Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

It’s hard to believe but space travel is a real possibility for a few lucky (and very wealthy) people. In the year that there was a total solar eclipse and the 40th anniversary of the first man on the moon, Virgin Galactic’s founder, Richard Branson will conduct a world first when he crews his aerospace vehicle, the Virgin Mothership Eve at the air show EAA Airventure Oshkosh 2009.

Space is one of those fascinating yet enigmatic topics. How does weightlessness work and what does it feel like? How were solar systems formed? Why are stars and planets round? Why is the sun yellow? The more you think about outer space, the more questions form in your mind and in many instances, we just don’t know the answers.

Well for the 200 people who have coughed up their US$20,000 deposit for the sub orbital spaceflight on Virgin Galactic, some of these questions will soon be answered. They will hurtle through the edges of the atmosphere at more than three times the speed of sound and they will experience a type of virtual weightlessness as gravity starts pulling them back to earth.

To celebrate, Yahoo!7 Travel have an out of this world trip to Space Mountain for two flying on Virgin Atlantic from Sydney to Hong Kong return with three nights at the funky W Hong Kong and round trip transfers. Click here to enter the competition.

We’d also like to know, if you had the chance, would you like to take a trip to space in your lifetime? Why or why not?

Caitlin
Community Manager

This week, countries all over the world are celebrating 200 years since scientist Charles Darwin was born. People are doing their bit to celebrate evolution and we are no exception. While many Answers users may be marking the day (it was the 12th February) in their own way, few people are as qualified as biologist Calimecita, who we just happened to spot sporting a tribute to him in her Answers nickname. This is what Darwin Day means to her, in her own words…

“First and foremost, I don’t like the idea of “idolising” a person. Charles Darwin was a man, an individual that was clearly as multidimensional as each of us, and therefore any analyses of him as an individual can and will be very complex – and also widely contradictory.

Yet here I am, celebrating his birthday anniversary – even with my Answers nickname,  – Why?

Because what I’m celebrating is the fact that a single individual’s intellectual production can be a major contribution to the human species. To me, that is truly inspiring. So what did he do?

In an outstanding example of conceptual synthesis, Charles Darwin was able to “catch” concepts and data that were “floating around” in different spheres of human knowledge, put them together and come up with a new corpus of ideas (it’s important to note that Alfred Russell Wallace achieved the same synthesis separately – and that perhaps without him, Darwin’s work would not have been published at the time). This corpus integrates the fact of evolution with the mechanisms that make it possible (Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection), and has been since that time the cornerstone of biological science.

The famous geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky once said “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”. I’ll just add that even though it is possible to use a non-evolutionary approach to study some aspects of biology, everything just makes much more sense in the light of evolution.

In my daily work, I’m constantly trying to understand the evolutionary processes that underlie the diversity I see. My awareness of evolutionary mechanisms does not detract from my appreciation of life… On the contrary, it enhances the delight I feel when I find myself not only contemplating life on Earth, but also studying and understanding a part of it and trying to make my own tiny contributions to our collective knowledge of biological evolution.”

Calimecita

* Read more about Calimecita’s work here and here and here.

Questions on evolution:

• How does evolution apply to the use of insecticides and antibiotics?
• What is Darwin’s theory about evolutionary progression?
• Why was Darwin considered to be a “revolutionary?”
• Are ants an argument against Darwin’s theory of Evolution?
• Who submitted “Theory of Evolution” other than Darwin?

What’s the smallest bone in the human body?

Answers is a great way to satisfy your curiosity on all topics, no matter what they are. I came across a couple of questions on the topic of BONES and thought I’d share them with you.

I suppose our bones aren’t something we really think about a lot, unless we happen to break one of them – ouch! It is interesting to know what we are born with 300 bones and once we’re fully grown we only have around 200. Many users want to know where those other bones get to! Others wonder how it is that our bones don’t stretch or bend, yet they still manage to gradually get bigger over time.

Keeping your bones healthy and strong is integral as you get older – and the best way to do so is by watching what you eat and exercising. There are some easy ways to make sure you don’t end up with osteoporosis or similar bone disorders later in life.

From huge dinosaur bones to tiny bird skeletons, there are plenty of bone related questions if you search for them on Answers. One user had an unusual dream that she was in the bath washing her own bones – the community had several different perspectives on what the interpretation of that was!

Clea

Return to Yahoo!7 Answers

What’s a hectopascal?

All this talk of global warming and extreme weather conditions led me to the Weather Category this week, where there are some really interesting questions to look through.

Our daily lives are ruled by the temperature and the conditions outside, yet many of us couldn’t explain what it is that is actually going on up there. One user was at a loss to tell her child how rainbows are formed – so where else to turn but Yahoo!7 Answers? Storms are a very popular topic, with users in the know explaining the difference between a cyclone, hurricane and tornado and answering questions about what gives clouds their dark appearance just before the rain hits. I was interested to see the answer to the question which comes first, thunder or lightning? I’d never really thought about what the answer might be before!

If you have a question relating to a weather phenomenon no doubt there’s someone out there who knows the answer, or if you want a local forecast you can always check out Yahoo!7 Weather.

Clea

A blazing fireball streaks across the heavens, hundreds of thousands of kilometres away but visible to the naked eye even in the daylight. “What on earth is that?” You hear people ask. Where else would you go to find the right information but Yahoo!7 Answers? There have been numerous questions about this rare event over the past few days – and lots of answers!

The glitz and glamour of the Golden Globes has also drawn user attention… many are dismayed at their favourite star missing out on an award and there is a great deal of discussion about which of the nominated films are worth seeing.

From the big screen to the small, another very hot topic is the three top electronic gaming products, and the debate continues over which device is the best one to have in your living room. Answers is a great forum to get help when the machines aren’t working properly – instead of waiting on the end of a phone line you can get helpful advice from all over the world and be back up and running in minutes.

See you soon!

Clea