| AskScience AMA Series: Are there really aliens out there? I am Seth Shostak, senior astronomer and Institute Fellow at the SETI Institute, and I am looking. AMA! Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT I frequently run afoul of others who believe that visitors from deep space are buzzing the countryside and occasionally hauling innocent burghers out of their bedrooms for unapproved experiments. I doubt this is happening. I have written 600 popular articles on astronomy, film, technology and other enervating topics. I have also assaulted the public with three, inoffensive trade books on the efforts by scientists to prove that we're not alone in the universe. With a Boulder-based co-author, I have written a textbook that I claim, with little evidence, has had a modestly positive effect on college students. I also host a weekly, one-hour radio show entitled Big Picture Science. My background encompasses such diverse activities as film making, railroading and computer animation. A frequent lecturer and sound bite pundit on television and radio, I can occasionally be heard lamenting the fact that, according to my own estimate, I was born two generations too early to benefit from the cure for death. I am the inventor of the electric banana, which I think has a peel but has had little positive effect on my lifestyle -- or that of others. Links: I'll see you all at 10am PT (1 PM ET, 17 UT), AMA! Username: setiinstitute submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments] |
| Why is the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement dome only good for 100 years? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 03:29 PM PDT Is it only needed for 100 years, or will something occur to it to make it inoperable? And what is it actually made out of? submitted by /u/ThatBlueSkittle [link] [comments] |
| Why can I smell a smoker from 30-60ft away but coronavirus social distancing is set at 6ft? Posted: 09 Jul 2020 07:46 AM PDT The real question is why does smoke linger in the air at such great distances but supposedly corona virus does not. What is the difference? submitted by /u/awardsforthee [link] [comments] |
| While faster, 5 GHz Wi-Fi signals do not penetrate walls as effectively as 2.4 GHz signals. What is the actual physical explanation for this? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 06:02 PM PDT What is it about the higher frequency of the EM-wave that makes it worse at penetrating walls? Or is it more like a small "reverse-window" of a frequency range that is at that point worse at penetrating walls and gets better again at some point (an even higher frequency)? And if so, why would it be like this? Because I can't imagine this trend to continue forever, otherwise we wouldn't need lead to block ionizing radiation which obviously has an even higher frequency than 5 GHz? submitted by /u/Lego_ergo_sum [link] [comments] |
| Is there a website or study/modeling where it predicts future climate/weather patterns for specific areas of the U.S.? Posted: 09 Jul 2020 03:57 AM PDT I'm planning on moving from Florida in a few years and the lion's share of my reasoning is this State's climate future. Looking at certain areas with an enlightened prospectus regarding where this area is heading climate wise would be very helpful. Possibly regarding Michigan's upper peninsula (Marquette) and I'm thinking the weather will become just more extreme at both ends (harsher/colder winters, hotter summers) but would be nice to have an expert's opinion. submitted by /u/Al_Kydah [link] [comments] |
| What was the most powerful volcano ever known to mankind? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 09:45 PM PDT What was the most powerful volcano ever known to mankind and how does it compare to the Hiroshima bombing? submitted by /u/Uncle_Iroh2 [link] [comments] |
| How come current reverse transcriptase inhibitors don't work against SARS-CoV-2? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 05:07 PM PDT Since inhibitors for the reverse transcriptase enzyme exist and are used in the treatment of AIDS patients, I wondered why they don't work for SARS-CoV-2. Aren't enzymes like those conservated so they can't be that different? Or don't we have an inhibitor for the catalytic center and other surfaces of the protein mutate to not be targetable? submitted by /u/Maultaschtyrann [link] [comments] |
| If a drug made an AIDS patient immune to HIV, would they recover? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 11:52 AM PDT I was just wondering this and, for once, the internet didn't answer my question. I don't do biology, but I understand the HIV virus kills T-cells and how that causes AIDS. Assuming a hypothetical treatment that rendered one immune to HIV through any mechanism whatsoever, such that the virus could not exist in their body, does the immune system recover? Do T-cells regenerate or does the virus somehow alter the way in which the body produces them? Assuming one does recover, does that mean current treatments that reduce an AIDS patient's viral load to undetectable levels cure AIDS (assuming permanent treatment)? submitted by /u/CromulentInPDX [link] [comments] |
| Does laminar flow hold on a small - (microscopic, atomic), level? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 02:08 PM PDT I know that laminar flow is much less common than turbulent flow, but when you get down to a small cross-section of laminar flow, is it all laminar down to the atomic scale? Or, is it that laminar flow is composed of small turbulent flows on a small scale that average to a laminar state of the system? Thanks! submitted by /u/holdensintheguglag [link] [comments] |
| How many of the Milky Way's stars have been well characterized? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 06:43 PM PDT How many of the 100 billion or so stars in our galaxy do we know anything about? For instance, say "well characterized" means we know the stars' position in the sky well enough to point a telescope at it, we know its distance from us and relative velocity to within a factor of 2, and we know its stellar classification. Are most of the stars in our galaxy this well characterized? The half on our side of the centre? Just a small fraction? I hope at least all the naked eye visible stars are. Thanks submitted by /u/suoirucimalsi [link] [comments] |
| How exactly does the strong force work? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 09:09 AM PDT I recently learned that the strong force binds protons together in the nucleus of an atom, but what exactly is the strong force? Does it only work for protons or does it occur when any two charges are close enough? submitted by /u/Mono-light [link] [comments] |
| How important is it for children to see faces for their social development and language skills? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 02:52 PM PDT |
| Why is the surface of the moon dusty and not solid rock from when it cooled? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 10:26 PM PDT |
| For this last flu season: "Hospitalization rates in children 0-4 years old and adults 18-49 years old are the highest on record according to the CDC, surpassing the rate reported during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic." How is this possible with a quarantine during part of this last season? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 07:39 AM PDT |
| Do non-Western scientists use Linnaean binomial nomenclature? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 09:44 AM PDT When I was in China years ago, I brought up Homo sapiens to a Chinese colleague, and she wasn't familiar with the term. Linnaean names are Latin- and Greek-based, and I know that English is the lingua franca in the scientific community. So do non-Western, non-Roman alphabet using scientists learn English and Latin/Greek to practice biology? Do they have different names/systems for their own cultures? And to what extent are these scientific names taught to laypeople? submitted by /u/yo_soy_soja [link] [comments] |
| Long-Term Immunity and the Difference Between Antibodies And “Memory Cells”? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 02:38 PM PDT I've seen a lot of articles quoting various public agencies around the world about COVID-19 and whether or not humans develop lifetime immunity. The general theme goes "Humans lose their antibodies within X months - and Y weeks if they were asymptomatic. As such, we may not get lifetime immunity." Ignoring for the moment that it uses couched language of "may / may not" (and that there's no definitive proof at the moment one way or another), how is can we be inclined to think there's no immunity because antibodies fade? Or to break the question down into more scientific components: What do the presence of antibodies during a given period of time tell us about immunity generally? Do antibodies stay in the body forever if we're immune to something or do they fade away and get replenished when need be by memory cells? Thanks! submitted by /u/Notsureifsirius [link] [comments] |
| Why will the James Webb Space Telescope put so far out in Space? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 12:19 PM PDT i read that the JWST will be put near the Lagrange point L2, that is a position where the gravitational forces of both Earth and Sun keeps the Telescope at the same distance to both Earth and Sun throughout the year. what's the benefit of this? spitzer and hubble took nice photos too, and were located much much closer to earth. more like in vicinity of the iss wiki also says, that the James Webb Space Telescope needs nevertheless a propulsion system, because adjustments are required despite being located near that "special" spot. submitted by /u/snoo75536 [link] [comments] |
| To what extent does your presupposition of a food's taste affect the actual taste once you eat it? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 10:07 AM PDT If you've never eaten spinach, for instance, and you are convinced that it will be the worst thing you've ever eaten, will it actually be the worst thing you've ever eaten? how much (if at all) does your perception of a potentially bad taste reflect in your actual sense of taste? submitted by /u/nonanec9h20 [link] [comments] |
| How likely is it that a person who has recovered from COVID-19 will lose their smell and taste sense forever? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 05:36 PM PDT |
| If you develop antibodies for a virus only a few days after infection, why is it that an antibody test cannot detect an active infection? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 09:37 AM PDT Assuming that any infection (specifically viral) will remain active for at least some time after you have started to develop antibodies, wouldn't a positive antibody test and ongoing symptoms be enough to determine you have an active infection? I have seen many posts regarding the difference between COVID infection and antibody tests but nothing that explaining why an antibody test cant also detect an infection. Isn't this how testing for HIV and other viruses is conducted? submitted by /u/1knarf1 [link] [comments] |
| What is the best Calculation for how much energy is released from Volcanic Eruptions? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 06:39 AM PDT |
| How do bones of aquatic vertebrates like fish, whales & waterbirds compare? Posted: 08 Jul 2020 10:20 AM PDT Are the bones (and/or other tissues) of aquatic vertebrates similar (convergent evolution) based on the needs of dwelling in water? In what ways are the bones similar/dissimilar? [There is a theory that humans have air-filled sinuses to make our bones less dense as an adaptation to water, for example] submitted by /u/bu11fr0g [link] [comments] |
