Sayonara

By absorbing nutrients from the ground and gaseous matter from the atmosphere. Also by being alive and carrying out complex and very apparent biochemical processes.

The Open University is the UK's biggest distance learning centre which is accredited as a university. They do online degrees, masters, etc. http://www.open.ac.uk Not sure how much it costs for overseas students though, and there may be limitations if the course requires group tutorials.

Since you are looking for online courses, it might be beneficial to cast your net wider and look for any institutions which offer internationally-recognised qualifications. That way you are not just limited to what is on offer in Canada.

PDF is showing a 404.

http://cert.startcom.org/

You could also give your students sub-atomic roles and let them "act out" elements and molecules.

Is this 18mm a year supposed to be an average unilateral increase in the Earth's radius, or is it actually referring to an increase of the equatorial bulge due to some kind of flattening effect? After doing some research on the web it seems that this is just the product of someone's imagination. Even Maxlow can't be bothered citing a source for his 18mm claim, and NASA don't appear to have anything to say about it. OK, I'll make a video and post it on youtube. In this video I shall make the claim that NASA reported the Earth's radius increases by 36mm a year. Now who are you going to believe? Obviously you have already chosen your source but hopefully you see the point. Firstly science books and 'science' books are not peer-reviewed, so never take them at face value. Secondly, anyone with sufficient academic stamina can get a PhD. Some people even buy them. I suggest that if you are going to pin your reputation on someone making a controversial claim which is based on hearsay, you look into their background and track record carefully first.

I don't really see the need for two threads on this. Original is here: http://www.scienceforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=34472 FYI we do not repost the same topic just because the thread is moved or we don't like the replies it gets.

Sort of yes and no. The mutations which allow resistance are what you'd call the new information, and although yes they do pre-exist the introduction of the antibiotic, they are still novel expressions of genetic programming as far as that strain of bacteria is concerned. The mechanism is pretty well understood; it's getting your head around the interpretation of experimental results that sometimes throws a spanner in the works. The thing is, the creationist model doesn't provide any alternative testable mechanism, or predictions of its own, so it's not a theory in the scientific sense. In fact, when pressed for an explanation, creationists usually end up citing their interpretation of "microevolution" as the mechanism, which is not really helping their case at all. Bless 'em. Assuming they had heard of the ceiling cat (and let's assume they have, because lolcats have pretty much done the internet rounds now), there's no more reason for them to ascribe it some sort of causal responsibility in those areas you mentioned than there is any reason for them to ascribe the same responsibilities to a yoghurt or a plant-pot. The basic unit of research is hypothesise a mechanism, predict what will happen if that mechanism exists, devise an experiment to test the scenario. I think really what he is saying here is that it is a hindrance to those people who lack a belief in evolution but wish to be employed within some kind of industry or agency that primarily deals with products or services which are rooted in the biological sciences. The whole tone of the article seems to be "if you believe evolution is a lie, then you are not going to get a job in a biological field". Which is fair enough really, because regardless of whether or not evolutionary theory provides real practical advantages to (for example) biotechnology industries, someone who considers the evolutionary sciences to be false is going to have a highly compromised -- if not downright distorted -- understanding of the other biological areas which they need to know to do the job.

As far as we know, it will be more of an inconvenience than anything else. Compasses pointing south, etc. Also possibly disruption to radio and satellite communications. It's probably nothing we won't be able to deal with.

jsispat, if planets grow from meteroids, where does all the extra mass come from? Also, where do the elements come from which are found on planets like Earth, but not in meteroids?

The great thing about this sentence is that it is really really versatile, but never gets any closer to providing an evidentially credible explanation. Yet, a mime artist would also offer an explanation for the wasp's ability to stand on a hose. Yet, a ceiling cat would also offer an explanation for the wasp's ability to stand on a hose. Yet, a pole dancer would also offer an explanation for the wasp's ability to stand on a hose. Yet, a strawberry cheesecake would also offer an explanation for the wasp's ability to stand on a hose. And so on.

There is a very loud noise. Which is appropriate, seeing as it's a conflict of words and not physical bodies.

Yes, that link was for the other people reading this thread.

I was going to say "because it's easy and it works", then I saw that dichotomy had beaten me to the punch so I didn't. Except that I did.

Wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_physics#It_from_bit

Apparently nobody else is going to ask this so I will: what does "it from bit" mean?

Yes. You will need to find the Triangle of Zinthar, and combine it with the triangle that you found during the shooting of My Fair Lady. Once combined the two triangles will form the Diamond of Pantheos, which will transform you into Mecha-iNow. This will summon Robert Smith of the Cure in his Mothra persona. Robert Smith will perform a Robot Punch to dislodge the Diamond of Pantheos from your nose. You will then have to avoid him while you transform back into iNow, otherwise he will throw you into space where you will explode. Once this is done, ask Robert Smith to kindly turn on your speakers before he leaves

I think there might be an element of practicality here which you are somehow overlooking.

Synchronise them with what?

That happened to me yesterday as well. However once Robert Smith of The Cure came around and turned on my speakers, everything was okay. True story.

Yes, that does make it clearer. A good example are sorting algorithms which are based on natural selection. It's much easier and faster to sift through x million possible molecular configurations to find the one you are looking for if you involve selection in your filtering process. Here is a practical example which uses a selective learning process to identify the molecular signature of tumours: http://genomebiology.com/2005/6/9/R76

I'm not certain what the quote has to do with the evolutionary sciences. Advances in biotechnology will come largely from biochemistry at the planning end of things, not evolutionary theory. It seems to me that the only way you could crow-bar evolution into that quote is if you decide that it is only possible to approach any given scenario from a religious or evolutionary direction. Have I just missed the point? Anyway, to (sort of) answer your question. the practical use of evolutionary theory is difficult to sum up, because the range of disciplines covered by that term "evolutionary" is so very broad. Did you have any particular element of evolution in mind, such as Natural Selection?

Cuil for admin!

This is neither pseudoscience or speculation. It is just... bad.