Post your science questions here!

[flappist]

Originally Posted by xisled

What came first the chicken or the egg.

Just had to say it.

Egg, there are fossilised dinosaur eggs from over 190,000,000 year ago. Birds have only been around for 100,000,000 years (about the same time as the LS1 was designed)

[xisled]

Originally Posted by flappist

Egg, there are fossilised dinosaur eggs from over 190,000,000 year ago. Birds have only been around for 100,000,000 years (about the same time as the LS1 was designed)

LOL like the LS1 reference.

[goose1000]

Originally Posted by Kable72

Wouldn't that mean that everything is drifting apart?

Yep, it does mean that, except for things gravitationally bound, such as the Virgo supercluster.

[goose1000]

Originally Posted by supershifty

Why does One Direction and Justin Bieber exist? FFS - really!

Because without absolute evil, good can't exist?

[b0son]

Originally Posted by xisled

What came first the chicken or the egg.

Egg. The chicken evolved from some other prehistoric bird. To evolve, you need a means of reproducing, so the egg would already have had to be around :P

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by xisled

What came first the chicken or the egg.

Just had to say it.

Easy. God created the first chicken. That chicken then laid the first egg.

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

Easy. God created the first chicken. That chicken then laid the first egg.

This is a science thread not a jokes thread.

[2011G6E]

Technically the egg came first, because the question isn't qualified as to whether we are talking about a chicken egg or just eggs in general...and there were plenty of things laying eggs before the birds evolved...so yes, the egg did indeed come first...

[XR6T0Y]

Why does greenhouse gas destroy the Ozone?
And how does the Ozone keep in heat?

[xisled]

Why does the moon look bigger on some nights, when it is always the same distance away from the earth.

[ute83]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

It is blowing up. it's a fusion reactor, contained by gravity.

I don't get it. To me it's a hunk of rock with gas inside of it. It will either run out of gas to burn or blow up.

[xtremerus]

Originally Posted by xisled

Why does the moon look bigger on some nights, when it is always the same distance away from the earth.

There is an optical illusion that it appears bigger when the moon is closer to the horizon.
Apparently, it is because we see the moon close to features, such as hills, trees etc.. High in the sky we can't relate it to other objects, so it appears smaller.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by XR6T0Y

Why does greenhouse gas destroy the Ozone?
And how does the Ozone keep in heat?

Ozone doesn't...ozone protects us from the UV rays of the sun. Greenhouse gases (methane, CO2) are what holds in the heat and are absolutely necessary...without them the Earth would be a frozen iceball. Forget greenies who might compare Venus...which is the same size as Earth...to what Earth might become with too much greenhouse gas...Venus is tens of millions of kilometers closer to the sun, and rotates the opposite direction (and slowly) to Earth, so it boils away in a way Earth never will.

Originally Posted by xisled

Why does the moon look bigger on some nights, when it is always the same distance away from the earth.

It's not always the same distance from Earth, but when the moon is closer to the horizon, you have a reference point with buildings, trees, etc, and it appears larger...nothing to do with the atmosphere "magnifying" it or anything. Even at it's closest when a "super moon" comes around, it's only a percent or two bigger than normal, and not noticeable.

[xtremerus]

Originally Posted by ute83

I don't get it. To me it's a hunk of rock with gas inside of it. It will either run out of gas to burn or blow up.

No rock at all.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by xtremerus

No rock at all.

Just a big ball of gas, simple as that. It's elegant in it's simplicity, and how the sun works is actually one of the simplest of science subjects (until you get right down to physics of course).
Hydrogen is compressed into helium in the center, undergoing nuclear fusion under the massive pressures and temperatures, and creates vast amounts of energy. The outward pressure of this energy matches the gravity of the mass of the sun trying to crush inwards s it looks like a big stable(ish) ball.
One day it's energy output will be less than the gravity forces, and it will start to expand, but that won't be for billions of years.

Simple.

[stevejg33]

Originally Posted by xisled

Why does the moon look bigger on some nights, when it is always the same distance away from the earth.

The moon has an elliptical ( slightly oval ) orbit, it doesn't orbit in a perfectly circular motion, that is why sometimes the moon looks a liitle larger, the correct terms are Apogee and Perigee, the difference in distance can vary up to almost 50,000 kilometers.

My science question has 2 parts. The other night I saw an ad on tv for Goodyear tyres & it showed one of the buggies driving on the moon, my questions are,
1) What type of gas would the tyres have been filled with? &
2) Do you think they would still be inflated ( still have pressure ) after all these years?

[b0son]

Originally Posted by stevejg33

1) What type of gas would the tyres have been filled with? &
2) Do you think they would still be inflated ( still have pressure ) after all these years?

They're werent pneumatic tyres.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lu...l_close-up.JPG

[Ducati888]

The moon buggy (Lunar Rover) wheels were made of woven titanium mesh and had titanium chevrons attached for grip. They did not contain gas.

The wheels were not strong enough to be used on earth in training runs as they would collapse under the weight of the astronauts, vehicle and the payload of moonrocks, so they were substituted them. This was not a problem on the moon.

The two lunar rovers are the most expensive cars ever built. They were made by Boeing.

[ford man xf]

What's the definition of "nothing"?

[XR6T0Y]

Why, just before, and just after rain, is there 'that' smell?

[ford man xf]

If I built a time machine, would it be possible to go back in time before I was born and kill my parents?

[ford man xf]

Originally Posted by Ford_The_Win

It's because most of the primates, humans included, evolved from a common ancestor. Homo sapiens, apes and chimpanzees (our closest genetic relatives in the animal kingdom) evolved from the same animal millions of years ago. We share around 97% of our DNA with chimpanzees and about 90% with apes. Other primates like baboons, vervets and other monkeys with tails diverged much earlier but we still share over 75% of the same DNA with the cheeky devils and that is because, as I said, we all evolved from the same animal at some stage.

It's been revealed recently were actually slightly more closely related to the Bonobo than we are the Chimpanzee, the Bonobo being very closely related to the Chimpanzee.
Interestingly sharing such close DNA links with both primates yet our appearance and behaviour differs greatly. Some people throw the "humans and chimps are 99.9% similar" line in all the time, which is ridiculous because that would mean that a Chimpanzee is closer to you than your own brother or sister! We also share 50%-60% of our DNA with Bananas and we share 75% of our DNA with worms (Nematode variety) so next time you go fishing spare a thought before you slip your cousin on a hook!

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by stevejg33

The moon has an elliptical ( slightly oval ) orbit, it doesn't orbit in a perfectly circular motion, that is why sometimes the moon looks a liitle larger, the correct terms are Apogee and Perigee, the difference in distance can vary up to almost 50,000 kilometers.

The real reason (if you were to believe NASA) is that we really don't know why the moon looks bigger on the horizon and apogee and perigee doesn't account for the difference in a few hours. The Sun also experiences this phenomenon.

[BHDOGS]

Isn't the moon slowing getting closer to earth and will eventually crash into us

[red_hotxr6]

Is there a 4th dimension??

[red_hotxr6]

Originally Posted by Nova 8

Meaning of life is to procreate.

Question: What is gravity

Gravity is the thing that keeps your ford on the track while it does the 1/4 mile in 7 secs...lol

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

Isn't the moon slowing getting closer to earth and will eventually crash into us

IIRC, since the lunar ranging retroreflector module was installed during the Apollo 11 mission, it has been determined that the moon is moving away from us at a rate of ~4cm per year.

[red_hotxr6]

Originally Posted by Rodp

IIRC, since the lunar ranging retroreflector module was installed during the Apollo 11 mission, it has been determined that the moon is moving away from us at a rate of ~4cm per year.

Is this because another" greater body" is pulling it away, from its orbit, and if so will the further it moves away from the earth,s gravitational pull, move quicker and further away from us.....?

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by red_hotxr6

Is this because another" greater body" is pulling it away, from its orbit, and if so will the further it moves away from the earth,s gravitational pull, move quicker and further away from us.....?

Based on my understanding, it's pretty much the gravitational dance between the Earth and the Moon. The Moon's gravitational pull affects the tides and slows the angular momentum of Earth, this in turn increases the angular momentum of the Moon causing it to move farther away from Earth.

There are other theories but that's the one I find most believable.

[Barnaby]

Moon illusion.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ba...n-the-horizon/