/sci/ - Science & Math

>>2660237
>Furthermore, it's not true that the mechanism must be there for a reason. Evolution doesn't work that way.
I dunno, I think predisposition to cancer quite outweighs the possible benefits of immunity from senescence . It would be more advantageous for an organism to not live forever, but stay viable by culling aging cells.

The telomeres are basically just fillers, repetitions of TTAGGG, they encode for nothing. Yes, cancer is possible with remaining telomeres too, with the right mutations, but if telomerase is expressed, there will be literally nothing short of cytotoxin and starvation to stop the cells from dividing over and over again. That's cancer by any other name...

>>2660179
That mechanism, deleterious as its effect are, is there for a reason. We already have cases where cells simply stop aging and become immortal. It's called cancer.

>>2554464
Not just the shape, but certain physical features. For example, carbon nanotubes standing on end like bristles absorb 99.999% or so percent of light, partly via destructive interference. It's not something arising from the fact that it's carbon, but from the length and distribution of the nanotubules.

Another metamaterial may bend visible light around objects it covers, provided they're fairly thin. Another example would be shape-memory alloys: form them into one shape while hot, cool them, deform, heat up to the trigger temperature, and they reform to their initial shape. They are used for example to make rivets which can be inserted into closed spaces, then heated to form the head and fix it into place from the other side.

She has a (hotly contested) point in claiming that the Outer Space Treaty doesn't apply to individuals.

However, real estate law generally requires a period of presence on the estate to be claimed, and clear show of the owner's intention to claim it. She really should go to the Sun in order to lay claim to it, AND have it recognized internationally.

Godspeed!

Nope, neither. I've read about this once, it's a rather rare thing to happen by accident.

What happens is the water freezes over in a thin layer, and as water below it freezes and expands, it breaks through in one spot, bubbles up, and freezes on the surface. Rinse, repeat, enjoy your ice spikes.

IIRC, it requires rather pure water and some other controlled conditions in the freezer, so it doesn't happen easily.

Okay, what.

First a "Your favorite anime" thread, and now Mokou pops in with a question?

/c/ is too nice to do a raid (although it would probably be a rather nice raid, especially compared to what /b/ does), so I'm guessing /a/'s here...

>>2341211
An OVA? I haven't heard about that, only the two movies...
I'll check it out.

>>2341153
Agreed, that escaped my mind. Appleseed, or Appleseed Ex Machina?
I liked both, though Ex Machina!Briareos's newly organic look ruined the badass cyborg-look.

>>2341104
The Moon Treaty has nothing to do with this. Sure, the Outer Space Treaty doesn't forbid an individual's claim. But once you found your own state, you fall under the Treaty's definition, therefore you cannot claim your own territory.

>>2341127
There is no more Terra Nullius on the planet. Except in one case: newly formed islands in international waters. Those belong to their respective discoverers, i.e. the first captain who sails that way. If you try to build it in coastal waters, you're still under the jurisdiction of the state whose shore you're building on. Unless you did it before these were codified, like Sealand, but nobody takes that guy seriously...

>>2341075
Ghost in the Shell seconded.
Also Wolf and Spice and KARAS.

2/2

Disintegration usually comes to pass in violence, which I think the denizens of /sci/ would fail at in EPIC proportions, even if they weren't geographically dispersed, due to inadequate equipment and physical ability.

Secession comes to pass in peace (usually), through a referendum that is authorized by the head of state, and must pass with a significant margin if it is to be truly respected.

Even if a territory achieves statehood, there's still the problem of recognition by other states, which (according to one school of thought) grants the state its true status as an independent as sovereign entity, the ultimate affirmation of which is achieving a seat in the United Nations General Assembly.

1/2

Not to burst anyone's bubble or anything, but creating a new state from scratch is pretty much impossible and forbidden in international law.

Nowadays, a state may form by the disintegration of a pre-existing state or by a territory's secession from its state. Both are abnormal situations in law, therefore are sought to be prevented.
This is because all the surface of the planet has been claimed by a state or was declared international territory (aquatory), leaving no "No Man's Land" (Terra Nullius), upon which a new state could be founded. And before anyone argues that his leaves other planets and the underground open, it doesn't: it has been decided that a segment of the planet extending to the core is considered the sovereign territory of the state on the surface, as well as a segment of the atmosphere extending to any height they wish below the Karman-line (accepted boundary of the atmosphere); while the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty) declares all of space, including the surface of celestial bodies, such as the Moon, Mars, and exoplanets to be "the common heritage of mankind", which is essentially the prohibition of any one state claiming ownership of any land.

Calcium? How about a slightly bigger picture, OP?

Wouldn't sodium react with atmospheric moisture, and generally be metallic-looking? Been a while since I saw it...

>>2337548
What about Martian/Lunar colonies, and interstellar sleeper/generation ships?

>>2337423
This thread is now a folklore thread!

If myths are to be believed, werewolves only came out at full moon. However, they were not mentioned together with vampires, therefore we can assume that the two species did not coexist, at least not in physical proximity.

As for the resurgence of 'sparkling', I would hazard that it is indeed for attracting mates, possibly due to vampirism being encoded on a recessive gene, which would account for the need for promiscuity (to find and mate with another carrier) as well as their low population (few carriers or widely separated).

Now THAT is Twilight!

The initial colony should definitely be surface: solar panels provide ready access to energy, or space provides cooling for an RTG/nuke, while the vanguard conducts seismic surveys to determine the composition and stability of the asteroid. If everything is within limits, they can start drilling down and excavating an internal base that can easily remain pressurized and shielded, while the surface outpost becomes a communication relay and spaceport.

>Background radiation from outside the Big Bang

I stopped reading right there. By definition, the cosmic microwave background is the redshifted echo of the big bang. Nothing we can see is farther than that, period. It's the absolute border of the observable universe, even if there is something beyond that, we cannot know until the border reaches it, then light reaches us.

>>2258123
... Or superiors for that matter, economically, scientifically, and historically.

Why the hell would you need one if you don't work in a place that issues you one? Do you live near the Korean Peninsula?

I'd say the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (try to find Greg Egan's novel 'Quarantine' online, and email me if you do! It's good reading, but I've only read it once, and want it in an electronic format), or temporal mechanics in a Novikov Type II universe.

You've got your origins messed up too:
First World: Europe, usually en bloc, if you want to get elitist, Western Europe
North America
Third World: usually Black Africa and South America

Also, you didn't include many races in your completely arbitrary classification: for example, I'm Hungarian, and I don't see that (or aliens) anywhere.
Jews are a religious classification, not a racial one, only Nazis did that. However, if you intend to go the Nazi way, why did you rank Slavic peoples higher than Jews? In Hitler's view (inb4 Godwin's Law), Slavic people, along with gypsies were the absolute bottom of the ladder, only slaves.

These are a rather good topic of fiction: the motif of harmful sensation.

Try this one (http://www.mediafire.com/?5iehajp728co946): The Riddle Of The Universe and Its Solution. Just don't start wondering what it is... ;)
BLIT has been linked before, but here's a copy of it anyway: http://www.mediafire.com/?e47296qr52rrmdf
And I remember a short story in Russian about a curse poem that actually worked and was written in a way in the original that it induced psychosomatic effects. This effect didn't carry over into English, so we're safe if anyone can find it.
Then here's the Fulcrum: http://www.ichorfalls.com/2008/10/27/the-fulcrum
It destroys your comprehension of language should you see it.

>>2257883
<- OP's two feet of snow :D