@RegDwightѬſ道 Sorry, missed it.

I'm trying to make myself study. Kit, would you please tell me to, sternly?

@Mahnax Do you want to end up living in a cardboard box in a cold alleyway?

shakes finger

Get back to your books!

What are you studying?

Science. Blah.

I just need to study plants.

Blah? hands on hips

Plants == blah. Most science == good.

What part of plant biology are you doing?

Innate defense mechanisms? "Medicinal" uses?

Gas/water exchange. Nothing difficult, but horribly dry.

Haha, medicinal.

OK. If you can explain it to me right now without consulting your books, I will let you off the hook.

Well, I'll start by explaining stomata.

OK. You write, I'll make tea.

Stomata are small openings on the bottom of leaves that let water and O2 diffuse out and CO2 diffuse in. They are opened and closed by guard cells, which swell to open, and shrink to close the stomata.

Oops, no. They let water and CO2 in, and only O2 out.

Good. I was about to point that out.

So why is it interesting that the cells swell to open and shrink to close?

Interesting?

Yes. It is interesting.

Don't you think?

Not really :/

OK, I'll tell you.

I've gone and confused myself.

I think I might need to look at my textbook.

Wait, no!

CO2 diffuses in, O2 diffuses out. Water can diffuse out, but that's water exchange; I'm talking about gas right now.

The water comes from the roots.

Once photosynthesis is done, the sugar/glucose is made, and phloem carries it around the place.

And the O2 leaves.

Hmm.

When the plant has lots of water, the stomata are open, so that lots of photosynthesis can occur. When it is dry, the stomata close, so as not to lose water.

The action of water evaporating from the stomata actually helps drive water through the plant, like sucking on a straw.

Yes, that is true.

Water loss that way is called transpiration.

Fancy.

Very good.

It's nice to know they teach these things in school.

Fear not, I will be taking Biology all the way to the 35 level.

What does photosynthesis have to do with stomata though? Can't a plant photosynthesize regardless of stomatal status?

Yeah. It's just that the stomata enable it to exchange gases better.

If the stomata were closed, they would have to get CO2 from the ground.

I think.

Like lots of tiny nostrils.

Can't get CO2 from the ground, though.

Hmm, then how do they get it?

Hmm.

Good question.

This isn't in the textbook.

Oh! Bioflatulence.

That must be it.

Ha ha ha!

:D

Maybe they absorb enough in good conditions that they can continue to respire even when the stomata are closed.

Or maybe they can hold their breath for a loooonngg time.

That could work. Oh! They have giant vacuoles in the cells, maybe they store CO2 there?

That's a good thought. Let's see...

I remember all the cell parts well.

And the types of diffusion/AT.

Wow. It's really great that they teach you that stuff. I didn't learn it until college, and you can see how well I remember.

Well, it's not the most exciting thing, but it's nice to know.

Actually, I am a little irritated with myself that I can't remember it better.

Don't be.

Plant biology can actually be really interesting once you've learned the basics.

It also helps with advanced physiology.

Especially understanding how simple gas exchange works.

I've never found it to be interesting, maybe that's just me. Human bio, on the other hand, is fun.

And diffusion and osmosis.

And active transport, and pino/phagocytosis, and endo/exocytosis.

All have to do with Brownian motion.

Well, that stuff is more for immunology than physiology.

Yeah, I guess.

Except active transport.

Polar bear physiology is really interesting.

But I'm not helping.

You should be studying, young man!

There is one thing my science teacher (who recently earned a Master's) can't explain, though.

@Kitḫ You have been helping!

Besides, you'll be glad you know it once you get to microbiology.

@Mahnax Oh? What?

Oh, my mother hated that course with a burning fiery passion.

Microbiology was awesome.

@Kitḫ Facilitated diffusion requires no energy, but it should.

There are so many really cool bugs out there doing the most bizarre stuff.

Haha, she felt certain she would do horribly. Then she finished the course with 96%.

@Mahnax I don't think I know that term.

@Kitḫ It's when large particles, too large to get through the phospholipid bilayer, go through carrier proteins to get inside a cell.

Oh, passive transport?

Yeah.

That term I know.

Ah, okay.

But seriously, this has helped me with my studying!

Some of the channels are just holes in the membrane, so the ions just permeate. No energy required.

Ions don't like to go through the membrane, because it is all fatty and gross.

Yeah, but what about the carrier ones, that aren't holes?

Haha, laughed at that last bit.

The ones that change shape?

Yeah, shouldn't that changing require energy?

You would think so, but not really.

There's no binding that happens.

It's sort of like a turnstile.

Hmm.

The action of the molecule pushing into the protein changes its shape.

Then the molecule pops out on the other side and the protein reverts.

At least, that's how I remember it.

Hmm, that might do it.

Different than ligand-binding.

I haven't heard of that.

Hmm. They might be like voltage-gated channels.

Have you heard of those?

Very important for neurons. You know, nerve cells.

Not to mention muscle contraction.

No, not those, either.

We have barely done any human or animal biology.

Voltage-gated channels are really neat.

I'm glad you think so.

The channel proteins are shaped depending on the potential across the membrane.

When the potential changes, the channel opens or closes.

The channels control the flow of ions across the membrane, so...

Hmm, interesting.

Opening the channels automatically changes the potential.

Self-regulating.

Cool.

You know peristalsis? The wavelike contractions that move food through your gut?

Yeah.

Ion-gated channels automatically opening and closing themselves over and over.

That is cool!

I never thought it would be that.

The increase in potential propagates down the lining of the gut in a wave, so the muscles contract in sequence.

What did you major in, in college/university?

Heartbeat is similar, but the potential actually builds up and fires (as I recall), then recovers.

@Mahnax In college, biology. In grad school, neuroscience. Then spatial information science.

I've moved away from plants again though. You are supposed to be studying plants!

@Kitḫ Ah, so that is why you know all this. When did you start doing programming then?

Yeah, yeah, plants.

Plants are interesting! I only slept through about half of my plant biology classes!

@Mahnax I started programming when I was eight. :D

@Kitḫ Woaaah!

But really, in graduate school, I wrote programs for experimental design, modeling, and analysis.

@Kitḫ Same here.

@Mahnax On a Commodore 64 in Basic, no less.

Back when computer magazines used to publish programs in the back.

@Kitḫ Hahaha, that's awesome.

I remember Commodore 64 BASIC! Geez, I feel old now.

Yeah, you were in college then, right?

10 REM Geez, I feel old now.

Yep.

So I guess that means your first programming experience was in Fortran on punchcards?

I seem to remember labeling routines HELL so I could type GOTO HELL.

But my memory might be blurring that with some other version of Basic.

Hahaha.

Yeah, because it would've been Gosub Hell.

I never did Fortran. My first programming language was Basic, and then I went right into C from that.

Nice.

Well, C was just way better. And a lot faster.

I learned C after Basic, too.

I also liked it better.

Except when I forgot a semi-colon in 500 lines of code.

Yeah, but your compiler should have flagged your syntax errors.

I was a better programmer back then too.

That's right, it would have been Gosub for labeled routines.

It's amazing the trivia that gets lodged in the corners of my brain.

Damn, I ain't done any Basic in like 10 years. Last thing I did was a project in VB 6. What a horror-show.

I created a sprite animation when we got the Commodore 128.

Oh, VB 6. That hurts.

I did a database project for class in VB 6 about ten years ago.

I left the Commodore for a Unix box. "He sells C-shells by the seashore."

Hehe.

I wish I had known about Unix back then.

If my sons get interested in programming, I will push them that way.

Yes. Then you could rediscover it today and be Bourne Again!

I know. What a Korny joke.

Ugh.

That's awful.

Makes you want to bash me, huh?

I program in VB.Net all the time now.

If I have to do .Net I use C#.

Maybe I'll do my next project in C# just for S&G.

But I stay away from Microsoft if I can help it.

I sort of stumbled into VB by accident.

So my options are limited.

What do you use?

The thing I hate about Microsoft is that they leave huge gaping holes in important areas, but encumber you with help where you don't need it.

Yes. It's annoying.

@Kit My textbook says how plants do photosynthesis when the stomata are closed.

@Mahnax Sweet. How?

@Kitḫ For creating apps these days I use Flex, Adobe Air.

@Kitḫ They store CO2 in a "chemical form" and use it when necessary.

@Robusto Interesting. What are they like?

@Mahnax Um, CO2 is a chemical, innit?

@Mahnax "Chemical form" = carbonic acid in the vacuoles?

@Robusto Yeah, but a different chemical form.

@Kitḫ Most likely, but it doesn't specify.

Oh, duh. Carbon fixation.

Wow, totally forgot that even existed.

@Kitḫ Really cool. Very fast to get something going, but you can polish it and make it very fast-running as well. It's pretty fast even if you use MXML, though. It's like a cross between Javascript and XML, with classical OOP like Java.

@Robusto Hmm. Sounds like I would like it after a month of tears relearning proper coding technique.

Also, you can create mobile apps that work on Android and iOS and Blackberry tablets. Same code.

OK. TV time. Betty White's 90th birthday.

Later!

@Robusto That is awesome.

Bye @Kit!

Except I like it better than Java. ActionScript has all the good stuff from Javascript except with strong data typing, classical inheritance, polymorphism, function literals, etc., etc.

CYA.

I found a program that lets me build my iOS apps in HTML + CSS + Javascript.

@Mahnax You don't need a program for that. Just do it.

Hi!

The laptop was well received.

Hi!

Hi!

@Kitḫ I started watching that.

Hmm, I am very tired, and I have work this morning. Night all.

Hi! Just a short and simple question, probably too simple for the main site: I am an advanced English learner and I would like to get modern usage for the new words, for example "shakedown": my dictionary provides me with over 10 different meanings of this word, but I am not sure how many of them are really the common ones. Where should I look and how can I find good, short and really crispy usage examples for this and other words that might belong to slang or americanisms?

@WillHunting Thank you! Yes, this seems to be reasonable, moreover have even a purchased copy of this dictionary.

Hello

Hi!

Hi @Cerberus

Morn!

Haha, you and your time keeping :D

Today's question is: why do so few people use mouse gestures?

@MattЭллен I'm on XP.

@Cerberus is it in another timezone?

@Cerberus I guess because they're unintuitive to begin with. I've not tried them myself

@MattЭллен It was you who commented on my dates and time!

@Cerberus but it's afternoon, not morning!

@MattЭллен Hmm...but doesn't this supposed unintuitiveness only kick in after you've decide to try them?

@MattЭллен Well, you know.

@Cerberus oh, well I guess I mean they seem unintuitive

In what way?

well, my mouse is for pointing and clicking

Up = copy, down = paste; right = next page in history, left = back in history.

if I start making swishy movements, that's a whole new paradigm

True.

plus I have buttons for back and forward on my mouse

I love them

Right, yes, I can appreciate that.

Don't you ever press them by accident?

I've been considering getting a many-buttoned mouse too.

maybe. I don't recall having done so. I do press the middle button accidentally, which can be annoying

Because it is also your scroll wheel?

but I think I'm clumsier than average!

@Cerberus no, for the opposite reason.

it's not my scroll wheel. the scroll wheel on my mouse has two mode when you press it to switch between

so they added another button just above the scroll wheel for doing the things normally done by clicking the scrollwheel

it's my only criticism of this mouse, really

I don't see what "smooth scrolling" adds, so I don't switch modes

@MattЭллен The strange thing is, when I first heard of mouse gestures, the idea seemed very attractive, and I immediately liked them very much when I first tried them. And, like most gesture users, I have been totally hooked ever since. I feel utterly handicapped when I'm on a computer that doesn't have them, as if some member had been amputated.

@MattЭллен Hmm, I see, yes. A button at a weird place, too close to left and right.

@Cerberus I feel like that when I don't have the forward and backward buttons on my mouse

So why do some people like mouse gestures very much, and others not at all? There doesn't seem to be a middle category.

@MattЭллен Understandable!

I've not used them, so I can't be sure. It could be down to how people meet mouse gestures for the first time

Hmm could be.

and if they're the sort of person who is skeptical of hype

Hmm...I'm usually very skeptical of hypes, but I'm the complete opposite when it comes to new functionality, even if it is totally awkward and clumsy to use.

Which in this case led me onto the right path.

In others, it causes me to mess up my computer.

:D

By the way, I tried a virus scanner again.

It annoyed the hell out of me.

oh my! anything interesting happen?

MS Security Essentials.

oh dear

I've not tried it