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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
 Posted - 06/29/2007 : 09:44:48 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
...Dobsonflies… |
Big bugs. Gnarly! That's a cool bug website.
I also checked out wikipedia and learned that the big mandibles on the male are harmless to humans and used for grasping the female during mating. However, the female can bite - though non venomous.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobsonfly
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Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2007 : 09:55:59 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
So I just saw one of these things outside of work, dead and being chewed on by ants. Wow, those pincers are something else, but in actuality are pretty small compared to the male of the species. There are lots of nifty photos and information about Dobsonflies at What's That Bug?
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Neat site, Dave. I was reading some of the letters on that page you linked and thought this was a good one:
Dear "What's That Bug",
Some friends of mine and I were amazed and yet very scared of this huge bug attached to our dorm-room side door. We attend Bible college, are from ages 18-24, and yet we're very freaked out by this thing that looked like it could eat our soul. It was definitely dying, but still... We took pictures and went around online looking for it and found your site (and we now assume it's a Dobsonfly). Does this thing bite? Also... did Japan use this bug as a basis for Mothra? Thanks for making our search quick and easy,
~Scared JBC Students
P.S. Wow! God has creativity! |
"What's that Bug?" responded:
Dear Scared Students,
Evolution and Natural Selection truly are wondrous. The Dobsonfly does not eat as an adult. The male has formidible pincher jaws used in mating and the female has more useful jaws for biting and she will bite for defense. It is very necessary for her to be able to protect herself before she lays her eggs. We are not really sure what the actual inspiration for Mothra was, but we assume it was a Saturnid Moth. |
Good for them! I'm glad they had no reservations about mentioning the real source of variety in nature.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2007 : 10:42:14 [Permalink]
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2007 : 20:05:26 [Permalink]
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| The cable channel "USA" is messing with me. Until three weeks ago, they ran House every Friday and Saturday night at 11. Then, mysteriously, they dropped it to just Fridays. Tonight, it's not on, though. A quick flip through the cable guide shows it'll be on Saturday night. Dammit. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2007 : 21:07:20 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
So I was surfing YouTube, and came across this video. Check out the effects of the overpressure wave on the surface of the water in the 4th clip.
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Cool stuff! (I wonder if dead fish come floating up in that plane's wake?)
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2007 : 21:49:58 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
So I was surfing YouTube, and came across this video. Check out the effects of the overpressure wave on the surface of the water in the 4th clip.
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Looking on that same You Tube page, I came across these two videos of Swiss Panzer Grenadiers in action. These guys look pretty professional, for an army that hasn't fought a war in several centuries. In these vids, they seem to be invading, and beating the holy shit out of, Switzerland.
In fact, the videos got me thinking (always a dangerous development): The Swiss are perfectly situated to cause havoc in Europe. First, they have the high ground -- any invasion would be simply entail coasting downhill. Second, nobody knows who'll they'll invade. They hunker down with their banks, knives, and watches, and consider the possibilities. Will they swoop down on happy-go-lucky Italy, or do a Blitzkrieg on France? Will they bite off a hunk of alpine Austria, or will they seek Lebensraum in Germany? Only the secretive Swiss know, and once they tell, it'll be too late.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 06/29/2007 21:52:25 |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2007 : 08:59:32 [Permalink]
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Lots of stuff going on...
My cousin's in a coma for the last two months. Remember that cousin of mine who died of obesity awhile ago? It's his older sister (he was the youngest, she is the middle one, there is an older one who hates her younger sister to death). She was going to work (she's an intensive care doctor) for her night shift when she got hit by a car... which fell on top of hers. Externally she suffered nothing, but she has a brain edema, which is keeping her unconscious. The car was totalled. She was never too close to me, so I don't feel it personally, but my aunt and my mother are pretty disturbed by it. My cousin is married to someone who we suspect is a drug addict and has a 10-year-old daughter.
So I've been stuck between the stress of passing this test and getting the job, presto, my mother going more rabidly religious than ever (trying to convince my aunt to pray to god and have faith and stuff like that) and other assorted, daily problems. In the other hand, it's a bit amusing in a sad way, how people try to rationalize such a fatality into the good/evil context.
On the bright side, I'm going to see a Darwin exposition in the local museum today. It's dedicated to his work, so I'm looking forward to it.
Yeah, just felt like sharing. Now, I'll just have some water, please... |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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| Edited by - Siberia on 07/01/2007 09:11:07 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 07/03/2007 : 03:58:55 [Permalink]
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One of the best wildlife photos ever!
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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JEROME DA GNOME
BANNED
2418 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2007 : 06:50:03 [Permalink]
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Phenomenal photo,thanks!
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What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. - Bertrand Russell |
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The water cooler, part 2
Topic Locked
