foofighter

hey, how do i check on my computer what type of ram i have? i.e. ddr, ddr2, sdr etc thx

just another note on how evolution stuffs up, i just watched episode 4 of David Attenborough's newest series, Life in Cold Blood - "Sophisticated Serpents" It turns out that the African Rock Python feeds on Antelope. These Antelope are so large that, although the ARP can widen its jaw to accomodate its prey, it stretches its body so much that its skin tears, forming wounds from stretching its mouth to consume prey. If God created ARPs to feed on Antelope, and He knew they would have to consume Antelope that big, surely he wouldn't have designed a system where the ARP's skin has to tear, and thereafter heal, in order to feed. It just doesn't make any engineering sense. Oh wait - I get it - God made it that way, so that it looks like bad design, in order to test our faith that it is in fact really perfect design! Makes sense...lol

i wasn't referring to a species change. i was referring to the development of new organs in the species introduced to the new island. if that's not macro, how do you explain that via micro?

if the phenotype is due to a different diet, that's because such genetic variation is selected for. the heads don't just grow in response to a different diet, that would be Lamarckism

i think they mean it has retained enough genetic similarity to still remain part of the parent species - they don't mean that the genetic analysis was 100% identical. that's what it would seem to mean, imho

sometimes i wonder if our perception of animal intelligence in species other than chimps and simliar primates is limited because in general animals lack complex communication and dexterity. both are crucial for displaying intelligence to us human observers, given that these are our standards, besides having bigger brains of course. but does a lack of complex communication and dexterity, or either, indicate a LACK of intelligence? or could it be that they are intelligent, but we simply can't tell because of the language/dexterity barrier? is there a way that we can measure absolute intelligence in animals? also i was wondering if anyone knows any good books on the subject. thx

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080417112433.htm seems pretty awesome doesn't it?

Funny - i don't know if this is a widely known argument used by science against the bible - i have never seen it - but it is amazing now that i think about it. I was reading Genesis, the relevant chapters in the Noah story - time and again, it is emphasized that EVERY living beast on land, as well as critters and flying creatures (fish are an exception), came into the ark. "From all flesh with the spirit of life in it" is a phrase used again and again. So that being the case, according to Creationists why would God leave out all extinct animals from the ark? Because he wanted to? If he could fit elephants inside, surely he could fit in Compsognathus LOL - especially if the bible repeats again and again "all flesh came into the ark". Thus the Bible itself testifies against Flood Geology, because these animals should be alive according to the verses that say "everything came into the ark". Has anyone heard this argument before?

the only dumb question is that which doesn't get asked = ). Scientists recently succeeded in building the entire DNA sequence of a known species of bacteria, bit by bit, lego-style. The next goal is to put that DNA in a human-created cell membrane. human created cell membranes do not exist yet, but that is the next goal, namely, making one. if that goal works, the final goal will be to boot the whole cell to life with the artificial dna inside the artificial cell membrane. keep in mind though - this is simply making life out of non life by copying the structure of a known creature made by nature. this isn't a creature that is designed from the ground up by people, as in a whole new species cooked up by man. but if we can eventually make existing species of bacteria from non-living material, then in the far future we'll probably be able to engineer our own original species from scratch. that's way far in the future though, in my opinion. also, welcome to the boards = )

oh i thought phi for all was joking, implying that he's gonna be a while staring at the models in bikinis. lol maybe he meant both research and that too lol.

I'm not saying the following based on any example i noticed posted thus far, cuz these examples are so far pretty good - i'm just wondering if anyone feels the same way: for the sake of objectivity, we need to distinguish between A) poor design, which definitely exists and is evidence against a designer, and B) saying "he could've done better than this" ad infinitum. when something is patently bad, like a jaw not big enough for our teeth - that's messed up. so are all the other things mentioned here. but as for other things, (not necessarily anything mentioned thus far - again this is just a general warning we should think about) a designer, even if it's some sort of god, can always make his creation better and better and better ad infinitum - so we can always find flaws in the design. any design can always be improved upon. so in bringing these examples let's just bear in mind the difference between obvious stupidities in nature's design, which certainly exist in large quantities, and on the other hand nitpicking until the cow's come home, saying "he could've done better" again and again. what are your thoughts on this, everyone?

panda's thumb whale leg vestiges photosynthesis is only 5% efficient at using light as energy snake leg vestiges unibrows lol

A question on alien written languages: To the best of my knowledge, the only way we can decipher ancient languages of humans is because we have clues from other places, like the rosetta stone, or extant languages that are similar to the ancient ones. So therefore, assuming aliens had a written language, there would be no way to decipher it, even with computers. Sure you can find patterns in the writing, but what does each symbol stand for? You need to be told this - you can't figure it out. It's akin to me trying to teach someone who is illiterate how to read by writing instructions for him on how to read. Am I right, or is there a loophole? Can we discover a written language's meaning from text alone? I think the same argument would apply to spoken language. Thus it would seem we'd have to find another way to try and communicate with aliens.

what would happen if a person who has stopped growing, like at age 25, takes growth hormone. would he start growing again? or is it too late? i am 22, and i don't think i'm growing anymore. i am not sure though - maybe i am growing a little. nevertheless, i am 5'7" and i was supposed to reach 5'11", but the whole genes coupled with environment factor kicked in, because i developed Crohn's Disease at age 15. My doc said to my mom way back that it definitely might have stunted my growth. Wikipedia also says that, so it's pretty much settled from that sighhh...what to do? what to do?

if you have a Phd, is this field a decent way to make enough to support a family? or is it not really a career you can have when you're poppin out kids with a wife and paying all the money to raise em? in other words, how much do researchers make, and what's life like for them during work and outside of work? anyone here do research that can describe, as i'm considering doing this in my future? thank you