- PLOS Science Wednesday: Hi reddit, we’re Neelesh Patankar and Malcolm MacIver, and we published a paper in PLOS Biology showing a mechanically optimal method of swimming evolved independently in vertebrate and invertebrate swimmers – Ask Us Anything!
- Why do the public keys for encryption using primes have to be prime? [Noob][Computing]
- How do braces and elastic bands correct an underbite or overbite without modifying the bone?
- What Delineated The Periods of the Mesozoic Era?
- What's the difference between connecting to a network with a Static IP and adding a static ARP cache entry?
- Do balloons filled with helium fly up inside of the iss?
- Once a human reaches maturity, are there any cells left in the body that were there as an infant?
- Evolution of Galaxies that have no Super Massive Black Holes in their centers?
- Why electronic impact as ionization source doesn't produce multiple charged ions?
- If photons are emitted/absorbed when an electron changes energy levels, how is it that light is constantly emitted?
- A burning question: can bitumen catch fire during a forest fire?
- What is a way to unfreeze liquid Nitrogen in an ice maker machine?
- Why doesn't the Keplar space telescope focus on the area of space with our closest celestial neighbors?
- What is in raisins and chocolate that makes them poisonous to dogs?
- Why are low sodium diets suggested for high blood pressure when low sodium levels result in higher renin production and therefore higher blood pressure?
- How effective are various lifestyle changes in improving mood, cognition, and reducing symptoms of mental illness, and how do we think they work?
- What is Between Galaxies?
- Why does coke when heated with oxygen forms carbon dioxide and not carbon monoxide?
- How does sanitizer kill bacteria, and where does it go?
- In the way we can detect a small change in temperature when running the tap, can we feel the same slight changes with extreme temperatures?
| Posted: 04 May 2016 04:08 AM PDT Hi Reddit! My name is Neelesh Patankar, and I am the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence and Associate Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University. Following my Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at University of Pennsylvania, I was a post-doctoral associate with Prof. Daniel D. Joseph at the University of Minnesota until 2000. I then joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University as an Assistant Professor in 2000, and have been a Professor since 2011. My research area is developing computational methods for immersed bodies in fluids, applying computations to problems in biology (fish swimming, esophageal transport, rat whiskers), and designing textured surfaces for non-wetting, super-wetting, or anti-icing properties. And my name is Malcolm MacIver, and I am a Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. I completed my Ph.D. in neuroscience at the Beckman Institute of Advanced Sciences and Technology at the University of Illinois, and my post-doc in mechanical engineering at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, joining Northwestern in 2003. My research includes the mechanical and neural basis of animal behavior, particularly the intersection of information harvesting and biomechanics, utilizing a variety of approaches spanning behavioral analysis, computer simulations, robotics, neurobiology, and mechanics. We recently published a paper in PLOS Biology examining how diverse groups of aquatic animals, including vertebrates and invertebrates, evolved independently to exhibit a mechanically optimal method of swimming. Using computational modeling, measurements, and a robotic fish, we demonstrate that this "best way" to swim maximizes propulsive force and speed. There is some small amount of variability around the optimum in the many species we measured, but that variability is always within a relatively small zone where the decrease in performance is less significant. Our result touches on a long standing debate within biology about whether evolution is largely about chance, or about necessity. If we were to "rewind the clock" and restart evolution, would we get the same animals, or different ones? For example, birds evolved wings, and so did insects, but their last common ancestor did not have wings. This suggests that an aerial animal—on any planet with earth-like atmosphere—might have wings. The idea that evolution is therefore more about necessity than chance due to these kinds of repeated patterns is referred to as "convergent evolution." One of the unique contributions of our work is that we can quantitatively show where the optimum exists, while it has proven difficult to do so for other examples of convergent evolution. We will be answering your questions at 1pm ET – Ask Us Anything! @NeeleshPatankar, @malcolmmaciver [link] [comments]  |
| Why do the public keys for encryption using primes have to be prime? [Noob][Computing] Posted: 04 May 2016 06:36 AM PDT EDIT: WRONG TITLE!!!! I meant to say private keys. I have just seen a post about the "illegal number" and began looking into prime number encryption. My question is this: Why do the private keys have to be prime? Couldn't a bank, for example, just choose some random huge number as the public key and then say that unless you use the private key factors that they are using then you aren't able to get in? What am I missing here? [link] [comments]  |
| How do braces and elastic bands correct an underbite or overbite without modifying the bone? Posted: 03 May 2016 07:46 PM PDT |
| What Delineated The Periods of the Mesozoic Era? Posted: 03 May 2016 09:01 PM PDT Why are all the periods of the Mesozoic Era evenly divided? the Jurassic,Triassic and Cretaceous all seem to be roughly evenly divided.. Also what if dinosaurs hadn't been killed off? How would they have evolved? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 May 2016 07:25 PM PDT Do they do the same thing? How do the consequences / behavior from the computer to router differ? [link] [comments]  |
| Do balloons filled with helium fly up inside of the iss? Posted: 03 May 2016 03:19 PM PDT |
| Once a human reaches maturity, are there any cells left in the body that were there as an infant? Posted: 03 May 2016 06:42 PM PDT Just curious, since I read a discussion about the point at which someone/something is new (by replacement of parts). [link] [comments]  |
| Evolution of Galaxies that have no Super Massive Black Holes in their centers? Posted: 03 May 2016 01:13 PM PDT It's still fascinating to me that such a HUGE galaxy like the A2261-BCG, which is 10 times wider than our galaxy, does not have a Super Massive Black Hole (SMBH) in its center. Will it form a new SMBH under gravity or will it eventually [link] [comments]  |
| Why electronic impact as ionization source doesn't produce multiple charged ions? Posted: 04 May 2016 05:36 AM PDT |
| Posted: 03 May 2016 08:06 AM PDT In my college physics class we briefly talked about how photons are emitted when an electron loses energy by moving to a lower orbital. Similarly photons are absorbed when the electron gains energy and moves to a higher orbital. OK, so how is it that atoms consistently generate light? Are electrons constantly gaining/losing energy, bouncing back and forth between orbitals? [link] [comments]  |
| A burning question: can bitumen catch fire during a forest fire? Posted: 03 May 2016 11:04 PM PDT The Athabasca oil-sands region is on fire. An entire city is being evacuated as I write this. People are wondering if the tar-sands themselves can catch fire if the fire decides to spread in that direction. There are (what I assume to be called) open-pit mines. Is the apocalypse nigh? Will bitumen burn? If they do catch fire, how easy/or difficult would it be to put such a fire out? [link] [comments]  |
| What is a way to unfreeze liquid Nitrogen in an ice maker machine? Posted: 03 May 2016 11:58 AM PDT I form ice for snow cone machines and missed a day on one of them and now the liquid Nitrogen around the ice containers are frozen. I have a method, but was wondering if there was a quicker way to unfreeze the liquid Nitrogen. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 May 2016 11:55 AM PDT As I understand it, the discoveries of habitable planets being made by Keplar are anywhere from 40 to over 1000 light years away. Since our closest star is ~4 ly away, and there's ~150 known stars within 20 ly, why wouldn't we focus our attention closer to home first? Does it have something to do with our vantage point within the galactic plane that makes it more valuable to take a long distance look or something like that? [link] [comments]  |
| What is in raisins and chocolate that makes them poisonous to dogs? Posted: 03 May 2016 07:30 AM PDT |
| Posted: 03 May 2016 07:39 AM PDT I've recently learnt at University about the renin-angiotensin system where low sodium levels result in increased renin production and therefore higher levels of angiotensin and aldosterone which result in more water conservation which ould lead to higher blood volume and therefore pressure. However, people always seem to suggest low sodium diets for those with high blood pressure issues. Why is this? Is my understanding of the renin-angiotensin system wrong or is there another mechanism in play? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 May 2016 03:28 AM PDT By lifestyle changes I mean drastically improved diets, probiotics/supplements, mindfulness & meditation, introspection, exercise, etc. Can we change our brains to a great extent with such interventions? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 May 2016 12:05 AM PDT I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but from what I've heard, galaxies are separated by large amounts of empty space. So I have a few questions. Is there light in that space? I've been told that even when travelling between stars inside a galaxy, there is ambient light, but what about between galaxies? Or is it just completely dark? Also, are there objects between galaxies? Rogue planets or stars maybe? I mean, i understand that statistically something must be there, but do we have any specific evidence of objects existing in these empty spaces? If these are utterly stupid or, I don't know, not worth the time explaining to a dull boy like me, then let me know, I won't take offense. But, I do appreciate the answers, if any! EDIT: I would just like to say thank you for all the answers coming in, you're all very knowledgeable and helpful people! [link] [comments]  |
| Why does coke when heated with oxygen forms carbon dioxide and not carbon monoxide? Posted: 03 May 2016 05:30 AM PDT In the extraction of Iron from Haematite , why does Coke ,when heated with Oxygen ,only form Carbon dioxide and not Carbon Monoxide? [link] [comments]  |
| How does sanitizer kill bacteria, and where does it go? Posted: 03 May 2016 04:38 AM PDT |
| Posted: 03 May 2016 06:38 AM PDT I understand that changing the temperature of water slightly can be felt but what about for example, the difference between my hand touching a 180C oven and a 220C oven? Will they just give that same burning pain or is there a vast difference between them? [link] [comments]  |
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