Starkey

Botulinum toxin etc. are obviously ridiculously deadly to humans... but is that on purpose? Or are the toxins just waste products that happen to be deadly?

I understand that the current theory for Uranus's 97.77 degree tilt is that it was involved in a collision during the turbulent early stages of the solar system.

Why, then, do the moons orbit on the same plane?

I know this is a completely farcical, irrelevant question, for which I apologies, but I am curious:

Would most the water pool around the North and South poles as a result of the oblate shape of the Earth?

I was trying to apply for a European Health insurance card on-line, and must have typed by card details in wrong too many times. I have since had my card rejected at an ATM. How do I get my card up and running again?

I have trouble getting to the bank in person as I am at school during all my local's opening times. Also, I would prefer not to have to cancel my card, as my Amazon, E-bay accounts etc. are linked to it

What mountain is the highest point (above sea level) on the surface of the Earth from which you can clearly see the sea?

I think I've found a problem with renewable energy. I've probably just misunderstood, could someone explain it to me?

Lets take wind power for example: Wind turbines do no generate energy constantly; it isn't always windy enough.

So doesn't this mean that power plants (like nuclear, oil etc..) must keep producing the same amount of energy, just in case it stops being windy, so there aren't power cuts? We don't have an efficient way of storing this energy yet. So doesn't this an equal amount of energy is created be wind energy as is earthed into the ground, and wasted?

I don't understand; surly this means wind turbines are bad for the environment, as a great deal of energy is needed to create them, and any energy they generate is earthed anyway.

I really hope I'm wrong, can somebody please show me how.

I think I've found a problem with renewable energy. I've probably just misunderstood, could someone explain it to me?

Lets take wind power for example: Wind turbines do no generate energy constantly; it isn't always windy enough.

So doesn't this mean that power plants (like nuclear, oil etc..) must keep producing the same amount of energy, just in case it stops being windy, so there aren't power cuts? We don't have an efficient way of storing this energy yet. So doesn't this an equal amount of energy is created be wind energy as is earthed into the ground, and wasted?

I don't understand; surly this means wind turbines are bad for the environment, as a great deal of energy is needed to create them, and any energy they generate is earthed anyway.

I really hope I'm wrong, can somebody please show me how.

Do you think there could be large objects in the Oort cloud?

Current theorys suggest that the early solar system was a very chaotic place, so it is conceivable that many large bodies could have been ejected from the inner solar system.

And the Oort Cloud is thought to extend as much as 50,000 AU from the Sun! We have only recently discovered the dwarf-planet Eris, with is "only" 90 AU from the Sun, so if there are large objects in distant orbits we would need far better telescopes to find them,

Under current IAU definition even Earth sized objects drifting though the Oort cloud would be considered Dwarf Planets.

But do you think it is possible that there could be large planet-sized bodies on huge orbits far from the Sun?

It states on Jupiter's wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter#Mass

"When it was first formed, Jupiter was much hotter and was about twice its current diameter."

How it this possible?

Adrastea and Metis are both about 57,000km from Jupiter, with Jupiter's diameter currnetly at around 70,000km. If Jupiter was to get much larger in diameter (never mind double) it would cause both moons to be dragged out of orbit and swallowed by Jupiter. Is this a mistake, or am I missing something?

I read on wikipedia that after a gas planet is above certain mass it begins to get smaller again, so that even low mass brown dwarf stars are smaller than Jupiter.

But what is the maximum diameter a gas planet of Jupiter temperature can get before internal pressures cause it to contract again? (This maximum will obviously increase with temperature).

Ok, so I get that gravitons are used to explain gravity, and act as the carriers of the Gravitational Force.

But how does that work? Are they like photons, massless particles travelling at the speed of light?

If so, I have a question: how come gravitons can escape a black hole? It sounds stupid, but how come the black-hole's gravity doesn't pull in the gravitons back in? It doesn't make any sense.

Any info would be nice!

In kgm^-3, (or even kgm^-2 when viewed from above).

I know they are about 10m thick at thickest, but I can't find any info on their density.

Or, to put is another way, how good does your vacuum have to be to prevent sound passing though it?

How close together are the chunks of ice and rock? What is the net density of the rings themselves?

Wikipedia mentions that there is one ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_symbiotic_rel... ) but I can't find any information about it anywhere. Is there actually symbiosis between wombats and snail, or is this just a mistake/joke by someone editing wikipedia?

The lifetime of our Sun (from formation to supernova) is around 11 billion years, of which 4.5 billion years have passed.

But the "ancestors" of the Sun are likely to have been more massive, and therefore more short lived.

So, given the age of the Universe is around 13.5 billion years, what is the estimate for the number of stars before the Sun?

How many supernovas has the matter in my body gone though to get where it is?

What element commonly used by the the human body has the highest atomic number?

Are there any chemical reactions that could not occur without the use of a catalyst?

If the tectonic plates were to stop moving, how long would it take for erosion to make the Earth so flat that the oceans covered the whole world? Does anyone have any estimates?

I know this is a terribly hypothetical question, but if you would humour me and give me a decent guess, that would be much appreciated,

Does any one have any estimate of roughly how long it will take for the mantel and/or core to stop being molten?

(If you suspect it will take more than 4BY, then what would it be if (hypothetically) the sun didn't expand?)