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Friday, December 20, 2019

Has there been a higher peak than Mt. Everest on Earth throughout its history?

Has there been a higher peak than Mt. Everest on Earth throughout its history?


Has there been a higher peak than Mt. Everest on Earth throughout its history?

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 05:26 AM PST

Im not thinking a higher mountain in total like the Mauna Kea, but rather from sea level upwards.

submitted by /u/dsdrft
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If it takes less energy to boil water at higher altitudes, are there any variable that change the freezing point of water?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 07:52 AM PST

For example I've been told that water doesn't freeze at the bottom of the ocean because the pressure keeps it from expanding. Is this true?

submitted by /u/SlitherySnekkySnek
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When does the brain actually develop enough to do math?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 06:42 AM PST

A kid I babysit can solve 10+4 but not 4+10. I know kids memorize things really well, so it made me wonder if she's actually just memorized all of the sums she knows. Lo and behold, she can't solve the reverse order of any math problems her teacher taught her.

When can the brain really start to solve basic math problems using logic and not memorization? And to extend on that - how do we accurately find this out if the kids might have just memorized the answers? And to dump a third, and kind of hypothetical question onto the pile - why bother teaching and testing math skills before their brains are actually able to do math?

Edit: thank you for the incredibly helpful answers! I just wanted to assure you I'm in no way trying to change her approach to doing math, or anything like that. I've been in varying levels of childcare for more than ten years and this developmental stage has always been fascinating to me :) I feel like I can actually use some of the information here to more effectively do my job, so thank you!

submitted by /u/Cats_Waffles
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Why charges in uniform motion can't be the sources of electromagnetic waves?

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 02:52 AM PST

Charges in uniform motion produce magnetic fields. But they produce Electric fields too, right? If they do, then why they can't be the source of EM waves? If they don't, why don't they produce Electric field while moving in uniform motion?

submitted by /u/m_vishuu
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Whats the mechanism for sleep-deprivation induced psychosis?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 06:44 PM PST

Is there a 2D lattice allotrope of silver or copper?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 10:23 PM PST

I've known about graphene for a long time, as I'm sure many of you have, but I just recently thought about a similar layout with Ag or Cu. I looked it up and only found molecules consisting of multiple elements. Because they are the best conductive elements we know of (silver is #1, but copper is a close second), I'm just curious. Also, if they have the 2D lattice, do you think they could create nanotubes as well?

submitted by /u/19Jacoby98
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At what age did Neanderthals reproduce?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 05:14 PM PST

I've been trying to find the answer to this for quite some time now, posing my question to google and some science websites in both "scientific" language and "more blunt" language (I wrote questions today I never thought I'd ever write, so) but I couldn't find the answer anywhere.

So my last resort is here. So, as the title asks: At what age did Neanderthals reproduce? Did they start when they were 8? 12? 18? And I'm not asking when they COULD (like, at what age they physically became capable to do so) but at what age they DID. e.g. Today a lot of 12yo girls have had their periods, and thus could have children, but THEY DON'T. So, yeah. That's about it for my question.

Also, I hope paleontology is the correct flair for this one, but other possibilities were archeology and biology.

submitted by /u/JonasDFB
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How do we know how ancient and dead languages sounds like?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 07:48 AM PST

Updated: added flair.

submitted by /u/rmrfchik
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Do Black Holes Precess as They Spin?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 09:31 AM PST

Do black holes precess as they spin? Can the direction of their rotational axis change over time? I assume their angular momentum is the sum of the angular momentum of everything they have consumed, so if a black hole eats something new, its axis will change directions accordingly.

But for a black hole with no external forces on it, is it possible to precess?

If it is possible, does this mean that we could potentially see pulsing quasars?

submitted by /u/IndependenceDayOnVHS
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How much rock does a mountain produce or shed per year or second? And about how fast does a river break rock?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 11:38 PM PST

How fast do plasma particles move specifically?

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 01:42 AM PST

Why do we mainly use bases for cleaning?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 12:47 PM PST

What makes bases more optimal for cleaning? Why not use acids?

submitted by /u/I_SHIT_BLOOD__
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What is the process of your body getting acclimated to a new climate and does this length of time vary for certain people?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 07:18 AM PST

I remember living in Texas for about 4 months. Midway through, I felt acclimated to the climate to the point where a long sleeve shirt and pants were bearable for me in the summer. What is this acclimation process, as in, how does it work in our bodies? Is 2-3 months a normal acclimation period? Does this period vary between certain people or groups of people? Do other animals experience a similar process? Thanks in advance!

submitted by /u/DrShadowSML
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Can memories or skills be created "outside" of the brain?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 04:00 AM PST

Can someone develop memory/skill outside of the brain? Nerve system is pretty complex, is there a possibility that there will be some neuron connections let's say in a person's heart or spinal cord? Are stories about people that never played an instrument or could speak a language but are able to after transplantation of some organ real?

Obligatory sorry for my english

submitted by /u/jakoboo
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Aside from loss of bone density what other systems of the body are affected by zero-g?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 04:26 AM PST

For example, would the cardiovascular system become weaker, with not having to fight against Earth's gravity when pumping blood around the body?

submitted by /u/Veldron
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Difference between pseudo-obstruction and paralytic ileus?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 05:10 AM PST

Hi guys,

Not sure whether this is the right place to post this, but I'm a medical student currently doing my general surgery posting and I'm really confused about the difference between paralytic ileus and pseudo-obstruction. Both seem to be when there is no gut motility in the absence of any anatomical lesion, but somehow there seems to be a distinction between them (paralytic ileus is a differential for pseudo obstruction and vice versa).

I've tried googling this but to no avail

Could someone explain this to me please? Thanks so much!

submitted by /u/kyzzz_
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What actually happens when a Satellite 'burns up' in the atmosphere?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 05:39 AM PST

So I've seen mention that some satellites are designed to burn up harmless after their "life span" is over... However I'm pretty sure the metals, plastics, and other components aren't literally annihilated.

What actually happens to all of the matter that made up the satellite? Will all of it eventually rain down onto the surface? I could image some of the plastic components being light enough that they slough into the upper atmosphere and eventually into space. Are there materials that could still be harmful even at super low concentrations?

submitted by /u/aslum
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Would you be able to live without an amygdala?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 02:16 AM PST

Will a non ferrous metal passing perpendicularly though an electric field feel any kind of resistance (magnetic maybe)?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 11:26 PM PST

So I think I have my physics mixed up and I just want to check, but I know if I pass a magnetic field through a wire perpendicularly I can induce a current (eg. Shake charge flashlights). But if I have a non ferrous piece of metal (for example a bullet) flying at great velocity though an electric field perpendicularly (created by a high current though a loop) would it's trajectory be impacted in any way?

I feel like my physics is all messed up, please help!

submitted by /u/Redalpha2
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How does the process of reducing Indigo to Leuco-Indigo work?

Posted: 19 Dec 2019 07:09 AM PST

Recently in our chemistry class we have learned about all the different types of dyes, including vat dyes such as indigo. For a piece of cloth to be colored with indigo, the dye is added to a mixture of water, sodium hydroxide and sodium dithionite. From what I know the sodium dithionite serves as the reducing agent (for producing the leuco form of indigo). 1. Why is sodium hydroxide needed?

  1. How exactly does sodium dithionite reduce the indigo dye? Can another reducing agent be used in this reaction?

    Comparing the molecular structure of indigo and leuco-indigo, the only difference I could see is the addition of 1 hydrogen ion to the 2 oxygen atoms(each). Where do the hydrogen ions come from?

submitted by /u/BroProAl3x
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Does sound travel farther/more quickly in cold air then it does in warm or humid air?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 06:08 PM PST

I've noticed that it sounds different outside when it gets cold, like I can hear more ambient noise, so I was wondering if this is just in my head or if this is actually something that occurs.

submitted by /u/kdt912
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Is there different in severity of Asian Glow?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 06:45 PM PST

My friend is full Asian and experience very severe Asian flush when consuming alcohol. I am half Asian and while I experience Asian glow, I don't experience nearly the severity that he does.

I know this is because of a deficiency of an enzyme, but do I have less of a deficiency because I'm not full? Or is it just a 'you have the enzyme or you don't' type situation.

Thanks

submitted by /u/Kazukster
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Thursday, December 19, 2019

Is there any intuitive way to visualize the symmetries of the standard model?

Is there any intuitive way to visualize the symmetries of the standard model?


Is there any intuitive way to visualize the symmetries of the standard model?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 12:09 PM PST

U(1), SO(2), SU(3), SO(3,1), i keep seeing these again and again when trying to learn about physics, but I have no idea of how to picture these visually as anything other than a bunch of matricies that I don't understand because I don't have a way to picture them. is there any sort of intuitive way to understand then?

submitted by /u/chunkylubber54
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How is it that shockwaves can occur in space?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 01:13 PM PST

My understanding is that shockwaves need an atmosphere to "shock" or distort.

Referring to the supernova that the Hubble telescope caught that is circling on Reddit.

submitted by /u/theGmanAssi
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Can a person with the flu vaccine still spread the flu?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:37 AM PST

I was just wondering if you are vaccinated and you are exposed to one of the strains of virus the vaccine covers, and your body fights it off, is it possible in the period of time that your body is fighting it off for you to spread the virus to others?

So I guess I'm wondering at what point you become contagious?

i know viruses hijack your cells and eventually lyse your cells once they have used it's machinery to replicate, is it at this point at which you become contagious? Once the viruses reach a certain "dosage" from replication within your body?

submitted by /u/princesspeach109
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Why isn’t RAM replacing the hard drive at this point?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 06:21 PM PST

It seems like RAM has be increasing with more space and at a quicker rate. It's always been like that. But it seems like we are getting to a point where RAM will be capable of handling average peoples storage needs. Then grow after that. My question is, what is stopping us from creating a RAM only machine and having it serve our needs without an SSD.

submitted by /u/amppedup
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How do power stations know how much electricity they need to produce?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 04:44 PM PST

Why do languages have irregular/special case verb conjugations?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 11:43 AM PST

Why does the cold make your nose runny?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:53 AM PST

Not having a cold, but being in the cold

submitted by /u/Pappu_Franku_BS
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Does nicotine by itself have any proven health risks other than addiction if moderately consumed?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 07:33 AM PST

Why is the ocean level equal to continental height?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 02:09 PM PST

If the ocean level were 1km lower, we would be on a plateau 500 meters high with steep edges. So is it just a coincidence oceans have exactly that height or is there some process behind that?

submitted by /u/SVlad_667
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What's stopping our sun from crashing into another Sun?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 08:57 PM PST

Hey, so I just had an edible, so sorry if this question seems obtuse. I understand that our sun is constantly moving across the galaxy, just as our planet is constantly moving around the Sun. Throughout all this movement, is there any scenario where our Sun crashes into another neighboring Sun sometime in the near or distant future? If not, what's stopping that from happening?

submitted by /u/GuyFuxx
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Why is leukemia contagious between cats but not between humans?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:51 AM PST

Why doesn't Deuterium spontaneously form from most Hydrogen neutron collisions?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:05 AM PST

As I understand it, in nuclear rectors, Uranium releases neutrons which collide with water molecules to slow down. Since there are a bunch of neutrons bouncing around, presumably some are colliding with some hydrogens in H2O. The binding energy of Deuterium is ~2MeV, and neutrons start out at around ~2MeV but slow down to much less than that, so it doesn't make sense to me that the neutrons are going too fast to make the reaction favorable. There shouldn't be any repulsive force when the neutron gets close to a proton and they should actually attract each other when they are close enough for the strong force to be in effect. So why don't these collisions result in deuterium production?

submitted by /u/titouan00
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What does the term "phosphorylation" refer to in Oxidative Phosphorylation (OXPHOS)? More specifically, referring to the Electron transport chain and the Mitochondria?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 11:01 AM PST

In oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), I get how complexes I-IV in the mitochondria play a major role in respiration via their various redox reactions, coupled to the passing of electrons, and pumping of protons into the intermembrane space.

My questions is what exactly is the "phosphorylation" part of the term OXPHOS referring too? Is it referring to Complex IV where oxygen gets turned into water? Or the coupling of complexes I-IV? Thanks for the help.

submitted by /u/HeyThere201
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Why wasn't the universe, immediately after the big bang, a huge black hole unable to escape its event horizon?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 07:17 AM PST

How does paper get recycled?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 08:38 AM PST

(Note that this is tagged as biology since I'm not sure what else to tag it as, but biology seemed the closest)

I've always seen that paper, glass, plastic, etc., is supposed to be recycled, and I get how most things are: they get melted and reformed into something with a different shape and purpose. but paper? that stuff can't melt. how does it get recycled?

submitted by /u/smushedtomato
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Was there a specific criteria for constellations to be officially recognized by the IAU?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 06:34 AM PST

There are some really interesting constellations (e.g. Quadrans Muralis) that aren't included in IAU's 88 official constellations. I'm wondering if there was any criteria that had to be met for a constellation to be recognized among those 88.

submitted by /u/MJYW
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Are our memories 3D or 2D?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 11:41 AM PST

I got confused while trying to think if I remember flat pictures only or actually full stereoscopic 3D objects. Did I spend too much time in front of a 2D screen?

submitted by /u/xmaxdamage
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Wednesday, December 18, 2019

If implemented fully how bad would SpaceX’s Starlink constellation with 42000+ satellites be in terms of space junk and affecting astronomical observations?

If implemented fully how bad would SpaceX’s Starlink constellation with 42000+ satellites be in terms of space junk and affecting astronomical observations?


If implemented fully how bad would SpaceX’s Starlink constellation with 42000+ satellites be in terms of space junk and affecting astronomical observations?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 12:53 AM PST

Why didn’t the Big Bang produce heavy elements?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 02:32 PM PST

So I'm a big fan of the history of the universe. I've watched as many videos on YouTube I can find from PBS Space Time to Crash Course.

One thing that always pops up though is that in the beginning the universe only created hydrogen atoms. Then as the first stars formed all the heavier elements fused and were created.

But if the Big Bang was a singularity why did it not release atomic configurations for any of the heavy elements right off the bat. By definition a singularity that contains all the matter of the universe will be denser than any stars and thus fusion of all kind should have happened. So why did this process only happen after stars formed?

submitted by /u/Cilarnen
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Ask Anything Wednesday - Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 07:08 AM PST

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science

Do you have a question within these topics you weren't sure was worth submitting? Is something a bit too speculative for a typical /r/AskScience post? No question is too big or small for AAW. In this thread you can ask any science-related question! Things like: "What would happen if...", "How will the future...", "If all the rules for 'X' were different...", "Why does my...".

Asking Questions:

Please post your question as a top-level response to this, and our team of panellists will be here to answer and discuss your questions.

The other topic areas will appear in future Ask Anything Wednesdays, so if you have other questions not covered by this weeks theme please either hold on to it until those topics come around, or go and post over in our sister subreddit /r/AskScienceDiscussion , where every day is Ask Anything Wednesday! Off-theme questions in this post will be removed to try and keep the thread a manageable size for both our readers and panellists.

Answering Questions:

Please only answer a posted question if you are an expert in the field. The full guidelines for posting responses in AskScience can be found here. In short, this is a moderated subreddit, and responses which do not meet our quality guidelines will be removed. Remember, peer reviewed sources are always appreciated, and anecdotes are absolutely not appropriate. In general if your answer begins with 'I think', or 'I've heard', then it's not suitable for /r/AskScience.

If you would like to become a member of the AskScience panel, please refer to the information provided here.

Past AskAnythingWednesday posts can be found here.

Ask away!

submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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Do we know if our solar system is from a first or second generation star that previously exploded? Also, where did the hydrogen come from that formed our solar nebula?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 12:05 AM PST

The Earth was formed around 4.543 billion years ago along with the other planets from an existing solar nebula. Where did the material come from? Was it from the death of a first or second generation star? Do we know anything about the type of star that provided the building blocks for our solar system?

Also, where did all the hydrogen come from? Wouldn't the prior stars have exhausted the supply of hydrogen leaving only heavier elements?

Finally, if the oldest rocks on Earth are 3.8 billion years old, how do we know the Earth is over half a billion years older than that?

submitted by /u/Stuck_In_the_Matrix
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How can Google search thousands upon thousands of pages almost instantly, when it can take me a while to get a single one to load?

Posted: 18 Dec 2019 04:45 AM PST

Why does a damp cloth pick up more dust than a dry one?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 04:02 PM PST

Is it surface tension? Or is the water acting as a solvent? Or does the water loosen the fibers or otherwise change the mechanical properties of the cloth at a microscopic level? Or... I'm stumped, here! It dawned on me today as I was wiping up some dust, that I don't actually know the physical reason behind this.

submitted by /u/myself248
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Where do the upper layers of dirt come from?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 02:28 PM PST

In archeology, generally the deeper something is found in the ground, the older it is. This indicates that as time progresses, soil is deposited ontop of the ground, burying bones, artifacts, etc. Where does this new dirt come from? Does the ground level rise as this deposition process continues?

submitted by /u/ghrew
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How much do the tectonic plates weight?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 01:30 PM PST

Are There Certain Types of Stars that have more Asteroids in their Solar Systems than others?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 02:46 PM PST

So, what I want to know is this:

Are there, among the different types of star-types (Gs, Ms ((like red dwarfs)), Fs, Ks, etc.), certain kinds of stars that can hold a more abundant asteroid-belt, like our Sun, or have more asteroids in them than others?

submitted by /u/Broncattus
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Doesn't chemotherapy/radiation make it easier for cancer to grow as well?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 07:34 AM PST

Ok, so first of all this is just a random question I asked myself a while ago. I'm not medically trained or whatever so my reasoning might be very much off. As far as I know treatment for cancer focusses on destroying the cells that went rogue, but I always wondered if this doesn't also make it easier for them to grow. I mean, not only the "bad cells" get destroyed but some good ones will go with them, correct? Doesn't this make the other cells around the tumors more vulnerable to also start doing weird things making them higher risk of also mutating to cancercells? Or do they just get destroyed en replaced by healthy ones? It might be a stupid question but I still want an answer haha. Obviously looking at the amount of times this treatment is used it's probably not the case, but how does that work then?

submitted by /u/velociraptor__
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Any ideas how to make calcium oxide from green mussel shells?(long post ahead)

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 03:39 PM PST

Not sure if this is possible but do y'all know how to extract or make calcium oxide from green mussel shells? We need it for our research but we've tried different methods and none have worked so far.

So we first tried putting the shells over an open flame from a gas stove. We placed them on top of a grill so we wouldn't have to hold them. What we got was a burnt shell that was very brittle and didn't look like calcium oxide. We also tried using a blowtorch on the shells for like, a direct contact with the flames or smth. The same thing happened, burnt mussel shells that are brittle. We planned to use calcium oxide as a water filter but every attempt we've tried so far has failed. Still can't think of an answer as to why it happened and how we can avoid it.

We've looked at past research papers for tips and they always included "The dried waste shells were calcined at 700–1,000°C in air atmosphere with a heating rate of 10°C/min for 4 h " and we can't understand what it means. We tried placing them outside so they get caught in the sun's heat but nothing has happened. Maybe you guys know what calcined in air atmosphere means? We really hit a dead end here and we can't come up with an idea to go past it.

submitted by /u/ChickenNoogers
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Is the measurement of calories on the side of products, in this case a bag of chips, accurate every time?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 06:04 PM PST

Because the calories is determined by combusting the product in a calorimeter, how can we be sure that a product that has obviously not been combusted has the same amount of calories?

submitted by /u/AWildAndWackyBushMan
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Does eating more fat (esp monounsaturated fat) prior to cold exposure help increase synthesis of brown adipose tissue?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 06:00 PM PST

more so than fasting + cold exposure?

submitted by /u/inquilinekea
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What are the factors that influence handedness in crabs?

Posted: 17 Dec 2019 11:10 AM PST

How does ice build up in Antarctica?

Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:03 PM PST

Where does Antarctica, which receives so little precipitation that it's technically declared a desert, get all of its ice, in some places several miles thick, if not for a constant accumulation of snow? What is the mechanism of that accumulation?

submitted by /u/5icariu5
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Is there a limit to how big a star can be within the universe?

Posted: 16 Dec 2019 04:35 PM PST