Drive by science - Page 6

The Lone Ranger · #**126** 06-26-2013, 02:02 AM

Speaking of science-related myths, I've been trying to watch the first season of Enterprise. I say "trying" because it's slow going. I can only watch so much at a time -- maybe one episode every other day. It's just such a disappointment.

Part of the reason is because the science is so bad. I mean, Star Trek has never let reality get in the way of a good story, and I don't fault them for that. But when supposedly intelligent and well-educated characters are saying really, really dumb things, it just destroys my ability to suspend disbelief.

Like how Captain Archer and Dr. Phlox completely fail to understand biological evolution and how it works. Or the most recent episode I saw, in which a character goes on about how your hair and fingernails continue to grow for days after you die.

No they don't. And if the character (or more importantly the writer) had given the matter 5 seconds' thought, he'd have seen that it's a ridiculous thing to believe -- as if the cells of the hair follicles and nail beds could magically survive and continue to reproduce when there's no functioning circulatory system to provide them with oxygen and nutrients.

Crumb · #**127** 07-16-2013, 05:31 PM

Mysterious Extragalactic Explosions Baffle Astronomers | Fast Radio Bursts | Space.com

Quote:

A team of international astronomers has detected four explosive events, known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), above the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Lasting only a few thousandths of a second, these sources send powerful signals across the universe, traveling billions of light-years through space.

"These bursts gave off more energy in a millisecond than the sun does in 300,000 years," said principal investigator Dan Thornton of the University of Manchester in England.

Dingfod · #**128** 07-17-2013, 02:57 PM

__________________________________________________ ________

But · #**129** 07-18-2013, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janet

The myth I hate is the one about only using 10% of your brain. PET scans pretty consistently show we use all our brains and people keep using it.

I also hate the prevalence of the idea that all cultures have a satan figure, but that's not science.

PET scans pretty consistently show colors. 10% is a good figure, 20% or 400% makes as much sense. Probabilities can be negative, did you know that?

But · #**130** 07-18-2013, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crumb

Mysterious Extragalactic Explosions Baffle Astronomers | Fast Radio Bursts | Space.com

Quote:

A team of international astronomers has detected four explosive events, known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), above the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Lasting only a few thousandths of a second, these sources send powerful signals across the universe, traveling billions of light-years through space.

"These bursts gave off more energy in a millisecond than the sun does in 300,000 years," said principal investigator Dan Thornton of the University of Manchester in England.

Hmm. Signals. I wonder what that means. Use 50% of your brains and try to find out. Biosphere Barbecue. LOL.

LadyShea · #**131** 07-23-2013, 02:51 PM

BBC News - Dolphins 'call each other by name'

Dingfod · #**132** 07-24-2013, 02:34 AM

Ack-ack-ack, I'd like you to meet, Eck-Eck-Ack-Ack. I'm sure you two have a lot in common.

thedoc · #**133** 07-24-2013, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dingfod

Ack-ack-ack, I'd like you to meet, Eck-Eck-Ack-Ack. I'm sure you two have a lot in common.

Yes, they both like fish, and are good swimmers.

Angakuk · #**134** 07-24-2013, 06:39 AM

I wonder, do the both like Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain?

thedoc · #**135** 07-24-2013, 01:50 PM

They probably don't like getting caught.

BrotherMan · #**136** 07-25-2013, 03:43 PM

Stop! In the Name of Light!

Quote:

While light normally travels at just under 300 million metres per second in a vacuum, physicists managed to slow it down to just 17 metres per second in 1999 and then halt it completely two years later, though only for a fraction of a second. Earlier this year, researchers kept it still for 16 seconds using cold atoms.

The fastest thing in the universe has come to a complete stop for a record-breaking minute. At full pelt, light would travel about 18 million kilometres in that time – that's more than 20 round trips to the moon.

"One minute is extremely, extremely long," says Thomas Krauss at the University of St Andrews, UK. "This is indeed a major milestone."

thedoc · #**137** 07-25-2013, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrotherMan

Stop! In the Name of Light!

Quote:

While light normally travels at just under 300 million metres per second in a vacuum, physicists managed to slow it down to just 17 metres per second in 1999 and then halt it completely two years later, though only for a fraction of a second. Earlier this year, researchers kept it still for 16 seconds using cold atoms.

The fastest thing in the universe has come to a complete stop for a record-breaking minute. At full pelt, light would travel about 18 million kilometres in that time – that's more than 20 round trips to the moon.

"One minute is extremely, extremely long," says Thomas Krauss at the University of St Andrews, UK. "This is indeed a major milestone."

Ar they actually stopping the light, as in bringing the photons to a standstill, or does the light just bounce around inside the crystal till it escapes? Do the atoms in the crystal absorb and re-emit the photons?

lisarea · #**138** 07-25-2013, 11:18 PM

A chimp-pig hybrid origin for humans?

Is this:

[ ] Definitely true
[ ] Probably true

thedoc · #**139** 07-25-2013, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisarea

A chimp-pig hybrid origin for humans?

Is this:

[ ] Definitely true
[ ] Probably true

Many years ago someone reported that human flesh tasted a lot like ham.

Depending on which human you look at I can see a definate resemblance.

thedoc · #**140** 07-25-2013, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisarea

A chimp-pig hybrid origin for humans?

Is this:

[ ] Definitely true
[ ] Probably true

[x] Definitely not true, don't you know that only frogs date pigs.

erimir · #**141** 07-26-2013, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisarea

A chimp-pig hybrid origin for humans?

Is this:

[ ] Definitely true
[ ] Probably true

The number of comments defending this crackpottery are a bit surprising.

You know it's bad when the argument starts out by suggesting we ignore DNA evidence in favor of superficial morphology...

erimir · #**142** 07-26-2013, 05:18 PM

Pharyngula on the MFAP hypothesis

I mean... he's arguing because of backcrossing, we wouldn't see much genetic similarity between pigs and humans.

And yet we share so many traits. If those traits came from pigs, how would they not be caused by shared genes?

Like, this is some homeopathy shit. You can dilute the pig DNA a million times, and yet that one time our ancestor fucked a pig will cause us to be extremely pig-like. Things like "stubby fingers" are apparently more likely to be because of breeding with pigs, who have hooves and no hands at all, rather than the much more simple process of shortening the existing structure. Cuz you see, there's a lot of variation in the length of human fingers and toes. But the only way they could get so short relative to other apes is by fucking a pig.

Apparently all of his other ideas about evolution are similarly stupid. Bats descend from pterodactyls (because they have wings, you see), armadillos are from ankylosaurs, pangolins are descended from stegosauruses.

lisarea · #**143** 07-26-2013, 08:03 PM

I saw PZ's take on it after I posted, and added him accordingly to the "Probably true" side.

Adam · #**144** 07-26-2013, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erimir

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisarea

A chimp-pig hybrid origin for humans?

Is this:

[ ] Definitely true
[ ] Probably true

The number of comments defending this crackpottery are a bit surprising.

You know it's bad hella sweet when the argument starts out by suggesting we ignore DNA evidence in favor of superficial morphology sheer awesomeness...

:crammer:

Dingfod · #**145** 07-27-2013, 01:48 AM

I'll accept having pig DNA. I have some in my stomach right now.

LadyShea · #**146** 07-27-2013, 09:47 PM

BBC News - Scientists can implant false memories into mice

Angakuk · #**147** 07-28-2013, 04:58 AM

Quote:

The mouse is the closest animal scientists can easily use to analyse the brain, as though simpler, its structure and basic circuitry is very similar to the human brain.

Providing undeniable evidence that humans are the offspring of a chimp-pig-mouse menage a trois.

thedoc · #**148** 07-28-2013, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angakuk

Quote:

The mouse is the closest animal scientists can easily use to analyse the brain, as though simpler, its structure and basic circuitry is very similar to the human brain.

Providing undeniable evidence that humans are the offspring of a chimp-pig-mouse menage a trois.

Ohhhh, can I watch?

Angakuk · #**149** 07-28-2013, 05:31 AM

Sure, if you have access to a functioning time machine.

thedoc · #**150** 07-28-2013, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angakuk

Sure, if you have access to a functioning time machine.

I'll start working on that right now, got any gold you can spare?