Is it possible for a single, random atom to split on its own, at any time?

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• Is it possible for a single, random atom to split on its own, at any time?
• How do we know what dinosaurs' skin looked like?
• Do planets always form around stars?
• What about a lack of oxygen makes a cell die?
• Is there a limit to how fast a black hole can spin?
• Spin is an intrinsic property of a particle; how does it interact with other particles' spin if it isn't a force?
• Does entropy apply at the quantum level?
• In space, why can't you accelerate at 9.8m/s^2 (for like an hour or whatever) and then turn the vehicle around and decelerate at 9.8m/s^2 (for the same amount of time) - in order to simulate gravity?
• Why is your funny bone so sensitive?
• How do computerised eye tests work?
• How does bacteria exactly evolve to be antibiotic resistant?
• How did engineers on Apollo 11 and similar missions test their code for bugs for the final mission without having to shoot a test rocket into orbit?
• Why do they say that impedance slows down signals in a wire?
• How does computer fill the CPU registers with the data fetched from the memory?
• Sound waves exist in the third dimension as 2d waves, in all directions. Do sound waves exist in the 4th dimension, in all directions 3 dimensionally? Are we those waves? (Serious, no really.)
• How do scientists distinguish one species to another?
• If neutron stars are simply made only from neutrons, where do they get fuel to still support their glow? If normal stars fuse atoms to create energy then what is the energy-producing process of neutron stars?
• Is there a maximum number of times that a liver can regrow itself? Does regrowing reduce the functionality of a liver or does it always return to 100%?
• Why is it that, if the power series for f'(x) converges at an endpoint of its interval of convergence, the power series for f(x) will also converge at that endpoint?

Is it possible for a single, random atom to split on its own, at any time? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 11:07 PM PDT submitted by /u/Moonwatcher23 [link] [comments]

How do we know what dinosaurs' skin looked like? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 08:37 PM PDT Every depiction of dinosaurs shows them with leathery, reptilian like skin. Yet they say chickens are closely related to dinosaurs. How do we know dinosaurs didn't have feathers? Or fur? How do we know anything about their outer appearance from fossils alone? submitted by /u/danath34 [link] [comments]

Do planets always form around stars? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 09:27 PM PDT Do planets ever form in space independent of a central star? Ie a small enough mass of dust that instead of a star forming at the center and one or more planets forming in orbit around it, just one planet forms and is an unassociated planet just floating around in space? submitted by /u/sluttyjamjams73 [link] [comments]

What about a lack of oxygen makes a cell die? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 09:18 PM PDT Why does a lack of oxygen kill a cell? What is changing that causes this? submitted by /u/invinciblewalnut [link] [comments]

Is there a limit to how fast a black hole can spin? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 07:13 AM PDT If there is no surface on a singularity, is it exempt from the speed of light when figuring in rotational speed? submitted by /u/forestcridder [link] [comments]

Spin is an intrinsic property of a particle; how does it interact with other particles' spin if it isn't a force? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 10:13 PM PDT Been thinking about this one for a while. Title is quite self explanatory. For example, two electrons forming a covalent bond due to opposite spins (1/2,-1/2), this spin is said to "overcome" the Coulombic repulsion between then and from RK this bond. But, from what I've understood and heard, which, mind you isn't a lot (only a highschool student) spin has no interactive "force carrier"/Guage boson or whatever your like to call it. So, my question is, how does the spin of one particle interact with the spin of another and overcome this repulsiv electrostatic force... If it isn't a force and only a sort of angular momentum symmetry??? It's just really been bothering me. Any explanation will help, thanks! submitted by /u/artelingus [link] [comments]

Does entropy apply at the quantum level? Posted: 21 Apr 2019 06:29 AM PDT submitted by /u/meagrepickings [link] [comments]

In space, why can't you accelerate at 9.8m/s^2 (for like an hour or whatever) and then turn the vehicle around and decelerate at 9.8m/s^2 (for the same amount of time) - in order to simulate gravity? Posted: 21 Apr 2019 03:20 AM PDT submitted by /u/chelseaisthebestsea [link] [comments]

Why is your funny bone so sensitive? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 04:30 PM PDT submitted by /u/throawayboi [link] [comments]

How do computerised eye tests work? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 09:35 PM PDT What do they do, how is it that they can determine spherical and cylindrical power so quickly? submitted by /u/TheBlindArch3r [link] [comments]

How does bacteria exactly evolve to be antibiotic resistant? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 06:37 PM PDT I just cannot wrap my mind around this. How does giving someone antibiotics encourage the bacteria to evolve to be antibiotic-resistant? If someone already has even a little antibiotic-resistant bacteria, then antibiotics are useless anyways, right? So if someone doesn't have antibiotic-resistant bacteria, then antibiotics should kill all the bacteria, right? Why should we worry about it evolving if it is all dead? submitted by /u/BombBurper [link] [comments]

How did engineers on Apollo 11 and similar missions test their code for bugs for the final mission without having to shoot a test rocket into orbit? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 12:53 PM PDT Or at least, I very much assume they didn't have the budget for a test rocket, even with the Space Race. submitted by /u/PeregrineZ [link] [comments]

Why do they say that impedance slows down signals in a wire? Posted: 21 Apr 2019 05:06 AM PDT Impedance should only be about current resistance no? A wire with more impedance would have less current than a wire with lower impedance, but I don't see how the signal speed isn't the same for both. Why does it change the speed of a signal? This means the more impedance a wire has, the fewer Hz my signal's wave must have or it gets "muted"? submitted by /u/throw123awae [link] [comments]

How does computer fill the CPU registers with the data fetched from the memory? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 04:32 PM PDT Hi, I want to understand what happens at the hardware/electric circuitry level. For example, how does computer know that this particular 0 bit goes to the X transistor/gate in the register cell A, and that particular 1 bit goes to Y transistor/gate in the register cell B. How does computer organise massive amount of bit/data allocation? I know that memory and CPU are connected via data bus. Is this data bus actually a collection separate wires or one single lane to different parts of CPU? Thanks for your explanation submitted by /u/Purple_Sheikh [link] [comments]

Sound waves exist in the third dimension as 2d waves, in all directions. Do sound waves exist in the 4th dimension, in all directions 3 dimensionally? Are we those waves? (Serious, no really.) Posted: 21 Apr 2019 03:42 AM PDT If you were a 4th dimensional being, could you make sound 3 dimensionally? How does it exist? What is it? A 5th dimensional being sees all 3d beings as 4d objects. Therefore, they could make 3d sound waves, right? submitted by /u/xiccit [link] [comments]

How do scientists distinguish one species to another? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 04:19 PM PDT submitted by /u/Hyqb [link] [comments]

If neutron stars are simply made only from neutrons, where do they get fuel to still support their glow? If normal stars fuse atoms to create energy then what is the energy-producing process of neutron stars? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 07:35 AM PDT Where is the Astrophysics flair, by the way? submitted by /u/Will_the_Jedi [link] [comments]

Is there a maximum number of times that a liver can regrow itself? Does regrowing reduce the functionality of a liver or does it always return to 100%? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 02:48 PM PDT submitted by /u/Mega_Dunsparce [link] [comments]

Why is it that, if the power series for f'(x) converges at an endpoint of its interval of convergence, the power series for f(x) will also converge at that endpoint? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 02:29 PM PDT Title more or less says it all. My textbook stated that "it can be shown" that this is true, but didn't show it, and google has turned up nothing. submitted by /u/gorrillagoal [link] [comments]

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If the nuclear fusion cycle of a star ends at iron, how do heavier elements get made?

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• If the nuclear fusion cycle of a star ends at iron, how do heavier elements get made?
• Is the amount of time an organism takes to achieve sexual maturity proportional to its lifespan?
• How exactly do we get more stamina?
• What (as far as we know) is the physical mechanism which allows us to "see" our dreams?
• What is the inside of Europa like?
• Why does lead absorb radiation so well? Do other materials do the same?
• Why do fluffy blankets not seem as cold to the touch as bed sheets when they been in the same temperature room?
• Why is Nuclear Decay a probabilistic event? Are there any environmental influences that can affect the half life of an isotope or is it an intrinsic property?
• If every land and water animal disappeared at the same time from the Earth, would that have an effect on our orbit since the total mass would decrease?
• Was every desert once a body of water?
• What are those curvy distortions in the air above a hot stove?
• How do self-adhesive/cohesive bandages work? Why do they stick to themselves but not to skin, etc.?
• How does the immune system tell "bad" antigens apart from "harmless" antigens?
• Has nuclear weapons testing had any appreciable effect on the planet’s background radiation and/or surface temperature?
• Is there an upper limit to the size of a black hole?
• How is the best before date calculated on food?
• If binary star systems are common, are there scenarios in which one will expire faster and turn into a black hole?
• When talking about climate change, the argument against it's human cause is often that the models regarding it are not validated. What does this actually mean, is it entirely true, and what other things should laymen know about model validation?
• Suppose we have a computer program randomly choosing 6 digit number. What is the probability that this program will choose a number which 3 first and 3 last digits are the same (e.g. 203203, 100100, 888888)?
• Can ethylmercury methylate to methylmercury in the body?
• Does glycogen require insulin to be used?
• How is the “habitable zone” of a star calculated?

If the nuclear fusion cycle of a star ends at iron, how do heavier elements get made? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 05:08 PM PDT submitted by /u/lmfashidmtamsfo [link] [comments]

Is the amount of time an organism takes to achieve sexual maturity proportional to its lifespan? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 09:36 PM PDT That may be a weird way to pose the question, but do most species achieve sexual maturity the same amount through their lifespan (e.g. humans take 20 years in an 80 year lifespan and some species with a 100 year lifespan takes 25 and another species with a lifespan of 4 years takes only 1 year)? Or does it change depending on the species (humans achieve sexual maturity after 20 years in an 80 year life span, but some species with a 100 year lifespan takes 2 years and another species with a lifespan of 4 years takes 3)? If it's nothing set, are there any trends? Why do these trends occur? And if it's completely random, why? Do different organisms take different amounts of time because they have different needs evolutionarily? Thanks in advance! Edit: said "sexual maturity" because I didn't think "maturity" was a quantifiable term. If it is, that's what I meant submitted by /u/Printedinusa [link] [comments]

How exactly do we get more stamina? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 02:52 PM PDT So when we workout and get muscles we can increase our strength. that's simple. But how are we getting more stamina? What change occurs in our bodies that gives us ability to for example run longer. Whats the difference between gaining strength and stamina. How is it different. submitted by /u/Pietszek [link] [comments]

What (as far as we know) is the physical mechanism which allows us to "see" our dreams? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 03:18 PM PDT If, to oversimplify, we see normally from light hitting our eye and processing in the brain of this sensory info, then what is the "light that illuminates our dreams," so to speak? How can we "see?" submitted by /u/_imhigh_ [link] [comments]

What is the inside of Europa like? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 03:18 AM PDT I know the core is heated due to gravitational friction with Jupiter, but does the liquid water ocean touch the ice shell? What temperature is the water? submitted by /u/Zackvad [link] [comments]

Why does lead absorb radiation so well? Do other materials do the same? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 04:12 AM PDT submitted by /u/Poman22 [link] [comments]

Why do fluffy blankets not seem as cold to the touch as bed sheets when they been in the same temperature room? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 07:01 AM PDT submitted by /u/SwegC [link] [comments]

Why is Nuclear Decay a probabilistic event? Are there any environmental influences that can affect the half life of an isotope or is it an intrinsic property? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 12:58 AM PDT submitted by /u/Pokiwar [link] [comments]

If every land and water animal disappeared at the same time from the Earth, would that have an effect on our orbit since the total mass would decrease? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 07:30 AM PDT submitted by /u/lilmorphinannie [link] [comments]

Was every desert once a body of water? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 03:47 PM PDT I know a lot of fish fossils and such have been found deserts and such, but is every desert the result of a past body of water? If so, is the sand in deserts made of microscopic shell fragments like ocean sand is, or is it more granulated rock? submitted by /u/Obscurly-Incognito [link] [comments]

What are those curvy distortions in the air above a hot stove? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 10:59 PM PDT submitted by /u/frickfrackcute [link] [comments]

How do self-adhesive/cohesive bandages work? Why do they stick to themselves but not to skin, etc.? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 04:01 PM PDT submitted by /u/slinkslowdown [link] [comments]

How does the immune system tell "bad" antigens apart from "harmless" antigens? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 04:17 AM PDT If there isn't a specific mechanism behind that, why isn't the immune system going crazy on *everything* it ever comes in touch with? submitted by /u/Nytrobound [link] [comments]

Has nuclear weapons testing had any appreciable effect on the planet’s background radiation and/or surface temperature? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 12:28 AM PDT In the 20th century, over 2000 nuclear bombs were detonated in unpopulated areas. We know that the bombs in Nagasaki and Fukushima left many people who were not in the immediate fallout to suffer (and often die) from radiation sickness and terrible burns. As the test sites were far away from human habitats (namely the Pacific Ocean and depopulated Kazakhstan) my question is regarding how the blasts would have dissipated across the planet and its atmosphere. Did they contribute to global warming (knowing that the blasts release immense amounts of heat) or is the effect negligible compared to the proliferation of fossil fuel use. submitted by /u/battery_farmer [link] [comments]

Is there an upper limit to the size of a black hole? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 06:04 PM PDT This article states Modeling this process, Inayoshi and Haiman demonstrate that at such high rates, the majority of the gas instead gets stuck in the disk, causing star formation at radii of tens to hundreds of light-years and never getting close enough to fuel the SMBH. The remaining trickle of gas that does accrete onto the SMBH is not enough to allow it to grow to more than 1011 solar masses in the age of the universe. I'm a little stuck on "in the age of the universe". Based on this, does that mean that that limit will increase or decrease over time? If it means that it will increase over time, is there something else that prevents it from getting bigger? The biggest galaxy is about 1014 solar masses. What could/would happen if that entire galaxy collapsed into a black hole? Is it possible that the Big Bang was the result of a similar collapse of matter and spacetime on a universal level like a black hole is on a stellar level? submitted by /u/_McDrew [link] [comments]

How is the best before date calculated on food? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 01:05 AM PDT submitted by /u/Carl1601 [link] [comments]

If binary star systems are common, are there scenarios in which one will expire faster and turn into a black hole? Posted: 20 Apr 2019 12:45 AM PDT If so, what effects if any does this have on the remaining star? submitted by /u/foramsgalorams [link] [comments]

When talking about climate change, the argument against it's human cause is often that the models regarding it are not validated. What does this actually mean, is it entirely true, and what other things should laymen know about model validation? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 04:05 PM PDT This question comes from a conversation with my dad. He has a doctorate in electrical engineering, so he isn't by any stretch uneducated, and I genuinely don't completely grasp what he means by this. I figured AskScience would be a good resource to learn a bit about it! Thanks! submitted by /u/Christofray [link] [comments]

Suppose we have a computer program randomly choosing 6 digit number. What is the probability that this program will choose a number which 3 first and 3 last digits are the same (e.g. 203203, 100100, 888888)? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 03:08 PM PDT Starting from 000000 ending with 999999 submitted by /u/MarekBekied [link] [comments]

Can ethylmercury methylate to methylmercury in the body? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 10:27 PM PDT submitted by /u/stuprin [link] [comments]

Does glycogen require insulin to be used? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 04:21 PM PDT I know muscles store glycogen for release during exercise. But when the glycogen is actually released, does it go into the booodstream (and then into cells using insulin) or is it broken down into glucose inside the cell? Thanks submitted by /u/KhabibAirlines [link] [comments]

How is the “habitable zone” of a star calculated? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 05:22 PM PDT submitted by /u/HvYgke2fBeg [link] [comments]

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CPUs have billions of transistors in them. Can a single transistor fail and kill the CPU? Or does one dead transistor not affect the CPU?

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• CPUs have billions of transistors in them. Can a single transistor fail and kill the CPU? Or does one dead transistor not affect the CPU?
• Why are lithium and beryllium relatively rare?
• How do modern supercomputers work?
• What are muons, and how do they relate to time dilation?
• Besides sweating and shivering, how else do humans thermoregulate? (On our own, not with things like AC or heating)
• Where does the funding for all the fundamental physics research come from?
• How does the Sofia Flying Observatory work ? Is there a specific purpose for having an observatory that moves with respect to earth ?
• Can prions affect non-nervous tissue?
• What is the fire being burned on ocean oil rigs?
• Does light from our Sun's photosphere get redshifted before it reaches us?
• What's the difference between the electric field and the magnetic field?
• Why does transparent plastic turn opaque and flaky after some time under the sun?
• Are climate zones changing due to global warming?
• How do E&M instruments which require extreme precision account for the Earth's magnetic field?
• MHC, bacteria, virally infected cells, and T cells. How do relate? Does our immune system deal with one differently than the other? (clarification in text description)
• What created the gasses and meteors in space after the big bang?
• What would happen to the human body if it was not exposed to sunlight for a long period of time?

CPUs have billions of transistors in them. Can a single transistor fail and kill the CPU? Or does one dead transistor not affect the CPU? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 12:04 AM PDT CPUs ang GPUs have billions of transistors. Can a dead transistor kill the CPU? submitted by /u/Joeniel [link] [comments]

Why are lithium and beryllium relatively rare? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 03:26 PM PDT I understand that active stars are mostly hydrogen and helium, and heavier elements are created when they get older or if they're huge and go supernova. But it's weird to me that here on Earth, we have loads of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. But these two light elements on the periodic chart seem relatively rare. Am I wrong about their rarity, or is there something else going on? submitted by /u/SovietTacoConspiracy [link] [comments]

How do modern supercomputers work? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 12:15 AM PDT When I look up info about modern supercomputers, the (very generalized) specs are that it's racks upon racks of CPUs and a huge amount of RAM. Topology-wise, this seems to mean an enormous amount of rack mounted motherboards with multiple processors and lots of memory, and there's some sort of operating system that manages all these (seemingly) parallel systems to distribute workload. My question is, what kind of details are there for said systems? Seems like it's more of a shit ton of individual systems that are linked for parallel processing, the idea makes sense (distributed workload) but how is this accomplished? What operating system do these systems use? How is the programming written so that the problem takes advantage of the massive parallel processors? How do these systems differ from a typical workstation? submitted by /u/byf_43 [link] [comments]

What are muons, and how do they relate to time dilation? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 04:51 AM PDT submitted by /u/Norway313 [link] [comments]

Besides sweating and shivering, how else do humans thermoregulate? (On our own, not with things like AC or heating) Posted: 18 Apr 2019 07:06 PM PDT submitted by /u/Imma_Explain_Jokes [link] [comments]

Where does the funding for all the fundamental physics research come from? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 11:59 PM PDT Hence, who is investing and what economic payoffs are expected from e.g. CERN, black hole imaging, etc. ? submitted by /u/randomface0815 [link] [comments]

How does the Sofia Flying Observatory work ? Is there a specific purpose for having an observatory that moves with respect to earth ? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 11:32 PM PDT submitted by /u/samaraliwarsi [link] [comments]

Can prions affect non-nervous tissue? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 06:22 PM PDT If prions are simply misfolded proteins, can these misfolded proteins appear in non-nervous tissue? Is it possible that there are prions that mainly affect non-nervous tissue such as muscle tissue? submitted by /u/prefrontalobotomy [link] [comments]

What is the fire being burned on ocean oil rigs? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 04:15 PM PDT There is an image I'm looking at, and I've seen this before, where on an ocean oil rig a small shoot exists that pushes a stream of fire of into the water. Why do oil rigs burn oil like this? There must be a reason, because otherwise this would be a little dangerous! submitted by /u/Davetheplant [link] [comments]

Does light from our Sun's photosphere get redshifted before it reaches us? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 05:16 PM PDT Since the Sun's mass creates a giant gravity well that the photons it emits need to escape; do those photons get appreciably redshifted prior to reaching the Earth? Or put another way, does sunlight 'change colors' as you get closer? submitted by /u/buckfutter35 [link] [comments]

What's the difference between the electric field and the magnetic field? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 12:28 PM PDT submitted by /u/Al_B3eer [link] [comments]

Why does transparent plastic turn opaque and flaky after some time under the sun? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 06:20 PM PDT submitted by /u/damstereiw1 [link] [comments]

Are climate zones changing due to global warming? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 01:50 PM PDT I live somewhere close to tropic of cancer. Where I live, it's considered to be a temperate/semi arid climate zone . Right now, it's summer here. As far as I remember and as far as my parents remember, the summers here have always been very hot days (even hotter now) and quite breezy nights. But this season, it's blistering hot during the day time and it's starting to rain heavily during the nights. From what I've learnt, hot days and rainy nights is a feature of rain forests. Is this a consequence of global warming or is it due to some other meteorological event? If not, what will be the impact of this on local flora and fauna? submitted by /u/sexypapa123 [link] [comments]

How do E&M instruments which require extreme precision account for the Earth's magnetic field? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 04:27 PM PDT From what I know, Earth's natural magnetic field is constantly changing, although the changes are extremely small. (Except for when it "flips".) So how does an instrument account for this? You can't just "zero it out" like you can with a mass scale, because it might change afterwards, right? submitted by /u/suugakusha [link] [comments]

MHC, bacteria, virally infected cells, and T cells. How do relate? Does our immune system deal with one differently than the other? (clarification in text description) Posted: 18 Apr 2019 01:44 PM PDT Okay so I'm leaning about immune function right now, and I understand the MHC interactions with T cells (CD4 for helper, and CD8 for killer). So it makes sense to me that when a cell is virally infected and displays foreign antigens, the T cell would recognize the self MHC protein, and foreign antigen protein and then destroy the cell. But what about bacterial cells, do they have MHC molecules on their surface? If not, how would T cells destroy them? Or are bacteria destroyed by macrophage and neutrophils exclusively? And do bacteria infect cells similar to how a virus does? Please correct me if I'm wrong about anything, thanks! Tl;Dr need to know how T cells function regarding both the presentation of an antigen and MHC molecule, and whether different tactics are used to destroy virally infected cells, bacteria, and/or bacteria infected cells (if that's a thing) submitted by /u/Alexander_Elysia [link] [comments]

What created the gasses and meteors in space after the big bang? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 02:57 PM PDT What I mean more specifically, is before the expansion started was there gasses, rocks, and other things? like how did these things come to be if there wasn't anything to start with? submitted by /u/VadeHD [link] [comments]

What would happen to the human body if it was not exposed to sunlight for a long period of time? Posted: 18 Apr 2019 07:20 AM PDT submitted by /u/the-travesty [link] [comments]

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