Science Porn

[Mystical]

We know from both studies of DNA and the anatomy of living animals and fossils that whales are part of a mammalian group known as the Artiodactyla. Modern artiodactyls include animals like cows, pigs, sheep, giraffes, camels, and hippos. Artiodactyls have many characteristics that distinguish them from other mammals, but the most distinctive of them are in the foot and ankle. First, artiodactyls reduce the number of toes such that the foot is symmetrical between two digits (a condition called paraxonic). If you think about a cow foot, the hoof seems “split” in two. These animals are often called cloven-hoofed for this reason. The foot actually isn’t split into two at all. Rather, it is actually two toes fused together. Second, artiodactyls have a bone in the ankle called the astragalus (which is found in other mammals as well), but in artiodactyls, it takes on a characteristic form with a pulley shape at each end. Early whales share these characteristics with other artiodactyls. The group of fossil artiodactyls that we think are most closely related to whales is called the Raoellidae, and they lived in Indo-Pakistan, China, and Mongolia during the early and middle Eocene. These animals were probably omnivorous, and some people think they foraged by walking on the bottom of bodies of water.

There are only two groups of mammals (that we know of) that have become completely aquatic. These are the Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and the Sirenia (sea cows and dugongs). These two groups both originated in the early Eocene, and have followed rather similar evolutionary pathways, particularly in how their limbs and modes of locomotion evolved. This is despite of the fact that cetaceans are carnivorous and sirenians are herbivorous. In addition, the Pinnipedia (seals, sea lions, and walruses) evolved from a group of dog-like Carnivora in the late Oligocene.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/...tion/7577/

[Marsellus Wallace]

I love this thread more everyday <3

[Alex K]

Here's something from my neck of the woods.

Is this the fastest digital camera on earth?

The innermost layer of the LHC ATLAS experiment, the pixel detector, has 80 megapixels and can record 40 million collision events per second, every second, almost year-round.



And here is where it's situated



When it starts up again early next year, maybe I'll write up something about the progress.

[LastPoet]

FAP FAP FAP FAP.....

[Anomalocaris]

Rhodopsin, more specifically channelrhodopsin:



This is the light sensitive protein which enables green algea to see light and move towards light.

Analysis shows the algea genes which enables green algea to synthesize channelrhodopsin is direct ancester of the genes which enables all animals with vision to synthesize different varieties of Rhodopsin in their eyes. So the direct ancester of all vision in all animals is to be found in the ancester to higher plants.

How this happened is not clear. The most likely scenario is some single celled ancester of animals ate a green algea cell, but failed to digest it. The green algea continue to live inside the animal cell and eventually contributed its own genes to those of the animal cell around it.

[SteelCurtain]

Love it! Keep it up!

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How camo is painted on helmets...

The Pythagorean Theorem in action!

Not science but this is how the Big Bird suit works...

[Alex K]

Wow the internet chart is astonishing.

[Mystical]

So does Russia not have internets at all???

[Surgenator]

So does Russia not have internets at all???

Yes it does, just not everywhere.

[SteelCurtain]

So does Russia not have internets at all???

Looks like Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd areas have a little bit of internets.

But Siberia got no internets. Too cold.