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11 votes
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How do these rocks move on their own in the desert? Ninety-nine years later... we solved it.
19 votes -
Cody's algae panel
5 votes -
Nuclear waste is safer than you think
12 votes -
New type of ultraviolet light makes indoor air as safe as outdoors
5 votes -
The portentous comeback of humpback whales
2 votes -
This animal’s behavior is mechanically programmed
6 votes -
Dual use of artificial-intelligence-powered drug discovery
5 votes -
Doctors transplant a genetically modified pig heart into a human for the first time
19 votes -
The twitches that spread on social media
10 votes -
A stereo movie created by NASA researchers shows the altitude of the Tonga plume during the eruption
5 votes -
Their bionic eyes are now obsolete and unsupported
29 votes -
A mathematician explains what Foundation gets right about predicting the future
5 votes -
Moderna begins HIV vaccine trials
32 votes -
Making what is said to be one of the worst smelling substances ever invented, US Government Standard Bathroom Malodor
18 votes -
Crow-plagued California city turns to lasers and boomboxes to clear the air
12 votes -
The attack of zombie science - They look like scientific papers. But they’re distorting and killing science.
8 votes -
Predictive pattern classification can distinguish gender identity subtypes from behavior and brain imaging
14 votes -
What "impossible" meant to Richard Feynman
7 votes -
Electric kettles turn off automatically when the water starts to boil. So what happens when you boil alcohol that has a lower boiling point?
6 votes -
First pig-human transplant: A recap
4 votes -
How to tell if we're beating COVID-19
4 votes -
Archaeology’s sexual revolution
9 votes -
Japan’s monkey queen faces challenge to her reign: mating season
8 votes -
What Sci-Hub’s latest court battle means for research
11 votes -
The top scientific journal retractions of 2021
9 votes -
Energy, and how to get it - All of us know people who have more energy than we do, but the science of the phenomenon is just coming into view
10 votes -
Strong new evidence suggests a virus triggers multiple sclerosis
12 votes -
The phylogenomics of evolving virus virulence
6 votes -
The dolphin clitoris is full of surprises, scientists discover
10 votes -
mRNA vaccine technology has helped repair broken hearts in mice
12 votes -
How do I calculate my family's "average family location"?
So, I just listened to a This American Life podcast called Ghost in the Machine. In one of the stories, a man decides to calculate, every week, the Average Family Location of his family. By that,...
So, I just listened to a This American Life podcast called Ghost in the Machine. In one of the stories, a man decides to calculate, every week, the Average Family Location of his family. By that, he means: once you add everyone's coordinates for every coordinate in which they've been in that period, what city/location represents the average point between them all?
I decided to do the same for my family, which will be much easier because there are no touring musicians among us. The one complication is that a good chunk of the family is on other continents, and I wouldn't want us to "meet" in the middle of the ocean. So some approximation might be warranted.
I'd be happy if someone could provide me the math, I'm fairly confident I would be able to do it with a calculator or maybe put into some crude Python. I don't think I need to make a weekly report, since we're not that mobile. Maybe twice a year, or once every two months.
Thanks!
Edit: I don't know much math
Edit2: holy shit this is not simple at all! Now I feel kinda bad for throwing this problem at you guys. I really thought it would be quick and easy!
9 votes -
I need cool facts about huge numbers
So, my 5-year-old nephew is obsessed with huge numbers, especially named numbers such as googol, duodecillion, and centillion. The other day I spent some time reciting these numbers to him, and...
So, my 5-year-old nephew is obsessed with huge numbers, especially named numbers such as googol, duodecillion, and centillion. The other day I spent some time reciting these numbers to him, and trying (and failing) to describe them. What I need are some cool facts about these numbers, such as "there are 1 quadrillion cat hairs in the world", or "there are not enough stars in the universe to fill one googol".
Besides math, his main interests are super-heroes and, apparently, cars.
I'm not a math or physics guy, so hopefully you guys can help me cheat :P
12 votes -
Detailed footage finally reveals what triggers lightning
12 votes -
You have no idea how hard it is to get a hamster drunk
17 votes -
The irony of the Dunning Kruger effect
3 votes -
Bertrand's Paradox (with 3blue1brown)
1 vote -
Alice, Bob, and the average shadow of a cube
4 votes -
The phrase "no evidence" is a red flag for bad science communication
11 votes -
The hidden background noise that can catch criminals
12 votes -
Five ice-age mammoths unearthed in Cotswolds after 220,000 years
9 votes -
The big misconception about electricity
14 votes -
Vaccinia
6 votes -
Hiding images in plain sight: the physics of magic windows
5 votes -
What is the RNA world hypothesis?
5 votes -
‘Big’ data can be 99.98% smaller than it appears
11 votes -
Any good resources on Morphogenesis and related areas?
I recently began thinking about how plants get their shape and discovered "morphogenesis" after some inept googling. It seems like a fascinating subject so I'd like to learn a bit more. I have...
I recently began thinking about how plants get their shape and discovered "morphogenesis" after some inept googling. It seems like a fascinating subject so I'd like to learn a bit more. I have some A-level university courses in chemistry and microbiology, but never dug too deep. So I am looking for suggestions on what to read up on in order to gain some understanding of how plants and other organisms get their shape. The ultimate goal is of course to plant my own house.
4 votes -
We lied to you and we'll do it again
11 votes -
Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain
6 votes -
Why insects are more sensitive than they seem
8 votes