Ophiolite

gib65 - google Milankovitch cycles. The recent group of ice ages, with their intergalcials have been greatly effected by three factors: the precession of the equinoxes; variations in the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit; changes in the magnitude of axial tilt. When the effects of these on incident solar energy are compared with data on global temperatures there is excellent corellation. One long term disappointment of our current profligate use of fossil fuels is that they would have been very handy for burning by our ancestors in a few thousand years when the next ice advance was due.

It is the first of Dawkin's books where I have not been utterly turned off by his typical self aggrandising, presumptuous, unscientific blinkered approach to his subject matter. In this work he actually uses to the full, with proper and praiseworthy acknowledgement, the research of others. It is a fascinating work and quite sufficient for me to forgive all his earlier hubris.

Mark, I missed your original post. I have now read your article. It has many minor inaccuracies, but these are insignificant compared with its major flaw. You are recommending investment in technologies for which there is a) no evidence they will work b) plenty of evidence they will not work That does not appear to me to be a sensible way to invest research funding. Indeed it rather reminds me of the story of the drunk who was found stumbling around under a lamp post. A passerby asked if he was in need of help. "I lost my keys over there by the library." "So why are you looking for them here?" "It's dark over there. It's light here."

It is wholly natural, sunspot. Many mammalian and avian species have practicing homosexuals. Hardly a cultural effect, then. In humans, at least, it appears to be related to events occuring in utero. For example: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2005;29(7):1057-66. The neurodevelopment of human sexual orientation. Rahman Q. One of the most enduring and controversial questions in the neuroscience of sexual behaviour surrounds the mechanisms which produce sexual attraction to either males or females. Here, evidence is reviewed which supports the proposal that sexual orientation in humans may be laid down in neural circuitry during early foetal development. Behaviour genetic investigations provide strong evidence for a heritable component to male and female sexual orientation. Linkage studies are partly suggestive of X-linked loci although candidate gene studies have produced null findings. Further evidence demonstrates a role for prenatal sex hormones which may influence the development of a putative network of sexual-orientation-related neural substrates. However, hormonal effects are often inconsistent and investigations rely heavily on 'proxy markers'. A consistent fraternal birth order effect in male sexual orientation also provides support for a model of maternal immunization processes affecting prenatal sexual differentiation. The notion that non-heterosexual preferences may reflect generalized neurodevelopmental perturbations is not supported by available data. These current theories have left little room for learning models of sexual orientation. Future investigations, across the neurosciences, should focus to elucidate the fundamental neural architecture underlying the target-specific direction of human sexual orientation, and their antecedents in developmental neurobiology.

In which context? Geography, architecture, surveying, biology, directional drilling, other?

However, from Penin X, Berge C, Baylac M. Ontogenetic study of the skull in modern humans and the common chimpanzees: neotenic hypothesis reconsidered with a tridimensional Procrustes analysis. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2002 May;118(1):50-62. we have this observation: Thus, the reduced prognathism, the flexed cranial base (forward position of the foramen magnum which is brought closer to the palate), the reduced anterior portion of the face, the reduced glabella, and the prominent nose mainly correspond to functional innovations which have nothing to do with a neotenic process in human evolution. The statistical analysis used here gives us the possibility to point out that some traits, which have been classically described as paedomorphic because they superficially resemble juvenile traits, are in reality independent of growth. In short, let us be wary of fashion in science. Link: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/93013173/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum.

I suspect a large number of people, in general, falsely believe that consciousness is either responsible for thinking, or is the same thing as thinking. I think.

May I applaud you most sincerely sunspot. Most crank posters have a chosen field of insanity, but I see you are pursuing nonsense in astrophysics, geophysics and evolution on separate threads. Quite a different level of delusion from the normal. Very refreshing. Do keep it up. Perhaps a foray into missing elements in the periodic table next? May I ask in passing if you are privy to any of the meetings of the Illuminati?

You do realise you are talking nonsense? Just what exactly is the 'genetic output of the hypothalmus'? The output is in the form of signals. There is absolutely no change in the genetic character of the cells involved, yet this is what you are stating. Provide a single shred of evidence to support such a ludicrous suggestion.You will note that I have deliberately used emotive words (nonsense, ludicrous) in the above. If you have even a passing understanding of biology and genetics you will recognise that what you are proposing is at odds with just about all the fundamentals. If you are going to speculate so wildly, with no supporting evidence, then you must expect some vigorous criticism.

These were on my bedside table: they are what I am currently reading. Before The Flood Ian Wilson Dramatic new evidence the Biblical Flood was a real-life event The Ancestor's Tale Richard Dawkins A Pilgimage to the Dawn of Life The Dinosaur Hunters Deborah Cadbury A story of scientific rivalry and the discovery of the prehistoric world Lorna Doone R.D.Blackmore In The Kingdom of Gorillas Bill Webber and Amy Vedder The Quest to save Rwanda's mountain gorillas RedemptionArk Alastair Reynolds Science fiction novel The Tesseract Alex Garland Complex novel by the author of The Beach Man of Everest Tenzing Norgay/James Ullman Autobiography of Tenzing Black, White & Gold Kelly Holmes Autobiography of double gold Olympic medallist Venus II Bougher et al Geology, geophysics, atmosphere and solar wind environment Mars: The Living Planet Digregorio et al Examination of evidence for life on Mars Chasing the Molecule John Buckingham The development of the understanding of molecular structure The Whig Supremacy 1714-1760 Basil Williams Vol 11 of The Oxford History of England The Age of Reform 1815-1870 Sir Llewellyn Woodard Vol 13 of The Oxford History of England National Geographic Encylopedia of Space Origins Ron Redfern The evolution of continents, ocean and life Actually, this list is a week or two old. I have finished three of them and started onto two more.

It would only be hypocrisy if those attacking SUV drivers were not also attacking air transport.

It took me several hours to respond to your post.

Thank you for your kind words. This is off-topic, but after such concision I am feeling garrolous. In the 1960s I was reading book reviews in the Observer, a quality Sunday newspaper in the UK. This was one of the reviews. The Art of Brevity Author's Name Publisher Excellent. I rarely achieve the standard such a review sets, but from time to time I try.

Doing the right thing always carries a price.

Hmmm. Let me think about that.

I voted that you were a pinko commie, for these reasons: a) I assumed it was equivalent to the option "I'm buggered if I know" b) I like being contrary. c) For me pinko commie is a compliment and I wanted to thank you for opening a potentially interesting thread.

I recommend beta-blockers. You mustn't get yourself so worked up. You are in sunny Florida, right? Smell the flowers; swim in the ocean; relax. You are in danger of acquiring an agenda and suite of prejudices to go with it. You're too nice a guy for that to happen to.

Were I a theist - I am a devout agnostic - I would trumpeting evolution as evidence of the wonders of God: to set in motion something like the Universe that moved towards ever increasing complexity and generated living, conscious beings would represent the omnipotence and omniscience of the creator in a truly wonderful way. The narrow minded, bible literalist beliefs are an offense to my notion of what God would be like. It takes all sorts to make a world........but only one sort to understand it.

I think we may have a lot in common' date=' PanGloss [apart from both being [i']homo sapiens[/i]]. We both attempt to use logic and reason to arrive at our conclusions. So, whilst our conclusions must largely remain opinions, we feel they are well founded opinions.Naturally, I think my opinion, at least in this matter, has a stronger foundation. Let me illustrate (note I do not say prove) why? At the outset I shall ignore any motiviation for 'the war on terror'. I have my thoughts on that, but they are irrelevant to my main thesis. The stated purpose of the 'war on terror' is (as I understand it) to protect the lives of US citizens, US residents, and secondarily peaceful persons globally, from terrorist attacks. I am not going on a google hunt to impress you with my acquired knowledge. You are a smart individual: you have a rough idea of the numbers associated with each of these. Persons killed in road traffic 'accidents' in the US each year Persons killed in the US as a result of driving while intoxicated by drugs or alcohol Persons killed in the US as a result of illegal drug taking Persons murdered in the US Persons dying in hospital as the result of errors (to the unitiated, this is a scary one) You may be able to think of similar categories. It seems plain to me that on a cold blooded, hard headed, actuarial basis, the 'war on terror' is a waste of money. The cost of this 'war on terror', applied to one or more of the real killers of innocent (or just ill informed)citizens could make a real difference to the number of dead. Statistically it is just not valid. It is a waste of money.

I have several well authenticated memories from just after I turned three - a trip to London from a small island in Scotland - dramatic contrast, several recollections. Most people I have spoken to of early memories seem to have theirs begin between five and seven, which just seems incredibly late to me. CanadaAots was even more precocious than me. How about the rest of you?

Part of the problem is that a lot of the really serious experimentation took place microscopically, very early in the Earth's history. There simply is no record (as yet detected) of what alternate pathways or chemicals were tried that failed either through pure chance or because in Earth's precise environment they were marginally less fit. Maybe these alternate pathways are so poor they never even get started. Maybe they get started, but are quickly overwhelmed by DNA etc. We simply do not know --- yet. That's what makes it fun. And bascule, we may be displaying the limits of our imagination if we restrict ourselves to thinking of cells. Imagine viral like entities that inhabit lipid coated, organic rich, water droplets long enough to generate a few more of their ilk before the droplets dry out and the spores are spread on the wind till they encounter their next water droplet.

The Death Star. This particular object was spotted when it was within a couple of degrees of the ecliptic. That's where we tend to look. The recent spate of KBOs have been discovered for two reasons: improved equipment; we are looking for them. There are going to be a lot more to follow. I'd lay 50:50 odds that it will emerge that the Kuiper Belt isn't a belt, but a cloud, just like the speculative Oort Cloud. And that will have implications, once again, for the mechanisms of planetary formation.

Not at all. The fault lies plainly at the door of the American electorate, especially the large proportion who chose not to vote. Reflect on the wisdom of the expression "A nation gets the government it deserves." A sobering thought.