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General Science / How long are the days and nights, relatively speaking, in Norway?

« on: 05/04/2014 09:28:09 »

I'd appreciate if someone would describe what days and nights are like in Norway. How long is a usual day and the night. Is it dark/night continuously throughout the day or just a bit longer than usual. Is there a difference between winter and summer days and if so how long are the winters and summers anyway.
 

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Whats the whole talk about Higgs

« on: 15/12/2011 11:34:05 »

CAn anyone give some easy to understand information to wht implications could the discovery of this Higgs boson particle would have on our understanding of the universe. What gaps would it fill and if this would leave to any more insight into the subject like the origins of the higgs boson itself and so on.

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Why is the new neutrino discovery stirring controversy

« on: 23/09/2011 11:58:14 »

Ok, so all this talk going on about this, might be, discovery of neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light. My question is why is it so enthralling. Correct me on this but didnt quantum physicists already know about quantum particles breaching the speed of light barrier. Isn't it already a consensus among scientists that the quantum world is altogether different from the Einsteinian relativity laws.  

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / How do we trace human evolution?

« on: 01/07/2011 20:24:25 »

Ok, I am having a bit of difficulty understanding the concept of human evolution particularly, and their descent from some common ancestor shared by chimpanzees and bonobos.  I would like to be enlightened about the concept of fossil records that are millions of years old and how they prove that we humans arose from them. This confusion arises in me from the fact that if we consider our present times and take the skeletons of a chimpanzee and a human, then they do have similar features and morphology but obviously they are different species as we know of them  now.  So how does some million year old fossil prove that it were an ancestor rather than some completely different entity present at that particular time.  What if it were some old distinct species, extinct by now, just like dinosaurs. What is the key feature that determines a descent from an ancestor to progeny.  Please put some light on the explanation of an ancestor to human transformation, that I am completely naïve about.

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Does the half life mean something can never decay completely?

« on: 04/06/2011 15:47:53 »

 I was confused about the concept of Half life when we study it in radioactive elements. Theoretically, the element can never actually go out of existence if it obeys  half life. It just keeps reducing to half after a fixed time. I wanted to know if the dilemma arises when we actually introduce the concept of half life to the element, when in "reality" it can end to nothing anyway. What are your thoughts on this!!
                 

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Just Chat! / Can you suggest interesting scientists to listen to?

« on: 22/11/2010 05:32:28 »

I would really appreciate if U ppl could suggest some really interesting scientists I can listen to for example stephen hawking is one and michiu kaku too..

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General Science / What drives osmosis?

« on: 21/07/2010 18:25:02 »

Everyone knows that water tends to move to a more osmolar environment where solute concentration is higher. We reason that water moved via osmosis because it had to equilibriate the osmolarity. My question is...

WHAT CAUSES WATER TO DO SO? WHAT IS IN IT THAT CAUSES IT TO MOVE ACROSS A CONCENTRATION GRADIENT? WHAT IS THAT INNATE ABILITY CALLED?


Mod edit - subject formatted as a question. Please do this to help keep the forum tidy and easy to navigate.
 

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The Environment / Is the Earth warming, or heading for another ice age?

« on: 09/06/2010 21:01:45 »

ok.. i was confused about the difference b/w the terms climate change and global warming with special respect to the fact that though global warming means a rise in temp.. but i heard somewhere that our planets movin towards another ice age.. so howcome ice age if the temperature is rising..


[TITLE ALTERED TO RE-FORMAT AS A QUESTION.]

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How does speed of travel affect the ageing process?

« on: 09/06/2010 20:58:27 »

we've all heard about that theory of relativity and the example people give about the twins with one at rest and growing old while the other movin with the speed of light and when returnin back to mother earth has stayed the same.. now heres my question.. biological changes like ageing and all that like cell cycle and replication will happen even without taking time as an entity or reference. even for someone movin with the speed of light.. although clocks will slow down for em but still the cellular changes should still happen and turn the child old.. whats ur take on that..

10

General Science / Why are rainbows shaped like an arc?

« on: 09/06/2010 20:53:07 »

ok.. now plz someone tell me why we always get to see an arced rainbow .. although i've heard its circular and all that.. someone explain it in comprehensible terms plz...

11

General Science / Why did a frozen bottle of water contract rather than expand?

« on: 01/06/2010 20:13:58 »

i put a plastic bottle full of water in the refrigerator and took it out after it had frozen.. i was wondering why it had compressed by that time. It even compresses after a little while even before freezing to ice. WHAT CAUSES IT TO COMPRESS rather expand.??


[MOD EDIT - TITLE ALTERED TO RE-FORMAT AS A QUESTION.]

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Energy query!!

« on: 29/06/2009 20:06:44 »

hi.. i was thinking lately that there is a loss of energy everywhere, everytime, in the form of heat, light and different other forms.. but still things exist. I mean take an atom for instance. would'nt there be heat loss in the revolutions of an electron.. so when is it that an atom would die out ultimately.. i am aware of the phenomena that an electron would come to a lower energy level after losing some energy, but what if all it's energy is ultimately waived off. take this to a higher scale and consider large objects like the earth of ours, even WE, ourselves becoming short of energy ultimately...
 the question is do things die out after all there energy is gone?? i have a diagram below! 



 

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Why does wringing out a cloth cause water to leave?

« on: 04/03/2009 18:59:43 »

what is the phenomena involved when we twist a wet cloth. what causes the water to fall out of the cloth when we twist the cloth. Is it Inertia??

14

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / double slit experiment question.

« on: 21/12/2007 05:01:12 »

Why does it happen in a double slit experiment that if just one electron is made to pass through the slit, interferrance fringes are observed? I read somewhere that the same electron passes through both slits. How can that be possible.?




Edit:
Hamza. i have changed the title of your topic. This will help people know what your topic is about, helping them to read / respond.
Hope you don't mind. paul

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Atomic energy

« on: 21/12/2007 04:49:59 »

This question is related to the atomic structure. We all know that electrons are revolving around the nucleus of the atom, in fixed orbits (energy levels) and only those orbits are feasible that have certain angular momentum assigned to them and have specific energy.Here are a couple of questions; I was wondering where this assigned energy comes from. What is the energy source and why doesent the energy dissipate. If energy of higher orbits is released, they come to the lower orbits, but what if  the energy of the first orbit dissipated??

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Expanding Universe

« on: 19/12/2007 10:48:43 »

I was reading in a book about cosmology. It said that the universe was expanding and we all know that.. But the proof it gave was that scientists discovered that stars and galaxies were moving away.
            This kind of confused me. Because if we consider universe as a room and stars as people in the room. If the people(stars) are moving away from a center does not mean that the room is expanding. Its just the people that are moving towards the boundaries of the room. Help me on this one.

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General Science / Ear Lobes

« on: 27/11/2007 14:10:14 »

I wanted to know about the importance of our ear lobes.. Do they have any evolutionary importance or just are a pair of vestigial organs left with no use at all?

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General Science / Dark Circles around the eyes??

« on: 23/11/2007 18:03:49 »

What are those dark circles around our eyes that form when we are tired and had'nt had enough sleep..

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General Science / Why aren't birds electrocuted when they sit on power lines?

« on: 23/11/2007 13:29:30 »

I know there must be lots of explanations around but i can't get it that why birds don't get electrocuted when sitting on the power lines of the electric posts??

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General Science / NewScientist help needed!

« on: 15/11/2007 19:34:09 »

Hi guys.. i know these kinds of threads may not be allowed in the forum but i did'nt get help from any other place so i thought why not ask people on this forum.. I am actually looking forward to subscribing for this magazine called NewScientist.. I wanted to know if it would be worth spending money for. I want a detailed review of this magazine from someone who is a subscriber or has even read an issue or two.  I want to know details like the number of pages the magazine has, the paper quality and even the print quality.. and all other stuff one should know before going for it.. I would really really appreciate if someone helps me in this particular case. And i am sorry if i am violating the forum rules but i really do need help..