Bill Angel

Certain flowers also produce scents that repel ants, which are not pollinators, so that pollinating insects are better able to gain access to the flowers.

The perception of beauty seems to be related to the perception of symmetry. For example, how many people would consider this tulip to be beautiful? This is a Tulip!

Perhaps it's a problem of getting your mind to subconsciously "switch gears". I find that certain types of music can facilitate this process. Here is one example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC16Mttvr68

I'm troubled by an assertion in the original post, that "all life forms are nothing more than calculating machines." If this were true, then why is there such divergence in the abilities of individuals to learn mathematics? Most children born with normally functioning brains learn to talk by a certain age. But students' abilities in mathematics can diverge significantly. And have you ever tried (as I have) to impart the principles of quantum theory to a group of university undergraduates? Student's whose ability to express themselves linguistically was equal to or better than mine would hit a stone wall when it came to understanding quantum theory. It is difficult for me to believe that a subject like the mathematics underlying modern physics can be mastered intuitively or subconsciously, but I realize that some excellent scientists and mathematicians would disagree with me on this issue.

It might be possible to suspend someone's brain activity via cryogenics, making the body and brain cold enought that all biochemical processes are brought to a halt. If in the future this person could be revived, one might assert that his consciousness had returned from the dead.

You might check out another forum. http://www.usmessageboard.com/religion-and-ethics/ The message board attracts a large group of people with very diverse perspectives. I would concede that if one asks the usual questions one will get the usual answers. But occasionally discussion thread topics are unexpected and interesting.

Another approach would be to purchase or mix your own chemical heat packs to keep the water warm inside the refrigerator. Heat packs contain 40 g of calcium chloride or magnesium sulfate per 100 ml of water. The chemical is kept separated from the water until heat is needed. The temperature typically will rise to about 90F (32 C) and last for 15 to 30 minutes . One way to utilize this approach would be to place a plastic bottle whose contents are to be kept warm inside of an insulating container, as shown in the image. The container could then be filled up with the heat packs, the top put on, and the container placed in the refrigerator. The bottle in the image holds 450 ml of liquid. It would be an interesting exercise to measure what the temperature of the water was after three hours in the refrigerator no heat packs in the container, with just one heat pack, two heat packs, etc.

Another good example of the importance of centrifugal force is showcased at the circus. I recently had the opportunity to observe these performers and make a video of their activities. It's interesting to speculate how the globe would move with the riders in it if, instead of the globe being firmly anchored to the earth, it was lifted into the air and allowed to rotate about its vertical axis while the cyclists moved about inside of it.

The famous physicist Richard Feynman also made some videos explaining Quantum Electrodynamics. Most physicists believe that HE knew what he was talking about.

Here is a little food for thought: See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_emission#section_2

I have an interest in the study of dreams and also in photography. Recently I've been working on connecting the two. In support of this effort I created a musical association or bridge between the activities of lucid dreaming and photography. One sample of this work can be viewed and listened to here: Music for Lucid Dreaming You may find these articles to be of interest: Machine predicts images dreamt while sleeping Here is an older article about this same research: Brain Scans Help Decode Sleepers' Dreams

"Apr. 3, 2013 A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source to the world." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130403104104.htm

Besides sugar, nectar also contains very small amounts of protein, and sodium and potassium salts. However, hummingbirds get most of their protein by eating small insects for a short time each day.

Thanks for the informative reply. What prompted the query was a discussion I encountered about this news article: Feds Spending $880,000 to Study Benefits of Snail Sex As you pointed out, there is a connection between the Snail/Slug family of gene regulators and cancer activity. I had hoped that there was a connection between the study of these gene regulators and the study of snails and slugs, as such a connection would bolster the argument that studying the biology of these animals (including their reproductive activities) could be of benefit in improving the health of humans. Can't blame biologists for having a little fun in choosing names. In physics there are name associations that also are intriguing: A Weakly Interacting Massive Particle is known as a WIMP, while a Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Object, is designated as a MACHO

Here is a title and abstract from a review paper. It mentions that the Snail/Slug family of gene repressors figure in the understanding of the development of cancer. Can anyone explain a bit what the Snail/Slug family of gene repressors are and what they have to do with snails and slugs? A copy of the review paper is attached to this message. Thanks. hemavathy2000.pdf

Humans utilize various portions of their brains for dreaming. Here is an illustration from an article titled The Neurology of Dreaming at http://www.dreamscience.org/idx_science_of_dreaming_section-3.htm Note that only the areas shaded blue are considered inactive during dreaming.

"It occured to me that vehicles, especially big rigs, generate a lot of wind as they travel down the highway at speeds of 70 - 80 mph." I am sure you are quite right about that. As an issue in energy conservation it would make more sense to lower the speed limit back down to 55 miles per hour than in trying to recover energy from speeding vehicles via wind turbines when such vehicles are traveling faster than 55 mph.

The Catholic Church's Position on Same Sex Marriage

There is an old thread at this forum that might be relevant to your situation. See "Dreaming while awake (not lucid dreaming, this is the other way around)" http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/10031-dreaming-while-awake-not-lucid-dreaming-this-is-the-other-way-around/

Here is another interesting recent experiment with rats and their brains: "Researchers working at MIT have successfully manipulated the content of a rat's dream by replaying an audio cue that was associated with the previous day's events, namely running through a maze (what else). The breakthrough furthers our understanding of how memory gets consolidated during sleep but it also holds potential for the prospect of "dream engineering." http://io9.com/5940068/neuroscientists-successfully-control-the-dreams-of-rats-could-humans-be-next

Swedish Government Reveals Cold Fusion Research: A government agency connected with the Swedish military has revealed that it is conducting low energy nuclear reaction (LENR) or cold fusion experiments. The experiments reportedly involve nickel and hydrogen reactions similar to those in Andrea Rossis ecat device. http://coldfusion3.com/blog/swedish-government-reveals-cold-fusion-research

I like the use that you make of the word focus. My advice to you is to take up photography as a way to refresh your mind by switching your focus to other activities, but in a creative way. You could go outside and do street photography. If you are situated or work near to a college campus, you could photograph objects that are of interest on that campus, the students, the buildings, etc. (I've done a lot of photography at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore) Photography is now more of a social activity than it is a solitary pursuit, because of the internet.

I agree, especially with the "decisions about justice" part. The most important civic function one could be called upon to perform is serving on a jury in a serious criminal case. Consider the situation where someone is on trial for murder and the case rests on DNA evidence. A juror needs to understand what DNA is, in order to make a decision about guilt or innocence based on such evidence.And what about the situation where expert witnesses for the prosecution and the defense offer conflicting interpretations of the importance of such evidence? The juror has to be able to evaluate the claims of the two conflicting scientific analyses.

The stockholders themselves may help to correct the problem. For example in the case of Apple there is an effort by certain stockholders to get them to pay out their cash hoard to them in the form of dividends. Apple's plan for its cash: stock buyback or more dividends likely coming this spring ? Quartz

Here's an interesting discussion of the issue: http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/mod_homo_4.htm