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Warm-blooded Fish?

DIY News writes "Scientists now have direct evidence that the north Pacific salmon shark maintains its red muscle at 68-86 degrees Fahrenheit, much warmer than the 47 F water in which it lives. The elevated muscle temperature presumably helps the salmon shark survive the cold waters of the north Pacific and take advantage of the abundant food supply there. The heat also appears to factor into the fish's impressive swimming ability."

10 of 342 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So... by grasshoppa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    both are theories, both have zealots. Everyone will claim this. No-one will ever know.

    ID isn't theory, it's a belief.

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    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
  2. "maintains its red muscle"... by PurplePhase · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

    8-PP

  3. Re:I knew it! by Omega+Leader-(P12) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fish != Reptiles; Fish = Fish

  4. Other warm-blooded "cold-blooded" creatures by G4from128k · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Many insects also create intentionally elevated body temperatures (generally through shivering). Moths, bees, dung beetles all generate heat to enable greater activity under cold conditions.

    For example. Honeybees generate heat in the winter to keep the hive warm and use heat to kill predatory wasps -- surrounding the wasp, heating up to 45 C (113 F) and killing the attacker.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
  5. Re:So... by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ID is not a hypothesis, it's a wish.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  6. Vehicle knowledge and more. by Karma_fucker_sucker · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "Knowing specific details about the anatomy and physiology of salmon sharks provides key insight into their ability to produce such power and speed during swimming. The knowledge could translate into better designs for underwater vehicles."

    There's so much to learn from our oceans and yet they're disappearing fast because of the need for food and for some really stupid/ignorant reasons. It would be great if more folks would see this as more reasons for onservation and the repeal of the "tragedy of the commons"... I know, in my fucking dreams.

    --
    Evil people don't think they're evil. - George Lucas, Making of Ep III
  7. Not surprising, and not really "warm-blooded" by dpbsmith · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The distinction is not between "cold-blooded" and "warm-blooded" animals but between poikilotherms, whose body temperature is the same as that of the environment, and homeotherms, whose body temperature is closely regulated and held within a normal range of a couple of degrees or less

    On the one hand, practically every poikilotherm that's been studied actually thermoregulates in some ways. Very few of them truly assume the temperature of their environment.

    On the other hand, "maintaining" temperature at "68-86 degrees Fahrenheit" -- 77 degrees plus or minus 9--is far from comparable to the degree of thermoregulation shown by mammals. Nine degrees too high or too low is enough to kill you, and most mammals.

    It's interesting to learn how another kind of poikilotherm performs a crude kind of thermoregulation, but by no means earthshaking.

  8. Re:So... by hunterx11 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Intelligent Design isn't a theory. Being non-falsifiable, it isn't even a model. Saying that it is "wrong" is being overly generous. Lamarck was wrong. ID doesn't even try to be right. The geocentric model of the solar system is a far more compelling idea, frankly. Perhaps fundamentalists should go back to touting that; after all, at least you can try to fudge things with epicycles and such in astronomy.

    --
    English is easier said than done.
  9. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bah, evolution is not 'provable'? It is testable, it has been tested. I am aware that said testing and verification prove no theory 100% (hence the name 'theory') but let's look at the score:

    Evolution - theorized, tested. directly observable in organisms with short life spans (bacteria, small insects). indirectly observable with long-lifespan organisms (fossil record)

    ID - theorized, untestable. impossible to prove on ANY level.

    Based on this score, why does ID get argued as if it's an entirely equal theory to evolution? The media feels the need to cover both sides of the issue, why must both sides be considered equal? As scientific theories go there is no comparing the two. One is a scientific theory. One is not. Why is the nonscientific theory given equal weight?

    We call gravity a theory but you don't see people in legislatures trying to get 'both sides of the controvery' tought. I can't say gravity has been proven 100% but I can say there's a damn lot of testable evidence.

    I know your point, you are playing the Devil's Advocate. You don't like seeing scientific theory getting called 'fact'. I can accept that. What bothers me is this equal weighting. Evolution has a damn lot of testable evidence on it's side, just like gravity, just like a huge number of scientific 'theories' that are accepted by many people on the basis of that testable evidence.

    Fine, don't call it 'fact', but don't act so damn surprised when most of the scientific world looks at you funny for giving equal weight to ID and evolution. Simply claiming that evolution has to be 'believed in' is foolish too, as you can go test the published theories on your own.

  10. Metric system? by kjetiln · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Could you not use metric temperatures? Celcius is the norm for science. (Kelvin when it is about physics.)