Recent comments in /f/askscience

lostPackets35 t1_jd8yoip wrote

Reply to comment by Alfred_The_Sartan in (Biology) How far down your spine can you break before respiratory impairment? by Anomaly-Friend

"it depends" on the length of the drop (if any) placement of the knot , etc...

Done well, the insult to the cns from having the neck broken should hopefully cause near immediate unconsciousness

Failing that, compression of the arteries supplying blood to the brain should do it within 10 seconds or so.

The cause of death is still usually strangulation though. So there can well be a lot of suffering if any of the above don't lead to rapid loss of consciousness.

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Tectum-to-Rectum t1_jd8urhq wrote

Reply to comment by Anomaly-Friend in (Biology) How far down your spine can you break before respiratory impairment? by Anomaly-Friend

It takes a lot of effort to do that. The overwhelming majority of cervical fractures do not result in neurological injury. I’ve been involved with probably 2-3 high cervical injuries requiring ventilator dependence and most are old people with bad bones and a type 2 dens fracture that pinch their cords.

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johnsadventure t1_jd8s7e0 wrote

Reply to comment by Alfred_The_Sartan in (Biology) How far down your spine can you break before respiratory impairment? by Anomaly-Friend

Hanging is supposed to snap the neck well enough to cause immediate and total paralysis, meaning that all body functions stop (heart, lungs, breathing).

Without blood flow and oxygen brain death happens soon after, but I have read brain activity can continue up to 5 minutes after supporting body functions stop.

With that information, assuming the hanged does not lose consciousness they will feel immense pain and panic as their brain suffocates. If their eyes are open they can watch the world while unable move or communicate for their last few minutes of life.

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Coomb t1_jd8p3ae wrote

Reply to comment by El_Sephiroth in When the amplitude of a longitudinal wave changes, why doesn't the wavelength change? by senpai_maccer

Are you trying to draw a distinction here somehow between the wave dynamics in a guitar string and the dynamics in a rubber band that's pulled taut enough to support oscillation? They're the same. A rubber bands stretched taut between two supports and then plucked is exactly the same as a guitar string except that it's far more compliant. Whatever reasoning explains why a guitar string still makes the same sound even if you pluck it harder is identical to the example already given.

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throw-away-deez t1_jd8llp4 wrote

Reply to Before forming a peptide bond the amino acid contains a carboxyl group, which reacts with the amine group to produce a peptide bond and water is produced. What is the name for the new groups in an amino residue within a polypeptide, if there are any? Especially the C=O left from the carboxyl group? by flowergirlhyuck

The carbonyl group (C=O) that is left from the carboxyl group is now part of the peptide bond and is called the "amide carbonyl" or "carbonyl group" of the peptide bond. Similarly, the nitrogen atom from the amino group that is now part of the peptide bond is called the "amide nitrogen" or "peptide nitrogen".

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