Daily Dose Of Science: Main Thread

Daily Dose #4: The Laws of Thermodynamics
Hello guys! Welcome back to your daily dose of science. Today, we're talking about the laws of thermodynamics.

The laws of thermodynamics are fundamental laws that govern the energy in our world, and even the arrow of time.

Why can't bacon unfry itself? Why will we always grow? The arrow of time governs these things.
Think of it as when time goes, it won't go back.

Onto the first law!



You've probably heard this law MANY times in science classes. The 1st Law is also known as the Law of Conservation of Energy; it states that energy can't be created or destroyed; only transferred.

Think of a skier on a hill; when the skier goes up the hill, the energy from the food he eats becomes energy as he walks up the hill. When he gets on the top of the hill, there is a lot of gravitational energy. Skiing down the hill results in energy that is transferred from the gravitational energy.



This is, in my opinion, one of the most important laws of thermodynamics. The total entropy of an isolated system always increases over time.

What is entropy? Entropy is the disorder of a system. For example, a perfectly organized room would have very low entropy. However, a very unorganized room, like my room, has very high entropy. In this case, since entropy always increases, the perfectly organized room would slowly degenerate into a very messy room with high entropy (until someone comes and organizes it again).

This law defines time.



Absolute zero is the literal coldest temperature. This law states that as the temperature approaches absolute zero, the entropy approaches a constant.

At first glance, this law seems pretty useless. What are we going to use with this information? Well, inside this law, is hidden another one.

Recall from the 2nd law, that entropy always increases in an isolated system. Thus, it's impossible for the entropy to be constant. Thus, the 3rd law also states that it is impossible to get any temperature to absolute zero in a finite number of steps.



Do you know that feeling when you capture all fundamental properties, but you miss the most important one?

The 0th Law is the most critical law; it was created after the 1st and 2nd law, and thought of more fundamental, thus the lower number 0.

The 0th Law states that if two systems, A and B, are in equilibrium with a system C, then A and B are in equilibrium with each other.

This is a mathematical property; If A=C, and B=C, then A=B. However, this also defines equilibrium in thermodynamics. That's why this law earned itself the term "0th Law of Thermodynamics".



Hope today's daily dose of science has enlightened you!













just remember that entropy will always be there to ruin your day

 

blump
10char

 

There's this video on the Mandelbrot Set that I think explains the set quite well as well, for anyone who are still quite confused about the math a bit. I think it explains it quite well.

Video starts at 1:11.

 

Well my winter break truly sucked; my doctors diagnosed pneumonia in my left lung; sadly, I won't be able to upload any daily doses for a while.

 

Don't worry, I will take your place, you get some rest and get better (seriously though, I heard that pneumonia is quite bad, so please get well!). I freaking got this :ok_hand:

Now let's see... *Opens up old, dusty biology school notes*

Daily Dose #5: Immunology 101 - Body Defense against Pathogens!

Hello guys! Welcome back to another Daily Dose of Science! Two Daily Doses ago, we have covered epidemiology, the study of the spread of diseases and pathogens! It is only fitting that we revisit this topic, however through a different perspective, Biology, the study of living organisms, and investigate how our bodies actually defend against these external threats!
​

As a rule of thumb, there are mainly three main lines of defenses.

The First Line of Defense - Limiting Immigration
Oh shoot, I have to draw a diagram? Damn it I didn't sign up for this! MS Paint skills don't fail me no-


Ahhhhhh shoot good enough.

To put it simply, the first line of defense involves the prevention of pathogens entering the body in the first place. It is quite genius - If they don't get in, you don't even have to fight it! There are mainly three different kinds of barriers that contributes to this, Physical, Chemical and Biological Barriers.



The Second Line of Defense - The Non-Specific, Regular Ragni Army
The Second Line of Defense constitutes as an automatic response towards all foreign material that bypasses the first line of defense and enters the body's internal environment.



This process involves innate, non-specific defense, meaning that they charge in the same every time regardless of the enemy they are facing! Some parts of the body that is involves in this line of defense includes our all-so-familiar White Blood Cells, complementary proteins and immune system specific messenger proteins called cytokines.

Generally, they do their job, but they are not super effective at doing it either, since they use the same approach for every defense. They work hand in hand together with the Third Line of Defense to decimate the enemy.

Third Line of Defense - The Big Guns
If the second line of defense can't manage the infection, the more specific third line of defense (Adaptive Immunity) will clean it all up. If not, game over!



Typically, the Adaptive Immune Response uses a Save and Load mechanic - It has effector cells that would act and take care of the specific pathogens, and memory cells that would "stay" in the body longer so that it would turn into more effector cells again when the same exact disease attacks! (Which is why we only get Chicken Pox only once per lifetime and never again!)

There are two types of defense for the Adaptive Immune System, Humoral and Cell Mediated Response. We will be focusing on the Humoral Adaptive Response.



The Humoral Immunity responds by the creation of antibodies (not to be confused with antibiotics, that's a drug), created by copying the shape of the antigen (the foreign object on the pathogen that actually provokes an immune response), as such allowing the antibodies to bind to the pathogen which either punctures their membranes, glue them together to allow for easier digestion (agglutination), or activating inflammation and rashes on your bodies to attract more white blood cells to the area!

Basically, antibodies are super super useful (needs nerf?).



The whole process of getting to the antibodies is quite complex, but it can be summed up as such:

1) Recognition of Pathogen by Second Line of Defense
2) T-Helper Cell Activates B-Cell to copy
3) B-Cell Turns into B Plasma Cell and B Memory Cells
4) B Plasma Cell releases Antibodies to fight infection
5) B Memory Cell remains in the body

That way, the memory cell will live on to fight another day when the same disease reoccurs, meaning your second fight with that infection will be much less serious!

Vaccines - Stimulates your immune response
As one final touch on this topic about the immune system, we shall discuss Vaccines.

Generally, to keep pandemic cases to a minimal, WHO (World Health Organisation) stated that 95% of the people should have immunity against common and deadly pathogenic diseases for everyone to be protected. This concept is called herd immunity, as it would make it less likely for the person who are not immune to come contact with a person who is also not immune and carrying the disease, since most people would then be immune!


As shown, the green cannot be touched by the sick! Muahahahaha!

Vaccines work in a way that injects tiny fragments of the pathogen that has been attenuated, meaning it is either weakened, dead and is generally much less powerful than the actual disease itself.

This would generate memory cells in your body and a passive amount of antibodies for that disease flowing in your body, so that the next time you DO come across the actual disease, your immune system would be ready to kick them to the bucket.


Like really, it is like the biggest "screw you, don't even try to get into my body" to the pathogen!

As a final note, no, Vaccines do not cause autism. That is a very common misconception by people. Seriously people, don't get your excuses for running away. And also scientists, governments and many people apparently get very triggered by it! Here is a fact sheet by the Australian Gov Depertment of Health.



Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed absorbing today's Daily Dose of Science!

I am not MarioYoshiBoo, have a nice day!

 

VaCCinEs cAUsE AutISM
-someone, probably after seeing this

Oh, you didn’t cover CRISPR! (Crisper? What was it again? I forget, been some time since I last read up on it)
Basicly it’s that long term defence you talked of: after a disease is defeated inside the body, the body takes some of the genetic code of the pathogen and adds it to its collection. Then, when a dosease comes, because the body has a sample, CRISPR can function as a biological scanner! Genetic code can also be inserted manually, so editing genes and creating new defences to protect from disease is easier than ever before.
It’s really cool!

 

I couldn't resist mentioning it lol, my bio teacher got so extremely triggered by it it was quite funny. Took a deeeeeeeeep breath, and just say "Hey, listen. Vaccines don't cause Autism"

Huh, I have not heard about that concept actually, I really wonder what it stands for. Perhaps can you link me an article or like a video about it? Sounds interesting.

 

thanks boi, please take over until I feel ready

 

key kids I feel good

more doses of science coming up

 

Daily Dose #6: Voids

-In Memory of @Dr Zed

I'm sure we have all heard of the tragic news that Dr. Zed has left the forums. It left a large void in Nemract's Bar.
In his memory, I will be doing voids for the next Daily Dose of science.

Now, the main question; what even are voids?



To answer your question, voids are NOT black boxes of death.

We are talking about cosmic voids here.

Cosmic voids are irregular spaces in the observable universe that have a very low density of galaxies, stars, etc. They also have a meager amount of gas. Cosmic voids are hard to find by just looking at the sky; however, voids are very easy to find in maps of the observable universe.

Cosmic Voids and Maps of the Universe
First, I'll explain where you can find cosmic voids the easiest; on maps of the universe.

On these maps, voids are generally pretty easy to find. They look like little holes in between the dots/clusters.



Now, before we move on, we need to understand what all of the things on the map mean.



As seen above, a cluster is like a massive group of galaxies or stars. They are easily identified on dot maps and cluster maps.
Next, filaments. On a dot map, filaments are thin strips of galaxies and stars. They are more easily identified on cluster maps.
Next, the walls. They're mainly large walls. And I've already introduced voids.

There are two maps I can show you; I call them "dot maps" and "cluster maps".

The following is a dot map.



A dot map shows the galaxies in the universe; sorted by their redshift.
Using this information can help us visually find voids.

For example, there are quite a few voids visible here; including the one above the Cetus Wall and to the right of the Shapley Concentration.

The following is a cluster map (or at least I call it that.)



The cluster/wall-like shapes are the clusters of galaxies. The voids are pretty visible to find; they are in between the filaments.
A few voids are visible here; in between the orange/yellow lines.

Now that you know how voids visibly appear on a map, we'll explain how they form.

How do Voids Form?
Voids form in exciting ways.

The diagram below lists the 3.


(By the way, I now have different MS Paint textures! :D)

The first way, is naturally, by the Big Bang. The second way is by a massive hypernova. The final way is by quasar jet destruction.

The first way works when the Big Bang expanded; there was probably a small gap between matter, which resulted in a larger, and larger gap as the universe expanded.

The second way works when there is a hypernova that purges all of the matter around it; thus forming a void.

The third way is from quasar jets; rays of death that destroy matter on both sides of the quasar.

Famous Voids
Now, we will discuss many famous voids, like the Bootes Void and the Eridanus Supervoid.

Below is a list of the largest and most well-known voids, along with their size compared to other voids.



As you can see, the largest void currently discovered is the KBC Void.

Compared to other voids, the Eridanus Supervoid looks tiny. However, it has something special; it may be the cause of a strange temperature-related anomaly (note: MAY.)



This strange anomaly is called the CMB Cold Spot. It is a few degrees in microkelvins lower than it's surroundings. It's not exactly known what causes it, so maybe the Eridanus Supervoid isn't the cause.



Well, I think we've finished today's Daily Dose of Science (or more like this week's.)

Have a good day!

 

Welcome back! 2 Billion Light Years is indeed a very big void.

 

Aren't the voids slowly shrinking because the stars surrounding them keep emitting light that fills the void (though there will be very little light)? Or is there another phenomenon that "reflects" the light?

 

*Hey look a Science thread!, let's post something here! Let me post about the Law of Thermodynamics and why perpetual motion can't happen!*

Ah fuck me, now what do I post?
So Imma just post on stem cells cos Biology owns your ass(Literally)

So when you're a teeny tiny embryo in your mums stomach, you may wonder how specialized tissues such as Blood Tissues, Bone, etc etc are formed
Enter:- Stem Cells

So stem cells are cells that are used to manufacture each and every type of cell in the body, they are usually found in the embryo, but under certain conditions, cells can be made to become stem cells due to certain factors. The former is called embryonic stem cells(Banned because fuck religion) that are obtained from blastocysts(Middle stage between embryo and a foetus) and the latter is called as induced pluripotent stem cells. The embryonic stem cells are called as pluripotent because they are can form stem cells of other tissues such as blood and neurons. Induced pluripotent stem cells do the same but they are artificially produced rather than natural, here's a diagram to help y'all remember

 

Update: Due to school, I'm probably going to have to make Weekly doses of science, until the next break. sorry!

 

Bump

I'm going to have to leave the thread like this until school is over. It's literally the end of the freaking semester, I can't get bad grades.

 

I would try to take over but too stupid to do so. But I still hope you update this at least weekly.

 

hey i have a project to do on voids copy and paste time amiright

 

Don't worry! This isn't dead yet. I'm making one right now since all my homework is caught up

 

It hurts, right?