AskScience AMA Series: Outer space. Dinosaurs. Religion. Origin of life. The confluence of these massively interesting topics is, oddly enough, meteorites. I study rocks that fall from the sky and how they have influenced our planet and culture... AMA! | AskScience Blog

Pages

Friday, February 4, 2022

AskScience AMA Series: Outer space. Dinosaurs. Religion. Origin of life. The confluence of these massively interesting topics is, oddly enough, meteorites. I study rocks that fall from the sky and how they have influenced our planet and culture... AMA!

AskScience AMA Series: Outer space. Dinosaurs. Religion. Origin of life. The confluence of these massively interesting topics is, oddly enough, meteorites. I study rocks that fall from the sky and how they have influenced our planet and culture... AMA!


AskScience AMA Series: Outer space. Dinosaurs. Religion. Origin of life. The confluence of these massively interesting topics is, oddly enough, meteorites. I study rocks that fall from the sky and how they have influenced our planet and culture... AMA!

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 04:01 AM PST

It is hard to imagine an Earth without the influence of meteorites... what would Earth be like without the Moon, or biology? What would humanity be like without electronics? What would Christianity or Islam be without cosmic intervention? Sure, the dinosaurs were killed off by a meteorite setting the stage for mammals to take over the planet, but neither dinosaurs nor mammals would have existed in the first place if rocks from space pelting Earth hadn't made it possible. My goal is to expose as many people as possible to the interesting and important history of meteorites on our planet. This includes how meteorites have shaped us, in raw materials, historical influence, and scientific discovery - I'm Greg Brennecka, and I try to do this in my book Impact through entertaining stories, poorly drawn figures, and a sense of humor.

Short video about the topic of meteorite influence on the planet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80z68GZd_Ek

I'll be here at 12pm PT (3 PM ET, 20 UT), AMA!

Username: /u/gregbrennecka

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

How are we always able to see light from the early universe?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 03:28 PM PST

What if the photons that were emitted in the short period after the Big Bang (CBR) had all already passed this location in space? As long as the universe isn't expanding faster than the speed of light where we are, by sometime in the future shouldn't all primordial photons from everywhere that was heading in our direction have passed by us?

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

When a neuron makes a "new connection" is it physically a new connection?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 02:10 PM PST

I have been reading about neuron function, and really artificial neuron logic. From what I have read the cell takes inputs, does something and turns the output off or on. But what I am really struggling to find is when we say there is a new connection or pathway in the brain, do the cells physically find each other and have a new physical connection or does an existing connection just get more consideration from the cell?

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

Could one make a vaccine to train one's immune system to attack their own body?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 12:00 PM PST

As opposed to markers of some virus or whatever. Have there been incidents of people getting an autoimmune disease from vaccination trials?

(obligatory: this is unrelated to covid, though perhaps the soreness from the booster is encouraging this on my mind. Very pro-vaccine, I am just curious if such a thing is possible)

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

During astronomical night, how much solar radiation reaches the ground?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 03:26 PM PST

On a moonless clear night (Sun is below 18° below the horizon and Moon is too dim / too deep below the horizon to cause any effect on the dark night sky), how much solar radiation (including IR, visible and UV) still reaches the ground?

submitted by /u/aks304
[link] [comments]

What happend to the asteroid Chicxulub?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 09:52 AM PST

That big asteroid hit earth and left a huge crater plus it killed 2/3 of all animal life, but where is the asteroid? Did it like bounce off of earth? Or did it like melt into the earth?

submitted by /u/Altruistic_Drummer_7
[link] [comments]

What's the difference between a nondiabetic and someone who's diabetes is in remission?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 08:43 AM PST

Hello, I've been having a hard time understanding this lately. I know that if a diabetic person achieves diabetes remission, they are still quite different in many ways. If they drink a soda or something for example, it will drive up their blood sugar far higher than a nondiabetic. From what I understand, diabetics have less beta cells/ decreased beta cell function, their gut does not release glp-1 at the same rate as a nondiabetic, and their cells in the liver and muscles do not have as many insulin receptors. As far as I know, the last two can be completely alleviated by weight loss and duodenal mucosal resurfacing. Is the loss of beta cells the only thing standing in the way of a true type 2 Diabetes cure?

submitted by /u/Blue97
[link] [comments]

What determines which salt would crystalize first if two of them are saturated in water?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 11:24 AM PST

So let's say we have a liter of water at room temperature and standard pressure. We start adding, spoon by spoon salt A and salt B to the water, until the liquid is saturated. Once we put in too much salt, what determines which salt will crystalize?

I'm asking because I wonder if it's possible to separate salt A from the water (in a salt A/water mix) by putting in salt B and hoping salt A would crystalize first before salt B would.

submitted by /u/pimpek321
[link] [comments]

How big does a nebula have to be to form a star?

Posted: 02 Feb 2022 11:02 PM PST

A friend told me that a nebula can't form a star if it's too small; and that if it's large enough, it will form a red dwarf.

Do we know how big the nebula has to be to form a red dwarf?

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

What are the prerequisites for a chemical reaction?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 01:40 PM PST

What exactly is needed in two substances for them undergo a chemical reaction? For example, why does baking soda and vinegar react, and soap and fat react, but when I mix ingredients for a cooking recipe, there dont seem to be any reactions? Or are there reactions taking place but theyre not obvious. If so, do they combine and make new chemicals in the mixture? Or are some substances just able to chill around others on a molecular level. Mixable enough to incorporate in something like a recipe, but without reacting.

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

Why is it common for one low tide to be much lower than the other low tide that same day?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 12:35 PM PST

https://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Santa-Cruz-California/tides/latest

See chart in the link for example. The low tides today are 2.1' and -0.5'. Why are they so different? Also, what explains the pattern you can see from day to day on the chart, with the two low tides converging to about equal on Feb. 6, and then diverging again?

I understand how the position of the moon, earth, and sun create tides so you don't have to explain the basics. Thank you!

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

The Amazon is currently capturing a section of the Orinoco watershed via the Casiquiare canal. Is this how it expanded, and if so, do we know how long it has been doing it? Furthermore, are there any candidate watersheds it might capture in the future?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 05:21 AM PST

why do orbitals have different energy levels?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 05:34 AM PST

why do orbitals have different energy levels? and if orbitals are just a region in space where electrons in that energy level are found 90% of the time, then won't the ionisation energy change for different atoms of the same element, since in some atoms, the electron will be nearer to the nucleus than other atoms, making it more difficult to remove? if this is so, why is that there is only one fixed number for ionisation energy? sorry if i seem ignorant, just very confused

submitted by /u/lmaolol42069
[link] [comments]

About how many named humans do we have records of? How far back in history do we know a significant portion of the population's names, ie 50%?

Posted: 02 Feb 2022 08:34 PM PST

I think that the title is pretty self explanatory. But basically if we only used existing records to list out as many people who have lived on the earth as possible, how many of them would we actually know their name?

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

Do LFT’s Reflect Covid Severity in the Line Thickness or Darkness?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 04:44 AM PST

I see various posts and claims along the lines of "I'm almost clear now, the line was very faint [on my LFT]", and I wondered if there's any truth to this?

Does the line simply turn dark in a binary sense - in response to a trigger from a separate detection mechanism?

Or is the line the mechanism itself and the darkening/discolouration is the result of a chemical reaction to Covid, in which case I guess more Covid 'particles' would produce a stronger reaction?

submitted by /u/comrade-quinn
[link] [comments]

When does Pfizer booster dose protection kick in?

Posted: 03 Feb 2022 02:20 PM PST

How long after receiving the Pfizer booster shot until one can be considered reasonably protected?

Could someone provide links to data from studies or from the manufacturer, no news articles please and thank you.

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

No comments:

Post a Comment