Zelnik wrote...
These are mostly focused on biology, since that is my feild of study, but some of these make me think the writers really did not even consider checking their sources.
1. Humanity has great genetic diversity.
This is not only false, but grossly false. Of all of the primapes on the planet, we are the LEAST genetically diverse. We are more closely related to a member of the opposite gender on the other side of the planet, then a chimpanzee is related to it's sibling. Humanity suffered a massive genetic bottleneck some 50,000 years ago (probably due to Mt. Toba exploding), and the results are extremely clear today. The huge amounts of cancers and genetic disorders found in humanity are the best example of this.
Mrmrmr... Yes and no. Our fantastically large population is turning up some very interesting examples. We're more genetically diverse than you think, but nowhere near as much as other creatures.
However, the DNA double-helix all life on the planet uses as a template is
incredibly diverse. It houses a lot of potential, most of it we don't understand fully yet.
Also, compared to the
other sapient ME species - humans
are genetically diverse. Even with random mutations, Asari are too long-lived to have a lot of diversity. The Krogan were, but the artificial bottlenecking event sort of solved that. Not much is made of the Volus or the Elcor, but the ol' froggies have notoriously weak genomes. The Quarians might be better, but even if they put in a lot of effort to move people around, there will be less diversity as they stay on the ships due to inbreeding and lack of exposure to enviornmental factors.
Out of the list of Sapient ME species, either the Turians or Humans are at the top.
2. A weak Immune system involves fevers, allergic reactions, etc.
This assumption is actually a bit backwards. If an organism has a STRONG immune system (or hyperactive immune system), the above examples occur. A WEAK immune system would have no reaction at all to a foreign pathogen, and the only sign of illness would probably be death, or necrosis. All of the Quarian examples of "weak immune system" make any medical professional very confused (I know, I am one, and so is my father). The described reactions show more of a hyperactive allergic response.
That's because you misunderstood the dialog. When Tali speaks about getting a fever from Chickenpox, she's talking about the Quarian reaction to L-Amino Acid bacteria or viruses. Since her body can't process the threat, it overreacts - thus an allergic reaction. Our bodies would probably do the same thing if there were any significant threats that actually used L-AA's, but there's only a handful of uses for them - and not a single organism on Earth that uses them exclusively.
Fever, however, is not necessarily a sign of a strong immune system. It's just a sign of a present immune system. Fevers are the most basic response - you heat the body up to slow down the rate of bacterial enzymes while your immune cells take care of it.
Strong and weak immune systems induce fever in humans. The length of the fever usually betrays which it is, since once the threat is gone, the fever breaks.
3. Eating Dexter compounds is a BAD THING!
Splenda would like a word with you. Yes, it's true that you can develop a response against it, but allrgies to Dextrose are rare, but its MUCH more common for it to just pass through your system. I understand the hypersensitivity for the quarians, but Turians would probably just have the runs for a while.
Sugars are one thing, Proteins another. Human metabolic pathways exist for L-chiral sugars (not all, but some). The rest can pass through harmlessly.
If you eat a buttload of messed up AA's, and they get incorporated into your cells, you are probably screwed. The thing is, there aren't anywhere near enough D-AA's in nature to do this.
4. Dextro-Amino acids could KILL YOU!!!!
Similar to 3, but any immunologist would tell you that this is extremely unlikely. When protiens hit our gut, they are broken down into their individual amino acids (this is assuming our proteases work on dextro-amino-acids). amino acids are TERRIBLE antigens, since their molecular weight is so small. Odds are they would not even be absorbed by the intestinal mucosa.
IF they were NOT broken down by the proteases, the HCL would denature the protien chains, though it would be more likely that these could yeild an immune response (though this is also unlikely, since they probably won't pass through the intestinal mucosa either.
Like I said above. The danger isn't that they'd cause cramps. The danger from something like that would probably be incorporating them into cellular activity. If you mess with Enzyme active sites, you mess with your cell's ability to get stuff done. Do that, and it's a short road to the grave depending on the enzyme and how badly the alternate AA's affect the active site.
5. You can walk outside in a vaccum with skin exposed.
This should be pretty damn obvious. If a shield breaks down due to radiation from a hot star, why isn't it breaking down from temperatures around 4 Kelvin?
1) You
can survive in a vacuum - in space - for a few minutes, naked. The atmospheric difference is going to kill you much faster than the cold will. Your body is surprisingly well insulated, and it can't transfer heat into the surrounding nothingness faster than your lungs give out and your blood boils.
2) Why radiation causes shields to break down and not extreme cold? One is an incredible overabundance of energy, the other is an incredible lack of energy. I don't think a lack of heat ever caused any decay to
accelerate.6. Aliens look just like us.
Seriously.. must everything in science fiction have four limbs, two eyes, one nose, boobs, and...oooo blue skin.. 
Some body plans prevail over others. Some may be more suited to sentience than others.
Dunno. Will tell you once they start sending us pics. ;-)
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