Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2019 March 21

= March 21 =

Would shear force prevent gravity trains, if heat and pressure didn't?
If materials existed that could withstand the heat and pressure of the Earth's mantle, would they also necessarily be able to withstand the shear forces at the top and bottom of the asthenosphere due to the currents in that layer? To withstand any other shear forces that a gravity train tunnel might be subject to? Neon Merlin  19:06, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Being able to withstand heat and pressure does not necessarily imply the ability to deal with shear forces, so the simple answer is no.--Shantavira|feed me 09:46, 22 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Things move very slowly in the asthenosphere and over short periods it behaves as a rigid, elastic material (it supports the propagation of shear waves for instance), it's only over much longer timescales that it behaves as a fluid - see also rheid. There are areas where there is evidence of a significant fraction of melt (where there is a strong Gutenberg discontinuity), which would also be an issue. However, the problem of keeping a tunnel open at depths of more than a few kilometres (the deepest mines - see this thread) is not one that you can simply ignore, even hypothetically - that is the biggest issue with such a tunnel. Mikenorton (talk) 11:45, 22 March 2019 (UTC)

Smoking food with corn husks
Is smoking food with corn husks okay?

I asked about using lychee wood in 2015:
 * Reference desk/Archives/Science/2015 September 18

Many thanks,

Anna Frodesiak (talk) 20:12, 21 March 2019 (UTC) PAGE ]]) 21:24, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Can't say whether or not its "okay", but it is done. (e.g.) —2606:A000:1126:28D:3873:46A8:372F:FD65 (talk) 21:21, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't know about husks, but smoking with corn cobs is quite common. When preparing that recipe, Americas's Test Kitchen did say that using husked and unhusked ears of corn with the kernels produced a result that was too sooty, but they didn't say anything about just the husks. --Ahecht ([[User talk:Ahecht|TALK


 * I've been using the husks. The result is good. But is it safe? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 21:33, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * In the interests of absolute clarity, do you mean 'is the smoking process safe for the person carrying it out at the time?' or 'is the smoked product safe to eat?' {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.200.138.194 (talk) 21:42, 21 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Is the product safe to eat. Do corn husks give off cyanide or x-rays or something? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 21:48, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * If by "something" you mean Hebenon ... maybe yes (maybe no). —2606:A000:1126:28D:3873:46A8:372F:FD65 (talk) 22:02, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Corn roasted in its husks on a grill is a common method of preparation. The husk is sometimes pretty blackened and smokey. Rmhermen (talk) 22:32, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Ah, yes. Of course. And if people got sick from that, we'd know by now. Thank you, Rmhermen. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 00:48, 22 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Any kind of smoking of meat (including fish) generates toxic compounds. Smoked and other processed meats should be eaten in limited quantities. I'm not sure if this applies to non-meats. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 01:16, 22 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Of course. It is a rare treat. Cheers. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 01:32, 22 March 2019 (UTC)

After a bilateral salpingectomy, is the uterus closed in the areas where the Fallopian tubes used to be connected to the uterus?
After a bilateral salpingectomy, is the uterus closed in the areas where the Fallopian tubes used to be connected to the uterus? Futurist110 (talk) 23:11, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * During a salpingectomy, the tube is ligated. If it wasn't, there'd be a pretty good chance of an ectopic pregnancy. Also, you don't want a patent path into the abdominal cavity for all the reasons one can imagine. Abductive  (reasoning) 08:02, 22 March 2019 (UTC)