BeanCounterGrad'03

Those are the questions I've been asking since I became conscience of the creation vs. evolution debate. I think those firmly on either side are too close minded.

Me too...seems like it should be viewed as more of a historical documentation. I'll bring it up to my pastor the next chance I get.

What about the increase in the average height of humans? I don't have the stats in front of me, but hasn't the average height of men increased a couple inches over the last 200-300 years? I also remember reading a while back about a few AIDS cases in Africa, where it appeared that the infected were immune to the effects of the disease and were able to continue living out their life (i.e. had a natural resistence). I believe the subjects had been born with the virus. Could these two cases be seen as evolution "unfolding" before our eyes?

I'm gonna take an educated guess and say either 3.5 or 7.5 more years. 3.5 years if it looks like his policies are generally not working out. (and/or the R's present a great candidate) 7.5 years if it looks like his policies are generally working out.

Plus the added value of having a blu ray player. Xbox took a hit after HD-DVD went the way of beta-max.

Sorry...I saw an opening and just had to take it.

What if he poops his pants?

It does sound painful...sounds like there is a pretty good chance that part of you would get "lost" in the transition. What if you teleported somewhere and came out on the other side less of a man than you did when you entered.

Pretty interesting article...I didn't realize that we (the human race) have achieved teleportation. The future ain't what it use to be

We've heard this kind of thing before, just to be let down by the AD once again. I won't believe it until there have been at least ten seasons played in the new stadium. (please note sarcasm)

I went to Greenwood HS '94-'98, so I saw the rivalries from the outside (and friends that went to Midland high schools). There is still alot of familiar things in the book that I experienced first hand (i.e. the importance of football above academic concerns, racism, general bordem on the weekends, rampant conservatism, etc.) so that's why its an interesting read for me.

Friday Night Lights I know its an oldie, but I was only 10 or 11 when it came out. Its looking like it will be the first book I completely finish since my first year at UNT.

Biodiesel from Yeast - Iowa State Research Biodiesel production from traditional oil-rich crops is limited by land availability, climate, and environmental and social issues regarding the use of feed and food crops for fuel. But there's another way to produce biodiesel that is green and sustainable and doesn't compete with food crops. All it takes is some yeast - and research from Iowa State University. Well, it's not quite that simple, said Sam Beattie, an ISU Extension food safety specialist and the yeast expert on the ISU research team. And in a complicated research paper J. (Hans) van Leeuwen, a professor in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Beattie and other ISU researchers explain how they took lignocellulosic biomass - corn stover - treated it with ammonia and various wood rot fungi, then mixed it with yeast. The end results include yeast oil (which may be made into biodiesel), protein-rich animal feed and several usable co-products including lignin and gum. The research won van Leeuwen, Beattie and their team the Grand Prize for University Research from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. They received the award in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. But to take this research from the laboratory to large-scale production requires an integrated bio-oil refinery, van Leeuwen said. What otherwise would be waste, in an integrated refinery can be recycled and converted into additional products. 'Our approach is to break down lignocellulosic materials to sugars using ammonia pretreatment and in-situ produced fungal enzymes, and convert these to oil using oleaginous yeasts,' Beattie said. 'An integrated refinery will use virtually every part of the cellulosic biomass feedstock, resulting in a primary product of biodiesel, plus animal feed and co-products,' van Leeuwen said. The ISU researchers ran a cost analysis assuming the use of 1,000 tons per day of corn stover or switchgrass to produce 35,000 tons of yeast oil per year. 'The conversion of lignocellulosic material to lipids and yeast biomass is highly economical with a payback period of 2.5 years,' van Leeuwen said. 'The facility in this cost analysis could produce 70 million pounds of oil annually, equivalent to the oil extracted from more than 7 million bushels of soybeans (9.8 pounds of oil per bushel), which is equivalent to 143,000 acres or 223 square miles of soybean crop (at 50 bushels per acre).' van Leeuwen added, 'The concept is therefore very green and sustainable and not competitive with food crops. The process itself is non-polluting and carbon negative when allowing for the carbon dioxide recycled into new crops.' Source: Iowa State University Extension

Agree with ya on the switchgrass point...anyone know why that hasn't taken off as fast (corn lobbying in DC?) I also don't like watermelon. I prefer mouth watering melons!

ARS- Watermelons tapped for ethanol Agricultural Research Service studies in Lane, Okla., have shown that simple sugars in watermelon juice can be made into ethanol. With their sweet, refreshing juice and succulent interior, watermelons are a favorite summertime treat, especially around July 4th. But now this Independence Day favorite could become even more of a patriotic commodity. Agricultural Research Service studies in Lane, Okla., have shown that simple sugars in watermelon juice can be made into ethanol. In 2007, growers harvested four billion pounds of watermelon for fresh and cut-fruit markets. Around 800 million pounds -- or 20 percent of the total -- were left in fields because of external blemishes or deformities. Now, instead of being plowed under, such melons could get an economic 'new lease on life' as ethanol. Normally, this biofuel is produced from cane crops like corn, sorghum or sugarcane as a cleaner-burning alternative to gasoline. The watermelon work reflects a national push by ARS to diversify America's 'portfolio' of biofuel crops that can diminish the reliance on petroleum, especially from foreign suppliers. Chemist Wayne Fish's ethanol studies at the ARS South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory in Lane complement ongoing research there to commercially extract lycopene and citrulline from the crop. Both are valued nutraceutical compounds thought to promote cardiovascular and other health benefits. In publication-pending studies, Fish showed ethanol can be fermented from the glucose, fructose and sucrose in waste-stream juices -- what's left after lycopene and citrulline are extracted. Making ethanol offers the potential benefits of helping to defray sewage treatment costs associated with nutraceutical extraction, and providing watermelon growers with a new market for their crop. On average, a 20-pound watermelon will yield about 1.4 pounds of sugar from the flesh and rind, from which about seven-tenths of a pound of ethanol can be derived. To extract all the possible sugars, Fish is seeking to degrade the rind with chemical and enzyme treatments. He's also evaluating different combination of temperatures, yeasts, antifoaming agents and pH levels to optimize the system. Lane scientists also are examining annual ryegrass, sorghum and other crops that could be rotated with watermelons to furnish processing plants with a year-round supply of nutraceuticals or ethanol. SOURCE: USDA.

Watch out for paper cuts!

How fun would life be if everyone had to put their do-jang on documents before they were official!?!

Phillip Young!

The non-sports forum offensive language: Pelosi! gun control! San Fransisco! Obama! liberal! socialism! taxes! flu!

Don't worry...the swine flu is not a sexually transmitted disease.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I guess.

Oh, but don't let that stop the spin.

The Non-UNT Sports board has looked alot like a Rush Limbaugh radio show forum lately, hasn't it?

Like CBL said, its really the personalities that keep me coming back. I'm a Houston homer and don't even like the Dallas teams (except the Stars). In fact, I mute my computer speakers half the time they are actually talking sports unless it is a general sports discussion (drafts, college sports, etc.). Ranch reports drove me nuts during football season cause I hate the Cowboys. But its all around very entertaining radio, IMO. I agree its not for everyone, though. I'd recommend trying it out for a couple of weeks on your way to and from work. Oh, and "Why Today Doesn't Suck" starts at 2:55 CT. CBL's on ET. And I also am disappointed their media player is on the friz...I've been in Montana all week for business and needed my fix