New Horizons and Ultima Thule flyby Megathread

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• New Horizons and Ultima Thule flyby Megathread
• Sometimes websites deny a password change because the new password is "similar" to the old one, How do they know that, if all they got is a hash that should be completely different if even 1 character was changed?
• Why is the effect of tinnitus a high pitched ring instead of a low hum or any other sound effect?
• What happens when a muscle cramps, and what happens if it cramps for too long? Does the muscle get damaged?
• Why does anxiety/stress cause intestinal upset in some people?
• Why does gold have only one stable isotope?
• Why does wood crackle/make sounds when it burns? Is the phenomenon constant w all fires?
• How do we obtain Avogadro’s Constant?
• Why is the heliosphere elliptical or comet-like in shape?
• Do aerodynamics matter in the vacuum space?
• Why did the Barbary Macaque persist in the Rif and Atlas region of Morocco, but not warmer regions of Europe like Spain and Sicily?
• What happens to the coolant (water) in nuclear power plants once it's been used?
• How is the mass of a moon calculated?
• How do animals know when another animal is dead?
• Aren’t the laws governing energy also remain invariant under translations in space and rotation as well (not only under time)?
• Does the right or left hemesphere of the brain control the penis?
• Why the duration of interphase is much longer than in mitosis?
• How do cinemas use 'night vision technology' to detect if people are recording the movie?
• How are muscle memories created and what can disrupt or influence them?
• Do you appear to weigh more at the North Pole, or at the Equator?
• What happens atomically when saltwater is evaporated?

New Horizons and Ultima Thule flyby Megathread Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:30 PM PST On January 1st, 2018 2019, NASA's New Horizons flew past 2014 MU69 "Ultima Thule", the farthest object ever explored by a spacecraft. Ultima Thule is located in a region 1 billion miles past Pluto. We're starting to get data from this flyby, including photos and information about Ultima Thule. New Horizons is a NASA spacecraft launched in 2006 toward Pluto. After completing its mission in 2015 a mission extension was approved to study the outer asteroid belt of the solar system. The Ultima Thule flyby should help answer questions on how planets and comets form. Links: Official twitter of New Horizons Press release from John's Hopkins NASA video: New Horizons: First Images of Ultima Thule Some of our planetary science panelists will be around to answer your questions. submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

Sometimes websites deny a password change because the new password is "similar" to the old one, How do they know that, if all they got is a hash that should be completely different if even 1 character was changed? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 02:08 PM PST submitted by /u/Random-Noise [link] [comments]

Why is the effect of tinnitus a high pitched ring instead of a low hum or any other sound effect? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:09 PM PST submitted by /u/plowang32 [link] [comments]

What happens when a muscle cramps, and what happens if it cramps for too long? Does the muscle get damaged? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:09 PM PST If your muscle cramps for an extended period of time is there any damage to the underlying cells? Is there a lack of oxygen? TIA! submitted by /u/cantthink0fanything [link] [comments]

Why does anxiety/stress cause intestinal upset in some people? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:24 PM PST For example nausea or acid reflux? submitted by /u/AboveAverageKoala [link] [comments]

Why does gold have only one stable isotope? Posted: 03 Jan 2019 12:50 AM PST submitted by /u/hoi4sam [link] [comments]

Why does wood crackle/make sounds when it burns? Is the phenomenon constant w all fires? Posted: 03 Jan 2019 04:09 AM PST Title basically. Might be more suitable in physics, but I thought the answer might be chemistry related. submitted by /u/M0istWood [link] [comments]

How do we obtain Avogadro’s Constant? Posted: 03 Jan 2019 04:11 AM PST It's always been glossed over in my chemistry classes, and just told it's obtained through experiments. So how do we obtain it? To my understanding it helps us convert from the atomic level to a more "able to measure" level. submitted by /u/Meer_is_peak [link] [comments]

Why is the heliosphere elliptical or comet-like in shape? Posted: 03 Jan 2019 12:53 AM PST Is this because the Sun is rotating in the milky way creating a helio-tail? submitted by /u/iceman_xiii [link] [comments]

Do aerodynamics matter in the vacuum space? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:15 PM PST Other then getting my craft though the atmosphere and into space, could I realistically have an odd shaped craft? And it fly correctly? submitted by /u/ohhitslauraa [link] [comments]

Why did the Barbary Macaque persist in the Rif and Atlas region of Morocco, but not warmer regions of Europe like Spain and Sicily? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 07:11 PM PST I know there is a population in Gibraltar, but it is believed they were introduced sometime during early modernity. What was so special about the Rif and Atlas of Morocco that allowed the monkeys to survive that is lacking in desert Spain and Sicily? submitted by /u/Pinuzzo [link] [comments]

What happens to the coolant (water) in nuclear power plants once it's been used? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 12:53 PM PST To the best of my knowledge, nuclear power plants circulate water through a vessel containing the fuel. What happens to this water once it's been used for cooling? Is it constantly recirculated? It's probably radioactive after it's been used, correct? So what happens to it at the end of it's usable lifetime? Where does it go? And how about the water in the spent fuel pool? How is this treated, or where is it stored after use? submitted by /u/Lapidarist [link] [comments]

How is the mass of a moon calculated? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 05:09 PM PST I was looking at this wikipedia page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_(moon) and was suprised to see that the mass was known to 4 decimal places. How do we know this? submitted by /u/Tdiaz5 [link] [comments]

How do animals know when another animal is dead? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:00 PM PST submitted by /u/jflo_flosquared [link] [comments]

Aren’t the laws governing energy also remain invariant under translations in space and rotation as well (not only under time)? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:26 PM PST submitted by /u/MammothTriceps [link] [comments]

Does the right or left hemesphere of the brain control the penis? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 06:49 PM PST I seriously cannot find anything on google. Please help. submitted by /u/uoy___kcuf [link] [comments]

Why the duration of interphase is much longer than in mitosis? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:58 PM PST I know interphase aims to prepare for cell division(eg.DNA replication, protein synthesis......). Yet, why is it necessary to spend so much time? In contrast, mitosis has different phases but it proceeds quickly. submitted by /u/dgforainbow [link] [comments]

How do cinemas use 'night vision technology' to detect if people are recording the movie? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:37 AM PST submitted by /u/friendg [link] [comments]

How are muscle memories created and what can disrupt or influence them? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:33 PM PST Is there a difference between compound muscle memories (large movements of multiple body parts) vs smaller individual movements? submitted by /u/-oeuf [link] [comments]

Do you appear to weigh more at the North Pole, or at the Equator? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 03:02 PM PST The Earth bulges around its Equator, thus the centrifugal effect at the equator will be larger. At the pole, they are about 21.4 km closer to Earth's centre and thus will feel more gravity. But what prevails, and what is the net effect on a person's weight? submitted by /u/Aerothermal [link] [comments]

What happens atomically when saltwater is evaporated? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 05:16 PM PST Any help is much appreciated! submitted by /u/BuddyHardinHolley [link] [comments]

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Does the Doppler effect affect transmissions from probes, such as New Horizons, and do space agencies have to counter this in when both sending and receiving information?

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• Does the Doppler effect affect transmissions from probes, such as New Horizons, and do space agencies have to counter this in when both sending and receiving information?
• I am amazed that New Horizons is able to send information 4 billion miles using a 15w transmitter. When receiving data from New Horizons, are there times when the information is missed?
• What is the most elastic material we know of?
• Considering the enormous number of memories we retain into old age, what was all of that brain matter being used for before these memories were stored?
• Where does mold come from?
• How does electrical input become digital information?
• What about it's electron configuration makes titanium such a chemically resistant metal and so different from other transition metals?
• Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology
• Why is Tritium so ridiculously expensive?
• If you lost an extreme amounts of weight, through exercise or surgery, could you use the excess skin for graphing for burn victims?
• What is the maximum resolution for optical fiber bundles (like the ones in endoscopes)? Could one, say, make a 20 MP "noodle lens" for a smartphone camera? What would be the caveats (e.g. thickness, color fidelity)?
• Is it possible to culture healthy gut bacteria outside of the body with the intention of reintroducing it?
• What defines the speed of a reaction?
• can solar storms permanently alter earth's magnetic field in some way?
• Do alcoholics develop kidney stones as often as non-drinkers?
• If metals are said to be conductive because the valence electrons and bounded more loosely, why is Silver more conductive than heavier metals where the valence electrons are further away from the attractive force of the nucleus? (e.g: Uranium)
• Are metals thermally conductive for the same reason that they’re electrically conductive?
• How did we come to know that our galaxy is spiral?
• When giving a vaccination or some other shot, how is it ensured that no air is injected into the body?
• Why is the average height of people with Downs Syndrome much shorter than that of someone without?
• Why does combustion lead to air pollution? Couldn't we easily convert these particulates into solid waste that could be easily stored or disposed-of?
• How can the weight of an object/gas more buoyant than air be determined? For example, how can the mass of a helium balloon be determined?

Does the Doppler effect affect transmissions from probes, such as New Horizons, and do space agencies have to counter this in when both sending and receiving information? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 04:47 AM PST submitted by /u/olegispe [link] [comments]

I am amazed that New Horizons is able to send information 4 billion miles using a 15w transmitter. When receiving data from New Horizons, are there times when the information is missed? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 02:07 PM PST If so, can it be resent by the probe, or reconstructed here on Earth by inferring what the data might have been based on what was received? submitted by /u/JakeInVan [link] [comments]

What is the most elastic material we know of? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:58 AM PST That will return to its initial shape, I mean - like a rubber band and not like gum. What is the maximum length multiplier it would be capable of? 5x? 10x? 20x? Thanks! submitted by /u/ur_lil_vulture_bee [link] [comments]

Considering the enormous number of memories we retain into old age, what was all of that brain matter being used for before these memories were stored? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:44 AM PST submitted by /u/shagminer [link] [comments]

Where does mold come from? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 10:12 PM PST Like how does it just start growing on bread in a house with no other molds? Where does it come from? submitted by /u/Nelog [link] [comments]

How does electrical input become digital information? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 02:13 AM PST I'm not a computer scientist but I sort of vaguely get the idea of (excuse my amateur terminology) binary electrical input being transmitted through certain hardware to become information on a screen. But somewhere along the way, physical "dits and das" turn into digitally stored information so that a certain combination creates a certain appearance on screen that has certain functions given certain commands. It's hard for me to explain but I just don't understand where in the process the electrical input becomes a complex digital arrangement of data. submitted by /u/Sapiencia6 [link] [comments]

What about it's electron configuration makes titanium such a chemically resistant metal and so different from other transition metals? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 03:12 PM PST submitted by /u/Toofgib [link] [comments]

Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology Posted: 02 Jan 2019 07:11 AM PST Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology 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]

Why is Tritium so ridiculously expensive? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 07:25 AM PST I am a huge fan of self-powered radioluminescent light sources powered by tritium like keychains. For a long time I have been wondering why isn't there anything more powerful (like a flashlight) since such keychains output is something like couple hundred microlumens. After a quick web search I found out that tritium price is in the range of 30.000 USD per gram making it one of the most expensive substances on Earth. I would like to learn why is that so. From what I understand tritium is produced as a waste product in heavy water moderated reactors in quantities exceeding commercial demand and that it can also be made from lithium (which is a common and cheap metal) by neutron capture. Is it so difficult and expensive to separate tritium from deuterium in reactors moderator? Is it so difficult to insert a lithium rod into an ordinary nuclear reactor in order to irradiate it with neutrons and then extract resulting tritium? I wish to understand difficulties behind tritium production and where does the high cost come from. submitted by /u/M_ish_A [link] [comments]

If you lost an extreme amounts of weight, through exercise or surgery, could you use the excess skin for graphing for burn victims? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:00 PM PST submitted by /u/Souptopus [link] [comments]

What is the maximum resolution for optical fiber bundles (like the ones in endoscopes)? Could one, say, make a 20 MP "noodle lens" for a smartphone camera? What would be the caveats (e.g. thickness, color fidelity)? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 03:10 PM PST EDIT: /u/everythingiscausal pointed out that I misused the word "lens", since fiber bundles only transmit the light. It would require an additional lens in order to focus light. My question is more about the "noodle" part rather than the "lens". submitted by /u/onemanequipe [link] [comments]

Is it possible to culture healthy gut bacteria outside of the body with the intention of reintroducing it? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:48 PM PST Basically here's the process I envision, Step 1: Bacteria is collected from source or possibly multiple sources Step 2: Bacteria is placed in an environment that as closesly matches the human digestive tract as possible Step 3: Nutrients from healthy foods are introduced at regular times to promote growth of wanted bacteria Step 4: Reintroduce healthy bacteria into system I'm laying it out very simply here as I know of some hurdles and potential issues that would need to be overcome and accounted for. But I'm curious if it is possible and if it's been done. Edit: Should be tagged under Medicine but wasn't given the option in RIF. submitted by /u/RDBRULZ [link] [comments]

What defines the speed of a reaction? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 06:49 AM PST Is it just how fast I happens or there are another factor to consider? submitted by /u/awripedes [link] [comments]

can solar storms permanently alter earth's magnetic field in some way? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:02 PM PST submitted by /u/dakd2 [link] [comments]

Do alcoholics develop kidney stones as often as non-drinkers? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 04:06 PM PST I know lots of fluid intake can help prevent kidney stones, and this made me start wondering... Do alcoholics develop kidney stones at a similar rate as non-drinkers? Or does the dehydrating factor of alcohol negate this? submitted by /u/Pwatapous [link] [comments]

If metals are said to be conductive because the valence electrons and bounded more loosely, why is Silver more conductive than heavier metals where the valence electrons are further away from the attractive force of the nucleus? (e.g: Uranium) Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:29 PM PST submitted by /u/Blueninja1000 [link] [comments]

Are metals thermally conductive for the same reason that they’re electrically conductive? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 09:40 AM PST I know that metals are electrically conductive because of the electrons' ability to travel freely from one atom to the next. Are they thermally conductive for that reason too? The electrons can travel freely from one atom to the next, meaning they take that kinetic energy with them and pass it along? Edit: As a follow up question, what are some examples of any material, metal or not, that have mismatched conductivities? High thermal and low electrical, or vice versa. submitted by /u/Landonian [link] [comments]

How did we come to know that our galaxy is spiral? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 05:20 AM PST submitted by /u/heman8554 [link] [comments]

When giving a vaccination or some other shot, how is it ensured that no air is injected into the body? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 05:17 PM PST I am giving my cat twice daily insulin shots - I have followed all directions to remove air from the body of the syringe/ insulin being injected, but wondering if air is pushed into the needle as you actually penetrate the skin making it for naught? Note that I am not jabbing the poor little guy from 10 feet away just curious if any air could get involved from administering a shot. submitted by /u/dahliafluffy [link] [comments]

Why is the average height of people with Downs Syndrome much shorter than that of someone without? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 11:40 AM PST submitted by /u/ExoticPanther [link] [comments]

Why does combustion lead to air pollution? Couldn't we easily convert these particulates into solid waste that could be easily stored or disposed-of? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 06:25 PM PST From what I understand about air pollution, the main problem is solid waste particulates floating into the sky. Couldn't we find ways to keep this waste at ground-level? submitted by /u/Vladith [link] [comments]

How can the weight of an object/gas more buoyant than air be determined? For example, how can the mass of a helium balloon be determined? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:35 PM PST submitted by /u/HighwayToThe________ [link] [comments]

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Can lasers be generated naturally, or are they a strictly technological creation?

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• Can lasers be generated naturally, or are they a strictly technological creation?
• What are we currently doing to combat the year 2038 problem?
• What makes some plates, containers, etc. "microwave safe"?
• When does a laser become able to slice into objects?
• Is there a maximum velocity (besides the speed of light) to which a space probe could be accelerated using repeated gravity assists within our solar system?
• Were there more Earthquakes in 2018 than usual?
• How do multi-qubit quantum computers not violate entanglement monogamy?
• What are the differences between an expensive laser diode used for scientific applications and a cheap consumer grade laser pointer ?
• Are there any parasites that are human-exclusive?
• What are some pairs of rivers whose sources are very close but their ultimate mouth in the ocean are very far apart?
• Is there a connection between quaternions and unit vectors?
• How is the hazardousness of a chemical determined?
• Why are suicidal thoughts such a common side effect of so many medications?

Can lasers be generated naturally, or are they a strictly technological creation? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 04:51 PM PST submitted by /u/niktemadur [link] [comments]

What are we currently doing to combat the year 2038 problem? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 04:29 AM PST submitted by /u/Whymanwhy12 [link] [comments]

What makes some plates, containers, etc. "microwave safe"? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 08:26 AM PST submitted by /u/capn_m0rgan [link] [comments]

When does a laser become able to slice into objects? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 05:20 AM PST submitted by /u/Whymanwhy12 [link] [comments]

Is there a maximum velocity (besides the speed of light) to which a space probe could be accelerated using repeated gravity assists within our solar system? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 09:52 PM PST submitted by /u/radarthreat [link] [comments]

Were there more Earthquakes in 2018 than usual? Posted: 01 Jan 2019 03:08 AM PST A year ago I read numerous articles like this claiming there may be an increase in earthquakes above a certain magnitude for 2018. Now that it is 2019 we can evaluate whether the claims were correct. But I haven't seen any articles confirming or disputing them. Were they correct? submitted by /u/rydan [link] [comments]

How do multi-qubit quantum computers not violate entanglement monogamy? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 05:15 PM PST My understanding is that a 10-qubit computer in one that manipulates a system of 10 entangled particles. How does that not violate the monogamy principle? submitted by /u/BayesianPriory [link] [comments]

What are the differences between an expensive laser diode used for scientific applications and a cheap consumer grade laser pointer ? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 09:07 AM PST submitted by /u/zoombackcameraa [link] [comments]

Are there any parasites that are human-exclusive? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 06:42 AM PST submitted by /u/lcblangdale [link] [comments]

What are some pairs of rivers whose sources are very close but their ultimate mouth in the ocean are very far apart? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 10:22 AM PST I recently noted that the rivers Mamoré and Pilcomayo both have sources near each other (~200 km) but ultimately reach the Atlantic ocean very far away from each other. The waters of Mamoré eventually reach the Amazon river and the Pilcomayo ends in the Plata river. The Amazon and the Plata rivers have their mouths more than 4000 km away. I got curious about this. Two significant rivers that are part of two of the biggest river systems in the world which start their flow from "the same waters", in the same general region, and flow to completely different parts of the continent. I got interested in locating boundaries between river basins. I had to really follow each one of the rivers above on Google Maps to do realize this so, my question is: are there well known pairs of rivers that do this? is there an easy source of river data that could be used to find those pairs programmatically? submitted by /u/schmook [link] [comments]

Is there a connection between quaternions and unit vectors? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 07:01 AM PST I've been learning about quaternions lately, and every time I read more, they seem to remind me more of unit vector notation. They both use i, j, and k, and the multiplication of these terms seems to produce the same results (except for the squaring of terms, which I haven't seen in unit vector notation). Are they pretty much the same, or is there something fundamentally different I'm missing? submitted by /u/Speedswiper [link] [comments]

How is the hazardousness of a chemical determined? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 06:31 AM PST New compounds, or new uses for compounds seem to be discovered fairly frequently. How is a new compound evaluated for its hazardousness before it can be made available to the public? submitted by /u/tjinme [link] [comments]

Why are suicidal thoughts such a common side effect of so many medications? Posted: 30 Dec 2018 01:27 PM PST submitted by /u/indale731 [link] [comments]

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