| |
| "...the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like the fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..."
- Jack Kerouac |
|
Scientists and Terrorists |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Science |
3:04 pm EDT, Jul 21, 2002 |
To the Editor: Terrorists and torturers read the scientific literature in order to learn new ways of inflicting pain and avoiding prosecution. The scientists who created polio virus in their laboratory and published the results (front page, July 12) have played into the hands of state-sponsored perpetrators who have the intention of developing instruments of mass destruction. The United States and the international community need a system of governance and public debate to monitor, curtail and punish those scientists who engage in this type of reckless behavior. RICHARD F. MOLLICA, M.D.
Boston, July 14, 2002
The writer is director, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Massachusetts General Hospital. Um...someone should tell this guy that lots of innovative things can be turned into something that can be used against us. Punishing scientists for being creative isn't going to stop terrorists. If terrorists wanted to create a virus, I am sure that they already could figure out how to do it without the inspiration of the news article. Scientists and Terrorists |
|
Sounds Like Science Fun Factoid |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Humor |
8:31 pm EDT, Jul 17, 2002 |
"One of Britain's most eminent scientists, Sir Roger Penrose is suing the makers of Kleenex quilted toilet tissue. He claims that a ground breaking mathematical pattern which he discovered 20 years ago is being used to decorate toilet paper. " This is old, but funny Sounds Like Science Fun Factoid |
|
They've Seen the Future and Intend to Live It |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Nano Tech |
2:03 pm EDT, Jul 16, 2002 |
Dr. Ralph C. Merkle is celebrated as an inventor of the encryption technology that allows secure transactions over the Internet. But that was a long time ago. These days, he is better known as a leading theorist of molecular nanotechnology, the still unperfected art of building machines that are little bigger than atoms. Nanofactories will churn out everything from rocking chairs to rocket ships, superior to any ever made, at "the cost of potatoes and wood," in Dr. Merkle's words. Nanocomputers will interface directly with the brain, vastly increasing human intelligence. And nanobots will cruise through bloodstreams, banishing disease and debility. They've Seen the Future and Intend to Live It |
|
It Slices! It Dices! Nanotube Struts Its Stuff |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Nano Tech |
2:03 pm EDT, Jul 16, 2002 |
It is stronger than steel and far sharper than a pin. It shoots electrons and draws away heat. It can become the thinnest of wires and, potentially, electronic devices almost as minuscule as molecules. It is the nanotube, "the strongest material that will ever be made." The prospect of a strand that is long, strong and thin conjures dreams of epic engineering like spinning a 22,300-mile-long cable out of nanotubes to tether a satellite in orbit around the earth, and then building an elevator that goes from the ground floor literally into outer space. Make way for the space elevator! It Slices! It Dices! Nanotube Struts Its Stuff |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Miscellaneous |
11:36 pm EDT, Jul 11, 2002 |
Somebody has *alot* of time on their hands.... Lego Dilbert |
|
BBC News | SCI/TECH | First synthetic virus created |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Biology |
11:05 pm EDT, Jul 11, 2002 |
"To construct the virus, the researchers say they followed a recipe they downloaded from the internet and used gene sequences from a mail-order supplier. " If anyone comes across this "recipe" on the internet for making viruses, I would be highly interested in seeing it. This story is all over the place and it makes me nervous, because someone is going to get the motivation to start making virus in their garage, and that can lead to bad things. I work with viruses, but they are replicative-defective, so they don't get very far. This is different and very interesting indeed. BBC News | SCI/TECH | First synthetic virus created |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Biology |
6:10 pm EDT, Jul 11, 2002 |
"Can a band of biologists who share data freely out-innovate the corporate researchers who hoard it? " Werd! Open-Source Bio |
|
Fake Harry Potter conjured up in China - JULY 6, 2002 |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Humor |
3:44 pm EDT, Jul 6, 2002 |
"The bogus book sees Harry transformed into a fat, hairy dwarf and stripped of his magical powers as he battles an evil dragon" Fake Harry Potter conjured up in China - JULY 6, 2002 |
|
