Waiting for Fitzgerald

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
I'm not liking this comparison. At. All.

Just because she changed her mind, doesn't mean you have to sleep with him.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
The boy pitches me softballs, and I usually let them go.

So you go after the one he loves instead? Low, Hank. Really low.

[cheval de frise]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Hang around, chevy. We won't even invite TM.

I've got nothing against TM. I think we both want the same thing at the end of the day -- passions (not to mention frustrations) just ran high during one thread. (Is this the politics board? I guess it is. Good lord 2X).

Can't really stick around very long, but it's good to 'see' y'all -- C

[Spanky]

Originally posted by taxwonk
What I look at is the fact that the people who could buy 50 foot yachts last year are buying 125 foot motor launches this year, while the number of people living day-to-day, one paycheck away from the street is growing by leaps and bounds.

Where do you get this stuff? How about citing some statistics.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by cheval de frise
SHP, soup and balt already laid out the theory. The protocol requires an understanding of which specific mutations have which (cumulative) effects, often at different points in a biochemical and developmental cascade. One has to correlate phenotypic effects with specific genetic changes, understand what direct effect (if any) those changes have on gene expression (i.e., level/developmental timing/duration), regulatory feedback loops, resultant protein sequences and conformational consequences (protein folding is a four-dimensional process)...and so on. These are complex questions but they do have answers. Geneticists and biochemists are working on all of these problems now. As other posters have said, the probability that a SINGLE mutation could be responsible for the development of an entire organ is zero. Scientists are sequencing and deciphering non-human genomes as we type. The mouse genome was published recently, as was (I believe) the chimpanzee genome. Comparative genetics has already provided significant insights. We have a plan for getting the information that will answer your specific question, and are going about obtaining that information...unlike proponents of certain alternative "theories."

By the way, evolution is a fact, not a theory, at least at the micro level. Scientists have directly observed and altered the characteristics of lab bacteria by manipulating their environments over thousands of successive generations. One can selectively "evolve" bacteria that tolerate certain poisons or do not need certain nutrients. Natural processes have also resulted in such organisms. Blind cavefish with vestigial eyes are on the path towards ridding themselves of those organs. Once a transposon-driven (or direct) mutation inactivates the gene(s) responsible for ocular structural development -- and that mutation doesn't result in negative selective pressure because their environment doesn't require eyes -- eyeless cavefish will appear in increased numbers proportional to the overall population (known in human genetics as "the founder effect"). It's a messy process. There is evidence that certain attributes have evolved more than once, then died out as other, more beneficial mutations confer additional advantages in populations not having the original mutation. Environment plays a gigantic role. There are multiple false starts. At the end of the day, though, it is fairly clear how the overall process works. The biochemical details simply take a lot of parallel work (and computer power) to figure out.

Ramen.

CDF (on the one day I happen to visit the board for old times' sake, y'all have a GENETICS discussion???? I'm having flashbacks to MY prior professional life.)

(Edited to fix formatting)

Game. Set. Match.

[bilmore]

Critical Greenland ice cap found to have been thickening over the last eleven-year period.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science...eut/index.html

Scientists blame global warming.

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Originally posted by Spanky
Game. Set. Match.

Soup, balt and I get assists. Hank gets the sour taste of defeat as he heads off to fortify himself with the Glenlivet in advance of another weekend of disappointment with the performance of Joey Harrington & Co. Oh well, at least there's hockey on OLN!

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Originally posted by bilmore
Critical Greenland ice cap found to have been thickening over the last eleven-year period.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science...eut/index.html

Scientists blame global warming.

It's the market at work. Obviously Greenland is just better positioned to provide pack ice than the Arctic Ocean is.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by bilmore
Critical Greenland ice cap found to have been thickening over the last eleven-year period.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science...eut/index.html

Scientists blame global warming.

What I don't get is why doesn't the water on the surface just drain away into the center of the earth. The water on the surface of the earth is really thin. It is only five miles at the deepeest point and that is nothing compared to how far it is to the center of the earth. If the earth where a basketbal the oceans would be a fine mist on the surface.

So why doesn't the water just drain through the cracks?

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Spanky
What I don't get is why doesn't the water on the surface just drain away into the center of the earth. The water on the surface of the earth is really thin. It is only five miles at the deepeest point and that is nothing compared to how far it is to the center of the earth. If the earth where a basketbal the oceans would be a fine mist on the surface.

So why doesn't the water just drain through the cracks?

Perhaps the liquid hot magma keeps it out of the cracks?

(actually I'm not sure I understand your question, but I felt like hearing a bit of Doctor Evil on a Friday afternoon.)

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Originally posted by Spanky
What I don't get is why doesn't the water on the surface just drain away into the center of the earth. The water on the surface of the earth is really thin. It is only five miles at the deepeest point and that is nothing compared to how far it is to the center of the earth. If the earth where a basketbal the oceans would be a fine mist on the surface.

So why doesn't the water just drain through the cracks?

It hits rock eventually. Not my field, but through the magic of Google we learn that there is a large flow of water through the outer layer of the ocean floor, and thus there is an equilibrium set up - water moves down through the rock and at a certain depth, the heat from the earth's core drives it up again - or sideways, or whatever.

There are certain environmental challenges to mapping this flow - like it's friggin' cold down there and the pressure is enough to squeeze you into a lump the size of Karl Rove's heart.

Good question, though.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Perhaps the liquid hot magma keeps it out of the cracks?

(actually I'm not sure I understand your question, but I felt like hearing a bit of Doctor Evil on a Friday afternoon.)

So my sister took my copy of Collapse for her trip to Tibet. She treats my library as her own. The Gods seem to be against me reading the book any time soon. I also have the World is Flat and am on page 65. I think the World is Flat should be the first book and then Collapse second. I am also going to be spending a signficant amount of time (if not all my time) in Orange County starting November 1st. Yes I will be living behind the Orange curtain and I ain't too happy about it. Maybe we should arrange a GA field trip to the Jarred museum. Doesn't Fringey live in LA?

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Spanky
So my sister took my copy of Collapse for her trip to Tibet. She treats my library as her own. The Gods seem to be against me reading the book any time soon. I also have the World is Flat and am on page 65. I think the World is Flat should be the first book and then Collapse second. I am also going to be spending a signficant amount of time (if not all my time) in Orange County starting November 1st. Yes I will be living behind the Orange curtain and I ain't too happy about it. Maybe we should arrange a GA field trip to the Jarred museum. Doesn't Fringey live in LA?

The World Is Flat it is then. I am about a third of the way through it. I am game for a Collapse field trip to the Natural History Museum (conveniently located relatively close to my work). I believe that the exhibit runs through February, but I will double check. I believe I will be able to drag Mr Man along (you likely don't know his work; he is an infrequent Fashion Board poster). Maybe Gattigap too if he is into that sort of thing. Gatti?

I may or may not know fringey, she may or may not live in Los Angeles and she may or may not want to accompany us to the museum. Fringey is nothing if not mysterious. I do my best not to speak for her. Riddle wrapped in a ... yadda yadda yadda.


ETA: It runs until January 17 - http://www.nhm.org/exhibitions/collapse/

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Spanky
Game. Set. Match.

spanky. i love you, and you know that. But those guys think you're an idiot. So when you say I lose that means I win.

183-12

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Sexual Harassment Panda
Soup, balt and I get assists. Hank gets the sour taste of defeat as he heads off to fortify himself with the Glenlivet in advance of another weekend of disappointment with the performance of Joey Harrington & Co. Oh well, at least there's hockey on OLN!

I'll concede if you agree that Spankster gets to settle who wins all arguments.

184-12