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Saturday, September 1, 2018

How many average modern nuclear weapons (~1Mt) would it require to initiate a nuclear winter?

How many average modern nuclear weapons (~1Mt) would it require to initiate a nuclear winter?

How many average modern nuclear weapons (~1Mt) would it require to initiate a nuclear winter?

Posted: 01 Sep 2018 03:40 AM PDT

What’s actually happening when power goes out and comes back on after a few seconds during a storm?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 06:08 PM PDT

What do the axes on Garret Lisi's elementary particle explorer mean?

Posted: 01 Sep 2018 03:37 AM PDT

I recently found this very cool-looking tool that arranges particles in an 8-dimensional space according to their different charges which forms nice patterns. The problem is that I have no idea what the axes actually mean.

If you switch the coordinates from "math" to "physics" and go to the "interactions" tab (the one that tells you what the particles actually are), I see that the charges/axes are Σ, w subindex S, w subindex T, W, Y, X, g3 and g8. The only one I think I understand is W, which I believe is the weak hypercharge, but the others are complete unknown to me.

Additional questions about the explorer: What is a frame-Higgs? What is a PS X boson?

submitted by /u/Swingfire
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When you turn on a water kettle, why does the light dim briefly?

Posted: 01 Sep 2018 02:01 AM PDT

When I turn on a high current device, such as a vacuum cleaner or water kettle, the ceiling light dims briefly, before going back to normal. What causes this to happen and why does it only happen to light sources close to me and not everybody connected to the same electric wire, such as my neighbors?

submitted by /u/GrabAMonkey
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Are the planets in our solar system charged? Do electric fields exist between them?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 07:02 PM PDT

If you were up "above" the solar system, looking down at the plane of it, and you were wearing special Hoffman Lenses that allowed you to see Electric Field lines, what would you see?

If the planets are charged, and they are moving, then does that mean they are throwing off electromagnetic waves?

I have been told that the sun, for example, is several billion volts positive, relative to the Earth. Is this true?

submitted by /u/wam235
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If you swim in a tank of water but don’t touch the bottom, does your weight affect the total weight of the tank?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:37 PM PDT

Which acid would be best to dissolve Kombucha SCOBY(symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) without dissolving glass?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:44 PM PDT

I have an odd question for this sub but it seems to be the best fit. I currently have a 5 gallon glass carboy which has a huge SCOBY stuck in it, roughly the diameter of the carboy. I made about 4 gallons of Kombucha and the SCOBY grew to the size of the container. The problem is that the opening is only about an inch or two in diameter itself and the SCOBY is thick and leathery. I've tried prying it out and cutting it but its just too big. I think my best option would be to use a weak, relatively safe, acid to dissolve it without destroying the carboy. Does anybody know of an acid I could acquire fairly easily and cheaply which also wouldn't be too terribly dangerous to use along with the proper safety precautions?

submitted by /u/Frisky_Picker
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Why do infinity mirror tunnels appear to curve off in the distance as opposed to keeping in a straight line?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 10:54 AM PDT

I'm not 100% sure if they're called "infinity mirror tunnels" but I just saw a post and this is what I'm talking about: https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/9btdjh/this_portable_mining_cave/?utm_source=reddit-android

submitted by /u/JustLaskingQuestions
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How do astronomers determine the position of other celestial objects?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 09:12 PM PDT

What is their position relative to?

submitted by /u/Original_Vanilla
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What causes sink holes?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 03:09 PM PDT

What is the width of the cutting edge of a blade?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 10:14 AM PDT

Let's say you sharpen a knife with a 3000 grit stone, or approximately the sharpness of a chef knife out of the box, is there any way to measure or calculate the width of the very tip of the cutting edge ?

submitted by /u/Supsnow
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What causes liquid to come out of your nose? (Explanation in OP)

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 03:13 PM PDT

Say for example that you have a mouth full of water, and someone makes you laugh hard. Instead of laughing, the water comes out of your nose. Why does this happen? Is there a muscle flap that gets forced open?

submitted by /u/MC_chrome
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How do you get the mRNA in RT-PCR?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 02:12 PM PDT

I understand that the mRNA in the nucleus that you are taking is what is being expressed in the body. However, when you use gel electrophoresis, you can see if this gene is being expressed in, lets say, muscle tissue vs nervous system tissue based off if there is a band.

Now back to PCR. When you do PCR, you need a DNA template strand. In RT-PCR, if the gel electrophoresis shows that a gene isn't being expressed in, lets say the muscle tissue, wouldn't you have already known that because you didn't have that mRNA in the test tube?

I'm just a little confused on how RT- PCR shows that a gene isn't being expressed? Wouldn't you know since you didn't have the mRNA to begin with in the test tube?

Or are you taking all the mRNA from the nucleus, then only using the specific primers for that gene, if it doesn't attach and replicate, then you don't get the band, which then shows that that gene isn't being expressed?

submitted by /u/RichElderBerry
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Is it really possible to waste electricity?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:41 PM PDT

I am made to understand that leaving bulbs on when not needed, wastes electricity. However, beyond the meter box charges, how exactly is electricity wasted? If I turned off the light bulb, doesn't the unused electrical power/ capacity "lie idle"anyway? My conclusion is that the phrase is "wasting electricity" stems from the economical implication of electrical bills rather than actual "electricity wastage". Help me out guys. Thanks

submitted by /u/Job_scenar
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Friday, August 31, 2018

Is washing your hands with warm water really better than with cold water?

Is washing your hands with warm water really better than with cold water?

Is washing your hands with warm water really better than with cold water?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 01:10 PM PDT

I get that boiling water will kill plenty of germs, but I'm not sold on warm water. What's the deal?

submitted by /u/mitchade
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In Layman's terms, how do the new RTX graphics cards calculate the path of light rays?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:28 AM PDT

Why does our brains tend to recall bad memories and make us in a bad mood rather than recall good memories and make us in a good mood more often?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 05:50 AM PDT

What happens to a material's heat capacity as it approaches the speed of light?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:47 AM PDT

As an object's velocity increases close to the speed of light so does it's apparent mass which makes continual acceleration to c essentially impossible. My question is does this apparent increase in mass effect the thermal properties of the material involved? Would it be harder to melt a block of ice going 99.9% the speed of light than an identical block of ice going at 0.01c?

submitted by /u/AlistairStarbuck
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How do ants find even the smallest piece of food far away from their nests?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 07:27 AM PDT

What causes the soft tissues to expand when humans grow?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 06:05 AM PDT

Say someone grows a foot over three years. For example, what makes sure that his intestines grow at the same rate so he doesn't have disproportionately small intestines bouncing around in him whenever he walks? Or what makes sure that our muscles grow longer when we grow so that we're not stuck with the arms of a two-year old?

submitted by /u/SatOhShe_KnockAMoto
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Is there any difference in the water that forms the rings of Saturn and the water we have on earth?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 06:18 AM PDT

So I recently read that the icy rings that orbit Saturn are made up of 99.9% pure water. Is the water there more purified than the water we have on Earth?

Once we filter or purify water here on Earth, does it match the purity of the water that can be found in the rings of Saturn?

submitted by /u/TrooperNI
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How does our brain wake itself up?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 12:17 AM PDT

Why do we get older?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 04:02 AM PDT

We are made of cells, and these cells are bunch of atoms connecting to each other. But atoms can't be drained out of energy, so why do we get older and die when the atoms keep vibrating?

(Not a native English speaker, sorry if I was unclear.)

submitted by /u/ronkandelker512
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Why Don’t we have fusion power yet?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 08:25 PM PDT

I was just wondering why we don't have fusion power yet. I know that right now the reactors are highly inefficient but I was wondering if there was a specific reason? Is it the material that the reactors are made of or the amount of hydrogen and deuterium and tritium needed.

submitted by /u/Allseeingeye49
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Why do different oral magnesium salts (supplements) have different bioavailability measures?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 02:10 AM PDT

Hi all.

I have always wondered why Mg salts are reported to have different oral absorption rates and bioavailability in studies.

Isn't Mg in all oral salts paired with acids that are weaker than hydrochloric acid? Wouldn't all Mg then turn into MgCl2 and whatever acid made the salt in solution inside the stomach? I must admit that my chemistry knowledge is limited, so I would love a clear answer to this.

Thanks!

submitted by /u/4f14-5d4-6s2
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Is rust AKA iron oxide potentially toxic or harmful to humans?

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:29 AM PDT

If you want detail about why I'm asking this question, see below. Otherwise, the title should suffice as the pithiest version of this question.

This is really a question about rust developing on coffee grinder burrs, specifically the burrs on a popular hand grinder known as the Aergrind.

I've been having an very anxious week and the weirdest shit is getting to me, so I gotta' ask. Some wet/damp beans went into my new Aergrind earlier today, which has only grinded about 12oz of beans over a week and a half (so, I'm not sure how much of that oily "protective coating" has developed on the burrs, which apparently protects against some water).

Since then, I've become obsessed with the idea of rust developing on the burrs. Can't even see the Aergrind's burrs clearly, so I can't confirm one way or the other.

Then I found this from Baratza's website: "Rusty Burrs - Really?". Noted in that article is the following:

"you may find some rust when you receive your burrs. Yes, this is normal and it will not harm you, nor does it make for an inferior burr."

I'm assuming this applies to other grinders, including the Aergrind.

If this is true, why are many coffee connoisseurs (i.e., not me; I'm an utter amateur) so fastidious about not getting water on the burrs like it'll be the end of the equipment or something terrible will happen?

The same article also cites the following:

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) indicates that rust is not toxic…… If eaten, the acid in the digestive processes will convert rust to iron needed for blood formation or excrete the excess."

Then again, rust is an iron oxide, and you can get sick from iron overdose, but does that also apply to iron oxide? Correct me if I'm wrong, that would be pretty nearly impossible just from rusty burrs regardless of how many beans you're grinding, right?

So, as far as ingesting coffee that's been ground up via a rusty burr, are there any actual -- and significant/meaningful -- downsides?

submitted by /u/signs_unbreakable
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If you kept a person in a room in which nothing ever emitted light at wavelengths below 550 nm, would their blue-sensitive cone cells atrophy?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 11:08 PM PDT

How do far away space probes like New Horizon account for the motion of the Earth and the probe during communications transmission and reception?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 09:56 AM PDT

At over 4 billion miles away, the signal would take 6 hours to reach Earth which would have moved about 389 thousand miles. Does the probe account for this motion and realign its transmission antennas?

Edit: Apparently, there would not be too much precise calculations due to the frontal lobe of the signal spreading out enough that as long as the transmission antenna was pointed in the direction of Earth, the signal could be received. Also once a probe is far enough above or below the ecliptic, obstruction would not be a major issue. As for the displacement of the Earth during transmission, it would be minimal given the distance of the probe.

Conclusion: I leaned a lot about probe signal transmission and reception. Which was the intent of this post. Thanks /r/askscience ! :)

submitted by /u/Skwurls4brkfst
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Whats the deal with Asteroid 2002 NT7?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 09:58 PM PDT

I remember when NASA predicted that this asteroid would likely hit Earth and calculated the accuracy of that statement down to the time it would hit. 11:47 am, February 1st, 2019. Then four days later they changed their prediction and said its collision is unlikely.

So the questions are: How did they go about changing their minds? Is four days really enough time? How unlikely is it that said asteroid hits Earth?

submitted by /u/FrenchSnail
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Why does Hypocalcemia cause Tetany?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 09:01 PM PDT

The textbook just says hypocalcemia increases neuronal excitability. But what about how calcium is needed to release ACh from synaptic knobs? How are the muscles stimulated without ACh in that case?

Or does anyone have one of those ".edu" or ".html" links that have very simple explanations (similar to like this) which explains Calcium's role in the action potential?

Thanks for any help

submitted by /u/kuhataparunks
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How do nautiluses stay upright while swimming?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 01:29 PM PDT

I'm interested in nautilus locomotion. Apparently they rise and sink by osmosis, and suck water in and out to move forward. How do they remain upright? Are they passively stable based on their anatomy, or do they have to actively try to remain upright?

submitted by /u/notadoctor123
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How do you predict the way a reation is going to take?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 10:52 PM PDT

Does Fire Extinguish Easier in Cold Weather?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 10:52 PM PDT

How much of earths mass is due to its spin?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 03:16 PM PDT

Does a top have more energy when it is spinning than when it is stationary? Does a ball have more energy when spinning? Does a planet?

Since we know that energy is equivalent to mass, how much of Earth's mass is due to it's spin?

submitted by /u/dani1235a
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How do we know the surface temperature, chemical makeup, ages of rock formations, and other details of other planets? How can images and other data tell us these things? A lot of it seems like a stretch. How much of it is conjecture?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 06:54 PM PDT
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Thursday, August 30, 2018

AskScience AMA Series: We're compression experts from Stanford University working on genomic compression. We've also consulted for the HBO show "Silicon Valley." AUA!

AskScience AMA Series: We're compression experts from Stanford University working on genomic compression. We've also consulted for the HBO show "Silicon Valley." AUA!

AskScience AMA Series: We're compression experts from Stanford University working on genomic compression. We've also consulted for the HBO show "Silicon Valley." AUA!

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 04:00 AM PDT

Hi, we are Dmitri Pavlichin (postdoc fellow) and Tsachy Weissman (professor of electrical engineering) from Stanford University. The two of us study data compression algorithms, and we think it's time to come up with a new compression scheme-one that's vastly more efficient, faster, and better tailored to work with the unique characteristics of genomic data.

Typically, a DNA sequencing machine that's processing the entire genome of a human will generate tens to hundreds of gigabytes of data. When stored, the cumulative data of millions of genomes will occupy dozens of exabytes.

Researchers are now developing special-purpose tools to compress all of this genomic data. One approach is what's called reference-based compression, which starts with one human genome sequence and describes all other sequences in terms of that original one. While a lot of genomic compression options are emerging, none has yet become a standard.

You can read more in this article we wrote for IEEE Spectrum: https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/the-desperate-quest-for-genomic-compression-algorithms

In a strange twist of fate, Tsachy also created the fictional Weismann score for the HBO show "Silicon Valley." Dmitri took over Tsachy's consulting duties for season 4 and contributed whiteboards, sketches, and technical documents to the show.

For more on that experience, see this 2014 article: https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/computing/software/a-madefortv-compression-algorithm

We'll be here at 2 PM PT (5 PM ET, 22 UT)!

submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator
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Do geese belong to individual flocks, or can they just join up with whatever flock is headed in the right direction?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 07:37 AM PDT

I just watched a large V of geese go overhead, then split apart into two groups and head to different directions. There were also a couple of stragglers rushing to catch up, one of whom seemed to have missed the boat completely and just kept going straight, blazing his own path.

Will that goose be looking around at some point for his family / friends? Will they just be looking around for any flock of geese to join up with? I assume that there are only a few main flyways, and they can catch up with their own flock "on the road", as it were, but does that matter to them?

submitted by /u/ProLicks
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How can a phone tell the exact percentage of the battery?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 03:39 AM PDT

When someone receives a heart transplant as a child, does the heart grow with the child?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 06:44 PM PDT

I don't know much about this stuff but I'm really curious. If someone receives a heart transplant or another transplant as a child, does the received organ grow with the child? Or does it stay the same size as it's a foreign body and they need to receive and adult one later on? Or is it the same size anyway?

submitted by /u/frankierabbit
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What happens to air that escapes the ISS?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 06:24 AM PDT

Generally, what happens to air that escapes the ISS? Does it eventually get reabsorbed into Earth's atmosphere? Or is it stuck up in orbit or escape our planet?

submitted by /u/lquigley6
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How will the ISS 'land'?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 02:25 AM PDT

Keeping the ISS at 400km height and delivering food for the astronauts is really expensive and as much as I know ISS will run out of funding in the next 10ish years. So what will happen with the station? Making it leave orbit will be impossible so how will it come back to earth?

submitted by /u/chogawin
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How do we know that the concept of dark matter isn't just the observed gravitational effect of undetected black holes on their surrounding stars and galaxies?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 10:17 PM PDT

How is a bionic arm controlled?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 07:26 AM PDT

I have seen videos where people just but the bionic arm on there body and it suddenly works.

submitted by /u/Redhonu
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What causes the symptoms of motion sickness and why do medications such as scopolamine in a transdermal patch alleviate these effects?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 09:21 PM PDT

What happens to proteins over time? Do they degrade, are they broken down in by the cell, do they just hang around? How long will a protein stay viable?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 08:58 PM PDT

In the last 50 years, ten volcanic-made islands were formed. Is this a consistent and predictable rate? If so, can/will the earth over millions of years eventually become solid volcanic rock? Why or why not?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 07:52 PM PDT

Can a particle accelerator beam be referred to as a Laser?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 11:20 PM PDT

I read an article about Anatoli Burgorksi, the Russian scientist who survived after being struck by a particle accelerator beam to the head.

The article uses the term" High-Powered Laser" in the headline. Is this just a sensationalised headline or is it acceptable to use the terms, Laser and Particle Beam interchangeably?

Article

submitted by /u/bushknifebob
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What's stopping us from creating smaller than ~5nm transistors and also makes it difficcult to even reach there?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 04:39 PM PDT

GloFo just shut down its 7nm fab amd intel isnt doing very well with 10nm so this question came in mind

submitted by /u/geonik72
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Can you make a nuclear bomb with any element?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 07:58 PM PDT

Could you use an element like gold, or sodium, instead of uranium?

submitted by /u/superhareball
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Did all written language originate from a single early language?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 02:57 PM PDT

or have different writing systems been created completely separately with no influence or knowledge of the existence of other written language?

submitted by /u/DalvaMozzerX
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Neurologically speaking, what makes a child's brain better at learning new skills and languages than that of an adult?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 03:44 PM PDT

How does an electron multiplier release upwards of a million electrons from just one? Where do those electrons come from?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 02:48 PM PDT

Does animals of same species understand each other irrespective of the country they came from? Not talking about human beings..!

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 08:01 PM PDT

For instance, a cow from USA speak the same language(or understand) another from a different continent?

submitted by /u/raja777m
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How much does the change in climate affect the spread of cold and flu viruses In places that experience the change in seasons more rapidly?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 07:59 PM PDT

Thanks for any informed answers/comments!

submitted by /u/DutchNugget
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If Andromeda is going to hit us but we are actually seeing that galaxy in the past, does that mean that Andromeda might have already hit us?

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 03:30 AM PDT

Water vapor is Earth's primary greenhouse gas both in quantity and effect. What prevents the cycle of the atmosphere heating, thus able to hold more water, thus heating the atmosphere even more, and so on?

Posted: 29 Aug 2018 07:25 AM PDT
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