Some Qs. people asked me on science and my replies to them - Part 85

                                                                      Interactive science series

Q: How can any scientist be happy? What is it about reality that is cheerful?

Krishna: “This looks different from all the ones I observed before!” You search literature. You couldn’t find its reference anywhere. You invite your colleagues to see and identify it. None could. You invite your group leaders, professors , supervisors to have a look. They too say they never saw it or heard about it . Then you think, ‘This is something really interesting’. You send it to another lab half way across the world for identification.

And when the results come, your endorphins, dopamine and serotonin levels reach their peak in your head. Your hunch ‘s correct. You have observed something new and reported it for the first time! Your heart’s speed increases. Your brain goes ballistic. The thrill quotient reaches 100%. Nothing in the world compares to it.

Reality makes you happy and strong from within.

This is a real story that happened twice in my lab. I will not trade this thrill for all the money in the world. Yes, I am drunk on science and it is impossible for me to get out of this thrill and adventure.

Then you have a problem in your place. People are suffering. You find a solution which is both easy and costs very less to follow. You publish it and report it to your administration. And peoples’ suffering is removed. Such a solution came once from my lab! You feel extremely satisfied and happy.

Krisna: It has been proved according to creationists, who try to publish their silly work in their own dubious journals. And some people think all that 's true!

Not even one real scientist 's convinced, though.

Q: Can I cite magazine articles for my academic paper, e.g. Businessinsider, Adage, Forbes, etc.?

Krishna : I don’t know about other fields but if you are writing a science paper, the answer is NO! You will give a very bad impression if you base your argument or discussion on magazine articles.
Magazines and books are not reliable sources for authentic information in science. Anybody can write anything in them including opinions, beliefs, and ideologies. These things don’t count much in science. If I am asked to review a paper which cites books or magazines, I would not recommend the paper for publication.  

Q:Is it possible that our world is just a science experiment of an even greater species?

Krishna: Oh, yes. A teenager above is playing a game. He might even be our creator!  

Q: Why is it that till date, we do not talk about scientific researchers who are making our lives more comfortable?

Krishna : Because researchers are introverts and rarely seek attention. They prefer to be left alone to do their work.
And people outside of labs don’t understand how a thing was invented or discovered and made usable or how it works most of the time. They just use it assuming that it is there in their natural surroundings like fruits and vegetables on the trees for them to use them.

Q: Does drinking of lots of water  reduce the chance of getting a heart attack or a stroke? 

Krishna: This is a myth and there is no scientific evidence. Science says be aware  of your own body's signals and its requirements. You need not drink more water than what your body wants and asks you to.

Q: Can science provide undeniable proof to some supernatural things?

Krishna: If science can provide evidence to some supernatural things, they won't be imaginative supernatural things anymore!

Q: Are added vitamins and other nutrients in foods really good?

Krishna: Scientists advice to take natural nutrients as far as possible, not added ones. This is because fortified cheap synthetic vitamins are mostly not bio-absorbable, i.e., your body cannot absorb and use them.

Q: Who created this universe if the mass/energy is neither created, nor destroyed?

Krishna: 

 Scientists put forth these assumptions  ... 

Coming into existence of this Universe is a  logical and mathematical necessity. The equations and laws of the universe are so compelling that they forced the formation of a universe for them to describe.

Quantum fluctuation* ( don't know fully why, this is my favourite one, most probably because it makes some sense ) -  we see quantum fluctuations in the universe. Virtual particles are a result of quantum fluctuations.  Events at the quantum level are uncaused. The universe is a huge quantum event.

* In quantum physics, a quantum fluctuation (or quantum vacuum fluctuation or vacuum fluctuation) is the temporary change in the amount of energy in a point in space, as explained in Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

The Uncertainty Principle states that for a pair of conjugate variables such as position/momentum and energy/time, it is impossible to have a precisely determined value of each member of the pair at the same time. For example, a particle pair can pop out of the vacuum during a very short time interval.

The uncertainty principle is illustrated with a schematic representation on the left. An extension is applicable to the "uncertainty in time" and "uncertainty in energy" (including the rest mass energy mc2). When the mass is very large (such as a macroscopic object), the uncertainties and thus the quantum effect become very samll, classical physics is applicable once more.

In the inflationary theory, matter, antimatter, and photons were produced by the energy of the false vacuum, which was released following the phase transition. All of these particles consist of positive energy. This energy, however, is exactly balanced by the negative gravitational energy of everything pulling on everything else. In other words, the total energy of the universe is zero! It is remarkable that the universe consists of essentially nothing, but (fortunately for us) in positive and negative parts. You can easily see that gravity is associated with negative energy: If you drop a ball from rest (defined to be a state of zero energy), it gains energy of motion (kinetic energy) as it falls. But this gain is exactly balanced by a larger negative gravitational energy as it comes closer to Earth’s center, so the sum of the two energies remains zero.

The idea of a zero-energy universe, together with inflation, suggests that all one needs is just a tiny bit of energy to get the whole thing started (that is, a tiny volume of energy in which inflation can begin). The universe then experiences inflationary expansion, but without creating net energy.

Q: How did the universe originate from zero energy?

Krishna: The fact that our universe is so (three-dimensionally) flat is proof it came from nothing. Because to be perfectly flat, it must have zero net energy, meaning it didn’t take or give off energy to be created.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson explained it well in this video

Q: What makes someone a scientist? What is the definition of being a scientist? Is it arrogant to self-describe as a scientist?
Krishna : Being a scientist is a state of mind, not a profession. Only a person who has this state of mind - who follows strict scientific method in everything s/he does- can call himself or herself a scientist.
Someone who gets paid to do some science in a lab need not be a scientist. Because I have seen some such scientists following and propagating pseudo-science. And they refuse to accept what they are doing is false. And they can publish their work too in dubious journals.
On the other hand I have seen people who subject everything that is brought to their mind’s attention to scientific scrutiny, eventhough they are not practicing scientists!
Now decide for yourself who strictly fits the bill.

Q: What is the most frustrating thing about being a scientist?
Krishna: I did not face most of the academic frustrations other scientists usually mention. Maybe my outlook is a bit different from others.
I think facing religious fundamentalists with scientific facts is my biggest frustration. Because they have a completely closed mind. And you need a herculean effort to open them up!

Q: Even though science has proven that Homeopathy doesn't work, why do people still believe in it?

Krishna: 

This video  explains it all:

Q: Does it bring bad luck if a bat enters into a house? Are bats good or bad according to science? Krishna : I am being asked by several people to answer these questions over and over again.

There isn’t anything called bad (or good ) luck in the first place. It all depends on how your mind perceives and interprets a situation. If you are not confident about yourself and the situation you are in, you fear everything and try to make connections where none exists. Try to strengthen your mind, all this disappears.

Read these articles…

Science's rules are unyielding, they will not be bent in any way fo...

Science and superstitions : How rational thinking can make you work...

However, bats are responsible for certain diseases and you will have to be careful when you are near bats.

One of these diseases is Marburg hemorrhagic fever, which is found exclusively in Africa.

Viruses such as - Nipah (which causes Nipah virus encephalitis) and Hendra (which causes Hendra virus disease) - are also associated with bats.

Ebola hemorraghic fever. The virus that causes this disease is often referred to as the "cousin" of Marburg virus, since they are the only distinct viruses that belong to a group of viruses known as filoviruses. Like Marburg, Ebola is highly fatal and is found mostly in Africa. Recent studies indicate that, as with Marburg, bats are likely to be a natural source of this virus, although no Ebola virus has been isolated from bats.

Another group of viruses known as coronaviruses have been detected in multiple species of bats. Coronavirus infection can sometimes cause mild respiratory illness in humans, but these viruses were also implicated in the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Southeast Asia. While bats do not carry or transmit SARS, research has linked coronaviruses to bats in countries all over the world.

Rabies is perhaps the most well known disease associated with bats. Along with animals such as dogs, foxes, raccoons, and skunks, bats are one of the primary animals that transmit rabies.

So stop bats from entering your dwellings.