Daily Archives: October 25, 2003

The Long Campaign

This entry was posted in Culture on by

Apparently there are a few folks who are happy (NYT requires free reg) with the demise of the Concorde:

Many of those sufferers, from neighborhoods surrounding Kennedy International Airport, showed up to toast a jet that had provided them not with trans-Atlantic luxury and speed, but with a first-class earache that throbbed for a quarter-century.

A few of them even think that their efforts ended the Concorde’s career which brings this response from Perry at Samizdata:

It is widespread delusional mindsets like, these with an inability to grasp anything beyond the most rudimentary causal links that sometimes get me muttering things like “the more people I meet, the more I like my cat”.

Perry’s right about the delusional part. I suppose, though, that these folks feel better and will now look to fight something else that will disappear on its own in 20-30 years. Tilting at windmills can be addicting.

Food Fight?

This entry was posted in bush Domestic Terrorism Federal Government US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

After reading this Financial Times article Tim Dunlop concludes :

If this is true, then my conslusion from that earlier post stands: if this is the case, this is a much more serious issue than the case of simply trying to smear and intimidate a dissenter (ie Joseph Wilson). This indicates a complete breakdown in trust between various government agencies.

Are the bushies really playing these kind of silly and dangerous to us games?

Are You Looking to Live Just a Bit Longer then Normal

This entry was posted in Biology Culture Technology on by

These guys might have just the thing for you:

Writing in the journal Science, the researchers said mutations that inhibit insulin/IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) signalling can double the life span of C. elegans.
Removing precursor reproductive cells also extended lifespan by 60%. This was not due to sterility, but appeared to be the result of altered hormonal signalling.
Further genetic interference of mutation-carrying worms, plus the removal of their reproductive systems, produced lifespans six times longer than normal.

This last step might be a bit much fore most folks. Then again, if you aren’t planning any more children,….