https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/15a6nwm/ask_anything_wednesday_engineering_mathematics/
created by AutoModerator on 26/07/2023 at 14:00 UTC
58 upvotes, 10 top-level comments (showing 10)
Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on **Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science**
Do you have a question within these topics you weren't sure was worth submitting? Is something a bit too speculative for a typical /r/AskScience post? No question is too big or small for AAW. In this thread you can ask any science-related question! Things like: "What would happen if...", "How will the future...", "If all the rules for 'X' were different...", "Why does my...".
Please post your question as a top-level response to this, and our team of panellists will be here to answer and discuss your questions. The other topic areas will appear in future Ask Anything Wednesdays, so if you have other questions not covered by this weeks theme please either hold on to it until those topics come around, or go and post over in our sister subreddit /r/AskScienceDiscussion , where every day is Ask Anything Wednesday! Off-theme questions in this post will be removed to try and keep the thread a manageable size for both our readers and panellists.
Please only answer a posted question if you are an expert in the field. The full guidelines for posting responses in AskScience can be found here[1]. In short, this is a moderated subreddit, and responses which do not meet our quality guidelines will be removed. Remember, peer reviewed sources are always appreciated, and anecdotes are absolutely not appropriate. In general if your answer begins with 'I think', or 'I've heard', then it's not suitable for /r/AskScience.
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Past AskAnythingWednesday posts can be found here[3]. Ask away!
Comment by Toystorations at 27/07/2023 at 02:21 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I just want to know more about the room temperature superconductor they just found and how to find people discussing it so I can be disappointed in realtime.
Also, the effects this will have on the world if it's real and can be replicated cheaply and easily as implied?
Comment by [deleted] at 27/07/2023 at 03:24 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I can’t wrap my ahead around how massless photons can make a solar sail work.
Comment by deacongestion at 26/07/2023 at 14:33 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Concerning sterling engines. I wondered if it was feasable to use a sterling engine to run a pump for a "Roman" floor system. The idea would be of burying the engine to make use of the temperature differential between the surface of the ground and 10 feet down and then pumping coolant through lines also at that depth to heat / cool a home. Is there a reason that the engines can not be made to bear a load? I think that the act of pumping would eventually remove the differential thus removing the value. . Not sure. Does someone understand this enough to explain what I am missing in this "free energy" concept?
Comment by Carifax at 26/07/2023 at 15:10 UTC
1 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Concerning decommissioned Naval nuclear reactors. Could they be refurbished to supply Municipal power for small towns/ cities?
Comment by SchnitzelfickerXX3 at 26/07/2023 at 20:48 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Why is electrolysis so inefiicent?
Comment by TriesCrazyStuff at 26/07/2023 at 21:55 UTC
1 upvotes, 2 direct replies
If I made a rod of a sufficiently strong material sufficiently long and then had a device that transmitted messages to the other side of it by moving it back and forth by tiny bits, what would prevent this system from being utilized for faster than light communication?
I assume SOMEthing wouldn't work, I've just been intermittently curious about exactly what for the last few years.
Comment by Parafault at 26/07/2023 at 22:18 UTC
1 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Why isn’t thermal energy storage discussed more often as a storage medium for renewable energy? We hear a lot about batteries and their limitations, but thermal storage feels intuitively promising even if you have to take an efficiency hit to convert between electricity/heat. I’ve read lots of articles that suggest that renewables can’t solve our energy needs because “the sun doesn’t shine at night”, but wouldn’t this solve that problem and allow 24/7 energy distribution?
Comment by SternLecture at 27/07/2023 at 00:16 UTC
1 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Is there a very basic simplistic way to simulate loads and strength of structures that doesn't require an engineering degree? For example I weld stuff like tables and even made a car rotisserie. It would be helpful to ballpark the safety of things I make.
Comment by synapse187 at 27/07/2023 at 03:42 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Given the current state of Quantum Physics, are there any theories that are beginning to go from laughable to now being looked at with a serious glance? Are there any that may not have been far fetched but are now being considered for possible testing?
Comment by xXDracoWolfXx at 28/07/2023 at 04:07 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
How to make a machine learning program