Like many, when I heard about Folding@HOME and how I could contribute to the fight against COVID, I put my hardware to work. Now that's it has been a while, what effect did those projects ultimately have on the outcome? Did it actually help with the creation of vaccines, or was it effectively just a massive waste of energy?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1133081

Cat: So, to preface: soon we'll be ordering an ElectroEncephalogram (EEG) headset. The reason for this is because we're a plural system, and want brainwave data on what happens when we do various system stuff. Pretty obviously there's going to be some bias involved on account of who we are, but we're going to try being as objective as possible.

Just: We're definitely going to wrangle some single-threaded folk to try and get a baseline for comparison.

Just: but yeah, do folk have any advice on how to run this experiment? Also, any specific measurements you want us to do?

Why is it that I am not able to read a book without moving my eyes if the entirety of the page is within my field of view? Why do I have to center my eyes on an object to observe it fully? And why is it that I am still able to view changes in surroundings in the edges of my field of vision despite there being supposedly no way to focus on them from that angle?

Is it due to our brain's capacity to absorb a finite amount of visual information at a given moment or is it a physical flaw in the structure of our eyes?

I'm thinking of things like heliocentrism where there was some modern discovery or revelation by science that invalidated a common assumption prior.

My understanding is that flat earth is more a recent phenomena but I'd love to hear some ancient ideas people now miss. Did people think trees weren't alive? Did people think evaporation was where things simply disappeared?

I'd would love to hear these ideas.

I remember reading somewhere that mathematical symbols make up an "incomplete" written language (or something like that). I commonly formulate problems, or complete sentences using only mathematical symbols. From a linguistic perspective, what separates mathematical symbols from "complete" writing systems?

I mean, I've heard that you can typically only survive about three days without water, but what exactly causes your body to fail when you dehydrate too much?

I guess one point is lack of salts (if you sweat a lot) but I'm specifically wondering about lack of water (although a closer explanation about how lack of salts will kill you is also appreciated)

Some people suggest the idea of a multiverse with each universe having a unique set of laws of physics governing it, but not many delve deeper into this. I was wondering if it was even possible to imagine a universe that is different to ours in this regard.

The universe could share some of the laws from our universe yet still be different enough that it is not a matter of just tweaking a few digits of the gravitational constant or the speed of light. Also the universe with those set of laws should be able to sustain itself through the same period as our universe has been so far, meaning it shouldn't implode or instantaneously cease to exist the moment it is born.

Is it even possible to imagine this? If not, is this due to us having become so accustomed to the logic of our universe that we cannot come up with any such idea that does not exist here, or is it just that our universe happens to be the only possible one to exist, at least while maintaining the harmony between each law of physics and avoiding any paradoxes to occur?

I have heard this mentioned several times with this exact wording, that faster than light travel would break/violate causality and I do not exactly understand why and how it would do that. Could someone more well-versed in physics explain to me why that would be the case? Or is it not the case? (Yes, I am fully aware, that faster than light speeds are impossible in real life, but I am more curios about how it would hypothetically affect physics, were it possible). I am somewhat familiar with physics and more so with mathematics (engineering student), if that helps anyone to explain it at an appropriate level.

Me and the fiance we always fight about the A/C or dehumidifier. For me coming from central Europe, as soon as the humidity goes over 65% I'm sweaty and hot and can't get dry, I hate it. She as a Korean seems never to sweat at all and even when the humidity is at 80% she seems to have no problems and thinks running the A/C is a waste of money.

During the raining season I suffer a lot, not being able to sleep, constantly wet underwear, sweaty hair, sweaty chest and back, etc.

She on the other side would rather open the window to cool down when it's raining outside and doesn't mind that the humidity at home will skyrocket.

Is genetics involved here or just that different people are comfortable with different humidity?

Landfills have been around for a long time now, and some of them get quite large. I know seagulls are changing their habits and living off landfills, but are there any other interesting ecosystems forming around them? Maybe some new microorganisms we haven't seen before?

Starting from a molecule on up, to cells and beyond, at what system level is a being actually making a decision rather than reacting to their chemical environment based on purely chemical laws? For example, the molecules in a cells are solely reacting to their environment based on chemical fundamentals. However, a person thinks things through and makes decisions. Where in that range do we see decisions start to emerge?

I have a pothos that lives in half gallon jar of water.
It used to live outside on my patio that got morning and early afternoon sun in Central Texas where the temperatures were getting in the 90's, the dew point was in the 70's and the humidity usually is 40 - 60% typically, though weather underground tells me it was closer to 90 - 100%.

My jar of water would last for weeks before it noticeably evaporated and had to be filled.

Anecdotally the plant lived in doors in the jar with much less direct sunlight and a near constant temperature of 70 degrees from the AC and I never had to fill it up.

Flash forward to now, I am in South East Louisiana, my jar of plants is inside in a windowsill that gets morning sun. My AC is bad so it gets up to about 84 in here.

I am noticing that the water is receding quite rapidly, it is noticeable within a few days and at least once a week I need to get water in there to cover the top roots again.

The humidity down here is much higher so I am curious, why would it be evaporating so much faster down here where it is much more humid presumably? Any ideas?

Edit: I should probably add it is growing algae now too and that was never a "problem" before.

We know what causes magnetic fields and we know what their effects are, but what actually are they? What does it mean for them to be composed of "lines of force"? What is the mechanism of that force? What is actually going on in a magnetic field that the space outside of a magnetic field lacks?

The moon rotates once per revolution around the Earth, but that's not a coincidence. Somehow the rotation and revolution are connected to each other. Some force is keeping them the same. How exactly does that work?

I want this place to succeed and grow, so let's get active!

What is your favourite fact?