Bones is an amalgamation of non-cellular structural support and calcium. Collagen is a heterogeneous protein support compound. These things are not cells, but they are made by them.
Agreed but only under the condition that I can't read the article because it's been slashdotted.
Anyway, different pathogenic bacteria have certain antibacterial medicines that they're susceptible to and others that their not. Ergo, division of bacteria into separate species is not overused but necessary.
Stroke and heart disease: Usually the same issue with atherosclerosis. The problem has already been solved! ie change of diet and more exercise. That alone reduces heart disease and stroke deaths due to prevention. The thing is, you can't force people to do healthy things.
Cancer: The top 3 cancer killers are, in order: 1) lung, 2) colon, 3) breast (for women)/prostate (for men). Again, the solution is 1) stop smoking, 2) get your colonoscopy after age 50, 3) go see your doctor regularly. And again, we can't force people to do healthy things if they don't want to.
Diabetes: Most are due to type 2 and most of these people are overweight/obese. See solution for heart disease/stroke above.
In other words, most of the deaths that you've listed can be attributed to lifestyle choices. And you can't force people to change if they don't want to.
Without shooting people into space, we'd never have known about how fast bone mass decreases within just a few weeks.
Of course there are other technologies and issues that have cropped up that have impacted your life that were either a direct or indirect result of the various space programs. For a list go here! Some include scratch resistant lenses and cochlear implants.
You mean such things like preemptive multitasking and memory protection? Sorry, but MS had that since Windows NT 3.1. Apple didn't have it until Mac OS X (A/UX doesn't count since no one used that).
UNOS is the organization that oversees regional organ procurement and donor rules. If he were to be put on the list, he shouldn't be given any special treatment.
Almost every operating system has gone through this. All the Linux distributions are "bloated" compared with what we had several years ago. The latest Mac OS X is bloated compared with the prior ones. It happens when you keep adding more and more.
I find it easier to setup the internet connection with the router instead of using my own computer. I'm using Linux, and I find fiddling around with pppoe with the router is a lot easier than on my main computer.
we're in a recession. If you can find another job, then great. Otherwise, suck it up. BTW, those in other fields of this economy work even more (physicians, lawyers, etc.).
Encryption with a unique keyfob just for you. I'd want that for banks, but not necessarily for Twitter because who cares if I'm now "taking a huge crap in the toilet that's now overflowing."?
It's not too bad. I don't think the human version of the polymerase has a better error rate. However, while being in a biological entity, DNA replication also has other integrity checks.
It's estimated that a majority of all pregnancies fail due to abnormal genetics, with the most common being trisomy 16. However, most of these pregnancies fail very early so it usually goes unnoticed.
I assume you mean "free of extensive genetic defects". If they truly were free of defects, we wouldn't have hereditary genetic diseases. I would still count it as human, although I would not be surprised if it miscarries very soon (maybe even before the first cell division?). Unfortunate, but it happens. The important thing is that it died because there was nothing we could do to prevent it, not because someone decided to kill it.
Actually there is: gene manipulation. As such, is there really much of a difference between active and passive killing?
Is malaria part of the body, or a separate organism? Tapeworm? Just because an organism is dependent on a host for survival, that doesn't make the two a single entity. Same with embryos. Totally dependent on the mother's body for nourishment and protection, but it is not a part of the mother.
The context of the question was whether something is considered human or not and that there is no "potential human." See below.
The point of conception as a defining moment of human-hood is not the best approach, unless you're willing to define any egg+diploid human DNA = human.
By Jove, I think he's got it!
What's troubling is the ridiculous assertion that a single cell is considered human. We can get a monkey egg, add an adult human's DNA to it, and some people (you included it seems) would consider it human.
Consider a 2 cell embryo. Is it 1 human, or 2? Those 2 cells could potentially split and implant separately generating 2 babies in about 9 months (usually less since it'll be a multiple pregnancy). If it doesn't split and implants by itself, it could turn into 1 baby. But even then, depending on the cleavage plain, there may be multiple babies produced.
So an embryo = potential humans. You say you don't agree with the "potential human" definition for an embryo when clearly an embryo has the potential to give rise to multiple separate human babies. The issue of "life starts at conception" raises the quesion: how many exactly?
Of course you're also not taking into account other cases such as hydatidiform moles and choriocarcinomas that arise from conception and that, by your definition, would be considered "human."
The more reasonable approach has already been given by Chris Danel in his previous post:
I can certainly point to this spot and say "There. It is not yet human." It is eight cells. What counts is a nervous system and perhaps some sort of brain function. We can surely agree on some sort of "fuzzy" criteria that say "if it looks like it could feel pain or might be self-aware, don't kill it." I think this stage is safely below any such possible criteria.
I understand wanting to protect life, but saying that even the potential for life must be protected can be taken to absurd extremes -- as religious proscription of contraceptive measures has shown -- and is really just absurd in itself. --
A much better definition: organism with a developing/developed nervous system with human DNA = human.
But I am not of the opinion that a fertilized egg is merely "potential life".
But it is just potential life. See below.
I feel that conception is a good point because it is the single most defining instant of a human's development. The eggs and sperm won't grow into an adult human on their own, no matter how much nutrients you give them. An embryo will.
No it won't. First, the embryo needs to be free of genetic defects. Second, the embryo needs to be implanted. Thus embryos are still just "potential life."
The point of conception as a defining moment of human-hood is not the best approach, unless you're willing to define any egg+diploid human DNA = human.
Slashdot Mirror
Bones is an amalgamation of non-cellular structural support and calcium. Collagen is a heterogeneous protein support compound. These things are not cells, but they are made by them.
Each of your cells takes up 100-1000x more space than bacteria.
That could explain why they're vitamin deficient...
Agreed but only under the condition that I can't read the article because it's been slashdotted.
Anyway, different pathogenic bacteria have certain antibacterial medicines that they're susceptible to and others that their not. Ergo, division of bacteria into separate species is not overused but necessary.
A 1.2 GHz processor with 256 DDR2 memory? Holy crap! That's faster than my new Celeron 220! And the perennial quesion: can this thing run Linux?
BTW, the link lists technologies for the hall of fame. There are certainly more innovations that don't necessarily make it to the hall of fame.
Stroke and heart disease: Usually the same issue with atherosclerosis. The problem has already been solved! ie change of diet and more exercise. That alone reduces heart disease and stroke deaths due to prevention. The thing is, you can't force people to do healthy things.
Cancer: The top 3 cancer killers are, in order: 1) lung, 2) colon, 3) breast (for women)/prostate (for men). Again, the solution is 1) stop smoking, 2) get your colonoscopy after age 50, 3) go see your doctor regularly. And again, we can't force people to do healthy things if they don't want to.
Diabetes: Most are due to type 2 and most of these people are overweight/obese. See solution for heart disease/stroke above.
In other words, most of the deaths that you've listed can be attributed to lifestyle choices. And you can't force people to change if they don't want to.
Without shooting people into space, we'd never have known about how fast bone mass decreases within just a few weeks.
Of course there are other technologies and issues that have cropped up that have impacted your life that were either a direct or indirect result of the various space programs. For a list go here! Some include scratch resistant lenses and cochlear implants.
Better question: Will the USB drive die faster with ReiserFS?
You mean such things like preemptive multitasking and memory protection? Sorry, but MS had that since Windows NT 3.1. Apple didn't have it until Mac OS X (A/UX doesn't count since no one used that).
UNOS is the organization that oversees regional organ procurement and donor rules. If he were to be put on the list, he shouldn't be given any special treatment.
Almost every operating system has gone through this. All the Linux distributions are "bloated" compared with what we had several years ago. The latest Mac OS X is bloated compared with the prior ones. It happens when you keep adding more and more.
I find it easier to setup the internet connection with the router instead of using my own computer. I'm using Linux, and I find fiddling around with pppoe with the router is a lot easier than on my main computer.
touché
Nice strawman. BTW, I am a doctor. Some people just don't know a joke when they see one.
How about "disconnect it from the network."? That's the cheapest one I can think of.
we're in a recession. If you can find another job, then great. Otherwise, suck it up. BTW, those in other fields of this economy work even more (physicians, lawyers, etc.).
Encryption with a unique keyfob just for you. I'd want that for banks, but not necessarily for Twitter because who cares if I'm now "taking a huge crap in the toilet that's now overflowing."?
It's not too bad. I don't think the human version of the polymerase has a better error rate. However, while being in a biological entity, DNA replication also has other integrity checks.
Or at least imaged one drive to another and change the activation number.
It's estimated that a majority of all pregnancies fail due to abnormal genetics, with the most common being trisomy 16. However, most of these pregnancies fail very early so it usually goes unnoticed.
Of course there are, if you have the skills. Almost anything in the healthcare field is fairly decent pay part-time from physician to tech positions.
I assume you mean "free of extensive genetic defects". If they truly were free of defects, we wouldn't have hereditary genetic diseases.
I would still count it as human, although I would not be surprised if it miscarries very soon (maybe even before the first cell division?). Unfortunate, but it happens. The important thing is that it died because there was nothing we could do to prevent it, not because someone decided to kill it.
Actually there is: gene manipulation. As such, is there really much of a difference between active and passive killing?
Is malaria part of the body, or a separate organism? Tapeworm? Just because an organism is dependent on a host for survival, that doesn't make the two a single entity. Same with embryos. Totally dependent on the mother's body for nourishment and protection, but it is not a part of the mother.
The context of the question was whether something is considered human or not and that there is no "potential human." See below.
The point of conception as a defining moment of human-hood is not the best approach, unless you're willing to define any egg+diploid human DNA = human.
By Jove, I think he's got it!
What's troubling is the ridiculous assertion that a single cell is considered human. We can get a monkey egg, add an adult human's DNA to it, and some people (you included it seems) would consider it human.
Consider a 2 cell embryo. Is it 1 human, or 2? Those 2 cells could potentially split and implant separately generating 2 babies in about 9 months (usually less since it'll be a multiple pregnancy). If it doesn't split and implants by itself, it could turn into 1 baby. But even then, depending on the cleavage plain, there may be multiple babies produced.
So an embryo = potential humans. You say you don't agree with the "potential human" definition for an embryo when clearly an embryo has the potential to give rise to multiple separate human babies. The issue of "life starts at conception" raises the quesion: how many exactly?
Of course you're also not taking into account other cases such as hydatidiform moles and choriocarcinomas that arise from conception and that, by your definition, would be considered "human."
The more reasonable approach has already been given by Chris Danel in his previous post:
I can certainly point to this spot and say "There. It is not yet human." It is eight cells. What counts is a nervous system and perhaps some sort of brain function. We can surely agree on some sort of "fuzzy" criteria that say "if it looks like it could feel pain or might be self-aware, don't kill it." I think this stage is safely below any such possible criteria.
I understand wanting to protect life, but saying that even the potential for life must be protected can be taken to absurd extremes -- as religious proscription of contraceptive measures has shown -- and is really just absurd in itself.
--
A much better definition: organism with a developing/developed nervous system with human DNA = human.
So is the Hela cell-line that's used in most laboratories. Would you consider that human?
But I am not of the opinion that a fertilized egg is merely "potential life".
But it is just potential life. See below.
I feel that conception is a good point because it is the single most defining instant of a human's development. The eggs and sperm won't grow into an adult human on their own, no matter how much nutrients you give them. An embryo will.
No it won't. First, the embryo needs to be free of genetic defects. Second, the embryo needs to be implanted. Thus embryos are still just "potential life."
The point of conception as a defining moment of human-hood is not the best approach, unless you're willing to define any egg+diploid human DNA = human.