Say something to the person above!

[Forlorn]

I agree. I never even took a moment to think about it, but that's interesting to learn.

[efaardvark]

On 8/17/2024 at 1:10 PM, Forlorn said:

What were they trying to do by sending those into space? I can't even come up with a theory about why they'd send any insects into space. o.0

Why the fly?

Fruit fly biological processes - including things like mechanisms of genetic mutation - are similar to that of humans but much simpler.  Fruit flies also only live maybe a couple months but they're very prolific, growing from an egg to an adult capable of fostering another generation in only a week to 10 days, and a female is able to lay around 500 eggs in her lifetime.

So if you want to see how things like the micro-gravity, high-radiation environment of space might affect humans over their entire life span, or even over the course of generations, then you can use humans, in which case it'll take a big, expensive rocket, quite a lot of supplies and life support, decades or centuries of time, and perhaps involve some awkward ethical questions if the test subjects get sick or for some other reason want out of the experiment before you're done with them.  Or you can use fruit flies, which will give you several generations of data in a month or two for the price of a small rocket and a few bananas.

[Zeref]

18 hours ago, efaardvark said:

Why the fly?

Fruit fly biological processes - including things like mechanisms of genetic mutation - are similar to that of humans but much simpler.  Fruit flies also only live maybe a couple months but they're very prolific, growing from an egg to an adult capable of fostering another generation in only a week to 10 days, and a female is able to lay around 500 eggs in her lifetime.

So if you want to see how things like the micro-gravity, high-radiation environment of space might affect humans over their entire life span, or even over the course of generations, then you can use humans, in which case it'll take a big, expensive rocket, quite a lot of supplies and life support, decades or centuries of time, and perhaps involve some awkward ethical questions if the test subjects get sick or for some other reason want out of the experiment before you're done with them.  Or you can use fruit flies, which will give you several generations of data in a month or two for the price of a small rocket and a few bananas.

Using fruit flies seems much better instead of using humans and now makes sense why they would do that. 

[Sakura]

Can they put all the flies on rocket ships and get rid of them please?  Actually no I don't mind the flies but if they wanna do that to the mosquitos I am really happy with that decision and would support it XD 

[Zeref]

Mosquitoes are a vital link in the food chain, providing food for many animals. Mosquito larvae eat organic matter in wetlands, which helps recycle nutrients. They also live in water and provide food for fish, frogs, dragonfly nymphs, and other water-dwelling animals. As adults, mosquitoes are eaten by bats, birds, insects, lizards, and spiders.

Mosquitoes also help to pollinate flowers and plants and help to keep insect populations under control. 

[Forlorn]

I used to think they were just a nuisance, but it's interesting to find out they're so vital.

[Sakura]

I still don't care what they do, I don't like them  For some reason they really like me and in the Summertime I get ate up by them so badly x.x Even right now I have about 3-4 mosquito bites on me >.< 

[Zeref]

I think I read once mosquitos like people of certain blood types better and can identify what type of blood a person has before biting them.

[Sakura]

They need to quit that and go bite the other half of the population for awhile then

[Zeref]

Did you know that the phrase “mad as a hatter” actually comes from Mad Hatter disease, better known as mercury poisoning. In the 19th century, fur treated with mercury was used to make felt hats. Hatters were confined in small spaces and breathed toxic mercury fumes, resulting in “mad” or irrational behavior.

 

[Animedragon]

Yes, I'd heard that one from somewhere. It's interesting, and slightly worrying, how many trades used dangerous substances on a regular basis without really knowing or considering the dangers they posed.

[Sakura]

I always think of coal miners as having one of the most dangerous jobs back in the day lol ~ when they would get black lung disease or run the risk of being trapped in mines. I didn't know there was anything dangerous related to making hats though, I never would have thought hats can be dangerous

[Animedragon]

I've never been down a coal mine and don't know much about coal mining, but any mining can be dangerous. I have been into a slate mine and learnt quite a bit about the methods of extracting slate and the conditions the miners worked in were both hard and dangerous, the usual method being to use explosives to bring down a load of slate and then collect up the pieces and hope you didn't use too big a charge and bring down the roof of the area you were working in.

[Zeref]

Did you know that sloths don't fart because they only defecate every one to two weeks, and any buildup of gas would be a problem. Instead, they reabsorb the gas from their gut and breathe it out

[Sakura]

1 hour ago, Zeref said:

Did you know that sloths don't fart because they only defecate every one to two weeks, and any buildup of gas would be a problem. Instead, they reabsorb the gas from their gut and breathe it out

WAT  UWWWWWW I have to go to sleep thinking about this weirdness now  and all this time I liked sloths and now every time I see a cute sloth I'm going to think about them basically eating their... yeah...  or reabsorbing it.. WHATEVER SAME THINGGGG 

[Animedragon]

7 hours ago, Zeref said:

Did you know that sloths don't fart because they only defecate every one to two weeks, and any buildup of gas would be a problem. Instead, they reabsorb the gas from their gut and breathe it out

Ah, so now we know why sloths are generally solitary animals, they have a serious bad breath problem!

[Sakura]

17 hours ago, Animedragon said:

Ah, so now we know why sloths are generally solitary animals, they have a serious bad breath problem!

The poor sloths  I have an entirely new picture of sloths in my head now.. 

[Zeref]

Did you know that no number before the number 1,000 contains the letter "A"?

[Animedragon]

1 hour ago, Zeref said:

Did you know that no number before the number 1,000 contains the letter "A"?

No, I didn't know that. I'm going to try to remember it so I can casually drop it into a conversation one day.

Thinking about it a bit more, it means that every number from 1000 to 9999 will have a "A" in it.

[Sakura]

3 hours ago, Animedragon said:

No, I didn't know that. I'm going to try to remember it so I can casually drop it into a conversation one day.

Thinking about it a bit more, it means that every number from 1000 to 9999 will have a "A" in it.

 I guess every number up to 1 million from 1,000 would have an "A" in it? Since it will always have "thousAnd" in it. 

[Zeref]

22 hours ago, Sakura said:

 I guess every number up to 1 million from 1,000 would have an "A" in it? Since it will always have "thousAnd" in it. 

If I am thinking correctly, yes you are correct

[Sakura]

Do I look like I'm ever wrong, about anything, ever? Psshhhh

Spoiler

Narrator voice:
She was in fact wrong, all the time, about everything, even things most people shouldn't be wrong about.

 

[Zeref]

Did you know in Alaska it is illegal to push a live moose out of a moving airplane? It specifically has to be alive and the airplane has to be moving or I think you could find a loophole with this one. I have no idea why you would have an alive moose on an airplane to begin with, and if you did, why in the name of Poseidon you would want to push it out a moving airplane. 

[Sakura]

3 hours ago, Zeref said:

 I have no idea why you would have an alive moose on an airplane to begin with, and if you did, why in the name of Poseidon you would want to push it out a moving airplane. 

This line had me dead lmfaoooooo I dunno why you would have a live moose on a plane.. The only reason I can think of is transporting it from one habit to another in the event it was somewhere it shouldn't be. I don't know if doing that by air would be the best option though, but being Alaska it might also be the only option. All that being said though I dunno why you would push it out of a moving airplane ._. 

[Animedragon]

16 hours ago, Zeref said:

Did you know in Alaska it is illegal to push a live moose out of a moving airplane? It specifically has to be alive and the airplane has to be moving or I think you could find a loophole with this one. I have no idea why you would have an alive moose on an airplane to begin with, and if you did, why in the name of Poseidon you would want to push it out a moving airplane. 

I must admit that it had never occurred to me that  someone would want to push a live moose out of a plane, but was intrigued and did a bit of research. Apparently the law helps prevent potential harm to the moose during a fall and protects property or individuals from unexpected impacts. I guess that a live moose falling on your property would be an unexpected impact .  I remain puzzled as to why the law only applies to live moose, surely a dead moose would cause just as much property damage, although no further harm would be caused to the moose.