Hi Reddit, I’m Margaret Leinen, here to talk about the world’s oceans and how we observe them. Ask Me Anything!

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• Hi Reddit, I’m Margaret Leinen, here to talk about the world’s oceans and how we observe them. Ask Me Anything!
• Why does cheddar cheese crumble, but mozzarella is stringy and stretchy?
• Do young children who grow up bi-lingual initially assume they are just learning 1 language, or do they always know that they speak more than 1 language?
• When a light or sound wave hits a surface upon which it can reflect, it undergoes a phase change of pi. Why?
• If you fired a handgun from the ISS, pointing away from Earth, would it be able to escape Earth's gravitational pull?
• Why aren't balloons used as a platform for space launches?
• Is there a maximum speed at which a gas can escape through a hole? What affects it?
• Black holes bend space so that light doesn't have a "path" out. How does more matter enter a black hole?
• If water boils in a vacuum, what happens if there is not much space for the water to expand into (e.g. the airless volume inside a container is only twice the size of the volume of water as a liquid)?
• Does increasing the pressure of a gas in a container (and thus increasing the gas's density) decrease the speed of light through it?
• How do electronics in satellites not get effected by the Earth's magnetic field? Does the field affect the orbit speed/direction due to the satellite being made of metal?
• Why is brain size relevant in comparing interspecies intelligence but not intraspecies intelligence?
• if 'mass is confined energy', and energy is just a concept that help us in dealing with physics, what does the first phrase mean ??
• What were humans when the asteroid hit?
• Are we anywhere near making nuclear fusion produce more energy than it consumes?
• Is there any not-yet-feasible but theoretically sound experiment that would determine topology of the universe?
• Can all combinations of sounds be replaced by a sound of a single frequency?
• I saw a picture of an Owl nest (Link Inside) basically made out of lemmings. Is this normal behavior and why would an animal make a nest of other animals?
• What is the advantage of having five, rather than four or six, fingers?
• How is information encoded between the eye and the brain?

Hi Reddit, I’m Margaret Leinen, here to talk about the world’s oceans and how we observe them. Ask Me Anything! Posted: 21 Jun 2016 05:32 AM PDT I'm the president (http://about.agu.org/president/) of the American Geophysical Union, the world's leading organization of earth and space scientists, and I'm also the director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography (https://scripps.ucsd.edu/) at UC San Diego (http://www.ucsd.edu/), which has a global focus on understanding and protecting the planet through ocean, earth, and atmospheric explorations. The oceans cover more than 70 percent of the planet and hold the key to many critical challenges facing science and society, from sustainably feeding human populations to addressing the impacts of climate change to protecting vulnerable marine species. One of the cornerstone methods of keeping tabs on the oceans is through innovative tools and technologies to monitor them. At Scripps Oceanography we contribute to several ocean observation systems and networks that relay critical data about the seas and how they are changing. These include networks just off our populated coastlines (Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, (http://www.sccoos.org/)) for applications as diverse as marine operations, coastal hazards, and ecosystems, to far out at sea where it's not easy to access information (Argo, (http://argo.ucsd.edu/)) to help us understand phenomena such as El Niños and ocean warming. I look forward to answering your questions about ocean observations between 12 and 1 EST on Tuesday, 21 June! Ask Me Anything! submitted by /u/AmGeophysicalU-AMA [link] [comments]

Why does cheddar cheese crumble, but mozzarella is stringy and stretchy? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 07:46 PM PDT Did a quick google, didnt find anything. Edit: probably flaired wrong. Sorry mods, not sure where it goes submitted by /u/AccidentallyTheCable [link] [comments]

Do young children who grow up bi-lingual initially assume they are just learning 1 language, or do they always know that they speak more than 1 language? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 08:47 PM PDT I recently met a child who spoke both Russian and English. However, she just used the languages interchangably and could alternate words in a sentence between the two languages. I grew up bi-lingual but I knew I only spoke one language with my grandparents, and English with my parents. So does this child who creates sentences in 2 languages really know that she is speaking 2 languages? Or does she just think that there are more than just 1 word per item she is refering to, and uses them interchangably? submitted by /u/nopeitynopenop [link] [comments]

When a light or sound wave hits a surface upon which it can reflect, it undergoes a phase change of pi. Why? Posted: 21 Jun 2016 02:09 AM PDT Why doesn't it undergo a path change of half a wavelength instead? submitted by /u/Ohowun [link] [comments]

If you fired a handgun from the ISS, pointing away from Earth, would it be able to escape Earth's gravitational pull? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 08:25 PM PDT Title. My mates and I were discussing bullet physics in space and this scenario came up. In addition to the primary question, would you actually be able to fire a gun in space? We surmised that the atmosphere within the bullet would sustain the ignition to fire the weapon, but we're tired, stupid, and we need real answers. submitted by /u/JP20Boss [link] [comments]

Why aren't balloons used as a platform for space launches? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 08:38 PM PDT Obviously a balloon couldn't make it to space, but could one not be used to carry a launch vehicle the first 30km or so, allowing it to launch from above the thickest part of the atmosphere? Even if it didn't mean an increase in payload, I imagine a balloon launch would be significantly cheaper than all the hardware/fuel required for a launch from the ground. submitted by /u/lesabre98 [link] [comments]

Is there a maximum speed at which a gas can escape through a hole? What affects it? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 08:29 PM PDT If I have an indestructible un-shape-changeable ^(I hope someone could provide me with a word that would fit that better) balloon and I filled it at 1 psi, then 2 psi, then 3 psi ... up to infinity, would there be a maximum speed at which gases could escape? submitted by /u/SellMeAllYourKarma [link] [comments]

Black holes bend space so that light doesn't have a "path" out. How does more matter enter a black hole? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 11:33 AM PDT This is very confusing to me. As I understand it, the reason light can't escape a black hole is because the gravity of the black hole has bent space so much that there isn't an path that light could take that would lead out of the black hole. If that's true, wouldn't a black hole somehow segregated from the rest of space? How does this even work? submitted by /u/n1nj4d00m [link] [comments]

If water boils in a vacuum, what happens if there is not much space for the water to expand into (e.g. the airless volume inside a container is only twice the size of the volume of water as a liquid)? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 12:05 PM PDT I was trying to image what would happen if I had some water (say a liter) inside an airtight container and it filled the space. If I could draw a plunger and expand the space to 2 liters, but no air could get in, and the container would resist the pressure, what would happen to the water. Would it become a basically a less dense liquid spread throughout the 2 liter space)? submitted by /u/efficiens [link] [comments]

Does increasing the pressure of a gas in a container (and thus increasing the gas's density) decrease the speed of light through it? Posted: 21 Jun 2016 04:28 AM PDT submitted by /u/Menaus42 [link] [comments]

How do electronics in satellites not get effected by the Earth's magnetic field? Does the field affect the orbit speed/direction due to the satellite being made of metal? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 08:41 PM PDT submitted by /u/Blade2277 [link] [comments]

Why is brain size relevant in comparing interspecies intelligence but not intraspecies intelligence? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 03:35 PM PDT Why is it that brain volume is considered a relevant factor in estimating the approximate difference in intelligence in early and late hominid species but between individuals or groups or modern humans? submitted by /u/READERmii [link] [comments]

if 'mass is confined energy', and energy is just a concept that help us in dealing with physics, what does the first phrase mean ?? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 04:52 PM PDT submitted by /u/Moon_ire [link] [comments]

What were humans when the asteroid hit? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 04:28 PM PDT I.e., 65 million years ago, what (ape) ancestor(s) survived that extinction to become humans? submitted by /u/Biuku [link] [comments]

Are we anywhere near making nuclear fusion produce more energy than it consumes? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 01:19 PM PDT At least from what i have understood, that current ones aren't very effective. submitted by /u/Thermawrench [link] [comments]

Is there any not-yet-feasible but theoretically sound experiment that would determine topology of the universe? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 10:01 AM PDT Or is there a fundamental problem preventing one from observing the topology of the spacetime he's in? submitted by /u/hardex [link] [comments]

Can all combinations of sounds be replaced by a sound of a single frequency? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 09:43 AM PDT I know that a sound is determined by its amplitude (loudness), frequency (pitch), and harmonics. Suppose I play 2 different notes on the keyboard. The sound wave pattern that I get, can I play a sound at a specific frequency which would sound the same as the 2 combined? Should this frequency also be present on the keyboard? I guess what I'm asking is do sounds of different frequencies combine in any form to create new frequencies like light? Or are they only recreatable as a combination of multiple different sounds? Also, side question: all notes on a keyboard have a fixed frequency. Do the different preset tunes only differentiate in harmonics, or is it something else? submitted by /u/athousandwordss [link] [comments]

I saw a picture of an Owl nest (Link Inside) basically made out of lemmings. Is this normal behavior and why would an animal make a nest of other animals? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 01:04 PM PDT http://imgur.com/rfo4QTD submitted by /u/WadeWilsonforPope [link] [comments]

What is the advantage of having five, rather than four or six, fingers? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 04:33 AM PDT Why do humans have five fingers (and toes) instead of any other number of fingers (and toes) submitted by /u/Edgele55Placebo [link] [comments]

How is information encoded between the eye and the brain? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 04:26 AM PDT Taking a very simplistic and potentially naive view of the eye, it takes in light (or "information") which stimulates rods and comes which are on the retina. This information is then transmitted along the optic nerve to the brain. This information needs to be encoded in some form - do we know how it is encoded? submitted by /u/pugl33t [link] [comments]

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AskScience AMA Series: I'm astronaut Leland Melvin, space shuttle traveler and explorer. Ask My Anything!

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• AskScience AMA Series: I'm astronaut Leland Melvin, space shuttle traveler and explorer. Ask My Anything!
• Drinking water from natural sources and it needing to be boiled?
• Can I get an educated guess on what the creature might be that was found on Google Earth new Deception Island?
• Why are emitted Photons in a Quantum Dot Laser coherent?
• During normal thought, does that "inner voice" actually create vibrations on your vocal cords?
• How can one prove the Laws of Conservation?
• Other than humans, are there any known species on Earth that have increased their natural lifespans?
• The paradox of calculus - zero but not zero: is there a good explanation?
• Anything Smaller Than a Sub-Atomic Particle?
• how carbon and gamma rays interact?
• Is the sheer size of the yellowstone magma chamber keeping it from erupting?
• Can we determine animal behavior solely from fossil records?
• What geological evidence do we have to prove that ice ages are cyclical??
• Is there a material that allows movement in one direction but stops it in the other depending on how it is applied?
• Can wind patterns cancel each other out?
• Is it theoretically possible to keep a heavy element stable by trapping it in graphene, and possibly within a geometric arrangement of other atoms whose proximity 'force it' into stability?
• Why do nuclear reactors need a steam turbine to generate electricity? Why can't we just directly convert the thermal energy into electricity?
• Is there a typical bond length cutoff for hydrogen bonding?
• How are the amplitude and frequency of gravitational waves related to the source of said waves?
• Are we 100% sure that there isnt a stronger degeneracy pressure that would prevent a singularity from forming?
• What happens to tectonic plates when continents move?
• Relativistic space travel thought experiment: Time dilation, how does it work?
• Why is the interstellar medium made of hydrogen atoms and not H2 gas?
• Do black holes move through space? [Physics]

AskScience AMA Series: I'm astronaut Leland Melvin, space shuttle traveler and explorer. Ask My Anything! Posted: 20 Jun 2016 04:57 AM PDT Hi everyone. I'm Astronaut Leland Melvin, a space shuttle traveler, explorer and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) education promoter. This summer I'm featured on Science Channel's new series, HOW TO BUILD...EVERYTHING premiering on Wednesday, June 22 at 10PM. I will be here starting around 2 PM ET to answer your questions. Ask Me Anything! submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

Drinking water from natural sources and it needing to be boiled? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 01:37 AM PDT I watch quite a lot of surviving in the wild type programs and one thing that constantly puzzles me is the idea humans can't drink from natural water sources unless the water is boiled. I find it hard to believe our ancestors did this when we were hunter gathers and it seems odd to me that all other animals seem to have no issues drinking from whatever water source they can find. So what's the explanation? Would we actually be fine in a lot of cases and people are just being over cautious? Is it a matter of us just not having the exposure to the various bugs that might be found in such water? If say we had been drinking it all our lives would we be fine with it? submitted by /u/dvb70 [link] [comments]

Can I get an educated guess on what the creature might be that was found on Google Earth new Deception Island? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 06:50 AM PDT Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-WZ7CCpsis Is this some sort of magical sea creature or something from the deep? Or is it most likely something completely explainable that was blown out of proportion by the internet? Detailed reasoning would be interesting and helpful. submitted by /u/MagnanimousCannabis [link] [comments]

Why are emitted Photons in a Quantum Dot Laser coherent? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 03:39 AM PDT Hello Guys, I know how spontaneous emission and stimulated emission in classic laser works. With the three energy levels of the atom, the atom in the excited state and whatsoever. I know how Quantum Dots work. Small crystals below the Bohr radius of the atom. I know (kind of) why the emitted Photons of a Quantum Dot has a wavelength dependent of the size of the Quantum Dot. What I don't understand is, why are the emitted Photons in a Semiconductor Quantum Dot Laser coherent? Coherent means in phase with each other and the same wavelength, right? It is understandable for me with the stimulated emission in a normal Laser, but i don't get how it works in a Quantum Dot Laser. It would be cool if someone is able to explain this to me. I need to know this :P submitted by /u/Activehannes [link] [comments]

During normal thought, does that "inner voice" actually create vibrations on your vocal cords? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 04:39 PM PDT submitted by /u/3findthrow [link] [comments]

How can one prove the Laws of Conservation? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 04:14 AM PDT Of mass, energy, etc? submitted by /u/hmpher [link] [comments]

Other than humans, are there any known species on Earth that have increased their natural lifespans? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 04:38 PM PDT submitted by /u/ChocoScoots [link] [comments]

The paradox of calculus - zero but not zero: is there a good explanation? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 09:58 PM PDT Here's what's always bothered me about calculus and real analysis. I understand how the limit as delta x approaches zero, the slope gets infinitely accurate. But delta x cannot be zero, or else the function is undefined. I see how you can factor and get a value that isn't defined, such as how the derivative of x2 simplifies to 2x+h and then the h term is treated as exactly zero. But we still treat delta x is zero even though it can't be zero! For example, with the tangent line, Leibniz defined it as two points that are infinitely close together - this makes sense but it seems that modern calculus and standard analysis thew this idea out the window. We now define the tangent as the line touching at one point with the same instantaneous rate of change at that point. But if it touches at one point, then that means delta x is zero and the function is actually undefined! In summary: I can't see how we don't just say the function's slope is tending to "a" as the distance becomes infinitely small. We say it's exactly "a". We say it touches at exactly one point. But the idea of exactness and the tangent line instead of an infinitely accurate secant line makes me frustrated because there's a paradox I can't get over. Is there a good explanation as to how I can understand why we can say what we do without it really being a contradiction? submitted by /u/dog-damnit [link] [comments]

Anything Smaller Than a Sub-Atomic Particle? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 07:40 AM PDT So, I was wondering, is there anything with mass that could be smaller than a sub-atomic particle, like a quark or gluon? I would imagine that the smallest piece of matter physically possible would be the Planck length, but I'm not sure if that's really a possibility. submitted by /u/PlatinumDV [link] [comments]

how carbon and gamma rays interact? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 06:55 AM PDT Hello, I have a series of questions but I will start with this one and a question leading from it here first. So here we go. 1) My first question is about gamma ray and carbon interaction, If I was to blast gamma rays at carbon what thickness would be nessesery to lower the radiation to safe levels. 1.2) are there any interactions that would effect the carbon from gamma rays? heating or changes in structure? or would they just pass through and deflect? and leading from that 2) Would the shape of the material gratly effect the interactions? I have in mind to have a conal or triangular shape. I know it would increase the thicknes on a direct angle of attack. That is all for now. Thanks in advance. submitted by /u/nibs123 [link] [comments]

Is the sheer size of the yellowstone magma chamber keeping it from erupting? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 05:08 PM PDT I think it doesn't matter how big it is, it WILL erupt. But my brother thinks that maybe the sheer size of the chamber is keeping it from erupting. He thinks that the amount of energy required to erupt it is too much at this point. submitted by /u/Ogrebreath [link] [comments]

Can we determine animal behavior solely from fossil records? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 05:21 AM PDT For example, would we know hippos are so territorial and aggressive if the only evidence we had of them was from fossil records? submitted by /u/Kiroway66 [link] [comments]

What geological evidence do we have to prove that ice ages are cyclical?? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 06:11 PM PDT submitted by /u/silversnap [link] [comments]

Is there a material that allows movement in one direction but stops it in the other depending on how it is applied? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 04:30 PM PDT submitted by /u/UltimateHawkpie [link] [comments]

Can wind patterns cancel each other out? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 05:18 PM PDT I was just looking at >this site< and I see in the middle of the hellfire that is the northern Mexico there is one point (green circle) where all the wind systems seem to be targetted at. ALL wind. This doesn't seem right. Google maps location Screenshot Is there some sort of cancellation effect? Is this map simply incorrect? Is the Maw of Cthulhu opening in the desert and sucking the energy of the planet dry? submitted by /u/opus-thirteen [link] [comments]

Is it theoretically possible to keep a heavy element stable by trapping it in graphene, and possibly within a geometric arrangement of other atoms whose proximity 'force it' into stability? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 07:06 AM PDT submitted by /u/blue-dot [link] [comments]

Why do nuclear reactors need a steam turbine to generate electricity? Why can't we just directly convert the thermal energy into electricity? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 09:31 AM PDT submitted by /u/nottoodrunk [link] [comments]

Is there a typical bond length cutoff for hydrogen bonding? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 06:03 AM PDT I am wondering about heuristics for quick evaluation of expected hydrogen bonding of a structure by inspection. Is there a rule of thumb judging by bond distance only to say whether or not you probably can expect there is significant hydrogen bonding in the solid state? Especially for these: N = N ••• H O = N ••• H I am doing DFT studies of NMR parameters in some molecular crystals containing C, H, N, O. I am interested in how hydrogen bonding effects the electronic structure (and hence the magnetic resonance) near Nitrogens. submitted by /u/AltoidNerd [link] [comments]

How are the amplitude and frequency of gravitational waves related to the source of said waves? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 08:08 PM PDT If a body produces gravitational waves, does the amplitude increase with the mass of the body? What about the frequency? Could especially high frequency gravitational waves bring two points in space much closer together from the viewpoint of a higher spatial dimension than the three we perceive in spacetime? submitted by /u/DickJohnsonPI [link] [comments]

Are we 100% sure that there isnt a stronger degeneracy pressure that would prevent a singularity from forming? Posted: 20 Jun 2016 02:00 AM PDT submitted by /u/sourc3original [link] [comments]

What happens to tectonic plates when continents move? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 05:23 PM PDT I understand that continents move BECAUSE tectonic plates exist. But I don't understand how is that tectonic plates make continents move, I can see why earthquakes happen and why mountains arise in Earth history. But considering that tectonic plates are very well embedded, I just don't understand what happens with them when continents move. Or how would they move across such a distance. For example, in this speculative video of continents moving, I don't know what's happening with the plates beneath the ocean. I've found several videos showing how continents evolved from Pangea to their current place, and speculative videos of how continents will evolve to form Pangea Ultima, but I've never found a video of how tectonic plates evolved from Pangea to their current place (or how they will behave to form Pangea Ultima). submitted by /u/Dimakhaerus [link] [comments]

Relativistic space travel thought experiment: Time dilation, how does it work? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 01:13 PM PDT So I have some difficulties understanding the "real world" implications of special relativity time dilation. Most examples you find on the internet deal with one observer at rest and one observer moving past the first tangentially at near light speed. They also all deal with magical telescopes that ignore redshifting and the actual distances traveled. This of course doesn't take into account how it'd look like for an observer at rest at the start or end of the journey so that the crew moves directly away from/at them respectively. So the spaceship Z by virtue of the WonderDrive(TM) is able to accelerate to 99.999X% of light speed within a day without disintegrating. This is used to make the trip from Earth to Proxima Centauri that is exactly 4 light years away in this experiment. Now what I am interested in is what the observers named Earth, Proxima and Spaceship-Z see in their respective frames. The predictions I'd make is what is so paradoxical to me since in my opinion point 2 and 3 contradict the usual examples when taking account the actual propagation of the light waves: Earth sees a massively redshifted Spaceship-Z that appears to accelerate progressively much slower than it actually does due to length contraction. It also seems to slow down during its journey which it appears to have completed after 8 years. During that time the redshifted images observed showed the crew at a near standstill. This should be analogous to the usual examples. Spaceship-Z sees a massively redshifted Earth with clocks moving at the same rate at Spaceship-Z's. They themselves perceive their journey to take, say, 1 hour. The distance from Earth to Proxima is massively contracted for them. Proxima doesn't see anything for almost 4 years in the frame at rest relative to Earth. Then in the end they see a flash of massively blueshifted light from Spaceship-Z whose clock looks on the one hand slowed down according to the time dilation experienced by Spaceship-Z, on the other hand sped up immensely because the light that is emitted at the start of the journey reaches Proxima only seconds before the ships arrival, like a bow wave. During travel its own light emissions appear to move at c in relation to Spaceship-Z because in their back the distance is contracted and in the front the distance covered by the photons emitted and the spaceship is in line with the massively dilated time. So I am sure a lot of my assumptions here are wrong because I adhere to classical mechanics wave propagation too much. It'd be nice if an astrophysicist could drop in and explain to me why my hypotheses 2 and 3 are at odds with the notion that Spaceship Z should in turn see time slowed at Proxima and Earth at the same rate as they should see it slowed in the Spaceship. submitted by /u/searingsky [link] [comments]

Why is the interstellar medium made of hydrogen atoms and not H2 gas? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 01:13 PM PDT From Wikipedia: Approximately 70% of the mass of the interstellar medium consists of lone hydrogen atoms; most of the remainder consists of helium atoms. Given enough time and collisions, why doesn't the hydrogen atoms form diatomic hydrogen gas? submitted by /u/TheSecretNothingness [link] [comments]

Do black holes move through space? [Physics] Posted: 19 Jun 2016 04:09 PM PDT I would imagine they would, but I'm curious if something like a black hole would still be bound by inertia and velocity. Some part of me wants to imagine them as essentially a hole in space/ time. Though they obviously produce a gravitational pull to other objects, are they, themselves, also subject to these forces? Apologies if my question has an obvious answer. My background is in chemistry and biology, so although I have an interest in astrophysics, my understanding of physics on an astronomical scale is limited. submitted by /u/zeronyx [link] [comments]

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Why is it that I can't seem to find any pictures of molten Carbon? Is it particularly difficult to melt Carbon?

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• Why is it that I can't seem to find any pictures of molten Carbon? Is it particularly difficult to melt Carbon?
• If adding a proton to an element turns it into another element, Why can't there be unlimited amounts of elements?
• Can dogs tell the difference between male and female humans, either by sight or smell? If so, do they behave differently towards men and women?
• Do proton pumps transfer actual protons across a membrane or do they transfer hydronium ions?
• How is the rotational velocity of a Kerr Black Hole measured?
• Is it possible to have potential energy but be at 0 potential?
• Are there any other scalar fields besides the Higgs field that can spontaneously break gauge symmetries?
• Why does thermal radiation exist if atoms are neutral in charge?
• How do Planck Length, Planck Time, and Planck Temperature relate to each other? Is there a formula that ties them together? Is it possible there could be?
• I'm aware that bees produce honey and aphids make honeydew. Are there other examples of other insects or other animals turning raw ingredients (like nectar or sap) into some other substance? Is there an overarching name for what these products are called?
• Can the wavefunction of a particle be considered as a probability density function of a continuous random variable?
• If the orbits of Mercury and Venus were visible in broad daylight as rings around sun, how far across the sky would the rings stretch?
• What exactly causes hypoglycemia / diabetic coma in diabetic patients?
• Why isn't Hawking Radiation Power proportional to the Surface Area of Event Horizon of a Black Hole?
• If the Earth's atmosphere were 20% thicker would that be a boon or a burden for fixed-wing aircraft?
• Are there any species where their gender birthrate isn't 50% male and 50% female?
• Do animal parents count their children to check whether they're all with them? "One, two, three, four, five, six. Check."
• Why has Titan retained its atmosphere?
• Breaking a perfect rope?
• Can the nuclear force hold two protons together without violating the Pauli exclusion principle?
• What exactly is p in E^2 = (m^2)(c^2) + (pc)^2?

Why is it that I can't seem to find any pictures of molten Carbon? Is it particularly difficult to melt Carbon? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 03:01 AM PDT submitted by /u/Surrender_monkey21 [link] [comments]

If adding a proton to an element turns it into another element, Why can't there be unlimited amounts of elements? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 04:28 PM PDT Someone told me they fell apart after some point, but I'm asking why and how. submitted by /u/kittymowmowmow [link] [comments]

Can dogs tell the difference between male and female humans, either by sight or smell? If so, do they behave differently towards men and women? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 10:26 AM PDT submitted by /u/VeryLittle [link] [comments]

Do proton pumps transfer actual protons across a membrane or do they transfer hydronium ions? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 08:23 PM PDT submitted by /u/atomic_melon [link] [comments]

How is the rotational velocity of a Kerr Black Hole measured? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 06:15 AM PDT Is there even a way to measure it to a substantial degree of certainty? Are there other ways to measure it than through the gravitational lensing effect on photons? submitted by /u/HappyFeetM [link] [comments]

Is it possible to have potential energy but be at 0 potential? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 06:13 AM PDT Imagine we have a positive test charge in between 2 oppositely charged spheres. At the point exactly between them, the potential should be 0. However I think that the test charge would still move (towards the negative one and away from the positive), meaning it must have potential energy. How is it possible for it to have some potential energy yet be at 0 potential, defined as potential energy per unit charge? There must be a flaw somewhere but I'm not sure which bit of my thinking is wrong submitted by /u/wickedel99 [link] [comments]

Are there any other scalar fields besides the Higgs field that can spontaneously break gauge symmetries? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 06:47 AM PDT submitted by /u/AnEsotericMeme [link] [comments]

Why does thermal radiation exist if atoms are neutral in charge? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 11:23 PM PDT My understanding of thermal radiation is that every atom acts as a tiny oscillating dipole because it contains an oscillating charge. But wouldn't the magnetic fields created by the nucleus cancel out the fields produced by the electrons? submitted by /u/MANBEARPIGofPersia [link] [comments]

How do Planck Length, Planck Time, and Planck Temperature relate to each other? Is there a formula that ties them together? Is it possible there could be? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 11:09 PM PDT I have been thinking about this for a while, and I'm pretty curious. I love thinking about Planck Lengths, and stuff. Pretty cool stuff! submitted by /u/Noerdy [link] [comments]

I'm aware that bees produce honey and aphids make honeydew. Are there other examples of other insects or other animals turning raw ingredients (like nectar or sap) into some other substance? Is there an overarching name for what these products are called? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 01:23 PM PDT submitted by /u/MisanthropeX [link] [comments]

Can the wavefunction of a particle be considered as a probability density function of a continuous random variable? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 08:10 PM PDT From Max Born, the postulation is that the square of the amplitude of a wavefunction gives the probability of a particle existing at a position x at a time t, but from a mathematical point of view can we not consider wavefunctions as simply probability density functions and apply integration to determine the probability of a particle existing within set parameters? Is that impossible to do, or more difficult? Why do we use the square of the amplitude? submitted by /u/Punjabicide [link] [comments]

If the orbits of Mercury and Venus were visible in broad daylight as rings around sun, how far across the sky would the rings stretch? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 10:07 AM PDT submitted by /u/Trent_Boyett [link] [comments]

What exactly causes hypoglycemia / diabetic coma in diabetic patients? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 01:43 PM PDT Aside from too much antiglycemics / insulin relative to blood glucose levels. I have seen many diabetic patients that do not follow a med regimine at all yet will drop to dangerously low levels. What causes this? Can a non diabetic person experience a "diabetic coma"? If not, why? Thanks! submitted by /u/hellisempty [link] [comments]

Why isn't Hawking Radiation Power proportional to the Surface Area of Event Horizon of a Black Hole? Posted: 19 Jun 2016 03:25 AM PDT Why does a solar mass blackhole only radiate ~10-29 Watts while a 105 kg blackhole emanates ~1021 Watts. submitted by /u/ansariddle [link] [comments]

If the Earth's atmosphere were 20% thicker would that be a boon or a burden for fixed-wing aircraft? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 11:15 AM PDT All other things being equal, if you took a modern jet or turboprop plane and plopped it into an atmosphere with the same gas composition but 20% thicker would that make the unmodified lifting surfaces more efficient? Less efficient? About the same? Setting aside any effects that thicker air would have on the efficiency of the combustion process in the engines (let's just say we can provide the same amount of power), would the plane have to work harder to push through the denser air and/or overcome drag? submitted by /u/Xeglor-The-Destroyer [link] [comments]

Are there any species where their gender birthrate isn't 50% male and 50% female? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 08:40 AM PDT submitted by /u/pamacado [link] [comments]

Do animal parents count their children to check whether they're all with them? "One, two, three, four, five, six. Check." Posted: 18 Jun 2016 08:47 AM PDT Here's an illustration: https://redd.it/4o1kcx. submitted by /u/joker38 [link] [comments]

Why has Titan retained its atmosphere? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 10:56 AM PDT At 0.14g and without its own magnetosphere why hasn't Titan been stripped of its atmosphere by the solar winds, jeans escape, and other similar atmospheric escape mechanisms? submitted by /u/28thApotheosis [link] [comments]

Breaking a perfect rope? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 11:10 PM PDT I have a rope and I pull it, of course it will break at it's weakest point. Now somehow I made a perfect rope (at atomic level), it's the same (hardness, density,...) everywhere and I pull it again. What will happen? It's unbreakable, or get splitted into atom, or just simply breaks at random places? submitted by /u/DogeoftheShibe [link] [comments]

Can the nuclear force hold two protons together without violating the Pauli exclusion principle? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 10:46 AM PDT So since the nuclear force has a spin dependent component the force between two protons with anti-aligned spins should be too low to hold them together. So that means that the only way for two protons to be bound to each other would be if their spins were aligned, but wouldn't this violate the Pauli exclusion principle as they'll both be in the same quantum state? Is it even possible for two protons to be bound together, or is it just the neutron(s) and proton(s) being bound together to keep a nucleus together? submitted by /u/vRobinn [link] [comments]

What exactly is p in E^2 = (m^2)(c^2) + (pc)^2? Posted: 18 Jun 2016 07:00 PM PDT I know it means momentum, but what momentum exactly? The momentum of one or both of the colliding objects? I saw "change in momentum in the system" somewhere, but in what way and to what extent does the momentum change? Can it, or is p always 0? submitted by /u/Oliver5366 [link] [comments]

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