Some interesting science news from the last couple days...

[Pali]

Jupiter has lost one of its major stripes.

Scientists have created a living cell from synthesized DNA. EDIT:

[f0xx]

Now they can create my perfect model of a woman.

[Twinblades713]

Now they can create my perfect model of a woman.

A man?

[KRins]

A man?

BAZINGA!

[f0xx]

Oh so very funny, I can't stop laughing...

[Twinblades713]

You're right. I don't hate gay people at all. We cool?

[f0xx]

Even if I were gay, I still wouldn't hit you

[corpsestomp]

Oh god...isn't that second one kinda like how Jurassic Park started?

Damnit. All the money from my new job is going to have to be funneled into an 'Anti-Velociraptor/Home Defense' account.

[Imoutgoodbye]

Forgive me, but as I go to bed, anyone else seeing the potential for HUGE biological warfare where he who has the power gets the money and more power by having the only code to the genetics for immunizations against bacteria no one's ever seen before?

I hope whatever they get from this is absolutely useless. *shakes head* Not saying anything about "playing God" but at some point we have to stop messing with the human basis before someone does become too powerful. Everything is a weapon in the wrong hands.

[samag08]

I do not usually pay much attention to a lot in this section but this one caught me. All I can say is , Amen to the Valek!

[Pali]

Consider instead, Valek, the incredible benefits we could obtain from having bacteria designed for far more beneficial activities - fuel creation, breaking down of waste, the myriad of medical uses (think of the possibilities involved with anti-bacterial bacteria, or bacteria that are designed to specifically target cancer cells). There are untold possibilities involved here... and while yes, the potential for abuse certainly exists, that is what people said about nuclear power, or genetic engineering of crops (the use of which has prevented the starvation of over two billion people that are alive right now).

Also keep in mind that for the foreseeable future, this technology is incredibly expensive, time consuming, and in its earliest stages regarding our actual ability to design complex organisms. We are likely decades away from much in the way of practical applications of this.

[Mindflayer]

Hey Pali, I've been watching Venter for awhile on TED.com (I'm a science nerd too )

He's got some awesome ideas about how to engineer that bacteria to eat up CO2 and make hexane its waste product. That's the ****.. Literally!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/craig_venter_is_on_the_verge_of_creating_synthetic_life.html

(this was back in 2008)

[Imoutgoodbye]

*chuckle* Pali, are you trying to bribe me?

Nah, I LOVE the idea of the benefits. Unfortunately, the consequences scare me more than the benefits can alleviate my (in your view) irrational fears. I say irrational because in this I see:

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hell was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

— Revelation 6:7-8

I know, I'm a nut job for even posting this in a science based thread. Forgive me.

[The-Nameless]

sadly I lean towards Valeks opinion of this. Humanity has always taken amazing scientific breakthroughs, and turned it into a weapon or war machine.

The bow and arrow was possibly the greatest thing man ever invented if you take into account the advances it allowed. Being able to easily hunt made a need to learn how to dress, and store food. It also led to much more violence in humans. You can go through history and find countless things that could have been used to better humanity, but they where weapons first. A prime example is Nuclear weapons. That plutonium and uranium now provides clean, safe (oddly enough) power, yet the first thing people think of when you say nuclear is an Atomic bomb. My biggest fear lay in the particle accelerator they are working with to find the "god" particle. They have been creating minute black holes that are too small to stablize, but they are still creating them. Soon enough it will be taken from science, and put onto the war-desk. I have always thought humanity will destroy this planet with our lack of care for each other overall. We are the only species that consistantly works for the betterment of the individual at the cost of the masses. I really feel, and I know I will catch **** for saying this, that the concept of communism is perfect. It is an idea that if it could ever be properly followed it would be amazing (think of an ant hive) but we as people are unable to do that because we constantly worry on the individual

[Imoutgoodbye]

I know I will catch **** for saying this' date=' that the concept of communism is perfect. It is an idea that if it could ever be properly followed it would be amazing (think of an ant hive) but we as people are unable to do that because we constantly worry on the individual[/quote']

*plants a big wet kiss on The-Nameless*

I love you for that thought!

[Pali]

My biggest fear lay in the particle accelerator they are working with to find the "god" particle. They have been creating minute black holes that are too small to stablize' date=' but they are still creating them.[/quote']

I do not know where you are getting your information, but this is flat wrong. The LHC is not creating tiny black holes, and even if it were they would almost certainly not be dangerous.

Every scientific advance (read this as "every time we learn something new about the universe") brings about the potential for abuse of that knowledge. I have never been in the camp of those who think we should stop trying to learn things just because of the fear that someone at some point may try to abuse that knowledge.

And Valek... when you bring up ancient texts written by scientifically illiterate people that read as if they were written while tripping on LSD, you'll forgive me for just laughing rather than considering it something to worry about. People have predicted the end of the world hundreds of times, whether based on the Bible or other types of mysticism - and every single one of them has been wrong. I'm not saying that the world ending isn't possible, but looking to a book written thousands of years ago by people who understood almost nothing about how the universe functions is not the way to predict or prevent an apocalypse.

[jibber]

I agree, partially anyway. I love science, and I love faith too.. but it always seems the 'betterment' of science always ends up being used to for the worse in the long run.

As far as communism.. perfect concept. If only humanity was capable of such order and 'fairness' at the same time. But as you said, we've got people who think about themselves more than they think about the future of their families or country. Not that it's bad or anything, it just keeps communism from ever happening and becoming a pure set of perfect rules and a good political party.

sadly I lean towards Valeks opinion of this. Humanity has always taken amazing scientific breakthroughs, and turned it into a weapon or war machine.

The bow and arrow was possibly the greatest thing man ever invented if you take into account the advances it allowed. Being able to easily hunt made a need to learn how to dress, and store food. It also led to much more violence in humans. You can go through history and find countless things that could have been used to better humanity, but they where weapons first. A prime example is Nuclear weapons. That plutonium and uranium now provides clean, safe (oddly enough) power, yet the first thing people think of when you say nuclear is an Atomic bomb. My biggest fear lay in the particle accelerator they are working with to find the "god" particle. They have been creating minute black holes that are too small to stablize, but they are still creating them. Soon enough it will be taken from science, and put onto the war-desk. I have always thought humanity will destroy this planet with our lack of care for each other overall. We are the only species that consistantly works for the betterment of the individual at the cost of the masses. I really feel, and I know I will catch **** for saying this, that the concept of communism is perfect. It is an idea that if it could ever be properly followed it would be amazing (think of an ant hive) but we as people are unable to do that because we constantly worry on the individual

[Imoutgoodbye]

Valek... every single one of them has been wrong. I'm not saying that the world ending isn't possible, but looking to a book written thousands of years ago by people who understood almost nothing about how the universe functions is not the way to predict or prevent an apocalypse.

I consider it to be a fair warning. Prophecies are fun because sometimes they can be self-fulfilling.

Besides, in regards to the world ending, be glad no one's been right yet. Science has to try and fail many, many, many times before it gets some things right. We only have to be right about the end of the world once. When it starts, it'll be too late for hind sight.

[Pali]

Prophecies are fun because sometimes they can be self-fulfilling.

Which is a great point in favor of my position that people should not put stock in them - if nobody believes in them, nobody will try to make them come true.

EDIT: And yes, eventually the world will end. The universe is not a static place, and nothing in it lasts unchanged forever. Regardless of what we may do to Earth ourselves, in around 5 billion years the sun will expand into a red giant and encompass the planet... assuming, of course, that our solar system remains relatively unchanged from the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies merging with each other in 4.5 billion years, and doesn't suffer the impact of a massive asteroid, or any of the other harder-to-predict ends that it could meet. What is your point here, that because we humans might end up being the cause of it rather than some cosmic hiccup that we shouldn't try to figure out new things about the universe and new ways to do things?

but it always seems the 'betterment' of science always ends up being used to for the worse in the long run.

Two things: 1) Science is not some great monolithic entity - it is a process, a methodology that has shown itself to be the best tool we have in determining the nature of the universe. "Betterment of science" means improving our ability to learn new things about the world we live in... and I have serious trouble in finding anything wrong with that, beyond the nebulous fears of those who would rather stick their heads in the sand than look around the next corner to see what's there because it might bite.

2) I also take issue with the notion that scientifically-gained knowledge has been used for the worse in the long run. It has given us the entirety of modern medicine. It has allowed us the capability to feed the planet (this is not an exaggeration - without genetically engineered crops, billions of people alive today would have starved to death). Improvements in communication and transportation have helped societies around the planet work together to accomplish things nobody 100 years ago would have even dreamed of. We have a better understanding of the universe now than humanity has ever had in the past, and that understanding is continuing to grow as we learn more. Even nuclear weapons, for all the very real danger they pose, have done something immensely positive that I very much doubt would've happened otherwise - they have kept the peace between the most powerful nations on the planet for over half a century, even despite great hatred and distrust existing between them.

[Imoutgoodbye]

Science gave us antibiotics. Seemed great at first.

What has man done with these antibiotics? Overused them. Which has led to new strains of resistant diseases that require stronger and stronger antibiotics. Nature always wins over science.

Whether that be the nature of man himself or the universe.

[Pali]

What exactly is your point here? I'm not saying that science has made us or ever will make us omnipotent, so I don't see the relevance of diseases evolving to suit the antibiotic-heavy environment that now exists. Are you saying we should have never started using antibiotics in the first place, that we're worse-off now than we were before? Please tell me that is not what you are saying.

[Imoutgoodbye]

"The path to hell is paved with good intentions" comes to mind. A favored saying of mine. I'd never say antibiotics was a bad thing. I'm just saying man truly has no idea wtf he gets himself into sometimes. Outcomes are sometimes impossible to predict. Unless it's diarhhea, dry mouth, nausea, liver spots, and other such side affects known immediately.

Truly, I have nothing else to offer to this thread. Other than pulling your leg here and there.

[Grim_Reefer]

I'd rather die a warrior than live a coward.

[The-Nameless]

I'd rather die a warrior than live a coward.

Thats good. I fought your warriors and I must say death was about your only option.

[Aulian]

Who needs some Aloe?