Elite Engineer

Welcome fellow sciencephile

4 hours ago, CharonY said:

That is not how it works. It looks like it was funded by a NIH grant, i.e. they have submitted a proposal to the NIH, from where it was sent off to reviewers and apparently they found it convincing enough to finance it. 

A quick search indicates that there has been some work on the effects of strong magnetic fields on mammalian health. The effects range from beneficial effects in certain instances to potential harm. What is lacking is a cohesive theoretical framework to explain the observed outcomes (though there is some evidence that very strong fields could effect circulation to some degree). It is a pretty large jump from these observations to potential medical utility, though it is not pseudoscience in the common sense.

Thank you, that's much more clearer! I figured it wasn't pseudoscience, but also wasn't wholly grounded. I didn't want to take that stance until I ran it by a few people.

4 hours ago, Carrock said:

Your unattributed quote is from a blog written by a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and posted by Janet. Not necessarily a reliable source.

X-posted : Charony may have found a different reference.

Edit: many different possible sources, but not, it seems, your original references.

I believe the quote is originally from a UVA newspaper, and was then used in that blog.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/biomedical-engineering-study-demonstrates-healing-value-magnets

"With a five-year, $875,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine." 

Does that mean he may have done this study just to appease his funders? Is this a common occurence in academic research?

Granted this study is from 2008, and there were no further investigations, I've received some flak from my pseudoscience friends for not giving credit to the findings. 
The story explains how bioengineer, Tom Skalak at University of VA may have discovered how magnets may reduce swelling. At first I immediately assumed quackery,
but through reading the study I can't explain any mechanisms against the findings or find anything inherently wrong with the study. 

I can't see magnet therapy being a serious medical treatment. It's concerning, especially for pro-magnet therapy quacks using this to solidify their position. 

Study: https://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.01133.2006

Study summary: https://news.virginia.edu/content/biomedical-engineering-study-demonstrates-healing-value-magnets

~ee

Oh right. I was thinking of saponification. Thanks for the clarification

If we were theoretically able to carry out nuclear fusion, such as encasing a star in a reactor, how/what would be the type of energy we would be pulling from it 
to power the grid? I would it would be heat energy like in nuclear fission? I hesitate to believe this because isn't the energy from fusion way too high to use? 
Would it be akin to powering a 40 watt light bulb with 1,000 watt power source?

~ee
 

On 5/30/2019 at 1:38 PM, John Cuthber said:

I'd bet against that.

 

Why's that? What other kind of reaction would you see with a fatty acid, ethanol, and hydroxide?

My wife is trying to stiffen felt using a gelatinous collagen mixture for hat making (millinery). In the procedure, she makes a collagen gel (using lyophilized collagen and and hot water) and then lets it solidify in the fridge. After 24 hours of cooling and solidification, she heats the gel so it becomes liquid, and then applies the collagen solution to the felt. The felt is then molded into a shape, dries, and retains it's shape as the collagen solution dries. We're working on different concentrations to optimize rigidity on the fabric.

My question: Would enzymatically breaking down the collagen (i.e. meat tenderizer) allow us to use less gel per area of fabric? I read some protocols on researchgate regarding hydrogel and people mentioned that breaking down the collagen resulted in stiffer gels. My thought is, if we breakdown the collagen it would result in increased rigidity while requiring less gel? I ask because when we apply too much collagen solution to the fabric, it leaves a white-ish sheen. It's similar to placing a drop on glue on the material and then wiping it off, leaving a "spread out-appearance" of white residue. 

Your thoughts?

~ee

Hey thanks for the greeting!

I guess I just got caught up in the jumbled inner workings of the "9-5".

When I was in college I had all the time in the world to scroll, read and post on here. I'm glad to be back though. 

As far as an update, I'm sad to admit I left my research job for a higher pay (and benefits) non-science job. I could you use this place now more than ever. 

Is the cost of producing biofuel (or really any alternative fuel in this argument) really that much greater than fracking/digging up fossil fuel? Correct me if I'm wrong but the big sink in  in alternative fuels is the production of the fuel. You don't get more energy out of it then it costs to make it. So you're breaking even or making a little profit.Whereas with fossil fuels, the "assembly" of crude oil molecules has already been done for us by the plant and animal decomposition under heat & pressure for millions of years. All we have to do is frack/dig it up. Looking at the size and operation of oil rigs and fracking companies, you'd think it would cost much more to obtain the crude oil.

Your thoughts on this?

~EE

Hey all, 

it's been a while since I was on here. Thinking I'll start posting again.

~ee

Using it mostly for smell for the house, I really enjoy the smell of mint. No I haven' done a small scale trial run. I only have 1500 ml of 40% etoh to which I'm not sure if I should distill or not. I don't really want to distill a small amount just for a small scale experiment

I'm not sure which would be better. I ask because I'm worried using 90% etoh will have an overpowering smell on the final solution.

Also, 40% may not be as effective as 90%.

Thoughts?

~ee

So, if you build a latrine...just a hole in the ground and add excrement to it, it smells, harbors pathogens and doesnt really get converted into anything.

Compost toilets on the other hand, have little to no smell, has no pathogenic bacteria and the waste is converted into compost. 

I was wondering if compost toilets work as opposed to latrines because when you add extra carbon materials (i.e sawdust) and oxygen it allows for growth

of thermophilic bacteria. Thermophilic bacteria raise the temp of the waste and kill off the pathogenic species. So in this case, are compost toilets akin to

where the desired bacteria are selected via conditions of the environment?

~EE

Sorry, i meant uranium-235, and I found my answer:

The fission of one atom of uranium-235 generates 202.5 MeV = 3.24E−11 J, which translates to 83.14 TJ/kg.

This is around 2.5 million times more than the energy released from burning coal.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium-235#Fission

I know 1 atom of uranium-238 isn't critical mass, but theoretically, if you could split 1 atom of uranium-238, how much energy would be produced? 

~ee

If you haven't heard, an American Southwest flight, 737 was flying from Newark to Dallas. The plane's left engine (?) blew up/malfunctioned. The pilot (former Navy fighter pilot)

was able to land the plane. My question is how was the plane able to stay in the air as long as it did, and descend, turn, and land with only one engine?

~ee

I'd respond if I knew how to answer it. 

7 hours ago, Rob McEachern said:

Yes. A coin is in a superposition of being both "heads" and "tails". Always. Even after you "call it" one or the other.

I'm a little confused by this. You mean "call it" while it's still spinning and the face of the coin hasn't been revealed?

So was Schrodinger saying, "No, photons can't exist in two different states (wave and particle) at the same time...that's just as ridiculous as a cat being both dead and alive at the same time"..and poof it became history. Did Schrodinger ever agree with the CI?

So, did Schrodinger create his analogy as an attack on quantum superposition, or was it an aide to help the laymen understand superposition on a macroscopic level? 

In short, did he agree or not?

I just recently found out that Schrodinger made his thought experiment as a criticism of wave function collapse, and tried to illustrate how absurd it was by saying a cat is both dead and alive simultaneously until observed. 

So when people try to explain uncertainty of something with Schrodinger's Cat, are they using the incorrect analogy to describe the moment of uncertainty?

~ee

I'd say just males for this, but the female gives birth to the progeny so it applies for both. 

Male perspective: Ideally, if a male has a high rate of acquiring mates, that's a good thing. More probability of spreading his genetics around a population,

he's desirable, most fit in the selection/ competitive aspects. But what changes when a portion of the population of females (~30%) is infected with a transmissible disease that would

adversely effect the males sexual performance, such as herpes, HIV, gonorrhea, etc.  How would his fitness be effected, the number of females he interacts with etc.

Female perspective:  Pretty much the same question for the female, but in addition, if the female acquires a disease that will directly effect the progeny (HIV, herpes)

does that eliminate her from the evolutionary timeline in terms of ability to produce progeny, and maintain her fitness?

~EE

7 hours ago, John Cuthber said:

There s a theory which states that all jobs are ****, that's why you get paid to do them.

How do you like your job? You're a PhD correct? Academia or private sector?

So I'm a research scientist  for a small diagnostic company. Been working for the last 2.5 years. When I first started, I wasn't crazy about it(reasons listed below), but I waited till I moved up in my lab,

hoping I'd have a new experience. Turns out, no. The lab I work in does very minimal science, and more of "product development", which involves slapping together a half-assed product that's already on

the market with "XYZ" modification that company A doesn't have. The majority of my work is based around market strategy in product design, and very little investigative science. This company 

 has the scientists acting as regulatory, marketing and part-time scientists. I was hoping to work in a lab environment similar to that of an academic lab where there's actual research. I've looked for such

jobs, but they all pay as much as 15-20% less than what I'm currently earning. 

Is this a common theme in the science industry? Have any of you guys had a similar experience? Am I doomed to the same fate where ever I go? 

~ee

I'm 27 (I know I'm still young)..but here's mine:

-not taking sports in high school more serious

-not majoring in engineering

-not sleeping around

-not learning investing until I was 25

~ee