Unanswered Questions
5,525 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
22
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433
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Effect of Aging on SA node's sympathetic fibers
I am trying to understand the effect of aging on the sympathetic fibers of SA node.
I know that aging shifts the vagal curve to left in frequency due to aging.
However, I am interested if aging has ...
17
votes
0
answers
535
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Identifying Some Kind Of Fossil
This was found off the coast of Ireland by a friend of mine. The running gag is it's some kind of fetish or totem and should be immediately discarded, but we're interested in whether it's perhaps a ...
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15
votes
1
answer
2k
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Deliberately choosing one nostril to breathe through
James Nestor, on pp. 41-42 of his book Breath: the New Science of a Lost Art, claims the following.
The right nostril is a gas pedal. When you're inhaling primarily through this channel, circulation ...
- 103
14
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0
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217
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Is it known how some heat-resistance Bacillus spores repair their DNA after having been heated to 420 °C? (but not much higher)
Background
Discussions below several recent posts in Space SE (links below) indicate that bacterial spores are a serious problem when considering how to prevent a future spacecraft mission to ...
13
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0
answers
163
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How do the biophysics of how cerebrospinal fluid mechanically protects the brain work?
The two mechanisms I've seen mentioned are the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) acting as a hydraulic cushion or shock absorber, and how CSF creates a micro-gravity environment through buoyancy.
I have very ...
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13
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2
answers
284
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Are there certain symmetric-pair muscles that are slightly bigger and NOT due to handedness?
Ok, hear me out, I was just thinking about an article in Nature I read in the past titled "Scrotal asymmetry in man and in ancient sculpture"$^{\dagger}$ and more recently an entire medical textbook ...
- 8,150
12
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0
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2k
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What is, (and what isn't) "kinetic replication" as it applies to molecules and to living organisms?
CNN's World's first living robots can now reproduce, scientists say describes "xenobots"; clusters of stem cells that move around and by this motion occasionally push enough free stem cells ...
12
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0
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299
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ID request ~2mm insect monstrosity
This tiny monstrosity (~2mm in length) was inside of some kind of "flat tent cocoon" on a pepper plant leaf in Washington state, USA.
Not sure what's going on here. Is it malformed or infected?
- 2,435
12
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0
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424
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Anatomical Angle Made by the Fingers of an Extended Palm
Does the angle made by the fingers (excluding the thumb) of an extended palm (as shown in the figure below) have a name (such as the Lovibond or Cobb angle, for instance) ?
I have already checked ...
- 229
12
votes
1
answer
998
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Why do we like music?
Music is, of course, just a sequence of sounds. Sounds are vibrations in the air, which our ears detect. So why do we find certain sequences of sounds to be appealing? What makes us want to hear these ...
CommunityBot
- 1
11
votes
0
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118
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The almost extinct dinosaurs
Dinosaurs split into "lizard-hipped" and "bird-hipped" dinosaurs. Of these two groups, only the "lizard-hipped" (Saurischia) survived (these names are backwards).
Of ...
- 1,226
11
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85
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What actually kills a plant that requires winter dormancy if it is kept indoors all year?
In bonsai practice, beginners will commonly purchase a juniper (often Juniperus procumbens 'Nana'), which is an outdoor tree, and keep it inside all year. The tree invariably dies. It is commonly ...
- 219
11
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0
answers
207
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Identification of an animal building
I live in south-west Germany and today while mowing the lawn I discovered a strange structure. It looks like a molehill on which additional branches were placed. This kind of branches are easy to find ...
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11
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0
answers
190
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Where does Darwin state his "principle of multiple utility"?
I have never heard of Darwin's 'principle of multiple utility', but several papers refer to it. For example, from Darwin at the molecular scale: selection and variance in electron tunnelling proteins ...
- 1
11
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1
answer
294
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I am trying to identify this plant
I am trying to identify this medium arching shrub growing to about 1.5m high x 2m wide in the subtropical climate of the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens in Brisbane, Australia. Unfortunately there was no ...
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