THE V

I've got a few moments at work lets see if any of you have some ideas. Strong cohesive groups are vital for human survival and the traits that has been a highly conserved. Some of the characteristics of this type of group are: shared beliefs/world view, emotional interaction, and a leadership/follower dynamic. This trait has allowed us to reach very high levels of technology extremely quickly. On the downside these tendencies have been a causal agent in many of the most destructive behaviors: War, gangs, immigration restrictions, racism, religious conflict, environmental destruction, etc. (pick a problem with humans and this usually plays a role). I am wondering if the very traits that drove us to the top will also destroy us?

Have you pulled apart the outlet yet?? Does any other place in the house have a three pronged outlet? Often on the older places the wiring is there just not connected correctly. I would take a look and see if it has been done already but they didn't want to change all of the outlets. If there is any major appliance like a dishwasher, or washing machine inthe house the place is probably already grounded. You just have to tap into it.

Trisomy greatly reduces fertility but does not necessarily make an individual sterile. Whether or not the individual is fertile is very much due to a genetic disposition. For example: In watermelons seedless varieties are created by crossing a diploid with a tetraploid line (colchicine induced). The resulting triploid is mostly sterile so the seeds never form. However have you ever gotten a black seed in a supposedly "seedless" watermelon. This means that somehow the plant was able to overcome the trisomy of all chromosomes (11 pair) to produce a viable seed (they use a diploid pollen source). Mammals are much more strongly affected by polyploidy and most are sterile. However once in a while there is an individual that is fertile (mules, Beefalo's, and other interspecific hybrids) Basically what happens during meiosis is that the majority of gametes fail and die early on because the chromosomes fail to line up. But once in a while in some individuals one side will recieve one chromosome and the other will recieve two. This means that the offspring has roughly a 50:50 chance of having trisomy with no other factors.

Actually you can transform plant cells using agrobacterium to inject the gene. It is much cheaper and easier than the tungsten gun aproach. The only problem is the old jellyfish gene is patented for another 3 years I believe (my cell biologist college is eager with anticipation). Then you will be able to get it very cheap and possibly could do it at home. Given you had the proper media to grow the agrobacterium with the gene in it and do some basic plant culture technique with it.

Hey all, I'm a Plant breeder - Melons and have a very broad history in a lot of things.

There are several bacteria that produce thermophillic spores that can survive over 100C but their optimal growth temperatures of the active growing bacteria is usually within the mesophillic range. However species where there optimal log growth is above 45C are quite rare and are not known to be pathgenic.

Ghiselin got a bit steamed on that one. That little bit at the end with the direct personal attack was a little bit painful. After reading her article I was actually suprised that Science published it. Even I had no problem with debunking her theory's and I am no evolutionary biologist. It was overall a very week premise with a clear misunderstanding of evolutionary theory. I imagine this will be hotly discussed for sometime and then quickly fade away.

http://www.sciencemag.org/ This is one of the best. They cover a wide range of topics and are sometimes difficult or even impossible to understand but it is an excellent place to start.

Google scholor is really nice

Wiki's just a brief synopsis of many different extremely complex subjects. If you a lookin for a very basic understanding of a subject it is a valuable resource. But if you are looking for a more detailed anaylisis you really need to delve into the literature (i.e. scientific journals etc.)

Basically chocolate is very mildly phiysically addictive. As to the craving issue, one part may be that chocolate contains a well rounded flavor profile. This means that one of the reason it taste good is because it has chemicals that match many of our evolved receptors for fruit evaluation.

Herpguy, I need much more than just a general encyclopedia. Insert smartmouthed response about answering things you don't know here

I am currently doing a literuature search trying to understand how the ethylene response during the ripening of fruit initiates the production of volitiles. I have found several different studies on tomatoes, melon, arabidopsis, and other fruit. But I have yet to see any proposed pathways that the ethylene response triggers. Does anyone know a good reference?