1

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: Affordable microscope?

« on: 05/04/2021 23:30:06 »

Tardigrades are quite big, from a microscope point of view. You will need between 20x and 50x magnification and direct top lighting rather than the through lighting that you see in a traditional microscope.
The type @evan_au mentions should be adequate, but make sure you have really good lighting eg led desk lamp.
If you really get into it and want a ‘proper’ microscope I would recommend a secondhand dissecting microscope

This was taken with iphone + adapter but many usb ones are just as good and real cheap.


4B5EDF7C-09EA-4978-91E7-EA3055B026BB.png (100.72 kB . 306x298 - viewed 264 times)

2

Physiology & Medicine / Re: What are the causes of and evidence-based therapies for tinnitus?

« on: 03/04/2021 23:17:37 »

Do we definitely know whether tinnitus is caused by some physical fault in the ear itself, or is it a fault in the auditory receiving and processing centres in the brain?

The most common cause is damage to the cilia in the inner ear usually caused by exposure to loud noise.
Some medications can cause it, upsetting the nerves and brain receptors as can physical damage to neck or skull. Ear canal blockage, which can cause pressure build up in the inner ear, is another cause.
There are many other physical causes and treating the cause is the best way to cure it.
Unfortunately there is no current way to repair damaged cilia, so prevention is the best treatment.

3

Just Chat! / Re: How to Delete an OP...Testing?

« on: 03/04/2021 08:53:55 »

You need o go to the top of, say, just Chat - where you get the topic list. There you will see a black box ‘new topic’ 

4

Guest Book / Re: Mods...May i have a lil of your Attention, Please?

« on: 01/04/2021 12:06:33 »

P.S. - 🤧🤒🤕

5

Physiology & Medicine / Re: How much use is pulse oximetry?

« on: 29/03/2021 14:29:54 »

I've only tried it on myself 3 times in a day, and got a range of 95-98%.

I was just curious whether it varies between consecutive display updates as you sit and watch it, like mine does.

You might be interested in this https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5539125/

6

COVID-19 / Re: Does protein S deficiency put you at risk of severe COVID?

« on: 27/03/2021 12:14:57 »

Do WE Not have a Single Covid19 Subject Matter Expert in the House?

We have experts in many fields, but those are their full time jobs, this is not.
Sometimes questions will get missed if our experts are busy, and this is a busy time for CV19 experts!

7

Chemistry / Re: How to work out the paraffin retention properties of microscope slides?

« on: 27/03/2021 06:26:02 »

Centrifuge them at different speeds?

8

Just Chat! / Re: What physical sports are gender equal?

« on: 19/03/2021 14:41:22 »

Because the Light Brigade showed that sitting on a horse is not a good idea if the enemy has artillery.

Which is why @charles1948 the Household Cavalry is now an armoured unit. So they can sit down and still charge the enemy!

9

Just Chat! / Re: What physical sports are gender equal?

« on: 19/03/2021 08:56:07 »

But British troops are not so well renowned in the attack role, where they have to run at the enemy.

Why would that be?

The main reason is that you have failed to study British military history 

10

Just Chat! / Re: Are these the World's Worst Science Jokes?

« on: 18/03/2021 08:56:10 »

WOKE WASH INCORPORATED !

Not sure what you think is a joke here, but you need to take some time out from this forum to reassess.

11

General Science / Re: Would you tell the world if you knew an asteroid was coming to Earth?

« on: 16/03/2021 22:52:47 »

Do these protect against the neutron bomb?

You don’t need a nuclear bunker to protect against neutron bomb. Most are short range because neutrons are absorbed and scattered by air. Even a concrete wall or floor will reduce exposure significantly, so a basement/cellar will offer protection unless you are up close and personal, in which case the blast will probably get you!

12

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Does cooking improve nutrient availability in food?

« on: 16/03/2021 08:12:23 »

Would it be possible to give up cooking altogether, and just eat raw stuff.
How many foods could we eat raw?  I can think of these (just putting them down at random as they occur)

1.Lettuce
2.Apples, pears, oranges, bananas, grapes and a whole host of other assorted fruits.
3.Eggs.
4.Milk.
5.Cheese  - doesn't have to be cooked - just milk left to coagulate and ripen.
6.Oats, Barley and other grains - not cooked, just left to soak in water and soften.
7.Meats such as beef and lamb, cut into very thin strips, then left to dry out in the sun.

Doesn't that look like a complete, healthy, nutritious menu of uncooked food.
Or could it be added to?

As well as most salad greens eg Rocket, you could certainly add tomatoes, peppers, carrots & cabbage (coleslaw), broccoli, cauliflower. However, there are advantages in cooking these (lightly) as it breaks down cell walls to release more nutrients, far more than is lost in the water. A variety of raw and cooked is probably best.
Grains are also better cooked than just soaked, most grain stores have rats & mice! Rolled oats are heated when crushed so generally ok to just soak. There are some claims that overnight soaking allows fermentation which aids digestion.

13

That CAN'T be true! / Re: Is Bill Gates seeking to monopolise the world food supply?

« on: 09/03/2021 08:29:13 »

This topic contains posts which misrepresent and are defamatory or libellous.
The OP needs to represent information correctly or they will find their posting rights are limited.

14

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Please someone tell me how to get this yellow fungus off my skin

« on: 08/03/2021 08:05:55 »

This is no way to live. This is complete neglect.

As has been said previously, this is not the place to seek help. We do not have access to the tests necessary to diagnose the cause and suggest treatment, you need to spend your time and energy seeking 2nd, 3rd or even 4th face to face medical advice.

15

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Why shouldn't we engage in eugenics?

« on: 08/03/2021 00:15:27 »

Is it really about "peppered moths"?

Yes, it is. It’s an example of how eugenics misuses and misrepresents evolution. The terms strong and weak imply that the stronger (read better, fitter, more valued, etc) have a right to survive at the expense of the ‘weak’.
Usually it’s just a justification as to why their particular group should eliminate another group.
Change moth for people. Light skin, dark skin; each suited to survive in different environments, but light skin, fair hair, blue eyes, becomes idolised by a particular group (whose architects just happen to be members of that group) and then they can justify treating other groups as subhuman.
As @evan_au pointed out, it’s really diversity in the gene pool that is most likely to ensure species survival in a changing environment.

16

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Why shouldn't we engage in eugenics?

« on: 07/03/2021 23:32:39 »

...in a strictly Darwinian world.  People with naturally "strong" genes survive.  People with "weak" genes, die.  This is called "Natural Selection"

- It is better to talk in terms of genes that are better suited for a given environment, rather than "strong" or "weak" genes
- Sometimes new gene variants open up new ecological niches. So a gene that may be poorly suited to one environment may be better suited to a different environment.

Agreed @evan_au it is a common mistake to associate natural selection with the words strong and weak genes.
Classic example is the Peppered Moth where the light variety was replaced by a darker variety in response to industrial pollution changing the colour of its environment. Neither variety has genes which are stronger or weaker than the other, just that one is better camouflaged than the other in a particular environment.

17

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Re: Bones of animals in the ground

« on: 07/03/2021 23:21:19 »

Yes, that sounds reasonable.  But can we be sure, that the fossilised "fine sediments" that you refer to, weren't created by non-biological agents - such as ripples in the sea-water.  Rather than from rotting bodies of jellyfish.

That’s another reason why these fossils are so rare. There has to be some pretty good evidence in the detail to differentiate between a genuine specimen and a natural formation - which tend to be a simpler shape. 
Experts will be looking for eg tentacles, gonad pattern, possible mouth parts etc

18

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Re: Bones of animals in the ground

« on: 05/03/2021 23:35:52 »

I'm surprised to hear that jellyfish can leave any fossilised remains at all.  I mean, as you point out, they haven't got any bones.  So what gets fossilised?

Mmmm, it would appear you are capable of asking sensible questions.
It’s not the material of the jellyfish that is preserved, but the imprint they left in very fine sediment.
Jellyfish fossils are rare because they need very special circumstances to occur. The sediment has to be fine and soft enough to take an impression, but firm enough to retain that impression. The site needs to be free of disturbance until the jellyfish has rotted and another layer of fine sediment has been laid down.

19

The Environment / Re: What would happen if all of humanity vanishes in one second?

« on: 05/03/2021 23:12:27 »

I really don't understand why we should be bothered about "animals".

All they do is run about, mindlessly killing and eating each other. Without any care for the cruelty and pain that this causes.

How many cows have you observed.

20

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: How Does A Cuckoo Know It Is A Cuckoo ? and other questions too !

« on: 25/02/2021 22:50:53 »

To followup on the OP...

Has anybody ever Observed the Cuckoo inside a genuine Cuckoo nest being fed by actual biological Cuckoo parents?
🤔

According to Britain’s foremost expert on Cuckoo behaviour, Dr Nicholas Davies of the University of Cambridge, Cuckoo parents do not build their own nests and lay their own eggs in them. They are entirely parasitic.
That probably answers the rest of your questions