1

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / How small are bee blood cells?

« on: 16/06/2009 10:34:44 »

I'm currently reading a book entitled "A world without bees" which gives a complete overview of the historical disappearances of bee colonies and the suspected reasons. One of the parasites discussed is the Varroa mite which sucks the blood of the bee. This raised a question that I'd never even considered, and that is the size of the veins and arteries inside a bee, and the blood cells therein, and how tiny they must be. So, how different is bee blood to human blood? Do they have the same kind of blood but with smaller "bits"? And what about the heart - how different is that to a human heart? Does it have 2 chambers, too? Does it "lub-dup"? And then of course there are all the other organs! I guess that I'm so used to considering these on a human scale, that it's almost inconceivable that it's possible to fit all that in to something as small as a bee!

2

General Science / Is it detrimental to continue to wear a too high sun protection factor?

« on: 26/05/2009 21:52:10 »

Having just burned my nose hiking, I've learned the hard way that forgetting your SP cream can cause excessive nasal irritation. So we are advised to wear a high SPF, but can this have a deleterious effect such as not preparing our skin to solar radiation, or excessive reductions on vitamin D? If you were permanently lathered in SPF 40, you'd be as white as a sheet, would you not? This can't be any better than being a bit brown, can it?

3

Geek Speak / Is there a way of looking at a word doc without opening it?

« on: 26/05/2009 10:04:02 »

With photos, there is often a thumbnail of the image that you can see without opening it. I have various text documents that undergo revision, and I don't want to have to open all of them to see which one I want. So if there was a way of viewing a page of a closed doc, that would be very useful.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

4

Just Chat! / Have you seen this paper art?

« on: 26/05/2009 09:09:08 »

Amazing depth and perspective with just paper folds...

http://www.simonschubert.de/papierarbeiten.html

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The Environment / Why does it often begin to rain very heavily after lightning?

« on: 26/05/2009 07:37:46 »

Perhaps this is observer bias, but I have been in a couple of heavy thunderstorms recently, and noticed that often when there is a lightning bolt rather close (say below a count of 6 seconds away, and therefore less than a mile), after perhaps 20 seconds or so, there is a dramatic increase in the rainfall. Is it just a coincidence that this is the heaviest part of the storm and so the rain was coming anyway, or is there a mechanism by which perhaps rain that was in suspension in the cloud could be released as a result of the lightning? Or could the lightning cause more nucleation points for saturated air to condense into raindrops?

What do you think?

6

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / If you were falling at terminal velocity,

« on: 25/05/2009 14:49:03 »

would a large curve be enough to catch you without injury? How big would the curve have to be?

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The Environment / What would happen if there were no dung beetles?

« on: 25/05/2009 14:45:47 »

would we be up to our necks in sh it?

What other creatures revel in revolting rectal releases? Relephants?

8

Technology / Why are we stuck with internal combustion chambered cars?

« on: 25/05/2009 14:41:38 »

In an article today in the Telegraph James May comments on the lack of progress towards, well anything other than an ICC engine in cars. Why do we think this is?

BTW, if anyone mentions the word conspiracy, i will be forced to come to their home and repeatedly stick lit feathers up their nostrils.

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Is it true that a neutrino could pass unimpeded through a light-year of lead?

« on: 25/05/2009 14:36:56 »

I heard this on another podcast. Is it really true, and if so, what would be the likelihood of this happening?  []

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Just Chat! / Your science site needs YOU! Are you able to post a new question?

« on: 25/05/2009 14:32:24 »

Since there is an absence of questions coming from an upside down trampolining sheep's bottom, and the forum seems to have been rather slow of late, perhaps we should take it upon ourselves to pose a few posers, and re-light the fire of knowledge under the naked science forum! And mix your metaphors too, if possible.

Just a thought!

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Physiology & Medicine / How long should a patient receive drug treatment for post-natal depression?

« on: 24/05/2009 11:26:11 »

I'm curious about how long someone who suffer(s)ed from post-natal depression and who began taking prozac (flouxetine) to combat the PND should keep using the drug. Does PND last indefinitely? How does someone using the drug know when to stop using it? Obviously, consultation with a doctor is required, but is there a standard assessment protocol to determine whether someone still needs the drug?

Thanks

[MOD EDIT - title changed to make the question more search-friendly!]

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Just Chat! / Would you like to see some of my hiking snaps?

« on: 24/05/2009 07:34:17 »

The next in the "Would you like to see...?" series is a small selection of photos from my Alpine hiking trip this weekend.


My tent!


View towards the Zindlensptiz on the day 1 route


It wasn't all sunshine!


But the rain didn't last for long


Part of the route on day 2


At the top of the Zindlensptiz on day 3


The Zindlenspitz

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Just Chat! / Who can call a general election in the UK?

« on: 19/05/2009 15:44:27 »

It seems from my distant point, that the UK is on the verge of political collapse, and that at any time, another member of parliament will resign as a result of "Claimsgate" (I've just coined that - I haven't seen it anywhere else, so I have copyright  []). It seems that noone is actually competently running the country anymore and that there is a high level of discontent with the current incumbent(s). So, how far can it all go?

Is it only the PM who has the capacity to call an election? If the labour party have a vote of no confidence in the PM, then there would have to be a new leader, and hence a general election, wouldn't there?

At what point can someone step in and say "Right. That's it. You've had your chance, now bugger off.", or do you lot have to wait until the end of the 5 year cycle? (Whenever that is...)

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Would you like to see what I saw on my wedding anniversary?

« on: 15/05/2009 09:19:26 »

So, for all you hopefuls, not a pair of nesting tits, but a great big horny beetle!

We were eating at an Italian place on the veranda, when this flew in and landed on the table next to us. It is the biggest beetle I have ever seen! In total, it was 10cm long, and those mandibles looked highly ferocious! I escorted it off the premises by means of a large paper towel - no way that I was going to risk getting pinched!

http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek080601.html

Edit: It seems that the "horns" are fixed, so I wouldn't have got pinched - and it was a Lucanus cervus which is apparently rather rare and protected. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucanus_cervus)

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Just Chat! / C4M - Did you get any of this?

« on: 11/05/2009 11:54:45 »

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/weather/news/image.cfm?c_id=10&gal_cid=10&gallery_id=105585

Gnarly hail, dude!

16

Physiology & Medicine / Can stress cause cancer?

« on: 08/05/2009 09:09:26 »

I was having a conversation with my wife yesterday about the husband of a friend who suffers from stress. Whenever something goes awry, this chap gets highly stressed and wired. As a result he gets psoriasis for which he takes medication. His wife believes that if the stress didn't manifest as psoriasis, it would show in a different way, for example cancer. It's at this point that my sceptical warning bells rang. I didn't think that stress was a cause of cancer. Cancers, as far as I know, are caused by a mutation of a cell's DNA which results in abnormal growth responses, and are not caused by psychological impairments. I'm prepared to believe that one is able to better respond to treatment of cancer if one is less stressed (though how significant it is, I don't know), but not that stress can manifest itself as cancer.

Is my scepticism unfounded? If you suffer from stress, are you more likely to induce cancer?

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Just Chat! / Would it benefit anyone to have a "positions vacant" area?

« on: 16/04/2009 09:26:10 »

Since there are many young budding, youthful blossoming and adult flowering scientists here, does anyone think that there should be a repository somewhere on the forum for scientific positions vacant or somewhere that colleges could advertise for various courses? Since there are many very highly qualified people here, they may be in positions where they have openings or opportunities that could benefit others here.

Just a thought.....

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Just Chat! / Why has the forum been overtaken with chat?

« on: 15/04/2009 13:00:45 »

Gawd knows I don't mind the STB, but there are limits, surely? Please can some of our colleagues keep all those chat comments in a separate thread somewhere? My "recent posts" page is full of too much  [O8)].

Thanks!

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Just Chat! / What will you be doing for your easter hols?

« on: 06/04/2009 16:45:03 »

We've got 4 days to do family stuff over the next weekend (dread...... []). Since it's a nice 70°F  [8D], we were thinking about going camping. However, the weather looks as though it's going to be pants just in time for the weekend (typical, eh? []), so what alternatives would you suggest? What're you lot going to be doing?

20

Just Chat! / How is YOUR hard drive operating?

« on: 02/04/2009 13:28:41 »

Boyfriend v Husband Software
 
Dear Tech Support,
 
Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0. What I have noticed is a slow down in the performance of the flower and jewellery applications, which had operated flawlessly under the Boyfriend 5.0 system. In addition, Husband 1.0 un-installed many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.9, but installed undesirable programs such as Sport 7.3, NFL 3.2 and Tennis 4.1.
 
Conversation 8.0 also no longer runs and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?
 
Your faithfully
 
Desperate Susan

---------------------------------------------

Reply from Tech Support
 
Dear Desperate Susan,
 
First, keep in mind that Boyfriend 5.0 was an entertainment package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Try to enter the command C:/I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME and install Tears 6.2. Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications: Guilt 3.3 and Flowers 7.5. But remember, overuse can cause Husband 1.0 to default to such background applications as Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Please remember that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will create Snoring Loudly.WAV files.
 
DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 or reinstall another Boyfriend program. These are not supported applications and will crash Husband 1.0. It could also potentially cause Husband 1.0 to default to the program: Girlfriend 9.2, which runs in the background and has been known to introduce viruses into the Operating System.
 
In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have a limited memory and can't learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to enhance his system performance. I personally recommend Home Cooking 3.0 and Single Malt Scotch 4.5. Finally consider applications such as Lingerie 6.9 (which has been credited with improved performance of his hardware).
 
Good Luck
Tech Support