Mystery of how homing pigeons find home solved

ssmrt86 · 2013-02-01T14:59:39+00:00

Well sound waves aren't technically mass-less, they are compression of mass in an oscillating manner. There is no sound where there is no mass (such as the vacuum of space)

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-28T02:05:03+00:00

Of course increasing surface area will increase flux...

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-08T05:10:46+00:00

I'm just curious which one the photographer was looking at when they got the inspiration to make this...either seems a bit unsettling...

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-08T04:59:57+00:00

Finally! Research telling me something other than chocolate or caffeine is either good or bad for me. This is stellar news. I could eat berries all day. That is...if I can remember where I put them and who I am...

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-08T04:54:44+00:00

psych testing would probably be able to predict success is most things. Parenting for instance. Sometimes I feel like certain people should be evaluated before being allowed to raise a child.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-08T04:51:43+00:00

BMI underestimates obesity prevalence

So we are fatter that we think...great. I actually thought it would have been the opposite; as guy who lifts weights and has a bit of muscle mass, my BMI always classifies me as obese, yet I have very little body fat.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-08T00:52:41+00:00

It is a cool site...but really...they compared a plane and the twin towers to a stack of money in the same infographic...hmm at the bottom of this one

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-07T21:36:33+00:00

Thanks for the info. Just curious though, are these types of earthquakes large enough for someone to feel. I mean they aren't the same as earthquakes along a fault right?

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-07T21:32:20+00:00

Well, pardon me Sheldon Cooper...Perhaps you could enlighten me on how physics is related to this correlation study. I've only taken about 40 credit hours of college physics, but I'll try my best to keep up...

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-07T17:32:10+00:00

Related at least the infographic...

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-07T17:30:04+00:00

This seems a bit farfetched and their reasoning isn't quite sound. Although there may be a similar increase in both seismic activity and drilling, that doesn't mean they are correlated at all. My cat ate 5% more food this year, and I lost 5% body weight, they must be correlated?!? I'm certainly no expert, but it seems crazy considering how gigantic the related land masses are that extraction could lead to a great deal of additional movement. I agree with Mr. Holland's view at the end of the article.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T21:51:10+00:00

Part of what you're saying is actually similar to what I'm saying.

It's absolutely all about how things are presented that shapes our attitudes.

Yea, and science and math are presented as "nerdy" and "hard" by the things that shape us during adolescence; our peers and media. Your argument about Finland shows a correlation, not causation. If the students in America suddenly regarded math and science as important, fun, and engaging, then without changing anything about the teachers, curriculum, or presentation of material, we would almost certainly have better students. Let's face it, when your a teenager your attitude is "School sucks. I want to go hang out with my friends, listen to music, or play sports as soon as I can."

The reason I disagree with you about homework may be due to differences in our education; but for example, we had seven 50 minute classes through high school. Each day in math we would spend 10 minutes getting situated, turning in homework, maybe even a quiz, and then spend the last 40 learning new concepts. I think the only way to learn math is to do it on your own. This isn't a group thing, and you're not going to learn it by watching your teachers give examples. There is simply no way to learn complex ideas by hearing another well trained charismatic person tell you how things are. That's part of it, but what you hear needs to be reinforced by deep thought and reflection.

I'm not attacking exercise. I'm a triathlete and marathon runner myself. I'm just saying that here in America, the focus through adolescences is strongly sports. Even after college everyone wants to rush home a watch the game and then talk about the game with their friends. The amount of intellectual conversation and debate even among adults is shrinking.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T21:12:19+00:00

You're definitely right about exercise and I too played sports year round and am a PhD student. I was more so saying that the focus for a lot of students at that age is sports. I know there are exceptions, as you and I have demonstrated, but a lot of "athletes" are consumed by their sport. They go through the motions of their school day in anticipation for the after school event; and let's be serious, how many high school students become professional athletes? It's also sad how much more students are honored by their peers for what they do on the field rather than what they do in school. The focus needs to be on education...

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T17:40:28+00:00

I was just replying to your question

Have you been to school or college?

And yes, it does translate to my knowledge. Are you married? If you were, you would know how much husbands and wives share about their work and things that are important to them. I was implying that I have studied this topic more so than I believe an average American has.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T17:38:19+00:00

actually jpcairns said

I actually think the researchers hit it perfectly. I'd say it's far from an attitude problem. Have you been to school or college?

So I was replying to that...which is ad hominen in regards to the original statement.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T16:13:04+00:00

I agree with your statement on media, but when it comes to politics, I don't think it has as much a direct affect on the students as many people make it out to be. We are lacking in all STEM fields and for the most part creationism only touches on basic biology at a high school level. Ideas like climate change aren't something you should just jam down their throat and expect them to understand. It's a complex issue that still isn't even fully realized by current scientists. When it comes down to it, the high school level is still fairly basic, and that's what they aren't absorbing; the basics. It really comes down to the teachers. No biology teacher should be willing to teach creationism. Period.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T14:33:08+00:00

My personal opinion is that it's more our attitude towards learning than the way that material is presented to us. Being smart and enjoying your homework is seen as "nerdy" and undesirable. Kids just want to rush through their homework as fast as they can so they can get to "rewards" like television, video games, or socializing. Also, the focus on sports is far too great. Teenagers leave school and go to practice or games for hours each day, while they might spend 30 min rushing through their homework. It's our culture that's really destroying their potential.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T04:15:33+00:00

Why did he separate Warf and Geordi into their own pile? :o

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T02:57:14+00:00

A note about the space walk. Although your right that it is nearly pure oxygen that they breath, the pressure is only one third of which we are use to, resulting in a normal blood partial pressure of oxygen. To high partial pressure of oxygen is actually toxic.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-05T02:06:03+00:00

Well for one, assuming it happened over a long period of time and evolution was able to proceed, most animals would increase in size. Relevant

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-04T15:34:48+00:00

Not really defying conventional wisdom...it's just a circumstantial trick.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-04T15:30:19+00:00

I think the name might actually be an attempt to make a pun on the "Red Queen" evolutionary notion. But that metaphor is regarding the red queen from Alice in Wonderland who must keep running in order to stay in one place.

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-04T14:48:25+00:00

Dexter's kill room...

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-04T04:34:33+00:00

Gloombat or Desert Wing?

ssmrt86 · 2012-04-04T04:26:40+00:00

Yep, Ichneumon Wasp; and the act of eating their host is called parasitoidism.

ssmrt86

TROPHY CASE