Agree with you very much that biology will drive a lot of progress throughout the 21st century. There will be indescribable advances in genetic engineering of enhancements or replacements to ourselves and artificial organisms. Imagine custom made bacteria for chemical manufacturing, purpose built insects, implantation of additional of genes into humans like the enzymes to digest cellulose like a termite, etc.

I think one day years from now, altering your DNA will be like the current body modifications or tattoos. Anyone can do it in any city in the world, with standard equipment and acceptable risk of side effects (like an infection from a dirty needle).

I completely, completely agree that it would be unconstitutional discrimination if that were the case, and it would be rightful to sue them. However, it appears that they are a private organization (now) and can legally do as they wish.

What a lazy, entitled way to think. If you care so much create your own organization of atheist-friendly naturalists and get recruiting. That is your right to do so.

?

0x implies hexadecimal, not binary. 0x10000 = 65536 words = 128KB of memory.

Same here. I have been using firefox since the 0.x phoenix days and I can recall maybe one time, years ago, where I got bit by a memory leak. I virtually never close the browser and instead leave it open for months with a dozen tabs open, and always just sleep/hibernate the computer. Hosts include practically anything you can name, 2k-7 (32 and 64 bit), OSX (10.5-10.7), Linux (too many to recall, mostly ubuntu).

My memory usage is always great, and has been for at least the past couple of years. It definitely uses less memory than Chrome.

Who are these people and what version of FF are they using? Maybe these people have never heard of Adblock and Flashblock, and maybe there really is a memory leak when you browse the web like a savage without them.

I have several objections.

First, the US does invest in african infrastructure. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE6210FP20100302

The problem is the rampant anarchy and thievery destroying those investments. Raw materials being stolen in the middle of the night, improper or no maintenance being done. If African dictatorships have trouble dividing up crates of free food among the populace, what makes you think they can handle taking care of a first-world electrical grid and highway system?

Second, the US does invest in African education. http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/initiatives/aei.html

Finally, and this should be easy because it's so "obvious", but [Citation Needed]. What is it that you think rich nations gain by doing this? Cheap blood diamonds?

My god, I thought you were joking.... then I read TFA. This man... this man is a genius.

While I agree with you and also see the analogies between electrons orbiting in atoms clustered to form cells, and planets, stars and galaxies and wonder, I don't think it's fair to call the SETI guys closed minded for not. You are basically espousing fantasy, not open-mindedness. The speed of light is fundamental, and so is information theory. You can't have intelligent life the size of an electron, there isn't anywhere for their intelligence to be stored. An alien the size of the universe would be impossible to communicate with in any meaningful way for us humans. It would take 14 (90?) billion years just for it to "sense" something with its "nerves" from one side to the other. It's almost pointless to think about it. It is pointless to spend a single dollar investigating.

I firmly believe that, based on the laws of physics, aliens are going to be similar and instantly recognizable to us. Evolution is likely a universal law as well, so I expect them to have recognizable behavior (evolutionary psychology). Co-locating decision making and sensory perception to improve reaction time (i.e. a head) seems likely as well.

What are the reasons?

Something interesting from the article:

"The giant interneuron and the Kenyon cells form a simple negative feed-back loop: the more strongly it is activated by the Kenyon cell population, the more strongly it curtails their activity in return", explains Laurent. The interneuron itself does not generate any action potentials, but inhibits Kenyon cells via nonspiking and graded release of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid).

There is a negative feedback loop. I wonder if this could lead to side-effects like our lowered sensitivity to a smell over time. Some say the smell is just not registering in our conscious, I wonder if the smell is not even registering on the olfactory nerves at all.

What about a nerd that has to work with journalists everyday? shudder

Totally unrelated to what you are saying... but here's some more nerd street-cred in the article:

Who else but a nerd would know exactly about excel's row limit. I am amused.

One place? Which city is it that you want to nuke, Seattle or Cupertino?

...or both. /grin

My freedom is in not watching. Why bother with advertising, DRM, subscription fees in the first place? There's hardly anything worth watching anyways. Do you really view all of that stimulation as an inalienable right? With all of this in-fighting and territorial control by companies over "mindshare", viewership, eyeballs, I take it as a sign we're on the wrong track.

It's a spin on a Yogi Berra quote.

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."