wierd sciece questions

[Oddball]

Magnets wouldnt even come close to making up for loss of gravity

There different forces altogether, and behave differently

Besides, being magnetized would probably cause nervous system problems and definitly affect the brains of developing babies

 

[Braydon]

Magnets wouldnt even come close to making up for loss of gravity

There different forces altogether, and behave differently

Besides, being magnetized would probably cause nervous system problems and definitly affect the brains of developing babies

I'm sorry? You do realize magnetism is vastly more powerful than gravity? You could make up for the lack of gravity and more. And seriously? Magnetizing someone to the floor would pull them to the ground, I don't see why that couldn't compensate for the lack of gravity with magnetism.

The only issues are the amount of metal required being potentially toxic, and that it could take a pretty decent amount of electricity to keep it up. Though it's easier to use solar power on mars (being closer to the sun and lacking an atmosphere)

 

[captainproton]

Magnets would stick your feet to the floor, whereas gravity pulls on your entire body.

 

[Galenmereth]

Someone's thinking of Mercury

Spoiler

 

[Ralpf]

If I'm not mistaken, magnetism used correctly (you would need a suit, not just boots) could prevent the loss of muscle mass, but I don't think it would work to prevent calcium loss in your bones, but I'm not sure on the exact process there.

But even if it would work, I don't think the expense and potential exposure issues make it a viable alternative.

And while Mars is further away from the sun than Earth, I think it does get more solar radiation on the surface, because of the relative lack of atmosphere.

edit: I just re-read the original post on that again, magnetic materials in your body? I understand the thought process, but I think that could go wrong in so many ways...

 

[Braydon]

Magnets would stick your feet to the floor, whereas gravity pulls on your entire body.

... Magnetic boots would stick your feet to the floor... they're not the only magnetic thing in the world...

If I'm not mistaken, magnetism used correctly (you would need a suit, not just boots) could prevent the loss of muscle mass, but I don't think it would work to prevent calcium loss in your bones, but I'm not sure on the exact process there.

But even if it would work, I don't think the expense and potential exposure issues make it a viable alternative.

And while Mars is further away from the sun than Earth, I think it does get more solar radiation on the surface, because of the relative lack of atmosphere.

edit: I just re-read the original post on that again, magnetic materials in your body? I understand the thought process, but I think that could go wrong in so many ways...

Why wouldn't it work to stop bone loss? The bone loss is due to the lower gravity as well, if you can compensate with magnetism you should stop it all.

Also I just realized I said mars was closer to the sun, derp, anyway what I mean is even though it's not closer it's more exposed due to the lack of atmosphere.

Anyway, I don't see magnets in the body as overly dangerous, they would need to be secure not just floating in the blood stream though, I just realized that they would pool in your feet if they could, closer to the magnets in the floor.

Anyway you could implant them into bones, provided you put them in the right places the weight should be properly distributed to stop bone loss and muscle loss.

Not sure if you're blood flow would be disrupted or not like that, maybe a little bit of magnetized mineral in the blood would help.

 

[cabfe]

@Braydon:

If you're starting to implant magnets into bones, for one it'll only work on grown ups, and two I think it's too intrusive and prone to many other problems. It's certainly better to find another option. Practicality is key.

 

[Braydon]

@Braydon:

If you're starting to implant magnets into bones, for one it'll only work on grown ups, and two I think it's too intrusive and prone to many other problems. It's certainly better to find another option. Practicality is key.

Why would it be a problem? We don't have a problem implanting things in people. We can replace whole bones with a piece of metal, I'm sure we can put a little magnet in them as well.

 

[cabfe]

If you don't see a practicability problem in implanting items on people and then putting them in a constant magnetic field just to create an artificial gravity, be the first guinea pig

There are other ways, less intrusive, less costly, less risky to do the same thing.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, just that when you have to choose a solution, you go for practicability most of the time.

 

[Braydon]

If you don't see a practicability problem in implanting items on people and then putting them in a constant magnetic field just to create an artificial gravity, be the first guinea pig

There are other ways, less intrusive, less costly, less risky to do the same thing.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, just that when you have to choose a solution, you go for practicability most of the time.

give me one more practical option.

And don't say a spinning room, that only works in zero gravity, not on a planet, there's no possible way to have it on a planet where the planets gravity won't ruin that by making it uneven.

Anyway, I'd be willing to have the implants to go to mars, but I'm not exactly a prime candidate. If you don't want the implants, don't sign up for a mars trip.

 

[Oddball]

I didnt want to spend my last post on this, but here it goes anyway

Magnatizing people could mess with machines keeping us alive when we walk past them. You know, like sticking a magnet on a computer or smart phone. There would be no way to service those machines

Did you know bones make our white blood cells? Magnetizing our bones could inurupt that process, opening us up to a number of infections and atuo immune disease.

We would be more prone to and take more damage from electric shock

Our nerves are also electrical signals, and magnetizm messes with electrical stuff

And it wouldnt componsate correctly for lack of gravity. Especilly the higher up you go on the body

Oh! Also, i would think the skull would be too thin to fully magnatize, and it could cause cognitive problems and confusion

Edit: also, if your not willing to do it yourself why suggest it? Maybe some part of you realizesits a bad idea

Edit: what about people with pacemakers? Or who need them?

 

[captainproton]

Wouldn't the magnets interfere with important electronics,?

 

[Matseb2611]

There are too many problems with using magnetic force.

First of all, as Captainproton said, the gravity acts on your whole body. Wearing a magnetic suit would not be it, because it's only the suit being subject to the force. Implanting magnets in the body, how much is enough? Are you suggesting we have everyone walk around with adamantium skeletons? Where on the body are we going to implant magnets or metallic bits?

Secondly, having giant walking magnets can create all sorts of problems, like disrupting nearby equipment and so on. Every person will be a mobile magnetic field. What happens when two such people come close to each other? Or in fact, think about what will happen if you had two or more magnets within the same person.

Thirdly, magnetic force does not work like gravity. It's more powerful, but it follows an inverse cube law, whereas gravity follows an inverse square law. I.e. if you double the distance from the source of gravity, the gravity gets 4x weaker, but doubling the distance from the magnet, the force gets 8x weaker. So you'll be getting a lot of force concentrating very close to the magnetic source (e.g. the floor), and getting drastically weaker the higher you go.

Not saying that going the magnetic route is impossible, but it creates way way more problems than trying to simulate gravity via spinning mechanics and so on.

 

[Ralpf]

give me one more practical option.

And don't say a spinning room, that only works in zero gravity, not on a planet, there's no possible way to have it on a planet where the planets gravity won't ruin that by making it uneven.

Anyway, I'd be willing to have the implants to go to mars, but I'm not exactly a prime candidate. If you don't want the implants, don't sign up for a mars trip.

Not only can that work in gravity, it has already been done. http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/artificial-gravity-slows-muscle-los-09-07-23/

I don't understand what you mean by "ruin it". I think you are over-thinking a room, it just need to be a place where you go to get some stress on your body, the simpler the better, I mentioned sleeping in a spinning room earlier and I stand by that. We wouldn't need constant exposure to 1g, just enough to stave off the effects of .4g.

 

[Braydon]

I didnt want to spend my last post on this, but here it goes anyway

Magnatizing people could mess with machines keeping us alive when we walk past them. You know, like sticking a magnet on a computer or smart phone. There would be no way to service those machines

Did you know bones make our white blood cells? Magnetizing our bones could inurupt that process, opening us up to a number of infections and atuo immune disease.

We would be more prone to and take more damage from electric shock

Our nerves are also electrical signals, and magnetizm messes with electrical stuff

And it wouldnt componsate correctly for lack of gravity. Especilly the higher up you go on the body

Oh! Also, i would think the skull would be too thin to fully magnatize, and it could cause cognitive problems and confusion

Edit: also, if your not willing to do it yourself why suggest it? Maybe some part of you realizesits a bad idea

Edit: what about people with pacemakers? Or who need them?

Your nerve's won't be hurt by magnetism. People are exposed to magnets all the time, they're not dangerous to your nervous system. When people say your brain is a computer they do not mean what's in your PC.

Magnetism would only screw up vital systems if they weren't properly isolated from the floor magnets, and they would be away from the floor magnets.

People with pacemakers don't matter because we don't send them into space.

Also I said I'd be willing to do it, not not willing.

Wouldn't the magnets interfere with important electronics,?

Not if you did it right.

There are too many problems with using magnetic force.

First of all, as Captainproton said, the gravity acts on your whole body. Wearing a magnetic suit would not be it, because it's only the suit being subject to the force. Implanting magnets in the body, how much is enough? Are you suggesting we have everyone walk around with adamantium skeletons? Where on the body are we going to implant magnets or metallic bits?

Secondly, having giant walking magnets can create all sorts of problems, like disrupting nearby equipment and so on. Every person will be a mobile magnetic field. What happens when two such people come close to each other? Or in fact, think about what will happen if you had two or more magnets within the same person.

Thirdly, magnetic force does not work like gravity. It's more powerful, but it follows an inverse cube law, whereas gravity follows an inverse square law. I.e. if you double the distance from the source of gravity, the gravity gets 4x weaker, but doubling the distance from the magnet, the force gets 8x weaker. So you'll be getting a lot of force concentrating very close to the magnetic source (e.g. the floor), and getting drastically weaker the higher you go.

Not saying that going the magnetic route is impossible, but it creates way way more problems than trying to simulate gravity via spinning mechanics and so on.

I don't know where we're going to put the magnets, I haven't engineered this system. It's hypothetical, I don't know exactly were, but generally so they maintain pressure on load bearing parts of the body. (ei. in your bones.)

Giant walking magnetic fields aren't a problem, the magnetism would be mainly coming from the floor, you could do it with just some iron and you wouldn't increase your own magnetic field much.

Also you could always have one magnet from the floor and one pushing down from the ceiling to lessen it up a bit, but really I don't see it as much of a problem, there's a decent sized sweet spot from what I can tell, I don't think it would be to big an issue.

Not only can that work in gravity, it has already been done. http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/artificial-gravity-slows-muscle-los-09-07-23/

I don't understand what you mean by "ruin it". I think you are over-thinking a room, it just need to be a place where you go to get some stress on your body, the simpler the better, I mentioned sleeping in a spinning room earlier and I stand by that. We wouldn't need constant exposure to 1g, just enough to stave off the effects of .4g.

Umm... Because if you have a zero gravity situation you can spin someone and there's a constant force, but with a planet it would always pull you in the same direction while you were spinning, the way they make a centrifuge on earth you'll basically be plastered to a wall and unable to move.

 

[markjacks]

My wierd question since a kid is that, is there really something beyond the universe? 

 

[cabfe]

My wierd question since a kid is that, is there really something beyond the universe?

That reminds me of the ending sequence of Men in Black

Maybe this gigantic space is just a small area of something even bigger. Makes your head spin

 

[captainproton]

Something I've always wondered? When you take a pill meant to target back pain and not headaches, or vice versa, *how does it know?*

 

[Matseb2611]

My wierd question since a kid is that, is there really something beyond the universe?

It's quite possible. I really like to ponder on questions like that. It's possible that maybe there are multiple universes (a multiverse). I often see this linked with a question about where do the black holes lead, whether they perhaps lead into an alternate universe. It's something we can only speculate.

Something I've always wondered? When you take a pill meant to target back pain and not headaches, or vice versa, *how does it know?*

If I am not mistaken, what it does is have a general pain-relieving effect on the body, which in turn takes care of the pain in that one area. Some meds dilate your blood vessels to ease off the blood pressure, others are blood thinners, to stop your blood from clotting. Some simply target an area in a brain which is responsible for release of endorphins. I might be wrong about some of these details though, so worth double checking.

 

[Ralpf]

Something I've always wondered? When you take a pill meant to target back pain and not headaches, or vice versa, *how does it know?*

To add to Matseb's reply, some painkillers also come with other drugs with them, Excedrin (and generics) for instance contains caffeine, which would obviously help if your headache is from caffeine withdrawal, but also probably helps headaches specifically in other ways because of the center-nervous stimulant aspect of caffeine (I'm assuming here). There is a drug called Backaid that contains a diuretic along with a painkiller, that is supposed to help with back pain (and menstrual craps), but I'm not sure why, maybe reduced swelling.

So basically, painkillers work everywhere, but they can be specifically targeted to work better (though not exclusively) for specific types of pain by being paired with other drugs.

Also, marketing, if they can get you to by the same drug multiple times for different pain that is better for them, or maybe that is just me being cynical.