Interesting Stuff Thread

MrPudding

Cabaal wrote: »

http://gizmodo.com/this-comprehensive-map-traces-463-of-the-bibles-major-1188177994?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

This Comprehensive Map Traces 463 of the Bible's Contradictions

CONTEXT!!!

MrP

Sarky

Scientists successfully grow miniature human brains from re-engineered skin cells.

Apparently the brains are about the size you'd find in a 9 week old foetus, they're not considering trying for larger structures because of the ethical ramifications, and there's a whole sh*ttonne of potential study to be had with these as it is. No doubt someone is going to denounce this research as blasphemy and murder anyway.

Bannasidhe

Sarky wrote: »

Scientists successfully grow miniature human brains from re-engineered skin cells.

Apparently the brains are about the size you'd find in a 9 week old foetus, they're not considering trying for larger structures because of the ethical ramifications, and there's a whole sh*ttonne of potential study to be had with these as it is. No doubt someone is going to denounce this research as blasphemy and murder anyway.

If it is 'murder' to abort a fetus that has no brain will it also be 'murder' to abort a brain with no fetus?

Sarky

Particularly if these brains weren't created by the sacred act of filthy shameful sex that you should feel bad about enjoying?

gaynorvader

Sarky wrote: »

Particularly if these brains weren't created by the sacred act of filthy shameful sex that you should feel bad about enjoying?

Aren't they pretty much soulless, biological computers?

Sarky

One would think so, going by everything the religious kooks rant about. I'm sure they'll find an excuse in Ireland to rant ignorantly about this one.

Just look at the comments section, if you dare. Plenty of calls for the "re-establishment" of the Christian United States, to boot out these evil liberal researchers.

None of them seem to have read far enough to realise it was done in a university in Vienna... :pac:

seamus

Pretty sure if they can get these microbrains to do "stuff" then loopholes will be found in the ethical concerns.

"Oh look, when we connect two of them together, they do <stuff> four times faster. Let's try linking a thousand of them together and see how quickly it works.
....
Damn, these eletronic linkages are too slow, they're hindering the speed the nodes can collaborate. How about we grow some dense nerve fibres and see if they link together organically..."

Sarky

They look to be focusing on understanding early brain development and its effects on things like schizophrenia more than looking for uses for wee organic brains.

For now, anyway. I certainly can't see anything wrong with what they're doing so far.

gaynorvader

seamus wrote: »

Pretty sure if they can get these microbrains to do "stuff" then loopholes will be found in the ethical concerns.

"Oh look, when we connect two of them together, they do <stuff> four times faster. Let's try linking a thousand of them together and see how quickly it works.
....
Damn, these eletronic linkages are too slow, they're hindering the speed the nodes can collaborate. How about we grow some dense nerve fibres and see if they link together organically..."

Why not much bigger brains? :P

Sarky

I'm no expert but I imagine brains end up wired rather differently after they get big enough. It'd be like trying to make an efficient network by joining together every version of Windows ever released.

robindch

gaynorvader wrote: »

Sarky wrote: »

Particularly if these brains weren't created by the sacred act of filthy shameful sex that you should feel bad about enjoying?

Aren't they pretty much soulless, biological computers?

The fundamentalist catholic view -- unless it's changed without me finding out -- is that artificial means of life production (insemination etc), produces humans who don't have souls.

I can't even begin to imagine the degree of mindmelt that this might cause amongst the heavily religious, but there you go. That's what I believe they believe.

Sarky

Could you get a quote from Popette? :pac:

robindch

Sarky wrote: »

Could you get a quote from Popette? :pac:

Nope! I have no intention of reanimating a long-dead bugbear.

Hotblack Desiato

Synthetic microbrains won't be enough to save us from the zombie apocalypse.
Embiggen 'em.

Turtwig

ninja900 wrote: »

Synthetic microbrains won't be enough to save us from the zombie apocalypse.
Embiggen 'em.

We need something a little more cromulent to save us from that.

Genghiz Cohen

gaynorvader wrote: »

Aren't they pretty much soulless, biological computers?

Wait, are we talking about programmers now?

sbsquarepants

Sarky wrote: »

Scientists successfully grow miniature human brains from re-engineered skin cells.

Apparently the brains are about the size you'd find in a 9 week old foetus, they're not considering trying for larger structures because of the ethical ramifications, and there's a whole sh*ttonne of potential study to be had with these as it is. No doubt someone is going to denounce this research as blasphemy and murder anyway.

It's fascinating stuff - but to be honest i'm not sure at all how i'd feel about having the ability to create conscious sentient entities, would a lab grown brain even achieve sentience? Would it be aware that it's alive at all? Without any sensory input what would it think or experience?.
I'd probably be ok with actual people, provided they are given the same rights and freedoms as you and me, but the thoughts of a lab full of living brains in jars is a bit nightmarish do you not think?

gaynorvader

sbsquarepants wrote: »

It's fascinating stuff - but to be honest i'm not sure at all how i'd feel about having the ability to create conscious sentient entities, would a lab grown brain even achieve sentience? Would it be aware that it's alive at all? Without any sensory input what would it think or experience?.
I'd probably be ok with actual people, provided they are given the same rights and freedoms as you and me, but the thoughts of a lab full of living brains in jars is a bit nightmarish do you not think?

It's an interesting dilemma alright. I wonder would it be able to know anything without any input? Babies learn by using their senses.

recedite

What if you grew a big one, and then transplanted it into the skull of a large gorilla? It should gain full control of the body after a few months, and then.....awesome.

Thwip!

recedite wrote: »

What if you grew a big one, and then transplanted it into the skull of a large gorilla? It should gain full control of the body after a few months, and then.....awesome.

Syfy have their new movie

robindch

Pope Francis announces that a former Vatican resident, a polish goalkeeper named Karol Wojtyła, is much, much holier than anybody thought before:

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/report-pope-francis-says-john-paul-ii-to-be-canonized-april-27/

Obliq

robindch wrote: »

Pope Francis announces that a former Vatican resident, a polish goalkeeper named Karol Wojtyła, is much, much holier than anybody thought before:

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/report-pope-francis-says-john-paul-ii-to-be-canonized-april-27/

"A French religious sister, who was inexplicably cured of Parkinson's disease, led to Blessed John Paul II’s beatification on May 1, 2011. A second miracle, which must occur after a beatification, involved a Costa Rican woman who was cured of a cerebral aneurism the very day of John Paul II’s beatification."

Well that settles the question of whether miracles happen then. May 1st 2011 is also when my whole family recovered from a bad cold and THREE chicks were born alive. It truly was a beatific day.

robindch

Obliq wrote: »

May 1st 2011 is also when my whole family recovered from a bad cold and THREE chicks were born alive. It truly was a beatific day.

May the first is the day my dad was born. No further proof needed.

Saintize the man now.

Cabaal

robindch wrote: »

May the first is the day my dad was born. No further proof needed.

Saintize the man now.

Pfft, this is nothing to do with any pope. anyone who thinks this is silly.

Its the power of the force, clearly these people have a high midichlorian count.

May the 1st be with you,

Obliq

robindch wrote: »

May the first is the day my dad was born. No further proof needed.

Saintize the man now.

I thought that read Sanitize. As you would a germ.

PopePalpatine

May the 1st was the day Ayrton Senna died. Pope JPII's a bastard.

endacl

Thwip! wrote: »

Syfy have their new movie

Gorrillanado!!

Sarky

robindch wrote: »

May the first is the day my dad was born. No further proof needed.

Saintize the man now.

The first of May is also when outdoor f*cking starts. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.

Cienciano

Cool chemical reaction:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=206_1378404426

robindch

Friends are like cousins. Fourth cousins, to be precise:

https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/2272bddcdb0d

FouxDaFaFa

I thought this was pretty cool.

A 15 year old Canadian invents a flashlight powered solely by the user's body heat.

legspin

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

I thought this was pretty cool.

A 15 year old Canadian invents a flashlight powered solely by the user's body heat.

Give that girl a biscuit. I have often though how useful a device like that would be.

FouxDaFaFa

legspin wrote: »

Give that girl a biscuit. I have often though how useful a device like that would be.

I sense some experimenting coming on! I wonder if you could put a plate flush with your skin (say on the wrist, inserted in a wristband) with one side left open to the air while running or something and produce enough electricity to power a small mp3 player.

Mark Hamill

I wonder could it be combined with the heatsink in a laptop, use the waste heat to recharge the laptop (or even just power the back light in the screen).
Could improve heatsink efficiency and battery life.

Hotblack Desiato

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

I thought this was pretty cool.

A 15 year old Canadian invents a flashlight powered solely by the user's body heat.

Caution. Website contains religion.

FouxDaFaFa

ninja900 wrote: »

Caution. Website contains religion.

The name fooled me!

Forgive me!

Sarky

Just home from best manning my brother's wedding. Nice civil ceremony dealy. In and out in half an hour at most, including photography before heading in. Musicians playing You Shook Me All Night Long at the ring ceremony.

Half the audience were over 70, and they loved how it was personal and intimate and above all, short. And having the registry in the same hotel as the afters party meant people could start drinking within 30 seconds of leaving the ceremony. All the good parts of a wedding without any of the preachy bollocks and pointless ritual faff while stuck on a rock hard pew in a drafty church.

I have no idea why anyone would bother with a religious thing, having seen how superior the civil version is in every way.

Dave!

Sarky wrote: »

Just home from best manning my brother's wedding. Nice civil ceremony dealy. In and out in half an hour at most, including photography before heading in. Musicians playing You Shook Me All Night Long at the ring ceremony.

Half the audience were over 70, and they loved how it was personal and intimate and above all, short. And having the registry in the same hotel as the afters party meant people could start drinking within 30 seconds of leaving the ceremony. All the good parts of a wedding without any of the preachy bollocks and pointless ritual faff while stuck on a rock hard pew in a drafty church.

I have no idea why anyone would bother with a religious thing, having seen how superior the civil version is in every way.

Dunno why that's considered a good thing tbh. One of the reservations I'd have about civil ceremonies (having never been to one, but probably having one myself whenever the time comes) is that they appear sterile, impersonal, etc. Ignoring the religious waffle of Church weddings, I think the ritual, pageantry, beautiful building, etc., is quite nice.

I gather Humanist weddings would include a bit more song-and-dance and sentiment than a civil ceremony, so I'd probably be inclined to go for that.

Each to their own I guess.

Hotblack Desiato

Well we did the HSE civil ceremony in Grand Canal St. It was not impersonal or sterile at all. We could choose any (non-religious) music we wanted ('Baby I Love You' - The Ramones :pac: ) there were lots of OAPs present and they all liked it. Everyone who wanted to, got the chance to take a pic of us signing the registry. Basically we could do whatever we wanted within the half hour time slot. How's that impersonal compared to a religious ceremony which is largely dictated to you?

They don't allow overtly religious music or readings though. Some people who were divorced, going for marriage no.2, but still hung up on the catholic thing :rolleyes: were apparently trying it on, trying to make it a bit more churchy...

Peregrinus

Sarky wrote: »

Just home from best manning my brother's wedding. Nice civil ceremony dealy. In and out in half an hour at most . . .

Gotta say I went to a Presbyterian wedding in Scotland which was done and dusted in 13 minutes. They don't muck about.

Sarky wrote: »

And having the registry in the same hotel as the afters party meant people could start drinking within 30 seconds of leaving the ceremony . . .

Remarks like that will give atheists a certain reputation, you know!

Sarky

Peregrinus wrote: »

Remarks like that will give atheists a certain reputation, you know!

When 86%* of the attendees were Catholic, I would draw a different conclusion myself. Not a single complaint, everyone loved it. The only comment on the civil ceremony was from an elderly aunt who asked "Is that legal?" She was one of the first into the reception.

* probably more than than, given the skew towards the elderly in the audience, but let's stick with census figures...

smacl

ninja900 wrote: »

We could choose any (non-religious) music we wanted ('Baby I Love You' - The Ramones :pac: )

Wowzer, we chose the same, along with Zappa's the closer you are and fatboy slim's praise you. To be fair, we'd been together for over twenty years prior to getting married, and only did so on the advice of our lawyer. Nice day and night out though, the kids loved it.

kylith

Sarky wrote: »

The only comment on the civil ceremony was from an elderly aunt who asked "Is that legal?"

No, auntie. We decided to go through all the hassle and expense of having a wedding, but decided not to bother with the whole 'legal' thing. :rolleyes:

MrPudding

Sarky wrote: »

The only comment on the civil ceremony was from an elderly aunt who asked "Is that legal?"

I hope you responded with, "unlike a religious wedding, yes."

MrP

smacl

Peregrinus wrote: »

Gotta say I went to a Presbyterian wedding in Scotland which was done and dusted in 13 minutes. They don't muck about.

Was best man at a traditional Chinese wedding in Hong Kong a few years ago and it took three days. Christian, with much traditional Chinese ceremony tacked on here and there, proper banqueting and a rocking party. The best bit was the groom, myself, and the other groomsmen carrying a glazed pig across Hong Kong on our shoulders to present to the brides mother, and then being set all sorts of quests by the brides sisters to prove that the groom was worthy to pass through the gates of the apartment. Nothing as straightforward as slaying a dragon either; among other things, we had to sing a top ten single in cantonese to the future mother in law and eat a bucket of pickled duck eggs.

Bannasidhe

This piece of kit is called an ameroid constrictor

.

http://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/15135?show=full

It consists of a stainless steel sheath enclosing casein clay.

Casein is a phosoprotein most commonly found in mammalian milk - it is used in making cheese and as a binding agent for safety matches among many other things - it was used by the ancient Egyptians to bind their version of tempera paint.

Now - it is inside my dog and, if all goes well it will save his life.

He has a portosystemic shunt - a.k.a a liver shunt - which means his blood does not get detoxified and the build of of toxins are poisoning him. He was unlikely to make it to his 2nd birthday and would have had a horrible death unless we PTS.

Just clipping off the shunt is not really an option as that can lead to hypertensive shock and as his liver is very underdeveloped it just couldn't cope with a sudden influx of blood. That is where the casein clay comes into it.

The constrictor is placed around the shunt and tightened with a wee screw. Over 8 weeks the clay absorbs fluids from the body and expands - at the same time the casein causes a reaction in the soft tissue which 'scars'.
These two processes combined mean the shunt is sealing itself off slowly while also reducing blood flow in a controlled manner giving it no option but to go but through the liver where it should have being going in the first place. The liver (all being well) is regenerating while this all happens.

From hieroglyphs to cheese to a little bit of kit that has improved surgical success rates for portosystemic shunts from 50% to 95%.

I f*cking love science!

Sarky

Are you sure you wouldn't just have a bit of an aul' pray for the doggy instead? :pac:

Science is awesome. It's gonna save your doggy ^_^

Bannasidhe

Sarky wrote: »

Are you sure you wouldn't just have a bit of an aul' pray for the doggy instead? :pac:

Science is awesome. It's gonna save your doggy ^_^

Oh don't! The doggy in question is a long-term foster from an animal rescue and the surgery is fecking expensive and the rescue is stretched to breaking point so I decided to sort out all the logistics include fundraising myself.

Sooooo I did a FB page telling the story from the perspective of the dog (raised 1,000 euro in 4 days!!!) - people have been posting saying prayers for you little guy messages and I thought okaaay - we'll just take those in the context of 'sending best wishes/good vibes' etc and thank them but then someone posted a long 'Heavenly father, we blah blah you' prayer on the fecking page which has OH very amused as I'm going 'gnnnnnhhhhhh' and really want to delete it but that would be churlish as loads of people who donated thanked it- I really want to reply and say 'it was a brilliant vet, obsessive medical control over symptoms and diet, some serious research into the latest advances (requiring much use of medical dictionaries) plus a research vet making a connection between cheese and scarification and designing this lovely bit of kit - 'god' gave him the fecking shunt!!!'

FouxDaFaFa

Bannasidhe wrote: »

(raised 1,000 euro in 4 days!!!)

WTF

Have you considered becoming a Nigerian Prince?

Bannasidhe

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

WTF

Have you considered becoming a Nigerian Prince?

It was actually 1,200 euro in total with donations coming in from NZ, US, Aus, Brazil and India - but mostly from Cork (like).

He's a very cute dog.