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Question of the Week / QotW - 22.07.11 - How dangerous is an explosion on the moon?

« on: Today at 11:14:04 »

Listener Neil submitted this brain blaster to The Naked Scientists to find the answer for.

"Would an explosion on the moon be more powerful than an explosion on the Earth?"

How do you think they would compare? Leave your discussions in the comments below...

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / What is a black hole made of?

« on: 27/06/2022 14:44:36 »

David has written in with this question to find answers to.

"Is it possible Black Holes could be made from sub-atomic particles?"

Discuss in the comments below...

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Question of the Week / QotW - 22.07.04 - Why can't I open a fridge door immediately after closing it?

« on: 27/06/2022 14:24:31 »

Listener Josie submitted this question with the hope we can figuring out this function of fridges.

"Why can't I immediately open my fridge door after closing it? It feels like air pressure is keeping it closed. Is this the case?"

Why do you think this is the case? Discuss in the comments below...

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The Environment / What is the history of our oceans like?

« on: 08/06/2022 15:40:45 »

Donald is curious about finding the answers to this question.

"The Earth has been through many ice ages and even been a 'snowball' with life existing in the oceans. Obviously, the liquid ocean must lose volume as more water is trapped in ice and on land, though exactly the amount is difficult to know exactly. Is there a record of the Earth's ocean's salinity in the geologic record? And can the amount of liquid water be calculated from that record. And at the most extreme, how much of the Earth's water was ice when it was a snowball? And at what time was the living biomass greatest? What is the limiting element that restricts biomass among H, C, K, N, P, O, or is it available liquid water?"

Discuss in the comments below...

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Is ant behaviour instinctive?

« on: 08/06/2022 15:33:54 »

Donald wants to find the answers to this question that he submitted to The Naked Scientists

"Certain ants farm fungi, other ants milk aphids.  Certainly, these are behaviours that are now generational.  Can scientists determine whether this behaviour is passed on by learning or is it instinctive in a collective of ants reared away from their colony?"

Place your answers in the comments below...

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Physiology & Medicine / Can hot tubs give us some benifits of exercise?

« on: 08/06/2022 15:30:25 »

Jon is eager to find the answer to this question.

"When one exercises, among other things, one's core body temperature
often rises, and one's heart rate rises.  Of course, various muscle
groups also are stressed.

Suppose you just sit in a hot tub for an hour.  Your core body
temperature will rise, your heart rate is likely to rise, and you may
well sweat.

Does sitting in that hot tub, which stresses your heart and body, confer
any benefits similar to "real" exercise?  It would seem that it might,
if one puts the "various muscle groups" aside."

Discuss your thoughts in the comments below...

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Chemistry / Is hydrogen a clean way to power cars?

« on: 08/06/2022 15:21:48 »

John wants help finding the answers to this question.

"If we all start to drive Hydrogen powered cars, where will the H2O exhaust fumes go? Will H2O be the next greenhouse gas?"

Leave your answers in the comments below...

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Can we hitchhike on asteroids to travel through space?

« on: 08/06/2022 15:18:41 »

Listener Francis is interested in finding answers to this question.

"During the planning process for Japan's round-trip to the asteroid Ryugu was there any discussion of leaving any sort of instrument on the asteroid to take photos and collect data as it continued on it's journey? Does anyone have plans to use an asteroid or comet as a vehicle to survey the farther reaches of our solar system?) If we have enough time to locate an astronomical vehicle, build a probe and intercept, why not hitchhike?"

What do you think? Leave your answers in the comments below...

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Question of the Week / QotW - 22.06.27 - Can shipping container scanners damage electrical components?

« on: 06/06/2022 15:15:51 »

Alaster encountered this problem in his car when travelling from Cape Town to the UK and wondered if there was a scientific explanation for this problem.

"The electricals in my car stopped working after it was transported via shipping container from Cape Town to the UK. I think there was a fault in the scanner in Cape Town. My question is, how does a container scanner work? Can it damage the electrical components within cars?"

What do you think? Discuss in the comments below...

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Question of the Week / QotW - 22.06.06 - Does texting and emailing affect our cognitive functions?

« on: 30/05/2022 16:30:54 »

Listener Mike has reached out to the Naked Scientists with this communication conundrum.

"Does email and texting affect our brain's cognitive functions?"

Do you have the answer? Discuss your findings in the comments below...

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Physiology & Medicine / Have covid 19 vaccinations helped/hindered monkeypox?

« on: 26/05/2022 14:16:23 »

Terry wants to know the answer to this question.

"Is it possible that monkey pox, normally countered by our immune systems with little or no symptom, is no longer being controlled by our immune systems because of something 3 or 4 covid vaccinations has done to those systems?"

Discuss your findings in the comments below...

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The Environment / How do we terraform a habitat?

« on: 26/05/2022 14:11:10 »

Donald is curious about finding the answer to this question.

"Given a promising planet devoid of life in a habitable zone, say with a profile like early Earth, what would a terraformer do to create a viable, self sustaining planet full of life. Is it as simple as introducing one initial successful asexual cell, and wait? Or can the process be accelerated by sequential introduction of appropriate organisms, and which ones in which order and WHY?"

Leave your thoughts in the comments below...

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Have animal reactions to mirrors and windows been studied?

« on: 26/05/2022 14:08:41 »

Donald has sent in another question to the forum for answers.

"Are there classifications of how different animals with eyes act/react/learn to behave with unnatural objects like windows, mirrors, or visual illusions. Obviously they might adapt like fish in a glass aquarium, but initially, there must be curiosity/exploration/testing. Birds fly into windows, cats hiss at their reflection,  but what about octopus, turtles, lions, elephants, penguins, etc. Can animals be fooled by visual illusions that humans usually require their advanced cortex to process?"

Submit your answers and findings in the comments below...

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Can red/blue shifts be below galaxy arms instead of just above?

« on: 26/05/2022 14:02:52 »

Steve submitted this question to the Naked Scientists for answers.

"In pictures of galaxies the red shift and blue shift visually appear to hover over the galaxy arms by an estimated 10-20 light years, indicating other than direct emission from the arms.
and the question is: as the red/blue shifts are on opposite sides above, could they also be below the galaxy arms, as in blue over blue, red over red, or blue over red and red over blue?, keeping things in (electromagnetic) balance?"

Discuss in the comments below...

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Chemistry / What properties does liquid carbon have?

« on: 26/05/2022 13:56:12 »

Johnny would like help finding the answer to this question.

"At what pressure & temperature does Carbon become a liquid?"

Discuss in the comments your answers...

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Marine Science / Why is the ocean salty?

« on: 26/05/2022 13:50:50 »

Sarah wants to know the answer to this question.

"Why is the ocean salty?"

Leave your answers in the comments below...

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Question of the Week / QotW - 22.05.30 - Why can't my partner smell certain "countryside" aromas?

« on: 24/05/2022 15:00:46 »

Listener Tim wants to know the explanation for this scented situation.

"Why can't my partner smell certain strong odours when in the countryside? She can smell manure but is immune to smelling certain potent flowers and herbs?"

Why do you think this is the case? Discuss your answers in the comments below...

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Question of the Week / QotW - 22.05.23 - Where does the potential energy of a spring go in acid?

« on: 23/05/2022 14:41:01 »

Mark was asked this question by his high school chemistry teacher years ago, who didn't know the answer, and wonders if The Naked Scientists could help.

"What happens to the potential energy of a compressed coil spring that is dissolved in acid?"

Let's all spring to action and leave the answers in the comments below...

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / What happens when photons leave the sun?

« on: 18/05/2022 16:29:31 »

Donald has submitted this question to be posted onto the forum,

"When photons are on their 1,000,000 year journey out of our sun, are they traveling at 'c', or are photons slowed by the electromagnetic soup called plasma. Also, since it takes energy to escape from the sun's gravity well, do photons lose some of their energy and shift frequency upon leaving the surface of the sun? How much energy and how much Doppler shift is there?"

Discuss in the comments below...

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Why doesn't evolution revert when environments change back?

« on: 18/05/2022 16:18:27 »

Donald has presented this conundrum to The Naked Scientists,

"It seems evolutionary change though controlled by a physical molecule (DNA/RNA) rarely reversed it's direction, or undoes/reversed a change. Why don't organisms revert to prior, highly successful forms when the stress that made them change is eliminated?  Like nothing has even tried to be another dinosaur."

What do you think? Discuss in the comments below...