To be precise, there is no theory that says your grandfather was a monkey.

Exactly. We haven't been monkeys for at least 100 generations. Heck, maybe even 200...

They would work just fine thank you.

We all "know we are going to die"

Well yeah, obviously, but that's completely different to being told "two months".

string theorist, formerly at Harvard ...until they fired his crazy ass.

It certainly is distasteful. We've all done stupid things in our lives, but that doesn't mean you deserve to die.

Typical slashdot.

Mention the inquisitions or the crusades and you're +5 insightful.

Mention the communist's anti-religious campaigns and you're a troll...

Mathematically modelling the brain would seem to be a very trivial problem.

Yours perhaps...

They are nightmarish images alright...

The whole creature looks very malicious.

It's all chemistry, physics and math.

That's just handwaving.

No one fully understands the complete physics and chemistry of the simplest forms of life, let alone a sea slug.

Hopefully, by that point, you'll have learned how not to Godwin yourself.

Damned Godwin-nazis...

I like the switch on Aussie sockets, but you have to be real careful to switch off unused sockets or a lot of electricity leaks out costing you $$$.

UK/Europe use whole-life concepts to determine bridge design life. So yes, their design life is longer than what US bridges are designed for.

I believe US bridge are currently designed for 75 years, which is still way too short.

They did analyse the the potential effects of the ensuing jet fuel fire. The analysis concluded that the structure would survive. Unfortunately reality failed to conform to the design models.

For starters, would you happen to know of any structural materials that can tolerate corrosion for that period?

Masonry - Many such bridges are hundreds of years old. Some are even thousands of years old!

Reinforced Concrete - Again, 100+ year old RC bridges are common.

Prestressed concrete - Not quite as old as some RC bridges, but again, 100+ year old examples are common.

Steel - Our Sydney Harbour bridge is 70+ years old. No it's not magical gold plated or ceramic, it's plain old steel with a sufficently robust anti-corrosive covering. It will be around for at least another hundred years.

I design structures, and I generally design them for 50 year design life. I don't like it, but it's the economic reality. Make no mistake about it, it's an economic contraint, not a physical contraint. If you don't provide a design solution that shifts costs onto future generations then the customer will find an alternate vendor who does.