Interesting Stuff Thread

Brian Shanahan

swampgas wrote: »

So maybe for some of them what they're really saying that sex before marriage is "wrong", but that's the way they like it. Of course there must be quite a few so damaged by Catholic guilt and shame that they really do see sex as something bad.

Jebus! Now I'm getting images of 1/3 of my clubmates donning bondage gear before getting it on!

And I've a match Saturday. Pain will take the memory away.

Hotblack Desiato

Depends what kind of club it is :pac:

Brian Shanahan

ninja900 wrote: »

Depends what kind of club it is :pac:

GAA.

seamus

kiffer wrote: »

I'm sure that's statistically negligible and a result of patriarchy.
More men disapproved of sex before marriage?

I'd say if you dig into that, more men disapprove of women having sex before marriage, rather than themselves. I don't believe I've ever met a single man who has said they don't want sex before they're married, but plenty who would like to have a virgin wife.

Knex*

seamus wrote: »

I'd say if you dig into that, more men disapprove of women having sex before marriage, rather than themselves. I don't believe I've ever met a single man who has said they don't want sex before they're married, but plenty who would like to have a virgin wife.

I'd have to agree. However, a virgin wife sounds like a terrible idea to me, in all honesty.

Delirium

RNA controls splicing during gene expression, further evidence of 'RNA world' origin in modern life

RNA is the key functional component of spliceosomes, molecular machines that control how genes are expressed, report scientists from the University of Chicago online, Nov. 6 in Nature. The discovery establishes that RNA, not protein, is responsible for catalyzing this fundamental biological process and enriches the hypothesis that life on earth began in a world based solely on RNA.

"Two of the three major processes in eukaryotic gene expression—splicing and translation—are now shown to be catalyzed by RNA," said Jonathan Staley, PhD, associate professor of molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago and co-corresponding author on the study. "The eukaryotic gene expression pathway is more of an RNA-based pathway than protein-based."

For genes to be expressed, DNA must be translated into proteins, the structural and functional molecules that catalyze chemical reactions necessary for life. To do so, genetic information stored in DNA is first copied into strands of messenger RNA (mRNA), which are subsequently used to create proteins.

kiffer

seamus wrote: »

I'd say if you dig into that, more men disapprove of women having sex before marriage, rather than themselves. I don't believe I've ever met a single man who has said they don't want sex before they're married, but plenty who would like to have a virgin wife.

I considered that... but only after I had posted...
But in fairness you've got to try before you buy, and while I'm sure there are a lot of men who would want to marry someone who hasn't been "sullied" by another man those men would still like to make sure everything was a go go and not no no...?

Sarky

Sweden is closing some prisons because they just don't have enough criminals to put in them.

Brian Shanahan

kiffer wrote: »

I considered that... but only after I had posted...
But in fairness you've got to try before you buy, and while I'm sure there are a lot of men who would want to marry someone who hasn't been "sullied" by another man those men would still like to make sure everything was a go go and not no no...?

Well in all honesty in this case I agree with Winston.

Hotblack Desiato

Sarky wrote: »

Sweden is closing some prisons because they just don't have enough criminals to put in them.

Would they take some of ours?

robindch

From last night's RTE news, Evelyn Cusack gives the lowdown on amateur long range weather forecasting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvB-i3t7vsY

And finishes up with a quote from Carl Sagan - go Evelyn!

Liamario

Good woman.

Turtwig

Brian Cox got into trouble over his public comments on Astrology once. Evelyn could face likewise if someone reports that to the broadcasting authority. I'm sure she'll laugh in their face but expect a disclaimer on every weather forecast from now "The views of our broadcasters do not necessarily represent the views of RTE.":pac:

Turtwig

The met also released this.

Met Eireann wrote:

Over the past few weeks the media have carried many stories suggesting that the coming winter will be especially severe; that we should all buy in the snow-shoes, stock up on salt, and batten down the hatches.

With this being Science Week it’s a good time to ask – is there any science behind this talk, or is it all pure speculation? To answer that question, we have to look at how weather forecasts are made.

The old folklore-based weather predictions were based on the signs seen in nature. Today’s weather forecasts are no different in that everything starts with weather observations. These days the weather observations come from automated weather stations, from aircraft, from equipment hoisted high into the atmosphere by balloon, from weather radar and from satellite. We can now form a much more accurate picture of what the atmosphere is “doing” at any given time.

Our technology for gathering weather observations has improved immensely too, with high-speed communications enabling us to rapidly gather weather information from every country in Europe, and from across the Atlantic to the Americas. This information is fed into powerful computers that contain a mathematical “model” of the atmosphere in which we attempt to describe, mathematically, all that science has learned about the behaviour of the air around us.

Using this mathematical “model” we can calculate how all the weather elements (high pressure regions, low pressure regions, cold air, mild air, frontal systems) develop in time, and this forms the basis for the day-to-day weather forecasts. The more accurate our starting point, the better the forecasts will be; if we started with a perfect picture of the atmosphere, in theory we could have a perfect forecast.

However we can only ever know the starting point approximately; the atmosphere is too vast and too complex to allow us create that perfect picture. As we look further ahead Chaos Theory gradually takes over and the forecast diverges from reality. There is an absolute limit on how far we can forecast ahead with this method, and that limit is thought to be about ten days.

In attempting to look further ahead, we rely on our knowledge of what is happening in the oceans. The atmosphere and oceans are closely linked. The rain that falls over Ireland comes from water that evaporates from the oceans; the warmer the surface of the ocean, the more water evaporates and the heavier the rain will be when it eventually falls.

The oceans have warm and cold currents, just like the atmosphere. The difference is that change in the oceans happens much more slowly and, in some parts of the world, in a more predicable fashion. If we develop a good understanding of how the oceans will behave over the coming month and longer, we have some basis for inferring the weather patterns. Not the day-to-day detail of weather but the larger patterns as to whether it will be warm or cold, wet or dry, windy or calm.

This method has been used successfully in some regions, notably some countries bordering the Pacific and Indian oceans, to develop monthly and seasonal forecasts that are said to “have skill”, or to be correct often enough to be useful. However these oceans have some large and well-understood evolutions of water currents (such as the El Nino) which in turn affect the atmosphere. The Atlantic has no such large phenomena that change regularly; the changes that do occur are subtle and relatively small, and not easy to predict. The inferences that we can make about seasonal forecasts are therefore weak and result in forecasts with “low skill” – not correct often enough to be of great use.

So, scientifically, it is not possible to make any confident forecast of the coming winter. There is absolutely no reason to believe that it will be unusually severe, but no reason either to say it will be exceptionally mild. The “average” winter remains the most likely outcome.

So where do all the predictions of a severe winter come from? From people who do not understand the complexity of the problem, and who make simplistic assumptions. From people who specialise in speculation, not science.

Source

Turtwig

Jernal wrote: »

This may interest some of the denizens of this forum.
A subscription to nature generally costs over over €200 but for a limited time (very limited!) it's only €50. That's 51 issues for the entire year of a highly reputable science mag.

http://www.nature.com/ecommerce/subscribe.action?productId=NATURE&source=EXTNSO13

Jernal wrote: »

I should really have said €55.:o Bloody VAT.

Got mai first print issue today.

[-0-]

Jernal wrote: »

Got mai first print issue today.

You little legend! Just subscribed for 50 bucks. Yahoo!

robindch

robindch wrote: »

From last night's RTE news, Evelyn Cusack gives the lowdown on amateur long range weather forecasting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvB-i3t7vsY

And finishes up with a quote from Carl Sagan - go Evelyn!

For anybody interested, there's a feedback from on the Met Eireann website here:

http://www.met.ie/contactus/

I think it's worth leaving a nice comment for Evelyn

robindch

Pythons to work together again (probably):

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/monty-python-set-to-reunite-for-stage-show-1.1599976

hmmm...

Sarky

Expect the brain-gut axis to pop up more and more in health/nutrition research, it's early days but we're finding out a lot of cool stuff. The PhD I just started has a lot to do with the nicely animated video further down the page. ^_^

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/18/244526773/gut-bacteria-might-guide-the-workings-of-our-minds

Brian Shanahan

robindch wrote: »

Pythons to work together again (probably):

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/monty-python-set-to-reunite-for-stage-show-1.1599976

hmmm...

So the Irish Sun was lying to me (again) when it said that this was a story it had as an exclusive.

Why am I not suprised?

Obliq

Sarky wrote: »

Expect the brain-gut axis to pop up more and more in health/nutrition research, it's early days but we're finding out a lot of cool stuff. The PhD I just started has a lot to do with the nicely animated video further down the page. ^_^

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/18/244526773/gut-bacteria-might-guide-the-workings-of-our-minds

That looks seriously interesting. If you ever want a "test family", let me know. IBS and ASD run in the family somewhat, and as I've always said about my myself and my youngest - what bowel wouldn't be irritable belonging to us? ASD traits abound. Hurry up with that research eh?

postitnote

Sarky wrote: »

Sweden is closing some prisons because they just don't have enough criminals to put in them.

Pfft. We did that years ago up north. We called it the Good Friday agreement.

recedite

So mind-altering probiotics are the new shrooms.
But where can we get them? I presume the runny yogurts in the supermarket are of limited potential.
Would licking the doorhandles of the toilets down the pub be a good source?

Obliq

recedite wrote: »

Would licking the doorhandles of the toilets down the pub be a good source?

Awwwwwwwww..........NASTY. I feel sick and I'm not even squeemish (spelling?) usually. Ew. Just. Ew.

Sarky

Well it'd be good practice for your immune system, I suppose. But I'm not going to approve because I don't need some dumb motherf*cker who read that suing me for their typhoid...

Turtwig

Sarky wrote: »

Well it'd be good practice for your immune system, I suppose. But I'm not going to approve because I don't need some dumb motherf*cker who read that suing me for their typhoid...

*Emails Boards HQ*:cool:

Bannasidhe

Jernal wrote: »

*Emails Boards HQ*:cool:

Was it Blasphemy?

endacl

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Was it Blasphemy?

Licking the door handles? A bit phlegmy, but not really 'blasta' ar chor ar bith.

Delirium

For the brainy folk (not me, I suck at maths:P)

Together and Alone, Closing the Prime Gap

On May 13, an obscure mathematician — one whose talents had gone so unrecognized that he had worked at a Subway restaurant to make ends meet — garnered worldwide attention and accolades from the mathematics community for settling a long-standing open question about prime numbers, those numbers divisible by only one and themselves. Yitang Zhang, a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire, showed that even though primes get increasingly rare as you go further out along the number line, you will never stop finding pairs of primes separated by at most 70 million. His finding was the first time anyone had managed to put a finite bound on the gaps between prime numbers, representing a major leap toward proving the centuries-old twin primes conjecture, which posits that there are infinitely many pairs of primes separated by only two (such as 11 and 13).

In the months that followed, Zhang found himself caught up in a whirlwind of activity and excitement: He has lectured on his work at many of the nation’s preeminent universities, has received offers of jobs from top institutions in China and Taiwan and a visiting position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., and has been told that he will be promoted to full professor at the University of New Hampshire.

magicbastarder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7K9SycELA