https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/ta9mvx/ask_anything_wednesday_engineering_mathematics/
created by AutoModerator on 09/03/2022 at 15:00 UTC
82 upvotes, 19 top-level comments (showing 19)
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 [deleted] at 10/03/2022 at 01:11 UTC
9 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I have two questions, somewhat related to each other:
1. Why don't we see more blue in nature? Specifically, blue flowers, blue fruits and blue vegetables? I'm aware there's blueberries, gentian flowers and blue corn. But why are they rare rather than the norm?
2. What kind of chemical composition, atmosphere, etc. would be needed for beings with blue blood to exist? Is there something unique to Earth that means most animals have red blood?
Comment by TheBlacktom at 09/03/2022 at 15:21 UTC
4 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Is there a list of currently approved/agreed on scientific knowledge? Axioms, theories and maybe pretty-much-proven hypotheses?
Science is changing all the time and many researchers are debating about it constantly, is there a definitive list of statements currently considered true? Or how does it work?
I guess it's easier with mathematics, but physics/chemistry/biology/etc makes this trickier.
Comment by [deleted] at 09/03/2022 at 15:04 UTC
4 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Are there any emerging technologies for large scale energy storage other than batteries? I know there are a few powerplants that pump water uphill if there is an excess of energy coming off the facility and then let that water drive a turbine when there is a lack of energy. Are there any other clever ways of storing energy from power plants other than huge batteries?
Comment by F0tNMC at 09/03/2022 at 18:51 UTC
2 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Will making the big long vacuum tubes needed by the hyperloop system be easy or hard? Most optimistic/pro cost estimates I see see to think it’d be a small multiple of existing rail infrastructure and pessimistic/anti seem to think it’d be orders of magnitude harder and more expensive.
Comment by MrBdstn at 09/03/2022 at 23:29 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Mathematically speaking, should I use the Steinhart-Hart equation for an NTC-thermistor or can I just use Mathlab's polyfit function?
Steinhart-Hart looks like:
1/T = A ln(R) + B ln(R)^2 + C ln(R)^3
Vs a poly-fit curve generated through empirical data in the form of
Y = M1x + M2 x^2 + M3 x^3 (where M1,M2,M3 are the polyfit coefficients).
Comment by cburgess7 at 09/03/2022 at 16:05 UTC
1 upvotes, 2 direct replies
How do white blood cells know what to attack? They don't really have a mind or thinking components, do they?
Comment by [deleted] at 09/03/2022 at 21:00 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
[removed]
Comment by [deleted] at 09/03/2022 at 20:53 UTC
0 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I’ve been designing a fan for a project so does more blades equal more air intake?
Comment by TheRealMonreal at 10/03/2022 at 05:24 UTC
0 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Like how do you set up an equation like 3X +1 =?? and then get in the 4, 2, 1 loop? Crazy!
Comment by marwachine at 09/03/2022 at 20:08 UTC
-1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
What happens when we successfully combine man and machine?
I'm tired of being human.
Comment by dog_superiority at 09/03/2022 at 16:20 UTC
1 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Is there such thing as "matter" that has negative mass? That cannot go below the speed of light?
Comment by thred_pirate_roberts at 09/03/2022 at 17:14 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
How do quantum computers work? Do they even work? I thought "quantum" was theoretical, there are actual engineered computer components that work as both on and off? What are qubits, and how do they physically work?
Comment by [deleted] at 09/03/2022 at 21:12 UTC
1 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by [deleted] at 10/03/2022 at 03:00 UTC
1 upvotes, 3 direct replies
I'm currently studying Java. How will I know that I'm good enough at coding to get a job, and what would be the best way to go about it?
Comment by leafbaker at 10/03/2022 at 08:15 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
The Endurance was discovered at a depth of 9,869 feet in the Weddell Sea. Would it be possible to raise it from the seabed? In such cold waters it's remarkably well preserved.
Comment by Mosley_ at 10/03/2022 at 08:20 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I have a different kind of question after a conversation with my son in college. How meaningful is a college gpa value when you graduate as a math major with stats emphasis? Say someone gets a 2.6 vs a 3.2. Are there better computing or other skills that would mitigate the difference?
Comment by [deleted] at 10/03/2022 at 10:44 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
If everything is relative, then when I jump, won't it be equally valid to say that the earth is the one moving 'away' from me at 10m/s, and hence now has that much more kinetic energy?
How does the law of conservation of energy works in these scenarios?
Comment by [deleted] at 10/03/2022 at 10:52 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
How is research in interstitial fusion going on? How would such a mechanism even work?
Comment by [deleted] at 10/03/2022 at 10:56 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Why do we need qubits for harnessing quantum entanglement effects when even visible light can exhibit things like interference?