Gaming is expensive and time consuming
on
The Core Gamer a Myth?
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· Score: 2, Insightful
When you think about it, who *really* has disposable income and disposable time? It's probably your typical teenager, with few commitments outside of school and a part time job that can entirely fund a video game habit. Once you get past this point, in college or the real world with a real job, time rapidly becomes a precious commodity. "Hardcore gamers" don't last very long in college (I should know, I basically lost an entire semester...). So, the vast majority of gamers have to work to support themselves (or study hard to convince their parents to continue supporting them) and thus they only have time for a few hours here and there.
I think this marks the point where the future is right now. Or will be in three years. If it works. Hopefully. Either way, at least in principle, automated traffic like this could be faster, safer, and more effecient. And if this particular project doesn't work out as hoped, the next one will.
Basically, it's a standard tool in molecular biology. GFP (an acronym for the creatively named Green Flourescent Protein) is a simple protein that's used as an indicator for all sorts of activity. Biologists, for example, will insert the gfp gene into an organism; if the organism glows, then that bit of gene splicing was successful. In other cases, GFP is tied into various genetic regulatory circuits again as a very convenient indicator.
In this case, the researchers added these "induced pluripotent stem cells" (tagged with the GFP gene) to a very early mouse embryo. Since the mouse had green glowing cells throughout its tissues, and the only grene glowing genes were introduced with the induced stem cells, the stem cells were clearly able to differentiate into many kinds of mature cells.
This research is more significant in that it shows the (apparently) minimal set of factors required to make cells revert to pluripotent forms. If only people would shut up about the politics and let scientists do the research...
Too bad I posted, and won't be able to moderate what looks to be a sparkling and witty discussion...
Seems like a wise thing to post... Yeah, it's total crap (omg! more crackpots promising the impossible while asking for money!), but there are already 900 comments, leading to more traffic than any other article currently on the front page.
While this protein might be a cause of asthma, there's probably not much selection pressure against it. In modern societies, people with bad allergies or asthma can reproduce (and pass the gene on) just fine. Also, as you suggest, there may be some necessary or useful function of this protein that the researchers haven't found yet.
To put this in context, a PhD student at the lab I'm working at this summer spent a year and a half constructing a ~7,000 base pair gene for her research using normal cloning methods. I've personally been struggling to clone and express a very small gene construct (~250 bp) for the past month. The ability to synthesize any DNA sequence would be every bit as significant as the recent genomics and bioinformatics revolution. Researchers could study entirely novel and specific variations of natural genes by simply sending the sequence off to be synthesized.
I couldn't find the actual published study that the New Scientist article (sort of) referenced (maybe it hasn't been accepted for publication yet?). However, I did find this article by the auther mentioned, which is a very readable look at a few cases of brain-damaged patients (including an explanation as to why Terry Schaivo isn't in the same category at all). Unfortunately it doesn't go very in depth into the details of how Willis' brain rewired itself, which I was interested in. Still, very informative reading.
In addition to regulatory mechanisms like this, which would be a necessary start, adding some sort of artificial selection for organisms that produce the most voltage would go a long way to solve this problem. Off the top of my head, an array of seperate tiny cells could be used, and each cell would have its voltage monitered. Cells that drop in voltage due to mutations could be then isolated and killed off, by cutting off a supply of some sort of trophic factor. Cells with mutations that provide *increased* performance could be opened up, to allow the improved bacteria to colonize the rest of the battery.
Or maybe a conceptually simpler (but more complicated to engineer) method: Compartmentalize each cell with a membrane containing voltage-gated channels for the energy and nutrients needed by the bacteria. The more voltage our bacteria produce, the more energy they get.
Most relevant to this discussion of censorship is the sixth part of the documentary. They start the segment by asking four students at the Beijing university to look at the infamous image of the man stopping a column of tanks in Tienanmen square. None recognize the image at all, and only one understands enough to connect it to the incident of 1989. It's as if it never happened for anyone younger than a certain age. By controlling information, the Chinese government has managed to control history.
Very true, but would this paper get any mainstream play if nobody played up the vague cure for cancer angle? "Scientists confirm obscure detail of biological process" doesn't make for much of a headline...
No, because this isn't a complete reversal of cell division. It doesn't somehow "un-replicate" the DNA, it just reverses one step of division in a cell about to divide.
The paper itself just refers to the reversal of "mitotic exit", one specific stage of cell division in the cell cycle. They aren't completely reversing cell division, just what amounts to the second to last step. In the video, division continues forward after the intial reversal.
Even if the reversal could be made permanent, the cell would be caught in a transitionary state and probably wouldn't survive for long. There are double the chromosomes, and they are also inactive in this state.
Medicine in general is a losing battle. No matter how careful we are, our bodies will accumulate wear as time goes on, from background radiation, necessary metabolic processes, and environmental facters we can control to an extent. Eventually we all die of old age, unless something else kills us first. But modern medicine has now removed the vast majority of non age-related causes of death, such as simple diseases or infections or injuries. Now, essentially, we can only stave off age related health problems for so long, and the longer we try, the greater the cost.
This might be a step in the right direction, but it only addresses the problem of big peices of debris (i.e. whole satallites or components).
What sounds like the bigger problem is all the tiny hard to track fragments, the sort of stuff created when stages of a rocket seperate explosively. Here, perhaps, more work could be done in developing rockets and satellites that don't shed this sort of garbage.
Is it really a "grand tour?" True, it's doing a Jupiter flyby, but that's only to get it to Pluto faster. And I wonder if there's a tradeoff between getting the probe to Pluto in a reasonable time frame, and being able to place it in orbit. IANA orbital physicist, but to enter Pluto's orbit, any probe will have to brake pretty hard to be caught by such a small mass. The faster the probe travels, the harder it will be to enter Pluto's orbit. It might be possible to do it, but it might take something like 20 years to fly out in such a manner.
Well, *duh*. In space, there's no air molecules to slow down the sound! That's why the sound effects of that battle halfway around the planet always arrive in sync with what you see. Mach one = C. Or something. So the space shuttle goes 25c and consequently back in time.
I should stop trying to wrap my head around this mystery before something breaks.
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When you think about it, who *really* has disposable income and disposable time? It's probably your typical teenager, with few commitments outside of school and a part time job that can entirely fund a video game habit. Once you get past this point, in college or the real world with a real job, time rapidly becomes a precious commodity. "Hardcore gamers" don't last very long in college (I should know, I basically lost an entire semester...). So, the vast majority of gamers have to work to support themselves (or study hard to convince their parents to continue supporting them) and thus they only have time for a few hours here and there.
I think this marks the point where the future is right now. Or will be in three years. If it works. Hopefully. Either way, at least in principle, automated traffic like this could be faster, safer, and more effecient. And if this particular project doesn't work out as hoped, the next one will.
Also, you'd need to spring for a moniter you couldn't afford or possibly even find. Even better, video cards implementing HDCP don't even exist yet!
Basically, it's a standard tool in molecular biology. GFP (an acronym for the creatively named Green Flourescent Protein) is a simple protein that's used as an indicator for all sorts of activity. Biologists, for example, will insert the gfp gene into an organism; if the organism glows, then that bit of gene splicing was successful. In other cases, GFP is tied into various genetic regulatory circuits again as a very convenient indicator.
In this case, the researchers added these "induced pluripotent stem cells" (tagged with the GFP gene) to a very early mouse embryo. Since the mouse had green glowing cells throughout its tissues, and the only grene glowing genes were introduced with the induced stem cells, the stem cells were clearly able to differentiate into many kinds of mature cells.
This research is more significant in that it shows the (apparently) minimal set of factors required to make cells revert to pluripotent forms. If only people would shut up about the politics and let scientists do the research...
Too bad I posted, and won't be able to moderate what looks to be a sparkling and witty discussion...
Seems like a wise thing to post... Yeah, it's total crap (omg! more crackpots promising the impossible while asking for money!), but there are already 900 comments, leading to more traffic than any other article currently on the front page.
While this protein might be a cause of asthma, there's probably not much selection pressure against it. In modern societies, people with bad allergies or asthma can reproduce (and pass the gene on) just fine. Also, as you suggest, there may be some necessary or useful function of this protein that the researchers haven't found yet.
To put this in context, a PhD student at the lab I'm working at this summer spent a year and a half constructing a ~7,000 base pair gene for her research using normal cloning methods. I've personally been struggling to clone and express a very small gene construct (~250 bp) for the past month. The ability to synthesize any DNA sequence would be every bit as significant as the recent genomics and bioinformatics revolution. Researchers could study entirely novel and specific variations of natural genes by simply sending the sequence off to be synthesized.
I couldn't find the actual published study that the New Scientist article (sort of) referenced (maybe it hasn't been accepted for publication yet?). However, I did find this article by the auther mentioned, which is a very readable look at a few cases of brain-damaged patients (including an explanation as to why Terry Schaivo isn't in the same category at all). Unfortunately it doesn't go very in depth into the details of how Willis' brain rewired itself, which I was interested in. Still, very informative reading.
In addition to regulatory mechanisms like this, which would be a necessary start, adding some sort of artificial selection for organisms that produce the most voltage would go a long way to solve this problem. Off the top of my head, an array of seperate tiny cells could be used, and each cell would have its voltage monitered. Cells that drop in voltage due to mutations could be then isolated and killed off, by cutting off a supply of some sort of trophic factor. Cells with mutations that provide *increased* performance could be opened up, to allow the improved bacteria to colonize the rest of the battery.
Or maybe a conceptually simpler (but more complicated to engineer) method: Compartmentalize each cell with a membrane containing voltage-gated channels for the energy and nutrients needed by the bacteria. The more voltage our bacteria produce, the more energy they get.
Excellent link, thank you.
Most relevant to this discussion of censorship is the sixth part of the documentary. They start the segment by asking four students at the Beijing university to look at the infamous image of the man stopping a column of tanks in Tienanmen square. None recognize the image at all, and only one understands enough to connect it to the incident of 1989. It's as if it never happened for anyone younger than a certain age. By controlling information, the Chinese government has managed to control history.
Very true, but would this paper get any mainstream play if nobody played up the vague cure for cancer angle? "Scientists confirm obscure detail of biological process" doesn't make for much of a headline...
Slightly longer answer:
No, because this isn't a complete reversal of cell division. It doesn't somehow "un-replicate" the DNA, it just reverses one step of division in a cell about to divide.
The paper itself just refers to the reversal of "mitotic exit", one specific stage of cell division in the cell cycle. They aren't completely reversing cell division, just what amounts to the second to last step. In the video, division continues forward after the intial reversal.
Even if the reversal could be made permanent, the cell would be caught in a transitionary state and probably wouldn't survive for long. There are double the chromosomes, and they are also inactive in this state.
Medicine in general is a losing battle. No matter how careful we are, our bodies will accumulate wear as time goes on, from background radiation, necessary metabolic processes, and environmental facters we can control to an extent. Eventually we all die of old age, unless something else kills us first. But modern medicine has now removed the vast majority of non age-related causes of death, such as simple diseases or infections or injuries. Now, essentially, we can only stave off age related health problems for so long, and the longer we try, the greater the cost.
I did not know that... interesting. Still, I wonder how far these efforts go, and how much more could be done.
This might be a step in the right direction, but it only addresses the problem of big peices of debris (i.e. whole satallites or components).
What sounds like the bigger problem is all the tiny hard to track fragments, the sort of stuff created when stages of a rocket seperate explosively. Here, perhaps, more work could be done in developing rockets and satellites that don't shed this sort of garbage.
Is it really a "grand tour?" True, it's doing a Jupiter flyby, but that's only to get it to Pluto faster. And I wonder if there's a tradeoff between getting the probe to Pluto in a reasonable time frame, and being able to place it in orbit. IANA orbital physicist, but to enter Pluto's orbit, any probe will have to brake pretty hard to be caught by such a small mass. The faster the probe travels, the harder it will be to enter Pluto's orbit. It might be possible to do it, but it might take something like 20 years to fly out in such a manner.
Well, *duh*. In space, there's no air molecules to slow down the sound! That's why the sound effects of that battle halfway around the planet always arrive in sync with what you see. Mach one = C. Or something. So the space shuttle goes 25c and consequently back in time. I should stop trying to wrap my head around this mystery before something breaks.