Recent content by NC_Seattle

I asked a similar question a few years back. My understanding, based on Feynman's 'sticky bead argumant' is that gravity waves do transfer energy to mass they pass through. This added energy is translated into heat, which does add (relativistic) mass to objects. Furthermore, if the 'closed...

New York Times has published a list of Science's 10 most beautiful experiments. They are all physics related though so the title is a bit of a misdirect.

Bill Tre is correct, the enzyme that is responsible for modifying amino acids such that collagen can be formed uses molecular oxygen as its ultimate source. There appears to be an entire class of these enzymes called dioxygenases that use molecular oxygen ultimately derived from the air and...

It would be better to define fermentation as the facilitation of a chemical reaction involving organic compounds in the absence of oxygen. The fermentation of carbohydrates certainly fits under this definition. It's possible to ferment amino acids with one of the amino acids acting as the...

All of the reactions that occur in the cell that are facilitated by coded molecules can also occur naturally in solution. Because the activation barrier (the energy level for the intermediate molecules) is typically high however these reactions occur at a very low rate. That's the whole...

For starters, nutrient depletion in Martian soil would be minimal if the inhabitants recycled their sweat, urine, and 'night soil'. For example when you create pure water from urine, as is done on the ISS, you get a concentrated solution with potassium and nitrogen compounds that can act as a...

One thing that is very plausible is engineering gut bacteria to break down and partially digest alien biological matter. They'd take a portion and you'd take a portion, similar to the way ruminants digest cellulose via anaerobic bacteria in their digestive tracts. Under focused, guided...

There's one BIG caveat about all the following items. I'll describe that caveat near the end. Sugars: There's a reason nature chose glucose and fructose as the most common sugars - it's because they're the most stable forms of six carbon sugars. If you were to eat alien fruits there's a good...

I don't really understand how gamma rays are detected (Compton ray scattering) so I'll use visible light instead. The extrapolation should still be valid though. If you're viewing a spaceship going close to the speed of light with respect to your reference frame on a planet then you will...

I'm not a tardigrade expert but I believe their hardiness stems from their ability to dehydrate their cells. Modifying humans to do the same would likely require a complete overhaul of the genome, and may not even be possible in the case of neurons. It would be an interesting experiment to see...

Could you physically describe in detail the object in your thought experiment as well as where Alice and her friends are in relation to it? Also, keep in mind that you're describing 2 different sets of observers: Alice and her friends, and also the astronomers on earth. As far as I know all...

I'd be interested in hearing some thoughts on this. Does the fact that a set of gravity waves were observed imply that some energy, presumably a very small amount, was transferred from the gravity wave to observing instruments? If so, where in the apparatus and how did this transfer occur?