... While Bravus is busy writing textbooks and getting caught up on other duties, perhaps this thread will help satisfy a curiosity about science for those of us who are non-scientists. Real scientists, of course, are doubly welcome, and needed, I hasten to add, in order to keep this right-brained nit-wit from getting too fuzzy, whatever that means. (See what I mean?!?)

Well here goes:

"No law of physics that we know of prohibits time travel," said Dr. J. Richard Gott, a Princeton astrophysicist.

In his recent book "The Universe in a Nutshell," Dr. Stephen W. Hawking wrote, "Even if it turns out that time travel is impossible, it is important that we understand why it is impossible."

Read more at : Back to the Future

If all this is just too mysterious for some of us, well here is a more mundane fact from an earlier century:

"According to an old English system of time units, a moment is one and a half minutes."

The next time someone asks you to wait 'just a moment' you can glance at your watch and time them. ;)

The average person has 100,000 hairs on his/her head. Each hair grows about 5 inches (12.7 cm) every year.

So... in one year a person grows 500,000 inches of hair.
Divided by 12 that is 41,667 feet.
Divided that by 5280 and we come up with roughly 8 miles.
In a 75 years the average person grows about 600 miles of hair!

A Canadian, however, grows in the same time more than 960 kilometers of hair. ;)

There is a difference in the number of hairs a person has according to their hair colour, isn't there?

from wikipedia:

Average number of head hairs (Caucasian) [3]

color number of hairs diameter
Blonde 146,000 1⁄1500th to 1⁄500th inch 17 to 51 micrometers
Black 110,000 1⁄400th to 1⁄250th inch 64 to 100 micrometers
Brunette 100,000 variable variable
Red 86,000 variable variable

According to the chart blonds have 46% more hair than brunets. I suppose they might grow 46% more length in a life time. But have the studies been done??!! :)

Check it out at: Wikipedia

This is only caucasian hair, and doesn't consider other great-looking hair like African, Oriental/Asian,

If avg hair growth is 5" a year and I get my hair cut almost every month @ ~ 3/4" that comes to 9" a year. I knew my hair grew like weeds.

Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, born 300 years ago this month, classified and named more than 4000, animals and nearly 8,000 plants. - Smithsonian vol. 38, No. 2, May, p. 105, article: "Organization Man" by Kennedy Warne

I doubt that Carl Linnaeus, named any dinosaurs!

"Dinosaur Names
So where do dinosaur names come from? Dinosaur names come mostly from the people who discovered the dinosaurs. The names are made up from words in the Latin and Greek languages. Here is a list of Latin and Greek root words commonly used in dinosaur names. The meanings (included below) of these words help tell us the meaning of the dinosaur's name.

WORD..................MEANING

allo..................other or different
anato.................duck
ankylo................crooked
anuro.................tail
apato.................deceptive
avi...................bird
bary..................heavy
brachio...............arm
bronto................thunder
cera..................horned
caudia................tail
cephalo...............head
chasmo................opening
coeli.................hollow
compso................pretty
diplo.................two
dino..................terrible
docus.................beam
don...................tooth
elasmo................plated
gnathus...............jaw
hadro.................large
ichthyo...............fish
lopho.................ridged
mega..................large
metro.................measured
micro.................small
nycho.................clawed
pachy.................thick
para..................beside
pod, ped..............foot
proto.................first
raptor................thief
rex...................king
saurus................lizard
stego.................roof
steno.................slender
super.................superior
thero.................beast
tri...................three
tryanno...............tyrant
ultra.................extreme
urus..................tail
veloci................speedy

-by George Manty at http://www.mantyweb.com/dinosaur/dinosaur_names.htm


When were dinosaurs first discovered? Who gave them the name dinosaurs (terrible lizards)?

Wow, interesting. So a stenographer is a slender writer? Maybe they should have been called barygraphers or pachygraphers. Then they wouldn't have been chased around the desk all the time. Hehehehe

:)

The Greek or Latin terms are useful for office taxonomy. Has anyone ever had a boss who was 'pachycephalic?'

Oooooo good one! ROFL

"A laser physicist and former researcher with NASA'S Jet Propulsion Laboratory, [Robert] Lang, 46, is a pioneer in technical and computational origami, which focuses on the mathematics behind the art."
- Smithsonian, June 2007, p. 74

Mr. Lang's math results in a melding of science and art that is wonderful to behold.
Go here to the interesting magazine article:
http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2007/june/origami.php


Go here to Mr. Lang's Origami web-site and browse his gallery. 'Really-really-good:'
http://www.langorigami.com/

"Captive shark had 'virgin birth'"

"Female hammerhead sharks can reproduce without having sex, scientists confirm."

Read the rest of the online article at: the BBC News page.

"What I'm saying is...nature finds a way"
Jurassic Park

Parthenogenesis is what they call it. Does it happen to humans?

parthenogenesis, definition,n.

A form of reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual, occurring commonly among insects and certain other arthropods.

parthenogenesis etymology
[New Latin : Greek parthenos, virgin + genesis.]

parthenogenesis derivatives
parthe·no·ge·netic (-j-ntk) adj.
parthe·no·ge·neti·cal·ly adv.
-yourdictionary.com

"There are no known cases of mammalian parthenogenesis in the wild.

In April 2004, scientists at Tokyo University of Agriculture used parthenogenesis to successfully create fatherless mice: see Kaguya.

The beginnings of artificial human parthenogenesis has been performed in the lab. [9] In theory, the process could be used to reproduce humans, but this is unlikely due to ethical concerns. Parthenogenesis in mice and monkeys often results in abnormal development. This high level of birth defects, plus the fact that parthenotes have only half the genetic diversity of their parent, means that research on human parthenogenesis is focused on the production of embryonic stem cells for use in medical treatment, not as a reproductive strategy." -wikipedia

It seem to be more common than I thought; especially among insects, reptiles and sharks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis:

15 different whiptail lizards do this also. No males, only females. From what I have read, all offspring of parthenogenesis are clones.

So here is a question. Did God create these species with single sex reprodution or is this a modification from the fall?

Wikipedia says parthenogenesis does not result in clones...

" Parthenogenesis is distinct from artificial animal cloning, a process where the new organism is identical to the cell donor. Parthenogenesis is truly a reproductive process which creates a new individual or individuals from the naturally varied genetic material contained in the eggs of the mother. A litter of animals resulting from parthenogenesis may contain all genetically unique siblings without any twins or multiple numbers from the same genetic material. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis "

... except in some ants where the female queens clone themselves to make more queens and the males can clone themselves by 'ablating' the female genetics from an egg.


had to look up 'ablating'

"ablate definition
v. ab·lat·ed, ab·lat·ing, ab·lates
v.tr.
1. Medicine To excise, amputate, or otherwise destroy the biological function of (a body tissue, for example).
2. To remove by erosion, melting, evaporation, or vaporization.
v.intr.
To become ablated; undergo ablation.
ablate etymology
[Back-formation from ablation.]"

I have to leave that to the theologians. :)

"...nature finds a way."

Weird Science

"You might not want to do it, but removing half of your brain will not significantly impact who you are,"
writes Charles Choi in : Scientific American Magazine.

What a funny doctor.

In Croatia they have a big problem with landmines. To meet the problem they are training bees to sniff them out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6701517.stm

Foster's brewery and scientists from the Universitiy of Queensland are making a 'beer battery.' Actually its a microbial fuel cell (MFC) and generates power from the waste water of the beer making process.

click here at : BEER BATTERY for more about it.

click here at : MFC to visit the first ever web-site about microbial fuel cells.

From: Jumping Spiders of North America

Ewwwwww Melia!!! I nearly jumped outa my seat when I seen this! LOL

Isn't He handsome? Here is his female counterpart:


From Wikipedia:

Phidippus mystaceus is a species of jumping spider that is found in North America. Females grow to about one centimeter in body length.


Name
The species name is derived from the Ancient Greek mystax, meaning "moustache", which especially the females of this species feature. An older synonym of the species is P. asinarius, referring to the markings above the eyes that look similar to donkey ears.


Further reading
Roach, S.H. (1988). Reproductive periods of Phidippus species (Araneae, Salticidae) in South Carolina. Journal of Arachnology 16:95-101. PDF

External links
Many pictures of P. mystaceus at BugGuide http://bugguide.net/node/view/23004/bgimage

**clears throat**

Well....they're sorta pretty in a buggy way... but I'm scared to death of spiders and snakes. Ticks aren't any fun either - I got Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from one of those little critters. I was a sick puppy..

20/20 vision means the eye can see normally at 20 feet. 20/15 is better; the eye can see at 20 feet what another eye sees at 15 feet.

Why have they been keeping this a secret all these years? ;)

Scientists have been discovering that the human brain is quite flexible and able to rewire itself. An extraordinary example is the case of Peter Eckert, former carpenter, who after becoming blind took up photography. He 'feels' light, and his brain has developed a type of 'x-ray vision.'

Peruse an article from the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE.


View a slide show here : BLIND PHOTOGRAPHER'S PHOTOS

Very creepy and bizarre pictures.

We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made

That's for sure, Bravus. And medicine is learning how to cure blindness in those who have Age-related Macular Degeneration. First they have done it transplanting cells from the patients own eye; now they are going to use stem cells grown in a laboratory to repair the retina.

Read about at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6721685.stm

The largest flower in the world grows in Indonesia, being up to 3 feet across and weighing up to 15 pounds! It has no visible leaves roots or stem.

read more about the : Rafflesia arnoldii

There is a beautiful picture of the Rafflesia arnoldii at:

http://www.lostworldarts.com/asia/rafflesia_2.htm

Bizarre. Reminds me of something from a sci-fi movie.

Ethnomathematics...

... the study of math as used in various cultures. Ubiratan D'Ambrosio, a Brazilian mathematician, was using the word in the 1960's.

He says,(quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 October 2000):

"Mathematics is absolutely integrated with Western civilization, which conquered and dominated the entire world. The only possibility of building up a planetary civilization depends on restoring the dignity of the losers and, together, winners and losers, moving into the new. [Ethnomathematics, then, is] a step towards peace."

Some say that it reduces science to social-studies, some make fun of it saying it is of no use 'unless you want to balance your checkbook the ancient Navajo way.

Maybe it belongs with the history of math. Is that science?

A good article is at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnomathematics

An example of "non-western" mathematics is that of the Mayans. They used a system of only three symbols: lines, dots and a shell-like symbol in a number system based on 5 and 20 (our system is based on 10). Lines represent 5 units, dots 1 unit. Can anyone explain the shell?

Here is a page from the Dresden Codex, which escaped destruction somehow when the Spanish destroyed so much of Mayan writings around 1500 A.D. Notice the lines and dots.

http://www.tu-dresden.de/slub/proj/maya/folio16.html

Are you sure that's math? Looks like part of their alphabet to me.

Yes, it's math. The lines and dots.


...
____

equals 8.

...
===
equals ? 13 or 28? ask an ethnomathematian :)

Mayan scripts have shown them working with numbers up in the 100's of millions.

At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#Mathematics I found this chart:

The ordinary Mayan people could have easily added using pebble and stones. Notice in the above chart how 5+6=11. The symbols are merely combined into one for sums smaller than 20.

The Mayans had this nifty system while Europe was still struggling with the Roman Numeral system: MMCLXI... it had no zero. The Mayans did have a zero.

A good explanation of the Mayan number system is at : http://www.hanksville.org/yucatan/mayamath.html

Several species of iguana lizards are found in the New World, from Brazil to the southwestern United States.

The common iguana (Iguana iguana) is the most impressive species, often reaching six feet in length with a dorsal crest nearly three inches high. It lives in the high branches of trees and bushes near bodies of water. If disturbed, it will jump down, even from a height of 18 feet, to plunge into water and escape.

The desert iguana dives behind rocks. When facing an enemy, iguanas defend themselves with their long, powerful tails, using them like whips.



The iguana mating season varies, depending on locale. Females dig holes in the earth before laying about 30 eggs with thin, leathery shells and then covering them.



Wild iguanas at a park in Eucador being fed.



They evidently can make interesting pets!

You can learn more at the GREEN IGUANA SOCIETY

The Homing instinct.
We know pigeons have it;
and salmon find their way back to their birth-places;
rats are uncannily good with mazes.

But do you realize cats have such an ablility?

The record for long distance homing among cats goes to one 'Ninja' who when her owners moved her with them to Washington state,
found her way back to the old home place in Utah
850 miles away.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/excats/homing.html

Earthworms are fascinating animals.

They have 5 pairs of hearts. 10 in all!

Their reproductive rites are amazing because they are monoecious. That means they have both male and female organs in the same individual. When mating they are exchanging sperm. At a later indefinate time the worm forms a cocoon/egg-case around hisher own body, and injects herhis own eggs and the sperm recieved from the other earthworm into it as shehe backs out of the cocoon.

source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworms

How do they decide which to be? He or she?

They are both. No decision necessary. In mating they keep their eggs but exchange their sperm.

How to Clean and Prepare Earthworms

- (from Entertaining with Insects, 1976)

"Your earthworms will probably not require purging if you buy them from a dealer who packages them in peat moss for shipping. Earthworms eat and expel material equal to their weight every twenty-four hours, so the worms will have essentially only peat moss in their bodies. By the time you get them, any material they had been raised on would probably have been purged from their bodies. The small amounts of peat moss that one would be eating with the worms would be negligible. One might even rationalise that the additional roughage would be a good for you anyway. For any further purging, place them in moist cornmeal, flour, or similar material for 24 hours. In this way you can be certain that the worms will be clean inside and out and ready to cook."

Earthworms are 82 % protein.

Research has shown that eating earthworms can reduce cholesterol. The basic essential oil of earthworms is Omega 3.

Okay... I'd like to know-

How many of you have eaten an earthworm???