Interesting Stuff Thread

Turtwig

sponsoredwalk wrote: »

This is the best thing I've ever read out of this paper, the guy has it
characterized perfectly. Honestly this is why I try not to read popular
science magazine's because they all follow this monotonous pattern.

Ah in my opinion Newscientist, ScientificAmerican and National Geographic are quite good. NS likes lovely covers and sometimes glaring headlines but the articles within are usually very good. SciAm articles are usually much more detailed than NS but sometimes they are too detailed. Just like NS, SciAm tends every now and then to sensationalise an article headline but, again just like NS, the article itself is sound. Nat Geo, is more or less the same but tends to have the least sensational headlines, article quality is usually quite good too.

NS is my fav mainly because of the last word column and feedback - you haven't lived until you read feedback.

Sample wrote:

High-tech herbs on an astral plane

FEEDBACK'S quest to classify fruitloop "remedies" appears to have uncovered a new genus: high-tech plants. Why market a boring old herbal remedy containing something related to the weed milk-vetch when you can squint sideways at the Linnaean name of its family of plants, Astragalus, ignore the fact that "astragalus" is Ancient Greek for "ankle bone", and call it "Astral Fruit"? (Feedback assumes, and we do hope we are correct, that the "rare astragalus extract" involved is not from another member of the family, locoweed, so named because it sends livestock crazy.)

It's not the name that is high-tech, however, but what revgenetics.com claims Astral Fruit can do. It supposedly activates an enzyme that rebuilds your telomeres - the strands of DNA that cap the ends of your chromosomes. These get shorter as you get older. So, it would seem, keeping them long must keep you young - mustn't it? And that would be well worth paying $84.95 a month for - wouldn't it?

We just have to hope that telomere trimming does not turn out - contrary to the hopes of some researchers into ageing - to be evolution's way of getting rid of pre-cancerous cells, as some cancer researchers now suspect.

Meanwhile, we confidently predict that this fruitloop high-tech plant family will expand its niche. Indeed, given the website's decision to name itself "RevGenetics", we even predict that the next step could be the appearance of a sub-family of genetically enhanced, high-tech, all-natural herb remedies. Won't that be exciting?

ColmDawson

robindch wrote: »

Here is an interesting science-related post:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist/2010/sep/24/1

Do read the comments

Very accurate!

Good to see Answers in Genesis and a Rick Roll in the Related Links section. :pac:

Galvasean

Did volcanoes kill off the neandertals?
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=68243153#post68243153

eoin5

Galvasean wrote: »

Did volcanoes kill off the neandertals?
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=68243153#post68243153

Ha I just noticed, were you megasean before unicron got a hold of you

cavedave

Do physicists believe in God?

The Irish guy's experiment on transubstantiation is brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7VcLCwnpt4

robindch

Occasionally interesting article on moderating freethought groups like A+A:

http://nirmukta.com/2010/09/08/trolls-and-other-disrupters-a-pragmatists-guide-to-moderating-online-freethought-groups/

Galvasean

eoin5 wrote: »

Ha I just noticed, were you megasean before unicron got a hold of you

Dades

robindch wrote: »

Occasionally interesting article on moderating freethought groups like A+A:

http://nirmukta.com/2010/09/08/trolls-and-other-disrupters-a-pragmatists-guide-to-moderating-online-freethought-groups/

It's like he's been here... :pac:

Here are the defining characteristics of contrarian trolls, as compiled by Elmore:

A sophisticated breed, Contrarian Trolls frequent boards whose predominant opinions are contrary to their own. A forum dominated by those who support firearms and knife rights, for example, will invariably be visited by Contrarian Trolls espousing their beliefs in the benefits of gun control. It is important to distinguish between dissenters and actual Contrarian Trolls, however; the Contrarian is not categorized as a troll because of his or her dissenting opinions, but due to the manner in which he or she behaves:

1. Contrarian Warning Sign Number One: The most important indicator of a poster’s Contrarian Troll status is his constant use of subtle and not-so-subtle insults, a technique intended to make people angry. Contrarians will resist the urge to be insulting at first, but as their post count increases, they become more and more abusive of those with whom they disagree. Most often they initiate the insults in the course of what has been a civil, if heated, debate to that point.
   
2. Contrarian Warning Sign Number Two: Constant references to the forum membership as monolithic. “You guys are all just [descriptor].” “You’re a lynch mob.” “You all just want to ridicule anyone who disagrees with you.”
   
3. Contrarian Warning Sign Number Three: Intellectual dishonesty. This is only a mild indicator that is not limited to trolls, but Contrarians display it to a high degree. They will lie about things they’ve said, pull posts out of context in a manner that changes their meanings significantly, and generally ignore any points for which they have no ready answers.
   
4. Contrarian Warning Sign Number Four: Accusing the accusers. When confronted with their trolling, trolls immediately respond that it is the accusers who are trolls. Often the Contrarian will single out his most vocal opponent and claim that while he can respect his other opponents, this one in particular is beneath his notice.
   
5. Contrarian Warning Sign Number Five: Attempts to condescend. Pursued by Troll Bashers (see Natural Predators below), the Contrarian will seek refuge in condescending remarks that repeatedly scorn his or her critics as beneath notice - all the while continuing to respond to them.
   
6. Contrarian Warning Sign Number Six: One distinctive mark of Contrarian Trolls is that every thread in which they dissent quickly devolves into a debate about who is trolling whom. In the course of such a debate the Contrarian will display many of the other Warning Signs mentioned above.

ColmDawson

Dades wrote: »

It's like he's been here... :pac:

Damn it, I was just about to post that!

amacachi

robindch wrote: »

Here is an interesting science-related post:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist/2010/sep/24/1

Do read the comments

If anyone gets a chance to watch BBC Breakfast their lead story is about ADHD and reads like it was based on that article template. It really is hilarious, it's one of those stories that ya just can't wait to read the actual paper the story is on so you can say for a fact "No, that's not what the study says."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11437079 is the text version.

EDIT: I had to LOL at the photo and caption they used as well, surely that's just a kid having fun?

strobe

amacachi wrote: »

If anyone gets a chance to watch BBC Breakfast their lead story is about ADHD and reads like it was based on that article template. It really is hilarious, it's one of those stories that ya just can't wait to read the actual paper the story is on so you can say for a fact "No, that's not what the study says."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11437079 is the text version.

EDIT: I had to LOL at the photo and caption they used as well, surely that's just a kid having fun?

Restless AND impulsive?!? :eek: Clearly needs to be doped up to the eyeballs so. Can't have children being all active and interesting, that's going to put a real downer on Mommy and Daddies tour of the dinner party circuit.

amacachi

strobe wrote: »

Restless AND impulsive?!? :eek: Clearly needs to be doped up to the eyeballs so. Can't have children being all active and interesting, that's going to put a real downer on Mommy and Daddies tour of the dinner party circuit.

I just have to laugh at the entire coverage the BBC is giving this, they're referring to it as "hyperactivity" and then as ADHD, when most people (I assume) accept ADHD is a disease, it's "ADD" which has the biggest question marks over it.

And how dare kids not think about consequences and be full of energy, they need to grow up.

Dave!

Few good ones...

Bill Maher vs Bill O'Reilly (recent)
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/index.html#/v/4355597/bill-maher-unedited/?playlist_id=86923

Brief promo video by Sam Harris talking about his new book
http://www.samharris.org/index.php

Some video that Steven Pinker recommended, that I haven't watched yet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jul/12/human-nature-love-war

Dave!

Also, just found this site a few days ago. Seems like a good one for keeping up to date with science news from various areas:

http://www.labspaces.net/

There's a few blogs on there too, but they seem pretty sh1t for the most part

Dave!

Blog post by Phil Plait on the newly discovered earthlike planet in our galaxy...

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/09/29/possible-earthlike-planet-found-in-the-goldilocks-zone-of-a-nearby-star/

sponsoredwalk

Christopher Hitchens in a debate about Obama's foreign policies:

http://fora.tv/2010/09/22/Is_Obamas_Foreign_Policy_Working

Turtwig

Dave! wrote: »

Few good ones...

Bill Maher vs Bill O'Reilly (recent)
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/index.html#/v/4355597/bill-maher-unedited/?playlist_id=86923

O'Reilly.
(Paraphrased.)

I don't want to repeal Obama care; I wanna see how it works, BUT I don't want to spend any money on it until we see how it works.:rolleyes:

Improbable

Searching in A&A didn't reveal any reference to this amazing film based on the work of Jerome Bixby. Would recommend The Man from Earth to anyone who likes a decent plot more than mindless action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njU5CsrYfKM

limpdd

Improbable wrote: »

Searching in A&A didn't reveal any reference to this amazing film based on the work of Jerome Bixby. Would recommend The Man from Earth to anyone who likes a decent plot more than mindless action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njU5CsrYfKM

Very good film, saw it a few months ago, mostly about five or six people sitting in a room talking :-) but it's so well done it keeps you hooked till the end.

Dave!

Richard Dawkins having a long conversation with Frans De Waal

part 1 of 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9w-BAzOaJY

Interesting!

Turtwig

This is a rather strange one this. On the one hand this a clear sign of the triumph of modern medicine and technology on the other it is a graphic picture or just how nasty IEDs can be. (Most explosives such as mines, are designed to maim not kill.)

Bit of the article wrote:

ASHOQEH, Afghanistan -- When a bomb exploded under Dan Luckett's Army Humvee in Iraq two years ago -- blowing off one of his legs and part of his foot -- the first thing he thought was: "That's it. You're done. No more Army for you."

But two years later, the 27-year-old Norcross, Ga., native is back on duty -- a double-amputee fighting on the front lines of America's Afghan surge in one of the most dangerous parts of this volatile country.

Luckett's remarkable recovery can be attributed in part to dogged self-determination. But technological advances have been crucial: Artificial limbs today are so effective, some war-wounded like Luckett are not only able to do intensive sports like snow skiing, they can return to active duty as fully operational Soldiers. The Pentagon says 41 American amputee veterans are now serving in combat zones worldwide

Turtwig

SixtySymbols is an excellent series of youtube videos by physicists,astronomers and engineers explaining their work. This week's viewer questions :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7VcLCwnpt4

Although it's a bit late, this was a nice segment on WC 2010 fever.

bnt

The Nobel Prize for Medicine has just been awarded, to Dr. Robert Edwards, a pioneer in In-Vitro Fertilisation ("test-tube babies"). This has severely offended the Vatican's spokesman on bio-ethics (?), according to a BBC report:

Mr Carrasco, the Vatican's spokesman on bio-ethics, said in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) had been "a new and important chapter in the field of human reproduction".

But he said the Nobel prize committee's choice of Prof Edwards had been "completely out of order" as without his treatment, there would be no market for human eggs "and there would not be a large number of freezers filled with embryos in the world", he told Italy's Ansa news agency.

"In the best of cases they are transferred into a uterus but most probably they will end up abandoned or dead, which is a problem for which the new Nobel prize winner is responsible."

In his statement, Mr Carrasco stressed that he was speaking in a personal capacity.

All I would say to the Vatican is: fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. :cool:

Improbable

bnt wrote: »

The Nobel Prize for Medicine has just been awarded, to Dr. Robert Edwards, a pioneer in In-Vitro Fertilisation ("test-tube babies"). This has severely offended the Vatican's spokesman on bio-ethics (?), according to a BBC report:


All I would say to the Vatican is: fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. :cool:

I don't understand why they think they're entitled to an opinion. Or rather, why anyone should give a crap what they think...

mikhail

Improbable wrote: »

I don't understand why they think they're entitled to an opinion. Or rather, why anyone should give a crap what they think...

Someone should give the Gallileo Award, for valid science which bothers the pope.

vibe666

Improbable wrote: »

I don't understand why they think they're entitled to an opinion. Or rather, why anyone should give a crap what they think...

because they kinda got used to it over the last couple of thousand years and are still desperately clinging to the idea that they have some point or relevance in the 21st century. give it a while and they'll eventually give up when they realise that nobody is listening.

"In the best of cases they are transferred into a uterus but most probably they will end up abandoned or dead, which is a problem for which the new Nobel prize winner is responsible."

if he has a problem with dead eggs, maybe he should have a word with his boss for 'designing' women so that they automatically kill one every 28 days if they don't get pregnant. :rolleyes:

Aldebaran

Found my new desktop background.

Dougla2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYK5kd6DRds this is a good vid might post it in ye ol' jesus forum

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

I don't know if I already posted these here last year, but I was looking for them for a friend and figured i might as well throw them up


http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/beyond-belief-science-religion-reason-and-survival

http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/beyond-belief-enlightenment-2-0

http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/beyond-belief-candles-in-the-dark

each of these is about 7-8 hours long, a series of talks from various different people about why religion sucks and so on.


http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/2005-skeptics-society-annual-conference-brain-mind-and-consciousness

this is also about 8 hours long, 3 seperate 2.5 hour files. talks from different philosophers, scientists about the brain, mind and something else. it's long, but it's interesting.

Galvasean

World's oldest animals found (long before the Cambrian btw):
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056052880