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Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Could Enigma code be broken today WITHOUT having access to any enigma machines?

Could Enigma code be broken today WITHOUT having access to any enigma machines?


Could Enigma code be broken today WITHOUT having access to any enigma machines?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:30 AM PDT

Obviously computing has come a long way since WWII. Having a captured enigma machine greatly narrows the possible combinations you are searching for and the possible combinations of encoding, even though there are still a lot of possible configurations. A modern computer could probably crack the code in a second, but what if they had no enigma machines at all?

Could an intercepted encoded message be cracked today with random replacement of each character with no information about the mechanism of substitution for each character?

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

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 07:00 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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Question: fully vaccinated + catch covid19 == booster dose?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 05:16 PM PDT

Since a few weeks we read about more and more fully vaccinated people catch COVID, often mild cases. I wonder what effect this has on the immune system of the affected people. I am specifically thinking about the group of people who become ill enough to notice symptoms and get tested, but not enough to end up needing treatment in a hospital or ICU. Could the effect in them be similar to a booster shot, or even a variant-specific booster? Has this been studied already, or are there any studies in progress?

submitted by /u/luksfuks
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Can someone be infected with different strains of the same virus at the same time? How would these strains interact?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 11:23 AM PDT

COVID mRNA vaccines make proteins which elicit immune system reaction. How does the cell make good (self) proteins from mRNA without the immune system killing them?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 03:55 AM PDT

mRNA => proteins

How does the cell differentiate between self and non-self (COVID spike protein) proteins?

submitted by /u/AussieCryptoCurrency
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At what temperature is an object considered "too hot" by tactile nerves under the skin, and an "immediately retract the limb!" reflex is issued? Does such sensitivity vary across different skin regions?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:30 PM PDT

Is there a measurable effect of fictitious forces (like the coriolis force) on the movement of tectonic plates?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 02:24 AM PDT

(title)

Thx for all constructive answers.

submitted by /u/peterw1310
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Does the risk of getting Long Covid vary between age groups?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:30 PM PDT

I'd be interested to know if young people are as likely to get long covid as older adults (35+ years old for example). In addition, are the chances of contracting Long Covid correlated to the severity of symptoms experienced from Covid? Are people with light symptoms as likely to get it as people with severe symptoms?

submitted by /u/FunkySpacetime
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How is kinetic, thermal or nuclear energy converted into electrical energy?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 11:14 AM PDT

What is the possibility of someone having cognitive damage after contracting COVID?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 12:52 PM PDT

What is the possibility of someone having cognitive damage after contracting COVID?

submitted by /u/pasidious
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Why don't animals have more than 2 eyes. Or eyes in cool places like on the back of their head?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 06:16 AM PDT

If animals had eyes on the back of their head wouldn't it increase their vision?and that would be good for herbivorous animals right.

submitted by /u/seriouspancake123
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Can someone have both type 1 and type 2 diabetes?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 05:29 AM PDT

If sonic frequencies above 20khz exists, then is there a way to bring them down to human hearing range?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 01:01 PM PDT

This might be a dumb question but I'm familiar with frequency shifting and it's fun.

Dogs,cats,moths can hear frequencies above 20khz. So it's obvious that they exist. But are there any tools that can do the job.

Can we just make it sound in complete silence?

submitted by /u/harshithmusic
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Would birth control pills affect the results of a doping test?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 09:47 AM PDT

With the Olympics happening, it is likely that there are athletes who take or would like to take birth control pills to control the effects of their period or combat related maladies. Would the hormones found in the pills be detectable in a doping test?

submitted by /u/jethrocpk
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Regarding the vaccine, you are only considered "fully vaccinated" 14 days after your second shot. Does that protection grow exponentially, linearly, or logarithmically?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:44 AM PDT

I would assume it's logarithmic, but you know what they say about assuming...

My question is basically if someone has only had their second shot 7 days ago (half the prescribed period) would they basically be fully vaccinated from a practical point of view?

I'm not arguing any public health policies should change, I'm just asking from a personal point of view because I have some acquaintances who are real sticklers about the 2 weeks period. I'm just wondering if they know something I don't, or if I should perhaps discount their overabundance of caution.

submitted by /u/_Foy
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Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Studies have shown that the breast milk of mothers that have been vaccinated for Covid-19 carry antibodies to protect the baby (passive immunity). Does this process also confer active immunity? I.e. does the baby's body have any long-lasting protection should breast feeding cease?

Studies have shown that the breast milk of mothers that have been vaccinated for Covid-19 carry antibodies to protect the baby (passive immunity). Does this process also confer active immunity? I.e. does the baby's body have any long-lasting protection should breast feeding cease?


Studies have shown that the breast milk of mothers that have been vaccinated for Covid-19 carry antibodies to protect the baby (passive immunity). Does this process also confer active immunity? I.e. does the baby's body have any long-lasting protection should breast feeding cease?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 08:03 PM PDT

Where does the energy that causes tides come from?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 02:57 PM PDT

I know the moon's gravity causes it but from the looks of it, it seems to be creating energy out of nothing which should be impossible, like, does it come from the energy of the moon's orbit? If so then does that mean the moon will eventually crash into the earth in however million years?

submitted by /u/nbjax
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How do weather models take into account wildfire smoke / air pollution?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 04:35 AM PDT

All the smoke that has been in the air the past few days probably has had some effects on the weather (blocking sunlight, nucleating condensation, etc.). Do weather forecast models take this into account? If so, how?

submitted by /u/-Metacelsus-
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If increased kinetic energy = perception of heat/high temperature, why does using a fan to blow around air (increase kinetic energy) cool us down?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 03:47 PM PDT

Rather than some mind-blowing physics, I'm expecting this to be more of a common-sense kind of solution, but I've been stuck puzzling over it for a while.

submitted by /u/bobhob314
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Is it possible to make something like a Faraday cage but for ferromagnetic fields?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 11:42 PM PDT

What happens when T-Cells or B-Cells are in the blood for too long?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 03:10 AM PDT

We only really use them when we're infected with something, right? So, I imagine that they get deployed and leave after the job gets done....but what happens if the just chill in the blood?

submitted by /u/The_Start_Line
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What happens to food like chips, crackers, or cereal exposed to air that causes it to lose flavor and change in texture?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 07:22 PM PDT

Why does the Black Sea have so few islands, compared with the nearby Aegean?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 07:46 PM PDT

Could you make a metal alloy non-conductive?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 07:18 PM PDT

Glass backs are increasingly common on smartphones due to wireless charging - there can't be a conductive material like metal between the two inductive coils. But there are many benefits to metal backs on phones, chiefly drop resistance. Is there any way to create an alloy that is non-conductive (or at least minimally conductive) yet otherwise retains similar material properties to metal?

submitted by /u/legoinventor510
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Why is it, that when we stratch an itch, we feel relief and the itching feeling goes away?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 12:11 PM PDT

Someone asked this in my master's class as an offhand comment many years ago, and I still do not know why this is the case. I know not all itches are the same, but as someone who has sensitive skin I've ever since wondered why does the itching seem to stop or at least be relieved when the scratching starts.

Note, when I say itch I mean the feeling that something needs to be scratched, and when I say scratch I mean the action of scratching.

submitted by /u/munkijunk
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How did the Apollo capsule slow down for re-entry?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 12:57 AM PDT

I'm reading Apollo 10 entered re-entry at 36,397 mph. That's about 20 times faster than a bullet. What was the primary way it slowed itself down? I wouldn't think parachutes would work at that speed, right?

submitted by /u/Rockfiresky
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Why do atoms gain or lose electrons even though it would make the charge of the atom not neutral?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 09:00 PM PDT

Is Nonbinary presence lower or different in regions that use primarily a gendered language?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:15 AM PDT

My question is a combination of a sociology and linguistics question. Does the language of a region being gendered i.e. not having non-gendered pronouns (like German or Spanish) affect the prevalence of non-binary gender identity, or the way in which it presents?

submitted by /u/sentinel101
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How did we first learn about enantiomers and chirality in nature and pharmaceuticals?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 05:24 PM PDT

I coulda sworn it was from early birth control pills that didn't work and then cause birth defects but now im not sure and i can't find it on google. Orgo was 20 years ago for me :p

submitted by /u/smellygymbag
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Are sea level and evolution connected?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 08:47 PM PDT

This is a question that's been on mind my a lot lately. Land plants increased drastically in diversity in the mid-Carboniferous, which was coincident with a drop in eustatic sea level. Theropods became prominent in the Permian, when eustatic sea level dropped again. Is this just bad science, or is there a connection here?

submitted by /u/jesus-chrysocolla
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Can the body remove plaque buildup in the arteries, if so how?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 08:28 AM PDT

Apologies if this is a commonly asked topic, I did several searches on the subject both in and outside of this sub and couldn't find a satisfying answer.

Whenever you try to research cholesterol, even on the most niche, specific, science based sites the answers given are always "Mediterranean diet, excercise, stop drinking and smoking" and that's fine if I'm trying to make a lifestyle change to decrease my cholesterol, but that's not my question.

My question is: can plaque buildup be chemically (or otherwise) decreased in the arteries i.e. destroying plaque build ups and clots over time, and if so how?

The way that the concept of heart attacks, high blood pressure, cholesterol, plaque, and the general concept of heart and circulatory health are portrayed... It always seemed to me that plaque build up is a static, permanent, irreversible calcification process that latches onto the inner wall of an artery and stays there forever. It also seems as though even after improving one's lifestyle, the common knowledge is that those plaque buildups just sit there and never go away.

As a chemistry major with a healthy respect for the sciences my gut instinct says that's impossible or we'd all be dead by now. How could plaque never go away?

So: how does our body remove, destroy, reduce, etc. Plaque build up in the circulator system? Chemically? Mechanically? I can't imagine passing a plaque stone like a kidney stone, it sounds incredibly painful so there must be some process by which our bodies avoid all of this, right?

Edit: doing some further research I found that HDL cholesterol will "vacuum" LDL up and transport it to the liver to be removed from the body. As an amendment to my question: can you explain how this process works?

submitted by /u/Matt1050
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Why is lipid nanoparticle capture preferred to lyophilization for RNA?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 08:10 PM PDT

With the two prominent uses if this method being the vaccines most of us have had, I was wondering why lyophilization is unfavorable to such a system. My educated guess would be that either RNA doesn't survive a freeze cycle or that the nanoparticles produced aid in the efficacy. I must emphasize that this technique is not unique to the vaccines we've all heard of. Anyone with knowledge of bionanotechnology, biology, immunology, and etcetera would have valuable input to this discussion.

I have flagged this as engineering as it seems to fit the topic the best. Chemistry, biology, medicine, and human body are all relevant as well -- I have studied and used these topics in my career as an engineer.

I ask this because I currently study drying of proteins and other hydrophilic macromolecule. I work to improve patient experience through formulation innovations.

submitted by /u/MThatcherSexDemon
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Why are humans limited to a particular running speed?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 08:36 AM PDT

I've been watching the Olympics, and it seems that there is an upper limit to human running speed - what variables exactly dictate this?

submitted by /u/blubberpuss1
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Do fish "drink" water? Do they desalinate it somehow?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 01:01 AM PDT

Water is needed for every life, how fish and others sea creatures handle salty water? Do those mechanisms differ in inland fish from sea fish?

submitted by /u/staszkon
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When people undergo hemispherectomies where half of their brain is removed, what ends up filling the space where the brain was?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 05:00 AM PDT

I was reading an article where it mentioned that several people had half of their brains removed in order to treat seizures. I'm assuming that there just isn't a pocket of air sitting in these peoples' skulls, so is the cavity filled with blood or some sort of cerebral fluid?

Article: https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20191119/they-had-half-their-brains-removed-heres-what-happened-after

submitted by /u/ALPaca3
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How much damages can a single volcanic eruption cause?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 01:36 PM PDT

Monday, July 26, 2021

What do we mean when we say that an eagle has better eyesight than a human?

What do we mean when we say that an eagle has better eyesight than a human?


What do we mean when we say that an eagle has better eyesight than a human?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 08:52 PM PDT

For instance, is its "picture" just zoomed in? Is it sharper, so sharp that it can so details from really far away? Are the colors brighter? Can it zoom in and out on command like a camera? Can it sharpen and blur like a camera? What does "better eyesight" mean?

submitted by /u/DeCoolManEight
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Is there a decreased incidence of Long Haul COVID associated with breakthrough cases for vaccinated folks?

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 04:02 AM PDT

Would a huge stretch of completely flat land be an old landform, or a newer one?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 02:48 PM PDT

If there aren't any hills obstructing anything, and seeing for MILES on flat land. Would that land be a very old landform, or not as old?

submitted by /u/Axeloy
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Do COVID variants exist as discrete strains or is there a continuous distribution of variants?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 08:28 PM PDT

For example, if you look at two related variants, is there a continuous spread of variants that exist in between the two? How much does a given variant have to change to be considered a new variant?

submitted by /u/heir-of-slytherin
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Did FoldingAtHome have any effect on the development of vaccines for Covid 19?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 07:07 PM PDT

A lot was talked about how FAH helped to show the "first moments of life of the virus" but I haven't been able to find anything related to whether this helped to achieve anything regarding Covid.

submitted by /u/DjCanalex
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Why would a satellite camera separate a moving object into RGB component images while also having a complete color image, all on the same capture?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 08:08 PM PDT

This is the image in question.

A while back, I was working and had to consult Google Maps for something and noticed something quite unique. The satellite managed to capture a plane mid flight, but the colors were separated into their separate RGB channels, and yet still had a full color image of the plane directly underneath it. I'm absolutely puzzled as to why this would occur, and it can't be some sort of prism effect because there's no gradient between each color on the tail of the plane. It's perfectly separated. I don't know if this should be a physics thing (I think it should because optics) or if it's more of a computer/engineering question.I can't remember exactly where, but I know for sure that it was in Florida.

submitted by /u/smiffeh343
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Is there work on sphere-packing inside a cone of a given aperture?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 12:03 PM PDT

I was doing the planning for a croquembouche, and that got me to thinking about the maximum number of cream puffs one could fit inside the (traditionally cone-shaped) dessert, which I thought I could model as spheres packed inside a cone. I would expect this amount to vary based on the cone's aperture, but I'm not sure, and my search for an answer to this question only turned up papers on packing cones inside of other things. Can anyone answer my question/point me in the right direction?

submitted by /u/captainthomas
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Does psychiatric conditions like depression or psychosis cause brain damage?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 02:06 PM PDT

If so, how do these conditions contribute to brain damage? Do treatments like therapy or medication reverse it?

submitted by /u/buffalorayy
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What makes up the gray matter of the spinal cord?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 03:01 PM PDT

I am studying for an anatomy exam and on one of the slides it states, "gray matter in the spinal cord consists of short nonmyelinated interneurons and motor neurons." That's only partially true, right? In addition to neuroglia, the spinal cord gray matter also has sensory neurons, right? Since, during a monosynaptic stretch reflex, myelinated sensory neuron synapses with a motor neuron in the ventral horn of the gray matter.

submitted by /u/YouNeverFigured
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Why don’t dorsal rami form nerve plexuses?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 02:55 PM PDT

Studying for an anatomy exam and I saw that a distinction I must know is that ventral rami for plexuses (except T2-T12 which are intercostal nerves), but dorsal rami do not. What do dorsal rami form and why do they not form plexuses? Thanks!

submitted by /u/YouNeverFigured
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The St. Clair River definitely has a delta when it enters Lake Dt. Clair. But why don't other connecting rivers in the Great Lakes have deltas, with the likes of the Detroit, St. Mary's, Niagara, and the St. Lawrence?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 02:43 PM PDT

What does it a mean for a fire to create its own weather?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:27 PM PDT

Reporting on the Bootleg Fire this week made a big deal about it "creating its own weather". While I don't doubt that's true, what does it actually mean? How would that transition be measured? Are there some telltale features that make it safe to declare such a thing about a wildfire?

submitted by /u/zhilia_mann
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Do fish, whales or other sea animals drink water?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 11:39 PM PDT

I'm spontaneously curious how animals that live under water, including, but not limited to, seawater, ingest water.

Can some animals use their "skin", or is there another known way, besides drinking, to digest water underwater?

submitted by /u/trickm8
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What shape are the nuclei of each element?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 06:24 PM PDT

I'd heard the protons & neutrons were in a ball shape for most of the periodic table, but that later periods they started to look less like spheres and more like footballs (american).

I'm thinking specifically how the protons & neutrons arrange themselves, if it's in basically a ball or what. I looked online and only found one blog, but it doesn't look academic. Anything in academic journals, I don't have access to right now, nor experience with sifting through them.

submitted by /u/fireinthedust
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What was the land like during the Cambrian period?

Posted: 25 Jul 2021 04:24 AM PDT

Was there any hint of life of it save for bacteria of course? Any plants animals or fungi? Or was the earth just a barren wasteland?

submitted by /u/GeneticJail
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Does the body produce Vitamin D in the presence of moonlight similar to sunlight?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 06:56 PM PDT