askscience

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Why don't planets twinkle as stars do? My understanding is that reflected light is polarised, but how it that so, and why does that make the light not twinkle passing through the atmosphere?	4487
"Physicists just confirmed a pear-shaped nucleus, and it could ruin time travel forever" - this is trending in /r/Futurology, but the conversation lacks rigor. Your thoughts?	2
What marks where one gene ends and another begins in a DNA thread?	2
Can moons have moons?	1
Is it more dangerous to take a quick glance at a solar eclipse than the full sun? There seems to be a lot of advice regarding the eclipse, but I've glanced at the sun many times through my life.	1
When I stare at the sun with my eyes closed, I see a uniform field of red. When I lower my closed eyes, it turns yellowish, and further black. Why is this so? Also is it dangerous to stare at the sun with my eyes closed?	1
I have two bar magnets aligned with poles repelling each other. I put a butter knife in between and both stick to it facing each other. What's happening with the magnetic fields in that small metal gap?	1
I was just on my balcony and a recycling truck about 20 metres away threw a bin full of glass bottles into itself and it was REALLY LOUD. There was an operator standing right next to it with no sound protection. How much louder would it have been for him? What are the laws of soundwave propagation?	1
If the Moon were a ball of pure water, would a solar eclypse burn the Earth like a magnifying glass?	1
How much more proportionately do we weigh at midnight, with the Sun's gravity in effect pulling us downwards, compared to at midday, with the Sun's gravity in effect pulling us upwards?	1

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