1

Just Chat! / Dr. Beaver

« on: 13/11/2009 10:23:52 »

Who am I going to share Blackadder with now? Who am I going to ask about guitar stuff? Who am I going to pun, FOG and word-play with? Who am I going to ask about physics? Who am I going to turn to for all those things that Eth gave?

He provided so many insights into so many aspects of one's world. I feel as though I have lost more than just a friend.

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / What Is This Yellow Stuff I Saw On This Tree Today ?

« on: 23/06/2009 10:35:36 »

Hey Neil - I think that it MIGHT be Laetiporus sulphureus (Chicken of the Woods), which although it looks pretty awful, is actually edible. BUT - it's only idle speculation.

http://www.naturephoto-cz.eu/polypore-soufre-pic-8362.html

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Just Chat! / Re: who can answer this one?

« on: 23/06/2009 10:21:39 »

a match

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Just Chat! / Re: who can answer this one?

« on: 18/06/2009 15:13:16 »

Here is my answer




Nails!

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That CAN'T be true! / Person Using Chi Energy !! it's Impossible ?!?!

« on: 18/06/2009 08:08:39 »

because the fact that someone believes something truly, is not something to be ridiculed.
well, i dont think so, and anyway, this is not the forum (if you will excuse the pun) to discuss such maters

So if you went into a boxing ring, you wouldn't expect to get punched? Just because someone believes in something does not make that something sacrosanct. If you believe in that stuff and keep it to yourself, well, that's fine - you're allowed life choices, naive as they may be. But if you express it in a public arena, especially on a science forum, expect it to be treated with the derision it deserves.

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Just Chat! / Re: Does anyone has Twitter?

« on: 18/06/2009 07:53:29 »

It's a question of what you expect from it and what you put in. It's useful for following news items for example - there are other science people and bodies that I "follow" for example Richard Wiseman, and this is a good resource of up to date info.

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Just Chat! / Re: Does anyone has Twitter?

« on: 18/06/2009 07:46:14 »

Coincidentally, just signed up...

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / How Does Smoke Subdue A Bunch Of Bees ?

« on: 18/06/2009 07:45:17 »

So, Turnipsock, maybe you can have a stab at answering my bee blood question?

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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!

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / How many species are there?.

« on: 09/06/2009 07:45:52 »

In Douglas Adams' book "Last Chance to See", I think that Mark Cowardine says that there are perhaps 10 million known species. Although the book is 20 years old, it may give an indication as to the correct ball-park figure. Of course, this 10 million is only the discovered species, and some estimates are that we have found as little as 10% of the total, indicating that there may be 100 million species.

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General Science / Are we doomed?

« on: 05/06/2009 08:58:40 »

Nope. For none of the reasons stated above.

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General Science / How long would humans' mark be left on a planet with no humans?

« on: 05/06/2009 08:19:38 »

On the face of it, 10,000 years is not very long in terms of how long the earth will be here...

The weird distribution of radioactive elements in a nuclear reactor would prove for a long time that we had been here.

Selenium (SE-82), which is a common by-product of copper refining, has a half-life of 1.3*1020 years which expands out to 130,000,000,000,000,000,000 years or simply 130 quintillion years.

Since this is created through human intervention, I think that we can safely say that our influence will be detectable for quite some time!

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General Science / What is Earth's ideal human population?

« on: 04/06/2009 20:07:48 »

Just me and all the women

Then you've got some serious shelves to put up...

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General Science / What is Earth's ideal human population?

« on: 04/06/2009 14:36:36 »

I don't think that there is an answer to your original question. Even if the human population was 2 to ensure that it didn't die out, there could still be unsustainable use of resources and harming of ecosystems. There would also be "trampling of other lifeforms" too, irrespective of whether those humans were vegetarian or not. Land would still have to be farmed, which alters pristine ecosystems. It's really a question of what is judged to be "harm" and "unsustainable", and is therefore a very subjective issue.

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General Science / Could deserts be turned into vast solar energy centres?

« on: 04/06/2009 14:28:23 »

I agree Herman. As I said right at the beginning, it is possible. It's just not feasible.

Unfortunately, technology and the pursuit of science isn't the limiting factor.

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General Science / Could deserts be turned into vast solar energy centres?

« on: 04/06/2009 14:07:09 »

Without trying to sound patronising (although I'm sure it manages it anyway), I think that that is a bit naive. There is never going to be a concord agreement that includes EVERYBODY - every nation, political position etc.
There are already local solar power systems (a big one recently in Spain for example). But I think that they will generally remain on an internal basis rather than some idealistic "power for all" scenario. Remember, to have centralised power resources was a communist concept and can still be seen in Warsaw, for example. It just doesn't work.

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General Science / Could deserts be turned into vast solar energy centres?

« on: 04/06/2009 13:00:45 »

Granted. However, there is still a huge cost issue, political will issues and logistical issues. Also, would you want your country's electricity coming from a source that could very easily be a terrorist target?

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General Science / What is Earth's ideal human population?

« on: 04/06/2009 12:56:51 »

What you are stating is "because ecosystems are harmed, and resources used unsustainably, the earth must therefore be over-populated". This is not a sound basic argument. It is actually a false premise.

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General Science / What is Earth's ideal human population?

« on: 04/06/2009 12:54:49 »

That's not because of over population. That's just incompetence at work. It cannot be stated that over population is the only reason why ecosystem are harmed and resources used in an unsustainable way. It only takes a single person to harm an ecosystem.

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General Science / What is Earth's ideal human population?

« on: 04/06/2009 12:26:21 »

We all know Earth is overpopulated.

Do we?