] ew studies of the giant earthquake that produced
] devastating tsunamis in the Indian Ocean show that its
] shock waves ricocheted around the globe for hours and
] lifted the earth's surface nearly an inch even half a
] world away.

Wow...

Quake's Echo Raised Surface Around Globe

falun wrote:
] Our most powerful 21st-century technologies - robotics,
] genetic engineering, and nanotech - are threatening to make
] humans an endangered species.
]
] a few months old but still interesting

This essay appeared in Wired several years ago. It resulted
in an outpouring of invective from the community directed towards Bill Joy.

Joy's basic premise is that humanity should collectively bury certain technologies because they might yield an apocalpyse. It is utter
nonsense. There is simply no way to keep these cats in the bag. The upside is huge; arguably much bigger than that of nuke technology which could've ended life on earth back in the 1960s.

RE: Why the future doesn't need us.

] In a matter of days the European Space Agency's (ESA)
] SMART-1 spacecraft will enter orbit around the Moon. It
] will adjust its position and prepare for the scientific
] investigation of the lunar surface that will begin in
] January.

ESA's lunar probe closes on target | The Register

] Two scientists appear to have beaten a $600 million Nasa
] mission to be first to measure a phenomenon predicted by
] Einstein's theory of relativity.

Einstein's warp effect measured

] Congress is moving to force a shift to "open access," a
] form of free-to-consumer publishing, for scientific
] papers. The move angers commercial publishers, who see
] their livelihoods threatened, and scares scientific
] societies, who are afraid they will face revenue losses
] or new costs they cannot afford. Even librarians, who
] pushed for the move, are cautious, because they are
] concerned for the health of the scientific societies.

This is outstanding. The situation with academic journals
has gotten completely out of hand!

United Press International: PoliSci: House acts on research access

] A new type of pump to help failing hearts will undergo
] clinical trials in autumn 2004 in the UK. Its design
]
] is intended to solve the problems of mechanical failure
] and blood clotting that have bedevilled artificial hearts
] and pumps since they were invented.
]
] The pump also has a curious side effect: people implanted
] with the device have no pulse.

UPitt has also been working on such a thing for some time, IIRC.

Simpler pump boosts failing hearts

] Despite the recent trend toward global warming, scientists
] have long wondered whether the earth is nearing another
] ice age, an end to the 12,000-year temperate spell in
] which modern civilizations arose. Some have said such a
] transition is overdue, given that each of the three
] temperate intervals that immediately preceded the current
] one lasted only about 10,000 years.

A New Ice Age? None Soon, Snow 2 Miles Deep Implies

]
] ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After 17 years living on roots
] underground, billions of periodical cicadas from Brood X
] are preparing to emerge as adults in portions of the
] eastern United States from mid-May through June.

What Should You Expect When The Cicadas Arrive?

] In a post-flight statement from the company, the
] SpaceShipOne team reported that their space plane flew to
] 212,000 feet altitude, almost 41 miles. NASA awards
] astronaut status to anyone who flies above 50 miles in
] altitude.

Private Rocket SpaceShipOne Makes Third Rocket-Powered Flight

]
] The British institution of dentures sitting in a glass of
] water beside the bed could be rendered obsolete by
] scientists who are confident that people will soon be
] able to replace lost teeth by growing new ones.

!!!

Grow-your-own to replace false teeth