What Amazed You Today?

[Zag]

It's interesting speculation, but two generations are not enough to have made a whole lot of difference. However, TB has been rampant throughout Europe and the British Isles for hundreds of years.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10013-cystic-fibrosis-gene-protects-against-tuberculosis.html

It seems that they are basing the correlation theory (that having a single CF gene helps protect against TB) purely on macro level statistics, and not on actually witnessing a correlation.

I find it surprising that they expect any recessive dangerous trait would have been completely eliminated if it didn't also have a positive effect. After all, it seems hard to kill off any recessive trait, once it exists, even if having the disease is 100% fatal. Even when both parents are carriers, only one-fourth of their children will die from it, and 2/3 of the rest will pass it on. I wonder if there is a social aspect to the model, that the aunts and uncles of someone who dies of the disease are also considered less likely to reproduce, even if they are mated to a non-carrier?

Anyway, grats on not being a carrier. Now there are only a billion other genetic things to worry about.

BTW, my wife is in a wheelchair because of a dominant gene! You'd think that would have been selected out a long time ago, but it usually doesn't cause any significant impairment until after reproduction age. Also, there is another gene on a completely different chromosome which seems not to do anything in normal people but has a significant effect in the severity of her disease if they do have the gene she has. Of our two kids, my daughter clearly has the gene, but her presentation of the disease is much milder than my wife's. My son does not seem to have any symptoms at all, but he has never been tested so we don't know for sure that he isn't affected but only extremely mildly.

[Scurra]

Animated GIFs
Some of these are just gorgeous It's a fine line between a still photo and a video clip: these skate along it with varying degrees of success, but they are all beautiful (I think the man reading the paper is especially fine.)
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_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[The Great Crep'er]

[Scurra]

The Olympics opening ceremony.
Holy crap. I wonder if anyone outside of the UK had the remotest chance of understanding what the hell all that was about?! I thought it was marvellous though - when even the Queen is willing to make a cameo appearance, you know it's something special.

Marina Hyde in the Guardian: "I'm still reeling that a country that can put on a show that hilariously bonkers is allowed nuclear weapons."
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_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[MNOWAX]

[Death Mage]

And it was delayed, because NBC wouldn't dream of showing it live, not even streaming on the 'net. No, we got a rebroadcast.

So, yea, NBC sucks. Mr. Bean, however, was hilarious.
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[Trojan Horse]

I am amazed by the fact that we've just reached 150000 posts in the Off-Topic forum.

Oops. I think I just made it 150001.

[Chuck]

150001 is a prime number.

[Courk]

[Scurra]

The Paralympics Opening Ceremony.
Holy crap, that was astonishing. I thought the "official" one would be hard to top, but this pushed it pretty close. The arrival of the flame was simply breathtaking but the whole thing was full of neat moments.
"Look up at the stars and not down at your feet ... try to make sense of what you see ... be curious"
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Zag]

He's outdone himself today: http://xkcd.com/1110/ This is awesome. (Click and drag the inner portion. And drag and drag. I haven't found any limits, yet.)

[Scurra]

Oh wow. Just wow. I imagine he's been working on that one for a long time.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Jedo the Jedi]

I didn't have the stamina. I went left until I found the underground, and then there were so many different ways to go that I had to quit.
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Paragon Tally: 19 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Thok]

[novice]

This seems like the western edge (of the surface, at least):

http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/1n33w.png

And this looks like the eastern edge:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/1n48e.png

[The Ragin' South Asian]

http://xkcd-map.rent-a-geek.de/#2/0.9/0.0

[Zag]

Thanks, RSA. I suspected that there was probably interesting stuff up in the sky, but wasn't patient enough to scroll all around for it.

[The Great Crep'er]

All I kept thinking as I was scrolling through empty spaces was "He forgot to put something funny here" "He forgot to put something funny here"

Spoiler: [Favorites were the lemonade guy and the very subtle Tom Sawyer reference]
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Potato. Belgium. Eight. Random Lynch # Mafia awaits.

[Quailman]

Not today, but last Sunday. My wife and I went to the Vail Oktoberfest. On the way back we each drank a bottled water. When we got back to Denver (actually we were staying in Broomfield), we noticed that the empty bottles had compressed to about 2/3 their original volume. I don't remember where we finished them and capped the empties. We had gone through the Eisenhower Tunnel at about 11,100 ft. elevation, and Broomfield is about 5,400 ft.

I lived in Colorado for about ten years and I remember observing this, but having been gone for 18 years, it amazed me anew.

[Zag]

Forwarded on Facebook by Philip Hobby, a.k.a. (here) The Doctor

[Jedo the Jedi]

Very cool.
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Paragon Tally: 19 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Jedo the Jedi]

Is this necessary? Isn't the WNBA enough?

It's definitely in response to the Lingerie Football League, but there's already a women's basketball. I actually very much support the LFL because it lets women play football, though I'm sad it is only because they made themselves "eye candy." I think a normal Arena League for Women would be cool. The shocking thing to me is just the fierceness with which they play.

Anyway, I wonder how they will let women debase themselves next? G-String Hockey?
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Paragon Tally: 19 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Buzzsaw]

[Buzzsaw]

Was considering posting this in its own thread, decided to put it here instead.
How Much Water is there on Earth?

[Quailman]

I just found a fully grown Texas Brown Snake on my kitchen floor. It was next to the dogs' water dish. I was able to capture it and get it outside. I have no idea how it got in. My wife saw it and said it was about three times the size of one that she killed a couple of months ago (I was out of town).

[Jedo the Jedi]

Dog's driving cars.
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Paragon Tally: 19 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[Death Mage]

The success of the THQ Humble Bundle, a collection of games, delivered digitally via Steam, where you can set your own price, for charity.

There have been several Humble Bundles so far, but THQ is the first major studio that's taking part in it. And it's apparently been so successful that they have added games to the bundle - twice. Mind you, you have to pay above the average to get the additional games, but as of right now that average is $5.67. As a bonus, you can determine how much of your donations go to THQ, the charities, or the site itself.

I fully encourage everyone to donate. Hell, I did, and I don't even plan on playing any of the games - the ones I like on the list I already have. It's still a worthy cause.
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[Quailman]

Those of you who have been around as long as I have know that I am heavily into birding. I tell people that I have OCBD – Obsessive Compulsive Birding Disorder. I lead an area of the Freeport (TX) Christmas Bird Count each year. This year’s count is on Sunday. I’m not a great birder; I just enjoy it a lot and was willing to take this responsibility when it came up ten years ago.

So what amazed me? I went to dinner with my family this evening – had a couple of margaritas. On the way home, my phone rings. It’s a guy from Austin who is such an excellent birder I am embarrassed to be actually speaking to him. I mean, seriously, I am not worthy. He wants to help me in my area. He said there’d be another guy with him, but I was so in awe that I didn’t catch his name. Victor Emanuel leads nature tours to the Galapagos, Borneo, the Amazon and more. I’ve never been so stressed about a stupid Christmas Bird Count. I can hardly wait to find out who the other guy is.

[Jedo the Jedi]

That is pretty cool, though this is a foreign field for me. Does this mean you make lots of different bird calls? Do you think Victor will impress you with a difficult bird call?
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Paragon Tally: 19 mafia, 3 SKs (1 twice), 1 cultist, numerous chat scum...and counting.

[The Potter]

I think it is more about recognizing bird calls and knowing the names of what you do see. Famous birders also travel around the world seeking out our feathered friends.

I saw a few ducks and ducklings, a little black bird with an orange bill, and a few little brown birds today.
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Artwork | Fractals | Don't ignore your dreams; don't work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy.

[Zag]

This article amazed me: Black Hole and Red Dwarf Orbit Each Other Once Every 2.4 Hours

It says that the Red Dwarf is moving at 2M km/hour, which implies that the orbit's diameter is about 1.5 M km. Our sun's diameter is 1.3 M km, so the entire binary system could almost fit inside our sun.