StringJunky

Without thoughtful manipulation, cameras and photographs can only tell lies. As long as the image is true to the photographer's 'vision' of what lay before him it is as near as technically possible to true fidelity (provided fidelity is the goal). It's about understanding the limitations of one's equipment and adapting one's methods to accommodate or record those parts of a scene that matter in the absence of the equipment's ability to record it all. Awareness of these limiting elements are absolutely necessary when viewing images made in environments like on the Moon so one can understand why the images look the way they do.

People "see" UFO's but that doesn't make them true; did you assay it? Explaining yourself to doubters is an essential part of what science is all about...ever heard of peer review?

I know I've said the above myself as well but I came across this: Mammalian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is thought to be strictly maternally inherited.1,2 Sperm mitochondria disappear in early embryogenesis by selective destruction, inactivation, or simple dilution by the vast surplus of oocyte mitochondria.3 Very small amounts of paternally inherited mtDNA have been detected by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in mice after several generations of interspecific backcrosses.4 Studies of such hybrids and of mouse oocytes microinjected with sperm support the hypothesis that sperm mitochondria are targeted for destruction by nuclear-encoded proteins.5-7 We report the case of a 28-year-old man with mitochondrial myopathy due to a novel 2-bp mtDNA deletion in the ND2 gene (also known as MTND2), which encodes a subunit of the enzyme complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. We determined that the mtDNA harboring the mutation was paternal in origin and accounted for 90 percent of the patient's muscle mtDNA. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa020350 Herpetologyfangirl, you could spin that aspect by saying the sperm was acquired from human strain that contained a persistent or transferable form of mtDNA or something like that. I'm sure Arete or CharonY could come up with something.

There is the not insignificant problem of it not having any mitochondria I suspect...I'm no biologist though. I understand this aspect of genetic coding comes from the female line only.

Instead of looking to control the algae directly why not look into controlling the cooling-water's dissolved and suspended components ie create and maintain an inhospitable environment for the algae...look at reducing ambient-light levels as well. I found this article on Best Management Practice: Cooling Tower Management by the US DoE that you might get something useful from.

His username is finnish for illusion...nuff sed.

Where is the "religion" in this conversation?

There are more large particles like smog and clouds than in morning air. Mie scattering by larger particles The intense reds and peach colors in brilliant sunrises come from Mie scattering by atmospheric dust and aerosols, like the water droplets that make up clouds. We only see these intense reds and peach colors at sunrise and sunset, because it takes the long pathlengths of sunrise and sunset through a lot of air for Rayleigh scattering to deplete the violets and blues from the direct rays. The remaining reddened sunlight can then be scattered by cloud droplets and other relatively large particles to light up the horizon red and orange <snip> Sunrise vs. Sunset colors Sunset colors are sometimes more brilliant than sunrise colors because evening air typically contains more large particles, such as clouds and smog, than morning air. These particles glow orange and red due to Mie scattering during sunsets and sunrises because they are illuminated with the longer wavelengths that remain after Rayleigh scattering.[6][10][9][13] If the concentration of large particles is too high (such as during heavy smog), the color intensity and contrast is diminished and the lighting becomes more homogenous. When very few particles are present, the reddish light is more concentrated around the Sun and is not spread across and away from the horizon.[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunrise

What I meant was when I looked at imatfaal's example initially I couldn't see the furthest dot accelerating away in my mind but when I actually replicated it I did see it. Interpretation is important as you say as well.

It appears to be one of the few things where you have to have a working prototype rather than just present a description. http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2011/10/11/the-patent-law-of-perpetual-motion/id=19828/

Exactly...measurement is king.

I agree with Moon, seven is too early. I think it wants to be just before high school or at the start when matters of sex and relationships are most likely starting to enter their awareness naturally. I'm all for allowing naivete to prevail as long as practically possible; one is an adult a lot longer than one is a child.

That's what was puzzling me: the further away something is the the more the perspective compresses and so should appear to move slower with increasing distance. I need to get down to first principles on this subject which I lack.

Imatfaal's demo was fine for me...I was only interested in the increasing rate-of-recession velocity aspect which he clearly demonstrated his suggestion that it is an artifact of expansion; it didn't matter about the marks expanding as that was irrelevant in this instance. You might take some time out studying what analogies are and their limitations and also you can't expect someone to give a whole treatise covering every aspect of cosmological expansion in one post...that's what books are for.

Thanks for putting that together imatfaal. I appreciate it. I replicated your demo to help me see what was happening and I think I see what you mean. I took on board what Airbrush said and done this graphic...is it correct?

The further away a receding galaxy is from us the faster it recedes. Is the increasing rate of recession with distance due to spacetime curvature; much like, analogously, when you see the sun setting...it apparently 'drops' quicker towards the horizon? I can't get my head around why the recession velocity increases with distance. I have no problem understanding expansion itself from any given point.

The longest wavelength is twice the length of a string not the same as. Strings: Each end of the string is fixed and therefore a node with an antinode in the middle. Since the wavelength is twice the distance between the nodes, the longest wavelength is twice the length of the string. This is known as the fundamental mode or fundamental frequency. http://ibphysicsstuff.wikidot.com/standing-waves

What does that mean?

ajb, a person is gay or not, one can't encourage it. The law in the UK allows for the freedom of expression of ones gender preference and if that represents normalisation then more power to that law. I think it is important that it is put across to the youngsters that same-sex attraction is normal; what's the point of having law declaring equal rights if the establishment doesn't visibly act as though they are equal? We are still in the learning curve, as a society, trying to bring this aspect of human relationships to point where it's a non-issue and that's why it's brought to light in the classroom. At the most, regarding your concern, some essentially heterosexual youngsters may try it in the spirit of experimentation but ultimately their own biology will kick in and they will pursue heterosexual relationships...no big deal. I've read enough to know that being surrounded by gay people or gay information does not make a person gay. You don't like onions, say; is being surrounded by them and understanding their life cycle going to make you want to eat them? You won't concern yourself about anyone else eating them will you? It's not my cup of tea but for some people it is and I really don't think they should have any status in society less than mine. As a society in Europe we are in transition, slowly embracing behaviours that were once not acceptable and the education system is bringing that to reality. The system is only encouraging those with gay aspirations to feel normal...it is only bringing those, like who once stood in the shadows, into the light.

This section is not the place for beliefs.

What about the separation from centrifugal forces in a spinning, molten early-Earth? The heavy radioactive elements would be on the outside wouldn't they? I read this in a hypothesis for the formation of the Moon where there was a sufficient concentration to cause an eruption that lead to a separation of a portion of the Earth's material into space. Nasa article: http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/articles/did-the-moon-form-in-natural-nuclear-explosion/ The paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/1001.4243 This is not actual evidence against what you saying but it is a proposed possible mechanism.

If you get Stardust by John Gribbin it will give you a gentle, very readable introduction to chemistry and how all the elements came into being in the cosmos making up everything around us including ourselves. It should help give you a sound start for your sci-fi stories giving them a little bit of scientific plausibility where you can give it!

Chemical elements are defined by the number of protons in their nucleus; each additional proton creates a new element. The first 98 elements occur naturally. The ones that contain 92 protons or more, become more and more unstable with each additional proton such that eventually they can only be synthesised in the lab and exist for only a very brief time before they lose some of their nuclei components and become one of the more stable elements with fewer protons. The upshot is that the chances of finding a new stable element are about zero so the chances of life forming, based on an undiscovered element, are the same.

Science is not deliberately obfuscated; when one starts to talk about fundamental mechanisms and phenomena in the verbal or visual form we have to use abstractions and analogies that use real world examples that are, in reality, only coarse approximations of what's really happening. The only way to really get to grips with it is via the use of maths. If you can't do that you are going to have a tough time understanding it properly. Most scientific concepts are mathematical constructs derived from measurement...it's quite removed from everyday methods of analysing things and this is probably why you find it so alien. Just keep reading science by scientists and you'll eventually get used to it. You could ask here for layman's treatments of any ideas that you are interested in. John Gribbin's books for cosmological subjects are quite accessible for example.

He's trying to make the world fit his beliefs rather than the other way round...like all good creationists.