All roads lead to WEIT

December 19, 2014 • 4:00 pm

by Grania

I took a peek at the search terms logged for WEIT. The internet is a strange place.

Some are what you would expect:

why cats like to be petted – It is their rightful tribute.

whyevutionistriue.coom – well, you can see what they were aiming for

owlidays – this should definitely be a thing

Some are demanding, but I am sure they found what they were after:

chemistry reading comprehension physics nobel honors energy-saving lightbulbs questions and awnsers – what was the question again?

lightcabers obiwan – not really sure how well Obi Wan would have fared with one of these, but it’s worth considering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caber_toss

os faith mental disorder – yes, there is only one true OS

dragon illusion christmas – this should be a thing too

how close are we to the rapture – inquiring minds want to know.

what does cherry picking mean in a statement – it could mean this but you should probably check this out too.

Others confirm that these are definitely members of the human race doing the searching

eye makeup ideas – I think they went away disappointed

how does oxytocin operates when fornicating – a polite question. Try here.

sex wilson humping – a little known relative of Good Will Hunting, perhaps.

big human f*ck bottle  – (seriously, whut?)

why do i like to eat semen – Umm. Well, it’s low carb and high protein, but you should try tofu. Or walnuts.

Property Per 100mL In average volume (3.4 mL)
Calcium (mg) 27.6 0.938
Chloride (mg) 142 4.83
Citrate (mg) 528 18.0
Fructose (mg) 272 9.25
Glucose (mg) 102 3.47
Lactic acid (mg) 62 2.11
Magnesium (mg) 11 0.374
Potassium (mg) 109 3.71
Protein (g) 5.04 0.171
Sodium (mg) 300 10.2
Urea (mg) 45 1.53
Zinc (mg) 16.5 0.561
Buffering capacity (β) 25
Osmolarity (mOsm) 354
pH 7.7
Viscosity (cP) 3–7
Volume (mL) 3.4
Values for average volume have been calculated and roundedto three significant figures. All other values are those given in the review.

(via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semen)

Such meta
Much link
Very search
Wow

What not to say to an atheist

December 19, 2014 • 8:00 am

by Grania

The Christmas Wars are upon us again, and to mark the season of family get-togethers,  Herb Silverman has written an interesting piece at OnFaith  called Seven Things not to say to the Atheist in your Family. I’m pretty sure that many of us have heard one or more of these from well-meaning (sometimes) but concerned family and friends on occasion, from “Why are you angry at God?” to “We just want to be sure you make it to heaven”.

My least favorite was: “Please pray about it” closely followed by “be more open-minded”. There is no concise but civil response to that. You can spend some time explaining why that has no meaning at all to a non-believer, you can do your best to avoid pointing out that you’ve tried that one before and didn’t work that time either, and you can definitely do your best to not point out that you have better things to do with your time. The best you can do is pour yourself another glass of wine and go and have a chat with the four-legged denizens of the household.

What are your least favorite utterances from family gatherings?

How to build a human

December 19, 2014 • 6:48 am

by Matthew Cobb

I can’t work out a way of presenting this in a reduced size and allowing you to embiggen it, so this is how it is.

The gif is by Eleanor Lutz, ‘a designer with a molecular biology degree’ and was posted here. Eleanor explains:

I’ve actually wanted to do an embryogenesis GIF for months, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to make it work. Then I stumbled acrossthis awesome GIF on Reddit and got the idea to use a spiraling animation style. (Incidentally, if anyone knows who made that GIF I’d love to know). I’m actually really happy with how this turned out. I made this using 44 animations that are 9 frames each. That’s 396 sketches total – probably the most complicated GIF I’ve made so far. I am a little sad that I wasn’t able to show size properly though. For example. the 24 week fetus is about 40 times heavier than a 12 week fetus (but you can’t tell that from this drawing).

 

Friday: Hili dialogue

December 19, 2014 • 4:58 am

It is Friday, thank goodness, and I won’t be taking any seat, thank you very much. Hili continues to ponder deep thoughts, and appears to be strolling though either relativity, or mutating neutrino territory.

 

Hili: This clock is 32 seconds slow.
A: Why do you think so?
Hili: That’s the average time it takes to fill my bowl, and it is still empty.

P1020116

In Polish:

Hili: Ten zegar spóźnia się o 32 sekundy.
Ja: Dlaczego tak sądzisz?
Hili: Tyle czasu przeciętnie zabiera ci napełnienie mojej miseczki, a ona nadal jest pusta.

The ghoulish and inhumane side effect of legislating for the “pro-life” position

December 18, 2014 • 8:00 am

By Grania Spingies

At the beginning of the year Texas had a case of a woman being kept alive by a hospital for the sake of a fetus, even though it was against her own previously stated wishes as well as her husband’s. Eventually the court ruled to allow the machines to be turned off. It was bad enough that someone lost their wife tragically. It was obscene that he had to go to court to be allowed to bury her.

Now Ireland is closing out the year with a similar case, which won’t surprise anyone who has followed Ireland’s bizarre slow shuffle towards modernity, at least where reproductive systems are concerned. A number of related cases have been discussed on this website such as the appalling horror of Savita Halappanavar being condemned to die when she started to miscarry rather than receive medical intervention that might hasten the end of the fetus, owing to the legacy of perverse law-making which hamstrings medical staff while trying to appease its Catholic past. Even the new supposedly improved abortion laws of the country have not had the intended effect, but instead have resulted in more inhumane horror which Jerry wrote about here and in The New Republic.

Today the Irish Independent writes of a new case where a woman who is clinically brain dead but in the early second trimester of pregnancy is being kept alive against the wishes of her family. The problem appears to have arisen because the hospital is unsure if it is legally permissible to switch off the life support machinery. The new law was supposed to clarify the position of medical staff, but as evidently it has not helped at all especially as serious penalties are now attached to anyone who assists in the termination of a fetus except in the most narrow of circumstances. And so a grieving family now waits for lawyers and doctors to decide whether they will be allowed to bury their loved one with privacy they deserve.

Surprisingly, the Minister for Health, who is himself on the pro-life rather than pro-choice side, but is also a medical doctor has shown some compassion and understanding:

“Difficult decisions that should be made by women and their doctors, a couple or the next-of-kin where there is no capacity, and on the basis of best clinical practice, are now made on foot of legal advice. That isn’t how it should be.”