Official Outer Limits/Debunking Thread

[vhawk01]

Originally Posted by bluesbassman

But doesn't zombification occur in all the dead tissue simultaneously, including the fetus? I ain't no doc and I don't know nuthin bout no zombies, but I'm just sayin.

lol, no, how would that work, magic? GTFO, this is the fringe topics thread, not the absolutely ridiculous crap you just made up thread. Various tissues have differing rates at which the zombie virus penetrates, fatty tissue being relatively hydrophobic is the last to be saturated with virus. Now, CLEARLY the virus is capable of crossing the blood brain barrier, which would be good circumstantial evidence that it would indeed cross the placental barrier, but the two barriers are not identical and it is conceivable that it could cross the former and not the latter.

But no, zombie virus most certainly does not just magically occur in all tissues simultaneously.

[atakdog]

Originally Posted by vhawk01

lol, no, how would that work, magic? GTFO, this is the fringe topics thread, not the absolutely ridiculous crap you just made up thread. Various tissues have differing rates at which the zombie virus penetrates, fatty tissue being relatively hydrophobic is the last to be saturated with virus. Now, CLEARLY the virus is capable of crossing the blood brain barrier, which would be good circumstantial evidence that it would indeed cross the placental barrier, but the two barriers are not identical and it is conceivable that it could cross the former and not the latter.

But no, zombie virus most certainly does not just magically occur in all tissues simultaneously.

Only a few viruses do this; you may have hit on a key for categorizing and maybe even isolating the zombification virus.

[ganstaman]

Originally Posted by vhawk01

Various tissues have differing rates at which the zombie virus penetrates, fatty tissue being relatively hydrophobic is the last to be saturated with virus. Now, CLEARLY the virus is capable of crossing the blood brain barrier, which would be good circumstantial evidence that it would indeed cross the placental barrier, but the two barriers are not identical and it is conceivable that it could cross the former and not the latter.

This study: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...80c2bdb2f465a0

suggests that lipid-solubility is positively correlated with both crossing the BBB and the placental barrier. So I would say that your theory is consistent with current (well, 1989) literature (at least the first link that google gave me).

EDIT: No, wait, I confuse myself sometimes. Hydrophobic and lipid-soluble are not opposites. Therefore, if the virus easily penetrates the BBB, then it would be expected to quickly infect adipose tissue, which is not what you claimed. However, what you did correctly guess is that a substance's ability to cross the BBB is positively correlated with its ability to cross the placental barrier.

[vhawk01]

They dont call me "the leading expert on zombie pathophysiology on the East Coast that is currently in medical school" for nothing, folks.

[atakdog]

Originally Posted by ganstaman

This study: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...80c2bdb2f465a0

suggests that lipid-solubility is positively correlated with both crossing the BBB and the placental barrier. So I would say that your theory is consistent with current (well, 1989) literature (at least the first link that google gave me).

EDIT: No, wait, I confuse myself sometimes. Hydrophobic and lipid-soluble are not opposites. Therefore, if the virus easily penetrates the BBB, then it would be expected to quickly infect adipose tissue, which is not what you claimed. However, what you did correctly guess is that a substance's ability to cross the BBB is positively correlated with its ability to cross the placental barrier.

The study is about drugs' ability to cross the blood/brain and placental barrier — there, it is to be expected the lipid solubility would be positively correlated with ability to cross, as at least some of the crossing is via diffusion though the membrane. But in the case of viruses that's not how it usually works. Facilitated transport can be very tissue specific. Accordingly, there need be no particular similarity between infection of the fetus and of adipose tissue.

[Douper]

Originally Posted by donniccolo

ps: a Neutron walks into a bar, ask how much for a drink, bartender says, "for you, no charge" ooh

(sorry saw on a tv show and had to laugh)

Why did the chicken cross the mobius strip?

Spoiler:

To get to the same side

[MelchyBeau]

VHawk, have you read this groundbreaking paper on zombie outbreaks

http://www.mathstat.uottawa.ca/~rsmith/Zombies.pdf

[atakdog]

A quick review of the SMP front page threads suggests that the goal of confining the forum's crap to this thread is not being realized.

[DDNK]

Yeah, but you can't put things like
"which came first, the chicken or the egg"
or
"if a tree falls in a forest and no one's around..."
or
"where is my flying car already?"
or
"when will technological singularity come?"
in a fringe topics thread since some of them are as old as dirt (literally, I think, depending on the soil).

[atakdog]

Maybe calling it fringe topics is the problem. You're right, chicken and egg isn't fringe, it's mainstream, but it still belongs somewhere, preferably somewhere easy to ignore.

[Ryanb9]

preferably under the rug

[donniccolo]

Originally Posted by Douper

Why did the chicken cross the mobius strip?

Spoiler:

To get to the same side

touche!

i'm going to quit my job as a Geologist because...

Spoiler:

everyone takes me for granite

[DDNK]

Had this response to a post by atakdog in another thread, but figured this would be a better venue because we've touched on the topic here already.

Basically, his post was, "this thread is retarded, why are you all posting in it," a completely reasonable response to the thread. My response:

The lack of genuinely good threads to participate in. Feel free to add better content, atakdog. Until someone does, the troll/dumb threads are going to continue to pop to the top as posters have nothing better to respond to. If you want the forum to shift back to being SMP and not "BBV/uNL asks dumb questions", we will need actually good threads started that ask difficult questions and foster complex discussion that "dumb questioners" will not involve themselves in (or perhaps risk exclusion from the forum for dicking up good threads).

Maybe the forum could used planned threads to avoid this conundrum. Every week a hand-picked (by Zeno?) reg could come up with a topic and post a good OP on it. For instance, a 500 word OP setting up a critical discussion on, say, the flaws/stengths in XYZ philosopher's position would create such a fertile setting, and could last longer than just a week. Other topics might just revolve around the latest TED offerings, general theories in softer sciences like sociology (God forbid), or recent breakthroughs in hard science theory, or whatever you like. Subjects that experts and serious laypersons could both involve themselves in, and which will be suitable for many interesting tangents of thought that might lead into completely new thread ideas.

Or, we continue to be barraged by nothing but garbage, and the forum steadily goes downhill. Personally, I try to make the best of what I'm given, but I suppose that might be contributing to this trend since many of these threads deserve nothing but general dismissal and non-involvement.

[atakdog]

A good point. Not completely sure it's worth the effort — in a perfect world this would all happen spontaneously, and forced discussions have a way of feeling... forced — but it's worth keeping in mind both that posting good content, particularly good thread starts, improves things by giving the thoughtful people something to occupy themselves, and that treating silly questions seriously probably has the opposite effect. And if anyone wants to take a more structured approach it would probably help.

[DDNK]

Yeh, hard to get that properly organized, but the forum needs to be seeded with better OPs.

Do my best to stop responding to idiotic OPs.