The Naked Scientists
Toggle navigation
Login
Register
Podcasts
The Naked Scientists
eLife
Naked Genetics
Naked Astronomy
In short
Naked Neuroscience
Ask! The Naked Scientists
Question of the Week
Archive
Video
SUBSCRIBE to our Podcasts
Articles
Science News
Features
Interviews
Answers to Science Questions
Get Naked
Donate
Do an Experiment
Science Forum
Ask a Question
About
Meet the team
Our Sponsors
Site Map
Contact us
User menu
Login
Register
Search
Home
Help
Search
Tags
Member Map
Recent Topics
Login
Register
Naked Science Forum
General Science
General Science
What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
« previous
next »
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Down
What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
6 Replies
78427 Views
0 Tags
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
bizerl
(OP)
Sr. Member
279
Activity:
0%
What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
«
on:
30/11/2012 05:36:37 »
As a fan of "The Big Bang Theory" which does an excellent job at reducing the magnificence of Physics down to a lowest common denomenator sitcom (but still holds up to scrutiny by sci fi enthusiasts), I have often wondered at the line the theme tune referring to the question I just asked.
So in the context of the timeline between the theoretical big bang and "The big Bang Theory" theme tune, where do "autotrophs" fit in?
Logged
evan_au
Global Moderator
Naked Science Forum GOD!
10910
Activity:
4%
Thanked: 1461 times
Re: What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
«
Reply #1 on:
30/11/2012 09:03:56 »
The Big Bang theme song has the following lyrics: "The autotrophs began to drool"
(
http://www.lyricstime.com/barenaked-ladies-the-big-bang-theory-lyrics.html
)
Autotrophs are creatures that can make their own food by the use of sunlight (eg algae & plants) or by breaking down inorganic chemicals (eg bacteria around deep-ocean volcanic vents). They form the base of the food chain, and form the food source for the heterotrophs (which includes us).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotroph
The "drool" comes because it rhymes with "cool" and "tool" on adjacent lines, but I guess it is saying that the autotrophs lived, consumed raw materials and grew.
More properly, it would be the heterotrophs drooling over the autotrophs (since saliva is required to digest food), but autotrophs already has too many syllables, and heterotrophs would
really
play havoc with the metre...
Logged
RD
Naked Science Forum GOD!
9094
Activity:
0%
Thanked: 163 times
Re: What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
«
Reply #2 on:
30/11/2012 09:09:11 »
coz it rhymes with "cool".
there is a longer version of the song which rhymes "Australopithecus" and "sick of us" [
] ...
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx-QNISuJWA
[ the bare-naked-ladies claim
the universe is closed
which has not been proven ]
«
Last Edit: 30/11/2012 15:50:54 by RD
»
Logged
weylund
First timers
1
Activity:
0%
Re: What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
«
Reply #3 on:
13/03/2015 05:20:17 »
The autotrophs began to drool, when they evolved into heterotrophs.
Logged
evan_au
Global Moderator
Naked Science Forum GOD!
10910
Activity:
4%
Thanked: 1461 times
Re: What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
«
Reply #4 on:
13/03/2015 10:54:46 »
The Lyricist assumes that the universe will end with a "Big Crunch", which would also make quite a bang...
He had evidently not heard about the discovery of the
accelerating expansion of the universe
(attributed to the mysterious Dark Energy)...
Logged
yor_on
Naked Science Forum GOD!
66969
Activity:
100%
Thanked: 177 times
(Ah, yes:) *a table is always good to hide under*
Re: What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
«
Reply #5 on:
28/03/2015 23:42:58 »
Dare I ask?
black holes then, as a source?
Logged
"BOMB DISPOSAL EXPERT. If you see me running, try to keep up."
Rodin1880
Jr. Member
17
Activity:
0%
Naked Science Forum Newbie
Re: What is an autotroph and why would it drool?
«
Reply #6 on:
12/01/2019 22:04:11 »
Autotrophs are most simply, us, before we were "us"... What makes you drool? Suppose you lived on baloney sandwiches, and all of the sudden you come across a diversified buffet... wouldn't YOU drool? As the earth became more and more conducive to producing life as we know it today, the diversity of the autotrophs food producing needs would naturally increase... That said, I really don't think the writers of that song really gave it that much thought... THAT said... pretty cool thought to think they DID think it through...
Logged
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Up
« previous
next »
Tags:
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...