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    Home › Discover › Ask the Mad Scientist
    answered: 03.31.2013

    what are the methods to fly in the sky .

    (Sung to the tune of “A Modern Major General”)

    There’s many ways of flying from the ancient to the modern crafts.
    We glide like flying fishes or the arcane Quetzalcoatlus.
    Propellers push or pull us thanks to Wilbur and to Orville’s plane,
    By gaining lift through clever use of aeroly-dynamic wing’s.

    There’s Newton’s Laws that teach us that an action has a consequence.
    We use that law for rocket ships to launch ourselves to outer space.
    You know that jet propulsion is a grand design for traveling,
    As long as those jet engines are connected properly to wings.

    We’ve learned more in a hundred years than birds have learned in one million.
    We fly around the world each day for business and sometimes for fun.
    We praise our heroes from the past like Lindbergh and Gus Gri-issom.
    And even Michael Collins though the press will hardly mention him.

    There’s many ways to fly around both in and out of atmosphere.
    Someday we’ll fly to Mars although the way we’ll do it isn’t clear. (Yet)
    A future generation may go fourth to colonize the stars,
    If Einstein’s theory lets us travel faster than neutrinos are.

    I hope this helps to answer all your queries and your que-estions,
    I hope you know this silliness was just my way of having fun.
    Be sure to tell your friends about Discovery’s future events,
    Especially on June 15th that’s when we host our TinkerFest!

    Thanks! See you at TinkerFest!

    answered: 02.27.2013

    how do you make chemicals

    Well... That's an interesting question because it opens up a whole can of tougher questions. So, lets approach this from the "What is a chemical?" direction first.

    A chemical (The simple answer mind you.)is an element, in that it is a chemical substance made of particular types of atoms that cannot be broken down further. So elements are the purest forms of chemicals.
    The next question I would ask is this. "If elements are the purest form of chemicals, can you make an element?"
    "Drum roll please..." YES!In fact (According to my notes) there are currently 28 man made elements. From the patriotically named Americium (Am)to Ununtrium (Uut)many of these elements can only exist in extremely balanced environments (like a laboratory)or they will breakdown and degrade to nothingness.

    Another thing about chemicals is that they can be combined to create compounds. If you want to make chemical compounds, you need a chemical formula. A formula is sort of a list of atoms needed to form a molecule. You list the type of atom first, followed by the number of atoms you need for that compound.
    You may have heard someone refer to water as H2O? That stands for two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. Those atoms combine to make one water molecule. If you add just one more water molecule you get H2O2, Hydrogen Peroxide. One molecule is cool and refreshing and the other one bleaches you hair.

    If you combine Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)with Potassium Iodide (KI)you get a chemical reaction! A chemical reaction means that the combined chemicals do something cool! In this case they make something called "Elephant Toothpaste." If you want to see what I'm talking about, go to YouTube and search "Elephant Toothpaste" it's really cool!

    Well, I hope that helps. Now you'll have to excuse me, I just remembered I need to take my elephant to a dentist appointment.

    answered: 02.24.2013

    How fast do you sneeze?

    Wow, great question. Well, I'm no sneeze expert but I do have my fair share of allergies. So, I am at least an experienced sneezer.

    There is a lot of information on the internet about this and a wide range of opinion. So, let's approach this logically. What we want to know is "How fast is a sneeze?" another way to say that is, "How fast does a sneeze travel over a measured distance." Since we are in the United States, let's use miles per hour as our standard of measure. It would seem that the average speed of a sneeze is around 100 miles per hour. Let's put that in perspective. The fastest land mammal is of course the cheetah, at an average of 66 mph not even the cheetah can avoid any germs or viruses carried along by a sneeze. It may take them a second our two to catch our spotted friend but they would catch him have no doubt.

    The highest speed I found any legitimate information on was around 600 mph. I personally would have to shout "Nah, I don't think so..." that seems like an awfully unreal estimate to me. So, not knowing for sure and lacking what I would call strict experimental data, we created our own experiment.

    Using a hand held anemometer (an instrument used to measure wind speed) we determined that a hundred miles per hour was about right. I would also like to say that sneezing on demand isn't easy...

    So, 100 mph on average, your mileage may vary. Thanks for your question! I hope this helps...

    Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go blow my nose...AAaaACHOO!

    answered: 09.12.2012

    Is there evidence of other solar systems in other galaxies? What investigative process/technology provided such evidence?

    Wow! That’s a huge question.
    Well, we know there are other stars, we can see them. So your question is really are there planets circling those stars, a solar system, just like the neighborhood we live in.
    Alpha Centauri, our closest neighbor, is 4.37 light years away. It is so far away that the light we see from that star is literally years old. So, how can astronomers determine if there are other planets circling stars in other solar systems? Well, it’s all in the wobble.
    As the Earth orbits the sun, the gravities of the Earth and the Sun pull against one another. Since the Earth’s orbit is an ellipse, we are sometimes closer to the sun than at other times of the year. The closer we are, the stronger the pull. If you could watch our sun from way out in Alpha Centauri you would notice what appears to be a little wobble, this is called a Doppler effect.
    Astronomers can also observe what’s called a transit. A transit is when a planet passes between us and another star. When this occurs the light from that star will dim. Transits can be very rare. We recently had a transit in our own solar system when Venus passed between us and the sun. The next transit of Venus will be in the year 2117. Like I said, they can be rare.
    Using very sensitive instruments, astronomers are able to measure these wobbles and dims. They use that information to determine whether there are planets circling stars many, many, light-years from Earth. We call these extra-galactic neighbors “exoplanets” as in extra-solar planets.
    So far, there have been thousands of exoplanet candidates discovered. Maybe one day we’ll go visit one!
    If you are looking for more information on exoplanets be sure to visit http://kepler.nasa.gov/education/planethunters/ this is the official website for the Kepler Space Telescope. Kepler is the most powerful tool astronomers currently have for finding exoplanets.
    I hope this helps! Thanks for your question, now I’m off to the lab. It’s time for me to break out the telescope and do a little planet hunting!

    answered: 02.02.2012

    What is a white whole?

    Well, NASA tells us that, "A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying." (Ref.NASA.gov feature page)

    A "White Hole" in theoretical relativity is, and this is my simple explanation, a point in space that cannot be entered from outside but it is a portal where light and objects may emerge. It is, theoretically, a hole in the fabric of space where matter is either created or passes through but not into.

    Since you asked specifically "What is a white whole?" I am going with this answer, "White whole-wheat flour is flour milled from hard white spring wheat, rather than traditional red wheat. In the United Kingdom, whole-wheat flour is more commonly made from white wheat instead of red as in the United States. (Ref. Betty Crocker)

    I hope that helps! Now, I need to get back to my observatory…I’m watching for holes in space-time. I have a plan to travel back in time and keep the Jonas Brothers from breaking up.