Recent comments in /f/askscience

pretendperson1776 t1_j1or2gj wrote

Reply to How do they know what the inside of the earth is made of, along with the internal temperatures? by Kozzinator

Waves, when moving from one medium (material type) to another, will bend if they strike at an angle. They will bend one way if moving unto a less dense medium, the other way if entering a more dense medium. Earthquakes generate massive waves in the earth. By measuring how long those waves take to reach different seismographs (tools for measuring Earthquakes), scientists can determine how the wave moved through the earth, and through that path, the density of the materials the waves moved through.

Temperature data is hypothesized based on the material we know the upper mantle to be made of (from lava) and its density and then supported by deep holes we have dug, where thr Temperature increases in a fairly linear manner.

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Hookairz t1_j1oksgg wrote

Reply to comment by BeneficialWarrant in Maybe a simple question, but why are proteins structural? by danrthemanr

Also to add, for proteins “structure dictates function”

Without the correct structure, which arises due to the things listed above (and hydrophobic/philic interactions I may add) proteins cannot perform their intended function which can lead to various consequences.

Some proteins even work almost like tiny machines in the cell and can perform work using ATP

SOME proteins are used as structural elements of the cell, but overall “structure” of proteins is important for their functional roles

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NakoL1 t1_j1okmm4 wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in How do they know what the inside of the earth is made of, along with the internal temperatures? by Kozzinator

also, very importantly: shearing waves do not propagate in liquids (quakes create both pressure and shearing waves). you can tear a solid, such as a sheet of paper, but trying to do the same to a liquid doesn't make sense. whereas pressure waves, like sound, propagate in both solids and liquids

so it's very obvious that (at least an outer layer of) the core is liquid because it's "dark" when looked at using shearing waves

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Macemore t1_j1okhki wrote

Reply to comment by fishman1287 in How is density measured in porous materials? by That_Lego_Guy_Jack

That is why you use the water, it's a tool in this case to measure the sponge's cavities. By using a known metric (water) and volume (1L) and calculating the differences before/after the absorption you can determine the quantity of water in the sponge. If you know how much water is in there, and you know how much space water takes, you know how much space is empty in the sponge.

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