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Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Why is String Theory a "Theory"? In science, doesn't "Theory" mean something tested with reproducible results?

Why is String Theory a "Theory"? In science, doesn't "Theory" mean something tested with reproducible results?


Why is String Theory a "Theory"? In science, doesn't "Theory" mean something tested with reproducible results?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 03:31 PM PST

Shouldn't it be the String Hypothesis? Similarly, why is the branch of physics called "Theoretical" Physics. Shouldn't it be Hypothetical Physics?

submitted by 14thMarines
[link] [272 comments]

If I was on a train that was going 20 mph, and I began walking toward the front of the train at 5 mph, am I now going 25 mph?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 11:33 AM PST

The example can be switched and isn't the only one but, my friend and I were having a debate on something similar to this. It was sparked by him mentioning that his high school science teacher said that you cannot move faster than the vehicle you are in. I told him this was true, and obviously he disagreed. While I'm not a physicist, some of you probably are and could surely help with this debate. So please with some science and formulas give me strength! :] Thanks for any help!

EDIT: Holy smokes, this actually went somewhere! Thank you guys, and gals, for all the different explanations. Now, who do you guys think is correct in this situation? ;]

submitted by Navy_Gamer
[link] [211 comments]

Do renewable energy sources produce enough energy to offset the energy cost of producing them?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 07:57 AM PST

A number of people have tried to tell me that renewable energy sources (a windmill for example) will never produce more energy than it took to create them. Is this true? If not, where does this claim come from?

submitted by Supermau
[link] [153 comments]

Do, or rather, can animals choose whether or not they want offspring?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 04:43 PM PST

Do some animals reject mates for life and remain celibate out of choice?

submitted by Bijou226
[link] [12 comments]

What does time dilation look like to an observer outside its area of effect?

Posted: 03 Nov 2015 04:12 AM PST

I don't know whether this belongs here, or on /r/shittyaskscience

So I was thinking about Interstellar (the movie) and was thinking about the scene where Cooper and the others go to Mann's world (big waves). According to the movie and their take on the relativity, on this planet, 1 hour is equivalent to 7 earth years.

Now, Romilly stayed on the ship around the planet's orbit, and as such was not affected by the planets gravity and relativity etc.

My question is, if Romilly was looking out of a window on his ship, and had a view of Cooper's team entering the planet, would there be some point, where Cooper's ship would suddenly appear to either severely decelerate/come to a stop; appearing motionless in space, due to the change in space/time caused by relativity? I am basing this query on the assumption that Rommily has constant vision of Cooper's ship (negating the fact that he would actually be moving in orbit, for the sake of argument)

submitted by shredmeister6
[link] [2 comments]

Is there an escape velocity for leaving the solar system?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 11:04 PM PST

Would an object need to travel faster than a particular velocity in order to leave the suns orbit? Or do I have the concept of escape velocity completely wrong?

submitted by neuron-
[link] [9 comments]

Why when i fill up my glass with very hot water from the tap it looks cloudy for a few seconds before turning clearer, whereas water from the tap that's cold is clear from the start?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 12:33 PM PST

Why Don't Black Holes Have a Corona?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 09:37 PM PST

How does the deep ocean water stay oxygenated?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 03:25 PM PST

I understand how a little might reach it from the surface depending on currents. But there's a lot of freaking water to oxygenate. And there's lots of animal life down there that require it.

submitted by raknor88
[link] [4 comments]

How is hydrogen stored in the sun?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 04:05 PM PST

Basically what im asking is how un-fused hydrogen is kept in the sun without it just being fused immediately. Is there a max amount of hydrogen that can be fused at a time?

submitted by PhotonFields
[link] [8 comments]

If ^2 is squared, and ^3 is cubed, what is ^4 called and so on?

Posted: 03 Nov 2015 04:52 AM PST

What happens after a black hole?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 10:21 PM PST

So, eventually Hawking's radiation would cause the black hole to lose all its energy, right? What then? Would we finally see that elusive singularity?

submitted by _spoderman_
[link] [10 comments]

Does tectonic activity contribute to sea level changes?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 04:18 PM PST

There is an article on front page right now about how Antarctica is actually gaining ice(more specifically increasing in elevation) more than it is shedding ice. When we try to quantify sea level fluctuations, is tectonic activity taken into account?

submitted by adidasbdd
[link] [8 comments]

How do radio stations know how many listeners they have?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 03:56 PM PST

I'm always curious about analytics and I am wondering how radio stations tell if there are a lot of current listeners - I'd it based on the signal strength? Are they just guessing from time of the day? Are there built in measurement tools in cars that let radio stations know? Thanks!

submitted by setsailforfailing
[link] [7 comments]

Would the Monty Hall problem/paradox be affected by an outsider?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 04:57 PM PST

So today in my Econ course we were discussing the Monty hall problem and some one asked the question of whether bringing in a second person would affect the probability. So the set up would be that you have some one pick the door and then have Monty open his door. You then bring in a outsider and tell them the current door and that they can choose to switch if they want. Would this second persons probability be 50/50 or would it remain the same as the classic problem.

submitted by aforest4688
[link] [8 comments]

Is there a limit to how dark I can make my tea?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 03:24 PM PST

I was making tea the other day and my tea didn't seem to get darker after using 2 Yorkshire tea bags in a cup.

submitted by _ScrewUnicorn_
[link] [7 comments]

Why couldn't we accelerate a particle of metal to faster-than-light using magnets?

Posted: 03 Nov 2015 01:04 AM PST

Using the LHC as a basis for the thought experiment, let's say there's a particle of metal inside the collider tube and there are magnets at intervals all along the tube.

If you were to switch on the magnet in front of the particle, it would ostensibly travel the particle forward. In continuous sequence, you could make the particle move around the LHC faster and faster by switching the magnets on in succession more rapidly - essentially dragging the particle forward.

Why could you not simply switch the magnets off and on faster and faster that the particle eventually exceeds the speed of light?

If you have a mile of "track" and a bunch of magnets in sequence, there is a calculation that would allow the "wave" of magnetism to start at point A and end at point B at virtually any speed, right? Why couldn't a particle in a vacuum tube go along for the ride?

submitted by kula_shakur
[link] [8 comments]

Is there a situation where the coefficient of static friction is less than the coefficient of kinetic friction?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 04:30 PM PST

If so, how does it behave?

submitted by PM_me_cool_dinosaurs
[link] [3 comments]

Is there a limit to how big planets can potentially be?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 03:56 PM PST

Is there by any chance a planet as big as our sun or even bigger? What's the largest planet known to man at this present time?

submitted by MattyDizzle
[link] [14 comments]

How much air would it take to form a self-gravitating sphere of gas with a central pressure of 1 atm?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 07:29 PM PST

If you collected enough air in a region of space, it would eventually self-gravitate, forming a hydrostatically stable sphere. (We know this happens because stars exist.) How much air would you need to raise the central pressure of this "gas dwarf" to 1 atmosphere? Is this even possible, or does the requirement for self-gravity push the central pressure far beyond 1 atm?

submitted by kilopeter
[link] [8 comments]

Is it possible to take an image/video of a live water bear(tardigrade)?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 06:58 PM PST

Electron microscope images must be done on a dehydrated and treated sample. This generally means no live samples, as they'd vaporize in the vacuum and because of the extreme temperatures of the microscope. However, water bears are known for their ability to survive in a vacuum and at extreme temperatures. Would it, then, be possible to make a video of a live water bear with an electron microscope? Or is that impossible due to the speed of imaging or some other factor?

submitted by KILLERBAWSS
[link] [3 comments]

Why do carbohydrates cyclize with the chiral carbon furthest away?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 10:17 PM PST

Why don't 6-carbon chains connect to the same carbon that 5-carbon chains connect to (and leave the side group in a cyclic sugar longer)? Why can't they connect to the OH group on the non-chiral carbon furthest away?

submitted by 0bj4ct7
[link] [1 comment]

Monday, November 2, 2015

How is it physically possible for Tardigrades to survive crushing pressures and complete vacuum?

How is it physically possible for Tardigrades to survive crushing pressures and complete vacuum?


How is it physically possible for Tardigrades to survive crushing pressures and complete vacuum?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 11:03 AM PST

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade

(Searched first, existing threads were not specific)

How is it that the materials making up its body aren't destroyed by structural stresses?

Would there not still be large pressure gradients over the irregular structures in it's body, even if for only brief moments? It does have an "internal" body cavity which seems at least partially sealed.

Does it have some subsystem that slowly equalizes internal pressure uniformly with its environment?

Most sources cite cryptobiosis, which makes sense to me for tolerance of many conditions, but I don't see how it provides near immunity to extreme pressures.

submitted by sickb
[link] [182 comments]

What would happen if we turned all our genes on?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 10:17 AM PST

Is it possible to reach higher local temperature than the surface temperature of the sun by using focusing lenses?

Posted: 02 Nov 2015 04:03 AM PST

We had a debate at work on whether or not it would be possible to heat something to a higher temperature than the surface temperature of our Sun by using focusing lenses.

My colleagues were advocating that one could not heat anything over 5778K with lenses and mirror, because that is the temperature of the radiating surface of the Sun.

I proposed that we could just think of the sunlight as a energy source, and with big enough lenses and mirrors we could reach high energy output to a small spot (like megaWatts per square mm2). The final temperature would then depend on the energy balance of that spot. Equilibrium between energy input and energy losses (radiation, convection etc.) at given temperature.

Could any of you give an more detailed answer or just point out errors in my reasoning?

submitted by MrDirian
[link] [4 comments]

Why does shining two separate lights at the same surface always make the area brighter than if it were just one of the lights? What about destructive interference?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 06:43 PM PST

There was a post here recently about how sound can "stack" as a result of there being more than one source in a confined region. In some places the sound would be louder because of constructive interference, and others much quieter due to destructive interference; moving the sources of sound would cause the peaks and troughs to move with them.

But why doesn't this happen when, say, I'm shining two flashlights at the same spot on my ceiling? Why can't I move one flashlight back-and-forth until the interference becomes destructive, and the combined lights look dimmer on the surface than each separate light? Why are two lights always brighter than one regardless of the sources' positions?

submitted by TheDoctorEngineer
[link] [12 comments]

Is water in fruit juice less polluted than tap water?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 01:40 PM PST

This is something that's been on the top of my mind for a long time now. Some fruits such as oranges are good deposits of water which is extracted by the plant from the ground. I was wondering whether there is any sort of filtering going on in this process and as a result, whether the water within the fruit is less polluted than water that comes out of filtering stations? Have there been any studies on this?

submitted by mndc
[link] [12 comments]

Leverage in The Martian?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 08:47 PM PST

In the book, this method is used to right a tipped Mars Rover.

I plugged one end into the battery and the other into the infamous sample drill, then walked off with the drill to find solid ground. Once I found it, I kept going until I'd gone as far as the electrical line would reach. I drove a one-meter bit half a meter into a rock, unplugged the power line, and tied it around the base of the bit.

Then I went back to the rover and tied off the cord to the roof-rack bar on the high side. Now I had a long, taut line running perpendicular to the rover.

I walked to the middle of the cord and pulled it laterally. The leverage advantage on the rover was huge. I only hoped it wouldn't break the drill bit before it tipped the rover.

I backed away, pulling the line more and more. Something had to give, and it wasn't going to be me. I had Archimedes on my side. The rover finally tipped

Why does this work? I can sort of understand that the distance moved would be multiplied at the Rover end, but the force he is applying isn't being spread over a longer distance as per levers as I understand them. If he can't apply enough force to simply push the Rover over, how can he apply enough force to pull the cable?

submitted by leekalot
[link] [4 comments]

If I eat a nut, or kernal and it comes out whole in my stool. Do those calories count?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 07:22 PM PST

How is fusing two hydrogen atoms different than a hydrogen atom capturing a neutron?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 12:16 PM PST

In the first case, you have 2 protons combining, and in the second case, you have a proton and a neutron combining, but in both cases, you really just have 2 nucleons combining, and end with products of near-identical mass. So how would they be any different?

submitted by Rideron150
[link] [29 comments]

Would it be possible to throw a baseball around the moon into orbit?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 09:38 PM PST

Hi I'm new to r/askscience so I apologize if this is poor formatting or has already been asked. Aroldis Chapman currently holds the record for fastest pitch at 105.1 mph, (Hypothetically) If he was standing on the moon would this be enough to launch the baseball into orbit around the moon because of the moons decreased gravity? If not would it possible to put a baseball into orbit around the moon at all or would an unforeseen factor like the gravity of earth make it impossible?

submitted by samhandwich36
[link] [17 comments]

What are some experiments/observations that prove relativity is correct, beyond the math Einstein calculated?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 06:57 PM PST

I know that GPS satellites have to take time dilation into account, and I think that has something to do with relativity. What are some other observations or experiments that have been done?

submitted by MrNinja1234
[link] [8 comments]

How much force does a satellite experience in orbit since it must experience force to change direction to stay in a circular orbit?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 01:48 AM PST

How does a photon occurs when an electron moves from an "outside track", around an atomic nucleus to an "inside track"?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 02:59 AM PST

To date, I can't find good literature which describes in detail how a photon occurs when an electron moves from an "outside track", around an atomic nucleus to an "inside track".

The formula of Rydberg does describe the wavelength of the generated photon, but the further physical details of which I have, as noted, still not found are not described in the formula of Rydberg.

Should I consider the electron as the source of the photon? Probably so, because there is little choice.

Furthermore, I couldn't find anything so far about the length of the transmitted pulse. That period must be at least one of which said wavelength long, so at least lambda/c sec. Can anyone give me one or more references for this?

submitted by SpaceKidt
[link] [10 comments]

Specifically WHY is energy created when fusion occurs?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 01:35 AM PDT

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Why does this ping-pong pong ball get sucked in, when I blow out through this toy tube?

Why does this ping-pong pong ball get sucked in, when I blow out through this toy tube?


Why does this ping-pong pong ball get sucked in, when I blow out through this toy tube?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 09:16 PM PDT

When I place a ping-pong ball on one end of this toy, and blow hard on the other end, I would think it would shoot the ping-pong ball. But instead, it actually sucks in the ping-pong ball enough to prevent it from falling due to gravity. Why does it do this?

Whatch this video https://youtu.be/Z_6ef3L0eE8

submitted by paul092834
[link] [111 comments]

Does the human brain develop physically or is it capable of adult level thought at birth (limited only by education and experience)?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 08:09 PM PDT

Why do multi-plate clutches in cars have high friction if surface area doesn't affect friction force?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 08:53 PM PDT

A multi-plate clutch has a larger frictional force than a single plate clutch with the same spring (normal force) pushing on it.

Since the material for both types of clutches (coefficient of friction) remains the same and the spring (normal force) remains the same shouldn't the friction force remain the same as well?

submitted by liamsdomain
[link] [5 comments]

Does gradual cold exposure(cold showers, ice baths,etc.) Increase your blood circulation over time?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 02:03 PM PDT

It seems to spike your metabolic rate, at least that is what I heard. Anyone know if it helps with blood circulation as well?

submitted by Nistan30
[link] [20 comments]

Would nocturnal animals see the night sky like a camera taking a long exposure?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 11:39 AM PDT

Would something like an owl see the sky like this... http://m.imgur.com/1r6Zv4D?

Photo credit Anton Jankovoy

submitted by BSTUNO
[link] [5 comments]

If I'm phoning an alien in another galaxy, whose relative position is unknown, is it possible to tell them what we mean by left and right just by talking?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 05:32 AM PST

How does a car determine its speed?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 04:55 PM PDT

I was thinking it can't be a simple revolution counter of the wheel, because if you change the size of the wheel the distance covered will be different. So how does the car "calculate" its speed accurately?

submitted by 15feet
[link] [22 comments]

Does gas actually get cooler when it expands in vacuum?

Posted: 01 Nov 2015 03:58 AM PST

For example if I puncture a gas tank, it cools down since escaping the gas is working against the pressure of the environment and the energy is taken away from the internal energy of the gas. The work done by gas is taken away from the internal energy of the gas --> T drops. However if I take the tank to interstellar space where there is nothing for the escaping gas to push against, then the work done by expanding gas (pressure times change in volume) is 0 too and the temperature of the gas stays the same. Is it actually so?

submitted by temporally
[link] [8 comments]

If AIDs is caused by transmission of bodily fluids, how did the first affected person get the disease?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 06:34 PM PDT

From what I've learned in health class in the past, it seems that HIV involves someone who already has the disease. If this is the case, how did the disease start? I mean, if Brandon (hypothetically speaking) was the first guy to ever have AIDs, how did he get it?

submitted by The_Querent
[link] [9 comments]

Would this theory work with a bowling ball and quarter?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 08:45 PM PDT

http://i.imgur.com/HJb9V8E.gifv

What would it take for me to lift a bowling ball up with a quarter? What would be feasible?

I want to have something to show my kids and I could use my whole back yard.

submitted by 0fficiallytr
[link] [5 comments]

Why can my apple juice last until 2017?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 09:54 PM PDT

Since moons can be larger than planets, have magnetospheres, tectonic activity, and substantial atmospheres (e.g. certain moons in our own solar system), is there any reason not to consider moons in our hunt for habitable 'planets'?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 02:12 PM PDT

It seems like they can quack like planets but nonetheless get sort of written off when thinking about places where life could flourish or even places humans could colonize in the distant future.

Should programs like Kepler consider moons too?

submitted by practicalpants
[link] [5 comments]

Is human control of weather impossible?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 10:07 PM PDT

Why is the glucose level in the blood bi-phasic postprandial?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 12:31 PM PDT

Take a look at this graph from wiki. After every meal there is a glucose spike along with insulin, followed slightly thereafter by another minor spike. What is this caused by?

My best guess was that the amount of glucose available after initial breakdown obviously caused the first spike, the second spike would be caused by glucose formed in the colon by bacterial breakdown of initially unabsorbable nutrients into absorbable foodstuffs?

submitted by Lencovic
[link] [5 comments]

Why is it that when exposure to battery acid it deadly, but we eat citrus that has almost the same pH value?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 02:29 PM PDT

Everyone knows that skin exposure to battery acid would be extremely harmful with its pH value of 1, but why is there a lot less of a negative effect from eating citrus like a lemon which has a pH value of two? Does it only become dangerous around that level, what makes one kind of acid more dangerous than another?

submitted by zayde199
[link] [4 comments]

Physiologists, what is the science behind loss of range of motion due to lack of use?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 02:12 PM PDT

I've heard 'use it or lose it' when it comes to range of motion, especially in reference to people working out, ie quarter-squats, etc. What causes the muscle fibers to become harder to stretch?

submitted by Lorax1
[link] [1 comment]

Why doesn't blood reproduce out of body if given proper oxygen + nutrients?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 08:40 PM PDT

Why do some objects feel colder/warmer than others while being at the same temperature?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 08:36 PM PDT

What determines when brakes lock up instead of slowing a vehicle down even faster?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 01:39 PM PDT

I understand brakes convert kinetic energy into thermal energy. What I don't know is what causes them to lock up. Probably a combination of factors between tires and brakes ect.

Thank you!

submitted by KaidenUmara
[link] [4 comments]

How is it possible that energy and mass are conserved entities when radioactive decay occurs?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 11:33 AM PDT

Gamma radiation consists of high-energy photons, for instance. If an atom is decaying and releases gamma radiation, how is its energy/mass not lower? It seems intuitive to me that if an atom decays, gamma radiation happens, and then say the gamma radiation happens to ionize a molecule and break a chemical bond, that would require some energy source. What am I missing?

submitted by Uncle_Gapey
[link] [2 comments]

What is the formal oxidation number for Fe in oxyhemoglobin?

Posted: 31 Oct 2015 09:10 AM PDT

I've had several different answers from my sources so I thought I'd ask here. Some sources state that the Fe must stay as Fe(II) as otherwise the oxidised Fe(III) would form which would not suit the molecule's function. However, I've also read that it is in fact, Fe(III), bonded to oxygen in a 'superoxide' state. Which of the two is correct and why?

Apologies if I've unwittingly broken any Reddit rules, it's my first time posting and I'm on mobile.

submitted by MELCHIZIDEK2410
[link] [5 comments]