Pages

Thursday, March 28, 2019

How close does an electron and a positron need to approach to be able to annihilate?

How close does an electron and a positron need to approach to be able to annihilate?


How close does an electron and a positron need to approach to be able to annihilate?

Posted: 28 Mar 2019 04:34 AM PDT

At what point is a lake big enough to be classified as a sea?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 05:35 PM PDT

Do Black Holes Destroy Energy?

Posted: 28 Mar 2019 01:31 AM PDT

I am a student at school, and we are learning about types of energy's. Going off what my teacher has said, (Something like the Law of The Conservation of Energy) according to that, energy cannot be destroyed only transferred or transformed. Since light has no mass what happens to the light when it enters a black hole? What happens to the light energy when it enters the black hole? I assume it wouldn't transfer the energy since the black hole can't absorb it's mass to get bigger... so where does it go? Does it get destroyed? (Some information or reasoning for thinking this in the question might be wrong so please correct me if it is).

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

Is there a maximum speed the water can reach while swirling as it going down a drain if affected only by gravity, its own mass and volume?

Posted: 28 Mar 2019 03:44 AM PDT

Why does the measles rash typically start on the face?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 04:15 PM PDT

In Euclidian geometry the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Can that be proved?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 11:55 AM PDT

Or, is my layperson understanding correct? There are a number of underlying assumptions of Euclidian Geometry—including this one—that appear self evident but actually can't be proved.

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

How are radio waves still understandable by devices after being reflected off of surfaces? Is the signal not affected by being 'inverted'?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 03:38 PM PDT

Are oxygen levels in the air less at night than in the day?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 03:36 PM PDT

Got into an argument with my dad regarding this very topic. It started when by brother said that he wanted to go jogging at night but my dad refused saying that the oxygen levels at night are low and won't be good for him.

Keep in mind that we're talking about a suburban area with a relatively large amount of vegetation at roughly 11 pm.

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

Does every planet have a ring "zone" like Saturn?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 01:20 PM PDT

Listened to a talk given by an astronomer who specialized in planet formation talking about Cassini/Saturn's rings. He mentioned how the rings are in an area where gravitational tidal forces prevent long term satellite formation.

Does every planet/star have a region like that, or is Saturn special; if so, do we know why?

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

How many holes in pants? (Not really math, but not really any one thing, so...)

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 03:44 PM PDT

So, I've had this question that's been nagging me. Do pants have 1, 2, or 3 holes? They have 3 openings, but they all link to each other. And from one position it looks like 2 holes coming together to make one, but from another, it looks like one hole that splits off into two. In a way, it can also be seen as one continuous hole which covers both legs. Help.

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

How were Newton's 3 laws of motion first proven to be true?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 01:56 PM PDT

While I was taught to accept these principles as true (and have little doubt in their validity), I am curious as to how we were first able to scientifically prove them to be true. I ask this because in Newton's first laws of motion, couldn't one be skeptical as to the statement if we did not have a full understanding of gravity?

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

Are there any governing equations which determine the size of the habitual zones around a binary system if all information is know about the stars ie mass radii, separation, Effective temperature etc?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 05:15 PM PDT

Why are "x" and "y" the two primary variables in most of algebra?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 05:13 PM PDT

On a 2d graph, the axes are always labeled either x or y, as well as many problems being "solve for x" or a basic linear equation of y=x, yet unless you substitute y for f(x), why dont people use "a" and "b" or even "y" and "z"? Who came up with "x" and "y"?

submitted by /u/LilBabyVirus5
[link] [comments]

What happens when a cell spends too much time in interphase?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 04:46 PM PDT

If atoms are electrically neutral, then why do they form bonds? How can electrically neutral atoms have different electronegativities?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 08:16 PM PDT

For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8, which means it has 8 protons and 8 electrons. Thus, it is electrically neutral (correct?). However, it wants to form bonds with say hydrogen, why would they want to fill their valences if they are neutral? Hydrogen is +1, oxygen is -2, so two hydrogen to an oxygen, but how can they be negative (or positive) if they are electrically neutral? I've googled this, but I can't quite find the answer I'm looking for. Perhaps some of my underlying assumtions are incorrect. Thanks!

submitted by /u/Minecraftian1998
[link] [comments]

What properties do ferrous materials have that other metals don't, allowing for the formation of magnets?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 10:03 AM PDT

Is the human sleep cycle flexible or locked to the day/night cycle of the earth?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 09:56 AM PDT

The part of the brain that controls sleep is in the hypothalamus, the rather primordial survival part of the brain. That fundamental part was formed simultaneously throughout evolution with the 24 hour day/night cycle the earth has influencing it's sleep cycle.

Is a different day/night cycle something that humans can adapt to short term or long term? Or is the 24hour day night cycle baked into our brains and any deviation will have negative effects that cannot be adapted to? If yes, how elastic a deviation we can have without negative effects?

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

How are human haplogroups different from speciation?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 11:38 AM PDT

I don't want this to come across as racist. I know race relating to skin color is an arbitrary, dated, and ignorant concept. This is a serious question.

Why aren't the differences in human haplogroups isn't considered speciation?

Also I am aware that species are a sort of dubious concept to begin with, I am using it in the basic sense of similar but different animals like lions and tigers. But humans being more similar like with dog breeds. I know dog haplogroups exist but not much more than that.

Also, I am asking if "the races" are different species now. I want to know if the variation in haplogroup types are the begins of new species.

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

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Do people who were sleep deprived during adolescence tend to crave sleep as adults more often than their body really needs?

Do people who were sleep deprived during adolescence tend to crave sleep as adults more often than their body really needs?


Do people who were sleep deprived during adolescence tend to crave sleep as adults more often than their body really needs?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 05:35 PM PDT

I'm thinking in terms of people who grew up with not a lot of food. As adults when they eat they might tend to scarf it down or hoard it for later. Even though they have plenty to eat now, they are still psychologically effected from not having much when they were growing up. Would behaviorisms like that occur from sleep deprivation?

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

The Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 megatons. According to Wikipedia "the bomb would have had a yield in excess of 100 megatons if it had included a uranium-238 tamper". Why does a U-238 tamper increase the yield as opposed to other materials or no tamper at all?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 05:03 AM PDT

I have a very bare-bones understanding of how nuclear weapons work.

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

At which size do particles start casting shadows instead of behaving according to the Fraunhofer diffraction?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 02:09 AM PDT

We just learnt about Rayleigh, Mie and Fraunhofer and neither our Prof nor his contacts could sufficiently answer at which particle size the particle becomes too large for Fraunhofer diffraction and instead casts a shadow, like a regular ball for example.

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

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

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 08:12 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
[link] [comments]

What is the explosion speed of gasoline?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 07:12 AM PDT

I was looking this up because I was wondering how fast someone would have to run to out run a gas fireball. But I couldn't find it anywhere.

submitted by /u/Syndr1l
[link] [comments]

How does blending fruit/veg change nutrient content and uptake by the body?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 12:50 AM PDT

I have read that blending can change the speed with which your body absorbs sugars, making blood sugar spike rather than slowly releasing sugar (when you eat the food). But does blending change the vitamin or micronutrient contents of the food? E.g. a smoothie of spinach, blueberries, strawberries, apple juice.

submitted by /u/Stru-bear
[link] [comments]

Do animals experience the same side effects of "neutering" that humans do?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:13 PM PDT

If a human gets his/her testes/ovaries removed, they go through a host of symptoms. Hot flashes, dry skin, vaginal dryness, tiredness, decreased muscle mass, etc, due to the lack of hormone generation. Do animals, have similar symptoms when they get neutered? (By the way I'm mainly talking about cats and dogs in comparison to humans, but I'm open to other comparisons too.)

Neutering also doesn't seem to have any negative affect on the appearance of an animal (Like menopause in women). And it has a positive affect on their temperament. Neutering seems to have net positive consequences for animals, but more mixed results for humans. Is this correct or am I missing some information?

A positive side effect neutered humans and animals share though, is increased longevity.

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

What makes hard material (glass for exemple) shatter when broken compared to softer materials just distorting?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 04:13 AM PDT

Is there a Y shaped magnet? If yes then what are its poles like?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 12:05 AM PDT

How do Robin's, or any other bird, find worms in the soil? Do they use sight?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 03:05 PM PDT

I live in Wisconsin in a quiet neighborhood so I have a lot of different birds in my yard most of the year. I know I could ask Google, but Reddit is way more informational, and way more hilarious. Thank you.

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

A lot of medicine dosages are based on weight, does it matter if the weight is made up of muscle or fat?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 03:21 AM PDT

For example, would a 10% bodyfat 120kg male bodybuilder require the same dose as a 50% bodyfat 120kg sedentary man?

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

How does loaf balancing of electric grid work?

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 02:58 AM PDT

As I understand, the electric grid needs to have exactly the amount of electricity necessary to accommodate a given number of users. How can an electric grid adjust its power every time a user is connected/disconnected? This adjustment seems to be needed instantaneously, but I suppose it takes some time to increase or reduce the power.

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

How do viruses that code for lysozymes not end up lysing their host cell too soon?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 12:36 PM PDT

My biology teacher wasn't able to answer this question so I turned to you guys. If a virus is non-enveloped I was told that they would escape their host cell during the final step of the lytic cycle. Lysozymes would Lyse the host and all the virions inside would escape to infect more cells. My question was, if the lysozymes were coded for in the virions' nucleic acid, wouldn't they be produced at the same time as the other viral components? And if this was the case wouldn't the virus shoot itself in the foot so to speak by lysing it's host before enough virions were produced? Thanks in advance for reading and I hope somebody can shed some light on this topic for me.

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

How far down the eukaryote tree into unikonts towards animalia do we find fruiting bodies as a form of reproduction?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 05:54 PM PDT

People like to mention that mushrooms are closer related to animals than to plants.
While pondering thing, I noted that fruiting is something that both plants and fungi use for propagation.

I can't think of a quick or easy way to look this up (having to go into each kingdom, etc.) so was hoping someone here happened to know. So what's the closest organism to an animal that still fruits?

submitted by /u/meoka2368
[link] [comments]

What's happening inside the computer when it "hangs" and won't respond?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 02:08 PM PDT

I have this old laptop that I've been trying to coax into doing basic tasks but it seems to have trouble even maximizing a window without stopping to think about it for a good 30 seconds. So what's going on inside the computer when it freezes up trying to do a simple task? Why does it freeze up in the first place?

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

Where Does The Space From Deleting Files Come From?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 05:53 PM PDT

When I delete/uninstall a file (say, a 30 GB video game), I get an extra 30 GB on my PC.

BUT, aren't the files just sent to the Recycle Bin? I can retrieve and reinstall them whenever I want to, so they're obviously still stored on my PC.

Where does this extra space come from?

submitted by /u/Shrish3001
[link] [comments]

Aside from aluminum, what percent of American single stream recycling actually gets recycled on average?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 11:59 AM PDT

I know we're no longer exporting recyclable waste to the extent we used to: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/climate/recycling-landfills-plastic-papers.html

I also imagine there's a huge variation between the contents of people's single stream recycling (oil coated pizza boxes going in recycling at one person's house, but the trash at another's) from household to household. We used to add glass to our recycling bins, but were told to stop and then agreed to a $5 surcharge for a separate glass only basket that we can use to recycle just glass.

I loved (I know this is weird) the painful calendar and trash room my Japanese condominium had where I could recycle batteries separate from clear glass separate from colored glass separate from cardboard, etc., etc. In the interest of actually recycling in a meaningful way, I'd rather dial back what I throw in my recycling bin than err on the side of throwing in a bunch of stuff that may make recycling it less practical.

Anyone have any good, clear, recent info on this they can share? It's something I'd like to better understand.

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

What determines how large (or small) the flame on the wick of a lit candle becomes?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 09:46 PM PDT

While watching a new candle burn on a desk across from me, I noticed that its flame reaches higher than the previous candle I had. I thought it might be the length of the exposed wick, but that's about the same as the other one.

I'm also thinking about how bunsen burners have higher flames when you burn more gas, but I'm not quite sure how that connects here (if at all) since flame height was still different even when the candles were brand new.

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

Can exist a 0-dimension manifold?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:45 PM PDT

I start with an example:

SL(1,R) (it should be valid also in C and in H) in theory is a 0-dimension manifold (it is a manifold with dimension 12 - 1 = 0) (SL(1,R) are the matrix with determinant equal to 1, if it is 1x1 then is the only number 1)

The problem is, can a manifold have dimension equal to zero? (Can a Manifold being a point?)

Or the dimension should be at least one?

submitted by /u/Axel112358
[link] [comments]

Why do helicopters lose the max amount of lifting weight at higher altitudes? *SPOILERS FOR MOVIE TRIPLE FRONTIER*

Posted: 27 Mar 2019 01:05 AM PDT

I recently watched Triple Frontier and in it they need to lift 6000 pounds above the andes mountains. The helicopter they use was told to be able to lift 9000 under 2000 ft. They ended up going past the 2000 limit while flying and the helicopter ended up crashing. Is this just hollywood or do helicopters lose the amount of weight they can carry the higher they go? And if so why? (Sorry if flair is wrong I don't know if this would be engineering or physics)

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

How does X-ray crystallography work?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 07:01 PM PDT

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

When did people realize that a whip crack was breaking the sound barrier? What did people think was causing that sound before then?

When did people realize that a whip crack was breaking the sound barrier? What did people think was causing that sound before then?


When did people realize that a whip crack was breaking the sound barrier? What did people think was causing that sound before then?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 02:07 AM PDT

Does an octopus have a dominant tentacle?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 02:52 PM PDT

Do we permanently blind deep sea creatures when we point spotlights at them in their natural habitat?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 03:46 PM PDT

Basically as above. Got me thinking whilst watching Blue Planet. Some creatures appear not to have 'eyes' (at least in the classical sense), so perhaps they use other senses for survival, navigation, etc, and therefore aren't affected. On the other hand, surely shining a light from an ROV or manned submersible, even of low luminosity/brightness/whatever, at creatures who possess some kind of vision would immediately blind them and thus reduce their chances of survival to zero?

submitted by /u/-drmw-
[link] [comments]

If I stick my head out of a car window at 65 mph and try to look directly ahead I’m effectively blinded by the air rushing passed my eyes. How does a cheetah see and track prey when running at top speed?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 07:33 AM PDT

What was the Amazon like when the Sahara was green?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 02:31 PM PDT

So the Amazon gets a lot of its nutrients from Saharan dust. I recall, however, that the Sahara undergoes periodic greening periods due to climatic changes, when dust would presumably be prevented from being kicked up by vegetation and relatively damp conditions. What happens to the Amazon during these periods?

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

How do computers allocate resources?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 02:08 AM PDT

If a computer is doing something in the background, say rendering video, and something in the foreground, say browsing the web, and the web browsing is lagging, why doesn't it automatically redirect resources to ensure that the foreground task is smooth, and devote only the excess resources to the background task?

Or does it?

How do computers allocate resources?

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

In the event of an heart attack why is it an either or decision between thrombolysis and angioplasty? Why can't both be done at the same time or successively?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:07 AM PDT

Non-native English speaker here.

From what I understand, in the event of an ongoing heart attack the doctors must choose between thrombolysis or an angioplasty with stenting/PCI (PCI and Angioplasty are the same thing right?). But both cannot be done.

So suppose someone is very far away from a hospital with angioplasty facilities. Why can't they be given thrombolysis first to save heart muscle and then when they reach the hospital after an hour they are treated with angioplasty with stents? Why does it have to be an either or decision?

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

When you recieve a blood donation, what happens to the DNA of the blood you recieved?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 01:41 PM PDT

Why do Tetanus shots hurt more than flu shots?

Posted: 26 Mar 2019 07:31 AM PDT

I get flu shots every year and seldom feel the shot as more than just a small jab and never feel any discomfort at the injection site afterward.

I got a Tetanus (DTAP) shot yesterday and holy fuck does my arm hurt! The shot hurt going in and my deltoid hurts today.

They appeared to be the same volume of "stuff" so I can't chalk it up to a larger injection volume.

Any ideas?

submitted by /u/sjvmi87
[link] [comments]

If I have two devices (a remote and a flashlight, or whatever) each using two common AA/AAA/D batteries, but only one of them has 100% remaining useful battery power and the other one has 0%... Can I theoretically swap one battery in each device and increase the power of each device to 50% life?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 03:59 PM PDT

How do people who study fluid mechanics get accurate positional data on things like air and water?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 03:21 PM PDT

I know there are things like pressure and motion sensors exist but I don't understand how someone might track the general flow of water in a tank.

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

On a calculator, Square root of -1 gives you a math error, but -1 to the power of 1/2 gives you -1. Why is that?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 07:19 PM PDT

Root of 9 is 3, 9 to the power of 1/2 is 3. Root of 1 is 1, 1 to the power of 1/2 is 1. Root of -1 gives you an error, -1 to the power of 1/2 is -1.

How come?

submitted by /u/throwaway_8098
[link] [comments]

Why does your mouth water when you're about to throw up? Wouldnt the increased saliva make nausea worse?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 12:40 PM PDT

Is all space expanding the same everywhere?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 10:03 AM PDT

Is a cubic foot of interstellar space expanding the same as a cubic foot of intergalactic space?

submitted by /u/Dls95405
[link] [comments]

Is tree bark an ancestral trait in Gymnosperms and Angiosperms or did both species evolve it separately?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 08:35 AM PDT

I'm more of a human anatomy and health sciences fella but this made me curious. In my biology class we're on plant physiology. Gymnosperms and angiosperms are both seed bearing plants and both contain species which have bark. All gymnosperms, to my limited knowledge, have bark while there are many angiosperm trees as well. However, many angiosperms don't have bark. Did angiosperms evolve away from bark and to a fleshier stalk?

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

why do hiccups occur?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 03:11 PM PDT

Since there is a limited amount of energy in the Universe, isn't there a maximum max temperature?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 11:05 AM PDT

Title.

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

How did where the land meets the sea in Ireland result in cliffs and not beaches like everywhere else?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 10:04 AM PDT

I know that through evolution one species can become another species, but at what point does one species turn into another?

Posted: 25 Mar 2019 12:20 PM PDT

I also don't know what flair to put, so I put chemistry

submitted by /u/The-Beat-is-Fope
[link] [comments]