Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/October 2009

Welcome to the Wikipedia Science Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a monthly archive index. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

October 1

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 1

1. Pauli Exclusion Principle, Electron Spin, and Magnetism
2. Quantum paradox
3. temp. & pressure depdendence of heat of fusion/vaporisation
4. Homework check
5. calculating the entropy of a substance
6. How do electromagnetic waves propagate through a vacuum?
7. cooling question
8. Name of integrated foreign DNA?
9. Moving with a cat
10. Why are clouds so "lumpy"?

October 2

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 2

1. cancerous lump?
2. The rain after earthquake
3. Would it be possible to shatter a toilet by alighting on it?
4. Ethical guidelines for biologists?
5. Particles from space time traveling thanks to special relativity...
6. acidity... how it changes
7. Human intelligence
8. Architecture, High Ceilings (United States)
9. Spanking a baby when it's born
10. Glycerol Surface Tension
11. The speed of light vs. special relativity
12. Can't remember a term... (Biology)

October 3

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 3

1. Is there really meaning to the speed of light?
2. Magnetic saturation
3. solid mechanics
4. Speed of light between Casimir plates?
5. Surviving a Pyroclastic Flow
6. Visualizing magnetic fields in 3d
7. Mobile phone charging disabling vibration function
8. That "deer caught in headlights" reaction - what is it?
9. Atomic cannon
10. light
11. about photosynthesis,
12. Quantifying Color Blindness
13. Why can't you treat carbon monoxide poisoning with a blood transfusion?

October 4

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 4

1. Help with clarifying what something I've added an article is....
2. pH
3. Fertilisation
4. A question for (early) gun enthusiasts
5. grow
6. Built in GPS Mobile Phones
7. Calculating electrical resistance
8. Temparature in Space
9. Energy transformation and space-time
10. International Space Station Experiments
11. Sclerophyllous plant communities

October 5

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 5

1. Symptoms of novel swine (H1N1) influenza
2. how does........
3. Carbon Monoxide Levels Given Off By Older Vehicles
4. Severe Weather
5. TLC: detecting 0.5% yield?
6. do protonated alkaloids still taste bitter?
7. Seeking list of mercury content of fish species
8. If I was born on Mars...
9. Radiation levels near nuclear reactors

October 6

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 6

1. DNA
2. cellular membranes
3. Name that substance...
4. physics circular motion
5. Cooling towers
6. eclipses (q moved from ents desk)
7. h1n1 (q moved from ents desk)
8. inventor of American sealed hard plastic cases used in late 90's & early 00's?
9. Homunculi
10. The amount of gearing in 3-speed bicycle Hub gear versus Derailleur gears?
11. A few questions

October 7

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 7

1. Hubble space telescope
2. Simple Chem Question
3. Honey bee identification
4. How are Retin-A and Renova different?
5. why isn't cholesterol soluble in acetone?
6. Red blood cell
7. Data for floor area ratio (FAR)?
8. Are there any species with multiple hearts?
9. Eating raw flour
10. the fluorescent light tube
11. moving in space
12. electrolytes
13. "Living wall" vertical planting using felt?
14. Cooling pop

October 8

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 8

1. Continental shift
2. Relaxation and schizophrenia
3. Wheel alignment
4. Raw potato (inspired by question about cookie dough above)
5. carpal tunnel
6. Time Zones
7. freezing point
8. Carbon neutral / entirely dependent on renewable energery
9. B-12 Deficiency

October 9

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 9

1. Convert atmospheric greenhouse gases to flood insurance rates
2. Why preheat the oven?
3. Design with dimensions
4. Shouldn't the list of artificial objects on the moon be edited?
5. LCROSS moon impact
6. are quantum effects the sole reason why heat capacity goes to zero at 0K?
7. biosynthesis of creatine

October 10

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 10

1. Inbreeding
2. Yawning phenomenon
3. thermodynamic resonance stabilisation
4. ring formation
5. h1n1
6. Mushroom from Virginia
7. sugar D M
8. Nutritional value of nut
9. Clouds over Moscow
10. Pepsi One's one calorie
11. Water
12. Fastest human BPM
13. Music levels...

October 11

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 11

1. Does ether and methanol form an azeotrope?
2. Electroplating Copper on Iron
3. dc motor
4. Crack on the Moon
5. Voice
6. how does double-stranded RNA work?
7. decline in platelets
8. paralysed from the waist down

October 12

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 12

1. Rattlesnake Anti Venom avalibility
2. Why is sneezing convulsive?
3. Windmill? Wind turbine? Wind Widget?
4. Mytoses question
5. Silver in a plastic cutting board - antimicrobial/antibacterial or just BS?
6. Abrasive toothpastes
7. when is dQ different from dH?
8. map distances and multiple crossovers
9. blood platelets
10. Time-matter conversion
11. Weather
12. Age hardening of Mild steel under water
13. North Texas weather
14. Urinary Tract Infections
15. Time speed shift
16. KC135 boom
17. Lump on penis
18. Time over distance...

October 13

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 13

1. The irregular dark spots on sidewalks
2. volume change in an isothermal process versus an adiabatic process
3. symbols of restraint in women's fashion
4. Physics
5. The sexual desire of post-op transexuals
6. What is TRAIL PCR?
7. Medicare catheters
8. Very large object
9. Lake at the bottem of the Ocean
10. exothermic reaction with iron powder

October 14

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 14

1. H1N1 vulnerability after infection?
2. Big Bang
3. Antimatter fuel
4. ko kaaf
5. Global warming vs. record lows/snowfall
6. Plate movement rvsals
7. average size of a penis
8. Which parts of the USA have a climate similar to London?

October 15

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 15

1. Higgs Boson sabotages Large Hadron Collider.
2. Ethanol / isoproyl alcohol
3. quartz thermometer
4. Cosmological Constant
5. Proper acceleration
6. Relativistic Energy!
7. Crystal Field effect
8. Energy crisis and environment
9. Hydrogen fusion
10. Kid in the balloon thing
11. Tree trunks painted white

October 16

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 16

1. Wy does refraction occur?
2. Special relativity.
3. nuclear reactor model
4. black hole
5. Does "dark gravity" exist?
6. Chewing gum or no chewing gum on the pavement
7. Water supply in developing countries
8. Oxygen production in the dark?

October 17

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 17

1. Spin quantum number
2. Masturbation and a teen
3. Set of 4 questions: Nanotech, astrophysics, and structural engineering related.
4. Could Alain Robert have escaped the Twin Towers?
5. Cold Fire
6. How do deleaved trees breathe?
7. How to make my doorbell ring for longer
8. Modifying a mobile phone / cell phone to use only as a computing device.
9. stomach pressure in vomiting

October 18

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 18

1. Voltage drop in an extension cord
2. Hychlorite?
3. External Speaker Noise Problem
4. Regulation of cholesterol in blood
5. Seedless pepper
6. LNB Power
7. Erie Canal
8. thioketone thioester?
9. why is phenol toxic?
10. Which population clock is better?
11. A cat breastfeeding another adult cat?

October 19

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 19

1. abu hureyra
2. Ficin and adjuvants
3. electrophilic halogenation
4. superacids and aromatic compounds
5. tractionsystems
6. radioactive labelling and fatty acid synthesis
7. Engine braking - NA vs forced induction
8. PRECISE mechanism of HMG-CoA synthase (how in the world do you replace a methyl group with an oxygen atom?)
9. SMART Transmitters
10. Fainting
11. Fusion Reactor Image..
12. Bilingualism and Inner Monolouge
13. Quantum mechanics free particle - follow-up question
14. precise chemical composition of butterish products
15. Are we getting taller
16. Sharpless epoxidation, dihydroxylation
17. Testicle sweat
18. Odds of skin color and features in children of multiracial couples
19. coffee and weight gain
20. Hidden variable theories and T-symmetry
21. Palladium
22. mercury as an element
23. DNA contains entire human genome?

October 20

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 20

1. Vacuum Ablation
2. largest possible Black Hole
3. an inherently flawed workup to a Grignard synthesis?
4. Does elevated oxygen allow adjusted respiratory rates?
5. IFT TRANSFORMER
6. Neutronium
7. Featured Article - Diamond
8. Artificial "gills" - getting oxygen from water on the fly...
9. Michelson-Morley Experiment Simulation
10. Gargling salt water to prevent swine flu
11. Minimum population to restart the human race?
12. storing freshly charged batteries
13. Human's scent
14. The last of its kind...
15. Dishwashers

October 21

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 21

1. How does the speed of light speed limit jive with physics shortly after the big bang?
2. Blood pressures & winter jackets
3. WWII era German HEAVY tank
4. Coiled rope
5. Acid attack neutralization spray?
6. Lotions and aluminum starch
7. Experiments
8. Particles in Brand New Water Bottle
9. Oil-based scum in me coffee
10. How does resistance change on increasing the tempreture of the conductor?
11. why isn't sodium chloride that hygroscopic
12. CNS & PNS cell types.
13. Shoulder problems
14. Sunrise and sunset on a perfect sphere
15. Stop bleeding
16. Rabbit insertion through human cervix: Reality check

October 22

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 22

1. free energy of a substance and temperature
2. How can I obtain pure sulfur, mercury, lead, and antimony?
3. streoscopy
4. human electricty
5. Alternate Universe?
6. Fine-tuned Universe?
7. Metabolism
8. Alignment of the planets
9. methycobolamin
10. Cable TV distribution
11. temperature

October 23

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 23

1. On the source of the sound of a fart.
2. ketoconazole/ pets
3. Dry ice advice.
4. Brain Fluid Behavior?
5. cdna
6. Change in Velocity without Acceleration
7. electroaromatic substitution in polyaromatic rings
8. help candles??
9. Cosmological Constant in Newtonian Gravitation
10. what's the WORST thing in egg whites?
11. Apollo photo number?
12. Maximum electron orbital speed
13. Process Control
14. Ford Explorer Injectore Over Fueling
15. Rain measurements
16. wireless LAN justification
17. List of objects in the solar system ordered by volume

October 24

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 24

1. Why don't cells make carbon fibers?
2. Mercury "burn"
3. Fixing of insect fat body tissues
4. Cows
5. high dc voltage and current measurement
6. phosphate (and diphosphates) as leaving groups
7. Swine flu vaccine
8. Why would a portable radio's signal go out for one station?
9. sky
10. Humans after extended time in outer space
11. Natural gas from the outer planets?
12. Pterodactyls
13. Artificial Chocolate Flavour
14. Any chance colonoscopy can be replaced?
15. Can you identify this bug?
16. Air composition
17. What is this called?
18. Anabolism in Heterotrophs
19. Eggs (the kind in a woman's body)
20. hedron
21. help
22. stocking ground
23. Confused about transformers.
24. HIV and RNA

October 25

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 25

1. Kaposi sarcoma
2. Time machine coin strory
3. What is this boat.
4. lipids
5. Mixture of gases
6. Coffee Stain
7. Was gentian violet ever a commonly used antiseptic in the U.S?
8. Hippo teeth
9. Membrane fluidity. What is it good for?
10. mental and cognitive development
11. Gravitys effect on radioactive decay
12. DNA stability vs. RNA
13. Radioactive Mercury
14. NaBH4 versus LiAlH4

October 26

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 26

1. Does acid hydration work with enones?
2. short snooze hunched over, always wake up with tremendous amounts of gas in my stomach
3. Girls born first
4. plant viruses.
5. Jones oxidation to COOH
6. In theory
7. Titan or Mars
8. Strong interaction and distance
9. over population control
10. ascetic acetic acid
11. 2,3 bond rotation in diacetyl
12. Bacterium and damage
13. Magnetic Resonance
14. heat reflection of CD/DVD
15. Eyesight in animals
16. Winter view
17. Years of college
18. Manganese
19. Human subspecies

October 27

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 27

1. QED
2. Special Relitivity
3. Underdamped Harmonic Oscillator
4. GMO hemp
5. Tsar Bomba
6. spin forbidden versus classically forbidden
7. Black worms with antenna???
8. disaster preparesdness
9. Make up of the Brain
10. destuctive interference
11. Why do most humans grimace when they're straining themselves?
12. Atherothrombotic Cerebral Infarction
13. Triceratops And Their Frills (And Also Stegosaurus)
14. Mad Chicken Disease?
15. code of silence
16. GVO pigmentation
17. chemistry
18. space expands faster than light
19. What sort of medical data is stochastic?
20. Francium in water

October 28

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 28

1. Food safety question
2. Voice differences between blondes and brunettes
3. plz help fft plots
4. Hard drive for archiving video?
5. maximum frequency infinite or not?
6. Maillard Reaction in Pasta Production
7. Why ozone is over antartica?
8. Electron configurations of rhodium and tungsten
9. Spectroscopy
10. Planets shrinking
11. IR spectrum of benzophenone
12. Are we Europeans all Jewish?
13. Maillard reaction creates acrylamide?
14. Icons of Evolution
15. Saturn V versus Ares rocket: Reinventing the wheel.
16. tiredness

October 29

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 29

1. Effect of smokeless tobacco on dental health
2. Human Hearing Range in Nature
3. Counter circuit Photo-Electric Beams
4. Raisin aversion
5. Earth spinning
6. How many buildings 2 story and above are there in the U.S.A.
7. Glycogen Storage in Human Muscle Cells
8. Ladybirds hibernating

October 30

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 30

1. Collar-size of the woolly mammoth
2. Knee injury test
3. Jumping on concrete versus sand
4. The Verity Incident
5. If I were small enough could I observe an atom?
6. Small populations sizes and genetic mutations
7. Flu vs. other diseases
8. Tramadol expiry dates

October 31

Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2009 October 31

1. Foreign accent syndrome and stroke recovery
2. Increasing the size of the human penis?
3. Nifty Propulsion Device
4. Dry friction
5. Area dependency of friction
6. A noise meter to measure outdoor road noise pollution in the UK?
7. Cicely of Oxford Royal Physician
8. Epidermal growth factor
9. Hydrocephalus
10. Sounds of a Teaspoon in a Mug of Milk?