Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

AudibleNod t1_jd33puq wrote

Yes.

Sometimes towns were that were due north-south of one another, they'd have wildly different times. Shipping ports realized the importance of accurate time sooner than inland towns since sailors needed accurate time for ocean navigation. Hence why the US Naval Observatory keeps time for the US.

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calloutfolly t1_jd2ydxh wrote

Genetic modification (and gene editing) involves specific techniques. Creating a transgenic plant by inserting a gene from a different species (using Agrobacterium or particle bombardment) is different from just breeding plants together. You can't breed a tomato and a fish together and make offspring, but you can take a gene from a fish and insert it with genetic engineering to develop a new variety of tomato.

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GoGaslightYerself t1_jd2vndo wrote

> By definition selective breeding is a form of genetic modification.

Since animals "select" their mates, in many cases based on the mother or father's (heritable) fitness to birth and rear offspring, I guess that means "genetic modification" is as old as sexual reproduction.

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tbaxattack t1_jd2uq8r wrote

There's something similar going on in the abandoned town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. In the 60s or something the coal mine underneath the town caught on fire, has been on fire since then and everyone moved out. I'm assuming it's impossible to put the fire out.

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AudibleNod t1_jd2nc16 wrote

Before time zones but after timekeeping was common towns would set noon to the zenith of the sun from the local clocktower or church or observatory. After railroads made travel between towns quick, it became very clear that a standardized format would be needed. The US hosted an international conference and time zones were born.

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