Random Science Trivia

[Misterspork]

Just share random little things you know about science in general.

Mine:

If an atom were the size of a cathedral, the nucleus would be the size of a fly.

More massive quarks are smaller.

We have smaller 'dwarf' galaxies orbiting our own.

The center of a hydrogen bomb explosion is hotter than the center of our sun for a short time.

The meteor that made Meteor Crater had the energy of 12 megatons of TNT.

The taller you are the longer it takes for your brain to process things(Not much longer though).

All I can think of right now, since it is almost midnight.

[Ascensiam]

This is actually not a bad idea, let\'s see what i can come up with.

- The longest cells in the human body are the motor neurons. They can be up to 4.5 feet (1.37 meters) long and run from the lower spinal cord to the big toe.

- Human jaw muscles can generate a force of 200 pounds (90.8 kilograms) on the molars.

- The highest temperature produced in a laboratory was 920,000,000 F (511,000,000 C) at the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor in Princeton, NJ, USA.

[NovaSilisko]

The Apollo Service Module Engine had far more thrust than was required for what it was used for. This is because the engine was originally designed for the direct-ascent approach - and would have had to land a massive spacecraft on the moon.

[Key of door]

The LHC can produce blackholes.

[iamwearingpants]

I hope you can accept some math stuff

-The surface of the largest star, VY Canis Majoris, would almost extend out to Saturn

-The universe will repeat it\'s quantum state in a very large amount of time

-The number 37 multiplied by a multiple of 3 is a repdigit if it\'s under 1000

-0.999999999... is equal to one

-An infinite number of elements is not possible because the electrons would need to orbit faster than the speed of light past number 126 (although some people argue the limit is 174)

[Guest Flixxbeatz]

-

Science Trivia: This guy is wearing pants.

[Agamemnon]

-An infinite number of elements is not possible because the electrons would need to orbit faster than the speed of light past number 126 (although some people argue the limit is 174)

according to what?

i was told there is nothing like 'elements orbiting nucleus'... it\'s just a helpful concept to make understanding easier for high school or some basic physics courses...

[bandit4910]

Ermm

If a Gas Giant with the same gravity as Jupiter has been orbiting two stars for a long time at a close distance the two stars can collide, this is because the planet\'s gravity is very large/

[closette]

1. The effective spring constant of a H-Cl molecule is about 500 N/m, the same as a garage door spring. (However you\'ll only be able to open the door a few picometers if you replace each spring with a molecule).

2. If you are standing on a mare near the Moon\'s equator and the Sun sets in your view, you can make it rise again by jogging at an easy 5 m/s westwards. To do the same thing on Earth requires a supersonic fighter jet than can travel faster than 1.7 km/s.

Well you said random! Great thread, by the way.

[Tosh]

I\'m not strong in science, so let it be engineering.

Wonder why some Soviet/Russian electronic devices (even military or space ones!) might be \'repaired\' with a good hit to the case, while USA, European or Chinese equipment may only be completely broken with such an \'approach\'?

That\'s because in USSR/Russia contact pins were plated with silver instead of gold. Silver, unlike gold, slowly oxidizes when exposed to air, and silver oxide doesn\'t conduct electricity. And a good hit to the case can move the pins a little rubbing silver oxide out of them and thus restoring device functionality.

Speaking seriously, some Russian complex military devices even had a rubber hammer as a \'#1 Tool\' in repair kit! And in case of device failure the first thing service engineer should do was (as stated in Service Manual!) to carefully hit each connector with the hammer.

So when I watched \'Armageddon\' movie with a Russian astronaut \'repairing\' American equipment (with pins gold-plated!) by kicking it hard -- I knew for sure: That\'s. Not. True.

[RedDwarfIV]

I\'m not strong in science, so let it be engineering.

Wonder why some Soviet/Russian electronic devices (even military or space ones!) might be \'repaired\' with a good hit to the case, while USA, European or Chinese equipment may only be completely broken with such an \'approach\'?

That\'s because in USSR/Russia contact pins were plated with silver instead of gold. Silver, unlike gold, slowly oxidizes when exposed to air, and silver oxide doesn\'t conduct electricity. And a good hit to the case can move the pins a little rubbing silver oxide out of them and thus restoring device functionality.

Speaking seriously, some Russian complex military devices even had a rubber hammer as a \'#1 Tool\' in repair kit! And in case of device failure the first thing service engineer should do was (as stated in Service Manual!) to carefully hit each connector with the hammer.

So when I watched \'Armageddon\' movie with a Russian astronaut \'repairing\' American equipment (with pins gold-plated!) by kicking it hard -- I knew for sure: That\'s. Not. True.

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT ON RUSSIAN SPACE STATION! BECAUSE I DON@T WANT TO STAY ANY LONGER!

SMASH

//Smug humming from engines

[ping111]

If you could see as well as the Hubble, you could read the classifieds on a newsprint from almost 2 miles away.

Israel has only produced 1 astronaut - Ilan Ramon. He never made it to space - he was on Columbia.

[Tosh]

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT ON RUSSIAN SPACE STATION! BECAUSE I DON@T WANT TO STAY ANY LONGER!

SMASH

//No smug humming from engines

//Voiceover: u r doing it wrong @$$h01e!

FTFY

[Phoxtane]

The human body contains about 10 trillion cells.

There are about 200 different types of cells in a human body.

Your hair and nails are made of a protein called keratin.

The Lego Power Functions XL motor provides about 40 Newton-centimeters of force at maximum torque.

[Digitalyzed]

@Agamemnon

Well essentially atoms of elements don\'t look anything like the images used to portray them, they are only used to aid understanding. But in order to have seperate elements, there needs to be a different number of electrons, which means to balance it there must be a different number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, which greatly increases the 'gravity' of the nucleus, causing it to pull on the orbiting electrons more which should cause them to speed up to remain in orbit. I\'m not sure if this is right but I take it that some argue the number is higher because once an element reaches 8 electrons in an orbiting level, it has to form a new level further away from the nucleus, which would decrease the pull on the electrons.

[Awaras]

If you could see as well as the Hubble, you could read the classifieds on a newsprint from almost 2 miles away.

Israel has only produced 1 astronaut - Ilan Ramon. He never made it to space - he was on Columbia.

Erm, Columbia made it to space. It burned up on reentry, when they were returning FROM space...

[Key of door]

Without cats, the mice population would sky rocket about 10 x

[Guest GroundHOG-2010]

Erm, Columbia made it to space. It burned up on reentry, when they were returning FROM space...

To get your gold astronaut pin, you need to have landed.

onto random facts

V= D/T

A= V/T

A 747 has around 1.5 million rivits.

The orbit of the 90482 Orcus is the same as that of 134340 Pluto, except at a different orientation.

Eris and Pluto are around the same size, but Eris is heavier.

90377 Sedna has one of the most distant space objects in the solar system, and has one of the reddest surfaces.

[Eat Uranium]

But in order to have seperate elements, there needs to be a different number of electrons, which means to balance it there must be a different number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus

Elements are defined by proton number. The number of electrons is only a result of this (otherwise a sodium ion would actually be helium).

[Johno]

* Uranium - 238 is the heaviest known stable isotope. Contrary to most peoples\' beliefs, it isn\'t significantly radioactive. In fact, Uranium which has been depleted (i.e. the U-235 removed for use in nuclear technology) is so stable that it isn\'t much use for anything except bullets and tank armour. This will, however, change as 4th generation nuclear reactors come on line.

* Speaking of Uranium, 40% of known Uranium reserves are to be found in my homeland, Australia. Yet Australia does not use nuclear power for electricity generation, and only one nuclear reactor is to be found in the entire continent; in Australia power is instead generated by the burning of coal. This might well prove that we\'re nuts.

* A widely held belief is that humans use only 10% of their brain, leading to various science fiction concepts that suggest the remaining areas of the brain are responsible for (for example) paranormal abilities. This idea is false, however. Scans of active brains demonstrate that most healthy brain tissue is used. It is possible the idea originated from a rough estimate of how much is active at any given time.

* The safest three forms of electricity generation, by the numbers, are:

3. Wind power

2. Solar power

1. Nuclear power.

[Tosh]

In fact, Uranium which has been depleted (...) is so stable that it isn\'t much use for anything except bullets and tank armour.

...and even an aircraft trim weight (for example Boeing 747 contains about 1 tonne of DU).

BTW I LOLed hard as I saw that in Russian Wikipedia some jackass has translated \'trim weight\' as \'control surface\'. Yeah. In Soviet Russia rudder turns you!

A widely held belief is that humans use only 10% of their brain -snip- It is possible the idea originated from a rough estimate of how much is active at any given time.

10%? R u kidding? Some, uh, \'persons\' live a long and happy life with no brain tissue at all!

[Guest ThatCrazyPilot]

0 divided by 0 equals 1

Not in physics though.

[McLuv]

0 divided by 0 equals 1

Not in physics though.

That\'s incorrect, it\'s undefined because the limit of f(x)/g(x), where f(x) and g(x) both approach zero, can represent any number. You have to take l\'Hopital\'s rule and find f\'(x)/g\'(x) until you can get an answer that isn\'t of the form 0/0 or infinity/infinity.

[Key of door]

0 has no value, so it divides infinitely?

[Feragorn]

Basically. That\'s relatively basic Calculus.