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Friday, September 10, 2021

Why shouldn’t you get the COVID-19 vaccine if you have a cold/flu?

Why shouldn’t you get the COVID-19 vaccine if you have a cold/flu?


Why shouldn’t you get the COVID-19 vaccine if you have a cold/flu?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 02:27 AM PDT

I've had a bit of a google and the closest answer I can get is that given some people experience mild to severe cold/flu like symptoms after receiving their shot - especially the 2nd shot - is that if you get the vaccine and are already unwell, that you are more likely to feel even worse than if you weren't unwell? Is that correct? And if so, is it the vaccine making your cold/flu symptoms worse or is your cold/flu making the vaccine side effects worse?

Thank you, fine people of r/askscience!

submitted by /u/Gin-and-turtles
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Why is the length of the day "really" 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds, instead of 24 hours?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:45 PM PDT

Hospital staff have always been very careful, but with Covid-19 they are being even more careful. Has this had an impact on other hospital based infections?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 11:12 AM PDT

Part of weighing the cost benefit analysis of treatment at a hospital is risk of infection, and risk of infection of particularly resistant bacteria on top of that. Are we seeing the numbers of these other types of infections go down as vigilance for Covid goes up, even though the types of infection are different and have different avenues?

submitted by /u/Dr_Wreck
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Are people with long covid considered compromised and more susceptible to further disease from covid reinfection, flu, bacterial infection etc?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 03:21 PM PDT

Can light be unpolarised?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 07:11 AM PDT

If I have a polarised lights source, can I reflect it off something matte (say a carpet) so that it is no longer polarised. Or will the light coming off the object always be polarised?

Bonus question. If I send light that is polarised at a perpendicular angle to the polarity of light that will reflect off an object (say a flat piece of plastic) will there be any light reflected off it?

Extra Bonus question: what determines whether light will be reflected or absorbed when hitting a piece of flat black plastic? Is it the initial polarity of the light hitting it (perhaps in relation to the polarity of the light being reflected?)

submitted by /u/Regispiel
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Soil Liquefaction during Earthquakes?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 03:51 AM PDT

I'm currently researching soil liquefaction and I was looking for a good illustration. One type of graphic that I found and that comes up a lot on Google images (in various shapes and forms) is this:

https://www.scienceworld.ca/wp-content/uploads/qualities-soil.jpg

Now, the reason I am here is because, from how I understand liquefaction, this image (and all the similar ones) seem to be wrong (or at the very least misleading). But I'm not an expert so I am a little bit unsure.

The way I understand it: Yes, the pressurized water reduces the friction between the sand particles - but the reason the water is pressurized is because the sand gets compressed by the shaking - all the particles get packed much more tightly. This is what results in the increase in pressure and consequently in the reduction in friction. So It seems to make little sense that the first (before) image shows really tightly packed particles while the second(during) imagine shows really loosely packed particles, as if the ground is suddenly 80% water. The caption even states that the earthquake increases the space between particles which I deem to be just flat out wrong.

There are other images but graphics similar to the one above dominate google. Here are actually two that I found that I like.

https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/3-s2.0-B978012814078900008X-f08-01-9780128140789.jpg

https://www.geotech.hr/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/likvefakcija_diferencijalno_slijeganje.jpg

Because these types of images pretty much contradict each other and I didn't want to fall victim to confirmation bias, I thought I should ask someone more knowledgeable if I'm right to dislike the first one.

Thanks for helping.

submitted by /u/theftproofz
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Is the life-arc of a star determined 100% by its starting mass, or are there other factors involved?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 08:32 AM PDT

I understand that there are varying types and sizes of stars (red giants, blue dwarfs, etc.) and that a star can take on multiple "forms" as it ages and the composition of its fuel changes.

I understand that the mass of a star defines many of its key attributes, but is a star's lifespan and other features solely based upon its starting mass? Or are there other considerations that determine when and how it changes form?

submitted by /u/foodfighter
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If photons carry momentum and can change the course of satellites, then why do we not see sunlight knocking items over, over a long period of time?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 02:35 AM PDT

Imagine a sunlit room, where the sunlight window constantly shines upon a table of balls or marbles. All else being equal — no one touches these objects, no earthquakes etc — would these objects move or are these objects moving due to the sun's photons? How long?

I read that the sun's photons can change the course of satellites (this comment here) and it really confuses me that if it can move satellites, then it should be able to move much smaller objects too.

submitted by /u/AvgGuy100
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What do we know about treating long haul covid?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:03 AM PDT

Personally had covid over a year ago, sickness wasn't too bad, but body doesn't feel like it ever recovered.

Previously exercised every day, now i'm plagued by little nagging injuries and pains popping up. Had a neck injury, which has been exacerbated and is sore every day. Cant seem to stay healthy enough to get fit again with constant aches/pains.

So my question is what do we know about treating long haul covid? Is it just high inflammation levels? Is there any research into treatments for recovering from long term covid?

submitted by /u/drizztbang
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Why is hot water better at dissolving/taking the flavor of things?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 04:54 AM PDT

Tea, coffee, sugar etc.

submitted by /u/joealessi
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Can we be symptomatic after an infection but the infection not be transmissible? (e.g. I have a cold, still bunged up but I know im getting better)

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 05:39 PM PDT

I just learned that The Moon continues to spin away from the Earth, at the rate of 3.78cm (1.48in) per year. How do scientists measure such a small unit across such a large space?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 07:26 PM PDT

I just learned this while watching a solar system documentary and found it fascinating. I can't wrap my mind around how this is possible or reliable. I would have assumed the standard deviations in the fluctuation of orbit would far exceed 3.78cm.

submitted by /u/DaDaDaonald
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How/why does light behave differently at higher energies?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 02:26 AM PDT

Been watching MIT's nuclear engineering course recently and it seems to me that much of the discussion of x-rays and gamma rays was surrounding the amount of matter needed to stop them, without regard to material makeup. This seems very different to the understanding of light I have in the visible spectrum, here we seem to have all sorts of different behaviors depending on the material and chemical makeup of objects, resulting in, reflections, transparency, etc. Does this not apply at all at higher energies?

To some extent this also seems to be true at lower energies such as the radio frequencies, interested in that as well.

submitted by /u/yalloc
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How do some stars accumulate enough mass to become blue supergiants ?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 10:11 AM PDT

In descriptions of star formation in stellar nurseries, protostars ignite when they accumulate enough mass to set off fusion reactions in their cores. Once the star ignites, stellar winds "blow away" the gas surrounding them so they're no longer accumulating mass. How does this theory account for the extreme variation in the initial size/mass of stars? It seems like there is a critical mass that, once achieved, causes stellar ignition limiting the size of stars. One would expect there to be a very common maximum size with a tailing off population of smaller, slow growers who only gradually accumulated sufficient mass to ignite

submitted by /u/shiningPate
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What happens to a star that gathers a lot more hydrogen in the middle of its life cycle?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 11:24 AM PDT

As a hypothetical example, a star that is similar in size to our sun and already exhausted about half of its fuel. It's traveling throuout the galaxy, and it moves into a large nebula. If the gravity from that star pulls in significantly more hydrogen and other gasses. Would this extend its life, or would it have the opposite effect?

submitted by /u/Necron02
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How do archaeologists remove rust from iron artifacts without damaging it?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 07:29 AM PDT

[Astrophysics] How is it that the scattered matter of the "big bang" isn't an even spread across our cosmos and instead, we have enormous stars, small stars, humongous galaxies, and unfathomable voids between galaxies?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 12:09 AM PDT

Do all parts of a galaxy complete a rotation in the same amount of time?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 12:13 PM PDT

I had heard the interior stars of a galaxy complete an orbit in the same amount of time as the outer starts - contrary to what we'd expect in a spinning disk of independent objects. And that Dark Matter may be the explanation?

Can anyone confirm or refute?

submitted by /u/drburns650
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How low cortisol affects on your mood?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:15 AM PDT

I'm currently on the process of investigating on why I have trouble producing cortisol, but due to me getting infeccted by covid-19, this had been postponed, so I wanted to know why even though I have trouble producing the stress hormone I am so stressed. I have generalized anxiety and recently I have been really angry about some stuff, not like angry enough to break material items but a standing anger, since last Friday, and before that I already was experiencing an easyness to be bothered by silly things like specific noises. Is this normal? Wasn't I supposed to be more chill due to my lack of cortisol?

submitted by /u/alastagiel
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Do photons emitted by charged particles carry information about the charge of the particle that emitted them?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 07:18 PM PDT

My mental ASCII Feynman diagram of a two-electron interaction looks like this:

\e- /e- ^ ^ \ / +~~+ / \ ^ ^ /e- \e- 

In case this gets horribly butchered on your device: you've got two electrons coming in, they exchange a photon and they fly off in other directions happily ever after.

My question is what changes happens to the photon when you switch one of the e-'s for an e+, a positron? What causes the oppositely charged particles to attract, and like charges to repel? What makes photons emitted from an electron repel other electrons, but attract positrons? The interaction nodes could be arbitrarily far away.

I'm guessing I'm completely misunderstanding this Feynman diagram as an oversimplified space-time diagram. Or does the photon carry more info than 'I'm a photon'?

submitted by /u/yatima2975
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Does English have a particularly large amount of influence from foreign languages, or do most languages share a similar amount of languages they draw words from?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 06:11 AM PDT

I.E. is the proportion of words in English not directly inherited from closely related languages (various Germanic languages, in this case) particularly high, or is it normal for different languages to draw words from so many others?

This question was inspired by finding out "schmuck" is from Yiddish.

submitted by /u/_deltaVelocity_
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Thursday, September 9, 2021

Are spiral galaxies on their last leg of life?

Are spiral galaxies on their last leg of life?


Are spiral galaxies on their last leg of life?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 04:14 AM PDT

Hi folks,

Is this the final stage of a galaxies life as the black hole has grown large enough that it is pulling every star i to the centre of the the galxay creating a vortex of light?

If so, would galaxies that have an even disc/belt shape be mid aged as the black hole has enough force to keep the stars close but not on a tragectory inwards?

Would young galaxies be clusters of stars where the black hole does not have enough force and time to shape it into a disc?

Do all galaxies spin in the same direction? I only ask because if half of visible galaxies spinned one direction and the other half another direction would this indicate that the universe has hemispheres.

submitted by /u/Ill_Scallion_9134
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Are there long term effects from COVID in fully vaccinated people?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:01 PM PDT

Long time lurker, first time poster, long time loser in this pandemic.

So I remember multiple papers being published showing evidence of long-term, if not potentially permanent, brain/heart/lung damage from COVID, even if the person showed no symptoms.

1) how accurate is that? 2) If it is, is there any evidence that being fully vaccinated does/doesn't prevent said damage to occur in case of getting COVID?

Edit; apparently some people think I am doubting the efficacy of vaccines. I am not. got double vaxxed as soon as I could and the evidence that it protects you from serious side effects and death seems pretty irrefutable. I'm asking specifically about the damage COVID has done to the lungs, heart, brain that has been found in folks who have tested positive even when asymptomatic.

submitted by /u/MerryfaceAviation
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Is the flu we get vaccinated for today just a variant of the 1918 Influenza?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 06:33 AM PDT

I know the there is basically a different strain of the flu virus every year, which is why there is a new flu shot every year. Is this the result of the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic?

I've been reading that Covid is more or less here to stay, and it will likely have annual variants that may require yearly boosters. Is this similar to the 1918 pandemic?

submitted by /u/LawsOfWonderland
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What's the most complex parasite life cycle that we know of?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 11:33 AM PDT

When I look at the world tropical storm map, the overwhelming majority of the subtropical climate seems to be affected, except for South America. Why is that?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 09:57 AM PDT

This is a map of world's tropical storms, and while it affects every subtropical region that is near the sea, Both Eastern as well as Western South America is excluded. We see on the map that along the same longitude (Southeast Asia, North Australia etc) there exists tropical storms. Why is this the case?

Edit: I should edit this question and ask why they are so rare, instead of not occuring at all

submitted by /u/Jinglemisk
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SARS-CoV-2 infections appear to cause BBB dysfunction (permeability); is it permanent or can the BBB recover its integrity?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 12:15 PM PDT

This study shows that in some models, SARS-CoV-2 can not only cross the BBB, but also alter its permeability. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7961671/

  1. Is that alteration in the BBB permanent? Or does the BBB recover its integrity over time again?
  2. What are the neurological consequences of this?
  3. Can spike proteins produced by mRNA vaccines cross the BBB on their own and produce the same issues in BBB permeability and integrity? Or does the mRNA vaccine's spike protein not harmful in the same way because its produced by our body in its prefusion state?
submitted by /u/reutertooter
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How does nature know the least energy path? - Lightnings case study

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 10:53 AM PDT

I came across this question when I was looking at lightnings during a storm. Apparently lightnings are not straight lines to ground because air is non-homogeneous (so more ionic particles could be at a different spot than just simply straight down) and that not all points on ground offer the same potential difference to discharge the lightning, reason for which trees are sometimes hit or that water bodies (lakes) often take the discharge. But the question is: how does nature know in advance which path is best? Does it take this decision molecule after molecule? Is it really the least energy path the one that the lightning took? Or could there have been a better one? If it does take the decision molecule after molecule, how can it land exactly on the tip of the tree or on a water surface? Wouldn't random probability dictate this?

submitted by /u/Nic6i
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When you put someone else’s antibodies into your body, does your body learn how to make copies of the foreign antibody or not?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 02:31 PM PDT

Are polarized sunglasses less effective in Manhattan?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 02:22 PM PDT

…or any other city with skyscrapers and large windows at eye level.

My understanding of how polarized glasses work, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is that they block out horizontally polarized light reflected off the ground where you can encounter sheets of snow (like when skiiing) or the ocean, and reflectivity is high.

Knowing this, would light reflected off large windows that are standing parallel to you only reflect vertically polarized light that these sunglasses would let through? This wouldn't cause much issue in day to day life, but what if you lived in Manhattan, where you are constantly surrounded by large windows?

If they are less effective, by how much? Would these glasses be useless in a city, or would it be more or less negligible?

submitted by /u/witchking96
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Can air be compressed? Is air considered a fluid?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 12:06 AM PDT

Mobile format (sorry)

Hydraulic principle states that fluid cannot be compressed, so any force you apply at one end will be fully transferred to the other end. But I also know that you can buy a canof compressed air and air is considered a fluid (to my knowledge).

Am i missing something? Is there any error in the statements above? Is it just simply a naming problem? Thanks in advance!

submitted by /u/Righart
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When the sun burns out, will it just disappear? Causing all the planets in it's orbit to float away into space?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 07:46 AM PDT

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Pfizer vaccine was initially recommended to be stored at -60C to -80C for transportation. Is the vaccine still at a liquid state at this temperature or is it frozen solid?

Pfizer vaccine was initially recommended to be stored at -60C to -80C for transportation. Is the vaccine still at a liquid state at this temperature or is it frozen solid?


Pfizer vaccine was initially recommended to be stored at -60C to -80C for transportation. Is the vaccine still at a liquid state at this temperature or is it frozen solid?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 06:39 PM PDT

Are there short-term, long-term, and working attention spans the way there are with memory?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 07:01 AM PDT

e.g. Is someone with ADHD likely to have more challenges with long-term goals due to distraction, or does it only affect day-to-day tasks?

submitted by /u/submarginal
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Could satellites or planets orbit a black hole without being sucked into it and how far away of a black hole would they need to be to stay in orbit?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 11:05 PM PDT

Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 07:00 AM PDT

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology

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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In the philosophy of physics, is there not a logical contradiction needing to be solved that quantum properties which are fundamentally probabilistic on the particle level combine to form objects which behave deterministically described by Newtonian physics?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:18 PM PDT

I have heard many casually explain that the rules of physics are somewhat like a "piece-wise" function, with quantum rules applying to the particle level and Newtonian physics and classical mechanics describing behavior on the larger object level. However, it seems to me that if every single particle inside a baseball behaves probabilistically in its motion, and all these particles join to create a ball which when thrown has its trajectory behave in a deterministic way described by classical mechanics, what we are then suggesting is that an object which behaves deterministically is comprised entirely of parts which themselves independently behave probabilistically on the particle level. How can determinism be an emergent property of an object produced entirely by elements with probabilistic characteristics? I cannot wrap my head around this, and I am wondering if this is a legitimate issue in the physics community, if there are any thinkers who have dealt with this or if this is an issue in my construction of the argument.

Thanks in advance.

submitted by /u/BenjaminShapiro
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Is it possible that an “earthquake season” could exist? Or are the earthquakes in my country just coincidences?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 06:30 AM PDT

I live in Mexico and earthquakes are fairly common here. They happen at any point of the year really but there's a strange pattern a lot of us have been noticing recently. One of Mexico's most devastating earthquakes happened on September 19, 1985. Then in 2017, a small earthquake happened on September the 7th. Then, just a few days later, on September 19th, another one of the most devastating earthquakes happened. Yesterday, September 7th 2021, another earthquake happened. Not as strong but extremely noticeable. 6.9-7.2 I think.

I'm just wondering if there's a reason why a lot of the most noticeable earthquakes here tend to happen during September. I know it's probably just an interesting coincidence but if anyone knows of something, I'd appreciate them sharing!

submitted by /u/BabyAcid2001
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How much do the ratings for K-12 schools actually matter? Are there measurable improvements in outcomes for kids who go to highly rated schools versus average schools?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:39 AM PDT

what happens to the vaccine after the mRNA is processed by the ribosome?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 03:24 PM PDT

So obviously i understand a bit of how the covid19 vaccine works, but what happens to the strands of mRNA after the ribosome "reads" it? Does it just float around in the cell or does it get broken down, or something else?

submitted by /u/SimplyStuart
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Is there a good explainer for why the Moderna vaccine is performing better than Pfizer?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 01:42 AM PDT

Do PVC acids affect other plastics such as PP and PE?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 05:24 AM PDT

I did some research on PVC and read that PVC releases hydrochloric acids over time. Could someone enlighten me on this? And do the acids affect other plastics (PP & PE) over a long period of time?

submitted by /u/loptoaded
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what causes NADH and FADH2 to undergo oxidation during oxidative phosphorylation? and why is oxygen necessary?

Posted: 08 Sep 2021 12:57 AM PDT

to clarify the latter question, I was wondering why it is important for oxygen to act as the final electron acceptor.

submitted by /u/kimchuzu
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When exciting electrons to higher energy levels in an atom, does the atomic radii of the material increase?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 03:04 PM PDT

How does regenerative braking "intensify"?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 10:23 PM PDT

I'm going to assume I understand the in one way, the electric motor propels the car forward, and in the other, the wheels turn the motor as a generator, regenerating power.

My question is how is this power varied? Before the friction brakes kick in, my hybrid regenerates "harder" as you push down on the brake.

Image of gauge cluster in my 2018 Optima. As I press the brake harder, the needle moves further into the blue "Charge" area and regenerates more, slowing the car more rapidly. What is happening after I push the brake harder to provide that additional resistance? If it's the gearbox, would this be the same in a fully electric car?

submitted by /u/PM_ME_YOUR_CALICOS
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With hallucinations of pain, do patients experience physical symptoms like redness and swelling of the falsely painful area?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 10:17 PM PDT

I'm wondering if, in a patient with schizophrenia, does their body react to painful hallucinations the way it would if it were a real injury? Since the brain is responsible for sending signals to swell and flood the injury site with blood, I'd imagine the brain could trick itself into reacting to an internal stimulus as it would for an external one.

submitted by /u/cat-eating-a-salad
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Why do egg yolks turn green/grey when overcooked in the shell, but stay yellow any other way?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 06:47 PM PDT

Mirror neurons and mental practice: is there any correlation or overlap? Do mirror neurons show activity during NLP/manipulation events? Do emotionally codependent people with enmeshment show more mirror neurons activity?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 06:04 PM PDT

Why does pure copper contaminate rhodium plating solution?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 10:53 PM PDT

How different is the population density of ocean life between the coast and the middle of the ocean? Are the coasts dramatically more densely populated than hundreds of miles from shore, or is it somewhat evenly distributed?

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 02:39 PM PDT

What makes certain metals denser than other ones? (mercury vs lead)

Posted: 07 Sep 2021 09:24 PM PDT

When looking at the density of elements in the periodic table, more specifically the transitional metals you can see that the metals in the "middle" of the row are more dense than the ones close to the ends. and why is mercury more dense than lead because of this. Mercury has lower attraction levels between atoms which makes it a liquid at room temperature and a lower atomic weight but despite this, it is still less dense than lead. And what makes metals in the middle of the row more dense than the other metals?

submitted by /u/SSR2806
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