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Calendar

Date Description
13 Nov Ask Anything Wednesday - Engineering, Mathematics, Computer science
18 Nov AskScience AMA Series: Ducks Unlimited Canada
20 Nov Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology
27 Nov Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology
4 Dec Ask Anything Wednesday - Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science

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  1. For more open-ended questions, try /r/AskScienceDiscussion | Sign up to be a panelist!

We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers. -Carl Sagan, Cosmos

/r/askscience

25,819,276 Subscribers

2

Have storms changed over time across the planet's history? If so, how?

For example, what would hurricanes have been like when all the land was congregated into Pangea? Would they just raged across the ocean uninhibited by any land masses? Would dinosaurs and giant arthropods have experienced tornadoes? And how strong would these natural disasters have been compared to modern times?

0 Comments
2024/11/09
22:43 UTC

0

Are we humans all related very distantly?

I mean if we follow the evolution theory, we all evolved from the same ancestors.

Is that partly why genetic defects can still happen at smaller risk even if the offspring in question was not made between two closely related (by blood) individuals?

20 Comments
2024/11/09
06:52 UTC

7

Seeing as how the rabies test for most animals is lethal, why is there a non-lethal rabies test for humans, and why can't it be used on or even adapted for animals?

2 Comments
2024/11/09
06:10 UTC

12

Are asteroids in the asteroid belt more densely located in one area of its orbit, or are asteroids spread out pretty evenly in a circle/ellipse?

Side question: Does the entire asteroid belt have the same orbital year, or is it different for smaller asteroids versus bigger asteroids?

3 Comments
2024/11/09
05:19 UTC

125

What determines the speed of waves in water?

26 Comments
2024/11/09
17:15 UTC

109

How do we know modern radiometric dating methods to be accurate?

This is probably a kind of dumb question, and i’ve kind of seen it answered before, but wanted more clarity. I have always wondered how we know radiometric dating and other methods like carbon dating to be accurate? I have already read answers such as it follows a “rate of decay” and it’s like a “clock that was fully wound up at the start, but has now run down half way. If you watch how much time it takes per turn and how many turns the spring can take, you can figure out how long ago it was fully wound.” But I don’t find this answer very sufficient (i could be dumb). How do we know the rate of decay follows a particular pattern? How do we know it decays linearly or exponentially or in any set way at all if we have not observed the entire decaying process of the elements we are tracing? (or even a fraction of it since isotopes like uranium-235 have a half-life of 700 million years). In other words, is it possible that our dating methods could be completely wrong since we evidently assume a set pattern for decay? Are we just giving a guess? I am probably missing something huge, and I am incredibly ignorant in this topic, but i’ve just had that question nagging me recently and am looking for an answer.

26 Comments
2024/11/09
04:19 UTC

9

How do plants know when to flower? What are the environmental signals that trigger this process?

9 Comments
2024/11/08
11:29 UTC

20

How does a machine detect a heartbeat?

6 Comments
2024/11/08
11:10 UTC

18

When does an animal or plant become native or lose their native status?

Dingoes have been in Australia for over 4000 years and have embedded themselves into the ecosystem playing the important role of predator. Additionally, horses evolved in North America and went extinct over 11000 years ago and were re introduced by Europeans a few centuries ago.

4 Comments
2024/11/08
09:45 UTC

56

Do animals suffer from mental health disorders?

Unsure what I should tag this as.

We know that animals can suffer from depression for example due to abuse or other reasons. Are there autistic dogs or schizophrenic cats out there, or are some disorders human specific?

61 Comments
2024/11/08
08:17 UTC

12

Why do thunder and lightning accompany rain storms more often than snow storms?

5 Comments
2024/11/08
07:59 UTC

3

Can Nuclear radiation be filtered?

So Chernobyl was spreading nuclear radiation (like it was dust or smoke) before it was contained.

But what's stopping a filtering process to capture those toxic fumes? Can radiation be captured?

Could the elephants foot just be continually filtered air around it?

4 Comments
2024/11/08
06:29 UTC

85

Why do geographic and magnetic poles somewhat align?

Is it because the rotation of the outer core is influenced by Earth's rotation? Is is physically dragged around by the rotation of the upper layers?

11 Comments
2024/11/08
04:33 UTC

522

How does a machine detect whether a diamond is Lab or Natural?

If they are Chemically the same how can a machine tell the difference?

259 Comments
2024/11/07
20:09 UTC

31

How do certain conditions like thyroid make you gain weight without a calorie surplus?

33 Comments
2024/11/07
03:35 UTC

2

Why is it that Radio Telescopes can see through even terrible weather while radar used by militaries can have interference with clouds?

Hello, I was genuinely curious about this because it seems a little confusing to me. One problem in militaries using radar, specifically Air-to-Air defenses and aircraft, is that things like the ground, trees, mountains, and clouds or adverse weather can interfere with the radar, so they have to try to filter it out.

Meanwhile Radio Telescopes used for astronomy seem to not have a problem working under bad weather and even rain.

Is it a difference between frequencies of how the two are used or is there some other at play here?

9 Comments
2024/11/07
00:18 UTC

31

How does oak change the color of liquor?

I've tried searching around and others asking similar questions of aging whiskey in barrels, but all the answers only talk about the flavors added by the aging process. What is happening at the molecular level that changes clear liquor brown? Wine does not impart color from oak and neither does beer, but a fortified wine can change color. Does it have to do with the percentage of alcohol or viscosity, or something else?

24 Comments
2024/11/07
19:42 UTC

92

AskScience AMA Series: We are Climate Scientists Unraveling Water Challenges in the Western US. Ask us anything about atmospheric rivers, extreme weather, and the future of water storage amidst record droughts and floods. Ask us anything!

We are scientists with the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. CW3E provides innovative water cycle science, technology and outreach to support effective policies and practices that address the impacts of extreme weather and water events on the environment, people and the economy of western North America.

Our work studying atmospheric rivers is instrumental in supporting water management decisions and flood forecasting. But what exactly is an atmospheric river? Great question. They're massive ribbons of water vapor in the sky that can deliver large amounts of precipitation (rain and snowfall). Accurate forecasts of these phenomena are essential to both water managers and public safety officials.

You can visit our website to dive deeper into our forecast tools, read our latest AR outlooks and storm summaries and learn more about how our tools can be used.

One of the atmospheric river forecasting products CW3E created with partners is the atmospheric river scale (AR Scale). You can sign up to receive AR scale alerts when ARs are forecast along the US West Coast.

The team will be starting around 9 AM PT. Ask us anything!

List of participants:

  • Sam Bartlett - Researcher & Meteorologist
  • Chris Castellano - Meteorology Research Analyst
  • Julie Kalansky - Deputy Director of CW3E
  • Shawn Roj - Forecast Verification Analyst

Username: /u/CW3E_Scripps

50 Comments
2024/11/07
12:00 UTC

228

What caused the cut-off low in Valencia to be so intense, causing the immense flood?

I have been a weather fanatic for about as long as I can remember. For around 20 years I've been reading weather models and analyses. However, when trying to understand what caused the weather phenomenon in Spain recently, I can't really get my head around it.

The general explanation that I'm reading is "The rains came from a high-altitude low-pressure weather system that became isolated from the jet stream, according to AEMET. These storm systems are known locally by the Spanish acronym DANA or more generally as cut-off lows.".

Ok, clear. But why does this had such a dramatic effect? What makes cut-off lows so intense? " A closed upper-level low which has become completely displaced (cut off) from basic westerly current, and moves independently of that current. Cutoff lows may remain nearly stationary for days, or on occasion may move westward opposite to the prevailing flow aloft (i.e., retrogression).".

As far as I am aware, this is not a uncommon occurrence in Europe. Can someone maybe dumb this down for me? Or maybe have a synopsis about the situation?

I have no official meteorological education or background. However my theory is that this low was stationary, unreasonably cold and drew in tons of moisture because the balearic sea was still so warm(?). This caused all this moisture to condense in a short amount of time in the same place(?).

Can someone dumb this down for me?

19 Comments
2024/11/07
10:10 UTC

16

How would deep sea pressure work on smaller-than-earth bodies?

I was reading that the Jovian moon of Europa has potentially 40-100kms of liquid water under its 10-15km ice crust, and I was wondering; assuming you could magically get through the ice, how would the pressure work? Europa's smaller than Earth, so the water would weigh less, but also you could go a lot deeper - as the deepest part of Earth's oceans is only 11km. Could we use a 21st century submarine on Europa, if it somehow got teleported there?

10 Comments
2024/11/06
04:18 UTC

19

does the trajectory of light follow conic sections in general relativity?

i've already spent a few hours looking up probably the wrong things and i'm already tired. are there any special effects that make the trajectory of light deviate from the normal conic sections in classical physics, specifically in extreme gravity such as near black holes?

3 Comments
2024/11/06
12:35 UTC

113

Ask Anything Wednesday - Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science

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!

77 Comments
2024/11/06
15:00 UTC

53

How did rock layers actually form and build up so flat and organised?

Why are strata so perfectly flat and organised? When formed by millions of years, how come it builds up so orderly and straight with no sign of all the mess of weather, wildlife, erosion, rivers etc?

8 Comments
2024/11/05
23:28 UTC

31

Will ocean warming threaten oxygen production in the ocean?

Is there some level of temperature increase that would kill off large swaths of oxygen producing plankton, for example? Thanks!

7 Comments
2024/11/05
01:36 UTC

239

How does the air get inside a pumpkin?

Like - when a pumpkin is tiny, it obviously had little air inside of it, and then when it gets bigger, there is lots of air inside of it. I have looked all over and haven't really been able to get a clear answer...? Some people say it diffuses through the walls of the pumpkins, but I can't really envision air diffusing through a wall inches thick and full of water.

I guess the same question applies to other hollow fruits, such as some melons or peppers?

57 Comments
2024/11/05
02:06 UTC

181

Are there any traits we've lost that we know of?

As in, traits we had a significant number amount of people having that are now gone? Are there any population bottlenecks where they might have been eradicated just due to bad luck? Not necessarily positive, just things like hair, eye color etc. If every person with green eyes died today I would consider it an example of this.

EDIT: These are neat, but I meant more modern examples, if there are any.

102 Comments
2024/11/05
05:45 UTC

12

why are there different healing times on the same person?

why do similar injuries heal at different speeds on different parts of the body?

10 Comments
2024/11/04
23:29 UTC

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