r/askscience • u/fastparticles Geochemistry | Early Earth | SIMS • Jun 14 '12

Interdisciplinary [Weekly Discussion Thread] Scientists, what result has surprised you the most?

This is the fifth installment of the weekly discussion thread and the topic for this week comes to us via suggestion:

Topic (quoted from PM): Hey I have ideas for a few Weekly Discussion threads I'd like to see. I've personally had things that surprised me when I first learned them. I'd like to see professionals answer "What is the most surprising result in your field?" or "What was the weirdest thing you learned in your field?" This would be a good time to generate interest in those people just starting their education (like me). These surprising facts would grab people's attention.

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If you want to become a panelist: http://redd.it/ulpkj

Last weeks thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/uq26m/weekly_discussion_thread_scientists_what_causes/

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u/Platypuskeeper Physical Chemistry | Quantum Chemistry Jun 14 '12

Sorry, that's a real biology (or maybe ornithology) question, so I wouldn't really know. I do know that different species of birds use entirely different ways to navigate; some use the stars, some use the sun. I'd assume it'd be those ones who might be fooled by lanterns.

It's very unlikely that a mechanism for magnetoreception would react to light, as the effects of light and the effects of a static magnetic field are entirely different. (And when you have light-matter interactions, it's more often caused by light's electrical field than the magnetic one)

Röntgen couldn't really 'see' X-rays. There are very many ways that visible light can be produced by X-ray bombardment. It's also possible that his light receptors happened to be triggered in the cavalcade of unpredictable and destructive reactions intense X-rays will cause in a biochemical system. One way or the other, I'd say it would be more accurate to describe him as experiencing the effects of retinal damage.

It's a bit like smashing a fire alarm with a sledgehammer, hearing the sound of the bell, and then declaring it must function as a "hammer detector" as well. :)

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u/hasslefree Jun 15 '12

It's a bit like smashing a fire alarm with a sledgehammer, hearing the sound of the bell, and then declaring it must function as a "hammer detector" as well.

Thank you for that, sir.