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Friday, May 17, 2019

In 2024 if NASA do get to and land on the moon, will novice photographers or people with telescopes be able to see any of the mission?

In 2024 if NASA do get to and land on the moon, will novice photographers or people with telescopes be able to see any of the mission?


In 2024 if NASA do get to and land on the moon, will novice photographers or people with telescopes be able to see any of the mission?

Posted: 16 May 2019 10:49 PM PDT

Will average people be sharing images of the spacecraft orbiting the moon or it landing? Or do regular enthusiasts not have strong enough equipment too see in that detail?

submitted by /u/Chamer911
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How long would the communication delay be from Mars to Earth?

Posted: 17 May 2019 12:07 AM PDT

How long would the delay in communications be through audio and video from a person on Mars to a person on Earth?

submitted by /u/WarmFire
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Why is current the same everywhere in a circuit with series combination of resistances?

Posted: 17 May 2019 04:05 AM PDT

Why is current the same everywhere in a circuit with series combination of resistances? Shouldn't the current slow down due to the resistors? I need help in this topic. (I am new to Electricity)

submitted by /u/nickbiscuit22
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I would have thought that by now the optimum spout-shape (as on jug or kettle) is longsince known - that is, 'optimum' in terms of water falling cleanly from the spout & not dribbling back along the underside of it: so does anyone know whether such an optimum spout exists?

Posted: 17 May 2019 06:46 AM PDT

And if so, then why it's not so that absolutely all spouts are made that shape.

I don't think such a spout-shape could be calculated ... so I'm not asking for a mathematical equation for the curve of it (unless it be a parametrised empirical one). Also such a shape, if it does exist, has possibly been known for two or three millenia ... or yet longer, maybe!

Actually - it's just occured to me now that each individual material might have its optimum shape, according as the affinity of water for substance varies from one substance to the next.

submitted by /u/Ardhanarishwara
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Do other animals experience the same kind of mental faculty decline as we do when they age?

Posted: 16 May 2019 06:11 PM PDT

We experience some decline when we age, do other animals do?? If they do, how does that manifest?

submitted by /u/GorgeousinGA
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In terms of efficiency of cooling a liquid, is it better to blow cold air over it or suck hot air away from it?

Posted: 17 May 2019 06:31 AM PDT

Could a planet exist indefinitely?

Posted: 16 May 2019 10:28 PM PDT

To my understanding, in a few billion years or so, the dying sun of our solar system will expand and destroy Earth. But hypothetically, if the sun were somehow kept in its current stable state forever, would the Earth still naturally decay or otherwise cease to exist as a planet over time? Or would it theoretically be able to keep existing until actively destroyed by an outside force?

submitted by /u/CatComixzStudios
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How is the Monte Carlo method different from p hacking?

Posted: 17 May 2019 12:19 AM PDT

Looking up their definitions on Wikipedia:

Monte Carlo methods, or Monte Carlo experiments, are a broad class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to obtain numerical results. The underlying concept is to use randomness to solve problems that might be deterministic in principle.

as opposed to:

Data dredging (also data fishing, data snooping, data butchery, and p-hacking) is the misuse of data analysis to find patterns in data that can be presented as statistically significantwhen in fact there is no real underlying effect. This is done by performing many statistical testson the data and only paying attention to those that come back with significant results, instead of stating a single hypothesis about an underlying effect before the analysis and then conducting a single test for it.

Intuitively, these seem very similar to me, and looking through their definitions in detail, I can't convince myself that they are different. Could someone please help me see how they are different?

submitted by /u/toafobark
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What do hospitals do with amputated limbs?

Posted: 16 May 2019 09:35 PM PDT

Do intelligent species' brains share distinctive traits? For example, do all intelligent animals have big prefrontal cortex's?

Posted: 16 May 2019 01:18 PM PDT

How are calories calculated?

Posted: 16 May 2019 10:20 PM PDT

I know that a calorie is how much energy is needed to raise the temperature of water by one degree, but how does a company or scientist calculate the calories in food? How are those calories converted into heat?

submitted by /u/Wheat___thin
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What causes the darker and lighter portions of the moon that you can see when you look up at it?

Posted: 16 May 2019 01:30 PM PDT

How does pencil lead stick to the paper?

Posted: 16 May 2019 09:25 AM PDT

Might seem like a dumb question, but I know that the lead is just graphite that's rub off in a thin layer onto the paper. How come it doesn't just fall of the paper when you pick it up?

submitted by /u/Shuau_21
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Does the size of a frog have any correlation to the loudness/deepness of its croak? (Either within one species or for frogs in general.)

Posted: 16 May 2019 12:55 PM PDT

When did the last Ice Age end?

Posted: 16 May 2019 02:27 PM PDT

When a star starts producing iron in its core, does it go supernova shortly afterwards, or is it a long process that takes months or years?

Posted: 16 May 2019 12:50 PM PDT

How did people avoid getting sunburned before modern sunscreen?

Posted: 16 May 2019 02:10 PM PDT

Data type values same as quartz crystal frequency?

Posted: 16 May 2019 01:03 PM PDT

So I was studying for a microcontrollers test (that's a subject in our school) and one thing we had to memorize are some data type values. I noticed that the range for an integer is from -32768 to 32767. The quartz crystal frequency is 32768 Hz, and that is 1 second. That has to have an explanation. I asked my teacher but he has no idea. Is it possible that the int value range is dependent on the crystal frequency because of the crystal oscillator inside of electronics? Or something similar?

submitted by /u/SirIzzy1
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What causes dielectric screening to occur?

Posted: 16 May 2019 09:24 AM PDT

I've seen explanations that [make some sense]((http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/dielec.html), but I am still somewhat confused about why this happens in general.

I'm considering a single positive charge in a dielectric medium. Here's sketch of the effect I'm confused about (P is positive charge, - is small negative from the dipole, + is small positive, r is point of reference where the potential is measured):

P r

P - + r

In this sketch it looks as if the dielectric effect is magnifying the potential since we've now made a positive charge closer to the point of reference by aligning the dipole with the original positive charge.

As a follow up: would dielectric screening happen in two/one dimension(s)?

submitted by /u/throwaway159357n
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How does everyday radiation exposure affect your average life span?

Posted: 16 May 2019 11:51 AM PDT

Does exposure to radiation for example increase mutation chance and thus chance of cancer?

If I do that one more Panoramic radiograph, do I die on average 1 month earlier because my cancer chance just got increased?

submitted by /u/auesthesthicc
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Do birds being killed by wind turbines count as a form of compensatory predation?

Posted: 16 May 2019 02:38 PM PDT

I'm not qualified on whether wind power kills birds, or if it's a problem, I'm just wondering about this. I once attended a talk about compensatory predation and the speaker gave the example of road kill. Was he right? Do wind turbine kills amount to the same thing?

submitted by /u/awbx58
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Earth has seasons because our planet's axis of rotation is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees relative to our orbital plane. How common is this axial tilt on other planets and can we assume a planet needs to have seasons in order to support life?

Posted: 16 May 2019 10:09 AM PDT

What if the Earth's axial tilt was 40 degrees? 60? etc

submitted by /u/the_ju66ernaut
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Thursday, May 16, 2019

Since everything has a gravitational force, is it reasonable to theorize that over a long enough period of time the universe will all come together and form one big supermass?

Since everything has a gravitational force, is it reasonable to theorize that over a long enough period of time the universe will all come together and form one big supermass?


Since everything has a gravitational force, is it reasonable to theorize that over a long enough period of time the universe will all come together and form one big supermass?

Posted: 15 May 2019 04:56 PM PDT

How fast does electricity move?

Posted: 16 May 2019 02:43 AM PDT

Let's say that I've got an electrical circuit that's a light year across with a light bulb on one end and a switch on the other end right next to me with a battery half way between (so it's a DC power source), all of which connected by super conducting wires. If I flick the switch how long will it take for the light to turn on? Would there be any difference in the time it would take to turn off?

In addition to this does switching from DC to AC power make a difference? Does the distance of battery from the switch or light make a difference?

submitted by /u/AlistairStarbuck
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Do both kidneys have the same chance of forming kidney stones?

Posted: 16 May 2019 07:29 AM PDT

How does soft water cause pipe corrosion?

Posted: 16 May 2019 05:34 AM PDT

I've also read that softened water doesn't cause corrosion, only naturally soft water, is this true and if so, why?

submitted by /u/bdvtje
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How have scientists improved the efficiency of solar cells in the past, and how are scientists trying to improve the efficiency of solar cells today?

Posted: 15 May 2019 04:33 PM PDT

Like, what specifically do solar researchers research on a day-to-day basis, and what strategies have they tried in the past?

Also, what majors could I work toward in college if I wanted to help develop more efficient solar cells? (I'd guess electrical engineering or materials science, or even like physics or something, but I am not sure.)

Thank you

submitted by /u/very_loud_icecream
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Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

Posted: 15 May 2019 08:12 AM PDT

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

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
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Could secondary muons start a fission reaction?

Posted: 15 May 2019 10:56 AM PDT

If you flew a balloon with a bunch of uranium-235 in it high into the sky, could secondary muons have enough energy to split a nucleus?

submitted by /u/yungvendingmachine
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Is the sound of your voice genetic?

Posted: 15 May 2019 08:05 PM PDT

Is their any record of ancient man realizing they were driving a species to extinction?

Posted: 15 May 2019 09:39 AM PDT

How does an elephant move its trunk if the trunk doesn't have any bones to support the muscles?

Posted: 15 May 2019 09:40 AM PDT

Are there any elements or compounds that were first discovered in space, other planets, comets?

Posted: 15 May 2019 08:50 PM PDT

Why are multi-offspring births more common in animals than in humans?

Posted: 15 May 2019 07:52 PM PDT

A quick Google search has only yielded that humans menstruate on a fixed cycle and only release one egg per cycle, and that for certain animals those things arent true, but...why? Is there some evolutionary reason for that?

submitted by /u/PatchTheLurker
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Is there a simple, cheap, relatively clean reaction to turn isolated H+ into hydrogen gas?

Posted: 15 May 2019 06:54 PM PDT

Couldn't find one online except maybe with magnesium, only the half reaction of 2H+ + 2e- —> H2

And an opposite reaction using platinum: H2 — Pt —> 2 H+ + 2e-

submitted by /u/randomemes831
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What makes cancer so difficult to cure?

Posted: 15 May 2019 06:05 PM PDT

It seems that despite the huge amount of resources and money we throw at research towards a cure for cancer, we have yet to find a reliable solution without severe side effects. I understand that it is quite complex so I guess what I am really asking for is an everyday man's answer to a very complicated question. Why is cancer so difficult to cure? What makes it so difficult that even the best and brightest have yet to solve it?

submitted by /u/iDropItLikeItsHot
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Why is it more difficult to breathe warm air?

Posted: 15 May 2019 05:58 PM PDT

When I get into my car when the sun has been baking it all day, I feel like I can barely fill my lungs. In cool air, though, breathing is much more comfortable. Why is body-temperature air stifling vs cooler air?

submitted by /u/jmcmanna
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Could loud sounds that cannot be heard by the human ear, from being too low or two high, still cause damage to one's ears?

Posted: 15 May 2019 10:19 AM PDT

What is the actual scale of cells, cell walls, and surface proteins?

Posted: 15 May 2019 04:48 AM PDT

Edit: I previously said "cell wall" when I meant "cell membrane."

I'm taking a bio class and we look at a lot of diagrams of cells, cell membranes, etc. (like this) and it's got me wondering about the actual scale of these things.

For example, in this diagram we only see six ACh-gated sodium channels in this neuromuscular junction. How many would there actually be in such a junction? Are the surface proteins actually about that size compared to the cell membrane? What about the ACh vesicles -- is that about the right size compared to the axon terminal, or are they actually much smaller or much larger? Also, in this illustration, we see three vesicles releasing ACh; is that representative of the amount of ACh that would be released for a single contraction?

I've also been wondering about the relative sizes and numbers of surface proteins on a cell. Are the surface proteins few and far between, or are they really packed in there with little space between them? Take a look at this diagram -- they always draw individual phospholipids, and then proteins that are about the same size. Is that right? Wouldn't the proteins be monstrous compared to the phospholipids, to the extent that if you zoomed out far enough to see a surface protein you wouldn't be able to see individual membrane molecules?

submitted by /u/oberon
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Why do some beaches have finer sand than others?

Posted: 15 May 2019 08:54 AM PDT

For instance - outer banks NC has very coarse and rocky sand and beaches while most southern ca beaches I've gone to have very fine and soft sand.

submitted by /u/tamns7
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Do all diatomic molecules have centres of inversion?

Posted: 15 May 2019 10:37 AM PDT

Do all diatomic molecules have centres of inversion? If not, how do you determine whether it has one or not?

submitted by /u/jbt3002
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Why do cosmic ray vary with altitude and latitude?

Posted: 15 May 2019 09:18 AM PDT

What physical changes occur during so-called "burn-in" procedure that supposedly sometimes helps reduce/eliminate coil whine/electrical buzz coming from Graphics Processing Units when they are under load?

Posted: 15 May 2019 04:54 AM PDT

I've always wanted to know what precisely is going on from a scientific point of view during this procedure that involves putting a GPU under a heavy (graphics benchmarks or stress tests) prolonged (>8 hours and up to 48 hours) load, after which it is reported that sometimes coil whine/electrical buzz gets less loud and perceptible or even goes away.

submitted by /u/coolmast3r
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Wednesday, May 15, 2019

AskScience AMA Series: We're Jeff Hawkins and Subutai Ahmad, scientists at Numenta. We published a new framework for intelligence and cortical computation called "The Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence", with significant implications for the future of AI and machine learning. Ask us anything!

AskScience AMA Series: We're Jeff Hawkins and Subutai Ahmad, scientists at Numenta. We published a new framework for intelligence and cortical computation called "The Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence", with significant implications for the future of AI and machine learning. Ask us anything!


AskScience AMA Series: We're Jeff Hawkins and Subutai Ahmad, scientists at Numenta. We published a new framework for intelligence and cortical computation called "The Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence", with significant implications for the future of AI and machine learning. Ask us anything!

Posted: 15 May 2019 04:00 AM PDT

I am Jeff Hawkins, scientist and co-founder at Numenta, an independent research company focused on neocortical theory. I'm here with Subutai Ahmad, VP of Research at Numenta, as well as our Open Source Community Manager, Matt Taylor. We are on a mission to figure out how the brain works and enable machine intelligence technology based on brain principles. We've made significant progress in understanding the brain, and we believe our research offers opportunities to advance the state of AI and machine learning.

Despite the fact that scientists have amassed an enormous amount of detailed factual knowledge about the brain, how it works is still a profound mystery. We recently published a paper titled A Framework for Intelligence and Cortical Function Based on Grid Cells in the Neocortex that lays out a theoretical framework for understanding what the neocortex does and how it does it. It is commonly believed that the brain recognizes objects by extracting sensory features in a series of processing steps, which is also how today's deep learning networks work. Our new theory suggests that instead of learning one big model of the world, the neocortex learns thousands of models that operate in parallel. We call this the Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence.

The Thousand Brains Theory is rich with novel ideas and concepts that can be applied to practical machine learning systems and provides a roadmap for building intelligent systems inspired by the brain. See our links below to resources where you can learn more.

We're excited to talk with you about our work! Ask us anything about our theory, its impact on AI and machine learning, and more.

Resources

We'll be available to answer questions at 1pm Pacific time (4 PM ET, 20 UT), ask us anything!

submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator
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Is there an anatomical difference between humans today and humans 200,000 years ago that makes modern day humans more intelligent, or is it all environment?

Posted: 14 May 2019 07:09 PM PDT

Where has the medical community landed on the health impacts of dietary cholesterol?

Posted: 14 May 2019 07:46 PM PDT

So a few years ago I thought the consensus was shifting and I read a lot of studies showing dietary cholesterol didn't have a big impact on cardiovascular cholesterol, but then I vaguely recall a contradictory study that was supposed to be a sprawling meta-study that came out in like the last year, and they thought it did have an impact. So which is it now and why? Can I go enjoy a dozen eggs a week and big shrimp stir fries or should I generally stay away?

Thanks!

submitted by /u/Khenghis_Ghan
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What is the smallest change in color humans can detect and what is the limiting factor to it being smaller?

Posted: 14 May 2019 11:45 AM PDT

Bremsstrahlung and General Relativity: Does a charge resting on the surface of earth emit radiation?

Posted: 14 May 2019 08:43 AM PDT

The Standard Model treats gravity as a force like any other while General Relativity models gravity not as a force, but as the curvature of spacetime.

A consequence of the latter is, that free-falling objects are force-free and their acceleration, defined as the covariant derivative of their four-velocity, is zero.

Furthermore, it follows that objects at rest relative to the surface of a planet are constantly being accelerated upwards by the ground, according to GR.

Does this fact constitute an experiment so see which model is correct regarding their model of gravitation?

  • If gravity is a force, free falling charged particles are being accelerated, and should therefore emit radiation. Conversely, charges at rest relative to the ground experience a net-force of 0N and should not emit radiation.

  • If gravity is the curvature of spacetime, free-falling charges do not experience forces, and should therefore not emit radiation, while charges at rest relative to the ground are being accelerated upwards and should emit radiation.

Am I missing something here? Can we detect Bremsstrahlung in either of the above cases?

submitted by /u/KindheartedFireant
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Does nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) increase TSNA & cancer risk after cessation of tobacco?

Posted: 14 May 2019 10:32 AM PDT

I remember reading a couple studies that state that the inhalation of nicotine via e-cigs or vaping caused no significant increase in TSNA (cancer causing agents) whereas oral muscosa delivery methods saw increase. I use Nicotine lozenges almost everyday (dipper for 10 years) so I'm curious as to more info on TSNA and its harmful effects in general.

Appreciate any insight!

submitted by /u/neeners9223
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Does playing video games have a positive effect on brain stimulation and development of cognitive skills?

Posted: 14 May 2019 03:58 AM PDT

If you can refract light/heat in a mirror, why can’t you refract electricity?

Posted: 14 May 2019 12:47 AM PDT