Ringer

That's assuming we actually can build spaceships, colonize other planets, and have a survivable population which doesn't seem to be any better than science fiction either. You're messing with time frames though. 1 generation for one species isn't 1 generation for another. Short generation time is something that allows quick adaptations to environmental changes for the long term. Long generation times means one has to acclimate and tends to allow harsher effects on a population when the environment changes. Even with all our antibiotics, those bacteria are still around.

I should probably mention that my numbers are per 1000 residents, not the absolute number.

Well, it depends on what you mean by a lot. I can't find the numbers for guns specifically but the number of assaults, rapes, robberies, and murders in Ferguson is 80 in 2012 (only 2 murders, 3 rapes, 38 robberies, and 37 assaults). To put that in perspective, where I live (which is usually considered a pretty safe place to live) had more than 3 times that in assaults alone (8 murders. . . 56 rapes [REALLY?!?!?], 199 robberies, and 297 assaults). We have a poor population that have been feeling more free to shoot at each other (they tend to have horrible aim) but there are very few known instances of police using highly excessive or deadly force when it is seemingly necessary. Then again, the police seem to be rather 'hands off' around here, but that seems to be fairly consistent in any area that doesn't have a population with a lot of money.

So you're saying if there is a high probability that people will do something that is the way people should act, therefore it is good? Does that hold true in small population samples? Meaning, would a behavior that would be maladaptive in, say, very hot climates such as wearing a lot of warm and insulated clothing be 'bad' there, but be 'good' in places that are very cold? If we can distribute 'good' and 'bad' in those ways (by small populations) that means places with a very high murder rate (meaning the probability of murdering or being murdered is very high)have a 'good' that is murdering or being murdered.

It depends on what sort of organism and what kind of engineering you plan to do.

You can probably feel free to have her day dreaming. It's difficult to say whether living species can form complex and abstract ideas, let alone species that have been extinct for any period of time

Where would they fit it to the circulatory/nervous system? The support system necessary for gills wouldn't be worth the cost unless you planned on living underwater constantly. Then you would have a host of other problems such as buoyancy control, osmotic regulation, etc.

The voltage or ligand gated channels open due to their respective stimuli to let in (or out) ions. The ions change the potential to threshold, that's when the voltage gated channels open. So the ligand and mechanical are the cause of the ion concentration change that lead to the voltage gates to open. [edit] To be a bit clearer, the voltage doesn't effect the mechanical or ligand channels, they effect the potential of the cell and lead to the threshold. But any channel can have multiple types of gated types. [/edit]

I'm not sure what you mean.

Because our circulatory system isn't a part of our ventricular system, so the system and their products evolved to do what they do. Nothing 'tells' evolution to do anything. Some things happen, some of those things stick around, others don't. Asking a why question in evolution isn't productive because the only answer is, 'because that's how it happened'.

You could also think of the rep system as a way of paying someone for the time they put into the discussion. We're all here on our own time and put however much thought and effort into our posts as we want to. Most of the time I give rep is because someone put in the work of researching the topic, understanding the discussion, posting links, helping others, making a point better than I could, etc and they deserve a sign that their work is appreciated. The system in itself is meaningless, but it helps us know if our contributions show the amount of work or thought is above (or below for neg rep) the expectation of normal contributions. Every community has ways of enforcing norms and expectations, the reputation system is just a shorthand extension of that.

It seems you're assuming a handgun or assault rifle here. When I was young we used our rifles to make sure coyotes didn't get to any of the animals on the farm. We also used them to hunt during hunting season. Fundamentally they served a useful purpose and they were used to kill things that were killed for a purpose. Much like trees that are being killed for a purpose. But so many people are extremely dumb in the way they use their weapons.

You just blew my mind. I have never seen nor heard of these.

Tapirs, or any perissodactyl, wouldn't have sharp canines. Virtually all of them that I know of have molariform canines or no canines at all. Honestly it looks more like a piece of an antler to me. The shape of it seems a bit too long and thin. Look at pictures of canine teeth and you should see they are much thicker at that length. Also, being so straight with that much of a curve at the end looks more like antler growth that tooth growth.

I'm guessing Delta is making the point that you are just describing CSF now.