Velocity_Boy

You obviously don't recognize blatant sarcasm. LOL

OK...So, hair color is formed by a chemical called melanin, which is an organic group of naturally occurring dyes found in many organisms. It in turn is created by the amino acid tyrosine. Well, rather, by the oxidation of tyrosine. So..The more Tyrosine breaks down due to exposed to oxygen, the more it is created, or it's color, it's pigmentation, is enhanced. As we age, melatonin production slows, so our hair is not any longer infused with that organic pigment. Caffeine, or any other substance, would thus have to interfere or stop the process of Tyrosine oxidation in order to cause hair to turn gray or white or silver. Those bring the optional colorations for hair bereft of pigmentation. There has been some evidence that Coffee..which of course contains high levels of caffeine, ​ posesses anti oxidant abilities! Amazingly....Your friend may have a credible hypothesis. I will research this further. As a biologist and coffee addict, it intrigues me. Thanks! http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-buzz-on-coffee

Harvard Med won't listen to you? Wow. Shocking. LOL

Here is a link to a site an undergraduate lab buddy of mine helped create. It has some excellent graphics and animation, and is fairly accessible to anyone with even a middling physics education. I'm not sure about you, but in no other science discipline do I think visuals are as important for comprehension of the topics at hand as is that is of particle physics! http://particleadventure.org/

No, they are decidedly not fossilized primate skills. Rather, they appear to be simply metamorphic rocks. I believe the first one to be Ely Limestone.

Yes they do indeed! A phenomenon we call Heliotropism.

Uhh, I'm fairly certain the OP is referring to the usage of human embryonic stem cells. Not those of animals.

418.

Positive Visualization. It's a form of meditation. You simply relax and close your eyes and imagine yourself doing well in the event you are worried about. Make dude you take your time and get the picture in your head nice and clear and accurate. Even over do it! Picture your frustrated opponent's crying in shame! Or bowing to your superiority. On the morning if the tourney, positive self talk. Mantras which detail your brilliance.......I am a chess God...I am a chess God....Spassky was a moron.........Etc. As a last hs and college athlete both those practices have helped me numerous times. Good luck.

What really annoys me about the Trumpster is how he can make his mouth into a perfect square. That is so cool! I wish I could do it, especially when making a loud and aggressive point during an argument. But alas, I have tried to do it in front of a mirror and simply cannot. So....Maybe I'm just a tad jealous? LOL

So far from what I've read of your posts, Mr Veritas....You are guilty of false advertising. As you have provided us with no scientific data that refutes the term Mental Illness. Or even slightly denigrates the idea of its validity. There are of course, millions of mentally ill souls in the world. Maybe you just need to get out a bit more? From what I've read, you have offered up nothing more than a Tom Cruise-esque rant against psychology. Am I wrong? Where's your science?

You seem very sure if you precognition abilities. Please tell us that this confidence stems from you foretelling of substantially more that one of the Royals babies. As a disbeliever in all things referred to as psychic or clairvoyant, I would need more in order to even begin to take your claims seriously. And given that this is a science forum I'm pretty certain I'm not alone in this regard. Would you mind please sharing with us some further examples of your precognitive skills? Thank you.

Not sure I understand your post, mate. Is it a way of saying,,Don't sweat the small stuff? And, it's ALL small stuff. At least, in the Grand Scheme of Things? I agree, and to remind me of this valuable Maxim I have a poster in my office at school. Has a picture of the Milky Way galaxy, an arrow pointing to Earth's location amidst all those hundreds of billions of stars, and it is captioned..... N ext time you get stressed out, just remember..You are HERE. LOL

You are of course perfectly expressing the beliefs and the ethos of both the Epicurean, and the Moral Relativist. And as somebody who is both, I agree with your post entirely! Good job.

You are of course correct in claiming that science still has no viable theory on how Abiogenesis may have occured billions of years ago. And I doubt it ever will discern the answer. I am a scientist, a biologist, but not an advocate of that idea. That said, I highly doubt anybodys who is an atheist, materialist scientist and is trying to unravel the machinations of Abiogenesis will throw up his hands and suddenly accept God as the Creator, just because he cannot find the answer. If you are a non-believer, it takes more than failed experiments or theories to fostering belief in gods. As men of science, they should need tangible proof. Of course I've no doubt that the godists and creationists are loving the fact that science cannot prove Abiogenesis. An they use it to bolster their argument. It is indeed, their finest argument. Lastly, I sadly confess that I highly doubt we will be around millions of years from now. So there will be no chance for scientists living then to convert if Abiogenesis had not been proven yet. LOL

So if I understand correctly, you're asking for examples of Abiogenesis in today's world. That is, the beginning of organic single celled organisms from inert and non.organic matter. I cannot think of a single example. And you're of course asking a hugely popular challenged question among those who doubt Atheist Science and it Abiogenesis hypothesis. Not even a theory, is it? Might not be a hypothesis, either! And why don't we see examples of Abiogenesis today? Why should life have began only once, billions of years ago? Who not today? The apologists for Abiogenesis claim we don't see it any more because the Earth's environmental....More specifically, atmospheric....Conditions are not as conducive to it occurring as they were some 3 bya. Miller Urey over 50 years ago did little to support the credibility of Abiogenesis. They did manage to get done amino acids to form in sealed vials pelted with heat and electricity, but that's all. And since then there has been some serious doubt as to how accurately they even replicated those early Earth conditions. Sorry..I know I'm not answering your question. I wanted to weigh in ad a fellow disbeliever in Abiogenesis...If in fact that's what you are. I am a tentative adherent to the Panspermia school. Which I know causes more questions down the line, but easily solved the Abiogenesis question for this planet. But since I have always believed the Universe is teeming with intelligence, and we are but one of millions of civilizations, those added questions trouble me not, and are easily answered. Thanks. I could not see how the hypothetical chemical equations and reactions in that link show how rNA is formed. Thus, I could not detect sufficient methodology for Abiogenesis. Sorry, maybe it's me. If so, could you point out to me where...at what step...In the equation where rNA is proposed to formulate? Or, hell, DNA? I just used the former nucleic acid molecule since I know that's the current favorite speculation among Abiogenesis believers. Thanks. I could see nothing formed behind the amino acid level. Which is still a long way from organic life.

I'm actually in the process of writing a novel about a government cover-up regarding the whole Global Warming thing. My basic plot is that Uncle has known that gw is not only real but is already unstoppable before it reaches apocalyptic levels. So it has perpetrated a massive coverup that entails forcing all our media weather reporters and even NOAA to report fake temps. The Gov had also forced manufacturers of thermometers to alter them so they don't read quite as hot. Anyway, as far as beneficiaries of the Warming Trend I recall reading last month about how Russia stands to benefit mightily if the trend continues. It's because of the melting of the permafrost in Siberia, which will allow for easier access to that regions wealth of underground materials, ores, oil, gas, etc. This thaw has in fact already began, as I recall. And Putin is giving up the heavy equipment and mining teams.

Just for the record, argent, I agreed with your OP. I also feel you were unduely maligned for it. And I noticed your last post. For what it's worth!

Very nice New Agey, Akashic Record sort of speculation. But alas, one with zero proof and all that we know about human intelligence and the workings of the organ we call our brains indicate that it is, well, just that. Simply the purely internal workings and functioning of another of our organs. That is to say, our brains workings and thought processes, which are only the products of chemical and neurotransmitter actions, are confined to our own bodies. Just as is the mechanations of your liver or kidneys or adrenal glands. Your thoughts do not leave your body in a tangible fashion. In a discernible or detectable way. There is no medium to be projected or disseminated. Hence, communication or connection via this process is physically impossible. Which is why Mr. Randi never had to pay out his million bucks! LOL

As far as conspiracy theories and belief in gods and Heaven and the Afterlife, evolutionary psychology has yielded some pretty compelling evidence as to why so many folks are indeed beset with belief in that stuff. That is to say, in things that are in no way proven and sometimes, like with God, don't even have a bit of evidence. See....Our brain is obsessed with finding patterns in things. Seeking causes. Even when, alas, there are none. This pattern seeking practice served us well back in our hunted gathered days, and in the wilds of the African savannahs. But nowadays they can lead us astray, these seeming to be but really not cashed and patterns. So...You get things like JFK. Our brain doesn't want to admit it can't find a cause of grand pattern. A lonely little man who was snubbed by his beloved Soviets is not supposd to be able to take down a beloved American icon. Thus...You get LBJ..Mafia..cia all formed a huge evil cabal. This pattern seeking. So by product of when our frontal lobes, the neocortex, overdeveloped. All beginning with a genetic mutation that served us well after many generations so it was adopted in. Just as all of our traits gathered via selective inheritance are. Same deal with God. Our big ol brains do not want to admit to a meaningless non teleological non aristotelean life. Or the eternal nothingness of death that waits for all of us. So.......Sky gods who care! Who listens to our prayers! And a heaven after life is extinguished! Kinda funny in a way. My goodness, it never ceases to amaze how weak we are, how frail and needy compared to other animals.

Obviously they are not for lower life forms with smaller brains and lower levels of consciousness than us homo sapien sapiens. But what if I told you that more than a few psychiatrists and neurologists believe that we are hardwired to believe in God? And that such belief is a by product of our evolved brains? Albeit, some of those atheist neurologists would term it an undesirable by product. This, of our minds obsession with seeking reasons and patterns. Even when, alas, there are none.

Thank you! Pretty much what I been saying, in so many words, all along. Same deal with gluten. Reminds me of an old joke I read once where it listed things women say, but what they really mean. One such line was........ She says.......I have a stomach ache. She means....I have to take a massive dump. LOL

Sorry, I quit reading after you claimed that Free Will did not exist. And that we should simply agree with you on that. I think it's impossible to accurately answer of posed question if forced to, right out of the box, agree with something you do not. SO at this juncture I would repectfully ask that you simply spend a fre minutes and tell us in a couuple hundred words or so why you believe the concept of Free Will to be false. Thanks.

Great analogy, and one that supports many of the tenets of Evolutionary Psychology, which is contiuing to "earn its stripes" and be taken more seriously every year with new insights as to how our homo sapiens brains work. It also no coincidence that all those "study drugs" that are popular among some students these days--Adderal, Ritalin, et al--change brain activity in such a way so it vitrually becomes replicate of what your brain would be doing when chased by your proverbial tiger. That is to offer: a PET scan of one's mind actively under the influence of a mild stimulant would be "lit up" in a very similar fashion to one whose host is being pursued by a lethal predator! I am compelled to add a caveat to that last claim. Insofar as the "brain on Adderal" example. I was of course referring to the brain of a person NOT affected with ADD, ADHD, or any other disorder of that type. We all know that those meds actually "soothe" that sort of mind. Rather, I was referring to what those meds usually "do" to a person of "normal" brain chemistry and functions. ps....I was finally explained to by a Psychiatrist a few years ago HOW those drugs, that for you and me amount to pure speed, actually slow down a hyperactive mind. He put it in excellent layman terms and I found the answer very intriguing. We can discuss of anybody is interested who doesn't already know. VB

Great post; excellent points. And I am in total agreement with all of it. Studies have shown (LOL..love that phrase) that young adults, with their seemingly slavish devotion to handhled devices and social media, are actually reading on average MORE words per day than was somebody of their same demographic some three deacdes ago. Or even two decades ago. IQ tests in "fluid intellgence" also show they are just as "smart" if not "smarter" than any previous generation. Your mention of problem solving skills being strongest at the first half of the 20th century could be debatable. Many people don't realize that using electronic devices and media and even figuring how to send and read short, terse, tech-speak laden messages as in texting also requires problem solving skills. That said, I'm not going to debate are deny your claim. I have no reaosn to, and also no information or knolwedge on the p.s. skills of folks from 1900-1950 or so. But I will opine that I believe most oyung poeple today, if plunged into a situation where they had to solve any of thoe typical problems from back then, would do just fine. I hope we can put this groundless and oft-disproved opinion from the OP to rest now. From what I have seen the thread author has yet to provide even a singe fact or even compelling idea as to why he thinks today's younger people are left wanting intelledtually and morally. it is simply personal opinion. And we know what that is worth insofar as the scientific method is conerned, right?