Qs people asked me on science and my replies to them - Part 275

Q: What is "The Modern Synthesis"?

Krishna: Since Darwin first proposed his theory of evolution, scientists have made a lot of additional discoveries about things like genetics and DNA and other possible drivers of evolution besides just natural selection (including genetic drift), which is why the theory that explains evolution is currently called “the modern synthesis” since it combines Darwin’s ideas with all of the new information discovered since then.

The modern synthesis was the early 20th-century synthesis of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel's ideas on heredity into a joint mathematical framework. Julian Huxley coined the term in his 1942 book, Evolution: The Modern Synthesis.
The synthesis combined the ideas of natural selection, Mendelian genetics, and population genetics. It also related the broad-scale macroevolution seen by palaeontologists to the small-scale microevolution of local populations.

Q: Is there any replacement for science in the future?

Q: I am a student and want to use all modern technology. Should I use ChatGPT too?

Krishna: ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022 . It is built on top of OpenAI's GPT-3 family of large language models and has been fine-tuned (an approach to transfer learning) using both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques.

ChatGPT was launched as a prototype on November 30, 2022, and quickly garnered attention for its detailed responses and articulate answers across many domains of knowledge. Its uneven factual accuracy, however, was identified as a significant drawback.

Should students use it? 

If I were a student now, I wouldn't! I would want to naturally develop my language skills , creativity, knowledge and everything a student is suppose to learn. 

This tech can never replace a teacher in a class room. Human interactions are much more important to machine learning any day.

It is even making several mistakes, it seems. Its answers to Qs are ambiguous. Researchers have also  identified three forms of plagiarism: verbatim, or directly copying and pasting content; paraphrase, or rewording and restructuring content without citing the original source; and using the idea, or using the main idea from a text without proper attribution*.

ChatGPT can write introduction and abstract sections of scientific articles, which raises ethical questions. Several papers have already listed ChatGPT as co-author. This  is absurd. 

I don't want an AI as my co-author. 

I don't want help from a machine in my learning process, writing research papers, and answering Qs. Period!

Perhaps, you would get an opposite reply if you put the same Q to ChatGPT. Go try it.

* https://pike.psu.edu/publications/www23.pdf

Q: What are black tides? How are they harmful?

Krishna: Black tides occur mostly because of oil spills. 

The use of fossil fuels for energy production started in the Industrial Revolution. Until today, the exploration of marine areas in the search of oil has intensified. As a consequence, episodes of environmental contamination have become recurrent.

Since the giant tankers began to travel across the oceans and seas,  the calamities caused by them became a topic that appeared quite often in the press.The culprit created these evil black tides: Hydrocarbons are the main pollutants in the sea and estuaries. Shipwreck accidents created terrible black tides.

The oil spill in the oceans is considered an environmental catastrophe. The environmental impacts caused by it are incalculable, both for society, for the economy and for the environment. The oil slick that spreads through the sea, in addition to contaminating the water, kills thousands of birds, fish and corals (1).

Oil spills can occur for several reasons, such as accidents with oil tankers, unprepared vessels, accidents on platforms, explosions from wells or even tanks with a capacity below the existing content.

The spilled oil spreads over the water surface forming a black or brown surface layer that prevents the passage of light, affecting photosynthesis and destroying plankton. This thin layer that forms also prevents the exchange of gases between water and air.

All aquatic animals are harmed by the oil spill: fish, when in contact with oil, die of asphyxiation, as the oil is impregnated in the gills, preventing breathing. In addition to becoming intoxicated, seabirds keep their feathers covered with oil, unable to fly or to regulate body temperature, leading to death.

Marine mammals, also because they are unable to regulate body temperature, cannot protect themselves from the cold and end up dying. If any animal ingests this oil, it can cause poisoning throughout the food chain, damaging the marine ecosystem.

In addition to the environmental impact, there is also the human impact, spilled oil can also contaminate drinking water, or even the ingestion of any contaminated animal. It is important to note that oil is extremely toxic and we humans are not exempt. In the long run, our body suffers from impacts on the reproductive, respiratory, endocrine and other abnormalities.

The containment of oil stains in the sea is very difficult, since the sea and air currents act in the dispersion of the oil in the waters. With containment barriers, the teams tried to prevent it from spreading to an even larger area. However, as much as the crude oil is contained, the part of the oil that dissolves in the water spreads, contaminating the entire coast.

Throughout history, our seas have suffered from these incidents in oil companies and oil not only kills marine species, it also destroys its habitat leaving irreversible scars. This is an environmental problem that must be prevented in all its instances.

Most oils float on the oceans’ saltwater or freshwater from rivers and lakes. Oil usually spreads out rapidly across the water’s surface to form a thin oil slick. As the oil continues spreading, the slick becomes thinner and thinner, finally becoming a very thin sheen, which often looks like a rainbow. (In rare cases, very heavy oil can sometimes sink.(2)

How these waves travel on water bodies depends on the   ship locations, weather and ocean currents.

Apart from these oil spills, decaying organic matter, large discharges of sewage into water bodies, dark colour paints, and agricultural runoffs too can cause black tides.

Footnotes:

1. Black Tide: consequences for the environment
2. Oil spills: A major marine ecosystem threat

Q: We hear so many disadvantages about earth quakes. But I think Nature balances everything. Are there any advantages too? 

Krishna: Yes, there are   a few advantages too. 

Earthquakes are very useful to humans because they provide a picture of what’s going on underground. This can make oil and gas extraction more efficient, and allows scientists to monitor the progress of water during geothermal energy extraction.

They also tell you what is happening in the structure of the earth, for example, magma chambers, and allow scientists to monitor volcanoes and the threat of eruption.

Earthquakes can also tell us about the internal structure of the Earth. By measuring the time it takes the seismic waves to travel through the Earth we can map out the structure of the Earth down to the core.

On a global scale, earthquakes are just a symptom of the movements of the plates going on all the time, and they occur because the material at the surface at the earth is changing due to convection within the Earth’s mantle – mountains are being created, minerals from below are being brought up and new sea floors are being made.

Tectonic activity is essential to sustaining life on Earth. Matter is constantly being recycled between the atmosphere and the crust. We have continents because of tectonic activity. Mid ocean ridges support a huge amount of life, and may have been important in the origin of life, and the atmosphere is reliant on volcanic eruptions for it’s composition.

To point out specifically some positive points of earth quakes - we can consider these things  - 

Natural mineral resources: Earthquakes can bring previously inaccessible materials to the surface, making it simpler to collect them for use in industry.

Increased geological understanding: Seismologists and geologists may learn a lot about the tectonic activity and structure of the Earth from earthquakes. Scientists can learn more about the Earth's interior and earthquakes by using this knowledge to better understand and predict earthquakes.

Recharging of subterranean aquifers: For communities that depend on groundwater for irrigation and drinking, earthquakes can improve permeability in underground rock formations, allowing for the recharging of aquifers.

Increased oil and gas production: In some circumstances, earthquakes can cause fresh fractures in subterranean rock formations, which facilitates the extraction of oil and gas.

But it's important to remember that these advantages are frequently exceeded by the destruction and detrimental effects of earthquakes. That is why we remember earth quakes as disastrous ones. 

But the disasters are mainly due to our faulty construction ways that don't follow science, apart from ground shaking, ground rupture, landslides, tsunamis, and liquefaction.

There are several factors that determine just how destructive an earthquake can be:

Location: This one is kind of obvious—an earthquake that hits in a populated area is more likely to do damage than one that hits an unpopulated area or the middle of the ocean.

Depth: Earthquakes can happen anywhere from at the surface to 700 kilometers below. In general, deeper earthquakes are less damaging because their energy dissipates before it reaches the surface.

Distance from the epicenter: The epicenter is the point at the surface right above where the earthquake originates and is usually the place where the earthquake's intensity is the greatest.

Local geologic conditions: The nature of the ground at the surface of an earthquake can have a profound influence on the level of damage. Loose, sandy, soggy soil, can liquefy if the shaking is strong and long enough, for example. That doesn't bode well for any structures on the surface.

Architecture: Even the strongest buildings may not survive a bad earthquake, but architecture plays a huge role in what and who survives a quake. The January 2010 Haiti earthquake, for example, was made far worse by poor construction, weak cement and unenforced building codes.

Q: Why was I not offered the Covid-19 Vaccine since the start of the pandemic up until now?

Krishna: Which country do you belong to?

You shouldn’t wait for somebody to come to you and offer it. Your Government gives information on where and how you can get inoculated against infections. You should follow it and get yourself vaccinated if you really care about your health.

But I have heard news about some countries not bothering about vaccinating their citizens in the initial stages (1). However, I think these countries too have changed their minds now.

Again in the beginning, on the global vaccination map, there was a whole swath of African and Asian countries awaiting supplies for a long time (2). That scene has changed now.

These two might be the reasons for some people still not getting vaccinated in some parts of the world apart from apathy originating from the fear disappearing from peoples’ minds about COVID-19.

Anyway, please get vaccinated at least now. Better late than never.

Footnotes:

1. https://www.devex.com/news/the-countries-that-don-t-want-the-covid-...
2. COVID: Where is there still no vaccine? – DW – 04/11/2021

Q: What are Langer's lines and their significance?

Krishna: Langer's Lines are frequently mentioned in textbooks and among surgeons. The direction of these lines are purported to be ideal for skin incisions in order for minimal tension across the wound, and result in a scar which fades amongst the natural creases on a patients face.

They are parallel to the natural orientation of collagen fibers in the dermis, and generally perpendicular to the underlying muscle fibers. Langer's lines have relevance to forensic science and the development of surgical techniques.

Langer's lines