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Science

Zombie Ants and Killer Fungus 125

nibbles2004 writes "An article in the Guardian newspaper shows how parasitic fungi evolved the ability to control ants they infect, ultimately leading the ant to its death. The fungus controls the ant's movements to a suitable leaf and causes the ant to grip onto the leaf's central stem, allowing the fungus to spore, which will allow more ants to become infected."

Comment Re:Egregious (Score 3, Insightful) 383

The question is why is there not criminal prosecutions for bad engineering that leads to the loss of life? Why is it that only people with guns who kill people get criminal prosecutions?

IMNL but be very, very careful where you are going with this. I submit this as an example: If you built a machine and it happened to be involved in the death of several people a prosecutor could argue that your machine was 'bad engineering' and if they found sufficient evidence that people disagreed with you and were able to convince a jury of this you would end up in jail. Now if you were in a project where everyone was in agreement that it was a good idea then he could potentially still argue collusion. I'd imagine that you would have 'tolerances' but even these could possibly be argued as bad engineering, because why would you unleash upon the people a machine that statistically would kill a certain number of people?
If all we do is prosecute failure then no one would be willing to risk their lives to innovate. The only real loss here is if the industry learns nothing and repeats its mistake.

Comment Re:I have been to Japan... (Score 1) 235

...I doubt they get much accuracy in age, and probably a large number of "indeterminate" or false positives on gender...

If some electronic add calls me a chick, I'm punching its lights out!

Its only your fault if your man boobs qualify you for a victoria secret uber-bra Ad. Remember it lifts, supports and separates!

Comment Re:Brutal civilization. (Score 1) 640

Shouldnt we fix the abomination that livestock industry is, in that they make cows live in 1x2 m enclosed space from their birth to their death in the first place.

reminds of how big corporations treat people like livestock and make them toil for dimes in cramped spaces ... a society's mindset reflects on every aspect of life.

you are absolutely right. I want to go back to eating lentils and bread as my primary meal. Meat was a luxury in the past and todays meat is available to the masses because of that 'abomination'. If you want accessible meat proteins then you have to accept the fact that this is what is required. If you don't like it, YOU get out in the field, find better way to treat the animals while staying afloat economically, and then you can come back and bitch out the industry.

Comment Re:100% Crimeless world (Score 1) 544

What joy it would be to live in a world where the slightest breach of the law would be 100% certain to be punished by the state ... How safe we would be under the benevolent watch of our governments ... We can only dream about it. I think this student (why the hell is his opinion posted on /. by the way?) should study some more.

Taking your case to heart how would you feel if after being tried and convicted that the judge came down from his chair and took your place in jail and said "I will serve your term."?

Comment Re:Woah! (Score 1) 999

I dislike them because:

For all their vaunted Christian morals and breastbeating on the importance of marriage, they have a higher divorce rate than the national average, and even 50% higher than the atheists and agnostics they despise.

You're right about the divorce rate and guess what, God agrees with you! he HATES divorce! Also you're mostly right about the despising attitude towards atheists and agnostics, the truth is Christians, like Atheists and Agnostics, are human and therefore similar in their behavior towards those who don't share the same views. I can tell you that while I don't agree with their views I do not despise them. Some may despise them but this is more a human trait, as a Christian is called to 'love your neighbor as yourself."

After they fail and ask God for forgiveness, they go right back to the hookers with whom they got caught (c.f., Jimmy Swaggart).

This is also true, but then if we fail once, try again, and fail again should we give up anyway? Edison wouldn't have given us the light bulb should we give up so easily!

They embezzle millions from their mega-churches, which makes me think they're in it for the money more than the God (c.f., Jim Baker).

This is also true but the Bible does say "You shall not steal" and Jim Bakers theft from his church is sad, but stealing isn't limited to Christians and the idea that stealing is bad isn't limited to non-Christians as you have proved by finding it just as detestable. Did you know Jesus shared your view?

They extort millions from their followers by claiming God will kill them if the sheep don't pay up (c.f., Oral Roberts).

This I do not agree with (not your comment but Oral Roberts behavior) and you're right this is extortion. However when I give to my church I give because I want to, not because I'm compelled to. As far as claiming God will kill them, he won't. He will pass judgement upon them and especially to the leaders who do misrepresent what God says.

They spend their Christian lives doing everything they can to make homosexuals suffer, only to get busted offering to pay guys at truck stops to receive blowjobs from them (c.f., Bob Allen), or tapping their foot in an airport restroom (c.f., Larry Craig), or using their ministry's travel budget to fund methamphetamine and gay sex party weekends (c.f., Ted Haggard).

You're right about these supposed leaders of the Faith, they are a disgrace but no more so than anyone of any other belief whether its religious, philosophical, or ideological who fails miserably. Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Phelps come to mind. As far as making homosexuals 'suffer' I do not see what you mean, if you are saying that by believing homosexual behavior is immoral and voting based on that belief then you do not respect the democratic right for someone to disagree with you. If by suffer you mean we tar and feather them you would be correct and I'd agree that we do make them suffer, but that wouldn't be what Jesus had called us to do.

In other words, I dislike them because they're hypocrites who claim they're better than everyone else when in fact, they're usually worse, but they're very happy to try to force their morals on me through laws and textbooks.

You wouldn't be the only one to feel that way and one thing I can tell you is that all Christians are hypocrites to an extent and we all fail. However we believe we are called to live like Christ did, helping the poor and needy, respecting elders, defending the defenseless. As far as being better or that superior attitude there are people like that, but I have a feeling that if these same people were Atheists they'd still feel superior. I hope you don't feel I've forced anything upon you, but our nation was built upon the division between the Executive, Judicial, and Congressional, it was built upon the division between Federal and State, the division between the citizens to openly discuss the topics that they so feverishly disagree upon. I encourage you to go forward and make your opinion known so that the laws that you believe in can be written down. I will do the same. I hope you can also respect my beliefs and know that Jesus loves you very much. If your interest is piqued I hope you find time to read the Bible, you'll find that God doesn't much like humanity but he saw fit to save us anyway. I apologize for the responses this post and your response has generated, I was hoping to have a civilized discussion but it seems some of my fellow believers turned the heat up. Take care and go in Peace!

Comment Woah! (Score 4, Interesting) 999

Hey guys, relax! If this isn't the kind of change you were hoping for go make changes yourself! It's still a free country! Just some questions to ask yourself:
Why are you wanting people to kill themselves?
Why do you dislike these people so much?
Do you dislike them because they are promoting Christian values?
If you do, do you dislike that they believe that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son so that who ever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life?
Do you dislike them because they try to live like Christ but recognize that when they fail, which they inevitably do, they go back to God and ask for forgiveness?
Do you dislike them because they believe in a God that you don't believe exists?
Or do you dislike them because simply because you do not like others who don't believe in what you believe?

Apple Orders 10 Million Tablets? 221

Arvisp writes "According to a blog post by former Google China president Kai-Fu Lee, Apple plans to produce nearly 10 million tablets in the still-unannounced product's first year. If Lee's blog post is to be believed, Apple plans to sell nearly twice as many tablets as it did iPhones in the product's first year."

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