HerpetologyFangirl

Wow, it's amazing how much the medical industry is supposedly capable of keeping from the public. Well, to each his own conspiracy theory I always say.

The only time I could imagine it being healthy is when you're either in a survival situation with no other water options, like you're lost in a desert or something, or when your body is dangerously low on natural salts, although I can't think of a situation which would cause that. :-/

Thanks for the link, I found it very helpful. I was just thinking about all those health nuts out there who think you have to take ten supplements a day or something crazy. Personally, I just take one general, because I don't eat as many fruit or veg as I should, and an iron complex because I'm a regular blood donor, and a female.

I do all that twice over before going through with steps 2 onward. I'm not an idiot.

I learnt a few years ago that even vitamin and mineral supplements can be lethally toxic if an overdose is taken, when I saw a program on TV. A family was moving houses that week, so Mum had packed the contents of the medicine cabinet, along with just about everything else in the house. Their little boy went digging in the box, found his vitamins, and started eating them like they were Halloween candy without telling anyone. By morning he had flu-like symptoms. Mum wasn't worried until she found spilled vitamins on his clothes, and around half his bedroom. She rushed him to hospital, and his stomach had to be pumped. He'd taken in too much iron or something. The boy was fine, but he learnt his lesson.

The thing I'm wondering about is, what about people who take several different types of multivitamins? Potentially, one person could be taking a different vitamin geared for their age, their gender, their level of physical activity, menopause or pregnancy, and a general multivitamin just to make sure they're getting everything they need. But most of those would have several components in common, resulting in the person getting several times their daily requirements for some vitamins or minerals. My question is, at what level do each of the various vitamins and minerals become toxic? How much is too much?

I worked out a method for predicting what marks I'll get for my exams based on statistics. I first tried it when I wrote my Statistics exam this november. It turned out that the mark I got was only 3% different than the mark I'd predicted with my method, so I deemed it reliable enough to continue using, for all-multiple-choice exmas at least. It might not work with ordinary tests, because very few of them have solely multiple choice questions, and they have far fewer questions, ie sample size. My method is fairly simple, and carried out in steps.

Step One: As I answer each question, I give it a rating from 1 to 3 based on how certain I am that I got the question right. Answers rated 1 I am absolutely certain I got right. Answers are rated 2 when I managed to narrow down my options to two, a 50 / 50 situation. Answers rated 3 are a total guess. It could've been any of the 5 options, I had no idea what was going on.

Step Two: When I've completed the exam, I go back and tally the 1s, 2s, and 3s. Let's say for example, I got 53 1s, 72 2s, and 25 3s.

Step Three: I multiply each of these numbers by how many marks each question is worth. For example, in an exam worth 300 marks, with 150 questions, each question would be worth 2 marks, so I'd multiply each number by 2 to get 106, 144, and 50 respectively.

Step Four: I divide each number by the percentage I'm statistically likely to get right. For the 1s, I'm certain I'll get 100% right, so I divide 106 by 1 to get 106. For the 2s, there's a 50% chance I'll get them right, so I divide 144 by 2 to get 72. For the 3s, it was a guess from 5 options, so there's a 20% chance I'll get it right, so I divide 50 by 5 to get 10.

Step Five: I add up my final marks to get a total, ie 106 + 72 + 10 = 188

Step Six: I divide this total by 300, and multiply that by 100 to get the predicted percentage, in this case 62.7%

Step Seven: I round this number off, so in this case my final prediction would be 63%

Well? What do you think? Are there flaws in my reasoning? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Bare in mind that the method must be simple enough to complete in the time you have left over after completing your exam, which could be anything from 5 minutes to an hour.

Plate boundaries where the two plates slide past each other in opposite directions are called 'Transverse Plate Boundaries'. A good example of such a boundary is the San Andreas fault in California, America. Faults and Plate Boundaries are not the same thing. Plate Boundaries are the lines dividing up and seperating the plates, the plates' edges. Faults are any area with unstable geology, they can occur in the middle of plates, or just about anywhere, not just on the edges of plates, although that's where they're most common.

Hi. My name is HAL.

 

I used to teach history, but now I run a network. I am most interested in Cosmology and have been trying to understand string theory, but am beginning to realize that this may not be possible. Nevertheless, I have been finding out some astounding things and I was hoping that by hanging out in places where people were talking about these kinds of things I would be able to understand a little more.

 

I have a medium-sized Samoyed dog. His name is Fig. He's my buddy.

 

 

And I am a bit of a car nut. Lots of fun. Used to hang out on some of the car forums, but there were too many right-wing gun nuts, so that was kind of a drag.

 

Anyway, I am still finding my way around. Looks like a very interesting place.

You have a Samoyed? Awesome! I've never met one, but I've read loads about them, and I want to get one when I'm older, after I've finished Uni, and I'm living on my own. What are they like? What interesting experiences have you had with yours? Was he easy to train?

Hi everybody, I'm Sadie. My friends say I'm crazy, but they're nuts too, so it's all good. :-D I love zoology, geography in general, and have too many interests to count. I knit. I'm a regular blood donor. I make necklaces. I read until my eyes are all dry and scratchy. I play SIMS Pets and Spore on my laptop way too much, I'm an adict. I'd have to say my worst addiction is Japanese anime though. I'm a total otaku! I watch it all in subtitles, so I've picked up quite a bit of the language. Watashi honto tsugoi, neh mina? ^.^

O.O You've got to be kidding... that's so gross... Well, I guess that eliminates the whole 'killing embryos to get stem cells' problem. For women, anyway. Now to find a similar solution for guys... -.-'

My mind is boggled from reading too many of these posts... Electronics was always one of my weak points. Would've failed it without all of the helpful equations, and my even more helpful Dad, who is a genius (when it comes to electronics, engineering, marine nautical stuff, and DIY anyway).

Even though I disagree with every aspect of your thoughts, and think inaction in some situations is the same as killing the people you didn't protect, I greatly respect your dedication to your ideology. Not many people have that.

Thank you. Respect is all I've ever wanted. It's one of the main reasons I'm planning on getting my Ph.D. You can probably tell I was bullied all through grades 1 to 12. I'm impressed that you have enough character to be comfortable with 'to each their own', and not trying to force me to see things your way. That shows me that you're a good sort of person.

You can ask me as many questions as you like, but I believe that there isn't a single circumstance which would make it aceptable for me to take another person's life, whether it was in self-defence, the defence of one of my loved ones or a stranger, whether I was ordered to by an important person, like if I was a soldier, or anything else. I might not live very long having these beliefs, but at least I am confident that I will die with clean hands and a clean conscience. I will die without fear of whatever is coming next, and without regrets, even if my inability to kill resulted in others being hurt, and prevented me from helping other people. That is my unwavering opinion on the matter.

Wow... can anybody say 'tension'? Meow.

Same here, sorry for the thread de-rail. It's just not every day you here about something so unusual or interesting.

Hello. I'm not sure if there is one or not, but what is the difference between pollen and spores? I honestly can't think of a single one.

Sure, but I was curious what's so passive-aggressive about it.

Hmmm... I'm not really sure. There's just that atmosphere to it. Like maybe there's an underlying tention of everybody tyring to convince everyone else that their theory is the right one... perhaps passive-aggressive wasn't quite the right adjective though.

It is really annoying, basically, whenever I eat something I am not familiar with, or has a strong taste/texture, I think I am having an allergic reaction, and have to control panicking, or in the case of meat/eggs, I am convinced I have food poisoning, and feel really scared for 4 hours. It doesnt matter how many times I eat the food, I still cannot convince myself that I am not allergic, even if I used to eat it daily.

 

It started because I had PTSD, which came out as a severe anxiety disorder (I got diagnosed after I had psychosomatic bleeding from my kidneys on and off for a year, along with random panic attacks (not hyperventilating, but I would go into complete shock, shivering, getting nerve twitches all over my body, feeling like I was passing out, for about 4 hours at a time), I got this under control, then suddenly I got scared of eating eggs after someone made a comment about "Oh, did you know, people die from salmonella cos they dont wash their hands after touching eggs"

 

After that it just grew and grew, been trying to work on this (first chemically, through SSRIs for 2 years), and now through weekly therapy and outpatient treatment at an eating disorder clinic. Initially the food wasnt the main issue, I was hardly eating because I was constantly having adrenaline rushes from anxiety.

 

We have found that the underlying issue is that for some reason, I do not get hungry, I get signals of hunger as feelings of panic, they say this is because I do not notice hunger, until my blood sugar drops, then I get panicky feelings, and the classic low blood sugar shakes etc, and when I eat something, I associate that with the panicky feelings as I cannot find any other reason for the panic.

 

We are working on this by getting me to eat every 2 hours, just a banana or a slice of bread, this has made a huge difference, now, if I am having a day when I have managed to eat small quantities regularly, I decide to have a proper meal, unfortunately, usually at some point in it, I suddenly think "How do you know you are not allergic", which can trigger the whole thing off again.

 

I am not sure if the disorder has a name, but the hospital say it is a combination of PTSD and a severe anxiety disorder which has transferred to eating, so they are treating all three at once. Social eating is a major trigger, which really messes up eating at university, or going away on residential field courses.

Wow, that really sucks. Sometimes I start taking for granted how fortunate I am in life, and then I'll meet someone like you and think, 'Damn! I'm one lucky booger'. If you don't mind me asking, I'm just curious... What caused your PTSD? Were you a soldier? Were you in an accident?

Sounds healthy and very tasty to me.

 

My diet at present is very restricted (Anxiety based eating disorders suck), however, prior to this I generally ate lots of nuts, fruit and green vegetables, along with wholemeal bread, eggs, potatoes, and a little bit of meat once in a while. I am / was not fully vegetarian, however, I do not like the taste or texture of meat, and along with ethical views, just prefer not to eat it.

 

At present, due to my extremely annoying eating disorder (You have no idea how frustrated I am by wanting to eat something, then having to deal with anxiety after eating it, not bulimia or anorexia nervosa btw, just a "Omg I might have an allergic reaction/get food poisoning" reaction to any food that has a strong taste/texture, or isn't on my "safe" list.), my diet consists of cereal (Only porridge or cornflakes), bananas, cheese (one brand of cheddar), one or two brands of bread, vegetables (again, only certain ones...although trying to expand it sneakily). I make my own shepherds pie type things as well, and have managed to slowly expand the variety of foods I eat.

 

I am extremely aware that this is unhealthy, and yes, I am getting treatment for this, hopefully in another 8 months or so it should be all back to normal.

Wow, I've never heard of anything like that before. When did it start? Do you know what caused it? It sounds like a very annoying disorder to have. :-/

yes.

And no, that's not just you.

Welcome.

Thanks, Michel. It's nice to be welcomed.

I agree with what Captain said, I too always feel the urge to honestly critique and improve every idea I read. That's just a part of what makes us scientists. I'm a little surprised the guy didn't see this coming. If he wanted 'that's wonderful', then he should've tried a different site.

I think a textbook would be a big help with this. I know mine was last semester, when I did this principle. If I remember correctly, p represented CC, q represented cc, and pq represented Cc. It's all about percentages of the population. Sorry I can't be of more help, I haven't got my textbook with me at the moment. Try doing some wiki and google. They really help.

My sister is a pescatarian, the only meat she eats is fish. She can't even eat jelly-sweets anymore, because most of them have bovine gelatin in them. I'm planning on surprising her by buying some agar and making turkish delight, which used to be her favourite, as part of her gift for Christmas this year.

I live in res, so I have to make an effort if I want to eat healthily. I've always hated most fruit and vegetables, unless they're cooked in a certain way, or mashed, or something like that. I buy lettuce, tinned peas, and tinned curried mixed vegetables, as well as tinned baked beans. I usually use soy mince for protein, or tuna, or frozen chicken nuggets, or pork sausages. I can't remember the last time I ate red meat, excluding biltong. (Which is the equivalent of American beef jerky) The only time I ever eat eggs is if I go home for the weekend, and my mom cooks eggs for me. I use bread for carbs and fibre, dehydrated potato powder, rice, and pasta. Just to make sure I'm getting enough nutrients, I take a Centrum multivitamin every night with my supper. I'm a regular blood donor, and a female, so I recently started taking extra iron supplements as well. I drink LOTS of milk, I love it, especially full cream. To me, anything else tastes like water which is pretending to be milk. I eat lots of cheese. I often have a few biscuits with hot chocolate for Afternoon Tea around 5pm, especially on cold days. That's my one indulgence. I'll admit though, I'm terrible about breakfast. During winter I'll usually make the effort to make a bowl of instant oats, but most of the year I just couldn't be bothered, and don't eat breakfast. I buy heart-mark approved margarine. I eat a 'snackbox' every day, which contains precisely 10 cashews, 10 almonds, 5 pecans, 30 raisins, and 5 pieces of glazed fruit. The nuts are all natural, raw, and unsalted. I find it does wonders for my digestion. I think that's about it. I get a decent amount of exercise running around campus every day, but I plan on hitting the gym this summer. I seem to have put on some weight around my middle which I need to burn.

Does that sound healthy?

I'm by no means a religious person, but even I believe that humans have no right to kill other humans, even if they're evil serial killers or whatever. They should be locked up so they can't hurt decent people, but we have no right to take their lives, only God has that right, and if we killed them, who is to say that we'd be any better than they are, just because they're criminals, and we're doing it legally? I don't believe in war either, or soldiers killing each other. To me that's just as evil as anything else. I would rather die young, than die an old woman with blood-soaked hands. I'm a Ghandi fan. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

Here's the problem: I completely understand how sexual reproduction occurs with mosses, they have sperm and eggs, but I have no clue where the asexual reproduction comes in. Do the gametophytes clone themselves or something? Please help!

Wow, I didn't really realize how common Linux was until this semester. I'd never even heard of it before July, but in the COMP 105 course I'm doing we've been learning all about it, and using it in some of the university's LANs. Ever since I realised it existed, I keep noticing people saying they have it. For instance, my sister uses it at work. I only knew of Windows and Mac before.

That is what it means.

Oh. Thank you. *blushes from embarressment* So much for being a BSc student...