tisiwoota

Wow. There seem to be interesting links all over the place today; and I’ve not even yet had a chance to write about either of the human rights talks I’ve been to this week…

Anyway, on to another link: An editor of Scientific American speculates about the new Pope’s likely stance in the evolution debate, and on issues like genetic engineering, based on statements in his books and elsewhere.

More for the brave new future files… Apparently scientists have managed to induce hibernation in mice by lacing air with hydrogen sulfide. Essentially the mice were put “into a state similar to suspended animation for up to six hours” and then brought “back to normal life.”

“Hibernating humans and space travel aside,” once researcher commented, “we hope that ‘metabolic flexibility’ can be used to enhance trauma care, surgical outcome and organ transplant.”

“Among the first applications in humans might be to reduce severe fevers, when a patient is near death. Clinical trials for such a procedure could begin in five years, the scientists say.”

An encouraging post today on filter-blog 3quarksdaily, on the constructive discussion taking places on some Chinese and Japanese blogs.

Excerpt:

“Joi [a Japanese blogger] is admirably forthright in admitting Japan’s culpability (something I can relate to, having once apologized to an angry Bangladeshi cabdriver who was upset about the Pakistani army’s mistreatment of Bengalis in 1971), but what is truly remarkable is the discussion which follows in the comments to Joi’s post: there are well over a hundred comments, from all sides of the issue, and many interesting and innovative points are brought up and then debated with conspicuous and thoughtful civility. It is possible to have serious and considerate conversation in the blogosphere.”

This just in: An entomologist has plans to name three newly discovered species of slime beetle after Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld.

The great irony about this is that the entomologist means it entirely non-ironically– he’s a social conservative, and means it as a genuine tribute.

However, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has expressed misgivings over the possibility that some may draw ah, somewhat different conclusions about the proposed association between US leaders and “creatures that spend their days scrabbling around in festering goo”…