Bad News Can Sometimes be Good

I’m sorry to say that I’m closing this blog.

There is good news! I’m opening up a new blog that should be easier to write than the average question/answer topics. It’s called Operation Global, with the mission to cover as much of the world as possible as far as geography, culture, government, and people are concerned. Why did I do this? I’ll tell the truth, I’m not so crazy as getting viewers as I am having fun writing it and interacting with readers, as I recently discovered. If anybody has any more queries over the next week, I will answer them, but after that, I will answer queries through email only for those that still might have them. I might pick this up again one day, so I won’t say it’s goodbye to Anti-Ignorance for good, but you never know.

You might be thinking that ignorance will overtake the world once more. Don’t fret. I’ll still fight ignorance on my new blog, just not in the same way. This may or may not be my last post, and this might not be here forever, so goodbye, faithful readers.

How emotional.

-JeffR

Poll Closed

The poll has closed, and I am stunned at the number of people that voted and sent feedback to me lately. So thanks for that! So the poll is closed, and I’ll be working on the top five scariest horror films list throughout the week. I have another query in mind I need to answer, I think I’ll get it in tomorrow. It’s amazing, I went from having only a couple of viewers per day to almost 500! I’m not sure where they all came from, but thanks for viewing my blog, and please subscribe on the sidebar. I’ll get a post in tomorrow, I promise! Plus, if you have your own query you’d like to share, please, please send it to noignoranceblog@aol.com, and I will answer it! You’ve got nothing to lose!

-JeffR

Can Viruses Kill Cancer?

Dear Jeff, as many members of my family and also people close to me are battling with cancer, I wonder if Australian scientists are on right track when they suggest that ‘viruses can cause cancer and therefore they believe naturally occurring cold viruses can be harnessed to shrink tumours and help to eliminate cancer’. What do you think?

All the best from Beata

Beata,

It feels good to answer a question that actually helps somebody in everyday life. Using viruses to treat cancer is an experimental treatment known as virotherapy. It was first implied that viruses could help eliminate cancer after a modified rabies virus, vesicular stomatitis, was used to help kill cancer cells in lab mice. The logic of this is simple: cancer is caused by errors in cell reproduction. Viruses kill cells. See the connection? In the studies, the virus has been shown to kill a tumour in mice in three days. Although some modifications were made to the cells to make more of a human scenario (confusing modifications), virotherapy hasn’t failed much. Virotherapy could eliminate surgery, which is useful when cancer is in a fragile area.

Virotherapy is not an exact science, only having been recently discovered. I’m sure scientists will study it much more before it is applied as a regular treatment for patients. As for causing cancer, you’re right about that too. Some viruses do cause cancer, but there is no connection between them causing and healing cancer.I’m not sure if the cold virus is part of it, but virotherapy definitely exists.

Are we moving in the right direction? Of course. Finding a cure for cancer is like fumbling in a dark room. We don’t know where we’re going, and we’ll take any lead we get. Virotherapy helps, so we charge at the idea head on. Scientists are studying virotherapy all over the world, and Australia is no exception. We’re moving in the right direction. Unless you have a better cure for cancer. Anybody?

I wish your friends and family the best of luck in their battles against cancer. If anyone has more questions on the subject, or if you have a new query, email me at noignoranceblog@aol.com. Plus, the horror movies poll is still open, so if you want to vote, do it, because I’ll close it in a couple days. Subscribe!

-JeffR

Can You Really Get a Star Named After You?

Greetings faithful readers,

I have a couple of announcements to make. First off, please check out the awesome links I posted on the right sidebar, especially my blogroll. These are some awesome blogs that helped me get started with writing, plus they have really good content. Especially check out Boomorz’s zombie fiction blog.

Second up, I added a subscription option on the sidebar as well, in case you ever want to receive my blog updates by email. This is extremely useful for those that don’t have time to visit the blog itself to get their dose of Anti-Ignorance. Or if you just want to subscribe for the heck of it, that’s fine too. In addition, you can now view a query archive (not dated, just numbered) in case someone wants to browse the curiousity of my readers.

Third, today I reached my 200th blog view! Thank you to everyone that enjoys and reads my blog (I’m not sure who reads it though). I’ve also received a sudden spike in activity, queries and visitors this week. I’m glad people take the time to read. Thanks to everyone that spreads the word of my blog too.

And now, a query from Kelly. 

Jeff,

Thank you for visiting my blog. I have a question for you though: My friends have been telling me that you can get a star named after you. Futher investigation led me to websites and brochures claiming that they would name a star after you for a couple dollars… but this seems extremely unlikely. What’s the truth?

From Kelly

I have two answers for this: a long one, and a short one.

1) Kind of.

2) Not internationally, but an organization known as the International Star Registry will (or used to) basically write down your name next to a star on a map. There’s no authenticity here.  It’s a scam, you would be paying a company to write your name down in a book next to the real name of a star.  I’m not so sure if the ISR is still in existence, but there’s other sites that would be happy to take your money and send you an “authorized certificate” that claims you are named after a star. They’re all scams.

The only organization actually authorized to name stars is the International Astronomical Union. Even if you ask those guys, they still probably won’t name it after you. Most stars nowadays are catalogued with numbers like B3-2334-48. Doesn’t exactly roll of the tounge.

So don’t do it, Kelly. Total scam.

IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW I posted some different items on the right sidebar. Now you can subscribe to Anti-Ignorance via email, view all queries in the archive, and check out my blogroll. I’d appreciate subscriptions!

Send me questions and I’ll answer them blah blah blah send them to noignoranceblog@aol.com.

-JeffR

Best Horror Films Poll

I’m compiling a list of the best (and scariest) horror films of all time. Scary organ music plays. I’m trying as hard as I can to not make this list extremely opinionated, which is why I created this poll. Just pick the three horror films you think are the scariest (or best made, or just your favorites). I’ll use the results to compile the top ten scariest horror films of all time. I’ve tried to select some of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen, plus ones with the best reviews and ratings.

SEND ME SOME QUERIES, FAITHFUL READERS! NOIGNORANCE@AOL.COM!

-JeffR

Top 10 Lists

Greetings,

Since the query well has temporarily dried up, I’ve been trying to think of different and clever ways to deliver knowlege to the blogging community. The one idea that’s been provoking my mind is top ten lists.

I can never resist a good top ten list. What better way to attain knowlege than know the extremes, the basics, the core facts? I’ve spent the week compiling top ten lists of various subjects and ideas. Despite being extremely opinionated, which I see no problem in, these are coming along well. I apologize for my lack of actually posting something constructive, I’ve kind of hit the wall. I’ll post a list tomorrow (I’ve worked hard on this one!) However, I’d appreciate comments focusing what I should post in the future, as in what kinds of posts, topics, polls, and links I should display on the blog. If you give me something constructive, any feedback I decide is quality, I’ll return the favor.

Send all curiousity to: noignoranceblog@aol.com, and I’ll give you something back.

-JeffR

Just a Note

Really, I appreciate all the feedback from visitors I’m getting (still not much, but I was told it takes up to six months for a blog to get regular visitors). So thanks. One thing I did want to say is this: YOUR QUESTIONS DO NOT HAVE TO BE PHYSICS BASED!!!

I’m not sure where anybody got the notion that questions had to be on physics and such, and they don’t even have to be science based. I mean, physics, of all things. Really? That’s like, the most boring subject I’ve ever faced. So just remember, you can include other questions based on recent events, arts and entertainment, history, geography, mathematics, or general trivia, although I prefer more original queries rather than internet memes that have gotten passed around for 10 years.

Send all queries to noignoranceblog@aol.com, and I’ll answer it maybe.

What would happen if you fell through a hole through the Earth?

Hahaha see if you can answeer this question what would happen if you fell through a whole in the earth.. like strait thruogh and forget the hot insides and gravitaational spin

Somebody you don’t know

My choosing of this query might have been questionable if not for the fact that I’ve always wanted to know that too. I’m not even going to touch your grammatical errors, SYDK, or ask what a “gravitaational spin” is.  Anyway, I won’t ruin it for you by saying you’d get burned up (or dare I say, killed by a gravitational spin!). First of all, understand this: if you were just instantly teleported to the center of the Earth, you would be weightless. Since all of the mass of the Earth is pushing on you at once, the force would cancel out and you would be weightless.

Next, we’ll have to assume that the hole you fall in is a frictionless. This means no air, since air creates fluid friction (think of skydiving). So, if you fell through the hole, you would fall. You would continue to fall until the center of the Earth approaches. Once past the center, the gravity would begin to have less of an affect on you, but you would continue to “fall” because you are going so fast. Once gravity slows you down enough, which would be right when you get to the other end of the hole, you would fall right back through the hole and start the proccess right over again.

So, there you have it, SYDK. Recap: you fall through the hole, you fall, pick up momentum, slow down when you pass the center, and when you reach the other end, you fall back down the hole. Interestingly enough, you slow down at exactly the same rate you speed up, which makes sense. And of course, this is assuming friction and air and the Earth’s core don’t exist. Or gravitaational spin. I answeered this question the best I could.

Send all queries and any other feedback to: noignoranceblog@aol.com.

-Jeff

Update

Just now, I decided I can’t just answer a question from a reader every week. I need to do more, because that’s just not that interesting to everyone, and what happens when nobody’s asking? So, in addition to answering questions from readers,  I’ll post anything I find that’s cool and interesting. That shouldn’t be hard, I’m a StumbleUpon and Digg user. So, this way, I can still post content regularly if the query well has dried up.

Update on the authenticity of my answers: I DO NOT just scramble together an answer! I get to the bottom of everything, check references, and contact  people to get an answer! Nobody’s mind is perfect, and I’m no exception. 

In addition to interesting stuff, I’ll put up a weekly poll. I’m not sure what topics there’ll always be, but the poll will always lead to a blog post explaining it (hard to explain, but you’ll see).

Lastly, to everyone that doubts me as a blogger, calm your jets. I haven’t gotten into the swing of things quite yet, but as I start regularly posting, getting more viewers, ect. I’ll be great. Take my word.

So, send questions and feedback to noignoranceblog@aol.com, and it just might make an impact.

 

What Evidence is there of a Big Bang?

What evidence is there of a Big Bang? Explain the theory cut and dry.

John C. New Hampshire

This is a good one, John. I was hoping it might be controversial, too, mainly to get attention but also to show people that people can discuss controversial topics without killing each other (we’ll see how that turns out).

The Big Bang Theory stands that the universe pretty much exploded out of a singularity, in which all matter, energy, and time was packed together. So it states the universe pretty much exploded out of nowhere. Don’t get the wrong idea, though. It wasn’t an explosion in time and space, it was an explosion of time and space. The beginning of everything you know. 

Based on the General Theory of Relativity, the universe was infinitely small and hot. The earliest parts of the big bang can be speculated, but most models state that after the singularity inflated, extreme temperatures and pressures were exerted, and the universe was still rapidly expanding, and therefore cooling. All in a very small fraction of a second. Next, the universe grew exponentially larger. I won’t get into what the universe was made of, only that it consisted of elementary particles like quarks under extreme heat and pressure. And getting into details raises more questions, but all you want is an answer. Anyway, scientists think this happened 13.7 billion years ago. 

What happened after that is widely speculated, but I won’t get into that for the same reason. What you should know is, theoretical physics is so strange and so confusing I refuse to try to understand some of it. I suggest the same, John, although you’re lucky you live in a world where people are free to choose their own cosmological model. There’s the big bang, in a nutshell. 

You asked for evidence. Of course, nobody just said that all time and space exploded from nowhere. The main evidence we have of the Big Bang is something called red shift. Scientists use telescopes that detect light wavelengths. If something is moving away from us, it is shown as red. When something is moving closer to us, it is displayed blue. These phenomena are known as red shift and blue shift. Scientists detect all galaxies are moving away from each other, showing that all matter came from a single point.

The other point of evidence is leftover radiation. The universe was a weird place at first. Matter and energy had not yet settled, photons were bouncing everywhere, and the first atoms were just forming. So, I can only assume that left radiation and heat, and background radiation can be detected in outer space today, which most likely corresponds with scientists’ calculations.

The Big Bang Theory was first proposed  in 1931 by a guy who realized that the reason galaxies were moving away from everything else was because the universe was expanding. Since then it’s been the leading cosmological model, and most people agree with it, although there are still arguments over alternative theories. 

But let me tell you, this is way more difficult and complicated than I’m presenting to you.  I already understood the theory, but for the more technical stuff I headed to the library, which I didn’t understand a lick of, so I left it out. That’s the Big Bang, but if you really want to understand it, I would forget about it and become a Creationist.