Does global contraction play any role in modern geology?

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• Does global contraction play any role in modern geology?
• Teplizumab is an antibody that targets the CD3 receptor on T-cells to prevent the T-cells from attacking the Insulin-producing Beta cells in the pancreas. How is the teplizumab able to specifically inhibit only the T-cells targeting the B-cells without compromising the immune system?
• Why do volcanic hotspots create a chain of volcanoes instead of a continuous ridge?
• How do infectious microbes stay endemic in human (and other animal) populations through long periods of time?
• How do neurosurgeons open a skull without damaging the brain?
• Do climate models consider positive feedback loops ?

Does global contraction play any role in modern geology? Posted: 30 Oct 2020 09:46 PM PDT From what I understand global contraction, or the slow shrinking and deformation of the Earth's crust, was one of the dominant ideas in geology prior to the development of plate tectonics. I know it has been ruled out in favor of plate tectonics, but I recently read that it does seem to have played a role in shaping features on other bodies in the solar system like Mercury and the moon. I'm curious if global contraction is still thought in modern geology to have had any kind of effect on Earth's crust in the present or past? submitted by /u/elchinguito [link] [comments]

Teplizumab is an antibody that targets the CD3 receptor on T-cells to prevent the T-cells from attacking the Insulin-producing Beta cells in the pancreas. How is the teplizumab able to specifically inhibit only the T-cells targeting the B-cells without compromising the immune system? Posted: 30 Oct 2020 08:06 AM PDT submitted by /u/Cheese2face [link] [comments]

Why do volcanic hotspots create a chain of volcanoes instead of a continuous ridge? Posted: 31 Oct 2020 02:41 AM PDT Why do volcanic hotspots create a chain of volcanoes like for example the hawaiian island chain instead of creating a single continuous ridge? submitted by /u/Rekttrex [link] [comments]

How do infectious microbes stay endemic in human (and other animal) populations through long periods of time? Posted: 30 Oct 2020 08:11 AM PDT Like many others this year, I have become much more interested in infectious diseases than I have been before. Hopefully I've learned some things and steered clear of misunderstandings. One thing that confuses is the problem posed in the title. Some people have suggested that there is a strong possibility that Sars-Cov-2 ends up being endemic in human populations, much like chicken pox, cold and flu viruses currently are. This would mean that it would carry on circulating in populations permanently. My question is how is it possible for a virus to keep circulating indefinitely when, at some point, the reproduction number (R number) will necessarily be less than one and the number of new infections starts to decrease. When the number is above one, the number increases exponentially. But because limitless increase is not possible (due to a limited number of people), at some point the number of new infections will start decreasing and, thus eventually, become zero, at which point the virus will stop circulating. I can see how cold viruses can continue circulating: immunity to them is temporary, and so with enough time passing, a previously infected segment of the population becomes susceptible to the virus again and thus the R number can go above 1 again. I cannot see so well how chicken pox remains endemic. After contracting it, people become immune for life. Evidently the population get replenished with susceptible people through new births, but I'm still confused about why the virus doesn't die out between bouts of epidemics. The virus is famously very contagious, so shouldn't it essentially run through every susceptible person in the population and then just run out of steam? I hope my question makes sense. Please do let me know if I have misunderstood anything. submitted by /u/thegrapesofraph [link] [comments]

How do neurosurgeons open a skull without damaging the brain? Posted: 30 Oct 2020 10:42 AM PDT With different parts of the skull having different thicknesses, differences in thickness between age and gender, and given how delicate the brain and the meninges are, how does a surgeon not accidentally cut right into the brain when removing a section of skull for surgery? submitted by /u/IodinUraniumNobelium [link] [comments]

Do climate models consider positive feedback loops ? Posted: 30 Oct 2020 04:00 PM PDT Atmospheric Physicists/Scientists, do the climate models forecasting the warming of the planet take into account any positive feedback loops? We experienced some nasty wildfires this year, record temperatures, and record number of hurricanes due to warming temperatures. All this leads to even more carbon into the atmosphere, thus warming the planet even more, and the cycle continues. Have the models considered this? submitted by /u/uoftsuxalot [link] [comments]

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Are there any autoimmune diseases that have been "cured?"

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• Are there any autoimmune diseases that have been "cured?"
• AskScience AMA Series: My name is Veselin Kostov, and I am a research scientist focused on the detection, vetting and characterization of transiting exoplanets from Kepler, K2, and TESS. AMA!
• why does noise get quieter when we yawn?
• How can pointing tuned lasers at atoms/molecules cool them down?
• Why aren’t alcoholics all overweight?
• Why does colour have a 3D (RGB) representation but sound doesn't, despite both being spectra?
• What causes Nitroglycerin to detonate?
• Is it nothingness between galaxies or is there constantly objects?
• Do you produce antibodies faster on reinfection?
• Why are the most common DC voltages for ICs and other electrical components 3.3v and 5v? Why not 4.4, or 6, or 7v?
• Why do gravitational slingshots work?
• What are the odds that we will eventually build a telescope large enough to see signs of life on other planets?
• does benzalkonium chloride kill norovirus?
• How does sex determination in amphibians work?
• How did eyes evolve?

Are there any autoimmune diseases that have been "cured?" Posted: 29 Oct 2020 03:16 PM PDT All the autoimmune disorders I am familiar with have the same general treatment idea - manage the symptoms. Some types may go into remission here and there but this is unpredictable. Is this correct? Are there any that can be considered "cured" after medical treatment? submitted by /u/susanavocado [link] [comments]

AskScience AMA Series: My name is Veselin Kostov, and I am a research scientist focused on the detection, vetting and characterization of transiting exoplanets from Kepler, K2, and TESS. AMA! Posted: 30 Oct 2020 04:00 AM PDT I am a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and SETI Institute. My research focus is on detection, vetting and characterization of transiting exoplanets from Kepler, K2, and TESS, with the goal of understanding how these exoplanets form, evolve, and compare to the Solar System. Now citizen scientists can be part of the hunt for exoplanets, too, by joining Planet Patrol. The goal of Planet Patrol is twofold: Help scientists vet thousands of TESS planet candidates by visually inspecting stars seen by TESS. Use the results to help train automated vetting algorithms and improve their efficiency. Automated methods of processing TESS data sometimes fail to catch imposters that look like exoplanets. The human eye is extremely good at spotting such imposters, and we need citizen scientists to help us distinguish between the look-alikes and genuine planets. Some of the most exciting planet candidates are difficult to analyze. For example, Earth is a small planet with a long orbit, which means it would generate a weak signal in the data and be difficult to detect, vet and ultimately confirm. Planet Patrol volunteers will help me and my team sift through TESS images of potential exoplanets by answering a set of questions for each - like whether an image contains multiple bright sources or resembles stray light, rather than light from a star, or is simply too noisy for detailed analysis. These questions help us narrow down the list of possible planets for further follow-up study. Links: https://seti.org/ https://seti.org/our-scientists/veselin-kostov https://www.nasa.gov/goddard https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/marckuchner/planet-patrol I will be available to answer your questions at 11am PDT (2 PM ET, 18 UT), AMA! Username: /u/setiinstitute submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

why does noise get quieter when we yawn? Posted: 30 Oct 2020 12:06 AM PDT submitted by /u/dirtster [link] [comments]

How can pointing tuned lasers at atoms/molecules cool them down? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 09:40 PM PDT Recently I was watching a video, and it mentioned that there is a process used to supercool things by shining lasers at it. Is this because of a "vibration-damping" effect that outweighs the energy put in by the laser? submitted by /u/Command_Master [link] [comments]

Why aren’t alcoholics all overweight? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 10:05 PM PDT Asking because I am wondering if alcohol metabolizes faster and thus .... doesn't stick on to turn to fat? If alcohol is generally high in calories (90 for a shot of vodka!!) why aren't people who are addicted to alcohol heavier? Is it because of alcohol itself, or am I making a bad generalization. submitted by /u/jennyworld [link] [comments]

Why does colour have a 3D (RGB) representation but sound doesn't, despite both being spectra? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 11:55 PM PDT Sound is a spectrum of frequencies and so is light but colour has a representation with RGB as components, but sound doesn't? Aren't they both one dimensional frequencies? What is different about light? If we can see light with only 3 types of sensors could we do the same for sound? submitted by /u/UnhappyMix3415 [link] [comments]

What causes Nitroglycerin to detonate? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 06:02 PM PDT From what I've read, decomposition or physical shock are what cause the detonation. What I'm not understanding is the chemical portion of this. Is is a rearrangement of molecules, or breaking a bond? What is it about the shock or decomp that actually initiates the explosion? submitted by /u/itsknob [link] [comments]

Is it nothingness between galaxies or is there constantly objects? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 02:40 PM PDT I know this sounds stupid. But aren't galaxies spread far apart from one another. And if so is it like nothingness in between excluding asteroids and such, or do they all just kind of merge together? submitted by /u/Breadsticks305 [link] [comments]

Do you produce antibodies faster on reinfection? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 09:50 AM PDT Looking at this post, u/Alwayssunnyinarizona says it takes ~5 days to produce antibodies. If you've already been previously infected and your B cells have the "blueprint" for antibodies, do you produce antibodies faster on reinfection? submitted by /u/Hanzburger [link] [comments]

Why are the most common DC voltages for ICs and other electrical components 3.3v and 5v? Why not 4.4, or 6, or 7v? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 02:32 PM PDT submitted by /u/cope413 [link] [comments]

Why do gravitational slingshots work? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 06:16 PM PDT I understand what a gravitational slingshot is, but I don't understand why it works in the first place. I understand that approaching the high gravity body would cause you to speed up, but wouldn't you lose an equal amount of speed while being shot away from the body? submitted by /u/TheDesertSnowman [link] [comments]

What are the odds that we will eventually build a telescope large enough to see signs of life on other planets? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 09:31 AM PDT While we're on the subject, as telescopes get more powerful, do they see more recent events? If a star 100 light years away goes supernova, we won't see it happen with our own eyes for 100 years. Will a telescope decrease this time lag? I feel like I'm oversimplifying this, though. submitted by /u/robbmann297 [link] [comments]

does benzalkonium chloride kill norovirus? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 05:25 PM PDT submitted by /u/chillwill_420 [link] [comments]

How does sex determination in amphibians work? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 08:43 AM PDT So Mammals and Birds use a form of Genotypic Sex Determination XY and ZW systems respectively but what do amphibians use? Reptiles and Fish have various modes of sex determination but I'm more curious as to what amphibians use. I read that amphibians even have two homomorphic sex chromosomes so their XY or ZW chromosomes are almost identical in gene content and size. How do they even differentiate and also how do they recombine and not degenerate like the Y and W chromosomes in Mammals and Birds? The XY/ZW chromosomes are heteromorphic in Birds and Mammals. Also, don't get the terminology confused XY/ZW in Birds and Mammals are not the same as the ones on Amphibians it's just a new way of labeling. submitted by /u/TheLegitBigK [link] [comments]

How did eyes evolve? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 07:12 AM PDT I'm struggling to understand how the process of natural selection is capable of developing something capable of perceiving objects and not just using light as photosynthesis. submitted by /u/JoeTheRapper [link] [comments]

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Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

AskScience AMA Series: I'm Wallace Arthur, enthusiast about extraterrestrial life, author of The Biological Universe: Life in the Milky Way and Beyond (Cambridge University Press), and Emeritus Professor of Zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. AMA about our search for alien life!

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• AskScience AMA Series: I'm Wallace Arthur, enthusiast about extraterrestrial life, author of The Biological Universe: Life in the Milky Way and Beyond (Cambridge University Press), and Emeritus Professor of Zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. AMA about our search for alien life!
• I have heard that a disease like measles can wipe out a persons immune “history” and knowledge. How does this affect autoimmune conditions like allergies, Crohns etc?
• If someone has COVID-19 but is asymptomatic then doesn’t that mean that their immune system isn’t fighting to get rid of the virus? And if that’s the case how do they ever get rid of it?
• If we were to harvest asteroids, could we simply slow them down enough to just drop them into our oceans without causing significant damage?
• If shorter waves have more energy than longer waves and 5g is actually the same as „light“ but with *longer* wavelengths: How can 5g be harmfull?
• Why are COVID 19 infection rates so low in Africa?
• Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology
• If asymptomatic COVID carriers aren’t coughing, can they still be transmitting the virus on their breath? I understand the whole ‘social distancing’ is based on the distance of a cough / sneeze vs normal breathing. I’m wondering how asymtomatic carriers can really spread the virus. Thanks!
• Why does one's arm become sore after a flu vaccination hours (vs. more quickly) after? What's happening on a cellular level at the time?
• How is radioactive decay used to determine the age of things that are millions or billions of years old?
• How do scientists detect molecular data on other planets and moons in the solar system without sending probes?
• How did people figure out what the atmosphere was like on other planets without being able to go there?
• When the sun burns out, will it be gradual or immediate? And if gradual, will the planets slowly move further from the sun?

AskScience AMA Series: I'm Wallace Arthur, enthusiast about extraterrestrial life, author of The Biological Universe: Life in the Milky Way and Beyond (Cambridge University Press), and Emeritus Professor of Zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. AMA about our search for alien life! Posted: 29 Oct 2020 04:00 AM PDT I'm a biologist who has spent over 40 years studying the diversity of life on planet Earth. I've written many books dealing with questions about this amazing biodiversity, but recently I've become fascinated by questions about life on other planets. The number of known planets is now well over 4000 - a very large number compared with the mere eight we knew of until recently, and yet only the tip of the suspected iceberg of about a trillion planets spread across our local galaxy. Some of these planets almost certainly host life. But how many, and what is it like? These are the central questions of my new book The Biological Universe, published by Cambridge University Press. I began my scientific career with a PhD from Nottingham University in England, went on to teach and carry out research at several other British universities, and am now Emeritus Professor at the National University of Ireland in Galway. I have held visiting positions at Harvard and Cambridge universities. I was one of the founding editors of the scientific journal Evolution & Development. My previous books include Life through Time and Space (Harvard 2017). This was described as 'brilliant and thought-provoking in every way' by Sir Arnold Wolfendale, Britain's Astronomer Royal (only the 14th person to hold this position since its origin in the year 1675). Ask me anything about: What alien life is likely to be like How widespread it is likely to be How soon we are likely to discover it How close is the nearest alien life to Earth What are the implications of discovering it I'll be on at 12 noon Eastern (16 UT), AMA! Username: /u/WallaceArthur submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

I have heard that a disease like measles can wipe out a persons immune “history” and knowledge. How does this affect autoimmune conditions like allergies, Crohns etc? Posted: 28 Oct 2020 08:29 PM PDT Does it reset the response for these too, giving the immune system and chance to "correct" and learn the appropriate response to these factors? Thanks! submitted by /u/Peacefulber [link] [comments]

If someone has COVID-19 but is asymptomatic then doesn’t that mean that their immune system isn’t fighting to get rid of the virus? And if that’s the case how do they ever get rid of it? Posted: 28 Oct 2020 07:08 AM PDT submitted by /u/godofdweebs [link] [comments]

If we were to harvest asteroids, could we simply slow them down enough to just drop them into our oceans without causing significant damage? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 04:05 AM PDT Given advancements in propulsion technology, I can't imagine dropping a huge asteroid near terminal velocity would be that devastating to the ocean or cause massive tidal waves. We used to test nukes in the ocean and they didn't destroy the land around them right? submitted by /u/Krypson [link] [comments]

If shorter waves have more energy than longer waves and 5g is actually the same as „light“ but with *longer* wavelengths: How can 5g be harmfull? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 03:39 AM PDT Light, 5g are both actually electromagnetic radiation. 5G should contain less energy (it's mmwave instead of nmwave). So why could it be harmfull? submitted by /u/sh3rlock97 [link] [comments]

Why are COVID 19 infection rates so low in Africa? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 12:02 AM PDT Initially it was suggested that it was due to lack of testing. However the data and on ground events show that the rate of transmission really is that low. How do nations with some of the worst emergency health services out perform the EU and USA? Even South Africa's cases have dramatically dropped and life has almost gone back to normal. submitted by /u/GodlordHerus [link] [comments]

Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology Posted: 28 Oct 2020 08:08 AM PDT Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology 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 [link] [comments]

If asymptomatic COVID carriers aren’t coughing, can they still be transmitting the virus on their breath? I understand the whole ‘social distancing’ is based on the distance of a cough / sneeze vs normal breathing. I’m wondering how asymtomatic carriers can really spread the virus. Thanks! Posted: 28 Oct 2020 08:46 PM PDT submitted by /u/adam12hicks [link] [comments]

Why does one's arm become sore after a flu vaccination hours (vs. more quickly) after? What's happening on a cellular level at the time? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 03:58 AM PDT submitted by /u/runrabbitrun154 [link] [comments]

How is radioactive decay used to determine the age of things that are millions or billions of years old? Posted: 28 Oct 2020 10:44 PM PDT I know the basics of how radioactive decay works. Certain isotopes of elements are unstable and decay into more stable elements over time. These reactions happen at a predictable rate, so we could determine the age of a sample of we can compare how much of the isotope is left compared to how much there was to start. Carbon-14 decay is the most widely explained example. C14 is constantly being created by high energy radiation from the Sun and living organisms incorporate C14 from the environment as they take in carbon to build their biological structures. The ratio of C14 to C12 is fairly constant, so we can know what proportion of C14 we can expect to find in an organism right after it dies. After an organism dies the C14 stays locked in its remains and C14 has a half-life of about 5,730 years I believe. So, if we measure the amount of remaining C14 in a sample and compared it to the amount of C14 it should have had while alive, we can determine how old an organism is. This seems simple enough but because C14's half-life is relatively short, it can't be used to determine the age of something which is millions or billions of years old, as there would be no C14 left to measure. So how is radioactive decay used to determine the age of really old things? The C14 dating system seems to work because new C14 is constantly being created, so we can expect living organisms to have a predictable amount of C14 despite the fact that C14 is decaying all of the time. But what about other elements? I know that some uranium isotopes have a half-life of several billion years. This is adequate for dating something really old, but wouldn't the uranium decay constantly since the moment it was created in the collision of neutrons stars? Wouldn't all samples containing uranium on Earth have the same ratio of the unstable isotopes because the uranium has been decaying since the formation of the solar system? How could we determine that a sediment layer or fossil is 100 million years old instead of 4.6 billion years old (the approximate age of the Earth)? What isotopes are measured and how can we know that is the age that they were when they were incorporated into a sample (sediment layer or fossil) as opposed to their absolute age (the amount of time since the elements were created in a star)? I know I've asked a lot of questions (some rhetorical) but underlying question is how can we accurately determine the age of a sample without using C14 dating? submitted by /u/Ponkotsu_Ramen [link] [comments]

How do scientists detect molecular data on other planets and moons in the solar system without sending probes? Posted: 28 Oct 2020 10:11 AM PDT submitted by /u/TheBriefcaseMan [link] [comments]

How did people figure out what the atmosphere was like on other planets without being able to go there? Posted: 28 Oct 2020 07:24 AM PDT submitted by /u/Silvermist- [link] [comments]

When the sun burns out, will it be gradual or immediate? And if gradual, will the planets slowly move further from the sun? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 09:34 PM PDT submitted by /u/Kevg2015 [link] [comments]

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How does the sun not burn up all of its hydrogen and subsequent fused elements almost instantaneously?

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• How does the sun not burn up all of its hydrogen and subsequent fused elements almost instantaneously?
• Do countries make their own vaccines like the seasonal Flu shot?
• It seems that infectious diseases that kill too quickly never have a chance to spread. How often are people the first and only (or among very few) to die of a novel but short lived infectious disease?
• What is the etymology of modern Black names like LaKeisha, Devonte, Shanice, D'Andre, etc?
• How much energy is consumed when arc lightning is created?
• Does an antibody only ever protect against a single virus? Or do any protect against more than one?
• How do morphemic writing systems (for example Chinese) write down "sounds" that don't necessarily correlate to actual words? Examples in English would be "oof", "ugh", "ngh", "tsk", etc.
• How does a computer translate binary numbers to the corresponding decimal characters?
• Why does the hole in the ozone layer always hang out over antarctica?
• If grapefruit compounds interact with so many drug pathways, why aren’t they normally toxic?
• If the temperature of something depends on the speed at which the particles are moving, we know that the minimum speed is repose and that’s the minimum temperature, the absolute zero (0 kelvin). Why if we have a maximum speed (speed of light), we don’t have a maximum of temperature?
• Why do some materials become ashes and other melt?
• After vaccination/infection do the antibodies stay in your blood for life or do they deplete immediately after, leaving memory B cells to roam and reinitiate Ab production when the pathogen in question re-enters the body?
• Are there any scientific studies demonstrating the difference in magnitude of the placebo effect on skeptics versus believers? If so, what are the results?
• How come evolution didn’t lead to animals adapting to drinking salt water?

How does the sun not burn up all of its hydrogen and subsequent fused elements almost instantaneously? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 04:36 PM PDT The sun is literally on fire 100% of the time, fusing hydrogen to helium, helium to carbon,etc.. How does it not burn up all at once? Or, how does the sun not fuse all of the hydrogens and heliums etc. all within a relatively short time frame? If you filled a room with a gas like propane and lit a match, the room would explode and most of the propane would be burned up right then and there. How does this not happen with the sun? submitted by /u/Ronaldinho910 [link] [comments]

Do countries make their own vaccines like the seasonal Flu shot? Posted: 28 Oct 2020 06:50 AM PDT I'm in Canada. Do we make our own Flu shots? submitted by /u/prayingfordebbie [link] [comments]

It seems that infectious diseases that kill too quickly never have a chance to spread. How often are people the first and only (or among very few) to die of a novel but short lived infectious disease? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 10:23 PM PDT submitted by /u/doublesigned [link] [comments]

What is the etymology of modern Black names like LaKeisha, Devonte, Shanice, D'Andre, etc? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 08:14 AM PDT Firstly, I wanna make it clear: I am *not* trying to exotify or mock Black names or Black culture. I am *fully* in support of Black parents being able to name their kids what they want. I think that coming up with non-slave-names is a powerful reclamation of what was stolen from them. Mocking these names (or refusing to pronounce them) is straight-up racist. What I'm curious about: why were *those* names chosen in particular? I know the trend of Black name reclamation started in the 60s, and it rose with the Black Power Movement. I know that a lot of Black people took Muslim names, or names from SubSaharan cultures. But the names I'm talking about (LaKeisha, Devonte, Shanice, D'Andre, etc) don't seem to have roots in SubSaharan or North African cultures. EDIT: to clarify: I'm wondering where the name "Devonte" came from. Or names that start with La or D', etc. These unique names aren't completely random. There are trends amongst them, trends that were picked up by Black families nationwide. This implies they have shared roots and/or influences. So what are those roots/influences? Wikipedia says the names have French origins, starting in New Orleans. I can see the French influence for sure (La, D', etc)... but most Black people in this country don't come from New Orleans. They may have origins in the South), but most don't come from New Orleans or even French Louisiana. So why did Black families nationwide begin adopting French-inspired naming conventions, starting in the same decade? Hope this question makes sense. Thanks for your response! submitted by /u/Minuet_In_GenesPoBoy [link] [comments]

How much energy is consumed when arc lightning is created? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 05:13 PM PDT Hoping the flair is correct. I tried googling the answer, but I couldn't find anything useful. I'm wondering how much energy would be consumed in a typical lightning arc between to blades of metal about 4-5 inches apart? Also, what would it take to reasonably power it for a few minutes at a time? submitted by /u/Shadowdragon409 [link] [comments]

Does an antibody only ever protect against a single virus? Or do any protect against more than one? Posted: 28 Oct 2020 05:04 AM PDT submitted by /u/i_never_ever_learn [link] [comments]

How do morphemic writing systems (for example Chinese) write down "sounds" that don't necessarily correlate to actual words? Examples in English would be "oof", "ugh", "ngh", "tsk", etc. Posted: 27 Oct 2020 05:12 PM PDT I don't know written Chinese so I apologize in advance if I have misunderstood how that language in particular works. submitted by /u/jeremy1015 [link] [comments]

How does a computer translate binary numbers to the corresponding decimal characters? Posted: 28 Oct 2020 03:31 AM PDT Even though I am a graduated computer engineer, I never understood exactly how binary numbers can get translated so easily to the characters that are printed on screen. I Googled it a bunch of times and the results I found were mostly: Mathematical instructions of how to translate binary to decimal. Basic stuff, but it requires arithmetic in decimal, which a processor can not do: the solution of the processor will still be binary. Does it use flags to designate which character [0-9] goes where? Or a look-up table? A bunch of logic? Then how is it such an effortless and historically universal function of a computer system? BCD (binary coded decimal) which is a way of encoding decimal numbers [0-9] into a nibble e.g. [0000-1001]. This appears to be just a specialized implementation of arithmetic which makes it easier to convert to decimal, but it is not used in most present-day computers. So my question is the following: how exactly does an average computer system translate the binary result of a calculation (e.g. 11010110) to decimal characters (e.g. -42)? And how does it happen so effortlessly? submitted by /u/Tyssy [link] [comments]

Why does the hole in the ozone layer always hang out over antarctica? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 12:35 PM PDT Why Antarctica? Is there also a hole in the ozone layer over the north pole that no one ever talks about? submitted by /u/hubau [link] [comments]

If grapefruit compounds interact with so many drug pathways, why aren’t they normally toxic? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 01:10 PM PDT I often see that you shouldn't eat grapefruits if you are taking certain medications. If the grapefruit components are inhibiting drug pathways, wouldn't they also inhibit important endogenous pathways? submitted by /u/bogdogfroghoglog [link] [comments]

If the temperature of something depends on the speed at which the particles are moving, we know that the minimum speed is repose and that’s the minimum temperature, the absolute zero (0 kelvin). Why if we have a maximum speed (speed of light), we don’t have a maximum of temperature? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 09:12 AM PDT I mean, why would happen if the particles of something were moving at the 99,999999999 (infinite 9s) of the speed of light? There must be a limit of the temperature that anything can get. Am I wrong? submitted by /u/mitadrojomitadnegro [link] [comments]

Why do some materials become ashes and other melt? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 10:37 AM PDT Well that's kind of my question really... like why iron and cheese melt but wood or Doritos melt...I know it sounds silly to ask that but I was thinking about and damm I don't really know and just kinda wanted to ask reddit. Stay safe and good deeds. submitted by /u/AncientMarduk [link] [comments]

After vaccination/infection do the antibodies stay in your blood for life or do they deplete immediately after, leaving memory B cells to roam and reinitiate Ab production when the pathogen in question re-enters the body? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 09:42 AM PDT So a new study by Imperial College London has found that antibody levels in the blood to Covid-19 wains after a few months meaning that this form of immunity "disappears", but why is this the case? Isn't this what you would expect? Surely the antibodies in the blood would be broken down leaving memory B cells to circulate so that if a new Covid-19 virus does enter the body they can respond but producing new Abs? Rather than antibodies staying in the blood ready to bind to coronavirus antigens. submitted by /u/BareHench [link] [comments]

Are there any scientific studies demonstrating the difference in magnitude of the placebo effect on skeptics versus believers? If so, what are the results? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 12:29 PM PDT For example, if you compared the effects of say essential oils on the headaches of 100 skeptics versus 100 non-skeptics, would there be statistically significant variances between the two groups? I consider myself a skeptic so maybe my bias is showing with the wording here, but I'm genuinely curious to know what the difference of the placebo effect is on people with different levels of belief. submitted by /u/premeditatedsleepove [link] [comments]

How come evolution didn’t lead to animals adapting to drinking salt water? Posted: 27 Oct 2020 05:01 AM PDT I was recently watching the "Out Planet" documentary by Sir David Attenborough and there are remarkable species of plants and animals that have evolved in extremely complex and beautiful ways. Given the abundance of salt water on our planet in comparison to fresh water, I was wondering why animals (or plants) haven't developed mechanisms to survive on drinking salt water rather than fresh? The only explanation I could think of was that animals were usually inland and not near oceans but that is flawed logic as a lot of birds and animals coexist along shores. submitted by /u/sriramg98 [link] [comments]

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