MonDie

Details! The one thing I can think of is astrology. Astrologers took something completely irrelevant, planetary motion, and imbued it with occult mystery. Geocentrism persisted because they could not detect stellar parallax.

So some muslims accept mainstream evolution completely, just as some Christians do. However, has religion ever helped? Grievances: - Religion spreads unscientific alternatives and suppresses the teaching of the scientific theories, and has even threatened their advocates with execution. Commendations: - Ironically, opponents have given certain scientific theories more hype???

The same goes for any sport. This isn't unique to hunting.

Klaynos, I can't follow you. Could you introduce us to some of the underlying concepts? I recall that Cambridge in Colour was a good online resource for cameras and lighting.

"Religion" includes all belief systems which are considered religions. I think we can agree on that.

Perhaps a better question is whether religion has ever helped science.

There should be standardized lighting and camera specs for biological photography. It would simplify color comparisons greatly.

IMO religion only goes awry by telling us what's beyond rather than embracing the unpredictable as unknowable. As a layman metaethicist I've reasoned that actions are more immediately important than beliefs, and that a belief's subjective emotional effects are relevant. Certainly less than accurate, but not necessarily completely wrong. By what method do you quantify religious variation for probabilistic analysis?

To test for intelligent intervention, you have to predict what that intelligence would have done.

I was going to suggest genes in the major histocompatibility complex, except I don't know how the associated peptides differ functionally. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/HLA-B "The HLA-B gene has many possible variations, allowing each person's immune system to react to a wide range of foreign invaders. Hundreds of versions (alleles) of the HLA-B gene are known, each of which is given a particular number (such as HLA-B27)." Mmmm, this looks like a good intro to the MHC. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27156/

New criteria for the photoreceptive theory: - can detect differences in hue - reproduce sexually and avoid inbreeding Bees actually see a broader range of color than we, but bees don't actually search for mates. Per the link below, the drones fly out of the nest chasing the evacuating queen, and it's here that they compete for her. http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/qt/Honey-Bee-Mating.htm They inbreed, mating within the colony. If this mating strategy rules out hybridization, then we have an exception. Yes, the model works for flowers if you think of the bee as an extension of the flower involved in fertilization. Apparently bees exhibit flower constancy, meaning they consistently choose the same flower species. This means that a bee-pollinated flower might recieve more pollen by distinguishing itself from other closely related species. Thus the cycle of color exaggeration begins, that is, at least, according to this highly speculative theory I just made up.

I guess it's my theory then. My photoreceptive speciation theory predicts that bumblebees cannot detect differences in hue, and likewise for the grasshoppers unless the grasshopper species is undergoing speciation. If a species can distinguish hues, color distinctions will develop between species (unlike the bumblees). Furthermore, color schemes will be conserved within species (unlike the grasshoppers), and the appearance of different color schemes will indicate that speciation is occurring. The bumblebee's cryptic coloration did not override, but it was maintained because color had no other function.

Don't forget that they lived to be hundreds of years old! They don't deny mutation; they deny beneficial mutation, emphasizing that most mutations are neutral. If so, then no gene should have 5+ functional copies.

and so the brain and the mind remain a mystery.

A problem. If I can trust that alilaMedicalMedia video (can I?), then heightened dopamine levels eventually desensitize the person to the relatively smaller spikes in dopamine. That is, the brain compensates. Your "Type A" sounds more like ADHD, which is due to an underdeveloped cortex of the frontal and temporal lobes. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2007/brain-matures-a-few-years-late-in-adhd-but-follows-normal-pattern.shtml

Color is a more trivial change than morphology, so perhaps it's more likely to become a hybridization barrier, as explained below. Male mandrills and peacocks both use colorful displays. I have to say, this is a pretty cool theory. I doubt we're the first, but we should be proud of it. It could explain the origin of colorful sexual displays.

Exactly! That is, if it's the speed of the exhaust relative to the vehicle upon ejection / thrust. If m0 < 2m1 then m0/m1 < 2 then ln(m0/m1) < 0.7 and vf or Δv < 0.7ve Then why is it using Δv? Δv would mean change in speed, but under your description, the ultimate value of Δv (v2 - v1) would only be the speed of that target planet relative to the home planet, not the max speed. ?????

Also not a trivial assumption, considering that nothing close to a multi-generation ship has been successfully demonstrated on anything smaller than a solar system. How much propellant to fast-foward with special relativity?

The one just preceding is also good. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1506.05869v2.pdf

Unless the swan-neck is waiting for some unique, flying microbe to come along, then a neck length proportional to the soak time should solve this. Is a water-"tight" seal really so tight that even an H2O molecule cannot penetrate it? This thing will have to open up for filling. Perhaps a sterile, specially designed cloth could allow air in yet keep microbes out.

This needs some sources else it'll be thrown in Speculations.

Off-topic... but not all fireworks. http://environment.about.com/od/healthenvironment/a/toxicfireworks.htm

I knew I'd forgotten one: "cracker".

But people are happier when they follow their own dreams. Another best: Every year, on this date, we celebrate the invention of gunpowder by Chinese alchemists.

Professionals use "hacking" to mean changing software or firmware from the original design [sic]. Better terms include "intruder", "attacker", and "penetration".