General Science Discussion Thread!

Solar panels charge batteries regardless so that's just pedantic. The whole thing is a system, not literally just the solar cell panel.
 
I guess it depends on what system you have. My family actually has a solar cell that we use to recharge RV batteries and it can't store anything without a battery as far as I can tell. As in there isn't a battery as part of the actual solar panel/cell that we bought.

Or maybe there might be, I haven't examined it closely. My job was to build a cradle for the solar panel, not hook it up to the batteries.
 
Duskull said:
Looks like teleportation may become possible.

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/scientific-breakthrough-may-laid-groundwork-human-teleportation/613912/?twitter=yes&utm_content=buffer7ae65&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Click to expand...

The atoms would need to be completely still, so dead. Also, travelling at a speed faster than light is a contradiction to a fundamental rule of physics, so...
 
Morty said:
Are you here to discuss science or just to try to make Dazzler a reality?
Click to expand...
Actually, I did read some sciency thing a while ago where they talked about potentially using really loud areas (such as subway tunnels) and taking the vibrations from the walls and turning them into usable energy.

Don't know how far along that project is, or if they've even started work on it, but it's a nice idea if it can be worked out.
 
It's possible, but there's so little energy in sound that it's totally not worth even trying, especially when there's already a good assload of clean and renewable energy sources that are efficient and plentiful. Sounds and vibrations that will be worthwhile are beyond human tolerance and would probably require more energy put into it than what would come out.

I guess on small-scale terms there's some ideas floating around about having sidewalk panels that collect energy from footsteps and use it to light the way and such. Ideas like these are nifty but probably can only power like a streelight and that's it. It's something, though!!
 
For some reason I decided to look up something I could do as a kid. It's where I can make this thundering/drumming sound within my head. I always thought that I was weird, but now after looking it up, I guess it's a thing.

It's called "Voluntary control of the Tensor Tympani". I kind of looked it up, but apparently it's this thing that is a very rare trait you can have.

Do any of you think you could possibly explain it and what the purpose of it is? (I post it here since it's about a biological part of the body and it's related to science).
 
I'm not sure what causes one to have voluntary control of it, but according to the Wikipedia article, its purpose is to dampen sounds, and what you hear is the sound produced by the contraction of the muscle.
 

If this is of any interest to anybody. It's caused by the melted potassium chlorate, which is oxidised, mixing with the glucose in the gummy bear.