crimsone

Ooooh... thanks peeps (surely not a winter flowering clematis? It's sure as heck left it late before sprouting up!) Anybody fancy trying their hand at another for me?

A few weeks ago, this plant sprouted up from a small border covered with shells... this is a new house for me... rented... Can anybody tell me what it is?

It's evil and invasive. It's a naturalised tree (sadly), but I hate it for the fact that in destroys natural and semi-natural ancient woodland alike... ... That, and in an urban environment, it can be a pest. Sycamore saplings get everywhere, and often end up growing right where they can do damage.

Fewer people or more carriages. I've never been on the tube without feeling like a sardine (oil and all unfortunately - they aren't exactly the cleanest trains in the world)

I have a plan... I don't know if it's a good plan, but I like it, and I'm going to try it. It basically involves germinating tree seeds and growing them on in pots - particularly easy to do with apples, but other trees work (though I refuse to use sycamore!). when they are strong enough, after carefully selecting the most viable of urban locations (where hopefully they won't be strimmed, grazed, or pulled out, and won't be obtrusive), I will go out, and plant them while nobodies looking, in the hope that they will go on to become full blown trees. Anybody fancy joining me?

Ooooh! two in a week... the other one recently was the "ghost slug"

Fair enough if the case, which I personall can't be bothered to look up and so can only consider it so for the purposes of this post. However, one off the cuff sentence does not invalidate the rest of the post. That particular sentence can easily be removed from the post without changing anything it says otherwise.

Of course the universe is still here... if the LHC created a singularity into which the earth itself was torn, then it would just mean there'd be another black hole in the universe... It's the earth that woudn't be here... As to it being common sense to avoid certain risks, I'd say the potential to burn off the whole of the earths breathable atmosphere would be such a risk, but they still went ahead with it. I'd say the potential for the unstoppable and complete annihilation of the earth would be such a case as to be worth avoiding too - and it's a theoretical possibility, however remote. Even so, the LHC intrigues me, but to say it's mostly safe because "the scientists must know what they're doing" is completely wrong. Hell, could somebody remind me of how far underground did they build it? Risk management includes evaluation of the risk severity too you know... if you stand a 50% chance of breaking your leg in order to gain a million pounds it might be worth doing. If there was a 50% chance it would kill you, it would be pretty stupid to chase after it.

The thing is, not even the scientists know quite what to expect... Both of the following quotes are from http://www.lhc.ac.uk/ Suppose those microsinglularities were sustained ones? Doesn't bear thinking about. Before putting too much trust in scientists beacuse "they know more that we do".... well, consider that nobody quite knew what was going to happen on the first A-bomb test - and it was a subject of much debate and concern as to whether it might start a reaction that would burn away the whole of Earths breathable atmosphere.

a silly question that popped into my mind, but it should be easy to answer... Did meteorologists know the dynamics of growing clouds and the limits on their height in the atmospher (and of course, the reason why) before they observed the mushroom cloud from the first A-Bomb test, or did that mushroom cloud teach them something about the dynamics?

well, ancient greek myth suggests so... if true, I woudn't feel too disheartened PP. If false, well, it's probably just you.

It has - it's also been proven that men have a lower pain tolerance. We might be quicker to say "ouch", but we can cope with getting on with things a lot better while in agony.

Science is merely the attempt to disprove a hypothesis that infinitly increases in complexity.

Shouldn't that be in the troical wave thread rather than the invest thread? I got all excited then for a moment, and then was quite dissapointed! :lol:

lol lol lol... well... I hope it helps, but if they turn around and say it's actually Japanese Knotweed (argh! lol... two very different plants in all, but it's equally prolific) then there's no easy answer... The best way to get rid of japanese knotweed is to dig deep, get it out (runners included), and to scorch the earth. It's a nightmare... and even then it could well just find it's way to popping up somewhere else. There are two theories about how Japanese Knotweed ended up in the UK... one is the victorian fad for oriental gardens, and the other is that somebody thought it would be a bright idea to use it to stabilise railway embankments (which really tells you everything you could ever need to know about it! lol)... or perhaps a combination of both.

lol.. sure... you might want a black marker to cover the "idiots bit" though.... they might take exception lol

lol... if they're anything like council workers, they're idiots... but it's not their fault if they haven't been trained... If it's got those explosive almost mishapen rugby ball shaped seed pods, small light coloured flowers and watery/waxy almost translucent stems that get reddish around the roots, it's most probably himilayan balsam... pull it out by the root before it seeds, and make sure not to leave it on the ground (and be aware, you might not think much of a patch of soil and think "it can't grow there", but this stuff's a survivor - it comes, after all, from the Himilayas! It could almost grow in a bucket of sand if it was wet enough and the water not static (it LOVES streams and rivers, with the added effect of it being spread downstream... it's why you often see it on the sides of roads too) Essentially, once it's out of the ground, either leave it on concrete to dry in the sun, burn it as best you can, or if there's not so much of it, you can even fold it up and rest it in the branch of a tree to die - just don't leave it or it's small root system (it doesn't have muchh root - it's a plant for shallow earth) in or on the ground. Strimming it is the absolute worst thing to do to it.

That would be himalayan balsam ... the description doesn't sound like that... ... trick with himilayan balsam also is to pull it out of the ground before seeding time, but also, not to leave the plant (or part of it) on the ground, as it can grow by feeding on its own carcass.

Just came across this article which was interesting... comparing the NASA data with other sets, and finding a certain something out of step... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/05/go...sa_thermometer/

Had a rather large storm, though not intensely electrical, pass over this way around 8:30 - went out and took photo's in the flash flooding.

Personally, I predict that the pandemic will be global. Beyond that, well, I'm no fortune teller - it's as plausible that it could start tomorrow as in 50 years. That said, if I walked straight across the road without looking, it's as plausible that I could get hurt as it would be that I wouldn't, and so probably worth keeping a close eye on the traffic

Wow! I'd like to know that myself - that's incredible!

suprisingly cool or not, I'll stick to walking on hot coals.

Depends on how you define over-reactive PP, as I didn't actually use the term. It is a fact that an immune response in itself can result in a fatal condition. Prolonged fever is such a fairly well known case. It's not a case of the immune system being over-reactive - the immune system simply reacts as appropriate, and can create a fatal reaction in a H5N1 infection in the form of cytokine cascade just as chemical inhalation can produce a fatal reaction in the form of inflammation and resultant pneumonia. The fact is, the body isn't perfect... The gasp reflex occurs because the brain senses carbon dioxide present, so assumes there must be oxygen, and so it causes you to inhale - perfect for land, but not much use if you are under water and holding your breath. It's a pre-programmed response to a specific situation - and such is the case with the immune system in many cases also. The very young tend to at risk of seasonal flu because they've not yet developed an immunity to it. The elderly tend to have an immunity to the virus itself (though there are cases of low immune response in elderly people), but are more susceptable to complications arising from flu, such as bronchitis or pneumonia, and less capable of withstanding the stresses on the body that the immune response to the virus brings. From the FAQ on the WHO website itself... Basically, H5N1 overstimulates the immune system (and no, that's not the same as an over-reactive immune system. It does this to normal, otherwise healthy immune systems), and the body kills itself while fighting the virus as a result, usually through pneumonia or multiple organ failure. Essentially, the weaker the immune system, the weaker the strogest response it can prduce is, though the longer it takes to fight the infection off. The stronger your immune system is, the more likely it is to kill you. With respect PP, unless your mother is a doctor knowlegable in H5N1, the fact that she works in the NHS is niether here nor there, and doesn't make her any more qualified that a random person living on my street. H5N1 is not like normal flu, and the body often cuts off it's own nose to spite its face under certain stimuli.

Erm, no... immune response is indeed a killer. You know that pain and aching you get at just about every joint you have with the normal flu? that's caused byt the immune system becoming seriously active. You know when someone developes a high fever through infection (fever being a common killer in olden times - and even now) - that's immune response also. Magpie is also right in that H5N1 tends to kill the healthy more than the weak. He is right that it is due to immune response also. Specifically, it's to to with the type and scale of immune response in a particular area of the body where an immune response of that type and scale can be lethal - a cytokine cascade. Oddly enough, that means smokers are more likely to survive any pandemic, as nicotine reduces the likelyhood/severeity of cytokine cascade. (this from someone currently quitting!)