Science

[Kestra15]

Foxes have evolved!

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20110113/tod-o...ox-cb1d00a.html

 

And that accidental discovery is not only win, but sounds like a very typical drunken antic.

 

"Hey, let's pour wine all over our experiment!"

Edited January 14, 2011 by Kestra15

[RheaZen]

So today in chem we were doing a dehydration summat with cyclohexanol, which was to be converted to cyclohexane. We were "washing" the sample to get rid of impurities, gently rocking the vial back and forth to make sure it didn't emulsify. This popped into my head:

 

"I wash my hex back and forth..."

Edited January 26, 2011 by RheaZen

[TikindiDragon]

Oooh, just remebering some OT from another thread and figured it belonged in here....

 

Some people were interested to hear about the research into brain function I've been involved with. Basicaly it's been looking at language processing, and how that differes between people on the autistic spectrum and neurotypicals. So much time in an MRI machine having to process words being flashed up on a sceen (for only a couple of seconds at a time). The research isn't finished yet, but I've been promised a copy of the paper once it is

[lightbird]

Oh, please do share, Tikindi! /eagerface

 

Belated, but the presentation on the synthetic proteins providing vital functions in bacterial cells went well, we scored 92%.

[TikindiDragon]

Now this was new to me when the researcher told me - but apparently the parts of the brain that activate when you think a word are the same parts that activate when the word is, well, real. So for things you'd *see* the visual part of the brain lights up. Movement words (kick, grab etc) light up the part of the brain that would fire when you *made* that movement. They're interested to see if autistic individuals use the same parts of their brain when processing words, or if they're processing action words in a different place.

[RheaZen]

 

On another note, about brains... besides Tiki's last post on page 19, there's also been sidetracking in another thread about the % of our brains used. I supposed this would be a good time to dredge this up.

[Rendivaunci]

Necro inc!

 

http://gizmodo.com/#!5759865/the-myste...ur-solar-system

[Kai]

On another note, about brains... besides Tiki's last post on page 19, there's also been sidetracking in another thread about the % of our brains used. I supposed this would be a good time to dredge this up.

100% unless your brain dmg.

[RheaZen]

 

?

[Kazeko]

I've seen that picture before.

 

Still don't understand how he can be a functioning human being, but w/e.

[Obscure_Trash]

 

We watched this in lab today to compare to a typical documentary (monotone narrator, dumbed down substance, lame examples, etc.).

 

Just thought I'd share. o3o

 

(If it reminded you of Fantasia, congrats, it's meant as a parody/competition to it.)

[Kazeko]

@Socky: That was really, really trippy in a way that Fantasia never will be. (Well, maybe; the flying whales were pretty damn weird, but I digress.) It was even trippier than Fantasia, which is hard to do.

 

I think it wins the Mushroom Samba of the Century award.

 

All that aside, it was very cool. Got anything else in that vein?

[RheaZen]

owo Rather dark ending there. Very interesting though. I might show it to my bio teacher.

[klinneah]

http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=14127

 

Wasn't sure where to share this, but...thoughts?

[Obscure_Trash]

x3 Haha, yeah; we all just kind of sat around for a few minutes going "huh..." and other such stuff. Twas a big hit with my class, though. o3o

 

Agreed about the dark ending. Definitely not a film praising humans, lol.

 

As for anything else in that vein, that's one chapter ("Coke Creation") from "Allegro non Troppo". I didn't get to watch anymore and haven't found the time to do so on my own today, but it looks like there's more up on youtube or you might be able to find it in your library or movie store? o3o

 

klinneah - wow, that's pretty crazy. Just goes to show how much we still have to learn. =o

 

Also, that kid's smile is absolutely adorable.

[TikindiDragon]

Still don't understand how he can be a functioning human being, but w/e.

Because the bit that's missing doesn't control bodily functions. Most of that is done from the rear section of the brain. He missing most of the bits connected with thought, imagination, memory and emotions though.

[Kazeko]

Because the bit that's missing doesn't control bodily functions. Most of that is done from the rear section of the brain. He missing most of the bits connected with thought, imagination, memory and emotions though.

 

Yes, but 'functioning' is more than just 'living'. Iirc, he can hold a job, is married, etc.

 

Maybe I'm just talking out my nonexistent hat, but I swear that's as I remember it.

[RheaZen]

IIRC bits of the brain that normally are reserved for other functions can act in place of damaged/missing parts. It's a pretty flexible system.

[Kazeko]

I remember that--there was a sci-fi book I read that focused around that. main character was blind, so the parts of the brain that would have controlled sight went into... um... sort of a websurfing sense.

 

Halfway through the book, she got sight via a brain implant, so idk why she didn't lose that ability when the brain needed the websense portion for sight, but... -shrug-

 

'twas a good book.

[Mariner]

So. Science.

 

Any anthropologists in le forum? I'm not one yet... But I'm about a year away from getting my master's...

[Dr. Paine]

ANTI-LASER!

[TPishek]

Also, can anyone explain to me how it was determined that glass is a liquid?

It isn't. Common misconception. People have said that because in very old buildings, the glass windowpanes are not a uniform thickness, and they think this is because the glass is "running" downhill. But it's just as common to find the thicker part of the glass at the top of the pane, not the bottom! The real reason for the uneven thickness is simply the primitive glassmaking techniques.

[Shienvien]

It isn't. Common misconception. People have said that because in very old buildings, the glass windowpanes are not a uniform thickness, and they think this is because the glass is "running" downhill. But it's just as common to find the thicker part of the glass at the top of the pane, not the bottom! The real reason for the uneven thickness is simply the primitive glassmaking techniques.

Not quite that simple. It's structural/behavior differences. Nobody went and looked at old houses and figured that since those are nonuniform in thickness, glass must be liquid.

[Kestra15]

ANTI-LASER!

Cool. Raise shields!

[Kazeko]

What if the shields are made of lasers? o: Then you have a problem.