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Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Tuataras have a "third eye" that is "no longer" used for vision. Was it earlier in evolution? Are there creatures with 3 functional eyes in the fossil record?

Tuataras have a "third eye" that is "no longer" used for vision. Was it earlier in evolution? Are there creatures with 3 functional eyes in the fossil record?


Tuataras have a "third eye" that is "no longer" used for vision. Was it earlier in evolution? Are there creatures with 3 functional eyes in the fossil record?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 01:10 PM PDT

Vertebrates are all basically bilaterally symmetrical. Two arms, two legs, two eyes, two nostrils, etc. Did any animal ever exist that normally had 3 functional eyes instead of 2?? If not, what's the deal with this "third eye" and how was it selected for evolutionarily speaking?

submitted by /u/LetMeGDPostAlready
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Why does waking up with an alarm make you feel more tired then waking up naturally even if the time you woke up naturally is before the alarm?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 12:11 PM PDT

If the Solar system revolves around the galaxy, does it mean that future human beings are going to observe other nebulas in different zones of the sky?

Posted: 23 Aug 2016 04:14 AM PDT

How can certain prescriptions cause weight gain if you don't consume more calories? Where does the weight come from?

Posted: 23 Aug 2016 03:23 AM PDT

Is molten metal magnetic? What would happen if you put a strong magnet near molten metal?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 11:47 AM PDT

Do we know in what direction we'd need to accelerate towards, such that we'd lose all the moment we have gained from the motion of the cosmos?

Posted: 23 Aug 2016 05:23 AM PDT

If there was a hole that ran directly from one side of the Earth to the other and someone/thing plunged down, what would happen when you pass the center of the Earth?

Posted: 23 Aug 2016 04:59 AM PDT

Would you slingshot back and forth until you lose momentum and get stuck in the middle? This really bothers me

submitted by /u/duckyyw
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Rats are nocturnal, how do rats in the New York City subway keep their circadian rhythm when they are devoid of any daylight?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 05:03 PM PDT

I'm rather curious and Google was not able to pull any results.

Since rats are nocturnal animals and they seem to be more active at night in the subways, how do they know their sleep cycles.

Just from the standpoint the subway runs 24 hours a day yet there is no natural sunlight or things I could think of that would allow them to keep their rhythm? I'm also aware rats probably run in/out of the subway systems and not all rats will live there.

If anything I would have guessed they would sleep at night when less trains run and there is very little action going on in the subway system.

Thoughts?

submitted by /u/AWildMichigander
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How does gravity affect electromagnetic waves?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 09:16 PM PDT

I was watching Physics Girl's video about black holes, link, and she said that nothing can escape a black hole not even light. Does the gravity also affect electromagnetic waves?

submitted by /u/tlemon65
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Has this astronomical event really never happened before?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 04:45 PM PDT

Author claims, "On November 20, 2016, an astronomical event begins that will last nine and a half months, culminating in startling concurrence with the vision of Revelation 12. While I am not an astronomer, all my research indicates that this astronomical event, in all its particulars, is unique in the history of man.

On November 20, 2016, Jupiter (the King planet) enters into the body (womb) of the constellation Virgo (the virgin). Jupiter, due its retrograde motion, will spend the next 9 ½ months within the womb of Virgo. This length of time corresponds with gestation period of a normal late-term baby."

Source is here.

Received this link from an otherwise thoughtful friend and I'm, to say the least, incredulous.

Would appreciate some help debunking.

Edit: Autocorrect error.

submitted by /u/thecorch
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Are all planets really in one plane, or is it just for simplification?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 04:19 PM PDT

Hi there ^^

In graphics it always looks like all planets circle their star while laying more or less in one plane. Is this true, or is this just to simplify things?

submitted by /u/Katie_Deely
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[Chemistry] What determines if a reaction is endothermic or exothermic?

Posted: 23 Aug 2016 12:20 AM PDT

In our thermodynamics unit in chemistry, we learned all about chemical reactions and changes in entropy and enthalpy, but we never discussed what actually determines if a reaction releases or absorbs heat energy?

submitted by /u/JofusSmith
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When looking at the Milky Way why is there a black center part?

Posted: 23 Aug 2016 02:15 AM PDT

There was a frontpage post with this image. As you approach the Milky Way from let's say the left, you see more and more and more stars (because you are looking at the center of our galaxy) but then there is this sudden black part, followed by a lighter part where are more stars again. So lot's of stars followed by few stars, followed by lot's of stars.

Why is that?

submitted by /u/Interfere_
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HIV+ to HIV+ Blood Donations: Yay/Nay?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 10:00 PM PDT

The recent developments in terms of solid organ transplantations between a HIV+ donor and HIV+ recipient in South Africa, America and the UK are of course excellent and very promising and free up more organs for people who desperately need them, but I was wondering if this same notion is also applicable for blood donations? Obviously HIV+ individuals cannot donate blood to HIV- patients, but is there a medical reason why a HIV+ cannot donate blood for a HIV+ recipient? Brownie points and mad props for anyone who can also explain if/why live-donor organ transplantations are/not possible between people who are HIV+.

submitted by /u/k8iv
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Is there a distinct difference between the "north" side of a dipole magnet and the "south" side?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 06:40 PM PDT

I was reading an excerpt from a geophysics textbook in which the earth is referred to as a sort of large dipole magnet. This information, coupled with the knowledge that the earth's magnetic field has flipped several times throughout history, made me wonder if there is a distinct difference in the behavior of a magnets two poles.

submitted by /u/Dudewad
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Why do we need to know the half life of radioactive isotopes/elements?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 06:28 PM PDT

I've recently rekindled my love for a computer game I picked up a few years called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. . It's setting is heavily focused on the Chernobyl disaster to which I started reading some articles about the disaster and I see the term half life thrown around alot. I don't understand why its necessary to know the half life.  

You take something with a half life of thirty years (The formula for a half life t1/2) so one can just say that in sixty years, the isotope should decay entirely. Why not just say 60? Why would you identify the decay as it having a half life of 30?

submitted by /u/thryckz
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Is the Schwarzschild solution slightly inaccurate because of the static assumption?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 03:53 PM PDT

I was reading the Wikipedia article on deriving the Schwarzschild solution, and I noticed that in the diagonalising the metric step they use the static assumption to show that there is no time component in any of the spacial metric components because the geometry of the space does not change with time.

Isn't this assumption untrue because the space evolves with time due to dark energy/the cosmological constant? It would probably be a minuscule effect, but still present right?

I may be completely wrong because I struggle to follow all of the math after the Christoffel symbols so it may be corrected for later.

Thanks

submitted by /u/blazingkin
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Why can you use two different ways(dot product and cross product) to multiply two vectors?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 10:08 PM PDT

Why do mints and cough drops suggest you only have one every 2 or so hours?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 05:35 PM PDT

Everybody I've met consumes these things every five minutes or so, with no repercussions.

submitted by /u/TristanKB
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How close to the earth could the moon be while still remaining in a "stable" orbit? how much of the night sky would it take up?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 01:48 PM PDT

I'll define stable as "it won't crash into the earth until long after life on earth has vanished"

submitted by /u/phunmaster2000
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What are the properties of the amplitude of a lightwave?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 04:28 PM PDT

I know that the frequency (length) of a lightwave is measurable spatially and that frequency affects our perception of the wave's color. Is the amplitude of a lightwave measurable spatially? Is amplitude a function of length? Does amplitude affect any perceptible properties of the lightwave (brightness/some other thing I don't know about)?

submitted by /u/hammurabis_toad
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Are certain blood types more prone to having conditions/illnesses?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 10:13 AM PDT

I was wondering if specific blood types were more likely to suffer from certain conditions or illnesses. Like are B+ people more likely to have genetic issues or A- to getting certain cancers, etc.

submitted by /u/Chrissy_GB
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Why does this bug move in this pattern?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 03:21 PM PDT

Saw this pic over at /r/mildyinteresting and was curious why it moved in that specific pattern, comments didn't have anything to weigh in on it. So what's going on here?

submitted by /u/WelcomeToAnarchy99
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would a grand unified theory merge the color charges and weak isospin together?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 05:09 PM PDT

I may be misunderstaning, but from my studies I assume that the W± bosons were just supposed to carry isospins of up-andtidown and down-antiup in the same way gluons carry color-anticolor pairs

as I understand it, a grand unified theory is supposed to mix the strong and electroweak forces, and adds bosons that turn colorless particles with weak isospin into colored particles without weak isospin, in other words it would the particles added would be color-antiisospin and isospin-anticolor. if so, does this mean that they're essentially five types of the same charge?

submitted by /u/chunkylubber54
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Monday, August 22, 2016

Why is it that certain creatures can consume rotting material (plants, animals) and thrive off it, but if I eat some meat or other substance that's a little bit spoiled I get sick?

Why is it that certain creatures can consume rotting material (plants, animals) and thrive off it, but if I eat some meat or other substance that's a little bit spoiled I get sick?


Why is it that certain creatures can consume rotting material (plants, animals) and thrive off it, but if I eat some meat or other substance that's a little bit spoiled I get sick?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 08:10 PM PDT

Seeing as our stomach acid can deal with quite a bit, even having the ability to contribute to personal harm if the stomach isn't adequately protected, a simple organism can like bacteria can survive it and even cause harm to the host. Why is that?

submitted by /u/phoenixfighter00
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Did cannonballs spin and exhibit the Magnus effect?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 02:15 PM PDT

Gamma ray distance?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 07:53 AM PDT

How come gamma radiation has an infinate distance but low ionisation out of the three radiation types, - alpha beta and gamma. But according to the electromagnetic spectrum gamma rays travel very little distance but high energy? This is just a question that has confused me at school in physics. Thanks

submitted by /u/Shaunm24
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Why is antenna length related to signal wavelength?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 12:50 AM PDT

I was looking at this picture of an antenna serving as a receiver and I don't understand the decision of antenna length.

If antenna length was related to amplitude - great, makes perfect sense, make the antenna as big as the signal can get. What doesn't make sense is how it's related to wavelength, since the wave runs perpendicular.

How are those two related and why is amplitude of wave not being used?

submitted by /u/Elguybrush
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Does the earths magnetic strength increase the closer you get to the earths core?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 02:50 AM PDT

Simply put does the earths magnetic power increase as you get closer to it like a traditional magnet.

Does having an iron coin in your pocket get more attracted to the ground the further you dig towards the earths core?

submitted by /u/massop
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If I let a rock drop to the ground, will it land straight down or slightly to the East due to Earth's rotation?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 02:22 AM PDT

How are we able to determine the energy of an EM wave?

Posted: 22 Aug 2016 07:42 AM PDT

By the energy, I more or less mean at a point in time rather than over a period of time (like how bytes are read into sound in an audio editing program).

And is there a way to determine the peaks? For example, a plate above a pool of water with waves in it would only be wet where the max height of the water wave reached.

I'm not sure if any of that makes any sense, but I'll try and clarify anything else if you have questions.

submitted by /u/steveman1123
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What gives rose quartz its color?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 12:22 PM PDT

This is a question that has been bothering me for some time and I can't find an answer.

submitted by /u/Bakugans03
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If a person on the ISS stood on the outside and jumped off the surface away from the earth, would they keep floating off into space or would they be brought back to earth eventually by its gravitational field?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 10:00 PM PDT

I was curious because the moon, as far away as it is, is held in by the earth's gravity but because we are so much smaller I wasn't sure if it would be enough to pull us back. But I also thought that since the moon is so much further away than the ISS I wasn't sure if the sheer distance the body would have to travel would be enough for the minimal gravity to stop the body.

submitted by /u/dgatz12
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Why does rapidly inverting colors make an image seem like it's moving?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 07:59 PM PDT

Title. I sometimes see on Facebook gifs of an image being inverted over and over again, and it gives the illusion that the image is moving. Why is this? In [this link] I believe the bottom right is actually moving, but the rest isn't, so why does it appear to wobble? Thanks!(http://66.media.tumblr.com/f1c852d731672e0c8c4c1194b547a0eb/tumblr_o0dzqkH78k1tuaz2oo1_500.gif)

submitted by /u/grumplylump
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How does GABA(a) presynaptic depolarization lead to inhibition of transmitter release?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 01:15 PM PDT

I read in a review that depolarization from GABA(a) receptors was used to inhibit neurotransmitter release by disrupting action potentials. This seemed a bit counterintuitive to me, because depolarization is a major driving force behind action potential.

This is exactly what the paper said:

". . . depolarisation could affect transmitter release via an action on other ion channels at or very close to the release site: inactivation of Na + and/or Ca 2+ channels could reduce the amplitude of the action potential and decreased Ca 2+ influx would be expected to reduce the probability of exocytosis of neurotransmitter. Depolarisation could, moreover, decrease the driving force for Ca 2+ influx immediately after the action potential, further contributing to the reduction in exocytosis."

Not sure if that helps, but the paper is called paper called "Presynaptic, extrasynaptic and axonal GABA A receptors in the CNS: where and why?" by Kullmann et al. 2004.

Thanks in advance. :)

submitted by /u/whydontyoufeedme
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When cell division occurs and a sister cell is formed, are new atoms/molecules formed in the process? If yes, then how? If not, then why? How is the total mass of the cell division system (parent cell and sister cell) affected?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 09:01 PM PDT

Are there any materials where the freezing point and melting point are different?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 09:52 AM PDT

Like the phase change is dependent on the current phase? (Same question for boiling and sublimation.)

submitted by /u/Dadentum
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Does number of resistors in equivalent parallel resistor circuits affect heat production?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 06:58 PM PDT

I'm building a resistor bank for a switch in my car that needs to be between 15-17 ohms. I have access to 50 and 100 ohm resistors (10W) and I've come up with three potential setups to achieve 16.67 ohm total resistance:

(These are in parallel, by the way)

1) 100-100-100-100-100-100 2) 100-50-100-50 3) 50-50-50

Will any option produce less heat than the others? Or is there no difference?

submitted by /u/Augfry
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Do insects, particularly cockroaches, use acid in their digestive system?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 09:52 AM PDT

From what I can gather, they seem to use gizzard to grind food, and break them down with enzymes in their midgut. Is there no acid involved like larger animals do?

submitted by /u/niwcsc
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How does "dark current" in a photodiode conserve energy?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 05:39 PM PDT

Photodiodes produce a tiny current when no light enters them. Where does this energy come from and why does it not eventually deplete?

submitted by /u/USI9080
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Do other animal species have an eye colour diversity similar to humans'?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 01:08 PM PDT

And if not, what made humans develop such genes?

submitted by /u/TheSoundDude
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Does anyone use factorials in their field?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 02:27 PM PDT

Recently was the vicim of /u/expectedfactorialbot and my mind wandered for a bit, then I finally wondered if they have any application to anything.

Flair is math but the question is open to any field of science.

submitted by /u/monolithic__
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Are dogs' taste buds the same as humans? If I give my dog a piece of chicken, are we tasting it the same way?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 02:01 PM PDT

Sunday, August 21, 2016

What is the most common colour in the universe?

What is the most common colour in the universe?


What is the most common colour in the universe?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 11:37 PM PDT

To Clarify; Mean, Median and Mode.

submitted by /u/-Init-
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What exactly is happening when a computer gets old and goes slow?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 10:18 PM PDT

Do the components slowly deteriorate and hinder the flow of electricity?

submitted by /u/cannonman360
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All graphs show that year over year the average temperature is rising, but 1940-1950 seemed to be statistically higher than the previous and next decades. Could WW2 have caused a higher temperature global or is that a coincidence?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 06:09 AM PDT

Do mirrors have a resolution?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 09:33 PM PDT

Whats the quality of a mirror I guess I mean, and if the answer is different depending on the mirror, then what would a car mirror's reflection quality be?

submitted by /u/TheHopesedge
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Why does swinging two balls from a newton's cradle cause two balls to bounce out the other side instead of one ball with twice the force?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 03:11 PM PDT

Here's a video to show some of the "tricks" I'm wondering about. https://youtu.be/JadO3RuOJGU

Why does this occur? Wouldn't one ball simply bounce out the other side with twice the force?

submitted by /u/will_owens18
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Does any species other than humans suffer from bad posture?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 09:08 PM PDT

What about young humans and animals makes them averse to the risk of climbing down stairs?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 09:42 PM PDT

Take a look at this gif for example - http://i.imgur.com/pNnbWVb.gifv

This behavior can be seen in puppies as well as very young children. Quite possibly other animals too. Do they have a very different perception of depth? Or is it just a fear of the unknown that makes their survival instinct stop them?

submitted by /u/th3_pund1t
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How likely is it that the Yellowstone Volcano erupts?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 12:30 PM PDT

Considering it has been overdue for almost one-hundred thousand years. Considering that it has the potential to kick us back into the stone ages.

Edit for clarification: Within 10 years, within 100 years, and within 1000 years.

submitted by /u/Katie_Deely
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Why does my tea change color when I add lemon juice to it?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 02:46 PM PDT

I drink a lot of black tea and sometimes I like to add some lemon juice to my cup of tea. When I do so, the tea changes from a deep-brown almost black color to a clear orange color? How and why does it happen?

submitted by /u/Saulonely
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What is the mass of rotation of Earth?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 05:48 AM PDT

Since rotation is form of kinetic energy, it must have a mass according to equation E=mc², right?

submitted by /u/luna206
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How did Copernicus arrive at the conclusion that not the Earth but the Sun was the center of our solar system?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 01:09 PM PDT

Considering he made this discovery over 500 years ago, even before telescopes had been invented, how did he know that? What were the reasons for him to start to doubt the then almighty image of geocentrism propagated by the Church and most of his fellow scientists of that time? To me it sounds like a terrific discovery for a man living in medieval times!

submitted by /u/cpt-cook
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Why does light from a point source become more coherent with distance?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 12:04 AM PDT

As I understand, the light from distant stars are dim when they get here, but are more or less a narrow laser the color of that star's superposition of radiation.

submitted by /u/pimpmastahanhduece
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What proportion of the earth's surface temperature is a product of interior processes vs. radiation from the sun?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 01:49 PM PDT

This may be dumb, but how does ZzQuil work?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 09:14 PM PDT

I've never really understood. but also haven't looked into it, figured I would start here!

submitted by /u/amazingbjuju
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Do "non-water rainbows" exist and (if yes) what do they look like?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 12:37 PM PDT

I've been thinking about rainbows from other liquids than water (e.g. gasoline) and wether they'd look like regular ones

submitted by /u/LelviBri
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How are relative causal effects of variables (in percents) calculated for a given shock?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 10:06 PM PDT

My question is mainly economics-based, but derived from statistics (mathematics). So, I skim through economic studies (usually at the abstract to find the broad trend in it). In one recent study that talked about the relative decline in future economic growth for the U.S. due to the aging productivity (http://www.nber.org/papers/w22452), it said "Two-thirds of the reduction is due to slower growth in the labor productivity of workers across the age distribution, while one-third arises from slower labor force growth."

So, my question is how do you calculate those "two-thirds" and "one-thirds" in statistics that represent the percentage portion a variable change is for a given shock which in this case is the future decline in economic growth?

To give another example, in the movie adaptation of Freakonomics, it made the famous claim in it that the legalization of abortion was responsible for much of the 1990s crime drop. Specifically, it said about 45% of the crime drop can be attributed to it.

So, overall, how do you calculate those percentage casual figures for a variable within statistics as I seek to learn this skill for the future?

submitted by /u/zuo_guigui
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Does an electron wavefunction's +1/2 or -1/2 spin "create" a dipolar Magnetic Field? How?

Posted: 21 Aug 2016 01:41 AM PDT

How do we see familiar star systems at night all year round? My son and I can't seem to figure it out

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 02:55 PM PDT

My son asked me this question and I couldn't give him an answer that works. The earth orbits the sun roughly every 365 days but how do we see the same stars at night? Are they possibly following us at the same speed? I know the answer is probably quite simple. Does anybody care to help? A diagram may be easier to understand. Thanks.

Edit:

Diagram: https://gyazo.com/4eb925d32d8653859083ca72896cf79d Which ones correct ? Or Both wrong? Please explain. Thanks

submitted by /u/TheYumShot
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Why are SSDs so much more expensive than regular flash drives like USB?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 01:38 PM PDT

They are both flash memory, the only difference is how they are connected to a computer, and also the controller. Does that controller really cost 100$ more?

submitted by /u/Anthonian
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[Chemistry]What Causes Triboluminescence?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 08:40 PM PDT

I know that Triboluminescence is caused when a substance is broken, scratched, etc. but, what is the science behind it?

submitted by /u/-Stashu-
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Fourier convergence being faster?

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 01:35 PM PDT

Can someone help me understand how numerical iteration methods for scientific solutions can converge faster in fourier space than typical euclidean space. For instance, ewald summation in molecular dynamics converges long range interactions faster by considering them in fourier space. Any help would be appreciated.

submitted by /u/AisleEight
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