Why does the order parameter of nematic liquids become zero for isotropic liquids?

---

• Why does the order parameter of nematic liquids become zero for isotropic liquids?
• What portion of long term treatment resistant depression patients never really get better?
• Where in the night sky is Voyager 1 headed, in the long term?
• Ask Anything Wednesday - Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science
• Do any other species besides humans bury their dead?
• Are there animals that tend to, or protective of, their grandchildren?
• How can electric devices and other sources of rather large voltages be lethal in water if the flow of electricity follows the path of least resistance?
• How is air recirculated in submarines, spacecraft, and other similar structures? And why has that tech not been applied to things such as Scuba tanks?
• Not all cigarette-naive individuals have the same experiences upon smoking. What role do MAOIs play in addiction and pleasure of cigarettes for different brains, and can we use this as a diagnostic tool for distinguishing between otherwise similar disorders and to guide prescriptions of medication?
• How is job growth calculated? What kind of factors are accounted for?
• How and why does high blood volume/pressure pose a risk to health?
• In a vacuum, all objects, regardless of mass, fall at the same rate. However, since objects with less mass have less inertia and therefore they are affected more by the same amount of force, why don't object with less mass fall at a greater rate in a vacuum than more massive objects?
• Why does a frozen turkey defrost faster in water than in the fridge?
• Why can insulated containers, such as a thermos, keep a liquid cold for longer than it can keep a liquid hot?
• Are Diamonds originally highly pressurized coal? And if so, Are there any other minerals that can undergo the same change to something much harder than itself?
• Do we know what percentage of the stars visible today don't exist anymore?
• What is the most carbon-dense plant?
• Are the fundamental constants really constants ?

Why does the order parameter of nematic liquids become zero for isotropic liquids? Posted: 12 Dec 2018 02:15 AM PST Hello The order parameter for nematic liquids ( liquid crystals) is S = 1/2 <3cos²q-1> according to multiple sources. q being the average angle between the molecular axis and the directional axis of the liquid. I get that for a perfectly ordered liquid q = 0 ( all molecules point in the direction of the directional axis), then you get 1/2*(3-1) = 1. Which is an expected outcome, as S = 1 for perfectly ordered liquids. However, the sources say that for an unordered liquid S becomes zero. Doing some maths reveals that the average angle would then be about 55°. Why would a liquid with an average of angle of 55° be 'perfectly unordered' but a liquid with an average angle of 50° not? So in short: why would S become zero for isotropic liquids? Thank you! submitted by /u/lolspek [link] [comments]

What portion of long term treatment resistant depression patients never really get better? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 07:46 PM PST https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/treatment-resistant-depression-what-is-treatment-resistant-depression "Living With Treatment-Resistant Depression Life with depression is hard, but treatment-resistant depression can be especially brutal. When one treatment after another doesn't help, you can lose hope that you'll ever feel better. All your efforts -- the doctor's visits, the medication trials, the therapy sessions -- might seem like a waste. But they haven't been a waste. Arriving at the right treatment for depression can take time. It can take some trial and error. Look at it this way: if you try a particular treatment and it doesn't help, you're that much closer to finding the one that will make you feel better. Whatever you do, don't settle. Don't give up and accept the symptoms of depression. Remember, the longer a depression goes on, the harder it may be to treat. Go back to your doctor and see if there's something else you can try. There are so many good treatments for depression out there. You just need to find the right one for you." This seems to imply that all cases of depression can eventually be effectively treated. That seems dubious to me. What portion of long term treatment resistant depression patients never really get better? What portion just keep on trying different different meds until they die of natural causes? What portion choose to end their lives? What portion eventually choose to discontinue treatment, but continue to suffer? What portion discontinue treatment, but feel better? Any other possibilities I'm missing? How well can this even be measured and known? submitted by /u/benjaminikuta [link] [comments]

Where in the night sky is Voyager 1 headed, in the long term? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 04:30 PM PST From this skypath of Voyager 1's trajectory, generated from NASA data, it looks like Voyager 1's location in the night sky is asymptotically approaching a point somewhere in the triangle formed by Rasalhague (α Ophiuchi), Rasalgethi (α Herculis), and HIP 84671 (e Ophiuchi). Will Voyager keep approaching this point indefinitely? Or are there any long-term effects that will cause its position in the sky to drift over the coming hundreds or thousands of years--a time scale long enough that these effects haven't been observed yet, but short enough that the stars will stay in roughly the same places? submitted by /u/dpitch40 [link] [comments]

Ask Anything Wednesday - Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science Posted: 12 Dec 2018 07:11 AM PST 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! submitted by /u/AutoModerator [link] [comments]

Do any other species besides humans bury their dead? Posted: 12 Dec 2018 06:38 AM PST submitted by /u/theike40 [link] [comments]

Are there animals that tend to, or protective of, their grandchildren? Posted: 12 Dec 2018 06:19 AM PST submitted by /u/koleslaw [link] [comments]

How can electric devices and other sources of rather large voltages be lethal in water if the flow of electricity follows the path of least resistance? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 03:12 PM PST So after thinking about this for a while i thought i should ask why, say 230V common electricity network (atleast in Europe it is) can electrocute someone to death in a bathtub even though both of the electrodes are very close to each other without a human in between them? Shouldn't the flow of electrons just pass through the path that has the least resistance (i would believe it would be directly between the electrodes in a homogenous electrolyte) without harming the person in the bathtub? submitted by /u/Ollemeister_ [link] [comments]

How is air recirculated in submarines, spacecraft, and other similar structures? And why has that tech not been applied to things such as Scuba tanks? Posted: 12 Dec 2018 05:30 AM PST submitted by /u/HappyGrenades [link] [comments]

Not all cigarette-naive individuals have the same experiences upon smoking. What role do MAOIs play in addiction and pleasure of cigarettes for different brains, and can we use this as a diagnostic tool for distinguishing between otherwise similar disorders and to guide prescriptions of medication? Posted: 12 Dec 2018 05:22 AM PST Some people become addicted, while others don't. Some people experience strong headspins and nausea during their first few cigarettes, while others don't. While these could be mostly differences in mindset, lifestyle or puff speed, it's well established that there's variation in brain structures and our specific chemistries, such as alcohol metabolism or different responses to prescription medications. The likelihood of an individual adopting a new addiction is increased through down-regulation of brain regions from existing addictions and other aspects of lifestyle such as stress and the absence of physical activity, social interaction, etc. While some demographics are more prone to developing a substance use disorder (such as those with borderline personality disorder and adolescents) , they also tend to have the traits mentioned above which prime them for adopting addictions. Given that nicotine has it's addictiveness enhanced by MAOIs, and SSRIs like bupropion are used as smoking cessations, could we administer cigarettes to patients to figure out which anti-depressents may work, or to distinguish between disorders with similar behaviours but very different chemistries? For instance in distinguishing whether someone has OCD or ADHD, hypothyroidism or chronic fatigue syndrome, cyclothymia vs seasonal affective disorder, etc. submitted by /u/ThrowawayBrisvegas [link] [comments]

How is job growth calculated? What kind of factors are accounted for? Posted: 12 Dec 2018 04:17 AM PST Im curious how statisticians calculate how much a job market will grow or decrease in the future. Where do sites like bls.gov get their info submitted by /u/Gofishyex [link] [comments]

How and why does high blood volume/pressure pose a risk to health? Posted: 12 Dec 2018 01:45 AM PST Hi there. I am looking to understand how high blood pressure or high blood volume alone (with no atherosclerosis or other signs of CVD) can damage health. I am interested in the specific physiological mechanisms (if any) through which chronic high blood pressure damages any part of the human body. Thank you! submitted by /u/4f14-5d4-6s2 [link] [comments]

In a vacuum, all objects, regardless of mass, fall at the same rate. However, since objects with less mass have less inertia and therefore they are affected more by the same amount of force, why don't object with less mass fall at a greater rate in a vacuum than more massive objects? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 05:19 PM PST submitted by /u/Spontaneous-Onion [link] [comments]

Why does a frozen turkey defrost faster in water than in the fridge? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 02:43 PM PST When defrosting a turkey in cold water it takes approx. 30 minutes per pound, yet in the fridge it takes approx. 6 hours per pound. Why so much faster in water? submitted by /u/KathyOlesky [link] [comments]

Why can insulated containers, such as a thermos, keep a liquid cold for longer than it can keep a liquid hot? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 08:40 AM PST submitted by /u/ChipAyten [link] [comments]

Are Diamonds originally highly pressurized coal? And if so, Are there any other minerals that can undergo the same change to something much harder than itself? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 09:04 AM PST submitted by /u/swedhitman [link] [comments]

Do we know what percentage of the stars visible today don't exist anymore? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 11:25 AM PST When I say visible, I mean visible by any means (i.e. all kinds of telescopes). submitted by /u/asmj [link] [comments]

What is the most carbon-dense plant? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 07:49 AM PST For individuals looking to combat climate change, what plant(s) would give you the biggest bang for your buck/space? What plant(s) are the most efficient at storing carbon? submitted by /u/thgildea [link] [comments]

Are the fundamental constants really constants ? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 01:31 PM PST I was wondering if the fundamental constants (such as the Planck constant, gravitational constant etc) are really constants or a function of "time" (if we could visualize one more time like axis along which these constants are a function of) ? If so, what are its implications ? If not, how do we prove that they are really constants in a sense and that they don't vary/ evolve ? I am curious what research has been done in this regard. ​ ​ submitted by /u/aaditya314159 [link] [comments]

You are subscribed to email updates from AskScience: Got Questions? Get Answers.. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

Is it likely that we will or could potentially find large deposits of metal on Mars like we would on Earth?

---

• Is it likely that we will or could potentially find large deposits of metal on Mars like we would on Earth?
• Why does talking on the phone become difficult if you hear the feedback of your own voice due to connection issues?
• Is there a limit on how much energy superconductors can transmit?
• Does every star have an Oort Cloud?
• How do satellites like Voyager 2 know where to aim their lense?
• Do monks who take vows of silence lose muscle tone in their tongue? If so, what are some consequences of this and what would happen if they ended their silence?
• Why does air from a fan or wind make us feel cold?
• When lens flare makes a starburst around a bright light source, what determines how many points it has?
• What's the difference between freezing and congealing?
• Why does hypotension cause efferent renal vasoconstriction?
• How much RF exposure is too much?
• How did mortality rates affect life expectancy in ancient times?
• The Oort cloud extends (theorotically) till about 3.2 ly from sun. What does this say about its proximity to Alpha Centauri's Oort cloud ?
• If dark matter is suspected to interact via nuclear recoils, how is it differentiated between a background nuclear recoil interaction?
• Why is it okay to take acetaminophen while pregnant, but taking ibuprofen can seriously harm your baby?
• Why are quantum fields quantized?
• Why is carbon dioxide used in fizzy drinks and not another gas?
• Did eyes evolve only once on Earth? Is there something about the small band of "visible" light that makes it optimal for eyes to evolve to see? Or is it just a coincidence that most animals see in the same spectrum?
• How do we know that we have only discovered 5% of all sea life? Is this even true?
• How can vacuum and earth's atmosphere exist side by side?
• Are there any facts that animals (probably monkeys?) cheated, broke the rules or disobey them during experiments in order to get an advantage?
• Can you catalyze a nuclear reaction? Do catalysts exist in nuclear physics?

Is it likely that we will or could potentially find large deposits of metal on Mars like we would on Earth? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 09:54 AM PST I'm curious because Earth only has a finite amount of metals, if we colonized Mars or say a moon of Jupiter, how likely would it be to find the same metals there that we find here on earth such as gold, silver and iron? Would we potentially find a new metal or element? submitted by /u/MeeksioSC [link] [comments]

Why does talking on the phone become difficult if you hear the feedback of your own voice due to connection issues? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 08:03 AM PST I work in IT, and I spend a lot of time on the phone. Every once in a while, people will have phone issues and as I talk to them, even though they can hear me and I can hear them, I will hear the almost immediate feedback of my voice saying everything I just said. At least for me, it makes it very confusing and difficult for me to keep the conversation going coherently because I have to really think about what I'm saying and there tends to be a lot of pauses as I speak. Is this a common phenomenon, and why does it happen? submitted by /u/Berret25 [link] [comments]

Is there a limit on how much energy superconductors can transmit? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 07:29 AM PST If we were able to make a roomtemperature/pressure superconductor and use it instead of these 400kV landlines, can the superconductor just be as thick as a finger? Or as thin as a hair? submitted by /u/TheLegendDevil [link] [comments]

Does every star have an Oort Cloud? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 10:52 AM PST submitted by /u/WeHoRaveLife [link] [comments]

How do satellites like Voyager 2 know where to aim their lense? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 11:33 PM PST Does NASA program it to just flail about and hope it captures something? submitted by /u/probablyyaced [link] [comments]

Do monks who take vows of silence lose muscle tone in their tongue? If so, what are some consequences of this and what would happen if they ended their silence? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 02:08 AM PST submitted by /u/mavsfan2513 [link] [comments]

Why does air from a fan or wind make us feel cold? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 08:05 AM PST What's the molecular-level reasoning behind it? I would think that air molecules being pushed into others at a fast speed would create some sort of momentum when colliding into other particles, both the fast air and the collisions, in turn, creating heat. submitted by /u/reshard27 [link] [comments]

When lens flare makes a starburst around a bright light source, what determines how many points it has? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 07:49 AM PST submitted by /u/rocketman0739 [link] [comments]

What's the difference between freezing and congealing? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 05:22 AM PST When coconut oil solidifies I'm assuming it's just freezing, but when gelatin solidifies is it a non-crystallin structure? How does coagulation fit into this? submitted by /u/zachsmthsn [link] [comments]

Why does hypotension cause efferent renal vasoconstriction? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 04:18 AM PST So basically, during hypotension the blood flow to the kidney is decreased. This causes the kidney to activate the RAAS, which causes efferent vasoconstriction and that results in increased glomerular outflow. Doesn't this lead to more fluid getting filtered and diuresis, thereby reducing the blood volume and further aggravating the hypotension? So shouldn't hypotension reduce GFR? submitted by /u/HouhoinKyoma [link] [comments]

How much RF exposure is too much? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 09:28 PM PST Hi, I'm here today wondering how much RF exposure, especially while sleeping, is harmful. I haven't found any straight answers online, and was wondering if anyone here could help out. I've heard under 1.5, but wasn't sure if that was accurate. submitted by /u/123018484294874 [link] [comments]

How did mortality rates affect life expectancy in ancient times? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 11:39 PM PST It's easy to say early humans had a life expectancy of (say) 30 years, but this is from birth and does not acknowledge that most mortality was in infancy. So if you still managed to make it to puberty, what age could you then expect to reach? In other words, what ages were the elders of ancient tribes? submitted by /u/Random-Mutant [link] [comments]

The Oort cloud extends (theorotically) till about 3.2 ly from sun. What does this say about its proximity to Alpha Centauri's Oort cloud ? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 05:23 AM PST submitted by /u/samaraliwarsi [link] [comments]

If dark matter is suspected to interact via nuclear recoils, how is it differentiated between a background nuclear recoil interaction? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 11:21 PM PST Specifically, in the XENON1T device, they look for dark matter through weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) which are hypothesized to interact by nucleus collision (rather than electron collisions), so they look for nuclear recoils. How is this differentiated between any other low energy nuclear recoil from background? They say they use a calibration source to see the detector's response from known nuclear recoils, but since the recoiled nucleus energy is a spectrum, how would we know if a WIMP interaction yielded a similar nucleus recoil energy? Here is a link to the study you are also interested: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1705.06655.pdf ​ submitted by /u/latlog7 [link] [comments]

Why is it okay to take acetaminophen while pregnant, but taking ibuprofen can seriously harm your baby? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 02:59 PM PST Hi r/askscience! I'm newly pregnant and have been going through the many lists of things you're not supposed to have while pregnant. I was surprised to find that acetaminophen was okay, but ibuprofen was not. I'm really curious as to specifically why this is. I remember learning in intro biochem a long (long!) time ago they act on slightly different COX enzymes, but when I tried to search why ibuprofen is so harmful to a developing fetus, I just got a thousand mommy websites saying just to not take it. I'm really curious as to the specific biochemical processes that makes one totally safe and the other very, very not safe. Thank you so much in advance for your insight! submitted by /u/Digzalot [link] [comments]

Why are quantum fields quantized? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 08:31 PM PST I know it may sound silly, but for example, if you put an electron in a box it will have only permitted energies depending on the size of the box. If the electron was free, it could have any energy. So my question is, what makes an excitation on a quantum field (particles) quantized? submitted by /u/jrmiranda [link] [comments]

Why is carbon dioxide used in fizzy drinks and not another gas? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 12:07 PM PST Why not use nitrogen which is a more abundant or another gas? submitted by /u/Nutmegbread [link] [comments]

Did eyes evolve only once on Earth? Is there something about the small band of "visible" light that makes it optimal for eyes to evolve to see? Or is it just a coincidence that most animals see in the same spectrum? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 11:27 AM PST I have heard of animals that see infrared & ultraviolet. But they all see (or so I think) the same frequency of light we see. Would an alien eye be more or less likely to see nothing in our "visible" band of light because it sees a higher or lower frequency? If eyes evolved once, it may be that the commonalities are just happenstance and not due to some inherent quality about the small band of frequency of light we can see. submitted by /u/Tea_I_Am [link] [comments]

How do we know that we have only discovered 5% of all sea life? Is this even true? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 03:12 PM PST Does this mean that 95% of sea life is in extreme zones that are impossible to reach? Or that oceans are just so big we can't explore it all because money/time? Are we talking microbes? or big sea creatures? submitted by /u/lego_office_worker [link] [comments]

How can vacuum and earth's atmosphere exist side by side? Posted: 11 Dec 2018 03:39 AM PST submitted by /u/deepsinghparihar [link] [comments]

Are there any facts that animals (probably monkeys?) cheated, broke the rules or disobey them during experiments in order to get an advantage? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 11:45 PM PST I wonder if some of them tried to outsmart either their inmates or the experimenters. submitted by /u/maaboo [link] [comments]

Can you catalyze a nuclear reaction? Do catalysts exist in nuclear physics? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 06:38 PM PST I've been doing research on chemistry, and I've learned about catalysts, chemicals that can cause a reaction in other chemicals that would not normally react with one another (or would do so very slowly) left to their own devices. To make plastic, for example, very large pressures and temperatures are needed. Unless you have a catalyst. Sort of like nuclear fusion. That got me thinking: if there are catalysts for chemical reactions, are there catalysts for nuclear ones? submitted by /u/massivebrain [link] [comments]

You are subscribed to email updates from AskScience: Got Questions? Get Answers.. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

In what order were the planets in our solar system formed?

---

• In what order were the planets in our solar system formed?
• Are there alternative notations for hyper-large numbers such as TREE(3)?
• Why do sharks and other fish have nostrils?
• Is it possible to have life forms which have the 8 characteristics of life which are not made of carbons or hydrocarbons?
• Why there are no blue people, green people, etc., when there are blue birds, green birds, etc.?
• Does the geometry of an atomic nucleus affect its stability?
• Is sociopathy more prevalent in some cultures or countries than others? And if yes how large are the differences?
• Why is it that not completing a course of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance?
• What is brightness?
• Is there/ could there be a reverse microwave? Like something that you put food into to quickly chill it? if the opposite of an oven is a refrigerator/freezer, what would be the opposite of a microwave?
• How do ocean animals "drink"?
• Why Hydrogen has higher reactivity than Xenon even though first ionisation energy of Xenon is lower?
• Why do our eyes hurt when we look at very bright lights? What exactly happens within the eyes?
• Does a stationary object emit gravitational waves?
• What is it about the cells in our stomach lining that allows them to avoid being damaged by our stomach acid?
• Do LLCMK2 cells form cytopathic effect like structures in cell culture?
• Is size of depth of field (of a camera and lens) relative to focusing distance constant at all focus distances?
• How is fire affected by gravity?
• What is the difference between a merozoite and a trophozoite?
• What happens to DNA at high salt?
• Are structures similar to the Oort cloud common for solar systems?

In what order were the planets in our solar system formed? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 03:44 PM PST There's some good answers to this question on Quora, and I really like the answer here: https://www.quora.com/In-what-order-were-the-planets-in-our-solar-system-formed/answer/Jonathan-Day-10?ch=3&share=dcc12828&srid=vqoHa What I'd like is to break down the youngest four into order. How likely is it that Venus for example might be younger than Mercury? Could Mars be the oldest of these four? Is Earth difficult to age because of the Theia collision? I'm curious for any theories. submitted by /u/Zentaurion [link] [comments]

Are there alternative notations for hyper-large numbers such as TREE(3)? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 08:52 AM PST I've recently heard of Grahm's number. A finite number that towers over the number of particles in the observable universe. When doing some research, Grahm's number was notated well enough to where I could grasp its magnitude. Then I found out about TREE (3) and SCG(13) which are even larger. But there were no notations of these numbers in reference to Grahm's number. So while I know they're bigger, I can't imagine how big they are. How many Grahm's numbers go into either TREE (3) or SCG (13) ? submitted by /u/MedinaPharma [link] [comments]

Why do sharks and other fish have nostrils? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 05:35 AM PST They don't use them for breathing so is it an example of covergent evolution or was there a shared common ancestor with mammals that had nostrils? submitted by /u/lantech [link] [comments]

Is it possible to have life forms which have the 8 characteristics of life which are not made of carbons or hydrocarbons? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 07:28 AM PST I was talking with my father when we began pondering the question if you can have an organism which is considered living but not made of carbons (the characteristics to be considered living are cellular organization, reproduction, metabolism, homeostasis, heredity, response to stimuli, growth and development, and adaptation through evolution). I was hoping maybe reddit can answer this one. submitted by /u/OblivionsVortex [link] [comments]

Why there are no blue people, green people, etc., when there are blue birds, green birds, etc.? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 01:11 AM PST Mammals and even monkeys have a range of different colors and patterns. But the great apes are "monochrome". Why is that? submitted by /u/RRautamaa [link] [comments]

Does the geometry of an atomic nucleus affect its stability? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 04:04 PM PST I recently learned that some highly-stable elemental isotopes, such as Calcium-48, have highly-spherical nuclei. The source I heard this from seemed to imply that these characteristics are related, so I'm wondering if that is truly the case, and if so, why is that so? From my rudimentary understanding of nuclear physics, I might guess the spherical geometry somehow maximizes favorable interactions like the exchange of pions between protons and neutrons - am I at all on the right track here? I've previously only learned about nuclear stability in terms of the number of protons and neutrons, regardless of spatial configuration. submitted by /u/newappeal [link] [comments]

Is sociopathy more prevalent in some cultures or countries than others? And if yes how large are the differences? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 05:09 PM PST submitted by /u/leostrauss [link] [comments]

Why is it that not completing a course of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 03:21 AM PST Usually, the following explanation is given: "If you fail to complete a course of antibiotics, some of the bacteria causing the infection may survive - and these will be the ones with the greatest resistance to the antibiotic. This is an unnatural version of natural selection, and will result in the bacterial population in the afflicted patient having a higher than normal resistance to that antibiotic. As the surviving bacteria reproduce, the resulting infection would not be treatable with the same antibiotic." So my question is the following: Presuming that completing the first course of antibiotics would indeed eliminate all the bacteria causing the infection (including the ones with greater resistance to the antibiotics), why is it that the re-populated greater-resistance bacteria are completely immune to the same antibiotic (in the second course) when they eventually would've been eliminated by it in the first course? How does this sub-population of bacteria evolve from greater resistance to complete immunity during repopulation if there is no selective pressure (the antibiotics are not currently taken) during repopulation? Sorry if I could've phrased my question better. Source for the given explanation: https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-1112,00.html submitted by /u/Arif-Hash [link] [comments]

What is brightness? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 08:13 AM PST Is it light density? Would a perfectly mirrored room with a source of light get brighter and brighter over time? submitted by /u/kusk0 [link] [comments]

Is there/ could there be a reverse microwave? Like something that you put food into to quickly chill it? if the opposite of an oven is a refrigerator/freezer, what would be the opposite of a microwave? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 07:48 AM PST submitted by /u/Beastocity1089 [link] [comments]

How do ocean animals "drink"? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 11:17 AM PST submitted by /u/badnuts6 [link] [comments]

Why Hydrogen has higher reactivity than Xenon even though first ionisation energy of Xenon is lower? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 11:47 PM PST Me and my friend had this question during our chemistry lecture and we failed to find answers using Google. submitted by /u/DJ_EV [link] [comments]

Why do our eyes hurt when we look at very bright lights? What exactly happens within the eyes? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 06:32 PM PST submitted by /u/MintDeer6 [link] [comments]

Does a stationary object emit gravitational waves? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 05:42 PM PST I know technically and ideally that objects that aren't accelerating and are in an inertial frame do not emit gravitational waves, but does this take into account all the vibrating molecules in the object? If it is above 0K and has more than one atom or molecule in it, wouldn't an object like that be able to emit these (very low energy) waves? If the answer to that is yes, could the rate of energy lost to that depend on its temperature, similarly to blackbody radiation? submitted by /u/Yonboyage [link] [comments]

What is it about the cells in our stomach lining that allows them to avoid being damaged by our stomach acid? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 01:48 PM PST Basically, how does our stomach acid not cause us problems or even eventually seep into our abdominal cavity? submitted by /u/eerst [link] [comments]

Do LLCMK2 cells form cytopathic effect like structures in cell culture? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 03:21 AM PST Hello, I started working with LLCMK2 cells for the first time and I have noticed something that looks like cytopathic effect although the cells haven't been no near viruses. After I seeded them again, the same thing happened. Did somebody have the same experience with this type of cells? Is it normal for them to take this kind of shape and form? The pictures were taken 1 day after seeding. (I've seeded 1x10^6 in 10 ml MEM with 1% L-glutamine, 1% antibiotics and 10% fetal bovine serum medium in T25 flask). https://imgur.com/a/wrWivyX submitted by /u/EmalineEma [link] [comments]

Is size of depth of field (of a camera and lens) relative to focusing distance constant at all focus distances? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 09:20 PM PST This is a bit esoteric. Related to photography but I believe it's more of a physics/optics question. So focus distance affects depth of field (DoF from now on) when you take a picture. Focus on something close -> shallower DoF; focus farther away -> wider DoF. For the sake of this question, let's say DoF is how close to how far a certain size of text is readable with an arbitrary camera setup (lens, aperture, etc). Let's say it's focused at 12 inches and text is readable from 9 inches in front of the camera to 15. So in absolute terms the DoF is 6 inches, but in relative terms it goes from 75% of focusing distance to 125%. And if you pull the focus in closer (to 7 inches for example) the closest readable text and farthest readable text will be closer together (since the DoF will be shallower). For example, from 5 inches to 9 - a DoF of 4 inches, compared to the above 6 inches. My question is, does that relative size of the DoF change as you change focus, or is DoF constant relative to the focusing distance? In other words, does that "text is readable from 75% to 125% of focal plane" apply at all focusing distances, or does it go down to (for example) 90%/110% at close focus distances and increase to 60%/150% at longer focus distances? submitted by /u/NuhUhUhIDoWhatIWant [link] [comments]

How is fire affected by gravity? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 03:14 PM PST submitted by /u/hockeyjmac [link] [comments]

What is the difference between a merozoite and a trophozoite? Posted: 10 Dec 2018 01:40 AM PST I researched a lot of articles including the CDC about lifecycle of malarial parasite but I am still not able to understand a few concepts. From my understanding, the mosquito bites the human and injects sporozoites. The sporozoites travel to the liver and become schizonts, which rupture and form merozoites which are released into the blood stream. The merozoites then go to RBCs and multiply and again burst out, going on to infect more RBCs. However some merozoites transform into immature gametocytes. Once these immature gametocytes are taken up in the blood meal, they mature and form the zygote which forms the sporozoites. So my question is, what is the trophozoite in all this? Where does the trophozoite come in? Is the trophozoite the type of merozoites that become immature gametocytes? Or is the trophozoite the name of the merozoite once it infects the RBC? submitted by /u/HouhoinKyoma [link] [comments]

What happens to DNA at high salt? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 07:18 PM PST What happens to DNA at high salt in the absence of organic co-solvents? I am specifically interested in the effect of >2-3 M NaCl on DNA structure. It is known that d(CG)n will undergo a transition to Z-DNA at high salt. For AT or mixed-sequence DNA, a transition to A-form occurs at high salt in the presence of EtOH (or other organic solvent). But what happens at high salt in the absence of organic solvent and for DNA other than a d(CG)n oligomer? I have not been able to find any answers in the literature! I would have thought that this type of experiment would have been done for something as well-studied as, e.g., the Dickerson dodecamer (CGCGAATTCGCG). However, the only things I've found have gone no higher than 1 M NaCl. Even things like duplex stability (which is not really what I'm looking for because the effect of salt on that is pretty obvious) don't seem to be studied past 1 M NaCl. If anyone has any insight or could direct me to some sources that demonstrate the effect of >2-3 M NaCl on DNA structure (including things like helical parameters, e.g. buckle, shift, tilt, propeller, twist, etc.), I will be forever grateful! submitted by /u/collaboragon [link] [comments]

Are structures similar to the Oort cloud common for solar systems? Posted: 09 Dec 2018 10:42 PM PST submitted by /u/TheNakedHero [link] [comments]

You are subscribed to email updates from AskScience: Got Questions? Get Answers.. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States