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Post by Ally on Oct 4, 2011 21:46:58 GMT
Oh awesome! I will read that tomorrow (don't think it would be a good "just before bed" book)
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Post by Emily on Oct 4, 2011 21:54:11 GMT
don't read any second person fanfiction though... oh god, my eyes, my brain... I will never recover
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Post by tangent on Oct 5, 2011 13:36:01 GMT
David Brin rocks. =^-^=
You might enjoy The Loom of Thess[somethingorother] as it has a character from the 21st century face down the Fates (the three women who weave reality). Though one of my favorites is "Lungfish" as it depicts a fascinating look into why we might be so alone in the galaxy. =^-^=
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Post by Animae on Oct 18, 2011 21:12:03 GMT
.....Can you tell her that her fanfic is silly and vaguely pornographic? I mean, I wrote a few bodice ripper stories in my day, but I did it on purpose, not disguised.
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Post by Emily on Oct 18, 2011 22:42:32 GMT
It's not her fanfic... She just wants me to understand her OTP for certain stories, and feels this would be achieved with fanfics... And in her defence I did vow to read whatever she sent me, no matter how disturbing.
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Post by Ally on Nov 2, 2011 17:41:40 GMT
A historical question (kinda) - are there any Victorians still alive? I was just thinking today, the youngest would be 110...
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Post by Emily on Nov 2, 2011 23:37:26 GMT
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Post by Ally on Nov 3, 2011 21:57:28 GMT
Awesome!
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Post by Ally on Nov 4, 2011 10:09:25 GMT
Okay, another one - what's the minimum number of people you'd need to restart the human race without it leading to horrific levels of inbreeding? (I know the human race is fairly inbred already, but I mean early modern European royalty kind of inbred - like this guy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain)
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Post by tangent on Nov 4, 2011 17:01:42 GMT
It depends on the level of dangerous genetic recessive genes in the people. In theory, if you had one genetically perfect male and one genetically perfect female and kept them away from regions that would encourage genetic mutations, you'd have none of the dangers of inbreeding. At least, until genetic mutations crept in.
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Post by Ally on Nov 4, 2011 20:52:54 GMT
if you had one genetically perfect male and one genetically perfect female and kept them away from regions that would encourage genetic mutations, you'd have none of the dangers of inbreeding. At least, until genetic mutations crept in. Okay, I don't understand enough about genetics...by regions do you mean geographical regions? Also, surely there would be problems seeing as the options for their children would either be siblings or parents?
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Post by tangent on Nov 4, 2011 21:28:35 GMT
I meant geographical/environmental regions. One of the safest regions in order to avoid mutations would probably be an environment much like the middle of California - somewhat warm without being overly hot, a mixture of sunshine and rain, and not too many poisonous critters around. ^^;;
And the problems wouldn't exist if there were no dangerous genes (ie, genetic "perfection"). They could both have the recessive red hair gene (and both be redheads) and, so long as they didn't go into regions that are too sunny, would be perfectly fine. As would their great great great grandchildren, who would be the products of incest.
The threat of incest comes from the increased risk of dangerous recessive genes from both parents manifesting in the child. But if, for instance, neither parent has a gene for hemophilia then unless a genetic mutation occurs that would allow for hemophilia, neither child would suffer from it and none of their descendants would either.
(This doesn't preclude psychological issues with inbreeding, which includes an interesting phenomena where if two people (even if genetically unrelated) are raised as infants into childhood together, they won't view the other as a mate under most circumstances. It is instinctual for mentally healthy individuals to avoid incest.)
But getting back to the genetics... if you had two populations that each had several recessive genetic diseases, then a population of several thousand (which would normally be safe) would still see a large instance of genetic disease outbreak. If you had two genetically "clean" populations, then the number of people needed drops significantly, and genetic diseases would only crop up as a result of mutation. Which, ultimately, is how genetic diseases got their start.
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Post by Ally on Nov 4, 2011 21:59:35 GMT
Yeah, I've read about the Westermark effect - I guess repopulating the planet would also require some enforced separation of same generations, at least until there were enough people again.
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Post by Animae on Nov 5, 2011 21:21:46 GMT
Tim, Is there a non horribly time intensive way to make puff pastries? (like only four hours or so, not 12 hours)
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Post by X'o'Lore on Nov 6, 2011 1:07:18 GMT
I'm guessing going to a store and buying puff pasties is not an option.
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Post by Animae on Nov 7, 2011 17:29:04 GMT
Well, I want to make it, because homemade is yummier. And knowing how to bake is a good thing. I can taste the chemicals in store bought things.
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Post by Ally on Nov 19, 2011 17:32:56 GMT
I had my flu jab yesterday, and the place on my arm where it was injected is really warm. I could understand if it was an active form of the virus (although I don't know if any vaccinations use that any more), but the pharmacist told me very definitely that it was an inert form, and thus couldn't have any infection-like side effects. I know it's not just the needle, because I've had far bigger needles in my arm and it's never gone that warm - what's causing it?
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Post by tangent on Nov 23, 2011 14:25:22 GMT
It's likely an immune response to the dead virus. The virus doesn't have the capability of reproducing. However, the body is responding to this foreign invader by building up antibodies, inflammation of the area, and so on.
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Post by Ally on Nov 23, 2011 16:49:41 GMT
Makes sense, I guess. So my body's trying to beat up stuff that's dead already...sounds like Em's cat bringing in roadkill ;D
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Post by tangent on Nov 23, 2011 16:51:32 GMT
I don't know why I find that amusing. ^^;;
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