Why does it take multiple years to develop smaller transistors for CPUs and GPUs? Why can't a company just immediately start making 5 nm transistors?

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• Why does it take multiple years to develop smaller transistors for CPUs and GPUs? Why can't a company just immediately start making 5 nm transistors?
• Probiotics are "good" bacteria sold in pharmacies, to be taken alongside antibiotics to protect your intestinal microbiome. How are they manufactured? How can a powder contain live bacteria? How do they survive without food in a paper envelope for years?
• Why can't we harvest energy from lightning?
• What causes aftertastes? Why don't all tastes occur immediately?
• How big is the chance that you drunk the same water molecule twice?
• Is the radius of our Observable Universe an absolute distance, or does it stretch proportionally according to the inflation of the Universe as a whole?
• Why is autism more common in boys than girls?
• Why is rabies incurable once symptoms appear?
• Would it be possible to project and therefore understand better the geometry of a 4-dimensional object with a 3-dimensional display?
• Why do the batteries in, say, an RC car only last a few hours, but it feels like the batteries in my TV remote have been in there for a lifetime?
• Why do tornadoes almost always rotate cyclonically when the coriolis effect should be negligible for something that small and fast?
• Does the same food have the same amount of calories as it is cold when it's hot?
• Why are we not able to feel the earth moving around the sun?
• What is the difference between a conventional weapon's recoil compared to a railgun?
• Does color affect non visible light?
• During a dream or nightmare, do our bodies have the same physiological responses to emotions that we do when we're awake?

Why does it take multiple years to develop smaller transistors for CPUs and GPUs? Why can't a company just immediately start making 5 nm transistors? Posted: 12 Aug 2017 01:08 AM PDT submitted by /u/LB333 [link] [comments]

Probiotics are "good" bacteria sold in pharmacies, to be taken alongside antibiotics to protect your intestinal microbiome. How are they manufactured? How can a powder contain live bacteria? How do they survive without food in a paper envelope for years? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 03:19 PM PDT Probiotics are live bacteria to be taken alongside antibiotics to protect your intestinal microbiome, as antibiotics often indiscriminately kill both "good" and "bad" bacteria. They are typically sold as a powder you're supposed to dissolve in water and then swallow. How are they manufactured? How can you turn bacteria into a powder (without killing them)? They typically have an expiration date of 3 to 5 years in the future. How can the bacteria survive all this time without any food? How come they don't reproduce until they're eaten by us? I can only assume they are somehow "frozen" (biologically inactive) until eaten. If that's the case, how does that work and how can they eventually "come back to life"? submitted by /u/RainbowDoc [link] [comments]

Why can't we harvest energy from lightning? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 07:59 PM PDT submitted by /u/orsai1 [link] [comments]

What causes aftertastes? Why don't all tastes occur immediately? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 06:56 PM PDT submitted by /u/ifhyr [link] [comments]

How big is the chance that you drunk the same water molecule twice? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 08:10 PM PDT submitted by /u/Thomas_baas [link] [comments]

Is the radius of our Observable Universe an absolute distance, or does it stretch proportionally according to the inflation of the Universe as a whole? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 07:31 PM PDT submitted by /u/BillnTedsTelltaleAdv [link] [comments]

Why is autism more common in boys than girls? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 06:39 PM PDT I've read that autism is 4x more common in men than women. Is this a fairly concrete fact, and if so, do scientists have any intuition why this is the case? submitted by /u/darkostwin [link] [comments]

Why is rabies incurable once symptoms appear? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 01:55 PM PDT submitted by /u/moskow52 [link] [comments]

Would it be possible to project and therefore understand better the geometry of a 4-dimensional object with a 3-dimensional display? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 04:15 PM PDT It is (obviously) possible to depict a 3-dimensional object on a 2-dimensional screen so using this same principle wouldn't it also be possible to depict a 4-dimensional figure on a display that uses 3-dimensions? submitted by /u/Deadshot_0826 [link] [comments]

Why do the batteries in, say, an RC car only last a few hours, but it feels like the batteries in my TV remote have been in there for a lifetime? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 12:22 PM PDT submitted by /u/HotelForDogsWasOkay [link] [comments]

Why do tornadoes almost always rotate cyclonically when the coriolis effect should be negligible for something that small and fast? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 12:03 PM PDT submitted by /u/blooper2112 [link] [comments]

Does the same food have the same amount of calories as it is cold when it's hot? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 01:54 PM PDT Ex. Does a frozen pizza have the same amount of calories before it goes into the oven as it does after? submitted by /u/ifailinstyle29 [link] [comments]

Why are we not able to feel the earth moving around the sun? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 01:03 PM PDT submitted by /u/zorbix [link] [comments]

What is the difference between a conventional weapon's recoil compared to a railgun? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 01:27 PM PDT By conventional weapons I mean things like guns using bullets or shells, using a chemical propellant. I know that the propellant explodes which causes an expansion of hot gas which pushes the projectile out the end of the barrel with the same amount of force as the weapon recoils (by Newton's Third Law). But what about railguns that use electromagnetic induction instead? Since there is no explosion, does that mean there is no recoil? Does Faraday's and Lenz's Laws apply at all? submitted by /u/lordplane [link] [comments]

Does color affect non visible light? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 11:04 AM PDT So I know that when we see color, it is the result of light striking that object and being reflected at a specific frequency. But does an object color also affect other forms of light besides visible? For example, would shooting a gamma ray at something orange differ the resulting wavelength from shooting it at something purple? submitted by /u/at_chan [link] [comments]

During a dream or nightmare, do our bodies have the same physiological responses to emotions that we do when we're awake? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 08:38 AM PDT submitted by /u/AnnArborLady [link] [comments]

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From the point of view of evolution, is there a particular advantage or disadvantage to having one eye color over the other?

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• From the point of view of evolution, is there a particular advantage or disadvantage to having one eye color over the other?
• Does an insect, like a fly or a mosquito, have itches?
• Do all salts taste like table salt?
• How can our brain distinguish the sound of a single note vs. a chord?
• Is there any combination of distance, mass, and volume of two planetary bodies where one of them can look like this from the surface of the other?
• If Earth were the same mass but half as dense, would we weigh the same?
• Graph Theory: In a directed graph, how can I find all components of all loops? (head, body, tail)
• Is there much inbreeding in the wider animal kingdom? If so, are there major genetic problems that arise? If not, how is inbreeding avoided?
• How do we quantify wind speeds on gas giant planets?
• Is it possible to create black holes in a ring instead of a spherical object?
• What is the formula for conversion between Celsius and Fahrenheit, how did scientists manage to find this formula initially, and why were only these two units of temperature embraced by science and not any other units that existed in that time?
• Why do radioactive atoms have a half-life where only 1/2 of them decay at a time? Why don't they all decay at about the exact same time?
• Why is the order of attaching electrical leads when jump starting a car significant? As well, why put the disabled cars negative lead to a ground and not to the negative terminal?
• Why does ice in my glass crack after pouring water into it?
• What standard are diseases compared to to determine their rarity?
• You're in orbit around the Earth in a spaceship. You point the pointy end of your spaceship exactly at the center of the earth and fire your engines for 10 sec. What happens to your orbit?
• Why do cows have four stomachs and what does each stomach do?
• Where is all the nuclear contamination from the atmospheric nuclear tests decades ago?
• Why did scientists like Slotin and Daghlian do their criticality experiments manually?
• Why is the dihedral angle 180° and 0° instead of 90° in molecules with sp2-Carbons?
• Can two stars in a binary system orbit each other so closely that they will heat each others' surfaces and change their spectral type?
• When a battery loses its energy as it sits in the drawer, where does that energy go?

From the point of view of evolution, is there a particular advantage or disadvantage to having one eye color over the other? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 11:46 PM PDT We have evolved to have skin colors based on the environment that our ancestors lived in, for example, greater sun exposure in the tropical latitudes meant it was advantageous to have a darker skin. Is there a similar story with eye colors? submitted by /u/elni [link] [comments]

Does an insect, like a fly or a mosquito, have itches? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 11:03 PM PDT submitted by /u/asap3210 [link] [comments]

Do all salts taste like table salt? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 06:27 AM PDT submitted by /u/Scotty770 [link] [comments]

How can our brain distinguish the sound of a single note vs. a chord? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 09:37 PM PDT I wondered this when I was listening to piano chords on my computer. My headphones produced a singular sound, yet I knew it was a chord compared to when only a single note is played. How can we tell the difference if they are both just single sounds? submitted by /u/janidorr [link] [comments]

Is there any combination of distance, mass, and volume of two planetary bodies where one of them can look like this from the surface of the other? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 10:11 PM PDT Image in question, all credit to the original artist submitted by /u/IG_BansheeAirsoft [link] [comments]

If Earth were the same mass but half as dense, would we weigh the same? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 10:31 PM PDT Curious if the increased volume would put us further from the center of mass making gravity less strong at the surface, or if that wouldn't be a factor. submitted by /u/ubernatural [link] [comments]

Graph Theory: In a directed graph, how can I find all components of all loops? (head, body, tail) Posted: 11 Aug 2017 03:55 AM PDT I hope I dont break any rules here, because /r/reverseengineering doesnt like questions, so I try here again. Essentially I have graphs like this and want to indentify all loops (jackson's algorithm) and then find their parts, header = loop start, body = all nodes inside loop, tail = loop conditional node, which does the iteration check. has anyone some good resources or approach on how to solve this? thanks in advance for your time submitted by /u/WarrantyVoider [link] [comments]

Is there much inbreeding in the wider animal kingdom? If so, are there major genetic problems that arise? If not, how is inbreeding avoided? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 04:55 PM PDT submitted by /u/willsp [link] [comments]

How do we quantify wind speeds on gas giant planets? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 05:29 PM PDT I recently read that Saturn has wind speeds up to 500m/s. On Earth we measure wind speeds relative to the solid ground, but since gas giants have no solid ground how do we distinguish the speed of their winds from the rotation of the planet itself? submitted by /u/hamar123 [link] [comments]

Is it possible to create black holes in a ring instead of a spherical object? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 07:30 PM PDT submitted by /u/SymphonyofWar181 [link] [comments]

What is the formula for conversion between Celsius and Fahrenheit, how did scientists manage to find this formula initially, and why were only these two units of temperature embraced by science and not any other units that existed in that time? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 05:31 AM PDT submitted by /u/Lamujereenrojo [link] [comments]

Why do radioactive atoms have a half-life where only 1/2 of them decay at a time? Why don't they all decay at about the exact same time? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 05:18 PM PDT submitted by /u/Xav101 [link] [comments]

Why is the order of attaching electrical leads when jump starting a car significant? As well, why put the disabled cars negative lead to a ground and not to the negative terminal? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 05:00 AM PDT submitted by /u/markichi [link] [comments]

Why does ice in my glass crack after pouring water into it? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 11:40 PM PDT submitted by /u/micahlim [link] [comments]

What standard are diseases compared to to determine their rarity? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 10:07 PM PDT submitted by /u/dahdoc [link] [comments]

You're in orbit around the Earth in a spaceship. You point the pointy end of your spaceship exactly at the center of the earth and fire your engines for 10 sec. What happens to your orbit? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 07:26 PM PDT I understand the basics of orbits (falling around the earth and all), but I've been pondering this for a while now. Assume a circular orbit, never mind the atmosphere. Your control system is nimble and keeps your rocket always pointed at the center of (mass of) the earth. My (wrong?) thinking is that since your thrust is perpendicular to your direction of motion, your orbital velocity does not change. Physics says your orbital altitude depends on your orbital velocity. So, when you have your burn, do you dip towards the earth and then...pop back up to the same orbital altitude? submitted by /u/Might-I-Inquire [link] [comments]

Why do cows have four stomachs and what does each stomach do? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 04:34 PM PDT submitted by /u/angrybeaver200 [link] [comments]

Where is all the nuclear contamination from the atmospheric nuclear tests decades ago? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 04:08 PM PDT According to the CTBT, the United States has conducted 219 atmospheric nuclear tests. Did this not cause worry once we knew radiation travels? Are these regions still contaminated? Do we avoid them altogether in flight/sea travel? submitted by /u/athausmann [link] [comments]

Why did scientists like Slotin and Daghlian do their criticality experiments manually? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 05:51 PM PDT I was reading about the demon core, and I was wondering why the two scientists involved ever attempted to do their experiments manually? Maybe I'm just being a wimp, but I would think of anyone on the planet, Slotin and Daghlian would know best how dangerous that was. I understand that a remote system for doing these experiments was built after the second incident. Is there a reason this wasn't developed and used earlier? submitted by /u/MadDoctor5813 [link] [comments]

Why is the dihedral angle 180° and 0° instead of 90° in molecules with sp2-Carbons? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 04:40 AM PDT Shouldn't molecules like ethylene also be in a staggered conformation? submitted by /u/hamar-tolos [link] [comments]

Can two stars in a binary system orbit each other so closely that they will heat each others' surfaces and change their spectral type? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 11:41 AM PDT submitted by /u/Hitmonjet [link] [comments]

When a battery loses its energy as it sits in the drawer, where does that energy go? Posted: 11 Aug 2017 04:20 AM PDT submitted by /u/Wiki_pedo [link] [comments]

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Solar Eclipse Megathread

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• Solar Eclipse Megathread
• How come otorhinolaryngology is a single discipline if it concerns three different body parts? Are these connected in some way? Are there other examples of specialties that include multiple minor subspecialties?
• How to sum orbital angular moments to get Russell-Saunders coupling's L?
• What is the scientific definition of temperature?
• For how long can a typical housefly stay airborne before it runs out of energy?
• What purpose does Iron serve in our bodies? Are there any elements that could theoretically replace it, in an environment where iron wasn't abundant/available?
• From 2010 to 2016, student loan debt has approximately doubled, and the average student loan debt in 2016 has seen a 50% increase from 2010. What factors are driving this growth and what's the outlook of it's sustainability?
• How exactly does cancer physically kill you?
• Schizophrenia: Are voices ever perceived as benevolent?
• Why is the ideal gas law selective to certain types of energy?
• How exactly does cancer work?
• How long/many organ transplants did it take for us to truly understand how our body rejects new organs and how to fight this process?
• Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology
• Why are there different types of seismic waves? Why do P waves, S waves and L waves occur/travel seperately?
• If there was an ocean in Mars, which color would it have?

Solar Eclipse Megathread Posted: 09 Aug 2017 08:19 AM PDT On August 21, 2017, a solar eclipse will cross the United States and a partial eclipse will be visible in other countries. There's been a lot of interest in the eclipse in /r/askscience, so this is a mega thread so that all questions are in one spot. This allows our experts one place to go to answer questions. Ask your eclipse related questions and read more about the eclipse here! Panel members will be in and out throughout the day so please do not expect an immediate answer. Here are some helpful links related to the eclipse: NASA's general information on the eclipse AAS Events and Activities listing NASA eclipse safety - safety advice from NASA on viewing the eclipse, which protection to use when viewing NASA map showing totality path and time of the eclipse submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

How come otorhinolaryngology is a single discipline if it concerns three different body parts? Are these connected in some way? Are there other examples of specialties that include multiple minor subspecialties? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 06:33 AM PDT submitted by /u/philthebadger [link] [comments]

How to sum orbital angular moments to get Russell-Saunders coupling's L? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 07:19 AM PDT On this site I have found the following sentence: Consider, as an example, the excited helium atom in the atomic electron configuration 2p3p. By the triangular conditions the one-electron spins s = ½ can couple to |½−½|, ½+½ = 0, 1 (spin singlet and triplet) and the two orbital angular momenta l = 1 can couple to L = |1−1|, 1, 1+1 = 0, 1, 2. I sort of understand the spin part but I have trouble with the orbital angular momentum, why can it be equal to 1 if I have two electrons both with l=1. Maybe a better example can be found in Linus Pauling's book titled General Chemistry (and this is what I couldn't understood first but even after trying to find it out on my own I'm stuck.). He shows us an example with a carbon atom. Here's my thought process on getting the Russel-Saunders symbol: C's electron config: 1s2 2s2 2p2, we don't have to look at the first two orbitals because both S=0 and L=0 2p2 can be 2px2, 2px1 2py1 (and other basically the same variations), in the first case S=0 in the second S=1 This is what I don't get, both sources says L=0,1,2, but I can't make sense of L=1, (although I can't really make sense about the other values either, but at least I can arithmetically get to those). They are vectors and I understand that px py and pz orbits all point to directions perpendicular to each other, in which case adding them together should result in values 2 (if same direction) or sqrt(2) in every other case. Not even 0 should be a correct answer, so I definitely don't understand something basic here. Also, if it wouldn't be that big of a trouble, could you please explan what J actually is (the subscript on the right)? submitted by /u/Muoniurn [link] [comments]

What is the scientific definition of temperature? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 07:12 PM PDT I have been googling this and having a great deal of trouble finding definitions that don't seem circular. In particular, the following is bothering me. Temperature seems to be defined by internal energy (u = 3/2RT) for an ideal gas. Internal energy can be theoretically defined (velocity + vibration + rotation, etc). But specific heat capacity increases with temperature for a real gas, meaning there is more energy per degree of temperature increase. How can there be more energy increase per degree if a degree is literally defined in terms of the amount of energy increase? Does temperature actually only depend on particle velocity, and other effects just happen to be negligible at normal temperatures? What gives? submitted by /u/spacemonkeyzoo [link] [comments]

For how long can a typical housefly stay airborne before it runs out of energy? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 01:52 PM PDT It's impressive how long it can buzz around and be super annoying without needing to eat. submitted by /u/manofredgables [link] [comments]

What purpose does Iron serve in our bodies? Are there any elements that could theoretically replace it, in an environment where iron wasn't abundant/available? Posted: 10 Aug 2017 08:31 AM PDT 2 parts curiosity, 1 part research for a story I'm mulling over. submitted by /u/Avenmar [link] [comments]

From 2010 to 2016, student loan debt has approximately doubled, and the average student loan debt in 2016 has seen a 50% increase from 2010. What factors are driving this growth and what's the outlook of it's sustainability? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 08:14 PM PDT 2010 average debt source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/education/average-student-loan-debt-grew-by-5-percent-in-2010.html 2016 average debt source: https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/ Chart from Wikipedia showing debt increase from 2006 to 2016; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_loans_in_the_United_States#/media/File%3AStudent_loan_debt.png submitted by /u/sweatinballs [link] [comments]

How exactly does cancer physically kill you? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 08:11 AM PDT submitted by /u/OrangeOfRetreat [link] [comments]

Schizophrenia: Are voices ever perceived as benevolent? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 09:33 AM PDT From popular fiction, the voices schizophrenic people hear are always angry, insulting, or downright evil. However, do some schizophrenics hear more benevolent or supportive voices? submitted by /u/Tendy777 [link] [comments]

Why is the ideal gas law selective to certain types of energy? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 03:21 PM PDT Today in school I learned about the ideal gas laws. As we know, the formula is PV=nRT, t being temperature. Temperature is the average kinetic energy. We learned that there are several ways energy can be absorbed by gas molecules. This includes collision, rotating, vibration, bending. However, my teacher said collision is the only way that energy can be absorbed and that can be accounted for the ideal gas laws. Why is that? Why can't all types work for ideal gas laws? I probably said something wrong so I'll try to clarify. submitted by /u/XXXtaxation [link] [comments]

How exactly does cancer work? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 02:02 PM PDT I hear things like "cancer attacks" but I don't understand how a cell made incorrectly can do that. It's not like a virus who is programmed to attack body, so how and what does it do. submitted by /u/bushdiid911 [link] [comments]

How long/many organ transplants did it take for us to truly understand how our body rejects new organs and how to fight this process? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 07:43 AM PDT submitted by /u/more_to_love [link] [comments]

Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology Posted: 09 Aug 2017 08:07 AM PDT 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 [link] [comments]

Why are there different types of seismic waves? Why do P waves, S waves and L waves occur/travel seperately? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 06:15 AM PDT submitted by /u/DoesRealAverageMusic [link] [comments]

If there was an ocean in Mars, which color would it have? Posted: 09 Aug 2017 02:33 AM PDT submitted by /u/Skyices [link] [comments]

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