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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Can new pimples and zits form on the body/face of someone after they have been declared clinically dead?

Can new pimples and zits form on the body/face of someone after they have been declared clinically dead?


Can new pimples and zits form on the body/face of someone after they have been declared clinically dead?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 10:08 PM PST

Random shower thought. I'm actually curious, since the bacteria and white blood cells on and in your body wouldn't die out immediately after death.

submitted by /u/macabreswindler
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Do neutrons bound to stable atoms decay the same way protons do over long timescales?

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 02:17 AM PST

As in do the protons in an atom have to decay first untill the atom becomes an unstable isotope, making the neutrons decay into protons, and then the newly formed protons decay again. Or can neutrons decay into elementary particles directly in a similar way protons can? I know that the existance of proton decay is not confirmed, and some scientist may even say its unlikely. But does the hypothesis also include bound neutron decay?

submitted by /u/empire314
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Does tongue surface area affect taste sensitivity?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 10:04 PM PST

Edit: To clarify, if it's not obvious, my intuition here is that greater tongue surface area translates to more taste buds, which means greater taste sensitivity.

Reasons this might be wrong:

  1. Tongue surface area may not actually be correlated with number of taste buds. Maybe they're just less densely spaced.

  2. Number of taste buds may not translate to greater taste sensitivity. Maybe with more taste buds, the brain is less sensitive to input from any one taste bud.

The way I imagine one might test this hypothesis is by seeing whether ability to detect sugar, acid, salt, or some bitter compound dissolved in water at low concentrations is correlated with tongue surface area. I was unable to find any such research, though.

submitted by /u/brberg
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If the Earth was shrunken down to the size of a marble but still had the same mass, would it form a black hole? How much mass would a marble need to have to form a black hole?

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 05:35 AM PST

Why don't waterfalls get worn down to gradual inclines?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 07:59 AM PST

Could I make the case that any sequence of numbers i choose at random, no matter how long, like 53948714, can be found somewhere along the digits of pi?

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 02:57 AM PST

If the Planck Length is the smallest possible measurement of length, then is it also the shorted distance that can be traveled?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 06:58 PM PST

Of course, assuming one could control movement to such a minute increment.

submitted by /u/Running-Fox
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Why does running on an inclined treadmill feel like running up a hill (needs more energy) even though you're not gaining elevation (potential energy)?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 07:26 PM PST

If you run up a hill, you have to work harder and that work (energy) is transferred into potential energy because at the end you are higher in elevation then when you began.

Running on an inclined treadmill feels like running up hill, and seems to require the same increase in energy but without the extra potential energy at the end.

Where does that extra energy go?

submitted by /u/uscmissinglink
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Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 07:04 AM PST

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

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
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What is the Pauli Exclusion Principle?

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 05:15 AM PST

I don't know a whole lot about quantum mechanics, and I know the main example is electrons and their position and interaction between other electrons. But a more detailed explanation would be greatly appreciated.

submitted by /u/cleverpenguin10
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What restricts temperatures from going above Planck's temperature(1.416785×10^32K)?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 07:52 PM PST

1)I was reading about 'absolute hot' on the wiki and do not understand why "particle energies become so large that gravitational forces between them would become as strong as other fundamental forces" would prevent higher temperatures than planck's temperature.

2)Based on the wiki, the universe experienced this temperature 10-42 seconds post-bigbang, doesn't this indicate that the time before then would have higher temperatures than planck's temperature?

submitted by /u/lightningblaze
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If a proton consists of numerous quark/antiquark pairs and gluons, why is its mass only 80x larger than the net 2 up quarks and 1 down quark?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 01:38 PM PST

I was going through this article which begins explaining the chaos that is a proton. Yet I was a little uncertain on why the observed mass of a proton is not significantly larger than these "zillion" quark/antiquark pairs.

submitted by /u/CallMeDoc24
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With MRI Magnets being ridiculously strong, Why don't they affect compasses, systems, animals, etc ?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 08:07 PM PST

I have heard that MRI magnets are something like 60,000 x stronger than the earth's magnetic field. If this is true, with thousands of them in operation world wide. Why aren't compasses, animals who navigate by the earth's north pole, instruments, and even the earth's magnetic poles affected by them ?

submitted by /u/mythos_logos
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If forces are mediated by particles, how does a mass deficit arise in bound systems?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 01:41 PM PST

For example, gravitationally bound objects have lesser mass when their potential energy increases. If the force is mediated by a graviton, is it not this massless particle giving rise to the bound nature of the system and increasing its potential energy? How exactly does mass decrease when gravitons (or in generally any force-mediating particles) are present?

submitted by /u/CallMeDoc24
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Expansion velocity of a nuclear fireball?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 03:57 PM PST

After the reaction begins, how rapidly does this thing expand, from like 0 - 10m or 0 - 50m? I would assume its velocity drops over distance but I don't know.

submitted by /u/Leg_day_ft_LordBoros
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Why are electromagnetic waves represented by their frequency?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 05:08 PM PST

I might be wrong but aren't all waves traveling like this ?

This is an example of sound waves but isn't it the same for electromagentic waves?

submitted by /u/Kaisen25
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What are the arguments for and against Chronic Fatigue?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 10:49 AM PST

I have been trying to find information on Chronic Fatigue and there seems to be a lot of contradicting information surrounding whether or not it's a real disease. Some of the info also didn't seem like it was credible (both for arguments for and against). I also asked a friend of mine in the medical field and she seemed just rolled her eyes but didn't say much more. So I'm genuinely curious now what the arguments are for and against Chronic Fatigue.

submitted by /u/moxie516
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How do they make sure when building a tall skyscraper, it remains straight ?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 08:19 AM PST

ive always wondered when you see these 200 + meter skyscrapers, how do they keep them perfectly straight when building ? Considering most of the work is done level by level, a slight error in measurements will mean the tower will slowly taper off to being crooked. Is there special tools that they use ?

submitted by /u/Stealthbombing
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When free falling, is it better to hold on to something or not?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 10:41 AM PST

If I was to jump out of a 5th story window (disregarding the shape/composition of the object), would it be better to free fall or strap myself to an object i.e. would something I had strapped myself to absorb any of my impact with the ground? Would I have a better chance of survival jumping solo or riding an object to the ground? (we're assuming I'm able to "ride" it to the ground, that's not up for debate)

submitted by /u/mm3pt14
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Why is Homo Florensiensis considered a new species of humans?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 08:01 AM PST

The only fossil specimen available is that of a female of small stature. How did the scientists consider this as a new species? Just at, that is a very insignificant sample size. So why the hurry?

Edit : please forgive the typo : it is Homo Floresiensis.

submitted by /u/anandmallaya
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Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Why do they say not to put a car battery on a concrete floor?

Why do they say not to put a car battery on a concrete floor?


Why do they say not to put a car battery on a concrete floor?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:14 PM PST

The old wive's tale has been proven anecdotally that putting a car battery on a concrete floor kills the charge. Is there any science behind this or is it coincidental?

submitted by /u/bykobbackwardsnu
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If your visual cortex is damaged, can you see in your dreams?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 07:10 PM PST

Particularly, can a patient in a coma dream if the auditory or visual cortex is damaged?

submitted by /u/hunglikejesus-
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Why does staring at a moving optical illusion and looking away cause what you're looking at to appear to be moving?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 10:11 PM PST

For example, the illusions in this video

submitted by /u/Trtlman
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How do radio waves (low energy) travel through walls and gamma rays (high energy) travel through walls, but visible light (medium energy) can't go through walls?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 04:29 PM PST

It just seems strange that I can send a text when indoors, but the walls block light which has more energy.

submitted by /u/AutoCorrekted
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What do all the numbers and letters mean in celestial bodies? i.e. APM 08279+5255 [Super massive black hole]

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 07:41 PM PST

Why are some metals stronger than others?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:02 PM PST

Is there any evidence to suggest that plant yields are lower in microgravity?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 06:53 PM PST

I've been doing some cursory research into plant growth in space and cannot seem to get an answer to this question. There is an abundance of papers on whether plants can grow at all in space (they can), but very little on how microgravity actually affects their yields per unit of growing area. I suppose another way of looking at it would be how plant growth in whatever medium they're using compares to conventional hydroponics or aquaponics.

The overarching question I am trying to answer is whether it is worth implementing some form of artificial gravity for future plant growth habitats.

Thanks in advance for any help!

submitted by /u/propionate
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Hi all. I have seen it stated as fact by those who don't believe in man made climate change that more damage is done by the explosion of one volcano than by all the harmful chemicals released by China in an entire year. Is this myth?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 03:49 AM PST

To me it seems impossible as it would totally undermine the idea that humans can significantly effect climate change, although I can find no actual data to back up what is, in my experience, a fairly common argument.

submitted by /u/Dwights_Bobblehead
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How do electric and magnetic multipole operators transform under Lorentz boosts?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 05:14 PM PST

We learn electric and magnetic fields are simply frame-dependent phenomena (e.g. if moving with charge then one only observes a magnetic field). Is there an analog with the dipole operators? If we were in another frame, would this magnetic dipole operator appear to be an electric dipole operator? Since electric dipole operators change parity, would an electric dipole operator appear to change parity in one frame and not the other? The monopole case (i.e. a charge) is Lorentz-invariant, but what about multipoles in general?

submitted by /u/CallMeDoc24
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Are there any opaque, liquid solutions that become transparent or at least translucent when agitated?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 04:24 PM PST

Like, you could use it to make a reverse snow-globe that would reveal the scene when you picked it up and shook it.

submitted by /u/Solesaver
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If has been said of Artificial cranial deformation, which was notably practiced by the Incas of Peru, that it might have resulted in pain and possibly psychiatric issues. To what degree, and on what basis, is that established fact?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 05:14 AM PST

I'm referring to practices such as displayed on the Paracas skulls and some Maya.

I'm supposing it is not being practiced anymore, but I do not know so for a fact.

Anything else we know about this practice and its effects is fair game.

submitted by /u/Gargatua13013
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[biology] [reproduction] Can/does a successful and healthy pregnancy affect fertility for a woman?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 07:43 PM PST

In my case, after my first child, my menstrual cycles were actually lighter, shorter, and less painful. I'm wondering if there's any bearing on fertility after a healthy pregnancy, like the body "recognizes" that it's done this before and can work better at doing it again? I searched online, but all the info I found was on factors affecting infertility.

submitted by /u/HautHauswife
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Where does the excess energy gained from fission and fusion come from?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 03:26 PM PST

Every visualization of fission and fusion just shows excess energy flying away after the reaction, but where does that energy come from. On fusion, i read that the low binding energy per nucleon enables you to realese energy, but how and why? Also, i sometimes hear that the bonds, both atomic and chemical, doesn't hold energy, instead, you realese energy when you put things together, whats up with that? I thought that bonds was holding stored energy?

submitted by /u/Cookie_Nation
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What would happen to metals left in water for exceedingly long amounts of time?

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 06:45 AM PST

For example, say you left a piece of steel or iron for 100 days or even a few years, what would happen to it by the time you came back for it? And, would different metals exprience the same reaction or lackthereof?

submitted by /u/Dragonesus
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How to calculate fridge efficiency rating? (EU scale)

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 06:08 PM PST

Hey guys.

I'm looking to find out how to calculate the efficiency rating for a fridge (European Union scale). I know the capacity of the fridge, and the kWh consumption in a week of standard use.

Long story short, I'm living in a rented apartment and I noticed the fridge had the compressor running very often (fridge was included in the apartment). Then I looked at the label and noticed it says "Made in West Germany". That seemed odd, it's not everyday you run into an appliance that's probably older than you. I bought one of those energy consumption meters and measured the weekly consumption during a week of standard use, and multiplied by 52 to obtain the consumption per annum. Turns out this tiny old 164L fridge has a yearly consumption of 842.4 kWh (16.2 weekly).

Considering how energy expenses are not included in the rent, I feel compelled to bring this up with the land lord, and I'd like to have a rough idea of where in the efficiency scale this fridge would fit.

Thank you.

submitted by /u/Deimos_F
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What would happen if you didn't use the restroom, forcing yourself to hold in your waste for an extended period of time?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 04:34 PM PST

How to compute probability distribution function of measurements?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 03:24 PM PST

I have a set of wave heights for ~20 years in monthly averages and I need to find the probability distribution function, could someone guide me with some steps to do that? Thanks in advance!

submitted by /u/pikapsou
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When a wireman climbs a radio tower etc... are there any maleffects from waves?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:26 PM PST

If the pressure from stars fuses hydrogen into heavier and heavier elements, then why were the first hydrogen atoms not fused together shortly after the big bang when they were still very close together and under immense pressure?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 12:51 PM PST

In the context of computer networking, how are 0 bits transmitted and subsequently detected?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 07:32 PM PST

Say for example I have a router that is transmitting a network message over a fiber optic cable. As I understand it, the router will transmit this message as a series of bits represented by light pulses. I assume a 1 bit (representing an "on" state) would be sent as a light pulse, but in this case how would a 0 bit be sent? Also how would the network device on the other end confirm that it has received a 0 bit?

submitted by /u/meineMaske
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How do neuron action potentials create different information?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 05:52 PM PST

Basically, every action potential really is just the influx and exit of Na+ and K+ ions, right? And then they'll release neurotransmitters which just make it more or less likely to fire. So my question is:

How does the brain treat a neuron action potential from the ears different from one from the eyes? And if neurotransmitters only increase or decrease the likelihood of an action potential, then why not just name them "excitatory" or "inhibitory"? Why does the brain SEE from one AP, but HEAR from another if it's really just the same information? If I were to somehow reroute neurons from my auditory sense and make them connect to the vision area of my brain, would I "see" when I am actually "hearing"?

submitted by /u/bennettsaucyman
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What determines a fluid's boiling point?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 02:30 PM PST

I was recently looking over temperatures at which gases become liquids, and noticed that helium boils at -452 degrees Fahrenheit, while hydrogen boils at -423 degrees Fahrenheit. What determines these temperatures? Is it atomic/molecular structure?

submitted by /u/Mouth0fTheSouth
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In feynman diagrams, why are positrons viewed as moving backwards through time? How is this a more useful model?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 10:16 AM PST

How is this possibly more useful than a positron moving forward in time?

submitted by /u/LiveClimbRepeat
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Monday, January 23, 2017

[Physics] Why do charges flow from positive to negative?

[Physics] Why do charges flow from positive to negative?


[Physics] Why do charges flow from positive to negative?

Posted: 23 Jan 2017 05:26 AM PST

Why do some insects have hemoglobin while others have hemocyanin?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 05:34 AM PST

How do scientists determine the age of cave paintings?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 08:02 PM PST

Is it possible using software to determine the hardware circuits of a computer system?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 01:32 PM PST

You can obviously find out a few basic things about hardware you're running with software programs; the amount of RAM channels, control operations on the microprocessor, etc, but how much further could you theoretically go in determining exactly the structure/nature of the circuits on which the software is running?

submitted by /u/b00gi
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Why are there long strips of land along the eastern coast of the US? What formed them?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 03:45 PM PST

All along the eastern coast of the US, there's these oddly thin protrusions of land: http://imgur.com/a/2peSE

What caused these? Are there coasts with similar attributes?

submitted by /u/SykoKiller666
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Why don't incandescent light bulbs need any cooling, but LED lamps require it?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 01:25 PM PST

Old bulbs didn't require any cooling even in the 100-200W range. But LEDs need passive cooling after few W and active cooling over ~20 W. Why is that?

submitted by /u/akosprojects
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What happens if someone seals a completely empty box in space and brings it to earth?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 07:23 PM PST

My thermos has a vacuum, but my coffee still gets cold. If I bring home a vacuum from space, what will happen? Will I be able to use it to keep my coffee hot forever? Will the box close in on itself?

Thanks in advance for all the answers!

submitted by /u/gr8gh0st
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Do organisms with shorter lifespans evolve faster?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 12:23 PM PST

What gets split with a signal splitter?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 05:00 PM PST

I have an attic installed antenna. I took a basic EE course back in college, but the details for antennas have been lost to the cobwebs of my mind. As the Radio-Frequency wave impacts the metal of an antenna, the electrons move in concert with the wave. That movement is sent transferred to a coaxial cable to a junction box, where I split it to the TVs I desire to decode the signal. I have a 1-3 splitter that is labeled -3.5db, -7db, and -7db. My question is: what exactly is taking a 3.5 or 7db loss? The induced current (I could see that based on Kirchoff's current laws)? the signal to noise ratio? The induced voltage traveling down the wire? All of the above and more? Something else? I'm very curious what property is actually taking a loss. I remember hearing at one point there was no point in amplifying after a split, because you can't drag more signal up out of the noise, is that true? Thanks!

submitted by /u/CheeseOrion
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How did computers evolve to have no moving parts?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 05:57 PM PST

I've read that the earliest computers had to be physically rewired in order to write a new program to the computer. How is it that now we can just write new programs without having to physically alter the wiring inside a computer? What is it about the actual computer code that allows it to be so flexible and do so many different things without having to physically manipulate the computer parts?

submitted by /u/Twarren8178
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How does electricity "know" the path of least resistance?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 11:22 PM PST

In a parallel circuit, current splits at a node and will tend to flow towards a branch with a lower resistance value. How is this possible? I assume this has to do with the quantum mechanical aspect of matter?

Bonus questions : in what conditions can a gas become a conductor? Do they offer advantages over conductors such as copper?

submitted by /u/eexistencee
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Why do people occasionally wake up aroused?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 08:14 AM PST

It's a common phenomenon across seemingly all ages and genders. What causes it? Is it something to do with erotic (but unremembered) dreams? Incidental stimulation of the genitals during sleep? Something else?

I'm not referring to erections, here, but rather arousal in general, and am interested in this phenomenon in all genders, not just men.

submitted by /u/trippysnail
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Why do ultracold 87 Rb atoms behave as bosons?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 03:55 PM PST

I was reading one of my textbooks on Evaporative cooling and came across a list of Bose-Einstein condensates . I was suprised to see 87 Rb. Why does evaporatively cooled 87 Rb behave as a boson?

submitted by /u/Diggle3
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How do photons accelerate to c?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 09:31 PM PST

If I turn on an LED, out comes the photons - what causes them to accelerate to c? Seems like a little 9V battery would have quite enough... Oomph.

submitted by /u/mrlaptopman1
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What is TV static and how does it come to be?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 09:06 PM PST

Can spectral flux density be negative?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 05:08 PM PST

I was reading through a paper and on Figure 1B the spectral flux density is shown, where the axes themselves are on linear scales. The blue curve on this plot in particular corresponds to the Stokes V parameter (i.e. circular polarization), yet appears like it goes slightly negative in this case. I was simply wondering how that could be as I thought this was related to intensity and was always positive.

submitted by /u/CallMeDoc24
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How do muscles grow in the average healthy adult male?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 08:44 PM PST

Besides other factors (diet, genetics, testosterone and steroid use), how do muscles grow through exercise only?

submitted by /u/Regor400
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How big is our 'North Star" compared to these objects in this video?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 02:32 PM PST

Do larger birds grow larger feathers?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 09:45 AM PST

If bosons are force carriers, which force does the Higgs carry?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 07:52 PM PST

What makes the Higgs different? I always see it as not in the same category as the other bosons, which account for Electromagnetism, Strong interaction, and Weak interaction.

I understand that there's a Higgs field, but I've never heard of a higgs 'force'.

submitted by /u/Megaprr
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Does parental blood type influence miscarriage or development?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 03:23 PM PST

I've read about different/rare blood types such as A2, etc. Knowing that a fetus gets their type from mother and father, and might not be the same blood type as mom, how does that impact fetal development and mom's health?

submitted by /u/NewMaterialOnly
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Do viral infections reduce an organisms lifespan?

Posted: 22 Jan 2017 04:17 PM PST

As per the Hayflick Limit, most vertebrate cells can only divide between 50 and 70 times. However, when viral infections occur, many cells undergo viral lysis, and are destroyed - I presume that after the infection is defeated, nearby cells have to divide in order to repopulate the damaged tissue.

As such, do those divisions count towards the Hayflick Limit? Would having had a large number of viral infections (all of which are survived) decrease an organisms lifespan by causing tissues to end up undergoing premature senescence? Or, do infections and the immune response trigger the production of telomerase?

submitted by /u/Ameisen
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