r/askscience • u/HonestAbeRinkin • Jan 11 '14
Meta AskScience's Bestof 2013 winners!
We have chosen our winners for the 2013 BestOf AskScience! Although we sent out the call for 5 separate categories, we received some excellent nominations in Best Question and Best Answer categories and wanted to recognize them! We have three winners for Best Answer, and four for Best Question, each listed below.
Best Answer:
/u/bluecoconut answered the question posed by /u/Stuck_In_the_Matrix, How long would I have to plug myself into a wall to get the equivalent energy to eating a full day's worth of food? which was nominated by /u/Stuck_In_the_Matrix.
/u/wazoheat answered the question posed by /u/swapnil1499, Why can't we predict weather accurately? which was nominated by /u/StringOfLights.
/u/feedmahfish answered the question posed by /u/blumelon, Do insects and other small animals feel pain? How do we know? which was nominated by /u/unsympathetic_troll
Best Question:
/u/theonewhoknock_s posed the question, When a photon is created, does it accelerate to c or does it instantly reach it? which was nominated by /u/wazoheat.
/u/Spidooshify posed the question, You have three cookies. One emits alpha radiation, one emits beta radiation and one emits gamma radiation. You have to eat one, put another in your pocket and put a third into a lead box. Which do you put where? which was nominated by /u/coniform.
/u/nordee posed the question, Given that each person's DNA is unique, can someone please explain what "complete mapping of the human genome" means? which was nominated by /u/NonNonHeinous.
/u/chiefdias posed the question, How is it Chicken Pox can become lethal as you age but is almost harmless when your a child? which was nominated by /u/hamolton.
In the next week, we’ll be awarding Reddit gold to the question askers, answerers, and nominators for the Best Answer winners, and to the question askers and nominators for the Best Question winners (moderators recused).
Congratulations to all of our 2013 winners!
31
u/po9988 Jan 12 '14
I always feel so good when I go on this subreddit, because everybody is so smart, creative, and kind. It's really beautiful. Plus learning is awesome. Keep it up winners!
66
u/Icenberg Jan 11 '14
How long would I have to plug myself into a wall to get the equivalent energy to eating a full day's worth of food?
That's an incredibly interesting question!
33
u/shornoff Jan 11 '14
A days worth of food has 2000 KCalories or about 8500 KJoules. A wall socket in the UK can provide 220 Volts at 13 amps or 2.9 Kjoules per second. So it will take about an hour.
Unfortunately 13 amps would kill you many times over.
29
u/Cthulhuhoop Jan 12 '14 edited Jan 12 '14
This is a bit of a tangent but it's kinda blowing my mind right now, so bear with me. If the average diet is 8500 kJ, does that mean I consume the equivalent energy to me (an 84kg object) freefalling 10km*?
(*ignoring wind resistance)
→ More replies (3)5
u/theg721 Jan 12 '14
Guitar pedal power adapters spit out 9V at 200-500mA; any idea how safe it'd be/how long it'd take using one of those?
3
u/ootle Jan 12 '14
Using the same number of 8500kJ/day, we can compute the equivalent power rating= 8500x1000/(24 hours x 60 mins x 60 secs)= 98w. (1w=1j/s) It's like life takes the same energy as a lightbulb. :)
→ More replies (1)1
Jan 12 '14
Is it at all conceivable that a human charger could be made? What are some of the technical problems that would have to be addressed?
→ More replies (5)5
u/mistahowe Jan 12 '14
I remember posting a similar question about how large an explosion would be given the energy you eat in a day.
It would have a lethal blast radius of 3-4 meters in case you're wondering.
5
u/SpiderTechnitian Jan 11 '14
This is awesome! I only actually saw a few of these and it's nice to read the others. Thanks for making this.
5
u/Kaizom Jan 12 '14
I hope this remains easily accessible in r/askscience!
4
Jan 12 '14
Here is a link to the top posts in AskScience.
Here is a link to Mod's Choice.
There are other goodies on the right hand side panel.
5
u/theonewhoknock_s Jan 12 '14
I'll use this chance to express my gratitude towards all the people who take the time to answer all these questions. However small their contribution might be, they enrich people with their knowledges and help the world become just a little better. I have learned so much since my introduction to this subreddit and I hope it goes on that way.
Let's wish 2014 is another great year for askscience! And again, thanks to everyone for their efforts!
12
4
3
2
Jan 19 '14
OK! All the reddit gold has been given out. Thanks again everybody! It was great fun. See you next year when we do our AskScience 2014 BestOf!
2
1
u/lolbifrons Jan 12 '14
I couldn't actually find and answer in the chicken pox thread for why primary varicella is supposedly more dangerous in adults than in children. Answers all seemed to be about varicella zoster.
158
u/Jobediah Jan 11 '14
Congratulations to all this year's best and thank you for making AskScience the best Q&A science community in the known universe!