The Biosphere

AliceD

02:34

@WYSIWYG - your icon! OMG... A terror mod :)

WYSIWYG

04:25

@AliceD Haha.. Yeah mad scientist also has "corrosive" label on him

I just made this fun pic. Instead of crossbones, I put crossed pipettes :P

SolarLunix

08:03

Morning @WYSIWYG, @AliceD, @FaheemMitha, @Chris and everyone else.

SolarLunix

08:34

hi @MadScientist

Faheem Mitha

Hello @SolarLunix

SolarLunix

@FaheemMitha what's up?

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix I wish I had some good reply to that question. But I don't.

How about you?

SolarLunix

a little jumpy to be perfectly honest @FaheemMitha

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix Any particular reason?

SolarLunix

08:37

@FaheemMitha I'll link you why in just a moment

Faheem Mitha

Well, in the realm of things that are not at all interesting - I just placed an order for a soundproof door.

Go me.

Was also reading little bit's of Russell Brand's autobiography. Which is much more entertaining than one would expect.

SolarLunix

0

Q: Species Identification: WARNING - SPIDER PHOTOS

I usually would search for myself, but I need to be super sure about the identification because I need to know if I need to get an exterminator in here or not. (I think it might be a giant house spider, but don't let me influence your analysis.) So I live in the northern part Ireland and I went ...

Why did you get a soundproof door @FaheemMitha

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix I thought someone might ask that, so I prepared this really good answer. Now, wait for it...

Because I wanted a door that was soundproof.

SolarLunix

lol

Faheem Mitha

So, is your jumpiness spider-related?

What is a "macro shot"?

SolarLunix

08:42

I used a very close lens

Making it much bigger than normal

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix The chat is editable, fyi.

SolarLunix

I take photos in my free time with pro photo stuff.

So it is...

Faheem Mitha

I see.

Well, you can edit the chat for like 2 min.

SolarLunix

I hope someone answers soon because I wanna know if I should burn the house down or not...

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix I think it is safe to say the answer is no. And why would you want to burn the house down?

SolarLunix

08:51

@FaheemMitha in case it left eggs...

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix You need to stop watching Hollywood films. You don't need to fear spiders.

SolarLunix

@FaheemMitha I'm just afraid if it's poisonous, and it's not because of hollywood, it's because I've had a few spider bite infections

And they were NOT nice

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix Oh, I see. Sorry, I misunderstood.

Did this spider biting happen in Ireland?

SolarLunix

No, it was back in PA, but I'm still scared of being bitten.... even though I'm the one that has to take care of all the spiders (hubby is SUPER scared)

Faheem Mitha

I don't think I've ever been bitten by a spider. I've been bitten by other things, though.

I can't say I'm a big fan of insects myself.

But apparently there are people who are deathly afraid of spiders. A friend of mine said that to him a dead spider was scarcely better than a live one. Which suggests an unhealthy and irrational level of fear.

@SolarLunix Tell him to man up (I think that is the appropriate American slang).

SolarLunix

08:55

@FaheemMitha that's sexist.

@FaheemMitha and I don't mind taking care of them... it was just I was really scared cause this guy was HUGE

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix Probably.

SolarLunix

I've only seen bigger spiders in the pet store...

Faheem Mitha

Personally, I don't see the appeal of a pet spider.

SolarLunix

Me neither

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix FYI, you can upload photos to imgur (or whatever it is called) and those can then be viewed direct on your SE page. I recommend doing that - that way people don't have to click on the link.

Also, it will still (probably) work if you change things at the flickr end.

AliceD

08:58

@SolarLunix good evening :)

SolarLunix

I don't have an imgur and I tried EVERYTHING to get flickr to let me upload directly

@AliceD how are you?

Faheem Mitha

"So I live in the northern part Ireland". Missing "of" probably.

SolarLunix

.... yeah...

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix You don't need an imgur (whatever that is). Just use the picture embedding link at the top.

AliceD

@SolarLunix Hi! I'm OK. Preparing my first paper for IEEE :)

And you?

SolarLunix

09:00

@FaheemMitha no matter what link I used I could NOT get the spider image to imbed into my post

Faheem Mitha

"it wasn't letting me upload to the site for some reason". By "site" you mean Stack Exchange?

SolarLunix

@AliceD freaking out over a spider.... and if I need an exterminator or not (eventhough I released the one I found)

@FaheemMitha yes

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix Hmm, that's odd. I'm tempted to try.

SolarLunix

If you can do it, just tell me how you got the link from it.

It won't let me "Copy image location" like it normally does for whatever reason.

Faheem Mitha

But do you really need three photos?

@SolarLunix Strange.

@AliceD I thought you were a biologist.

SolarLunix

09:04

@FaheemMitha I took like 10 because yes, for proper species identification you should have different shots angles and focal points. I hate going onto Species identification only to be met with one very poor photo

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix ok

Flickr is being really flakey here.

SolarLunix

Yeah, I know... :(

Faheem Mitha

I'll try adding the first image to your post. If you don't like it, you can delete it.

Most of the species identification questions I've seen here have included only one photo, though.

SolarLunix

@WYSIWYG I already put that I was from the northern part of Ireland, isn't that enough

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix I'm not sure how to save your image locally. Do you know how?

SolarLunix

09:18

@FaheemMitha @WYSIWYG already edited the photos in by magic

Faheem Mitha

@SolarLunix Oh, that's nice.

WYSIWYG

09:56

@SolarLunix Oh I didn't see that. Yeah it should be fine. May be you can describe the name of the region and climatic condition. It makes it complete

@SolarLunix There is a limit on image size that can be uploaded. If you have any image editing tool then you can rescale the image to around 600x600 px and then upload. I simply downloaded the file from you flicker account and selected medium resoultion download (~600x500px)

Then I reuploaded them here

AliceD

10:21

@FaheemMitha I am?

@SolarLunix Hahaha I was freakin' out yesterday! There was a GIGANTIC huntsman hiding between our mail! I never scream... But then, I did haha. Turned out to be a dead one but I grabbed straight into it.... LOL

Faheem Mitha

@AliceD I don't know. You tell me.

@AliceD I assume "huntsman" means spider?

@WYSIWYG I wasn't able to figure out how to download an image from Flickr.

AliceD

10:43

@FaheemMitha yes I am

@FaheemMitha it is one of the biggest in Australia yes

Faheem Mitha

@AliceD Ok. So, do biologists often publish in IEEE? I thought those were engineering/CS journals.

WYSIWYG

@FaheemMitha Mostly people who are engineers and work on biological aspects.

Not the other way round

Faheem Mitha

@WYSIWYG Ok, now I'm confused.

WYSIWYG

@FaheemMitha I mean there are IEEE journals on bio-related subjects like systems biology but it is mostly engineers who have developed interest in biology who publish there.

Faheem Mitha

@WYSIWYG I knew biologists who published in systems biology.

WYSIWYG

10:57

There aren't many biologists (by training) who pick up mathematical subjects after their training. Even if they do learn those stuff, they usually publish in conventional biology journals.

Faheem Mitha

@WYSIWYG I don't think systems biology is necessarily mathemetical.

WYSIWYG

@FaheemMitha Do you mean IET systems biology? I don't think so. The systems biologists on the more biological side publish in other journals.

Basically IEEE is mostly known only to engineers and it is usually the engineers-turned biologists who publish in the bio-related journals of IEEE

I presume that AliceD's lab works on interdisciplinary subjects and the PI must be one of those engineers who have started working on biology.

@AliceD What subject did you do your masters in?

AliceD

11:26

@FaheemMitha Yeah that's why it was worth mentioning :)

@WYSIWYG I am a Biologist by training, PhD in auditory Neuroscience, postdoc in visual Neuroscience and now a researcher in tactile psychophysics. However, I have always worked in the area of neuroprosthetics and now on sensory substitution devices.

My MS got rejected in two Psychology journals and one of the referees said it was too specific and he recommended IEEE on Haptics.

I work in a multidisciplinary team within a Computer Vision group. I'm the only Biologist there

So around me people are all IEEE members.

@WYSIWYG you are right; my supervisor is senior IEEE member and engineer by training

WYSIWYG

@AliceD How are you finding it? Being the only biologist in the group.

Faheem Mitha

11:43

@WYSIWYG I once worked in a immunology research groups. One of the things the PI was doing was working on a mathematical simulation of the immune system. However, he didn't know any mathematics, nor could he program, though he thought he could. He used to mostly make a mess in Fortran. Anyway, I figure this probably qualifies as system biology.

I (unwisely) worked on this project for a while, and got a paper published, though in hindsight it was mostly a waste of time. Like most research, I suppose.

AliceD

@WYSIWYG Interesting, but hard at times. I will be changing jobs this year, back to a university medical center. Quite honestly, and off the record, I can't wait :) It has been fantastic here, but I'm totally ready to plunge back into a more comfy territory now :)

Faheem Mitha

@AliceD how is the research job situation in AU these days? Few good permanent jobs, I imagine.

Resonating

14:11

How is -aceae pronounced? I get conflicting definitions if I try liliaceae and brassicaceae

Faheem Mitha

14:33

@Resonating Context?

Resonating

@FaheemMitha it's a standard plant family name suffix

liliaceae is the family of plants containing lilies

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Oh.

Resonating

which is allegedly pronounced lily-A-C-I, like you were spelling it

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Conflicting definitions? You mean conflicting pronunciations?

Resonating

brassicaceae is brassy - K-C-I or brassy -K -C -A

conflicting pronunciatiations

Faheem Mitha

14:35

@Resonating Well, maybe that's how it is. English is nothing if not inconsistent.

Its roots in Latin not withstanding.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha If it was just latin it would be easy. English couldn't keep its grubby little mitts off all the other languages is the problem

Greek in particular when you're dealing with science

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Yes, Greek. Sorry, please forgive my ignorance/carelessness.

@Resonating btw, I'm reading Russell Brand's first volume of autobiography. A bit strange, but quite entertaining.

I wonder how someone which such an extensive history of drugs and drink is not only still alive, but in such good health.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha You're familiar with the dirt bag index or dude factor?

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Neither of those. Though thanks to Google/the net I could aspire to alter that.

Resonating

ER doctors have noticed people with tattoos and five drunk driving accidents in the last year will survive being cut in half but working single mothers die of falling down on a carpeted floor

messybeast.com/dragonqueen/medical-acronyms.htm

Faheem Mitha

14:43

which such -> with such

@Resonating Hmm, interesting. You're a mine of unlikely information... :-)

Resonating

Probably apocryphal but I know 'slow codes' are real

Faheem Mitha

Slow codes?

Dude Factor - Survival scoring factor based on social worth. A high dude factor = an individual of questionable social worth who survives near-fatal injuries. A low dude factor = professional person who slips in the bathroom sustaining a fatal injury

This one? ^^

Resonating

@FaheemMitha yeah. there are probably half a dozen variations

"tattoos are bullet shields" "piercings save lives" etc etc etc

Faheem Mitha

In any case, if half of what Mr. Brand writes about it true, I'm amazed he is still alive and walking around.

Resonating

Slow codes. When a patient crashes or 'codes' sometimes you move heaven and earth to start their heart again

sometimes you...don't

Slow code

Slow code refers to the practice in a hospital or other medical centre to purposely respond slowly or incompletely to a patient in cardiac arrest, particularly in situations where CPR is of no medical benefit. The related term show code refers to the practice of a medical response that is faked for the sake of the patient's family. The practices are banned in some jurisdictions. == Background == During a patient cardiac arrest in a hospital or other medical facility, staff may be notified via a code blue alert. A medical response team, based on the institution's practices and policies, attends...

Faheem Mitha

14:46

Of course, he may have made some of it up to make himself seem more interesting. He strikes me as the kind of man who would do so. Having said that, the drugs and drinking were real, and well documented.

@Resonating My social circle hasn't really includes any alcoholics or drug addicts, so I don't have any first-hand experience of these types of people.

Though there was a guy I was briefly in grad school with (in Chicago) who struck me as rather the type.

Though we weren't in contact long.

Resonating

There's an interesting side effect of alcohol that makes drunk people survive collisions and wounds that would kill sober people

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating so, why do you care about pronunciation?

@Resonating Which is?

Resonating

the slower reaction time makes you more likely to fall off a roof, say, but the relaxed muscles raise the impact threshhold for a break

drunks fall down better than sober people. They also have more practice, usually

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Yes, I was going to mention the more relaxed thing, but feared I might sound frivolous.

Does that really make so much difference?

The relaxation, I mean. I mean, a broken bone is a broken bone.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha Even small differences are huge. A crash where you break three bones is bed rest for a month

a crash where you break one is outpatient

and when it comes for forces the gap between "you're dead no matter what" and "you're fine no matter what" is pretty narrow

Faheem Mitha

14:52

@Resonating Crash as in car crash? Does it help to be drunk in a car crash too?

Resonating

@FaheemMitha All kinds of impacts. Falling down, getting hit by a car, hitting things with a car, you name it

sober people hit things wit ha car a lot less, and when they do hit things they tend to hit them slower

but for a given impact, it helps to be drunk

Faheem Mitha

Anyway, it just seems curious that Brand, someone who apparently spent the first part of his life trying hard to mess everything up as much as possible, is now rich, famous, and successful, while plenty of sensible focused people have difficulty making an honest living.

@Resonating Yes, I see. Meaning, don't get drunk because it will help in a possible accident. :-)

Resonating

@FaheemMitha Life. What are you going to do.

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Yes, life is a strange thing.

At least when I was in NC, police seemed to take an extremely dim view of drunking driving.

I once got pulled over in Raleigh late at night, I think because I was going the wrong way down a street. Around midnight. The policeman wasn't very nice about it, and asked if I was drunk. Which I wasn't.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha and rightly so, it's an extremely good way to kill people

Faheem Mitha

14:57

This wasn't a proper street, it was a sort of dead-end thing. I was just trying to get my GPS to pick up my location, because I had no idea where I was.

I don't really drink, and never if I am driving...

It was one of those meetup.com gatherings. I don't know if you are familar with those.

Resonating

Policemen are grumpy sorts, which I kind of understand. They're in customer service but they only ever deal with people who are already having a bad day one way or another

@FaheemMitha nope?

Ugh this list of abbreviations is dark but I kind of lvoe it

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Yes, and it can be a dangerous job too, at least in the US. With all the guns.

Maybe in places with less guns they are more relaxed.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha They are. US policing isn't as dangerous as it's talked up to be

being a garbage man is way more dangerous

Faheem Mitha

Bombay is a hellhole, but Bombay police are definitely much more relaxed. India is not very violent, at least in that way. Maybe people are killing each other in the slums, but nobody knows or cares.

@Resonating How so?

@Resonating Ok. Meetup.com organizes social groupings of total strangers. I went to a few in NC.

In theory it's a way to meet friends. Doesn't seem to really function in India, but the social dynamics are way different here.

It's a web based thing, so international...

Resonating

@FaheemMitha Police don't get shot at or stabbed or in fights as much as you'd think. Garbage men get stabbed by thrown-away knives or fall off garbage trucks or get hit by swinging trash bags or roughed up by crazy people all the time

Faheem Mitha

15:07

@Resonating I see. I did not know that. What are your sources?

Resonating

bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf

chart three

it's logging, fishing, airplanes, roofers, garbage men, miners, drivers, farmers, linemen, and general construction

in that order

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Wow, you really are a mine of information.

Resonating

I love being able to cite the bureau of labor statistics

I don't know how much you know about the militarization of policing over here but it's a disaster area

Faheem Mitha

Hang on, police aren't even in chart 3.

@Resonating I've heard that US police are increasingly becoming like a paramilitary organization.

Rocket launchers, submachine/machine guns. Even drones.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha they're not even in the top ten

Faheem Mitha

15:12

I hope that is exaggerated.

@Resonating Huh. Well, live and learn.

@Resonating how come you can cite the bureau of labor statistics in 10 seconds flat?

Resonating

@FaheemMitha yup. Surplus military hardware from the wind-down of afghanistan is going to police departments. They are getting the mine-resistant armored vehicles and drones

@FaheemMitha Leave me some mysteries, at least?

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Which they get to use against US citizens? How lovely.

@Resonating <Sigh> Fine, be all mysterious.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha Essentially, yes. Mostly they drive them around, feel cool, and trash the roads. MRAPs aren't exactly rated for civilian asphalt.

They're never used. And what would they be used for? SWAT have their own vans and in any case speed/surprise is better than anything else. They definitely have automatic weapons but idk what they use those for either.

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Well, I can see them using drones, at least. For spying on people.

Apparently the BLS employs a lot of statisticians. But I imagine it is boring work. Though very secure.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha You still need a warrant for that so mostly the sheriffs fly them around for fun. Seriously. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/07/…

to be clear: they own a 7000$ drone they aren't allowed to fly on official business

SBLEO - (pronounced S-B-Leo) Suicide By Law Enforcement Officer

dark. I like it

Faheem Mitha

15:52

@Resonating Still reading that list?

Resonating

Yup. Also chatting to a friend about his absurd control theory project.

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Well, Ok. But they can always change the rules.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha Yes, and they have in some places. My point is that they have a drone, they are flying it, and it doesn't have anything to do with official business. Sometimes they crash them in their own backyards

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating Yes, though I don't see any mention in that article of police flying it.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha Not in that one but it happens. Anyway. I'm sure they have a good time with their toys

Faheem Mitha

16:00

And on the subject of Russell Brand, the obvious counterpoint is that for every Russell Brand there ae probably a host of would-be comic/showbiz druggie people dead in a pool of their own vomit. Though of course this is pure speculation, and I doubt the BLS keeps statistics on it.

@Resonating Probably.

In other words, Mr. Brand is probably a statistical anomaly.

Resonating

@FaheemMitha of course not, the CDC is responsible for keeping track of overdose stats. :P

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating You're kidding, right?

Resonating

@FaheemMitha nope. cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/index.html

Faheem Mitha

@Resonating I'm beginning to wonder what you did in your past lives.

Still, they probably don't cross-reference it against occupation.

That's a rather alarming graph, though.

WYSIWYG

18:32

Resonating and Faheem are almost always chatting.. You guys should meet up for a coffee or something :P

@FaheemMitha still raining over there?

Faheem Mitha

18:53

@WYSIWYG Nope, hasn't rained all of July.

@WYSIWYG Occasionally chatting. Minor snafu - we live on different continents.

Faheem Mitha

20:46

@WYSIWYG Has it rained in Pune during July?

Resonating

@WYSIWYG that's kind of a commute for a coffee

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