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Saturday, February 2, 2019

Why does the east coast of North America have so many barrier islands, while the west coast has almost none?

Why does the east coast of North America have so many barrier islands, while the west coast has almost none?

Why does the east coast of North America have so many barrier islands, while the west coast has almost none?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 03:28 PM PST

Looking at a map, the whole east coast from Boston south into Mexico seems to have more miles of shoreline protected by barrier islands than not. On the west, from Washington all the way to South America, seems to be solid shoreline broken up only by the occasional bay. Why is this? Does this pattern occur anywhere else?

submitted by /u/peshgaldaramesh
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What is the difference between the streaks left behind from plane/jet engines that disappear quickly, and the ones that stay there for hours?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 04:49 PM PST

Why does my lazy eye become 'lazier' when I'm tired?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 04:56 PM PST

Is Antarctica 'straddling' the South Pole by continental drift coincidence, or is the spin of the Earth balancing it's position somehow?

Posted: 02 Feb 2019 07:38 AM PST

From the original Pangea, Antarctica seems the most conspicuously positioned and I would like to hear if there is any scientific reasoning why it is 'parked' over a pole.

submitted by /u/yamori_yamori
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Do polar vortexes also happen in the southern hemisphere?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 10:36 PM PST

The polar vortex in North America is getting a lot of attention, but does it happen in the southern hemisphere as well? If not, why?

submitted by /u/im_not_tan_im_bronze
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How exactly does HPV cause cancer?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 07:26 PM PST

I heard it a while ago when i got an HPV vaccine. When i tried to Google it, it just said that it converts surface cells to cancer. I think it has something to do with DNA but then wouldn't all viruses cause cancer?

submitted by /u/DrRiceIO7
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Does taking notes actually help us understand the content we’re learning (lectures, reading, studying)?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 12:31 PM PST

Do the different isotopes of Hydrogen affect its properties?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 10:06 PM PST

For example: I'm reading up on Hydrogens wikipedia page and there it states that hydrogens auto-ignition temperature is 500C (932F). That is for Hydrogen gas, H2.

Now if we took D2 instead or even T2, would that number change?

Would the issues of metal embrittlement differ with the heavier isotopes? Do the heavier isotopes affect combustion either used as fuel as is or in gasoline?

And another question a bit in the same topic: Can you hydrogenate a fluid the same way you could carbonate it?

submitted by /u/Daiephir
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Why will your teeth go back to their original positions after not wearing your retainer for a while?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 05:56 PM PST

How do people determine contraception effectiveness rates?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 01:55 PM PST

They say that condoms, for example, have an effectiveness rating of 85%. How do they study this to come up with this figure? Do they just have a bunch of couples who don't mind having kids try it 100 times?

submitted by /u/Riksor
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In a polar molecule eg water, what does the orbital/path of the shared e- look like?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 06:50 PM PST

Why does tetanus cause a red line to form on your arm?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 05:50 PM PST

A guy I work with was using a nail gun and shot through his finger, few days later a red line appeared on his forearm and it had to be treated for tetanus. What is going on inside your arm when you get tetanus? Why does it cause this red line?

submitted by /u/Buttality
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If two particles, Particle A and Particle B, are entangled, and if Person A, in possession of Particle A, breaks the entanglement, would it be possible for Person B, in possession of Particle B, to learn that the entanglement has been broken by using an interaction-free measurement?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 09:16 AM PST

I read that the reason quantum entangled particles would not be able to facilitate faster-than-light communication is because any attempt to change the state of the particles would cause them to become disentangled. But if you could learn whether or not the entanglement has been broken, that yes/no could be converted into a binary digit. Or if Person A measured Particle A, collapsing the wave function, and if Person B could measure Particle B without interacting with it, then would it be possible for Person B to learn that Person A measured Particle A, because Particle B is no longer in superposition?

submitted by /u/AcediaRex
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Why do we check our forehead when we have a fever?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 09:27 AM PST

Can a material be both electrically conductive and an isolator?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 01:46 PM PST

I mean, for example, you flip a switch and make a material an isolator, and than flip it back so current can flow through it. Is that physically possible? Could you make that?

submitted by /u/SirIzzy1
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Is the weakening of the arctic jet steam and collapsing of the arctic vortex early signals of a impending ice age?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 10:06 AM PST

Do you sweat while you're swimming?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 09:30 AM PST
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Friday, February 1, 2019

AskScience AMA Series: We are vertebrate paleontologists who study crocodiles and their extinct relatives. We recently published a study looking at habitat shifts across the group, with some surprising results. Ask Us Anything!

AskScience AMA Series: We are vertebrate paleontologists who study crocodiles and their extinct relatives. We recently published a study looking at habitat shifts across the group, with some surprising results. Ask Us Anything!

AskScience AMA Series: We are vertebrate paleontologists who study crocodiles and their extinct relatives. We recently published a study looking at habitat shifts across the group, with some surprising results. Ask Us Anything!

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 05:32 AM PST

Hello AskScience! We are paleontologists who study crocodylians and their extinct relatives. While people often talk about crocodylians as living fossils, their evolutionary history is quite complex. Their morphology has varied substantially over time, in ways you may not expect.

We recently published a paper looking at habitat shifts across Crocodylomorpha, the larger group that includes crocodylians and their extinct relatives. We found that shifts in habitat, such as from land to freshwater, happened multiple times in the evolution of the group. They shifted from land to freshwater three times, and between freshwater and marine habitats at least nine times. There have even been two shifts from aquatic habitats to land! Our study paints a complex picture of the evolution of a diverse group.

Answering questions today are:

We will be online to answer your questions at 1pm Eastern Time. Ask us anything!

submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator
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Why is Methane such a powerful greenhouse gas when it's absorption spectrum for terrestial radiation seems so narrow?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 12:30 AM PST

So I've recently come across these graphs on some of these global warming conspiracy websites. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/04/11/methane-the-irrelevant-greenhouse-gas/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atmospheric_Transmission.png

They seem to show that Methane has pretty small absorption peaks in the terrestrial radiation spectrum compared to something like CO2 or water vapor. Since it's also much less prevalent in the atmosphere it seems unintuitive that it should have such a disproportionately large global warming potential(Over 28 the GWP of CO2 according to the EPA website).

So what's going on here? Does Methane have other peaks in it's spectrum outside the range of the graphs that account for it's high warming effect? Are there other factors our models need to take into account to properly describe the heat trapping abilities of gases in the atmosphere? Am I misunderstanding what global warming potential actually means? Are the graphs just wrong, or incorrectly labelled/interpreted?

submitted by /u/livinghorseshoe
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How long does it takes for a star to go supernova from the moment it starts to “burn” iron?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 04:53 AM PST

The last exploitable element for a star is manganese, once the star starts burning iron the fusion reaction is no longer sustainable and the star starts dying. How long does it take for it to go supernova from this moment?

submitted by /u/Sbrez
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Why are rocket nose cones, such as SpaceX, rounded like a Von Karman Shape instead of pointed?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 02:52 AM PST

I understand and sub sonic speeds, rounded shapes help with the flow detachment of the air but this changes at supersonic when the shock wave causes high pressure and drag.

Surely a pointed nose with more oblique shock than normal shock is better in those supersonic regions?

submitted by /u/Enjineer1
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Hydrology: Does river discharge affect bathymetry?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 04:53 AM PST

Out of curiosity, would it be reasonable to assume the bathymetry of the ocean floor at the mouth of a major river would be shallower proximate to the river's mouth? My reasoning is that the discharge of sediment would accumulate to over time cause a shallower ocean floor. However, I can't find anything online to support this (maybe I'm googling it wrong)

submitted by /u/chuckles11
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How are enzymes produced on an industrial scale, instead of their natural occurrence?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 08:07 AM PST

As far as my limited knowledge goes, enzymes are naturally-occurring catalysts to chemical reactions that lower the energy required for the transition state.

But how did people replicate these enzymes outside of their naturally-occurring scenarios in order to produce them on an industrial level?

For (silly) example: In the movie Fight Club, Tyler recounts how ancient people discover the cleansing properties of lye via the chemical reactions that happened in the river after their human sacrifices (the burnt flesh of the sacrifices mixed with lye upriver, and made the clothes downriver much cleaner due to a "soapy discharge").

But nowadays, lye is commercially produced (presumably without any sacrifices--human or otherwise.)

So, how exactly is this done?

submitted by /u/JamalBruh
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What’s the most reactive element?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 12:53 AM PST

What does it mean it is too cold to snow?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 07:24 AM PST

In some areas like the midwest, it is in the negatives. It is so cold that it is too cold to snow. How can that be?

submitted by /u/Lorenzoxo
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How can different sperm produce different offspring? Do they not have the same genetic code?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 07:17 AM PST

How do Super-Sonic Parachutes work?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 12:50 AM PST

Why are clouds for heavy rain really dark grey, but those for heavy snow light grey / white?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 06:09 AM PST

Is there statistical evidence of certain times of the day when pregnant women are more likely to have their water broken?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 07:18 AM PST

I was watching a documentary about some female mammals which only go into labour under certain climate/daylight conditions and wondered if humans do the same thing.

Thanks!

submitted by /u/00890
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Why does copper (Cu) only hold one electron in the 4s orbital?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 07:15 AM PST

According to the rules it should be 3d9 4s2 but it is 3d10 4s1. I assume this is probably due to some energy state preferences but does anyone have a more accurate explanation?

submitted by /u/powellkk
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How does sportwear's wicking work?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 07:05 AM PST

I find that the ability of a shirt to draw all the sweat out from the skin is pretty witchcraft-y, considering our experience with normal clothes. I've done a little bit of research about this, but the sites I found explain it in too vague a manner and with absolutely no picture or video at all. There are many questions in my mind right now. So,

  • Could you give a detailed explanation of moisture-wicking with easy to understand pictures or videos, or at least point me to that source?

  • If wicking is based on capillary action, then putting decency aside, is playing naked still better than any kind of Spandex? You know, maximum surface area in that case, while sportwear will never be fully attached to difficult areas like the armpits.

  • Wiki:

in activities such as skiing and mountain climbing this is achieved by using layering: moisture transferring (wicking) materials are worn next to the skin, followed by an insulating layer, and then wind and water resistant shell garments.

Does that mean the sportwear will become a balloon full of water? Because water will be trapped between the transferring material and the insulating layer, with no moving air to help the evaporation because of the resistant shell, LOL. This significant extra weight is a climber's nightmare IMHO.

  • Still Wiki:

Drywicking is the newest variation of moisture wicking. It is a smart two tier fabric that breaks the surface tension of sweat and propels it through the hydrophobic layer into a natural wicking outer layer

How can a fabric break sweat's surface tension? What does it have to do with the easier propelling?

That's about all I can think of for now. Thank you.

submitted by /u/Long_try
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Does the amount of water you steep a tea bag in effect the amount of caffeine you get?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 06:59 AM PST

This may be a stupid question, but I've been trying to switch from coffee to tea and in my research, it will commonly say "there is X amount of caffeine in an 8 oz. cup of tea."

When it comes to coffee, I know that a bigger cup of coffee typically equals more caffeine.

When it comes to tea though, I would imagine the caffeine is strictly dependent on the tea bag.

But my question is, if 8 oz. of boiling water activate X amount of caffeine in tea, is there more caffeine potential in the tea bag if you steep it in more water?

submitted by /u/badmonkingpin
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How can we "create" coherent electrons when decoherence is supposed to be irreversible?

Posted: 01 Feb 2019 12:41 AM PST

Why do dogs pant and hang their tongues out such a lot when wolves (and most animals) do not? Is it a trait that somehow selected for during domestication?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 10:26 AM PST

How do we determine from experiments the charge of a muon particle?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 08:18 AM PST

I understand that we can determine its charge to mass ratio by looking at deviations of the particle in magnetic and electric fields. But how did scientists determine the charge or mass on a single muon particle, without prior assuming it to be equal to charge of electron.

submitted by /u/anhedo11
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We just learned Gauss’ Law in General Physics 2. It got me thinking, is there any reason we can’t apply Gauss law to gravitational fields and such?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 09:58 AM PST
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Thursday, January 31, 2019

How do birds survive the incredible cold temperatures of the polar vortex?

How do birds survive the incredible cold temperatures of the polar vortex?

How do birds survive the incredible cold temperatures of the polar vortex?

Posted: 30 Jan 2019 11:38 AM PST

The title says the most of it. I'm in the Midwest right on the Mississippi and to say that its cold out is something of an understatement. I went for a quick walk by the river to see what all the hype was about (I'm from the West coast originally and I've never been in temps anywhere near this cold).

I was outside for all of twenty minutes as tightly and hotly bundled as a human can be and my eyelashes froze and I thought I'd freeze solid if I had to stay outside for an hour. I could hardly see where I was going while I was walking into the wind I had to keep blinking and wiping the ice away.

All the while I saw dozen of birds out flying around, in the few patches of river that hadn't frozen yet and flying in the air above. It was -20 give or take when I went out, and that's peanuts compared to what it was overnight, but these birds clearly survived that. How do they manage it?

I guess for clarification, I'm talking about gulls, bald eagles and birds I am fairly certain were ducks.

Edit: Front page of r/AskScience? Alright! Thanks everybody for the responses, I can tell I'm not the only one curious about this.

submitted by /u/Septipus
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Does carbonating a liquid alter the ph level of it?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 07:30 AM PST

Could southern hemisphere countries get something similar to the polar vortex from Antarctica?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 03:09 AM PST

Is it a specific situation in the arctic circle? Or could South America/Africa/Australia also face this situation?

submitted by /u/aiydee
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How old is the oldest DNA/RNA that has been extracted? Is it the same as the molecules all living organisms have in their cells now? Did nucleic acids evolve or are they the same as they were when life began 4 billion years ago.

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 06:39 AM PST

It is fantastic enough to think that all life shares the same DNA/RNA. Did these nucleic acids start it all off in primordial times or do we know if they have evolved themselves as life complexity grew?

submitted by /u/Necromonicus
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Is the polar vortex a natural thing or is it also caused by climate change? If so, how does it occur?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 05:17 AM PST

Why does the human body use hydrochloric acid to create gastric acid? Could it hypothetically use other acids, or even bases?

Posted: 30 Jan 2019 08:59 PM PST

Is it related to the relative abundance of hydrogen and chloride in the human diet? Is creating HCl easier than other acids like sulfuric or nitric? I'm not really clear on how the body creates HCl and whether that process could somehow/hypothetically be different to allow for other acids or possibly bases.

submitted by /u/MorganCeann
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Did our gut bacteria originally ride into our bodies on the kind of food it helps us digest?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 04:07 AM PST

Did bacteria that digests sugars first ride in on something sugary? Did fiber-eating bacteria originally ride in on fiber? Is that anything like the way it works?

Edit: If that is the way it works, does it mean we might be able to engineer symbiotic bacteria to help solve hunger issues?

submitted by /u/WhatSortofPerson
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Is cannabis essentially the same as Prozac/Flouxetine as a serotonin blocker?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 02:23 AM PST

Can chronic use of Prozac lead to depression much like chronic use of Cannabis?

Can one get the same benefits from CBD oil?

submitted by /u/BetterFasterSmarter
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Does the air inside of a moving car tire rotate or stand still?

Posted: 30 Jan 2019 05:34 PM PST

If temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of molecules, is there an equivalent measure of their standard deviation?

Posted: 30 Jan 2019 09:24 PM PST

Do molecules actually look like their displayed formulae?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 05:52 AM PST

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but we've been studying hydrocarbons at school and I was wondering if, under an incredibly high magnification and resolution microscope, would the hydrocarbon molecules look anything like the shape we have been taught to draw them as?

submitted by /u/davidaddisonofabitch
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Is the amount of boogers in a person's nose, a good indicator of how polluted/dusty their surroundings are ?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 05:04 AM PST

When we say "particles behave differently when observed" what is the nature of observation?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 04:47 AM PST

What makes an observation observation, does observation include looking? Taking photo? Listening? What if i take a photo accidantly, is it observation then? And if it means interacting in any way, dont i interact with it any way with my existance in any form?

submitted by /u/kicksandro20
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Why is it important that refrigerants in HVAC systems go through phase changes?

Posted: 30 Jan 2019 10:47 PM PST

I understand the refrigeration cycle and that refrigerants go through phase changes and how temperature only change through sensible heat and not latent heat, but why is it important that a refrigerant's boiling point is within the range of temperature changes that occurs? Why not just have a refrigerant that stays as a gas, whose pressure can be altered by the expansion valve and you don't have to worry about liquid getting into the compressor as well?

submitted by /u/dammit_daniel
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Why do slaps to wet skin hurt more than dry skin?

Posted: 30 Jan 2019 06:08 PM PST

Is there any difference between a block of ice and the same block of ice that received a certain amount of energy but not enough to melt it?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 04:32 AM PST

Well obviously except for the fact that the the one that receive energy will melt faster.

submitted by /u/Chun_S
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All the planets in our solar system orbit in the same plane, does this phenomena scale to the entire universe?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 04:28 AM PST

From the Earth and Planetary Sciences FAQ:

Why do all the planets in our solar system orbit in the same plane?
/u/iorgefeflkd explains:

Basically, the whole solar formed as a cloud of whirling gas. As things whirl, they tend to bulge out perpendicular to the axis of whirling (which is why the Earth has a greater circumference around the equator than through the poles), so you end up with a flat orbiting disk of gas. It's from this disk that the sun and planets formed.

My question then arises:
Since the universe started out with matter uniformly distributed, akin to a "cloud of whirling gas", does then all matter in the universe gravitate towards a plane?

submitted by /u/DnA_Singularity
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What would happen to a single photon going through a prism?

Posted: 30 Jan 2019 05:51 PM PST

To clarify things, let's make the prism "perfect" in the sense that it has no imperfections.

Furthermore, let's make it a photon of "red" light (625 - 740nm).

Here's one rough explanation of what happens:

If one were to conduct the experiment with a beam of red light, an angle of refraction would be observed. This angle of refraction would of course, be less than that if one were to employ a beam of "violet" light.

Now repeat with a single photon of "red" light: If the photon is not observed until after passing through the prism, it is fair to say that it should have passed through the prism as would a wave with the wavelength of red light. On the other side of the prism, it will be detected with an angle of refraction corresponding to "red" light.

Any thoughts on the above?

This has been asked before, but I felt the responses were not as clear they could have been, perhaps because the question & main assumptions required clarification:

https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/22icbf/what_happens_to_an_individual_photon_when/

submitted by /u/JXtol
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Can dogs tell if someone is a man or a woman? Do they have a concept of gender for humans?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 12:16 AM PST

Why after a certain age people start to get smaller?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 03:50 AM PST

Hypothetically, what would happen if a neuron synapses onto it's own dendrites?

Posted: 30 Jan 2019 12:42 PM PST

If you could somehow get a neuron's dendrites to connect to it's synapses what would happen if an action potential was triggered?

submitted by /u/yaygerb
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Does fungi grow on our bodies?

Posted: 31 Jan 2019 03:33 AM PST
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