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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

AskScience AMA Series: We're from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Our recent work in data visualization has led to the creation of a new colormap, cividis, for more consistent, accurate data interpretation - whether you have a color vision deficiency or not! Ask us anything!

AskScience AMA Series: We're from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Our recent work in data visualization has led to the creation of a new colormap, cividis, for more consistent, accurate data interpretation - whether you have a color vision deficiency or not! Ask us anything!


AskScience AMA Series: We're from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Our recent work in data visualization has led to the creation of a new colormap, cividis, for more consistent, accurate data interpretation - whether you have a color vision deficiency or not! Ask us anything!

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 04:00 AM PDT

Hi Reddit! We're Jamie Nunez and Dr. Ryan Renslow, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Rainbow colormaps have long been known to make data interpretation difficult and sometimes even impossible for those with colorblindness, yet they are still very popular due to limited alternatives. That's why we developed an open-source Python module that can automatically convert colormaps into forms easily interpreted by those with or without color vision deficiencies. One colormap in particular that we created, called cividis, enables consistent and accurate data interpretation for both people with normal vision and those who are colorblind. Cmaputil can be used by anyone to create their own optimized colormaps and can be accessed here: https://github.com/pnnl/cmaputil

Cividis is currently available in Python (matplotlib & plotly packages), R (viridis & viridisLite packages), COMSOL, and more. Read our PLOS One paper "Optimizing colormaps with consideration for color vision deficiency to enable accurate interpretation of scientific data" here: https://goo.gl/UDPWFd

We'll be on at noon PT (3 p.m. ET, 19 UT). Ask us anything!

submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator
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Since electricity flows on the surface of its conductor could metal tubing of equal surface area be substituted for solid core wire?

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 03:22 AM PDT

Why does superfluidity only occur in helium?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 08:43 AM PDT

Why does red light preserve night vision and reduce eye strain more than other colors?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 04:53 PM PDT

Why do shoelaces untie?

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 07:26 AM PDT

They obviously do, but what process leads to it?

submitted by /u/Frantyzer
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Do animals (and plants) that are accustomed to seasonal weather changes e.g bears, deer, wolves etc. lose this trait over the generations when they are transplanted to climates that do not have winters or have very mild winters?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 07:08 PM PDT

If the whole world were to experience some drastic increase in temperature that eliminated winter and lasted a thousand years, would seasonal plants and animals, if the world set itself right again, be able to survive a winter? And also, how did plants and animals react with the end of interglacial periods?

submitted by /u/Killer_B_Cell
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Historically, how was it determined that the atmosphere has an ozone layer?

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 07:04 AM PDT

Also, how was the depletion of the layer discovered?

submitted by /u/shadyrapsfan
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Do echidnas, porcupines and hedgehogs (and any other spiky creatures) have similar ancestors?

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 04:33 AM PDT

If not, as I would suspect is the case given that echidnas, for example, are monotremes, then how did such similar creatures come to evolve so far apart geographically?

submitted by /u/bornofthemachine
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Reading a MSDS on MgSO4 anhydrous, says inhaling may cause irritation of the throat, but when I googled inhalation of MgSO4 it came up as a treatment for Asthma, how does this work and/or am I misunderstanding something?

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 04:05 AM PDT

This is the MSDS, I'm writing about the hazards of purification of Magnesium sulfate synthesised for an A level PAG. Thanks in advance for any help.

submitted by /u/MrCookieFrog
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If the sun’s radiation, EM waves, heat up the earth, is the earth affected by the EM waves of other stars that we can see? If so, how powerful is that effect?

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 03:39 AM PDT

Except for the human flu vaccine, why do dogs/cats need vaccines boosted every year while people don’t?

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 05:47 AM PDT

For instance Rabies and distemper vaccines in animals versus dtap and mmr vaccines in people.

submitted by /u/Kwazy_Cupcakes
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Do we have models to predict how rocks fracture?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 05:46 PM PDT

More precisely, say I wanted to simulate whacking a smooth, round pebble with a hammer so that a crack appears. Do our current models of rocks fracturing precisely predict the exact geometric shape of these cracks that appear?

What are good references for this?

submitted by /u/maruahm
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Ask Anything Wednesday - Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 08:11 AM PDT

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science

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!

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Why is there only one jfet transfer curve for a perticular jfet??

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 02:03 AM PDT

Some species don't breed in captivity. Why? What's keeping them?

Posted: 17 Oct 2018 04:09 AM PDT

So, how do we know the exact mass of any planet apart from earth?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 10:54 PM PDT

I guess you could explain how do we know the composition of a planet too. Thanks.

submitted by /u/asgoritolin
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How can trees grow around and “consume” things like fences?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 01:10 PM PDT

Why is the Voyager 1 traveling so fast?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 02:07 PM PDT

I know that the Voyager 1 travels at about 63'000 km/h but how was it able to even get to that speed?

submitted by /u/TheUnknownLyricsMan
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Is vasovagal syncope always chronic?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 08:59 AM PDT

I was looking at it online and saw it said somewhere that it goes away in a week or so, so does that mean it's not always a permanent condition?

submitted by /u/UnknownVillager
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Does the sun's spectral output change at all?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 04:47 PM PDT

Many illuminant standards such as CRI use "daylight" as a reference, with a higher score seeming to indicate a higher similarity to the sun's spectral output.

However, aside from the sun's color changing due to its position in the sky (as light is scattered by our atmosphere), I realize that there are solar flares, sun spots, and other phenomena that might influence it's spectral output from time to time.

Is anyone measuring this? Is the "daylight" standard an average of many spectral measurements over time? I get that our eyes evolved in response to the sunlight available to us, and thus our perceptions of color, so I was wondering how that is involved in engineering high-CRI light sources.

I'm also not referring to the general aging of a main sequence star, and it's gradual cooling off over millennia.

Thanks!

submitted by /u/miamijuggler
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Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Prosthetics: Can someone born without a limb (rather than losing it after birth) use advanced prosthetics controlled by nerves and neural pathways?

Prosthetics: Can someone born without a limb (rather than losing it after birth) use advanced prosthetics controlled by nerves and neural pathways?


Prosthetics: Can someone born without a limb (rather than losing it after birth) use advanced prosthetics controlled by nerves and neural pathways?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 08:10 AM PDT

I understand (or at least, I think I do to some degree) that if someone loses an arm, for example, cutting-edge prosthetics can utilize nerves and existing neural pathways to control the prosthetics. Let's say instead, however, that someone is born with an arm that stops short of the elbow due to a birth defect/genetic condition. At no point have they had an elbow, or forearm, hand... If he are she is born this way I presume that there is no neural pathways/nerves to dock onto. I am sure that technology will continue to advance so I guess I am not asking if it likely will ever be possible but rather if it is possible with existing tech and approaches.

The inspiration for this question is the video that has made more than a few circulations around the internet: a video where a little boy (maybe a few years old) with arms that stopped just short of the elbow who was interacting with his newborn sibling. He utilizes his arms and mouth to pick up his sibling's pacifier and put it in her mouth. A very heart warming video. Many of the responses commented how jealous they were that he would grow up to have awesome android arms. But one comment asked whether it would be possible to have these and cited concerns that there might not be neural pathways to use them.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: Thanks so much for the response everybody! This is my very first post to reddit after years of lurking... First, let me say that I was totally overselling my confidence when it comes to how much I understood about this subject at a base level. To clarify the question, I believe what I was picturing in my question was what is referred to as a myoelectric prosthetic. That seems to be the system of prosthesis that is most commonly featured in videos and articles. I will briefly read up on the basics of myoelectric systems before trying to read any more responses. While I am definitely interested in the use of neurons with prosthetics, the question is probably more appropriately:

Can someone born without a limb as opposed to losing a limb later in life use myoelectric prosthetics? Why or Why not?

submitted by /u/Rational-Discourse
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What makes an object sharp? How does it cut or pierce through other objects?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 11:55 PM PDT

I never understood the concept, so I'm not sure if this is a stupid question or not.

submitted by /u/Your_Typical_Weeb
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Why do small stars live much longer than big stars?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 02:23 AM PDT

What form does the released energy take in fission and fusion reactions?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 07:03 AM PDT

I've read so many papers and articles about this, but all they say is 'energy released'. Are they photons? Is it kinetic?

submitted by /u/NotZaphod
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Where do texts go when the recipient is in Airplane Mode?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 05:39 AM PDT

If someone sends me a text whilst my phone is in Airplane Mode, I will receive it once I turn it off. My question is, where do the radio waves go in the meantime? Are they stored somewhere, or are they just bouncing around from tower to tower until they can finally be sent to the recipient?

I apologize if this is a stupid question.

submitted by /u/gigalord14
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I recently heard the fact that 8% of the human genome is comprised of viral DNA. How can we tell that a part of the genome came from a virus or any other source?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 08:18 AM PDT

What happens if 2 stars of the same size collide?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 12:08 AM PDT

Why does different meat turn different colors when cooked?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 08:24 PM PDT

Beef turns a dark brown, while chicken and pork turn a white or light brown. Why does meat change color, and why does different types of meat change different colors?

submitted by /u/CthulhusIntern
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Do Everest climbers carry water, if so how do they stop it freezing?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 03:39 PM PDT

Maybe they take vodka?

submitted by /u/Weebla
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What exactly is the brown patina that is induced on copper by a saturated sodium bicarbonate solution?

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 06:19 AM PDT

I am having trouble finding an answer to this.

Copper carbonate is green (and the solution does turn green eventually), so what exactly is is the brown patina that shows up on the copper surface?

submitted by /u/Natolx
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Why do almost all animals have most of their sensory organs on/in their head?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 11:26 PM PDT

(Posting this again because last time I didnt add a flair in time)

submitted by /u/hw1725w
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When you charge something battery-to-battery, do the two equilibrate, or does the charge flow one way?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 07:53 AM PDT

I.e. if my Airpods case has exactly one full headphone charge left and the headphones are fully dead, will they both go to half a charge, or will the full charge somehow move from the case to the headphones?

submitted by /u/hendersn
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I've read that all electrons are the same, but is there some evidence for otherwise?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 01:25 PM PDT

I guess the question is not just for electrons, but for all other subatomic particles.

submitted by /u/avance70
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Can a mass maintain an orbit within a black hole's event horizon?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 04:12 PM PDT

Even though an object is officially unable to leave a black hole's event horizon, due to the impossible speeds required, could it prevent from becoming a part of the singularity by simply orbiting indefinitely? The speeds for an orbit within the event horizon are well below the limits for light speed, so the math seems to support it. I haven't been able to find any research on the topic, as most discussions regarding black holes seem to suggest once you're within the horizon you will become compressed into the singularity, regardless of sideways velocity. Would the accretion disk simply extend through to the core, invisibly?

submitted by /u/ajamesmccarthy
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Taiwan is proposing to increase voltage from 110 to 220 volts for new buildings to conserve energy. How does voltage increase conserve energy?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 03:09 PM PDT

Taiwan currently uses 110v socket. However, Taiwan's power company is proposing to increase voltage from 110 to 220 volts for new buildings to conserve energy. How does voltage increase conserve energy?

Relevant quote:

The purpose of the proposed change is to conserve energy, the report said.

...

According to Taipower's estimate, the plan is not difficult to implement, the report said. The company is likely to push new buildings in the future to adopt 220-volt electricity, which can reduce distribution system line loss in the home by 75%.

News article regarding the proposal: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3552676

submitted by /u/Monkeyfeng
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At an atomic level what causes hardware to malfunction in the presence of water?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 07:29 PM PDT

Obviously as we all know water is the kryptonite of technology but at a microscopic level why?

submitted by /u/TheGfom
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Since Lisdexamfetamine and antidepressants target many of the same neurotransmitters, and using them concomitantly increases risk of serotonin syndrome, are there alternatives for those who have comorbid ADHD and depression? Or is a negative outcome just a risk that’s taken?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 06:15 PM PDT

What causes the juice in a mandarin peel to catch on fire if you shoot it a flame?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 07:15 AM PDT

My friend and I had an argument over this. She thought there was alcohol in the peel of the mandarin but I thought it was some kind of oil that caused it. Can someone tell me what the correct answer is?

submitted by /u/DcOscat
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Why does RNA have Uracil instead of Thymine?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 10:32 AM PDT

Is there reason to believe that naproxen impacts testicular physiology to produce a state of compensated hypogonadism in the same way Ibuprofen does?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 02:12 PM PDT

This here is the Ibuprofen study. I am curious if there is reason to believe that Naproxen would impact the body the same way?

submitted by /u/btuman
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How does the Teichmann Test for detection of blood work?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 11:23 PM PDT

Hi everyone, I'm currently taking a for learning about the Teichmann Test to test for the presence of blood and I'm curious as to the actual chemistry behind how it works. The procedure for the test is roughly as follows:

1) KCL, KBr, KI and Glacial Acetic Acid added together to form reagent

2) Add reagent to sample and gently warm

3) Observe under microscope, appearance of brown rhombohedron crystal indicate presence of blood.

I understand that the reaction involves iron in haemoglobin of blood, but I'm curious as to what each of the reagents contributes to the overall reaction specifically and how the mechanism works. Would appreciate any information contributed. Thank you!

submitted by /u/lolheng
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How do we avoid confusing sunspots (starspots?) and planets in other solar systems?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 08:03 AM PDT

How do we determine the difference between a planet that obscures part of the light of a star, vs that star's natural sunspot cycle?

submitted by /u/kayakguy429
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Monday, October 15, 2018

Where does house dust come from?

Where does house dust come from?


Where does house dust come from?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 05:12 PM PDT

It seems that countless years of sweeping a house doesn't stop dust from getting all over furniture after a few weeks. Since the ceiling is limited, where does dust come form?

submitted by /u/4fecta_Gaming
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How can Radon be dangerous if it's a noble gas?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 08:23 AM PDT

I understand that it can be broken down from different radioactive elements, but how come it's still radioactive once it's a noble gas? I thought noble gasses didn't react with anything?

submitted by /u/boombeyada
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Why is it that when you're in a "dark" room and you focus on a really dark spot, everything, even light, will start to fade away?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 10:47 PM PDT

I know I probably didn't make any sense since it's hard to explain but imagine being in a dark room with nothing but a little red LED light in the center of the room, if you focus on a dark corner you can see how this light will fade away into darkness. Why is that?

submitted by /u/BraScott
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If an object is "blue" because it only reflects blue light, then why isn't it invisible or at least colorless if we shine red light on it?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 06:27 AM PDT

Do hyperspheres always have the smallest surface area to volume ratio for any natural number dimension?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 08:23 PM PDT

Does Earth's atmosphere reach out equally in all distances?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 12:08 PM PDT

Can burning or high temperature decompose any compounds, including radioactive ones?

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 04:28 AM PDT

Why does the prevalence of clouds increase by seasonal change?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 06:46 PM PDT

Do any other particles besides photon have zero mass?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 06:52 PM PDT

Why do geosynchronous satellites not fall to earth?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 08:23 PM PDT

I have never understood why satellites in geosynchronous orbits stay in orbit. If they are over a fixed point on the earth wouldnt they be pulled to down? I understand how orbits work and how objects in orbit have a vertical velocity that puts them into a constant free fall around the earth but I still dont understand how geosynchronous orbits dont just fall down as they are over a fixed point.

submitted by /u/jzplett
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Why do alpine plant species (particularly Larches) only grow at high elevations?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 07:16 AM PDT

I live in Washington state and today my friend and I hiked up to Lake Ingalls to see the Larches and the beautiful lake of course. I understand why the Larches are successful at high elevations; they grow slowly, losing their leaves and not having low branches keeps them from relative harm by insects and fires, losing their leaves allows them to require less water in the winter, etc. I also understand that they have really low shade tolerance so being on top of mountain is a great place to be for them. But with that said, what I don't get is why don't they grow at lower elevations? I'm sure they get out competed but you would still expect to see at least a few at lower elevations I would think. A south facing side would have plenty of sunlight as well.

submitted by /u/Roche1859
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Why do certain neutron proton ratios make an atom unstable? How is it unstable and what happens?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 05:27 PM PDT

why do they look for stability and what is unstable about the whole thing?

submitted by /u/tozelton
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How and why does exercise cause muscles to develop?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 06:12 AM PDT

Usually this is explained by the muscles "getting used to" being strained, but what's happening on a physical level? Does the brain detect exercise and decide to build more muscle cells in the exercised area?

submitted by /u/NewDefectus
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What happens with weak birds on their way to south?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 08:20 AM PDT

I was wondering if they have some kind of signal for a break or if the weak ones just fall from the sky and die.

submitted by /u/Blowlara
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If a lion or any animal dies in the wild, what conditions must be present, other than time, in order for the same to become fossilized and preserved for millions of years?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 12:46 AM PDT

Why isn’t the Milky Way spherical?

Posted: 13 Oct 2018 10:29 PM PDT

I've been told the bright band of stars you see in the sky on a clear night is the Milky Way, and specifically you're looking across the "galactic plane". I've never heard the Milky Way being described as spherical, and "plane" indicates a flat object, so what gives? Planets and stars are spherical. Why would the Milky Way be flat?

I'm aware that not all galaxies are flat. But what makes ours so special?

Side question: What makes all the stars circle around the black hole in the same direction? Around 250 billion stars in the galaxy, and every one of them is spinning the same direction? Why?

submitted by /u/Chr0meChaos_
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Robitussin is a combination of an anti-tussive and expectorant. Isn't this counter productive? Won't you end up producing lots of mucus and not coughing it out?

Posted: 13 Oct 2018 08:59 PM PDT

What factors influence the sound of a collision?

Posted: 14 Oct 2018 02:19 AM PDT

So density and structure would influence them I guess, but is there a rule?

I.e the denser the objects the lower the frequency etc

What other factors could change the sound?

Would electromagnetism for example affect it?

submitted by /u/MalgrugrousStudent
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What is the neural mechanism by which we approximate the passage of time?

Posted: 13 Oct 2018 09:17 PM PDT

I'm going to start this by saying please keep answers relatively simple, or if you can't please provide reading material. I have very little medical knowledge and have a high school education tops.

How are we able to approximate the passage of time?

Is there a "timekeeping" part of the brain that oscillates at a constant rate?

Why does time seem to go by faster the older I get (i.e. a five minute time out to a five year old vs a five minute break to an employee)?

Why do I go to sleep and dream a long intricate sequence of events over a period of days and then wake up to find only an hour has passed?

submitted by /u/postwerk
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