Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

[St. Clown]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

You'd get similar results about labeling for dihydrogen oxide.

I hear it's slippery when wet, which is a safety hazard. Ban it!

[FreshFish]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

DHMO was the cause of all school violence? Wow.

"causation" was not cited. There is merely a high correlation between people who behave violently and daily ingestion of DHMO.

Solid DHMO can a very insidious murder weapon, it can be shaped into a point and used to stab someone yet it usually disappears without an easily-detectable trace in hours, or it can also be used to bludgeon someone while leaving no detectable weapon behind after a few hours pass.

[LynahFan]

One of the really sad elements of any "conversation" concerning "genetically modified" organisms is that in one sense or another, "genetic modification" precedes history: humans have been practicing selective breeding of plants and animals for millennia. In its current version, "genetic modification" is taking place at a different level, but how different is it really in a "broad picture" sense to insert a gene into DNA compared to selecting specific strands of DNA to intermingle?

The first corn had something like four kernels. Dogs and horses originally were one "breed" each.

The "outrage" it seems to me has nothing whatsoever to do with "genetic modification" and is more a complaint of "progress is advancing too fast compared to my ability to comprehend it."

Spot on. And if people complain about the thousands of mutant/non-viable organisms created in the name of genetic engineering, remind them of the hundreds of millions of such creatures created over the past hundred millenia by breeders of domesticated species.

[FreshFish]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

Spot on. And if people complain about the thousands of mutant/non-viable organisms created in the name of genetic engineering, remind them of the hundreds of millions of such creatures created over the past hundred millenia by breeders of domesticated species.

Perhaps we could call such people "mulish", eh?

[joecct]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

Spot on. And if people complain about the thousands of mutant/non-viable organisms created in the name of genetic engineering, remind them of the hundreds of millions of such creatures created over the past hundred millenia by breeders of domesticated species.

You mean Fido is a MUTANT!?!?!?!

[LynahFan]

You mean Fido is a MUTANT!?!?!?!

Yup - and I should know. I'm one, too!!!

[joecct]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

Yup - and I should know. I'm one, too!!!

Mongrels of the world, UNITE!!

[burd]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

The first section of Daniel Kahneman's book Thinking Fast and Slow (the "fast thinking" part) is also superb on those subjects, once you get past his use of the word "heuristics" as a term for "convenient mental shortcuts based on life experience."

Parts of the book even discuss readings they take on things like pupil dilation, which indicate our subconscious is responding to cues from the environment even when we are unaware of it.

Interesting you should mention that. After I lent Mistakes Were Made to a friend, he gave me a copy of "Thinking Fast and Slow." Haven't read it yet.

[joecct]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

NASA's Administrator Bolden says

"Looking to the future, we’re planning a mission to explore Jupiter’s fascinating moon Europa."

But the Monolith has warned us that "All these worlds are ours, except Europa. Attempt no landings there."

[Kepler]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

But the Monolith has warned us that "All these worlds are ours, except Europa. Attempt no landings there."

That's "yours."

The Monolith was originally over by Saturn, so what does it know?

[joecct]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

That's "yours."

The Monolith was originally over by Saturn, so what does it know?

I know, but the English looked wrong if I used yours.

[MissThundercat]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

Oh, this is rich: according to the Environmental Working Group, exposure to Tupperware is causing early puberty.

Then again, according to the EWG, if I eat a conventionally grown apple, I'm going to die.

[goldy_331]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

Oh, this is rich: according to the Environmental Working Group, exposure to Tupperware is causing early puberty.

Then again, according to the EWG, if I eat a conventionally grown apple, I'm going to die.

Huh. I thought it was the hormones they give the cows that get into the milk.

[Bob Gray]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

Huh. I thought it was the hormones they give the cows that get into the milk.

I've read of concerns in both regards. How big a concern it is, that's hard to say.

[WisconsinWildcard]

Re: Dr. Clayton Forrester's Science Roundup

I have heard that much of the early puberty can be attributed to better nutrition (or excess) that was not available in prior generations. I do not think all of it can be chalked up to that but it makes the impact of the other variables at least a bit less scary.