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Comment Re:End (Score 2) 131

I think that was changing the acceptable meaning of "literally" to include that which is not.

You're kid--no, you're not. So "literally" has been redefined to mean, well, nothing, really.

I've already updated what our style guide says regarding this word to LITERAL, LITERALLY: Per the OED, the adverb has become purely a 'noise' word which must therefore be avoided. For the same reason, avoid employing the adjective as well, except in strict technical usage, e.g. when referring to a 'bare' representation of a value of a given type, e.g. 'binary literal', 'string literal', and so on.

I have enough of a problem with _accepting_ ignorance much less _encouraging_ it.

You are not alone, trust me. Words ought to mean things.

Comment One of the first (NOT post, dammit) (Score 1) 131

I actually looked up "twerking" on Google yesterday, and the first hit was from OED.

I didn't realise it at the time, but I was likely amongst the first few people to see the OED entry--and had no idea that it had been added the same day--until I saw this story.

I realise that times and language change, but, yeah, I suppose that I am feeling a bit of that "Stop the Internet, I want to get off thing" right now.

Comment Re:Twerking? (Score 1) 131

The mistake is in caring about keeping up with trends or slang or "what's cool" in the first place.

Write your own life story, and quit worrying about what other people say or think. You'll be surprised
how much happiness is linked with this approach.

Thanks, I think I needed that this morning.
Image

Mini-Brains Grown In the Lab Screenshot-sm 170

Posted by Soulskill from the brain-and-brain-what-is-brain dept.
fustakrakich sends news that researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences have used embryonic stem cells to grow a tiny human brain in a laboratory. The miniature brain, roughly the size of a pea, is at the same level of development as that of a 9-week-old fetus. From the BBC: "They used either embryonic stem cells or adult skin cells to produce the part of an embryo that develops into the brain and spinal cord - the neuroectoderm. This was placed in tiny droplets of gel to give a scaffold for the tissue to grow and was placed into a spinning bioreactor, a nutrient bath that supplies nutrients and oxygen. The cells were able to grow and organise themselves into separate regions of the brain, such as the cerebral cortex, the retina, and, rarely, an early hippocampus, which would be heavily involved in memory in a fully developed adult brain. The tissues reached their maximum size, about 4mm (0.1in), after two months. The 'mini-brains' have survived for nearly a year, but did not grow any larger. There is no blood supply, just brain tissue, so nutrients and oxygen cannot penetrate into the middle of the brain-like structure."
Earth

How Human Psychology Holds Back Climate Change Action 530

Posted by Soulskill from the never-put-off-until-tomorrow-what-you-can-ignore-completely dept.
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Cass R. Sunstein writes at Bloomberg that an understanding of human psychology — specifically, what human beings fear and what they do not — helps to explain why nations haven't insisted on more significant emissions reductions even as scientists warn that if the world continues on its current course, we will face exceedingly serious losses and threats including a significant rise in sea levels by century's end. First, people tend to be especially focused on risks or hazards that have an identifiable perpetrator, and for that reason produce outrage. 'Warmer temperatures are a product not of any particular human being or group, but the interaction between nature and countless decisions by countless people. There are no obvious devils or demons — no individuals who intend to create the harms associated with climate change.' The second obstacle is that people tend to evaluate risks by way of 'the availability heuristic,' which leads them to assess the probability of harm by asking whether a readily available example comes to mind. For example, an act of terrorism is likely to be both available and salient, and hence makes people fear that another such event will occur. A recent crime or accident can activate attention and significantly inflate people's assessment of risk. Finally, human beings are far more attentive to immediate threats than to long-term ones. They may neglect the future, seeing it as a kind of foreign country, one they may not ever visit. For this reason, they might fail to save for retirement, or they might engage in risk-taking behavior such as smoking or unhealthy eating that will harm their future selves. 'All the obstacles are daunting skepticism about the science, economic self-interest, and the difficulties of designing cost-effective approaches and obtaining an international agreement,' concludes Sunstein, 'But the world is unlikely to make much progress on climate change until the barrier of human psychology is squarely addressed.'"

Comment Charges? (Score 1) 7

by Zontar The Mindless (#44691409) Attached to: Another Bad Gun Owner

This little boy will have to live with for the rest of his life with the knowledge that he killed his Granny, and you speak of charges?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Smitty. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Pudge.

I say to each and every one of you who keeps spinning all of these circular arguments that all revolve around "BUT MY GUNS!!"

The gun culture is a culture of fear. The gun culture is a culture of death.

I'm sorry, maybe I didn't say that loudly enough for you to hear. Let me say it more loudly:

THE GUN CULTURE IS A CULTURE OF DEATH.

I charge each and every apologist for guns in America. I charge each and every one of who helps in this way to pile another body, and another AND ANOTHER AND ANOTHER on the sacrificial altar of your Great God BUT MY GUNS!! That's who I fucking charge.

I charge you with the task of growing an ounce of the courage needed to stop defending your imaginary right to an imaginary perfect safety. Because it is your lack of courage, and the fact that act on it as you do, that leads to a state wherein nobody is safe.

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It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster. - Voltaire

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