askscience

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
If light cannot escape a black hole, and nothing can travel faster than light, how does gravity "escape" so as to attract objects beyond the event horizon?	1235
The band of desert across Africa is geometrically very well defined and parallel to the equator, why isn't this band perpetuated on the rest of the land masses within the same range of latitudes?	50
In contrast to our ability to fabricate complex and effective synthetic drugs to combat illness, artificial sweeteners and flavorings still taste a little "off", is it really that difficult to perfect?	41
Why is NASA's James Webb telescope built out of hexagonal panels for its mirror? Why is the mirror not a curved surface, and why were hexagons chosen over triangles or octagons etc.? Why does the Hubble telescope (seem to) not require this geometry?	33
Mathematically, momentum (mv) is similar to kinetic energy (1/2mv^2). Intuitively, how are they related and what does kinetic energy describe (with that extra velocity term) that momentum cannot?	8
What are some practical applications for prime numbers (especially the large ones)?	6
Pi is an infinite, non-repeating decimal. How do you prove that an infinite number never repeats itself?	5
How exactly are taste and smell coupled together, and why does plugging your nose cause taste to almost disappear completely?	4
Is all matter (including our own bodies) expanding proportionally to the expansion of the universe (however small), or does the expansion occur only between objects of mass without affecting them?	4
Newton's 3rd Law states that an object will resist the acceleration of an applied force by "reacting" with an equal and opposite force. How is the net force (and acceleration) not zero if the forces are equal and opposite?	3

« < > »