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    GinAndTonic Got Stuck in the BarneyJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 5:40pm

    Can you guys hire a real science writer?

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      Joanna RothkopfGinAndTonic Got Stuck in the Barney
      5/06/16 9:03am

      what would qualify as a real science writer

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      GinAndTonic Got Stuck in the BarneyJoanna Rothkopf
      5/06/16 9:21am

      Is this a serious question? There is literally a whole field of science journalism. Science journalists typically start out as scientists or are journalists with science degrees.

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    AllieCat ❤️'S hats on cats-is probable weirdoJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 4:54pm

    God bless everyone who can figure that stuff out. I’m still operating on the “television happens because magic” system. How does an airplane fly? A thousand tiny angels makes as much sense as anything. Tell me more about Gravity? Well if the top falls then we’re not in a dream within a dream! What’s wind? Like honestly how does wind work? I sure as hell don’t know.

    I’d say this series will be good for me. But will I actually retain any of the info? probably not. There’s just wine and bad TV in the place where my brain should be so...just sloshing around up there.

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      beep beep i'm a jeepAllieCat ❤️'S hats on cats-is probable weirdo
      5/05/16 5:20pm

      What’s wind? Like honestly how does wind work? I sure as hell don’t know.

      I’m sniping this, because it’s really easy. Remember that air isn’t “empty.” It’s oxygen and a gorillion other molecules, which collectively do have weight. When you move, you are pushing those molecules around, as if you were in a pool.

      Wind and water currents are similar, they’re particles getting pushed because something somewhere moved. You know how water works.

      Global wind patterns are the result of pressure being created in the atmosphere (imagine you squeezed a filled balloon), and the planet’s natural rotation.

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      Marzipan in your Pie PlateAllieCat ❤️'S hats on cats-is probable weirdo
      5/05/16 5:34pm

      All of that is bad enough, but then things like 3-D printers. How do they even work? They must be magic, right? Printing food? And organs? That’s Star Trek shit right there!

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    jinniJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 4:44pm

    Can we just talk about the Fibonacci numbers for a while?

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      crayoneaterjinni
      5/05/16 4:46pm

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      jinnicrayoneater
      5/05/16 4:52pm

      Thank you so much. This is incredibly beautiful. 👑

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    collierLAJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 6:39pm

    Why aren’t there “crazy color” hair dyes (blue, green, etc) with the same longevity and permanence of “normal color” dyes? I understand that Manic Panic and similar are just pigment-depositing, and that L’oreal Preference Warm Medium Brown #41 employs a chemical reaction. But I don’t necessarily understand the mechanics of that chemical reaction, or why it (or a similar process) can’t be employed to create permanent blue (for example) hair color. I mean there are permanent dyes for other organic materials like cotton and leather, so....? Is it literally impossible, or is it just that there hasn’t been sufficient perceived demand for anybody to want to invest $$ in developing them?

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      DeanaCalcollierLA
      5/05/16 7:10pm

      I am also interested in the answer to this question.

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      PumpkinSpiescollierLA
      5/05/16 8:45pm

      My guess would be that it’s still more popular for people to do “regular” colors at home. There are chemical processes for the non-natural ones, but you have to go to a salon. They’ll last longer than Manic Panic if you take care of it but be prepared to pay :(

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    AntisocialJusticeWarrior is not Anti-SJWJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 4:53pm

    What color lipstick should I wear while I’m titrating a water sample? I want to look cute for the other scientists in my lab but I also want them to take me seriously??? PLEASE ADVISE

    I’m also curious about terraforming. What do we need to do to make this happen like right now? Earth is getting a little toasty and polluted for my taste.

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      AllieCat ❤️'S hats on cats-is probable weirdoAntisocialJusticeWarrior is not Anti-SJW
      5/05/16 4:56pm

      That depends. How many of your bosses did you sleep with to get the job?

      1-3 i’d say go with more of a pink.

      3 or more! A saucy red!

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      AskYourMotherAntisocialJusticeWarrior is not Anti-SJW
      5/05/16 8:22pm

      Tara’s form is perfect the way it is if he wants your help she’ll ask for it.

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    geneticsSnowBallJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 5:02pm

    Is genetics research held to a higher standard when demonstrating safety and looking for side-effects? If not, it should — right? — so why not?

    I am familiar with the history of certain scientific discoveries (I’m a scientist), and it’s clear that scientists can be blind to side effects if they do not expect them. Take lobotomies: practitioners claimed for decades that lobotomies did not affects a person’s ability to function or their personalities. Now that we know more about the frontal cortex and that we have more sensitive tools to test for cognitive function, we can say that some of the MAJOR side effects of lobotomies include disrupted decision-making and altered personality. So much so that we don’t practice lobotomies anymore. But we did for more than 40 years. In general, we are all dependant on time and changing perspectives to accurately assess the safety of new practices.

    We can hardly afford mistakes even when these die with the subject, but with genetic testing mistakes perpetuate when the subject reproduces. And it’s hard to prevent reproduction & dissemination of a horrible lab-created gene when you can’t fence-in the subject (see wind, wheat & Monsanto) or when it would be unethical to do so (sterilize a person??!!). Yet this year several countries have approved or are actively discussing allowing genetic testing in humans.

    I hardly hear conversations about how the standard for scientific evidence on safety/side-effects should be much, much more stringent for genetic research. Shouldn’t we force a very slow pace of progress on that research so that we have several generations of researchers looking for side-effects in very controlled settings?

    Not a “tell me how it works” question, I know, but epistemology & science ethics are also not girly and I am craving a bigger debate on this.

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      schwinn8geneticsSnowBall
      5/05/16 5:08pm

      I assume you’re talking primarily in reference to GMO foods. With that in mind, one counter-argument I’ve heard is that our digestive system doesn’t “incorporate” the DNA of what we eat in any way - it’s simply broken down and processed as food, so the DNA doesn’t do anything by-itself. This makes sense to me, since otherwise anything we eat would “incorporate” as well (every living thing has DNA, after all). I’m not saying that’s the “end” of the conversation, but I would ask what “more” needs to be done for this food that isn’t already done for food, in general?

      With that in mind, our food systems should have the “same” testing, in general, regardless of GMO or not. After all, non-GMO can have equally hazardous results, too... nature is evolving all the time, after all. So, if it’s not good enough for GMO foods, then it’s really not good enough for other foods either... wouldn’t you agree?

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      Lyle LanleygeneticsSnowBall
      5/05/16 5:17pm

      GMO crops are invariably sterile (just like the F1 hybrid crops farmers used to plant), so your concerns about such genes making their way into other crops are completely unfounded.

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    bonertownparade4Joanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 4:48pm

    A prune is by definition a dried plum. What in the hell is prune juice?

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      papasonarboogabonertownparade4
      5/05/16 4:56pm

      the extracted liquid that made it dry to begin with...I think?

      I don’t know and now I want to.

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      ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILDbonertownparade4
      5/05/16 5:03pm

      A warrior’s drink.

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    PhyllisNeflerJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 4:59pm

    How long would you be able to live on 51 bananas a day?

    Or just a fruit diet in general.

    (I am actually really curious about this)

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      Caroline ThompsonPhyllisNefler
      5/05/16 5:23pm

      Alternatively, if you got a steady stream of calories but no fibre, protein or vitamins, what would happen? How long would you last and what would be the first thing to go wrong?

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      childrenofthebroccoliPhyllisNefler
      5/05/16 6:05pm

      My mom (RN) once treated a lady who had potassium poisoning from an all-banana fad diet.

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    MadPiglet loves West HamJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 5:51pm

    Animal-related:

    How is it that I feed my two dogs the exact same food and one of them makes normal dog poo and the other, well, let’s just say she’s a horror movie waiting to happen. Both dogs have been to the vet and are considered in perfect health, but one is a toxic waste factory and the other appears to be a normal dog. Why? How?

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      razjmMadPiglet loves West Ham
      5/05/16 6:30pm

      Are they the same breed of dog? The same size? Is either overweight? Have they ever had any other digestive problems? Do they eat their food too quickly? Do they drink too much? There’s a lot of factors that can influence this—and that’s without even getting into things like gut flora.

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      MadPiglet loves West Hamrazjm
      5/05/16 6:40pm

      Main Dog (normal poo) is a fit and trim 50 pound mix of Border Collie, German Shepherd and anxiety.

      Emergency Backup Dog is an older lady who is part Lab and part Pit Bull and part goat, I think. She’s getting on in years and is probably a good 10 pounds over her ideal weight but she wears it well and has a good body image.

      The vet says that Main Dog’s genetics are made for her to deal with food as efficiently as possible, whereas Emergency Backup Dog’s genetics are the exact opposite, which explains why she eats all the things when given a chance. But they’re both healthy, so we just chalk it up to how things are.

      Neither of them get people food. It’s just How They’re Made and we’ve all learned to just get up and leave the room with a window open when Emergency Backup Dog starts farting. ;)

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    E=MC HammeredJoanna Rothkopf
    5/05/16 4:42pm

    Fucking magnets, how do they work?

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      HoustonDude2014E=MC Hammered
      5/05/16 4:58pm

      I’m intrigued by your incorporation of magnets into your fucking. I, too, would like to know how magnet fucking works.

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      one time i ate a salad without cheeseE=MC Hammered
      5/05/16 5:16pm

      The answer is that you drop a kitkat bar on your carpet and when you pull it off there are all your hairs clinging to it and that is how magnet is formed

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