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Game of Thrones: The Official Phatmass Thread


Laudate_Dominum

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Laudate_Dominum

Share your highly debatable opinion.

Edited by dUSt
Merged and changed title of thread. :) -dUSt
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Laudate_Dominum

Someone on the internet thought that GoT is historically accurate.

Almost unbelievable until I recall a former boss who became irate when confronted with the claim that humans and dinosaurs did not share this world a few thousand years ago.

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Laudate_Dominum

Also the fact that there are quite educated ppl on this site who believe that dragons were real.. Dang. I'm starting to believe in the historicity of GoT...

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Also the fact that there are quite educated ppl on this site who believe that dragons were real.. Dang. I'm starting to believe in the historicity of GoT...

You sound like a devil worshipping nominalist.
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PhuturePriest

Also the fact that there are quite educated ppl on this site who believe that dragons were real.. Dang. I'm starting to believe in the historicity of GoT...

 

Sorry, but as a person who takes a very big interest in animals and wildlife, this always irritates me somewhat.

 

Dragons are indeed real.

 

Komodo_dragon_with_tongue.jpg

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ChristianGirlForever

Sorry, but as a person who takes a very big interest in animals and wildlife, this always irritates me somewhat.

 

Dragons are indeed real.

 

Komodo_dragon_with_tongue.jpg

 

Yes, the Komodo Dragon is real, but it doesn't breathe fire like the stuff of fairy tales.  It's a giant lizard with poisonous venom.  At one point scientists were extracting the venom and analyzing it to see if they could use it to cure diseases.  I think it has antibacterial properties. 

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Yes, the Komodo Dragon is real, but it doesn't breathe fire like the stuff of fairy tales.  It's a giant lizard with poisonous venom.  At one point scientists were extracting the venom and analyzing it to see if they could use it to cure diseases.  I think it has antibacterial properties. 

There is actually a lot of controversy as to whether or not they even have venom.

 

Saliva
220px-KomodoDragon.jpg
 
Sleeping Komodo dragon: Its large, curved claws are used in fighting and eating

Auffenberg described the Komodo dragon as having septic pathogens in its saliva (he described the saliva as "reddish and copious"), specifically the bacteria E. coliStaphylococcus sp.,Providencia sp.Proteus morgani, and P. mirabilis.[29] He noted, while these pathogens can be found in the mouths of wild Komodo dragons, they disappear from the mouths of captive animals, due to cleaner diets and the use of antibiotics.[29][33] This was verified by taking mucous samples from the external gum surfaces of the upper jaws of two freshly captured individuals.[29][33] Saliva samples were analyzed by researchers at the University of Texas, who found 57 strains of bacteria growing in the mouths of three wild Komodo dragons, includingPasteurella multocida.[12][34] The rapid growth of these bacteria was noted by Fredeking: "Normally it takes about three days for a sample of P. multocida to cover a Petri dish; ours took eight hours. We were very taken aback by how virulent these strains were".[35] This study supported the observation that wounds inflicted by the Komodo dragon are often associated withsepsis and subsequent infections in prey animals.[34] How the Komodo dragon is unaffected by these virulent bacteria remains a mystery.[35]

Research in 2013 suggested that the bacteria in the mouths of komodo dragons are ordinary and similar to those found in other carnivores. They actually have surprisingly good mouth hygiene. As Bryan Fry put it: "After they are done feeding, they will spend 10 to 15 minutes lip-licking and rubbing their head in the leaves to clean their mouth... Unlike people have been led to believe, they do not have chunks of rotting flesh from their meals on their teeth, cultivating bacteria." The observation of prey dying of sepsis would then be explained by the natural instinct of water buffalos, who are not native to the islands where the Komodo dragon lives, to run into water when attacked. The warm, feces filled water would then cause the infections.[36] The study used samples from 16 captive dragons (10 adults and six neonates) from three U.S. zoos.[37]

Venom

In late 2005, researchers at the University of Melbourne speculated the perentie (Varanus giganteus), other species of monitors, and agamids may be somewhat venomous. The team believes the immediate effects of bites from these lizards were caused by mild envenomation. Bites on human digits by a lace monitor (V. varius), a Komodo dragon, and a spotted tree monitor (V. scalaris) all produced similar effects: rapid swelling, localized disruption of blood clotting, and shooting pain up to the elbow, with some symptoms lasting for several hours.[38]

In 2009, the same researchers published further evidence demonstrating Komodo dragons possess a venomous bite. MRI scans of a preserved skull showed the presence of two glands in the lower jaw. The researchers extracted one of these glands from the head of a terminally ill specimen in the Singapore Zoological Gardens, and found it secreted several different toxicproteins. The known functions of these proteins include inhibition of blood clotting, lowering of blood pressure, muscle paralysis, and the induction of hypothermia, leading to shock and loss of consciousness in envenomated prey.[39][40] As a result of the discovery, the previous theory that bacteria were responsible for the deaths of Komodo victims was disputed.[41]

Kurt Schwenk, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut, finds the discovery of these glands intriguing, but considers most of the evidence for venom in the study to be "meaningless, irrelevant, incorrect or falsely misleading". Even if the lizards have venom-like proteins in their mouths, Schwenk argues, they may be using them for a different function, and he doubts venom is necessary to explain the effect of a Komodo dragon bite, arguing that shock and blood loss are the primary factors.[42][43]

Other scientists such as Washington State University's Biologist Kenneth V. Kardong and Toxicologists Scott A. Weinstein and Tamara L. Smith, have stated that this allegation of venom glands "has had the effect of underestimating the variety of complex roles played by oral secretions in the biology of reptiles, produced a very narrow view of oral secretions and resulted in misinterpretation of reptilian evolution". According to these scientists "reptilian oral secretions contribute to many biological roles other than to quickly dispatch prey". These researchers concluded that, "Calling all in this clade venomous implies an overall potential danger that does not exist, misleads in the assess­ment of medical risks, and confuses the biological assessment of squamate biochemical systems".[44]

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PhuturePriest

You can't ride a Komono Dragon so it doesn't count. 

Untrue. All you would have to do is lie down on its back and watch it flip out. I would recommend not losing your grip and sliding off, as it is basically guaranteed that you will die. Komodo dragons are among the fiercest and deadliest animals on the planet, and few who piss them off live to tell the tale.

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Not A Real Name

I dunno.  How do you play?

 

It doesn't matter.  Bill Cosby already won the game years ago!

 

[spoiler]gSE5ejh.gif[/spoiler]

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