Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Abiogenesis

2007-03-15T19:54:51Z

Pharos:

God doesn't count as "Alive"? That doesn't sound right... --[[User:Fullmetajacket|Fullmetajacket]] 16:58, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

:"Sound right" or not, I would argue that God, as a purely spiritual being, is not "alive" in the '''biological''', '''scientific''' sense -- that is, he doesn't have a physical flesh-and-bone body, made of cells, DNA, and such (Mormons' God notwithstanding). Therefore, even within evolutionary theory, it can be argued that the original "spark" of life was initiated by God, but that would still fit the definition of abiogenesis. As to whether God is '''living''' (in a non-biological, supernatural sense) is another discussion entirely... <carefully avoiding turning this into a rant /> [[User:Pharos|Pharos]] 15:54, 15 March 2007 (EDT)

Abiogenesis

2007-03-11T20:52:20Z

Pharos: Corrected grammar; expanded slightly; added links

Abiogenesis is the study of how life could have arisen from non-life. While the term is used today generally to refer to how early life might have arose from various non-living compounds, this does not explicitly rule out supernatural intervention. For example, some interpret the [[Bible|Biblical]] story of [[Genesis]] as describing an abiogenesis event or series of abiogenetic events caused by [[God]].

[[Category:Biology]]

Affirmative Action

2007-03-11T20:44:58Z

Pharos: Merged some content from "Affirmative Action" (with 2nd capital A)

'''Affirmative action''' is a term describing policies, programs, and laws intended to boost ethnic [[Minority|minorities]], particularly as applied within the [[United States]] federal goverment. However, in implementation, affirmative action is an area in which government policy is contradictory.

The law of the United States is non-discrimination: the concept that race, sex, ethnicity, skin color, or country of national origin are not criteria which should be used in job selection, education opportunities, etc. The original concept of affirmative action was that it is desirable to not merely act on non-discrimination passively (i.e., saying "this job is open to any applicant", but then making no efforts to find minority applicants), but should also be done ''affirmatively'', by taking definite actions to find applicants from minorities. This would be, in its way, admirable.

However, in current use, affirmative action goes beyond this, often mandating the use of quotas for setting aside jobs or a portion of college entrance positions for each minority (including also some "minorities" which are actually majorities). In effect, this means selecting applicants by the color of their skin, precisely what the original concept of non-discrimination forbids. This is sometimes called "reverse discrimination," although this term is rather contradictory-- discrimination remains discrimination.

In short, "affirmative action" is an action that had an admirable origin, but has been taken to the point where it enforces the very discrimination that it had been intended to prevent.

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:United States law]]

Abu Ghraib prison

2007-03-11T18:59:26Z

Pharos: Added links

'''Abu Ghraib prison,''' located 20 [[Mile|miles]] (32 [[Kilometer|kilometers]]) from [[Baghdad]], [[Iraq]], was a notorious [[Prison|prison]] under [[Saddam Hussein|Saddam Hussein's]] regime. During the occupation by the U.S.-led coalition, accounts of abuse of prisoners by U. S. forces emerged and led to a major scandal.

Absolute zero

2007-03-11T18:56:35Z

Pharos: Added links

Absolute zero is the practical minimum of [[Temperature|temperature]], defined as 0 degrees [[Kelvin]] on the absolute temperature scale (the zero on the Kelvin scale has had to adjust, slightly, as measurements of absolute zero are refined). This corresponds to -273.15 degrees [[Celsius]] and -459.67 degrees [[Fahrenheit]]. At absolute zero, all thermal motion (i.e. the movement of [[Molecule|molecules]] in a [[States of matter#gaseous|gas]], [[Atom|atoms]] in a [[Crystal|crystal]]) ceases.

It is worthy of note that absolute zero has never actually been attained. The (possibly biased) scientific community claim that this is for "physical reasons," but many are prone to doubt the existence of this unsettling "as cold as you can get" temperature because of the lack of tangible proof.

Fahrenheit

2007-03-11T18:55:17Z

Pharos: Added links; expanded Bradbury section slightly

Fahrenheit is the name of the [[Temperature|temperature]] scale used in [[United States of America]] for ordinary purposes. It was used in most [[English]]-speaking countries until the 1960s. Most other countries use [[Celsius]], which is part of the ''International System of Units'' (the "metric system").

The Fahrenheit temperature scale was invented by [[Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit]] in 1724. He decided that the zero point should be the temperature of a mix of ammonium chloride and ice, because this was the very coldest temperature he could achieve in his laboratory. He decided to set 100 at the temperature of the human body. (Either he made his measurement inaccurately, or he was running a very slight fever at the time). On this scale, it turns out that water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

[[Ray Bradbury]] wrote a book called ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'' about burning books in the future. According to Bradbury's research (which involved calling a local fire station on the telephone), 451°F is the temperature at which book paper burns.

Celsius

2007-03-11T18:50:25Z

Pharos: Link/verbiage fixes

Celius is a [[Temperature|temperature]] scale. The scale is defined such that [[water]] freezes at <math>0^o</math> Celsius and boils at <math>100^o</math> Celsius.