dp-tyvek (u/dp-tyvek)

dp-tyvek commented on L-theanine, a constituent in tea, and its effect on mental state (2008) [pdf] apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/... · Posted by u/lainon

pmoriarty · 7 years ago

"L-theanine is a structural analog of L-glutamate and L-glutamine"

Does that mean that you could get the same effect from consuming MSG?

dp-tyvek · 7 years ago

Glutamate doesn't have any psychoactive effects because it doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier (to a significant extent). You are correct that theanine and glutamate in theory should have a similar effect on receptors, but receptor activity is only half the story. Other factors like transport and metabolism are important too. For example amphetamine and phenethylamine are structurally very similar, but will have a vastly different effect on your body.

dp-tyvek commented on Intentional Fire-Spreading by “Firehawk” Raptors in Northern Australia bioone.org/doi/abs/10.299... · Posted by u/robin_reala

Tarq0n · 8 years ago

First website I've seen in a while that disallows viewing it with first-party cookies disabled.

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

It's not that uncommon for scientific journals, sadly.

dp-tyvek commented on Intentional Fire-Spreading by “Firehawk” Raptors in Northern Australia bioone.org/doi/abs/10.299... · Posted by u/robin_reala

taneq · 8 years ago

So we're not the only:

- tool-using animal

- fire-using animal

- language-using animal

- animal which domesticates other animals

- animal which builds complex structures

Aha! I know! We're the only animal which continually comes up with reasons why we're special.

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

We are special though. Birds carrying burning sticks to spread fires is significantly different from humans:

-Starting fires

-Using fire to process food

-Using fire to process raw materials into something that can be used for tools, structures etc.

dp-tyvek commented on More than 60 women consider suing Google, claiming sexism and a pay gap theguardian.com/technolog... · Posted by u/dberhane

xapata · 8 years ago

You are proposing the model:

    wage ~ education + experience + error

If the errors are correlated with education or experience, that indicates a confounding variable problem. Most data shows that including race and gender as explanatory factors improves the model:

    wage ~ education + experience + gender + race + error

Until the coefficients of gender and race become approximately zero, one can say that the market is discriminatory. The counter-argument is that race and gender are not actually the real explanatory variables, but only proxies for better variables, like "ethic" or "determination". Those kinds of arguments are often viewed as racist and sexist.

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

According to my understanding, rimliu is proposing that

  wage ~ education + experience + gender + race + additional_factors + error

where additional_factors consists of other unknown factors (e.g. charisma, intelligence, appearance?). In which case, if education, experience, gender and race are kept constant, there is still going to be a fair bit of variance in wage caused by these unknown factors.

Either way, it would be pretty hard to model when these factors are far from orthogonal. Imagine the impact race would have on work experience if race is a big factor when hiring people.

dp-tyvek commented on Some insurers insist that patients forgo generics and buy brand-name drugs nytimes.com/2017/08/06/he... · Posted by u/iamjeff

LammyL · 8 years ago

Metformin is the generic. Glucophage is its equivalent brand.

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

OT, but how did the brand name Glucophage get approved? I don't see how calling a drug "glucose eater" is anything but misleading.

dp-tyvek commented on I fell in love with an assassin (2008) independent.co.uk/news/wo... · Posted by u/Tomte

moron4hire · 8 years ago

She accepted payment from a friend to murder the friend's boyfriend's other girlfriend. Not only that, she decapitated and dismembered the body. Did we read the same article? Having a "just doing a job" attitude about killing other people is sociopathic.

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

You don't have to be a sociopath to do horrific things. A lot of people are capable of doing the same in the right (wrong) circumstances.

dp-tyvek commented on Summer Reading List blog.ycombinator.com/ycs-... · Posted by u/craigcannon

kentt · 8 years ago

I'd consider Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection to be fiction as well. Too long, shouldn't read: if you believe, your back pain will go away. I'm surprised to see the anti-scientific pseudoscience promoted.

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

I'm not familiar with the book, but behavioural therapy has acutally been shown to be useful for managing back pain.

dp-tyvek commented on Are We Experimenting on Our Children with Soy Formula? undark.org/article/soy-fo... · Posted by u/okket

gervase · 8 years ago

Is there any evidence to suggest that genetically-modified soy has higher or lower phytoestrogen content as compared with non-GMO soy?

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

Soy (and other crops) are modified to be resistant to pesticides and pests, so I presume it makes no difference for their phytoestrogen contents. For example, glyphosate ("Roundup") resistant crops are only modified to have a different version (which still preforms the same function) of the enzyme that would otherwise have been inhibited by glyphosate, IIRC.

dp-tyvek commented on P&G Cuts More Than $100M in ‘Largely Ineffective’ Digital Ads wsj.com/articles/p-g-cuts... · Posted by u/kawera

ekianjo · 8 years ago

well also nobody cares so much about digital marketing when it comes to buyIng stuff that is pretty much commodity.

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

In my (anecdotal) experience a lot of people just go for the familiar brands when buying commodity products. Surely creating brand awareness must have some kind of effect.

dp-tyvek commented on Britain Pledges to Ban New Diesel and Gas Cars by 2040 nytimes.com/2017/07/26/wo... · Posted by u/kimsk112

yitchelle · 8 years ago

You mean the Moon's atmosphere, right?

dp-tyvek · 8 years ago

The moon has ~no atmosphere, so any gas released there would diffuse into space.

What I was trying to say is, because any gas will diffuse from an area of high concentration to one with a lower concentration, there is no place in Earth's atmosphere one can release gas without it diffusing throughout it. The best you can do is slow the process down.