Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Homosexuality in animals myth

2008-11-26T17:13:23Z

RuthT:

[[Image:Carl wieland.jpg|thumbnail|120px|left|Dr. [[Carl Wieland]] - Managing Director of [[Creation Ministries International]].]]
In respect to the '''homosexuality in animals myth''', there is currently interest on whether [[homosexual]] behavior is or is not [[zoology|zoologically]] "natural." This is largely a sterile debate because behavior is not necessarily moral even if "natural;" because the nature of human beings is not necessarily the same as the nature of other species, and because it is not at all clear when an observed behavior can be counted as "sexual," or as implying a sexual "orientation." Examples such as one male mounting another have been used as evidence in the argument that homosexuality is natural and therefore should be permitted in human beings. Gay groups argue that if homosexual behavior occurs in animals, it is natural, and therefore the rights of homosexuals should be protected. <ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/07/MNG3N4RAV41.DTL] </ref>

[[Creation Ministries International]] wrote on this subject of whether or not there is [[homosexuality]] in the animal kingdom: "There is...documented proof of [[cannibalism]] and rape in the animal kingdom, but that [[Appeal to Nature|doesn’t make it right]] for humans."<ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2774</ref> While some animals (like the [[lion]]) eat their young, neither supporters or opponents of "[[gay rights]]" have used this as an argument in favor of [[infanticide]] or [[cannibalism]].<ref>http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal_2.html</ref> Thus, a healthy dose of wariness needs to be employed in making scientific claims about homosexual animals justifying homosexual humans.

A 1996 article, published by an organization committed to the treatment of homosexuality, musters the arguments against interpretation of animal behavior as sanctioning homosexuality.<ref>[http://www.narth.com/docs/animalmyth.html The Animal Homosexuality Myth], Luiz Sérgio Solimeo, excerpt from book ''Defending a Higher Law: Why We Must Resist Same Sex "Marriage" and the Homosexual Movement.''</ref> It notes that "homosexual scientist [[Simon LeVay]]" stated that the evidence pointed to isolated acts, not to homosexuality:
{{Cquote|Although homosexual behavior is very common in the [[animal]] world, it seems to be very uncommon that individual animals have a long-lasting predisposition to engage in such behavior to the exclusion of heterosexual activities. Thus, a homosexual orientation, if one can speak of such thing in animals, seems to be a rarity.}}
[[Image:Apardo.gif|thumb|150px|Dr. [[Antonio Pardo Caballos]]]]
In addition, Dr. Antonio Pardo, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Navarre, [[Spain]], wrote:
{{Cquote|Properly speaking, homosexuality does not exist among animals.... For reasons of survival, the [[reproduction|reproductive]] instinct among animals is always directed towards an individual of the opposite sex. Therefore, an animal can never be homosexual as such. Nevertheless, the interaction of other instincts (particularly dominance) can result in behavior that appears to be homosexual. Such behavior cannot be equated with an animal homosexuality. All it means is that animal sexual behavior encompasses aspects beyond that of reproduction.<ref name="narth">http://www.narth.com/docs/animalmyth.html</ref>}}

[[National Geographic]] somewhat favors that homosexual behavior occurs in animals although their article leaves the question open.<ref>http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal.html</ref> Human sexual behavior appears to involve more than reproduction as well. However, although it might not have been the result of a deliberate hoax, the [[Archaeoraptor]] was a large embarrassment to [[National Geographic]] and National Geographic's judgment in scientific matters is certainly open to debate given the Archaeoraptor episode.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/4208news2-3-2000.asp</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4273news4-11-2000.asp</ref> For example, every cattle farmer is familiar with the phenomenon of "bulling," cows mounting other cows; in fact, this is one of the standard signs farmers look for when determining that a cow is coming into estrus. However, it does not follow that the cows involved are showing anything analogous to human lesbian orientation. There are also Lesbian lizzards.[http://www.nerve.com/regulars/scienceofsex/09-19-00/09-19-00.asp]

Lastly, a notable article was created on the subject of whether or not animal homosexuality exist entitled ''The Animal Homosexuality Myth'' and it was written by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo.<ref name="narth" />

Despite the hotly contested nature of homosexuality in animals, ideologically motivated zoo directors in liberal American cities and progressive European countries are placing their supposedly homosexual animals on parade and declaring it to be fact that the animals are gay and that homosexuality occurs naturally in nature. In addition to the famed "gay penguins" [[Roy and Silo]] at the [[Central Park]] Zoo in [[Manhattan]] there has been a supposed homosexual animal photo and video gallery in the zoo in [[Oslo]], [[Norway]], featuring [[flamingo]]es and [[giraffe]]s, among other allegedly gay animals.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6066606.stm BBC] Oslo gay animal show draws crowds</ref>

==See also==
*[[Roy and Silo]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{homosexualityb}}
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Liberal Myths]]

Metric system

2008-11-26T13:12:22Z

RuthT: /* Relation to other systems of measurement */

The [[metric system]] is a system of measurement developed during the [[French Revolution's]] anti-religious [[The Cult of Reason|Cult of Reason]]<ref>However, according to researcher Pat Norton, the system was described a century earlier by Englishman John Wilkins. [http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/15/1978802.htm Australian Broadcasting Corporation], 15 July 2007 (retrieved 15 July 2007.)</ref> and based on permanent natural standards rather than on royal decrees. [[Joseph Lagrange]] headed the Revolutionary weights-and-measures committee that developed it and set its initial definitions.

Traditional systems of measurement all used standard lengths of parts of the human body, or standard distances that a human might walk. The metric system, by contrast, initially used the [[earth]] itself as the ultimate standard.

In 1878 the [[United States]] signed the treaty called the ''Convention du Mètre.'' Since then, ''both'' the metric system and the [[United States customary units]] (miles, inches, pounds, etc.) have had legal status in the US. US Customary units are in fact defined by reference to metric units; that is, legally, an inch is ''defined'' to be exactly 25.4 millimeters.

In international scientific usage, the ''Convention du Mètre'' is superseded by the conventions of the [[International System of Units]]. However, many of the conventions of the metric system survive, including definitions of units that are not, strictly speaking, SI.

== Definitions ==
All measurement systems must start with one basic unit. For the metric system, this unit is the ''meter''. Every other named unit of the metric system had a definition that depended upon it.

=== Prefixes ===
All base units of the metric system have ''prefixes'' that multiply, or divide, the unit by various factors of ten (or alternatively, a thousand). They are:<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Chemistry''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998</ref><ref>[http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/common.html Common metric prefixes]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! The prefix:
! Abbreviated:
! Multiplies the unit by:
|-
| atto-
| a
| 10-18
|-
| femto-
| f
| 10-15
|-
| pico-
| p
| 10-12
|-
| nano-
| n
| 10-9
|-
| micro- ([[Greek]] ''small'')
| μ
| 10-6
|-
| milli- ([[Latin]] ''one thousand'')
| m
| 10-3
|-
| centi- (Latin ''one hundred'')
| c
| 10-2
|-
| deci- (Latin ''ten'')
| d
| 10-1
|-
| deka- (Greek ''ten'')
| da
| 101
|-
| hecto- (Greek ''one hundred'')
| H
| 102
|-
| kilo- (Greek ''one thousand'')
| k
| 103
|-
| mega- (Greek ''large'')
| M
| 106
|-
| giga- (Latin ''gigantic'')
| G
| 109
|-
| tera- (Greek ''wonder'')
| T
| 1012
|}

Other, related systems (see below) use the same prefixes to multiply their units.

=== Length ===
The base unit of length, and originally the unit from which all other definitions flowed, is the [[meter]]. The original definition was "one ten-millionth the distance from the equator to the north pole." Lagrange's surveyors computed this distance (probably using a variation on Eratosthenes' tropical-shadow experiment) and inscribed it on a metal bar that they kept at the weights-and-measures headquarters building in Sèvres, [[France]].

But this artifact, being made of metal, tended to expand and contract. Centuries later, when the scientific community realized what had happened, the task of re-standardizing all meter sticks to the equator-to-pole-times-10-7 definition was judged too onerous. Therefore the meter was redefined. At first it was defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red line in the excitation spectrum of [[krypton]]-86. Today it is defined as 1⁄299,792,458th of a light-second.

The meter in all its multiples replaces all other units of measurement, long and short. Long distance is measured in the meter multiplied by a thousand--the kilometer. Short distances are measured in centimeters--or millimeters, or micrometers, or however small one needs to measure them.

=== Volume ===
The base unit of volume is derived from the meter: it's the ''cubic meter'' [m3]. Traditionally, the ''liter''<ref>http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter4/table6.html</ref> is used. 1 liter is defined as 10-3 m3 = 1 dm3. '''Capacity''', traditionally measured in liters, refers to the volume occupied by a liquid.

=== Mass ===
The base unit of mass is the ''gram''. Originally a gram was the mass of one cubic centimeter (see above), then called a ''milliliter'', of [[water]]. The Lagrange committee fashioned an artifact exactly one thousand times as heavy as this--the volume, in short, of one liter of water--and stored this permanently at Sèvres.

[[Joseph Lagrange|Lagrange]]'s committee also proposed a unit of mass called the ''grave'', to be equal to one thousand grams. But the [[French Revolution|Revolutionary]] government rejected this name as sounding too much like the [[German]] word ''graf'', translated as ''comte'' or [[count]] in French. Therefore, the artifact at Sèvres would be called a kilogram instead--and that artifact has that name to this day.

Mass never changes. But in addition to the prototype meter changing its length over time, scientists later realized that water has different densities at different [[temperature|temperatures]].

Today, the standard [[kilogram]] is kept at the International Bureau of Standards headquarters in Sèvres. It remains today the only generally accepted unit of measurement based on an artifact. But the definition of the liter has now changed, and is no longer dependent on the length of the meter. Today, one liter is defined as the volume of one kilogram of water at four degrees [[Celsius]]. One milliliter is simply one-thousandth of this, and one milliliter of water at this temperature weighs one gram. But to say that one liter is "one thousand cubic centimeters" is no longer correct, simply because the definition of length has changed, while that of mass has not.

== Relation to other systems of measurement ==
The [[International System of Units]] borrows some definitions and concepts from the metric system--most notably the meter and the kilogram--and adds other definitions of other quantities, most notably [[time]], [[force]], [[amount of substance]], plane [[angle]], solid angle, and [[luminous intensity]]. The liter ''is not'' the unit of volume in that system, however, but liter is accepted for use with the SI.

In addition to the International System (or in French, ''Système International'', or SI for short), scientists have invented other systems of measurement that include units of time, force, [[energy]], and electric charge. The most popular are the meter-kilogram-second and centimeter-gram-second systems.

Various governing authorities have established conversion ratios to assist people in converting between the metric system and other, more traditional units of measurement. The definitions of US Customary units in the United States is an example of this. The metric system is more efficient and easier to learn.

== References ==
<references/>

== See Also ==
* [http://creationwiki.org/Metric_system Metric system] by [[CreationWiki]]
* [http://www.essex1.com/people/speer/metric.html Metric system] by Essex1.com
* [http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/ The United States Metric Association]

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Units of Measurement]]

Kilometer

2008-11-26T13:11:40Z

RuthT:

A '''kilometer''' is 1,000 [[meters]], approximately 5/8 of a mile. Europeans measure distance in kilometers and speed in kilometers/hour. Americans use [[miles]] and MPH. The metric system is more efficient and easier to learn.

See:
*[[metric system]]

[[Category:Units of Measurement]]

Kilometre

2008-11-26T13:10:51Z

RuthT: Redirecting to Kilometer

#REDIRECT[[Kilometer]]

Mile

2008-11-26T13:10:08Z

RuthT: /* Statute Mile */

A '''mile''' is a unit of length or distance that has different values according to the system used.

The word mile comes from the [[Latin]] ''mille'' meaning one thousand. The original mile was 1000 paces (''mille passus'') as covered by marching Roman infantry, where 1 pace is equavelent to 2 steps. The Roman mile was 5000 Roman feet (approximately 1618 British Imperial/US yards or 1480 metres).

==Statute Mile==
In the reign of Queen [[Elizabeth I]] of [[England]], the mile was decreed by a Statute of Parliament to be 5280 feet long or 320 rods and is therefore known as a '''statute mile'''.<ref>http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/custom.html</ref> This measure is still used mainly in the [[USA]] and [[UK]] though in theUK the [[Kilometre]] is increasingly used.

The '''international statute mile''' was defined in 1960 as being 1760 yards (or 1,609.344 metres<ref>http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm#4b</ref>) long with one inch (1/36 yard) being set at exactly 25.4 millimetres. This means that 1 metre is 39.3700787 inches.

The '''US survey mile''' is defined in reverse, with 1 metre being equal to 39.37 inches exactly<ref>http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm#footnote8</ref>. The US survey mile is therefore 3 mm longer than the international mile at 1,609.347 metres<ref>http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm#footnote11</ref>). This unit of measurement is used by US Public Land Survey System.

1759 yards are one yard short of one mile.

==Nautical Mile==
The '''nautical mile''' is a geodetic measurement originally defined as 1 minute of arc measured along a meridian or great circle, or 1 minute of latitude<ref>http://www.onlineconversion.com/faq_07.htm</ref>. However, as we now know that the earth is not a perfect sphere the distance varies between 6067 and 6087 feet using the [[WGS84]] ellipsoid model, with an average of 6076 feet.

In Britain the '''Admiralty nautical mile''' was defined as 6,080 feet<ref>http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/ADMIRALTYMILE</ref> (1,853.184 m) which is approximately one minute of latitude in the southern latitudes of the UK. In the United States, the nautical mile was defined in the nineteenth century as 6,080.2 feet (1,853.249 m). Some other countries had their own definitions of the nautical mile, but it is now internationally agreed to be exactly 1,852 metres or approximately 6,076.12 feet. The international standard was adopted by the US in 1954<ref>http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm#footnote12</ref> and by the UK in 1970<ref>http://www.hemyockcastle.co.uk/nautical.htm</ref>.

The nautical mile is used mainly for maritime and aviation purposes because of its relation to the degrees of latitude. A '''knot''' is used to describe speed in nautical miles per hour. The term knot is sometimes erroneously used instead of nautical mile (knot being thought a diminutive of nautical). However, the name derives from the ancient practice of throwing a log overboard with a knotted rope attached. The knots were made at fixed intervals and as the rope was paid out the number of knots that passed through a sailor's hands in a fixed time were counted to give a measure of the speed. <ref>http://www.onlineconversion.com/faq_07.htm</ref>

As ships and aircraft travel through a fluid medium their speed is relative to the speed of the water or air and may be referred to as "boatspeed" or "airspeed". Consequently there are several additional definitions of speed which are given in knots: '''speed of a vessel over the ground''' (SOG)<ref>http://www.lowrance.com/Support/Glossary/glossary.asp#Speed-Over-Ground</ref> describes the speed with reference to geographical location and '''velocity made good''' (VMG) describes its rate of progress toward a distant point<ref>http://www.lowrance.com/Support/Glossary/glossary.asp#Velocity%20Made%20Good</ref>.

==Metric Mile==
A '''metric mile''' is often used in international sports (athletics, swimming, speedskating) to denote a 1500 metre event<ref>http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/m/m0258850.html</ref>.

==Other Miles==
Other variations on the mile have been used by the Danish, Dutch, Finnish German, Irish, Italian, Norwegian Polish, Scottish and Swedish and could be from about 1 kilometre up to 12 kilometres in length<ref>http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/long265.html</ref>.

==References ==
<references/>

[[category:science]]