Weird Science Facts

Why is California's soil so fertile for farming?

• All the cool people that live there emit a super cool-field.

• Obvi it's cause of Pangea and the Pacific ocean leaving mineral deposits

• Eons of erosion and a balmy climate

• Giant trees falling over or something

Answer explanation

Eons of erosion and a Mediterranean climate!

Farming is concentrated in the fertile Central Valley, which is surrounded by over 1,000 miles of nearly continuous mountain ranges. Eons of erosion from the adjoining mountains deposited rich sediment to create deep topsoil and prime farmland.

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How is tap water filtered?

• Coagulation and Flocculation

• Sedimentation

• Filteration

• Disinfection

Answer explanation

Its all of them!

1. Coagulation and flocculation - Chemicals are added to the water. They bind with the dirt and dissolved particles, forming larger particles called floc.

2. Sedimentation - The floc is heavy, so it settles to the bottom of the tank.

3. Filtration - The clear water on top passes through filters composed of sand, gravel and charcoal to remove dissolved particles such as dust, parasites, bacteria, viruses and chemicals.

4. Disinfection - Chlorine or chloramine is added to kill parasites, bacteria, viruses and germs. Fluorine is added to prevent tooth decay.

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If atoms are mostly empty space, why don't we just fall through the floor?

• This is giving me existential dread and I don't like it...

• Proton repulsion

• Electron repulsion

• Atoms are made of quarks and quarks don't get along.

Answer explanation

Electron Repulsion!

When you push against anything, the electrons in your hand and the object get compressed into high-energy states. Like two magnets pushed together, they repel each other but only when they are incredibly close together.

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How does air conditioning work?

• Trapped fairies blow on the air inside of the metal box outside.

• Meh, it works the same way my refrigerator works.

• My thermostat whispers coolness into the wind.

• Fans blow really hard and it cools the air.

Answer explanation

It works the same way your refrigerator does!

Outside air goes through a filter and is cooled over the evaporator. Then a blower moves that air around the evaporator and your house. Meanwhile, outside, the heated refrigerant is cooled off by the condenser which disperses the hot air with its own blower.

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What is spaghettification otherwise known as the noodle effect?

• The noodling of an object caused by gravity.

• The entanglement of my spaghetti in a bowl.

• The elasticity of a pasta when boiled in water.

• How I feel after a few too many drinks.

Answer explanation

Spaghettification is an actual scientific term for when an object gets stretched and thinned out due to immense gravitational tidal forces.

It is also what happens to me when gin and tonics are present... 

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Why does your microwave not fry your face when you stare at your food while its cooking?

• My food would never hurt me...

• Electro-static shielding

• Front-facing atomic magnetism

• Microwave magic

Answer explanation

Electro-static shielding!

The mesh you see on the window of every microwave has electric current running through it to create tiny forcefields that turn away the microwave radiation!

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What is a brain freeze?

• My chillness factor exceeds 9000.

• The roof of my mouth transmits coldness straight to my frontal cortex.

• My brain gets cold, duh.

• Blood vessels constrict because my Freezie is super cold.

Answer explanation

The blood vessels in the back of your throat that deliver blood directly to your brain get cold. The drop in temperature makes the vessels constrict and your brain gives you a warning signal (headache) to stop whatever you are doing.

What is Dark Matter?

• Stuff thats a dark color.

• Space Junk

• Stuff that holds our galaxy together.

• We aren't really sure...

Answer explanation

Well... we aren't really sure what dark matter is, but we know that it makes up a large portion of the mass of a galaxy.

Essentially, if we took all the mass from the different celestial bodies in a spiral arm galaxy, that gravity would not be enough to hold the galaxy together! Therefore, matter must exist that is helping hold galaxies together that we cannot detect!

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What is dark energy?

• Here we go again with the dark stuff...

• Energy that has an edgy side.

• The radiation from atomic discombobulation.

• Stuff we can't detect that is expanding the universe.

Answer explanation

Dark energy is something we can't detect that is causing the universe to expand. This is counter to what you would think in that gravity would cause the universe to slowly contract.

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Do you impact the observed universe around you?

• Observation impacts wave particle duality

• Of course, my eyes are part of the space-time-quantum fluctuations

• No, why would I change things like that.

• Yes, the universe revolves around my vision of the universe.

Answer explanation

Based on the double-slit experiment, our observing the universe does in fact change it!

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