Because designing a whole new airframe is enormously expensive and requires risking billions of dollars. (The 787 cost around $32 billion, for example.) An update to an existing frame is much more economical; the engineers already have existing data to work from and many of the potential issues are well known. Every aircraft manufacturer does this: build variants to serve different markets. It's a logical path for the company to take. The plane itself is still very solid and reliable -- Boeing has good engineers. With the proper software this issue would have never appeared and the 737 MAX would rack up many, many sales and be flying for decades. Unfortunately, a software fix is going to be a tougher sell for the public. With a mechanical problem you can see the new part and know it's going to work. Software is much more nebulous.

The likelihood that extraterrestrial germs will cause a plague on Earth should be very low. They are evolved for entirely different conditions and they are unlikely to fare well in an oxygen-rich atmosphere with creatures having different chemistry; the common cold should have them utterly beat.

Yeah, that's my concern; I may not live long enough to enjoy it. Pretty cool (even cryogenic) and inspiring concept though. I hope it works.

The behavior of the Republicans in this instance is roughly equivalent to a filibuster. The minority party needs to have some tools to oppose what they perceive as egregious policy changes by the majority party. (Which is why the removal of said rules in Congress is so bad.)

Okay, so the innovation here is the tacking maneuver? Or that this mission is being done by an non-government organization?

So if you use information to beat an addiction, you're only feeding your addiction? I'm getting a headache.

Key word: "more". Hash tag: #more.

Starting to see more tablet zombies standing motionless in stores and blocking up foot traffic. To test if they are still alive, try sticking them in a Faraday cage.

Given the global nature of civilization now, unless we nuke ourselves I doubt there will be any one cause that results in a collapse. It's more likely to be a series of crises that rise in a crescendo to the point where we're not able to deal with them more. But I agree with the 2050 time frame. Climate change, overpopulation, pollution, diseases, ecological disasters, advanced technology, &c.; it's going to become overwhelming in the second half of this century.

In reading the article is seems more appropriate to say that they learned about the geometry of an "electron wave function", rather than the electron itself. My understanding is that an electron displays no "shape" other than a perfect spherical symmetry.

Yep, that's it in a nut-shell. Admitting no fault is the de facto standard in the modern corporate world. What's being said behind the scenes is something else entirely.

Being older, I don't enjoy 5.1 surround sound because the ambient noises drown out the spoken dialogue, and I'm unable to tune it to work better. As a result, I had to switch back to normal stereo. I've had similar comments from my colleagues at work. Modern theater audio systems seem to be designed with younger audiences in mind.

I was thinking about a separate, walled-off network exclusively for establishing unique personal identity. A single-purpose network may be harder to compromise, and could be made more resistant to tampering using quantum entanglement techniques.

I don't see how this is unconstitutional. The act of parking in a warned location is a privilege for which you accept the right of the government to monitor your egress. By parking there you agree to such measures as chalking tires. It's a bit like accepting a hand stamp at a night club. The ruling seems narrow-minded, weird, and should be overturned.

The price of "60 watt" LED lights is negligible now, so I batch ordered a pack of 32 LED lights for $60. I look forward to seeing my next energy bill.