AskScience AMA Series: AskScience AMA Series: We are users and friends of the Arecibo Observatory, ask us anything!

---

• AskScience AMA Series: AskScience AMA Series: We are users and friends of the Arecibo Observatory, ask us anything!
• Why does the immune system not kill the cells that are producing COVID spike proteins in an mRNA vaccine?
• are there any mushrooms/fungi that live underwater?
• Why is there a snow above Mt. Everest if it's already above clouds itself?
• How similar are vaccines for the same disease that are created and developed in isolation by multiple companies?
• Why do some viruses cause blisters?
• How is mRNA mass-produced?
• Why would a half dose followed by a full dose of a vaccine be more effective than 2 full doses of the vaccine?
• We now have potentially 4 COVID-19 vaccines with 90% effectiveness. Does that mean rollout can be 4x faster?
• How large is the organization needed to distribute billions of doses of vaccine in short term?
• If countries are able to store vaccines at very low temperature then could we produce far more vaccines?
• How are we able to locate and measure planets hundreds of light years away yet unable to see the hypothesized planet beyond Pluto?
• Why is the incubation period of a virus so limited?
• Why don’t vaccines carry over genetically?
• Are the viruses that cause small pox and chicken pox similar enough that the vaccine that works for small pox would also work for chicken pox?
• Is an mRNA vaccine for HIV more likely to work than a traditional vaccine?
• What is the difference between successful trials of a vaccine and determining the efficacy of one?
• What does emergency FDA approval mean?
• Does taking vitaminC, to boost your immune system, help in fighting coronavirus?
• Why is it that metals + nonmetals result in transfer of valence electrons (ionic) while nonmetals + nonmetals result in sharing of valence electrons (covalent)?
• Why are asymptomatic people with COVID-19 equally as capable as symptomatic people at transmitting the disease?
• What are those numbers related to amino acids ?

AskScience AMA Series: AskScience AMA Series: We are users and friends of the Arecibo Observatory, ask us anything! Posted: 23 Nov 2020 04:00 AM PST We are all saddened by the unfortunate news that the Arecibo Observatory's 305-m telescope will be decommissioned due to safety concerns following a second support cable failure. The telescope has been part of a world-class research facility in radio astronomy, planetary science, and atmospheric science. Among it's many contributions to science, the telescope was used in the discovery of the first binary pulsar system, ice on Mercury, the first exoplanets, and the first repeating Fast Radio Burst. It has been used to track hundreds of Near-Earth Asteroids with its planetary radar system, surveyed Galactic and extragalactic Hydrogen, discover new pulsars (at different frequencies, too), and open up the low-frequency gravitational wave window to the Universe. A number of users of the telescope who study a wide number of topics decided to come together to answer your questions today about the Observatory and the science it has pioneered, and share our stories of the telescope and Observatory. We encourage other friends of Arecibo to share feel free to share their stories as well. Megan is a pulsar astronomer who works on pulsar searching and timing toward the goal of detecting gravitational waves. Much of her pulsar research has been done using Arecibo thanks to its world-class sensitivity. She was a summer student at Arecibo, and has fond memories of that summer, subsequent visits to the observatory, working with the telescope operators and staff, and teaching others how to use the telescope. Michael J has been working with Arecibo for over 8 years. As part of the ALFALFA team (Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (Arecibo L-band Feed Array)) he has worked on performing a census of the hydrogen gas in galaxies, and how the gas content of galaxies varies with their surrounding environment. Cool (100s to 1000s of Kelvin) hydrogen gas spontaneously emits a very faint radio signal with a wavelength of about 21 cm (or equivalently 1420 MHz). Extremely sensitive radio telescopes such as Arecibo are capable of detecting this signal from galaxies up to several hundreds of millions of lightyears away. Michael L is a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and is also a pulsar astronomer working towards the detection of gravitational waves. The observations of those pulsars also allow us to understand the turbulent electrons in the interstellar medium, and the telescope's capabilities have contributed significantly towards those goals. He first visited Arecibo as part of their single-dish summer school in 2009, and has been observing with the telescope himself since 2013. Luke has also been a part of the ALFALFA team, in particular trying to understand "almost dark" galaxies that have lots of hydrogen but almost no stars. He has used Arecibo's sensitivity in addition to the high-resolution imaging of the Very Large Array and Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope to learn more about the strange properties of these galaxies. Sean is a scientist in Arecibo Observatory's solar system radar group. He specializes in using radar data to find the shapes and other physical properties of near-Earth asteroids. Sean has been working with Arecibo radar observations since 2012, and he likes to say that part of his job description is defending the planet. Nick has researched both Galactic and extragalactic atomic hydrogen and molecular gas with radio telescopes around the world, trying to understand the formation of structures in and around galaxies, He was part of the GALFA-HI (Galactic Arecibo L-band Feed Array HI) team, which has mapped neutral hydrogen in and around the Galaxy. Flaviane is a scientist in the planetary radar science group at the Arecibo Observatory working with radar observations of near-Earth objects and asteroid deflection techniques to support planetary defense. Her first contact with Arecibo data was during her PhD back in 2013, using radar shape models to study orbital maneuvers around asteroids. All opinions are our own - we do not speak for the Observatory, the National Science Foundation, NASA, the University of Central Florida, etc. We will be answering questions at various times throughout the day, ask us anything! Username: /u/AreciboFriends submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

Why does the immune system not kill the cells that are producing COVID spike proteins in an mRNA vaccine? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:24 AM PST My understanding of mRNA vaccines is basically that there's a piece of mRNA encased in a bit of fat as a delivery mechanism. This mRNA finds its way into human cells. The mRNA is read by the ribosomes, spike proteins are made, some of those spike proteins are sent up to the surface of the producing cells, the immune system reacts to those spike proteins and then is primed to kill anything presenting those proteins in the future. In non-replicating mRNA vaccines, the mRNA eventually degrades and stops being used by cells after a couple of days to make spike proteins. My question is about how the immune system reacts with the cells presenting spike proteins themselves - wouldn't the immune system, once sensitized to the spike protein, then seek to kill the cells being used as spike factories? If that is the case, is that a problem? Would the immune system ever get sensitized to other characteristics of the producing cells and result in possible autoimmune issues? submitted by /u/grumble11 [link] [comments]

are there any mushrooms/fungi that live underwater? Posted: 22 Nov 2020 07:42 AM PST submitted by /u/b1tchcraft [link] [comments]

Why is there a snow above Mt. Everest if it's already above clouds itself? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 03:21 AM PST Inspired by a r/dankmemes post, of all places. submitted by /u/Gareth-chan-daisuki [link] [comments]

How similar are vaccines for the same disease that are created and developed in isolation by multiple companies? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 08:09 AM PST With Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer all moving forward with their COVID vaccines I began to wonder how similar the vaccines are when, presumably, they were developed in isolation by the different companies. Is it like three students working a problem and coming up with the same answer or are there a million ways to skin this cat? submitted by /u/GreyMillz [link] [comments]

Why do some viruses cause blisters? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 06:07 AM PST I recently had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD). And I was wondering why viruses like HFMD and that of Chickenpox cause blisters. What exactly is happening in the body during the viral infection that causes the blisters? submitted by /u/EarlZaps [link] [comments]

How is mRNA mass-produced? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:24 AM PST I understand that this used to be a more manual process where nucleotides were spliced together manually, but now they are "printed" by a machine of some type. Maybe more specifically, what are the inputs into this machine, that results in mrna? Like, ink goes into a desktop printer. Metal or plastic into a 3d printer... Additionally, what is the mechanism that insures perfect replication of the sequence? Thank you submitted by /u/AstrosDidNothinWrong [link] [comments]

Why would a half dose followed by a full dose of a vaccine be more effective than 2 full doses of the vaccine? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 05:26 AM PST Reference article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/vaccine-covid-19-astrazeneca-1.5812268 The trial looked at two different dosing regimens. A half dose of the vaccine followed by a full dose at least one month apart was 90 per cent effective. A second regimen using two full doses one month apart was 62 per cent effective. The combined results showed an average efficacy rate of 70 per cent. submitted by /u/soaringostrich [link] [comments]

We now have potentially 4 COVID-19 vaccines with 90% effectiveness. Does that mean rollout can be 4x faster? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 01:17 AM PST Sorry if this is a silly question. In the endless media blitz about vaccine news I've found it difficult to piece out if more vaccine variants affects availability (both near and long-term). submitted by /u/pandanomic [link] [comments]

How large is the organization needed to distribute billions of doses of vaccine in short term? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 06:23 AM PST If we can give one dose of vaccine per second, it will take ~10 years to vaccinate 330 million people (the size of US population). One billion people is 32 years. One vaccine per second, 24/7. I live in the US and do not know how many healthcare workers will be be needed to vaccinate approximately 250 million (no epidemiological need to vaccinate everybody with 90+% of efficacy) if each vaccine takes, my guess, 5 minutes and we can do it only 12 hours per day (8 to 8). How can we gather so many people to provide the vaccine to 200+ million in as few months as we can? Do we have that capability? submitted by /u/lushito_FC [link] [comments]

If countries are able to store vaccines at very low temperature then could we produce far more vaccines? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 04:03 AM PST The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are supposed to be stored at minus 80 and 20 degrees Celsius, respectively. This could be a huge logistical issue for the developed world, but it's basically impractical for the developing world. If every country could easily store vaccines at very low temperatures then could we develop a lot more vaccines for many diseases? Do we often develop a lot of vaccines but are then deemed unviable due to temperature storage issue? Thank you submitted by /u/Carbonated-h20 [link] [comments]

How are we able to locate and measure planets hundreds of light years away yet unable to see the hypothesized planet beyond Pluto? Posted: 22 Nov 2020 12:38 PM PST Based on gravitational pull some scientists have proposed a possible 10th planet that lies beyond Pluto which should have a sizable mass. Given this technique has been used successfully in the past to discover Neptune before we had been able to see it, that would suggest it is somewhat plausible there is something additional in our solar system. Given this information, how is that we can detail, measure, and name planets in other solar systems, when we can't even see the end of our own? Any help would be greatly appreciated! submitted by /u/DirtyHandshake [link] [comments]

Why is the incubation period of a virus so limited? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 05:50 AM PST It seems to me that an extended (asymptomatic) incubation period of around 1+ months could help a virus spread through a community very effectively without being detected. Yet, the common cold which is considered one of the most successful viruses, has an incubation period of around one week. If this virus has had millenia to adapt and mutate, why hasn't nature favoured viruses with very long asymptomatic incubation periods? Is it simply that the longer the virus remains in incubation in our body, the more chance there is of our immune system destroying it before it can be spread? submitted by /u/MrHighQ [link] [comments]

Why don’t vaccines carry over genetically? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 05:09 AM PST Just curious with everything going on why vaccines don't essentially pass down to our children genetically if we've been immunised. Is it purely because we didn't genetically start with that or purely down to the synthetic (well atleast not made naturally by the body) nature of the vaccinations? submitted by /u/Mr-Carabao [link] [comments]

Are the viruses that cause small pox and chicken pox similar enough that the vaccine that works for small pox would also work for chicken pox? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 03:50 AM PST Can't find anything about this on the web submitted by /u/JAKEknx [link] [comments]

Is an mRNA vaccine for HIV more likely to work than a traditional vaccine? Posted: 22 Nov 2020 01:42 PM PST I realize that HIV vaccines have been in work for decades now. Pfizer and Moderna appear to have the first viable mRNA vaccines available for any disease with their COVID-19 vaccines. Can this approach work for HIV as well? Why or why not? submitted by /u/drtywater [link] [comments]

What is the difference between successful trials of a vaccine and determining the efficacy of one? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 03:26 AM PST submitted by /u/Slowbhai [link] [comments]

What does emergency FDA approval mean? Posted: 22 Nov 2020 04:46 PM PST How does emergency FDA approval of something like a COVID vaccine differ from the regular approval process? submitted by /u/Type2Pilot [link] [comments]

Does taking vitaminC, to boost your immune system, help in fighting coronavirus? Posted: 22 Nov 2020 06:56 AM PST submitted by /u/karol1605 [link] [comments]

Why is it that metals + nonmetals result in transfer of valence electrons (ionic) while nonmetals + nonmetals result in sharing of valence electrons (covalent)? Posted: 22 Nov 2020 07:31 AM PST submitted by /u/NotVector [link] [comments]

Why are asymptomatic people with COVID-19 equally as capable as symptomatic people at transmitting the disease? Posted: 22 Nov 2020 03:17 PM PST submitted by /u/Prudent-Sea-9133 [link] [comments]

What are those numbers related to amino acids ? Posted: 22 Nov 2020 02:25 PM PST hello guys im trying to learn some stuff about rhinoviruses C, a paper states that the C subgroup has this specificity: "Met67/Ser68 cleavage site at the VP4/VP2 junction", so what are the numbers 67 and 68? thanks submitted by /u/jedai47 [link] [comments]

You are subscribed to email updates from AskScience: Got Questions? Get Answers.. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States