Why do some things, like pansies, some aluminum panels, cars, etc, allow water to condense on their surfaces overnight and other surfaces do not?

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• Why do some things, like pansies, some aluminum panels, cars, etc, allow water to condense on their surfaces overnight and other surfaces do not?
• What period of time had the most biodiversity on Earth?
• Why are the planets logarithmically spaced?
• Why is it that the east coast of the United States is lined with barrier island while they are sparsely seen on the west coast?
• Evolutionarily, how is the rise of a new species not a genetic bottleneck?
• Does the gravitational constant change?
• When a modern A.I., such as IBM's Watson, "reads a book", or any other text, what is that program doing with/to that text?
• If a bone marrow transplant alters DNA, would a crime investigation point to two people?
• Why is calculating an integral so much more difficult than calculating a derivative?
• If two objects travel away from each other at slightly more than half the speed of light, does that mean they're both travelling faster than light relative to each other?
• Is this research real progress on developing large-scale carbon capture mechanisms?
• Melting point of carbon > tungsten?
• What's the significance of a eutectic/peritectic/eutectoid point and composition?
• Can dominant traits disappear?
• I know that if you repeat a set of moves on a rubik's cube it will eventually return to it's original state. How would this work if one or more side was infinitely long?

Why do some things, like pansies, some aluminum panels, cars, etc, allow water to condense on their surfaces overnight and other surfaces do not? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 09:18 PM PDT submitted by /u/SVMESSEFVIFVTVRVS [link] [comments]

What period of time had the most biodiversity on Earth? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 08:58 PM PDT submitted by /u/KubrickIsMyCopilot [link] [comments]

Why are the planets logarithmically spaced? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 01:59 PM PDT I was fooling around with putting together a scale model of the solar system. I noticed that the planets followed a very familiar curve. I plotted the planetary distances on a log scale just to be sure. Yup! That's a really good fit! What caused that spacing? Is it just a coincidence? submitted by /u/Brass_Orchid [link] [comments]

Why is it that the east coast of the United States is lined with barrier island while they are sparsely seen on the west coast? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 02:10 PM PDT submitted by /u/FresherUnderPressure [link] [comments]

Evolutionarily, how is the rise of a new species not a genetic bottleneck? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 07:30 PM PDT Please correct any misunderstandings on my part. A genetic bottleneck is bad, right? It leads to defects and a lack of genetic diversity? So how are new species able to come about when the first individuals to have a certain mutation, pass it on, and lead to a split would be a small subset of the original population and therefore not genetically diverse? submitted by /u/mrembo [link] [comments]

Does the gravitational constant change? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 02:54 PM PDT Does the gravitational constant equal to 9.81 m/s² even apply if your outside of earths SOI? for example solar orbit or other planets submitted by /u/Vulkaistos [link] [comments]

When a modern A.I., such as IBM's Watson, "reads a book", or any other text, what is that program doing with/to that text? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 08:59 AM PDT A few weeks ago a 60 minutes piece on AI suggested that Watson read thousands of books in an incredibly short period of time. What exactly does that mean? In my mind it could be that the system is just placing it in a database? It could also mean that its running it through a filtering algorithm and assigning subject matter titles to it or plucking out supposedly important sentences? How does it process the words, sentences, and paragraph's of the work and then how it uses them later on? submitted by /u/awkpeng [link] [comments]

If a bone marrow transplant alters DNA, would a crime investigation point to two people? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 11:11 AM PDT Lets say I get a random person's bone marrow transplant, and the DNA in my blood is altered. Is it now an exact match with the donors? And if so, is it feasible that something like this could interfere with a crime scene? Was thinking this would be a good movie/book plot, but didn't know how legitimate it would be. submitted by /u/JAForsyth21 [link] [comments]

Why is calculating an integral so much more difficult than calculating a derivative? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 08:52 AM PDT As far as I can tell, derivatives and integrals are inverse functions. So why is one so much more difficult to calculate than the other? submitted by /u/ohdaviing [link] [comments]

If two objects travel away from each other at slightly more than half the speed of light, does that mean they're both travelling faster than light relative to each other? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 12:10 PM PDT Also, I'm sorry if this isn't the most up to date or correct science, but changing speeds affect time, right? If one of the objects slowed down before the other, or if they both came to an instant stop, how much time would each have experienced relative to an object at the start point travelling at no speed (relative to both of them) or relative to each other? sorry if this is overly hypothetical, but it could happen in the future when we have the tech. I'll go to the other sub if you want lol submitted by /u/samzeman [link] [comments]

Is this research real progress on developing large-scale carbon capture mechanisms? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 10:40 AM PDT On the one hand, this would be great. On the other ChemistrySelect doesn't seem like a very legit journal and the technology seems difficult to scale up. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/green-tech/a23417/convert-co2-into-ethanol/ submitted by /u/veryedible [link] [comments]

Melting point of carbon > tungsten? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 09:11 AM PDT So I've always believed that tungsten has had the highest melting point of all the elements, but just today in chemistry class I learned that CARBON was just above tungsten. Yet when I look up, "highest melting point element" I end up with tungsten. What's going on here? On paper carbon does seem to have a higher melting point, but tungsten is still written in as being higher. submitted by /u/adeptcroc [link] [comments]

What's the significance of a eutectic/peritectic/eutectoid point and composition? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 11:19 AM PDT It sounds an awful lot like an academic pursuit vs having any practical application. After all, a eutectic point is where liquid turns directly into two solid phases. I can't see any use in that because it's only the lowest melting point which seems like something one would want to avoid. submitted by /u/tylerchu [link] [comments]

Can dominant traits disappear? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 06:49 AM PDT Hello, I have a question regarding dominant traits and genes, as I can understand, a dominant allene, if passed down, will always express the correlated trait in the offspring, even if there is a recessive allene passed down as well, as the Punnett square says. Let's suppose that we have several individuals with only the recessive allene that little by little take over the rest of the population never breeding with the ones having the dominant trait, so that only the recessive allene is passed down in the end, will the dominant trait eventually disappear completely? Even if there is the case of only the recessive allene present in the population, is it still correct to call it a recessive trait? Am I missing something? submitted by /u/ISpokeAsAChild [link] [comments]

I know that if you repeat a set of moves on a rubik's cube it will eventually return to it's original state. How would this work if one or more side was infinitely long? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 01:58 AM PDT Could you have infinately long sequences that still return and if so would all sequences still "loop" even though you have to repeat an infinitely long sequence infinitely many times? submitted by /u/stromgr1 [link] [comments]

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Fusion via heavy water cavitation collapse?

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• Fusion via heavy water cavitation collapse?
• How much more dangerous would lightning strikes have been 300 million years ago when atmospheric oxygen levels peaked at 35%?
• Is Fuzzy Logic used in science, and more specifically in Quantum Mechanics?
• Why does the CDC report on cases of B. pertussis (whooping cough) appear to show an increase in cases among children with 3+ doses of vaccination? [Links inside]
• Why are free neutrons unstable?
• Pictures of the shade balls that LA dropped into its reservoir show organized groups of balls on the water that are reminiscent of the crystal structures on the surface of galvanized steel. Is this just coincidence or are there related processes at play?
• Why, in music, do scale modes appear to have such different tonal qualities?
• When (and by whom) was it discovered that the brain is where memories are stored?
• How did the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius preserve the people and items of Pompeii?
• How does weather affects voting statistics?
• What would happen if another star collided with our sun, assuming the other star was equal size and mass and both were traveling at the same speed?
• What is the physiological purpose of RNA using Uracil instead of Thymine when all the other nitrogenous bases are the same as DNA?
• How come the same hair color can look different in different light settings?
• What is the best definition of entropy?
• Does a policy that allows passing on the right on multilane highways result in more or less efficient use of that highway?
• How can CRISPR/Cas9 target genes larger than 20 nucleotides?
• Is there vocabulary in topology that could be useful for discussing so-called 'gerrymandered' political district boundaries?
• Will two cars with three seconds following distance always have three seconds of following distance?
• Would a "base-prime", number system be useful in any way?

Fusion via heavy water cavitation collapse? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 04:05 AM PDT Firstly, what kind of energy/temperature/pressure would you need to fuse Deuterium and/or Tritium atoms as components of heavy water molecules? Secondly, could that energy be achieved in the collapse of a heavy water cavity? If not on it's own, would it be possible if the cavity collapse was assisted with an additional wave pressure wave? submitted by /u/graebot [link] [comments]

How much more dangerous would lightning strikes have been 300 million years ago when atmospheric oxygen levels peaked at 35%? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 04:34 AM PDT Re: the statistic, I found it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_history_of_oxygen Since the start of the Cambrian period, atmospheric oxygen concentrations have fluctuated between 15% and 35% of atmospheric volume.[10] The maximum of 35% was reached towards the end of the Carboniferous period (about 300 million years ago), a peak which may have contributed to the large size of insects and amphibians at that time. submitted by /u/ergotpoisoning [link] [comments]

Is Fuzzy Logic used in science, and more specifically in Quantum Mechanics? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 02:40 AM PDT So I am self studying Fuzzy Sets from George J. Klir's book. Chapter 1 concludes with a discussion on paradigm shifts, and how fuzzy logic is a new paradigm that will change science considerably. The book was written in 1995 though. So did scientists adopt this new paradigm, and more specifically did this new paradigm make its way to quantum mechanics? submitted by /u/i_m_no_bot [link] [comments]

Why does the CDC report on cases of B. pertussis (whooping cough) appear to show an increase in cases among children with 3+ doses of vaccination? [Links inside] Posted: 20 Oct 2016 08:02 PM PDT I'm not an antivaxxer, however, I came across the CDC's surveillance reports from the past few years that seem to show an increased risk for those children who have multiple doses of the vaccination. (The links I am referring to are near the bottom of the webpage under "Surveillance Reports") I do not intend to start any 'Vax or No-Vax' conversation, I simply desire to understand what this data is actually conveying. Thank you! submitted by /u/3434Anon3434 [link] [comments]

Why are free neutrons unstable? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:25 PM PDT Why is it that free neutrons are unstable whereas free protons are perfectly stable on their own? What is it about a free neutron that unstablizes it outside of the nucleus of an atom? submitted by /u/Airstew [link] [comments]

Pictures of the shade balls that LA dropped into its reservoir show organized groups of balls on the water that are reminiscent of the crystal structures on the surface of galvanized steel. Is this just coincidence or are there related processes at play? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 11:06 AM PDT Here are the pictures of the shade balls that I'm referring too: Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 And for reference, a picture of galvanized steel. Are there related processes at play that influence both the formation of crystals in galvanized steel and the self-organization of the shade balls? Or are the similarities between the two simply coincidence? submitted by /u/catch878 [link] [comments]

Why, in music, do scale modes appear to have such different tonal qualities? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 08:50 AM PDT Taking the C major scale for example, why does the Ionian mode (C major: CDEFGAB) sound so different from the Aeolian mode (A minor: ABCDEFG)? I can appreciate that the intervals from the tonic are different, but the intervals between the same notes are the same: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G 2-2-1-2-2-2-1-2-2-1-2-2-2-1-2-2-1-2 So why don't I start hearing A minor in the middle of playing a C major scale? Or C major in the middle of A minor, or the Phrygian mode from III? How do we stay locked on a mode's tonal centre and hear such different qualities between modes, even lacking accompanying chords for reference? submitted by /u/FretbuzzLightyear [link] [comments]

When (and by whom) was it discovered that the brain is where memories are stored? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:30 PM PDT submitted by /u/Ikswezsybyzrp [link] [comments]

How did the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius preserve the people and items of Pompeii? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 11:40 AM PDT I know everything was covered in ash, but I don't see how that preserved everything. submitted by /u/Zircon_72 [link] [comments]

How does weather affects voting statistics? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 12:22 PM PDT submitted by /u/Dinosaur_Supervisor [link] [comments]

What would happen if another star collided with our sun, assuming the other star was equal size and mass and both were traveling at the same speed? Posted: 21 Oct 2016 12:29 AM PDT Would they combine together into one large star or collapse into a massive black hole? Would the energy released from the collision be enough to destroy the solar system? What about the galaxy? Just curious. submitted by /u/The_Iron_Zeppelin [link] [comments]

What is the physiological purpose of RNA using Uracil instead of Thymine when all the other nitrogenous bases are the same as DNA? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 09:32 AM PDT submitted by /u/Battman93 [link] [comments]

How come the same hair color can look different in different light settings? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 11:43 AM PDT I got the same dark brown hair as my friend. In low- and medium/room light the hair color looks almost exactly the same but in strong light (like a bright sunny day outside or in bright spotlight) my hair looks more light-/chestnutbrown while his look more darkblonde-ish. I've noticed similair things at other times with other hair colors, is there a science behind this? submitted by /u/parkercannonball [link] [comments]

What is the best definition of entropy? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 10:54 AM PDT I'm trying to understand entropy as fundamentally as possible. Which do you think is the best way to understand it: The existence of a thermodynamic system in a generalized macrostate which could be described by any one of a number of specific microstates. The system will follow probability and occupy macrostates comprising the greatest number of microstates. Heat spreading out and equalizing. The volume of phase space of a system, where that volume is conserved or increased. (This is the definition I'm most interested in, but I have heard it might be just a generalization.) Some other definition. Unavailability of thermodynamic energy for conversion into mechanical work, etc. I suppose each of these definitions describes a different facet of the same process. But I want to understand what happens in the world as fundamentally as possible. Can a particular definition of entropy do that for me? submitted by /u/ktool [link] [comments]

Does a policy that allows passing on the right on multilane highways result in more or less efficient use of that highway? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 02:04 PM PDT Let's assume we're looking at 4-lane highways at a minimum (2 lanes in each direction). But it's common to find 6 or even 8-lane highways. I ask this from the US, where in SOME states, it is legal to pass on the right on a multilane highway. It seems that people frequently just drive in the middle lane or the left lane, so can, and do, get passed on both sides. If you drove like this in Germany, you'd be run over. It strikes me that this policy is both less safe and less efficient. Is it less efficient? Any modeling of this available? submitted by /u/Creddit999 [link] [comments]

How can CRISPR/Cas9 target genes larger than 20 nucleotides? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 09:04 AM PDT If a point mutation occurs earlier than 20 nucleotides before the PAM sequence, how can CAS9 cut out this point mutation to repair it with a template? Do PAM sequences occur enough inside genes so that the entire gene is almost always targetable. I am a biomedical science student and am writing a paper about the use of CRISPR/Cas9 (and dCas9 and other Cas enzymes) in future cognitive enhancement therapies by editing genes (no knockouts, just genetic variation to produce slightly "better" proteins). As example; alteration of the CREB sequence to variations such CREB-y134F (mice) would be a possible target, however CREB is over 300 nucleotides long. Am I misunderstanding (I never looked into the details of CRISPR before this paper) the CRISPR/Cas9 system or is there a lot less freedom than literature implies? Thanks! -Dagl1 submitted by /u/Dagl1 [link] [comments]

Is there vocabulary in topology that could be useful for discussing so-called 'gerrymandered' political district boundaries? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 08:49 AM PDT I understand that many factors will go into organizing the population geographically (e.g. following a river), but are there concepts coming from mathematics that could be used to describe potentially gerrymandered districts in a concise and precise way, and maybe even (when combined with with historical, geographical, or social science information) could inform certain initial arguments about whether a district may have been gerrymandered for political purposes? submitted by /u/wjrii [link] [comments]

Will two cars with three seconds following distance always have three seconds of following distance? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 08:40 AM PDT CarB is three seconds behind CarA going 35mph; CarA crosses into a 45mph zone and accelerates. CarB crosses into the 45mph zone with the exact same acceleration as CarA. The physical distance would be longer, but the two cars would still be exactly three seconds apart, right? submitted by /u/JaeHxC [link] [comments]

Would a "base-prime", number system be useful in any way? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 10:13 AM PDT I just watched the most recent numberphile video and it got me thinking about base systems. In most base systems, the length of the written representation of the number grows with the log of the number in a constant base. (for example in base 10, each time we multiply by 10, the number grows by 1 digit). However each integer can also be represented by a unique prime factorization. Therefor we could create a "base system" in which each number is represented by the number of times each prime occurs in its prime factorization. Some examples would be: 1 ---> 1 2 ---> 10 3 ---> 100 4 ---> 20 5 ---> 1000 6 ---> 110 Is there any merit to using a system like this? Can it be expanded to include more numbers like the rationals or reals? What does arithmetic look like using this system? Just wondering if anyone has tried this before. Thanks submitted by /u/graciousgroob [link] [comments]

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Aside from Uranium and Plutonium for bomb making, have scientist found any other material valid for bomb making?

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• Aside from Uranium and Plutonium for bomb making, have scientist found any other material valid for bomb making?
• When birds fly south for the winter, how exactly does the population Distribution change? Do they all fly south an equal distance and displace each other, or do those that spend summer farther north have to fly farther south to find unoccupied territory?
• Does the ISS ever have to adjust its velocity and if so, how does it accomplish it?
• Why don't Cats need haircuts?
• How do scientists know the chemical components of far away planets?
• Is it known when/where Rh negative people first appeared, or have they always been around?
• [Physics] If strong force is strong enough to keep protons together, why do atoms need neutrons to keep the protons from tearing apart?
• How can we know about a 20-mile wide Kuiper belt red object (MU69), but just now be "discovering" two new moons over Uranus?
• Microwave cavities are necessary to generate microwaves, so where is this component on a wireless router?
• I quit smoking after 20 years. What is my body doing to heal itself?
• Can we accurately calculate the rate at which heat will travel through an object? How do we do that?
• Are the limits, or bounds, to the electromagnetic spectrum?
• What is the heritability of Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome, and chance of a child being born with it if one parent (mother) is affected with the condition (hypermobility type) and the father does not have the condition?
• How do radio stations judge their number of listeners?
• Ask Anything Wednesday - Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science
• Is there something like the "double dabble" algorithm, for trinary/base 3?
• If a vacuum is an extremely effective insulator, how does the ISS and other space vessels handle dissipating heat?
• Confusion about the inverse square law. Can someone please explain?
• Could a single molecule of water conduct electricity?
• Do nyctinastic plants absorb the same amount of sunlight when closed?
• Is there a need for a larger particle accelerator?
• How fast is lightning in a vacuum?
• How are the strong/weak nuclear forces stronger over a short distance compared with electromagnetism/gravity, yet weaker over longer distances?
• How does molecular structure search work?

Aside from Uranium and Plutonium for bomb making, have scientist found any other material valid for bomb making? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 05:50 PM PDT Im just curious if there could potentially be an unidentified element or even a more 'unstable' type of Plutonium or Uranium that scientist may not have found yet that could potentially yield even stronger bombs Or, have scientist really stopped trying due to the fact those type of weapons arent used anymore? submitted by /u/MScrapienza [link] [comments]

When birds fly south for the winter, how exactly does the population Distribution change? Do they all fly south an equal distance and displace each other, or do those that spend summer farther north have to fly farther south to find unoccupied territory? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 06:34 AM PDT I think the question is pretty well contained in the title text, but for reference, I was looking at the range of the Canada Goose. They're a permanent resident in the upper half of the US, but they're seasonal in most of Canada and the southern US. How exactly do the populations migrate? Do they replace each other linearly, where they all more or less fly an equal distance south, or do the birds present in the upper US mostly stay put in their 'territory' while those from Canada have to migrate all the way to Texas to find an unoccupied area to spend the winter? submitted by /u/VeryLittle [link] [comments]

Does the ISS ever have to adjust its velocity and if so, how does it accomplish it? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 06:45 AM PDT submitted by /u/AHumbleBuckeye [link] [comments]

Why don't Cats need haircuts? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 08:25 PM PDT submitted by /u/Bezwick11 [link] [comments]

How do scientists know the chemical components of far away planets? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:40 AM PDT submitted by /u/fart_smells_good [link] [comments]

Is it known when/where Rh negative people first appeared, or have they always been around? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 08:05 AM PDT I stumbled upon a clickbaity article claiming that 'Rh negative people are aliens' and a bunch of other nonsense, so I started looking around and it turns out there isn't much info online about the 'genealogical history' (probably not the right technical term for it) of Rh negative people. A quick look at the Wikipedia page for blood type distribution by country tells me it's mostly European lineages that are Rh negative, so intuitively I would think that a mutation occurred in Europe at some point, but this is really just a guess. Is there currently any consensus about this? submitted by /u/1AwkwardPotato [link] [comments]

[Physics] If strong force is strong enough to keep protons together, why do atoms need neutrons to keep the protons from tearing apart? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:35 AM PDT I was watching Crash Course Chemistry and watched the lateral SciShow video about how quarks are held together with strong force, which keeps protons together and also ties together the whole atom through nuclear force. When I got back to the video on the nucleus, however, Hank stated that neutrons are important because without them the protons would tear each other apart. Wouldn't the strong force be more likely to pull the protons in close? What force would be pushing the protons apart and creating a need for neutrons? submitted by /u/lipglosschaos [link] [comments]

How can we know about a 20-mile wide Kuiper belt red object (MU69), but just now be "discovering" two new moons over Uranus? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 05:57 PM PDT submitted by /u/clovencarrot [link] [comments]

Microwave cavities are necessary to generate microwaves, so where is this component on a wireless router? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 06:08 AM PDT submitted by /u/timetravelcow [link] [comments]

I quit smoking after 20 years. What is my body doing to heal itself? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 10:09 PM PDT How long for the heavy metals to leave my body? How long for my lungs to detox themselves? submitted by /u/DoYouEnjoyMy [link] [comments]

Can we accurately calculate the rate at which heat will travel through an object? How do we do that? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 09:18 PM PDT For example, if I have a cup of coffee. How would I find out how quickly the heat will take to reach the outside of the cup? submitted by /u/Meekswel [link] [comments]

Are the limits, or bounds, to the electromagnetic spectrum? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 08:40 PM PDT submitted by /u/Connorrrrrrrrr [link] [comments]

What is the heritability of Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome, and chance of a child being born with it if one parent (mother) is affected with the condition (hypermobility type) and the father does not have the condition? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 06:37 PM PDT Very specific question, but I'm actually just curious. I recently learned of the condition from a female speaker and an event, and I looked it up on my own, to learn more, and one part I could never find was the heritability. Thank you in advance. submitted by /u/ThenWhatDidYouExpect [link] [comments]

How do radio stations judge their number of listeners? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 06:02 PM PDT submitted by /u/destrovel_H [link] [comments]

Ask Anything Wednesday - Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science Posted: 19 Oct 2016 08:05 AM PDT Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science Do you have a question within these topics you weren't sure was worth submitting? Is something a bit too speculative for a typical /r/AskScience post? No question is too big or small for AAW. In this thread you can ask any science-related question! Things like: "What would happen if...", "How will the future...", "If all the rules for 'X' were different...", "Why does my...". Asking Questions: Please post your question as a top-level response to this, and our team of panellists will be here to answer and discuss your questions. The other topic areas will appear in future Ask Anything Wednesdays, so if you have other questions not covered by this weeks theme please either hold on to it until those topics come around, or go and post over in our sister subreddit /r/AskScienceDiscussion , where every day is Ask Anything Wednesday! Off-theme questions in this post will be removed to try and keep the thread a manageable size for both our readers and panellists. Answering Questions: Please only answer a posted question if you are an expert in the field. The full guidelines for posting responses in AskScience can be found here. In short, this is a moderated subreddit, and responses which do not meet our quality guidelines will be removed. Remember, peer reviewed sources are always appreciated, and anecdotes are absolutely not appropriate. In general if your answer begins with 'I think', or 'I've heard', then it's not suitable for /r/AskScience. If you would like to become a member of the AskScience panel, please refer to the information provided here. Past AskAnythingWednesday posts can be found here. Ask away! submitted by /u/AutoModerator [link] [comments]

Is there something like the "double dabble" algorithm, for trinary/base 3? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 09:26 PM PDT I want to use an algorithm to convert trinary (base 3) to trinary coded decimal. Is there such a thing? What's it called? (Maybe tripple trabble, idk). submitted by /u/0Zyn [link] [comments]

If a vacuum is an extremely effective insulator, how does the ISS and other space vessels handle dissipating heat? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 11:59 AM PDT submitted by /u/Quick_shine_matters [link] [comments]

Confusion about the inverse square law. Can someone please explain? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 06:22 AM PDT I'm just gonna warn anyone who loves and/or works in physics, now...this post is going to be straight cancer to your eyeballs. From what I know, 1 / distance2 is what determines the intensity of a light source, or gravitational pull, or whatever you're observing. I've heard, many times, by actual physisists, that the simplification is "Double the distance, divide the intensity by four." This is easily put into practice just by using a torch on a wall. If I stand a meter away from a wall, and hold a torch towards it, a part of the wall is lit up. If I stand two meters away from a wall, and hold that same torch towards it, four times the area is being lit up, but it's (roughly) the same amount of photons. By the logic in the above paragraph, that means the same area that was being lit up when I was standing one meter away is only being hit by a quarter of as much light, right? That all makes sense to me, but when you turn what you're observing into gravity, my brain has a fit. So, if I double my distance from Earth, I'll divide its gravitational pull on me by four? I'm currently sitting on a chair, with my feet up on my desk, suspended about 60cm from the ground. So, if I run this through a calculator with that equation up the top of this post, I get ~0.00027. Let's times that by Earth's surface gravity (9.8m/s, but because I punched in 60cm, not 0.6m, I'll convert it to 980cm). Interesting. I get 0.2646cm. So...Earth's current gravitational pull on me is 2.6mm/s? But it's not, otherwise I'd be knocking myself out on my roof every time I farted. Hell, if I double my distance, again, so I'm 1.2m away, its gravitational pull should be 0.65mm. Can you see where my confusion is coming from? Keep in mind, try to keep any explanations simple for my layman, little mind. Just a side, but related question, if anyone knows, is there a simple equation I can punch into a calculator that can determine how far away from an object you need to be in order for its gravitational pull on you to be almost 0? I know that it can never be 0, because gravity will always affect you no matter how far away you are, but, for example, I'm working with limited decimal places, like 3. I mean, in the real world, once the gravity is as low as 0.001m/s, and you increase the distance further, it's going to go to 0.00099999999999999--etc, but if I'm working with 3 decimal places, maximum, it will just become 0.000. Say I make up a fake planet with a random surface gravity off the top of my head. I'll choose 20.9m/s. Is there an equation I can pop into my calculator with "20.9" somewhere in it , that will spit out the distance from the planet a fictional rocket would have to be in order for that gravitational pull to be less than 0.001? submitted by /u/Zentopian [link] [comments]

Could a single molecule of water conduct electricity? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 06:19 PM PDT AFAIK, Metal is a good conductor because it has a sea of delocalized electrons that are able to move charge across it. So, in theory, since water is covalently bonded, and the hydrogens, and oxygen, are "sharing" electrons, a single molecule of water should be able to conduct electricity. submitted by /u/The_abster [link] [comments]

Do nyctinastic plants absorb the same amount of sunlight when closed? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 06:12 AM PDT I raise tropical bonsai, and have a Tamarind with curious leaves that close and make me feel weird for leaving the light turned on. submitted by /u/JustLikeAmmy [link] [comments]

Is there a need for a larger particle accelerator? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 07:09 PM PDT Do bigger accelerators mean better results? Is there even a plateau for how large one can be and still be an improvement? Is there anything we could even discover with them after the Higgs Boson particle? submitted by /u/master_of_disgust [link] [comments]

How fast is lightning in a vacuum? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 05:17 PM PDT Been wondering if it's the same as the speed of light, I would assume not but thought I'd ask. submitted by /u/ThatClanGuy [link] [comments]

How are the strong/weak nuclear forces stronger over a short distance compared with electromagnetism/gravity, yet weaker over longer distances? Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:00 AM PDT Wouldn't the strength of the fundamental forces decrease at equal rates? IE, if there is an electromagnetic force of 5 arbitrary units (AU), and it decreases by 1 AU over 1 arbitrary distance (AD), then a strong nuclear force of 5 AU would also decrease by 1 AU over 1 AD. submitted by /u/SomeAnonymous [link] [comments]

How does molecular structure search work? Posted: 19 Oct 2016 10:19 AM PDT How does molecular structure searches like PubChem work? I had assumed they were using Smiles but a number of smiles can be obtained from a given molecule which would not work with a simple string search. Does it convert molecular data into a different format that allows substructure search? submitted by /u/the_terran [link] [comments]

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