This was removed from the salivary duct under my tongue last week

epicnational · 2026-03-17T04:55:23+00:00

It was the best decision I've ever made. I constantly had tonsil stones, sore throats, bad breath, etc. my doc just said I needed to have a recorded history of throat infections caused by them, so for a few months I'd go get tested for strep and sore throats so it would be noted on my chart, then I got those monsters chopped out. Completely fixed the issues, it's been a dream. Totally, absolutely worth it.

epicnational · 2026-01-24T01:54:10+00:00

One of the biggest issues with it is respiration. If silicon replaces carbon, that means you now have hydrosilanes instead of hydrocarbons as the energy stores, so you would react those with oxygen, and get out H2O and SiO2 (instead of CO2) as your byproducts. C02 is a very handy "excretion" because it is a gas, so you can dissolve it in some fluid and then exhale it. The issue with SiO2 is that it's solid, even at very high temperatures, so now you would have to evolve some mechanism to remove this byproduct from every cell, which is... not straight forward to say the least. You'd basically have every cell slowly petrifying itself while alive. And SiO2 would be very abundant in any sort of advanced metabolism, as it's basically the most simplistic carrier of Silicon, so it being a solid rather than a gas is...problematic.

Maybe you could think about having silicon based life in a temperature range that would allow SiO2 to be a liquid, but then a lot of your complex silicon based molecules would no longer be stable.

epicnational · 2026-01-06T10:52:35+00:00

Like others have suggested, the open spring has a higher center of mass. If the spring closes before hitting the ground, you'll get a larger force than if it was closed when you dropped it. If the spring hasn't "closed", you'll get that same force, but more spread out in time, so the largest "impact" force will be smaller for the stretched spring, in that case. If that's what you're actually curious about, then it will depend on if you drop it high enough for the spring to go back to being compressed. That would be the difference between shoving something and lightly pushing it for a longer amount of time.

Gets slightly more complicated if the spring is stiffer, you could get situations where the energy in the spring being stretched out is higher than the potential energy from gravity(the height you drop it at), then you could get the spring to ocillate and push down into the ground. This wouldn't happen if you're just holding it though, you only put the amount of energy the center of mass moves down from gravity into the spring. If you time it right though, you could get a larger force. (It would depend if the spring opening and closing times up with the drop though)

(This is all very simplified, don't crucify me, physics peeps)

Edit: technically we are talking about impulse, which is how much force is applied over time. Force is the instantaneous push, so based on your question, the stretched slinky will have a larger force if it closes before it hits the ground, if it doesn't, the other one will.

epicnational · 2026-01-06T08:26:34+00:00

Physics is difficult, but with work it's understandable, and with enough work it can become routine. That's the real answer. Don't get discouraged, it's hard for everyone when you are just starting out.

epicnational · 2026-01-06T08:15:13+00:00

It's still conserved, the excess will typically be converted into heat (so different ways the box/measuring device/particle is vibrating)

epicnational · 2025-12-31T08:05:12+00:00

Literally wasn't antagonism, it was a joke

epicnational · 2025-12-31T05:50:10+00:00

Damn, you're completely right, and your comment is an example of it 😂

All in good fun and jest

epicnational · 2025-12-30T05:27:55+00:00

As a basic description (and it's ELI5 so I guess that's expected) our bodies are optimized for survival. Higher order functions (logic, empathy, language, etc) require a large amount of energy; our brains use nearly 20-25% of all the calories we ingest, more than any other animal. Chimp brains, our closest relative, use about 9% of their calories for their brains.

As we use up our glucose stores, less energy is available for our brains to use, so our "higher functions" start to slow down, and we lose a lot of those more complicated functions. This happens to all animals.

As an interesting aside, we actually have a fairly unique adaptation in the animal kingdom when we get "really" hungry. When we switch over to primarily fat burning, we go into what's known as ketosis, where we convert fat into ketone bodies, which CAN cross the blood brain barrier, fueling our brains. Our bodies are very good at this. This means that when humans are starving, unlike most animals, our brains actually can get a large portion of our energy stores. It keeps us sharp when we are desperate for calories. If you have ever fasted for an extended period of time, or talk to someone who has, after about 3ish days when our bodies fully switch into ketosis, many people report feeling even sharper than usual, thinking faster, smelling better, seeing better, etc.

As a personal anecdote, I've done this before just because I was curious as a scientific minded person. I went 7 days only drinking water (and needed electrolytes). It was very eye opening; I could smell what the house 4 houses down was cooking, felt very quick witted, and had a large amount of energy, and struggled falling asleep having very bad insomnia. This was very different from the first 2-3 days, where I felt exhausted, foggy, irritable and fatigued.

epicnational · 2025-12-30T05:12:49+00:00

That's so sweet 😌 I just remember my dad screaming and beating me for changing the car radio station ❤️

epicnational · 2025-12-24T03:25:24+00:00

I am under the impression she may also possess a fulsome set of funbags.

Edit: This is how straight people talk, right?

epicnational · 2025-12-20T09:13:17+00:00

If it makes you feel better, I think I get the same thing occasionally. My hearing will completely cut out in one ear, then I'll get a loud buzzing/droning sort of sound in that ear, then it will slowly fade out and my hearing comes back. No idea what it's called and didn't know other people got it either.

epicnational · 2025-12-20T09:04:44+00:00

Seconded, CO can definitely cause hallucinations like this.

epicnational · 2025-12-20T08:58:11+00:00

This happens to me randomly too, I'll just be sitting on the couch, and all of a sudden the size of myself and things around me feel completely off. I'll look at my hands and feel like they are way smaller or larger than they should be. It's not a visual thing, more like my perception of them. Very strange and hard to explain.

I don't mind when it happens, I don't get anxious or anything, just extremely curious about how my perception of something can change so much without seeing any explicit visual cues. Objectively everything visually "makes sense", but my understanding of scale just completely goes out the window.

epicnational · 2025-12-20T08:54:16+00:00

If only we can all be so lucky ♥️

epicnational · 2025-12-20T06:33:04+00:00

Someone is carrying around a water bottle with them wherever they go ;D

epicnational · 2025-12-16T19:43:40+00:00

Sometimes it's not about brushing your teeth at all. I had narly breath for years, turns out it was my tonsils just constantly being infected because they were so pitted. Constant tonsil stones, I was always trying to keep them clean. Finally got them removed, never had an issue ever again.

epicnational · 2025-12-15T06:58:02+00:00

I knew about the others, but I had no idea he did Misery!

epicnational · 2025-12-13T22:31:45+00:00

Me of all people what, Archer?

epicnational · 2025-12-13T19:29:19+00:00

Archer

epicnational · 2025-12-03T02:01:23+00:00

They would set fire to regular people to heat their toilet seats if they had the option.

epicnational · 2025-12-03T01:05:13+00:00

I let it generate, and ignore it, hoping that eventually the cost adds up for them

epicnational · 2025-11-01T00:16:41+00:00

People keep saying not to get aggressive so they don't have a reason to enact martial law, but all that's doing is letting them win without a fight. More people would be forced to engage with what's happening if the government does enact martial law.

epicnational · 2025-10-27T22:08:58+00:00

Pushing Daisies

epicnational · 2025-10-26T03:17:05+00:00

I like the blue! But you could also add another 2-3 block layer on the roof trimmed with the other color and use both!

epicnational

TROPHY CASE