221

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Could I power my home with the Seebeck effect?

« on: 01/04/2020 09:56:43 »

Jack sent us this:

I live on several acres of heavily wooded land. I'm interested in converting heat from burning wood into electricity. Would the Seebeck Effect, used optimally, generate sufficient electrical current that I could use it to power appliances in my home?

Would it?

222

COVID-19 / Could a friendly bacteria or virus work against the coronavirus?

« on: 01/04/2020 09:47:36 »

Charlie asks:

Is it possible that a virus or bacteria that is friendly to our bodies, or one that we have already dealt with and built up an immune system against, could be used to work against this virus and attack it? Or disarm it in any way and help remove it/eliminate it from our bodies, or give our immune system a helping hand so to speak, as a way of bad fighting bad?

What do you think?

223

COVID-19 / What fibres support the virus for the shortest time?

« on: 31/03/2020 16:14:48 »

John asks:

I work in the nonwovens industry supplying material for the production of anti-bac and anti-viral wipes. I am trying to ascertain which of the many fibres that are used in the industry support the virus for the least amount of time.

The industry uses polypropylene, polyester, polyamide, PLA, polyethylene, wood pulp, viscose, bamboo, and cotton fibres in the main. Materials can also be produced with coatings and additives.

I saw on the BBC news tonight that the virus only survives for a very brief amount of time. Do you know whether the viable dwell time on any of the above fibres has been carried out? Is there another organisation that may be able to help us in our desire to produce a wipe, that in itself, will aid in the fight against this pandemic?

Any research out yet?

224

COVID-19 / What underlying health issues are important?

« on: 31/03/2020 14:29:01 »

Robert asks:

It seems that patients who die of COVID-19 often have underlying health issues. What are these issues? If it is smoking related/emphysema or perhaps diabetes, can those of us who don't suffer from these can draw any comfort, and have a better chance of not being badly affected? Presumably this would also give clinicians a better chance to target the most vulnerable?

Which underlying health issues are most important?

225

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / How to engineer desert sand so it can be used for building?

« on: 06/03/2020 11:20:23 »

Paul sent us this question:

I have read that the world is running out of river sand for building, and that desert sand is no good because the grains are spherical because of constantly being blown around. When folk play billiards, they use a triangle to hold the balls. Can something along those lines be designed (maybe some sort of sponge structure) which would hold the sand in place? Alternatively with all the heat in deserts during the day, concentrate it with mirrors so you have furnaces which can fuse the grains together, perhaps with some binder. You'd get fulgurites which could be crushed and used in the normal way as river sand.

Anyone care to comment?

226

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / How would you describe a new bacterial species?

« on: 04/03/2020 14:45:05 »

Jennie sent us this:

If you isolate a novel bacterial species, how should you go about describing it? Are there standardised methods and techniques?

Any ideas?

227

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Could you regenerate Mars' magnetic field with asteroids?

« on: 03/03/2020 11:43:20 »

Greg sent us this question about terraforming Mars:

If you increase Mars's mass 38% by directing asteroids to it's surface, would it cause its core to once again generate a magnetic field to protect and further develop its atmosphere, as well as increase its gravity to the equivalent of earth? If so, would this not then be a better option than creating greenhouse gas machines on the surface which would only cover the atmosphere issue?

Is it theoretically possible?

228

Technology / Could you use facial recognition to tell someone's intentions?

« on: 02/03/2020 17:55:19 »

Paul asked us:

With facial recognition, could airport security - or any security - study people's faces and determine if some person had nefarious intentions? It would need to be done in conjunction with observing the individuals overall demeanour. If a terrorist were a good poker player could he control his eyes, etc?

Any weight to this?

229

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How much relative time do I gain from the movement of the Earth and Sun?

« on: 02/03/2020 16:19:36 »

Dan sent us this:

The Earth rotates at 600 miles an hour.
The Earth orbits around the Sun at 70,000 miles an hour.
The Sun travels through the galaxy at 450,000 miles an hour.
I assume the first 2 will cancel as day/seasons come and go.
But, 450,000 miles an hour - if I live to be say 80,000 years old, due to relativity, how much time have I gained? Relative to someone not moving, millions of light years away from everything.

Any response?

230

Physiology & Medicine / Can you extract the beneficial parts of Laron Syndrome?

« on: 28/02/2020 15:42:40 »

Rikhil would like to know:

Is it possible to extract the dwarfism component of Laron Syndrome and keep the beneficial components of it - such as longer lifespan and immunity to cancer - and mass produce a serum for everyone to reap the benefits? If yes, then has it started?

What do you think?

231

Physiology & Medicine / Is solar cheilitis reversible?

« on: 28/02/2020 11:12:57 »

Regina sent us a medical query:

I have solar cheilitis (also known as actinic cheilitis or cheilosis) and my Google search took me to the AAOM (American Academy of Oral Medicine). I wanted to know what I could do to repair all if not some of the damage. The AAOM site reports that "the tissue damage in solar cheilitis is irreversible." Is this true?

Is it?

232

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Why do dog breeds differ so much in appearance?

« on: 27/02/2020 11:47:26 »

Imogen has had this question on her mind:

Why do dog breeds differ so much in appearance when they all descend from the wolf? I realise that humans have been breeding different types of dogs for hunting, as guard dogs etc., however I can simply not comprehend how a chihuahua and a greyhound can descend from the same animal.

What is it about dogs that means breeding can change their physiology so dramatically?

233

Physiology & Medicine / What do you think of recent attempts to rigorously define intelligence?

« on: 27/02/2020 11:22:11 »

A question here from Tristan:

I was listening to an episode where you were talking about intelligence and IQ and was wondering what you thought of recent attempts to give a more rigorous definition of intelligence? For example: https://definitionmining.com/index.php/2018/01/03/intelligence/

What do you think?

234

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Why do some burnt matches float and others sink?

« on: 26/02/2020 15:49:12 »

Here's a question from Martin, which I paraphrased for the thread title:

Here in Slovakia we have a popular myth: if you throw burnt matches into some water, the number that fall to the bottom is the number of people that have cursed you. I once tried this, and none fell - all stayed at the water's surface. Is there a scientific explanation for this?

Looks like that isn't always the case and burnt matches do sometimes sink. Any insight as to why?

235

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Could the formations of the moon and of Pangaea be connected?

« on: 26/02/2020 14:14:44 »

Esteban came to us with a theory...

Is there a connection between the origin of our moon, if it was formed from a collision with earth, and the later formation of Pangaea? And if it would be possible that our moon impacted in the area known today as the pacific ocean, creating a bulge on the opposite side?

Any thoughts?

236

Physiology & Medicine / What is yellow fingernail syndrome?

« on: 25/02/2020 16:19:27 »

Ben got in touch with a medical query:

"My mother suffers from yellow fingernail syndrome, and along with it she has bad sinus issues and henceforth re-occurring lung issues with fluid and phlegm in the lungs - and it has partially collapsed one lung.  After a seeing bunch of different lung and sinus specialists over the last 10 years, they haven’t been able to do anything to improve her condition and they pop her in to the 'too hard' basket.

Can anyone shed any light on this disorder? Is it purely reactionary? Fungal? Bacterial? Genetic? Allergic/immunological?"

Can anyone help?

237

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / If a car acts like a Faraday cage, why does lightning damage it?

« on: 24/02/2020 15:04:36 »

Geoff from South Africa got in touch with this:

The other day we had a report in the paper of a car being struck by lightning and it caused severe damage to the car. My question is: if the car is supposed to act like a Faraday cage, how come there can still be extensive damage to the car - when we would have thought that the Faraday cage effect would have protected the actual car from the lightning's energy?

What do you think?

238

Physiology & Medicine / If a pregnant woman gets measles, is it true the baby might be born blind?

« on: 24/02/2020 12:12:32 »

Listener L. Klein got in touch to ask:

"I no longer hear of the danger to pregnant women and their babies from measles. I seem to remember, if the mother got measles, the baby could be born blind. Has this been disproved? I would think anti-vaxxers might be sympathetic to the danger they are causing if this is a possibility."

Can anyone answer?

239

Physiology & Medicine / Can herbal formulations be made stronger by liposomals?

« on: 21/01/2020 15:54:42 »

Charlene wants to know:

"Can herbal formulations be made stronger by liposomals?"

What do we think?

240

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / MOVED: How will the reversal of Earth's polarity affect us?

« on: 20/01/2020 12:35:04 »

This topic has been moved to the Question of the Week board because, as you might guess, it's our question of the week.

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=77800.0