If the robots require us to be around for their fuel, perhaps they'll refrain from wiping us out...

Don't forget snow globes! (There actually was a recall over this - http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2009/Hallmark-Recalls-Jumbo-Snow-Globes-Due-to-Fire-Hazard/)

I spent two seasons in the mid-1980s excavating at Nohmul, and can put a rest to some of the speculation here.

Nobody in this region is unaware of the nature of these ruins, nor their significance. This part of the country is flat limestone plains, and it is generally understood that any small hills are in reality ancient ruins.

The site draws almost no tourists whatsoever (it is almost entirely unrestored), so liability is not a concern. While not amongst the better known sites, it had much historic value nonetheless, which is why it was the subject of numerous investigations by Cambridge and Rutgers Universities, National Geographic, etc. The destruction of one Nohmul's primary structures for road fill is indeed a tragedy. The gentleman who owned the site when I excavated there would never have let this happen, but I suspect that ownership changed hands in the interim.

It is estimated that bacteria alone (only one component of our microbiome) far outnumber human cells. I'm not totally up on my modern biology, but i suspect that the situation with birds is comparable; could any species be resurrected successfully in the absence of its associated microfauna?

Or is it more like this? http://hackaday.com/2009/11/03/wozs-watch-makes-air-travelers-nervous/

So Facebook, you want to be the preeminent social media site, but you want me to pay for every message sent to my non-FB friends? Let me know how that works out for you...

...Cambridge University.

...something amateur ("ham") radio operators have been using since the 1980's...

-allen
KC2KLC

Opting out at choice.live.com requires registration, including providing an email address. [sarcasm]I'm sure i'll never receive unsolicited emails from them! [/sarcasm]

I would have expected mention of what may be Slashdot's most profound contribution to the Internet: The Slashdot Effect!

This would seem to fall under the frightening rubric that, "by definition 50% of people are of below-average intelligence"...

...that an ad for Squareup (served by ad.doubleclick.net) appears at the top of of my browser window when viewing this article...

Biologists have relatively recently come to understand the complexity, abundance and importance of the mammalian microbiome; for example, it is estimated that bacteria alone (only one component of our microbiome) far outnumber human cells. Given that mammoths are long extinct, their associated microfauna are likely absent from the word as well. Doesn't sound promising for maintaining healthy animals...

I second the suggestion. New Scientist is awesome - it covers every science subject under (and well beyond) the sun, and does so in a manner that is technologically sophisticated, yet well within the reach of any reasonably well-educated reader. The weekly print version is admittedly a bit expensive (especially for those not in the U.K.), but much of the content is covered for free at their website (www.newscientist.com).

I think it's pretty funny that a Netflix ad appeared on my page to the right of this discussion...