm working on a television adaptation of Until the End of Time as well as various science programs that the World Science Festival is producing. I'm originally from New York and went to Stuyvesant High School, then studied physics at Harvard, graduating in 1984. After earning my doctorate at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford in 1987, I moved to Harvard as a postdoc, and then to Cornell as a junior faculty member. I have been professor mathematics and physics at Columbia University since 1996. I'll be here at 11 a.m. ET (15 UT), AMA! Username: novapbs [link] [comments]  |
| Is there any amount of turbulence which could bring a plane down? Posted: 25 May 2020 07:15 AM PDT I've heard plenty of times that this is not actually possible, but I'm wondering if it could theoretically happen. And no, I'm not asking this because I have a fear of flying. I don't need to be reassured about anything. [link] [comments]  |
| Why is there so little neon in Earth's atmosphere? Posted: 26 May 2020 06:57 AM PDT Neon is the 5th most common element in the universe, more so than argon. The molar mass is also 20, higher than water's 18, so it probably doesn't escape into space like helium does. Despite being so common, argon outnumbers neon 500:1 in the atmosphere. Why? Is it because Earth simply didn't start with any and that the argon came from radioactive decay? Is that why there is so much Ar-40 in the atmosphere because we never had Ar-36 to begin with? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 May 2020 07:18 AM PDT I have been investigating the Covid-19 testing process and more specifically how the tests were created. From my understanding, the CDC has published Oligonucleotide Sequences (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/rt-pcr-panel-primer-probes.html) that should be used by US RT-PCR test creators to detect the presence of Covid-19. From my understanding, these published sequences are the signatures for detection of the virus. In trying to understand how these sequences were created, I took the original published sequenced genome (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN908947.2) published in the "Chinese Medical Journal" and tried to find the provided CDC sequence as it is my assumption that the CDC published sequences should match the original covid-19 sequenced genome. I was able to successfully find the first provided forward primer "GAC CCC AAA ATC AGC GAA AT" matching the end of line number 28261. However, the scientists have updated the genome with a new version on Jan 17, 2020 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN908947) and I am unable to find the sequence "GAC CCC AAA ATC AGC GAA AT" in this Covid-19 genome. I have also checked the reverse (CTG GGG TTT ...) without luck. I would assume the entire point of picking good Oligonucleotide Sequences is they should stay static over all possible Covid-19 changes. The CDC clearly says it may change these sequences but they haven't. How is this possible to have a different published Covid-19 genome that the CDC's test doesn't detect? Isn't the fact the genome was updated problematic? Could the CDC test "verified" test not actually be effective as a result? Did the CDC do it's own large scale sequencing effort since the first sequence was collected from only 5 individuals. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 May 2020 12:29 AM PDT (Rephrased and reposted because a previous version, starting with "If I heaped", was taken down by the mods as hypothetical.) [link] [comments]  |
| How fast does the humoral immune response occur (after becoming immune)? Posted: 26 May 2020 07:33 AM PDT Hi! I was wondering about the speed of the humoral immune response... Once immunity towards a certain antigen is achieved following a first time infection, how fast is the body's response to reinfection? Does the body develop and maintain the memory cells for an extended period of time, with these continuously pumping out antibodies with the specific surface receptors just in case reinfection occurs, or is there an "oh shit" moment wherein the body has to look through its "immunity catalogue" to then produce the required antibodies? And finally, whichever the process is, when the known antigen re-enters the body, how fast does it take for the body to trigger and execute the immune response so as to eradicate antigen from the body? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| How do you cut a pizza into 7 equal slices using only parallel cuts? Posted: 26 May 2020 07:39 AM PDT I found this and it answers the question with 3 pieces but I was wondering if it's different for 7 or any number. What is the equation needed to cut a circle into 7 (or any number) pieces, so that each piece has the same area, using cuts that are parallel to each other ie: only verticle. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 May 2020 10:50 PM PDT Space has an inherent mass to it — dark matter. If you create more space, which dark energy so happens to do, would the both of them be directly linked? Instead of expanding space, would dark energy really just be creating dark matter which is space? That sounds stupid, please just focus on my first question. [link] [comments]  |
| Is it possible to make sodium metal from NaOCl? Posted: 25 May 2020 05:25 PM PDT I've seen electrolysis of NaOH to make sodium metal but from what I've googled NaOCl has a melting point of 18C/64F which would make it very easy to get in a liquid state for electrolysis. Is there something that would prevent doing this and successfully making sodium metal from it? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 May 2020 03:53 AM PDT |
| What causes the effect of trenchfoot? Posted: 25 May 2020 09:23 PM PDT Ive been reading about ww1 and how one condition the soliders got was trench foot, where their foots would essentially melt or disintegrate. I was wondering what exactly caused the muscles to become so weak it would crumble? I read that it had to do with how being in water for long periods of time causes loss of circulation but my question is what about this interaction with water causes loss of circulation? [link] [comments]  |
| What are some ways we determine what asteroids are made of? Posted: 25 May 2020 02:07 PM PDT I know that we can look at meteorites for some clue, but I am wondering what some other ways are? [link] [comments]  |
| Which instruments do they use to observe photons or electrons in the double slit experiment? Posted: 25 May 2020 02:37 PM PDT I have searched a bit but all I saw was some "funny" animations about the experiment. Better; if you know a video doing this experiment with and without observing, not just showing the waves, please give me the link. Thank you in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 May 2020 06:59 AM PDT |
| Posted: 25 May 2020 08:48 AM PDT Here are my assumptions:
Have we ever observed this phenomena? [link] [comments]  |
| Why are Boron and Aluminum in column 13 of periodic table instead of 3? Posted: 25 May 2020 10:35 AM PDT Do the other elements in column 13 tend to ionize by giving up 3 electrons? Is 10 electrons in the shell is a stable point between 0 and 18? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 May 2020 09:03 AM PDT I don't really know how to explain it but I'll do my best. Take a lightbulb, when it blows, what's the term for that limitation? [link] [comments]  |
| What does the "hand" part of the motor homunculus map refer to? Posted: 25 May 2020 07:16 AM PDT I'm sorry if I'm scientifically illiterate. I'm sure you can understand what I'm trying to say here. I'm just curious about this, it's not an urgent question. I'm looking at this example and it shows quite a big area dedicated to "hand", but I'm unsure what it's referring to, as there are areas for the fingers and the wrist. Any answers are appreciated, and please excuse me for not sounding too informed [link] [comments]  |
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