Posts : 1969 Upvotes: : 6 Join date : 2010-09-18 Age : 24 Location : At the hadron colider poking antimatter with a rod.
Subject: The Science Thread! Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:22 am
The Science/Math Thread! (That's right it's back!)
Intro
Well, the title is a bit self-explanatory, this thread is a place on the GAC for the discussion of Math and Science. The original thread was locked due to the presence of The Lab. Then due to low traffic, it was shut down. Now after the recent mathematical debate (Of "does 1/3 = .333... and does .9999.. = 1?"), I decided I wanted to put that type of debate back into a proper thread. This was how the new Science Thread was made. Gelatino supported the idea, and I hope he'll help this thread with his knowledge, along with everyone else.
Discussion
Well, the basic thing is to be nice, don't hurt other people by calling them stupid or something. But that's for the rules, so I'll get to the other things. Discussions can be debate like, as in "What do you think about.." or it could be a question, like "What is this..." or just the simple "Have you heard about this?". You could discuss anything relating to:
Or anything else as long as it has to do with a type of discussable Math and/or science.
Rules!
-Don't make others feel bad for getting something wrong or not getting something. -Stick to appropriate science, we're still on the forums here -Obey all forum rules not stated here.
That's really all the rules, so have fun, and begin!
Gelatino95 Silver Spice
Posts : 3501 Upvotes: : 9 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 28 Location : Dinosaur Planet
Subject: Re: The Science Thread! Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:54 am
Shall we continue with .999 =/= 1 or are we all clear on that by now?
Lazernugget Bronze Spice
Posts : 1969 Upvotes: : 6 Join date : 2010-09-18 Age : 24 Location : At the hadron colider poking antimatter with a rod.
Subject: Re: The Science Thread! Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:59 am
I don't care, but I'm clear on that.
Gelatino95 Silver Spice
Posts : 3501 Upvotes: : 9 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 28 Location : Dinosaur Planet
Subject: Re: The Science Thread! Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:12 am
We should discuss something biology-related. I'm hoping to pursue a career in some field of biology if possible.
Here's a question to get us started: Where does instinct come from?
The most obvious answer would be that specimens learn behavioral traits and pass them on to their offspring. For example, a bunch of songbird chicks instinctively fear hawks because they eat little birds. Based on this explanation, the songbird chicks know this because their parents endured some experience in life that caused them to fear hawks.
Unfortunately, while this theory makes sense, it supports the theory of Lamarckism which has been soundly disproven. The songbird chicks can't automatically inherit something that their parents learned in life because it doesn't affect the parent's genome, which is the only thing that is passed down to offspring.
My conjecture is that behavioral traits can correspond with physical traits in the brain. DNA only codes for the physical traits in animals, so I assume that physical traits in the brain can affect behavior.
In practice, these behavioral traits work the same way as physical traits: affecting the ability for a specimen to survive. For example, songbirds which have received a fear of hawks through genetic mutation have a better chance at survival (basically natural selection which we should all understand).
DRaGO Bronze Spice
Posts : 1420 Upvotes: : 39 Join date : 2011-08-10 Age : 27 Location : Standing over Sargas Ruk's body.
Subject: Re: The Science Thread! Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:34 am
Oh, this looks like a good topic (the biology thing).
My explanation for behavioral traits being passed through generations is epigenomes. (This is real, by the way, research has been done into epigenomes and is still being done.) Basically, epigenomes are more complex genomes that may allow passing of behavioral traits to offspring. Studies have shown that even slight over-eating can produce bad eating habits for future offspring, and this can easily be reapplied to positive traits.
I'm not terribly familar with the epigenome research that is being done, but that's what I remembered when I read this.
IsakTheWriter Green Spice
Posts : 505 Upvotes: : 11 Join date : 2011-10-21 Age : 26 Location : That's a true mystery.
Subject: Re: The Science Thread! Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:54 am
Okay... I'll try this(biology). Even though I don't know very difficult words and haven't gotten into genetics and DNA yet. But I think that a species is simpley coded to fear something. It's a survival instinct, as biological life have only one purpose; to make offspring. And to survive long enought to make offspring. So it would call the... I've forgotten the name, but bascily a species get triggered by the right color. For example, the songbird chickens doesn't have to see the hawk. But only it's shadow. That is any shadow, I pressume, that's bigger than the songbird. I don't really know much about it... So... yeah.
Gelatino95 Silver Spice
Posts : 3501 Upvotes: : 9 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 28 Location : Dinosaur Planet
Oh, this looks like a good topic (the biology thing).
My explanation for behavioral traits being passed through generations is epigenomes. (This is real, by the way, research has been done into epigenomes and is still being done.) Basically, epigenomes are more complex genomes that may allow passing of behavioral traits to offspring. Studies have shown that even slight over-eating can produce bad eating habits for future offspring, and this can easily be reapplied to positive traits.
I'm not terribly familar with the epigenome research that is being done, but that's what I remembered when I read this.
So, are epigenomes separate from the genomes which express physical traits in animals? Or are they part of the same genome?
IsakTheWriter wrote:
Okay... I'll try this(biology). Even though I don't know very difficult words and haven't gotten into genetics and DNA yet. But I think that a species is simpley coded to fear something. It's a survival instinct, as biological life have only one purpose; to make offspring. And to survive long enought to make offspring. So it would call the... I've forgotten the name, but bascily a species get triggered by the right color. For example, the songbird chickens doesn't have to see the hawk. But only it's shadow. That is any shadow, I pressume, that's bigger than the songbird. I don't really know much about it... So... yeah.
You're on the right track. But you need to know the mechanism by which species obtain these adaptations. Species don't just have adaptations because they help them survive; natural selection is the process which makes it so entire populations have the same advantageous trait based on a genetic mutation, which can occur spontaneously.
Oh, this looks like a good topic (the biology thing).
My explanation for behavioral traits being passed through generations is epigenomes. (This is real, by the way, research has been done into epigenomes and is still being done.) Basically, epigenomes are more complex genomes that may allow passing of behavioral traits to offspring. Studies have shown that even slight over-eating can produce bad eating habits for future offspring, and this can easily be reapplied to positive traits.
I'm not terribly familar with the epigenome research that is being done, but that's what I remembered when I read this.
So, are epigenomes separate from the genomes which express physical traits in animals? Or are they part of the same genome?
IsakTheWriter wrote:
Okay... I'll try this(biology). Even though I don't know very difficult words and haven't gotten into genetics and DNA yet. But I think that a species is simpley coded to fear something. It's a survival instinct, as biological life have only one purpose; to make offspring. And to survive long enought to make offspring. So it would call the... I've forgotten the name, but bascily a species get triggered by the right color. For example, the songbird chickens doesn't have to see the hawk. But only it's shadow. That is any shadow, I pressume, that's bigger than the songbird. I don't really know much about it... So... yeah.
You're on the right track. But you need to know the mechanism by which species obtain these adaptations. Species don't just have adaptations because they help them survive; natural selection is the process which makes it so entire populations have the same advantageous trait based on a genetic mutation, which can occur spontaneously.
Yeah... I can't figure it out... But I DO know that we started as bacteria. Or our ancestors ancestors multiple with trilion.(don't want to fill a whole page with ancestors) Which takes us to an intresting turn. If oxygen creating bacteria hadn't evolved. How would life look on earth now?` Just an intresting thought.
Funny with fusion reactors. Or fission... Or whatever. That hard thing isn't to create fusion, right? It is how to hold the extreme temprature. Yet we can only use magnets to hold the molecules. Note that I'm not taking active part in such things, but rather likes to dicuss motives, culture and behavior. And that I'm not the brightest.
Lazernugget Bronze Spice
Posts : 1969 Upvotes: : 6 Join date : 2010-09-18 Age : 24 Location : At the hadron colider poking antimatter with a rod.
Subject: Re: The Science Thread! Mon Apr 09, 2012 2:21 am
Well yeah, Fusion is a tricky thing, but the benefits include a LOT of power, it's safer than fission, and it's also better environmentally. I think it's a great idea.
Lazernugget Bronze Spice
Posts : 1969 Upvotes: : 6 Join date : 2010-09-18 Age : 24 Location : At the hadron colider poking antimatter with a rod.
Excitement in the Particle Physics world was enough to bring me to a Spore forum. Lol, funny how that worked. Anyway, I'm going back into non existence. Have a nice day.
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