1

Just Chat! / Re: Theories to start a new world.

« on: 30/11/2024 16:32:02 »

(1) Thermodynamics, (2) optics and (3) electrical theory. More advanced theories such as relativity and quantum would not be of great use initially but would become important at a later stage when the basics have been taken care of.

2

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: What is the exact cause of the time dilation of the twin?

« on: 28/11/2024 13:47:51 »

. Having never used supposed "AI"(no intention of doing so-you can't teach an old dog new tricks!), I am in a weak position to criticise. I have seen some atrocious rubbish in replies to questions posed by others and a high degree of suggestibility. In response to a question that requires a blunt "NO", answers will often digress into unsubstantiated speculation with the seeming aim of perpetuating the discourse rather than delivering a straightforward answer.

3

New Theories / Re: what is temperature?

« on: 26/11/2024 14:55:18 »

Following up on the test tube with water being heated, here is something NOT to do and I repeat NOT. Faced with a dirty pyrex boiling tube which resisted cleaning I added water to a depth of about 2 inches and added conc sulphuric acid to a depth of about 1 inch and applied vigorous heating at the base. Some time later I was surprised that boiling had not ensued and I gave the tube a slight shake and whoosh, the entire contents of hot acid and boiling water exploded out of the tube. The acid had not mixed significantly with the water and with a boiling point in the region of 300c it was not going to boil for quite some time and shaking the tube led to mixing and a subsequent runaway reaction.  My mistake was a failure to thoroughly mix acid and water before heating.

4

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Has anyone heard of tresino theory?

« on: 18/11/2024 14:01:20 »

I am not quite sure what you are asking here, ES. I would hazard a guess that metastable states are at play in some solid -liquid transitions. Have you ever seen the trick where a bottle of water carefully chilled to just about 0degrees c is shaken and a large proportion of the contents freezes? Supersaturated solutions of various salts will remain liquid until a suitable crystal is introduced leading to a rapid change from liquid to solid phase. 

5

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Are Atoms Perpetual Motion Machines ?

« on: 30/10/2024 13:47:06 »

I am fairly sure the first law is sacrosanct and will never be broken. I can foresee the possibility of very limited cases where the second law does not hold- these will be highly contrived scenarios and I don't reckon any great usefulness will arise from these. Bottom line, I don't think future generations will find a significant way around these laws. Ewe may hold a different opinion but we won't fall out over it.

6

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Are Atoms Perpetual Motion Machines ?

« on: 30/10/2024 09:10:25 »

Yep, repeal both the first and second laws of thermodynamics and the global energy problem is solved. On further deliberation repeal of either would do the job.

7

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Are Atoms Perpetual Motion Machines ?

« on: 29/10/2024 19:44:03 »

By eliminating all losses such as friction it is, in principle, possible to make a contraption that would exhibit perpetual motion. It would, however,  be totally impossible to harvest any energy from this.

8

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why does Quantum Stuff Still Move At Absolute Zero ?

« on: 19/10/2024 08:55:48 »

Surely it would still have mass at 0deg k and hence the energy of e=m(csq)  Does the uncertainty principle apply to low temperatures like this or is it strictly position and momentum?

9

New Theories / Re: How do we measure the energy of a photon?

« on: 03/10/2024 12:08:03 »

What a load of irrelevant rubbish, completely devoid of any coherent meaning. Where do we get them from?

10

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: what organic substance/biofilm could stay on the skin for 9 years

« on: 18/09/2024 15:25:08 »

I fully get where you are coming from with medics not offering any answer(I too have been down that road-multiple weird symptoms that went on for years following what seemed to be a simple upper respiratory viral infection). Even though the medics are no help I am still very much against using chatbots for medical information. I have to admit I have never used these chatbots and I have no intention of ever doing so- I have seen a lot of rubbish produced and I have also noticed they seem to be highly suggestible. If I want info on any subject I will seek out a recognised textbook or up to date peer reviewed articles. I am aware of biofilms but I don't know much, still I can't imagine such a film resisting a simple scrubbing off. In addition any organism capable of living on the surface of one's skin would surely be open to culture in a microbiology lab. There is not a lot of nutrients on the skin surface and if an organism can live there it's nutritional requirements cannot be that demanding. Most important question: in what way does the affected skin differ from normal skin?

11

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: what organic substance/biofilm could stay on the skin for 9 years

« on: 18/09/2024 10:41:44 »

Different shampoos may have different ingredients but they all act in a similar manner. The surfactant is what does the business and while there are different surfactants and concentrations I think they would all be equally effective at solubilising oily substances. The only significant difference would be those that have medicinal ingredients such as selenium sulphide and ketoconazole for dandruff control.

12

Question of the Week / Re: QotW - 24.08.09 - Do bacteria in probiotics become part of the microbiome?

« on: 03/08/2024 21:39:02 »

That is the intended plan but how many survive stomach acid and then the various digestive enzymes is the real question. I have seen various reports suggesting that none do and other reports suggesting a significant proportion of viable cells make it to the colon. I have no definitive answer-sorry, but since no other replies were forthcoming I put in my two cents.

13

COVID-19 / Re: Was the Covid Pandemic Panic justified?

« on: 01/08/2024 19:02:40 »

Hi BC, I think you have an error: i'm sure you meant to say "the vaccine reduced mortality and infectivity".

14

Physiology & Medicine / Re: What Is Junk Food?

« on: 28/06/2024 04:37:17 »

I would also add mechanically recovered "meat" dosed with various chemicals to give it some flavour.

15

New Theories / Re: Stationary model of the solar system

« on: 04/06/2024 16:37:51 »

This stuff is so far into the "not even wrong" category that I feel it should be closed/deleted- not up to me of course. There are several other long argumentative threads but most of these have at least semi intelligent posts and questions. This particular thread has zero value and I cannot envisage a change at this stage, given the amount of pure waffle that has already been posted.

16

General Science / somethingRe: What Is Synchronicity?

« on: 23/05/2024 13:20:38 »

When something "appears meaningful" one is dealing with subjective effects as opposed to objective effects. As such no possibility of research into the alleged phenomenon exists. You more or less answered your own question with the reference to Jung's predilection for "magical thinking". In a word , no.

17

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Do Fish Salivate ?

« on: 17/05/2024 19:49:23 »

Whales being mammals almost certainly do but fish?, I don't know. By a statement in your question we now know that sheep salivate, much as I suspect is the case for all mammals. Then again i'm just a lowly retired engineer, not a biologist and I replied as no one else had and i'm bored. And I enjoy these ovine onslaughts.

18

Physiology & Medicine / Re: How Do the Immune Cells Detect The Invading Infection ?

« on: 15/05/2024 08:58:29 »

An addendum re cancer and dna. Dna is generally well sequestered within a cell and is not "visible" to the immune system. What determines the "self" versus "nonself" is the cell surface antigens and sometimes these can reflect changes in dna. Some cancers involve alteration to the cell's dna: the Philadelphia chromosome occurs due to two genes being partially transposed resulting in a new combination, this leads to one of the leukemias . A lot of cancers occur due to the switching off of apoptosis genes. Apoptosis is programmed orderly cell death which may occur due to serious faults within the cell or simply that time has run out for that cell. In the absence of apoptosis rogue cells can multiply and cause chaos.

19

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: What Organisms Have The Most Dissimilar DNA ?

« on: 14/05/2024 19:19:35 »

Indeed Halc, on your last point: there is strong evidence that our mitochondria(which have their own dna) were originally intracellular bacteria of the Ehrlichia species.

20

Physiology & Medicine / Re: How Do the Immune Cells Detect The Invading Infection ?

« on: 14/05/2024 18:58:34 »

Cells of the immune system find their target by the process of chemotaxis. This is where the gradient of certain signalling molecules indicates the direction of it's source much like tracing the source of a smell. The processes involved are quite complex involving the placing of markers on the surface of damaged or infected cells followed by complex messaging between macrophages, reticular cells and t lymphocytes. If a cell is infected by a virus, fungus or intracellular bacterium the final stage is the homing in of killer t lymphocytes, via chemotaxis, to destroy said cell. Free floating bacteria are dealt with by neutrophils and I think this is not directed, but I could be wrong.