Recent comments in /f/askscience

Hola3008 OP t1_jdw58id wrote

Reply to comment by Xeronami in Why does mild compression lead to paresthesia but not paralysis? by Hola3008

Really? According to most of the websites I have looked at, like https://www.webmd.com/brain/paresthesia-facts, parasthesia is caused by nerve compression, not arterial compression, most mention this as a common misconception. Ig that was the accepted consensus 6 years ago. Thanks for mentioning Saturday night palsy, I didn't know about that. I also wasn't aware of the difference in thickness, that explains a lot. +1.

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Brain_Hawk t1_jdw475j wrote

Reply to Does drinking too much water put strain on the kidneys? by tb200

If you're drinking anything around a normal amount of water, extra is actually a little good for your kidneys as it helps them flush out things and not work so hard

Others have commented on water toxicity, and I thought it would be interesting to share this link

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna16614865

This woman died from drinking so much water during a water drinking contest on a radio show. However, this was pretty extreme, she was chugging it back and it totally unreasonable rate. So I might not recommend for example trying to drink 12 gallons of water one day, because you might die. But unless you're drinking insanely crazy amounts, you're not at risk

However if you do find yourself continuously thirsty and drinking a lot more than seems normal, you might go see a doctor. Excessive thirst can be a side effect of poor kidney function or high blood sugar. Amongst other things.

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dataphile t1_jdw3r83 wrote

Reply to comment by razovor in Why are nonhuman erect bipedal animals so rare? by violetmammal4694

It seems this is a better answer than many—there is rarely a ‘smoking gun’ single reason that a bodily design is selected for. There is usually a constellation of various bodily features that mutually reinforce a ‘successful’ species design. Also there are multiple reasons why a feature is selected — it could be that walking long distances, seeing further on the savannah, and using our hands are all contributors.

Humans are in several ways a constellation of unusual features that work together. We are odd in being relatively hairless mammals. It’s unusual we eat such a broadly omnivorous diet. Our heavy focus on intelligence is weird.

What seems to be the précis for our design is adaptability and sociability. We’re somewhat like orangutans (who also have comparatively long childhoods) in that we range over large distances, eat a lot foods, and have the intelligence to know how to adapt to these varying environments and foods. However, we’re more social than orangutans and range over wider areas.

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ackillesBAC t1_jdw36fq wrote

Reply to Why are nonhuman erect bipedal animals so rare? by violetmammal4694

I like the water ape theory. We evolved in trees then spent a lot of time in a shallow water environment where walking on 2 legs is more effective and easier. Then moved to land and became the most efficient runners on the planet able to chase animals till they can't run away anymore.

This explains some other odd human traits, why new borns can swim and why our hands and feet wrinkle in water (to increase surface area and traction)

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Lonely-Description85 t1_jdw2vlj wrote

Reply to comment by jlpulice in Why are nonhuman erect bipedal animals so rare? by violetmammal4694

Slight correction if I may. Being bipedal allows higher endurance levels (distance and speed /time). Quadrapeds are faster, but do not have the long distance endurance we do. That's why our ancestors were able to hunt gazelles successfully: ambush or outrun them literally. You can chase a deer to exhaustion if you have enough endurance to run about 3-4 miles.

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pavlik_enemy t1_jdw2fza wrote

Reply to comment by seriousnotshirley in Does living in an airplane flight path, near an airport, pose a health risk? What happens to the lead from the jets fuel? by [deleted]

Thanks, I've watched his two videos on leaded gas and difficulties of developing new aviation engines. My thought was that since modern engines aren't made for extreme performance you could detune them and use lower octane fuels. But since 100LL was probably widely available and there were no concerns about lead there was no reason not to use it otherwise a manufacturer just crippled their engine design.

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katlian t1_jdvyrp8 wrote

Reply to Does living in an airplane flight path, near an airport, pose a health risk? What happens to the lead from the jets fuel? by [deleted]

Smaller airports are a bigger problem than large ones: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/20/aviation-lead-fuel-00081641

I live near an airport (specifically under the path that most planes take when departing) and I don't have kids but there's an elementary school near my house that dozens of small airplanes fly over every day. I've had the soil around my house tested and it has slightly elevated levels of lead but still under the EPA's "safe" limit.

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