And that is why you, sir, are no chef.

You insult me as though I'm making assumptions when you're the one who is assuming. Hysteria? Panic? I specifically said I'm a skeptic to the idea that aliens put that in our sky, mainly because I'm skeptical of intelligent life being anywhere near our solar system. I didn't even reference the other people who had seen it specifically - I did address a few of the "theories" that I saw several people mention in various articles and comments - but I drew no strong conclusion in any direction. I'm well aware that things that a complete stranger says are subjective / subject to bias, since that's a fairly basic social concept.

The entire leading point of my post was that I had no good idea of what the object was. I didn't claim that my post was verifiable, nor did I claim I have any intensive knowledge of meteorology, rocketry, or physics even.

It wouldn't matter if I had claimed those things though, because I take no shame in being incorrect over something like this. As somebody reading a news article in my spare time, I don't have any responsibility to anyone beyond myself to make a completely informed comment.

These images are bizarre. In some of them, the light seems to be coming over the mountains in the background, almost as if it were being projected from on the ground. But this doesn't make sense, as a projected image would not ordinarily coalesce in one place in the sky, as it appears to have done. The Archimedean spiral formation that appeared seems too perfect to be the result of a weather formation. This does not look like any aurora that meteorologists have documented, so far as I'm aware. However, nature always has surprises for us uncomprehending humans. The stipulation that it was a rocket that had gone out of control also seems unlikely. Again, the image seems too perfect. I'm honestly stumped, but too skeptical to want to believe that this is alien contact.

These images are bizarre. In some of them, the light seems to be coming over the mountains in the background, almost as if it were being projected from on the ground. But this doesn't make sense, as a projected image would not ordinarily coalesce in one place in the sky, as it appears to have done. The Archimedean spiral formation that appeared seems too perfect to be the result of a weather formation. However, nature always has surprises for us uncomprehending humans. The stipulation that it was a rocket that had gone out of control also seems unlikely. Again, the image seems too perfect. I'm honestly stumped, but too skeptical to want to believe that this is alien contact.

That's only partially correct. The more numerous the laws, the more potential for the abuse of power. A written law does not imply the level of enforcement for itself. Corruption results from improper delegation of power and intransparency of government. Of course, examples of these can be found in the cases of almost every major government in history.

More laws are the means of corruption, not the cause.

As much as I hate that Youtuber douchebag Justin Bieber, I think the cops were probably pretty stupid for arresting him, especially considering what appear to be the facts. However, I'd be pretty pissed off if I was a cop and I had to disperse a mob of whiny, caffeinated teenage girls congregating over *that* guy too, so I can empathize. I still anticipate a false arrest case.

Well, the NR2B gene is encoding for a very common and well known receptor within both rat and human brains - the NMDA receptor. These receptors have been the target of the majority of recent studies into working memory and synaptic plasticity, or so-called "long-term potentiation". Basically, the NMDA receptor is the most likely cause of memory reinforcement. The idea is that when two neurons fire simultaneously, the connection between them is strengthened for a long period of time. That is, the post-synaptic neuron becomes more sensitive to input from the pre-synaptic neuron. This effect is input-specific, in that it is only effective between the two specific neurons involved, and no similar input from other pre-synaptic neurons is necessarily potentiated. Most LTP relies on the NMDA receptors to function, via the calcium ion channels within most synapses. This is why increasing the number of NMDA receptors would likely reflect a quantitative increase in memory. This isn't exactly breaking news - researchers have known about the NMDA receptors/NR2B gene for years, and I've seen studies from several years ago with the same approximate findings in animal models.

I will not argue with you that "State Universities are run by mortal men and women, who make the same mistakes and misteps as the rest of us". However, it's ludicrous to think that large-scale universities don't have business administrators who are at least SUPPOSED to have a basic understanding of economic and managerial principles, for the purpose of running the university in an efficient manner. The issue is often neither a lack of educators doing their job, nor a lack of business-men/women doing their jobs. It's mostly the lack of proper understanding and communication between the two that causes inefficiency in most higher-education institutions.

Barney Fife would likely agree. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de_P2aUZJyA

I was wondering the same thing. Since they are using the DNA for its physical properties, and not its chemical "code", why salmon DNA?

I hope this is the beginning of a trend. I like learning that mirrors real world situations. You can never underutilize your available resources, whether as a student or working for money in a career. This is an aspect of the world that is ignored in the classroom, historically speaking. The ability to phone someone you know for information is a good thing to teach.