Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2017 July 29

= July 29 =

Is sneezing after the first sip of a stiff drink a thing?
A quick search on google was unhelpful, it referred to wine allergies and runny noses due to dilation of the blood supply to the sinuses. But my mother and I both sneeze once on the first sip of a hard drink. (I also sneeze when I go out into bright sunlight, which I know is a common reaction.) Mother judges her gin and tonic that way, and complains at restaurants that the drink is too weak if it doesn't make her sneeze. Neither of us gets a runny nose or continues sneezing. Is this a known phenomenon? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 00:13, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Our article Photic sneeze reflex covers the sneeze due to sunlight, and also mentions that eating spicy foods can cause sneezing. The linked article Gustatory rhinitis redirects to an article covering only sneezing due to the stomach being overfull, but this source says gustatory rhinitis can be caused by alcohol as well.- gadfium 02:22, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks, but actual rhinitis is not relevant in this case; there's no runny nose, just a single sneeze, as in the photic sneeze reflex. μηδείς (talk) 03:43, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * My son sneezes after taking liquid medicine. When I looked up the reason why (some time ago), I got to this page. Yahoo answers are obviously not reliable, but the comments there make sense - and would also apply to liquor. There's no answers here, but should at least make it clear you and your mom are not alone. :) This seems a bit more reliable; in your case the takeaway might be that histamines could still play a part, with a note that it's experienced at very different levels for different people. You didn't mention what kind of stuff you're quaffing, but quick Googling suggests that some people only sneeze from wine, others just from beer. Presumably there are other specific sufferers. Time for science! Matt Deres (talk) 15:03, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

Neither wine nor beer causes the sneeze, which is immediate upon the first sip of a strong drink. There's no time for an allergic reaction, and no runny nose or continued sneezing. I suspect it's the same as the photic sneeze reflex, which I have, just caused by alcohol absorbed through the palate. μηδείς (talk) 00:15, 30 July 2017 (UTC)

Scale of everything
Can I get a rundown of the scale of everything from the smallest thing, such as a quark, or possibly a string, to the biggest thing, the universe, or multiverse? I would want this to be presented in "levels" (e.g. atom, planet, galaxy). — Preceding unsigned comment added by AHumanEditor (talk • contribs) 01:55, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * How about orders of magnitude and its associated category? --47.138.161.183 (talk) 02:57, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by AHumanEditor (talk • contribs) 04:07, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Orders of magnitude (length) and maybe Orders of magnitude (volume) are more specific to length. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 04:16, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * This may help. (The second half zooms in to small things.) Mitch Ames (talk) 06:13, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Why would you want to try the impossible? This is way beyond our imagination. You cant even imagine the scale of our Solar system, not even if it is scaled down (correctly!)! Dont belive what i write? Go check out this very well done "staggering" prove Video: . --Kharon (talk) 18:16, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

Memory - remembering but not knowing it
Just recently, I was thinking of the cortex of the brain that deals with error detection, and somehow I thought of the anterior cingulate cortex for some reason. Then I looked it up, and it was exactly what I was looking for. Weird. Does anyone else experience this? 50.4.236.254 (talk) 02:29, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * This isn't the place to ask people about their personal experiences. -- Jayron 32 03:13, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * However, if there is a name for this phenomenon, then there probably is an article on it. — 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:E465:CA4F:4607:5398 (talk) 04:11, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * See confirmation bias, Implicit memory and deja vu. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 04:12, 29 July 2017 (UTC)


 * No one else. You're the only one. But you may find Memory useful. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 14:47, 29 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Source amnesia may also be of interest. Deor (talk) 15:38, 29 July 2017 (UTC)