Monday Miscellany

1) Gene Therapy Reduces Death Due To Radiation in Mice. Since it’s looking less and less likely that we’ll be able to stop nuclear proliferation, this means if some nut job does try to set off a bomb we’ll be able to do something proactive to minimize the effect of the fall-out. Good news.

2) So, last week Comet 17P/Holmes got enormously brighter. No one’s really sure why...Although, many people have their eyes on the sky and there are theories. The link also contains some fantastic pictures showing the scale of the event and links to photos from all over the planet. Several people at work have been sky-watching to get a glimpse.

3) 5 Scientific Reasons A Zombie Apocalypse Could Happen. I have a sudden desire to take up camping and stock up on “boom-sticks”. I particularly like this quote:

Scientists have already created a nano-cyborg, by fusing a tiny silicone chip to a virus. The first thing they found out is these cyborgs can still operate for up to a month after the death of the host. Notice how nano scientists went right for zombification, even at this early stage. They know where the horror is.

4) 5 Ways Environmentalists Can Be Less Annoying. "There are some people that, for whatever reason, you can agree with completely about political, environmental, or social issues, but still just want to hit in the face repeatedly." Hallelujah! My personal favorite is number four - "Read A Book [on statistics]". Oh thank you. Poor understanding of the science is one of my long pet-peeves with die-hard environmentalists.....I had some poor experiences in college. Have you ever tried explaining the intricacies and fallibility of climate modeling to Spanish majors? (shudder)

5) THIS MAKES ME FURIOUS. Not only is ComCast “shaping traffic” by interfering with and cutting off P2P traffic (including the wholly legal LotusNotes), they are instructing their service representatives to LIE about it to their customers. WHAT PUNKS. It sounds like their employees aren’t really happy about the situation either. Why else would so many of them be risking their jobs to rat out the company? Hopefully, someone will hit upper management with a clue-by-four soon. More information here and here.