Pages

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

What happens to a colony-based insect, such as an ant or termite, when it's been separated from the queen for too long? Does it start to "think" for itself now that it doesn't follow orders anymore?

What happens to a colony-based insect, such as an ant or termite, when it's been separated from the queen for too long? Does it start to "think" for itself now that it doesn't follow orders anymore?


What happens to a colony-based insect, such as an ant or termite, when it's been separated from the queen for too long? Does it start to "think" for itself now that it doesn't follow orders anymore?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 07:25 PM PST

Why do some parrots live 30+ years, some 100+ and some animals like dogs only 10+?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 09:25 AM PST

Edit: mandatory 'sup front page!

submitted by /u/Alphad115
[link] [comments]

How true is Ohm's law?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 10:37 PM PST

As an Electronic engineering student, I've almost never got a perfect straight line while plotting a V/I graph even under lab conditions.

submitted by /u/Deat_h
[link] [comments]

Is there any association between left-to-right languages and right hand dominance, and vice versa?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 07:15 PM PST

Maybe not anymore, but was there ever any evidence that languages that were created and written right-to-left were done so by primary left handed people?

submitted by /u/keepitdownoptimist
[link] [comments]

Some materials are better erasers than others, why do graphite particles stick better to some materials than others at a molecular level?

Posted: 28 Dec 2016 03:03 AM PST

Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

Posted: 28 Dec 2016 07:05 AM PST

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

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
[link] [comments]

How do scientists measure elevation on foreign planets (like Mars) when there is no "sea level?"

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 04:42 PM PST

If earth already has a decent amount of space debris orbiting it, why doesn't it flatten out and become an artificial ring; likewise, How much more would it need to be visible?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 06:29 PM PST

Are fruits of today the same as fruits of the past?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 06:06 PM PST

Do plants under go genetic mutation like humans? And if so is it possible that a banana of 100 years ago was different then the banana of today?

submitted by /u/Nagger_
[link] [comments]

Do sperm whales have decompression chambers in their stomach? How else can they swallow a squid at depths of 2,250 metres (7,382 ft)?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 05:58 PM PST

At 1000m down, the whales experiences 100 times the pressure that they do at the surface, enough to completely compress the air in their lungs.

So how can take open their months and actually swallow?

The sperm whale has the longest intestinal system in the world, exceeding 300 m in larger specimens.

Similar to ruminants the sperm whale has four stomachs.

The first secretes no gastric juices and has very thick muscular walls to crush the food (since whales cannot chew) and resist the claw and sucker attacks of swallowed squid.

The second stomach is larger and is where digestion takes place. [...]

Source

Is the 1st stomach so powerful that it can resist all that pressure? What about the organs that lead to the stomach then?

Thx for any answers!

submitted by /u/aleczapka
[link] [comments]

Why do canopies (parachutes and paragliders) use the opposite input of airplanes in order to turn?

Posted: 28 Dec 2016 05:41 AM PST

When flying a ram-air canopy, the kind that modern parachutists use (skydivers, BASE jumpers, paragliders, speedfliers), a right turn is made by pulling the right trailing edge down. This effectively makes the wing slower on one side, and a turn is made towards the slow side. There can be considerable bank angles when doing this, sometimes over 90º. When an airplanes turns to the right, the left aileron lowers, making the left wing stronger/ slower, and the lift created from a stronger wing pulls the left wing up, banking the plane to the right. Why is it that parachutes and airplanes do the opposite in order to achieve the same? I have already ruled out gravity vs. engine, because airplanes can turn with their engines off, as long as they have airspeed.

submitted by /u/benwhiteskis
[link] [comments]

The difference between ethanol (drinking alcohol) and isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) is CH2. What about this chemical difference makes ethanol safe to drink, but not rubbing alcohol?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 05:45 PM PST

How to convert from Jansky to determine a source's true intensity?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 05:16 PM PST

I have seen a lot of flux measurements of masers in the literature be made in Jansky which has units of W/(m2 Hz). To convert this to the more familiar unit of watts and determine a source's emission intensity, is it fine to simply multiply the flux by the surface area of the observing radio telescope (e.g. Parkes Radio Telescope, nearly 4000 m2 ), and then integrate this over the frequencies measured based on the signal's spectrum? Or is this approach incorrect?

submitted by /u/CallMeDoc24
[link] [comments]

How many lux is the average computer screen?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 02:56 PM PST

I recently got a 10000 Lux happylight to fight off seasonal affective depression. I'm wondering how bright my computer screen would be compared to the light, and for the life of me I can't find anywhere on google that gives the Lux of a computer screen.

submitted by /u/LordPhenny
[link] [comments]

Since any mammal can get rabies, has there ever been evidence of a marine mammal/population infected?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 10:04 AM PST

How is the magnetic quantum number limited by the schrodinger wave equation?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 12:11 PM PST

If someone can break it down for me and help me understand in more basic terms that would be great!

submitted by /u/Thomas_Wales
[link] [comments]

What's the fastest a production car can accelerate and still be safe for the driver?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 08:40 PM PST

The Tesla P100D is the fastest accelerating production car with 0-60mph in 2.5 seconds.

Which got me wondering, how far could they go? Can we eventually each a limit where it won't be safe enough? Or not possible to go any faster due to tire friction and other variables?

submitted by /u/cloth_mother
[link] [comments]

If radium is radioactive and unstable, why is it used in decorative items?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 08:09 AM PST

How is an optimal minimum wage calculated?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 12:23 PM PST

Economists seem to agree that raising the minimum wage would be beneficial across the board.

But obviously it cannot be raised arbitrarily. You can't just say everybody makes at least $100/hr now.

So it seems like we're looking at an optimization problem. What factors actually go into this calculation?

submitted by /u/reddit_goauld
[link] [comments]

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

What has made solar energy so much more expensive in the past, and what developments are most important to further reduce the cost in the future?

What has made solar energy so much more expensive in the past, and what developments are most important to further reduce the cost in the future?


What has made solar energy so much more expensive in the past, and what developments are most important to further reduce the cost in the future?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 03:30 PM PST

What is the likelihood of their being an extremely large animal hidden in the depths of the ocean?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 04:07 PM PST

Since 95 percent of the ocean is unexplored, is it even possible for their to be a hidden giant in the depths? Or is their a way to be mathematically sure or using other means like sonar to conclude that their is not something that big lurking

submitted by /u/GraySharpies
[link] [comments]

Why is the Serotonin System the Primary Target for Depression Over Other NT Systems?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 10:59 PM PST

Question in the title but why serotonin? If serotonin is the supposed 'happy chemical' then why do so many people on antidepressants often complain about feeling numb emotionally and sexual side effects?

Surely other neurotransmitters are just as important if not more in the physiology of depression right? Or hormones like cortisol--why is measuring cortisol not done regularly by psychiatrists in treating depression?

submitted by /u/lightstreaker2
[link] [comments]

Today, in Montreal, sunrise is at 7:34 am, and sunset is at 4:18 pm. In Edmonton, sunrise isn't until 8:50am, while sunset is almost the same, at 4:20pm. Why is sunrise more than an hour later, while sunset is at the same time?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 08:26 PM PST

I would have expected the day to be symmetrically shorter, morning and night.

submitted by /u/peanut_butter
[link] [comments]

With Iron being the final product of stellar fusion, if we simply started with a chunk of Iron and continually added more what would happen over time as the quantity increased?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 05:21 PM PST

I understand from other discussions here how adding different types of mass to an existing star has varied results, however if we were to start with material that could not be fused such as iron (or another similar traditionally non-fusible material) what would happen over time as the pile grew bigger and bigger and we continued to add to it?

submitted by /u/Lorix_In_Oz
[link] [comments]

When sonoluminescence occurs what happens to all that heat produced?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 07:40 AM PST

I asked this question a couple days back and no-one replied which makes me sad cause I wannna know lol.

submitted by /u/Rukasaur
[link] [comments]

How rare is silicon at what point would scarcity start to impact the cost of solar panel and microchip production?

Posted: 27 Dec 2016 07:20 AM PST

What is momentum? Not the formula or the fact that it's conserved... but how do I picture momentum? I can picture acceleration, torque, energy, potential difference, inertia etc etc.. but not momentum. What does it mean when an objects momentum is x kgm/s?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 10:25 PM PST

Disclaimer: this question may be silly. But please help.

submitted by /u/FailAtomic
[link] [comments]

What properties of a planet determine how high or deep surface features can form?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 09:48 PM PST

What about Mars allows it do have the tallest mountain and lowest canyon in the solar system? What is different about Earth in this respect?

submitted by /u/FTLSquid
[link] [comments]

why do we feel our heartbeat (pulse) stronger on some areas of our body than others?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 10:34 PM PST

For example, when checking heart rate it is usually easiest to use either the arteries in the neck or wrist to determine bpm. Does this have to do with how large the blood vessel is? Or perhaps how close it is to the surface? Thank you!

submitted by /u/TheBeany273
[link] [comments]

How do computers simulate probability distributions?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 08:12 PM PST

Say I want to draw random values from a Gaussian distribution. How does a program generate random values such that they follow the desired distribution?

submitted by /u/smoothpebble
[link] [comments]

If mass alters the curvature of spacetime, does charge distort spacetime or some electromagnetic analogue?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 06:49 PM PST

How much of the United States could run on the geothermal energy of Yellowstone?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 10:43 AM PST

Why does your body ache when you have a cold?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 02:10 PM PST

Whenever I get a cold my body aches. When I sneeze, it's not just my head, but my body that hurts. Why is that?

Follow up, why do you feel weak too?

submitted by /u/Rottendog
[link] [comments]

[Ecology] Is there any evidence of natural bioremediation occurring in chemical or nuclear disaster sites, like Love Canal or Chernobyl?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 06:51 PM PST

Playing with homemade synthesizers, realized I don't know HOW it is that an oscillator makes sounds?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 08:43 PM PST

So I get that the oscillator is making waveforms and that depending no the frequency, peaks, and character of the wave, I hear different sounds, but when I really think about it, I feel like I'm still not quite sure I see how a little oscillator circuit is making sounds.

I guess the disconnect starts with this idea. The oscillator is exactly making sounds because when you plug it into a bread board, and get the power pumping through it, it's like I can hear it. In other words, it's not making vibrations that I hear like when I strike a guitar.

Or is it? Is it making super subtle vibrations and I just need an amplifier in order to make out the vibrations? Seems like that's still not right because even when you drop a needle on a record you can still faintly hear the music. I don't hear anything coming out of the oscillator when power is running through it on thr bread board.

So, sorry if this sounds dumb, but what exactly am I hearing? Am I hearing electricity that's being amplified? Or is the electrical pulse making the the speaker vibrate a specific way that then creates what we all know to be an "electronic" sound?

submitted by /u/sanspolanco
[link] [comments]

Why is angular momentum so important in studying the atom? Are atoms subject to gyroscopic precession?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 04:44 PM PST

I'm starting a quantum mechanics course at university. I want to know why angular momentum is so important ? Many Thanks

submitted by /u/FailAtomic
[link] [comments]

Why do people get runny noses when they eat something spicy?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 10:42 AM PST

Why are there ridges on the roof of my mouth?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 08:37 AM PST

Are there any regions of our galaxy that are vastly different from most of the galaxy?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 07:10 PM PST

Aside from the core vs arms of the galaxy, what other meaningful divisions are there for our galaxy?

submitted by /u/King_in-the_North
[link] [comments]

I'm a refrigeration tech learning about the magneto caloric effect and am wondering to what extent our planet experiences magnetic heating and cooling as it whizzes around the sun?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 05:43 PM PST

My thinking is that both the earth and the sun are magnetic bodies so there should be some sort of magneto caloric interaction. I've done a few cursory searches and have come up empty handed. For that matter, to what extent does the Earth experience magneto caloric effect due to its own magnetic field?

submitted by /u/dsldragon
[link] [comments]

How do meteorologists determine the chance of rain?

Posted: 26 Dec 2016 05:54 AM PST

Monday, December 26, 2016

If you had a pinhole camera with an aperture that only let one photon in at a time- what would its pictures look like?

If you had a pinhole camera with an aperture that only let one photon in at a time- what would its pictures look like?


If you had a pinhole camera with an aperture that only let one photon in at a time- what would its pictures look like?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 08:53 AM PST

Would it have been possible to watch Neil Armstrong on the moon through a telescope?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 09:18 PM PST

My 5-year-old wants to know: What would happen if a giant ball of water even bigger than the sun ran into the sun?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 06:56 PM PST

Thanks for humoring us =)

submitted by /u/on_island_time
[link] [comments]

If the "vacuum of space" is really a very thin distribution of gasses and dust, are areas near stars and other gravity wells notably thinner?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 08:46 AM PST

Why don't seeds germinate whilst inside ripe fruit?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 09:39 PM PST

Like a tomato. You never see the seeds inside germinating while inside the wet moist tomato environment.

submitted by /u/swaggg11
[link] [comments]

Why does cornstarch make soups and sauces thicker?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 02:15 PM PST

How do we know how far away and across galaxies and other space objects are?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 06:13 PM PST

For the pillars of creation for example, we estimate it is 6500-7000 light years away. What method are they using to make that estimate. Also how do we estimate(or know) the size of these things?

submitted by /u/LilFahny
[link] [comments]

Temperature is the average kinetic energy of a substance's molecules, so does a substance's temperature increase if its translational speed—and thus translational kinetic energy—increases?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 05:58 PM PST

For example, when a pitcher throws a baseball, he increases the ball's translational kinetic energy. Neglecting the affects that drag force has on the ball, does the combined affect of the molecules' translation and vibration cause them to become 'hotter?'

submitted by /u/Diescientist
[link] [comments]

Could a bright enough light shine through metal?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 12:29 PM PST

So, light waves can be either absorbed or reflected by a material, or can go through a material. However, no material reflects or absorbs 100% perfectly. At least a few photons will go through (correct?).

Anyway, say I write a message on a white piece of paper, and cover it with a black piece of paper. I can't see the message anymore, but if I went in a dark room and shined a light under it I could.

If I did the same thing but covered the message with aluminum foil, it wouldn't work. What if I bought one of these expensive flashlights with thousands of lumens, would it work then?

Is there any amount of light that would make it possible to see through the aluminum foil? Or a different wavelength of light? Somehow "x-ray" it?

submitted by /u/MyDickIsElevenInches
[link] [comments]

How do IR thermometers work? Or more specifically, do they guess the emissivity of what they are measuring?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 02:25 PM PST

Since real objects aren't ideal black bodies how does the IR thermometer measure temperature?

submitted by /u/I_Like_Existing
[link] [comments]

Birth rate seems to be inversely related to wealth and resource availability. Does this phenomenon occur in non-human species? Is there a biological(i.e. hormonal) influence behind it?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 07:32 PM PST

Why does hair loss always begin from the top region of the head?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 02:33 PM PST

Why does pattern hair loss in men particularly seems to always start from the same region, top of the head, and never from the sides?

submitted by /u/StingBull
[link] [comments]

Because they look similar, are okras and chilies more genetically similar than, say, chilies and potatoes?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 06:12 PM PST

My friend was saying that okra and Chili are pretty much the same due to them looking so similar. I said I thought they were dissimilar but had no proof. How much does look matter when talking about genetic similarity? Thanks!! <3

submitted by /u/refleksy
[link] [comments]

How did Hawaii's current vegetation get there?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 02:08 PM PST

Based on my knowledge of how islands are formed (lava escapes through faults in Earth's continental plates, and cools down after contact with water), Hawaii would have been very bare at one point. I am imagining a small island similar to what is in this picture (https://imgur.com/a/24qZs). My question is, how did Hawaii turn into the lush archipelago it is today? How did all of the plantlife that exists there, get there, if it was at one point bare and isolated from everywhere else. All of the trees and small plants couldn't have evolved and converged to become so similar (I doubt it), and I can't see how the DNA of any of the trees/plants would be transported to an isolated island chain otherwise.

submitted by /u/KingReset
[link] [comments]

If all the mass of the universe was distributed evenly, would space still be a vacuum?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 02:08 PM PST

How do cuckoo chicks know to remove host eggs after just hatching from their egg?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 01:55 PM PST

Are there any other species that take on such tasks at 'an early age'?

submitted by /u/pregpretz
[link] [comments]

If you gathered all the particles in the intergalactic space between the Milky Way and Andromeda, would you have enough to form a star?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 11:40 AM PST

I know intergalactic space is very sparse, but it is also very vast. Would you have enough between say Milky Way and Andromeda?

submitted by /u/DerajjareD
[link] [comments]

Why does liquid arranged themselves in a certain pattern when they freeze and not stay random as they are in their fluid state?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 04:48 PM PST

Why do humans perceive that more massive objects should fall faster than less massive objects?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 11:18 AM PST

I haven't been able to find anything through search.

If this assumption is the exact opposite of basically all empirical observations (setting aside instances of terminal velocity), why would the truth be counter-intuitive? Why wouldn't it just be obvious?

submitted by /u/SMc-Twelve
[link] [comments]

[Linguistics] Is it simply because linguists haven't been able to discover the reason yet so they say the relationship between a signifier and the signified is mostly arbitrary except for the onomatopoeia words?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 02:42 PM PST

Ignoring wind, how much of an effect could rainfall have on the range of football kick?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 07:12 PM PST

Referring to American football here. Also ignoring changes in kicking style etc. Just wondering about the effect on momentum from drops falling on the ball, or the ball colliding with drops in its flight path.

submitted by /u/JohnMatt
[link] [comments]

How does a ribosome understand which exact protein goes with a corresponding codon?

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 12:58 PM PST

How do our cells understand the language of codons? What exactly makes a ribosome synthesize Methionine when it "reads" AUG or to stop when it reaches UAA, UAG or UGA?

submitted by /u/AjaxSuited
[link] [comments]

Why do so many things in nature manifest themselves in the form of waves? E.g photons, sound, electrons

Posted: 25 Dec 2016 09:57 AM PST

Is it humans limited way of describing these phenomena? Or does it have to do with the energetic nature?

submitted by /u/WaterChemistry
[link] [comments]