The chemistry of almost everything!

[mzungu]

A very interesting documentary, enjoy:
The Chemistry of Almost Everything | Watch Free Documentary Online

 

[GrizzlyMonKeH]

I'll have to bookmark this for later. Thank you.

 

[Michael]

A very interesting documentary, enjoy:
The Chemistry of Almost Everything | Watch Free Documentary Online

It does seem to include humor, and I will watch it, but it will have to wait till after work. You must apparently mean it describes the chemistry of about 4% of the universe that you actually believe in. Maybe you should call it the chemistry of almost nothing.

 

[KimberlyAA]

Looks really interesting. Couldn't watch the whole thing though ... don't have 2 hours to spare right now.

 

[Naraoia]

Seriously? A probability of abiogenesis number in a science documentary?

 

[mzungu]

Seriously? A probability of abiogenesis number in a science documentary?

Ask a Quantum physicist and he will tell you that everything is based on probability; Now we all know that everything boils down to physics so it does make sense to a physicist but not to a biologist. Oh well interesting video nevertheless.

 

[Naraoia]

Ask a Quantum physicist and he will tell you that everything is based on probability; Now we all know that everything boils down to physics so it does make sense to a physicist but not to a biologist. Oh well interesting video nevertheless.

Rest assured, probability makes plenty of sense to me, which is exactly why I nearly headdesked when I came across this. That bit where the guy says that a building block of DNA (didn't catch which one) can only form through a precise series of reactions with probability 1 in [insert incomprehensibly high number]? He doesn't even explain the number or what it means with regards to the origin of life, he just leaves it hanging there. Just like the creationist "probability of life" calculations. Look, a Big Number! Be impressed!

Sorry, bad science communication just makes me very, very grumpy.

 

[RickG]

Rest assured, probability makes plenty of sense to me, which is exactly why I nearly headdesked when I came across this. That bit where the guy says that a building block of DNA (didn't catch which one) can only form through a precise series of reactions with probability 1 in [insert incomprehensibly high number]? He doesn't even explain the number or what it means with regards to the origin of life, he just leaves it hanging there. Just like the creationist "probability of life" calculations. Look, a Big Number! Be impressed!

Sorry, bad science communication just makes me very, very grumpy.

I remember several years back where the History Channel presented a program on the evolution of birds from dinosaurs and made it seem like a 50/50 debate with no scientific consensus.

 

[Naraoia]

I remember several years back where the History Channel presented a program on the evolution of birds from dinosaurs and made it seem like a 50/50 debate with no scientific consensus.

You mean equal weight to Feduccia and company?

 

[mzungu]

Rest assured, probability makes plenty of sense to me, which is exactly why I nearly headdesked when I came across this. That bit where the guy says that a building block of DNA (didn't catch which one) can only form through a precise series of reactions with probability 1 in [insert incomprehensibly high number]? He doesn't even explain the number or what it means with regards to the origin of life, he just leaves it hanging there. Just like the creationist "probability of life" calculations. Look, a Big Number! Be impressed!

Sorry, bad science communication just makes me very, very grumpy.

Yes I agree and your point is very valid. The problem with making a documentary that will speak to the layman in layman's terms is maintain on the science without it becoming incoherent. BBC is one of the few that actually manages to do this (Attenborough, Horizon, etc.).

The main point with the documentary is to impress upon the public the importance of Chemistry in biology and other things. No mystery is involved nor the supernatural but chemical interactions that are based on the Atomic theory and hence Physics! Oh I love it when I point out the fact that everything boils down to physics

 

[Naraoia]

Yes I agree and your point is very valid. The problem with making a documentary that will speak to the layman in layman's terms is maintain on the science without it becoming incoherent. BBC is one of the few that actually manages to do this (Attenborough, Horizon, etc.).

Even a recent Attenborough documentary (First Life, I think it was called) managed to squeeze in a good dose of excrement At one point the narration implied that animals didn't reproduce sexually until the Ediacaran. Never mind that sexual reproduction as in meiosis + fertilisation is far older than animals.

Oh I love it when I point out the fact that everything boils down to physics

At which point the biologist chuckles and quietly points the physicist to the protein structure prediction problem

 

[mzungu]

Even a recent Attenborough documentary (First Life, I think it was called) managed to squeeze in a good dose of excrement At one point the narration implied that animals didn't reproduce sexually until the Ediacaran. Never mind that sexual reproduction as in meiosis + fertilisation is far older than animals.

Nothing is perfect

At which point the biologist chuckles and quietly points the physicist to the protein structure prediction problem

And the Physicist says to the Biologist "Now that we are in a quantum entaglement why don't we go to the Quantum Bar for a pint", Hic! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MowgKI24Sq0

 

[Michael]

Nothing is perfect

Perfect? In your fantasy universe where pulse broadening and plasma redshift never happen in space plasmas, you aren't even close to four percent "perfect" yet.

 

[AECellini]

Perfect? In your fantasy universe where pulse broadening and plasma redshift never happen in space plasmas, you aren't even close to four percent "perfect" yet.

where the heck did that come from?

 

[mzungu]

where the heck did that come from?

I don't know; must be some weird quantum fluctuation!

 

[Naraoia]

where the heck did that come from?

Probably the shouting match the two of them were having in another thread...

 

[Michael]

where the heck did that come from?

Left field.

 

[Tomk80]

where the heck did that come from?

Unhealthy obsession. Michael, the point where you becoming incapable of making any comment not referencing your topic of obsession, is the point where you need to see a shrink.

 

[Michael]

Unhealthy obsession. Michael, the point where you becoming incapable of making any comment not referencing your topic of obsession, is the point where you need to see a shrink.

Nah. I just need the mainstream to surrender. My time on message boards is limited, so I tend to focus on the topic(s) that I'm most interested in. God and astronomy just happen to be my passions.

 

[Naraoia]

Unless you write without thinking and fact-checking, the sheer number of long posts you sometimes churn out in a day suggests that you and I have a very different definition of "limited time".