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User: Mangal

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  1. Re:Okay, WTF. on NASA Mars Press Briefing & "Significant Findings" · · Score: 1

    Who cares about microbes?

    The point of looking for evidence of a more watery past on Mars in the first place was because we can't imagine life without water, remember? My question is, if we can't imagine life without water, will we ever recognize life that is not dependent on water?

  2. Re:Oh NO! Worldwide Outbreak!!! on Superflu Being Brewed in the Lab · · Score: 1

    I would be at least as concerned (okay, more concerned) about the GMO's that have already infiltrated your food supply and threaten to contaminate non-GMO crop strains through vertical and horizontal gene transfer. The bad bugs might get you, but the bad plants ARE getting you. If you want to worry about bad bugs, please include those that attack NON-humanoids too. For example, a cleverly devised wheat rust spread world-wide would probably have a longer reach than small pox because you can't quarrantine fields of grain. Or how about the smut that causes St Elmo's Fire, a malady that resulted in thousands being burned as witches......the list is endless. Someone stop the dirty bastards.

  3. Re:No sir, I don't like it. on EFF's New File-Sharing Scheme · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but isn't control (ie. power) a form of profit?

  4. Re:Hrmm on EFF's New File-Sharing Scheme · · Score: 1

    Might be EASIER for artists to develop a following- We could browse late into the night, looking for new and interesting music to tell friends about so they can download it too.

  5. Re:No sir, I don't like it. on EFF's New File-Sharing Scheme · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It seems to me that the industry will rabidly attack any share network they don't control- the bottom line is profit (maximize and maintain it).

  6. Re:PhD's Take 3 years on Professor iPod Discusses Device's Social Impact · · Score: 1

    ONLY 3 YEARS!!!! After what, a 2-4 year master's thesis? Or do you work while you sleep? While a thesis must be "novel" it doesn't have to be obscure: plug into a broad idea and work out the details of one part; take a bunch of "parts" and create a broad idea from them; try testing some of the assumptions that others rely on- particularly the ones that everyone "knows" are true (so they go untested), but if they're NOT true, the whole theory falls like a house of cards. The last one's my personal favorite.

  7. Re:I think the Prof's name is a hint.... on Professor iPod Discusses Device's Social Impact · · Score: 1

    "Expert"- someone who thinks they know more than everybody else, and says so loudly enough that the rest of us smile and nod so they'll go away....

  8. Re:QUESTIONS... as AC to protect clearance ;-) on Defending Earth From Asteroids With MADMEN · · Score: 1

    It would probably be a violation of the trade embargo to assist Cuba.....of course, any space rock large enough to destroy Cuba would probably create a wave surge strong enough to topple all those hurricane-proof highrises in downtown Miami a few minutes later.

  9. biology, muscle mass and gender on Girls in the Gaming World · · Score: 1

    Forget taking an intro bio course- open your eyes and look around. Notice that ALL men are not equal in size, nor are ALL women; notice that there is a large overlap in the range of sizes. Muscle mass is dependent on USAGE and nutrition, not just gender.

  10. Re:Maybe I shouldn't go back to Oregon... on Arthur C. Clarke Talks With The Onion · · Score: 3, Informative

    Fungi, live plants, have "indeterminant growth"- this means they do not have a maximum size or age that they reach and maintain; instead, they grow until they run out of resources or can't maintain their bulk anymore. Even then, they may just lop off body parts and start over from that point OR fragment into multiple bodies, each capable of growing independently of the others. The giant fungus in Oregon (and the one in Michigan's UP, and the others we haven't found yet or have forgotten about) is UNDERGROUND (except for the occasional fruiting body), and isn't eating "the state of Oregon"- it's gathering resources from dead/decaying matter. Decomposition makes the world go round.

  11. Re:Spammers aren't the only ones on In (Sort Of) Defense of Spammers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Most people engage in "selective adherence" practices at some level- I say we follow the laws that make sense and refuse to acknowledge those that don't (but surreptitiously, so we don't go to prison). How can an organism be illegal?

  12. Re:Get a clue on Appeals Court OKs FTC's Do-Not-Call List · · Score: 1

    I agree, re: insanity. This interpretation makes everything neat and tidy for business- shapeshifting between individuals and faceless entities as need be, all in the interest of maximizing profits and removing culpability.

  13. Re:How long before this gets into the food chain? on Gene Therapy Creates Strong Super-Rats · · Score: 1

    There are GM Atlantic salmon that grow faster and get bigger than their wild counterparts waiting for gov't approval. Here's another problem, if GM salmon escape from the factory farm pens we'll be growing them in- and they will escape (this has been a point of contention with the industry, but there's good evidence to suggest it is true). Female salmon prefer to mate with larger males; this means male GM salmon will have an advantage and will likely spread their new genes quickly throughout wild populations.....

  14. Re:Get a clue on Appeals Court OKs FTC's Do-Not-Call List · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Check out The Corporation- this documentary argues effectively that if we are going to treat corporations as legal "people" then we can also evaluate their behavior as "people". Corporations are pyschopathic and should have their charters revoked before they do any more damage. (www.thecorporation.org)

  15. Re:Quandry on Scientists Create New Form of Matter · · Score: 1

    Don't assume that a lack of education is equivalent to an inability to understand. We should ENCOURAGE those who understand quantum physics, and all other things scientific, to write for the general public. I don't care if it's in comic book format- as long as it's accurate and gets the point across, then it's worthwhile. As others have said, an educated electorate is not easily fooled.

  16. Re:seawater and gold. on Growing Your Own Gold · · Score: 1

    Haber tried and failed ( see http://www.gnt-verlag.de/programm/46/rez_bhc2001.s html for summary of historic account). Sure, there's lots of gold in the oceans- too bad there's so much water suspending it.

  17. Re:Only Gold? on Growing Your Own Gold · · Score: 3, Informative

    Other kinds of bacteria can- they've been used to collect copper from poor quality ore. One big hurdle, of course, is the efficiency/speed of bioremediation (bioengineers are working on that one, you can be sure). Another problem is how to get the bacteria in contact with the metals; water could be pumped through a filtration system (bacterial filters), but you can't pump soil. Directly applying the bacteria to the soil would require removing the bacteria and all sequestered metals after the fact- not sure how to do this effectively, either. Leaving the metals behind would defeat the purpose. The bioengineers will have to construct bacteria that work significantly faster, I think, to make soil remediation via bacterial activity feasible.