StringJunky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have unearthed fossils in a coastal desert of southern Peru of a four-legged whale that thrived both in the sea and on land about 43 million years ago in a discovery that illuminates a pivotal stage in early cetacean evolution. The 13-foot-long (4-meter) mammal, named Peregocetus pacificus, represents a crucial intermediate step before whales became fully adapted to a marine existence, the scientists said on Thursday. Read more: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-science-whale/ancient-four-legged-whale-from-peru-walked-on-land-swam-in-sea-idUKKCN1RG1ZF

OK. Thanks for elaborating.

I think I was asking if the environmental niche the salamander found itself in restricted expressions of successful mutations and as such kept a relatively unchanged physiology for a very long time.

OK. Cheers.

I think we need CharonY or Arete to say what can be read from it.

I think a modern organism's ancestral story can be gleaned from its DNA.

Assuming the equivalent environmental sensors are there and the program contains all the necessary information that makes a human, say, I think so. My reasoning is that we are ultimately just information.

OK. Cheers.

Thank you. I keep telling myself I really must sit down and see how all the electrical parameters interrelate mathematically and then it would make more sense to me.

Yes, that was the one that triggered the thought last. Yes, being ''optimally'' evolved for their environment, which may be not be accommodating of further mutations could be a reason. Cheers. Why do you think I wrote 'living fossils'; it's just an expression to describe something that has changed little over a long time. Taken literally, it's an oxymoron.

Occasionally, I read about creatures that have remained relatively unchanged for a hundred million years or more. Does this mean they have stable DNA or is it due to some other factor?

Coulombs?

How much/big is a charge and what is its unit. I'm a bit thick on electricity.

That's probably the way to address the issue when it arises: ask a mod to re-open it and tell them why. I can see it being a rare thing but sorts it out, I reckon. Also, it's not the same as the OP asking to re-open it.

For the record: I think the balance of judgements made is about right. I don't want to see any more fluff than we are getting currently. If the moderating was OTT there would no dodgy threads at all, so some leniency is actually evident at any given time.

People have their own particular way with words and, like in the real world, familiarity brings understanding. Too often, as you are doing here, people are too quick to pass judgement on post presentation and the general conversational style of the forum. It takes time to understand the style and lingo of a hobby or interest forum. Scientists and enthusiasts are generally dispassionately terse and to the point; padding with soft words is not their usual thing.

Each element on the right hand side should always add up to the same as the left hand side, so look at each element in all the compounds on the left hand side and add them up together, then see if you have any elements left to add to the right hand side. It might be easier to see what's going on written like this: Al2O3 + Na2CO3 -> NaAlO2 + CO2 PCl5 + KNO2 -> NOCl + POCl3 + KCl

The fact that he says he's fiction writer is irrelevant to his question. He's asking a question with educational intent.

Wouldn't calculating the depth from all the world's ice melting set the limit, plus a bit for whatever the atmosphere is holding?

Nice idea but not realistic.

Sensei, you should know by now that you cannot successfully argue about subjects founded on arbitrary belief, like those you mentioned.

I would put it this way: If the water has lost its surface tension then the surface it is on is said to be 'wet' because it is spread out over the surface but if the water beads discretely whereby it retains its surface tension that surface is not wet. The wetness is a function of its surface tension and whether it is there or not..

Exactly.

It's a bit sad really, to think that, considering the behaviour patterns of our mods is well-known. The last thing I would call them is censorial. The lines have been drawn through years of experience.

I had a look at a ship stern bluff video and it looks like it tome. I'm no connoisseur though. With a $237000 camera I think he would opt for the best locations.