41

Physiology & Medicine / Why do our own farts seem to smell better than others'?

« on: 11/09/2019 15:55:54 »

Martin is wondering...

Why is it that the smell of the flatulence gas is not too bad when its your farts, but when others do it it's nearly always disgusting?

Any thoughts?

42

Chemistry / Will saline lower the absorbance values if used to dilute BSA?

« on: 11/09/2019 13:27:57 »

Lucida asks...

If saline is used to dilute BSA instead of water for a standard, will saline lower the absorbance values?

Can you help?

43

Physiology & Medicine / Why do we sometimes faint after having a cast removed?

« on: 10/09/2019 10:49:33 »

Michael asks...

My son had a cast removed from his arm to have a new one put on. A few minutes after the removal he fainted, and the nurse said it's a thing. Why would this happen?

Can you help?

44

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Why are weeds more robust than vegetables?

« on: 09/09/2019 11:56:38 »

Paul is wondering...

I plant some vegetables.
I go out into the garden a couple of weeks later and my garden is a mass of green......weeds!
I don't need to water or feed the weeds. They are very robust.
Have our vegetables been so inbred that they are genetically weak? Do our vegetables need to be crossbred with weeds to be more robust?

What are your thoughts?

45

Physiology & Medicine / What are the sizes of stains used in pathology for crack determination?

« on: 06/09/2019 15:19:30 »

Hitesh is asking...

What is the minimum size of stains used in pathology that can penetrate sufficiently if used for crack determination on hard tissues?

Can you help?

46

Chemistry / Where does the spent car tire rubber go?

« on: 05/09/2019 10:13:39 »

Thomas is wondering...

I just purchased 4 new tires. Each of my old 4 tires were worn about 3/8 inch around the entire tire. I don't see stacks of spent rubber by the side of the road, so where does all that rubber go? And the millions of other tires that wear out similarly?

Can you help?

47

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Is there a planet could we migrate to now?

« on: 04/09/2019 15:11:33 »

Demi asks...

If the Earth suddenly became unfit for humanity, what planet could we possibly migrate to?

What do you think?

48

Physiology & Medicine / Is there a food that’s more nutritionally dense than physically dense?

« on: 03/09/2019 14:34:03 »

Trent asks...

Is there any food that’s more nutritionally dense than it is physically dense? Meaning, if you eat 100 g of it before going to bed, you’ll wake up 200 g heavier (or at least 101 g heavier?)

What do you think?

49

Chemistry / Can we use oxygen absorbers to keep food fresh for longer?

« on: 03/09/2019 11:50:20 »

Sandy is asking...

Many items including foods often come with a small sachet labelled deoxidizer or absorber.
I assume they help preserve the freshness of the products. I have placed them with leather goods to keep them from going mouldy, but how safe are they to be used to keep fresh food items for longer?

Can you help?

50

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Why do we not see any stars stuck at the event horizon?

« on: 02/09/2019 16:03:37 »

Richard has been puzzling over the following:

As a neutron star gets closer and closer to an event horizon of a large black hole we understand that gravitational energy is lost as the spiralling pair loose energy by buckling space-time. It’s intuitive that the neutron star rotates around the black hole faster and faster and thus the resultant chirp detection from LIGO. So far so good.

The problem comes for me when, as we are told, that if a friend is in a space craft and they head towards the event horizon, our perception of the space craft as we are viewing it and the rate at which the radio waves of our friend is talking to us gets slower and slower, and at the event horizon itself we perceive the space craft never actually gets past this boundary but gets stuck in time as the space part gets so large the time part needs to get so small.

So how do we get the chirp? Why not a lowering frequency chirp and why do we not see any stars stuck at the event horizon?

Any thoughts?

51

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Do flamingos have scouts?

« on: 02/09/2019 11:17:31 »

Wim asks...

I live near Cape Town next to a little estuary lake that has flamingos in it.
When there is no rain the city closes the mouth to the sea to keep the water in but then it loses salinity and the water gets dirty and the flamingos leave.
Then when the rains come and they open up the exit again the water quality improves and the flamingos come back.

How do the flamingos know that the water is ok again? Do they send individuals out to scout for better places to stay?

Any thoughts?

52

Physiology & Medicine / Can we preserve one's gut microbiome for later use?

« on: 23/08/2019 14:36:42 »

Elvis is wondering...

Some months ago you had program on the gut microbiome. In that program you said that people who have had their microbiome destroyed or depleted could now be given a fecal transplant from somebody with a healthy microbiome. My question is: could a person undergoing an operation, medical procedure or treatment (e.g. long-term use of antibiotics) which could or would damage their microbiome, have a fecal sample taken beforehand and then preserved for replacement at an appropriate later date, thus restoring their microbiome to its former health?

What do you think?

53

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Minimizing cell phone radiation when listening to podcasts?

« on: 23/08/2019 10:21:17 »

Al asks...

To minimize radiation, is it better to use a Wireless Bluetooth transmission or Hard Wire transmission from my cell phone to my receiving headset?

What do you think?

54

Chemistry / Ethanol replacement for a red cabbage-based natural indicator?

« on: 22/08/2019 13:49:53 »

Ashley asks...

I have to make a natural indicator at home for a project and test household items, I chose to use red cabbage but I don’t have ethanol as the instructions suggest, can I use acetone or nail polish remover instead?

Can you help?

55

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Do small and big organisms experience time differently?

« on: 22/08/2019 09:47:12 »

Dispassionate-Iah asks:

Is the passage of time relative to the size of the organism? i.e. Will smaller organisms experience time passing slower than much larger organisms?
Also, is the passage of time relative to the pace and no. of one's activity?

What do you think?

56

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Can fusion power use the same facilities as fission power?

« on: 21/08/2019 16:18:42 »

Ed is wondering...

If and when fusion power is developed to a usable form, will it be able to take advantage of the infrastructure already in place at the various closed fission facilities around the world?

What do you think?

57

Technology / Can we turn text into thought waves?

« on: 21/08/2019 12:10:33 »

Paul is wondering...

A few weeks ago I heard about thought waves being interpreted in text or speech. Is anyone researching the opposite so that I could lie in bed at night with my eyes closed but wearing a soft hat which conveys messages to my mind so that I can read my textbooks without having to use my eyes? I know there are podcasts but I have textbooks I want to read.

Can anyone help?