Cumulative General Science/Technology Quiz

[Brighteye]

I assume that this question was too hard too.
In an unskewed distribution, the probability of the result going in one direction is half. The probability of each result going the same way is also half.
Therefore the minimum size of study can be solved with the equation (1/2)^n=0.05, where n is the minimum sample size.
N is between 7 and 8, so the minimum size is 8.

I'll try again:
What does nitric oxide do in the body? (Any one function will do)

 

[ori]

relax and growth-inhibit smooth muscle
inhibit platelet aggregation
kill pathogens

 

[Brighteye]

Yep. Your turn.

 

[nonconformist]

It gives you erections too.

 

[linfeixb27]

I assume that this question was too hard too.
In an unskewed distribution, the probability of the result going in one direction is half. The probability of each result going the same way is also half.
Therefore the minimum size of study can be solved with the equation (1/2)^n=0.05, where n is the minimum sample size.
N is between 7 and 8, so the minimum size is 8.

I'll try again:
What does nitric oxide do in the body? (Any one function will do)

Sorry, I do not understand most of your explaination, but I think (1/2)^4=0.0625, (1/2)^5=0.03125, so in equation (1/2)^n=0.05, n should be 4 or 5.

 

[ori]

how old is the oldest known mammalian cell line in continuous propagation? and what is its species?

 

[GoodGame]

Wild guess: a human carcinoma cell line from about the 1950's? I'm pretty sure there were several around then, with the first name of their donors.

The cell lines are typically made from a fusion hybrid of a cancer cell with another cell, like a mouse cell.

 

[Brighteye]

Sorry, I do not understand most of your explaination, but I think (1/2)^4=0.0625, (1/2)^5=0.03125, so in equation (1/2)^n=0.05, n should be 4 or 5.

Sorry, I made two mistakes: first, we need a 2 tailed test, so p=0.05 actually means that the probability of one side needs to be under 0.025, and secondly, the answer is 6.

Thanks for picking up on that.

 

[Brighteye]

HEK cells?

 

[ori]

Wild guess: a human carcinoma cell line from about the 1950's? I'm pretty sure there were several around then, with the first name of their donors.

The cell lines are typically made from a fusion hybrid of a cancer cell with another cell, like a mouse cell.

HEK cells?

nope and nope
and its not a man made cell line I am looking for

 

[GoodGame]

The 1950ish original original human carcinoma lines were purely of an eternal cancer and weren't hybridomas, I believe.

 

[Perfection]

are they from rabbit butts? (bun buns)

 

[ori]

The 1950ish original original human carcinoma lines were purely of an eternal cancer and weren't hybridomas, I believe.

no and much older

are they from rabbit butts? (bun buns)

no bun buns.

 

[Brighteye]

Edna Parker human cells, about 115 years old?

 

[ori]

thats already pretty old not quite old enough though - but the key here is continuous propagation - which means they were never stopped, e.g. by freezing and restarting growth after thawing. This is something that cannot happen within a lab environment so think outside the lab

Its actually a pretty interesting entity in cancer research - though more of a curiosity and scary if any such thing would occur in humans...

 

[El_Machinae]

how old is the oldest known mammalian cell line in continuous propagation? and what is its species?

The Tazmanian wolf face cancer?
Henrietta Lacks?

(NO is also used as a retrograde signal in neurons)

 

[ori]

HeLa as most lab cell lines is from the 1950s which is too young.
Devil Facial Tumor Disease is on the right track, though. It is a cancer cell line that propagates itself by allografting (transmitting) onto its next host during contact. This cell line emerged in 1996 - so its not really old and will likely eradicate its host species too soon to become as old as the one I am looking for
it is however only the second instance of this type of cell line - and I am looking for the first one...

 

[El_Machinae]

A haemapoetic stem cell line from a blood transfusion? That would be pretty cool.

 

[ori]

A haemapoetic stem cell line from a blood transfusion?

That would be pretty cool.

and scary as hell if you think of it - but no its quite capable of propagating itself without human intervention

 

[GoodGame]

Ok I'm thinking vegetables now.....with big hacking vegetable tumors.

Agrobacterium tumerfaciens?