Mal: I call you back? Wash: No, Mal. You didn't. Zoe: I take full responsibility, cap.

'Out Of Gas'


Natter 74: Ready or Not  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


billytea - Nov 24, 2015 3:27:40 pm PST #9748 of 30003
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

Where was the $16 upgrade seat, on top of the landing gear?

Technically, I hope all the seats are on top of the landing gear.


Jesse - Nov 24, 2015 3:37:39 pm PST #9749 of 30003
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Above it, at least.


sj - Nov 24, 2015 3:43:39 pm PST #9750 of 30003
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

Newly-acquired knowledge I did not need but now cannot stop thinking about: Talenti makes peppermint bark gelato.

I need to finish up the last of the farmer's market ice cream so that I can justify buying some of this.


Sheryl - Nov 24, 2015 4:46:46 pm PST #9751 of 30003
Fandom means never having to say "But where would I wear that?"

My folks are not tech savvy, so an Amazon gift card wouldn't work. (They get books in e-mail, and transfer them to the Kindle. I don't know if they even have Amazon accounts set up.)


billytea - Nov 24, 2015 4:51:31 pm PST #9752 of 30003
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

This is awesome: tardigrades, possibly the most indestructible animals in nature, have a genome that is 17.5% not-animal. [link]

They've picked up genes (by direct transfer) from bacteria, viruses, fungi and plants. They think it's from their best survival mechanism. Tardigrades can survive near-complete dehydration. But that breaks up their DNA, and when they rehydrate, environmental DNA can infiltrate the cells and get stitched in.

In conclusion, here's a picture of one. Awww, so cute. [link]


-t - Nov 24, 2015 4:59:18 pm PST #9753 of 30003
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

I am going to have to keep thinking about that for a while. Wow.


billytea - Nov 24, 2015 5:08:34 pm PST #9754 of 30003
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

Here's another one: someone's made an interactive map showing all the world's territorial disputes: [link]

The top comment states: "Unfortunately, the resolution isn’t high enough to zoom in on the red dot in Southern Ontario where Chad keeps moving his fucking stapler to my side of the cubicle."


Typo Boy - Nov 24, 2015 5:08:57 pm PST #9755 of 30003
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

Reading the link, what does not kill a tardigrade literally makes it stronger?


Connie Neil - Nov 24, 2015 5:10:48 pm PST #9756 of 30003
brillig

I'm pretty sure the tardigrade was either a monster in Pan's Labyrinth or Doctor Who. And considering the name . . .

I was expecting it to be a program to incorporate Doctor Who in teaching.


billytea - Nov 24, 2015 5:12:22 pm PST #9757 of 30003
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

Reading the link, what does not kill a tardigrade literally makes it stronger?

Speculatively. I would add numerous caveats to that though. (Not least being, I would assume that the majority of foreign genes that make it into a tardigrade will prove to be neutral or detrimental to its odds of survival. Just as with internal genetic mutations. But in terms of the evolving genome rather than an individual tardigrade, maybe?)