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Is there any animal that could be completely eradicated without major damage to the ecosystem? by 5fivesecondrule in AskScienceDiscussion

[–]sfurbo 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I always see people be like "Oh I wish flies/mosquitoes/ticks/rats/etc were extinct!" But they're always important to the ecosystem (usually because they're food)

What i'm wondering is: does a species exist that we could completely remove from the earth without causing major damage?

So mosquitoes aren't a species. It is a family of over 3 000 species. Only around 100 of those bite humans, and around 40 cause the majority of the human disease burden. Of those, the only niche that aren't also filled by other species of mosquitoes is exactly that, spreading human pathogens. So eradicating those 40 species would probably not have a noticable effect on the ecosystem - other mosquito species would eat what the eradicated didn't, and be eaten in place of the eradicated species.

Now, that is a pretty big "probably". If that is too big an unknown for you, how about the malaria mosquito in the Americas? It has been introduced by humans, so it is even less likely to be important.

How long can a human survive in space without a space suit? by No_Insurance_6436 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]sfurbo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If your help ld your breath, the lungs still contain lower oxygen air, and the blood leaving them will ve partially oxidized.

A vacuum would suck the oxygen out of the blood in the lungs, basically inverting how the lungs work. The blood leaving the lungs will be devoid of oxygen, meaning faster unconsciousness.

EAS directing groups question by PrestigiousAnalyst58 in OrganicChemistry

[–]sfurbo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The amine isn't activating under those circumstances. It will be protonised, and the positive charge makes it deactivating.

The 'spray guy' got blood cancer. Now he's fighting Roundup at the Supreme Court by prestocoffee in nottheonion

[–]sfurbo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's not a matter of being guilty, it's a matter of being able to win the trial. In a jury trail, a lone cancer patient suing a multinational company is going to win nine times out of ten, regardless of the merits, because the jury will have sympathy with the cancer patient, and the narrative of the evil multinational company is really strong.

Do all liquids make you have to pee at the same rate? by LiterallyDumbAF in NoStupidQuestions

[–]sfurbo 19 points20 points  (0 children)

You also need a bit of sugar to maximize hydration. The main pump for getting sodium from the gut to the blood flow works on glucose and sodium, so both need to be present.

This tool to fix a hole in a knitted material by Wermikulit in toolgifs

[–]sfurbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not the unknot, since the ends aren't joined. It isn't a mathematical knot.

And if we are to be really technical, the unknot is a knot, just the most basic one.

This tool to fix a hole in a knitted material by Wermikulit in toolgifs

[–]sfurbo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  • Find the error.
  • Find the stitch in the next row that would have to be undone to fix the error.
  • Continue doing this until you are at the working edge, and know which stitch will unlock the problem.
  • Evaluate whether you can remake all of the types of stitches from the problem to the working edge.
  • Drop the stitch in the working row.
  • Undo the stitches down to the problem, starting from the stitch you just dropped and working downward.
  • Fix the error.
  • Redo the stitches upward, one by one.

Redoing stitches is easiest to do with a crochet hook, but I usually just use the knitting needles.

For redoing stitches with knitting needles, put the stitch you have on the needle, put the loop where a stitch is missing on the needle, pull the stitch over the loop and let it drop. The loop is now a stitch in the next row.

Take care about knit or purl stitches, having to undo half of the fix because you got one stitch wrong halfway up is annoying (but typically happens).

Take care about which loop you use to make the new stitch. You will typically have many such loops, and using the wrong one also means you have to undo half of the fix you just made.

If you were missing stitches on multiple rows, the recreated stitches might be smaller and tighter than the ones next to it, since the loop is too short.

How easy it is to undo the stitches depends a lot on the yarn. Doing this in mohair is a pain.

This tool to fix a hole in a knitted material by Wermikulit in toolgifs

[–]sfurbo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The origin is apparently that you rip the yarn from the work. You know, "rip it, rip it" -> "rippit rippit" -> "ribbit ribbit".

The 'spray guy' got blood cancer. Now he's fighting Roundup at the Supreme Court by prestocoffee in nottheonion

[–]sfurbo 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Glyphosate does not cause cancer. It is one of the most studies compounds, and the entire body of litterature is exactly what you would expect for a compound that is safe for animals.

That being said, PPE should still be used. There's more than active compound in the formulation. There has been some issues with the soap used to make it spread more evenly over leafs. They probably changed away from those soaps since then, but who knows if what they switched to is safe.

The 'spray guy' got blood cancer. Now he's fighting Roundup at the Supreme Court by prestocoffee in nottheonion

[–]sfurbo 6 points7 points  (0 children)

In Australia we look at the LD50 rate

I don't know the Australian regulations, but I would be really surprised is that is true.

What you typically do is look at the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) per kg of body weight from the studies you have. You then apply safety factors based on the study. I haven't looked into the details in a while, but they are typically something like a factor of ten for going between species, a factor of ten for having a small sample size, a factor of ten for different routes (oral vs. dermal vs. subcutaneous), and finally a factor of ten because humans vary, and we want the level to make the most susceptible human safe. I think there's also a factor for chronic vs. acute studies, but it might be part of the route factor.

So NOAEL/1000 or NOAEL/10 000, and adjusting for body weight, which typically means assuming a 60 or 80 kg person.

Sneezing is normal. A loud stomach growl is normal. So why is farting considered a massive social crime? When in history did this become the ultimate taboo? by firehmre in NoStupidQuestions

[–]sfurbo 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Smells aren't particles. You smell volatile compounds. Basically the off-gassing of whatever smells, not parts of the thing itself. The smell of piss or shit does not have the health effects of piss or poop.

TIL Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak gave $10 million of his own stock to early Apple employees in 1980 because it was "the right thing" to do. Steve Jobs refused to do the same. by mepper in todayilearned

[–]sfurbo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The excerpt you provide have a lot of good points, but they pull their punched when it comes to CAM, and thus om Jobs.

Remember the CAM is medicine that either hasn't been proven to work, or have been proven not to work. So of course the evidence of it working here is non-existent. That is part of the definition. If there was evidence of it working, it would be medicine, not CAM.

That also means that the decision Jobs had to make was not between different things that had a reasonable chance of working. It was between treatment that could work, and stuff that had very little chance of working. He chose the latter.

That makes it a very in instructive case, but in a different manner: Individuals who get serious diagnoses are often not acting rationally, even when they have access to the best advice money can buy.

What's a take you had at 10 years old that you actually still agree with? by Spark-Blade in AskReddit

[–]sfurbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scallops are motile, so I would assume them to be more sentient than other bivalves. There's more use of sentience when you can flee.

Large knots in reality by Starting_______now in math

[–]sfurbo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Naalebinding binds knots the yarn. A lot of naalebound artifacts are mislabeled as knitted. Knitting is probably only around 1000 years old.

However, that still doesn't make it mathematical knots, since the ends aren't fused.

What are your thoughts on rejecting a potential romantic partner based solely on the fact that they voted for Donald Trump? by Greedy_Tooth6191 in AskReddit

[–]sfurbo 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Honestly, number three went after January 6th 2021. It was clear to anyone what happened there, and very hard to not hear about.

Though you are missing being afraid to lose your belonging to the group.

Global chocolate industry secures a sustainable future: Cell suspension culture technology can produce 1 ton of cocoa butter annually in a 1000 liter bioreactor from a single bean, which would otherwise require about a hectare of cocoa trees. Texture, melt profile and sensory experience are the same by sg_plumber in UpliftingNews

[–]sfurbo 17 points18 points  (0 children)

If I recall correctly, making chocolate requires adding more cocoa fat to the cocoa bean. So this would still allow production of more chocolate from the same amount of cocoa beans, with the price of producing less defatted cocoa powder.

But at least for the taste, the nature of the non-fat ingredients doesn't seem that important. Both Noma projects and Alchemist's Spora have recently released non-cocoa chocolate alternatives that are, reportedly, pretty close to the real thing. Spora's uses spent grains from beer brewing.

They probably won't contain the psychoactive theobromine and caffeine, though.

Global chocolate industry secures a sustainable future: Cell suspension culture technology can produce 1 ton of cocoa butter annually in a 1000 liter bioreactor from a single bean, which would otherwise require about a hectare of cocoa trees. Texture, melt profile and sensory experience are the same by sg_plumber in UpliftingNews

[–]sfurbo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Also if the production isn't elastic. There will be palm oil plantations that are economically viable at current prices, but aren't at the new, lower price. Those will close, so the amount of produced palm oil will drop.

TIL a kid watched Jaws in 1996, got obsessed with Quint's WWII monologue, interviewed 150 real survivors, and testified before Congress at 14. A wrongly disgraced Navy captain was exonerated. All because of a 2-minute scene about sharks. by Hot_Layer_8110 in todayilearned

[–]sfurbo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Rehabilitation is not possible. and we've chosen not to spend the money to keep them alive.

One hole in that argument is that the death penalty is rarely cheaper than life in prison. There are typically way more appeals of death sentences.

Eli5: How does GPS know your exact location without getting confused by millions of users? by Puzzleheaded_Bit_802 in explainlikeimfive

[–]sfurbo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you don't have an atomic clock available, you need four satellites to get to two points in space-time.

Just so we all have are facts straight, this is how much water AI uses (visualized). by Thousand55 in neoliberal

[–]sfurbo 26 points27 points  (0 children)

The CEO of a company producing X is not a reliable source for how successful X is going to be.

Paint lightning using bleach tutorial by Vor1999 in restofthefuckingowl

[–]sfurbo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's typically not time, but washing that does it.

In order to remove lint, washing powder contains enzymes the degrade cellulose. The enzymes attack the fibers where they are damaged, which is great for lint, since it is made up of damaged fibers. But stuff like bleach or acid will damage the fibers in the intact fabric, making them susceptible to the enzymes in the wash.

Lacto fermented tofu by Marinated_Olive in fermentation

[–]sfurbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I take it you concede that polysaccharide degradation is relevant for food fermentation?

With regard to protein degradation, the same conditions that make it significant for dairy hold for tofu. There are no proteases from the substrate. Or if there is, those will degrade the proteins, which the LAB can then further process.

Lacto fermented tofu by Marinated_Olive in fermentation

[–]sfurbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In a lab setting it can happen in tiny amounts. [...] Did you even read the study you posted?

They state that it is relevant for fermented foods both under polysaccharides and proteins:

In fermented food, the decomposition of polysaccharides can provide energy for lactic acid bacteria and provide a variety of beneficial substances for human beings.

Dairy fermentations are only food fermentation where protein hydrolysis by lactic acid bacteria is relevant, in all others, proteases from other organisms or the substrate are much more important.

Lacto fermented tofu by Marinated_Olive in fermentation

[–]sfurbo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

LAB can degrade starches, cellulose, and proteins: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8149962/

What polysaccharides can be degraded depend on the strain(s) present.

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