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Tuesday, April 10, 2018

If Potassium acts as a counter-agent to sodium in the body, is there a scientific reason we're not simply adding potassium to high sodium foods (i.e. processed frozen food) to lower the overall sodium level?

If Potassium acts as a counter-agent to sodium in the body, is there a scientific reason we're not simply adding potassium to high sodium foods (i.e. processed frozen food) to lower the overall sodium level?


If Potassium acts as a counter-agent to sodium in the body, is there a scientific reason we're not simply adding potassium to high sodium foods (i.e. processed frozen food) to lower the overall sodium level?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 11:18 AM PDT

Why isn't desert sand used in making silicon? Why only beach sand?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 12:38 AM PDT

Would a fusion reactor be affected by earthquakes?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 02:50 AM PDT

I couldn't find any sources on which effect earthquakes would have on a reactor. Obviously, the structure could be ruined by a high magnitude, but i was wondering if smaller ones would have any effect on either the safety or efficiency.

submitted by /u/genericnameawaythrow
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I’ve heard that nuclear fission and/or fusion only convert not even 1% of all the energy stored in an atom. How much energy is actually stored in an atom and is it technically possible to “extract” all of it?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 05:05 AM PDT

In this video, a lineman equalizes potential between a helicopter and the power line. Why does that work? Shouldn't the AC current treat the helicopter like a big capacitor?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 07:00 AM PDT

This is a video that was posted in /r/whoahdude.

https://i.imgur.com/d3hLJFQ.gifv

Why does the potential equalize between the helicopter and the power line? Shouldn't, with every flip of the phase, a new potential difference rise between the helicopter and the power line, keeping a permanent, 50 or 60Hz alternating current flowing between the two?

submitted by /u/the_second
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How does a microwave use waves to cook food?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 06:54 AM PDT

What happens to the Uranium Dioxide lattice after undergoing fission? Do fission products stay in the lattice or diffuse out? What happens to the oxygen molecules surrounding the uranium atom that fissioned?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 06:52 PM PDT

Could gravity waves theoretically be reflected or refracted?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 11:12 PM PDT

Also, just as light waves impart a force to things they interact with, would it be possible to cause net motion with gravity waves?

submitted by /u/priestmuffin
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Can a Spider Feel or Know When it's Silk Producing Organ is Empty Before Silk Stops Coming Out?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 04:48 PM PDT

How do newborn sea turtles know to go back to the ocean once they hatch?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 04:39 PM PDT

How were we able to work out that a spaceship could travel on top of a Boeing 747 ?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 12:36 AM PDT

How does sound move in plasma ?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 06:24 AM PDT

What is the cause of morning breath?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 12:13 AM PDT

Can someone explain to me what Yang-Mills Mass Gap problem is about? And what makes it so difficult?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 09:16 PM PDT

What mechanisms cause an infant to grow so greatly, but slow down in adolescence/stop in adulthood?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 06:48 PM PDT

Why do space craft need to enter the atmosphere at an angle and risk burning up or skipping off? Why not just enter directly into the atmosphere very slowly, using thrusters to counteract gravity, until chutes become effective?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 03:43 PM PDT

In an event of a power outage, can electrical appliances stay powered on if backup generators respond fast enough?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 03:36 AM PDT

I just got a power outage and remembered that Tesla's battery backup system in Australia had a response time of 0.14 seconds.

  1. Is it possible for elecrical appliances eg PC, Microwave, TV, etc, to stay powered on as if nothing happened, if the backup response is fast enough?

  2. If yes, what is the maximum delay possible for those appliances to stay powered on through the outage-backup?

submitted by /u/swangjang
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What does a 392 MW capacity in a solar plant mean?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 11:24 PM PDT

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpah_Solar_Power_Facility

it says The plant has a gross capacity of 392 megawatts what does that mean. does it mean it generate 392 power in year or day ?

submitted by /u/Shlazart
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How close to a perfect vacuum is space? How do satellite radiators work?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 04:35 PM PDT

I've continuously heard space is not a perfect vacuum, however how good of a vacuum is it?

Context and additional questions:

I'm in a course dealing with geostationary satellites. Their heat rejection mechanism is a set of simple radiators. I asked if space is a vacuum how would the radiators work. I thought the point of a radiator was to expose the heat to a fluid to carry it away. How exactly would that work in a vacuum or near vacuum? The only answer I received was space is not a perfect vacuum. For reference if it makes a difference geostationary satellites are 35,786 km above the equator.

submitted by /u/neanderbn
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What exactly happens when your eyes gets tired and you start seeing double?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 06:40 PM PDT

What were the technological breakthroughs that ushered in the drone era?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 03:20 PM PDT

In fiction, the gamma radiation (esp. from nuclear weapons) is usually depicted with a greenish, yellowish colour, and often makes objects glow. Does this occur in real life?

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 01:30 AM PDT

Fallout is a great example of what I'm talking about. For example, in Fallout 3, the sky is a permanent greenish yellow colour because of background radiation, and the water is green too. Highly radioactive objects and creatures also often glow this greenish yellow colour.

In real life, I know radiation has no odour or taste and is invisible, but can gamma radiation actually make objects appear greenish yellow or even glow?

submitted by /u/LOLZpersonok
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What are the chances that we might receive an Interstellar Message? What equipment do we have in place for monitoring and how do they work?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 09:35 AM PDT

Monday, April 9, 2018

Can you get drunk by inhaling alcohol vapors?

Can you get drunk by inhaling alcohol vapors?


Can you get drunk by inhaling alcohol vapors?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 09:47 PM PDT

Is there a minimum to the distance we can move in the universe?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 03:22 PM PDT

Similar to how on a computer screen you can't move less than one pixel at a time, is there a limit like that? Is it the Planck length?

submitted by /u/JadenZombieZlayer
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What exactly does a lobotomy do?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 09:46 AM PDT

I understand the basic concept behind a lobotomy, but I'm not sure what it severs inside your head, how that would affect a person, and wether or not this person would be self sufficient. How would it affect their day to day life, and what is it like inside the mind of a lobotomised person?

submitted by /u/ag18078
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Are QM particles "fuzzy" in time the same way they are in space? Or is spacetime just another thing from relativity that doesn't carry over to QM?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 11:16 PM PDT

I can't tell if this is like why you can't tell absolute position and velocity, I could see that just being another way of saying that they are "fuzzy" in time as well.

submitted by /u/birdfishsteak
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What does it mean to say that an animal can see polarised light?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 08:19 PM PDT

Can humans see polarised light? Is polarised light invisible to some animals, but not to others? Or som animals can see the difference between polarised and non-polarised light?

submitted by /u/Mateussf
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How much of the temperature on earth can be attributed to geothermal heat from the mantle and core etc?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 03:53 AM PDT

How do doctors determine that rabies can incubate for 9 years?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 08:57 PM PDT

I don't see how it can be accurate? Maybe it was acquired sooner?

submitted by /u/MeowThorMeow
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How are organ transplant even possible?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 04:46 PM PDT

I thought that our MHC and HLA cells would immediately detect that the organ and tissue is foreign and proceed to attack it. Is there a sort of threshold of similarity for these cells to not attack the transplanted organ?

submitted by /u/sunny_night
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Why do MRIs need such a powerful magnetic field?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 02:04 PM PDT

Is there dielectric breakdown in a liquid? What are the effects of the breakdown on it?

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 05:23 AM PDT

If a solid undergoes dielectric breakdown, I've read it permanently damages the solid usually, and for a gas, it ionizes the gas but doesn't "damage it". What about for a liquid?

submitted by /u/liamguy165
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Why don't we send satellites upwards out of the solar system? Why always through the planetary pathway?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 08:40 AM PDT

Since helium can be ionized, shouldn't it be possible to chemically bond it with other elements?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 08:12 PM PDT

Does heat energy have "momentum"?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 10:18 PM PDT

If I were heating an object and took away the energy source before it reached max temp, would the temperature of the object continue to increase for a small amount of time, sort of like a "heat momentum"?

submitted by /u/JakesFlannel
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If I were to look up to the stars, what star has the best potential to harbor life?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 09:05 PM PDT

What makes CRISPR better than other genome editing methods, and what makes it worse?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 06:40 AM PDT

Is our weather being influenced by the most recent solar cycle?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 12:09 PM PDT

It now seems without a doubt that Earth is experiencing an uptick of extreme weather events, typically oriented with warming weather (climate change). https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/01/18/hottest-year-on-record/96713338/

However, within the past several months, my region of the planet - northeastern United States - has actually been cooler than normal, and a series of significant winter storms has raged through. https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2018-02-14-spring-2018-temperature-outlook-march-april-may-the-weather , and https://weather.com/storms/winter/news/2018-03-11-winter-storm-skylar-appalachians-northeast-snow-coastal-storm

I've noticed a possible correlation in that the sun is fading into its solar minim, reducing its energetic output slightly (in terms of solar flares and CME's). https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/news-articles/solar-minimum-is-coming , and https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/rind_03/

Are these events connected? When the sun next ramps up a few years' down the road, is it conceivable that global warming will again accelerate?

[EDIT - added links]

submitted by /u/Jay_B_
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How does temperature sensing in humans work?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 02:07 PM PDT

Well, I know there are temperature receptors on the skin, but exactly how do they convert the temperature to a signal the brain can interpret?

submitted by /u/AtomKanister
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When a lizard “detaches” it’s tail, is it a conscious effort from the lizard (like a muscle movement)? Or is a certain part of the tail really weak and easily broken off?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 07:45 AM PDT

How can you tell what gas is being produced from a chemical reaction happening in a liquid?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 03:54 PM PDT

Why do we get a stuffy nose when we are sick?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 02:37 PM PDT

What does it mean to say, "We share X% of DNA with Y"?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 09:06 AM PDT

Inspired by the recent press coverage of David Reich's work, I have grown very confused on the seemingly contradictory comparisons of genetic similarity

In this guardian piece he is quoted saying, "Non-African genomes today are 1.5-2.1% Neanderthal in origin".

But in the field of behavioral genetics (e.g. 23andMe) they outline how identical twins share 100% of DNA, siblings share 50% of DNA, etc. etc. down to 4th cousins sharing 0.2% of DNA.

Similarly, it is commonly noted that humans share ~98.5% of our DNA with chimps and that two individual humans share 99.9% of our DNA. (Scientific American article that mentions this)

Hopefully my confusion is clear. But to ask a more explicit question - How are these percentages calculated across species? Is there is a different calculation for ancestral similarity? What does it mean to be genetically similar? Same genes? The genes are X% similar?

As much detail as possible is appreciated. Thanks for your time.

submitted by /u/HawksHawksHawks
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How does electric field behave at great distances?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 11:42 AM PDT

Specifically, I am interested in whether a test charge is attracted to where an opposite charge is or to the place it will be.

I have seen other questions about the behavior of the gravitational field at great distances. In that case, if a very distant mass is accelerated quickly, when the gravitons reach the local test mass, the local test mass will accelerate not in the direction of the distant mass, but in the direction that the distant mass would be, should it continue it's path.

My question is whether the electromagnetic force behaves in the same way.

submitted by /u/macisaint
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Sunday, April 8, 2018

Why does fried food such as french fries start to float in the oil after a few minutes of cooking?

Why does fried food such as french fries start to float in the oil after a few minutes of cooking?


Why does fried food such as french fries start to float in the oil after a few minutes of cooking?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 03:12 AM PDT

Are Prime Numbers Endless?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 07:42 AM PDT

The higher you go, the greater the chance of finding a non prime, right? Multiples of existing primes make new primes rarer. It is possible that there is a limited number of prime numbers? If not, how can we know for certain?

submitted by /u/zaneprotoss
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In a superfluid, how does the (near-)absence of heat cause binding forces to disappear, when usually the complete opposite happens (freezing)?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 04:34 AM PDT

I have read a bit about Helium-4 and it seems that the cancellation of the intrinsic spins of the particles of 4He makes the atom a boson which is a requirement for a superfluid. So if atoms behave like bosons there will not be binding forces between them?

Also, is it the atmospheric pressure that keeps a superfluid in liquid phase? Since there is no cohesion I would expect it to evaporate in a vacuum.

submitted by /u/neuromat0n
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Do plants need sleep?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 08:29 PM PDT

If a plant was given the necessary water, would they do better with artificial lighting if they were given time without light?

submitted by /u/mkb1208
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How much consideration did astronauts of the Apollo missions give to debris?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 11:54 PM PDT

I know the moon has had billions of years to collect it's craters, but how much concern did NASA have of a collision with rock impacting the surface of the moon or their spacecraft on their way? I'm just curious since there is no atmosphere to burn the meteors before they hit the surface, and the moon has so many craters.

submitted by /u/jwb483
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Why are we saying that the strong force is the one which maintains the nucleus while it only acts inside hadrons ? Why wouldn't it be the weak force instead ?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 12:54 AM PDT

Why do modern jet aircraft have sharp angles on their wings/tails, whereas propeller aircraft of the 40s had curved wings and tails?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 01:12 PM PDT

How do scientists know which atoms make up a certain substance?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 06:18 PM PDT

E.g., how do we know water is made of 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom of oxygen?

submitted by /u/raw_pasta
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With a powerful enough telescope, would we be able to see the footprints on the moon?

Posted: 08 Apr 2018 12:50 AM PDT

Is there a limit to how far we can ‘zoom in’ on something?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 11:02 PM PDT

Just curious if there is some kind of barrier preventing us from zooming in extremely close to something at very far distances. For example would it be possible to zoom in and see a single atom on the moon from the Earth. How far can we physically zoom in and what would the limit look like if there is one?

submitted by /u/TheFirstWatermelon
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Would honey bees be considered an invasive species to North and South America?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 08:44 PM PDT

Why are mirrors used in telescopes?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 10:14 PM PDT

How are the distant objects magnified using mirrors?

submitted by /u/1Os
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Why do cars with petrol engines need gears but electric ones don't?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 07:16 AM PDT

How do natural hot springs work?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 09:25 PM PDT

I took my first trip to Colorado and I went to the natural hot springs in Glenwood Springs. They had about 10 pools and each small pool's temperature was self regulated and varied throughout the facility. How is this possible/where does the natural heat come from?

submitted by /u/stoops11
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How do penguins stay warm, especially in the sub zero waters?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 03:30 PM PDT

Are there gaps between galaxies or do they overlap? If there is a gap, what is in the space in between?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 05:55 PM PDT

I always see beautiful images of galaxies, with their spirals and patterns and their overall cohesive shapes, but they seem to be against a backdrop of black nothingness. Is this nothingness real? Are there rogue planets or solar systems there? Is it just floating clouds of dust? Or do the edges of galaxies rub against each other? Do galaxies drift around? Does two galaxies touching mean they'll eventually collapse into each other?

submitted by /u/officialbobbydunbar
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What is the lower limit of the number of cells that can make up a multi-celled organism?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 05:27 PM PDT

Often, I see discussions on how many cells the largest organisms have, but I have yet to come across an answer on what the lower limit is in regards to cell count. Am I over-thinking this and the answer is simply two? What kinds of factors play into how many cells or the interactions between cells that make something a multi-celled organism as opposed to a small colony of single-celled organisms? Thanks for helping me out.

submitted by /u/Swanka_Spubawki
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Why are vaccines not delivered in pills yet? What is keeping this breakthrough from happening?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 10:59 AM PDT

Would the formation of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas etc) be a rare phenomenon on other planets?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 02:14 PM PDT

The advancement of the human race seems to be closely related to the exploitation of these resources (for example coal for the Iron Age and still used today) and wondering how the availability of it would affect the rise of life forms on other planets

submitted by /u/MJDalton
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Why doesn't air just fall to the ground due to gravity?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 11:09 PM PDT

I know that gasses are supposed to expand to fill up a space, is that Why? But then why do they do that, and seemingly defy gravity?

submitted by /u/NormanQuacks345
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Do the poles receive more cloud coverage than other regions of earth?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 04:08 PM PDT

In most depictions of arctic or Antarctic explorations it seems super cloudy/snowy. Is this accurate, and if so why?

submitted by /u/afburnham
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How do they manage to keep track of Voyager 1 ?

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 11:58 AM PDT

Hi,

I am in intrigued on what do they have to consider to know precisely the location of the space probe since it is so far away from us. Thank you

submitted by /u/leptitQc
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