The Big Picture: Science!

[risenbone]

Just wanted to set a couple of misnomers about animals being bread to the point of needing to eat tonnes of grain to survive. The actuality is Cows gain more weight in a field eating grass than they do in a feedlot eating grain. The reason in the field eating grass they are putting on muscle where as in the feedlot they are putting on fat. The reason feedlots are so prevelent is they provide a more consistant end product as in all the carcasses weigh pretty close to the same which makes all the cuts of meat taken from feedlot finished animals as close to the same as humanly posible without cloning the darned things.

The fact is cows and sheep are continously being bred to be putting on more weight for the same amount of feed or less for example look up the droughtmaster breeds developed in Australia. If we stopped farming cows today they would survive quite well their only real problem coming from predators because generally speaking alot of the improvement in meat production on cows has come at the expence of the cows various natural defences. I refrence you to the Hereford breed and the Poll Hereford bred of cattle.

Oh and genetic engineering isn't quite as new as people want to believe. Genetic engineering has been the whole point of farming since we first started. It's funny as thats one of the few areas where people would rather trust some guy in a field with no real formal tertiary education over a guy in a lab coat with 2 or 3 science degrees under his belt and I find it ammusing.

 

[RTR]

I also want to know where's MY jetpack?

 

[Swifteye]

Hm. Has bob ever watched How Stuff Works? A lot of the things we produce are already deeply in colaboration with science and some of these making some of these request rather thoughtless. Like say the idea of cultured meat. Technically they can make meat with wheat. And everyone knows jetpacks can actually be owned its just that it's impractical not unlike steam punk technology.

 

[Varya]

I know I'm supposed to be against lying within science, ( actually I AM against it), but it will get man into space, I can't disaprove. It's not really a bad thing if you're lying do douchbags right?
Also, I'm a vegetarian, but I'd eat the hell out of lab-meat. If it were more enviromentally friendly than ordinary meat anyway.

Great ep Bob, I hope you do more

 

[Kayevcee]

Hate to say it, but the reason we're still on Earth is because any type of bacteria on another planet would kill everyone it touched, most likely.

Wot? There's no reason to assume extraterrestrial bacteria would have any pathogenic activity in humans. Do you have any idea how many bacteria OTUs* on EARTH are non-harmful to humans? How many cat diseases can humans catch? Three? Four? Out of hundreds of known pathogens. That's an animal we've had close contact with for millennia, and their pathogens have had thousands of generations to adapt to us.

An alien bacterium would have to have pathogenic action that adversely affects us and that our immune systems couldn't cope with, and the ability to avoid our immune responses despite never having encountered them before. Viruses face an even bigger learning curve- they'd need exactly the right protein sequences to interface with human cells, mechanically compatible genetic material and sufficient internal pressure to drive their RNA into a host cell.

Not saying it's impossible that there are lethal space-germs out there. It's just... unlikely.

-Nick

*EDIT: originally wrote "species", which doesn't really apply to bacteria as they can swap around DNA like baseball cards. Seemingly identical e.coli cells can be as little as 43% similar, or less similar than we are to lettuce. Microbiology is weird, man.

 

[conflictofinterests]

Lolol. Well, most of the reason about dogs being ridiculously tiny and bears not, besides the fact that, as of yet, it's been rather difficult to attempt to domesticate bears (however we have had some success with foxes... http://www.sibfox.com/ ), dogs are also a genetic anomaly in the amount of variation they have thus far achieved. No other animal (that we know of) has been able to genetically change so rapidly and drastically, and yet still remain the SAME species. Sure, we might get hamster-sized bears eventually, but as work has not yet commenced on this project, it is highly unlikely that you or I will ever see said creatures, because they are, in fact, not the biological silly putty that dogs are.

 

[James Mann]

Aaaaaand this is why I kind of HATE nerds....

Rather than just enjoying the episode, we feel the need to pick apart every single thing he said.

So, you hate nerds because they do in writing what bob does in every last one of his episodes? pick things apart, he does it in the big picture, does it in escape to the movies, the game overthinker pretty much speaks for itself.

BUT you clearly dont see this so im just going to look at you, cross my eyes and let out a nice loud "HUUUUUUURRRR"

 

[WhizEd]

On the final point, the "creation" of miniature bears and such is essentially possible, but dogs got that way through thousands of years of artificial selective breeding. So it might take a while.

 

[wolf thing]

Hate to say it, but the reason we're still on Earth is because any type of bacteria on another planet would kill everyone it touched, most likely.

no its not, not at all. think space suit. and then think about getting to those planets. and rethink what you just said.

So you think people would be able to construct a steller space station, on an alien planet, and keep it air tight so no bacteria could get in? That's unreasonable and what do you clean the space suit with? Even if it is possible, which I highly doubt to the degree of certainty, it would be completely uneconomical because of the amount you would need to take and how frequently you would need to take it.

you do know there a space station above us right now, where people live for years at a time, in space, where there is not atmosphere at all. i think you need to stop and do a bit of thinking.

And when was the last time the ISS clocked a profit? And where is the nearest inhabitable planet? Yeah, that's what I thought. Uneconomical. Also, people only live in the ISS for about 6 months at a time, because of a multitude of factors, namely muscle deteriorating, developing irregular bodily functions such as not being able to digest food properly and stress, along with a whole host of others.

wait so your first argument was that there was danger space sicknesses coming to get us but now its the lack of profit, if your going to be an idiot at least be consistent.

 

[Electrogecko]

No, Bob. That was not fun and you should not do it again.

1: MovieBob forgot to include the movie.
2: Back to including your liberal politics, on a website called "The Escapist". Irony fail.
3: I hope this episode was some kind of secret satire because otherwise it is a staggering display of ignorance and thoughtless mouth noise.

Google "Frankenfood". Good luck marketing THAT to people or convincing a grocery store to stock it. You think "Corn Sugar" creates a backlash? Wait till you wheel out the vat meat. Never mind the cost per pound to produce vat meat vs the same for real meat.

Here's an idea. Take your politics, put it on your jetpack, fly it to the moon with promises of gold, and leave it there.

I'm pretty sure he did an episode of the Big Picture where he talked about "Frankenfood" extensively, but I could be wrong.

Other than that though, Moviebob's movie show is on Fridays....It's called Escape to the Movies. This is his "whatever the fuck I want to talk about and if you don't like it gtfo" show.

And yes, this was satire, and it wasn't exactly secret.

 

[portal_cat]

A long time ago I's be with on the whole jet pack think but now what I really want is a Portal gun.

 

[cricket chirps]

Yes, you should do this again sometime....like next episode....or now.......just saying.

OT: Just read the post above mine. Yeah im with that guy, portal guns will be the new jetpacks.

 

[AdamRBi]

All points taken, all points received; Personally I can wait for star travel so long as by the time I'm 60-70 (40 years or so from now) one can be made to live forever on a considerably low budget. At which point we'd probably need all that test tube meat (Miracle Meat) and space travel just to continue breeding.

That or under sea cities, which are almost as cool as space colonies.

Problem is there's this group of people who think only of the here and now and are rather jerky at the prospect of the future. Many of them seem to actually want to live in the past more so then dream of a future.

And to them I say; we never beat anyone by not going to the moon.

 

[bravetoaster]

I get that you're being at least a little facetious (and probably don't read comments here), but it'd bother me if I didn't try to address some basic issues:

1) You don't--and, I'd imagine, no one ever will--have a (true, Rocketeer-worthy) jet pack because it's a fundamentally flawed idea. You'd have to find/invent a means of propulsion that doesn't produce flames/heat (unless you have no interest in retaining your legs) and requires very little (or very lightweight) fuel, offers full control over acceleration (and won't accelerate fast enough to cause the pilot to lose consciousness), and has a safe and simple means of stopping/landing. I know nothing of engineering, but that all sounds like a nightmare, at best.

2) You do realize that cultured meat couldn't--without a ton of work, if EVER--yield a product anything similar to a steak, right? Sure, it could make dandy ground meat products, but nothing luxurious. Nor does meat (cultured or classical) really make sense when it comes to feeding the masses--meat's _profoundly_ wasteful (requiring a ton of potable water, huge amounts of land for the animals themselves, and huge amounts of land, water, fertilizer, etc. to produce _food_ to feed our future meat-food) and yields very little in return (delicious though it might be). My point is just that starving folks (and all of us, really) will be better served (as they'll have MUCH more, and more worthwhile, food) and have a better future ahead of us (as we could all be well-fed and generally healthier) if we embrace more foods than just meat; it takes time and effort (and bravery) to learn about and try new foods or even just to move away from the standard American diet (in which meat is the star of the meal and often the only one standing on the stage). Heck, if you've got some rolled oats, an oven, and 10-ish minutes, I can tell you how to make something that'll taste better and meatier than anything a fast food place claims is "meat."

4) I'm sure that hamsters the size of bears are not possible (at least not in the way that you or I would ever want them to be), but I will admit that those would be AMAZING.

 

[Zorg Machine]

I don't need to be psychic to know these things. Just like I know that Jesus will never come back, there will never be peace on Earth, and that coal will never spontaneously turn into gold.

Your life will be a lot better if you take off the rose colored glasses and accept that this world is shit and that science is no longer about innovation and advancement, merely profit and finding better ways to put dumb YouTube videos on a telephone.

What do you mean "science is no longer about innovation and advancement" we built a giant circle of metal tubes just to see what would happen if we threw particles together at high speeds.

Can you really blame scientists and investors for wanting to work on the theory a bit more so it is actually more useful/cost effective than the thing it replaces?

 

[TheSYLOH]

They already found massive amounts of Methane on Titan.
Enough to power the earth for centuries.

Sadly, no mining ships are currently planed.
And we might end up building a Marker once we setup the colony/

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Don't forget, we also have to create artificial gravity, protect people from the effects of microgravity, and realize that 'Captain' is higher than 'Commander' before space will ever be possible.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Aaaaaand this is why I kind of HATE nerds....

Rather than just enjoying the episode, we feel the need to pick apart every single thing he said.

So, you hate nerds because they do in writing what bob does in every last one of his episodes? pick things apart, he does it in the big picture, does it in escape to the movies, the game overthinker pretty much speaks for itself.

BUT you clearly dont see this so im just going to look at you, cross my eyes and let out a nice loud "HUUUUUUURRRR"

A couple of things to think about:

1) Bob is a critic. It's what he does for a living, so he has a good reason.

2) When Bob nitpicks something he does it in a fun and creative way in order to inform people, while the majority of the people in this thread are not only boring, but they are only making the corrections because they like feeling smarter than other people.

3) This episode was FUN and few of these people seem to grasp that. Instead they seem intent on taking it too seriously and play Buzzkillington.

Also, your last sentence did not make much sense, so I will assume you were attempting to insult me.

 

[Orange Monkey]

Science, make Puppy-sized Elephants, and make them no please. The evolutionairy advantage of cuteness is too large to go to waste!

 

[Unesh52]

This whole thing is a big part of the reason many people are so utterly disgusted with whaling and dolphin hunting. When you think about it, it's on the same level as walking down the street with your family and having them harpooned in the back in front of your eyes. The whales understand whats happening... Scary.

That is horrifying...