AskScience AMA Series: I'm Paul Sutter, astrophysicist, amateur cheese enthusiast, and science advisor for the upcoming film UFO. Ask Me Anything!

---

• AskScience AMA Series: I'm Paul Sutter, astrophysicist, amateur cheese enthusiast, and science advisor for the upcoming film UFO. Ask Me Anything!
• What causes our stomach to rumble when we are hungry?
• What causes the gas pump to stop when your tank is full?
• How are solar activity and galactic cosmic rays correlated?
• what influence does the coriolis effect have at the equator?
• Do mirrors have "focal lengths"?
• Is there another material - synthetic or not - that collects and magnifies light (e.g. telescopes, hand lens) better than glass?
• What would happen if two people, tied together by a rope, were falling, and the lower of the two people started pulling on the rope? Would the lower person fall slower, the higher faster, or neither?
• What's the origin of the CMB anisotropy and are quantum fluctuations real or not?
• Do atomic nuclei rotate?
• What measurable effects has the Panama Canal had on the ecosystem around it? Between migratory routes, aquatic wildlife moving from one body of water to the other, etc?
• Why can't soundwaves bounce off each other?
• Is it possible to generate visible light by oscillating a permanent magnet?
• Forces acting on 2 free particles in space?
• Are there massive fish deaths whenever there are lightning storms over the ocean?
• What makes central Africa so mineral and jewel rich?
• Is there anything like a 'sound mirror'?
• Does gravity prevent terrestrial planets from gaining larger amounts of mass?
• After seeing this picture of Saturn as taken by Cassini, wondering why, exactly, the pole is shaped like a hexagon?
• If it's impossible for noble gasses to react to other elements. Then how does helium and hydrogen create high energy astronomical objects like the sun?
• Is there any evidence of animals getting sore muscles after they exercise too much?
• When you plastically deform an object does its modulus of elasticity remain the same if you stretched it again from its new length?
• How does sweat cool us down if it’s the same temperature as our bodies?

AskScience AMA Series: I'm Paul Sutter, astrophysicist, amateur cheese enthusiast, and science advisor for the upcoming film UFO. Ask Me Anything! Posted: 28 Aug 2018 04:01 AM PDT Hey reddit! I'm Paul Sutter, an astrophysicist and science advisor for the film UFO, starring Gillian Anderson, David Strathairn, Alex Sharp, and Ella Purnell. I am not nearly as beautiful as any of those people, which is why I'm here typing to you about science. The film is about a college kid who is convinced he's recorded an alien signal. I helped writer/director Ryan Eslinger, plus the cast and crew, make sure the science made sense. And considering such topics as the Drake Equation, the fine-structure constant, 21cm radiation, and linear algebra are all (uncredited) costars in the movie, it was a real blast. I also briefly appear in one scene. I had lines but they didn't make the final cut, which I'm not bitter about at all. Besides my research at The Ohio State University, I'm also the chief scientist at COSI Science Center here in dazzlingly midwestern Columbus, Ohio. I host the "Ask a Spaceman!" podcast and YouTube series, and I'm the author of the forthcoming Your Place in the Universe (which is like Cosmos but sarcastic and not a TV show). I do a bunch of other livestreams, science+art productions, and TV appearances, too. I also consult for movies, I guess. I'll be on from 2-4pm ET (19-21 UT), so AMA about the science of UFO, the science of the universe, and/or relationship advice. As I tell my students: my door is always open, except when it's closed. submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator [link] [comments]

What causes our stomach to rumble when we are hungry? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 08:02 AM PDT I understand that it means we are hungry but why does it rumble? My 10 second rumble made me question it submitted by /u/PeterP1227 [link] [comments]

What causes the gas pump to stop when your tank is full? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 07:19 PM PDT submitted by /u/PlayfulKatieJ [link] [comments]

How are solar activity and galactic cosmic rays correlated? Posted: 28 Aug 2018 05:21 AM PDT I'm reading a book on space environment and I came across an interesting fact: "The GCR flux is seen to be dependent on the solar cycle, with GCR rate being highest at solar minimum." But no explanation as to why. Does anyone know why this happens? Book in question is Alan C. Tribble The Space Environment Implications for Spacecraft Design Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. Print submitted by /u/Vetalurg [link] [comments]

what influence does the coriolis effect have at the equator? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 10:50 PM PDT http://www.hisiasafaris.com/en/blog/safaris/equator-and-coriolis-effect-kenya I was doing some reading and came across this article which claims that a match placed in water will have different effects based on where you are standing in relation to the equator. on the equator the match will not move. to the south and the match will spin to the left to the north and the match spins to the right. 1) is it correct to attribute this spinning to the coriolis effect or is it something else 2) the match isn't magnetic so this isn't related to the poles so what is making the match spin? submitted by /u/armored-dinnerjacket [link] [comments]

Do mirrors have "focal lengths"? Posted: 28 Aug 2018 06:28 AM PDT I don't know how to put it better than asking if mirrors also can have different "focal lengths" like lenses – in some mirrors my face looks a bit wider, as if the mirror was a bit more wide angled, and sometimes it looks a bit narrower, as if my face was seen through a tele lens. submitted by /u/Benniisan [link] [comments]

Is there another material - synthetic or not - that collects and magnifies light (e.g. telescopes, hand lens) better than glass? Posted: 28 Aug 2018 06:46 AM PDT ​ submitted by /u/skydivingbigfoot [link] [comments]

What would happen if two people, tied together by a rope, were falling, and the lower of the two people started pulling on the rope? Would the lower person fall slower, the higher faster, or neither? Posted: 28 Aug 2018 06:33 AM PDT I've never taken a physics course before, so I simply don't have the background here to understand this. Logically, I would think that the lower person would briefly fall slower, the higher person would briefly fall faster, and the two would end up somewhere near the middle of the distance that was between them prior to the lower person pulling on the rope. submitted by /u/Quixel [link] [comments]

What's the origin of the CMB anisotropy and are quantum fluctuations real or not? Posted: 28 Aug 2018 05:42 AM PDT Recently I've heard from various sources that virtual particles, vacuum fluctuations, quantum fluctuations, whatever you want to call them, are not real things and are merely mathematical tools; internal lines in Feynman diagrams and a perturbation expansion series. For example, this article makes the following statements (emphasis mine): On vacuum fluctuations: Thus the presence of a Gaussian distribution means that the value of the electromagnetic field in the vacuum state is not determined with arbitrary precision but has an inherent uncertainty. No temporal or spatial implications can be deduced. (The distribution itself is independent of time and space.) Thus it is misleading to interpret vacuum fluctuations as fluctuations in the common sense of the word, which is the traditional name for random changes in space and time. The vacuum is isotropic (i.e., uniform) in space and time and does not change at all. On vacuum diagrams: As a consequence, vacuum diagrams have no physical interpretation; in particular, they do not enter the formulas for vacuum expectation values (and hence vacuum fluctuations). The name comes from the form in which these diagrams are conventionally drawn, and doesn't point to anything bubbling in the vacuum. In general: In the following, I give precise definitions of many terms, telling what they really mean as part of the technical language used in quantum field theory. They have meaning only in this precisely defined context, and are meaningless otherwise. For example, virtual particles have a technical meaning in a discussion of Feynman diagrams, but not in stories where they are claimed to pop in and out of existence. Similarly, vacuum fluctuations have a technical meaning in a discussion of certain vacuum expectation values, but not in stories where they are claimed to describe a sizzling vacuum, or to cause a physical effect. Ok, so everything I've read about space-time foam and fluctuations in fields is wrong, but then what's actually going on? And why is stuff like Quantum Fluctuations and Their Energy and The Quantum Origin of Large-Scale Structure out there? What's behind the anisotropy of the CMB if quantum fluctuations aren't real? In The Quantum Origin of Large-Scale Structure, chapter 2 is titled Quantum Fluctuations during Inflation and starts off with the following: In this chapter and the next, we discuss the primordial origin of the temperature variations in the CMB. The main goal will be to show how quantum fluctuations in quasi-de Sitter space produce a spectrum of fluctuations that accurately matches the observations. The reason why inflation inevitably produces fluctuations is simple: as we have seen in the pre- vious chapter, the inflaton evolution φ ( t ) governs the energy density of the early universe ρ ( t ) and hence controls the end of inflation. Essentially, φ plays the role of a local clock reading off the amount of inflationary expansion remaining. Because microscopic clocks are quantum- mechanical objects with necessarily some variance (by the uncertainty principle), the inflaton will have spatially varying fluctuations δφ ( t, x ) ≡ φ ( t, x ) − ̄ φ ( t ). These fluctuations imply that different regions of space inflate by different amounts. In other words, there will be local differ- ences in the time when inflation end δt ( x ). Moreover, these differences in the local expansion histories lead to differences in the local densities after inflation. In quantum theory, local fluctua- tions in δρ ( t, x ) and hence ultimately in the CMB temperature ∆ T ( x ) are therefore unavoidable. The main purpose of this chapter is to compute this effect. It is worth remarking that the the- ory wasn't engineered to produce the CMB fluctuations, but their origin is instead a natural consequence of treating inflation quantum mechanically. So on the one hand, we have people saying that the vacuum is static and eternal and absolutely does not undergo fluctuations in time and space and that's all just a bunch of pop-sci rubbish the public has been misled with, and other people saying that it fluctuates in time and space and we can even see these fluctuations because inflation expanded microscopic quantum fluctuations to cosmological scales and that's the origin of the tiny temperature fluctuations observed in the CMB and why it looks like this and why it has this power spectrum. And then to confuse matters further there's stuff like this claiming to be a simulation of the gluon field in the QCD vacuum in a volume of space of 2.4 by 2.4 by 3.6 fm. And then there's this paper by Qingdi Wang, Zhen Zhu and William G. Unruh titled How the huge energy of quantum vacuum gravitates to drive the slow accelerating expansion of the Universe that says the following: Thus the energy density fluctuates as violently as its own magnitude. With such huge fluctuations, the vacuum energy density ρ vac is not a constant in space or time. Furthermore, the energy density of the vacuum is not only not a constant in time at a fixed spatial point, it also varies from place to place. In other words, the en- ergy density of vacuum is varying wildly at every spatial point and the variation is not in phase for different spatial two spacial points quickly goes up to the order of 〈 T 00 〉 itself as their distance increases by only the order of 1 / Λ. (For more details on the calculations and how the energy density fluctuates all over the spacetime, see Appendix A.) As the vacuum is clearly not homogeneous, equa- tion (10) is not valid as it depends on a homogeneous and isotropic matter field and metric. Therefore a new method of relating vacuum energy density to the ob- served Hubble expansion rate is required. Can anyone please help clear up my massive confusion on this topic? I've no idea who to believe at this point and it just feels like people are talking about very different things without making it clear they're talking about different things, that physicists are abominably bad at explaining things, or that there's some deep and fundamental divide in the field of physics that I wasn't previously aware of. submitted by /u/Peter5930 [link] [comments]

Do atomic nuclei rotate? Posted: 28 Aug 2018 02:58 AM PDT If so, how rapidly? submitted by /u/spauldeagle [link] [comments]

What measurable effects has the Panama Canal had on the ecosystem around it? Between migratory routes, aquatic wildlife moving from one body of water to the other, etc? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 12:19 PM PDT submitted by /u/TacosArePeopleToo [link] [comments]

Why can't soundwaves bounce off each other? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 05:06 PM PDT If sound is made of molecules moving to create a pressure wave, is it not reasonable to assume some air molecules of opposing wavefronts will 1) Collide with each other and bounce off instead of propagating their respective wave. 2) Pass by each other without interacting and creating the next wave after colliding with the molecules behind the ones they just missed? Could this help explain superposition? The wave "bypassed the barrier" and made a wave behind it. submitted by /u/yosimba2000 [link] [comments]

Is it possible to generate visible light by oscillating a permanent magnet? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 04:11 PM PDT As the title says, if I where to theoretically spin or otherwise oscillate a permanent magnet at a very very high frequency (for example 500 THz), could visible light be generated? Would enough light be created to detect with the naked eye? Is this something that could realistically be constructed? submitted by /u/fogh1 [link] [comments]

Forces acting on 2 free particles in space? Posted: 28 Aug 2018 05:29 AM PDT If two charged particles are in space, do only two forces exist between them; electrostatic force and gravitational force? Suppose they are oppositely charged, then will they be attracted (due to G force) or repelled (due to electrostatic force)? submitted by /u/FluffyCat10 [link] [comments]

Are there massive fish deaths whenever there are lightning storms over the ocean? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 01:34 PM PDT submitted by /u/CaptainHummus [link] [comments]

What makes central Africa so mineral and jewel rich? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 12:16 PM PDT submitted by /u/Schnitzenium [link] [comments]

Is there anything like a 'sound mirror'? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 10:43 PM PDT I was thinking that since mirrors reflect light waves, there could be an equivalent to reflect sound waves. I hope this is not a stupid question and the answer is not too obvious that I'm ignoring it. submitted by /u/clumsy_cactus [link] [comments]

Does gravity prevent terrestrial planets from gaining larger amounts of mass? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 07:11 PM PDT I was researching the largest stars in the universe. Presumably, those stars also have solar systems. What would those planets look like? Could we just scale up our solar system to match with the larger star? submitted by /u/ForcedRonin [link] [comments]

After seeing this picture of Saturn as taken by Cassini, wondering why, exactly, the pole is shaped like a hexagon? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 02:20 PM PDT https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/9am2dp/amazing_high_resolution_image_of_saturn_taken_by/?utm_source=reddit-android submitted by /u/DeusIncognito [link] [comments]

If it's impossible for noble gasses to react to other elements. Then how does helium and hydrogen create high energy astronomical objects like the sun? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 08:19 PM PDT submitted by /u/atoteca [link] [comments]

Is there any evidence of animals getting sore muscles after they exercise too much? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 06:41 PM PDT I have a generally lazy house cat, but I just got him a toy that he's been going nuts for. Running/jumping all over the place. I know if I'd gone from mostly sedentary to this amount of exercise, I would be sore the next day. Wondering if there any evidence of animals experiencing a similar feeling? submitted by /u/christz9 [link] [comments]

When you plastically deform an object does its modulus of elasticity remain the same if you stretched it again from its new length? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 10:45 AM PDT submitted by /u/Y-Woo [link] [comments]

How does sweat cool us down if it’s the same temperature as our bodies? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 06:37 PM PDT submitted by /u/MissionCow [link] [comments]

You are subscribed to email updates from AskScience: Got Questions? Get Answers.. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

Do satellites, like the Hubble Telescope, get dirty?

---

• Do satellites, like the Hubble Telescope, get dirty?
• Are rates depression and anxiety on the rise (and if so, why)? Or are we just diagnosing it more because we’re more aware of it?
• Why are tsunamis wave heights measured/described as being much taller than they actually seem to be?
• How high can insects fly? And why would they do it?
• How do we calculate distances to celestial bodies?
• Are seemingly sealed surfaces also completely sealed at the molecular level, or do they leak?
• How is RISC-V different from normal RISC?
• Exactly how do you hook up new organs in the body to the blood vessels during a transplant?
• How would a moon with a more elliptical orbit impact life on Earth?
• How does a vine searching for and object to climb “know” not to wrap around itself?
• Why do acids tend to be corrosive?
• How does a computer actually 'turn on'?
• Why is an object's temperature and black-body emitted radiation related by a power of four?
• Can wild type insects make mistakes?
• Why don’t the rings of Saturn and other big planets get pulled into the core by their massive gravitational force?
• Is it possible to predict the appearance of a substance/material based on a few of its atoms?
• [Semiconductor] With Gallium being a popular compound semiconductor material for various electronic device applications, how come Gallium Oxide has only very recently (within the last year) garnered the attention of scientists as a prospective material for future electronics?
• Does Space Debris affect the ISS?
• Why use the ideal gas constant in aqueous solution electrochemistry?

Do satellites, like the Hubble Telescope, get dirty? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 09:49 AM PDT I just saw a question asking about the remaining lifespan of the Hubble Space Telescope, and I was wondering if there is anything in space that causes satellites to get dirty, or rust, or otherwise deteriorate. submitted by /u/Raiderboy105 [link] [comments]

Are rates depression and anxiety on the rise (and if so, why)? Or are we just diagnosing it more because we’re more aware of it? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 07:14 PM PDT submitted by /u/Kingmc1 [link] [comments]

Why are tsunamis wave heights measured/described as being much taller than they actually seem to be? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 08:36 PM PDT What I mean is, for example, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The tsunami had waves of up to 40.5m (133ft). That's just a little bit taller than the statue of liberty. But when I watch videos and clips of the tsunami making landfall, it doesn't seem anywhere near 40.5m tall. I literally imagine a wall of water the size of the statue of liberty when it's described like this (kinda like in the movies). So how are tsumani wave heights actually measured? submitted by /u/TheOneWithTheOne [link] [comments]

How high can insects fly? And why would they do it? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 12:53 PM PDT submitted by /u/Armauer [link] [comments]

How do we calculate distances to celestial bodies? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 01:26 PM PDT How do we know that Andromeda is 2.5 million light years away? Is there any way we can tell that the light we are getting from Andromeda is 2.5 million years old? Edit: I used Andromeda as just an example. submitted by /u/Deat_h [link] [comments]

Are seemingly sealed surfaces also completely sealed at the molecular level, or do they leak? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 12:32 PM PDT For example, in a water bottle that is completely closed and sealed, do the walls leak water molecules at the microscopic level? Do molecules or atoms inside a container slowly get through the cracks between bonds of the container's material? submitted by /u/PsychohistorySeldon [link] [comments]

How is RISC-V different from normal RISC? Posted: 27 Aug 2018 01:39 AM PDT I've heard that RISC-V is a open source architecture, how exactly is it open source and what are its benefits? How small is the processor and how small can it get? What is the performance like? Is it a big deal for general computing? submitted by /u/socialmachan2 [link] [comments]

Exactly how do you hook up new organs in the body to the blood vessels during a transplant? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 03:04 PM PDT Questions says it all. In cars if you replace the engine you have to also reconnect the wiring harness etc. How does this work with organs? submitted by /u/IrohtheTeaBender [link] [comments]

How would a moon with a more elliptical orbit impact life on Earth? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 12:01 PM PDT What impacts would the moon having a significantly more elliptical orbit (similar to Pluto's) have on the rotation of the Earth, phases and tides? submitted by /u/Pentastome [link] [comments]

How does a vine searching for and object to climb “know” not to wrap around itself? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 10:20 AM PDT I've seen a time laps video of a climbing vine and as it circles around searching for something to climb it seems to run into a chute from itself. Upon interacting with itself it simply disengages and continues its search for another object. How does it recognize itself? submitted by /u/Stellar1616 [link] [comments]

Why do acids tend to be corrosive? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 11:52 AM PDT submitted by /u/Jarl_Swagruuf [link] [comments]

How does a computer actually 'turn on'? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 08:33 AM PDT I have seen things online, but they're all incomplete or outdated. submitted by /u/riggycat [link] [comments]

Why is an object's temperature and black-body emitted radiation related by a power of four? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 01:33 PM PDT I've been getting into the fundamentals of satellite remote sensing and I have a question motivated out of pure curiosity. The Stefan–Boltzmann law describes that the amount of radiation an object emits is related to it's temperature. A small change in temperature, T, causes a huge change in radiation, M = k*T^4, where k is a constant. My question is, where does this fourth power come from? Is it related to Rayleigh scattering being inversely proportional to the inverse of the fourth power of radiation wavelength? submitted by /u/gizable [link] [comments]

Can wild type insects make mistakes? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 10:54 AM PDT How tied to instincts are they? Do they sometimes do things that they shouldn't do according to instict, assuming there are no abnormal parameters? If you filmed an ant for a few weeks, would it sometimes trip over its own legs? (failure in hunt excluded from this question) submitted by /u/fruitpunch-alien [link] [comments]

Why don’t the rings of Saturn and other big planets get pulled into the core by their massive gravitational force? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 08:50 AM PDT submitted by /u/PSEOL [link] [comments]

Is it possible to predict the appearance of a substance/material based on a few of its atoms? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 05:42 PM PDT For example, does an Aluminium atom appear to be silver and shiny? I'm assuming it all goes down to how a group of the bonded atoms are able to reflect and absorb visible light, but is there any way to predict it? If so, what would a Synthetic atom, say Oganesson 118, look like? submitted by /u/ZeligD [link] [comments]

[Semiconductor] With Gallium being a popular compound semiconductor material for various electronic device applications, how come Gallium Oxide has only very recently (within the last year) garnered the attention of scientists as a prospective material for future electronics? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 12:13 PM PDT Gallium Arsenide and Gallium Nitride are commonly used compound semiconductors that have been of interest for a few decades. How come scientists didn't think to use Gallium Oxide until just recently? All you would have to do is just oxidize Gallium to make Gallium Oxide. Now I understand in reality, it isn't as simple as Silicon oxidation, since a process like thermal oxidation will result in an amorphous oxide. So if thermal oxide is used to grow Gallium Oxide (amorphous), can that only serve as a dielectric? Is it a mandatory requirement that Gallium Oxide has to be in the crystalline form to act as a semiconductor? (I assume yes, because a crystalline structure is required for conductive paths for electrons/holes to flow.) So then what was the breakthrough that brought scientists their attention to Gallium Oxide? Was it just that scientists finally figured out (maybe by accident?) how to grow Gallium Oxide in crystalline form? If that was indeed the breakthrough, then should we expect research going into the growth of crystalline Silicon Oxide? (If crystalline Ga2O3 is possible, why not crystalline SiO2?) ​ ​ submitted by /u/spacejockey8 [link] [comments]

Does Space Debris affect the ISS? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 10:23 AM PDT Recently saw that there are roughly 15,000 pieces of space debris orbiting Earth. I know they pose threats for various satellites, but do they pose any threat to the International Space Station, and if so, how does the ISS avoid it? submitted by /u/pdnaylor [link] [comments]

Why use the ideal gas constant in aqueous solution electrochemistry? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 08:22 AM PDT Why is the ideal gas constant (R = 8.3145 J/mol•K) used in the Nernst equation and Nernst-Planck equation when working out the electrochemistry of aqueous solutions, when aqueous solutions are not gases and rarely ideal? submitted by /u/qaaqqaaq [link] [comments]

You are subscribed to email updates from AskScience: Got Questions? Get Answers.. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

How much longer will the Hubble Space Telescope remain operational?

---

• How much longer will the Hubble Space Telescope remain operational?
• Can someone explain the behavior of Superfluid Helium?
• How do we know Uranus's atmosphere is made of ammonia?
• Why this exception to the Ionization energy trend?
• Are scientists concerned about the amount of earthquakes around the world lately? There are so many major ones happening lately is there any reason for this?
• How does CocaCola’s color changing can work ?
• How is electricity conducted in bodies of water?
• Why are aurora at mid-latitudes almost exclusively red?
• Why did Olympus Mons form in the exact same way of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, but the Martian volcano is 5 times bigger?
• Why and how does a banana keep turning more and more brown? (Pomology)
• How are electronegativity values for elements determined?
• What is quantum vacuum and vacuum energy?
• If temperature is held constant, why does steam have less internal energy at higher pressures?
• How much does the earth need to move to/from the sun in order for life to end?
• what makes water have such a high heat capacity when compared to other, more complex materials?

How much longer will the Hubble Space Telescope remain operational? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 06:38 PM PDT How much longer will the Hubble Space Telescope likely remain operational given it was launched in 1990 and was last serviced in 2009,9 years ago? ​ submitted by /u/Laser20145 [link] [comments]

Can someone explain the behavior of Superfluid Helium? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 11:06 PM PDT It has been stated that superfluid helium can flow indefinitely under its own inertia and without friction. How is this possible? submitted by /u/Dick_Van_Dangerous [link] [comments]

How do we know Uranus's atmosphere is made of ammonia? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 06:09 PM PDT I've often read about how Uranus's atmosphere is composed primarily of ammonia. This has puzzled me, since we have never ever been to Uranus and probably never will be able to go, and it's also hard to wrap my head around the fact that the same substance used in household cleaning solutions is also the main component of the atmosphere of a remote planet in the outer reaches of our solar system. Can we tell just by looking at the color of Uranus's atmosphere? I'd imagine it's impossible to determine what a distant planet's atmosphere is made up of considering we've never actually gone there. submitted by /u/hedabla99 [link] [comments]

Why this exception to the Ionization energy trend? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 09:58 PM PDT In group 13, the order of decreasing I.E. is- B>Tl>Ga~Al>In Why is this so? According to the usual rule shouldn't it be- Tl>In>Ga>Al>B ? submitted by /u/salvayin [link] [comments]

Are scientists concerned about the amount of earthquakes around the world lately? There are so many major ones happening lately is there any reason for this? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 04:29 AM PDT I'm not a scientist by any means but I have noticed what appears to be an increase in earthquakes everywhere around the globe. Is this an unusual occurrence? Are scientists worried? submitted by /u/witchporn [link] [comments]

How does CocaCola’s color changing can work ? Posted: 26 Aug 2018 03:42 AM PDT Cocola has a can bottle, when it gets cold its color turning into white to bluish. How does it happen and what kind of reaction occurs? (I could not share a photo link because i am from Turkey and here imgur is banned :( ) submitted by /u/kingasso [link] [comments]

How is electricity conducted in bodies of water? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 12:32 PM PDT We are all familiar with the toaster in the bathtub suicide method, but it got me thinking about how that process works. How exactly is electrical current conducted through water, and how does that relate to the amount of charge/voltage applied to the water and volume of water being effected? What happens if a lake or ocean is struck by lightning? submitted by /u/BarbituateEater [link] [comments]

Why are aurora at mid-latitudes almost exclusively red? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 06:42 AM PDT I understand that under normal circumstances, red aurora (in normal aurora latitudes) occur at high altitude when the solar winds hit oxygen. What I haven't found in searching is an explanation for why, during those super-intense CME (coronal mass ejections) that allow us to see the aurora in the southern US on those rare occasions, that it's almost always red. At least, in the photos of aurora events that I have seen from that region. Is there something about getting closer to the equator that prevents the solar wind's electrons from penetrating as deep into the atmosphere as they do in the polar latitudes? If so, what is it? submitted by /u/forgotaltpwatwork [link] [comments]

Why did Olympus Mons form in the exact same way of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, but the Martian volcano is 5 times bigger? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 11:58 AM PDT submitted by /u/MysticPato [link] [comments]

Why and how does a banana keep turning more and more brown? (Pomology) Posted: 25 Aug 2018 04:12 PM PDT submitted by /u/PineappleLobsterMan [link] [comments]

How are electronegativity values for elements determined? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 07:12 PM PDT I understand that electronegativity is the tendency for elements to attract electrons, but I was wondering how the specific values for each element is calculated? submitted by /u/TechSupport15 [link] [comments]

What is quantum vacuum and vacuum energy? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 07:37 AM PDT I remember my science teacher once said particles were contantly being created and dissapearing in the vacuum, is that related to this? If so, how does science explain this? Also, why hasn't it been exploited yet? submitted by /u/inhuman0id [link] [comments]

If temperature is held constant, why does steam have less internal energy at higher pressures? Posted: 25 Aug 2018 09:49 AM PDT From looking at steam tables, steam has a lower internal energy at higher pressures provided that temperature is held constant. Why is that? If possible, please include a discussion of Morse potential in your answer. My theory is that an applied pressure shifts the entire Morse potential plot down, making the potential energy more negative. Since, (1) internal energy is kinetic energy + potential energy, (2) kinetic energy in the two cases is equal because temperature is equal, and (3) potential energy will be more negative in the high pressure case, the internal energy will be lower in the high pressure case. submitted by /u/bnpm [link] [comments]

How much does the earth need to move to/from the sun in order for life to end? Posted: 24 Aug 2018 07:57 PM PDT Asked by my 8 year old daughter. submitted by /u/lokier01 [link] [comments]

what makes water have such a high heat capacity when compared to other, more complex materials? Posted: 24 Aug 2018 08:47 PM PDT Is there any other substance that comes closr? submitted by /u/Critwhoris [link] [comments]

You are subscribed to email updates from AskScience: Got Questions? Get Answers.. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States