| Does Mars have caves and if we discover a large enough cave system on Mars, how deep would we need to go to reach a hospitable temperature? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 08:24 AM PDT |
| How does the immune response that causes hay fever differ from the immune response that is utilised by COVID vaccines? (And why don't antihistamines affect the latter?) Posted: 17 Jun 2021 03:53 AM PDT I always have a rough time aroung grass pollen season, and recently got the Moderna vaccine. I've been assured that taking my usual antihistamies won't have any effect on the vaccine working, and I believe that, but I'd love to know why. Since allergies are an immune response, and antihistamines suppress them, what is different about other kinds of immune response that means antihistamines don't disrupt them? submitted by /u/Unearthed_Arsecano [link] [comments] |
| How improbable was the mass-devastation and series of events that followed the K-T extinction vs. if the asteroid had hit somewhere else on Earth? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 07:38 AM PDT One point that I've read constantly is the fact that this asteroid just so happened to hit a concentrated sulfur reserve – which, upon impact, was vaporized instantly – causing the fallout to cloud the entire Earth and forcing upon it a new ice age. Based on this kurzgesagt video, the reasoning given for why the larger marine animals became extinct was due to 97% of all plankton – the bottom foundation of the aquatic food chain – being killed off. I tried Googling this and couldn't come across any research papers or discussions on the topic: Had the asteroid hit somewhere else on the planet (ie. not a sulfur reserve), could the outcome of the K-T extinction been very different? Some additional thoughts that stemmed from this question: - Had it hit somewhere else on the planet, could the impact – and the events that followed – have been more or less devastating?
- What were the chances that the asteroid impact could've been less destructive (and possibly not brought on the series of disastrous events that followed)?
- Had the asteroid not hit the sulfur reserve that caused a cloud of darkness around Earth, would the Earth have eventually been able to cool itself?
- How much longer would this stage have lasted (vs. the relatively quick period of the cooling brought on by fallout)?
- Could the lack of a cloud that covered the Earth been potentially more devastating to life in the long run?
- ie. Earth is stuck in a premoridial-type state for a longer period of time, stunting evolution's ability to grow more diverse life.
TL;DR What were the chances that this asteroid just so happened to hit where it did and cause a devastating chain of events that killed off most of the land-based species, as well as the marine life that followed soon after? What were the chances that it could've hit anywhere else, causing less (or possibly, even more) destruction that it did? submitted by /u/revblaze [link] [comments] |
| How effective is the Johnson and Johnson (J&J, Janssen) vaccine against the Delta variant of COVID-19? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT |
| Why are large parts of Africa and South America not in the range of common house mouse? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 08:15 AM PDT Looking at this map on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mapa_Mus_musculus.png The house mouse seems to be everywhere in Asia, Europe, North America, but there are very large parts of Africa and South America (and the Caribbean) outside the range of the house mouse. There are lots of people in those areas (for example West Africa, especially closer to the coast), but why are they not included in the range? submitted by /u/CharlotteHebdo [link] [comments] |
| Why do electrolytes help keep us hydrated? Posted: 16 Jun 2021 10:37 PM PDT |
| What is the purpose of nasal congestion during infection? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 10:04 AM PDT When humans get sick or have an allergic reaction (for example hay fever) one common symptom is nasal congestion, what is the reason for this mechanism? Is it to make further infection from airborne viruses/bacteria less likely? If so, does nasal congestion decrease the chance of catching all airborne infections? Are there any studies that support this? submitted by /u/dom96 [link] [comments] |
| Does the power required to maintain the elevation of a flight varies with the height at which it is flying? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 07:06 AM PDT |
| What is the medical consensus of vaccinating while presenting COVID-19 or similar viral symptoms? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 11:54 AM PDT I couldn't find any factual information about that specific instance. Is that being contraindicated in some way? Is it relevant at all? Are there any potential hazards in doing so? submitted by /u/DaringSaboteur [link] [comments] |
| Have there been any recent advancements in a potential vaccine for Norovirus? Posted: 16 Jun 2021 10:53 PM PDT I've been following this casually online for a few years. I believe at one point in time a company in Japan was entering stage 3 trials for a vaccine. And I believe even a year ago Vaxart started to experiment with small trials of an oral vaccine. I'm not well versed in the minutiae of this, but I'm curious if anyone who follows this with more professional insight knows how effective these have been in trials? And when we might see these come to market? Thanks submitted by /u/thedoo2008 [link] [comments] |
| Does the human body take in foreign mRNA naturally? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 09:24 AM PDT These mRNA vaccines have me wondering if this is the first time human bodies have been introduced to "foreign" mRNA? Is there any other natural process where we uptake mRNA and use it in the same way? submitted by /u/NATIVIS [link] [comments] |
| Is there a way to predict all the products of nuclear fusion? Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:37 PM PDT For example, when you have two nuclei that are forced together with a high enough energy that the strong force can take over, sometimes the product nucleus will contain all the nucleons from both "reactants" (maybe not the right word but I'm a chemistry major so that's what I'm calling them), and release its excess energy in a gamma ray. In other cases, the products will be more than one single nucleus; rather you'll get the heavy product with the majority of the mass, plus sometimes one or multiple neutrons, protons, or alpha particles being kicked off separately. My question is whether these results are always consistent, and if they are, is there any discernible pattern to predict the products of the fusion of any two arbitrary nuclei, say, oxygen-17 and calcium-44 for example? (assuming the collision is successful and produces fusion.) submitted by /u/20_jbr_00 [link] [comments] |
| CureVac's mRNA vaccine was 47% effective. Is it materially different than Pfizer and Moderna? Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:18 PM PDT I feel like I'm conflating a lot of things with just thinking mRNA vaccine = same thing. The obvious concern I have is that if it's the same thing as Pfizer and Moderna, could the new COVID-19 variants actually cause big issues for those of us vaccinated with mRNA vaccines? It seems like CureVac's trial would've been tested against much more aggressive strains of COVID-19. submitted by /u/FeveStrench [link] [comments] |
| Does a double hull on a pressurized vehicle, where the space between two hulls is kept at a pressure halfway between the interior and exterior pressure, actually reduce strain? Posted: 16 Jun 2021 01:31 PM PDT To clarify, this is a situation where you reduce the difference in pressure on any one piece of hull by having the inner hull only need to handle some of the difference, and the outer hull handle the other half of the difference. It makes sense to me that it would, but it also seems like one of those really reasonable sounding fallacies, where there's actually a pretty simple reason that it somehow wouldn't work at all. This could be a submarine or a spacecraft, although obviously the pressure strains on a spacecraft are very tame compared to those on a submarine. submitted by /u/ForgiLaGeord [link] [comments] |
| How can two black holes merge instead of orbiting each other endlessly? Posted: 16 Jun 2021 11:00 AM PDT I was recently reading about the LIGO experiment and its famous 2016 detection of a gravitational wave signal consistent with the merging of two stellar mass black holes. A truly remarkable observation, but it left me stuck wondering how the orbit of something like two black holes could ever decay. I imagine bodies orbiting in space somewhat like a pendulum oscillating in a perfectly frictionless environment; unless something significant intervenes they would seem inclined to orbit each other nearly perpetually. It seems especially unlikely when you consider there can't be tidal forces on what are essentially points (or can there?), and when it is difficult to imagine anything with more inertia than a black hole. What is the "friction" that could provide damping of the orbits of two black holes? Does this occur with other orbiting bodies, like planets around a star or are there mechanisms unique to such extreme objects? submitted by /u/MexicanWhoopingLlama [link] [comments] |
| Baking soda and vinegar to clean a drain? Posted: 16 Jun 2021 10:05 AM PDT I see so many recommendations to use a baking soda and vinegar solution to clean drains. Wouldn't these two just neutralize each other before you even get a chance to pour it down? submitted by /u/Spicy_Poo [link] [comments] |
| What happens after blood is produced in bone marrow? Posted: 17 Jun 2021 04:53 AM PDT We know that Blood is made inside the bone marrow. In order to get distributed throughout the body, it needs to carry oxygen (one of its function) for the healthy functioning of various cells. So does the blood from the red bone marrow (production site) go straight to lungs in order to collect oxygen? And then does it get distributed throughout the body via the heart? Or does it get delivered into the veins which anyways go to the lungs to discard CO2 and collect O2 ? submitted by /u/funkeshwarnath [link] [comments] |
| Why are certain allergies more common than others? Posted: 16 Jun 2021 03:48 AM PDT |
