How many combinations are possible in this grid? [more inside]
posted by rahnefan at 4:38 PM - 9 answers

Help me understand the liberal/conservative split in the US with regard to global warming. [more inside]
posted by schrodycat at 12:57 PM - 29 answers

Can anyone tell me what kind of plant this is? [more inside]
posted by mds35 at 6:00 AM - 6 answers

Does anyone still believe in phrenology?
posted by Yakuman at 3:33 AM - 12 answers

Fourier Optics Filter: Imaging the iphone camera point spread function- possible? [more inside]
posted by Large Marge at 1:15 PM - 3 answers

[ScienceFilter]: I want to drive a nuclear powered car. If nuclear power is good enough for submarines, why can't the technology be scaled down? Looking for big picture such as limitations, environment, storage, infrastructure and adaptations required.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 4:12 AM - 25 answers

What are the most basic feelings, from which all others are composed? By this I mean that some feelings are combinations of other feelings (e.g., melancholy is a combination of sadness, thoughtfulness, listlessness, etc.), whereas others are unrelated (if you feel loving, you don't feel angry, for instance). What a smallest collection of feelings which could be combined to create all possible feelings? Has this been studied? Or is the premise false?
posted by jewzilla at 10:49 PM - 24 answers

In the very beginning of Project Grizzly, Troy James Hurtubise talks about how he "could feel a presence that was looking straight at me." Feeling that someone is looking at you seems to be a pretty common human experience, although it's usually a person, not a bear. Is there any documentation about this experience, or research into in its source? [more inside]
posted by Pants! at 6:29 PM - 9 answers

Can anyone identify these two rocks from near Hatch, Utah? Picture links included inside. One we're just wondering about. For the other, we're stumped, and the geologist we've asked had never seen a rock like it. [more inside]
posted by dragoon at 7:37 PM - 16 answers

I am looking for a large picture book on anatomical differences of humans around the world... [more inside]
posted by alice_curiouse at 11:55 AM - 7 answers

A friend, who leans Ron Paul libertarian, was recently trying to convince me that anthropogenic global warming is largely a myth. A central part of his argument was his claiming that there was recently a petition signed by 40,000 independent climate scientists saying that, in his words, "so-called global warming is bullshit." More inside. [more inside]
posted by Ash3000 at 10:39 AM - 38 answers

Let's say you were an astrophysicist who saw a wormhole open up in the sky above you, and you had video of it, magnetometer readings, whatever else you'd need to record it. What kind of recorded "proof" might be used to identify it as a wormhole-- after the fact? [more inside]
posted by MattS at 9:55 PM - 11 answers

What type of equipment is necessary to determine the chemical makeup of a given substance, is such equipment available to the general public, and if so at what cost? [more inside]
posted by anonymous at 7:12 PM - 22 answers

Is it possible for bacteria, and/or viruses to ever physically adapt to soap, alcohol, peroxide, iodine, ect.? [more inside]
posted by MrMulan at 2:17 PM - 14 answers

Looking for advice on viewing the 2009 Leonid meteor shower for the vehicularly impaired. [more inside]
posted by quarterframer at 12:02 PM - 3 answers

GiftFilter: What would be a great present for someone who loves science, but not in a geeky/campy way? [more inside]
posted by daelin at 9:12 AM - 19 answers

My goal is to have a career as a successful researcher in the biological sciences; however, I do not like writing. Is my goal unobtainable? [more inside]
posted by Lord Force Crater at 5:27 AM - 18 answers

I've searched here, there, and everywhere for information on the optimal time/date for viewing this year's Leonid meteor shower from my little corner of central Japan. Has anyone else out there been able to find something with a world clock style of interface or am I reaching? I checked the IMO, but found their schedule unwieldy.... [more inside]
posted by squasha at 4:02 AM - 6 answers

Vitamin D3 is often extracted from lanolin. I would like to know how much wool is necessary to produce say 1000 IU of vitamin D.
posted by davar at 12:43 AM - 8 answers

Help me brainstorm clever astrophysics bumper stickers! [more inside]
posted by np312 at 9:32 PM - 15 answers