Science is Cool....

[Fish]

This is a repository for all cool scientific discussion and fascination. Scientific facts, theories, and overall cool scientific stuff that you'd like to share with others. Stuff that makes you smile and wonder at the amazing shit going on around us, that most people don't notice.

Post pictures, vidoes, stories, or links. Ask questions. Share science.

Why should I care?:

[Fish]

Detoxes: an undefined scam
Why you feel good during a detox

Any diet promising a quick fix is always too good to be true. Good health takes time and dedication. Still, that doesn’t stop fad diets and their marketers from gumming up the airways with advertisements. One kind of fad diet always makes the rounds this time of year: the cleanse, or “detox” diet.

What exactly is a cleanse?
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a specific definition for either of these interchangeable terms. Presumably, the goal of a cleanse is to eliminate harmful substances from the body by “flushing” them out through a combination of caloric restriction and a liquid-only diet. Many cleanses are supposedly aimed at specific body parts, whether it’s a liver cleanse, a colon cleanse, or the almighty Master Cleanse.

Cleanses and detox diets often involve strict food limitations, usually allowing only fruit and vegetable juice, or other drinks. The master cleanse, for example, prescribes a daily six to twelve glasses of lemonade containing maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Supposedly, this concoction will remove toxins from the body, and according to its creator, support the “elimination of every kind of disease.”

While minor differences might differentiate one fad cleanse or detox diet from another, no specific one is worth dissecting in detail, since a new one will be around the corner, claiming to be more effective than the others. In simple terms, detox and cleanses hinge on the premise that the human body accumulates “toxins” as a result of exposure to pesticides, pollutants, food additives, or simply from inadequate flushing of metabolic waste.

Does the body need cleansing?
It is important to understand, however, that the human body is remarkably resilient. The liver, kidneys, lungs, and several other organs work around the clock to remove harmful substances and excrete waste products of metabolism. They don’t need any help from pepper-infused lemonade. Moreover, there is evidence that commercial detox supplements are not based on facts. A 2009 investigation found that not a single company behind 15 commercial cleanses could name the toxins targeted by their treatment, agree on the definition of the word ‘detox’, or even supply evidence that their products work.

The fact that no company can name the toxin their product targets reveals just how little of an effect cleanses have. To scientifically determine the effectiveness of a treatment, the toxin being investigated first needs to be identified in order to accurately measure its accumulation in the body. Then, researchers would investigate the effects of pharmaceuticals or supplements on the toxin. Finally, scientists would begin to explore a hypothesis for why the toxin is affected by a particular drug or supplement. For example, scientists researching the effects of organochlorine pesticides, which are known to accumulate in mammals, not only know the name of the toxin they are researching, but they have also determined that accumulation can be limited by the pharmaceutical Orlistat. In fact, the mechanism behind Orlistat’s effect on organochlorine is largely understood: normally, organochlorine pesticides can move between the liver and intestines. Orlistat confines the toxins to the intestines, where they are removed as waste.

This is not to say that the human body does not accumulate low levels of toxicants, such as heavy metals or certain fat soluble substances. Rather, the takeaway is that detox diets or cleanses have no demonstrable effect on the removal or excretion of these toxicants.

How can you explain apparent cleanse benefits?
Fad cleanses often spread through word-of-mouth despite their apparent lack of beneficial health effects. Since a cleanse involves caloric restriction, temporary weight loss often results. This is a result of glycogen loss from the liver and muscles, not fat loss. Under caloric restriction, the body’s glycogen stores can easily be depleted in 24-48 hours, resulting in a weight loss of several pounds (both from the glycogen burnt, and the water weight associated with glycogen storage). Once a regular eating schedule is resumed, however, the glycogen and water come rushing back. Nevertheless, this temporary weight loss leads a lot of people to believe the cleanse they just completed had some beneficial health effects.

Not to mention - most people eat poorly. A cleanse usually brings with it vegetable and fruit consumption, which brings a host of nutrients their regular diet is likely severely lacking in.

Instead of doing a cleanse for a New Year’s resolution, focus on long-term sustainable health habits, like eating nutritious food on a daily basis. Leafy greens, ample protein, and food chock-full of vitamins is not just tastier than a cleanse, but will actually benefit your body too.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Fish

[B][SIZE="3"]As the brain grew during this period, more energy was needed, and it likely came from carbohydrates, not protein, too much of which can be toxic to the human body and even cause death.

Too much of which can be toxic and cause death?

This is further supported by evidence of two other major developments at the time: Saliva was evolving to better break down starch-rich plants, and our forebears were learning to cook.

So prior to our predecessors learning to cook they just ate meat raw off the bone? Were they somehow better equipped to deal with foodborne illness? Sharper teeth for cutting into flesh?

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by Fish

Well, if women had 4 tits and produced 4 gallons of milk a day like a dairy cow, then we might. I wouldn't want to look at them though.

[Fish]

[Fish]

International Space Station Sack

Astronauts are pretty much the coolest people ever...

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Too much of which can be toxic and cause death?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation

Learned about this a year or two ago watching "The Way Back". http://imdb.com/rg/an_share/title/title/tt1023114/

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Fish

International Space Station Sack

Astronauts are pretty much the coolest people ever...

https://www.quora.com/Is-this-a-fake...-a-bag-of-weed

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

Well, if women had 4 tits and produced 4 gallons of milk a day like a dairy cow, then we might. I wouldn't want to look at them though.

[Fish]

Some kind of big special Mars announcement coming up today. Rumors swirling that it might be liquid water on Mars.

NASA to Announce Mars Mystery Solved

NASA will detail a major science finding from the agency’s ongoing exploration of Mars during a news briefing at 11:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 28 at the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The event will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

News conference participants will be:

· Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters

· Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters

· Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta

· Mary Beth Wilhelm of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California and the Georgia Institute of Technology

· Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) at the University of Arizona in Tucson

A brief question-and-answer session will take place during the event with reporters on site and by phone. Members of the public also can ask questions during the briefing using #AskNASA.

To participate in the briefing by phone, reporters must email their name, media affiliation and telephone number to Steve Cole at stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov by 9 a.m. EDT on Monday.

For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and to view the news briefing, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

[Fish]

Mars has flowing water....

NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today’s Mars

New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.

Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water -- albeit briny -- is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

These downhill flows, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as possibly related to liquid water. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features. The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening.

"We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks," said Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, lead author of a report on these findings published Sept. 28 by Nature Geoscience.

Ojha first noticed these puzzling features as a University of Arizona undergraduate student in 2010, using images from the MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). HiRISE observations now have documented RSL at dozens of sites on Mars. The new study pairs HiRISE observations with mineral mapping by MRO’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).

The spectrometer observations show signatures of hydrated salts at multiple RSL locations, but only when the dark features were relatively wide. When the researchers looked at the same locations and RSL weren't as extensive, they detected no hydrated salt.

Ojha and his co-authors interpret the spectral signatures as caused by hydrated minerals called perchlorates. The hydrated salts most consistent with the chemical signatures are likely a mixture of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate. Some perchlorates have been shown to keep liquids from freezing even when conditions are as cold as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius). On Earth, naturally produced perchlorates are concentrated in deserts, and some types of perchlorates can be used as rocket propellant.

Perchlorates have previously been seen on Mars. NASA's Phoenix lander and Curiosity rover both found them in the planet's soil, and some scientists believe that the Viking missions in the 1970s measured signatures of these salts. However, this study of RSL detected perchlorates, now in hydrated form, in different areas than those explored by the landers. This also is the first time perchlorates have been identified from orbit.

MRO has been examining Mars since 2006 with its six science instruments.

"The ability of MRO to observe for multiple Mars years with a payload able to see the fine detail of these features has enabled findings such as these: first identifying the puzzling seasonal streaks and now making a big step towards explaining what they are," said Rich Zurek, MRO project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

For Ojha, the new findings are more proof that the mysterious lines he first saw darkening Martian slopes five years ago are, indeed, present-day water.

"When most people talk about water on Mars, they're usually talking about ancient water or frozen water," he said. "Now we know there’s more to the story. This is the first spectral detection that unambiguously supports our liquid water-formation hypotheses for RSL."

The discovery is the latest of many breakthroughs by NASA’s Mars missions.

“It took multiple spacecraft over several years to solve this mystery, and now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future.”

[BigRedChief]

We already know there is ice on the poles. Seems easier to melt ice than desalination of water on a planetary scale.

[ThaVirus]

Exploration and chill?

[Mr. Plow]

[Quesadilla Joe]

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by KnowMo2724

I blame global warming and assault looking rifles.

But seriously thanks, that was very cool...