Interesting Stuff Thread

MrPudding

Please forgive me for linking to the Daily Mail, but the story is interesting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1213257/Men-producing-super-sperm-fast-powerful-impregnate-women-evolution-leads-infertility-rise.html

MrP

Galvasean

I was kind of half expecting to read about sperm with teeth who could nibble through condoms.

Flamed Diving

Immigrant sperm on the rise.

Goduznt Xzst

found this video to be very interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpj0emEGShQ

RodgerTheDoger

Galvasean wrote: »

Ideas about how humans might evolve in the future:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091124-origin-of-species-150-darwin-human-evolution.html

Pencil me in for some wings, this drive from Donegal to Dublin every weeks is killing me.

RodgerTheDoger

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Why won't God heal amputees?





Because he isn't there. Science is.

I have often thought about this. Our Dna has the blue print to our physical appearance. It builds our body a bit like a builder builds a house.

It done it once why can't it do it again?
I have seen some interested programs on this, looking at lizards etc that can do it.

Others people pray for a mircle other people try to heal themselves via positive energy / thinking, but who is to say that both could have an impact on it actually happening!

Our brain does a lot more than what our consious mind is aware of.
People talking about "Positive thinking" or believing in something positive like god or a miricle.
But maybe this is a trigger that is simply pushing or dna or brain or individual cells to do something it can already do.

Remember we might be 99.9% the same as an ape but we are also 50% the same as a banana!!

Zombrex

RodgerTheDoger wrote: »

I have often thought about this. Our Dna has the blue print to our physical appearance. It builds our body a bit like a builder builds a house.

It done it once why can't it do it again?
I have seen some interested programs on this, looking at lizards etc that can do it.

Others people pray for a mircle other people try to heal themselves via positive energy / thinking, but who is to say that both could have an impact on it actually happening!

Our brain does a lot more than what our consious mind is aware of.
People talking about "Positive thinking" or believing in something positive like god or a miricle.
But maybe this is a trigger that is simply pushing or dna or brain or individual cells to do something it can already do.

Remember we might be 99.9% the same as an ape but we are also 50% the same as a banana!!

"Positive thinking" has been shown to have a physical effect on the body, this can be seen in things like the placebo effect.

Though I think, if I understand correctly, scientists think it is more a cause that stress and depression have negative effects, so if you don't have that or lessen that you will heal better than someone under stress.

marco_polo

Quite an interesting study here:

In a nutshell These RNA chains formed in water, at moderate temperatures (40–90 °C), in the absence of enzymes or inorganic catalysts.

http://www.scientistlive.com/European-Science-News/Genetics/Generating_RNA_molecules_in_water/23727/

A key question in the origin of biological molecules like RNA and DNA is how they first came together billions of years ago from simple precursors. Now, in a study appearing in this week's JBC, researchers in Italy have reconstructed one of the earliest evolutionary steps yet: generating long chains of RNA from individual subunits using nothing but warm water.

Many researchers believe that RNA was one of the first biological molecules present, before DNA and proteins; however, there has been little success in recreating the formation on RNA from simple "prebiotic" molecules that likely were present on primordial earth billions of years ago.

Now, Ernesto Di Mauro and colleagues found that ancient molecules called cyclic nucleotides can merge together in water and form polymers over 100 nucleotides long in water ranging from 40-90 °C -similar to water temperatures on ancient Earth.

Cyclic nucleotides like cyclic-AMP are very similar to the nucleotides that make up individual pieces of DNA or RNA (A, T, G and C), except that they form an extra chemical bond and assume a ring-shaped structure. That extra bond makes cyclic nucleotides more reactive, though, and thus they were able to join together into long chains at a decent rate (about 200 hours to reach 100 nucleotides long).

This finding is exciting as cyclic nucleotides themselves can be easily formed from simple chemicals like formamide, thus making them plausible prebiotic compounds present during primordial times. Thus, this study may be revealing how the first bits of genetic information were created.

RodgerTheDoger

marco_polo wrote: »

Quite an interesting study here:

In a nutshell These RNA chains formed in water, at moderate temperatures (40–90 °C), in the absence of enzymes or inorganic catalysts.

I actually watched a program about this, the enzyme was basically put into water and shaken. When it began to settle the long strings that made up the enzyme (Subunit) appeared to take on a similar shape, the long strings form what looks like a circle that look very similar to what you might call a cell.

But I think that is far is it goes, I was not convinced other than the visual similarities that it could be argued that it is the starting point for life.
Maybe if the next step in the process is realised maybe then it could be argued to be more than just a coincidence [FONT=&quot][/FONT].

But it was interesting.

Turtwig

The internetz is now abuzz with the rumour that physicists have discovered dark matter particles. Needless to say if it is true, it would be groundbreaking.

However, this could all be an elaborate hoax started by some sly blogger.
Dec 18th awaits.

Dades

Malty_T wrote: »

The internetz is now abuzz with the rumour that physicists have discovered dark matter particles.

Do the particles have long white beards? :eek:

Either way - whoa.

marco_polo

RodgerTheDoger wrote: »

I actually watched a program about this, the enzyme was basically put into water and shaken. When it began to settle the long strings that made up the enzyme (Subunit) appeared to take on a similar shape, the long strings form what looks like a circle that look very similar to what you might call a cell.

But I think that is far is it goes, I was not convinced other than the visual similarities that it could be argued that it is the starting point for life.
Maybe if the next step in the process is realised maybe then it could be argued to be more than just a coincidence [FONT=&quot][/FONT].

But it was interesting.

The RNA first hypothesis is a step believed to have taken place log before the first cells were formed. What is interesting here is not that it looks superficially similar, but that one of the main proplems with the RNA World hypothesis was that until this paper was published a few months ago, a plausible chemical pathway to get RNA to form in primordial like conditions from its constituent nuclotides was not understood fully, so to get a form of RNA to literally self assemble in warm water could be a potentially important development.


Are you sure the program wasnt about lipids forming a cell like membrane in water, as this paper was only published less than a week ago?

robindch

Dades wrote: »

Do the particles have long white beards?

Given it's "dark matter", seems more likely they'll come with horns and a pointy tail.(*)

(*) That said, dark matter (which contributes nothing except gravitational interactions) is one thing. The Higgs Boson (which is consumed by the Higgs field to produce the effect we understand as 'mass') is quite another.

Turtwig

Finding Higgs would be class, until some media outlet *cough* Newscientist *cough* runs "PHYSICISTS FIND GOD" or something similar as the cover story.


Disclaimer : Even if it did, I'd probably still love the magazine.

Dave!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCHUx9KlVrM

Dades

^^ A deserved breakthrough - given the cold shoulder amputees have been getting from deities.

5uspect

Dades wrote: »

^^ A deserved breakthrough - given the cold shoulder amputees have been getting from deities.

zing!

Flamed Diving

Where's your God now, eh?

5uspect

I haven't seen this posted here.

They've taken a new Ultra Deep Field with Hubble and it's shiny new optics:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/31/

December 8, 2009: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has made the deepest image of the universe ever taken in near-infrared light. The faintest and reddest objects in the image are galaxies that formed 600 million years after the Big Bang. No galaxies have been seen before at such early times. The new deep view, taken in late August 2009, also provides insights into how galaxies grew in their formative years early in the universe's history. The image was taken in the same region as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), which was taken in 2004 and is the deepest visible-light image of the universe. Hubble's newly installed Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) collects light from near-infrared wavelengths and therefore looks even deeper into the universe, because the light from very distant galaxies is stretched out of the ultraviolet and visible regions of the spectrum into near-infrared wavelengths by the expansion of the universe.

Galvasean

It's official. Palaeontology IS the most popular science.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091202-top-ten-discoveries-2009-year-science-news.html

A palaeontology story is National Geographic's most viewed of the year. Palaeontology stories also tok 5th and 7th place.

Turtwig

Galvasean wrote: »

It's official. Palaeontology IS the most popular science.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091202-top-ten-discoveries-2009-year-science-news.html

A palaeontology story is National Geographic's most viewed of the year. Palaeontology stories also tok 5th and 7th place.

I guess we now know why the general public regard science as being boring.:pac:

Dades

Galvasean wrote: »

A palaeontology story is National Geographic's most viewed of the year. Palaeontology stories also tok 5th and 7th place.

Since when was a story about a non-extinct form of shark a palaeontology one?!

Ichthyology, no?!

Nice try.

Galvasean

Dades wrote: »

Since when was a story about a non-extinct form of shark a palaeontology one?!

Ichthyology, no?!

Nice try.

That's number ten. You gotta scroll down to get to number one (ads to the suspense that way).

marco_polo

Malty_T wrote: »

I guess we now know why the general public regard science as being boring.:pac:

Palaeontology boring? You take that back or else!! :pac:

Dades

Galvasean wrote: »

That's number ten. You gotta scroll down to get to number one (ads to the suspense that way).

Me, that is...

Turtwig

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

robindch

Here's an article which looks at general systems security and derives seven broad principles for protecting yourself from scammers. Nothing too remarkable in that, but reading the list, it's interesting to see that five of the seven are directly applicable to the behavior of rank-and-file religious believers or the techniques used by religious leaders to keep the former in line:

• The distraction principle -- while you are distracted by what retains your interest, hustlers can do anything to you and you won't notice.
• The social compliance principle -- society trains people not to question authority. Hustlers exploit this "suspension of suspiciousness" to make you do what they want.
• The herd principle -- even suspicious marks will let their guard down when everyone next to them appears to share the same risks. Safety in numbers? Not if they're all conspiring against you.
• The dishonesty principle -- anything illegal you do will be used against you by the fraudster, making it harder for you to seek help once you realize you've been had.
• The deception principle -- things and people are not what they seem. Hustlers know how to manipulate you to make you believe that they are.
• The need and greed principle -- your needs and desires make you vulnerable. Once hustlers know what you really want, they can easily manipulate you.
• The time principle -- when you are under time pressure to make an important choice, you use a different decision strategy. Hustlers steer you towards a strategy involving less reasoning.

The full article is available from here.

Flamed Diving

This thread title has certainly evolved... next thing we will have Creationists in here proclaiming that it was always called this and that there are no "transitional titles" on record.

robindch

Moderator note -

This (active) thread has been merged with the old (inactive) "Related links" thread to create a new, bright'n'sunny "Interesting Stuff Thread".

Posts here don't have to be specifically related to religion or non-religion, as long as they're interesting. Hence the new thread name

robindch

Flamed Diving wrote: »

This thread title has certainly evolved.

Are you saying it wasn't intelligently designed?