The fact that the sun is constantly exploding in a series of nuclear reactions covering its surface. That's just so awesome.
Science stuff that blew your mind when you first heard of it
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Wait...Vault101 said:
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...whoa...
...WHOA.
OT: When I was told exactly how digital logic works, I nearly crapped myself.
Then I recreated the logic in Minecraft, and the instructor nearly crapped himself. Redstone is fun.
Also, electrons teleport between valence shells. As in, they move a small distance without occupying the space in between.
This really hurt my brain until a cousin explained it to me:
http://tinyurl.com/cb5slxg
Yeah, I've got nothing.
One of the most memorable things I learned was that theoretically, if the universe was large enough, the statistical probability that there is an exact copy of you out there in space somewhere approaches 1. Something to do with the finite number of ways atoms and molecules can interact and bond, and and enormity of the hypothetical universe meaning the correct combination would be achieved by statistical certainty.
That is amazing. I knew some critters could carry an air bubble with them underwater, but never realized that the bubble would take oxygen from the surrounding water. Very cool.Quaxar said:
Not too long ago, treatments for severe burns to the skin took a very long time, and were subject to hazards such as infections, intense, constant pain, and more unpleasantness.
Now, however, we have the skin gun, a tool that... well, if you like, just watch the short clip.
WARNING: Graphic depictions of severe burns are shown. A lot. If you don't want to see it, just skip down to the "tl:dr" below.
<youtube=eXO_ApjKPaI>
tl;dr - it's a spray gun that sprays stem cells onto burned skin and heals it super fast.
The reason why this blew my mind is because it's a treatment that feels like it's out of a futuristic sci-fi series. This is the kind of technology that would've only been heard about on the likes of Star Trek or Babylon 5.
But more than that, I'm just really, really glad I've glimpsed the future like this through the miracles of medical science.
Now, however, we have the skin gun, a tool that... well, if you like, just watch the short clip.
WARNING: Graphic depictions of severe burns are shown. A lot. If you don't want to see it, just skip down to the "tl:dr" below.
<youtube=eXO_ApjKPaI>
tl;dr - it's a spray gun that sprays stem cells onto burned skin and heals it super fast.
The reason why this blew my mind is because it's a treatment that feels like it's out of a futuristic sci-fi series. This is the kind of technology that would've only been heard about on the likes of Star Trek or Babylon 5.
But more than that, I'm just really, really glad I've glimpsed the future like this through the miracles of medical science.
I dont know about blowing my mind, but the day we have wireless electric power as a normal household occurence I will be a very happy camper. Generally I would say that, atleast in the field of consumer electronics, research haven't quite caught up with my wishes yet.
no, you are right, this guy has absolutely no idea what he is talking about, pressure inside and out side for gas must be balanced, you will explode in order to make this happen in space. Also you can die of radiation poisoning and freezing to death (even if it isn't as cold as the coldest place on earth, you can still freeze to death within seconds).Lucem712 said:
Most thing in science are fascinating. Especially when you consider cells and living organisms and you think step by step of all the little changes that it took to get us to where we are now.
Completely false:Plazmatic said:
While the pressures will want to equalize, it will also want to take the path of least resistance, thereby leaving throughout bodily orifices and not causing your whole body to explode.
Effects from radiation poisoning take time, and while you would be subjected to large doses of radiation, thereby reducing the time before and effect could be seen, it would still take a much larger length of time than it would to die by suffocation.
EDIT in spoilers
I should clarify, if you mean any effects from radiation, yes some will happen quickly, being subjected directly to UV rays from the Sun would cause extreme sunburn. However I thought you meant radiation poisoning such as what people get from chemotherapy, which would take time for the effects to show.
As for freezing, a vacuum means that the only method possible for heat transfer would be radiation, which is a fairly slow process in comparison to conduction and convection. So once again, it would take quite some time to freeze to death, and suffocation would be a much more important issue.
OT: A couple weeks ago I was just sitting outside and looking at the Moon. And while I know the Moon and the Earth and such are all rotating and revolving around their respective bodies quite fast, for some reason it really hit me then.
I was staring at something that wasn't stationary, it was actually flying through space and thousands of kilometers per second, while I was flying sideways, also at thousands of kilometers per second, while the whole system flew around the sun and hundreds of thousands of kilometers per second.
EDIT: Here's a source (a NASA website), which I'm assuming is more reputable than me (someone on the internet you've never met in person)
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html
Science that blew my mind? I gotta say the mere idea of string theory. I started reading The Elegant Universe (a book about string theory and the quest for a workable theory; an old book, but really good) and it's one of those books I call "airline books"; as in, you'd be blown the fuck away wherever and whenever you read the book. I picked it up when I was 9 years old, and I always reread it yearly to truly appreciate how well science describes nature.
Not sure if you were just making a joke, or if you were using your actual view on evolution as a starting point for a joke, but either way I'm gonna use it as a springboard to talk about how evolution is actually a very difficult subject. Dinwatr and I have had a lot of conversations on the subject (him as an educated professional; me as a curious layperson) and it's not uncommon for concepts like n-dimensional space to come up. A lot of people think they understand evolution but really only have a superficial knowledge, even among those who accept the theory. Realizing the actual depth of the topic can be a bit of an eye-opener.TizzytheTormentor said:
Science facts that blew my mind?
Well, like the OP, I also learned about black holes at an early age. I learned about them when I was in 2nd grade or so when I was 8. I was watching "The Astronomers", an old PBS show, and it was talking about how they used radio telescopes to locate black holes. The ominousness and the blackness of the object in its depiction on the show was enough to grab my attention. But what really blew my mind was the following line from the narrator: "... the black hole can grow to the size of our solar system. And nothing can escape from it... not even light." Before hand, I had watched Bill Nye and The Magic School Bus on the solar system and giving a good scale as to how big it was. And even then, I also knew about the speed of light in a vague sense.
Which brings up some other things. Some of these are simple facts that blow my mind even to this day. When I was a little kid, approximately in elementary school, I got extremely fascinated by planets and astronomy. And I read book after book on planetary facts and pictures. Any size comparison between any planet and the sun was mind boggling. The thought that the Great Red Spot was a storm on Jupiter that was lasting for centuries and possibly millennium, that everything on Jupiter is floating in the sky, and finally that its core was a gas turned solid from the pressure, was enough to rattle my 7 to 9 year old head. And even more so, when I heard that there were more stars in the night sky than all the grains of sand of all the beaches on the planet Earth, and then looking at a picture of another galaxy... I could barely fathom that many stars among that many observable galaxies. If there were billions of stars in our galaxy, and Andromeda is estimated to be just as large as the Milky Way, and there are other galaxies in the universe, then there had to have been so many stars lighting up the universe and so much matter that had not been explored. As Carl Sagan put it clearly and classically, "... billions and billions of stars in billions and billions of galaxies."
There's countless more examples I could think of, but those are the ones that come to mind when I rack my brain.
Well, like the OP, I also learned about black holes at an early age. I learned about them when I was in 2nd grade or so when I was 8. I was watching "The Astronomers", an old PBS show, and it was talking about how they used radio telescopes to locate black holes. The ominousness and the blackness of the object in its depiction on the show was enough to grab my attention. But what really blew my mind was the following line from the narrator: "... the black hole can grow to the size of our solar system. And nothing can escape from it... not even light." Before hand, I had watched Bill Nye and The Magic School Bus on the solar system and giving a good scale as to how big it was. And even then, I also knew about the speed of light in a vague sense.
Which brings up some other things. Some of these are simple facts that blow my mind even to this day. When I was a little kid, approximately in elementary school, I got extremely fascinated by planets and astronomy. And I read book after book on planetary facts and pictures. Any size comparison between any planet and the sun was mind boggling. The thought that the Great Red Spot was a storm on Jupiter that was lasting for centuries and possibly millennium, that everything on Jupiter is floating in the sky, and finally that its core was a gas turned solid from the pressure, was enough to rattle my 7 to 9 year old head. And even more so, when I heard that there were more stars in the night sky than all the grains of sand of all the beaches on the planet Earth, and then looking at a picture of another galaxy... I could barely fathom that many stars among that many observable galaxies. If there were billions of stars in our galaxy, and Andromeda is estimated to be just as large as the Milky Way, and there are other galaxies in the universe, then there had to have been so many stars lighting up the universe and so much matter that had not been explored. As Carl Sagan put it clearly and classically, "... billions and billions of stars in billions and billions of galaxies."
There's countless more examples I could think of, but those are the ones that come to mind when I rack my brain.
Well I wasn't sure if the "how can people not understand evolution" bit was purely the setup for the joke, or if it was a serious (or semi-serious) question with a joke tacked on. I suspected it was the former, but figured that eve if it was enough people honestly think evolution is simplistic that the point was worth making. Also I got to say "n-dimensional space" which makes me feel smart.TizzytheTormentor said:
OT: The cells in our bodies are constantly being replaced. In essence you are physically a different being than you were when you were born. So are you still the same person? Or are you a copy of a previous version of you? To add to the weirdness, consider that those cells are separate organisms. You aren't a single entity, but a collection of trillions of other entities. And on top of that, cells are made up of atoms that are mostly made up of empty space. Which means our bodies aren't actually solid. Combined I think these points make a strong argument for our existence actually being magic.
ETA:
There are some simple things that blow my mind as well. If we include stuff like technology in the realm of "science stuff" then this is even more true. Like, a few years ago I rode on a plane for the first time I can remember (very first time I was a baby). I flew. In the air. In a hunk of metal. I was in the sky with nothing hold me up. I'm terrified of heights, but flying is an amazing experience. Suck it, gravity!Slenn said:
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Today, while innocently doing science, I learned that the Escapist has (at least on my end) a 1,050,901 character limit
Any further attempts have resulted in failure (and freezing)
The More You Know!
Any further attempts have resulted in failure (and freezing)
The More You Know!
It's really cool stuff--and I say that as someone who definitely does NOT understand most of itTizzytheTormentor said:
The key is to find someone else who's knowledgeable and passionate about it. Then they'll feed you all sorts of neat facts, like how life on earth was once so bizarre that we literally can't make heads or tails of some creatures, like Hallucigenia here:
Those tentacles might be feet...or that drawing could be upside-down, and the spines were really for walking and the tentacles for feeding. The big bulb on the one end might be the head, or the other end might be the head. If it even had a head. And if it was in fact a whole organism and not a part of something else (which happened with another organism from the same area--it's front legs were mistaken for shrimp).
Yes, those are all very interesting queries, but all I want to know is what did it taste like?BrassButtons said:It's really cool stuff--and I say that as someone who definitely does NOT understand most of it
Those tentacles might be feet...or that drawing could be upside-down, and the spines were really for walking and the tentacles for feeding. The big bulb on the one end might be the head, or the other end might be the head. If it even had a head. And if it was in fact a whole organism and not a part of something else (which happened with another organism from the same area--it's front legs were mistaken for shrimp).