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Comment Re:wow, the economy must be getting a lot stronger (Score 1) 232

No one honestly believes that it will be named that- Xbox 720 is just what the fans/media are referring to it as. It's more likely that it will be called the Durango (the code name for the project) and likelier still that it will have a completely different name. Though, one rumor is that it will reboot the Xbox brand, and be called simply "Xbox."

Comment Re:I'm not even a fan, but (Score 1) 1174

Honestly, supporting the art while disagreeing with the artist seems foolish- the art itself supports the artist! If you buy a story written by a homophobe, even if that story has nothing to do with their views on gay marriage, the fiscal/popular support allows them more leverage to spread their views in the future. Voting with your wallet is important- by refusing to stock the comic, and boycotting the comic, the people can show that they cannot stand for the personal views of the author.

Comment I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream? (Score 1) 101

Isn't this fairly similar to how that short-story got started? The major governments of the world start building up their computers for war, only for each system to eventually link itself to the others and become an emergent A.I.? Granted, the computers in the story were for running real-world warfare, not cyber-attacks, but still...
Games

Leaked Modern Warfare 2 Footage Causes Outrage 543

eldavojohn writes "Game Politics makes note of criticism over leaked footage from the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 release. (Spoiler warning.) Footage shows the player engaged in killing civilians with terrorists (relevant video begins at about 1:50, second source in case of DMCA). Several game sites are asking if this is taking things too far. Probably just advertising at work, but the footage is indeed controversial — the question remains whether or not it is out of context."
Science

Light Helps Injured Mice Walk Again 92

Mantrid42 writes "Researchers have been able to affect the brains of lab mice using light. Working in a new field called Optogenetics (optical stimulation plus genetic engineering), scientists injected lab mice with genes that can stimulate or inhibit neural activity based on the color of the light they're exposed to, and can be targeted to infect only on certain cell types. Additionally, another gene has been added to make neurons glow green when firing, allowing two-way communication between a brain and a machine."
Robotics

Robot Controlled By Human Brain Cells 86

destinyland writes "There's a new experiment from the British researchers who created a robot controlled by cultured rat neurons. They're now using a line of human brain neurons to control robots. The neurons are placed onto a multi-electrode dish that registers the neurons' electric signals. 'Every time the robot nears an object, the electrodes generate signals to stimulate the brain. In response, the brain's output is used to drive the wheels of the robot left and right so that it avoids hitting objects. The robot has no additional control from a human or a computer — its sole means of control is from its own brain.'"

Comment Strange (Score 1) 700

You know, a number of my friends suffer from caffeine addiction of different levels, yet I've never shown any signs of it despite consuming two or three times more than they do when we get together. In fact, we all consumed about the same amount until I got into college, and could no longer afford it, so I cut it down to a few times a week with no ill effects.

Comment Re:Are you catholic? (Score 3, Insightful) 902

A fetus is not a living thing until it meets all the criteria of a living organism, first and foremost of which is "Homeostasis: Regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state; for example, electrolyte concentration or sweating to reduce temperature." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life#Definitions Until a fetus can survive on it's own outside of the mother's body, it is not alive.

Comment Re:Parents choose their baby's name (Score 1) 902

Makes sense, from a psychological point of view. Loser was likely ashamed of his name as a child, and vowed to make something great of himself because of it. Winner, on the other hand, probably expected everything to be easy, and when it turned out his name wouldn't help him become successful, he tried to take the easy life by force.

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