Science & Mathematics Questions & Answers

The albedo of an object is the extent to which it diffusely reflects light from the Sun. It is a more specific form of reflectivity. Albedo is the ratio of the diffusely reflected to incident electromagnetic radiation. It is a unitless measure indicative of a surface’s or a body’s diffuse reflectivity. Albedo is a Latin word for whiteness. The range …

Air hunger is the urge to breathe, which is caused by the detection of high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood by sensors in the carotid sinus. It is one of the body’s homeostatic mechanisms to ensure proper oxygenation. Air hunger may be caused by insufficient pulmonary minute ventilation, a sustained breath-hold constriction of the alveoli of the lungs, …

It is a spoof on administration. Its official definition: Administratium is the heaviest element known to science and was recently discovered at a major US research university. The element has no protons or electrons and thus, has the atomic number 0. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice-neutrons and 111 assistant vice-neutrons, which gives it an …

Acrolein, CH2=CH-CHO, is a chemical compound. Its IUPAC name is 2-propenal, and it is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It was used as a chemical weapon during WWI. It is not outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention. In 2006, scientists found connections between acrolein in the smoke from cigarettes and risk of lung cancer

Car exhaust fumes and smoke from factories and power stations release chemicals, including sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, into the air. The chemicals react with water vapour to form specks of sulphuric and nitric acid. These acids return to the ground in raindrops, snowflakes and other types of precipitation. The acid kills fish and other animals in lakes and rivers. …

A zwitter ion is an inner salt of amphoteric compound resulting due to the reaction between acidic and basic groups. Amino acids and proteins constitute both acidic (-COOH ) and alkaline (-NH2) groups, as a result they can form salts with acid and alkali. When dissolved in either acid or alkali, they behave like anions and cations, migrating to either …

A wormhole is a theoretical entity allowed by Einstein’s theory of general relativity in which spacetime curvature connects two distant locations (or times). The term ‘wormhole’ was coined by American theoretical physicist John A Wheeler in 1957, based on an analogy of how a worm could chew a hole from one end of an apple through the centre to the …

It is a garden landscaped for wildlife – like frogs, garden snakes, birds and butterflies. Small wild animals visit a wildscape which provides food, water and shelter.

A white hole, in general relativity, is a hypothetical region of space time which cannot be entered from the outside, but from which matter and light may escape. In this sense it is the reverse of a black hole, which can be entered from the outside, but from which nothing, including light, may escape. (However, it is theoretically possible for …

What is nature’s most powerful, most destructive, most dangerous form? Some would say an earthquake, others a cyclone. However, these phenomenon are relatively smaller and less destructive in scale compared to the fury of a volcano. Fourteen miles southeast of Naples in Italy, lie the remains of an ancient town called Pompeii. The city flourished under the shadows of the …