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Hey sorry i have been really busy lately and unable to check the club on a regular basis.

But what does everyone think about the swine flu pandemic?

At 4/28/09 10:16 PM, permaximum1 wrote: Hey sorry i have been really busy lately and unable to check the club on a regular basis.

But what does everyone think about the swine flu pandemic?

Hey, I would also really like to say that I'm also sorry for not being on lately. It seems that every year I get more assignments and projects at the end of the year than ever. I hardly have any free time any more and when i do I've got to do housework and such rather than get on to NG.

In response to the swine flu "pandemic": I think that the whole thing is/ was blown out of proportion by the media. We are very fortunate that it is not really any more fatal than the regular seasonal flu, just a different strain. I do, however, think that the U.S.(where I live) could have done better in preparation. I think we need some better system of checking international travelers from Mexico than going to their cars and asking" Do you feel sick?". I think employing the use of thermal cameras to check for fevers and a full - time contagious illness screening section would be proficient in reducing the probability of international spread of any contagious disease.

At 4/28/09 10:16 PM, permaximum1 wrote: Hey sorry i have been really busy lately and unable to check the club on a regular basis.

Everyone is kinda busy lately... don't worry...

But what does everyone think about the swine flu pandemic?

I think that we just have to take care. In my country we just had 3 cases... we were very worried, because my country (Guatemala, is the country down, next to Mexico) can handle that kind of 'sickness' our hospitals aren't prepared for that, i we had like, i don't know imagine 200 cases, it would be very difficult to maintain it and not to allow it to scape, and to give everyone the cure, because we are very poor.
My country just blocked almost every flight from Mexico.

and about Eman110 said. The thermal cameras would be a nice idea you know, to bad that just countries like U.S. would be able to afford that. Latin America have a lot of difficult against preventing that kind of things.

So very silent here these days...

At 5/21/09 09:22 PM, Eman110 wrote: So very silent here these days...

so much no science around
well, usually happens, really... but we have to continue
that's the only way to bring the alive again

so, anyone know about a new science discover or something?
yesterday google had some logo about Fossils, does anyone know why? i still curious

New missing link fossil found.
Linky.

At 5/21/09 10:24 PM, aninjaman wrote: New missing link fossil found.
Linky.

Yeah, that is cool. But for some reason, I've never quite taken to things like that. I don't know why.

So, its been a couple months since the H1N1 virus thrust it's self on to the world stage, enacting a declaration of health emergency in the US, virtually closing all of Mexico City, and closing airports worldwide. So far, most fatalities have been among people with underlying conditions or those who are not able to receive proper medical care. The virus is still rampant, and is now an official pandemic according to the WHO. So now I pose 3 questions to you. 1. Do you think that a vaccine will be necessary in the upcoming winter in the Northern Hemisphere? If so, do you think it will be ready by the time Flu Season 09' - 10'? 2. Do you think we will see a rise in fatalities soon as the virus spreads to 3rd world countries? 3. How likely do you think the chance of this strain mutating into the 1918 strain is? Also, do you think fatalities will be as high as, higher than, or lower than those in 1918?

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My answers:
1. I think that a virus would be necessary for the elderly, children, and those with other illness reducing the capacity of their immune system (HIV/AIDS, chemotherapy, etc. ) . However, i don't think that a vaccine will / would be necessary for healthy adults. I do think that the vaccine its self will be ready, but mass production will only have begun.

2. I expect the fatalities to rise.

3. I HOPE, that this strain won't mutate, but I think that the possibility is there. If it were to mutate to the 1918 strain, then I think that the fatalities would be about the same or slightly higher. I think that modern medicine and science will be able to produce an effective enough vaccine in a relatively quick time, but getting it massed produced, distributed worldwide, and keeping a steady flow up will be challenging. I think that science will be able to keep fatalities low... for those who can get their hands on it. I predict that the high number of poor and the high number of 3rd world countries will see high casualties and be a large chunk of the total death toll. Not only will their in-ability to get medical care be a reason in death tolls, but poor diet, poor housing, and poor care for pre-existing medical conditions will all play their parts.

I look forward to seeing all of your responses.

Wow, no takers at all? I'd have expected at least one response by now...

This is a bummer. Are there even any active members any more?

Pff. It's a flu. Flu viruses are only dangerous to those already weakened by other things.

Regardless of whether a vaccine is ready in time for winter, Oseltamivir (a.k.a tamiflu) will treat it like any other flu strain.

Tamiflu is a neuraminidase inhibitor, which stops the virus from detaching from the cell once it's been produced by an infected cell. Since neuraminidase is a highly conserved protein, the chances of a mutant resistant to the action of tamiflu are slim, and any mutant that does arise would likely be crippled by a less-than-robust version of the neuraminidase. It's effectively a choice between not being able to reproduce because of the tamiflu, or because of the virus' own mutations. Either way will likely render it harmless.

There is almost no chance of a flu virus with significant resistance to tamiflu and robust activity, so there's little need to worry about this virus mutating into something more dangerous. It'll likely dissipate out like all other flu viruses in due time.

I'm back after a weekend at the relatives! Sorry for the lack of postage.

At 7/20/09 02:17 AM, VictoriaGoldsmith wrote:

At 4/6/09 04:01 PM, RubberTrucky wrote: Teleportation is highly unlikely and elevators are even more impractical.

Teleportation is nothing more than science fiction and fantasy. Space elevators, on the other hand, are feasible. There is a fair chance they are coming in the not-so-distant future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_eleva tor#21st_century

If you look to the bottom of that section, you'll see that we'll probably see Space Elevators within a very short time period. After that, MOON ELEVATORS!

Seriously, it says that that would be much easier to make, given that we could get on the moon with those materials and construct it there.

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that I'm switching to a new account. I am not going to leave NG and I will post when the new account is going.

This is BeAFreeThinker here, formerly Eman110. From now on, I will be posting exclusively from this account. I will still be an active member in the discussion and will be the active moderator when permaximum1 isn't around. Thank you.

Ya a space elevator is not too far beyond the horizon. CNT tech is advancing quickly and I'd guess that they would be the main building materials.

Haha if your a former marijuana user and are overweight, now you have an excuse to stay that way! :P

At 8/10/09 02:47 PM, BeAFreeThinker wrote: Haha if your a former marijuana user and are overweight, now you have an excuse to stay that way! :P

Nice....

**trying not to make a Seth Rogen reference here...**

This seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Discussion anyone?

At 8/17/09 10:47 AM, BeAFreeThinker wrote: This seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Discussion anyone?

Guess not. If anyone ever wants to discuss science, well I'll be here...

At 8/17/09 10:47 AM, BeAFreeThinker wrote: This seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Discussion anyone?

Heard about this crisis when talking with a medical student. Seems awfull. Isn't there any other isotope that can be used instead?

At 8/23/09 10:31 AM, ertysproductions wrote:

At 8/17/09 10:47 AM, BeAFreeThinker wrote: This seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Discussion anyone?

Heard about this crisis when talking with a medical student. Seems awfull. Isn't there any other isotope that can be used instead?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think so or else someone would have proposed making that. I know its a shitty reason, but, meh.

Would anyone be interested in starting this club back up? I miss those good old days......

I'd like to be a member of this club. my favorite sciences are Astronomy and Biology

At 10/31/09 02:13 PM, vgfa287 wrote: I'd like to be a member of this club. my favorite sciences are Astronomy and Biology

Wha kind of astronomy do you enjoy?

At 10/31/09 08:52 PM, RubberTrucky wrote:

Wha kind of astronomy do you enjoy?

well I guess I can say stellar Astronomy but I'm interested in all aspects of the field, perhaps not cosmology as much though that doesn't mean I don't like it.

Does anybody read any scientific journals in this club? I myself have a subscription to Nature. it's great and all since it deals with all the scientific fields but it is on the expensive side. I was wondering what anyone here is reading?