Science - Page 17

inked · 11-27-2007, 07:02 PM

Yes, one should be careful of discarding persons with defects...especially those of size now...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/sc...in&oref=slogin

We no longer need sacrifice persons as embryos to stem cell research. Now that is cool.

Nautipus · 11-27-2007, 09:11 PM

Yikes!

I'd heard of these before, but.......damn......

brownjenkins · 11-28-2007, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Actually I believe that could be a myth.

I'm not sure there were actually less disease-causing genes in the population back in the middle-ages or even the stone age, even though there was probably more of a selective pressure and natural selection back then. I'd think most genetic diseases would persist quite well (or at least for a very long time) in a contemporary social darwinistic socety were the sick were left to die off.

Any thoughts?

(I'm using the term genetic disease in it's broadest sence in this post).

It's going to sound completely callous, but from a purely scientific point of view, things have changed a lot in recent history.

More or less "invisible" genetic defects, or those that don't manifest themselves until way beyond the age at which humans reproduce, have always existed. But that is not true for everything.

Children simply didn't survive long enough to reproduce with many of the genetic problems we are able to overcome today. And they pass these problems down to their children and increase their likelyhood in the general population.

And this ties in deeply with medicine. Most of the solutions we have today for keeping people alive are simply trial and error. We don't know why they really work, and the idea of truely being able to understand the human system in a way that lets us address one issue without leading to countless side effects we do not understand is not ten to twenty years away. It is centuries off, and may in fact be impossible. Humans are a symbiosis of individual living entities that make us what we are. Not just one simple "machine" that we can understand.

I'm not saying that we should do anything about it. Just merely stating that medicine is cancelling out natural selection to an extent that there will eventually be no "selection" at all.

**Mari** · 11-28-2007, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nautipus

Yikes!

I'd heard of these before, but.......damn......

Oh great, now I'm going to have nightmares on how my brains are slowly destroyed. I knew I shouldn't have looked...

Insidious Rex · 11-28-2007, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brownjenkins

I'm not saying that we should do anything about it. Just merely stating that medicine is cancelling out natural selection to an extent that there will eventually be no "selection" at all.

Well its not that there is no selective pressures on humans anymore because of technology. Its that the selective processes have changed. There will always by definition be some selective pressure on all organisms be it imposed by a whim or the organism itself (directly or indirectly).

Nautipus · 11-29-2007, 10:39 PM

You guys have got to see this!

sisterandcousinandaunt · 11-30-2007, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inked

Now that is cool.

Extremely cool.

sisterandcousinandaunt · 11-30-2007, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

There will always by definition be some selective pressure on all organisms be it imposed by a whim or the organism itself (directly or indirectly).

Darn straight. Also known as the "How do those yahoos on Jerry Springer ever reproduce themselves" paradox.

Nautipus · 12-09-2007, 12:34 AM

Here's a funny little video. Apparently the octopi had started doing this in response to people, whenever a diver entered the water! Nifty little critters, aint they?

GrayMouser · 12-09-2007, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inked

Yes, one should be careful of discarding persons with defects...especially those of size now...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/sc...in&oref=slogin

We no longer need sacrifice persons as embryos to stem cell research. Now that is cool.

Yep. Now we can return to the original practice of...flushing them down the drain.

Grey_Wolf · 12-10-2007, 06:53 PM

An idea...

Would it be possible to destroy nuclear waste with superconcentrated focused sunligt in laser-form?

***Earniel*** · 12-10-2007, 07:24 PM

I'm not an expert and I fear my knowledge of lasers come squarely out of the sci-fi region so I don't even know what modernday lasers are capable of.

But even hypothetical lasers would leave some residue. And it isn't really the material of the waste that matters, it's the actual radiation and that's made of different particals than matter.

I'd hazard a guess and doubt it's a feasible solution to the nuclear waste problem. But I like the idea.

Nautipus · 12-10-2007, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf

An idea...

Would it be possible to destroy nuclear waste with superconcentrated focused sunligt in laser-form?

Clive Cussler fan, are we?

Grey_Wolf · 12-11-2007, 04:28 AM

Oh, yeah! Ive got all the Dirk Pitt books!

***Earniel*** · 12-11-2007, 05:56 AM

Oh, was that his latest plot? I've only read one or two of the Dirk Pitt books.

Grey_Wolf · 12-11-2007, 06:07 AM

It was in his Dirk Pitt book Sahara from 1992. The movie totally trashed the story - with that utter laughing idiot Matthew McConaughey.

***Earniel*** · 12-11-2007, 07:20 AM

And did the sunlight-powered laser-thingy work in the book?

Nautipus · 12-11-2007, 12:02 PM

Pretty much. But there was a whole big plot that I wont give away here because you oughta read the books.

Seriously, they're good. Ask GW.

Grey_Wolf · 12-11-2007, 05:05 PM

I think it pretty much did

brownjenkins · 12-11-2007, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf

An idea...

Would it be possible to destroy nuclear waste with superconcentrated focused sunligt in laser-form?

Why not just load it all into a few hundred rockets and launch them right into the sun?

11-27-2007, 07:02 PM	#321
inked Elf Lord Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: sikeston, MO, usa, earth, sol Posts: 3,114	Yes, one should be careful of discarding persons with defects...especially those of size now... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/sc...in&oref=slogin We no longer need sacrifice persons as embryos to stem cell research. Now that is cool. __________________ Inked "Aslan is not a tame lion." CSL/LWW "The new school [acts] as if it required...courage to say a blasphemy. There is only one thing that requires real courage to say, and that is a truism." GK Chesterton "And there is always the danger of allowing people to suppose that our modern times are so wholly unlike any other times that the fundamental facts about man's nature have wholly changed with changing circumstances." Dorothy L. Sayers, 1 Sept. 1941

11-27-2007, 09:11 PM	#322
Nautipus Kraken King Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Under the sea Posts: 2,714	Yikes! I'd heard of these before, but.......damn...... __________________ Being the King of these Beings, This is my Child One of my top ten favorite movies. "You ever try to flick a fly? "No." "It's a waste of time." "Can you see it?" "No." "It's right there!" "Where? "There!" "What is it?" "A crab." "A crab? I dont see any crab." "How?! It's right there!!" "Where?" "There!!!!" "Oh." -Excerpts from A Tale of Two Morons One of the best Global Warming Messages out there

11-29-2007, 10:39 PM	#326
Nautipus Kraken King Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Under the sea Posts: 2,714	You guys have got to see this! __________________ Being the King of these Beings, This is my Child One of my top ten favorite movies. "You ever try to flick a fly? "No." "It's a waste of time." "Can you see it?" "No." "It's right there!" "Where? "There!" "What is it?" "A crab." "A crab? I dont see any crab." "How?! It's right there!!" "Where?" "There!!!!" "Oh." -Excerpts from A Tale of Two Morons One of the best Global Warming Messages out there

12-09-2007, 12:34 AM	#329
Nautipus Kraken King Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Under the sea Posts: 2,714	Here's a funny little video. Apparently the octopi had started doing this in response to people, whenever a diver entered the water! Nifty little critters, aint they? __________________ Being the King of these Beings, This is my Child One of my top ten favorite movies. "You ever try to flick a fly? "No." "It's a waste of time." "Can you see it?" "No." "It's right there!" "Where? "There!" "What is it?" "A crab." "A crab? I dont see any crab." "How?! It's right there!!" "Where?" "There!!!!" "Oh." -Excerpts from A Tale of Two Morons One of the best Global Warming Messages out there

12-10-2007, 07:24 PM	#332
*Earniel* The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium) Posts: 14,363	I'm not an expert and I fear my knowledge of lasers come squarely out of the sci-fi region so I don't even know what modernday lasers are capable of. But even hypothetical lasers would leave some residue. And it isn't really the material of the waste that matters, it's the actual radiation and that's made of different particals than matter. I'd hazard a guess and doubt it's a feasible solution to the nuclear waste problem. But I like the idea. __________________ We are not things.

12-10-2007, 06:53 PM	#331
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	An idea... Would it be possible to destroy nuclear waste with superconcentrated focused sunligt in laser-form?

12-11-2007, 04:28 AM	#334
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	Oh, yeah! Ive got all the Dirk Pitt books!

12-11-2007, 05:56 AM	#335
*Earniel* The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium) Posts: 14,363	Oh, was that his latest plot? I've only read one or two of the Dirk Pitt books. __________________ We are not things.

12-11-2007, 06:07 AM	#336
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	It was in his Dirk Pitt book Sahara from 1992. The movie totally trashed the story - with that utter laughing idiot Matthew McConaughey. Last edited by Grey_Wolf : 12-11-2007 at 06:11 AM.

12-11-2007, 07:20 AM	#337
*Earniel* The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium) Posts: 14,363	And did the sunlight-powered laser-thingy work in the book? __________________ We are not things.

12-11-2007, 12:02 PM	#338
Nautipus Kraken King Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Under the sea Posts: 2,714	Pretty much. But there was a whole big plot that I wont give away here because you oughta read the books. Seriously, they're good. Ask GW. __________________ Being the King of these Beings, This is my Child One of my top ten favorite movies. "You ever try to flick a fly? "No." "It's a waste of time." "Can you see it?" "No." "It's right there!" "Where? "There!" "What is it?" "A crab." "A crab? I dont see any crab." "How?! It's right there!!" "Where?" "There!!!!" "Oh." -Excerpts from A Tale of Two Morons One of the best Global Warming Messages out there

12-11-2007, 05:05 PM	#339
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	I think it pretty much did

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