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New Evidence in Historical Cannibalism Debate

An anonymous reader writes "ScienceNOW is reporting that a team of scientists led by Geneticist Jaume Bertranpetit has called into question findings from an earlier study of human prion diseases. The first study, led by John Collinge of University College London, stated that the existence of a gene that codes for prions was a result of a "balancing act" that had kept it in the gene pool for so long. The balancing act was supposedly due to widespread cannibalistic practices in human history. The new report suggests that their results were skewed because of low frequency variations known as 'ascertainment bias.'"

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  1. Another /usr/{games,bin}/fortune wisdom by fionbio · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."

  2. Zork by quokkapox · · Score: 4, Funny
    I was in fourth grade when I first played with the Zork triology of text-adventure games on the C-64.

    An innocent kid and budding geek, I tried feeding novel combinations of nouns and verbs to the primitive parser.

    I tried "EAT LAMP"... got back "You can't eat the lamp." "EAT BREAD"... "That was delicious."... Etc.

    I tried "EAT ME". I couldn't comprehend why my dad, who had just bought the game for me and was supervising over my shoulder, started laughing so hard.

    Several years later I finally understood why he laughed even harder when the computer responded:

    "Auto-cannibalism is not the answer."

    You can mod this offtopic, but those 1983 game designers had a real sense of humor and subtly implemented it in 64KB.

    --
    it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
    1. Re:Zork by zephc · · Score: 5, Funny

      > LOOK
      You see a lamp.
      > LOVE LAMP
      Do you really love the lamp, or are you just saying it because you saw it?

      --
      "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
  3. obligatory futurama quote by dancingmad · · Score: 5, Funny

    (You knew it was coming)

    Fry: "My God! What if the secret ingredient ... is people!"
    Leela: "No. There's already a soda like that. Soylent Cola."
    Fry: "Oh. How is it?"
    Leela: "It varies from person to person."

    --
    "There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
  4. Re:The other white meat by Lucas+Membrane · · Score: 4, Funny

    There's enough evidence from diverse places to support a guess that human cannibilism has persistently been more than an occasional or incidental vice -- evidence like human proteins found in petrified human feces. It's now clear that many of those pictures of early men and beasts found on cave walls were actually fast-food menus.

  5. I once knew a girl who... by crazyphilman · · Score: 4, Funny

    I once knew a girl who liked to be eaten.
    Once, twice, thrice she'd entreat me,
    Eat me, she'd say, eat me, EAT ME!
    And so I would; on the lass I'd dine.
    Now, you'd think that a strapping young girl would taste,
    Like beef, or lamb, or pork at least.
    But I tell you, this hot young lass of mine,
    always tasted like fish, each and every time.

    --
    Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
  6. You knew it was coming: part deux by todd10k · · Score: 5, Funny

    two cannibals are eating a clown. one turns to the other and says "does this taste funny to you?"

  7. Re:The other white meat by Belseth · · Score: 5, Funny
    It's now clear that many of those pictures of early men and beasts found on cave walls were actually fast-food menus.

    In related news Morgan Spurlock has decided to do a new documentary where he will eat nothing but MacDonalds employees for 30 days.

  8. The healthy human flesh alternative by beforewisdom · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now there is hufu, the healthy human flesh alternative for the ethically inclined cannibal: http://www.eathufu.com/faq.asp