I’m interested in understanding the neural mechanisms that allow the brain to distinguish between voluntary muscle movements, like deciding to pick up an object, and involuntary movements, such as the reflex to withdraw from a painful stimulus. What specific neural pathways are responsible for these different types of movement, and how do they interact within the brain and spinal cord?

This version is more focused on the neural pathways and processes, which might be seen as more specific and suitable for r/AskScience. It emphasizes the scientific aspect, which is what the subreddit encourages.

This is a broad question so if you know where I can do my own research on this topic I’d appreciate it.

What websites can I visit that have peer-reviewed research? What YouTube channels focus on this topic?

Apologies if this is not the correct subreddit. If it is not, I’d appreciate you pointing me in the right direction.

I know implosions/explosions of humans due to massive atmospheric pressure differences only happen when the change is pretty fast, but if given enough time to adjust, the human body can go really deep underwater at really crazy pressures and surface again and be fine. (Given they have enough decompression time, air mixtures, etc)

I know blobfish don’t look that nasty when they’re under the water, in their home where their high internal pressure matches the pressure of the water around them. So I wonder, is the blobfish getting all… blobby… only because it’s pulled up quickly? Or is it’s body just incapable of staying structured at surface pressure? If we pulled it up reallllllyyy slowly, and gave its body enough time to decompress, could we pull one to the surface that’s not all gross and mangled? Could I then hypothetically keep a blobfish as a pet in an aquarium at surface water pressure?

I was thinking about the fact viruses aren’t living organisms and I really do not understand what has made them and why they even attack our organisms? Like they cannot choose to replicate neither do they have any reason to, they aren’t even alive. So it cannot be about survival because they cannot even live or think about it in any way.

So why are they here and why the hell do they attack our cells to replicate? Why is this the process? It makes no sense to me.

I tried to Google this but the only results are HOW they infect us which I already know. Thanks in advance for your help.

How does soldering something in a motherboard actualy sends the information to the board

There's a storm right now and lightning struck close enough I felt it and that seems to happen a lot more here than it did in Nebraska...

I hope this is the right sub for this. I couldn't find any others to ask it in. Currently watching Cold Case Files and the question came to me. Thanks!

For example, if a noise is generated on Earth and is 100 decibels from 50 meters away, is it louder or quieter if the same sound was generated, say, on the surface of Mars?

Are there other metals or alloys that would be better? Cost is irrelevant.

More roads and sidewalks are being repaired or replaced with asphalt in my area compared to concrete. Since asphalt surfaces seem to be hotter than concrete, I was curious if the shift over to asphalt is indirectly causing climate change to speed up slightly.

I am not familiar with how either product is manufactured, so I could see where one method produces more greenhouse gases than the other.

is there an accellular living organism?

Why do humans itch, is it pain? is it just our tingly senses going off? irritation? what is it exactly. And more so, why do some people have itches more often than others?

Hi, I'm Joe Bagley. I joined the City Archaeology Program in 2011 as the fourth City Archaeologist since the program started in 1983. I manage a team of archaeologists working on collections housed at the City Archaeology Laboratory in West Roxbury, regulate archaeological sites in Boston, manage Rainsford Island, and conduct community archaeology projects throughout the city with a focus on highlighting underrepresented histories. I received my Bachelor's Degree in Archaeology from Boston University and a Master's Degree in Historical Archaeology from UMass Boston. I have published two books: A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts in 2016 and Boston's Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them in 2021. I specialize in historical archaeology and ancient Native archaeology of New England. In 2024 and 2025, I will be leading a team of archaeologists seeking to uncover more information about the Battle of Bunker Hill in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston.

I'll be on at 12pm (16 UT) to answer your questions. AMA!

Username: /u/novapbs

Since butane is highly flammable, I don't understand how making contact with the flame does not light the torch instantly every time.

Seen in the picture, I hold the lighter slightly away which burns some of the butane from the torch but does not ignite the torch. Sometimes it blows out the lighter entirely and still doesn't ignite. If you hold the lighter directly to the tip, it lights instantly.

Is it the velocity of the butane from the torch preventing the ignited gas past the lighter from 'catching up' with the origin?

https://imgur.com/a/LIJyA7W

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...".

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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.

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Past AskAnythingWednesday posts can be found here. Ask away!

I've been reading a lot lately about various conditions that can cause chilblains and chilblain-like lesions. I'm interested to know, what are the differences (if any) between the chilblain-like lesions seen in chilblain lupus and those seen in interferonopathies such as SAVI, AGS etc.

I did some search online and it mentions lipid peroxidation and protein denaturing.

What exactly happens in that case? What biochemical pathways are activated that are not typical of digesting protein and lipids in case of consuming this ?

As far as I know protein gets denatured when you subject them to heat, which we do everyday while cooking. so why is this different ?

As for lipids, what happens when oxidized lipids are consumed ?

I would appreciate any links or books for further reading

I added the Chemistry flair, because organic chemistry, but if it needs to be under biology or medicine or human body, let me know

It seems to me (as a total idiot when it comes to physics) that turning the energy produced by nuclear reaction into steam by essentially boiling water feels a bit... primitive. I am sure that this question will roll a few eyes but I'm binge watching documentaries about nuclear reactors, and I was a bit surprised that even proposed fusion reactors is geared towards reaction->water->heat->steam>energy.

Silly question, probably. But, a black object absorbs more light than a white one. And it radiates more heat than a white one too. Wouldn't it be the same for an antenna with whatever band of electromagnetic radiation it's built for?

(not sure if Physics may be a more appropriate flair - I apologize if I mis-flaired this post)

Would anti-hydrogen i.e. the antimatter counterpart of Hydrogen, have the same orbital levels and shapes, as regular hydrogen? Would a more complex structure like anti-oxygen (we haven't synthesized this yet as far as I know - so theoretically) have the same shape/size orbitals as 'normal' Oxygen?

While thinking about this I was also wondering if anti-hydrogen, would be considered an element? (as a side question, would we need to redo the periodic table to accommodate these antimatter elements?)

Thank you.

title

On iceland, a company wants to utilise super heated water for steam turbines. How much water is stored underground to make this feasible? I was under the the assumption, that there is a limited amount of water in the bedrock. Traditional thermal heating utilises just the thermal differences between the bedrock and the surface temprature. It seems like a drillhole aimed at super heated water would run out of it just like oilwells will eventually run dry.

Socotras unique fauna comes from the fact that it broke away from the mainland thousands of years ago which Crete also did. However, socotras fauna is not only unique in comparison to it's neighbours but in comparison with anywhere else. This doesn't apply to Crete.

Why?

Edit: examples of the uniqueness of socotra are things like the dragons blood tree.

Why would a sunburn matter when you're 20 years old if you're basically a giant ship of theseus?

It can also be taken in the form of a pill but I do not understand how something that can be absorbed via light can also be absorbed in physical form.