AskScience AMA Series: I was NASA's first "Mars Czar" and I consulted on the sci-fi adventure film THE SPACE BETWEEN US. Let's talk about interplanetary space travel and Mars colonization... AMA!

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• AskScience AMA Series: I was NASA's first "Mars Czar" and I consulted on the sci-fi adventure film THE SPACE BETWEEN US. Let's talk about interplanetary space travel and Mars colonization... AMA!
• Why can't we theoretically get infinite electrical power through transformers?
• Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology
• Is the Spring constant (K) of a spring an actual constant or is it dependent on x (stretch)?
• Why do we perceive red as running into violet on a color wheel if their light frequencies don't similarly run into each other on the light spectrum? [neuroscience]
• Whats the maximum angle light can be redirected by a gravity well?
• How do scientists take off particles of matter from a material for research that are as small as a micro meter or nano meter in size?
• Is it possible for a person to be colorblind in only one eye?
• What is the speed of sound in a neutron star?
• Before mining happened on earth, which natural resources would be visible from the surface?
• Is there difference between 2G, 3G, and 4G in terms of power consumption?
• Are lasers required to produce collimated light?
• When talking about the age of the universe, which reference frame are scientists using?
• Is there an animal/organism that does not sleep? Does it have the capacity for learning and memory?
• Why does hearing dimish when we yawn?
• As you approach the speed of light, does the CMB in front of you get blueshifted?
• If a neutron is made of 3 quarks, each with spin +1/2, why does a neutron only have a spin of +1/2?
• What's happening in their brain when someone with dyslexia mixes up letters?
• As the light of more stars reaches the earth, will the night sky become brighter and brighter over time?
• Where does it hail the most? What causes it to hail there more than anywhere else?
• Is there a maximum "brightness"?
• When a geographically isolated population becomes reproductively isolated from previously interbreeding populations, what exactly changes to make them incapable of interbreeding?

AskScience AMA Series: I was NASA's first "Mars Czar" and I consulted on the sci-fi adventure film THE SPACE BETWEEN US. Let's talk about interplanetary space travel and Mars colonization... AMA! Posted: 01 Feb 2017 05:00 AM PST Hi, I'm Scott Hubbard and I'm an adjunct professor at Stanford University in the department of aeronautics and astronautics and was at NASA for 20 years, where I was the Director of the Ames Research Center and was appointed NASA's first "Mars Czar." I was brought on board to consult on the film THE SPACE BETWEEN US, to help advise on the story's scientific accuracy. The film features many exciting elements of space exploration, including interplanetary travel, Mars colonization and questions about the effects of Mars' gravity on a developing human in a story about the first human born on the red planet. Let's chat! Scott will be around starting at 2 PM PT (5 PM ET, 22 UT). submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

Why can't we theoretically get infinite electrical power through transformers? Posted: 01 Feb 2017 05:32 AM PST If we can take a low voltage and turn it into a higher voltage, why can't we just keep on doing this and get more and more electrical power? submitted by /u/blackdeath321 [link] [comments]

Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:05 AM PST Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology 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 the Spring constant (K) of a spring an actual constant or is it dependent on x (stretch)? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 09:27 PM PST In my physics class we are doing a lab, and part of it I had to calculate the spring constant of a spring. As i increased the force acting on the spring, ie stretched it further, the calculated spring constant changed from about 4.5 down to 3.5. I believe I also did not reach the elastic limit of the spring, as we retested it and got the same results. submitted by /u/swagruss [link] [comments]

Why do we perceive red as running into violet on a color wheel if their light frequencies don't similarly run into each other on the light spectrum? [neuroscience] Posted: 31 Jan 2017 03:10 PM PST For all other colors that bleed into each other on a color wheel, there is a corresponding "bleeding together" of frequencies on the light spectrum. Why do we perceive color in this way? Would this be the case if the visible light spectrum was a different stretch of the light spectrum, for example if we could see only between yellow and blue, or infrared and ultraviolet? Please let me know if it's unclear what I'm asking. I also was unsure whether to tag this in neuroscience, biology, or physics. submitted by /u/sikemeay [link] [comments]

Whats the maximum angle light can be redirected by a gravity well? Posted: 01 Feb 2017 06:05 AM PST I understand that black holes, stars and any massive enough gravity well can blend light but whats the upper limit on the angle, is it possible for light to do a complete 180 and fly back towards the source? submitted by /u/anythignrandom [link] [comments]

How do scientists take off particles of matter from a material for research that are as small as a micro meter or nano meter in size? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 09:56 PM PST How do scientists remove particles that are as small as a micro meter or nano meter from a material in order to inspect those particles? What processes or technology do scientists use to accomplish this? I could not find this information online. Thank you very much for your assistance. submitted by /u/Bearathor2156 [link] [comments]

Is it possible for a person to be colorblind in only one eye? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 09:53 AM PST Something like the heterochromia mutation? submitted by /u/thebrandedman [link] [comments]

What is the speed of sound in a neutron star? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 12:02 PM PST submitted by /u/CapitalGDP [link] [comments]

Before mining happened on earth, which natural resources would be visible from the surface? Posted: 01 Feb 2017 02:40 AM PST I imagine the easiest bits were mined first. Would there have been mountains literally glistening with gold and diamonds just 10,000 years ago? submitted by /u/breathing_normally [link] [comments]

Is there difference between 2G, 3G, and 4G in terms of power consumption? Posted: 01 Feb 2017 02:33 AM PST Do all three standards consume the same amount of power if we assume that it takes all three standards 5 minutes to download a 1MB file? submitted by /u/q1029384756 [link] [comments]

Are lasers required to produce collimated light? Posted: 01 Feb 2017 06:13 AM PST I was reading the wikipedia article on laser diodes which says: Due to diffraction, the beam diverges (expands) rapidly after leaving the chip, typically at 30 degrees vertically by 10 degrees laterally. A lens must be used in order to form a collimated beam like that produced by a laser pointer. If a circular beam is required, If the beam produced by a laser diode diverges and needs to be corrected with a lens anyways, do we need a laser diode at all? Could a regular LED or any other light source be used instead? submitted by /u/gburdell4u53 [link] [comments]

When talking about the age of the universe, which reference frame are scientists using? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 06:49 PM PST I understand that, the stronger the gravitational field the slower time would pass - wouldn't it mean that the early (more dense)universe had a slower clock overall? When the number 13.8 Billion years is mentioned, which reference frame has experienced all this time? submitted by /u/paskal91 [link] [comments]

Is there an animal/organism that does not sleep? Does it have the capacity for learning and memory? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 08:05 AM PST One of the hypotheses for the function of sleep is to strengthen previously learned information and filter out 'irrelevant' or 'useless' information learned during waking. Are there any organisms that do not show classically defined 'sleep'? Sleep I will define as a state of immobility, reduced responsiveness to external stimuli, and is homeostatically controlled. submitted by /u/DarwinDanger [link] [comments]

Why does hearing dimish when we yawn? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 11:34 AM PST submitted by /u/Psychedelic_Beans [link] [comments]

As you approach the speed of light, does the CMB in front of you get blueshifted? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 05:48 PM PST And similarly redshifted behind you? submitted by /u/FTLSquid [link] [comments]

If a neutron is made of 3 quarks, each with spin +1/2, why does a neutron only have a spin of +1/2? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 08:30 PM PST Is this to do with the Pauli Exclusion Principle as it relates to quarks? submitted by /u/CallMeDoc24 [link] [comments]

What's happening in their brain when someone with dyslexia mixes up letters? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 12:49 PM PST submitted by /u/thirdegree [link] [comments]

As the light of more stars reaches the earth, will the night sky become brighter and brighter over time? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 11:53 AM PST Looking forward billions of years, if someone was able to look up at the night sky from earth (lets assume its still here), will there be some point in the future where the night sky is saturated with light? submitted by /u/clorisland [link] [comments]

Where does it hail the most? What causes it to hail there more than anywhere else? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 11:49 AM PST I was driving to school today and we got hail today for the first time I can remember in years. It snows yearly where I live submitted by /u/FloofyRabbit [link] [comments]

Is there a maximum "brightness"? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 04:36 PM PST Would a situation be possible where some surface would be entirely "covered" in photons whereas no more photons could physically fit there? submitted by /u/Opqwer [link] [comments]

When a geographically isolated population becomes reproductively isolated from previously interbreeding populations, what exactly changes to make them incapable of interbreeding? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 10:36 AM PST submitted by /u/RaspberryBliss [link] [comments]

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AskScience AMA Series: I am a scientist currently working in a US congressional office. Ask Me Almost Anything!

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• AskScience AMA Series: I am a scientist currently working in a US congressional office. Ask Me Almost Anything!
• Why are solar sails reflective, not black?
• Are human brains hardwired to determine the sex/gender of other humans we meet or is this a learned behaviour?
• Is there a limit to how massive black holes can be?
• Discussion: MinuteEarth's newest YouTube video on growing human organs in pigs!
• [Physics] During the process of spin pumping between a ferromagnet and a normal metal, is there a change in frequency or phase between the precession in the ferromagnet and the normal metal?
• What if the size of the matter that is about to enter the black hole alot bigger than the hole of the black hole itself, would the matter entering the black hole be broken down or would the black hole expand in some sort of way or what?
• What would happen if the Panama Canal didn't have locks to regulate the different water levels?
• If you were traveling one m/s short of light speed in a spaceship, and you pointed a laser in your direction of motion, would the light appear to be going 1 m/s or the regular speed of light from your frame of reference?
• Can something escape the particle horizon? If not, would that essentially make the observable universe a black hole of sorts?
• Why do solar systems and galaxies flatten out, but gas giants and stars remain spherical?
• Will two identical charges moving at the same velocity experience magnetic force due to each other?
• [Med] Is there a functional difference between "fresh" blood and "Stored" blood?
• How do the Nuclear Forces relate to radioactivity?
• Are there any sexually reproducing mammals that don't produce males and females at a 50/50 ratio?
• If you fell into a black hole, wouldn't the intense time dilation cause you to die from old age before you had a chance to be spaghettified?
• [physics] The hadron collider is 27kms in size. My question is how much does upping the scale of size help with research? If we made a collider that wrapped around the planet would it be significantly more powerful than the Hadron?
• How much mass would we need to add to Earth to make a meaningful change to Earth's orbit?
• How does the composition of air change over altitude?
• Why does Mercury and Iodine form a ionic compound even though the delta En shows it's non-polar covalent?
• Does Mohs' Hardness Scale change by pressure of the forced material?
• Why does the LHC run at center of mass energies of around 14 TeV when most threshold energies for particle production are in the GeV range?
• Why is the moon moving a centimeter away every year? without any exterior source of energy?

AskScience AMA Series: I am a scientist currently working in a US congressional office. Ask Me Almost Anything! Posted: 31 Jan 2017 05:00 AM PST I hold a doctorate in biological sciences and am currently working in an office in the United States Congress. I primarily do work outside of the sciences, applying scientific thinking and problem-solving techniques to non-scientific policies. I wish I could be more specific about my background and current role, but I need to remain anonymous, and further information could identify me. I am happy to answer any question that I can, but out of anonymity concerns, please understand that I cannot speak more to my specific scientific expertise. Note: This AMA has been verified with the moderators. Our guest will be available to answer questions starting around 8 PM ET (1 AM UT). submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

Why are solar sails reflective, not black? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 11:01 AM PST My limited understanding of solar sails leads me to believe the goal is to absorb the small amount of energy in a photon. Isn't more energy absorbed by a dark surface? This is the only information I have found on this https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newscientist.com/article/dn3895-solar-sailing-breaks-laws-of-physics/amp/?client=ms-android-verizon. The scientist credited above, died about a year later. I didn't find any follow up. This is my first reddit post, sorry if my format is wrong. submitted by /u/kassiussklay [link] [comments]

Are human brains hardwired to determine the sex/gender of other humans we meet or is this a learned behaviour? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 09:07 AM PST I know we have discovered that human brains have areas dedicated to recognising human faces, does this extend to recognising sex. Edit: my use of the word gender was ill-advised, unfortunately I cant edit the title. submitted by /u/Stevetrov [link] [comments]

Is there a limit to how massive black holes can be? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 11:24 AM PST submitted by /u/not_athletic [link] [comments]

Discussion: MinuteEarth's newest YouTube video on growing human organs in pigs! Posted: 30 Jan 2017 11:04 AM PST Hi everyone, for today's video discussion topic, we've got David from MinuteEarth (/u/goldenbergdavid) to help answer your questions regarding their latest video about the new technology that will let scientists grow new kidneys for patients from their own stem cells but inside of pigs. submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

[Physics] During the process of spin pumping between a ferromagnet and a normal metal, is there a change in frequency or phase between the precession in the ferromagnet and the normal metal? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 04:19 AM PST Hey all, I don't do any spin-tronics within my phd and I am a little lost with this one, so I'll give you some background of what I believe to happen, and hopefully someone could correct my assumptions and hopefully answer my question. During a ferromagnetic resonance mode in the ferromagnet, the precessing spin can induce a spin torque in the normal metal across an interface. This spin accumulation can be pumped back into the ferromagnet by spin-torque transfer. This is normally seen as an enhanced linewidth in the ferromagnetic resonance experiment. This is where my question comes in, could the spin torque induced in the normal metal (and thus the spin torque induced in the ferromagnet) be of a different phase, or at a different frequency to the original excitation mode in the ferromagnet? Thanks to anyone who can help me. submitted by /u/silverphoinix [link] [comments]

What if the size of the matter that is about to enter the black hole alot bigger than the hole of the black hole itself, would the matter entering the black hole be broken down or would the black hole expand in some sort of way or what? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:39 AM PST submitted by /u/Ishjot11 [link] [comments]

What would happen if the Panama Canal didn't have locks to regulate the different water levels? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:38 AM PST Would it create a river of one ocean emptying into the other or something less/more extreme? submitted by /u/TheMilwaukeeLion [link] [comments]

If you were traveling one m/s short of light speed in a spaceship, and you pointed a laser in your direction of motion, would the light appear to be going 1 m/s or the regular speed of light from your frame of reference? Posted: 31 Jan 2017 07:32 AM PST submitted by /u/Streletzky [link] [comments]

Can something escape the particle horizon? If not, would that essentially make the observable universe a black hole of sorts? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 11:55 AM PST submitted by /u/DIK-FUK [link] [comments]

Why do solar systems and galaxies flatten out, but gas giants and stars remain spherical? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 09:06 PM PST submitted by /u/youwontguessthisname [link] [comments]

Will two identical charges moving at the same velocity experience magnetic force due to each other? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 10:13 PM PST I think they shouldn't since they are relatively at rest to each other. The actual answer to this question (it was in an exam I took) is that there will actually be a magnetic force acting on both of them. Here's my reasoning: Since both the charges are unaccelerated, I can view them from an inertial frame which is at rest relatively to both the charges. Now, these two charges would appear to be at rest and as such they should only affect each other by electrostatic force. What is wrong in my reasoning? Thank you submitted by /u/punindya [link] [comments]

[Med] Is there a functional difference between "fresh" blood and "Stored" blood? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:36 PM PST I had this idea earlier, instead of having lots of people donate blood once, and then store that blood, and risk transporting it and have it go bad RELATIVELY quickly, why not have healthy individuals in hospitals, whose sole purpose is to give ""replaceable" blood and body parts? Other than the fact that you would not have to worry that the blood will expire, would there be any other benefit of having blood "fresh" from an individual? Lets say, you take my blood (I think I am o- ) and you put it into someone who needs it right now, is there any advantage (other than eliminating the transport and expiration risk) to having it go to another individual within 10 to 20 minutes? Is "Hot-n-Ready" blood any better than frozen blood? submitted by /u/TheRedBaron91 [link] [comments]

How do the Nuclear Forces relate to radioactivity? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:12 PM PST I'm confused as to the fundamental reasons behind radioactivity - I have never fully understood what criteria constitutes a stable element versus an unstable one. As a followup, does the fact that atomic masses above a certain number tend to be unstable relate to the strong and weak nuclear forces in some way? submitted by /u/rinterra [link] [comments]

Are there any sexually reproducing mammals that don't produce males and females at a 50/50 ratio? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:02 PM PST submitted by /u/Acrotar [link] [comments]

If you fell into a black hole, wouldn't the intense time dilation cause you to die from old age before you had a chance to be spaghettified? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 10:33 PM PST submitted by /u/pancakesandspam [link] [comments]

[physics] The hadron collider is 27kms in size. My question is how much does upping the scale of size help with research? If we made a collider that wrapped around the planet would it be significantly more powerful than the Hadron? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 09:11 AM PST Basically I'm wondering the extent to which the size of the collider helps with understanding physics questions. submitted by /u/no40sinfl [link] [comments]

How much mass would we need to add to Earth to make a meaningful change to Earth's orbit? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:20 PM PST Presuming we are able to find a way to safely retrieve and bring asteroids or comets to Earth's surface, in a non-extinction level event kind of way, how much mass can we add to Earth before adding more will have an impact on Earth's orbit such that it negatively impacts the environment for humans? I've seen a lot of statements regarding asteroid mining the last few years. My presumption is that, if we do begin to mine them someday, that most of the material would be used in constructing objects in space given how difficult it would be to bring the material safely to Earth's surface. I imagine any amount we actually bring back will be relatively small. Over time, maybe centuries, the total amount would accumulate. How much can we bring back, and realistically, how long would it take us to reach a maximum? submitted by /u/LegionVsNinja [link] [comments]

How does the composition of air change over altitude? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 10:50 PM PST A quick google search shows that air consist of roughly 78.09% N, 20.95% O2, 0.93% Ar, 0.04% CO2, some small change of others and some variable amount water vapor. My question is given CO2 is more dense and N is less dense than O2, will CO2 be more concentrated near sea level and N more in the upper atmosphere, or is it fairly uniform throughout? submitted by /u/neelsg [link] [comments]

Why does Mercury and Iodine form a ionic compound even though the delta En shows it's non-polar covalent? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:51 PM PST Mercury and iodine create a compound named Mercury(II) iodide or Mercury(I) iodide, however since the delta En is non-polar, shouldn't it be named Mercury diiodide, mercury monoiodide, etc... basically following the covalent naming scheme. submitted by /u/alexbatman [link] [comments]

Does Mohs' Hardness Scale change by pressure of the forced material? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 10:31 PM PST I mean, for example, Corundum has a 9 mohs hardness according to wikipedia and diamond has a 10. Can I scratch a diamond[10] with a very thin pointed Corundum[9] tipped pen if I apply enough force (increasing the pressure)? or is it just not possible? Thanks submitted by /u/Jaspersong [link] [comments]

Why does the LHC run at center of mass energies of around 14 TeV when most threshold energies for particle production are in the GeV range? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 12:01 PM PST submitted by /u/farra890 [link] [comments]

Why is the moon moving a centimeter away every year? without any exterior source of energy? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 07:25 PM PST submitted by /u/1paper [link] [comments]

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How were carnivorous plants able to evolve as they did?

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• How were carnivorous plants able to evolve as they did?
• How do baryons (ie. a neutron) react to being hit by a boson?
• In the distant future, will human garbage landfills become pockets of oil?
• 8 weeks of meditation result in a better Brain function, do we already have a clue about the science behind that?
• Does the periodic table of elements go on forever? Is it possible to synthesize element 1,000,000?
• Why does the sky turn rainbow when I view it through both polarised sunglasses and a tinted car window?
• Why is thick ice blue?
• Is it possible for a stable isotope to exist in any (already discovered) element?
• Restarting a crashed application is normally much faster than the initial launch of the same program. Why is this the case?
• Why don't atoms emit Bremsstrahlung?
• What are believed to be the risks to individuals who cannot be vaccinated (the very young, immunocompromised etc) of being exposed to unvaccinated people?
• Are their any mammal species which have the heart on the right side as a general pattern?
• What reducing agents are gaseous and don't contain H?
• Why is there a c^2 in Einsteins mass-energy equation? Isnt the speed of light constant, thus making putting a numerical value more efficient?
• Is there a simple proof that square root of minus one is not a real number?
• Why and how do we know the temperature of space?
• Why do triiodothyronine and thyroxine require iodine to function? What does it do for the hormone? And why iodine instead of another halogen?

How were carnivorous plants able to evolve as they did? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 01:52 PM PST Let me preface this question by saying I have always been a firm believer of evolution. However, I've puzzled over many strange results of evolution and how they got to be where they are. Carnivorous plants are one example. How can a plant GRADUALLY evolve the ability to trap insects and absorb them without use of its roots? Did it just start out as a mutation that made a plant kind of sticky? It seems like such a radical change and the intermediate steps don't necessarily seem beneficial enough to ensure greater than average reproductive success. Edit: Thank you for all your informative responses! This was my first reddit post since the 4 years I've been lurking, and it is very encouraging. submitted by /u/Scyfer327 [link] [comments]

How do baryons (ie. a neutron) react to being hit by a boson? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 06:48 PM PST I know that if a boson is absorbed by an electron, the electron will absorb the energy of the boson by jumping up energy levels and then falling back down and emit more bosons. However, how does that interaction play out between bosons and baryons? For example, if an xray or a gamma ray hits a neutron or proton directly, how does the particle react? Does the boson impart kinetic energy, does it go right through? etc. submitted by /u/GMRarg [link] [comments]

In the distant future, will human garbage landfills become pockets of oil? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 09:49 AM PST Fossil fuels are thought to be massive amounts of organic material that was buried long ago, and transformed by various processes into oil, coal, and natural gas. Our landfills are mostly organic material, so will there be pockets of fossil fuels created by human concentration of garbage in the very distant future? submitted by /u/BrapTime [link] [comments]

8 weeks of meditation result in a better Brain function, do we already have a clue about the science behind that? Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:21 AM PST 30 minutes of meditation, 8 weeks in a row result in an improved brain function, Harvard study suggests. So we know that it works, but do we know how? submitted by /u/lucidgazorpazorp [link] [comments]

Does the periodic table of elements go on forever? Is it possible to synthesize element 1,000,000? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 11:47 AM PST I understand that some elements have only been synthesized in a lab and last for mere fractions of a second, but is there anything keeping us from creating, for example, element 1,000,000 even if it only lasted for an incredibly short period of time? submitted by /u/Jolly_Misanthrope [link] [comments]

Why does the sky turn rainbow when I view it through both polarised sunglasses and a tinted car window? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 09:55 PM PST Can someone explain these photos? When viewing the sunny sky through both polarised sunglasses and a tinted car window simultaneously, the sky turns into a rainbow of it's component colours (green, blue, purple). If I view it with only sunglasses, or only the car window, it looks normal. I'm sure this has something to do with polarisation, but I'd like to know precisely what. The ground mostly appears normal. My theory is that the light from the sky is polarised (why? Why would that cause a rainbow?), and when the ground (diffusely) reflects that light it messes it up. Smooth rocks and salt plains are an exception to this rule. I'm guessing because they conserve polarisation when they reflect light. submitted by /u/falsePockets [link] [comments]

Why is thick ice blue? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 08:48 PM PST submitted by /u/Techiastronamo [link] [comments]

Is it possible for a stable isotope to exist in any (already discovered) element? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 08:16 PM PST To reword this a bit more coherently, many heavy elements past atomic number #82 (currently discovered) are unstable, and contain a half-life. Is it possible for stable isotopes to exist in any/all of these elements, or is there a property that keeps them unstable no matter how many neutrons are added? submitted by /u/itsgreymonster [link] [comments]

Restarting a crashed application is normally much faster than the initial launch of the same program. Why is this the case? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 03:26 PM PST I've been learning 3DS Max on my laptop, which isn't the fastest but gets the job done. When the program occasionally crashes, it's always quick to restart, as opposed to when I first launch it and it often takes twice that time. Shouldn't the computer be faster when it's 'ready and waiting', instead of bogged down in heavy work? submitted by /u/throwaway392613 [link] [comments]

Why don't atoms emit Bremsstrahlung? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 01:11 PM PST Bremsstrahlung is the radiation caused by a charged particle decelerating. Since atoms are made of charged particles, why don't they emit radiation when they are decelerated? submitted by /u/FreakinGeese [link] [comments]

What are believed to be the risks to individuals who cannot be vaccinated (the very young, immunocompromised etc) of being exposed to unvaccinated people? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 08:03 AM PST In trying to understand the vaccination/anti-vaccination debate, I've come across useful research and articles that explain how important high levels of vaccination are for herd immunity. Often, they provide an example to help understand this (e.g. how measles can spread in a school to vaccinated and unvaccinated students) and some quantify the risks in an outbreak to vaccinated vs unvaccinated people ( e.g. this study suggests that unvaccinated people are ~35 times more likely to catch measles during an outbreak). Many articles also reference the importance of herd immunity for those who are immunocompromised (people receiving cancer treatment, transplant patients or AIDS patients) as well as those too young to be immunised. What I haven't been able to find is research explaining the risks individuals in those categories might face as a result of day-to-day interaction with unvaccinated people, where the infection status of the unvaccinated person is unknown. Is there a study showing the risks for an immunocompromised person interacting with an unvaccinated person of unknown infection status, or is it just about herd immunity? Is there any research or data out there to help me understand this? submitted by /u/DrCaptainFantastic [link] [comments]

Are their any mammal species which have the heart on the right side as a general pattern? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 05:42 AM PST I'm not talking about exceptional dextrocardia (like in humans), but of a general rule for the said species. Bonus question: how about full internal inversion of organs? (Some humans do have their abdominal organs reversed---situs inversus---but again, I'm not referring to exceptions.) submitted by /u/xT2M [link] [comments]

What reducing agents are gaseous and don't contain H? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 01:12 PM PST I've heard of strong oxidizers that are gaseous close to STP, like BrF5, but are there any reducing agents that are gaseous and at STP or elevated T that don't have H? thanks!!! submitted by /u/povault [link] [comments]

Why is there a c^2 in Einsteins mass-energy equation? Isnt the speed of light constant, thus making putting a numerical value more efficient? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 07:09 PM PST submitted by /u/073227100 [link] [comments]

Is there a simple proof that square root of minus one is not a real number? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 02:59 PM PST There is a proof that square root of 2 is not a rational number, which requires only simple definitions and algebra (based on contradiction). While watching Numberphile I heard something like "We can put all real numbers on one line, but square root of minus one cannot be found anywhere there". While it seems obvious, that square root of minus one is not a real number, is there a similarly simple, but strict proof of this fact? submitted by /u/dandbdi [link] [comments]

Why and how do we know the temperature of space? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 05:13 AM PST What would be the temperature of "ideal space" , which has no radiations or waves or anything in it? I do not know how the temperature of space of measured or calculated, but I were to keep a thermometer in space , wouldn't the temperature shown by the thermometer be due to the effect of radiation or light or anything that interacts with it that comes from some distant place (like a star ) ...But it won't be the temperature of the space itself instead the temperature due to a distant star. Now what would the temperature of space be if there were no em waves or matter ..(absolutely nothing is what I'm referring to) Thank you. Please correct my knowledge , i might have been wrong on many levels submitted by /u/hari2897 [link] [comments]

Why do triiodothyronine and thyroxine require iodine to function? What does it do for the hormone? And why iodine instead of another halogen? Posted: 29 Jan 2017 10:49 AM PST I am currently studying the endocrine system and the thyroid hormone was discussed. I was informed that they require iodine, but that seems odd to me. Why do they need iodine to function? And why not another halogen (considering the similar properties)? submitted by /u/Mace_Dogg [link] [comments]

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