herpguy

See ya later, yourdad. Good luck!

Wait, you are returning to SFN later on, right?

The 1918 flu supposedly recurs every 80 years, is the reason we haven't heard of a 1840 flu and 1760 flu because WWI's trench warfare greatly exasperated it?

I have no idea, but where did you hear that the pandemic repeats ever 80 years? It sounds interesting.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/ap_on_sc/new_gecko;_ylt=AnY.XHUPrycm0ljiwEovOmMPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-

Why are the geckos doing this? Does it have to do with global warming? Or is it because they need more room? Thanks in advance.

...and people think we shouldn't take action of any sort on climate change.

Wow, I hate how all of these organisms are being wiped out right now. Think of all those insects, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, arachnids, and all of those other life forms that we scarcely know a thing about.

Sure, I'm bad at making points. I know that. But I think you understand what I'm getting at.

Also, I would make it so replies in the Announcements forum don't have to be checked before posted, and that we can edit our posts here.

It would also be cool if WiSci was somehow featured more on the home page. I think it has potential, it's just that very few people use it. Maybe this will help.

I'll try to find some links to point you to some more info.

Edit: If you're interested in reading a lot, here's Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H5N1

I would like the news to be featured more on the front page.

Cool! Thanks for sharing.

Oh and walrusman...

I may have an a/c but it's up set to 80 right now. I do have a heater, but it's set to 60 in the winter. I buy items that are not exactly good for the environment, but I reuse/recycle a lot of it. For the most part, I grow my own fruits and veggies. The things I don't grow, I buy from the nearest source. I ride my bike almost everywhere. I donate to save the rainforest and such regularly. You get the point.

Sure, we do our part in destroying what we don't want destroyed. But a lot of us do more than our share in preserving and protecting what's possible as of right now.

Much simpler. If an animal deserves to live, it will be alive.

Earlier you said we should allow nature to take out the things it wants to take out. Who says nature wants us to kill all of these animals.

Anyone have an update on this flu thing?

It did mutate, but that strain of H5N1 was confined to a small area and is now extinct.

The virus still has a chance of mutating again. If it does, there may be a pandemic. If the virus mutates by this flu season, most countries will not stand a chance to it. However, if the virus gives us at least another year, we should be fine.

So basically, right now humans can only get the virus from other animals, so only people that work with the animals can get the virus. What we are worried about is if the virus mutates to be able to pass from human to human. Then, seeing how humans work with humans more than any other living thing, more people will get the virus. Also, humans travel around the world, and the virus will just keep spreading.

If a pandemic does happen, roughly 1 out of 5 people on earth will be affected. Of those, 1 out of 2 will die from it.

Besides, we don't take up that much space. That's another tired old argument. When's the last time you've taken a road trip? Seen a satellite snap shot of Earth? Green all over the place. I don't see any concrete in those pictures.

Ummm, look at Google Earth. There's unnatural brown and grey everywhere. And it's not just what's left now, it's the rate we're destroying what's left now. Compare a satellite photo of the Amazon compared to one 30 years ago. Hmmm...

Because we have the potential to destroy the world and all species on it. We destroy what we want easily and often for no reason. I do believe that is different than an animal hunting for food.

I totally I agree with you, Stu. When humans kill for money, IMO, it's no good reason. I have created a new thread about extinction so this one doesn't get locked for being off topic.

http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21873

In light of two threads, one of which was getting off-topic, I have decided to create this thread about extiction. My question to all of you is Is extinction actually bad?

If I were asked this question, I would say, "Yes of course it is." But then I would begin to think of all the natural occuring mass-extinctions, and probably change my answer to, "It is if humans kill them for more money than they already have."

So what's your take on this?

Walrusman, that article does make me think. But in other mass extinctions, such as the KT event, 95% of life on earth was wiped out. I don't think that's going to happen because of humans.

There's a difference between something becoming extinct because it can't survive and becoming extinct because idiots keep shooting them - as is in the case of the Bonobo.

It's also different when idiots keep destroying their habitat for more money.

herpguy' date='

A typical alpine lake might, despite its beauty, be described as a biological desert. There is usually little life, and only so much diversity. When such a lake is polluted with nutrients, the amount of life increases dramatically. If you count microscopic life, the diversity of life in such a lake also increases. I do not think this could be called simplification.

 

However, it is still a form of pollution, and still results in a drastic ecological change for the lake. I just do not think that the definitions given so far would encompass this change as ecological damage.[/quote']

Oh, I see. That's kind of like what's happening to the great lakes. An increase in phosphorus causes the algae to bloom in extreme amounts. But the algae kills off a lot of plants and animals.

 

Before I try to suggest something new, can someone please point me out to something that explains ecological simplification clearly? Thanks.

By the way, aren't we in the middle of a mass extinction right now?

No.

I did a google search and found nothing saying that we are. In fact, if there is a cycle, we should be safe for about 10 million years.

I know this is impossible, but if the sun were to spontaneously dissapear and no heat or any other form of energy from it remained, how long would earth be at livable temperature? Would Venus' heat drop significantly slower due to its dense atsmosphere and abundance of greenhouse gases? I heard somewhere that Jupiter gets only 1/5 of its heat from the sun. Would the planet's temperature be affected as much as it would for the other planets by the event?

Sorry, I really don't know much about this...

Thanks.

Alpine lakes are generally very simple, with little life. They are, however, clean, and utterly gorgeous. If someone allows new nutrients to enter, you get a lot more weed growth, organic matter sinking to the bottom, phytoplankton etc. More biomass and more biodiversity. However, the lake become dirty, smelly and ugly.

Would the dirt, smelly, and ugly lake do anything to cause ecological simplification?

(Forgive me if I don't know what I'm talking about)

That sounds much better! I think diversity is much more desirable than homogeneity. I also like places which feel alive and changing. Where people are busy living life, squeezing every gram of fullfilment out of every day experiences.

Yeah, I agree. I kind of worded my post wrong...

My home town is amazing. There no hurricanes, very few tornados, no earthquakes, very little crime (6th lowest in the country), and global warming should only slightly affect this area. There are amazing schools (2nd best in the state, 11th in the country) and it is filled with people of all different races and religions. I also love that, with the acception of this year (we've been having extremely weird weather), for a quarter of the year you can get snow, 1/4 of the year it's in the 60s and 70s F (my idea of the perfect temperature), for a 1/4 of the year it can get as high as 90 every day (the perfect temperature to go swimming), and for 1/4 of the year you can watch the trees change colors and jump in the piles of leaves. Also, there is a lot of wildlife and many parks. But the thing I like best about the place I live is that anyone can voice their opinion and no one will flame you. All the diversity and new ideas spark fun discussions for everyone to get in.

Italy all the way!

Shuud thar be simplifid speling in the every day English language (yooz this questun for the pol abuv)?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060705/ap_on_re_us/simpl_wurdz