Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2016 April 19

= April 19 =

Energy/food crises
To solve the worlds energy/food crisis, would it be possible to use liposuction on all the worlds chubby people and turn it into lard for eating or burning?--178.99.232.11 (talk) 00:33, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
 * I am pretty sure that it is possible to use trolling to annoy people long enough so they stop wanting to be useful to you. -- Jayron 32 01:01, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Absolutely. We could also try extracting brains and testicles from trolls for the same purpose, but I fear the yield would be disappointing. Greglocock (talk) 03:16, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Why extract and waste energy? Just burn the trolls with no extraction. (Wouldn't recommend eating, doubt they taste nice.) Nil Einne (talk) 05:54, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Cannibalism is typically against the law. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:17, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Lard comes from pigs, so the answer is no. You would have to genetically engineer the chubby ones to be porcine. There are not so many like Chu Pa-chieh. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 07:47, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Stopping to reflect for a moment, this could be the basis of a revolution for Wikipedia. Jimbo could set up a section within the WMF to market troll bile - and not just any troll bile, but Grade A Encylcopedic Troll Bile, the bile built on the sum of human knowledge. Profits from the sale of this ultra-rare product could be use to provide 5-star holidays for deserving Wikipedians. Bile production could always be increased to meet demand by showing trolls diffs of article improvements, and Wikipedia trolls should be a particularly rich source. EdChem (talk) 08:00, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * It certainly would do nothing for the energy shortage - liposuction is a surgical process, and all of the technology involved is likely to consume more energy that you could get from the fat removed. 81.132.106.10 (talk) 11:12, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Body mass v O2
In general, do animals(of the same species) of a greater body mass use more oxygen (and excrete more CO2) than those of a lesser body mass?--178.99.232.11 (talk) 00:45, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Yes, however many factors affect oxygen use, not just "mass". here is a good list specifically for humans, it shows that mass is just one of about 8 factors that significantly affect oxygen use. Vespine (talk) 01:00, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
 * So the world's chubbies are reducing our O2 and contributing to global warmin?? Outrageous! Something should be done.--178.99.232.11 (talk) 23:24, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Ionisation enthalpy
Why do Sodium cation (as well as cautions of all other alkali metals) have higher second ionisation enthalpy when compared to the first ionisation enthalpy of noble gases, though both have same electronic configuration, i.e. M+1 cation and ground state noble gases have similar electronic configuration? Eg: IE2 of Na is 4562kJ/mol while IE1 of Ne is 2080.7kJ/mol.
 * Sodium has a higher charge on its nucleus compared to neon. And to take a second electron off sodium, you have to pull it away from a Na2+ ion, which is harder than separating it from Ne1+. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 07:38, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
 * The sodium cation has a higher effective nuclear charge than the neon atom, thus a greater Coulombic attraction to the outermost electrons and a smaller radius. This greater attraction must be overcome in the second ionization, which will thus require greater energy.  EdChem (talk) 08:02, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks a lot guys. That settles it. -The Herald (Benison) • the joy of the LORD my strength 08:49, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

DSP price and capability?
What did DSPs like AT&T DSP1 (1979), Altamira DX-1 (1980s) TMS32010 (1983), AT&T DSP16A (1980s), Motorola 56000 (1986) cost like 2 years or so after their introduction? Would they or the NEC µPD7720 been capable of processing realtime Trellis encoding using a 3.3 kHz bandwidth? What would a suitable A/D + D/A cost at the same time, assuming a required 26.4 kHz sps? Bytesock (talk) 16:06, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

The TMS was of the order of a hundred bucks, in 1986, in the UK, from memory. I don't know what trellis encoding is and don't care to find out. Greglocock (talk) 01:57, 20 April 2016 (UTC)
 * WHAAOE - Trellis modulation Rojomoke (talk) 04:50, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

bone breakage and calcium loss
If a healthy young person with good nutrition suffers an occasional broken bone, will that tend to help keep calcium levels in bones higher?(Not just in the bones that were broken, but others, such as vertebrate and so on.)I was thinking that after a break, hormones might be released encouraging calcium throughout the skeleton. 144.35.45.57 (talk) 16:17, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I seriously doubt it, as any "grow more bone" signals are likely to be highly localized at the break. StuRat (talk) 16:50, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Why do Neisseria gonorrheae and Chlamydia trachomatis infect together?
I've read that people who get gonorrhea also get infected by chlamydia. Why do those diseases and agents go together? Is there a relationship between the two types of bacteria? 140.254.77.233 (talk) 17:36, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I will leave it for others to answer as to whether having one disease makes one more vulnerable to infection with the other. However, note that if transmission by both are caused by the same behavior, you would expect a correlation from that alone. For example; smoking, alcoholism, and drug abuse are often correlated because the same risk-taking behavior (in order to alter one's mood) are present in all cases. StuRat (talk) 17:51, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Sorry no ref, and sorry if this is TMI, but: If the genital skin or mucous membrane is compromised in any way (e.g. a lesion or open sore), then there is a direct route into the bloodstream for another infection. So a chancre (a classic symptom of syphilis) would logically increase the risk of acquiring e.g. chlamydia. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 18:45, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * To further what the previous poster wrote the HIV article has this section: Specific proposed high-risk transmission channels, allowing the virus to adapt to humans and spread throughout the society, depend on the proposed timing of the animal-to-human crossing. Genetic studies of the virus suggest that the most recent common ancestor of the HIV-1 M group dates back to circa 1910. Proponents of this dating link the HIV epidemic with the emergence of colonialism and growth of large colonial African cities, leading to social changes, including a higher degree of sexual promiscuity, the spread of prostitution, and the concomitant high frequency of genital ulcer diseases (such as syphilis) in nascent colonial cities. While transmission rates of HIV during vaginal intercourse are typically low, they are increased many fold if one of the partners suffers from a sexually transmitted infection resulting in genital ulcers. Early 1900s colonial cities were notable due to their high prevalence of prostitution and genital ulcers to the degree that as of 1928 as many as 45% of female residents of eastern Leopoldville were thought to have been prostitutes and as of 1933 around 15% of all residents of the same city were infected by one of the forms of syphilis.
 * Thus correlating statistics but not necessarily causal, may come from opening up infection pathways or weakening the immune defense. So the population may first experience syphilis, HIV and say TBC in that order. Bytesock (talk) 21:14, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Camera to detect dampness ?
On The Dr. Oz Show today, in the first segment, about mold in the home, a man used some form of camera that showed how damp the floor or walls were.

1) Does such a device actually exist ?

2) Do we have an article on it ?

3) How does it work ? StuRat (talk) 21:09, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Thermography, e.g. Thermal Imaging for Moisture & Restoration and Thermal Imaging to detect damp and analyse buildings.--TMCk (talk) 21:37, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I see, so they just look for temperature differences, and assume that means moisture. Seems rather iffy, as things like a hot water pipe may be hotter than the surrounding area whether they have a leak or not. StuRat (talk) 23:17, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, Stu. They're scammers selling this stuff to some poor idiots. So next time you have a water leak make sure the plumber rips your home apart until they find the hidden leak.--TMCk (talk) 00:49, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I always view with huge scepticism anything that Dr Oz is associated with. Richard Avery (talk) 06:32, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I take that as a personal affront to my extended world-wide family. -- Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  09:57, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Is there any scientific way to detect hidden mould? Toxic mould should be a worry for many households. If only there existed a machine that detected all known allergens! Sandman1142 (talk) 12:26, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I know I can smell it, so a trained mold-sniffing dog ought to be much better at it. Of course, there would be health risks for the dog. StuRat (talk) 17:34, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * They can, here's an article. Sjö (talk) 13:44, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

What line coding do modern harddiscs use?
Is it still magnetic S-N N-S polarity reversal and the pulse that it causes which is then coded according to some scheme that is used in modern harddiscs? And what coding scheme is used? ie line codes. Because MFM and RLL are most likely no longer used for that purpose.. Bytesock (talk) 21:17, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

U.K. Mental health care system
In the uk, what is the difference between a mental health support worker and mental health social worker? 2A02:C7D:B907:6D00:E1CE:F8AA:F17A:31D (talk) 22:38, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Well, social worker is a protected title in England - one has to have a recognized professional qualification and be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, see here for some more info. A support worker does not have to have the qualifications and level of registration, and is likely to be lower paid, work longer and more anti-social hours, and be more likely to be assaulted in the course of their duties. DuncanHill (talk) 22:45, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Is there a *guaranteed* way to ensure that a person who already got an orchiectomy *doesn't* have *any* extra testicles?
After all, this *does* appear to be a real condition: Polyorchidism. Futurist110 (talk) 23:10, 19 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Biology comes with few guarantees. After all, the extra testicle might (astronomically unlikely) be located in a teratoma or a parasitic twin, in a place where you would not expect to find it, and where it does not release sperm to the outside world.  The person might also have a condition that prevents testosterone production, in which case you wouldn't find that hormone in blood work. (AFAIR there's also a lower limit of sensitivity because it can be produced elsewhere)  Also other markers like INSL3 ( may mention more, but I haven't looked through it carefully)  This combination of circumstances seems unlikely but in biology there can always be some exception. Wnt (talk) 00:17, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Heating to 2000 Kelvin in an oxidizing environment. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:33, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Please pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't that result in death? Futurist110 (talk) 01:06, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Hey, you wanted to ensure and that is one way to be sure. This is the Trump method of ensuring there aren't any hidden sneak testicles — he'll make there be no more testicles. Just wait till approx. thermal equilibrium and maintain the same till any reactions proceed to completion.. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 01:42, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Please keep your politics out of the science reference desk. --Guy Macon (talk) 06:37, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Come on, I was attempting humor more than political expression. It's a very silly topic (hidden sneak testicles). I'll keep political mentions out of the science desk though. (I can still mention anthropogenic global warming in an unbothersome manner, right? That's only political if you don't believe the consequences of the laws of physics) Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 22:13, 20 April 2016 (UTC)


 * A pelvic MRI would likely locate any extra undescended testicles.  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) Please &#123;&#123;re&#125;&#125; 06:58, 20 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Only if you have a half decent technician looking at the results and they don't make a mistake. Even then, I would be reluctant to talk about guarantees particularly considering stuff like Wnt mentioned and the fact that the OP's history suggests by guarantee they mean they want 100% rather than a very very low likelihood of error. For a lot of it, the chance that the testis will actually produce functioning sperm that will be able to impregnate someone without medical assistance would seem to be very, very, very slim although I'd still be reluctant to talk about guarantees. I'm not even sure you could get some sort of written or implied guarantee from a medical professional since it's a fairly weird request but in any case, what that's likely to mean is they have a medical malpractice provider or whatever who'd provide you money if their guarantee failed. (Presuming the guarantee actually meant something.) Nil Einne (talk) 10:16, 20 April 2016 (UTC)