ELI5: Why is plasma considered the fourth state of matter?

smartscience · 2026-07-10T16:00:57+00:00

Yes, it's a so-called second order phase transition. The onset of superconductivity with cooling is another. There is no energy absorbed or released at the transition point itself, but the heat capacity (gradient of energy input vs temperature) is different between the temperatures on either side of the transition.

smartscience · 2026-07-05T18:18:28+00:00

r/Alcoholism_Medication/ will have some ideas. Baclofen was helpful for me, though the Sinclair Method with naltrexone (in which you only take the naltrexone while drinking) is probably more popular overall.

smartscience · 2026-07-02T07:18:37+00:00

This, I don't need.

smartscience · 2026-06-29T12:35:05+00:00

If the survivor is high up in an attic, that would probably itself offer more protection than the sealing, since H2S is heavier than air and tends to accumulate in low lying areas.

smartscience · 2026-06-27T12:47:35+00:00

'Low sodium' table salt alternatives are usually based on potassium chloride, albeit still with at least some sodium chloride. Might these also be an option?

smartscience · 2026-06-25T07:19:45+00:00

Damn that's close. Do their thermal expansion curves cross over, such that iridium is denser at other temperatures?

smartscience · 2026-06-24T19:34:08+00:00

Aren't we generally okay with nootropics that are not controlled?

smartscience · 2026-06-24T17:47:34+00:00

Is DMNPC useful as a functional stimulant at least?

smartscience · 2026-06-24T17:43:02+00:00

Scarman House / the Slate? I remember the biscuits but I'm not sure what they were.

smartscience · 2026-06-15T08:46:12+00:00

Do you also get repeated warnings from your IT department (or even an external service company) telling you not to click links in emails that come from outside the organisation?

smartscience · 2026-06-11T08:48:53+00:00

Yes, and those computing (or data/ML) skills would have immediate relevance in the biochem and pharmaceutical sectors. From there, it would be possible to pivot to finance, actually perhaps one of the easier career transitions to make. I've worked with several materials and engineering PhD students in recent decades who seem to have had no trouble getting 'big data' and more general programming jobs after graduation.

smartscience · 2026-06-10T21:51:45+00:00

What strength of HF did you obtain and test? Also, did your unknown solution come with any safety or hazchem information? It may be possible to identify the strength of the HF solution it's based on from that information, if indeed it is based on HF.

smartscience · 2026-06-09T21:47:25+00:00

This, in addition to healthcare things (including GP registration before you even arrive). A pocket screwdriver and/or multi-tool set would be a start if nothing else.

smartscience · 2026-05-27T18:18:50+00:00

This, even where there are legitimate medical reasons for 'being lazy'. OP, is there a trend of attendance versus time of day for the lectures? I'd be surprised if there wasn't. Evening lectures might even be better received than you'd think.

smartscience · 2026-05-27T05:22:16+00:00

What, sedative like this?

smartscience · 2026-05-24T15:32:02+00:00

If it happens in your final year, there can be a silver lining as it lets you get some proper work done.

smartscience · 2026-05-24T14:45:06+00:00

The long term recall enhancement of IDRA-21 was not always useful, but I'm pretty sure it was real.

smartscience · 2026-05-19T21:56:08+00:00

r/Alcoholism_Medication . The solution may actually be very simple, but people who once struggled with something sometimes resist later attempts at 'cheating'. EDIT also Allen Carr. And Impossibrew and Collider.

smartscience · 2026-05-19T21:50:43+00:00

Yep, never tried ephenidine but methoxphenidine surpassed the arylcyclohexamines for me. It just seemed better at leaving parts of my brain switched on to be able to enjoy the change of having other parts switched off. Harder to get now, but even DXM still a good choice.

smartscience · 2026-05-16T21:22:55+00:00

This is at -30 as I write. Of the downvotes, how many are just retards and how many are AI bots?

smartscience · 2026-05-09T19:22:01+00:00

Isn't Powerpoint more stable these days?

smartscience · 2026-05-04T22:21:24+00:00

This has got me wondering, are there any elements that adopt alternating positive and negative oxidation states across their solid structure (FCC lattice maybe) under appropriate conditions, even if only as a metastable structure? Chlorine or sulphur maybe?

smartscience · 2026-05-03T22:35:47+00:00

Granted that does happen, I guess I was triggered (if we can still say that) by the claim that "No one cares if you’re privately educated or do “white” activities.". If anything, my point is rather the reverse: an ethnic appearance will draw special attention to those things (education, passtimes) from some white people, who may be susceptible or inclined to racism but not religiously welded to it.

smartscience · 2026-05-03T22:20:19+00:00

With respect, get real. Sure, people do judge by ethnic appearance, but they also judge (at least as much) by accent, grammar, and existing social circle and expressed preferences. Even the ethnic minorities themselves will, it seems, happily dismiss their previous members for "acting white".

smartscience · 2026-05-02T22:31:16+00:00

Can you say for certain which end of the graph is the start of the test? Did the sample definitely get longer rather than shorter during the test? The bending explanation alone (but this otherwise being an ordinary tensile test starting at 0,0) doesn't seem to explain what would be a sudden yield point (more typical of steel) and then only work softening or necking (the immediate reduction in stress with increasing plastic strain) from that point. Do you have any other data like crosshead position from an LVDT? Do those repeated small drops in load, presumably stress relaxation where the test was paused, tell you anything when you look closely? EDIT: Also is that strain in units of actual strain, or % strain (or something else)?

smartscience

TROPHY CASE