FYI Live

FYI Live

Through A Glass, Darkly

Optics experts, let's hear from you

Reader Bob Fately asks:

When you 'stop down' the aperture of a camera lens and reduce the size of the hole through which light passes, why does the overall scene darken rather than the edges vignette?

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FYI Live

Is There Such a Thing as Immature Oil?

Readers: your expertise is needed

A question from reader Craig Westbrooke:

From a very unscientific source, dialog from a scene in the 1976 King Kong movie stated that the oil found on the island would not be usable for another 10,000 years. Is there such a thing as immature oil? Is new oil being made now?

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FYI Live

First, Let's Synchronize Our Watches

It's your turn again to answer your fellow readers' urgent questions

Leonard Monroe wonders: "What would happen if everyone in the world were to jump and land at the same time?"

Post your answer in the comments.

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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FYI Live

Where The Universes Are

What lies beyond? PopSci readers need your expertise

Once again, you ask and you answer, in the latest installment of our FYI Live feature.

This week, Edward Owens has a poser: "Our universe as far as we know is finite; space is infinite as far as we know. Does anyone think there is another universe, or more out there?"

What do you think? Post your answers below.

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FYI Live

Readers Wonder: How Will It All End?

Peak oil? A megatsunami? A Malthusian catastrophe? The possibilities are myriad. How do you think the world will end?

Nobody's implying that it's right around the corner, but an old question is on a lot of people's minds these days -- especially you readers.

How will the world end?

Wikipedia has a nice list of some possible scenarios.

What's your favorite? Discuss in the comments.

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FYI Live

Readers Ask: Where Are Our Mechs?

Giant robot vehicles have long been a staple of science fiction. When do we reality-dwellers get ours?

Reader Nathan asks: "Do you think we'll ever be able to build robot mecha like the Gundams from the Japanese anime series Gundam or the Valkyries from the Japanese anime series Macross?"

The comment box is open. Practical? Plausible? What are the obstacles?

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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FYI Live

The Answer Is Blowing In The Wind

Reader Dave has a question, and you have answers

PopSci reader Dave wants to know: "Hello, if the earth spins east to west why does our wind blow west to east? The wind has to be blowing faster than the earth spinning. Yes?"

Feel free to tackle this one in the comments section.

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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FYI Live

Readers Ask: How Can I Tell If I've Found A New Species?

You see an unusual bug. Before you swat it, wait: maybe it could make you famous

Several Florida residents have reported seeing the Leptotyphlops microsnake long before it was announced as a new species, which herpetologist Blair Hedges named for his wife.

Readers want to know: how can you tell if the new animal or plant you've stumbled across is a unique, as of yet unnamed species?

Do you know the answer?

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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FYI Live

Why Aren't Batteries Better Yet?

Readers ask -- and you answer

PopSci reader VectorAKA2004 raises a good question: "I wonder why batteries are lagging behind portable technologies. We advance cell phones and all kinds of things so far and still barely have the power to run them. We have yet to create batteries that can efficiently store solar energy, or other renewable energy sources."

What do you think? Discuss in the comments.

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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FYI Live

PopSci Readers Want to Know: How Can We Get Superpowers?

In this installment of our regular reader-on-reader action, let's figure out how to create a race of super-readers

How can we get our own superpowers? Is exposure to radioactivity a reliable way to go, or cosmic rays, or toxic waste? Perhaps gadget-assisted powers are more within reach.

Discuss your theories, successes, and near-successes in the comments. Also: what power do you most want, and what do you plan to use it for?

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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FYI Live

So Near And Yet So Far

Why hasn't mankind landed on the Moon again after our exploration in the '60s and '70s?

In today's featured reader question, DiGMEH from Montreal wonders "Why not send someone again [to the Moon] now? Technology is better and they have more experience and money for it..."

It's an interesting question. Is it a matter of priorities, of money, of something else?

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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FYI Live

FYI Live: You're The Expert

Today, we discuss the mysteries of bodily functions

We know why the sky is blue, but reader "wondering..." wonders: "why is our urine always white or yellow? even after we drink orange juice or cola our urine is always white or yellow."

Thought-provoking, no? Have your say in the comments.

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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FYI Live

Readers Ask . . .

Is it possible that wind power, when developed on a large scale, will disrupt natural wind patterns?

PopSci reader aaronmrosen wonders: "when it comes to wind farms, can too many props actually slow down the wind, and cause a change in weather patterns?"

What do you think? Wind power: good or evil? Discuss in the comments section.

Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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