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Saturday, October 21, 2017

How do audio books, printed books, and videos differ in terms of how our brains retain and process the information?

How do audio books, printed books, and videos differ in terms of how our brains retain and process the information?


How do audio books, printed books, and videos differ in terms of how our brains retain and process the information?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 01:28 PM PDT

If I read a book compared to listening to it.. how does that affect my brain differently? Is there any difference?

submitted by /u/thirdworldsociety
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How much of a person's height is determined by DNA and how much is determined thru health and diet while an adolescent?

Posted: 21 Oct 2017 07:41 AM PDT

My physics tutor said that we are now able to change the wavelength of an already emitted laser beam. How is this possible?

Posted: 21 Oct 2017 12:38 AM PDT

He told me about the TOPAS system, which can apparently accomplish this. But he does not really know how the system does it. Would anyone here happen to know? Thanks.

submitted by /u/zhrmghg
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How do we know how much a planet weights/the mass of the planet, without knowing exactly what it is made of?

Posted: 21 Oct 2017 04:02 AM PDT

Do women who no longer have periods via birth control still experience the same hormonal cycle?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 08:58 PM PDT

How much does the hormone cycle change when you disallow the body from menstruating? Would a woman experience the same psychoactive symptoms of a period like emotional sensitivity without menstruating?

submitted by /u/Lillithia
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How can a program/game (e.g. Destiny 2) prevent overlays?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 05:19 PM PDT

Bungie claims that 3rd party overlays like Discord, Mumble, and Fraps won't work in Destiny 2 because it resists attempts to inject code (https://www.bungie.net/en/Help/Article/46101). They also claim that OBS also won't work in fullscreen. How do these programs inject their own code to create overlays? Is it just by modifying memory? What techniques might Bungie be using to prevent these "hijackings"? Why is fullscreen video capture in software affected?

submitted by /u/kayson
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Why is the benchmark for fevers 37.5 degree celsius?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 06:49 PM PDT

Typically, a fever of above 37.5 degrees is considered a red flag. Is this experimentally derived, or merely arbitrary? Is there anything that prevents another number from being the standard?

submitted by /u/Shugoii
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I know a catalyst works by lowering the activation energy but how does it do that?

Posted: 21 Oct 2017 05:02 AM PDT

Why do humans have certain hair colors (i.e. yellow, red, black, brown, white) but not others (green, blue, purple, etc). Would it be theoretically possible to manipulate our genes to produce any hair color?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 02:52 PM PDT

What variables make some viruses deadlier than others?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 07:02 PM PDT

[Physics] How can Chernobyl be used?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 10:45 PM PDT

I know they're in the process of decommissioning the last running reactors but how is it after 1986, the other reactors still ran? Aren't they dangerously close to reactor 4?

Follow up, what is a RBMK(?) reactor vs what we have now and why is it flawed?

submitted by /u/Jaeger39
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Why do your muscles get sore after working out?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 08:03 PM PDT

Why can't we move our eyes independently?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 11:26 AM PDT

Why does garbage bunch up in the ocean?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 02:27 PM PDT

I know that it collects together because of currents but why doesn't it wind up drifting apart?

submitted by /u/ScumbagsRme
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What is special about the Ovum, amongst cells, that allows it to survive so long?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 12:38 PM PDT

In regards to underwater plant life, what happens to the oxygen produced through their photosynthetic process? Why don't we see bubbles on these plants?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 09:05 PM PDT

Do photons have any appreciable impact on spacecraft outside the atmosphere?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 09:24 AM PDT

I know that photons can be used in solar sails, and that they are technically able to propel objects, albeit very slowly. But is there any consideration for photons as they relate to, say, the ISS or some other vessel in outer space? Are there any adjustments made to flight trajectories due to photons over long periods of time?

submitted by /u/WithMyxomatosis
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By how much does water at depth get compressed?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 01:31 PM PDT

I read that deep water is more dense due to compression from weight above it, but liquids are incompressible; how is it possible? How negligible or significant is the change?

submitted by /u/junoons
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How well can we see the surface of a distant planet?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 12:31 PM PDT

I imagine closer planets like mars are much easier to see with a telescope, but what about planets in distant star systems? How sure can we be without going there ourselves what kind of planet it is, or what resources it has, or if it could have or even has life- in plant, bacterial, or animal form?

submitted by /u/DrCorian
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Are Wind systems affected by continents?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 09:23 PM PDT

If I were to change the shape and placement of continents, would this affect our current wind systems?

submitted by /u/KoolKoffeeKlub
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Is there a mechanism for a neuron delaying its action potential?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 03:44 PM PDT

I suppose this question has two parts: First, when a neuron is summing the signals from other neurons, can it speed up or slow down the summation process (eg, sum over a longer period of time)? Is this variable something that is regulated by the neuron (ie can change in response to use)?

Second, once a neuron has reached its threshold potential, is there a way it can slow down or increase the action potential propagation speed? Is this also something that is controlled and changed dynamically?

submitted by /u/Prosaic_Reformation
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Friday, October 20, 2017

Do you use muscles to open or close your eyes?

Do you use muscles to open or close your eyes?


Do you use muscles to open or close your eyes?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 07:20 PM PDT

What I mean is, when you're sleeping are you using muscle to close your eyes, or are you using muscle to open them during the day?

submitted by /u/weaped
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Why doesn't the color of Jupiter's atmosphere homogenize?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 06:27 PM PDT

Relevant to other planets too, but Jupiter seems like a good example. With all the turbulence in the atmosphere, surely it should have all mixed up and become fairly homogeneous by now, but instead we see distinct color bands. Sup wit dat?

submitted by /u/allegory_corey
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How do we decide if a population is indigenous?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 08:39 AM PDT

How long do they have to have lived in a place? Or do they have to be be first group that showed up?

Edit: now I think I have even more questions. Or at least the term seems even more vague than I had thought previously. Based on these definitions you have to not advance technologically to be indigenous? Let's say we pick an area like Japan who of any group fits the definition?

submitted by /u/raznog
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If alpha particles are bosons, do they "violate" the Pauli exclusion principle?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 04:23 AM PDT

I am sorry for the long text, but I was wondering about a few different things:

The Pauli exclusion principle states that no two identical Fermions can occupy the same quantum state simultaneously, but if He4 is technically a boson, can two He4 nuclei occupy the same quantum state simultaneously? My first guess would be no, since the quarks forming the protons and neutrons in the nucleus are Fermions themselves, but is that necessarily the case?

According to the Wikipedia page, a 1D Bose gas with a particularly defined interaction function (V(r) = inf*delta(r) , an infinite amplitude Dirac, which is pretty unphysical) does obey it, but what if we're considering 2 nuclei in 3D with an arbitrary interaction potential?

As an aside, since its constituent particles are considered indistinguishable, could we also say that two He4 are indistinguishable?

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

submitted by /u/Zambeezi
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Would you consider the theory of an abiogenic origin of petroleum a pseudoscience?

Posted: 20 Oct 2017 12:01 AM PDT

What is the border between pseudo and "real" science?

submitted by /u/groovyd1
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What technology or methods are there to transform infertile soil (salted especially) into fertile soil?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 05:04 PM PDT

I am reading about project Atlantropa and was intrigued that the freed land would be used for agriculture.

submitted by /u/znihilist
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How sure are we that Type 1a supernovas are 'standard candles'?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 10:02 AM PDT

This article on space.com indicates that there's some growing discrepancy between the Hubble Constant as measured using cosmic distances and the Hubble Constant as measured using the CMB. They talk about the Chandrasekar limit and how it produces Type 1a supernovas of approximately equal illumination, allowing us to use them as 'standard candles' for measuring those cosmic distances.

Could this situation be resolved by introducing some sort of "error" into the Type 1a supernova brightness? In other words, does the problem go away if the brightness (and therefore distance) is not assumed to be X, but X +/- 10%? If so, are there candidates for that sort of error?

submitted by /u/best_of_badgers
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How strong a magnet would you need to remove the iron from a vial of blood?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 05:47 PM PDT

I was doing blood work today and I know blood has iron in it, so how strong a magnet would you need to remove the blood from a vial? I know MRIs don't kill people so it would have to be much stronger then that, right?

submitted by /u/redpandamage
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Isn't classical conditioning of animals basic "If this then that" reasoning? Doesn't this mean that cats/dogs could think?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 02:11 PM PDT

Does altitude affect a person's growth?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 06:35 AM PDT

Let's say identical twins were split up at birth. One lived at sea level and the other lived 5000m above sea level. The lifestyles they lived were the exact same all the way until adulthood. When they finally reached adulthood, would they be different heights due to atmospheric pressure?

submitted by /u/nosmartfriends
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Why do viruses like Zika that thrive inside a human host cause birth defects in offspring?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 07:54 PM PDT

Along with that are the birth defects evolutionarily advantageous when it seems to limit chances of survivial for the viruses?

submitted by /u/TheAntiochStallion
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Do planetary gravitational calculations assume an infinitely small point in space, or take into account the size and distribution of the mass of the planet?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 06:58 AM PDT

So I have little to no science background, beyond what I have picked up from wikipedia articles related to Episodes of stargate and too many hours reading and thinking about why I crash my ships in Kerbal Space Program.

With that being said, how are the gravitational effects of a body, such as a planet or sun, calculated in relation to its size? I'm thinking that for a relatively small dense body, calculating its effect on another body at a relatively great distance would be a matter of calculating the effects of an infinitely small point with equal mass to the actal planet, with the same center of gravity. As if all of the mass of the planet were focused in a single mathematical coordinate in space, rather than distributed over several thousand miles of diameter. This seems like a simple equation, that the force between the 2 bodies would be calculated by their mass and distance, regardless of their respective size.

How does this change for objects that are very close together? for example, calculating the pull of gravity of a person standing on its surface? From that distance, the distributiong of mass seems more significant, as it is not all focused in some far off single point, but distributed essentially on a plane that stretches out in every direction from the point where the person is standing, not just directly downward towards the center of the planet. Does that just get insanely complicated and a best estimate is used?

Where this could get even more interesting would be calculating the influence of 2 very large, very dense bodies with no atmosphere passing extremely close to each other in space. Like 2 massive planets moving so quickly that they pass each other within a handful of miles without colliding. If the shape of each planet was irregular, it seems the gravitational interaction of various parts of the planet and the distribution of their mass would be crucial to understanding how their respective courses would change after passing. I imagine it would go far beyond the video game approximation of a planete, which would essentially be a massless solid sphere with an infinitely small center of gravity containing all of its mass, so the force of gravity just pulls directly to the core, no matter the distance to the surface.

Another thought: how would this change the effect of gravity beneath the surface of the planet? If one were to theoretically dig a hole to the center of the earth, there would be no gravity felt except that of the sun and moon, correct? The planet's gravity would be pulling you equally in all directions from that point, essentially negating itself.

Am I thinking of this right?

edit: TLDR: In gravitational calculations, are planets big or small?

submitted by /u/imagreatlistener
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Are all the domains of all real functions an element of the set of real numbers?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 04:55 PM PDT

With every REAL function I can think of, all its inputs are an element of the set of real numbers. Can one imply that all domains are elements of the set of real numbers?

submitted by /u/4w350m3guY
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What is the AI advancement made by the new AlphaGo Zero algorithm over previous machine learning techniques?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 07:28 PM PDT

How do they determine which strains of flu viruses are included in the seasonal vaccine?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 08:06 AM PDT

Hi AskScience! They are offering the seasonal vaccine here at my workplace today, and I noticed in the fine print it covers 3 strains. How are the specific strains chosen?
I had a few theories backed up by a reasonable rationale in my mind, and I wanna see how close I am to the real answer.
1. The most infectious, most easily spread strains are prioritized. Since infectiousness would most directly correlate to maximum loss of productivity across the board, it would make sense for these strains to be vaccinated against. Also, since those with compromised immune systems are more likely to come into contact with highly infectious strains, vaccinating against these strains would provide a herd immunity to protect the vulnerable.
2. The cheapest vaccinations to produce and manufacture are prioritized. I am assuming that only a handful of flu strains are characterized well enough to cheaply synthesize a vaccine. Additionally, the seasonal flu vaccine is very cheap, to where pharmacies can administer them for less than 20 dollars. Money and profit is always a motivator when decisions are made.
3. The deadliest strains are prioritized. Prioritizing the strains that might be less infectious but have a higher mortality rate would decrease the overall burden on the health care system. I'm guessing that the deadlier strains would result in increased hospital visits and health care costs for a small number of people, compared to a greater number of people with minor symptoms. Vaccinating against the deadliest strains would not only save more lives, but also decrease the burdens on the hospitals and ERs.
4. The strains that are local to my area are prioritized. I could be wrong, but flu outbreaks might be local. Protecting against the strains that are local to my area would prevent spreading that specific strain beyond a geographical location, essentially creating a quarantine area.
Any insights would be appreciated!

submitted by /u/thesilentmantis
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If the sense of smell is usually associated closely with memory, what happens with memory recall/association in someone who was born without it?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 05:47 AM PDT

Can people with a cochlear implant hear the direction a sound is coming from?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 06:36 AM PDT

I guess I'm asking about those who would be classified completely deaf without their implant, are they able to detect where in their environment a sound is coming from like normally functioning ears can?

submitted by /u/Personwhoisfriendly
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Why do we need to take flu shots every year, don't we already have anti-bodies for the flu virus?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 05:52 PM PDT

Why do we need sleep?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 05:12 PM PDT

Title, I'm curious as to the advantages of sleep and why exactly we need it.

submitted by /u/ajhiitree
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What makes something indigestible?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 05:05 AM PDT

Why are there things our bodies can digest, and somethings that we cannot? What makes them indigestible?

submitted by /u/Skylineblue
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Why is there still sunlight after the sun set?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 08:45 AM PDT

Is it because of mountains reflecting the sunlight? In this case, is it immediately dark after a sun set in e.g the desert? Or is it because of the atmosphere?

submitted by /u/6_67408
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What's the reason for a red turn arrow?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 06:28 PM PDT

I understand how a green arrow can allow backed up traffic to flow through but I can't see the reason for a red arrow. Why not allow motorists to turn when safe.

submitted by /u/liquidthunder
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Thursday, October 19, 2017

Can you determine the cause of a headache from the region of the head it is affecting?

Can you determine the cause of a headache from the region of the head it is affecting?


Can you determine the cause of a headache from the region of the head it is affecting?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 09:29 AM PDT

edit : thanks for the responses- learned lots

submitted by /u/Skrtmvsterr
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How can objects like a piano be completely black and at the same time highly reflective?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 03:16 AM PDT

Things are black because they absorb all the wavelenghts, but in a shiny black piano it also reflects the light like a mirror.

submitted by /u/LupusX
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Are there caves on other planets in our solar system?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 09:08 PM PDT

If waste from nuclear power generation is radioactive, why does it get disposed of and isolated, instead of used as fuel?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 03:34 PM PDT

If water is transparent, why are the clouds white?

Posted: 19 Oct 2017 04:25 AM PDT

When electrons jump from one atomic orbital to the next, how fast do they move?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 02:13 PM PDT

Electrons can only exist in defined energy levels, and cannot exist in an intermediate state. This seems to imply that the change is instantaneous.

When an electron changes atomic orbitals, can it be said to have 'moved', and if so, how fast is that 'movement' if the jump is instantaneous?

submitted by /u/HomeAl0ne
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How can we tell that a star is a certain color because of the Doppler Effect or because it burns at a certain temperature?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 03:04 PM PDT

Hi.

I am reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and he states in Chapter Three that we can tell whether a star is moving away or towards us from its color. A redder star means it is moving away from us while a bluer star is moving towards us. I also know that a star's color also represents its temperature as the blue stars are hotter than the red stars.

My question is how can we tell if a star is blue hot even if it is moving away from us and vice versa? Are there other ways we can differentiate the data given to us from sensors illustrating that?

Thanks for your time.

submitted by /u/kafka_the_cat
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How are Power Grids affected by Solar Flares?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 04:42 PM PDT

How does energy from the sun cause power outages on earth? What does this have to do with earth's magnetic field?

submitted by /u/ProtocolJustice
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What makes gold, gold in colour?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 12:25 PM PDT

What causes the yellow colour of gold? While most metals in their reduced state are effectively colourless, gold (and copper) have colour beyond just being reflective. There are no things like organic chromophores in a metal, and the transitions that give metal salts their colours shouldn't be applicable in the neutral metal, as far as I understand. So, what makes gold (and copper, etc) special amongst metals?

submitted by /u/superhelical
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How are electronics in space grounded?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 08:18 AM PDT

Why are triangles, squares, and hexagons the only shapes that can tesselate?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 03:32 PM PDT

Why can only these regular shapes (with equal angles at each vertex) form a continuous grid? I understand that the angles don't allow other shapes to do this, but I would like to understand it from a more conceptual and visual perspective.

submitted by /u/Thegreatmochi
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How is a prime number as big as 2^(74'207'281) − 1 found?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 07:05 PM PDT

So how exactly did the team that found this prime number figure it out? How were the computers (assuming they used computers) even able to compute a number that big?

EDIT: So found out they use a software called GIMPS, what is that exactly and how does it find prime numbers?

submitted by /u/strixi
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Could sea creatures that live at great depths survive at 1 atm?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 12:13 PM PDT

Do they have higher internal pressure to counter the external pressure on their bodies? If so, would this cause then to swell and possibly "lyse" at the surface?

submitted by /u/jedwards55
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Are precious gemstone/rare mineral sites mostly found by accident?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 08:05 PM PDT

I've been trying search on google about how dig-sites for precious gems are discovered. I'm not really finding any useful information. I've tried rephrasing my question but I'm not really coming up with anything.

Are there methods for locating gemstone deposits? Or can we at least narrow it down pretty well? Or is it more or less just blind luck that someone inadvertently comes across a find, and boom you have a digging site? I'm sure there's some geological clues that we can use, I'm just wondering how accurately we can guess where we might find certain gems or precious minerals. And to add to that, I'm curious as to where I can do my own reading on the subject.

submitted by /u/twislebutt
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How do you know when to draw functional groups as axial vs equatorial for chair configurations?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 07:31 PM PDT

I'm learning about chair conformations for cyclohexanes and, frankly, my professor sucks at explaining. My main inquiry is, how do you know when to draw a functional group as axial vs equatorial? In the link below, there is a methyl group in the axial position and after the flip, it is in the equatorial. I understand how the flip works, but why is the methyl not equatorial in the first position?

Link: https://gyazo.com/b51aaf9e08ebbf18a600e7f37f952d10

submitted by /u/DepecheALaMode
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What does 'locality' mean in terms of quantum physics?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 07:28 PM PDT

Typically when I don't understand something in physics, it's an equation. While I'm not saying I think quantum physics should be easily understood, but one quality that really perplexes me is when variables are said to be 'local' or 'non-local'.

What does this mean, and why is it not a numerical value? Can you explain it in layman's terms?

submitted by /u/lawpoop
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How do space craft that explore beyond conventional/existing frames of reference for navigation create new frames of reference as they explore?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 11:07 PM PDT

Why do large animals like horses not suffer from the same bone and joint problems that large dogs experience?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 06:36 AM PDT

One might think that bones are bones and convective tissue is connective tissue. Is it something to do with density, or the overall structure?

Perhaps a better comparison would be tigers. They have more similar weight bearing characteristics. Do old tigers get arthritis? If not, why not? Could the dog issues be addressed with selective breeding, or is there something inherently different about their tissues?

submitted by /u/-FunkyPotato-
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[Physics] How does relativity explain ferromagnetism?

Posted: 18 Oct 2017 12:09 PM PDT

I'm familiar with the relativistic explanation of how moving charges create what appears to be a magnetic field to an observer. But how does it explain permanent magnetism?

I've been curious about this. Looking it up in my physics text from undergrad just gives me the old thing about electrons as point charges circulating around their nuclei, analogous to a current in a Wire. But that isn't physically true...

submitted by /u/DramShopLaw
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