Just plug your gamepad into the USB port.

I definitely concur. The depth of implementations of statistical methods dwarfs that of other languages (with Matlab coming closest). Two more aspects to add: R can be used to program in functional style. Together with being a vectorized language this can make programs more compact while still readable. This was what made me stick with R which is now one of my preferred languages. There is also the micro-DSL called formulas in R. Unless another programming language implements something similar, R will always be superior in specifying and working with statistical models. Escpecially, implementing new statistical methods is made much simpler using this machinery (plus tailor-made data handling: merging, missing data, etc.).

All databases are relational (noSQL or otherwise). SQL formalizes some aspects of relational algebra but this does not imply anything about the implementation nor necessarily about the interface. If you like "simpler" interfaces use ODBC/ORMs on SQL or noSQL databases.

I am digitally subscribed to Scientific American (German version) which is delivierd in DRM-free pdf. I remember that I relished just browsing magazines when I was young and I believe that this experience is gone for good. However, the experience can come close by using the internet to browse the issues and then bringing up the pdf on the tablet.

Being in the field, I would like to add that transition to private industry might be more difficult for biomedical researchers as compared to engineers. Private employers are mainly pharma, some agriculture. Most employment trajectories leave research and even the biomedical field entirely. That being said, the standards for getting a PhD seem rather low nowadays (Europe/US) such that a tightening of standards could potentially lead to a virtuous circle (less researchers, better quality -> better research -> higher standards).

Carefully read the statitics: banker killings are counted negative, so that in Lichtenstein every non-banker murder is offset by a banker-killing. Research shows that indeed the net-effect is zero.

The next calendar system is as boring and irrelevant as the next programming language. Time is defined and measured by the passing of base unit (say a second) which can be counted. A calendar system is a surface on top of that unit. Make your pick but please do not bother others with your *better* new system.

The claim that proteins cause intolerance seems wrong. Proteins are chains of amino acids for which a broad arsenal of digestive enzymes exist. Deficiencies in those lead to severe disease. Parent probably meant lactose intolerance (thus sugar digestion).

There are other limiting factors eventually causing life to go extinct. One important is CO2 which is absorbed into the oceans and recirculated by volcanic activity driven by radioactivity. Radioactivity will cease in about 500 mio yrs, IIRC, which is when life will end due to scarcity of CO2.

Given that space tourists would most likely go only once, fatality rates should be compared on a per-trip basis. It appears to me that this implies quite a low per-trip fatality rate.

This does not seem to be an argument. Any language (maybe with some restriction) could be compiled to the appropriate byte code/assembly.

This. I am an OpenSUSE user and for me it is the best distro overall (polished, great infrastructure: BuildService, ...). The user/group management is very annoying though. I ended up writing my own scripts to support this as the command line tools do not even have any such option. Once I brought this up in the forums. Unfortunately, reactions were quite negative. Please make this an option (even if it's only on the command line).

In terms of capabilites Qt and GNUstep/Cocoa are equivalent (roughly). The beauty of ObjC (the language underlying GNUstep/Cocoa), however, is its simplicity yet power which dwarfs C++ quite substantially in terms of ergonomics. If you are not familiar with ObjC you can best compare it with Java. As a matter of fact the Java environment is quite inspired by OPENSTEP which was developed jointly by NeXT and Sun, after which Sun moved to Java and eventually dropped OPENSTEP (for no good reason ;).