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  Topic: Science Break, Selected Shorts< Next Oldest | Next Newest >  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: July 14 2010,09:22   

Quote (Schroedinger's Dog @ July 14 2010,03:37)
Quote (midwifetoad @ July 14 2010,01:32)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFwgblszf6s

WTF?!?

Ok, the "Evil Owl" is pretty disturbing...

Not evil! It is merely trying to disguise itself as a dead snag or stick. The squinty eyes are a nice touch.

BTW, I've finally been able to ID this owl. It is the Southern White-faced Owl (Ptilopsis granti), native to the southern half of Africa.

--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
OgreMkV



Posts: 3668
Joined: Oct. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: July 14 2010,22:31   

Quote (Albatrossity2 @ July 14 2010,09:22)
Quote (Schroedinger's Dog @ July 14 2010,03:37)
Quote (midwifetoad @ July 14 2010,01:32)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFwgblszf6s

WTF?!?

Ok, the "Evil Owl" is pretty disturbing...

Not evil! It is merely trying to disguise itself as a dead snag or stick. The squinty eyes are a nice touch.

BTW, I've finally been able to ID this owl. It is the Southern White-faced Owl (Ptilopsis granti), native to the southern half of Africa.

Thank you, that's been buggin the heck out me for weeks.

--------------
Ignored by those who can't provide evidence for their claims.

http://skepticink.com/smilodo....retreat

   
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 15 2010,08:46   

Look at all that FSCCSCFCSCI:

http://www.newscientist.com/article....ne-news

--------------
"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
rhmc



Posts: 340
Joined: Dec. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: July 17 2010,21:00   

i'm taking the 100' seine out in the morn to one of the barrier islands (tybee) to see what we can see.

hand to hand combat with edible stuff.  :)


on the hydrophone front, the state has shutdown the program i wanted to broach that idea to.

perhaps next year....

  
Kattarina98



Posts: 1267
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: July 21 2010,04:45   


Gymnocephalus ambriaelacus - Ammersee-Barsch
http://tinyurl.com/37x3vqc
The student has not yet published his thesis, so you must excuse this quote from a Bavarian rag. The article says they have discovered a new species found only in this glacial lake - that means the species can't be older than 10 000 years.
We Bavarians always had a special relationship with God - the Creator - the Designer, but imagine he-she-it-they descended to Bavaria just to create our very own species - whow!

--------------
Barry Arrington is a bitch.

  
Schroedinger's Dog



Posts: 1692
Joined: Jan. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: July 21 2010,04:52   

Quote
but imagine he-she-it-they descended to Bavaria just to create our very own species


And probably try out some of your oh-so-delicious beers. If not, he/she/it/they're not half the Creator they should be!

--------------
"Hail is made out of water? Are you really that stupid?" Joe G

"I have a better suggestion, Kris. How about a game of hide and go fuck yourself instead." Louis

"The reason people use a crucifix against vampires is that vampires are allergic to bullshit" Richard Pryor

   
Kattarina98



Posts: 1267
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: July 21 2010,05:27   

Quote (Schroedinger's Dog @ July 21 2010,04:52)
 
Quote
but imagine he-she-it-they descended to Bavaria just to create our very own species


And probably try out some of your oh-so-delicious beers. If not, he/she/it/they're not half the Creator they should be!

The Creator's choice:
http://www.augustiner-braeu.de/enabfrage.html

--------------
Barry Arrington is a bitch.

  
Schroedinger's Dog



Posts: 1692
Joined: Jan. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: July 21 2010,05:30   

Quote (Kattarina98 @ July 21 2010,11:27)
Quote (Schroedinger's Dog @ July 21 2010,04:52)
 
Quote
but imagine he-she-it-they descended to Bavaria just to create our very own species


And probably try out some of your oh-so-delicious beers. If not, he/she/it/they're not half the Creator they should be!

The Creator's choice:
http://www.augustiner-braeu.de/enabfrage.html

I have to try the Maximator and Heller Bock...

--------------
"Hail is made out of water? Are you really that stupid?" Joe G

"I have a better suggestion, Kris. How about a game of hide and go fuck yourself instead." Louis

"The reason people use a crucifix against vampires is that vampires are allergic to bullshit" Richard Pryor

   
qetzal



Posts: 311
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 21 2010,13:26   

Quote (Kattarina98 @ July 21 2010,04:45)
The article says they have discovered a new species found only in this glacial lake - that means the species can't be older than 10 000 years.

I hate to be pedantic,* but since this is the Science Break thread, I feel compelled to point out that the above species could actually be very old and merely died out everywhere else after colonizing that lake.


*OK, yes, I actually enjoy being pedantic, to the frequent annoyance of my wife.

  
ppb



Posts: 325
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 21 2010,14:14   

Quote (Kattarina98 @ July 21 2010,05:45)

Gymnocephalus ambriaelacus - Ammersee-Barsch
http://tinyurl.com/37x3vqc
The student has not yet published his thesis, so you must excuse this quote from a Bavarian rag. The article says they have discovered a new species found only in this glacial lake - that means the species can't be older than 10 000 years.
We Bavarians always had a special relationship with God - the Creator - the Designer, but imagine he-she-it-they descended to Bavaria just to create our very own species - whow!

I did my best reading the newspaper article using my rusty German, then did some googling and found the actual paper here, in English.
It's in the July 2010 issue of SPIXIANA, published by the Zoologische Staatssammlung München.

ETA: When I lived in Tübingen, my favorite brew was Dinkelacker CD-Pils.  Sadly, I can't seem to find it anymore here in the US.

--------------
"[A scientific theory] describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it agrees fully with experiment. So I hope you can accept Nature as She is - absurd."
- Richard P. Feynman

  
Kattarina98



Posts: 1267
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: July 21 2010,15:56   

Quote (ppb @ July 21 2010,14:14)
I did my best reading the newspaper article using my rusty German, then did some googling and found the actual paper here, in English.
It's in the July 2010 issue of SPIXIANA, published by the Zoologische Staatssammlung München.

ETA: When I lived in Tübingen, my favorite brew was Dinkelacker CD-Pils.  Sadly, I can't seem to find it anymore here in the US.

Great Google-Fu! Obviously, I gave up too early.

And quetzal, thanks for being pedantic; actually it makes sense. So the Creator allowed the species to survive in the Ammersee just for us.

--------------
Barry Arrington is a bitch.

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 22 2010,14:20   

A few of my long-suffering friends are hoping this can help them:

Botanical progesterone???

--------------
"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 23 2010,13:11   

I like Kurzweil, but I'm not a fan of making your own laws up:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/kurzwei....returns

Even if they do violates teh_slot.

--------------
"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
ppb



Posts: 325
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 27 2010,08:41   

Sean B. Carroll has a nice article in the New York Times about Ediacaran fossils.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010....science

--------------
"[A scientific theory] describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it agrees fully with experiment. So I hope you can accept Nature as She is - absurd."
- Richard P. Feynman

  
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: July 27 2010,09:42   

Quote (Richardthughes @ July 23 2010,14:11)
I like Kurzweil, but I'm not a fan of making your own laws up:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/kurzwei....returns

Even if they do violates teh_slot.

He is just renaming FSCI as order!

--------------
I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: July 27 2010,09:44   

Gentle reminder from Riccardo Poli...

[QUOTE]Hi,  I'm a co-editor of a special issue of the Journal of Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines which looks back at past progress and future possibilities in this amazing area of computer science and machine intelligence. Among lots of goodies it includes a review of human competitive results obtained via genetic programming! The special issue is FREE for people to download **until the end of July**.
Please, see  http://www.springerlink.com/content/h46r77k291rn/?p=bfaf36a87f704d5cbcb66429f9c8a808&pi=0

Many thanks
Riccardo

PS: if you are interested in learning more about genetic programming have a look at the FREE BOOK entitled "A field guide to genetic programming" which is available from www.gp-field-guide.org.uk

--------------
I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 28 2010,10:45   

http://vimeo.com/13457383

Coolness!

--------------
"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 28 2010,12:19   

http://ia360702.us.archive.org/23....ife.mp3

--------------
"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
Schroedinger's Dog



Posts: 1692
Joined: Jan. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: July 28 2010,12:22   

Quote (Richardthughes @ July 28 2010,16:45)
http://vimeo.com/13457383

Coolness!

Yeah, right. Do you have anything cooler to watch? Like, anything? Say, a drunk stripper skydiving while playing the banjo?

Because short of that, this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen!

Fluids mechanics rulez big time!!!

Thanks a lot for the linkk Rich!

EDIT: although it reminds me a lot of Cinema 4D's dynamics pluggin...

--------------
"Hail is made out of water? Are you really that stupid?" Joe G

"I have a better suggestion, Kris. How about a game of hide and go fuck yourself instead." Louis

"The reason people use a crucifix against vampires is that vampires are allergic to bullshit" Richard Pryor

   
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 30 2010,13:33   

http://www.springerlink.com/content/60814261078l485q/

--------------
"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 30 2010,16:33   

Quote (Richardthughes @ July 30 2010,11:33)
http://www.springerlink.com/content/60814261078l485q/

AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Sorry I have zero patience for the "how do we know anything is true" onanism.

--------------
"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 03 2010,14:30   

Don't know if this has been posted before. but the link comes via ERV.

http://www.plospathogens.org/article....1001005

Can't wait to see Hunter's take.

--------------
Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
skeptic reborn



Posts: 16
Joined: Nov. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 03 2010,19:15   

Quote (midwifetoad @ Aug. 03 2010,14:30)
Don't know if this has been posted before. but the link comes via ERV.

http://www.plospathogens.org/article....1001005

Can't wait to see Hunter's take.

OH, how I love OpenAccess!  Thanks for this link.

  
JLT



Posts: 740
Joined: Jan. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 11 2010,07:34   

Brainless slime mould makes decisions like humans

--------------
"Random mutations, if they are truly random, will affect, and potentially damage, any aspect of the organism, [...]
Thus, a realistic [computer] simulation [of evolution] would allow the program, OS, and hardware to be affected in a random fashion." GilDodgen, Frilly shirt owner

  
J-Dog



Posts: 4402
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 11 2010,08:01   

Quote (JLT @ Aug. 11 2010,07:34)
Brainless slime mould makes decisions like humans

Rats... I expected an article about Sal Cordova...

--------------
Come on Tough Guy, do the little dance of ID impotence you do so well. - Louis to Joe G 2/10

Gullibility is not a virtue - Quidam on Dembski's belief in the Bible Code Faith Healers & ID 7/08

UD is an Unnatural Douchemagnet. - richardthughes 7/11

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 11 2010,08:39   

Quote (J-Dog @ Aug. 11 2010,08:01)
Quote (JLT @ Aug. 11 2010,07:34)
Brainless slime mould makes decisions like humans

Rats... I expected an article about Sal Cordova...

Hey, that's an insult to slime molds!

--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 11 2010,10:45   

Driving to work today, I was thinking about vesicle division - what would drive the splitting of a big vesicle into two small ones. By vesicles here, I'm considering the protocells of some chemistry bounded by a lipid bi-layer, such as is mooted as an early step in OOL.

First, it wasn't obvious to me why a vesicle would ever split at all. Why not keep growing?

The first process I thought of was something that would expel a good amount of the volume of the vesicle while leaving the lipid surface intact. As volume goes down, splitting into two spheres makes energetic sense. Perhaps some regulatory circuit detects that the interior of the vesicle is getting too watery, and in response water is pushed out.

It might work, but I didn't think it was too realistic. When bacteria divide, do the daughter cells have significantly less volume than the parent?

So my second idea was simply that the vesicle produces too much of the lipid 'skin' in relation to its rate of production of the vesicle contents. Assume there is a primitive genome that codes for proteins that build lipids or are vesicle contents. In the genome, there is a fixed ratio of lipid to content protein genes. But as the vesicle grows, it needs less and less skin for a given amount of content (cube/square law in action). If the vesicle continues to produce lipids and contents in arithmetic rather than geometric ratio, it will be making too much skin. At some point, the best use of all that skin is to invaginate and split.

I like this second explanation because it is very simple and mechanical in nature. The vesicle is just minimizing the energy of the physical system when it splits, no fancy  awareness of accumulating resources hitting some magic level that says "it is now safe to split."

Comments? I have no idea if this is already a commonplace idea.

--------------
I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 11 2010,11:46   

In the spirit of BA77 I would point out that Szostac has a video on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6QYDdgP9eg

--------------
Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
Henry J



Posts: 5787
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 11 2010,14:17   

At a guess, if a cell just keeps growing instead of splitting, then when it dies, there's no descendants. If it splits, chances of descendants being around for a while goes up.

Henry

  
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 11 2010,15:16   

Quote (midwifetoad @ Aug. 11 2010,12:46)
In the spirit of BA77 I would point out that Szostac has a video on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6QYDdgP9eg

Well, it is CDK007's video about Szostak's work, but we are splitting vesicles, not hairs!

--------------
I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
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