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Friday, March 13, 2020

With people under quarantine and practicing social distancing, are we seeing a decrease in the number of people getting the flu vs. expectations?

With people under quarantine and practicing social distancing, are we seeing a decrease in the number of people getting the flu vs. expectations?


With people under quarantine and practicing social distancing, are we seeing a decrease in the number of people getting the flu vs. expectations?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 06:01 PM PDT

Curious how well all these actions are working, assuming the flu and covid-19 are spread similarly.

submitted by /u/TXflybye
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Why is Neptune warmer than Uranus?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 12:07 PM PDT

Do starfish have a favorite limb or do they have the equivalence of humans being ambidextrous?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 09:17 AM PDT

I have watched timelapse videos of starfish "walking." Do they favor one of their limbs as being the leader over the others?

submitted by /u/xmaswiz
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If a speaker is traveling at Mach 1 in the air and faces the direction it is moving towards, will the sound waves travel the 322 m/s in addition to Mach 1 speed? If I am flying 10 feet in front of the speaker at the exact same speed, will I hear the oscillation as sound?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 04:18 PM PDT

Asking because I have little understanding of the concept of relativity in these types of situations. This point was brought up by a classmate in a class forum.

submitted by /u/dingleberry-daryl
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In nuclear reactors, why is it that (light) water can act as *either* a moderator or as a neutron absorber depending on the reactor design?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 02:18 PM PDT

The way I understand the roll of water in nuclear reactors is this:

In reactors that use low-enriched uranium, water acts as both the coolant and the moderator, creating a negative void coefficient. In reactors (namely RBMK reactors) that use natural uranium and light water, water isn't capable enough as a moderator for the core to reach criticality, therefore there needs to be a strong moderator, hence the graphite rods in the RBMK design. The water then acts as the coolant and as a weak neutron absorber, thereby creating a positive void coefficient.

Now, I'm confused about the moderation and absorption capabilities of water, because I would think that water is EITHER a net moderator or a net absorber, meaning that while water both moderates and absorbs neutrons, it does one of those better than the other.

Specifically in the RBMK design, I'm confused why the increase of voids, therefore a decrease in water density, increases reactivity rather than both the moderating and absorption effects of the water decreasing, therefore resulting in a net zero change from the effects of the water specifically, regardless of the presence of graphite. In other words, even with an increase in voids and a decrease in the neutron absorption, I would expect the water to ALSO decrease in moderation, thereby "balancing out," so to speak. I'm especially confused, because it seems like water has more moderating capability than absorption since it's used as a moderator in many LEU reactors, so I might expect moderation from the water to decrease more than the decrease in absorption, therefore an overall decrease in core reactivity (so I guess that'd be a negative void coefficient in this case?)

So, even if it's used as an absorber in the RBMK reactors, the water has to also have a moderating effect as well, albeit much weaker than the graphite, right?

As a quick aside, I've also used the neutron scatter/capture chart on this page, and don't know how to compare the values of scattering versus capturing, i.e. whether an element is more likely to scatter than capture or vice versa.

submitted by /u/blindMAN219
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What about tectonic plate rifting?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 08:24 AM PDT

So rifting is when plates break apart..but does that mean that the amount of tectonic plates is increasing?

submitted by /u/Rekttrex
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Could the anti-psychotic dopamine supersensitivity potentially be used as a more permanent 'treatment' for ADHD? [Neuroscience]

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 08:42 AM PDT

I discovered this was a thing and knowing that dopaminergic drugs are used for ADHD treatment I was wondering if that information could somehow be used. Is there a way to target the dopamine-pathways normally underactive in people with ADHD with the anti-psychotics for a while, discontinuing and having a permanent higher sensitivity?

submitted by /u/PM_ME_INFORMATION
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If somebody has a virus, but has very mild symptoms, is it because they have a weaker form of the virus, the person's specific immune system, or some other reason I'm not thinking of?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 08:55 AM PDT

I know that back before vaccines people would say "Oh Jimmy has very mild X, go catch it from him so you'll get a mild case instead of waiting to get a bad case." Is that true at all?

submitted by /u/Darkpumpkin211
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Do tall people have bigger inner organs (heart, lungs, etc)?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 08:45 AM PDT

Tall people have generally more space for organs than short people. Does this mean their organs ar bigger, or is there more empty (well, i guess its filled with something?) space between the organs? Does that have any affect to health? What about very short people? Do they have very small organs or are they... Squished? If the organs are a bit bigger in tall people, what would happen if you put a short persons organ in a very tall person? Would it underperform? Could a very tall persons organs be donated to a very short person? Would it fit?

submitted by /u/Murksiuke
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How do animals that doesn't have endoskeleton produce blood if blood is produced at the bone marrow?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 08:40 AM PDT

Does drinking coffee/tea hydrate or dehydrate you?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 05:36 AM PDT

Fairly simple question that seems to get very different answers. Does drinking coffee or tea hydrate your body or make you more dehydrated?

submitted by /u/peon2
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At what point if at all, do an exotic species become a native species?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 10:14 PM PDT

Can an exotic species become so well intregrated into the local ecosystem that it can be consider a native to that system?

submitted by /u/namealreadytakened
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What causes the relatively uniform distribution of adipose tissue in the human body ?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 12:08 AM PDT

Why does adipose tissue gets stored some in the abdomen, some thighs, some under chin etc. Instead of all being stored in thigh and none in abdomen for example.

submitted by /u/uni3993
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It is believed that time behaves differently near massive objects like black holes or earth. This theory is proved by measuring the time at the bottom and top of a tower. How did they measure time in this case?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 09:45 PM PDT

Let's say we used a smart watch, will being at different places change how the software calculates a second?

submitted by /u/seaborn07
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How does our digestive system distribute nutrients to specific parts of our body? [Human Body]

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 07:36 PM PDT

Like when we eat certain food, how does our body know where to send protein to certain organs, or iron to blood, etc. How are nutrients segregated or filtered then assigned to specific areas?

submitted by /u/Uninvited_Geist
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What causes the snap crackle pop noises when you urinate against a hard surface?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 09:02 PM PDT

Self explanatory, I suspect that it has something to do with fluid dynamics and/or the shape of the stream?

submitted by /u/kuuzo
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Thursday, March 12, 2020

If we defined the meter as a static portion of the width of the universe (so as one expanded in size, the other did proportionally), about how much would our meter be expanding in, say, an hour?

If we defined the meter as a static portion of the width of the universe (so as one expanded in size, the other did proportionally), about how much would our meter be expanding in, say, an hour?


If we defined the meter as a static portion of the width of the universe (so as one expanded in size, the other did proportionally), about how much would our meter be expanding in, say, an hour?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 06:33 PM PDT

(This may be better suited for a strictly maths-based sub, but I can't tell.)

By "width of the universe", I'm not talking about the observable universe, but rather I'm referencing the rate at which space itself seems to be expanding. (Although I would be interested in using the observable universes growth as our constant as well).

Perhaps my question doesn't have enough constraints to be answerable, or perhaps it's already a well-observed constant? My apologies if it's easily calculable. I just wouldn't even know where to go looking for info on this, or how to rigorously describe my question, for that matter.

submitted by /u/Marty_mcfresh
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Why is Plutonium-239 fissile but Plutonium-238 isn't?

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 02:24 AM PDT

If our cells are constantly dying and being replaced, why do tattoos exist for so long?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 09:09 AM PDT

When landing on the Moon, did we approach the surface going the same direction of its spin to reduce the amount of horizontal velocity needed to be scrubbed?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:38 PM PDT

As I understand, when we launch rockets into orbit, we point them eastward to get a kick in horizontal velocity from the Earth's rotation. This makes me think it would make sense to do the same when landing. I'm thinking that approaching in the direction of the celestial body's spin would mean we have less horizontal velocity to scrub off before landing. If this assumption is correct in a general sense, does it really matter for the Moon since it only rotates once approximately every 27 days?

submitted by /u/mikebrady
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If the symptoms of COVID-19 are so similar to flu/cold symptoms, how did doctors discover this was a brand new virus?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 11:18 AM PDT

How is sweat dealt with in space?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 10:23 AM PDT

So I know that there are multiple workout things on the ISS, like the cycle/treadmill. I would imagine that astronauts would sweat at least a little on the cardio workouts. So what happens to that sweat? Does is stay on the skin due to surface tension, or does it come off the body all together? And if it does come off the body, how is it dealt with, so it doesn't float away and mess with hardware?

submitted by /u/greencash370
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What would happen if a tectonic plate broke in half?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 03:02 PM PDT

Does commercial lumber contain enough infect fragments of DNA from the tree that produced it, for genome reconstruction and analysis?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 05:02 PM PDT

Why don't we get goosebumps on our faces?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:57 PM PDT

How did the ancestors of Aboriginals get to Australia?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 11:52 AM PDT

From what i've read, despite islands/more land being available, at some point there was deep ocean that had to be crossed.

Was it more than one crossing and how many people at minimum would need to cross for a population to be viable?

submitted by /u/saffagaymer
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Are there any promising advancements being made in broad spectrum antivirals?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:27 PM PDT

I remember there being some media buzz about "DRACO" several years ago, but I believe that project sort of fizzled out.

submitted by /u/DFAnton
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Do Galactic Cosmic Ray's affect our climate?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:38 PM PDT

If you get a deep cut on your finger, Is the regenerated fingerprint identical to the one you had?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:15 AM PDT

What is the difference between wild dogs and wolves?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 11:50 AM PDT

What makes a wild canine a wild dog or a wolf or something else? My googling has been less than helpful.

submitted by /u/callmeAllyB
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If a larva were to lose an appendage or other body part, how does this affect pupa development, overall metamorphosis, and the final imaginal stage?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 06:37 AM PDT

My understanding is during metamorphosis there is a near-complete breakdown of the larva in to small building blocks. Essentially, the larva matures to the point that it begins releasing enzymes capable of dissolving tissues. As the body is being liquidated (literally), groups of cells begin to organize. From these cells, eyes, wings, and legs begin to form. Eventually this transformation is finalized and the body is completely reassembled. This is the imaginal stage.

I wonder what would happen if portions of the initial larva body were missing (e.g. limbs, organs, or bite from a predator)? How would this hinder the development of the pupae? Without some of these building blocks, could metamorphosis be survived?

I understand this is a broad question with a lot of considerations. Unfortunately, most articles I've read on metamorphosis assume and fully intact larva. I also apologize in advance if I've gotten any of these terms incorrect. I hope it doesn't distract from my question.

Thanks for your insights!

--

For context, I'm raising mealworm larva and recording their ability to digest non-biodegradable materials like styrofoam and various polyethylenes. I've noticed many of the larva will choose to cannibalize pupae for their liquids, if I do not offer water every 3-4 days.

Once the imaginal stage is complete and darkling beetles appear the beetles will also resort to cannibalism. Unlike mealworms, darkling beetles do not consume styrofoam or polyethylene plastics. Instead, they get all their nutrition from eating larva and pupae.

This raises the question as to whether or not a mealworm, after being attacked by a darkling beetle, experiences the pupa stage and overall metamorphosis process differently than a mealworm left otherwise unharmed.

submitted by /u/Street_Light_Eyes
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Why can't all viruses transmit between species?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 03:00 AM PDT

What makes certain vegetables digestible to humans and other plants not?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:10 PM PDT

Specifically things like lettuce, spinach, and broccoli. Our digestive system can't get nutrients from grasses, leaves, and most other green plants, so what makes these ones different?

submitted by /u/Gg101
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The body has tons of useful bacteria, how does the body decide which bacteria to keep around, and which to kill?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 02:01 AM PDT

Our bodies have around 100 trillion "good" bacteria, what stops it from killing all those bacteria? How does the body know if one bacteria is good to keep around, and another (lets say E.coli, as an example) is bad and needs to get rid of it (puking, whatever other countermeasures the body has).

Bonus question I thought of while writing this one, is the bacteria there from birth? If so, how is that possible?

submitted by /u/Sol33t303
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Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Why have so few people died of COVID-19 in Germany (so far)?

Why have so few people died of COVID-19 in Germany (so far)?


Why have so few people died of COVID-19 in Germany (so far)?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 02:32 AM PDT

At the time of writing the mortality rate in Germany is 0.15% (2 out of 1296 confirmed cases) with the rate in Italy about 6% (with a similar age structure) and the worldwide rate around 2% - 3%.

Is this because

  • Germany is in an early phase of the epidemic
  • better healthcare (management)
  • outlier because of low sample size
  • some other factor that didn't come to my mind
  • all of the above?

tl;dr: Is Germany early, lucky or better?

Edit: I was off in the mortality rate for Italy by an order of magnitude, because obviously I can't math.

submitted by /u/itengelhardt
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Why is the CMB radiation not only always around us, but ALWAYS with us?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 03:51 AM PDT

As far as I understand, the CMB is the result of the recombination, that is when the photons could finally travel freely.

If all the photons "escaped" at more or less the same time, why are we constantly "seeing" these photons? Shouldn't they go past us and then be gone to further places in the Universe?

Light from the stars is different because stars are constantly producing this light and that's why we can observe it in a constant fashion. However, the moment of recombination is not constantly emitting light because it is that, a moment. So I am very confused.

submitted by /u/Atder
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Do satellites maintain the same velocity forever?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 06:18 AM PDT

Today in my physics class we talked about the gravitational field and about the elliptical orbit of satellites. My question now is if the satellite would continue to be accelerated and slowed down by the gravitational field of the earth forever? And if so wouldn't that mean that no energy is converted (for example in heat)?

submitted by /u/luena_xy
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“High energy particles” ejected from a black hole?

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 05:50 AM PDT

I'm a non-physicist and poor math student trying to slog through Dr Hawking's "A Brief History of Time." He says something in the chapter on black holes that has me confused. He states:

As the matter spirals into the black hole, it would make the black hole rotate in the same direction, causing it to develop a magnetic field rather like that of earth. Very high energy particles...could [be] focus[ed]...into jets ejected outward along the axis of rotation of the black hole..." (edits for brevity)

I'm not sure how this works - it was my understanding that the gravity of a black hole is so strong that nothing escapes it, including light. If that's the case, how are these "high-energy particles" ejected from the black hole? How do they escape or avoid the attraction of gravity from the BH?

submitted by /u/FishFollower74
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Ask Anything Wednesday - Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 08:08 AM PDT

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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Why did human knees evolve backwards from from other animals, for example a dogs knees?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 10:00 AM PDT

Does continental crust have a "recycling" process that oceanic crust does?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 11:24 PM PDT

Oceanic crust gets subducted and melted in subduction zones and new gets created in mid- ocean ridges but does continental crust have something similar? And how does mountain erosion fit into this?

submitted by /u/Rekttrex
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Do stars "turn on" immediately when fusion can occur, or do they gradually increase in brightness as they gain mass?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 01:03 PM PDT

Basically, does the first fusion event "kick-start" the star into life in a violent, sudden reaction? Or does the star slowly grow in luminosity at the rate at which it is able to add mass to itself?

submitted by /u/Bjohnsonta
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Do germs and viruses move around on surfaces?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 10:30 AM PDT

With the recent outbreaks, everyone's talking about how viruses and germs can be transferred via touch, but can they also move around?

For instance, if my hand is contaminated and I'm using a spoon to eat, can germs/viruses move down the spoon from the handle?

submitted by /u/an27725
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In every article I seem to find, people are saying that magnetic force follows an inverse square law with respect to distance from objects. However when I use paper as a medium to separate, this does not seem to be the case. What's going on here?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 02:55 PM PDT

So my setup is a metal baseplate, sheets of paper on top of the baseplate, a magnet, and a bar with a hook on it to connect both a magnet and a newtonmeter. I vary the amount of sheets of paper that seperates the magnet from the baseplate and I record the amount of force needed to pull the magnet off.

All of the sheets of paper I used were EXACTLY 0.10 mm, and with the same neodymium magnet each time, (3mm radius, 117mT), I measured the force needed to pull off the magnet for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 60 sheets of paper.

What I found was that the expected result that the force needed to pull it off would be proportional to the inverse square, did NOT hold. R^2 for my data was only 0.569, whereas for taking logarithms of the force, the R^2 value was 0.995 instead. This just doesn't really seem to make sense to me with the way that I understand magnetic forces, but this relation is much more akin to finding the half-value thickness of a material for the purposes of attenuating radiation. Similar results were found for when I changed the medium to polymethylacrylate as well, where the log relationship was much stronger.

Does anyone have an explanation for this? Have I missed something very trivial?

EDIT: downvoted? Wut

submitted by /u/i-comment-cat
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If pee contains water, why does the body excrete it rather than reuse it?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:17 PM PDT

I just saw a post about the ISS reusing water from urine to be drunk again, which made me wonder why the body doesn't automatically do this.

submitted by /u/cabbagechicken
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If immunocompetent lymphocytes are released from the bone marrow and thymus, then can they just then bind to a random antigen or do they get released with receptors for one specific antigen only?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 09:39 AM PDT

How do the seasonal viruses survive to the next season? Do they go inactive or spread to different parts of the world?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:28 AM PDT

How do we know who launched chemical attacks on Douma just be looking at the weapons?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 01:13 PM PDT

This has been the topic of conspiracy theorists.

submitted by /u/Sarsath
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How do we know Dinosaurs slept?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:32 AM PDT

I am looking it up and I find lots of articles talking about if they lie down or stand up to sleep. But, how do we know if they slept at all? What if they rested in a different way than currently living creatures? Dolphins sleep in a very unique way compared to humans and what if Dinosaurs also had unique sleep patterns or sleep habits that are not comparable to today's creatures?

submitted by /u/mentalsparrow
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Medicine: What white blood cell count would be low enough to make you immunocomprised/immunosuppressed?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:07 AM PDT

Medicine: What white blood cell count would be low enough to make you immunocomprised/immunosuppressed?l

submitted by /u/ZenDracula
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How does titantium dioxide work because don't mono, di, tri etc. prefixes only are used for covalent bonding?

Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:19 AM PDT