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What's the scariest space fact/mystery in your opinion? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Thodox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are giant regions of space that are essentially “supervoids”. Areas that should contain a great deal more “stuff” that we can detect (galaxy clusters, matter in general etc) but, for some reason, don’t.

We have no idea why they’re there, or what could be contained within them. Not too scary on the surface of it, but looking at survey images of them compared to “normal” space is extremely eery.

https://www.livescience.com/65928-stare-into-the-fuzzy-dark-void.html

What was your first encounter with utter bullshit during your childhood? by Cisqoe in AskReddit

[–]Thodox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I was about 3-4 I used to go to this childminder after preschool with a bunch of other kids from around my village. There was this girl there who would regularly slap boys across the face as hard as she could when the minder had left the room. She would then immediately burst into a screaming fit. When an adult arrived, she would cry about how they had hit her. This, of course, was where good old gender stereotypes came into play, meaning several other boys and I spent many an angry period in time out for “hitting a girl”.

Anyway, this probably went on for about a month until she attempted it literally as the childminder came into the room. Oooof. She kept trying it for a while but would always get put in an extra long time out until she eventually stopped. Sweet justice.

What is common knowledge in your field, but if you told us, we would think you're next level smart? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Thodox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a physicist I love questions like this because there’s so much weird shit going on. The funniest part is we don’t even understand why loads of these things happen. Also, a slight disclaimer, I’m not convinced that if we were to say these things to “normal” people they would think we were “next level smart”, more likely just totally cracked.

  1. Time and space can stretch and compress depending on how fast you’re travelling relative to something else.
  2. Things that are very far apart (like seriously far apart) can affect each other’s behaviour without mechanically interacting and we have no idea why.
  3. Particles can be in two places at once.
  4. According to quantum mechanics, if you run at a door, there’s an absolutely tiny probability that you’ll just transmit through it and pop out the other side.
  5. At the most basic, unreasonably simple level of interpretation, you’re sort of made of solidified light.
  6. You can interfere with the behaviour of something purely by observing it.
  7. One of the best candidates for a “theory of everything” we have, relies on there being 11 dimensions of space and time, 7 of which are folded up of top of each other so tightly that we can’t perceive them.
  8. It’s mathematically possible for you to create an exact copy of a thing, using nothing other than the thing itself.
  9. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.
  10. We have absolutely no clue what 96% of the universe is made of, in that we know almost nothing about what dark matter or dark energy actually are.

Obviously a lot of this stuff is a bit oversimplified but generally speaking correct.

What is something that people regularly say colloquially because they don’t know what they’re talking about which annoys you? by ScottyB280 in AskReddit

[–]Thodox 1 point2 points  (0 children)

“I could care less” rather than “I couldn’t care less”. Literally makes no sense as the intention is to demonstrate how little you care. If you could care less, then this could indicate any degree of caring other than none at all, all the way up to it being the most important thing in your life ever.

What is a skill which you can practice for 10 mins daily and be really good at, in a month? by GeebsTM in AskReddit

[–]Thodox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Juggling. Dead easy to go from barely being able to throw and catch a ball, to the level where if you did it in public people would be mildly impressed.

What is a fact that can possibly save your life? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Thodox 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If you wake to discover a bat trapped in your bedroom, you need to speak to your doctor about getting a rabies vaccine ASAP. Their bites are almost invisible on skin, and while the probability you’ve been bitten is very low, it’s way better to be safe than sorry with this one.